LONG JOURNEY HOME
By
Rosa M. Moran
Timeline: On way to New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: STSWNut@aol.com
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Hello Everyone!!
I am proud to announce the continuation of "Beauty Can Be Deceiving" entitled "Long Journey Home". As I'm sure you well know, this story takes place immediately after "Beauty". It doesn't contain any romance, mostly just adventure and suspense. There is a tiny bit of harsh language and violence, but it's nothing to make a big deal over. Like Maxine McBrinn's recent story, part of my story involves a virus and Grendler Drool/Seliva cure, which I thought was an interesting coincidence. I guess great minds think alike. ;-) Just kidding. I actually finished this story over a week and a half ago, but I wanted a couple of friends to read it over first and tell me what they thought. A made a couple of changes based on those thoughts, and this is the final product. Anyway, there are so many people that I'd like to thank, but that could be a story in itself, so I'll try and keep it short.First and foremost, I want to thank Paula Sanders. When I needed advice, when I needed to sound off some ideas, she was always there. She has quickly become a great friend. How Devon and the others found out about Julia and Bess was partly her idea, and I'm grateful for it. Thank you Paula! Second, I'd like to thank Maxine McBrinn for her advice on outdoor survival tactics, among other things. I had to change my story a little based on information she provided me. Smoking the fish was her idea, and I'm grateful for it too. Thank you Maxine! Third, I'd like to thank Doc Heller. Her constant prodding, and question "Are you done yet?" pushed me into finishing the story faster than I had anticipated. She kept me from procrastinating. Thank you Doc! Forth, I'd like to thank Jayel. Although she may not realize it, my "conversations" with her have been just as helpful and informative as she has found them to be. Thank you Jayel! Fifth, I'd like to thank Lia Faile and Vicky (and the Horde) for holding their fan fiction workshop chats. Although I've missed a few, I have been able to pick out some interesting and helpful information from those that I've attended, and from the others I've read. Thank you Lia and Vicky! And last but not least, I'd like to thank the SNOW. (You heard me right........ the snow.) If it wasn't for the Blizzard that hit Virginia (and the rest of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic) a little over a week and a half ago, I never would have been stuck at home with nothing to do except finish my story. If it wasn't for the snow, this story would surely have been delayed at least another couple of weeks, maybe even a month. (Well, I didn't do a very good job with keeping the thank yous short, lets see if I can do a better job with the disclaimer. :-) )
Disclaimer: All, except for three (and you'll know who they are), of the characters are the property of Amblin/Universal, and I'm just borrowing them for this story. No infringement on any copyright laws are intended.
Well, that's about it. Please feel free to comment on anything, good or bad. I will freely accept all suggestions or comments with an open mind.
Thank you, and Enjoy!
Rosa
Email Address: STSWNut@aol.com
Long Journey Home, Part 1
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996(Voice of John Danziger)
We've traveled at least ten kilometers and not a word has been heard from anyone. It's amazing how quiet a group of people can get when adversity strikes. The deaths of Julia and Bess have hit us harder than I had imagined. I thought after we had our small memorial by the lake at sunrise that we would be able to put a lot of the tragedy behind us. I must have been kidding myself. This loss will be harder to take than I thought. There seems to be a lot of guilty feelings floating around. Guilt at causing the tragedy and guilt at not being able to prevent it from occurring. Devon has been devastated by the loss, feeling somehow responsible. From my own experience with Ellie, I know how Alonzo and Morgan must be feeling. I also know that the kids are feeling the worst of those guilty feelings. I had decided to let True have some time to think about what she and Uly did, so I haven't spoken to her about what happened. But someone has to start the healing process, maybe it's time I did.
"Hey Adair!" Danziger shouted as he approached. "I was just thinking. Maybe we should make camp early today. Everyone seems to be extra tired. No one slept well last night."
"I know everyone is tired Danziger, but I don't think anyone is really going to get a good nights sleep anytime soon. I know I won't. It's hard to stand there helplessly watching friends die.""I know Devon, but what does that have to do with making camp early?" "Right now people are having a hard time with this loss because we have time to think. All we do is walk. We are so close to New Pacifica. At twenty kilometers per day, we should reach there within two months. Then everyone will be so busy setting up the town that we won't have time to think about those of us that didn't make it. I'd like to get at least ten more kilometers in today before we camp."
"Alright. We'll do it your way, but I still think you're pushing too hard." "A little push may just be what we need at the moment John." Danziger realized that Devon was not going to change her mind, so he just walked away. He decided to speak with True tonight when they made camp. With grim faces, the caravan continued along in silence.
Bess was beginning to wonder if maybe Julia had made a mistake concerning the direction of camp. They had been walking through the woods for hours now, and there was no sign of camp or anything else. Granted it was slow going, the vegetation through the woods was very heavy, and their clothes were often getting snagged by branches, thorns, and other plants. As an afterthought, Bess was thinking that they should have walked around the wooded area rather than through it. It may have taken them longer but it would have been an easier trip.
"Ow!" Bess cried out as she hopped over to a nearby fallen log. She sat down and began to rub her left foot.
"You okay?" Julia asked with concern, as she walked over to Bess. "Yeah. My heal just came down hard on a rock." "I'm sorry Bess."
Bess glanced up at Julia with a confused look on her face. "Why are you apologizing? This isn't your fault. None of this is.""Getting stuck walking through these damn woods was my fault. Shank, Bess I'm not even sure we're walking in the right direction. We should have tried to walk around rather than through."
"Oh come on. You didn't know it would be this bad." With a tired sigh, she stood up. "Okay, lets keep going, 'cause if I stop now, I'll never be able to get myself moving again today." Before Julia had a chance to respond, she began making her way through the woods, with Julia following close behind.
Another hour passed, Julia and Bess were getting ready to give up for the day, when Bess stopped dead in her tracks and pointed. "Hey! You see that?"
"See what?" Julia replied.
"There! Over there.....it's water!" Julia leaned over Bess's shoulder trying to follow her line of sight, and sure enough through a small opening in the trees, she saw it.......water."Oh God! I see it! I see it!"
A sigh of relief escaped both women, as they turned toward each other and hugged with delight. Bess pulled away first. "Well come on Doc. Lets just not stand here. If we're lucky the others are still there." She took off at a faster pace, with Julia right on her heals.Twenty minutes later, they found themselves standing on the East side of the original lake. It was as beautiful and quiet as it was when they first encountered the lake, without the slightest indications of the dangers it held within. With Julia leading the way, they slowly walked toward the beach on the South side, knowing that from there it was just a short distance to their campsite. As they reached the beach and started across, Bess was the first to spot two small objects as she looked toward her right.
"Oh no. You were right. They do think we're dead." Bess whispered. "What's that you said?" Julia asked as she started to turn toward her friend. It was then that she spotted what Bess was staring at. There near the edge of the beach close to the rocks were two grave markers. Slowly they walked over to them, knowing in their hearts whose they were.
Sure enough, carved on two wooden crosses were the names 'Bess Martin' and 'Dr. Julia Heller'. At the foot of the crosses were two pairs of shoes. They were the shoes left behind before jumping into the water. There were also flowers lying all around, and hanging from the crosses were their holo-photo ID cards. They just stood there quietly. It was rather disconcerting to be standing over your own grave.
Bess fell to her knees in front of the graves, her eyes watered. She was just so tired, and seeing her own grave was just the last straw. Tears fell. "Morgan must be devastated."
"Don't cry Bess. Everything will work out. Look at the bright side........we've got shoes."Bess looked up at Julia, and at seeing her sheepish grin couldn't help but smile. "You're right. For all we know they are right through those trees." She said as she pointed in the direction of camp. "Then what are we waiting for...... lets go!" Julia cried out as she helped Bess to her feet. They grabbed their shoes and IDs, then quickly headed toward camp with their fingers crossed.
With joyful expressions on their faces, they rushed through the woods. As they burst into the clearing, they came to a sudden heartbreaking stop. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but open, arid land. Their camp was gone. Everything was gone. They stood in shock as the realization of their predicament suddenly sunk in. Alone. They were truly alone.
Twenty kilometers had been covered and Devon decided to call it a day, and set up camp. Everyone was working silently. The only voice heard was Danziger giving directions. Devon noticed Alonzo was busily putting up the Med-Tent. At the moment it was more out of habit than from need. Julia wasn't here to insist it be put up, and if anyone did get hurt or sick they could always come to Yale's tent. Devon didn't have the heart to tell him not to bother. He still had that stony emotionless expression on his face. Devon turned and saw Morgan huddled on the ground next to the Transrover. It looked like he'd been crying. She didn't blame him, at the moment she was doing everything she could to keep from crying herself. She just wanted to scream at the world for being so unfair, but she didn't. She couldn't afford to lose control. The group needed her to be in control. So for now on the outside she would keep being the strong leader, while inside all she wanted was to be held as she cried, and be told that everything would be alright.
"Hey Adair!"
Devon turned around and saw Danziger heading in her direction. "Yeah?" She started walking in the direction of her tent, as Danziger jogged up to her."Just wanted to let you know that everything's going fine. That we have just about finished setting up camp."
"Great." She kept walking away.
He suddenly grabbed her arm. "Hey! Hold on a second, will ya? We need to talk." She turned toward him, and he could clearly see the pain and sorrow in her eyes."About what?"
"Well for starters how about the kids?" Devon turned to look in the direction Danziger was pointing. She saw the kids sitting quietly by the Dune Rail, with sad expressions on their faces. "They don't look very happy do they?"
"After everything that's happened, does that surprise you?" "No....... it doesn't."
"We need to talk to them about what happened, and I think now is as good a time as any."Devon looked up at Danziger and nodded. "You're right of course." "Okay come on." They walked over to the kids, and sat down next to them. "Uly, True....... John and I would like to talk with you for a moment." True glanced up at her father then lowered her eyes. "About what?" "About what happened at the lake." Danziger replied as he reached over and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. That was all it took. True immediately jumped into her dad's arms crying. Devon wrapped her arms around her son, who also started to cry.
"Oh dad......... I'm soooo sorry! It's all my fault.......... It's all my fault."
Uly gently pushed out of his mother's embrace. He was determined to take full responsibility. "No True. It wasn't your fault. It was my fault. I never should have agreed to race you."
