The EDEN ADVANCE ROLE PLAYING GAME was founded on September 11, 2007. There are currently six players - and a few fans reading - writing the story. Some of us play multiple characters, some of us are comfortable playing only one. Chracters not taken by a player can be moved by other players as needed. As with the Round Robin, we are following a story arc in the game.
All disclaimers apply. We are writing this for our own enjoyment.
Earth 2 Continues as an RPG...
There were times when John Danziger just had to get away from the
rest of the group, his daughter included, so he could think without
their influence. He didn't like to admit it to himself, and he felt
guilty as hell afterward, but it was necessary all the same. Taking
point, scouting ahead was the best way to do it without making it
obvious to the others what he was doing.
In nearly a month of traveling since they put Devon Adair into a cold
sleep capsule to save her life from an illness that was rapidly
taking her away, not one of them started the day without casting a
look behind them, at the terrain they had just covered, as if hoping
to see they were still in sight of the ship where they'd left her. He
knew this because he did it himself every morning.
They had to continue the journey. So much depended on it.
Sitting in the ATV as it rumbled over the ground, John was only half
interested in scouting the land around him. He was trying to
calculate how much longer their water was going to last, how much
longer they could go with a dwindling supply of dried meat before
they had to stop and hunt for food. He didn't like stopping. He
wanted to get to New Pacifica. He wanted to be able to say he
completed the goal Adair and fate set before him.
He was urging the ATV up a small hill when he saw the land fall away
in front of him, and he skidded the little vehicle to a sudden stop.
He stared ahead for a few seconds before he recognized what he was
seeing.
A wide, green river valley opened up in front of him. He got out of
the ATV and he reached for the pair of jumpers he'd hung from the
roll bar. He scanned slowly from left to right. He was looking into
the valley at a point where it and the glistening river far ahead
turned from the northerly direction it was coming from and began to
flow west, straight away from his vantage point. He lowered the
jumpers and flicked his gear into place.
So that's what they'd been smelling ever since leaving the drier,
rockier land behind them. Water and fertile soil. Loads of it.
He looked back and could just make out the glint of sunlight on the
metal and glass of the transrover in the haze of distance.
"Danziger to main group," he said. "There's one hell of a big river
right in front of us. If it's the one that flows west on Yale's map
we might be able to follow it all the way to the coast." He grabbed his water
bottle and sat down on one of the ATV's tires to take a long drink.
No need to save it for later now.
He raised the jumpers again and looked into the valley. Ought to be a
lot of game down there, he thought as he took a closer, slower scan.
..................................
As soon as he heard Danziger's voice on the gear set on his head,
Alonzo looked to his left and said, "Morgan, Bess. Danziger's
checking in." He put the eyepiece in place and immediately saw John
in front of him with a good view behind him. He saw the river valley
and heard John mention Yale's map before he turned away and sat down
to look at the river. The scene changed and Danziger was shown
against the backdrop of the flat plain the group was now traveling
across.
"Got it, Danz," he said. "Give us another view of the river. Sweet
lookin' sight, man."
Beside him, Morgan was exchanging his VR gear for the regular one.
Alonzo heard other voices joining the conversation as the group
linked to the feed from Danziger's gear.
Morgan Martin hoped this was worth it. His VR program was telling the
storyline of an interesting novel that had been popular on the
stations when he left. He'd "read" it before a hundred times but
trust Danziger to interrupt just when he was getting to his favorite
part.
"He didn't find another grendler hole, did he?" Morgan said. "I'm not
going head first into another grendler hole, thank you!"
Alonzo laughed. "Nah. It's a river. I wouldn't mind going head first
into the water for a nice long bath." With that he began to walk
faster to catch up with the other vehicles. He looked over his
shoulder. "Come on, Morgan. You want to get left behind?"
Morgan awkwardly started jogging forward as he tried to clip his gear
together.
......................................
Yale was walking in front of the transrover and talking quietly with
Denner when Danziger's voice came through their gear and both
stopped to listen. He couldn't help but feel a moment of excitement
when Danziger suggested the river he was talking about might be the
long, meandering line on the maps that Yale hoped they would
encounter if fortune smiled upon them. Even though the river was
shown to double back on itself and turn north and south for many
kilometers before tacking west again and ending at the ocean, he
knew it would be a life saver for the group. Water would never be a
worry for them and fish would populate the flowing water and wildlife
the banks.
He turned to Denner. "Excuse me, please. We must finish our
discussion later. I want to look at the Eden Advance maps and try to
ascertain if this is indeed the big river I have been watching for."
He stopped walking and waited for the transrover catch up to him.
True Danziger half listened to her father's voice when he reported
in. She was sitting on one of the sides of the big vehicle and
leaning back in a relaxed pose, just watching the distant horizon
change little by little. When the 'rover stopped and Yale's voice
called out to be let inside to look at his maps, she sat up and
looked toward the front. She took the opportunity to get up and walk
along the side and sit down as close to the door as she could get.
"Uly!" she called. He was riding in the cab. "Come on up. Maybe we
can be the first to see the river from up here!"
...........................
Walking just ahead of the transrover Julia turned to look back at the
others while saying,"How far ahead are you, Danziger? Can you see us?"
The video from his gear stopped as soon as he picked up his jumpers
and he was now muttering to himself about something.
Around the side of the transrover she could see Alonzo and the
Martins jogging to the head of the little caravan and even those
watching the rear were coming behind them. She saw Yale stopping the
big transrover and calling up to the riders.
Julia knew she should be happy about this find of John's and a part
of her probably was but it meant she would be distracted now. It was
bad enough trying to study her samples and understand what she was
seeing while her body wanted rest and sleep. She needed to devote
more time to finding a way to save Devon and she could not do it
while going nowhere. Reaching the river only meant more work for her as
she analyzed food sources instead of working on Devon's problem.
As she waited for Alonzo to reach her, she turned to look ahead
again. "John, did you hear me? How far ahead are you?"
....................................
"Morgan!" Bess called to her husband. "You don't have to run. The
vehicles have stopped!" She kept calmly walking along and soon joined
the others including her husband, ahead of the transrover. She
listened to them talking and wished Danziger would five them another
look at the river valley. Her fleeting glimpse of it after quickly
adjusting her gear earlier showed a wide valley. She turned on her
unit. "Hey, Danziger, could you give us another look at the river?"
............................
The babble of voices coming through his headset was nearly gibberish
as everyone seemed to be asking questions at the same time. He caught
a few words here and there, Julia and Bess asking questions, the
others more or less talking among themselves.
"Ain't that far ahead, Julia," he said without putting down his
jumpers. "You'll get here way before nightfall. Might be a good idea
to camp up here on the hill and go into the valley tomorrow." He
adjusted the video piece of his headset and turned it to face the
valley, lowing his jumpers a bit and then going back to scanning for
life closer to the river.
