FORGIVENESS
By
Katherine Tate
Timeline: After "Survival of the Fittest" (Day 117)
Author's E-Mail: Kath_Tate@mindlink.bc.ca
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
I must sincerely and *very* appreciatively thank Vicki Firth for her input and suggestions. Any errors or inconsistancies are entirely my own! Please enjoy; send any comments to Pat_Tate@mindlink.bc.ca Kath
Forgiveness, Part 1
Katherine TateMorgan leaned on the MagPro and glanced nervously around the sleeping camp. He hated doing the midnight guard duty. He wasn't suited for it; he found it boring and not just a little scary sometimes. He made an effort to keep from flashing his light around too much. The last time he'd been on this watch he'd received a lot of complaints that the light was disturbing people's sleep. He just didn't like not knowing what was out in the shadows.
Twice now tonight he'd seen a Grendler on the outskirts of the campsite. The presence of Baines' perimeter sensor beams seemed to be deterring the Grendler from approaching very close; however, Morgan knew that the sensors often didn't work worth a damn, and he suspected it wouldn't be long before the Grendler realized that as well.
The fire was dying and Morgan shivered with cold as an icy breeze swirled around him. Then it was very quiet. He decided to walk around a bit. Maybe the activity would scare the Grendler away. Maybe it would warm him up. Maybe it would help pass the time until Alonzo relieved him.
True lay awake staring at the roof of their room in the darkness. Every once in awhile she could see Morgan's light flicker around the camp. Whenever it hit the dome's roof True saw different shadows flow across the walls. It was a little windy too, which only added to the eeriness of the night.
When the wind died it was so quiet she could hear Morgan shuffling around the perimeter of the campsite. As he shuffled down to the far end the silence was overtaken by her Dad's breathing. True looked over at the dark shadow of Dad; he was lying on his side, facing her. It was good to see him sleeping so soundly; he hadn't been able to do that recently. The rhythm of his sleep nearly rocked her to sleep as well. But despite being tired, True didn't want to fall asleep just yet.
In an effort to keep herself awake she tried to focus. How many tent pegs per tent? She didn't need to count them; after putting the stupid thing up and down every day she figured she knew every inch of it pretty well. OK, how many crates fit into the back of the TransRover? That was too easy as well. How 'bout the number of bolts on the Rail's solar panel? True's eyes narrowed as she pictured it in her mind. Pretty soon her eyes were closed altogether.
Suddenly they snapped open again. She sat up. This was no way to stay awake. She stood up, listening cautiously to Dad. She crept quietly out of their room. The last thing True wanted was to have to explain to Dad why she was walking around in the middle of the night. Once outside the dome she looked for Morgan's light. It was courtesy to let the night guard know if you were wandering around. But True couldn't see Morgan; and besides, she didn't really want to explain anything to him either.
Morgan had actually ducked into his room for a moment. But Bess was sound asleep, oblivious to his anxiety. He decided he couldn't really wake her for no concrete reason and so he returned to his perimeter walk. He was sure the Grendler was still on the outside, waiting. At least he'd only seen one of them and not a whole horde. That was a blessing.
Oh God! There it was again! Morgan powered up the weapon he'd been dragging along. The sound of the MagPro caused the Grendler to turn and lope into darkness at a speed that seemed uncharacteristic of its bulky body. Morgan's light flickered into the trees, trying to catch the direction of the intruder. But the lumalight was not powerful enough to follow the Grendler very far.
Keeping his weapon primed, Morgan continued his walk. He noticed his hands were shaking a little and he tried to calm himself. It was just a Grendler after all, and he was the one with the weapon. It was the Grendler who should be afraid, not Morgan.
Morgan heard footsteps ahead of him in the trees. Without even thinking he brought the weapon up and fired.
Fortunately, True could see Morgan more clearly than he could see her. She only had enough time to realize that he was raising the weapon before she threw herself down to the forest floor and covered her head with her hands.
When the shots rang out in the still night Devon and Danziger both awoke immediately. Each in respective rooms their eyes flew open. Devon sat up quickly thinking '*Oh God, someone's firing*.' Seeing Uly rubbing his eyes sleepily, she grabbed her jacket and ran outside.
Danziger was on his feet instantly, thinking '*What now*?' His mind did a mental check of all who were dear to him and at once found his daughter missing. Without bothering with his jacket he ran outside.
Others were gathering around Morgan, who stood attack-ready with his weapon, gulping in air like he might hyperventilate.
"What were you shooting at?" Devon asked him urgently.
"TRUE!" bellowed Danziger, looking quickly around, not seeing her amongst the others in the crowd. "TRUE!!!"
"Over here." came the muffled sound of True's voice from the direction Morgan was pointing the MagPro. Danziger leapt into the trees. Alonzo came forward and slowly took the weapon out of Morgan's shaking hands. He powered it down.
Devon grabbed hold of his lumalight, which was throwing light wildly around thanks to Morgan's nervous grip. She held it firmly on Danziger's back. True was lying on her front.
"Oh no." she whispered. Julia swiftly followed Danziger.
"True," John was saying. "Are you OK, baby? Did he hit you?" He turned her over gently. Then Julia was right there, her expert hands searching for any injury. They found none.
Danziger held True tightly to him as the full impact of what Morgan could have done hit him. Then, relinquishing True to Julia for the moment, he stood and turned back towards the assembled group who were frozen in shock.
"HAVE YOU *COMPLETELY* LOST YOUR MIND?!!" he roared. "ARE YOU INSANE?!!"
In no time at all he closed the gap between them. Before anyone could react Danziger pulled back and planted his fist into Morgan's face with a force of violence seemingly uncharacteristic of the mechanic. Morgan fell backwards on one hand; his other one clutching his nose which was now bleeding heavily.
"Danziger!" Bess cried, appalled at the sight of blood all over her husband's face. She rushed to his aid. John moved in as though to hit Morgan again but now everyone was able to shake off the shock enough to move. Alonzo grabbed Danziger's arms and Devon stepped in between her mechanic and her bureaucrat.
"Take it easy, John." she said. She doubted he heard her; his focus was still on Morgan, his eyes hard, his hands clenched tightly into fists. Bess wrapped a protective arm around Morgan's neck. "John, look at me, John. Look at me." Devon held her hand up in front of his face to draw his attention off of Morgan. His head finally turned towards her, but as she looked into his eyes she didn't see the Danziger she had come to know. She had never seen him so angry, so afraid.
"Oh God, Oh God," Morgan was saying, still holding his nose, "Is she alright? I didn't hit her, did I? Oh please, tell me I didn't hit her!"
