Choices by Tara OShea

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Devon blinked as Yale shook her awake. John was still asleep, and she lifted his arm carefully, not wanting to wake him, and slipped out from under it. She could feel the imprint of his jacket on her cheek, and rubbed it thoughtfully.

"What time is it?" she murmured, and then the night's events rushed back, and she jumped to her feet, and Danziger blinked, running his fingers through his tangled mop of gold-touched curls, and scratching the beginnings of what would be a beard if he didn't shave soon. "Are they back?"

"Not yet--" Yale began when the door burst open. True ran in, already dressed, and Danziger opened his arms. She jumped into them.

"Dad! The kids--"
"I know, True-girl."
"No, they're outside." she dragged her father up, and the four of them stumbled out into the weak morning sunshine to see over two hundred children walking, running and tumbling down the grassy slope towards the centre of town. Parents ran to meet them, fathers and mother catching them up in their arms, swinging them around and crying tears of relief.

All but one.
Marshall Taggert stood alone, his hopes, fears and prayers written plainly across his face.

"Uly?" Devon called out, scanning the crowd until a familiar red sweater caught her eye, and he son slammed into her legs, beaming.

"Mom! Do you see them?"
"Yes, Uly, I see them." she laughed, hugging him. She looked up and met Marshall's eye, and her smile faded.

"Uly, where's Max?" Alonzo appeared, Julia at his side. Dr. Vasquez went over to Taggert, and whatever words they exchanged were pitched to low to carry to the pilot's ears.

A lone Terrian walked through the crowd, which parted before it like water flowing around a reed in the river, a bundle in its arms that as it grew closer Julia could see was the still, silent from of Max Taggert.

She rushed to the Terrian, who laid the boy in her arms, and then sank back into the earth.

Dr. Vasquez spread out his labcoat on the dew-soaked grass, and Julia ran the glove over Max, her face a mask of worry.

"He's having difficulty breathing, we have to get him back in his immuno-suit."

"I--" Taggert stammered from where he knelt beside Vasquez. "I don't know--"

"It's here," Hanako appeared at their sides, wolfed immunosuit in her hands. "I found it on the floor, next to his bed."

Max's eye fluttered open as he drew in one tortured breath after another.

"I had the best dream," he murmured, still fuzzy with sleep, and he looked up at his father, focusing on his tearstained face. "I was running, sir, did you see me?" The child's voice was full of pride and hope.

"We have to get him to the hospital, we're going to have to drain his lungs." Julia's glove beeped a warning, and Taggert scooped his son up in his arms. Cradled against his father's chest, Max was spared the sight of his playmates and friends running joyously into their parents arms, and lifting their faces towards the morning sun.

Spared for the moment, anyway.

"Dad!" True ran up, and almost collided with her father. It was nearing late afternoon, everyone who didn't have a child that needed to be poked and prodded by disbelieving doctors having abandoned their chores for their beds, and were only now beginning to resemble humans again, stumbling out, showered and fed, into the town in twos and threes.

Devon and Danziger had stopped by the hospital to check on the children, and Max who had slept solidly since being put back in his suit. Taggert had not been able to meet their eyes, had just sat there, clutching his son's pale hand between his big brown fingers and staring into nothing.

"What?" Danziger set his hands on her shoulders, steadying her.

"A koba's got a chicken."
"What?" Devon's eyes went wide. They hadn't had any problems yet losing livestock to the native critters, plus the curious Grendlers, but that was mostly due to the Perimeter Sensor grid, which had gone down last night when the Terrians had made their unscheduled visit, and Baines hadn't been able to get it up and working again yet.

"In its mouth! It's carrying it around by the neck in its mouth."

"Then the chicken's dead, honey. You know how dangerous those critters are, you'd better not try and interrupt one while it's eating."

"Danziger," Devon tugged on his sleeve, and pointed. It was the funniest damn thing he'd ever seen. Just as True had said, the koba was scampering around in circles, a chicken almost as big as it was clutched tightly in its little jaws, feathers flying.

He felt sorry for the damn chicken, of course. But he couldn't help but laugh. Devon leaned on his arm, silent guffaws threatening to tear loose, and she could barely breathe.

It had been one hell of a day.

"You're sure?" Walman leaned over the bar, cup of coffee cradled in his hands, and Morgan nodded.

"They sure looked 'together' to me." "Damn, I'm glad I stuck around long enough to finally see it," Baines shook his head, laughing.

"Okay, who had today in the pool?" Teresa asked, and Yale retrieved the chalkboard from the storeroom, scanning it carefully.

"I think I did," Magus leaned over the cyborg's shoulder. "No, Magus, you had yesterday," Yale informed her. "Damn, and I could have used a day's work out of you all. The corral in the north field needs a new fence." Magus shook her head, grinning, and Cameron slipped his arm around her.

