Apostle of the Terrians by Simon Kattenhorn

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Apostle of the Terrians (2/4)
by Simon Kattenhorn

Chapter Two

Devon gazed at her son's sleeping form and smiled. On occasion, Uly could seriously try her patience with his antics. And at times like these, she felt he must surely be the paragon of pure innocence. It never failed to amaze her how many new emotions were borne out of motherhood. The little boy before her had taught her more about herself and her capabilities than anyone else could possibly ever do. He had opened up her eyes to the order of things. Priorities. It was incredible how priorities could be so completely turned around by an impish smile or a woeful look from a child. How the world suddenly seemed to function by different laws. A new hierarchy of importance. And yet Devon would always discover a sheer pleasure that was a consequence of such upheavals in the scheme of things that she knew. Because little by little, there was a growing clarity of sense arising out of chaos. Little by little, Devon discovered what it meant to be alive.

Extinguishing the lamp beside her cot, Devon let her head fall back onto the pillow and she closed her eyes. It felt good to be able to drift off to sleep with a certain smile to accompany her.

As Devon slept, Uly's body fidgeted and he let out a small sigh.

"But I went into the ground! I really did this time!"

The Terrian trilled softly. The imagery appeared in Uly's mind with the usual lucidity though. '#Bird through the ground. Not stone in the sky.#' If Uly hadn't known better, he would have said that a certain sadness came through with this last telepathic statement. It was as if reference to the sky disturbed the Terrian. Uly thought about it for a few seconds and decided he understood. The sky must seem like a terribly ominous concept for a species who were linked to the earth. Perhaps it was like a fish despairing at ever being stranded out of the water. A loss that would be fatal.

"Bird through the ground," Uly repeated to himself, closing his eyes and concentrating. Flying through the ground. In hindsight, Uly realized that this was what his experience three days earlier had been like. Or more like floating perhaps. Flying implied motion. Control. Uly felt as if he lacked both those facets of the experience. He hadn't had any control over his motion. In fact, he had become most alarmed after discovering that a portion of his body had entered into the earth. What if his head had gone under the surface during his practice? Would he have suffocated? Now it was Uly's turn to shiver at the thought of being out of the element that sustained him. The image of it broke his concentration and he opened his eyes again. The Terrian merely stared at him. No answers were offered.

"How can I fly?" he demanded of the Terrian. "What if I can't move? What if I can't get back up to the surface? Will I die?"

This time the Terrian trilled loudly. Uly barely registered the meaning of the thoughts projected into his mind over the cacophony assaulting his ears.

'Didididididididi. #Planet does not kill the living. Living can kill the planet. Kill the self.#'

Uly stared at the leathery creature before him. This time the emotion had been quite clear. Emotion from a Terrian! But something was disturbing this Terrian in a way that Uly could not fathom. And yet, he also had felt reassured that his attempts to move into the ground would not be harmful to him.

"What do you mean?" Uly asked. "How can the living kill the planet?"

The Terrian filled the air with noise again and an image of geolocked ground appeared in Uly's head.

"Oh."

The incident with the geolock precipitated by Morgan Martin had not gone unnoticed by the Terrians in this region. 'Perhaps Terrians always know what's going on with all the other Terrians,' Uly thought to himself. Not that he could be sure this Terrian with him on the Dream Plane was even *from* the area where the Eden Advance team were currently camping. They
hadn't actually *seen* any Terrians in the area. Uly had merely assumed they must reside nearby.

"But Mr. Martin gave the planet its life back," Uly attempted to convince the Terrian. "He didn't know it would hurt anyone."

'Dididi. #Life sometimes gone forever.#'

Uly frowned at that thought from the Terrian. It was not like these creatures to talk openly of death. The concept of death was different for Terrians. Uly had discovered that once during a mooncross encounter with them. But even then, he had never really understood.

"You mean dying," said Uly. "Like what happened to Mr. O'Neill and Eben." Uly thought about the late members of their group who had lost their lives during the trek to New Pacifica. "I guess sometimes it's forever." Uly's voice was almost a whisper. It was not a topic he liked to think about. "But my mom says that as long as people are still in your thoughts and in your heart, then they never really completely died."

This concept appeared to confuse the Terrian. Uly was faintly aware that perhaps they hadn't been talking about the same thing after all. Terrians and their riddles...

'Didididi. Dididi. #Living kill the self. Kill the planet forever.#'

The Terrian's words were starting to disturb Uly. He felt as if the Terrian was attempting to tell him something of great importance, but Uly's young mind struggled in futility to find the meanings behind the word-thoughts. Perhaps it would be better if they resumed the exercises in Terrian-style travel through the ground.

