INDEPENDENT MEANS
By
Simon Kattenhorn
Timeline: On way to New Pacifica
Author's E-Mail: simkat@pangea.Stanford.EDU
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Dear Edenites
Here is a little blurb and disclaimer to accompany my first attempt at Earth 2 fan-fic, entitled "Independent Means".
Independent Means is a short story based on the Amblin/Universal television production, Earth 2. All characters, names, and trademarks are the copyrighted property of Amblin/Universal.
This story, COPYRIGHT 1996, is completely my own, and is unaffiliated with Amblin/Universal.
I would like to acknowledge a few people who have assisted greatly in bringing this short story to completion. So my most sincere thanks to Katherine Tate and Lori Young for their superb editing skills.
Also, many thanks to my bio-research team (!): Mai Munch, Vicky Nickerson, and Joan Powers. And all my thanks to the entire Eden Advance fandom, for keeping the dream (plane) alive. You are ALL great!
Independent Means is set on planet G889, five months after the arrival of the Eden Advance group, and thus approximately two months after the time of "All About Eve". The Eden Advance crew continue to trek towards New Pacifica. No explanations are offerred for how Devon is brought out of cold sleep- I have left that open to the imagination (or the stories of other authors, who have covered this topic extensively).
I hope you enjoy my contribution to the Earth 2 universe- please feel free to send me any feedback (in fact, I *insist*!!):
simkat@pangea.stanford.edu
But be nice! This *is* my first attempt at Earth 2 fan-fic!
This document can also be viewed online at Simon's site:
http://pangea.stanford.edu/~simkat/indep_means.htmlCheers,
Simon Kattenhorn
Independent Means, Part 1
by Simon KattenhornChapter One
Julia Heller's eyes fluttered open. For some reason, not immediately apparent to her, she had difficulty bringing into focus whatever it was her eyes were attempting to see. Her initial thought was that it was lack of sleep. "Probably dozed off for a few minutes or so," she thought. After all, she had spent the previous four days trying to fight off all signs of fatigue that stemmed from the inadequate amount of sleep she had been permitting herself lately. This was not unusual for her, after all, whenever she was faced with a particularly challenging or urgent medical task. Then it occurred to Julia that she didn't seem to be lying on her cot after all. She became aware of the sensation of something sharp digging into her hip. Her eyes had begun to focus slightly, and the realization set in that she was looking at a blue canvas of sky, flecked with gently moving clouds.
"Where am I?"
The thought was vocalized groggily as she tried to make sense of what the circumstances may have been that had led her to be lying here on her back, talking to clouds that remained indifferent to her existence.
She tried to sit up; an action that was immediately countermanded by a feeling of wooziness. Julia lifted one hand to support her suddenly heavier head and groaned softly. Her fingers felt the roughness of caked blood on her temple and her senses immediately snapped into a state of acute awareness. Something was wrong.
Standing slowly, Julia took in her immediate environment. Her head hurt. However, she could feel that the wound was minor, and subconsciously filed away a personal note of the possibility that she may be suffering from a mild concussion.
"No time to worry about that now," she thought silently.
Julia scanned around her, looking for signs of nearby Eden Advance crew. This didn't feel right at all. She didn't recognize any of the landscape. How on Earth had she gotten to this spot and ended up unconscious on the ground? Where *was* everyone?
She was standing at the base of a steep incline that curved off to either side of her, suggesting she was at the foot of an isolated hill on an otherwise featureless plain. Looking off into the distance, she identified a number of similar flat-topped mesas dotting the landscape. The steep sides of each mesa were evidence of a resistant sandstone layer that had preserved them from the ravages of erosion which otherwise would have eradicated the mesas entirely. Julia glanced up the adjacent slope, hoping to see some evidence of how she had come to be here. Logic suggested she had probably fallen down the steep incline and been knocked unconscious, even though she had no memory of it. In fact, she was alarmed by the realization that she had no memory of anything beyond a brief conversation with Devon, after which time she had returned to her tent and resumed her tests on the roots.
The roots! How could she have forgotten? Julia felt a sense of panic invade her. People were sick because of the roots. She had been looking for a possible antidote or remedy. The memories came flooding back, and she became more and more alarmed. How long had she been unconscious? How long ago did she have that conversation with an increasingly nervous Devon? It was imperative that she find the camp. The Eden Advance crew needed her. And yet, still she could find no explanation in the patchiness of her memory for her being here, in the middle of somewhere apparently foreign, seemingly alone. Julia shuddered visibly. But no one was there to witness.
This was a feeling with which she was painfully familiar.
"Julia?"
Bess tapped on the outside of Julia's tent a second time, and spoke again, slightly louder.
"Julia? It's me, Bess. Are you awake?"
There was still no reply. Bess shivered slightly and cast a glance at the pinkish dawn sky streaked with grey clouds before lifting back the flap on the tent and stepping inside. She felt guilty about possibly having to waken Julia. It was obvious Julia had not gotten much sleep lately. But people were sick. They could do nothing *but* sleep, it seemed. Even Morgan had been reduced to a few slurred words a day. This was a state of affairs that might have seemed an incredible stroke of luck in the opinion of other members of the crew under different circumstances. Such as ones in which they too weren't plagued by slurred speech and only brief episodes of consciousness. But not Bess. She missed Morgan's voice and companionship. She would give anything to hear him talk again as soon as possible, even if it were to only hear him complain about some trivial detail that no one else could care about anyway. Others considered Morgan too whiny, but they were wrong.
"They just don't understand him the way I do," Bess thought to herself as she adjusted her vision to the darkness inside Julia's tent.
She expected to find Julia asleep on her cot, or perhaps, more likely, hunched over her mediscope. Instead, the tent was empty. Bess frowned, then stepped back out of the tent, wondering to herself where Julia might be this early in the morning.
"Bess?"
Bess jumped, startled by Devon's voice. She wasn't used to others being awake this early. Usually Bess was the only one tip-toeing around at this time of morning, other than whoever was on watch, and even then, it was never guaranteed *that* person would be awake. It was a habit she had gotten into as a young girl on Earth, in an effort to spend at least a few minutes in the company of her father before he went off to work his shift in the mines.
"Devon- you're up early this morning," Bess half whispered. "Is Uly okay?"
"He's asleep," responded Devon, the lines of worry showing clearly around her mouth as she grimaced. "I wanted to ask Julia if there had been any developments with the skin."
"She's not here." Bess tried her best to hide any sense of alarm. "She must have gone for a walk. Maybe to clear her head."
Bess made the motion of searching around, looking for signs, *hoping* for signs, of Julia walking around the vicinity of the camp. Julia was nowhere in sight. Devon did the same, as if the fact that *she* were searching for Julia would make the result a more successful one.
"What skin?" asked Bess quizzically.
"The roots," responded Devon. "She thinks the remedy for the toxins in the flesh of the roots might be in the skins. She was going to search for more answers during the night."
"Well she's not here," Bess shrugged.
Devon frowned. "Let's try and find her. You go that way. I'll look over here," she gesticulated. "Uly's fever is up and I think Julia should take a look."
Bess started walking off in the direction Devon had indicated, looking for signs of Julia. She couldn't help feeling a little bitter at Devon's attitude over Julia. It was as if Julia was her *personal* physician, around for the sole purpose of attending to Uly's needs. Morgan was sick too! But Bess couldn't feel that way for more than a few seconds. After all, Uly was only a little boy. And who knows how complete his recovery from the syndrome had been? Maybe he was more susceptible still to sickness, moreso than everyone else. It had only been five or so months since the Terrians had apparently cured him of that awful illness. Morgan was the world to Bess, but Uly's medical needs came first. There was no doubt in her mind.
Devon worked her way around the various tents scattered around the camp. Outwardly, she appeared calm, but inside her was a bitter torment and battle with guilt. Uly was sick and she wasn't. It just wasn't fair.
How many times had she thought that to herself in the last few days? She had lost count. There was no help to be had from the Terrians. Alonzo had been out for days, so access to the dream plane was closed to them, and there hadn't been any physical encounters with the elusive race of underground dwelling natives of planet G889 for weeks. Devon was sure they would try to help Uly if they were nearby. The bond they had with him was obvious, even if Devon *did* try to avoid the fact from time to time, as if it encroached on her role as a mother and protector.
Julia didn't appear to be anywhere in the confines of the camp.
"Where *is* she?" Devon thought anxiously.
True stared at the still features of her father's face and sighed deeply. The only indications that he hadn't forever slipped into the everlasting sleep were the small flaring of his nostrils with each breath, and the way the movement of air into and out of his lungs caused his chest to rise and fall, bobbing True's head up and down in the process. She had fallen asleep the previous evening with her father's hand held tightly in her own, and her head resting on John Danziger's chest. That way she could hear her father's heartbeat- feel the life within his body.
"I'm not ready to lose you yet, dad," True said to her father, her voice unwavering in a sense of strength of which she was sure her dad would be proud.
"We're gonna find out how to make you all well again. I promise."
Danziger turned his head to one side suddenly and mumbled something incoherently. True wondered what dream was going through his mind. Maybe he was dreaming about her mom. She smiled at the thought that perhaps, during all this madness, her dad was lost somewhere in pleasant memories of life before G889.
Not that True hated G889. In fact, the greater the amount of time spent on the planet, the more she was realizing how much she was in love with it. Memories of the stations were slowly fading away, becoming increasingly insignificant. At first, it was the sheer foreigness of this planet that filled her with bewilderment. The feel of dirt through her fingers. The sound of birds, *real* birds, flying through the sky. The whisper of wind through the trees. The beautiful, mesmerizing motion of a real river, with more water than she had ever seen before in one place. But as these things became rooted more in her sense of normalcy, she began to appreciate the planet on a deeper level. She may only have been a young girl, but she knew what this planet meant for mankind. For the Syndrome children.
True often wondered what it was that had possessed mankind to have allowed such devastation to be wrought on their own planet. If it had been even one half as beautiful as G889, it would have still defied imagination to destroy it in any way. But destroy it they had. With pollution. With war. With greed. True could feel the sense of hope that this new planet offered her, and the rest of the Eden crew, and anyone else who came here looking for a new life. Oh she hated the trek to New Pacifica at times, and the fear at each step of the way that some insurmountable danger lay just beyond the next horizon. But if she had the chance now to return to life on the stations, she couldn't imagine wanting to make that adjustment. All she wanted was for dad to get better so that they could carry on again- on to New Pacifica.
True released her grip on her father's hand and tried standing up. Her right leg had gone to sleep. She shook it and couldn't suppress a small giggle. It seemed inappropriate suddenly, with her father laying right there, unconscious, but it made her feel better anyway. She looked at her dad again, smiled at him, and walked over to the tent door and outside. Emerging from the tent, she almost ran right into Devon.
"True, is Julia in there?" asked Devon, trying to hide any indication of alarm that might be present in her voice.
"No," replied True. "Just dad. He's sleeping. I think he's breathing better today."
"Sure, True. I'm sure he is."
Devon smiled at True and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Before you know it, your dad will be back over there working on the transrover, and making you work right along with him."
True gave a broad grin and ambled over to the fire, which had been on the verge of dying before Cameron appeared and threw on a few more pieces of kindling.
"Cameron, did you see Julia come by here?" asked Devon.
Cameron looked around to double check, then shook his head no.
"Thanks."
Devon worked her way back over to Julia's tent, almost simultaneously with Bess.
"Any luck?" asked Devon.
"Nothing," responded Bess.
Devon frowned. She was worried, and she could see a similar sentiment mirrored in Bess' face.
