PERCHANCE TO DREAM
By
Maxine McBrinn
Timeline: On way to New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: Kenneth.W.Howard@att.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Okay folks,
Here is my third story. This one is a bit different from the last two, and considerably longer, so I hope y'all enjoy it. Three of our best writers require thanks for wading through this beast and giving me well thought out comments. Vicky's comments on my original sketch spurred me to sit and write the thing and helped me focus on what I wanted to achieve. I hope you like the extra scene, Vicky. Rosa was, as always, a careful reader whose comments helped me close some inconsistencies. And Jayel read through the final (but one!) draft and gave me tons of great feedback. As always, she saw more clearly than I. I am grateful for all the help.As always, please send any comments, positive or negative, to:
Maxine McBrinn
howard@drmail.dr.att.com
"Perchance to Dream", Part 1
Maxine McBrinn
Voice of Yale:
We have settled into our second winter camp on this new planet. Our dismay at having to spend a second winter in the mountains is mitigated by the knowledge that New Pacifica is only a few weeks travel farther.The night was still as only a snow-laden winter night can be. Even Walman on guard duty made little noise as he walked slowly through the camp. Two crescent moons covered by a light haze showed the dark outlines of trees and hills; the camp lights lit only their immediate area. The perimeter laser fence lit the occasional snowflake as it drifted silently. It was the dark quiet time before the sun rose in the East.
Alonzo's arms were wrapped around Julia as she slept curled into him. The cool night air in the tent slipped under the covers whenever there was an opening. Alonzo moaned softly and twitched slightly, possessed by a dream. Julia moved in her sleep to close the distance that had been created between their bodies, drawn by his heat. He twitched once more, then slept quietly, wrapped around her soft warmth.
Camp noises woke Alonzo, voices outside the tent and the sounds of people moving about. Julia mumbled and shifted as he raised his head.
"Alonzo?"
"It's morning Doc. Time to get up."
"I could sleep longer. Something about these cold, dark days." She snuggled in a little closer.
"I know. But we should get moving." He leaned forward and kissed her, then jumped out into the cold air and hastily pulled on his clothes. As he dressed, Alonzo thoughtfully looked down at Julia, who was still huddled under the blankets while she watched him. He held her shirt out to her so that she could put it on without leaving the warmth of the bed. She smiled sleepily at him as she put it on.
"Hey Doc?" Alonzo sank back down on the cot so that he was sitting next to her.
"Yeah?"
"I had a dream last night. I want to talk to you about it before I talk to the others. It affects you." Alonzo took her hand in his.
Julia looked at him with concern, "So?"
He paused to take a deep breath, then spoke in a rush, "The Terrians want me to come stay with them for a while. They said that they want to make sure that I have as much control as possible on the dreamplane when the colonists arrive. They are concerned that they will need lots of communication with us once the syndrome families arrive."
"How long would you stay with them? And where?" Julia's expression had frozen into a blank.
"At the caves the local tribe uses, you know they are just a few miles from here. I'm not sure how long I'd stay, they are always so fuzzy about time, but I think it would only be for a few weeks."
"Weeks!?" Julia was unhappy. "How do you feel about it? Do you want to go?"
"I like the idea of getting more comfortable on the dreamplane. It is important that we be able to understand each other. I wish Uly was older, so that he could take on more of the exchange. But as it is, I'm the one. You know that." Julia nodded as he continued, "I hate the idea of being away from you, but I do think it would be interesting and fun, at least as much fun as anything could be without you." He winked at her with his old fly-boy smile, dimples showing.
Julia nodded again, "Well, if you have to... I'll miss you. When do you need to meet them?"
"Today."
"Today! Alonzo, that's not much time to get organized." *Or to prepare myself*, she silently added.
"Hey, I know. But you know how they are. No concept of time or relationships. That's why I need to go, so they understand us better, and we them."
"Well, you better go talk to Devon and Danziger and the others." Julia said coolly.
Alonzo gave her a quick kiss and a hug, then left the tent. He smiled to himself as he walked toward the common room. Julia was busy putting on her professional face, like she always did when public emotion threatened her. Luckily, he knew the inner woman.
The rest of the crew were no more happy about Alonzo leaving for an indeterminate time than Julia was. Devon, in particular, thought this boded ill for Uly's future with the Terrians. *They are always so rigid,* she thought to herself. *No warning, just come NOW.*
"Well, I don't see that we have many options," she said aloud.
"Damn Diggers! Always have to have things their way." Danziger fumed.
"Whoa! It's okay, I don't mind. In fact, I'm looking forward to it." Alonzo interjected. "I just wish I didn't have to go for so long. But I'll send messages via Uly." He winked at the boy, who smiled back with a feeling of adult importance.
Devon frowned even more at that, but didn't say anything. The rest of colonists worried silently over how different life was here on this planet. They didn't like the loss of control they felt almost daily here, and couldn't understand how Alonzo coped. No one spoke.
"Danziger, I'll need someone to drive me over to the cave entrance. You'll want the vehicle while I'm gone."
"I'll do it. We can take the 'Rail. When do you want to leave?"
"Thanks John. Give me a couple of hours to pack. I'm going to take some food along too, if you don't mind Devon?" When she nodded, he continued, "I'll come get you mid-morning."
Before he left, Alonzo said 'goodbye' to Julia privately. He steered her into their tent, tugging gently on her hand. Once they were inside, he pulled her into a hug. As his arms went around her shoulders, he sank his hands into her silken hair and, looking into her blue eyes, kissed her gently. She deepened the kiss, and her arms encircled his waist. With a sigh, she moved so that her cheek rested on his shoulder.
"'Lonzo, I don't want you to go. It'll be lonely without you."
"Hey, Doc, I know. I know. But it's just for a little while. I'll be back before you know it. And I'm only going to be a few miles away." He pulled back to see her face and said roguishly , "I'll dream of you."
She smiled up at him. "Great, then you'll really confuse the Terrians!" Her smile faded, "Well, I guess I'll just have to cope. I'll be fine."
Alonzo nodded and looked her directly in the eyes with his calm brown ones, "I know you will. But I'm glad you think you'll miss me!" He laughed and gave her another squeeze that left her breathless.
Julia joined his laugh, and pushed him playfully. "You brute!" She sobered, "Well, I guess it's that time."
He nodded and kissed her again. "Guess so."
They walked together out of the tent and over to the DuneRail. "You've got that med-kit I put together for you?"
"Got it safely packed, along with enough supplies to see me through the winter. Bess seemed eager to clean out the pantry. God help the rest of you; I don't think there's any food left in camp." Alonzo climbed into the 'Rail, joining Danziger who was ready to go. He waved and blew a kiss to Julia as they pulled out of camp.
John pulled up at the cave entrance. "Do you want me to stick around awhile until you know whether or not they're serious about this?"
"Thanks John, but no. I know they're serious. I've got my gear in case something comes up." Alonzo climbed out of the vehicle and started to unload his supplies. John helped him, then at Alonzo's insistence, drove off, leaving the pilot surrounded by food and clothes, not a Terrian in sight.
End of Chapter 1.
"Perchance to Dream", Part 2
Maxine McBrinn
Two days later, Uly rushed into the common room while everyone was gathered for breakfast. "Julia! Alonzo spoke to me last night!" Suddenly, a complete quiet descended over the room. Uly ran over to Julia where she sat with Devon and Yale. The boy's face was glowing with eagerness, "He said to tell you and everyone that he is all right. He said that he is comfortable, and well fed." Uly looked a little confused by that part, but determined to pass along the whole message, he concentrated and finished, "He misses everyone."
Julia smiled, "Thanks Champ. We miss him too."
Devon smiled and gave her son a hug. "Good job Uly. Now go get your breakfast." She patted him on the rear as he walked off.
The various conversations picked up again as Uly went over to get his porridge from Magus, who was serving. True waved to him and he wandered over to sit by her.
"That must make you feel better, Julia"
"Yes it does, Devon. But I still wish he was here." Julia looked over at Yale, who sat quietly watching her. "I worry about him. I know it's silly, but I can't help it." She smiled self-consciously. "Well, I have some physicals that need to be done. Some of the crew don't seem too eager to get their weekly check-ups. Excuse me."
"Alonzo will be fine, Julia." Yale said calmly, "He is healthy and knows how to look after himself. We are all worried about him, how can we help but be? But he will be fine." He evenly stressed the last four words, somehow making his statement soothing. "Now, if you will excuse me too, my pupils need to start their lessons."
Uly had a message from Alonzo every few days. Julia was always relieved to hear that he was well, although she did her best to keep her personal feelings hidden. She tried to bury herself in her work. Unfortunately, there was less to do in the permanent camp than there had been while they traveled. She had already examined all the nearby vegetation for food and pharmaceutical qualities, but decided that looking at the various minerals in the soils around the area might be useful. The others knew that she was anxious, of course, but respected her desire to not dwell on Alonzo's absence. Even Bess, who was usually eager to get everyone's emotions out into the open, restrained herself, only saying, "He'll be okay, Julia. We are all praying for him," and giving Julia a one-armed hug, which Julia tolerated.
"Thanks Bess." she said with a stiff smile, and hurried off to the Medtent.
A fortnight after Alonzo had joined the Terrians, Uly rushed into the breakfast commotion in the Common Room with a big smile. "Julia! Julia!" He ran directly to the blond doctor. He didn't even seem to notice the silence that surrounded him as he shouted, "Alonzo says he wants you to come see him!"
"Uly, calm down," his mother said. "Now tell Julia the message, *quietly*".
Julia smiled her thanks to Devon, and said, "Okay Champ, what's that message?"
Uly leaned on her knee as he looked up at her and said, "Alonzo said he'd like you to come visit him today. He'll meet you at the cave entrance at noon."
"Uly, that's great. Thank you." Julia hugged Uly, then turned from the excited boy and toward Danziger at the next table, "John. Can I borrow one of the vehicles?"
John ran his hands through his long curls and frowned. "Sure, But I'd rather you took someone with you. This weather can be deceiving. Baines, could you run the doc over to 'Lonz?"
"Sure, no problem. We can use the 'Rail. Hey, Uly, does 'Lonz need any new supplies?"
