NATURAL ROOTS
By
Lynne Leeper
Timeline: At New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: soaron@netcom.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
1) This story begins shortly after "Home Sweet Home".
2) I wanted to explore the Terrian interface with the Eden Group a little more, and extrapolate possible consequences of the mistakes our heroes made along the way. If you're not into the "mystical" aspect of E2, don't bother with this one.
3) The usual disclaimers apply.
Natural Roots, Part 1
by Lynne LeeperThe sun was warm on the rocks by Morgan River. Sitting at the edge of those rocks, Devon twirled her toes in the cool water and watched the resulting ripples travel out of the small, quiet backwash to be lost in the rush of the river itself. She turned her face up to the sunlight and let the warmth spread over the entire front of her unclothed body and giggled. It was so strange, yet compelling to know that she was finally *home*, that she and John could take this time away from the others for their "honeymoon" as Bess called it. The concept of a couple traveling after their wedding was no longer practiced on the Stations. There was no where to go.
They had decided to return to the beach and river where the Eden Advance Group had first camped when they had finally made it to New Pacifica. It was ideal for their needs and only a day's travel by one of the new Scout vehicles from where the town was being founded. No guard was needed here since the group's lost crew mate, Gregory Thompson, had removed all comers while he was host to three insane personalities imposed on him by the Council. Now that Thompson was dead, the Eden Group was the only source of animal life found within miles of New Pacifica. Yale had been quick to point out that the Terrians would know they were free to return as soon as they had their next contact with Uly, and that the Grendlers wouldn't be far behind. Still, it should be safe for a couple to enjoy themselves for a few days without the fear of being robbed or harassed.
Soft footsteps came up behind her and a pair of equally unclothed arms wrapped themselves around her. She leaned back into the muscular torso those arms were attached to and sighed as soft kisses landed on her neck and shoulders.
"I've gotta say, I'm glad the others ran us out of camp for a few days." John's deep voice was soft in her ear. Devon smiled and reached behind her head to run her fingers along his cheek and into his hair.
"We really weren't helping much anyway," she said. He laughed, his breath tickling her ear.
"Alonzo said we were driving everyone nuts. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the one who came up with this idea," he said, his hands starting to roam. Devon started to respond to his caresses and turned in John's arms.
"We'll have to be sure to thank him when we get back," she told him, then ended any further conversation by meeting his lips with hers and starting some exploring of her own. John eventually picked her up to move them a short ways from the river where their motions wouldn't end up putting them in the water. Time was meaningless to their needs and the rest of the world didn't exist to their senses. As they sought to fulfill each other, neither noticed the still form of a single Terrian on the opposite bank of the river observing them with an unobstructed view.
Even after a month's work, the township of New Pacifica wasn't recognizable as such to a Station dweller. There were no metallic towers or multi-level buildings obtruding into a curved skyline. Instead, there was only the foundations of the cluster of dwellings that would be the first homes for the Eden Advance Group. The single Cargo Pod they had recovered, thanks to Thompson, had given them the means to get the electrical power they needed to heat and light the houses, and power the equipment they would need to support 200 Syndrome children once they got here, but there were none of the pre-fab housing modules or hospital structures. Danziger had found the plans needed to establish hydro-electric stations along the Morgan River and had set up a team, including himself, to do the job. Devon had put her skills to work planning the small compound that would be their homes while they set up what they could for the colonists on their way to G889. Since the remaining Cargo Pods had been lost to them, the shelters for the new colonists would have to be primitive. Fortunately, the colony ship carried sufficient pods of their own to make up the deficit. It's just that the newcomers weren't expecting to have to live in tents for a while.
Yale wandered around the Eden camp looking for Uly and True. Even with all of the work there was to be done, both of their parents insisted that the kid's education should not suffer. Yale looked down at his cyber arm and sighed. It had been severely damaged by one of Thompson's counterparts implanting a power feedback device in it. Danziger had been able to repair most of the damage, but the arm still had some unpredictable minor quirks. Still, Yale was glad that he had most of its functions. It was his arm after all.
As his search took him out into surrounding Riparian communities, he sighted Devon sitting with her plans for the housing that they were now building. But instead of being intent on her work she was sitting in her chair, head tilted back and her eyes closed. Yale had noticed a steady change in his long-time charge. Instead of being the driven workaholic, Devon had been taking more and more time to spend with the members of the group on a social basis, not demanding any more of their time or effort, but just talking with them. She was very attentive to her family and would set down whatever she was doing if Uly, True or John wanted her attention. Yale approved of these changes, aware that they might come to an end when the colony ship arrived. For now, however, Devon Adair-Danziger deserved to enjoy all that her life had to offer.
Yale was careful not to startle her as he approached, making his footsteps noisy so she would hear him coming. Her eyes opened and a smile formed on her face as he walked up to her.
"Hi, Yale." He smiled in return.
"You haven't seen the kids have you? It's time for their lessons." Devon frowned, then shook her head.
"Sorry, but I haven't seen them for at least an hour," she answered. She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, those two are starting to wander a bit too much. I'd better have a word with them."
"Not a bad idea," Yale agreed. "Walman saw a Grendler not too far away yesterday. We're going to have company soon." He smiled again, then took his leave to find his tardy students.
Uly and True were off down the beach, away from the adults. It seemed that there were endless chores for them to do these days, not to mention keeping up with their studies. Having the power plants up and running was a mixed blessing. For both of them, it was nice that John was permanently back in camp since Devon got moody while he was away. On the other hand, having lights at night just led to another round of chores.
Now that the Terrians had returned to the area, Uly had regular conversations with them. This seemed to be a way for him to get out of whatever task he was supposed to be doing at the moment since the adults had determined long ago that it wasn't wise to interfere with what the Terrians wanted. True resented it when she had to do more work because of it, but when the opportunity came for the two of them to escape to play, she never hesitated to take it.
The kids had a favorite place down the beach where there was an outcropping of rocks carved with holes by the waves. It made an ideal place to have a fort where they could pretend to be shipwrecked and have to protect themselves from penal colonists. This day, they had snuck out food for their lunch and sat in one of the larger holes together while they ate. Uly stared out over the ocean, seeming to be mesmerized by it, but True knew better. He had retreated to his Terrian mode and she knew he was going to be no fun today.
"Hey, Uly!" True shouted, pushing at him. Uly turned and blinked at her, chewing slowly on his sandwich.
"Hmmph?" he mumbled.
"Come on. We've got Gear. We can do the criminal attack in VR," she prompted.
"Nah. I don't wanna today," he replied still chewing.
"Why not?" she demanded. Uly shrugged.
"Got a lot to think about," he answered matter-of-factly. True hated it when he got this way.
"Like what?" she yelled, waving her arms.
"Like my mom," he finally told her.
"What about your mom?" True asked, pissed that she had to keep prompting him.
"She's going to have a baby," Uly announced.
"What?" True was startled. "How do you know?"
"The Terrians told me." It was so simple to him.
"How do they know?" True demanded. She thought this was crazy.
"They were there when it happened," he answered. "They're interested in mom since they saved her. They're interested in my new sister too."
"You mean me?" True asked, confused. Uly finally seemed to come out of his trance.
"No, silly. My sister who isn't born yet," he told her like she was being stupid.
"You mean your mom told you about this?" True insisted. She couldn't believe that Devon wouldn't have told her and her dad if she knew she was going to have a baby.
"She doesn't know yet," he answered. True was ready to punch the kid.
"You've gotta be kidding! How could your mom not know if she was going to have a baby?" True said.
"She'll figure it out pretty soon," he told her. It was clear to True that Uly was just going to use her for his own kind of fun today. She didn't want to have anything more to do with it and jumped down to the sand and started back to camp.
True went stomping back to camp, not caring who saw her coming. Bess and Julia looked up from the supplies arch where they were examining some new plants - Julia for whatever medical uses they might have, and Bess to see if they could be eaten. The women could see True was in a bad mood and didn't interrupt her determined stride by calling out to her. True's anger took her to where the new housing was being worked on which caught the attention of her father.
"Hey, True-girl!" Danz stood up and blinked when she didn't respond.
"True!" he called out again. This time, his voice broke through her wall of anger. She stopped, hesitated, then walked over to him. He could see she was upset, so decided not to question why she wasn't with Yale. Instead he opened his arms and dropped to one knee and she stepped into his arms for a hug.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked her. She didn't look at him.
"Nothing." Danz sighed. Since she was supposed to be with Yale and Uly, he had a suspicion of what was wrong.
"Uly, again?" he asked with that knowing look. True looked into her father's eyes with a grimace and nodded.
"Yeah. He's telling me wild stories again." Danziger grinned. He knew Uly liked to tease her with his Terrian dreams.
"What is it this time?" he asked her in an amused tone. True scruffed one foot into the ground and huffed. She was still so mad at the kid that she just blurted it out.
"He says that the Terrians told him that Devon's going to have a baby." True said, exasperated. She was rewarded with a startled look on her father's face.
