Live And Learn by Allison McDonnell

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Although her chronometer alerted her that it was just before eight thirty in the morning, Devon's mind had trouble accepting it as fact, due to the cave's lack of natural light and warmth courtesy of the sun's rays. To her, it almost felt as though she'd been transported back to The Stations, again, and her unhappiness at the thought shocked her a bit. Until that very moment, she hadn't realized how much she now all but despised her prior Station life where the only thing more artificial than the landscapes were the people who came with them. Back there, Devon may have had all of the money in the world, but she'd never felt rich until she'd come to G889. And, even though her new life on this planet was often filled with uncertainty and danger, it was also where her son could run and play like a normal, healthy child. It was also the place where her true friends and family were. And, despite her current precarious situation, she knew that she wouldn't trade it for the world.

She rotated her head to view Danziger, Alonzo, Julia and Yale awake and clustered around the faux campfire. Even in the faint light, she could see that John, in particular, looked exhausted, although she was fairly certain that she didn't appear much better.

She sat up straight and pulled down on the fabric of her shirt to soften the severity of the wrinkles. After running her fingers through her hair in a half-hearted attempt to comb it, she climbed to her feet and made her way over to the small group, seating herself between Yale and Alonzo, and directly across from Danziger.

"Mornin'," the mechanic nodded before averting his eyes to give Solace a brief, but sharp glare. It was very fortunate for the pilot that there were more important things to discuss at the moment.

"We were just about to come get you," Julia said, handing Devon her portion of that morning's breakfast, a bar of Spirolina and a half filled canteen of water.

John leaned forward, his voice low in order to keep from awakening the rest of the crew. "As I was sayin', there's no way in hell we can outrun a ZED. And, by now, he's probably already found our campsite and dismantled the vehicles. We're living on borrowed time here."

"Is there any way that the Terrians could be of some assistance?" Yale inquired. "Surely, they are worried about Uly's safety, too."

Alonzo shook his head and shrugged. "They can't help us much more than they already have."

"But why not?" Devon questioned. "It can't be because they lack the aggression. We saw what they did to Gaal."

"Because, like Gaal, apparently the ZED is wearing Terrian bones," Solace answered simply. "The Terrians can feed us information, but when it comes to getting rid of him, I'm afraid that we're on our own."

Danziger exhaled sharply. "Look, we can't risk tryin' to take him down like we did the last one. I figure he's gonna find the cave eventually, so I say let's draw him into it, but on our own terms," he proclaimed, his challenging tone practically daring the others to contradict him. "The first thing we need to do is force him away from the rest of the group."

"You don't have to worry about him finding this chamber," Alonzo interjected. "All of these sunstones should skew his readings enough that he won't have a clue that we're here."

Danziger shook his head emphatically. "Well, I'm not takin' any chances. I want that thing as far away from you guys as possible," he expressed. "So, what I'm gonna do is trick him into a dead end and then cause a cave-in."

Devon's head cocked backward in surprise. "How are you going to do that?" she asked, also noting with great discomfort that John had switched the pronoun 'we' into an 'I.'

His serious expression and words only served to increase her worry. "You leave that to me," he said, meeting her eyes.

Devon was about to barrage him with questions when John's attention became distracted by movement beyond her right shoulder where the Martins were situated. Obviously not wishing to discuss his plans any further and realizing that True was now awake, John lumbered to his feet and made his way over to his daughter. Devon pivoted her head to silently watch as Danziger bent down on one knee just in time for True to spring into his awaiting arms.

He had much to tell her.

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Less than an hour later, the entire camp was awake and most were huddled around the Morganite campfire, choking down their allotted Spirolina bar and learning what little there was to know about the efforts to rid themselves of the ZED. Danziger had already pulled aside Baines and Walman as soon as they awoke in order to relay a slightly more detailed description of his intentions. He figured that he owed them that much, particularly since its success involved their direct participation.

