Do You Know My Shadow? (17/17)
by Lisa 04
"Well, I guess this answers my question," Danziger said, shaking his head to ward off the grogginess. *How long was I out?* he wondered. "What question would that be, Mr. Danziger," Sheppard said, smiling. "The question about whether you turned into your old lovable self after your sister died," Danziger answered. *How the heck am I gonna get out of this? Keep your cool, Danziger, think.*
"Yes, I never really did ‘repay' you for killing my sister," Sheppard sneered. "I suppose, in a way, I should thank you. Her meddling almost ruined everything." "However," he continued, leveling the gun at Danziger's head, "I'm not feeling very gracious at the moment. She was, after all, my only family."
"Somehow I'm guessing that family really doesn't mean a whole lot to you," Danziger quipped, immediately sorry he'd shot off his mouth. *Hello, stupid!! He's got the gun, remember. You can stop trying to make him mad now. Maybe you'd be better served trying to figure out how to get out of this mess...* Danziger winced as the blast scorched the treebark above his head. "I'm sitting here thinking that maybe you aren't in the best position right now to be making remarks about what is, or isn't, important to me...What do you think?" Sheppard remarked, angrily, returning his aim to Danziger's head. "I guess that would be true," Danziger answered. He tried to glance around to find his gear. *Shouldn't Yale be starting to worry since he hadn't called in? Damn, how long was I out?* He spotted the gear lying in a crumpled heap about 5 meters away. The blow to his head had destroyed it. "Don't get any ideas, Mr. Danziger," Sheppard warned, noticing where the other man was looking. "I've got the only functional gear here. And don't expect that anyone will be trying to contact you anytime soon. I called camp and said that we had found the Grendler's den and we were going in to try and retrieve some of the equipment before the animal came back." Danziger looked at Sheppard, "Now what?" He was beginning to realize that his chances of getting out of this situation were diminishing by the second but he wasn't ready to give up just yet. *Keep him talking. Maybe you will come up with something... Man, my head hurts!!* "Now what, indeed. I'm guessing that the others will come here to help retrieve the equipment from the Grendlers' nest. That gives me about 20 minutes to put my plan into action," Sheppard answered, getting up from the rock and moving toward Danziger.
"And what plan is that?" Danziger asked as he was rudely pulled to his feet. *Get the bad guys to reveal their plans. Isn't that how they do it in the video feeds?* Danziger shook his head, he was still groggy from the blow to the head. *Stop digressing, think....Think!!!* "The plan where I smash in your head with a rock and throw you into the Grendler's den, saying that it ambushed you before I could do anything," Sheppard revealed, pushing Danziger back toward the clearing. "Walk!" *This is not going well,* Danziger thought. *I've got to keep stalling him.* "So Sheppard, tell me, how does it feel to be back to your old self again?" Danziger stumbled along, it was difficult to keep his balance with his hands behind his back.
"Don't fool yourself into thinking that we are that different, Mr. Danziger. We all have sides to us that others don't understand. Some chose to let their weaker side show while others, like myself, know the freedom that comes with allowing their darker side to evolve and lead. Given different circumstances, you too may have learned this. Was there not a time in your life when you felt an anger inside of you so powerful that you feared it?"
Danziger remained quiet. He thought back to Elle's accident. He had been so angry with the Council. It was their impossible work schedule that forced Elle to do a spacewalk at the end of a double shift. It was also their low-bid equipment that malfunctioned. He was capable of doing just about anything after she slipped into the coma. The only thing that helped keep his anger in check was the knowledge that she was carrying their child. If True hadn't been on the way, he wasn't sure what would have happened.
Sheppard continued, "Well, I learned not to fear that anger, but to use it to gain strength. I found out long ago that there is no substitute for power and revenge. Katarina's bargain with the Terrian's only served to strengthen my resolve. I was weak and vulnerable during that time, but no longer. I have very big plans for this planet, plans that were merely put on hold while my sister kept my strength from me." He turned the mechanic around to face him. Danziger saw a coldness in his eyes that sent a shiver through his body. "Some people are born evil, Mr. Danziger...I chose to be."
"What's wrong with this thing?!!", Devon yelled. The vehicle had glided to a stop and resisted every effort to get it started again. "Damn!" With each passing moment, her fears grew. She had tried to raise Danziger on gear several times while ignoring Yale's attempts to contact her. "It shouldn't be too much farther," she sighed as she grabbed her pack and started running.
