Andy's Fan-Fiction Archive

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER
By
Bernice Low

Timeline: After "Flower Child"(Day 138) (Alternate reality)
Author's E-Mail: drteong@pc.jaring.my or llylbl@ccn4.nott.ac.uk

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Praise to Gaal, finally this story is seeing the light of day! I thought that since the list is being very active at the moment, why not join in the fun? Especially since my summer is about to be over and it's back to the grindstone again!
Steven Spielberg once said that making ET turned his hair grey. Well, this is my ET...and I honestly thought that I would never see the end of it.Due it's back breaking length, a bit of rambling is in order - so if you're not one for 'Author's Forewords' - skip straight to the start of the story.
First, thanks to Maxine and Laura of Leicester, who were encouraging when I was damned tempted to just push the delete button on my keyboard and forget I ever wrote this opus (to borrow Maxine's word!)When this plot was first hatched, way back in March, both Max and Laura helped to vet it, and Maxine has been kind enough to read it through for me [Laura was busy going round FBI Agentland and living the Mulder and Scully dream!] Max - I still haven't found a title I like!
A warning is in order at this point: This story was strictly FANTASY material - it was just something I felt COMPELLED to write in order to exorcise it from my system for good; otherwise I would never have gotten another decent night's sleep I think!! Hence, it *MAY* contain numerous plot holes, characters may seem 'not themselves', continuity errors, very flawed explainations..which may have escaped my attention.
If you do discover any of the above so mentioned 'boo-boos' - you know the drill - mail me at drteong@pc.jaring.my. As I'm back to the UK next week, if you're mailing me after the 26th of September, please cc a copy of your mail to llylbl@ccn4.nott.ac.uk - thanks.
Uh - now for non-standard disclaimer... The characters used in this piece of fiction, with the exception of Alex Daniels, Sam McCann and Jameson, belong to Amblin and Universal and are used without the permission of the owners; but with no intention to infringe copyrights of any kind.Unauthorised reproduction of this story, whether electronically or in any other form however does constitute an infringement of MY copyright - so don't even think! [PS: Andy - in the pursuit of literary fame, I won't sue you!:)I'll be sending you MS Word copies of the story..]
Bernice.
HISTORIAN'S NOTE: These events take place after Flower Child and also on the presumption that the events in All About Eve, never happen. It is presumed Reilly and Eve operate from some sort of orbital station above G889 and Reilly is real.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 1
By Bernice Low

[] denotes narrative by Alonzo.
Night descended like a blanket on the colonists camp and everyone took refuge in their tents from the cold winds that accompanied the descent of darkness. The winds swept in, blowing sharp and bone chilling. Despite the resurgence of Spring, night remained bitterly cold on G889. One by one the lights in the tents extinguished as the colonists huddled under their thermal blankets for the night.
Alonzo fell asleep quickly on the campbed that after 8 months on the planet, started to actually feel comfortable. Tiredness and exhaustion came quickly out out here on G889 - no machines to help carry the heavy drums and boxes, no computers - just good old fashioned physical effort, with a bit of help from Zero occasionally.
For the first time since the winter ended, the Terrians once again, brought him to the Dreamplane. He looked ahead of him and saw a range of mountains. He felt himself being drawn to an opening in the mountain face.
A cave of some sort.
He walked in and came into a large cavern. As the mist cleared, he made out two people, surrounded by a ring of Terrians. He stepped up closer to them and tried to communicate with the Terrians.
But they seemed different. Their thoughts were....hostile....aggressive.. but confused somehow.They ignored his efforts to communicate with them.
Puzzled, he stepped into the ring - and as the mist cleared, he recognised instinctively the blonde hair and slight figure of Julia! Her eyes were filled with fear as she stared at the stranger before her, and the Terrians who surrounded her. He tried to rush to her, to hold her, protect her but something held him to the spot. He turned his attention to the stranger who was threatening her but he was obscured by the thick mist... he held a gun in his hand. Alonzo watched in horror as he squeezed the trigger slowly...
Julia!
He woke up with a start;disorientated, his breathing uneven. He shook his head to clear his mind - it was a dream! Just a dream. Yet he couldn't get over how real it felt. His thoughts rapidly turned to Julia and the frantic look of fear in her eyes. Throwing off the blankets, he tore out of the tent.
The air was frosty outside and the sand crunched under his stockinged feet as he ran across the camp, the cold ground beneath his feet was forgotten as he hurried to the Med Tent were he knew Julia was. Ripping aside the flap on the opening of the tent, he ducked inside.
The tent was dark save for a soft green glow coming from a monitor in the corner. He breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes focused on Julia's windcheater clad form slumped over her worktable with a monitor still turned on, squiggly lines running across the green screen and beeping softly. She had fallen asleep in the middle of her work again.
He padded up closer and reached over her sleeping form to turn the monitor off with a audible click. Her head rested on her arms and her blonde hair fell over her face as she slept - her even breathing indicating she was quite soundly asleep.
Alonzo gently put a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly. "Julia?" he whispered.
She jerked awake instantly the moment his hand touched her shoulder, her eyes straining to make out who he was in the dim light of the tent.
"It's me.. . 'Lonzo" he said quickly, reassuring her - and she relaxed visibly. She seemed jumpy and tense, and Alonzo had a pretty good idea why.
She rubbed her brow and picked up the chronometer on her table - the luminous numbers lighting up in the darkness of the tent.
"I must have fallen asleep." she muttered to herself, stretching her stiff arms and neck before turning the monitor back on and fiddling with her instruments scattered around the table. The monitor beeped happily to life and she frowned as she tried to shake off her sleepiness and concentrate on the readings it was giving her. Before she could protest, Alonzo reached over and firmly turned the monitor off.
"You're tired. You shouldn't be working any more" he said firmly, his eyes betraying every intention to make sure she got to bed that very moment." It's way past your bedtime and I intend for you to be in that bed and asleep in five minutes." he said chucking a thumb in the direction of her camp bed, his face a mask of determination.
"I suppose you're going to make me if I don't." she said, just a little bit more awake now,as his face hoovered inches from her own.
He leaned closer and planted both hands firmly on the worktable behind her, trapping her between the table and himself.
"You're flirting Dr Heller.." he growled softly, responding to her invitation.
She wrapped her arms round his waist and levered herself off the chair, stepping into his personal space. He responded by gently pulling her closer to him and kissing her.
"Willing to cooperate yet?" he whispered into her ear as he held her close to him.
She leaned her head on his chest and closed her eyes, "I think I could do with a bit more persuasion." she murmured. He smiled and kissed the top of her head gently. They stood there for a while, just holding each other before he let her go.
She sat down on the bed and pulled the laces of her boots with effort, struggling to get them off as her concentration waned from her tiredness. Swopping her shirt and jeans for one of Alonzo's sweatshirts, she dropped back onto the bed and made room for him on the narrow bed as he covered them both with the thermal blanket.
"Making sure I get my beauty sleep?" she asked sleepily,her eyes closing as she moved closer to his warm body, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder.
"Absolutely - it's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it." he murmured, wrapping his arms protectively around her,her head rested on his shoulder.
"Hmmmm.." she replied, drifting off to sleep. Alonzo lay awake for a while, holding her close to him, and listening to her soft breathing before allowing himself to fall asleep.
He did not dream that night.
[I decided not to tell Julia about my dream - somehow, it just didn't seem like a good idea at that time to worry her. She had other things on her mind - a lot of us did. Part of me wasn't sure what the Terrians were trying to communicate to me - all I knew was that Julia had some part in it.
When I think back to the first weeks we were on this planet, I can't help but think how different things are now. We've all found a kind of inner peace with ourselves here on the journey to New Pacifica.
Even then, some things never change. ]
"You are the most stubborn woman I've ever met!!" "Danzinger, will you just listen for a minute? I am not saying that we won't take the pass. I just think we should wait till Walman and Baines come back from their scout before making a decision on which direction to head next." said Devon, trying to hold herself in check.
"Adair, I'm telling you it's rocks and boulders in the other direction. The vehicles are not going to be able to take that kind of terrain. It will take us days to get anywhere." he argued, exasperated.
" John, there's no hurry." she countered. "Yeah well I hope you remember that when the Trans-Rover breaks down and *I* have to fix it." he snapped back." How long is it going to take Danzinger? We don't have all day to wait Danzinger. We need those vehicles fixed now John. 250 families are depending on us." he said in a falsetto tone, mimicking her mercilessly.
Neither of them noticed Alonzo standing at the entrance of the tent. He smirked as he witnessed the disagreement reach a crescendo with both Devon and Danzinger's tempers reaching full throttle. The chemistry between them was immistakable. If only they would stop trying to throttle each other for five minutes.. .
"Aahhhem.." he cleared his throat loudly and looked expectantly at Devon. Both Devon and Danzinger looked up, as if noticing him for the first time.
"What?"they both barked out simultaneously, Devon throwing Danzinger an irritated look which was met by Danzinger's equally annoyed expression.
Alonzo looked at both of them in amusement but quickly took on a more serious posture when he noticed the dirty looks he was getting.
"Devon, I was wondering if you've got a minute." "We're in the middle of something Alonzo." Danzinger grated, looking at Devon out of the corner of his eye. He felt testy, and grumpier than usual - and Devon was adding to the list of thing that bugged him. The intermediary ship had brought in new vehicles to be checked and maintained and a staff of technicians to be supervised.
Being a leader was new to Danzinger, who all his life, had to follow rather than give orders - not that he had been very good at following orders anyway. He was however rapidly picking up the Devon Adair style of leadership, practicing his own brand of 'This is how I want it and this is how it's going to be'.
And in the grand style of 'doing things the Adair way', he was not taking well to having his plans compromised.
"Well it's important." Alonzo replied, standing his ground. "What is so important Alonzo?" Yale inquired calmly. Alonzo tried to explain to them the dream he had. Devon looked concerned as he described how he sensed Julia was in danger from the Terrians.
"Have you mentioned this to Julia?" she inquired. Alonzo scratched his head and looked sheepish "No, it's just a sense of things I have Devon - a feeling that Julia may be in some kind of danger from Terrians. Not the the usual Terrians we encountered before - the ones in my dream, they were different somehow."
"I didn't tell her because don't want her to worry unnecessarily - she's already got a lot on her mind." he added seriously.
Devon nodded understandingly.
"Maybe we should increase the security around the camp, keep alert for any unusual activities." Devon suggested, looking at Danzinger and Yale.
"Adair, we don't even know what we're trying to defend ourselves from. What are we supposed to do? Shoot at every Terrian that pops out from the ground?" Danzinger said dryly.
An increasingly exasperated Devon looked at Alonzo but he was at a loss for answers. The truth was, he didn't know what the Terrians were trying to tell him. How the heck was he to explain to them that all he had was a sense of things - he felt a danger and it was linked to Julia in some way. He stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders.
"Besides, it's going to be a little difficult keeping alert for the unusual don't you think since everything on the planet is bound to be a little different. A little unusual." Danzinger threw in with his usual bluntness.
"John"
Danzinger gritted his teeth. He didn't like it when she called him 'John' with that tone of voice. It usually meant that she was going to twist him around her finger.
And it had an uncomfortably intimate ring to it. Too intimate.
"I don't think there's any harm in being extra cautious." she said firmly. "Tell Walman and Baines to tighten up the security, especially at night. Let's just remember that things have changed around here and things may not be what they seem." she added.
Alonzo nodded seriously. Danzinger picked up his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. He knew when he was beaten." Yeah" he grunted and walked out of Devon's tent in to the morning sunshine." But you know something Adair.." he said, as Devon ducked through the tent opening to stand outside with him.
Devon looked at him quizically.
"What Danziger?" she replied,evenly, hands on her hips, the slight breeze ruffling her dark hair.
"Some things *never* change." he announced to her and walked off, leaving Devon to ponder his remark.
"And probably never will" he sighed to himself as he strolled in the direction of his tent.
[ Travelling together on this planet now for 6 months, we've learnt to overcome our own personal fears and suspicions - and grown to trust each other. Live with each other. Depend on each other.
Then the Intermediary ship arrived, bringing more equipment, more vehicles, a handful of technical staff and two doctors. Their job was originally to provide technical and medical back up to the Eden Advance team - but now, they joined us on the trek to New Pacifica.
We had a whole new group of people to learn to trust and depend on. And it wasn't easy. Maybe it was because we'd spent so much time in the company of only each other - maybe it was because we just didn't know who or what to trust on this planet - or maybe it was the knowledge that Reilly and the Council were somewhere watching us - waiting. So it wasn't so surprising when we discovered that our new friends were not all that friendly after all. ]
They had come down in pods since the craft that brought them was not capable of atmospheric level flight. Suddenly, Eden Advance had swelled their numbers by another 15 more members. But, their arrival brought much optimism in the camp. They were able to confirm that the colonists had been headed in the right direction for New Pacifica and add to the small pool of equipment the Eden Advance crew had scavenged from the Cargo they could find. Three more vehicles, medical equipment, spare parts - Morgan especially was overjoyed to discover they had also brought more food, extra sets of GEAR and VR equipment - his VR set somehow didn't quite seem the same after Bess had bartered it to that darned Grendler.
VR didn't seem to be quite so real anymore. But the optimism dissapated quickly and was rapidly replaced by mounting paranoia when Julia made her discovery.
She had been absorbed in her laboratory work testing Grendler saliva and it's pharmaceutical qualities when whooping noise attracted her attention. A check of her chronometer revealed that it was close to 8pm and she was starting to feel the effects of missing dinner, even if it was green, had the consistancy of G889 mud and throughly unappetising.
Alonzo had left her alone for the day. I've got lots of respect for those stinky critters, but that stuff makes me sick, he said turning slightly green and running out of her lab as quickly as he could when she told him what she was working on. She had missed him, missed him trying to constantly seduce her, missed his wide, knowing grin, and the way he looked at her when he sat in her lab. Fascinating as it was, Grendler drool certainly didn't have the same effect on her pulse rate as dark wavy hair and reckless flyboy abandonment did.
Opening the flap, she ducked her head through the opening and emerged in the crisp, clean air of G889. A bunch of people were clustered around the campfire and she made out Devon talking animatedly to some of them.
Her curiosity piqued, she crossed over to the campfire. Devon saw her and called her over.
"Julia, I'm glad you're here. The intermediary ship just arrived with new equipment and I think you'd be pleased to know, two more doctors." she chattered excitedly.
Julia was being introduced to the recently arrived colonists including a Dr Sam McCann when out of the corner of her eye she spotted him, exchanging pleasantries with Danzinger, shaking hands with Walman while Devon stood at his side.
Her heart stopped as she recognised, even in the flickering light of the campfire, the tall blonde doctor with his chiselled features.
What was he doing here?
She saw him notice her and froze. Almost in slow motion he stopped talking to Danzinger and casually sauntered over to her.
"Devon, I don't believe I've been introduced to this lovely lady." he said in a slow voice, full of charm.
Julia stood rooted to the spot as Devon introduced him. Despite her warm windcheater, a chill ran through her.
Fear.
She could hear Devon speaking, but the words didn't register until she heard her own name.
"This is our resident doctor, Julia Heller. Julia, Dr Alex Daniels." He shook her hand and smiled at her. "Julia." he drawled.
"Alex.. ." she was forced to acknowledge him. "Have you two met before?" Devon asked, picking up on the familiar tone in Alex's voice.
"Julia and I went to Medical school together. We were quite well acquainted with each other." he smoothly explained.
"Really?" Devon was genuinely surprised. "You look very different Julia - I didn't recognise you a moment ago." Liar.
"Nothing like your holographic image" she heard him say. "But no less beautiful." he added generously.
She forced a smile, and completely did not notice the raised eyebrows from Devon. A million dark thoughts were running through her head at that moment, and she concentrated on trying to come up with a reply.
"It's not exactly a space station perfectly controlled atmosphere and environment down here. One is apt to tan a little." she returned with more calm that she felt. Julia wasn't someone who panicked and scared easily, she was after all a doctor. But Alex Daniels sent shivers down her spine.
"Have you seen Alonzo?" she asked Devon, anxious to find an excuse to leave before her unease overcame her completely.
"No" replied Devon, "but I'm sure he's around somewhere." she said looking around her, but really dying to ask Julia just exactly how well she knew the handsome Alex.
"I guess I'll just have to find him." she smiled wanely before making her escape, before Devon could think of something else to keep her there. Walking as unhurriedly as she could to not stir suspicion, she headed for the nearest tent.
She ducked inside the tent and tried to calm herself down as the darkness in the tent enveloped her. Questions popped up faster than she could reason out the answers.
Suddenly a pair of hands gripped her shoulders - she gave a yelp and spun round to deliver a blow to the person, who she couldn't see in the darkness.
Only the familiarity of the voice that gave a loud groan as her blow struck his jaw stopped her from striking out again.
"Alonzo!" she gave a cry of relief. Rubbing her knuckles, she bent down in the darkness to help him up. He struggled up heavily and lit the lamp on the ground before staggering over to his bed to sit down.
Rubbing his jaw, he looked up at her with puzzlement. "What did I do?" he asked, his tone that of the little boy wronged. She bent over him to examine his bruise, running her long fingers over his stubbled jaw.
"I'm sorry. I guess I don't know my own strength sometimes." she mumbled as she probed the purple bruise beginning to appear on his jaw.
"Does it hurt?" she asked with concern. "Remind me never to sneak up on you again." he said, gingerly testing his jaw. "Did they give you genes for a killer right hook too?" He winced as she touched the still sore spot.
"Don't tease Alonzo. I honestly thought you were someone else." she replied tersely.
He looked at her with a pained expression. "I don't want to know who." he said as Julia sat down on the end of the camp bed, the dark thoughts and many questions going through her mind that had been forgotten briefly in the melee returned speedily. Alonzo lounged on the bed and watched her, rubbing his sore jaw.
"Something's bothering you doc. I can tell." he said pointedly, when the pain from his jaw had receded and he could muster up a smile.
She looked at him.
"Is psychology part of the fly boy curriculum?" she asked wryly. He sat up and looked at her as she sat on the campbed. He reached out and grasped her hand in his. To his surprise, it was cold and clammy.
"Your hands are cold." he said in a concerned voice. He sensed the tension in her. "Something or someone is bugging you." he probed perceptively. "And it's not that Grendler drool you've been hanging around the whole day." he added jokingly, trying to put her at ease.
She looked down at her boots as they traced a pattern in the dirt. He reached out a hand and gently lifted her face so that she looked him right in the eye.
"Did you know that the tips of your ears turn pink when you're being evasive?" he whispered softly." Tension seems to increase the flow of blood to your ears. I've been doing research of my own doc." he added mischievously, trying to put her at ease.
"You're been hanging around doctors too much." she replied indignantly. Her ears felt curiously hot and she lifted a hand to touch them unconsciously.
"It bugs me that something's bothering you." he said with concern in his brown eyes.
She squeezed his warm hand and smiled wanely at him. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. After all that they had been through, it seemed impossible that she wouldn't trust him with her life. She just needed time to compose her thoughts and calm her nerves. Fear was a entity Julia rarely faced - but today, she felt it's cold powerful presence. Exhaling slowly and holding on to his warm brown hand, she told him
"I think maybe Alex a Council spy." she revealed. Alonzo looked surprised. "How do you.." "Many Council agents are usually from families who have connections to the Council." she explained. "Like me. Alex's father was Council member - a moderate on the Board."
"That's not just it right?" he probed perceptively. "No." she admitted. "Remember what I said about the Council having various dark factions within the organisation?" she started slowly.
He nodded, his dark eyes focused intently on her as she talked. "Alex somehow got involved with the more radical factions in the Council - with people like Blalock. The faction that had no no qualms about liquidating people in pursuit of the cause."
She paused.
"They were ruthless even by Council standards. They do the work other agents won't. Can't." she added, pulling her windbreaker closer as thoughts of their activities unfolded in her mind's eye. Sensing her fear, he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her,holding her close to him.
Julia closed her eyes and tried to calm herself but everytime she closed her eyes, all she saw was Alex. I thought I was over this, she thought to herself as she felt Alonzo's arms tighten around her. That he was gone, out of my life...
Alonzo stroked her hair and held her tight. "I think we should tell Devon this." he said slowly. "If he's a spy and as dangerous as you say he is.."
Julia nodded.
"I'm fine.. I just...." she stopped. Alonzo pulled away a little from her, looking down at her with concern. "What is it?" he said, concerned.
Julia hesitated. She couldn't get the look on his face when he saw her out of her mind. Couldn't help but remember.. .
".. . nothing.. ." she said, trailing off as she stared at the light on the ground.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 2
By Bernice Low

