Andy's Fan-Fiction Archive

SECOND CHANCES
By
Lynne Leeper

Timeline: At New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: soaron@netcom.com

AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This story picks up where Past, Present and Future leaves off. I managed to leave some loose ends again, but it should answer a few that were left from last time.
Insert the usual disclaimers here.

A Second Chance, Part 1
by Lynne Leeper
His name was Richard Wells. That name used to mean something on the Stations. But now he was little more than a refugee, a man with a family and a sick child who was seeking refuge here on G889. They had all been shaken, disoriented when they had landed in New Pacifica and Wells knew he was one of the lucky ones. Many had died trying to leave the Roanoke and others had lost their lives before they even had a chance to waken from the long journey. Still, it irritated him to have a bunch of hired hands tell him what to do, where to go, how he was to live his life here on this planet. Most irritating of all was that the rest of those hired hands took orders not only from Devon Adair, but from the mechanic who had attached himself to her.
Wells had known Devon Adair from business dealings they had had in the past. He had found her a shrewd business woman and a fair-dealer, but he never figured on the ice queen ever letting anyone else have any say when it came to establishing the colony of New Pacifica. Wells had figured that he'd have a place in the provincial government that the colony would eventually establish, but the distrust he felt from John Danziger made him realize he had a large obstacle to over come first.
It was his wife, Amy, that had finally convinced him to go on this crazy trip. He had deluded himself that he would still be one of the movers and shakers of the new world and Amy had encouraged these visions to keep him on track with saving her daughter. When it came time to hand the child over to the Terrians, Wells knew that he had to take that chance if he wanted to continue his hopes of gaining some power in this scrambled mess. For now, Wells would play the game and followed the instructions he was given by the Eden Advance Group, especially if those instructions came from John Danziger.

Julia glanced up from the data scrolling past her on the screen of the diagnostic computer to see the tension in the faces of the couple who sat on the cot on the far side of the examination room. Bess and Morgan were clutching each others hands so tightly, Julia was wondering if she was going to have to treat some broken bones in a minute. She smiled up at them as the result of the analysis finally made its way to the center of the screen and the anticipation of her answer had them holding their breath.
"The Terrians have done the job!" she announced and was rewarded with a loud whoosh of breath as the couple began to breath again. Bess and Morgan looked at each other and started laughing in earnest, trying to hug the stuffing out of each other. Morgan got up and faced Julia, shifting from one foot to the other.
"Thank you! Thank you!" he said excitedly, overwhelmed with relief. Bess stood to join him.
"Hey, don't thank me," she responded. "The next step is up to you two and the timing is very good." Morgan blushed as he looked at his wife, she smiled at him in return.
"Shall I tell Devon that you two don't want to be disturbed for a while?" Julia asked, keeping a professional tone to her voice.
"Ah, I think that would be a very good idea," Morgan answered a bit timidly.
"I think that would be a great idea!" Bess chimed in with no doubt in her tone. Julia had to smile at that.
"Consider it done," Julia replied, then watched the pair rush their way towards home. It was a small triumph to Julia to be able to confirm that the Martins could now have children. It added a small bright light in her otherwise troubled private life. Her thoughts drifted back to Alonzo.
He had awakened from his prolonged sleep after seeing the Roanoke's fiery plunge into the Sea of Antius different from the man she knew. At first it seemed that he had simply been emptied of all memories of the past two years, the years he had spent on G889. He had no recollection of the crash, the Terrians using him as an interpreter or of the difficult journey across the continent to get to New Pacifica.
At first, Alonzo seemed to think he was still dreaming, but now that he had awakened in the same wood house for the third morning in a row it finally was sinking in that he was here to stay. Julia has insisted that he stay in the house with her, only she had been sleeping in the living area since he really didn't know her. Those memories of the past two years were still buried in his subconscious some where and Julia was determined to help him find them again. She had spent the last few days digging through the texts she had on memory systems and had consulted with Dr. Vasquez about it, but she was on her own with this one since Dr. Vasquez was too busy with the Syndrome children to help her. That thought made her feel guilty. The Syndrome kids should be her first priority and she was spending a lot of time with them. She just couldn't help having Alonzo keep creeping into her thoughts. Still, knowing that she had her morning rounds to do, Julia left the room to visit the wards of Syndrome children.

Devon stared down at the maps spread out over the tables that had been pushed together to form one large surface. She was examining the terrain past the 100-mile radius that had already been searched for the missing shuttles, escape pods and cargo pods. There were still two shuttles that could carry 100 more colonists and at least three escape pods that had been seen ejecting from the colony ship. The escape pods could have landed *anywhere* so Devon had to put priority on finding the missing shuttles.
The colonists had been introduced to the Terrians and the results had been a mixture of pure fear to thankful salvation. More than half of the colonists had taken the Terrians' offer to help their children right then and there, and the kids had been systematically collected over the last three days. As the other parents talked to Uly and watched him play with the healthy kids the queue grew longer, but there were still holdouts just as John had predicted. After a rather long conversation that night, she had agreed to not try to push anyone into getting the Terrians' help. Devon had to admit that each parent was going to have to make that decision based on their thoughts, and her persistence could push that decision the wrong way. John had made sure that Devon had made finding the lost colonists her personal priority, giving her something important to do while the resident colonists sorted out their own lives.
"So you think the best place to start is here, to the North?" Devon asked Yale, pointing to one of the maps. Yale nodded.
"It just makes sense if you look at the locations where the other shuttles landed. There's a definite clumping here and given the airstreams they traveled through on the way down, it makes sense that the other two would have been pushed further North if the pilots had been a little more cautious than the others. After all, they're not experienced pilots, just colonists trained to make the drop," Yale explained.
"I have to agree, Devon, " Walman put in. "Besides, the terrain up there is flatter and will be more suitable for landings anyway. The pilots could have seen that on the way down."
"O.K. But it's a long way to go without really knowing," she said doubtfully.
"We do have the one VTOL craft ready to fly," Danziger said, looking up at her from his seat at the table.
"Yeah, and our one and only qualified pilot isn't quite himself, is he?" she said with a sigh. Danziger glanced around at the others.
"But he's still a pilot. He can still fly the thing," he insisted. "Just because his memories of G889 are still missing doesn't mean he can't fly a few search missions for us." Devon stared down at him.
"Think Julia will let him fly?" she asked.
"I don't see where it's her decision," Magus cut in. "He's physically fine, or so she tells us. There's no real reason why he can't fly."
"Devon, why don't we ask Alonzo about this?" Danz asked. "Besides, I think he needs something like this right now. Something to distract him and give him some purpose. He has been getting pretty depressed." Devon rested a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.
"It would help us tremendously if we could pinpoint where to send rescue parties," she admitted.
"O.K., then why don't I go find him and bring him here. We can show him our ideas and see what he thinks. We really could use his input anyway," Walman said. Devon raised her hands and shrugged.
"O.K. then. Go get him."

A Second Chance, Part 2
by Lynne Leeper
Alonzo Solace looked up from nail head he was about to strike, feeling a bit irritated. It had only been the physical labor he had volunteered to do lately that had let him vent his building frustrations at being stuck in this primitive dump. It got on his nerves that he was surrounded by "nature", something that was truly unnatural to his flyboy existence. He needed to feel, smell, manipulate machinery to feel at home, and the closest to it he had been able to get to that here was by helping run the cutters and to wield a hammer in his hand for the past few days. He might end his days exhausted that way, but it didn't stop him from dreaming.
And that was another thing. When did he start dreaming again? Over the past few days he had dreamed as if a flood gate had been opened, so many things had been rushing through his head that it all was a blur, quickly forgotten when he woke up in the morning. He wanted to remember these dreams, hoping they would answer why he was here on this planet. The last memory he felt comfortable with was the escape they had made from the Stations. He wasn't sure what had happened after that. All he knew was he was stuck here. Julia had finally permitted Devon to show him the recordings that Denner had had the presence of mind to make of the last moments of the Roanoke. There was no denying what he had seen.
Walman strode up to him with a grin on his face.
"Hey 'Lonz," Walman started.
<And when did people start calling me that?> Alonzo thought. He looked up at the man who claimed to be a friend.
"We could use your help in the Hall," he said, his grin getting broader. "It's right up your alley."
Well, anything would be better than pounding nails. Alonzo shrugged.
"Sure, why not?" he said dropping his hammer and grabbing his jacket.
Walman wouldn't tell him what it was all about as the two made the walk back to the hall, so he was feeling a bit miffed as he walked inside to see a smiling Devon , Danz and Magus waiting at him at the massed tables. They quickly briefed him on what they had in mind and by time they were finished, Alonzo felt some life coming back to his soul. To fly again! Even if it was only atmospheric jaunts, this was something he could do, was trained for, and he was the only one in the colony who qualified.
"When do I get started?" he asked. He was off the ground that afternoon.

