Part III
"Uly, Uly wait up!" True didn't know the little boy could run so fast. Having been sick all his life, she would've expected him to be far slower than her, but, as usual, he surprised her. "Uly, you're not supposed to be going so far away from camp! My dad's gonna be angry!"
"No, True," he called back, "you're gonna like this, you're really gonna like this." He continued to race ahead of her, weaving in an out of the scattered trees, several hundred yards ahead of her. "I found it this morning, on my run," he continued to tell her as she gradually began to catch up. She didn't want to believe it was just because he was slowing down for her, but it was really the only explanation.
The two children dashed off into the distance, away from their camp. Uly had come to her around lunch time, begging her to follow him since he had something really neat to show her. True wasn't one to *really* worried about breaking camp rules and at first had been completely game, but after a while she began to doubt whether what he had to show her was all that important.
"Well I had better," she warned him, "'cause if I get in trouble you're gonna get it." The two continued running through a thicket of trees, until they finally reached a small clearing, where Uly stopped.
"Shhh," he said softly, and began creeping towards one of the bushes that lined the clearing. "I know they're here somewhere . . . "
True arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Who?"
"Shush!" he said, advancing slowly on the bush. "Just be quiet . . . " He gently brushed aside the branches of the bush, and examined the area with great interest. *What in the world is he up to?* she pondered, following him carefully, thinking perhaps he'd finally flipped.
Uly turned back to her, a frown on his face. "Funny, they were a here a while ago."
"What were?" she demanded, rather loudly, figuring his order for silence had expired. They both jumped as there was a loud CRACK and the sound of something skittering between branches of the bushes. "Eeek!" True shrieked, "What *is* that?!"
Uly followed the sound, trying to crash through the bushes on his own, but only managing to scrape himself up. It was just too fast. "Kobas, True," he informed her. A wide smile spread across her face at this. "A whole bunch of 'em. I think babies, too. I guess they ran off, though. You scared them--"
"*I* scared them?" she objected immediately, joining him amidst the clutter of underbrush. "It was *you*. Why didn't you come get me earlier?" She jabbed him in the arm, causing him to wince.
"Cut it out," he growled. "I came as fast as I could. I didn't even have to come at all, you know."
True heaved a sigh, then turned around, heading back for the small clearing and the rudimentary path they had made through the surrounding trees. "C'mon, let's get back to camp, you're wasting my time."
* * * * * *
"It's waiting that's the worst," Julia remarked to Bess where the two women sat in the shade of the tarp, eating a late lunch. Had the situation been different, this would have been a very relaxed day at camp for the Eden crew. However, most people were nervous, waiting for the first word from the Terrians. Alonzo had no idea how long it would take, but he didn't expect very long, judging by the amount of time it had taken them to heal Ulysses. This did not ease their nerves, though.
Bess nodded in agreement, taking a bite from her spirulina bar. How much longer till they would find new sources of food, so they could put this wretched excuse for a meal to rest? Spirulina, day after day after day . . . "That's for sure. We're all a bit antsy, I think." Her eyes wandered across the camp. Everyone was trying to keep busy; Yale chopping wood for the night's campfire, Cameron sorting miscellaneous items into their proper containers, Denner and Magus carrying Yale's logs to the small woodpile near the fire circle. Danziger, though, was nowhere in sight.
"I'm worried about John . . . " Bess said with a sigh, polishing off the rest of her spirulina with one last swallow. This caused Julia too look down from the patch of sky she was examining, but she didn't seem too surprised. "I mean, you can't say you haven't noticed yourself," she covered quickly. She knew she had a growing reputation of being a gossip, and was trying to squelch this as it was, in her mind, undesirable.
Julia just gave her a quick smile, and looked skyward again, her eyes tracking the patterns of clouds as they were blown across the horizon.
"He's just not the same. I mean, he's always been private . . . but he seemed to get really rumpled today when I tried talking to him."
The doctor couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Oh, Bess, you know Danziger, that's just the way he is. The man is an enigma."
"Well, not to me," Bess said, "I've seen his type before. And even so, he *has* been acting a bit odd lately. I mean, the way he objected to Devon's healing by the Terrians--"
"I really don't think it's much of your business, though, Bess. Do you?" Julia said a bit coolly.
Bess's face fell, and she seemed a tad insulted. "I just thought perhaps, Julia, we could discuss my concern for one of our *friends*," she said, behind a false smile. "But I guess I was wrong."