"He didn't say he did." The boy looked abashed. He hadn't even thought to ask.
"It's all right, Uly. Alonzo would have told you if he did." Julia rushed to reassure him. "Baines, let me know when you're ready to leave. I'd like to give us some extra time to get there, just in case this recent snow slows us down." Julia had to restrain herself from insisting that they leave immediately. She left the Common Room soon after, muttering something about taking Alonzo some clean clothes.
As they prepared to leave camp in mid-morning, Devon pulled Julia to one side. "Find out how much longer Alonzo thinks this is going to take. The Terrians have no real concept of time. I'd like his estimate."
"I'll certainly ask him, Devon. I suspect he doesn't know himself, but he might."
"Tell him he is missed here. We're all looking forward to having him back."
"Thanks Devon. Baines and I will be back before dark."
Alonzo was waiting for them as they pulled up in front of the cave entrance. He ran to the 'Rail and pulled Julia into a big hug before she had a chance to climb all the way out. He swung her the rest of the way out and around a complete circle, then put her down and shook Baines' hand. "Man, it is great to see you two! Real live, honest to God humans!"
"You wanted dead humans?" Julia deadpanned.
"Ha, ha. Very funny. Come on in out of the weather. I'll show you my quarters." He grabbed his clean clothes out of the back seat of the 'Rail and walked into the cave. Julia and Baines looked at each other, shrugged and followed.
Alonzo led them down a passageway and into a small cavern. His stuff was spread over the dirt floor, his sleeping bag and blankets along one wall. He had his pantry set up in a corner, with a pot and small stove in the place of honor. The sunstones in the wall lit the room with a soft orange-yellow glow, although Alonzo had a lantern to augment the natural light level. He waved them to sit on the sleeping bag, and settled himself down into a squat. He looked comfortable, to Julia's alarm.
*He looks like a Terrian* she thought.
"You guys look great!" Alonzo enthused. "I've really missed you." He obviously looked at Julia when he said that, Baines noted with amusement.
Julia took a better look at her lover. "You look a little thinner 'Lonzo. Are you eating well?"
He laughed, "Julia, I'm eating my own cooking. You tell me! It's a wonder I'm eating at all. But honestly, I'm fine."
She also noticed that he was a little pale, but if he spent all his time in the caves, that was no surprise. "So what do you do?"
He leaned forward eagerly, "I've been spending a lot of time on the dreamplane, probably several hours a day. It is fantastic! I've learned so much already. I'm much more comfortable and much more *in control*. I'm having a blast. Hey, let me show you the Terrian bed I'm using." He jumped up and started out of the room, Julia and Baines scrambling to follow him.
"Well, he certainly is full of energy" Baines whispered to Julia as they walked quickly behind the pilot.
"No kidding! I guess eating his own cooking isn't causing any damage."
Alonzo stopped in front of a depression in the rock wall. "Here it is. This really helps my concentration on the dreamplane. And it is a great ride on top of that!"
Julia and Baines looked blankly at the rock. This was a bed?
Alonzo laughed at their expressions. "Here, Baines, try it." He pushed the confused man into the bed, which gave way and molded around him with a bath of light.
"Wow," Baines breathed, and stayed put until Alonzo pulled him out. "Man, that is great!"
Alonzo nodded with a big smile. "I know. You want to try it Julia?"
"Well, all right." she replied cautiously, but she too agreed that the sensation of lying in the bed was *unusual* and *different* after she had tried it.
Alonzo smiled at her affectionately, and pulled her into his arms.
"I think I should check the 'Rail, make sure everything's out of it." Baines said diplomatically. "I'll be outside if you need me."
"Thanks." Alonzo and Julia said at the same time, then looked at each other and grinned. They followed Baines toward the entrance, but turned into Alonzo's room instead.
"Oh, I've missed you." Alonzo groaned as he pulled Julia into a hug. He looked down into her beautiful blue eyes, and leaned to kiss her lips, her eyes, her face. "You can't imagine how much."
"You're not alone, fly-boy. My little cot is too big and cold without you. I haven't been sleeping too well either. You look so good." She smiled affectionately up at him. "I wish we had more time."
"Me too, Doc, me too. With any luck, I'll only need to be here another week or so. My control of the dreaming has really improved greatly. I'm trying to spend as little time here as I can. I want to get home to you." He tightened his embrace. "Damn, I miss you."
Julia reached up to kiss his mouth, tears brightening her eyes.
End of Chapter 2.
Please send any comments to: Maxine McBrinn (howard@drmail.dr.att.com)
"Perchance to Dream", Part 3
Maxine McBrinn
Five days later, Devon woke in the middle of the night. At first she was unsure what woke her, but then she started at a noise from Uly's side of the tent. Her son was muttering agitatedly in his sleep. She reached over to shake him, but he didn't wake up. She reached for her gear and called Julia and Yale, "Come quickly. Something's wrong with Uly."
Julia arrived shortly after Yale, huddled in a blanket wrapped over her warm sleeping clothes. "What is it?" She pulled on her diaglove and monitored the boy's vital signs. "It looks like he's having a Terrian dream. Whatever it is, he is being disturbed by it. We should wait until he wakes himself. Hopefully, he'll be able to remember what bothered him."
"Alonzo! Alonzo!" Uly cried out and sat up suddenly, hitting Devon on the chin with his head, "Ouch!"
"Uly, are you all right?" Julia asked carefully.
"That hurt!" He glared at his mother, then he looked around and realized he had an audience, "Am I okay?"
"We think you were having a Terrian dream, Champ. Can you remember?" Julia tried to speak calmly.
"Ohhhh." He turned to look at the doctor. "Julia, the Terrians said that Alonzo is really sick and needs help." He looked up at the doctor with an adult appreciation for what he was saying, "It was hard to understand them. The dreamplane is all messed up."
Julia had frozen with Uly's first words, and missed the rest of what he said. *Alonzo was sick. He needed her NOW.*
Yale had been standing quietly next to Uly's cot. He reached over and placed his hand on Julia's shoulder. When she looked at him blankly, he said, "Julia, start packing. You should leave at first light."
She nodded and walked back to her tent.
Yale turned to Devon, who stood still as a statue, and said "Uly should go with her. He will be needed to communicate with the Terrians. Should you or I go with him?"
Devon started and said, "I'll go. You stay here and help keep things running. Danziger should go with us too. We'll need someone to help Julia with lifting, and he can keep any equipment she needs in good shape. Would you mind going to tell him?"
Yale nodded and left the tent.
At sunrise, Julia, Devon, Uly and Danziger were already in the 'Rail and moving toward the caves. They left a subdued camp behind them.
They arrived at the cave after a quiet trip. Uly dozed lightly in the back seat with Devon, while Julia silently urged the 'Rail forward from the front passenger seat. Danziger had given her a pat on the shoulder as they met at the vehicle in the dark, quiet camp, and said, "We'll get there as soon as we can, Julia. I promise you that." She had nodded briefly but said nothing, and Danziger could feel the tension and fear radiating out from her. He had once been in the same position, and knew that false hopes were foolish and hurtful. Unable to think of anything honest that he was willing to say, he left her to her own thoughts.
Danziger had insisted on trying to reach Alonzo by gear, but had gotten no response. He still harbored hopes that the message was a mistake, but those evaporated when the 'Rail was met at the cave entrance by two Terrians. They trilled at them before the vehicle had completely stopped.
Uly said quietly from the back seat, "Julia, they want you to follow them. They'll take you to Alonzo."
Julia nodded, grabbed her smaller med-bags and hopped out of the vehicle. Danziger helped Uly and Devon out, and the three of them followed Julia into the cave.
Alonzo wasn't in his cavern but was 'lying' in the Terrian bed. He was standing in the rock wall itself, surrounded by a yellow glow. Danziger was suddenly reminded of an old painting he had once seen of the battered body of a martyred saint surrounded by a halo. Julia, having seen the Terrian bed, was more interested in the man, but Danziger and Devon looked at the bed with wonder. Alonzo was pale, shivering and sweat-soaked and muttered fitfully in the dim light. Julia ran her diaglove over him, then grimly turned toward the others. "He is running a very high fever, and is dehydrated. It looks like it has been some time since he last ate or drank. Uly, can we move him into his room?"
Uly turned to the Terrians and trilled. He listened intently to their reply, his head cocked to one side. Devon tried to ignore the pit in her stomach that she always felt when her son acted like a Terrian.
"No, we can't move him. They say that he is still on the dreamplane. If we force him out of it, he will lose a piece of himself. He has to stay here until he leaves the dreamplane by himself."
The Terrians trilled again. "They said that a human was once pulled out of the dreamplane without wanting to leave, and he..." Uly paused to think of the right word. "He went mad, I think. He lost a piece of himself, that's what they said."
Once again the Terrians spoke. Uly turned back to Julia and added, "The reason it was hard to get the message is that Alonzo is having nightmares on the dreamplane. The Terrians can't use it the way they want to. They don't like that."
Danziger couldn't help but snort at that. Here they demanded Alonzo come learn how to "dream" properly, then complained when he dominated the dreamplane! But he kept his thoughts to himself. The first order of business was to get Alonzo well. Any political gripes could wait. He turned to Julia, "So, what can we do to help?"
"We need to get his fever down, and to administer some rehydrating caps. Do you think you could rig a stand for an IV?"
"Sure thing Doc. I'll go start on it now if you don't need me for anything else."
"I've got some rehydrating caps here. I'll need my big bag out of the 'Rail soon, though." She nodded as Danziger turned to walk back to the vehicle, "and Devon, help me strip him as best we can. We may need to cool him down with water. In the meantime, hand me one of the fever-reducing derm-apps in my case. Uly, ask the Terrians how we can get in touch with them if we need them. It sounds like the dreamplane won't work."
Having set everyone else in motion, Julia turned back to Alonzo. Her heart ached as she looked at him. He had lost even more weight and the bones on his face cast unfamiliar shadows in the glow of the bed. She tried to pull herself together. Alonzo needed her medical skills now; she would just have to bury her despair. She applied the derm-app that Devon handed her, then started to infuse the rehydrating caps.
