From the Ashes Chapter 8
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Shortly after dawn the following day the small caravan of settlers moved away from their campsite, filled with a new hope. Danziger, whose turn it was to walk, was the last to leave. He shared the hope of the rest of the group but he couldn't dismiss the sadness he felt at moving even further from Devon. He knew he was following her wishes, but he didn't like it. He couldn't bring himself to believe that leaving her behind was the best thing to do. Now, looking around the empty campsite, he reminded himself that it was the only thing he could have done. The reminder didn't make him feel any better. It never did. Sighing, he moved slowly after the rest of the group, forcing himself to make plans for the rest of the day.
Walman – and Martin – had given him a detailed report on the crossing point and Danziger began to devise the best way to get everything and everybody over safely. Although, by the sound of it, it shouldn't be difficult to traverse the river at the chosen place. Walman had described it as being almost a causeway. It sounded ideal but it was in Danziger's nature to plan for the worst. Pessimistic, Devon called it. Danziger preferred to think of it as cautious. Either way it had saved him more times than he cared to remember.
He speeded up, not wanting to be the one who kept everybody back. He had just caught up with the last people of the group – Morgan and Bess – when Alonzo swung down from the transrover and sprinted towards him. Danziger watched in shock. The last he had seen of Alonzo that morning had been Baines and Walman lifting the still unconscious pilot onto the 'rover, supervising by a concerned, hovering Julia. Even now Julia followed close behind him, an angry frown on her face and her dia-glove still on her arm, mute testimony to Alonzo's abrupt awakening and departure. Alonzo reached Danziger and, slightly out of breath, held up a hand to stop him.
"We need to stop." Danziger raised a quizzical eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because I know what's wrong with Devon. And I know how to fix it." Julia reached them just as Alonzo made this statement.
"What?" Alonzo glanced at her and then turned his attention back to Danziger.
"The Terrians showed me. They dreamed with me. It took a while for me to understand. To accept, I guess you could say."
"Accept what?" Yale's arrival had gone unnoticed by the small group and his voice started Danziger and Julia. Alonzo merely answered the question.
"It's a long story. Sorta. We should stop and I'll tell everybody. That'll save time." Danziger shook his head.
"Uh-uh. Uly doesn't hear this until after we do."
"It's Okay Mr. Dan…John. The Terrians told me everything would be fine." Uly had crept up, with True, and now he slipped his hand into Danziger's and squeezed it reassuringly. Danziger almost laughed out loud – the boy was trying to make him feel better.
"Okay." Danziger flipped his gear down and hailed Magus, who was driving the transrover at the front of the cavalcade.
"Magus, Danziger here. Call a halt. Alonzo has some news for everybody."
"Understood." Uly and True flung off their packs and sat on the ground. Julia bullied Alonzo into letting her examine him. The pilot stood still, patient except for the eye roll he directed at the kids who immediately started giggling. Yale and Danziger remained standing, each caught up in their own thoughts. As usual, dealing with the Terrians and their Dreamplane made Danziger nervous. He was a practical man who disliked things he didn't understand, couldn't take apart and analyse. And the diggers topped his list. He found it difficult to trust them because he could never unravel their motivations. He was glad they'd healed Uly but he was still worried about what the connection they'd apparently forged would do to the boy in the long term.
Danziger's worried thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the rest of the group. Alonzo glance around to make sure everyone was there and then he began to speak.
"Devon isn't sick. Julia was right, there's nothing wrong with her." Julia shook her head.
"But she's dying." Alonzo nodded at her and smiled.
"She is and she isn't." Danziger rolled his eyes angrily. This was starting to sound like nothing more than typical digger gobbledegook. He opened his mouth to say so but Alonzo raised a hand to stop him.
"Give me a minute, Danziger. This is hard enough to explain. Um. Okay. So the way I understand it is we were right – G889 is alive. But more than that, the planet is semi-sentient. Capable of making basic decisions about its own well-being. And the species that live here are all connected to the planet in one way or another. I didn't understand that part exactly but I know that the Terrians are the most extreme example. They can actually talk to the planet. Sort of. I didn't really understand that part either. But the Terrians showed me that the planet had decided to try and forge a link with us. I think because whatever link the Terrians have with Uly is working. The Terrians are learning to understand us through him and the planet is learning through them. And that's why the Terrians chose Devon." Alonzo paused and Yale jumped in,
"What do you mean 'the Terrians'? I thought you said the planet was forging a link." Danziger nodded and added,
"And I still don't understand, why Devon?"
"The Terrians act as a conduit for the planet. I think they've evolved to the point where they're part of the planet in some way. A lot of this wasn't very clear. Anyway, on behalf of the planet, they chose one of us for it to try and link with, as a sort of trial run. They chose Devon because, as the Terrians see it, she's part of Uly. They don't have relationships like ours and they have difficulty understanding. But they kept saying that Devon and Uly are made of the same thing. I'm guessing they meant DNA." He glanced at Julia.
