Missing

Missing…

One day...
Missing three years...

John followed the progress of the new building with interest. It was the first one he had no hand in constructing, neither from concept to labor. The frame looked sturdy enough, he had to admit. He sipped his coffee as he looked out the window of his small office.
..."It's going to fall over," Alonzo said, coming up beside him and looking out, too. "Just like the stone wall fell over and the satellite tower crashed down. They're still using techniques used at the stations - weightless crap for artificial gravity. They need to listen to Yale about load bearing walls and not putting up just one or two wall frames at a time."
...Danziger shrugged. "He's an architect, Alonzo. Proper schooling, the whole bit." He took another sip. "He told me so himself."
...Alonzo blew through his lips, a derisive sound. "Think he'd learn then." He turned his back to the window and leaned against it's wide sill. "I'm flying up north to the mountains for some ice. Cameron and his crew finished the cave expansion. They're ready to start storing food from the gardens down there. Want to come with? Figure we can make three trips today."
...Danziger nodded slowly, several nods, before saying, "Yeah, sure. Nothing like cutting up a glacier on a hot autumn day."
...Alonzo tapped the back of his hand against Danziger's arm. "It'll get your mind off things, man. We'll let True make the wedding plans in peace. If we plan right we might stretch the last run into an expedition north of the mountain range. Mapping the terrain up there could kill the whole day."
...Danziger said nothing. To be honest he did want to get away, but it seemed disrespectful to his daughter to run away from her planning. It didn't matter that Bess, Magus, Denner and Sarah Spencer, a colonist who worked at the hospital, were helping her every step of the way, calling themselves as close to being mothers to her as they would get, and shooing him away whenever he wandered within ten feet of them. This was a big time in her life, but did he really need to be here? He didn't want to be here. He didn't like watching her prepare to leave home for good. He didn't want her as his neighbor. She was his daughter.
...Alonzo seemed to be reading his mind. "It'll be good for you, pal. The father of the bride needs a break from all these frills and ribbons. Man! Who'd have thought Adair would have thought to bring ribbons and plastic flowers, huh? I was down there earlier today and True was showing me the what-do-you-call-ems she and Denner made." He made this way and that way gestures with his hands. "You know…bunches of flowers."
...Danziger had to give a small grunt of amusement at that. "Yeah. Gotta give it to Adair. She thought of everything." He turned from the window. "When are we leaving?"
...Solace smiled and pushed himself off the window sill and teased cheerfully, "Soon's you're through moping around like a forgotten toy!"
...Danziger's eyes widened at that. Alonzo had hit the nail right on the head and the realization almost made John laugh out loud. That was it exactly. He was feeling forgotten. His kid grew up and the colonists started doing things on their own. Eden Advance's original members were on their own now and he, for one, wasn't liking it one bit.
...It was time to get a life started for himself. He swung around and walked toward the door beside Alonzo. "You know somethin', pal," he said as he draped an arm across the pilot's shoulders. "I once thought a good business to start if I was going to be stuck here would be a salvaging business. At the time it was just a thought, but now that we have air transport I think it's time to look into the freight hauling side of living on a planet. We got seven cargo pods still unaccounted for and the wreckage of the colony ship, that could be mined, in a decaying orbit. I'm going for it. I guess you should be the first I ask if you want in. Do you?"
..."You're the boss."
...Danziger grunted. "Until the elections anyway. Might as well use my office to commandeer a couple of hoverlifts and a few of the 'lights. Maybe use that old rock overhang south of town for a hangar."
..."You’ve done more than just think about this!"
...He shrugged. "Maybe unconsciously planning. Anyway, I need another pilot. I ain't that great on the 'lights yet. Maybe Walman and Mazatl are tired of being handymen and will want in, too."
..."Mazatl will. He's been feeling kinda hemmed in lately," Alonzo said, and opened the door and stepped through into the windy, dusty outdoors. "I've been taking him along when I head out on scouts. Blazing the trail has spoiled us as settlers, Danz. We can't stay in one place. I can fly and most of the time I'm up in the air 'cause I can't sit still. Even with all the prepping for the wedding, I still can't be idle for long. I was wondering how long it would take until it hit you, too."
...Danziger dropped his arm and glanced ahead of him. He'd noticed the restlessness of the Advance team members and he knew none of it had anything to do with the independence of the colonists. Still, he agreed. "I guess that's it. We all need something to do. Let the colonists get on with life. They know what they have to do. If they don't want to do what has to be done, it ain't my problem. I know Adair told us about her dream of the future," he shrugged, "or whatever that was, but it isn't like we can force them to let the Terrians help. Not that I blame 'em, of course. Never trusted those cave dwellers myself."
...Alonzo let that slide, knowing full well John's opinion of the Terrians had changed over the years. It wasn’t much but at least he didn't call them Diggers anymore. Still, he felt obliged to give the impression he didn't like them. He and Morgan were alike in that way. Neither wanted to admit they had been changed by the planet and it's native inhabitants. God forbid anyone think they were ordinary humans.
...Solace continued, "From what Devon said even she wasn't able to talk that father into letting the Terrians help his son. We did our job, John. We can't do more. If Adair was here she would say the same."
..."Yeah. If Adair was here."

The two walked along silently. Alonzo's head dropped and he watched his feet take one step after another. Left, right, left, right, left, right… it blotted out the thoughts that wanted to come into his head. He was grateful that Danziger had readily agreed, but then John had his own reasons for not wanting to talk about Devon Adair and Julia Heller, who had gone missing three years earlier.
...They reached the open area where the flying vehicles were parked in neat rows in trampled grass and approached the nearest hoverlift. Both men had years of experience flying such vehicles in weightlessness or on moons and asteroids in the Sol system. However, flying them in Earthlike gravity and atmosphere was a bit tricky. Wind, air currents, heat and cold affected the atmosphere and the way it moved, and gravity was always there waiting to pull you back down to the ground and it didn't care if you were in one piece after landing.
...They loaded two of the ultralight fliers into the cargo bay of the hoverlift and tested the winch and it's chains and the grapplers. It was routine by now. After seven years of hauling cargo around the area, they were still trying to improve their own skills before the day the colonists insisted on being taught to fly for themselves.
...While Alonzo went to inform Cameron he was leaving, Danziger went to the small prefab dome he and True still shared.
She was busy at her computer system, studying the lessons the doctor prepared for her everyday. Even getting married didn't excuse her from that. She looked up as he came in walking slowly.
..."What happened?" she asked, knowing what that furtive look of his meant.
...He gave her a small grin. "Just wanted to let you know I'm going with Alonzo to get ice from the mountains. We'll be gone all day."
...True smiled back. "I know. He told me before he went looking for you. I'll be at the clinic later today. Dr. Vasquez said there are a couple of patients I should help him with."
...He nodded. "See you later then, sweetheart."
..."Bye, Dad." And as he turned away and ducked under the low lintel, she grinned to herself. She added. "Doesn't get either of you out of wedding rehearsal tonight, though. You'd better be back in time, or I'll ground both of you."
...Feeling a sense of unease, he started to speak as he was turning back to face her. "I thought that wasn't until--"
...He saw her laughing and his expression relaxed. "Very funny, True-girl."
...She continued chuckling as he turned and gave her another glare. "I mean it about coming back early, though, Dad. The rings are finished and I want you to go with me to get them."
...He muttered something as he closed the door behind him.
...I got him! She thought as she went back to reading the information on the monitor. I got both of them good! They're so easy.
...Danziger walked across the way and entered the planning offices, a couple of pre-fab sheds put together to form a small building where the teams responsible for getting construction sites and other areas ready for use had their offices. There was no one inside so he wrote a note and left it on one of the desks.