True looked across the table at Uly and sighed. It was quiet at the dinner table that night. Alonzo's maiden flight had been a success, but the news he brought back with him wasn't what anyone wanted to hear. He had found one of the two missing shuttles over 150 miles away from New Pacifica in the Northern Quadrant he had been sent to search.
At first he wasn't quite sure, but on closer inspection, the impact crater was obviously fresh, the stench of burnt soil and metal still leaving a tang to the air. Bits of the craft were still discernible if you looked closely enough, but it was obvious that the pilot had no control over the craft when it came down. There was no point in sending anyone out to look at it. Still, Alonzo released a transponder at the site in case someone found a reason to make the journey later
The news had left Devon depressed, self incriminations creeping into her thoughts. Danz had spent more time trying to tell Devon that it wasn't her fault. It was an old replay that True had witnessed too often in the past few weeks, so she turned her attention back to her step brother.
Uly had been conspicuously absent since the new colonists had arrived. True knew he had been told to talk to anyone who wanted to hear what he had to say about the Terrians, and to act as a translator when needed. As a result, True had ended up with twice as many chores to do and keeping up had left her with no time to do the things she wanted. Seeing that her step-daughter was getting left out, Devon had made sure that some of her new duties involved the new colonists, but still True wasn't happy with the arrangements.
"Hey, Uly. You gonna have time to help me with sorting out supplies tomorrow?" True asked. Uly looked up and blinked at her with a mouth full of shellfish, wondering where she coming from.
"Naw. Gotta talk to the Terrians some more. There's still Syndrome kids to be helped." Devon picked up on that statement as she put the veggies on the table.
"Uly, they've taken over 70 children so far, but none of them have come back yet," she mentioned.
"I know," Uly replied in his usual matter-of-fact voice. Devon knew that he wasn't going to offer any information.
"Well, did the Terrians say when they would be coming back?" she asked patiently, taking her seat.
"Oh, pretty soon I think," he answered.
"Where have I heard *that* before," True muttered under her breath. Danz caught the statement and smiled in her direction, careful not to let Devon see, passing True the home-made bread.
"But the kids are doing fine?" Devon pressed.
"Sure. The Terrians would have told me if something was wrong," he said confidently.
"So you're going to help more Syndrome kids go with the Terrians tomorrow?" Devon asked.
"Uh huh," came his straight answer.
"Well, why can't Alonzo help you with this?" True demanded, tired of doing all of the slave work by herself. She took a huge bite of the warm bread.
"He can't," Uly replied.
"Why not? Has he tried?" True demanded before either of the adults could cut in.
"Terrians took the Dream Plane away from him," was Uly's answer.
"What?" came Devon's startled cry, interrupting her salting her shellfish. Uly glanced up at her.
"Terrians don't want to talk to him any more," came the explanation.
"Why not?" Danz asked, finally interested enough in the conversation to stop eating.
"They say his human dreams won't let him Dream with them anymore. They say their trying to talk to him was hurting everyone, so they took away his link with them," was Uly's answer.
"They took away his link with them?" Devon asked, intrigued. "Does Alonzo know this?" she asked her son.
"Don't know," came the boy's answer as he chowed down on his veggies. Danz glanced at his wife.
"Think we should tell Julia about this?" he asked her. Devon gave him a wide-eyed look.
"Yes, I do. It might help explain why Alonzo's not remembering anything about this planet," she answered.
"O.K., but I'd rather not disturb Alonzo too much right now. We need his mind on his flying. He still has another shuttle to find and hopefully an escape pod or two." Devon's face fell and Danz regretted his reminding her of the day's disappointment. He started to reach across the table for her hand but was interrupted by a flying piece of bread that just missed his face. Danz quickly looked next to him at Menolly, locked in her high chair between her parents, who smiled up at her irritated father. In spite of herself, Devon started laughing.
"I guess someone wants your attention, daddy," she smirked, causing True and Uly to start laughing with her. Danz moaned, then turned to his youngest child and pulled her out her chair and sat her in his lap. He had discovered long ago it was always better to humor a woman, even if she was only a year old. He retrieved a fresh piece of bread and carefully offered a small piece to Menolly. She promptly opened her mouth for him.
"Softie!" came Devon's soft rebuff, her grief for the lost shuttle put aside. The twinkle she saw in her husband's eyes in response was a reminder of how much she had gained over the past two years. It helped her keep her optimism intact for the still-missing colonists.

A Second Chance, Part 3
by Lynne Leeper
Alonzo headed for home with new lift to his gait. Tired as he was from his first search mission, just the fact he had been *flying* an aircraft at his complete control, he couldn't help having a deep sense of satisfaction. He had made a contribution, although not a pleasant one, to the colony. At least finding the crash site of the one shuttle had removed it from the questions list of the other colonists. His news had been received with deep regret from the others, but he had been thanked by many for being able to remove the burden of worry about them.
Julia had been busy doing rounds with Dr. Vasquez when he had landed, so he didn't get to see her reaction to his return after his maiden flight. She confused him. On one hand, apparently they had been lovers, more than that really. On the other, that didn't sound like his old self at all. It frustrated him to think he'd lost two years of memories, to have a clue as to what had changed him so that he would even consider staying on this planet because of a woman. Not that he had a choice now. He would have thought that this was some bizarre joke if it wasn't for the fact that he was indeed dreaming again, something he hadn't done for years after that mishap in cold sleep. So, what had changed him?
There were various personal VR diaries that the others had volunteered to show him as well as recordings that had been made during the long journey here. Somehow, though, he wasn't ready to accept them yet. He had been told about his part with the Terrians in the beginning but now he saw the creatures the same way the new colonists did - strange, enigmatic beings who's motives probably could never be understood. It was fortunate that so far the Terrians had agreed to help with the Syndrome children. Alonzo couldn't help wondering what their motives were in offering that help. He had never come across a single altruistic individual in his life, not even Devon Adair, let alone an entire species. It just didn't feel right. Oh well. Who was he to question the rest of the Eden Advance Group. The ones who had intact memories of their years here?
Alonzo had reached his front door. His front door? No, it was *their* front door. He hesitated to open that door because he knew that *she* was on the other side of it. She had been very civil towards him, but had stepped just out of reach. Alonzo knew that this woman wasn't an easy night's tumble. She wanted, once had, much more from him. Could he give her all of that again? Did he want to? It had occurred to him that the pickings had increased quite a bit with the arrival of the new colonists. There were a number of available young women who would be old enough in a year or two. He had the time to wait and see. Meanwhile, it gave him the time he needed to assess Julia Heller, to find in her what he had found before. Maybe the two years lost between them couldn't be recovered. Did those two years hold such shared diversity that the strong bond they had formed could not be forged again without the same trials-by-fire?
Alonzo opened the door and stepped inside. She was there in the kitchen, her shirt dabbed with bits of flour and her face flushed by the heat of the stove over which she tended their dinner. She turned to look at him as he stepped towards her to survey her work.
"Smells good," he commented, his stomach suddenly growling. Julia smiled a little. She had become so shy when they were alone together. "Can I help?" he asked, trying to find a way to get her to relax.
"Um, the table needs to be set," she told him. He smiled and shrugged out of his flight jacket and went to the sink to wash his hands.
"I found a shuttle today," he started. He watched her carefully as she turned to him, the brightness in her eyes warming his heart. Then he looked down. "It had crashed. No survivors." Julia's smile faded and the familiar worried look was back on her face.
"At least we know," she said, giving him another one of her half-smiles.
"Yeah," he replied softly. "I'll be going out again tomorrow to look for the other one. Maybe it will have landed O.K." That earned him a warmer smile.
"You were O.K. today? No problems?" she asked him, trying to sound professional. Alonzo sighed.
"Who's asking? You or the doc?" he asked her. He waited for her eyes to meet his. She was trying to maintain her cool.
"I'm asking. It wouldn't do any good for the colony's only pilot to go and get himself killed because he's not up to flying. You were in a coma four days ago, remember." she said a little harshly.
"Is that all?" he asked, teasing her. He wasn't going to tell her how tired he really felt.
"Isn't that enough? And don't give me that old 'I'm a flyboy, I can do anything' routine!" she returned hotly. Alonzo stared at her a moment, then reached for one hand.
"You really do know me, don't you?" he asked softly. For a brief moment he saw in Julia's eyes a warmth from old memories. The depth of those memories was frightening to him yet in a sudden flair of need, he wanted to know those memories. Julia pulled away from him.
"I used to, I thought. I don't know any more," she said sadly. Alonzo bit his lip wondering what he could do.
"You offered to let me listen to your diary. Is that offer still good?" he asked carefully. Julia looked up and he could see the fear in her eyes. What if he didn't like what he saw?
"Of course, but shouldn't you listen to yours first?" she asked him. Alonzo looked at her a bit uncertain, the shook his head.
"No. I want to know how you saw me, how the others saw me, before I find out how *I* saw me," he told her. She looked at him a bit confused. "Look, I know how I feel now, but I really want to know how things were then. I know it's impossible to suddenly understand everything that went on before, but somehow I want to know. I think I stand a better chance of that by looking from the outside first." Julia sighed, then nodded in agreement. "And you have been the most important person in my life the last two years, even if I don't remember that right now."
"I'm not sure, Alonzo. Maybe if you listen to yours first, you'll know if you really want to hear anyone else's," she hedged. Alonzo frowned.
"Why, are you worried that I'll hate what you have to say?" he asked. Julia shrugged, but wouldn't answer. "Look, Julia, the fact that I'm still in this house with you tells me we had something strong between us. What, I really don't know, but I'm a big enough boy to know that there were undoubtedly some trouble spots, but we obviously worked through them. I need to know everything that we had - the good and the bad. You can't be afraid of me learning about the things I once knew."
"You're right," she admitted, looking very unhappy. "It doesn't make it any easier for me though to know you're going to be digging up all of our dirty laundry." Alonzo looked surprised.
"It couldn't have been *that* bad," he pressed, carefully studying her eyes. "Could it? I mean, we're still here, right?" All Julia could think of was Alonzo's relearning about her ties with the Council and the things she was supposed to do to Uly. Then he'd hear about her concerns that he'd leave on the colony ship, even though that wasn't an option any more. She needed a little time.
"Look, you're really tired," she started, then before Alonzo could object, "No, don't tell me you're not, so why don't you eat dinner, get a good night's sleep so you don't pass out in the cockpit tomorrow, and when you're finished searching for colonists, you can begin to search for yourself. O.K.?" she asked. Alonzo had to admit she was right.
"O.K.," he agreed. "But will you at least smile for me tonight? I promise I won't bite." Julia had to grin at that. He did have a cute way about him when he tried.
"Deal!" she told him, then pushed him towards the plates and utensils waiting to be put on the table.

His eyes still had a little trouble focusing on the VR image he was trying to study. It had been two weeks now since they had crashed in the escape pod, the pod landing in the middle of a rather desolate basin seemingly inhabited only by rocks. That misconception had been quickly corrected when only hours after they had arrived, the creatures the Eden Group had called Grendlers appeared and with little regard to the occupants of the pod started picking up pieces of camp equipment. It had been Sherry who had grabbed a Magpro and let off a few shots, scattering the scavengers. Since then, the group had recovered enough to start moving in the direction of New Pacifica since it had been clear that after a few days of waiting, no one was coming to pick them up.
Chris Micheals carefully rubbed his aching head, the concussion he had received when releasing the pod from the failing Roanoke still bothering him a bit. He stared at the VR image again, looking for the best path to take towards what he knew was to be his permanent home, assuming that the six of them could make it. Best guess was that they were over 800 miles away from that goal and each day brought less and less hope of the others finding them. There was no guarantee that any of the aircraft had been found intact, or that there was anyone around to fly them. Chris knew that Solace was still with the Eden Group, but could he get to an aircraft?
The pod had held supplies that would last 12 people 30 days, if rationed carefully. That meant the six of them could stretch them pretty far, but carrying that load was costing them speed. It had been agreed to take everything they could carry and sacrifice that time since at first most still believed that someone would come for them. To that end Chris had made sure that they were visible from the air at all times, a solar transponder operating constantly. The group kept moving, trying to cover at least 10k a day. It was a lot to ask of a bunch of space dwellers who spent as much time in micro gravity as in a spinning Station that offered one gee at it's rim. Walking 800 miles was something none of them was really prepared for.

