Final Fights by pal fow

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Final Fights (8/12)
by palfow

The next morning they had all difficulties waking up. The last days had used up lots of their strengths. Julia woke up first. She went inside the enormous ship and found Danziger sitting on the floor and Uly sleeping on his leg.

"Hey, John, how are you?"

"Morning Julia. I think quite well. And you?" "Exhausted and helpless." She said looking in Devon's directions.

"Just like I, like everyone else."

"What do you think we should do now?"

"Remove these damned chips. We'll find a way to outwit Reilly. With Caroline's help we should be able to do that." "Yes. I´ll go and wake the others. It's time we start." She went out.

An hour later they had finished breakfast and were now all assembled inside. Caroline was investigating the controls and all the buttons. Only a few seemed familiar to her.
Suddenly a light went on and moments later Reilly appeared on the monitor in the middle of the room.

"Hello, hello, hello. You are back, I see. Julia, Danziger, wasn't it and this handsome Mr. S.O.L.A.C.E. oh, ... and ...of course... Mr. ... Martin, nice to see you. I see that you told the others about our little conversation..."

"Not again you." Morgan sighed.

"Oh, I see that you have a guest with you. Don't you want to introduce her to me, Julia?"

"Reilly, what do you want now?"

"I just came to tell your guest that she was told not everything. This computer can't be outwitted. Bye, bye then. Hahahahahahahahahahhahah...."
Caroline looked up shocked. They had come here for nothing.

"I don't believe him." Alonzo said as he walked towards the monitors and pressed some buttons.

"Yes, he lied. There is a way to outwit Reilly..."

"Tell us Caroline."

"John, he is programmed to stop his observations and automatically remove the chips as soon as you all die..."

"Oh Jesus!!" Yale cried out.

"Oh no." Everybody was stunned. And shocked.

"But I know a way how to let you die and you could live afterwards..." Caroline looked into every face.

"Live and let die. Just the other way around. No problem." Morgan was sarcastic.

"Cold-sleep."

"Cold-sleep?" Julia asked, "but wouldn't they have failed in the 22 years cold-sleep?"

"No, they began their work first when you woke up." "And that code?" Alonzo had some difficulties understanding that all.

"Reilly is programmed to give in the code as soon as he learns of your deaths. And only then the chips will be removed."

"But Reilly is just a computer-program. What happens to him after we "died"?"

"He'll exist on, unless I kill him with another code."

"Do you know that code?"

"Yes. And I won't have to go into cold-sleep. I have no chip, just like she." she pointed towards Devon.

"Can you enter that code while we are in cold-sleep, Caroline?"

"This is the only way to do it."

"At least Devon not having the chip explains that she didn't feel this pain while Yale gave in Benett's code..." Julia looked at her friends. "But why didn't she have one and why don't you have one?"

"I think it was due to someone at level six. But I'm not sure. I never was able to find out. And I don't have one because I was not supposed to come to this planet."
That made Julia prick up her ears.

"Who are you, Caroline?"

"Julia, I still can't remember more. It is blocked. Like a gray cloud where you can't see what is next to you." she sighed.

"We still have a problem. We don't have enough chambers here." Yale had brought it to the point.

"This ship hosts a secret room where there are twelve more chambers."

"And where is this hidden room?" Danziger looked around. He couldn't see another door anywhere. And there was indeed no door, at least not where he looked. Caroline typed something into the computer and then a door in the floor slipped open.

"Wow !" True said as a glomming light came from there. They all went down, finding 12 more chambers, empty chambers.
"Why do they have these chambers?"

"I can't remember .. but I assume that they contained Z.E.D.s or others or they were supposed to carry someone back to the stations.."

"Could be a possibility." Danziger was again getting suspicious. What else did she know and hide from them? He didn't believe that she couldn't remember who she was, now that she had said all these things. Who guaranteed them that she was not in with Reilly? Reilly himself had only said that she had been misinformed. He didn't say a name or more. What was behind all that? Who was this woman? And why had she come here? To save them or to destroy their plans and in the end kill them?

"And now," Julia asked "what shall we do yet?"

"Let's get out of here doc. We got something to discuss...." John let her out.

The rest of the group followed. Only Caroline stayed back. She knew that the discussion would be about her. Whether to trust her or not. So she waited. Half an hour passed and no one had come down again. Another 20 minutes went by and still there was no sign. She wondered how long it would take them to come to an agreement.

"Who the heck am I?" she shouted at the walls, getting more and more angry at herself. "Am I the good one or what? Damn it, damn it, damn it.."

Then, ten minutes later Uly came in and told her to go to the others. He walked behind her up the stairs but didn't follow her out. Instead he turned to his mother.
"Hey mom. I know you can't hear me, but I have to tell you anyway... I don't want to lose you, mom. I love you. Oh, why can't you be here. You would know what to do." a sound behind him made him stop.

