The Quality of Mercy by Etain Antrim

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The Quality of Mercy, Part 7
Etain Antrim

Danziger paused to take stock of where they were, and reflected proudly on the fact that they were making great time. The work crew were diligently clearing the trail, working efficiently and wisely. Even Martin was hard at work, moving swiftly from tree to tree, and dragging the downed wood clear as he went. At this pace, they would be at the scout camp by that evening.

And that was good. Julia and Baines had left the ATV with the crew a couple of hours back, planning to snowshoe the rest of the way in. Julia had looked tense and tight-lipped; she was obviously concerned for the two men stuck in the cold. Baines had stopped by quickly as he dropped off the ATV, and said something about Alonzo getting sick again too. Danziger was just pleased that they had already started the rescue before it had been forced on them. He still was amazed that they had waited as long as they had to get started. When it took Morgan Martin to point out their lack of concern, it was clear that they were too involved in their own plans.

Still, they had the perfect day for hard physical labor. Although it was still bitterly cold, there was no wind and the sun shone brightly, warming anyone standing in it, and the snow was still light and powdery and easily driven through. Despite the reason they were out there, it was a joy to be working outside.

***

Julia and Baines snowshoed for less than a couple of hours when they saw the scout team tent ahead of them. At about the same time, Walman, who had been watching for them, gave a shout, waved his arm in welcome and moved to stand on the edge of the camp.

As they got close enough, he said, "Hey! Boy am I glad to see the two of you." He quickly hugged Julia and grasped Baines' hand warmly. He hardly gave them time to get the snowshoes off before he swung around and moved quickly to the tent, saying, "Alonzo's in here."

Julia watched his progress with an experienced eye. The combination of the splint and the crutch were serving the man well, and he didn't look like he was in great pain. She followed him into the tent, where Alonzo was still lying on the floor. The tent had a sour smell to it, which was explained when she looked into a sack that sat on the floor next to the pilot. "Baines, take this outside and bring in some other container." She added "Thanks" as Baines gingerly lifted the sack, and holding it well out in front of him, walked out of the tent with it.

Julia turned to look carefully at Alonzo. He looked tired, his face had lost the color it had regained over the past couple of weeks, and his eyes had dark circles under them. She reached over and put her hand gently on his forehead, which she was pleased to find was cool. "So, fly-boy, I let you out of my sight for one day, and what happens?" she said lightly.

Alonzo smiled tiredly up at her. "Hey, Doc. I just need to get some sleep. I'm okay."

"Let me be the judge of that," she said as she pulled her diaglove out of her bag. She slipped it on and started to scan him. While she was doing that, she asked, "Are you dizzy? Does your head hurt?"

He nodded carefully. "Yeah. Now." He looked at Walman who was sitting on his cot, watching everything intently. "But Walman's your real patient."

"I'm going to check out Walman's knee right after I finish here. I've got two patients, and one of them is moving around just fine, and the other one is lying on a cold tent floor. Let me be the judge of who I need to look at first, okay?" She took the sting away from her words with a smile. "You do have a small concussion, that's why you've been feeling nauseous, but otherwise you're just tired." Julia felt a wave of relief wash over her whole body, leaving her giddy and relaxed. *He wasn't sick again. He was just tired. He'd be all right.* "Let's move you up onto that cot." She turned to Baines, who had walked back into the tent holding another bag. "Can you help us--? Okay, carefully. Walman, can you move that sleeping bag? Okay, now help him down. Good." She looked down at the pilot, whose face was pastier than ever, and who clutched the clean bag Baines had brought in like he thought he might be using it soon. "'Lonzo, you can go to sleep if you want to. I'm going to look at Walman's knee outside in the light. Call if you need anything." She straightened the blankets around the pilot as she spoke, then brushed the hair off of his brow and kissed him lightly. As she straightened, she beckoned to Walman to go outside.

Once outside, she directed Walman to sit on a log, with his left leg out in front of him. She scanned his knee, reading the results on a small monitor she had pulled out of her pack. "Okay, there's no damage to the bone . . . And your ligaments look good too." She stopped and looked into Walman's face, "Looks like a bad sprain. That's good, much better than the alternatives. But, you need to know that it will still take time to heal. I'm going to put you on a regimen of anti-inflammatories and pain-blocks, and eventually we may want to try some physical therapy."

"Physical therapy? It's that bad?" Walman asked soberly.

"Sprains aren't really serious, but if you don't treat them well, they can stay tender for a long time. But you will be feeling much better soon. You're lucky. Immobilizing the knee was the right thing to do, and so was icing it down."

"Yeah, well, Alonzo insisted. I probably wouldn't have done it if he hadn't made me." Walman stopped and looked earnestly into Julia's eyes. "You know, I've been treating 'Lonz like dirt, but he looked after me, at least as long as he could. And Julia, I feel really bad about it all. The poor guy had to put up with me, and then-- I mean, those Terrians have been hounding him, and there was nothing he could do about it. And now he's sick, because of them--and me."