Julia sighed, pocketing the rest of her spirulina bar for later. "Sorry, Bess, but I really don't have time for it right now. I'm going to go talk to Alonzo, see if he's heard anything now," she said, and with that, she parted Bess's company.
Bess watched Julia leave, her jaw set in very uncharacteristic anger.
*Everyone's under a lot of pressure,* she reminded herself, *you just have to give them some slack.*
She just sat there for a few minutes, watching the rest of the EA go about their tasks. All she ever wanted to do was help, but for some reason people seemed to take it the wrong way much of time. Perhaps things would change when they were settled in at New Pacifica . . . And times like these were not the best to judge a group by.
"Bess, Bess!" she was startled at the sound of Yale calling her name as he dashed across camp towards the tarp she sat beneath.
Frowning, she asked him, "What is it Yale?" when he reached her side.
"True and Uly . . . have you seen them?" he asked, breathless from his run across camp.
She shook her head; she hadn't seen either child since she and Uly went for a run that morning. "Have you asked Danziger?"
The tutor nodded. "He hasn't seen them since this morning. Any idea why they might have run off?"
This caused her to think for a moment. The children often got into mischief when the adults turned their heads, but she wouldn't expect them to be acting up in *this* situation. Uly wouldn't go exploring too far when at any moment they could receive word from the Terrians. But then there was . . . "You say Uly *and* True were missing?" At his nod, she said, "Well, then I just might know where they are."
* * * * * *
"I cannot *believe* you got us lost!" True growled in disgust when Uly finally admitted that he was completely baffled, sitting down heavily on a log. "This is great, just great!"
Uly plopped down in the dirt before her, surveying the trees surrounding them. "Sorry, just, it's a lot easier to find your way back when you're with an adult . . . "
The two children matched each others' glares, True attempting to bore a hole through his head with her gaze alone. The two shared an angry silence for several minutes, before True posed the question, "So *now* what are we gonna do?"
"You should've brought gear," Uly pointed out, reluctant to blame himself.
"*I* should have brought gear? No way are you gonna pin this one on me. It's your fault for dragging me out here!" she accused him, clutching her knees tightly with her hands in a manifestation of her anger, holding back her urge to just swat the little brat.
Uly just looked do the ground glumly, resting his chin on his hands.
"Well, don't just sit there," True said, getting up off her log and looking about her. "We'll have to find our way back. We can't be too far, we've only been gone about . . . " her expression sagged. "Two hours. Oh great. My dad will have *definitely* noticed that we're gone by now . . . "
"Would you shut up about your dad," Uly sneered, "I'm getting sick of hearing about it. You were never worried about running off *before*," he said, referring to her numerous escapes early on the journey.
True dropped back onto the log, burying her face in her hands. "It's different *now*," she muttered through her palms. "But it doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand anyhow."
Uly just glared resentfully at her. *How does SHE know I wouldn't understand,* he thought, *I'm not a baby, after all . . .* He decided to voice this. "Oh I would too," he objected. True paid him no heed. Sighing, he suggested, "Well . . . what are we gonna do?"
"Stay here, I guess . . . till they find us. Y'know what my dad always says; if you get lost, stay put," she said rather glumly. Uly just nodded, and the two of them shared an uncomfortable silence.
"Well . . . " he said finally, "We can't just *sit* here. We need something to keep us occupied . . . " He leapt to his feet, and began to pace around the area where they had set down. True seemed completely disinterested in what he was saying, her mind on other things, staring into space. She reminded him of what he must have been like in the previous days--despondent, dispirited, silent. He couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind.
He continued to pace, trying to come up with some activity to distract them before the rest of the group noted their absence and sent out a search party. True acted as if she was the only one amidst those trees until she finally raised her chin from her hands and asked him pointedly, "Uly, do you think your mom'll be cured?"
Uly stopped cold. This was the one question that had been plaguing him for weeks and weeks. He had thought he'd finally resolved it when he learned the Terrians would be helping her, but there was still that lingering doubt . . . Trying to disguise his surprise at her question, he replied, "Well, yeah, of course, I mean, the Terrians can do *anything*."
"Well . . . " True continued, seeming a bit nervous, "Do ya . . . do ya think she'll be the same?"
Uly squinted at her, thought perhaps she was running a fever, the way she was talking. "Well, I guess, I mean, I am, right?"
