Context by Deborah Walsh

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

- Text Size +

Context (3/20)
by Deb Walsh

The Terrian raised its chin and warbled another question. Alonzo listened carefully and shook his head. "I don't understand the question," he replied, frowning. Usually, the Terrians made him understand through their dream communication, almost as if they planted the words and comprehension of them in his mind. It frustrated him that he couldn't grasp the concepts they fed him. The Terrian repeated its question, and still Alonzo looked confused. Alonzo felt the eyes of the Terrian on him, holding him, and then it turned away. It took its place with the assembled ranks of its fellows, and with a great rush of sound like atmosphere sucked out into vacuum, the Terrians dropped back into the earth.

***

Julia sat beside Alonzo in the TransRover, their turn to ride instead of walk. She half-dozed in the vehicle, lulled by its steady motion. After the break, Baines had turned over the Rail to Walman, and the Martins had traded off the Rail with Cameron and Magus.

Yale and the children strode alongside, Uly dragging a stick in the dust, True chattering to her father.

Danziger had waved off his chance to travel in one of the vehicles, claiming a need for exercise. It all looked so normal, she found herself glancing around, instinctively searching for Devon. She frowned as she recognized it for the reflex it was. Turning toward Alonzo to distract herself, she realized that her companion was asleep, his eyelids moving rapidly in REM sleep. His lips moved silently, and she made a grab for her diaglove.

Danziger must have seen her put on the diagnostic device, because he turned now toward the TransRover, and moved closer to the side of the vehicle.

"What's wrong?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Julia answered as she reviewed the readouts.

"He's dreaming."

"Terrian dreams?" Danziger ventured warily.

She nodded, blowing out a breath. "The first time in weeks." Alonzo Solace was the only adult in the party to communicate directly with the Terrians on the dreamplane. Early in his career as a cold-sleep pilot, he'd lost the ability to dream normally, but the Terrians had found a way to restore that ability for their own purposes. The dreams were sometimes informative, sometimes upsetting, and Julia was always concerned about the affect of the dreams on his system.

She pressed the diaglove against Alonzo's neck and nodded again, this time to herself. "His vitals are stable. But whatever he's dreaming about, it's upsetting him - his adrenaline's up."

Suddenly, Alonzo bolted up in his seat, his eyes wide open. His abrupt movement almost sent Julia toppling out the other side of the TransRover, and she had to grab for a support to steady herself. "Alonzo?"

"Wha-?" he muttered, glancing anxiously around him.

"Take it easy, buddy," Danziger told him, patting him on the shoulder. "You were catching some zzzs with the diggers."

"Yeah, I know," Alonzo agreed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

"You wanna talk about it?" Danziger asked, his face a mixture of hope and suspicion.

Alonzo turned toward Danziger, and shook his head.

"Not yet. I need to think about this one for a while - I'm not sure what they're trying to tell me. Or ask me. I'm not even sure why they contacted me -"

"Was it about Uly?" Danziger pressed.

Alonzo smiled faintly. "Now you sound like Devon."

Danziger's face closed, and his lips pressed into a grim line. "Yeah, well, she put me in charge of her kid. Guess the question comes with the territory."

"No, John, it wasn't about Uly. At least, I don't think so. I think maybe it was about Devon. But I'm not sure ..."

"Okay, buddy. Think on it. But don't go holding anything back, okay?" Danziger conceded gruffly.

"Okay, John," Alonzo consented, and the team's replacement leader patted him on the arm and turned away, rejoining Yale and the children.

"Was it really about Devon, Alonzo?" Julia inquired softly after Danziger had moved out of earshot.

"Yeah, I think so," Alonzo answered absently. "It was weird - we just couldn't communicate. Like ..."

"Like what, 'Lonz?"

"Like I don't know, Doc. I really gotta think about this one for a while. Okay?" He turned liquid brown eyes toward her, and she felt destined to lose herself in those eyes. She found herself nodding agreement before she consciously chose to do so.

***

They still had a little daylight left by the time they moved into the area Baines had identified for a camp.

They'd only put about ten kilometers between themselves and the ship, but Danziger felt a little better for having gotten them this far this first day. He started checking over the vehicles, unstrapping needed supplies as the others fell into their usual routines.

This was the one part of the day that never really needed orders to be shouted, or butts to be prodded.

Everyone was always eager to set up camp, have a meal, and settle down for the night. Walman helped Julia pull her medical equipment off the TransRover, then went to work immediately on setting up the perimeter sensors. Alonzo started driving the portable lights into the ground, right behind Walman. Martin was helping Bess set up their tent, after which they'd start assembling the evening meal. Only True and Uly seemed to have no specific task to perform, but before he had to deal with them, Yale stepped in and suggested they help Julia.

