Part 8
ooooooooooooooo
Julia emerged from the tent to utter chaos. A crowd had formed near the med-tent, surrounding the face-off between Danziger and Rogers. William stood nearby at Rogers' shoulder, watching the colonists raptly while Bess stood between the two men.
"You already got what you wanted. You aren't welcome here."
"Danziger! Wait!"
"I can't believe you, Bess! You've seen 'Lonz!"
"You don't understand--"
Julia forcibly pushed herself to the mechanic's side. "Danziger, she's right. Leave them alone. They're just here for the bonehealers and then they'll leave."
"Julia, you, too? Look, 'Lonz is safe, that's all that matters. We don't need anything else from them and I don't think their actions deserve our following through with anything either!"
"What's going on?" Alonzo's soft voice broke the brief silence which followed the mechanic's outburst, drawing everyone's attention in a rush. Barefoot and disheveled, the pilot stood unsteadily at the mouth of the med-tent, his hands gripping the taut canvas for support.
Not having had more than a glimpse of him the previous day, his campmates were taken aback at the pilot's appearance; the shadows on his pale skin accentuated the past week's weight loss while red welts wound their way in every imaginable direction on his exposed skin. Alonzo swayed uncertainly under everyone's scrutiny. Stubbornly, he fought against the darkness which crowded his vision while his hands clutched the tent fabric more tightly. Without warning, the pain which had settled in his back abruptly spiked down his legs, causing them to crumple beneath him. Distantly, he felt himself falling.
The pilot's sudden appearance startled the camp into silence, leaving them all momentarily immobile until his grip slipped and he began to fall.
"Alonzo!" Before the pilot could hit the ground, William brushed through the crowd as if through blades of grass and swept Alonzo into his arms as though he were a small child.
The Edenites tensed when the large man snatched Alonzo up, then watched in surprise when Alonzo passively leaned into his chest.
William looked down at Alonzo. "You're supposed to stay in bed, Alonzo. Don't make me have to tie you up again." he added, then grinned.
Grasping the front of the giant's shirt, Alonzo leaned up to weakly whisper to him. William scanned the crowd before finally fixing his gaze on Julia and Rogers where they were slowly weaving their way to the front of the crowd. Afraid of what the much larger man would do, everyone else stood frozen in place, merely sparing a nervous glance as the pair gingerly slipped past.
"Easy, Julia," Devon warned.
Hearing the soft whine of Mag-Pros, Julia waved a hand behind herself. "It's all right, Devon. Please let Rogers handle it."
"William, why don't we bring Pilot into the tent here," Rogers gently suggested as he drew near.
Protectively shielding the pilot, William shook his head. "Do we have to leave him here? I missed him."
Rogers nodded with a wry smile. "I'm afraid so. This is where he belongs."
"You don't want to stay here, do you, Alonzo?" William asked.
Alonzo lay limply in the giant's arms.
William frowned at Rogers. "I liked having him around; we had fun when you were away from camp. He talked to me -- even when I hurt him."
"William, what did Alonzo say to you when you picked him up?" Morgan interrupted to ask softly.
"He wanted me to help him."
"How?" the liaison asked.
"He wants to go to bed."
"Are you his friend?"
"Yes."
Morgan tentatively approached, easing past Julia and Rogers to come nearly toe to toe with the other man. "Friends do things for each other. Even when they might not want to. Even when they're afraid."
William shook his head in denial.
"Alonzo needs Julia to take care of him. Just like she took care of Gilbert."
"Gilbert can walk again," William matter-of-factly told the liaison. "He can walk real good. Maybe, run even."
"Yeah," Morgan agreed, "Julia fixed his leg. Now, she has to help Alonzo, but she can't help him until you help him."
"Alonzo's OK," William protested. "He told me so."
"Julia, what's wrong with him?" Devon whispered into the preoccupied doctor's ear, causing her to jump slightly.
"I believe he's a victim of the Council," the doctor finally responded over her shoulder. "Let Morgan and Rogers deal with him. We don't want to upset him."
Taken aback by this revelation, Devon scrutinized the big man again. Alonzo still lay lifelessly in his arms, his head bowed so she couldn't see his face. William had relaxed somewhat as Morgan spoke to him, responding meekly whenever the liaison asked a direct question. Someone bumped her from behind and she looked up to see Danziger standing there, peering through his softly humming Mag-Pro's sights.
