Earth 2.1.2
Chapter 8
A/N: So I'm such a review junkie that when people say, "Post the next chapter NOW!" I get antsy, and the idea of carefully editing goes out the window.
Things get interesting from here on out. FYI, to prepare you for the ending of this chapter, I am sappier than a Vermont maple, and I'm taking pity on all of you for suffering through the angst of the last eight chapters. And yes, there's a giant sign reading "METAPHOR" flashing over the last paragraph.
Just know this—it's still me (meaning more angst and whump en route), and this far from over. I'll be posting more very soon. But this is like the top of a roller coaster's first hill. And those of you who've read my Promethean Heat know how I feel about roller coasters.
It took them another three hours of travel to get to the spot Alonzo and Artie found to the north. Danziger had gone ahead in the rail with Hardy zip-tied to the roll bar to start setting up the perimeter so they'd have it in place as soon as the rest arrived.
The last hour driving the Transrover was stressful for Devon. She'd never had to nurse a nearly-empty battery before, and when they finally pulled in well after dark, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"We would have been fine," Tru said. "You could have gotten another two k out of this before it went dry."
"Now you tell me," Devon groaned, and Tru laughed. "You're feeling better, aren't you?" Devon added, noticing Tru's color looked better even in the dim light of the Transrover cab.
"Yeah," Tru said. "It doesn't feel so hard to breathe anymore." She glanced over at Devon. "Thanks for what you said before," she said, smiled awkwardly, and scrambled out of the cab.
Devon breathed another sigh of relief, and followed her. Hardy was still sitting in the rail, looking grim.
"We're just about set up with the perimeter," Helen said, coming up. "And Danziger says he managed to extend the range of the sensors a little bit. Don't ask me how."
"That's good," Devon said absently, staring at Hardy.
"And Yale already got your tent set up. It's just over there," Helen said, pointing. When Devon didn't respond, she asked, "Do you really think he's the spy?"
"I wish I knew," Devon said.
"He isn't," Julia said, joining them with Melanie at her side. "At least, I don't think he is."
Devon looked sidelong at her, frowning in surprise. "Really?" she said. "After everything he said to you, I'd have thought—"
Julia was shaking her head. "That's actually part of why I don't think it's him. I can't imagine a Council agent being that obvious."
Devon nodded. "You have a point," she said, remembering her earlier comment about his lack of subtlety.
"But it's not just that," Julia went on. "It just doesn't make sense that the spy would be one of the crew. The Council would have wanted someone with Eden Project."
"Oh, so now you think I'm—" Melanie began, but stopped when Julia shot her a pleading look.
Devon considered that for a long moment. It made a lot of sense. And she had to admit, part of the reason she was so ready so suspect Hardy was that she just didn't like the man.
"So what do we do with him?" Helen asked.
"We keep him under lock and key," Julia said.
"Huh?" Melanie said. "But...you just said—"
"It's the only way to prove he's innocent," Julia said. She looked around at everyone. "I'm not naïve," she said. "I'm not certain about any of this. But Hardy didn't know where the winter camp was going to be, did he?" She looked over at Devon, who shook her head.
"I hadn't told anyone else where we were going yet," she said. "Rob, Sergei," Devon called, and they came over, along with Danziger and several of the others. "Did you tell anybody where the winter camp site you found is?"
"No, I figured we'd be there tomorrow, so it didn't matter," Rob said, and Sergei shook his head as well.
"So if we set up our camp there, and the Terriers and the Council find us anyway—" Julia began.
"—then we know for sure he isn't the spy," Melanie said, nodding.
"Not for sure," Danziger said. "They could find us by accident. They do know where we're headed, at least in general."
"He's right," Helen said, looking steadily at Julia. "And he wouldn't even have to actively report in for them to find us. You had a tracking device on you, and you didn't even know it."
"True," Julia said, "but Melanie would have picked up a signal like that, right?"
Melanie nodded. "Right after we found out about the spy, I set up an alert to sound if any transmission goes out like the one that Julia's encryption chip was broadcasting," she said.
"But you destroyed the encryption chip from the agent," Helen said. "So there's no way he could be broadcasting anyway."
"Unless he got another one from the agent at the supply pod," Devon said.
Melanie looked troubled by that. "I'll check my logs," she said, and took off towards the trailer to get her bag.
"In the meantime," Devon said, "don't anybody hassle Hardy. If he is the spy, we'll deal with it when we know for sure. And if he isn't, none of you need to be carrying around a load of guilt for doing something stupid. All right?"
There were reluctant nods all around, but to Devon's great relief, no one really seemed all that upset by her order. Nobody wants to believe any of us is a spy, she thought as she headed for her tent. Not even Hardy.
Devon pulled aside the tent flap and stepped in. Uly was already asleep, and she envied him that. It had been an exhausting day.
And then she realized with a jolt that Yale wasn't in the tent. She whirled and ducked back out, looking around wildly the moment she got outside.
He was standing just beyond the tent next to theirs, his back to her, and his shoulders were hunched. She saw a faint flash of red light beyond him and realized that he was only meters away from the perimeter Danziger had set up. Everyone's on edge, she thought uneasily, waiting for the Terriers to hit us. If he trips that alarm-
"Yale?" she called softly, trying not to startle him, but he didn't respond. She hesitated, then tapped her gear. "Julia, could you come over to my tent?" she said, keeping her voice low.
"Devon?" Julia said. "What's wrong? Is it Yale?"
"Yes," she said. "Hurry."
"On my way," Julia said.
"You can't find solace, can you?" Yale said, and Devon looked back up at him, but it wasn't his voice. It was the voice she'd heard quoting Dante. He didn't say anything for a long moment, and Devon was about to say something when he said, "And you want me to be your scapegoat, take the fall for the whole thing. What's the story you're going to tell about me?"
There was another long pause, and Devon held her breath. Come on, Julia, hurry!
"I'll show you rogue!" Yale said suddenly, and he took a step forward. Directly towards the perimeter.
"Yale, no!" she said, lunging towards him. She grabbed his left arm as he was about to take another step forward, and the moment she did, he whirled, his right arm raised, and Devon let go and stepped back, raising her hands. "Yale, it's me!"
He stepped towards her, his arm still raised, his hand clenched tightly in a fist, and she backed away, suddenly afraid of the man she would have trusted with her life.
"Yale!" she said again. "It's me, Devon! Please!"
He blinked, then looked horrified. He staggered back, lowering his arm.
"No, Yale, stop!" Devon said. "Don't move!"
"Devon?" Julia said from behind her.
