The Quality of Mercy by Etain Antrim

[Reviews - 1]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

The Quality of Mercy, Part 5
Etain Antrim

Walman slept fitfully that night, wakened by the cold, by the awkwardness of the splint and by the pain in his knee. As he lay there hoping for the oblivion of sleep, he became aware of noise and movement in Alonzo's side of the tent. Alonzo was muttering softly, quietly enough that Walman couldn't hear any words, but the pilot sounded upset and moved restlessly in his cot.

Alonzo was standing on a beach, his feet sinking into loose sand while he could hear a dull roar off in the distance where he could see an ocean or large sea. Scrubby green trees dotted the hills beyond the sand, and the air smelled of salt and decaying vegetation. He stood there long enough to confirm that this place was new to him, and that he was on the dream plane. After he had been there for a couple of minutes, he could feel the familiar rumble at his feet as a number of Terrians emerged, spraying sand on him as they surrounded him. He recognized some of the Terrians as belonging to the local tribe he had stayed with when he was learning to use the dream plane, while he had never seen the others before. Two of the Terrians stepped forward to stand near him, one familiar, and the other a stranger. The Terrian he knew inclined his head to the side and showed him a communications dish, farther down the coast.

"This is New Pacifica?" He looked around him with more interest. "And these are the Terrians that live here--" He knew it was true. His ability to understand the Terrians had improved greatly while he had stayed with them.

The scene changed, and now he could see the New Pacifica Terrians being abused by convicts, who shot them, enslaved them, and raided their caves. "And these Terrians don't like humans . . . They don't want us at New Pacifica." Alonzo could feel his heart sinking. This could be bad news. "But this is where the colony ship will land, and all the sick children. We don't have any choice now. This can not be changed."

Alonzo concentrated to form images of why they needed to settle at New Pacifica. The colony ship woke up and went into orbit around the planet, while the crew tried again and again to call the group at New Pacifica, but never received an answer. Their sensors picked up the debris of his ship in orbit and scattered over the planet, and assumed that the Advance Group was dead. After a period of uncertainty, the colonists decided to land anyway, and all 250 families with their sick children were shuttled down to New Pacifica. But lacking guidance from the Eden Crew, who had learned much over the past two years, the colonists were terrified by the native life forms and shot Terrians and Grendlers whenever they saw them. As the earth around them began to die, the syndrome children also began to die, despite the frantic efforts of the doctors who traveled with them.

The Terrians were silent, then began to shuffle toward him, while the air sang with their distress.

"But it doesn't have to be this way. My group is hoping to be there. Let me show you." Alonzo cried.

He summoned up a new set of images: the colony ship transporting the families to the surface, where they were welcomed by the Eden Advance group; the sick children becoming one with the planet, just as Uly had; the families living in peace with the earth, having learned from the Eden Advance group.

The Terrians were silent again. The New Pacifica spokesman then showed some images of his own. Suddenly, Alonzo found himself in the New Pacifica of his second story, but before the colony ship arrived. Simple houses and a couple of larger buildings stood around a central plaza, and his group milled in the plaza discussing something he couldn't hear. Suddenly, Julia pointed to Zero, and Alonzo could hear the ominous, "I have a projectile approaching at 200 meters/second." The group threw themselves in every direction in an attempt to avoid being shot, except for Baines, who stood frozen in place. Alonzo could see three Z.E.D.s on the periphery of the settlement, armed and out of the colonist's sight. Julia leapt up and grabbed Baines by the arm and pulled him as she tried to make him get down. As Alonzo watched in horror, she was hit in the neck by the bullet and fell on top of Baines, spraying him with her blood. He rolled to cover her body with his own, all the while shouting for help. And suddenly, Reilly appeared before the group, in front of one of the large buildings at the side of the plaza.

"I told you you'd die running, Citizen." And he laughed, a cold, cruel sound.

Alonzo couldn't see any more of the vision, tears filled his eyes and were overflowing, "No. No. Please, I can't let this happen. She can't die. If she dies, so will I." He fell to the sand, sobbing. "No. Julia, you can't die. You can't."

And suddenly he was awake and aware that he was sobbing in his cot, but he couldn't stop.

Walman heard Alonzo's dream get more intense, and saw that the pilot was upset by whatever he was seeing, but even so, he was unprepared for a sudden burst of loud cries and racking sobs. "Hey, 'Lonz, you okay?", but he got no reply; the pilot was huddled in his sleeping bag and sobbing as if he had just seen the end of his world. Walman was mystified, *What the hell is going on?* He slowly climbed out of his cot, extricating himself carefully from the sleeping bag, and hopped through the frigid air over to Alonzo's cot. He was shivering before he got there. "Hey. Hey, 'Lonz. What happened?"

Alonzo didn't hear him and continued to weep, curled up on his side into a tight ball.

Despite his residual distrust for Solace, Walman couldn't ignore the man's obvious distress. He carefully put his hand on the pilot's shoulder, "Hey, buddy. It's all right. It was just a dream. Alonzo, it was just a dream." he soothed.

