Earth 2.1.2

Chapter 4

A/N: Nagging Cube, you should know better. The chances of those two talking to each other any time soon are about as good as my chances were of not posting something today. ;-) And yet, in today's installment, they actually do talk. Just not the way you'd like.

Alonzo was out cold the whole way back, and Julia had barely spoken two words to any of them. Once she'd handed Jupiter off to the Terriers, her entire focus shifted to Alonzo, but she seemed on edge.

"I don't think that scan is going to tell you anything different from the one you did ten minutes ago," Melanie said an hour after they got back to the camp.

"I know," she said tersely.

"Listen," Melanie said, and tried to think of something to distract her. "I've been thinking. We need to come up with a name for the stuff you got out of that plant. How about 'terricillin'?"

Julia looked at her, impressed. "That's actually a pretty good name," she said.

"Don't sound so surprised," Melanie huffed. "I have a lot of good ideas."

Julia smiled, but the smile faded as she turned back to look at Alonzo.

"Hey, he's fine," Melanie said. "He got clocked pretty hard, but he's got a thick skull." She flicked his head with one finger. "See?"

Julia barely smiled at that. "First do no harm, remember?" she said.

"Look, why don't you go over to the mess tent and grab us something to eat?" Melanie said. "Take your mind off things for a little bit."

"I'm not hungry," Julia said.

"Don't tell me you're worried he's going to wake up and decide he's really in love with me and not you?" Melanie said, grinning. "Trust me, it'd take more than a bonk on the head for that to happen."

"He's not in love with me," Julia said quietly.

"Of course he is," Melanie said incredulously, almost grabbing for a stimulant so she could make Alonzo say it immediately.

"Don't say that," Julia said. "It's better if he doesn't."

"I beg to differ," Melanie said, taking the diaglove from her. "But I'm not going to argue with you now. Go. Get dinner. Talk to Devon. Or Tru. Get Rob to teach you how to hang a spoon from your nose. Anything, as long as you stay out of this tent for at least fifteen minutes. And then tell me if you still think that when you get back."

Amazingly, she acquiesced with barely a fight. "I'll call you if anything changes," Melanie said as Julia left the tent, but Julia didn't even acknowledge that.

"What the hell was that?" Melanie murmured, turning around to look at Alonzo, who still looked like he was out cold. "Alonzo Solace, if you don't realize you are the luckiest guy on this or any other planet," she said. "Well, second-luckiest, anyway. And if you don't do your best to convince her—"

"You got crutches?" Alonzo said, opening his eyes.

"What?" Melanie said. "How long have you been awake?"

"Crutches," he said. "I'm sick of lying on this bunk."

"You had a serious head injury, Alonzo," Melanie said. "You shouldn't go anywhere."

Alonzo waved his hand dismissively and sat up, wincing as his leg shifted. "My head is fine. So's my leg. Come on, Mel, just give me the crutches."

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Melanie said. "Julia will be back soon—"

Alonzo swung his legs off the bunk.

"Will you slow down!?" Melanie said, grabbing his arm to stop him getting up. She started to run another scan. "Are you dizzy at all?"

"No," Alonzo said shortly. "And my head doesn't hurt. Neither does the leg."

"It will," Melanie said. "The painblock's going to wear off soon enough."

Alonzo shrugged off her hand and started to stand, balancing unsteadily on his good leg.

"Damn it, 'Zo, you're going to open my sutures. And I did a really nice job with those, mister!"

Alonzo turned and looked into her eyes, and she almost took a step backwards. "Either give me the crutches, or I walk out of here without them," he said quietly.

Melanie hesitated, then decided he was just crazy enough to try it. And the scan says he's fine, no swelling of the brain. "Fine," she said finally, turning to pull the crutches they'd made for him all those weeks ago out from under her bunk. "But I won't be responsible for what Julia does when she finds out you bolted."

He shoved the tent flap aside deftly with one crutch and hobbled out of the tent.

"Julia!" Toshiko said from one of the mess tent tables, waving her over to sit next to her. "Todd was telling me about the Terrier you helped. Do they really have red blood?"

Julia nodded. "It isn't really all that surprising," she said, glad to have a conversation to distract her. "There were cases of parallel evolution on Earth, with different organisms developing similar traits and appearances because of similar environmental pressures. Oxygenated blood is a very efficient way to—"

"Oh, no, you don't," Phoebe interrupted, coming over to hand her a bowl of synthofu. "If you get this one," she nodded at Todd, "started talking about evolution, I'll lose all my customers."

Todd rolled his eyes. "Philistine. You wouldn't know a healthy intellectual discussion from a barroom brawl."

Phoebe patted Toshiko on the shoulder. "If it gets to be too much for you with these two, just give me a holler. I'll come over and tell some blonde jokes."

Todd gave her a haughty look. "I am living proof that blonde jokes are completely baseless," he said, and she laughed as she headed back to the cooking area.

"Speaking of healthy intellectual discussions, I wanted to ask you something, Julia," Todd said. "I've been trying to figure out how the Terriers are able to communicate with us."

Julia sat down, nodding. "I've been trying to do that myself. Well, part of it, anyway. It's not the mechanics of it—we know that humans are at least somewhat sensitive to electromagnetic fields. That part makes sense."

"Right, like a fear cage," Todd said.

"A what?" Toshiko said. "What is that, some sort of sick experiment?"

"It's a well-documented phenomenon," Julia said. "Have you ever been in a place that made you feel frightened or uneasy, or like you were being watched, and you couldn't figure out why?"

Toshiko shrugged, looking confused. "I guess so, maybe. There was one area on the ship I didn't like to walk through."

"That corridor next to the mess hall?" Julia said.

Toshiko nodded, her eyes wide. "How did you know?"

"I felt it, too," she said. "The first time I went to breakfast, it was really early and there was no one around, so I actually ran past it. Thank god no one was there to see it," she added, smiling ruefully. "I'd have never heard the end of it."

"Chances are, there were unshielded electromagnetic fields around," Todd said. "They can cause sensations like that. It's a likely cause of a whole lot of ghost stories. They had all sorts of problems with that in the first generation stations, I heard."

Julia nodded. "So it makes sense that if a species developed a method of communication based on electromagnetic fields, we might be able to sense those fields, at least to a limited extent," she said. "The part that has me stumped is how we can identify the specific emotions so clearly."