Yale had stopped, breathing hard, but he looked like he was ready to run.
"Yale, listen to me," Devon said steadily, trying to keep her voice calm. "Everything's all right. But I need you to come over here."
"No!" Yale said, shaking his head wildly. "Devon, I nearly hurt you!"
"I know that," Devon said. "But you stopped yourself! It's okay!"
"Danziger," she heard Julia said behind her. "Shut down the perimeter! Just do it! Hurry!"
"It is not okay!" Yale said. "I cannot allow myself to put you at risk any longer."
Devon didn't like the sound of that. "Yale, don't do anything crazy," she said.
Yale actually laughed at that, a raw, rasping laugh that set off warning bells in Devon's head. "Crazy? I am crazy. You do not wish to see it, but I am. I have to protect you from myself. I must leave!"
"No, Yale, you don't have to go to protect them," Julia said, stepping up next to Devon. "We're close to getting answers for you. Just give me a little more time!"
"Will these answers ensure that I am not a danger to anyone in this camp?" Yale said.
Julia opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. She shook her head. "I can't guarantee that," she said reluctantly. "But isn't it worth trying? Think this through, Yale. You're a danger to us wherever you are. You know where we are, where we're going, what weapons and equipment we have. If the Council gets hold of you, they could download all that information from you, and you couldn't stop them."
Yale looked sick at the thought. He shook his head. "I cannot allow that," he said.
"Then come with us," Devon said, pleading.
"No!" He looked at Julia. "You must sedate me! It is the only way to keep me from harming anyone!"
"Yale, we've been through this," Julia said. "It's too risky—"
"That was before I nearly struck Devon!" Yale said. "Julia, please!"
Julia looked torn, but to Devon's surprise, she finally nodded. "But you have to come to the med tent," she said, smiling grimly. "I'm not going to drag you over there."
Yale looked wary, but nodded, and Julia led him towards the med tent. As they went, Devon tapped her gear. "Danziger, you can turn the perimeter back on again," she said.
"You okay, Adair?" he said, and there was genuine concern in his voice, and she realized just how shaky her voice must have been.
"I don't know," she said honestly. She closed the channel and followed Julia into the med tent.
"What's going on?" Melanie said as they came in.
"I'll explain in a minute," Julia said, then turned to Yale. He still looked like he was ready to bolt, but he lay down on Julia's bunk when she nodded towards it. She pulled out a vial from her dispensary and loaded it into a hypospray.
"Are you sure about this?" she said, turning back to Yale. "Just give me a few hours—"
"In a few hours, I could kill someone, Julia," Yale said. "Please!"
Julia took a deep breath, and administered the sedative. Yale subsided immediately into sleep.
"How long will he be out?" Devon asked, feeling wrung out.
"Not as long as he'd like," Julia said. "About six hours. Hopefully, that'll be long enough for me to find out what I need to know."
"Which is what?" Melanie asked before Devon could.
Julia glanced over at Devon, then shook her head. "I'd rather not say till I know for sure. Keep an eye on him, Mel," Julia said. "Scan him every hour, and let me know if there's any change in his brain activity, especially if it starts to drop. If he wakes up before I get back, and he gets agitated, give him this." She handed Melanie a vial. "It's the mildest sedative I have."
"Every hour?" Melanie said, looking glum. "Great. Another sleepless night."
Devon followed Julia out of the med tent. "Where are you going?" she said.
Julia stopped and turned to look at her. "Devon—" she began, then hesitated. "I may have a way to find out more about Yale's past, but I could be wrong. And even if I'm right, and we are able to reconstruct the events he's fighting to remember, I can't be sure that will help." Her expression changed, and Devon realized it was the same look she'd had when she'd told everyone about O'Neill's death. "You need to prepare yourself for the possibility we might not be able to help him."
"No," Devon whispered.
"Devon," Julia said, putting her hand on Devon's arm, "I'll do everything I can to stabilize him. But keeping him sedated is not a long-term solution. I need you to go talk to Valerie. See how far she's gotten with his programming, and explain to her that we're going to need something soon."
Devon nodded, unable to find words, and watched as Julia walked purposefully over towards the Transrover. She turned and started for Valerie's tent, hoping she was still awake. Please, Devon thought, let us find something. I can't lose him.
Alonzo looked up as Julia approached his bunk. She seemed nervous.
"Don't tell me you're still worried about me being the spy," he said tersely.
"No," she said instantly. "No, not at all."
"Good," he said, and a small part of the knot of anger still coiled in his stomach faded. "So do you want to tell me how you know so much about my past?"
"This man, Biko," she said abruptly. "What was he like?"
Alonzo shook his head, struggling to keep up with wherever Julia was going. "He was a non-com. Sergeant Andre Biko." He smiled faintly, remembering. "I don't know what he looks like. I never met him face-to-face. But you still haven't answered my—"
"But you've heard his voice," Julia interrupted. "You'd recognize it?"
"Absolutely," Alonzo said. "I recognized it the other day, when Yale was playing a recording—"
"What?" Julia said, and she looked eager, almost hopeful.
"Yale was playing a recording. While you and Devon and Danziger were out looking for the kids," Alonzo said. "I thought he was doing it to get to me—"
"He wasn't. He didn't even know you were there," Julia said, and she looked relieved, then excited. "What else did you talk about besides Dante? You and Biko, I mean. Before the mines," Julia added.
Alonzo blinked again, caught off balance by her change of subject. "What? Look, Julia, I don't know what you're trying—"
"Alonzo, please," she said insistently. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but this is really important. And I don't know how much time I have. I'll explain later, I promise. What did you talk about?"
He frowned for a moment, then sighed. "I don't know. A lot of stuff. Shakespeare, Cervantes. He loved that my mother named me after Don Quixote," Alonzo said.
"Poetry?" Julia asked.
"Yeah," Alonzo said, deciding it would be easier just to answer her questions and see where she went with it. "He liked the more recent stuff better than the classics. He even introduced me to some stuff I'd never seen before."
"Like what?" Julia said, leaning forward and studying his face intently.
Alonzo looked baffled. "Why do you—? Oh, never mind. Um…" He tried to remember. "There was this 20th century poet. I think she was from Russia or someplace like that. A really weird name—"
"Szymborska," Julia murmured. "Wislawa Szymborska." She looked up at Alonzo, who was looking at her like she'd started speaking in tongues. "She's Yale's favorite poet, Alonzo."
Alonzo went white. "You mean…?"
"Yes," Julia said, nodding. "That's exactly what I mean. And now you know why this is so important."
