Learning Experiences by Allison McDonnell

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"My aching head," groaned Walman as he slowly flopped over onto his back.

"You okay, Greg?" Magus asked, fighting her own discomfort while she crawled to the crewman.

"Oh, I'm just peachy and you?" came the sarcastic reply as she roughly tugged him up to the sitting position next to her.

Magus placed the cool palms of her hands against her throbbing temples. "Got one helluva headache, that's for sure."

"Is everyone all right?" Julia muttered groggily, still laying on the ground at the front of the caravan.

"I'll be a lot better as soon as I figure out how the hell I got here," mumbled Baines who was sprawled out and face-down in the nearby grass.

Cameron helped Denner to her feet. They turned and stared at the vehicles in puzzlement as she meekly noted, "Um, I don't remember packing up, do you?"

"Last thing I remember was falling asleep in my tent," he replied.

"Same, here," Mazatl added as he fumbled for his sunglasses to shield his burning eyes from the sun.

Julia's eyes were also stinging. Not only that, she felt like her head had been tossed into the center of a Grendler stampede. With great difficulty, the doctor attempted to regain her bearings and began to scan the campsite in bewilderment, having no clue as to how she and the others had ended up where they were now. Somehow, it appeared that every member of Eden Project had been rendered unconscious for an indeterminate amount of time. That is, except for Alonzo. In contrast with the other Edenites, the pilot was wide awake and pain-free. He stoically stood next to her with an indescribable look etched on his face, intently staring in the direction of one of the vehicles.

Julia shoved the confusion of their current circumstances to the back of her mind and pulled herself together. Right now, she had to concentrate her efforts on checking her friends to ensure that they weren't injured. The physician reached for her medical kit and was surprised to find it suspiciously wide open with many of its contents scattered about on the neighboring ground. She hastily tossed the misplaced substances back into her bag and grabbed her Diaglove before rising to her feet. However, just as she set off toward the colonists, Alonzo clenched her by the upper arm to stop her.

"Don't," he advised simply, but with a serious expression.

"I have to see if anyone's hurt," Julia began. "We don't know-"

"They're fine," Solace interrupted purposefully. "But, for now, I need you to give me your Diaglove and your med-bag."

"What?" she exclaimed in disbelief.

"Don't worry, you'll get them back later."

The doctor gaped at him in uncertainty and didn't immediately comply with his request, causing Alonzo to sternly insist, "There's no time to argue about this, Julia. Please just do it."

Julia looked into her lover's cocoa eyes and viewed the honesty reflected in them. She also saw a bit of fear. It was the latter emotion that motivated her to reluctantly relinquish the items to him. After thanking her, Alonzo promptly walked to the Dunerail and placed the medical equipment underneath the driver's seat.

After the chore was concluded, Solace headed directly to the center of the dispersed group. "I need all of your attention," he announced.

When several of the Edenites were slow to halt their conversations, Alonzo brought his thumb and finger to his lips and let out a high-pitched whistle to get their attention. It did.

"Listen to me, all of you," he commanded over the colonist's negative response to the shrill assault on their ears. "We have to get out of here right now."

Unfortunately for everyone, Devon didn't wake up in a very good mood. "What's going on?" she irately challenged.

"What's going on is we need to leave this valley immediately," Alonzo answered in a no-nonsense tone.

"Hold on," Walman posed. "I thought that the Terrians told us to wait here for further instructions."

"Big change of plans. We're leaving now," the pilot revealed.

After surveying the uneasy looks exchanged by the group, he added, "Look, I'll fill you in on everything once we get a safe distance from this place, okay?"

Before the Edenites had time to answer or react to his instructions, a bloodcurdling shriek pierced the air.

"Nnnoooooo! Oh, Bess!"

Most of the Edenites ran toward Morgan's horror-filled cries as he turned to them and blurted out in panic, "My gear! Somebody stole my gear!"

"Morgan, Honey, I'm sure that it's around here somewhere," Bess patiently reassured while picking through several of the suitcases strapped to the side of the 'Rover. "It's probably packed with the rest of your things."

The liaison looked at Bess as if she was demented. "No, Bess. My gear has my VR attachment on it." He violently shook his head as he stressed in an emphatic tone, "I would never let that out of my sight! Never!"

"I've got your gear, Morgan," Alonzo called to him from the back of the crowd. "I have all of your gear-sets and chronometers. You'll get them back tonight after we set up camp."

Morgan nervously tucked his loose hairs back into his ponytail and marched toward Solace. "I want," he reconsidered his words and started again. "No, I demand that you unhand my VR set this instant."

