Live And Learn by Allison McDonnell

[Reviews - 0]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer

- Text Size +

At times, a few of the more claustrophobic members of Eden Advance thanked their lucky stars for the pitch blackness of the tunnel, sparing them from the paralyzing sight of just how narrow the passageway truly was. Although the cave floor was smooth and free from rocks and other debris, it was clear that, in addition to veering either left or right to switch corridors several times, they were walking on a steady decline which caused a bit of trouble when it came to maintaining their footing. And although no one voiced it aloud, many inwardly pondered exactly how deep beneath the planet's surface they would actually end up.

At last, the group breathed a sigh of relief when they literally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and their pathway opened to a vast cavern. Although it was still rather dimly lit by human standards, there were generous amounts of sunstones embedded into the walls and ceiling to provide warmth and more than enough light to see clearly throughout the enclosure. A large cluster of those same glowing rocks were located in the center of the room as if they had been strategically placed there as a substitution for a campfire. Many realized that this new hiding place was apparently the Terrian's deliberate attempt at providing them with a safe house and were grateful for the creatures' efforts. It was amazing how far the two species had come in their dealings with one another over the past months.

"We'll be safe tonight," Alonzo decreed, "so let's get some sleep and we'll figure out what to do in the morning."

The majority of the crew was too physically and emotionally fatigued to question his reasoning and they immediately splintered into smaller groups, each choosing a small parcel of the floor to claim as their own and collapsing in exhaustion. Only Devon endeavored to obtain a more detailed explanation from Alonzo. She waited until Uly was finally coaxed into as peaceful a slumber as possible under the circumstances before quietly slipping across the room to a darkened corner where Alonzo and Julia had situated themselves.

The leader immediately noticed how uncomfortable Alonzo appeared upon her arrival. As she seated herself at the edge of the blanket that Julia had stretched outward, the physician rose to her feet, politely leaving to perform a cursory medical check on the other crew members and, more importantly, to give the two some much-needed privacy.

Once they were alone, Devon began, "First off, I can't tell you how much I appreciate all that you've done for us tonight. Danziger told me about the ZED and his intentions." Her heartfelt tone switched to a more serious one. "But I'm still missing a lot of information and I need to know what's going on." Her eyes drifted toward the cavern's opening, instinctively looking for the mechanic. "How did this happen?"

Alonzo tried to stick to the basics, hoping that this would placate her enough not to push for too many details, although deep down he knew that it was a lesson in futility. "Somehow, the Terrians intercepted Eve's orders to a nearby ZED and they knew that he was on his way to us," he replied. "They don't want to see Uly harmed anymore than we do, so they warned us and helped us to escape."

She considered his explanation to be less than informative. "When you say 'us,' who do you mean?" Devon probed with a furrowed brow, keeping her voice hushed so as not to disturb the others nearby.

"Me and Uly," he revealed with definite apprehension in his voice, "and Danziger."

Devon's head shot back. "Why Danziger?" she asked incredulously.

The pilot averted his eyes and several seconds passed before he muttered, "You'd have to ask him."

"I'm asking you," she pressed, her composure starting to slip. This was making absolutely no sense at all. And why was Alonzo being so evasive?

Solace sighed heavily. "Look, the Terrians didn't bring us to the Dreamplane or anything," he said, struggling to find the right words to accurately describe the experience. "It was more like they sent out a general distress signal. Basically, they speed-dialed everyone in Eden Advance who they'd contacted before and filled them in on what was going on."

"If that's the case, then why wasn't I included in the loop?" Devon asked, confused and a little hurt that she was left out of such an important transmission.

"Because in your dealings with the Terrians, you were always the one who initiated contact, not the other way around. That's the reason why they didn't call Julia, either," he answered plainly, already preparing himself for the next obvious question from Devon.

And she didn't disappoint him. "I don't understand," she expressed, shaking her head in disbelief. "The Terrians have never communicated directly with Danziger. He's never even been on the Dreamplane." When Alonzo didn't immediately answer her, her eyes widened in surprise. "Has he?"

