NEW HORIZONS
By
Nicole Mayer
Timeline: On way to New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: destiny@bluesky.net.au or destiny@wwdg.com.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Hey all,
As there seems to be quite an anti-Devon&Danziger contingent out in cyberspace, I've decided to hold off posting the finale of the "Devon, Alone" saga for a while. <EG>
Instead, I present to you this...a tale of two other souls, as suggested by the esteemed ORHM herself. Yale and Denner, this is your story!!!
***NOTE*** The name Elisha Denner is not mine, I 'borrowed' it from A.j. (Hope you don't mind! :) )
STANDARD DISCLAIMER STUFF : The characters and situations contained within are the property of Universal/Amblin Entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
NEW HORIZONS
By Nicole Mayer (destiny@wwdg.com)
2 May 1997Ulysses Adair cautiously dipped the gleaming tiny piece of metal into the water as he leaned out over the deep pool. He watched with fascination as the fine line trailed behind it, catching rays of sunlight and reflecting light back up at him. He smiled through his puzzlement.
"I don't get it, Yale," he said again. "How am I supposed to catch a fish with this?"
The old tutor smiled wisely. "Patience, Ulysses. Watch the water closely, and perhaps you will be surprised."
Sighing, Uly shuffled backwards until he was lying comfortably on his stomach, positioned on a rock overhanging the deep pool. He played out a little more of the line, then stared deep into the waters, hoping to again catch sight of one of the things Yale called a fish.
He'd seen fish before, of course, in the great canyon where the colonists had met Terrians who could fly. But never had he seen creatures quite like this, small, silvery things that seemed to dart in and out of the light as if they were only in this world momentarily, and then retreated to another dimension.
Uly looked at the pool again, watching his small lure spin in the deep waters that were so clear. A sudden reflection made him jump, but it was only Yale treading closer to observe the boy's motions.
"Look, Ulysses. To your right - a whole school of fish swimming this way."
Captivated, Uly almost forgot to breath as they approached his lure, until finally, one of them took the bait. "I got one!" he shouted excitedly, pulling up the line. But in his excitement, he leaned too far forward and tipped into the pond with a resounding splash.
Coughing and spluttering, the first sound Uly became aware of when he broke the surface was laughter. True Danziger's laughter, to be more precise. He groaned, realising that once again, True had one up on him. Someday, he vowed, he would get even, and then *he* would be the one laughing.
But not today. Yale's strong arms reached down to pull Uly from the water, help that the boy willingly accepted. That water was *cold*!
"Your mother's not going to be too happy about this," Yale said gravely, taking off his own coat and placing it around the shivering child. Eden Advance were high in the mountains, the final range before they reached New Pacifica. Yale surmised that once the last peak was reached, they would be able to see the path that lay ahead all the way home. It would seem like a miracle.
"I can't believe you fell in the water!" taunted True from the other side of the pond. "You're so dumb sometimes, Ulysses Adair!"
"And you're so stupid," he shot back. True only laughed. "Ulysses, True, that's enough for now," Yale warned gently, inwardly sighing. It was the thousandth time he'd had to break up a dispute between the group's only two children (although Bess was expecting her first child any week now).
Idly, Yale wondered if he'd end up responsible for the new baby as well. It seemed as if all he'd done, ever since the crash, was watch out for Uly and True. Look after them. Teach them. Or occasionally plot new maps for the group.
He'd never even had the chance to truly explore his past. He remembered a few things of the life of Braydon Croix, but in actual fact, these had little meaning to him. He was Yale, and he was part of the Eden Project. He just wish the other members of the group would realise that and treat him more like a person rather than a resource.
Although they weren't really that bad. Devon always had time for him when she wasn't in one of her bossy moods. Julia too could empathise with him in a way, for her genetic make up had also been tampered with by the Council. But everyone else, well, they generally behaved indifferently towards him. Except for one person - Elisha Denner. She always seemed to have a kind word for him, and they'd had several quiet conversations by the fire at night when the nights were cold. And then there was her beautiful smile...
Yale shook his head at the foolish notion. He was a cyborg, and a tutor. He had no business being interested in someone in *that* way. He had children to watch. And one of them was soaking wet right now.