True stopped crying and pulled out of her dad's comforting embrace. "No Uly. It wasn't your fault. I'm older and I should have known better. I never should have pushed you into doing something I knew was wrong."
Devon and Danziger were amazed at the way the kids were willing to point the finger of blame at themselves rather than each other. It was obvious that they realized what a grave mistake in judgment they had made. It was time to lift the burden of guilt.
Devon spoke first. "Now listen here you two........ what you did was wrong and dangerous........... but what happened to Bess and Julia was not your fault."
"That's right. No one knew there was a creature in the lake, or that it would attack us. It could have easily attacked any one of us at any time. We were all out there at some point or another." "Yeah but if True and I hadn't gone out there in the first place, they wouldn't have had to save me, and the creature wouldn't have attacked us."
"Uly......" Devon said as she laid a hand on his shoulder. Uly looked up at his mom. "You don't know that it wouldn't have happened even if you and True had not gone out into the lake. We were all planning on taking another swim that day. If the creature had not attacked when you were in there, then it could have attacked later. No one knows what the future holds. Other than disobeying my orders about going into the lake, you did nothing wrong. You and True were not the cause of Bess and Julia's deaths. You were all just at the wrong place at the wrong time."
True looked at Devon. "Thanks Devon. I just wish there was something we could do."
Danziger quickly spoke up. "There is True-girl. Alonzo and Morgan are going to need all of our help to get through this. Just be there for them. Help them out as best you can, even if it means staying out of their way. Okay?"
Both True and Uly nodded.
Devon stood, "Come on guys. Lets finish setting up." They all stood and started walking to their respective tents."I miss them mom."
Devon looked down at her son, and placed an arm around his shoulders. "I know sweetheart........." She looked up and sadly gazed in the direction they had just traveled. "We all miss them very much."Continued in Part 2................
Long Journey Home, Part 2
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996
They were fishing, or at least Bess was. Julia wasn't quite sure what she was doing, other than holding a stick with a string over the water. Bess on the other hand had caught three fish already, and was going for a fourth. They hadn't said much since finding the others had left. They had just stood there in shock, although neither of them were surprised. They both had a feeling they would find nothing. They slowly walked back to the lake and sat down on the sand. Neither one of them wanted to start crying although they both felt like it, but crying would not do them any good. Without saying a word Bess had gone to the woods and pulled off a couple of long thin branches from a tree. She explained later that the branches from the tree provided more flexibility due to the moisture found in live branches, than the ones found lying on the ground which were now dead and dry. She then tied a couple of long strings from the fabric of her shirt. Julia sat quietly watching in amazement, as Bess pulled a couple of pins from her hair to use as hooks. Then while in the woods, she started digging through the dirt. She didn't find any worms, but she did find some insects that just may work. Then going back to Julia, she quickly explained the concept of fishing. So here they were fishing.
"It's beautiful here." Bess commented. "Yes it is." Julia replied with a smile which soon faded into a look of amazement as Bess pulled a fourth fish out of the water. "I don't get it. Why is it you've been catching fish left and right, and I haven't gotten even a nibble?"
Bess chuckled. "Come here. Sit over here with me, by the rocks. The fish like to hang around the rocks for shade." Julia moved over next to Bess. "It's almost a shame we couldn't have just stayed around here." "We *could* stay here. There's plenty of water and food. We could build a shelter from the wood."
Bess looked over at Julia with a shocked expression on her face, but Julia never returned the look. She just kept her gaze across the water, waiting for Bess's reply.
"You have got to be kidding. As beautiful as I think it is, there is no way I could stay. I want to be with Morgan. We have dreams that need fulfilling, and they were meant to be fulfilled together."
Julia sighed with relief as she turned toward Bess and smiled. "Glad to hear it."
"You mean you didn't really mean it?" Julia shook her head. "Then why did you ask?"
"Well, it was a viable option. I guess I just wanted to make sure you knew an option existed. I didn't necessarily want you to accept the option." She returned her gaze back out over the water. "I have dreams too Bess. At least I've had them since coming to this planet. I really didn't have any dreams before coming here."
"I think Alonzo had a lot to do with that." She could see a blush come across Julia's cheeks.
"Yes he did."
"Well then I guess we just better get back to those men of ours and get started on those dreams.""Yeah I guess we better. We'll start out first thing in the morning. They'll have a days head start on us but without a Transrover to hold us back, we should be able to travel faster than they can. I figure they would be traveling at about 10 to 15 kilometers per day. We should be able to cover a little more than that in one day. So with a little luck we should be able to catch up to them in a couple of days."
"It's going to be very hot and dry during the day. Maybe we should travel by night. It would be cooler, and we wouldn't need as much water."
"Traveling by night would be the ideal, but in our case I don't think we should."
"Why not?"
"Well for starters we don't have any lumalights to help us see," she glanced up at the sky, "and it looks like the sky is starting to cloud up a bit, so moonlight won't help too much either. Without light, we won't be able to see any potential dangers ahead. We're not familiar with the terrain. We don't know what's out there. I would feel better if I could see where I was going. I know it will be hard, but I think we should at least try it for one day and see how it goes. If it becomes too difficult to travel by day, then we'll switch to night. What do you think?""Okay. I suppose that makes sense...... lets give it a shot. Do you think we'll be able to carry enough water with us to last a couple of days?"
"The sample bags are pretty big. Besides Bess it's not like we have a lot of choices. That's all we have to carry the water in. We'll jump in the water with our clothes on just before we leave. That should keep us cool for a while." She glanced at the fish. "What about the fish? How much fish do you want to take with us?"
"Well we've caught four so far......" "You mean *you've* caught four. I haven't caught anything." Julia interrupted.
Bess smiled. "Well regardless of who caught what, that should be enough for two days or more if we stretch it."
"Well lets catch a couple more for good measure." "Alright. Then we need to cook the ones we plan to eat tonight, and smoke the rest of them overnight. They'll keep longer that way without spoiling. We can hang the fish from sticks and carry them with us." "Sounds good. So go ahead and catch us a couple more fish so we can start cooking. I'm hungry." A smile played across her lips. "Better yet, why don't I go start a fire while you're fishing." She starts to get up, but Bess grabs her arm.
"Oh no you don't. You are going to have to catch at least one fish." "But Bess, I'm not good at this. I was engineered to be a doctor. I don't know the first thing about fishing. We'll be here forever. I'm never going to catch anything."
"Never say never Doc. Just think of it as a new experience. Besides fishing is the easy part. Cleaning the fish is the hard part."
"Cleaning? What do you mean......" Suddenly her line jerked, interrupting her train of thought. "Hey! I think I've caught something!" She stood up to get better leverage.
"You did! Julia be careful the rocks are slippery. Maybe you should sit....." She never got the rest of the words out, because at that moment Julia cried out as she slipped off the rocks and into the water. "Oh my God, Julia! Are you alright?"
"Yeah I think so. Hey, look what I caught!" She proudly held up her catch. Bess looked and started to laugh. There stood Julia in hip deep water soaked to the bone with the biggest grin on her face, proudly holding up a fish so small that it could easily have been eaten in two bites. Julia's grin faded as Bess's laughter continued. She was laughing so hard tears were falling. Julia glanced at herself and the tiny fish, and realizing how ridiculously funny she looked joined Bess in laughter as she slowly climbed out of the water. After a few more moments the laughter finally subsided.
"At least I caught something." Julia said with a sheepish grin. "Yeah you caught something alright. You caught our appetizer." Bess snickered.
"Well, now that I've caught my quota of one fish. I think I'll go start the fire."
"Actually Julia, we really shouldn't count that as a catch. Normally we would have thrown that one back. You're going to have to catch another one." Bess said with a very serious expression on her face.
"What?!!"
Bess couldn't hold it any longer, a smile broke across her face. "Just kidding! Go start the fire."With a smile on her face, Julia went off to collect wood for a fire.
It was quiet by the fire that night. They were sitting in groups of two or three, all that is except Alonzo and Morgan who were sitting off by themselves. Neither of them had eaten much, they were all still in shock over yesterdays incident. Devon noticed True and Uly quietly whispering to each other. They nodded in agreement, then got up and walked over to Morgan.
"Uh.... Morgan?"
Morgan looked up at the kids. They could see the pain in his eyes. "Uly and I just wanted you to know how sorry we are about Bess." "Sorry? You're sorry?! Did you really think that would make me feel better? The only thing that will make me feel better is having Bess here beside me. Can you do that? Can you make the pain go away? Can you bring my wife back to me?!" The kids started to back away slowly. "You never should have gone in the water!"Danziger came up behind True and Uly. "Okay Morgan that's enough. Listen man I know you're hurting, but taking it out on the kids is not going to bring Bess back. Everyone is feeling bad about this."
"You have no idea how I feel." Morgan grumbled. "I know *exactly* how you feel. I went through the same thing your going through with Ellie. But I realized a long time ago that it didn't do any good to keep the pain inside or to blame anyone."
"Yeah well I'm not you. Look...... just go away. Just leave me alone, before I do or say something that I'll regret."
Danziger shook his head and steered the kids away from Morgan, and back to where Devon was sitting. "Nice try guys." He whispered.
"Wait dad. We want to talk with Alonzo too." "Maybe you should wait a few more days." Devon suggested. They all glanced over at Alonzo. He was staring intently into the fire. "I think Uly and I would feel a whole lot better after we've had a chance to talk to Alonzo. Maybe it will help to know we're sorry." She grabbed Uly's arm and pulled him toward Alonzo. "Come on Uly."
They walked up to Alonzo and True gently touched him on the shoulder. He turned his head toward the kids. His expression was hollow, empty. No pain, no sorrow, nothing.
"Alonzo.......Uly and I just wanted to tell you how sorry we are about Julia. If there is anything we can do to help, please tell us, we'll be happy to help you."
"Thanks, but there's nothing you can do to help. There's nothing anyone can do. The only thing that will help will be for the colony ship to get here as soon as possible so that I can get the hell off this planet."
