Fanning The Flames Of Love

By Sarah Watkins, Douglas Neman, Tracy Price, Maggie Czarney, Nicole Mayer, Sue Sadle

Fandom: Earth 2

Rating: PG

Pairing:

Fanning The Flames Of Love
By Sarah Watkins, Douglas Neman, Tracy Price, Maggie Czarney, Nicole Mayer, Sue Sadler

Alonzo stomped his foot on the brakes and in a cloud of swirling red dust the ATV came to a halt. He pulled the bandana that covered his mouth and nose away from his face and used it to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He grimaced at the caking of dust it left on the cloth. Leaning over, he grabbed a water flask from behind his seat and took a long sip. The bottle was almost empty and the warm water tasted slightly stale; he had been away from camp for a long time.

Overhead, the sun beat down mercilessly on the lone man, as it had done for days. Behind Alonzo, the rolling plain of red dirt stretched out to the far horizon. Only a few high buttes and thin spires jutting up into the sky broke the monotony. It was a strange landscape, with an otherworldliness
that reminded him once again he was on an alien planet, light-years from home.

Alonzo's eyes moved over the metal frame of the ATV and he frowned at the sight. A thick layer of dust coated the vehicle. Danziger would never believe that he had taken it easy on the car; the sheer amount of dust would reveal him a liar.

Alonzo shrugged. He had been in a hurry. And when the group learned about the things that had happened during the scout, Danziger would surely forget about having his hide for the mistreatment of the vehicle.

Putting the bottle back behind his seat, Alonzo pressed down on the accelerator and resumed his course at a more moderate pace. He knew he would find the camp behind the next mesa. And in the camp, there would be Julia. He smiled at the thought. He had missed her.

* * *

"He's been gone too long, Danziger. We have to send out a search party." Devon Adair stamped around the camp behind John Danziger.

"Will you cool it, Adair?" Danziger finally turned and glared at the woman. "Alonzo Solace will be back, I almost guarantee it. That fly-boy never misses a trick. He was born lucky. He's just run into some bad weather or something."

"What if he's hurt? Or lost? Or..."

Jesus, thought Danziger. Did the woman ever stop worrying? She treated everyone in the Eden Advance party like children. He carried on staring at her for a while, simply because it was a pastime he secretly rather enjoyed, before turning again on his heel and checking the horizon with his jumpers.

"See?" he said, lowering them and pointing to the cloud of dust that had appeared on the hilltop. "Jammy bastard returns. Now you and the Doc can stop worrying."

* * *

Julia Heller, MD, was currently not worrying about her missing lover. No, she had something less important and, quite honestly, downright annoying on her plate. Morgan.

"Has it stopped bleeding yet?" he asked in that ingratiating, whining voice that grated on Julia's nerves and threatened to send her toppling over the barrier that wouldn't let her punch him in the face.

"Morgan," she said, carefully adjusting her pitch and tone so she could be sure of it filtering through his sawdust-clogged mind. "You only caught your arm on a dead branch. It's just a scratch. It stopped bleeding minutes ago." Now will you please just go away and leave me alone? She added the latter part mentally, not wanting to offend Bess who hovered nearby looking concerned.

"What about... what was that called again, Bess? Tetterness or something?"

"Tetanus," replied his wife. "Julia, what if the scratch gets infected? Is it conceivable that Morgan could get ill?"

Give... Me... Strength. The entire Martin clan was conspiring to drive her mad.

"Bess, he's going to be just fine. He just grazed his arm, that's all. He barely broke the surface of his skin. I've dressed it and cleaned it. Now please, I have a lot to be doing?" She smiled hopefully.

Bess nodded. "Thank you, Julia," she said, leading her still-complaining husband out of the tent.

Julia heaved an audible sigh of relief. Now at least she could get back to worrying about Alonzo. The man's absence had been almost unbearable for her, which, in turn, had led her to question her true feelings for him. She had known she had grown fond of him. What she hadn't realized until he
wasn't there was that she truly loved him.

There. She'd said it. Well, thought it, which equated to the same thing.

This was foolish, she told herself. You're acting like a lovesick child. There are people here depending on your strength and skill. He'll be back.

Please?

"Julia! Alonzo's back." Devon's voice was at the entrance to the tent "Julia? Are you in there?" Devon Adair poked her head through and smiled at the young doctor. "Danziger just caught a glimpse of him through the jumpers. He'll be here any moment."

Julia's heart gave a great leap of joy, but her face set in a determined frown. She would find out just what it was he had been up to. And then... after she had yelled at him good and hard... she'd tell him how much she loved him.

* * *

Devon stalked back to her maps on the table, pausing just long enough to check that Uly and True were both within sight of camp. Danziger was working just a few meters away, trying to get the steering aligned on the DuneRail. No one else was immediately within earshot, as most people were out collecting firewood, or working on other things, or just resting. Far on the ridge, she could now clearly see Alonzo approaching.

"What's eating you, John?" she finally asked.

He sighed and his shoulders drooped for a second, the way they always did when wanted to let people know they were wasting his time. He said something barely audible and kept working.

"What?" she asked.

"I said, 'Nothing,'" he replied more sharply.

"Oh," she said simply. "I thought you had deigned to mumble something in my general direction. My mistake."

He looked up briefly. "I did. I said, 'Nothing.' As in, nothing is eating me."

"Ah," she said, with a single nod of her head. He ducked back down.

"It's just that I've never heard you refer to Alonzo as a...what did you call him?"

Again, Danziger stopped working and his shoulders sagged.

"A...'jammy bastard?'" Devon finished, looking at him with mock curiosity.

Danziger finally decided he was only going to get away from this with further blustering, but his heart wasn't in it. "Look," he said. "Alonzo and I had a..." His hand waved around for a moment, searching for the right word.

"Fight?" Devon asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Just before he left."

"What about?" she asked.

More mumbling.

"What do you mean, 'About nothing?'" she asked. She decided it was time to let him know that she had really deciphered Danziger-speak some months ago and just hadn't bothered telling him.

Most of his mumblings weren't worth repeating, anyway.

Before she could get a decent answer out of him, the camp was interrupted by another yell from Morgan.

"Julia!"

