NO REQUIEM RAISED
By
Paula Sanders
Timeline: After "All About Eve" (Day 150)
Author's E-Mail: paula.sanders@shawnee.org
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This is an add on to All About Eve, which really doesn't need another ending, the ending we were given was spectacular. I just pounded this out on my computer. I know that Alex already did something similar, and very nicely, too. Good job, Alex. But I had already started this when I saw Alex's and I decided that it could not hurt to see two differing opinions. Besides, I wrote it, I had to share.Disclaimer:
I know we all are counting on a second season and this does nothing to say one way or the other which way it should go from here. It was just a thought. I can't wait to see where way the show goes with what they gave us. All standard copyright laws apply. ENJOY!
No Requiem Raised
by Paula Sanders Copyright 1995Therefore, to thee this night
I will no requiem raise,
But will waft thee on thy flight
With a Paean of old days.
"A Paean" Edgar Allen Poe
"I don't know what it is. Its a complete system failure. It could be minutes" Julia Heller
"Do what ever you have to do. Its our only choice."They had put Devon Adair in the cold-sleep chamber two days before. And Uly had hung his make- shift walking staff, the one his mother had helped him fashion, to the side of the door. The image stuck in all their head as a kind of grave marker, a cross. But a cold-sleep chamber was not a grave. They all had to remember that or they would go crazy. Their leader was dying,not dead. If they accepted that she was dead then there was no hope for her. So, they stayed camped below the starship while Julia worked, tirelessly, to find any clue as to what was wrong with Devon and what she could do for the woman. They had been packing up to move on ahead when Danziger found Devon collapsed behind a tent. Now, none of them would leave without Devon.
"Promise me you'll take care of my kid. Promise me, John." Devon Adair
John Danziger worked himself to the point of exhaustion every day, in an attempt to keep his mind from dwelling on the reality of their situation. Devon might never recover. Danziger had made a promise to Adair to look after Uly if she did not get better. The conversation haunted him now. She knew she was not sick like the others and in hindsight he had known, too. Her symptoms were different. //Damnit, Adair,// he cursed. //Why didn't you tell us?// He could hear her voice answering in his mind. //What would be the point? There was nothing any of you could have done.// He knew her far too well.
Ulysses, what was he going to do about her son? He did not understand why Devon had chosen him. Why not Yale? Yale was more of a father to Uly. It wasn't that John did not want to take care of Uly, but if he took Uly then it would be more than a guardianship, more like a father. It would force him to accept the loss of Devon and that was something he would not do. His own feelings aside, Devon had asked him and he owed it to her to honor her last request. For now, at least, he would take care of Uly. Until Devon was well again.
John heard foot steps behind him. He turned to see Yale approaching, his grief written all over his somber face.
"John," he began, nervously. "Devon told me of her wish for you to look after Uly." John did not know what to say. This all had such a surreal quality to it. Like it wasn't really happening. It reminded him so much of the day Elle died. Again, he had lost someone and found himself with a child he wasn't prepared for.
"I promised her," was all John could manage. Yale nodded, understanding.
"Don't worry, John, " Yale assured him. "I am not upset. I will honor her request," he said. "I know she cared about you and trusted you with her life and her son's life. She could not have picked a better guardian for Uly. You know you will have the support and help of the entire group." John nodded, swallowing back his grief. God, this reminded him so much of when Elle died; when Al and Les had told him they would be there for him and help him raise True.
"Thank you, Yale," John said, grateful for the other man's acceptance. Yale placed a comforting hand on John's shoulder.
"We will figure out what to do for Devon and then we will all move on." Simple words, but they had such heart in them. Yale uttered them, then turned to leave.
True stood beside her father, solemn, as he checked over the dune rail. She was trying hard not to cry. So, many people had died. First Eben, then Mr. Bennet, next Elisabeth and finally Devon. She could not convince herself that Devon was going to get better. She stared at the ground and shuffled her feet in the dirt.
"Daddy, what are we going to do?" she said, quietly. His head quickly turned to her, a look of shock on his face. He swallowed hard and tried to answer.
"We'll stay here until Julia finds some cure for whatever it is that is killing Devon," he told her. Wisely, True did not question further.
"True girl," he began after a long while, breaking the silence between them. "We're going to have to look after Uly for a while. Just till Devon gets better. She asked me to." True nodded her understanding. She could be so grown up sometimes it was hard for him to remember that she was just a little girl. No more words about the subject past between them as the day wore on and night fell over the camp.
Danziger sat by himself at the edge of camp, looking up at the stars and the planet's two large moons. He had seen the stars so many times out the space station's windows and on space walks that he had actually stopped looking at them. Until, this planet and True had pointed up, in awe, saying how different the stars looked from the surface of the planet. They were beautiful. He remembered Devon commenting on that. Every once in awhile he would hear her say under her breath, "It's unbelievable."
//Why her?// he asked any higher being who might be listening. Why did someone with so much life and optimism for survival have to be struck down by this planet? Devon could not die. He would not let her. He had already lost one woman he loved, he would not lose another. There had to be something they could do. He saw Julia emerge from the med tent, her hair frazzled. She looked like she had been dragged behind the TransRover for days. He jumped to his feet, as did most of the camp. Alonzo made his way to her, she shook her head, her eyes brimming with tears, and ran her hands through her hair. She let Alonzo take her in his arms and lead her to a seat by the fire and place a cup of something edible in her hands. John sank back onto his seat, hanging his head.
They would have to move on, a few more days here and that was it. He knew that, at least in his mind, but not in his heart. They had to make it to New Pacifica, for Devon. It was her dream, what they had all suffered for. They could not give up now. Still, Elisabeth's dying words worried him. "The planet will reject you," she had said. Maybe there was no hope here for humanity's survival. The only answers were with a dead woman, and a dying one.
"Mr. Danziger," Uly called. He looked up to see the little boy heading his way. John forced a weak smile.
"Kid, how many times have I told you, you don't have to call me, Mr. Danziger," he said, trying to sound teasing.
"Sorry," Uly said, standing a bit away. John patted the seat beside him and the boy approached.
"It's all right," John told him as Uly sat down.
"Yale told me you wanted to talk to me." Uly shifted on the crate, trying to get comfortable. John took a deep breath, steeling himself. This was going to be hard.
"Uly, your mother asked me to look after you while she's sick," he told the boy.
"When did she say that?" Uly asked.
"When we were all sick and she thought she would die," John answered. Uly stared at the ground. John wondered if he was thinking about the Terrian's.
"I don't need anyone to look after me," Uly stated. Danziger had expected this response.
"We all need someone to look after us," John said.
"She'll get better soon. I know she will," Uly said, desperately. John put his arm around the boy.
"Until then, True and I will take care of you." Uly turned his eyes to John, tears slid down the boy's cheeks. "She'll be fine, Uly. You have to believe that. Julia will find a way to save her." The little boy leaned against the man's side, seeking out comfort.
From her tent, True sat and watched her father comforting Uly, feeling no jealousy, as she often had. She knew what it was like to lose a mother, even if, like her, one had never known that mother. Uly needed them. True hoped with all her heart that her father was right and that Julia would be able to find a way to cure Devon. This group would not be the same without Devon.
-The End-
Comments and feedback to:
paula.sanders@shawnee.org
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.