Home (1/?)
by Nic (stardestiny@bigfoot.com)
February 1999.
INTRO: I thought it was about time I posted something with a plot.
:) Here you go, something well away from the vignette/sappy
romantic types of fiction I've been posting lately.
"Home" was inspired by my recent, magical trip back to the town of
my childhood.
I don't want to beg, but PLEASE SEND ME FEEDBACK!!!
Disclaimer: The characters and situations contained within are the
property of Universal/Amblin Entertainment. No copyright
infringement is intended.
HOME
----
G889 loomed in the darkness, like a safe haven so many years away.
Home. That was the first thought that came to Devon's mind as she
stared at the distant planet; its light shining weakly, beckoning
her onwards. A huge smile broke out over Devon's face. This was
it. She was almost there. She could hardly believe it.
"It's been nine years since I left. Nine years since that bastard
Reilly came to New Pacifica and dragged us back to the space
stations under the threat of nuclear bombardment if we didn't face
the consequences of our actions. Nine years since the trials
began, the trials that went on forever. And finally, I'm going
home.
It feels so strange, for not everyone is returning with me. Some
of my friends have forgotten the good times - the magical times -
we had on this planet. But not me. I've dreamed of this place a
thousand times over, it was the only thing that kept me going
through the hellish trials and afterwards as I tried to build a
life for myself again."
Devon closed her eyes, pausing the entry in her gear-log. As she
remembered the leaving of G889, she shivered. The scars ran deep,
so deep, and despite her current joy at being home, she could not
forget the darkness....
***
It was True who first noticed the star. Ever since the colony ship
had arrived, True had become moodier, more withdrawn. Her father
consoled himself with the idea that she was becoming a teenager and
it was only natural that she would distance herself from him and
everyone. He hoped her sadness wouldn't last.
One result of True's change was her desire to spend time alone,
just walking. Although Danziger didn't approve, she often walked
at night beneath brilliant double-moonlight, singing to herself,
worshipping the beauty of nature, and struggling to understand her
place in the universe
And one night, she noticed the star. It was new in the sky and
very bright. True couldn't understand how she had failed to see it
before, unless it had only just been born. That idea both
frightened and awed True and she spent several hours just pondering
the mysteries beneath the night sky as her father fitfully tried to
sleep and stop worrying about where she was.
As dawn approached, the star grew brighter and True realised that
no sun would ever move in such a way. She decided to ask Yale
about it after a few hours' sleep.
Her teacher, who was in fact, the only teacher in New Pacifica,
appeared suitably interested and assigned True a science project on
tracking stars and their motions. When she protested that the star
didn't match anything on known maps, Yale replied that perhaps she
was mistaken. If she was right, however, then she might have
discovered a new comet and it could be named after her.
True watched the star for a few nights, seeing its light grow
brighter, and began to believe that she had found a new comet. She
amused herself with names for it: Comet True; and when she found
another one it would be called Comet True Two. True felt quite
pleased with her little joke and continued to make notes as best
she could.
The next night it wasn't there at all and when no one would listen
to her story of the star that had briefly lit up the heavens (they
were all too busy and didn't care about her, she thought sourly),
True forgot all about it.
Only months later did they realise what it meant.
One night Julia thought she saw the telltale light of an orbiting
satellite which Alonzo convinced her was a shooting star. There
weren't any ships, apart from Reilly's, above G889 and the insane
computer hadn't bothered them in over two years. Julia had dropped
the subject because a part of her was still humiliated that she had
been so easily duped by a computer program.
Uly, too, saw shooting stars that went across the sky at regular
intervals. He made a wish on each one and, so that his wishes
would come true, didn't tell anyone at all.
So, when the inevitable arrival came, New Pacifica was completely
unprepared.
"Greetings, Citizen Heller," was the first thing Reilly said when
he stepped out of his ship which had just landed smack in the
middle of the small town at New Pacifica. "How you have changed."
Julia was seven months pregnant with her first child and upon
hearing Reilly's words, her husband Alonzo moved protectively
closer to her.
"What do you want, Reilly?" Julia snapped as Devon held a hand up
in a peaceful gesture.
"Julia, let me handle this." Taking centre stage as always, Devon
walked slowly towards Reilly and said, "I'm surprised you're still
operating. Is Eve here as well?" Devon was completely unafraid of
what she considered a holographic image that could do her no harm.
The space ship parked behind him had no obvious weapons therefore
Devon saw no threat from that either.
"Eve?" Reilly asked. Then a sinister smile curved across his lips.
"Oh, the computer. I switched her off as soon as you were cured.
She served her purpose."
"Quit the games, Reilly," snarled Danziger from a further distance
away. "We know what you are and we know that you can't harm us.
This place is our home and we don't belong to you or your Council."
Reilly's smile grew even wider as his gaze slid from Danziger to
Julia and then Devon again. "I find you are gravely mistaken. The
time has come for you to pay for your insolence." Reilly fixed his
eyes on Julia and took a menacing step forwards. "Did you think
the Council would forget your disobedience? Did you believe you
would be allowed to live on without paying for your crimes?"