"Morgan, I am trying to work in here!" came the response from the med tent, followed moments later by Julia herself as she stepped out to face Morgan striding towards her, holding out his arm again. "What - do - you - want?"

"Same thing," he breathed, gulping hard. Bess was right behind him, not knowing whether to be concerned for her husband or exasperated.

"Same arm?" she asked.

He nodded. "But a different plant, this time."

He glanced around at the crowd of people he had attracted. "What?" he said defensively. *"Any* tree on this planet could be poisonous. You all know that!"

"Sure we do, Morgan," Danziger called casually, having stood up to watch the scene. "But you're the only one who still yells about it." Then he said conspiratorially to Devon, "He still hasn't gotten the knack of collecting firewood."

Devon turned around to glare at him. She still hadn't quite forgiven him for snapping at her earlier, or for what he'd called Alonzo. "Don't you think you're being a little harsh on him?" she asked. "Morgan does have a point."

The tempers that had been flaring in the heat finally boiled over. Danziger started arguing with Devon. Julia began treating Morgan and lecturing him at the same time through gritted teeth. Bess started defending her husband to Walman, who had taken the opportunity to pick up where Danziger had left off.

* * *

Alonzo came rolling up in the ATV. "Hey, guys!" he smiled.

Everyone stopped and looked at him, faces still flush with anger.

"Just wait 'til...you hear...what happened...to...me..." Alonzo's smile faded and he blinked at everyone. "What'd I say?"

Danziger just sighed and stalked off, shaking his head.

Alonzo's arrival had broken the spell, for the moment. He looked around, confused, as people broke up and went back to what they were doing.

Has Danziger been setting everyone against me while I've been gone? he thought. Normally he wouldn't have thought the mechanic capable of doing something like that, but then their fight had been pretty harsh.

Then he realized that that couldn't be the case, for standing at his left, beaming at him with a grin that was just beautiful, was True.

"Did you bring me anything?" she asked. It was a running joke between them.

He chucked her on the chin. "Five dull brown rocks and a bag of sand."

"Yuck!" she made a face. "Why would you give me that?"

"Well, *I* sure don't want it," he said, then looked up at Julia, standing ready to greet him as well.

She looked apprehensive, for some reason. As if she wasn't quite sure she was pleased he was back.

Is it me? thought Alonzo. Or is it something else altogether? Or am I just imagining it?

"Hi," he said, as cheerfully as he could. He got out and gave her a kiss, which she returned half-heartedly.

"What's wrong?" he asked, full of concern. He didn't like waiting on these things.

"Nothing," she shrugged. "It's hot. I'm tired. I'm bad-tempered and so is everyone else."

"Then let's you and me run away," he said. "To a far-off land where people are nice to each other all day long."

"Must be pretty far off," she said.

"Closer than you think," he whispered, and he kissed her again. This time she returned it fully, remembering all over again why she loved him so much.

True just sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get any more attention from him for the moment, and ran off to find something else to do.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. "When you get a moment from your busy schedule," Devon whispered in good fun, "why don't you come tell me what you discovered on your scouting mission."

Alonzo, still wrapping Julia in his arms, made a vague motion with his hand that meant both "Sure" and "Go away."

* * *

Julia found herself relaxing entirely in his arms, and in that moment she suddenly realized what frightened her so much.

No matter how many times he held her, or told her he loved her, she was still afraid that he would fly away the first chance he got, when they reached New Pacifica.

All those months ago, when her life had been turned upside down by her own ambition, he was the only one who had come back for her. The *only* one. And her pride wouldn't let her admit to him just how badly, how *desperately,* she feared being left again.

* * *

Devon made her way back to her maps, wishing madly that she could hear what Alonzo had to say, but knowing he needed to spend time with Julia right now.

Bess came trudging into camp to get a drink of water, then came to stand by Devon with the mug in her hand, taking a short break. "Does it make you jealous?" she asked.

Devon looked up. "What?"

Bess nodded to Alonzo and Julia, disappearing into the med tent. "Isn't that really why you interrupted them?" Bess asked. "Because you have a hard time accepting the fact that they've found each other and you haven't got anyone?"

Devon's jaw dropped and she blinked her eyes in amazement, hardly able to believe Bess had just said that so casually.

Why did she suddenly feel so embarrassed?

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Bess," Devon said, not really knowing why she was so angry at the other woman. It was probably because Bess was just being a busybody, like usual, she thought. Yeah, that must be it.

Bess just shrugged as if to say, "Suit yourself," and continued sipping her water in silence. Devon went back to her maps, suddenly unable to concentrate on them.

* * *

Alonzo sighed and stretched out on the cot in the med-tent. The day was hot and miserable and he was glad to get in out of the sun. Apparently tempers had been running high in his absence due to the heat and the need to be on the move once again. Well, when they heard about what he had discovered they would eagerly pull stakes and pick up the trek once more.

Placing his hands beneath his head, he watched silently as Julia strapped on her diaglove, preparing to give him the customary examination. She had been avoiding making eye contact with him since entering the tent.

"Something *is* wrong," he stated, propping his head up on one arm. "Talk to me, Julia. Tell me what's bothering you."

* * *

Julia sighed and turned bright blue eyes in Alonzo's direction. He *always* knew when something was wrong. It was like she was an open book to him and she found that a little disconcerting. "How do you do it?"

Alonzo blinked. "What?" he asked, surprised and caught off guard by the question.

"Nevermind," Julia shook her head, walking over to him. She placed the fingers of her gloved hand on his neck and looked down, punching in a few sequences on the keypad. Satisfied with the readings, she stepped back and unstrapped the glove, placing it on the table. Then she turned back to Alonzo, arms crossed over her chest, eyes unreadable.

Alonzo's brow creased in confusion. "What's going on?"

It was now or never, Julia thought to herself. Just tell him, find out how he *really* feels. Taking a deep breath, Julia approached the cot and sat down on the edge, placing a hand on Alonzo's arm. "I can't continue on like this," she began, bringing her hand up to press her fingers against his lips as he opened his mouth to say something. "I need to know if you plan on staying when the Colony ship arrives or not. Because if you aren't, I can't do this anymore."

