SOMETHING GOOD
By
Lizzy
Timeline: At New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: heckercw@voicenet.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This story is either called "Tremors" or "Something Good". The first one has little to do with the story, but sounds cool. The second one has a *lot* to do with the story, but isn't as fun =(.I hope you're all greatful, because I had to wake up at 6:30 in the morning to send this!! I'm half asleep, and I can't crawl back into bed now!!
P.S.: As you'll see author has decided that this story's name should be "Something good". - Andy
"Something Good", Part 1
by Lizzy"Okay people, first order of business on the day of December 12th, 2216 Station time is what exactly are we going to do about the stolen air conditioning unit?" Devon Adair read off her list of subjects to discuss that morning at the New Pacifica General Hospital (AKA the Grendler Bar & Grille) to the other twenty-five people sitting at the surrounding tables.
Beside her, John Danziger shifted uncomfortably in his seat beside her. She felt a little sad that he thought it was his fault that the unit had been stolen by a Grendler earlier that morning. At about midnight last night one of the security relays at the colony's perimeter had gone down, and John had decided to fix it in the morning since he was a little . . . distracted at the time.
She tried to ignore the sheepish look on his face as she continued, "As you all probably know, one of the perimeter relays malfunctioned last night and, as a result, a Grendler succeeded in crossing into the colony grounds and proceeded to relieve us of our air conditioning unit by wrenching it off the outside wall."
Several of the people grumbled, though they knew the missing air conditioner wasn't that big of a problem, since it was winter. But they all knew that Devon would undoubtedly send a team out after the Grendler to retrieve it anyhow, just so they'd have it during the unbearably hot summer.
"I'd like to take volunteers for a scout team to try and locate the unit." Devon continued from where she stood by the table that John, True, and Uly were seated at. Only Wil Baines volunteered, apparently eager to relieve his winter doldrums by filling it with work. "As you all know, the a/c unit had a radar tracker on it, so it shouldn't take too long to find it."
Still no one volunteered, so she offered, "Well then I'll just go with Baines." At this True cast her eyes down in disappointment. Devon had promised to go with her when she went down to the barn to help out Nick Fonseca. True had wanted to show her how well she could ride now, and Devon had been promising for quite awhile.
Seeing his daughter's disappointment, Danziger raised his hand. "No, Dev, I'll go. After all, I was the one who--" he stopped when he saw her give him a stern look.
"It's not your fault," she said softly, and then turned back to the assembled group, which was still busy munching on their breakfast. "Well, then I guess it's just Danziger and Baines."
"Hey, I'll go," Alonzo suddenly offered, and Julia, who was seated beside him, gave him a surprised look.
"Okay, so the three of you. You can take the 'Rail, and I'd make myself a sandwich or two, just in case it takes longer than I thought." Devon took a deep breath. "Okay, that's all we have for today. Oh, and Charlotte has posted the KP list for this week on the wall over there," she pointed across the expanse of the large cafeteria where a piece of paper hung.
Everyone nodded and then turned back to their conversations, while Devon took a seat.
"Bye John," Devon waved, along with True and Uly as Danziger, Baines, and Alonzo hopped into the DuneRail and John started the engine. Julia gave Alonzo a goodbye kiss on the cheek and then stepped back to allow them to leave. They pulled out of what everyone had affectionately named "the parking lot" where all the other vehicles were parked, and then headed off on the dirt road following the signal from the mini-radar screen.
Before they could scout around to try and locate the Grendler and/or their den they had to exit the forest which surrounded the hospital and barn that pretty much made up the colony of New Pacifica. The dirt road that Charlotte O'hara's group from pod four had cut led straight ahead through the trees for about a mile until reaching a plain with only scattered trees.
The three of them road in silence for a while before Alonzo finally broke it by stretching and giving out a yawn. "Ahhhh, it feels great to get away from there," he sighed, "I'm beginning to feel closed in."
"By what, the hospital or Julia?" Baines snickered with amusement. Alonzo turned around in his seat to look at the man. "Hey, have you ever been engaged Wil? It's *exhausting*. She starts to expect you to be around twenty-four seven and you can't complain because then she says something like 'Alonzo, are you sure this is what you *really* want?'"
