Contact by Laura Pickering

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"Right, its decided then" Devon concluded, "Its getting late though, if we all stop work for the day and have supper now, we can get to work on the message first thing tomorrow morning". There was an audible sigh of relief from the assembled group, all of them thankful for an early night's sleep.

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Supper was a quiet affair, the Advance crew sitting in twos and threes around small fires. Each member mulling over the days events, the excitement at finishing the hospital and then the strange message.

Directly after eating and cleaning away their utensils, the Martins said goodnight and made their way to their tent. As they changed for bed Morgan cheerfully chatted away. The only responses he received from his wife were occasional nods and small smiles.

As they climbed into bed and settled under the covers he asked "Bess, is there something wrong?"

"No Morgan I'm fine. I'm just tired is all."

He knew that wasn't it though, he decided to press the issue. "Are you worried about that message Baines picked up? Because Devon said we'll try and help if we can."

"No its not that," was the non-committal response.

"Then what? Come on honey you can tell me. What's wrong?"

She turned over under the covers to face him, her face serious "Morgan are we staying?" she asked him bluntly. "Because you've never mentioned it, and if you're thinking of leaving, then I think you should tell me."

"What?! Leaving, on the Colony ship you mean" he asked dumbfounded, he had never expected this line of questioning.

"Yes. You are, aren't you, I knew it" she snapped and turned back around.

He stared at the back of her head, still in a slight state of shock. He let out a nervous laugh, which caused his wife to turn around again sharply. "Bess, I have no intention of leaving, I like it here as much as you do."

Now she was the one to be surprised, "You do?" she queried.

"I do" he confirmed and kissed her on the tip of the nose. "We'd better get to sleep, I think its gonna be a long day tomorrow."

She nodded in agreement, but didn't settle back down, continuing to stare at him, the look on her face making him feel uncomfortable. Finally she smiled "I love you Morgan" she said as she rolled back over.

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Directly after breakfast, the group had re-assembled in the Communications tent, Yale was the first to speak.

"Might I suggest we try to decipher the messages we have already received."

"Yeah, if you give me a couple of hours I should be able to crack em" Baines told them, and started tapping away at the console he was balancing on his lap.

"OK, Baines you do that. Morgan, could you help him?" Devon asked.

"Sure, with the both of us on it, it shouldn't take long" he told her, Bess smiled proudly at him.

"Any other suggestions?" Devon asked the remaining members of the group.

"I could try to contact the Terrians, see if they know anything" Alonzo offered.

"Yes, that's worth a try" Devon replied as she stood, "Well I think that's all we can do for now. We will reconvene again after lunch".

The others left the room and as John was about to do the same, he noticed that Devon hadn't moved.

"What's the matter" he asked.

"I don't know, I have a bad feeling about all this." She looked up at him. "Who do you think it is?" she asked fear creeping into her voice.

He shrugged in response, "I have no idea, although I think we're gonna find out soon enough".

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Alonzo laid down on the cot and took a deep breath. Julia was standing in the doorway of their tent watching, and to be honest, she was making him nervous.

"Julia. Querida. Its all right, I'll be fine, I've done this hundreds of times"

"I know 'Lonz" she sighed, "but I always get this horrible feeling that you won't come back, that you'll be stuck in limbo - forever" her last word was a whisper and it made him shiver.

Ten minutes ago he hadn't minded entering the dream plane at all. Granted he hadn't been there as often as in his first couple of months on the planet, but he had occasionally 'visited'. Now though he was getting the creeps, which was just stupid.

"Julia I'll be fine" he assured her, putting an end to the conversation and hopefully his jitters. He closed his eyes, trying hard to relax. Julia tiptoed across to him, and sat down on the edge of their cot.

Alonzo felt Julia's hand slip into his and he gently squeezed it, appreciating her concern, although he was sure it was unwarranted. As he lay there he could feel reality drifting away. Suddenly he found himself standing in the middle of a steel cavern, twisted metal walls surrounded him. The air smelt damp and rusty. The room was immense, but was empty save for a large white container sitting in the middle. The thing that unnerved him most though, was that he was alone. "Hello, anyone here" he called, his voice echoing off of the flat walls. He bent down to examine the crate. It had a strange motif on the lid. He intently tried to read the writing, but the distortion of the dreamplane made this small task impossible.

