Territory by Deb2

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CHAPTER TWELVE
DECEPTION

DAY 24 LATE AFTERNOON

After several hours with no sign of True, Devon voiced the possibility the girl had encountered van Helsing. Whether that was good, bad or indifferent, Devon wasn't sure. "She may be with him now."

Yale nodded gravely. "She may be." He cast his eyes in Morgan's direction, as did the others gathered at the water tank.

Cup already at lips, Morgan sucked down the contents before speaking. What were they all looking at him for? Just because he could talk to the man, it didn't mean they were confidants. The government liaison swiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pronounced doubtfully, "I don't know. He's real funny about human contact."

Magus agreed. "I can't imagine our 'faithful' guide allowing even a child near him."

"I don't believe he'd leave her alone in this wilderness," said Devon. She headed for the semi-reassembled comtent, certain her conclusion was right, and, for once confident he'd answer, called Danziger. "John!"

His image leapt onto the monitor almost immediately. The assurance in Devon's voice raised his hopes. "You got her?"

"I'm sorry, John, no," she replied, and before he could say anything, rushed on. "But we think she may be with van Helsing."

Morgan caught Magus' eye and mouthed silently, "We?" "Van Helsing." Danziger's face clouded. "Come on, Adair, if he saw her, he'd go the other way."

"I don't think he'd allow her to come to any harm. And by 'with him', I don't necessarily mean in close proximity; he can keep his distance. True is likely to prefer that."

"Okay, so why hasn't he brought her home? Looks like he'd want to get rid of her as fast as he could."

Devon glanced at Yale, uncertain. The cyborg offered a reason. "Given van Helsing's desire to restrict contact, he won't bring her to us; he's more likely to take her with him to this evenings' meeting point." Those in the comtent began nodding to each other, murmuring agreement.

"Yes," said Morgan softly, tapping an index finger against his temple. "That does sound exactly like something he'd do."

"And if he hasn't seen her, we can ask for his help," suggested Bess. "I bet he could walk right up to her in the dark."

"Yeah," said John, every ounce of suspicion he felt for van Helsing evident in the one word.

Alonzo stressed, "Van Helsing won't hurt True." "That doesn't mean he'd help her, 'Lonz," Danziger replied. Devon spoke firmly. "Baines is the scheduled liaison. A few of us will accompany him, but *we will not* approach the meeting point itself. I think we need to get started."

"On my way," said Danziger, and apparently he was. Devon straightened up and rotated her shoulders, trying to ease the tension in her neck muscles. True *had* to be with the guide. She'd be relatively safe with him. But if True was still alone, van Helsing could probably find her easily. Devon wished he'd accept gear for just such emergencies.

"I'll notify Baines, and the others," said Yale. Devon flickered a smile at him, then grinned. "John has probably beaten you to it."

Baines reached the appointed place--a grove of fruit trees loaded with greenish-yellow globes--and waited. He'd arrived early, hoping with the others that van Helsing had True and was already there. The tech saw no sign of the two. His gear was ready. He anxiously scanned the surrounding woods. Behind him, out of sight among the trees, were Devon, Morgan, Cameron and Danziger. They'd considered Dr. Heller as one of the team. Morgan had pointed out van Helsing's aversion to her seemed especially strong. Julia and Alonzo silently agreed with him.

As always, Baines worried that he might be in the wrong place. Van Helsing had never failed to show up, but eventually one of the chosen Edenites was going to misunderstand the directions and descriptions. Or had they already and the guide found them anyway? A movement off to the left interrupted his thoughts.

"There she is!" he exclaimed, forgetting his gear for a moment, then transmitting to everyone: "She's with him!"

Danziger burst into sight and raced thru the darkening woods toward Baines. It barely registered on him when he turned his ankle; he regained his balance and continued running pell mell across the forest floor. The man couldn't slacken his pace. He caught up with, and passed, Baines, who'd pointed out True with van Helsing a short way off.

Van Helsing halted his animal and stood motionless. John panted onward, side hurting. He slowed only after reaching them, and snatched his daughter off the horse as van Helsing adroitly moved away, still holding the reins. Danziger felt relieved that his girl wasn't riding double with the guide.