John remained off to the side, busily loading the charges into the mag-pro grenade launcher, and refamiliarizing himself with the mechanisms of the seldom used piece of equipment. He heard Devon's hesitant approach, but didn't bother looking up. He wasn't exactly in the mood for a gabfest, especially if she was going to grill him about his past adventures on the Dreamscape or about his current plan to destroy the ZED.

"Can I talk to you a second?" she asked.

He continued what he was doing and, because he was eyeing the ground, he noticed that Devon's feet were shuffling back and forth a bit. "Shoot," he answered in a disinterested tone, as if she was bothering him. Which she sort of was.

"I just wanted to-" She stopped and the rest of the sentence evaporated into the air, leaving the thought incomplete. After another long pause, she decided to take a different approach. "Please be careful, all right? Don't do anything foolish."

John let out an unamused snort. 'Don't do anything foolish?' Only Devon would take the time to seek him out with the sole purpose of telling him not to behave like an idiot, he inwardly scoffed. As if he'd needed such a ridiculous reminder.

"Anything else?" he grumbled, and Devon was surprised to detect more than a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Didn't he understand that she was worried about him?

When she didn't immediately answer him, for the first time, John glanced up to view Devon's face and it was only then that he realized that he may have misread her intentions. Although he was unable to decipher her exact feelings at that moment, it was obvious by her expression that she was upset.

"I'm... afraid, John," she finally revealed with heartwrenching emotion.

John was taken completely aback, and he found Devon's words and faltering voice to be extremely unsettling. After all, this was the woman who was, often much to his aggravation, the pillar of optimism, no matter how bleak the situation. Seeing her in such distress, the mechanic quickly concluded that this new outlook didn't suit her at all.

He delicately set the large weapon on the ground next to him and stood back up to his full height. His entire face softened as he closed his eyes briefly and let out a slow, steady breath. "Devon, I want you to listen to me," he told her in a low, earnest voice. "I promise you that nothin' is gonna happen to Uly. I'm not gonna let anything happen to either of you."

Although Devon trusted John implicitly and she was greatly comforted by his declaration that he would protect Uly, there was a part of her that wanted to shout from the highest mountaintop that her fears were not only reserved for the welfare of her son, but for the very real possibility that something terrible would befall John and she would lose him forever. Yet another part of her, one that dealt with a very different kind of fear, kept her from voicing those concerns aloud. As such, she could only remain silent, her fright clearly evident in her eyes.

When Devon didn't answer him or seem swayed by his words, Danziger stepped forward and soothingly placed his hands on her shoulders. "This is all gonna be over soon and we'll be back on the road to New Pacifica in no time." He gave both shoulders a gentle squeeze and leaned forward. "Okay?"

Devon remained stationary, awestruck not just by his normal towering strength of conviction, but at how John's entire demeanor openly conveyed his compassionate nature which was usually kept carefully hidden. Devon inwardly reflected that this was how he generally conducted himself with True. There was no doubt in her mind that she liked seeing this side of John Danziger very much indeed and wished that he'd allow his kinder, softer side to surface more often during their interactions with one another.

"Okay," Devon nodded.

John noticed that she opened her mouth to perhaps say something else, but no sound came out, and he figured that she either had second thoughts about what she was going to tell him, or it must have not have been that important.

"Hey, Danziger, you ready to go?" Walman called out to him from the cavern's threshold.

John removed his hands from Devon's shoulders and his arms dropped back to his sides, and Devon immediately felt colder due to the loss of physical contact.

"Yeah, be right there," he answered as he quickly shoved two extra grenade charges into his right front pocket and then poked his head and arm through the large leather strap of the grenade launcher, carefully sliding the weapon around until it was settled against his back.

By the time John had reached Baines and Walman, both of whom were wielding Mag-pros of their own, most of the other Edenites has joined them at the chamber's entrance.

True stepped forward to say goodbye, but he didn't bend down to embrace her because he didn't want to risk her reaching around and accidentally activating the grenade launcher. Instead, he remained standing and pulled her into a hug.

"You mind Bess, okay, Sport?" he instructed as she tightly wrapped her arms around his waist. He leaned over and whispered close to her ear. "And don't pick on Uly too much. He's had a rough night."