The hoverlift covered the distance between the village and the mountains easily. It was a trip they both took many times and they knew the ground below as good as they did the land surrounding the village itself. They knew where to veer a bit to either side because of updrafts or downdrafts caused by the terrain below, where to avoid the hills on a windy day because the air currents coming through the valleys between the hills could be strong enough to slow the craft's forward momentum.
...The greens and browns of the foothills began to turn the deeper greens of plants and trees suitable to the higher elevations and cooler climate. The sun was warm overhead but the air was getting chilly inside the hoverlift.
...Danziger reached over and turned on the heating unit.
...Alonzo nodded. "Might as well get out the gloves, too. The loading doors will be damn cold."
...He made an affirmative sounding "hmm" and released his seat belt to get up and go to the back of the craft. There were heavy coats, sweaters, shirts, gloves and boots in a makeshift rack on the cabin wall behind the cockpit.
...They were passing over tundra, as Yale called it, and the snowpacks were ahead. Glaciers were at higher altitudes where the heating unit would be hard put to keep the cabin warm.
...John picked out a few outfits for him and Alonzo, donning boots and a coat before going back to the cabin to fly while the other man came back to put on the warm clothing laid out.
...They were over snow now, endless white out of which the gray/blue mountain peaks rose. The windscreen darkened automatically to cut the glare and Danziger smiled. Originally made to move construction materials on the stations or moons of Sol System, the safety feature was built into the hoverlifts to keep the pilot from being blinded by welding torches or cutting lasers. Who knew anything about snow blindness on the stations? He chuckled.
...Alonzo stuck his head through the doorway. "What's up?"
...Danziger shrugged. "Nothin'. Just … serendipity."
...Alonzo "hmmphed" and went back to pulling on a sturdy pair of fur lined boots. "I don't know about you, John," he called through the doorway. "Just when I think I have you figured out you go all philosophical on me. Makes me think you have multiple personalities or something. I don't think cold sleep and full gravity ever agreed with you."
..."It's the other way around, man. I was at my best after a cold sleep run."
..."Hah! Said the man who was kissed by a spring flower and got pregnant."
..."That wasn't a technical thing!” God, he hated when people brought that up! “It was - well, it was hypothetical, if anything! And a year after we came out of cold sleep!"
..."Hey, all I know is spring could've been a Danziger, but instead it's a Martin, for god's sake! A Martin!"
...Danziger rolled his eyes and shook his head. Like he hadn't heard that from anyone before. So the Martins have a claim on spring. Better them than me.

Leaving the hoverlift aground on a solid snowpack on the north side of the range, the two men unloaded the motor driven ultralight flyers they'd brought along and flew back south into higher country, looking for suitably sized ice formations to carve into oblong bricks to transport back to the settlement.
...On the third trip of the day to the mountains, the two perched the hoverlift close to the last load of cut ice blocks and, as had become their custom whether alone or together, Danziger and Solace flew down the north face of the mountains and into the foothills and low country beyond the range.
...Flying in tandem they began a back and forth sweep of a wide area, letting their gear record the terrain over which they flew and transmit the video stream to the bigger computers onboard the hoverlift. They were slowly making an in depth map of the land east of the mountain range; a better map than the one provided to Eden Advance by the Council so many years ago; a map that had no hidden regions, no blanked out areas.
...By now they'd meticulously mapped both sides of the mountain range for fifteen kilometers east and west of the central spine and for twice as many kilometers north and south, but it didn’t stop them from going over the ground again. Just to be certain.
...When the sun was low in the sky, Danziger caught Alonzo's eye and he made a motion with his hand that they should return to the 'lift. It was late and he'd deliberately let the time go by so they could spend the night here and have another few hours in the morning for another flyover.
...Alonzo knew this and smiled to himself as he waved back and started to turn his little aircraft in a long lazy arc toward the signal coming from the hoverlift. It was already dusk in the low country but another hour of light on the glacier would give them time to make a fire and then call the settlement to say they would be returning the following day. By the time night fell on the mountaintop, they would be going over their new maps and comparing them to the ones the Council prepared for them many years ago.
...This was a matter of routine now.

Danziger held a stick out to the fire, toasting a chunk of bread to dip into his cup of hot soup. Alonzo was beside him reviewing the day's vids for anything out of the ordinary, any anomaly among the trees, grass, rocks and brush. John glanced over at the other man and then down at the video screen he held in his hands.
"Anything?"
...He pulled the bread out of the flame and hooked it over the edge of the bowl, pulling the stick away so the bread dropped into the soup. He put aside the stick and grabbed the bread, tapping it against the side of the bowl before taking a bite. Alonzo didn't answer for a while, and Danziger chewed slowly as he waited.
...Solace finally paused the video and shook his head. "Nothing. I'm beginning to think we should be looking at the mountains themselves, John." He shrugged. "I mean, the Terrians did say there was nothing unusual or different about this section of land that we don't already know about."
...He leaned back and stretched his arm and shoulder muscles before he put down the small vid screen and picked up his soup bowl. It was cold on the glacier and despite putting the bowl close to the fire, his soup was barely warm. He drank it down fast and left a few grains of cold brown rice at the bottom. He cleared his throat and went on, "They can't move through rock, just the soil. So I'm thinking there might be a valley, a lake, or something in the mountains that they don't know about. Even the Grendlers stay away from the mountains, you now? Nothing to salvage or collect up here. Nothing to eat. The Terrians say the Grendlers never go above the tree line and even the ones that trade with us don't know what's up here and they know these mountains pretty damn good."
...Danziger nodded, dipping the last of his bread in the soup. "I've been thinking about that, too. Change the grid and fly over the base of the mountains, maybe re-examine the site on the glacier where we found the hoverlift. Gotta be something we missed somewhere."
...Both knew how unlikely this was. In the weeks following the disappearance of Adair and Heller, every one who could fly a 'lift or an ultralight craft spiraled out from the ice cutting site and covered every square meter of land for twenty kilometers in all directions and endless hours were spent going over the photos and vids taken from all angles and various altitudes. It was a project Yale never stopped working on from the day of the disappearance to the present.
...Even so, the disappearance remained a mystery.
...Alonzo sighed and reached for a chunk of the bread Danziger had broken into large pieces. His shoulders relaxed and he helped himself to more of the soup in the pot above the fire. "You'd think someone would find something after three years."
...Danziger nodded. "Yeah."
..."Grendlers, Terrians, Yale, our own scouts-- Nothin', man. Not one damn clue."
..."Yeah."
...They fell into silence and finished their meal with only the sound of the fire and an occasional clink of metal on metal sounding over the glacier as they toasted the last of the bread and finished the soup.

...The morning was still chilly in the lowlands and they flew over the hills and rock spires at the base of the mountains, doubling back and crisscrossing the area to be certain their gear recorded the land from every possible angle. Looking over the area themselves revealed nothing new, nothing unusual and after three hours Danziger signaled to return to the hoverlift and carry the last load of ice back to the settlement.