"Alonzo, you're here ..."

"Yes, Uly and I've heard everything you said. I'm so sorry about your mom. I know what a pain that is... I was as old as you are now when my mom died. I was never close to her and still it hurt. I had nightmares every night. Not like you. You're a strong boy. I never was."

"I've learned to live with death early. And I know that my mom doesn't have to die. Not now."

"Uly, what did you do that the Terrians owed you something?" Alonzo still wanted to find that out, even after the try with Mary.

"You wouldn't understand it. It's Terrian stuff."

"Okay, okay, okay, before I have to rip this out of you I try not to think of that anymore..."

"Yes. How did you come over your mom's death?"

"I think I never really did. To outside I seemed to have forgotten, but inside it still hurt. I thinks that's why I stopped dreaming. Over the time I thought less and less about her...but Uly, no word to the others about that. It's a secret...you gotta keep it...okay?"

"I swear."

The others were slowly coming back. They had agreed to go into cold-sleep but not without programming Zero that he would wake them in three hours if didn't wake them up earlier. And they connected him with the monitors so that he could supervise their sleep and prevent Caroline from doing something that could harm them. Then they had given in a password which only John and Julia together could give in. So Caroline was unable to change the orders Zero was given.

Julia prepped everyone for cold-sleep. She would be the last to go in and the first to come out.
Alonzo had this boyish smile. "Yeah, cold-sleep. I already missed it like hell ."

"You crazy sleep-jumper." Julia said to him before she closed his chamber. Then she went into her chamber and Caroline closed it. The chambers took up their work and within a few seconds everybody slept.

Now it was Caroline's turn. She went to the consoles and gave in some orders. Reilly appeared on a monitor.
"Ah, I see you did what you were ordered.. . How did you kill them, citizen?" Caroline was shocked. She was the bad one. But she didn't want to play the part of the bad girl. But she showed no reaction, stayed cool.

"The water tasted somehow strange this morning as I was told. Perhaps some poison was in it, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I didn't drink any of it." she thought that up pretty fast and Reilly believed her, although he had seen all of them not very long ago, but chip was chip and when there was no life-sign, the person was dead.

"Good, good. Great work."

"Yeah. Listen, Reilly. I got something to do now. Giving the corpses a grave and things like that."

"Okay , citizen. We'll talk later again." He disappeared and left a puzzled Caroline behind. Citizen... kill them... what was going on here? She considered everything for five minutes until she realized it was time to give in the code.

She searched for a program, wondering why she knew what she was searching for. Then she found it. An empty window.

She gave in > goto G889/ ~ find all chips}| remove biostate chip password [7848392]/<

A new window opened and all the names of every person with a biostate chip on this planet was shown. Devon Adair was not on the list and she still didn't know why.
Caroline clicked them all and pressed enter. The Reilly Program could do that but she wanted to do it on her own, to be sure that Reilly didn't wait two days and she woke them earlier...that would mean their project to fail...

"Removing biostate chips in progress" was printed on the screen. Two minutes later it was completed. But then Reilly appeared "What have you done? You didn't kill them? That's betrayal, you know that."

She wondered why he knew this but didn't show it. "I don't Reilly. I lost my memory. I only can remember how to remove the chips. Nothing more."

Reilly looked at her. "You lying b*tch. I´ll replace the chips."

"Impossible. I destroyed them. You should know that. Elizabeth intend them to fail when removed once."

"Elizabeth didn't know what she was saying." Caroline glared angrily at Reilly and then something, a picture formed before her inner eyes. A picture of her talking to Mark.

This recollection brought back her memory. And that gave Caroline the strength to erase the program which monitored Reilly. With a final scream Reilly faded away.

Caroline stood there, shocked. Another signal peep.
Another line appeared on the computer:

~ Blackout sector out of order ~
~ Coordinates to Z.E.D.-units transferred ~ Program of Terrian destroyed ~

All these lines didn't mean anything to Caroline. But she knew who she was again and she also knew that she now impossibly could stay with them. She had to leave the group. Desperately she spoke a good-bye on Alonzo's gear.

"I found out who I am and now that I know my identity, it is impossible for me to go along with you. I am not evil, I never was. But I have a background that doesn't allow me to stay on the planet. I have to go back to the stations. I had a good time with you and I´ll miss everyone, even Morgan. Good bye, Eden Project. May you succeed on this planet."

She pushed the buttons to release them from cold-sleep, went out of the ship, packed something to eat and drink and then took the single ATV to drive back to her ship.

The wind blew away her traces which had once been in the hot sand on this new Earth. The Earth that would be home to the colonists, the Earth that would provide them with food and water, the Earth that would allow their children to live free and healthy, the Earth where friendships and relationships would begin, the Earth that would mean everything to them.