Richard Wells found Devon sitting quietly in the Hall, working on the supplies inventory for the colony. He walked up behind her unnoticed, so he cleared his throat to let her know he was there. Devon jumped a little, turning to see who it was, then smiled at him.
"Hello, Richard," she began in her business voice. "What can I do for you?" Devon watched him as he rounded the table, carefully stepping around a sleeping Menolly curled up on her blanket on the floor.
"The question is, what can I do for you?" he asked smoothly, setting himself in front of her. Devon looked at him carefully.
"I would think that you have enough to do, getting your home in order for when your daughter is returned by the Terrians," Devon hinted. Wells frowned.
"Amy has things well in hand and others have been helping with the heavy construction work," he replied, unruffled. Devon had been told that Wells had refused to pick up any tools. If it wasn't for his wife, Wells would still be sleeping in a tent. She glanced at his fancy clothes, remarkably pristine for the life style of the colonists.
"I see. Well, what did you have in mind?" Devon asked, knowing he was going to suggest something anyway.
"Well, I was a fair accountant in my day. I used to organize projects for the Rockwell Corporation for a living," he started. Devon smiled.
"Well, Richard, we are already organized for the current tasks at hand, and our supplies have already been cataloged," Devon said carefully.
"Ah, but what about after that? The colony is going to need some goals for the future. You know, expansion and growth, and finding ways to renew our resources," he said pointedly. Devon sighed in her thoughts, knowing where this was going. Fortunately, Menolly chose that moment to wake up, her soft sounds giving Devon a reason to not respond immediately. Wells watched with a disinterested eye as Devon reached down to her daughter, the child having rolled onto her knees and sleepily reaching up with her small hands asking to be picked up. After she had spent a few moments talking to the girl to see if she needed anything, Wells finally decided to break in.
"Devon? What we were discussing?" he pressed. Devon looked back at him.
"To be honest, Richard, it's a bit too soon to start any planning for the future of the group. Right now we need to concentrate on getting established, then after things have settled down a bit it will be time for a town meeting to discuss the future of the colony, how we want to address the various responsibilities that will need to be covered." Devon looked him straight in the eye. "It's not up to me to assign key jobs to anyone. That will be up to the group." That had him pause for a moment. He had assumed that she was going to be the head of this colony, no questions asked. He suddenly realized that he no longer knew his opponent. He started fishing.
"Well I'm sure that you will have suggestions for the various needs of the colony and everyone here will certainly listen to you. After all, you are the one who put this whole thing together and know what's best for the colony," he suggested. Devon smiled at him.
"Oh, I'll have suggestions where they are needed, but I have no intentions of being the permanent leader of this colony. I don't want to be a governor or any other political head," she told him, emphasizing her point by straightening Menolly's hair.
"Surely you'll want to keep the colony on the correct path with the Terrians and all," he pressed, starting to get a little annoyed. The door to the Hall suddenly closed with a bang.
"Terrians will take care of that themselves," said a deep voice. Wells spun his head around to see John Danziger standing inside the door. Menolly squealed and squirmed out of Devon's lap and waddled her way to her father, her arms raised to be picked up. Danziger laughed as he scooped the child up into his arms and Wells could see the delighted look on Devon's face at the sight.
It was obvious where Devon's priorities has shifted. She was still a powerful force in the colony but it was clear that she wasn't going to exercise that power as long as she was distracted by this man and their child. Wells knew that those distractions would have to be removed if he was to gain any of Devon's attention.
"Shouldn't you be putting a roof on your house?" Danziger's deep rumble broke through Wells' dark thoughts.
"What? Oh, well, Amy was able to find some capable hand to take care of that," he said nonchalantly. "I'm a danger to everyone with any sort of tool in my hand. Better for everyone if I stay out of the way."
"We can always use unskilled labor to help with the cleanup and restoration," Danz said with a grin. Wells got up from his seat and sidled towards the door.
"I'll get back to you about our conversation later, Devon," he smiled, then beat a hasty retreat. Danz watched as the door closed behind him then grunted.
"There goes the most useless person we've got," he grimaced, sitting down next to his wife.
"Yeah, but I'm sure you'll see to it he walks the straight and narrow," she grinned.
"What did he want anyway?" he asked, absently stroking Menolly's head.
"Oh, something I could never give him," she replied.
"Oh? And what might that be?" he asked suspiciously. Devon leaned over to kiss him.
"Something you will always have," she replied and smiled at his confusion. "Self-respect."
Danziger's face softened. "Oh, I don't know. You made me respectable."
"Respectable, maybe. But you always had self-respect."

A Second Chance, Part 4
by Lynne Leeper
Alonzo woke up early the next morning and was off in the VTOL after a quick breakfast. He felt he finally was getting a grip on what was happening to him and now that he had resolved himself to finding out what he had forgotten, it gave him a clear mind for his flying.
It was a beautiful day so he headed upwards towards the clouds to give his scanners a broader range to cover. He knew that the shuttle and pods should have transponders to help find them, but the peculiar arrangement of metals in the local mountain range combined with Morganite had been found to absorb broad range transmissions. Only signals found in the line-of-sight were guaranteed to be received so the higher he got, the more likely he would be able to find such signals.
Anyone looking in the cockpit of the VTOL could never have missed Alonzo's huge grin at the pleasure he got from pushing the craft to its limits, rolling and diving, teasing his senses as he played amongst the air currents. He had no idea how long he had been playing along the mountain range, bouncing on the thermals, when he finally passed them to head out over the huge expanse that was the desert basin. The craft stopped bouncing as he swooped down lower to the golden expanse, getting close enough to start picking out the larger details of the desert floor. It reminded him of something, but he couldn't quite figure out what, just that it gave him a surreal sense of magic. He pondered at that feeling as he stared out to the horizon, but slowly became aware of a regular beeping that was getting louder over his Gear.
Alonzo focused on his sensor screen, adjusting the focus to get a bearing. He rolled the VTOL to line up with the reading, then dropped the craft down so he was only a few hundred feet off the deck. The wash from the fans left a dust trail behind him but he didn't notice as he squinted at some spots that had appeared in front of him. He was over his targets in seconds, but swept passed them with a victory roll as he saw the hands of six people waving furiously at him as he passed over head.

Chris wanted to fall to his knees and thank a god in whom he had never believed until now but instead, he stood his ground as the aircraft landed a few yards from his Ops team. He immediately recognized the face of the pilot who hopped out of the cockpit and slid down the side of the fuselage to land in the sandy soil.
"Solace!" he cried out as he ran up to grab Alonzo. Alonzo grinned ear to ear and grabbed Chris' arms in return. "Man, I thought we were gonna have to walk our way to New Pacifica. Something I really wasn't looking forward to, I admit!"
"And miss out on some fun adventures along the way?" Alonzo teased. "You don't know what you're going to miss!"
"I probably don't want to know!" Chris retorted. The other five Ops members joined the party.
"Took you long enough to get here!" complained an older man who sported a rather nasty sun burn.
"Walter, giv'em a break, would you? We're lucky he found us at all!" Chris admonished the older man. Walter grumbled but kept his mouth shut.
"Sorry it took so long, guys. The VTOL wasn't first priority with the colony. Had to take care of the Syndrome kids first so it took a while before our people could prep it for flight," he explained. Chris nodded in understanding, then met the eyes of his companions to see that they agreed.
"Look, I can't take passengers with me, but I do have some supplies I can leave with you, and of course I can get back out here in a matter of hours," Alonzo said apologetically.
"What good is that going to do us?" Walter sputtered. Another one of Chris' crew took his arm, a woman with a tired look on her face.
"Shut up, Walter. He's here now, and can get us the help we need," she said firmly.
"As soon as I'm up in the air I can send your position back to New Pacifica. They'll have a rescue team on the way at first light tomorrow morning." Alonzo paused. "My guess is it'll take them about two weeks to get to you, a bit less if you keep moving." Chris sighed.
"Two weeks. Then we're still quite a ways away from the colony?" he asked. Alonzo nodded.
"Somewhere around 640 miles. We have vehicles that can make 50 miles a day, if the terrain isn't too uneven. There's a mountain range between here and there, but once they hit the dessert, it's pretty smooth sailing." Alonzo explained.
"Well, I can't complain. It beats walking the whole way, I guess," Chris sighed.
"Yeah, and it'll make you appreciate having a real roof ever your head at night, believe me!" Alonzo said with a laugh.
He made a quick survey of the rest of the group, then left them what supplies he had that they could use. Chris agreed to keep his people moving since no one was seriously injured, and it gave them something to do while they waited for the Eden Group to come and get them. It was with a great feeling of satisfaction that Alonzo left the small band of refugees to climb up where he could call in to New Pacifica.

"Danziger! Hey, Danziger, wait up!" John turned mid-stride to see Kimberly Denner running up behind him. He stood quietly as the blond woman ran up to him, panting a bit from her effort.
"Trying out for the first G889 Olympics?" he teased as she took a moment to catch her breath.
"Funny, Danz, very funny," she panted. "Look, I just heard that Chris Micheal's gang was found out in the dessert."
"Yeah," Danziger said with a broad grin. It had been a huge lift for him to know his friend had made it down alright.
"I want to be in the rescue team," she announced. Danz squinted at her in surprise.
"Really?" he asked, trying to devine her motive.
"Really." she replied firmly.
"O.K., no problem. In fact, that's great. I needed a mechanic to go anyway to care for the vehicles," he agreed cautiously. "Uh, mind telling me why you want to go?" Denner looked away and frowned.
"Hey, I mean it really doesn't matter why, I guess," Danz said not wanting to encourage her to back out. "Just curious." Denner looked him straight in the eye.
"Let's just say I need a vacation, O.K.?" she said firmly.
"Sure. O.K. I'll tell Walman you're on the team. He's having a meeting at the Hall this evening to work out the details," he agreed. Denner's face softened.
"Thanks, John. I owe you one," she replied, then spun on her heel to find Walman leaving Danz staring after her with his curiosity piqued.