The pilot gave him a look of disgust and walked away. With so much hanging in the balance, this was the last thing he needed to deal with right now.

"Hey!" the bureaucrat called after Alonzo, stamping his feet into the ground. "You can't do this!"

"Morgan, Sweetie-" Bess began to console.

"Don't 'Morgan, Sweetie' me," he fearfully exclaimed with wide eyes as he turned toward his wife. "Bess, you know I won't last the day without a hit of Virtual. VR is the only thing that keeps me sane on this godforsaken planet!"

The bureaucrat took several steps toward a retreating Alonzo, angrily yelling, "And what gives you the right to confiscate our stuff, anyway?" He raised his voice even further and accused, "And who gave you permission to go rifling through my personal belongings?"

Solace stopped and rotated back toward the liaison. "You did," he said plainly before turning and continuing toward the Dunerail.

"I did not!" Morgan huffily opposed.

"Put a sock in it, Morgan," Danziger bellowed from the ATV where he was still seated, sloped against the front tire. "My head hurts enough without your ridiculous whining."

John stood up and stumbled a step or two before he was finally able to reclaim his balance. He tried to cast aside how out of kilter he was feeling and instead turned his attention to his daughter.

"You okay, True-girl?"

"My eyes kinda hurt," she timidly answered as the mechanic gently pulled her to the standing position and began to dust the dirt off her clothing.

Danziger eased True's sunglasses out of her front pocket and slid them onto her face. "Yeah, me, too," he noted as he swerved his gaze to the small group behind him.

"Hey, you guys all right?" he called over to Devon, Uly and Yale who were congregated a few yards away.

"We're fine, Danziger," Devon absently replied as she concentrated her efforts on doting over Uly to be sure that he hadn't been injured.

Yale asked Alonzo, "Are we in any danger at the moment?"

"Not as long as we hightail it outta here," he explained with authority to the entire crew. "I know that you're disoriented and some of you may be feeling tired. Those of you who need to rest should ride in the vehicles."

As the crowd started to disband, Alonzo took Julia by the hand and led her to the Dunerail, declaring, "I want you to ride with me today. Climb in."

It was obvious to Julia that Alonzo intended to keep a watchful eye on her to be certain that she didn't attempt to perform any of her duties as the crew's doctor. Although, deep down, she knew that there must be a rational motive for Alonzo's strong-arm tactics, it didn't mean that she had to be happy about it. She gave him a not-so-subtle leer as she settled into the passenger's seat.

To make matters worse, Morgan was clearly not done with his tirade and appealed to the group in irritation, "Don't you think we should get some kind of explanation before we set out?"

"We don't have time for this, Morgan," Alonzo warned, his self-control beginning to wane as he climbed behind the wheel of the 'Rail. "I'll tell you all that you need to know this evening."

"Uh-uh. No way. I want some answers right now," Morgan snapped, animatedly pointing down at the ground. "And I'm not moving from this spot until you do it."

"Oh, yeah? Think, again," Danziger intervened, briskly moving toward the Transrover and looming over the smaller man.

With a fierce stare, John took a menacing stride forward and pinned Morgan against the vehicle. The mechanic lifted his arm and, for a split second, Morgan thought that Danziger was going to slug him. However, John reached over the liaison's head to yank open the driver's side door.

"Get in," he instructed in a low growl which held a promise of future pain if his demands weren't met quickly. "Get your ass in that vehicle- right- now."

With all other means of escape blocked off by Danziger's hulking frame, Morgan had nowhere to go but up. He had barely managed to scurry into the cab of the 'Rover before John harshly slammed the door shut.

"Neanderthal," Morgan hollered, fully knowing that the mechanic couldn't hear him through the thick panes of glass.

"Spineless weasel," Danziger grumbled to himself as he ambled backward several paces.

Because he wasn't paying attention to where he was going, John turned and accidentally barreled directly into Bess. He grabbed her by the sides of her shoulders to prevent her from falling to the ground.

"Jeez, I'm sorry, Bess," John apologized, the prior antagonism in his voice and posturing completely dissolved.

He let her go once she'd steadied herself and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "For what, almost running me over or for threatening my husband?" she asked, her tone remaining congenial, though her words could have been considered admonishing.

He gave her a crooked grin and shrugged. "Which do you think?" he said with a small snort before continuing on his way to rejoin True.

Bess found that she couldn't help but crack a small smile of her own as she watched him walk away. Although she didn't necessarily approve of Danziger's methods, she knew that his heart was in the right place. She understood that John was just trying to follow Alonzo's lead to get the convoy moving and keep them safe from whatever unknown danger inhabited the mountain range they were currently in.