* * *

A she spoke, Alonzo's eyes grew even rounder with surprise. Of course he had been planning on staying with her. Didn't she realize that by that? Apparently not or she wouldn't have said what she did. Alonzo sat up and gently placed his hand on her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere, Julia. I want to be with you."

Julia relaxed visibly and without conscious thought she turned her face into his palm, placing a butterfly light kiss there. "I--"

And, as fate would have it, they were rudely interrupted by a whining, self-centered bureaucrat with another cut on his arm from collecting firewood.

* * *

Muttering to himself, Alonzo stepped out of the med-tent, bringing his hand up to shade his eyes from the bright sunlight. Didn't anyone in this camp understand what the word 'privacy' meant?

Walking toward the mess tent, he encountered John Danziger. Oh joy. Just what he needed at the moment. Another yelling match with the mechanic when he'd rather be curled up in the tent with Julia in his arms. 'Please ignore me, please ignore me,' he chanted silently to himself.

"'Lonz," Danziger nodded curtly. "We need to talk."

Alonzo groaned inwardly. His mantra hadn't worked. "I have nothing more to say to you, John." He tried to walk past the mechanic, but one of Danziger's big hands shot out and grabbed his arm. Alonzo looked down at the hand stopping him, then up into the face of Danziger. The mechanic's
blue eyes were pleading with him to just give him a minute or two. "Okay. Talk."

* * *

Danziger sighed with relief. Good, Alonzo was going to give him a chance to apologize, to clear the air. Something Danziger didn't take lightly. In fact, he was downright uncomfortable, but he valued Alonzo's friendship far too much to throw it away over something he had started. He was the one who had gone to the pilot for advice in the first place.

Danziger mumbled something.

"Excuse me?" Alonzo asked, stunned for the second time that day.

Danziger cleared his throat loudly and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. This was far harder than he thought it would be. "I said I'm sor--"

"Danziger," Walman said, jogging up to the two. "Sorry to intrude, but I *really* need you to come and take a look at the rail."

At the same time Walman approached the two, Morgan stepped out of the med-tent, holding his arm and mumbling something about Julia's 'nonexistent bedside manner'.

Danziger looked at Alonzo, his eyes saying 'we'll talk later' and walked off with Walman.

* * *

Alonzo sighed and ducked back into the med-tent. He was beginning to wonder if the whole camp had gone loony while he had been out on his scout. Well, it didn't really matter. What mattered was that he was finally alone with Julia. And they had some talking of their own to do. It was high time he told her how much he loved her.

* * *

Danziger followed Walman to the rail. Walman pointed out the problem and Danziger swore. "Hell, Walman, the wires are shot! You should have seen that!" He pulled himself out from under the rail and glared at him.

"They were fine when I checked them!"

"Check them again, Walman. Especially the ones leading to the ignition. You know, the thing we're having trouble with?" He glared at Walman once more and then walked off, hoping to find Alonzo so he could apologize to the man and get it over with.

* * *

Alonzo glanced around the empty med tent. Where in the world did she get off to? He had to tell her he loved her, had to make her understand how he felt about her. Hell, he shouldn't have waited this long to tell her in the first place. He left the med tent and scanned the camp, looking for any sign of her. Bess walked up to the pilot. "Hey, Bess. Do you know where Julia is?"

She shook her head. "No, she treated Morgan and then left. What were you talking to John about? You two had a fight right before you left, right? What was it about?"

"What?" Alonzo shook his head at her. "Bess, I don't have time for this. I've got to find Julia." He started to walk away.

"Oh, come on, Alonzo, I just want to know if he asked about Devon!" She followed him. "Is that too much to ask?"

"Yes," Alonzo snapped. He was still angry with Danziger, but that didn't mean he was going to betray a confidence, especially to Bess. Especially this confidence. Alonzo realized that John probably still wanted to talk to him. It didn't matter; he wanted to talk to Julia first. John could yell at him some more later. He went over to the mess tent, ignoring Bess until she gave up and went away. He sighed with relief when she finally did. Now all he had to do was find Julia.

* * *

"Danziger, have you seen Alonzo?" Devon asked.

He sighed in frustration. "I was just looking for him myself."

"You're not going to start another fight, are you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"What makes you think I started it?" he protested. He had started the fight, but he was annoyed that she automatically assumed it was his fault. She just looked at him. "Great, thanks for the vote of confidence, Adair." He glared at her. "For your information, I was going to apologize to him."

"Good."

"Your approval means so much to me," Danziger said as he brushed past her and resumed his search.

Devon followed him. "Hey, don't get mad at me because you blew up at him." He froze and looked at her. She almost smiled in satisfaction. Her guesses were almost completely on target. She wondered if Danziger knew how easy he was to read most of the time. She walked past him. "So what did he say to make you so angry?" she threw over her shoulder.

Danziger resumed walking and started mumbling under his breath. Devon raised an eyebrow. Now that was definitely in the 'not worth repeating' category.

* * *

"Julia, there you are," Alonzo said, ducking back into the med tent. "I've been looking all over for you."

She looked up at him and smiled slightly. "You have?"

"Oh, boy, have I ever," he said, going over to where she was sitting and pulling her up into his arms. "I even dodged Bess on a match-making mission."

Julia wrapped her arms around his waist. "So what was so important?"

"You," he said simply. "I have to tell you-"

He was cut off by Devon poking her head inside the med tent. "Alonzo? Oh, there you are. If you have a chance, I'd really like to talk to you about what you found on the scout." He closed his eyes and tightened his grip on Julia. Maybe if he ignored her, she'd go away like Bess did.

* * *

Unfortunately, just wishing someone away didn't work on G889 at that particular moment. In fact, Alonzo seriously doubted if it would ever work, unless there was some friendly mind-reading entity hovering about the place ready to grant wishes. And given the chaos that was happening that day, Alonzo wouldn't be surprised if he suddenly discovered that a mischievous spirit was responsible for it all (that was, if he believed in spirits. Then again, he believed in Terrians and the Dreamplane so maybe this planet made anything possible.)

"Alonzo!" Devon was still there and Alonzo pulled away from Julia, who dropped her eyes and quickly began to busy herself at her table. Her face was flaming a deep red. She couldn't be embarrassed, could she? Maybe she was just annoyed, frustrated, that they'd been interrupted *yet* again.