Toshiko blinked. "Why?"

"Because it'd be like…" Julia frowned, trying to find an analogy. "Like landing here and meeting up with a species that had vocal folds and a mouth capable of making sounds like we do, and immediately understanding their language. The odds against it are astronomical."

Todd looked at Julia, wide-eyed. "Wait," he said. "Maybe that's the way we should look at this."

Julia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What if our sensitivity to electromagnetic fields, and their ability to generate them, are like our ability to hear and to generate sound?" he said.

"Um, you really lost me," Toshiko said.

"Maybe what we're picking up is just the first step," Todd said, getting excited. "And once we figure out the language—"

Julia's eyes went wide. "You really think we might be able to communicate telepathically?"

"We're already partway there, aren't we?" Todd said. "You were able to have a conversation with their doctor."

Julia stared at him wonderingly. "And part of it was figuring out how to interpret what I was sensing," she said, nodding slowly. "He wanted to know how the extract I gave him equated to the plant leaves, how many leaves it would take to make it, and all I got was this weird…hollow sensation."

"And you figured out what it meant from context," Todd said. "That's how anybody would figure out how to communicate with someone who didn't speak their language."

Julia smiled. "I hadn't thought of it that way." She frowned. "But it still doesn't explain how I was able to identify the emotions themselves almost immediately."

"Maybe it wasn't immediately," Todd said. "You said you'd been getting flashes of feelings for some time before you fell down that hill, right? And you got up close and personal during the attack even before that."

Julia nodded.

"What if you'd been sensing stuff for a while, but hadn't been aware of it?" Todd said. "You might have been subconsciously processing those sensations, and your brain was able to make sense of it over time."

Julia looked skeptical. "I'm not sure I buy it," she said. "The problem is, there wouldn't have been any context in those situations to allow my brain to draw those conclusions."

"But there might have been," Toshiko cut in. "Remember, we're not just talking about their communications with us. They're communicating with each other, all the time, right?" She looked over at Todd to see if he was following her. "The language analogy works here, too. It's like a baby learning to speak. They're exposed to it, not even necessarily aware that they're learning, and they're picking up on what words mean, even abstract words, just by that exposure."

Todd looked at her, impressed, and she blushed.

"This is amazing," Julia said, not noticing Toshiko's reaction, and then suddenly looked nervous.

"What?" Toshiko said.

Julia looked dismayed. "What if I've been babbling like a baby at them, and I didn't even know it?"

Toshiko laughed out loud.

"Okay, it's time to start the fun part," Danziger said, handing a loaded handgun to Devon. He nodded at a nearby log propped on a small hillock. He'd set some small rocks along the top of it. "Sorry it's just rocks. I'd love to let you have the satisfaction of blowing some bottles apart, but we kinda need everything we've got."

Devon was looking nervously at the gun in her hand.

"Hey, it's not gonna bite," he said.

"I know," Devon said defensively.

Danziger took a long look at her, then turned to Uly. "Okay, kid, you're up. Remember what I said—keep relaxed and—"

"I know," Uly said. "Squeeze, don't jerk. I got it." He lined up the gunsight with the top of the rock and took a deep breath.

Devon jumped at the shot.

"Don't worry about it," Danziger said to Uly, though Devon could tell he'd noticed her flinch. "It'll take a little bit for you to get the feel of it. It looks like you were a little high. Try lowering it a little."

Uly nodded, took another breath, lined up his sight again, and squeezed.

Even prepared for it this time, Devon jumped.

"I got it!" Uly said triumphantly as one of the rocks on the end tumbled off the back of the log.

"Lucky shot," Tru said derisively.

Uly shot her a look. "Let's see you do better," he said.

Danziger tried to hide his smile. "You take a few more shots, Uly," he said. "Tru will get her chance in a minute."

It looked for a moment like Tru had been right as Uly missed his next two, but then he got three in a row. He turned to give Tru the same "let's see you do better" look.

"Attaboy!" Danziger said. "All right, make that gun safe. Tru, you're next."

Devon wondered if he was leaving her to last to give her a chance to calm down. If so, she thought, it isn't working. It seemed like the more time she had to think about pulling the trigger, the more nervous she got.

She watched as Tru missed her first three shots, then hit two, and missed the last two.

"Ha!" Uly said. "I win!"

"Not so fast," Danziger said. "Your mom still gets her chance."

Devon groaned inwardly. She stepped forward after Danziger finished setting up the rocks again, keeping the gun pointed at the ground until she was ready to aim.

"You know how to do it," Danziger said. "It's just rocks. No big deal, okay?"

It's just rocks, Devon told herself. Just point and squeeze. No big deal. She raised the gun, aimed—

"Um, Devon, you need to take the safety off," Danziger said quietly.

"Oh," Devon said, flushing. "Right." She flipped the safety off with her thumb, lined up the sight, took a breath like Uly had. And froze.

"I think you have it lined up pretty well," Danziger said after several seconds.

"Just…give me a second," Devon said, and she could practically feel beads of sweat popping out on her forehead. Just squeeze, she told herself.

The gun jumped in her hand, and a branch on a tree a good three meters above and fifteen behind the little rocks snapped and fell to the ground. Devon felt her heart pounding in her chest so hard she was sure everyone could hear it.

"No problem," Danziger said mildly. "You know what happened?"

"I was gripping it too tight," Devon said shortly, not looking at him.

"Yeah," Danziger said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Just a little. Take a breath, and give it another try."

I don't want to, Devon thought, trying to get her heart to slow down. "Okay," she said, and forced herself to raise the gun again. Come on, god damn it, it's just metal and bioplast, not a dragon. It can't hurt you. Just point and squeeze.

This time there was no telling where the shot had gone, except that it was nowhere near the rocks.

"Here," Danziger said, coming up behind her. "You're tense. Let me—"

Devon jumped as he put his hands on her shoulders, and she thanked every god in the universe that she'd flipped the safety back on.

"Close your eyes," Danziger said in her ear, and he started massaging her shoulders.

In any other situation, it would have been nice, Devon realized after a moment, but it wasn't working here. "Danziger," she said, pulling away.