One Day...
Three years earlier…

Julia Heller entered the meeting hall and saw Devon Adair across the room at the communications table. She was speaking into the pick-up mike but Julia couldn't hear what she was saying. Going closer the doctor caught her eye and gave her a questioning look.
...Devon held up an index finger and said a few more words. "All right. See you then," was all that Julia heard clearly.
...Devon switched the unit to standby and turned to her with a shrugging gesture. "That was Alonzo. He and John are going to be gone another day. The cargo pod they found is damaged and they're trying to salvage as much of the cargo as they can."
..."There is cargo to be salvaged at a damaged pod?" Julia asked incredulously.
...Devon laughed. "That's what I said. It hit the edge of a steep ravine and the cargo from one half was dumped into a narrow gorge accessible only from above. High above. Grendlers haven't been able to get at any of it. Surprisingly, most of it is undamaged and the cargo pod above acted as a canopy that kept the elements away."
..."That was lucky," Julia said. "What did you want to see me about?"
..."Someone needs to make a run for ice," Devon answered. "I was in the caverns and there isn't enough ice to keep the temperature down for the spring fruits and vegetables. John and Alonzo won't be back until late tomorrow and all the others who know how to fly a hoverlift and operate the laser cutters are on away assignments. That leaves you and me. Yale won't be back until late afternoon. We might be able to make a third trip with him, but I doubt it. We definitely have to bring back at least one load. Can you get away from the hospital and go with me to the mountains? We ought to have time to make two trips."
...Julia shrugged. "Yes, of course. When do we leave?"
..."As soon as possible, and thank you. I didn't want to take a colonist with me, and if I went alone Danziger would never let me hear the end of it."
...Julia smiled. "My pleasure. I've been hoping something would come up, something different. You'll be happy to hear all of the patients are doing good and we should be able to release quite a few by the end of the week."
..."That is good news!" Devon said. "Listen, I'll get some warm clothes ready and meet you at the clearing. We really need to add more layers under the coats. Oh, and I think we should take a two-seater ultralight. We don't need to explore. We can use one of the old sites to cut the ice instead of looking for a new site." She stopped for a moment and pondered something and Julia leaned her head to one side and looked at her questioningly.
..."Devon? Was there something else?"
...The other woman just shook her head slowly. "Of all the possible things that could go wrong when the colonists arrived, the people helping me prepare never even considered the possibility that so many would suffer from just breathing the atmosphere of a new planet."
...Julia sighed. "I guess it was fortunate we landed in the arid lands. Here, where the air is more moist and filled with more organisms, even we would have gotten sick after landing as our lungs and immune systems were suddenly assaulted with so many new microbes. Luckily, we were able to adapt to the planet as we walked along, starting as we did from a dry area with few organisms in the air and the soil. Much of what the colonists systems are adapting to is from the disturbed soil that the construction is causing. We, of course, got all that when we went exploring the caverns of the Terrians."
...Devon looked at her. "And it was the absence of all of this in the air of the stations that caused the Syndrome-- adapting to or learning to fight off disease and infection. It's amazing to me how important it is for the human body to learn to defend itself against such things."
..."I have a theory that's why the Syndrome infection rate was so low among the babies born in the Quadrant. The adults there went to and from Earth on a regular basis, exposing themselves to it's atmosphere and carrying much of it back within their bodies and on their skin and clothing. Their children didn't breath or live in as pure an atmosphere as those in the upper levels. Even that little bit of exposure, I think, is why the Syndrome rate there was so low."
...Devon smiled a little and looked at Julia. "You might be right. True was born a perfectly healthy baby while Uly was not. Do you think the exposure people are getting now will be passed to their babies quickly? Or will the Syndrome exist here for generations before the body readapts?"
..."I think it will be a while before the gene, and it has gone that far, Devon, is repaired and the Syndrome is just a memory. It took several hundred years for the body to alter. It will take time for it to alter again."
..."Is there nothing science can do to change it? I've seen you alter DNA in so many ways with the modest scientific instruments you had after we first landed."
..."Perhaps with time and more study, but you know as well as I do, if it was that easy, we would have done it by now. Making small alterations or changes in DNA is one thing, but there are still barriers to further manipulation. For all we know it might have been the early breakthroughs in chromosome alteration that opened the door for the Syndrome to develop."
...Devon looked grim. "Do you think the Council knows any of this? They've hidden so much from us and all the people of the Stations already."
..."I can't honestly say they don't know. Chromo enhancing was being done for decades before the public found out about it. Who knows how many generations back it goes?" She started to move away. "We're getting off track, Devon. I guess it'll do us both a lot of good to get away for the rest of the day."

The sun was low above the foothills to the west when Adair and Heller settled the hoverlift down on the glacier for the third time that day. They were pushing it but both women were certain they could be off the mountain and back at the settlement site before dark.
...They'd cut several extra blocks of ice on the last trip and needed only to load them into the hoverlift's large cargo area. Each glanced toward the flat land beyond the range frequently. It would get dark there before the sun sank low enough below the horizon to affect the mountaintops, and still it would be light enough on the shore of the ocean where the settlement was located.
...It was not an unusual thing to do: using every minute of daylight they could to get as much done as possible. A flock of birds flew overhead toward the mountains, high in the sky, white feathers bright in the sunlight. There was plenty of time.
...The ice was inside the 'lift and the two women were struggling to strap them in tightly before closing the doors.
...Julia stopped and stepped back. She spoke wearily with a sigh," I think if I get on top of the block I'll be able to pull the strap tighter than I can from here." She walked toward the access hatch of the 'lift.
..."Good idea," Devon said and dropped the end of the strap she was holding. She turned her back to the open cargo hatch and sat along the edge, her back against the block of ice, "but I think we cut this one too big." She took her water bottle from her belt and had a long drink.
...Julia was inside but instead of asking for Devon to hand up the end of the holding strap, she said, in a voice that had lost all weariness, "Devon, come up and take a look at this!"
...Devon pushed away from the side of the hoverlift and looked up at Julia, who was standing beside the block but was looking over Devon's head toward the spine of the mountain range behind her. “What?”
..."Come up!" Julia urged again and pointed a finger ahead of her. "I see something reflecting sunlight deeper in the mountains!" She immediately grabbed some jumpers from a net hanging from the aft wall of the craft.
...Devon wasted no time scrambling into the cargo bay and rushing to stand beside the doctor. She drew her breath in sharply. "My god," she murmured softly. "Ice, probably?"
..."I don't think so. It looks like it's on the side of the peak, above the snow line. Take a look." She handed the jumpers to Devon and started digging through the netting for another one. "Could be something as simple as a vein of ore or it could be one of the lost cargo pods. Maybe it hit a ledge and broke open up there."
...It was hard to tell if Julia was right. The bright light was shining directly at them, but there was no rainbow effect to it, it did not break down into it's various color elements, thus leading Devon to believe it was not reflecting from glass, crystal or anything that would refract the sunlight. It was coming off a solid surface.
..."It's out of range for the jumpers to accurately compute the distance, so it's farther than five kilometers away." She looked at Julia and smiled. "Shall we take the ultralight and fly over to see what it is? We have enough time if we dump this block and leave it. I think we cut it too big and I don't want to get the lasers out and recharge them to make it fit."
..."What if it's a ZED's camp? Or penal colonists?"
..."I don't think even a ZED could survive at this elevation, and the same for penal colonists. Too cold, no food sources, above the glaciers they can't even grow food without a biodome or greenhouse. I don't think it's a greenhouse. Maybe we've discovered our first silver mine."
..."Let's find out," Julia said and started looking through the items aboard the hoverlift. "It's a good thing we brought the two seater ultralight. You fly and I'll carry the mag-pro." She leaned down and began to push the ice block toward the edge of the doorway.

Devon kept the shining surface in sight the entire flight by varying the height at which she flew the small craft. If she dropped too low to see the reflection she raised the ultralight until she could see it again, but the closer she got to the mountain peak the less she thought it was a reflection. The sun was moving, too, and the light did not seem to relate to this. The flying became very tricky as they went deeper into the mountain range, but she could see it no matter what- except if she dropped too low in the sky or if she was moved too high by the air currents. Side to side drift had the same affect, but the color and brightness of the light didn't change - or at least it didn't seem be changing with the sun. By now the sun was picking up hints of red and orange but the reflection was not. Perhaps it wasn't a reflection at all.
...After three kilometers, Julia, seated behind her, leaned forward and yelled into her ear that the jumpers had put the side of the mountain at four k still ahead of them. Devon nodded that she understood instead of trying to shout back over the sound of the engine and whirling fan blades.
...As they neared the mountain peak, a vertical wall that would, no doubt, one day attract thrill seekers to try to climb it's nearly smooth face, loomed larger and larger in front of them and the shiny object abruptly stopped reflecting the sunlight.
...Julia leaned forward again, "Two kilometers ahead. The angle of the sun has changed too much for us to see it."
...This time Devon didn't nod because she didn't agree that was the case. She had been watching the glare as best she could without looking directly at it, and she could have sworn the light had simply gone off like a switch had been flipped. She turned her head to look over her shoulder and after a moment Julia leaned closer.
..."I don't see anything that could have reflected the light!" Devon yelled. "We're close enough to see ice, snow or a shiny surface."
...Her attention diverted those few seconds was all it took.
...A sudden gust of wind shook the little ultralight and one wing dipped sharply. The light was back and shining brightly, but it was no reflection of sunlight.
...Recognizing the light, Julia reacted quickly. She reached forward and grabbed Devon's gear unit and pulled it from her head and with her other hand she grabbed her own and hugged both of them tightly to her chest. Oh, my god! she thought and closed her eyes as the brightness of the light grew. We're still a kilometer away from the mountain! How can this be?
...The ultralight began to shake and the blades rattled alarmingly and it was the last sound either woman heard. The light flared brighter still and vanished with a faint whooshing sound that no one was left to hear.

