A SNAKE IN THE GARDEN
By
Lynne Leeper
Timeline: Years after
Author's E-Mail: soaron@netcom.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Thanks for the help all of you gave me to get this story up to the list, especially Tanya who had to hit me over the head with a 2 x 4 to get me to see the simplest answer.
I also want to say thanks to Tara O'Shea for kindly allowing me to use the settings and current circumstances of our heros as she has them in her excellent story, "Choices" (if you haven't read this one, you're missing something!).The usual disclaimers: I lay no claim to being a writer. If you don't like what I did, please no flames. I also intend no infringement of copyright laws, etc.
Here we go...
A Snake in the Garden, Part 1
by Lynne LeeperShe sat in her study, staring with unfocused eyes, out at the picture-perfect view of the Sea of Antias. The gentle sound of the waves breaking along the shoreline only added to her distraction. After several moments she shook her head, bringing herself back to the present.
//This isn't getting your work done, now is it?// she chided herself. She brought her attention back to the charts on her desk. These were projections of the various food stuffs that the colony was now producing. With the arrival of the colony ship a year ago, many acres of the surrounding area were now yielding various vegetable and grain crops from the seed stores supplied from the ship's cargo pods. It was important to determine if the yields were sufficient enough to supply scouting teams for long periods of time in the coming months. Now that the thousand-plus immigrants had become accustomed to the requirements of staying alive on G889, many were asking to look for new home sites of their own. She knew that this was desirable since it would take different industries, therefore different requirements of location, to allow the human population of G889 to build up the ability to produce the very things they needed to survive. God knew how long the vehicles, the generators, the lumalights and all of the more sophisticated electronic equipment that they currently depended on would last. It wouldn't be forever. They had to develop alternatives before they lost these important tools.
To that end she had encouraged the colonists to develop interests that would benefit the colony. She had also supported the development of scouting trips based on the data they had collected from the several satellites launched from the colony ship. But these trips had to be handled with caution. There was still too much the colonists, even the Eden Advance Group, didn't know about G889. She knew that one false move, an unintended mistake, could cost them all that they had achieved. The planet itself would only allow the humans to exists as long as they caused it no harm. If they started to fall back into the thoughtless, greedy ways that cost them the Earth of their origin, this Earth 2 would excise them like a cancerous growth without any hesitation.
Because of this need for caution, it was agreed that all scouting parties would be led by one of the Eden Advance Group. None of the newer colonists could even begin to contest their experience. It was also agreed that one of the older Syndrome children that had been saved by the Terrians would also go. The Terrians had been found everywhere and were the colonists' guides to understanding the rules of living on their mother and other than Alonzo Solace, only Syndrome children could dream and communicate with the Terrians.
Since several of the Eden Advance Group had duties that required them to stay in new Pacifica, this left only a half a dozen capable of leading scouting trips. This was the biggest reason for her distraction. He'd been gone for almost two weeks now. Sure, the daily communications via Gear allowed her to know he was O.K., but she needed him here. She had something to tell him and it was something she wanted to do in person. All Devon Adair-Danziger wanted was for her husband to come home.
Baines was contemplating what he wanted to do when his shift was over in the communications center. He had to admit, he enjoyed spending time with Sharon Armstrong. Like all of the colonists from Syndrome families, she had been in shock for the first few months after they arrived here. G889 had been demanding on them in ways they could never have imagined and it left everyone a bit hesitant to trust the Eden Advance Group. Many of the newcomers were sure that the surviving 15 members were either still hiding more frightening information, or had been somehow brainwashed by the Terrians. Still, after the colonists had survived long enough to admit that maybe everything was going to be O.K. (after all, the Terrians had cured the kids and so far had asked for nothing in return), Sharon had started to respond to his attentions. How had Devon put it? "A chicken for every pot, a boy for every girl". Yeah, that was it. Well, he had found the girl he wanted and he had learned that patience was the best way to achieve his goal. It had taken Devon and John *two years* to figure it out. He hoped that Sharon was smarter than that.
A sudden beeping caused Baines to quickly remove his feet from the desk top. He checked the communications panel in front of him. The beep wasn't coming from the Gear channel. A quick entry on the keyboard showed him it was coming from a frequency designated for ground-to-orbit transmissions. He queried further and confirmed that it wasn't coming from one of the colony's satellites. From where then? A chill ran down his spine as a not-so-pleasant thought hit him. He ran the signal through the standard Station bands and was rewarded by a message being printed out on the Comm screen. It took Baines a minute to accept what he was reading, then he activated his own Gear.
"Communications Center to Devon. Devon, are you in?" he asked in a strained voice.
The sound of Baines' voice coming from her Gear shook Devon from her daydreaming. She quickly grabbed it from the desk and placed it on her head. "John?" she asked quickly. "Any idea of when..."
"It's Baines, Devon," Baines interrupted her quickly. Devon felt suddenly deflated.
"Oh. Sorry. Um, what can I do for you?" she asked making the effort to be attentive.
"You better get over here. We've received a signal..." Baines hesitated, "from orbit".
"From one of our satellites?" she asked, suddenly curious.
"No," Devon waited for Baines to continue. "It's from a ship- a government ship."
A frown formed on Devon's face. A government ship? They'd only been here for three years. Not enough time for the council to respond from anything that the Eden Advance Group may have provided to EVE via Reilly, but that this ship had only arrived now meant that it had left the Stations a year or so after they had. Had the Council somehow decided that the escape of the Eden ship warranted some immediate action on their part, even though G889 was still not in their control?
Devon was on her feet and on her way to the Communications Center. She put a tight reign on her imagination - the pictures it was painting were not pleasant. Get the facts first, then react. She called back to Baines.
"Get Morgan. He may be able to help with any security codes attached to that message," she told him.
"Right," he answered swiftly and her Gear went silent. It only took a few minutes to cover the distance between her ocean-front home and the Communications center. It was still housed in the Common since there had been no reason to move it.
She was panting a bit when she burst through the door. Baines looked up at her, thinking that she looked a bit tired and she had been a bit distracted lately. He only took a split second to wonder why, then reported "I've got a hold of Morgan. He was a bit miffed that I interrupted his nap, but he's on his way."
"Good enough," Devon replied with a sigh. She moved beside Baines to read what was on the screen.
SR CA-7158 ORBIT INSERT -23:02
ENTER ACCESS CODE TO RETRIEVE MISSION DATA:
"CA. This is a Council ship!" she exclaimed. "My God, did they follow us?"
Baines just gave her a don't-look-at-me stare, then shrugged.
Morgan Martin had been dozing in his porch hammock when he had been awakened by Baines shouting at him through his Gear which hung on the porch rail a few feet away. It was annoying to have one's much-needed rest disturbed on such a beautiful day, but knowing Baines all too well, he realized that the only way to shut him up was to actually get up and answer the call. Morgan really wasn't listening until the words "Council ship" and "security codes" made their way into his ears. After getting Baines to repeat what he had been saying, Morgan was off to the Common. He waved to Bess who was working on her garden and began to whistle tunelessly.
A Council ship? Here? Morgan started cataloging all of the claims he'd made and all of his ideas for potential markets for trade from G889 to the Stations in his mind. Then it occurred to him. They'd only been here a few years. How would the Council know what they had to offer? What kind of ship was it anyway? His thoughts starting turning to the worse. Jamming his hands into his pockets, Morgan hastened his pace to the Communications center.
Devon was sitting next to Baines, watching him attempt to break the cipher that would allow them to open the follow up message when Morgan came through the door. Devon wasted no time in dragging him into the chair she had been occupying.
"What do you make of this, Morgan?" she asked as he quickly read the message.
"It's a Council ship all right," he offered. Baines groaned.
"Yes, but do you know a code that will let us read the mission data?" Devon pressed.
"Ummm, no!" he answered defensively. "I might have worked for the Council, but I wasn't
high enough for any high level password.""Morgan," Devon began slowly, "how about just trying? You claim to be good at breaking codes and now is a good time to show us just how good you are!" Morgan just shrugged and moved his chair to the spot Baines vacated for him.
The site was checking out quite nicely. This particular scouting trip had found a promising site to mine for metal ores. Perhaps "mine" is not the correct term, since obtaining the ores required a peculiar use of certain Terrian artifacts.
When the colonists' needs for materials to repair and build their vehicles, farming equipment and the like was presented to the Terrians, the answer given roughly translated to "ask the rocks". It took several weeks' worth of dreaming by the healed Syndrome children until one particular 8-year old stumbled on the answer. Sort of.
It all started with asking where the Terrians got the metal for their lightening sticks. The answer was always "from the Mother". Knowing that it would not be politically correct to go digging or blasting holes into the surface of G889, the colonists were forced to ask the Terrians where they would be permitted to collect similar ores. The Terrians seemed perplexed by these needs, but the persistence of the kids finally got them a demonstration of how it was done. Needless to say, the adults were clueless. Even Alonzo couldn't touch the deeper levels of communication it took to "ask the rocks" to give up their ore.
Finally, Ulysses Adair and a dozen of the Syndrome kids were presented with lightening sticks by the Terrians (to the horror of their parents) and were coached on how to collect metal ores. The result was orbs of unrefined metal alloys composed of any number of minerals that happened to be found on site at the time. Well, at least the colonists had the ability to sort the minerals from the ores after the orbs were created. All that was left was to find a site that carried what they needed.
The adults on this trip stood in a loose circle around three lightening stick-bearing children. The parent representative of each child knew they had to stay a safe distance away, but were staying away no farther than that. John Danziger's eyes strayed from Uly's face down to the ball of light that was forming at the intersection of the lightening streams emitted by the Terrian weapons. The composure of the kids, while under Terrian influence, always amazed him, but left him feeling wary at the same time. He didn't like seeing his step-son being used this way. Danziger sighed and shifted his weight to the other foot. He knew that this was now one of the aspects of life on G889, but it didn't mean he had to like it.
After several minutes, the lightening stopped and a ball of ore fell a few inches to the ground. The kids looked up at their parents, looking for approval. Danziger was quick to step to Uly's side and gently removed the lightening stick from his grasp with one hand while wrapping his other around the boy in a warm hug.
"Good job, pal," John smiled at the boy. "You guys are really getting good at this." Who was he to disapprove of the boy's talent? Oh yeah, he didn't like this mumbo-jumbo stuff, but he wasn't going to carry that disapproval on to Uly. A Zero Unit (with the proper attachments) stepped up to snatch the new orb with insulated tongs and carried it over to the metallurgical analysis tent to see what the kids had made for them.
The analysis would take several hours and since he wasn't needed for the moment, Danziger decided that it was a good time to report back to New Pacifica. He was getting antsy with this trip and was looking forward to getting home. Thinking of "home" always brought a smile to his face. If someone had asked him before he left the Stations if he would ever dream of calling an alien planet "home", he would have spit in their eye and laughed. But now, he wouldn't change a thing. Uly saw the look on his step-father's face and knew what he was thinking.
"We're going to call mom?" he asked innocently.
"Yup. Let's get to the ridge," Danziger answered, handing Uly his Gear. The two climbed into one of the two dunerails the scouting party had brought on this trip and started up the hill. John waved at the guys running the metallurgical test and pointed to his Gear. They nodded to let him know they understood where he was going and he stepped on the accelerator, not wanting to waste time getting to the ridge. Five minutes later, they were pulling into the spot they had been using for the past two days. Danziger activated his Gear.
"New Pacifica, this is Danziger. Anyone awake out there?". He was rewarded immediately by an image of Baines.
"John!" Baines exclaimed, then turned to look at someone next to him. Baines' image was replaced by a much more pleasing venue.
"John," Devon began breathlessly. "We need you to get back to New Pacifica right now". The smile on his face faded quickly as he read the troubled expression on his wife's face.
"What's wrong? Are you O.K.?" he asked, suddenly worried.
"We've received a signal from an incoming ship," she answered quickly. She gave him a moment to let that statement sink in.
"What? That doesn't make any sense, Devon," he said shaking his head.
"It's a Council ship, John. And it's going to hit orbit in less than 24 hours," she told him with the no-nonsense tone he knew better than to question.