Besides, Bess was secretly glad that Morgan would be driving the Transrover. She was feeling a bit sleepy and riding shotgun in the vehicle would give her a much-welcomed chance to nap. As she planted herself in the passenger seat and gazed out the window, she was slightly rattled when a peculiar sense of sadness came over her. She suddenly felt that, by exiting the valley, she was leaving behind something very precious to her. Having no memory of packing up her possessions, she wondered what she could have possibly lost or forgotten that could be so important.

Well, whatever it is, I'll just have to learn to live without it, Bess inwardly rationalized. She sighed and leaned back in her seat. She hoped that Alonzo would be able to shed some light on why she was feeling so emotionally out of sorts this morning. Maybe he could also explain why Bess had the strangest sensation that she'd been crying.

Danziger briefly spoke with his daughter before she gleefully scampered off to pester Uly who was planning on walking with Yale. Confident that True was safe and sound, at least for the next few hours, John proceeded toward the Dunerail.

"Mind if I hitch a ride with you two?"

"Hop in," Alonzo nodded, trying not to show how concerned he was about the mechanic.

As John crammed his large body into the already cramped back seat of the vehicle, Julia couldn't help but notice that he looked a bit run-down.

"Are you okay?" she was compelled to ask, despite the prospect of being reprimanded by Alonzo. She briefly glanced at the pilot, expecting him to be upset, but was surprised to find that he looked as interested in hearing Danziger's answer as she was.

"Just tired, that's all. I feel like I packed up the entire camp by myself," John reluctantly admitted. He chose not to mention anything else.

"For all we know, you did," the physician said dryly, eyeing the Diaglove tucked under Solace's legs. "And some of the others are also complaining of fatigue. Especially Walman, Magus, Cameron and Denner."

Alonzo smirked, understanding the real reason as to why the aforementioned colonists were suffering from a lack of sleep. If they only knew, he thought to himself.

"They'll be fine," the pilot reiterated. "Trust me."

Julia gave him a stiff smile. "Well, I guess I don't have much of a choice, do I?" she answered, folding her arms in front of her and swiveling her gaze to the road ahead.

"Nope. I guess not," Solace responded.

Danziger shook his head. As under the weather as he currently felt, at that moment he'd much rather be in his own shoes than in Alonzo's.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Pal," he commented, sympathetically patting Solace on the back.

As the vehicles' engines were started and the caravan recommenced its pilgrimage to New Pacifica, John balled up his blue jacket under his head and nodded off to sleep.

__________

They drove throughout the day with as few breaks as possible to allow the vehicles to recharge. Alonzo continued to monitor Julia to ensure that she didn't try to administer any medical care to any of the colonists, especially Danziger. Although Devon and Morgan attempted to needle Alonzo for more information as to the unusual goings-on, for the most part, the remaining members of Eden Project seemed to fall back into their daily routine as the pain in their heads and eyes gradually faded away. As for John, he slept the entire day with the exception of when he was awakened for lunch, which he hardly touched. Bess also dozed most of the afternoon in the Transrover.

After traveling nearly twenty-four clicks, Solace finally felt that the group had distanced themselves enough from their home of the prior week and a half. Luckily, the scenery had shifted from a lush, vegetation-filled valley to flat, dry plains, giving him additional assurance that no one's memory would be rekindled by familiar surroundings. As the sun lazily settled into the distance, Alonzo suggested to Devon that they halt the convoy and set up camp for the night.

Tents went up and belongings were unpacked a bit more slowly than they normally would be. Not only did several of the crew remain tired, presumably from the long day's trek, tension and uncertainty permeated their minds. Although they were unsure about the specifics, all of them knew that something wasn't right and were eager to find out the truth.

True and Uly consented to being sent to bed early with the promise that they would be filled in later and that Danziger would also come by to tell each of them an extra scary bedtime story. The rest of the group uneasily gathered around the campfire and waited for Alonzo to emerge from the med-tent to enlighten them regarding that morning's odd occurrence.

Solace finally arrived carrying a metal case which he set at his feet as he took his place next to Julia.

"I think it's about time we were given some answers," Devon remarked impatiently.

"I agree," Alonzo responded with a bit of apprehension.

Okay, here we go, he thought to himself as he began the account that he'd been practicing in his head all day. He had to be extremely careful here. "What happened to us is going to take some explaining and I'm going to need all of you to trust me like you've never trusted me before."

He reached down to the box next to him and punched in a sequence of numbers, causing the container to open with a hiss. He began to distribute its contents, stating, "But first things first. Here are your chronometers and gear-sets."

"How did you get these?" Magus asked, puzzled.