Devon slowly walked up to them. "You don't plan to stay?" He glanced up at Devon. "How can I stay when everything I see, everything I touch, reminds me of Julia?" For the first time since the tragedy, Devon saw emotion begin to creep through Alonzo's hardened exterior. His eyes began to water. "I don't want to be reminded. I want to forget. I have to forget, or I'll go crazy. I can't stay." He lowered his head. "I gave her my heart, and told her my dreams. When she di........ died, my heart and dreams died with her." He said in a barely audible whisper. He looked back up toward Devon, and she saw a tear roll down his cheek. "I've got nothing left to give."
Devon's heart went out to him. He had changed so much since coming to G889. He finally found something to live life for rather than sleep it away, and in the blink of an eye it was taken away. She reached over and gave his shoulder a little squeeze, then steered the kids away. She could see in their faces that Alonzo's words had affected them as much as it had affected her.
"Come on Uly lets go turn in. We have a long day tomorrow." "Yeah we better turn in too." Danziger said as he got up and headed with True to their tent.
Devon glanced back and noticed that just about everyone had left for their tents. Alonzo and Morgan were among those still sitting by the fire. She wondered if they would get any sleep tonight. Just a couple more months and they would reach New Pacifica. Why did it suddenly seem like it was years away. She slipped into her tent.
Bess had been right. Cleaning the fish was not fun, nor easy. They completely cleaned two fish, plus Julia's *appetizer*. Then just partially cleaned the others, leaving the skin on, so that they could hang the fish up to smoke and later to carry. Starting the fire had not been easy either, especially with no matches. Bess had caught another three fishes by the time Julia had a nice fire going. But it had been well worth the effort, the fish tasted great and filling.
"Mmmm....... that was good." Julia said as leaned back against a rock. "Yes, it sure was." Bess relied. "So what now." "*Now* we get some sleep. We have to start off early tomorrow." "Do you think we should set up a watch?" "We should, just to be on the safe side. Besides one of us needs to stay up and keep putting leaves in the fire to continue smoking the fish. Why don't we take turns. I'll take the first watch."
"Okay. Then wake me up in a few hours." She stretched out in the sand, and was soon fast asleep.
Julia leaned back and looked up at the stars wondering if Alonzo was looking at the same stars. Wishing she was with him. Hoping that her wish would soon come true.
Bright and early the next morning, before the sun had finished rising over the horizon, the Eden Advance Crew continued on their journey. They had packed up in record time. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day. They would easily make twenty kilometers today.
Julia awakened with a gentle hand shaking her. She opened her eyes, and was surprised to see it lighter than she had expected.
"Wake up Julia. I think we should get going." "Bess! I told you to wake me up just before sunrise. We should have already left."
"I know, I know. But you took the longer watch, and you haven't slept that much, and you looked so peaceful. I just didn't have the heart to wake you."
Julia's expression softened. "Bess I really appreciate it, but I can get plenty of rest after we catch up to the others. Right now we have to concentrate on catching up, and that means starting out earlier and stopping later than they would, so that we can make up some of the distance. The further away they get the longer it will take us to catch up."
"I'm sorry Julia."
"It's okay. There's no sense in harping on that now. Lets just go." She stood up, grabbed Bess's arm, and walked into the water. Once they were totally soaked to the bone, they climbed out, and filled the sample bags with water. Then making sure the fire was completely out, they grabbed the sticks where the fish were hanging, and started on a brisk pace in the direction of New Pacifica. It was going to be a long journey, but they were finally going home.
A figure stood on a nearby rocky ridge, watching through jumpers, as two lone figures walked across the dry arid landscape. *They seem healthy. This warrants a closer investigation.* The figure climbed down the back side of the ridge, and headed to a Dune Rail sitting at the foot of the ridge. His name was David Shannon. He was a tall man of about six feet. He had shoulder length black hair, black eyes, and a full beard covered the scars on his face. His clothes were worn and slightly tattered, and he looked like he hadn't had a decent meal in days. He had the appearance of a man much older than his thirty-six years. One wouldn't have thought by seeing him today that he was once a proud and respected member of the business community back on the stations. But that was a lifetime ago. He arrived at the Dune Rail where his companions sat. There was Bobby Johnson. The thirty-three year old man stood five feet eight inches tall. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a mustache. His pretty boy look was very deceiving. For inside he was as ruthless and dangerous as a wildcat. His clothes were just as worn and tattered as David's. He was sitting in the driver's seat, tiredly leaning over the steering wheel. Then there was Craig Raymond. Craig was lying across the back seats, which was not a very comfortable position for a six foot eight inch tall man. He had tied his long dark brown hair back in a ponytail. His brown eyes where closed as if in pain. He was clean shaven and his clothes and appearance were in no better condition than David's or Bobby's. But, David knew that Craig was in worse shape than Bobby and he were, they were all sick. Somehow, somewhere, they had come down with something that now refused to let go, and it was getting worse. Maybe these new strangers had the answers they were looking for. In any case, David knew they had to find help for Craig as soon as possible. At thirty, Craig was just too young to die suffering this way.
"Hey Bobby! Start the rail. We're moving out." Bobby raised his head. He looked like he had one hell of a headache. "Where to?"
"I saw a couple of people walking alone out there. We're going to take a closer look. They looked healthy. Maybe they know what's wrong with us or at least how to cure it. It couldn't hurt to check them out." He finished saying as he climbed into the Dune Rail. "Take it nice and slow. We're going to follow for a while. We'll wait until they make camp for the night. Then we'll pay them a little visit."Continued in Part 3..................
Long Journey Home, Part 3
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996
Hours passed, and the sun was now descending toward the horizon. Julia and Bess had been walking now for almost twenty kilometers. They had stopped several times to rest because the sun was beating down on them hard. They were starting to cramp up due to lack of water, and walking was becoming more difficult with each passing hour. Not knowing when they would reach their friends, they were trying to conserve as much water as they could. Another couple of hours passed and the sun was just about to set over the horizon when Bess collapsed.
"Bess! Are you alright?" Julia asked with concern as she leaned over to examine her friend.
"Yeah. Just give me a minute Julia. My legs have cramped up again." Bess replied as she gently rubbed the back of her calves.
"I think we've walked enough today. Why don't we just make camp here." "I thought you wanted to keep going until a couple of hours after sunset." "Yes I did, but it's obvious that the sun and lack of water has affected us more than I thought. We need to rest or we won't be in any condition to keep walking tomorrow."
"Maybe you're right."
"Okay, stay put. I'm going to go back to that last group of trees we just passed, and get some wood to start a fire. I won't be gone long. I promise.""Alright, but be careful."
They had stopped next to a single large tree that sat in the middle of nowhere. Bess walked over to the tree and sat down leaning up against the trunk waiting for Julia's return. She watched as Julia slowly disappeared into the horizon.Julia was walking back toward Bess with an armful of wood. She thanked the powers that be that she had found enough wood to start a small fire. They didn't need the fire to cook their food. The food was already cooked. The fire was needed to keep them warm in the evenings, because even though it was very hot and muggy during the day, the evenings were often very chilly. It was dark by the time Julia spotted Bess. She could see her friend's shadow in the distance, and approached with a smile. As she got closer she caught sight of something else that caused her to stop dead in her tracks. *What the......... that's a Dune Rail! I don't believe it! They've found us!* Her smile widened and she took off in a dead run. As she came closer, she noticed Bess was still sitting up against the tree. She also noticed that there appeared to be no one else around. *Where is the person that came in the Dune Rail.* She came to a sudden stop and her smile faded as she reached Bess and saw the terrified expression on her face. Something was terribly wrong. Her fears were realized when a moment later a man stepped out from behind the tree trunk pointing a hand gun at Bess's head. While at the same time, two other men jumped out of the Dune Rail, where they had been hiding, also holding hand guns.
"How nice of you to join us Doctor. We've been patiently waiting for you." Julia slowly turned toward one of the men that had just stepped out of the Dune Rail. He was holding their ID cards.
"Your picture doesn't due you justice. You're much more beautiful in person." He said as he walked up to her smiling. "Bobby why don't relieve the nice doctor of her burden."
Julia just continued to stare at the man in front of her, even as his companion from the Dune Rail came up to her and took the wood from her arms.
Julia managed to recover from her shock rather quickly. "Who are you? What do you want?"
"Inquisitive aren't we doctor, but I suppose you do have a right to know." He stepped a little closer, standing no more than a foot away, and was surprised when Julia didn't even flinch. *She's tougher than she looks.* "My name is David. David Shannon. My companions are," He pointed toward the man standing behind Bess, "Craig Raymond," then at the man that just came up behind Julia, standing so close she could feel his breath on her neck, "and Bobby Johnson. And, we want....."
"What we want is to have a little fun," Bobby interrupted as he placed a hand on her buttocks, Julia didn't move, "and to get to know you a little better." He wrapped his other arm around her, covering her breasts.
With moves that surprised both the men and Bess, Julia swung her arm back, jabbing her elbow into Bobby's gut. Bobby doubled over in pain, then Julia lifted her leg and rammed her knee into Bobby's face. Bobby landed on his back with a grown, and a bloody nose and lip. Craig had started to move toward them, but stopped with a motion from David's hand. David for his part was enjoying this with a big grin on his face. He watched Julia with admiring eyes. *This lady has guts. Bobby ain't going to like what just happened. I'm going to have to keep my eye on both of them.*
Julia stood over Bobby. "Touch me again and you'll be able to sing in soprano next time."
Bobby was furious, as he jumped to his feet. "You little bitch! You are going to live to regret that! By the time I'm through with you, you are going to *beg* me to kill you!" He came at her, but Julia stood her ground, much to David's surprise.
Before Bobby had a chance to get his hands on her, David stepped in front of him, with a stern expression on his face. "Cool it Bobby! That's not what we want!"
"That may not be what you want, but it's certainly what I want. Now get out of my way, Shannon!" He started to push forward again, but David shoved him back.
"Dammit! I said NO!! You want her..... then you'll have to come through me first!"
They stood there staring at each other. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. David knew that Bobby could easily have beaten the crap out of him if he were healthy. But at the moment, he was the healthiest one of the three, which made him stronger. He was counting on Bobby being smart enough to realize that. He wasn't disappointed. After several minutes Bobby backed off.
Bobby looked at Julia. "You lucked out this time Doc, but watch your back, 'cause David here ain't gonna be around to protect you forever." He then turned around and stormed off toward the Dune Rail.