"I'm okay, Daddy," said True, squirming out of his arms. The way he was gulping in air, he didn't need her weight on him. "I'm not hurt or anything."

Danziger knelt beside her, breathing deeply, not yet able to speak. His heart pounded from stress, both physical and emotional. He inspected his daughter; at camp, he'd have Julia examine her thoroughly. To his layman's eye, True-girl looked fine. She certainly didn't look like a kid who'd spent most of the day lost in a wilderness. Her hair was too neatly braided and her face clean. True's clothes *were* a little dirty and there were a few bruises and scratches on her arms and legs. Skinned knees seemed to be the major injury. They and the scratches were discolored. John rubbed gently at the edge of one small scratch, first with a dry finger and then with the finger moistened with dad-spit. The discoloration remained.

True squelched the urge to jerk her arm away in disgust. Her dad was going to be mad enough as it was. "He gave me some leaves to clean the scratches with. They stained my skin."

"Yeah?" managed Danziger. He looked up at van Helsing. Van Helsing was watching the forest, eyes darting, head held slightly back. John felt sure the woodsman knew the location of every member of the group anywhere near them.

Van Helsing effortlessly mounted his horse. He sat in absolute silence, watching as first one, then another and another person came into view. It seemed he anticipated where each would appear, turning to gaze in that direction before John or True realized anyone was there. By the time Danziger was breathing normally, Baines, Morgan, Devon and Cameron stood in a rough semicircle about 25 feet away. With Danziger no longer panting, the only sound was the impatient whickering of the mare, eager to leave.

John was saved the indignity of thanking van Helsing by the man's observation immediately before obliging his horse: "You're appallingly careless with your offspring."

However much True wanted it to, Danziger's relief at her safe return didn't overpower his anger at her having disobeyed him. She winced in anticipation of the coming parental storm. The kid dreaded being alone with her dad; she knew that look, a patient, deceivingly placid look.

At present, tho', True was the center of attention for all of Eden Advance. Dr. Heller was puzzled, then delighted when True presented her with the herbs and explained what they were. Mr. Martin said something about her having cost them a day's travel time; True noticed Bess elbowing the man, but she also noticed just about everyone else nodding and muttering things like "That's right." Uly just grinned; he stood right inside the medtent door, clutching his lightening stick and grinning.

Julia's exam showed no damage to the child other than the scratches--evidently something in the plants did indeed aid healing--and several small contusions on her arms. The bruises were troubling: their pattern was consistent with handprints. The doctor gently turned the child's arms, studying the pattern again. The bruising had been caused by being held very tightly and the damage indicated True had been suspended by her arms. Julia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, hesitant to voice her suspicions. The doctor smiled at Danziger and stepped away from True. John immediately filled the space.

"How'd you skin your knees?" he asked. "I fell down," replied True. She twisted her leg around to reveal a long, shallow scratch. "There's a lot of ways to get hurt out there." She examined her arms. "I didn't know I had so many cuts and stuff."

"Stuff," echoed John. "Like these bruises?" Julia caught Devon's eye. Devon realized there was more to this than was readily apparent. The look on Julia's face made her wary. Both women turned back to the Danzigers.

True touched one of the bruises experimentally. The realization of how close she came to dying hit home and the little girl grew very pale. Danziger would have known something was wrong even if she hadn't blanched. The way she held her body, the way she breathed told him.

"What happened, True-girl?" he asked intently, louder than he'd meant to.

True wasn't shaken enough to forget the upcoming punishment, which was bound to be considerable, and saw a way out, or at least a way to put it off. The girl continued to scrutinize the small bluish marks on her arms, avoiding her dad's eyes.

Danziger sat next to her on the cot and said remorsefully, "It's okay, True. I didn't mean to yell; I'm not blaming you. But you have to tell me how you got those bruises."

"I don't think he meant to hurt me," she almost whispered. "Meant to hurt you?" repeated John dangerously. "True, what happened out there?"

True shook her head, still not meeting her father's eyes. John wrapped his arms around her, stroked her hair, murmured bits of comfort. He maintained a facade of calm for the sake of his daughter. It was plain True was fighting tears. Devon gently dispersed the family. They understood the need for privacy; still, their concern drew them back together several feet away. Devon gave Bess charge over Uly with a tilt of her head.