"Hey, Yale," he said loudly. "The jumpers are showin' me a bend back
to the north about five k ahead. I'm going to drive along the top of
the hills here a ways and see if I can see where the river goes from
there. This might the hook in the river on your map."
..............................
Julia squinted into the distance ahead looking for hills but a stand
of trees partly hid the horizon but there did seem to be higher
ground beyond them but with the haze and heat distortion it was hard
to tell. "I wish you would check in more often, John. Send us your
coordinates. I think we'll all pile into the vehicles and try to
reach you as soon as we can."
She adjusted her gear when a view of the river returned.
......................
Uly Adair's excitement at finding something new and different to
explore was clouded by sadness. He was remembering a time just after
the group left the winter camp to travel on. His mother and Yale were
looking at the map and both talking about the river on the map and
how they hoped their position was close to it. If they could find it
they would be able to drive along it's course all the way to the
ocean just like John Danziger said and never have to worry about
food or water again.
When the door opened and Cameron got out to trade places with Yale
Uly heard True's voice call to him and immediately he looked up.
"Okay!" he called back hoping it would be something to do to take his
mind off his mom. He scrambled after Cameron and stopped in the
doorway of the cab. "I'm going up top with True, Yale. We're going to
see the river first."
.............................
Yale smiled and laughed softly. "I'm sure you will, Ulysses," he
said. "Just be careful. Pick a secure spot and hang on."
He helped lift the boy to join True and again admonished both
children to be careful.
"We will, Yale," True promised. She and Uly crawled over the tarp
covering the carefully packed cargo on the back of the transrover and
settled themselves in the center and faced forward. There were plenty
of hand holds because the "tarp" was actually a section of parachute
from the escape pods and had lines crisscrossing the top to secure
the cargo.
Yale climbed into the cab and apologized to the driver. "I am about
to take up most of the space on the dashboard, Walman. If Danziger
has indeed found the Pacifica River, we are in luck."
..............
Danziger fought hard to keep from rolling his eyes. "I do check in
frequently, Julia. You want me to start askin' for you, or something?" He
fiddled
with his gear. "These are my coordinates. Come to this spot and set up camp.
I'm going to drive ahead a little and, not far. You'll get here long before
nightfall so no need to hurry. Goin' off com for a few minutes. Check in
later."
Before Julia or anyone else could try to talk him out of it, John shut off
his gear and got back into the ATV. He had a feeling about this. The group's
luck was about to change. This HAD to be the big river on the maps.
.................
Yale barely settled into his seat when Danziger signed off his gear
and went silent. He could hear some of the others calling his name,
annoyed and irritated as always when he did this. Yale had the maps
out now and was spreading them before him and thumbing through the
corners to find the one he wanted.
'A bend back to the north.' No words John could have said would have
lit the fires of Yale's imagination more. Of all the rivers and
streams on the Council's admittedly flawed maps given to Eden
Advance, only one river on this continent showed a "hook" in it's
meandering. One spot where the flow of the water made a 180 degree
turn and flowed back in the direction it was coming from before it
turned west again and settled into the more common sight of winding
back and forth on one direction.
"Ah," he said aloud and tapped the surface of the map on top of the
river bend. A few sentences appeared describing the area.
The Pacifica River....
..............................
Denner was annoyed as anybody when Danziger shut off his gear. Here
was something to look forward to and there weren't that many
specifics to go on. Large river, nice looking valley and they would
be on the bluffs before night fall. Well. Better than endless rolling
plain, she guessed. Then she laughed to herself. Bluffs?! She'd been
talking to Yale too often. She was picking up planetary jargon from
him, identifying landmarks around them with surface names.
He must have been a wonderful teacher when Devon first met him. God
knew he was teaching adults born on the Stations to live on a
planetary surface and talk like they'd been born there instead.
She saw Cameron walking toward her from around the front of the
transrover.
"Mind if I join you?" he asked.
She smiled. "Not at all. Julia just said something about everyone
getting aboard so we can travel faster." She lowered her voice. "She
worries too much about Danziger."
Cameron cast a wary glance in the doctor's direction and barely spoke
as he moved his lips. "I know."
They both went closer to see what else was being said.
...............................
Making an exasperated sound, Julia switched off her gear and looked
Alonzo. "He does that just to annoy me," she said. "I just know it!"
All the others were gathering round. "Um...I think we should all get
aboard the vehicles and try to get to the coordinates John sent as
soon as we can. He said there was no hurry, but I think a find such
as this is worth investigating as soon as possible." She spread her
hands. "Any questions?"
.........................
.
Bess spoke up immediately. "What did Danziger mean about the hook in
the river being on the maps? Did he mean the big river that Devon
was hoping to find when we were starting off from the winter camp?"
Her eyes widened. "Julia, if it is we could build rafts and float
down that river!”
............................
Looking over at Yale as he muttered to himself about the maps, Walman kept
an ear tuned outside, too, to hear what was being decided in the big conference
in front of the 'rover. This river ahead seemed to be important. He glanced
at Yale's maps.
He indicated the picture frozen on the comscreen in the dash. "I got
Danziger's feed on backup," he said. "I set it to auto-record when he checks in
again." He nodded his head at the map. "We onto something good for a change?"
....................
Standing with one foot lifted to rest on the front of the transrover,
Mazatl's attention was caught immediately by the mention of water and rafts.
There was a time when he and Wentworth and Firestein, long time friends who had
died on this planet, sat around sharing a few beers and wondering what it would
be like to have been sailors on old Earth. The couple, newly married, dreamed
of such a life one day. Mazatl, himself, remembered the conversation for
years afterward and often wondered since crashing on this planet if he would
everget the chance to learn about traveling on water.
He let his foot down and walked over to Cameron and Denner. "Either of you
learn anything about water travel when you were training for this mission?" he
asked.
........................
Morgan stared at his wife in open mouthed alarm. Why does she say
things like that? he thought incredulously. "Bess, now wait a
minute," he said and waved his hands nervously at her. "Let's get to
the river first before we start building boats." He looked at
Julia. "Now Danziger had a pretty good suggestion, Heller. He said to
take our time. He's at the river now and I think he knows best." He
added hastily, "In this case."
Alonzo, standing beside Julia shrugged. ""Well, I say Julia's right.
The coordinates he sent are only a few K ahead. If we all ride we can
get there in three hours. We'll have time to set up camp and do some
scouting around. We might find some fresh food. There ought to be
game living close to the water." He looked around at all who gathered
around them. "We're running low on dried meat."
....................................
Bess rolled her eyes at her husband and sighed. Finding a sizable
river flowing in the right direction was a very good thing but trust
Morgan to not see the pluses. She crossed her arms and stood looking
at him. When he finished talking, she said pointedly, "I agree with
Alonzo and Julia. If this IS that big river from the maps, we're
going to find a lot of food living and growing along the banks. And
it will be our major food source all the way to the ocean." She
shrugged. "It could also be a source of faster travel, too."
....................................
