CHAPTER 37

Julia breathed a sigh of relief once they got going in the rails. She had spoken to Alonzo over gear to tell him they were on their way to the shuttle. He'd been relieved to hear her voice, but not surprised by her news. It wasn't the first time he'd gathered information from another Dreamer before she'd had a chance to contact him. He always let her continue and explain in her own way, which she appreciated. She knew she couldn't compete with that mode of communication, but he enjoyed the sound of her voice and hearing her particular point of view.

Julia felt slightly guilty that the seat next to her was full of comm equipment Cameron and Denner had been working with while they had waited with the rails. They'd managed to set up a beacon that would help relay communications if Hunter had chosen to do so. But there were plenty of scared, exhausted colonists who would be walking the rest of the way, falling further behind as the rails carried their precious cargo to the shuttle.

She glanced at the rail riding next to them and at the little girl sleeping in Kembe's arms. She shook her head to herself and turned to face the passing terrain. There was a part of her that appreciated the challenge of treating the Syndrome children, but a much larger part of her wouldn't mind being able to spend more time and energy working on all the research projects she had half-started from her discoveries during their time traveling to New Pacifica. And now there were three more children to add to the ward. Each Syndrome child had their own unique needs and challenges, and they could change daily. She felt guilty for the resentment that welled up deep within her as she thought of Aisha's sweet, peaceful face.

Julia caught motion in the corner of her eye and realized that Danziger was glaring intensely at Carnegie, who was seated in front of her in the passenger seat. Danziger quickly looked away and Julia noticed his tight grip on the wheel and the whiteness of his knuckles. They'd just been through a stressful event, and she knew as well as anyone else in Eden Advance that if John sensed someone was a threat to the group, he was not going to hide it. And he would do anything to keep them safe.

She almost made a comment about John's decision to wear his lucky shirt on this mission. She knew he'd chosen to wear it for True and Uly's benefit when they left New Pacifica that morning. But she could tell he wasn't in the mood for reassurances. Hadn't they been terribly lucky, though? Finally, the Terrians seemed to be back in the picture. Thanks to Lee Carnegie.

So far, Carnegie had seemed helpful and supposedly had been planning to rescue Hunter's camp himself. What if he had been successful?

"John Danziger, huh? It's an honor to meet you," Carnegie stated, startling Julia from her reverie.

Danziger snorted. "An honor, huh? You hear that, Julia? Maybe Morgan can add that to the approval rating stats. I score well with the penal colonist demographic or something."

Carnegie let out a chuckle in response, obviously pleased with the levity. "When Hunter's guys got me, they kept asking me if Danziger had sent for me. They seemed to think you were up to some diabolical scheme. Obviously I didn't know who the hell Danziger was. But I eventually learned about New Pacifica from Kembe and a few of the others." Carnegie turned to smile at Kembe in the other nearby rail, who gave a friendly nod in return. "The Syndrome, Devon Adair, and you, the debt slave turned mayor of the biggest colony on the planet," Carnegie stated, looking at John proudly.

"I've never been anyone's slave," Danziger said emphatically, glancing at Carnegie.

"That's right," Carnegie replied, nodding his head. "You'll be a folk hero someday. Little kids will sing songs about you."

Julia let out a laugh. "And I can imagine Morgan writing the lyrics."

John looked back at her and grinned, "Don't give him any ideas." He lost his smile as he seemed to remember everything that had transpired that day. He sent a harsh look at Carnegie before getting his eyes back on the path.

Carnegie seemed peaceful enough now. Presumably because of that stone.

Julia leaned forward in her seat to make sure Carnegie would be able to hear her over the sounds of the rail speeding across the flat land to the ridge.

"Your use of the sunstones is fascinating. We've never seen anything like it. How were you able to use it to contact the Terrians for help?"

Carnegie turned to face her, and Julia got a close look at his wounds. She felt compelled to help him, but had decided to wait until he asked. The last thing she needed was to make more work for herself.

"Yeah, why'd they help you?" John asked, his voice full of resentment. "It's pretty hit or miss when we really need them. Usually they make us sweat it out."

"It's not that simple," Carnegie replied.

"It never is with the Terrians."

"No, it's pretty simple for them. They just can't understand why it's not simple for us," Carnegie replied. "They don't have much of a sense of passing of time and have such long lifespans. They don't have to deal with all of the complications of being human. We get good experiences sometimes, sure. Happiness, love. But there's plenty of fear, anxiety, pain. We want to feel better, and we want it now. But in the long run, those experiences shape us. They can make us stronger, or they can make us appreciate a good thing when we've got it. The Terrians just don't have our sense of urgency. If they think things will eventually work out for us, they usually won't interfere, even if it means a lot of suffering on our part. And they've seen enough of us by now to know that sometimes humans need some tough love to learn our lessons. We're usually not too smart," Carnegie laughed gruffly.

Danziger grunted in reply. "You seem to know a helluva lot about the Terrians."

"I've been around a long time," Carnegie stated, squeezing the sunstone.

"About how long?" Danziger asked.

"Lost count. Didn't want to remember. And I lost some time before I found this," he replied, revealing the sunstone. "I don't know, ten years? Fifteen?"

"Huh," Danziger muttered. Julia noticed the glance again. She'd known John long enough to know that he was onto something, but wasn't ready to lay down his cards.