Back at the camp, the mood was somber. Yale had informed the remaining crew members about the crises after Danziger had called on gear to confirm that Alonzo was indeed sick, or as the mechanic bluntly put it:
"Yale, he's in pretty bad shape. I hope Julia will be able to pull him out of this, but it's not gonna be easy." His expression was serious in the gear image.
"You will let us know if there is anything we can do. I guess I should tell the rest of the crew."
"Yeah, do that. Hey, tell True that I asked you to look after her. Try to keep her on her usual schedule. She's gonna miss Uly too."
"All right John. Will you be able to check in regularly on gear?"
"I'll get Devon to do that. The gear doesn't work inside the caves, and if we get real busy, you might not hear from us for a while, but we'll keep you informed as best we can."
"Understood. Yale out."
Many of the crew had gotten far less sleep than they needed, and all of them were worried but had no way to do anything to help. Everyone was keyed up, tense and bored, all at the same time, reminding Yale of the atmosphere in a hospital waiting room. Yale was busy trying to keep True occupied and focused on her lessons. Without Uly to spur her into competition, she was drifting off into daydreams. Finally, Yale sent her off to take a nap. Her sleep had been cut short when the tutor had rousted her dad the previous night.
True lay in her cot, too excited to sleep. The sun was shining brightly through the walls of the tent, and she could hear a quiet murmur of voices and noises outside. Gradually, however, her eyes began to shut.
Suddenly, True could see a young boy, just about her age, and a tall man in front of her. The boy looked up at the man with fear in his eyes.
"No sir. I didn't do it! I don't know who did."
The man smiled sadistically, "Young Waverly says you did. Are you calling him a liar?"
True could feel the fear and panic in the boy as he said, "I didn't do it sir. I don't know why he says I did."
"Listen, Solace, I think you did. And I am going to act on that belief. I have already called your mother to come pick you up, but first I want you to bend down and touch your toes. Believe me son, this is going to hurt you more than me." The man laughed, an unpleasant grating sound, while satisfaction shone in his eyes. He pulled out a wicked looking bat with a flat end, and started to hit the boy with it.
True was horrified. She could feel how much it hurt the boy, almost as if she was being hit herself. The boy was trying not to cry, but tears had welled up in his dark brown eyes, tears of anger and pain.
True sat up suddenly with a gasp, back in the bright and homey tent she shared with her dad. What was that? She didn't have nightmares, at least not very often, and when she did, they weren't about other people, but about her. That did it, she would not go back to sleep unless someone else stayed in her tent with her.
End of Chapter 3.
Comments always enthusiastically received at howard@drmail.dr.att.com.
"Perchance to Dream", Part 4
Maxine McBrinn
By mid-morning, Alonzo was stable, but he was still delirious. His fever remained high, although it had dropped somewhat through the application of the derm-apps and through water cooling. Devon was working by Julia's side, applying wet compresses to the top of the pilot's head. Working with a vertical patient was proving difficult, but they had developed several work-arounds.
Alonzo was tossing his head back and forth and muttering, "No. No. Please . . ., I didn't . . ." He was unaware of the women who were caring for him, absorbed instead with the shadows in his mind.
Danziger pulled Devon to one side of the small chamber they were working in. He had brought Julia the rest of her medical supplies, rigged an IV stand to supply Alonzo with fluids and nourishment, and started to set up Alonzo's room for their use. "Hey Devon, I told Yale we'd try to keep them informed of what is happening here. Listen, if there is nothing else I can do at the moment, Uly and I thought we'd take a nap while things are fairly quiet."
"Good idea. I'll come get you if we need any help. In the meantime, Uly could really use some rest. He's been sleepwalking all morning."
"Yeah, I noticed. When we wake up, I think you and Julia should consider resting too. It looks like this might be a long haul."
Devon glanced over at Julia, who was sitting staring at Alonzo and chewing on her lower lip. She lowered her voice a bit to reply. "Okay, I'll work on getting her used to the idea. I'm not sure she's going to be happy leaving him in someone else's care, even for a short time."
Julia turned to her as Danziger left, "I need to take a blood sample to see if I can isolate what is causing this. Can you watch him while I work on that?"
"No problem." Devon smiled with secret relief. "Where do you want to set up your equipment?"
"I'll do it outside for right now. I could use the light, and it's nice and warm today. More importantly, working outside will lessen the chance of any of us contracting whatever it is from the sample."
Julia efficiently took a sample and walked down the passage with it, leaving Devon to care for Alonzo.
Danziger and Uly lay on the sleeping bags that now covered most of the floor in Alonzo's room. Neither of them had any problem falling asleep, they were both exhausted. Uly lay quietly, his eyebrows contracting occasionally in response to his dreams while Danziger groaned and twitched in his sleep.
Danziger became aware of standing in the shadows watching as a slightly younger Alonzo peacefully slept in a cold sleep capsule. The ship he was on looked old, maybe even as old as the Venus-class cruiser in which they had found Elizabeth and Bennett. The edges of each item about him were sharply defined, as if the image was being projected by a high quality laser system. Danziger felt like he was an audience for a play, not a part of the action but privy to what happened. He started when he felt a small hand slip into his. Uly looked up at him and smiled.
"Mr. Danziger, we're on the dreamplane. This was what the Terrians were upset about."
"What? You and I are together on the dreamplane? Why?"
"This is Alonzo's dream. The sunstones in the cave make the 'plane very strong here."
"What should we do?" Danziger was not happy with this turn of events.
"Nothing. It's okay. We're just sleeping."
At that moment, the figure of Alonzo began to shiver inside the capsule. John and Uly felt cold, a deep cold that quickly penetrated to their bones and made them shiver too.
"What the hell... Uly, what's going on?"
"I don't know, it's so cold. I think Alonzo woke up inside."
Danziger felt claustrophobic, he had to get free. . . out. Alonzo's eyes opened, and his fear at being trapped was palpable. They felt him trying to summon the energy to move his arms, to escape the freezing capsule. Their arms and legs ached with cold and an inability to move. They shivered and shook in unison. The pain in their limbs mounted as their breath froze in their lungs and their hearts labored to move their slushy blood. A bellow of pain and loneliness rose from the figure in the capsule.
"Damn it Uly! What can we do? We can't stay here!"
"Hold my hand. I'll wake us up."
"Do it!"
The two of them came awake at the same instant in the cavern, panting still with the effort to breathe in the icy air of the dream. Uly had huddled into a small ball in his efforts to warm himself. Danziger had pulled the sleeping bag he had been lying on over on top of himself and was now shivering for real on the cool dirt floor.
"Damn!" Danziger breathed. "What was that?"
"Let's go see Alonzo. Maybe he's still there."
Danziger levered himself up and then extended a hand to Uly. Hand in hand they walked down the passageway to Alonzo. The pilot was a sorry sight as he shivered and groaned, "Out! Please, somebody, let me out."
Devon was trying to calm down the panicked sick man, but was having no effect. She looked up at her son and John as they walked in.
"Are you two okay? You both look like you've seen a ghost. I thought you were napping."
"We were, until a bad dream woke us. It seems that Alonzo's dreams are contagious. Uly and I just watched him wake up in a cold sleep capsule and not be able to get out. It looks like he's still there." Danziger nodded toward toward the still struggling man.
Julia's cool voice behind them said, "It's his first cold sleep. The capsule malfunctioned and he woke up 5 days early. He said he couldn't get out and he couldn't get back to sleep." She walked over to Alonzo and tenderly brushed the damp hair off his brow.
Danziger stared first at Julia and then at Alonzo, astonishment on his face. "You mean he went back and did it again after *that* ? He's more nuts than I thought. Man, I don't think I'll ever be able to lie down in a cold sleep chamber again. I still feel cold, and Uly and I weren't there with him for long at all, especially if he spent five days in that hell!" He rubbed his hands over his face. "Well, if this keeps up, sleep's gonna be lots of fun. Fly-boy there definitely dreams great nightmares."
"Julia," Devon hurried to change the subject, "do you have any results yet?"
The doctor turned to face them again. "Yes. It looks like Alonzo's illness may be caused by a virus. Like everything else on this planet, it is not at all like anything I ever saw on the stations. I don't think any of my anti-viral medications will work, though I'll try them anyway. If we can get more Grendler saliva, I'd like to try that. It may be our best shot."
"I'm sure Morgan and Bess will want to give it a try. I'll go call them on gear now. The camp will be glad to hear that there is some hope." Devon stopped abruptly, aware of her slip, but Julia had turned back toward her patient and was examining Alonzo as if she hadn't heard the last sentence. Danziger and Devon glanced at each other, he nodded toward the entrance, and she left in that direction.
"Julia," Danziger put his hand on the small of the doctor's back, "is there something I can do to help?"
She turned away from her patient to look into his face and suddenly he could see her exhaustion and fear. "Thanks John. Maybe you and Uly could just keep me company for now? I don't think I want to be alone."
He nodded, and turning to Uly said, "Hey Champ. Go get us a sleeping bag to sit on. Okay?"
End of Chapter 4.
Send any comments to Maxine (howard@drmail.dr.att.com).
"Perchance to Dream", Part 5
Maxine McBrinn
I saw all the parts but this one come through, so thought I'd repost. (Watch, the second I send this, Chapter 5 will appear!)
That evening, the winter camp felt deserted. Almost half their number was gone now that Morgan and Bess had left to find Grendlers to trade with. Baines had noticed Grendler paths a couple of miles away, and had helped the Martins set up camp near that area earlier that afternoon. Bess and Morgan were hoping to be able to find a trading partner the next day, pleased that their individual skills might help.
Magus was resting in her tent, since she had guard duty later that night, which left only seven gathered for dinner. Conversation lagged, everyone was tired and worried about Alonzo, about this new virus, and about the Terrians, but mostly about how unpredictable life was on this planet. Alonzo's illness underscored the fears they carried with them always.
Magus, in her tent, fretted and fidgeted, worried that she would be unable to fall asleep. Guard duty always torqued her internal clock. She could hear the dinner discussions, and then the sounds of the kitchen clean-up. Eventually, though, her eyelids drooped shut and she drifted off.