Devon quietly asked Yale, who'd stayed at her side, to join the others as a voice of reason. He raised his eyebrows at her choice of words and cast a glance at Julia. The doctor looked soberly back at him, her lips a thin line. She shook her head slightly. The wise old tutor left them. Devon, Julia, Alonzo and the Danzigers remained in the medtent.

Only the Danzigers could hear what they said to one another. They seemed oblivious to anyone else. Devon felt like a Peeping Tom; she'd have slipped outside, dragging 'Lonz and Julia with her, if Julia hadn't given her 'forewarning'.

Alonzo felt the tension radiating from the women on either side of him. He tried to take Julia's hand and found she was concealing a sediderm. What was going on? Julia caught his eye and gave a slight nod toward the Danzigers. Alonzo's eyebrows shot toward his hairline. Did she expect True to get hysterical?

True was rubbing her arms like that would erase the bruises. The little girl kept her head lowered; she mummbled something which Danziger repeated, concern and bewilderment mingled in his voice.

"You don't want me to go after him?" The tent became quiet; the sound of True rubbing her arms was clearly audible.

"True-girl," asked John calmly, enveloping her hands in his own, "what happened that I would want to 'go after him'?"

"The cliff," she replied in a very small voice. True still kept her head down.

"The cliff. What cliff? What happened there?" "He held me over the edge!" Technically, it wasn't a lie. Alonzo's eyes widened. A slight movement at his side drew his attention to Julia; the doctor was ready to pounce on Danziger. Did she actually think John was going to need sedating? He looked at Devon, who stood wide-eyed herself, momentarily mesmerized by True's statement. Awareness of Alonzo's gaze snapped her back to normal.

"Julia, can you confirm that?" Devon asked. The small group, True included, looked to Dr. Heller.

"It is possible," she admitted.
John didn't speak. His face said van Helsing was a dead man. John began rocking True as if she were tiny. He could have lost her. He could have lost her to another madman.

"Van Helsing didn't torture that kid," insisted Alonzo thru the shirt he was stripping off.

Julia pushed her hair behind her ears. "Alonzo, even if we disregard True's story, the nature of the contusions clearly indicates she was suspended *by her arms*. The pattern further indicates she was suspended by either a woman or a small man."

"Plan on opening up a detective agency on the side?" She closed her eyes in frustration. "A competent doctor must be observant and must be able to reach a valid conclusion based upon what is observed." Julia opened her eyes and stood hands on hips regarding the dreamer. "Van Helsing must have done it."

"Van Helsing had to *touch* her to leave those marks," argued Alonzo. He bunched the shirt up and threw it toward the far corner. "He won't let anyone get within six feet of him! Something happened, yeah, but I can't see him torturing the kid just for kicks, not if it meant touching her. Can you? Honestly?"

Julia shook her head.

DAY 25

True's conscience bothered her and she'd slept fitfully, which meant Danziger's sleep was interrupted by her restlessness as well as his anger and desire for revenge. A lack of rest amplified the forbidding expression he wore to breakfast. He shoveled in whiteroot mush and 'antelope' steaks without tasting anything. He grunted a wordless response to Devon's greeting. Eden Advance avoided Danziger as much as possible. He didn't notice. He didn't see the sidelong glances or hear the conversation of the others, conversation carefully omitting yesterday's events.

True's story was common knowledge. The group divided itself into three factions: Alonzo, Uly (who, to Devon's embarrassment, had been caught eavesdropping) and Morgan didn't believe van Helsing had intentionally harmed the girl, and tho' Alonzo and Uly stopped short of calling her story a fabrication, Morgan did not; Julia, Devon, Bess and Yale were unsure; the remaining Edenites chose to believe True. Baines refused to return to the grove.

"I am resigning my commission," he stated, the hard look in his eyes causing even Devon to back down.

Morgan and Alonzo took his place. Morgan perversely wasn't apprehensive. He more or less drafted the pilot, telling him that when it came to talking to van Helsing, it looked like they were the only ones with the b--uh, guts. (Morgan saw no reason to invite more abuse from the 'gang' by putting himself on a par with Loverboy Alonzo in *that* area).