"I think you're exaggerating a bit, 'Lonz," Danziger commented from where he sat in the drivers seat. The road through the forest seemed to go on and on forever and, as of yet, showed no sign of opening out into the prairie. It had been only four weeks since he'd come through there, but it seemed like an eternity since they'd lumbered over the last mile to New Pacifica.
Alonzo turned back around to face forward and say, "Well, I wouldn't be talking if I were you, Danz. Haven't heard anything about you courting that lovely Devon Adair. That is to say, you haven't proposed." Danziger didn't respond immediately to that and he thought his point was proven.
Satisfied, he returned his attention to the road in front of them and it was quite a few minutes until Danziger spoke up. Careful not to lose control of the vehicle, he reached into his jacket pocket with one of his hands and pulled out a small pouch and handed it to Alonzo.
Alonzo frowned, wondering what the point of that was. He undrew the string to the pouch and stuck a finger inside, feeling around. An eyebrow shot up in surprise as he withdrew the finger, a ring around it. "Why Danziger, I don't know what to say," he said teasingly as he examined the golden band, which had a rather small, but adequate, diamond on it.
"Let me see that sucker!" Baines exclaimed, reaching a hand forward from the back seat in attempt to snatch it from Alonzo,
"Hey, hey! Be careful with that!" Danziger said angrily, taking it from Alonzo himself, the small pouch along with it.
"Where'd you get that from?" Alonzo asked, curious. He hadn't noticed any jewelry shops on their way across the planet and wondered where Danziger had acquired such a thing.
Keeping his eyes on the road he put the ring back in the pouch and zipped it back into his pocket. "I had it. I was going to give it to True's mother. After she died I just took it everywhere with me. I don't know why. I figured if Elle couldn't have it, Devon might as well."
"That's real nice," Baines whistled at the memory of the sparkling stone. "Is it a zirconia?"
"Hell no," Danziger snorted, "It was my grandmother's. She gave it to my mom who gave it to me. Had a helluva time keeping it a secret from the security people. Luckily they don't conduct strip searches for valuable items."
Alonzo and Baines both chuckled, and then 'Lonz asked, "So when you gonna give it to her?"
Danz shrugged, intent on the road, and just said, "I dunno. I guess sometime soon, though."
"Ah, Devon, good," Basil Sherwood greeted Devon as she walked through the door to the communications room at the hospital. Basil was seated at one of the chairs in front of all the equipment they'd been able to salvage from the cargo pods. "I've got something I thought you might be interested in."
Devon nodded and quickly took a seat in the other chair. "Bas, I was going to go somewhere--"
"With True, I know. But this could be important." Basil interjected. Sighing, Devon nodded. "Well, what I found," she said, flicking a switch to turn on one of the many monitors, "Is some seismic activity."
"Well, with the hot springs and the geological vents, I'm not surprised."
"Yes but this is a little stronger than normal. We may have a quake sometime. And I know we've never really prepared for such a contingency." Basil said. "We had one or two mild tremors a few months ago. We didn't tell you because we didn't think it was all that important. I think we ought to tell everyone--especially the children--what to do if we every have a 'quake."
Devon frowned. "Is there any way to tell if we're going to have one?"
Basil shook her head. "Sorry, but the best I can do for you is to say that we'll probably have one eventually. There's no way to know."
She sighed, "Well, thanks for letting me know. I'll talk to Yale about it as soon as I get back from the barn." She then got up off the chair and left the room.
"The sucker's left," Baines remarked, shining his flashlight down the darkened hole in the ground into the Grendler's den. They'd followed the tracker to a rocky rise littered with boulders. The Grendler had made a den in the side of one of the steeper hills and had, in an attempt to camouflage it, piled rocks around it.
"Great, we can get out of here fast," Danziger said, getting down on one knee to peer inside as well. "Who wants to go in?"
"I will," Alonzo volunteered, "Been longing for a thrill." So they went back to where they'd parked the 'Rail at the bottom of the hill and got out a rope which Alonzo lashed around his waist. They then returned to the den and he leapt down eight feet to the damp, smelly interior of the Grendler cave.