"Sorry," he said, raising his hands and backing off. "I was just trying to—"

"It's okay," she said, turning to set the gun down on the little bench they'd practiced breaking them down on. "It's fine, I just—" She couldn't seem to get herself to look him in the eye. "I can't do this right now, that's all. I'm still too—"

"Oh, man," Danziger said, "I'm sorry, I didn't even think. You've probably still got a ton of adrenaline running through you after this morning." He ran his hand through his unruly hair. "I shouldn't have made you try. Don't worry about it, we can try again tomorrow. Or the day after. There's no rush."

Devon wanted to smile at him, grateful for his covering for her like that, but she just nodded and turned to walk away.

"Mom?" Uly said. "Can I stay and shoot some more?"

"Sure," Devon said, barely glancing back at him. "Just do as Danziger says, okay?"

Jesus, Devon thought, walking back towards her tent. I'm a complete basket-case. What the hell is wrong with me? She sighed, frustrated, and almost ran into Alonzo as he came out of the med tent on crutches.

"Sorry!" Devon said, stopping short, and then frowning at him. "What are you doing up and about?"

"Melanie sprang me," he said, but there was a furtive look in his expression that made Devon wonder. He started towards the ATV, and Devon followed him.

"Really?" she said, smiling skeptically. "And what did Julia have to say about that?"

"Oh, come on, Devon," Alonzo said, "I was bored out of my mind. So Julia went to get something to eat, and I—"

"Ran away?" Devon said. She looked pointedly at the ATV. "You weren't thinking of running very far, were you? I mean, you were unconscious for a long time, not very long ago."

"Nah," he said. He nodded at the low ridge just west of the camp. "I just thought I'd run up to that hill and see if I could contact the Terriers. I'm worried about Jupiter."

"Oh," Devon said. She hesitated, worried, but finally nodded. She had to admit she was worried about their Terrier friend, too. "Okay. But not any farther than that, okay? And only till it gets dark," she said. "If anything happened to you, Julia would have my hide."

"Yeah, sure," Alonzo said, and headed for the ATV.

There was something off about his tone that made Devon stand and watch as he pulled away in the ATV.

"Here you go," Julia said, coming into the med tent a while later with a bowl of synthofu in hand. "The best dinner I could come up with."

"Thanks," Melanie said, taking it from her and bracing herself for the reaction she knew was coming.

It didn't take long. "Where's Alonzo?" Julia said, looking around wildly as if he might be hiding somewhere in the tent.

"He's fine," Melanie said quickly. "He woke up just after you left, and he threatened to walk out on his own if I didn't give him crutches. He was really snotty about it, too."

"You let him go?!" Julia said, aghast.

"I didn't have a lot of choice, did I?" Melanie said defensively. "I'd have had to tie him down or sedate him, and I didn't think either one of those was a good idea." She smiled ruefully. "I've learned my lesson about sedating people willy-nilly, see?"

"Hell of a time to learn that one!" Julia snapped, and Melanie winced.

"He was fine, Julia," Melanie said seriously. "I wouldn't have let him go if I didn't think it was safe. I care about him, too, you know."

Julia opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. "I know. I'm sorry," she said, trying to sound conciliatory. "I didn't mean to yell. I just—"

"So you've changed your mind about it being better if Alonzo didn't say he loves you?" Melanie said archly.

Julia looked distressed. "Melanie…why did he leave?"

Melanie frowned. "He didn't say. I assumed he was bored. You know how much he hated being cooped up in the tent those first few days we were here. He's probably pissed off about having to be on crutches again."

Julia nodded, but she didn't look convinced. She turned and left the tent before Melanie could say anything else. Once outside, she looked around the camp, trying to spot Alonzo, but he wasn't anywhere she could see. She headed over to where he usually set up his bunk, next to the Transrover, and his bunk was there, but he wasn't in it.

"Looking for Alonzo?" Devon called.

Julia turned, and saw Devon sitting in the passenger seat of one of the rails, holding a monocular. She pointed to the west as Julia came up. "He took the ATV. He said he was worried about Jupiter."

Julia looked, and she could just make out the outline of the ATV on the ridge, backlit by the setting sun. He's just up there to talk to the Terriers, she told herself ruthlessly. That's all it is. But a tiny voice in her head said, That still doesn't explain this morning. What if he has some way to contact the Council? She swallowed hard. Stop it. It's not him. It can't be.

"Is everything all right?" Devon said, worried. "I've been keeping an eye on him. But…should I have kept him here? He said Melanie let him go, and I assumed that meant he was okay."

"He's fine," Julia said absently, looking out at Alonzo. "As long as he comes back and lets me scan him again before he goes to sleep. I want to be sure the head injury is healing properly."

"I told him to come back before it gets dark," Devon said. "But I can call him back in if you—"

"No," Julia said quickly. "No, I just wanted to see where he'd gone."

Devon frowned. "Julia, he just went up to talk to the Terriers…" she said, trailing off uneasily, suddenly remembering the feelings she'd sensed through the Terrier.

Julia turned and looked at Devon. "Of course," Julia said, "why else would he be up there?"

Devon watched her walk back to the med tent, then turned to look back up at Alonzo. There'd been something in the way Julia looked that had made her nervous.

Alonzo rolled back into camp well past dark, and almost forgot to call in so they could shut down the perimeter alarms. Danziger glared at him as he drove the ATV to its spot by the Transrover.

"Where the hell have you been?" Danziger said. "Mel tried calling you on gear twenty minutes ago!"

"I had it off," Alonzo said.

"I know that," Danziger said patiently. "You not answering was kind of a clue. I was about ready to come up there and get you."

"I just needed some time," Alonzo said sullenly.

"Hey, I get that," Danziger said. "Next time, just keep your gear on and check in now and then." He tapped his gear. "Mel, Solace is back. You want me to send him over there?"

"No," Alonzo said, cutting in. "Tell Mel to come over to my bunk."

Danziger frowned at him, catching the emphasis he put on her name. "Did you catch that, Mel?" he said, bemused.

"Yeah," Melanie said, sounding depressed. "I caught it. Tell him I'll be over in a minute."

Melanie looked over at Julia. "I think you should take this."

Julia shook her head, staring intently at whatever she'd been working on. "He asked for you, didn't he?"

