John's Narration:

Travelling under the cover of night is not without its own set of risks.

Even though Solace had covered the ground ahead of us earlier and was able to report that there was nothing to be concerned about as far as the terrain was concerned, Julia's dream had us all spooked.

We weren't safe at our present Camp site; that much we could assume. The caves seemed to be the only real choice for the time being. But after that…

I don't know what we'll do once we reach the caves, but staying out in the open will probably be suicide.

*Sigh*

Just when we thought things couldn't get any worse after losing Adair like that…

I know one thing, though: those Council bastards aren't going to get their filthy hands on Uly. I promised Adair I'd look after her son, and I'll be damned if I'm going to renege on that promise.

I don't pretend to understand what those Diggers did for him, but I do know that he needs to make it if the rest of us humans are gonna have any chance of making it on G889; if my own daughter is gonna have any chance of growing up here in safety.

This crew needs a leader, but they're stuck with me: a shankin' drone from the Quadrant.

There's no way we can take on the Council on our own down here, and it'll be a miracle if we even make it to New Pacifica. Maybe we were never meant to make it. Maybe humans as a species have had their time, and we're just prolonging the inevitable by tryin' to colonize this planet.

Maybe Devon Adair is a fool, and I've been taken in, just like everyone else…

Scant illumination was provided by the twin moons riding high in the night sky, less than quarter-full. The wary travellers were weaving a cautious and roundabout path to the eventual destination of the caves.

John was further disheartened by the irrevocable conclusion they'd arrived at, which was that they'd have to abandon the vehicles at some point in their journey and make up the rest on foot. It was decided they would trek several kilometers past the caves and then double back, in the hopes that this might foil the attempt by the Council and Z.E.D. assassins to locate them.

The TransRover and ATV had not been in use for several days and their solar cells were fully charged. While the Dunerail had seen some use earlier in the day by Alonzo and Julia, it had spent several hours standing idle and would be able to run; the scant moonlight would at least provide a limited amount of the sun's reflected rays to partially charge the solar cells.

Knowing the slow pace of the robot's mechanical stride would slow them down unnecessarily, John disconnected the Zero unit's head from its body for easier transport. "Zero will be on constant scanning mode; he'll alert us if there's any movement out there that might be hostile," he said, as they were preparing for departure.

"Affirmative," the Zero unit's head intoned, as if John's statement required qualification.

"True; Uly, you ride with Baines," John instructed the children, and they trotted off obediently. Peter Baines took Zero's head with him and followed the kids into the TransRover. The large vehicle with its bright headlights would take the lead, a beacon for the rest of them to maintain their bearings as Baines followed the path they'd programmed into Zero's navigational function.

Alonzo, Julia, Bess, and Morgan rode in the 'rail while John, Gayle Denner, Yale, Michael Cameron, Derek Walman, and Mazatl Perez followed on foot; Valerie Magus, armed with a Magpro, brought up the rear in the ATV.

John hefted a second Magpro as he walked, keeping his eyes peeled; Julia's dream warning had rattled him more than he was willing to admit. He wondered if moving to the caves would even make a difference. It might buy them some time, but in the long run, how much of a difference?

No time to start second-guessing yourself, Danziger, John thought, and trudged on, keeping up the pace.

The twin moons continued their ascent; the smaller, third moon began its own lonely ascent on the opposite side of the inky night sky, barely noticed by crew. Wispy clouds floated high above them, motionless due to the absence of any wind. Save for the low hum and whine of the vehicles' engines and turning gears, silence reigned amongst the moving company. A kind of cold fear borne of the deadly scenario Julia's dream portended had stripped them of any desire make idle chatter with each other.

Hours dragged by in monotony. The first leg of the journey concluded when they reached a sort of gully that would be used temporarily—or so John hoped— to park the vehicles.

Baines roused the children after he stopped the TransRover, and they sleepily lifted their eyelids, temporarily disoriented by the unfamiliar location. "Time to get up, you two," Peter whispered. Both youngsters yawned and stretched, not yet willing to stir. John approached the cab, still shouldering the Magpro.

"Everyone okay in here?" John asked, as Baines opened his door.

"Yeah," Peter replied, "I think they just need a couple minutes to wake up."

"We don't have a lot of time to waste," he muttered. "Come on, True-girl. Get a move on. You too, Uly."

True groaned, but managed to comply without complaint. "C'mon, Uly," she said, giving the younger child a nudge, "we gotta go."

"Mmm-kay, I'm coming..." the boy lazily replied. He crawled after True out the driver's side door, and John gave him a hand to assist him in his leap down to the ground. The children sluggishly trailed behind John, while Peter followed.

"Everybody doin' okay?" asked John as he approached the assembly, though the Edenites knew it was a perfunctory question.