"O.K.," he sighed, feeling a bit confused. "I'll get started right away. The others can follow after they break camp." He paused for a moment, looking away. "You know it will take me at least two days to get back," he began.
"I know," Devon cut in quickly, then smiled. "We'll do the best we can. It just won't be as fun without you," she teased.
Danziger felt a tug on his sleeve and looked down to see a worried look on an 11-year old face. Devon saw a smile return to his face as he looked back into his Gear eye piece. "Hey, there's someone else here who wants to talk to you," he said softly. Devon felt her own face relax as Uly's image replaced John's.
"Hey champ. I've been getting good reports about you," she smiled.
"Mom? Is everything all right? Dad says we have to get home right away," he asked. Devon kept her smile in place.
"Umm, everything's fine sweetheart. We just need him to come home to help us with some important stuff here," she answered carefully. "You can come with him, if you like."
"Sure, Mom. Maybe I can help," Uly offered. This brought a genuine smile to Devon's face that melted Danziger's heart.
Devon's smile was partly due to remembering the gift the kids had given her and John at their wedding reception. It seems that True and Uly had decided that since they had thought of each other as brother and sister for such a long time, that they each wanted to show their newly acquired parent that they approved of the merging of the Adairs and the Danzigers. They talked it over with Yale, who approved of the idea, and presented certificates , True to Devon and Uly to John, officially recognizing them as their official mother and father. From that time, True referred to Devon as "mom" and Uly referred to John as "dad".
In talking with her father later, True had made it clear that no one could replace her original mom, but that she felt it was important for the four of them to recognize the roles they were accepting when he and Devon got married. Danziger had been left speechless by her explanation, sure she had got the whole idea from Yale. In asking Yale about it later, Yale insisted it was the kids' idea. Yale felt that True and Uly were a bit envious of the kids that had both a mother and father, and in doing this it physically completed the family they were missing. When Danz told Devon about this chain of conversations she just laughed and told him not to try to figure it out, but just to accept the gift, no questions asked. He knew when he was out of his depth.
Only a moment had passed, but Devon had to pull herself back to the present. "You bet!" she answered Uly, then switched her Gear image back to her husband. "You will be careful getting back, right?" Devon knew better than to try to order him to do anything. Danziger grinned and teased her by returning her own reply to Uly.
"You bet!." They didn't have to say anything else to get the rest of their messages across as they smiled to each other across the distance. Danziger reached up and switched off his Gear. "Come on, Uly," he said, starting up the dunerail. "We're going home."
Morgan had been whispering to himself for about 15 minutes as he tried various passwords from his past. Devon was going nuts with impatience and decided to go get some coffee. She had one foot out of the door when Morgan suddenly shrieked.
"I got it!" he shouted to Devon's back. Startled, she let go of the door and turned back to look at Morgan and it came back to smack her in the shoulder. She didn't notice. She made her way back to the Comm screen and began reading the scrolling text along with Baines and Morgan. The initial information was just the red-tape type stuff.
"How did you get in?" Baines asked. Morgan looked a bit surprised himself.
"All I did was enter 'ADAIR'," he answered.
Devon was too absorbed by what the screen had to offer to hear Morgan's answer. "Look at this! The Council set this ship up to be almost a duplicate of our own. The manifest is almost the same except for these three cargo pods.... hmmm, they seem to be under a military seal. And it has the same number of cold sleep capsules." She turned to look at the men. "It's as if they were preparing to follow up after they tried to blow us up. G889 would have been fair game if they had succeeded."
"Except they *know* we got away," Baines objected.
"But maybe they already had too much at stake," mussed Morgan. He turned to Devon. "The commitment to get a colony ship together takes years and a lot of money - you know that. The fact that this one is here now means they were preparing long before we left the Stations. I wouldn't be surprised if the Council people involved got in a little over their heads and were put in a position where they couldn't back out. For all we know, that ship could be loaded with Council operatives, military or even Special Forces!"
"With that manifest?" said shaking her head. "If they were out to take G889 from us, they might have assumed we had established our colony and brought what they needed to take it from us instead of all of those supplies to start one. This doesn't make sense."
"There was that last minute sabotage attempt that lost us practically everything the Advance ship carried, not too mention the people who died," Baines reminded her.
"Yeah, but this still looks wrong. Not what I would have expected at all," she complained still reading the screen. Suddenly she reached out to tap a finger on the screen. "Hey, what's this?"
"The passenger list is empty," Baines said. "No one's on board?"
"Or someone doesn't want anyone else to know who's on board," suggested Morgan.
"Well, whatever is going on here, we need to prepare for the worst." Devon straightened up and rested a hand on Baines' shoulder. "Contact all of the committee people. Have them meet in the hall right away," she ordered. Suddenly feeling very tired, Devon went after that cup of coffee. It felt like it was going to be a long 23 hours.
Holly Robinson sucked in a deep breath as she was forced awake by the injections the diagnostic unit of the cold sleep crypt had given her. This was her sixth cold sleep trip as a pilot and she had found it never got easier to wake up. She let her mind drift for a moment until her conscious latched on a detail it couldn't ignore. This trip was different. She had put her career on the line this time. There was no guarantee that the Eden colony even existed, and if for whatever reason they couldn't land, she would be forced to return this ship with all of its passengers back to the Stations, and probably spend the rest of her life in prison.
She had specific orders to wake only three other people when her ship, the 'Sanctuary', was preparing to enter orbit around G889. The first was the ship's doctor, an obvious necessity, but the other two were the key to the future of the passengers on this ship. Holly got up, checked the flight deck to make sure that all ships systems were working properly, then returned to the crypt bays to wake Dr. Omar, Michael Henderson and Margaret Vercoutere. Dr. Omar was the first to rouse and sleepily watched the other two as they regained consciousness. It only took a moment after Henderson awoke for him to pull himself up and lurched his way to the flight deck, Holly following right behind. He saw a planet in the cockpit window.
"Is this it, G889?" he croaked, his throat dry from the 22 year sleep. Holly moved up past him to take her seat.
"Right on the nose," she answered, "just like I promised." Under just about any other circumstances, Holly's cheerful answer should have brought a smile to his face. Instead, he took a deep breath and sighed. God help us, he thought. Had the Eden colony survived to establish itself? Henderson was all too aware of the multitude of traps the Council had planted to try to stop them from succeeding. O'Neill had found the first trap and the Eden ship got away. Had they found the others? He turned to his pilot.
"Are we sending the recognition signal and base mission data?" he asked.
"Right on schedule. If they're there, they've received it by now," she answered. She hesitated for a moment, then added, "It was coded under a Council I.D."
Henderson nodded. "Yeah, mine. It shouldn't take them long to figure out the password though,"
he told her. "I hope." He paused for a moment. "Let me know when we're within direct communication range. We need to find out if they're there or not as soon as possible."Holly nodded affirmative, feeling a bit apprehensive. She had known the whole trip was based on a lot of "ifs", but actually being at G889 brought their situation into sharp focus. Somehow she was sure that there were survivors down there. She had known Alonzo Solace and knew if anyone could get the Eden colonists down to ground, it was him.
The "committee people" of New Pacifica were simply those of the community who were either chosen by colony consensus for the important planning work needed to ensure the colony progressed correctly, or those who volunteered for taking care of some of the less desirable chores the colony had to deal with - like taking out the garbage. The group ended up being about 12 in number, but six of them were the informal leaders of the colony.
Of course, Devon had a place. As a space station designer, she had the necessary skills in planning for the expansion of the colony without overtaxing their resources or overlooking such detail as schools, entertainment or waste management. She was also more personally aware of the specific needs of G889 than most of the other adults and her decisions were rarely questioned.
There was never any question that John Danziger would have a voice in the committee. The Eden Advance team had come to accept him on equal ground with Devon as they made their way across the continent to New Pacifica, especially since he was in charge while Devon was in cold sleep in Bennett's ship. The more recent arrivals had followed suit, perhaps not knowing why, but it was clear that Devon relied on him and so they did too.
Julia Heller was the medical representative. No one questioned her experience with the Terrians and G889. Walman was in charge of Security, his job to ensure that no uninvited penal colonists or native traders disturbed them.
One of the new colonists, Joann Burgoyne, had been a teacher on the Stations. She volunteered to set up classes for the children and with Yale's help, set up vocational classes for adults. Most of the new colonists' work experience did nothing to help them in their pioneer state. Old world vocations such as farming, woodworking, preserving food and raising animals were what was needed now. Cottage industry was to be the way of life, and trade was how everyone would get what they needed. Money was useless now.
The last of the six was Sean Connolly, a quiet, calm man who had become the head of the group. He had owned his own business back on the Stations and had shown he was excellent in managing people. Devon had gratefully handed the task of arbitration amongst the colonists to him, her job of getting them to New Pacifica being done. All she wanted now was to sit on the sidelines and enjoy the life that she had worked so hard to earn. Connolly had quickly proven to be a just man, one who had the ability to examine all sides of a situation and make the best possible choice within the given circumstances.
A Snake in the Garden, Part 2
by Lynne LeeperFive of the six had gathered in the meeting hall. Devon looked around, coffee in hand, wishing that number six was with them. Whatever decisions were made tonight, she new that John was going to play a key role. But he was still more than a day away. She consoled herself that Yale had come in his place, with the other's consent. Connolly called them together at the large table at one end of the room. He gestured to Devon and she cleared her throat and framed her words carefully.
"I'm sure you've all heard about the ship that's approaching this planet." The others shifted in their seats. "All we know so far is that it is a Council ship, and that it is carrying cargo under a military seal." This brought a sudden surge of anger/fear/outrage amongst them. Devon let them get it out of their systems for a moment. "However, the security code to unlock the mission's basic information was simple to break, in fact, it was simply my name." This brought confusion into the list of emotions exhibited by the others. Connolly stepped in.
"Are you saying that they wanted us to get that information?" he asked calmly.
"It seems that way. The only things locked out from us is the contents of three cargo pods and the ship's passenger list. Morgan Martin is working on getting past those codes," she answered.
"Why would the military want us to know they were coming?" asked Joann.
"They wouldn't," said Yale. "They are deliberately warning us they are here - it can't be a primarily military mission. My guess is that they will contact us when the ship gets within visual communication range."
"Yeah, but what do they want?" asked Walman. "If they're carrying soldiers and the equipment they need, they might just be saying 'we're here and there's nothing you can do about it!'. What's to stop them from just rolling right in here and taking what they want?"
"But then why transmit anything at all to us?" asked Julia. "They must want to talk to us."
"How do we know that what they're sending is legit or not?" countered Walman.
"Then I ask again, why send anything at all?" Julia repeated her question.
"The point is that they are coming," Devon broke in. "We need decide what we have to do to protect ourselves. We need to look at our options."
Holly alerted Henderson as soon as the ship was within visual communication range of G889. He and Margaret had taken the time to make themselves presentable for the first contact with the Eden colony. Henderson's mind had been jumping from one issue to another since he climbed into the flight deck and saw that G889 actually existed. So much was riding on Devon Adair still being alive and in charge of her group.
As Henderson made his way back to the flight deck, he let his thoughts dwell into the past, when he became the representative that handled Devon's interactions with the Council. She had been so young and determined to make it work, willing to put the entire Adair fortune into saving her son. At first he thought she was only deluding herself, but as time past, she had collected the people and resources she needed to actually leave the Stations. When it came to collecting a crew for her ship, she paid unheard of salaries to entice the best to join her on the 22-year trip - and they came.
During that time, he had slowly been blinded to her vision for the Syndrome children and had tried to form a personal bond with her. But she was driven by only one thing back then, saving her son. When his actions were questioned by his superior, he had told Blalock that he was trying to become her confidant to keep a tighter leash on her since she was pushing so hard to leave. He knew she would find a way to do what she wanted, regardless of any subtle efforts the Council made to get in her way. Henderson said he felt that if he could become intimate with her, he might be able to slow her down enough so that overt action would not become necessary. But try as he might, Devon Adair would have nothing to do with him.
What Henderson had not admitted to himself even then was that the challenge of winning her over to him had become more important than inhibiting her departure. He wasn't in love with her, but as a politician, he couldn't ignore the power he would gain if he could control her. Not to say he didn't find her attractive nor wouldn't have minded a relationship with her, so long she enhanced his image.