She looked at him skeptically.
"Why do you ask, anyway?" he queried, finding it unlikely her purposes was solely conversation. She seemed reluctant to respond.
"Oh, no reason," she said in an attempt at nonchalance. "I just, it's just that . . . Well . . . " she seemed to be deciding whether or not to tell him something. "My dad, I've been worried about him, and--" The two children froze. "Uly . . . what was that . . . " It came again, a slight rumble beneath the ground, barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. "Uly . . .!" she reached out and clutched his arm, and the two watched in surprise as a tall, grotesque-looking Terrians burst forth from the ground in front of them. "Eeek!" True yelped. Uly, however, remained calm.
The boy looked up at the Terrian, who stood impassive before the two startled children.
* * * * * *
"What do you mean they're *gone*?" John Danziger couldn't believe what he was hearing. He sat down heavily on a crate, dragging his fingers through his scraggly blond hair. This was the last thing he needed. "Why on earth would they run off at a time like this?"
"Listen Danziger," Bess reassured him, "just calm down--"
He gaped at her incredulously. "Calm down? Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down when everything's goin' to pieces!" He didn't wait for her to answer, he just turned his back on her and strode over to the dunerail. "That's it, I'm goin' to go look for them," he said, sliding into the driver's seat and gunning the engine. "You tell the others where I went."
"Wait! Wait!" she called, chasing after him and the vehicle as he drove out of camp, "John, shouldn't someone go with you? Walman? Cameron?"
He paid no attention to her calls, and simply drove off.
* * * * * *
"U--Uly, w-what does it want?" True stuttered, gazing up at the imposing figure of the alien, who looked straight down at the children but did not seem too concerned by their presence. She gripped his arm tightly, as if somehow that would protect her from this great creature.
"How should I know," Uly whispered.
She practically growled with frustration, "Well, I thought you talked to these things or something?"
"Well I do--"
"Then what does it want?!" The Terrian did not seem at all concerned by the girl's exclamations, continuing to stare down at them. She nearly shuddered at the sight of its almost hideous features, but looked away in time.
Uly shook his head, shrugging. "I'm not sure . . . "
"True! Uly!"
The children whirled to see who had called their names. No one was in sight. True frowned, there was something unsettling about this whole situation.
"True! Uly!" The voice came again, this time accompanied by the whirr of a dunerail. True recognized it now.
"Dad?" she shouted, "Is that you?" The Terrian still stood there, as if oblivious to what was going on.
"Yeah, it's me, True girl," he responded, and now she could see him, behind the wheel of the dunerail, rumbling over the underbrush towards them. A grin of relief sat on his face, which quickly faded when he spotted the Terrian.
He pulled up right beside them, and practically yanked True into the back seat. "What are you crazy?? Stay away from those things!" He looked at the being with a great deal of suspicion. At Danziger's glare, Uly reluctantly clambered in beside True.
"But he's gonna help my mom!" the boy protested. Before Danziger had a chance to start the engine again and drive off, the tall being stepped forward and rested a hand on Danziger's shoulder.
The mechanic almost panicked. He looked up at the "alien" just as it let out an eerie trill that sent shivers down his spine. "What the--" he didn't know whether he should be frightened or angry, so he settled for angry. "What the hell does it want?" he finished.
Uly was the one who answered this. "He wants you to come with him."
"He *what*?" Danziger almost paled with fear. True sat behind him, and she, too, was paralyzed in uncharacteristic fright.
The Terrian let out another mournful call, and Uly translated, "He needs you to come--for my mom."
"What?!" he only frowned more. "Why?
"Uly simply shrugged. "He didn't say, but it's the only way we'll get her back," he said somberly, "you've just gotta go."
"Go on, dad, quit asking questions," True urged softly.
Though he still had serious misgivings about this whole Terrian thing, he relented. Slowly, he rose from his seat, and the Terrian released his grip. He warily stood beside it, wondering what exactly it had in mind.
Then a thought struck him. "Vehicle, reverse course, return to base camp." The dunerail jumped to life, backing up and making a turn, then rolled off towards camp, the two children anxiously watching from the back seat.
Once the rail was out of sight, Danziger turned to face the tall alien. "Well, man, it's just you and me." Then the Terrian's staff began to crackle with energy, and he braced himself . . .
