Freedom (1/3)
by Sabrina Sestito
TIMELINE: In between Moon Cross and Living through Morganite
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Alonzo Solace was flying. He was flying around without a care in the world. However, he was not in control of a flyer, an air vehicle or a space vehicle. He was flying on his own, with no vehicle at all. All he had to do was to will himself to fly and he did so. Where-ever and when-ever he wanted to. There were no limitations to where he could go. He was free.
For the last two days, Alonzo had explored the nearby planets. He had seen new life forms. He saw landscapes of amazing colour, water which was red and white, and vegetation which was black and orange. So strange and yet, so fascinating.
On the third day, Alonzo decided to explore the planet of G889 from the air. He willed himself to the Eden Advance's initial crash site. He flew over the area and saw the pod that he and the others had crashed landed in. He then flew the path that the Eden Advance had taken from that initial point to their current location at the Biodome. He then continued flying, exploring the planet from the air. Upon reaching the coast, he suspected that he had reached New Pacifica. After looking around a little, he saw a magnificent spot on the coast, where he and Julia could built a house. It looked over the water as well as over the land mass. He was sure that Julia would love it.
Alonzo's thoughts of Julia bought great surprise. Initially, after Julia had healed his leg, he was unsure of his feeling for Julia. Since then, so much had happened. Julia's affiliation with the Council and her experimentation on Uly Adair had been discovered. Upon this revelation, the group had voted to leave her behind; Alonzo did not vote. The next day, his true feelings for Julia became stronger and, against Devon Adair's wishes, the group's leader, he had returned to Julia. Julia had told him the whole story of her inner turmoil and from that moment on, he knew that he loved her. Her subsequent action with the ZED had shown him that his feeling were reciprocated. The night that he had returned from the Moon Cross ceremony, Julia had queried him about Mary. He could see that she was insecure. He loved her even more. He told her that night that he loved her. She told him that she loved him also.
That had happened three days ago, before he had started to fly. Yes, he did love Julia, more than any one in the universe. He was not ready for any commitment, however. There were so many things to see and explore in the universe. He was a pilot, first and foremost, and he wanted to fly. Those thoughts lead him to the Terrian bed that Mary had shown him. Using the excuse of scouting, he had returned to the cave and had entered the Terrian bed. Yes, this was the closest to flying that he had ever experienced.
After three days of travel, he was exhausted. He needed some rest. He willed himself back to the Terrian bed and tried to sleep. However, he could not sleep. Julia was on his mind. He decided that he wanted to see Julia, just to see how she was. He willed himself to the Biodome, where he knew that she was.
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Julia had just settled in for the night. She had a very tiring day and she needed some sleep. However, she did miss sharing her bed with Alonzo. He was overdue from a scout but no alarm had been raised. Alonzo enjoyed scouting and exploring so much that he often did not realise the time.
"Julia, its Alonzo. Can you hear me?"
Julia awoke with a start. She thought she heard a voice. It sounded like Alonzo.
"Julia!!!!!"
"Who is there?" Julia shouted into the darkness.
"Its Alonzo. I came to ....."
The voice stopped abruptly. I must be dreaming, thought Julia. She tried to get back to sleep.
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Alonzo returned back to the Terrian bed. He tried to sleep, but could not. He thoughts kept returning to Julia. He would try to contact her again later. However, now, he was feeling very hungry. Time had passed quickly for Alonzo as he explored the universe. He had basically forgotten to eat as his mind and spirit were so stimulated and so excited by the universe. He tried to get up but was unable to. This was the first time that he had tried. After a while, he gave up and decided to get some rest. He would figure it out later.
After a couple of hours, Alonzo tried contacting Julia again. He had no luck, as she either could not hear him or did not want to respond. In addition, he had still not worked out how to get out of bed. His stomach rumbled loudly from the lack of food.
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After hearing Alonzo for the second time that night, Julia thought that she was going mad. She had not sleep at all. In the morning, she decided that she needed to tell Devon.
Julia found Devon working in her tent. "Julia, I didn't hear you come in. What can I do for you," Devon queried.
"I need to talk to you."
Devon looked at her friend and noticed her tenseness. "Of course, Julia. What can I do for you?"
After an awkward pause, Julia finally said, "Devon, I think that I am going crazy."
"Why Julia", queried Devon, "what's happened?"
"Twice last night, I heard a voice. It kept calling my name." She paused and then said. "I think that the voice was Alonzo's."
"Julia, I know that you are missing Alonzo, but he will be back today. You most probably were just dreaming."
"I'm not sure Devon. Initially, I thought that I was dreaming as well. Its just that it was so clear and I'm sure that I was awake." Julia paused. "I will call him on gear to make sure that he is OK."
"Good idea" Devon said.
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Julia tried contacting Alonzo on gear. When he did not respond, her anxiety grew.
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Alonzo was becoming desperate. He was starving. The Terrians got their nourishment from the planet. However, he was human and he needed food and water. He was becoming weak from the lack of nourishment. Alonzo asked the Terrians to help, but they did not understand. They simply told him to will himself up. However, Alonzo was unable too, both because he did not know how and secondly, he was becoming too weak.
He needed Julia, Alonzo conceded. She would help him.
No, Alonzo berated himself, I don't need Julia. She is not important to me. I have my own life now and I am free. Free to do and go where I please. I have no restrictions.
Who was he fooling, Alonzo thought to himself. What is the use of exploring the universe, if you have no-one to share it with, no-one to share the experiences and joys of finding new life-forms and new worlds, and no-one to share the love of life.
Alonzo finally realised that a major part of life was in giving oneself to another, and in this way, being able to enhance the other person's life. He had been able to get Julia out of her self-imprisoned shell. He had given her confidence in herself and convinced her that she was a good person. Of course, Julia had also helped him in many ways. She had showed him that love was important and that by sharing the burden of problems life was easier. And of course, she had made him happy.
