Into the Setting Sun

By Oonagh

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

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The next day dawned bright and clear and found most of the Eden Project gathered in the middle of camp, unsure what to do. For once, Morgan had been first up and had made coffee for everyone. Yale sipped at his and was mildly surprised at how good it was. He glanced up at Morgan, a compliment on his lips, but he thought better of it when he saw Devon and John leave her tent and head toward them. Looks of sympathy were directed at Devon from everybody but she ignored them as she strode up to the group, closely followed by the shaggy-haired mechanic.

"Okay, people, let's strike camp and move out. For the 'rover's sake we want to cover today's leg while it's still cool, so the earlier we start the better." The group glanced uncertainly at one another.

"We're keeping going?" Bess sounded nervous.

"Of course. We can't stay here. We still need to make it to New Pacifica."

"Devon's right. We don't have the resources to set up home here. We need the supplies from the ship."

"So we need to keep moving. Even if we don't make it to New Pacifica in time to meet the colony ship we can at least get there as soon as possible after they land."

"That way we can warn them of the dangers, hopefully before anything goes wrong for them." The group nodded slowly, although both Yale and Julia raised an eyebrow at the obviously prepared speech that had been delivered by Devon and Danziger.

"So let's getting going, everybody. You all know your jobs."

They managed eight and a half kilometres that day before Danziger signalled for a halt. Devon didn't argue, she just told everyone to set up camp, a smile on her face to hide the grimace that had fought for control when she saw Danziger's hand signal. At this rate it was going to take them more than twice as long to reach New Pacifica – and that wasn't counting any time they would lose due to winter. Every time that thought crossed her mind Devon had to fight back tears. The night before she had cried on Danziger's shoulder until she was exhausted, until she thought there were no tears left in her. Based on the evidence of this morning, however, she was wrong about that. And so her day had been emotionally trying as she struggled for control – it was one thing to break down in front of Danziger but there was no way she as going to do it in front of the others.

That thought brought Devon to a sudden, physical halt. She stood still, several feet away from the 'rover and tried to figure out when she became so comfortable around Danziger that the idea of crying on his shoulder didn't bother her at all. Last night she'd been too upset to think about how unusual that was for her. Devon had always prided herself on her strength. She never cried in front of people. Even when Uly was diagnosed she had saved all her tears and shed them in the privacy of her bedroom. And yet last night she had spent almost an hour crying in the arms of a man she had known less than a year.

Sure, in that time she had come to think of him as a friend but still… What did this mean? Would she have accepted that sort of comfort from whoever walked into her tent last night? Where the tears inevitable, would they have come even if had been Bess who had come to check on her, or Baines? Or even Yale? A large part of Devon wanted to answer 'yes' to that question, to place no importance on the identity of her comforter. But her innate honesty wouldn't let her. Deep inside she knew that she would never have lost control like that in front of the others. Which brought her back to the question, what did this mean?

Devon smiled slightly as she realised that with Danziger – of all people – she had found a type of friendship she had never experienced. Rich, remote, intimidating, obsessed Devon Adair had not had many friends in her life and she had never felt comfortable enough with any of them to let her emotions show. But Danziger – it seemed – was different. And Devon was inexpressibly glad because she doubted that she would be able to make it through the next few months without someone to lean on.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the very man she had been thinking of. He had come up on her unnoticed and now he laid a large hand on her arm.

"You okay, Adair?" Devon smiled at him, realising that the urge to cry had – at least for the moment – vanished.

"I'm fine." She looked at him for a minute and watched a slight shadow flit across his face at her words. Julia's advice came back to her and she realised that the doctor was right. Danziger was worried about her. Devon felt a twinge of guilt and decided to talk to John, to confide in him. She couldn't think of him as a friend and refuse to trust him, not even when she was terrified of his reaction. And so, as he turned to leave, she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Would you walk with me a while, John?" Danziger hesitated slightly before nodding and Devon realised that her constant brushing off of his concern was hurting him. She regretted that and acknowledged that she could not consider him a friend, or expect him to consider her one, if she continued to push him away. Smiling nervously at Danziger, Devon inwardly resolved to make some changes, to be more open with him, more honest.

