The Coveting of Eden by Raven

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Chapter II: What the Shadows Hide

Danziger and Julia sat uncomfortably shifting in their mechanical bonds. They were in the New Pacifica courthouse, watching as noisy protesters filed into the pews behind them. The room was quite spacious, and sunlight flooded the now crowded chamber from all sides. At the front of the room stood an enormous judge’s bench. High and lofty, the metallic structure sat three, side by side. In actuality, the room with its straight-backed pews, high ceiling and pious front section, resembled a church more than it did a courthouse, and Julia wondered if the Government hadn’t constructed it that way deliberately.

Seated at one of the two large tables that preceded the rows of pews, Danziger and Julia looked over their shoulders grimly. The colonists were angry, and they seemed intent on witnessing a lynching today. Searching the restless mob for a friendly face was a difficult task. Danziger’s eyes roamed the room to the back of them and glanced over the Vicher family and the large Craegan brood. Most of the colonists were hard working men and women who just happened to be idealists looking for the promise of hope on this new planet. Though many were happy with the healing of their children, most feared the alien change that seemed to be the hefty price of their children’s health. All of the conservative colonists feared change in general, and were up in arms about any disquiet that rustled their new town. They had born the pain of dying children to the point of desperation, and now they wanted only peace and security, unable or unwilling to bear any more change.

“We’ve had enough of their trouble!” Joren Laplin shouted. “If they won’t heed the rules of the Government, they should be cast out.” Anger was apparent in his voice, but it was fear that loomed in his eyes, fear of what the Advancers knew that the colonists and Government would not accept.

Julia turned around grimly, placing her sore, tired head in her hands, which were bound by metal restraints. In truth, she and the Advance group did discuss leaving the Government controlled settlement and setting up a town of their own. “Lord knows it would be easier than living with this,” she thought to herself. But the group had decided that their duty lay with the colonists and their children, for they were the future of G889. The presence of the overbearing Government just complicated things, but with Devon and Morgan on the Government Committee and Yale, Julia and Bess on the Science Institute’s Board, the Advancers would find a way to get through to the colonists, making them understand the planet and accept it rather than fight to control it.

“Hey, Doc, don’t you worry. You know these colonists . . . they get riled up about everything. Anything out of the ordinary is a threat to them, but their focus will change. It always does. Damn fickle bunch,” Danziger said, shaking his head in disgust.

“You show them miracles . . . the beauty that this new land can offer, and they eat it up like gluttons, but present them with anything new, anything they can’t understand and they take up arms, demanding more laws and the right to control those who possess a different perspective from theirs.” Julia was tired and indignant. The Advance group cared for the colonists, helped nurse their children back to health, journeyed across the planet to build their new home and this was how they repaid them.

She recalled quite clearly how difficult it was getting the parents and the Government to agree to letting the Terrians heal the syndrome children. Looking at the ignorant, frightened mass now, Julia wondered how they ever consented, but it did happen. With Uly as scientific proof and Devon’s eloquent words, they reluctantly agreed. Devon Adair’s name and standing still held power over the colonists. They had, after all, followed her twenty-two light years away from the Stations. Julia had come to understand why the parents had agreed to the Terrians’ aid, but she was still unsure why the government had retracted their opposition. They certainly were not as spellbound by the Adair name as the colonists. After all, wasn’t it the Government who planted the bomb on the Advance ship, attempting to kill Devon and the rest of the Advance crew? The Station Government did not want Eden Advance on G889 at all. The colonists were easy enough to herd into the Government mindset, but the Advancers had bonded with the planet, making their agenda very different from the Government’s.

“Adair will get us out of this,” Danziger assured.

Julia looked at him grimly. She knew that the powerful Council controlled the Government. Their rigid edicts, which had been drilled into her since she was a child, plagued her mind. “Nothing is done without the Council’s knowledge, without the Council’s consent,” she thought to herself.

“Devon still has power,” he added hopefully.

“Only the power ‘they’ allow her to have,” she replied grimly.

* * *

“He tried to rape her . . . again!” Devon’s voice was exasperated, and it echoed in the large circular chamber.

“Devon,” Official Chorlain tried calmly, “read the medical report for yourself,” he said, wearily tossing a document on the round table that separated them. “Dr. Abrahms examined her thoroughly. He concluded that there were no signs of rape, just a concussion and a few cuts and bruises.” He saw that Devon was opening her mouth to protest, so he continued, “Which were acquired during the struggle proceeding Dr. Heller’s unwillingness to be searched.”

“She resisted because he was doing more than just searching her,” Devon defended.

“What was Dr. Heller doing at the Southern Perimeter after hours?” Official Kildare questioned accusingly.

“I don’t know,” Devon admitted.

“Perhaps there are many things you do not know about Dr. Heller,” Kildare continued, her eyes burning the suggestion into Devon’s mind.