A few tired "yeah" and "I'm fine" replies came back, so he issued the order to simply keep moving. Without any fuss or fanfare, a more rested Baines carried Zero's head and took point with Alonzo, who held a luma-light. They corralled the children in the middle of the group, with John at the tail end of the moving party.

Those who had been traveling solely on foot were particularly exhausted when they at last reached their destination of the caves. A few sat down on the sandy earth to rest their tired feet.

"This is the entrance I used to get in earlier," Alonzo said, directing the beam of his luma-light to show them the exact location.

John looked at his company. Nobody seemed eager to make a move, so he took the first step towards the opening. "What are you all waiting for? Move it. Single-file."

As if shaken awake, they all quickly fell in line and squirmed through the opening one by one. "Follow me—this way," Alonzo urged, taking the lead from John, and heading into the tunnel that curled to the right. "Watch out, though, 'cause we're going to be approaching one of those spider caves soon. Just stick with me and stay clear of it, since Danziger doesn't want any of us getting lost in here."

John ignored the implied ribbing and attempted to overcome the stifling, claustrophobic sensation that descended upon him. The cave walls somehow felt too close, too narrow. It took a conscious effort on John's part to banish the notion that those rocky walls were going to slowly crush him to death.

"How much further?" Morgan asked tiredly as he shuffled behind Bess, John, and Alonzo. "Couldn't we at least stop for a break? We're inside the caves. That should be enough for now, don't you think?"

John heard the grousing. He had to honestly admit to himself he was tired too; he knew the rest of the crew felt the exhaustion. Morgan had a point, John realised, but didn't yet feel safe enough to stop.

"I hear ya, Morgan," he finally replied, peering back at the other man. He did his utmost to sound reasonably empathetic. "Look, the more distance we put between us and whatever is out there, the safer I'll feel—for all of our well-being. We're gonna stop, eventually; just not yet."

"Fine," Morgan huffed. "I guess I can walk a little more. Before my feet fall off…"

Satisfied that he probably wasn't going to hear more complaints from Morgan for at least another ten minutes, John carried on, still unsure of this entire side trip, still harbouring doubts about his own suitability to lead the group.

Devon, I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't know if this is going to work out. But you trusted Julia after she proved herself to be loyal to us… you'd probably be trusting her now, too, even though this is all so shankin' insane… I just hope that one day when all this is done, I'll be able to look you in the eyes and tell you I did my best, and that my best was good enough…

John soon became aware of a low, pulsing sound, followed by what could be described as a noisy rush of wind.

"We're close to the spider cave now," Alonzo said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Everyone keep to the right."

The Edenites did as instructed. They were all very aware of the misadventures Devon, John, Alonzo, and Julia had endured on the previous encounter with the strange phenomenon; none were eager for a repeat.

Soon enough, Alonzo led them around a familiar bend in the tunnel which opened to the area of the cave where he'd discovered the vein of sunstones. "Here's where I found the Morganite," he said. "It's probably a good place for us to rest, Danziger."

Picking up on the pilot's comment, Morgan said in a wheedling voice, "Oh, yes, please!"

John could hear similar murmurings from a few other members of the tired crew. The cave itself had widened at this point, and stretched on ahead of them for a distance he could not determine. At any rate, there was ample space for all of them to settle down, and it was far enough away from the spider tunnel for his personal level of comfort. Mind made up, he halted his own forward progress and lowered the Magpro.

"Okay, gang," the reluctant leader stated in a commanding tone, "we stop here."

"Finally," Morgan breathed with relief, dropping his pack of belongings. He turned to Bess and quietly asked how she was doing; the former Earth-res replied she felt physically okay except for the overall weariness brought on by their trip and the after-effects of the illness they'd all endured. The rest of the members of the group expressed relief in their own ways, and most of them took the opportunity to sit down and relax after their lengthy night trek.

John kept alert, knowing he could not afford to lower his guard, even in the apparent safety of the caves. His daughter sought him out and was now burrowing her head against his side, trying to find a comfortable position to sleep. He placed a strong but gentle arm around her, inviting her to snuggle as close as she wanted.

After a few moments of allowing everyone to catch their breath, Julia began unobtrusively going around to each of them, asking routine questions about how they were feeling, paying particular attention to those who had been at the tail end of the curve of the illness that had flattened them. She was most concerned about Bess, but was relieved to see that the other woman was fine, apart from general tiredness. With a twinge of sadness, Julia thought of Eben, and how she'd been the very first to start exhibiting symptoms.

There's nothing you could have done, the pragmatic, medical professional side of Julia's brain admonished her. Put away the feelings of guilt.

Easier said than done, Julia thought, still grappling with the conflicting emotions and feelings that she feared would compromise her competency as the lone doctor in the camp. She forced herself to take a deep breath, thinking about all the times in the past that she had maintained a cool head in a crisis. Eventually, she shuffled over to Alonzo after completing her 'rounds'. He was the last one to be checked, and like the rest of her friends, he was in as good health as could be expected.

