Learning Experiences by Allison McDonnell

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And then there were two.

Bess had no time to grieve for Yale or the others. All of her efforts, both physical and emotional, were focused on keeping Danziger alive. She knelt at his bedside and prayed, sometimes in silence and sometimes out loud. She promised God anything if He would spare his life. Although she was absolutely terrified of losing her friend, she was just as afraid that, if John died, there would be no one to talk to or take care of. There would be no one to need her. Bess would be completely and utterly alone... and nothing frightened her more than that.

She spent the next few days at Danziger's side. He wasn't able to eat so Bess pumped him full of vitamin and nutritional supplements to compensate. He never regained complete consciousness after the first night he was taken ill. He opened his eyes a few times, but Bess doubted that he knew that she was even there. He still periodically muttered his daughter's name and once Bess could have sworn that he said the name Elle. Other than that, he would only moan in pain as violent coughing spasms racked his body.

After another exhausting night of trying to decrease John's soaring temperature, Bess fell asleep with her head and arms sprawled across the blankets on the mechanic's cot. She stirred and shook herself awake when she sensed that something was definitely amiss. She lifted her head to see that Danziger was no longer trembling from chills. In fact, he looked rather peaceful for the first time in days.

Perhaps the fever has finally broken and he'll be all right, she encouragingly deduced. Or, she thought as fear overtook her optimism, it could be a sign that he'd taken a turn for the worse. As a Terrian sprung from the ground behind them, she realized in horror that it was the latter.

She stayed in between her friend and the creature in an attempt to block him from performing his task. She shook the mechanic by the shoulders.

"John? John? Can you hear me?"

When she got no response, Bess tried to rouse him by heartily slapping him across the face. He didn't even twitch.

"Stay with me, John. Come on, give me a sign that you're in there somewhere."

Now panic-stricken, she grabbed his hand in both of hers, basically trying to will him to live. She barked at him with the fortitude and tenacity of a drill sergeant, "John Danziger, you listen to me and you listen to me good! I need you to wake up! Squeeze my hand and let me know that you can hear me!"

She felt nothing except the shiver down her spine as the Terrian trilled behind her. She turned her head and watched as the creature stepped forward and was now positioned directly next to Danziger's bunk.

In a final effort to delay the inevitable, she threw herself over John's chest.

"No! You can't take him! I won't let you!" she challenged as tears began to pour out of her.

She stared at Danziger's inert form and begged in an agonized voice, "John! Please don't die! I can't do this alone! I'll never make it by myself! I'll go crazy! Please don't go! Please!"

Bess was now sobbing so profusely that she was beginning to hyperventilate. She fell forward and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Please don't take him away!" Bess stuttered between clipped breaths. "I don't want to be alone! Please! Please, John, don't die!"

_____

Danziger was feeling pretty damn good. His headache was gone and he was finally warming up a bit. Guess I beat this flux bug after all, he satisfactorily concluded as he opened his eyes and sprang to his feet.

It was then that he first noticed that things were slightly awry. Well, more than slightly. He turned to see himself, or someone who looked a whole helluva lot like him, lying stationary in his cot. Not only that, Bess was draped over his chest and she was imploring him to wake up. He then noticed the Terrian standing next to him, also witnessing the proceedings.

"What's goin' on?" John asked, directing his question to both Bess and the Terrian. Only the Terrian seemed to hear him.

"Your time here is over. You will now come with me."

Now Danziger was completely confused. But he couldn't help but be fascinated by the scene playing out in front of him. Why wouldn't Bess answer him, he wondered.

"Where?"

"To join the others who have gone before you."

John's head snapped upward to look at the creature in shock. "Are you telling me that I'm dead?"

"The concept of death is another belief that separates our species from yours. We have learned from other human specimens that many believe death to be a final destination. This is an untrue statement. You will now follow me for your time on this plane of existence is complete."