LumaLight in hand, he poked around the dank cave, taking a look at the many things the Grendler had stockpiled. Unlike the other Grendler dens he'd been in over the past year, this one had no Eden Project supplies in it, thanks to the haste with which those in pod four had recovered the cargo pod supplies and set up a perimeter fence. Instead, there were many rocks, rotted fruits, sticks, leaves, and other natural items stockpiled within.
Eventually he came upon the air conditioning unit at the rear of the cave, obviously in a place of honor. It appeared unharmed, so he hefted it up into his arms and went back to the exit, where light was pouring down from the hole. He tied the rope around it and helped Baines and Danziger pull it up to the surface. That done, they put it in the DuneRail and relaxed for a little lunch.
After they'd finished their quick meal, they realized they still had an hour or so until they'd have to leave. Wanting to enjoy their free time to the fullest, they agreed that they all could take a look around.
Danziger put away his garbage and then set out to the top of the steep hill. He had to be careful he didn't trip over the rocks scattered around, but eventually he reached the crest.
The view of Trumbell Bay was blocked by the vast forest that stretched before him. Behind him the hills began to smooth out into the plain they had trekked across, and the horizon was framed by a barely noticeable set of mountains.
It was nice to see new landscape again. After spending a year on the road four weeks of sand, water, trees, and hospitals could be absolute hell.
The only things that kept him from going insane with the calm, monotony of his chores at the colony were Devon, Uly and True. Devon herself nearly made up for it completely in fact, always there at the end of the day to listen to his moans and groans, and to remind him how he'd said the same things while they were on the road.
Yes, if it weren't for Devon, he might go completely insane. Reaching into his pockets, he fingered the pouch thoughtfully, feeling the ring within it. *Soon, Dev,* he thought, *Soon*.
"Hey Danz! We'd better get going, else Dev and Julia are gonna freak! He heard Alonzo called from the bottom of the hill.
"Be right there," He shouted back and took one last look at the view before turning around and heading down the hill.
When he was halfway down, he tripped over a rock and went tumbling down to the bottom, landing in a heap. Ignoring Baines and Alonzo's badly stifled laughs he got up and, wisely, zipped his pocket. *Can't offord to lose that,* he thought and climbed into the 'Rail.
"Earthquake! Ahhhh!!!" True screamed, shaking Uly's shoulders violently. She had crept up behind him with the sole intent of scaring him out of his wits.
That day, after True had returned from the stables with Devon, Yale had sat them down and told them that it was possible they could have earthquakes on G889 and that Miss Sherwood had detected some unusual seismic activities. Yale had taught them about quakes on Earth a few months back, about how devastating they could be. He didn't say anything, but she was pretty sure Uly was scared of them.
Uly jumped in his seat, but then sighed in relief when he realized it was just her. Pushing her away he growled irritably, "Stop it, dork, it's not funny."
True shrugged, grinning, and took a seat just as the double cafeteria doors swung open to admit Devon and John. The two of them joined their children at their usual, circular table. Charlotte O'hara often said that when Devon and Danziger built their house they might as well take the table with them, since they always sat at it. Unless, of course, there was a meeting. In that case, the large, rectangular central table was designated for that purpose.
"Where've you guys been?" Devon asked them. True smiled, looking at Uly. "Oh, we were just listening to Yale talking about earthquakes. Or, as I prefer to call them, G889quakes." Uly shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the thought.
Noticing that Uly was uncomfortable with the topic, Danziger said, "Well, we got the a/c unit back from that Grendler. 'Least now we won't die of the heat *in the middle of December*." He grinned crookedly at Devon, who ignored the playful jab.
Disappointed that his attempt at humor had failed, he instead asked, "So how can my daughter ride?"
At this Devon smiled, looking at True, who beamed. "Well, I'm no expert, but she looks great on that horse."
"Well, I have a great teacher," she said, casting a glance across the nearly empty cafeteria (it was still a few minutes before diner would be served) to where Basil was talking with her fiance, Ross Parker. "And Cassie's a gorgeous horse."