She was standing in an arid landscape that looked a bit like some of the scenery they had passed through the first year. A light warm breeze ruffled her hair as she stood on a red-stone bluff under a noon sun. Below the steep embankment she stood on was a make-shift camp of sun-shelters and tents. Some people were huddled behind cargo cases and barrels, in front of a red TransRover. With shock, she recognized the group as her own. Now that she knew who they were, she realized that Alonzo was squatting with a mag-pro just below her, and noticed he and Julia exchanging glances. Julia was huddled with a small group of colonists, Devon, Walman and Martin. Suddenly, Julia tore off her gear and bolted into the open. Magus felt a terrible deja vu when she saw Julia grab a mag-pro out of her own hands, and stand waving the gun in the air above her head. Magus knew this time and place, and she didn't want to visit it again.
"Hey Z.E.D., take me I've got a gun! Alonzo, get down!"
Magus felt dismay and confusion from every direction. Alonzo slowly stood up below her,
"Julia, get down! Get down!"
"Alonzo, please, get down! Alonzo!"
Zero was intoning, "I have a projectile approaching," when suddenly, Magus felt a sharp pain in her right thigh. She cried out and grabbed her leg in pain and fear. Below her, Alonzo bellowed in pain while Julia ran toward him shouting,
"Oh God, Alonzo. Alonzo!"
Julia grabbed Alonzo's waist and maneuvered her shoulder under his arm as she helped him to the Medtent. Magus, absorbed in her own pain and confusion, suddenly found herself in the tent with them, although neither of them noticed her. Julia gave the wounded pilot a pain-block, at which, as suddenly as it started, her own pain left. She watched along with Alonzo as Julia swiftly removed the still moving bullet. Walman had joined them in the Medtent before Julia began the operation, and he escorted Julia out to safely destroy the projectile. Magus could feel Alonzo's anxiety when Julia was out of his sight, and she suddenly felt a great distrust for Walman. Walman had not been at all sympathetic to Julia the night before last, but now he walked next to her, his hand on her back. Alonzo hated Walman, and he was jealous of him, knowing all the while that neither of these emotions was justified. At the same time, the pain block began to wear off and his/her thigh throbbed red hot.
"How are you feeling?" Julia had come in to check on Alonzo, who took one look at her and said,
"You're nuts, you know. What were you doing out there?"
Magus was just as mystified as Alonzo. What the hell had the doctor been doing? She was stunned and pleased at the reply.
"I just couldn't lose you. No one ever believed in me like you did today. That you came back for me..."
Magus wondered how she could feel love for another woman. Julia just wasn't her type... She had lived with the woman for well over a year, traveled with her, bathed with her, and had never given her beauty more than a passing, envious thought.
While she was pondering this, the scene suddenly changed again. Alonzo was sitting in the ATV, Julia by his side, in the post dusk hour that always seemed so dark, when they heard a shout of pain and terror. Julia started toward the sound, moving quickly into the brush while Alonzo grabbed for her and shouted, "Heller! No!"
Magus felt his fear and frustration. He did not want her going by herself. No, he didn't want her going at all! But he was helpless to stop her, his right leg once again making him useless. He hated not being mobile, not being able to do as he wanted, having to allow others to do for him. And now, the first woman he had ever loved, really loved, had put herself in extreme danger, and there was nothing he could do about it. Self-disgust filled his mind and fear tightened his chest until he thought he'd never breathe again.
Magus could hear Julia talking to the Z.E.D. as she maneuvered close enough to use the sedative, and she could hear the Z.E.D.'s flat emotionless responses. The fear in her gut roiled, demanding some action, but, like Alonzo, she was powerless to react. Then Julia cried out in pain down the hill in the darkness.
Magus had not been with the group that had captured the Z.E.D., but she recognized the action from the descriptions she had heard. Baines and Julia had returned with broken bones, but with a sedated Z.E.D. and, most importantly, with a live Danziger. Knowing the ultimate outcome didn't seem to mitigate the intense emotions she felt. Why? And why was she dreaming about it, and why now? And with that thought she drifted back to real sleep.
Walman came in to wake her a short time later for her guard shift, and was surprised at the animosity she showed at being wakened.
"What? Walman, what the hell do you want?
"Uh, sorry Magus. It's your turn at guard duty. You asked me to wake you up. Remember?" He said defensively.
She sat up and rubbed her face, then ran her hands through her blond curls. Only after all her hair was standing on end, did she look back up at him. "Oh, right. Sorry Walman. I was having the weirdest dream... All about the Z.E.D. attack our first autumn here. Alonzo and Julia - when he came back with her. It all felt like it should have been Alonzo's dream. It was so real... And the fear... Shank, what a nightmare!"
Uly sat on a sleeping bag in the small cavern where they had set up house, having a desultory conversation with his mother. Devon was cooking a simple stew on the stove, using the food reserves that Alonzo had not finished. Julia and Danziger were sitting with Alonzo. Devon knew that Julia needed company and reassurance, and planned to have either John or herself sit with the doctor whenever possible. Devon suddenly felt the ground tremble and noticed that the pot on the stove was shaking. Two Terrians appeared in the middle of the room as Uly stood, ready to talk to them. Devon had to steady the stove and pot which she had knocked in her surprise.
One of the Terrians began to trill, speaking to Uly. The boy listened carefully, his head cocked to one side, then turned to his mother.
"Mom, they say that Alonzo's nightmares are so strong that the people back in camp are seeing them too. They want us to tell the rest of the crew what is happening. They can tell that people are upset."
"Is there anything they can do to help us not share Alonzo's dreams? Is there anything they can do to help Alonzo be more comfortable? Maybe if he was having happy dreams, he would get well faster."
Uly turned back to the Terrians and began to speak and his mother's stomach tightened as she watched her son trill like a Terrian. The Terrians trilled in response then disappeared back into the earth.
Uly turned back to Devon and shrugged in frustration. "It is hard to say some of this, it would be easier to dream it, but the Terrians say they can't dream now. Alonzo's nightmares scare and confuse them. The emotions are too strong, too human. They don't know how to help us or Alonzo. They say that Alonzo is such a powerful dreamer now that they can't change what he is doing."
Devon hugged her son in thanks, while silently thanking the heavens for communications gear. She left Uly in charge of the stew while she went outside to tell the crew about the dreams.
"Devon to camp."
"Yale here. Yes Devon?"
"Yale, I felt I should warn you. Apparently Alonzo's dreams are powerful enough that they are saturating the dreamplane. The Terrians say that you might experience them there in the camp. John and Uly have already seen one here."
Yale looked somber. "Thanks for letting us know. That explains the nightmare True had when she took her nap. She says she won't sleep alone again until her father returns. Will we all see them when we sleep?"
"I don't know, but it's a possibility. You should warn people to expect them. Unfortunately, Alonzo's dreams all seem to be frightening so far. John was pretty disturbed by his."
"I'll let the folks here know. Thanks for the warning. Is there anything you need? Or that we can do? How is Alonzo?"
Devon just shook her head.
"You'll let us know if something comes up? Yale out."
Devon thoughtfully removed her gear and turned to go back inside. Life on this planet never ceased to surprise her.
End of Chapter 5.
Comments? Send them to: howard@drmail!dr.att.com
"Perchance to Dream", Part 6
Maxine McBrinn
Morgan was happy to have Bess to himself for a change. When they were in camp, she was always worrying about everyone else, but now she had only Morgan to look after, and he was enjoying the attention. Bess had made a quick dinner from the camp supplies they had brought with them, and was now getting the bedding ready for the night. She had mentioned being worried about Alonzo a couple of dozen times, but Morgan had no doubts that he could distract her from that worry for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow, when they found a Grendler, they would be doing all they could to help him anyway. Tonight, she could concentrate on Morgan.
"Morgan, honey, are you ready for bed?" Bess called out from the tent.
"Sweetie, you know I'm always ready for bed when you're there to share it with me. I've already closed up out here." Morgan climbed into the tent as he spoke.
Later that night, Morgan and Bess were snuggled into the blankets and each other, sleeping soundly. Morgan found himself standing by a grave with Bess and the rest of the crew. The scene was sharp, all the colors saturated. *Laser Telecast* he thought to himself. The grave marker said "Eben Sinh," and suddenly, Morgan knew where he was.
Morgan rolled over and groaned, pulling the blankets off of Bess, who pulled back on them without fully waking up. She sank back into her dream of the Eve-virus.
The colonists were sitting at the camp after the funeral, deciding on what to do.
"We've been here for eight days, and we've been sick for six. I say we move on while we can." Danziger was saying.
Morgan suddenly noticed himself in the group when Julia walked up. "And our only doctor doesn't have a clue..."
"Shut it Morgan, or you won't have to worry about withering away!" Alonzo's voice carried raw emotion, disgust on the surface, and deeper, love and hate. Morgan was amazed to feel the irritation directed toward himself. Where was that coming from?
The scene changed to the caravan as the TransRover stopped unexpectedly and refused to start again. Bess saw the dream Morgan point to the Earth Ship. "Look there!" Suddenly, the air was charged with excitement and desire. A Venus class cruiser, how she had loved to fly those ships! Bess knew that something was wrong here. This wasn't her dream, it couldn't be. What was happening? She followed the dream Alonzo as he opened the hatch and started down the steps, the actions felt so familiar, like she had done this hundreds of times before. Alonzo ramped up the power in the ship with no hesitation, and Bess could feel his satisfaction and affection for the ship, and then his surprise as Julia found people in the cold sleep chamber.
As Devon collapsed at the feet of Bennett and Elizabeth, Morgan felt more concern for Uly than for his own personal reaction. The boy was not going to take this well, and needed to be sheltered as much as possible.
With a speed that made her dizzy, Bess found herself looking down on Alonzo as he woke up to find himself in the Medtent. Julia was putting a blanket over him, and tenderly pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Bess could feel how much Alonzo loved Julia, his concern for how tired and ill she looked, and his fear that he was now another burden on her. When Julia walked toward the ship with Elizabeth, his concern for her became acute, and Bess had to fight down panic when she disappeared into the ship. Julia's reappearance after the pain that so brutally attacked them brought Alonzo great relief. But Elizabeth's last words were confusing and frightening.
Morgan watched Devon's collapse with fear and uncertainty, and felt a great emptiness as the caravan pulled out, leaving the woman who had brought them all to this point in a fragile cold sleep.
