Second Impressions by Mary Brick

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SECOND IMPRESSIONS (3/4)
by Mary Brick

Danziger put the last of the scouting party's supplies in the dunerail. The rest of the scouting party, consisting of Julia, Alonzo, and Morgan, stood nearby getting last-minute instructions from Devon.

Morgan considered the reason for the scout and the make-up of the scouting party. He leaned over to Julia and whispered, "Is it just me, or do you have a sense of 'deja vu'?"

Julia grimaced and replied, "Don't even think that, Morgan." Shaking her head as if to clear away the bad memories, she got into the front seat of the 'rail. The rest soon followed and they were on their way to the cargo pod.

The scouting party followed the cargo pod beacon for several hours before making a visual sighting. There were no shouts of excitement this time; the memory of finding cargo pod 9 ransacked and their subsequent misadventures made them more cautious. As they got closer, a large red 11 was visible on the outside wall. Danziger drove around to the front of the pod, and they noticed with growing dismay the debris strewn on the ground. As expected, when they got to the front, the cargo pod's doors had been torn open and the contents gone.

The foursome disembarked the 'rail and slowly walked into the pod's empty shell. However, luck seemed to be on their side this time.

"Hey, you guys. Look at this!" Danziger shouted.

The other walked over to where Danziger stood, inspecting the back of the empty cargo pod.

"What's up?" Alonzo asked.

"There's a second bay here that hasn't been touched," Danziger replied.

Sure enough, just like the pod they found the day of the crash, this pod had a second cargo bay that seemed completely intact.

Danziger looked at the controls to open the door. "Damn, the controls are all rusted out. We'll need Zero to get this door open."

Julia activated her gear. "Base camp, come in."

Baines' face appeared in Julia's monitor. "Base camp here. Did you find the cargo pod?"

"Yes. The outer bay has been ransacked but there's a secondary bay that seems to be intact," Julia answered. "Ask Yale what was on the manifest for cargo pod 11."

Julia heard Baines relay her request to the cyborg. Yale's face appeared in Julia's monitor as he activated his gear. "The manifest for cargo pod 11 lists building materials for New Pacifica. There are also some clothing and medical supplies. No vehicles or foodstuffs, though."

"Well, I don't know what's in there," Julia said. "But we have an entire bay that must be full of stuff. We should be able to find something of use. Send Walman out in the ATV with Zero. We'll need him to open the door. Heller out."

Julia turned to the remaining members of the scouting party and relayed the information Yale had given her. "Walman is on his way out with Zero," she finished. "I guess we sit and wait until they get here."

Danziger walked to the 'rail and took out his mag-pro. Slinging the weapon over his shoulder, he moved away from the group and scanned the horizon. Casting a casual glance back to the remaining three, he said, "Building materials, medical supplies, and clothing. Hmmmm. With our luck, all that's left is the building supplies."

Alonzo and Julia exchanged bemused glances. They knew that Danziger wasn't going to sit and wait for anyone. He was going to go look for their missing supplies. Alonzo played along. He walked toward the mechanic saying, "You're probably right. And we could sure use more medical supplies and clothes."

Danziger nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

Alonzo put his jumpers to his eyes and looked around. Morgan and Julia came up beside them.

"What are you looking for?" Morgan asked.

"Grendlers," Alonzo replied.

"Grendlers?" Morgan asked, his confusion evident. "What are you looking Grendlers for?"

"Well, its obvious they took the missing cargo," Danziger said. "I'm not too worried about the building materials, but we can use all the medical supplies and clothes we can get our hands on. If we can find their stash, I'm thinking we could get some of it back. Make a trade or something."

"Danziger, let's find out what's in that other bay first," Morgan reasoned. "Maybe it has the supplies we need. Why go on a wild goose chase if we don't have to?"

Before Danziger could answer, Alonzo put the jumpers down. "There we go. A Grendler."

Danziger smiled at Alonzo. With a gleam in his eyes, he said, "Shall we?"

Yet again Morgan was puzzled. "Shall we...what?"

Danziger pointed out over the ridge. "Find out where that Grendler is going."

"Don't we walk enough as it is?" Morgan asked.

"Look, it's going to be a couple of hours before Walman and Zero get here," Danziger argued. "If all's that left here is building supplied and that Grendler has our stuff, you'll be happy I went after it."

"Fine. If you want to go chasing Grendlers all over the planet, Mr.-Walking-Twenty-Klicks-A-Day-Isn't-Enough-For-Me-I-Have-To-Go-On-A-Wild-G rendler-Hunt, then be my guest. You can just leave me out."

"Good, you can stay here." Danziger motioned to Alonzo. "Let's go."

"Keep in touch on gear," Julia cautioned. Alonzo waved his hand in agreement and tapped the gear on his head.

Morgan and Julia watched them walk over the ridge and out of sight. "Oh, great," Morgan said as he and Julia walked back to the 'rail to sit and wait.

***

Danziger and Alonzo carefully tracked the Grendler for several kilometers. The creature darted in and around clumps of trees and brush, leading the two humans on a merry chase. Comin to an open field, the Grendler let out a loud howl and sped up its pace even more. Danziger and Alonzo were having quite a time keeping up when they saw it suddenly disappear, seemingly into thin air.

"Where did it go?" Danziger mumbled as he and Alonzo ran to where the creature had vanished.