Not me," Denner answered. "Agriculture, some biology, hydroponics.
That's as close to water as my training went." She looked ruefully at Mazatl
and shrugged. "All of us colonists learned to swim, though."
Cameron nodded. "We're supposed to be living on a beach at the ocean
and you would think we would have been taught something about
water craft, but I guess Adair figured we'd be busy with building the
colony town the whole time between landing and the arrival of the
other ship."
She agreed. "The colony town was our main priority, and growing and
preserving food was second."
Without calling for one, Julia seemed to have brought a vote to the
conversation. All ride and get to the river as soon as possible or
keep the same pace?
Denner looked at Julia. "Yes, let's get there as soon as we can."
Cameron said, "Agreed. Alonzo's right about needing to find more food-
- just in case this isn't the river on the map."
..........................
Alonzo raised his eyebrows and gave Cameron an approving nod. "Yeah.
Just in case." He paused briefly. "Not that I think it isn't," he
said with a grin. "It's about damn time for our luck to change. Of
course finding a couple more cargo pods was more the kind of change I
was hoping for, but having our trail marked all the way to the ocean
isn't bad."
Beside him Morgan lowered his eyes in disgust. What ever happened to
voting, he thought. A show of hands instead of taking the word of
three or four people?
He shook his head at his own thoughts. He never thought he would ever
miss Adair and wish she was here to keep them together. He turned to
leave, looking at Bess as he did. "When are we going to learn to stop
rushing into things?" he muttered to her. "What are we? Idiots?"
...............................
The top of the transrover was one of Uly's favorite places to be at
times like this. The adults talked and even argued sometimes as if
they believed he was too far away to hear them. He learned a lot of
stuff that was going on with the adults by being where they thought
he was out of earshot and acting like he wasn't listening for all he
was worth.
He already knew Yale and Mr. Danziger were hoping this was that big river on
the maps but Bess' comment about boats was really
interesting. He hoped Morgan wasn't going to spoil things by making
everyone be over cautious.
Morgan walked away a few steps and Uly gave him a gloomy look. He
looked at True, who was doing the same thing, and said, "Let's get
the Tom Sawyer VR program from Morgan's pack. We can practice being
on boats in VR."
...............................
Julia noticed Morgan's reaction but at the moment had no time to try
to address his feelings. Besides she was irritated with Danziger and
talking to the protesting Morgan now would make her angry with him
too.
"Okay!" Julia said loudly. "Everybody on the vehicles! Make room in
the dunerail and let's go. Let's get to this river as soon as we can!"
She turned around and started shifting the load piled in the back
seat of the dunerail to make room for a passenger or two.
................................
It was getting late in the day and Danziger finally reached the point where
the river turned north and flowed back the way it came. His jumpers showed him
what appeared to be another bend where the water turned west once more. He
couldn't be certain, though, because the bend was just out of range of the
jumpers' ability to calculate distance accurately. Figuring the others were
getting close to the last coordinates he'd given them, he dug his gear out of
his pocket and put it on.
He wanted very much to drive on a few kilometers more to be sure of the bend
but he knew Julia would give him the Adair treatment if he did that. He was
in for an argument when he got back as it was.
Ah well, he thought and snapped his gear on.
"Danziger to main group," he said. "I'm at the other side of this bend. I'm
pretty sure it's the hook on the map. The river flows back to the west just
out of range of the jumpers. It's calculating over eight k, but I'm sure I
see the next turn. I'm heading back now. Be there in a couple of hours. No sign
of grendlers but I see a lot of birds in the valley. The water's so clear I
can see fish from up here through the jumpers."
He was letting the others see his view of the valley as he spoke.
.................................
Julia immediately stopped what she was doing and glared at
Danziger. "John, what are you doing? We've already set up camp and
we're waiting for you!"
He was on his way back, his gear showing
nothing but himself bouncing along on the ATV. She started walking
toward her tent to put the plants she was carrying inside. "We got to
your coordinates hours ago and Alonzo and Yale have taken the
dunerail into the valley to look for game. Baines and Cameron are
walking the perimeter looking for edible plants." She looked
exasperated. "Get back as soon as you can. Why are you so far ahead?"
.......................
Trying hard not to react defensively, Danziger kept his eyes on the ground
in front of him. "Glad to see you got there okay," he said. "And I'm not that
far ahead, Julia. No farther than I've ever been. By the way, I found some of
those white, starchy things that you told us to look for. I pulled up maybe
fifteen kilos and wrapped them in my jacket. They're all over the place
here." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Looks like a square k of 'em
growing down the hillside toward the river."
Before she could answer him, he went on, "Hey, Yale. How close does this put
us to the ocean? You been able to figure out if the map's accurate?"
...........................
True looked at him and grinned. "Okay! Come on."
Without waiting to see if he followed, she crawled as quickly as she
could across the top of the packed goods to where they knew Morgan
liked to his pack with personal goods.
She and Uly often used his VR programs but she didn't consider it
stealing or anything bad. After all, Bess was the one who told the
kids about all the different VR chips Morgan had.
She reached the hiding place and said over her shoulder, "Keep watch,
Uly. I'll get it."
.........................
Alonzo listened to the exchange over his gear and after John
addressed Yale he spoke to Julia on a private channel. "Hey calm
down, Julia. Danziger isn't that far away in scouting terms, you
know. Five k is within the distance you set yourself for scouting
ahead." HE paused a moment. "Yale and I are almost ready to swing
back toward camp. We see a lot of wildlife and we're recording it all
on our gear. Be back in a few minutes."
.......................................
Julia let out a sigh and sat down on a crate beside the doorway of
her tent. She looked through the flap and saw the others hurrying to
finish setting up camp so they could take a turn looking through
jumpers at the river and even the children were racing back and forth
gathering firewood as quickly as possible.
Maybe Alonzo was right and she was just taking too much upon herself
since they put Devon in the cold sleep capsule. Maybe she did worry
too much. She focused again on her gear feed and the image of Alonzo
f that seemed to float in the air in front of her.
"Alright," she said. "See you in a bit."
She stooped under the tent flap and stood straight, squaring her
shoulders and walking quickly toward the edge of the bluffs
overlooking the river. It was a pretty sight and she was going to
enjoy it.
...........................
Half of her attention on setting up the cots in her tent and the other
half on the short gear talk with Danziger when he reported in, Bess
felt concern for Julia. The doctor seemed to be pushing herself too
hard. From Bess's point of view Julia was doing too much and would
have to pay the price sooner or later.
She laid a pile of blankets on the finished cot and rose to leave the
tent, resolving to have a talk with Danziger about Julia. He wouldn't
like it, but she was going to say something anyway. Then she was going
to talk to Alonzo. He wasn't going to like it either, but that was
tough. If they weren't going to do a better job looking out for their
only doctor, she was going to make them.
Bess looked guilty and looked quickly around for Morgan who was off
somewhere out of sight and was going to like her talks with the other two even
less than they were.