Solace calmly related, "You gave them to me for safekeeping."

"I most certainly did not," Morgan snapped as he grabbed his gear and lovingly inspected it for damage. "Why would I give you my VR?"

"Hey, wait a minute. There's something wrong with my chronometer," Mazatl interrupted.

"Mine, too," Denner relayed while lightly tapping on the face of her timepiece. "The date's wrong."

"No. The date is correct," Alonzo informed them. "Nine days have passed since your last memory."

The crew gasped in amazement and Baines spat out his almost-coffee before Danziger demanded, "What the hell are you talking about, Solace?"

"I know that you only remember spending two nights in the mountain range we left this morning," he recounted. "The truth of the matter is that we ran into some trouble on our third day there and the only way out of it was to erase the memories of what took place. That is, everyone's memory except for mine."

Walman couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Is this your idea of some kind of sick joke?"

Devon zeroed in on only one part of Alonzo's statement. "You mean that we've lost over a week's worth of traveling time?" she fumed.

"What kind of trouble?" Julia pressed, focusing on another part of her lover's revelation.

"Our group was called to that valley for a very important reason," Alonzo divulged. "We were brought there to perform a mission that was vital for us and for the Terrians. Not everyone was chosen to participate- "

His eyes caught Danziger's suddenly alarmed expression and knew exactly what the mechanic was thinking. "Don't worry, John. The children weren't involved," Solace affirmed.

Danziger nodded his thanks for the assurance. He couldn't imagine his life if something bad had happened to True.

The pilot continued, "Anyway, for most of you, your part was over very quickly. Only two of you ended up carrying the assignment through to its completion." He let out an uncomfortable sigh. "And unfortunately, in the process, both of you were badly injured."

There was an eruption of activity as many of the Edenites feverishly began examining themselves for needle marks, the remnants of bullet wounds or any other blemishes that might be classified as battle scars. They found nothing.

"Are you saying that the Terrians knowingly put us in danger?" Yale expressed in trepidation.

"No," Solace answered, shaking his head. "There was a terrible accident; one the Terrians hadn't foreseen happening. They never would have asked us for our assistance if they thought that we could get hurt. Believe me, they've learned a lot about humanity these past few days."

"What did they ask us to do?" Cameron inquired worriedly.

"I'm not going to be able to tell you very much about the mission or anything else that took place," Alonzo said in a cautious tone. "If I reveal too many details, it could trigger your subconscious and bring all of your memories back. That will most likely sign the death warrant for one or both of the people who were injured. It could end up destroying us all."

He paused a moment before continuing, meticulously choosing each word. "One thing I can tell you is that the situation became desperate." He turned to Julia and disclosed, "You tried to heal them, but nothing worked." Alonzo then pivoted his gaze across the flames to Devon who was seated on the opposite side of campfire. "You tried to help, too, but they continued to get worse and worse. It became clear that they were going to die unless radical measures were taken. Our only choice was to let the Terrians cure them and wash the entire experience from our minds."

"So we willingly allowed the Terrians to make us forget all of this?" Walman interjected.

"Yeah, did we vote unanimously to go through with it?" Baines posed with skepticism.

"Believe me, once you all realized how sick both of them were, a vote wasn't needed."

Morgan scoffed, "So you're saying that we didn't vote!"

"Morgan," Bess whispered curtly, nudging him none too gently.

"Trust me, Morgan, you agreed with all of this completely. We didn't have the option of bouncing around alternatives. We were in a race against time. It actually came down to the final seconds whether or not one of them would survive," the pilot revealed.

Well, at least that would explain why my med-bag was open when I regained consciousness, Julia deduced in her mind. She chose to remain quiet and instead concentrated her efforts on listening intently to his explanation.

Solace proceeded onward with his partly factual tale. "All of us worked together to do everything we could to repress the events of the past week and a half. We deleted all of our journals. The medical logs and Zero's memory files were also purged. You gave me your gear-sets so no one recorded any of today's developments. Even Yale suspended the digital recording device in his cybernetic eye and only I have the codes to resume its function."

"Is he right, Yale?" Denner asked.

The tutor touched several buttons located on the small console of his arm. "It appears as though Alonzo is absolutely correct," he confirmed in astonishment.

Not able to contain himself any longer, Morgan sprang to his feet. "Doesn't anyone besides me find this all the least bit suspicious?" he disputed while waving in arms in a series of overstated gestures. Looking to the others for additional support, he sneered, "I don't know about you, but I'm not buying this 'my poor buddies, the Terrians, goofed and they sure are real, real sorry about dragging you off-course to do their dirty work and almost getting you killed' for a second!"