It was such a beautiful day that Bess had decided that she and Morgan were going to take a walk. They had stayed away from the rest of the colony, at first to recover from their extended stay with the Terrians, then to enjoy some time alone with each other. Julia had made a couple of visits to verify that the Terrians' work had done what it was supposed to do, then satisfied that all was well stayed out of the way.
It was peculiar to see all of the activity around them, so many new homes popping up seemingly over night. What hit Bess the most was all of the noise. It wasn't the sound of the surf or the wind in the trees, it was the sounds of power tools and construction, the rumble of many vehicles passing through the grounds every which way. When she and Morgan had passed by the first of the new houses, she was dismayed to see how much damage the vehicles had made to the old compound, tearing up the soil and mangling much of the vegetation. Bess was determined to have a word with Devon about this. She would see to it that the area was restored to it's former condition. She didn't want her kids growing up in what looked like a demilitarized zone.
Morgan began to catalog the changes in his mind as they surveyed the growing town of New Pacifica. He and Bess had been given the time they needed to recover, but he knew that the rest of the Eden Advance Group would be wanting them back to help with the new colonists. The one thing that was bothering Morgan, however, was the children he was seeing. There weren't as many as he had expected. In fact, there were fewer colonists than there were supposed to be. And none of the children were wearing Immunosuits. Had the Terrians already cured them all?
Their walk eventually brought them to the Hall which was crowded with unfamiliar faces. Morgan glanced around the room to finally see Devon standing at one table surrounded by a number of anxious faces.
"Our children have been gone for nearly two weeks now," one woman complained. Devon held up her hands.
"I assure you, your children are fine. You were told up front that they would have to stay with the Terrians for some time," Devon reminded her.
"Just how long is that?" a man next to the woman asked. Devon shrugged.
"I don't know. The Terrians do things in their own time. And they are working with almost 80 children. We have to be patient," she said firmly.
"We were gone for almost two weeks." Morgan jumped as Bess spoke up in a loud voice. Devon's head jerked in her direction, then she smiled.
"Everyone, I'd like to introduce Bess and Morgan Martin. They have undergone the DNA change by the Terrians to have children and Dr. Heller had confirmed the change." It sounded like a declaration of victory. Bess felt her face flush as Morgan squeezed her hand.
"I know it's hard," Morgan began tentatively, "but the Terrians will do as they say. Please, be patient." The crowd stared at the couple for a moment, seeming to process this new information.
"What was it like?" came a soft voice from the group of faces. Morgan and Bess looked at each other.
"It was...like a ... long dream, I guess," Morgan shrugged. "I don't remember much of it."
"I think the Terrians were waiting for us to be at peace with them. We had to accept what they were offering with our hearts, with no regrets, before the change could happen," Bess tried to explain.
"Regrets?" asked another voice. Bess nodded.
"You have to know in the depths of your soul that you and your children are here to stay, and must live in peace with the other life that is part of this planet. You can't see yourself, or your children as being an exception to the life-web here. You have to be willing to be a part of it." Bess looked into the face of the woman who had been bothering Devon. "Are you willing to accept all of this? For the health of your sick child, and any other kids you might have?"
A hush fell in the room as the magnitude of what Bess had said began to sink in. She could see in the faces around them that many of these people still hadn't come to terms with the reality of G889 in spite of the visitations by the Terrians. There were still a lot of egos that had to be resolved. The woman's face had gone pale as did the man's next to her.
"I suggest you go outside and look around you. You are now a part of what you see out there. You now must nurture what you see since how you treat it will determine how well you survive here," Bess said firmly. She looked back over to Devon.
"Do you have a minute, Devon? I need to talk to you," she said pushing her way through the crowd, pulling Morgan with her.
"Of course, Bess. How are you two doing?" she asked politely.
"We're fine, but I've noticed a few things around here that are quite alarming," she stated in a business-like tone.
"Oh?" Devon asked, motioning her to a seat at the table.
"Yes. I couldn't help notice how damaged the compound area had become. We've really got to be more careful with all of these vehicles," she said with a twinkle in her eye. Devon could see she was making a point to the crowd who seemed to be rooted to where they were standing. "We had better start restoring it right away, while Spring will still allow the perennials to recover."
"I see what you mean," Devon agreed, just happy that Bess seemed to be her old self. There was no hint of the resentment that had prevented Bess from talking to her before her visit with the Terrians.
"Also, I noticed that there's a lot of herbs ready to be harvested. I could use some help with that," she said firmly.
"Of course. Please feel free to recruit who you need for that," Devon replied. "I'm sure True would love to get away from the mechanic's shed for awhile." Devon leaned a little closer. ":She misses you." Bess flushed with pleasure.
"I'll go talk to her about it," Bess said.
"Oh, and Julia will definitely want to add to your list. I know she definitely misses your experience as well," Devon added.
Seeing that they weren't going to get anything more from Devon, the colonists around her slowly dispersed. Herbs were more important than the Syndrome kids? And a little damaged land was a problem? No one was sure if this was some sort of put off or if Devon really took this stuff seriously. After Bess' speech, no one dared question it. Instead, a number of unhappy parents stepped outside into the bright sun light and started to really look around. How did they fit into this new world? What were the Terrians waiting for?

A Second Chance, Part 5
by Lynne Leeper
Amy Wells was carefully arranging her flower garden outside of her new home. Richard had thought it was a waste of time, there were so many more important things to be done right now. The house wasn't finished yet and there were other issues, like getting classes started for the healthy children of the colony. Amy had approached Yale to volunteer to be a teacher and he had been very happy with her qualifications. It had been agreed that after the basics of shelter had been taken care of, the children would return to school and the adults would start looking into the vocations of farming and ranching. There were crops to plant and animals to pull out of embryonic storage after facilities had been prepared for them, but Amy took the time to restore her front yard to blend in with its surroundings. She was kneeling in her yard, dirt up to her elbows and all over her face when she saw a small girl being led by the hand coming up the path.
"Rebecca?" Amy gasped. The little girl giggled and pulled away from Julia Heller's grip and tottered her way up to her mother.
"'Becca!" she cried as the child flew into her arms and she held onto her child for dear life. It wasn't until Julia stepped up beside her that she looked up into her daughter's face.
"She's fine, just fine, Mrs. Wells," Julia assured her, then left the happy mother with her child, a big smile on her own face.
It woke in her as it did each time she saw such a scene, the desire to have children of her own. The smile left her face as she considered Alonzo. He had been flying everyday for the last 10 days. It was time for him to take a break and start looking at his own life. Julia still hoped that the love they had shared could happen again, even if it would be different this time. It was impossible to recapture the past - those moments were gone. But was the chemistry still there? Were the roots of what caused them to fall in love still there? Only time would tell.

The Syndrome children were returned a few at a time, much to the relief of their parents. It was Bess who detected the pattern of whose kids were returned first and she wanted to carefully bounce her idea off of Julia when she went to see her about collecting her herbs. She found Julia in the Syndrome Ward, tending the dozen or so children who's parents had not yet agreed to let the Terrians care for them.
"Think any of these kids' parents will change their minds now that some of the others have been returned?" Bess asked quietly. Julia jumped, then turned to see her visitor.
"Oh, hi Bess," she said, then looked back at the child she was tending. "I sure hope so. Kids like Kevin here are getting old enough that the Syndrome will take them all too soon." She looked back up at Bess. "It seems that a clean environment isn't an instant cure in itself, not that we expected it to be."
Bess stared down at the child, her blood running cold at the sight of his pale skin and under developed body. It didn't seem fair to the child that he should suffer because of his parent's hesitation. What did the child want, she wondered.
"Can I help you?" Julia's question broke through her concern.
"Oh, I was talking to Devon a couple of days ago. I want to start collecting herbs and was wondering what you would like to have collected. I'm planning on recruiting a few people to help," Bess answered. This brought a smile to Julia's face.
"I'm glad you're taking charge of this. I haven't had the time to do anything for myself, with the kids and all," she said. "Here, I'll make a list for you of what I'd like to have." Julia pulled a pad out of her smock and started entering names.
"Julia, how many of the kids are back from the Terrians?" Bess asked.
"41 of the 87 they've taken are back. Any reason for asking?" Julia was curious.
"Oh, it's just that I've sort of been noticing something. It was Amy Wells' daughter who was returned first, wasn't it?" Bess asked.
"Yes, Rebecca was returned a few days ago. So what have you noticed?" Julia asked.
"It's just that Amy was the first to plant a garden, you know, work the soil. And her daughter was returned. Then I noticed that the woman who was hassling Devon about when her child was going to be returned.."
"Sarah Cummings," Julia interrupted.
"That's her name? Well, she saw what Amy was doing and started working on her yard. Her child was returned. And I noticed that the folk who have started restoring the compound yard, their kids are back too." Julia stared at her friend for a moment.
"You know, I hadn't noticed. If you're right, then I think another pep talk is in order." Julia saw Bess' expression.
"Devon told me what you had said to the other day. It seems you got through to a few people. Maybe if you go and talk to the people who are still waiting for their kids, you might be able to steer a few of them in the right direction as well." Julia smiled seeing the glint in Bess' eyes at the idea. Julia knew she loved to meddle and here was the perfect opportunity for her to get to know these folks.
"You know, Morgan and I really do need to meet more of the new people. We've only met a few so far, and besides, Devon has Morgan helping her work out the details of getting the colony organized. He's good at that sort of thing," she said smugly.
Julia laughed. "I'm sure that Devon is relieved to have his help. She's been so overwhelmed by individual problems that she hasn't had the time to look ahead. Danziger swears that if she doesn't start taking some time for herself, he's going to kidnap her and the kids and leave town!"
"And he'd just do that!" Bess laughed, then reached for Julia's list. "I think I'll go see how our new residents are doing and start looking for likely helpers for my collection crew."
"Um, Bess?" Julia asked, not quite letting go of the comp pad. "You want to be tested yet?" she asked softly. Bess blushed, then looked away.
"I think I'll wait a while. I want to be sure of the answer first," Bess answered carefully. Julia nodded understanding Bess' reasoning. Bess took the pad, then left the Ward with a bounce in her stride.