She saw Julia walking toward the edge of the bluffs and started after
her curiously.
"Beautiful sight, isn't it?" she asked as she came up from
behind. "The Ohio and the Kentucky Rivers back on Earth used to look
this beautiful one time. I wish my daddy could see this."
...............................
Julia didn't turn but kept her eyes on the sights in front of her. "I
saw pictures when I was young," she said. "Pictures very much like
this. There were holo programs, too. Interactive VR where you could
walk through forests and along river banks. I thought they were
wonderful - until I came here. Now I know they never came close to
the actual experiences."
A bit of movement to her right caught her eye and she saw the
dunerail emerging from a group of trees far down in the valley. A
flock of birds had flown out of the tree and circled in the sky
waiting to go back after the intruders passed. She started to turn
away. "Alonzo and Yale are coming back I'd better get to work."
...................
Uly was certain the group had enough firewood to last several days
now. The pile was pretty big. He looked around for True. They were
going to use Morgan's VR program again before her father got back and
made them do more chores. With Yale gone too they could sneak off
down the hillside a little and rejoin Tom and Huck on their raft. He
spotted True and waved to her.
...............................
True finished the last of her chores. She had helped Cameron and
Walman set up the tent she and her father used and then helped carry
in a few of their personal items. She put the cots together herself,
a fairly easy job and then she grabbed her pack with the VR gear
inside and went looking for Uly. She immediately saw him waving to
get her attention from beside a large pile of wood and broken
branches. She smiled. He outdid himself with THAT pile of firewood,
she thought. She slung the pack over her shoulder and ran toward him."Come on,
Uly. Let's go climb on those rocks by the transrover. Get
up out of the way."
She looked around. "Magus!" she called. "Me and Uly are going to play
on the rocks over there."
The woman nodded. "Alright, but be careful," she called back. "Your
dad's on the way back so watch for him."
"Okay!"
She started for the rocks.
..........................
Uly ran after her and then circled the rocks a little to find the
easiest way to the top of the largest of the rocks. They drove past
the rocks in the transrover and he remembered looking down at them
and thinking it would be easy to get to the top of the big one
because of all the smaller ones leading up like steps. It didn't take
long before they figured out the best way up. As ususal True led the
way and Uly followed her. When they reached the top, clambering up and
standing to look around he noticed how flat and wide and very
spacious the top of the tallest rock was. It took seven steps to
reach the edge closest to the camp. It was almost like the top of the
rock was cut off with a slight angle so that it wasn't really level
just off a bit. He sat down on the edge and let his legs dangle over
the edge.
"There's the dunerail way down there!" he said excitedly. "I hope we
get to go with them to explore the river tomorrow!"
....................................
"I see it."
True sat down next to Uly and pulled her pack into her lap. She took
out the VR gear and handed one to Uly. "Dad will let us ride along,"
she told him. "Everyone will want to go except Julia I bet."
She glanced quickly at Uly. She'd been about to say Julia would want
to stay behind and work on a cure for Devon, but she wasn't sure how
to bring it up just yet. Even after a month Uly often got sad when
his mom was mentioned. She put the program chip into her gear unit
and looked at the tiny controls. "Where shall we start? On the water
or just starting out?"
.................................
Danziger made his way back the way he'd come at a leisurely pace. Knowing
the others were at the spot he picked for a campsite meant he was going to
rejoin them sooner rather than later. He wanted to stretch out his time alone a
while longer. There was much to think about and he could do that better
without half a dozen different voices questioning him. The question of survival
had been eased a bit by finding this river-- and he was convinced it was the big
river from the maps. Not only would they be able to follow the river all the
way to the ocean, but their need for fresh water and food would be taken care
of, too.
His worries would be cut in half. All he had to do now was get everyone to
the ocean safe and sound, and then find the com dish. A couple of the first
cargo pods had to have fallen to ground nearby. They were away before the
sabotaged pods started dragging the ship into the atmosphere and casting the
others wide.
He was winding his way through a wooded area of tall trees that shaded the
ground and kept the underbrush thin and sun starved. Speckled sunlight lit the
ground which was covered with a dense carpet of leaves and fallen branches.
He reached the other side too soon and just within the thinning edge of
trees he said, "Vehicle stop."
He could see the transrover in the distance, sun
glinting off its polished surfaces. He turned off the engine and looked
across the open area of rocky and grassy terrain to where the others were tiny
figures moving around or standing and looking downward toward the river below.
'Well, Dev,' he said to himself, closing his eyes, 'look what we found. That
big damn river you were always looking at on the maps, tracing it's course
with your finger, never telling us your hopes and dreams about it, just saying
you wished we'd come upon it in our travels so we could follow it to the
ocean. Ha!' He grinned. "You knew it would save our lives, too, didn't you? To
me it was always just another scratch on the maps that proved to be wrong too
many times to believe in it. Well, it's right in front of us now and I finally
know why you used to look at it so longingly back there in the mountains.'
For just a moment he was positive he heard her voice. "You're doing a good
job, John. I knew you could."
Danziger's eyes opened quickly and he looked at the passenger seat.
It was empty. He stared at it for a long time before looking away slowly.
"Vehicle start."
He stepped hard on the pedal and the little vehicle shot forward and out of
the trees. He put on his gear and clicked it on.
"Hey," he said loudly. "What's everyone doing standing around looking like
you've never seen water before? What are we, tourists?"
....................................
Yale felt the dunerail start its laborious climb up the hills toward
the campsite at the top. He was looking at the maps he'd brought
along, trying to positively identify the bend in the river that
Danziger showed him as the one on the map. The distances seemed to
match the hook like shape drawn by Council surveyors, but he was in no
hurry to get the hopes up of everyone else until he could say he was
positive. He knew Alonzo, patiently silent by his side was waiting for
word, too though he allowed Yale to make calculations and cross-check
with his arm library without interruption.
When the dunerail reached the top of the hill and came to a stop near
the woodpile, he was feeling excited and couldn't help smiling as he
climbed out of the vehicle. Finding this river meant so much to him.
He carried his maps to the table under a flap of material where the
communications units were being set up, and he waited for the others
to gather around.
He had very good news.
.............................
Alonzo let Yale leave the dunerail. He stayed inside a few minutes
longer to be sure the solar collectors recharged the batteries in the
last hours of daylight before the sunlight became too weak. The drive
into the valley to the riverbank hadn't been long so he was sure they
wouldn't have to hook the vehicle up to a generator over night. He
thought Yale seemed pleased with himself and that only meant good
news.
Well they were due for some.
He got out of the seat and stretched his back while he looked around.
He saw Julia and Bess across the camp and some of the others were
going over to where Yale stood with a smile on his face. That looked
promising so he headed for Yale too.
.............................