He scornfully turned his attention to Alonzo. "It sounds more like our flyboy, here, got in over his head with his dirt-friends and the only way to save his and their fannies was to make us conveniently forget that they screwed up in the first place!"

The bureaucrat opened his mouth to continue, but Bess firmly grabbed him by the arm and jerked him back to his seat.

"Ow! Bess, what'd I do?" Morgan asked in genuine surprise as he rubbed the spot where her hand had been.

Bess successfully fought the urge to scold him and looked away, refusing to be drawn into yet another public argument. These past few months, Bess had found that her patience was dwindling regarding her husband's disruptive and often embarrassing displays of hysteria.

However, this time Morgan wasn't alone in his opinion.

"Um, Morgan does have a point," Baines fumbled, amazed that he was on the same side as the liaison. "It does seem like the Terrians are trying to cover their tracks."

"That's not what happened," Alonzo clarified, trying his best to explain without giving away any information that could be detrimental to his friends. "If you're looking to assign blame then, yes, it was the Terrian's fault. No one is denying that, including the Terrians. They made a mistake. However, they're also the ones who provided the solution to save two of us."

He furthered, "And you should also know that, because of what we did-- especially the two who endangered their lives to finish the task-- the Terrians now have a much better understanding of what it means to be human. A new, much stronger bond has been forged between our two species. They're fully convinced that the members of Eden Project are different from the others who came before us. Uly's link to the Terrians is no longer seen by some tribes as a threat. We won't be prevented from traveling or settling in any of their territories. The Terrians finally trust us. They finally accept us."

Although she didn't show it, Devon was glad to hear the good news; most especially that her son would be safe from rival clans of Terrians who disapproved of his genetic link to them. That notwithstanding, she still was not getting the answers she desired. "But what did we do to gain this acceptance?" Adair demanded to know.

"I can't tell you," Solace replied, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

The leader's eyes narrowed. "You can't or your won't?"

"Both," he admitted frankly, directing his attention and words to the entire group. "I told you that every one of you is going to have to trust me, here. You see, it's imperative that we maintain what we've started. That means that those last nine days have to stay buried in your minds. If some of you start digging for the truth, you run the risk of remembering and at least one of you will probably die."

"But if it was as awful as you say it was, how can we be sure that the Terrians won't ever do this to us, again?" Magus questioned in concern.

Alonzo was quick to reassure, "Nothing like this will ever happen again. I give you my word."

"Gee, his 'word'," Morgan jeered, his voice bubbling over with sarcasm. "I feel better already."

Bess wasted no time in smacking his knee with the back of her hand. "Ow!" Morgan cried with a mystified look that showed he had no clue that he'd said anything wrong.

Denner ignored the feuding couple and inquired to the pilot, "I'm sorry to ask this, Alonzo, but how do we know that you're telling us the truth?"

"There's too much at stake for you not to believe me. You don't have a choice."

Now it was Devon's turn to rise to her feet. "That's where we disagree. We do have a choice," she commanded. "And we're entitled to know what happened to us."

"Finally, the voice of reason," Morgan chimed in satisfactorily.

"Devon's right," Cameron agreed. "We deserve an explanation."

Denner asked Alonzo, "Can't you at least tell us who was picked for the job?"

"And who got hurt?" Walman added.

"Yeah, we want details," Baines asserted. "That way we'll know enough to say 'thanks, but no thanks' the next time the Terrians show up and ask us to risk our hides."

"Don't you get it?" Solace insisted, his tone becoming more vehement as he lost his composure. "I can't say any more without putting lives at risk."

Devon's own temper flared as she defiantly informed him, "Then, we'll start an investigation into this on our own. And we'll do it with or without your cooperation."

"No," came a sweet, but very determined voice. "No one's investigating anything. This needs to stop right now."

Everyone swung their shocked stares toward Bess as she folded her hands in her lap and announced resolutely, "I think that we should count our blessings and move on with our lives."

"I'm with Bess," John concurred without hesitation. "Whatever happened to us in that valley should stay there."

"You've got to be kidding," Devon spat, caught completely off-guard by what she considered to be Danziger's latest challenge to what she deemed to be her rightful authority.

John made eye contact with Devon for the first time that evening and, if her looks could have killed, Danziger was certain that he would have ended up as nothing more than an unexplained stain on the crate he was sitting on. But, by this time, he was used to being the object of Devon's ire, so he remained unfazed by her nearly homicidal gaze.

"Not at all," the mechanic confidently said. "Look, we're all healthy now, aren't we? And we obviously felt strongly enough that we deliberately erased all of our personal and professional files and did God knows what else to keep us from uncovering the facts."

