Plain of Sorrows

Author: Milady Dragon

Disclaimer: I can't claim a thing but what I created, which isn't Earth 2

Rating: PG-13

Author's notes: Another chapter! Yippee! Thanks to everyone who's reading!


Chapter Eighteen

With his new eyes, John Danziger could see so much…

Each blade of alien grass was clear to him, even at the breakneck pace the cats were setting for him. The cats themselves were like poetry in motion, their muscles rippling under softly furred skin. He could actually make out the weave of the various pieces of clothing they wore.

His own cat-girl ran beside him, her pale dress whipping about her bare legs. She looked at him, smiling, revealing her predator's teeth. Her eyes, although still unbelievably sad, were shining.

Every once in a while the cats would drop into the grass, and Danziger would do the same, trusting their instincts. A couple of times he heard what was unmistakably the Dune Rail as it passed very close to him.

He couldn't let them find him, not now. Not when he was so close to finding out what was going on. Danziger hadn't wanted to leave his daughter, but he was so sure that this was important, that what he discovered would somehow affect the entire group, that the hesitation he'd felt in that moment when the cat-girl had held out her hand to him had been easy to overcome.

Danziger felt bad about abandoning the group to do this, but there really hadn't been much choice. If that other cat had touched Devon…well, he didn't want to think about that. He hadn't wanted her to have to go through what he'd had to, plus she'd always been his first choice to look after True if something had happened to him.

Well, this certainly counted as something…

They ran toward the north. It surprised John that he didn't feel tired; looking back at his condition before the girl had touched him, he never would have guessed he would have had the stamina to run ten meters, let alone the distance he was making now. Another sign of change…

Also, there were times when Danziger could have sworn he could make out what the cats were saying. Yes, the words were like whispers across his mind, but he definitely heard them conversing in some fashion. He concentrated, knowing that if he could understand them, then that would be a huge part of the battle won.

be home soon…

not long now…

why this one…

know the truth…

It made Danziger's ever-present headache worse, and soon he had to keep his attention on where they were going. The ground seemed to be rising toward a mound that rose out of the grasslands like a miniature mountain. It seemed perfectly smooth to John's eyes, with a rounded top that rose like a dome over the rest of the mound.

The cats ran right up to the mound. Even as John watched they vanished into the side of the hill, until only the cat-girl remained.

My name is N'Merra, came the thought, faint yet clear.

"Why can I hear you now?"

Because you are closer to us than ever before, she answered. I had hoped that this would not be necessary, and am sorry that it had to be this way, but we needed to be able to converse.

"You do fade out, sometimes."

I am sorry. Our minds appear not to be very compatible, perhaps because we are of different races.

"No need to keep apologizing."

Yes, there is. I have taken you from your family. I wish this had not been needed.

Danziger thought about True, and how she was possibly reacting to what had happened to him. The feelings of sadness he was always getting from the cat-girl – N'Merra – were much stronger. "That other cat-man…"

D'Lorrak.

"Yeah…D'Lorrak. He was going to do this to Adair, wasn't he?"

You mean the female? N'Merra ducked her head in what appeared to be shame. Yes, I am afraid so. He chose to ignore my order to leave the rest of your people in peace, instead taking it upon himself to make that precipitous move. Her voice faded out, so John missed her next words. –am sorry, she finished.

"You lead these people then?"

My father did…

"He's dead, isn't he? That's what you were trying to tell me?"

It is worse than that, John Danziger. Let me show you.

N'Merra led him around the side of the mound. It wasn't as perfect as John had thought; protrusions and lumps marred its surface, and in several places grass hadn't grown at all, leaving bare dirt. "What is this place?"

Home

That didn't answer his question, but Danziger was willing to let it go for the time being. He continued to follow her, the wind not disturbing her clothing and hair no longer bothering him in the slightest. Just proved that a person could get used to anything…

Here. She stopped beside another bare patch, pointing toward an area somewhere in the middle of the rough rectangle.

Danziger moved closer. At first glance it resembled just another section of hill, but on closer examination he realized there were strange bumps spaced in a pattern across a raised box-like shape. A shiver went down his spine, as his mechanic's intuition came to the fore.

Reaching out, he prodded one of the bumps. The dirt smeared, revealing a reddish-hued spot.

It was a button.

Danziger pressed it, but nothing happened. He wiped his hand across the entire space, and five more buttons appeared, each one a different color.

He was looking at what had to be some sort of entry hatch.

John glanced at his would-be guide. "What sequence opens it?"