Alonzo shook his head. "How is that even possible? How could he be here?"
"The same way you could," Julia said. "I have no idea about the specifics, but he must have been in coldsleep for an extended period. Now, I need you to remember everything you can about Biko. Everything. Even the tiniest details."
Alonzo felt like he'd been through a CSF interrogation by the time Julia seemed satisfied. She refused to let him stop, going over every detail from the moment he met Biko all the way through his deposition for the CSF after he'd thawed out. By the time they finished, it was nearly dawn, and Alonzo felt like he'd relived those awful events in real time. But once Julia had explained why she needed to know, he'd been more than willing to help.
"So you're certain about this?" Alonzo said as Julia started for the med tent.
"It's the only possible explanation," Julia said.
"I can't believe it," Alonzo said, following her. "All this time, he was right here in front of me, and I didn't know it. I feel like such an idiot."
Julia paused, and Alonzo nearly ran into her as she turned to face him, her expression fierce. "You are an idiot! If you'd just told—!" she said angrily, but then stopped, shaking her head, looking down at the ground. She took a steadying breath and looked up at him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't—that isn't fair."
And looking at her, in at that moment, Alonzo knew exactly what he was going to do when they got to New Pacifica.
By the time he'd processed that thought, Julia had turned back towards the med tent, and slapped at her gear. "Devon," she said. "I need you at the med tent. Now."
"What's wrong?" she said. "Is Yale okay?"
"He's fine. But I have answers for you now. And for him. I think what I have to tell him is going to fix things for him, but if it doesn't…"
"Valerie says if you give her another day, uninterrupted, she might be able to come up with a fix," Devon said.
"I said another day, uninterrupted, with coffee," Valerie said over the gear. "Without coffee, we're talking two, maybe three days."
"You can have my ration," Julia said.
"You still have some!?" Valerie said joyfully. "God, Julia, if you give me coffee, I will fix Yale and then I'll build you another synthlab. A tricked-out, sequined synthlab."
"It's yours," Julia said. "I'll send Melanie over with it in a minute." She turned and went into the tent, holding the flap for Alonzo.
"So my approach worked?" Melanie said, blinking tiredly and smiling at Julia as she saw Alonzo follow her in.
Julia smiled absently at her, nodded, and looked over at Yale. "He's still asleep?"
"Mmm," Melanie said. "No change last time I checked, which was about ten minutes ago."
Julia hesitated, then grabbed a hypospray, slapped in a vial, injected it into Yale, and started scanning him.
"Your approach?" Alonzo said under his breath to Melanie.
"Sometimes I give good advice," Melanie said primly. "You should remember that."
Devon came in. "How is he?" she said.
Julia ignored her, still scanning Yale's vitals. "He should be waking up at any moment. When he does, Alonzo, you know what to say?"
"Yeah," Alonzo said, looking nervous. "But what if he doesn't remember?"
"Remember what?" Devon said, looking back and forth between them.
"We hope Valerie can work fast," Julia said, still ignoring her. She turned and rummaged in one of her medical cases, and pulled out a small tin. She handed it to Melanie. "Would you take this over to Valerie?"
Melanie glared at her. "You've been holding out on me, Julia." She took the tin, looking at it dubiously. "And this isn't going to be nearly enough for Valerie." She left the tent, and Julia turned back to Yale, looking sharply down at him as he stirred. "Yale?" she said tentatively.
His eyes opened, and the look of terror was almost instantly back.
"Hey, relax, Biko," Alonzo said breezily, leaning over the bunk to look down at him, smiling. "I told you we'd make it out okay. Remember? E quindi uscimmo, a riveder le stelle. I still owe you a beer."
Yale looked at him, blinked several times, and then frowned. "Solace?" he said, and it was the same voice they'd been hearing from him during flashbacks.
"In the flesh," Alonzo said, grabbing his hand. "God, I'm so sorry about what happened. I never should have gotten you into that—"
"No," Yale said. "No way, Solace. I was already in it. I couldn't have done anything different, even if you hadn't been there. I'm just glad you made it."
"I'm glad we both did," Alonzo said, blinking hard. "All these years, I thought you were dead."
Yale's face went oddly blank for an instant, then he looked at Alonzo again. "I think I was," Yale said, and it was Yale's normal accent.
"Yale?" Alonzo said.
He nodded slowly, looking confused.
"But you remember?" Julia said.
"Some," Yale said. "It is difficult." He frowned, looking at Alonzo's hands clasping his normal hand.
"Yale, I need to be sure you understand this," Julia said. "The man you were before they did this to you," she gestured at his mechanical arm, "was a good man. He tried to save innocent people, tried to save children. Whatever you have to be afraid of, you don't need to be afraid of him."
"But I may still be unstable," he said, though he sounded far less certain than he had before.
"Yes," Julia said, "you might be. But now you know the memories that have been coming out are memories you don't have to be afraid of. They may be unpleasant, even painful, but they are memories of something you should be proud of."
Julia could feel Alonzo's eyes on her. "What you did on Aeneas was brave, one of the bravest acts I've ever heard of. You tried to save children, Yale. And the Council punished you for it by putting you in coldsleep for god knows how long and then turning you into a cyborg." She put her hand on his shoulder. "Don't let them punish you any more by letting yourself be afraid of who you are."
He let out a shuddering breath. "What do I do?"
Julia took an indecisive breath. "At this point, I think all we can do is try to go on the way we have been. I'm hopeful that knowing this will help you to avoid more blackouts or flashbacks. But even if you keep having them, they don't necessarily mean you're unstable. And even if you are, there might be something we can do. Valerie thinks she can find a way to rewrite your programming."
Yale nodded slowly, then frowned. "But why am I only remembering that one event, on Aeneas? Why not something of my family?"
Julia sighed, wishing she could give him those memories. "I don't know, Yale." She smiled tentatively at him. "But now that you know all this, I hope some of the other memories will start to come back."
By that point, it was obvious Devon was desperate to ask questions, and Yale needed some time to process all of it, so Julia tried to explain it all to her.
Devon shook her head. "How on earth did you figure this out?"
Julia glanced at Alonzo. "Apparently I'm living a Dickens novel," she said, smiling wryly, and showed Alonzo her thumb ring. "Remember what I said about this belonging to my—"
"Great-grandmother," Alonzo said, suddenly understanding what she meant. He ran his hand through his hair. "This is crazy."
"Somebody want to clue me in?" Devon said.
"My grandfather was the man who got Alonzo away from the Council after he was rescued," Julia said. "And I'm almost certain that means my great-grandmother and her youngest son were on the dropship he was flying. I knew they'd both died on Aeneas, I just didn't know how or why. Until now."