"Okay," Devon continued, "let's get everyone to the campfire. Now."
Seven worried faces looked from one to the other beside the morning campfire. Seven remaining members of the Eden Advance crew who weren't incapacitated by the after-effects of eating the fleshy roots four days previously. Seven healthy people where there should have been eight before the disappearance of the group's doctor.
"Julia's gone," Devon said evenly.
It was more a statement of fact than informative. By this stage everyone sitting around the fire was perfectly aware of Julia's disappearance. Except no-one had the energy to overreact anymore. Caring for the sick had left their energies and emotions pretty much spent.
"Who was the last to see her?" asked True.
Devon looked at True. She couldn't help but feel admiration for her. Not many young women her age would be holding up so well under the present level of strain. She was growing into an intelligent and strong woman. In many ways, she reminded Devon a lot of herself when she was that age.
"That's a good question, True," Devon responded. She addressed the entire group, saying "I saw her before I turned in last night. As far as I know, I was the last person awake other than Julia. Did anyone else see her during the night?"
The question was met with silence, blank looks and slight shakes of the head. Devon felt the frustration building as a tightness in her stomach. If there had been less people bedridden, they would have been able to maintain the regular night watch, so that someone may have seen Julia leave the camp, but as it was, exhaustion was only a short path away for most of them. Having someone stay awake all night would have been too much for them.
Besides, they hadn't encountered anything for over two weeks. Not a single Terrian, or Grendler, or Koba. In fact, the number of wildlife in total had fallen to only the occasional rodent sighting every few days. For some reason, most of this part of the continent was notably under populated by all forms of life, fauna and flora combined. It was the reason they had been forced to eat the fleshy root four days earlier, even though they hadn't encountered this particular form of vegetation at any stage of the journey leading up to their present location. They had hardly noticed it *here* even. Despite the half-meter or so length of root beneath the ground, the plant had virtually zero above-ground component; no more than a short twig with no foliage.
They had only made the discovery themselves after Morgan had tripped over one of the stiff twigs sticking out of the ground, causing him to lose his balance and fall in a bellow of curses and profanities, much to the delight of Uly and True. It was only at the current camp location that they had finally found flourishing vegetation again, including numerous edible plants, which certainly made things easier on the members of the group that were busy tending to the sick.
"Did she give any indication that she might be leaving camp during the night when you spoke with her?" asked Bess.
"None," replied Devon. "She said she was going to try a new avenue of research into the problem with the toxin, but that was it."
"Maybe she had some kind of breakthrough and went looking for something she needed."
Devon turned her head to acknowledge the source of this statement.
"I was thinking the same thing, Yale. But what? And where?"
Yale shrugged. He was beginning to feel a lot more inadequate than he would have liked. After all, his mind was a treasure-trove of more facts than the rest of the Eden Advance crew combined could hope to store in their heads in a lifetime. And yet, here he was, clutching at straws with the rest of them. He had tried helping Julia with her research but this particular chemical substance wreaking havoc on the group was beyond anything he had ever encountered previously. It was frustratingly complex in its inherent chemical simplicity.
Devon stood up and wiped the dust from her clothing.
"We need to start a search party," said Devon decisively, "and here's how we'll do it..."
Six figures craned their necks to look up at Devon and listen to her plan. Six people, whose responsibility it was to find Julia quickly or run the risk of losing the sick members of the Eden Advance crew forever. Devon described her plan, turning her head slightly every few seconds to rest her gaze on each of the people around her. Yale. Bess. True. Magus. Denner. And Cameron.
"Let's go," said Devon.
Chapter Two
The rock came loose in Julia's hands. It came out of the rock face so suddenly that the sheer surprise nearly made her loosen her grip with the other hand. But much to her relief, instead of feeling her body tumble back down the slope, she instead dangled precariously from one hand while the rock she had dislodged exploded into a thousand pieces at the bottom of the cliff. Her grip was firm, and she managed to maneuver her body back to where she faced the rock, then reached up with her free hand for a better handhold.
"This had *better* be the right way," she muttered to herself.
She had been working her way up the rock face for over an hour now, and the beads of sweat that had formed along her brow were starting to form dirty rivulets down the side of her dusty face. She looked up and cursed the early afternoon sun almost directly overhead.
"I should have waited until it cooled down," she croaked. The extreme thirst she felt was beginning to play on her every thought.
Julia realized that having been recently knocked into a state of unconsciousness by a bad fall was not particularly conducive to embarking on a rock climbing expedition. Her head was starting to throb and she realized she was beginning to dehydrate.
"Now why do I get the feeling I'm not going to find a refreshing stream at the top of this," Julia half laughed, although without the slightest indication of amusement. She knew the chances of that happening were about the same as having Reilly suddenly glide down out of the sky in a Terrashuttle, ready to whisk her back to the stations. Having a river at the top of an isolated hill was geomorphologically improbable as landforms go; moreso considering the fact that the plains as far as she could see were as dry as the plains of Utopia Planitia. There didn't appear to be a drop of water around.
Julia reached up with her right hand for a new hold, then brought her left leg up to the next foothold. This was the steepest part of the climb by far, and she silently thanked her lucky stars that the sandstone cliff she was currently scaling was only a minor level of difficulty as rock climbing faces went. It didn't make matters any easier though having a diaglove on. She dare not take it off for fear of losing it, but she also had to be careful not to damage it as she climbed. The loose sand from along the climb had worked its way between the glove and her skin, and combined with sweat, it was making for a most uncomfortable experience. She looked up and felt reassured by the sight of the top of the cliff only a few meters above her. After another five minutes of fairly simple maneuvers, she hauled herself over the edge and onto the grassy top, where she rolled over onto her back to catch her breath.
Her mouth was extremely parched and she fought back the urge to conjure up large glasses of icy water in her imagination. Feeling confident that it would be safe to do so, she removed the diaglove, placed it on the grass next to her, and scratched at the itchiness of her arm.
After a few moments, Julia stood and glanced around her. The wind was blowing swiftly up here, and she was surprised at the near deafening roar it was making. With her hair billowing around her face, she looked out over the plains and wondered again where on Earth, or G889 to be precise, she was. Reaching up to push the hair back out of her face, Julia took a step backwards and felt...nothing. With a sudden squeal, she felt herself falling, tumbling, down a grassy slope covered in small shrubs. She tried desperately to claw out for anything to grab and halt her downslope progression, but momentum was getting the best of her. Before she had a chance to clutch onto a blurry shrub, she suddenly catapulted out into empty space and began falling. She waited for that sudden darkness to envelop her as she hit the ground, but instead found her senses jolted to attention as she landed in icy cold water. After a second or so, her head popped above the surface and she gulped at the air.
It was immediately obvious to her that she was being moved by a strong current. Julia was being carried along briskly by a geomorphologically improbable, but highly real, river.
"This way, Yale."
Devon pointed off in the general direction of the route they had traveled earlier up to their present camp location. The terrain had started getting rougher a few days previously, and Yale had indicated that they were probably moving from the southwestern edge of the Farka Plateau into the foothills of the Granito Range. The trek to New Pacifica would continue in an almost continuous southwesterly direction from here on. But that was still many a month away. Assuming they ever made it any further than the present circumstances.
"That looks like where we brought the transrover and dunerail through," commented Yale.
The underbrush had been flattened and scarred by the passage of the two vehicles up the slope from the pass at the base of the hill. The pass was bounded to either side by high walls of granite, and the passage through it might be compared to stepping through an airlock on the Lunar surface back near Earth, into a terrarium. The contrast from one side of the pass to the other was striking. Where before there had been little sign of life, suddenly there was a plethora of plants and animals. They were even initially concerned that the vegetation would be too thick to permit a passable route. But before they could further consider their possibilities, the sickness had set in rapidly, and they immediately set up camp. Beyond the pass, Devon could see the wide expanse of vegetation-devoid land they had traversed to get to this point. The land that had seemed at least partially forgiving four days ago when they had encountered the apparently edible root.
"I thought that perhaps something Julia saw on the hike up here triggered something in her memory, and so she came back this way looking for it," said Devon as she worked her way back down the slope towards the pass. "A type of plant perhaps, or mineral outcropping."
"That would be a logical deduction Devon," said Yale, "assuming Julia was involved in logical action at the time of her departure from the camp."
Devon stopped and glared at Yale.
"What are you implying, Yale?" she snapped. "That Julia went crazy and just ran off in the night?"
"I cannot answer that Devon. But she *did* eat the root too. Maybe she started having some form of delayed toxic reaction."
"But then why not me?"
Devon was quite obviously not at all convinced that Yale's suggestion held any merit.
"*I* ate the root too. So did Bess, and True, and Magus, and Denner. And *you* for that matter. None of *us* got sick, Yale. How can you explain that?"
"Again, I cannot. I'm just cautioning that we shouldn't assume that it's necessarily true that every female member of the group is immune to this toxic reaction."
It was apparent to Devon that Yale wasn't exactly convinced of the likelihood of this possibility himself. But it was good to hear alternate postulates to her own. It was easy to become overly influenced by one's own opinions, and so a second one was welcome, if not prudent.
"Okay," said Devon. "But the odds are in our favor. Now if only we knew why *you* didn't get ill."
The two of them were approaching the base of the incline, close to entering the pass again. The steep granite walls were starting to provide soft echoes to their voices as they spoke.
"I have no idea," Yale lamented. "Cameron was just lucky that he didn't eat any of the root. I, on the other hand, seem to be a bit of an enigma. It must have something to do with the implants and the chemical effects on my immune system. Other than that I cannot venture."
"Well I'm just happy to have you around to help us, Yale," Devon said gratefully. "See anything?"
Yale was looking around them, searching for possible signs that Julia may have come stumbling through during the night.
"Nothing," said Yale.
They proceeded into the pass.
After leaving Bess, Denner and True behind at the camp to tend to the sick should they awake, Magus and Cameron headed off in the direction Devon had suggested. Devon's plan called for them to proceed further in the direction in which the group was originally trekking before stopping to set up camp, then work their way back around to approach the camp from the side.
They had been incrementally working their way forward through the underbrush, stopping occasionally to retrace their steps and attempt an alternate route whenever the vegetation became too thick to allow easy progress. Besides, it was highly unlikely that Julia had come thundering through in the darkness where it was difficult to get through even in daylight.
Magus had been keeping up a stream of talking that bordered on prattle, while Cameron remained silent, responding with only facial gestures that included numerous backwards rolling of the eyes. As well as everyone got along in the group, it did help to have numerous people to turn to for conversation. Over the last few days, Devon had kept pretty much to herself, tending to Uly, or conversing occasionally with Julia and Yale. Denner had probably been working harder than anyone barring Julia, keeping the day-to-day camp responsibilities going. True spent most of the time watching over her father, except when Bess dropped in to give her a little moral support and words of hope. Bess was good at that sort of thing, and Cameron admired her for it a great deal. Most of the time, however, Bess was glued to the side of her husband, which left Cameron with a single avenue of conversation: Magus. And Magus definitely enjoyed conversation. A lot. At one stage, Cameron had even tried holding a conversation with Zero, but that had proved more frustrating than it was worth. It was a bit much to expect Zero to be philosophical.
"...but I think Devon wanted us to go a bit more in that direction, don't you think?"
Cameron shrugged in response for the umpteenth time in the last hour.
"Or maybe we can work our way down there and cut across," continued Magus.
No response.
Magus looked across to Cameron, who was wiping away at his sweating forehead with the back of his forearm. He was gazing off into the distance, taking in the splendid view of the mountains of the Granito Range, which extended as far as the eye could see, similar in appearance to the Sierra Nevada Range back on Earth in the pre-deforestation days that Magus had read about once.
