Circumstances (part 4 – Reacquainted): Four months after the banishment.

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Voice of Danziger: "It has been 4 months since I was banished from the New Pacifica colony for a crime I did not commit.  For the first week, I was located on a very habitable island, with a plentiful food and water supply. The following week I was moved to a rock and a majority of my supplies were taken away. I knew that I would not survive long there. On the trip to the second island, I noticed a larger land mass.  I decided to build a canoe and try to reach it. Luckily, the tree I hollowed out with a rock was sea worthy. All the supplies I had could fit into a backpack.  It took a few days to get the canoe ready, gathering up as much fresh water as possible, I set out. The land was much farther then I thought, it took almost a week to reach it. Once reaching it, it was much more habitable, but still it wasn't home. I knew that I wouldn't have survived on the second island until such time as my friends could reach me but I now doubted that they could find me at my 3rd location.

It was while I was exploring my new home that I heard a familiar sound.  This place had a spider tunnel. Gathering up my supplies, along with fresh food and water, I stepped into the vortex. I have been jumping from tunnel to tunnel ever since.  Sometimes one cave has multiple channels, sometimes it goes only back to where I'd already been and I walk to find the next tunnel. The journey has been rough but at the end my kids are waiting so it's worth it.  Julia will have a fit when she sees me. I have had another encounter with a ZED, luckily I was able to get the bullet out while it was still in my leg.  I fallen down, stumbled over and tumbled into more landmarks then I care to remember, each one has left me with a memento. Hopefully Julia can remove most of the scars or otherwise people may start confusing me with a guy named Frankenstein"

Danziger arrived in the caves looking like something the cat dragged in. His clothes were tattered and torn, his hair and beard unruly. The cave looked familiar and at first Danziger thought it was back to a cave he just came from, and then he recognized it as the first spider cave he had encountered; the one near winter camp. Glancing around the cave, he came to the conclusion that the spider web that brought him here was a relatively new addition. A few days rest and then he would be on this way. If he could find the east coast beach again, there may be another cave near there that would bring him to New Pacifica and back to his family.

Danziger headed to the winter camp. After spending a day, he decided to see the Elder. Danziger tried to make himself as presentable as possible. It was winter and hoped that the Elder would allow him to use a slumbering terrian to contact True and Uly. He felt kind of like a hypocrite seeing he wasn't a big fan of  the terrians or using the dream plane but he figuring comforting his kids took priority over everything else.

Danziger approached the Elder's cave and was met by the young boy. "You don't look so great. Where's True, is she O.K.?"

"That's what I am hoping to find out. "

The Elder was shocked to see Danziger's condition. He had lost a great deal of weight and had several nasty scars. "John, my boy what has happened to you!"

"Got myself banished that's what."


"Banished? I cannot imagine Devon banishing anyone, less of all you."

"Devon's not there. She got sick and we had to put her in a cryo chamber."

"Sick, sick how, system shutdown?"

"Yeah, you know anything about it?"

"When we first came we lost several members due to that sickness. We couldn't figure out a rhythm or a reason for it, still can't but we do know how to cure it."

"You can cure Devon? What wrong with her, what can we do?"

"The planet is rejecting her. She needs to accept the planet."

"Come again? How can she accept the planet?"

"The time of the year is wrong. The sickness came in the spring, correct?" At Danziger's nod he continued. "We will need to wait until then to revive her. A pit needs to be dug, the bottom needs to be lined with sunstones, what your group calls Morganite, then Devon needs to be placed in the pit and covered by the soil. Not her head of course but the rest of her body. Depending upon how much damage, she may need to stay there for a day to perhaps as long as a week. It is hard to say."

"You got to be kidding? All this time you've known the cure but we never asked. Next time something happens, you're the first person I'm calling."

"You do that John. Now what brings you here, not that you can't drop by anytime."

"I was hoping that I could contact True and Uly to let them know I was OK. Are you sure that we can't help Devon now?"

"Positive. Only the spring has the essential nutrients to restore Devon."

"OK, then I better hold off contacting Julia until closer to the time."

The Elder lead Danziger to the chamber he stayed in during his initial meeting with the group. Danziger hesitated only a moment before reaching out to the terrian.  Immediately he found himself on the dream plane. "True? Uly? Can you hear me."

Both children immediately responded. "Where are you? Are you OK? When are you coming back?" True demanded.

"I'm fine. I miss you. Are you OK? Are you listening to Yale?"

Both replied that they were fine and behaving for Yale. The trio spent a short while catching up then Danziger said he had to go. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I'll be back as soon as I can. I will try to contact you again. Remember I love you."

Danziger signed off with mixed emotions, joy that his kids were fine, grief that he could not be with them. He vowed he would return soon.

He stayed at the caves for a few days then headed back to winter camp. He had thought about trying to reach Devon but the trip would be too dangerous in the winter weather. After a few more days, Danziger headed back to the spider tunnels on his quest to return to his children.

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END OF PART 4