Territory by Deb2

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN
REVENGE

DAY 28

When John cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted for van Helsing, the last thing he expected was a response. He'd been venting anger more than seriously offering a challenge, using scout time to bellow for the nasty little sadist.

Van Helsing materialized, on foot for a change, too close for comfort. What did he do, walk on air? Come thru the ground like the diggers? Baines and Devon had talked about the guide's fastidiousness and now he was near enough that Danziger could see for himself. No way van Helsing would move thru dirt.

John left the ATV and strode toward the woodsman, who backed away. John plowed on, wordlessly. Van Helsing seemed to prefer silence and what was there to say, anyhow? After several yards of Danziger advancing and van Helsing retreating, the guide halted. He tilted his head Terrian-like, then raised it and appeared to sniff the air. His eyes were flat and indifferent when he turned them to John. The expression didn't change as John charged him.

If the men had been more alike physically, Danziger would have ended up an unconscious mess bleeding into the humus. As it was, his longer reach provided a slight advantage which surprise at van Helsing's agility almost negated. The small man was *fast*, fast and strong. He didn't strike out at Danziger, and easily evaded most of the big mechanic's punches. When John managed to connect, van Helsing didn't seem to feel them like he should have. A couple of times John found himself face down in the dirt, having been tripped. Van Helsing's politely waiting as he got to his feet was salt in the wound. The smaller man acted as if it were a game, drawing nearer, then dancing away, taunting Danziger.

The woodsman liked teasing people, did he? Taunting and tormenting, he liked doing that? Danziger eased back, slowly, watching van Helsing's reaction; van Helsing didn't pursue the panting man. John stopped a few meters away, half bent over, hands on thighs, upper body propped up by his rigid arms. He sucked in air. Van Helsing was breathing harder, but he wasn't winded, and he stood lightly, regarding Danziger, who imagined he knew how a mouse felt confronted by a cat. John's breath came in angry gasps; with exaggerated care, he straightened up and pushed a hand thru sweaty, tangled hair. He forced himself to breathe normally and moved a few feet closer. Deliberately imitating van Helsing's softly and efficiently, he delivered a very good shot at John, who tasted blood. His lip was split, and a tooth or two felt wobbly. Oddly, this made Danziger more confident. He'd been ticked off by van Helsing's indifference. Now the woodsman was mad, responding in a normal manner. John busted his knuckles open on van Helsing's chin. It was well worth it. This time, the woodsman lost his balance.

John flung himself down at van Helsing. He abruptly found himself airborne, then lying on his back, trying to get his breath. The back of his head hurt. Must have hit a tree root or rock. He lay still, eyes closed, wincing with each breath. He thought he heard the other man approach. Probably checking out the damage.

And then it was van Helsing's turn to be tossed. Danziger struck as quickly as a snake, instinct guiding him. He rolled, forcing the other man to the ground, hoping sheer weight would keep him there. He stared down at his adversary. The man was pinned securely. Agility couldn't compete with mass, not without leverage. John squeezed the skinny forearms, devoutly wishing his hands were around van Helsing's neck. Killing him was a real temptation. Danziger squeezed harder. He had nearly convinced himself they didn't need this guide any longer.

Both men heard and felt the snap. Van Helsing cried out in pain. John was surprised. He was pleased and grew careless, underestimating the woodsman.

Van Helsing flipped Danziger against a tree five feet away, in spite of the bmpete with mass, not without leverage. John squeezed the skinny forearms, devoutly wishing his hands were around van Helsing's neck. Killing him was a real temptation. Danziger squeezed harder. He had nearly convinced himself they didn't need this guide any longer.

Both men heard and felt the snap. Van Helsing cried out in pain. John was surprised. He was pleased and grew careless, underestimating the woodsman.

Van Helsing flipped Danziger against a tree five feet away, in spite of the broken arm. The impact stunned him. He blurrily watched the injured man stumble away. By the time John could stand, van Helsing had disappeared.

"I guess a combative nature runs in the family," commented Dr. Heller while scanning Danziger, who held a damp cloth pressed to his mouth.

He set his jaw and stared straight ahead, ignoring Julia's attempt to bait him.

"Concussion. It could certainly be worse. That thick skull of your's does have advantages." Nothing. The doctor looked up from the readouts.

John was in no mood for levity. In fact, his mood was so defensive as to be offensive. He'd driven back to the caravan, located Julia, and guiding the ATV alongside her, asked for medical attention before Devon called him on the carpet. Eden Advance halted. John looked pretty bad, blood, dirt and sweat. The curious and concerned Edenites wandered over, considered Danziger's return glare, and walked away. The story would come out sooner or later.

Even True was hanging back, tho' not entirely of her own volition. She'd leapt out of the TransRover and sped to her father the second the vehicle stopped. He'd winced a half-smile at her from behind the compress.

"Back to the TransRover, True-girl," Danziger said indistinctly.