"Or we could slip on our hoverpacks, and fly over there," Magus said bitingly.
Cameron remained staring off into the distance silently. Magus snarled under her breath and continued leading the way.
"I *really* miss Eben," she said, while Cameron fell into step behind her.
Bess wrung the cloth dry then began dabbing again at Baines' forehead. Most of the sick had already experienced the feverish stage of the toxic reaction, but Baines was only now starting to burn up. Since Devon and Yale headed out of the northeast side of camp, and Magus and Cameron had headed out the opposite way, she had spent much of the time tending to Morgan. But he seemed to be more or less stable and so she began feeling a little guilty about neglecting the rest of them. True had been watching over Danziger and Uly, who were now in the same tent. Devon had carried Uly over to Danziger's tent before she headed out to look for Julia, to make it easier for the three of them remaining at camp to watch over everyone. Baines and Walman were sharing one tent, and Alonzo was sleeping soundly in another. Mazatl was also still quite unconscious in another tent. Denner had been alternating between watching over Alonzo and Mazatl, and preparing food for the noontime meal, should anyone feel up to eating.
After tending to Baines, Bess went outside to stretch her body in an effort to soothe the dull ache in her lower back. It had been a while since she had allowed herself some personal time. Looking out over the splendid view in the valley before her, she wanted nothing more right now than to put on her running shoes and head out for a few kilometers of exercise. There was no doubt about it- Bess loved this planet. It looked like everything she had ever read and dreamed about Earth a long time ago. Despite all the hardships of the long, transcontinental trek to New Pacifica, Bess relished each new experience on this planet, lapping up the beauty of nature here with a hunger that could not be quenched. She was, at last, in her element.
She only wished that Morgan could feel about G889 as she did, although, she couldn't help but notice that he was gradually being won over by the planet. It was obviously so foreign to him having grown up on the stations, where dealing with government bureaucrats was the order of the day, rather than facing off against seven-foot aliens popping out of the ground, or drooling kleptomanic Grendlers. Bess thought it was a toss up either way as to which was worse anyway. For a long time, she had been worried that the arrival of the colony ships at G889 and New Pacifica would provide the escape route Morgan wanted, trampling all asunder in the process if necessary, to get off of this "damn planet". But now she wasn't so sure. Morgan had changed in so many ways in the five months since they arrived on the planet. He was slowly evolving away from the attitude that the universe was unleashing upon him the greatest of injustices by the fact of his mere presence here, to one in which he was coming to appreciate the near-magical wonders of the planet. And his role within the group itself was being forged with increasing clarity. Even Devon was more inclined to entrust Morgan with more responsible tasks lately.
No, Bess was sure Morgan would want to stay. Once the foundations of New Pacifica had been laid, she was sure that Morgan would decide to stay and resume the duty he had originally come here to perform, as a government liaison to the Eden project. Why would *anyone* want to leave this beautiful world?
Bess took a deep breath of the fresh, pine-scented air, and began ambling around the camp. The sun was getting fairly high in the sky now and she could feel the chill of the valley air being slowly eradicated. She popped her head into Danziger's tent, where True was sponging gently at Uly's forehead.
"Hi True," Bess said softly. "Everything okay?"
True spun around, momentarily startled by Bess' voice.
"Oh...yeah, okay." True looked at Uly then gave Bess a sidelong glance. "Uh...now you can't tell Uly I was being nice to him or anything, okay?" True mustered up the most adamant look that could be expected from an eleven-year old girl.
"Sure True," Bess smiled. "I didn't see a thing!"
True gave Bess an appreciative smile, glad that they understood each other. Bess backed out of the tent and began walking towards hers and Morgan's tent when an idea suddenly popped into her mind. She had been in Julia's tent earlier, and had focused only on the fact that Julia wasn't there. She hadn't really looked carefully at anything else in the tent, and neither had Devon for that matter. Maybe they missed something- some kind of clue as to what had possessed Julia to walk off in the middle of the night.
"Well I may as well do something constructive if I'm stuck here in camp," she muttered to herself.
Bess walked over to Julia's tent, and disappeared inside.
Julia gaped in horror as she hurtled towards the rocks in midstream. At the rate the current was carrying her, she would undoubtedly be badly injured if she were dashed against the angular rocks. Probably, she would be knocked unconscious again, in which case her greatest problem would be drowning.
She kicked out with her legs with as much force as she could summon. Resistance seemed futile. The river was becoming more and more constricted downstream, and in the process, the rate of flow of the water was increasing rapidly. The more Julia struggled, the greater her risk of exhausting herself, so she tried rather to use the current to her advantage. Instead of kicking against the current, she attempted to propel herself along more or less with the current, but slightly oblique to it. The rocks were so close now that she feared her efforts had been nothing more than a doomed attempt by a pathetic creature at resisting the force of nature. Nevertheless, she instinctively drew upon a final boost of energy and shot out a few final kicks of her legs. Just as she was about to collide with one of the rocks, the current seemed to grab her and thrust her away into another part of the river's flow.
This would have seemed like a stroke of luck to Julia if she had been afforded the opportunity to think about it for a few seconds. Instead, she was trying her best to evaluate what was happening next, which seemed to be that she was being sucked under by a particularly strong undertow. It was as if her legs were being gripped in a vice that was sinking slowly into the depths of the river and indomitably dragging her down with it.
This time, no amount of kicking seemed to help. She could sense that in addition to being held under the water, the current was also spinning her around in a large counter-clockwise circular swirl. Julia guessed that she had somehow been spun out towards one edge of the river, and was caught in an eddy current within an embayment of sorts along the river bank. Like a giant pothole. She had lost track of how long she had been under the water, but already she could feel the burning sensation in her lungs, from craving air. In her wildest dreams, Julia had never imagined that being trapped underwater could be so terrifying. This was nothing like the artificial lakes on the stations that she had swam in so many times since she was just a young girl. The forces with which the water of this river tugged at her body were simply unimaginable.
Fighting her body's desperate urge to open her mouth and breathe in the dark, deathly fluid, Julia began flailing with her arms and legs in an effort to kick against something; anything. Her lungs were now screaming for air and she could feel her head starting to spin again as her thoughts became increasingly muddy.
Seconds later, Julia felt her body pushed against the side of the river bed and she immediately clawed at the mud and gravel, trying to sink her fingers in and stop the water's grasp on her body. Her first few attempts failed, and she could feel the pain in her fingertips from clawing at the gravel. Then, a few fingers sank into the mud. Her body twisted round in the current and swung against the river bank as she brought her free hand up and grasped a stronger hold. She could see the surface of the water only a few feet above her head and began incrementally moving upwards by releasing one hand at a time and reaching up for shallower holds.
The pain in her chest was excruciating. It was incomprehensible that she might drown here, just a few feet from the precious air that offered her life. Her fingers were numb from digging them into the river bank but she persevered despite the messages of pain that were being broadcast to her brain from various parts of her body.
Suddenly, just as Julia felt like she had depleted her final reserve of strength, her head broke the surface of the water. She gulped at the air greedily, filling her lungs with the beautiful sensation of oxygen. Julia was never before so grateful for something that she had always had the liberty of taking for granted.
Devon stared up at the immense granite wall on one side of the pass she and Yale were walking through. It was at least five hundred meters straight up on either side of the pass. Devon couldn't imagine what forces could possibly have cut such a gaping swath through the rock to form the pass.
"It looks like someone came through here with a Class One laserminer and cut away part of the mountain," Devon commented to Yale. "Like the old mining methods on Mars."
"Oh this is the work of something far more powerful," chuckled Yale.
He gazed up at the walls of granite and compared the visage with images stored in his memory bank.
"This is the work of a glacier."
"A glacier?" Devon responded incredulously. "You mean a river of ice?"
"Exactly. Probably thousands of years ago during an ice age or period of global cooling. We're too near to the equator now for it to get cold enough for glaciers here anymore."
Devon contemplated the walls of granite with renewed awe.
"This pass," continued Yale, "actually resembles a similar feature that once existed on Earth, called Yosemite. That was also carved out of granite by glaciers. Of course, it's long gone now," he lamented sullenly. "It was buried by fresh volcanic lava after the area was rendered geologically unstable and volcanically active by deep mining."
Devon squinted a final time at the canyon walls, then continued along through the pass. She had heard so many stories of what Earth had been like so long ago. Long before she was born, or her parents, or their grandparents. She had always been fascinated by descriptions of old Earth, but the wonder of those images in her mind when she was growing up couldn't even begin to compare with the reality that had greeted her on G889.
The gorge opened up a few hundred meters in front of them, where the canyon rim swooped down to meet the plains that stretched out into the distance as far as they could see. Devon felt her body give a slight shudder as she looked at the wide expanse of barren land. It had been a difficult crossing despite the lack of topographic difficulties. Reaching the mountains had happened not a moment too soon. At least they hadn't been left wanting for water during the trek across the plains. The groundwater table was unusually shallow beneath the surface, which had made for unencumbered access to drinking water. Given this fact, it was perplexing that vegetation was so scarce. The soil must have been incredibly infertile.
"I can't imagine that Julia would have gone back out into *that*," Devon ventured. "There's nothing out there."
Yale considered this, then nodded in agreement.
"No, I can't imagine that she would have headed out that way either."
Yale had been meticulously scanning the ground around them as they proceeded, looking for any sign that Julia may have passed through this way. It was difficult to determine, as the ground was still freshly disturbed by the passage of the group through the pass a few days earlier.
They were almost at the head of the pass. Devon collapsed beneath a small tree alongside a stony wadi- the final tree before the pass gave way to the inhospitable semi-desert. She unclasped her water bottle from her belt and took a few, much needed mouthfuls.
"I think we should turn back and search the eastern approach to camp," Devon suggested to Yale, who had joined her beneath the tree, thankful for the small patch of shade against the glaring sun.
Devon pulled the eyepiece of her gearset into place over her right eye and began transmitting.
"Magus? You there?"
She waited a few seconds while Magus initiated her own gearset, then saw the image of Magus' face appear before her with the usual red coloration around the right eye.
"Hi Devon. Any luck?"
"Nothing down here. How about you?"
"Well the undergrowth is pretty thick here. I don't think she headed south. We're about to head back to approach from the west side."
"Okay. We'll be heading back soon too. Let me know if you find anything."
"Will do."
Devon saw Magus lift her hand to her face, then the image abruptly vanished.
Devon pushed the eyepiece back against the side of her head, and began rubbing at her temples. Her face was pensive as she stared blankly ahead of her for a few seconds.
"Oh Yale. What if we don't find her?" She looked up at him and the worry in her eyes was clear. "What will we do?"
"We'll find her Devon. I mean, how far could she possibly have gotten in a few hours? For all we know, she's already headed back to camp all by herself." Yale tried his best to give Devon the reassurance she needed.
Devon recognized his attempt for what it was and gave him a wan smile.
"Yale..."
Devon sighed and gazed off across the barren plains.
"...what on Earth was I thinking? Dragging these people halfway across the sector, only to drag them halfway across a continent on foot. How could I have not realized Blalock would also try something when we arrived here to prevent us landing at New Pacifica? After the bomb..."
Yale rested his hand on Devon's shoulder and spoke gently.
"Devon, don't do this to yourself again. None of this is your fault. You have been nothing less than remarkable in leading these people. They look up to you, and you know it."