"You said you found something interesting on the scout."

"Devon," he protested, "now isn't a good time. Julia and I were trying to talk...."

"You've already been back for several hours," Devon interrupted crisply "That's more than enough time for a reunion." Alonzo stared hard at her, wondering just why she seemed so annoyed. "Now could you come with me, please? The maps are in my tent and I want you to show me exactly where you were when you found the... whatever it is." She spun and exited, giving Alonzo no chance to say anything more. He threw one last rueful glance at Julia before hurrying out after Devon.

He knew it would be hours until he had a chance to return to Julia, because once Devon heard what he had to say, she would most likely spend the next few days pumping him for every scrap of information before spearheading an expedition back out there. Alonzo groaned. That was the last thing he wanted. And sure, it was important, but it wasn't that important. It could wait a day, a week, even a year if necessary. After all, humans were on G889 for good.

As he reached Devon's tent, he took a deep breath. She looked up at him and smiled expectantly. "So, Alonzo, what did you find?"

"Ah...rocks. Rocks, a couple of trees, some more rocks," and before he knew what he was doing, the lie rolled off his tongue, "an abandoned settlement, a can-."

"A settlement?!" At the surprise and happiness evident on Devon's face, Alonzo instantly knew he'd said the wrong thing. "We have to get out there right away! Did they have any kind of equipment? We're so low on suppliesright now that anything could be helpful..." She sprang to her feet and leaned her head outside the tent. "Danziger! Walman! Could you come in here?"

"Wait, Devon...." Alonzo protested, already regretting his words. It was supposed to get Devon off his back for the time being, not start her on a crusade to go out there. "It's not what you think!"

* * *

Devon charged outside, anxious to get started as soon as possible. Alonzo should have mentioned the settlement the *moment* he got back, not waited this long to tell her! "Danziger! Walman!" she shouted again, frustrated by Danziger's ability to almost always disappear just when she needed him most.

Thankfully, Walman seemed to be around. There was some kind of black dirt smeared across his face, a telltale trace of working on one of the vehicles. Devon had often seen that mark on Danziger himself.

"Yes, Devon?" Walman said wearily.

"I need you to start loading up the rail. We're heading out."

Walman just stared at her.

"Did you hear me?" she asked, wondering if the man was going deaf.

"Yes, Devon, I heard you." Snarky, his tone was definitely snarky. "But did you even think about taking a look around before you start giving orders? Not to mention that the rail's busted and Danziger's certainly not in the mood to fix it!"

Devon glanced around, wondering what Walman was talking about. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary...

"Geez, Devon, it's gonna be dark in less than an hour! Do you really think we should be heading out *now*?"

Shrugging, Devon answered, "Well, we can get started-"

A sudden shrieking interrupted the conversation and Devon would have known that sound anywhere. "Uly!" she yelled, abandoning Walman and bolting in the direction of the sound. "Uly, I'm coming!"

The shrieking had stopped, but it was replaced with the screams of True. Her heart pounding, Devon raced to the north of camp, expecting the worst. There were so many unknown dangers on this planet and try as she might to protect her son, she couldn't always be there....

The sight that greeted her caused her to sigh with relief - momentarily - before a new emotion began to build up within her. Anger. "Ulysses Adair, you stop that *this instant*!"

There was nothing like a mother's tone and Uly suddenly went rigid while True, underneath the smaller boy, continued pounding at him.

"True!" Danziger barked, having also arrived on the scene. However, she didn't stop and continued clawing at Uly even as the boy backed away to stand contritely to the side, avoiding eye contact with everyone in the small group that had gathered. For some reason, Alonzo was hovering at Devon's shoulder, and noticing Bess, Devon suppressed a small sigh. The incident would be all over camp within a matter of minutes once it was resolved.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Devon demanded. "Ulysses, I thought I had taught you that violence never solves *anything*." If only she could teach that to some of the members of Eden Advance, she thought wryly. "Can you please explain to me why you felt the need to hit True Danziger?" 'Hit' was a bit of an understatement; when she'd arrived the pair had been a tangle of arms and legs kicking and punching each other.

"She hit me first!" he protested, raising his head, and Devon gasped as she saw the first signs of swelling that indicated a nasty black eye.

"True, is this true?" Danziger growled. The girl scuffed her foot in the dirt.

"Uly was saying things. Horrible lies.

"Well that's no excuse to hit him."

"But Dad, you didn't hear what he said!"

"I don't want to hear what he said," Danziger returned evenly. "What I want is for you to go sit in our tent for a while and think about why fighting is wrong. When you can tell me without any excuses or blame, then we'll talk again."

True didn't say anything, just tossed her hair and crossed her arms as she stalked back to camp. "Such a little Danziger," someone muttered, but Devon didn't catch who. It didn't matter, because she had a son to deal with.

"Uly, would you come here please?"

He did so, extremely reluctantly.

"Now I understand that you said something that made True upset. Since you can say it to her, I think you can tell it to me." Uly just shook his head. "Ulysses...." Devon rubbed at her temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache.

"Oh, all right," he said grumpily. "It wasn't anything bad, I just said that she likes Alonzo." It was said loudly enough for both Devon and Alonzo to hear and as Devon glanced at Alonzo, the expression in his eyes almost made her laugh. But not in front of Uly.

"I see. And did you have a reason for suggesting that True has a crush on Alonzo?" Because of course that was what Uly was insinuating.

"He always brings her stuff. And he never brings anything for me. Or Julia. And did you see the way that True went running when he got back?" Uly was gathering steam now, obviously determined to prove his point, and Devon knelt down and placed a gentle finger to his lips.

"Uly, even though it might be true, it's not nice to tease about things like that. How would you feel if I went around telling people that you had a crush on..." she glanced around for inspiration, "Bess?"

"Ew!" and Uly wrinkled his nose.

"You see? It's not very nice, is it."

He shrugged. "I guess not."

"Now what I want you to do is go see Julia about your sore eye, and then you are going to go apologize to True." Uly grimaced. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Mom." His reply was a mixture of apology and frustration.

"Good. Now get to it." She gave him a gentle pat on the rear as he headed towards camp. Getting to her feet, Devon considered what Uly had just said, and then glanced at Alonzo.