Morgan and Bess fought their way out of sleep together, and sat up gasping in the tent. Outside, it was completely dark and cold, with no night sounds to reassure them where they were. Bess put her hand up to her cheek while Morgan ran a hand through his hair.
"Bess, I just had the strangest dream..." Morgan began once his breathing had calmed enough to talk.
"I did too. Was yours about the Eve virus?"
Morgan nodded and Bess threw her arms around him. "From Alonzo's perspective?" Morgan asked, and this time Bess nodded. "What the hell is going on?"
Julia and Danziger were sitting on the sleeping bag with their backs against the stone walls of the cave. Alonzo was still feverish and delirious; there had been no real change in his condition, except that he was no longer dehydrated. He had not regained consciousness and was, they assumed, still on the dreamplane. Julia was falling asleep, her head nodding even as she fought to stay awake. John put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight shake. "Hey, Doc."
"John?" She sat up and looked at him in alarm. "Is Alonzo all right?"
"No change Julia. Listen, you should get some sleep. You're not going to be much use to him if you're so tired you can't think straight. I can stay here with him and wake you if there is any change."
"I know. But I want to stay with him a bit longer. I'll catch some sleep later."
John looked up at their patient. He was in the same clothes they had found him in, sweat-soaked and dirty as they were. Devon had tried to change them earlier, but the Terrian bed defeated her efforts. His black hair looked even darker now, damp with sweat and cool compresses, further emphasising in the dim light of the sunstones and bed how ashen his face had become. The hollows on his face, amplified by his weight loss, were sunk in shadow while his eyes looked bruised and his lips were cracked and dry. He was a sad sight, and John was not at all confident that Julia would be able to save him. He had never seen anyone look so sick, not even Les and Alex before they died. Worse, Julia and he listened to a constant delirious mumble as Alonzo wrestled with his nightmares. There seemed to be no respite on the dreamplane; no sooner had Alonzo finished one dream than he began the next. John had no desire to sleep again if it meant joining the pilot in his worst memories. Once was definitely enough.
Julia followed John's eyes to Alonzo, then nodded at John. "I just wish we could let him sleep peacefully. These dreams are placing a great strain on him, and he can't take much more."
John put his big hand over her slim, cool one as it rested on the sleeping bag. "Julia, the Martins will bring the Grendler drool tomorrow morning. He just has to hold on a little bit longer.
"I know John. There isn't much more we can do for him until they arrive. None of my standard anti-viral medicines had any effect at all. All we can do is continue to keep him hydrated and to keep the fever as low as possible. At least those are working. Even so, he may have permanent damage if we can't lower his temperature to a safer level soon." She sighed and stretched. "If you don't mind, I'm going to stretch my legs and grab another cup of coffee. Let me know if there is any change." John could see the immense effort she was making to keep control in front of him. He waved her to go on. She needed the break.
Julia peeked in on Devon and Uly as she walked outside. They were both sleeping soundly.
End of Chapter 6.
Maxine (howard@drmail.dr.att.com)
"Perchance to Dream", Part 7
Maxine McBrinn
Baines had just drifted off to sleep when he found himself back at a camp they had made the first fall on the planet. He saw Julia walk into Alonzo's tent where he was still in bed. As she spoke to him, Alonzo didn't even turn to look at her.
"I adjusted your brace so it won't hurt so much... Alonzo, are you okay?"
"Doc, you've got to hibernate me. You can wake me up when we get to New Pacifica. . . . at least until my leg heals."
"How old are you?" Julia bent toward him.
"One Hundred and nine, a hundred and ten . . ." He inclined his head toward her, but didn't roll over to see her.
"And since cold sleep training, what's the longest you've been awake?"
"The last few weeks. And it's been hell. You've got to put me under."
"You're depressed."
"Thanks for the diagnosis, doctor. Will you do it?"
"Alonzo, even if I had the equipment, no one is going to want to drag you, sleeping, across the planet. It can't be done, it shouldn't be done."
The scene changed abruptly to the communications tent. Alonzo was struggling with the crutches and his brace, and fell to the floor.
"Alonzo, are you okay."
"I don't want you or your help!" He threw the brace across the tent.
". . . Get these creatures out of my head. . ."
"I would if I could. . ."
"Boy, they sure forgot the bedside manner chromosome when they made you, didn't they!" Alonzo was deliberately needling the doctor. He hated her, or at least he hated his dependence on her. ". . . Go away then, I don't need you. . ." He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she did just that.
And suddenly, Baines saw Alonzo driving wildly, deliberately aiming to go over a cliff, his adrenaline high. A Terrian popped up in front of him, forcing the pilot to avoid him, and causing the ATV to roll, throwing Alonzo out of the vehicle, unconscious.
Baines groaned and rolled over in his cot. He was horrified at what he was seeing. Alonzo just tried to kill himself! He had never known.
Baines saw the dreamplane as the Terrians controlled it. Outlines were hazy as Alonzo found himself in a cave. The pilot was surprised and pleased to see Lydia, a friend from the Garconia Starbase. When she disappeared and was replaced by an old woman, he was confused. "Where did she go?" he asked.
"She became me. She got married, had children, had a life, got older."
"That part of life is not for me. . . the getting old part."
"But that's all there is, love, . . . The seconds, the minutes, the hours. The years. It's a beautiful ride . . . The best you'll ever take"
Alonzo woke up in pain, but saw the ATV and knew that he had to return to camp. He crawled to the vehicle, and drove back to his tent, getting there shortly before Julia burst in.
"You're up early." Alonzo sat on his cot.
"I'm up early! Alonzo, you've had the entire camp in an uproar. What happened to the ATV? What happened to your forehead?"
"I don't know. I went for a ride . . . I wiped out or something . . . Julia, I had a dream."
"And were the Terrians in it?"
He nodded, "Yes, and I don't know. . . but I feel like I've been healed. I'm healed." He had found the word he had been searching for. He knew now what had happened to him.
"Well, I hate to tell you, but your leg still looks as broken as ever." Julia knelt to examine his right leg closer. In fact, it looked worse, the wreck itself had injured it, and the bandage surrounding the splint was now dirty and bloody.
Alonzo grinned, showing his dimples for the first time in what seemed like weeks, "I know."
As Julia got up to get new bandage material, he looked back up at her, "Julia . . ." She stopped and looked back at him, "I'm sorry."
She nodded and started out, only to pause and look back at him, "I'm sorry too."
Baines felt the warmth Alonzo harbored for his doctor, and for the Terrians, who cared for him. The monsters he had thought were forcing themselves into his head had saved his life, and more importantly, his sanity. The isolation he felt from rest of the crew was bearable as long as he had Julia and the Terrians on his side.
Baines woke abruptly, but lay still, considering what he had just seen. Thinking back, he could remember how he and Walman had laughed at Alonzo as he moodily circled the camp in the ATV. At that time, he had been surprised at how poorly the brash and cocky pilot had adapted to life on the planet. The Alonzo he knew now was yet a third man, a mix of the exuberant hot-shot pilot with a more sober, spiritual man who had emerged from his suicide attempt. Baines could remember the change as Alonzo had come to peace with the Terrians and began to accept his new life rather than looking back to what he had lost. At the time, he had not realized how much of a shift in thinking it had required or how little support Alonzo had gotten from anyone but Julia. Why had the rest of the crew not noticed his isolation? Why hadn't he?
Devon was living the crash once more, but this time through Alonzo's eyes. The ship was bucking and straining as the cargo pods pulled it to its doom. He had tried every trick he could think of to sever the ties to the cargo pods and was beginning to realize, through his adrenaline rush, that he would not succeed. O'Neill shouted, "Give her up, Solace! She's going down!" Alonzo struggled to get out of his seat, wriggling past the safety straps.
"Stupid woman!" he thought as he vaulted over the rail to urge Julia to the escape pods. He threw a handful of medicines into the bag, then grabbed her and the bag and dragged them toward the pod, terrified, all of a sudden, that the last pod would not wait for them. The halls were empty of all life as he and the doctor were thrown from side to side, fighting to get to safety. He was grateful that the pod had not left when they reached the end of that endless walk, and he put Julia into the jump seat. He knew that he was more likely to survive the battering from not being secured than she.
The descent was awful. He was bounced off the walls and the floor of the pod, banging his head and limbs as they fell to the planet. Finally his world was still, and he sat gasping, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead into his eyes. He was too tired and too shocked to feel anything at suddenly being on the planet surface.
Julia's insistence that he allow her to check his injuries was an irritation, he had more important things to worry about. His ship... How could he not have saved it? His heart was breaking. So he was stunned, unable to think through the implications when she asked him about taking a bone-healing vaccine.
Then came the surreal experience of Julia and three of the largest survivors trying to straighten his leg. They pulled and puffed while, in the middle, he was just an object to be manipulated. Because of the pain block, he knew what was happening but could feel nothing. In fact, he was numb all over, body and mind. Julia finally slipped a splint on either side of his right leg and wrapped it tight, and he was placed on a blanket to rest, just like a child, and Julia sedated him. He felt dependent and helpless and surrounded by strangers, and far off, beyond the shock, he was scared. Worse, he woke in the middle of the night, under the strange light of two moons, to a dull throbbing pain that filled his whole being with its beat. Julia was watching and slipped another seda-derm onto his arm before he even knew what was happening.
Devon rolled over in her sleep and pulled at the blanket, but didn't wake. On the dreamplane, Uly walked up to his mother, aware that she was finding this dream painful. Devon looked down, startled to feel the small hand slip into hers.
"Uly, is this one of Alonzo's dreams?"
He nodded solemnly. "Yes Mom."
"And all the emotions, are they his?"
"Most of them, but you can feel yours too."
"What can we do? Should we wake up? Does he know we're here?"
"He doesn't know we're here. He's not trying to control the dreamplane, he just is. I can wake you up, but until Alonzo's better, any time we sleep we'll see his dreams. This is one of the problems the Terrians are having. They feel his dream emotions, and it is strange and uncomfortable for them. I think they won't dream again until he stops. Do you want me to wake you?"
"No. No, Uly. I think I better just deal with it. Maybe we can figure out how to help him if we watch. This time the dreamplane is very different from the time Alonzo and I came here to get you back, when the Terrians healed you. It is more colorful this time, and the emotion . . ."