"But look at what we've got going against us Yale," Devon sprang up and began pacing back and forth, gesticulating as she spoke. "Deranged criminals. Then the ZED The Council trying to stop us. And disease...how many more times are we going to have to face illnesses we've never even heard of? What if this is the one with no cure? There's no putting everyone into cold sleep here, and even if we *had* the facilities, what if there's no Julia to figure out the cure and bring everyone back like she managed to do for me?"
Just the mention of her cold sleep experience was enough to fill Devon with anxiety and initiate a shudder.
"I don't know how much more we can take, Yale. How much more *I* can take."
Yale stood, saying nothing, brushed the dust from his clothing, then held out his hand, palm upwards. Suddenly, a holographic projection appeared above his palm. It showed a representation of the colony ship, in orbit above G889.
"This is why you can take more, Devon. This ship is full of Ulys, hoping beyond hope that New Pacifica will offer them the ultimate gift. A chance at a full life. A chance to run through the fields without an immuno-suit holding them back. A chance to breathe a single breath without it being a difficulty. When they arrive, they are placing all their hopes in the existence of New Pacifica, with all of us there to meet them. This is why we can *all* endure so much more."
The hologram disappeared and Yale lowered his arm. Devon stood there silently, her eyes still locked on the space where the hologram had just been.
"We can't give up now, Devon. We will fight, and we will fight some more until we beat this."
Devon snapped out of her inner thoughts and stuck out a determined jaw.
"Yale, what would I ever do without you?"
Yale smiled as they began heading back into the pass. "Why, Devon? Are you thinking of trading me in for a better model?"
"Not in a million years, Yale. Not in a million years."
Independent Means, Part 2
by Simon KattenhornChapter Three
Julia lay breathless on the muddy bank. She lay on her stomach, with her right cheek resting on the cool mud while she attempted to regain her senses, and some much needed oxygen.
Her inner balance was still rollercoastering, like a person stepping onto a dock after being on rough seas. She took deep breaths, and felt aches and pains resonating through her body with each inhalation.
"Diaglove..."
Momentary panic set in as Julia noticed her bare left arm. How could she possibly cope without it? Then, her thoughts started to arrange themselves into small quanta of logic and reasoning. Back up on the cliff edge. She had dropped the diaglove on the grass. "Must go back," she thought to herself. Unfortunately, her limbs didn't appear to be responding to her thoughts right now. She remained motionless on the muddy shore of the river for another few minutes.
Finally, she managed to inch her body up into a crawling position and began moving on hands and knees away from the river and into the surrounding forest. Reaching a tree, she used it as an anchor to push herself up into a standing position. Her head was still swimming madly and she felt nauseous. Julia had once read of an Earth illness of sorts called 'seasickness'- a dizziness brought on by the motion of a boat on the ocean- and she was certain that it must have felt something like what she was presently experiencing.
"Stop swaying," she growled at the tree.
After a few more deep breaths, her head started to clear. "Ah, much better," she thought. The forest had stopped waving back and forth in front of her, and she managed to scan her surrounds for the first time. Not that there was much to see. Forest. River. Across the river, more forest.
"Anyone see a dunerail 'round here?" she said humorlessly.
It was difficult to get any indication of the lay of the land from her current location. She obviously needed to somehow work her way back upriver to retrieve the diaglove. And hopefully more. Perhaps even a clue of some kind to indicate what the hell she was doing here- wherever *here* was. Despite an inner urge to run in the opposite direction, Julia inched her way carefully back to the river's edge and glanced upstream. "No can do," she thought. The sides of the river were steep and rocky further upstream, where the river flowed through a narrow gorge. The possibility of falling in again was just not something which she was willing to contemplate or gamble with.
That left one option. Try and find an easier route upstream further away from the river. Julia turned away from the river again and worked her way back towards the forest edge. The forest was pretty thick with dense underbrush. "Maybe it gets easier further back," she thought and started trampling through the bramble- and fern-like vegetation that carpeted the forest floor. The smell of the air beneath the trees was invigorating. It was like the forest had a unique atmosphere all of its own with the air remaining trapped here beneath the canopy of branches. Only the sunlight managed to penetrate through the leafy ceiling in dancing patches.
The forest came to an abrupt halt about five hundred meters away from the river itself. It was as if some all-powerful being had held up a hand at this point and forbidden further advancement of plant growth. Beyond stretched the barren plains into the distance exactly as Julia had observed when she first awoke from her concussion- could it really have only been that same morning?
Julia stepped out of the vegetation and began working her way up along the edge of it. She decided that the vegetation must be restricted to a narrow zone of fertile soil deposited along the river banks during times of flood. That would account for the lateral bounds of growth. Some of the brambles advertised small, juicy red berries but Julia resisted despite the audible growling by her stomach. It would be too risky to eat them without testing them first using her diaglove. Which, she anticipated, would be waiting for her exactly where she left it, hopefully not too much further up the slope.
The trees to her right were beginning to get a little less dense now, and the underbrush was giving way to grassy vegetation. It was beginning to look a little more like the spot where she had careened down the hill into the river. She tried to think back to get some indication of in which direction to proceed. It was difficult to picture it clearly in her mind, considering the fact that she had been tumbling down a hill at the time, and consequently hadn't been afforded the opportunity to stop and draw a map or memorize significant landmarks.
The ground seemed to angle up to her left slightly and she decided it would be the most likely route to take to look for the grassy patch where her diaglove had been left behind.
Julia took a single step forward, then was immediately halted by a sudden shaking of the ground, seemingly right under her.
As she looked on incredulously, the ground appeared to open up before her, and a single Terrian rose up and ululated at her like Terrians tend to do.
"Oh hell," said Julia.
Bess stood just inside the entrance to Julia's tent. The dust particles hovered in the air, illuminated by the diffused sunlight penetrating the tent fabric. Bess moved her eyes around the tent slowly, taking in whatever she could see.
Julia's bunk hadn't been slept on. "So she must have been working up until the point she left," Bess thought out loud.
The workbench where Julia had been slaving for the previous few days was in disarray. In her increasingly fatigued state, Julia had obviously cared less and less about order around her. There were small vials scattered over the bench, some empty, and some containing either small quantities of liquid or plant matter. Julia's portable mediscope was still activated.
Bess walked over to the bench and peered into the ocular lens. There was still a specimen plate on the mediscope stage, and Bess could make out various complex cell structures of some kind, although none of it meant anything to her. She knew a little about geology, inherited from her father who had had a penchant for rock collecting- but as far as biology went, it all made about as much sense to Bess as differential calculus.
Bess lifted her head from the mediscope and looked at the various items scattered over the benchtop. She picked up some objects to have a closer look, but most were just medical instruments or equipment of some kind. Lifting a shirt that had been tossed across one edge of the bench, Bess was surprised to find Julia's gearset.
"Oh no."
Bess fiddled with the com unit and verified that it was working perfectly. She placed it on her head and pulled the eyepiece into place.
"Devon, are you there?"
After a few seconds: "Bess? Is something wrong? Is Julia back?"
"No, but I think I've figured out why we couldn't raise Julia on gear earlier. I'm using her unit."
"She left camp without her gear?" Devon sounded incredulous.
"Uh-huh. And it looks like she was working on something just before she left. I'm going to see if I can find anything that could give us a clue."
"Okay Bess. Uly?"
"He's fine Devon. He's in good hands," Bess half-smiled.
"Great. We're heading back now- probably another hour or so. Magus and Cameron are on their way in too."
"Thanks Devon. Out."
Bess removed the gearset and placed it back on the bench. Then, struck by a sudden thought, she picked it up again and initiated the most recently recorded audio log. After all, Julia usually recorded her research in progress. As Bess had been hoping, Julia's voice sounded from the gearset and began relaying details of the search for an antidote.
"...the root seems toxic throughout, except for the dead matter on the outer skin and the wooden stem portion. It seems this is a natural toxin the plant requires for its survival- perhaps anti-predatorial. Individual cells seem to adapt to the presence of the substance, metamorphosing with increasing exposure through time. Introduction of the substance to young cells causes noticeable mutation, but if the rate of introduction is too rapid, the cells instead reject the substance, and begin attacking the toxin. Judging from blood specimens from affected members of the Eden crew, this is precisely *their* biological reaction to the toxin. Noticeable is the rapid diminution of the white blood cell count and physical symptoms that resemble those of influenza. Empirical results suggest the human cells cannot adapt to the foreign element presented by the toxin and so attack it. But the antibodies aren't able to destroy the toxin before degradation of the blood cell itself. What I haven't figured out though is why the reaction is male-specific, and how to counteract the toxin. I need to find some agent that the toxin will preferentially attach to, and ultimately cause its neutralization. My hunch is that the stem of the plant contains an antidote but I'll have to locate additional specimens to test this. Considering the advanced state of Mazatl's dementia- and I fear Alonzo is not far behind- I'll have to locate the plant soon. I've been using mild stimulants to ward off fatigue but I know I can't go much longer without sleep. There must be more of these plants somewhere nearby, and I'd better find some quickly..."
The recording stopped there, and Bess pressed the 'stop' button subconsciously, while lost deep in thought. She put the 'corder back on the bench top, stood, and began pacing in a small circle inside the tent. After a few moments, she strode outside again into the midday sunshine and squinted against the glare.
"I wonder," she mumbled out loud, glancing across the camp towards the transrover. Beside the large vehicle were several clear plastic containers, containing the group's water supply. True was crouched down beside one of them, pouring water into a small bowl that she had been using to dampen the faces of the more feverish patients. Bess strode over to the containers as True glanced up.
"True, do you know when we last filled up these?" Bess asked, indicating to the now half-full water containers.
True scrunched up her face in recollection. "Um...I think it was the day before we got to these mountains. Dad and Baines found that seep that they dug into to fill it up with water. That's why it's a little bit muddy," she pointed to the clear container, indicating the fine layer of sediment that had settled at the bottom of it.
It was as if a light went on inside Bess' head, and she broke into a broad grin.
"True, I think we've got it!" Bess exclaimed.
True was obviously confused. "Got what?"
"The answer we need," she answered over her shoulder as she hurried over to her tent.
True glanced at the bowl of water in her hands, then the layer of sediment at the bottom of the water container. Whatever it was that Bess was excited about, it was completely unclear to her, and she stared after Bess with a quizzical frown.
Bess entered her tent and walked over to her bed to pick up her gear. Morgan groaned from his cot.
"Don't you worry, honey," she said confidently. "You're going to be well again before you know it."
Bess placed the gear over her head and again contacted Devon.
"Bess? Did something happen?"
"Where are you right now?" Bess virtually demanded.
The severity of Bess' tone took Devon slightly aback.
"Er, we're about halfway through the pass. What's wrong? Is it Uly?" Devon became suddenly alarmed.
"No, no. Devon, you need to turn back."
"Bess, I already told you we're on our way back." Devon looked confused and was starting to get just a little bit irritated. It was obvious Bess knew something she didn't, and she wasn't being very forthright with the information. "What is going on up there?"
"No, not back here," responded Bess. "Back to the desert. You need to turn around and go back into the desert."
"The desert?" Devon glanced over her shoulder in the direction from which she and Yale had come. "Why?"
"Because," Bess said emphatically, "we need some dirt."
Magus peered ahead of her into the shadows thrown about by the craggy outcroppings of rock. She had been working her way along the top of a rocky escarpment that had been eroded along its edge into numerous gullies where rainwater had flowed along fractures in the rock. In many places, the gullies were wide enough to allow passage of a human or large animal. Magus was half expecting a Grendler to come barraging out of one of the gullies and she held onto her mag-pro with a heightened intensity.