Melanie bit her lip. "You want me to try to find out what's going on?"

"No!" Julia said a little too quickly. "No, just let it go, Mel."

Melanie frowned. "You know what it is, don't you?"

Julia shook her head, but she wouldn't meet Melanie's eyes. "Just tell him to come by tomorrow so I can take a look at the leg."

Melanie bit her tongue, knowing it was Alonzo she was angry with, not Julia. Why the hell is it so hard for these two to talk to each other? she thought, storming over to Alonzo's bunk. She managed to keep herself from yelling at Alonzo, too, but just barely.

Maybe he's just upset about the leg being injured again, she told herself, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt as she scanned him. "Julia wants you to come by tomorrow night, just to be sure everything's copacetic, okay?"

Alonzo nodded. He frowned. "Listen, Mel, about earlier," he said.

"Yeah?" Melanie said, crossing her arms.

Alonzo rolled his eyes. "You don't make it easy to apologize, y'know," he said.

"Why should I?" she said. "You're not making it easy for me to like you."

"Yeah," Alonzo said, nodding glumly. "I know. Listen, it's not about you."

"Then what is it about, Alonzo?" she said pleadingly.

He sighed. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet, okay?"

Melanie looked hard at him. "Okay," she said finally. "But could you get there soon? The waiting is killing me." She smiled crookedly, patted his shoulder, and turned to go back to the med tent.

He watched her go, wishing he could. But if just the little bit Julia knows made her think I'm the spy, what'll the rest of them think when they know everything? He shook his head. God, I'm so screwed. He felt the anger flare up again. Of all the people in the camp, he thought he'd at least get the benefit of the doubt from Julia. I was stupid to think I'd earned her trust, he thought bitterly. I should have known she doesn't trust anybody.

"Damn, it's cold!" Phoebe said for the third time since they'd left the camp to scout the next morning.

"You bellyaching about it isn't going to make it any warmer," Artie said mildly from his perch on the back of the ATV.

"It might," Phoebe said with dignity. "Moving my lips keeps the circulation going, after all."

"I can think of better ways for you to move your lips," Artie said, then froze, his eyes wide. Oh, crap! he thought. Did I just say that out loud?

"Arturo Sandoval, are you flirting with me?" Phoebe said archly.

"I didn't mean—I just—it was—I—" Artie stammered.

Phoebe laughed out loud for a long moment. "Relax, honey!" she said after she caught her breath. "That's one thing you'll never hear me complain about."

Artie let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, the look on your face—hang on," Phoebe said, pulling the rail to a halt. "What do you think of that?" she said, pointing at a leafy shrub they hadn't seen before. It had some odd-looking purple-red berries on it.

Artie pulled out his scanner and hopped out of the rail. He ran the scanner over the berries, then grimaced as he read the scan results.

"That doesn't look good," Phoebe said from the rail.

"It isn't," he said. "Remind me to tell everybody to stay the hell away from these. Alkaloids. Looks like one of these would be enough to kill somebody. I doubt they're even safe to touch. I'll have to ask Julia."

Phoebe swore under her breath. "When is this planet going to cut us some slack?" she said. "Our food situation is bad enough already, winter's coming, and this is what we get? Killer berries?"

Artie shrugged, coming back to climb into the rail. "At least we know it's going to be warm once we finally get to New Pacifica," he said. "We have something to look forward to."

"Oh, that'll be nice, all right," Phoebe said. "Ocean breezes and sunsets and long walks on the beach in the moonlight. Can you imagine the ocean with two moons?"

"I can't imagine the ocean at all," Artie said. "I mean, VR's one thing, but the real thing is probably completely different."

"It's gonna be beautiful," Phoebe said confidently. "Trust me. You and me, we're gonna walk along that beach the first night we get there."

"I wouldn't have taken you for the 'long walks on the beach' type," Artie said, grinning.

"I would be for the right person, baby," Phoebe said, turning to smile coyly at him.

Devon sat in her tent after a long day's travel, trying to build up her courage to go shoot a gun again. Uly was practically vibrating over on his bunk, eager to go, but Devon kept finding ways to stall.

The odd thing was, usually Yale would have been prodding her to go. He'd been very kind after she told him what had happened with her last try at shooting, but he was insistent that she needed to keep trying. Yet here he was, asking her inconsequential questions every time she started to get up.

"Mo-oom," Uly said finally. "Mr. Danziger's gonna wonder where we are. We're supposed to be there already!"

"Okay," Devon sighed, standing up, and Uly jumped to his feet and stood by the door, almost dancing in his excitement. "Yale, do you want to come with us?"

If she thought Yale had looked nervous before, now he looked almost terrified. "No!" he said, then made a clear attempt to get himself under control. "Forgive me, Devon, but my weapons aversion programming would make observing you quite…uncomfortable."

"Oh," Devon said. "Of course. I'm sorry."

"Do not be," Yale said. "Good luck, Devon. I'm sure you will be fine this time."

Devon hesitated at the tent flap, worried about Yale, but Uly grabbed her hand and dragged her out before she could say anything more.

Yale was wrong. Devon was far from fine, though she had the tiny consolation that she'd improved a little. She managed to fire the gun three times this time before she locked up again. None of the shots was anywhere near the target, but Danziger was very encouraging.

"Just keep working with it, okay?" he said, sitting next to her and watching Uly and Tru duel for the night's win. "You'll get there."

"Sure," Devon said, not sounding convinced.

"Uly's doing great," he said, watching as Uly took out yet another rock.

"Much to Tru's dismay," Devon said under her breath, trying to get herself out of her rotten mood. It's the weather, she told herself, pulling her jacket tighter against the damp cold. It felt like it was going to rain at any second, a complete switch from the nonstop dry they'd had over the last few weeks.

Danziger snorted, then scrambled to his feet as Tru shoved Uly hard. "Hey, what'd I tell you?"

Uly looked stricken. "Not to mess around when we're holding guns. I'm sorry, Mr. Danziger."

"Tru?" he said, glaring at her.

Tru glared at Uly. "He started it."

"So you had to finish it?" Danziger shook his head. "You know better, Tru. Give me the guns, you two. We're done for the night."

"Fine," Tru said. "I'm bored anyway."

"You mean you were losing," Uly said, walking past her.