Danziger had to take a few seconds to absorb the Terrian's explanation. He'd never really believed in Heaven or the idea of another spiritual existence after the death of the physical body. He remembered Alex and Les talking about being each other's guardian angels, but he'd never really bought into it. At the time, both knew they were dying and needed something to believe in, no matter how illogical it seemed to John.

But what if Alex and Les were right? What if there was a place to go to be reunited with dead friends and family members? The Terrian said that he would take him to rejoin the others. That meant he would be with True, again. And he missed his little girl so very much.

Danziger's gaze returned to the Earth-res and he listened to her frightened pleas not to leave her alone. He glanced over to Yale's empty cot and saw the patch of displaced earth next to it. It was only then that he realized that the tutor had died.

"What about Bess?" he asked in quiet concern. "Will she be okay?"

"Her future has yet to be determined. Our examination of humanity's viability with the Mother will continue until the last of your group has left."

Seeing Bess' terrified expression and hearing her anguished cries, John knew what had to be done. No matter how much he missed his daughter and friends, he'd made a promise to himself to do everything that he could to keep the remaining Edenites safe. Although it saddened him, it was an easy decision to make.

"Then I'm not going. I'm staying with Bess."

The creature cocked his head sideways in confusion. "Your time here is finished. You will come with me."

"No, I won't go. For now, my place is here," John related. He dolefully added, "Please tell True that I love her, though." He silently prayed for his little girl to forgive him and that he hoped to see her soon, wherever she was now.

The Terrian trilled angrily and continued to try to persuade Danziger to leave of his own volition. However, he steadfastly refused to budge on the issue.

As the creature sank back into the ground by himself, John suddenly experienced overpowering waves of dizziness. He became so disoriented that he barely felt himself falling forward into the cot where his other form lay.

_____

Bess decided that, if the Terrian wanted to take her friend away, he was going to have to physically remove her from his body to do so. She held onto Danziger tightly and prepared herself for a fight. All the while, she wept and continued to beseech John to show some sign of life. Her crying became so emphatic that she drowned out the sounds of the Terrian's return to the earth.

Her prayers were finally answered as Danziger stirred and let out a weak cough.

"John? Oh, thank God!" Bess exclaimed as her tears of dread turned to relief. "I don't believe it. You're alive!"

John felt like hell. It took almost all of his energy to open his eyes for a moment to view a very surprised Bess.

"Barely," he managed to croak out.

The widow whipped around to notice that the creature was gone. She quickly grabbed a cup of water next to Danziger's bed and held it to his cracked lips, but his throat was too swollen to swallow more than a small sip.

"A Terrian came for you," she said through her sniffles.

John mustered his strength to answer her and could only manage a few syllables at a time. "Uh-huh," he mumbled. "Wouldn't go with him."

"Are you saying that you knew the Terrian was here for you and you refused to leave with him?"

"Yeah." He let out a small snort and Bess could hear the vibration of the fluid in his lungs. "He wasn't too happy about it either."

Bess couldn't believe her ears. She certainly hadn't witnessed any interaction between John and the creature. Perhaps when Danziger's condition worsened to the point of death, it opened some kind of porthole to the Dreamscape. The same porthole that Yale had accessed to call the Terrian to retrieve him. Or maybe the Terrian was the one to initiate contact. Either way, it amazed her that Danziger had been too stubborn to die. Apparently, the man's bullheaded disposition was applicable to all life forms and not just limited to humans. She could only imagine what the argument must have been like between the two beings. For a moment, she almost felt sorry for the Terrian.

"Why didn't you go?" she queried.

John was too exhausted to continue the conversation. He shut his eyes and weakly recounted, "Couldn't do it."
As he slipped back into a deep sleep, he faintly muttered, "You'd be alone."

Bess' eyes became as wide as dinner plates at the revelation. "You stayed so I wouldn't be left by myself?"

