Danziger's Ghost, Part 1
by Katherine Tate
True
When we found the lake Devon said we could stop for a few days. I think she was a bit reluctant to do so, but Dad told her everyone was burnt out. It was a good place to spend some time relaxing. After the dry heat and dust of the road, it was nice to go swimming.
The skinny-dipping women were splashing each other with the joy of just having nothing to do for a change.
"It's soooo nice to feel clean!" Bess exclaimed, falling back in the water, letting it flow over her head and hair.
Julia giggled and it was contagious. Soon they were all laughing.
"Hey True!" Danziger's voice called from the shore. Immediately the women dove under.
Only Devon's head was visible and her expression was of annoyance.
"Danziger! Get lost!" He moved his gaze from True to Devon. Cool, as usual, he didn't rise up to her.
"Take it easy, will ya? I was just bringing True her shirt." And ignoring the rest of them completely (which only seem to annoy Devon more, for reasons she couldn't understand) he turned back to True. She was sitting in the shallow water. "I fixed it. But try to be more careful, OK?" He put the shirt on a fallen dead tree at the water's edge.
"OK. Thanks Dad." True was unaware of the uncomfortable women behind her. It was just Dad, after all.
Danziger turned on his heel and walked away without a backward glance.
Heads bobbed as they tread water. All the fun seemed lost by Danziger's intrusion. Then Julia, watching Devon's face, couldn't help but start to laugh again.
Danziger, walking into their camp, heard the laughs from the lake and smiled to himself.
As they dressed, Bess took an interest in the shirt John had brought to True. True yanked it over her head.
"I ripped it yesterday. He fixed it." True said, as though the shirt was just another piece of machinery.
Bess examined the shirt.
"Danziger can sew?!" she was amazed. Devon came closer to also take a look. True felt a little uncomfortable by this attention. What was wrong with them? What's the big deal? She shrugged.
"I don't have many clothes."
Devon, bringing up the rear as they walked single file back towards the camp, considered this. She was imagining John and True's lives back on the stations. John, a single parent (like herself), was unable to provide many clothes for his daughter. So few, that he would learn how to sew in order to lengthen the life span of those he could provide. It was hard to imagine John's large hands threading a needle . . .
"Have a nice swim?" Alonzo asked the group. "You sure were making a lot of noise."
"Your turn." smiled Julia. "The coast is clear."
Later, around the campfire, Devon began to feel that maybe it was a good idea to stop after all. Everyone seemed a lot more relaxed and happy. Just knowing that they weren't packing up and leaving at dawn put people in a festive mood. True and Uly were begging John for a story. Gathering one child in each arm he finally agreed and started a ghost story. Devon watched without listening.
Yes, days like this made her believe they just might make it.
" . . . sound of scraping made his blood turn to ice."
Morgan gave an involuntary shudder. Sometimes, he thought, Danziger goes a bit too far with these stories. This one, in particular, seemed unnecessarily graphic. Bess, who must have sensed Morgan's uneasiness, gave his hand a squeeze but it didn't help. Morgan was becoming increasingly frightened. He felt like someone was watching him and it made the skin on the back of his neck prickle. He shivered again, and not because he was cold. He stole a look behind him. No one was there. The whole group was gathered around the fire, all eyes on Danziger. There was nothing but shadows beyond their circle of light. Morgan was gripped by an irrational fear. There was danger in those shadows, but he didn't know why.
" . . . could see right through the body to the wall on the other side. 'But you're dead!' he whispered in horror."
Alonzo could see that Danziger really relished telling these ghoulish tales. He hadn't heard this one before, although it had the feel of a classic. Danziger certainly had the attention of the whole camp. Surveying the group, Alonzo could only see wide eyes and stillness. Morgan, in particular, looked incredibly frightened. Only Devon seemed distracted by her own reflections. Alonzo stared into the flames of their fire. It was mesmerizing. Suddenly he jerked upright. Julia, her attention broken by his movement, turned to him, eyes questioning. He patted her knee reassuringly. Geez! Danziger really did have the touch. For a moment Alonzo thought he had seen a figure standing in their campfire. That's all we need, he thought, to be haunted by a ghost from an ancient Earth story.
"Dad?" A sleepy True was climbing into bed.
"What, baby?" Danziger asked. He pulled the blanket up around her.
"Could that story really happen? I mean, that guy talking to people even after he was dead?"
Danziger smiled down at her. His hand rubbed up and down her arm in a comforting manner.
"No, True." he said softly. Her eyes were closing. "It was just make-believe. Stuff like that doesn't happen in real life. Sleep well."
In the morning Devon left her tent to discover Danziger taking apart one of the water condensers.
"What are you doing?" she asked, startling him. He hesitated briefly and then returned to his task.
"I thought this would be a good time to do this, since we have the water from the lake."