Julia looked hopefully toward Yale as he stood smiling and looking
around. Maybe the group was getting a break at last. It was time for
them to come out from under the long shadow of the Venus class chip
and feel the sunlight upon them again. Heaven knew she was tired of
failure after failure in her attempts to find a cure for Devon. Maybe
good news would jolt her creative imagination out of its mental block
and let her finally find a cure for Devon's illness. She quickened
her step and joined Alonzo at the rear of the gathering people.
"Hey," she said and stopped beside him and ran a hand up and down on
his arm. "I hope you guys had a good scout."
...............................
Yale did not make anyone wait unnecessarily. As soon as everyone was
within earshot he said loudly, "We have found the one landmark on the
maps that we have been hoping to find for a very long time! This is
the river that will lead us all the way to the ocean, to New Pacifica
and all that awaits us there!" There was excited talk all around, a
few questionable mutters, but he picked up one of the maps and
held it up. "The distances between points on the maps and actual
terrain are so close as to be almost identical. We have found the
bend in the river that Devon and I have been dreaming of finding
since we left our winter camp."
It made him smile ever wider when the faces before him lit up with
the same hope he was feeling. He was happy to have the bearer of such
good news.
...................................
Bess greeted the announcement with a laugh and clapped her hands. She
looked around for Morgan and saw him standing a few feet away but
when others moved forward to see the map Yale was holding, her view
was blocked and she was unable to see what his reaction was. She
hoped he understood this meant never going hungry again and never
again having to conserve water. The only thing she could think of
that would NOT be good news was knowing that on Earth, a fertile,
rich river valley attracted large, dangerous animals to prey on
smaller animals and game. If G889 had such dangerous predatory
animals, chances were good the group was going to meet them in their
travels along the river. Bess thought she would have a talk withMorgan about it
before she brought up the possibilities with the group.
Making her way around the others, Bess came up behind her husband and
put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, sweetie," she said. "I guess you
got your wish. You wished for this traveling to be over with and
looks like it will be - a lot sooner than any of us thought."
......................
Morgan closed his eyes at his wife's words. He wanted to turn on her
and demand how she came to that conclusion based on Yale's
announcement but he didn't. When she wanted to Bess could ignore
reality better than anyone he ever known in his life. Including
himself.
Instead he just nodded his head. "Lucky me," he muttered and then
shut up with a smile on his face. He hoped she would think he was as
happy as she was and not start talking about boats again.
..................................
Alonzo covered Julia's hand with his own and nodded at Yale who was
speaking. In a low voice he said, "I'd call that a good scout,
wouldn't you?" He grinned at her and noticed a subtle change in her.
She was looking back at him and her eyes were bright and missing the
usual tiredness he was used to seeing there.
This is a good thing, he told himself and gave her hand a squeeze.
...........................
Seeing all of this from the shelter of the woods not far away, Danziger
kept the ATV moving slowly toward the campsite. There was getting away and
there was staying away and his absence from the group was now turning into the
latter and he didn't feel that urge, never had.
He repeatedly glanced down into the valley as he rolled along, toward that
blue streak of water that was so wide the other bank was almost lost, but not
quite, in a haze. On Earth people built bridges over things like this for safe
crossing. He'd seen them from the sky during his time in the military.He'd been
part of a crew that built a bridge back at the Stations once. It
had been nothing compared to the bridge that would be needed to span this river.
True and Uly were sitting atop a large rock with VR gear on so he swung the
ATV toward them, aiming to pass beneath their feet.
"HEY!" he called out as he drove beneath them. "Don't you two have work to
do?" He laughed as the ATV rolled on toward the others gathered near the tents.
.....................................
Uly didn't break his concentration completely, only enough to look
down for a second as see a streak of red going by below his dangling
feet. Then he refocused on the game.
"You're dad's back, Tom. I mean True." His hands were still holding
the imaginary pole from the VR game and he made a movement to send
the raft moving a little ways against the current of the game's river.
"We better save the game right here and go see what the grown-ups
are going to be talking about."
..................................
"Yeah we better," True answered and heaved a great sigh. Her arms
lowered as she let go of an imaginary pole. She took off her VR gear
and began to fiddle with the small control. "I'm saving it right
there."
She tucked it into her pocket and looked toward the adults who were
gathered not too far away. "Come on, before we miss all the good
stuff."
.................................
Uly got up and followed her to the side of the big rock where the
smaller ones made a sort of ladder or series of steps to reach the
top. They hopped down onto each one in turn and hit the ground
running to join the gathering around Yale.
"Hi Mr. Danziger," Uly said. "We got all our chores done before we
went to play."
"That's right, John." said Magus. "They were eager to get up on that rock and
play VR. I never saw them move so fast getting their work done!"
Uly grinned his thanks at her and went to stand beside Yale and look
up at him curiously.
.............................
Danziger had barely joined the others when the children joined them. He
hadn't even opened his mouth to speak when Uly and Magus beat him to it.
He shrugged his shoulders and waved his hands in a helpless gesture.
"Well...okay! That wasn't what I was going to ask but I'm glad the two of you
thought about your responsibilities before you ran off to play." He pointed at
them each with his finger. "We'll talk in a few minutes. I want to see what Yale
has to say. Stick around."
He turned back to Yale and the others. "So didn't I tell you an hour ago we
found the river? You really ought to start listening to me now, man."
.............................
Against her better judgement, or will, or whatever, Julia felt
herself smile at Danziger's remark and decided she wasn't as angry
with him as she thought she'd been. Well, maybe not angry. Irritated.
Yes, that was it. She sighed and leaned her head closer to Alonzo.
She whispered, "I'm beginning to understand how Devon must have felt
every day since the crash. Exasperated, irritated and then just glad
to see he's alright and I can kill him later!"
.............................
Yale smiled and made a shrugging gesture. "Perhaps you are right,
John, but it pays to be certain. We can now make long term plans that
include reaching the ocean and finding the landing place of the com
dish in the near future. Plus, we now have a ready supply of food and
water from which to draw. With sustenance no longer a major concernwe are free
to plan a future that ends only with the arrival of the second ship."
Mmmm. To True the knowledge of having food and water nearby for the
rest of their journey meant one less worry bothering all of them, and
yet as she stood beside her father and looked at all the happy and
encouraged faces of the adults she thought of something important
that they didn't have. She looked up at her father.
"Dad?" she said quietly. "But what's going to happen when the other
ship comes and we don't have a hospital ready for all the sick kids?
Or places for people to live in?"
..............................
Alonzo squeezed Julia's hand. "You're worrying too much, Julia. We
can all take care of ourselves and we're all here for the kids." He
leaned his head closer to hers. "You aren't the only one who knows how
to worry, kid. We all do." He smiled and kissed her quickly on the
cheek. "You do realize that if you quit yelling at him and making
demands on him, John'll be scared to death something is wrong with
you?"
................................
Morgan shifted his feet nervously. The same thoughts the girl was
voicing certainly occurred to him more than once but he never said
anything. It just didn't seem the right time to bring it up. Devon
would have an answer but she wasn't here and much as he still didn't
really like her, Morgan knew the Eden Project was never far from the
front of her mind. She probably already thought ahead to this
problem.
