A TRUE TERRIAN, Part 1
by Lia Faile
John Danziger stood alone in the old Council ship. All was silent except for the occasional beep from one of the life support systems. A multitude of small lights winked in time with the soft beeps casting strange shadows across his taut visage. Here alone he could allow his grief to show as he gazed at the face of the second woman in his life he was forced to abandon to a cryo-crypt.
He reached out his left hand and placed it against the glass. The image of the head-strong woman laying in a state of timeless grace burned into his eyes and seared his soul. Rigidly he stood his silent vigil, the frigid glass siphoning away his body heat. An icy numbness crept down his arm where it made its way into his heart. The coldness became a burning ache and still he stood unmoving, staring.
"Dad?"
True stood watching her father worriedly. She moved across the small chamber to his side. Still he did not acknowledge her presence. Her eyes followed his locked gaze to Devon Adair. Her small hand stole into his right hand. Once more she tried to penetrate the befuddled trance that held him.
"Dad, Baines has finished putting up the perimeter guards around the ship. Everyone's ready to move out."
Danziger's hand tighten ever so slightly on his daughter's hand. Sluggishly his eyes slid from the image before him to the little girl next to him. The physical and emotional warmth flowing from her drove back the despair that sought to claim him. Removing his left hand from the glass, he reached down and scooped her up in a bear hug. True flung her arms around her father's neck and squeezed him back. She laid her cheek against his raspy one. Both of them now stared at the frozen leader of the Eden Project.
"Devon will be safe until we can come back for her, Dad. With the perimeter guards up no one will be able to hurt her or the ship. Julia will figure out a way to cure her."
Danziger turned his head and gave his child a loving kiss on her forehead. "I hope so, True-girl, I hope so." He then turned and walked out without another look. It was True who stared back wistfully over her father's shoulder as they exited the craft.
###
///My Dad was the Chief Mechanic to the Eden Project until we crashed on G889 and lost our leader, Devon Adair to some weird sickness that has something to do with the planet not wanting us. Julia says Eve is protecting us from the planet's rejection with the implants. Why Devon didn't have one, no one knows. Nobody likes the thought of depending on a computer that's already tried to kill you once. Besides who can say Eve will be able to protect us forever? Computers break down, develop glitches, and are susceptible to viruses. So it's important to all of us to find out why Devon was dying and find a way to reverse it.
Now that Dad's the leader he barely has any time for me, or Uly. Not that Uly would notice. He just sits and stares. Hardly talks, hardly eats. Julia says he's in shock. I use to feel jealous about Uly, but now that he doesn't have his own parent anymore I feel bad about all the mean things I ever said or did to him. I wish there was some way I could make everything right again.///
###
An exhausted Danziger sat down alone in front of the campfire and poured himself some stale coffee. He had stayed up long after the others had sought their sleeping bags to work on the Transrover's left wheel bearings. He didn't want to lose any daylight tomorrow. Along with Devon's job and kid, John had inherited her drive to push them to New Pacifica as quickly as possible. Julia stepped out of the med tent and rubbed her eyes wearily. Spotting John at the fire, she went over to join him. Danziger nodded in greeting. Took a sip of the hours old coffee and grimaced.
"Want some hot sludge?" He asked motioning towards the coffee pot.
Julia shook her head no as she sat down next to him. "What are you doing still up?"
"Fixing the transrover, and you?"
"Running some more tests on Devon's blood and tissue samples."
"Alonzo not keeping you company?"
"No, I sent him to bed early."
Danziger's eyebrows lifted ever so slightly. "Why? Was he misbehaving?"
"I want him to try to contact the Terrians to see if there's anything they could do or might know that could help me find out what's wrong with Devon."
Shaking his head in confusion, he leaned forward with knitted brows. "I thought he already tried that. Didn't they say that they couldn't do anything for adult humans? That's why they didn't heal Alonzo's legs."
Julia ran both her hands through her hair and recaptured the strands that had escaped and bound them back up in her ponytail. "I have to try *something*. I'm not getting anywhere with conventional medical means."