"I know," Alonzo said, smiling wryly at Devon's incredulous look. "It sounds impossible—the odds against the three of us ending up here together have to be astronomical. It's almost enough to make you believe there's somebody up there planning this stuff."
"You do not believe in a higher power?" Yale asked Alonzo.
Alonzo's face darkened. "God and I had a little falling out after he decided it was cool to blow up a bunch of kids and leave me here to live with it."
Yale winced.
"Hey, Yale, it's not your fault that happened," Alonzo said quickly. "And I'm pretty much okay with being alive now." He winked, and Yale smiled a little.
"And I wouldn't say a higher power was involved," Julia said. "At least not that high."
Devon looked at her. "Wait—you mean your mother?"
Julia nodded. "It would certainly make sense. I know she had access to Yale near the time he became a cyborg." She recounted the argument she'd overheard. "It might have been too risky for her to intercede at that point, but it would make sense for her to have arranged for Yale to end up with you, Devon."
"If that's the case, then Yale can't be dangerous," Devon said, looking relieved.
"No, Devon, wouldn't go that far," Julia said, wishing she could tell her something else. "I can't be certain she was involved in that way. And even if she was, I can't begin to tell you what her motives might have been. But…I'm hopeful."
Devon studied her for a moment. I'll bet you are, she thought. It would explain so much, and in the best possible way. She sent out a silent plea to any higher power that might be listening that it was true, and then turned to Yale. "Come on. Let's go back to our tent. It'll actually be quiet there—Uly's asleep." She smiled.
Yale looked conflicted, and Julia could imagine his fears of what he might do to Uly battling his desire to see the little boy. She breathed a sigh of relief when the fears lost and Yale followed Devon out of the tent.
They got on the road again as quickly as they could load up, with Hardy riding on the back of the Transrover, his hands still ziptied. He hadn't said a word to anyone while they packed, which was a relief to Devon. Between the fear of a Terrier attack and the crisis with Yale, she didn't think she could handle anything else.
"How's Yale?" Danziger said, coming up to her as she finished loading her tent onto the trailer.
"Better," she said, smiling tentatively at him. "We're not out of the woods yet, but we're better off than we were last night."
"Good," he said gruffly, and turned to climb into the Transrover cab to join Tru.
"John," Devon said, "wait." He turned and looked at her warily. "I'm sorry I haven't had the chance to say anything to you. It's been kind of crazy since we got back with the kids, and between Yale and Hardy—well, I should have made the time, but I—"
"Spit it out, Adair," he said. "We need to get moving."
Devon stiffened, irritated at his brusqueness, but swallowed her pride. "I'm sorry for what I said to you before," she said in a rush. "When I thought Uly might be—" She stopped, swallowing hard. "None of that was your fault, or Tru's, and I shouldn't have said any of it. It was unfair of me to take out my fears on you, especially when you were just as scared as I was. I'm really sorry."
Danziger looked at her for a long moment, his expression unreadable.
"So…that's what I wanted to say," she said uncertainly, and turned to leave.
"Adair," Danziger said, and she stopped and looked back at him. "Once we get the winter camp set up, you need to finish your gun training."
"Oh," Devon said, surprised. "Okay."
"I'll be in touch," he said, and climbed into the Transrover.
Yale spent most of the morning talking to Alonzo as they walked, but it didn't seem to lessen his worry. If anything, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else, and he seemed relieved when they made it to the site that Rob and Sergei had picked out.
It was a perfect spot. A jagged series of rocks jutted out of the earth near where the spur of foothills they'd been paralleling jutted out from the main mountain range running north to south. The rocks formed a broad U in one spot, a little meadow nestled in at their base, with a stream running across the open end of the U. They'd be protected by rocks on three sides, and by the stream on the fourth.
"I see why Rob and Sergei liked this," Devon said. "It couldn't be much better."
"And we got here not a moment too soon," Melanie said, looking up at the midday sun as the rest of the group started unloading the trailer.
"Why?" Devon said. She followed Melanie's look, but the sun was still obscured by thick clouds. "The cloud cover isn't going to break up is it? Should we wait to put up the domes?"
"No," Melanie said. "That's not the problem." She pulled out her tablet and called up an image. "I was looking at some of the sat images from the last few days. I had a lot of time to study them last night," she added, and yawned. "Anyway, see this?" She pointed to a swirl of clouds shaped like an apostrophe just to the northwest of the continent.
"Is that a storm?" Devon said, unsure of what she was looking at.
"I think so. I had Yale load all of his files on weather into my tablet a while back, and long story short, when you get that spiral thingy going on, it's bad," Melanie said. "And it's headed this way."
"How long till it gets here?" Devon asked.
"I have no idea," Melanie said. "I'm not even certain it will. It looks like it's on track to hit us, but it doesn't seem to be following a steady line, or moving at a steady rate. And who knows what the mountain range will do to it. We could be looking at a few days, or a week. It could turn and run out to sea again. Or it could speed up and hit us tomorrow."
Devon called Rick and Rob over. "You're still sure you want to set up the domes?" Rick said as he came up. "I mean, if we have to move camp—"
"We won't be moving camp until the winter is over," Devon said emphatically. "If the Terriers or the Council or flying monkeys attack us, we make our stand here. I'm tired of running, and the domes will be a lot better protection than the tents if they do attack. So where did you plan to set them up?"
"The flattest spots are farther back from the stream," Rob said, turning to show her. "And I'd like to have some open ground on this side of the stream anyway."
"That way," Rick put in, "anybody coming after us first has to get up the bank of the stream, and then go through a kill zone."
"A what?" Melanie said.
Rick smiled thinly. "Todd has a thing for military history," he said. "He was really excited when he saw this spot. A kill zone is a spot where you want to channel the people attacking you so you can concentrate your fire there."
"See, we use the rocks along the base of the cliffs on both sides as cover," Rob said, pointing, "and that way we catch them in a crossfire."
Devon swallowed hard at that thought.
"Exactly," Rick said. "So I figure we set up one dome there," he pointed to a spot about thirty meters back from where the cliffs met the river, "and the other one farther back. Then if they do come, we move all the unarmed people into the rear dome."
Devon nodded. "How fast can you get the domes set up?"
"Three days," Rick said. "Maybe."
Devon shook her head. "You get two."
Rick looked worried. "Why?"
"We might have weather coming in," Melanie said.
