Chapter Four

Out in the grass just a hundred yards from the safety of the settlement, Danziger and Cameron lay motionless, the savage winds tearing at their hair and clothing. Without warning, brown leathery arms reached up from the earth beneath them and the earth parted, taking them into its dusty embrace.

"Guys!" called Alonzo from his bed in the med lab. "Come here, quick!"

The group left the ops center and gathered next door, filling the room. Bess and True hung behind, Bess clinging to the little girl for comfort rather than the other way around.

"The Terrians are coming," Alonzo exclaimed. "Help them!" He pointed across the room to where a large piece of flooring was rising up out of place. Morgan and Baines were the first across the room and helped lift the bulky piece of tile out of the way, revealing the rising form of a Terrian, a very dirty Cameron pulled close to his chest.

The Terrian quickly moved aside to admit a second one, this one supporting Danziger. Yale and Mazatyl quickly stepped up to get Danziger's lifeless form onto a nearby cot as Morgan and Baines did the same with Cameron.

"They were caught by the winds," Alonzo reported in the distant way that came with Dream interpretation. "The Terrians didn't realize they were in trouble until they left the vehicle. They hurried as fast as they could."

Julia and Baines were already scanning the two men. "Give him some oxygen," Julia shouted to Baines as she bent over Danziger's chest. "Everybody out of here—give us some room," she called and Yale realized immediately that it was True she wanted out of there in case things went badly.

He bent down to True's eye level and said, "We need to let Julia work. She'll come get us as soon as she's done."

True looked both horror struck and relieved at the statement. He managed to pull her away and back into the ops center as the rest of the group moved back as well. "Did the Terrians hurt my dad?" she asked in a whisper.

"No, child," he answered gently. "They were trying to save him."

"They scare me, Yale," she said in a shaky voice.

"They do look frightening," he agreed as he pulled her close to him, "but they mean well, True. I believe that with all my heart."

Back in the med lab, Morgan tried to pull Bess out of the room as well, but she fought free of his grip, her face white and tearstreaked. "I lost him on the Dreamplane, Morgan. He died right there in my arms," she stated, her voice cracking but firm. "I am not leaving this room while there's a chance Julia can bring him back."

Across the room, Julia found herself splitting her time between the two men, both of whom were in desperate straits. Neither was breathing on his own; both were in full cardiac arrest. Baines assisted by rigging both up with oxygen, but Julia feared that the damage to their lungs was preventing them from actually taking any in. She moved back and forth between them, attempting to restart their hearts.

The Terrians just stood there observing, their heads cocked as if listening to a voice only they could hear.

Alonzo too just listened, Dreaming with them. "They say that we haven't been here long enough to survive the winds. We should not have gone out so soon. Next year perhaps, but not so soon," he narrated.

"Whatever noxious gas was in that cloud, it's burned their lung tissue raw," Baines stated. "No amount of time on this planet would keep that from happening to human tissue."

Julia was growing desperate. "Cardiovert!" she called once again into her diaglove as she attempted to restart Cameron's heart. This time, she was rewarded with a beep signaling success. "Baines, keep a check on him," she ordered, then moved back to Danziger.

"Cardiovert!" she called, then waited for the result. Still flatlined. "Cardiovert!" she called again, with no success. Tears began to well in her eyes as she tried yet again. "Cardiovert!" Nothing. Then something, a skip, a flicker of life.

Bess dropped into the Dreamplane like a stone, calling for John with all her might. "Come back to us!" she yelled out into the mists. The Dreamscape looked stormy, just like the outside world, winds whipping around her. "John! Come back!" The bright white had turned dark gray and the grasses pulled at her and stung her legs as she searched for him. "John Danziger, get back here now! We need you! True needs you!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted him as he staggered through the stormy blast toward her. Selective hearing, she thought, merry in her relief.

"John!" She ran to him, grabbing him in a rib-crushing squeeze. "You left us—don't do that again!"

"What happened? Where am I?" he asked in confusion.

"You're back, that's where you are," she sighed in relief. "Come on," she pulled at him as she moved back toward the waking world.

"I can't," he answered, pulling away. "Not yet."

"Then I'll go tell everybody you're okay," she replied with a smile. She reached up to touch his cheek, so glad to see him. The Dreamscape winds continued to roar around her, but nothing could dampen her spirits as she slipped back into the outside world of the med lab.

"He's okay," Bess said the moment she returned. "John's okay." She looked over to where Danziger lay on the cot, his face half obscured by the oxygen mask. "How's Cameron? I can't look in on him," she said, turning her attention to Cameron.

"Bess," Morgan approached her quietly and put one hand on her arm. "Please wait."

Bess looked around the room at the solemn faces that surrounded her. Julia had tears running down her face and Baines had an empty look.

"Bess, what did you see in there?" Alonzo asked quietly.

"John's back. He's on the Dreamplane," she said, concerned by the looks everyone was giving her.

"I don't get any brain activity from John, Bess. I think he was without oxygen for too long," Julia explained.

"You can't know that for sure," Bess retorted. "I spoke to him on the Dreamplane. Alonzo, go with me. You'll see." She reached out to take Alonzo's hand and the two of them fell back onto the Dreamplane.

Again, she was buffeted by the high winds. "This is so strange. Have you ever known the Dreamscape to look like this?" she asked, turning to Alonzo, but he wasn't there. "Alonzo! Where are you?"

Her eyes raked the bleak landscape, scanning for any sign of Alonzo or John. "John!" she called. "Alonzo!" She felt completely alone. "Mom!" she called. "What's going on?" Just as she began to feel overwhelmed by the solitude, she found the warm sunstone in her hand.