Not that Magus was trigger-happy. In fact, she considered herself one of the more level-headed members of the group, and was tough as nails, without doubt. The only time she could recall being completely unnerved was when she had stumbled upon the eviscerated remains of a Grendler in the camp once, but then *everyone's* nerves had been on edge at the time. It was her strength of character that had prompted Danziger to include her in his crew for the mission back at the station. Not that she had bargained on ending up on this planet, trekking across endless miles of unfamiliar territory, waiting for marauding Grendlers to pop out of craggy gullies. But change as the circumstances may, Magus wasn't much for complaining. "Get the hell on with the task" was her philosophy, and she tackled each one with unadulterated zeal. And so it was with this attitude that she worked her way down into one particularly navigable gully.
As she descended into the gully, she gave a quick glance up the slope to where Cameron was slowly working his way along the hillside. They had separated about twenty minutes earlier to cover more ground, with Cameron opting for the higher route where he could get a better vantage on the surrounding valley. Seeing as he was currently inching along a slightly precipitous part of the slope, Magus decided not to start hollering at him about her going into the gully, to spare him the unpleasantry of a nasty fall.
The bottom of the gully was filled with loose sandy alluvium that had been washed or blown into the crevasse by water or wind action. Initially, Magus was more intent on scrutinizing the course of the gully ahead of her, which was gently curving to the left, obstructing a clear view along the narrow chasm. It was only when she stumbled slightly on a loose stone that she happened to glance down and see a definite pattern of impressions in the sand.
"Footprints!" Magus exclaimed.
She looked up and visually followed the track of prints extending along the gully before her, curving out of view. It was a single set of prints and Magus became more convinced that whoever made them had come through here alone, rather than under forced abduction. She began moving faster down the gully.
"Julia? Are you there?" Magus heard her voice at least twice again as it echoed along the walls of the chasm that extended up above her on either side.
Suddenly, the gully disappeared under a rocky overhang to become a cave. Magus entered cautiously. The bright sunlight outside made adjusting to the darkness of the cave difficult. It induced momentary dizziness, causing her to lose balance then stagger a few steps forward to regain it. Unfortunately, it was at least one step too many, because Magus suddenly found herself supported by nothing but air, and it was not being very accommodating in terms of providing a firm foundation. Luckily, the fall was brief, and Magus had instinctively taken up the shock of landing by bending her legs and rolling as she hit the ground again.
Laying in the darkness, she checked briefly to see if she had been hurt by the fall, but feeling no stabbing pain, she felt reassured of having escaped injury. On the negative side of things, she could not even see her own hand in front of her face, which gave her zero indication of the nature of her surroundings or how she was going to get out.
Magus motioned to activate her gear but was shocked to discover that it had somehow been knocked off during her fall. Crawling on hands and knees, she began raking the sandy floor around her with her fingers, trying to locate her lost gearset, but it had either fallen further from her than was within her reach, or it had somehow managed to remain up above her at the level from which she had fallen.
"Damn!"
Climbing to her feet, with mag-pro still clutched firmly in one hand as if welded there, Magus began feeling along the wall of the cavern to see if she could get some indication of where she had fallen from or if there were some way of climbing out again, but it was impossible to tell if she was even examining the correct wall. She had lost her sense of orientation during the fall and began cursing herself silently for being so careless. "Well there's no point in trying to climb up a vertical wall in the dark if it may turn out to be the wrong one," she thought to herself. "Ah well, only one thing for it, I suppose."
"CAMERON! CAAAAMROOOOOOOON!" Magus bellowed as loud as she could.
Actually, she had little confidence that Cameron would hear her even faintly from way down here, but it was worth a try at least. One thing that became immediately clear, however, was the size of the cave. The echo of her shouting gave her the sense that the cavern had a very high ceiling, and probably extended a fair distance laterally from wall to wall. "Maybe I can somehow work my way out along here," she thought to herself, and began inching her way along the cavern floor, feeling with her right hand along the cave wall for reference.
The cave was as black as pitch. There was not even the slightest hint of light to allow her eyes to adjust, and Magus was also beginning to feel the chill of this underground environment starting to penetrate her body.
Suddenly, it seemed as if there was the slightest hint of a breeze ahead of her, and Magus felt a touch of optimism that she may even be approaching some kind of exit. But then she brushed through something soft and silky that seemed to affix itself to her, and her attention snapped to trying to brush it off her face and hair as quickly as possible, no matter what it was.
"What the *hell* was that?" she said aloud.
Before she could formulate another thought, however, a stabbing pain in her left leg made her yelp loudly and grasp her leg as it began burning like it was on fire. Her hand brushed across something alive crawling across her leg. Something revolting with many legs. Something *crawling* on her. Her first instinct was to shoot at it with her mag-pro, but seeing as this was probably not conducive to keeping her leg attached to the rest of her body, Magus whacked at the creature with a quick flick of her hand, accompanied by a piercing shriek, and hit it as far away from her as she could. But it was quite obvious from the pain that she had been bitten.
"Damn, that hurts!"
Magus collapsed and began rubbing her leg vigorously, trying to ease the pain away by willpower more than anything else. She was starting to feel lightheaded and fought angrily against her sudden craving to simply close her eyes and go to sleep. In fact, she was starting to feel angry in general.
"CAMERON!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Get me the hell outta here!"
She sprang up and angled herself against the cavern wall to stop her throbbing leg from caving in under her. Then it hit her. The awful realization of where she was. Spiders. A tunnel.
"Oh God! CAMERON! Get the hell in here!"
Magus began clawing at any hand or foothold she could find. She wasn't particularly concerned at where it might take her- she just wanted to get the hell out of that tunnel. It was obviously one of the tunnels that directed a warped space-time energy field through the planet's crust. Similar to the one that had transported Devon, Danziger, Alonzo and Julia back to the eastern coastline about two months previously. But she had no intention of being transported at light-speed through a vacuum today, she was adamant about that.
The anger was starting to burn into her every thought, and although she couldn't understand why she felt it, it definitely felt right. Magus was feeling enraged at everything right now, and it was obviously everyone's fault but her own that she was now here in the unyielding dark, hanging precipitously from a cliff face, with a leg seemingly about to self-combust.
"Just wait until I get my hands on you, Julia Heller," she spat through clenched teeth. "You are going to pay *big* time for this."
Magus felt around for another hand hold above her. Nothing. She could feel nothing to grasp onto. Reaching further to her left, she succeeded in upsetting her balance and proceeded to slide back down the cavern wall to the tunnel floor. She lay on the sandy bottom again, completely enraged.
"Aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhhhh!"
Her bellow of frustration echoed around the cavern.
In the gully outside of the cave entrance, Cameron heard the roaring yell of a thousand hells. It sounded more like a battle-frenzy cry of a warrior than a scream of terror, but either way, Cameron felt the hair stiffen on the back of his neck and he found himself hesitating at the cave entrance. Then, out of concern for Magus' well-being, he stepped into the cave entrance with a lumalight in hand. Instead of the envelope of darkness he was expecting, Cameron was surprised to see a dull glow in the cave, and it was getting increasingly bright. After a few seconds, it illuminated the entire cavern, and he noticed that he was, in fact, standing on the lip of a small cliff, looking down at Magus, who was lying on the floor of a tunnel-like passage about three meters below him. She looked up at him with what looked like a mixture of fear and fury in her eyes. Cameron saw her open her mouth, as a tendril of white light enshrouded her.
"CAMEROOOOOOOOOON!"
The scream rebounded off the cavern walls in a cacophony of echoes as Magus and the flame of white light completely vanished.
Chapter Four
Julia stared at the Terrian towering over her, stunned into silence. After all these months, she still couldn't quite get used to the sight of them. The dry, leathery skin; the unnerving way they simply stared at you as if that were enough to make it completely obvious what it was they wanted.
"I was just trying to get my diaglove," Julia attempted to explain, alternately rubbing her forearm and pointing up the slope to where she hoped her diaglove waited. She wasn't exactly sure why she was trying to explain this to the Terrian, who remained both indifferent and oblivious to the meaning of her gesticulations. She thought that perhaps she had entered an area that the Terrians preferred her not to. Who could tell?
"You know? Diaglove?" Julia acted out pushing various buttons on a make-believe diaglove on her left arm. "For helping the sick?" Despite the arched eyebrows and verbal declensions, Julia realized the futility of her charade. The Terrian cocked his head to one side, blinked, then ululated once more for good measure.
Julia wasn't sure what to think. The Terrian was obviously trying to tell her something. She needed to try a different approach. Perhaps the creature knew something about the Eden Advance team- about the illness.
Julia began looking around her, desperately searching for some sort of prop or aid to facilitate her attempts at communication. Seeing some nearby fairly leafless plants, she had an idea.
"Well here goes nothing."
She yanked at the stem of one of the plants, pulling it free of the loamy soil, and brushed the root free of dirt.
"Food," she motioned by imitating taking small bites from the root. The Terrian was watching her with a stare that seemed to Julia to have equal likelihood of conveying the thought "eating" as it did "insane", or "transrover" for that matter. "Such an expressive race, these Terrians," she thought in exasperation. Trying a new tactic, she then began acting spitting the root out of her mouth with a look of disgust. She then grabbed at her stomach, and bent over double as if in pain.
When she looked up, the Terrian wasn't even looking at her. She thought that it had perhaps lost interest in her inconsequential antics and had moved its attention onto more exciting matters, such as the appearance of a nearby rock.
The Terrian then lifted one arm and pointed off into the distance, towards the nearby desert plain. It trilled again, and cocked its head to look at Julia.
"Desert," said Julia, looking confused. "Is that where you're from? The desert?"
The Terrian then pointed at the root in her hand, and motioned again towards the desert. Julia looked down at the root and frowned. "Ah!" Imitating the Terrian, she pointed to the root in her hand and then pointed towards the desert. "The plant came from the desert, that's right. It made us sick."
Julia proceeded to point at the Terrian, and back again to the desert. "Are you from the desert where the plant is from?" She wasn't exactly sure why she was accompanying each gesture with spoken English, but it somehow seemed that it should make all the difference in trying to explain things. It was human nature. Like when a human tries to communicate with someone who speaks a different language by speaking much slower, as if that would automatically be enough for the other person's brain to spontaneously become fluent in the foreign tongue.
In response, the Terrian pointed off towards the direction of the river, somewhere in the middle of the adjacent forest, and pointed off again towards the desert. Then, as if deciding that was quite enough pointing off into the distance for one day, the Terrian bowed its head to its chest and rapidly retreated back into the ground, leaving Julia looking most perplexed.
"A river in the desert?" Julia wondered out loud.
Devon pointed the scanner at the ground. "I don't know, Yale. It all seems pretty much the same to me. Still mostly aluminosilicates, iron oxides, minor amounts of calcium carbonate, magnesium, and titanium, and trace amounts of a few other minerals. If there's something unusual in the soil, it must be at concentrations less than the resolution of the scanner."
"I suppose it's possible that even minor amounts of the substance is enough to induce a toxic reaction," Yale conjectured. He began walking around randomly, scrutinizing the soil beneath his feet. "If we could only find....ah! Devon, over here!" Yale crouched down, examining something in the ground, while Devon got up and walked over to him.
"What have you found," she asked?
"Look here," said Yale, pointing at a woody stem protruding from the ground. "Look familiar?"
"It's one of the plants!" Devon said excitedly. "That must mean..."
"...that this soil contains the substance," Yale cut in. "I think we've found our spot for taking a sample."