Bess jumped in and persuaded, "And Yale, do you really think that you would have deactivated your eye's recording mechanism, much less give Alonzo total authority over how and when to restart it, unless we were in danger?"

"She has a point," Cameron acknowledged.

Bess added, "It would also explain why we were packed up and waiting by the vehicles when we came to."

"I don't know, Bess," Walman relayed in uncertainty. "It still feels like a cover-up to me."

"And some of what Alonzo's saying doesn't make sense," Magus scrutinized.

"Hell, most of it doesn't make sense!" Baines balked.

Devon swerved her glare back to Danziger and remarked in disbelief, "And I can't believe that you, of all people, could so easily write off the last nine days without even asking a single question. Aren't you interested in finding out the truth?"

"Of course I want to know," he shot back. "But I'm not willing to jeopardize the lives of two of my friends just to satisfy my own morbid curiosity."

John rocked back in his seat and rationalized, "Listen, I agree with Magus that some of Alonzo's explanation doesn't make sense. I'm sure that part of it is nothing more than a smokescreen to keep us from discovering anything that could hurt us." He shrugged and absently scratched at his beard. "I don't know, maybe he's tellin' the truth about us performing some dangerous job for the Diggers. Maybe he's not. I don't care."

Danziger lurched forward and rested his elbows on his knees, adamantly proclaiming, "But what I do know is that, whatever 'Lonz is hiding from us, he's doing it for a very good reason. Let's also not forget that, whether we remember it or not, WE were responsible for covering up the details of the past week or so. Isn't that proof enough that we should leave well enough alone?"

"John is absolutely right," Bess declared supportively. Out of nowhere, her Earth accent spilled out as strongly as ever as she added, "We should let sleeping dogs lie."

Bess momentarily averted her embarrassed gaze to the firelight in front of her and mentally reprimanded herself for her slip. She'd already learned the hard way how most people felt about her Earth-miner background. How was the crew going to take her opinion seriously if she kept blatantly reminding them of it?

Danziger looked at her strangely and wondered (and not for the first time) what had become of the spirited drawl that Bess had exhibited those first few weeks after they'd arrived on the planet. It seemed to him that perhaps she was trying to hide her heritage from the group, maybe even from herself. Danziger didn't see what the big deal was. So what if she was born and raised on Earth, he pondered. Why is that supposed to be so bad? Danziger sure as hell wasn't going to cast any stones her way considering his own meager beginnings.

Besides, John reflected to himself, though he'd never say it out loud, he'd always been kind of fond of Bess' original dialect. It brought to mind an attractive, not to mention extremely feisty, barmaid he'd dated many years back when he was in the military. She'd been a first generation station dweller with a twang almost as pronounced as Bess' used to be. Jeez, those were crazy times, he remembered as a small smile briefly crossed his lips.

Quickly realizing that he had more important matters to attend to, Danziger shook himself back to his present circumstances. He met Bess' eyes and offered her a reassuring nod which she returned.

Meanwhile, apparently their words had swayed at least one member of Eden Advance to their side of the argument.

"I believe that Bess and John are correct," Yale spoke up, further adding to Devon's agitation. "It appears that no good would come by worrying about what is already behind us. The best course of action is to continue to move forward and be grateful that, although we have no recollection of the actual incident, somehow we have greatly improved our relationship with the Terrians."

After vanquishing the drawl from her speech pattern, Bess encouraged, "And if the Terrians finally trust us and accept that Uly is the link between our species, then there shouldn't be any problem with them helping the rest of the Syndrome children when they get here on the colony ship, right Alonzo?"

The pilot shook his head in agreement. "I haven't talked to them about that yet, but I doubt there will be any problem with the Terrians healing the other children like they did Uly."

"One thing's for sure," Danziger commented, sifting his fingers through his curls. "Whatever we did in those mountains must have been pretty damned important."

"It was," Alonzo responded earnestly. "Hopefully, more than you'll ever know."

There were a few moments of silence as most of the other colonists wrestled with their conscience along with their natural curiosity.

Baines was still unsure how to proceed and hoped that the other Edenites would know what to do. "So should we vote on launching an investigation?" he asked pensively as he looked at Mazatl who had stayed quiet throughout most of the discussion.

The dark-haired man responded with a shrug of indifference. As far as he was concerned, the outcome of the matter was irrelevant to him. Whatever the group decided to do, Eben was still dead. Mazatl didn't care about much else any more.

Finally, Denner took a stand on the issue. "Well, if we're voting then I vote no." Her eyes instinctively drifted to Cameron sitting to her left. "I don't want be responsible for any of us getting hurt."