The pilot undoubtedly started to reconsider what trouble he might be in for from Danziger if he revealed certain details of his private life that he wasn't ready to make public. "I'm not really comfortable talking to you about this. You should speak to John," he tried to insist.

Solace had sort of half-expected her to attempt to push him into providing her with a full explanation. Certainly the Devon of old would have employed every boardroom technique that she knew of to force him to spill his guts and give her the information that she'd wanted. However, he'd momentarily forgotten that Devon Adair, the CEO of Adair Industries, the golden child of the most prominent and powerful First Family on The Stations and one of the richest people in the world, wasn't the woman currently sitting in front of him. In fact, that person seemed to no longer exist. Instead, he was speaking with the Devon Adair of G889, the parent of a healthy son and, not just the leader of Eden Advance, but one of the contributing crew and someone who'd practically become a member of his own extended family.

"Please, Alonzo," she appealed. "I understand that you're trying to be a friend to John by not betraying his trust. But he's my friend, too, and I'm worried." She arched forward, allowing the pilot to more easily see the unsettled expression on her face, revealing how much she truly did care. "Whatever he's trying to hide, there's too much at stake to keep it buried any longer. Whatever it is, good or bad, I promise that I won't be angry or judgmental. I just want to know the truth. All of it."

Alonzo bit down on his lower lip in uncertainty. As much as he wanted to respect Danziger's privacy, he had to admit that he was tired of keeping his secrets, especially the ones that involved him. He grudgingly rationalized that it would be in everyone's best interest to break John's confidence. However, he decided to compromise by only disclosing John's unique circumstances to Devon while the rest of the camp, with the exception of Julia who had been privy to the information firsthand because John had approached them together, would remain blissfully unaware. As far as Solace was concerned, it was about time that Devon was informed of the lengths that Danziger had gone to in order to keep those around him safe. She deserved to know the whole story.

"He's probably gonna skin me alive for this," Alonzo muttered under his breath. He let out another long sigh before prefacing, "I only found out about this recently, around the time that the Terrians healed you." He glanced around furtively to ensure that they were out of earshot of the other colonists as well as to be certain that Danziger hadn't shown up yet.

"Devon, I wasn't the Terrian's first choice," he revealed. "They initially picked John as the person they wanted to dream to."

Devon could only stand there with her mouth agape as he recounted, "They approached him before we crashed here, while we were all still in cold sleep on the Roanoke. I can remember him still half-asleep in the cockpit, complaining that he'd had some sort of weird dream, but he never mentioned any details and I certainly didn't think anything of it at the time."

Solace shook his head. "I don't know exactly what happened there on the Dreamplane, but it must have been pretty frightening for him and, whether he knew it or not, he rejected the Terrian's offer." He exhaled deeply. "After the Terrians took Uly, one of the reasons why John volunteered to rescue him was because he thought that he could try to communicate with them and persuade them to let Uly go. And for what it's worth, I think the Terrians DID remember him and that's probably why he was led to Uly so quickly."

Devon was gobsmacked and it took a while before she could formulate a question. "Why didn't he ever say something?" she was finally able to ask.

"I'm not sure," he offered. "I ended up becoming the Terrian's go-to guy, so maybe he didn't think that it mattered in the long run. He was probably relieved as hell when they started dreamin' to me, instead. Even now, it's pretty clear that John still has trouble trusting them. Maybe there was some fear involved, too. Or maybe he felt like it wasn't any of our business." He added with a shrug, "That's just his way, I guess."

He hesitated for a moment, in obvious contemplation. "I'm going to tell you something that I really have no right to. But I think it's important that you know, just the same. God knows, you'll never hear about it from Danziger," he said, his voice a bit hesitant. "He's had one more Dreamplane experience that I know of."

He leaned in closer, his pretty-boy features all but eclipsed by his solemn expression. "When you got sick, we didn't know what to do. John took it pretty hard. Harder than any of us knew. About a week after we put you in coldsleep, he pulled me aside and asked for my help. Apparently, he'd been trying to bust his way back onto the Dreamplane so he could talk to the Terrians, but it wasn't working. So I agreed to take him there."

