"You haven't seen a very large F-class cruiser around here, have you?" "It's my ship, uh- I'm the pilot." "So could you tell me where my ship is?" "Come on, man." "Help me out." "This isn't one of those dreams, is it?" "'Cause I don't have dreams." "I haven't dreamed in decades." "Now what the hell is this?" "Get me out ofhere." "I am a pilot." "I gotta fly." "I'm still here." "I'm still here." "Sunrise on the space stations was manufactured by computers, an artificial light." "Here, the sun rises of its own volition, like most things on this planet, beyond human control." "So, another unsuccessful stop, huh?" "Why should today be different from any other day?" "We came here because we thought this forest might yield some edible vegetation, but" "Nothing?" "Julia tested everything." "Yale, we have to do something." "We estimated the food supply would last eight months." "It's been four weeks and we're already one-third depleted." "I don't know." "Maybe you misjudged the effect hiking across a continent can have on a person's appetite." "We will find food, Devon." "Not here, we won't." "We got to get going, okay?" "Not only does this planet challenge us, but we challenge each other." "When we crashed here, each of us barely knew the others existed." "Now suddenly, we're a body with 17 very different heads." "Bring me more." "More of everything." "Gravy." "Whatever you got in the kitchen back there." "More." "Mmm." "Mmm." "Mmm." "Come on, Morgan." "Oh." "Mmm." "Morgan?" "Morgan, enough fun." "Oh." "Oh." "Mmm." "Oh." "Mmm." "Mmm." "Bess, I'm trying to get the trans-rover packed and us moving." "We cannot be waiting for you two anymore, okay?" "Well, we're doing our best, Devon." "Why don't I believe that?" "Devon, Morgan's just trying to cope." "I mean, he wasn't exactly..." "cut out for this sort of travel." "He is an adult, Bess." "I don't want to tell you your business, but why don't you treat him as one?" "Mmm." "Oh." "Hey." "Hey, that's very dangerous." "Well, I'm sorry, Morgan." "I could get brain damage, you doing that." "I just- I just can't believe that woman." "The way she talks to us like we're idiots, just because I'm an Earth girl." "I was enjoying the most beautiful lamb shank, Bess." "Well, Morgan, if you'd pull your weight a little bit," "I wouldn't have to run interference all the time." "Interference?" "You're not running interference." "How would you know, Morgan?" "You're always on your V.R. gear." "So I have a hobby." "So then pack up the tent yourself." "Now, Morgan." "Hey." "I made some adjustments to your brace so it won't hurt as much." "What's wrong with you?" "Doc, I can't take being trapped here anymore on this planet." "You gotta hibernate me." "Give me something to put me under." "What?" "At least until my leg heals." "Alonzo- I used to be a pilot." "I could fly away whenever I wanted." "But here, day to day" "Then the dreams." "Please,just- just put me to cold sleep." "You can thaw me out when we get to New Pacifica." "Okay?" "How old are you?" "About 109, 110." "Why?" "And since you left flight school, what's the longest stretch of time you've been awake?" "Probably the last few weeks." "And it's hell." "I don't wanna be here." "You're depressed." "Thanks for the analysis, Doctor." "Are you gonna put me under or not?" "Are you out of your mind?" "Even if I could engineer the metabolics, we don't have the power to maintain a chamber." "Alonzo, this place is new for all of us." "No one's gonna want to drag you, sleeping, across the planet." "It can't be done." "It shouldn't be done." "No wonder I'm afraid of the dreams." "Don't wanna see the Terrians... or you." "You dreamed about me?" "When?" "More of a nightmare." "Grendler in camp.!" "Watch it.!" "Perimeter alert." "What do you think it wants?" "How should I know?" "Don't get too close." "I've got a bad feeling about these things." " Walman, you got that gun handy?" " Just say the word." " Don't you think we should ask questions first and then shoot?" " Devon, he's got something." "It's some kind of fruit." "I think he wants to give us some food." "Thank you." "He just- He wanted to give us some food." "No, don't" "Careful." "See, I told you they were dangerous." "You all right?" "Yeah, I'm fine." "Wish I could say the same for our rail." "Morgan." "Morgan?" "Morgan, is that you?" "Well, aren't you just the most interesting looking fellow?" "Oh." "We