"Are we ever going to eat?" Uly asked impatiently. "I'm starved." True smirked. "I guess Uly wants his last meal before the earthquake gets him!" She then burst out laughing at her own joke.
"Maybe you should go and help the KPers, then," Devon suggested to her son amid True's guffaws.
Uly grumbled a bit, then reluctantly left in the direction of the kitchen doors.
"What's on the menu tonight, Charlie?" Alonzo Solace asked curiously, peering over Charlotte O'hara's shoulder to see what she had been jotting down on a piece of paper.
"Fish." she announced, setting aside the pen and moving away from the preparation counter in the cafeteria's vast kitchen. The other four people on the KP team, Julia Heller, Gregory Walman, Linda Magus, and Arkady Bogdanov, all groaned.
"Are you kidding Charlie?" Walman asked as he tied an apron around his waist. The others did the same and scrubbed their hands in the washbasin. "That stuff's been on the ice since God knows when."
"Hey, Greg, don't knock the fish. Someday it's gonna be world famous."
Walman snorted, "Which doesn't mean much on G889." "C'mon, lets get to work," Julia prodded, walking across the giant metal kitchen to the refrigerator. "You all know what you're supposed to do. Right?"
"Clean the fish!" Arkady raised his hand and cried enthusiastically. "Cut the fish," Magus chimed in after him. "Cook the fish," Charlotte added.
Walman made a face. "Dunno, but it sure as hell ain't 'eat the fish.'""Your sarcasm is unappreciated, Greg," Charlotte said wryly as she fired up the grill and waited for the others to finish their tasks. "Someone have anything better to talk about other than how much Mr. Walman doesn't appreciate my gourmet cooking?"
"How was the scout this morning?" Julia asked Alonzo in an effort to appease Charlotte's request. "Anything interesting happen?"
"Did you punch that bugger out for me, like I asked?" Arkady asked, grinning.
Alonzo shook his head. "Nah, he wasn't there. Probably trying to figure out a way to break the relays on his own," he chuckled. "We just went there, checked out that dank, smelly hole he calls a house, and snatched the unit right back from him. Serves him right, I think."
"Figures, nothing interesting ever happens when we send you *men* on scouts." Linda said playfully as she cheerily lopped the head off one of the scaly, slimy 'alonzo' fish.
He cocked an eyebrow as he cleared away the remains of the fish and put them in the compost can. "Oh, so I guess something happens when we send you women on scouts, then?"
Julia smiled teasingly at him. "Yes, well, we *do* do a bit of talking. Of course, you guys are so adept at communication you probably do as well."
"As a matter of fact, we *do*," Alonzo said defensively. "Why, just today Danziger, Baines and I were talking about--" he cut himself off, but it was too late. All heads were turned in his direction.
"About what?" Magus asked, suddenly interested, putting aside her knife and leaning against the counter. The two other women did the same, but Arkady and Greg went on as if completely uninterested, though it was obvious they were listening.
Alonzo, though he knew he was pretty much doomed, decided to try and get out of it anyway. "About . . . Charlie's cooking. You know, Danz is a big fan of your fish. Oh, and the salads . . . "
Charlotte brightened. "Really?"
"You *must* be joking, Charlie." Magus said, straightening. "Well, if you don't want to tell us . . . "Julia sighed thoughtful for a moment, taking a fish and cutting the tail off. "You know, Alonzo, I've been thinking, our room is awful small, and I'm feeling a bit crowded. Maybe I should just move out . . ."
Alonzo grimaced. He'd been hoping it wouldn't come down to that, that the women would accept the fact that it was simply a matter of privacy. But who was he kidding? This was Julia, Magus, and Charlotte. Good thing Bess hadn't been there, or he'd been done for. "Argh, Julia . . . "
She looked at him innocently. "Yes, Alonzo?" "Aw, geez, what am I supposed to do when you look at me that way?" Linda grinned, knowing they'd completely trapped him. "I believe the sentence begins with 'I'm not one to gossip, but . . . '"
Alonzo sighed in resignation. "Alright. When we were on our way to the Grendler cave, Danziger said--"
"Hello, people! What's on the Grill?" A child's voice interrupted him as Ulysses flung open the kitchen doors and stepped inside. Seeing their faces, startled at his sudden entrance, he said sheepishly, "Uh, sorry. But Mom said that I ought to see if I could lend a hand."