What have I done, Alonzo cried. Have I lost Julia forever. I can't get out of this bed. I will die alone. Please help me, Alonzo cried. He tried once again to contact Julia.
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After lunch, Julia was on lunch duty with Devon. Julia suddenly heard Alonzo's voice. "Oh no", she cried, "not again." She turned her head to see if Devon had noticed and to her surprise, from the expression on Devon's face, it was clear that she also heard Alonzo.
The two friends just looked at eachother. They both tried to decipher what Alonzo was saying. It was difficult. After a few minutes the voice stopped.
"You heard him, didn't you?" asked Julia.
"Yes, I did, Julia. But I could not make out what he was saying", Devon responded.
"All I could understand was my name and Alonzo asking me to help him. What does this mean?" Julia asked rhetorically.
After a moment, Devon said, "What about the Terrians? Do you think that maybe they are using what they learnt from Alonzo in order to communicate with us."
"Maybe", Julia responded thoughtfully.
"Lets go and talk to Danziger. He may have another suggestion." Devon looked at Julia before continuing saying. "I hope you don't mind if we involve John. He has grown very fond of Alonzo."
"That's fine", Julia replied, "any help would be appreciated."
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They found John on guard duty. They pulled him aside and told him the whole story. He agreed with Devon, that it was most probably the Terrians trying to communicate. Danziger suggested that they ask Uly to ask the Terrians. Even though she did not like the idea, Devon agreed.
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Later that day, Julia, Danziger, Devon and Uly were in the Medtent. Devon put Uly on the cot and said, "OK, Uly. I told you what we want you to do. Do you understand?"
The young boy looked fondly at his mother and said, "No problem, Mum. I will let you know exactly what they said."
Uly lied down and closed his eyes.
After a few minutes, Uly awoke and sat up.
"Well", Devon asked her son.
"I don't understand." Uly paused, looking very confused and looking from one adult to another. He then turned back to his mother and said, "The Terrians are not trying to communicate with us using Alonzo's voice. That I'm sure of. But, they also said that Alonzo was trying to communicate with Julia" he paused. He then asked, "But how can that be? Alonzo is not here."
The adults looked at eachother.
"It OK, champ", Devon said, as she picked up Uly and put him on the ground. "We will work it out."
Uly shrugged his shoulders and left the Medtent.
"I am more confused now, than I was before," Julia said.
"Look, maybe Alonzo is trying to communicate with us from whenever he is" Devon speculated. "He may have learnt how to use the Dreamplane on his own and is now using it to contact Julia."
"But Devon", Julia said, "it was not on the Dreamplane. We were both awake at the time."
"Also", Danziger said, "what is Alonzo using to communicate?"
All three looked at eachother and could not answered the questions they posed.
Finally, Danziger said, "Look, I think that Julia should leave her gear on. Maybe we could record the voice and try to determine what it is saying. Maybe then, we can figure this out."
"Excellent idea, John", Devon said.
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Alonzo was getting weaker. Soon he would be unable to do anything. One more time. He would try one more time to get in contact with Julia. With the last of his energy he willed himself to Julia.
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Just after dinner, Julia heard Alonzo's voice. Danziger stood dumbfounded as he also heard Alonzo. Each of them recorded what they could. That night, Danziger told Morgan to decipher the recording. Even though Morgan was not happy, he did as instructed.
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It was well past midday, when Morgan told them that he managed to re-construct the whole message from the gear sets. "You won't like it", said Morgan as he shuffled back to his tent for some sleep.
Julia, Devon and Danziger went into the Medtent to listen to the recording.
They played the recording back in audio on their gear. It said "Julia, help me. It's Alonzo. I am stuck here. I need your help. You are the only one that can help me. I have had enough of the Terrians. Please help me. Julia, can you hear me. Oh Julia, please help me." There was a break and then Alonzo continued. "Julia, I made a terrible mistake. I wanted to be free, but I now know that freedom is useless without you. Oh Julia, please forgive me. Help me, ..."
"So, the Terrians are involved", Danziger stated after a few moments. "But how?"
"I'm not sure. But it does seem that he is in trouble" responded Devon. "But, why didn't the Terrians tell Uly?"
"Maybe Alonzo told them not too. Maybe, he wanted to be sure that we would not stop him doing something", Devon said. "But what could that be?"
All three were silence for a few moments, trying to think of an answer.
Suddenly, Julia cried, "Of course!!" Both Devon and Danziger watched Julia anxiously as she continued. "Do you remember Moon Cross, when Alonzo found Mary?" Julia asked. Both Devon and Danziger nodded their heads. "Well, Alonzo told me that when he was in the Terrians' cave, that Mary made him experience a Terrian bed. Alonzo said to me that it was the closest thing to flying that he had ever experienced." Julia paused, letting this information sink in. "Could he have returned there?", she then asked.
"But why would Alonzo do that" answered Danziger. "This doesn't make any sense at all." He then looked at the two women and said, "I think that we should take a little trip tomorrow to that Terrian cave. Maybe we will find something there."
Both women agreed.
Story Notes:
Hello,
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the authors who have contributed their stories to this mailing list. As such, Earth2 is still very much alive for me.
Anyway, this list has been fairly quiet lately, so, I thought I would get the ball rolling.
Please let me know what you think of this new story.
Sabrina
First of all, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank all the authors who have contributed their stories to this mailing list. As such, Earth2 is still very much alive for me.
Anyway, this list has been fairly quiet lately, so, I thought I would get the ball rolling.
Please let me know what you think of this new story.
Sabrina