In the end he was so blind to his own ambitions that he couldn't accept the Council's decision to destroy the Eden ship. He arranged for O'Neill, the ships captain, to find out about the broadcast that had been prepared for the morning of the Eden Colony's departure. Needless to say it gave the Eden Ops crew a chance to find the bomb and eject it from the ship. And when Devon made the decision to depart from the dock then and there, the Council had lost.
The fact that the broadcast was leaked from his office's computer had put Henderson in a tight spot, but he had been quick to hide that fact from Blalock. No one in the Council had been able to prove it, but the suspicions were there. He knew it was only a matter of time before someone found out.
It had taken the Council about two years to see that Devon wasn't going to be stopped. If they had known her temerity was going to pay off, they never would have given her the data on G889. They figured if a rich eccentric woman wanted to spend her time and money doing feasibility studies on a planet they were interested in, so much the better. They'd just collect her work when she finally got bored with it. But Devon waded through all of the obstacles they put in her path, occasionally rolling right over one if the Council wasn't fast enough. She had the lawyers to do it.
The Council decided that Devon Adair wasn't going to have G889. However, the Eden project was too well known by then by the public for the Council to suddenly crush it. That would have caused too much damage to their image so a multi-level plan was devised to stop the Eden project. First was the obvious red-tape obstacle courses Devon had her pack of lawyers to run. Second was the drastic measures of planting a bomb on the Advance module of the colony ship as well as calling in some debts from crew members -without their knowledge. Ops work was very hazardous and several of the Eden crew had made extreme use of the Stations medical facilities. Several of those that had gone under anesthetics had a particularly nasty biochip added to their cerebrum. It was supposed to give them false memories when activated, causing them to commit acts of sabotage.
The last part of the plan was the most difficult to hide. The Council decided to put together their own expedition.
Devon's Eden team had put together a comprehensive document of the Eden Project. Of course, all plans had to be run through the Council, so industrial espionage wasn't needed to get the details of the ship, cargo and crew the project was taking to make the trip possible. From there, the Council could make the modifications it wanted and assemble their own team and ship, and stay mere year behind Eden. Of course, if the Eden colony ship was destroyed by the bomb at departure, the Council could say that it was a tragedy and that the valiant effort that should not be wasted. They could say they felt that another expedition should go, and that they would take care of it -to not have to burden any private individuals with the expense and effort, since the return on investment could not be known.
Henderson had been a part of the team that reviewed and modified the Eden plan to suit the Council needs. After all, if any questions were to arise, he was in the perfect position to ask Devon, for her own good of course, how she would deal with certain situations or why was she taking this particular thing in her cargo. He had actually become the supervisor of the Council's parallel project when his predecessor made a single mistake that almost made the secret project public knowledge. The loser never knew how it happened, but Henderson did.
When the Eden ship had escaped the Station, Henderson realized that he had made a fatal mistake in his conquest of Devon Adair. He hadn't wanted her killed, but he figured once it was known that a bomb was on the ship, she would have called for his help. Instead, she ran for it. The Council had wanted to send their ship, loaded with military personnel, after them as soon as possible, but Henderson had pleaded a strong case as to why they should wait a while, at least a year.
If any of the Eden group survived the second phase of the plan, the biochip enhanced crew members acts of sabotage, why not let them get established? It would be easier to come in and take over than to start from scratch themselves. And that way, the Council would have the time to recruit civilian people to go. They certainly wouldn't need a ship load of soldiers to do the job and civil leaders would be needed to set and enforce Council laws. Henderson won his case and was left in charge of assembling the ship and cargo. The Council would chose who was to go, but Henderson had his own plans by then. He could feel the threat of his original sin - the early release of the broadcast telling of the Eden ship's demise. He needed that ship for himself to escape from the Council. He knew he wouldn't get a warm welcome if he made to G889, but there was no where else to go. His one and only hole card was Devon Adair and the debt she hopefully would recognized owing him when he told her he was the one who saved her, her ship and her son from being blown to bits.
Margaret was waiting for him when he got to the flight deck. Henderson nodded to her and they each took up a position on either side of Holly Robinson.
"O.K. Let's see if anyone's home," Henderson said, indicating for Holly to bring up the link. She had already set up the coordinates for the communications antenna and frequency assigned to the Eden Project. She reached over to push a single button.
"Eden Colony, this is the Station ship 'Sanctuary'. Please respond," Holly called in a calm voice, hiding her tension. No one expected an immediate answer, there still being a 30 second time lag. Holly repeated the call a few more times, and then the threesome waited.
Morgan Martin was sitting back in his chair, feet up on the desk next to the communications equipment. He was tired, bored and out of ideas on how to break the military lockout code for the three cargo pods. Since he was alone, he decided that the best idea was to take a nap. At least Bess had stopped by to make sure he had his dinner - he was sure Devon had forgotten all about him. He had heard the muffled voices of the committee through the thin walls of the Common, but couldn't make out the words. He thought he should be in there. After all, he was a Grade 4 Council representative. If this was a Council ship coming in, then he figured he was the logical person to talk to them. Morgan`s silent complaining was suddenly broken by the attention beep of the communications panel. He sat up and checked to see if it was more ship's data, but this time the message was coming in on a visual communications channel. At first he wasn't sure what to do and came halfway out of his chair.
"Ummm, Devon?" he called out, finally making his way to the door.
The committee was involved with debating on how the colony should approach this possible threat from the Council ship when Morgan ran into the room shouting for Devon.
"There's a message coming in on visual!" he exclaimed. At first, no one could understand what he was saying. Devon could see the excitement in his face, so gave him her undivided attention.
"What?" she asked, getting up from the table.
"Someone's calling us!" he explained gesturing toward the Comm room. The group jumped out of their chairs and followed Morgan. He sat down and turned on the audio/visual.
"Eden Colony. This is the Station ship 'Sanctuary'. Please respond," a woman's voice called from the speaker. Morgan looked up to Devon. She looked briefly at Connolly, who gave a quick nod.
"Go ahead, call them back," she told Martin. He configured his Gear to act as the primary contact, then called back.
"This is Eden Colony. To whom am I speaking?" he asked cautiously. The video screen blinked and the Eden committee was presented with three faces. Devon drew in a sharp breath when she realized that the man standing behind the pilot was Michael Henderson and the woman was Margaret Vercoutere, Henderson`s executive assistant. Her gasp got the attention of the six other people in the room.
"You know one of these people?" asked Connolly. Devon nodded but didn't speak. It
was Morgan who filled in the blank."That's Michael Henderson. He's Blalock`s right hand man, the one who was handling the Eden Project for the Council." Henderson smiled at Morgan's recognition. His gaze suddenly shifted when Devon walked in front of the Comm camera.
"Hello, Michael," she said coolly. His face lit up with relief.
"Devon! God, it's good to see you! I knew if anyone could do it, it would be you," he exclaimed. "How's little Uly?"
"Uly's fine." She wasn't going to let him steer this conversation. "You wouldn't mind telling us how you got here and why, would you?" Henderson sighed.
"It's a horribly long story Devon," he began.
"I'll bet," Morgan muttered under his breath. Devon agreed.
"I'd rather tell you face to face, if you don't mind," he said kindly.
"I think we would all rather that you stayed where you are until you answer a few questions," said Connolly stepping into camera range.
"I don't know you, sir," said Henderson carefully.
"My name is Sean Connolly, late of Connolly Power Corp," he answered.
"Ah, yes. You were one of Devon's suppliers. You have a son who has the Syndrome and so elected to go to G889," Henderson pulled from his memory.
"That's right. Now, how about telling us why you are here," Connolly insisted.
"As I've said, it's a long story. Put simply, we're on the run from the Council. We need a place to land, a new place to call home," he said. The Eden group exchanged a number of glances, then Devon turned to Henderson.
"What happened?" she asked, not really expecting a straight answer. Henderson took a deep breath and glanced at Margaret, forming his thoughts.
"Remember the day before you were scheduled to leave the Station?" he began.
"Yes," Devon nodded. How could she forget. Henderson took a moment to make sure he said his mind clearly.
"I knew what the Council was up to. In fact, Blalock left it up to me to see that the bomb was planted on your Advance module." Devon could feel herself going cold. "I'm sorry, Devon, but I had to do it. If I didn't, Blalock would have had someone else do it and had me buried so deep somewhere, I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it," he said.
"You had the bomb planted?" Devon hissed. She missed the expression of anger on Julia's and Walman's faces.
"Yes, but I was also the one who saw to it you got the news broadcast about the destruction of your ship," he insisted. Devon was so furious, she wasn't really listening. All she wanted to do at that moment was to thrust her hands through the screen and strangle him.
"I went out on a limb to save you and the Eden Project, and the hounds were getting too close. I had to leave. And in the bargain, I arranged to steal the ship the Council was preparing to follow you," he finished.
Devon's mind was reeling from what he was saying. Morgan, feeling the heat behind him, decided it was time to vacate his chair and moved away to a safe distance. Connolly and Yale were the only calm ones in the room.
"You say you *stole* a Council ship?" Connolly asked quietly.
"I was in charge of the bloody thing. I knew when it would be ready and arranged to have the passengers I was taking arrive the day I wanted to leave," he answered.
"Who are your passengers?" Connolly continued.
"Some are people who disagreed with the Council and felt it was best to leave. The rest are more Syndrome families who regretted not taking Devon's offer in the first place. We are a sorry lot and in need of your help, " he pleaded. The room went silent.
"I have a question," said Yale, stepping forward. Connolly moved out of his way. A look of disapproval flashed over Henderson's face. He never did trust the Yale Project and didn't like being interrogated by the one remaining remnant of that sorry mess. But he knew he was at the mercy of those standing in front of him now, so if they chose to let the cyborg speak, he would answer.
"You are carrying cargo pods with a military seal on them. It looks to us like you're armed to the teeth," Yale began. Henderson interrupted, knowing where Yale was going.
"They were part of the cargo selected by the Council. This ship was supposed carry an army with it. I had to leave them in place and intact, or I would have had Council inquiries I couldn't answer," he explained.
"And what do you intend to do with them now?" Yale asked.
"Nothing," answered Henderson. "I'll leave that decision up to you."
Julia took her turn. "You do have the codes to open them, don't you?"
"They're here, in the computer," he said, deliberately being obtuse. "Somewhere."
Connolly decided they needed to discuss this in private. He touched Devon's arm to get her attention and quickly whispered to her. She nodded in agreement.
"You're ship is due for orbit in about 12 hours," Connolly began. "We need to discuss this matter before we make any decisions about your landing here. Call us when you reach orbit, and we'll see what we can all agree on then." Henderson agreed, then the Comm screen went blank.
"I think I need a drink," said Morgan, heading the 'Grendler.
"I think we all do," said Connolly, following him. The group wandered out slowly, their overloaded minds feeling numb.
Devon stayed behind for a moment, then went outside to get some air. It was a bit chilly out, an ocean breezing filling her lungs. She wondered why this was all happening, knowing that there was bound to be some severe repercussions from Henderson's coming here. They just had to figure out what they would be, and how to deal with hem.
She shivered as the breeze kicked up and absent-mindedly turned to look for John to cuddle with him, but he was miles away and Devon Adair-Danziger suddenly felt very alone.
It was late and the committee made up its mind quickly. There really wasn't much of a decision to make since Henderson could land wherever he damned well pleased and there was nothing they could do about it. It was better to be civil and bide their time. Since Henderson had bothered to plead for their help, they must have some leverage with him. They just needed to figure out what that leverage was. Devon had her idea of what it was, but just thinking about it made her blood
The walk back to the house seemed long and lonely. There was a light on at the door, and Devon realized that True must have left it on for her. Home didn't seem so empty to her then. She stepped inside and started up the stairs for her bedroom when a sleepy True appeared at the rail of the second floor landing.
"Hey, mom? What's going on. I heard that a ship is coming," she yawned.
"You heard right, sweetheart. It will be here in about 6 hours." True's yawn was infectious and Devon couldn't overcome the urge.
"I wish dad was home," True sighed, collapsing her arms on the rail as Devon made it to the top.