"Well, here we are Mr. Danziger," Sheppard said, pushing the other man into the clearing. "I'm afraid this is the end of the line for you. I've got plans that just don't include you."
"And what plans would that be?" Danziger asked. He turned around to face the man who held his life in his hands. *Gotta keep him talking until I can think of something.*
"The plan where I take control of the Terrians and this planet, once and for all," Sheppard answered as he glanced around the clearing. "Oh, and how do you propose to do that?" Danziger quipped. "Why do you think that I would tell you anything?" Sheppard said still searching for something.
"Oh come on, haven't you heard about granting a dead man one last wish? If you're gonna zap me, at least you could clue me in on your grand plan," Danziger prodded. Sheppard didn't answer as he was still busy looking around the clearing in search of something. "What are you looking for?" Danziger asked finally.
"Something to bash your head in with," Sheppard answered. "Ah, here's a nice size one," he said, walking over to a large rock. "This should do the trick quite nicely. Now what were you saying?" Danziger looked at him, then at the rock beside him. "I was asking you if you were going to tell me what your big plan was before you killed me." "Why would I want to do that?" Sheppard asked as he bent over to pick up the stone. Realizing that it was too heavy to lift with one hand, he placed his gun on the ground beside it.
"Doesn't the bad guy always brag about his plans before he kills the good guy?" Danziger asked. He noted the location of the gun and the fact that it was no longer aimed at his head.
"Maybe in the video feeds that you watch, Mr. Danziger," Sheppard said as he walked toward the mechanic. "You're so smart, you tell me. You've seemed to have figured everything else out."
"Look, I'm just a dumb mechanic. I'm not some genius High Priest or anything. How could I possibly figure out anything you've cooked up?" Danziger said. He hoped he could buy some time by playing on the other man's ego. "Good point," Sheppard agreed. *What could it hurt, anyway. It really was quite a brilliant plan,* he thought.
"All right , Mr. Danziger," Sheppard began, "I'll spell it out for your little mind. The first thing I came to realize when we arrived here was that for some reason the Council wanted this planet badly but hadn't yet colonized it. At first I didn't understand why...then we met the Terrians. After seeing their bond to this planet, I understood why it was that the Council had not yet taken it over. Anyone that wanted to control this place had to also control the Terrians. The Council had tried to determine the connection between the Terrians and the planet, but had failed. I was determined to discover this before they did and use it to gain control for myself. I had one advantage, I was here and they were back on the stations. All the information that they gathered from their scientific expeditions and experiments on penal colonists couldn't help them. They didn't know about the one thing that linked the Terrians to the planet... the dreamplane. Once I learned about the dreamplane I began experimenting with it. You see, they never had to worry about anyone invading their dreams so they were defenseless against my using them while they slept. It wass during this experimentation that I found out about this planets miraculous ability to ‘heal'. I also learned more about the Terrians. Did you realize, Mr. Danziger, that the Terrians are a fairly emotionless species?"
"I knew they were pretty cold, but emotionless...no I didn't know that," Danziger answered. *Damn, these ropes are too tight, I can't get my hands free.*
"Well they are. At least in the sense that they don't have emotions like ours. That's when I started to realize that I would never be able to control them by myself. They don't respond to things like we do, they function in an entirely different moral and emotional state. Somehow a link between humans and Terrians had to be formed or I would never be able to control them."
Danziger slowly began to understand. "That's what you're up to. You want Uly! You wanted him all along!" Rage welled up in Danziger and he charged the other man, surprising him. Sheppard grunted as Danziger threw his shoulder into his midsection. The stone he was holding fell from his grip, striking Danziger in the back. The mechanic fell to the ground as Sheppard stumbled backwards, also falling. Both men rushed to stand up but Sheppard, not hindered by bound hands, stood first. He charged Danziger and tackled him just as he had regained his footing. Both men went flying, landing in a small stream that flowed through the clearing. Danziger was momentarily stunned when the full weight of the other man forced his breath from him. He struggled to breath as Sheppard grabbed his shirt and dragged him to a deeper part of the stream. He released Danziger's shirt and put his boot squarely in the center of his chest. Danziger choked as the water rushed over his mouth. Each time he raised his head out of the water to gasp for air, Sheppard would shove him back down. Danziger could feel the life going out of him as his lungs struggled to inhale. Before he gave in to the urging of his lungs and breathed a fatal breath of water, his head was pulled from the stream. Sheppard glared at him.