"For once your incredibly bad shot was a blessing." Alonzo told him.
"What the HELL were you doing?" blasted Danziger, shaking Alonzo's grip off his arms. Devon remained firmly planted between him and Morgan. Even so, he managed to get one step closer. Morgan scrambled backwards, still on his back. "You could have KILLED her, Morgan, you know that?
"Dad! Wait!" True had pulled away from Julia's examination and now appeared at Devon's side. She put her arms around her Dad's waist. "Don't hurt him. It was my fault; it was my fault." Danziger's fists relaxed and he stroked her head. Devon marvelled at his hands, violent weapons one moment and gentle caressers the next.
John took a deep breath; he was sure that his heart was pounding loud enough for the whole group to hear. True was still murmuring words to calm him but Devon had stepped away, assured that he would not attack Morgan again.
Julia had followed True and was now looking at Morgan's nose. Morgan couldn't tear his eyes away from Danziger's. This was worse than taking the escape pod. This was a thousand times worse. He'd nearly killed the mechanic's daughter. Oh boy, was he in trouble now.
"You stay away from me and stay away from True." John spoke slowly, in a voice that almost masked his rage.
Danziger bent slowly and picked True up into his arms. Without another word, but fully aware of all the eyes watching him, he took her back to the dome. Devon hesitated, wanting to follow him but also realizing that he needed some space. Instead, she turned her attention on Morgan.
"Since I take it you weren't trying to murder John's daughter, what were you firing at?" she asked him.
Morgan was sitting up now, his head tilted back in an effort to stop the flow of blood from his nose.
"A Grendler. I saw a Grendler. It was walking around on the outside of the perimeter sensors."
"Who's on guard duty now?" Devon asked.
Alonzo stepped forward, the MagPro slung across his back.
"That would be me." he said, wearily.
"Do a tour of the perimeter. If you see any Grendlers, get someone to stay up with you. Morgan," Devon squatted down beside him, "go to bed."
"I didn't mean to hurt anybody." Morgan told her, grabbing her arm as she tried to stand up again. "I just wanted to scare it away."
Devon's eyes flicked over to Danziger's path as she patted Morgan's hand.
"I know, I know. Don't worry. Everyone will be a lot calmer in the morning."
Danziger sat on his cot with True in his arms. His mind was a whirl of thoughts that seemed to fly about randomly. There were memories of True as a very small child, mixed with their crash on the planet, mixed with Elle, mixed with the very recent clear and painful image of himself with a weapon.
"Daddy?" True asked. "Are you OK?"
"Sure." he whispered, "Go to sleep, sweetie, everything's gonna be fine."
She held onto him tightly and he leaned back as though he were going to sleep as well. But sleep was over for Danziger this night; his eyes remained open.
In the morning the group gathered for their meal in a subdued silence. Danziger looked as though he hadn't slept at all and True was hovering near him protectively. An outsider might have thought that it had been John, and not True, who had nearly come to harm. The Martins were conspicuously absent.
Bess was trying to coax Morgan to come to breakfast. He claimed he wasn't hungry.
"Morgan," she tugged lightly on his arm encouragingly, "you don't have anything to be afraid of. John isn't going to hit you again. He just did it because he was afraid. I bet he's just waiting for you to show up so he can apologize."
"Yeah, right." Morgan was not having any of it. He wanted to stay as far away from the mechanic as possible. And if that meant foregoing meals, well, so be it.
"You can't stay in here forever." Bess told him. When he didn't respond she didn't press any further. Bess went to breakfast alone.
She didn't eat right away; however, she sought out Danziger immediately.
"John."
Danziger looked up at Bess impassively. He didn't speak.
"Morgan is afraid of you." Bess spoke softly, not wanting the entire group to be witness to their conversation.
"Good." Danziger said shortly.
"He wouldn't come out because he thinks you're going to kill him or something."
Danziger looked at Bess for a moment. He genuinely liked Bess and had no quarrel with her. But right now his anger at Morgan still burned very hot.
"I just might." With that he stood abruptly and left the dome.
Uly and Alonzo were foraging for food in the wooded area behind the camp. Julia had sent Alonzo out in search of any kind of plant life that might even remotely be edible. Uly had tagged along because it was obvious that there would be no lessons this afternoon. Yale was preoccupied with Mom; True was preoccupied with Mr. Danziger. With the main people of Uly's life occupied, he needed to be with someone else.
Alonzo was just as happy to have Uly's company as it was looking to be an unfruitful search. He was digging up around anything that was showing life, removing ice and snow, to examine it as potential food. He was even looking for fungus around the base of trees. Uly was chattering away. That kid sure has one heck of an imagination, Alonzo was thinking when Uly went silent.
Pausing in his digging, Alonzo swung around to make sure the eight-year-old was still behind him. Uly was standing near a fallen tree, watching it very carefully, almost as though it was speaking to him. It was very quiet.
"Hey, Uly? Everything alright?" Alonzo asked, walking over to the boy.
"Try over here." Uly said. "I think there's something under here."
Alonzo knelt down by the dead tree and began to scrape away the snow with his gloved hands. There were no visible signs of any vegetation so Alonzo wondered why Uly had been so taken with this particular spot.
"I don't know, pal, this isn't looking promising."
Just as he said that Alonzo's glove came into contact with something that caught his eye. It was a rock, but unlike anything he'd ever seen. It was flat, almost perfectly circular and very smooth. It was uniformly black. He held it up to examine it and was startled to find that it sparkled with reflected light. Alonzo whistled softly.
"Would you look at that?" he marvelled. He handed it to Uly and pawed at the ground until he found another and another and another.
Julia looked up quickly as Alonzo and Uly burst into the dome. They were so excited she was sure they'd found something. Well, that was a relief. Any additional food source they could find was one less worry as far as Julia was concerned.
"What is it?" she asked.
Alonzo grinned.
"You're not gonna believe this!" he grinned. Julia grinned back. This must be big.
He pulled his hands out of his pockets and dumped a handful of rocks onto the table. Julia was stunned. She had not expected this. She picked up one of the rocks and looked at it carefully.
"Alonzo, I hate to burst your bubble, but I don't think we can eat these." she joked, trying to mask her disappointment.
"Of course we can't eat them." Alonzo was oblivious to her point. "But aren't they the most amazing things you've ever seen?! They're all identical. Look! They're all round. And feel how smooth they are! They're beautiful!"
"What's going on?" asked Devon, entering the dome. Uly tugged on her arm. "Alonzo? Uly said you guys found something . . . " She broke off when she caught sight of the rocks piled on the table. She looked at Julia. They shared a silent moment of disappointment between them.
