Promise of Tomorrow, Part 2
by Vicki Firth
Copyright 1995
Devon and Danziger had driven on into the mid-afternoon. This time the air had been filled with their voices as they talked nonstop about trivialities, about the Eden group, about G-889 and about anything else that came to mind. They were simply enjoying the pleasure of each other's company. They travelled side by side in the Dune Rail, hands entwined, sun warm on their faces.
They came to a place where there was a small clearing in the forest, beside a river they had roughly been following along. John stopped the Dune Rail at this spot.
"This looks like an alright spot to camp for the night." He smiled at Devon. "What do you think?"
Devon was puzzled. "Aren't we supposed to be looking for stuff from our cargo pods?"
John's smile widened. "There is no stuff. I made it up."
"You what?!"
He leaned toward her and cupped her cheek in his hand. "I had to get you away from the others somehow."
Devon's face broke into a grin. "I don't believe you. What would you have done if I hadn't wanted to come along?"
"I'd have spent a whole day driving around with Alonzo. Good thing I know you so well." He said, and kissed her.
Devon laughed and threw her arms around him in a big hug. She was overwhelmed with joy at the realization that he had devised such a plan because he had needed to be with her as much as she had longed to be with him.
"I'd better check in with the group," she said. She grabbed the set of gear and adjusted it on her head as John began unloading their supplies to set up the small campsite.
Devon set the gear to the frequency of Yale's and before long was greeted by the sight of the tutor. "How's everything with the group, Yale?" She said by way of greeting.
She received a garbled response over the gear, interspersed with a lot of static. "Hold on, Yale, I'm not reading you on audio." She frowned and tried adjusting the settings on her gear.
"Try again." This time she heard a few of Yale's words but could not make sense of what he was saying due to the interference.
She shook her head. "Yale, something's wrong with the audio transmission. If you can make out what I'm saying, nod your head." She saw him nod in the affirmative.
"Is everything okay there? Uly's fine?" A nod again.
"Okay, Yale. We're fine as well. I'll see if Danziger can fix this thing but if he can't I'll just check back once more tonight so that I can see you're all alright. Do you have that?"
Devon once more heard Yale's voice trying to tell her something but the gear set again gave her not much more than the buzz of static.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not reading you. Just nod if you acknowledge what I told you and if you agree." Yale stopped talking and nodded to her.
"Okay, I'm signing off now." She smiled at him then slipped the gear from her head.
John had just finished pitching their tent. Devon walked over to him, swinging the gear set before her. "John, it appears our gear set is not receiving on audio. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
His expression was deadpan. "No. Of course not." He grinned. "But it'll be real nice not having to worry about being disturbed." He ducked when she went to hit him with the gear and then threw her over his shoulder and headed toward the river.
***
At that point along its course the river widened to form a natural pool. At its edge were broad, flat rocks which had been warmed by the afternoon sun beating down upon them from a point where its rays were not obscured by the trees lining the river's banks.
Devon and John made love on those rocks, this time in a slow and languid exploration of each other. Then they fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.
Devon was dreaming they had reached New Pacifica. She and John were in the water, he was swinging her above the surf. She felt the breeze off the ocean, could smell the salt water in the air. But the water that was splashing her face was cold, when it should have been warm.
She became fully awake with a start as she felt drops of cold water running over her stomach. She raised her head and saw Danziger, waist deep in the river, trickling a handful of water down her naked thigh.
"C'mon in, it's great!" He said. Grinning, he splashed her once more, then swam away.
When Devon sat up the enormity of the moment hit her head on, and she was a bit overwhelmed. Devon Adair, a lifetime station dweller who had never set foot on a planet before crashing to G-889, thought by many to be an insular, semi-reclusive and aloof woman, was sitting buck naked in the sunshine by a riverside preparing to dive into the water and join the former mechanic that she was falling helplessly in love with.
She couldn't remember ever feeling this happy. She was having the time of her life.
She jumped into the river and swam out to where John waited for her.
"I didn't know you could swim," she said, putting her arms around him.
"There's a lot of things you haven't seen me do yet," he replied, his eyes twinkling.
"Oh really?" She wrapped her legs around his waist and he held her effortlessly, buoyed by the water swirling slowly around them. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Again, so soon?"
"I don't know what it is that you do to me, Adair, but everytime I touch you I just keep wanting you more."