"I can try and concentrate some more," Uly suggested. "Maybe I'll be able to fly next time."

The Terrian appeared to ponder the idea for a few seconds. Either that or the Terrian had not heard Uly's suggestion. Finally, he trilled a long, mournful barrage of imagery into Uly's mind.

'*The air is the ground. The ground is the air. Fly where the self is living. Stone in the sky where the self is black. Mountain of the night.*'

With these final thoughts imparted on Uly's consciousness, the Terrian turned and walked away until he faded into the darkness beyond Uly's depth of perception in this Dream Plane place. Uly frowned as he watched the creature slowly disappear. The Terrians *always* returned to the ground, even in the Dream Plane. He did not recall ever seeing one simply walk away before. Uly felt the Dream Plane evaporate around him and before he could think about it further, he was again deep in the realm of normal sleep. He took the frown with him.

Devon's smile remained as she slept nearby.

***

"But how am I supposed to monitor for transmissions, huh?" Baines looked entirely agitated. He was on the verge of using the very transceiver he was trying to protect from Danziger's large hands to beat the man into a bloody pulp.

"What, are you expecting a call from you mommy, Baines?" Danziger laid on the sarcasm liberally.

Walman, eavesdropping nearby, failed to suppress a chuckle and Baines stared daggers in his direction.

"You know damn well I've been monitoring all the designated New Pacifica channels," Baines shot back icily. "There's no telling what could be going on out there. Or did you forget about that small matter of the Council?"

Danziger had about lost his patience with Baines. "Why don't you get it through your thick skull, huh? There's no-one out there! The channels are silent, okay! No Council colony. New Pacifica doesn't exist until *we* get there. And it will stay that way until the Colony ship arrives, and if *we* don't get our asses away from this goddamned sponge-cake rock formation, *they're* not gonna have anyone there to lay down the red carpet. Got it?"

Danziger grabbed the small electronic device from Baines' grip and stormed back towards his tent. The workbench set up outside was strewn with bits and pieces of electrical gadgetry and other bric-a-brac. He ground his teeth together and silently cursed Baines for his stubbornness to give up the transceiver device. Especially considering it contained a vital component for his subsurface surveyor.

He put the transceiver down with the other items on the table surface and began taking a final inventory when Julia appeared beside him looking far less than happy.

"John Danziger!" she scowled.

He had been expecting this. Nevertheless, he felt the muscles in his shoulders tense up at the sound of Julia Heller's not-so-friendly voice.

"What can I do for you, doc?" Danziger fiddled with some of the wiring and other items before him, attempting to sound casual.

"Oh, don't play innocent with me, Danziger. You know damn well why I'm here. My portable optical microscope has mysteriously stopped working. Why do you think that might be, hmm?" She advanced towards Danziger until her face was almost pressed up against his, made possible only by the fact that Danziger was stooped over the workbench at the time. "Do you think it could have anything to do with...oh I don't know...perhaps *the laser emission pack vanishing into thin air?*"

Julia's raised voice echoed around Danziger as he subtly attempted to cover a small, rectangular object on the workbench with one of the larger items. Standing up straight, Danziger glanced around and was happy to discover that they had not attracted an audience, eavesdropping or otherwise.

"A laser emission pack, eh?" Danziger said and breathed in through clenched teeth. "Pretty rare item around these parts."

"Danziger!"

"Okay, okay! So I borrowed your light source. Julia, this is the best high frequency emitter we've got! With a few more modifications, I'll have that baby pumping out a strong enough energy beam to scan down to at least fifty meters." Danziger stared at Julia, waiting for her to recognize the logic of his actions and then leave quietly.

Julia, on the other hand, was not to be deterred. "A few more *modifications*? What have you done to my emitter?" Julia started scavenging at the parts scattered on the workbench, searching desperately for the device that acted as a high-energy light source for her microscope. Danziger stared on in amazement for about half a second before attempting to physically drag the doctor away from his precious supply of items.

"I haven't done *anything* to it! I'm not going to break it, okay?! Quit worrying!"

Julia gritted her teeth and scowled at the man. For an instant, Danziger wondered if he might be struck down by lightning. Incurring Julia Heller's wrath was not something he cared to experience on a regular basis. Of course, the same could be said for Devon Adair. Couldn't a man just be left to get a job done around here?

"Quit *worrying*?! *What* if we encounter some kind of new virus or disease, huh? What if I need to analyze an important type of vegetation or mineral? Did any of that, even for the tiniest second, cross your mind? Did it, John?"