End part 1
Forgiveness, Part 2
Katherine TateAlonzo spent the better part of the day helping Danziger chop wood and working with his new discovery. By evening he felt he'd accomplished a great deal. Thanks to Danziger's gruelling pace they had a new wood pile. And Alonzo had a necklace for Julia.
"Will you show me how to make one?" Uly asked. "I could give it to Mom."
"Sure thing, kiddo." Alonzo promised. He didn't miss True's look of appreciation either. He'd make another one for her tomorrow. It would be good to make that kid smile. She was feeling the strain of Danziger's foul mood. As well, getting shot at couldn't be that much fun.
Julia's reaction to the necklace was only lukewarm, but Alonzo didn't seem to notice. She was still a little upset that he hadn't found anything for them to eat. Although she couldn't deny it was a beautiful piece of jewelry, she also couldn't bring herself to wear it; it seemed very out of place in this wilderness.
"Don't worry so much." Alonzo said, softly, reaching up one hand to stroke her cheek. So he wasn't indifferent to her anxiety after all.
"When I think about . . . about the lengths that we've gone to in order to survive. What if it comes to that again?" Julia held the hand on her face. He had no answer to that. Julia's attention shifted suddenly from her worries to Alonzo's hands. "What happened to you?" she asked, pulling him into the light. His palms and fingers were chapped and raw with blisters.
"It was that ax that Danziger gave me. Man, I think he was imagining every log to be Morgan Martin's head!" Alonzo chuckled. Seeing the alarm in Julia's face, he added. "It doesn't hurt that much, really."
Julia's response to that was to administer some cream. 'Silly macho bravado! How could it not hurt? Men!' she thought.
As with the previous night, True lay awake listening alternately to the night watch and her Dad's breathing. It was going to be trickier tonight for many reasons. First of all, it wasn't Morgan but Devon on the watch. Secondly, Dad was due to relieve her for the pre-dawn watch. But perhaps most importantly, everyone was on the edge because of last night.
True couldn't afford to wait very long because if Dad woke up for his guard duty and found her missing there'd be BIG trouble for sure. She waited only until she couldn't hear Devon's footsteps and then poked her head out of the dome.
Devon was standing near the fire pit warming her hands. Her back was to True. True figured she could make it to the perimeter sensor without Devon spotting her, as long as Devon didn't turn around.
Once at the sensor controls True easily deactivated the dangerous beam. The light beam remained but it was harmless and would not sound the alarm. True passed through the beam without hesitation and disappeared into the forest.
Devon kicked her feet around the fire in an effort to keep them warm. The Grendler that Morgan had spotted last night was staying away; it had been an uneventful watch. Devon was just as happy that nothing was happening. The group needed some resting time. She worried that the winter camp would make people a little stir crazy; she didn't need any more crises to facilitate nervous breakdowns. Morgan was very near the end of his tether and obviously Danziger was not going to throw him any rope. Last night Devon had been so sure that John would cool down. She was feeling less confident now.
To warm her feet and to calm her anxieties Devon did another tour around the perimeter. When she got to the sensor control pod she found to her surprise that the beam was turned down. What had caused that? She'd have to tell Baines about this; obviously, he hadn't worked out all the flaws. She flicked a switch and the beam reactivated.
True got very close to the sensor before she realized that it had been reactivated. Fortunately, she'd been travelling at an angle to the control pod and so the alarm had not sensed her yet. She stopped immediately when she heard the high pitch of the beam. That one would burn her if she tried to cross it. And the alarm would go off. That is, if it was working properly. There were no guarantees that Baines had worked out all the kinks.
True didn't want to take any chances. She didn't know if she was more worried about being burned, or Dad finding her outside the perimeter of the camp. If she had to make a choice it would probably be Dad.
However, if she didn't hurry up and get back into bed, Dad was going to find her; alarm or no alarm. He was due to relieve Devon any time now.
True hesitated only briefly. If it came down to explaining herself to Devon, or to Dad, Devon was far preferable. Dad was wound up like a spring these days and last night's scare hadn't helped him relax at all.
True picked up a small cone that had fallen from the tree. Yale had taught her and Uly that the cones held tiny seeds to form new trees. Uh, what do you know, some of the school stuff must be sinking in. She throw the cone up over the beam. It landed just behind Devon making her jump.
Devon had made her way back to the fire and was waiting for Danziger to appear. Despite being tired she figured she would give him a bit of extra time. He didn't look as though he'd been sleeping all that well these days.
Suddenly, a noise behind her made her nearly jump out of her skin. Devon whirled around, bringing the MagPro up into her hands, quite uselessly as she hadn't powered it up. She saw a pine cone roll towards her feet.
Devon lowered the weapon to bring up her lumalight. Shining it beyond the brightness of the perimeter sensor she saw True standing just outside the sensor's range. Now Devon dropped the MagPro altogether and marched over to the control pod. She switched the beam completely off (not knowing True's trick of leaving the light beam on) to allow the girl to enter the campsite.
"You've got some explaining to do young lady!" Devon said, her voice low but still filled with that parental authoritative tone that True hated.
True would have preferred to go straight back to bed, but she supposed that would have been too much to ask. She walked towards the fire instead.
"True?"
True hesitated. She decided to be honest.
"I was looking for the Grendler."
At this, Devon forgot all about finding out just how True had managed to make it past the sensor beam and then reactivate it.
"What?! Why were you doing that?" Devon remembered, as well, that this wouldn't be the first time True had gone looking for a Grendler.
True looked at the fire; she looked at her boots; she looked everywhere but at Devon's face.
"He's starving." she said finally. "I was taking him some food."
"Oh, True." Devon said sadly.
"It was only right." the girl insisted, now facing Devon. "Dad had to kill one because the scouting party was starving. We have to help this one; we can't let him die."
"True, I don't need to tell you that we don't have a lot of food for ourselves . . . "
"If he was a human you wouldn't think twice about sharing with him. Why are you condemning him just because he's a different kind of animal?!" True was dangerously close to raising her voice. Devon put a hand on her arm to calm her. There was a certain sick irony here, she thought. Danziger had killed a Grendler for food; now True was smuggling food to a Grendler. "Please don't tell Dad." True was begging her. "I don't want to upset him."
"True, you can't keep sneaking out of camp in the middle of the night to take food to a Grendler. Especially not without your Dad's knowledge and consent."
"He's alone. He doesn't have anything. The other Grendlers won't share with him because he doesn't have anything to trade. They think he's worthless and so he's an outcast."
"How do you know all this?" Devon asked, amazed at True's connection to a species that they hadn't been able to understand since their first encounter.
