Yesterday's Return (1/8)
by Maggie C
He watched the small band trickle out of the ship with disgust. He had never seen such pitiful men and women. They couldn't even let one of their group die when it was her time. ~A mistake I'll have to fix before I exterminate the others.~ he thought. He returned to his cave, where he began sharpening his makeshift knives. Examining one of them, he thought ~Soon, very soon.~
John Danziger sat with Uly by his side as they stared at the cold sleep chamber that held Uly's mother.
"Mr. Danziger?" Uly's voice broke the silence.
"Uly, you don't have to be so formal. Call me John," Danziger replied.
"Alright, John." Uly fell silent again.
"What were you going to say?" John prodded when Uly did not continue.
After a moment, Uly started speaking and his questions came out all at once. "What's going to happen now? Who'll take care of me while my mom's in there? What if she never gets better? What if . . ."
"Hey, hold on, Uly." John interrupted the stream of questions and knelt to look the frightened boy straight in the eyes. "First of all, we have to believe your mom is going to get better. And to take care of you, you still have Yale . . ."
"But he's a teacher, not a mom," Uly broke in.
"You didn't let me finish. You still have Yale, and me. Before, when we were all sick, your mom had me promise to take care of you if anything happened. Now, I'm no mom either, but do you think I'll be an OK substitute?"
John watched him consider this. "You have True to take care of." Uly said. "I want my mom back." Uly choked out.
John saw the boy was fighting back tears. His heart went out to Uly. John pulled the boy into an embrace. "I want your mom back too, champ," he said, gazing at the woman he loved, locked in the cold sleep chamber. "But until she does come back, I think I can handle both you and True. I talked to her, and she doesn't mind sharing me." he said.
Uly hugged John. "Thank you" he said softly. Uly glanced worriedly at the chamber again. Looking up at John hopefully, he asked, "Promise she'll get better?"
John sighed heavily. He looked again to the chamber that held Devon in stasis, and his heart sank. He held back the tears by sheer force of will. Turning back to Uly, he said, "As much as I'd like to, I can't promise that. I can promise that whatever happens, I'll be here for you. But we have to believe she'll come back to us, okay?"
Uly nodded, still uncertain.
John knew this was the best he would get. "Come on, let's go get some dinner."
Back at camp, the sadness weighed heavily in the air. Leaving Uly to eat dinner with Yale, Danziger went looking for True.
He found her in their tent, holding a picture of Elle he had given her. When she didn't respond to his entrance, he laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "True-girl? What's wrong?"
She looked up at her dad. "Is Uly going to be okay, Dad? I miss mom so much, and I didn't even know her."
John drew his daughter into a hug, amazed at how grown-up she could be sometimes. He loved her more and more every day. He couldn't imagine what his life would be like without her.
"Dad?" True asked, waiting for an answer.
"We'll make sure he's okay, True-girl," he said.
In the med-tent, Dr. Julia Heller was on the verge of tears. She ran and re-ran every test, desperately looking for the cause of her friend's illness.
Alonzo entered the tent and saw her fighting back tears. Instantly knowing what was wrong, he went to her and wrapped his arms around her. She started sobbing against his chest. "Shh, Julia. It'll be okay. You'll find a cure." he soothed. "Come on, maybe things will be clearer in the morning." He felt her nod against his chest and led her back to the tent they shared.
Danziger couldn't sleep. His thoughts kept drifting to the woman they had put in cold sleep. He lay in his cot and listened to the sounds of Uly, True, and Yale sleeping. Yale had agreed with him that it would be best if they all shared a tent. John got up quietly and went outside, knowing he would not get any sleep that night. He sat on a rock, staring up at the twin moons, alone with his thoughts until the sun rose and woke the rest of camp.
Later that day, Julia came running out of the med-tent, yelling to the camp. "I found it! I found it!"
John jumped up, fighting the joy that surfaced at her words. He didn't dare hope yet. "What? You found a cure?"
"I think so," Julia said happily. "I can administer it without even removing Devon from cold sleep. We should know if it works in about a half-hour."
Julia ran to the ship, with John and Alonzo following closely behind her. As she entered the room that contained the cold sleep chambers, she came to a sudden halt, causing the two men to run into her. "What is it?" Alonzo asked.
Julia stepped aside, tears in her eyes, to let them enter the chamber and see for themselves.
"No..." John whispered. Alonzo turned pale. The sight that greeted them was horrifying. Someone had come into the chamber and smashed the door to the chamber holding Devon. Whoever did that didn't stop there, they also stabbed her repeatedly. Her body lay on the ground in a pool of blood. Alonzo recovered from the shock first and went to Julia. She hugged him briefly, and then whispered that she would tell the others, her voice breaking. Alonzo nodded and watched her go. He turned to John, who was staring at the body with an agonized expression on his face. "John..." he began, but Danziger cut him off.
"Uly and True," he whispered, his voice full of pain. "I have to..." He lost the ability of speech and rushed out of the ship before he broke down completely.
Moving away from the ship, he spotted True on the other side of camp. "True," he called, gaining some control over his voice, "where's Uly? I have to talk to you two."