Julia let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Thank you." David turned around to face Julia. "Don't thank me yet Dr. Heller. You haven't heard what we want yet."
"What *do* you want?"
He motioned for her to have a seat. She stood her ground for a moment then decided to go ahead and sit down. Julia walked over to where Bess was sitting and sat down next to her."Are you okay, Bess?"
"Other than being nearly scared to death, I'm fine. They haven't hurt me. I got the impression that they were more interested in you. Especially after they found out you were a doctor."Julia turned toward David with a questioning look on her face. David told Craig to go start a fire with the wood Julia brought. They had lumalights so that they could see, but lumalights wouldn't keep them warm. David then sat down in front of the two ladies.
"I'm afraid Mrs. Martin is right on that account, doctor. We were more interested in you once we found out you were a doctor."
"Why?"
"Because we're sick. I think we're dying, and I don't know what from. It hit Craig first then spread to Bobby and now me."Julia stared at him with alarm. "You mean it's contagious." "That's right Doc, which means you and your friend here have been exposed, and more than likely you've caught it now too."
Bess clutched Julia's arm. "Julia?" "How long have you been sick?"
"It all started less then forty-eight hours ago." "Forty-eight hours!" She looked up at Craig and for the first time noticed just how ill he really looked. He was very pale, and looked like he was about to collapse. It also looked like he was having trouble breathing. She glanced over at Bobby and noticed he wasn't looking much better."That's right Doc. Fast little bugger ain't it. So you can imagine our delight at finding a doctor. Although I must say, I'm a little surprised at finding the two of you roaming around out here by yourselves."
"It wasn't intentional. We were mistakenly left behind by our group. We are trying to catch up and rejoin them."
"Well, I'm sorry, but we can't let you go. Not until you cure us. Then we'll let you go."
"I can't cure you. I don't even know what's wrong. I don't have any of my equipment. Our group has all of my medical equipment. If we could meet up with them, maybe I can find out what is wrong and cure you."
Bess looked at Julia. "But Julia, if we meet up with the others won't they also get infected?"
"We can stop just outside of camp and they can send Zero with my medical equipment."
"That sounds like a nice plan doctor, but I'm afraid that's impossible. You'll just have to make due with what we have. We have a small first aid kit in the Dune Rail at your disposal. It contains a hyperspray that may come in handy. I don't think Craig here will last must longer. I'd rather not have to take any chances on your friends betraying us. I can't even be sure you're telling us the truth about this group you claim to be a part of. So, you need to cure us now and here, because no one is going anywhere until you do. Understand?"
"A first aid kit won't do me much good." "That's too bad, because the only way to save yourselves is for you to find a cure to whatever is making us sick."
Julia just looked at David with exasperation. *What am I going to do?* "How do I know that once I find a cure, you won't just kill us rather than let us go?"
"You don't know. You just have to trust me." Julia looked into his eyes, and somehow she knew, knew beyond a doubt, that he meant what he said. *I hope I know what I'm doing. I can't believe I'm actually putting my trust in a penal colonist.*
"Okay....... It doesn't look like I have much of a choice." She got up and walked over toward Craig who had sat down and was now leaning up against the Dune Rail. David followed while Bobby moved over to a position where he could keep an eye on Bess, and on what Julia was doing. "Mr. Raymond........"
"Just call him Craig, Doc. We don't have much use for last names around here." David interrupted.
"Okay...... Craig can you tell me how you feel?" "Like shit!"
Julia rolled her eyes. "Lets try to be a *little* more specific shall we. Where are you hurting? Tell me what you are feeling?" Craig went on and told her his symptoms, which turned out to be very similar to the virus that Danziger caught when he met up with Les Firestein and Alex Wentworth. The symptoms were not exactly the same but they were similar enough that Grendler seliva may just work.Julia patted Craig on the arm and told him to rest, then stood and moved off a little, with David following. "I think I might know of a way to cure this. It seems similar to a virus we encountered months ago. It turns out that Grendler seliva provided the needed antibodies to counteract the virus. It may work with this virus as well. What we need to do now is find a Grendler."
"That might be easier said than done. We've been riding around for days without spotting one."
"I don't think Craig has days left. We need to find one soon." "Well, we'll just have to find one won't we. We'll start a search tomorrow morning."
Bess had been intently watching Julia and David trying to gauge how things were going, but she was having a hard time because she wasn't able to hear what they were saying. She finally gave up and turned her attention back to Bobby, who to her surprise was eating their fish.
Bess jumped to her feet. "Hey! Don't eat that! That's our fish!" Surprised by her sudden outburst, he pulled his gun out and pointed it at her. "You mean it *was* your fish, now it's ours."
David walked over to Bobby and slapped his gun down. "Dammit Bobby, put that away before you hurt someone with it."
Bess pleaded with David. "Please, that's all the food we have. We need it to survive until we rejoin our group."
"I'm sorry ma'am but you have to understand that we ran out of food yesterday evening. All we have left is water. We're going to have to make due with what we have."
"But......"
Julia walked over to Bess and placed a hand on her arm. "Let it go Bess. It's not worth the trouble."
"Not worth it! Julia, we need that fish!" "Bess if I don't find a cure, we won't be alive long enough to worry about starving to death.""What?......"
"They have a similar virus as the ones Les and Alex had. Remember that?" Bess nodded silently. "Well, it's not exactly the same but very close. We need to find a Grendler and hope that Grendler drool will solve the problem.""But Julia, won't the Grendler drool you gave us for that virus protect us from this one?"
"I don't know Bess. I hope so, but this is definitely a different virus. The form of the Grendler seliva I used before may not work with this virus. I may have to try it in a different form." David walked up to them, and handed them a small piece of fish. "Here eat this. It'll keep your strength up." After Julia and Bess had finished eating, David said, "Why don't you ladies get some rest. We'll take turns and watch over you. I'll wake you up in the morning."
Julia looked at David as she grabbed Bess's arm and lead her over to the tree. "That's okay, we'll watch over ourselves." They sat down, with Julia volunteering to take the first watch.
It was hours before Bess relaxed enough to fall asleep. Julia watched as first Craig then Bobby slowly drifted off to sleep. David walked over and sat down next to Julia. "How's your friend?"
"Sleeping. She's strong. She'll survive." "You're strong too." He whispered as he looked at her with admiring eyes. "I mean you handled Bobby pretty impressively." A small grin escaped her as she looked into his eyes. He had beautiful eyes. In a way David reminded her of Alonzo. "Bess is tough because she was born and raised on Earth." She chuckled. "She actually showed me how to fish. She's a survivor."
"And you......."
"I was raised and trained to be a survivor." "By the Council."
Julia looked at David with a shocked expression. "How did you know?" "Instincts mostly....... the way you fought........ the way you stood your ground against me and Bobby. I worked for the Council at one time myself. I know how they trained their operatives.""You worked for the Council? Then why are you here?" David smiled at her. "I could ask you the same thing." "It's a long story, but in essence, I was sent here with a group that was coming here to colonize the planet......... to spy on them......... but I've realized my mistake in trusting the Council and have turned away from them."
"Mine was a similar situation. I was working for the Council, and I found out some things that I didn't like. I started to question their decisions. One day I was attacked by a couple of men. I ended up killing one of them in self defense. The Council didn't see it that way, so they sent me here as punishment. I think it was their way of getting rid of a trouble maker. Life has been hard on this planet, and I've had to do things that I'm not very proud of in order to survive. But I have survived, and I intend to keep on surviving no matter what it takes."
"You're not doing everything you can now." "What do you mean?"
"My group has Grendler drool. We just need to catch up to them and our problems could be solved.""That's what you say. But I don't even know if you have a so called group. How can I be sure? How can I be sure that this group wouldn't betray us?" Julia grinned at David and using his own words back at him said, "You don't know. You just have to trust me."
David's smile faded. "Fraid I can't do that." Julia's eyes narrowed. "You mean I'm expected to *trust* you, but you won't trust me."
David stands up angrily. "That's right. I've survived on this God forsaken planet by not placing my trust in anyone but myself. So just sit back and relax Doc because *you* are not going anywhere until you've cured us." His voice softened. "Get some rest...... you have a long day ahead of you." With those words he turned and walked away, leaving Julia praying they would find a Grendler in the morning, for all their sakes.
Continued in Part 4....................
Long Journey Home, Part 4
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996
Devon couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Julia and Bess struggling with the creature. She saw death. The nightmares were not as intense as the first night, but were still bad enough to wake her up in a cold sweat. She decided that was enough for one night and went to get some fresh air. It was still dark as she stepped out into the open, but dawn was fast approaching, and soon they would be traveling another twenty kilometers, just like they had during the past two days. It was a good pace for a journey that was fast approaching its conclusion. But as much as she wanted to reach New Pacifica, she was not looking forward to another day of silence. And since Julia's and Bess's death that was all there had been........ silence. She spotted Baines on watch and waved to him. He acknowledged her presence then moved on. Devon walked out to the edge of camp and just looked up at the clear sky. As she watched the stars, she felt the presence of someone behind her, and somehow she knew without a doubt who it was.
"Hello John." She said as she turned around. "You couldn't sleep either?" John was startled for a moment but recovered quickly. "No....... I just keep going over and over in my head, if there was anything different we could have done....... anything different *I* could have done."
She reached over and gently placed her hand on his arm. "Don't kick yourself over this John. There wasn't anything you could have done. There wasn't anything any of us could have done."
He reached up and caressed her check. "I know......... but even knowing that doesn't make it any easier to take." He looked into her eyes, and loved the way the moonlight made them sparkle. *God she is beautiful.* "What's your excuse for being up?"
She lowered her gaze. "Nightmares. I keep seeing them die." She turned around, and looked up toward the sky. "I keep replaying my last conversations with them. Julia was worried about getting the hospital set up in time once we reached New Pacifica. But I think she was really worried about whether Alonzo would decide to stay once the colony ship arrived. She had changed so much. She was really looking forward to a long and happy future here. A future which included a husband, preferably Alonzo, and children. And, Bess was so excited about making a home for herself and Morgan. She wanted to build a house overlooking the beach. She even wanted to start a family once the house was finished. She really wanted children."
John could hear her voice cracking. He stepped forward and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Devon......."