"I don't know." the girl mumbled. "I just do."
"You know, True, as much as we all want to - we can't bring back the Grendler your Dad killed." Devon spoke gently.
"That's not it at all!" True burst out. "You just don't understand."
"I'm trying." Devon said, pulling True over to sit by the last flames of the fire. Something suddenly occurred to Devon. "True," she asked slowly, "was a Grendler with you last night?"
True hung her head again. That was all the answer Devon needed.
"Oh boy." she said. It certainly put a different twist on things.
Danziger was having a nightmare. This wasn't some Terrian induced dream plane dream; this was an old fashioned horror of the mind. In it he was in a cave, looking for something. He needed to find it. It was going to save his life. Ahead he saw a shadow. He stopped moving and raised his weapon. Even while his mind screamed NO! he felt himself fire. His prey fell forward towards him into the light. It was True.
Danziger sat up, waking abruptly, covered in sweat. His heart was pounding. Breathing deeply he turned towards True's cot. She was gone. Still feeling the after effects of the dream, Danziger left the dome to find her. The fear which had leapt to his throat at seeing her empty bed relaxed somewhat when he saw her sitting with Devon by the fire.
He strode over to the two of them. Putting his hands on True's shoulders he tried, without much success, to adopt an easygoing manner.
"What're you doing out here, True-girl?" When she didn't answer he looked at Devon. Devon's face was wearing a sad expression. Studying it Danziger missed the plea that went from his daughter's eyes to Devon's.
"Just a little girl talk, John." Devon said easily. "Nothing serious." Oh, how simply the lie fell from her lips!
Danziger was feeling something like relief mixed with tinges of jealously. True had always come to him in the past for any kind of sharing. After all, who else did she have to talk with? Well, that had changed. Now she had a whole troupe of adults in whom to confide; including Devon Adair. Now that he knew she was OK, Danziger couldn't help but feel a little resentment rise in him. Why was True talking with Devon in the middle of the night? Why wasn't she talking with him?
"Go back to bed." He told his daughter, squeezing her shoulders gently. She leaned one check over onto his left hand.
"Goodnight Dad."
"Goodnight pal." He kissed the top of her head. She hesitated, seeming about to say something else to Devon but then walked towards the dome without another word.
Danziger over looked at Devon but she was obviously not going to open up and tell him. So he took the light and the MagPro from her and told her to go to bed as well. He wanted to be alone.
In the morning, Alonzo went with Uly to collect some more stones for more necklaces. It was snowing lightly, softly. It added to the atmosphere of silence that was so powerful in the camp. True was thrilled with her necklace, showing more appreciation than Julia. But, like Julia, True didn't put hers on. She tucked it away under her blanket. She had an idea.
Devon's enthusiasm made up for both True and Julia and she instantly put the stones around her neck and her arms around a very proud Uly. Even if they weren't edible, the pretty stones had provided a distraction from their worries.
Alonzo stumbled into Julia's tent. He was wheezing.
"Whaaat?" Julia stood up with concern. "What the heck?" Alonzo struggled to catch his breath.
"I ... don't ... think ...ah ... Julia ... wrong ... something's ... wrong ... help ... Julia." He fell forward into her arms as Bess entered the tent.
"Bess, help me!" Julia ordered urgently. The two women struggled with the now unconscious Alonzo, turning him over and laying him gently down. Julia strapped on her diaglove. "He's having some kind of allergic reaction to something." She turned to her table, eyes searching, searching, searching - there it was! She seized a syringe, pressed it to Alonzo's neck and scanned him again with her glove. Bess watched her anxiously.
After a long moment, Julia let out her breath; she hadn't even realized she'd been holding it.
"He breathing normally."
Bess leaned over Alonzo to rub Julia's arm. The doctor was shaking.
"What happened to his hands?" Bess asked.
"That's from chopping the wood yesterday. Maybe he reacted to the cream I was using. That doesn't make any sense though, a reaction should have occurred a lot quicker . . . " Julia was musing aloud.
Morgan paced back and forth a short way from the camp. He was supposed to be looking for plants but he was not feeling optimistic so he wasn't putting a lot of effort into it. He was also a little wary because he didn't know where Danziger was. Morgan didn't want to come across the mechanic unexpectedly. Bess had gone to talk to Julia about exactly what they should look for with regards to the plants. Morgan decided to wait for his wife's return before putting any energy into the search.
He was startled by the sudden appearance of True around the corner of the last tent. She looked equally surprised to see him and hesitated. Then she continued, her path cutting over to his right.
"Where are you going, True?" Morgan asked. She had a pack on. What could she be doing with a pack? Was she on a hunt for food too?
"Nowhere special." was her cryptic response.
Morgan watched her disappear into the forest thinking sadly about the near miss the other night. She might very well be dead thanks to him. She seemed to be taking it better that her father, of whom Morgan was now terrified.
End part 2
Forgiveness, Part 3
Katherine TateDevon walked a short way into the forest, following his footsteps on the fresh fallen snow. Maybe she hadn't heard the exchange between John and Bess the other morning, but she had seen it. It didn't surprise her that Bess would make a plea for mercy on behalf of Morgan; it did surprise her that Danziger would so roughly reject it.
Devon had assumed that Danziger's fists had flown that night in the heat of fear and rage. But by now he must have surely calmed down and the more rational aspects of his personality taken over.
She found him leaning up against a boulder, lost in thought. It was obvious he hadn't heard her coming as his expression was quite open. Reading his face she saw only anxiety and pain. She hesitated to intrude on his thoughts and yet for the sake of the group she stepped forward. They had to live together at close quarters for a long time. She couldn't have them at each other's throats.
"I think it's feeling a bit warmer, don't you?" she asked by way of starting a conversation. His face closed over with the mask of indifference he wore too often.
"No, actually, I was thinking it feels colder."
Devon was about to chide him for always, always disagreeing with her; but, in fact, she was feeling colder too. She sat down next to him on the boulder.
"I guess you're right. Just wishful thinking on my part. I'm so eager to be on the road again."
"Yeah."
"John, how long are you going to be able to keep up this animosity between you and Morgan?" she asked him bluntly.
"I dunno. Until that weasel chokes his last breath, I s'pose."
Devon didn't believe him. And she knew he didn't believe it either because he'd said it so casually. She took his arm by the elbow.
"C'mon John, she wasn't hurt. It was an accident."
"He could have killed her!"
"But he didn't. Are you going to hold onto anger just because it feels good? Does it feel good?"
Danziger looked away.
"No, not really."