"And how are you feeling, Doc?" asked the pilot softly, putting a hand under her chin in order to get her attention and look her directly in the eyes.

Julia had to admit she was caught off-guard by the unexpected question. "Uh, I-I'm fine," she answered, realising that she rarely heard someone else express concern for her well-being.

"Oh yeah?" he challenged. "Sounds like you're not really sure."

"Well, I haven't scanned myself to be absolutely certain," she said, half-joking, "but I think I'm fairly good at self-diagnosis, Mr. Solace."

"All right, Dr. Heller," Alonzo said with a small smile, letting her off the hook. "I trust your personal diagnosis."

"Good," Julia said, leaning into him. "I do have a medical degree, after all: summa cum laude."

Alonzo planted a kiss on her head and encircled her in his muscular arms. "So, I'm in love with a genius. If only my old friends could see me now," he chuckled. They sat like that in silence for a while, and Julia was almost able to let her nagging worries ebb away as she lay in the comfort of Alonzo's arms.

Soon, Gayle Denner and Peter Baines began handing out some provisions; Julia took the opportunity to advise everyone to make sure they stayed hydrated. She voiced her concern to John that the first order of business—once everyone was rested enough—should be to look for a source of water. Appetites hadn't quite returned to normal, so she wasn't yet concerned about food, but dehydration was an enemy to be avoided, even if they were out of the heat of the planet's scorching summer sun.

True was still snoozing on John's lap, so he issued his next directive from a seated position: "We sleep in shifts, like usual, with one person on sentry duty," he said. "I need a couple volunteers to poke around these caves for a water source as soon as we've all got some decent shut-eye."

Out of the group, Valerie Magus and Derek Walman put up their hands immediately for water-scouting duty.

"Okay, you two are it," John affirmed.

Michael Cameron put in: "It would have been my turn for watch duty back at camp. I'll stay up for the first shift."

Danziger looked at him gratefully. "Thanks, buddy. I'll relieve you after six hours."

Cameron nodded once, grabbed a Magpro and a luma-light, then headed back around the bend in the tunnel. Everyone else began to settle down in earnest though the accommodations were rough, even with the bedding some had chosen to carry with them.

John kept waiting to hear complaints from Morgan, but to his surprise found that the other man was already sound asleep next to his wife, curled up on a blanket. Alonzo and Julia were getting cozy against one of the cave walls nearest the vein of sunstones. Yale had spread out a blanket for Uly and had just finished covering the boy, whispering some comforting words to him.

"Now, go to sleep," the tutor instructed soothingly, as he wrapped a frayed shawl around his own shoulders. "I'll be right here the rest of the night."

Uly yawned and uttered a sleepy 'goodnight' to Yale, though in reality, it was closer to dawn. The remainder of the Ops crew, minus the sentry Cameron, had sacked out in their own fashion. Walman was already snoring lightly, earning a kick from an irritated Magus who was trying to sleep nearby. The burly man grunted and rolled over, and the snoring ceased, much to Magus' relief.

Luma-lights were extinguished. Apart from a very low, warm orange glow from the vein of sunstones, the cavern was plunged into gentle darkness.

It amazed John how easily everyone had seemingly adjusted to the new situation. They'd looked to him for leadership, and they'd trusted him even through all this craziness stemming from Julia's precognitive nightmare.

How did they ever follow this insane plan? What did I ever do to earn such blind faith from these people? Devon, I sure wish you were here. This responsibility is crushing me.

Eventually, he fell into an uneasy doze; his brain unable to completely switch off. Julia's dream warning that they were all in danger of being slaughtered by the Council—because Reilly apparently still wanted Uly—made it impossible for Danziger to truly relax. Yet still, his shallow sleep managed to produce fragmented dreams.

One dream he dearly wanted to hold onto was about Devon. They were standing in the cave together, and he was at first confused as to how she could be there with him when he knew they'd left her behind in the cryo-chamber aboard Franklin Bennett's ship. He tried to say her name aloud, but his voice wouldn't come. But now that she was here, John felt relief. Devon was their leader. She could take over again and all would be set right. Uly would be happy and they could finally move onwards to New Pacifica. In the dream, John watched as Devon raised a hand and pointed past him.

"Danger is coming, John," she stated in a solemn, authoritative voice.

"Danger?" John repeated the word. "How do you know?"

"Protect my son, John," Devon spoke again.

"I will," John said with strong emotion. "Devon, I'm glad you're back—"

Just as he uttered these words, she faded from sight. John lunged forward to try to grab onto her to keep her from vanishing, but it was no use. She was gone. With a start, John awoke, his eyes snapping open, blinking in momentary confusion that is customary of dreamers who wake suddenly.