Twenty minutes later, Devon, Danzinger, Walman, Yale and Morgan were huddled in Alonzo's tent, Devon and Danzinger both had grim looks on their faces. Julia looked pre-occupied with her own thoughts. Alonzo looked back and forth between Julia and Devon.
And Morgan?
He was trying to keep his dinner down. "Are you saying Daniels is a Council spy?" he asked Julia nervously. Julia looked up.
"I don't know Morgan. He may not be." "Well.." he spluttered "Can't you make an educated guess?" "I thought you didn't approve of educated guesses Morgan" Julia shot back, reminding Morgan of all the times when he had pointed out to her that educated second guesses weren't good enough for him.
"I can't be sure without asking Reilly." she added quietly. "Can't you tell if he's one of yours?" he asked tactlessly before mumbling 'sorry' when Alonzo stared hard at him.
"Julia's not one of them Morgan." he snapped irritably. "I'm sorry - I know that. It's just that all this talk about the Council and Reilly - I'm telling you - it's making me very nervous. I mean this guy could kill us all in our sleep tonight." he spluttered. "We all know what security around here is like - Walman's always falling asleep on watch." A cold sweat broke out on his brow. His hands felt twitchy and his shirt felt sticky on his back despite the low temperatures outside. Visions of Alex Daniels and near certain death at his hands kept flashing in his mind's eye.
"I told you not to ask him Adair." Danzinger muttered irritably. Morgan looked at him in horror.
"You mean you weren't going to tell me?" he shrieked. Danzinger immediately regretted voicing his thoughts. They probably would have to shoot Morgan to shut him up now.
"He probably wants to kill me - I mean I'm the Level Four Government Liaison - I'm the politician. Oh, I knew there was something about him - what is it they teach you in Medical school these days? Espionage? How could you not tell me?" he raved hysterically.
"Morgan." said Julia through gritted teeth. "He's going to kill me. Oh my god, Bess? What about Bess?.. ." Morgan raked his long hair with his fingers.
Julia reached over to Morgan and grasped him by the shoulders and shook him hard.
"Morgan!" she yelled.
Shocked by the violence of Julia's action, he stopped momentarily. He swallowed hard.
"Yes?"
Julia's blue eyes were icy cold as they stared at him. "Shut up." she said through gritted teeth and dumped him back in his seat. Completely startled by the violence of her actions, Morgan sat there in silence, while Alonzo looked slightly concerned at Julia's reaction. The doctor was normally calm in the face of Morgan's hysterics.
"Devon?" Julia looked to her.
"Are you sure Alex Daniels is who you make him out to be?" she asked with concern.
Julia nodded grimly. "I'm very sure. The question is whether he's been sent out here as an operative and if so, why."
"I say we grab Daniels and ask him." chipped in Danzinger. He was irritated with Morgan's self induced hysteria but even Danzinger couldn't help feeling edgy. If Daniels was true to the description Julia gave them, Danzinger wanted to be as far away as possible from someone trained to do the Council's dirty work.
"He'll talk if he's face to face with the barrel of a Mag-Pro." he added. "We cannot do that John. Not without any evidence." Yale remarked. "Yale's right. I mean what right do we have to hold him prisoner and question him? The guy hasn't done anything to incriminate himself." said Alonzo, who had been quiet so far. He buried his hands in his pockets.
Devon took a deep breath.
"We don't want to give away the fact that we know he's a Council agent." she warned. She had learnt, despite their few encounters with the Council, that the upper hand made all the differance in keeping the Council at bay.
"Adair." Danzinger growled.
Devon held out her hands.
"John, we can't do anything."
"That's easy for you to say, he's not after you." Morgan protested jabbing a twitching finger at Devon." Can't we just lock him up for a little while? Just long enough for us to find out what he really is?" he asked pleadingly.
"No one is after anyone Morgan." Devon said, trying to calm him. "And no one is going to be locked up without reason. Let's just keep what we know under wraps and inform the others to be cautious about talking around the new-comers. And keep the kids away from them."
She looked around to gauge their reactions. "I agree. I think we have to sit this out and wait for Alex to give an indication of some sort before we.." Julia's voice trailed off.
"Do anything." Devon finished for her - both of them remembering how they had voted to leave Julia behind.
"So everybody just stay calm." she said. "We can't just stay calm. You heard Julia, Devon - this guy has no reservations about killing anyone. We're entitled to protect ourselves." Morgan asserted nervously.
"Danzinger, you know what I mean.." Morgan said, looking over to Danzinger for support.
Danzinger shifted on his feet and adjusted the weapon strapped to his waist. "Come on Morgan, I'll walk you back to your tent." he said gruffily. "But we haven't finished discussing..." Morgan started. Danzinger cut him off. "I said let's go." said Danzinger quietly, signalling to everyone that the meeting was now definitely over. He walked over to the tent flap and stood there, waiting expectantly for Morgan, who stood up and moved slowly to the entrance of the tent.
"I'm coming." he muttered as Danzinger threw him an irritated look. "We're all going to die..." he mumbled under his breath." He'll pick us off one by one as we're sleeping..." as he slouched past Danzinger.
"That's enough Martin." growled Danzinger. He firmly propelled Morgan out of the tent before he could utter any more paranoia-inducing remarks.
[Everyone was on edge for the days after that. Camp life became tense. We stopped gathering round the campfire and joking. No one wanted to talk about what they were thinking, feeling. People kept to themselves much more, and stayed in their tents all the time. We were all frightened, and waiting for something to happen to someone - waiting for Daniels to make his move. ]
Bess slipped into the tent that she and Morgan shared to discover her husband under the thermal blanket and from all external evidence, asleep quite soundly. It amazed Bess that Morgan was able to fall asleep so easily despite not having actually done anything other than sit on his butt the whole day and complain - in this case, about his paranoid delusions.
She got ready for bed and turned down the lamp on the ground. Snuggling under the thermal blanket, she huddled close to Morgan and felt him turn around.
"Bess?" Strangely, Morgan didn't sound sleepy at all. "Hmmmmm?" Bess wrapped her arms round his waist and moved closer to him She felt Morgan stiffen up.
"Bess!" Morgan's voice raised ever so slightly and sounded tense. Bess sat up and turned the lamp up slightly. "Morgan - what's wrong?" she asked, just a little bit exasperated with her husband's tone of voice.
Morgan sat up and edged himself away from her slightly. "You haven't given me the code word." he said tightly, his eyes fixed on her. "Morgan what are you talking about?" Bess replied, a frown creasing her brow. She was really not in the mood for Morgan's little paranoid fixations.
"The code word - we talked about it two nights ago." he replied slowly. "Or have you forgotten?" he murmured to himself, and starting to inch even further away from her as his hand reached for the weapon he kept under the pillow.
"I mean how do I know you're really Bess my wife? I know about mind control chips and don't think you can use Bess to get to me.. ."
Before he could reach the gun, he felt the full force of his wife's annoyance in the form of a resounding thump on the face with a pillow.
He stared open mouthed at Bess and felt a premonition of something horrible and nasty. Bess had her Devon-look on - the one reserved for people who managed to really infuriate her.
"Bess - honey - it's really you." he stammered, changing tact quickly. "Morgan."
"Yes dear?" Morgan cowered ever so slightly. "Honey.." she added the deliberate endearment." I know you're worried - after all, you were quite high up in the administration on the space stations, and obviously someone familiar with all the goings ons in government." she began gently.
"Well, there's a lot of valuable information in here." he said, pointing to his head and was about to continue explaining to his wife just how important he was and why he was a prime target for any assasin.
But the survival instinct in Morgan, honed by years of experience in politics told him at this time, shut up and listen was probably the best policy. He cleared his throat and looked at his wife. "You were saying dear."
"Morgan - no one is going to come for you in the night. You're quite safe from assasination honey. Now, why don't you get to sleep.." she pushed him gently down onto the pillow and covered him with the blanket. ".. and forget all this codeword nonsense alright." she cooed gently.
Morgan closed his eyes and let his wife's reassuring words wash over him. "You're right honey. I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I mean what was I thinking.." he hugged Bess closer to him after she switched off the lamp and lay down next to him.
"Bess?"
"Yes Morgan?" came his wife's muffled voice from his side. "When did we get married?"

Danzinger was wiping the oil off his hands on his overalls when he heard the sound of the ATV approaching the campsite. He looked up and saw Walman and Baines pulling up in the vehicle, having left earlier in the day on a scout for water.
"Hey Walman! Baines! Did you find us a supply of water?" he yelled as he approached the two men, who were walking towards the MedTent.
They stopped and waited for Danzinger to walk up and join them. "Definitely - a nice, medium sized stream, a short distance from here. Water looks clean but we're gonna get Julia to check it out first." Walman said.
Danzinger nodded.
"Yeah - you know she's a real stickler about these things." he said with a smile, remembering the last time True had drank from a stream before Julia had checked the water quality. Eventhough the water eventually turned out to be quite drinkable, the lecture Julia handed True on bacteria and germs was enough to make the little girl feel sick.
Baines grinned at Danzinger's remark. "Man - that lecture had me feeling green all day!" he joked as they walked to the MedTent. The sudden swell in medical equipment and doctors meant that Julia's tent could no longer double up as the Medtent, which Danzinger had no doubt thrilled Alonzo to no end. The doctors now worked in an open shelter, sharing the space and equipment. As the three men strolled to the tent, they noticed that only the two male doctors were present.
"Something I can do for you Walman?" Dr Daniels inquired, seeing them standing outside the shelter.
Walman looked at the doctor suspiciously and debated what to say. "We're looking for Julia." Danzinger said neutrally. "Dr Heller hasn't been here all afternoon. I believe she went somewhere with Alonzo." he replied. "Is there a problem?"
Baines exchanged a tense look with Walman, who wondered if perhaps they should consider asking Dr McCann, who sat there, seemingly preoccupied with something green bubbling in a test-tube.
"Well.. ." said Walman uncertainly. He didn't want to be anywhere near this Daniels guy if he could help it. And especially not go out into some lonely spot with him.
"I assure you I'm just as qualified as Dr Heller." Daniels said in a reassuring tone.
"Julia's a little more familiar with the drill doc..." chipped in Danzinger, his voice low.
"I presume it's just a simple water test." he said perceptively. "I heard you speaking to Devon this morning." he explained when he noticed Walman's ill concealed surprise.
To their relief, Julia chose that particular moment to appear at the MedTent, carrying her duffle bag of equipment.
"Julia!" Walman said, a little louder than he wanted. She dropped the bag on the ground and looked at him, surprised by his tone. "We need you to come and check out some water samples." Baines said hastily. Julia looked at them and caught Danzinger's guarded look. She looked at Alex and back at Danzinger again.
"I'll take this one Alex." she said, picking up her bag again and heading out to the vehicle, with Walman and Baines in tow. Danzinger stood at the tent entrance and Daniels and him exchanged looks. Danzinger turned his heel and started to walk back to the vehicles - but he couldn't help but feel Alex's eyes boring into his back as he walked away.

Julia was in her laboratory examining some slides when Alonzo slipped into the tent. She hadn't heard him so when he whispered 'hi' in her ear, she jumped and dropped her slides onto the sandy ground.
"Whoa! Steady doc." he said as he helped her pick up the slides that had fallen onto the ground.
"Damn!" Julia swore. "Look what you've made me do!" she said, yelling at Alonzo.
Alonzo was taken back by the force of anger in her voice and the hostility of her tone. He had first hand experience with an angry Julia, but never on a level like this. It was then that he realised just how much Alex Daniels presence disturbed Julia. It worried him - because he couldn't understand why Julia was so rattled, why she felt such an intense feeling of fear. Surely she knew that he would never let anyone harm her.
She turned to face her work table, breathing deeply, arms crossed - regretting her outburst immediately.
She faced him." I'm sorry Alonzo. That was unfair." He reached for her and pulled her into his arms and hugged her long and hard. Julia closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly round him.
"It's ok Julia." he said soothingly and running his hands up and down her back gently. He held her for a long time in his arms, then drew away a little and looked down at her face. Dark shadows hung under her eyes, betraying sleepless nights and she had a haunted look that made him feel protective and angry.
Angry at the person who was making her feel this way, hurting her this way. Angry at not being able to do anything to calm her fears. And angry that there was nothing they could do about Alex Daniels.
"Better?" he asked softly, his arms still curved around her waist, tightly. She nodded silently.
"You want to tell me about it?" he inquired, trying not to sound too forceful.
She didn't look him in the eye, instead, she looked down to the ground and made no reply.
"Hey.." he tilted her head up gently so that she looked at him. "you know you can tell me anything."
"I.. Alonzo... it's..." she began uncertainly, tortured by the emotional turmoil she was feeling. She looked down again. She couldn't look him in the eye - couldn't tell him the secret that she nursed in her heart.
She buried her face in his shirt and held on tightly to him. She couldn't tell him, not yet. She wasn't ready. Soon, soon she would tell Alonzo - but now, all she wanted to do was cling to him and feel secure in his arms and not have to think about it.
Alonzo held her tightly - sensing her need for security. He would wait for her to tell him, whatever it was that was disturbing her. He had to trust her not to shut him out.
Again.