But what would be life for Caroline about ? A life without friends, without a place to call home? It would be worthless because friends and a home is what human beings need to survive. And you can't call space-stations home. They are not natural, they don't provide you with fresh air or real light. You just can't call them home when you've been on a planet so beautiful and fascinating like this new earth.......

The Terrian felt a sudden pain, his vision faded. When he woke up again he found himself in something that he wasn't used to. It made him feel cramped. He tried to go into the earth to go to his mother but he wasn't able to do so. Something held him back. He tried to call to the others for help but he wasn't able to dream. He knelt in a normal Terrian way and waited for the strange feeling to fade.

The darkness was slowly fading. The first beams of light streamed into her eyes. Vaguely she opened them. For just a split of a second she had opened them. It was so bright. And she was so tired. Sleep. Yeah, just another five minutes of sleep. She sighed. Five more minutes... But then it hit her.

"Caroline, did it work?" her voice was slightly groggy. But Julia was awake now. She opened her eyes completely and looked around. She saw Caroline nowhere. She stood up, and checked the data of the others.

Alonzo was just sitting up, seeming to be perfect fit. "Hey, doc. That was just what I needed now. How are you?" He stood up, walked towards her and laid his arms around Julia's waist, kissing her gently on the neck.

"Good, but where is Caroline? Have you seen her?"

"No, you wake the others, I search for her outside. She can't be far away. Zero didn't wake us. It was her, see here." he pointed towards Zero who stood on the same place like they had left him.

"Okay." Julia went to the kids while Alonzo sprinted out. True was already up, looking fine, but Uly still lay there sleeping. She remembered the time when he wouldn't wake up from coldsleep, back in the Advance. She gently shook his shoulder but he showed no reaction. Yale and John approached her.

"What's up, doc?"

"He doesn't wake up. It's been nearly ten minutes now."

"Look, he moves..." John said as Uly moved his head slowly. Then his whole body moved.

"He's in REM." Julia said surprised.

"Maybe a Terrian dream." True looked at Uly.

"She's gone !!!" Alonzo came rushing back. He held his gear in the left hand.

"What??"

"Listen to that...." He played what Caroline had spoken on it. When it had finished, they all stood around. Nobody said a word. Uly was still dreaming but his movements slowed down. "What's up with Uly?" Alonzo asked.

"We think he's having a Terrian dream." Julia was concerned. But not so Danziger.

"Okay, we now have two problems: first Uly. He'll sooner or later wake up. It's just a question of time, second: Caroline. We need to find her. I want to talk to her. She just can't go without saying a word."

Walman gave Baines a sign. "Danziger, Baines and I take the four seater and drive to her ship. It's most possible that she went there."

"Yes, get ready now. Thanks." John sighed. One problem less. At least for the time being. Baines and Walman left. Magus and some of the others followed them.

True sat next to Uly and patted his hand. "Uly, wake up. Can you hear me? Come on. You've slept long enough." And indeed Uly was slowly opening his eyes.

"True??? Is that you??"

"No, it's just my ghost you fool."

"Not again, True, stop it. Please." Danziger couldn't believe his daughter was actually saying this.

"Okay, dad."

"Hey, Uly, are you all right?" Julia laid her diaglove on his neck.

"Yeah, I just had a dream. Nothing more." "Was it a Terrian dream?"

"Yeah."

"And what did they tell you?" Alonzo and the rest were curious. "They told me that they couldn't help my mom." Julia tried a smile. She failed. It wasn't easy for her. Neither was it for Uly or anybody else.

"Then we should go leave. Come on, Uly." "I'd like to stay here for a few minutes, please."

"Okay, take your time. We won't leave before tomorrow." Julia went out and Uly gazed at his mother.

When he came out True waved to him. He went over to her. "And, do you want to see the place I saw that weird Terrian?"

"You still believe it, or?"

"Yes, now more than ever. C'mon. I'll show you where it was." She led him away from the camp and indeed the earth had been digged where she showed him. Uly investigated the place further, his head bend down. True looked around.
And saw the Terrian again.

"Uly..." she said quietly "Uly !" somewhat louder. "Uly, look, there he is again..."
Uly spun around.
"Whoa...you're right !!!"

"See, I didn't lie !" she was glad that she hadn't seen a fata morgana. The kids ran towards the Terrian.

"Hey, you, who are you?" Uly looked at him. The Terrian seemed to feel uncomfortable.

"Why does he wear clothes?" True gazed at the strange figure. Never before had she been that close to a Terrian. It fascinated her. He looked so...so cool. Not like a cat. It was cooler. If only she could dream with them.