Tru started to go after him again, but Danziger grabbed her.

"Uly," Devon said sharply, "back to our tent. And tell Yale exactly what happened here. Got it?"

Uly looked like he'd just stepped in a pile of manure. "Do I have to?"

"If it's so bad, why do you keep doing things that make me do it to you?" Devon said pointedly.

Uly sighed and trudged off toward the tent. Devon turned back in time to see Danziger sending Tru off in the opposite direction.

"Sorry about that," Devon said. "They're a little competitive, I think."

"Yeah," Danziger said wryly. "I wonder where they got that from."

Devon chuckled, then found herself looking everywhere but at him. "Listen, um…thanks for being patient with me," she said, trying not to sound as mortified as she felt.

"No problem," Danziger said, but his manner was suddenly even more stiff and awkward than she felt.

What did I say? Devon wondered. "Uh…okay, then. I guess I'll see you—"

"Would you have dinner with me?" Danziger said in a rush. And right as he said it, a large raindrop hit his nose, and he blinked in surprise, then glared up at the sky.

Devon laughed, and then realized what he'd said. "I…I'm sorry, did you say dinner?" she said, and winced at how completely clueless she sounded.

"Yeah. You know, uh, eating, conversation." He smiled tentatively. "Dinner."

Devon held her breath, almost jumping as another raindrop hit the back of her neck. She thought desperately, trying to figure out how to ask what she wanted to ask in a way that would let both of them out gracefully if she'd misinterpreted.

"Jeez, Adair, I didn't ask you the square root of 92 or something," he said gruffly, the smile gone. "It's just a date."

Devon's eyebrows shot up. "A…a date," she repeated stupidly. Well, that answers your question.

"Yes," he said, looking even more nervous than he had seconds earlier. "A date. Look, forget I—"

"Okay," she heard herself saying as the rain started to fall in earnest.

His face lit up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah," she said, feeling a little shell-shocked.

"Okay," he said, sounding completely surprised, then he grinned. "Okay! Great!" He started to walk away.

"Hey, Danziger!" she called after him, and he turned to look back at her questioningly. "I mean, um, John. Aren't you forgetting something?"

He blinked.

"Where? When? What should I wear?" Devon said. What should I wear? she thought, flushing. What is wrong with me?

"Oh! Um, I need a little time to set things up. How about…in three days, at sunset? I'll, uh, pick you up at your tent." He blushed, looking like a teenager, and suddenly Devon felt a tiny bit less stupid. "And I guess it's casual dress. It's not like we have a lot of other options."

"Right," Devon said, nodding, and he walked away.

I have a date, Devon thought, turning to head back to her tent. Oh, my god. I have a date. With John Danziger.

Julia pulled aside the tent flap and stepped into the med tent. She stepped towards her bunk, pulling back the hood of her jacket and shaking off the rain, then jumped as she realized Alonzo was in the tent with her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Mel told me you wanted to scan me again," he said coldly. "So scan me already."

"Oh," Julia said, feeling off-balance. Of course Melanie told him that, she thought bitterly. And that's why she isn't here. She wants us to talk. But that's the last thing I want. She turned, grabbed her diaglove, and began her scan. Alonzo didn't say a word through the entire process, and Julia felt an oppressive tension, like a storm was building.

"You're doing well," she said finally, pulling off the diaglove. "You should be off the crutches again within a couple of days."

Alonzo grunted. He stood, grabbing the crutches, and started for the tent flap. Julia watched him, torn between relief that he was leaving, and regret.

But then he turned and hobbled back towards her. She took an involuntary step backwards as he flung the crutches aside, and found herself pressed back against the lab table, his lips pressing roughly against hers. She started to pull away, but he grabbed her arms and held her.

He pulled away abruptly, but he didn't let go of her arms. "You still want me," he said, his face inches from hers.

Julia took a shaky breath. "What?" she managed to say.

"You heard me. You still feel something for me. That hasn't changed. Don't try to deny it," he said, his voice hardening.

Julia swallowed. "Let me go," she whispered.

"Why? So you can run away like you always do? Not this time, Julia. I want to hear you say it to my face," he said, and the look on his face was frightening.

"I—I don't know what you're talking about," she said, but he was already squeezing her arms painfully.

"Bullshit. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You have a question. So ask it!"

Julia hesitated, trying to think of what she could say, but there was nothing. He must have felt it through the Terriers, she thought sickly. But I didn't mean it—I don't—

He shook her. "Say something!"

"I—" She stopped shaking her head helplessly.

"Have you told Mel what you think?" he said, shaking her again. "What about Devon?"

"No," Julia said, trying to squirm out of his grip. "No! I don't even know what I think! Alonzo, please, you—you're scaring me."

"You've never stopped being scared," he said savagely. "You don't really believe I'm the spy, or you'd have told Devon already. No, this is just one more excuse to push me away because you're so terrified of caring about anyone." He released her abruptly and looked away, running his hand through his hair. He turned back to her. "Damn it, Julia, what do I have to do? I said I'd leave with you if they threw you out, for god's sake! And do you know why?"

Julia shook her head, her eyes wide.

"Because I love you!" he shouted.

Julia gripped the edge of the lab table, trying to steady herself.

"But that isn't good enough for you, is it?" he said, leaning over her again, and she shrank away.

"Don't—" she said.

"Don't what?" he snapped. "Love you? That'd be so much easier for you, wouldn't it? You could tell yourself you're doing the right thing, accusing me, and go on living in your hermetically sealed little world, never letting anyone in, never feeling anything—"

"Stop it," Julia said.

"Hell, maybe Hardy's right—maybe you just made up the whole thing so you could get rid of me!"

"No!" Julia said, her voice breaking. "Please—"

"Why not? It's the sort of thing your mother would do, isn't it?"

Julia pushed him away violently, and he staggered backwards, wincing as he put weight on his injured leg.

"Excuse me?" Yale's voice came from outside the tent. "Dr. Heller? Could I have a word with you?"

Julia took a sobbing breath, and Alonzo took a half-step towards her. "I'm not the spy," he said under his breath. "And you know it."

"C-come in, Yale," Julia said.

Alonzo reached down to pick up his crutches as Yale pulled the tent flap aside.