"It was your fault!" wailed Uly, looking at the container of water that had spilt over when he knocked into it after a particularly rough game of catch with True.
"Was not!"came the denial.
"Was to!"
"Shut up you little brat!"
"No *girl* is going to tell me what to so" "Oh yeah?" True challenged, giving the shorter Uly a push on the chest. That drew an instant response from the fiesty little boy, who pushed the much taller True as hard as he could.
By the time Bess separated them, Uly had a cut from scraping his knee on the sandy ground and True nursed a bloody elbow.
"True! Uly! Stop it now!"she said in her sternest voice. The two children stopped and glared at each other with hostility. "Who started this?" Bess inquired, looking from one sulky child to the other, before glancing round to see if Devon or Danzinger had spotted the two having a push fight in a corner of the camp.
"She did."
"He did."
Bess straightened up and put her hands on the hips. "OK, wrong question." she chided herself.
Looking at the blonde haired little girl "True, I'm going to make a deal with you. If you apologise to Uly, I promise I won't tell your father about this."
Her face fell and she looked down on the ground - the stubborn Danzinger pride at work.
"But he started it!" she protested, before mumbling 'Sorry'. Bess turned to Uly.
"Now young man, you apologise to True. No gentleman would ever push a lady, no matter how provoked."
The little boy put his hand forward." I'm sorry. Are we still friends?" he asked.
True stood there solemnly before reluctantly shaking Uly's hand. "Yeah, I guess so."
"OK, let's go get Julia have a look at those cuts. Come on." said Bess, trying to be cheery. As she walked the children to the Med Tent, she got the feeling that their little tiff had something to the way the everybody else was behaving of late. She looked around the camp - Walman sat hunched on a plastic Eden Advance container, hugging the Mag Pro close to him - he probably fell asleep hugging it at night Bess half suspected. Baines looked unhappily at the equipment in the Communications Tent - probably wondering if he should barrel himself in the TransRover again. Magus was checking the inventory lists, and looking extremely irritated while Danzinger was sullenly tinkering with his beloved vehicles. Only the new Technical support personnel were talking together in a group but they seemed to keep well away from the Eden Advance crew. There was no banter, or good natured grumbling that usually accompanied life on the camp.
People were on edge, irritable and keeping to themselves - and it was affecting the children thought Bess.
She lifted up the plastic flap leading to the Med Tent and let the two kids in before stepping inside herself. Julia had her back to them and was hunting for something inside on of her plastic boxes located under her worktable.
"Julia." the little boy ran up to her. In her haste to respond to the little boy, Julia straightened up, forgetting where she was and banged her head against the underside of her worktable. Wincing and silently swearing, she crawled from under the table, her hand clutching the top of her head.
Case in point, thought Bess. Even Julia seemed extra jumpy these days. "Are you alright?" asked Uly with concern. "I'm fine Uly." she replied, her face still wrinkled up in pain. She noticed Bess and True, and the two kids in their dishevelled condition and noting their scratches.
"What happened?" she asked, looking at Bess. Both True and Uly started to open their mouths, undoubtly to explain their side of the story, but Bess quickly jumped in and stopped them.
"It's a long story Julia - I'll tell you about it sometime." she said firmly, looking at the blonde doctor meaningfully.
"Yeah.." Julia nodded, understanding. She sat on her stool and turned to Uly.
"OK Uly - let's have a look at that knee then."
It took Julia just a few minutes to clean up their scrapes and send them on their way.
"Race you to the vehicles Uly!" challenged True and started running. Uly sprang off the box he was sitting on and was out of the tent screaming after True.
Julia shook her head, marvelling at how quickly they forgot their differances. "Kids." she said, smiling at Bess, her palms resting on her knees as she sat on her stool." You're very good with those two." she said softly to Bess.
Bess, who was sitting on one of Julia's supply boxes, smiled and bowed her head in modesty.
"I've had a lot of practice over the years." she said. They both laughed out loud as Julia realised what, or rather who Bess was referring to.
Morgan.
Julia smiled to herself. It was good to be able to laugh again. The last few days, she had felt herself weighed down by the burden of her secret - too much a reminiscence of the times when she hid her identity as a Council agent from the group. The arrival of the Intermediary ship, and specifically Alex Daniels, cast a cloud of gloom over the group.
Julia shook her head." How do you put up with him?" she asked, half curious, half admiring how Bess managed to tolerate, much less fall in love with Morgan." Morgan's..." Julia struggled for the right words, trying her best to be tactful." You... You're both so..."
"Different?" Bess finished the sentence. Julia shrugged and smiled wanely.
"I suppose the same way you and Alonzo have overcome your differances." Bess stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe. "Morgan absolutely infuriated my father, and sometimes, he really manages to infuriate me."
Julia leaned back against her worktable and listened intently. "But when you love someone, you love everything about them. Don't ask me how but Morgan can be endearing even when he is a complete and utter pain." she said smiling.
"When I met him, he was utterly charming and.. well.. so handsome to me." Like Alex, thought Julia. Her mind turned back to the first moment they met. "I was extremely flattered by the attention he paid to me.." So was I, thought Julia bitterly.
"He swept me off my feet. My father was convinced Morgan was just a smooth talking politician and worse yet, a slimeball lawyer with eyes for his little girl. He thought Morgan had a face only a mother could love." A warm smile played over her lips as she thought back to that day when her father first met Morgan.
"But I knew that behind all that, Morgan, no matter what he did, had a sense of right and wrong in him and that he was a good man and someone I was happy to spend the rest of my life with." she finished.
Bess looked at the young doctor, who now was seemingly pre-occupied G889 dirt, and sensed there was something in the air, something unspoken that was just waiting to be said. She watched Julia deep in thought from her position on the supply crates, that uncanny sense of intuition in her telling her to stick around.
"Bess, have you ever lied to Morgan?" Julia asked suddenly. Bess tried not to look too surprised - uh-uh, this she wasn't expecting. "Weeeeelllllll..." Bess stalled for time, trying to think how she could best answer Julia's question.
"Not really lied." she tried.
The doctor's blue eyes focused intently on Bess, waiting for the rest of her reply.
Owch, Bess winced inwardly - not the right answer there. "More like been... errr... careful with the truth." she said uncertainly. Julia looked puzzled, a frown creasing her brow as she tried to reason out Bess' answer." So you have?" she asked, looking at Bess pointedly.
"No!" Bess replied, a little more sharply than she liked, then decided it was pointless to pussyfoot around.
"There have been times when I've withheld stuff from Morgan. But never to deceive him or hurt him in any way." she asserted. "But you know, I've found that sometimes honesty is the best policy. Keeping secrets bottled up inside only hurts you and the person you're keeping them from. It's a hard thing to do and it gets to a point where you don't know who you're lying to anymore." she added almost knowingly, looking at Julia.
Julia looked down again but not before Bess caught the expression on her face - a very confused and uncertain Julia. And Bess didn't have to know a lot to guess that this had something to do with Alonzo.
Bess stood up from her make shift seat and went over to the doctor who was deep in thought. She gently put her hand on Julia's shoulder.
"It's not so bad to have someone you can trust Julia.. ." she said, echoing the words she had said to Julia not so long ago.
Julia looked up, the message registering in her mind. But before either woman could say another word, they were distracted by loud shouting coming from outside the Med Tent. Exchanging concerned expressions, they both made for the tent exit, emerging in the bright sunlight to see Danzinger, Baines and Walman trying to break up a fight that had broken out amongst the newly arrived Tech personnel.
Julia, anticipating bruises and broken bones, ducked back quickly into her tent and emerged with her bag, before jogging over to the band of men gathered in the centre of the camp.
Baines and Walman had managed to restrain the two trouble-makers and Danzinger stood between the two of them. Julia pushed her way through the crowd of Techs and was horrified to see Walman trying to restrain a visibly enraged Alonzo from attacking a six foot two, dark haired mechanic, who was being held back by Baines and another man and who seemed equally determined to beat Alonzo to a pulp.
"Back off Jameson." Danzinger barked to the dark haired mechanic. "Hey man, I don't have to take orders from you." spat Jameson. "You do now." Danzinger said firmly. "So back off." Baines released his hold on the mechanic, who brushed his overalls, glaring at Alonzo.
Danzinger moved to Alonzo and firmly grasped him on by the shoulder. "Come on buddy - let's go." he said calmly, urging Alonzo to move back. Julia emerged from the crowd and quickly checked Jameson, who looked fine except for a bloodied nose, no doubt the handiwork of Alonzo. He stalked off before she could treat his nose.
"What happened here?" she asked Alonzo as she neared where he stood, flanked by Danzinger and Walman. "Are you alright?" she asked him with concern.
"I'm fine." he mumbled as she gently examined his face. "Are you sure?" she persisted.
"I'm fine!" he snapped and stomped off wordlessly. Julia turned to Danzinger and Walman but neither could provide an explaination - the fight had already been in progress when they arrived.
"I don't like this" mumbled Danzinger. "Things are getting real nasty around here."
"Yeah." piped in Walman.
Julia nodded. The fear and paranoia was driving them all crazy and turning them against each other.
"We've got to do something about this before it rips the camp apart." Danzinger declared firmly.
"John.. ." Julia wanted to caution him against acting too quickly against Alex.
"We can't put it off any longer Julia.. ." he said, watching the retreating figure of Alonzo.
"Soon. Real soon."

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 3
By Bernice Low

"Move over Martin - you're blocking the entrance. Whaddaya doing here anyway?" Danzinger growled, giving Morgan a little nudge with his foot as he entered Devon's tent. Morgan scrambled out of the grumpy mechanic's way like a frightened rabbit - oohh, he hated it when Danzinger was in one of his mean moods.
Julia and Alonzo were already there - though Danzinger got the feeling his friend was going to be pitching his own tent for a while. The temperature between the the two of them seemed to have dropped to sub zero level, with Julia clearly giving Alonzo the cold shoulder.
Women, scoffed Danzinger to himself. They never understood that a man couldn't just walk away from a fight. A man's got to do what a man's got to do, reasoned Danzinger. He didn't know why Alonzo had got into a fight with Jameson, but Danzinger understood that Alonzo had to hit back. Men don't stalk away, sulk and bitch like women do. They get it resolved then and there. Out in the open. OK, so it's primitive, barbaric, neanderthal, whatever - but it works.
He made a mental note to query Alonzo about that fight later. Danzinger wondered why Devon had bothered to call Martin. The man was a paranoid nut at best and a whining, whinging moaner and trouble-maker at worse. He turned his attention to Devon, who was sitting on her cot in the corner of the tent.
"Adair, we've got to do something about this Daniels situation. It's tearing the camp apart." he said, getting straight to the point.
"I know." Devon said - she had emerged from her tent just as the fight was being stopped. "Bess told me it's getting to the kids as well." she added.
And not just the kids alone, thought Devon as she spotted Julia throwing a icy look in the direction of Alonzo.
"There must be something, someway we can do something. I can't sleep at night for god's sakes." Morgan complained.
Danzinger shot Devon an 'I told you not to ask him' look. "Julia? Has Alex given away anything?" Devon asked the doctor, trying to ignore Danzinger's scowl for the moment. Damn it - did he have to pick on every little thing and be so difficult to work with? Men. Why did they have to pick a fight with everything?
Julia shrugged her shoulders.
"Nothing. It's almost as if he knows we know." "Maybe he does! Can't you see? He'll get us to do his dirty work for him!" Morgan said nervously." Drive us crazy with suspicion and make us turn on one another!"
"Gimme a break Martin huh?" Danzinger said dryly. Morgan and his paranoid delusions were really getting on his nerves.
"Maybe it's time we talked to Reilly." Julia suggested quietly, looking at Devon.
The three men looked at her in surprise. "What makes you think he'll talk to us?" Morgan asked, looking at Julia. "Julia.. no.." Alonzo added, looking at her with concern, because he knew that Julia would insist on speaking to Reilly personally.
"Alonzo's right - Julia, there must be another way around this." Devon said, looking at the doctor.
"She's right - we have to talk to Reilly." Danzinger asserted. "Danzinger..." Devon looked at him in surprise. "You think of a better way Adair?" he challenged. "Have you seen what it's like out there? People are frightened, we all are. And it's making all of us nuts." Danzinger near shouted.
She knew in her heart that Danzinger and Julia were right. Reilly offered at least some hope of confirming their fears.
"But we don't know if Alex is working with Reilly." chipped in Morgan. "Talking to Reilly might just tip him off."
"If it does, then we'll know for sure right?" Alonzo added optimistically. "Hold on a minute - even if we agreed to talk to Reilly, how are we going to contact him?" asked Devon, reminding them that Julia's transmitter was now buried somewhere in the sands of G889.
"It shouldn't be too difficult to rig up a micro-transmitter from the new stuff the Tech crew have brought. I'm pretty sure we could come up with something that would enable us to contact Reilly." Danzinger replied.
"What about our location? We don't want Reilly being able to track us." Devon asked.
"I'll contact him well away from the camp and move immediately." Julia supplied. "Besides, if Alex is working for Reilly, it wouldn't matter. He would already know where we are." she said, looking at Devon pointedly.
Devon was forced to acknowledge that Julia had a point there.
He would already know.
Devon found the thought to be a frightening one but she tried to put it out of her mind. She knew they've have to face off the Council eventually - she just wished that it wasn't happening so soon.
"OK." Devon gave her approval slowly. "I want you to contact Reilly on audio only Julia - no VR if you can help it. And I'll come with you." Devon insisted.
"Danzinger - how soon can you throw together that transmitter for us?" she asked, her mind already swinging into action to put their plan into operation.
"Take me a while, but I can have it ready for you by noon tomorrow." he said confidently.
"OK - while Julia and I are trying to contact Reilly, you'll supervise the packing here. I want us to be ready to move out as soon as Julia and I are back." Devon rattled off the instructions rapidly.
"Is *he* coming as well?" Morgan looked at Devon almost hopefully. He still held on to the possibility that Devon might be persuaded into accepting that was just so much much easier to just dump Daniels in the nearest Grendler pit and leave him there. At least Morgan would be able to sleep at night in peace.
Devon hesitated. She knew that Morgan, and most of the Eden Advance crew were thinking the same thing.
Let's just leave this problem behind and move on.
But they couldn't.
Devon couldn't help being haunted by the mistake they had made with Julia.
You're not God here.
The words rang in her ears.
Devon knew that she couldn't do it. No matter how frightened she herself felt, she knew that she could not allow the paranoia of the majority terrorise her into making that decision once again.
As if he was tuned into her thoughts, Danzinger caught her eye. "He's coming Martin. But only until we find out what's going on." he said slowly.

The next morning, Devon casually informed all the members of the camp that they were breaking camp. Leaving Danzinger to supervise the packing, she and Julia made for the Rail on the pretext of scouting the route ahead. Instead, they would ride 20 kilometres away from the camp in a random direction to try and contact Reilly.
As they walked towards the Rail, Alonzo caught up with them. "I'm coming." he declared simply to the two women. Devon looked at Julia, who simply shrugged her approval and continued towards the vehicles. Devon glanced at the dark haired pilot - word had got round camp about their little tiff - and from where Devon stood, it looked like Alonzo had found the proverbial night on the couch, or in this case, his own tent, not to his liking.
"Julia!" Devon called to the doctor. Julia turned round in mid-step to look at Devon. "I've forgot my GEAR - give me five minutes ok?" she said to the doctor and trotted off in the direction of the communications tent, before Julia could raise a protest.
Adair, you're going soft, she said to herself, shaking her head. She snuck a look to see if Alonzo had taken the hint.
She saw the pilot jogging towards where Julia sat in the Rail silently. Just then, she spotted Danzinger coming towards the Rail, a scowl plastered on his face. She quickened her pace to intercept him.
"Adair - what are you still doing here?" he demanded, as she came up to him. "I forgot my GEAR."
Danzinger looked at her with a puzzled expression, his eyes straying to the GEAR unit clipped onto Devon's belt.
"Adair?" he queried, pointing at her waist. "You've got it right there." He looked up past Devon and saw Alonzo talking to Julia, and felt Devon's hand on his arm, tugging him away.
"John, walk me to the Comm tent will you?" she said, casting a backward glance at Julia and Alonzo, while dragging Danzinger by the arm.
"Jeez Adair, isn't it bad enough there's one matchmaker in the camp?" he grumbled, letting Devon lead him away. "Solace better be quick about it." he muttered under his breath as he walked away.

"Devon!" Julia called to the rapidly retreating figure of Devon and frowned. They were wasting time. She could have sworn she saw the GEAR unit clipped to Devon's belt as they were walking to the vehicle.
She climbed into the DuneRail to wait for Devon as Alonzo ambled over. "Is it safe to come near?" he asked, standing a respectful distance. Julia fumed inwardly as she realised why Devon had suddenly decided to forget her GEAR unit.
Alonzo moved nearer and circled the Rail to hop into the driver's seat next to Julia, who paid no attention to him and continued to look straight ahead towards the mountains the Rail faced.
"I'm sorry about what I did yesterday." he said simply. He reached over and covered her hand with his, willing her to look his way. "I didn't mean to yell at you." he added softly.
But Julia still resolutely stared straight ahead, her head held high. "Why did you hit him?" she asked, still refusing to look at him. "He said some nasty things about you. I had to defend your honour" he said in a serious tone.
"What things?" she found herself turning to him and asking, out of curiosity.
"Unrepeatable things." he murmured in her ear as he inched closer to her. Alonzo didn't want to repeat back to Julia exactly what Jameson had said that so incensed him - no, Jameson had received what he deserved and as far as Alonzo was concerned, he felt no repentance for the punch he had thrown.
What he did feel terrible about was shouting at Julia. He hadn't meant to but he had been angry, angry at what Jameson had said, hurt by the confidence in Jameson's voice.
He pushed the incident from his mind and concentrated on Julia. "Kiss and make up?" he asked teasingly, his lips getting closer all the time to hers. His lips touched hers gently and Julia found it increasingly hard to stay mad at him.
I suppose he's had his punishment, she thought. One night of sharing a tent with Walman [who was notorious for grinding his teeth in his sleep] was enough to turn anyone back onto the straight and narrow.
"Don't think for a moment that this means you'll get away with being flip with your doctor..." she murmured and kissed him back, her fingers tangling through his silky dark hair as he leaned closer to her, only to hear him wince in pain.
Pulling back, she saw him clutch his side. "Alonzo?" she said, her voice heavy with concern. She gently rested her hand on his chest as he recovered from the stabbing pain.
"It's ok. I guess I did take a bit of a beating yesterday." he conceded with a weak smile, as he relaxed his grip on his side.
He leaned over to kiss her again, staying clear of the DuneRail's gearshift which had prodded him where Jameson's elbow had landed in the fight.
"A small price to be back in your good books again Doc." he murmured. "Ready to go you guys?" a familiar voice interrupted. Alonzo looked up to see Devon standing next to the DuneRail watching them both with a raised eyebrow. He grinned and slowly leaned back over to his own side of the Rail,
Resting his foot on the Rail's accelerator, he leaned back into the driver's seat and nodded. Devon climbed into the Rail.
"Ready?" he asked Julia. She nodded. He turned to Devon to see if she was settled in the seat. 'You owe me big time' Devon mouthed to him jokingly and he winked back at her and smiled broadly.
As Alonzo pulled out of the camp, Julia twisted round in her seat to look at Devon, who simply looked innocently back at Julia when their eyes met. Smiling, she shook her head and turned her attention back to the terrain before them.