Danziger felt True's entire body slump. "Yes, sir," she sighed, clearly disappointed. Since there was no VR to play, picking on Uly had seemed to be the next natural choice.

He gave her one last squeeze and kissed the top of her head before releasing his hold. "Love ya'."

"Love you, too," True said, moving back to stand next to Bess.

Danziger turned to speak to Devon, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say, but was a bit surprised to discover that she had remained fixed in place across the room. The two locked gazes, exchanging an indescribable look for several seconds before John finally gave her a confident nod and turned away. She watched as Danziger glanced once more at True before disappearing into the tunnel with Baines and Walman close on his heels.

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The trio walked in silence, all lost in their own thoughts, as Danziger deftly navigated them from tunnel to tunnel. John, in particular, had a growing sense of dread with every step that he took. He'd had a sinking feeling in the pit of stomach ever since the Terrians had first warned them about the ZED. He unfortunately knew firsthand that ZEDs were virtually unstoppable machines which killed with impunity, always from the largest and strongest to the smallest and weakest of any group they'd encountered. This pretty much confirmed to Danziger that things were not going to turn out well where he was concerned. He figured that he'd used up all of his luck during Eden Advance's first ZED attack and it would be unrealistic to expect fortune to smile upon him a second time.

After about twenty minutes of continuous movement, the walls of the shaft in which they were traveling suddenly receded, opening up to a medium sized chamber. Much like Eden Advance's safehouse, to Danziger and the others, the room also felt as though it had been custom-made by the Terrians, this time specifically to facilitate a ZED showdown. Unlike the blackness of the tunnels, there were over a dozen small, but strategically placed sunstones embedded in the walls to light the enclosure. There was also another entrance on the opposite side, presumably the corridor from which the ZED would enter along with three deep cuts into the rock for Danziger, Baines and Walman to hide behind and use as cover. They also appreciated that these hiding places were close enough to their exit to enable them to escape unharmed after they caused the cave-in.

John wasted no time, walking to the center of the chamber and pulling something from the left pocket of his blue Ops jacket that, until then, no one knew that he'd brought with him: his gearset. He went to work, punching several buttons on the side keypad, and the threesome simultaneously let out a small shudder as the apparatus lit up and emitted a few small beeps, alerting them that it was activated and transmitting a signal. There was no going back now.

As the mechanic set the equipment on the ground and backed away, he heard a very nervous Baines ask, "So what do we do now?"

John tugged on the strap of his powered down grenade launcher, carefully pulling it over his shoulder and allowing it to fall securely into his hands.

"We wait," he answered evenly, taking his place in the shadows along the cave wall and vanishing from view.

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It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

As gratified as the ZED was to finally regain contact with the Satellite Brass and receive new orders, some assignments such as this were almost an insult to a proud warrior such as itself. To perform its required duties, it appeared that there would be little ammunition expelled, none of them worm bullets. There would be no use of its always expertly executed interrogation skills. Even the hunting knowledge required to locate Eden Advance was so rudimentary in nature that a mere human could likely have performed the task with only slightly less thorough results. It was barely worth the effort.

The soldier was, however, looking forward to the practical application of the medical files which it had recently downloaded that specifically related to the Hybrid child, particularly those dealing with vivisection. And, most importantly, this was a golden opportunity to exterminate over a dozen people in a very short time span. This was the endeavor from which it would gain the greatest satisfaction.

The ZED had also been provided with all valuable intel collected from a spy who had been planted within the ranks of Eden Project, but who had evidently later turned her back on her sworn duties to the Council. However, before committing this treasonous act, the undercover agent had informed Reilly that, anyone acquiring Terrian bones would be impervious to Terrian attack or retribution of any kind. This indeed seemed to be the case. However, as the ZED arrived at the threshold of the cave where the members of Eden Advance had obviously taken refuge, it was surprised to discover that there was an additional benefit to wearing Terrian bones; one which it had not been made aware of by its Council superiors. Something that could provide crucial information.