Would Danziger have done so? Not a chance, Morgan thought. Yale?
Maybe but not with Devon's devotion.
So there he stood with visions of sick children lying in rows along a
sandy beach with only tents for cover and Terrians popping in and out
of the ground while shrieking parents fought them off and kept them
away from their babies."Uh, you know..." Morgan heard himself saying. "Those...
She's...
Uh... What are we going to do when that time comes?" He finished the
last sentence in a rush and running the words together in one breath.
Looking quickly from Danziger to Yale Morgan unconsciously moved a
step closer to Bess.
..............................
Bess looked hard at Morgan and slipped a hand around his arm when he
moved closer to her. She knew what it must have cost him to agree
with what True was saying because it could prove to be a touchy
subject. She smiled at True but spoke to reassure her husband. "Well,
True, honey, we aren't going to reach the ocean tomorrow or anytime
soon. It'll still be weeks away. Besides not having to worry about
food and water so much anymore will," and now Bess looked at Yale and
John, "free up some time for us to start thinking of that very
problem. Won't it?"
...............................
Danziger glanced at Yale and then looked down at True. He placed a hand
gently on her shoulder and said, "What Bess said might turn out to be how it
goes, True-girl. We just have to take each day as it comes, just as we have
been doing." He raised his eyes to look around at everyone else. "There's
something else we need to be doing. We're not far from the ocean, from the com
dish. I was thinking of the crash as I drove back from my scout and if I
remember correctly, the first few cargo pods were away safely after the dish was
jettisoned. Right, Lonz? So that means the closer we get to the com dish the
more likely we might be to find cargo pods. If we keep our eyes open and start
looking for them, we might be lucky enough to find a few that have enough
building materials to build a safe house for the colonists to take shelter
in.
The first pods to be jettisoned had the materials most needed to start
building."
.................................
Yale took a deep breath. "John is right," he said slowly. 'It is
something Devon and I discussed at length during our stay at the
winter camp. We were, and I am still, certain the closer we get to
the com dish and the ocean, the likelier we are to find cargo pods.
The last few were thrown wide and far, but the first few, perhaps as
much as four, to be released would have fallen close to the dish. I
have been working on a way to reactivate the beacons, a way to send a
signal to them. I am certain of it or as close to it as I can be. The
batteries will have recharged and drained and recharged again over
and over in the last year. However, I believe they will still have
enough life left in them to send a signal long enough for us to
spread out and triangulate directions to them as we did with Pod 9."
He looked at Bess with a slight smile. "I know I shall devote as much
time as I can to developing a way to send the signal."
......................
Danziger also looked at Bess, but more sternly, as he thought Yale's smile
was too apologetic.
Then he shifted his gaze to Morgan and his look left no doubt he was serious
and in no mood for argument. "Yale is going to need your help, Martin. Any
time off your scout rotation you'll be spending with him." He looked back at
Bess. "The sooner the two of you get started the better."
Next he looked down at True and Uly. "And I want you two," he placed a hand
on each of their shoulders, "to stay out of the way and not be a bother to
either Yale or Morgan. That means leaving Morgan's possessions alone. I think
you both have something you need to return to him."
.................................
True's eyes widened and she felt her mouth drop open. How did he
know? she thought.
"Um...." she said and stole a glance at Uly who was just as
astonished that Dad knew about the VR game they "borrowed" from
Morgan earlier. She looked guiltily at Morgan and started digging
into her pocket. "I"m sorry, Morgan. We, um, Uly and me, we
remembered the Tom Sawyer VR game you showed us once and when we saw Dad's
pictures of the river and how big it was, we took it so we
could practice being in boats on the water." She held out the VR chips
and tried to look properly sorry. She didn't dare risk a look at Uly
to see if he was doing the same.
...............................
Bess put a hand on her husband's arm before looking down at the VR
chips in the little girls' hand.
"Of course, your father is right, honey, and I'm sure Morgan will
agree with me that you certainly should have asked permission to use
the VR game, BUT..." and she leaned down to close True's hand over
the chip set, "You and Uly actually had a very good idea. Anything we
can learn about the river and how to handle a water craft is a skill
we can all do our best to learn. Maybe you and Uly can share it with
the others."
,p>
...........................................
Morgan wanted to throw his hands in the air and stalk away but the
close proximity of everyone in the group kept him from showing a
reaction at all. He was still feeling the irritation of Danziger just
up and announcing he was going to have to work with Yale to create a
program for reactivating location beacons. Of course, it wouldn't be
that difficult to do, he could probably do it alone, but that didn't
mean the man couldn't have ASKED him if he wanted to do it first did
it!
We aren't THAT close to being savages are we? Morgan thought. He
crossed his arms and stood rigidly looking down at the kids and hoped
that they thought he was irritated with them.
When he heard Bess letting True keep his VR program, Morgan did
react. He lowered his head and rubbed his face with his hands. Why
did she DO these things?
He raised his head, fingers pressed along his jaw and said, "Yeah...
well... When, uh... when do you , uh, want to start? Yale?"
...........................
What can you say about Bess? Danziger said to himself as he looked down at
the faces of the children. The woman was certainly full of surprises. Too bad
he was going to have to squash her idea about boats and floating down the
river before it went any further. Still, he wasn't going to do it just yet. He
wasn't going to ruin her gesture to the kids. Devon wouldn't. Devon would say
something encouraging and thankful to Bess, too, but Danziger was damned if
he knew what it might have been. He just caught Bess' eye and nodded once at
her.
John barely heard what Morgan was saying. He was gently leading the kids
away from the main group. "You can go back to playing the game later, True. Come
with me back to the ATV. I brought you both something from my scout."
From the corner of his eye, he saw a few of the others start to leave the
gathering, too.
...........................
With the meeting breaking up Morgan walked closer to Yale. "This is
going to help, right?" he asked. "Get us back to civilization? Get us
out of god awful tents and into a real bed? Well hospital beds but
that's better than nothing. Do we really have a chance of finding
INTACT, loaded and pristine cargo pods filled with supplies for us to
use?" He looked at Yale with yearning in his eyes. "We can build
houses too, right?"
He didn't dare look to see what kind of expression Bess had on her
face because he suspected it to be the one with a little touch of
pity in it and he hated that one. It was enough to have to see Yale's
blank look.
...............................
"Well...."Yale answered carefully. "It will be some time before
private residences will be built. We must concentrate on the hospital
first and make it ready for the children. I'm afraid we will be
living in tents for quite some time yet. If we are very lucky we will
find enough cargo pods to make a decent hospital." He gave Morgan an
apologetic look. "Our individual needs were always going to be
secondary, Morgan. You knew that when you came aboard the project."
...................................
True walked along with her father and Uly and when they reached the
ATV she looked up at him.