"He should be here the morning after next. It's up to us girls to hold the fort until then," Devon said encouragingly, even though she didn't really feel that way. "I've got to get some sleep," she said and True yawned again in agreement.
"Goodnight, mom. I'll see you in the morning." True dragged herself off the rail and into her room.
"Goodnight." Devon found her way to her empty bedroom and didn't even bother to undress. She let herself fall on the bed, pulled the comforter over herself and promptly fell asleep.
Danziger knew he'd never make it back to New Pacifica before the Council ship made orbit, but
that didn't stop him from trying. He pushed the dunerail as hard as he dared and took advantage of the full moons that were occurring. He was using stimulants to stay awake and would have gone non-stop if it wasn't for Uly. He couldn't risk running the rail off a cliff, or into one for that matter, with his step-son with him. He knew that Devon was going to give him hell as it was, but he couldn't sleep knowing that she and the colony could be in danger.He glanced over at Uly, who like most kids had the knack of sleeping anywhere, anytime. The boy had been a trooper, sensing that Danz was in a hurry to get back. Uly's blind faith in him may have been natural for a boy his age, but Uly was more than that. The Terrian in him gave him insights and wisdom at the damnedest times, and Danziger had to admit, he was proud of how Uly handled himself in a crisis. He'd get them both home, in one piece, as soon as was humanly possible.
The "Sanctuary" made orbit without a hitch. Henderson had spent the six hours going over his options now that he knew Devon Adair was alive and well. He wanted to land on friendly terms, but he knew that landing was really their only option. He had talked over the possibilities with Holly and Margaret, and they both agreed that there was no turning back. The Eden colony proved that G889 was livable, and giving up the freedom to live away from the Council was unthinkable.
Dr. Omar had kept to himself, contenting himself with checking all of his sleeping patients. Only two of the sleep crypts had failed during the 22 year voyage, but to a doctor, that was two too many. When Henderson came to tell him of what they had found on G889, Omar could only nod his head in consent of the decision. He didn't want to get involved with the politics of Henderson's game. His sole function was to look after the passengers in the sleep crypts.
The communications room was filled with people. Walman had to chase several curiosity seekers out to make room for Devon, Connolly, Yale, Julia, Joann, Morgan, Baines and himself. They were all nervously waiting for the "Sanctuary" to call, each wondering if this had just been some sort of group hallucination.
They didn't have long to wonder. Henderson hailed them within minutes of the "Sanctuary" making orbit. Baines established the link and Connolly stepped up to speak for the Eden colonists.
"Mr. Henderson." The man on the screen nodded that he could hear Connolly. "We have decided that it would be... unneighborly... to ask you not to land. However, we ask that only you and your pilot come down for now. I think that we all would like to get to know each other better and avoid any misunderstandings from occurring." Henderson took a moment to respond.
"This ship does have a scout shuttle. I believe our pilot is qualified to fly it." Holly nodded affirmative.
"However, I would like to bring Margaret, my assistant, along as well. I value her opinions," he insisted.
Connolly glanced around the room at his colleagues, but saw no one objecting to Henderson's request.
"We would be happy to have her as our guest as well," Connolly agreed. "Mr. Baines here will send you the coordinates of the landing site we would like you to use."
Baines had already loaded the information and sent it before Connolly finished his sentence. Holly checked her message board when it beeped at her.
"We've received your coordinates," she informed Baines. She turned to Henderson. "It looks like we will be able to make the window at 14:35 hours, G889 time." Henderson turned to Connolly.
"Does that sound acceptable to you?" he asked, politely.
"Yes, that sounds find. We will be there," Connolly replied and indicated to Baines to close the channel.
A Snake in the Garden, Part 3
by Lynne LeeperMany of the colonists came out to see Henderson's shuttle land. The chosen landing site was on a hill top about a mile out of New Pacifica. This was ensure that the disturbance caused by the lifting fans didn't do any damage to the farm and ranch lands the colony had so carefully developed, not to mention making a mess of the town itself. The choice of site also allowed Walman to set up security 360 degrees around the shuttle when it landed.
The main reception committee was Devon, Connolly, Yale and Walman's security team. Three dunerails, each with one armed security guard along with the driver were waiting at the bottom of the hill. The crowd watched the shuttle settle gently onto the tarmac, creating a cloud of dust that momentarily shrouded the craft.
Alonzo stood with Julia who was holding their 4 month old son, Alonzo Jr. He eyed the craft with a deep feeling of longing and sighed. Julia couldn't miss noticing the look on his face, knowing he was feeling a bit of regret.
"Ugly thing, isn't it," she commented to distract Alonzo. This caught his attention.
"Ugly?" he snorted. "Maybe, but it is one smooth flyer. It's the latest from the Grumman-Rockwell consortium. Man, the Council wasn't kidding when they decided to come after us."
Julia had told Alonzo all about Henderson's first communication with the committee. Just the thought of a ship, any ship, arriving dredged up memories from his life long past. Alonzo hadn't been able to do much flying since the rest of the Eden colony arrived. Yes, they had brought one VTOL craft with them, but if required fuel that was irreplaceable - so far. Because of that, it was used only for extreme emergencies and those were far and few between, thank God.
The dust had settled around the shuttle and the ship's loading ramp was extending as the three dunerails made the trip up the hill. Henderson watched the vehicles pull up as he took in the incredible scenery. Even the sight of the huge expanse that was the Sea of Antias couldn't help him from noticing the MagPro armed men who jumped out of the rails before the vehicles had come to a complete stop.
Walman deployed his two guards, one to check the exterior of the ship, the other to check the inside. He noted the angry look on the shuttle pilot's face as Magus made her way inside like a storm trooper, not taking any time to acknowledge the shuttle's passengers. He himself went over to the threesome and did a cursory check for weapons. Only when he was satisfied that the ship and it's human occupants were secure did Devon, Connolly and Yale step up to greet them.
Henderson eyed Devon shrewdly. "Not taking any chances, are you?"
"Can you blame us?" she replied. Henderson gave a resigned look for an answer.
"If you all would please take a seat in a dunerail, we'll head down to New Pacifica" she said gesturing at the vehicles. The three newcomers obliged, unsure of the ground they were actually walking on.
"No introductions? No, 'it sure is good to see you's'?" Henderson asked climbing into the passenger seat of the rail that Devon was driving, maintaining his composure.
"I know who you all are. We'll take care of the amenities after the three of you have been examined by our doctor," Devon replied.
"We do have a doctor on board. I assure you, we are fine," Henderson offered. Devon gave him a sideways glance that told him she was interested in more than his health. No, she wasn't taking any chances.
Julia was very thorough with her exam. She didn't find any of the devices that had been planted within the Eden Advance team like the ones that almost killed them. By the time she was done, the sun was well on the way to setting so Devon and Connolly decided they should retire to the Hotel for dinner.
As the group walked from the Hospital to the Hotel, Henderson noted the layout of the town as well as the number of colonists who had come to see their guests. It was overwhelming for him being outside, walking on dirt, breathing fresh air. He noticed his companions were also looking a bit like Alice in Wonderland. There were children everywhere, it seemed to him, all healthy and expending lots of energy running and playing. He was amazed to see several older kids sitting on the backs of horses, trotting their way up to the mob. They stopped behind the line of people, getting a good look at him from their elevated seats.
He knew that the whole point of Eden being here was the Syndrome children and finally caught Devon's attention to find out where they were.
"You're looking at them," she said, nodding towards a group of 5 to 6 year olds playing tag. Henderson, already suffering from sensory overload, just stared at the kids. Suddenly he was climbing the wood stairs of the Hotel and was led inside to the Grinning Grendler.
Walman went behind the bar and stowed his MagPro, then called out an offer of his home-brewed beer.
It was obvious to Devon that Henderson and his group were struggling to take in the sights, sounds and smells of New Pacifica. She knew he would be off-balance for a short time and wanted to take advantage of that by having Julia check him and the two women with him. So far he had no surprises for the Eden colonists, but somehow this made her even more uncomfortable. She was content just to observe the three as they settled into the 'Grendler. Her guests were undoubtedly hungry. She wondered how they would react to a home-grown meal.
Walman, being a practical man, had arranged for dinner to be ready at the bar. After serving up a large number of beers, he sat down at a table next to Devon's, ready to help her if needed. There was an unlimited number of volunteers to serve tonight, since everyone wanted to be a fly on the wall to hear what was going on.
Devon sat quietly sipping Walman's home brew. She wasn't big on beer, but the occasion had her on a hair trigger and she new she couldn't afford to lose her cool. Henderson had always made her nervous as it was. Even back when she didn't know him very well, there was something sinister underlying his polished surface that set her teeth on edge. Even now, out of his environment and looking a bit scuffed, he still gave off an air of being dangerous. Feeling like this made her wish even more that John was home.
Walman observed Devon and new she was uncomfortable. It was more than Danziger being gone and he realized that Henderson had played some part in her personal past, a part that Devon didn't like. He made a resolution to himself then and there to make sure Henderson was never alone. He owed her that much.
Walman also knew that Danz would be back soon. He could see it in how fidgety Devon was. Although she never noticed it, she always got fidgety when Danziger was getting close to home after being away on a Survey team. Walman had jokingly accused her of having planted a homing transmitter on John, she was so accurate. She said he had no idea of what he was talking about and ignored his comment, but Walman decided it must have something to do with what the Terrians had done to her when they saved her life. She was never wrong. Knowing that Danziger would be starving when he and Uly got back, he made a point of making sure that dinner would be waiting for them.
Henderson was ready to tell his tale, but for some reason, Devon didn't want to hear it. Connolly and the others seemed to defer to her on this issue, and he wondered what they were waiting for. He decided to bide his time. It was to his advantage to have the time to get accustomed to New Pacifica and the people who called it home.
He was definitely hungry, but the meal that was set before him made him a bit queasy. He was used to processed Station food, not the real thing. He carefully tried small bites of it and found some of it edible. He knew that he was going to have to get used it sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner.
Through the meal, he noticed how distracted Devon seemed to be. He had tried to get her to talk to him several times, but she was offering no information. Where was her son? She kept glancing out into the dark of night as if she was expecting someone. Who?
He turned his attention to Connolly who had been observing him quietly the whole time.
"I would think that you all would like to hear what I have to say," Henderson commented. Connolly smiled and took a deep breath.
"All in good time. Danziger will be back soon," he said.
"Danziger?" he asked, confused, first looking at Connolly, then at Walman who had an amused look on his face.
"Yes," said Walman. "John Danziger, Devon's husband."
Henderson felt like he had been hit by lightning. Devon married? He didn't think it possible. Who could have possibly got past that thick armor she wore? He had been given the answer: John Danziger, but it was just a name to him. Suddenly he couldn't wait to meet the man who had beaten him to the conquest of Devon Adair.
Devon suddenly stood up from the table. "Excuse me," she said to no one in particular. She had just gone through the door when the group heard the sound of a vehicle approaching. Curious, the newcomers followed her through the door, followed by Walman.
Henderson stared at Devon standing on the steps of the porch as a dunerail entered the lighted area of the courtyard. As it came to a stop in front of the Hotel, she quickly ran down and launched herself at the tall, lanky form that climbed out of the vehicle. The man was dressed like a dock worker, a mechanic judging by the tool belt he was wearing. Both he and the vehicle were covered with reddish dirt and looked as if water didn't exist on the planet. Henderson watched with a curious detachment as Devon's arms went around the man and a cloud of dust was expelled from his jacket. Henderson could only stare in amazement that Devon Adair didn't seem to care that she was getting filthy dirty as the man picked her up in a bear hug and followed up with a long kiss.
It was only then that he noticed the boy in the passenger seat of the rail. He had been asleep, but awakened by his mother's enthusiastic greeting of the driver, sat up.
"Mom?" he asked in a small voice.
Although he had seen several of the cured Syndrome children, the enormity of what he was seeing now hit him. The boy was Ulysses Adair, a child he had come to know while his mother worked to get the Eden Project together. The boy had been so pale, so weak, depending on the immunosuit to survive, that Henderson had never really given the boy a chance to live. But the child who was climbing across the driver's seat to his mothers arms was strong and tan - with no hint of the illness in him at all. As Ulysses joined the couple, Henderson was suddenly hit by the sense of family the trio had. It was picture-perfect, dirt and all. He suddenly understood the subtle changes he had seen in Devon Adair, and just as suddenly, he felt jealousy welling up inside him.