She heard him whisper her name and that was all it took. She started to cry. John turned her around and held her in his arms, wishing he could take the pain away. He realized that this was her time to start healing.
"Oh John, I feel so helpless. I feel like this is all my fault." John knew that Devon felt responsible for the group, and as a result Julia's and Bess's death weighed heavily on her mind. He pulled away slightly, reached over and gently lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "It's not your fault, Devon. You are no more to blame for this than you were for the crash. You've done your best to keep this rag tag group of people together. We wouldn't have made it even this far without you." "I think you over estimate my importance to this group." "We are all important. We all felt helpless. We all feel guilty." He took his hands and framed her face, looking intently into her eyes. "But I know that Bess and Julia would want us to move on with our lives. I also know they wouldn't blame anyone for what happened. They knew, just like the rest of us, the dangerous journey we were undertaking. Everyday is and was a new adventure for us, filled with discovery and fears of the unknown." With his thumbs, he gently wiped the tears away. "So no more tears, from now on we celebrate having had the pleasure of knowing them."
As a small smile played across her lips, she wrapped their arms around him and held on tight.
"Thank you John. I feel better already." "My pleasure." And he meant that with all his heart. "What would I ever do without you?" She whispered against his chest as she closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of his embrace.
"That Devon, is something, I promise, you will never have to find out." He closed his eyes enjoying the feel of her in his arms. "I will always be here for you." He whispered into her hair.
They stood there holding each other as the sun rose above the horizon. Another day had arrived. Another twenty kilometers lay ahead filled with the promise of a journey nearing its end.
Bess awakened to the sound of voices. She opened her eyes and noticed that daylight had arrived. Julia was sitting beside her intently watching the men that were standing off by the Dune Rail having a heated argument. She slowly started to sit up.
"Julia? What's going on?"
Julia turned to Bess, and she could tell immediately that Julia hadn't slept. "They're arguing. I'm not sure about what, but I think it involves us.""Why didn't you wake me? You haven't slept at all have you." It was more of a statement than a question, but Julia answered anyway.
"I thought you needed your rest."
"What about you? Don't you need your rest?" Julia returned her attention back to the men. "I don't know.......... David took the first watch, and I was comfortable with him, but then he woke up Bobby for the second watch. For some reason I wasn't comfortable going to sleep with Bobby on watch. So I decided to stay awake and keep an eye on him...... and on you.""Thanks I appreciate that, but you needed the rest as much as I did." Julia looked over at Bess. "How are you feeling?" "To be honest with you not too good. I'm starting to feel a little weak." "Maybe you're starting to come down with the virus too." "You think so?"
"I don't know. Let's hope not."
At that moment David walked over to them. "Okay ladies, now that you're up, I think it's time we went looking for a Grendler, as you suggested Doctor. Unfortunately, we are having a little trouble deciding as to who should go on this little adventure. I was going to suggest that you accompany me doctor, since......"Julia quickly interrupted. "And what? We leave Craig and Bobby here alone with Bess?......... Sorry, but I don't think so."
"Alright then. What do you suggest then Doctor? Would you prefer that Mrs. Martin come with me and we leave you here alone with Bobby and Craig?"
Julia glanced over at Bobby, who was grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of being left alone with Julia. She tried hard to hide her feelings of disgust, and deep down a feeling of fear. "No I wouldn't prefer that either."
"Well, we're running out of options Doctor." They stared at each other in silence for a moment. It was David that finally broke the silence. "Okay, I'll tell you what. Bobby and I'll go and look for a Grendler. We'll try to bring him here, or at least collect some of that drool you need. I'll have Craig stay here with you and Mrs. Martin." He took a deep breath and continued. "I'll be perfectly honest with you doctor. Craig is in no condition to stop you from leaving if you so desire. But I have to warn you. It appears that Mrs. Martin is starting to show some of the symptoms of this virus, and I'm sure you are not far behind. So it may be in your best interest to stick around, and wait until we come back. Because if we do find a Grendler, it may just solve all of our problems. Besides how far away could you possibly get on foot before we would catch up to you in the Dune Rail and just bring you right back. So my advice to you is to just stay put and out of trouble."
Julia and David just stood there staring at each other for a moment before Julia replied, "Don't worry. We're not going anywhere."
"Glad to hear that Doc." David turned around and headed back toward the Dune Rail. "Come on Bobby........ we've got a Grendler to catch."
Bobby didn't look too thrilled to be going with David, but there was no sense in arguing anymore. The sooner they got a Grendler, the sooner they would be cured, and the sooner he could get what he really wanted. He glanced at Julia before getting into the Dune Rail. David left some food and a little bit of water with Julia before hopping in the rail and taking off. They headed in the direction where Julia and Bess had come from since that was where the most recent sighting of a Grendler had taken place. If they were lucky they would find one soon.
Moments after they left, Bess turned toward Julia. "Why did you tell him we'd stay? Why don't we just leave? Maybe they won't be able to track us down. Maybe they'd be too weak to come after us."
Julia looked at Bess. "Bess..... I can't leave Craig here alone..... half dead. Even if I wanted to I couldn't........ it's just not in me. I can't leave him. He's sick. He needs my help."
"But there is nothing you can do Julia. You said yourself that without your equipment your hands were tied. The best we could hope for would be that David and Bobby find a Grendler, and even those odds are not great. We're healthy enough now that we can at least travel, lets just go. Maybe we'll luck out and catch up with the others before we get any worse."
Julia looked at Craig. He was lying up against a crate that David had left behind for him to lean on. He looked sicker than the night before. It didn't look like he had much more strength to go on. He wasn't going to last much longer. She looked back at Bess, and saw a hopeful expression on her face. Her feelings tugged at her from both sides. On one end she wanted to stay with her patient. Sure he was a criminal, sure they were prisoners here, but he still was a patient, he still needed her attention. It was her duty as a doctor to help him. On the other end was her friend, and she made perfect sense, maybe now was the best opportunity to get away. Maybe they still had time to reach the others and get help. Maybe David and Bobby won't find a Grendler and they would just end up dying here. She was in a dilemma. *What should I do?* After a few more moments, she made a decision. "Bess..... look...... why don't you take some water and some food and go on without me. When they come back, I'll try and stall them. I'll try to keep them from going after you. Although they really only need me anyway. There really wouldn't be any reason to go after you. So why don't you just go. Get some help, and bring help back with you." Julia quickly stood and walked over to her patient to see how he was doing.
Bess sat there watching her and actually contemplated the thought for a moment, but as she watch Julia work on Craig, she just couldn't do it. She couldn't leave without her friend. *No Julia...... if you're not going, then I'm not going either.* She got up and walked over to Julia, placing a hand on her shoulder. Julia turned and looked up at her. "No, I'm not going. I'm not going to leave without you. We've stuck together for this long, we'll stick together for the rest of this journey. If you're staying, then I'm staying with you."
A smile crept across Julia's face as she stared at Bess. Grateful for the company, she hoped that Bess wouldn't regret her decision. "Are you sure Bess?"
Bess looked at Julia and then at Craig, who obviously needed a doctor. Even if it was a doctor that couldn't do much for him at the moment. "Yeah, I'm sure. I may live to regret it, but at the moment I've made up my mind. I'm sure."
Hours passed and Julia was feeling helpless, nothing she did seemed to help Craig at all, but then again there wasn't much she could do without her equipment. It was just so frustrating sometimes. She looked over at Bess who was leaning up against the tree. She could tell that Bess was starting to exhibit the symptoms of the virus. Julia was afraid. Afraid that she would end up watching her friend die before there was anything she could do. She tried to make Craig as comfortable as possible before she tiredly got up and walked over to sit by Bess. It was moments later that they saw the Dune Rail coming toward them. Julia jumped to her feet with eager anticipation, but that soon vanished when she didn't see a Grendler. She hoped they had found a Grendler and had collect some drool. But somehow deep in her gut, she had a sinking feeling that wasn't the case. Her assumptions were realized a moment later when David climbed out of the Dune Rail and she saw the look in his eyes.
Julia walked over to them. "No luck?" David shook his head. "No we didn't see a thing. Not a Grendler, not a Terrian, not a Koba, not a single creature. Nothing. It's like this entire area is devoid of any life...... or at least of any creatures. We didn't see a damn thing." He stood there a moment just staring out across the arid landscape, then turned his attention back to Julia. "I see you stayed."
"I didn't have much choice."
A slight smile played across his lips. "Yeah you did Doc. Yeah you did." His smile quickly faded. "How's Craig?" "Not good I'm afraid. I'll be perfectly honest with you, I'm not sure how much longer he's going to hold up. He doesn't have much time." She took a good look at him. He looked tired. "How are you and Bobby?""We're hanging in there. That's about all I can tell you." Exasperated he turned and walked away staring out toward the horizon. "Look there isn't much more we can do today. The sun will be setting soon. We'll have to continue our search tomorrow. We'll head in a different direction next time. Maybe we'll have more luck."
"Alright then, why don't you just sit down, relax, and have something to eat and drink. Like you told me yesterday, you need to keep your strength up.""Thanks for the advice Doc, but I've got to unload some of the stuff off the Dune Rail. It'll lighten us up and allow us to travel further, faster." He walked over to the Dune Rail and began to remove some of the boxes. Bobby barely had enough strength to climb out, much less help. So Julia decided she would go help David, mainly she was just curious to see what they were carrying. As she helped him unload, she was surprised to find mostly clothes, as opposed to weapons, as she had expected.
"Where did you get all this stuff? Where did you get the Dune Rail? I'm sure this wasn't standard equipment for convicts."
David chuckled. "Yeah you got that right. When the Council left us here, we had nothing but the clothes on our backs. They didn't even give us much food or water. We pretty much had to fend for ourselves. As for this Dune Rail and other stuff, we decided to relieve an over burdened Grendler of these items a few weeks back."
"You mean he just gave them to you?" "Well I wouldn't quite put it that way. He wasn't exactly too enthusiastic about his little donation, but we managed to *convince* him that was the right thing to do, and here we are."
"Yes..... here you are, indeed." They worked in silence from that time forward, hardly even looked at each other. Julia had an idea about what happen to that Grendler, and she didn't much like the idea either.