Kimberly Denner sat in the Scout, her companion a young new colonist who had decided to make the trip to G889 with the rest of his family. He had found life on the Stations unsatisfying, especially since he had failed the physical for pilot's training. Something about a stigmatism. Not enough to really need corrective measures, but enough to keep him out. It seemed that there were plenty of applicants who didn't have his problem.
The boy, Brian Lovett, had been an enthusiastic addition to the rescue team. His naivet had been amusing at first and he was a fast learner, but his growing crush on her was getting a bit annoying. She was at least 10 years his senior, being 28 years old, and her thoughts were on some one else. Someone she had hoped to see when the colony ship had arrived.
When the Roanoke had crashed into the ocean, Kim had feared the worse. The Ops crew would have been the last ones off the ship and in escape pods at that. They weren't supposed to leave the ship at all and Kim had expected to rejoin the ship and him if everything had gone as planned. When the news came from Alonzo that a pod had been found and that he was one of the six survivors, her hopes had been revived. Every time she thought about him, she found herself holding her breath, hoping that he was still interested.
They had met after Danziger had hired her on for the Eden Project, if only briefly. She had been hired to work on the Advance Module while he was Danziger's back up for the Roanoke itself. Chris had been very helpful when work would cause their paths to cross and the day before the launch, he had invited her out for a bon voyage dinner.
It had been the most pleasant night she had had in years. The dinner had been expensive, but Chris had figured with the pay they had coming for being in cold sleep for 44 years, he could afford it. They had talked all night, not being allowed to drink alcohol before going into cold sleep and they had made it back to their ships only a few hours before Devon and O'Neill had decided on the early launch. It wasn't until she stood on the surface of G889 she had had the chance to replay the memories of that exceptional night and it dawned on her that it would be two years before she would see him again. If she lived that long.
It hadn't been easy but she did survive, using Chris as her focus, her reason to not give up. And now, two years later, she was only a few miles away from seeing him. For him it would have seemed to be only a few weeks since he's seen her last. Would the two- year difference in time make a difference to him? She had weathered a bit in that time, no longer had the luxury of make-up or the occasional scented bath. Now she was her natural self, no socially-inflicted costume to make her anything other than what she really was. She hoped it wouldn't make a difference.

They had decided to keep walking, but no longer felt the need to cover a lot of ground each day. Still, it was something to do and besides, Chris knew that they all would need to get used to the physical exertion. It amazed him how their hours of sweating in hardshells out in space, and the time they spent crawling around the guts of ships had done little to condition them for the simple task of walking. It was even worse that they had had to carry everything they needed to survive. There wasn't a nice, hot shower to look forward to at the end of the day let alone a decent mattress. God, how he would give his right arm for a massage right now. But those were best when it was done by a caring partner, something he didn't have out here in the desert. He wondered if he would find someone in New Pacifica. That brought his thoughts back to that last fine dinner he had with Kim Denner.
He smiled, remembering how warm her smile had been for him. It had proved to be a very satisfying night even though all they had done was talk. He had wanted to see more of her after it was all said and done and they had returned to the Stations. And not just because she would be one of the few people he would still know 44 years later. She was someone he could relate to on more than just a professional level, though he had to admit, she was a damned good mechanic. Danziger sure knew how to pick the best for his teams.
It had been two years for her, he knew, even if it had been a much shorter time for him. He could hardly expect her to wait around for him, especially since they hadn't made any sort of commitments toward each other. But still he could hope, couldn't he? It would be nice to start his time in New Pacifica with a partner. Someone who was more than just another one of the guys.
The day had dragged on as they had been for the past 16 days, the occasional Grendler seen at a distance, but the creatures never approaching in the day light. Seems word got around about the Magpros the refugees had. Just as well.
Alonzo had assured them on his last visit that they should be meeting up with the rescue team very soon now, the team had made good time due to the experience of the Eden Advance people. Chris hoped to see them before sunset today, his tired feet really looking for a nice, long rest.
They had come across a small outcropping or rock that sported some interesting vegetation and of all things, an artesian well. They couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy a bath or to eat some of the food stuffs that required more water than they wanted to carry to properly hydrate. They had set up their make-shift shelters, pieces of the parachutes that had brought their capsule down, and had started to prepare their meal when the sun was only a bit above the horizon.
Chris sat on a comfortable rock and enjoyed the sunset while he munched on his spirolina dinner. The sun was reaching for the horizon when it's outline suddenly changed. At first it appeared that the horizon line was rippling, not an uncommon trick of the light, but the rippling began to take form. Chris stared hard into the image, abandoning his dinner to stand up. As he watched, his heart began to pound as the forms of the Transport and Scout became solid, as did the people who were in them.
The others turned at Chris' shout to see the rescue team arrive. As the vehicles pulled in to a stop and the cloud of dust they created settled, Chris was rewarded by the loveliest sight in his life. Kimberly Denner pulled herself out of the shotgun seat of the Scout, beating a cloud of dust out of her jacket as she slapped her gloves against herself before she stuffed them into a pocket. Her face was covered with fine red sand where her goggles and mask left skin exposed, but he didn't care. The smile on her face was enough for him.
Denner grinned at the surprised Chris as she tossed her goggles and dust mask into the Scout. His face was a bit burned from the sun, but he looked like she remembered him and from the expression on his face, he was happy to see her. She started walking up to greet him, but he met her halfway and without stopping, wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug.
"Does this mean you missed me?" Kim asked in a teasing voice. Chris pulled back to see the smile in her eyes.
"Well, we never did get a chance to pick up where we left off," he said. Kim could see the question in his eyes.
"I see no reason we can't now," she said softly. His expression softened and a silly grin formed on his face.
"I'm beginning to think that crashing on this planet might not be so bad after all," he told her. Denner started laughing.
"Not an unpopular sentiment amongst the Eden Advance Group," she replied. She could see the question in his eyes again so she took his arm and steered him towards the fire.
"C'mon. We're starved," she said gesturing towards Walman, Magus and Brian Lovett who had started to unload their gear for the night. Brian had already brought the cooking supplies out and had started setting up the stove.
"It's my turn to cook tonight," she told him, spotting the unfinished plate of spirulina chow. "And I can definitely do better than that!"

A Second Chance, Part 6
by Lynne Leeper
Julia glanced over at the still form on the floor. Alonzo had finally agreed to take a day off to start looking at Julia's VR diary. He had parked himself on the floor after breakfast, put his Gear on, then started back from the day of the crash.
He'd been at it for hours now and had missed lunch. Julia was beginning to wonder if he had fallen asleep or something when Alonzo suddenly drew in a deep breath and sat up. He reached up to turn off the Gear, a dumbfounded look on his face, then slipped it off of his head. Julia knew by the startled, then guilty look on his face he had reached that point in time that she dreaded the most.
Alonzo stared at her for a moment.
"You, ah, reached the part about the Council?" Julia asked him carefully. Alonzo nodded, then seemed to be about to ask a question, then stopped. He stared at her again for another long moment.
"I can't say I understand, yet, but somehow, I don't believe it. It doesn't seem like you at all," he finally told her. Julia smiled.
"Keep going," she said with a gentle look in her eyes. "You know me better than you think."
Alonzo nodded at her, the openness of her emotions at that moment feeling strangely compelling to him. He fitted the Gear back over his head and sat quietly with his legs crossed, so absorbed by what he was hearing that he didn't notice when Julia quietly left the room.

The sun had set hours ago. John Danziger gratefully sat down on the edge of the bed, then let himself fall backwards into the soft blankets. He wondered at what point in his life he had gotten so old that he no longer liked to stay up all night. After spending all day working on vehicles and power systems all he wanted was a good night's sleep.
"John?" a pleasant voice asked.
"Huh?" he mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes. He felt the bed sink next to him.
"Hear about Alonzo today?" He cracked open one eye to see Devon staring at the wall in front of her.
"What about him?" he asked sleepily. He felt a hand start stroking his head. He purred in satisfaction.
"Julia let him start listening to her diary today," she told him.
"Yeah?" came the groggy reply. "Was wonderin' why he wasn't buggin' me 'bout the VTOL today."
"Do me a favor," she requested, moving to lay right next to him, still running her fingers through his hair.
"Anything," he managed to mumble. Devon moved her head down to his.
"Keep the plane grounded for a few days," she whispered in his ear.
"Sure," he answered, further distracted by her other hand starting to stroke soft circles on his bare chest. Then his eyes shot open. "Why?"
Devon's face was an open book to him. He could see she was in one of her rare moods when she was concerned about someone else's love life. Danz attributed these moments to Bess' influence. She didn't have to answer for him to know what she was thinking.
"Right," he said then wrapped his arms around her and scooted the two of them around up to their pillows. " 'Lonz'll come around." he said with a tired sureness in his voice.
"Why are you so sure of that?" she asked, reaching down to pull the blankets up over them.
" 'Cause," he mumbled, enjoying the feeling of her snuggling up to him.
" Why?" she pressed. Danz knew he wasn't going to get any sleep until she had her answer.
" 'Cause it won't take him long to figure out what he's been missing these last few weeks," he managed to get out in a low rumble. Devon laughed softly.
"I think Julia's going to want more than that from him," she admonished him. He sighed.
"I meant more than *that*!" he returned. Devon nuzzled his shoulder.
"Why John! You have become an old softie," she teased him.
"Comes from being an old married man," he replied, kissing her hair. "But don't tell anyone, huh? It'll ruin my reputation."
"Oh, we can't have that," she said in mock seriousness. "Who would I have to keep all those new colonists in line with a single scowl?" she replied with a hug. He laughed.
"I knew you kept me around for something."
"Oh, that's just one of your endearing qualities," she assured him.
"I'm afraid to ask what the other ones are," he returned, his voice drifting off.
"It can wait," she told him, reaching up to give him a tender kiss.
"I love you," he said so softly she barely heard him.
"I love you," she replied and finally let him go to sleep.

