Home Sweet Home by Lynne Leeper

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Home Sweet Home, Part 3
by Lynne Leeper

The Strategist sat comfortably amongst the rocks that shielded him from the view of the invaders. He slowly chewed on the strips of cured plant material that was the total of his lunch. It was obvious that it wasn't going to be any challenge at all to get rid of these parasites. He might as well of had the Fiend have his fun last night - it would have been done with quickly and the problem solved. The Fighter complained that he wanted his share, so the Strategist decided he would make a game of this for his companions. The Fighter could have all of the men, and the Fiend could have his female toys. That decided, it was now a matter of choosing who to capture first.

It was clear to the Strategist, as unlikely as it seemed, that the leader of the group was the dark haired female mated with the tall blond man. At least the man appeared he would provide some sport for the Fighter, and the Fiend could hardly complain that the female wouldn't be a feisty enough toy. But if he removed the leaders first, then it would make capturing the rest too easy. No, this had to be of some small challenge to the Strategist. Best to pick on the weakest first. That meant the children. He had observed often enough in the past how much humans prized their offspring and to what lengths they would go to defend them. Yes, this would supply enough sport for all.

He got up and stood in full view of the camp, but no one noticed. Yes, this was going to be too easy.

***

Walman found that he was getting bored. Hard to imagine, after being on the road for months how anyone could get bored of just lying around camp. He had eaten a light breakfast, then went to nap down on the beach. He wasn't feeling inclined to do any more hiking, and Magus had gone with Baines in the ATV to back track along the river to see what was there. He decided after a while to go find Yale to have another look at the aerial maps stored in his data chips to see if there were any particular features that would be worth looking at tomorrow. He's make sure he got one of the vehicles to do a little scouting of his own.

On his way to find Yale, he noticed that the one of his perimeter sensors was blinking in an odd
pattern. Suddenly curious, he went to check it out. Walman was a stickler for details when it came to his job. That's why Devon had hired him. He had an old-fashioned habit of putting some sort of innocuous personal touch to any security set up he was responsible for. In this case, he had taken one of the fallen leaves from the overshadowing trees and had torn a small piece off and wedged it into the seam of the access panel for the keypad and keylocks. The piece was there, on the ground. He checked the panel door and found it to be secure. He opened it and ran a quick diagnostic check and found everything to be O.K. The diagnostic had caused the familiar pattern of the external indicator lights to return, so Walman shrugged to himself, assuming that the sensors had simply needed to be calibrated. Placing the leaf bit back in the crease, he closed the panel door and continued his search for Yale.

***

Yale was perched on a crate, trying to finish his breakfast while keeping an eye on Uly. He was apprehensive about the boy's activities this morning and was sure an appearance by the Terrians was imminent. Uly had settled into a crouch almost an hour ago and hadn't moved. He trilled and moved his head from side to side once in a while so Yale knew that he hadn't simply fallen asleep. Setting his plate aside, he was debating if he should go rouse Devon when she appeared from around the tent he was sitting behind. She glanced at him, then looked over at Uly.

"How long has he been like that?" she asked him quietly, as she stepped up to him. Yale looked into her eyes, seeing the old concern there.

"About an hour now. He seems to be trying to communicate with them," he answered, knowing Devon knew of whom he was talking.

"It's been a bit peculiar," Devon said. "I was sure that the Terrians would have made themselves known to us by now. They don't seem to stay far away from Uly these days."

"Uly dreamed about them all last night. When he got up, he didn't even want to eat breakfast. He simply wandered the camp, then settled down here," Yale told her. Devon watched her son for a while. She'd seen him in this sort of behavior before and knew better than to disturb him. This time, however, it seemed that something was different. Well, it was her turn to keep watch on her child.

"I'll stay and watch him, Yale" she said. "You've done more than your share lately." Yale smiled his approval. It seemed he wasn't going to have to point out the obvious to her after all. Yale picked up his plate and strode off to the kitchen tent.

***

Since everyone was on their own that day, there was no particular pattern to the activities of the day. No organized meals, no meetings, no particular work that had to be done. It was well past mid day before Devon caught sight of John. She had been sitting on that same crate for hours now, occasionally dozing, but always becoming alert whenever Uly stirred. John came up to her, a plate of food in his hand. He set it down next to her, then hefted himself up onto the crate on the other side of her.

"I saw Yale. He told me about Uly," he said. Devon sighed, then eased herself against him, her backside feeling a bit numb from perching on the crate. John held her for a while, neither of them really knowing what to say.

"I want to go get him, but I know I shouldn't disturb him" she finally said. He gave her a squeeze.

"I know," he said, kissing her temple. "Uly's a strong kid. Besides, the Terrians have gone to a lot of trouble to get him here in one piece. I doubt they'll let anything happen to him now." She took consolation in that.