Blue, green, red twice.

He did as she said. There was a click, but the door didn't open. "Damn."

The power supply must have dwindled too low to operate the systems. I am sorry, but we no longer need…such things.

"Why am I not surprised?" Danziger went to work, scraping the soil away from the hatch. He could trace the outline of the door; the click had been the sound of the hatch opening just enough for him to get his fingers into the crack.

It took a couple of heaves to get the hatch fully open. A puff of stale-smelling air hit Danziger in the face like a slap. "Ugh."

He stepped into the darkness. Before his change, John would have been completely blind, but with his new vision he could actually make out his surroundings. He found himself in what looked like for all the world like an airlock.

This was a buried spaceship.

Danziger made for the control panel. As he pried it open and began poking around within, he asked, "Just how long have you been here?"

I…do not know. Time no longer has any meaning for us.

"That long, huh?" He licked two fingers, then stuck them into the open panel. He usually would never have dreamed of doing something like that, but he had to know if there was any power at all in the old circuits.

His damp fingers tingled. He cursed inwardly and hoped it would be enough to open the inner hatch…or at least make the lock disengage like it had outside.

He replaced the front panel. "What's the combination here?"

Red, green twice, gold.

Danziger used the combination, and the door lurched open a couple of centimeters. "This isn't getting any easier," he groused, putting his strength into pulling open this door as well.

Eventually he was able to step into the corridor beyond. He had a choice – right or left – and let N'Merra direct him.

To the left, was her reply.

His footsteps rang on the metal deck plates as John made his way forward, trusting her to show him the right way. It floor sloped downward slightly, going deeper into the ground. Closed doors lined the corridor, and while John's natural curiosity would have been to open a few and see what was inside, he knew that without power he would just be wasting his time.

He was amazed at just how well he could see in the dark. It was like being outside at dusk: just enough to see but not quite good enough to make out small details. N'Merra's graceful form led him farther in, and Danziger trusted her not to lead him astray.

The silence was almost deafening. Only his footfalls sounded in the gloom. John knew he was the only living being to have stepped into this ship in centuries. "Where do you come from?" he inquired, his voice hushed.

I do not remember our home, was the quiet response. I was a baby when we left to find a new world. My father did show me pictures once, when I asked; it was a beautiful place, full of trees and water and animals.

"Why did you leave?"

There was…a change among my people. No one knew what caused it, only that those who were touched by it were never the same. She fell silent.

John didn't know if he'd somehow lost his connection to her, or if N'Merra simply didn't know any more. He chose to remain silent, and let her either restore their rapport or to let her tell the story in her own time, whatever she did know.

The air was getting fouler. Danziger coughed more than once, and that seemed to concern N'Merra. She would turn and look at him; he would wave her on once the fit had passed.

The corridor continued on. There were a couple of hatches that John could have sworn were lifts; other doors were larger and he guessed they must lead into control rooms of some sort.

We were unable to escape the change. The words were so low that, at first, Danziger wasn't certain he'd heard them. We brought the scourge with us. What made it worse was that many of our people actually chose to change, after everything we'd done to get away from it.

"I'm…sorry."

It was a very long time ago, John Danziger. I made my choice then.

He wondered just what she'd chosen.

After what seemed like hours, they eventually arrived at what had to have once been some sort of common area. It was large, more than four times the width of the corridor and twice that long. Another closed door was on the far wall.

All the other ghosts were waiting for them.

As Danziger stood there, he realized that each of them was giving off their own sets of emotions. Some were sad, others angry, still others afraid. Were these feelings the last ones they'd experienced? It seemed to make sense.

D'Lorrak was there, and from him came the strongest source of anger. He approached N'Merra, giving her such a look it would have made Adair cringe. N'Merra herself stood under that withering gaze as if it were simply a soft rain. The elder cat said something to her that Danziger didn't catch; N'Merra replied just as unintelligibly. Then she turned back to John.

What you are about to see, has been hidden for so long we no longer have the memory of when it occurred, she said solemnly. Tears formed in her green eyes. I wish this could have been done some other way, but as D'Lorrak has pointed out, time is running out.

"What do you mean?"

We will explain, but first…please, enter the room and see what has become of a once-proud people.

Danziger passed through the crowd of cats. They parted for him, most of them giving off a sense of respect. There was the same panel at the side of the door, with the same six buttons.

Gold, blue, red twice, white.

He pressed the buttons in that order. Once again, the door ground open just enough for him to be able to pry it the rest of the way.

And he gasped in horror at what he found inside.