Scar Tissue by Allison McDonnell

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Devon knew that it was important to act quickly. She privately conferred with Julia regarding what she'd suspected was behind Danziger's sudden and unique ability to find the abundance of fruit. The doctor had agreed with her allegations and they'd both decided to put a plan into action. The pair realized that the food supply was in need of renewal within the next day or two, so they decided to shadow Danziger's movements the best that they could and watch for him to leave for the scout.

They didn't have to wait long. The following morning, after the mechanic had finished yet another double shift, Julia barely caught sight of him through a torrent of sleet just as he headed out of camp on foot. She hastily yanked a knit cap over her head and confirmed that her gearset was attached to her hip as she hurried in his direction.

"Hey, Danziger! Wait up!"

The mechanic clearly was in no mood for chit-chat and he didn't bother to stop or turn around in order to respond.

"What!" The word didn't sound like a question. More like an intrusion.

Julia quickened her pace to catch up to him, barely avoiding slipping on the frozen and snow covered terrain.

"I'm coming with you."

"No, you're not," came the terse reply as he continued walking.

"It's way too dangerous for you to being going off by yourself in this weather," she exclaimed in between quickening breaths due to her increasing speed and the intense cold. "Devon decided that, from now on, anytime we travel more than two hundred yards beyond the camp's perimeters, we need to go in pairs."

He emitted a mirthless snort at Devon's latest proclamation. "Not happening."

"But why? I don't understand what the problem is. What's the big secret?" she asked as he barreled forward. "Why won't you let us see where you're getting the fruit? What are you so afraid of?"

Already nearing the two hundred yard limit and hoping to slow him down, she sped past him and then stepped directly in his path, turning her body to face him.

"Devon thinks you're using the spider tunnels," she announced, now being forced to walk backwards. "And so do I."

Her words caused him to finally halt in this tracks. "Then you'd be wrong," was the eventual reply. She could barely hear him over the sound of the frozen rain loudly pelting their jackets as well as the surrounding surfaces.

Julia shook her head. "I don't believe you," she said, her bluntness a reminder to both of them that she hadn't been chromo-skewed to pull any verbal punches.

"Believe what you want," he shrugged. "I don't care."

Julia was undeterred by his denial. In fact, seeing the mechanic in his bedraggled state prompted her to push forward. "There's something wrong with you, Danziger. It's obvious to everyone that you're sick. You look worse now than you did when you were malnourished."

She reached up to point out a large patch of discolored skin located just below his hairline which remained partially shrouded by his soaked curls. "That scrape on your forehead from the Dunerail acci-"

"Don't!" he shouted, making it abundantly apparent that he would not discuss anything that even remotely related to their shared scout to retrieve Cargo Pod 9.

A bit shaken by his vehemence, Julia took a breath and started again. "I'm just saying that the injury is almost three weeks old and it's still not healed. You're ashen, withdrawn, suffering from obvious fatigue. Do I need to go on?"

John closed his eyes briefly and his expression softened. But only a little.

"Look, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I'm not sick," he offered as convincingly as he could.

"Prove it," the doctor challenged. "Put off the scout for an hour or so and come back to the med-tent with me. Let me perform a bio-scan and a few basic tests and, after you're cleared, you can choose your travel partner and leave. Maybe the weather will even let up a bit by the time we're done."

John started shaking his head before she was even done speaking. "I'm busy right now. Maybe in a day or two."

He took a step forward, but Julia dug her heels in. "You have two choices Danziger: Let me run my tests now or let me come with you on the scout."

Danziger didn't answer her, but his hardened expression conveyed loud and clear that he'd had his fill of the conversation. And of Julia. Finding neither choice even close to acceptable options, he propelled himself forward and attempted to go around her.

As he passed by, Julia used both hands to clamp onto his arm just above the wrist in an effort to keep him from leaving. The physical contact was unexpected on Danziger's part and he winced in pain, letting out a small yelp as he yanked himself from her grasp.

"Dammit, Heller!" he hissed through gritted teeth, involuntarily pulling his arm tightly against in stomach in a protective stance.

Julia hitched back in surprise, her eyes rapidly ping-ponging between his face and arm. "I barely touched you. Why did that hurt?"

