Stepping Stones
By Joan Powers
Chapter 2 The Memorial Part 2
Bess stuck her head into the Med Tent where Julia was looking at a video monitor which displayed some numbers. "Hello"
"You startled me," Julia claimed. "What do you want?" she asked curtly.
"I have a few things I need to discuss with you." Rather uncomfortably she glanced at the small fibrous device which the Doctor held in her hand, "What is that?"
"It's the biostat-implant we recovered from Eben."
"Isn't that what killed her?" Bess asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes it is Bess."
"Julia, is there any chance that they can make us sick again?" Bess seemed genuinely fearful. Maybe this was the fate her dream was prophesying.
"Unfortunately if Eve wants to jack up the frequency again, we could very well be at her mercy. But, I don't think we need to be overly concerned about that. Eve was losing control because of the virus and she needed us to repair her. Now that she is back to being fully operational, she is aware of the importance of Uly being the Terrian link. Since the Council believes that the only way for them to control the planet will be through him, I don't think she would attempt to eliminate us in that manner because she would risk killing Uly as well. He's much too valuable to her."
"However, I am concerned about the implants themselves. I've been analyzing their composition by studying this one and I've identified some areas where mechanical malfunctions or disruptions in their connections to our neurons could lead to illness for their host. I've been trying to simulate models on the computer to explore this idea to determine if that might account for Devon's illness." The doctor was speaking rapidly - caught up in her newest idea.
Bess didn't fully understand what she was talking about and still looked concerned, "Don't you think you need a break? You've been working awfully hard."
"I have to move on a new idea once I get it. I don't want to forget any details. Don't you see, this could be it." she emphasized. Though she was exhausted, hope that she was on her way to identifying the cure was sufficient to sustain her.
Bess realized she wasn't getting through to the doctor, so she mentioned her last order of business, "Julia, we're having a camp meeting tonight, sort of a memorial service for Devon. It's very important that you attend."
"Memorial service? You mean a funeral?" she asked with stark terror in her voice.
"No. We want to honor Devon and try to get everybody talking again. If we all share our doubts and fears, perhaps we can cope better."
Julia wasn't especially interested, particularly since this seemed like one of the best leads she had. Results from her initial simulation had supported her hypothesis.
"Please come" Bess simply stated. "It means a lot to the group."
To the group, Julia thought. They hadn't seemed like a cohesive unit for some time. Shock from recent events such as their sickness, Eben's death, Elizabeth's warnings of doom and Devon's collapse had caused people to become withdrawn and gather in protective groups of two's and three's where they had begun to dwell upon their insecurities. Yet this group had provided her with a genuine sense of family which she had never known before. They had taken her back even after she had betrayed them. She couldn't let them down.
Julia absently agreed, "Okay, come and get me when it's time."
XXXXXXX
Dr. Heller was growing more excited. Another test simulating the effect of a specific biostat-implant malfunction on the human body had correlated with some of Devon's symptoms. She became absorbed in her work, and didn't hear Danziger enter the tent.
"Anything new?" he asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.
"I have a great lead." she exclaimed then proceeded to explain. "Here's my new theory. The biostat-implant in Devon is undergoing some type of mechanical malfunction or faulty connection with some neurons which in turn is affecting her body. I've done some simulations to project how these specific malfunctions might affect the human body. Look at this." She directed his attention to some information on a video monitor.
Danziger put his hand on her forearm and gently interrupted, "Julia, I'm sorry. I don't mean to poke a hole in your theory. I know you've spent a lot of time and effort on this problem. But it can't be that. Devon doesn't have a biostat-implant."
Julia stared at him in disbelief. "What are you talking about? How would you know this?" she accused.
"She told me. She said she didn't realize that she didn't have one until we accessed Eve to fix the virus. While you and I and Yale were lying on the ground in pain, Devon wasn't affected."
"How could you know this? You would have been in too much pain to notice that she wasn't." Julia was confused.
"She told me, later."
Feeling betrayed, Julia cried, "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Because she didn't think it was important until it was too late."
She was becoming more agitated, "When did she tell you this?"
"Does it matter?" She'd never believe him and he didn't feel comfortable sharing his rather unusual VR experience with her.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?"
"I don't know Julia. With everything that's been going on, I just forgot," he apologized.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Julia stressed. Since she had been informed by most of Eden group - colonists and crew, that they had been doubled over in agony while Eve was being repaired, she had assumed that everyone had the biostat-implants, including Devon. And with her currently available information, she had no manner in which to confirm his statement.
"Yeah. I'm sorry Julia. I want her back just as badly as you do. But I'm positive."
XXXXXXX
Danziger climbed up a small hill and sat on the ground to watch the sunset. At least, that was his excuse for leaving camp. The truth was that he had seen the others starting to gather for their meeting or service or whatever Bess and Yale were calling it now and he wanted nothing to do with it. Even if the subject matter wasn't so close to home, all this talk about feelings was not going to accomplish much of anything except making people feel uncomfortable.