"What?" Danziger was used to Uly's flights of fancy, but they usually didn't include members of the Eden Group.
"Yeah, he says the Terrians say it's going to be a girl," she continued. Danz didn't know what to say for a moment. Then carefully tried to get this story straight.
"It's been no secret that Devon and I want to have more kids," he started. True looked at him, frustrated.
"Uly says that Devon is already pregnant. She just doesn't know it yet," she explained. Danziger stood up slowly, looking in the direction where he knew Devon was. True wasn't finished.
"He says they're interested in her and the baby because they saved her," she finished.
The thought of the Terrians getting involved with Devon and any child they would have between them made Danziger's blood run cold. It had been hard enough to accept Uly's involvement with the Terrians let alone that he had to accept that they had ultimately saved Devon's life, but enough was enough. He didn't want them messing with his family any more than they already had.
True saw the look in her dad's eyes and knew she had hit a nerve. She realized that she opened her mouth before thinking because she had been so mad. Damn that kid for his fairy tales! Now her dad was worried.
"Hey, it's just Uly talking, dad," she said, pulling on his sleeve. It broke his trance.
"Yeah, right, True-girl," he said distantly. Looking again in Devon's direction, he patted her on the shoulder, then started off in the direction he was looking.
He found Devon where Yale had left her, sitting in the small opening in the trees where he had set up a table and chair for her to work. Instead of sitting at the table, however, she was sitting on a rock nearby, her eyes closed. Danz stopped for a moment to watch her. He realized that this behavior was becoming more common in her recently and it dawned on him that it was not unlike how Uly was when he was in what True referred to as "his Terrian mode". The thought of Devon becoming Terrian-like frightened him. God help him if he lost her. God help the Terrians if he lost her. His fear dissipated when Devon's eyes opened and she turned to him and smiled.
"Hey there, big fella." Danziger grinned. She was in a playful mood - very un-Terrian-like. He walked over to take the hand she offered and pulled her up. He was hot and sweaty from working on preparing the lumber they had harvested to build their homes, but she didn't mind and moved easily into his arms.
"What brings you to this neck of the woods?" she teased lacing her hands behind his neck. He suddenly felt a little foolish. He had let True's telling of Uly's story get to him. He grinned at his foolishness and shook his head.
"What?" Devon asked, wondering what the joke was. John just laughed. She wasn't going to let him get away with this and since they were alone, slipped her hand to where she would get his undivided attention. He gasped and jerked, but Devon didn't relent.
"O.K.! O.K.!" he wheezed. Devon gave him a final twitch, then released him. "God, you fight dirty, Adair," he admonished her, out of breath. She smiled sweetly at him.
"I had a good teacher." Danz groaned at that, knowing who she meant. "So what is it?" she insisted, curious. Danz took a deep breath and sighed. He looked straight into her eyes and found himself feeling foolish again.
"It's nothing, really. Really stupid, now that I think of it," he admitted, dropping his gaze to the ground. Devon pushed his chin up to see him.
"Come on, John. Spit it out!" she insisted. He looked at her sheepishly, then took her hand and sat the two of them down on the rock.
"Well, True came back to camp in a huff." He didn't mention that the kids obviously hadn't been with Yale.
"Uly had been talking about the Terrians again." He could see by Devon's expression that she knew where this was going."What did he tell her now?" she asked with a sigh. Danz looked straight into his wife's eyes.
"That you are carrying our baby daughter," he said straight out. She looked more shocked than he had been at the news.
"And that's not all. Uly says that the Terrians are 'interested' in you and our baby." Devon didn't hear his last remark. Instead, her thoughts turned inward, her hand moving down towards her abdomen. She looked up at her husband, then took his hands.
"Let's go see Julia," she told him softly, but insistently. He glanced down where her hand had been, then nodded. Danz helped Devon up with mixed feelings. He very much wanted to add to the Danziger clan, but if Uly was right, the Terrians would be involved. He decided not to express is concerns to Devon just then. Better to see if Uly's story was true or not first.
True watched her dad and Devon walk past the construction site to the supplies tent where Bess and Julia were still working on testing the latest plants. Even at this distance she could see that he was worried in the way he held Devon close to him. True bit her lip, feeling a bit guilty about starting potential trouble all because her step brother had felt like being a jerk instead of wanting to play. Well, it was clear they were heading to see Julia, and when they found out Uly had been fantasizing again, *he* was going to be in big trouble!
Bess saw the couple approaching first and put on her best smile. She could see that something was bothering Danziger by the nervous look he had on his face. Devon looked a bit distant, almost in shock.
"Hi Devon. Hi John," Bess said to break the ice. Julia looked up from her scanner and quickly noticed the tension in her friends.
"Devon. John. Is something wrong?" Julia asked in concern.
"Ummm," John started, glancing back and forth between the two women. Devon could see that John didn't want to bring this up in front of Bess, but knew that nothing stayed secret very long amongst this group any more. Asking Bess to leave would probably just make her dream up some wild rumor to pass on to the group. Devon remembered the last time that had happened. It had taken weeks to convince everyone that she was really O.K., that she wasn't becoming ill again. Devon decided to keep it simple.
"Julia, do you have a moment?" Devon glanced up into John's eyes. They were wide with anticipation. Julia could see that whatever it was, was important by the way Danziger kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
"Sure. What can I do for you?" Julia quickly glanced at Bess who had retreated to the rear of the tent to appear to be out of the way, but was still within easy ear shot. Devon took a deep breath.
"I'd like to find out if I'm pregnant or not," she stated clearly and in a relatively steady voice. She saw Bess jump and start to turn around at her request. Julia looked first at Devon, then at John.
"Why don't we go to my tent?" she suggested, then lead the couple away from the supplies tent leaving Bess to stare in their wake.
Once they were there, Julia indicated for the two to sit on the cot. Julia reset her diaglove then placed her hand on Devon's neck. Devon had to work at sitting still and suddenly found her hands caught in John's. She studied his face trying to decide what results he would want. She knew he wanted a new child, but also knew how much he resented the Terrians having been a part of her life. If she was pregnant, then there was no reason to doubt the rest of Uly's story.
Devon felt the pressure of Julia's hand leave her and turned to look at the doctor. She had walked over to one of her larger monitors and was feeding the information from her diaglove into the machine. Devon and John watched anxiously as Julia studied the readouts, then looked up at them and smiled.
"So far, so good! Looks like you conceived about four weeks ago, Devon." Julia thought about that for a moment. "It looks like you brought home a souvenir from your honeymoon." Julia smiled at the blush that came over Danziger's face as he recalled those perfect days they had spent down at the beach and at Morgan River.
The tension suddenly broke and Devon threw her arms around John with a squeal of delight and he responded with a deep laugh. Julia quietly slipped around them and left the tent knowing that they'd need a few moments alone to absorb the news. She was a bit puzzled though. Devon had shown no symptoms that she had noticed to indicate her pregnancy. In fact, Devon had been the most relaxed and happy Julia had ever seen her lately. It was unusual for a women to be certain enough to ask this soon. She made a point to talk to Devon about it later.
Bess Martin watched Julia leave her tent, alone, with a smile on her face and knew the answer to the question. Bess grinned and with a snap in her gait, left the supplies tent to find Morgan. This was more ammunition for her to use for her own cause of wanting to have children. Morgan had promised her he would make decision once they had reached New Pacifica. Now it was time for him to commit.
Natural Roots, Part 2
by Lynne LeeperJulia's news had left Danziger's head spinning. His dreams, his and Devon's, were all coming to fruition. But there was more to it than he had bargained for. The Terrians had become prominent in the big picture. Danz pulled back just far enough to catch Devon's cheek in his hand. As he looked down at her, Devon could see the love there, but concern was also in his face.
"You know me better than anyone these days, even more than Yale," she said softly. "If the Terrians are keeping tabs on me, they're doing it through Uly. I haven't been on the Dream Plane and I've only seen them at a distance, or with Uly, since I was in cold sleep," she said trying to relieve his fears. John knew he was powerless where the Terrians were concerned and could find nothing to say. Instead, he held Devon close and hoped that she would be allowed to come to term naturally, without any alien intervention. If the Terrians left them alone then their child should be fine.
"I'll talk to Uly about this, see what he knows," she told him. Danz nodded and swallowed.
"You know I love you and want to be with you always," Devon said to reinforce her next statement. "You know I would never let anything come between us and our family," *if I can help it* she added to herself. Her words were a promise to him but he knew that there was much about G889 that was out of their control.
Danziger quickly buried his fears then and there. He was going to enjoy becoming a father again, this time playing the active part of an expectant husband instead of waiting for the cold-hearted technicians of the Medical Facility to hand him his new-born daughter. A big smile formed on his face. A daughter. A sister for True. True would like that, having another girl around. Maybe she wouldn't feel so alone if she had a baby sister to look after. He was sure Devon would appreciate the help when he was working on the settlement.
Devon could feel the change in her husband's mood. She was determined to keep him from worrying about the Terrians. Better for him to worry about their own kind.