"Does Julia think he'd hurt him in front of us?" he asked out the side of his mouth.
"I don't think so." Worriedly observing the slow tightening of an armed circle, Devon answered a little more loudly for the doctor. "She wants Morgan to handle it."
Danziger grunted with a nod. When the mechanic tensed in readiness, Devon looked over to see William and Morgan disappear into the med-tent.
"Please, keep everyone out. I'll send Morgan out in a minute to talk with you."
"But, Julia!"
The protest was lost on the doctor as she and Rogers also ducked into the tent. Unsure how to proceed, everyone exchanged nervous glances, torn between abiding by the doctor's wishes or their own instincts. After a few moments, Morgan emerged in time to intercept his campmates as their inner battle drew them closer and closer to action.
"Alonzo's fine," he assured the worried crowd. "Just, still pretty weak. He came to while we were getting him back into bed."
"Morgan, you left Julia alone with them?" Danziger accused.
"She's fine."
"Augh! Julia! Stop it! It hurts! Stop it! They're killing me!" The pilot's screams motivated everyone into action.
Backing in front of the charge with his arms spread wide, Morgan shouted, "It isn't what it seems!"
"NO! Augh! Julia!"
Following the Mag-Pro, Danziger burst into the tent to find Alonzo struggling on the cot with Rogers and William holding him down.
"Step aside!" the mechanic ordered with a growl and a prompt with the weapon.
Distracted for a moment, Rogers loosened his grip on the pilot's left arm. Wrenching it free from the penal colonist, Alonzo grabbed him by the wrist, his tightening grip causing the man to cry out in pain himself.
"Julia," Alonzo panted. "Please? Please, hurry. On fire..."
Julia.
Danziger's eyes scanned the tent in search of the doctor. Not seeing her, he raised the Mag-Pro to his shoulder.
From where everyone had rushed past her in their haste, Julia brushed through the group to bend over the pilot. Quickly injecting him in the upper thigh, she slipped on her diaglove. With a quick scan of the pilot's lower body, Julia crouched next to William, gently massaging Alonzo's leg. "You're all right," she reassured him. "Relax and give the medication time to work."
Releasing a ragged sigh, the pilot turned his head to face her. "Hurts."
"I know."
"Can't I have some of that stuff?"
"No, Alonzo. I'm sorry, it's too soon. The muscle relaxers I just gave you should help. Feeling better yet?"
"Yeah," Alonzo quietly agreed, releasing Rogers' arm. "Better."
Rogers pulled his arm free of the pilot's grasp in relief and cradled it against his chest with a grimace.
Realizing what he had done, Alonzo turned his head to look up at the penal colonist. "Sorry," he apologized meekly.
Forcing a smile, Rogers waved the pilot away with his other hand. Noticing William, he instructed, "William, he should be all right now. You can let go of him."
Obeying Rogers, William plopped down on the ground next to the cot to curiously watch Alonzo's leg as its spasms slowly faded to trembling then lay still. Unaware of the scrutiny he was receiving, he poked it experimentally when Julia released it to scan the pilot again. Finished, she knelt down by the head of the cot, lightly smoothing Alonzo's hair as he drifted between consciousnesses.
In the hush that ensued, Rogers met Julia's gaze and held it. "You haven't spoken with them yet," he observed disapprovingly.
Still stroking the now sleeping pilot's hair, Julia shook her head. "I've been busy with Alonzo. The trip back here took a lot out of him. I honestly haven't had a chance."
"Told us what?" Devon asked.
"Everything isn't what it seemed-- Isn't what we were told," Julia began, seeking the best explanation. "Alonzo was seriously injured when he crashed the ATV. Rogers' men didn't hurt him; they most likely saved his life......"
"Why'd he fall down?" William asked as he bent to look curiously where Morgan lay in a heap on the ground.
Torn, Julia instinctively took a step towards Morgan, only to be waved away by Rogers.
"Don't worry about him, Doctor. You take care of Pilot. We've got him," Rogers assured her.
Julia turned back to Alonzo, surveying the damage the accident had caused with dismay. Underneath the net of ropes, Alonzo's back was a mosaic of deep, angry bruises. A strange cloth lay across the right side of his back from his ribs to his hip, secured only by the ropes, its ends snaked into thin tassels which lay bunched at either end. Gilbert stood across from Julia, watching her attentively.