And, once again True and Uly had slipped off and not returned to camp. Sometimes they were impossible to keep track of. He planned to go searching for them soon before it got any darker. Yet, he paused actually enjoying the quiet of the setting. He breathed deeply to attempt to mirror the peacefulness of the surroundings.
His conversation with Julia came to mind. While he didn't understand how he had been able to contact Devon using that VR set, he knew without a doubt that her words were true. If Devon said she didn't have a biostat-implant, he believed her. It had been good to see her. Once he had been able to acknowledge that he cared about Devon and he missed her, he found he was able to cope better with day-to-day living.
He longed to see her again, but he refused to enlist Morgan Martin's assistance. While he feared he would not have the opportunity to see her until they found a cure for her, he remembered her final words to him before she faded away, "I know I can count on you. You mean a great deal to me John." The look in her eyes had been imprinted on his memory.
"All right Danziger, why haven't you been answering your gear?" Yale asked irritably.
Feeling like a guilty ten year old, John looked down rather sheepishly as the Teacher noticed that he had not even brought his gear with him.
"I thought you were going to work on that. What if something had happened to the children? We need to be able to find you" he stressed.
Danziger avoided the man's gaze, "Are the kids back?"
"Yes, they returned. They were filthy, claiming they had some sort of an adventure. I immediately sent them down to the lake to clean up, so they'll have to enlighten us later - it's time for our meeting" Yale proclaimed and lent John a hand as if to help him up. John ignored him.
"John, I know you don't want to do this, but you really don't have a choice. You have to think of the welfare of the entire group, not just your own feelings. As the group's leader, you set an example for all to follow"
Feeling stubborn, John replied, "I didn't choose to be group leader."
"But you are" Yale insisted.
"I'm just a substitute."
"Why do you say that?"
John answered rather dejectedly, "I don't know. Things just seemed to go a lot smoother when Devon was in charge."
"Don't you think Devon asked you to lead the group because she believed in you? Come, stop making excuses. It's time to go...You know she would have done the same for you, if your situations were reversed."
Yale had a way of getting under his skin. He reluctantly rose to accompany the Teacher back to camp.
XXXXXXX
As the sun sank in the distance, the entire Eden crew pulled up crates and assembled about a single campfire. Returning from the lake, True and Uly rushed to Danziger, who was finding seats for the three of them. "Dad, we have to tell you something. We .."
Danziger interrupted his daughter firmly saying, "True, not now. You can tell me later." He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.
"But Dad, it's really important" True insisted. Her father gave her a stormy look which she recognized as a cue to be quiet or else. She would have to share their news later.
The group become quiet as Yale stood before them, ready to officiate, "Since one of the purposes of our gathering tonight is to recognize Devon, I'm going to start with a prayer which you may choose to join me in if you wish." He bowed his head and closed his eyes,
"Lord, we the Eden Project have gathered together as a group to honor one of our members, Devon Adair. We trust that you are watching over her safety and you will provide us with a way to cure her. Help this time heal our wounds and sorrows. Help us to reach out and trust one another. Amen."
Yale's words quickly established a somber atmosphere. Bess found she had tears in her eyes. She thought she had been able to put aside her concerns about Devon but they had quickly risen to the surface.
Yale continued, "Our purpose here is to remember Devon and to discuss any of our other concerns. Attendance is mandatory, but participation is not."
John and a few others breathed sighs of relief.
Yale continued, "I have known Devon Adair since she was six years old. I watched her grow up. I taught her almost everything she knows. In a sense, she is my child. I have watched her accomplish many things - designing space stations, organizing her own multi-orbit firm, even proposing a mission to colonize Planet G889. Yet, I know that her family was closest to her heart. This project represented her son's life and became her's. She spent over six years preparing to reach this planet, with struggles every step of the way. Devon's vision was not only to save her own son, but to provide a future for humanity." Yale found himself becoming a bit emotional,
"We can't do anything to cure Devon now. Rather than dwell on that fact, we can help her to accomplish her dream. We must reach New Pacifica to set up the colony for those families."
An awkward silence greeted Yale's statements. Many of the Eden crew stared off into the distance or the campfire, reflecting on the events of the last few months. From the tension in the air, it was apparent that many had issues that they wanted to discuss, but no one was willing to make the first move. Finally, True broke the stalemate, saying in a quite voice,
"I miss Eben and Devon. I wish they were with us now" She leaned against her father, who put his arm around her.
"I miss them too" Magnus added.
Bess took a breath and began to share with the others, "Eben was a special friend. We were close. I wasn't as close to Devon, though I do remember once that we were sharing stories of our childhoods. I had always dreamed about how romantic it would be to live on the Stations, while she had believed that Earth was such a mysterious place to be." She laughed without humor.
"Maybe I was naive, but somehow it seemed like when we were all gathered around Devon after we first crashed on the planet and she told us that everything would be okay when we reached New Pacifica, that I believed her. With all that has happened, I don't know what to believe anymore." She covered her face with her hands while her husband placed his hand on her knee.
Morgan asked, "Julia, do we have any ideas about what's wrong with Devon?"
A wounded expression appeared on Julia's face and she shook her head. She was sitting along side Alonzo who had a protective arm about her.