Devon shook her head, realizing that they were trying to cast doubt within her, doubt about one of her best friends, but she was stronger than that. “Nothing you say will convince me to trust you above any of the Advance team members,” she announced staunchly.

“Nevertheless,” Chorlain said, “order must be upheld at all costs. If laws are not followed and the offenders go unpunished, chaos will reign.” Before Devon could speak again, the two stood and moved to the door that connected the chamber with the courthouse.

Devon followed reluctantly, and she noticed Chorlain give Kildare a knowing nod. “They are up to something,” she thought to herself. “Despite all that was said, something is up.”

* * *

Upon the entrance of the remaining two officials, the crowd quieted and settled into their seats, awaiting the swift hand of justice. Devon took her seat beside Danziger and Julia, who were talking to the Advancers in the pew behind them. All turned toward the bench and rose respectfully as the tribunal took their places.

“You may be seated,” Chorlain announced from his chair in the middle, which was raised slightly higher than the other two. “John Danziger and Dr. Julia Heller, you have been charged with crimes against the Government. . . .”

Danziger looked at Devon grimly as he listened to the Official’s speech, but Julia could hear nothing as she thought of Alonzo. “At least this is more than ‘Lonzo got,” she muttered to herself. She absently fussed with her shirt collar. A choking feeling was overwhelming her, and she felt as if she were being smothered. It was an uncomfortable but familiar sensation that manifested itself when Julia was under extreme stress, usually at the hands of an oppressive power making her do something she did not believe in. She had acquired this reaction as a young child growing up under the watchful eye of the Council. For twenty-five years, the Council told her who she was and what she would do for them. This planet and the people she now called her family had finally helped her discover the strength she had within herself to oppose the all-powerful Council. Staring at Official Chorlain, Julia shifted in her chair. She knew he was really “Reagent” Chorlain, Reagent of the Council.

“Devon Adair has spoken passionately on behalf of both Mr. Danziger and Dr. Heller, and. . . .” Chorlain continued.

“And?” Devon thought to herself curiously. She had been expecting a “but.”

“And we have come to the conclusion that New Pacifica would not benefit from either the imprisonment or banishment of the offenders.” A low moan began to rumble from the crowd. “Order,” Chorlain commanded. His powerful voice magically stilled the colonists. “It is crucial that all citizens of New Pacifica uphold the laws we have established here, but the Government is not without mercy. It is the first offense for both, and thanks to Ms. Adair’s eloquent pleas, we, the residing officials of New Pacifica have decreed that Mr. Danziger and Dr. Heller will be released with a stern warning. Lieutenant, remove their restraints. That is all. We are adjourned.”

Though stunned, the crowd was not silent for long. They began murmuring among themselves, and started shouting things at the Advancers as they filed out of the courthouse. Devon’s relief was short-lived. The officials had acted contrary to their discussion in the Magistrate’s chamber.

“They are up to something,” Julia said.

“Yeah, did you notice that Admiral Dekkar wasn’t even here,” Baines added suspiciously.

“Maybe Devon was so convincing that they realized they had no case,” Bess said.

“Trust me,” Devon began, “our discussion was completely one-sided. I didn’t convince them of anything. Julia’s right. They’re up to something.” The Advance crew nodded grimly.

* * *

Julia winced as she fastened the top button of her long, white physician’s coat. It was too pressed and pristine, too much like the Stations. It didn’t seem to belong on this planet or on the doctor that the planet had changed. She had put her hair up in the official fashion, but she never did manage to set it the way it had always been on the Stations. “Nothing would ever be that neat or sterile again,” she thought to herself absently. Staring at the image of herself in the physicians’ bathroom mirror, Julia slowly shook her head. She appeared almost exactly as she had been before the journey began, but something was different. She was different, and now, no matter what anyone told her to say or made her do, for the first time in her life, she knew who she was and what she believed in. And it wasn’t what the Council had instilled in her. With her chromosomes skewed from birth, she had always known who Dr. Heller was, but the planet and her friends had helped her discover who “Julia” was.

Julia felt strange every time she walked down the hospital’s halls of metal, plastic and glass. It seemed so foreign from the dirt and grass to which she had grown so accustomed. Nevertheless, Dr. Heller made her rounds silently and efficiently, ignoring the stares and subtle comments about her trial.

“Nasty bruise,” a voice said from beside her.

Dr. Quinlan looked worriedly at her. “It’s worse than it looks,” Julia assured her friend. Ian Quinlan and Julia had attended Med School together back on the Stations, and he was one of the only people outside the Advance team she trusted.

“Julia,” Ian said, grabbing her hand, which held a medical chart, “you’ve gotta be more careful around these people. We’ve seen what they can do.” Ian quickly stopped himself, realizing that he had touched upon a sensitive subject.