True must have felt his movement, for she stirred slightly. The girl sat up and asked her father if everything was all right.

"Yeah, True-girl," Danziger whispered. "Just dreaming, that's all. You can go back to sleep if you want. It's almost time for me to relieve Cameron."

"Okay," she said, and curled up into the fetal position next to him, resting her head on her folded hands.

John rubbed at his bleary eyes. He thought of the content of his dream now, and tried to dismiss it. Obviously, Julia's own warning had inspired it, right? Somehow, his unconscious brain had created the scene where John's own natural fears were being confirmed by Devon, the person he had to admit to himself he trusted the most, even though they frequently butted heads.

And now, trying to cope without her being there…

How much stock should I actually put into that dream? John pondered. We've already seen that dreams work a little differently here on this planet. That 'Dreamplane' or whatever it is that 'Lonz' and Uly get taken away to by those Diggers… What if… what if Devon can communicate with me that way, too?

The mechanic snorted. I'm gettin' too fanciful, he derided himself. Why on earth would Devon want to dream to him? What was he to her, other than a glorified fix-it-man-drone from the Quadrant who took on the job of leading the group because no one else wanted the responsibility?

He shook his head vigorously and got to his feet, picking up his Magpro on the way. It was time to relieve Cameron.

When the morning hour arrived, Bess Morgan and Gayle Denner passed around some rations for breakfast to a very quiet assembly of people. No one really quite knew what they ought to be doing; no one knew how long they would need to stay inside the caves, and it started to become clear to John that at some point, they would need to come up with a plan of action. Either they were in danger if they remained in the open, as per Julia's dream warning, or they were not, and this precautionary measure of taking refuge in the caves was just a waste of time. He decided not to put stock in his own dream warning from Devon, convinced that it was just his own mind's way of coping with the stress of leadership duties, and of not wanting to let her down.

After eating, Valerie Magus and Derek Walman prepared to set off deeper into the cave's tunnels to look for a source of water.

"Stay on Gear," John advised them before they departed. "I don't want you two gettin' lost in there. And be on the lookout for more of those stupid spider caves. Don't go near them, ever."

"You got it, Danziger," Derek said, donning his Gear.

"Should we take a weapon?" Valerie asked casually as she tested the power on a luma-light.

John shrugged. "Never know what you might run into," he said honestly. "Sure, take my Magpro." The woman took the weapon from John and thanked him. Both she and Walman then turned and trudged off on their little mission.

"I hope they find an underground pool or stream, or something," Julia commented, coming up to stand beside Danziger. "I'm pretty sure we'll be able to find some edible roots or tubers down here so we don't starve, but without water…"

"Yeah, I know, Doc," John sighed, remembering the time he and Devon had gone off in search of a water source… Devon encouraging him to lie down next to her on the blanket he placed so she could rest in the shade… Waking up after being rendered unconscious by the Terrians, restrained by cords of native vines and roots; Devon lying so close to him, her head on his shoulder…

"Dying of dehydration isn't pretty," Julia uttered grimly. She hugged her arms around her middle, attempting to counteract a chill that crept upon her unexpectedly.

"Yeah, I know, Doc." John repeated himself with a faint edge of annoyance. He didn't add that if it weren't for Julia's dream, they'd still be at camp with access to their hydro-compressor. The bulky machine clearly was not going to accompany them into the caves; they'd had to bring what little water they could with them in their canteens for eventual rationing.

Julia seemed to take the cue from John's nearly curt reply that there was really nothing more to say on the matter, and returned to Alonzo's side against the cave wall they'd staked out for themselves.

John rubbed his chin as was his habit, growing uneasy again at the thought that everything was on his shoulders. All their problems and concerns were being brought to him, making it seem like their survival would depend entirely on his ability to solve those problems.

Shank it all, he thought angrily. I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

By mid-morning, Magus and Walman returned. "Good news, everyone," Valerie announced cheerfully. "We found a pool fed by a stream of water—cool and clear—in a tertiary tunnel about an hour's hike deeper inside."

The group received the news happily, and Julia eagerly took a sample from Derek so she could test it for potability.

"We followed the stream little further up to see if we could find the source, but we turned back when we came upon another one of those spider-caves, just like you said we should, Danziger," Valerie said.

"Yeah, this cave system is massive," Walman added with an air of wonder. "It would probably take us weeks to map it all. I bet if we went looking, we might even find a spot that's more comfortable than where we are right now… That is, if you think we should stay in these caves long-term, Danz'…"

John could feel his frustration levels rising again. "This doesn't always have to be my decision," he said bluntly, irritated at how quickly Walman was deferring to him. He'd known the other man for years living on the Stations in same block of the Quadrant; Derek was the third person John had told about his intentions to put in for the Eden Advance Crew; Les Firestein and Alex Wentworth had been the first. They'd all been equals there. Here on the planet, he'd been their 'leader' for a total of a day-and-a-half, and in John's opinion, Walman was already treating him like a member of the almighty Council Board of Regents.

