Danzinger's ghost by Katherine Tate

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Danziger's Ghost, Part 5
by Katherine Tate

There wasn't much activity in the camp. All chores had been taken care of in the previous days; now people were just waiting. Waiting. For some, it was harder than others.

For Alonzo, it was excruciating. If he could have, he would have followed Julia and True. Even being with them on a wild goose chase would be better than this. Alonzo felt bad about the way the camp was splitting into believers and non-believers. Alonzo knew from the Terrians that Danziger's death was an accident of some kind; that it wasn't meant to happen. He even had the feeling from them that maybe it hadn't happened at all.

Even some of those dreaming of Danziger, including Devon Adair, refused to open up to the possibility that death was not always the end. Despite their experience with Commander O'Neill, everyone was pretty resigned to death as being final. It seemed too fantastic that one of the only things you could count on in life - death - could suddenly be undefined by the strangeness of this planet.

Alonzo wished, prayed almost, that Danziger would be found by True and Julia. He wanted them to be right. And he believed that in her heart Devon was wishing the same thing.

True leapt out of the vehicle and started running even before Julia had brought it to a halt near John's body. To Julia, it was eerily like finding him in the cave; he was lying in the same position, face down. True reached him as Julia yanked her bag from behind her seat. Julia ran over to the two of them while True tugged on her father's arm and managed to roll him over.

"He's breathing." she told Julia, who was strapping on her diaglove. True sat cradling his head in her lap, brushing his hair off his face. The wind kept blowing it around making her task more difficult. "Julia?" True's voice was small, and not the confident one who challenged Devon, "Is he gonna be OK?"

This time, Julia vowed to herself, this time there will be something I can do.

"Let me check." she said, scanning with the glove. "He's dehydrated. And malnourished. Well, I can help with those things." She routed quickly through her bag and efficiently administered what she could. True continued to stroke Danziger's face and tried to calm herself. She wished her heart would stop pounding. The nightmare was over, she thought. What would she do if she woke up now? No, this time it wasn't a dream.

"I'm going to get the water." Julia informed her.

Danziger felt himself coming back into consciousness. He hadn't been asleep, he knew this because there hadn't been any dreams. So he must have passed out. Perhaps this was death coming at last. Light blinded him and he blinked to try to focus. He could fuzzily see the outline of a head, surrounded by light. Yes, this must be death. Then True leaned over him, blocking the sunlight, and her face came into focus sharply. He opened his mouth to say her name but his throat was so dry.

"I found you Daddy, I found you." she was saying. He reached up an arm to touch her face with his hand. He couldn't believe she was real and not just another dream. She grabbed his hand in hers and pressed it to her check. "I'm right here Dad." A tear fell from her eyes onto his face. She whispered to him "I'm not going anywhere without you." Her tears fell more freely. It was then that he began to believe that he was alive after all.

"Danziger." Another voice was speaking. "Here, try to drink this." It was Julia. She was trying to get him to drink some water. He struggled to sit up, with True's help. He leaned heavily on her while Julia held the water up to his lips. Then Julia sat back and stared with awe.

"I never really believed we would find you." she breathed. "My God, it's a miracle."

"You can say that again." Danziger said hoarsely, for lack of any better response. His arm closely firmly around True. After endless nights of not being able to comfort her it felt very good to have her solidly pressed beside him. True, for her part, was holding very tightly to him. She knew he wasn't a ghost; a ghost did not have a body one could hug.

Julia pulled her gear up onto her head and prepared to contact the camp.

"Wait!" True held out her arm. Her eyes sparkled with tears and mischief. "Wouldn't you rather see the expression on their faces?"

Julia hesitated. The professional, genetically engineered doctor in her was saying that it was irresponsible to break off communication with the camp, especially in light of their fantastic discovery. But a tiny part of her agreed with True that it would be more exciting to drive into camp with Danziger alive and see everyone's eyes pop out of their heads. She pulled the gear off.

"We'd better get a move on before it gets dark."