Julia knew he was talking about what they had done to Alonzo. “Don’t you think I know that?” she said, sounding more harsh than she had intended. “Ian,” she said more calmly, “the Government is up to something, and I know it has something to do with the East Wing.”

“Julia,” Ian cautioned, “don’t even think it! You know only Government officials and military are allowed in that section of the hospital.”

“Them and Dr. Vasquez,” she added as she took her leave.

“Don’t go looking for trouble, Julia,” he said grabbing her arm gently. “You’ll never get past the guards. They took Alonzo there, and he never came back.”

Julia pulled her arm free. “Don’t you get it, Ian? Whatever they’re hiding threatens us all,” she said as she walked away.

* * *

Julia stormed down the hall that led to the entrance of the Eastern Wing. “Halt, you are not authorized beyond this point,” a guard in full military gear warned.

“I need to speak with Dr. Vasquez. It’s a medical emergency.” Her stance was bold and her eyes gave away nothing.

“I’m sorry, Doctor. You’ll have to wait until he exits the facility.”

“Are you saying that whatever is going on beyond those doors is more important than someone’s life?” she lied. “This is ridiculous! I’m going in there, and you’ll have to shoot me if you want to stop me,” she said, bravely marching toward the metal doors.

The guard stepped in front of the large, double doors and lowered his magpro. Julia opened her mouth to speak, and another voice interrupted before she could.

“Dr. Heller,” Morgan called, “there you are,” he said as he grabbed her and smiled diplomatically at the guard. “Good job, soldier. I told her that this place was secure, but she insisted on testing it herself,” he said nervously to the guard. “Come along, Dr. Heller. You can rest assured that the East Wing is secure,” he said as he pulled her down the corridor.

“Morgan,” she protested, squirming in his arms, “let go of me!”

“Julia,” he whispered in her ear, “are you out of your mind? You are making a nasty habit of putting yourself in dangerous situations, making it necessary for one of us save you.

“I don’t need saving, Morgan,” she said indignantly as she struggled against his restraining hold.

“You need saving alright . . . from yourself!” he said firmly.

“Julia, please,” a soft voice said, and Julia felt a gentle touch upon her shoulder. Bess had joined them, and the three made their way safely out of the East Wing.

Having entered a nearby storeroom for privacy, Morgan released Julia, who shrugged him off with a huff. “I know everyone thinks I’m unstable after what happened to Alonzo, but I know what I’m doing,” she said angrily.

“Do you?” Morgan questioned. “You are trying to get yourself killed!”

Before Julia could respond, Bess’ kind face stood between her husband and Julia. “Julia, you need to think rationally. It’s not like you to do things without thinking them through.”

Julia paused as tears of frustration welled in her eyes. It wasn’t like her to go off half-cocked . . . it was like Alonzo. Often ruled by his emotions, he was the one always jumping in and flying by the seat of his pants, but lately, she found herself reacting to things as he would. His strong spirit surged within her, reminding her of better times. She sat down on the cold, hard floor and leaned her aching head against the wall.

“Julia,” Bess said, sitting next to her, “it’ll be okay. The colonists can be persuaded,” she added optimistically. “We just have to find proof of the Government’s. . . .”

“Proof lies beyond the East Wing doors,” Julia interrupted.

“I know, but we have to be more careful,” Bess said. “I discovered small bunches of herbs and seedlings missing from the hydroponics lab.” Julia’s interest was peaked, and her watery eyes now looked to Bess for enlightenment. “These were not just any plants, mind you. They were the very ones we were still testing for various toxins. Yet, any traces of them were wiped from the catalogues as if we had never had them in the first place, but I catalogued them myself.”

“Did you tell Devon and Danziger?” Julia asked.

“Yes, she managed to get Denner and Matzl on this morning’s scientific scout. I gave them detailed descriptions of the missing plants. They will gather more samples, and we’ll do some studies of our own,” Bess informed.

“I’ll see what I can find here at the hospital,” Julia said, and at Morgan and Bess’ worried stares, she added, “Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”

* * *

It was late, and Julia wandered the now sparse hospital halls. She paused at the children’s ward. Most of the beds were empty now, the children having been fully healed, but a few remained, still under “observation.” Anger glazed over Julia’s blue eyes as she thought about the twelve syndrome orphans the Government had “benevolently” sent on the colony ship to begin a new life. Though they were taken into the ground to be healed, all twelve became mysteriously ill a few days after receiving the Terrians’ gift. The government reacted stoically, confining the twelve to a separate ward. Julia remembered her and Alonzo protesting vehemently, saying that they needed to be taken back to the Terrians, but the twelve were wards of the Government. It was their parent, and the Government had made it clear that though they allowed the initial healing, no further “aid” would be tolerated. Julia shivered as she remembered all twelve getting sicker, then disappearing behind the doors of the East Wing. “All dead now,” she thought solemnly, knowing that none of them could survive without the treatment the Terrians offered.