"You hacked in on the VR game, didn't you? You were watching us."
She knew she shouldn't be surprised. Ever since she was a kid her
dad or Alex Wentworth always seemed to know when she was trying to
sneak something past them. "You knew but you still brought me
something back?"
..................................
"True-girl, when both of you go hours at a time without being
under someone's foot, the VR game you're playing has to be something
more than the ones Yale made for the two of you. You've never played
your own games that long without getting into an argument over
something." He untied his pack from the roll bar of the ATV and took
something out of it. "I figured you might have borrowed one of
Morgan's VR chips." He opened a piece of parachute cloth and revealed
an assortment of rocks, and colored stones. "There are some fossils
in the rocks that I've never seen before and a couple of the colored
stones you can see through when they get wet."
....................................
Julia let the meeting break up around her, standing and only half
listening to Yale and Morgan. She knew Alonzo was joking with her to
try and cheer her up and she knew she ought to let him, but the weight
of Devon's absence was too much to put aside and forget. It would
haunt her until she found a way to bring her back to them.
She turned on her heel to face Alonzo, gently disengaging from his
touch. "I have work to do before it gets dark. I've wasted enough
time admiring the sights." She glanced toward Danziger and the
children. "But I AM going to have a talk with John later."
................................
Bess never really knew what to expect from her husband on any given
day since they crashed on the planet. She knew he loved her and that
she could count on him to be there for her, and that he could show great
courage because she meant so much to him. She knew that ever
since the incident of the spring flower their relationship was even
stronger.
She also knew that despite the many positive changes he had
experienced in the past year, he was still the man she married back on
the Stations. And she was still the woman she was back on Earth. No
one should ever think they knew her enough to know what she would do
next.
While she and Denner cooked breakfast and served the rest of the group
as they straggled into the mess tent, Bess kept looking at the entry
flap and waiting for Danziger to come in.
She was as worried about him as Julia was but for other reasons. Julia
wanted John to quit taking chances, be more careful. Bess knew why he
was acting the way he was and she knew how to fix it.
............................
In spite of what Yale told him the day before Morgan was eager to get
to work on the project to find cargo pods. To sleep on a real bed
again was something he'd been dreaming about ever since the crash and
no matter what he had to do he and Bess were going to be the first of
the group to have a private residence and a bed.
He ate his meager breakfast, drank the warm slightly bitter brew that
passed as coffee and waited for Yale. He hoped the hunting party
would be lucky today. It was a long time since they had bird eggs in
any amount to have them for breakfast more than twice in a row.
As he sat waiting for Yale he thought about eggs and toast, cold milk
and bacon. Finding the pods would be just what they all needed.
..........................
Julia went to the mess tent early because she was determined to have
a talk with Danziger before he evaded her by heading into the river
valley. She'd spent a good part of the night thinking about what
Alonzo said to her and about her own feelings since Devon fell sick
and they had to leave her behind. John was their leader now and she
understood it wasn't a role he wanted or sought. She knew he felt the
weight of leadership as much as she felt the weight of being unable
to do anything constructive for Devon. She'd come to a decision as
she tossed and turned and afterward she'd been able to sleep like a
log. It was good to have a purpose in life again.
She ducked under the tent flap and looked around. She went up to the
serving table and smiled at Denner and Bess. "I hope Danziger hasn't
come and gone already," she said. "I really need to talk to him
before he leaves to go hunting."
...................................
Danziger woke and got dressed, giving True a shake when he smelled cooking
coming through the tent flap. "Up and at 'em, True-girl. As Bess would say,
we're burnin' daylight." She began to stir and he looked down at his feet,
putting on his boots and carefully lacing each with deliberate care and quite a
bit of fuss.
His daughter was growing up, and he hoped they could reach New Pacifica
before she grew up enough to stop sharing a tent with him. She was getting
taller and her clothes, though they still fit her thin frame, were getting
short in the leg, sleeves and hems. She was growing into the adult sized boots
she'd begun wearing after leaving the winter camp. He kept his eyes averted
until he was sure she was dressed.
He straightened up, stretched out the crick in his back and headed for the
flap in the canvas. "I'm getting an early start," he said over his shoulder. "I
want you and Uly to help out as much as you can while I'm out with the
hunting party. Okay? Keep an eye on the com gear when the others are busy, do
whatever Bess and Denner tell you to do."
He could hear her walking behind him and when they reached the mess tent, he
let her go through first, and then ducked inside and followed her to the
serving table.
Bess and Julia were there, both looking at him as if they were waiting
specifically for him. He let out a breath and thought, what have I done now?
............................
Bess couldn't help but smile. Danziger was looking as if he was
thinking of ducking back under the tent flap and making a run for it.
Well, she would let Julia speak to him first because talk wasn't
exactly what she had in mind herself. Not exactly.
She filled the bowls for Julia and the Danzigers and said a cheery
good morning as they each took one.
...................................
Julia smiled at True. "Hey," she said. "Get a move on there,
sleepyhead. Look at the berry pudding we have for breakfast today."
She waited for Danziger to get his serving before she turned to face
him. "John, I want to apologize for getting so upset at you
yesterday." She shook her head and looked chagrined with herself. "In
fact I think I owe everyone an apology. I've been on edge and
worrying too much lately. I shouldn't take my frustrations out on
anyone, least of all you. You've been doing a good job."
Julia put a hand on his arm and squeezed a little before she turned
and walked toward the table where Morgan and Yale were sitting and
talking quietly.
.................................
Danziger opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and realize he
didn't know what to say. Julia was walking away anyway. He looked down at the
low, wide bowl and spoon Bess had put in his hands. He raised an eyebrow and
looked at Bess in bewilderment.
"Uh, what's up with the doc? She have a head injury yesterday while I was
scouting?" He gave Julia's back a look and shook his head with a slight smile.
.......................................
Bess couldn't help but laugh at the look on Danziger's face. "I had a
talk with Julia yesterday and she kinda said she would think about
relaxing more and not get so wound up by her research for Devon - or
something like that, anyway. I didn't believe her at the time, but I
guess she really meant it." She grinned. "I promise, I didn't hit her
in the head at any time."
...............................
True giggled at Bess's comment and looked up at her dad. It was nice
to see him laugh or smile these days. Sometimes she thought he was
being too serious too. Then he would do something to surprise her.
Like bringing gifts back from his scout for her and Uly even though
he knew they were using one of Morgan's VR programs without
permission.
"Come on, Dad," she said and led the way to a table where Cameron and
Walman were sitting and looking just as sleepy as she still felt. She
looked over her shoulder. "Can I go hunting with you, Dad? I'll stay
in the dunerail. Really."
...................................
"I have all the information on the Eden Project on chips for my arm, "
Yale said to Morgan. "I carried them with me at all times and I had
them on my person when the ship began to fall. Every bit of data
collected over the course of the planning and launch of the Project is
here-" he rolled his arm to face his palm up- "and that includes
emergency procedures. The planners and scientists and engineers were
required to think of every possibility that might arise on such a
mission and to prepare for it. From the building of the ship to the
stocking of the emergency stores. I have all information but the final
cargo manifests. We left in such a hurry the warrant officers did not
send the chips with that data to Devon."