"Me, neither," Cameron determined. "As uncomfortable as I feel knowing that the Terrians messed with our brains, finding out the truth sounds like it'll be nothing but trouble."

A few more seconds passed before Walman slapped his knees and remarked, "Ah, hell, I can't believe I'm saying this, but count me as a no."

"Me, too," Magus exclaimed, glad that she wouldn't be alone in voting against Devon. As much as she tried not to be bothered by their leader's frigid demeanor, Adair almost always managed to intimidate the heck out of the Ops crewwoman.

Julia exhaled deeply. Even though there were several holes in Alonzo's story that were large enough to fly a freighter through, she believed that she'd heard enough to make the correct determination. "I also vote no."

"I don't believe this!" Devon seethed, now realizing that she was going to be outvoted, and not liking it one bit.

Morgan also recognized that he held a minority opinion and muttered sourly, "You people have gone insane."

Bess placed her hand on her husband's upper leg and reasoned in a saintly voice, "Morgan, Honey, let's just be happy that we're safe and sound and drop the whole thing."

Morgan snorted and shook his head in response, inducing Bess to remove her hand from his thigh and fold her arms in front of her. She turned to address the gathering and ended up resting her eyes on Danziger a few yards away.

"I vote no," she said with fortitude as their gazes briefly locked on each other.

John, again, found himself wearing a small grin. "So do I," he relayed.

__________

Much later that evening in the Martin quarters, Bess awoke to the sounds of an exasperated Morgan as he unsuccessfully tried to unerase nine days worth of memories which had formerly been archived in his gear-log.

After noticing that he'd disturbed his wife out of her sleep, he motioned to the equipment and groused, "This damn thing is useless. No matter what I do, it just keeps reading 'all records deleted'."

He set the gear on the crate next to his chair. "The Terrians must have forced me to erase everything to keep from being caught red-handed," he muttered to himself.

Bess squinted in the near-darkness of the tent as she tried to make out the silhouette of her husband. "Morgan, I thought that we all agreed that we weren't going to search for clues about the last week," she reminded him as she lazily sat up and stretched.

"I didn't agree, Bess. I voted for an inquiry."

"I know, Honey, but just about everyone else voted against it. We're part of the group and we have to abide by their decisions," she pointed out. "Anyway, you heard what Alonzo said. It could be dangerous to some of us if the truth comes out."

The bureaucrat gaped at her with bulging eyes, ranting, "And that doesn't bother you the least little bit? That we were part of something so horrible-- so hideous-- that two of us could die just by finding out what it is? Who knows what the Terrians did to us! Oh, God, who knows what they did to me!"

He snatched up his gear and haphazardly started hitting buttons. "No. They aren't going to get away with this. Alonzo and the Terrians are hiding something and I'm going to find out what it is."

Bess sighed heavily. She was still pretty angry with him about the fight they'd had days before in which Morgan had made several hurtful comments about class distinctions. That argument had yet to be resolved. Now, part of her was infuriated that her husband was continuing to search for evidence with total disregard for the safety of her and the crew.

However, another part of Bess understood that his actions were motivated by fear (at least in the latter case) and she felt a certain amount of sympathy toward him. She considered for a moment the best course of action to placate him. Any annoyance that she fostered was carefully masked by a pleasant smile.

"Morgan, Sweetie," she indulged, taking on a maternal tone. "You're good with computers, right?"

"Well, uh, I do know a few things-" Morgan acknowledged, involuntarily raising his chin and straightening up in his seat as he began to mentally catalog his expertise.

"You know a lot of things, especially about computers," she interrupted, her voice oozing with charm. "Now, if someone had forced you to delete your journal against your will, don't you think that you would have found a way to attach a code or a link so you could retrieve the data at a later date?"

The liaison paused and reflected, deep in thought as he considered the notion. "I, um," he stumbled before reluctantly admitting, "Uh, I guess it's possible."

Bess allowed her grin to widen and gushed, "I know you, Morgan Martin, and if you'd wanted that information to be saved, you would've figured out a way to do it."

"Okay, maybe you're right about that, but-"

"But nothing," she said brightly, finishing the statement for him. She patted the mattress invitingly. "Now, come back to bed, so we can put this whole ugly business behind us."

Sensing that her work was done for the night, Bess resettled herself under the blankets and shut her eyes, immediately falling back to sleep.

Morgan hesitantly set his cherished gear-set back on the crate and stood up with the intention of joining his wife in their bunk. However, as he took his first step toward her, a new idea hit him. Perhaps, for whatever reason, he'd been prevented from placing a code or message on his own gear, but somehow had gotten the opportunity to encrypt some type of clue on Bess' device. As quietly as possible, he rummaged through her belongings, finally locating her equipment dangling from the front pocket of her jacket. He tiptoed to the opposite corner of the tent and began to tinker with the machine, searching for anything that might alert him to the vast Terrian conspiracy that he knew had to be behind this.