He found himself scrutinizing the man Devon had attached herself to; tall, strong, with a mop of curly blond hair. From the jacket he was wearing, the man had obviously been part of the Ops crew aboard the Eden ship. There was that sort of movement about him that belied his time spend in null gravity, that never seemed to be erased by time. Space work was always considered High Risk and usually it was either those who were just plain crazy or those desperate for money who would take on such contracts, and desperate for money usually spelled Drone. Well, Henderson's immediate impression was that the blond man wasn't of the crazy category. Devon wasnUt stupid. That could only mean that Devon Adair married a *drone*? HendersonUs prejudices kicked in. Drones were considered a low form of life from his rich point-of-view. And the thought of Devon accepting a drone when she had pointedly ignored his much more tasteful and appropriate advances galled him. Just who was John Danziger that he had Devon, and such weight with the population of New Pacifica?
Yale suddenly entered the picture and extracted Uly from his mother's embrace. A few words were exchanged and the cyborg placed the sleepy boy back in his seat of the dunerail and then climbed in the other side. Devon and John watched the two leave, then Devon steered Danz up to the 'Grendler. Henderson made a point of being the first of his group to greet them as they came up the stairs.
He met Danziger's eyes and was struck by the shrewdness he saw there. It was immediately clear that this man was not going to give him the benefit of the doubt. A strong handshake that followed told him this man had no sense of class strata, didn't recognize the ruling class of the Stations. Henderson had to remind himself that they weren't on the Stations now.
"Michael," Devon said as John took his hand, "this is my husband, John Danziger." Danz made a point of testing Henderson's grip. Henderson knew he was outmatched in this test, so he smiled instead.
"Michael Henderson, late of the Council," he introduced himself. Danz gave him a hard look.
"Henderson. You were the Council liaison for the Eden Project?" John questioned, the name being familiar.
"Yes, I was," Henderson agreed.
"Oh, so you're the guy who put my requests for the permits to run live tests for the emergency escape systems on the back burner," John said dangerously, leaning to tower over his prey. Devon looked away, not wanting Henderson to see her grin.
"Uh, I don't recall. It has been a while," Henderson said, realizing that Danziger was having his fun. John stepped back to see who else was new. Devon turned him to meet Margaret and Holly.
"John, this is Margaret Vercoutere. She is, was, Michael's executive assistant," she said. Danz gently shook her hand and gave her an indifferent smile.
Alonzo stepped up and took Holly's arm. "This is Holly Robinson, the ship's pilot," he said. John could see by the look on 'Lonz' face he wasn't going to let Holly take any of the heat that Henderson had generated. Fair enough.
"A pleasure," he said, and took her hand briefly and gave her a more welcoming smile.
Devon knew he had really pushed it to get home this quickly. She also knew he had probably not had anything to eat or taken much time to sleep in the last two days, so she pulled him through the crowd that had gathered to welcome him home.
<Bingo!> Walman thought to himself and pushed his way back to the kitchen to get John his dinner and a beer. Now that he was back, the committee would be ready to deal with Henderson.
He made his way to the table where Devon had lead her tired other half and put the plate and mug down in front of him. John reached up to give Walman a friendly slap on the shoulder in thanks.Henderson could see that he was no longer the center of everyone's attention. He leaned back in his chair and sighed. Connolly chuckled and Henderson looked at him.
"Tomorrow, Mr. Henderson, we will listen to what you have to say," he said. Henderson closed his eyes and began revising his options.
It had not taken long for Devon, Connolly and Alonzo to fill Danziger in on what had happened since Henderson's first contact. He ate as he listened, occasionally glancing at Henderson to see how he reacted to the story being told from the Eden colonists' view point, but Henderson seemed content to sit and listen.
His meal finished, Danziger sat back in his chair to work on his beer and casually draped an arm around Devon, who was seated right next to him. He caught the flash that went across Henderson's face. There was more to this than he had been told. Knowing that Devon would tell him what was underlying Henderson's reaction when they were alone, Danz could be patient.
When Margaret asked about the cured Syndrome children, the Edenites at the table told her that she would find out about that soon enough. Henderson was beginning to feel a bit uneasy about how nonchalantly he was being treated since his landing. It seemed that the Eden colonists had some secrets of their own. They knew that he had some serious firepower within his grasp - they had obviously been concerned about it when they had their first video contact. Why weren't they so concerned about it now? Henderson was sure that they suspected him to be a Council spy. That thought alone made him wonder what was going on.
Devon and Danziger got up from the table and excused themselves for the evening. It was obvious that Danz was tired from his trip home and Devon wanted to see Uly. Henderson watched them as they strolled through the 'Grendler`s door out into the night.
It was a brightly lit moonlight night, so Devon and John didn't bother with a lumalight on their walk home. Now that they were alone, John became acutely aware of the last several days' worth of sweat, grime and beard growth. He scratched at his face and thought how good a hot shower was going to feel.
Yale was waiting for them, having put Uly to bed after scrubbing him clean and fixing him a snack. Devon gave Yale a goodnight hug, and John added a friendly slap on the shoulder as he left them for the night. As they reached the top of the stairs, Devon headed off to Uly's room. Danz hadn't even taken one step towards his own bedroom when True came bursting out of hers and straight into his arms.
"Dad!" she gave him a big hug. Danziger laughed and squeezed her back. True stepped back and made a quick assessment of his condition.
"You look like the old days!" She exclaimed noting his dirty beard. His smile got even bigger.
"Just like a woman to notice these things," he teased. "I dunno, do you think I look better with a beard, or without?" he asked, turning his head side-to-side so she could see. True wrinkled her nose and frowned thoughtfully.
"Lose the beard, dad," she ordered. "I'm sure mom would rather see it gone anyway."
"Yes, ma`am!" he laughed and planted a quick kiss on the top of her head.
"Daaaaad!" True protested, then smiled. He winked at her, knowing that underneath the desire to be recognized as an adult, True was still his little girl. It was enough that he was home, the Danzigers' united. She left him smiling and his attention went to getting into the shower.
Devon carefully opened the door to Uly's room. Her son shifted in his bed.
"Mom?" Devon walked in and sat on the edge of his bed. Uly sat up and gave her a hug. He may have been almost 12, but he didn't feel the need to hide how he felt as True did. Devon often wondered about that, but Uly's frequent visits with the Terrians had left the boy emotionally as well as philosophically very mature, more than many adults. She had learned to accept him with no questions asked, happy to have him alive and well.
"How was your trip?" she asked. Uly was tired, but excitement filled his eyes.
"It was great. Me and the other kids got lots of metal out of the ground. You should have seen it!" he exclaimed. Devon smiled widely at his enthusiasm.
"John said you did a great job. I'm proud of you," she said, smoothing back his hair. He yawned. "I think you need to get caught up on your sleep. You can tell me all the gory details in the morning." Uly complied by scooting back under his covers and letting his mother tuck him in. She leaned over to kiss his forehead, then quietly left his room.
She walked into their bedroom and closed the door. John was already in the shower, his dirty clothes in a pile on the floor. She shook her head thinking <men!> and walked over to pick his clothes up and put them in the hamper in the closet that was there for that purpose. Looking at her own clothes, she realized that she had picked up a reddish hue of her own from her contact with him, so decided to add hers to the hamper as well.
Hearing the shower running, she turned her attention to the bathroom door. Since he had got her dirty, she might as well join him. He was humming to himself as he finished shaving when Devon pulled back the curtain. John smiled and offered her a hand as she stepped into the shower with him.
"What took you so long?" he teased, turning to greet her. They'd been separated for two weeks and neither cared to dwell on the events of the last two days at that moment. Any questions he had could wait until the morning.
True and Uly were out of the house by the time Devon and John pulled themselves out of bed. It was understood that if their parents got up late, the kids were free to go to the Hotel for breakfast. Besides, they wanted to see the newcomers and get caught up with the rumor mill. By the time they got there, the place was bustling with activity. True went and staked out a couple of places at the table where Yale was sitting, then joined Uly in the queue for breakfast.
It wasn't hard to spot the newcomers. There was a young woman sitting with Julia and Alonzo. 'Lonz was happily holding his son in his lap while Julia ate her breakfast. The two pilots were talking about the "Sanctuary", Holly boasting about the state-of-the-art features it sported. Julia listened, knowing that this information was important although some of the details were over her head. It gave Alonzo an active role in helping decide how to handle the passengers still waiting in cold sleep.
There was man and a woman sitting with Sean Connolly. The man appeared to be a bit bored and kept glancing at the door. The woman was more attentive of Connolly and seemed interested in what he had to say.
The kids filled their plates, True's burdened with twice as much as food as Uly's, then returned to their seats and started grilling Yale for details.
Danziger took a moment to enjoy the view from the porch of the house. He had to admit, now that he had one, there was no place like home. Devon joined him and they started the walk to join the kids at the Hotel for breakfast. Danz wanted to hear what Devon had to tell about Henderson on the way.
"He was assigned to the Eden Project from the start," she began. "At first, he seemed to be a convenient buffer between Blalock and me. He filled the stereotype perfectly. You know, well groomed, polite manners and the ability to talk a lot without really answering your questions." Danz nodded his understanding.
"I know that at first they all thought I was crazy, just wasting my time and money, so they gave me the information I wanted when I was looking for a new home. Recruitment started out very slowly, no one wanting to be associated with 'that crazy woman' ," Devon snorted. John put his arm around her and encouraged her to continue.
"After a while, I had a ship in dry-dock being built to make this trip." She turned to look at him. "You came aboard just after the hull and decks had been certified for atmosphere." He nodded. "It was about that time when Michael's attitude began to subtly change. I think it was then that the Council was starting to take me seriously. The passenger list was half-filled and I had a full Ops crew and flight deck crew working around the clock."
Danz grimaced at the thought of all of the overtime he had put in back then. Devon caught his expression and gave him a one-armed hug.
"Thanks," she said appreciatively.
"For what?" he asked, confused.
"For being there. For being who you are," she said warmly. Danz smiled, then got her back on track.
"So the Council started to believe you?"
"Yeah. Michael started making excuses for why suddenly my requests for inspections and permits were being delayed. He tried to tell me some story of how now that the ship had an atmosphere, permits had much more stringent requirements, how it takes longer to get qualified inspectors to do the job.
"It was also then that he started showing a personal interest in me," she said unhappily. "He had always been civil to me and I think had pushed through a few permits from time to time for which I was grateful, but there was always something about him that made me uncomfortable to be around him. He asked me out to concerts, fancy restaurants and the like, but I always politely refused him. I always told him that I didn't want to mix business with pleasure and that under the current circumstances, I didn't think it was a good idea," she explained. "To be honest, I never really said the absolute 'no' to him. I needed him to keep the Eden Project going."
Not for the first time, Danziger considered where he would be right now if the Eden Project hadn't happened. He probably would still be living by the skin of his teeth, working off the life debt his grandparents had left him. Even if he had met Devon at the Stations, she never would have been within his grasp. Hell, he probably wouldn't have even given her the time of day knowing she wouldn't have had any interest in him past whatever work he may have been doing for her company.
He looked at his wife, recognizing what money had done to the quality of human life. Here on G889, a person was measured by what they could contribute to the group in the form of work, knowledge and support and on that scale, the two of them were equals. It was to her credit that Devon had been willing to accept that she needed him and the other members of the Advance team to survive when they had crash landed. It had been a learning experience for them all while they crossed the continent to get to New Pacifica.
Devon sensed what he was thinking and stepped in front of him, causing him to catch her in his arms.
"John, I have absolutely no regrets about how my life has turned out. How could I?" she asked, looking straight into his eyes. He knew she meant it and hugged her tight, giving himself time to regain his composure.
"What would I do without you, Adair?" he whispered to her.
"I don't want you to find out," she replied. He held for a moment longer, then kissed her on the forehead.
"Come on. We better get to the Hotel," he said and they finished the walk in a peaceful silence.