True, too far away to see the state her dad was in, called back, "I saw him go this way. I'll get him." She ran off towards the woods before John could stop her. As he started to follow her, he saw Uly run out of the ship, followed by Alonzo. Uly immediately threw himself into Danziger's arms. Danz shot Alonzo a questioning gaze. "He came in just after you left. I couldn't keep him from seeing her. I'm sorry." John nodded at his friend and turned his attention to the boy sobbing in his arms. "Uly, True went to find you. She doesn't know yet. Will you come with me to tell her?" After a moment, John's words sunk in and Uly released his hold on John's neck to grasp his hand instead. There was no way Uly was going to leave John's side. "We'll be back." John said to Alonzo.
He surveyed his latest handiwork. It was quick work, but it would have to do. Nodding in appreciation, he started toward the camp to deal with the others.
Back at camp, Julia was startled by screams coming from outside. After telling the others the news, she had retreated to the med-tent. She needed time to compose herself before she went back into the ship for Devon's . . . body. Glancing outside, she saw a man chasing Bess with a knife. Instantly, she knew this was the same man who killed Devon. Grabbing a sedaderm, she rushed out of the tent. Just as he caught up with Bess, Julia injected him in the neck with the sedaderm. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, as the rest of the camp appeared.
"Thanks, Julia." Bess said gratefully.
Walman kicked the man lying on the ground. He had also figured out that this was Devon's assailant. "What should we do with him?"
"He'll be out for a few hours. We'll have to decide what to do with him after that." Julia said angrily.
Yale surveyed the group, doing a quick head count. "Where are John, Uly, and True?" he asked worriedly.
Alonzo looked around worriedly and replied, "John and Uly went to look for True. She ran off to look for Uly."
"We better go find them." Baines said.
"I know what direction they went. Baines, bring a MagPro in case anyone else is out there." Alonzo said.
"I'm coming, too," Yale said.
Julia nodded. "Okay, Yale, Baines, and Alonzo will go find them. The rest of us will make sure our 'guest' doesn't go anywhere."
John and Uly trudged in the direction that True had run off in. "True!" they called, getting no response.
"Come on, True. Where are you?" Danziger called. He glanced down at Uly. Uly looked as though if he started crying again, he would never stop. John sighed. He knew exactly how Uly felt. Try as he might, John couldn't banish the image of Devon's body from his mind. He kept seeing her lying on the floor of the ship in a pool of blood. Tears stung his eyes and John quickly blinked them away. He would not allow himself to cry, not now. There were two kids who needed his attention now, so he would have to grieve later. ~This day couldn't possibly get any worse.~ he thought miserably.
He was wrong. John and Uly stepped into a small clearing and were stopped in their tracks. John backed up until he hit a tree and sank down to the ground. The rest of the world disappeared, and all John could see was the horrible sight before him. True was hanging from a tree, a rope around her neck. Blood was dripping out of multiple stab wounds and forming a pool under her feet.
"No..." John whispered, feeling the life drain out of him for the second time that day. Uly screamed as soon as he saw his best friend's body and then buried himself in Danziger's arms. John's arms instinctively wrapped around Uly's small body to hold him as he cried, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from his daughter. John felt dead inside. They had taken Devon away from him, and now they had taken True as well.
Yale, Baines, and Alonzo had not been searching for long before they heard the scream. Pausing only for a moment, they took off at a run in the direction the scream came from.
They reached the clearing and stopped short at the sight that greeted them. Uly was still sobbing in John's arms, and John was still staring at True. Neither one noticed the others come into the clearing.
Alonzo, the first one to recover, looked to John and then Yale and Baines. "Baines." His voice cracked and he took a deep breath to try and steady himself. "Go back to camp. Tell them..." Alonzo could not finish the sentence. Baines knew what he was trying to say and nodded, his face unreadable. He glanced once more at True before leaving for camp and anger appeared on his face. Baines decided that he would take their 'guest' for a little walk, right off a cliff.
Alonzo glanced at Yale, his gaze holding a question. Yale nodded to show he understood.
Yale approached Uly, still crying, and John, who was still staring at True. Gently, he laid a hand on John's shoulder. John jumped at the contact and whirled his head around. Yale involuntarily took a step back when he saw the utter misery and anguish in the man's eyes. John's eyes pleaded Yale to tell him this horrible day wasn't happening, that it was just a nightmare. But Yale couldn't do that, much as he might wish to hear the same thing. Yale took a moment to compose himself, and then quietly spoke. "John, let's go back to camp." John glanced back at True's body, which was now in Alonzo's arms, covered by his coat. Nodding slightly, he started to get up, no easy task since he still held a sobbing Uly in his arms. Yale moved to relieve John of his burden, but stopped when John shot him an angry gaze. Nodding his understanding, Yale backed off. He could see that they needed each other. Alonzo followed Yale out of the clearing, and John closed his eyes, a single tear trickling down his cheek. His mind screamed at him, and he couldn't silence it. ~They can't be dead! I need them! Please, they can't be dead! They can't!~
Story Notes:
Yea, the lists are back, so I can post this!
Disclaimer: Nope, Earth 2 and these characters are not mine. They belong to Amblin Entertainment. I'm just playing with them. :)
Disclaimer: Nope, Earth 2 and these characters are not mine. They belong to Amblin Entertainment. I'm just playing with them. :)