Upon examining the apparatus, he easily came to the conclusion that indeed there was some sort of glitch in Bess' equipment. Although the earlier dates in her gear-log were accessible, each time he instructed the machine to retrieve any entries made in the last nine days, he was given the simple reply of 'none recorded'.

That can't be correct, Morgan thought. The message should instead be reading 'all records deleted'. He rechecked the sensors and the battery pack and tried again with the same results. Of course, there had to be something wrong with the device, Morgan concluded in his mind. After all, Bess was a stickler about keeping up with her journal and there was no way that she would go for nine days without...

Suddenly, Morgan felt all the air rush out of him and the gear-set slipped from his hands and fell to the dirt ground.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. It can't be," he whispered in horror to his wife's slumbering form. "Your log entries weren't erased because you never recorded any in the first place."

Alonzo's words of warning started to swirl in the liaison's head. *Trust me, Morgan. You agreed with all of this completely.* *Both... were badly injured.* *They were going to die.* *A vote wasn't needed.* *Digging for the truth...will most likely sign the death warrant for one or both of the people who were injured.*

"Oh, Bess," he spoke softly and could barely say the words out loud. "It was you. You were one of them. You didn't keep up with your journal because you were too sick-- or hurt-- or whatever happened to you. My poor, sweet, beautiful Bess."

It was at that moment that Morgan decided that he would forever keep his terrible discovery a secret and would never ever probe into the events that took place in the mountain range. He knew in his heart that he could never do anything that would possibly bring harm to his beloved wife. Bess was everything to him. She was his life.

Bess sat up when she noticed that her spouse still hadn't come to bed. "Are you okay, Honey?"

Morgan cleared his throat and quickly replaced the gear in her jacket pocket.

"Uh, yeah, Bess," he answered as he sat next to her on the edge of the cot. He swallowed hard and successfully blinked back the tears filling his eyes. "I-I just love you so much," he expressed sincerely.

The Earth-res gave him an enchanting smile as he tilted forward and lightly brushed his lips against hers. "I love you, too," she replied.

Morgan encircled his arms around her and kissed her again, this time more forcefully. As their embrace deepened, he eased Bess back onto the bed and it wasn't long before they were making love.

Bess closed her eyes and, to her surprise, she abruptly flashed to a different scenario; one where she was still engaged in the act of lovemaking, but not with her spouse. It was with a very different man, someone whom she hadn't fantasized about since their first few weeks on the planet.

Her breath quickened as she found herself imagining the feel of his body against hers as they moved together; the tingling sensation of his whiskers brushing against her softer skin; his taste as he devoured her with kisses; the gentle yet powerful touch of his hands intimately exploring her. She could clearly see the look of devotion in her lover's blue eyes, so full of desire, trust and another emotion that was far too unsettling for Bess to contemplate.

Bess inwardly chastised herself, not only for thinking such unbridled thoughts about another member of Eden Advance, but for enjoying it so immensely. Where on earth had those erotic images come from? And why did it feel so incredibly real?

After holding on to the reverie a few moments longer than she knew that she should have, Bess attempted to banish the thoughts of the other man from her mind. Her eyes remained clamped shut as she tried to explain away the impassioned yet perplexing sensations she'd just experienced. There had to be a perfectly legitimate reason as to why she would suddenly crave the physical company of a man she considered to be a friend-- the same friend whom her husband despised. Certainly she and Morgan had been having some marital troubles of late, but they'd always managed to work things out before.

Besides, Morgan not only loves her, he needs her to take care of him. And taking care of those around her was what she'd done for most of her life. Not only was she very good at it, she thrived on the fulfillment it gave her. As for the object of her fantasy, he played the role of a caregiver, too, though she'd classify him as more of a physical protector than an emotional one. When it came down to it, Bess couldn't ever imagine John Danziger needing anyone to take care of him.

Yes, she'd already made her choice when she'd pledged before the eyes of God and her friends that she would be married to Morgan for the rest of her life. Maybe a healthy marriage just takes a lot of time and good, old-fashioned elbow grease, Bess surmised to herself. Perhaps she should pray for some additional guidance about dealing with some of her husband's less positive traits. And while she's at it, she should probably also ask God for some more patience.

Hopefully, things will get better once we reach New Pacifica, Bess reflected as she opened her eyes and pulled Morgan into a passionate kiss.

__________

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