"Is it true?" she asked.

Alonzo looked away. "Maybe," he said softly. "But Devon, I wouldn't do anything to encourage it." He met her eyes again, staring intently. "You know my heart belongs to someone else."

Now it was Devon's turn to look away and she was glad that the gathering darkness hid the flush in her cheeks. Love was something she just didn't discuss, especially not lately, not with the myriad of confusing feelings she'd been experiencing.

"Devon, listen, I have to tell you something. Something important." Alonzo was looking at her so earnestly and it sent a chill down her spine. Whatever it was, she didn't want to hear it now.

"It can wait," she said. "I have to go check on Uly."

"But Devon!" he protested as she walked away.

* * *

Alonzo sat watching the med-tent. He was hiding in the shadows, and he fully admitted that he was hiding, because he did not need one more distraction. As soon as Devon and Uly were finished in there, he intended to march right up to Julia and tell her how he felt. Devon could wait until the morning. It wasn't like he hadn't tried to tell her the truth about the scout; she just hadn't been prepared to listen.

He smiled as he watched the shadowy shapes illuminated by the tent's luma-light. Julia appeared to be bandaging up the boy's knee as Devon paced back and forwards. It was such a typical, familiar situation and it warmed his heart. For a moment, he wondered how True was feeling and hoped she hadn't been hurt in the scuffle.

Poor True. Alonzo glanced towards the Danziger tent, but he couldn't see much at all. Did she really have a crush on him? He hadn't deliberately encouraged it but it was nice to know that he hadn't lost his charm, even if the girl in question was not even a teenager yet.

He stared into the darkness, imagining True all grown up. She would be beautiful, there was no doubt about that, and she would break a lot of hearts. As long as there were hearts to break - and momentarily, Alonzo was reminded all over again about how incredible and how fragile this mission was.

Suddenly, two figures walked into his line of view, a tall and a short. Obviously Devon and Uly off to apologize to True. Which meant that - finally - Julia was alone and Alonzo was alone and the time to say something was right now.

He cautiously approached the med-tent, not wanting Danziger to ambush him again. Once at the entrance, he reached inside to where he knew the luma light would be and deftly switched it off. No light suggested no people which meant no interruptions.

There was a gasp from inside as the light went out and Alonzo quickly stepped through the entrance, saying, "Shhh. It's me. Now I don't want you to say a thing because I've tried so hard to tell you something today but it keeps not working out."

There was silence from the darkness of the tent and Alonzo breathed a sigh of relief. "You don't know how hard this is for me to say, but I have to. I've wanted to say it for a long time, I just never found the right moment." This was it. His heart beating wildly, Alonzo opened his mouth and
said, "I love you."

* * *

Danziger prowled around the camp. He wasn't looking for anyone in particular, however, there were quite a few people he wouldn't mind running into just so he could clear the air with them. Walman was a good example - earlier, he'd taken the man's head off for no good reason. And Alonzo. Would Danziger ever get that apology over and done with?

Devon, however, was another matter and if Danziger was totally honest with himself, he knew that he was avoiding her. Sure, they could play the parenting game just fine in front of each other because that was *safe*, but when it came to conversations about him or what he'd been talking to Alonzo about or even anything remotely personal, lately, it just made him too uncomfortable.

He watched from a distance as Julia and Uly went over to his tent. He'd called Julia on gear a little earlier, asking her to check his daughter because even though Uly was fairly light and slim, an angry Adair could probably pack a punch when he needed to. Danziger laughed softly and shook his head. While Devon had never actually punched him, she'd certainly managed to floor him on more than one occasion.

Maybe he did want to go talk to her. Danziger stared across at the med-tent, knowing she'd gone in there earlier to catch up with Uly. He frowned as he saw the luma-light go out. Great, another one had broken. More stuff for him to fix. Figuring that he could bring another light as a peace offering, Danziger made a quick stop by the supply crates before heading back to the med-tent where Devon was apparently keeping the dark company. Strange how the absence of light made all the sounds seem sharper, and as he approached, Danziger realized he could hear a low voice talking.

Alonzo's voice. Great, what was the man saying now? Maybe telling Devon what Danziger had told him in strictest confidence? So much for Danziger's private moment with Devon.

And when Danziger finally heard Alonzo's words, he froze. "I love you. I've never been able to say that to anyone before, but there's something about you - I don't know, something about you that makes me wanna shout it from the mountain tops. I know that this is kind of sudden, but being away from you made me realize how I felt.

"I know it's not going to be easy, you and me, considering, well," and there was a pause and Danziger's fury built up, "everything. But I know that I love you and I'm hoping that you feel the same way."

Danziger burst inside the tent, brandishing the luma-light, just in time to see Alonzo pulling Devon into a passionate kiss. Without a second moment's thought Danziger raced over and roughly pulled Alonzo away, hissing, "You lying bastard." It all made sense now - why Alonzo had been so quick to argue with him over his feelings for Devon - because Alonzo *loved* Devon and didn't want Danziger moving in on his turf.

"Wait, John!" he heard Devon protest, but he didn't pay her any attention. Danziger let his fist fly and it felt *so* good when it connected with Alonzo's jaw.

"That's for Devon," he grunted. "And this-" another punch, "is for my daughter. And this is for pretending to love Julia when all the while you were just waiting to move in on Devon!"

Danziger couldn't believe it when Alonzo finally recovered from the shock and shoved him backwards, right out of the med-tent. This was insane, they were fighting like a couple of schoolboys but there was something inside Danziger that just *could not* let go. He growled, ready to jump up and tackle Alonzo again but suddenly it was Alonzo who had the upper hand.
Alonzo's fist coming down towards his head.

The last thing Danziger heard before everything went black was someone shrieking. It sounded like Bess. "Morgan's being eaten by a tree!!!"

* * *

The first thought that entered Devon's head at that announcement was **what** followed very rapidly by **if only** then **why me**.

She turned to look at the pilot, hands on her hips with a disgusted look on her face. "It's bad enough that I have to yell at two children for fighting. But two supposedly grown men?"

"I didn't start it." Alonzo sounded just like Uly when he protested his innocence.