They all greeted him with smiles, and, the fun obviously over, returned to their tasks. Uly assisted them with the cleaning of the fish, and soon they were dishing out the portions to the hungry Advancers.
"Something Good", Part 2
by LizzyOh, that last ending was beautiful. Real stressful point, eh? Bet you couldn't wait to read the rest, right? Well, read it anyway. I *think* it gets better, but I forgot to proofread in my haste!
I came to a decision sometime this morning (in homeroom, I think) that this story will be called "Something Good" and not "Tremors". This is because I came up with the coolest idea for a story that comes a little afterwards (to be exact, nine months and a coupla days) for which the title would be far more appropriate.
Since no one was in WBS's private/replacement-for-the-moment chatroom, I decided I may as well send this now so as not to repeat this morning's situation (I almost fell asleep in math--not. Okay, so it was art.) So now it's 8:20 Eastern, and I just finished watching "Redemption" with my father.
"I don't hear your feet moving!"--Devon.
After dinner, just as they always did, Devon and Danziger sent Uly and True off to the shower house while they went out to the beach that stretched in front of the hospital to watch the sunlight. A handful of others were there as well, including Julia and Alonzo, as well as Ross and Basil, but as the sun sunk below the horizon, they eventually trickled back into the hospital's walls.
However, Devon and John remained, watching the waves relentlessly pound against the sandy shoreline that bordered the blue green waters of Trumbell Bay. This was also part of their daily routine, and they'd usually use it as a time to catch up on what the other had been doing all day. At dinner they listened to the children's stories, but now it was just them.
Relaxing against him, Devon let out a weary sigh and said, "So what have you been doing all day, stranger? There's too much work to do here on the colony. First, we spend all day doing things with the others, and by the time we both collapse into bed, we're too exhausted to even say, 'Who are you?'"
He chuckled softly, and said, "I think you're exaggerating a little, but, yeah. Besides, Dev, you were the one that sent me off on that scout anyway."
She straightened to look him in the eyes accusingly, "Oh no you don't. You were the one who volunteered for that. I just let you go."
"You *let* me go?"
She nodded. "Yes. Absolutely. You don't even know what I had planned. I was going to arrange for the two of us to go off on a romantic little picnic, off in the woods somewhere, away from the people, away from the kids, away from the air conditioner stealing Grendlers . . . "He growned. "Is that so?" Upon her nod he continued, "Those goddamn Grendlers ruin *all* my fun." He wrapped his arms around her and began to sway gently back and forth.
"I know the feeling," Devon agreed, "But if you think about it, we *do* have the rest of our lives to spend together." At his silence, she pulled away and looked him squarely in the eyes. "I mean, we do, don't we?"
Danziger's mind suddenly began screaming at him. *Now, now!* it cried out to be heard. And for once in his life, John Danziger listened to his head, but only because it happened to agree with his heart.
"Dev," he said, reaching into his jacket pocket and searching for the pouch. "There's something I've been meaning to--" he cut himself off. *Crap!* he thought, shock and fear running cold through his veins. *It's gone! Aw, hell . . . *
Devon, who had previously been smiling in anticipation of his words, suddenly frowned. "John, what is it?"
*Must've fallen out of my pocket when I tripped back at the cave!!* his mind raced, *I've got to find it!* Getting up off the ground and dusting the sand off his pants and ran up the steep bank to where the vehicles were parked in front of the hospital, leaving Devon looking puzzled and hurt.
Almost instantly she got up and dashed after him. "John! What the hell are you doing??" She caught up as he hopped into the DuneRail and turned on the engine.
"Dev, I'll be back soon. I just . . . I just think I forgot something that was *very* important." He took her hand and gave it a kiss, and then he pulled out of the row of vehicles.
"Wait, Danziger!" she called after him, "Where are you going?!" "The Grendler cave!" he shouted back at her as he drove off on the dirt road.