Alonzo looked just as confused. "I don't know. It just disappeared." He raised his jumpers to his eyes and scanned the area.

"Well, it has to be around here somewhere," Danziger growled.

As Alonzo scanned the area with the jumpers, he took a few steps forward. With a startled cry, he disappeared from sight.

Danziger turned in time to see the ground swallow up the pilot. "Solace!" he shouted running in the direction wher Alonzo once stood. Before he knew it, the ground opened up below his feet, and he was suddenly in free-fall.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Alonzo barely had time to react before Danziger came crashing down on top of him. Still, Danziger managed to land full force on Alonzo's legs. Startled, Alonzo kicked his legs out from under the mechanic, causing Danziger to fall backwards and hit his head hard against the cave wall.

Alonzo scurried over to where Danziger lay silent and not moving. "John? Can you hear me?" He got no response for his efforts. Remembering what Julia once told him about head injuries, the pilot was afraid to touch Danziger. It was obvious that something not good had happened, and he didn't want to add to the current injuries. Alonzo reached up to activate his gear, but there was no gear on his head. He looked around the cave, assuming that it was knocked off his head during his fall. Then he noticed the gear's eyepiece sticking out from under his unconscious friend.

Alonzo leaned back against the wall. "Oh, shank."

***

Morgan was sitting against a tree finishing his lunch. Collecting the empty food wrappers, his gaze wandered to where Julia was kneeling, scanning some new vegetation. Stuffing the wrappers in his bag, Morgan's fingers brushed against his VR gear. 'Now might be a good time for a quick jam session,' he thought, his mind already on the new tune he had been working on. He started to take the gear out of the bag when he saw Julia rise and move to a new clump of bushes. 'Or maybe not.' With a sigh, the liaison put the gear back in the bottom of the bag, tossed the bag in the 'rail, and walked to where the doctor was working.

"Find anything interesting?" Morgan asked casually as Julia stood and stretched her back.

Julia started to reply then stopped with a frown, as if an unpleasant thought just occurred to her. "Morgan, how long have Alonzo and John been gone?"

Morgan flipped open his watch cover and peered at the face. "Hmmmm, it been nearly two hours now." He looked at Julia and nodded. "I know. They should've checked in by now."

Julia activiated her gear. "Alonzo, come in." Nothing. "Alonzo, come in." Again, no response.

Julia and Morgan exchanged pained looks and then looked in the direction the two men had gone, shaking their heads. "I should have known better than to let them go," Julia said. "Something must have happened."

"I knew this was too good to last," Morgan grumbled. "Let me get my scanner." He started to walk toward the 'rail.

Julia cast a puzzled look in Morgan's direction when a familiar sound caught her attention. Turning, she saw Walman driving towards them in the ATV, Zero secured in the back. Morgan stopped next to the 'rail and watched as Walman parked next to it. Julia walked over to join the two men, still trying to raise Alonzo on her gear. Seeing their concerned expressions, Walman asked, "What's wrong?"

Reaching for his bag, Morgan replied, "Danziger and Solace went chasing after a Grendler. They've been gone for nearly two hours without checking in."

Walman turned to Julia. "You couldn't contact them on gear?"

"No, we couldn't," Morgan answered testily, not liking how Walman ignored his presence.

Walman again addressed Julia. "Well, you know how Danziger is about turning his gear off. Maybe that's all it is."

"Well, Walman, that isn't the case this time," Morgan replied as he reached into the rail and picked up a gearset. "This time he didn't even take it with him."

A look of impatience came over Walman's face as he turned to Morgan. Before he could say anything, however, Julia stepped in between them. "But Alonzo has his gear, and he doesn't turn it off. Since he hasn't checked in and I can't reach him, I can only assume that they are in some kind of trouble."

Walman put a hand on Julia's shoulder. "Well, we'll just have to find them. What direction did they go in?"

Julia pointed off toward the ridge. "They went that way. But once they go over the ridge, there's no telling which direction they took."

During this exchange, Morgan had pulled his scanner from his bag. Wandering a few steps away from the 'rail, he adjusted the controls. With a grunt of satisfaction, he said, "I've got their signal."

Julia looked at Morgan in confusion. "How can you have their signal? I couldn't raise them on gear. That means it must be broken or turned off. What signal are you talking about?"

Morgan looked at the doctor, obviously very pleased with himself. "The one I'm getting from Danziger's mag-pro."

"Danziger's mag-pro?" Walman questioned. "Martin, what are you talking about?"

"Morgan, you're not making any sense," Julia said.

Morgan came up beside the 'rail. "There's no time to explain right now. I'll tell you all about it on the way." Morgan looked at Walman. "Julia and I are going to get Danziger and Solace. You stay here. Why don't you get Zero up and running. Then try and get the cargo door opened and start taking inventory of what's in there. We shouldn't be long."

Julia and Walman exchanged looks. This 'take-charge' Morgan was something new. Walman didn't look as if he liked it much. However, getting Danziger and Alonzo back in one piece was the priority, so he let it slide. Nodding his agreement, Walman watched Morgan and Julia get into the dunerail. Morgan checked his scanner again. Without another word, he pointed in the direction he wanted Julia to drive and then turned his concentration back to the scanner. Walman watched them drive over the ridge and then went to retrieve Zero from the ATV.

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