"And I thought this stop was for R&R. Wasn't that your idea?"
"My idea was to give people a break from travelling. That doesn't mean that stuff doesn't have to get done."
"Just as long as you don't forget to relax - it won't be much of a break if you work the whole time."
He waved her away with one hand, obviously not interested in continuing the conversation.
True:
//Most people just hung around camp, or went swimming, or even walking. It was different, to go for a short walk just because you *want* to, instead of to get somewhere. Small chores did get done, but not with the frantic pace of normal. Except for Dad. He managed to clean the water condensers, fix two scanners, reprogram the TransRover's tracking system, and service all the solar panels in one morning. He seemed happy to have accomplished so much; but he was just as tired as ever.//
"That man is the most annoying person I have EVER . . ." Devon didn't finish the sentence, staring off at Danziger who sat in the shade of the vehicles with his tools spread out around him. Yale chuckled. Devon swirled around to face him, her expression daring him to contradict her.
"Devon," Yale said, "I know of several people more annoying than John Danziger. I could name them if you insist."
"Why doesn't he just take a break?" Devon asked, her attention back on Danziger. "We were supposed to stop so people could rest. Instead he's doing more work."
"Maybe that is his only way of resting." Yale offered. Devon was skeptical.
"Maybe he just likes getting under my skin." Yale chuckled again.
Uly and True were exploring the area around the lake. On one side off the shore there was a sheer cliff face. They had already wandered up to the top of the cliff via a path that wound around the other side. Now they were more interested in what appeared to be a cave or tunnel.
"I don't think we should go in here." Uly said after they had entered a few feet. True scoffed.
"C'mon! Are you afraid?" she taunted. Uly stiffened.
"No!" he denied, a little loudly. "It's just that . . . it's too dark. We won't be able to see anything."
For once True couldn't argue with him. He was right.
"Let's go back and get some lumalights." she moved out into the sunshine again. Uly remained in the shadows.
"I don't like this place." he said, suddenly very serious. He glanced around, almost expecting to see someone with them in the cave. But he was alone, and uneasy. True was already on the path back to camp.
"John, put those tools away and leave this camp." Devon said. Danziger's hands didn't stop working as his head moved up to look Devon in the eye.
"Trying to get rid of me, Adair?" he challenged.
"I'm trying to ensure that you don't *burn out*, to use one of your expressions." Their eyes remained locked for a moment. "Why don't you go swimming?" Devon suggested. "Or . . . or . . ."
Danziger started laughing. This only fueled Devon's frustration. She shook her head.
"Do whatever you want, you always do." she walked away.
Morgan lay dozing in the sunshine, day dreaming of promotion and fame. Or maybe just wealth. The bright sunshine had done wonders at chasing away his paranoid fears of the night before. He put it down to John being overly jealous with his haunting tale.
"Geez, I feel guilty, watching him." Bess said, referring to Danziger. Morgan opened his eyes just long enough to take in that John was still refusing to take advantage of the R&R Devon had provided.
"It's his choice, Bess." Morgan said, slipping back into his day dream. He couldn't imagine why Bess would feel guilty because Danziger didn't have the brains to stop working.
Danziger began to collect his tools. Devon was right, he should take a break. It's just that sometimes it was nice to have the time to take care of these little things. He was pretty much finished all the tasks he wanted to do anyway. But he would never let Devon see that he thought she was right.
"You know, I could give you a hand." Bess said strolling up to him. He looked surprised. If anyone was going to offer, he would have expected it to be True, not Bess. "With her clothes, I mean." Bess explained.
Danziger frowned. It was one thing for Bess to offer to help him with his chores for the group. That was the group. It was quite another for her to offer to sew. That was True.
"I can manage." he said, a bit gruffly.
"Sure." Bess agreed, "But I could give you hand. You've got enough other stuff to take care of . . ." Danziger cut her off.
"I can take care of True."
Bess realized, too late, that she'd blundered. Stupid proud man, she thought. Stupid Bess, you really botched this up.
"I didn't mean it like that." But John had gone.
Danziger found True in their tent routing through their belongings. The place was a mess.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! What're you doing?!" True jumped.
"I need a light. Where are the lumalights?" Assessing the angry look on her Dad's face she added, "I'll clean it up."
"What do you need a light for in the middle of the day?" Danziger demanded, still not impressed with the chaos. True considered her options and decided that telling the truth was probably the best thing at this point.
"Uly and I found a cave, but it's too dark to see anything . . . " she stopped when her Dad began to shake his head.
"True, I don't want you guys exploring in caves. You could get lost in there. It could be dangerous. There might be Grendlers."
"Dad, I think you're overreacting." True said. Danziger sat down on the cot.
"You do huh?"
