Devon Alone V: The Dream, The Dark and The Light by Nicole Mayer

[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

DEVON, ALONE Part V
The Dream, the Dark, and the Light (5/11)
by Nicole Mayer

Then everything happened at once. The computer beeped a finished signal, Devon gasped and stumbled away from that -thingthat was herself, and the outer doors swung open.

"I'm so glad you could join us," laughed a low, evil voice. *No, this couldn't be happening. Not when she was so close!*

"Did you really think you could break in here, unnoticed, right into the heart of the Council?" asked another voice, and she recognised the President. Her heart in her throat, she turned to face her doom.

"We've been watching you for quite some time. You should have known that," he chided gently. "Still, you've made things somewhat easier. Instead of having to bring you in here, you came to us."

"How did you know?" she asked uselessly, edging away. She wasn't completely unprepared - there was a weapon hidden in her belt - but would she have the chance to use it?

Another figure stepped from behind the President. Anna. "You and I were foolish," she said, her eyes empty and her voice flat and without emotion. "The Council is not evil, the Council protects us all and does what is best. We were wrong in our thinking."

"Anna..." she began uselessly, hoping to somehow reach her friend. But as she looked into the face of Anna, she realised that the person she had known was truly gone forever. "How could you do this to her?"

One of the President's associates laughed. "She sees the light now, and Anna has a much more fulfilling career. She's quite good at keeping tabs on people and has a lot of potential. In fact, I think we'll assign her to your case."

"My case?" but she knew what was coming. "Yes, your case. I'm sorry, Ms Adair, but you have caused us too much trouble. Unless..." and the President let the tantalising word hang in the air.

"Unless what?" She didn't want to rise to the bait, but fewer and fewer options were open to her with every passing moment. She could not allow them to destroy her.

"Tell us what you know. Tell us what *anyone* knows. Who have you told about the Replicas? What messages did you leave?" The questions were fired at her rapidly, but she kept her expression carefully neutral.

"I know that you did something to Anna. That's all." "Oh, I think you know quite a bit more than that. The great Devon Adair is quite resourceful when she needs to be. If you hadn't been so caught up with all of this, I expect you would have been on your way to G889 by now."

"That's a lie, and you know it." He raised his eyebrows, and sighed. "You're going to tell me everything, Devon, whether you want to or not." He nodded an ominous signal to his aides and they proceded forward.

Devon pulled out her weapon and fired, desperately hoping to hit someone, anyone! She was vastly outnumbered, but she wouldn't allow herself to be defeated, she would *never* give up. She hit one man, but they kept coming, and all too soon she was roughly tackled to the floor. Her head hit the cold metal with a resounding thwack and the world blurred before her eyes.

"We'll finish this later," she head a hiss, and then everything went black.

When Devon reopened her eyes, something was different. She didn't know exactly what it was, only that...she wasn't so alone. There was another presence there, with her, inside her mind, almost like an echo of herself. It was a comfort, of sorts. But why was it there? Who was it? And why did it matter, anyway?

*They copied my mind* she realised numbly. The other Devon's thoughts were so confused, she was in a very dark place and didn't even know what she was. "Hold tight," she whispered, tears blurring her vision. She had failed.

"Good, you're awake," said one of the men from earlier. Devon turned her head, aware that she was strapped down to a bench. "I should just throw you out of an airlock right now." He leaned close over her, and Devon winced at the stench of his putrid breath.

"But," and he took a step back, "you still have some things to tell us. Like how you found out about us. And who else knows about your little adventure tonight."

"There's nothing to tell," she returned. The man gently rested a hand on her restrained arm. "Devon, we're not the enemy. The Council wants to help you! Now if you tell us what we need to know, we'll let you go to G889. We'll let you lead your own colony, we can give you all the support you need."

How desperately she wanted to believe that! But what sort of price would she have to pay to get to G889, and who would she have to betray? The person who modified her data card didn't deserve the Council's wrath; and she also had to keep everyone she loved safe. She would not betray them.

The man's voice took on a crueller tone. "Perhaps you need something to jog your memory?" And suddenly there was fire throughout her body, an intense pain jolting through her every nerve. Devon realised they'd attached electrodes to her head. And now she knew how evil the Council truly was. This was torture, no questions, no doubts. It was something that had been outlawed centuries ago, but that didn't stop the Council. Nothing would.

"I'm waiting for your answers..." Again came the wave of pain, the assault that made her gasp and cry out. Her body jerked as the electricity made its way up down one side and up the other.

"Who knows, Devon? WHO KNOWS?"
But she would not tell. She never would. Devon screamed as the pain came again, and this time it went on and on. She knew her cells were being ruptured, she could not breathe, she could barely even think. Everything was diminishing into a great, red haze of pain, a fire that consumed her very essence.