Devon's fingers drummed annoyingly on the communications table. Bess resisted the urge to grab the other woman's hand in order to stop the sound.

"Try again." Devon said quietly. "Please." she added as an after thought.

Bess cleared her throat and moved her mike back into place.

"This is Eden crew to Heller. Please come in." Not being able to stand it any longer Bess placed a gentle hand over Devon's, forcing the drumming to stop. "Julia, are you reading me?"

Devon pulled her hand away from Bess and stood up to pace. Bess sighed. This had been going on for hours.

"Devon, it's no use. Either they are out of our range, or she doesn't have the gear on."

Devon could not accept that sensible, practical Julia would intentionally switch off her gear. Therefore, they must be out of range. Yet, Walman had estimated that in this flat territory Julia and True could make it all the way back to the lake without losing communications. Then Yale had informed her that in order to travel the distance required to get out of communications range, Julia would have had to drive for two days continuously. As in, without stopping. Devon knew from experience that the Rail would not drive continuously, not even for one day.

If they hadn't had to make any detours, and travelling at the Rail's maximum speed Julia and True should have made it back to the lake by mid-afternoon. This, of course, also assumed that the Rail hadn't broken down, or overheated, or powered out. If, if, if - Devon felt like she was going crazy. Something must have happened to them. There were so many dangers: penal colonists, ZEDs, . . . unknowns. Devon felt responsible for every member of her team. She wasn't dealing well with the loss of Danziger. She couldn't accept that she may have lost his daughter as well. Not to mention their only doctor. Her friends. Her responsibility.

"I never should have let them go." Devon said, to no one in particular.

"I don't remember you being given a choice." Alonzo pointed out, joining them.

"There's always a choice." Devon responded. "At least, that's what Danziger used to tell me."

Bess wearily pulled the gear off her head and rubbed her ears. Alonzo picked up the gear and began to scan for Julia's signal. It was useless, but it gave him something to do with his hands.

"And we can't even go after them . . . Damn True! She's too clever for her own good." Devon sat back down at the table. It was starting to get dark.

Uly poked his head around the tent flap and saw his Mom sitting at the table running her hands through her hair. She looked tired. Bess looked tired too. Uly came in and took his Mom's hand. She pulled him up into her lap and gave him a hug. Arms wrapped around her neck he tried to comfort her.

"Everything's gonna be alright." Uly said, very serious. Bess looked up; even Alonzo swung around to stare at the boy. Devon rubbed his back.

"What makes you say that?" she asked. He was very thoughtful.

"I don't know." he finally answered. "But the uneasy feeling I've had ever since True and I were in that cave, well, it's gone now."

Devon smiled down at her son. He was trying so hard to cheer her up. She would show him some appreciation.

"Thanks, Uly." she whispered into his hair. He hugged her harder. He sensed that she didn't believe him, but Uly knew that everything was fine. Soon, Mom would know that too.

Julia drove more slowly after dark trying hard to spot familiar landmarks. She hadn't really been paying that much attention on the way out, she realized; she'd been so preoccupied with worry. She was convinced that her compass wasn't working properly and so she wasn't entirely certain that they were heading in the right direction.

True sat looking backwards at Danziger, whose large frame was sprawled in the small space behind the seats. The theory was that at least this way he could try to rest. The reality was that the cramped space, coupled with all the bumps of the road, was making rest very difficult. Each jarring motion of the Rail further entrenched a headache that was rapidly overtaking his entire head.

Julia pulled to a stop. She twisted around to check her patient. Danziger gave her a weak smile.

"Tell me we're home." he whispered, knowing they were still out in the middle of nowhere. Julia absentmindedly took hold of his wrist to check his pulse. She then pulled her mike up to her mouth and prepared once again to contact the camp.

"I have to call them, True." she said. "I think we're lost and we have to get back as soon as possible. Besides, Devon's probably really worried. We should have either returned or called in by now."