"Never mind. We don't have time for this at the moment. But you had better explain the situation to Danziger and Julia once we've sorted Morgan out." The latter part of the statement was accompanied by a long-suffering sigh. Morgan Martin managed to cause more problems that the rest of the team put together.

"Julia." When the first yell didn't produce the medic she tried again, this time with all the pent up feelings of frustration and irritation she normally buried. "JULIA!"

This time it worked. Julia came in. She took one look at the mechanic on the floor, unconscious, the hacked off expression on Devon's face, the guilty little boy look on Alonzo's face and decided discretion was the better part of valor.

"Alonzo. You're with me. We need to find out what kind of mess Morgan's got himself into this time. Julia. Could you please get Danziger conscious, then send him after us. Idiot or not, we may need him."

Julia let out the breath she'd been holding. She'd never heard quite that amount of irritated sarcasm in Devon's voice before. Whatever had caused this incident must have been interesting, especially as it was Danziger that was flat out on the floor. Then again, sometimes you were far better off not knowing.

* * *

Devon, Alonzo and Walman followed a hysterical Bess to the spot where the tree was supposedly 'eating' Morgan. Like the boy who cried wolf in the fairy stories, Morgan's constant whinging had worn out any feelings of sympathy that could be felt for someone so far removed from their natural habitat.

It was, therefore, quite a shock when Bess's statement was accurate.

The innocent looking tree that most of them had passed many times without incident in the last few days, had mutated. The root system had come partially out of the ground and was pointing, for want of a better term, four foot high stakes in a circular pattern at approximately 45-degree
angles to prevent anyone from getting near. The leaves were sharp needles now rather than soft and broad. Toward the heart of the tree, vine appendages were wrapped about the helpless bureaucrat lifting him off the ground and attaching him to the trunk. Another, more sinister vine, was inserted into his chest, pulsating gently, seemingly in time with his heartbeat.

Devon broke out her gear.

"Yale. We have a serious problem. I need Julia here as soon as possible. Bess was right. The tree has Morgan trapped. He's unconscious and needs medical attention."

"Perhaps if we target some of the vines, the plant will release Morgan."

"Not until we know..." Devon wasn't able to finish her sentence. Bess, frantic with worry for her husband snatched the MagPro from an unsuspecting Walman and made a surprising good shot considering her state of mind.

The vines to the left of Morgan disintegrated and his body flopped alarmingly and started to spasm.

The plant reacted violently.

"Oh God." Devon backed away slowly as one of the root stakes moved threateningly toward her. In front of her Bess, Walman and Alonzo were impaled and the MagPro now lay harmlessly on the ground. The speed of the plant's response had allowed no time for reaction on their part.

Which begged the question of why she was unharmed. There was no way she could have avoided being impaled any more than the others had. The stake that had come toward her had stopped inches from her. Then it seemed to almost herd her backwards almost as if the plant were trying not to hurt her. As if she were being moved out of its territory.

It was as if the tree were sentient. And as she had demonstrated no hostile intentions against it, the plant was replying in kind.

In the distance she heard the sound of footsteps heading toward her position

* * *

Baines and Cameron, carrying Danziger under Julia's orders, laid him down on the cot in the med tent. Julia had just started to analyze Danziger's head for any serious injuries when the great *BOOM* of a magpro tore through the camp and Danziger screamed with pain, his back arched high off the cot.

Julia started. Baines and Cameron both tore out of the tent to see what was happening. Julia was about to follow when Danziger moaned loudly, his face twisted in agony. Julia had dismissed him from her mind altogether, as anyone who might have been seriously wounded was more important -- what in God's name was someone firing a weapon in camp for? -- but something about Danziger's actions stopped her.

***

"Oh, my God!" Baines grimaced in disgust as he saw the scene in front of him. Morgan was in a tree with a branch through him. Walman, Bess and Alonzo were on the ground writhing in agony, more roots through them. Devon was staring at yet another root, and it seemed to be...caressing her?

Baines brought the magpro up.

"Baines, don't!" Devon shouted, but it was too late.

***

Another *BOOM!* sounded. Julia clutched her ears and Danziger again howled in pain. She frantically looked out the front of the tent, then back to Danziger, moaning on the cot more than ever. The fact that he reacted whenever a magpro went off was not lost on her.

Julia played a hunch and quickly prepped a sedaderm for revival.

***

"Baines, watch it!" Cameron shouted, tackling his friend out of the way just as a branch speared the air he'd been standing in. It coiled back, waiting, looking for someone to strike.

"Don't attack it!" Devon shouted. "It only attacks if it feels threatened!"

***

Yale burst into the tent. "Julia, come quick!"

"Has anyone been shot?" she asked, madly filling the sedaderm's vial.

"No, but the tree has come alive and hurt people! What are you waiting for?"

"I think this is important, Yale," Julia said. She applied the sedaderm to Danziger's neck.

***

"Don't move," Cameron told Baines as they both lay on the ground, mesmerized by the branch which slowly circled, looking for them. Uly and True were both crying, watching the spectacle.

"Someone get the kids back," Devon said, trying to keep calm, not moving.

Magus moved to grab the children and bustle them into the TransRover's cab when the tree started shrinking.

It slowly pulled its roots back underground, its branches folded back to their normal positions. Within seconds it looked as it always had. Morgan gracelessly fell out of the tree and landed on the ground, where he lay still.

Julia came running out of the med tent to see who needed treatment. Everyone, it seemed like.

***

Hours later, they *sort* of had an idea of what had happened.

The tree, it turned out, was a very special tree. The Terrians said (according to Alonzo) that that species of tree "sang and danced." The best interpretation he had for that was that the tree had a strong presence on the dream plane, and was susceptible to feeling intense passions.

In his first feverish moments after waking, Danziger had sworn over and over that he'd just been shot, although now he didn't remember saying any such thing.

Now Danziger, Alonzo, Morgan, Walman and Bess all lay in the med tent. That made the tent pretty crowded, but Julia was worried about possible infection from the tree's branches, which had gone right through all four of its victims -- mostly in non-vital areas, although Morgan's stomach and chest had been pierced, and Julia had had to operate. So she wanted all of them isolated from the rest of camp throughout the night.

"So Danziger was...inside the tree?" Magus asked hesitantly. The others around the campfire shrugged.