*You can't do this to me! NO! You won't win - someday, someone, somehow, will stop you...* "I will never give up," Devon managed to gasp as her torturer increased the intensity. "The Council cannot win. I will survive!" she vowed with her last breath. She was alone, friendless, and at the mercy of a man whose name she didn't even know. And that was how it ended.

***

"NO!" screamed Devon, pulling away from the Terrian. Her face was pale and withdrawn, and even as she collapsed backwards into Alonzo's and Julia's waiting arms, she realised that she couldn't tell them a thing. She was shaking violently for the vision had disturbed her greatly.

"Dev, are you okay?" asked Alonzo, holding her close. And in that moment, Devon realized that the only person she wanted to hold her close was John Danziger, maybe he could banish the demons. But he wasn't even there, for Devon had told him to stay the hell away.

So she buried her face on Alonzo's shoulder, willing the nightmarish visions to leave her mind. How could what she had seen possibly be true? It couldn't have happened, she had made it here to G889! Yes, she recalled the terrible problems she'd had getting the Eden Project underway, she remembered going to the highest authority she could...

"But that's impossible," she whispered aloud. The Terrians had shown her own death. And it was supposed to be in her past? It didn't make sense, not unless...no, she couldn't even *think* that.

Devon felt small arms encircle her neck, but Uly's hug did little to help. "Mom, did they help you?"

"Uly, I think you should let your Mom tell us when she's ready."

"No, no, it's okay," said Devon, taking a deep breath and beginning to regain control of her emotions. "I was just a little confused when I came out," she lied.

"So what did they show you?"
"Nothing."
There was no way Devon could tell them about it. Never. If the vision meant what she thought it meant... *How can I tell my friends that I'm not even human?*

"Nothing?" repeated Julia, disbelief evident on her face. "Come on, Devon, you were shaking worse than anyone I've ever seen when you came out of the dreamplane. You expect us to believe that you saw nothing?"

"Look," said Devon firmly, extricating herself from Alonzo's arms, "it's nothing. None of your damn business. So why don't you," and then she gestured around the whole cave, "*all* of you, just leave me the hell alone?! That's what I'm supposed to be - alone!"

She wasn't even real. How could she expect these people, real, living people who had been born and experienced every moment of their lives, to be her friends? When she, Devon Adair (but that wasn't even her own name), was nothing more than the memories of another woman who had died for a cause. If this was true, she didn't deserve to be among anyone.

"No, Devon, wait," Julia called uselessly as Devon stalked away. "Don't shut us out again. You need your friends, and we need you! You're a part of us and - "

"- And whatever happened to you in the past, we don't care. We're gonna be there for you no matter what," concluded Alonzo.

"Devon, we need you. We care for you. You've done so much for me, for all of us, and I don't know where I'd be without you," admitted Julia. "You're our friend and we'd never abandon you."

Devon paused. Dare she believe them? "I love you Mom. I want you to be better," said Uly, sounding alone and frightened. She turned and saw his young eyes looking desperately after her. "Please don't leave me alone again."

"Oh, Uly, I'm sorry," whispered Devon. She was being selfish. They all depended on her, and she'd let them down because she was too screwed up to think straight. Well, all of that could be over now. She'd seen the most frightening truth possible, and even if she didn't entirely want to believe it, Devon knew that nothing more she dreamed would be worse than that. The nightmares were over.

And so were the dream-memories. Who was she kidding, thinking Danziger and Bess were in love? They were friends and nothing more - Bess was devoted to Morgan and vice versa. Yale was one of the best friends she could ever have. And she loved John Danziger.

*Those* were the things that were important to her now. Every single person, who had become her extended family, who were going to New Pacifica with her. And they would make it.

Devon held open her arms, and Uly walked across to embrace his mother. As she held her son, Devon looked up to Julia and Alonzo. "I'm sorry," she apologised. "I haven't been thinking clearly ever since I woke up. I said and did some stupid, crazy things. But I think I'm alright now. I'm going to get through this."

Julia knew that Devon wouldn't truly put it behind her until she could accept the truth of her past, whatever that was. But when she did, Julia would be there to help her and support her in any way she could. Starting right now.

"We're right behind you," Julia promised. She offered a hesitant smile.

"Well, let's get back to camp." Devon plastered a smile on her own face, this time absolutely determined to make it work. It would take time, sure, but good things had come out of this whole experience. She had discovered that Morgan could be a friend. She had learnt that no matter how hard things got, G889 was the most wonderful place in the universe. And she had realised that, after all this time, she had given her heart to a man.

Now it was time to tell him.
But maybe not right away.

You must login (register) to review.