It took three days for Alonzo to go through Julia's records of the past two years. Much of it he had scanned through quickly since it dealt with the medical aspects of the colony - not very interesting for the most part to him, but had revealed some interesting insights to the people with whom he had crossed the continent. Julia had gone through and deleted some specific information, but anything he found of a personal nature about the others he was told to keep confidential.
He had found her comments about himself very enlightening and when he was finally finished, he saw Julia in a new light. Her hard work and contributions to the Eden Group, especially after the discovery of her involvement with the Council, had been impressive. And she had finally let herself fall in love with him.
He had been sitting in the one comfortable chair in the living area of the house when he finished. He had removed the Gear set to see Julia sitting at the table in the kitchen area studying some notes. Even though the memories weren't his, he found himself feeling warm and comfortable as he reviewed the new information. She really did love him, or the person he used to be, yet Alonzo couldn't understand why she was still afraid that he'd leave her. He knew the answer was probably in his own logs, but he still wasn't ready to look at them.
He rose from his seat, a bit stiff from all the sitting he'd been doing in the past few days. He walked over to the kitchen table and Julia watched as he came around it to sit next to her. He could see the fear in her eyes, the look that obviously went with the timbre of her voice as she spoke about him leaving. He smiled and reached up for her cheek, brushing a thumb along her jaw line.
"You're incredible. You know that," he said softly. He was pleased to see her blush. He may have really only known her for a couple of weeks, but he was beginning to see why he had been drawn to her in the first place.
"You've finished my diary?" she asked, the worry very plain in her eyes.
Alonzo nodded. "Yeah." he said, a wash of many emotions running through him. "It was one hell of a ride getting here, wasn't it?"
She nodded, trying to read what was going through his mind. He really didn't know what to say quite yet so instead, he reached out for her hand.
"Let's go for a walk. I need some air," he suggested.
Julia quietly closed up her notebook and took his offered hand. The couple left the house to be enveloped in bright sunshine, a soothing wash that helped Alonzo to relax a bit. He let his thoughts idle for a few moments as he breathed in the clean air, then it struck him. He was getting used to this place. He was getting used to the idea that he was most likely never going to pilot a starship again. The pain that shot through him at the thought wasn't as sharp as it had been a few weeks ago. Maybe all the flying he'd been doing in the VTOL had helped to alleviate that.
"Let's go see if Danziger has prepped the VTOL yet. He says he's been a bit too busy the past few days to work on it," Alonzo suggested. He caught the brief smile that passed over Julia's face.
"Sure," she said lightly. He watched her as they began to walk in the direction of the "hanger" - a euphemism for a tin roof that sat above the plane. He had suspected that he had been intentionally grounded for the past few days but hadn't minded since it gave him the time to start searching for himself. But he now he needed some time to absorb what he had learned and flying was the best way to do that.
They found Danziger not at the mech shed, but down on the beach with True, Uly and several other kids playing volleyball. Danz was on one side of the net and five kids were on the other. With his tall frame, it wasn't hard for him to keep up with the kids.
Julia and Alonzo sat themselves on the log someone had placed next to the playing area.
"Hey Danziger," Alonzo called out when Danz ended up doing a flying dive into the sand. "Need a little help there?"
"Hey flyboy, thought you were busy daydreaming," Danz replied, trying to brush the sand off of his damp skin.
"Daaad! C'mon," came True's voice. Danz looked over at his daughter.
"You guys can work on each other for a while, O.K.?" he said. True let out an exaggerated sigh of disgust, then pulled Uly to the other side of the net with her. Danz walked off the court to stand by Alonzo.
"Taking some time off?" Julia asked with a smile. Danz grinned.
"Yeah. We've all been so busy with the new colonists that we haven't had time to relax." He glanced over at his daughter. "I promised True I'd start spending some time with her, though I'm beginning to think that she's starting to prefer guys her own age," he added wistfully.
Alonzo stared at his friend for a moment, trying to look at him as a father instead of the imposing mechanic. He wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to be in Danziger's shoes. But then he thought about his need to fly.
"Hey, is the VTOL ready for flight?" he asked a bit plaintively. He didn't question Danziger's quick glance over at Julia. Apparently Danz saw what he needed.
"Took care of it this morning, right before lunch," Danz replied. "Give you a chance to see how Walman, Magus and Denner are doing. I need those guys back. The work load's piling up a bit."
Julia smiled at that. "Shouldn't they be back soon?" she asked.
"If everything goes O.K., they should be back in three or so days," Danz answered.
"I should go talk to Yale to see where I should start looking next for our missing shuttle and pods," Alonzo said.
"He told Devon that he has a new search pattern set up for you," Danz told him. "Your flights are going to get longer you know. We need to decide on just how far we should look." It was a realistic statement even though it felt a bit brutal to both Julia and Alonzo. Alonzo stared down at his feet.
"I just can't help think that if I was out there, I'd be hoping that someone would care enough to come looking." Alonzo said.
"We do care, Alonzo, " came a voice from behind him. He turned to see Devon standing behind him with Menolly in her arms. She set the child down on her feet, and Menolly promptly sat down in the sand.
"We'll do everything we can to find out missing people, Alonzo," she told him. "But you are the only pilot we have. I don't want you over extending yourself or taking unnecessary risks either." She saw the relief in Julia's face.
Alonzo shrugged. "I just think I should be out there looking to the best of my ability. The longer those folks are out there without help, the greater the chance that some of them will die."
Devon glanced at her husband and sighed. "I know. I feel the same way you do. And I want you to keep looking as long as possible, as long as you aren't in any unnecessary danger."
"And remember that the VTOL has it's limits too," Danz added. "If you over work it, you could have one hell of a long walk back here!"
"Yeah, yeah," Alonzo said, shifting his weight a bit. Menolly had taken an interest in his boot laces and was trying to untie them.
"But it is ready for you to take out tomorrow," Danz said, grinning because his daughter had undone one of Alonzo's boots. Alonzo looked down to survey the damage. He squatted down to pick up his attacker.
"Ah, so you're now your mom and dad's new secret weapon, huh?" he said as Menolly pulled on shirt. Alonzo turned to Danz.
"You have her distract your targets so they can't defend themselves while you're getting them to agree to something!" he grinned.
"Works every time!" Danz replied.
Julia stepped up and wiggled a finger at Menolly. Alonzo looked at Julia, his face thoughtful. It *was* a possible future for him. Would he like being a father? He rather thought he would. Maybe.

A Second Chance, Part 7
by Lynne Leeper
Amy Wells slipped the comb through her daughter's dark hair watching the highlights that glistened along the way. God knows that when Becca had been ill, her hair had always been dull and dry. Combing it then had been painful since so much of it ended up in the waste bin. Now the girl glowed with the energy and trouble-free mind of her young years and Amy couldn't be happier. Almost.
It was Richard. Her husband had become sullen and distant over the past few weeks. It had taken Amy a while to notice since she was basking in her daughter's good health, but his quick temper at breakfast over something as minor as his coffee being too hot had finally brought his problem to her attention.
He had brushed off her attempts to talk to him. After all, how could she understand that this insane trip had ruined his life. His career was gone, and there seemed to be no substitute for him here. Adair had pushed him off completely. She obviously wanted nothing to do with him and his attempts gain a foothold here. And in spite of what she said, she still was the leader of this colony. Her and her drone husband.
The thought of putting up with Danziger any longer was intolerable. His time strolling through the colony, observing the daily routines of the Ops people had given Richard ideas of how to go about getting rid of the large thorn in his side. So much of the equipment used around town could potentially be dangerous, if not used properly.
Richard smiled. Yes, it was time for him to take up a new vocation. One that would allow him access to the equipment around town. One that would make him part of the scenery around the mech shop. One that would allow him easy access to John Danziger. He would volunteer to be a trainee, a gopher for the Ops people. With good intentions of course. He spent some time working out a plausible speech, then made his way to find a member of the Ops crew to begin his new project.

It felt good to be in the air again, his mind sorting through everything he had learned from Julia's diary. He had to admit, he did have it pretty good here on G889, or at least he used to have it pretty good. He knew now that he if he wanted that life again, he'd have to earn it again. Julia wasn't going just give it to him. But did he want to? Leaving the planet was no longer an option so it would be a huge mistake to throw away a good possibility for his future.
Alonzo glanced down at his flight plan. He had covered quite a bit of distance already and hadn't seen any new signs of the missing shuttle or escape pods. He adjusted his heading to cover a new gridline. The VTOL bucked under him as his course took him along a long scar in the desert landscape. Alonzo adjusted his flight path a little and the buffeting stopped. His mind wandered back to Julia.
He reached for a pocket in his flight jacket, the one where his own VR diary capsule resided. Alonzo figured since he was going to have to stay out overnight, he might use some of the time to review his own records. He had thought about asking for one of the other Eden Advance Group's recordings, after all they had offered. But somehow, this had truly become personal. Alonzo didn't want to form his opinion about Julia and himself based on anyone else's ideas. If there was still some gaps in the actual history of the trip, he would dig up that information later. Sighing, Alonzo dropped his hand back down to the control panel as a soft beeping interrupted his thoughts.
Bringing the bearing of the beeping into sharper focus, Alonzo realized that he was receiving a transponder signal, and the code was for the second missing shuttle. Adrenaline caused his heart to race in anticipation until he remembered the condition of the first shuttle. But that hadn't given off a signal, it had been a smudge on the landscape. His hopes rising again, he turned the VTOL towards the source of the signal.
His course took him back over the peculiar scar in the desert landscape and the VTOL began to buck again. Alonzo fought the controls to smooth his ride not wanting to deviate from the course that the transponder signal indicated. Before he realized what he was seeing, he had flown the craft into a cloud. A cloud of what he didn't know, and it was so thin that he had been in it before he could see it. The VTOL's engines began to complain and Alonzo glanced at his flight console to confirm that they were rising in temperature. He had to get out of whatever it was or his engines would fail. He took a brief moment to contemplate just how far from home he was. It would be one hell of a long walk.
The craft wasn't responding well at all now, and it dawned on Alonzo that the substance he was flying through was clogging up the joints of the control surfaces of his craft. Realizing that he was definitely in trouble, Alonzo began an emergency descent.
The VTOL was sluggish, uneven in its response to his commands. The craft dropped in jerks and dips and suddenly was below the strange cloud. Alonzo quickly assessed the terrain in front of him, looking for a place to set down. He chose his spot and locked his eyes on it, not noticing that the crafts' engines had caught on fire. As he approached the ground, some small part of his mind recognized that he was still following the path set by the transponder signal and as he was about to touch down, he caught a brief, bright flash of light reflected off of something in the distance. He wondered about that in the back of his mind as the VTOL's landing gear hit the ground and the craft was violently bounced back into the air with a precarious twist. It hit ground several times more, each time bouncing Alonzo off of a different part of the cockpit and he was out cold before the mangled craft finally came to rest.