"Whatever it is, I hope it never stops," she said softly and met his kiss.
***
Julia and Alonzo were surprised when they came to Devon and John's camp. They had been tracking them by the signal from their gear set, which although not properly receiving was still emitting its homing frequency.
They had only covered two thirds of the distance they'd thought they would need to go to catch up with the other couple. But now they were standing beside the Dune Rail in what seemed like a deserted campsite.
Puzzled, they looked around until they heard faint sounds coming from the river.
The riverside was fairly screened from the campsite by a line of trees. Julia led Alonzo in the direction of the sounds, walking ahead down a path between the trees.
She suddenly stopped, eyes wide. She turned abruptly and started pushing Alonzo by the chest back up the slight incline they had just walked down.
"What are you doing?" He asked in surprise.
"Just go! And be quiet!" She tried to get him to start walking but he wouldn't budge, curious to see what had made her change direction.
With Julia still trying to forcibly move him along, Alonzo peered around her head. "Oh. I see." An ear to ear grin split his face and he turned and joined Julia to scamper back up to the campsite.
A good while later, Devon and John appeared coming up the trail from the river. Both had wet hair and Devon was clad only in her shirt, which was thankfully long enough to cover her modestly. John had only bothered to dress in his pants.
He had an arm draped around her shoulders and they were both laughing at something when they stepped out of the trees and saw that they were no longer the only occupants of the campsite. The sight of Julia and Alonzo stopped them dead it their tracks.
Alonzo didn't bother to hide his broad grin of delight. "Hi guys," he said, beaming at them.
Julia, however, sensed that Devon might be a bit embarrassed at being caught in such a situation. She just fluttered her hand in a small wave, but couldn't hold back a brief smile.
Devon was mortified. She was supposed to be leading the group to New Pacifica and had demanded that everyone give a hundred percent of their energy each day to reaching that goal. Here she was, spending the day goofing off, giving no thought or energy to anything except herself and John.
"We were...um...we were swimming," she said weakly, as a tell tale flush crept across her face. She fought to control it and gave Julia and Alonzo a look that dared them to contradict her.
John was standing behind her and couldn't help giving in to the smile he had been holding back. He placed his hands on Devon's shoulders and leaned close to whisper in her ear. "I don't think they're going to believe you."
She whirled around to face him. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" She hissed.
He put his hands about her waist and she immediately stiffened. "Yeah, I am enjoying this. I'm happy. And they're happy for us. They're our friends, Devon. They're not going to fault you for being human." He said quietly to her.
Devon studied his eyes for a moment and then decided that what she saw there was worth risking her love and her uncertainties on. She relaxed against him and pulled his head down to hers for a very thorough kiss. Then she turned to Julia and Alonzo.
"I trust that we can keep what you've seen here today between the four of us," she said in her most authoritative voice, then stalked off to the tent she would that night share with John to change her clothes.
***
After Julia and Alonzo had explained their presence at the campsite the men went off in search of firewood as the women gathered up the food supplies they would use to make dinner.
Following the first awkward moments after their evolved relationship had been revealed in such a blatant way, Devon had bounced back to her usual demeanour. To Julia it appeared that Devon felt what she had with John was worth risking to public acknowledgement, although with just a very privileged few.
Now Julia understood what had been responsible for Devon's despondent mood the past few days. She knew better than anyone how difficult it was to have a growing relationship with someone while being surrounded by a group of people all day. And how futile it was to deny that relationship despite the impossibility of finding any privacy within the Eden camp.
Julia was thrilled for Devon and John. She knew that despite their plans for New Pacifica going awry at the moment of the crash, despite the hardships and heartbreak they had endured so far in their traversal of the planet, she would not have traded this episode of her life for anything. She had found Alonzo and with him she had discovered a love that had surpassed anything she had ever imagined that love could be. She believed that this was what Devon and John had found as well.
She smiled at the other woman. "Devon, should I be putting John on a program of suppressors?" She asked casually.
Devon looked at her, her face showing an expression of shock. Her eyes grew wide. "What?!" She said sharply.
"I studied your physiology thoroughly enough when you were in cold-sleep to know that you've never had a contraceptive implant," Julia said in her best clinical voice. "I didn't know if you or John would feel comfortable coming to me about this, so as your doctor I thought I would ask."
Devon sat down heavily on a nearby crate. Her head bowed, she dragged her hands through her hair. "Oh my God," she whispered.