Activity suited John just fine. Activity without somebody at his elbow asking fool questions and probing too deeply into his psyche suited him even better. Not that he would have minded the company of certain people, but the opportunity to just get the job done unhindered had its attractions. Before long, he had the TransRover unpacked, and was setting out the components of Chez Danziger. As he pounded the tent stakes into the ground, he realized he'd have to discuss Uly's situation with Yale. Not to mention True, who'd probably pitch a fit over sharing her tent - and her Dad - with Uly Adair.

Yale saved him the trouble. The children were still occupied assisting Julia in resetting the med-tent, and the tutor came over to John and cleared his throat gently.

"John, I've been thinking -"

"Me, too, Yale. About Uly -"

"I was thinking that perhaps we should simply set our tents very close together tonight. I know Devon asked you to look after him, and I respect that. But I think too many changes too quickly will not be good for the children, either of them."

Danziger straightened slowly from the tent peg, and looked into the tutor's eyes. "Yeah, I agree," Danziger replied, pushing his unruly hair out of his eyes. "Y'know, I don't mean to -"

"I know, John. I do understand. I am not a parent. I am a tutor. That doesn't mean I love Uly any less than a parent, but there are times ..." he sighed heavily, "when only the touch of a parent will do. Uly never knew his father; you're the only male role model he's ever had. He looks up to you. He knows his mother trusted you. And you have demonstrated again and again your ability as a father. Both to True and to Uly. I feel no ... disloyalty ... in Devon's request."

Danziger nodded slowly, swallowing hard. The quiet dignity of the man always took him by surprise.

Nothing he'd ever heard of the Yale units matched the man he had learned to call friend. He thrust his hand out toward Yale wordlessly, and the tutor accepted the hand with a gentle smile. "Let's get your tent set up, then, neighbor."

***

The evening meal had been uneventful, although the tubers Bess had roasted over the fire had tasted good after the long day on the road. Conversation had been desultory at best; at times, it had fallen off into awkward silences that threatened to stretch on forever.

The group had broken up early, everyone wandering off to their own tents, leaving Danziger alone by the fire to stand the first watch. He knew he'd have trouble sleeping, and he wanted to put it off as long as possible. The later he waited, the more likely he'd fall into a dreamless sleep of exhaustion.

He slung the Mag-Pro over his shoulder and started his first circuit of the evening, checking the perimeter defenses with care. Next, he looked over the condenser unit, then the generator. All was in order. As he made his way around camp, the soft murmur of private discussions filtered out of the tents, and he found himself feeling lonely in the crisp cool of the night.

Not lonely for just anyone's company; Danziger had never been comfortable with people as a rule. The people he'd called friends over the years had been selected carefully - usually people of his own class, his own work ethic, who felt at home with grease on their hands and a toolbelt round their waists. People like Alex Wentworth and Les Fierstein. All his Ops Crew, really. He'd never expected to find that same roll-your-sleeves-up-and-get-down-to-work attitude in someone from the highest echelons of the stations.

Even Morgan Martin sometimes surprised him, although not often. Walman, Baines, Magus, Cameron and Eben, God rest her soul, they were from his side of the credit chip. Yale ... well, Yale was in a class by himself. And Bess Martin? You had to be tough to survive on old Earth. He'd even liked O'Neill in the short time he'd known him, although the man's macho attitude had gotten him killed. More than once, actually.

No, Devon Adair had been one shock after another.

Imperious, yes, but willing to listen, if you shouted loud and long enough. Obsessed with her kid. But that was something he could understand and even respect.

And she learned. Everything this planet threw at her, she took in stride and made adjustments. As the muted conversations dwindled around him, and the silence of the night settled around his shoulders, he found himself missing her quiet confidence ... quiet, hah!

The woman wore her confidence like armor. But she could be a good listener. And she had a great laugh.

And sometimes she pissed him off bad enough he had to curb the urge to belt her, woman or no woman. He hadn't met anyone who could make him feel like that since Elle.

He grimaced at himself, mooning like some lovestruck schoolboy from the upper levels, and turned back toward the perimeter. That's when he saw the lone Terrian standing just outside the sensor web.

Adrenaline surged through his system at the sight of the towering figure cast in eerie shadows by G889's twin moons. Instinctively, he searched out the tent containing Uly, and moved quickly toward the tent flap.

"Yale!" he called softly. The sound of rustling answered his hail, and a moment later, Yale stuck his head out.

"What is it, John?" the tutor asked worriedly.

"Terrian. Uly okay?"

Yale followed Danziger's line of sight, and his eyes narrowed at the Terrian standing silent sentinel at the perimeter's edge. Then he glanced back into the tent and nodded. "He just dropped off. I don't know if he'll sleep well, but he's asleep right now."