"You know, if someone shot Uly I think I'd shoot back first and ask questions later." Devon said, surprising him. She laughed lightly. "I'm just glad Alonzo had the MagPro or you might have felt like letting a charge loose on Morgan."
"Give me *some* credit, Adair!"
"Well, you weren't thinking very clearly, were you?" Devon shrugged. "I don't blame you. As I said, I would probably do something extremely violent if anyone ever hurt Uly. At least, in the heat of the moment . . . "
"One of these days Morgan is going to do something really dumb. And someone is going to get hurt."
"Don't forget it was Morgan who got Julia the Grendler saliva that saved *your* life." Devon pointed out. "Everyone does stupid things some times. There are accidents. Let's just be thankful that she wasn't hurt and let's move on."
"It felt really good, hitting him like that." Danziger said, frankly. Devon, smiling, gave him a shove.
"Some days it would feel really good to hit you too."
"Why was he doing shooting at her anyway?" Danziger grumbled.
"He saw a Grendler." Devon stated. Danziger flinched. "What was *she* doing wandering around in the middle of the night?" Danziger didn't answer. To tell the truth, he didn't know. In the panic of the moment it hadn't seemed important to ask. He remembered her saying something about it being her fault. "Why don't you tell me what's really bugging you?" Devon asked.
"What, like having Morgan shoot at True isn't enough to upset me?"
"You've been upset for a lot longer than that, John."
He turned away.
"I just want to get moving again." he mumbled.
After a moment of silence Devon could see that he wasn't going to talk to her and she didn't feel like she could betray True's confidence just yet. She took a few steps back towards the camp.
"Well, since you're out here, you may as well take a look around for something we might be able to eat . . . "
He whirled around.
"Yeah, THAT'S WHAT I'M *REALLY* GOOD AT THAT, ISN'T IT?!" he shouted, "FINDING SOMETHING TO EAT!"
His flash of temper had caught Devon off her guard and she involuntarily took a step backwards, stumbling over a branch to land on her back in the snow. For a second Danziger towered over her, then he stepped back.
"You afraid of me Adair?" he asked, surprised. His shoulders slumped in a defeated posture; all the menace of his anger was gone. Devon scrambled to her feet.
"No, John." she reached out to him, but he stepped further back and leaned against the boulder again.
"I don't know why you wouldn't be." he said, low but loud enough for her to hear.
Devon couldn't stand it any longer. She walked over and put her arms around him. His head pressed into her chest; she could feel how unhappy he was. The emotion was pouring out of his tense muscles in his back. Keeping one hand on his head, she stroked his back, as she would Uly's after he'd had a nightmare. He could feel the coolness of her new necklace pressed against his cheek.
"John," she scolded, softly, "how could I be afraid of you after all you've done for us?"
"I don't what's happened to me." Danziger said sadly. "I don't seem to have any self-control anymore. I hit Morgan . . . I *still* want to hit Morgan. I killed a creature without, without any thought to its life or, or, or what that would mean to others like it. I hit Alonzo just for talking 'bout *you*.
"C'mon, Danziger!" Devon tried to interrupt him but he plowed on as though she hadn't spoken.
"And let's not forget that I shot and killed Katrina. Geez, if Gaal were ever to resurface I would murder him too, without hesitation. I guess I came to the right place - good ol' penal colony G889!"
"Stop this right now!" Devon commanded in a maternal tone. "I've had just about enough of *this* attitude, John Danziger!" She shook him by the shoulders; he stared at his boots. "You have done what you had to do in order to survive, in order for *us* to survive. Sure, hitting Alonzo and Morgan was out of anger - but I'd say you were provoked." Devon put her arms around him once again. She added, "At least in the case of Morgan you were." Devon still wasn't too sure why Danziger had hit Alonzo in the spider's cave and she didn't want to get into that. "The important thing is to move past it. Forgive him for his mistake and apologize for your own. Isn't that what you'd tell True? As a parent?"
Danziger broke away from their embrace clumsily. He rubbed his eyes in a tired and resigned way.
"Yeah, probably."
Devon stood awkwardly, not knowing what to do with her hands now that they were no longer needed for comfort. Danziger looked over to her; his mask gone, his eyes sad. But was it her imagination or did he seem a bit more relaxed than when she'd first come out here?
"Good. We're in this together Danziger, don't forget that. Don't ever forget that!" He nodded, with a weak attempt at a smile. "Now don't take this in any way other than the one it is intended - since you're out here, you may as well look for something to eat!"
Now he did smile at her, one of those cocky, superior smiles he put on when he felt he knew more than she did.
"Right, boss!" He tried to give her a salute but she grabbed his hand before it could make it up to his head. They laughed a little awkwardly. She turned to go.
"Hey Adair!" he called after her. Still walking towards the camp she turned around. "Thanks."
"Right, boss!" She did salute him and continued back to their camp. It was starting to snow again.
Julia was pondering the possible causes of Alonzo's illness. His vital signs were stable now, but it had been a close call. Too close for Julia's liking. Especially since she wasn't entirely certain what the source of his allergic reaction was. If she didn't identify it, what was to prevent it from happening again?
Uly entered her medtent, disturbing her thoughts. Distracted she glanced at the boy.
"What's up, champ?" she asked.
Uly frowned. He was looking at Alonzo with concern.
"Is he OK?" the boy asked.
"For now." Julia said. Then, realizing that this didn't sound very comforting to an eight year old, she added. "He's going to be right as rain in a day or so, just wait."
Still concerned Uly looked at Julia.
"I think Mom is sick too."
Julia immediately stood up, her hands instinctively reaching for her equipment.
"What do you mean?"
"She's coughing a lot. She said she was tired and had to lie down. Yale told me to come and get you."
That was all Julia needed to hear. Pushing Uly ahead of her, she exited the tent and ran for the dome. She found Devon lying on her cot, wheezing and gasping for breath. Yale was holding her hand. Yale stepped away to give Julia some room, but he did not let go of Devon's hand.
With an outward calmness that gave no hint of how she was really feeling, Julia began to scan Devon.
"Can someone please go to the medtent and stay with Alonzo?" she asked. She nodded her thanks to Baines, when he volunteered.
It was definitely the same reaction that Alonzo had. Julia administered her drug knowing that it would help in the short term, but what was causing this? As she made the injection, Julia examined Devon's neck carefully. There was a red mark, almost like a rash that led down to Devon's chest. Slowly, Julia pulled back the top of Devon's shirt. She gasped. There was a large blistering sore on Devon's chest, just where . . . where her necklace dangled.
Alonzo's hands were blistered.
"It's the stones." Julia said quickly. "They're reacting to the stones somehow." She pulled the necklace off Devon and dropped it quickly onto the floor.