The rest of the evening was spent rather quietly. No one seemed to want to strike up a conversation. Most were too weak to even contemplate holding a conversation. Soon they were all drifting off to sleep. Julia took the first watch, then woke up Bess for the second. This time Julia decided to catch some sleep when she realized that Bobby was in no condition to try anything even if he wanted to. Not realizing how tired she really was, she quickly drifted off to sleep almost at the moment her eyes closed.
The next morning the routine was the same as the day before. Bobby and David went off in the Dune Rail, while Julia stayed behind to care for Craig, and the worsening Bess. Hours turned into days, and soon three days had passed since they had been captured by these men. Craig was steadily getting worse, and although Bess tried to hide it, Julia could tell that she too was getting worse. It finally got to the point where Bobby couldn't go with David anymore, and he too was confined to camp. Both Bobby and Craig were laying under blankets under the shade of the tree. Craig was near death, and Bobby was not too far behind. David desperately continued his search for a Grendler, going in different directions each time. As tired and as sick as he felt, he couldn't stop. He had to do something. He had to find help. Bess continued to worsen, and Julia was starting to feel the affects of the virus herself. It wouldn't be long before she would be helpless to do anything more herself. At the moment all she could really do was make them as comfortable as she could. They were all going to die, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. It was too late now to go after Eden Advance. She doubted they would make even it if they tried.
Continued in Part 5.............................
Long Journey Home, Part 5
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996Two more days passed, it had been a week since they were left behind, and now five days since they met these men. David was now among those under the tree. He no longer had the strength to continue his search for a Grendler or any other help. As Julia checked on him, she came to realize that David wasn't really such a bad man, not deep inside. Deep inside, he was a kind man. She could see it in his eyes. She tried to make him and the others as comfortable as possible. There wasn't much time left. Bess insisted that she wasn't as weak as she looked, and insisted on helping Julia as much as she could. The next morning, Bess and Julia passed out the morning rations of water. They had run out of food a couple of days ago, and were living with just water to sustain them. So now they had to deal with hunger as well as the sickness.
David awakened to find Julia gently placing a blanket over Craig's head, and knew immediately what had happened. "He's dead, isn't he?"
Julia looked at David. "Yeah. He died just a few minutes ago. I'm sorry...... but I couldn't do anything to save him."
He saw the tears in her eyes. "I know." Julia looked back at Craig, and a tear fell. She knew these men were not good. She knew they had committed crimes, that they were convicts. But she always hated, no matter what..... when she lost a patient, good or bad, it was still a loss and that troubled her.
"Julia....."
She looked back over at David with a startled expression. That was the first time since they'd met that he had used her first name. She smiled at him and walked over. "Yeah....""I think you and Bess should leave." "What?!"
"Take the Dune Rail, and leave. Go find your group. Go as fast as you can and don't look back. Maybe if you're lucky, you'll reach them before it's too late.""I can't just leave you. If we go then we'll take you with us." "Doc, you know as well as I do that I'm going to die. You and Bess can go a lot faster without all that dead weight in the back, which is all that I'll be. Besides, there isn't much water left. I'll just be consuming water that you can't afford to give me. You barely have enough as it is with the water you have. Just go...... leave me and Bobby."
"But you'll die...."
He reached up and caressed her cheek. Saddened by the thought of having to let her go, but knowing inside that she was never his to let go. "Julia, we're dead already. You and Bess still have a chance."Tears came to Julia's eyes as she looked down at him. "We're not leaving you." With those words she got up and walked over to Bobby to check on him.
Later that afternoon Bobby passed away, and again Julia cried. Not because a good man died, but because a human being had died, a human being that was under her care.
David weakly called Bess over as Julia sat over Bobby with a sad expression on her face. "Bess, you and Julia have to leave. Tell her to go. Convince her to leave. You have to leave now. The longer you stay here the longer it will take for you to catch up to your group. You've got to leave! You still have a chance....... if you ride like hell, you still have a chance."
Bess looked over at Julia, then back at David. "I'll do what I can, but somehow I don't think she is going to leave as long as you're alive."
Bess walked over to Julia and started to talk to her. From his vantage point, David could see that Julia was getting angry at Bess. She got up and walked toward the Dune Rail, with Bess close on her heals. They continued their argument. He could catch some of the words. He could tell that Julia was arguing over leaving. He could see that Bess was trying her best to convince Julia that it was fruitless to stay. That they needed to get going. That they had a chance to survive if they could only get going. David could tell that Julia was not going to give in. She kept insisting that if they had to go, they were going to take David with them. But David knew there wasn't enough water to sustain the three of them for much longer. As he watched Julia, Bess's words played back over his mind. *She is not going to leave as long as you're alive.* A thought occurred to him. Over the past few days, he had fallen in love with this pretty doctor. Head over heels in love. He was afraid to let her go, and die alone, but he couldn't let her stay because he loved her, and he couldn't bare to know that she'd die because of her obligations as a doctor to him. Once he died, she wouldn't have a reason to stay any longer......... she would be free. He reached into the waistband of his pants, and pulled out his hand gun. *She is not going to leave as long as you're alive.* He looked over at Julia and realized what he had to do. He held the gun up to his temple........ and pulled the trigger.
Julia and Bess both jumped at the sound of a gunshot, and immediately turned in David's direction. What they saw, made Bess turn away with a sick feeling in her stomach. There was blood everywhere. Julia rushed over to David's side, disparately trying to save him, but it was too late. He was dead.
Bess finally managed to find strength as she walked over to Julia, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Julia, he's dead. It's over. He's dead."
Julia pushed Bess's hand away. "No! Dammit no!" She started to cry. "Julia...... he died for you. We have got to go, and we've got to live." "No....."
"Julia don't you see...... he died for you." She wiped away her tears. "What are you talking about?" "He died for you. He knew that you wouldn't go anywhere as long as he was alive. I think that deep down inside he loved you. He loved you enough to kill himself, because he knew it would set you free. I think that the least we should do is go, and try to live. We can't let his sacrifice be meaningless. We need to make it worth something."Julia sat there silently for a moment, and Bess was afraid that her arguments were not going to sway her. But suddenly Julia stood looked over at Bess and nodded. "Okay. Lets go. We've got a group to catch up with."
Bess smiled and said, "Yeah, lets go." Just as Bess was turning around, Julia grabbed her arm. "Wait a minute." Bess stopped and turned as she watched Julia walk over to David. She watched as Julia carefully placed a blanket over him and gently tucked it around him. There really wasn't much more they could do. They didn't have any digging equipment to dig graves. Even if they did, they were both to weak to attempt it. Julia and Bess stood over them in a moment of silence. Then taking a deep breath Julia turned around and said, "Okay I'm ready now."
They quickly walked over to the Dune Rail, loaded up the water plus any other essential items, and left everything else behind. Bess climbed into the passenger seat and Julia into the driver's seat. Without even a second glance back, they took off as fast as the Dune Rail could go in the direction of New Pacifica.
After a week, things were finally getting back to normal, or at least as normal as things could get under the circumstances. The silence that had once prevailed over the group had finally been broken and conversations could be heard everywhere. Alonzo was no longer walking around like an emotionless robot. He was hurting and now everyone could clearly tell. He kept himself busy, doing chores, assembling camp, and scouting ahead among other things. It was his way of dealing with the loss. Even Morgan was looking and acting better. He no longer looked like his whole world had been shattered and was even seen talking to others, however brief the conversations may have been. His way of dealing with the loss was much different from Alonzo's. With Morgan there was no volunteering for extra work to keep him busy. He often didn't do any work and no one seemed willing to push him, especially since Alonzo often volunteered to take up the slack. Morgan preferred to keep to himself, and often roamed just outside the camp limits just to be alone. Morgan's way to deal with the loss involved VR. He often disappeared into his own VR world where all was perfect. He was often seen just outside of camp banging away on his VR drum set. And during the brief times he spent in his VR world, he actually looked happy, peaceful, and content. Today had been no different. As camp was being set up, he walked just outside and entered his special world. He closed his eyes and started to play with an emotion and intensity born from loss and grief. It wasn't long after he started to play that he was startled by a very unexpected and unwanted guest that came crashing into his world, bringing him back to reality.
"You play well."
Morgan slowly opened his eyes to the sound of an unexpected voice. There in front of him stood a very smug Reilly staring back with an intensity that unnerved him. He dropped his drum sticks and jumped up."What......... what are you doing in here? What......... what do you want?" He knew he was stuttering, but at the moment he was terrified. "My dear Mr. Martin. Please forgive my intrusion." He started to move in Morgan's direction, but Morgan made it a point to keep the drum set between them. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh no..... of course you didn't....... right." His courage was returning. An annoyed expression crossed Reilly's face. "I want to talk with Adair. Go and get her."
"Why don't you just jump into her VR and get her yourself?" Now it was his turn to be annoyed."Mr. Martin, believe me, I would if I could, but she hasn't used VR recently and time is running out. So unfortunately I'm stuck with you."
"Well too bad because I don't work for you, and I'm not getting anyone...... so go away and leave me alone!" He reached up and started to remove his gear.
"WAIT!!" Morgan paused. "It could be a matter of life and death for someone close to you........... but perhaps death was your intent......."
"What are you talking about? The only person I'm close to is dead. You hear me she's DEAD, so I'm really not interested in anything you have to say."
A large smile crept across Reilly's face, and his eyes were filled with amusement. "Are you really so sure about that?" With those words he disappeared leaving Morgan standing with a mixture of relief and shock. For a moment he wasn't sure what he was going to do. But then he remembered Reilly's last words to him, *Are you really so sure about that?*, and decided he had better report this encounter.
Back in camp, Devon, Danziger, Yale, and Alonzo were discussing the road ahead. Alonzo had just come back from a short scout ahead, and had found the road was relatively clear, but he was finding that the vegetation was increasing, as it steadily had been for the past several days. This could pose a problem in the future, but for the moment it appeared that the conditions were good for at least another twenty kilometers tomorrow. As the meeting was breaking up, Morgan came barreling into camp.
"Devon! Devon!"
Devon turned toward Morgan as he came up to her. "What is it? What's wrong?""You guys are not going to believe this, but I just had a conversation with Reilly."
"What?!" Devon exclaimed.
"I was in VR playing my drums, then he just appeared." "What did he want?" Danziger asked.