One day...
Missing, four years...

Danziger left the meeting hall and headed straight for his home unit. It was the one place in the settlement where everyone knew not to bother him or risk being bodily tossed out the door. He walked briskly, a half inch thick stack of papers in one hand. ...Damn these freeze-dried idiots, he thought. What the hell were they thinking, electing me the director of the colony government? For five years! Who the hell needs this much paperwork, anyway? Five years of paperwork and only one year down. It's a colonist's job, dammit! Ain't even supposed to be here.
...Well, he was closing office for the rest of the day. It was time for what had become the monthly ice run to the mountains, and this was something else the colonists learned early was exempt from interference.
...Everyone in the settlement felt the absence of the colony's other doctor with each bout of illness or accidental injury that occurred when any people lived and worked manual labor in large groups; and they knew how much was lacking without their original leader and her insights into the directions the settlement should try to follow in relation to the land and the indigenous life forms.
...Bringing ice back from the mountains meant another search for any clue as to what might have happened the day Devon Adair and Dr. Julia Heller disappeared. If the slightest chance existed that they might be alive, spending the time to search for them was considered necessary -- anytime people were in the mountains for any reason. It was the opinion of many colonists that Danziger's irascibility was his way of making sure no one forgot how much smoother things were run when Adair was present.
...Of course, not many colonists knew him well.
...Alonzo was already at the hoverlift and two light flying craft were inside and secured. He was talking to True, who was standing on the first step of the retractable forward door ladder and laughing at something he was saying.
...Danziger slowed his pace and made a show of looking for his gloves, which were always in a back pocket, though he forgot that today and reached into every pocket he had before locating them finally. This was still an awkward time for him and he hoped he would never get over it. It meant to him that he and True had never really let go of their parent/child relationship and nothing was going to happen that would make them. He let himself feel awkward when he watched her with her husband simply because he was her father. That the husband was Alonzo was another story altogether and he'd done all the thinking he wanted to do on that subject. It could be worse after all. He might have a little colonist boy for a son-in-law.
...Funny how it turned out none of the colonists came from the Danzigers' part of the Stations. And so were useless.
..."Hey!" Alonzo called. "What did you lose now?"
...He didn't have to look up to know they were exchanging one of those looks. "Aw, nothin'. Just making sure I got everything." He finally produced a pair of sunglasses and put them on with a smile as if that was what he was looking for all along.
...Aw, hell. There was no denying they were happy with one another and making a good life together. He knew it and he appreciated it, but damn it! She was still his daughter and Alonzo was his friend - his much older friend.
..."I packed some extra food for you," True said. "I know you're going to stay on the mountain tonight and come back tomorrow. You always do. Just stay in touch, okay? That's what gear is for, right? If Devon and Julia stayed in touch with the settlement we might have had an idea where to look for them."
...Danziger gave her a brief one armed squeeze. "Yeah, True-girl. I'll do that." And when she clung to him, he gently put a hand to the side of her head and pressed it against his shoulder. He looked at Alonzo and saw a wealth of emotion there. Sympathy, love, understanding, guilt. He knew guilt was uppermost in True's mind. If the women were ever found alive she was unhappy about having to face Julia and watch her reaction to the news about Alonzo and her. John did not envy either his daughter or her husband, but he did know they had a right to go on with life.
..."We've talked about this before, True. No one can fault you for letting life go on. We couldn't stop the world no matter how much we might have wanted to."
...She pulled away from him and nodded, but her eyes were sad. "I know, but it's still going to be so hard."
...Alonzo came up and put his arm gently across her shoulders. "I waited two years, True, and then I started to not wait. I couldn't stop it from happening. I actually wanted to go on being sad and lonely because I thought it was disrespectful to not feel loyalty and longing any more. I healed myself and if Julia is as lucky as I was, she has too." He gave her a little shake and his tone became teasing. "And, anyway, as soon as my eyes opened again, hell, I started breathing through my mouth. I couldn't close it after I watched you deck that colonist boy who insulted your old man.” He gestured broadly with his hand. “Julia would have found a way to alter my chromosomes or tweak my DNA to close it again, but you didn't mind at all, did you? Me looking at you like this every time I saw you." He put a stunned expression on his face with his jaw dropped loosely.
...Danziger had to laugh along with his daughter. "Yeah. I noticed it happening right off, pal, and believe me I was itching to find out if spider-bite-cure would work on what you were catching." He took a deep breath. "You know, it occurred to me a year or so later that maybe Devon and Julia, if they're still alive- and I'm sure they are- might have found, you know . . . emotional comfort, too, wherever they are."
...Alonzo grinned and winked at True. "What do you mean?" he said to John. "Emotional comfort where they are?" He gestured with his free hand as he spoke," You mean…you mean with each other?" His voice was tinged with laughter and Danziger's look of surprise was so genuine - and therefore comical - that he did start laughing and barely got the words out. "You think they're, uh… together wherever they are? Together together?"
..."That's not what I said! I never even mentioned that! That's what you think I said!" He looked at True. "You heard me! I didn't say that!"
...All she could do was break into peals of laughter and shake her head as she reached out and put a hand on her father's arm. He looked as if he was thinking of spider-bite-cure as an all-purpose problem solver once again.
..."Oh, wait'll the guys hear this!" Alonzo was saying gleefully. "This is even better than all those building frames falling down last year!"
..."I never said that!"
..."Alonzo, stop! I don't think--" She laughed again.
...Danziger shook his head and quit shouting. "Alright, alright. Have your fun. I'm just saying, not all scenarios have to be bad. They might have found penal colonists more like Mary's family or the Elder's people. Not all humans on this planet are going to be ZEDs or like Gaal." He shrugged. "You know?"
...Alonzo made an effort to sober his expression but his eyes were still alight with amusement and the promise of never forgetting this Danziger comment. "Let me be honest. I did think of this, too, in the early days and it troubled me a lot. I mean about other humans, not about--" he sputtered with laughter again before finishing, "But like I said. If Julia was lucky…" He let it go and leaned forward to kiss his wife.
...Danziger smiled. Yeah, if she … if she was lucky.