"Uly, Uly wait up!" True didn't know the little boy could run so fast. Having been sick all his life, she would've expected him to be far slower than her, but, as usual, he surprised her. "Uly, you're not supposed to be going so far away from camp! My dad's gonna be angry!"
"No, True," he called back, "you're gonna like this, you're really gonna like this." He continued to race ahead of her, weaving in an out of the scattered trees, several hundred yards ahead of her. "I found it this morning, on my run," he continued to tell her as she gradually began to catch up. She didn't want to believe it was just because he was slowing down for her, but it was really the only explanation.
The two children dashed off into the distance, away from their camp. Uly had come to her around lunch time, begging her to follow him since he had something really neat to show her. True wasn't one to *really* worried about breaking camp rules and at first had been completely game, but after a while she began to doubt whether what he had to show her was all that important.
"Well I had better," she warned him, "'cause if I get in trouble you're gonna get it." The two continued running through a thicket of trees, until they finally reached a small clearing, where Uly stopped.
"Shhh," he said softly, and began creeping towards one of the bushes that lined the clearing. "I know they're here somewhere . . . "
True arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "Who?"
"Shush!" he said, advancing slowly on the bush. "Just be quiet . . . " He gently brushed aside the branches of the bush, and examined the area with great interest. *What in the world is he up to?* she pondered, following him carefully, thinking perhaps he'd finally flipped.
Uly turned back to her, a frown on his face. "Funny, they were a here a while ago."
"What were?" she demanded, rather loudly, figuring his order for silence had expired. They both jumped as there was a loud CRACK and the sound of something skittering between branches of the bushes. "Eeek!" True shrieked, "What *is* that?!"
Uly followed the sound, trying to crash through the bushes on his own, but only managing to scrape himself up. It was just too fast. "Kobas, True," he informed her. A wide smile spread across her face at this. "A whole bunch of 'em. I think babies, too. I guess they ran off, though. You scared them--"
"*I* scared them?" she objected immediately, joining him amidst the clutter of underbrush. "It was *you*. Why didn't you come get me earlier?" She jabbed him in the arm, causing him to wince.
"Cut it out," he growled. "I came as fast as I could. I didn't even have to come at all, you know."
True heaved a sigh, then turned around, heading back for the small clearing and the rudimentary path they had made through the surrounding trees. "C'mon, let's get back to camp, you're wasting my time."
* * * * * *
"It's waiting that's the worst," Julia remarked to Bess where the two women sat in the shade of the tarp, eating a late lunch. Had the situation been different, this would have been a very relaxed day at camp for the Eden crew. However, most people were nervous, waiting for the first word from the Terrians. Alonzo had no idea how long it would take, but he didn't expect very long, judging by the amount of time it had taken them to heal Ulysses. This did not ease their nerves, though.
Bess nodded in agreement, taking a bite from her spirulina bar. How much longer till they would find new sources of food, so they could put this wretched excuse for a meal to rest? Spirulina, day after day after day . . . "That's for sure. We're all a bit antsy, I think." Her eyes wandered across the camp. Everyone was trying to keep busy; Yale chopping wood for the night's campfire, Cameron sorting miscellaneous items into their proper containers, Denner and Magus carrying Yale's logs to the small woodpile near the fire circle. Danziger, though, was nowhere in sight.
"I'm worried about John . . . " Bess said with a sigh, polishing off the rest of her spirulina with one last swallow. This caused Julia too look down from the patch of sky she was examining, but she didn't seem too surprised. "I mean, you can't say you haven't noticed yourself," she covered quickly. She knew she had a growing reputation of being a gossip, and was trying to squelch this as it was, in her mind, undesirable.
Julia just gave her a quick smile, and looked skyward again, her eyes tracking the patterns of clouds as they were blown across the horizon.
"He's just not the same. I mean, he's always been private . . . but he seemed to get really rumpled today when I tried talking to him."
The doctor couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Oh, Bess, you know Danziger, that's just the way he is. The man is an enigma."
"Well, not to me," Bess said, "I've seen his type before. And even so, he *has* been acting a bit odd lately. I mean, the way he objected to Devon's healing by the Terrians--"
"I really don't think it's much of your business, though, Bess. Do you?" Julia said a bit coolly.
Bess's face fell, and she seemed a tad insulted. "I just thought perhaps, Julia, we could discuss my concern for one of our *friends*," she said, behind a false smile. "But I guess I was wrong."