"Hey you, why do you wear clothes...let us dream." He waited but the Terrian didn't move.
"I don't know what's up with him..." Uly tried to communicate but failed again.

"Perhaps the clothes irritate him.." True suggested.

"Why does he wear them then?" he answered but seconds later he ripped the clothes off the Terrian, still annoyed that it hadn't been his idea. The Terrian laid his one hand on Uly's forehead and the other one on True's.

Both kids dreamed. True was mesmerized. "Wow, is that cool !!!"

"Yeah, it really is. But be quiet now. I have to do business." True gave Uly a look that named him an over-important-acting-talker. But the boy was already
occupied with dreaming with the Terrian. True walked a little bit around. Everything seemed dizzy here, the sand, the sky, the clouds, Uly, her hands...

It seemed endless until Uly was finally finished. A sudden force opened her eyes and took her away from the dreamplain. They were back on the normal level of this amazing planet.

"And, what did he say, why did he wear all this clothes?"

"He can't remember." Uly sighed.

"One more. Why are there suddenly all those people not remembering what had happened to them during the last days???"

"Well, the Terrian can't remember anything that happened during the last ten years or so..."

"And, what are we gonna do now???"

"I'll bring him back to his folks."

"Cool, can I come with you?" True liked the thought of imploring some Terrian caves.

"No, he already took you to the dreamplain. That's enough."

"Ah, c'mon Uly, that can't be all. I really like to see it and I won't touch anything, I promise..." He wasn't sure if she would keep her promise but he wasn't going to argue now. The grown ups could come every minute and he wanted to be back before that. He didn't want to tell the others yet.

"Okay, come on. Here we go." He took True's hand and the three of them sank into the earth. Moments later they were back. True was a bit disappointed that she hadn't been able to walk much around down there. It had been really cool.

Just at that moment John's head appeared behind a small hill. "Hey kids, you alright?" he wondered what they' done. Both had turned around and were shocked at his sudden appearance but tried not to show it. To bad for them that this was him. Nothing that he didn't see. Especially when it came to his daughter. "Uly, I think Yale wants to talk to you." The boy understood and went away.

Now it was only Danz and True. "Hey True."

"Hey John..." she said trying to provoke him. It didn't work.

"You know, I haven't been very nice to you lately and I'd like to apologize for that. I'm sorry." She watched him close for several minutes. It was a hard look, but he gave it back harder. She couldn't beat him with that. She always looked away first.

"Dad." She said coldly. "There's a Koba behind you." He spun around. She laughed out loud.

"Hey you, this ain't fair !!!" True began running away from him still laughing. It didn't take him too long to be a her side. He stopped her and sat down.

"True, I'm really sorry."

"I know, dad" she hugged him.

Uly felt a sudden need to close his eyes. He sat down and touched the soil, then closed his eyes. The Terrian was back on the dreamplain. He told Uly what had happened to his mother. And what he would have to do to help healing her. Uly listened with sharp ears. When the Terrian finished Uly went back to the ship. Nobody was inside. He waited another second. Then he just opened the door.
Nothing happened. He looked around. Was there any button to push even when he had opened the door? Still there was no movement. No light had gone on or out. He got nervous. Waited. Still no reaction. The seconds were like minutes.
It felt as if time stood still.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Nothing.

In a state of panic Uly closed the chamber. Then opened it again.
Nothing.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
He closed and opened it one more time.
No reaction. Nothing.

Tttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrr

Something just had to happen !!!
No, nothing.

Then a sound. He turned around and faced Julia. The door was still open. Still no reaction. "Uly !! What are you doing????!!!!???" Julia quickly closed the door and looked at the data.

Nothing had changed. Devon was still in cold-sleep. "Uly, why did you do that?"

"I needed to do it. I can't explain why. I just felt the urge to release her as soon as possible."

"Can you explain this feeling closer?" she knelt down next to him.

"No. Julia, I can't explain anything that happens with me. The dreams, the feelings, I don't know what they're about."

"Okay, champ. It will get all right, believe me. Let's go. Don't worry, okay?" She watched his face closely. Uly looked once again at his mother. She was not visibly ill. She seemed all right. Just as if she were sleeping. But he knew better. But why hadn't it work? He had been so sure that was what the Terrians had wanted him to do and yet they didn't tell him why. Julia led Uly out into the scorching G889 sun. Nothing happened in the now empty ship. At least for several days.

The colonists packed their things and took up their journey to New Pacifica again. In about one year the Colony would arrive. And with this ship over 200 families.
They all needed a home , a hospital and other things. A whole town would have to be built up. Devon was important, too, but at the moment these things came first. That was suddenly clear to everyone. They knew it was what Devon was expecting them to do. They would return to Devon as soon as possible, no question, and they would come back with a cure for her.

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