"He wanted me to get you, Devon. He wants to talk with you." "Well he can forget it. Adair ain't talking to him." "Danziger............ I think we should at least listen to what he has to say.""I have to agree with Devon on this point John." Yale agreed. "What could he possible say that would be of interest to us?" Morgan quickly interrupted. "I'm not sure, but he said that it was a matter of life and death for someone close to me. And when I told him that the only person close to me was already dead, he said 'Are you sure about that?'. Well that kind of got me thinking. We've seen all sorts of strange things on this planet. Maybe........."
Devon had a feeling where this was going. "Morgan.......... Bess is dead. There isn't anything Reilly can say that is going to bring her back to life."
Alonzo had been listening to all of this intently, and decided to throw in his two cents worth. "I think we should hear what Reilly has to say." He looked at Devon. "It couldn't hurt."
Devon looked at Danziger. "Sorry Danziger. It looks like you've been out voted. Alright lets get our gear, and get this over with."
They quickly collected their gears. Then Devon looked at the others. "Okay, I'll go in and make contact. The rest of you just stay on audio, and be ready to jump in if I need you." With those words, she entered VR.
She stood there for a moment alone. "Okay Reilly, I'm here. Lets go." "It's so nice to see you again Devon." Startled, Devon quickly turned around to face Reilly who had appeared behind her.
"I'm afraid I can't say the same for you. Now what do you want?" "My...my. Is that any way to treat an old friend?" "Look..... I didn't come here for idle chit chat. I was told you wanted to talk with me, so here I am. So say what you need to say, and lets get this over with. We all have a lot to do before the day is through."
"Mmmmm..... you know, that's a very interesting word, *we*. It implies togetherness, a group. Something that you've always preached, isn't it Devon. But as the saying goes....... do as I say not as I do, right?"
"What the hell are you talking about?" "Oh come on Devon....... there's no sense in hiding anything from me. I just couldn't stand not knowing. Curiosity got the better of me. I just had to know why you did it." He had the biggest most satisfying grin on his face. Devon just wished she could go over and slap it away. "Did the good doctor decide to rejoin our ranks? Although what I'm really curious about is what poor Mrs. Martin did to deserve your wrath."
"What are you talking about?! This isn't very funny. Julia Heller and Bess Martin are dead."
"Ohhh..... so that is what you told poor Mr. Martin. No wonder he looked so devastated."
"I didn't tell anyone anything. We all saw them die." "So you've buried the bodies?"
"No. There were no bodies to bury. They either drowned or were killed by some creature in a lake we camped near about a week ago." Devon was starting to get annoyed. "Do you mind getting to the point of this conversation?"For a moment Reilly looked surprised, then his grin returned. "Well, well, well. The mighty Devon Adair has finally made a mistake. A very big mistake I might add, and I have the privilege of being around to see the results." At Devon's questioning look, he continued. "You've assumed too much Devon. This planet is filled with all sorts of unusual places to go, hide, and escape from. Although I have no idea how......... you're friends survived their ordeal at the lake. They're alive."
Devon visibly paled. "Alive?" Danziger, Alonzo, Morgan, and Yale all entered VR. Danziger walked up behind Devon to lend his support.
Reilly watched with amusement. "Somehow I knew we weren't alone." Danziger was angry. "You have some nerve coming to us and feeding us a bunch of lies."
"Oh I'm not lying.......... They are alive. Barely mind you, but alive none the less. Have you forgotten those little chips in your heads already? I have the capability to monitor your life signs, and at the moment I'm reading very weak life signs for one Dr. Julia Heller, and one Mrs. Bess Martin." He noticed how upset everyone looked. "You all really didn't know, did you?"
"Oh my God......... no........... we didn't know." Devon whispered. "Did you really think we would have left them behind if we had known?"
"No, I suppose you wouldn't have. But it was interesting there for a minute, thinking that you might have."
It was just moments later, once the shock had worn off, that Alonzo excitedly asked, "Wait a minute you said that their life signs were weak, right?"
"That's right."
Alonzo quickly turned toward Devon. "We've got to quickly go back for them. If they are hurt, Julia doesn't have any medical equipment to help." "Oh I wouldn't say there is any need to hurry. Their life signs are too weak. You'll never reach them in time. Although I am surprised........... they do seem to be moving, in this direction, at a much faster speed than before."Alonzo turned toward Reilly with fury in his eyes. "You son-of-a-bitch! If they die because you didn't let us know they were alive, I'll............."
"You'll what......... Mr. Solace. There is absolutely nothing you can do to me. You know as well as I do that they're just empty threats."
Danziger walked up to Alonzo, and placed a hand on his shoulders. "Come on 'Lonz, he isn't worth the time or trouble. Lets get going................ we've got a couple of ladies depending on us to find them."
"So that's the kind of gratitude I get for providing you with such vital information."
They didn't even dignify him with a response. Instead they all just removed their gear, and left him standing alone in VR. They had work to do. There were two members of their family out there depending on them.
Once out of VR, Devon quickly took charge. She held a meeting and announced the good news to the group.
"Ah, Devon....... I don't mean to throw a damper on everything, but how do you know that Reilly is telling the truth?" Baines asked.
"Yeah, maybe this is just one big joke, or maybe even a trap." Walman agreed.
"No.............. and I think I speak for all of us," she motioned toward where Alonzo, Morgan, Danziger, and Yale were standing, "I don't think Reilly was joking, or was setting a trap. I think he was telling the truth. He seemed to be enjoying this too much. He certainly enjoyed rubbing in our mistake. Besides, if there is even the slightest possibility that they *are* alive, I think we owe it to Julia and Bess to at least check it out." She scanned the group and was delighted to see determined nods from everyone.
"So what do you want us to do Devon?" Magus asked. "Actually there isn't much any of us can do except wait and pray. Danziger and Yale are going to leave................"
"Tonight." Danziger interrupted.
Devon was about to object. She was going to say first thing tomorrow morning, but decided against it once she caught the look of determination from Danziger, and the hopeful expressions from Alonzo and Morgan. She didn't have the heart to say no. "That's right........... tonight. They're leaving tonight. They're going to take the Dune Rail and plenty of medical supplies because Reilly told us that their life signs were weak. Hopefully Julia will know what to do and be able to do it, when we get to her and Bess. The rest of us will just camp here until they return. Any questions?" There was only silence. "Okay then............. that's all." As they all started to disburse, Devon went over to where Danziger and Yale had started to load up the Dune Rail, with Alonzo and Morgan's assistance. She knew that both Alonzo and Morgan had wanted to go, but they were both too emotionally involved. If they were going to be bringing Julia and Bess back, there would only be room for two on the Dune Rail. The choices had to be well thought out. Danziger was going because he was a mechanic. If the Dune Rail were to break down, there wasn't anyone else who was better equipped to fix it. Yale was going because he had some medical knowledge, and that could be of great help to Julia."You guys about ready to go?"
"Yeah...... I think we have just about everything we might need." Danziger replied."Well, I want to wish you good luck, and for God's sake, be careful. Keep in touch."
"Don't you worry about a thing Adair. Yale and I intend to find them, and bring them home......... safe and sound." He paused a moment then looked at Devon. "By the way, take care of True for me."
"You don't even have to ask." She said as a small smile played across her lips.
Once they were finished packing, Danziger said good-bye to True, then he and Yale were wished good luck by the rest of the group before climbing into the Dune Rail and heading out.
Continued in Part 6..................
Long Journey Home, Part 6
by Rosa M. Moran
Copyright January 1996
Julia was determined to remain awake. She knew that there wasn't much time before the Dune Rail's power packs ran out and they would have to stop and wait until morning before the packs could be recharged. She was determined to keep going for as long as possible. She was finding it difficult to see. The Dune Rail had a flood light, but even with that, she could only see a few meters in front of her. She had to take a chance. They couldn't afford to stop. They were running out of time, and had none to waste. She was very tired, but she couldn't afford to rest, not now. She took a quick glance next to her, and was happy to see that Bess was finally trying to get some sleep. She wished she could sleep too, but knew that she was getting weaker each day. The weaker she got, the harder it became to continue the journey. They hadn't spoken much since they started their journey on the Dune Rail, which was just fine with Julia. She didn't want to waste her energy on idle conversation. She would much rather concentrate on the road ahead, and getting them to their destination in one piece and as quickly as possible.
It was an hour later that the Dune Rail's power supply ran out, and the vehicle came to a slow stop. Julia turned off the flood light, and sat there quietly. There was nothing left to do but wait. Dawn would be approaching soon, and a couple of hours after that, they would be able to continue. Until then Julia decided to get some sleep. It was going to be a long day tomorrow. She closed her eyes, exhaustion took over, and she was soon fast asleep.
Julia awakened slowly the next morning, and noticed from the position of the sun that it had been several hours since dawn. She slowly climbed out of the Dune Rail, and checked on the solar panels, and the power supply. It looked like everything was good to go. She walked over to the water tanks, poured some water into a couple of cups, then decided to check on Bess. Bess didn't look very good, but truth be told neither did Julia. Julia gently shook Bess awake.
"Bess....... Bess wake up."
"Julia?" Bess called out as she groggily opened her eyes. "Are we home already?""No...... not yet. I'm sorry to wake you, but you need to drink some water."
Bess slowly drank the water given to her. "Why did we stop?" Julia walked back over to the driver's side, climbed in, and started the engine. "We ran out of power, and had to wait until the sun came up and recharged the power packs before we could continue." She drank the rest of her water, then started moving again. "Hold on. Here we go."
"Julia............. how long do you think it will take us to catch up to the others?"
"Well, it's been five days since David stopped us. I'm sure that Devon and the others kept moving during that time. Our only advantage at the moment is that we've got to be moving faster than they are, and I'm pretty sure we've been traveling for longer distances between stops. It's just a matter of time."
Bess stared glumly ahead. "But time is what we don't have." She paused. "Do you think we'll make it Julia?"