At a loss for where to start, Julia began scanning by rote in a methodical search for injuries. "What's the cloth for?" she asked Gilbert.
"A poultice. Some herbs, Grendler spit, a few other things. I can give you the recipe."
"Why?"
The diaglove answered her question for her.
"What happened here?"
After directing William to place Morgan nearby but out of the way, Rogers joined them over the pilot. "Let me show you," he offered. He turned to rummage in a cubby nearby. "Here. When we found him, this was stuck in his back. It was jammed open. We couldn't trigger the release." The penal colonist shook his head. "We had a devil of a time getting it out."
Julia's heart sank as she looked at the cam piton. The scouts used the climbing tools as stakes to set up a primitive shelter when they found themselves out of camp overnight. The spike could be jammed into a small crevice then, when the tool was pulled, the twin cams, with their sharply toothed edges, would roll out to lock into place. Julia scanned Alonzo's abdomen carefully, reviewing each organ in turn and noting the degree of blood loss with concern. Seeking signs of infection, the doctor was surprised at the clean margins. Something else caught her eye.
"I see several blood vessels have been cauterized. I assume he was bleeding quite heavily."
Both men nodded readily.
"You managed to stop the bleeding but there's some additional damage which needs immediate repair. As much as I'd like to get him back to camp where I have more equipment, he needs treatment now before he's moved, if that's all right with you."
"Whatever you need, Doctor," Rogers agreed amiably.
"First, he could use a transfusion. His crit is much too low. Morgan is the same blood type. If he's ok with it, he can donate. How's he doing?"
"William, is he waking up yet?" Rogers asked. Off William's shrug, Rogers instructed, "Get some water and dump it on his head. The doctor needs him up. No, William, a cup should do."
William put the bucket down and reluctantly retrieved a cup.
While William roused the liaison, Gilbert asked Rogers, "How are his legs?"
"Good today. He's had some bad spasms but he's definitely been feeling them all day."
"He hurt his legs also?" Julia asked as the diaglove strayed towards his right leg.
"No. He was paralyzed. The vehicle landed on his back. That's why we have him restrained so tight. We didn't want him to move too much before you got here. When we first found him, he couldn't feel anything below his waist. The day after Gilbert left, he started moving his legs a bit. He's been feeling them on and off for a few days now."
Morgan sputtered in alarm as he cleared the water streaming in his eyes only to see William peering intently nose to nose with him. "Wha...? Hey! Back off! What's going on?" he squeaked, leaning into the hard rock face behind him.
"Morgan, it's all right. Can you please come over here?" Julia asked gently.
"If a human mountain wasn't in my way, I'd be happy to accommodate..."
"William, let him up. He has to help Pilot."
Morgan's eyes grew wide as the giant grabbed him by the arm and propelled him toward Alonzo. He ducked his head sideways as he saw the pilot again. Glad to have somewhere to focus, Morgan looked to Julia for a cue. While he waited anxiously, the doctor kept scanning, only her tightening lips occasionally giving away her findings.
"Morgan, Alonzo needs blood. Do you mind donating?"
"Here?"
Julia nodded as she met his gaze. Morgan rolled his sleeve up in answer. She cut the pilot's right arm free and, sorting through the limited supplies Gilbert had allowed her to pack, wasted no time in setting up a direct line from the liaison to the pilot. Gilbert brought Morgan a stool as the doctor worked in silence. As soon as a sufficient volume passed between the two men, she capped it off and disconnected them.
Julia scanned Alonzo thoroughly. She noticed how deeply he slept through all the excitement. "Have you given him something?" she asked.
"Yes, Doctor. Would you like a sample to examine?" Gilbert offered, reaching for a container. After shaking the jug vigorously, he poured a cup for the doctor, presenting it for analysis.
Repelled by the aroma, Julia held the cup at arm's length as she ran a scanner over it, noting its chemical structure with professional fascination. "This is an incredibly strong narcotic cocktail," she remarked. "Are there any side effects you've noticed?"
Gilbert nodded emphatically. "It's highly addictive," he admitted. "And it's also why the terrians can't feel him. It must alter brainwaves enough to block the dreaming."
The sludgy fluid clung determinedly to the sides of the cup, a miasma of earth tones with an oily blue-green film. Julia sloshed the thick liquid around the cup with renewed respect......
"Wait a minute! Back up!" Danziger interrupted Julia and Morgan's explanation. "What are you telling us?"
--end Part 8---