Alonzo looked up at him, finally aware that he wasn't alone, tears still streaming down his face. "Walman? Oh God, it was awful-- I can't do it-- I can't. She can't die-- I won't let her."

"Alonzo, what happened? Do you want to talk about it? Was it a Terrian dream?"

Alonzo just nodded.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Walman tried again. He was now so cold that his teeth were starting to chatter.

"No, it's too painful--I can't do it--I can't."

Walman reached back onto his cot and pulled a blanket off the top of his sleeping bag and wrapped it around himself. He sat on the edge of Alonzo's cot, his good leg curled up under him as he tried to keep at least that foot warm. "Hey, 'Lonz. Tell me about the dream, okay? I need to understand."

Alonzo tried to pull himself together. He took a couple of deep breaths, then sighed in resignation. "Okay. But you look frozen. Why don't you go back to your bed. I can tell you from here."

"No, I'll stay here, but I'll go get my sleeping bag so I can sit in it and stay warm." Walman hopped back to his cot, and reached for his bag, then changed his mind. "Hey, how about if I pull my cot over closer?"

"Sure." Alonzo said listlessly.

Walman dragged his cot across the tent, hopping awkwardly. He moved it close to Alonzo's cot, but left a foot or so between the two. He climbed into his sleeping bag and draped the blanket over his head and shoulders. "I'm ready. So what happened?"

"The Terrians who live at New Pacifica don't want us there. The local Terrians are trying to help us negotiate with them. The local Terrians talked to me about it this afternoon while I was asleep. But this time, I met the New Pacifica tribe, and they showed me a possible future if we do go to New Pacifica. We were under attack by at least three Z.E.D.s, and the first person who was shot was Julia. Then Reilly appeared and laughed at her." Despite his wish to talk about this dream calmly, Alonzo could feel tears slipping down his face again. Walman sat in shocked silence. "It was terrible. And there was nothing I could do to help her, or that anyone else could do." He sat there quietly, his head bowed and tears dripping onto the bedclothes.

Walman sat quietly for a few seconds, then spoke. "Shank, that *is* a nightmare. But 'Lonz, why are they showing you this? Is it going to happen if we do go?" Walman couldn't imagine anything worse that the Terrians could have shown the pilot. He knew that if Julia were to die that way, Alonzo would be shattered.

"I don't know. The Terrians don't see time the way we do; they can move within it, and so they can see futures, but there are many possible futures. I think that's what this is, one possible future. They don't know how painful this is for me, since they don't feel emotions for each other as individuals. They aren't trying to be cruel. But it kinda makes sense. Reilly knows exactly where we are heading, and the dish is already there." Alonzo fell silent, still fighting off the horror of what he had seen.

"Hey," Walman tentatively patted Alonzo on the shoulder, "Do you want to call Julia?"

The pilot shamefully nodded, "Yeah, but I don't want to scare her. What do you think?"

"Do it. You don't have to tell her why, exactly." He handed the gear to Alonzo. "Do you want me to go away for a while.?"

Alonzo just shook his head. "Julia, can you hear me? Julia?"

A very sleepy voice answered, "Heller."

"Julia, it's Alonzo. I'm sorry, but I just needed to know that you are okay. I had a Terrian dream that was kind of stressful."

"I'm fine 'Lonzo. Are you all right? You sound upset?"

"I'm okay. I'll tell you about it later. I'm sorry to wake you up. Try to get back to sleep Doc." He glanced over at Walman, then lowered his voice and added, "I love you."

"I love you too. Heller out."

Alonzo let the gear fall into his lap with his hands as he sighed deeply. "I'm sorry Walman. I guess I woke you up. Thanks for listening. It really helps to have someone to talk to."

"No problem. Will they dream to you any more tonight?" Walman had been acutely aware of feeling like a third wheel while Alonzo talked to Julia, but he was pleased that Alonzo had called her. The pilot was noticeably calmer.

"Yeah, if they get the chance. I'm pretty tired, but even so I don't think I'm likely to fall asleep any time soon. Hey, how's your knee? Is it bothering you?"

"Actually, I was already awake. I just can't get used to this splint, and the knee still hurts. Plus we slept most of the day. But the knee is much better than it was."

"Well that's good. Try to get some sleep if you can."

"Sure. Good night."

Both men sank down into their sleeping bags, trying to regain the warmth that they had lost while they talked, but neither of them slept for some time. Alonzo fought back the image of Julia dying that floated in front of his eyes every time he started to drift off, so that he kept jerking himself awake again. Walman lay thinking. Alonzo's dreams sounded horrible. How could the pilot stand that sort of stress? What did he say to himself to make it okay? Then suddenly, he remembered Baines telling him that Alonzo didn't have any more control over the Terrian dreams than they had when Alonzo was sick and they all saw his dreams. It seemed more true now than he had thought at that time. And that thought led him to remember the dreams he had shared, unwillingly, with the pilot, and he began to consider his reaction to them and to Alonzo.

End of Part 5.

You must login (register) to review.