Devon and Danziger walked away from the rest of the group followed by one or two concerned and curious looks. The two continued in silence until they reached the nearby tree line. As soon as she was sure they were totally out of sight of the camp Devon gestured for Danziger to sit. She joined him on the ground and, avoiding eye contact hesitantly summarised Julia's findings on her genetic changes. She left nothing out, despite her fear of Danziger's reaction. After she finished there was silent for a moment and then Danziger spoke.

"And you're stable now?" Devon nodded still looking at the ground.

"Julia says she doesn't expect any more genetic changes. But I don't think she's really sure – she keeps telling me that this is all new ground for her."

"But she knows what's she's talking about when she says you're healthy, and that's what really matters. Anything else we can deal with." Devon risked a glance at Danziger and found him looking steadily at her. She saw no fear or distaste in his eyes.

"We?" Danziger nodded.

"You're not on your own, Adair." Devon frowned slightly.

"Julia might be wrong. There might be more changes coming. Huge ones. Nobody knows."

"You're not on your own, no matter what happens. That's a promise Devon." Devon smiled gratefully at him, his unquestioning acceptance and support making her feel more confident than she had at any time since Julia had found the first sign of genetic change.

The two friends sat in silence for a while, neither in a hurry to return to the campsite. Danziger leaned back against a tree and closed his eyes. He stayed that way that Devon began to think he had fallen asleep. She decided not to disturb him – neither of them had slept the night before, they had spent the night fruitlessly trying to find a solution for their problem. Instead, she imitated his position and allowed her body to relax. Nothing had really changed – they were still thousands of kilometres from New Pacifica, with no hope of arriving there on schedule – but Devon felt better. Danziger's promise resonated in her mind. Never alone. That thought made Devon smile. She could feel sleep overcoming her but she decided not to fight it.

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Julia put the finishing touches on the med-tent, reflecting wryly that she probably spent more time setting up and packing away her equipment than she spent doing anything else. Except maybe walking. And, by the looks of things, that's the way it was going to remain for the foreseeable future. Put up camp, rest, strike camp, travel, put up camp… Julia shuddered. It had been bad enough when they had believed that it would be over in a few months – that before next winter they'd be settled permanently, probably still living in tents but at least not constantly moving. But yesterday that hope had been crushed beneath the stalling wheels of the transrover.

One small mechanical failure and the future of everyone in the group had changed, along with the future of all the people currently asleep aboard the colony ship, people who didn't even know it yet. Julia shuddered again. She hated to imagine what could happen to those colonists. She forced the thought from her mind, falling back on her medical training – deal with the here and now, do what needs doing now, let the future worry about itself. A doctor could not function if she allowed worry about the future to overwhelm her. Medical school had taught Julia that principle, years of working with Syndrome children had reinforced it and her genetic alterations made it easy for her to put it into practice. So Julia stopped for a few moments to compose herself and then Dr. Heller left the med-tent. She looked around, noticing immediately that, despite their fear and grief, the group had set up the camp as quickly and efficiently as usual. Julia saw that as a good sign.

Julia headed over to Devon's tent, concerned about her friend. She had watched Devon carefully all morning and had seen beneath the confident smiles and calm acceptance. Julia had watched as, on at least two occasions, Devon had fought off tears. And so now Julia hoped she could convince Devon to talk to her. The doctor in Julia knew it wasn't healthy to suppress emotions like that – that if it went on too long breakdown was inevitable.

Last night she had hoped that Devon would confide in Danziger but she had had her doubts that that would happen. Devon had been resolute in her refusal to talk to Danziger about her genetic changes, despite his evident concern. Julia suspected that Devon was afraid of her reaction, that, no matter how hard Devon denied it, his opinion of her was to important for her to risk lowering it. After Danziger had walked away from the fire the previous evening Julia had watched Devon's tent for a while, expecting the mechanic to be thrown out. She was glad when that didn't happen and it had given rise to the hope that Devon had relented, that she had taken advantage of the ear – and the shoulder – Danziger was offering.

