NIGHT DWELLER, Part 1
by Becky S.
"Danziger, slow down! You might step on something!" Devon called. She was trying hurriedly to catch up to the mechanic who was crashing his way through the forest.
Danziger finally slowed and turned to face her, "*Step* on something??" he repeated incredulously. "Sure, it's called the ground..." he looked as if he were about to add something, but decided to hold his tongue for once. Instead, he stomped away and made a point of speeding up. Devon was in one of her "let's be careful and help all creatures" moods and she was getting on his nerves.
Devon sighed, "You know what I meant... Could you *please* be a little more careful?"
"Whatever you say..." he muttered. He started to walk deeper into the woods, stepping more lightly, but kept the same fast pace.
Devon clenched her fists in frustration, held her tongue, and followed behind him. If it weren't for the fact that, besides Zero, Danziger could carry more than anyone else, and the canteens *did* get heavy, she would have gladly taken this trip by herself. Sometimes she felt as if John Danziger made a special effort to be testy around her.
The winter supply of water they had collected had finally run out, and she and John had trooped out to a nearby lake - lakes were in abundance thanks to the thaw of winter - to replenish the group's supply.
Suddenly, Danziger froze, "Hey, Devon, hold up." Devon stopped obediently, looking around to see if she could spot what was bothering John. "Did you hear that?" he asked.
"John, there are a lot of sounds on this planet... and we've learned to ignore most of them," she replied.
Cautiously, Danziger resumed his trek. "I know, but it just sounded a little too close for my liking," he explained.
That's when Devon heard the sound as well. But it was too late. A small, seemingly furry creature jumped out of tree, and landed on John's shoulder. It shreeched excitedly, then disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"What was that?" Devon marvelled.
Danziger's voice sounded distant, he words seemed almost slurred. "I don know," he replied groggily, "But I think it bit me." With those words, he clutched his arm, then sank to his knees. He grimaced in pain.
"John? John? Oh, God..." Devon immediately flipped her gear into place. "Julia? How fast can you get out here... ?"
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Voice of True
I wasn't there when all of the action started, so I couldn't do anything to help. I was scared when Julia got that call from Devon and there was nothing I could do . . . especially because I over-heard Julia's side of the conversation and I know that Dad is involved. Everyone's hurrying around and I saw Julia and Alonzo and Bess all talking to Devon - I think - on gear. When they were done, Bess took me for a walk and explained to me that Dad was sick but that Julia was going to help him right away. She said that, after he got back, that it would be best if I left him alone to recover a bit or something like that. That's okay with me, for now. Bess and I found some pretty cool rocks, and excitement around here usually doesn't last long so I'm not *really* worried. I hope that Dad gets back soon. Uly didn't want to walk with us and I'm getting bored out here . . .
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"John, I need you to tell me exactly what happened," Julia pressed as she ran her diaglove over the confused mechanic.
"He doesn't know," Devon interrupted, "neither of us know. It was too small, it just came out of no where." Devon's voice was shaky. She tried to calm herself down. They had had many problems in the past, and she had managed to keep her cool, but the fact that they knew absolutely nothing about what was wrong with Danziger...
"How are you feeling, John? Are you in pain?" Julia's professional manner kept her perfectly calm.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Danziger insisted. He tried to get up but Walman had a firm grip on his shoulder and Alonzo was at his knee. He stopped struggling and relaxed on the ground. "I'm just tired..." he mumbled and closed his eyes.
"No! Don't sleep!" Julia exclaimed, then calmed and said, "Whatever you do, Danziger, don't go to sleep."
"Why not?" Devon demanded.
The doctor explained, "Whatever it was that bit him has saliva with a potent toxin that is putting pressure on his brain. If he were to sleep now he could go comatose."
Danziger groaned, "I'm fine!" he insisted. "Just let me get some rest." He tried to roll over on to his side but Walman and Alonzo stopped him.
"How long will he be like this?" Devon asked. "I don't know..." Julia mumbled. "How long ago did you say that this happened?"
Devon consulted her watch, "About ten minutes. We were filling up our canteens when this creature came out of nowhere."
"Could you describe it for me?"
Morgan Martin intervened, "Wait a minute, so you're saying that there are little demons running around this planet that can poison our *minds*?"
Julia sighed, "I'm saying that Danziger has been infected by a toxin that contains dangerous amounts of octadecenoamide."
"Octa what?" Baines inquired, perplexed. "It's suspected to be one of the chemicals in our brains that induces the natural pattern of sleep. It's one of the ingredients found in the cryosleep solution. The difference between it and the old-fashioned sedatives is that it allows the patient to dream. That way, the pilot won't be driven mad after spending years in a dreamless sleep," Julia paused to look over at Alonzo. "However, it can cause a permanent imbalance in the brain's chemical compostition if the patient were to fall asleep under the influence of such a large amount."
"So he has to stay awake the rest awake the rest of his life," Morgan concluded with a tone that suggested sarcasm.
"Not for the rest of his life. It's like with any other toxin, it will wear off as long as... Danziger, open your eyes!"
"I'm awake, I'm awake," Danziger muttered. He tore himself away from Walman's grasp and groggily sat up. He stood and faced the group of five to show them that he was all right. "You can stop worrying, okay? Just tell me how long this is gonna last."
Wordlessly, Julia brought her diaglove to Danziger's arm and took a sample of his blood. She motioned for them to leave, "Come on, lets get back to camp. It may take a while to figure out exactly what is going on... and it would help if you could tell me exactly what happened on the way," she added, addressing Devon. Their leader nodded and the small group piled into the vehicles, with Danziger almost tripping three times, and left for camp.
Story Notes:
All right, I'm accepting AJ's challenge and posting a story. I don't have AOL so I don't know about how many pages a document can have before you have to download it. I heard eight pages somewhere, but I'm not sure how much that is relative to screen-fulls, so I'm keeping each section just under eight screen-fulls, just in case. Thanks to Bronwyn and Kristen for their comments and advice. This is basically an "in Danziger's mind" type of story set between Flower Child and All About Eve. I've never posted nuthin' before so all comments are welcome at reslab@einstein.unipissing.ca
Oh yeah, these charcters are the property of Amblin/Universal, I'm just borrowing them for the plot. Bronwyn suggested the title. =)
Oh yeah, these charcters are the property of Amblin/Universal, I'm just borrowing them for the plot. Bronwyn suggested the title. =)