"You know that Bess has told the whole group about this by now," she said matter-of-factly. Danz grimaced.
"Don't remind me." He grinned at her wickedly. "You know this is going to drive her crazy. She's been after Morgan to lay off the supressors for months now." He started a low laugh. "Can you see Morgan as a *father*?" Devon gave him an admonishing look.
"He might surprise you," she told him. "It's amazing how a man will change when he has a child to take care of." Danz caught her implication.
"So you think that having True to care for is what made a man out of me?" he questioned her, suspicious. She laughed, then kissed him.
"I think it brings out the best in you. I've seen it when you're with Uly, too. He responds to you in ways he never would to me, or Yale for that matter." He liked the sound of that.
"And you think being responsible for a child will bring the best out of Morgan," he stated with a bit of disbelief in his voice.
"Anyway, it's time we rejoined our group and our chores," she said firmly. "We need a roof to put over our baby's head." Danz laughed at that and returned her kiss.
"Whatever you say, Boss!" he said, standing and saluting. She grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.
"Stop that, John!" she said trying to hide a smile. "I'm your wife, not your boss!" Danz snaked an arm around her waist and guided her towards the exit of the tent.
"Whatever you say Boss! Umm, Devon!" he said with a grin. She smacked him on the rump just before they came out of the tent as retribution.
"Sure you wouldn't rather take the rest of the day off?" he whispered into her ear. She sighed. Maybe having a child to care for makes a man a man, but becoming a new husband seemed to turn a man into a teenager. On reflection, Devon wouldn't have had it any other way.
Morgan Martin was sure he was going to pass out any minute. Cameron had set a what seemed to be a grueling pace to Morgan, but Cameron was happily whistling away to himself as the two of them fed the sections of tree trunk into the power cutter to be trimmed into usable blocks for the outer walls of their new homes. Morgan never tried to compete with any of the old Ops crew when it came to physical chores. Cameron had always been a strong man and had for a laugh earlier demonstrated just how strong he was to his friends by taking one of the stripped 15 foot sections of tree trunk, standing it on one end so it stood straight up in the air and then actually hefting the thing up so it was cradled in his hands. If that wasn't enough, he then proceeded to walk forward while balancing those several hundred pounds in his hands, starting running with it and then threw the tree trunk up in the air causing it to turn in it's flight so that it landed head first on the ground, it's momentum causing it to turn over and land almost straight away from him. Cameron had let out a mighty yell while throwing both fists into the air and had shouted,
"Ne'er a sweeter caber will ya see tossed!" His Ops buddies had cheered at Cameron's feat while Morgan just looked a the fallen log and to himself asked *now why would anyone want to do that?*. Morgan had thought the display of machismo to be beneath his attention and had returned to assessing the day's haul of harvested trees against the plans Devon had prepared for their homes. While his eyes had been roaming over the raw lumber, he noticed Bess and Julia back in the shade of the supplies tent watching Cameron with appreciative looks on their faces. It did nothing to help Morgan`s feelings that his own talents were unappreciated by the group, nor did his wife's attention to the scene help him feel desirable to her at that moment.
"Come on, Morgan!" Cameron's shout brought Morgan back to the present. "We're almost through here. Only a dozen or so more to go!" Morgan`s groan was lost in the roar of the cutter, but he bent to pick up his end of the next log and wrapped both arms around it. He was definitely going to have to get Bess to massage his back that night.
They were working on shaping the last log when Bess came up sauntering up to him with a thoughtful look on her face. Morgan knew by that look that she was scheming again, a look he actually had come to appreciate. Bess was good at looking after their future and Morgan was curious to find out what was on her mind. Bess looked into his eyes.
"You about done here?" she asked, turning to look at the pile of neatly stacked, finished lumber. Morgan looked over at Cameron who was servicing the cutter before locking it down for the night.
"Just finished," he told her, pulling his gloves off. He tilted his head to stretch his neck, and rubbed his shoulder. Bess took the hint.
"Well, why don't we go down to the bathing pool so you can get cleaned up? We still have a while before dinner so I can help these tired muscles relax ," she said, walking behind him to dig her thumbs into his shoulders. Morgan almost collapsed on the spot it felt so good.
"Anything you say, sweetie," he said in his most patronizing tone. Bess smiled and the two walked off to their tent to collect what they needed.
Natural Roots, Part 3
by Lynne LeeperDevon pulled Uly by the hand to her tent. She sat her son down on the cot, then pulled a crate over to sit right in front of him. She studied her son for a moment and seeing the calm look on his face realized that he was not going accept that he had done anything wrong. She decided to forego that issue right then and turn to her immediate concerns.
"Uly, True came back to camp pretty upset this afternoon" she started. Uly nodded.
"She just didn't want to believe me, that's all," he said. Devon took a moment to make sure she stayed calm.
"What didn't True want to believe?" she asked carefully. Uly glanced up at her and shrugged.
"That you're going to have my new sister pretty soon," he answered. Devon swallowed.
"How did you find out about this, Uly?" she asked. He glanced around the tent a bit.
"The Terrians told me." It was so obvious to him.
"What else did they tell you?" she started to press.
"They're interested in you. You have Terrian stuff in you now too, mom," he told her. "They want to see if you have a baby, if the baby will have it too." Something about this didn't sound quite right.
"How did the Terrians know I've become pregnant?" she asked carefully. Uly looked at her like she was missing the point.
"They let you. When you and John went away for a few days," he told her. A shock ran over her face. She peered at her son.
"They let me get pregnant?" she asked him. Uly nodded.
"Yeah. They said they wanted to know about your baby," he replied. Devon shook her head.
"What do you mean, 'let me'?" she pressed. Uly stared at her for a moment.
"The Terrians say that the planet won't let the rest of the humans have kids. They don't trust us." Devon was trying hard to make sense of this.
"So the planet won't let us?" Uly nodded. "But the Terrians are letting *me* have a child," she reiterated.
"Yeah, that's what they said." Devon sat for a long minute to absorb this news. If what Uly was saying was true, then the future of the Eden colonists was in question. Devon needed to find out for certain about this and the only person who could find out was Julia. She excused Uly to go find Yale, then in a daze went to find the doctor.
Devon quickly filled Julia in on what she had learned from Uly. Julia immediately went to work by examining Devon, then called in John for tests as well. When she didn't show up for dinner, Devon knew she was on to something. She and John had just seen that True and Uly were fed when Alonzo approached them.
"Why is Julia buried in the med tent?" he asked, concerned. Devon took him by the arm and steered him away from the rest of the gang, John right behind them.
"Something's come up. We may need your help," she told him quietly. He looked from one to the other and could see they were serious.
"What?" he asked.
"Go see Julia. She'll explain," John said. "We are going to need your help on this, buddy." Alonzo could see that Danz wanted this to be kept quiet for a while.
"O.K." he finally agreed. "I'll see what Julia needs to be done." With that, Alonzo walked off to collect dinner for Julia and himself. As he left the dining area, he glanced at Devon and John who had gone to sit with their kids at one edge of the group. He wondered what could possibly be wrong.
Alonzo ducked through the opening to the med tent, careful not to upset the two plates of food he carried. Julia turned from studying the readouts on the screen in front of her and managed to remember to give Alonzo a quick smile. He stepped up to the table and set down a plate of food next to her.
"I know I haven't had much success in the past when you get involved with something, but how about this time you eat once in a while?" he said playfully. Julia looked at the food he'd brought her and grimaced. Alonzo pulled up another chair to sit by her, so Julia shifted hers to face him, then picked up the plate he'd brought her and took a bite. Alonzo looked on with approval.
"So what's going on?" he asked. "Devon and John were looking pretty serious out there." Julia swallowed and sighed.
"It looks like this planet has developed a defense against us," she told him. The smile on Alonzo's face disappeared. "It's not a direct attack this time," she said quickly, "but in the long run, it could be just as fatal for the human population here on G889."
"Now what?" he asked, concerned. "I haven't been getting any information from the Dream Plane recently. In fact, now that I think of it, it's been quite a while since the Terrians have contacted me." Julia took a sip of coffee.
"Devon and John came to me this afternoon to see if Devon was pregnant," Julia began. A huge grin appeared on Alonzo's face.
"Yeah, John told me."
"It turns out that she found out because the Terrians had told Uly about it," Julia explained.
"What?" Alonzo was confused. "The Terrians told Uly? Why?"
"It seems that this planet has built up a defense against us. How or why I don't know yet. But when Devon came and told me what Uly had told her, I ran some tests on her and John. Both of them carry Terrian DNA - Devon from when she was cured by them and John somehow from when he was inhabited by the ancient Terrian. In both cases, I looked for the specific sites on their DNA where genes combine and found that the 'lock and key's' of the normal genes had undergone an allosteric change. In their case, it still works. I've since run tests on myself and have also found that my genes have undergone a similar change, but no longer have the normal molecular configuration that would allow my genes to merge with someone else's." It took Alonzo a moment to understand what she was saying. Julia gave him the time to think it through.