Devon was riveted as he continued, "At that point, we didn't know why you were sick. One of the theories batted around was that, somehow Eden Advance had screwed up and we'd pissed off the Terrians so much that they'd done that to you as some sort of punishment or that they'd demanded a sacrifice to right some supposed wrong. I watched as John offered them his own life in exchange for sparing yours," he revealed, nodding his head, clearly still deeply affected by what he'd witnessed months before.

"The Terrians explained to him that they had nothing to do with your sickness and, even if they did, it doesn't work that way," he went on to inform her. "Danziger pleaded with them to heal you, but they refused. Terrians look at humans as they do themselves: a collective in which no single person holds any more importance than the other. Until then, the only one who they seemed to see as an individual was Uly. So John tried to get them to understand; to look at you the same way that they look at Uly."

Alonzo's tone became more emotional. "He begged them to help you. The only other time I've seen him like that was back at the winter camp when he thought that Grendler was going to kill True as retribution for him killing its mate. I mean, the look in John's eyes as he tried to make them understand how important you were. He sounded so desperate and distraught and..."

His voice trailed off, realizing that he was giving too much away. He regained a better grasp on his composure. "Anyway, eventually, it worked. Danziger was the key. He was finally able to convince the Terrians that it was in Uly's best interest to help you. That in order for him to be an effective bridge between the Terrians and humanity, he needed the love and guidance that only you, his mother, could give him."

The pilot's voice and expression reflected his sincerity as he brought the point home. "He's the biggest reason that you're standing here right now."

Devon remained in stunned silence for several seconds, so mesmerized by Alonzo's words that she didn't notice the tears welling up in her eyes until they started to trickle down her cheek. She'd never known any of this. In fact, she'd never even considered the possibility that Danziger or anyone else besides the Terrians had had anything to do with her miraculous recovery. All she had ever been told about those frightening eight days in which she had been lost to them was that she had been felled by a mysterious, noncontagious illness. And that after Julia's capable hands and vast medical knowledge were still not enough to enable her to locate the origins of Devon's ailment or an appropriate cure, the Terrians had stepped in and had agreed to restore her back to her prior health.

Until that moment, Devon had always assumed, and no one had ever countered her interpretation, that this had been a generous offer initiated by the Terrians themselves, after they had become aware of her plight. She'd considered this to be a major step forward in the bonding of the two species. And while she would always remain eternally grateful to the Terrians for their assistance and she would acknowledge that she was alive as a direct result of their involvement, this new insight certainly put a different spin on the situation. As a matter of fact, it put a different spin on several situations, most notably of which was her growing friendship with John Danziger.

She attempted to clear her throat as she swept away several streams of tears with her fingertips. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice still sounding choked up.

The sly smile that Alonzo often wore began to peek its way out from the corners of his mouth. "You can thank me by not ratting me out to Danziger."

Both broke into a light chuckle and Devon matched his slight grin. After silently nodding her agreement, she reached outward and took Alonzo by the wrist, giving him a gentle squeeze before rising to her feet and taking her leave.

She noticed that her knees shook a bit as she made her way back to her own bedroll next to a still fitfully sleeping Uly. As quietly as possible, she slipped under the blanket and closed her eyes. Yet because her mind was consumed by the evening's events as well as her newly gained knowledge, a tranquil sleep eluded her. She had much to think about.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Despite the lack of sleep, Danziger stayed as sharp as a tack as he panned the surrounding trees for any sounds of movement or the slightest glint among the shadows. He wasn't sure how fast the ZED would catch up to them and the Terrians had never elaborated on whether he was traveling by foot or by a vehicle of some kind. They had only warned them that a ZED attack wasn't a question of 'if,' it was a question of 'when.' Hell, Danziger reflected, the Diggers probably knew 'when,' too, but that knowledge was either lost in translation or the creatures simply didn't think that it was important enough to warrant conveying. Typical, he snorted to himself.