Glancing at her chronometer, she saw that it was time. Dr. Vasquez was gone now, and she would search his office. Vasquez was the chief of staff and the lead physician. His office was in a private section, near the East Wing, and it was shut securely with an electronic lock. Julia punched in the code that she had been given by Vasquez himself, evidence of the former relationship that they used to share, a relationship Julia wanted to forget, but Vasquez remembered fondly.
Shutting the door behind her, she began a thorough search of his desk. She read various files and reports on the twelve orphans’ progress. Julia shook her head in frustration. There were too many loopholes in the reports. “These must have been meant for public viewing,” Julia thought. She had to find the confidential reports, the ones that revealed what they were doing in the East Wing.

Rummaging through the drawers, she found a sedaderm. Though it struck her as an odd place to keep a sedaderm, she put the instrument and its capsule refills in her coat pocket and searched the file cabinets behind her. She came upon a locked one. Trying to override the complex lock mechanism, she suddenly wished Danziger were there.

“Beep, beep.” Julia heard the noise of the keypad on the door being activated. Hastily, she turned off the light and hid under the desk.

“Julia,” she heard a familiar voice whisper. “Julia, are you in here?” Devon called, turning on the desk lamp and shutting the door behind her.

Rising from her hiding place, Julia steadied her shaking limbs. “Devon, what are you doing here? You scared the daylights out of me.”

Startled by Julia’s sudden appearance, Devon jumped slightly. “Morgan and Bess told me that you might try here, and I remembered the pass code you taught me.”

“Did Denner and Matzl find the plants?” Julia asked.

“Yes, and the tests Yale has done so far are inconclusive. However, they suggest that the plants possess an extremely powerful enzyme. When you’re done here, meet us at my cabin. I’m gonna grab a few pieces of equipment and head back there now.”

“Okay,” Julia muttered, her head now whirling with scientific hypotheses.

“And, Julia,” Devon said before leaving, “be careful.” At Julia’s nod, Devon was gone.

Frustrated at being unable to pick the lock, Julia pushed the cabinet forcefully. She was lifted out of her defeat by the sound of a small object hitting the floor. Shining the lamp light between two cabinets, she saw a mini-disc. Immediately, Julia realized that the space was too narrow for her hand, and she searched the room until her eyes fell across a metal T-square hanging on the shelf beside the window.

With a little finesse, Julia managed to extract the mini-disc. Now, holding the unmarked computer disc in her hand, she found herself praising Vasquez’s bad habit of never putting things away. She dusted it off and inserted it into the computer, which sat on one end of the desk. With eyes widened with amazement and shock, she stared at the monitor, stunned, touching the screen to probe the disc further. So shocked by what she saw, Julia did not notice sound of the door opening behind her.

“Turn around,” a voice demanded. A startled Julia could hear an unpleasant click ring through the silence that followed the command. It was the sound of a pistol being cocked.

Slowly, she put her hands up and swallowed as she swiveled the chair to face the visitor. “Julia, damn it,” Vasquez said as he lowered his gun. His tone was laced with relief and fear.

“What are you doing with a gun, ‘Doctor?’” she questioned, fear very apparent in her voice.

He placed the gun on the desk and looked over Julia’s shoulder at the telltale screen, which flashed brightly with evidence. “So, you know,” he said grimly. “In a way, it’s a relief,” he said brokenly as he approached her. “It was killing me to hold this secret, this horrible secret.”

Julia had noticed that the normally demanding and overbearing doctor had become withdrawn after the Terrian healing. She looked into her mentor’s dark eyes, and where she used to see strength and intelligence, she saw pain and fear. Pablo Vasquez was almost twice her age, always the leader in their relationship, but now, he looked to her for answers.

“Julia,” he said, placing his rough, tan hand upon her soft, pale one, “they gave me no choice.”

“We all have choices, Pablo,” she said. He appeared wounded at her strong statement, but she was too upset to notice. “Are these x-rays real?” she questioned with disbelief, and swallowed hard when he nodded. Her razor-sharp mind was quickly beginning to piece together the missing pieces of the puzzle. “You allowed this?” she accused, anger overcoming her disbelief. “They’re children, Pablo! The herbs and the gray root . . . the enzymes they produce act as a catalyst . . . an accelerant,” she announced, seeing the puzzle more clearly with every word she uttered. “The Government . . . the Council introduced vast amounts of this enzyme into the systems of these twelve children. That’s why they became so sick.” Julia paused, her eyes searing through Vasquez’s head, “They are trying to accelerate the evolution process in the orphans, creating within them the DNA of a fully evolved Terrian,” she shook her head, finally understanding why the Government supported the Terrian healing. “Those sick bastards are trying to manufacture their own Terrians!” she exclaimed in horror.

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