Scratch that, John thought better of the comparison between himself and the Stations' governing body members. Those people are pure evil…

Walman looked slightly taken aback by John's touchy reaction. "O-kay," he said slowly. "No need to get so defensive, pal. We can put it to a vote again, right?" He looked over at Valerie for backup.

"Right," Magus said, hoping as Walman did, that John would be placated. "We can gather everyone and see what we could do next…"

With a wry twist of his mouth, John realised he'd probably overreacted, but he couldn't help how he was feeling. Still, he tried to relax his tense facial muscles; forced his voice to soften. "Fine," he finally stated. "Get everyone together if you want. We'll talk it over. See if we all like the idea of hiking deeper into the caves."

Without giving a verbal response, Walman and Magus went to round up the rest of the group, fairly relieved to be out of John's presence for the time being.

"I'd forgotten how shankin' grumpy he can be sometimes," Derek whispered to Valerie.

Magus gave a short laugh. "'Sometimes'?" she quoted Walman's assessment of their old friend.

"Okay, so he never had the reputation of being 'Mr. Cheerful'," Derek conceded. "But I didn't think he had a problem with taking over from Devon."

For the time being, Magus held her tongue. She'd noticed the way John acted around Devon, and like several other members of the group, had intuited a growing attraction between them—an attraction Derek evidently missed, or dismissed. Valerie realised she shouldn't have been surprised: taciturn, loner John wasn't the type to share such things with the rest of the group, much less the males of the Ops crew.

It didn't take long to get everyone into 'meeting' mode as they were all more or less sitting together, anyway.

"Walman and I think it would be a good idea to go deeper into caves and find a better place to settle," Magus declared. "Anybody have any thoughts on that?"

"Well, we know other humans like the Elder and his clan spend winters in an underground cave system," Julia mentioned, feeling a return of the apprehension from her dream about Alonzo, along with her unanswered questions about Franklin's conclusions about G889. "And the farther away we are from the entrance of the cave, the safer I'd feel. At least, for Uly's sake.

"And the Terrians sleep down in caves, too," Uly chirped upon hearing his name. "We could stay down here forever. They won't mind if we do, I bet."

The adults apart from Alonzo still somehow regarded Uly's implicit trust of the Terrians with various levels of trepidation, so anything the child said about the indigenous beings usually brought about uneasy musings.

"As long as they leave us alone," Morgan sniveled. "I guess… I mean, it wouldn't hurt to find a bigger space if we're going to be cooped up in here for a while. Maybe a little alcove to ourselves; after all, I think we all agree a little privacy would be great." He put an arm around Bess, and she obliged his action by inching in closer to him.

A low murmuring started up amongst the group, each member considering Magus and Walman's suggestion; many of them agreed with Morgan's input. Danziger was listening to the proceedings in silence, awaiting a consensus. This was one decision he figured the rest of them were perfectly capable of coming to one accord on their own. He didn't even want to hear them ask for his seal of approval. He just wanted some part of the burden of responsibility lifted from his shoulders.

"Well," Magus eventually ventured when the chattering died down a little, "should we put it to a vote, then?"

"Wait, what does Danziger think of all this?" Michael Cameron asked, noticing for the first time that John was hanging back from the proceedings.

John waved aside Cameron's inquiry. "Leave me out of this one, Mike," he answered with a tired but patient sigh. "I'll go along with whatever you guys decide. I don't wanna have to micro-manage every decision this group makes."

Morgan had already dismissed John's non-participation. "So are going to vote, or what?"

"Fine," Magus said. "All in favor of heading deeper into the caves, raise your hand."

All hands went up.

"It's unanimous," Derek Walman declared, and glanced over at John. "It looks like we're moving on, Danziger."

John merely shrugged. "I told you: I'm not going to meddle every time a decision has to be made. You guys decided it was a good idea to move on and find a better spot inside the cave, so that's what we're gonna do."

Ten minutes later, their scant belongings and provisions had been picked up, and the group was on the move, led by Magus and Walman. As they walked, Julia mentioned that it would be great if they could settle near the water source, but that everyone should also keep their eyes open for anything that looked edible.

It was early afternoon when Valerie announced that they were nearing the pool of water and the stream that fed it. They'd passed several off-shoots that proved the earlier point Derek Walman had made, which was that the cave system was massive and labyrinthine.

"We'll be near the stream in a minute or so," Valerie Magus said, still guided by the route she'd mapped out on her Gear for the return trip.