Rob raised his eyebrows. "Okay," he said. "We'll make it happen. I can't guarantee we'll have the camouflaging done by then, though. Phoebe and Inez have the biocord netting just about ready, but it's going to be hard getting that into place."
"Move fast," Devon said, looking up at the sky uneasily.
As it turned out, they were able to move a lot faster than Rick had expected. Yale threw himself into helping with the construction with a single-minded fierceness that worried Devon. His cybernetically-enhanced strength allowed him to move pieces that would have taken two or more people to move otherwise, and he refused nearly every offer of help.
He's trying to work himself to death, Devon thought. Or at least to the point of collapse.
He also seemed to be avoiding Alonzo. Almost as much as Julia is, Devon thought, glancing over at the rear dome, the one they were calling Dome One. Initially, they'd planned on housing everyone in the two domes, but Julia had insisted that they needed to keep the med tent, since she'd need a way to keep people in isolation if they became ill.
Devon had been uneasy about it, but she'd given in. We can always pull her into the dome if we have to, she thought. So they'd arranged the med tent so it was tucked in behind the dome, with the back door opening onto it so they could heat it more effectively but still use it as an isolation area if they needed to. To no one's surprise, Julia seemed glad to have the distance from everyone.
Especially from Alonzo. Apparently the revelation of Alonzo's past hadn't cleared the air the way Devon had hoped it would. If anything, it seemed like things were worse between them, though the blame for that seemed to have shifted dramatically to Julia.
"I don't get it," Helen said when Devon mentioned it to her as they ate dinner inside their newly-constructed dome. "I know he said some things to her that were pretty harsh, but it doesn't seem like she's really mad at him."
"I don't think she is," Devon said. "I just don't know what she is feeling."
"They'll get past it," Helen said confidently. "They just need some time. It's not like they haven't been through something like this before. Alonzo's pretty persistent, you know." She winked.
I hope he stays that way, Devon thought uneasily.
"Hey, Julia," Melanie said, coming into the med tent from Dome One. "How's it going?"
"Fine," Julia said absently, pulling a microscope out of a case and setting it on her lab table. "It'll be nice not to have to pack all this up again tomorrow."
Melanie nodded. "Actually, that brings up something I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh?" Julia said, turning to look questioningly at her.
"See, almost everybody's moving into Dome One, since it's the safest, which means..." Melanie said, and then faltered.
Julia smiled. "There's a lot of space in Dome Two. And more privacy," she said. "Right?"
Melanie actually blushed. "Yeah," she said.
"And you want to move in with Rob," Julia finished.
Melanie nodded, and looked nervous. "You don't mind, do you? It's not that I don't like rooming with you. It's been really nice. But—"
"I don't mind at all," Julia said, trying not to let her relief show. As much as she liked Melanie, there were too many times when she just needed to be by herself. And Melanie can be exhausting, she thought wryly.
Melanie looked relieved, then frowned. "Why are you so eager to get rid of me?" she said.
"I'm not," Julia said, laughing. "I'll miss you, I promise."
Melanie gave her a searching look, then smiled. "You know, this is sort of an opportunity for you, too."
Julia's smile vanished.
"Come on, Julia, you apologized, and Alonzo told me he doesn't blame you," Melanie persisted. "So this is the part where you kiss and make up."
If only it were that easy, Julia thought, and for the thousandth time, she remembered his face, taut with anger, when he said—
"Hey, now, what's got you so miserable all of a sudden?" Melanie said, ducking her head to catch Julia's eye. "Things are looking up—we're halfway to New Pacifica, you figured out how to help Yale, and Alonzo's not the spy. It's all good!"
"And the Terriers are out there, with the Council, we still don't know who the spy is, and our food situation is shaky at best." Julia forced a smile. "I know, I know," she said. "I'm just used to brooding, that's all. It's a hard habit to break."
Melanie didn't look convinced, but it was enough to mollify her for the moment.
"Hey, Adair," Danziger said, coming into Dome One. "You got a minute?"
"Sure," Devon said, trying to sound nonchalant. But she felt herself getting nervous, and she wondered why she was so tied up in knots over getting back into his good graces.
"I was talking to Rick, and now that we have the domes set up, we're thinking it's a good time to go after the supply pod they found." He held up his hand to forestall her protest. "I know, you're worried about the Terriers and the Council. But we figure we can cut through the foothills in a rail and scout out the situation. If they're still there, we bug out. If not, we can make a run in, grab the stuff we can, and bring it back."
Devon shook her head. "It's too dangerous," she insisted. "What if they're waiting for you? Or worse, what if they hide and follow you back? You could lead them right here."
"I think it's a risk we have to take," Danziger said, frowning. "You know how worried Julia's been about our protein sources. And we don't have nearly enough winter gear to send out as many hunting parties as we're likely to need. But the thing that really has me worried is ammunition. What we have isn't gonna hold out forever, especially if we get into a firefight."
"I know that," Devon said, beginning to get annoyed, "Rick and I already talked about that a couple of days ago." And you already knew that, too, she thought. "But we're not going to run out in the next few days. Melanie says there's a storm coming in, and I don't want anybody caught out in the middle of it."
"We're willing to go," he said persistently. "We talked to Melanie. She says the storm could be a few days off yet. We could be to the pod and back in a day and a half."
"And you'd be out there on your own, overnight, with hostile Terriers and Council agents looking for you," Devon said. "No, I won't allow it." She stopped as Danziger rolled his eyes. Her look hardened. "I mean it, Danziger. We'll go after it once I'm sure it's safe."
"Which will be when hell freezes over," Danziger said disgustedly. "You know damned well there isn't going to be a time when we're sure."
"Don't push me, Danziger," Devon said coldly.
He glared at her for a long moment, then shook his head. "Yeah, I've seen you angry enough already," he said, and turned on his heel, slamming the door to the dome as he left.
Oh, that went well, Devon thought, frustrated. What do I have to do? Grovel? And he knows I'm right! He's just arguing for the sake of argument. She had thought maybe he was getting over it when he told her she needed to finish gun training, but now she wondered if maybe that was just him finding another way to twist the knife.
And how long would it take you to forgive him if he'd said those things to you? an annoying voice in her head asked.
"Julia?" Alonzo called from the hallway from the dome into the med tent. "Can I come in?"
There was no sound for what seemed like a long time, and Alonzo was beginning to wonder if she was really still in there when she pulled the tent flap aside. "What did you need?" she said, looking wary.
Alonzo glanced back at the dome, hoping no one was listening. "I'd like to talk to you," he said.
Julia looked like she was trying to come up with an excuse not to, so he shouldered his way past her into the med tent.