"I know Mom. Alonzo is human, so his dreams are different."
Devon looked back to Alonzo, just in time to see his first Terrian dream, and feel his confusion and terror. He didn't dream, especially not about monsters. The dream must have been caused by the medicine Julia kept giving him.
He lay on the hammock that had been rigged for him, aware that around him people scurried to get things done, and that no one looked for him to do anything. He was useless. Worse, he was an extra burden that had to be dealt with. Only Julia paid any attention to him at all, and she made him feel helpless, she saw only his need.
The terror of the dreams continued, to become worse when he realized that the creatures were real, and that they were talking to him. Then Uly disappeared and Terrians surrounded the camp, and finally Alonzo could stay quiet no longer. "Julia! Julia!" He called for the one person his world had contracted down to. She came and insisted that he would have to get involved. He had known that she would say that, and didn't object, but he *didn't* want to see the creatures any more. Devon taking the sedative took him off the hook, but Julia put him right back on it. He listened to the Terrians, tried hard to understand what they wanted, and tried to make Devon understand as well. But she surged ahead, making unknown promises from all of them to save her son. Uly was saved, and Alonzo was happy about that, and pleased to have been some help. But he was determined to never again allow the creatures into his head again. Never.
Devon woke, aware that Uly beside her was still asleep. That was just as well. She needed to think through Alonzo's dream. Why hadn't she realized how hard those first days were on him, and what courage it had taken to dream with her to save Uly? She must have been in shock herself to have been so unobservant.
In camp, Mazatl and Walman ran into each other as they stumbled out of their tents in the middle of the night.
"Man, I just had a shanking nightmare!" Walman moaned to Magus, who was still on guard.
"Hey, me too," Mazatl looked at his friend rubbing his face with his hands. "Was it about the crash?"
"Yeah, and Alonzo. What the hell is going on?"
"Hey guys. Yale came out a while ago after talking to Devon. Apparently we're seeing Alonzo's dreams. He's stuck on the dreamplane until he gets better, and the 'plane is really strong here. Quite a trip, huh? I saw one earlier about the Z.E.D."
"Yeah, you really snapped at me when I woke you up!"
"Well, from Alonzo's perspective, you weren't very nice to Julia. He was kinda ticked at you."
"What? And that's why *you* yelled at me?" Walman's face reflected his unhappiness. "I think I'll just stay awake until Ol' 'Lonz stops dreaming."
"The Martin's better come through with that drool soon." Mazatl agreed. "I'm with you. Hey Magus, want me to take your place? I'm wide awake now."
"No way Mazatl. It's my watch. Feel free to keep me company, but I'm staying put." Magus said firmly.
End of Chapter 7.
Maxine (howard@drmail.dr.att.com)
"Perchance to Dream", Part 8
Maxine McBrinn
Julia was relieved when Morgan and Bess charged into the cave the next morning, waving a thermos of what she hoped was Grendler saliva.
"We got it! But I've got to tell you that fly-boy owes us big for this one. That Grendler was a tough bargainer!" Morgan was exuberant in his excitement.
Bess followed closely behind her husband, smiling and happy. She took Julia's hand in both of hers, "We're in time, right?"
"Yes. I'm so glad to see you. Here, give it to me. I'll go process it." She grabbed the thermos and hurried off with it, leaving the Martins looking blankly at each other.
Devon moved to reassure them, taking Bess' still extended hand in hers. "I hope this works. He's in pretty bad shape, and you two are our only hope."
"Where is Alonzo?" Morgan asked.
"He's down the hall a bit. John's with him now."
"Can we see him?"
"I don't see why not. Follow me."
Morgan and Bess meekly followed her into the small cavern where Alonzo still lay in the Terrian bed. The pilot looked no different, although John and Devon knew that he was rapidly losing strength. But Morgan and Bess were aghast at the condition they found him in. His pallor, bruised eyes, and the dramatic way the hollows on his face were lit in the room were shocking, but even that wasn't as bad as the constant insane murmur of his delirium. John stood as they entered the room, and shook both their hands warmly.
"I've got to tell you that you are the best thing I've seen in a couple of days. You did get it, right?"
Bess nodded. "Julia is processing it now. John, you look exhausted! Has it really been bad here?" Her expressive face was unhappy.
John looked at her wryly, "Actually, after sharing one dream with 'Lonz here, I wasn't in the mood to see any others."
"God, I told you it had something to do with Alonzo, Bess!" Morgan turned toward Devon and John, "We were sharing the same dreams all night, and they were always from Alonzo's perspective. What nightmares!"
Devon and John just nodded, too tired to explain the whole story. "We'll tell you all about it later. Let's just get him well first." Devon said wearily.
Bess' eyes widened as she and Morgan exchanged a glance, then she nodded. "Is there anything we can do to help here now?" she asked.
"We're just applying wet compresses to help keep his fever down. It doesn't require more than one person, but I'll happily turn it over to you if you want." John said.
Bess nodded, and took over the work while John walked out to stretch his legs and clean up. Devon and Morgan sat with her while she worked.
Julia came running into the small cavern a few minutes later, excitedly waving her hypo-spray. "It works! Bess, Morgan! It works!" She wrapped her arms around a very surprised Bess, then let go of her to hug Morgan. She let go of the bureaucrat, and walked over to Alonzo. "Well, here goes nothing," she said as she applied the serum to Alonzo's neck.
"How quickly will it work?" Devon asked quietly.
"We should see results within an hour."
"Okay. I guess we should keep applying the compresses?"
"Yes, until his fever breaks. But I can take over now. I'll let you know when I see a significant change in his status.
"Actually Julia, I'd like to sit with you, if you don't mind."
"Of course not Devon. You and John and Bess and Morgan have kept Alonzo alive. We're all part of the team."
An hour later, Alonzo's fever had begun to drop, as had his cerebral energy readings. Although he was still caught in the throes of a delirium, judging from his reactions this one was less threatening.
Cameron was surrounded by bright colors and sharp, well defined shapes. It was all so dazzling that he couldn't distinguish what he was looking at until his mind sorted the chaos into familiar images. Alonzo and Julia were in their tent, sharing a cot. As he unwillingly watched, Alonzo took Julia into his arms,
"Have I told you how beautiful you are yet today?"
Julia blushed and lowered her eyes, but a tell-tale smile crept onto the corners of her mouth. "'Lonzo, I love it when you tell me that, even if I don't agree. I still can't believe I deserve you."
"You don't, Doc. But you're stuck with me none-the-less." He bent over her and tenderly kissed her eyes, then worked his way across her brow to nuzzle her ear.
"Hey fly-boy, I *love* being stuck with you," she purred. She lifted her head to kiss his neck, then pulled his face toward her so she could press her lips to his. She moaned as he ran his hands down her side, and over her belly. He moved to caress the smooth skin on her back, and drew her even closer.
Julia ran her hands down his back and over his flanks, tugging him over her as she wrapped her legs around him. "I love you, 'Lonzo."
He groaned with pleasure as he captured her lips again with his, and deepened the kiss, catching her lower lip between his teeth.
Cameron groaned in his sleep, repelled and fascinated by what he was seeing. The shy man didn't want to see this at all . . .
Uly walked into the small room where Alonzo and the rest of the adults were, and stopped in the entrance. "Mom. Julia. I've been watching, and I think Alonzo can leave the dreamplane now. The Terrians think so too. Are you ready now?" He looked at Julia.
The doctor nodded at him. "Whenever you're ready, Uly."
Two Terrians appeared in the passageway outside the room, and walked over to Alonzo in the Terrian bed. Together, they and Uly dropped their heads in unison and entered the dreamplane.
Alonzo found himself standing in the Terrian caves on the dreamplane, shifted suddenly from his dream with Julia. As he stood, wondering what was happening, two Terrians and Uly appeared in front of him. Uly walked over to him and took the pilot's hand in his small one. As the boy stood there with him, one of the Terrians spoke.
"You are very tired. Do you want to leave the dreamplane now?"
And suddenly, Alonzo realized that he was tired, he was so tired that he didn't understand how he could still be standing. Grateful for their help, he nodded mutely.
Back in the physical world, Julia saw Alonzo's cerebral energy readings drop quickly to stabilize at readings consistent with normal sleep. She sighed in relief and turned to the others. "It looks like Uly and the Terrians were successful. Alonzo's in normal sleep now."
Uly and the Terrians raised their heads and looked at Alonzo. Uly nodded, "It worked. Now you can move him out of the bed and into his own." He looked at Danziger, who indicated that he was ready, and at Julia who also nodded, then took the pilot's hand once again, this time physically, and pulled gently.
Luckily Danziger was right there, because Alonzo collapsed limply out into the room. The big mechanic caught him easily, then cradled him in his arms like Alonzo was a child. "He has lost a lot of weight, he weighs nothing. Martin, bring the IV stand." Morgan grabbed the stand as Danziger moved toward the corridor, and the two of them walked in tandem to Alonzo's room, where Danziger gently lay the sick man on the pallet they had prepared for him earlier.
Julia shouldered her way to her patient, and scanned him thoroughly. "His temperature is normal, his respiration is fine. He's just very weak now, and will need a lot of time to recover. We need to be sure that all the rest of us take the serum soon, just in case this virus is contagious." Her gloved hand was still resting on the pilot's arm when she suddenly felt his muscles contract. She examined his arm more closely and found that his muscles were cramping. The rest of his body quickly followed. "Damn! Devon, hand me my bag. He's got severe muscle cramping, probably caused by toxins that built up while he was unable to move in that bed. I'm giving him a muscle relaxant, which should help, but we may need to massage him to help move the toxins out." She applied the medication while she spoke, and those clustered around her could see the pilot relax under its influence.
A small group of unhappy people were silently clustered around the fire in the center of camp. Their eyes were red and heavy, and their faces clearly showed exhaustion and dismay. They looked up when Yale came out the the common room and walked over to them.
"It's over. The Martins were successful, and the Grendler saliva worked."
"Does that mean we can sleep now without being forced to see Alonzo's dreams?" Walman asked belligerently?
"Yes, Walman, it does. Devon tells me that it will be a while before Alonzo is strong enough to make the trip back to camp. That will allow us to catch up on our sleep."