For Julia, this brought relief. Her earlier test of the sample brought back by Magus and Walman revealed the water was safe to drink, so being close to the source eliminated any worry she might have had about losing someone to dehydration.

When they reached the stream, Julia had everyone filled their canteens after conducting one final test to be sure her earlier results hadn't been a fluke. The group rested there, happy for the break and the chance to drink fresh water that hadn't been filtered out through the hydro-compressor.

"Wow," Peter Baines marvelled, after taking a long draught from his canteen. "I never knew water could taste this good."

"This is what the old stories back home on Earth used to talk about," Bess remarked. "Those times when people used to be able to drink from streams before everything became too polluted…"

"We've all heard those stories on the Stations, too," Gayle Denner said. "It almost seemed mythical to me that there could be clean water flowing through mountains and across vast stretches of land like what we saw in holopictures."

Uly and True were growing restless now that they'd had their fill to drink. Mischievously, Uly sent a spray of water from his canteen in True's direction. Though his aim was off, True knew she had been the intended target, and fixed her mind on a retaliatory strike.

"You are in for it," she growled, taking up her own canteen. She sloshed the water around loudly to show she was fully 'armed', and that she meant business.

"If you can catch me," Uly chortled, and sprinted away, following the stream a little ways up from the pool. True tore after him, both kids laughing all the way.

"Children," Yale called after them, adopting a very stern, serious tone.

Both kids stopped in their tracks at the sound of their tutor's voice. They knew that tone very well, and immediately headed back to the group.

"Thanks, Yale," John said to the older man. "I don't need them to get lost in here." He knew from Valerie and Derek's earlier scout that another tunnel up ahead was pulsing with the strange vacuum currents that were still very much a mystery, and a danger. He couldn't bear the thought of seeing True sucked into one of those things without knowing where on the planet she might end up…

"Warning," the Zero unit's head verbalized suddenly. "There are seven unidentified individuals advancing on this position."

Everyone heard the robot's announcement and momentarily froze.

John's heart-rate spiked.

Julia felt the stirring of fear deep in the pit of her stomach. Could it be that in spite of their precautions that they'd been found, anyway? Part of her had still dared to hope that her dream warning had been all the product of stress and an over-tired mind.

"How close, Zero?" John asked, trying to keep sheer panic from invading his voice.

"The seven individuals are approximately five hundred meters away, moving at an approximate rate of two meters per second," replied the robot.

"We're gonna have to work on your tracking range," John muttered. "Can you tell if they're armed, Zero?"

"My scanning systems are currently being jammed," Zero replied.

"Jammed?!" Morgan screeched. "How could Zero be jammed? Is it the Council?"

John didn't know how to answer Morgan's question, a question which gave voice to everyone's fears: that Julia's dream warning was playing out in spite of their precautions.

"True and Uly, you stay right here with me," John demanded, and both children were at his side in seconds. He bore the Magpro with one arm and put the other around the shoulders of the children, hugging them to himself.

"John, what should we do?" Derek Walman asked, stress evident in his voice. "We can't stand our ground here. We don't have the firepower. We're sitting ducks."

"We don't know what it is that's coming," John replied, though he knew it was foolishness to assume they were not in impending peril.

"The last time I checked, Terrians don't jam Zero units!" Morgan howled in a desperate attempt to get John to take some sort of action.

"John," Alonzo said, putting a hand on the leader's shoulder. "The spider caves. We have to chance it."

John shot the pilot a scathing glare. "No way! I'm not jumping into something without knowing where I'm going to end up!"

"John—" Alonzo tried again, but was cut off.

"Back off, Solace. This is my call."

Grudgingly, Alonzo stood down.

"Walman; Cameron, you two are the next best shots," John said. The other two men armed themselves with the group's remaining Magpros. "The rest of you, stand behind us. Yale, I want you with the kids. Be ready to scatter into one of the other tunnels behind us on my cue."

Wordlessly, the unarmed members of the group shuffled behind John, Michael, and Derek. As instructed, Uly and True and went with Yale to the rear of the group. John could feel his heart thudding inside his chest. Was his decision to stay and face whatever was coming a sound one? There was no time to go chasing off right now into some unexplored part of the cave where they might get hopelessly lost, he reasoned, much less into the vacuum current which could deposit them anywhere on the planet, including inside a wall. Without the aid of Zero's scanning function, John no longer had any idea when the seven interlopers would arrive.

They could just be seven of those Diggers out for an afternoon stroll, for all we know, John thought, then recalled Morgan's words that Terrians didn't go around jamming Zero units.

"This is a bad idea," Julia spoke up. "If those 'seven individuals' coming our way are Z.E.D.s along with Reilly, then the three of you holding those weapons are going to be their first targets." It was one thing to deal with bullet wounds in the Med-Tent with all her equipment and medications available; it was something else entirely to deal with it inside the cave with almost nothing.