"Are you okay, Dad?"
"Yeah. Cuts and bruises. Doc'll fix me up." "You picked a fight with van Helsing, didn't you?" Julia had paused in her work and Danziger sat silent, both startled by the accusation in the girl's tone.

"Back to the 'Rover," was repeated, and True unexpectedly obeyed with no argument.

Arms crossed, Devon watched Julia attend the elder, but apparently no more mature, Danziger. She was taken aback. It had never crossed her mind that he could get near van Helsing, much less close enough to attack him. John didn't look badly hurt. Devon stalked over to the doctor and her patient.

"Devon," acknowledged Danziger.
"How's van Helsing?" she demanded. "Thanks for your concern, Adair."
"You're a big man, John, a good deal bigger and stronger than van Helsing. Is he badly injured?"

Danziger bristled. "He walked away. Think I'd leave him hurt?"

"Yes, I do." Devon replied. "I think you'd derive a vengeful satisfaction from it."

A denial would be lying. Danziger grimaced as Julia gently lifted the compress. "Abused True." He looked at Devon, disgusted. "I have to look out for my kid. You should understand, Devon."

The woman sighed. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to abort a heat headache. "I do, John." How could *she* say anything to him about going off the deep end for one's child? "Are you sure van Helsing is alright?"

Danziger nodded. Julia was messing with his lip; he took her hand to still it so he could talk. "He's fast. Greased lightning. Could hardly touch him."

"What puzzles me," said Julia, pulling free and continuing her work, "is how you were able to get within half a kilometer of him."

"He couldn't have, unless van Helsing let him," said Alonzo, coming up behind the mechanic. The dreamer absently massaged his aching wrist. "That was a mistake, John, a serious mistake. We need the old man."

"This cut on your lip needs to be closed," the doctor said. A change of subject struck her as wise.

"You've managed to synthesize more dermaglue?" asked Devon. "Uh, no." Julia pushed the lock of hair behind her ear. She inhaled deeply. "I'll have to take a few stitches."

John sat up ramrod straight. That did not sound good. His head pounded in protest of the sudden movement.

"It's a simple procedure. There is anesthestic, you'll feel nothing, and in about a week, I'll remove the stitches." Julia smiled apologetically. "There will be scarring, however."

Devon didn't say much to John, except to agree with Alonzo that attacking van Helsing was a mistake. They had no way of knowing how he'd react. Uly assured her he wouldn't hurt them, or try to get even or anything, but Devon knew the man could kill them in their sleep, one by one, if he wished.

Alonzo inherited the ATV. Both Danzigers were secured in the TransRover, out of trouble. Eden Advance was on the road again, or more correctly, on the beaten trail again, following a wide, packed-clay, animal highway. An open grassland dotted with trees rolled southward, divided by Uly's River meandering thru it. Herds, descendents of the original trail makers, fled from the strangers. Heat shimmer gave the landscape a surreal appearance. 'Lonz pushed his damp hair back. A dip in the river would feel good. He smiled. Maybe skinny-dipping with a certain pretty doctor. Yeah, he needed to relax. Alonzo let his thoughts drift, lacing memories with fantasies.

He was jerked back to reality by a twinge in his forearm. The pain rapidly diminished to a dull ache, like a pulled muscle. That's probably what it was; in the life they lived now, injuries seemed to generate spontaneously. Everyone in Eden Advance found mystery cuts and bruises, usually in the evening when there was time to sit and notice minor pains. They made a game of it sometimes, talking to each other, then walking away with a casual, "Do you know you're bleeding?"

The pilot stopped and raised the jumpers to his eyes. Parkland extended as far as the naked eye could see, gradually sloping south and west. Brought into view with the jumpers was a smudge on the horizon: more woods.

Alonzo ceased his slow survey of the area. Horses. Only a few, seven or eight, but definitely horses. Two foals. If they could capture young animals...Yale would know how long horses had to stay with their mothers.

EVENING 28

Morgan and Devon waited together nearly half an hour for van Helsing. At dusk, with the sun almost gone, Morgan suggested they return to camp. Devon disagreed, feeling her presence could be deterring the guide. She retreated to the shelter of a huge tree distant enough to obscure her gender, even in the glow of Luma-lite.

Nervous and fretful at first, Morgan grew concerned. This *was* the right place. Four trees with oval, fuzzy undersided leaves, one squat tree so heavy with inedible fruit that its branches touched the ground, the whole little copse on the banks of the river. There weren't that many trees in the area now.

"This has got to be the right place," muttered Morgan, pacing from tree to tree like he expected agreement from them.

Danziger, Mr. Hero, Mr. Roar Like a Lion voice, Think Like an Amoeba brain, had probably scared van Helsing away for good. Or beat him up so badly the poor, arrogant, little guy was clinging to life, alone, out in that wilderness. He might even be dead from injuries Julia could have easily treated. Danziger claimed van Helsing 'walked away', but, hey, he wasn't going to say, 'oh, yeah, I killed our guide, our one hope of getting across the river.'