He could only respond with the shallow rise and fall of his chest. However, the answer was clear. Being a devout Catholic, Bess believed that, after the physical body is discarded at death, the soul survives and goes to Heaven. There, one exists in a paradise and obtains spiritual peace and tranquility for all eternity. It sounded to her like John had been given the opportunity to travel to Heaven and leave this awful existence. Instead, he'd made the conscious choice to return to a life of hardship, illness and loss. He had forfeited eternal happiness so she wouldn't be alone.

Despite the guilt that Bess felt over this realization, it was overshadowed by her joy at having her friend back and the knowledge that she wouldn't have to face the uncertain future by herself.

__________

Danziger's fever finally broke later that evening and his health slowly improved. Although he still suffered from coughing spasms, his chills had subsided and, as far as Bess could tell, he no longer seemed haunted by nightmares. However, the road to recovery was a slow one and the mechanic remained unconscious for several more days.

Bess had seated herself next to his cot and was in the middle of mending a pair of pants when John opened his eyes.

"Hey, Bess."

She excitedly moved to sit on the edge of his bed, dropping the article of clothing to the floor in the process. She felt his forehead and was gratified that it was cool to the touch.

"Hey, Danziger."

John feebly reached up to scratch his cheek and was surprised to feel a full growth of beard.

"How long have I been out?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"A week, more or less. It's been three days since the Terrian came for you."

His brows furrowed in befuddlement. "Huh? What Terrian?"

She offered him a cup of water and was pleased that he was able to drink a few small gulps.

"You don't remember arguing with him?"

"Uh-uh. Don't remember a thing." His eyes became wide with worry. "Oh, Christ, I didn't do anything stupid like punch him in the nose, did I?"

Bess chuckled for the first time in weeks. She also wondered for the first time if Terrians had noses. "No, but you said that you made him angry. He left without you."

"I gathered that part," Danziger answered with a slight amount sarcasm in his voice. "Don't remember any of it." He took another sip of water before asking, "How's Yale doing?"

Her face suddenly fell as she shook her head and looked downward.

John exhaled deeply which turned into a coughing spell. Once it subsided and he was able to catch his breath, he whispered, "I knew he wasn't doin' so well, but I kept hoping he'd pull through."

Bess replaced the blankets over him that had been dislodged by his outburst. "Me, too." Her eyes glistened with tears which she successfully fought back. "He told me that he was ready to die. He also said good-bye before the Terrian took him."

John nodded in acknowledgment. Seeing the tears that welled in her eyes, he realized how awful the last few weeks must have been for the widow. As if the prior five months hadn't been horrible enough for her, he noted. He made an attempt to sit up in bed, but was impeded by his continuing weakness.

"I'm sorry that you had to go through all of this. I'm sorry you ended up having to take care of me, too," John expressed as he strained to move himself.

Bess observed what he was trying to accomplish and gently pulled him upward by his forearms. As he leaned forward, she repositioned several pillows behind him and eased him back to a sitting position.

"No, don't apologize. In fact, I need to thank you. You told me how the Terrian wanted you to go with him, but you decided to stay with me instead so I wouldn't be alone."

"This conversation that I supposedly had with the Digger," he softly questioned. "You didn't actually see it happen?"

"Uh-uh. It was on the Dreamplane or, at least I think it was. In any case, it wasn't here in the cave. You woke up and told me about it."

"Bess, I was obviously pretty sick," Danziger stated skeptically. "I probably just hallucinated the whole thing."

"Not a chance. I was there and so was the Terrian," she declared confidently as she bent over and retrieved the torn pair of pants from the floor. "It happened and you'll never convince me otherwise."

John was about to argue the point when he noticed that the article of clothing she was mending looked a bit too familiar. "You been goin' through my stuff?"

"Well, you were unconscious for days and I was going to try to change you into some fresh clothes. So I searched through your belongings and, by the way, it's a good thing that I did. I had no idea that you only owned three shirts and two pairs of pants and all of them are in shreds."