just can't get a day's relief, can we, Dad?" "You said it, True girl." "Danziger, can you fix it?" "He can fix most anything." "Just a question of how long." "Well, how long do you think this'll take?" "Seems to me a couple hours." "Better make that overnight." "Overnight?" "Danziger, we can't afford to wait that long." "I'm not the one who approached the creature, am I?" "Excuse me?" "He said, "I'm not the one who approached the creature. "" "Well, then we should organize a search party and start looking for some of that fruit." "Hey, Devon." "Look, everybody." "Look what I've got." "Bess, where did you get that?" "From the nicest Grendler." "He just gave it to you?" "Of course not." "I traded for it." "You know,just like we did down on Earth." "If someone needed something and they didn't have funds, we would barter." "Well, we should be careful with it." "We don't know anything about it yet." "Bess, those Grendlers are very dangerous." "You could have been killed." "Besides, what could you possibly have that a Grendler would even want?" "Morgan, um, I-I think we should talk about that in private." "Oh, Bess." "Bess, you didn't" "You didn't trade my V.R. gear, did you?" "It was for food, Morgan." "And at the time, it seemed like the right thing to do." "Excuse me." "It's mostly glycosaccharide and fibroin." "There's some proteins, but I don't see any identifiable toxins." "Yes, but is it edible?" "I can't say for sure." "It could interact harmfully with stomach enzymes and microbes." " Certainly wouldn't want it to burn a hole in anyone's stomach." " Don't touch that, Ulysses." "Please." "It looks better than that gross spirulina." "Not untilJulia says it's okay." "Well, I guess there's only one way to see for sure." "I wouldn't." "Julia, don't." "That was very irresponsible,Julia." "I have a strong stomach lining." "It's part of my genetic enhancement." " It's a bit tart, but it's nice." " How do you feel?" "Mmm." "Not bad, actually." "I could get used to this stuff." "I think everyone should try just a little bit." "Excuse me." "I'm late for a session with Alonzo." "Good work, Bess." "Thank you." "Bess, the fruit that you brought us, it's edible." "Well, I could have told you that, Devon." " What do you mean?" "How do you know?" " I ate a whole one on the way home." "Bess, what is the likelihood that you can lead us back to the Grendler?" "Perhaps we can trade for some more fruit." "Good." "You're doing well." "Alonzo?" "Are you all right?" "Take it off." "I don't want it!" "I don't want it." "I am not the enemy." "I am trying to help." "You get in my skull and get rid of these dreams, and you tell those monsters to get out of my head." "I would if I could." "Oh, you would." "I'm sure there's a very logical explanation for the preponderance of R.E.M. activity that you've been experiencing." "You took all those cold-sleep missions, and obviously your subconscious has been impaired." "They really forgot the bedside manner chromosome when they made you, didn't they?" "Didn't they?" "Fine." " Obviously, you're dead set on being miserable." " I'm glad you noticed." "Far be it for me to stand in your way." "Just let me know when you've grown up." "Well, good." "Run out of here." "I don't need you." "Thanks for everything." "Where have you been?" "Oh, with Devon and Yale." "I've got a job to do with them." "Really?" "Hmm." "Hey, I thought we didn't like Devon." "You said she treated us like idiots." "Well, Morgan, I happen to care about the group, and they need me to trade for some more fruit." "Well, what are you gonna trade away this time, Bess?" "Me?" "You gonna trade your husband away for a few magic beans?" "Huh?" "Morgan, I told you." "I'm sorry about your V.R. gear." "Well, you should be." "It was keeping me alive, Bess." "You know I need every escape I can get." "Okay, Morgan- What?" "I'm not gonna talk to you if you take that tone with me, Morgan." "What?" "I know you valued your V.R. gear very much, Morgan." "Yes." "I had a chance at making contact with a whole nother life-form." "I've never done that before, Morgan." "Bess, we've been trying for over an hour." " Maybe he's moved on." " Just give him a little time." "You guys, we came out to barter with him, and I think we should barter with him." "He just needs to be wooed a little." "It's a noble experiment, Bess, but we must be aware of the possibility that he might be leading