"Good. Keep an eye on him. And I'll keep an eye on _him_," Danziger vowed, nodding toward the Terrian.

***

They'd picked a good place to camp for the night - defensible, with a source of clean water, and abundant food at hand. As the chill settled around her, she envied them their campfire and their tents, but she huddled closer into her blankets and willed the cold away. She had spent colder nights on the trail behind them, nights when her stomach had growled its hunger at her, and her bones had ached with the chill. Before, she would have simply sunk into the earth, and remained warm in its embrace. But that had been denied her, and so she learned to live like a human again.

She had chosen a spot on the slope above them, where she could see into the camp, but her presence was screened by trees. She built no fire, and she had no artificial lights, so she blended into the darkness as she had once blended into the earth. The camp was silent now, empty except for the man, John Danziger, who patrolled its perimeter like a frustrated predator.

Suddenly, she felt rather than saw the Terrian rise up from the earth, taking a position just outside the device that circled the camp. She knew how pitiful a defense that device was to one who swam the earth; she had penetrated it herself on more than one occasion.

That the swimmer had chosen to stand outside the line meant that it had no intention of entering the camp, merely announcing its presence. She yearned to reach out to it on the dreamplane, to divine its purpose, but try as she might, the dreamplane was closed to her.

She watched with interest as Danziger reacted to the Terrian, conferring briefly with Yale, then returned to his patrol, always keeping a wary eye on the Terrian.

In her nest of blankets, she smiled. Something was going to happen, and soon. And that something might just allow her entrance back into the earth.

***

The Terrian had been standing immobile at the camp's edge for only a few minutes when Alonzo came out of the tent he shared with Julia. Danziger was still making his circuit of the camp, careful not to allow the Terrian to distract him from his real purpose, but he'd kept half-an-eye on the digger no matter where he was.

The sight of Alonzo confronting the enormous creature brought him a moment's relief, but when Uly walked out toward the Terrian a few minutes later, John tensed and checked the charge on the Mag-Pro.

Cautiously, Danziger completed his perimeter tour, then came up quietly behind Alonzo and Uly. By now, Yale and Julia had followed them. Alonzo turned toward Danziger as though he'd been waiting for him to join them. Danziger held the Mag-Pro defensively as he walked up to Solace.

"It's all right, John. He's not here for Uly," Alonzo assured him immediately.

"Then what?" Danziger demanded suspiciously.

"I'm not sure. I still haven't made sense of my dream this afternoon. But he's the Terrian from that dream.

Maybe -"

Danziger bit off, "How can you tell?" as the Terrian trilled something then, a creepy sound coming from its lips, which always looked to Danziger as though they were half-decomposed. Even creepier was the way both Alonzo and Uly snapped to attention, hanging rapt on every ... well, every whatever it was the Terrian was doing.

Alonzo listened for a moment, then turned back to Danziger. "He wants us to dream with him. He says the dreamplane is very strong in this valley. I guess there's a lot of Morganite here. They don't seem to understand us any better than I understood the dream this afternoon. And it's important that we do understand each other," Alonzo explained urgently.

Danziger took a deep breath and turned to Julia.

"Doc?"

She glanced from Alonzo to Uly to Danziger. "I'll get my diaglove. Hold on, okay?"

"Make it fast, Julia," Alonzo advised, and she sprinted across the camp to their tent.

"Is it necessary for Uly to participate in this?" Yale asked suddenly, his hand held protectively on the boy's shoulder.

Uly looked up at him with eyes much older than his years. "It's important, Yale," the boy told him seriously. "I'll be okay."

Out of breath and panting, Julia trotted back to them, her diaglove securely mounted on her arm. "Okay. I'm ready," she gasped.

Alonzo smiled then, a sweet smile that made Julia blush. "Better use it on yourself, Doc - and tomorrow I'm putting you on a new exercise program."

"I get quite enough exercise with the pace Danziger'll be pushing us," she rejoined, and Danziger coughed meaningfully.

"We don't have all night, and I'm gettin' cold just standin' here," Danziger complained pointedly.

Alonzo's face grew serious again, as though the light had been switched off. He got that strange faraway look he sometimes got when talking about the Terrians.

Uly looked up at him with utter trust, and as one, the two of them dropped to the ground, flattening their hands against the soil. The Terrian crouched down across the perimeter sensor from them, its own massive hands pressed against the earth. They fell into an uncanny silence as Danziger, Julia and Yale waited.