"How'd your morning go with True?" she asked. She could see his face light up.

"That's one hell of a kid I've got. She let me know how mad she was at me, but then listened to what I had to say. I think that she's ready to accept that what's happened between you and me isn't going away." he said.

"Did you tell her we're engaged?" Devon asked.

"No, not yet. We spent the morning sort of reminiscing, just sort of getting used to being around each other again. She actually dumped me after we had lunch. Apparently she's been spending a lot of time with Bess. I can't help wondering what that's all about," he said wistfully. Devon smiled at him.

"I'm sure Bess has been glad of her company. She and Morgan haven't decided to become parents yet, and I think Bess is sort of practicing on True," she told him. He grunted at that.

"I sure hope that Bess isn't giving her any weird ideas, " he fretted. He caught the smell of the food he brought over for her.

"Hey, better eat your lunch before it petrifies," he told her. She glanced at it, then picked it up. It actually didn't look too bad. He watched her start eating, then set his gaze on Uly. He hoped that he wasn't looking at the beginning of yet another episode of Terrian mystery involving Devon's son. He caught himself. It was time for him to start thinking of Uly as his son as well.

Now that she had started eating, Devon found she was ravenous. It didn't take her long to finish her plate. John glanced over, approving of her appetite.

"Well, at least there's one Adair I won't have to worry about, " he said, taking her empty plate. She smiled at that.

"I do have to keep my strength up to keep up with you these days," she laughed. He smiled and pulled her close. Then his gaze returned to Uly.

"Kids. The world doesn't go around without 'em, but damn, they can sure try to give you a heart attack along the way," he mused. Devon laughed at that.

"Speaking of kids, you want to stop taking those suppressors?" she asked him. He smiled and nuzzled her ear.

"I stopped the moment we set foot on the beach," he answered. She turned to him with a sparkle in her eye then rewarded him with a long, tender kiss.

"Mom?"

Devon and John pulled apart to see Uly standing right in front of them. He looked tired and a bit pale. Devon slid off of the crate and knelt down to get a good look at him. John was down the second after she was.

"Uly? You O.K.?" she asked. She was feeling relieved that he was out of his trance.

"I'm O.K." he told her. " I'm just a little tired, is all."

"Why don't we get you something to eat. Yale says you haven't eaten today," she prompted him.

"O.K." he said groggily. Devon stood and took his hand to lead him. He pulled back a minute.

"Mom, can I go out into the hills tomorrow?" he asked. "I can't talk to them here. They need to talk to me." Devon glanced at John.

"Sure pal, we can go out to the hills tomorrow," he replied. Then he remembered his promise to True. 'She's gonna kill me' he thought. Well, he'd try to talk to her this evening. Maybe he could get her to understand. Again.

***

The day had been uneventful and the Eden Group was in good humor as they gathered for the evening meal. Alonzo and Julia told the group about their trip up north and invited everyone to come to the communications station after dinner to see the videos they had shot. Magus and Baines added to their tales by telling about their trip up river. Both exploration teams could only tell of the beauty and potential they saw for their new home.

Yale listened for a minute. This was all going too easily. He thought about how Uly had behaved that morning, then what was wrong suddenly hit him. He addressed the group.

"Has anyone seen any signs of Terrians or Grendlers?" he asked. There was a moment where everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke up.

"I find it odd that in this place that has such an abundance of resources that I have yet to see any signs that anyone lives here. I don't even recall seeing signs of any type of animal life at all," he remarked. Julia cocked her head for a moment, recalling her memory of the north site.

"You know, I do recall seeing some birds in the distance, but where ever we stopped to look around, there were no signs of animals at all. I found shrubs loaded with fruits and a large variety of the native tubers all untouched, and yet I have found nothing in the soil and water samples I've taken that suggests there's anything different here to prevent wildlife or Grendlers or Terrians from moving in," she said.

"And Uly hasn't been able to reach the Terrians from here," Devon added.

"Nor has there been any signs of human occupation here," added Walman. His mind did touch on the sensor he found out of pattern that afternoon, but said nothing.

"You mean penal colonists?" asked Magus. Walman nodded.

"No sign at all. This place is ideal for humans. I would have thought that someone would have found it by now," he ventured.

"Well, we'll all have to keep our eyes open for the next few days, see if we can find any clues as to why no one's here," Danziger said.

"In the meantime, I'd like to see Julia and Alonzo's videos," Devon decided. There was a general agreement with that, so most of the group went to collect their Gear. About 15 minutes later, those that were interest had gathered around the main communications system. Alonzo pulled out the video disk and put it in the system's reader, then activated the Gear channel.

"Everyone ready?" he asked, quickly glancing around to make sure. With a chorus of "yesses", he activated the player.

