Contact by Laura Pickering

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The group sat in silence for several minutes after the recording had ended. Suddenly Devon thought of the one thing no-one else had yet considered. "Morgan, can we respond to the signal?"

Morgan reddened, obviously embarrassed that he hadn't thought of it himself. "I'm not sure. Um, we haven't tried" he replied.

"But if it is the Advance ship, then surely there wouldn't be any survivors" Danzinger stated. "I mean, it crashed for gods sake. The pods were all used, there weren't any other means to escape".

Although Danzinger hadn't directly implied anything, Morgan fidgeted nervously.

"I realize that John, but its worth a try. Morgan, could you try please".

"Yeah sure, if you give me a few minutes" he hurriedly got up from his chair and crossed over to a console.

The others watched as he went through the motions, sending messages in all the codes and frequencies he could think of. They then all sat back and waited. Finally after ten minutes of waiting in silence, Devon spoke "Well either they aren't capable of receiving or transmitting, or.." she added quietly," there's no-one there to receive them"

One thing was troubling Julia, she leaned over and whispered in Alonzo's ear. "I thought you said the Terrians told you there were others."

He shrugged, equally confused. "They did, I don't get it either".

"Do you two know something you're not telling us?" Devon asked in an accusatory tone.

"Um, I.. I'm not sure" Alonzo stuttered, taken aback. He proceeded to tell the group about his conversation with the Terrians on the Dream Plane.

"Perhaps that's what they meant" Bess offered quietly. "They won't dream, because they're dead."

"Bess!" her husband admonished, stunned by her bluntness.

"Could that be true Alonzo? Can the terrians distinguish between life and death?" Devon asked.

"I don't know" the pilot answered truthfully.

"If there is a chance, no matter how remote, that there are survivors, then we should go to the ship" Julia stated with a sense of urgency.

"Agreed" Devon replied, "but realistically I doubt that there are".

"The diggers must have their wires crossed" Walman added and gained a reproachful look from Alonzo.

"With that in mind and the fact that we have a lot of preparation to do here" Devon continued, ignoring Walman's comment, "I suggest that a small, two man search party goes to check out the signal".

The group nodded in agreement.

"Walman and I could go" Baines offered.

"No, I think that Julia and I should go" Alonzo told them.

Walman was about to argue, thinking that the pilot's suggestion was just a thinly concealed attempt to get some time alone with his girlfriend.

Devon answered before he had a chance to voice his concerns. "That's probably a better idea. If there is anyone there, they might need medical attention." Although she honestly believed it would be a futile exercise, nobody would be there. *All the travelling, will give Julia a break though* she thought. "Ok then. Alonzo, you and Julia should set off first thing tomorrow morning".

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"Sir, we've received a response to the message. It's from the Advance crew".

He turned around to face the young man, who he assumed, was waiting for some kind of praise. He removed his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow. *At last, finally they've connected to the comm. dish at New Pacifica*.

The young man still remained. He decided to put him out of his misery. "Very good Hudson, keep me apprised of the situation".

"Yes sir" he replied before leaving.

"So Mitchell, do you think they'll come?" The man to his left asked, lowering the jumpers he had been looking through.

"Oh definitely. Adair wouldn't miss the opportunity to shine her halo" Mitchell replied maliciously.

"What!?"

"Yes they'll come" he repeated. *Idiots, I'm stuck here with idiots*.

"And if she doesn't?"

"Well then we'll have to resort to Plan B, won't we?".

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The whole of the Eden Advance group gathered around as Alonzo and Julia loaded their supplies into the Dunerail. As Danzinger had said, it would take the pair approximately a week to reach the ship. Fortunately the terrain would be relatively flat for much of the journey, so they were expecting an easy trip.

"Right, that's the last of them" Alonzo said as he threw a bundle into the back of the vehicle.

Bess stepped forward and gave them both an impromptu hug. "Take care y'all" she told them, before retreating back to her husbands side.

"Don't worry, we will" Julia assured her, as she and Alonzo climbed into the 'rail.

"You've both got your Gear?"

"Yes Devon" Alonzo replied with a smile, as he retrieved said article from his jacket pocket and put it on.

"Well, then I guess we'll see you both in about two weeks" Danzinger said.

The pilot nodded affirmatively and started the engine. "See ya later!" he shouted as the vehicle pulled away.

A chorus of 'Good-byes' and 'Take cares' followed the retreating 'rail until it could no longer be seen.

As everyone else left to continue with their tasks, Devon quietly slipped away to her tent. Danzinger noticing her sudden departure followed, and found her sitting on her cot, head in hands. He sat down beside her and draped an arm around her shoulder.

His sudden presence startled her and she jumped up in surprise, "Danzinger!. What are you doing in here? What's wrong?"

He pulled her back down against him, enjoying her closeness. "I was about to ask you the same question".

She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears.

He turned her around to face him, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Hey, what's the matter" he asked, brows furrowed in concern.

"Oh John" she sobbed the tears spilling onto her cheeks. "I'd never really considered it before. Well yes, I did when we first crashed here, but not since".

"Considered what?" he asked confused by her outburst.

"The crew on the Advance ship. Not everyone could have escaped. I can't even be sure of how many died up there". Her shoulders shook with each sob.

Danzinger pulled her against his chest, into a kind of one-armed hug. It hurt him deeply to see her like this. She tried so hard to be strong all the time, but once in a while it all came crashing down on her. Her well fortified walls would collapse. "Devon. Baby, there was nothing you could do. It wasn't your fault, the shanking Council caused it all". He could feel her hot tears seeping into the material of his shirt. "Shhh" he soothed, and as her crying abated he used his other hand to lift her chin up. "You were not responsible, and you should never think otherwise. Do you think we would have made it this far, if it wasn't for you? Do you think the 250 syndrome kids on their way here, would have a chance of any kind of life, if it wasn't for you?" he asked, staring deep into her eyes.

She looked at him as he gently wiped the tears from her face and smiled. "John, I love you so very much" she wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"Yeah, well the feeling's mutual lady" he replied affectionately. Danzinger pulled away from her embrace and kissed her tenderly. "Come-on, as much as I don't want to move right now, we have work to do".

Devon pulled him back to her, "Lets just stay here for a little while longer, kay?"

"Hey, your the boss" he said smiling broadly into her soft hair.

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