"Take it easy, Julia. Everyone knows you're trying your damnedest. It's only been 10 days since we put her in cold sleep, and only 6 days since we've been back on the road to New Pacifica. You'll find an the answer in time."
"No John, you don't understand. It's Uly."
"Yeah, he's real upset about his mother. That's understandable."
"It's more than that." She bent forward as if she feared being over heard and fixed him with a hard stare. "I may have to put him back in his immuno-suit."
"What?! Why?! Is he succumbing to whatever got Devon?"
Julia made a hushing motion at him before replying. "I think Uly is rejecting the planet in response to its rejection of his mother."
John reached up and rubbed the inner corners of his eyes with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. "How is that possible?"
"I don't know. But it isn't unheard of even back on the stations. There have been documented cases of people essentially willing themselves to die when medically they should have recovered."
"Wait a minute!" Danziger made a slashing motion with his hand. "He's nine years old. You trying to tell me he's suicidal ?"
"No, not suicidal. Just despondent to the point that his health is being effected."
"Damn. It's not like I don't have enough to worry about now." He jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb. "She entrusted her *son* to me. Are you sure about this?"
"That's why I didn't come to you sooner. I wanted to be certain, and now I am. Uly is relapsing back into his Syndrome condition." She hesitated before continuing. "We could lose him."
Tossing the half drunk coffee out of the now cold cup, Danziger stood up and gazed down at the doctor. Fatigue lines deeply etched in his face. "I appreciate you letting me know. Now go get some rest." He headed off to the tent he now shared with both children, feeling older with every step.
###
///"You promised to look out for her, John Danziger."///
Groggily Danziger opened his eyes and attempted to focus on the person standing beside his cot. "Huh?...Wha?...Shepard?" Reaching up he rubbed his face vigorously in an effort to clear his vision and his head. "What are you doing here? I must be dreaming."
///"Why did you abandon her?"///
"Hey! I didn't abandon her! That's the safest place for her right now. Without that cryo-crypt she would have died! The planet was rejecting her!"
The older man shook his head sadly as he gazed down at his younger rival. ///"You have the means to help her right under your noses. Why can you not see it? You saw my people. Did any of them look like they were being 'rejected'? I trusted in you to have the inner strength to do this. Now she is lost."///
"To do what?! If you know some way to help her, how about sharing it with me, huh?!"
Shepard turned to watch the sleeping Uly. ///"She will know when her son is gone. No cryo-crypt will be able to sustain her then."// His eyes locked on to Danziger's.
///"Each day that you delay, you drive another nail into both their coffins. It is imperative that you act quickly."///
"Look pal..." Danziger struggled to get out of bed but his legs became entangled in his covers and he fell to the hard dirt floor.
He sat up and discovered he was no longer in the tent but outside. On a sandy desert plain with the sun glaring down white hot. Danziger sat there with his head in his hands and his elbows resting on his knees.
"Aw man, I shouldn't have drank that coffee."
Just then three Terrians exploded up from the earth showering him in sand. "JESUS!" He scrambled backwards on his haunches trying to widened the distance between himself and the natives. He sat starting gape-mouthed at the corpse-like beings for several heartbeats. He did not like or care much for Terrians. In fact they gave him the creeps.
"You guys must be looking for Alonzo. He's two tents down on your left."
They trilled at him softly and started to advance towards him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back off!"
A hand slapped down on his shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. A *human* hand. Looking over his shoulder he saw Alonzo squatting down next to him wearing his ever handy smile.
"It's okay , John. They're with me. I brought them here."
"Yeah well, why did you and were the hell is *here*?"
"We're on the Dream Plane. The Terrians want to talk to you."
"About what?" He eyed them suspiciously.
"There's possibly a way for them to help Devon. They need your cooperation though."
"Cooperation for what? I won't object to anything they do to cure Devon. Tell them to go ahead."
Alonzo's smile was gone. He wore the most serious expression Danziger had ever seen on him. "John, this is very important. I want you to listen closely and not come to any rash fearful conclusions."