"Don't you think I've thought of that, Heller?" John growled. "I'm protecting you all; Uly, in particular."

The sound of footsteps now echoed in the tunnel. Everyone tensed at the sound, not knowing with any certainty who or what would emerge from around the bend.

John chose that moment to issue a declaration: "This is John Danziger of the Eden Advance Crew; stop where you are and identify yourselves! We are armed! I warn you, we are armed!"

The sound of the footsteps intensified, and one figure finally appeared around the curve, dressed in a pristine grey tunic, black shirt and belted black pants. His hands were raised; a smug smile tugged at his lips.

"'John Danziger', you say?" Councilman Reilly asked as he took in the members of Eden Advance. "At last, we meet in person. So you're the one who's taken over leadership of this bunch after Devon Adair. Pity about Ms. Adair…"

John stared at the man he'd interacted with only once in VR, his finger tensing on the Magpro trigger. He's real, John thought in crushing dismay, and immediately trained his weapon on the man.

Julia saw The Watcher and instantly knew that things were not going to end well for the group. There was something about the smile on his face that made her blood run cold. After all, this was the man who had nonchalantly mentioned how he'd slaughtered a penal-colonist child in order to determine how the Terrians' change in him had occurred and if it could be duplicated. This was a flesh-and-blood man, not a simulation from a malfunctioning satellite program.

"So, how'd you find us, Reilly?" John asked. "Have you been tracking us all this time?"

Reilly grinned even wider, pleased with himself that there was something he knew that John didn't.

"You know those bio-stat chips you all have in your heads? Those come in very handy when the Council wants to find someone. Now, fortunately for you, and unfortunately for me, there are several, natural black-out zones on the planet. For quite a while, we didn't know where you were hiding, and thanks to a malfunctioning Council satellite, we were having trouble getting any sort of readings. Some kind of virus we think Franklin Bennett was responsible for. We found his grave at your last campsite, by the way. How kind of you all to bury him…

"Anyway, we lost track of you again late last night, and that could only mean one thing: you had entered another black-out zone. The only area that fit the bill in this region was these caves, as the composition of the rocks prevents signals from being transmitted and received from the outside.

"So now, I have six soldiers just behind me around that bend in the tunnel, and they're all armed, just waiting for my signal to advance," Reilly stated casually. "I have no desire to start a war with you, John Danziger, or the rest of your group. But you're in possession of something that belongs to the Council; plus, you're harboring a traitorous criminal. So just hand over to me Ulysses Adair and Julia Heller, and you'll all be free to go on your way."

"Yeah, I don't think so," John replied testily, maintaining his grip on the Magpro, which he'd kept pointed at Reilly. "Ulysses Adair and Dr. Heller aren't going anywhere with you."

"Be reasonable, John," Reilly tried to sound conciliatory, waving his raised hands. "Do you really want to sacrifice yourself for a criminal like Heller? And for a boy that's no longer really even human? You'd do that knowing that the Council can provide a very comfortable life for you and your daughter back on the Stations should you choose to return there? Think about it, now..."

"I have thought about it," John said, remembering his promise to Devon. "We're not standing down."

"Have it your way," Reilly said with a shrug. Then, "Z.E.D. units: Advance!"

"Wait!" Julia cried out, choosing that moment to dash forward to the front of the group. "Reilly, stop!"

Six Z.E.D. soldiers entered the cavern, but on Reilly's orders, halted in their tracks.

"I'm surrendering. I'm giving myself up with Uly," Julia said to the Council member.

"Heller!" John ground out, "what in blazes do you think you're doing?!"

Julia ignored John's protest, and the protests of the rest of the group that reached her ears. But there wasn't time to explain to them was she was thinking. Her nightmare had been too real. The warning from the future-Alonzo had left an indelible impression that they were all going to die at the hands of the Council soldiers. It mustn't happen, Julia thought. If I can at least make Reilly believe I'm a Council ally again, maybe I can convince him that Uly needs to live if they're going to discover how the link between humanity and the Terrians works…

"I'll go with you," Julia said again to Reilly, "on the condition that I get to be the one to experiment on Uly, on my terms."

"Julia," Alonzo hissed from his place in the huddled group, "are you crazy?"

But Reilly's eyes were burning with zeal. "That's a tempting offer, Citizen," he finally said. "But may I remind you that the Council made you. The Council owns your ethical choices. I thought I made that clear once before. Besides, you're not even qualified to be of service to us anymore. The moment I had you charged as a traitor, your Council medical license was revoked. You have no standing in the medical community either here, or on the Stations."

"You know I can help you," Julia said, trying a different tack. "I know more about what's happened to Uly than anyone else, Reilly. You won't get any answers without my help—"

"Julia, I'll be damned if I let you take Uly to these murders," John interrupted passionately. "If you're not with us, you're against us. Stand aside."