"I want my face to be the last thing you see before you die," Sheppard snarled, hatred glaring in his eyes.
Danziger coughed as his lungs hungrily took in air. "Why," he gasped, "why Devon and Uly?"
"Because the Terrians would have healed him, forever forming a bond with the boy,and Devon had the means to get him here. Once they were on this planet, I could easily control Devon and then the boy. You see, Mr. Danziger, he can do something the Terrians can't, he can function as an individual. His ability to be a part of their group as well as an independent thinker makes him more powerful than any Terrian. He's the perfect hybrid, part Terrian and part human, part of their species and part of ours...Once I control him, I control them. It had to be a child or the bond would never be strong enough. The children on this planet were too healthy. It wouldn't work for them," Sheppard answered. "I had set my plan in motion when Katarina pulled her little stunt. It almost ruined everything. Luckily, my weaker side continued to woo Devon to this planet, even though it was for different reasons. The transformation actually did work, Mr. Danziger. I did become a good man who loved Devon and wanted her to bring her son here so that he could be healed," he continued, " And I could have stayed that way had I chosen to...but I didn't. So I guess you were right in a way, a leopard doesn't change his spots." Sheppard shoved Danziger's head back under the water, holding him there.
"STOP!!"
Sheppard turned to see Devon standing behind him, holding the weapon that he had abandoned in his search for the rock. She was aiming the gun directly at him, tears streaming down her face. "Let him go!"
Sheppard knew that he had only one chance. "All right, Devon," he said, letting go of Danziger's head and standing up. Danziger choked and coughed. He was too busy trying to breath to realize what was happening. "Why?" she cried. "Why did you do it?"
"Because I love you," Sheppard soothed, "Devon, we belong together." Sheppard slowly advanced toward her.
"No, no you don't," she sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Don't come near me. Stay where you are." Sheppard realized that she had heard his last confession to Danziger.
"Devon, you know that you can't shoot me. Think of all the things we shared," he said, still walking towards her. "I saved Uly's life, you said so yourself."
"Stay right there, don't take another step!" she yelled. Sheppard leaped toward her. Devon stumbled back, firing at the figure lunging through the air. Her first shot hit him squarely in the chest, killing him instantly. The second and third shots hit him in the arm and midsection as he fell to the ground. Devon stood there trembling, her hands gripping the weapon so tightly that her fingers were white. The water had loosened the ropes and Danziger managed to free himself just as Sheppard lunged toward Devon. He scrambled to the other man, placing his hand on his neck to check for a pulse. Getting up, he walked over to Devon and gently took the gun from her. He turned her towards him, noting the vacant look in her eyes.
"Devon, look at me," he said. Her eyes stayed transfixed on the body. "Look at me." His hands turned her face up and his eyes sought hers, forcing her to focus on him. "You had no choice, he came after you. He was going to kill us both." Just then, she began to sob and Danziger pulled her close, holding her until Yale and the others arrived. He explained to everyone what had happened and Yale took Devon back to camp while Danziger and several of the other colonists wrapped Sheppard's body in a blanket and loaded him on the dunerail. Danziger sent everyone back to camp and climbed in the vehicle. He drove back to where it had all started. The Elder met him as he drove up, noting the vehicle's cargo.
"I was afraid it would end this way," he shook his head sadly. "He made the wrong choice," Danziger said, unloading Sheppard's body. "I thought you might want me to bring him back here." "Yes," the Elder agreed, "we'll take care of him. We'll bury him next to his sister, she would have wanted that. Despite his dark heart, she loved him." "Sometimes love just isn't enough," Danziger said, climbing back into the vehicle. "One more thing," Danziger continued. "Is it over?" "Yes," the Elder answered. "Because his essence was with him, it died when he did."
"Good," the mechanic said, as he turned the vehicle around and headed home.
VOICE of YALE: An old American Indian proverb once said that ‘The man who chooses to follow behind his shadow, will eventually perish in its darkness. We all have sides to us that are best left powerless. The choices we make determine our future. Sheppard chose to follow his shadow and it led him into a blackness from which he could not escape. His fate was sealed long ago... With time and the help of all who love her, Devon will recover from the shock of taking another human life. She will continue, as will we all, to move towards our new hope and new life... New Pacifica.
-The End-
Chapter End Notes:
Thanks to all of you for your patience and encouragement.
Lisa
Lisa