"Forgive me," Yale said, looking warily at Alonzo. "I did not mean to interrupt—"

"We're done," Alonzo said, looking hard at Julia. He turned abruptly and hobbled past Yale to leave the tent.

Julia sank down on her camp stool, breathing hard.

"Dr. Heller, are you all right?"

"No," she said raggedly. "Not really."

"I'm sorry," Yale said, starting to turn to leave. "I should come back later—"

"Wait," Julia said, looking up at him and noticing the tension in his face. "You really needed to see me? About what?"

Yale hesitated, looking at her ashen face. "It can wait—"

"No," Julia said, shaking her head. "Please, Yale. I—I really need to think about something else for a while."

Yale nodded, but then hesitated.

"What is it?" Julia said. "What's wrong?"

"I…have not been entirely honest with you, Doctor," he said slowly.

Julia frowned, waiting for him to continue.

"I have had more…episodes," he said.

"How many?" Julia said uneasily.

"Two more blackouts," he said, "and I believe I may have spoken again during the second, but I cannot be certain." He stopped, taking a deep breath. "I also think Alonzo may have witnessed at least a portion of that incident. It was the night before last, and I thought I heard him say something as I became aware of my surroundings again."

Julia's lips tightened slightly. "I—I'll ask him about it," she said. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Yale said, and he looked frightened. "Yesterday morning, after you and the others went after Alonzo, I had a…disturbing experience." He swallowed. "I was speaking to Ulysses, and he said something, and suddenly, I was seeing the interior of a small ship, filled with men in pressure suits, holding military-style mag-pro rifles. I was holding one as well. An older model."

Julia took a slow breath, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"It did not last very long," Yale said, "but it was…powerful."

"Were there any physical symptoms that you were aware of?" Julia asked carefully.

Yale shook his head. "Doctor Heller…" He paused. "Julia, am I…dangerous?"

Julia looked at him for a long moment. "I don't know, Yale," she said, deciding honesty was best. "The fact that you're here, this long after most of the Yale units were recalled, leads me to think you aren't. The Council doesn't usually gamble, not when it could blow back on them. I think if they thought you were a danger, they'd have recalled you along with the rest of the Yales."

"But the Council has already tried to destroy the Eden Project," Yale said uneasily. "I may be a part of that. You would all be better off if I were no longer with you."

"They tried," Julia said, "and they failed." She started to reach out to him, hesitated for a moment, then put her hand on Yale's non-cybernetic arm. "Yale, I need you to focus on what is happening, not on what might happen. Our options are limited—there's no way I'd sanction us leaving anybody behind, even if Devon would allow it. And you know how much Devon relies on you. So you're stuck with us." She smiled crookedly at him. "That means we need to figure out how to manage this."

Yale looked at her seriously for a long moment, then squared his shoulders. "What do you need me to do?"

Julia smiled less ironically and squeezed his arm. "Keep track of what is happening before, during and after each episode," she said. "I need to know what might be triggering these, so we can either prevent them or minimize them. Log everything you can—the time of day, the temperature, ambient light, anything you can think of that could be a factor."

Yale nodded.

"Also, have you been aware of any warning signs when these things are about to happen?" Julia asked.

He shook his head. "Each has occurred with frightening speed," he said uneasily. "Though they do seem to occur more often when I am by myself."

"Can you review your recordings of the events leading up to each of the ones you've experienced so far?" Julia said. "Look for anything anomalous. If we can find anything to help us predict them, we can make sure we're ready to act if we need to."

Yale nodded again, then looked gratefully at her. "Thank you, Julia. You have been very…reassuring." He hesitated, then continued. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Julia shook her head. "No. I appreciate the offer, Yale, but…no." I have to deal with this myself. I just wish I knew how, she thought.

She sighed, knowing thinking about it more would just make her miserable, so she decided to go find Melanie and at least get telling her out of the way. She pulled her hood up and walked towards the mess tent through the rain, contemplating her conversation with Yale in the hope that it would keep her from thinking about Alonzo. Unfortunately, she was so focused on that, she didn't see Hardy until he deliberately clipped her shoulder as he passed her.

He turned to look at her challengingly as she stopped and faced him.

Oh, did you pick the wrong time, Julia thought. "Who was she?" she said suddenly after looking angrily at him for a moment, and it was as much a surprise to her that she said it as it was to Hardy.

"What?" Hardy said, caught off guard.

"The woman who did whatever it was that made you so bitter about the Council," Julia said, deciding she might as well go on now that she'd started. "It had to be a woman—you haven't gone after Morgan Martin at all, so it can't just be Council flunkies in general. So who was she?"

Hardy hesitated for an instant, then shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, but it was obvious he was lying.

"Look, Hardy, I've done more than my share of bad things, but whatever she did is not my fault. If you want to hate me for being me, that's one thing. But I'm not her!"

Julia turned on her heel and stalked off toward the mess tent. So she didn't notice the shocked look on Hardy's face as she walked away.

Travel the next day was a nightmare. The rain had intensified overnight, a slow, steady, bone-chilling drizzle that made the terrain slippery and soggy by turns. They came frighteningly close to having the Transrover tip over in the early afternoon, at which point Devon made the call to stop for the day.

"I know," she said when Danziger came up to her, his expression dark. "I hate to lose a day of travel, too, but I just can't see risking trying to keep moving in this rain."

Danziger shook his head. "It wouldn't matter if the weather were perfect right now," he said. "That rock the 'rover slid into did more than keep it from tipping over."

Devon groaned. "How bad?"

Danziger shrugged. "The axle's not bent, but the bushing's loose, and we're losing lubricant. We can't afford to try driving on it till I fix it. It's gonna be a couple of days at least," he said glumly.

Devon swore.

"Sorry, Devon," Danziger said.

"Oh, no, I'm not blaming you," Devon said, suddenly feeling awkward again. "It's just…I'm worried about the weather. If it drops another few degrees, this isn't going to be rain. And we have no clue how any of the vehicles will handle snow. Hell, I have no clue how any of us will handle it."

"That does bring up something I wanted to ask you about," Danziger said. "Did your people plan for any sort of weather prediction?"

"Of course," Devon said, and then added with an ironic smile, "we have all sorts of equipment—"

"—in one of the supply pods," Danziger finished for her.

