As G-889 Turns
Episode #6: Waiting for the Dawn
"YOU KILLED HIM!!!!!!!!!!"
Julia leapt into the transrover and joined Walman at Danziger's side.
"YOU KILLED HIM!!!!!!!!!!" True screamed again.
"He's not dead," Julia said firmly. "Walman, help me get him into the med tent." A tiny voice in the back of her mind moaned, How many times have I said that this year?
With Yale's help, Walman lifted John Danziger's body and carried him off. Alonzo stood dumbly as the crowd moved away to follow their progress. True stopped as she passed him and stated with sudden calm, "If he dies, you die."
Alonzo knew she meant it. It might seem impossible for a grown man to feel threatened by a child, but True Danziger would find a way to make it happen ... and if she did, Alonzo knew he would deserve it.
***
"This is absolutely unacceptable," Yale said, a rare fire in his voice.
"I never meant ... ," Alonzo began.
"Bah!" Yale exploded. "Your intentions are irrelevant. You nearly killed a man! For all we know, Danziger may still die! What you have done is criminal."
Alonzo sunk his head into his hands. He had no more words with which to defend himself.
"How is he?" Lenina Magus asked. She wasn't at all sure she wanted to know the answer.
Julia shook her head. "I don't know. He seems to be stable. No signs of serious injury. Most of his vital signs are good." The doctor glanced at the small sleeping form at his side before continuing more quietly, "But he still hasn't regained consciousness. He shouldn't be out this long. Frankly, I'm scared."
Lenina only nodded. Both were on the verge of tears and both knew that now was no time for either to break down. "I was going to volunteer to keep True in my tent, but it looks like she already has a place to sleep here."
Julia agreed. "I think it would just upset her if we tried to get her to leave."
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"No. There's not much to do but wait."
***
"Do you want to talk about it, sweetheart?"
"I'm not your sweetheart," Uly grumped, brushing Elisha away.
"Now that's a fine thing to say to a person," she said, feigning offense. "Why can't I be your sweetheart?"
"Knock it off! You can't cheer me up by making stupid jokes! Stop acting dumb! He's gonna die!"
Elisha Denner took a deep breath and then let it out, a good deal more raggedly then she had planned. "I'm sorry," she said simply, all the syrup gone from her voice. "You've been through just as much as the rest of us have and I have no business trying to talk down to you. I didn't mean to be disrespectful of Danziger's condition. I guess I'm kind of in denial about it myself. I'm afraid for him too." She nearly added that Julia was the best doctor in the world and that she was bound to have John up and skipping in no time. But Uly already knew that Julia was the best (not to mention only) doctor in the world and that that hadn't been of much help to his own mother not all that long ago. "If you need anybody, just know that you can talk to me anytime. Okay?"
Uly nodded.
With that, Elisha quietly left the tent.
***
"Morgan? Can you do me a favor?" Elisha asked.
"Hmmm?"
"I need to talk to Yale for a moment, but I don't want to leave Uly alone. He's upset. Can you just go in and watch him for a little while?"
"Uh ... I'm not that good with kids ... maybe someone else should ... ."
"You'll be fine, Morgan. You don't even have to talk to him. He doesn't seem to be in much of a talking mood. Just let him know that someone is there for him. Besides, I think he might accept you more right now."
"Wh ... ?"
"He thinks that most of us are being patronizing to him - that we don't know what he's going through losing his mother and then all of this. But you ... ."
"But I know what he's going through because of ... ." Morgan's voice caught slightly. "Because of Bess."
Elisha nodded.
Morgan bobbled his head in a meandering yes/no fashion before finally working into an actual nod. "Okay."
"Thanks."
***
"What do you want?" Uly tried not to sound rude, he really did. Still in the back of his mind, he could almost hear his mother scolding him.
"I ... uh ... ," Morgan stuttered. "I just came by to make sure you were okay."
"Elisha sent you," Uly concluded, and again the faint Ulysses! echoed in his mind.
"Yeah," Morgan admitted, somewhat relieved that his cover had been blown. "You don't mind if I just sit in here awhile? So I don't get in trouble with Denner?"
"No, prob," the boy relented.
Morgan pulled up a stool and sat in awkward silence for a few moments. Uly just watched him without comment. Fidgeting under the scrutiny, Morgan pulled a set of gear out of his pocket and began fiddling with the buttons.