"But Uly worked with the stones and he is not sick." Yale pointed out. Julia looked over at the boy. His hands had not blistered from making the necklace for his mother. Julia's mind turned over rapidly trying to piece together this puzzle.
"I don't know. Uly may be protected somehow by his Terrian DNA." Julia stood up. "Yale, help me get her to the medtent. I want them both together where I can keep my eye on them."
Bess and Morgan had not had any success in their search. This was mostly due to the fact that Morgan had spent the entire time dealing aloud with his guilt over the shooting incident. Bess had been patient, as usual, but was showing signs of wear when they finally made their way back into the camp.
"How's Alonzo?" Bess asked Cameron, who stood outside the dome.
"Julia says he'll be alright. But now Devon's sick too."
"What?! Oh no." Morgan moaned. "As if we haven't been through enough already, now we're all going to die from some plague."
Bess had had enough.
"Morgan! Be quiet! No one's going to die." She took his hand. "Let's go see Julia." she added more gently. Everyone was so uptight these days.
In the medtent Julia had pretty much confirmed her theory that the stones had caused the blisters, which had then caused the respiratory failure. Both of her patients were conscious again, but feeling weak. Bess entered, followed by Morgan. Julia looked past him, hoping Danziger would follow. She should have known that Danziger wouldn't be around if Morgan was there.
"Everyone OK?" Bess asked softly.
"It was the stones." Julia told her. "Those stupid stones!"
Bess looked at Julia's necklace, lying under her microscope on the table. It was hard to believe such a beautiful thing could be the source of such pain.
"I guess it's a good thing you didn't put yours on." Bess told her. Suddenly, Alonzo tried to sit up. Julia rushed over.
"Take it easy, flyboy. You need to stay put."
"True." Alonzo whispered. "True has a necklace too."
"Where is True?" Julia asked the Martins. Bess looked blank; Morgan looked guilty. But then, Morgan always looked guilty when True's name was mentioned these days.
"I, uh, I saw her leaving camp earlier." Morgan stammered. Bess looked surprised. "It was when you were with Julia." he told her.
"Morgan, this is very important. Was she wearing the necklace?" Julia asked him urgently.
"Um, I don't know. I don't remember. Ah, no I don't think she was . . . Wait! Yes! Yes, she definitely had it on. Yes, she did. For sure. I'm sure of it."
"Oh no." Julia said, putting a worried hand on her head. "Where's Danziger?"
Devon, who had been listening from her horizontal position, struggled up. She felt lousy and it still hurt to take a breath.
"He's . . . foraging." she told the group.
Julia grabbed her headset and tried to raise either Danziger. No luck.
"Was True foraging too?" Bess asked Morgan. He shook his head; he didn't really know what she was doing. Devon was shaking her head.
"She's gone . . . she's gone to look for . . . for . . . a Grendler." Devon said with an effort. "She's been . . . feeding it."
This created a stir amongst the small group. Julia began to pack up some of her supplies.
"What are you going to do?" Bess asked her.
"I have to go after her. If she's wearing those stones it's only a matter of time before she reacts too. And without some medical attention, she'll die."
"You should stay here with the others." Morgan told her. "Danziger should be the one going out there." Morgan could just imagine what John's reaction would be to this situation.
"Well, Danziger isn't here to go, is he!" Julia snapped. Morgan reached out and took hold of Julia's bag.
"Then I'm going with you."
"Morgan?" It was hard to say who was more surprised, Bess or Julia.
"I was the last one to see her. I know the direction she was heading. I can carry her back if she's sick. I owe her. I owe her and Danziger that much."
True was breathing heavily as she struggled to walk through the powdery snow. The wind had picked up which made the light snow blow in circles. She hoped it wouldn't snow any harder; she didn't want to turn back until she'd found the Grendler. She hadn't been able to find him last night and she was worried about him. True didn't know much about Grendlers and their health but it seemed to her that he hadn't been looking all that well the last time she'd seen him. Of course, there was always the possibility that Morgan's shots had scared him away for good.
"Hey, Grendler? Hello?!" True called, stopping for a moment to take a good look around. She hadn't seen any tracks or other evidence of the Grendler's presence. But she was already much further away from the camp than she'd intended to go. She didn't want Dad to miss her and worry. "Grendler? Where are you?"
True had thrown on Alonzo's necklace with the idea of giving it to the Grendler so he would have something to trade with the others. Maybe then he'd be allowed back into their group and they would feed him. There could be no question of the Grendler joining the Eden Advance Group. Devon had already expressed displeasure at True smuggling their precious and ever-dwindling food supplies to him. This would be the last trip True would make. So she wanted to give him a gift.
But she wouldn't be able to give him anything unless she could find him. If only the snow weren't so deep! She couldn't seem to catch her breath.
"True!" Julia called, as she followed Morgan. Morgan wasn't shouting; he was too busy concentrating on finding True's footprints in the snow. It wasn't too hard to follow True's tracks, except in places where the wind and new falling snow had covered them over.
"Here! Over here!" Morgan called to Julia, having spotted the girl's trail again.
"Well, at least she's still mobile." Julia muttered, under her breath.
End part 3
Forgiveness, Part 4 & Conclusion
Katherine TateDanziger returned slowly to the camp for two reasons. One, he didn't want to face up to the fact that he really should talk to Morgan. And two, his arms were full of root vegetables that he'd discovered under the tree where Alonzo had picked up the stones. But the increasing snow and his cold hands finally forced him back.
Dumping the vegetables on the table inside the dome, Danziger brushed the snow off the shoulders and arms of his coat. He took the coat off and lay it next to the vegetables on the table. It looked like a major storm was about to hit.
"Morgan?" Devon opened the door to her room and peered out at Danziger.
"Very funny, Adair." he said. Then he took a close look at her. "What happened to you?" he asked, moving closer.
Devon shook her head trying to dismiss the topic of her health.
"Those damn stones of Alonzo's! They're toxic." Devon moved towards the table.
"Toxic! How toxic?"
"John, you found something." Devon picked up a vegetable, examining it with wonder. "You found something!"
Danziger took the vegetable out of Devon's hand and put it back onto the table.
"How toxic?"
Devon was still feeling a little shaky on her feet. She sat down.
"They cause a sort of blistering on the skin. Then respiratory failure." She said it so matter of factly that one might think she was discussing the effects of sunlight on a solar panel.
"Respiratory *failure*?!" cried Danziger. "Is anyone else sick? What about Alonzo? He was working with them the most. What about Uly?"