"You know, Walman," Baines began, "Alonzo doesn't have any more control over when the Terrians come into his dreams than we did just now."
"Shank! Just shut it Baines! At least they don't dream continuously, do they? Huh?" Walman stuck his face in Baines'.
"We don't know that, do we? It sure did seem like he had a dream every night at times there, and he looked tired, and we didn't care. All I'm saying is that we need to be a little more appreciative of what he does for us."
"I'm not in the mood to hear it. God!" Walman got up and stalked off, heading for his tent.
"He'll feel better after he catches up on some sleep. You know Walman, he likes his Zs." Magus tried to smooth over the conflict.
"I thought the dreams were interesting. The dreamplane wasn't what I expected." Cameron spoke quietly. "It was like watching a holovid with piped in emotion. Is that what it's always like?"
"I don't know. I guess we could ask Uly." Yale had been watching the group, and thought that they needed to talk out some of what had happened before Alonzo got back. "I would guess that, as a human, Alonzo's dreams are different from the Terrians'."
"Yeah, one of the dreams I saw had a Terrian dream inside it, and it was different. There was less color, none of the clarity of Alonzo's memories." Several of the people sitting had seen the same dream as Baines, and although none of them wanted to discuss the content, which was just too painful, they did remember how different the Lydia dream looked from the rest.
"Yale, did you share the dreams too?" Magus asked quietly.
"Yes, I did. In fact, I probably saw most of them. They didn't upset me as much as they seem to have some people. I had already guessed a lot of what Alonzo dreamed."
"Maybe that's the problem. We feel like we should have already known most of this, but we didn't, and now we feel guilty." Mazatl seldom spoke, he was even more quiet than Cameron, but when he did, people listened.
"But you must also realize that what we saw was Alonzo's world. Each of us would put a different perspective on events. I suspect that Alonzo would agree. I know he will be very unhappy that we know so much about his private life. If he didn't tell us how he was feeling, it's because he didn't think we needed to know. Our challenge will be to find some comfort in that, and to let him know that we understand. We can't, and shouldn't, berate ourselves for what we didn't see long ago. We should just try to learn from this and not let ourselves get caught acting the same way in the future. It's simply the 'Golden Rule'." Yale stood up from the log he had sat on and stretched. "And now, I think most of us should take this opportunity to catch up on our sleep too. I'll stay awake and monitor communications now. Baines, perhaps you could relieve me in a couple of hours?"
Baines nodded, and the group dispersed to their tents.
End of Chapter 8.
Maxine (howard@drmail.dr.att.com)
"Perchance to Dream", Part 9
Maxine McBrinn
Julia was sitting quietly beside Alonzo, watching him sleep. She had caught a good nap, and was refreshed by an uninterrupted 5 hours of sleep. Danziger and Bess had worked over Alonzo, massaging his arms and legs and back, which had probably helped his body remove the toxins. He was now undressed under his blankets, the sweat-soaked clothes removed, and clean underclothes put on in it's place. Only the hand with the IV attached was outside the blankets, and it too clearly showed just how much flesh the pilot had lost. His well developed muscles had dwindled away until his arm looked almost skeletal. It would take quite a while before he would be able to regain all the muscle he had lost.
Julia's meditation was interrupted when Alonzo's eyes fluttered, then opened. He looked around, confused by the strange surroundings, until his eyes finally focused on her face.
"Julia?" he asked weakly.
"I'm here, 'Lonzo. Just relax, you've been very sick." She put her hand gently on his cheek, and leaned over so he could see her better.
"Where? What?" he huskily asked.
"We're in the Terrian caves. You came here to learn to dream better. Do you remember that?"
He nodded his head weakly, looking less confused.
"Does it hurt?"
He nodded again, his eyes fixed on her face.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Everywhere."
"I'll give you a pain block. Would you like some water?" Julia offered.
Alonzo frowned, wrinkling his brow as he evaluated his thirst, then nodded 'yes'.
Julia eased his head up carefully and held the cup to his lips. After a couple of sips, he looked at her and sighed. "Are you finished?"
He nodded, and closed his eyes as she lowered his head back onto the pillow. She turned and rooted in her bags, then administered the pain block. "Does your head hurt? Are you dizzy?"
He nodded "yes", then reopened his eyes. "How long?" he asked hoarsely.
"How long have you been sick?", and at his nod, she finished, "Four days, at least. But when I got here, you had been sick for some time already. But," she leaned over him again and put her hand on his chest, "you're going to be fine. We'll move you back to camp when you're strong enough. I'm sure you'll be more comfortable in your own bed."
He smiled weakly up at her, his eyelids drifted down and he was asleep again, but a faint smile still lingered on his lips. Julia bent down and kissed him gently, then arranged his blankets, and sat back, relieved. *He would be all right.*
Two days later, Alonzo was lying on his pallet, sleeping. He had opened his eyes several times since he had left the dreamplane, each time for longer than the previous time, but he was still very weak. The muscle cramping that was a legacy of his time in the Terrian bed was still troubling him, but was receding. Julia believed that it would be completely gone within a few days.
Julia and Danziger were sitting with the pilot and keeping each other company. Bess and Morgan had returned to the camp shortly after the pilot had revived, and John had taken Devon and Uly back that very morning. Julia estimated that Alonzo would be strong enough to travel in the next couple of days, and she and John were trying to figure out the logistics when Alonzo's eyes slowly opened.
Alonzo noted the presence of his two friends and smiled over at them. "Hey, you two again?"
Danziger leaned over and put his hand affectionately on the sick man's shoulder. "Sorry, 'Lonz. We're all you've got now that everyone else is back in camp. If you want new faces, you better concentrate on getting well, so we can take you back to camp too." The big mechanic smiled down at the pilot.
Julia leaned toward Alonzo, "How are you feeling? Any muscular pain? Are those muscle relaxers doing the job?"
Alonzo gave his trademark grin, although his voice was still weak. "Well . . . , they're no where as good as a massage from you, but yeah, they're doing the job.
"Well, we might be able to fit in a massage later, but, in the meantime, are you thirsty?" Julia's face was serious, but there was a twinkle in her eyes.
Before Alonzo could answer, a group of four Terrians appeared at the entrance to the cavern. One of them started into the room and walked over to where Alonzo was lying. As the Terrian moved to put his's hand over Alonzo's eyes, Danziger reached forward protectively.
"Hey, wait a second there, buddy. He's too sick to deal with you now."
Alonzo quietly moved his friend's arm out of the way. "It's all right, John. I'm feeling stronger, and they have something they need to say." He lay passively as the Terrian put his big hand over his eyes, moving him onto the dreamplane.
Alonzo found himself and the four Terrians in the same caves they were physically in, but now they were obviously on the dreamplane. Oddly, being on the dreamplane was immediately exhausting; Alonzo almost reeled from his fatigue. "What do you need to tell me?"
Alonzo could see himself, lying ill in the Terrian bed while Julia frantically worked on him. The scene shifted then to a re-enactment of his first cold sleep, but this time he could see Uly and Danziger watching him.
"What are you telling me, that I dreamed on the 'plane while I was sick, and that other people got swept into it?"
The Terrian who had approached him inclined his head.
"Who saw these? Just the people here in the caves?" Alonzo suddenly saw the group at camp, huddled around a fire and obviously sleep deprived. "Them too? Did everyone see them?"
Another nod.
Alonzo could feel his heart rate and his breathing increase. *This was not good.*
Next, the Terrians showed him themselves, also seeing the dreams. He watched as they tried to send a message to Uly, but were unable to break through his dream.
"And you couldn't use the 'plane, because I was controlling it?"
Another nod.
Now the spokesman Terrian walked up to Alonzo, and he could feel pure, human emotion when the Terrian put his hand on his forehead. There was anger and despair and love, all wrapped in one improbable and obviously genuine burst of feeling.
"And you could feel all the emotions, and you didn't like that." The Terrians didn't even have to nod, Alonzo knew that it was true, could feel it clearly. This was foreign and unpleasant for the Terrians, and they had been forced to endure it for days. Alonzo looked around him at the four impassive faces that looked back at him. "I'm so sorry. I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't even know that what I was doing."
And suddenly he felt absolved. They did not blame, but it was important that he be aware of the effect he had on the humans and Terrians around him.
Alonzo woke to find himself on his pallet in the small room that was his. Julia and John were hovering over him, frantic. Julia's diaglove was resting on his neck. They both sighed in relief and relaxed back so that they weren't leaning directly over him after his eyes opened. The Terrians were gone.
"'Lonzo, are you okay? Your vital signs went downhill pretty quickly when they pulled you into the dreamplane. You aren't strong enough yet . . ." Julia stopped when she saw Alonzo's stricken expression. "What did they do to you? What did they tell you?"
Alonzo looked directly at his friends. "Why didn't you tell me? Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
"Find out what? Damn it, what did those diggers tell you?" Danziger's hands had started to curl into fists. *How dare those creatures molest Alonzo when he was still so sick!*
"They told me that when I was sick and dreaming, everyone saw my dreams, and that people are upset about it. They also told me that they weren't able to use the dreamplane, and that they found the emotions unpleasant." Alonzo lay back and closed his eyes, a frown etched in his forehead. "They said that they forgive me, but that some of the people in camp can't."
"'Lonzo, they told you all this now? John and I were hoping to give you some time to recover before we told you. You are still so weak . . . We were afraid you'd take it just like you have." Julia leaned down and put her hands on both his shoulders, "Listen to me, you didn't do it on purpose, you didn't even know what you were doing. You should not let this upset you."
Alonzo opened his eyes and looked up at her. Sounding weaker than he had in a while, he said, "Would you mind leaving me alone? I need to think about this for awhile."
Danziger reached down and put his hand on his friend's arm, "Sure. But don't put too much importance on your effect on others. Remember, we all affect those we live with every day. Your being sick just falls into that." He stood up and held his hand out to Julia, but she indicated that she wanted to talk to Alonzo first. He shrugged and walked out.
"'Lonzo, spend as much time on this as you need to before we get back to camp. But, I'm not taking that IV out until you are drinking and eating enough to maintain yourself. And we aren't going back to camp until that IV is out, so just know that." She softened and leaned down to kiss him. "And all those dreams did was confirm that I love you more than I ever could ever have expected to love anyone. Your kindness and decency shone through always. Can I check on you in, say, half an hour?"