"Yup. There aren't any Grendlers, we would have smelled them for sure. And we can't get lost if we wear our gear." The accusation was barely there but it was enough to set Danziger's anger back on edge. He stood back up.
"Clean up this mess and stay away from the caves. That's final." He left.
True swiftly repacked the stuff she'd been pulling apart. All the time on the road had given her a lot of practice. She found two lumalights and, grabbing her gear, she went to find Uly.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Devon called out to him. He slowly turned.
"I'm taking your advice and leaving the camp." Danziger snapped, "What does a guy have to do to get some peace and quiet?" Devon's eyes widened in surprise at his tone and then narrowed with irritation.
"Enjoy." she muttered sarcastically.
Danziger climbed to the top of the ridge, above True's caves. The wind whipped his hair into his eyes and took the heat out of the sun. He sat near the edge looking down at the water. It was kinda nice up here. He regretted snapping at Devon like that. It would have been kinda nice to have someone to talk to.
Danziger looked around at the path back to the camp. Weird. He had this feeling that someone was with him. He almost expected Devon to appear, climbing the path to the ridge. But he remained alone. Still, he couldn't get rid of the uneasy sensation that he was being watched, cautiously observed. There was no hiding place up here, just flat land as far as he could see. He shook his head. He was becoming as bad as Morgan.
He leaned back and watched the clouds whiz by overhead. It was hypnotizing. All the frustration of the road began to leave him. All the worry of the work soaked out of him into the afternoon sun. The perceived threat disappeared. Nothing could hurt him here; this was a safe place. He was finding it hard to keep his eyes open. He slept.
True was disappointed with the cave. Of course, Uly refused to go back in. He kept saying it was a bad place, but he couldn't be more specific. Something about it had really freaked him out. Surprisingly, he didn't stop her from leaving camp to go exploring. Unfortunately, True discovered that the cave didn't go very far back. It was shaped like a funnel, ending in a longish, narrow tunnel.
She sat at the end, dejected, wondering where else she could go for something interesting to do. She had great expectations on this planet.
"True?" It was her Dad. She leapt to her feet. No where to go but down the tunnel and that's where he was. Actually, he was now just a few feet away. She could not judge his emotion from his expression. She braced herself for the lecture that she knew was coming. 'True, I thought I told you no caves.' He would say. But he said nothing, just looked at her.
"It's pretty boring." True said, hoping that might placate him. His mouth twitched; was he going to smile?
He walked towards her and began to rub her arms like he had putting her bed last night. This close she could see he had the goofiest grin on his face. He didn't look angry at all.
"Dad?"
"Did you enjoy it? The exploring? Would you like to explore some more?"
"There's nowhere else to go. The cave ends here." True said, stating the obvious. Maybe he'd been out in the sun too long. He sure was acting strangely.
"We haven't even begun!" he told her, laughing. He stopped suddenly and then laughed again as though he was delighted with the sound. True couldn't help but laugh too; as with Julia in the lake, it was infectious.
"Are you OK?" she asked, when they both stopped. Dad had never minded her exploring on the stations, but since their abrupt arrival on G889 he'd become considerably more restrictive. More like Devon Adair. Too much like her, in True's opinion. Instead of answering he said,
"C'mon, let's go to some place more exciting."
As she moved forward the ground began to shake. True grabbed her Dad's hand.
"What's that?"
"I don't know." Danziger admitted, slightly puzzled but unphased.
"I don't think this is a good place to be. Let's get out of here!" True urged. She pulled him back down the tunnel. He seemed surprisingly reluctant to move. As chunks of the cave's ceiling started to fall True squealed and let go of Danziger to cover her head with her hands.
It was hard to walk straight with the ground rumbling and everything falling. True tripped and scraped her hands on the walls of the tunnel.
"Ahh!" she cried, more upset because she'd ripped the knees of her pants than anything else. Danziger, coming up behind, nearly tripped over her. He helped her to her feet.
True didn't remember the tunnel being as long as it seemed during the earthquake. At last she pulled out into the outer cave and turned to wait for Danziger. The entrance to the cave was partially blocked by falling debris. If they didn't hurry, they would be trapped in here. Where was Dad? Why was he taking so long?
Danziger was squeezing through the end of the tunnel when he was knocked down by a large rock. He hit the ground heavily, on his face.
"Dad!" True screamed. She was unable to move because of all the falling rocks. Dust and dirt fell like rain. Then just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The entrance to the cave was nearly completely covered. True picked her way among the loose rubble to where her father lay, unconscious. His head was bleeding and he was pinned beneath the rock that had knocked him over.
"Dad?" True touched his head, "Daddy?" She felt a panic rise in her when he didn't respond. What was she going to do now?
Back at the camp everyone came running with the rumbling of the earth. Devon did a quick mental head count and found only Danziger and True to be missing. Great! And who chased him out of camp Devon?