"It's possible…as parent and child Devon and Uly do share several genetic traits. They are partly the same at a genetic level." Alonzo nodded.
"That's what I figured. But why they chose Devon isn't important. What is, is the fact that the planet decided we were worthy of this trial - they call it a gift - but then we rejected it. That was their interpretation of us freezing Devon. When we put her in the cryo-chamber the process was halted and they took this to mean that we didn't want the gift. And so they – both the Terrians and the planet - rejected us. That's why Uly and I haven't been able to contact the Terrians."
"So what happened? Why did they contact you now?" Bess sounded nervous, as though not sure she wanted to know the answer to her question. The idea of the planet rejecting them scared her, reminded her of Elizabeth's words, her predictions of doom. Alonzo smiled at Uly.
"Uly started having nightmares." Uly grimaced but spoke calmly and clearly.
"I kept seeing my mum dying. We had to bury her in the ground and leave her, just like Commander O'Neill. Alonzo nodded.
"The Terrians saw his dreams – I guess they were keeping an eye on us – and after a few times they realised what this meant. That we didn't understand the gift and thought Devon was dying. 'Returning' they kept calling it. So they pulled me into the Dreamplane to explain. What they've done won't kill Devon. It'll just connect her to the planet."
"But why make her sick? They didn't make Uly sick." Julia's voice was wary.
"We don't know that – Uly was gone for hours and doesn't remember a thing. Also, he was already sick, maybe that made a difference. And, from what Alonzo says, what's being done to Devon is different from what was done to Uly." Yale's voice sounded calm as he thought out loud but it infuriated Danziger.
"So, what, Alonzo? Are you saying that we should take Devon out and let this thing run its course? Let her die? Because that's what all Julia's instruments tell us is going to happen." Alonzo placed a hand on Danziger's arm, only to have it shrugged off.
"She won't die. Not really. That part was very clear. The Terrians don't want to hurt Devon."
"Well that's comforting! What if they're lying? Or just wrong and it doesn't work? Even aliens can make mistakes you know." Morgan's harsh voice jolted Danziger from his own fear. Reluctantly he spoke.
"The diggers have never lied to us before. And whatever they did on Uly worked. What do you think, Julia?" The doctor raised her hands in an exaggerated shrug.
"I don't know, John. I can't give you any medical advice on this one. Whatever it is the Terrians do is far over my head. But I'm inclined to believe them. Like you said, they've never lied to us before – if they don't want us to know something they usually just refuse to answer." Danziger ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He shouldn't have to make decisions like this. But, looking at the people around him, he could see that they expected him to. He looked down at Uly who gazed back, his child's eyes calm and confident. The boy squeezed his hand again. Eventually Danziger spoke.
"We'll vote. But first, does anyone have any more questions for Alonzo?" There was silence for a while and then True spoke up.
"So if this works does that mean that Devon will get totally better and we can all go to New Pacifica together?" A lot of what Alonzo had said had gone over her head and she wanted to be certain she'd got the general idea. Alonzo nodded at her.
"Then I vote yes, we try." Her voice was excited and hopeful.
"Me too." Uly piped up, grinning.
"I believe that in this we can trust the Terrians. I vote yes." Yale spoke with certainty and, as always, his opinion carried a lot of weight. It was at times like these that Danziger wondered why Devon hadn't chosen the android, her oldest friend, to lead. Julia glanced between Yale and Alonzo and then nodded her vote. Alonzo took her hand before adding his yes. Bess gave her support quietly but explained her reason.
"I miss Devon." Morgan shook his head forcibly.
"No. I vote no. We have no idea what those aliens are up to. It could be some sort of trap." Walman snorted.
"Why would they need to trap us? We're already stuck on their planet and any time they wanted they could just pop out of the earth and kill us all before we knew what was happening, if that's what they wanted. I vote yes." Slowly, the rest of the group added their votes. Yeses all, except Morgan, although many seemed reluctant and none had the enthusiasm of the two children. Finally, Danziger nodded.
"The ayes have it. Tomorrow we'll send a group back to Bennett's ship."
"You're splitting us up?" Morgan was incredulous.
"A small group travelling in the ATV or 'rail can make the trip in less than a third of the time it would take the 'rover. And retracing our steps would use up resources we can't afford. We can't afford to make the 'rover travel one kilometre more than is absolutely necessary." Yale nodded in agreement.
"John is right. It makes sense for the majority of us to stay here. We can use the time to hunt, replenish our supplies. And to carry out all those little repairs we never have time for when we're constantly moving." Morgan looked like he was going to continue arguing but Bess stretched up and whispered something in his ear.
"Fine. Okay." Morgan held his hands up in surrender.
"So I guess we're setting up camp again, less than an hour after we took it down?" Magus tried to sound grumpy but she couldn't hide the smile in her voice.
"Yeah. May as well use last night's site. It's not like we got far." At Danziger's words everyone began to head back to the recently abandoned campsite, the assigned drivers returning to their vehicles to carefully reverse them into position.