"You mean that right now, if you and I wanted to have children, we couldn't?" Julia looked at the look of horror spreading on his face.
"I need to confirm this by running tests on you. If my suspicions are right, then we all have undergone this change. How, I don't know yet. It could be something in the water or vegetation we've been eating that tested as being harmless to us that changed it's function after it entered our digestive tracts." Alonzo looked at what was left of his dinner and put his fork down.
"It might be a good idea if tonight you try to contact the Terrians. Maybe they can explain it better to you than they could to a 10-year old boy," she suggested. Alonzo nodded, then sat quietly as Julia prepared to take samples from him to test.
God, she was so tired. Devon sat with her head in her hands dreading the idea of taking a nap. The Terrians had been visiting her more and more often as she got closer to term and her visits to the Dream Plane had been increasingly unsettling. Each visit seemed to be some sort of test, a test that she never seemed to pass. Devon always got the got the feeling that somehow her child within wasn't measuring up to the Terrians' expectations and a growing fear that they would do something drastic to change that had made Devon an insomniac.
John Danziger never left her these days, but as comforting as his presence was during her waking hours he could do nothing for her while she slept. The resulting feeling of helplessness he had over their situation had left him short tempered with the rest of the group. It had reached a point where the Eden Advance Group tipped-toed around the Danzigers these days, the deep feelings of sympathy they had for Devon and the simple fear of John's temper keeping everyone an arm's length away.
True had taken to spending a great deal of time with Julia or Bess, which ever lady had the most time for her that day. She had given up on trying to placate her father - he was so worried he couldn't see what was happening to himself. Even though Bess had been avoiding Devon for months, her bond with True had grown stronger. True had proven to be a kindred spirit of sorts, especially when it came to discussing hopes of the future. True had proven to be a good spring board for Bess to bounce even her wildest ideas off of - she had the spunk and imagination to add interesting twists. Since winter was well set-in, the Eden Group was waiting out their fifth day of solid rain, so True had made her way to the Martins that morning to spin wild fantasies with Bess.
When True arrived at the Martins, Bess was sorting though a number of dried herbs she had collected earlier in the year. True had known that Bess wanted some help with the tedious task of separating out the parts of the various plants that she wanted to store as spices and had volunteered to help. It sure beat sitting at home watching her dad worry over Devon. The two ladies spread the plants out on the kitchen table and began the tedious chore. They were quiet for a while, then a smile came over Bess' face.
"I still remember back on Earth being caught in the rain. It was something you made a point to avoid back there. The rain was so acidic it ate through protective clothing in minutes." Her smile faded.
"One day I had gone out to the supply depot for my father. The weather report didn't mention any storms so I took my dad's ATV. It was about a two-hour drive one-way, so I felt safe enough going without double checking the report."
"Well, I made it there just fine, but after I had got about half-way back to my dad's mine, the sky filled with dark-orange clouds. They moved in so fast, faster than I had seen before." Bess stopped for a moment to see True watching her with interest.
"I was only about 15 years old at the time. I thought I could handle anything back in those days, but when I saw those clouds, I was knew I was in trouble. I guess I panicked a bit because all I did was drive faster. With it getting really dark outside, I really couldn't see where I was going. It didn't take me long to hit a hole in the road and roll the ATV." True had stopped sorting to give Bess her undivided attention.
"Well, the ATV was too heavy for me to upright, so I started walking. I knew my dad was going to be furious with me, we'd lose all of our supplies, but all I wanted then was to get back to the mine. I was still several miles out when it started to rain. I had grabbed a heavy tarp to put over me just in case. It didn't take long for the wind and acid water to bring me to a stop, so I stumbled around until I found some rocks to hide against, then I buried myself in the tarp as best I could and waited. The lens` of my goggles were all fogged from being melted and I could feel my skin burning in places where the water had gotten through my clothing. After a while, I was having trouble breathing and I eventually passed out," Bess said thoughtfully, the memory sending a shiver through her.
"But you got out O.K." True prompted. Bess grimaced.
"My dad came looking for me after the storm had blown through. Because I was camouflaged by my tarp being covered with dirt, he almost didn't find me. Somehow my Gear had survived getting wet enough to still send out a weak signal, and eventually he found me. I spent the next two weeks in the hospital. It cost my dad 6 months worth of profits to save me," Bess said sadly. She looked up from her work to meet True's eyes.
"He never said a word about my losing the ATV and supplies, nor about how stupid it was not to verify the weather report. He didn't have to," she finished. True looked impressed.
"Your dad really loved you," she said simply. Bess smiled at that.
"Yes he did. I worked hard to make it up to him. Somehow, I'm not sure I ever could," Bess said softly, then changed tactics.
"You're very lucky too, you know. You dad loves you very much," Bess said. True looked down.
"Yeah, I know, but it sure doesn't seem like it right now. He's so stuck on Devon and the baby that he doesn't see me," she complained. Bess looked a bit uncomfortable at the mention of Devon, but wanted to help True.
"He still doesn't accept the Terrians being involved, does he?" True nodded. Bess decided to tread on painful ground.
"Can you tell me what's happening?" she asked carefully. True looked up at her, obviously grateful she finally had a sympathetic ear to listen to her.
"Devon keeps getting pulled into the Dream Plane. It seems that the Terrians are looking for something, something about the baby. Devon says that they never seem to find it." True explained.
"I wonder what it could be?" mumbled Bess thoughtfully.
"Uly says that the Terrians are waiting for the baby to acknowledge some sort of tie to the planet, but for some reason she won't," True told her. Bess stopped her work, her mind suddenly occupied with curiosity.
"Doesn't Uly say that the Terrians want us be part of 'their mother', just as they are?" Bess asked. True nodded. "I thought that with the Terrian DNA Devon had that that had been taken care of." True shrugged.
"Julia says the baby does have some," True offered.
"So there's something more to it," Bess said thoughtfully. "You know, Alonzo said he actually met your new sister, on the Dream Plane."
"Yeah," said True smiling. "He said she had dad's blond curls and blue eyes." True liked the idea that the new kid would have the Danziger look.
"She'll probably have your dad's stubborn streak too!" Bess laughed, then suddenly started.
"What?" True asked seeing the change on Bess' face.
"You said that the Terrians were waiting for something from your sister, but that she wasn't doing what they wanted," Bess said.
"Yeah, something like that," she agreed.
"Well, it's just that your dad doesn't like the Terrians. What if his unborn daughter senses this and is afraid or unwilling to do what the Terrians want because of it?" Bess asked. True wrinkled her nose at the idea.
"Uly hasn't said anything like that," True said. "He's the one who talks to the Terrians about this all the time."
"Yes, but the Terrians don't have emotions. At least what we recognize as emotions. I've noticed that Uly gets that way when he talks about them," she began, looking like the proverbial light bulb just went on in her head. "The Terrians don't understand because they don't understand the problem. Uly can't see it because he's trying to be like a Terrian."
"What are you talking about?" True asked, confused.
"I think that your sister won't accept the Terrians because of your dad. I think that he has to find a way to accept them so that his daughter will too, and he has to do it before she is born," said Bess firmly. "The Terrians want us to be a part of G889 and your dad is trying hard *not* to be!" True was taking this all with a grain of salt. Maybe she had a little too much of her dad in her, but somehow she didn't think that this emotional stuff made much sense. She kept quiet about these thoughts and just shrugged instead.
"I think I'll talk to Alonzo about this. Let's see if it makes any sense to him," Bess suggested. True didn't care either way. At least is was something new to do.
Natural Roots, Part 4
by Lynne LeeperJulia and Alonzo came right over to the Martin's at Bess' call. By that time, Morgan had returned home from his meeting with Yale about organizing and inventorying the group's supplies. They all sat down in the kitchen to a wonderful meal prepared by Bess and True, the new spices adding a delightful flavor to the old foodstuffs.
Bess quickly told the newcomers about her theory. Morgan thought it was silly, but Alonzo looked thoughtful about it.
"You know, this would explain why the baby hasn't been accepted by the Terrians yet," he said, earning a big smile from Bess. He looked to Julia for support. She shrugged and raised her hands in question.
"Well, I haven't been able to discover anything more, and your trips to the Dream Plane haven't given us any answers either, so why not?" she grudged.
"Yeah, why not?" Alonzo said. "The only problem here is we're talking about John Danziger. How do we convince him of what he needs to do?" He looked around the table, his eyes resting on True. Bess followed his gaze, frowning.
"Are you kidding?" Morgan interjected. "The guy's a fanatic when it comes to his kids. He'd do anything for them, even eat his own socks if it would help." Bess shot him a withering look, then Morgan caught True's expression.
"Uh, I mean that he loves you more than anything,' he explained to her softly. "I think that if you can get him to believe this stuff, he'd find a way to accept the Terrians for his baby," he said to the group. No one disputed Morgan's reasoning.