Julia looked like she was bracing for an attack when he turned to face her. "About what?" she said, though it was clear she knew what to expect.
"You've been avoiding me again," he said bluntly. "Why?"
Julia looked steadily at him, her chin tilted up slightly. "I'm not avoiding you," she said, but when he returned her gaze, she looked away.
"Look, I get it if you're angry at me. You're right, I should have just told you everything. But I really thought you already knew," he said.
"I'm not angry at you," Julia said, and he noticed the slight emphasis on the last word. She turned and started putting some of the medical equipment on the lab table into one of the cases.
"Then what's wrong?" Alonzo said, his voice rising.
"There's nothing—" Julia began.
"Stop lying to me!" Alonzo snapped, and Julia looked shocked. "Damn it, Julia, we got into this mess because we weren't talking to each other! So talk to me!"
"Don't yell at me," Julia said, still facing away from him.
"Don't make me," Alonzo said. "Every time something happens between us, you do this. You shut down, you walk away, and it takes us weeks to get back to where we started. I'm tired of it, Julia. For god's sake, I told you I loved you! Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
Julia's head lowered slightly, and he could see the tension in her shoulders, but she didn't say anything.
"Look at me!" Alonzo said, grabbing her shoulder.
She whirled, knocking his hand away with hers, and she stepped away, trying to put distance between them.
"Do you care about me?" Alonzo said, following her. "Do you?"
"Yes!" she said, her eyes flashing, but there was an emotion behind the anger that he couldn't identify.
"Well, you have a funny way of showing it!"
"God, don't you think I know that?" Julia shouted. She balled her hands into fists and forced herself to breathe out. "Please, Alonzo, I can't do this—" She started past him, but he shifted into her way.
"Yes, you can!" he said, holding up his hands to show he wasn't going to grab her. "Just...say what you're thinking."
She looked up at him. "No. I need to calm down. I say things when I'm angry, and I…" She took a deep breath. "I don't like myself when I get like this. Just let me go. Please."
"Hey, you can yell at me all you want," Alonzo said, smiling. "That's why I'm doing this. We yell, we get it out of our systems, and then we get past it. Don't worry—I can take it. It won't bother me. "
"It would bother me!" Julia exploded. "Don't you understand?"
"Explain it to me," Alonzo said, holding out his hands pleadingly.
"Genetically-enhanced memory," Julia said, pointing at her head savagely, "remember? I can't just forgive and forget! I'm sure you've replayed conversations in your head, haven't you? Wishing you'd said something you didn't, wishing you could take back something you did say?"
"You don't have to—"
"But you can't do it like I do!" Julia shook her head bitterly. "When I remember a conversation, I don't just replay every word, I replay what it felt like to hear every word, to say it, and I can replay it over and over, in slow motion, without missing a single instant! Every time I think about an argument, it's like having it all over again, and it hurts!" She took a ragged breath.
Alonzo's eyes went wide. "Oh," he said. "Damn. Julia, I—"
"I have done nothing for the last week but relive that night, knowing I was completely wrong about you, wrong to have ever doubted you!" Julia said. "And every time I look at you, I hear you telling me you weren't the spy, and I didn't say I believed you. I see the look on your face when you said you love me, and I didn't say it back!" She shook her head. "You want to know why I avoid you? Because you're a constant reminder of how toxic I am!"
"But—"
"Just let me go, before I say something else I'll hate myself for," Julia said, and she flung herself out of the tent, leaving Alonzo kicking himself in her wake.
Danziger came into Dome Two and headed for the storage room where they were keeping Hardy. Rob looked up from where he was setting up his bunk a few meters away.
"He said anything?" Danziger said.
"Not a word," Rob said.
Danziger sighed. He punched in the unlock code on the door panel, and went in. The storeroom wasn't big, just enough to hold a cot and a chair, and Hardy was lying on the cot. He glanced up when Danziger came in, then went back to staring at the ceiling.
Danziger sat down in the chair, and realized he had no idea how to start.
"It's not me," Hardy said. He turned to look at Danziger, and his expression was unreadable. "I'm not the spy."
Danziger laughed humorlessly. "That's what they all say."
Hardy looked at him for a long moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so. But I kinda had to say it." He ran one hand through his thinning hair. "I really blew this one, John."
Danziger frowned, wondering if he was actually confessing. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, I couldn't have set myself up better for this," he said, waving his hand at the storeroom around him. "First, going after Julia the way I did, and then going off on my own after the supply pod. Christ, I should have just stood in the middle of camp and sworn an oath of loyalty to the Council. It would've been faster."
Danziger nodded. "I guess so," he said. "Which is one of the reasons Julia doesn't think it's you."
Hardy looked at him sharply. "What?"
Danziger smiled thinly. "You heard me. She was pretty stubborn about it, too."
Hardy closed his eyes and sighed. "My dad was right. I'm as thick-skulled as they come."
"What was your first clue?" Danziger said dryly. He held up his hands placatingly as Hardy glared at him. "Listen, I get it. You were scared, and you didn't know Julia as well as the rest of us. If you'd seen her after the crash with O'Neill, and especially when she went after Morgan…" He shook his head. "Man, nobody fakes that kind of mad. I really think if Mel hadn't knocked her out, she'd have tried to kill him."
Hardy looked chagrined. "Bill tried to tell me that, but…" He trailed off.
"But you weren't listening to anybody," Danziger said pointedly.
"Yeah," Hardy said, drawing the word out painfully. "And now I know how it feels." He looked at Danziger. "So what are they going to do to me?"
"Nothin'," Danziger said. "At least not yet. Julia convinced Devon that it was better to keep you locked up. She figures if we keep you from having a chance to contact anybody, then if something happens, it could clear you."
Hardy looked hopeful for a moment, then shook his head. "It won't work—I could have a transmitter stashed someplace."
"Yeah," Danziger said. "Mel already thought of that. She hasn't tracked any outgoing signals since Julia's last stint in VR. So the only way you could have contacted them—"
"—is in person," Hardy said, and rolled his eyes. "Wonderful. So if we get attacked any time soon I'm screwed."
"Wow," Melanie said, sitting with Alonzo in Dome One. "And here I thought having a memory that good would be great."
"Yeah," Alonzo said glumly. "Not so much. I really tried to explain to her that I don't blame her, that it's okay, but she just won't listen."
"That's because it's not about how you feel about it," Melanie said. "Julia is the most relentlessly self-critical person I've ever met. She has these unbelievably high standards for herself that she'll never, ever meet, but that doesn't stop her from beating herself up for failing."