"We've just about hit 20 clicks" said Alonzo, looking at Devon over his shoulder as the DuneRail skidded to a stop on the sandy ground.
Devon and Julia stepped out of the rail and surveyed the area. They were in dessert like terrain, with a few lone cacti scattered around.
"Julia?"
"Let's do it." she said firmly.
She fixed the transmitter to her GEAR unit and pulled it over her head. When she was sure she had it on the right frequency, she began speaking.
"Reilly. Are you there?" Julia listened intently through the ear piece for any response from the Councilman. But all she received as static.
Devon, who was tuned into the same frequency shook her head. "Julia, are you sure you've got the right bandwidth?" she asked. Julia nodded affirmatively.
"He's there Devon. I know he is. Reilly talk to me, I know you're there." For the next ten minutes, Julia repeated her message while Devon and Alonzo scanned different frequencies for any signal from Reilly.
All they got was static and more static - and Alonzo finally suggested that they give up and head back to camp.
"Devon - Reilly can hear us." said Julia firmly. "He could be trying to trace us via the audio signal." Devon said with concern as she removed her GEAR.
"He's not responding Julia - and we should get out of here soon." Alonzo said firmly.
"Because he wants to me to go into VR." Julia explained." Devon - let me at least try to contact him through VR."
Devon hesitated.
She had wanted to spare Julia of a face to face confrontation with Reilly and even though she knew that no harm could become of Julia in VR, Devon could imagine what Reilly would say to her.
Traitor.
You betrayed our trust.
The very same thoughts that had run through everyone's minds when they discovered Julia's secret identity.
Devon nodded reluctantly. Replacing her own GEAR unit over her head, she nodded to signal to Julia to enter VR while she and Alonzo eavesdropped on audio.
Slotting in the additional eyepiece, Julia reached up and altered the setting on the GEAR unit to enter VR.
The familiar sensations of VR hit her senses and she soon found herself standing in the same grey room where she had conducted her clandestine meetings with Reilly. Only this time, the room was empty.
No Reilly standing there, arms crossed, waiting to greet her and interrogate her on her activities - no waiting Watcher in the shadows.
"Reilly!" she called out.
Rrrrr-eeeeiii-llllyy... iiiiilllyyyy... The sound of her own voice echoed through the empty space. "Heller..."
Julia jumped at the sound of Reilly's voice and spun round to see Reilly standing behind her, arms crossed over his chest as always, just as if he had been expecting her all along.
"Heller... Heller... ." Reilly tsked "You never used to be so jumpy." He paced the room, circling her slowly, eyes never moving from her. "Did Adair trust you to keep your transmitter?" he asked sarcastically. "I forgot, they're *your* friends now, your family did you say?"
"Where are your little friends anyway? They seemed quite happy to join the party the last time." Reilly looked around the room. "Perhaps they're just eavesdropping on the audio channel." he said with casual precision.
Reilly shook his head mockingly. "Sneakiness does not become of you Heller. After all, we have no secrets here..." He waggled his finger disapprovingly at Julia.
"So what brings you running back to me? No, let me guess..." Reilly pretended to stare into space, as if deep in thought, fingers stroking his chin. "Run into another unstoppable killling machine? The natives turning nasty on you? Some virus you can't deal with Dr Heller? Problems with your personal relationships? - tell Uncle Reilly ..." Reilly stopped in front of Julia, looking her in the eye as he goaded her.
"We need some information from you Reilly." Julia was forced to conceded. "I need you to confirm the identity of someone who travelled on the intermediary ship." Julia asked as calmly as she could. She clenched her fists by her side, willing herself to stay cool.
"Confirm the identity of someone... ." Reilly mumbled to himself and nodded. "Did the Council send Alex Daniels as another spy? Someone in addition to myself to monitor Eden Project?" Julia asked, getting straight to the point. She saw no reason to dally with Reilly, eventhough she knew that the hidden implication of her question was that the Council had not trusted her as their spy.
"Ahhh - Citizen Daniels. Another of our born and bred Patriots of the Council. If my memory serves me, a good friend of yours Heller." Reilly looked at Julia, all wide eyed innocence.
"If he one of yours Reilly?" Julia said, rapidly changing the subject - she knew that both Devon and Alonzo were listening on the audio channel to their conversation.
"Don't get impatient with me Heller" Reilly warned "Or you'll be looking for another VR partner... ."
Julia gritted her teeth.
"Remember - you need me for this Heller. So we play my games or we don't play at all - you understand?" he said, his voice raising, betraying the anger he had been holding back.
Julia said nothing. She knew Reilly was using this opportunity to get back at her for her betrayal. In the past, it was he who was dependent on her - for information and details of Eden Project. Now, their positions were reversed and Reilly was once again, in control of her. But she willed herself to hold her ground.
"What makes you think I'll help you hmm?" he asked her outright. "Have you forgotten your treachery Heller?" Reilly walked around Julia, his eyes never leaving her.
"How you betrayed me? Betrayed the Council? Adair and her little band may have forgiven you, but the Council hasn't." His steel grey eyes bored into Julia
"And *I* haven't..." he added softly. "Was it Adair, Heller? Did she put those ideas into your head? Convinced you that what you did was the right thing?" Reilly questioned, his tone accusing.
"I chose to make that decision Reilly." Julia defended, trying to hold her anger in check." The Council isn't interested in resettlement here. It wants power and control. It wants to rule this planet like it controls life on the stations. I won't help you do that - I won't help you control these people like you, like the Council controlled me!"Julia said, her voice raising slightly, her blue eyes full of determination.
"The Council owns you Heller - make no mistake about that." He watched her reaction." Everything you are, is because of us. Every last cell in your body belongs to the Council. We can break you just as easily as we made you." he snarled.
"Dammit Reilly - we could go on forever about this. Will you help us or not? Because I don't need this Reilly... ." Julia snapped.
Silence.
Julia took a deep breath as she fought to control her feelings. Reilly abruptly turned around and stood, his back to her, his hands linked behind his back - as if he was thinking, pondering his next move.
"The answer you are looking for is no." he stated simply when he turned around once again to face her, calm and collected.
"Daniels isn't here to spy on us?" Julia asked tersely. She found it hard to believe that Reilly would give up the information so readily and she found his sudden coolness unnerving.
"Citizen Daniels to my knowledge has no involvement with Eden Project." Reilly confirmed.
"Then why is he here?" Julia wondered aloud. "You of all people should know Heller... ." answered Reilly cryptically, regarding her with a raised eyebrow.
"Wha... ."
"Goodbye Heller..." Reilly said softly and abruptly vanished in a flash of light.
Damn, thought Julia, as she yanked off the GEAR unit. "What did he mean Julia?" asked Devon immediately, her dark eyes turning to the doctor as she and Alonzo pulled of their GEAR sets. But Julia seemed to be deep in thought.
Julia crouched down on her knees, the GEAR unit resting gently between her fingers as she pondered Reilly's cryptic statement about Alex.
"I don't know Devon..." she said absent-mindedly, eyes focused on the grainy ground, looking intently at the fine light sand, her mind a million miles away.
Drifting back through time, sifting through the memories buried deep down inside - memories she wanted to just banish from her mind...to never remember.
Yet every detail seemed committed to her memory, with intense clarity. The blonde hair, so like her own which shone in the artificial light of the stations, never a strand out of place. The piercing blue eyes - the brilliant mind, the sharp wit. The looks that made him the best looking senior medical student. The attraction between them...
The things drew them together - skewed chromosomes, a mutual love of doughnuts - she remembered the joke about how their chromosomes must have been skewed by the same icing sugar dusted hands.
A mutual destiny - to serve the Council.
She remembered how flattered she was that he had shown an interest in her, how approving her mother was when she discovered who Julia was spending her time with.
Then she remembered the fear she felt when she learned the truth about him. Who he really was.
What he really did.
How he... .
"Julia?"
Alonzo's voice brought her back to present and she saw him crouched down in front of her, looking at her with concern.
"Are you ok?" he asked tenderly. He had heard the entire conversation - heard Reilly deriding her, goading, provoaking - and he had wanted to go into VR and be there with her.
Actually, what he had really wanted to do was give Reilly a good beating. "Hmmmm?" Julia looked up and squinted against the glare of the sunshine. Alonzo reached out and grasped her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. She gave him a weak smile. She straightened up and faced Devon.
"Do you believe him?"
Devon looked at Julia, then Alonzo. She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know Julia. Reilly has every reason to lie." "Guess that doesn't bring us any closer to the truth." chipped in Alonzo. "I know." Devon said, a slight tone of frustration in her voice. She pulled back on her GEAR and contacted the camp.
"Adair to Danzinger."
"Danzinger here - what's the news Adair?" came the gruff tone of the mechanic.
"Well, the good news is Reilly says Daniels isn't a spy. The bad news is, we don't know if he's lying." Devon said, trying to sound optimistic.
"Great - looks like we're back to square one." Danzinger grimaced, one blue eye watching Alex Daniels carrying some equipment across to the Trans-Rover. "You guys headed back now?"
"Yeah - we're on our way. Adair out." Devon removed her GEAR set and sighed. Every warning bell in her head was pealing at top volume, screaming 'DANGER!' - every instinct told her that Reilly was lying, had to be lying.
She climbed into the DuneRail and stared at her two companions. "We don't have a choice do we?" she posed the question to Julia and Alonzo. "There are just too many ifs Devon." Alonzo said, looking at Devon, his expressions serious.
Devon nodded as she stared out to the horizon as Alonzo started the DuneRail and headed for the camp.

"Citizen - it's good to see you. Had a pleasant journey from Earth I trust?" Reilly was all smiles, all politeness. "So good of you to check in on time."
"I am here to serve the Council." came the reply. "Ahhhhh... . It's so refreshing to be able to work with someone who has a sense of priorities." Reilly chuckled approvingly. "Welcome to G889 Citizen"
The young man, who stood in the shadows of the room inclined his head slightly, acknowledging the Councilman's welcome.
"There's been a change in your duties Citizen." Reilly said, as he paced the room slowly. "You will continue to monitor Eden Project and keep me informed of their progress or any further contact with the Terrians. The boy of course continues to be of interest to us and you will continue to observe him and his behavior and interactions with the natives. However, your priority shall be to bring Citizen Heller to justice for her betrayal of the Council."
Reilly cross his arms over his chest. "Citizen Heller is now a traitor to the Council. She must be dealt with as befitting a traitor. I trust Citizen you are aware of the circumstances surrounding her traitorous actions." he said, looking at the figure in the shadows of the room.
"I am."
"Then you agree with me that such actions cannot be left unpunished by the Council. It would jeopardise our entire system of operations. Justice must be done." Reilly said, studying his new VR partner intently.
"Good - I'm glad we understand each other" Reilly beamed, at the nod of agreement." I am sure you are familiar with the penalty for treason - and I hope Citizen that you're not too squimish when it comes to such matters. I would hate to be disappointed. Again." Reilly emphasised the last word.
"My loyalty to the Council is absolute and without compromise Reilly." came the reassurance. "Heller will be dealt with as demanded by the rules."
"Excellent Citizen - Your personal record with the Council is exemplary and I have full faith in your abilities to bring Heller to me to be dealt with." Reilly said with confidence.
"I'll be in touch." came the reply as the stranger vanished in a flash of light.
Reilly stood alone in the room as he contemplated the orders he had just issued.
"You'll die running Heller - I'll make sure of that."

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 4
By Bernice Low

Hope it's going OK so far everybody... . as for the title... . trust me, I couldn't think of anything else...just call me the 'Untitled' One... B.
Comments as usual to drteong@pc.jaring.my

[So we travelled on to New Pacifica with this man we knew so little about, yet who had managed without much effort to spread such disharmony in our group. We all remained cautious - for Reilly's words never really could be taken as the truth - but it was hard to stay guarded when there was no visible danger from Daniels. Even Morgan managed to sleep at night without ranting about visions of assasination. But I couldn't shake this feeling that there was still something about him, that bothered Julia. Something she wasn't telling me. ]
Alonzo stretched under the cool shade of a tree and leaned his head back against the tree trunk as he cast a lazy eye around the camp. They had decided to rest for a few days and set up camp by the river and in an area with generous foliage and trees to provide shade from the searing heat of the day. It seemed like the rough rocks and boulders they had been trekking through for the last week was coming to an end and Danzinger had insisted they stop to give the vehicles time to recharge and be repaired.
The afternoon heat drove the colonists to the shelter of their tents and even Danzinger declared it was too hot to work. Alonzo found himself relaxing and growing drowsy under the comfortable shade of the tree.
He turned to look over at the Medtent, where Julia was still plugging away at her work. From where he was lounging, he could make out her slight figure, back to him talking animatedly to that other doctor... Alonzo racked his brain to remember his name.
Sam... .
Sam McCann - that was it.
The slightly geekish looking one who reminded Alonzo of the classic schoolroom nerd. McCann was tall, clumsy and bespectacled, with a shock of brown hair that seemed to constantly flop over his eyes.
Alonzo had also noticed more than once that he often stared at Julia with look of puppy-eyed adoration when she talked to him, or when they were discussing their work.
Jealous? Nah...
He knew Julia never noticed these things, especially where work was concerned. If she could ignore the Solace smile that made women swoon across the galaxies, she's make short work of McCann's drippy grins.
He stifled a yawn and wished that Julia took life a little more easy. He understood that science was her passion and it had crossed his mind that perhaps she did find test-tubes and zig-zagging lines on a monitor more fascinating than she found him, but sometimes, he sensed that Julia threw herself into her work because she felt lost without it; because she needed it to keep her sense of who she was.
Alonzo promised himself that one of these days, he'd teach Julia the art of doing nothing. That would be a fun thing to do on a hot afternoon he thought - teaching Julia to relax. His mind started wandering as his eyelids drooped.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a tall figure striding to the MedTent. The neat blonde hair shook Alonzo out of his drowsiness and he sat up straighter, watching Alex Daniels stop in front of Julia and McCann.
Alonzo didn't trust Daniels, especially when he was around Julia. He sensed Julia's nervousness around him and saw it in her behavior, the unease present whenever she was close to him or in the same room. And he didn't like the way Daniels looked at Julia with those intense blue eyes and how they seemed to always be watching her.
He watched them talking - animatedly, intently - and felt just a little envious. Envious at how Daniels, and even McCann - that nerd - could get her full attention so quickly and how easy Julia found it to relate to them.
What's the matter Solace? You feeling a little insecure? asked a little voice in his head.
Alonzo briefly took his attention away from the three doctors and looked at the ground. His fingers grasped a fistful of soft dirt and he let the sand fall through his fingers as his thoughts turned back to the incident with Jameson.
"Number Seven for your thoughts?"
A deep voice interrupted his reverie and he looked up to see Danzinger towering above him.
"Looks like a pretty comfortable spot for a lie down Solace. Care to share it?" he asked. At Alonzo's nod, he settled down next to the pilot and leaned his head back against the broad trunk of the tree.
"You don't trust him do you?" he asked lazily, his eyes closing as he relaxed under the shade.
"Who?"
"Don't pussyfoot with me Solace. You know who. Daniels." answered Danzinger, his eyes still closed and settling into a more comfortable position against the tree.
"What about you?" Alonzo asked, looking over his shoulder at Danzinger. "Nope. But it's probably because I'm naturally paranoid." came the reply. Alonzo looked at Danzinger, who looked completely relaxed with his arms gently resting across his chest and his eyes closed, leaning against the tree trunk.
Alonzo smiled to himself and traced random patterns in the sand with his finger.
"So, why'd you hit Jameson?" came the next question. Alonzo squinted and looked back at the MedTent where the three doctors were still engaged in an intense discussion.
"I know a green-eyed monster when I see one Solace." Danzinger said, in a half asleep tone when Alonzo made no effort to answer.
"Yeah - it takes one to know one." muttered Alonzo under his breath and he turned his attention to Julia.
"Tech guys tell me it was something he said about Julia." Danzinger prodded gently and he stretched his muscles before settling back into his comfortable position under the shade.
Alonzo said nothing.
"And Daniels." he added and opened one eye to watch Alonzo's reaction. The pilot sighed and leaned back against the tree trunk. "Jameson said the Tech guys were taking bets on how long before Daniels and Julia..." his voice trailed off. Jameson's confident voice rang in his ears, the words mocking him. His jaw tightened and his fists clenched, grasping handfuls of sand, as the words played back over and over in his head. He looked up at the leaves, gently rustling as the breeze blew.
Danzinger opened his eyes and sat up, looking at Alonzo. "You insecure Solace?" he asked matter-a-factly. He pulled his knees to his chest, wrapping his muscular arms around them as he looked at Alonzo, one eyebrow raised.
"I wish Julia would tell me what it was about Daniels that bugs her." he replied, evading the question, his attention focused on the the sand falling through his fingers.
"You're insecure." Danzinger said answering his own question. He turned his attention to the MedTent and the three figures standing under the shade. He looked at Alonzo.
"The way he looks at her - the way she gets nervous when he talks to her, stands too close to her, like she's afraid of him...there's something between them that I don't know about..." Alonzo rambled, his thoughts tumbling out.
"Definitely insecure." Danzinger said dryly looking at Alonzo, slapping him on the shoulder several times.
"I'm telling you Danzinger it's not just my imagination." he said in a frustrated tone. He turned his attention back to Julia.
"OK...OK I... hey where are you going... . ???" Danzinger saw Alonzo spring up and dash in the direction towards the MedTent. He quickly focused his attention on the MedTent and saw Julia and Alex Daniels getting into what was looking like an increasingly heated debate.
"Oh man, I'm getting too old for this." Danzinger groaned as he sprang to his feet and tore after Alonzo.