Everyone was immediately struck by the beauty of the panoramic view. A few people swayed with a touch of vertigo as the view swept around, Danziger feeling True lean back into him for support. He placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her and had to swallow himself. When the view became a close up of Julia and Alonzo's comments were heard, there was a round of laughter that made Julia blush. Then the scene turned to the old river delta. The room was suddenly hushed as the view stopped there.

"It's perfect," Devon breathed feeling a sudden longing to walk down the hill. She felt Danziger place his free arm around her waist.

"Steady there," he whispered to her, but understood what she was feeling. This was the culmination of 10 years of planning, hardship and worry, all because she wanted to save her child's life.

The video continued to pan on, showing the extent of the forests and grasslands that lay behind it. This was Eden to them. Before them stood the resources from which they would carve their future, but only to be used with careful consideration and respect.

"Hey, what's that?" Magus' voice disturbed the silence.

"What?" Alonzo asked, pausing the viewer.

"Go back a little. There!" she said and he stopped the view. Everyone looked carefully to see what Magus was talking about. It took a few moments, but several others started to pick out what she had seen. Danziger stared hard at the object, hoping it was what he thought it was.

"That's one of our cargo pods!" he exclaimed. Alonzo was now seated in front of the viewer's controls, working to center and enlarge the image. After a few adjustments, he succeeded in magnifying the spot. The image was fuzzy, but there was no doubt. It was a cargo pod and it looked like it was still intact. Danziger frowned.

"Geez, look where it came down! Smack in the middle of the forest! This isn't going to be easy," he complained. Yale stepped up and hooked his cyber arm to the viewer. He overlaid the aerial images he had of the area and then rotated the image so everyone could see where the pod was in relationship to the hill top. Alonzo's practiced eye immediately began looking for the easiest way in.

"It looks like we can approach it from the north side, but it looks like we're going to have to do several miles of hiking to get to it," he announced.

"Can anyone tell which number it is?" Danziger asked. He hoped it contained vehicles that could shift the pod's contents from there to the delta. Alonzo played with the viewer some more and was able to get a slightly better angle on it.

"I *think* that's a "1" on the side," Magus said. Danziger hoped she was right. The first three pods were supposed to have the primary base camp, rescue, power supply, and food stuffs in them. The vehicles alone would be worth their weight in gold. Yale brought up the manifest for pod #1 and confirmed Danziger's memory.

"Well," Devon said, removing her Gear. "It looks like we move camp tomorrow and this time, it's going to be hard going." Her announcement resulted in a group groan as everyone switched off and removed their own Gear.

"Everyone better get a good night's sleep tonight," Yale said, looking pointedly at Uly. With that last thought, the group dispersed, some going to start packing already, some to take a last stroll around camp before the sunset.

Devon and John decided to head down to the beach to watch the sunset, but instead of it being an intimate moment alone for them, they decided to include the kids this time. The four of them strolled down to the center of the beach and dropped to the sand, Devon and John sitting next to each other, each with a kid in front of them. True leaned back into Danz and settled into his arms while Uly sat staring thoughtfully at the darkening sky. Devon stroked his hair, which seemed to be a signal for him to yawn. He turned to settle into her shoulder and promptly fell asleep.

Bess and Morgan were strolling just out of reach of the waves when Bess caught the outline of the foursome on the sand. It was obvious that Devon had taken her talk seriously, for which Bess was grateful. Satisfied that her work was done for the moment, she continued to stare at them, putting her and Morgan in Devon and John's place. Now that they had made it to New Pacifica, she was going to have to begin working on Morgan. She wanted kids and knew it wouldn't take much to get him to agree. The next few weeks were going to be a lot of work but there was no time like the present to start working on her new project.

***

The Fighter had been left on watch while the Strategist and Fiend slept. His bioengineered instincts kept him shifting and starting as he reacted to the movements of the enemy. He didn't understand why the Strategist hadn't let him do his job. There were only 16 of them, two of them children. He could take them all out in a matter of minutes. But the Strategist had control of the box, so the Fighter bided his time with impatience. He didn't understand the games the other two liked to play, but had no choice but to do as ordered.

Something had happened today. There were indications that they were going to pull up camp. He would report this activity to the Strategist when he awoke, knowing it would change the plans he was making. He continued to observe and waited.

***

The Strategist was awake by the time the Eden invaders had roused and began packing. This was unexpected, having them leave. He waited until they got the vehicles going, retreating in the direction from which they had come. If he was to make his move, it would have to be today sometime. He wasn't going to let his sport get away.