Devon kneeled down and pulled out her water canister. She had already emptied the contents into Yale's canister so that they could use it for bringing back the sample of soil that Bess had indicated they should bring back.
When Bess had first told them that she thought the soil from the desert plain could offer an explanation, and perhaps even a solution to their predicament, Devon was unconvinced. No disrespect to Bess, she had thought, but it seemed highly improbable to her that Bess would be able to solve a scientific problem in five minutes that had eluded Julia's comprehension for days. After all, Bess had no formal higher level education, and besides, everyone knew that educational institutions on Earth were far inferior to those on the stations. Bess *was* intelligent, Devon had come to realize during the many weeks spent on this planet, but it seemed implausible that she had the educational background to be solving medical enigmas. Nevertheless, these *were* desperate times, and for that reason Devon had been willing to give Bess the benefit of the doubt in this case, and return to the plains to retrieve a sample of the soil there. At this point, she was willing to try anything to cure this illness that had attacked most of the group's men. And Uly.
Devon began scooping at the soil and emptied handfuls of it into the canister. "Yale, we should bring back that plant too. Julia may need it to perform extra tests," she said, turning her head to look at Yale, who was still crouched down where he had found the plant. "If we ever find Julia," she thought to herself anxiously.
Yale began excavating the soil around the plant's root so that he could pull it out of the ground. Having filled up the canister, Devon replaced the cap and tucked the container into her haversack. In the distance, she watched the plains shimmering in a heat-mirage that blurred the horizon out of distinct definition. "That's our future," she thought to herself. "We know we have to keep going towards that horizon, but we have no idea what's really there. It's just a big blur. And when we get there, it could just as easily be a raging river, or an impassable canyon, or New Pacifica itself. And we never know if it will be all of us making it there or just a handful of us. And yet towards it we go, drawn forward as if caught in a magnetic vortex." Devon sighed. "After all, it's the promise of what that horizon holds that gives me the strength to do this every day..."
"Devon? Devon?!" Yale's voice broke her reverie.
She turned to look at him. "Yes, Yale? What is it?" Yale had finished retrieving the plant and was standing watching her with an 'I know that expression, Devon' look on his face.
"Welcome back," he smiled. "Shall we get going? The sun is starting to get low."
Devon glanced up at the sun. It *was* getting low. She guessed it must be late afternoon already. "Okay," she agreed. "We'd better keep up a good pace if we want to beat the darkness."
They began retracing their footprints back towards the mountain pass, about a kilometer away. For a while they proceeded in silence, kicking up a small cloud of dust as they walked. Yale could tell from Devon's pace that she was eager to get back to the camp. She had been hiding her worry over Uly's sickness quite efficiently, but he knew *very* well how badly it was eating away at her on the inside. After all, he had watched her go through this so many times before, whenever the syndrome had caused Uly to take a turn for the worse. She had become very convincing at hiding away her true feelings.
"Devon," he began gravely, "there's something we have to consider."
Devon cast him a quick glance that said she would rather this topic never come up, but she knew it had become inevitable. "I know Yale."
"What will we do if we don't find Julia?" Yale brought the question that had been on both their minds out into the open.
Devon grimaced and blanched. The very thought was utterly unnerving. She still had a difficult time reconciling the fact that they had abandoned Julia at one point after discovering her secret involvement with the Council. The very idea that they could survive easily without her was immature and ignorant. They hadn't appreciated that fact- after all, Julia's unsettling actions at the time had clouded all other considerations- but it had become obvious in the interim that Julia Heller was a vital part of the Eden Advance team. They *needed* her. And they especially needed her now.
"I just don't know how to answer that, Yale. I keep trying to convince myself that this is all something ridiculously silly and explainable, and that Julia is going to just turn up any minute now. But deep down, I just can't hide away the fear that we may need to come up with a solution to this by ourselves."
Yale nodded in agreement, as Devon continued.
"We have Julia's recorded notes. Maybe we can find some clue as to where her thinking was going with this thing. There must be *some* indication as to why she took off so suddenly. She must have been on to something, Yale, I'm sure of it. And I'm not going to rest until I find out what it was."
"Maybe the soil will provide a clue too," Yale suggested. Bess' idea wasn't a particularly fanciful one after all, Yale had decided. He had been examining his database during the afternoon for any possible information that might support Bess' hypothesis.
Devon glanced at Yale questioningly. "Did you discover something?"
"Nothing definite," he replied. "My records of geological specifics are fairly limited. But biogeological studies became quite prominent on Earth when industrial pollution began contaminating major sources of drinking water about two hundred years ago. We really should give credence to what Bess has to suggest."
Devon considered Yale's suggestion and then concurred. "Alright, Yale. That will be the first order of business when we get back to camp."
They were interrupted by the trilling of Devon's gearset. It was Bess.
"Devon! We have a problem..."
This was not particularly the words that Devon had been hoping to hear right now. They had enough problems already.
"Bess? What's happened? The sickness...?" she let the implication dangle.
"No Devon, it's Magus. She's disappeared. You'd better get back here as quickly as possible."
Devon and Yale exchanged worried looks. "We'll be back in about thirty minutes." Cutting the gear connection, she picked up the pace even more and she and Yale hurried through the pass with somber expressions.
Magus opened her eyes. She was happy to discover that her body was still in one piece, instead of being dematerialized into millions of constituent atoms spread across the subsurface of the planet.
"Cameron?"
The question was met with silence- not that she was really expecting something other. She was obviously in an entirely different place. Magus slowly moved her eyes around, taking in her new surroundings. It was another cave, although a much smaller one than from where she had just come. The cave opening, about five meters away from where she sat, afforded a view of the early evening sky. "Huh? It's getting dark already?" she thought. Standing slowly she moved over to the cave entrance. It was sheer luck that she had her left hand grasped around a fist-sized rock on the cave wall when the loose earth gave way beneath her feet. Her grip tightened around the rock instinctively, and her whole body swung around in a close arc to the left and slammed against the rock face. Magus realized that she was dangling over a more or less vertical drop of about eight meters. The cave was positioned part of the way up a steep cliff.
The rock was starting to cut into her fingers, but Magus managed to pull herself up with one arm, and scrambled back into the cave entrance, where she collapsed for a few moments to regain her breath. Sitting up again, she then inched towards the edge of the cave and peered over. It was more or less a straight drop of a few meters before the slope began curving away from the rock face in the form of a pile of talus that had collected at the bottom of the cliff. "Too far to jump," she decided. Searching to the left and right, Magus noticed a narrow ledge running along the cliff to the left of the cave entrance. "Seems wide enough," she thought, "if I keep my body close to the rock face."
Magus glanced around the inside of the cave again. She confirmed something that was immediately apparent to her when she first opened her eyes: no tunnel.
"How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?"
Magus stared at the back of the cave wall and bit against her lower lip as she contemplated what to do next.
"If there's no tunnel," she decided, "then I'll have to go and find one."
Moving back to the cave entrance, Magus turned around to face inward against the rock face, with her heels protruding over the small ledge. Shuffling along slowly, with arms held out slightly from her body against the rock face for balance, she moved along the ledge away from the cave. The rock was only inches in front of her face, and she tried to distract her thoughts of the drop beneath her by contemplating the tiny particles of grit that comprised the rock itself. After a few minutes, the rock particles became as fascinating as watching paint dry, and Magus found herself thinking about the Eden Advance crew- how much she cared for them all dearly and how desperate she was for the sick to get well again so that they could continue their quest for New Pacifica. Of course, it would be much easier to accomplish that herself if she weren't presently located on an entirely different part of the planet. She could tell that the sun was setting rather than rising, which meant she had been transported eastward, probably a few thousand miles.
The ledge began to widen to the point where Magus could turn and walk normally along it. It led up to a grassy clearing approximately ten meters across, and ringed by steep slopes that continued upwards for a few more meters. She decided to search the edge of the clearing in hope of finding some route away from the cliff edge. Moving across the clearing, Magus reached the rocky area at the base of the next slope. There were huge boulders scattered around, which she hoped were hiding possible pathways out of the clearing. Seeing a particularly navigable pathway between two of the nearest boulders, Magus walked over and began rounding the boulder. At the same time, something else rounded the boulder from the other side and collided with Magus. Taken completely by surprise, Magus screamed.
Independent Means, Part 3
by Simon KattenhornChapter Five
It was dusk when Devon and Yale walked back into camp. True darted over to meet them with a worried expression and Devon gave her a quick hug.
"Magus disappeared down a spider tunnel!" True blurted out. "Cameron saw."
"I know True," Devon attempted a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll be seeing her again real soon. Julia too." Looking at True's wry face, Devon wished she herself felt the optimism she was trying to muster unsuccessfully in True.
Bess walked over from Julia's tent to join the three of them where they had stopped at the campfire that Cameron and Denner had gotten going for the evening. Bess looked at Devon and Yale wordlessly, waiting to hear what they had found, if anything.
"We brought back some of the soil," Devon said as she pulled her haversack from her back and slumped it to the ground. "No sign of Julia." Her slightly bowed head demonstrated Devon's resignation. "I'm beginning to think she may have..."
"...disappeared down a spider tunnel too," Bess cut in. Devon didn't conceal her surprise at Bess' conclusion, which mirrored her own. "It's the only explanation."
Cameron and Denner had stopped what they were doing to listen to the conversation. Cameron's dispirited expression told of his anguish at having lost Magus during the search for Julia. He couldn't think of a single appropriate thing to say to validate the consequences of the day's actions, and so stood there in dejected silence.
"Are we going to go look for them through the tunnels?" asked True. She didn't appear enthralled at the thought.
Devon looked from Yale to Bess and back to True, searching for something to say- if only she could think of a good plan of action herself. It had been a long day of walking with the sun beating down on them and Devon was feeling exhausted. Still, she knew she had to focus. "There must be some way out of this mess," she thought.
Yale cleared his throat and spoke up. "Devon, you're the only one here who's been through the tunnels." The implication hung in the air around them.
"I know Yale. If anyone goes, it should be me. Magus may be hurt and can't get back alone. Maybe that's why she hasn't come back through the tunnel yet."
Bess had become increasingly agitated as the conversation progressed, and was standing defiantly with her arms crossed, looking off into the distance as if examining a distant cloud that had required her undivided attention. Unable to contain herself further, she began pacing and blurting out what was going through her mind. "I can't believe you are even *considering* going into the tunnels! We have no idea how those things work. We all know you were lucky that the last one brought you back. We have *no* idea if they all work that way! For all we know, those tunnels could lead you endlessly from one part of the planet to another without ever bringing you back to the place you started at. I just don't think we can risk losing any more people. Before we know it, we could all be spread out in different parts of the planet- alone- and then what help would we be to ourselves or anyone else?"
Devon had rarely seen Bess so fervently expressive during a crisis. Cameron was standing in open-mouthed shock, and True had backed away a step or two, not quite knowing what to think about this suddenly assertive version of Bess. Yale remained impassive, as if quietly weighing the logic of her every word.
"Well then what would you suggest, Bess? That we sit and wait, and just hope they come walking back into camp all smiles?" Devon wasn't exactly sure why she was feeling defensive against Bess' criticism of the suggestion. She wasn't entirely convinced that it was a good idea herself, but she was having a hard time thinking of an alternative course of action.