"Alex - I don't think that's a good idea at all." Julia argued firmly. "A geolock sample would give us a better idea of what is it about this planet that allows the Terrians to sink into the ground." Daniels asserted.
"We know that has to do with Terrian DNA Alex." Julia stated pointblank. "All your research has been based on the DNA but not on the soil or rocks on the planet Dr Heller. I think it's a valid basis for scientific study. You've conducted tests only on the surface topsoil..."
"If I may say so, I think Dr Daniels has a point there Dr Heller. Soil tests will at least confirm your theory that it is Terrian DNA which facilitates the Terrian's sinking into the Earth itself." chipped in McCann rather nervously.
Julia openly glared at the bespectacled doctor. "I'm a doctor, not a geologist. The geolock has the potential to endanger the Terrians and I'm not prepared to use it again."
Alex took a step closer to her.
"It's in our interests to retrieve a sample - think of the everything we could learn - mineral exploitation, agriculture... ." his voice raised.
"We're here to colonise Dr Heller - not pander to the natives." he added in a menacing tone of voice as his blue eyes focused intently on Julia. He grasped Julia by the shoulders "A geolock sample could reveal all kinds of secrets about this planet Dr Heller - your decision not to proceed impedes any scientific progress we can make here. And you know very well that progress demands risk and sacrifice."
Risk.
Sacrifice.
Julia squirmed at the sound of those words - echoing Reilly's instructions as he urged her to experiment on Uly. Doubt crept into her mind once again - was Reilly lying to her? Was Alex really there to spy on her? To spy on the colonists? She stared into the blue eyes that were focused on her and felt a quiver run through her. They were cold and unyielding, and his grip on her shoulders seem to tighten. Despite the heat of the day, Julia found herself shivering under Alex's relentless stare.
"Get your hands off her."
Julia looked up to see Alonzo standing two feet away, his fists clenched, staring hard at Alex. Danzinger stood just a little way behind Alonzo. Alex looked to Alonzo, then back at Julia and then back at Alonzo again before removing his hands from her shoulders, holding them up and backing away in an exaggerated manner.
"We're just having a little discussion here. No need to jump to conclusions about anything." he said calmly, his eyes watching Alonzo's movements carefully nonetheless.
Alonzo swiftly moved to Julia's side, his eyes never moving from Daniels. "You see anybody doing any jumping Danzinger?" he asked, his fists still clenched by his side. He looked challengingly at Daniels.
"Nobody except maybe Grendlers playing leapfrog..." Danzinger growled, crossing his arms across his chest and focusing his stare on Daniels, making it clear whose side he was on.
"How fascinating." he drawled. "Dr McCann, a word about some of the soil experiments?"
McCann looked up nervously. "Soil experiments? " "Well I admit you've not got a lot to go on for now." he looked pointedly at Julia. "But I'd like to see if the new equipment we brought with us turns up anything else - perhaps something Dr Heller might have missed during her initial study." he explained smoothly.
"I'm afraid work beckons. Perhaps later you might be a little more receptive to the idea I proposed Dr Heller." he raised his eyebrows questioningly before following the nervous McCann out of the MedTent.
"What idea?" Alonzo demanded after both the doctors had departed a suitable distance away from the MedTent. He didn't like Alex's tone of voice and he especially did not like that look he had just given Julia.
"Alex wants to use the geolock to obtain a sample of the earth for study. He thinks it may explain more about how the Terrians have the ability to slide into the ground." she explained. "McCann agrees with him."
"We should have thrown away all the damned geolocks the minute we got a chance." Danzinger grumbled.
"Are you going to let him?" Alonzo asked Julia. "Of course not Alonzo." She leaned against a worktable and rubbed the space between her eyes tiredly. Alonzo put his hands on his hips and looked down at the ground, and then at Danzinger - a question in his eyes.
Danzinger held his hands up helplessly and deciding that Alonzo would probably get more out of Julia without his presence, made his exit." Well will you look at the time - better go get the rest of those vehicles serviced before Adair decides to run an inspection parade." he mumbled and sauntered off.
Alonzo watched him go and turned his attention to Julia, who still had her hand pressed to her eyes.
"Are you ok Julia?" he asked her gently. "Yes." she replied, removing her hand and looking up at him. "He scares you doesn't he?" he asked quietly. She turned away and looked out at the camp. "Yes he does." she replied, without looking at him. "Julia..." he put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll talk about it later Alonzo." she said, not looking at him. Alonzo crossed his arms, drumming his fingers impatiently - trying to decide what to do. It was heart-wretching to watch Julia closing up - watch the emotional armour come out of the woodwork, and the walls going up brick by brick. He wanted to ask her, question her, find out what it was that was eating her up inside.
"Don't do this to me Julia." he asked, standing behind her and placing his hands on her shoulders gently.
"I told you we'll discuss it later." Her tone was distant. He spun her around so that she faced him. "We have to talk now!" he insisted. "Look at you! The guy is scaring the hell out of you! How can you expect me to just stand here, watching you do this to yourself...letting that jerk drive you crazy! Do you know how much it hurts me to see you like this?" He looked her in the eye, a pained expression on his face.
"It hurts even more because you won't let me..." He stopped and abruptly pulled her close to him, holding her tightly. He buried his face in her long blonde hair.
"I'd never let anybody hurt you Julia but I can't protect you if you won't let me." he whispered to her. "Please don't shut me out like this." he pleaded.
Julia leaned against him, her eyes stinging with tears. She had never meant to deceive him or to keep the truth from him yet it seemed like all she had managed to do was hurt him. Convince him that she didn't, couldn't trust him. That she couldn't share with him her inner most feelings and thoughts.
"It's not like that Alonzo..." she whispered. "I've wanted to tell you for a long time - but I needed time - time to think."
She took a deep breath.
"Come on." she said shakily, pulling herself from his grasp and leading him away from the MedTent.
"Julia?" he queried, following her nonetheless, his fingers tightly curled around hers. "Where are we going?"
"I don't know... . Somewhere... . anyplace where we can talk."

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 5
By Bernice Low

A tad bit of background here, and a super soppy warning - beware those who fear drippy, cheesy scenes - this is a long one!
Anyway, I was getting a little tired of the way the E2 series writers kept sticking Julia with an image of her as this purer than driven snow, goodie-goodie two shoes greenhorn naive little girl while Alonzo was this intergalactic Casanova with a track record equal only in sci fi to the 'great' William T Riker[nuff said!]. What a Barbara Cartland style romance... so, I decided to err, turn the tables a bit... . Oh yeah, and again, please will somebody out there write an e-mail programme that supports Italics??
Comments as usual to drteong@pc.jaring.my

Julia led Alonzo to a nearby stream where the colonists had collected their water supply from. She was pretty sure they were assured of privacy since she had supervised the collection of the water supply by Walman and Baines earlier in the morning.
They took off their shoes and socks, rolled up their jeans to their knees and sat down on some rocks at the edge of the stream - Julia leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. Their feet dangled in the cool waters of the fast flowing brook.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." Alonzo said after they had sat in silence for some time. He hadn't sensed any reluctance on her part, but all the same, he didn't want her to feel she had to tell him whatever it was that was bothering her.
"It's ok Alonzo. I think it's time you knew." she said, her arms clasped to his and wrapping his arms more tightly around her.
"OK - I'm listening." he said quietly. Julia turned her attention to the flowing water and wiggled her toes. She took a deep breath - how many times had she rehearsed this? What to say? How to say it? What to tell him first?
There were so many things he had to know and she really didn't know where to start. The thoughts tumbled around in her mind - like a washing machine with an open door, she thought and wondered which bit of dirty laundry would fall out first.
"Alex..." she started and felt Alonzo's arms tense slightly. "... was the first guy I ever kissed." she finished. She looked up at him to gauge his reaction.
He looked down at her, his expression serious. "Just kissed?" Was there a faint note of hope in his voice? Alonzo wasn't sure himself.
Julia looked back down at her feet again. "No."
That single word seemed to hang in the air forever, echoing in the space around them. He pulled Julia closer, instinctively.
"Alex was the first guy I ever... ..." Julia struggled to find the right words "... . had a serious relationship with." she said tactfully.
"You mean..." he growled.
"Uh-huh." she nodded her head.
"The first guy you ever..." he left the sentence unfinished. "Yes." she affirmed, looking down at the rock they were sitting on. He pulled away from her abruptly and stood up. Julia watched him as he waded into the brook and stood in the fast flowing water, his back to her. She looked back at the flowing waters, and felt slightly worried. She hadn't quite expected him to take it this way. He looked, shocked, for lack of a better word.
Alonzo stood in the middle of the little brook, feeling the smooth pebbles under his feet and the water sloshing against his legs. He didn't know what to think - what to feel.
He tried to reason it out logically - reminding himself that it was rather ridiculous for him to walk around with the idea in his head that Julia had led a completely 'uneventful' life before she met him.
Haven't you kissed a guy before?
What in the world prompted him to ask that question? Come on Alonzo - she's beautiful, intelligent, and looks even better when she's mad at you - what do you expect? That's she's some soap opera heroine, waiting all these years for you to step into her life?
Perhaps you've overestimated your importance in the grand scheme of human events... .
Owch.
He winced as Julia's words reverberated in his ears.
Face it Solace, you're jealous, said a little voice in his head. He shook his head. Hold on a second. Me?
Jealous?
I've never been jealous in a single day of my 100 year existance. That's not it. That *can't* be it.
That's because you never had to be, replied the little voice. Bess was right - you know you're every woman's type. You've always known that all you had to do was send them a smile and they'd be fighting for a piece of you. Besides, you never hung around long enough to become the jealous lover.
Alonzo had to concede that was a relevant point. You know that this guy is serious competition. Not much personality, but definitely the handsome brooding type that women fall for.
By the way, did I mention?
He's Julia's ex.
Alonzo scowled at the thought. He felt threatened by Alex, more so now with Julia's bombshell than before.
Hey Solace, we've got a little wager going here - wanna join us? ... . we're betting on how long before the Dr Daniels and Dr Heller start sharing more than just the MedTent space...word has it back on the stations, Dr Daniels was a regular ladies man - we're betting it's just a matter of time before he and the pretty doctor acquint themselves...the boys and I are just wondering how long before Daniels turns the heat up and melts the ice princess...
WHAM! Alonzo remembered the satisfaction he felt when his fist connected with the Tech's nose and the crunch that followed. Danzinger had been right - it had been a jealous punch - but also the punch of an insecure lover.
"Alonzo?"
Julia's voice brought him back to the present and he became aware that he had been standing in the brook, ignoring her for some time while he puzzled out his feelings.
He turned around to face her. She still sat on the rock but her face was a picture of anxiety. He waded over to where she sat and slipped his arms around her.
"You're not still...well...carrying a torch for him are you?" he asked, almost sheepishly. He felt foolish asking her - after all, wasn't he the one going on about trust in their relationship? But he felt the need to be re-assured by her, he needed to hear it from her...just the words...
No, it's you I'm crazy about.
Or something to that effect.
Julia stared at him incredulously. Did she detect a faint hint of insecurity in Alonzo's voice? An impulse to giggle welled up in her throat and she valiantly resisted the temptation.
Doctors after all did not giggle.
It was unbecoming and undermined authority. She did however permit herself to smile - knowing that if she tried any harder to stop giggling, she would end up laughing even more.
"Well?" he asked impatiently, his hands tightening around her waist. Julia tried to stop the smile that was tugging at the corners of her mouth and failed miserably. He looked so serious. And tense - she was pretty sure he was hanging on to her every word at this point.
She reached up and kissed him.
"I thought I was the insecure one in this relationship." she murmured. "Julia?" His dark eyes looked at her intently and he stood unmoving in front of her.
She ran her fingers through his curly dark hair and smiled gently at him. "You're the only guy I'm carrying a torch for." she said as she rested her hands on his shoulders.
Alonzo felt a tremendous sense of relief come over him and suddenly, everything seemed OK again. He hugged her tightly. Never, he thought, in a million years am I ever going to know what the hell came over me for the last five minutes.
A beautiful ride?
Lydia you crazy babe.
What I've just gone through was worse than flying a ship through an asteroid belt without navigational equipment. Probably the most gut-wretching experience of my life.
A beautiful ride?
In the distance, he heard the water running through the rocks in the river, felt the current brush against his toes and the wind blowing, rustling the leaves in the trees nearby. He thought he could hear Lydia's voice... . whispering to him in his ear... .
Oh that's all there is... . the seconds, the minutes, the hours, the years. Believe me it's a beautiful ride love... . better, better than any flight you've taken.
He breathed Julia's clean, distinctive scent. Felt the warmth of her body pressed against him. The softness of her hair as he ran his fingers through the long blonde strands. And the weird wonderful feeling of knowing that... ...
I'm her flyboy.
He sighed softly.
A beautiful ride?
Oh Lydia, he smiled to himself.
The best.

"Alonzo?"
"Hmmmmm?" They had waded out of the stream and were now sitting on a grassy patch near the stream. Julia was leaning back on her arms while Alonzo had his head on her lap and his eyes closed.
"Alex..."
That single word was enough to make Alonzo open his eyes and sit up. "There's more?" he asked, then realised how dumb he sounded. They had come out here to talk about Julia's fears, specifically, her fears about Alex. Instead, they'd spent the last 15 minutes getting through his insecurities.
"I'm sorry Doc." he said immediately after that. He lay back down on her lap again. "So who's this guy who's bothering you then?" he growled, feigning bravado.
She looked down at him and smiled but it didn't make what she had to tell him any easier on herself.
"Alex was two years ahead of me at Med School. All the girls were crazy about him" she started.
"And was Julia Heller?" he teased.
"Well, he was very intelligent..." she tried vainly but gave up when she saw Alonzo's eyes twinkling.
"OK - I thought he was very good looking too." she admitted. She was glad that Alonzo was trying so hard to make it a little bit easier for her.
"Hmmmmm..." he murmured doubtfully and she gave him a playful smack on the arm.
"He had the right background, the right connections - my mother approved of him. He was witty, charming and he swept me off my feet. I thought I was in love." she said, her tone becoming more serious, and distant.
"It was more than that. Alex and I seemed to share a mutual destiny - his father had him genetically skewed towards medicine too - and I found someone who I thought understood what it was like growing up with a parent who always put the rest of the human race first before you." She tilted her head back and looked at the bright blue sky.
"I guess one thing led to another." she said, looking back down at his handsome face. "Maybe I felt being with Alex was more appealing that having the Council pick and chose someone for me to produce genetically perfect children with. Alex was definitely offered a lot more than some nerd I was sure they had picked out for me."
She paused, collecting her thoughts. "Being with him made me feel a little more accepted, a little less lonely. Maybe I just needed to fly by the seat of my pants for a bit and do something reckless."
Alonzo smiled and tried to imagine a reckless Julia Heller. "Though thinking back, I suppose there's nothing really reckless about going out with someone your mother entirely approves of." she added wryly.
"She would have been crazy about me I bet." he joked. "Hmmm - I don't know about that. You may have this Heller convinced but something tells me you'd have to do a lot more than break your leg and smile to convince my mother." she said, her eyebrows raised.
"So what happened?" he asked quietly. "Alex graduated from Medical School and started work in one of the Council's research facilities. For a while, I never really knew what it was that he did. I never asked - it never occured to me to question what it was exactly that he did. Until he told me."
Her mind wandered back to that day when Alex took her to the research facility where he worked. It was easy enough for Alex to get her in. It was then that she found out Alex spent his time experimenting on criminal offenders. Genetics had been his primary area of interest and the Council, to Julia's horror had given him a free hand to conduct his research.
At first, she thought perhaps Alex had no choice in the matter. She knew that the Council controlled and decided their destinies - where they worked, and what they did. But when she listened to the enthusiasm in his voice as he talked about his latest experiments, the excitement and when she found out that he even worked with child offenders, she knew otherwise.
He had chosen to abandon his ethics, abandon all principles in pursuit of what she perceived then to be his scientific ambitions. Later on she realised that it was Alex's belief in the Council, and his loyalty and devotion to their ideals which drove him - anything and everything to achieve the greater good. While Julia simply accepted her destiny as one of the Council, Alex embraced his association with the Council with open arms.
Despite her loyalty to the Council, Julia found his actions impossible to condone and accept. It shocked and horrified her to know that Alex had managed to keep this darker side of him hidden from her all this time - and that she had entirely misjudged him. Her skin crawled at the thought that she had spent many intimate moments with a man who had no qualms about who or what he experimented on and whom she realised, she knew nothing about. There was nothing valiant or patriotic about what he did in her eyes.
"My mother found out that Alex had been drawn into the more radical factions of the Council. But I had already stopped seeing him - I just couldn't see him anymore. Not after all that I knew about him - everything about him on the surface, was just one big disguise."
She paused and took a deep breath.
"That's not all is it?" he said, sensing that there was more to Julia's deep unease than knowing that Alex was a fanatical devotee to the Council's ideals.
"Alex couldn't...wouldn't let go. He was convinced that we were destined to be together. He picked me because I was the most..." She made a face "...genetically compatible person. He became obsessional - following me constantly around the stations. Everywhere I went, I could feel his presence, watching me."
Again her mind wandered back to the day when Alex had cornered her in a particularly quiet part of the station.
"Going somewhere?" he grated as he pinned her up against the wall of the corridor.
"Let go of me." she said firmly and tried to squirm out of his grasp. "Funny - you used to like being this close to me." he said softly, keeping his grip on her shoulders.
"It's over Alex. I don't want to see you anymore." she said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She didn't want to know what Alex was capable of.
"So cool. And calm. They really got it right when they made you didn't they?" he mocked. "I can't Julia."
"I don't understand." she said, confused. "Not see you. Not be with you." he answered. "Yes, I think I might have even fallen in love with you - whatever that is."
She looked at him, stunned.
"Don't you understand? It's our destiny to be together - we're genetically and intellectually perfect for each other. You're mine Julia - we were made for each other. The second I saw you in that lab, I knew that our futures lay together... You and I - together we'll lead the Council into the next century."
"Did he hurt you?" She could hear the concern in his voice as he sat up. "No - oddly enough as it is, that's probably the only time I can remember being glad that the Council meddled and interfered in everybody's affairs. My mother was concerned about Alex's involvement in the more radical factions of the Council and she wanted to make sure that I didn't get drawn in. She had someone following me too - a little more discreetly than Alex though."
"I never saw him again after that. It was like he just disappeared into the woodwork - without a trace. Till now." She shuddered at the thought of knowing that if things hadn't turned out the way they had, she would have been stuck on G889 with the one person she never hoped to see again.
He grasped her hand firmly in his.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" he asked seriously. She lowered her head.
"I guess I didn't really know how to tell you - I was worried about how you would think of me after you knew..."
He looked her in the eye and squeezed her hand hard. "Never." he assured her. She smiled shyly at him. "Besides, it was a long time ago. I thought I'd be able to handle being in the same room with him alone again. But just being near him makes me nervous, and I can't ever look him in the eye and not think about all those things he's done, and just how dangerous he can be." she continued.
"Do you think he followed you here?" Julia plucked a blade of grass and examined it. "Maybe." She threw the blade of grass away frustratedly. "Nothing about his presence here makes sense Alonzo. Why would the Council send Alex to spy on me? Even if he wasn't sent to spy on me, how can they expect us to work together well knowing what happened between us. The only logical explaination is that he's here because he followed me here."
"So Reilly was telling the truth then." Alonzo remarked. "Possibly." she conceded, though Julia thought it was highly unlikely that her last conversation with Reilly had a high content of truth - the man was practically programmed not to tell the truth.
"He must be really crazy about you to follow you half way across the universe." he murmured to her.
She looked down at the ground.
"Alex loved the idea of a genetically perfect couple, genetically perfect kids. I don't think he could ever comprehend what it was to love somebody... I know I didn't. I don't think he ever loved me."
Alonzo reached out and tilted her head up so that she looked him in the face.
"I do." he said simply and leaned closer, his lips meeting hers.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 6
By Bernice Low

And the fun finally starts!... .
Comments as usual to drteong@pc. jaring. my

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."