"Well then, I guess someone needs to try to explain this to Devon and John," Bess said. It was clear in her voice that she didn't want to be the one to do it. Julia and Alonzo looked at each other.
"I guess it's up to us," Alonzo said.
True had an escort home after lunch as the pilot and the doctor decided there was no time like the present to try Bess' idea. The three of them made it across the compound between rain drops and walked into the central room of the Danziger home to find John working on some undefinable electronic device on the floor. Danz managed a small smile for his daughter and unexpected guests, and pulled himself off of the floor. Julia was shocked at how tired he looked. It was obvious he hadn't been eating very well either.
"John," Alonzo said in a simple greeting.
"Is something wrong?" Danz asked, wondering why his friends had come home with True. Julia caught his drift.
"Oh, no. We were just visiting Bess and Morgan and had a very interesting lunch time discussion," she told him. Danz grunted, knowing what Bess and Morgan would be saying about him.
"How's Devon today?" Julia asked to steer the conversation.
"Devon's fine," came an answer from the bedroom door. Danz stepped over the pile of machinery on the floor to go to her side. Julia watched as she yawned, noting that she still had dark circles under her eyes.
"Have you been getting any sleep lately?" she asked, stepping up to her. Julia didn't have her diaglove with her, so she resorted to old fashioned methods of diagnosis. Satisfied that Devon didn't seem to be running a fever and her pulse rate wasn't too high, she backed away to let John escort her to a comfortable chair. Devon had less than a month to go and as the time grew nearer, both she and John grew more tense. Julia was beginning to worry about Devon having a miscarriage so was grateful for having some news for her. Once Devon was settled, everyone else found a place to perch around John's project.
"What's up?" Devon asked, her voice tired. Danziger squeezed her shoulder knowing how much of an effort it was for her to have company these days. Julia decided to keep her and Alonzo's visit short.
"You know we haven't been able to find any physical reasons why the Terrians aren't accepting your baby yet," she started. Devon glanced at her husband, the looked back to Julia and nodded.
"Well, we have an idea," Julia said. She didn't want to tell whose idea it was yet.
"We've been assuming that the problem was a physical one." Devon nodded. "What if the problem is an emotional one?" Devon stared at her, not understanding. Julia turned to Danziger.
"John, it's no secret that you don't like the Terrians," she said to him. He frowned.
"So?" he asked gruffly.
"So what if it isn't that the Terrians aren't accepting your daughter, but that your daughter isn't accepting the Terrians?" Julia asked bluntly. The look on Devon and John's faces told her she'd hit on something.
"What?" Danz finally asked.
"I know this sounds like a long shot, but what if the baby intuitively knows that you don't want to have anything to do with the Terrians? She could be expressing your feelings by refusing to give of herself what the Terrians are wanting from her." Julia's gaze was piercing, trying to read his reactions. John looked down at Devon and she could see some of his fears surfacing at the idea.
"We all know how much you love your family, John," Alonzo added to support Julia. "It's not unreasonable that you unborn daughter knows this and is supporting your feelings." Danziger snorted.
"You've got to be joking!" Danz stood up, anger getting the better of him. "Do you guys think I'll buy this load of crap?" he demanded. Devon caught his hand.
"John, I know how you feel. Maybe those feelings are being transmitted through me." she suggested. Julia sighed in relief at Devon's seeming acceptance of the idea. John looked at her in surprise.
"You mean you believe this nonsense?" he demanded. She pulled him down to sit by her.
"We've been in agony over this for months now. I'm willing to try out any idea that may help. And to be honest, this does make some sense to me. It's been understood for a long time that a baby is aware of the world around them through their mothers. They share the emotions and sensations just as we do, and I'm sure that your unborn daughter is aware of you through me," she told him gently. He stared at her abdomen, his hand automatically going there. Devon could see the battle that raged within him as he struggled to accept this idea. She covered his hand with hers, knowing that he believed he could talk to his child. After several moments of silence, his chin went down to his chest.
"What have I done?" he asked quietly. Devon pulled him to her to comfort him as she would a child. Feeling a huge sense of relief, Julia indicated to Alonzo that they should leave. The rest was up to Devon and John.
John Danziger stood alone on the beach, too deep in thought to notice the rain that was running down inside of his jacket and plastering his hair to his head. He stared out over the large waves that crashed on the shore, the upward flow of sea water onto the beach occasionally coming up over his boots. He couldn't reconcile his feelings about the Terrians, and now he was responsible for bringing a child into this alien world that he would have to share with them. It angered him to think that the Terrians were using him and Devon like a lab experiment. His soul screamed *what gives them the right to do this?*. His intellect knew the answer. Here on G889, they were the beggars. They had come here with nothing to offer in exchange for a place to live and now the Terrians were exacting their pound of flesh.
It never occurred to him that it could be wrong to have a child here. How could he have known what the Terrians had in store for them? His strong need to love and protect his unborn daughter was conflicting with his immediate refusal to accept what the Terrians were doing. But what if what Julia and Alonzo had suggested was right? How could he reconcile his internal differences?
Danziger knew he was out of his element when it came to the Terrians. Only Uly and Alonzo could contact them. The thought of having to face them about this made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, but somehow he had to find a way. He knew that the only way he could face this problem was with Devon, on the Dream Plane. He'd never been invited to dream with the Terrians. He'd never had a reason to want to before. *Well, better to keep this in the family,* he thought. That meant getting Uly's help. Danziger sighed.
*Time to put your stubborn pride aside, John* he thought. *You can't avoid playing it their way this time.* With that realization, Danziger turned to stare up towards the compound.
*Go home, John. You're family needs you.*
Devon was waiting for him when he finally made it to the door. She handed him a towel, then followed him into the bathroom. She settled down into the single chair in the room and watched him in silence. He removed his soaking clothes, toweled himself dry, then wrapped the towel around his waist so he could sit on a box in front of the heater to get warm. He positioned himself so he was facing her.
Devon stood carefully, then walked over to kneel in front of him and Danz caught her hands as she lowered herself to her knees to help support her. She reached up push his wet hair back out of his face. He looked so unhappy. Devon couldn't remember ever seeing him like this. He held her gaze for a moment, then looked away.
"Please, John. Tell me what you're thinking," she pleaded. He still couldn't look at her and squirmed a bit. Devon waited.
"You know, it seems like a lifetime ago that we crashed on this planet," he said distantly. He shook his head. "If someone had told me then about even half of the things we've been through since then, I'd never have believed them." Devon squeezed his hands and Danz finally looked at her.
"As terrifying as the situation is right now, I have to believe we'll come through this. This can't have all been for nothing." Devon smiled at him.
"I believe in you," she told him gently. Danz looked startled, then cringed. He knew he had to give in to the Terrians to make his beliefs come true.
"I'll do what I have to, to make things right," he said. Devon had become uncomfortable kneeling and Danz sensing this pulled her to her feet. He took a deep breath. "I need to be with you when you go to the Dream Plane." Devon looked at him, wonder in her eyes.
"I'll ask Uly to see if he can't get them to accept me there," he told her. He was startled again when she started crying. He pulled her to him and stroked her hair while he waited for her soft sobs to stop. Danziger realized that Devon had been holding back a lot of her feelings about where he fit into this whole mess. He knew that she had held back to let him figure it out for himself and now that he had made his decision, was she relieved of the burden. He made a resolution then to finish this business as soon as possible.
John was back on the family room floor, working on his pile of electronics when True returned home from her and Uly's lessons with Yale. She went to greet her father as she always did and saw a change in him. He seemed more alert, in tune with what was going on immediately around him. She knew that he had accepted Bess' idea. He looked up at her, then past her.
"Where's Uly?" he asked getting to his feet. He surprised her by going to her and giving her a hug. It had been a while since he had done that, partly because he had been so out of it lately, partly because she had been trying to get him to stop treating her like a child. True responded like it was the old days, sensing that he needed the hug more than she did.
"He took off to the beach saying something about needing to talk to the Terrians," she told him with disinterest. Her father grunted.
"He'll be back in time for dinner," she told him. "Yale told him to make sure he did," she told him with a sense of satisfaction in her voice. Danz tightened his hug, then let her go. True looked up at him.
"I'll go help Devon with dinner," she told him. He actually smiled at her.
"Thanks, partner," he said softly and kissed the top of her head. She didn't mind.
Just as True said, Uly returned shortly after she had. Danz had returned to his work on the floor and was intent on a particularly difficult installation . It took him a few minutes to realize he had an audience.
"Hey, pal," Danz said. Uly immediately came and plopped himself down next to his step-father. Uly did that from time-to-time, seeming to need to build on the bond he had formed with John. But this time, Uly had an agenda.
"True told me what was happening about Bess' idea this afternoon," he said. Danziger frowned and put his tools down to give Uly his undivided attention.
"Bess' idea?" Danz asked, feeling like he has missed something.
"Yeah, you know. About why the baby won't accept the Terrians," Uly clarified. Danz thought about that for a moment. Julia nor Alonzo had mentioned Bess. He sighed realizing that they had deliberately not mentioned that fact. And he had to admit, with good reason.
