This Is An Excerpt. . .
. . .from the penultimate story in this series. This is just to let you know what happened to the colony ship and nothing more. You'll have to wait for the story after this so don't ask anymore questions, Rich!


A Brief Segment of "The Aliens Are Us"...watching the colony ship fall from the sky was awe inspiring, tragic and desperately lonely, isolating each person who witnessed the event from the others around them. The slow moving fireball, nearly as bright as the sun itself, was visible for quite a distance and for quite a long time - first as a bright point of light high in the sky which slowly turned into a ball of fire streaming smoke and flame as it steadily neared the surface of the planet.
It came from the north, crossing the sky from horizon to horizon, and at it's closest point it was a brilliantly burning object behind which a long plume of black smoke billowed and curled and marked the atmosphere with a slowly dissipating tail of gray.
It vanished to the south, falling into the ocean near the southern polar region of G889 according to Yale's best calculations.
The Eden Advance group and the pitiably few colonists well enough to be out of the hospital and walking around, gathered along the cliffs south of the settlement to watch the destruction of the colony ship. It was a sight none of them wanted to see, but it would be a sight none of them would ever forget, both for the spectacle of it and just for being witness when their last link to the space stations was taken away from them by the long arm of the Council.
John Danziger didn't wait for the remains to travel from sight before he broke away from the others and walked towards the sea. Hands in pockets and head bowed, he left the circle of his friends and watched his own footsteps carry him toward the sound of the surf. He stopped walking only when a large rock blocked his way. He went around and sat down upon it. Leaning forward, elbows on thighs, he smoothed his hair away from his face and stared at his boots and the footprints they left in the sand beside them.
He'd thought he'd accepted the fact he was going to be marooned here for the rest of his life, thought he'd truly faced it and accepted it. Maybe one part of him had, but he'd just felt another part of himself die along with the fiery object in the sky. Somewhere in his mind, or in his heart, or in his soul, a little part of him had been hoping they were all wrong and the colony ship would stay in orbit and they would be able to repair it, and it would take him and his ops crew back to the lives they'd left behind on the stations.
He stared at the sand and listened to the waves and wondered how he was ever going to fill the empty spot inside of him that had never had a real home of it's own, and, now, just lost it's only chance of ever returning to the closest thing he ever had to one.
Devon, catching movement out of the corner of her eye, turned to see Danziger leave the group and walk away. She felt a pang of sympathy for him. As silently glad as she was to know she would not be losing any of her friends- her family, really - she understood the disappointment he must be feeling. The one person in the entire EA group she knew from the beginning would be returning to the stations just as fast as he could get the colony ship prepped and turned around, Danziger was also the one member of the group she wanted to stay more than any other.
Of course, she had never let on to him how she felt, never let on to anyone, she thought, how much she needed him to stay. Still, as she watched him sit down on a rock with his back to her, she understood the helplessness he must be feeling. A part of her longed to try to comfort him, but she made no move to go to him. She couldn't. He wouldn't accept her offer without an argument, would he?
Someone brushed past her and she focused on whomever it was for an instant, and fought down the angry feeling the identity of the person caused to well up inside of her.
Not wanting to watch the final moments of yet another ship destroyed by the Council, Julia Heller was, instead, watching a crab-like crustacean dart to and fro in the sand along the beach below the rise on which the group was standing. She, too, caught movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Danziger leaving the group and heading for a rock a short distance away. She also saw Devon Adair turn her head to watch him, saw the hesitation in Devon's stance as she considered going after him, saw the slump of her shoulders as she decided to stay where she was.
Julia couldn't believe it. Devon was just standing there letting him go! A golden opportunity to let him know staying on the planet wasn't going to be as bad as he was imagining, and Devon was going to just let it pass!
What is wrong with you, Adair? Julia thought and backed away from where she stood between Alonzo and Tim Cameron. She walked after Danziger, deliberately brushing close enough to Devon to get her full attention. Do I have to show you what to do?