"I don't know Bess, but I'm sure going to try." Minutes turned into hours, and soon another evening and day had passed. Neither one had spoken much. There really wasn't anything to say. Julia had kept the Dune Rail going, full speed, hoping and praying that the Rail wouldn't break down. That was the last thing they needed. Without the Dune Rail, there would truly be no hope. But she had to keep pushing, it was the only way. It would be dark soon, and with the darkness comes the uncertainty of what lies ahead.As the evening progressed, Julia was having much more difficulty avoiding problems along the terrain. The terrain had changed. It now had more vegetation, and there were ruts and ditches all over the place. At the speed she was going, and the low visibility, Julia was having trouble avoiding a lot of the obstacles. It was like riding on top of a rubber ball. The Dune Rail went bouncing along, as she hit a rut, ditch, or some vegetation. Bess who had been trying to get some sleep, quickly woke up and grabbed onto something to keep from being thrown out of the Dune Rail.
"Hey!! Maybe we better stop for the night." Bess cried out as they went over a small bush.
"Bess, we can't afford to stop." She quickly jerked the wheel barely missing a large rock. "But maybe it would be best to slow down a little. Just help me keep an eye out for any obstacles in our way." Bess nodded.
Even with both of them looking for any dangers, and traveling at a slower speed, it still wasn't enough to avoid the obstacle that suddenly loomed ahead.
"Julia!!! Look out!!!" Bess screamed. But it was too late......... by the time Julia could react to the huge ditch that suddenly appeared in front of them, the front end of the Dune Rail went over the ditch, and the vehicle began to roll, knocking both Julia and Bess unconscious. The vehicle overturned several times before coming to a stop on its side. As the dust cleared, there was no movement, only silence. After just over two and half days, their journey had suddenly come to an end.
One day after Julia and Bess's accident, Danziger was guiding the Dune Rail over the ruff terrain at full speed, while Yale was looking through jumpers trying to find any signs of Julia and Bess. They weren't sure how far back they would have to go before finding them, but they were willing to go back to the lake if need be. They realized that this could all be one sick joke by Reilly, but neither one was willing to give up the hope that he was in fact telling the truth. Almost two days had passed since they left camp, and they had spotted nothing to give them a clue that Julia and Bess had ever been there. It was later that morning, as Yale was looking through the jumpers, that their first ray of hope appeared.
"John. I think I see something......... over toward the southeast horizon." "What is it?"
"I'm not sure, but there appears to be some light reflecting off of something in that direction."Danziger pulled the Dune Rail to a stop, and took the jumpers from Yale. "Alright. Lets go take a look in that direction. Maybe it's a clue to Bess and Julia's whereabouts."
They quickly headed in the direction of the reflected light, as Yale continued to look through the jumpers. Little by little the object from which the light was reflecting came into view. Yale gasped in surprise.
"John! It's a Dune Rail!"
"A Dune Rail!"
"Yes! It looks like it's been overturned." "That's great! Lets go and take a look, maybe we can salvage the Rail or parts from it.""Perhaps we should just leave it be, and continue our search of Julia and Bess. We don't know how it got there, or if someone is still there. It could be dangerous."
Danziger sat there in silence for a moment when a thought occurred to him. "Yale, it couldn't hurt to check it out for a moment. It won't take that much time away from our search, and we might end up with a clue to where Julia and Bess are. Besides, didn't Reilly mention that they were traveling faster than expected." Yale nodded. "Well, suppose they managed to get their hands on a Dune Rail, then got into an accident. That could be them."
"You might be right, we should at least check to see if anyone is injured that needs help."
"Alright!" Danziger said with a big smile, as they continued toward the Dune Rail.
A few minutes later, they pulled to a stop a few feet from the underside of the overturned vehicle. They climbed out slowly, and Danziger reached into the back seat and pulled out a Mag-Pro. There was no sense in taking any chances. They slowly walked around to look inside the vehicle. What they saw made them stop dead in their tracks with shock, surprise, and joy. Danziger quickly dropped the Mag-Pro, as they rushed to Julia and Bess. They noticed immediately the rise and fall of Julia and Bess's chest, and breathed a sigh of relief at knowing they were still alive. They slowly pulled them out of the Dune Rail taking care not to aggravate any possible injuries.
"I can't believe they're alive." Danziger whispered. "They are alive, but very malnutritioned and dehydrated." Yale headed over to their Dune Rail, and brought back some medical supplies.
"They look sick too." Danziger commented. "Yes they do." Yale said as he tried to stabilize the two ladies. "Do what you can Yale, and let me know if you need any help. I'm going to contact camp." He walked over to the overturned Dune Rail, then turned on his gear. "Danziger to Eden Project...... come in. This is Danziger to Eden Project......"
"Danziger!" Devon shouted as she came into view over gear. "Any luck?" "Yeah..... the best kind! We found them Adair, and they're alive!" He heard shouts of joy erupt from behind Devon, and he was graced with a huge smile from Devon. "Hold off the celebration folks. We found them unconscious. They are alive, but they're both in pretty bad shape. Yale tells me there are no broken bones, just a lot of cuts and bruises, but they look really sick. Yale's not sure if they are going to make it. We're hoping that Julia will regain consciousness and be able to treat herself."
"Oh my God......... well John, you and Yale do what you can and get back to us as quickly as possible. If you have to stay there longer than expected, then let us know and we'll send someone out there with extra supplies."
"Devon...... I think we have enough supplies for now. Once we get them stabilized, we will head back to camp." Yale interrupted.
"Alright. If you need anything then let us know. Keep us up to date on what's happening. Adair out."
Danziger walked over to Yale. "Well?" Yale looked up at him. "Well, now we wait." An hour later, Julia slowly began to regain consciousness. She opened her eyes, and tried to focus on the figure looming overtop of her.
"Julia?"
Julia recognized the voice. "Yale!" "Hey there Doc. How are you doing?" Julia turned her head and spotted Danziger. A smile crossed her face. "Better now that you're here."
"Hey, you better not let fly-boy hear you talking that way." Danziger said as he returned her smile.She looked back over at Yale, and her smile faded. "How's Bess?" "Alive, but not well. She looks very sick, in fact so do you." "We are sick Yale. We caught some virus similar to what Danziger caught a few months back. Did you bring any Grendler seliva with you? I need to synthesize a similar antidote to combat this virus."
"I think so. Let me check." Yale quickly checked through the medical supplies.
Julia turned back toward Danziger. There were tears in her eyes. "You have no idea how happy and relieved I am to see you guys."
"You have no idea how happy we are to have found you. To think...... we actually left you behind, and you were alive." He shook his head. "How in the world did you survive?"
"It's a long story. Lets wait until we get back to camp, and I'll tell everyone all about it. I'm curious to know how you knew we were alive."
"That you're not going to believe. We'll tell you all about it when you're safe and sound back in camp."
Yale came back over to Julia holding a vial. "Julia, I found some." "Great! Help me up, and lets get to work." They helped Julia up to a sitting position, and she quickly got to work on developing an antidote. An hour later she found one, and injected it into everyone to act as both a deterrent for the men, and as an antidote for Bess and herself. A couple of hours later Bess regained consciousness, and both she and Julia began to show signs of improvement. It seems that the antidote was working as fast as the virus did. Julia decided that both she and Bess were stable enough to travel. They were both anxious to get home.
"Yale, lets see if we can flip this Rail back on its wheels. I checked it out, and it's in pretty good condition. I'd like to salvage it if we can. We can tie a rope to it, and you pull it with our Rail while I push." With a little ingenuity and some muscle, they managed to push the Dune Rail back on it's wheel. Danziger then lifted Bess and laid her across the back seat of one Dune Rail, while laying Julia across the back seat of the other. Within minutes they were all heading back to camp. Danziger called camp to let them know that they would be arriving within two days at the latest if all went well.
"It's a miracle John." Devon whispered. "That's right Devon, and I doubt that anyone thinks that it's anything less than that. Danziger out."
Two days passed quickly. Bess and Julia were steadily improving. Danziger had a feeling it was from both the antidote, and the idea that they would soon be getting home to those men of theirs. It's amazing the ailments that love can cure. Once camp came into sight, he could see the excitement in Julia and Bess's faces. It was contagious. The two Rails entered camp and came to a halt in the center. Everyone quickly rushed up to them as Julia and Bess slowly climbed out. Alonzo and Julia fell into each others arms as tears of joy and happiness fell. A similar reunion was taking place between Morgan and Bess. Alonzo tightly held onto Julia, afraid to let go. He was afraid that it was all just a wonderful dream, and that if he let her go, she would just disappear. Julia gently pulled back to look into Alonzo's eyes......eyes she never thought she'd see again. She leaned forward and kissed him tenderly just before she turned to greet her friends.
"Julia, how are you and Bess doing?" Devon asked. Julia glanced at Bess who was wrapped in her husbands arms smiling at everyone. "Fine...... we're both still a little weak, and it will take some time to regain our strength. Other than that we're fine."
"So are you guys going to tell us what happened? How did you escape the creature in the lake? How did you get your hands on a Dune Rail? How......." Devon excitedly asked.
"Hey, one question at a time Devon. Let us catch out breaths." Julia chuckled.
"Yeah, I'm hungry too. How about some dinner while we tell our story?" Bess said as she walked over toward Julia and Devon, with Morgan close on her heels.
Devon smiled. "Okay come on. We have dinner cooking by the camp fire." Julia and Bess smiled at each other.
Alonzo placed his arm protectively around Julia, and Morgan around Bess, as they all slowly made their way to the camp fire. "You guys are never going to believe what happened to us....... what we've been through this past week." Julia said.
"And believe me, it is one long story." Bess said. The two friends looked at each other knowing that it would be a story they would never forget. They all gathered by the camp fire as the two storytellers began their tale. A tale of adventure and sacrifice. A tale of two women, whose endurance and perseverance carried them along their long journey home.
(Voice of John Danziger)
It's amazing the difference two lives make to the mood of a group. Two friends, two family members, once thought dead, were really only lost, and have now been found. As I look around the fire, I see the joy and happiness that just over a week ago I thought would be forever lost. As we sit by the fire listening intently to what Julia and Bess have to say, I realize how lucky I am to be part of this group. I realize how much I care, and I realize that everyone else feels the same way too. It will be a long time before any of us will forget what happened here this past week and a half. It has been a long journey so far, we've been through a lot. We've also been very lucky. We still have about two months to go before we reach our final destination. Two months filled with new dangers and adventures as we quickly come to the end of our long journey to New Pacifica............ our future home.
-The End-
I hope everyone enjoyed it!!!! ***************
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.