Three Terrians erupted from the ground right in front of him, he reeled backwards with surprise. "Geez guys, I'm an old man. What you trying to do, kill me?" he gasped clutching his chest, his heart beating wildly beneath his palm.

"A great time has passed since last you dreamed"

Alonzo didn't know what to say. Were they angry that he hadn't dreamed with them recently? *Recently come on its been over two months,* he chided.

"I'm sorry, I..."

"Why have you come here Dream Walker?" the third Terrian asked.

"I. 'We', need your help. Do you know if there are others on this planet? Strangers, like us? Alonzo asked.

The Terrians regarded him quizzically, then the first one spoke once more. "You are not a stranger anymore. You are one with the mother, as are we" he said gesturing to his two companions.

Alonzo smiled, *nice sentiment* he thought *but that still doesn't answer my question*.

"Others, but unlike you. They do not dream".

The three took a step back from Alonzo and then disappeared back into the ground.

"Wait, don't go yet". It was too late, he awoke with a start.

Alonzo sat up abruptly almost knocking Julia off the cot. "What is it, what's the matter" she questioned, her face masked with concern.

He blinked at her, trying to clear his blurred vision. "What? Oh nothing" he wiped the sweat off his forehead with his shirt sleeve. Then explained to her what had transpired.

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"So, according to my calculations, the signal is coming from here" Morgan said as he pointed to an area on his digital map. Baines nodded in agreement.

The group had re-convened, and the members were updating each other on their findings. "Where exactly, is 'here!'" Danzinger asked as he leaned over the map to get a better look.

"As I said before, approximately 500 kilometers south of us" Baines informed the mechanic.

"Which means it would take at least a week to get there and a week to get back" Danzinger reasoned "That's cutting it fine. Don't forget about the Colony ship".

"I'm not forgetting anything John" Devon replied icily. "We don't even know if they need 'help'. Did you two manage to decipher the message" she asked Morgan and Baines.

"Yeah no sweat" Morgan beamed then realizing it was perhaps inappropriate masked his features into a professional frown. "After finding the correct frequency the message was pretty clear. They included their co-ordinates and details of a mechanical malfunction aboard their ship". He placed a device on the table top "Other than that its just static" he explained as he pushed one of its buttons.

The group listened to the noises the device spewed forth, their faces set, as they intently tried to make the message out. It was a basic distress signal, the kind all sub-space vessels used. The mechanical device situated in the cockpit would begin transmitting as soon as it detected an irreparable malfunction.

"Wait" Danzinger said to Morgan. "Replay it, I can hear something in the background".

During the second run-through, Julia, who's hearing was somewhat keener than Danzinger's could distinctly hear voices. "He's right, I can hear people talking".

"Morgan play it again but this time take out the message itself, so all we can hear is the background noise" Devon instructed.

Morgan managed to take out the message, although there was still alot of static in the transmission. An alarm was blaring, making it harder to hear, but two voices could be clearly heard.

"What the hell's happening?" the first voice demanded, raised to be heard over the alarm.

"Cargo pods won't release, they're dragging us down" the second voice answered.

Alonzo's eyes widened as he realized one of the voices was his. Although it had been over two years since he had said those words, he would never forget them, or the sheer terror and helplessness he had felt at the time.

Remembering the voice of her old friend, Devon gasped. "My god that was O'Neil, and you Alonzo." The pilot slowly nodded in return. "Which means", she continued "that this message must be from the Eden Advance ship"

"Before it crashed" Danzinger finished.

A eerie silence ensued as the group slowly digested this new information and listened to the rest of the recording.

"Ops crew disengage the damn cargo pods, dump it now" O'Neil shouted.

Another voice burst from the static. "Release mechanism is jammed."

"Then blow 'em off."

The reply was mostly obscured by static, "...its not working."

"Hey that's Danzinger" Baines whispered to no-one in particular.

John sat in stunned silence as did the rest of the group as they listened. Screams could be faintly heard and as the recording ended his memories took over, and he relived the most terrifying few minutes of his life.

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