Immediately concerned, Julia knelt down beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Devon, what is it? What's wrong?"
Devon lifted her head and stared at Julia, her mouth agape. "Oh my God. I never thought about that." She shook her head. "With any relationship I had in the past, it was always something the man took care of. I never thought about it." She put a hand to her face, which had turned quite pale. "How could I be so stupid? My God, Julia, what if I end up being pregnant?"
Julia desperately wanted to offer her some comfort, but medically speaking it was too early to be able to do so. Emotionally, that comfort would have to come from John.
"Your HCG levels wouldn't change to indicate pregnancy until about twelve hours after conception, so I wouldn't be able to run a test on you now." Julia had an idea which might help to somewhat relieve her friend's anxiety. "There is an old-fashioned method of telling whether you're at a time when conception would be most likely though. It's highly inaccurate but we could at least determine whether you're at a high risk time or not."
Devon nodded mutely at Julia. "Tell me," she said, her eyes still indicating her distress.
The women sat, with Devon answering Julia's questions and the doctor calculating days.
***
Throughout dinner and the early evening Devon had been fidgety. She needed to talk to John and was impatient to get him apart from the other couple to be with him alone. When the sun finally sank below the horizon and the two moons began their progression across the sky, everyone decided to retire early for the night. Devon was relieved and apprehensive at the same time.
When she and John entered their tent, bathed in the soft muted glow of the luma lantern, he immediately took her in his arms. She backed out of his embrace and went to sit on the cot. He looked at her, perplexed by her actions.
She gazed at him with troubled eyes. "I have to talk to you about something."
He knew that whatever it was, it was serious, and it was consuming her with worry. He went to sit beside her and took her hand in his.
She gave him a wan smile. "I don't suppose there's any possibility that you've been taking suppressors, is there?"
His brow wrinkled. "What would I have done? Say, oh Julia, by the way, I'd like to have you start synthesizing suppressors for me. I never know when I might need them."
Devon looked down at their hands folded together in her lap. "John, what if I've gotten pregnant?" She looked up at him again, worry etched into her features. She shook her head. "You've never told me that you'll be staying here once the colony ship arrives. I wouldn't want to force you into a decision in any way."
John felt her pain, and her uncertainty. He reached out with his free hand to caress her cheek. "Devon," he said softly, "I've never told you this, but when you were in cold-sleep I had a dream. It was the most vivid dream I've ever had. In it, we were living together in a house in New Pacifica, and you were pregnant with my child. When I woke up, I knew beyond any doubt that was the future I wanted."
"I won't make you any promises that I can't be certain I can keep. Right now we don't know what's going to happen from day to day, so I can't yet promise you forever. But I will promise you tomorrow, and I'll say it again in a day."
Devon felt a tear slide slowly down her cheek. He had just given her more than she had ever imagined.
"I love you, John," she said. He answered her with a kiss. Devon knew, though he didn't say it, that he loved her too. She knew that for John it was sometimes difficult to express such simple words which in turn revealed so much feeling. She didn't need to hear them, for his promise of tomorrow gave her absolute confidence in the surety of his love.
***
The next afternoon, during a break in their travel to meet up with the rest of the group, Julia had tested Devon and had determined that she was not pregnant.
Surprisingly, Devon had taken this news with both relief and disappointment, and John's reaction had mirrored her own.
"Well," he sighed. "That's good. Life on the road is difficult enough without bringing a baby into it. I guess I'd better get Julia to put me on the suppressors." He grinned and winked suggestively at Devon. "We'll just have to get a lot of practice in for when the time is right."
They had decided that although they still wished to keep their love a secret from the rest of the group, they would no longer let their need for one another be denied. If that meant taking a few risks at having their relationship discovered by the Eden group, then so be it. Fortunately, they now had a couple of allies in Julia and Alonzo who no doubt would see to it that Devon and John found many opportunites to be alone together.
The location of the rest of the group had been established and Julia and Alonzo had just driven off for the final leg of their journey. John waited a moment before putting the Dune Rail into drive. He kissed Devon, soundly, then gave her a tender smile.
"I promise you tomorrow."
"And you'll say it again in a day." The words, the feelings that came from Devon's heart, echoed his own.
-The End-
Chapter End Notes:
Any and all comments are welcome.
From e-mail on 14 Sep 95
From e-mail on 14 Sep 95