us into some sort of ambush." " He's not." " We don't know that for sure, Bess." "I do know." "Other Grendlers might be dangerous, Devon, but he's not." "He likes people." "I think I see him." "I think you guys better let me go in alone." "He only trusts me." "I don't think it's safe for you to be alone with that creature." "Devon, it's gonna be okay." "I've traded with this Grendler before." "Besides, we don't have a choice." "We need the fruit." "All right." "All right." "Just be very careful, okay?" "A" " And be sure that you get the most you can for our stuff." "Don't worry, Devon, I'm not gonna hand everything over for a couple of pieces of fruit." " I know how to trade." " Of course you do." " We have our gear, so we'll be able to stay in close contact." " Okay." "Okay." "Let's get started." "Be careful." "Do you know how to use the gear?" "Devon, you'd be amazed at the things I know." "All right." "Just speak clearly a- and stay online." "Bess, does he have any fruit?" "Can you give us P.O.V. scan?" "Explain that means you turn the eyepiece away." "Yale, tell Devon I know what P.O.V. scan means." "Fruit?" "I'll trade you this nice lumalight... for a piece of fruit." "Does he understand?" "Show him the features." "See?" "It's an alloy, kind of like the V.R. gear I gave you." "And it has a light too." "My God." "What?" "What?" "Uh-Yale, Devon, I don't think he needs any more lumalights." "He has more than we do." "Those are the supplies from our cargo pod." "We should take it all back then." "Forget bartering." "I don't really think we're in a position to do that right now." "He, uh" "He's actually, um, pretty attached to our possessions, and, uh, I don't think we should upset him right now." "Bess." "Bess, go back where you were." "To the right" " To the right, at about 3:00." "Okay." "Yale." "Yale, it's our hoverscout." "Tell her not to let the Grendler see how much we need that." " Devon, do you know what we have in here?" " Bess." "Bess, go get the hoverscout." "With that, we could track down orchards of fruit." "Please." "Devon, are you sure we want that scout thing?" "I mean, we have a, uh, geolock box in here." "Make the trade, Bess." "Just make the trade." "Offer him the spare survey scanner." "We can return for the rest of the goods." "Yale, it doesn't look like he needs any more gadgets." "Alonzo, I brought you some pain-blockers." "Although at this point, I'd rather see you suffer." "Alonzo?" "Are you in there?" "Activate hover." "Commence levitation." "Hover activate." "Devon, what is it?" "It's a remote aerial scout plane with a 50K range and a homing function, but, uh" "Maybe we made a bad trade, huh?" "Well, can we fix it?" "I don't know." "It's not your fault, Bess." "You did a great job." "You really did." "Well, I can go back." "You know, actually there was a box in there that I recognized, and I think" "Devon, can I speak to you for a moment?" "Sure." "Uh, excuse me." "When did you last see him?" "Noon, maybe." "Noon?" "Julia, that-that's almost eight hours ago." "I know." "I was giving him time to cool off." "We had an argument." "He was feeling sorry for himself." "He's been depressed." "I don't think he's- What?" "Suicidal?" "I think we should organize a search." "We've done a resonant scan of the entire area." "No sign of anything." "Not even his A.T.V. Keep scanning." "What if he was taken by the Terrians, like Uly?" "He wasn't taken by anyone." "He left on his own." "We're going to have to start an on-foot search." "It's nighttime." "Nothing we can do till sunup." "Let's just get our rest, and we'll go out looking in the morning." "Beautiful, isn't she?" "You used to look at me that way." "Who are you?" "Has it been that long, Alonzo?" "Lydia?" "What are you doing here?" "Visiting you." "Remember the Garsonia star base?" "We had such fun together those weeks." "You feel good, Lydia." "You do." "Do you want to cry, Alonzo?" "I don't know." "I wish I could." "But that's not you." "You don't cry." "You're a pilot." "You just fly away." "I don't fly anymore, Lydia." "I'm all alone on this stupid planet in the middle of nowhere, and I think I'm going crazy." "What am I gonna do?" "You'll live,just like the rest of us." " Where did she go?" " She became me." "She got married." "She had children." "She" " She had a life, and she grew old." "I'm not made for that part of life." " Which part, love?" " The growing