For the first time, Danziger realized that his actions had *really* angered the doctor. Nevertheless, he attempted to downplay the situation for all its worth. "Don't you think you might be over-reacting just a little, doc?"

Julia's eyes opened wide in amazement and she found herself opening and closing her mouth repeatedly without actually finding any words to say.

"Something going on I should know about?" Devon had appeared and was standing with her head cocked slightly to one side in that way she had whenever she was attempting to mediate a dispute or ascertain the facts of a situation.

Julia regained her composure and stood stiffly glaring at Danziger. "Perhaps you could inform Mr. Danziger here that the entire equipment supply of the group is not at his disposal to do with as he so pleases," Julia's sarcasm spilled over in an undeniable torrent.

Before Devon could reply, Danziger cut in with his own defense. "If we're to get out of this Swiss cheese mountain range without the ground opening up and swallowing our entire complement, vehicles and all, I'm sorry if I happen to step on a few toes to get this device operational."

Devon attempted to look and sound neutral. "And exactly how many toes have you stepped on so far, John?"

Something- he didn't know what- but *something* in that tone of Devon's struck a chord of familiarity. Danziger was sure he didn't like it.

"So I borrowed a few pieces of equipment from here and there," he spat out. "Heck, you knew I was putting this thing together, Adair. Everyone was told about it. What's the big deal? Everything'll be back where it came from as soon as we get outta here. Come on, you know how important this is!"

Devon was pensive and bit on her lower lip gently. Julia was beginning to have second thoughts about having Devon mediate a dispute that involved John Danziger, and struck a posture of defiance regardless of the fact that Devon had yet to respond.

Finally Devon spoke up. "You're right, it *is* very important that we get this device working." Julia let out an audible sigh of frustration and Devon shot her a sharp look. "*However*..." John flinched. 'Here it comes,' he thought. "...there's no reason to attack equipment that other people are responsible for without their approval. I myself was rather surprised to discover that my gearset stopped working sometime between last night and this afternoon." John dropped his gaze to the floor, looking suspiciously guilty. "Perhaps you could look into that for me once we get out of here?" Devon gave John an inquisitive, albeit purposefully ambiguous expression.

"Sure. I'm sure I'll have it fixed in no time. As *soon* as we're out of this area." This last comment was noticeably directed at Julia, who responded with a frustrated grunt.

"But the laser emitter gets first priority once we've no more need of the surveyor device, okay?" Devon was trying her best to make it a request rather than a demand. It was hard enough trying to relate to John Danziger on a private, personal level without complicating things with an 'I'm in charge' attitude right now. Devon hoped she'd succeeded. Sometimes it seemed an impossible task. Unfortunately, her responsibility to the Eden Advance group needed to take priority over all else ultimately. At least until they reached New Pacifica.

"Sure. No problem." Danziger's face was a mask, making Devon cringe inside.

Julia started to storm off, but stopped after a few steps and spun around to face Danziger. "If there is even the slightest medical reason for me to do microscopic analyses, I want that emitter back immediately. No questions." Without another word, she disappeared around the nearest tent, leaving John and Devon staring in the direction she had gone.

"You could *try* to be a little more diplomatic, John. Everyone would probably be glad to help if you just explained why you needed the parts."

Danziger returned his attention to the workbench and began putting the items back where they'd been before Julia's attack on the equipment. "I'm trying to get us out of here, Adair, not run a seminar on the specs."

Devon sighed softly. There was just no getting through to this man sometimes. Shrugging her shoulders in resignation, she left John with his gadgets.

Danziger appeared to not notice her departure, but glanced up in the direction she had gone as soon as she was out of his peripheral vision. Sometimes he wished they could all just escape the responsibilities of the group for just one day. Throw caution to the wind and follow through on....well, whatever it was people wanted to follow through on. In the meantime, he returned his attention to the workbench and spoke to the Zero Unit, which had been standing silent beside the bench throughout the entire discourse.

"Okay, Zero, let's start working on getting these pieces together into something useful."

"Affirmative, sir. Where shall we begin?"

***

Bess relaxed under the shade of a large evergreen as the late spring sunshine beat down beyond the periphery of the tree's shade. In the few days since her fall, she had finally recuperated to the point of being able to hobble around outside and enjoy some of the excellent weather they had been experiencing. She'd even managed to begin helping out again with some of the day-to-day chores that the group needed done. Earlier in the day, she'd sat along the bank of a nearby stream, washing out her and her husband's laundry while she dangled her injured ankle in the cool water. Morgan had insisted on washing the clothes himself while she rested, but Bess had decided this was a perfect opportunity to get out and have a little time to herself.