"I don't really care much about Devon." True said cruelly. Danziger was surprised at her tone. He reached forward to give her hand a squeeze, but when she didn't respond he decided now was probably not the best time to get into it. Julia began to drive again as she turned on the gear.

"Eden crew, this is Heller. Do you copy?" There wasn't even a pause.

"Heller, this is Eden. Where the Hell have you been?!" Julia's heart flipped a little at the sound of Devon's angry voice. Nervously, she accelerated a little.

"That's kinda a long story. I'd rather not get into it now."

"Julia!" Devon's voice was sharp but also filled with anxiety. "What's going on? Are you guys OK?"

If Devon's voice had agitated Julia, the obvious worry in it only accentuated this. She was driving very quickly now. True grabbed hold of the railing to maintain her seat as they bounced along. A particularly large bounce caused Danziger to cry out,

"Geez Julia! Take it easy!" Julia whipped her head around to look at Danziger anxiously.

"Julia?" Devon was calling her, "What was that? Julia, are you still there?"

"We're OK." Julia tried to calm herself, "We're heading back now. We're . . . AHHHHH!" Julia slammed on the brakes, skidding the Rail's wheels on the rocky ground. True's small body was thrown against the front of the vehicle and Danziger's head came into painful contact with the floor of the Rail. Immediately ahead of them on the path, two terrians had appeared.

Back in the communications tent Devon and Alonzo exchanged worried looks.

"Julia!" Alonzo called into his own mike. "Julia!! Are you still there?"

"Can you get a fix on them?" asked Devon to Bess, who was leaning over the map.

"Yeesss." Bess said hesitantly, then she frowned. "That can't be right. That's way too far south." She looked to Devon for confirmation. Devon's eyes scanned the map; she could only see what Bess had.

"Ohmigosh, ohmigosh." Julia was saying, "I nearly hit them." She closed her eyes, her hands were trembling. True disengaged herself from the twisted position of her landing and put a hand on Julia's arm.

"Are you OK?" she asked Julia. Julia could only nod. Words were stuck in her throat.

"Nearly hit what?" Alonzo was asking in her ear. He could hear True's voice from a distance, but no Julia. "Julia? Please, please answer me! What did you hit?"

Danziger pulled himself to a seated position with great effort. Nobody knew how to drive this thing with any kind of respect, he was thinking. Small wonder when it broke down! He tried to focus on whatever it was that caused Julia to decide to stop suddenly. Hey! He knew those guys! They were the ones who showed him the way. With difficulty he pulled one leg and then the other over the side of the Rail. Still leaning against the solid, unmoving vehicle he stood before the terrians.

"What are you doing?" asked Julia.

"JULIA!!" Alonzo was shouting in her ear. Annoyed and distracted she turned the gear off. Danziger turned to her.

"I've run into these two before. The last time they changed my direction. Follow the direction of the staff." Danziger said, climbing in beside True. Sure enough, one of the terrians pointed with his staff, changing their course significantly. Slowly, Julia turned the vehicle and drove past the two figures. True's eyes never left them and her head turned until she was facing backwards again.

"They're gone now."

Devon dozed leaning against the communications table. Sometime in the night Uly had returned to her arms and now he slept soundly in them.

Alonzo stared up at the sky which was turning pale in the new dawn. There had been no further contact with Julia or True since they had "nearly hit" something. The communications signal had been lost and their last known position was so far out of their way that Alonzo suspected something had malfunctioned.

Bess had left for her tent after Morgan had sleepily come looking for her. Everyone else, he felt, was at the end of the proverbial rope as far as emotions were concerned. First John's death, then the dreams and True's sabotage, now this. It was a lot to handle in one week.

Alonzo had pretty much made up his mind that he would head out as soon as it was light enough. It didn't matter to him if the map was wrong or that he would be on foot; he had to do something. Even if it meant launching a search party south instead of east. If he found Julia, no *when* he found Julia, he wasn't sure whether he would kill her for putting him through this, or kiss her with relief. He was contemplating this (and leaning towards the kiss) when he heard the approaching Rail.