Bess walked over to Devon's haversack and removed the canister of dirt they had brought back from the plains. "No, of course not. We need to rely on *ourselves*. We have no idea that we'll even find Julia or Magus if we go shooting off down those tunnels. Meanwhile, people here are getting sicker." The truth of this statement cut through Devon as she thought of Uly, and felt an immediate need to go across to his tent and hug him to her. Bess continued. "I've been going through Julia's log and I think she was onto something, but she may have been looking in the wrong place. This dirt," Bess held up the canister as if it were a trophy, "may be the answer we're looking for. We need to try to find the answer to this ourselves. We can't keep going on with the assumption that one person will always be around to answer certain kinds of questions. Julia's not here now. If we don't try to do this ourselves, we could start losing people...forever." Bess' expression became indignant. "Well I, for one, will try every last avenue of research *myself* before I give up on Morgan. I *will* not give up hope of finding a cure because Julia isn't here." She looked from one person to the next imploringly. "We *have* to at least try. We have to."
Devon stared ahead in silence, weighing Bess' words, while everyone waited and watched.
"Well I'll help you Bess," True said forcefully, springing up and moving to Bess' side. She looked up at Bess. "For dad."
Bess smiled down at her and gave her a caring pat on the head. "Thank you True."
"Me too," piped in Denner, as Cameron nodded in agreement.
Devon looked across at Yale, looking for that final source of input that she had come to depend on for so many years.
"What Bess says about the tunnels is true," he began. "We have no idea that we would even be transported to the same place as Magus or Julia. If there's even a remote possibility that we can find a cure in this soil, it would be wise to explore it. Having people on the road to recovery will put our minds more at rest in the search for Julia and Magus, and the time factor will obviously be less crucial." Yale turned to address Bess, who had been standing silently, taking in everyone's reactions to her outburst. "Bess, can you show us why you think this soil may provide us with a solution?"
"Uh-huh. And we need to look at Julia's experiments too," Bess motioned over to Julia's tent.
"Okay Bess," Devon finally spoke. "Let's go with your plan." She sounded more relieved than resigned, and managed to slip back into the authoritative tone that the others had come to expect of her, their leader. "Cameron, you and Denner can keep watch at the tunnel in case either of them appear and need help. We'll stay here and go through Julia's research."
Bess and Yale began walking towards Julia's tent, with True right behind, wondering exactly what it was that she could possibly do to help. Devon took a step forward to follow them, then halted.
"I'll be right with you," she directed at their backs. Detouring, she walked across to the tent where Uly and Danziger lay sleeping, and disappeared inside.
"Julia!"
"Magus!"
They stood staring at each other for a few seconds in open-mouthed shock, then wrapped their arms around each other and began dancing around in a howl of laughter and hooting.
"Where have you *been*?!" Magus fairly squealed. She was grinning broadly, overjoyed to find someone familiar to her despite having just been whisked half-way across the planet. The fact that it was Julia was even better still.
"Where have *I* been?" Julia squeezed out in between much laughter. "Where have *you* been? I was beginning to think you had all left me behind again, and I can tell you, it wasn't any nicer this time either!" Julia began searching in the direction from which Magus had come, craning her neck to seek out anyone with Magus. "So where *is* everyone? Is the camp around the corner there?" Julia was motioning to the end of the cliff-face that descended like a promontory to the level of the clearing.
Magus turned to look where Julia was pointing, then gave Julia a quizzical look. "Around the corner?" she responded. "Julia, don't you know where you *are*?"
Julia gave Magus a sheepish look and began looking around her again as if it should miraculously have meaning all of a sudden. She desperately grasped for a twinge of familiarity.
Nothing.
She gave Magus a wan grimace. "I have no idea where I am. I, er, seem to be suffering from a slight case of short-term amnesia." She shot at Magus a look of resignation. "I think it was when I hit my head."
Magus was incredulous. "You mean to tell me you have no idea how you got here?"
"None. I thought maybe I came in the dunerail or something." Julia looked out into the distance, across the plains. "This certainly doesn't look like the last place I remember. We were in the mountains..."
"We still *are* in the mountains!" Magus exclaimed. "At least, everyone else is. Meanwhile, we're thousands of miles away."
Julia's head snapped round as she gaped at Magus. "What?! What do you mean we're thousands of miles away?"
"The tunnels," Magus explained. "We both came through the spider tunnels. You must have fallen into the same tunnel that I did after you disappeared from the camp. Or rather, I fell into the same one you did."
Julia shook her head, as if trying to shake the memory out of a corner of her brain that was refusing to let go. "I don't remember. I was in my tent...I had spoken to Devon." She looked up at Magus. "What is it with me getting sucked into these tunnels every time I'm unconscious?" Magus wondered if she was trying to find some humor in the situation, but Julia's face was deadly serious. "Magus! The sickness?" Julia stared at Magus with worried eyes, not knowing what to expect.
"Don't worry. Everyone's about the same. But we really need to get you back there. We still need a cure for this thing. Do you..." Magus let the question trail off.
Julia wasn't quite sure what to say. "Did I find a cure?" She stared in front of her sightlessly. "I don't know. Maybe that's why I left the camp. Maybe I was looking for something that I thought would provide an antidote. It's all so foggy. I think I'm beginning to vaguely remember leaving camp..." Julia desperately struggled to recall more but the memories wouldn't come. "We need to get back right away. Where's the tunnel?"
Magus' face took on a demeanor of anguish. "There is no tunnel. At least none that I could see."
"What?!"
"The tunnels deposited me in a cave. But there was no tunnel in it. I'm not really sure how it got me there."
Julia thought back to her previous experience with the tunnels. "Devon said that when she traveled through with Danziger and Alonzo, they were all spat out in different locations. She ended up right on the beach!" She began pacing, thinking out loud in the process. "You must have been planted in the cave, and I must have ended up in mid-air or something because I woke up at the bottom of a cliff with my head throbbing like hell."
Magus was nodding her head as Julia hypothesized, although she was still left wondering what the implication was for finding the tunnel to get them out of there. Julia was starting to scout around where they were standing, looking for a sign that what she was suddenly thinking may be true.
"I've got a feeling the tunnel must be around here somewhere," Julia said. "These tunnels seem to be less precise at the exiting end than the receiving end, from what I can tell. Which means that there's a single location where we can hitch a ride back out of here."
Magus walked back a number of steps in the direction from which she had come, following Julia's lead in looking for evidence of the tunnel, "probably in another cave," she thought. Suddenly, Julia dashed off a few tens of meters away and appeared to make some sort of discovery.
"Find something?" Magus shouted at her across the clearing.
Julia came trotting back with a diaglove clutched in one hand. "Yeah. Not a cave though."
The two of them slowly began working their way along the rocky base of the slopes surrounding the clearing, suffering a few disappointments when small caves they discovered turned out to contain nothing but emptiness. Finally they came across a cave entrance that was slightly wider than the others. They looked at each other, as if both deciding that *this* was the cave they had been looking for, no doubt about it. Hesitating briefly, they walked through the mawing hole in the rock face and disappeared into the blackness.
Standing still in the darkness, the two of them waited for their eyes to adjust. Fortunately, enough light was filtering through the cave entrance to allow a limited perusal of the inside of the cave. The walls were smooth, dusty and featureless. Dismayed at yet another disappointment, they were about to leave when a slight motion registered on the periphery of Julia's vision.
"Magus! Look!" Julia was pointing at the far wall of the cave.
"What? Do you...oh! A spider!" They both rush forward, happier than two humans would ordinarily expect to be at the sight of a particularly oversized arachnid. They watched in silence as the spider worked its way along the wall a short distance and then seemed to disappear before their very eyes. They looked at each other incredulously.
"What the...?" gasped Julia. She put her hand out to touch the cave wall where the spider had just been crawling. Her hand appeared to disappear straight through the wall.
"Julia!" Magus exclaimed in amazement, not quite believing what she was seeing.
Turning slightly, Julia smiled at Magus and then leapt forward, disappearing entirely.
"JULIA!"
Magus was astounded to receive a reply to her cry. "Come on! There's another cavern back here. Just step through."
Not particularly certain of what was going on, Magus decided to follow suit and step into the wall. Rather that than get left alone again. She stepped forward, half expecting to feel some sensation of passing through the rock. It was only then that she realized that there was no rock. It was an opening in the wall that was completely imperceptible to the naked eye. Inside the second cavern, it was blacker than before.
"Julia?" Magus stammered.
"You're standing right next to me," came the reply, causing Magus to jump in surprise. They grasped each other's hands and stood silently, trying to decide how to proceed.
"Your turn," said Julia.
"Gee, thanks." Extending her free arm straight out in front of her, Magus advanced slowly, with Julia following closely behind. "We should try to work our way towards the back wall," she said.
"Why?" asked Julia. "Can you see something?"
Magus stopped. "What do you think I am? A ZED? It beats standing doing nothing, that's all."
Julia chuckled under her breath, which was suddenly forced out of her as Magus stumbled and both of them tumbled forward in a heap of arm and legs and....cobwebs.
"Ugh!" Magus spat in disgust, rubbing her head vigorously to get the cobwebs out of her hair. Unfortunately, she managed to elbow Julia in the face in the process.
"Hey! Watch it!" Julia shot back.
"Well if I could even *see* it," countered Magus.
A few seconds of silence. Then Julia said slowly "I think *I* can see it. Look!"
Magus searched in all directions, wondering what the hell it was she was supposed to be able to see in complete blackness. Then she saw it- a faint glow that looked as if it were miles away in the darkness. As if she were looking at a nebula in the night sky. Except that this nebula was rapidly becoming a supernova that suddenly darted forward to envelop them and explode in a conflagration of blinding light.
"Look at this," motioned Bess, indicating one of Julia's test tubes. Devon and Yale leaned in to examine the phial in Bess' hand, and True poked her head through between the two of them, lest they had forgotten her presence. "It's a portion of the root- the dry outer skin. There are a number of test tubes with similar samples," she said, motioning at Julia's workbench.
"Julia thought the antidote was in this skin" said Devon. She scrutinized the brown, flaky substance, wondering how the answers to all their problems could possibly be hidden within something so hideous-looking.
Yale took the vial and held it closer to his face. He seemed to turn his focus inwards, as if reciting some silent mantra to himself, but the others recognized the characteristic look that demonstrated Yale's searching through rarely-accessed data files.
"It *is* possible," concluded Yale to the three. "This skin represents a minor part of a whole- that being the entire plant. It is conceivable that skin chemistry acts as a biochemical antithesis to the rest of the plant, somehow maintaining an overall chemical balance in the process. Many plants are known to store certain unwanted absorbed substances in specific areas, such as seeds, woody parts, or in cutaneous cells. It protects the plant from harm. Maybe the skin of the roots contains a substance we need to counteract something in the fleshy portion that was beneficial to the plant itself but unfortunately harmful to us."
Devon was nodding in agreement. At least, it certainly sounded plausible. True mimicked Devon's reaction, although Yale may as well have been talking Greek for all the sense it made to her. Bess began shaking her head to disagree.
"I don't think so, Yale. It seems to me that Julia had the same idea as you, but she essentially disproved the hypothesis with these experiments," again, she gestured to the many vials spread across the workbench. "She made a number of attempts to use the root's skin to produce a neutralizing chemical reaction but had no luck at all. She mentions in one part of her log that the substance in the skin may be present in such minute proportions that a great deal of it may be required to produce the desired effect."
"So do you think Julia went looking for additional plant material?" Devon wondered.
"That I'm not sure about. The log ends without her mentioning her exact intentions, although she did say she needed more plant specimens. She sounds positively exhausted towards the end of the log- almost incomprehensible in fact," replied Bess.
"But you say you disagree with the overall supposition that the skin is our answer," prompted Yale.
Bess nodded. "Yes, I do."
"So you think this dirt is the medicine," True piped in, trying desperately to sound useful.