His left hand involuntary brushed across his stomach as he recalled his last encounter with one of The Council's SuperSoldiers. That one run-in had been more than enough to last a lifetime and he'd been very fortunate not to have been eviscerated. He thought about the chance that his friends had taken in order to rescue him. As much as he appreciated their efforts, he had to admit that it was very poor judgment on their parts to risk their lives by staying and performing surgery to remove the ticking time-bomb which had burrowed a trail from his thigh all the way up into his abdomen. If they'd failed and the bullet had indeed exploded, Eden Advance would have lost their leader, their only doctor and the person who dreamed to the Terrians. And all to save his sorry ass. Stupid, really, he concluded, shaking his head.

Danziger squinted his eyes, increasing his concentration as the moonlight disappeared behind a group of slow-moving clouds, casting the landscape into almost complete blackness. This made it all the more shocking when, without a warning of any kind, a staff-wielding Terrian shot up from the ground directly next to him. John barely managed a yelp as he stumbled backward two steps, almost tripping over his own legs and tumbling to the ground. Out of pure instinct, he briefly pointed the pistol toward the creature, but quickly lowered his hand back to his side once he realized that he was in no immediate danger, except for possibly suffering a coronary as a direct result of the being's startling entrance.

As he stabilized his footing and his heart rate, Danziger observed the lone Terrian as it took its place exactly where John had stood vigil only moments before. The creature slowly bowed his head and staff, releasing a small trill before pivoting his body to face outward from the cave, essentially communicating that it would take over as guard and that it would be okay for the mechanic to vacate his post. At least, that's what John hoped that it was telling him.

"Thanks," John murmured, grateful but feeling a bit ridiculous for speaking English to a being that can't possibly understand him. He hoped that the Terrian could at least comprehend his appreciation by his overall tone.

Danziger wasted no time and entered the third cavern from the right, swiftly venturing through the dark, cramped corridor. He tried not to focus on the knowledge that he was able to switch tunnels with ease and without the slightest hesitation; that he did, in fact, somehow know the exact course to take which would allow him to rejoin the other members of Eden Project.

This had happened to him once before, during their third day planetside, when he had gone to retrieve Uly after the Terrians had abducted him. It had been baffling for him to somehow suddenly possess the ability to effortlessly navigate the honeycomb of underground passageways that he'd never seen or visited before. So surreal was the experience that, at one point, he swore that he could even hear Devon's pleading voice echoing off of the cave walls. He chalked that up to his fatigued mind playing tricks on him or perhaps it might have been related to an unchecked bump on the head that he'd sustained during the initial crash onto G889. Eventually a Terrian had appeared on a steep incline, alerting him to the presence of Uly's pale, but now completely healthy, body. John had carried the child securely in his arms as he maneuvered his way through several more tunnels until he'd finally reached the exit.

During their subsequent travels across the planet, a few times, Danziger had considered trying it again, testing himself to see if he still had that same inner compass in other caverns or if that had been a one time occurrence never to be repeated, but ultimately he decided against it. To him, some paths were best left unexplored.

John was shaken back to the present when his gaze caught a faint glow at the end of the shaft that he was currently in, letting him know that his journey was finally nearing an end, at least for the night. It grew brighter as he closed in and he realized that he already had an exact picture in his mind of what the chamber would look like, including the cluster of sunstones in the center of the cave floor.

Because most of the Edenites were already fast asleep, very few noticed Danziger's arrival. As quietly as possible, he made his way over to the nearest corner where Bess and Morgan had chosen to set up their temporary campsite. Morgan and True were out like lights, but Bess had remained awake, keeping her promise to watch over his little girl until his safe return.

"Let her stay," she whispered, after they'd exchanged a welcoming nod. "She's comfortable."

John sighed. "Yeah, okay. Thanks," he said, barely resisting the urge to touch the top of True's head, fearful that he might disturb her slumber by doing so.

Bess briefly reached around to her side and produced an extra rolled-up blanket, correctly assuming that Danziger had been too busy organizing their escape to bring one. "Get some sleep," she advised.

He took the bedroll from her hands. "Yeah, you, too," he relayed in a grateful tone, appreciative of the thoughtful gesture.

Danziger only took a half a dozen steps back toward the opening of the cave before plopping down his bedroll and spreading the material out over the smooth rock floor. This way he could remain near True, yet still have an unobstructed view of the cavern's entrance, should there be any trouble.