"Hey, now, don't get too depressed," Melanie said, and Devon turned to find her standing behind them with her arms clenched tight around her, water dripping down her face. "I have a plan."

"A plan?" Devon said.

Melanie nodded. "We know the Council has a satellite, right?" she said. "And it's probably geosynchronous, since Julia never seemed to have any trouble connecting in VR."

Devon looked dubious. "A satellite we probably can't connect to; and if we can, probably has encryption; and even if it didn't, that probably doesn't have sensors that would be useful for predicting weather."

Melanie looked sourly at her. "Oh, ye of little faith. I can get a connection, and I'm betting Valerie can decrypt it. And what kind of moron would put a satellite in orbit that didn't at least have basic imaging capabilities?"

"This is the Council we're talking about, Mel," Danziger said dryly.

"Hey, if it doesn't work, it doesn't work," Mel said. "But I might as well give it a shot while we're stuck here. Besides, it might give us other useful information anyway."

"If you can make it work," Devon said, "I'll take back every unkind thing I ever said to you."

Melanie's eyes went wide. "Are you sure? There's an awful lot to take back." She winked, and Devon rolled her eyes.

Julia sighed, listening to the rain drumming on the tent roof. The last thing she needed was time on her hands, and here she was with all the time in the world.

She hadn't had to tell Melanie any of what had happened after she'd sent Alonzo over to the med tent. Everyone in the camp knew within minutes what had happened, or at least that they'd had an argument. Which is why Yale interrupted us, Julia realized, and was grateful to him for it.

Julia knew Melanie wanted her to get angry, to go after Alonzo, to do anything but sulk in her tent like Achilles, but she couldn't. All she could seem to do was keep replaying the conversation, over and over, pouring salt in her own wounds like she always did. Everything he'd said was exactly what she would have expected him to say if he really was the spy. And there was nothing he could say that would prove he wasn't.

Just like there's no way for me to prove I'm not still loyal to the Council, Julia thought, painfully reminded of her encounter with Hardy as well. Which means I'm being completely unfair to him for suspecting him without any real evidence that he is—

"Dr. Heller?" Yale said from outside the tent.

"Yes?" Julia said. "Come in, Yale."

He pulled the tent flap aside and came in, wiping rain from his eyes. "I completed my log of the circumstances surrounding each of my…experiences," he said, handing her a tablet. "I wish I thought it would be useful, but I cannot seem to find any patterns."

Julia took the tablet. "I knew it was a long-shot," she said, shrugging. "But I'll take a look anyway. There might be something in here, and you just need another set of eyes looking at it."

"I found it difficult to describe the flashbacks," he said, clearly confused. "They are…incomplete."

Julia looked at him curiously. "How do you mean?"

"Some portions are very clear and vivid, but other parts are vague at best," he said. "I may remember someone saying something, but I cannot picture their face. One part of a setting may be very detailed, while other parts are a blur. It is quite unlike my normal memory retrieval process."

Julia nodded thoughtfully. "Well, that confirms one thing for me," she said.

Yale looked questioningly at her.

"These are organic memory, not from your database," she said. "With most organic memory encoding, people remember the crucial portions, like the important parts of conversations, but things like the way the wall of a room looked you tend to leave out, because you can infer from the context that there was a wall, and that's all we need. And without regular reinforcement, even the most intense memories can fade over time." With most people, she thought bitterly. Not me.

Yale looked dismayed. "I see."

"I know, it's not what you wanted to hear," she said. "But we already knew that was likely. It doesn't change anything."

Yale nodded. He started to turn to go, then turned back to look at Julia. "I am sorry that I am unable to help you as you are helping me."

Julia smiled at him. "You are, believe it or not. Just giving me something else to think about helps. And I really appreciate your concern. Especially when you have your own worries."

There was a sudden gust of wind, and the tent rattled around them. Julia frowned. "How bad is it out there?"

Yale shrugged. "It wasn't bad at all a moment ago. But it would seem it is getting worse."

He was right. That first gust was followed by a series of gusts equally strong.

"I should get back to Ulysses," Yale said.

Julia nodded, and then had to grab the tent flap and tie it shut after he left to keep it from flapping in the steadily intensifying wind.

Yale had to fight his way through the same wind to get back to his tent. Devon was pacing inside when he got back. He frowned. "Where is Ulysses?"

Devon shook her head. "He was supposed to be back ten minutes ago. But this wind came up so fast…"

Yale nodded. "Have you tried to reach him on the gear?" he asked.

Devon held up a set of gear with a disgusted look on her face.

Yale sighed. "We really must talk to him about keeping that with him at all times," he said. "Why don't you go look for him? I'll wait here, and if he returns, I will call you."

Devon nodded. "If he does get back before I do, tell him to brace for Hurricane Devon," she said darkly.

Yale smiled. "I do not think I will have to warn him," he said. "He knows you too well."

Devon ducked out the tent flap, and Yale pulled it shut after her. Even as he did, there was another massive gust of wind, and the flap flew out of his grasp, making a loud snapping noise as it did. Yale staggered back, raising his arms to protect his face as it lashed back towards him, and he was suddenly somewhere else.

The dropship exploded, flames shooting out from the engine pod at the back, then instantly extinguished by the vacuum. Pieces of the ship flew in every direction, with a large chunk from the front spinning off into space.

"Oh, god," he heard himself say. He fell to his knees as bits of the dropship rained down around him.

"Did you really think we wouldn't be listening in?" the lieutenant said over the comm.

He turned to look behind him. The lieutenant was standing in the airlock with three of the men from his unit. "You're such a boy scout, Sergeant. You should know by now that situations like Aeneas call for a firm hand."

"Situations like Aeneas shouldn't happen at all!" he said, suddenly furious. He felt his hands grip his mag-pro so hard he was sure he would crush it. "You call this a firm hand?" He gestured at the ruin around him. "Those were kids, Lieutenant! They didn't deserve this!"

"Lower your weapon, Sergeant," the lieutenant said. When Yale hesitated, he could see the lieutenant's eyes narrow. "Don't push your luck. Somebody upstairs likes you, but—"

"Yale?" someone was saying tentatively.