"We had better hurry back to camp," Yale told Uly, starting down the leafy green path. "Are you coming, True?" She skipped across the natural rock bridge and joined them. The forest was even cooler than the air by the sunlit pond, the green light having a chilling effect on everything. It was so different from the dry plains they had once traversed.
As Yale shepherded Uly back to the camp amongst the trees, he reflected on the past year and a half. The endless travelling had become second nature to him now, and he really couldn't imagine settling down somewhere. How would people like Alonzo deal with it? It would be interesting when the time came.
He held aside some branches as the children passed before him. The forest was tough going, especially for the vehicles. It was taking them days to make very little headway, for not only did the dense foliage cause a problem, but the steepness of the terrain did as well.
Still, it was a strikingly beautiful place, and another wonder of the new world they were on.
Yale winced, hearing Devon Adair's cry well before he saw her. "Uly! What happened to you...come here, you have to get out of those wet clothes or you'll get sick again. Now!" It seemed that Devon's instinct to treat Uly as a delicate child would never fade.
"Yale!" she snapped as he entered the clearing. "How could you let this happen? When you said fishing, I didn't know he'd end up half freezing to death!"
"Devon, it's only a little water," Yale began, hoping to placate her. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
But Devon ignored him, and took Uly to their tent. Yale sighed.
"Don't worry, Yale, it wasn't your fault," sympathised True, but there was a mischievous gleam in her eyes. She'd enjoyed seeing Uly's fall and was very glad that Yale had taken them to the pond. She hoped they'd go there again before they moved on.
True skipped off, leaving Yale alone in the centre of the clearing. He looked around - most of the colonists were out in the forest either chopping aside vegetation or gathering food while the vehicles recharged. Devon had remained in camp to compile charts from the scouting reports, and Bess, who was in no condition to be cutting down trees, was busying herself by sewing baby garments. Yale himself had taught her that skill when it became obvious that someone would need to make small clothes!
Yale decided that perhaps he, too, should join the others in making a path for the vehicles. Or...he could head for the top of the ridge. In the interests of survey, of course. Yale was actually surprised that Devon hadn't yet charged ahead to get the first look at New Pacifica. But then again, maybe she had. She and John Danziger had been gone an awfully long time the previous day when they claimed they were out looking for edible berries that Julia had identified.
Glancing again around the empty clearing, Yale noted that True had joined Bess, intrigued by the new concept of sewing. Possibly, Yale noted, True might develop wider interests beyond mechanics.
In any case, True was taken care of, and Yale suspected that Uly wouldn't be allowed out of Devon's sight until she was positive he wasn't going to get sick. That meant that Yale could go - if he wanted to.
So he did. He skirted around the work groups, not because he wanted to avoid them, but more because he didn't want to be distracted. He needed to concentrate on the path ahead if he were to climb the correct peak.
Yale pushed through dense foliage for what seemed hours, reflecting that there was no way the vehicles were going to be able to follow this path. They would need to find a shallower slope. He listened closely to the alien cries of forest creatures, and once even stumbled across a family of kobas. There was so much they still didn't know about G889, and it would take more than a lifetime to even begin to understand the planet.
Finally, Yale broke through the trees into sunlight. He was panting heavily from the climb, but now, now he felt rejuvenated. It was only a few more meters to the top.
Excitement growing within him, Yale virtually sprinted to the top. And gasped when he saw the scene.
Spread literally beneath his feet was an awesome sight. A beautiful, green landscape, a flowing turquoise river that cut straight through the grassland and forest, and finally, not too far away, a new strip of blue. Something Yale never dreamed he'd see. An ocean.
Even though Yale had been watching tapes of oceans for years, nothing prepared him for the true sight of endless deep blue, extending all the way to the horizon and beyond. He let out a sigh of appreciation.
"It's incredible, isn't it," came a quiet voice from somewhere to the left. Yale jumped.
"Elisha?"
She stepped from behind a rock, she hadn't really been hidden, it was just that Yale had not anticipated *anyone* else being up here."Is that really it?" she asked softly, pointing towards the universe beneath their feet. "Is that New Pacifica?"
"Yes," confirmed Yale. A smile began to tug at the corners of his mouth, despite his reservations. "I believe we are actually going to get there!"
