Hi everyone,

"The Road Not Chosen" is a story which continues some of the ideas I started in my earlier Earth 2 stories ("Grieving Time", "Stepping Stones", and "Boundaries"). I'm aware that some people may not have read these, or may not remember them, so if you need to be filled in on background details -- feel free to drop me a line, or check out Paula or Andy's websites for copies of those stories. I've tried to provide some more pertinent background information within the story itself.

I had several goals in mind while working on this piece. I wanted to tie up previous loose ends (mostly regarding how Devon was poisoned, and her lack of a bio-stat implant --which has always bugged me), take Devon and Danziger's relationship a tiny step forward, and have the colonists learn more about the unusual features of G889 during the course of their journey. Don't worry -- it's *not* just a Devon and Danziger story! There's *much* more to it!

I feel compelled to make the following acknowledgments. The title of this piece was loosely inspired by Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken", and Alonzo's plea to the Terrians was inspired by First Corinthians Chapter 12, verses 12-31. In addition, I want to thank Lynn Leaper for metaphysical and Gaian hypotheses discussions; Maxine McBrinn for insightful comments about the nature of relationships; and I need to acknowledge the Babylon 5 episode "The Soul Hunters" which furnished additional inspiration for this story. Finally I want to thank Tracy Taylor, and members of the fanfic critique group --especially Deb Franklin, Nicole Mayer, Maxine McBrinn, and Deb Wilson for their time and helpful comments.

Since this is a long story with 11 chapters, I'll be posting a chapter a day. I usually don't write such long author's notes but this will probably be the last story I'll be posting for a while. Not that I don't have more ideas for our intrepid band of colonist --- far from it. I'm starting a new life adventure, I'm having a baby in May -- wish me luck!

I'd *love* to hear your comments about the story and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Joan