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.

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.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 7
By Bernice Low

Almost there... ... ... . just a little bit more!!!
Oh yeah, if it can rain on G889, It can pour cats and dogs! I'm just assuming that it probably rained sometimes at night but we never got a chance to see it - my only question is how the heck did they stop the water from coming into their tents? [Did ya ever notice how they ploinked all their stuff on the ground inside the tents??] Perhaps tent technology too was ahead of it's times... . :)
Comments to drteong@pc.jaring.my

[Scouts ahead by Danzinger and Walman revealed equally friendly terrain ahead of us. It seemed like the road to New Pacifica might not be so bad after all. Julia had several more nightmares but it seemed as though once we started traveling again, they just disappeared. Vanished. I however continue to have the same dream of Julia - over and over again it plays in my mind. Yet, none of it makes sense - the Terrians have sent me a puzzle I think and one which they seem determined I must solve alone without their assistance. Is it a warning? A premonition of future things to come? Or a fragment of my own fear that I won't be able to be there for Julia when the time comes? How will I know?]
Julia tossed and turned in her narrow cot , sighed and wished Alonzo was there - he always knew how to get her to relax when she was tense and unable to sleep. But he had drawn the short straw that night and it was his turn to take the late watch.
She fluffed up the blanket and settled her head against the pillow, trying to find a cool spot to lie on. Digging her hands deep under the pillow, she touched something cold and sharp underneath it.
Puzzled, her fingers closed around it and she pulled it out from under the pillow.
She recognised it as Alonzo's blade - the one she had seen him sharpening methodically when fear of the Terrian demon gripped all the colonists.
The one he had used to cut his way out of the BioDome. She looked at the blade and saw the dried blood from where he had slashed Danzinger's face in a desperate bid to defend himself.
She touched the sharpened blade carefully, running her fingers up and down it slowly before putting it back in it's hiding place. She fluffed up the pillow and then lay down again, closing her eyes and trying to will herself to sleep but a soft pattering noise made her open her eyes again.
She listened as the pattering became more frequent and heavier. Julia sat up in bed, wondering what the noise was when she realised it was raining. She heard the rumbling of thunder in a distance and the wind howling outside. The droplets smacked against the plastic tent, making a distinct tapping noise that was strangely comforting, and the rhythmic tap, tap gradually lulled her into sleep. So this is what its like to fall asleep listening to the rain fall, she thought sleepily as she felt her eyelids droop and sleep take over.
A crack of lightning streaked across the night sky, and the thunder boomed over the constant unrelenting fall of the rain. Julia sat up in her cot, her breathing hard.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead nervously, jumping when as another crack accompanied a flash of light in the sky. She could feel her heart pounding furiously, the blood rushing in her ears.
Another dream.
She swallowed and clenched her fists - trying to will her breathing and heart rate to slow down. She felt strangely alert, on edge.
Her ears pricked at the sound of the tent flap rustling. Someone was inside.
Instinctively her hands edged under the pillow, searching for the blade. Her thoughts turned to Alonzo? Where was he??
Her fingers closed around the handle of the blade and she slowly slid it towards her from under the pillow as she heard soft padding in the tent.
The sounds of movement.
Who was it?
A flash of lightning lit the tent up briefly, long enough for her to catch a glimpse of the intruder in her tent. Terrified, she snatched the blade out from under the pillow and prepared to use it against Alex as he advanced towards her, hands outstretched.
"Julia..." his voice was soft and menacing. He was close, so close. She tried to will her arm to move, to propel the blade forward but her arm refused to obey.
"No!" she shouted and threw her hand across her face, huddling away from him.
Another bright streak flashed across the sky. She peeped out and stared around in the tent, unable to believe her eyes.
There was no one in the tent.
Her breathing ragged, and her heart pounding from fear, she looked around frantically to see if he was hiding somewhere in the tent.
Getting up from the cot, she lit the lumalamp and walked around the small tent, constantly expecting Alex to leap from some dark corner out at her but there was no one in the tent except herself.
She couldn't understand it. She was sure she saw Alex in her tent. Did she imagine it?
I must have, she thought a minute later as she switched the lamp off and curled under the blanket, her eyes closing again.
She was awoken from dozing by the sound of someone inside the tent. It wasn't her mind playing tricks on her this time.
Someone was definitely here.
She felt the cot sag under the weight of another body. Arms reached around her waist, and a warm body pressed against her back.
Arms that felt strangely alien. It all felt wrong. It didn't feel like Alonzo. She breathed in his scent and alarms pealed in her head. It wasn't Alonzo.
"Julia..." a whisper sounded in her ear. She knew that voice. She had heard it countless times in her dreams - calling to her, never leaving her alone.
His arms tightened around her and she felt him moving closer to her. Her hand stretched under the pillow again and her fingers felt for the blade. His closeness made her feel sick. The goosebumps on her skin prickled and her throat felt dry.
"Julia..."
Without thinking, she inched out the blade and held it against her chest. Taking a deep breath, she twisted around and jammed the blade in-between his ribs. She felt the blade bury itself into his firm flesh and heard him shout in pain and fall backwards as she twisted the blade away from him. She scrambled off the bed, over him and with a flick of a switch, turned on the lamp, flooding the tent with light.
She turned to look at her intruder. To her horror, she saw Alonzo, lying on the ground, clutching at a wound to his ribs. His hands were stained red as blood poured from the gash in his side.
"Julia ... what... ... ?" he gasped, his dark eyes betraying his shock. She lowered the knife and stared in disbelief. No!
That couldn't be Alonzo.
It was Alex. It was Alex who had come in and... not Alonzo. Had she made a mistake?
She blinked and shook her head in confusion. She opened her eyes again and it was Alex. He struggled up and staggered towards her, backing her up against the side of the tent.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Danzinger enter the tent. "Danzinger - it's Alex! He came into my tent!!" she yelled, holding up the knife again.
"Calm down Julia... give me the knife..." he said slowly, inching closer to her.
Julia stared at him in disbelief. Didn't Danzinger understand? It was Alex! He was in her tent in the dead of night. For god's sakes, didn't he realise how dangerous Alex was?
"Get away from me! Danzinger - are you crazy? He's the dangerous one! " she cried, jabbing the blade at Alex, who was grinning maniacally.
"Julia...it's OK...Nobody's going to hurt you...just give me the blade..." Danzinger said, holding out his hand and taking one step at the time to get closer to Julia.
"What's he done to you?? All of you?? Turned you all against me!!" she yelled desperately. She felt the tent's plastic walls against her back and her desperation grew. She was trapped and all alone. Where was Alonzo?? Why wasn't he here to help her? To save her from all of this madness?
"Julia..." Danzinger said, his voice low." Alonzo's right here..." he said, gesturing to the man standing beside him.
She looked back and forth between the two men. Then she laughed.
Hysterically.
"You think I'm mad!!"she said between laughs. She looked at the confused expressions on the two mens' faces.
"Just gimme the knife doc... ok... everything's going to be just fine...something weird's happening here but we're going to help you...ok...me and 'Lonzo..." Danzinger voice was assuring, and he started inching closer again.
"You're lying! That's not Alonzo!"she snarled. She brandished the blade and Danzinger took a cautious step back.
She turned to look at Alex but he wasn't there. It was Alonzo.
And he was hurt.
She looked at the knife in her hands and saw the blood stained on the blade, blood on her hands.
Had she done that to him?
NO!
It was Alex in her tent. Not Alonzo. It was Alex she had struck out at.
NO!NO!NO!
She looked up again. The faces blurred. Alex... Alonzo...she felt confused. What was happening to her? Nothing was clear in her mind...it was all a fuzzy blur.
Get out...I've got to get out...get away from here. Without thinking, she slashed open the side of the tent, intent on making her escape.
"Julia!" she heard her name being called as she squeezed through the tear in the plastic into the pouring rain.
Alonzo...
She looked back but all she could see was Alex, laughing at her, coming closer to her... The rain soaked her hair and her clothes and she felt the water from the wet ground seeping into her socks.
What's happening to me?? This is crazy. I'm going crazy. She turned and ran.
"Julia!"
Again she thought she heard Alonzo calling to her. She willed herself not to look.
And continued running, not caring where but just knowing that she had to get away.
She ignored the images flashing in her mind. Alonzo. Blood gushing from his wound. The hurt look on his face.
Who had she stabbed? What had she done? The questions came and went unanswered.
The rain pelted down hard on her and the ground slipped beneath her stockinged feet. She pushed away at the trees and branches, ignoring the nicks and cuts they made on her hands and face.
Finally she stopped. Tired, cold and soaked to the bone, she barely made out a cave ahead of her. Stumbling, blinded by the rain, she collapsed on the dry ground and closed her eyes, willing the exhaustion to blot out the image that stood firm in her mind. The look of sheer disbelief in Alonzo's eyes.
What had she done??

"We've got to find her." Alonzo insisted to Devon and Danzinger. He winced as Dr McCann wound the bandage around his torso.
"Is he going to be ok?" Devon asked the doctor. The doctor pushed up his spectacles and regarded his patient. "Fortunately he's not lost a lot of blood. The blade just missed any of his vital organs by half an inch. But it's still a very deep wound."
"We've got to find Julia." Alonzo repeated, looking anxiously at Devon. "She needs our help." he shouted, angered "It's raining out there and she's got no coat, no shoes. Devon, we have to find her."
At that moment, Walman stepped into the tent. His jacket was streaked with rain and as he pulled off his hood, rivulets of water ran onto the ground.
"The rain's too heavy. And Daniels is gone." he reported. Alonzo looked desperately at Devon.
"Devon! Don't you understand? She thought I was Daniels and that's why she stabbed me." he told her. Visions of the traumatic event that had just occurred replayed in his mind's eye.
The look of pure fear and desperation in her eyes. The expression of disgust on her face. The strangeness in her laugh as she contemplated her own madness. All intermingled with his own pain. It had hurt him to see Julia looking at him like he was... some...psychopath out to hurt her.
Devon seethed with frustration. She wanted to look for Julia but at the same time, she had to acknowledge that the weather was making that impossible. It was dark and wet, and they were unlikely to find any tracks since the heavy rain would have washed them away.
"Alonzo - we can't find her in this weather." she said gently. "We can't just leave her!" he exploded. "Try to stay still." McCann advised, putting a firm hold on his patient's shoulder.
"Alex is out there too! What if he finds her before we do?" his eyes were full of anger and his fists were clenched tightly as he stared at Devon, almost challenging her to come up with a better reason not to search for Julia.
Devon looked at Danzinger and they moved to the back of the tent to confer privately.
"John?"
Danzinger stuck his hands in his pockets and shook his head. "There's no telling where or how far she's gone Devon." Devon bit her lip. She didn't like this one bit. She looked over at the distressed Alonzo.
"How soon can we start looking for her?" she asked, keeping an eye on Alonzo.
Danzinger shrugged." As soon as it's light and it stops raining. But without tracks and no GEAR, be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Could be a hundred possible places she could be."
He followed her eyes and looked over at Alonzo. "Look Devon, I'm just as worried about Julia. But I can't see what we can do for the moment." he said in a low voice.
"Well you tell that to him." she snapped under her breath, angry, not at Danzinger, but the way all they seemed to be able to do was stand around helplessly while Alex was out there, hunting Julia. Angry that she had let this come so far.
Danzinger put an assuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up on this Adair. It's not your fault." he said intuitively.
"We'll find her." he promised.
Walman came up to them, a what-now expression on his face. He stood in front of Devon and Danzinger, arms on his hips, waiting for instructions.
"What are we going to do?" he asked. "I don't know Walman." Devon answered and was distracted by McCann desperately trying to restrain a very determined Alonzo and failing as the pilot easily brushed the man aside.
"Alonzo, please. Lie down. You've been very badly injured..." Devon pleaded, standing in his way, while Walman and Danzinger tried to hold him back.
"I don't care!!! What about Julia?" Devon found it very hard to look him in the eye. Why won't you help me? his dark eyes seemed to be asking.
"Alonzo...you've got to understand..." Devon began despite her common sense telling her that no matter what she said to him, it wouldn't deter him from going out into the storm and looking for her.
"I don't want to understand. There's nothing to understand...if you won't look for her then I will..." he started.
He felt the SedaDerm gun at his neck and heard the hiss as the chemical entered his bloodstream. He looked at Devon and saw the expression of regret on her face. Then blackness.

Julia opened her eyes slowly and stared up at the roof of the cave. Her throat was dry and her joints ached. Her clothes and socks, caked with dried out mud felt awful on her as she sat up, groggy and disorientated. She stared out the cave entrance at the early light of day.
The memories of the night before came flooding back. And the recollection of what she had done to Alonzo.
She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, willing it to all make sense. Had she mistaken Alonzo for Alex? It was all crystal clear in her mind - she could still smell Alex's scent in her nostrils, feel his arms around her, the bright red blood that stained the knife... .
The knife!
Her hands were empty and she looked around the cave for her only weapon but it was nowhere to be seen. She must have dropped it while she was running through the rain.
She tried to piece together the night before - thinking, racking her brain for any semblance of evidence to indicate that she might have made a mistake. But everything she remembered screamed that what she had done was right.
Had her eyes lied to her? Was her mind playing tricks? Who had she really seen? Alonzo? Alex?
I heard him call me. I saw the hurt in his eyes. She questioned herself over and over but she had no answers. No explanation. Nothing to tell her why she had acted in the way she did and why she had run.
She looked up at the jagged roof of the cave. And screamed.
It was a scream of anger, of frustration, of misery and despair. It echoed around the cave as Julia tried to release all the pent up emotion she was feeling. To not think but to just give in and let her feelings be vented. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes and this time, she didn't fight to keep them back.
Julia Heller buried her face in her hands and sobbed. For now she felt truly lost and alone.