The earthquake caused minimal damage to their camp set up; it only served to frighten people out of the happy mood that had been fostered. As soon as this had been assessed Devon went to grab some gear to try to raise the Danzigers. She tried to remember if John had been wearing his headset when he left camp.
"Adair to Danziger." Nothing but silence.
"Devon to Danziger. Are you there?" Dammit!
"Devon to John. ANSWER ME!"
The rest of the group began to crowd around her. Stay cool, Devon, she told herself. He never wears gear; he probably doesn't have his set on. She was about to try again when,
"Devon! Julia! Help!" came through in True's small voice. Julia immediately left to get her equipment.
"True, it's Devon. Where are you?" Devon signaled to Alonzo to try to get a fix from True's gear so they could pin point her location. She could hear True's sob of relief.
"In the cave. Ask Uly. Please hurry! He's hurt, he's hurt." True's voice was fading slightly and there was some static. Devon didn't need to ask who was hurt. There was only one other person missing. She looked down at her son whose eyes were large with fear.
"Do you know where she is?"
True tried to control her trembling as she sat close to her Dad, her hand on his head. Every once in awhile she would brush a piece of her own hair out of her eyes; in doing so she had smeared some blood on her face. They're coming, she told herself. They're coming.
It was Zero who pushed aside the rocks from the cave entrance, allowing some degree of sunlight to flood in. To True, whose light had been lost, it was blinding. Julia was the first in, followed by Devon, then Alonzo. Zero remained at the entrance, clearing the path.
True didn't, or couldn't, move, as Julia came forward to examine her.
"Not me!" she wailed, "Dad!" Julia's alarm at the blood on True's face passed when she realized it wasn't her own. The alarm came flooding back when she turned her attention to Danziger.
"My God, John." Devon whispered.
"We've got to get that rock off him." Alonzo said, urgently, moving in to attempt to move it.
Julia, who had been scanning Danziger's head and back with her glove, reached out her other arm to stop Alonzo. He stopped, but looked at her questioningly. For a second, there was no sound except Zero moving rocks and True's uneven breathing.
Julia looked back at Devon, who appeared to be in shock.
"Oh no." Devon whispered. "Please, Julia. No." Julia hung her head.
"Why aren't you doing anything?!" True cried. "He's hurt! Why don't you help him?"
"True . . . " Julia began. What could she say? She felt ill. "There's nothing I can do to help him, True."
"No!" shouted True, crying. "You HAVE to. You HAVE to." Her voice broke. Devon moved forward to put her arms around the girl but True pulled away, clinging instead to her father. "Oh no, oh no." she was sobbing.
Devon felt like she should be crying but there was nothing. Julia's head hung low again and Alonzo saw a tear fall from her face onto Danziger's head.
end part 1
Keep going . . .
Story Notes:
I have to admit the inspiration for this story came from all the different conclusions to "All About Eve." I was wondering how the group would react to the loss of the "other" leader.
While I was writing this story a few discussions went flying past the list that I thought were kind of amusing.
Clancy Brown should get a new agent because a lot of his characters end up dead or dying.
Devon and True's relationship.
I also noticed some things in other stories, including: in Vicki's story Uly comments on how Danziger tells really cool ghost stories. Maybe too cool, in this case.
And, in a final revision I noticed something for the first time (probably blatently obvious to everyone else) that is remarkably similar to my other story (Two True). This was completely unintentional, I swear. At least I was plagiarizing myself! Any similarities to ANYONE else's work just proves how many times I have read all the stories. I love them all.
Kath
(Things that make you go hmmmm . . .)
Credit for this story must partially go to my good friend Nancy who has been a creative consultant, sounding board, editor and proofreader. Unfortunately she doesn't have a computer or you would all be able to meet her! No disclaimers this time, just enjoy. Please send any comments or thoughts to me
Kath
While I was writing this story a few discussions went flying past the list that I thought were kind of amusing.
Clancy Brown should get a new agent because a lot of his characters end up dead or dying.
Devon and True's relationship.
I also noticed some things in other stories, including: in Vicki's story Uly comments on how Danziger tells really cool ghost stories. Maybe too cool, in this case.
And, in a final revision I noticed something for the first time (probably blatently obvious to everyone else) that is remarkably similar to my other story (Two True). This was completely unintentional, I swear. At least I was plagiarizing myself! Any similarities to ANYONE else's work just proves how many times I have read all the stories. I love them all.
Kath
(Things that make you go hmmmm . . .)
Credit for this story must partially go to my good friend Nancy who has been a creative consultant, sounding board, editor and proofreader. Unfortunately she doesn't have a computer or you would all be able to meet her! No disclaimers this time, just enjoy. Please send any comments or thoughts to me
Kath