The trip through the desert had been uneventful, thanks to the vehicles and the hard-earned experience of Walman, Magus and Denner. It certainly was a relief to be able to ride a vehicle rather than walk all day, and even Walter had stopped complaining.
When they had reached the mountains, the pace slowed considerably, but Chris Micheals really didn't care. He had grown to love the scenery, especially when it included Kimberly Denner. She had quietly become his shadow when he was dealing with his Ops crew, there to support him and in the quiet moments at night, his equal partner. He had been concerned at first that they both were reacting to a convenient situation, but as the days became weeks, Chris felt that there was more to it than that. The way they began to anticipate each other for even the smallest things was kind of scary, but made him feel great. It had made the trip to New Pacifica more like a vacation, not a camping trip in Hell, but one through paradise.
As the vehicles came across the tracks made by the occasional passage of the other vehicles of New Pacifica, Chris could see the anxious anticipation by Walman and Magus to get home. He could hardly blame them. Privacy had been non-existent for them. And the kid Brice, having his lady fair claimed by another had left him bereft and silent during the trip back. Chris laughed silently at that. The kid would survive and he would have Kim. Now it was only a matter of hours before he would see where he would be living for his foreseeable future.
A sudden pressure on his hand broke his reverie. He turned his head slightly to smile at Kim who had been asleep just a moment before. She was taking advantage of the time they spent traveling in the back of the Transport to catch up on sleep lost in the evenings, when some privacy could be arranged.
"We're almost home," she said softly.
Home. His smile grew at the thought. "Only if you're there," he told her.
She leaned into his arm. "And I'll bet Danziger will be *very* pleased to see you and the others."
Chris grimaced. "I want a vacation first. Knowing him, he'll shackle us to some machinery that needs fixing as soon as we set foot in town."
Kim laughed. "I'll make sure he shackles us to the same machine then." Her voice softened. "Danz is a different man these days, Chris. He's got a family now. He still may have an intimidating front when he's working, but underneath he's understanding and even a bit of a softie."
Chris looked at her in disbelief.
"Don't tell him I said that," Kim said quickly. "I'll deny it."
Chris grinned. "New Pacifica is sounding more and more interesting. I can't wait."
"And you'll be sleeping under a real roof tonight, with a real shower and kitchen."
"And real walls?" he asked, his voice low.
"And real walls," she answered just as quietly.

Bess took in every detail of her surroundings as she made her way to the Hospital. She was pleased to see that a genuine effort had been made to restore the damage done by the new colonists during their first days here. It had been an effort to convince people that it was necessary, but the crowning touch had been when she had found one couple tearing up the ground around their house while constructing their home, leaving rotting vegetation mixed with packing materials and organic waste. She had just started tearing into them when a lone Terrian emerged from the ground, its lightening stick glowing. The creature had growled with an unmistakable threat and Bess used that image to convince the offenders to mend their ways.
When the couple began to pick up their trash, the Terrian trilled softly at Bess, then disappeared into the ground. Even though a bit shaken by the experience, Bess had managed to keep a knowing smile on her face as she left the couple, the smile changing into a look of awe with what had happened. She didn't even have to spread the story herself. By the next day, all of the new colonists had heard about it and it had given her a new respect from them. She enjoyed the infamy, it was something she had never experienced before. Even Devon had been impressed.
She reached the door of the Hospital and hefted the sack she carried off of her shoulder and set it down just inside, careful to place it out of potential harm's way. "Julia?" she called out.
A moment passed, the Julia's head popped out of a doorway. "Here, Bess."
Bess quickly joined Julia in her "office", a smaller room where she prepared her reports and did small-scale analyses. "Hi! I brought you some of the herbs you requested." She jerked her head towards the front door. "I left them out front."
Julia smiled, but Bess could see she was a bit distracted. "Alonzo, hmm?" she guessed.
Julia dropped her gaze to the floor for a moment. "Yeah. He's out for an over-niter this time. Can't say that I approve of it." she answered a bit unhappily.
"Lonz is a big boy, Julia. He'll be O.K." Bess answered.
Julia didn't like this line of questioning so decided to change the subject. "Hey, when am I going to get to test you?"
Bess started, then smiled at the new subject. "How about right now?" she grinned.
Julia looked surprised, then grinned back at her friend. "You're sure?" she asked with a twinkle in her eye.
Bess blushed this time. "I'm very sure. I just want to make it official."
Julia laughed. "O.K. Let's do it."

A Second Chance, Part 8
by Lynne Leeper
Today was an important day for Devon Adair. Today was the anniversary of the day that Uly had come back to her whole. The day her son had no longer needed the immunosuit to survive. The day he had become a normal child. Well, maybe not normal. The Terrians were a part of him now, but it was normal enough for her.
She had decided to celebrate by declaring a family holiday. They had all been working so hard, it was time to relax a little. She planned out a spectacular picnic up on one of the grassy plains inland of the town. She wanted to be away from town for the day for the five of them to spend some uninterrupted time together. No new colonists, Syndrome children or Terrians today. Just family.
John had teasingly accused her of just wanting to do some sort of group bonding, but he knew that as a family, they were already as close as a family could be. Surviving extreme situations could do that to people.
It was mid afternoon in the quiet spot, Uly and True out exploring and Menolly asleep when the survivors of the escape pod encountered their first New Pacificans. Magus had called the vehicles to a halt when she spotted people in the grassy area below them. She grabbed her jumpers and took a look, then giggled.
"What?" Walman demanded.
Magus handed him the jumpers silently, then pointed. It took him a moment to find what she was looking at, then he groaned. "Figures."
Chris and Kim joined them. "Why did we stop?" Denner asked.
Magus gave her a grin, then took the jumpers from Walman, handed them to her, then pointed. Kim fixed the jumpers in the indicated direction then grinned even more than Magus had.
"Mind letting me in on it?" Chris complained.
Kim looked at him. "This is perfect!" she laughed. Chris looked confused. "Perfect blackmail material, if I ever saw it," she said, handing him the jumpers.
His curiosity peaked, Chris adjusted the jumpers to down into the meadow. At first he wasn't sure of what he was seeing. Then his jaw dropped. "No way!" he said in disbelief.
"I told you he was a different man," Kim giggled.
Chris snorted. "Well, we can't just go down there and say 'Hi! We're here!' "
Walman blinked at him. "Why not?" he asked, keeping a serious look on his face. Magus punched him on the arm.
"Oh, and you wouldn't mind having a bunch of scruffy, filthy refugees interrupt you 'getting back to nature' with your other half?" Chris demanded.
Walman grinned. "No, but I would be sure I wouldn't get caught doing it." He turned back to the rest of the group. "Mount up! We're heading into town!"
Magus grimaced and shook her head. She knew this was going to get them into trouble, but she really did just want to get home. Maybe they could find a way around the meadow, but it was going to be hard to convince Walman to do that. Magus knew that she was going to have to use some threats to make him agree. Danz was going to owe her big time.

He was awakened by a sharp jolt that ended with his already-aching head hitting the canopy. Alonzo jumped when a second jolt made him open his eyes enough to see what was happening. It was dark on the other side of the plastic isolating him from the planet outside, so it took him several moments to catch some movement out of the corner of his eye.
Alonzo moaned. <Not Grendlers!> He wasn't really afraid of them, but knew how aggressive and strong they could be if provoked. That didn't mean he was going to let them tear what was left of the VTOL apart before he could salvage what he could first. He pulled the lever to ignite the explosives holding the canopy in place on the craft and covered his ears while the bubble of plastic shot up into the air.
Three Grendlers shot away from the wreckage of the plane, groaning in fear as the canopy sailed over their heads. In any other situation, Alonzo would have found this funny, but at the moment he only felt relieved as an immediate problem was solved.
He carefully pulled himself up and slid over the side of the plane into the desert soil. His feet hitting the ground pointed out to him just how many bruises and abrasions he had acquired during his... landing. Well, they say any landing you can walk away from...
He stumbled a few feet away to try to see what was left of the VTOL. Even in his fuzzy state of mind he could see that the craft wasn't going to fly again. The sound of the Grendlers returning made him get up. He made his way back to the cockpit and pulled out the small emergency kit from behind the pilot's seat. He then pulled out the special wrench to open the exterior hatch that held some of the larger survival gear - a small tent and stove, along with extra clothing and food stuffs.
Knowing that it would be a mistake to stay around the craft with the Grendlers nearby, he started moving towards the source of the transponder signal he had been following in his search for the second missing shuttle.

Chris smiled as he settled back into Kim's couch, reveling in the feeling of creature comfort. The couch had been one of Denner's pet projects. She wanted to be able to stretch out in her "living room", just as if she had been back at home as a child and now he was enjoying her creative use of old packing material and salvaged timber. And to have actually experienced a real shower! Chris had to admit, the Eden Advance Group had taken care of the basics.
He wiggled his toes as the aroma of a home-cooked meal reached him. Kim looked over at him when he groaned in pleasure and smiled. The picture he made laying on the couch, with an utterly relaxed look on his face, made her feel incredibly satisfied inside. It made her house really felt like a home.
Chris glanced over to see Kim putting dinner on the table. He felt a little guilty, Kim having done all of the work, but she had insisted that he spend his first night in New Pacifica in comfort. After all, tomorrow they would both suffer Danziger's wrath. Chris grimaced. Man, Danz sure had been pissed when they rolled into his private party unannounced. He wondered if Kim had been telling him tall tales about Danz actually being a softie.
Chris levered himself off of the couch and shuffled up behind Kim who was wiping off her hands at the kitchen counter. He wrapped his arms around her and have her a satisfying hug. "You're spoiling me," he accused her softly.
"You bet," she replied. "Gotta make your new home live up to all of the advertising."
Chris laughed then nuzzled her ear. "Just your being here does that," he told her. He didn't see her pleased smile. She turned in his grasp.
"Come on, let's eat," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "Don't want your first meal at home to get cold."
That earned her a longer kiss in return. "I'm so happy, Kimmie," he said softly.
She laughed and gently turned him towards his chair at the table. "Keep that thought for tomorrow when John assigns us to a work detail."
"You don't think he'll be *that* vindictive, do you?" he said sitting down. God, the food in front of him smelled good.
Denner shrugged. "Depends on if Devon cools him down tonight or not."
"Does she have a sense of humor?" Chris asked thoughtfully.
Denner considered that for a moment. "I guess we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

Alonzo Solace was beginning to wonder if he had in reality died and had been sent to hell. How else could he explain what was happening to him? Awaking one morning without any memories of the past two years, finding that he had a loved one, but didn't know her, and once he began to think of New Pacifica as home and the people there his friends, this happens. Stuck in the middle
of a desert more than a thousand miles from home. With an aircraft that had been reduced to scrap metal. And limited supplies. And worst of all, he was utterly alone.
He had continued to slowly trudge his way towards his goal, not really knowing how far away it was. The odds of anyone being there was slim. It had been over a month since the shuttle had escaped from the dying Roanoke, and it was a sure thing that any survivors would have left the crash site to try to make their way to a more friendly plot of ground than this desert. And he was also sure that the Grendlers would have made short work of anything even remotely worth having from the wreckage.
Still, it gave him a goal and he really had nothing better to do.
The sun had been up, for how long he really didn't know, when he finally couldn't go any further. Over heated and not cognizant enough to use some of his meager water supply, he sank down to sit Indian-style and stared out into the wavering air.
Eventually he became aware of motion around him but couldn't focus his eyes or turn his head to see what it was.
"Jeez, look at him."
He heard the words but couldn't understand them.
"Come on. We better get him back to camp."
Alonzo really didn't notice that his field-of view was changing as unfelt hands lifted him and placed him onto a flat surface. He really didn't notice the water that was passing by his lips but his body knew what to do with it. More time passed and suddenly he was out of the sun. Finally feeling cool and comfortable in the dim light, his body finally decided that he could go to sleep.