Alonzo opened his eyes and winced as he tried to lever himself up. Clutching his side, he maneuvered into a sitting position and shook his head several times to clear his thoughts.
He turned and saw Uly sitting beside the bed. He was in the MedTent. Devon - the SedaDerm - Julia!
"Are you ok Alonzo?" he heard Uly ask him. "Yeah... I'm ok Uly." he replied and turned to look at the little boy." Where is everybody?"
"They're in mom's tent talking... about Julia. Walman and Danzinger went to look for her. Why has Julia run away?" Uly asked, innocently.
Alonzo swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to get up. He shook his head.
"I don't know Uly." his voice was edged with frustration... He looked out through the tent flap and noticed the bright morning sunshine. Walman and Danzinger had gone to look for her. Had they found her already? Was she safe and on her way back?
Or had Alex already found her?
"Maybe the Terrians can help us find Julia." Uly suggested mysteriously. Alonzo stopped when he heard Uly's remark. He looked over to the little boy but Uly seemed quite impervious to the significance of his remark. It simply seemed like a logical suggestion to the little boy - and his blue eyes looked almost expectantly at Alonzo.
Maybe it's time to find out what that damned dream is all about, thought Alonzo.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 8
By Bernice Low

Uh - I forgot to acknowledge this possible [I'm not sure since he's been dead for ages!] copyright in my non-standard disclaimer - certain lines contained in the following work of fiction are taken from Othello - by William Shakespeare.
Certain elements of the Terrian scenes may be a little 'weird' - I was getting a little bored with the way the scenes were always done in the series and how everybody seemed to kow-tow to them [except Danz] because they were the locals.
So, this scene represents some of my major dislikes with the concept of the Terrians... .
Send all ye words to drteong@pc.jaring.my

Alonzo looked down and saw himself standing on a high precipice above the clouds, probably somewhere in the middle of a range of mountains. Though here in the Dreamplane, it made no difference.
As if on cue, two Terrians appeared before him, sticks and all. They trilled a greeting to him, something along the lines of 'Long time no see.'
However, Alonzo was NOT in the mood for niceties. He felt he had been patient enough with the Terrians over the last three weeks, entertaining that dream they had fed him night after night for the last week without a clue from them as to what it meant, no head or tail.
It was time for some answers.
Intuitive as they were, the Terrians sensed his hostility and anger and trilled their mild distaste for such emotions to Alonzo.
Anger will achieve nothing, they trilled. Stop the crap! You know why I'm here, Alonzo snapped. No more mind games. They trilled softly and nodded and Alonzo noticed for the first time how irritating it was when they adopted that omniscience expression. The one which sort of said
'Everything is as we know it should be.' Strange. He never noticed it before but now he could see now why it bugged Danzinger sometimes.
Where is Julia? he demanded.
It is as you have seen and we have shown you, was their reply. You've shown me a cave somewhere out there. It could be anywhere on this planet he shouted angrily at them.
Your emotion blocks your path to discovery. Reflection. Calm. Use the Dreamplane to guide you. Let your inner thoughts take you to the place of your intent.
Alonzo fumed inwardly but disciplined his thoughts knowing that they could sense every syllable of annoyance he allowed to filter through his mind.
Why is this all happening? he questioned - and they'd better be as omniscient as they look, he grumbled , mentally.
There is One, they replied. One who brings disorder. Chaos. And They have followed him. That is why we have seen it fit to warn you.
Who is this They? he asked.
Those amongst us who follow not the ways of the tribe - who have abandoned the Mother and chosen another path. The path of the Human. The word 'Human' was spoken in a tone as close to disdain as the Terrians could get.
But how? Alonzo asked. He couldn't understand how Alex had managed to communicate with the Terrians.
They sought him. And They gave him the power of the Dreamplane. His mind... is is...
They paused, looking for the word.
...strong...determined...
There seemed a curious note of surprise in their tone. But it was pure luck that they found each other. Now they are in union, they trilled.
Alonzo's mind worked swiftly. Alex had somehow managed to make contact with some rogue Terrians. Or they had made contact with him. He must have known somehow that in deep sleep, with enough mental determination and discipline. he would be able to propel himself into the Plane. But how did it all fit in with Julia?
Tell me why They are important, he asked. They obey him. They do his bidding. Their minds are weak and he is strong - They have fallen into his path and strayed from the path of the Mother.
Alonzo grew worried. From the sound of the cryptic language, it seemed like the rogue Terrians were Alex's henchmen and he was using his stronger will to control them. It wouldn't be hard for Alex to find Julia if he had the help of such willing and knowledgeable accomplices.
Why did you give me that dream? He couldn't understand why the Terrians had offered to help him find Julia this time. Time and time again they had indicated that it was their policy not to interfere. Why now?
Our paths crossed and our needs have intertwined, said the Terrians.
They who have strayed can never return to the path of the Mother.
Alonzo understood. The Terrians could not ever welcome back those who had strayed. But to kill them was not within the rules of the Tribe.
You want us to do your dirty work, right? he threw at them. There was a nod and a series of thrills.
It must be done.
Alonzo shook his head.
Here's a little human advice guys - clean up your own mess. The Terrians trilled back, their tone laced with confusion. Dreamer - you must help us.
It is not our way to kill, they trilled. There was a hint of desperation. Alonzo sent his thoughts back exasperatedly. He was impatient to get out of there now that he knew what was going on.
Look guys - we're getting rid of your bad evil influence. I think that's payment in kind. He said a curt goodbye and tuned his mind to exit the Dreamplane.
You're welcome. We are happy to assist. Occasionally - they trilled.

Julia brushed away the tears from her eyes and willed the tears to stop. Enough! she ordered herself. This is getting you nowhere. Stop feeling helpless and get a grip on yourself.
She took a deep breath to calm herself. OK Heller. Think, reason, assess the situation and come up with the answer. This is no time for weepy hysterics or overly emotional soul searching.
She stood up and brushed the dirt of her clothes before stepping out of the cave. It opened into an space, a little distance away from the woods she must have run through.
I must have run about three to four kilometers from the camp site, she reasoned. She was sure that the colonists would be looking for her. Whomever she had stabbed the night before, her actions would have caused suspicion and concern. They'll be wondering what happened to me, she reasoned to herself.
For a moment, she felt unsure. Should she go back to the camp? Why not? What was she afraid of?
The answer came swiftly to her thoughts. Alonzo.
She didn't want to face the possibility that she had made a mistake. That she had really...
But I've got to find out what really happened or I'll go mad. A lingering thought crossed her mind. Alex. That this was all somehow Alex's doing. But how?
And why?
Those were the questions that needed answers. Answers she didn't have and answers she wouldn't get if she stayed out here.
She felt strangely queasy.
Nerves? Butterflies in the stomach?
Give you all the genes except those you need for guts, she muttered to herself. Just like the Council to muck up when it counts.
Just then, the ground beneath her feet seemed to tremble. Puzzled, she looked down. The tremors seemed to get closer and closer.
Instinctively, something told her to get lost from there and get lost fast! She ordered her feet to move. But two hands reached from the ground, and each grasped one ankle firmly. For a fleeting second, it registered in her mind that they were Terrian hands. She was being pulled into the ground.
Her morbid scientific curiosity was stifled by a terror that she would die. Correction Heller, you're going to die! her brain screamed. She felt herself being pulled rapidly into the ground and she opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out as she felt herself go into the earth.

Alonzo sat on the edge of the bed and let his mind wander, playing back over and over the dream that the Terrians had sent to him, looking for a clue as to where Julia might be. Did the Terrians have the gift of foresight as well - or had they simply read Alex's thoughts, his intentions and conveyed them to Alonzo? If they really had the power to see the future, what else could they tell him?
He focused his mind back to the dream, concentrating on sharpening out the images, looking for a clue. But the cave in the dream could be any cave in the area surrounding their campsite. He concentrated harder. The ridge tops above the cave. What did they resemble?
Imprinting the picture in his mind, he got up and stepped out of the tent. Locating a pair of jumpers, he scrambled to the top of the TransRover and looked around, his eye searching for any rock formation that resembled minutely what he saw in his dream.
He scanned all around until his jumpers focused on a stop five kilometers away. He zoomed in on the target - yes, it looked like a sitting Grendler alright. That was where Julia was.
He jumped off the roof of the TransRover and rushed to Devon's tent. Morgan, Yale and Devon were already there, trying to triangulate Julia's possible position when Alonzo rushed in.
"I know where Julia is." he announced as he burst into the tent. All three looked up from their maps and calculations. "Alonzo - what are you talking about?" Devon asked, puzzled. "No time to explain. We've got to go and find her now!" he urged. Devon looked at Yale and Morgan.
"Perhaps Alonzo has an angle into this Devon. We're not getting anywhere making guesses at where she might be." Yale suggested.
Devon agreed.
"Ask Walman and Danzinger to meet us there." Alonzo advised. "Alex won't be alone."
Devon's eyebrows shot up. Who could be in on this with Alex? No one else was reported missing from the camp. But Alonzo's repeated calls to get moving called for her to put those questions aside till for now. She would question him in the vehicle. She grabbed her GEAR and chased after Alonzo.
"McCann - let's go!" Alonzo yelled towards the MedTent. The tall doctor popped his head out and seeing Alonzo frantically signalling for him to follow them, disappeared and emerged again with a bag.
"Have you found Dr Heller?" he asked, with concern as he struggled to keep up, weighed down by his bag.
"Alonzo thinks he may know where Julia is." Devon explained. "She may need medical attention."
McCann nodded as they walked quickly towards the DuneRail. Alonzo jumped into the driver's seat and gunned the ignition, leaving Devon and McCann just enough time to jump into the vehicle before he tore off in the direction of the mountain.
"How do you know she's there Alonzo?" asked McCann as he clung on desperately to the side of the vehicle to stop himself from being thrown out.
"The Terrians...they told me." he replied. "And I just have a feeling... did you radio Danzinger and Walman?" he asked Devon, who sat in the passenger seat beside him.
"They're on their way." she shouted, over the wind. "Alonzo! Who is helping Alex?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity any more.
"Terrians." he yelled back over the roar of the DuneRail. "Shouldn't you be driving a bit slower?" McCann asked timidly from the back. "No! We have to get to Julia fast!" Alonzo snapped. "Why are the Terrians helping Alex? How?" Devon quizzed. "I don't know. The Terrians didn't really say. All they told me was that there were a few of the tribe who had strayed and somehow managed to hook up with Alex."
"Is he controlling them like Gaal?"
"No. Sounds like they're voluntarily helping him. There!" Alonzo lifted up one hand from the wheel to point to the cliffs that loomed before them.

Danzinger and Walman were already waiting at the entrance to the cave when Alonzo pulled up in the DuneRail.
"We headed here as soon as we got your message." Danzinger said to Devon as they climbed from the DuneRail. He watched as Alonzo clipped a laser pistol to his belt and extract a torch from the Rail.
"Terrians showed me that she's be here." Alonzo said tersely, looking at the cave entrance.
"What's with the laser pistol?" Danzinger asked, observing Alonzo keeping his hand on the weapon as he started for the entrance.
"Alex may be using rogue Terrians to help him in whatever insane plan he's devised." Devon explained.
"In that case..." Danzinger strode over to the ATV and yanked out a Mag Pro, "I don't wanna get caught by surprise." he patted the heavy weapon. He unclipped his own laser pistol and flipped it over to Walman, who caught it neatly by the handle and clipped it to his own belt.
"Solace - you ok?" Danzinger asked the younger man gruffly. He knew Alonzo was anxious to find Julia and worried, but he didn't want Alonzo to plunge himself into danger unnecessarily.
"I'm fine Danzinger. Let's go..." he said urgently. Danzinger eyed his friend critically, but Alonzo displayed no obvious signs of being troubled by his stab wound.
"OK. Walman, you take the rear, Alonzo the point. Doc, you and Devon follow behind me and Alonzo." barked Danzinger as he slung the MagPro on his shoulder and unclasped the safety.
They entered the cave in single file, Alonzo carrying a torch that illuminated the way. Several meters into the cave, they could hear distinct voices.
"Ssssshhhh!" Danzinger warned as the voices became clearer. They stopped and listened. There was a strong masculine voice and it took only several seconds for Devon to discern that it was Alex. A weaker voice could also be heard, and after careful listening, left them no doubt it was Julia.
Hearing Julia's voice, Alonzo darted forward, but Danzinger quickly caught hold of his jacket and restrained him.
"Easy buddy. These caves will echo our footsteps and carry our voices. Remember, we don't wanna announce ourselves just yet!" he whispered.
Alonzo nodded. Danzinger was right. If they startled Alex, he might just do something brash and Julia...he forced those thoughts from his mind.
They padded slowly and carefully forward till they came to a fork in the cave. The voices seemed to come from both passages.
"It must be a large cavern in there. Both passages probably lead into the cavern." Devon whispered.
Danzinger nodded.
"Walman, Doc, you take the passage on the left. Alonzo, Adair and I will take the right. This way, we can surprise him from both sides hopefully. Keep your GEAR on." Danzinger instructed.
Walman nodded and started to make his way down the passage with the McCann. "Let's go." Danzinger whispered and they crept into the passage. Gradually the voices got louder and the passage wound upwards in a gradual incline. They emerged on a platform several meters above the floor of the cave in, as Devon had guessed, a large cavern. Scrambling behind some large rocks, they peeped downwards where the voices came from.
The cavern was lit by several lumalamps and Devon could clearly make out Julia sitting down, backed up against a large rock, while Alex stood over her. Around them stood several Terrians, in a stance Devon recognised as their 'on guard' position. They held their energy staffs upright and alert.
The conversation filtered up to the hidden colonists; every word crystal clear. Devon looked over at Danzinger and gave a sigh of relief when she noted that Danzinger had his hand firmly on Alonzo's shoulder as they listened and watched the scene below. The last thing they needed was for Alonzo to jump head-on into a fight and she could sense that he was near the point where all he could think of was getting his fingers around Alex's neck and wringing the life out of him.
Devon wanted Alex alive.

Julia opened her eyes slowly and squinted, dazzled by the brightness of the light from the lamps. She patted herself down by reflex, checking to make sure she had no broken bones and all her pinkies were on her two hands.
I'm alive!
She sat up and was startled by a Terrian standing directly in front of her. She looked up and realised she was in a cavern - a very large cavern too by the looks of it. She looked down at herself again - everything was in one piece. But she was clearly not in the same place. The Terrians must have transported her here by, she groaned, dragging her down through the ground.
For once, Julia felt no scientific curiosity attached to that experience. She was just extremely relieved that she was still alive. That was NOT a ride she cared to experience another time.
Slowly she got to her feet but before she could take a step forward, the Terrian standing in front of her released a bolt of energy from his staff that landed several inches short of her stockinged feet.
Julia jumped back with a yelp and bumped into a large rock behind her. She eyed the Terrian carefully. It stood right in her way and seemed determined to stop her from going anywhere.
Then she noticed that she was encircled by a ring of Terrians, standing on guard as it were.
She held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "OK - I get the picture." She sat down slowly and leaned against the rock, watching her captors. What could they possibly want with her? And why were they stopping her from leaving?
"Welcome to my humble abode..." a familiar voice rang out from behind some rocks.
"Alex..." Julia watched him emerge to stand next to her Terrian guard. "A little space..." he murmured, and Julia watched in surprise as the Terrians moved back several paces away.
Alex held up his hands and surveyed the cavern. "Well?"
"Well what?" she lobbed back at him. "How do you like it? Oh I know, it's not quite the large spacious unit you'd expect from a man of my status, but it's a roof over our heads." he answered smoothly.
"What's he? The hired help?" she threw a look at the Terrian standing several feet behind Alex.
"I must admit, I could get used to having them around. Perhaps they're not quite as..." he paused "... expendable as I once thought they were." he admitted, his tone whimsical.
"But why are we talking about them? We waste time. What is important is you're here." he said slowly.
"How did you do it Alex? How did you gain control of them?" she asked, hoping that he would launch into a lengthy explaination. She needed to buy herself some time to think, to try and find a way out without being blasted to smithereens by his Terrian minions.
"I astound myself sometimes." he said giving her an arrogant smile. "My love, the Council has known far more about this planet than they let on to you. We've known about the Dreamplane and the Terrians for the last 3 years. From Eve, I was able to access the information you reported, while the Council still retained your loyalty."
He crossed his arms over his chest.
"I guessed that discipline of thought coupled with a sufficiently deep sleep could project me onto the plane. That's how Adair managed to do it - and how I managed to gain control of these Terrians. Uh uh, I wouldn't try anything funny if I were you." Alex pulled out a gun from inside his jacket and pointed it squarely at her as he noticed Julia darting looks around her.
"You may squirm past them, but I can assure you Julia I'm no class nerd when I comes to handling one of these." he warned.
"It's impossible Alex. Terrians are not easily subordinated!" she countered. "No matter!" he cut her off. "The important thing is you are here." "You orchestrated this from the start didn't you? Has Reilly sent you here? To get back at me?" she accused.
He laughed. "Julia...You credit me with more loyalty than I deserve. Reilly be damned. Everything I've done has been for purely personal and utterly selfish reasons. You." he said, waving the gun at her. "You should be flattered my love, that you've had such a powerful hold on me."
At her surprised look, "Oh yes, Julia. I'm not the blind kamikaze patriot of the Council anymore. You made me see the error of my ways. When you left me, I realised that my work, the Council, everything meant nothing without you there by my side. I suppose..."
He paused.
"... I did love you...and I still do." his voice was emotional. "From now on, things are going to be the way they were supposed to be. You. And me Julia. Together. The Council, the rest of the universe be damned." he vowed to her.
Julia backed up against the rock. Think, she ordered herself. Keep him talking.
"How did you manage to get me out here?" He smiled.
"I spent several months helping the Council develop a short term chemical weapon - a hallucinogen that heightens the subject's sense of paranoia. It responds particularly well when the suggestion of fear is already implanted in the subject's mind." he explained, emphasising the last few words.
"A knowledge of your..."
He cleared his throat.
"... personal life and..." he gestured to his head with his free hand. "... a familiarity with your personality and psychology... plus a few well timed nightmares on your part, which of course, I can't take all the credit for..." he said, pointing with his gun at the Terrian behind him "... was enough to make sure that by the time the hallucinogen was employed, you would respond suitably. All I had to do was put it in the water supply."
"Since nobody else displayed any signs of being affected by the hallucinogen, you must have tailored the drug to respond only to me, which with your medical background in genetics would have been easy. All you had to do was to induce the chemicals to respond to my exclusive genetic make-up, which you had access to from my medical database and your own knowledge. You then simply used your Terrian minions to find me and bring me here." Julia finished for him, surprised at the evenness of her voice, despite the horror she felt at the way he had managed to manipulate her. Alonzo, she agonised, tortured now by the knowledge that she had very nearly killed him.
He laughed. "Beauty and intelligence indeed." "Great minds think alike Julia." he continued softly. "I'm glad to see that several months traveling with those morons have not dulled your intelligence." he remarked, stepping closer to her.
"Those so called 'morons' will be looking for me as we speak." she answered angrily.
He bent down, holding the gun point blank at her. "I think not." he said confidently. "It seems fate is intent on keeping us together. The weather last night was an unexpected but terribly useful bonus. With the rainfall that heavy, all of my tracks would have been washed away. As would yours. Even if they did manage to find your tracks..." he reached out a hand and gently touched her face, "... all they would be led to is a dead end. Now Dr Heller, I'm sure you'll agree with me that I've pretty much summed up the situation at hand?"
Julia squirmed under his gaze. Her situation was looking rather bleak. Without a GEAR, she had no hope of even sending a signal to the camp. She doubted that even all the luck in the universe would get her out of this mess.
"What are you going to do with me now?" she asked, finally. "Do with you?" he repeated. "Why do you insist on making this all sound so terrible Julia?" he thundered.
Julia clenched her fists, willing herself not to be frightened by his sudden anger.
He grasped her by the lapels of her shirt. "Don't you understand? Don't you understand *anything* after all this time? You are MINE!" he roared. He shook her furiously.
"Nothing has changed. Did you honestly think that I threw my entire career away, subjected myself to thirty years of cold sleep to come to some god-forsaken planet because I believed in a worthy cause?!" he released his hold on her, throwing her back against the rock.
He took a deep breath, as if to calm himself. He crouched closer to her, lowering the gun.
"We can go anywhere Julia - wherever you chose." he said slowly, his fingers caressing her jaw.
"What makes you think I'll come with you?" she threw back in his face, shying away from his touch.
"Is this about the pilot? Solace?" he questioned, infuriated by her reply. "You may not care about the people here Alex but I do. I have a job to do - an obligation to those families coming here, to those children."
He pointed the gun at her again.
"Enough! I won't believe it's that half witted flyboy who is holding you back. Are you coming with me or not?" he shouted, giving her an ultimatum.
Julia lifted her head up and stared at him contemptuously, her answer a single syllable.
"No." Her gaze was unwavering.
She watched as the anger rose in him, though he concealed it well, only a slight quiver in his hands betraying how incensed he was by her refusal. He stood up and turned his back to her.
"Very well. You leave me no choice Julia." he said, as he turned back to face her. As he pointed the weapon at her, he seemed to hesitate.
"I ask you one more time to reconsider your position." he said through gritted teeth.
"Please." he added softly.
Julia looked back at him in the eye, unblinking. There was no need to answer him verbally.
"I wanted us to have another chance Julia. To start all over again." his voice was heavy with emotion. "But you persist in your resistance. And you appear to have made your choice that empty headed glory hound pilot." he bit out.
"So, cliched as it may sound..." he stepped closer to her and knelt down, aiming point blank for her chest, "... if I can't have you, then no one else can." Julia's eyes widened as his finger steadied itself on the trigger.
"You're mad!" Julia uttered desperately, her eyes locked on the gun pointing straight at her heart, and realising now that she had underestimated the extremes of his obsession.
"Maybe. But I can't bear the thought of you with anyone else and this is the only way there is...the only way I know..." he said, his finger poised on the trigger.
"Good night sweet Julia. Be thus when thou art dead, and I will kill thee and love thee after..." he murmured as he started to slowly squeeze the trigger.