Bess appeared calm, but was beginning to ramble a bit. "I hope you don't mind, but I've been patching them up for you. It also gave me something useful to do to pass the time. You know, you should try some of Cameron's clothes. I bet his shirts will fit you, although it may take some serious hemming to get the pants to fit. If you'd like, I can work on those for you next. Maybe you should try on some of Walman's-"

As Bess continued to talk, Danziger studied her features and was troubled by what he saw. Her eyes were extremely bloodshot and she looked almost as pale as he did. Although her words and voice relayed a sense of composure, he knew his friend well enough to conclude that something was off. He glanced around the cavern and noticed that the empty cots had been folded up and the personal possessions of those who had most recently died had been itemized and stacked accordingly next to the cave's exit. Additionally, their remaining equipment had been moved around and reorganized. Not only had the entire cavern been redecorated, but everything had been impeccably cleaned.

John gently placed his hands over hers to stop her mid-sentence. "Bess, when was the last time you got more than an hour or two's sleep?"

She tried to pull away with the garment still in her grasp, but he wouldn't let go. "What does that matter?" she asked defensively.

"It matters." He took the half-fixed pair of pants from her hands and lightly tossed it aside. "I want you to lay down a take a nap," he instructed in a serious tone.

She shook her head. "No, I don't need to."

"This isn't up for discussion," he said a bit gruffly, baffled as to why she was reacting so strangely to his suggestion. The mechanic immediately softened his delivery and assured, "Look, I'll be fine. Just put a cup full of water and a bowl of soup next to me in case I feel like eating."

She shut her eyes and her voice shook a bit as she spoke. "No, I can't."

"Why not?" She didn't answer and he leaned in toward her. "Bess?"

"Because bad things happen when I go to sleep," she blurted out with her eyes still closed. "Morgan was taken while I slept. Mazatl and Cameron- that's when they took them away, too. Maybe I could have done something to stop Magus and Walman if I'd just been awake. I fell asleep and you almost froze to death. If I hadn't been asleep at your bedside, the Terrian might have taken you and I wouldn't have even known it until it was too late."

When she finished speaking, she opened her eyes and tears started running down her cheeks. John was somewhat rattled himself when he realized how truly frightened she was.

He took both of her small hands in his own large ones and sought to calm her fears. "Bess, I've always been straight with you, haven't I? Since we've known each other, have I ever lied to you, even if I knew that you wouldn't like what I had to say?"

"You've always told me the truth," she answered meekly after thinking about it a moment.

"You trust me, right?"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay then. I swear to you that, if you go to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up." She tried to look away, but he followed her gaze. "I'm not going anywhere, Bess."

"You promise?" she said in almost a childlike voice.

"I promise. You won't wake up alone."

Danziger let go of her hands and gave her a gentle shove, but Bess still seemed apprehensive about the idea. Keeping his tone as light as possible, he persuaded, "If I need anything, I'll yell. My God, Martin, I'm only twenty feet away!"

Bess reluctantly rose to her feet as she wiped away her tears. She poured a bowl of broth and then refilled his mug to the brim with fresh water.

As she set it down next to John, she capitulated, "Okay, I'll lay down for a bit. But you'll wake me if-"

"Go- to- bed," he insisted, emphasizing each word for effect.

The widow hesitantly returned to her own bunk and removed her boots. After looking in Danziger's direction one more time, she climbed under the covers and shut her eyes. She fell asleep instantly.

_____

Bess was roused from her deep slumber by the harsh gusts of wind as it whistled throughout the walls of the cave entrance. She slowly rolled over in her cot and popped open an eye to check on her patient. She was pleased to find John awake and looking relatively healthy; an amazing feat considering he'd literally been on death's door only a few days before. However, she could still hear a gurgling sound in his chest with each labored breath that he took.

Danziger noticed that she was awake and asked in a raspy voice, "You feel any better?"

"Hmm-mmm. How long did I sleep?" she inquired as she nestled in the warmth of the thermal blankets.

The mechanic glanced at his chronometer. "A little more than fifteen hours." Bess launched up to the sitting position in alarm prompting him to tell her, "Relax, Martin. You obviously needed it."