A Snake in the Garden, Part 4
by Lynne LeeperA quick note: I forgot to mention at the beginning that this story takes place about a year and a half after "Choices".
Now back to the regularly scheduled program...
After the kids had arrived, Yale made a point of saving two more seats for their parents. They arrived about an hour later and John was greeted with a number of "welcome homes". Yale called out to them and they joined him at the table. True and Uly greeted them enthusiastically and then went to the kitchen to fetch their parents' breakfast.
Henderson watched as the kids returned with plates of food and Devon and Danz started to eat. He still couldn't believe that nobody had tried to question him. He wasn't being totally ignored, Walman or one of his minions was always around. Nevertheless, he was starting to get really annoyed by the delay. Connolly came over to talk to him.
"I've called a meeting as soon as the Danzigers have finished breakfast. We'll hear what you have to say then, and you'll have a chance to hear about life on G889," he said in a friendly voice.
"I get the impression that there's more to you folks than meets the eye," Henderson said, fishing.
"Not really. It's just that life on this planet demands certain things from us, has set some rules, and will not allow us to break them," Connolly said. Henderson looked confused.
"You'll see," Connolly assured him, then got up to talk to Devon and John. He saw them look at each other, then nod in agreement with Connolly. Connolly left them to talk to the other committee members while they turned their attention to Uly. Uly looked thoughtful as they spoke to him, then shook his head in affirmative.
Henderson was still confused when a few minutes later a group of 13 people, including his party, left the Hotel and headed for the middle of the courtyard. The three of Henderson's group were surrounded by the committee members, Yale, Alonzo, True and Uly. Uly stepped away from the group and turned to look at his mother. Connolly then stepped up to the three newcomers.
"We thought it would be best if you met our hosts on this planet, before we go to the Common," he said in explanation.
Henderson saw Devon nod to Uly, then the boy crouched and put the palms of his hands on the ground and trilled. Henderson felt the ground begin to tremble, then suddenly the earth behind Uly exploded.
The forms that had appeared were grotesque to him, looking like half-rotted corpses. He heard Holly gasp and she stepped back into Julia and Alonzo who caught her and set her upright. Margaret had gone gray, but to her credit, held her ground.
"These are the Terrians," Connolly said indicating the pair behind Uly. One of them trilled, tilting his head in question, then Uly turned and trilled back to it.
"He wants to know about the new people. He says that the one in the middle is different," Uly translated for the group.
"How is he different?" Devon asked her son. Uly trilled to the Terrian again, the Terrian responding.
"He just says 'different' " said Uly. The other Terrian trilled this time and indicated Henderson with its lightening stick.
"He wants to know if there are others like him coming," Uly said to his mom.
She glanced at Henderson, then said "others are coming, but I don't think any of the others are like him. Tell him we can't see as they do."
Uly trilled back to the Terrian, then the two sank back into the soil just as abruptly as they appeared.
"What the hell was *that*?" demanded Henderson, staring incredulously at Uly.
Danziger stepped up, enjoying Henderson's discomfort. "Those are the Terrians. They live here. They also keep track of what we do to their planet. It's important to not step on their toes."
Henderson turned to Devon. "You're son was talking to them." Uly walked back to his mother and turned to face Henderson. She put her hands on his shoulders.
"Yes he did. All of the cured Syndrome children can," she said. Henderson was totally confused now. He finally admitted it.
"It's very simple" said Yale. "The Terrians have the means to cure our children, by making them
part of this planet, just as the Terrians are.""Part of the planet?" Holly said, finally finding her voice.
"This planet has a unique ecosystem. All creatures here are an integral part of the every-day functions of life. There is a depth of communication here that we can't understand and it is important that we don't disrupt that communication. The Terrians act as a barometer for us, to let us know if we have stepped passed the limits of what we can do here," Yale answered.
"And if we surpass those limits?" Holly asked.
"Then the Terrians correct the problem, usually by eliminating it," Danziger said, "if you catch my drift."
Henderson knew his plans were in jeopardy. This planet had rules he would have never imagined in his wildest dreams, and it was obvious that the Eden colonists took them seriously. He knew then and there, he was no longer in control of his destiny. He had a lot to learn.
Margaret surprised them by stepping up to look where the Terrians had submerged. She turned to Devon.
"I think I'm going to like it here," she said.
The group moved to the Common, minus the kids and Julia, who had gone take care of Alonzo Jr.
They went to the meeting hall and sat at the large table at the far end of the room. Danziger pulled out a chair for Devon at the far side and then sat beside her after she was seated.Now that they had unveiled their surprise, Devon was dying to hear what Henderson had to offer. Seeing the Terrians had rattled him, just the way she had hoped. It would be much harder for him to 'play the crowd' with them as they learned about why he was here. Connolly called them to order.
"Everyone, if I can have your attention." The group at the table quieted down.
"Mr. Henderson, if you would please tell us your... story," Connolly said, indicating that he had the floor.
Henderson took a deep breath and decided to remain seated. He glanced at the faces around the table, noting a variety of expressions.
"You know the basics already. We're here, all of us, to escape the Stations for one reason or another," he began. "You all are here now for a similar reason, the salvation of the Syndrome children. In my case, I betrayed the Council and am running for my life. Margaret was my accomplice, so also decided it was prudent to leave. Holly here," he indicated the pilot, "was simply looking for adventure. I warned her that this was likely a one-way trip, and she still agreed to be our pilot."
Alonzo smiled at Holly for this, recognizing one of his own kind. She saw his smile and took comfort in it.
"How about your passengers?" Connolly asked.
"There are 357 people in cold sleep up there," he said pointing up. "Our doctor is monitoring them now, and is awaiting our call. " 243 of them are Syndrome families, most of them those that regretted not taking you up on your offer of Eden, Devon."
This got the response he wanted. The people around him started talking, suddenly turning their concern to those they could relate. Connolly interrupted them.
"And the others?" he asked.
"Political refugees like myself as well as our Ops and flight crews," Henderson answered.
"Any military?" asked Danziger.
"A few," Henderson admitted. There was no point in hiding it, they'd find out anyway. "But they are here because they too disobeyed the Council and had no other choice than be tried for treason."
"You do have a passenger list," Yale commented.
"Yes, and I can instruct the ship's computer to release it to you," Henderson agreed.
"And the contents of the three Cargo pods?" he added.
"Those pods were delivered loaded and sealed. I really don't know what's in them," Henderson stated flatly. He decided it was time to deliver his plea.
"Really, folks. All we want is a new home, just like you. We are at your mercy," he said, and let his head drop for punctuation.
Devon snorted at his dramatics. Danz grinned at her in agreement.
"All right, Mr. Henderson. There are still a lot of details to be considered. Why don't you and your friends get acquainted with New Pacifica while we discuss them. Mr. Walman had agreed to escort you," he suggested. Right on cue, Walman stepped into the room. Magus was with him.
Henderson knew that it wasn't an option, so got up and offered a hand to Margaret and helped her out of her chair. Alonzo, not to let Holly be ignored, helped her up. The three made their way to their awaiting escort.
None of the committee members was quick to accept Henderson's story, but if he really had Syndrome families on board, they felt compelled to help them. It took less than an hour to decide what to do.
Devon wasn't keen on the idea, but it was decided that someone from the Eden group needed to go up to the ship and verify Henderson's story. As soon as Connolly voice the idea, Devon knew that John would be quick to volunteer. Just as he was about to open his mouth, she grabbed his arm fiercely, startling him. He had often overriden her personal preferences in the past, but the intense look in her face told him he didn't dare do that now. He kept his mouth shut and made a note to ask her about it later.
Alonzo put this hand up, but was immediately refused on the basis that he had a 4-month old baby to consider. John knew that Julia would never agree to his going, so supported the group decision.
Connolly then offered to go. Connolly had lost his wife to cold sleep during the trip to G889. His son, Stuart, had been cured of the Syndrome by the Terrians and had become the center of Sean's life. Again, the rest of the group chose to decline his offer.
It was then decided to offer the job to the security personnel. They would let Walman handle deciding who would go, and back up his decision.
No one was surprised when Walman took the job himself. He was single and had no significant other, so no one had a good reason to refuse him.
It was agreed that Walman would go up with Holly alone - Henderson and Margaret would stay here. Since Henderson had not been in communication with the 'Sanctuary', he had no chance to warn anyone of his current situation.
Before the shuttle had left the surface, Devon had made a point of giving Walman a personal good-bye. She had always been aware of his loyalty to her and wanted him to know she appreciated what he was doing for her now.
All of Devon's worries proved for naught when Walman called from the "Sanctuary" to confirm Henderson's information. At that point it was agreed to let the passengers land on G889, minus the three sealed cargo pods of which Henderson insisted he had no knowledge of their contents.
Holly set the cargo pods down right on target, and the Eden colonists were quick to collect their contents. Henderson got his first look at a Grendler when he went on one of the recovery trips, out of curiosity, and several of them gathered to see if they could collect any of the bounty they saw before them. There were enough Magpros around to discourage them.
The landing of the new colonists was different from the Eden group. The "Sanctuary" was a military design and employed drop shuttles to deliver it's passengers. The ship itself would say in orbit. The shuttles themselves landed in quick succession, just as they had been programmed to do. Many of the passengers were left shaken by the landing since the craft were based on a military strike, not for the comfort of civilians, but as they stepped out onto the surface of G889 and saw the immense ocean and New Pacifica snuggled beside it, all discomfort was forgotten.
The 79 Syndrome children were taken to the Hospital immediately and arrangements were made for their parents to meet the Terrians.
Henderson found himself wandering aimlessly about the hub of New Pacifica. Since he had taken up residence in the Hotel, he felt in no hurry to go out and find a place of his own. Since it was clear that his days as a politician were over, he had no idea of what he wanted to do with his life. He had no skills other than the wheeling and dealing in government and had done nothing to start a family, giving all of his time to his job. Devon was no longer an option. Even the idea of becoming Governor of the colony had lost its appeal.
He suddenly found himself standing in front of the motor pool. He could hear the clinking of tools along with a deep voice which was answered by a much higher voice. He walked inside and saw Danziger leaning inside the engine compartment of one of the new Transrovers. He stood and watched, wondering if he could learn to maintain such a machine.
A set of legs and arms suddenly appeared from the underside of the vehicle immediately followed by True Danziger's head and body. She grunted as she pulled herself upright and accepted her dad's hand to steady herself. "They must be making these things smaller or sumthin', " she complained. Danziger smiled at his daughter's distress.
"I think the problem is you're getting bigger," he replied, squeezing her hand. He missed being able to give her the occasional hug, but these days, True was quite picky about being treated like a kid. She was sure she knew more than the adults did about almost everything, having just turned 14 last month.
"You did a great job as usual though. Couldn't have done it without you," She grinned at his compliment. She knew he was just being her dad.
"We'll always be a team, dad," she promised. He wished that could be true, but her increasing interest in boys told him he was going to be seeing less and less of her in the near future. His feeling was only reinforced when she asked if they were done for the morning. She wanted to go spend time with Cloud.
Danz spotted Henderson as he watched True rush away while still trying to look dignified. "Something I can do for you, Henderson?" he asked in a neutral voice. He picked up a rag to wipe the grease off of his hands. Henderson walked cautiously towards him with a thoughtful look on his face. He studied Danziger's face for a moment, then decided it was time for them to come to an understanding.
"You don't trust me, do you?". It was more of a statement than a question. Danziger just snorted softly at that, then began cleaning his tools and putting them away. Seeing that this wasn't going to get him anywhere, he changed his tact.
"Devon trusts me." That rewarded him a sharp look from Danziger.
"Devon knows you well enough to give you some rope. I wouldn't say she trusts you," John replied.
"She supported our landing here. Wouldn't you call that trust?" Henderson insisted. Danziger put down the tool he was wiping and leaned against the Transrover, folding his arms.
"Trust is knowing I can depend on a person for my life or the lives of my family - and I consider all of the Eden Advance Group to be my family," he said quietly. "It's a two-way street. You show up out of the blue in a Council ship with three cargo pods we can't get open and tell us an altruistic story of how you decided that what the Council was doing was wrong, and expect us just to accept it all at face value? I don't think so, pal. I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop," he finished, watching Henderson's eyes. Henderson sighed.