"So, who had today?"
"It would seem the lucky winner is... Bess." Yale smiled. "Yes!" Morgan said to the ceiling, and Bess's eyes were wide. All assembled groaned softly, but a bet was a bet, and the Martin's had won fair and square.

"Yale, I made that bet almost six months ago! Are you sure?" "Honey, honey, honey," Morgan laid his hands on her shoulders. "You won. Do not question it when fate deals us a hand like this. Think of the *house*, with ten extra sets of hands for an entire twenty-four hour period!"

"Hey, Martin, you're the one who claims you saw them 'together', how do we know you didn't rig this?" Baines asked, and Morgan shook his head, still grinning.

"Oh please," Morgan opened the door, and gestured outside. "Just *look* at them. If it were any plainer, it'd be tattooed on their foreheads."

"He's right," Chavez admitted, defeated. "I've known John a long time. He's been bitten by the bug."

"I'll expect you all bright and early tomorrow morning, we've got a lot of work to do--" Morgan wagged a finger, still smiling like an idiot.

"Don't push it, Martin." Walman leaned forward til he was only a few centimetres from the former desk-jockey's face.

"Okay," Morgan capitulated, and then beat a hasty retreat, chattering to Bess about a kitchen backsplash on their way out. Yale couldn't help but laugh.

"Hey, uh, somebody'd better tell Alonzo," Walman looked at the others, to see if there would be any takers. The group quieted, and fidgeted. "Hey, he threw in his bid with the rest of us, a deal's a deal."

"Somehow, I think this is the last thing he'd want to hear," Teresa sighed, and Baines's arm tightened around her shoulders.

"You never know, maybe it would cheer him up?" "Finding out he's got to spend a day working on the Martin Mansion is going to lift his spirits? Somehow, I sincerely doubt that." Magus shook her head. "Only one thing is gonna get that boy out of the dumps, and that ain't it."

"Julia--" Alonzo caught up with her at last in outside the children's ward. "Have you been to sleep yet?"

"What? Um, no." She stuck her hands deep in the pockets of her labcoat, and blinked sleepily at him "No, I had to help Dr. Vasquez with Max, and you know I was up last night."

"I'm worried about you, why don't you crash for a while?" "I can't, we have to finish the blood work on the kids." "Julia, you're not the only doctor in town anymore. I'm sure Vasquez and the others can handle it."

"You don't need to worry about me any more, Alonzo." She looked him in the eye, and then glanced back down at her shoes. "No white picket fence," she smiled sadly, and pushed past him to reenter the children's ward without looking back.

"So, she overheard Sheila and me talking, and now's she convinced that I'm gonna take off with the colony ship." Alonzo sat on the porch of the Hotel, swinging his legs over the side and picking apart a hops flower petal by petal.

"Are you?" Morgan's eyebrows rose, and he put down the hammer he was using to reattach Grinning Grendler sign which had been ripped free last night by one of the more physically imposing patrons in a heated moment.

"No!" Alonzo said passionately, and surveyed the scattering of petals at his feet as if they could tell his future. "But she thinks that if I stay, I'll learn to hate her." His shoulder slumped, and he stared up at the sky. "God, she's so scared, you know? It's like she doesn't think she deserves to have anyone want to stay for her. How did I handle that?" He shook his head, swiping at his eyes tiredly.

"I got angry, and I walked out. Not really bright I guess, I just was so mad that she would think I would just run out on her, just because everyone else in her life has. But I know that wasn't really her talking, it's the fear. But I don't know how to make the fear go away. And now, I'm afraid things can't ever go back to the way they were. I said stuff.... I wish I hadn't, you know?" Alonzo sighed, drawing his knees up to his chest and rocking back on his heels.

"I just wish I knew what to do, everything is just falling apart."

"So? Fix it." Morgan rolled his eyes. "Fix it," Alonzo repeated. "What the hell kind of advice is that?"

True led Cloud up to the fence and Jenny Leahy reached out with a look of sheer wonder to touch the horses's soft nose. The four year old squealed and snatched her hand back as Cloud nuzzled her fingers, looking for a sweet.

Dorothy Leahy bore no resemblance now to the crazed woman of the night before who had almost brained a fellow parent with a chair. In fact, no one would ever be able to guess just by looking at the dozens of parents and children that had come down to the paddock to see the horses had as recently as the day before spent most of their lives inside a hospital ward, and that those laughing children hadn't been able to breathe without machines and drugs.

Nomura Hanako was doing her best not to picture Yoshi among them. Unfortunately, she was not succeeding. Every dark head she caught sight of out the corner of her eye made her think she would just turn around and there he would be at her feet, to look up at her and smile, and maybe press a wildflower into her hand like Mark Albrecht had just done, before scampering away to be lifted onto his uncle's shoulders.