Instead of wasting bullets and immediately dispatching the Terrian who had been standing guard, the cyborg had decided to employ a more hands-on approach. But when the ZED grabbed the creature with the intention of ripping it into two pieces at the torso, both were suddenly hurled into an alternate reality; an even larger cavern with two additional Terrians just beyond arm's reach. There was a few seconds of disorientation as a series of antagonistic trills began to loudly echo throughout the ZED's skull. Correctly surmising that it had been transported to the Dreamplane, the cyborg reclaimed its bearings and immediately sought to, hopefully, use the experience to its advantage by testing a theory it had hypothesized after observing the two sets of bones interact with one another back in the Med-tent earlier. The soldier successfully tuned out the Terrians' screams and telepathically ordered them to reveal the location of the Terrian-Human Hybrid.

Its demand was met with abrupt silence and the creatures were obviously conflicted as to how to respond. The ZED tightened its grip on the living Terrian, while its other hand took hold of the bone necklace in order to strengthen the conduit before wordlessly repeating the command. Though it was glaringly apparent that the beings were not happy to do so, after another pause and a succession of now-saddened trills, the ZED's databanks were suddenly filled with detailed schematics of the tunnels as well as a crystal clear picture as to where its bounty was hidden.

Once the transmission was complete, the cyborg briefly let go of the Terrian, breaking the connection and returning their collective consciousness to the physical realm. It quickly regained its hold, but only long enough to ruthlessly tear the creature's head from its body, before dropping the carcass to the ground in a motionless heap.

As the ZED casually stepped over the Terrian's corpse and made its way toward the third tunnel from the right, it dutifully recorded its new findings.

It was certain that its Council superiors would be extremely pleased.

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Time can often be an unrelenting foe, especially when those trapped within its grasp are already suffering from the emotional turmoil of, not just what they'd already survived, but of what might become of them. As the clock ticked uncomfortably onward, to Danziger, Baines and Walman, every minute felt more like an hour. The seemingly interminable wait for the ZED's impending arrival was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they were grateful for each additional second of stillness because it was extra time in which they would not have to confront an unstoppable warrior and mostly likely meet a violent end. But conversely, the agonizing slowness of time provided them ample opportunity to envision the variety of methods, all of them grisly, which the ZED might choose to employ in order to slaughter them. A part of them all, especially Danziger, just wanted it over with, no matter what the outcome might be.

As the trio continued to wait, their eyes and ears began to play cruel tricks on them. They began to occasionally view shifts in the shadows that weren't there. Even a minor deviation of their footing or the slightest rustling of their clothes was more than enough to give them all a frightful pause.

Finally, after there was no activity for almost two full hours, Walman decided that enough was enough. "Do you think that there's some sort of interference blocking the signal?" he asked, breaking the deafening silence. His left leg had fallen asleep more than forty-five minutes before and he began to lightly pound on it with his fist and shake it back and forth until the circulation returned.

There was a brief delay before Danziger stepped into the faint glow of a nearby sunstone. "I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "But something's not right."

No sooner had the words left his mouth when there was a thunderous explosion of rock and debris as a Terrian blasted through the far wall and into the center of the enclosure. If the three men hadn't been holding mag-pros, their hands would have instinctively gone to their chests in a feeble attempt to keep their hearts from bursting out of their skin.

"Jesus Christ," Baines blurted out, panting furiously. "We need to put a bell on these guys so we know they're coming."

The Terrian either didn't notice or chose to ignore the trio's shocked faces and desperate quest for a full breath and a steady heart-rate. Instead, it turned to face Danziger and started to loudly trill at him. It was clear that the creature was in quite an emotional state and, to the small group, it almost sounded as if it was frightened or in some sort of distress.

John raked his free hand through his hair in exasperation. "I don't understand," he exclaimed, his eyes still darting back and forth from the opposite corridor in case the ZED picked that moment to arrive. "What are you tryin' to tell me?" he asked, mentally kicking himself for not thinking ahead and bringing Alonzo, in case something like this popped up.