He paused to eat a few bites of his breakfast. "Devon prepared for all
emergencies but even the people working for her did not foresee such a loss as
we suffered."
....................................
Danziger knew that question was coming. "Come on, True-girl. Not the first
day, you know that. Not until we know the lay of the land. Even staying in the
dunerail won't be safe if we find one of the large predators Yale thinks will
be around. Besides, with Yale busy on another project, I want you and Uly to
help prepare to preserve the food we hope to find. Your school hours are
going to be free but it would be good for you to learn more from helping out
Bess and Denner or Julia and Cameron."
Cameron looked up at the mention of his name. "What's this? Am I getting an
apprentice?" he asked.
Danziger sat down and nodded to him and Walman. "You need any help the next
few days, while Yale is busy with Morgan, True and Uly are available."
Magus came and joined them at the table. She, for one, looked raring to go.
"Morning," she said. "I prepped all the weapons yesterday, John, even
O'Neill's old revolver and rifle. This is an occasion to use a bit of the ammo
for them. You're good to go, but make the shots count. Mazatl and I got the
short straws so we'll take turns on watch and manning the com units."
Danziger nodded. "Thanks."
Walman finished his meal and leaned forward with his elbows on the table
top. "We'll take the rifle," he suggested to John, "and let Alonzo have the
revolver. He has the steadier hand."
Danziger nodded his approval. "Alright. We'll wait for full daylight and set
out."
..................................
Morgan stared at Yale's arm as small holographic images flickered in
the air above his palm. "How....Yale, how many, uh, chips and how
many hours of information and images do you have in those chips? It's
all compartmentalized, isn't it? Clearly labeled, I mean?"
.........................
Alonzo carefully packed a small bag with water, a packet of dried meat
and a small container he would fill with berries and tied it securely
to the ATV before he went to get breakfast. He was anxious to get
going. Exploring the river valley would be an adventure. There was
plenty of game and plants along the small riverbanks the group passed
before. A valley this big would be teeming with what they needed. He
walked across camp to look into the valley before he went to the mess
tent. The valley was filled with a dense fog that made him feel like
he was standing on a mountaintop overlooking clouds. Past experience
told him the fog would disappear as soon as the sun rose high enough
to shine into the valley.
He turned around whistling cheerfully as he walked toward the mess tent. Voices
were coming from inside. Sounded like everyone was up and ready to go.
Well good. So was he. "Mornin' Bess. What have we got on the menu today?"
.......................................
Bess looked at Alonzo with an amused expression. The man certainly
was a charmer and other circumstances....... Well, he was a man who
was definitely pretty to look at and daydream about once in a while.
Who knew what could have happened if she was available to give Julia
some competition?
"Standard fare," she answered. "You know the menu around here.
Breakfast in the morning, lunch at noon, dinner in the evening. It
doesn't change unless you and the rest of the hunting party bring
back some bird eggs. This berry pudding then becomes berry custard.
So... What's your pick, fly boy?"
......................................
True looked at Magus. "I can help you on the communications gear,"
she said. "Both Uly and I can. We used to help Bess all the time back
at the biodome. That would be as close as going along as we can get
today."
She scraped the bottom of her bowl and pushed it away to fold her
arms on the table and lay her head on them and look at her
father. "Good luck today, Dad. I hope you find more berries. I like
Bess' pudding."
...................................
Yale carefully closed his fist and the images disappeared. He
turned his hand over and looked at it as he spread his fingers palm
down on the table top.
"They used to be," he said and looked at Morgan. "There was damage
done to some of them during my interaction with the sunstones and the
planet's central nervous system. The information is still within my
arm but it was scrambled, sometimes duplicated into the rest of my
library memory. I explained this to John and Devon after we left the
biodome. I was finding it difficult to arrange lessons for Ulysses
and True because I had to search for parts of my library that were no
longer on the chips where I had stored them. Then, during my
interface with Eve, I discovered just how much work I had to do to
recreate my library into a fast, working program once again." He gave
Morgan an apologetic smile. "That is why I asked John if he would be
willing to exempt you from scouting and hunting in order to help me
arrange my files and find the ones pertaining to the cargo pods."
...................................
"You know, the usual," he answered with a smile and a wink at Denner.
She was pouring berry flavored tea into a cup for him. "One dollop of
pudding, one scoop of grain mush and one bar of emergency rations.
I'm a man of habit."
He took a sip of tea as he watched Bess load his plate. Damn it
weren't they ever going to run out of emergency rations? He knew
those tasteless, cardboard food bars were keeping them alive in bad
times but they were so awful no one ever got used to them. There was
no dried meat with this mornings meal. Bess was serious about hoping
the hunters going out today would replenish the food supplies.
"Thank you ladies. The valley is so full of game we're going to swamp
you with food the next few days. I guarantee it."
.............................................
Morgan couldn't keep the delight from showing in his face at Yale's
words. Exempt from hunting and foraging and gathering wood and
hauling water - well maybe not that far but he could stay in camp! No
hunting, no plant picking and so help him he didn't have to go near
the water either! That river was death despite what Bess said and she
was never going to change his mind about that. The farther away from
it he could stay the happier he would be.
He smiled at Yale. "Uh that's no problem Yale. I worked for the
stations' government all my adult life. I know how to straighten out
snafues. Snafues are my hobby. Snafues are my life's work as it turns
out."
..............................
Julia reached the table and sat next to Yale. "Good morning
gentlemen. I wanted to tell you both that if you need to use any of
my equipment to aid in your search for the cargo pods, just ask. If I
can help in any way I will. If we can find some of the cargo pods
carrying supplies for the hospital it would be a godsend. Every day
that I've been working for a cure for Devon's illness reminds me just
how limited my research is. We need to find one or more of the lost
pods for so many reasons."
....................................
John gave his daughter a little smile and rubbed his hand affectionately
across her back. "We'll do our best, sweetheart." He looked across the table
at Walman. "Hey, pal. Keep your eyes peeled for berries."
Walman grinned. ''We hit the jackpot here, True. The valley down there
should be loaded with all kinds of berries. If they're there, we'll find them."
Yeah, Danziger thought, my little girl is growing up but it isn't going to
happen all at once. Even if it did she's still going to get excited about the
presents I bring her and any change to the routine of traveling. "Why don't
you get Uly and get a couple pair of good jumpers. I'll bet from the top of
those rocks you were on yesterday you can keep an eye on us all throughout the
valley."
Sunlight was brightening the walls of the tent and a thin sliver of light
from the open flap flowed across the ground beside the table. He looked at
Walman again. "Let's get going before Alonzo starts threatening to leave without
us."
........................................
To be continued...
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