Julia shivered, noticeably, and Alonzo wrapped his arms around her.
"You can hide no longer," Reilly continued, now parading back and
forwards in front of the group that was growing larger by the
minute as more townspeople got over their fear of the unknown ship
and approached to witness the upheaval. "I am here to take you,"
he pointed at Julia, "and you," this time he pointed at Devon,
"back to the space stations where you will be tried and punished
for your crimes."
"Reilly, cut the crap," Danziger interjected in a bored tone.
"Just how do you think you're going to do this?" Devon shot
Danziger a *look* which meant "shut up!" but Danziger, as always,
ignored her advice and marched right up to the smaller man.
"As I see it, you're one little lightshow against a town of people.
Somehow, I don't think you're going to get very far if you dare
even touch one of my friends."
Yet even with the full fury of John Danziger in front of him,
Reilly began to laugh. "Haven't you been watching the skies?" he
crowed. "You really have no idea, do you. You think you're the
only ones on this planet?"
"Reilly," Devon interrupted in a calm, clear voice, "We know there
are penal colonists here. We've met them and we've taken
precautions against them. I don't think they could get near New
Pacifica without us knowing, much less enter the town and harm us."
"Devon, I'm not talking about the penal colonists." Reilly paused
his pacing in front of her. His hand snaked out and tilted her
chin so that she was looking directly into his eyes. "I'm going to
enjoy getting to know you on the trip back."
Danziger's fist shot out and connected with soft flesh. Surprised
and hurt, but trying his best not to show it, Reilly jumped away
from Devon and snarled, "You're going to regret that, drone."
Staring at his hand in surprise, then up at Reilly, and then back
at his hand again, an uncomfortable feeling suddenly began to grow
in the pit of Danziger's stomach. He glanced over at Devon and
when he met her eyes, his fear was confirmed. Reilly was real.
And if Reilly was real, then how much of what he was saying was
true?
In the meantime, Reilly had backed away and was returning to his
ship. He had accomplished his mission. Sure, it had been a little
foolhardy to come as advance warning, and alone, but he had wanted
to see their faces when the rebellious colonists finally learnt
that their time in paradise was over and they had to pay for their
sins.
"Be seeing you," he waved just before he closed the hatch. A
stunned township watched the ship take off and the irrevocable
sense that their lives had changed forever wafted over each and
every person.
***
Devon Adair immediately called a meeting of the town's advisory
committee and invited several members of Eden Advance, for they
were the only ones who knew who Reilly was and what he was capable
of.
Julia was still white and shaken. For so many months Reilly had
haunted her dreams. She had never put the incident behind her -
perhaps a small part of her subconscious had known that it wasn't
over; she could never truly escape the Council. Their web extended
everywhere.
She watched quietly as Devon conferred with Yale, obviously waiting
for something before she began the meeting. That something
strolled in five minutes later, still nursing his hand. Danziger
had obviously punched a good wallop.
Smiling at Danziger (Julia wondered just when would they realise
how they felt about each other?) Devon called the meeting to order.
"We all know why we're here. Reilly. Apparantly, he isn't the
computer we thought he was. More than that, he knows where we are
and seems to think that other people do too."
"He sounded like he had an army waiting for us just over the hill,"
Danziger said darkly.
"Maybe he does," interjected Julia in a small voice. "I - I
thought I saw a satellite recently." When Alonzo heard this and
remembered that night, a regret-filled frown filled his face.
"Maybe after we escaped the Council sent a ship after us and now
it's arrived."
Nodding gravely, Devon said, "That's one possible scenario. But do
you really think the Council would expend so much on a small group
of renegades? Let's look at this realistically. To arrest us, the
Council would need to subdue more than four hundred people in New
Pacifica. Agreed?"
Danziger immediately said, "I'm not letting them take you without
a fight." He then looked at Julia. "Or you, either."
Thanks, John, Julia thought darkly. Then she realised that his
sentiments were true of most of the community, he was just a little
more focussed on Devon than on the rest of them.
"What if they have superior firepower?" Alonzo said the one thing
Devon hadn't wanted to consider. "The Council had money. They
could afford any weapon on the market, including those that weren't
available through legal channels. For all we know, they could have
a lazer pointed at us right now!"
A clamouring of voices broke out at the statement and Devon only
regained control by slamming her hand down on the wooden table.
"Quiet!" she bellowed. "We know that the Council wanted this
planet. But it was more than that - they wanted the link. They
wanted Uly. Even though there are hundreds of children who have
been healed by the Terrians now, it's still my son who is the link.
No one can explain it but it's true. I don't think the Council
would risk destroying him simply to punish us."
Devon took a deep breath before she continued. "I believe the
Council wants to make an example of us. As I said before, they
want control of G889. By taking New Pacifica's leaders away, those
who remain will have infinitely more respect for the power of the
Council.