The Terrian took a step toward him and began another succession of wails and Danziger was completely at a loss. It was Walman who finally suggested, "Call me crazy, but I think that he wants you to dream with him." There was plenty of uncertainly in his voice as he added, "Can you even do that, man?"

John still hadn't fully recovered from the Terrian's grand entrance and this new turn of events was doing little to calm him. "Hell, if I know," he exclaimed, more than a little irritated. The creature's answer to Walman's question was apparently to yell at Danziger some more.

Understanding that time was of the essence and feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders, John clamped his eyes shut and took several slow, deep breaths. "Okay, okay," he whispered, psyching himself into a mindset in which he might be able to accomplish the task.

After clearing as much clutter from his brain as he possibly could, Danziger did his best to picture the Terrian directly in front of him and attempted to call out to him in his mind. He was surprised and slightly horrified that it took almost no time at all before he felt his reality vanish around him and he was propelled onto the Dreamscape. He looked around and was further shocked to see that he and the Terrian were now standing in the Dreamplane version of the main entrance to the large cavern. With another pained trill, the creature backed away to reveal the remains of the ZED's latest victim. As John bent down on one knee over the broken body of the Terrian who had been kind enough to relieve him of his sentry duties the night before, he was filled with rage and sorrow at the brutality of the senseless murder as well as with a deep feeling of sympathy for the rest of the tribe's loss. But as the gravity of what had transpired hit Danziger like a sledgehammer, those emotions were quickly eclipsed by something far greater. Fear.

He shook his head ferociously, forcing himself off of the alternate plane and back into his physical existence.

"Shit!" he shouted, immediately swooping into soldier-mode and furiously punching in buttons to powerup his mag-pro.

"What's wrong?" Walman questioned, understandably worried.

John knew that he couldn't waste precious seconds to bring them up to speed. Without another word, he raced into the nearest corridor and was immediately consumed by the blackness.

"Danziger, wait!" Walman and Baines simultaneously called out after him.

When their response was the quickly fading sounds of John's footsteps and then complete silence, the two crewman turned to face one another as their own reality hit them head-on. Without Danziger there to guide them, the pair didn't have the slightest inkling about how to find the other members of Eden Advance or their way out of the cave.

"What in the hell are we supposed to do now?!?" Baines asked with wide eyes.

They both ever so slowly turned toward the Terrian who cocked its head to the side in curiosity.

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"I spy, with my little eye, something... blue," Bess announced to True and Uly who she'd gathered around the Morganite campfire. Throughout the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, she'd been trying to do whatever she could to distract the two children from their current circumstances. She was pleased to be at least partially successful, as Uly actively searched the room looking for items that fit the description.

"Is it a jacket?" Uly asked, eyeing a nearby Denner who was wearing her standard Ops uniform.

"Nope," Bess said with a kind smile. "But, like a jacket, it could be used to keep you warm."

The Earth-res fully understood that she was basically revealing the identity of the item by divulging such a large clue. However, she was dealing with kids, after all, and didn't want to make it too difficult for them to figure out.

She leaned in and lightly tapped True on the shoulder. "How about you, True. What do you think it is?" she asked sweetly.

"It's a blanket," True said in a matter-of-fact tone, barely interested. Throughout the entire game, her eyes had remained focused on the chamber's entrance, her mind obviously on her father.

"Good job," Bess praised. "Now, it's your turn to pick something."

Thoroughly irritated that Bess and Uly weren't getting the hint that she wanted to be left alone with her thoughts, True let out the same beleaguered sigh that her father had practically invented and patented as his own.

"Fine," she scoffed. In an annoyed, singsong voice, she declared, "I spy, with my little eye, some--"

Suddenly, True's mouth dropped open and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Her terrified stare was still locked on the cave's threshold as she instinctively crab-crawled backward toward the nearest corner of the room. The little girl finally was able to locate her breath and emit a high-pitched, blood-curtling scream which all but shook the walls and garnered the attention of the other members of Eden Advance.

The ZED had found them.

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