***

Danziger was back to fretting about his Transrover as the old familiar caravan began the hopefully last leg of its journey. Devon had decided that he should ride with True in the cab of the Transrover to hopefully continue their needed conversation. He agreed with a bit of hesitation, but knew she was right. Devon had installed Uly on the back of the vehicle and walked along side, her thoughts jumping back and forth from John to the beautiful delta that Julia and Alonzo had found. It all said "home sweet home" to her.

It was going to take them half the day just to back track to a point where they could head north toward the cargo pod. John sat quietly with his daughter, his attention being focused on the vehicle. After a while, True decided to break the silence.

"The Transrovers not going to fall apart beneath your feet, dad," she stated flatly. He blinked at her in surprise, then grimaced.

"Not you too!" he grinned at her. True gave him the Danziger Look.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"It's just that Devon said the same thing to me the day we got to the beach," he explained. True sighed.

"Is that all you think about these days?" she complained. Danziger looked at her thoughtfully.

"It's hard not to," he replied.

"Then why aren't you with her right now?" True asked, a bit annoyed. Danz looked at his daughter trying not to notice the barrier she was putting up again.

"I know we were going to go exploring this morning, but getting to that cargo pod is very important. It'll have stuff in it we really need," he explained.

"Dad, that pod's been there for a year now. Is one day going to make any difference?" True exploded. He thought about that for a moment and realized she was right. Everyone was so driven to see their trip finished that no one had brought up the obvious.

"You have a point there," he admitted. "It's just become a habit for us to be this way. Besides, we're together now." Somehow, he knew that this isn't what True had had in mind.

"Is there something you wanted to talk to me about? Something seems to be bugging you," he asked her. He knew that was the understatement of the year. Since True was already feeling a bit miffed, she wasn't feeling like being polite.

"So what happens when we finally get to where we're going?" she asked, giving him a piercing stare.

"How do you mean?" he returned.

"I mean, are you and Devon gonna get married or what?" she demanded. "It seems like you're always together, especially at night." That statement shocked him a little. He took his time answering her.

"Does the idea of Devon and me being together really bother you that much?" he asked. True frowned a bit, then sagged into the seat.

"I guess not," she said, but he knew it did. How was he going to explain this to her?

"True-girl, love has many facets. Part of that is the physical need to be alone together. It's instinctive and natural." He looked over at her to see if this was making any sense. He wasn't sure, but decided to press on anyway. "I have you because I was in love with your mother," he said. A strange look came over her face.

"Ummm, I know we never have talked about this, but do you know about how babies come to be?" he asked carefully. True looked up at him with wide eyes, then shifted her eyes to the view around them. She remembered some of the illicit VR chips that some of her friends at school had got their hands on. She shuddered as she thought of her dad doing those things. Danz could see she was uncomfortable with this. So she did have some idea of what he was saying.

"True, sex can be a good thing if it's with someone you love. But it can also be used to harm others." There, he'd said it. True chewed her lip for a moment.

"So how do you know when it's right?" she asked. Good, she was willing to talk about it.

"Your heart will tell you when it's the right person, but there's more to it than that. Giving yourself so completely to someone means leaving yourself vulnerable to being hurt. It's important that you trust your partner too." he continued.

"And you trust Devon," she finally spoke up.

"And she trusts me. We've made a commitment to each other and we both know it works because of that trust," he told her.

"So you guys are planning on having more kids?" True asked.

"We'd like to," he answered carefully. "That's another part of committing to each other. You and Uly are getting more and more independent every day. It won't be long now before you'll want to start looking around yourself." He cringed at the thought. She snorted.

"It's not like there's thousands of boys running around, dad," she informed him. He smiled at that.

"But there will be more once the colony ship lands," he countered. "But you don't have to be in any hurry about this. Be sure it's something you want before you jump in feet first." She thought about that for a while.

"Are you on supressors, dad?" she asked. Danz felt himself blushing a bit. This was getting a bit personal, but he owed her an answer.

"I was, but I've stopped taking them," he answered honestly. She nodded.

"If you and Devon want to have a baby, then why were you taking them in the first place?"

"Timing, sweetheart. Having a baby is a huge responsibility. We wanted to wait until we had settled at New Pacifica. It's important to be reasonably sure you can feed and protect a child," he told her, remembering the first weeks he had her. She thought about that.

"How did you take care me then?" she asked, curious.

"I was lucky to have good friends back then. They helped me a lot. Do you remember?" he asked.

"Yeah, some," she answered. A big smile formed on his face.

"Yeah, you were the darlin' of the old Ops gang. I think you ended up with more aunts and uncles that I could count. A lot of people learned how to change diapers on you!" he laughed.

"Daaaad!" True moaned, then a huge smile lit her face and she dived at his torso, aiming for his tickle spots.

Devon grinned at the sound of laughter coming from the cab of the Transrover. She wanted to be a part of it but knew this time between John and True was meant only for them. Still, her grin lasted the rest of the morning.

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