***

The dreamscape was unusually vivid this time, and Alonzo turned to find Uly standing beside him. They were back in the valley with the ship, and their Terrian companion stood a few feet away. The ship remained where they'd left it, untouched, sunlight glinting off its polished surface so brightly, it hurt Alonzo's eyes. The leaves on the bushes and trees were so clear, they seemed to be cut from crystal.

The Terrian looked at them and trilled. Uly listened intently, and trilled back a response. With his connection to the Terrians, Alonzo didn't find Uly's mastery of the Terrian language as weird or unsettling as the others did, but he still marvelled at how the boy had grasped the complex language.

Uly was telling the Terrian that his mom was in the ship. The Terrian shifted its head in query, and Uly explained further than Devon was sick, and the ship was keeping her alive. Alonzo knew that while bright, Uly didn't know all of the specifics, and when the Terrian warbled another interrogative, he took over the conversation.

"The ship is keeping her frozen, so she doesn't die," Alonzo explained patiently. "She's sleeping, until we can find a cure."

This seemed to puzzle the Terrian even more. It responded in its own language that the winter hibernation was over in this part of the world, that the dreamtime was ended.

"No, not that kind of sleep. The disease she has is killing her," Alonzo asserted, casting an anxious glance toward Uly. The boy looked up at the Terrian impassively. Alonzo pressed on. "We placed her in cold sleep, like ... like freezing in the ice ... so that she wouldn't get any sicker. When we can, we'll come back for her and cure her - wake her out of her sleep."

"Can you cure my mom?" Uly asked simply, the pure confidence and trust in his voice breaking Alonzo's heart.

The Terrian glanced at the ship, then back at Uly. It looked down at the boy and trilled softly. Alonzo took a step back in shock. The Terrian had asked, "Why?"

***

"This isn't good," Julia said worriedly, passing the diaglove over Alonzo. "His heart rate is elevated, and his endorphins are spiking."

"What about Uly?" Yale asked urgently.

Julia moved quickly to the boy, and proceeded with diagnostics. "Not as bad. His readings are closer to normal, but they're still higher than normal. Wait - his alpha rhythms are increasing - I think they're coming out of it."

Alonzo's eyes shot open, eyes full of turmoil. Uly's opened more slowly, but there were tears trailing down his cheeks. The Terrian stood abruptly and dropped into the earth. Alonzo leaned forward on his arms, breathing raggedly. "I don't understand," he moaned.

"I just don't understand!"

Uly turned his face toward Yale, and whispered, "Why won't they help my mom?"

***

"True, honey, I need your help."

"What is it, Dad?" True asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes with her fists.

John Danziger sat on the edge of his daughter's cot, and brushed her hair back from her eyes. "I need you to look after Uly tonight, sport. He's had a bad shock, and I think he could use the company."

"About his mom?" Danziger nodded. "Okay. I guess I can do that. What're you gonna do?"

"I'm going to look after Alonzo - he's had a bad shock, too."

"The Terrians?" Again Danziger nodded. "I'm glad I don't dream with them," True shuddered. "Too creepy."

"Yeah," Danziger agreed fervently, gently patting True's shoulder. "Look, True - don't tell Uly you're supposed to be looking after him, okay? Yale'll stay with you guys for a while, and Uly wouldn't like it -"

"If he thought I was his babysitter. Got it, Dad."

Danziger had to smile at the maturity of his daughter.

Oh, she could be a royal pain in the butt, and truth was she could be wild when the spirit moved her. But at the core of her, there was a strength he admired, even envied. Y'done good, Elle, he said to himself.

Yale called out from beyond the tent flap at that moment, and Danziger invited him and Uly in. Uly was arguing softly with the tutor, and Yale simply sailed into the tent, ignoring Uly's protests. Another trait Danziger envied - ignoring True had never been something he was good at, except at the wrong times.

"I want you guys to stick together, you understand, Uly?" Danziger directed to the boy.

"But the Terrians won't hurt us, Mr. Danziger -"

"Humor me, okay, kid? I'm gonna look after Alonzo - you get some rest. There won't be anymore Terrian dreams tonight, right?"

Uly nodded solemnly. "No, sir."

The crestfallen expression on the boy's face cut right through Danziger's soul, and he had to fight back the urge to grab the kid and hug him. True was feeling generous, but not that generous, he was sure, and he wasn't certain how Uly'd react to such an overture from him. Not for the first time, and not for the only reason, he wished Devon were here. He contented himself with a hand on Uly's shoulder. "You two look after each other, okay, champ? True?"

"Yes, Dad," True agreed, somewhat impatiently.

"Yes, Mr. Danziger," Uly echoed, staring at his feet, which he scuffed in the dirt of the tent floor.

"I'll be in the med-tent, Yale," Danziger told Yale, and with a brief clap on Yale's upper arm, he left the tent.

You must login (register) to review.