Julia's expression softened, and she put her hand comfortingly on Walman's arm. "Walman, Alonzo understood why you were angry. None better; that's how *he* first reacted to the Terrian dreams. They were an intrusion, worse even, a violence to his mind. It took a long time for him to learn how to deal with them." She paused, then added, "But I agree with you that they seem unaware that they are making him sick again. It's not by intent, I'm sure. And to be honest, I don't understand why he doesn't resent them, but he doesn't. Somehow he believes that the Terrians are innately good." She turned to rummage through her pack, pulling out some medicine. "Here, this should take care of any pain you still feel. Let me know if you need another dose when that wears off."

Baines walked over to where the two of them were having their quiet conversation. He had a couple of supply bags in his hand, and was shaking his head as he approached. "Hey, Walman, what have you guys been eating? There's not much in here, not even any semolina bars."

Walman's expression showed his embarrassment. "Uh, that's because we've eaten all the semolina bars. Actually, to tell the truth, except for some porridge the first morning, that's all we've eaten. Neither of us was really hungry, and neither of us was in the mood to cook."

"No wonder you both look like you've lost weight! What was this, the ultimate bachelor camp?" Julia scolded. "Luckily, we brought some better food with us. Baines, how would you feel if we put some dinner together? It'll be a while yet before the TransRover gets here. Real food might make both Alonzo and Walman feel better."

"Sure. I'm pretty hungry too. I've had a lot of exercise today. Didn't we bring along the dehydrated soup fixings? That sounds good to me."

"Walman, why don't you go check on 'Lonzo, and Baines and I'll get the soup started." Julia shooed him away.

***

Danziger was relieved when they reached the scout team camp before the sun set. As they pulled in, they were met by Julia, Baines and Walman, who was using a jury-rigged crutch to get around. Julia took Danziger to one side and suggested that the two scouts should be taken back to camp as soon as possible, along with Baines and herself, and that the rest of the crew could pack up the camp and take the DuneRail and ATV back. After he agreed, she directed a couple of the men to help Alonzo walk to a stretcher they had put in the 'Rovers side-basket. The pilot objected, declaring that he felt much better, but he got quiet as soon as he lay down on the stretcher, and clutched a new, clean waterproof sack like a talisman. Walman refused to sit inside the cab, preferring to join Julia beside his scout partner.

The crew noted the change in dynamics, and Magus took Baines to one side to ask about it. "So come on, spill. What happened?"

"I'm not sure. Walman seems to have decided that 'Lonz is okay . . . All I know is when we got here, he couldn't wait to drag us in to look at Solace. He really looked worried, too. Like he wasn't injured himself . . . I don't know why, but I'm glad."

Magus nodded, "Yeah, me too. Walman's too good a guy-- I mean, it just wasn't like him. What did Julia say? How are they?"

"They're both gonna be fine. 'Lonz has a concussion and is really tired, and Walman's knee is sprained. Julia said that with a couple of days of rest, they'll both be okay. Whoops! Looks like we're leaving. Catch you back at camp!" He jumped into the 'Rover cab, sitting beside Danziger. They pulled out of the scout camp, leaving most of the clearing crew behind.

Once they were back in camp, Julia sent Alonzo to bed in the Medtent, then turned to Walman. She replaced the temporary splint with a new one, then dug out Alonzo's old crutches and adjusted them to fit Walman. He was pleased at how much better they worked than the branch. All round, he was pleased with how well he felt and with his extended mobility, and he enjoyed seeing all the other group members again. He sat in the center of a small group and told them about the past few days. He purposely didn't say much about Alonzo's dreams, preferring to let the pilot give those details.

Julia had seen that Alonzo fell asleep before she turned in herself. It had been a long and stressful day, but the two men she had been worrying about were safe in camp, so she fell asleep quickly, snuggled up against the pilot. She woke up in the dark quiet of the night to find Alonzo muttering and moving restlessly in his sleep. As she lay there looking at him, he suddenly woke up and lay quietly, his mind obviously still on his dream. Julia ran her hand down his arm.

"Hmm?" She could see him mentally changing gears.

"'Lonzo. You were having a dream. Do you want to talk about it?" She lifted her hand and placed it on his shoulder as she looked directly into his eyes.

"Thanks Julia, but not right now. I need to talk to Devon and you and the others about all the dreams. But tomorrow morning will do. They won't bother me again tonight. I get to sleep." He smiled at her, then pulled her into a comfortable hug.

"Would you like me to give you a sedative?" Julia asked.

"No, just let me cuddle. I'm so tired I'll be out in no time."

A couple of minutes later, she could hear his deep steady breathing, and knew that he was asleep. She relaxed and drifted off again herself.

End of Part 7.

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