"Anyway, I asked the Terrians about it. They said they didn't understand," Uly told him.
"Didn't understand what?" Danz asked. Uly picked up a piece of Danz' toy.
"They don't get how a dad has anything to with their kids," Uly explained. Danz stared at him.
Uly put the piece down."They only understand about mothers, like the planet is to them," he said. Well, it made sense - sort of. "I think you should talk to them, dad," Uly said firmly. Danziger looked at the boy nonplused, then couldn't help smiling.
"You really think I should, huh?" he asked, trying to sound serious.
"Yep," Uly replied emphatically. "I'll help you. The Terrians will listen to me."
The sound of John laughing brought Devon out of the kitchen. It was a sound she hadn't heard in what seemed like ages. She couldn't help but smile herself when she saw Uly looking seriously at his smiling step father.
"I'd like that," she heard John say to her son. There was a definite feeling of lightness around her. She realized that they'd been under a dark cloud for so long, they no longer questioned it being there. Now that cloud seemed to be lifting. She could see that things were finally getting in sync, but there was still one large problem to solve and it had to be solved before her baby was born.
There had been no regular pattern to when the Terrians chose to visit Devon in her dreams but they seemed to come during her daytime naps more often than at night. Julia thought it was because usually Devon didn't get into a really deep sleep in the afternoons and was likely to spend more time near REM, making it easier for the Terrians to pull her into the Dream Plane.
After discussing it, Devon and John had decided to approach Julia the next day to see if would help them with their plan. The idea was for Devon to take her usual nap, but this time John would be there, put under by sediderm if necessary, along with Uly, to help convince the Terrians to accept him into the Dream Plane. This would be the way for John to meet his unborn child with the Terrians present, to let them see that he was ready to give in to allowing his daughter to have roots in G889. Danziger had made up his mind that he would allow them to ask his daughter to join them as Uly had, but would not allow them to have anything she would not give freely. He knew that this could cause the Eden project to fail, if she followed her father's stubborn resentment of the Terrians. The Terrians would have no reason to accept any of the other Syndrome children if the Danzigers failed this test, but John was not ready to give up his family's humanity completely.
Julia had agreed readily. It was arranged that she and Alonzo would come to the Danziger home after lunch to give this a try. By the time they had arrived, Danz was so full of nervous energy that Julia prepared the sediderm with a slightly stronger dosage than she had originally planned. Devon, on the other hand, was so exhausted as an aftermath of her worrying that she was more than ready to sleep. When she was ready, John helped her get comfortable on the bed, then curled up with her. He stroked her cheek and temple until he felt her relax and knew she was drifting off. At that point, he had Uly curl up on the other side of her and prepared himself to talk to the Terrians. Julia and Alonzo, who had been waiting just outside of the door, came in when he indicated he was ready and Julia administered the sediderm. As Danziger felt himself slipping away, his last conscious thought was for Devon and his baby's welfare, then he opened the door in his mind that had been sealed tight since those first days when the Terrians had been made known to the Eden Advance Group.
There was no sense of time as Danziger's subconscious mind drifted along. He recalled later that he thought he had dreamed of New Pacifica years in the future, but he couldn't give any details. Such was the way of normal dreams. As he was pursuing one of these dreams, the scene suddenly shifted and became startlingly clear. He was standing in a Terrian cave. After looking around, Danz realized that this appeared to be the place where they had found the Morganite. He looked around to find himself alone, the motion of turning leaving him a little dizzy. He stood his ground for a moment letting his senses adjust. When the walls around him stopped throbbing, he became aware of a small hand in his and he looked down to see Uly there. The boy looked at him thoughtfully, then started walking, pulling John along with him. They turned a corner and Danziger was confronted with the sight of his wife facing a single Terrian.
Devon looked calmly at the Terrian, she had been through this so many times before. Suddenly, two more Terrians exploded up from the floor of the cave. These two had their attention riveted on one of the entrances and Devon turned to see John there with Uly attached to his right arm. She moved to go to him but her Terrian stepped in front of her and she had to put up her hands to absorb the shock of running into the creature. Seeing this, John had tried to go to her, but the other two Terrians blocked his way, their lightning sticks crackling with golden sparks. Uly trilled at the two blocking his step-fathers way and they responded. John looked down at Uly with questions in his eyes.
"They said you can only watch. You were only allowed to come because mom and I wanted you here," Uly told him.
"Tell them that I need to be with your mom. Tell them that I am just as much a part of the child inside her as she is," John instructed him. Uly wrinkled his nose at that, but complied. There was a series of trills passed back and forth between the Terrians and Uly. Uly indicated Danziger and his mother more than once but the Terrians didn't give way, but at least their lightning sticks had quieted down.
"They don't understand," Uly finally told him, shrugging his shoulders.
"Tell them that I can show them, if they let me go to Devon," John told him. This brought another round of trilling, but finally the two guards stepped out of his way. He went past them cautiously, then went to gather Devon up in his arms. The emotional sparks that ran between them caused the Terrians to call out in discomfort, the creatures couldn't understand the surges of energy that came from the couple.
It was Devon who knew what to do. She took John's hand and pressed in onto the protrusion of Morganite, him not resisting when he felt the searing heat because he trusted her. With her hand over his, she called out to him in her mind.
*Remember us together as we were when we made our baby," she told him. Danz hesitated for a moment, but Devon's eyes were closed to help her concentrate so he couldn't read her. He took a deep breath , then remembered them at the edge of the Morgan River alone and free of constraint in their love. He found himself merging with Devon's thoughts as they shared the emotions of the moment, then was suddenly awash with a deep feeling of peace and contentment. He watched as his baby girl took form within her mother and was surprised when his mind was touched so softly by the life he had helped to make. Danziger knew his daughter was reaching out to him, curious and unafraid. He opened himself completely to the gentle probing, a feeling of awe overcoming him when that mind nestled itself in his and he knew that mind felt safe there. Danz projected love and protection to his child.
Suddenly the scene shifted. He found himself standing out in the desert expanses of the early days of their time of G889, his hand being held by a small girl. He looked down at her small face into the bright blue eyes that showed her trust in him. He kneeled down to sit back on his heels so he could look at her eye to eye, and automatically reached up to brush soft gold curls out of her eyes. The girl crawled up into his lap to be hugged and Danziger held her, his heart feeling like it was going to burst with joy. He opened his eyes and through his tears he saw that the scenery had changed.
There was a small oasis in front of him that hadn't been there before. A lone Terrian stood at its edge, extending its arm towards his little girl. Danziger loosened his grip enough for her to turn and see what was behind her. She looked at the Terrian, then turned back to her father. Danziger could see the question there and knew he had reached the moment of decision. Every fiber of his being wanted to protect his daughter, yet he now knew that this is what had been causing the problem all along. Even before he had a chance to get to know his daughter, he had to let her choose whether or not she would accept the Terrians' offer of becoming a part of G889.
His daughter could sense the hesitation in him and tightened her grip around his neck. He held her tightly for a moment, then pulled away. She looked confused and frightened at his sudden change. He stroked her head gently, then pointed at the Terrian. She looked at the Terrian, then back at him and it was clear to him that she wasn't sure if he wanted her to go or not. Danziger wasn't sure how to let her know it was up to her to choose. It wasn't the sort of responsibility that was normally expected of a small child. Danz looked at the Terrian's extended hand, then picked her up and carried her to stand in front of the creature. He looked into its face, exerting himself to curb his revulsion, then knelt down to set his daughter on her feet. He took one of her tiny hands in one of his large ones, then reached up with his other hand to rest his finger tips on the Terrian's extended hand, forcing himself to remain calm. She looked at her father's fingers resting on the Terrian's, then cautiously reached up to touch the creature too. Danz pulled his hand back as his daughter wrapped her hand around one of the Terrian's fingers, then allowed the creature lead her to a spot in the oasis. She looked up at the creature who trilled at her and nodded. She dropped into a crouch, then rested one small hand on the soil. A golden glow sprang up and she sank her hand into the ground. She pulled her hand out and stood up to reveal the small beating heart she held in her fist.
Danziger felt his control of his emotions slipping as he watched his daughter perform Terrian tricks. When she stood with the small heart in her hand, she looked over at him in question, obviously wanting to know what she should do. Before he lost it all, he nodded encouragement to her and watched as she placed the small beating heart to her chest and the heart seemed to dissolve into her. The Terrian turned to look at him, then nodded. The last thing Danziger remembered was his little girl running into his arms to let him know that she was all right.
He awoke with a start to see Uly staring at him from the other side of his mother, a knowing look on his face.
"John?" It was Alonzo's voice he heard from behind him. He turned to see the pilot grinning at him. "That was one hell of a trip you had there!" Danziger groaned as the events he had just experienced came flooding into his conscious thoughts. He laid back into his pillow to let the memories sort themselves out, rubbing his face to wake up. Julia moved up to the bed and smiled at him.