"Not really," Julia said, sitting down to rest for the first time that day. "From what Alonzo can tell me, the tree simply reacts to extremely passionate emotions on the dream plane. So after this afternoon's misunderstandings, Danziger was...quite passionate about a few things. Unfortunately, he was knocked unconscious at the exact moment that he was feeling these passions. Alonzo tells me his passions were manifested on the dream plane the moment that happened. The tree, being nearby, simply caught the full blast of it."

"Right..." Magus said slowly, struggling to understand. "So...he *was* inside the tree."

"Sort of," Julia sighed. "It wasn't Danziger, it was just all of his feelings. The tree acted out everything that he truly believes and feels."

"So the tree attacked Morgan because Danziger was angry at him?" Cameron asked. "Morgan hasn't done anything to John."

"Not in a while," Baines muttered, correcting him.

"I don't think we were witnessing John's conscious feelings," Julia said. "We all have feelings we don't act on, or share with others. We all have secret resentments against others, for sometimes extremely trivial things, which we never actually speak about. When people have these resentments, they usually express them in other trivial ways, like rudeness or sarcasm. Ninety-nine percent of the time, people never really talk about what's going on inside them. They don't know how, they've never had practice, they're too embarrassed, or they think the matter is too trivial to bring up. When people are resentful of seemingly trivial matters, they usually deny it even to themselves. But the feelings are still there.

"I believe that what we were witnessing today was John's true emotions. I believe he still harbors some resentment against Morgan, for whatever reason, even though he would deny it if you asked him. Morgan insists that he wasn't doing anything to the tree -- it just reached out from behind and
grabbed him. That behavior would fit the theory so far, because violence and an overriding urge to lash out was what John was feeling the moment he lost consciousness. When Walman, Bess and Alonzo shot at the tree, it reacted violently towards them."

"But why wasn't Devon hurt?" Mazatl asked.

"Well..." Julia said, "John has deep feelings for Devon. So the tree wouldn't harm her. True could probably have also gone near the tree with impunity."

"But what about that vine thing that was in Morgan's chest?" Denner asked. "It looked like it was trying to suck his blood or something!"

"That part is a mystery to me," Julia replied. "The only blood Morgan lost was through his injuries. The only theory I have is that the Terrians didn't tell us everything we need to know about that species of tree, and so it may have other properties that we don't know about. But Morgan will
be fine."

"In the meantime, we just need to stay far away from it," Devon announced. She was holding Uly in front of her.

"You don't need to tell me twice," Baines said.

"We probably didn't even need to tell you once," Mazatl said.

"You know," Baines replied, "you're absolutely right."

***

Danziger listened to the various sounds of breathing in the tent, wishing they could open a flap to get a breeze or something. But they were stuck in here all night until Julia could be sure they wouldn't spread any infection. Alonzo, Walman, Bess, Morgan and himself. What a collection, he
thought. He wasn't injured in the same way the others were, but Julia had treated them in the med tent, where he was, and she had insisted that any possible infection might have been transferred to him, so now he was quarantined with the rest of them for the night.

Julia hadn't wanted to talk about what happened, saying it was a matter for another time and that he needed to rest. But the shock, injuries, and cries of "That damned tree tried to kill us!" from his current tentmates had kind of let the cat out of the bag, and he had insisted on getting the whole story.

It wasn't pretty.

Evidently he was to blame for the condition of his four friends. Julia had explained her theory to him about subconscious emotions and dream plane trees and that it wasn't his fault, *really,* but all he felt was dread. The others had heard Julia's explanation, and none of them had said
anything, but he could feel the silent resentment coming from them. And he deserved it. Julia had also explained the misunderstanding of Alonzo in the med tent with Devon, and it had made him feel a hundred times worse.

He lay on the floor and stared at upwards at nothing. Finally he turned to the bundle on the floor next to him and said, "'Lonz."

No answer.

"Hey, Alonzo, are you awake?"

"Go to sleep, Danziger," came Alonzo's muffled response.

"I can't."

"I can."

Danziger took the hint and shut up. It was going to be a long night, he thought.

But then Alonzo rolled over and looked at Danziger, who winced at the sight of the bruise on his jaw. "Well, actually, I can't sleep, either," the pilot confessed.

"Yeah, 'cause of me," Danziger said glumly.

"That's true," Alonzo said simply. The tone of his voice wasn't mean, it was just a sign that he wasn't going to come to Danziger's pity party.

"Alonzo, I have a lot to apologize for."

"Yeah, you do," he said, and waited.

"I'm sorry for blowing up at you before you left," Danziger said. "I asked for your advice, and then tore your head off when you gave it."

That's one, thought Alonzo.

"I'm sorry for attacking you when I thought you were coming onto Devon."

That's two, thought Alonzo.

"I'm sorry for thinking that you were encouraging True to have a crush on you."

As if I was so desperate for attention that I wanted a 10-year-old to have a crush on me, thought Alonzo. That's three.

"And I'm sorry for...for what that tree did to you. It wouldn't have if it hadn't been for me."

And that's four, thought Alonzo.

"Thanks," he said. "I know you mean it, John. I know what it's like to feel awful after making a huge mistake. But it's going to take time for all this to heal."

"Yeah," Danziger replied.

"I guess..." Alonzo continued thoughtfully, "I guess it's sometimes worth it to just sit down and get to the root of the matter."

"The root..." Danziger muttered. "Oh, Alonzo, that's awful."

Alonzo just grinned in the darkness. Revenge was sweet. "Yeah, it's a good idea to talk and make sure there's no misunderstandings," he continued. "Then the communication among everyone can just...branch out all over."

"Stop it," Walman suddenly joined the conversation from his position on the other side of the tent. "What happened today wasn't any different than any other day. Danziger's *always* been a thorn in people's sides."

Bess suddenly burst out laughing, and even Morgan snickered at that one. Alonzo grinned some more, and Danziger just closed his eyes.

"Yeah, but Danziger's bark has always been worse than his bite," Morgan said.

Everyone groaned. "Stop it, you're making my side hurt," Walman said. "Really."

"You guys are being really hard on Danziger," Bess said. "We all just need to leaf him alone."