In the early morning, the glacier and the foothills and flatland beyond them were still in shadow, but a bright ribbon of blue sky appeared over the mountains and there was enough light to see what they were doing.
...The night before, John and Alonzo made their camp at the spot where the abandoned hoverlift was found more than four years earlier. They would do another search starting from the last known location of the missing women. They were going to circle the area one more time, expanding outward and using the hoverlift signal to maintain each circle.
...The noise from the propellor blades of the ultralight aircraft was loud enough to make talking over their gear close to useless, so they relied on hand signals they had developed over the years. They glanced across at one another frequently and pointed out flocks of birds here and there, sharing the airspace above the snowpacks and glaciers.
...They were at the four kilometer mark, flying in a wide circle, keeping their distance from the hoverlift a perfect four k. They had done this so often that flying circles around a beacon had become just another skill they'd developed.
...A light appeared on the shadowed side of a mountain peak straight ahead of them as they flew east-northeast past the mountains. The bright light appeared as if switched on deliberately, and John was never sure later if he heard Alonzo's shout of surprise through his ‘on’ gear unit around his neck, or normally, loud enough to be heard over the sound of the ultralight's fan blades. He looked at the other man and, twice, made a pointing motion with his hand toward the light. He thought it looked familiar enough for a closer look.
...Alonzo, flying the outside of their circle, nodded and banked toward the light.
...Both men looked through their jumpers. The mountain peak was three kilometers away. Alonzo snapped his gear eyepiece in place. "Solace to Eden base. Come in. Solace to Eden Base." Over the sound of his ultralight motor he could barely hear voice transmission coming to him but he clearly saw the face of Morgan Martin appear in the air before him.
..."This is Eden Base, Alonzo. I was just going to call you!" Morgan said, looking wide eyed with annoyance. "Are you guys on your way back yet? We need the hoverlift. One of the walls of the new school fell down and sort of fell on the other hoverlift. Walman and Cameron are out in the other two 'lifts south along the coast, bringing back some of those--"
..."Morgan! Listen to me!" Alonzo shouted over Morgan's last words. "We've found something up in the mountains about seven or eight k east, northeast of the site where Julia and Devon left their hoverlift!"
..."trees we use for---" Morgan stopped short. "What? You found something?" He turned and spoke hurriedly to two colonists who were standing behind him, and the two raced out of view. "What is it, Alonzo? What did you find? Is it … you know…" He grimaced. "Is it them?"
...Alonzo could barely hear Morgan's words and he began to speak over them again while he reached up with one hand to grab the optical extension of his gear, "I'm going to turn my eyepiece around and show--"
...It was this small act that made a difference when Alonzo felt a familiar sensation of breathlessness come over him. He did not have time to glance to his left to see if Danziger was still with him. His last conscious thought was, Here we go again.
...Danziger recognized the light only seconds before he closed his eyes against the sudden flare of brightness and he lost consciousness.

Danziger didn't know how much time had elapsed since his encounter with the spider tunnel. When he came to he was still in the air and the ultralight was gliding silently and for a few moments he just looked around him and wondered why it was so quiet. Why was he gliding? And then he remembered. He looked quickly to his right where Alonzo was flying the outer spot in the circle before the light took them. He wasn't there.
...The other ultralight carrying Alonzo was to his left now, and it was slowly veering away from him - or he was veering away from it? - and it seemed to be losing altitude. Alonzo wasn't moving. Working frantically, Danziger pushed the start button and said sternly, "Vehicle, start!"
...The ultralight's motor purred to life and leapt forward with a jerk as it moved the little craft along. Danziger banked to his left and reached for his gear but it was no longer around his neck. His water bottle and ration pack, which had been hanging from a hook on the left side of his seat, were also gone. "Damn!" he swore out loud. He quickly caught up to Alonzo whose craft was slowly gliding downward in a wide spiral.
..."Lonz!" he shouted over the putter of his engine. "Alonzo! Wake up, dammit! You're going down!"
...He had no idea how much time had passed since they came through the wormhole, and no idea how long both had been out, but he knew he couldn't let Alonzo hit the ground unconscious. The ultralights were not made for heavy moving. They were lightweight but sturdy enough to carry two people in an emergency. This was an emergency.
...He continued shouting, doing his best to stay as close to the other 'light as possible, flying with one hand on the stick and the other turning the crank, located between his feet, on a small winch with a thin, steel cable. It was meant for snagging the ropes of gliders on the ground and pulling them into the air. It was a feature deemed useless in the beginning of Eden Advance's use of the small flying machines, but it was soon discovered they made handy rescue tools in case the engine failed on another ultralight. Rescue by cable had been done before but not successfully from a low altitude. The rescue craft had to have as much altitude as possible to snag the wings of a damaged craft and lower it to the ground successfully. Of course, the other pilot had to be awake, too, in order to release the cable as he was about to touch down.
...Danziger had the altitude, but a still unconscious pilot in the other aircraft. He might get Alonzo down safely but he was going to crash himself. He pushed the hood of his coat away from his face and wiped sweat from his forehead. Wherever this was, it was hot.
...With the line at it's maximum fifty meters, Danziger pushed the stick forward and his ultralight climbed as he lowered one wing and circled away from Alonzo, gaining altitude until he was flying above the other craft.
..."Wake up, dammit!" he growled. "I don't want to have to do this!" The wing design left a V shaped gap in the fabric covering the wing assembly in the middle of the wing, just above the pilot's seat.
...It took two passes before the hook on the end of the cable snagged, and the sudden jerking movement as the two craft pulled against one another roused Alonzo.
..."About time!" John muttered, leaning forward and to the side to see the other craft which was now below and slightly behind him. The other man was moving. "Hey! Come on!" he yelled. "Release me and start your engine!"

"Huh?" Alonzo was saying, still a little disoriented from the vacuum cleaner ride through the spider tunnel. Someone was yelling at him from somewhere but he could hardly hear over another thrumming sound close by. Was that a sound or just his head throbbing? He looked around and remembered what happened. The familiar light indicating a build-up of energy... Holy mother of-- ! He was still flying! His little craft came with him and was thrown out the other end of the spider tunnel!
...The craft jerked upward suddenly and he heard the voice yelling again. The other ultralight, Danziger's machine was above him and a cable connected the two of them. His gear was in his hand but he didn't remember taking it off, only reaching to adjust the eyepiece. And Morgan! He'd been talking to Morgan! And where was his hat?
..."Vehicle, start!" he ordered and put the gear back on his head. "Danziger! Can you hear me?" There was no answer but static. Why the hell couldn't that idiot keep his gear on his head?! he thought. No, wait. It probably got pulled off. Oh, hell I lost my hat! Solace looked around. His pack was gone, his food, water, small vid screen. The vacuum had yanked them off their hooks and tossed them out of the tunnel to who knew where?
..."Vehicle, start," he ordered again, pressing at the manual start button a couple of times. The little engine behind his seat roared to life and surged ahead. He heard the hook from Danziger's cable clank and he looked up and batted it away from his wing assembly. He was free of the line and he saw the other craft surge upward suddenly as the weight of his craft was taken from it.
...He didn't wait for Danziger. Alonzo took the 'light downward and looked for a smooth area to land. They were over a field of flowers, a sea of bright yellow blossoms that extended for quite a way in all directions. Ahead of him, he saw trees two or three kilometers distant and to his left, were high hills, almost mountains, their tops covered with dark green trees and shrouded in clouds but not high enough to break through the tops of the clouds. Far off on his right, blurred by distance he thought he saw a herd of animals, dark against the green fields moving fast across the ground. He turned away from them and began his descent.
...He got out of the seat and stretched his muscles while he waited for Danziger to land and taxi toward him. Then he started taking off his coat and some of the layered clothing beneath it. It was warm here.