"She's doing all she can, what do you expect?" Alonzo snapped back.
Attempting to soothe the pilot, Morgan emphasized with sincerity, "I know she is. I didn't mean to imply anything."
"What about what Elizabeth said? That this planet will reject us - maybe Devon is the first of our group to be affected by the planet and the rest of us will follow" Magnus trembled.
"I don't know. I just don't know" Julia said in a defeated tone.
"Let's not panic over something we have no control over" Yale advised.
"I'm concerned that even if we do find a way to cure Devon, that the spaceship will be looted by Grendlers by the time we return. We've seen what they can do to cargo bays" Walman commented.
John flinched, for he had touched upon one of his worst fears.
Alonzo tried to reassure the group, "The Terrians in the nearby area promised me that they would look out for her."
"What guarantee do we have that we are even going to be able to make it back to retrieve Devon?" Baines voiced. "What if the Council sent other operatives to greet us at New Pacifica? We could be walking into a trap."
"Gentleman, let me remind you that even on the Stations, life never offered us any guarantees" Yale advised. "We have been through some rough times but we shouldn't just give up."
The somber tone of the surrounding adults while discussing his Mom frightened Uly. He made direct eye contact with Danziger and asked, "Do you really believe that we are going to get my Mom back?" All eyes were upon the two of them.
John realized the importance of his response to the child and to the group. As acting group leader, he was forced to swallow his own doubts and encourage the frightened boy. It didn't matter if they were false hopes. The boy and the group needed hope.
"Yes I do Uly. I believe that somehow we are going to get your Mom back. Like Yale said, the only thing we can do for her now is to fulfill her...our mission and set up the colony at New Pacifica " he emphasized. Some could see what his words had cost him.
After a few minutes of silence, Yale sensed there was still unfinished business and encouraged, "Let's continue. I think we're making some progress. What other grievances do we need to discuss?"
"Well, I know I would feel a heck of a lot better if I could just sleep at night. I keep having these terrible dreams" Baines complained.
"You've been having nightmares too?" Bess perked up.
"Horrible ones - people screaming and crying. They scare the heck out of me." Several of the others indicated that they had been having nightmares as well, though it was apparent that all were not experiencing the same one.
Alonzo tried to shed some light on this, "I tried to interact with the Dream Plane this morning. Something is wrong here. The Dream Plane here seems -- distorted. I can't explain it. It wasn't like when we removed the sun stones and damaged the Dream Plane. It's still there but it's wrong."
"The Dream Plane distortion could be amplifying our fears to bring about our nightmares," Morgan suggested.
That sounded reasonable to John, who had been re-experiencing his recurrent nightmare of rushing to Devon's cold sleep crypt, only to have her fall into his arms - dead.
"I'm not sure that it's that simple" Julia pondered. "When we just compared notes, over eight people had the same dream of people dying or being tortured."
"You don't think it's a vision of our future, do you?" a horrified Bess asked.
"No, we haven't had experiences with the Dream Plane 'predicting' the future, at least not yet. But we have had experiences with it sending human messages. Look at Dell's distress beacon which it picked up and translated to us. And the penal colonists were able to transmit messages to loved ones via the Terrians using the Dream Plane. Some people could be in trouble and need our help" Julia said.
"Yes, the Dream Plane could be amplifying their distress and transmitting it to our dreams. We should search the area in the morning to see if we can find any signs of others" Alonzo added.
"I don't know. Maybe we should just move on. Why borrow somebody else's trouble? Stick with our own plans." Baines cautiously suggested.
"If another human being is in trouble, we have to find out and help them" Julia replied. They both looked towards Danziger to make a decision. Before he could respond, True intervened,
"Do you think the Dream Plane could relay a signal from the past? Kind of pick up on ghosts?" Some of the crew laughed uncomfortably. From the determined expression on his daughter's face, John was aware that she was serious. She had never been given to flights of fancy.
"What's your idea, sport?"
True looked to Alonzo. "Do you think it's possible?"
Alonzo thought a minute. "Yeah, I remember Mary and Devon both claimed they saw Mary's mother in the BioDome when we first discovered it. It's a possibility."
"So where are these ghosts?" Morgan asked with some trepidation.
True and Uly exchanged glances. "Go ahead, you can tell them" Uly said.
"Today, Uly and I went exploring." Her father glared at her. "We climbed over the hill just southeast of the lake and we found what looked like some type of settlement. We hid in the bushes and watched the area for several hours to see out who lived there, but no one showed up. So we figured it was safe to check it out. The first unit we entered had furniture in it, kinda like what we used on the Stations. We found a lot of things like clothing, dishes, even stuff that resembled our gear sets and scanners."
"You want to tell me why you didn't come back to camp or contact one of us as soon as possible" John asked sternly. True implored her father with her eyes to let her finish,
"I tried to you as soon as we got back to camp, but you wouldn't listen." She continued, "The next unit we went into had human skeletons in it. We got so scared we ran back to here immediately."
"I think we better investigate this in the morning" Danziger said grimly exchanging glances with Alonso, while others indicated their agreement as well.
TBC in Chapters 3&4 The Investigation