"I don't believe they came here with our arrests in mind. We're a
small group and not worth the effort. Over forty years would have
passed by the time they got back to the stations with their
arrests."
"You don't know the Council," protested Julia. "They can't
comprehend one of their own breaking away. It's my fault, I should
never-"
"Julia, no one's blaming you," Devon said softly. "I was the one
who left the stations under a no-go. If we had stayed and exposed
the truth about the bomb, then maybe things would be different."
As Julia heard those words, she was overcome by a sense of danger,
a sense that the words were eerily prophetic.
Shaking her head briskly as if to purge dark memories, Devon
announced, "So that's one scenario: After we escaped, or even
before that, the Council planned their own mission to G889 with
colonisation and control in mind. They arrived recently and have
decided to make an example of us. Reilly is all too pleased with
this turn of events and couldn't resist coming here today to taunt
us." Several nods met her statements.
"Any other ideas?" Devon threw the floor open. For a while,
suggestions were offered and debated, each gradually worn down as
the colonists realised that the Council wouldn't have come to G889
for them personally. Even Morgan, feeling particularly paranoid,
reluctantly agreed with Devon's hypothesis.
"Now, any ideas on what we should do?" she asked.
"I'm not going back," Julia said immediately. She reached out and
grabbed Alonzo's hand for support. Memories of her dark childhood
on the stations were flooding back, when she couldn't escape the
forboding shadow of the Council. "I can't go back. Don't let them
take me."
"And what about me?" Morgan, who had been silent throughout the
whole meeting, finally contributed to the discussion. "I was
Council too, remember? What if they decide that I was involved
with the desertation? What if they want to take me back?"
"No one's going to be taken back," Devon declared, her blue eyes
flashing protectively.
"So we plan for war?" Danziger asked.
There was pain in Devon's face as she shook her head. "I always
believed things could be resolved peacefully. The Council is
reasonable. It's Reilly who's vindictive, Reilly who wants
revenge."
"Don't forget that the Council tried to blow us up!" Julia burst
out.
"We don't know that for sure," Devon said wearily. She was losing
control of the meeting and even her position as head of the colony
wasn't helping. As several continued to protest, Devon finally
burst out "Okay! You may take actions to *protect* us." Devon was
looking at Danziger as she said this. "But there will be no
instances of unprovoked agression. We don't know what's going on
here and I suggest we find out more before we start to plan another
war."
Many people seemed disappointed with Devon's decision yet wisely
did not challenge it. They drifted to their respective homes and
wondered how life had changed so quickly.
***
The colonists watched the heavens that night, hoping to see traces
of ships or satellites that were surely orbiting G889. Alonzo
dragged the sky monitoring system, used to track the colony ship,
out of retirement and began to scan the skies.
Julia sat close by her husband, her arms closed protectively around
her stomach. Her earlier fear of Reilly had passed and in its
place was a quiet acceptance. She should have known there was no
escape from the Council. They would come and take her back and it
was justice. She only hoped that her baby would be okay.
Besides the Solaces, few others had been allowed to remain near the
telescope. Devon didn't want pandemonioum throughout New Pacifica.
There was nothing she could do about people in their own homes
discussing the situation and looking for satellites, but she wasn't
going to allow the fiasco to grow any more than necessary. Morgan,
Yale, Danziger and two ex-flight crew memebers were all she
permitted at the site.
Devon herself stood a little apart from Alonzo, discussing the
situation with Danziger and Yale. Yale revealed True's
investigation into a "star" some months earlier and displayed her
assignment. Danziger was very impressed.
"I am very sorry I did not recognise this for what it was," Yale
apologised.
Devon lay a gentle hand on his arm. "Don't blame yourself, I
understand how busy you've been," she replied. "If this is
anyone's fault, it's mine. I should have realised that other
colonists would be on the way and set up some kind of surveillance
program. I never thought they'd be here so soon!"
"Devon, it's not your fault," said Danziger soothingly. "No one
could know-"
"I found something!" burst out Alonzo and the conversation was
forgotton as they raced to the monitoring system. The scan program
Alonzo had been running was beeping insistently, announcing it had
found an unknown body.
Peering through the telescope, Devon saw a bright light. "A ship?"
she wondered aloud.
"I think so," Alonzo replied. "It's not a satellite - the
scanner's reading it as several light years away. It's definitely
coming towards us, too." He hit a few keys, muttering, "We should
be able to zoom in on it, give us a better idea of what we're up
against...there."
He politely pushed Devon away from the telescope before anyone else
had a chance to look through it. "Here we go," he said. Several
long moments ticked by as everyone held their breath. Finally,
Alonzo swore as he pulled away from the telescope, yet his voice
was filled with awe as well.
"What is it?" Devon asked.
"That's not a ship," he replied darkly. "It's a space station."
---
END 1/?
(
geocities.com/area51/vault) (
geocities.com/area51)