THE SERPENT BENEATH THE FLOWER, Part 9
By Bernice Low

This is the absolute last all of it...
Comments please to drteong@pc.jaring.my

Julia closed her eyes and she heard the whine as the gun fired but opened her eyes to see Alex slumped in front of her, face down in the ground. The gun had fallen from his hand and was several inches away from her.
Puzzled, she started to reach for the weapon as she heard footsteps approaching. Her fingers reached for the handle of the gun but before she could grasp it, a thin beam of light seared inches from her fingers.
"Uh uh Dr Heller."
She recognised the voice - it was Sam McCann! She looked up to see the tall thin doctor approaching her, nursing a laser rifle in his hands. It was pointed right at her. As he came closer, she noticed that he had removed his spectacles.
"Sam?" she looked at him, puzzled. Why the hell had he shot at her? He walked closer to her, the rifle trained on her always, and prodded the limp body of Alex with his foot.
"I'm impressed Alex. Considering the two bit half baked genetic mix up that you were - spouting Shakespeare to woo the girl... ." McCann remarked disdainfully as he looked at the motionless body of Alex. He turned to Julia. "And you my dear Dr Heller are certainly quite a piece of work. Poor Alex - what a tortured soul he let himself become. He would have made quite the tragic hero."
"You're obviously no slouch at waxing lyrical yourself Dr McCann." Julia replied evenly, unsure of what was going on but getting a really bad feeling about this all.
"A feat I assure you which I accomplished without the assistance of genetic technology." he declared. "Unlike yourselves." he said, gesturing at Alex and her.
"Why don't you can get the gun out of my face Sam..." Julia said, feeling uneasy with it's closeness to her. If Sam was here, surely Alonzo or Danzinger, someone was around. She surreptitiously began looking around the cavern.
"I think not Dr Heller." he said slowly. "You and I have some unfinished business."
Julia looked at him - she was getting real, real bad feeling about this. "But first, let's take care of your little friends. Come down here or I'll blow her brains out!" he shouted, his voice echoing around the cavern.
Julia looked around the cavern and saw Alonzo, Danzinger and Devon several feet above them on a ledge. They had been hidden by some boulders from her view.
"Don't test my patience!" he ordered, one eye on the colonists as they moved from their hiding place down to the cavern floor, and one hand keeping the gun trained on Julia.
"Right - now throw those weapons - far, far away. Hurry up Solace!" he ordered. Julia watched as Danzinger and Alonzo reluctantly threw their weapons to the other end of the cavern.
"Now why don't you join Dr Heller over there." he said pleasantly, and gestured that they sit down next to Julia. Sullenly, Alonzo and Danzinger moved over to where Julia sat. Alonzo sat down next to Julia, a concerned look on his face.
"I'm fine." she said softly to him and squeezed his hand. "Sam, what is going on?" Devon asked, puzzled by the doctor's strange behavior. "What has come over you?"
He smiled sinisterly. Devon found it hard to believe that this was the mild mannered, almost timid doctor standing before her. Without his spectacles, and standing without his usual stoop, he looked menacing. And dangerous.
He turned to Julia. "Dr Heller, why don't you do the honours?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at her, his rifle never moving. "I'm sure you must have it all figured out by now."
Julia watched him carefully, her mind working at full speed. "You're the spy. The real spy. Reilly did have someone else watching me." she said slowly. "But not Alex. You. Alex was just the diversion to keep us from suspecting you."
"Very good Dr Heller. Full points. I was originally sent to monitor your progress in spying on Eden Project. But as you can see..." he turned to look at Devon, "... my orders were amended upon my arrival and that's when Alex Daniels little obsession with Dr Heller here became useful. It was easy to observe and watch your little band of followers, and to plan my actions when you were all busy watching and waiting for him to make a move." he explained to Devon. "I hoped you enjoyed my little performance, but contrary to popular misconception, I'm not quite the timid mouse Doctor."
He stepped closer to Julia.
"Reilly has dispatched me to ensure that you meet an end fitting for a traitor. And I assure you, you will die like one. As for your friends, I'm afraid they have to die too."
He looked down at the unmoving body of Alex. "Unfortunately, like you Dr Heller, I underestimated the extent of Alex's... obsession. And before I could get Eve to find Alex using a bug the Council had implanted in him, your devoted lover..." his gaze flicked over to Alonzo, who was sitting there, eyes blazing with anger, "... managed to find you first. I had no choice but to tag along."
"You could have found Alex all this time?" Devon asked, shocked. "Oh yes. Alex was too much of a risk to leave untagged." he explained to Devon, as if referring to a wild animal. "Unfortunately, it's come to this. Pity - I would have liked to see how far Eden Advance would get." he turned to look at Devon and Alonzo before turning his attention back to Julia.
"Are you ready to die Traitor?" he asked her softly. "Go to hell you little worm!" Julia said defiantly. He shook his head and tsked softly. He stood up and suddenly struck Julia with the butt of his rifle. The blow took her by surprise and she groaned as she struggled back into a sitting position, still reeling from the force of his rifle butt landing on her head.
"Wrong answer." he said, waggling his finger at her. Julia clutched at her head and Alonzo clenched his teeth and stared angrily at McCann as he gently helped Julia ease back into a sitting position.
"Why did you do it Julia?" he asked her, sounding like a disappointed father talking to a child. "Hmmmm?" he crouched down in front of her, always keeping the rifle trained at her.
Julia couldn't think straight. Blood oozed from a opening on her forehead where the rifle butt had struck her and she felt dizzy as the beginnings of a terrific headache appeared. She leaned weakly against the rock.
"You are not worthy. Either of you." he said leaning close to her and gesturing contemptuously at the lifeless Alex. "Born into privileged families, given the honour of serving the Council. And you turn your backs on The Council just like that!" he snapped his fingers to illustrate his point. "I've had to earn every bit of respect, every bit of trust - I earned all of it - no mummy and daddy in the background to propel me on my way. And you, you betray all that - in an instant."
"You deserve to die." he said simply. "Man you're a real live one aren't you?" Danzinger said sarcastically. "Say what you like Mr Danzinger - it won't save your doctor." he declared calmly as he straightened up. He slipped his GEAR out of his pocket and pulled it on.
"Reilly - this is McCann - come in." "Report McCann."
"I have Heller." he announced triumphantly. "Excellent Citizen McCann. Is she alive?" Reilly couldn't keep the satisfaction out of his voice.
"Yes. But only just. Perhaps a last minute reprieve?" Sam asked casually. Reilly laughed.
"This has gone on for long enough. Finish her." he snarled and terminated the link.
Sam mock sighed as he pulled off the GEAR. "Well Doctor Heller, I'm afraid time has finally run out for you." He looked at the rifle and back at her.
"A pity - it's not often one meets quite so beautiful and intelligent a woman like yourself." he said in an lamenting tone.
"But..." he lifted the rifle to to chest level and steadied his stance. "... a traitor is a traitor." he said ruthlessly as his finger rested on the trigger." Any last words?"
Julia looked painfully at Alonzo. She felt agonised - not because she was facing death; she had lived constantly in fear that this day might come - but because Alonzo would have to watch her die. She didn't want him to see her die. She squeezed his hand hard and fought back the tears. There was so much more she had to tell him, to say to him...
"Now, now - there's nothing to be unhappy about." Sam clucked in a sympathetic voice, as he watched her exchange a look with Alonzo. "You'll thank me for it - now you can be together..." He looked back and forth between Julia and Alonzo.
"... for eternity." he said. And squeezed the trigger. "No!" a voice cried out and McCann found himself being tipped backwards as someone grasped his ankle and pulled hard.
The rifle misfired and the laser shot drilled into the ceiling before falling from his hands as he lost his balance. He looked down to see Alex clutching his ankle with all his strength. With a fierce kick, he caught Alex in the chin and managed to free his ankle, as Alex rolled away in pain.
That momentary distraction was enough for Danzinger and Alonzo. Both men charged at the thinner McCann but to their surprise, the slighter man dealt with them easily - tossing Danzinger over his shoulder and subduing Alonzo with a quick blow to the ribs, which he knew would force the pilot to collapse in pain as the injury Julia had inflicted with the blade had not yet healed.
Knowing he only had several seconds before Alonzo and Danzinger recovered, he reached down and pulled out a gun that was strapped to his ankle. Devon watched, helplessly rooted to the spot as aimed it at Julia and he mechanically began to squeeze the trigger.
Julia stared at the barrel of the gun - her instinct told her to move, to get out of the line of fire. But fear seemed to hold her there, frozen, a sitting duck. This is it! she thought. The end of the road.
Alonzo...
She watched the flash from the gun as Sam fired and heard the searing sound as the laserfire struck flesh.
But it was Alex who lay at her feet. He had saved her again. The suddenness of Alex's actions once again caught Sam off guard but he recovered quickly and prepared again to fire at Julia. Just then, a rapid burst of laser fire came from the entrance of the cavern, striking him twice point blank in the back. He fell to his knees, dropping his weapon and struck the ground face down.
Devon looked up and saw Walman standing at the entrance to the cavern, holding a laser pistol and clutching the back of his neck with his other hand. She scrambled to pick up the gun that had fallen from Sam's hand and ran over to help Danzinger and Alonzo up. Danzinger quickly frisked the motionless Sam for more hidden weapons while Alonzo hobbled over to a very stunned Julia, who sat slumped against the rock, shocked by everything that had unfolded before her very eyes.
"Julia?" he put a hand gently on her shoulder and shook her slightly. Julia blinked hard several times, trying to comprehend everything that had happened. One minute ago she was looking at death in the face, and now, there were two bodies sprawled on the floor.
Walman staggered over to the Sam's body. He reached down and felt for a pulse.
There was none.
"He's dead." he announced to Danzinger. All eyes turned to Alex, as Julia sprang up and turned him over. She grasped his wrist; his pulse was weak and he was barely breathing.
Suddenly his eyelids fluttered open and blue eyes, so like her own stared at her.
"Julia..." he gasped, wheezing as he struggled to breath. Devon crouched beside Julia and touched her shoulder. Julia exchanged a look with her and shook her head. She couldn't save Alex. It was too late.
"Julia..." he gasped again, his hand closed around her wrist and held on, hard. He looked up at her.
"Alex..." Julia searched for the right words. He had saved her life twice. "I don't know what to say..." she said, her voice shaking. "The tragic hero never really was your style..." she said, without thinking.
He mustered up enough strength to laugh cynically. "The story of my life..." he said mirthlessly, and was seized by a spasm. "...I suppose it would be brazen of me to ask, in front of..." he coughed, his chest heaving as he struggled to speak. "...so many people..." another spasm caught him and he coughed violently.
He shook his head as Julia urged him not to try to talk. "... for one last kiss...?" he fixed his eyes on her. "Alex..." Julia looked helplessly at him. He closed his eyes briefly and gave a weak smile. "I love the way you speak my name..." his voice fading slightly.
Julia looked at Alonzo and Devon as Alex lay cradled in her hands, uncertain. She did not want to deny Alex - she owed him so much more than that, but yet, something inside of her made her hold back.
He opened his eyes, and his breathing grew more laboured. He smiled to himself and shook his head, guessing her hesitation.
"No matter..." he murmured. He pulled his hand to his lips and kissed her palm, before placing it on his chest. "... I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this, killing myself, to die upon a kiss..." he whispered and closed his eyes.
A silence passed as Julia watched him slip away. Alex - who she had hated, feared, ran from and tried to kill, had given up his life to save hers.
Oh Alex, could it have been different? Might things have turned out differently if we hadn't been the people we were then? So many what ifs... so many questions...
A low beeping noise attracted their attention and Walman strode over to the limp body of Sam and extracted the source of the noise: Sam's GEAR unit.
He brought it over to Devon, who looked at the set, for once at a loss for words on what to do with it. She turned it over in her hands, as the beeping grew more persistent and an audible female voice hailed ' Respond' repeatedly, and looked at Danzinger.
To her surprise, Julia took the GEAR set from her and walked over to Walman. Silently she plucked his laser pistol from his hands and walked to the centre of the room.
For a moment, she stood, looking down at the beeping GEAR in one hand, and the pistol in the other. Devon and Alonzo watched, slightly concerned that Julia would do something brash. Danzinger and Walman exchanged terse looks. What was Julia planning to do with the gun?
Wordlessly, she flung the GEAR unit in the air and lifted up the laser pistol. With a single shot, she blasted it to smithereens. Slowly she lowered the gun.
She looked at the two dead bodies on the ground and walked away.

[For the next few days, Julia seemed to be in a world of her own and we sensed that she needed to have some space to herself, some time for reflection. The events that had unfolded over the last few days had been a surprise to all of us.
Perhaps it simply showed just how little we really know about ourselves.
Alex.
Sam.
How little we really knew about them both and yet how quickly we were to judge - who was worthy of our association and who wasn't. It seemed once again impossible to ignore the similarities between what had happened here, and what had happened with Julia. We all make mistakes and we did it here.
Again.
But we won't make the same mistake again. And we'll keep saying that to ourselves - until one day...]
On their final morning at the campsite, Julia left Alonzo to load her equipment onto the TransRover while she wandered to the nearby site where they had buried Alex and Sam.
She stood before the still freshly dug grave, staring into space. "Penny for your thoughts Doc." a gruff voice said behind her. She smiled faintly as Danzinger strolled up to her, hands in his pockets, and they stood there for a moment in silence, each caught up in their own thoughts.
"Did I do the right thing John?" she asked, finally, looking up at him. "After everything, he still saved my life. He would have died for me. Like that." she said, shaking her head sadly. "Was I worthy of what he did? After everything I said and did to him... I tried to kill him."
Danzinger grasped Julia by the elbows and gently shook her. "Listen to me Doc. You can't keep thinking like this. You'll go crazy. You did what any person in your shoes would have done."
"Then why do I feel so awful inside?" she asked, angered, tears brimming in her eyes."
"Because it's natural to be upset. Because it's difficult to understand sometimes why life is unfair in the way it is. Julia, Alex didn't die in vain. Maybe he didn't believe in worthy causes, but he died for one. For us. For all those people waiting to come here. For all those kids. And for you and Alonzo." he said looking the doctor in the eye.
"In his own way, he loved you." he said quietly as Julia looked away at the rocks in a distance as the tears streaked her face.
She walked over to the cross that marked Alex's grave and knelt by it. Danzinger stood at a little distance, watching.
His voice rang in her ears.
"...Everything I've done has been for purely personal and utterly selfish reasons. You."
"... to die upon a kiss..."
"... if I can't have you, then no one else can."
"...I love the way you speak my name... ."
"We can go anywhere Julia - wherever you chose."
"...things are going to be the way they were supposed to be. You. And me Julia. Together."
"... I suppose it would be brazen of me to ask... ."
"...one last kiss...?"
She raised her hand to her lips and kissed the tips of her fingers.
Good-bye Alex.
And gently placed her fingers on the cross.
-The End-

Well, a guest star is exactly that, only a guest star is probably the answer to Julia's question... And all bad guys have to die right?...
Comments to drteong@pc.jaring.my. Please cc a copy to llylbl@ccn4.nott.ac.uk if you're mailing me after the 26th of September.

This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.