Feeling puzzled, as well as a bit put-off, Devon turned back to the double-doored entrance to the hospital. *What's with him today, anyway?* she asked herself, and decided that the two would have to talk later.
It was only a half hour past dusk, though it was rather dark out. She couldn't help but wonder what was so important that he would drive for and hour in the dark just to find it.
*He's flipped,* she thought to herself as she stepped into the nearly bare, though still comfortable, lobby. *He's gone completely nutty-fruitcake on me. What am I going to tell True?*
Shaking her head in confusion, she resolved to go down to the kitchen and see if she could assist the KPers in the clean up.
She could hear snippets of conversation as she approached the ktichen's "back door" in the hallway, but as she entered all talking ceased.
"Howdy Devon," Charlotte greeted her cheerfully, her arms elbow-deep in the soapsud-filled washbasin. "What can I do for ya?"
"For you," Nancy Perlman, who had apparently had the same idea as Devon, corrected. She was uncerimoniously dumping the leftover fish off someone's plate into the compost barrel.
Devon moved over to where Julia was drying off one of the plates and picked one up, eager to get busy and forget John's odd behavior. "So, what are you talking about?" She knew from experience that every KP team, no matter who was on it, had something interesting to say.
Alonzo, who was putting the dishes into one of the many metal cabinets, said sarcastically, "We were just discussing the finer points of the English language with Nancy over there."
*Well, not always,* Devon reminded herself, and settled down to do the dishes.
It was about an hour later when, after putting the last of the dishes away, Devon sigh and said, "Well, now that that's all finshed--" She was cut off by a sudden rumbling as the ground beneath her feet began to shake.
A wave of panic washed over her as she grabbed onto the counter, watching Julia, Charlotte, Alonzo, Magus, Walman, Arkady, and Nancy do the same. At the other end of the ktichen she saw one of the cabinets open, causing the stacked dishes to fly to the floor, shattering into a million peices.
"What the hell!" Julia exclaimed, gripping the counter with all her might.
"It's a quake," Charlotte explained as the floor shook beneath them. "It'll only last a few seconds. The cabinets and the dishes within them continued to rattle for a few more moments before everything just *stopped*.
Devon let out a shakey breath, releasing her grip on the counter. Then a sudden thought struck her. "True and Uly. They must be in their rooms." Before saying anything more, she dashed out the kitchen door to the hallway and bolted down the corridor to the first of the children's rooms she spotted.
Flinging the door open, she found True on the floor, gripping the post to her bed and whimpering with fright. "G889quake," True muttered, shaking with fear.
Devon dropped down next to her and put her arms around the girl. "True, it's okay. It was just a little quake. It's over. Everyone's safe."
True nodded, pulling away and getting to her feet. She cast an unhappy glance to the picture frame that lay on the floor. Bending over to pick it up she grimaced when she saw that the glass covering the picture, one of her mother, apparently, was shattered.
"Oh, True, is it broken? I'm sorry," Devon asked with concern, standing up behind her.
True shrugged and placed it back on her dresser. "I can get a new frame." Then she turned to face Devon. "W-where's Dad?"
The color flooded from Devon's face. "John . . . " He said he was going to the Grendler cave. What if he'd gone inside when the quake hit? Taking True by the hand, she led her out to the hallway and said, "True, go find Uly, and I want you to stick with Yale. I'm going to go find your father."
True stared. "*Find* my father? What, isn't he here?" She instantly became alarmed, looking around as if hoping to see him. "Where is he??"
"I'll explain later, True, just go find Yale!"
After arriving at the hill where the Grendler cave was, Danziger wasted no time in hopping out of the 'Rail and beginning a search for the missing pouch. He had been about halfway down the hill when he tripped, and he figured that was when it had fallen out of his pocket.
In the dark, the scattered boulders looked even larger. He just hoped that Grendler wasn't hanging around waiting to toss some at intruders. Turning on his LumaLight, he shone it around the area, and searched for a good fifteen minutes. Finally, he was rewarded when he spotted the red pouch hiding behind a scraggly-looking weed.