"You O.K.?" she asked. He nodded groggily and let out a deep breath. "You've still got a bit of that sediderm working on you. Best thing is to sleep it off," she told him. Danz blinked at her.
"Don't worry, the Terrians won't bother you," Alonzo told him, then held out his hand to Uly. "Come on, buddy, let's give your folks some air." Uly scrambled off of the bed to join Alonzo.
"You're going to tell me more stories about the places you've been?" Danz heard Uly prompt Alonzo as they went through the door. If Uly wasn't concerned about what had just happened, then he wouldn't be.
"Thanks, Julia," he said to her quietly. Devon was still fast asleep at his side.
"No problem," she replied, then stood up to leave. She hesitated for a moment then had to ask. "Did you get what you wanted?" Danz' eyes were distant.
"I sure hope so," he answered. "I'd hate to have to do that again!" Julia nodded, then left her friends. As she quietly closed the door she saw John wrap himself around Devon, then bury his face in her pillow so that their heads were almost touching. Alonzo saw the huge smile on her face as she came into the kitchen where he had settled with Uly.
"Everything O.K.?" he asked her. She looked at him, then nodded.
"I think so. I'm sure they'll tell us about it when they're ready." Alonzo accepted that answer. Julia sat down with the boys to hear Alonzo finish his story to Uly. She found herself wondering what it would be like to have kids of her own as she watched Alonzo add to his narration with swooping gestures.
Natural Roots, Part 5
by Lynne LeeperIt was the soundest sleep she'd had in months. There was no hint of the Terrians lingering in her dreams after her visit to the Dream Plane. Devon felt so at peace she didn't want to wake up, but her eyes opened anyway. She was aware that it was already getting dark outside and eventually it occurred to her that she probably had two hungry kids and a hungry husband to feed. But John had been good about taking care of such things when she wasn't up to it and the kids never complained about his cooking. She was wondering about that when he stirred next to her. Being eight months pregnant kept her from rolling onto her side to face him so she had to settle for reaching over to stroke his cheek. He moaned softly and appeared to drift off again, but his breathing had changed telling her he was waking up. After a while he pried an eye open to see she was already awake, but obviously in no hurry to get up. He let his eyelid slam shut.
"I feel like I could just lie here for a month," she said with a yawn. He grunted in response. It struck her as odd that he was with her right then. John rarely slept during the day and he was obviously exhausted. What had he been doing? She let her mind wander for a while and it eventually stopped at her last visit to the Dream Plane. John had been there with Uly. The baby!
"John?" Devon asked, turning her head in his direction.
"Hmmmph?" he responded. Well, at least he was sort of awake.
"You were on the Dream Plane with me," she told him. She saw his eyes open after a moment. The memories of what had happened replayed themselves in his mind.
"I was with our daughter," he said with awe in his voice, his eyes distant. "There was a Terrian there. She went with him after I said it was O.K." he said slowly, trying to remember the details. "I think she did what he asked of her." John now focused his gaze on his wife.
"How do you feel?" he asked her. Devon smiled.
"Content. Very, very content," she answered, her voice sounding tired. "I think I'll just stay here until the baby is born." Danziger laughed at that.
"I'm tempted to join you," he said, "but I think that Julia and Alonzo might get tired of watching after Uly and True before then." Devon sighed.
"It's O.K. You don't have to move. I'd better see what's going on though," he said softly then managed to push himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. He moaned.
"God, I hate sediderms. They leave me feeling like I was hit by a Transrover," he said ruefully rubbing the back of his neck.
"You should try being pregnant," Devon said in response. He turned to look at her to see a big smile on her face.
"Nah," he replied, pulling himself over to her to sit by her side. "You're better at that than I am," he teased. She laughed at that, the old fire back in her eyes. Even almost ready to have a baby she was beautiful to him. He bent over her to give her a long, tender kiss. It had been a while since he'd felt his passion rise and for a fleeting moment he regretted that it would be a while before he could do anything about it. Well, if Julia was right, in a few weeks he'd have his new little girl. His face sobered when he realized the other side of that coin. The Terrians would have a little of her too, but hopefully not so big a piece that she wouldn't want to be with her parents.
"What is it?" Devon asked, concerned. She reached up to toy with his curls.
"I hope that our daughter will want us," he answered. "I hope that she wants to be human more than Terrian."
"She *is* human, John. No matter what she gave the Terrians, she will always be our child," she reassured him. "I saw how much she loves you, and trusts you. I see no reason she won't be there for you, just as True is." Danziger softened at that thought, remembering how it felt to have his little girl in his arms. He grinned and shook his head.
"You always were a sucker for the cute ones," she teased, knowing what he was thinking. That earned her another kiss. Suddenly her face fell.
"Are you O.K.?" Danz asked. She extended her arms toward him.
"Nature's call. Looks like I don't get to sleep for a month after all," she told him as he helped her up.
"Sure you don't want to trade places with me?" she asked. He looked her straight in the eye.
"I could never do as good a job at it as you " he answered with a straight face.
The sudden sound of laughter made Julia look up from her computer pad where she sat in the family room. Maybe things were looking up after all.
Winter seemed to have finally passed, the days seeing more sun than rain. The Eden Advance Group began to work on setting up home sites for the colonists that should be arriving in another year. They had the time to be cautious with how the new settlement would be interfaced with the environment around it and took great care to ensure that none of their building would disturb the workings of nature. They kept their harvesting of lumber to a minimum, only culling out trees that were destined to be out-competed or thinning areas that could afford it. Still, any areas disturbed by the Eden Group were carefully restored as best as they could manage. Several of the Eden folk had volunteered to watch and maintain those areas realizing what was at stake if permanent damage was done.
Julia had estimated that Devon was due to deliver at any time. The whole Eden Group seemed as if they were walking on egg shells anticipating the arrival of the newest Adair-Danziger. When it came time to choose a name for their baby, Devon had wanted to name her after her grandmother, the first of the Adair women to live on the Stations. Danziger had wanted to name her after his own mother whom he had lost when he was a teenager. It was when Alonzo had heard them talking about it during one evening meeting that they got their answer.
"I thought you two had already decided on a name," he said in surprise, pulling up a seat next to Danziger.
"If we had already decided, we wouldn't be discussing it!" replied Devon, exasperated. Alonzo didn't consider what they were doing "discussing". In trying to decide a name for the baby, the old Adair and Danziger bull-headedness had suddenly resurfaced. It had been a long time since he had seen these two at such odds with each other. In a way, it was kind of funny because Alonzo knew that neither of them would win this one.
"Well, it's just that when I met her on the Dream Plane, your little one told me her name," Alonzo said shrugging his shoulders, "and it wasn't either of the ones you guys are talking about." Devon and John stared at him, and then at each other.
"She didn't tell *me* when I was there," John said, feeling a bit hurt. Alonzo laughed at him.
"You're her *father*. You're supposed to *already* know!" Alonzo said as if Danz was being dense. That earned him a smirk from Devon and a sour look from John.
"Well, are you going to tell us or not?" Danz demanded. Alonzo smiled, but knew he didn't dare push his fun too far.
"Got a picture of her in your mind?" he asked. Danziger closed his eyes and nodded. Devon followed his example.
"Menolly," Alonzo said softly. At first, neither of his friends responded. They sat there with their eyes closed trying the name on the image they had in their minds of their daughter. Alonzo sat quietly, wanting to see their reactions.
"Menolly," Devon said softly.
"I wonder how she came up with it," Danz mussed, a thoughtful look on his face. He looked at Alonzo. "You know?" Alonzo shrugged.
"All I got was this feeling that it came from some sort of old story, something that Devon had read a long time ago," he answered, looking her way. Her eyes popped open.
"From a story I've read?" she asked. Alonzo nodded.
"I got the impression that it was a story that had left quite an impression on you," Alonzo told her, but Devon shook her head.
"I don't remember..." she said, squinting her eyes while she rifled through her brain. Danziger reached over to feel her forehead.
"Yup, it's still working, I think," he teased. Devon gave him a condescending look.
"Well, I rather like it!" she told him. He smiled. He knew that in her mind, the decision had been made. Since it was her own choice, Danziger had no intention of trying to change his daughter's name.
"Hey, you won't hear any complaints from me!" he laughed. "I'm just curious how she came up with it, from *your* memories to boot."
"Someday, we'll have to ask her!" Devon said, finally smiling. Alonzo got up to leave, shaking his head and grinning. Devon and John never failed to make him look forward to the day that his and Julia's relationship matured to that level. He knew he had to be patient to get what he wanted, and he would wait.
Natural Roots, Part 6
by Lynne LeeperIt was the next day when Devon started to feel labor pains. They came on with little warning and the pace of her contractions accelerated quickly. She had been out behind the house in the woods area where she loved to work when her water broke, and she fumbled with her Gear to call John. He was there in a minute to help her back to the house but before they had gone a few feet, three Terrians shot up out of the soil in front of them. Danziger went pale, then started to feel angry.