"And there's no way in hell I can fix this," Alonzo said. "Just being around me makes her miserable, and it isn't even anything I did."
"Hold up there, mister," Melanie said, giving him a serious look. "It took the both of you to create this mess."
Alonzo looked chagrined. "I know, I know," he said. "But I told her I was sorry! What else am I supposed to do?"
"How about being patient?" Melanie said.
"Christ, Mel, how long am I supposed to wait!?" Alonzo said, and several of the others around the dome looked up.
Melanie smiled awkwardly at Inez, and then looked back at Alonzo. "Dang," she said under her breath, "and I thought living in camp was like living under a microscope. Thank god I'm going to be over in the other dome with Rob."
"You are?" Alonzo said. "So Julia's going to be all by herself? Oh, that's just great."
"You know that's how she wants it," Melanie said. "I drove her crazy most of the time, even when I was trying not to bother her. Heck, she deserves some kind of prize for putting up with me this long…" She trailed off, looking thoughtful.
"What?" Alonzo said.
Melanie seemed to come to some sort of decision. "I have an idea," she said. She looked at him. "Don't you give up on her, okay? Between us, we'll get her over this, I promise. It may take a while, but isn't she worth the wait?"
"Devon, have you seen Yale?" Julia asked over the gear.
Devon sighed. "He's over on the other side of Dome Two, helping Rick set up some defensive positions." She hesitated for a moment, then went on. "Would you talk to him? I think he's still scared he might do something to hurt us."
"Of course," Julia said. "I'll do what I can." She closed the channel and started over to Dome Two. She shivered in the cold wind. She'd walked around their new site for almost an hour after she left Alonzo, and all she had to show for it was a newfound appreciation for heat.
She wasn't sure what had prompted her to ask after Yale, but as she approached where he was shoveling dirt into a raised pile, she knew it was because she needed his calm, steadying presence.
"Yale," she said, coming up to him, and he turned to look at her, and then frowned.
"What is wrong, Dr. Heller?" he asked.
Julia smiled, a little embarrassed. "Is it that obvious?"
He smiled kindly. "A bit," he said.
She sighed. "I envy you," she said after a long moment.
Yale looked surprised. "Why?"
"Don't misunderstand me," she said, "but…there are times when I wish I could just forget everything from my past."
His face clouded. "Do not wish for that, Julia."
"Don't you ever get tired of it, though? I mean, with your recording capabilities, you can remember everything. Isn't it sometimes…painful?"
Yale set down his shovel and looked at her carefully. "At times, yes. But you must understand, for me, remembering is a choice. I must access my memories deliberately." He frowned. "At least, that was the case until recently. The memories from…from Andre Biko are not memories I would choose to relive."
"The joys of organic memory," Julia said bitterly. "You don't always get to choose what you remember."
Yale studied her face. "May I offer you some advice?" he said.
"Actually, I came here to do that for you," Julia said, smiling crookedly. "Devon's worried that you're scared you'll hurt Uly."
"I am," he said. "But I am trying to trust myself. As should you."
"Easier said than done," she said.
"Indeed." He smiled. "When you and Alonzo came to me and told me of my past, you said something that was helpful to me," he said. "You said that my memories might be painful, but they were memories of something I should be proud of."
Julia frowned, shaking her head. "I'm not proud of my memories," she said tersely.
Yale smiled sadly. "Neither am I," he said. "We are our own worst enemies, you and I. We cannot see what others may see in us. We only see the worst in ourselves." He stepped closer and put his hand on Julia's shoulder. "Whatever you may think of what you have done, you must remember this: you helped me. And I am grateful to you for that. You believe that I was…I am a good person." He looked intently at her. "I believe the same of you. Do not punish yourself for the things you fail to do. Endeavor to succeed in the future. That is all anyone can ask of you."
"Arturo," Phoebe said, handing him a bowl of synthofu and sitting next to him at the table in Dome One. "I hear you're going out scouting with Inez tomorrow."
Artie nodded. "Julia says we really need some alternate sources of protein."
"Protein? Hell, I'd take any kind of food at this point. We've already gone through most of the hydroponics we grew on the road, and the new crop Helen's starting is going to take a while." She scooped up a glob of synthofu with her spoon and stared glumly at it. "I'm getting to the point where I'd consider trying some of those poisonous berries we found. At least then I wouldn't have to eat this stuff any more."
Artie laughed. "Don't worry," he said. "I have a good feeling about this. We'll find something."
"Well, you be careful out there," Phoebe said seriously. "I don't like the idea of you being out there with Terriers and CSF running around."
"Oh, heck, we'll be fine," Artie said.
"You'd better be," Phoebe said. "I have big plans for you, mister."
Artie gave her a questioning look. "Plans?" he said, and his voice cracked.
Phoebe looked embarrassed, and glanced around to be sure no one else was listening. "So you heard about Rob and Melanie, right?"
Artie looked confused. "Um, yeah," he said. "I know I'm slow, but that's really old news."
Phoebe shook her head impatiently. "Not that, I mean about them moving into Dome Two. Together."
Artie's eyebrows levitated towards his long-since receded hairline.
"So…" Phoebe said slowly, and then she actually batted her eyelashes at him.
He swallowed convulsively.
"Just think about it," Phoebe said. "Maybe it'll give you some extra incentive to come home safe."
"Knock, knock," Melanie said from the passage outside the med tent. "Anybody home?"
Julia groaned inwardly. She'd managed to make it back to the med tent without running into anyone. She wanted to think through what Yale had said, and she knew she must have looked upset to say the least. But now here was Melanie, probably to talk to her about Alonzo. I don't deserve her, Julia thought. I don't know why she tries so hard.
She sat up from where she was lying on her bunk as Melanie pushed aside the tent flap and came in, holding what looked like a crumpled piece of tarp. "Before you say anything," she said, "I'm not here to read you the riot act, or to make you feel guilty, or get you to do something you don't want to do."
"Why are you here, then?" Julia said tiredly.
"To give you this," Melanie said, handing her the wad of tarp, which turned out to be wrapping something oddly-shaped.
Julia blinked. "What's this?"
"Well, open it and find out," Melanie said, and she looked nervous.
Julia frowned, but she unwrapped the package. In it was a little wooden figure with four legs and two arms. It wasn't quite anatomically correct—there was a big grin on the heart-shaped face with big eyes and two misshapen horns—but it was close.