Danziger landed a little more roughly than he would have liked, but he was still shaken by what happened and just wanted to touch the ground. While he was unbuckling his harness, Alonzo was jogging over to him. "The aircraft came with us!" he was yelling. "The aircraft came with us!"
..."Yeah," Danziger agreed, getting out of the seat and straightening up slowly. "But anything not tied down is gone."
..."Danziger!" Alonzo said loudly and added, "The aircraft came with us!"
..."Yeah, so?"
...He was looking at him as if it was all perfectly clear and John should have spotted it all immediately. "The planet made a larger spider tunnel, a bigger tunnel, one more powerful to bring our flying machines with us! John, the planet is changing for us!" His expression was bright with excitement and he couldn't understand why Danziger wasn't as impressed. "It made us a way to travel long distances with our machines! The tunnels that we use on the ground were made for the Grendlers, for travelers on foot. This one, the one we just came through opened on the side of a mountain so we could fly our aircraft into it and come out airborne on this side!"
..."And damn near killed us by leaving us unconscious in a stalled flyer headin' for ground!"
...Alonzo shrugged and spread his hands. "So we have to …. I don't know …. Come up with special helmets to wear so we don't lose consciousness in the vacuum. John, the planet is giving us a way to travel long distances. The least we can do is solve that problem on our own!"
...Danziger spread his arms wide. "In case you haven't noticed, we have an immediate problem to solve. Where is the entrance to the tunnel on this side? I don't know how long we were in the air after coming out this side."
...Alonzo pointed toward the hills. "We had to come out from the hills, high ground. We can fly back and look for the tunnel. It ought to open up for us like it did at the other end."
...Danziger had to admit that made sense. He started taking off is coat while he turned and looked toward the hills, the tops of which were shrouded in cloud. An idea popped to mind. "I lost my gear when we came through. If it was tossed out this side with us and it’s in good condition, maybe we can activate it with your unit and follow the signal back. As long as we stay away from the front of the tunnel, the vacuum won't pull us in."
..."Stay away from–?" He paused and looked around. "You think Julia and Devon might be here somewhere?"
..."Won't hurt to look, maybe back towards the hills. If they came through, they'd want to stay near the entry in case anyone else came through." He shrugged. "I would."
...Alonzo nodded, thinking. "Yeah. Okay. That would be why we found no wreckage." Then he shook his head. "No, John, if the tunnel has been there for four years, why are we just noticing it? We should have found it before this."
..."How should I know? I'm not in contact with the planet! Let's look anyway."
...Alonzo took the gear from his head and looked closely at the small control unit on one side. It was always hard to manipulate the tiny buttons with adult sized fingers. "Okay, I'm sending a signal to--- Hey! I got something!" He put the unit on his head and flipped the eyepiece into place. The other unit was showing him a blue sky with fluffy clouds seen through tall grass stalks. "It's yours. I got an ID. You're laying back in the grass contemplating the clouds, John! Pure nirvana, I'll bet."
...Danziger came closer. "Maybe you ought to try calling Adair. Maybe one of them still has their gear. If mine came through alright it's possible."
...Nodding, Alonzo touched the headset over his ear. "Hello? Can anyone hear me? This is Alonzo Solace of the Eden Base colony. Calling anyone." He paused and repeated his words. He waited for a few minutes. Looking at Danziger, he shook his head. "Nothing."
...Danziger looked away, over the field toward the hills. "We can try again later. Maybe every hour. Come on let's go look for my gear. Maybe we'll find my water bottle and food pack while we're at it."
..."Mine, too."
..."Hey, there's something else," Danziger said, looking upward and pulling a sweater off over his head. "It was twilight in the flatlands when we came through. This looks like mid morning, close to zenith. I think we're four or five hours ahead of where we were."
...Alonzo led the way, using the gear signal from Danziger's lost unit as a beacon.
...It took them ten minutes to reach the hills, and when they did they frightened a large flock of birds on the ground near Danziger's gear set. The ground was covered with low growing plants that were alive with tiny purple blossoms. It took another few minutes to find their packs with their water bottles inside which were flung nearby.

Present Day…
Lost and Found...

Julia Heller sat under the ultralight wing, out of the sun, and inspected the drying meat hanging a few feet away over the campfire on sticks above head level. It was getting too warm but keeping the fire going was essential. Devon was asleep against the wheels of the craft that provided them shelter. She had stood watch the last half of the night.
...After a few minutes, Julia got up and walked into the sunlight. Early morning and the air was already hot even though the sun was barely above the horizon and the sky was full of fluffy clouds that covered the sun for long minutes at a time. She walked across the campground on a high treeless hill and wondered if she should go to the stream at the bottom of the hill and pull up a couple of the balm plants growing there. They would need the tubers if they were going to stay here another day. Her skin was already getting red from too much sun. The gooey liquid in the tubers healed sun damaged skin and prevented sunburn.
...This time of year the women went without necessary clothing as often as possible in order to save the well worn items they had for winter warmth. After four years, maintaining modesty was an archaic custom between them. They needed their clothing intact as possible to survive the winters.
...She circled the battered aircraft slowly while looking over the lower lands around them and decided to wait until Devon awoke to go down the hill. There were predatory animals, large and small, on the island continent and she would rather put up with a bit of sunburn and the itch that came with it than try to out race a wild dog-ogre to the top of the hill.
...In her circle of the campsite, she saw nothing of a rescue party just as she had seen nothing of anything indicating other humans every day since arriving in this land. Still, out of habit if nothing else, she put her gear in place on her head and tapped it on.
..."This is Doctor Julia Heller calling anyone who can hear me. Please respond if you can hear this message."
...Devon's annoyed and sleep heavy voice came through the ear piece. "Give it up, Julia. It's a waste of time."
..."I will when you stop leaving yours turned on while you sleep so you won't miss anything if it happens, Devon."
...She and Devon were on their third pass through this area of the island continent on which they found themselves for the last four years. Four years at least, she corrected herself. There was a great length of time when they didn't get along and neither kept track of the time and only memories could give them a clue to how long that period of animosity lasted. Neither woman remembered more than two winters passing at the time so they decided they'd lost track of perhaps eight or nine planetary months.
...They were enjoying a period of truce. It wasn't always easy being one another's only company in a place they were unable to leave or even think about leaving. Two years earlier, after a long spell of strife between them, both women at last decided the likelihood of being found was next to nothing. It was a hard thing to do but it cleared the air between them and let them focus on survival long term instead of 'just until the rescue team arrived.'
...Julia went back under the wing and sat on her clothing bundle and looked up at the wing itself. It was battered but the patches were holding, thank god. How much longer they could keep the engine running was another thing. She had to bring up the subject of a permanent camp soon because their aircraft wouldn't be capable of flight much longer. She glanced at Devon and saw she had gone back to sleep.
...Julia moved her clothing bundle farther away under the wing and sat down again, switching her gear to record and she began to speak softly into the microphone. "Continuing yesterday's log entry. We were able to harvest some of the higher quality meat from the long-prong male before we saw the first dog-ogres bounding through the tall grass. They were getting used to the ultralight motor but now that it is no longer running smoothly, the clatter of the blades can still stop them at a distance, but they are creeping closer and closer with each encounter. They've become used to warning shots from the mag-pro and, now, nothing short of killing a couple of them will stop the others from getting too close to us. They will devour the dead in minutes and continue their stalking of us. We can slow them down by days if we kill the pack leader and dominant rivals, but it's almost as if they are catching on to what we are doing and the dominant dog-ogre is not always the one who leads the pack against us. Often there is no battle for supremacy after we kill the ones out front. I think the leaders are starting to stay back when it is us from whom they are going to steal game." She took a deep breath. "I'm nor sure where to put them exactly on the scale of self awareness I've developed for the other indigenous life forms on this planet. I think they are smarter than we know. Anyway, we will have enough dried meat to keep us going for at least a month before we have to hunt again. We should be on the other side of the range by then---" She stopped short and her head whipped around toward Devon. The gear unit next to Devon was relaying a message.
..."-onzo Solace of the Eden Base colony. Calling anyone. Can anyone hear me? This is Alonzo Solace of the Eden Base colony. Anyone hearing this, now's the time to answer."
...Devon's eyes opened wide and she met Julia's eyes and they both were frozen where they were.
...Her throat had suddenly gone dry, and when Julia tried to speak - and though she'd just been dictating a log entry - she couldn't find more than a croak and a whisper to say anything more than, "D- …De---v---on…ans---"
...Devon was sitting up now, back to Julia, looking at her gear. She reached for it and crammed it on her head and held it there, as if thinking it might not fit anymore. "Alonz--zo?" she questioned, her voice breaking from the surprise of hearing another human voice besides her own and Julia's. "Is it really you?" She moved the eyepiece into position and saw Alonzo Solace's image seemingly appear in the air before her. He looked surprised for an instant, clearly goggle-eyed, then he smiled.
..."Yeah! I'm here with Danziger. We came through the wormhole about an hour ago. We just found it again."
...Julia's fingers were fumbling with the eyepiece of her unit when she stopped suddenly and looked down at herself. Her chin flew upward. "Devon!"
...When a shirt flew at her from Julia's direction and covered her head, Devon shook it away and turned to look over her shoulder and see Julia untying her bundle of clothes and hurriedly putting on a shirt herself. Realizing too late the state she was in clothing-wise, Devon reached back and picked up the item behind her and hastily draped it across her torso. Oh. Well, it isn't as if Alonzo hasn't ever seen anything similar in his life.
..."Hold on, Danziger is trying to get your coordinates ... Direction ... Kilometers … Man! Looks like you're on the other side of these hills."
..."Stay where you are, we'll come to you," Danziger's voice said off the image transmission.
...Alonzo turned to look at him and the scene behind him shifted, too, to show two 'lights parked next to him. "Yeah, we don't need to be at cross purposes here."
..."Did your ultralight come through with you intact?" Danziger’s voice said.
..."Alonzo!" Julia said, her eyepiece transmitting a signal to join Devon's. She found herself at a loss for words. She didn't know what else to say. Both women always knew he and Danziger wouldn't give up looking for them, no matter what the results were time after time. That he was finally here left her speechless. He was just as she remembered him, bright and alive and happy. Solace gave a small, uneasy smile at her image, however. "We almost gave up all hope of ever finding out what happened to you two," he said. "You both look… Well, fine."
..."That's kind of you to say, Alonzo," Devon told him, hugging the shirt to her chest, her tone of voice becoming crisp and short, "but we both know we're a little worse for wear. It hasn't been easy." She almost added, What took you so long?
...She saw his image look at Danziger with a raised eyebrow and then turn and walk toward the nearest flier. Behind him she could see John now, fiddling with his gear. "Yes, John," she said. "The aircraft made it through with no damage. It's been our saving grace more than once." What took you so long?!
...Finally Danziger's image flickered into place in front of her. He opened his mouth to speak and stopped. Immediately his expression became defensive.
..."All right," John said with a sigh. "What's bothering you? Adair, you're the only person I know who would greet a rescue party with that look and a dozen complaints unsaid!"
..."I haven't said anything beyond answering your questions! Why are you so defensive?!"
..."I might have known. We didn't get here soon enough, that's what you're thinking, right?" He shook his head. "I know that look, Devon. You're just dying to yell at us and demand what took us so long!" He looked at Alonzo and spread his arms wide. "Can you believe that? She's mad at us!"
..."I am not angry! But you're making me angry!"
...Alonzo looked at her image critically. "No, I think John is right. You were angry from the beginning. But we could ask you something along the same lines, you know. Why didn't you just turn around and fly back through the tunnel system when you got here?"
..."We tried," Julia said, cutting in. "But we couldn't find the entry. We had no idea where it would be. We guessed the hills because the other end is high in the mountains, but we could never find it on this side." Her voice softened. "Believe me. We tried. How did you find it so fast?"
..."John's gear was pulled off him but mine wasn't. We were able to activate his and follow the signal back. It brought us to the base of the hills right below the tunnel."
..."Yeah. What are you doing on the other side of the hills?" Danziger asked.
...Devon, a little more calm than before, answered, "There are predatory animals that roam in packs here. They look kind of like synth dogs but they're larger and sort of hunched at the shoulder area which gives them great strength. We've been calling them dog-ogres, and we have to stay on the move because they're migratory. They've learned to follow us because stealing our kills when we hunt is one of their favorite sports."
..."They're smart," Julia added, " but luckily, not smart enough to get ahead of us and lie in wait, or to cut us off by doubling back on us. This is an island continent. We've circumnavigated it on the ultralight four times."
...Danziger's image nodded. "We're on our way, Julia. We can talk later." He knew Alonzo had a theory about the spider tunnel and it would give them something to talk about after all the news from the settlement was told.