Chris and the rest of the escape pod survivors met out on the beach their first morning in New Pacifica. It had been incredible to watch the sun rise over the Sea of Antius and Chris was still glowing from the memories of his and Kim's first night in a domestic situation. He figured that there wasn't anything that Danziger could do to him that could ruin his day.
As if to test his hypothesis, he saw a tall outline in the dim light, accompanied by a smaller one. Danziger and Devon were coming to talk to them. He watched them as they approached and Chris could see that Danz was carrying their youngest child cradled safely in his arms, the child fast asleep. The threesome came and sat right next to the Roanoke's Ops team, not saying a word, just enjoying the view that G889 was offering.
Chris let out a slow breath, realizing that Danz really wasn't concerned about their little surprise yesterday, but he was still wary that Danz might do something just because he could. But Devon was with him. That had to be a good omen.
After it had grown a bit lighter, Danz finally handed off Menolly to Devon and she quietly left the group. Danz stood and watched after her for a moment, then turned to his new recruits. He could see the tension in the faces of the six people in front of him and he was not above having a little fun. He frowned deeply at them and they tensed even more.
"Welcome to New Pacifica," he said, deliberately adding a dangerous tone to his voice. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you all."
Chris felt a shiver run down his spine. Maybe Danziger was really pissed after all.
"I can assure you that your talents are needed here, so never worry that you won't have anything to do. I'll make sure that you don't get bored," he said still keeping that dictatorial tone.
A few people groaned.
"I've posted your work assignments in the Hall. Please look it over and let me know if there are any problems," he continued.
"God, I should have stayed on the Stations..." a voice said feebly. Danz wasn't sure where it came from, but she saw Walter flinch as if he had been ribbed.
"Now I suggest you all go get some breakfast," he added, then finally let himself smile. "Have a nice day!"
The group got up to hastily depart, but Chris felt a hand on his arm. He turned to see Danziger looking at him with a very amused look on his face.
"Just wanted to say you did a great job up there on the Roanoke, Micheals. You kept your head and saved a lot of peoples lives," he told him.
Chris relaxed and finally smiled. "Umm, I'm *really* sorry about yesterday..." Suddenly Danziger laughed and Chris stared at him nonplused.
"I know that Walman put you guys in that situation. I don't hold any grudge with any of you," Danz said. "Besides, Magus gave him hell for it and I could never do to him what she is doing."
"Yeah," Chris smiled.
"It's a wonderful thing, having someone who loves and cares for you, Chris. Especially here where it's back-to-basics living. You'll find out what having a partner is really all about at every level," Danz told him.
Chris turned to glance towards his new home with Kim. Danz watched his features go soft.
"Treat her like a lady, Chris. She's been waiting for you."

He awoke with one hell of a headache, but at least he could focus if he really tried. It didn't take long for someone to notice and a face entered his field of view.
"Julia?" he asked groggily.
The face smiled. "Sorry. I'm Pamela." She moved to check his eyes and pulse the old fashioned way. No high-tech stuff here. "How's your head?"
Alonzo groaned. "Still on my shoulders. I think."
Pamela laughed. "You're lucky you're still alive, let alone in one piece. You flew straight through the magnetic field that stretches through the desert here."
"Magnetic field?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah, and it's a weird one too. It's what brought our shuttle down in a heap."
"Shuttle?"
"God, you really are out of it. Yeah, you know. One of the shuttles from the Roanoke. Our pilot was being cautious because the shuttle was damaged as it was ejected from the ship. He wanted to give us our best shot at getting down in one piece. Too bad we didn't know about the mag field." she finished.
"You're still here? Is this where the shuttle crashed?" he asked slowly.
"The remains of the shuttle are about 20 miles away. We found this oasis, or actually we were shown this oasis, a few days after the crash," she told him.
"Shown?" Alonzo croaked.
"Yeah. By a Terrian, as you call them. Scared us to death when it popped out of the ground like that. Seemed interested in the kids at first, then somehow we knew it wanted us to follow it and we ended up here." she answered.
"Anyone having weird dreams?" he asked.
Pamela shrugged. "A couple of the kids. They seemed to be in tune with the Terrians somehow. It's how we knew where to find you."
Alonzo was surprised by that. He had been told that they had deliberately cut him off, so why did they help him? It didn't take a genius to figure it out, even with a fuzzy brain. He moaned.
"What's wrong?" Pamela asked, suddenly concerned.
"Oh, God. They want me to lead all of you to New Pacifica. Over a thousand miles. Not again!"
"What are you talking about?" she demanded.
Alonzo didn't answer. He was suddenly overwhelmed by a series of images rushing through his head. It was all so confusing. He couldn't sort it all out but one thing was clear. He was a long way from his friends and the one woman he had ever really loved.

Devon looked away from Julia's worried eyes. "I'm sorry, but we haven't heard a word from him for the past 36 hours. Not since he reported that he was following a new transponder signal. Maybe he found something and is unable to call out right now."
Julia could see Devon wasn't very convinced with her explanation. "He could also have crashed," she said quietly, but firmly.
Devon didn't know what to say. "I'm sorry, Julia. We knew it was a risk to let Alonzo fly, but it was something he needed, and it was something the missing colonists needed." Julia stayed quiet. "Alonzo did find one shuttle and the six people from the escape pod."
"But was it worth his life?" Julia said so softly that Devon wasn't sure if she had heard her right.
"Two of the colonists that piloted shuttles down from the Roanoke are training to fly one of the other VTOLs, but it's slow going without having a qualified teacher here," Devon offered. "I don't know if it's going to help Alonzo though, *if* he really needs help."
Julia let out something between a snort and a whimper. "He could be hurt, or even dead right now, and I'll never know."
Devon stepped up to place her hand on Julia's arm. "I'm sorry, Julia. I really am. I feel so helpless in this. I don't know what we can do."
Julia nodded, then pulled away and headed for the door. Devon watched her leave trying to understand what she was feeling. Yes, Alonzo was everyone's friend and that hurt enough. When Devon finally thought of what it would be like to lose John, she thought she understood. But she had never been in Julia's position. And she hoped that would never happen.

Bess gazed down at the crowd on the beach and smiled. It was a perfect day for a beach party. The kids were playing in the surf, carefully watched by many sets of adult eyes, or were engaged in battle by hitting a ball back and forth over a net. Julia had been chasing people all morning to made sure that they were sufficiently covered in sunscreen.
Julia. Suddenly the day wasn't so perfect. Alonzo had been gone for three days now, not so much as a beep from his Gear channel. Julia had buried herself quickly back into her work, her armor back in place. It was almost like she had returned to those days just after the Eden Advance Group crashed on G889. She had distanced herself from everyone else and her only conversations were on the professional level. Bess sighed, wondering if things would ever be settled here without some sort of current crisis, without one of her friends hurting so deeply.
"How's my girl?" a voice said warmly from behind her. Bess jerked around, startled. Morgan frowned. "Something wrong?"
Bess shook her head. "Just thinking about Julia," she said wistfully.
Morgan didn't know what to say, so sat down next to her on the grassy slope. After a moment of watching the activities down on the beach he spotted Devon sitting to one side with Menolly. He turned to smile at his wife and jutted his chin in Devon's direction. "That'll be you, soon."
Bess looked where Morgan had been staring and smiled. Seeing Devon with her child didn't hurt anymore. She reached over to take Morgan's arm. "And you'll be Danziger?" she teased.
Morgan shivered. "Please, Bess!" he complained. "I could never be that hulking, unfeeling person."
Bess laughed. "Oh, come on, Morgan! John's not unfeeling," she admonished him.
Morgan stared at her. "At least you didn't say he wasn't hulking..."
Bess suddenly stood and then reached down to pull her husband to his feet. "Come on. Let's join the fun, Morgan. It's not very often that Devon calls a day of rest! Besides, we need to make our social presence known, don't we?"
Morgan groaned his way up to her. "Yes, you're right, Bess. We do need to keep the social graces alive here."
"And who else here is more gracious than you, dear?" Bess asked.
Morgan grinned. "You're so perceptive." He took her offered arm and the pair made their way down to join the colonists of G889.

Julia Heller was jerked from her thoughts when three small children ran past her, kicking sand all over her. She opened her mouth to protest, but by the time she could think of anything to say, the kids were long gone. She heard soft footfalls coming towards her and swung her head to look forward again.
"Sorry about that," said Danziger, stopping in front of her. He levered himself down to sit next to her.
"Have enough sun screen on, John?" she said glancing at his large torso.
"Devon put so much on me I feel like I'm squishing when I walk!" he laughed. He saw a small smile appear on her face. "That's better." He looked at her for a moment. "How are you doing?" he asked softly.
Julia took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm O.K." she said stoically.
"I just want you to remember that we're here for you. And we really don't know that Alonzo's in any real danger. It could be that he had a problem with the VTOL," Danz said hopefully.
Julia snorted. "And being without his plane doesn't mean he isn't in danger?"
Danz grimaced. "O.K., so if he's grounded, I admit it wouldn't be any fun. But we don't know that he's really in trouble." Danz grinned. "For all we know, he could be on his way back, right now, cussing every inch of the way because he has to walk!"
Julia closed her eyes. "I just wish I knew..."
Danziger put an arm around her. " 'Lonz is a survivor, Julia. Besides, I'm willing to bet that the Terrians will be looking out for him." That brought a spark to her eyes.
"God, I hope so, John," she replied softly.
With that thought, she let him pull her to her feet and walk her down to the rest of the populace of G889.
-The End-

Lynne
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|        (\                        New Pacificon '96
|       (  \  ,-^,>
|       _( _)/ /\|               <*> Lynne Leeper <*>
|    ,;`( )__, )                 Earth 2: Eden Advance
|   , // //  '|__          Proprietor, The Terrian Toy Company
|      |   \  |  ^
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This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.