Trust in love by Joan Powers

[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

"Trust in Love" (sequel to "A Matter of Trust"), Part 2
by Joan Powers

That night Danziger was manning a later guard shift. All of the Eden Advance crew took turns at the different shifts. That way every one had an equal opportunity to disrupt a good night's sleep. Only Julia and the children were excluded, and for the time being - Devon. She had protested this, not wanting any special privileges, but it was tacitly agreed that she was too distracted to adequately serve to protect the camp. He was curious if his occasional night visitor would be returning.

*Sure enough, there she is. She must not be getting much sleep* he thought. He remained quiet and waited for her to set to the tone.

"Did you ever imagine that you would be living on a planet where you could see such beautiful stars?" she asked wistfully while scanning the panorama.

"Not really" Danziger remembered during his tour of duty in the service on Earth that a permanent haze had impeded any star gazing activity there. Rather solemnly, Devon commented,

"Nothing ever goes quite the way you plan." John tightened his grip on the Mag-Pro to prevent himself from reaching out to her. In an attempt to bolster her spirits he encouraged her,

"Don't give up Devon. Despite all the obstacles, we've made it this far." She shared a weak smile with him, appreciating his efforts. He reminded her, "And Uly's been healed."

She considered his words, "You're right. I shouldn't take that for granted. If we were still at the Stations, Uly'd be....gone." She paused, remembering those days, "You know, I think I realized that Uly wasn't healthy within days after bringing him home from the hospital. But I couldn't face it, so I denied it and tried to convince myself that he was just growing a little slower than the average child. When he was a few months old, still not putting on weight and had a continual cough, I was forced to confront my worst fears and take him to Dr. Vasquez for an exam. Of course he confirmed what I dreaded. That Uly had the Syndrome. That there was no cure. That my baby wouldn't live past his eighth birthday and would require almost constant care..... " She absently brushed away a tear that had rolled down her face then continued, "Dr. Vasquez insisted that I leave him at the hospital, but I refused. I actually grabbed Uly and ran out of the examining room like some kind of crazy lady. I wasn't about to leave my child with strangers."

This sounded like the Devon Adair he knew. He couldn't even imagine what she'd been through,

"So how did you manage to care for Uly?" Devon explained, "I hired the best help I could find, at least my money was good for something. Of course Yale and I did a lot of the work ourselves as well, monitoring Uly's life signs and maintaining his immunosuit. I don't know what I would have done without Yale." John hadn't really thought about Devon's day to day life on the Stations,

"How did you manage your companies? Doesn't seem like you'd have time." She offhandedly mentioned,

"I designated managers to head the boards and they reported back to me on a periodic basis. Most of the conferencing I could do via gear at my home. I didn't even have to leave my unit. Uly was far more important to me than any corporation." He smiled. She stated,

"I knew I had to do everything I possibly could to save him." "And you did" John added softly. She sighed then changed gears, "Were you scared when you found out you were going to be a father?" That one threw him for a loop. So much had been going on then.

"Yeah..It was unexpected." He wasn't about to tell her about Elle but since she had access to his personal file, she probably knew some of the details. She responded,

"I was scared too. I hadn't planned on having a child at that time. Uly's father was a wonderful man, but I knew we had no future together. He wanted things I couldn't give him - a wife to devote all of her time to him and his projects and there I was at the height of my career as a station designer and the head of my own company."

"What made you decide to go through with it?" "The minute I found out I was pregnant I felt different. Special. I was terrified of making mistakes but Uly was all ready a part of me, changing my life." He hoped he wasn't putting his foot in his mouth but he had been curious,

"What happened with his father?"
"That relationship was essentially over before Uly was conceived. Of course I let him know, but he had moved on to another relationship and was more interested in having children with his new lover. As far as I was concerned it was great that I didn't have to share my baby with any one and I had Yale to stand by my side...What made you decide to go ahead and be a single father?"

Something in the tone of her voice indicated to Danziger that God only knows how but she knew about Elle and the accident. Since Devon had been honest with him he felt he owed her likewise. He treaded carefully and replied with some difficulty,

"It was the only part of her I had left." She placed her hand over one of his larger ones and squeezed it gently.

"I wouldn't trade that kid for anything in the world."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During another late night guard shift, Danziger rested by the camp fire. Devon hadn't been by during his last few shifts. He wondered if it was because she was sleeping better or she regretted what she had shared with him during her last visit. It amazed him that during the day Devon maintained her cool front with him, as if their nocturnal conversations never existed. He berated himself for playing along with her games, but he found it difficult to resist her. She had returned. By the light of the fire, John could see that the dark circles under her eyes were becoming permanent fixtures.

"Sleeping any better?" She shook her head. "John, does it ever get any easier?" He knew exactly what she was talking about. He tried to reassure her,

"Eventually. It takes a long time. The pain gets duller but it never completely fades away. It becomes a part of you." Feeling uncomfortable, Danziger changed the focus of their conversation,

"But Uly will come back to you." He was shocked to hear the optimistic Devon Adair faintly reply,

"I hope so."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shortly before noon, Alonzo burst into the Dome screaming for Devon. He had just returned from a scouting trip.

