THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 6
By Bernice Low
It was close to dusk when they strolled back into the campsite, hand in hand.
"I see someone's been rolling around in the grass." murmured Morgan, his sharp eyes catching sight of the tuffs of grass on Julia and Alonzo's shirts and tangled in their hair as they walked behind the pair to go to dinner.
"Morgan." Bess said warningly under her breath, and giving her husband a not so gentle prod in the ribs with her elbow.
"Owww! - I thought I'd just mention it to *you*." he hissed at his wife. "Hi Devon, Danzinger" Bess called out cheerfully, ignoring her husband's jibe to greet Devon and Danzinger who were also on their way to dinner.
"Bess, Morgan." Devon acknowledged the Martins as she and Danzinger neared the two couples.
Turning to Julia, Devon reached her hand out and casually flicked some grass of Julia's shirt, "Did you guys have a nice walk this afternoon?" she asked innocuously.
Julia heard a loud cough from Danzinger. "Very nice Devon." replied Alonzo non-commitally and gently tugged Julia along.
"Everybody's an expert..." grumbled Julia. Alonzo wrapped his arm around her shoulders and planted a quick kiss on her lips.
"Alonzo!" she said indignantly, but couldn't resist smiling. Later that evening, he and Danzinger stayed around the campfire for their watch, sitting close to the fire to keep warm. Julia had gone off to bed and Alonzo found himself constantly looking at the chronometer, waiting till he could get out of the cold and snuggled up to Julia in her tent.
"Quiet night - I think I could handle the next hour myself Solace. Why don't you head off and catch some sleep?" Danzinger offered, before taking another sip of coffee from his mug.
Alonzo chuckled to himself as he sat on a dead log and balanced the MagPro on his knees. "You guys are impossible, you know that."
"What? You don't think I can handle an hour of watch by myself?" Danzinger said, sitting on the log next to Alonzo and looking at his friend.
"No - I mean first Bess, then Devon. Now you. I'd hate to think what will happen when Morgan joins up the matchmakers union." he said as he cast another look at the chronometer.
"Now hold it a minute Solace - Bess is the only busybody around here. So don't you come round slapping labels on me pal. You kept looking at the chronometer, and I thought maybe you were tired." Danzinger replied in a grouchy tone, pulling his coat closer to him.
"Not that kind of tired." he added in response to Alonzo's what-did-I-tell-you look.
"You guys talk about whatever it is you wanted to ask her?" he asked several minutes later.
Alonzo nodded.
"Julia and Alex used to go out together." he said, looking at the fire. "Julia dumped him after she found out he was some kind of crazy mad scientist type who did genetic experiments on offenders. He's hung up on this idea that Julia and he are genetically pre-destined for each other."
"Christ - where the hell does the Council dig up these creeps from?" Danzinger muttered.
"I've never seen Julia so scared of anyone before." Alonzo confessed. "She didn't show it - but I could sense it."
"Man I wish we could just nail him right now. Make me feel a whole lot better than having him crawling around, watching us. Waiting to make his move." Danziger said, looking into his mug at the remnants of his coffee.
Alonzo looked over to the tent where Alex Daniels was sleeping. "I know - but it's not for us to decide - we can't send him away because we're frightened and suspicious. No matter how much we want to - we just can't leave him."
"Jeez - how can you keep saying that? What if he hurts Julia huh? What then?" Danzinger questioned.
Alonzo's expression turned serious and brooding. He ran his fingers up and down the MagPro slowly.
"He'll wish he never ever set foot on this planet."
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The soft grass cushioned the sound of his footsteps as he slowly walked from his tent towards the tent which he knew, Julia Heller slept in. He walked cautiously, keeping to the dark shadows thrown up by the bright flickering campfire where Danzinger and Solace sat, chatting. Listening always.
He stopped and turned to look at his chronometer, and checked the luminous numbers. Another hour before Solace would be relieved by another one of those Eden Advance colonists.
Enough time.
He slowly made his way to her tent and stopped at the entrance. There was no light coming from inside. He listened carefully.
No sound.
She's asleep, he thought to himself. The plastic flap of the tent was slightly ajar, and it flapped noiselessly as a gentle breeze blew - like an invitation to enter.
The pilot.
He put his hand on the flap and slowly lifted it open, careful to not let the plastic crinkle. He pulled it up just high enough for him to squeeze in and he let it close slowly, noiselessly.
His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could discern a visible figure under the blankets on a cot in the corner of the tent. He padded closer carefully - making sure he didn't tread on some carelessly strewn item on the floor. Slowly he inched closer to where she was sleeping.
He crouched down by the cot and watched her sleep. He lifted his hand to touch her but stopped. Beautiful. As ever.
As he remembered her.
Those blue eyes, hidden from him now as she slept. The blonde hair, indiscernable in the darkness. Every detail, every feature - as he remembered.