Sighing with relief, he tucked it back inside his pocket and sipped it immediatly. *My God, Devon must think I'm insane just running off like that.* He instantly wished he hadn't left so abruptly. If it was that easy to find the pouch, it probably could have waited until morning. But he hadn't wanted to take any chances.
As he was walking down the hill he thought he heard the sound of someone--or something--walking around behind him. He swirled around so fast that he lost his balance and ended up face down on the ground. Cursing himself for letting that happen *twice* in one day, he lifted his head up and tried to get up.
Just then, he heard the sound of a distant rumbling and the ground began to pitch beneath him. Rather confused, he recalled Devon mentioning someone about Basil detecting seismic activity at lunch that day. He dug his fingers into the dirt of the ground, and grew alarmed when he heard the sound of some of the rocks tumbling down the side of the hill.
He didn't want to think what might happen if one of those happened to hit him in the head, or some other vital part of anatomy. The ground had only been shaking for a matter of seconds when one of the boulders above him shook loose and hit him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.
"Wait a sec Dev," Alonzo Solace stepped in front of Devon's path in the hallway. She had been shooting down it faster than a speeding bullet towards the lobby, her ultimate destination being the exit. "Danziger went *where*?"
Devon, clearly annoyed that he had gotten in her way, said hurriedly, "He said he was going back to the Grendler cave. Said something about losing something." The moment he stepped aside, she took off down the corridor.
"Devon, wait!" he called, dashing after her, "Let me come with you! Give me a minute to tell Julia."
"I think it's just a little further," Alonzo said, the anxiety noticable in his voice. He, Julia, and Devon were riding in the other DuneRail as fast as they could towards the hills where the Grendler's cave lay. They had tried to contact Danziger on gear, but Devon didn't remember him having any when he took off. 'Damn, stupid man!' she'd said, 'I *told* him he ought to always have one on him or with him.' And Alonzo had remarked that so had everyone else.
Devon nodded tersely, keeping her attention focused on the road before them. "If he was okay, he would've been back by now," she said darkly.
"We don't know that, maybe he's still looking for whatever he lost," Alonzo said, meaning it as encouragement, but knew Devon wouldn't buy such a weak theory.
"He's not that stupid," Devon said defensively, obviously thinking the comment had been meant as an insult.
Julia, who had been silent for most of the hour long trip, said, "Well . . . worst case scenario, he's probably got a bump on his head. It's not like there were many trees on the hill."
"There sure were a lot of boulders, though . . . " Alonzo reminded her. Normally no one would be worried that Danziger hadn't been with them during the quake; normally he had his wits about him and could've figured out how to get himself out of any mess he got into. But the fact that they'd had no contact and hadn't met him along the road was very alarming.
Just minutes later, however, they arrived at the set of hills and spotted his 'Rail. Devon let out an audible sigh of relief when she saw it, and promply leapt out of her seat at the front of their DuneRail and began calling his name.
"John? John are you out here?" There was no reply, so she began searching in earnest for any sign of him.
Alonzo assisted her, as did Julia, and soon they spotted the slight glow of a LumaLight and dashed over to the source. Devon almost fainted--with either relief or alarm, he couldn't tell--when they saw Danziger's limp form lying on the side of the hill. A mid-sized rock lay beside his head where he'd obviously been hit. Julia knelt beside him and pulled on her dia-glove and ran it over him.
"His vitals are okay. He has a helluva bump, though. Still unconscious."
It took all three of them to cart him over to the DuneRail and Devon sat in the back beside his limp form, whispering softly and stroking his forhead gently with her hand. "He'll be fine, Devon," Julia told her as she took a seat next to Alonzo. "Let's just get him back home."
"Is he alright? Where is he?" True Danziger asked anxiously as she and Uly charged down the corridor towards where Devon stood in front of the door to the bedroom she shared with John.
Putting out a hand to stop the racing child from running right into her. "Julia's in with him now. We'll have to--"
Just then, as if on cue, the door opened and Julia Heller stepped out, a smile on her face. "Well, he's conscious. Has a hell of a bump, but he's conscious. And he wants to talk to all three of you."