Slowly Danziger rose to his feet and faced the Terrians. Once again they began to trill at him but now Alonzo was there to translate so he could understand what they wanted to do.
###
Danziger erupted out of the cot shaking and swearing. This time he was awake in his own reality. He charged out of the tent bellowing a war-like cry. At the same time Alonzo flew out of his bed and in the rush to reach Danziger he knocked Julia to the floor. "Ow! Alonzo what's going on? What is Danziger yelling about?" Alonzo didn't reply as he leaped over her and dashed out the tent. Danziger caught sight of the pilot racing his way.
"Are you insane, Solace?!" He roared. "Did you honestly think I would ever agree to something as bizarre as that?!"
"John, calm down! You didn't let them finish. I told you you'd have to be willing to listen closely and not jump to any conclusions"
"What conclusions?! They spelled it out pretty plain in there.-Out there.- Where ever the hell we were!" He threw his hands up in disgust and paced up and down in front of his tent.
A wide eyed True stepped out of the tent while a solemn Uly watched through the open flap. "Dad? What's wrong?"
Danziger whirled around and hollered at his daughter. "Get back inside!"
True stared angrily at her father then stormed back into the tent biting down on her trembling lip so she wouldn't break down and cry in front of Uly.
Turning back to Alonzo, Danziger towered over him and jabbed him in the chest. "You tell them Solace that if they touch one hair on her head they're dead. Got it?!" As he bit out that last sentence he barreled back into the tent dropping the flap behind him leaving an exasperated Alonzo outside staring bleakly at the canvass barrier.
###
The next morning a gruff Danziger approached the group. "Why isn't everyone breaking camp? Come on! We're burning daylight here!?" No one moved or responded. Everyone looked uncomfortable. John Danziger was an easy going man, but no one relished the idea of butting heads with him. Except maybe Devon Adair and she wasn't here. Finally Yale stepped forward.
"John, Alonzo told us what happened last night. We should discuss it."
"There's nothing to discuss. She's *my* daughter. It's *my* decision. I decided no."
"But this affects all of us."
"What are you saying Morgan? That you'd sacrifice a little girl to save your scrawny neck? Didn't you already try that on the Roanoke?" He took one threatening step forward.
"No I, ah..I..." Morgan took two retreating steps back and ended up with Bess between himself and the angry mechanic.
The petite woman stepped forward and met Danziger's fury with her own. "That's unfair! That is not what Morgan meant! And he's apologized for launching the lifepod prematurely. He was scared that's all."
"Yeah well, apologies don't bring back the dead, Bess. If people had been able to escape in that pod, some wouldn't have died along with the others in the third pod from that chip virus. There'd be more survivors."
"You don't know that! Who knows what might have happened..."
"People, people!" Yale positioned himself between the bickering pair and placed a calming and restrictive hand on both their shoulders. "We are getting off the topic at hand." He then gave them both a minute to reign in their anger. "John, why won't you even consider it? You see that no harm came to Uly."
"Uly was sick. He was dying. There's *nothing* wrong with True. Those Diggers can't have her. And there *is* a risk, isn't there Julia?"
Julia nodded, crossed her arms and picked her words carefully. "Yes. True is older and just on the brink of adolescence. Terrians can 'bond' with human children but not human adults. True is in that limbo between childhood and adulthood. Apparently that is why the Terrians think it will work. If they can alter her genetic makeup sufficiently, I could manufacture a vaccine that would work on us adults without actually transforming us into Human/Terrian hybrids like Uly and Mary."
###
end part 1 of 8 - A True Terrian by Lia Faile
Story Notes:
This is a story I wrote back in 1995 for The Dream Plane. I posted the first part on the list around the first of the year. I've had several requests to post the rest of it so here it is. It's another Devon gets defrosted story so if you're sick of those don't read any farther.
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to Twoies everywhere. Remember: "Hope is a waking dream." Earth 2 and its characters are the property of Amblin and Universal Television. The story itself is my property.
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to Twoies everywhere. Remember: "Hope is a waking dream." Earth 2 and its characters are the property of Amblin and Universal Television. The story itself is my property.