Yale blinked and found himself standing in the center of his tent with his hands balled into fists, with Toshiko by the tent flap looking terrified, her dark hair plastered against her head by the rain. He swallowed hard and forced himself to let his hands relax. "Forgive me," he said. "I—"

"Are you all right?" Toshiko said, her eyes wide. "You looked—"

"I am quite well," he said, trying to calm himself. "Was there something you needed, Toshiko?"

"Um, yes," she said, still looking nervous. "I was hoping you had a recording of Breitman's Sixth Symphony in your database."

Yale blinked in surprise at her. "I was unaware you were fond of Breitman," he said.

She smiled tentatively, looking a little shamefaced. "I'm not, really," she said. "But Devon is, and…"

"And John Danziger wants to play her favorite piece on their date," Yale said, unable to keep the smile from his face, in spite of the lingering uneasiness from the flashback.

Toshiko nodded.

"I am happy to download a recording onto your tablet," he said, reaching out to take it from her. He plugged in his dataport and accessed the file.

"Yale," Toshiko said carefully as he handed her the tablet again, "are you sure you're all right?"

Yale glanced at her, and saw the fear in her face again. "I believe I was…experiencing a memory from my past. It is nothing to be afraid of," he added, as much for his own benefit as for her.

"It's just…you seemed angry," she said.

The tent flap was thrown aside, and Devon nearly ran into Toshiko as she dragged Uly inside. "Oh, sorry, Tosh," Devon said as Toshiko quickly sidestepped to get out of her way.

"Oh, it's all right," Toshiko said. "Thanks for the recording, Yale," she said, turning to him. "I was really getting bored with, um, my music, especially now that we're stuck here with nothing to do."

"It is my pleasure," Yale said as Toshiko left.

"All right, mister," Devon said to Uly. "You want to tell us what was so important you went off without your gear?"

Uly glanced nervously at Yale, and Yale could tell there was something he didn't want to say in front of his mother. "I just forgot it, Mom," he said. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Uly," Devon said. "I was worried about you!"

"I know," Uly said miserably. "I won't do it again."

"You better not," Devon said.

There was a loud sound from somewhere outside the tent, and then a series of muffled shouts. Devon tapped her gear. "What's going on?" she said.

"The damned mess tent blew over!" Danziger yelled, his voice distorted by the sound of the wind against his mike. "We've got crap blowing everywhere! Get everybody out here to help!"

Devon groaned and turned to Yale. "You keep an eye on him," she said, nodding at Uly. "He's not to leave the tent without you or me for the next three days."

"But Mom!" Uly protested, but she'd already left the tent. "Yale, it isn't fair!" Uly said, turning to appeal to him. "I was just helping Mr. Danziger with…you know what. Why should I get grounded for trying to do something nice for her?"

"You still should have taken your gear with you, Ulysses," Yale said. "Now, why don't you get dried off."

"Can't you talk to her?" Uly said. "She's completely overreacting."

Yale shook his head. "It is not my place to interfere with your mother's ideas about discipline," he said.

"You just don't want her to yell at you, too," Uly said darkly.

"You are absolutely correct, Ulysses," Yale said seriously, and Uly couldn't keep himself from smiling.

It was another fifteen minutes before Yale was finally able to spare a moment to try to record his experience with the flashback for Julia, though if he was completely honest with himself, he had been stalling.

The explosion of the ship had been horrifying, even without the knowledge that there had been children on board. But he could not understand his role in that event. Do you really want to? he thought sickly. He had certainly felt responsible in the memory. What if I was responsible for the deaths of those children?

He forced himself to stop thinking about that aspect. There are other elements of the flashback that could be important for Julia to know about, he told himself. Like the reference to…

He blinked. He couldn't remember the name the officer had used. He was certain it was the name of the place he had been. He should have been able to remember it clearly now, because it had been clear in the memory, and his cybernetic memory had recorded everything else. But it was as if his mechanical memory skipped that moment. Perhaps I should ask Toshiko if she heard me say anything, he thought, worried. It was unnerving for him to be unable to remember an experience that had happened only moments earlier.

Devon came in with Danziger behind her. "Thanks for the help, Devon," Danziger said, holding the tent flap shut. "That coulda been a huge mess."

"Good thing Phoebe runs a tight ship over there," Devon said.

"Yeah," Danziger said. "Listen, between this and the Transrover, I'm pretty swamped right now. Would you mind giving me a—"

"Raincheck?" Devon said wryly.

Danziger smiled. "Exactly. I don't think I'll have it ready for tomorrow night. I had most of it planned out, but I want to get it right. And it definitely won't work if it's still raining."

"It's okay," Devon said, touched by the effort he was putting into this. But she was also acutely aware of Uly's eyes on her. "I'm fine with waiting a little longer."

Melanie came over to where Alonzo was trying to set up his bunk so it was under a tarp and out of the rain, awkwardly balancing on his good leg. "Need a hand?" she said.

He glanced back at her warily. "Nah, I got it."

"Well, I'm not leaving, so you might as well take the help," Melanie said.

Alonzo looked annoyed, then waved his hand at the cot. "Knock yourself out."

Melanie helped him get everything squared away, then put on a diaglove as he lowered himself gingerly onto the cot. "Time to check your leg," she said.

"It's fine," he said.

"And you got your medical degree when?"

"About the same time you did," he growled.

"Okay, screw this," Melanie said. "I was trying to be nice, but if you want to be an asshole, I can be an asshole right back. I've seen you do some spectacularly stupid things in my time, but nothing comes close to you yelling at Julia for no apparent reason!"

"Oh, there was a reason," Alonzo began, then stopped, staring stonily at the Transrover, his arms crossed over his chest.

"This is crazy, 'Zo! You don't have a mean bone in your body. What did Julia do that's got you treating her like Hardy does?"

Alonzo narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, saying crap like that's really gonna get me to open up to you. Back off, Mel."

Melanie shook her head. "Fine. If you're in a mood to burn bridges, I'll just scan your leg and move on." She ran the diaglove over his leg as he sat silently fuming.

"Lucky me," she said finally. "It's healing fine. You can probably get off the crutches in a few days. After which, you won't have to see me again. At all." She turned on her heel and stomped off towards the mess tent.

Alonzo watched her go, hating himself for having screwed up everything so badly he couldn't even talk to his friends anymore.

No, he thought, thinking angrily of Julia's suspicious look. This isn't my fault.