Julia swung her eyepiece to the side of her head, shutting off the gear, and started going through her clothes bundle for something to wear. "Something is wrong, Devon. Something is different. Alonzo never spoke my name."
...Devon frowned. "He never spoke my name either." She took the shirt in front of her and started putting it on. "God knows he had reason to be surprised," she continued ruefully. "I've become used to being a wild woman."
..."No, you haven't. You sleep covered head to foot when you should be conserving your clothes."
..."Well, we don't have to worry about that anymore, do we?"
...Julia smiled. "No. We don't."
..."Julia, I know you've been keeping a log, and so have I." A pause. "There are some things - I'd certainly not want anyone to know about what we did here. Things we had to do to stay alive, to stay sane. I know I'm not saying that right. I mean, I know what I mean but…"
..."I understand, Devon. I really do. There are some things that should and will, as far as I'm concerned, stay just between us."
..."Thank you. I don't know how to say it anyway."
..."Thank god, it's the past now, Devon. I'm worried about the future. I'm worried about explaining things like sleeping on the floor for the next couple of years, jumping out of my skin every time a colonist child goes by with a synth dog, eating until I'm stuffed because I spent four years never knowing when I'll be able to eat again, walking out of my house wearing only an old pair of shorts..."
...Devon smiled and gave a short laugh. "I guess we'll start having that dream about walking naked down a crowded street."
...Both women found this hilariously funny and began to laugh until they cried.
...They were found. They were going home. Laughing and crying would be things they would do spontaneously without having to look for reasons to laugh or having hardship thrust upon them until they broke.
...The ordeal was over.

Alonzo turned off his gear. "How should I handle this, John? They've both been living in hell and I feel like I'm just going to add more to it. I could barely talk to Julia. You saw!"
...Danziger wanted to smile, but he stayed expressionless. Of all the people who crash landed on the planet so many years ago, the one who emerged changed the most was Alonzo Solace. The planet and it's connection to him was responsible for most of the changes, but some were done by the pilot himself. Worrying about the feelings of a former girlfriend? Who would have guessed? The Florence Nightingale whatdoyoucallit was responsible for starting the romance between Alonzo and Julia, but the Bess Martin Effect had a longer lasting influence. The rest had been all Alonzo, up to, and including, the married man he'd become.
...He said, "Don't worry about it, Lonz. Julia is a bright woman." He turned away and started tying his bulky outer clothing to his seat. You looked so guilty how could she miss it?

Present Day…
Conclusion...