Julia sighed, pocketing the rest of her spirulina bar for later. "Sorry, Bess, but I really don't have time for it right now. I'm going to go talk to Alonzo, see if he's heard anything now," she said, and with that, she parted Bess's company.
Bess watched Julia leave, her jaw set in very uncharacteristic anger.
*Everyone's under a lot of pressure,* she reminded herself, *you just have to give them some slack.*
She just sat there for a few minutes, watching the rest of the EA go about their tasks. All she ever wanted to do was help, but for some reason people seemed to take it the wrong way much of time. Perhaps things would change when they were settled in at New Pacifica . . . And times like these were not the best to judge a group by.
"Bess, Bess!" she was startled at the sound of Yale calling her name as he dashed across camp towards the tarp she sat beneath.
Frowning, she asked him, "What is it Yale?" when he reached her side.
"True and Uly . . . have you seen them?" he asked, breathless from his run across camp.
She shook her head; she hadn't seen either child since she and Uly went for a run that morning. "Have you asked Danziger?"
The tutor nodded. "He hasn't seen them since this morning. Any idea why they might have run off?"
This caused her to think for a moment. The children often got into mischief when the adults turned their heads, but she wouldn't expect them to be acting up in *this* situation. Uly wouldn't go exploring too far when at any moment they could receive word from the Terrians. But then there was . . . "You say Uly *and* True were missing?" At his nod, she said, "Well, then I just might know where they are."
* * * * * *
"I cannot *believe* you got us lost!" True growled in disgust when Uly finally admitted that he was completely baffled, sitting down heavily on a log. "This is great, just great!"
Uly plopped down in the dirt before her, surveying the trees surrounding them. "Sorry, just, it's a lot easier to find your way back when you're with an adult . . . "
The two children matched each others' glares, True attempting to bore a hole through his head with her gaze alone. The two shared an angry silence for several minutes, before True posed the question, "So *now* what are we gonna do?"
"You should've brought gear," Uly pointed out, reluctant to blame himself.
"*I* should have brought gear? No way are you gonna pin this one on me. It's your fault for dragging me out here!" she accused him, clutching her knees tightly with her hands in a manifestation of her anger, holding back her urge to just swat the little brat.
Uly just looked do the ground glumly, resting his chin on his hands.
"Well, don't just sit there," True said, getting up off her log and looking about her. "We'll have to find our way back. We can't be too far, we've only been gone about . . . " her expression sagged. "Two hours. Oh great. My dad will have *definitely* noticed that we're gone by now . . . "
"Would you shut up about your dad," Uly sneered, "I'm getting sick of hearing about it. You were never worried about running off *before*," he said, referring to her numerous escapes early on the journey.
True dropped back onto the log, burying her face in her hands. "It's different *now*," she muttered through her palms. "But it doesn't matter, you wouldn't understand anyhow."
Uly just glared resentfully at her. *How does SHE know I wouldn't understand,* he thought, *I'm not a baby, after all . . .* He decided to voice this. "Oh I would too," he objected. True paid him no heed. Sighing, he suggested, "Well . . . what are we gonna do?"
"Stay here, I guess . . . till they find us. Y'know what my dad always says; if you get lost, stay put," she said rather glumly. Uly just nodded, and the two of them shared an uncomfortable silence.
"Well . . . " he said finally, "We can't just *sit* here. We need something to keep us occupied . . . " He leapt to his feet, and began to pace around the area where they had set down. True seemed completely disinterested in what he was saying, her mind on other things, staring into space. She reminded him of what he must have been like in the previous days--despondent, dispirited, silent. He couldn't help but wonder what was going through her mind.
He continued to pace, trying to come up with some activity to distract them before the rest of the group noted their absence and sent out a search party. True acted as if she was the only one amidst those trees until she finally raised her chin from her hands and asked him pointedly, "Uly, do you think your mom'll be cured?"
Uly stopped cold. This was the one question that had been plaguing him for weeks and weeks. He had thought he'd finally resolved it when he learned the Terrians would be helping her, but there was still that lingering doubt . . . Trying to disguise his surprise at her question, he replied, "Well, yeah, of course, I mean, the Terrians can do *anything*."
"Well . . . " True continued, seeming a bit nervous, "Do ya . . . do ya think she'll be the same?"
Uly squinted at her, thought perhaps she was running a fever, the way she was talking. "Well, I guess, I mean, I am, right?"