"What planted that idea into your head?" Alonzo asked, and the med tent erupted with laughter, to the utter bewilderment of everyone else in camp.

I was right, Danziger thought. It *is* going to be a long night.

***

Julia pronounced everyone healthy the next morning. The cell rejuvenation vaccine had kicked in overnight (along with some good old-fashioned laughter) and made them almost as good as new.

Alonzo got his breakfast early and made his way back to the med tent, where Julia was making sure all her equipment was sterilized and putting it away. He passed Danziger, eating his own breakfast on a crate by the fire. True stood in front of her father with her arms folded, and he couldn't help overhearing the little girl.

"I don't want to hear what he said," True stated primly. "What I want is for you to go sit in our tent for a while and think about why fighting is wrong. When you can tell me without any excuses or blame, then we'll talk again." And Danziger could only nod.

Alonzo entered the tent and saw Julia stowing her equipment. He held her from behind.

"You know we don't have time for that," Julia said with a smile, not stopping her work. "Devon wants us to head out as soon as possible. She wants to see this settlement of yours."

"Who cares what Devon wants?" Alonzo whispered, planting kisses on her neck.

Julia turned around. "You do, if I am to believe the magnificent speech you gave her yesterday." Alonzo grinned awkwardly, knowing Julia was having him on. "What was it? You are the light of my life, I can't live without you, something, something..."

"That's not what I said," Alonzo replied sheepishly.

"Oh, yeah?" she mocked him. "You mean you didn't say those things to me when you were really not saying them to Devon when you thought you weren't saying them to me?"

Alonzo answered with a kiss. It was longer than Julia's question and much less confusing.

He slowly broke it off. "That's what I was trying to say. To you." He stroked her hair. "I love you, and I'm not going to leave you. That's my word of honor. Don't let anyone or anything ever tell you differently." He kissed her again, then got down on one knee. "I don't have a ring, but here
goes." He took her hand in his.

"Julia, will you marry me?"

***

Over the course of the previous day and night, Devon had finally caught on to the feelings that John Danziger held for her. She hadn't been told in so many words, of course. She had simply picked the information up through the circumstances of their situation. So what if the circumstances involved a fight between friends and an emotionally charged blood-sucking tree? The point was, now she knew.

She wondered what she ought to do. Danziger sometimes needed help talking about his feelings in something besides grunts and mumbles. This presented her with a small dilemma.

She could either approach him and help him out by bringing it up herself, because that would be the decent thing to do if he felt awkward -- especially if they ended up being a couple, since couples were supposed to help each other and all that. Or she could let him stew and wait for him to bring his feelings to her like a man because he needed the practice, instead of helping him to remain uncomfortable in bringing things up on his own. Decisions, decisions, she thought.

She went looking for him in the end, for several reasons. First, she absolutely could not *stand* waiting. Second, she needed to know if the dunerail was ready. She finally went to the last place she expected him to be -- in the Danziger tent (which was still standing, despite the fact that
she had told camp they were moving out within the hour).

"John?" she asked.

"Yeah, Adair. In here."

She entered and found him sitting on a cot, apparently doing a lot of nothing. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Uh...I'm being punished."

"By whom?"

"By my daughter. I thought it was best if I did what she said for a while."

She sat beside him, listening for a moment to all the bustle going on outside and to the joyful shouts of glee which suddenly erupted from the med tent, on the other side of camp. *Something* had just made Julia happy, Devon thought.

"Listen, I know it's rough, but you've-"

"No lectures, Adair," Danziger said, shaking his head at her slightly. "Not today. Lectures are not what I need."

"What do you need?" she asked.

"You." He'd said it without even thinking.

"You need me?" Devon asked, wondering why she suddenly felt like an awkward little girl.

"I need you to be a friend. Not a boss, not an enemy, not a stranger, not a lecturer, not someone who gives me a pep talk. A friend. And I'm afraid..." He took a deep breath. "I'm so afraid that you don't know how to do that."

Devon swallowed hard. "A friend?" she asked. "Is that all you want of me?"

Danziger looked at her, into her eyes, and felt himself leaning forward. She did the same, and their lips met in a long, beautiful, simple kiss.

They parted, then sat with their foreheads touching, resting on each other, supporting each other. They could both hear that some kind of commotion was really going on over at the med tent. It seemed to have drawn everyone in camp. That was fine with them, as they both desperately needed not to be disturbed right then.

"I don't know where this is going to take us, Devon," Danziger whispered. "And I'm not entirely sure about you."

"Thank you for your honesty," Devon whispered back. "And I'm not entirely sure about you, either."

"But I am improving, and I want to give life with you a try," Danziger said.

"Ditto," she whispered, and kissed him again. More passionately this time. It was confusing for both of them, but it was a start.

"One more thing," Devon whispered into his ear. "Is the rail ready to roll?"

"What?" he suddenly asked in astonishment.

Devon just laughed and put a finger on his mouth. "I couldn't resist," she said, her eyes sparkling.

Danziger just laughed that mischievous laugh of his. "Yeah, it's ready to roll," he said, and kissed her again. "It needed some new wiring inserted." Kiss. "Luckily we had some to spare." Kiss. "But it was greasy, messy work."

"Oh, I love it when you talk romantically," Devon replied.

***

One hour later, and an hour behind Devon's schedule (although she really didn't seem to mind this time), they headed out. Their objective was a small collection of human buildings and huts which Alonzo had found, and which seemed to have been abandoned for many years. Many of the doors had been locked so he hadn't been able to see if there were any supplies inside.

They were all in a relatively good mood as they set out, except Morgan, who grew increasingly restless as the day wore on. "Doesn't it seem hot to you, Bess?" he asked over and over. "I really wish winter would get here."

"Winter wouldn't be any better, Martin," Mazatl said. "Don't you remember our last winter? Stuck in the same place three months? You really want to go through that again?"

"No doubt," Baines said. "Give me heat over ice and snow any day."

"No," Morgan muttered, and his eyes kept straying to the southern horizon. "No, we need winter. We need to go south."

Yes, south, the voice inside him said. Take me south. Winter. Winter would feel so *good.* Take me south so I can bring winter...

Morgan just swallowed hard and stumbled on with the rest of Eden Advance.

***** THE END *****