The ultralights appeared as dots high in the sky, and through their one working jumpers, they took turns watching them get closer and closer until they could make out the pilots in the seats behind the controls. Both pilots circled the hill and decided not to risk landing on top like the women had. There wasn't room for all three aircraft, barely enough, in fact, for the one that was already there. Danziger chose a field of flowers in the opposite side of the hill from the stream and coasted as close to the rise of the hill as he could.
...It was a fairly steep hill but he'd climbed tougher looking ones before. He climbed out of the seat and looked up. Julia and Devon were at the top starting to descend.
..."Stay where you are," he said into his gear while waving at them to stop. "We'll come up." He grabbed his water bottle and back pack, and started climbing the hillside. Behind him, Alonzo circled the landing site once more and brought his craft down for a smooth landing.
...Solace taxied to a stop near Danziger's 'light and got out, looking up as he rose. Danziger was halfway up the hill. He waved at the women and turned to grab his pack, too. None the worse for being tossed out a spider tunnel, his rations and tools might be needed. He started up the hill with a feeling of not quite dread, but something close to it that made his stomach hurt.
...He climbed slowly, thinking about what he was going to say. He had no past experience to draw on and it made him feel badly that he didn't. He didn't want to hurt Julia but no matter how he looked at it, he would in the end. There was no flying away from this situation. No flowers and a short note and then years in cold sleep while life went on behind him. There was no denying he had hurt a lot of women in his former life and he was sorry for it now. He grimaced to himself. Yeah, now you're sorry.
...He couldn't bring himself to look up in case she was looking down at him.
...Danziger did look up when he neared the top of the hill and both women took this as a signal to rush forward at him. It was wonderful to see him.
..."Danziger!"
..."John!"
..."It is so good to see you!"
..."It really is you!"
...He stopped, braced himself so he wouldn’t go over backwards down the hill, and let them wrap their arms around him as they half laughed and half cried against his chest. He dropped his bag and put his arms across their shoulders. "We knew we'd find you no matter how long it took, and we were prepared to look forever if we had to."
..."I guess we always knew that," Devon said, still clinging to him and breathing in the scent of another human being as if it was the greatest thing ever. In fact, to her it was. It made the situation real and not just another dream or hallucination.
...Julia stood back first and looked over her shoulder, down the hill where Alonzo was slowly making his way up. "Something has changed, John, hasn't it?" She looked at him. "We're saying four years, going by the passing of the seasons, and that's enough time to change all of us, I guess."
...Danziger gave her a tight squeeze and she leaned against him again. "I know I'm going to open a can of worms here, but… you ladies didn't have to dress on my account. I'm not the married man here."
...Devon's head flew up in shock. "You saw that?!"
...Julia reacted similarly and opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped...
..."Well… you know… you had your back to Julia and…" He stopped talking, and deliberately not looking at Julia, he abruptly changed the subject, pulling them along as he walked the rest of the way to the flat ground at the top of the hill. "Hey! That two-seater of yours looks like hell! What have you been doing to it?! Letting those dog things play with it?"
..."Wait!" Devon said suddenly, clutching at his arm and bringing him to a stop. "What do you mean married man? Who's a married man? Do you mean- Oh!" She looked at Julia who looked back with the same expression of surprise on her face.
..."Hey!" Alonzo called at that moment from lower on the hill. "I'm rescuing you, too. You can at least say hi, can't you?"
...John dropped his arms and half turned to look at the other man. "I told them congratulations are in order," he called.
...Devon released her hold on Danziger and walked toward Alonzo. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Julia walking beside her. As soon as he reached the top of the hill, he smiled and they both rushed to him in the same manner as they had Danziger. It was very good to see him.
...The sense of relief that went through Alonzo was a lifesaver, he thought later. He could greet both women with enthusiasm because it was a relief to see them both alive and well and standing right before him, and to put the uncertainty to rest. Perhaps more so than Danziger, the uncertainty was what ate at Solace more than anything over the last two years. It fueled the guilt he felt over going on with his life. It was good to see that neither was dead, so he didn't have to grieve; and both were alive and clearly thrilled to see him even knowing he had allowed himself to go on living without them. Or, more aptly, without Julia. They both drew back from him with tears in their eyes. Devon leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "Whoever she is, she's a lucky girl," she whispered. She let go of him and turned and walked away.
...Julia stepped back, too, and wiped at her eyes with both hands. "I, uh-" she began but Alonzo cut her off quickly.
...Putting his hands on her shoulders he looked at her with a bemused expression on his face. "I'm really glad to see you, Julia. I'm happy you're alive, even though I can't imagine under what circumstances you had to survive. All I know for sure is that the last four years weren't easy for me. I know I didn't have to fight for survival in the wild, but I did have to fight for another kind of survival. For two years I hung on to hope and blocked out anything else that might make me lose it. Living like that wasn't doing me any good. Anyway..." Impulsively, he reached out and hugged her tightly. She responded immediately. "I guess somewhere deep inside me I always knew you'd make it. I just never thought we'd find you."
..."I knew I would make it, too," she answered. "But I gave up, a while back. I thought we'd never be found."
..."We-- those of us from the first landing-- would have never given up looking, but we also would have gone on living. And we did."
..."So did we."
...Alonzo pulled away and gave her a strange look before he started to shrug off his backpack. "Food--- well, I guess you'd say pampered, civilized, prepared by a good cook food is in the bag. Water, tools, first aid. We always carry extra with us whenever we make an ice run, and that's what we were doing when the spider tunnel opened for us." As he rambled he reached behind him and took the bag in one hand and swung it around to his side.
...Julia did not take her eyes from his face as he talked. There was a reserve to him, the bright look of affection he always had for her was there but it wasn't centered on her anymore. It was the look he gave everyone he considered a friend.
...Four years of separation was more than his love for her could bear. She felt a dull pain in her chest, but she leaned forward and kissed him anyway. A long, gentle kiss with no demand or promise to it, just the taste of tears. When she drew back she moved her eyes quickly to the bag at his side.
..."I hope you have bread in there. Preferably something that Bess Martin made. How is Bess by the way? And all the others?" She took the strap from his hand and as she turned away she hefted it easily over her shoulder and walked toward Devon and John.
Alonzo watched her go. "Bess is fine," he said in a quiet tone, but he knew she didn't hear him. Just like that she had left him behind, he thought with wonder.And this is how it feels.
...Danziger finally turned and looked toward Alonzo when he heard Julia speak to Devon near him.
..."Alonzo said he has a home cooked meal in this bag."
...They made a feast of dried meat and every crumb of food the men had in their backpacks.

Danziger decided the battered two seater might not make it back through the spider tunnel. He was going to fly it and the women could double up on the one he’d arrived in, and there was no talking him out of it. Alonzo and the women had to get back for various reasons. He could afford to take chances.
...He did what he could for the engine and the propulsion blades, quieting the rattle a bit and smoothing out the purr of the motor.
They went through the wormhole at dusk and burst into midafternoon sunlight on the mountaintops while below them dark clouds filled with rain and lightning covered the lowlands all the way to the sea. The clouds would reach the mountains and rise high enough over the range to drop a layer of snow before breaking up and drifting downward again as white fluffy cotton on the eastern lowlands.
...They arrived at the settlement where a fallen wall lay forgotten through three days of celebrating the return of Adair and Heller.
...The two-seater was pushed away into a storage shed where Danziger meant to work on it and bring it back into service, but as time went on it was forgotten. He was elected to a second term of colony leadership and immediately made it a law that no one could serve more than two terms. Devon enjoyed patting him on the shoulder whenever he hit brick walls of resistance from the colonists. She spent her time between being the calming influence that helped settle problems, and helping new settlements get started, and enjoying the company of the Solace children.
...Dr. Julia Heller, a chromo-enhanced product of the Stations, lived to the age of 128 colony years and after her death the logs she and Devon Adair kept during their years of exile went on display with the two seater and became a popular and admired account of survival. They influenced generations of Edenites as they slowly spread across the continents and learned to interact with the living planet. A place that would accept and reject, at will, human settlements that did not respect the native inhabitants and their mother planet.

The End

Author's Note:
This story sprang from a recent argument among the Salway siblings during a birthday get together. I was working at my computer, eliminating old links I don't use anymore and came across one that led to photos of the late J. Madison Wright Morris. My brother and I looked at them and remarked what a beautiful young lady she'd become. My brother made the off hand remark that under the right circumstances Alonzo would have gone for a grown True like a falling log.
One of my sisters heard the remark, it spread like wildfire, and all of a sudden we were in a full-fledged argument over Earth 2 couples.
I'm not a shipper, I'm a ship sinker. I started writing about Alonzo and True, but, as often happens with stories, you start writing about one thing and the story decides it wants to go in another direction, and you discover you're chasing after it and trying to keep up with it instead of doing the leading yourself. The result is often better than what you intended. In my opinion this one is, anyway.
I am using vehicles and names from some of my other stories. It's an insidious device to make you read them, too, in order to find out who and what they are.

R. Salway