Julia chanced a glance back at Danziger, her eyes begging for him to trust her. Please, John, she was dying to say, they don't care about any of you. They'll kill all of you to get to Uly. This way, we all stand a chance of survival.

"This little dispute is getting us nowhere," Reilly said calmly. "I decline your 'offer', Citizen Heller, tempting as it was, but I really can't trust a traitor. You're under arrest, pending execution for crimes against Council laws and statues. As for the rest of you, you have two choices: hand over the boy or die!"

At that moment, a strange coo broke free from Uly's lips. Yale looked down at him in surprise, noting the boy seemed as if he were in some kind of trance. Two seconds later, the ground between Julia and Reilly erupted, and eight Terrians emerged instantly. The creatures clutched their staffs which glowed brightly with energy.

Reilly pounced back at this surprise appearance. He pulled out a sidearm with one hand, and with a gesture of his other hand, ordered the Z.E.D. units forward. "Open fire!" he commanded.

Bedlam followed.

Over the barrage of weapons fire and power staff bolts, John shouted: "Fall back! Fall back!"

Members of the Eden Advance group tried to turn and flee.

Terrian bodies fell and sank back into the ground.

More shouts and cries of alarm, pain, and panic.

Humans fell and did not move again.

"Morgan!" Bess cried out.

"Keep moving!"

"The spider tunnel, everyone!"

"No, wait!"

"It's our only chance!"

"Solace, don't you—"

"Go after them!"

"Yale! Yale!"

Uly seemed to trip over the cyborg's fallen body. Danziger scooped him up with one arm and ushered True ahead of him.

"I want that boy!"

"In here, hurry!"

John heard Alonzo's shouts.

"It's coming! Everyone together, now!"

Against every instinct, John followed after the retreating members of the group into the spider cave. A bright wave of light bore down upon all of them and engulfed them.

An instant later, John felt himself being thrust out of the current's wake onto a sandy surface. Warm, humid air with a salty tang tickled his nose. The roar of surf pounding on a nearby shore filled his ears. Uly tumbled out of his grip. Without thinking twice, John hurriedly got to his feet and aimed the Magpro at the spider web that was spun across part of the cave mouth they'd just exited. He fired once, destroying the web.

"Why did you do that?!" Alonzo's furious yell startled John.

Danziger turned and looked at the pilot, who was clearly dismayed at what had just happened.

"I had to, or they would have followed us here!" John explained in an indignant tone.

"But there are still people back there—" Alonzo took a quick look around. "Julia, Yale, Morgan… Denner, Cameron… Baines… they're all still back there. Now we can't go back to help them!"

"It was too late, and you know it, Alonzo," John said grimly. "There's nothing anybody could have done. You know that."

Bess was sobbing now. "Morgan… didn't make it… He got shot by one of the Z.E.D.s…"

"Daddy!" True cried out in a voice full of terror.

"What is it?" John said, his heart plummeting at the anguish he heard coming from his daughter.

"Something's wrong with Uly!"

Shocked, John looked down at the boy. Uly hadn't moved from where he lay after they'd been transported by the vacuum current. John got to his knees beside the boy who remained deathly still. The remaining adults crowded around, not knowing what to do, especially since Julia was gone.

Then they noticed the bloodstained sand beneath Ulysses.

"No," John whispered in despair. What was it they did before they used diagloves? John tried to remember. Something about the carotid artery in the neck, wasn't it? Feeling for a pulse could be done that way, right? With shaking hands, John extended his fingers to touch Uly's throat.

Nothing.

Maybe he was doing it wrong.

"No, you have to feel for a pulse here," Alonzo broke in. He knelt beside John and touched the side of Uly's neck along his windpipe.

He put his ear to the boy's nose and mouth to listen for the sound of breath.

After a few more seconds, Alonzo shook his head, tears coming to his eyes. "We failed. Somehow, Uly got hit by something. He's dead."

The surviving members of Eden Advance were plunged into deeper mourning at the news of this fresh loss.

"Is it a worm bullet?" Derek Walman finally asked in alarm.

"I-I don't know," Alonzo replied, nearly choking on his sorrow.

"Then we need to assume it is," Danziger said solemnly, eyes wet; bitter regret a fuel that fed the fires of rage against the Council. He picked up True, who cried into his shoulder.

"Well, what do we do about it?" an anxious Magus asked. "And where are we, anyway?"

John had already been thinking about that. He'd already recognized the sights and smells of a sea-shore. And unlike the other coastline he, Alonzo, Devon, and Julia had been transported to the previous time they'd space-folded, this time, the sun was going in the right direction.

"I think," he said slowly, "I think we're at New Pacifica…"

to be continued...