"I hope I prove your suspicions to be wrong, Mr. Danziger. Just the fact that Devon Adair has opened her heart to you tells me that you're worth the effort. I just hope it doesn't take something drastic to happen to change your mind." Henderson met Danz' eyes to show that he meant what he said. Danziger didn't look away, so he continued.
"Has Devon told you about me, about my part in the developing of the Eden Project?"
"Yeah, she has," Danz answered.
"Everything?" he pressed.
"Yeah, everything, including your efforts to court her," Danz told him.
"Does that bother you? That an old suitor suddenly shows up at your doorstep, following in your wife's footsteps?" Henderson was determined to find out exactly where he stood with Danz. John suddenly grinned and took on a cocky attitude.
"Do you really think that there's anyone in this universe that could come between Devon and me?" he asked. Danz' face became serious. "You have no concept of what we went through together, how much we depended on each other for our very survival, how many times we went out on a limb for each other. My God, we almost died together, more than once." Henderson was feeling a surge of jealousy. What if it had been him in Danziger's place? Danziger took a couple steps towards Henderson, making sure he was making himself clear.
Devon and I are pledged together for the rest of our lives and I have every intention of doing my best to support her in her endeavors and make her happy," he finished forcefully.
"And I intend to do the same for John," came a voice from the doorway. Henderson spun around to see Devon walking in, looking at him as if he had grown two heads. She walked over to John's side into his offered arm. "Just what is this about, Michael?" she demanded. He quickly tried to explain.
"I was only trying to show John that my intentions for coming to G889 are just as I have said. I admit that I was looking forward to seeing you again - you can't blame a guy for wishing, but you've made a life for yourself here with him, and it's not my style to try to void a contract. Just one thing though. A marriage contract with an indefinite time limit isn't legal," he smiled.
"It is here on G889," Devon and Danz answered in unison. Henderson just shrugged.
"Whatever you say. I can see I'm out voted here." He sighed and gave the pair his most honest face. "I really am on your side. I hope that I can prove that to you." With that, he turned and left.
"What was that all about?" she asked, staring after Henderson.
"I'm not sure," he replied, turning to put his other arm around her. She responded by giving him a quick kiss. "You know there's something he's not telling us," he continued, feeling a bit more relaxed. "I can't help feeling he has a hidden agenda that could cause us a lot of trouble."
"Such as ?" Devon asked.
"I dunno. It's just that he's watching, testing the waters. I feel like he's sizing up the colony for God-knows-what," he told her, a bit of frustration showing. She gave him a squeeze.
"Both Baines and Walman are keeping tabs on him. A search of all his gear and that of the other colonists didn't turn up anything like the special VR Gear Julia was using to contact Reilly. So far, I think he's just deciding how he fits in here," she guessed.
"Hmmm. He better not become a problem or I'll stuff him back in that ship and send him packing to the Stations!" John said firmly.
"Don't let him be a thorn in your side," Devon admonished. "Come on, let's go for a walk on the beach before lunch, hmmm? A little fresh air will do us both good," she said, taking his hand and leading him towards the door. He went without a fuss.
A Snake in the Garden, Part 4
by Lynne LeeperIt was a spectacular day to be living by the beach. John and Devon strolled down the beach along the surf line, bare feet sinking into the white sand. They had taken the time to change into suitable beach wear since they both had become quite fond of swimming in the surf. They were coming to the spot of the shoreline that offered the best entry into the water when they saw Alonzo coming down from the far end with his son in his arms.
Alonzo Jr. was only four months old and Alonzo spent as much time as he could helping Julia care for him. After all, being a doctor, Julia's services were more in demand than his. 'Lonz had taken a lot of ribbing about being a "house husband" but that soon past when he didn't rise to the bait. He was determined to enjoy falling into the old traditional lifestyle that had been denied him when he was a space jockey.
John watched him talking to his child in baby talk and laughed out loud. Devon looked at him.
"You think that's funny, huh? The macho cold sleep pilot reduced to a baby-talking softy?" Devon chided.
"Well, you have to admit, it is a bit funny. I wasn't sure 'Lonz was going to survive the first week of becoming a father. I don't think he got *any* sleep at all and he was totally useless to Julia," Danz replied smugly.
"Hmmm. I wonder if you'll be any help to me in about six and a half months," Devon speculated in a calm voice. Danziger stopped dead in his tracks, stunned as her words sunk in. Devon had taken another couple steps before noticing he had stopped. She turned to him. "Well, are you coming?"
He could see by the look on her face that she meant what she said and was having her fun with him at the same time. He couldn't think of anything appropriate to say so he closed the distance between them and held her at arms length. Devon closed the gap and pulled him to her. "I'm not going to shatter, you know," she told him.
That said it all to him. Suddenly overwhelmed with a thousand emotions, Danziger picked her up in his arms and gave out a triumphant shout that startled Alonzo and sent his son into a loud wail. The sudden crying from the baby made Danziger start giggling, which became a side-splitting laugh when Alonzo glared at him as he tried to soothe his son. Danziger fell into the sand, Devon landing in a heap with him. His laugh was so infectious that she started laughing too. Alonzo stared at the two of them as if they had become certifiable and finally demanded to know what was so funny. This just made them laugh even harder, so Alonzo walked off in a huff, still trying to soothe his kid.
After a while, they lay exhausted, sprawled in the sand. "You know Alonzo is going to kill us for that," Devon said.
"Well," Danz began, pulling himself up to rest on one arm so he could brush the sand from her face, "he'll have plenty of opportunities to get even." Devon could see he was about to start giggling again so reached up to pull his head down to hers. Neither cared that they had drawn the attention of everyone else on the beach.
Michael Henderson left the motorpool feeling very lonely. He realized that he no longer felt compelled to possess Devon, that he really had lost that desire a long time ago. It was only habit that had kept him pursuing her, but now that he was on G889, the reality wasn't what he had imagined it would be. It seemed that's how it always worked for him - actually attaining a goal wasn't as fun as getting there. Somehow, the goal of escaping from the Council, actually stealing their pursuit ship, had become a bigger goal than Devon.
Henderson considered the last year of his life before he went into cold sleep. What a rush! He had been living on the edge, almost likely very literally, of life and death. He had manipulated and deceived the ruling body of the Stations right under their noses. Sometimes right in front of it!
Henderson stopped to stare at several children who were playing in the front yard of the Hotel. He had to find a new goal, one that would be even tougher than his last accomplishment. How about keeping the Council off of G889? It was definitely in his best interest to do so.
They had already been here, really. The planet had a number of penal colonists and ZEDs on it already. There also had been that first attempt to colonize - the Bennett party that failed. But the Council had not been able to get a firm toe hold yet, so maybe he could keep it that way.
Henderson realized that he had a lot to learn first. He had seen Terrians a few more times already, since they had come to cure the new batch of Syndrome kids. The Terrians had shown that they were the real power of G889 when those kids returned from the earth under their own power. He realized that the Terrians would have to be his army to fight the Council, not the human colonists. To begin, he needed a way to communicate with them. With that in mind, he went in search of Alonzo Solace.
Henderson began building his strategy. He knew that he'd need the support of the colonists in his goal of controlling the Terrians. The only was to do that was if he could convince them that there was a real threat coming their way, one that he could help diffuse. It was then that he decided to tell Devon about the other ship the Council was preparing, and what was in those three cargo pods still in orbit.
Devon was at home finishing the laundry when Henderson appeared at the door. Devon was still a bit uncomfortable with him, but had no real reason to refuse his company. John was resting in the backyard so if she felt the need for his support, he was only a call away. She politely seated Henderson in the living room and offered him a cup of coffee. His accepting the offer told Devon that he would be here for a while so she settled back into her chair and waited for him to begin.
Henderson stared unblinking out at the view of the Ocean of Pacifica. He had to admit, it was beautiful here. He felt a flash of regret go through him for what he was going to tell Devon, but it passed before he could dwell on it.
"I guess it's really just sinking in," he began breaking his trance, "what you've accomplished here." He turned to give her a genuine smile. "I can still remember when you first came into my office with what I thought was a wild dream." Devon smiled at that.
"I can't complain," she said smiling into her coffee and taking a sip. She waited for him to continue.
"I was talking to Mr. Solace this morning. He was telling me about the Terrians, how he was the link between the Eden Advance Group and them during your trek to New Pacifica." He glanced out the window again. "Alonzo says that the Terrians are very protective of their world, to the extent they would kill us all if we gave them cause. I find it curios that they allow us here at all."
"No one really understands the Terrians, except maybe the children," Devon replied.
"Hmmm. I just can't help wondering how they would deal with a stronger threat," Henderson said. A stab of warning went through Devon.
"The Council already tried the brute force method. If the Terrians die, the planet dies. That's why they haven't taken this world. They can't control it," Devon stated firmly.
"But you're here, and the children have a sort of communion with them," Henderson pushed.
"Yes, but we live by the Terrians' rules. We feel grateful that they've decided to help us so we make a point of not interfering with them," Devon said. She was wondering what he was getting at.
"I was just wondering how the Terrians would react to a more subtle attempt at a Council take-over," he said, a question on his face.
"What do you mean by subtle?" Devon asked, a bit of alarm creeping into her voice.
"Before I left the Stations, I got wind of a new project. This one was coming from the Biological Research labs of the Special Services. This one was some sort of biologic 'first strike' that would be used to depopulate an area, in effect rewrite the DNA of an affected area to make it conducive to human takeover," he said quietly. He was satisfied to see Devon's face turn pale.
"And?" she asked.
"Blalock was lobbying to send it here," he answered.
Devon set her coffee down and got out of her chair. She stared at Henderson for a moment knowing that he had deliberately withheld this information until he and his passengers were safely entrenched in New Pacifica.
"And?" she asked, knowing there was more.
"I'm sure you are aware that the Council didn't release all of the information they had about G889 to you." Devon nodded. "They knew about the life forms here. Hell, they even new something about the ecosystem." Henderson changed tack.
"The Council was getting desperate. The pressure on the Stations to find a new home is growing. G889 is the only habitable planet we've found so far. Everyone wants it. But like any government, it wants to be in complete control of what it conquers. The data received from the first survey team sent here told the Council they had a problem and so they began looking at extreme measures to win," Henderson pressed.
"You mean the data from Bennett's team?" Devon asked.
"I think so. The security around that data was so tight, I was lucky to know it existed at all. I never did learn any of the details," he answered.
Devon had one more important question. "Is that what you brought with you in those three cargo pods?" she asked point blank.
"No. It couldn't be. Those pods aren't the biograde triple-hulled type. What I
think is in those pods are the parts for an orbital observation platform and the necessary weaponry to obliterate the experiment, should it get out of control," he answered bluntly."As in obliterate the surface of this planet?" she continued. Henderson looked at the floor.
"And when were they planning on sending this thing here?" she asked angrily.
"I really don't know. From what information I did get, it could be as soon as 2-5 years. Assuming they chose to send it," he added.
Devon stood fuming for a moment, then her anger turned to dread. If what he was saying was true...
"How can I trust you? For all I know you could be making this whole thing up," she demanded.
"Why would I make something like this up?" he returned. "I want to live in peace as much as you do. But I think if the Council sends this bio weapon our way, we should try to be as prepared as we can for it."
Devon stared at Henderson feeling herself go numb. The last few days had been a whirlwind just having Henderson show up. Now this. She couldn't risk that he was lying for some reason and knew that the Eden committee needed to know about it.
She turned from Henderson and went out into the backyard to wake her sleeping other half.
Danziger was half asleep, enjoying a few quiet moments, laying in the grass under the trees in his backyard. Devon's subtle announcement of their coming child had him thinking about how different his life had become from what he ever imagined it could be. Settling in New Pacifica, building a home, complete with a family, had been like starting all over again. Danziger felt a contentment he had never known before. Sure, he had True, but it had been a difficult time for him then since Elle was legally dead while he awaited True's arrival. He didn't have his other half to share his newborn child with at the time, so going through the process again with Devon was a whole new experience for him.