Curiosity prevailed. "What are you doing?"
Morgan smiled slightly. "You know, popular opinion aside, I do have a few talents."
***
"Denner ditched Morgan," Baines said in his typical up-front fashion, "And Flyboy's in his tent" he added, nodding at a tent off in the distance. "So, let's get down to it."
"Well, we can't leave him," Magus began.
"Why not?" Walman asked.
"We are not going to leave him," Yale said firmly. "There will be no discussion of that. We left Julia behind because we were afraid she was a threat to us. And we regretted even that decision. Alonzo's crime is one of disobedience and recklessness. There was no malice involved. Banishment is not called for."
"I think it was an accident," Elisha said. "He didn't mean for anyone to get hurt."
"So we just figure he's learned his lesson and let it go?" Mazatl offered quietly.
"It wasn't an accident," Cameron insisted. "He deliberately whacked Danziger hard enough to knock him unconscious. Only the extent of his injury was accidental."
"There's also the matter of his disobeying and going off on that climb against everyone's decision."
"But there you get into the argument of individual rights," Baines added. "Why should Alonzo have to answer to the group? Why couldn't he go climb that stupid mountain on his own even if all of us thought it was a bad decision? What authority does the group have over an individual?"
"If you ask me," Walman said, "Alonzo acknowledged the group's authority when he resorted to violence and subterfuge to disobey the decision instead of just defying it openly."
"You're ignoring the restraints we placed upon him," Yale added. "Alonzo attempted to reject our decision openly. We made it clear that we would not allow it. After that, Alonzo could not defy us openly. He either had to obey or, as you put it, resort to subterfuge." Yale paced silently for a moment while he caught his breath. The others watched him quietly. "It is the violence that disturbs me. You can't just go around hitting people to accomplish what you want. Hitting Danziger from behind was outrageous. Alonzo must be held accountable in some way."
"May I make a suggestion?" Morgan said.
"Morgan, you're supposed to be watching Uly," Denner scolded.
"He's asleep. Besides, when I caught sight of all of you huddled together over here, I figured you were having a pow-wow without me."
"Morgan, I apologize," Yale began diplomatically. "Your attitude toward Alonzo has not been entirely rational of late and we didn't want to turn this into a lynching."
"I promise. My suggestion is quite rational."
***
"You're sentencing me to VR?" Alonzo asked incredulously.
"Basically," Yale agreed. "We have taken into account the extenuating circumstances, the fact that you did not intend to seriously injure Danziger, as well as the fact that you are a valued member of this group. Nonetheless, we all agree that some form of punishment is necessary. Morgan has come up with something that we all feel is rather appropriate."
"What is it?" Alonzo cringed. He had tried to prepare himself for whatever they might do to him, but it hadn't occurred to him that Morgan would come up with some sort of VR punishment. That opened up endless possibilites, none of which he wished to consider.
"You'll see," Yale said. "We have amplified the inputs to maximum to override your own senses. You will be totally immersed in VR, unable to sense anything in the real world."
Alonzo nodded. "How long?"
"You will remain in VR as long as John Danziger remains unconscious. That seemed the most equitable way to handle it."
Alonzo did not resist as Yale adjusted the gear on his head. But before Yale snapped the eyepiece in place, he asked, "What if ... what if John dies?"
Yale paused before replying. "We haven't decided yet."
And then the eyepiece was in place and Alonzo's world imploded into darkness. Alonzo sweated with anxiety as he waited for the program to begin. He trusted the group to be humane in their punishment, but he did not trust Morgan. What if Morgan slipped some kind of subprogram in without the others noticing? What sort of tortures might he dream up? It boggled the mind.
The program still had not begun and Alonzo began to wonder if something had gone wrong. Are they having trouble loading the program? Or is the delay deliberate, to make me sweat longer? It felt incredibly strange to have no sensation in his body. Yale had told him that the program would override his own senses, but he did not expect to lose that sensation before the program itself had even begun. And then he understood. Oh, Christ, the program has begun! This is it. Nothing. For as long as John Danziger lay comatose, Alonzo Solace would also remain in nothingness. All he could do was wait for the dawn ... if there ever was a dawn.
CONTINUED IN THE NEXT INSTALLMENT
Author's Chapter Notes:
WARNING: This is a continuing soap opera. If you haven't read the prior installments of the As G-889 Turns saga yet, this will make no sense whatsoever.