"I think the antidote we need is in here somewhere, True," Bess responded with a slight smile.
Devon still had serious doubts. "Do you have any particular reason for thinking this, Bess?"
"Absolutely!" Bess put the test tube containing the root skin back on Julia's workbench and began her reasoning. "I was thinking about the plant- with the fleshy portion containing the toxic chemical and all. Well anyway, I suddenly remembered something from when I was a little girl on Earth. There was an area near the mines where decades of toxic pollution had virtually obliterated all life. Plants, animals...all gone." It was a typical story heard of Earth, but Bess was nonetheless distraught at the mere recollection. "I remember daddy telling me that it was the water in the rocks and soil. He said that because you couldn't see water didn't mean there wasn't any. If you dug even a few feet into that land, you would start seeing it fill up with water. I tried it once even though I was told to never go near that place. But sure enough, my li'l hole filled up with water. It was like magic."
"It must have been a very shallow water table," concluded Yale.
"Just like the plains where we found the root," added Devon.
"Exactly!" responded Bess. "There was plenty of water under that surface back on Earth, but it didn't matter. Nothing would grow. It was all too full of poison. Toxic effluent from the mines."
Reaching across the workbench, Bess picked up the plant that Yale had brought back from the plains earlier. "What I remembered," she continued, "is how they tried to fix the problems with all the chemicals. They had tried all kinds of chemical treatments but it didn't make any difference. That's when the scientists came across this type of plant from Asia that was a natural hazardous chemical absorber. They created some kind of hybrid and used it to just suck the toxic chemicals right out of the water. They would just keep replacing the plants over and over, extracting more and more of it. The land never completely recovered, but it was enough to allow some hardy plants to colonize it again."
Devon was starting to feel a little more optimistic that Bess was onto something here. The excitement showed in her voice.
"So you think our plants somehow absorbed toxins out of the water table beneath the plains," she said. "But why would the water out on the plains here contain toxic chemicals?" Devon asked.
"They don't," Bess replied.
Now Devon was confused. Yale was having a hard time following, himself.
"Don't you see?" Bess said excitedly. "The *soil*! It must be the soil."
Devon and Yale both turned to look at the pile of soil that Bess had emptied out onto the workbench. True had been idly playing with it with her hand, which she immediately withdrew and wiped vigorously against her shirt with a look of disgust.
"The water must be fine," Bess reasoned. "We're still using the water from our tanks that we collected down on the plains. It seems to be okay. It definitely hasn't affected Cameron in any way, which we would expect if it were the water that's contaminated. Which means the chemical must have come out of the minerals in the soil itself. For some reason, the soils on the plains must be rich in elements that occur everywhere else in only minuscule concentrations. And these plants, " she held up the plant, "suck up those nasty elements just like the ones back on Earth."
Bess was visibly proud of her accomplishment at having found such a reasonable hypothesis. "And rightly so," thought Devon.
"Well it sounds like a logical conclusion to me."
Everyone spun around at the sound of the voice that had just emanated from the tent entrance. The response was immediate and the same for all of them.
"JULIA!"
In only a few seconds, Julia was assaulted from all sides with open arms. But she didn't fight it at all. It felt good to be back.
Devon was sitting next to Uly, stroking her fingers through his hair. He had just drifted off to sleep again after a few minutes of near lucidity. In that time he had managed to open his eyes, and had spent a few seconds trying, albeit not entirely successfully, to bring the inside of the tent into focus. His eyes fell on Devon briefly and he gave her a small smile. Devon was always amazed at how that little smile of his could fill her entire body with a sensation that was not unlike weightlessness. It was pure love, and before Uly was born she would never have believed that anyone could feel that way about another person. The connection between a mother and her child was something that never failed to astound Devon. It was a symbiosis of sorts, and she knew that losing Uly would be the same as ripping away the only part of herself that had any true meaning. Not even years of preparation for that moment, which went part and parcel with raising a syndrome child, could ever truly ready her.
And so she sat now, utterly unprepared.
Devon sighed deeply and stood. It was approaching dawn and she still hadn't slept. She could feel the fatigue wracking at her body, but sleep had nonetheless eluded her. Looking across to where Danziger lay sleeping, she was surprised at how angelic he looked. She almost giggled. It didn't seem right somehow that Danziger would come across as angelic. "I'm sure he'll be most amused when I tell him," she thought, a smile working its way onto her lips as she headed for the tent door and walked out into the brisk morning air.
The morning fire was already crackling away. Devon was fairly surprised. For one, the morning fire was never usually started until after dawn- no one ever got up this early. Secondly, she had been hoping to work on getting it started herself this morning- anything to keep her mind focused on something other than worry. She walked over to the fire just as Magus appeared from behind the transrover with a bundle of firewood in her arms, giving Devon a start.
"Hi Devon!" Magus said cheerfully.
"Couldn't sleep?" Devon wondered of Magus.
"Oh I slept fine. Well rested in fact! Just wanted to get the day started as soon as possible. This is going to be a good one, I know it!" She emptied the sticks and branches onto the ground beside the fire and began rubbed her hands together over the fire.
Devon stared at her, wondering what well of hope she had managed to tap into to be feeling so chipper. Her thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of Julia and Bess. They too were looking far too happy for two people who had been awake all night working on the antidote problem, and Devon felt a flurry of hope inside.
"Devon! I didn't expect to see you up so early," commented Julia, as if that were the only thing on her mind.
Devon and Magus stared at her in anticipation, knowing that she had something to share from the previous night's efforts.
Julia produced a hypospray from her pocket and held it out for them both to see. The vial contained a colorless fluid. "I think this is it," she said.
Devon stared at the medical instrument as if seeing a hypospray for the first time ever. "You've found an antidote?" she asked, not quite able to absorb the immensity of what Julia was telling her. She looked at Julia anxiously, scared to allow herself the hope that she so desperately craved.
A huge grin had swept across Bess' face. She couldn't contain her own excitement any longer. "We found the antidote!" She grabbed Devon's arms and began dancing round in a small circle. Devon allowed herself to be propelled along while the realization slowly dawned on her, but the expression on her face transformed itself into a wide grin and she began actively participating in the dance of joy that Bess was obviously thoroughly enjoying. Within a few seconds, Magus had joined them and the three of them danced around in a circle, hand in hand, while Julia stared at them in amazement, finally bursting out laughing herself.
The commotion soon brought others stumbling sleepy-eyed out of their tents. One by one, True, Denner, Cameron, and finally, Yale, hurried across to the morning fire and joined in the excitement of the news they had been desperately waiting for.
Epilogue
Danziger lifted the spoon to his mouth and swallowed another mouthful of delicious hot soup. It felt like he hadn't eaten in days, which was rather appropriate, seeing as he hadn't. The Eden Advance crew were gathered around the evening campfire, chattering excitedly and for the first time in so many days, laughing heartily. True was hovering over him to the point of annoyance, but he let her carry on regardless. Devon had told him how True had watched over him while he was unconscious, and he couldn't help but feel intense pride at her reserve. "Elle would have been so proud," he thought to himself.
Bess and Morgan each had one arm round the other, and were wrapped in a single blanket that Bess had insisted Morgan keep around him. He wasn't even remotely cold, but his protestations had been met with a stonefaced look from Bess that he had long since come to know as the "do as I say or live to face the consequences" look. So he sat huddled under the blanket, trying his best to hide his discontent.
Uly sat between Devon's legs, squirming slightly in his mother's arms which were wrapped tightly around his torso, as if she were scared he might simply float away if she didn't hold him there. Julia and Alonzo were engaged in a slightly hushed conversation. Alonzo had one hand resting gently on Julia's knee as he spoke. Danziger watched as Alonzo leaned over and whispered something in Julia's ear, causing a smile to light across her face. Yale was lecturing Magus into submission on the ills of toxin contamination on old Earth while Cameron looked on in amusement. Devon looked around the crowd from one face to the next, elated that things were finally back to normal.
Danziger helped himself to another bowl of soup, fending off True's attempts to do it for him. "So let me get this straight," he directed at Julia. "You made us well using dirt?"
Julia laughed and shook her head. "Well, not exactly, but it was dirt that provided the magic ingredient for sure."
"The dirt contained a mineral we needed," Alonzo piped in, trying to recall what Julia had explained to him earlier.
"That's right," Julia continued. "The root contains a mineral that is high in certain harmful elements. It works its way into the bloodstream and attacks the leukocyte cells. Unfortunately for the males, it specifically targets either hormone-specific constituents or cell chromosomes that render the substance harmless to females, although it is still carried around in the bloodstream, which is why we all needed to take the antidote. What we needed was some way to neutralize the chemical substance to halt the attack on the cells, which was an ongoing process."
"And the neutralizing chemical was in the dirt?" Danziger surmised.
"Yes! I didn't realize it before. I thought the chemical existed in the skin of the root, which in fact, it did, although in amounts that were too minuscule to be of use to us. Fortunately for us, Bess realized that it was the soil that provided the mineral we needed, not the root or the water."
"That's right!" chimed in Morgan. "And if Bess hadn't grown up on Earth, we would still be in this mess, remember that." Bess hugged Morgan tightly. Even after all this time he still felt the need to protect her from the scorn of others because she hadn't grown up on the stations. It didn't seem to matter that no one here really gave a damn.
"So how did you get the mineral out of the dirt?" asked Danziger.
"Well first we had to create free radicals in the soil that would want to take back the toxic elements from the bloodstream." Danziger had no idea what that meant, but he allowed Julia to continue. "We used the water from the plains and titrated it through the soil to dissolve out the remaining toxins. Simple redox substitutions. That's how the plants got it, you see, by taking it out of the water after the water dissolved it from the soil. Anyway, then we used the resultant mineral to make the antidote by dissolving it in a slightly acidic medium and injecting it into the bloodstream. The reagents then substituted ions to take up the toxins again and replace them with harmless by-products."
Danziger nodded his partial understanding while Alonzo gaped at Julia in mock awe. "You're a hero!" he gushed with a teasing grin.
"Well I would still be wandering around on the other side of the planet if it wasn't for Magus," she reminded them.
Magus blushed. "Any time!" she said, secretly praying that in reality she never came within a mile of another spider tunnel.
"So did you ever figure out what that Terrian wanted?" Devon asked Julia.
"I think so," she replied. "At first, I thought he was trying to indicate a river in the desert. I thought maybe he was trying to tell me where the rest of you were. But after working on this antidote with Bess, I realized that he was trying to indicate the water *under* the ground. Maybe the Terrians know something about how chemical reactions work between the water and the soil and the vegetation. Also, I think perhaps the river in the desert analogy is pretty accurate in referring to the unusually shallow water table."
"Yeah," said Alonzo. "That's why we didn't see any Terrians the whole way across the plains. The sediment contains so much water that it's harmful to their skin. There are obviously some places on this planet where even they can't go. And that's why the dream plane was silent too. We were too far away from the Terrians."
"So have you heard from the Terrians since you woke up?" asked Devon.
"No. I think it's this mountain range. Maybe they don't like traveling through granite for some reason. It's certainly a very compact rock, according to Bess, unlike sandy areas. I'll try to ask them when we see them again."
Devon nodded, then turned her attention to Yale, who had started a new line of conversation. All around the campfire, smiling faces reflected the dancing light of the campfire flames in their eyes, and the Eden Advance crew reveled in each other's company, and the promise of new adventures that lay before them.
-The End-
This text file was ran through PERL script made by Andy. Original text file is available in Andy's Earth 2 Fan Fiction Archive.