"You didn't think so all along?" Elisha's face suddenly showed confusion. She had trusted Yale for so long, for he seemed wise and calming, the kind of presence she needed in her life. He had always been so strong, and so confident, and now she was surprised to hear that he had doubts, just the way she did.
Yale turned to face her, and realised she was standing barely a meter away. "I feared for a great many things on this journey," he admitted. "There are times I did not think any of us would make it to New Pacifica alive."
Elisha slowly took in his words. How true they were. She remembered the early days, of quarrels and suspicions. Their desperate searches for supplies and water. The virus, when her dear friend had Eben died. And the flood, when none of them thought they'd ever see dry land -or sunlight- again.
"But we did make it," she said softly in response to Yale's words. "It's more beautiful than I ever dreamed."
Yale understood perfectly, and met Elisha's eyes. They stood, frozen for a moment by the power of connection that surged between them, heightened by the wonder of a tangible dream.
"What will we do when we get there?" Elisha suddenly asked, breaking the mood because the intensity of Yale's gaze had unnerved her. Behind the trusted eyes, she'd caught a hint of something else, an emotion that was yet to be defined. "Do you think we'll be able to set up the colony in time?"
"I am positive we can," replied Yale. "Look at what we've accomplished so far, a group of only a few people against a continent. What will be more interesting to me is who stays."
"Who stays?" Elisha repeated his words, curious as to what he meant. She began to push a rock with her foot, and watched in fascination as it soared over the edge of the cliff, downwards into eternity.
"Yes, who stays." Yale began to explain, "The colonist ship is going back to the stations once its mission is over. And all members of Eden Advance have the option to go back as well." A sudden worry came over Yale. What if Elisha was planning on leaving? Yale realised right then that he didn't want to see her go. She was beginning to mean more to him every day.
Yet Elisha's question startled *him*. "You're not going, are you?" There was more than a hint of worry in her voice.
"I cannot go back," stated Yale. "My kind are outlawed." "Your kind?" Elisha was surprised by the terminology. She didn't think of Yale as anything less than a living, breathing, human being. It didn't matter to her what had happened to Yale in the past. She trusted him implicitly, as both a friend and a man.
Perhaps she should tell him that. "Yale, you're a person. Not a cyborg, no matter what the Council thinks." She reached out and caught his hand to make her point. His palm was softer than she'd anticipated.
"Nonetheless, I cannot go back," Yale continued, trying to avoid the strange sensation creeping up his arm from the simple touch. "Besides, I promised Devon a long time ago that I would stay with her and help her."
"For the rest of your life?" Elisha's tone was uncharacteristically sharp. "She doesn't own you, Yale. No one does."
Yale was silent. He owed so much to the Adair family, and it was true that he loved both Devon and Uly dearly. But when it came to ownership...he did feel obligated to stay with Devon as long as she needed him. He tried to explain this to Elisha, yet she ignored his words. Instead, she pulled him closer to her and turned them both to face the ocean.
"Look out there, Yale. That's the future. That's *our* future. It's up to each of us to make it whatever we want. Things don't have to stay the same forever - look at Bess and Morgan. They took a step to have children here. They're thinking of the future, and Yale, I - I..." and it was here Elisha began to stumble.
"I care about you, Yale," she finally admitted. "I don't want to see you trapped by events of the past."
Yale had forgotten to breathe ever since Elisha said she cared about him. She cared?!
"I want you to have a future, maybe even...us...a future together..." Her voice grew quieter with every word, but Yale understood her perfectly.
"Elisha," he said softly. "I never knew, I never even thought about it..."
"Shhh," she replied, placing a finger to his lips. "Don't think about it. Just act. There is a universe of promise out there."
Ever so hesitantly, Yale reached out and placed his arms around her small frame. She accepted his embrace, and suddenly, they were united above the future, and on the brink of a new future themselves. There were so many possibilities...and New Pacifica was right there. It was a new horizon for both of them.
-The End-
So what did you think? I apologise for the characterisation - as I was writing this I realised I didn't know Yale or Denner very well at all. But I tried! (And now I can get back to writing D&D to my heart's content! Or maybe I'll give Alonzo and Julia a go...)
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.