He remembered back a short year ago when he and Devon had finally let down those last barriers and admitted that they were in love. He had wondered then if Devon would want to have any more children because of Uly having the Syndrome. It had been discovered that the Syndrome occurred in children carrying a particular double-recessive allele, one that had no previously known function. When Uly was diagnosed as Syndrome-positive, Devon had undergone genetic testing to verify she carried the offending allele. It was undeniable that Uly's father had also been a carrier. Since this trait was passed on from parent to child, it was always recommended that couples who had Syndrome children refrain from having any more kids, the odds being 1 out of 4 of it happening again. The emotional scars of knowing they were the cause of their child's death sentence was usually enough to stop a couple from wanting to take the chance with another child.
But Devon had been a victim, then saved by the Terrians altering her DNA. Julia had done extensive genetic testing after the Terrians had returned her to the Eden Advance Group to find that the Syndrome allele was still there, but the gene itself had been altered so that it appeared the allele would always be excised during recombination.
A few days after the colony ship had begun the return trip to the Stations and Devon had shown him the plans of the home she intended to share with him, she had one more surprise for him. They were laying together under the very tree he was enjoying at the moment, after having a picnic lunch. He had been half asleep when she out of the blue asked him if he was taking supressors. In his foggy state it took him a moment to grasp what she was asking. It was something he had been thinking about, but was feeling a bit shy about asking Julia to start him on a program. On the other hand, he knew he had to be careful with Devon and there was no doubt in his mind that it was going to be an issue very soon.
He thought about her question for a moment longer, then said "No. Do you want me to?". To his relief she had given him a sleepy hug and then propped herself up to look him in the eye.
"No," she had said, as simple as that while she reached up and began unbuttoning his shirt. So much for that concern.
Devon had John listen to Henderson's story, then Danz called the communications center via his Gear to have the person on duty call a meeting of the committee for that evening after dinner. When all were assembled, Henderson repeated his story once again.
The first person up out of his chair was Walman, who pointed at Henderson in an accusatory manner.
"You *knew* about this and waited until *now* to tell us?!" he demanded.
"I couldn't risk you turning us away!" he answered angrily, finally having had enough of Walman's continuous harassment.
"And why shouldn't we pack you up on that shuttle and send you back to the Council?" Walman threatened. Connolly stood up.
"Everyone. Please! Let's get this clear before we waste time and energy bashing each other!" he ordered. Walman glared but took his seat Henderson sniffed, then sat, his face becoming a picture of control. Connolly addressed the group.
"I think it's safe to say that this would have been a problem for us whether Mr. Henderson and his group came here or not. His coming may make it happen a little sooner, but at least we now know it's coming. Also, if he is correct about the contents of the cargo pods still in orbit, then he may have cost the Council part of it's plan," Connolly said. That caused everyone to think a minute.
"What we have to do is decide what to do about those cargo pods and to decide what course of action we can take, if any, to defend ourselves when the time comes," he finished.
Alonzo Solace, who was sitting behind Julia, rose to his feet.
"We also have a responsibility to the Terrians. We have to tell them about this," he said firmly.
"The problem with that," began Yale, "is we really don't know if the Council is coming. Unfortunately, we're working on conjecture only."
"Those cargo pods sitting over our heads are real enough," Danziger interjected. "It seems to me, if we really want to know the truth, we need to see what's in those pods." This set off another round of noisy discussion. Connolly again brought them back to order.
"John has a point here," he said.
"But we have to bring them down to open them. For all we know, this bio weapon could be in one of them, ready to be dispersed!" exclaimed Julia hitting the table with a fist. "We don't dare bring them down!"
"We also can't risk the Terrians! It's one thing to risk ourselves but we can NOT break the promises we have made to them!" Alonzo added.
Danziger looked at Devon and took her hand. "I don't intend to risk any one if we can help it" he said, then turned back to the group. "I have no intention of risking our kids for this either."
"Then what do you suggest?" asked Yale. Danziger turned to Holly.
"The 'Sanctuary"' doesn't it have large loading bay?:" he asked. I though I heard you say something about that to Alonzo." Holly glanced at Alonzo, then turned back to Danz.
"Well, yes. It's used for the initial loading of prepared sleep crypts and other heavy equipment. But it's sealed. It can only be opened in a pressurized dry-dock," she answered.
"But we may be able to open it using the emergency explosive releases, move one of the pods inside, then weld the hatch back in place. Then we can see what's there," he suggested.
"That's extremely risky!" objected Yale. "You've got to *catch* that hatch after its been blown - the momentum alone of something that massive is more than a shuttle can handle! And then there's releasing and catching the cargo pod itself! We don't have the heavy rigs here to do that, then maneuver the thing to the bay."
"It's the only way we can see what's there. We can't bring those things down here," Danz argued.
"John, no!" whispered Devon. He turned to her, still holding onto her hand.
"We have to know, love" he whispered gently, massaging her hand in his. He felt her start shaking.
Connolly got up then. "Hold on a minute, folks. I think we all need to think about this, to come up with better options. How about if we break on this until morning? That will give us each some time to think about it," he suggested. He glanced around the table and saw no objections.
"All right then. We'll meet again after breakfast tomorrow morning," he said with a note of finality. With that, the group adjourned.
Danziger was all-too aware that Devon was upset with his idea. She knew he would go if it was to be done. He was one of a handful of people within the colony that was qualified to do the work. He held her close as they started walking home, but as they got to the turn off to the house, Danz decided to head for the beach. He needed time alone with her to work this out and didn't want to get the kids involved.
They walked in silence until they reached the spot along the tree line where they liked to sit and watch the sunset, but it was already dark. It was a bit chilly so Danz wrapped his arms around her and she settled into the crook of his shoulder. The sound of the waves breaking, which was normally soothing, was lost on her.
"Please John, don't do this," she pleaded softly. He kissed her temple softly.
"I may have to," he said carefully. She had no answer for that. She felt him tense up.
"Damn Henderson for bringing this on us!" he hissed. Images of the all they had built, his an Devon's long developing relationship, the promise of their unborn child, all suddenly lost, filled him with anguish. All he could think then was <not if I can help it!>.
Devon turned in his arms to hold him and be held, praying that Henderson was a liar.
A Snake in the Garden, Part 5
by Lynne LeeperHenderson watched Devon and Danziger leaving the Common. He had set out to make some waves and had to admit, it turned out to be more like a tidal wave. He never would have imagined that the Devon he had known could feel so strongly for another human being other than her son. Now that he was here, an official member of the Eden colony, he knew that anything he did that caused her grief would cause him grief in turn.
He was surprised at Danziger's suggestion to try to open the pod in the "Sanctuary". He didn't dare let anyone, let alone Danziger, take that risk. He knew that if anyone died in the attempt, in the other colonists eyes he would carry the burden of blame for the rest of his days. Besides, he really didn't know what was in those pods.
He had assumed the colonists would leave the pods up in orbit and would have pursued help from the Terrians to fight the Council's bioweapon if it really happened. He underestimated the courage these people had, and the risks they would take for each other. Well, there was something *he* could do about it. Henderson waited until everyone else had left. Even Walman had been distracted long enough to forget to leave the usual escort for him.
He made his way to the communications room. The scanner was in standby/receive mode since it was not usually manned after dark. He sat down in the dimly lit room and reactivated the transmitter. It only took a few minutes for him to key in the coded signal. He switched the scanner back to standby and stood up to leave. As he turned to the door, he was confronted by Walman.
Devon had finally stopped shaking and had settled more comfortably into John's arms. They stared into the night sky in silence, each coming to terms with the possibility they would be at war with the Council.
Danziger still believed that this was some sort of ruse by Henderson but for what gains, he couldn't guess. He knew that the only way to put everyone`s mind at ease was to see what was in those cargo pods. He was willing to bet it was standard equipment; shelters, food, clothing, weapons, vehicles and the like. He had the pleasure during his time in the service to pack and unpack cargo pods for his unit. What he saw from the "Sanctuary's" exterior cameras, these pods looked no different from the ones he was used to. If these carried the superweapons Henderson claimed that could "eliminate the mess", they should be in the triple-shielded type containers that would prevent stray radiation from activating the plutonics during the 22 year trip. And, if they were carrying the parts needed to build an orbiting platform, they'd need a power plant that always gave off an electromagnetic signature that could be found on specific communications bands. Baines had found nothing.
Yeah, Danz was sure this was some sort of ruse and when he proved it, Henderson was a dead man.
Devon wasn't so sure. She had known this politician for too many years to believe he would out-and-out lie. Odds were that there was some sort of bio weapon project. Blalock could even have been involved with it. But going to the extent of using it on G889? Henderson had laid out a possibility. He had not said that this was definite. It was even possible that this project was beyond what the Council would dare to try.
In the back of her mind, Devon recalled a disaster that had occurred several years before they had left the Stations. Her company had been called to help solve a problem with one of the stations they had designed and built for military usage. It seemed that some disgruntled soldier had seen fit to sabotage the waste recycling plant on board. He had managed to pollute the station's entire water supply by introducing raw sewage into the system as the water was run through the maze of pipes that doubled as a cooling system for the station's power plant and recycling modules. It had taken two days to find out the extent of what the soldier had done, by which time a number of people had fallen ill to some sort of virulent bacterial infection.
The Council had contracted Adair Consolidated to find a way to purge and disinfect the station in an attempt to salvage it. After a team had gone in to investigate, they had simply said the best course of action was to destroy the recycling plant and replace all water systems after the station had been totally exposed to vacuum and underwent disinfectant procedures. Even then, they weren't sure that the station would be safe for human life. In the end, the station was sent out of orbit on a path that would eventually carry it into the sun.
Devon had written off the problem and considered the loss of the station the result of military stupidity. She'd simply build them another one if they asked. It was one way to get back all of those taxes she paid.
John shifted a bit behind her, bringing her back to the present. She was thinking about suggesting that they head for home when the sky lit up in a burst of red-orange haloed white light. It was so intense that when Devon unburied her face from John's chest, all she could see were white splotches for a few minutes. Danziger understood what had happened almost immediately.
"The ship! Someone blew up the 'Sanctuary'!".
He was up on his feet pulling her with him and they stumbled their way back to the common. By the time they got there, others had gathered and were staring at the porch where Walman stood holding onto Henderson. Devon pushed her way through the crowd with John right behind her and climbed the steps to confront the two men. She looked at Henderson, then Walman.
"I found him in the communications room. He had just sent some sort of message," Walman said. Devon stared at Henderson who looked at her, then at John.
"I couldn't let you take the risk," he said simply.
"You mean you couldn't risk us finding out what was in those pods!" Danz retorted angrily.
"Like I said before, I really didn't know what was in those pods. What I did know was if you were hurt or killed trying your idea, this entire colony would blame me for it," Henderson explained. Danziger looked disgusted but Devon looked thoughtful.
"So we'll never know if the Council is coming or not, will we?" she asked him softly. Henderson spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd rather have the uncertainty of our futures rather than live my life as the figurehead for a martyr," he answered. "Selfish? Certainly. But it was my decision to make. I brought those pods here, they were my responsibility."
Devon turned to look at the faces in the crowd. She saw only friends there, several whom she had shared an incredible journey with a few short years ago. Julia, Alonzo, Baines, Cameron, Magus, Morgan, Bess and Yale looked at her expectantly. Some things never changed. Connolly pushed his way to the front of the crowd with the same look on his face as the others. Uly and True came bursting up the steps and threw themselves at their parents. Devon took a long look at her husband, looking for the future there.
"It looks like we're going to have to face any fights we have with the Council on our own, the G889 way," she said to him. He looked at her, then down at Uly.
"Alonzo once told us that the Terrians said that our kids are our future. They may be the ones fighting that war, as part of this planet," he returned. Suddenly, it seemed pointless to be standing there. Danz looked at Walman who nodded in understanding and guided Henderson back into the Common.
"Let's go home," he said to his wife and kids. The Adairs and Danzigers united made their way down the steps and through the milling crowd.
Danziger took a deep breath and sighed. Well, he thought, there's no point in worrying about it. All he cared about was right there with him. If the Council came, they'd do what they had to do. He pushed Henderson and his bad news far back in his mind and locked it away. For the present, he was a contented man.
-The End-
Hope you enjoyed it!
Lynne
soaron@netcom.com
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.