She had been thankful that Morgan's cloying attention had begun to wane after the first day-and-a-half. He'd even taken her advice and gone up the hillside to the spot she had visited on the day of her accident, so he could appreciate the beautiful view from up there. Of course, he'd returned with a lustrous, black, opaque rock sample that he insisted was valuable in some way, and how fortunate for them considering it was scattered all over the hillside. Much to his dismay, however, Julia had been unable to analyze it for him for reasons which were hard to decipher from her sudden barrage of angry words. Something involving Danziger was all he'd ascertained before apologizing for bothering the doctor and fleeing the med-tent quickly.

Bess had decided not to get involved this time. The whole geolock incident still left a bitter taste in her mouth, and sometimes she felt an overwhelming dismay that she had allowed herself to get involved so deeply. She should have tried harder to talk some sense into Morgan. Instead, she had had a knee-jerk reaction to Devon's dictatorial attitude and gone ahead with helping to set the geolock device, regardless of their ignorance about how intimately intertwined all life seemed to be on this planet. The results had nearly been disastrous, and the feelings of shame that accompanied reflection on that event still ran deep for Bess.

Not that she felt this new interest of Morgan's was anything to be concerned about. He had, after all, come a long way since then. Over the preceding months, Bess had witnessed those endearing aspects of her husband's persona that had always been hidden to all but her slowly reveal themselves to the light of day and the rest of the Eden Advance group. It was true, Morgan could still be annoying on occasion. But that's just the way he was. He was also compassionate, understanding, selfless, and forgiving.

Bess had certainly embarked upon this entire expedition with a reservation or two tucked into her thoughts. Leaving the space stations to come to this planet was one of the most difficult decisions she had ever had to make. But now that she was here...well she just couldn't imagine life ever being better. Her devotion to her husband was unrelenting; their marriage stronger than ever. And life was a constant exercise in purpose. Bess found it amusing to think that they had needed to travel so far away from everything they ever knew to finally feel like they belong. But that was the exact word that Bess related to this planet. Belong. This was home.

Now Bess rested her head against the wide trunk of the tree and smiled to herself. It wasn't often that she got to just sit back and watch the day unfold around her. Watching the rest of the group go about their lives was fascinating; each person seemingly up to something productive. Devon was hunched over a map table with Yale, plotting out a course of action for when the subsurface surveyor was operational. Danziger was fussing over something at his workbench while Zero stood nearby. From the look on John's face, something was not working out incredibly well with his gadgetry. At one point, Baines walked over and exchanged words with John, which also didn't appear to turn out particularly favorably. Eventually, Baines walked off in a huff. 'Men with their toys and egos,' Bess chuckled to herself.

Julia and Alonzo were chopping and mashing something while sitting in the center of the campsite. Bess surmised they were using a local plant life to make some form of medicine. Every now and again, the air would be punctuated by their laughter- they were obviously enjoying each other's company. True was sitting nearby, sometimes observing them too whenever one of them erupted into laughter, then returning to some form of study Yale had probably assigned her. Uly, on the other hand, was not studying. In fact, he was walking right up to Bess as she watched.

"Hi Bess!" he said chirpily. "Are you all healed now?"

Bess gave the little boy a big grin. "Almost. A few more days and I'll be good as new."

Uly nodded his head and stood for a few seconds longer before deciding he couldn't think of anything else to say. He began to move off away from the camp.

"So where are you off to, huh?" Bess tried not to sound too inquisitive. She had often wondered what the two youngsters did all day to keep themselves amused. 'It must get terribly boring sometimes for them,' she thought to herself. "Out exploring for Terrians?!"

"Um. Sure. I guess. I don't think there are any around here though," Uly replied.

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

"I dunno. Just haven't seen any, is all." Uly kept darting glances over to where his mother was standing with Yale. He was beginning to look uncomfortable about being out where she could see him, and began heading off again. "See you later, Bess."

"Bye Uly! Good luck finding some Terrians!"

The boy soon disappeared into the trees and Bess smiled after him all the while. Sometimes the maternal instinct was incredibly strong. Bess loved the idea of maybe having a baby someday, but that would just be impossible as long as they needed to keep up this intense traveling lifestyle. But one day they would be at New Pacifica and then...

"Well let's just say 'bye-bye suppressers'!" Bess chuckled to herself.