Danziger had long ago mastered the art of avoidance and he ignored her question. Instead, his tone surged in fury, "You wanna do something to help? Okay, use that equipment of yours to find out how to grow enough fruits and vegetables in Mary's Garden to feed sixteen people at least two squares a day!"

He attempted to use his size as intimidation and he put himself almost nose to nose with her. "Or how about you figure outta way to make Spring come faster so we can thaw out and move somewhere where there's edible vegetation?" he lashed out. "Until you can make either of those things happen, stay the hell outta my way!"

Without waiting for a response, he stormed off. Julia called after him, her voice increasing in volume as he ventured further away. "If you're using the spider tunnels, you need to stop right now! We haven't begun to understand how they work! For all we know, there could be time and space shifts! You could get lost and not be able to find your way back! You could be transported into the middle of the ocean, for God's sake!"

Her mind flashed to his adverse reaction to when she'd touch his arm. "Who knows what these trips are doing to your health? Your cells could be degenerating!"

As the mechanic's dark outline quickly became indecipherable from the other hazy shadows caused by the sleet, Julia made one last effort to stop him.

"Danziger, we'll find another food source! This isn't worth your life!"

Thoroughly shaken by her encounter and furious with herself for not being able to get John to face reason, Julia trudged her way back to camp. She had barely crossed the perimeter when True emerged from the nearby Danziger quarters. She was fully dressed and the hood of her winter coat was pulled snugly closed to perfectly frame her cherub-like face.

It was obvious that she'd been awaiting Julia's return. However, the little girl came across as rather sheepish as she asked, "Can I talk to you?"

Julia schooled her features to look as calm and professional as possible, despite the fact that she was freezing cold, soaking wet and she'd practically been screaming just minutes before.

"Sure, True. What can I do for you?" she said, gently ushering the younger Danziger back into the dryer and slightly warmer surroundings of her tent.

When she didn't answer, Julia tried to verbalize True's thoughts. "You're worried about your Dad, huh?"

True nodded. After a few moments' contemplation, she removed a small, hand-held device from her pocket. Julia immediately recognized the overall size and shape of the equipment, though there had been some significant changes made.

"Here," the child said guiltily as she placed it into the doctor's hand.

Julie curiously eyed the gadget which had been retrofitted with several emerald green lights. "Isn't this the broken radiometer?"

"Not anymore," True answered as she produced a metallic circle about the size of the old-Earth Buffalo Nickel that Commander O'Neill had given Uly. The lights of the apparatus in Julia's palm immediately reacted.

"Now it's for finding my Dad."

Julia marveled at the complexity of the instrument, as well as by True's ingenuity. "You made this by yourself?"

There was another nod as the little girl went on to explain, "Back when Dad and Alonzo were gonna go on that long range scout, I watched him work on the beacons they were gonna use. They didn't seem that hard to make. So I scrounged for parts and built a smaller one."

Her eyes instinctively darted around the room as if she was checking for her Dad's presence, just to be sure. "After his shift was over this morning, he came in to check on me. He said that he was leaving to get more fruit. I tried to stick the transmitter in his pocket when he wasn't looking, but he left before I could do it."

She furthered, "But maybe I can do it next time, so we can find out where he goes."

"I think that's a great idea, True," Julia praised, still a bit stunned at the girl's skills, not to mention her gumption.

"My Dad's leaving camp a lot more than you know," she woefully confessed. "I'm so scared that, one day, he's not gonna come back."

Julia's heart broke for the child. However, for the first time in days, she also felt confident that they might be able to get a firm handle on the elder Danziger's precarious situation.

"Tell you what: Why don't you wait here for a few minutes while I get Devon," she encouraged. "I think that it would be best if all three of us talked about this. Is that all right with you?"

True nodded while emitting a deep shudder. It was clear that she was overwhelmed by a multitude of emotions including fear, guilt and regret. But mostly, she felt as though she was letting her father down. And, as far as she was concerned, there were very few things worse than that.

Tears welled in her large brown eyes as she relayed, "He's gonna be so mad at me when he finds out that I'm helping you; that I told you about him sneaking out during the day."

Julia gave True's shoulders a confident squeeze along with a reassuring smile in an attempt to quell her doubts.

"It's all going to be okay, True. We'll do whatever we have to in order to keep your Dad safe," she affirmed. "And I promise that you did the right thing."

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