"Sure. And thanks Julia. I just need some time to think all this through. I don't even remember the dreams, except . . . Oh god, Julia! I dreamed about us!" If possible, Alonzo had lost even more color in his face.
"I know, and we'll just deal with it. Don't you worry about that." She kissed him again, then stood up, saying "My only concern is to get you well," and walked out.
Alonzo lay alone in the room, his headache intensifying, as he began to imagine what his group had seen.
End of Chapter 9.
Maxine (howard@drmail.dr.att.com)
"Perchance to Dream", Part 10
Maxine McBrinn
Three days after the Terrians' visit, Danziger drove Julia and Alonzo back to camp. Julia sat in the front passenger seat, while Alonzo lay on the two back seats. The pilot was still very weak and slept most of the return trip. He was well wrapped in blankets; his weight loss meant he chilled easily. The camp got quiet as they rolled in, and everyone walked silently to the 'Rail as it came to a stop in front of the Medtent.
Alonzo could feel the eyes of his crew mates on him, some apologetic, some accusing, and some frankly curious. "Okay, people, lets give Julia and Alonzo some room." Danziger's voice boomed out. "Hey Baines, stick around and give me a hand with 'Lonz."
Julia rushed ahead to check out the Medtent, but found that Yale had everything set up for her. She sighed with relief, and went back out to the 'Rail. "Looks like Yale did a great job of getting the tent set up. Let's move 'Lonzo into bed."
Danziger and Baines carefully helped the pilot out of the vehicle; he was still too weak and shaky to walk on his own. One on each side, they gently moved him into the tent. Danziger eased him down on the cot and helped settle him in. Alonzo lay there, his eyes closed, panting from the exertion but pleased to be home.
Danziger and Baines walked out together, leaving Julia alone with the pilot. "He looks terrible. How could he have lost so much weight so quickly?" Baines asked.
"Julia said he had lost some before he got sick, but most of it was because he dreamed for 3 days straight, and that's a huge strain on him. She said he just burned it off from the higher metabolic rate his dreaming creates. She had an IV on him, but it's not meant to maintain that sort of drain." Danziger put his arm out and stopped Baines, who turned to look at him. "Yale said you guys all saw Alonzo's dreams here too. How are folks doing? Is Alonzo ever going to be able to look people in the eye? He's pretty upset about it, but there's nothing he can do to fix it. It just happened, you know?"
"I know. We've all talked about it. Walman is still pretty unhappy, but everyone else seems to be coping. I think most of us are just trying to forget what we saw, at least enough to deal with him. It's hard though. After some of the things we saw . . ., heck, after some of the things we saw ourselves do . . . Well, it's just going to take time. And poor Julia. Folks got a pretty good eyeful of who *she* is to 'Lonz. She likes to keep her privacy, but it's hard to forget how different she can be." Baines blushed, but didn't break his gaze on Danziger's face. "How 'bout you?"
"Well, we had the advantage of seeing 'Lonz while he was dreaming, so we knew how sick he was, and that there was nothing he could do to stop it. But, yeah, it was pretty uncomfortable. I tried hard to stay awake until it stopped. He scared the piss out of me on the first one . . . But, of course I did end up seeing a hell of a lot more than I wanted. I'm most worried about True and Uly. How much do they understand? Do they know how to interpret what they saw? A lot of it was pretty intense, one way or another."
Baines nodded in agreement.
"I'm really surprised at Morgan. He and Bess saw several of the dreams while they were in the camp to find the Grendlers, and I don't know if it's because he and Bess were together, or if Bess found some way to explain it all to him, or what, but Morgan is taking it all great. Adair says that he's used to people telling him that he screwed up, so it wasn't a shock to him. I'm not sure I buy that though.
Baines laughed at Devon's words, then sobered. "So what should we do now? Should we talk to 'Lonz about it or just leave it alone?"
"I don't know. Maybe we can talk about it as a group." The two men turned and walked toward the common room.
In the Medtent, Julia was sitting on the side of Alonzo's cot, stroking his hair while he dozed. His eyes opened, and his calm brown eyes found her. "Hey fly-boy."
"Hey Doc. You know, I love seeing you first thing when I wake up. It makes me think everything's okay." He smiled at her and took her hand in his. "Doc? Do you think they'll ever forgive me? That was a pretty chilly reception. I got the evil eye from several people."
"'Lonzo, just give them time. They know you didn't do it on purpose. Actually, we got less animosity than I was expecting. And there was some real sympathy there too."
"I know. I am so embarrassed. And I feel so bad about dragging you into the middle of it too." He reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand as she blushed. "That's the worst of all."
"They knew what we do when we're by ourselves anyway, now they've just seen it, or at least seen your extremely complementary version of it." She smiled, then leaned over and kissed him tenderly on the lips. "I'd prefer to keep our private life private, but I'm not at all embarrassed that I love you."
"Julia, you amaze me. I love you more every day. Sometimes I thank heaven that we crashed here, so I could get to know you." Alonzo laughed weakly at his own joke, then looked back up, a serious expression in his dark eyes. "And that's the truth, I swear." He picked his head up to capture her lips again.
"Okay, fly-boy. Time for you to rest. I'm going to get you some soup. Bess promised she'd have some waiting for you when we got here." Julia smoothed the blankets down over his chest, gave him a quick kiss, and stood up. "I'll be right back. Do you need anything else?"
He shook his head "no" and closed his eyes. He was still very tired.
Julia walked into the middle of a meeting, one that had everyone in attendance but Alonzo and her. Walman, who was standing speaking, fell silent when she walked in. "Am I interrupting anything?"
"No Julia. We just thought it might be healthy to talk about the last few days. It's been difficult for everyone." Devon explained.
Julia nodded. "Talking about it is a good idea. Should I leave? I just came in to get 'Lonzo some soup."
"Julia, I think it would be good for you to stay. Is Alonzo all right by himself?" Yale asked.
"I'd prefer to not leave him for long. If this takes more than, fifteen minutes, say, then I'd like to have someone watch him."
"Uly. True. Would you go stay with Alonzo?" Yale urged.
"Tell him I'll bring the soup soon if he's awake. He's probably asleep though." Julia added.
The kids ran out, eager to leave the weird meeting they had been stuck in. They didn't understand everything they had seen on the dreamplane, but had accepted the dreams as just that, and were already tired of talking about them. Julia turned back to the crowd.
Devon looked at her. "Julia, folks want to know how much of what we saw was a dream and how much was truth. In other words, can Alonzo add to the dreams? Actually I'm doing a bad job of saying this." She ran her hand through her hair in frustration.
"Let me try. Julia, is what we saw how Alonzo remembers events?" Danziger tried to keep his tone even and calm.
"I . . . I think so. Yes. He once told me that he can't lie on the dreamplane. I'm pretty sure that what we saw is exactly what he remembers." Julia saw several downcast expressions at that, and hastened to add, "But don't forget that most of what we saw were the bad memories. Because of the illness he seemed to be replaying all his most difficult times. Like all of us, he also has plenty of good memories. We just didn't see many of those." Julia blushed furiously; she knew exactly which good memories they did see. She pressed on though, "Alonzo is really worried about this. He was just asking me if I thought you'd be able to forgive him. He had no control over what was happening, and would never have burdened you with those thoughts if he had. Please, give him a break."
"I agree with that," Yale spoke up. "I intend to go on like nothing happened. The only piece of this I want to keep is the knowledge that I can help those around me if I pay attention to what is happening to them. This is one of those times when we can help."
Devon walked to the front again. "Okay, who is in favor of dropping it? Let's see a show of hands." Most of the hands went up. "Walman, would you like us to do something else?"
"No, I don't know what I'd rather do. I'm just going to think on this for a while, okay?" Walman could tell that he was in the minority, and he frankly couldn't think of a better way to deal with it. But he still wasn't happy.
Devon sighed, then turned back to the group as a whole. "Okay, that's settled. Any other camp business? Meeting adjourned." She grabbed Julia's arm before the doctor could escape. "Julia, tell Alonzo what happened."
"I will. He'll be relieved to hear it. Now, maybe he can start to put his energy into his recovery."
"What's your prognosis?" Danziger and Yale moved closer, they wanted to hear this too.
"It's going to take months before he'll be completely recovered. A weight-loss like his is basically muscle atrophy. He'll be up and around in a week or so, but it will take significantly longer than that before he is able to fully recover his stamina. I expect that I will need to develop some physical therapy to help him, and I know he's going to get frustrated at how long it takes. Patience with disability is not his long suit." Her listeners all smiled at the understatement. "But he *will* make a complete recovery."
A week later, Alonzo was sitting quietly in the common room, watching his crew mates as they went about their various tasks. He was enjoying himself immensely, this was the first day Julia had allowed him out of the tent. Yale walked over to him, and as Alonzo nodded "Hello", said,
"May I join you?"
"Please!" Alonzo slid a chair over to the tutor.
"So Julia finally let you out. She is even stricter than I had thought she'd be."
"I think she was pretty frightened. I'm just glad I was out the whole time, or I'd have been worried too. Danziger told me pretty bluntly that he was considering what to put on my tombstone." Alonzo smiled gently. "I figure I owe it to her to just go along. I'm not going to fight back until she looks like she can take it."
"Alonzo, have you heard from the Terrians?"
"Yes . . . They were pretty upset too, as far as I can tell. They are not very emotional in general, but they let me know, plenty clearly, that they have seen more human behavior than they wanted to." The pilot laughed, "but, hey, that's one of the reasons they wanted me there in the first place. That and to increase my control over the dreamplane, and I'd have to say they got that too!" He settled back into his chair, "Give them what they want, and they're still not happy."
Yale looked at him searchingly, but Alonzo looked at peace. The pilot and the Terrians had come to some sort of understanding. The tutor nodded contentedly. "That's true of sentient beings in general then, I'd guess. Alonzo, it is good to have you back." He relaxed back into his chair too, and he and Alonzo watched the parade of life together.
-The End-
Please send any comments to:
Maxine McBrinn
howard@ drmail.att.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.