Devon looked up at Danziger without answering. She had to be careful here. If Danziger knew exactly what was going on she was going to lose him into the storm. She pulled on his arm until he sat next to her on the bench. One of his vegetables rolled off the table on the other side.
"Alonzo was the first to have the reaction; then me. That's when Julia realized it was the stones." Devon pulled open her shirt at the top to show John the blisters, fading but still sore, around her neck. John's hand reached up tentatively to gently touch the skin around the redness.
"Oh man." he said. "You feelin' alright now?"
"Just tired. Just really, really tired." Devon sighed.
Danziger gave her a lopsided grin. His hand moved up from her neck to stroke her cheek. Then it dropped back down to his side.
"What are you doing out here talking to me then? Go to bed!" He leaned back on the table; he was feeling tired himself.
"When I heard you come in I thought . . . I thought maybe you were Morgan." Devon confessed.
"I can't imagine why you would actively seek out Morgan's company." Danziger said, dryly, but without the intensity of the past couple of days.
True stumbled across the Grendler quite by accident. The bulky body was lying in the shelter of two tree stumps. Despite its shape, the bones of its skeleton were clearly evident just under the skin. The snow had half buried it.
"There you are!" gasped True, putting out a hand to the Grendler's shoulder. "I found you after all."
She began brushing off the snow and gave the creature a good poke like Dad did to her in the morning when she didn't want to get up.
"Look," she said, as she pulled off the necklace from under her coat, "I brought you a present . . . ." True's voice died softly as she suddenly realized why the Grendler wasn't moving. He wasn't asleep like she'd first thought.
"Oh no!" she cried, coughing a little. She pushed the Grendler, hard this time. "No! No, you can't die! I brought you some food, I brought you a present."
True put her arms around the dead creature, alternately coughing and sobbing. Her necklace dangled from her fingers over the Grendler's head.
"NOOOOOO!" she screamed.
Morgan and Julia had lost True's tracks. Julia was worried that this meant the girl had stopped moving and was unconscious somewhere needing medical assistance. Morgan paced in a circle, his eyes scanning the snow for any indication of disturbance. The snow was falling so fast now that it had covered up the trail of the little girl. The longer it was taking to find her, the more urgently, more frantically Morgan searched.
"I'm going up to that ridge to contact the camp." Julia said to him, raising her voice slightly because of the wind. "Maybe they've heard from her."
Morgan nodded acknowledgement, muttering to himself. He sincerely doubted that True had contacted the camp, but it would be good to check in. He wondered if Danziger had returned. Maybe Danziger was on his way out here right now. Julia trudged away from him. Morgan stood absolutely still listening to the wind blow in gusts around his ears.
"TROOOOO!" he wailed, lifting up his head to howl like a wolf. "C'mon kid, where are you?" he asked the stillness that followed.
Then, faintly, off to his right, Morgan heard something.
Devon was toying with the idea of not telling Danziger about the situation with True when Bess burst into the dome.
"I thought I saw you come in here." she said to Danziger, "Julia just checked in. They still haven't found her yet."
Danziger sat up straight again; his eyes narrowing.
"Who hasn't found who yet?" he asked sharply. He looked from Bess to Devon. Putting her hand in her hands Devon rested her elbows on her knees. Bess looked decidedly guilty. "Devon! What's going on?"
"It's True. Morgan and Julia are looking for True." Devon confessed.
Danziger jumped up from his seated position. Was there ever going to be a time when he didn't worry about that kid? He doubted it.
"Why? Where did she go that they have to look for her?" he asked the two women. Bess, still looking guilty, glanced over at Devon to explain. Devon rubbed her temples a little and then sat up straight.
"True went looking for a Grendler." she said bluntly, watching Danziger's eyes widen. "It was starving and she's been smuggling it food. I told her she couldn't keep doing it after dark; it was too dangerous."
"Just a little *girl* talk, Adair?" Danziger asked, running his hands through his hair. Suddenly, his hands stopped as he thought of something. "With you and Alonzo so sick, why did Julia go?"
"She was wearing a necklace of stones." Devon told him.
"No, no, oh no." Danziger said before she'd even finished. He took a step forwards towards the table, towards his coat. However Devon was quicker and, snatching the coat from beneath his fingers, she held it tightly to her chest.
"Think about what you're doing, Danziger. There's a storm coming. Julia and Morgan are already out there . . . "
"Give me my coat, Adair." Danziger interrupted.
"They will find her any moment now and bring her back . . .
"Give it to me!" Danziger commanded.
"You'll never find her tracks the way the snow's falling now . . ."
"Devon!"
"All you're going to do is get lost and freeze to death and then what will I tell True when she gets back here with the others?"
"GIVE ME MY COAT!!!" thundered Danziger, leaning over Devon. Bess, frightened, stepped back towards the door.
"What are you going to do, John? Are you going to hit me for it?" whispered Devon. She held her breath.
Danziger took a step back. He looked over at Bess, then back down at Devon still clutching the coat.
"Of course not!" he protested. "Just . . ."
"Good." interrupted Devon, businesslike. "Now listen to me. Stay calm and think rationally. As much as you want to go out there to find her, there is nothing you can do to help her at this point. All you can do is wait. Here."
Danziger reached out to Devon so quickly that for a fleeting second she thought maybe he was going to hit her after all. Instead he deftly grabbed her gear and flicked the headset off her neck. He plunked the gear over his own ears and brought up the mike.
"Morgan? Can you hear me?"
Morgan found True, gasping for breath, lying slumped over the Grendler's body.
"Julia!" Morgan cried, "Over here, Julia!" He bent over True, who looked at him with unfocused but somewhat surprised eyes.
"I was just trying to help him." she said, simply.
Morgan looked with distaste at the Grendler, but then turned his attention to the girl. He fell onto his knees in the snow and pulled her towards him.
"True, how're you feeling? Are you alright? Where is your necklace?"
Morgan had just determined that the necklace was now in the keeping of the deceased Grendler when Julia arrived. She found Morgan with an unconscious True in his arms.
"Here we go. Here we go." Julia said, comfortingly as she pulled her drug from her bag. As True was beyond hearing, the doctor's soothing words were intended to calm Morgan.
Once assured that True was, in fact, breathing, they prepared to head back towards the camp. Morgan stood up with the girl in his arms; Julia tried to contact Bess. Before she'd had any luck Danziger's voice came clearly over their signal.
"Morgan? Can you hear me?"
Morgan stumbled slightly with shock and nearly lost his balance in the deep snow.
"I've got her." he gasped into his mike. "I've got her. We're heading back now."
"Julia?" was the next question from Danziger back at the camp.