He removed his jacket and carefully folded it into the shape of a rectangle to use as a makeshift pillow. Before laying down, he decided to give the room one more quick overlook to ensure that everyone was accounted for.

His scan abruptly halted when his eyes fell upon Devon who was stretched out across her blanket, but was wide awake and staring intently at him with large eyes. Her emotions were written all over her face and she was clearly contemplating whether or not to get up in order to speak with him.

Oh, great, Alonzo spilled the beans, Danziger groused to himself. The mechanic made it loud and clear that he was not in a talking mood by immediately breaking eye contact with Devon and turning away from her to face the cave's threshold. If I get through this in one piece, I'm gonna kill Solace with my bare hands, he inwardly declared.

Knowing Devon as he did, John's entire body went rigid as he braced himself for what would undoubtedly be her impending arrival. It was only after several minutes had passed that it became apparent that perhaps he didn't know Devon as well as he'd thought because she had remained where she was, and had respected his choice to be alone. Somehow this only served to unnerve Danziger more.

He clamped his eyes shut, but much like Devon, his mind continued to work in overdrive and refused to permit his body the rest that it so desperately needed. As such, he was able to get very little sleep.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Locating the remnants of Eden Project's abandoned campsite took very little effort on the part of the ZED. It emotionlessly wandered between the lightly fluttering canvas of the abandoned tents, easily kicking aside a thirty pound barrel in its way as if it was constructed of paper mache. There was no need to rush as the soldier had easily located the group's route of escape mere seconds after its arrival. In fact, as far as the ZED was concerned, with all of the overlapping footprints and the path of disturbed plantlife, the Edenites might as well have drawn large arrows into the dirt to lead it right to their location.

The cyborg followed the instructions which it had received from the Council transmission and went to work disabling all three of the vehicles. It decided not to render them completely useless, of course, in case it later decided to add one or more of them to the arsenal of equipment gathered from its previous Kills. Besides, it wasn't as if there would be anyone from Eden Advance left to use them.

After the task was completed, the ZED specifically sought out the quarters of Julia Heller, which it had been informed was the crew's physician. It entered the tent and methodically began to scan and inventory the medical supplies available for its use, once the Human-Terrian Hybrid was retrieved. The soldier then removed a large, square tray from a nearby table and began to collect various sized scalpels and cutting tools which would be best suited to dissect the child. It next located a hypogun and several injections of a general anesthetic in order to numb the subject into submission. Once acquired, the ZED didn't deem it necessary to continue the search for a full sedative which would render unconsciousness. As long as the anesthetic kept the Hybrid from struggling and possibly prolonging the procedure, it made no difference to the ZED if the child was awake and fully aware of what was taking place before his eventual death.

Out of nowhere, a sudden, muffled tapping sound originating from the opposite side of the room caused the soldier to perform an abrupt about-face.

"Show yourself!" it demanded, drawing its weapon as it slowly, yet fearlessly advanced toward the source of the noise.

The tapping not only quickened, but grew louder as the ZED approached a small work station which was loosely draped with a dark colored tarp. It yanked away the fabric to expose a collection of about two dozen specimens, each individually housed in clear, mason jars. The cyborg reholstered its gun as it zeroed in on one particular container in the second row, labeled 'Terrian Bones,' correctly identifying it as the offending item.

It carefully lifted the still-tapping jar in order to scan its contents more closely. However, as it reached chest level, the bones were forcefully propelled against the edge of the container closest to the ZED. At the same time, the necklace which the soldier had constructed from the corpse of the Terrian it had murdered earlier in the day, lifted upward and attached itself to the outside of the jar with a clank, as if magnetized. The tapping stopped.

After ensuring that the incident had been recorded in its database, the ZED broke the seal between the two sets of bones. As the skeleton necklace fell harmlessly back to its original position around its neck, the cyborg let go of the jar and it shattered into multiple pieces as it struck the hard dirt floor. The ZED then impassively ground the broken glass as well as the Terrian bones into dust beneath the weight of its boots as it performed a final survey of the medical quarters, taking special note of the makeshift operating table located in a nearby corner of the enclosure.

Yes, these conditions are more than acceptable, the soldier concluded.

You must login (register) to review.