"Not now!" he shouted, hoping the Terrians would give way. They held their ground. Danziger was quick to activate his Gear.
"Julia! We're out in Devon's work area behind the house!" he called. Julia was quick to respond.
"Can she make it to the house?" she asked crisply. She didn't have to ask why he called.
"We've got company," came his reply. Julia understood immediately. She told Alonzo to get some blankets and some of her medical supplies, then grabbed what she needed and started running.
"We'll be there in a minute," she told him.
Danziger knew he couldn't get past them, not with Devon like this. She almost collapsed to the ground when a round of contractions hit, so Danziger helped her back to sit on her rock.
"Hang in there. Julia's coming," he told her, a note of panic in his voice. Devon nodded, catching her breath.
"I'm O.K., John," she tried to assure him. She glanced at the Terrians who had not moved from where they had come up from the ground. She hoped that they had no intentions of interfering. God knows what John would do if they tried. He sat next to her, supporting her, doing his best to stay calm. It was a relief when Julia and Alonzo came bursting into the small clearing.
Danziger was impressed by Julia's efficiency. She ran past the Terrians as if they weren't even there, then began barking orders at the two men. After Devon had been made comfortable on the blankets Alonzo had brought, Alonzo went to talk to the intruders. He let out a deep breath and relaxed his mind, projecting his request to meet on the Dream Plane.
He found himself in the familiar cave setting, but only one of the Terrians was there. Alonzo realized that the other two had stayed behind to watch Devon and Danziger. He pressed his question at the creature. *Why?*
The Terrian caused Alonzo to replay the visit he had several months ago with little Menolly. He again watched her pull a beating heart out of the ground to be absorbed into her chest. Alonzo understood that the Terrians wanted to witness the birth of the child, to confirm that she really had accepted them once she was separated from her mother. He nodded his understanding, then brought himself back to the forest. He returned to Julia's side.
"They want to confirm that Menolly will still accept them after she is born," he told the group. Danziger stiffened.
"How?" he demanded. Alonzo shook his head.
"I don't know, but I am sure that they mean her no harm," he answered. He reached out to grab Danz' arm. "John, whatever happens, you've got to stay out of their way." Danziger gave him a fierce stare.
"John," Devon gasped, "please listen to him. Whatever happens now is going to determine our future here. We have to be ready to accept whatever the Terrians expect of us, or we will have failed." Danziger dropped his gaze to his wife's face and nodded, feeling helpless. He took her hand in his, resolved not to let go. Devon let out a loud grunt, the strain on her face pronounced by the sweat that had dampened her hair. Alonzo stepped a respectful distance away, leaving this time to Devon and John.
It seemed to take forever to John. He felt so useless as Devon strained to release their baby from her womb but there was nothing he could do other than just be there. By the time Julia had the baby in her hands and had cut the cord, John was just as exhausted as his wife. He looked down at his new little girl, feeling a bit dizzy. It wasn't until later he discovered that Devon had bruised his hand during her ordeal.
Just as Julia had finished wrapping her up and placing her in Devon's arms, the three Terrians stepped up to see Menolly. Danz held his ground next to his wife, but Julia backed away to make room for them. One Terrian knelt down, then extended a hand to gently touch the fussing baby on the chest. Menolly stopped fussing and quietly stared into space, a tiny fist in her mouth. Devon's calm through all of this gave Danziger the strength he needed to keep himself from launching himself at the creature. Eventually ,the Terrian trilled to his friends and then rejoined them. It was to Danziger's immense relief when the trio sank down into the earth, leaving the foursome staring after them.
"We've got to get you home," Julia said, recovering first. Devon stared where the Terrians had been.
"I guess they were satisfied," she said quietly. She turned to look at her husband who looked like he was about to burst into tears. He reached out to carefully touch his daughter's face with one finger.
"Thank God," he said with intense relief in his voice. Alonzo reached out to him.
"Hey, come on, daddy," he teased. "You need to get your wife and baby home." Danz blinked a few times finding it hard to break his attention away from Menolly, then looked at his friends.
"I'll carry Menolly, you carry Devon," Julia instructed him.
"I guess that means I get to carry all of your equipment then," Alonzo said looking around to see what she had.
"Right!," she replied. Julia carefully took Menolly from Devon, then Alonzo helped Danziger to carefully pick up Devon. Devon wrapped her arms around John's neck and rested her head against his chest. John looked down to kiss the top of her head, the look on his face causing pangs of longing in Alonzo as he watched them start for home.
"I'll be right behind you!" he called out to them, then started gathering what was left behind. He hoped he'd have the opportunity to be in Danziger's place one day, but he knew it wouldn't be any time soon.
There was a crowd in front of the Danziger home when they got there. It quickly parted to let Julia and Danziger through with their burdens. True saw them coming and made sure that all of the doors were open for them.
Danziger carefully deposited his wife on their bed and Julia returned Menolly to her. Devon and the baby needed more routine medical attention, but Julia decided it could wait a few more minutes. She went to face the crowd and deliver the news while the happy couple had some time alone to enjoy the results of their love. It seemed that the human race had a future on G889 after all.
Devon and John had been receiving visitors all day. The news of Menolly's acceptance by the Terrians and John's role in it was quickly becoming an Eden legend. Prospective couples and friends alike came to give their congratulations to the lucky couple and to see their little girl. Julia had kept the visits short since Devon needed the time to care for Menolly and to fit in a few minutes of sleep once in a while. By the end of the day, everyone had been by - except for one particular couple.
Morgan had been there when Julia and John had brought mother and child home. He stayed long enough to hear Julia's story of the Terrian's visit at Menolly's birth and how the baby had passed the test. It had brought a loud cheer from the gathered Edenites, but the news sent Morgan running to find Bess. He found her sitting outside of their tent, repairing one of his tattered shirts.
"Bess! Bess! Devon's had her baby!" he shouted, startling her as he ran up to her. She gave him a sour look.
"That's nice," she said sarcastically. Morgan knelt down and grabbed her by the upper arms.
"The Terrians accepted her!" Bess looked up at him. "Don't you see? Now *we* can have a baby!" he told her, hoping the news would bring her out of her funk. Her face turned sad.
"Morgan, neither of us have Terrian DNA. We can't have a baby," she told him. Morgan gathered her in his arms, feeling his wife's pain.
"There is a chance we can, sweetie," he said, trying to sound hopeful. "I talked to Alonzo a few days ago. I asked him to talk to the Terrians on our behalf if everything went O.K. with Devon's baby. He said he would." Bess pulled away just enough to look into his eyes.
"You're willing to let the Terrians do whatever it is they'd do so we can have a child?" she asked, not quite believing him. He looked at her with his most honest face.
"If you want to stay here on G889 rather than go back to the Stations, then yes, I'm willing to do what I have to do," he said carefully. He looked into her wide eyes. "Do you want to stay?" Bess stared at him for a moment, then stood and looked out towards the ocean. She suddenly found herself soaking in everything her senses could give her about the planet she was standing on. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smelling the scent of clean damp soil and living, green trees and up coming flowers. God, after living a life on Hell on Earth, how could she *not* want to stay - if she could have a family. Bess turned to Morgan and took his hands.
"Let's go for a walk," she told him. Morgan was a little confused, but went along with her. His only goal at the moment was to see Bess smile again, something he hoped his news would do. They walked out to the beach and began to walk along the surf line. They had gone a long distance before either said a word.
"Do you want to stay here, Morgan?" Bess asked. He shrugged, not sure what to say. His whole life had been directed towards becoming someone important on the Stations, but after his time on G889, he wasn't sure what he wanted anymore. One thing was clear though. Bess was the most important thing in his life. He knew that without any doubt. He had risked his life several times for her, knowing he couldn't live without her. In the end, he decided it didn't matter *where* they lived, as long as they were together.
"I want to be where ever you'll be the happiest," he told her. Bess recognized his lack of decision and knew he was going to leave it up to her. She looked at him, longing in her eyes.
"You know I love this planet, Morgan. It's just that I want us to have a family. A normal family. I'm not sure what I want right now," she told him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.
"We still have a year to decide," he reminded her. She nodded, still looking a bit distant.
"Look, we can see what happens with Menolly while we decide," he suggested. Bess finally focused on him.
"I guess we do have some time," she said, finally relaxing a little. Morgan gave her a kiss.
"We should go pay our respects to Devon and Danziger," he nudged her. She nodded.
"Yeah, we should," she replied slowly. The after a moment she asked, "Is she cute?" Bess' curiosity finally was surfacing. Morgan shrugged.
"I don't know. I really didn't get to see her. Julia had her inside the house so quick." he answered. "Why don't we go find out?" Morgan was rewarded with one corner of Bess' mouth turning up.
"Is that a 'yes'?" he asked, encouraged. Bess took his arm and turned back towards the colony.
"Let's go see what we have to look forward to," she answered, a real smile finally appearing. Morgan let out a deep breath of relief. It looked like she was finally returning to her old self. It was a good omen for their future.
-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.