"What is it?" Devon asked, wondering why Alonzo was so excited. "The Terrians dreamed to me last night. They showed me where Uly was and indicated that we should come for him." Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him in disbelief,

"What? Are you sure?" She wondered why they hadn't contacted her directly. He nodded vigorously while a large grin crept across his face,

"Get ready to go and I'll get the coordinates together for you." She rushed to her room to throw some supplies together. Within minutes, Yale joined her with a relieved smile on his face and embraced her.

"Thank God. I'm so pleased. Do you want me to come with you?" he asked.

"No, I'll bring Danziger."
After she had finished packing she hurried back to the Main Dome where the other Eden Crew members were waiting. Danziger pulled her aside as she entered and adamantly insisted,

"Devon, I'm going with you."
"Of course you are" she responded to him, then turned to ask, "Alonzo, how far away is this place?" He and Yale were consulting a holographic map projected from Yale's robotic arm. Alonzo advised,

"Probably take at least a day to get there, assuming the terrain is appropriate for the Rail - we haven't scouted out some of this territory before. Devon, even though our weather has been getting warmer you might have to worry about snow, especially since it's north of here. Better bring a tent, lots of blankets, and extra rations. It could get pretty cold out there."

Devon only half listened to his warnings. *Uly was coming back!*
Her heart was singing and she could finally smile. Yale and Alonzo tried to convince her to wait until the next morning to begin the trip, so they'd have more daylight travel time, but their attempts were futile. Devon was going and no one could stop her. The Eden Advance crew had the Dune-Rail loaded and ready in less than fifteen minutes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Devon and John had been traveling most of that afternoon. Despite the fact that they were in a previously uncharted area, they hadn't run into any problems. The terrain was hilly but manageable and the Rail was behaving well. Only the gray sky looked potentially threatening, but the weather was still warm so they decided to maintain their course for as long as they could. Danziger was excited for Devon but something didn't seem right to him. He didn't dare bring it up with her for fear of crushing her hopes. Uly had only been gone a month and half. That didn't seem to be the long period of time that had been presented before them that fateful morning. Also, if he was remembering correctly, the Terrians had said that they would be returning Uly directly to their camp. He was wary.

Their gear signaled and Devon adjusted her headset to answer the call. Yale was looking at her with sad eyes.

"Devon,....Devon, I'm sorry. Alonzo misinterpreted his dream. The Terrians will allow you to visit Uly at the coordinates they described, but they are not ready to return him to us."

"Oh" she said quietly, the hope in her eyes extinguished. Trying to console her, Yale reminded her,

"At least you'll get to see Uly... I'm so sorry." She stared off blankly for a moment then turned off her gear. John had overheard the conversation and tried to look away to give her some privacy. Since it was getting darker and they were traveling in unfamiliar territory, he felt they better stop and set up camp. Though after the news from the Dome, he was reluctant to bring this to Devon's attention. He stopped the Rail at the next clearing.

"What are you doing? We've still got a long way to go" Devon asked somewhat frantically.

"Look Devon, we're going to have to stop. With this hilly terrain, we could get ourselves into big trouble traveling at night. And even though you're probably willing to take that risk, the Rail has to cool down a few hours at least. If we burn it out, we're not going anywhere. Let's set up camp, get a good night's sleep and we'll see him in the morning."

To his surprise, Devon didn't respond. John busied himself with unloading some supplies and proceeded to set up their tent. Devon got out of the Rail with the intention of helping, but she was overwhelmed with sorrow. She sat down on a crate and buried her face in her hands, attempting to control her breathing so she wouldn't break out in tears. She didn't want John to see her like that. John called over,

"You could help find wood for a fire, Adair." Her energies were so focused on her inner battle for control that she didn't even hear him.

Once Danziger had completed setting up the tent and starting a fire, he paused to warm himself. Luckily, the temperature had not dropped, so snow wouldn't be a problem. He figured Devon had needed some time to deal with her disappointment so he had left her alone. He glanced over towards her. She had not moved, still sitting on a crate with her face buried in her hands. Her body was shaking and she appeared to be crying without making a sound. He was positive that she would prefer to be alone but he couldn't ignore her. Since when had he always done what Devon wanted anyway? He walked over to her and put his large hands on her shoulders. She looked up with tears streaming down her face. Then he pulled her upright and enfolded her in his arms. She latched on to him as if she were drowning, letting lose the anguished sobs she had tried to repress within herself. He smoothed her hair with his fingers and tried to comfort her by whispering soothing words,

"It's gonna be okay. It's all right, babe." Even though he knew it might not. But he would help her through. Eventually, her sobbing stopped. John continued to hold her and reassure her,

"At least we're going to get to see him tomorrow." She glanced at him with sorrow-filled eyes,

"How do we know we can believe that? I don't know what to believe anymore." She rested her head against his chest and he tightened his grip about her.

"Shh..Don't think like that. You've been on the Dreamplane. You know it's difficult to interpret what's going on. Alonzo just made a mistake." He placed his fingers under her chin to tilt her head upward, peered into her eyes and earnestly told her,

"I'll do anything I can to get him back for you. You know that. I'll do anything for you."

You must login (register) to review.