She looked at him skeptically.
"Why do you ask, anyway?" he queried, finding it unlikely her purposes was solely conversation. She seemed reluctant to respond.
"Oh, no reason," she said in an attempt at nonchalance. "I just, it's just that . . . Well . . . " she seemed to be deciding whether or not to tell him something. "My dad, I've been worried about him, and--" The two children froze. "Uly . . . what was that . . . " It came again, a slight rumble beneath the ground, barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. "Uly . . .!" she reached out and clutched his arm, and the two watched in surprise as a tall, grotesque-looking Terrians burst forth from the ground in front of them. "Eeek!" True yelped. Uly, however, remained calm.
The boy looked up at the Terrian, who stood impassive before the two startled children.
* * * * * *
"What do you mean they're *gone*?" John Danziger couldn't believe what he was hearing. He sat down heavily on a crate, dragging his fingers through his scraggly blond hair. This was the last thing he needed. "Why on earth would they run off at a time like this?"
"Listen Danziger," Bess reassured him, "just calm down--"
He gaped at her incredulously. "Calm down? Calm down?! How am I supposed to calm down when everything's goin' to pieces!" He didn't wait for her to answer, he just turned his back on her and strode over to the dunerail. "That's it, I'm goin' to go look for them," he said, sliding into the driver's seat and gunning the engine. "You tell the others where I went."
"Wait! Wait!" she called, chasing after him and the vehicle as he drove out of camp, "John, shouldn't someone go with you? Walman? Cameron?"
He paid no attention to her calls, and simply drove off.
* * * * * *
"U--Uly, w-what does it want?" True stuttered, gazing up at the imposing figure of the alien, who looked straight down at the children but did not seem too concerned by their presence. She gripped his arm tightly, as if somehow that would protect her from this great creature.
"How should I know," Uly whispered.
She practically growled with frustration, "Well, I thought you talked to these things or something?"
"Well I do--"
"Then what does it want?!" The Terrian did not seem at all concerned by the girl's exclamations, continuing to stare down at them. She nearly shuddered at the sight of its almost hideous features, but looked away in time.
Uly shook his head, shrugging. "I'm not sure . . . "
"True! Uly!"
The children whirled to see who had called their names. No one was in sight. True frowned, there was something unsettling about this whole situation.
"True! Uly!" The voice came again, this time accompanied by the whirr of a dunerail. True recognized it now.
"Dad?" she shouted, "Is that you?" The Terrian still stood there, as if oblivious to what was going on.
"Yeah, it's me, True girl," he responded, and now she could see him, behind the wheel of the dunerail, rumbling over the underbrush towards them. A grin of relief sat on his face, which quickly faded when he spotted the Terrian.
He pulled up right beside them, and practically yanked True into the back seat. "What are you crazy?? Stay away from those things!" He looked at the being with a great deal of suspicion. At Danziger's glare, Uly reluctantly clambered in beside True.
"But he's gonna help my mom!" the boy protested. Before Danziger had a chance to start the engine again and drive off, the tall being stepped forward and rested a hand on Danziger's shoulder.
The mechanic almost panicked. He looked up at the "alien" just as it let out an eerie trill that sent shivers down his spine. "What the--" he didn't know whether he should be frightened or angry, so he settled for angry. "What the hell does it want?" he finished.
Uly was the one who answered this. "He wants you to come with him."
"He *what*?" Danziger almost paled with fear. True sat behind him, and she, too, was paralyzed in uncharacteristic fright.
The Terrian let out another mournful call, and Uly translated, "He needs you to come--for my mom."
"What?!" he only frowned more. "Why?
"Uly simply shrugged. "He didn't say, but it's the only way we'll get her back," he said somberly, "you've just gotta go."
"Go on, dad, quit asking questions," True urged softly.
Though he still had serious misgivings about this whole Terrian thing, he relented. Slowly, he rose from his seat, and the Terrian released his grip. He warily stood beside it, wondering what exactly it had in mind.
Then a thought struck him. "Vehicle, reverse course, return to base camp." The dunerail jumped to life, backing up and making a turn, then rolled off towards camp, the two children anxiously watching from the back seat.
Once the rail was out of sight, Danziger turned to face the tall alien. "Well, man, it's just you and me." Then the Terrian's staff began to crackle with energy, and he braced himself . . .