But then this morning Devon and Danziger had come out of her tent and Julia knew that her hope had been vain, that Devon had stuck to her guns. Devon had been too cheerful and confident as she delivered her little speech and it was clear to Julia that she and Danziger had spent all night discussing nothing more personal than the group's next move. That speech they had given this morning had obviously been prearranged. And, equally obviously, Devon had still been carrying the weight of her fears and emotions by herself.

It was one thing to talk about this latest setback but Devon had more problems than that and she needed to sort them out. Julia firmly believed that John was the person best placed to help her with this but Devon equally firmly disagreed. And clearly, despite Julia's hopes, the events of yesterday had not acted as a catalyst in this respect – Devon had not felt overwhelmed enough to give in and confide in John. And so now Julia felt obliged to step in and act as Devon's confidante, even though it went against her instincts. She reached Devon's tent and shook the door to ask permission to enter. Uly's voice answered.

"Come in." Julia slipped through the door and found Uly and True sitting on the ground, playing cards.

"Hello, Uly. Is your mum not here?" True rolled her eyes to indicate what a stupid question she thought that was – obviously no one else was in the tent – but Julia ignored her.

"No, Doctor Julia. She went for a walk with Danziger in the forest before we put the tents up. Yale and Bess had to help me and True."

"That was over an hour and a half ago." Uly just shrugged and returned his attention to his cards. True, on the other hand, looked concerned.

"Do you think they're in trouble?"

"No, of course not, True. One of them would have called in if that was the case. Devon never moves without her gear." True relaxed and nodded. Julia smiled at the two children and left the tent. Despite her words to True, she was slightly concerned. It wasn't like either Devon or Danziger to wander off without telling people where they were going and it certainly wasn't like them to vanish when there was work to be done. Julia began to walk quickly towards the small grove of trees, briefly considering the idea of calling Yale or Alonzo to go with her. She decided to go a short way on her own and see if she could find the two leaders without panicking anybody else.

Their tracks weren't hard to follow through the long grass and within three minutes Julia had reached the place where the other two had entered the trees. She hesitated momentarily and then continued onward, checking to make sure that her gear was ready to transmit, just in case. The sun was starting to set and the trees cast long, dark shadows on the ground. Julia could hear small creatures rustling in the undergrowth and she had to fight the urge to run back to camp. She'd not yet gotten used to the idea of sharing living space with animals and rodents and insects – some of which were extremely ugly – and the idea of them being out there where she couldn't see them frightened her. I should have brought Alonzo. Julia dismissed that thought, took a deep breath and began to pick her way through the shadows, tuning out the disturbing noises. She had not gone far when she entered a small clearing and came across a sight that chased her fear of wildlife away.

Devon and Danziger were sitting slumped under a huge tree. He was leaning on the tree and she was resting against his shoulder. They were both unconscious. Julia ran across the clearing, cursing herself for not bringing her diaglove. As soon as she reached them, however, she realised that it didn't matter, that she wasn't going to need any of her equipment. John and Devon were merely asleep and, up this close, they looked pretty comfortable. John had one arm wrapped around Devon's back and she had one hand resting on his upper thigh.

A smile slowly crept across Julia's face. It looked like she was wrong about last night. Lying there now Devon looked more at ease than she since her recovery. It was clear she'd finally decided to share her burden. Julia's smile widened as she fully took in the way the two were sitting. Maybe she was even more wrong about last night than she had thought. After all, the two of them had been in Devon's tent an awfully long time. Julia hoped that this time she was right – at least then one good thing would have come out of this 'rover disaster. And it would be good for both of them. Julia left the sleeping couple and began to pick her way back to camp, smiling at the thought of the looks on everybody's faces when she shared her news.