She looked down at the hardy little blossom, rolling the thin stalk between two fingers and watching the petals fan out in a blur of blue and purple. She must show it to Miko, to see if her daughter would want to paint it. The colours were just amazing.

"True, have you seen Miko?" Hanako asked on impulse, and the girl shook her head.

"Mike? Not since yesterday. I'm sure she's around though." "Yes, I'm sure she is." Hanako pursed her lips, lost in thought.

When *was* the last time she'd seen her daughter? Granted Miko was a big girl, and could take care of herself. Ever since Yoshi was diagnosed, Miko had been very good about those nights when Hanako hadn't been able to leave the hospital, and was quite selfsufficient.

Had it been over a day?
Two? Surely not... They had planned to have dinner together, but then Miko had not come in, and Hanako had stayed late helping Dr. Heller with the children. Last night of course Miko would have been sleeping...

Wouldn't she?
It was time Hanako cleared her head of fog and found out just what her daughter had been up to. Past time, in fact. Long past time.

"A party?" Devon looked at Morgan like he'd lost his mind.

"Yeah, a house raising party. Look, everyone has promised to spend tomorrow finishing up the basic stuff, you know, on the house, and I figured it would be a great way to celebrate the children's getting better. Plus you can combine it into a going away party for Baines and Gomez and the people going back, make them feel better about it. And just celebrate in general."

"And everyone just *volunteered* to drop whatever they planned for the day, to help you finish the house?" Devon would believe it when she saw it.

"S-s-sort of, yeah." Morgan tried to lie convincingly, but didn't meet her eyes, suddenly finding the carved brackets above her head utterly fascinating. "So you'll come?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm up to a party." Devon stared at her hands. "We do have a lot to celebrate."

"Exactly." Morgan grinned, and Devon shook her head, chuckling as he practically bounced out the door. Morgan was obsessed with that house. It was almost amusing. She wondered what he would do once it was really finished. Probably add a deck. And then start on a garden, maybe.

No. She couldn't picture him kneeling on the ground, in a funny sun hat, weeding. There was something much more noble about building your own house, securing shelter for your family, a nobility that planting cabbages and potatoes lacked somehow. She couldn't see Morgan going for it.

Spread out on her desk were plans for her own house. She would file the claim on the land when Morgan was less elated and more business minded. This was important, and she wanted to make absolutely certain it was done right.

She had staked out a two acre lot right on the sea, and she could already imagine the view from her bedroom window. And Uly would have his own room for the first time in his life.

Smiling, she leaned back in the chair, the plans on paper a pale shadow to the house that she had already built in her mind's eye, there was just one more thing it needed to make it a home. She knew exactly what that special something was. And it scared her to death. But the smile stayed, because that kind of fear she could handle.

Miko crumpled the sketch, and threw it angrily against the wall, where it bounced to land harmlessly at her feet. She turned the page and started again, but she couldn't keep her mind on what she was doing. Normally drawing and painting relaxed her, her escape from reality she supposed. Her inability to focus frustrated her. Her art teacher back on the Stations used to say that if she had to reach for it, work at it, then it would be worth it. That anything that came easily wasn't art. Somehow Miko didn't think this was quite the same thing.

There was a knock at the door.
"Dare desu-ka?" Miko said out of habit, and on the other side of the wooden door, her mother smiled. Hanako stuck her head in, and surveyed the sea of crumpled paper.

"You know those sketchbooks cost a fortune, you shouldn't waste them." Hanako chided.

"Hey Mom." Miko sighed, and spun around so that she rested her chin on the back of the chair, straddling it.

"Hey Miko-chan." Hanako sat down on the bed, patting the bedspread and Miko joined her, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. "Things haven't been going well, have they."

"Jack's leaving."
"You'll make new friends, didn't you say you and True Danziger had fun the other day?"

"Mom, True's twelve. And that's not it. I know I'll make new friends. But Jack is my *best friend*, he's the only friend I had on the Stations, he was the only friend I had the whole time..."

"The whole time Yoshi was sick," her mother supplied gently, and Miko nodded, wiping at her eyes.

"It is hard to realise Yoshi is gone forever, and to think that for all intents and purposes, Jack will be too... I don't know. Is there something wrong with me or something?"

"There is nothing wrong with you." Hanako kissed her daughter's forehead. "I promise."

"It's like he wants the hurt to go on forever. He won't stand up to his dad, and I know he wants to stay, I know it."

"He has to do it on his own, Miko-chan. You can't make him." "I just wish... I don't know." Miko sighed, and Hanako stroked her hair.

"I know."
"I miss Yoshi, Mom. I really do."

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