"John? Are you okay?" Julia asked as she neared the unmoving figure on the rock. She leaned forward and placed her hands on his shoulders, giving him an impromptu massage. "John?"
He lifted his head and turned slightly to one side. "I'm fine, Jules. Reality bites, that's all."
Julia moved to his side and dropped to her knees, facing him and sitting back on her heels. She put a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted to take True back for her mother's sake, but if it helps you in any way, I'm glad you're not leaving us. You have no idea how much we all depend on you."
Without realizing she needed to do it, Julia rose on her knees and leaned forward to wrap her arms around his shoulders and give him a fierce hug. "I mean it, Danziger. I'm glad you're staying."
He brought a hand up to give her arm a squeeze. "Thanks, Doc."
She pulled away slowly and sat back on her heels again. "You're welcome. You are needed and appreciated here, John, and not just by Alonzo and me."
He straightened his back and with his hands in his thighs, he looked to his left at the dissipating smoke trail of the dying ship. "You've got the golden touch with words today, Julia. All of a sudden I don't feel so far from home anymore. I might as well face the fact this is it."
He looked at her and poked a finger to her nose. "Alonzo is a lucky man and you tell anyone I said that, I'll deny it."
She laughed and pushed herself to her feet. "Come on," she said and grabbed his hand. "Let's get Mr. Lucky and go somewhere and cry on each other's shoulders because John Danziger can't haul his sorry ass off this rock as planned."
"Well, hell. How can I resist when you put it like that?" He stood and let her pull him back towards the rest of the group.
Noting the look on Devon's face, Julia couldn't stop the imp in her. Letting go of John's hand, she draped her arm around his waist and he naturally curled his arm across her shoulders.
"Lonzo!" Julia called. "I've volunteered us to help John feel sorry for himself. Are you in the mood for a good, hard sulk?"
The laughter greeting her words included only the youngest Adair.
"Self pity is my middle name!" Alonzo answered with a wide grin. "I can show you all the tricks of the trade, my good man."
Danziger laughed. "You know what? I always wondered how you did that staring off into space and muttering to yourself thing you used to do when your leg was broken. Hour after hour of that. Man, you were good."
Alonzo's smile was full of mischief. "I can teach you that, and the curling up into a ball and muttering to yourself thing, too. I drove Julia nuts with that one."
The doctor laughed shortly. "As long as you don't teach him the trying to drive the ATV off a cliff thing, right? Right?"
"That was my best one!"
"Julia's right," John agreed. "We'd better stay away from that one. There isn't a Terrian alive who would pop out of the ground to stop me."
Alonzo, hands in pockets, fell into step with the two of them as they went along in the direction of the village. "You'd be surprised, young man. The Terrians are actually very impressed with you."
Danziger looked at him with skepticism. "Since when, geezer?"
"You know since when."
"Oh." John glanced down at Julia, and as casually as possible removed his arm from her shoulders.
"Oh no," she said and grabbed his arm, putting it back where it was. "You're not getting away. You're not going off by yourself today, Danziger. You're coming with us."
"I agree," said Alonzo. "Seriously, Danz. When it really hits you, you don't want to be alone. Hell, I could use your company when it hits me." He turned and called out to everybody. "Let's get a fire going and have an old fashioned cookout, shall we?"
After reaching the settlement, the group of people dispersed, but most of the EA group and many others followed Alonzo, Julia and John to the long, low structure in which the colony's vehicles were stored. It was a favorite meeting place for them where they could build a fire and gather around it to unwind after the day's activities.
Old habits were hard to break. Some they didn't even try to break. This was an important one that still meant a lot to them.
As time went by and the newcomers adjusted to life on the planet, they would, one by one, begin to join the crew around the fire to hear the stories, share in the joking, and experience the camaraderie of the men and women who made the journey across the continent to found this settlement for them.
That day Devon had hovered in the background with Yale while a fire was built and food was cooked and the destruction of the colony ship became a celebration instead of a funeral...