Devon smiled her thanks to the doctor and allowed the children to go on ahead of her. Once they were all inside, she shut the door behind them.
Danziger lay on the bed in the corner of the room. He looked bleary and half awake. Since there was only one chair in the room, which True rpomptly dragged across the room to sit in front of her father, so Devon and Uly were forced to stand.
Devon was overjoyed to see that he was well, since the image of his limp body lying on the ground still haunted her memory. However, she was also quite angry; she couldn't *believe* he'd just run off like that. "What the *hell* did you think you were doing out there?!" she demanded, almost bursting onto tears.
Danziger looked up at her guiltily, reaching out a hand to take hers. "Dev, I'm so sorry. I just . . . I lost something important."
"What the *hell* is so important that you would go back there in the dark?" True and Uly seemed a bit taken aback at Devon't seemingly unfounded anger. They didn't understand that it was purely out of concern for Danziger's welfare.
With obvious pain, he nodded to the hook on the wall where his jacket hung. Even though she looked a little puzzled, she walked over to the hook and snatched the coat. "In the pocket," he said.
True and Uly watched with curiousity as Devon stuck her hand into one of the pockets, pulling out the small pouch. Puzzled, Devon returned to his bedside and placed it in his open hand.
"What is it?" True asked her father. John gently pulled the pouch open and inserted two of his fingers to retrieve its contents. Before pulling it out, though, he took Devon's hand in his free one.
"This, Dev, is what the hell was so important that I went back out in the dark." He took the ring out and deftly slipped it on her finger.
Devon gasped, covering her mouth in attempt to mask her surprise. "Danziger . . . " she shook her head to clear it, "John . . . "
A grin spread across True's face, obviously understanding just what had occured. Uly, however, simply stood there, frowning. "What?" he asked.
Danziger broke his gaze from Devon's face to look at the young boy. "Uly, if I could . . . I'd like to have your permission to marry your mother."
Uly smiled slightly, and shrugged a bit. "Sure, why not?" Devon, who was still standing there, her hand outstretched, took a step back and said, "J--John, I, uh, I don't quite know what to say," She brought her hand back in to examine the ring. "Where . . . where did you get this?"
"It was my mom's," True filled in for Danziger, before he could say anything.
"Is that true?" she asked him, some of her surprise fading into concern.
He nodded.
Swallowing, she shook her head. "No, no I couldn't. It's not right." She began to slip it off, but True reached up a hand to stop her."No, Mom, keep it. Dad wants you to. So would my mom," she said. Devon obviously had misgivings about taking something that belonged to Eleanor Moore, but since it seemed to be what True and John sincerely wanted, she slid it back on her finger.
True smiled, putting her arms around her mother-to-be. "Now you're part of our family, now, Devon." Uly shot her a look. "Oh, and so is Uly," she sighed. Once Devon had finished embracing her new daughter, she knelt down beside Danziger and said:
"What took you so long?"
Danziger shrugged, wincing as he did so. "Dunno. I was in love. I wasn't thinking straight. Love does that to you."Devon smiled and nodded, taking his hand back in hers. "And Dev,"
"What?"
He winced again, rubbing the back of his head where a sizable bump was located with his spare hand. "Love hurts."Laughing, the four of them gathered around the bed to talk things over, and a part of Devon couldn't help but think, *Devon Adair, what have you got yourself into this time?*
And another part thought back, *Something good.*
-The End-
Shoot, there me goes again with another Devon/Danziger story. Please forgive me, but there's a certain point I have to get them to before Julia and Alonzo go any further. The next story ought to be some general group thing, if I can figure out what to do!!
From now on, I'm going to try (try!!) to combine these relationship stories with regular stories (of which I have written one). I've tried it that way before . . . but I forget what happened =). What the hey, I'll give her a try!
You know that feeling you get when you eat to much cake, or some other sweet thing? That's the feeling I start to get when I think about how many stories I've written that do not differ so much from the one above.
I also wanted to give a hiya to Joan Powers. Hey, our stories match! Well . . . perhaps not.
My cat is crying at me, so I gotta go.
"C'mere istermay oobymanbay!"
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.