In the stillness of early morning the sound appeared to be coming from all directions, but Alonzo turned towards the south and sure enough there it was.

"Devon." he gave her a nudge. "Devon, they're back." Devon jerked awake. She carefully put Uly down and followed Alonzo.

From this distance she could see that Julia and True were alone. True must have been asleep, because Julia was giving her shoulder a little push. Rubbing her eyes True somberly took stock of their surroundings. Devon and Alonzo waited by Julia's tent for her to enter the camp. Those who had been sleeping lightly soon popped their heads out their tents and activity in the camp increased.

All that worry, all that anger, for nothing, Devon was thinking. What will True do now? Will she ever forgive me?

Alonzo could not help but feel disappointed that Julia was returning to camp empty handed. This one was going to take some time to get over, he felt.

Julia brought the Rail to a rough stop in front of her tent and hopped out.

"Alonzo, can you give me a hand, please?" she asked quietly. Alonzo moved forward, this brought the body of Danziger into view. At first, Alonzo thought maybe they'd gone back to the grave and dug him up. But then True was waking him and it quickly became obvious that John Danziger was very much alive, if not very well, and back with them.

The group gave a collective gasp of shock before they began moving in towards the Rail. True remained where she was, a protective arm around her Dad's neck. Julia was helping him up and trying to keep the mob at bay.

"People, c'mon! Give us some space please!"

Alonzo offered his shoulder for Danziger to lean on and between the two of them they managed to get him into Julia's tent. Where before there had only been glum faces there was now jubilance. How this had occurred didn't seem to matter for now.

Devon hung back watching from a distance. She felt like if she tried to move she might just collapse. Her knees were like jelly. Uly appeared at her side and slipped his small hand into hers.

"I told you everything was going to be alright." he said, smiling up at her. She accepted his smile wordlessly. It would seem that Danziger's life was proving no less a shock than his death.

When Julia finally emerged from her tent it was to be greeted by questions from all. She put up her hands to stop them.

"Hey, I don't know. I really don't know. We found him face down on the ground. He'd been travelling from the south."

"Julia?" Devon voice was still somewhat choked with emotion. "He is going to be alright?" Julia nodded. Devon took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I don't *believe* this!" Morgan was saying. "This is too fantastic for words!"

"Oh Morgan who cares?" Bess cried gaily, throwing her arms around him.

Devon tried to inconspicuously enter Julia's tent. Julia had gone with Alonzo to get something to eat and they had somehow managed to pry True away from John for some food as well. There he was. Alive.

"You come to stare at the dead or are you going to talk to me as well?" he asked. Devon smiled and moved forward to sit beside him.

"You bastard!" she said, with feeling. "You put us through Hell this last week."

"Well," Danziger chuckled, "that's nothing compared to what you did to me. After all, I didn't *bury* you!"

Anxiety flew to Devon's eyes.

"My God, John, we didn't . . . I mean, you weren't really . . . " He quickly grabbed her arm with one hand to stop this flood of guilt.

"No you didn't." he assured her. "I don't know who, or what, you put in that grave, but it wasn't me." Devon sighed and closed her eyes. She put her hand in his.

"Danziger, I have to say this. If I don't say it now, while you're still recovering, then I will lose my nerve and I know I won't be able to say it once you're up and running at full capacity, as it were."

John managed to look both amused and intrigued.

"Adair, I can't believe I could scare *you* into losing your nerve."

Devon took a deep breath for courage.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I'm so sorry."

" 'bout what?"

"About . . . about not believing. Not going back for you."

"Hey," he stopped her, "it was pretty unbelievable."

"Not so. I dreamed too."

Danziger nodded.

"I know."

Devon's face flushed. She couldn't hold his gaze. Of course he knew. He knew she had turned away from him when he needed her. Staring at John's hands, still holding her own, Devon again tried to imagine his fingers threading a needle.

"Devon." He waited until she looked back up. "It *was* pretty unbelievable." He repeated. She nodded slightly. Danziger struggled up to sit on the edge of the cot. "You know, I've been meaning to thank you."