"She'll be fine, John." Julia assured him. 'As long as we don't freeze to death on the way home.' she added to herself.
While the group waited for the return of Morgan, Julia and True, Bess decided to turn John's vegetables into a soup. She approached Danziger, who was brooding by the doorway.
"Here." she handed him a knife.
"What's that for?" Danziger asked suspiciously.
"It's for cutting vegetables. I need them in uniform chunks." When John didn't move from his watchful position Bess added, "It will help to take your mind off the waiting. C'mon, let's go!"
Bess went back to the table and gathered up the vegetables, including a few that had fallen to the floor. After a moment of hesitation, Danziger followed.
Morgan thought his arms had never felt so tired. They were going to tear off his body at the shoulders any time now. True dozed, occasionally waking enough to mumble words of sorrow over that stupid dead creature. Once she cried out, startling him into nearly dropping her. She certainly was unable to walk on her own two feet.
Something happened to Morgan, carrying True back to the camp. Something that had been happening to him since Danziger had struck him. He wondered what it would be like to care so much for someone else. Not in the way he cared for Bess, but in a totally new and exciting way.
Children were so dependent that Morgan had always been a little afraid of the responsibility having them would entail. Seeing Danziger's reaction to the fear of losing True had initially reinforced Morgan's feeling that children were best had by other people and not him. But after he thought about it Morgan began to feel something else about the Danzigers. It was envy.
Now, as he stumbled through the powdered snow and blasting wind with Danziger's child in his arms, Morgan started feeling very protective of the girl. It was imperative that they make it back to the dome. Morgan felt driven by something besides a desire to placate Danziger's anger. In fact, truth be told, he wasn't even thinking of John at all.
Julia shuffled ahead of him, finding the path. It was slow going. Not only was the weather against them, but night was falling as well.
Bess and Danziger had made one heck of a meal; there was no disagreement about this. However, John didn't feel very hungry, so his bowl remained untouched in front of him. The group was more subdued than normal.
Abruptly, John rose from the table and, retrieving his coat, he went outside. Devon looked questioningly at Yale, who shrugged slightly. Although Devon could hear nothing but the wind howling, she went to get her coat and follow John.
The blast of the wind struck Devon so forcefully she gasped. Her eyes squinted, trying to see Danziger without the tiny flakes of snow blowing into them. He was just a dark shape at the end of the camp.
"Morgan!" she heard him call. "Julia!"
Devon stepped away from the shelter of the dome's entrance to go to Danziger. Before she'd made it halfway across to him, he turned around. Now there were three dark shapes instead of one.
Morgan's sight was so limited that he literally bumped into Danziger, who'd come out to greet the exhausted trio. He passed the mechanic his daughter with parts of relief and regret. Relief because his arms were aching; regret because he knew he'd never get that close to True again. Once passed to her father True's need of Morgan was over.
Then suddenly Devon was there to help guide them into the safety and warmth of the dome. Morgan was greeted by his wife, whose emotional hug nearly knocked him off his unsteady feet. Then she pulled him to the table where there was soup. Hot soup! Morgan's body had forgotten what warmth felt like; he was looking forward to reminding it.
Danziger and Julia were pulling True's coat and boots off her; John was vigorously rubbing her hands, arms and feet. Julia was reassuring him that True was going to recover from the toxic reaction of the stones. Morgan watched them in a haze.
As True woke up she was aware only of being really, *really* cold and sad. Dad was looking down at her, a worried frown creasing his face.
"I wasn't able to save him." True whispered, suddenly remembering. Dad pulled her into a gentle hug as she began to cry. "He died anyway. I wasn't able to help him."
"Shush, baby." Danziger stroked her head in comfort. "You tried your best. That's all you can do."
True fell silent, holding on to Dad, clinging to him for consolation. Devon appeared with a bowl of soup. One of Dad's arms let go of True so he could take the bowl from Devon. So distraught was True that she let Dad feed her, something he hadn't done since she was a little kid.
It was very quiet in the dome but True was not aware of anything besides the feeling of warmth returning to her toes and fingers. Her soup finished she leaned against Dad.
"You know, True, " he said softly into her ear, "If you've got a problem to solve you can come to me for help."
True looked up at him. Her exhaustion made her speak where before she would have remained silent.
"Dad, you wouldn't have helped me save a Grendler's life." she told him matter-of-factly. "You wouldn't have let me give him any food."
Danziger wanted to ask 'How do you know, when you didn't even try to ask me?' but he had to admit she was probably right. If True had come to him, before all this had happened, with a scheme to save a starving Grendler he most likely would not have agreed to it.
"True, even if you felt you couldn't talk to me, there's always Devon, or Yale, or Bess, or Julia. My point is that we're a team out here and you shouldn't feel like you have to deal with things by yourself. Please, talk to someone, even if it's not me, before you take on a project like this again. OK sport?" It hurt Danziger to tell her to speak with someone else; it hurt him to think she couldn't talk to him about anything. But he couldn't risk having her run off again by herself.
"OK Dad." True said. She looked over to Devon who was giving her one of those maternal looks. True lifted her head to Dad again. "Uh, there's something else you should know."
"What's that?" Danziger asked, holding his breath.
"The night that Morgan was on guard duty. The Grendler was with me. That's what he was shooting at."
Danziger sighed and looked over at Morgan who was watching them from the safety of the other side of the table. He found that he couldn't feel any anger at the bureaucrat any more. It was an exhausted emotion.
"Let's get you to bed, kiddo." he said to True, standing up. True stood also, and walked over to where Morgan was sitting. She put her arms around his neck.
"Thanks Morgan." True said somberly. It was hard to say who was more surprised, Morgan or Danziger. She headed in the direction of bed.
Danziger hesitated to follow her. Instead, he went towards Morgan as well. Morgan, finally shook out of his haze by the display of affection from the mechanic's daughter, tried to stand up but got his feet caught on the bench and he ended up sitting abruptly down again.
"Morgan," Danziger said, "I've been behaving like an idiot. I was afraid and it made me angry. Uh, I'm sorry I hit you."
"Ah, " Morgan was caught off his guard. "I'm sorry I fired the weapon."
"You probably saved her life today. I owe you a lot for that."
Morgan thought about how he'd felt while carrying True back to camp. In a flash he considered what it would be like to have a daughter of his own.
"No, not really." Morgan told him. "Not really."
Voice of Devon:
"We have spent so much together, as a diverse team in unexpected situations. It seems that polite words like 'thank you' come easier than sincere words like 'I'm sorry.' We have found that it is necessary to look within to forgive ourselves before we can truly forgive each other. And, in looking within, we find the most unlikely people."-The End-
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.