Van Helsing had spoken to Morgan once Alonzo moved back, hadn't mentioned yesterday, hadn't acted differently at all. He'd not responded with the least flicker when Morgan warned him about Danziger. In frustration, genuinely concerned for the guide's safety,(van Helsing had, after all, saved his life) Morgan had cried dramatically, "He's out for blood! Your blood!"

The horseman had speared Morgan with a flash of his eyes, startling the stationman almost into wetting his pants. "Is he?" van Helsing had bitten out, contempt quite plain. The man's anger had infected the mare and she'd pawed the ground and tossed her head before rearing up, looming monstrously over Morgan.

He'd screamed and run, not stopping until reaching Alonzo, and then he literally fell into the pilot's arms. A glance over his shoulder reassured him: Van Helsing was gone. Morgan definitely preferred the inscrutable van Helsing.

Camp was broken and they were ready to travel when the two men returned. The slow trek thru the woods resumed. True was secured in the TransRover until further notice. Danziger strode alongside, sometimes impatiently stopping to allow the vehicle to catch up. He walked alone, as unapproachable as the man he wanted to 'thank'.

Although John walked by himself, he wasn't alone in his opinion of van Helsing, or Adair's idiocy in still trusting the woodsman's directions. Magus, Cameron and Matazl followed the TransRover grimly. Walman drove the 'Rover, tight-lipped, fiercely protective of True. His occasional glances at her, meant to be encouraging, made her nervous. Denner rode with them; she'd impulsively given the little girl a quick hug and offered her shoulder as a pillow so True could nap. True thanked her and declined. All the attention was kinda nice, but it was also kinda stifling.

Morgan, once with Bess and once with Devon, reluctantly contacted van Helsing twice more prior to Eden's settling for the night. Van Helsing maintained a greater distance than usual from them; that suited Morgan just fine. The guide constantly surveyed the woods and remained on horseback. Bess pitied him. His normal arrogant disinterest had worn thin in spots; the anxiety revealed worried her.

DAY 26

It was his tenth day as their guide; van Helsing showed up with his beard closely trimmed and his long hair braided. When Morgan and Devon reported this, the men voiced suspicions he wanted a woman. The only women he permitted near were Bess and Devon. He seldom spoke to Bess, and never to Devon. But he was such an odd character, he may have wanted any of them. *Any* of them, stressed Danziger, man, woman or child.

Baines increased his resolve never to act as liaison again.

In private, Yale asked Devon about the 'E 2' tattoo. After a moment's reflection, Devon replied, "I didn't see one, and his neck was clearly exposed." She demonstrated by gathering her hair in a ponytail at the base of her skull. "Yale, were all convicts branded?"

He stroked his beard. "So far as I have been able to determine, yes. And if our guide lacks the insignia, he is not a convict."

"Then what is he? Who is he? Is Bess's theory right? Has the Council been sending people here long enough that van Helsing was born on G889?"

Tensions eased gradually. The forest began to thin out again, and they covered a lot of ground, working off the anger-energy and beginning to function as one rather than three. Air-clearing arguments along the way replaced silence and grumblings. Morgan, in the interest of peace, diplomatically allowed that True may have misinterpreted things and wasn't knowingly lying. He smugly kept to himself a suspicion that the kid was walking the fine line separating the whole truth and just enough truth. He'd done that professionally and wasn't fooled by amateurs. John and Devon 'discussed' Adair's decision to permit van Helsing to remain their guide. She felt they had no choice. Her open resentment of the fact appeased Danziger. By nightfall, the only serious rift in the group was between the children. Bess brought the subject up to Devon and to John, separately. Both dismissed it, seeing True's grounding as interfering with the kids' straightening things out.

Eden Advance relaxed, more or less, around the smoky campfire. It was too warm to have one and too buggy not to. The larger moon hadn't risen yet and the smaller had set already, so the stars shone thru wherever the trees weren't. John relented; he let True join them. Uly rose, told his mom and Yale goodnight, and went on to bed. Devon watched him walk away, his narrow shoulders slumping. She consulted Yale with a look. The tutor slowly shook his head. Bess caught Devon's eye and smiled sympathically. She then regarded True who sat next to her dad, knees drawn up against her chest. And John, who either hadn't noticed Uly leaving, or saw no significance in it.

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