An hour and a half after they'd left to meet van Helsing, Devon, light blinking like a giant firefly, trudged thru the dark, and told Morgan she didn't think the man would show up. Morgan bit his tongue to keep from making a remark about her deductive powers.

DAY 29
MORNING

"True's so grounded, Mr. Danziger won't even let me talk to her!" complained Uly.

Devon absently laid a finger across her lips. Uly screwed up his face and waited for his mom to finish poring over one of Yale's new maps. They were mapping the area as they went. Uly thought that was stupid, because the Terrians didn't need maps, and the Terrians weren't going to let any more humans here.

"He's not even letting her out to go to the bathroom!" Devon frowned.
"Why does he keep grounding her, it punishes me, too." "Uly," Devon warned.
"It's not fair!"
"Ulysses!"
The mom-look hit right on target. Uly left Devon alone, abjectly dragging his lightning stick on the way to a lonely breakfast.

Morgan and Bess waited for van Helsing half an hour that morning. He didn't show. They'd not really expected him to. The bureaucrat was frustrated. He viewed the position of 'chief intermediary' as quite important, carrying with it a certain amount of prestige. Morgan angrily kicked a tree and, with Bess's support, hobbled back to camp.

Devon questioned John again; the mechanic sullenly admitted the woodsman probably had a broken arm, but he seemed unharmed otherwise. When Alonzo learned of van Helsing's 'probable' injury, an eerie feeling crept up his spine. He thoughtfully massaged his forearm. Were the Terrians connecting him and van Helsing intentionally? If they were, judging by van Helsing's reactions to him, the link was one way.

The group decided to continue following the river south. More than a few of them hoped they'd seen the last of the guide. They were relieved to be using their own judgment again. Travel was easy, slowed only by the need to avoid overheating the vehicles and the people. Julia checked everyone periodically and was pleased to note that they were acclimating to the high temperatures. Part of that was no doubt due to learning how to protect against heatstroke. Part was due to the adaptability of the human body.

Julia pondered the situation and the people coping with it. Thriving in it. She felt that, as a doctor, she was unusually appreciative of the difficulties Eden Advance was overcoming.

"We really are an extraordinary group." Matazl, the only person within earshot, turned and ventured an uncertain, "Are you talking to me?"

Julia smiled. "Yes," she decided.
He paused so the doctor could catch up with him. "Tell me," said Julia, clasping her hands behind her back and assuming a professorial air, "You're ops crew; will you be returning to the stations?"

"I don't think I can," Matazl replied after a minute's consideration. He gazed around at the green expanse shimmering in the heat and the blue infinity above them. "Life is hard here. Life on Earth was hard for thousands of years. The struggle to survive as part of the Earth is what shaped us. Our bodies and minds and spirits are meant for--." He shut up; the scientific doctor wouldn't understand his philosophy.

Julia rushed in before the conversational gap became awkward. "You're right. We need the challenge. When we first arrived, I examined every member of this group thoroughly. Now-- take you, for example. A physican comparing your vitals from then with vitals taken today would conclude they were from two different men." She gestured to include the entire group. "We've all experienced similar improvement!"

"Do you want to go back home?"
The doctor smiled, well aware her answer was corny. "We haven't reached 'home', yet."

Maybe the woman *did* understand mankind's tie to the Earth. Walman trotted to them, up to no good. Attentively watching were Denner, the Martins and Baines; Walman had drawn the short straw, so to speak, and was sent ahead in the heat. Matazl greeted him. Julia scolded him for unnecessary exertion. Before saying a word, Walman drank from his canteen, then emptied it over his head.

"Bess and Denner want to know what you two are talking about that's got Doc so excited." A quick mopping of his face, and Walman continued, looking slyly at Matazl. "Anything Alonzo needs to know?" He cast his eyes at Julia. "Or not, maybe?"

Walman (and friends) thought Matazl would catch on, and they could have a little harmless fun at Julia's expense. The chromotilt doctor, however, was adapting to life among the likes of Walman and friends.

Earnestly, she replied, "I was telling Matazl what a magnificent body he has."

Walman stood there with his mouth hanging open. The man with the 'magnificent' body walked off shaking his head, his hands in an 'I don't know these people' position.

Julia continued onward, a smug little smile on her lips, from time to time emitting a chortlelike sound.

Van Hesling had evidently dropped out of their lives. The group moved south with the river, making good time, without a sign of the woodsman. Morgan kept an eye out for him, almost wistfully, walking apart from the others sometimes, just in case. It crossed his mind to go back and search for the poor little guy, but that really wasn't practical, it was...well, it just wasn't practical.

In a few days, they reached Alonzo's smudge on the horizon, now a forest which grew denser by the kilometer. Here they camped, under the trees just enough to take advantage of the shade. Once again, Eden Advance sent out scouts.

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