Carnegie continued to explain. "I've known a few Dreamers in my time, but I'm not a natural by any stretch. Just now, I wasn't contacting the Terrians. They couldn't care less about me. I was trying to reach one Terrian I know. He's always been able to track me, no matter what. We're bonded in a way, like me and this stone. I wasn't sure he'd be able to track me through that portal, though, but it looks like he figured it out. Anyway, I was able to get in touch with him through the stone. He can't Dream, but he can still talk to other Terrians. I'm guessing he pled my case to the local Terrian tribe, and they're the ones who helped your friends."

"That's incredible!" Julia exclaimed. "A lone Terrian who can't Dream?" She turned to Danziger. "That's like the one we saw at the biodome. The one that helped you with Uly," Julia noted. She was surprised Danziger hadn't spoken up.

John gave her a quick look that told her he'd rather not have her speak up about it either.

Julia rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Danziger, I don't see much use not just sharing information right now. There's a lot we can still learn about this planet, obviously. Not just the sunstones, but this bond he's talking about. Like the one between you and Uly. And this mysterious Terrian…" She considered for a moment before turning her attention back to Carnegie. "And this portal you came through… That's the spider cave just east of here in the ridge, right? The one that connects to the plains? That's where you were captured by Hunter's men." Julia remembered their discovery on the plains and the signs in the spider cave that led them to believe someone had used the cave recently. "You were escaping a ZED." Julia shook her head, trying to figure out what it all meant.

Julia didn't realize it would even be possible for Danziger to grip the wheel more tensely than he already was, but there he went. He seemed to lean into the wheel and started to drive a little faster. She hated when he got like this.

"You met a Terrian like that?" Carnegie asked, seemingly ignoring her mention of the ZED.

"That's right. Just a couple of weeks ago. What if it's the same one? Does yours know human hand gestures? And he wore a big necklace…"

Carnegie turned to her again with a broad smile on his face. "Yeah, that's the one. I taught him those, since I never really picked up on their language very well. And the necklace…" He chuckled. "I made that for him a while back so I could tell it was him from far away."

Julia smiled in return, excited by the new information. "So, this Terrian just spoke with the local Terrian tribe about saving Magus and the others? It's interesting. Our experience with outcast Terrians is that it seemed unlikely they'd be able to convince others to listen to them."

"An outcast?" Carnegie shook his head. "He's not an outcast. I think he's just different, and the rest of the Terrians don't know what to make of him. And he doesn't know how to fit in with them. But, yeah, he's spoken on my behalf with other Terrians before."

Julia turned to Danziger. "That's exactly what this one did for you and Uly, right?"

"What happened?" Carnegie asked Danziger. "Why did you need help?" Julia noticed a level of concern in his voice beyond mere curiosity.

When John didn't reply, Julia sighed in frustration and explained briefly about Uly, the sunstones, and the horrific vision that had seemed to invade him.

Carnegie and Danziger didn't respond. John stared straight ahead, breathing deeply. Carnegie seemed to be clutching the stone in both hands, head bent down.

"That's terrible," Carnegie muttered.

"Vehicle, halt!" Danziger barked. The rail came to a stop abruptly.

"What happened, Danziger?" Julia asked, trying to keep her voice even when she really wanted to shake John into saying something.

He slowly released the wheel from his steel grip.

Julia was about to admonish him when he said, "Take the wheel, Julia."

"What? Why?" she asked, even as she complied with his order by getting out of the rail.

John got out and started to walk around to the passenger side.

Julia feared a confrontation and rushed to block him before he could reach Carnegie. "Dammit, Danziger, tell me what's going on. Tell me what you're thinking. We don't have secrets between us, remember? We can never have secrets between us," she insisted desperately.

Danziger took a deep breath and laid a hand on her shoulder. "This is about Uly's vision, Julia. And it's not my secret to tell. Just trust me on this. I get the feeling it won't be a secret for long. Just get these kids to the shuttle. If they're stable, wait for these walkers," John said, gesturing to the group of escapees coming up from behind. "But if the kids need to get to the hospital right away, leave without us, and we'll make do. Got it?"

Julia shook her head in disbelief, but stepped out of his way. If this was related to the disturbing vision that Uly and John had experienced… The sunstones. She turned to look at Carnegie, who had his clutched hands pressed to his chest, his eyes closed, slightly rocking back and forth in what could only be described as a self-soothing motion. John was just staring at him, obviously struggling with what he had decided to do.

"It's the sunstone," she whispered to Danziger, although considering how distracted Carnegie seemed to be, she doubted she needed to lower her voice for him not to hear her. "You think he had the vision, too?" She studied John's face. "You think it was his vision. All of those horrible thoughts and feelings were his?"

John just grabbed Carnegie's arm and stated gruffly, "You're coming with me, Winters."

Carnegie's eyes flew open. Julia had never seen such a look of fear and relief on someone's face simultaneously. He scrambled out of the rail without hesitation.

"Winters? Is Carnegie some kind of alias? John, you're sure this is safe?"

"We're just gonna follow right behind you." With his other hand, John grabbed his mag-pro out of the rail and threw the strap over his shoulder. "Get going, Julia. Don't worry about me."

Julia threw up her hands. "Fine. You really owe me one, Danziger. If it turns out there's something I need to know…"

Danziger was already walking away with his hand clasping Carnegie's arm.

Julia climbed into the driver's seat. "Vehicle, start," she said between clenched teeth. As the rail began to roll forward again, she tapped her gear. "Alonzo, I don't know what the hell's going on," she began.