"Mom, where's John? Where's Alonzo?" she asked. The sunstone gave her a reply she didn't understand. The storm was here and until it passed, all was suspended. Cameron had been returned, but John would stay where he was safe until it passed.

"Why can't John come back too?" Bess asked. The Terrians had not been able to do for John something they had been able to do for Cameron. John was already too closely tied to the planet, and until the storm passed it was more dangerous for him. But once the storm was over, he would be stronger, stronger than before and closer to the Mother. They would all become closer to her after the storm.

Bess pondered the planet's words, then asked, "Can I at least talk to him? I just want to make sure he's really okay." There was a long pause, as if the planet was making up her mind.

Then Bess felt herself pulled deeper into the Dreamplane—onto another level it seemed. This one was still and quiet. It was only in that sudden silence that she realized just how loud the winds had been before.

"John?" she called in a more hushed voice. It seemed as though her voice didn't carry at all in the brightness and softness. She looked around to see John lying in what appeared to be a field of tall grass, but there was no wind, no sun. She knelt down next to him and lightly shook his shoulder. "John? Are you awake?" she asked.

He groaned a little and looked up at her sleepily. "What is it?" he asked wearily.

"I'm just checking in on you to be sure you're okay," she answered.

"I'm fine," he murmured, then turned over on his side, his head resting on his arm.

"Are you going to be okay here for a while?" she asked him, pushing back a lock of hair so she could see his face.

"Yeah, I'm all right," he answered softly. "Just wake me up when the storm's over, okay?"

"No problem, you just rest for now," Bess responded, then she stood up to leave. "Thanks, Mom." She pushed herself back out into the med lab, aware that the trip back to herself seemed just a little longer. She opened her eyes to see Alonzo staring at her.

"I lost you back there," she said jokingly. "Have you ever seen the Dreamplane like that before?"

"Like what?" Alonzo asked seriously.

"So windy and stormy. It's like it is outside," Bess replied. "If wonder if Danner can pull up any images of what's going on out there."

Again, she realized that everyone was giving her extremely funny looks. "Cameron should be okay. Mom said she released him to us," she ventured, looking across the room to where Cameron did indeed lie, his eyes open, apparently conscious.

"Yes," Julia began, "his lungs weren't nearly as damaged as they appeared at first examination. He came around just a few minutes ago."

"Bess," Morgan's voice murmured in her ear, "can I speak to you in the hallway for a minute?"

"Sure," she answered and they walked out of the room.

"Bess, I'm a little worried about you," her husband stopped her and looked straight into her eyes. "Do you have any idea how long you were Dreaming?"

"A few minutes at the most," she replied, all innocence. "How long was it?"

"You were gone for at least an hour," he answered. "We called to you, Alonzo tried to reach you on the Dreamplane, nothing." Morgan paused and put his hands on her shoulders, fixing her with sad gaze in his dark eyes. "Bess, John is gone," he said gently. "He has no heartbeat. He is showing no sign of brain activity at all. He's dead, Bess."

"That's not possible, Morgan," she replied with all the reasonableness she could muster. "Mom said he was being kept safe until the storm passes. He is not dead. I just spoke to him."

In the med lab, no one was ready to speak the unspeakable. Baines, Julia, and Yale had all three repeated every single possible scan they could devise to see if there was any chance at all that Danziger was still somehow functioning in some kind of suspended animation. They even checked him over thoroughly for any sign of a Koba sting. Nothing.

"We buried Commander O'Neal," Alonzo spoke at last. "We'd have buried Morgan too if not for Gaal."

"Alonzo," Julia replied, "this lab has far more sophisticated diagnostics than I had that day when O'Neal was stung. You yourself said that you couldn't find Bess or John on the Dreamplane. We have to consider that perhaps Bess has gone over the edge with the stress of everything that has gone on. You saw how she fell apart when she lost touch with John before. Maybe she's just coping right now in the only way she can."

Everyone looked at each other for a few moments. They'd already passed word out to the group at large that Cameron was going to be fine, given some rest. When True had asked about her dad, Julia had put her off saying he was still unconscious but that they were watching him carefully.

Morgan and Bess re-entered the lab, Morgan giving the group a little shake of the head behind Bess's back as they entered.

"Alonzo," she began as she crossed to Danziger's bedside, "do the Terrians know how much longer the storm will last? Mom's not good with time."

"Terrians aren't too concerned about time either," Alonzo replied, "not like we are. I'll give it a try though."

He Dreamed to the Terrians who'd brought in Cameron and Danziger and who still stood guard in the far corner. After a few moments, he shook his head. "I get an image of the moons rising. But I don't know if that means it'll be over by tomorrow or next month."

"Let's hope tomorrow," Morgan commented wryly. "We'll run out of fresh air if we have to keep filtering for a month."

Bess placed her open hand on Danziger's dusty chest. "Just hang in there a while longer, John," she whispered. "My guess is that you'll be back to your old, new self come this time tomorrow." Then she turned to the rest of them. "Don't clean him up any. I think the contact with the earth right now is probably a good thing. I'm going to go have a talk with True."

"No," several voices called out in protest.

"She needs to know that her dad is going to be fine," Bess responded sternly.

After looks darted around the group, Yale spoke up. "We've told True that her father is unconscious and that Julia is keeping a close eye on him. We can keep that story up until the storm passes, I believe."

"Bess, in the meantime, why don't you and I go see if Danner can come up with some images or see the end of this thing," Morgan added.

She looked at everyone in suspicion then nodded.

After they left the room, Baines, Julia, Alonzo, and Yale all looked at each other, then down at Cameron, then Danziger.

"I don't know what to believe any more," Baines finally sighed.

"None of us do," Alonzo concluded.