She admitted to herself that Danziger was right. For the first time in weeks, Bess felt well-rested and her head was much clearer. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty good. I bet I'm up and around in a couple of days."

"I can hear how congested your lungs are, so don't push yourself too hard," she advised as she replaced her boots and put on a jacket to ward off the cold draft. "Anyway, it sounds like there's another storm outside. We're probably stuck here for awhile longer."

"Well, at least you won't have to wait on me hand and foot anymore," he answered flatly.

She poured herself a cup of water and then refilled his empty mug. "I didn't mind," she said as her attention was drawn to John keypunching data into a small vid-terminal situated on his lap.

Bess sat down next to him on an empty box and examined the images displayed on the screen. "What are you working on?"

He replied matter-of-factly, "Our house."

Bess was startled by his response. "We're going to build a house? A real house?"

He nodded and began to explain, taking much-needed breaths in between every few words. "Yep. I've been working on these plans for awhile. Originally, I was hoping to build two permanent homes when spring came. One was supposed to be for Cameron, Denner and you. Yale, Mazatl and I were gonna share the other. Obviously, that's changed."

He coughed roughly and Bess picked up the machinery from his bed to keep it from crashing to the ground. Once the spell ended, she replaced the computer to its former position and John gave her a grateful glance before continuing, "It's not gonna be anything spectacular looking, but it should keep us protected. I don't know about you, but I don't want to live the rest of my life inside of this mountain."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Will the Terrians let us do this? I mean, can we cut down trees?"

Danziger shrugged his shoulders. "I think so as long as we replace what we take." He paused for a moment in deep contemplation. He set the vid-terminal aside and met her gaze. "If I tell you something, do you promise me that you won't get your hopes up?"

Bess nodded her agreement and John divulged with a bit of apprehension, "There may be a way out of here."

Bess began to speak, but he lifted his finger to silence her. "It has nothing to do with escaping. I think the key to unlocking our prison is to somehow convince the Diggers that we aren't a threat. This is supposed to be a test to show them how humans relate to the planet, right? When it comes down to it, you and I are living in a two mile-wide laboratory where we're being studied to see how we react to our surroundings. We need to prove to them that we can live here peacefully and not misuse the planet's resources."

He paused before pensively relaying, "It may take years to do it but, maybe, just maybe, the Diggers'll decide to commute our sentence. Maybe they'll let us go if we could make them see that we aren't dangerous."

Bess was floored by his idea and the possibility that she and John could someday be pardoned of their crimes and allowed their freedom by the Terrians. However, any glimmer of hope that she felt in her heart was quickly eclipsed by the harsh truth that sounded loudly in her brain.

"Suppose they did release us? Where would we go? And if it takes years to free us, we'd be too late to leave on the Jamestown." She softly added, "No one would ever know that we're here."

"That's not exactly true. Yes, we'd miss the colony ship, but there is someone or should I say something that knows where we are at this very moment... Eve."

"But Eve knowing our location doesn't do any good, does it?" Bess wasn't sure how well John would react to the mention of Devon and Uly's names and chose her words carefully. "The people that the Council were interested in keeping tabs on are dead. You and I are expendable to them."

"You're probably right. I'm just saying that we may not have to live our entire lives in this valley. That someday, we may still get to see New Pacifica after all."

John's mind momentarily flashed to the day he'd been transported to the sandy beaches of the east coast. God, it was so beautiful there. The warmth of the sun, the sound of the crashing waves, the smell of the sea air, standing there at the shore with...

He mentally clamped down and pushed those thoughts away before they could do any damage. It was better to concentrate on other things. "But for now, we have to plan for our survival in these mountains and it's not gonna be easy."

Danziger reached out with the intention of retrieving the data-screen, but Bess captured his hand in hers. She sadly asked, "Are things ever going to get any better for us?"

He placed his other hand over their joined ones and gave a reassuring squeeze. "We'll get through this, Bess." He met her dejected gaze and forced a small smile. "Besides, let's look on the bright side... it can't get much worse, right?"

__________

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