***

Uly found himself constantly checking the way he had come on the off-chance that his mom had seen him wander off and come running to herd him back to the camp. Since he'd told her about his 'fall' in the forest a few days earlier, she had seemed unusually insistent that he stay nearby to the camp. It wasn't fair. How was he supposed to practice his Terrian traveling? And on top of that, he hadn't encountered any Terrians on the Dream Plane for a few nights either. Just when he was getting the hang of letting his body fly through the ground!

He walked for about fifteen minutes until he was about halfway up a moderately steep hill that had a wonderful view down on the entire valley. Uly could make out the camp at the base of the slope, just beyond the last copse of trees. The people moving around the camp looked like ants. Uly watched them for a while then returned his attention to the area where he was standing. There was a cool breeze blowing, whipping Uly's hair back and forth as he surveyed his surroundings.

The slope was more gentle here, having formed a shallow depression in the hillside. It was as if someone had carved a chunk of the hill away using a giant spoon. The ground was littered with rocks of all shapes and sizes that had moved down the hill over time under the forces of gravity and running water. Uly picked up one of them- it was smooth and shiny and as black as the darkest night. Uly pulled his arm back then launched the stone into the air with as strong a throw as he could manage. He laughed as he watched it hit the ground further downslope and continue tumbling down the hill. A few months ago, it would have taken most of his energy just to attempt to throw something. Now he was getting pretty good at it.

When he could not see the stone bouncing any further, Uly walked over to stand in the middle of the small depression and closed his eyes, attempting to concentrate.

"The ground is the air. The air is the ground."

The words were meditational and Uly soon felt his entire body relaxing. It was as if the ground had unlatched itself from his feet and allowed him to fly off into the sky. In reality, Uly was still standing on the side of the hill, a small frown on his forehead as he attempted to focus.

"The ground is the air. The air is the ground."

Uly felt a change in his body. As if the electrical energy had suddenly converged at one point in his body producing a warm, tingling sensation. It was unlike anything Uly had ever experienced. He wanted to open his eyes to see if anything was happening but submitted to the instinct that told him to keep them tightly shut. Uly could truly feel himself flying. He could feel the coolness of the ground around him, and yet he could not feel the ground itself. It wasn't as if his body were forcing its way through the earth. It wasn't even as if the earth had turned into something less solid around him, allowing his body to pass through. Instead, it was as if the ground were parting around him, creating a pocket of air for his body to move within. A forcefield of weightlessness.

Uly was surprised to discover that he was not afraid. Perhaps it had something to do with his initial experience with the Terrians soon after they first arrived on the planet. He had been taken into the ground then with no ill-effects. Quite the opposite, in fact, although Uly wasn't exactly sure what it *was* the Terrians had done to cure his body of the Syndrome.

With a little effort, Uly found that he could control the direction of his motion. As well as the speed of it. And it was as if his body knew instinctively which way was up. After a few seconds, he proved this fact to himself by moving back up to the surface, leaving him standing once again on the slope of the hillside.

Uly opened his eyes and let out a squeal of delight. His first successful solo! His body was not harmed in any way; in fact, he felt completely invigorated by the experience. Uly danced around a little, emitting small whoops of joy at his success. After a while, he looked up at the sky and decided it would soon be time to return to the camp. His mom would be wondering where he was and the sun was already starting to head down towards the horizon far to the west.

Closing his eyes again, Uly stood silently and attempted to concentrate. 'Time for one more try,' he told himself. This time, it seemed harder to focus. For some reason, the ground seemed less giving. But after a few seconds, Uly again felt his body flying through the ground, encased in a protective bubble of air and electrical energy, moving up and down, back and forth.

Uly decided to give in to the daring nature that lived in every young boy's heart. 'Deeper!' he thought to himself. 'Deeper than last time!'

He felt his body respond to the thought of the motion in his mind and Uly descended further into the planet's surface.

"The ground is the air. The air is the ground."

Uly felt like a bird flying, soaring, floating on an eddy of magnetism. It was as if his body and the planet had become a single, living organism- each one needing the other to survive. Uly couldn't wait to rush back to camp to let everyone know about this! Uly's thoughts turned to the idea of ascending back to the surface. The thought lasted only a fraction of a second. Suddenly, it was as if the bubble around him had vanished. As if the planet had vanished. Instead of the incredible sensation of flying, Uly felt the terrifying sensation of falling. He had time to let out a single, terrified yell before there was suddenly only silence. Uly's thoughts flickered out in the darkness.

End of Chapter Two. Continued in Chapter 3.

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