"For what?" Devon asked smiling.

"Looking out for True." Devon's smile vanished.

"I didn't do such a good job of that." she said, avoiding his eyes again.

"Oh, I think you did pretty well." he said wryly. He cleared his throat. "All the time I was dreaming about everyone, the worst dreams were the ones with True in them. She was so unhappy. I thought I'd never see her again, but I knew you'd be there for her. I knew she'd be OK."

"John," Devon began. "You should know . . ."

"She told me what happened." Danziger interrupted, running a hand through his hair, ruefully thinking about what True had done to the vehicles. It was going to take some work to get them functioning again! "Resourceful. Stubborn. Pain in the ass." He grinned. "Just like her ol' Dad."

"I missed you, John." Devon said with feeling. She laughed. "A lot."

The group had gathered around the fire once again and for the first time since Danziger's ghost story there was a feeling of camaraderie. Even Danziger made it out of Julia's tent. Leaning on Alonzo for support, and with True holding his hand, he joined the circle.

"Anyone for a good story?" he joked, bringing laughter.

There was an awkward silence as the group settled around the fire. Morgan felt an uncanny sense of deja vu. Finally, he cleared his throat drawing everyone's attention.

"Isn't anyone curious about what happened? Does anyone know?" His voice wavered.

Eyes moved from Morgan to Danziger, who remained silent.

"I know." Uly piped up. Surprised, everyone turned towards the boy. "There was something in that cave, right?" He looked at Danziger and then Alonzo.

"Ya, I think you're right." Alonzo said. "Something that lives with the Terrians. Something that doesn't understand the concept of death and how serious it really is."

"It was with us the night of the ghost story; it was watching us." Morgan added. "I felt it. And in my dream, there were two Danzigers."

"In my dream too!" said Uly. "There was Danziger telling the story and Danziger watching the group."

"Two of him?" Devon asked. "Why two?"

"One was me and one was . . . was this thing." Danziger said. "This thing that wanted to try being human. I don't know how, but it must have somehow become me while I was sleeping on the ridge. Then it died, not me."

"Why would something want to be you if you were dead?" asked Bess, confused.

"Well, if it had been listening to Danziger's story, it probably didn't think death was that big a deal. In fact, it probably thought death would be very amusing. After all, you get to haunt people afterwards." Alonzo said with a smile.

"Which is exactly what happened." Devon said thoughtfully. "My God! That's what was going on. You were haunting us in our dreams, just like the ghost story."

Danziger was shaking his head, chuckling.

"I always thought being a ghost would be more fun, but now I can't say I'd recommend it."

True watched her Dad sleeping. It was going to be nice to sleep without those haunting nightmares but she wasn't sleepy yet. She felt like she could stare at her Dad for hours, just watching his chest rise and fall. She hoped she would never feel scared again.

Suddenly, outside she heard Devon's voice. She was talking to Morgan, who was on the night guard. Dad had spoken to her about Devon. He had told her that Devon had been trying to do the right thing. For the group and for her. True left the tent quietly.

She followed Devon back to her tent but it wasn't until Devon was nearly at the door that she became aware of the girl.

"True! My God, you scared me!" Devon stifled a cry, "What are doing out here?"

"I need to talk to you." True whispered.

"OK," Devon lowered her voice as well. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry I sabotaged the vehicles and blackmailed you." True said, frankly, "but I'm not sorry that I went out to look for him."

"Me neither." Devon agreed. "I don't think anyone is. Ah . . . True I have to say I'm sorry too. I wasn't very understanding. I wish I'd listened more carefully to you." And a few others, she added silently.

True shrugged. Now that Dad was back she wasn't going to hold a grudge.

"Hey," she said suddenly, pointing up, "Look at that!"

Twin falling stars streaked across the sky. Devon gasped. True turned to her a large grin splitting her face. It was a look Devon hadn't seen for a long time. It was a look she knew she could never evoke from the girl.

"Make a wish."

-The End-

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