Did you ever think that I would forget you? he asked silently. There can be no other Julia.
Only you.
Did you think I would let go of you just like that? I thought you understood me - that we were alike, he questioned angrily.
He calmed himself.
We are alike.
And now we're here. Together.
Just like it was meant to be.
Nothing. No one will stand in the way of our destinies together, he vowed.
Snap.
A twig cracking.
Solace! Damn him. He must have finished early. He looked back again at Julia, sleeping peacefully, unaware of an intruder's presence.
Good night Julia. Sweet dreams. He blew her a kiss.
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Alonzo looked at the chronometer again. Why was it that this last hour seemed to be creeping by at a pace slower than a snail? He looked over at Danzinger who was watching him over the rim of his coffee mug.
He sighed and leaned on the MagPro, watching the embers on the wood flicker, glow and die. He looked at the chronometer again.
"That's it!" He looked up and saw Danzinger throw his coffee away disgustedly. He walked over to Alonzo and snatched the MagPro from him.
"Go on Solace. Get out of here." Danzinger grumbled. "Get out of here before you really get on my nerves!"
"You're sure?" Alonzo asked, getting up. "Of course I'm sure. Now just get out of my sight!." Danzinger growled good-naturedly.
Alonzo chuckled to himself and started off in the direction of Julia's tent. As her neared her tent, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something moving in the darkness. He stopped and took a better look but there seemed to be nothing moving except the leaves on the trees rustling as the night breeze gently blew. He listened intently for the sound of footsteps or movement.
Nothing.
He shook his head. I must be tired, he thought to himself. Probably just a Grendler walking around in the woods. Anyway, the laser alarm system will warn us if there's anything, he reminded himself.
He slipped into the tent, tossing his jacket over a chair in the corner as he walked in. He sat down and slipped his shoes off. He shivered a little as he pulled his sweatshirt off and hurried to the cot where he knew Julia was sleeping.
He sat down gently on the edge of the cot, watching her sleep. He reached out a hand and touched her hair which was loose around her shoulders as she slept.
She stirred.
He slipped under the thermal blanket and pulled her close to him. "'Lonzo?" she asked sleepily, moving closer to him. "I'm right here Julia." he kissed the top of her head as she snuggled closer. "Danzinger let me off early."
"Mmmmmm..." Julia mumbled, having settled into a comfortable position with her head lying on his shoulder.
He smiled in the darkness and drifted off to sleep... . Alonzo's eyes snapped open at the sound of what seemed like a muffled scream. Instinctively he thought of Julia and saw her sitting up next to him, shoulders heaving and her shirt damp with perspiration.
"Julia?" he called to her softly as he scrambled into a sitting position. He curved an arm around her shoulders, "What's wrong?"
She turned to him and buried her face in his chest. He was puzzled but held her tightly anyway, making soft crooning noises to comfort her. Soon her breathing returned to normal and he relaxed his hold.
"OK?" he asked, stroking her hair softly. "Yeah - just a really bad dream." she said weakly. He knew how she felt. Once, he had felt that the dreams the Terrians pushed into his mind were nightmares, visions of horror. But worse was the feeling of waking up, frightened.
And alone.
He held her close to him as they lay down again. He stroked her back slowly. "I've had that dream before Alonzo..." she told him. "What was it?" he probed.
She settled her head on his shoulder. "Alex is chasing after me - I'm running away from him but he keeps coming closer, and closer. I fall down this open vent...but I manage to hold on to the edges of the vent...I look down and see nothing. Darkness - a fall to nothingness. I look up and it's Alex...I'm trapped..." Julia felt the panic raising in her again and she struggled to control it." There's no one to save me. I'm all alone."
She paused.
"This time it was strange - we were here, on the planet. And his presence was so powerful in the dream - like he was really in my dream."
For a moment, Julia wondered if Alex had really been in her dream. Was his obsession for her so strong still after all these years that he was able to use the planet's unique Dreamplane and force his way into her mind?
Heller, now you're getting paranoid. Of course not. Alex is a lot of things but he's not likely to get through the Dreamplane through sheer force of will.
But she could just hear Alonzo's voice in her head rapping her on the knuckles with that thought.
Anything can happen on this planet.
Oh come on Heller. One dream and you're convinced Alex has got this whole Dreamplane thing mastered? Anything can happen but nothing happens overnight like this. He's barely been on the planet for more than two weeks.
Just go to sleep, she ordered herself mentally. It's probably just tiredness or all those trips you've been making down memory lane of late. Still, she couldn't help but feel a little safer, and a little less frightened with Alonzo there beside her.
Author's Chapter Notes:
And the fun finally starts!... .
Comments as usual to drteong@pc. jaring. my
Comments as usual to drteong@pc. jaring. my