"Danziger made it for me," Melanie said. "So I could give it to you. I was going to give it to you on your birthday—yes, I checked with Tosh to find out when it was. Actually, she was pretty cute about it. She got all excited about raising morale with birthday celebrations. So when she throws you a surprise party next week, try to act surprised, okay?"
Julia studied the figurine, touched, then looked up. "Why did you decide to give it to me now?"
"Well, originally it was to commemorate what you did for Jupiter, but it took Danziger a while to finish it. And there's all you did for Yale, too. But—" She stopped for a moment, then apparently reached some sort of decision. "Here's the thing. Alonzo told me a little about what you said, and I thought maybe this guy could help."
Julia frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Jupiter Junior doesn't care what you did or didn't say," Melanie said. "And neither does Alonzo. Neither do I." She smiled. "So next time you start to replay one of those painful conversations, just grab him and think happy thoughts."
Julia looked back down at the figure, running her finger along the neck.
"He's also supposed to remind you that you do a lot of good stuff, more than enough to balance out any bad stuff, and that you don't give yourself nearly enough credit for that," Melanie said. She frowned as Julia just stared at the figurine. "I know it isn't much, but my resources are kind of—"
Julia's eyes shot up to meet hers, and there were tears in them. "Melanie," she managed to get out.
"Oh, jeez, don't cry!" Melanie said, dismayed. "I didn't mean to make you—"
Julia was laughing through tears. "You were the one who said crying was good for me," she said, sniffing. "And it's not just you. Yale said almost the same thing to me earlier, and…" She stopped, trying to put her feelings into words. "I don't know, hearing it from you, too, I just…it's a little overwhelming."
"We're not the only ones who think that way," Melanie said. "Alonzo does, too."
Julia's face fell. "I've been awful to him, Melanie."
"So you push him away? Julia, that's about the only thing you could do that would make this worse—not just for him, but for you, too. The first step in getting out of a hole is to stop digging." She knelt in front of Julia. "Just talk to him. You don't have to try to make up for anything, you don't have to fix anything."
"You make it sound so easy," Julia said.
"It is easy," Melanie said. "He's so desperate to talk to you, he'll probably carry the whole conversation by himself. Just nod and make affirmative noises now and then, and you'll be fine. Or, better yet, just cut straight to the kissing."
Julia bit her lip.
"Look, I know you don't think you deserve him, and maybe you're right. He is practically a Greek god, who also happens to be a pretty nice guy," Melanie said. "But he seems dead set on you, and since he can't really do better—I am, after all, already taken, and Devon's into Danziger, Helen's into Bill," she started ticking them off on her fingers, "Valerie's into girls, Tosh likes Todd, Phoebe likes Artie, Inez thinks Alonzo's a moron, Tru's only eleven, which is a pretty big age—"
"I get the point," Julia said dryly.
"—so you might as well take one for the team," Melanie finished, fighting back a grin. "He's up on guard duty topside."
Julia sighed. "You're not going to let me get out of this, are you?" she said, the beginnings of a smile tugging at her lips.
Melanie held out her hands. "This is me, Jules. What do you think?"
Which is how Julia found herself climbing up the stairs curving up and around the back of Dome One, hugging her thin jacket close to her as the wind cut through it, chilling her to the bone. She dug her hands deep into her pockets and clutched Jupiter Junior in her right hand as she approached the platform at the top.
Alonzo was standing watch on the far side of the platform, his back to her, mag-pro in hand. Julia tried to make herself climb the last few steps, but was on the verge of turning around when there was an ostentatious cough from someone over on top of Dome Two. Julia looked across to see Danziger grinning at Alonzo and gesturing with his thumb towards her.
Alonzo turned, and looked surprised and a little scared. "Hi," he said, and then looked embarrassed.
"Hi," Julia said, her heart pounding.
"No romantic synthofu this time, I hope," he said, smiling. "I already ate. And I don't think I could choke down any more."
"No," Julia said. "Just me this time." She took another step forward, but it felt like she was walking in double gravity.
"Did you like Melanie's present?" he said.
"Very much," she said, trying hard not to tear up again. "She's…very thoughtful."
Alonzo nodded, then laughed. "Are you feeling as weird as I am?"
"Absolutely," Julia said, looking almost green. She took a breath and made herself close the distance between them. "Alonzo…I owe you an—"
"Stop right there," Alonzo interrupted. He waited till she looked up at him. "You owe me nothing," he said emphatically. "We both said and did some stupid things, so let's just call it even and start fresh, okay?"
"I'm sorry," she said before he could stop her. "I really am. For everything I said—before, today, everything."
"You are almost as stubborn as Melanie," Alonzo said, shaking his head.
"But especially for…for what I didn't…" she began, and felt her throat close. She swallowed, shaking her head. "God, why is this so hard?" she whispered.
"Let me help," Alonzo said. "I told you I love you. Which is a first for me, incidentally, so I'm feeling a little out of my element." He smiled reassuringly. "I'm kind of liking the new element, though." He cleared his throat. "So…I'm going to ask you something, and if you want to say yes, you can. Or nod. Or…blink really hard. But don't feel like you have to—I mean, like I said, you don't owe me—"
"Alonzo," Julia whispered, and then held her breath.
"Do you feel the same way about me?" he said quietly.
Everything went into slow motion for Julia, but she finally managed to make herself nod again, and the moment she did, she let out the breath she'd been holding.
Alonzo sighed in relief almost simultaneously. "Okay," he said, and smiled. "That's…good…no, that's great! It's fantastic!" And then he grabbed her by both arms and pulled her into a kiss.
"Hey, get a room, you two!" Danziger yelled.
Julia jolted back, blushing furiously, and Alonzo turned and shot Danziger a deadly glare. "Aren't you supposed to be watching for Terriers?" he yelled.
"Yeah," Danziger said. "So are you! Sorry, man—I'm as romantic as the next guy, but…" He trailed off meaningfully.
"He's right," Julia said. "I'm distracting you."
"I like distractions," Alonzo said sullenly.
"I should go," Julia said.
"Okay, but only on one condition," Alonzo said.
"What?" she said breathlessly.
"We finish this tomorrow night," he said. "Your tent, okay?"
Julia swallowed hard, but she was already nodding, and Alonzo leaned in and gave her another quick kiss, then let her go.
She turned to go back to the stairs, but stopped and looked back at him. "The quote you said to Yale," she asked. "E quindi uscimmo, a riveder le stelle…"
He smiled. "The last line of The Inferno," he said. "'And so they came forth, and once more beheld the stars.'"
Julia looked up, and the clouds had broken for an instant, and there was a vast expanse of stars above them, with a wealth of new constellations just waiting to be named.