old part." "Oh, that's all there is." "The seconds, the minutes, the hours, the years." "Believe me, it is a beautiful ride, better than- better than any flight you've ever taken." "Wait, wait." "Lydia, wait." "Wait." "It's time for you to go home." "Can I just kiss you good-bye?" "Morgan?" "Morgan, honey." "What's wrong?" "I'm" " I'm not doing so well." "Well, what is it?" "Oh." "Honey, are you worried about Alonzo?" "We're gonna find him." "I'm not worried about Alonzo." "I'm worried about me." "I can't do this, Bess." "It's been 10 hours now without a single hit of virtual." "There's only so much reality a man can take." "Shh." "Calm down." "Calm down." "Try to think about something else." "Like what?" "That bracelet I gave you... that you traded away for something that doesn't even work?" "Morgan, I didn't wanna trade it." "You know, I'm really gettin' the shaft here, Bess." "Didn't we take a vow to forsake all others?" "Don't you think that you should be looking out for me?" "You're right, Morgan." "And I'm gonna make it up to you." "Bess, where are you going?" "I'm going to visit that Grendler." "Now?" "In-In the middle of the night?" "Are you sure that's safe?" "I'm gonna get your V.R. gear back." "My V.R.?" "Really?" "You would do that for me?" "Mm-hmm." "Morgan, this whole trading thing has brought nothing good to the group, except maybe a few measly pieces of fruit." "And now my husband's in pain." "I think I need to set things straight." "Set things straight with you." "Hello." "It's me." "I" "I came to make another trade." "Remember?" "Give and take." "Uh-uh." "Now, don't get too hasty." "I" " I brought you something real special." "Something more your size." "I mean, that V.R. gear doesn't really go with your eyes." "What I brought is gonna look real good around your neck." "Hold on." "Hold on." "You like it, don't you?" "Well, that thing might be more valuable than I thought." "Morgan?" "Bess." "You got it." "You're a genius." "He thinks he robbed me blind." "He didn't know who he was dealing with." "You" " Mmm." "What's that?" "Morgan, this is the most fabulous device in the world." "It's a geolock box." "My father used it in the mines down on Earth." "Morgan, it locks up land so nothing can come through - no shovels, no pickaxes, no Terrians." "Really?" "Locks up land, huh?" "So this must be pretty complicated to operate." "Well, not if we can crack the access code." "So, this geo-thingy, it might be used to, say, mmm, lock up a precious mineral find for safekeeping?" "Yes, that's exactly what I've been trying to tell Devon, but she won't listen to me." "But I think she'll listen to me now, now that I have something that's gonna help the group." "Let's go." "The group." "Oh, man." "Where the hell am I?" "You're up early." "I'm up early?" "Alonzo, you've had the whole camp in a state." "Where have you been?" "I know." "What happened to the A.T.V.?" "What happened to your forehead?" "I don't know what happened." "I" "I went for a ride." "I wiped out or something." "Julia, um" "I'm sorry." "You're sorry." "What for?" "I don't know." "Everything." "I had a dream." "And were the Terrians in it?" "They were." "Look, I don't know, maybe" "Maybe I'm going crazy or something, but, uh- but I feel like I'm healed." "I'm healed." "Well, I hate to tell you, but, uh, your leg looks just as broken as it was yesterday." "I know." "I better put a bandage on it." "Okay." "I'm sorry too." "I did it." "I cracked the access code." "Now all we need is an abort code." "Morgan, how did you get that so fast?" "That's all I ever did at work, was crack these codes." "If you waited for information to come down through the proper channels, you would never know anything." "Now how is this mechanism gonna work?" "Well, I- I remember watching my father." "Let's see." "Well, the canister fits into the injector like so." "Then you prime it, and you initiate the sequence with the code." "You know, Bess," "I think that your father... would have wanted you to use this geolock... to... stake a claim, have a mine of your own." " Morgan, we have to share this with everyone." " Uh, sure." " Why is that again?" " Because we're part of the Eden Project now." "Yeah, but you found the geolock." "I mean, we start sharing this with people, you know who's gonna get the credit, don't you?" "Devon Adair." "Just like always." "And after the way she's been treating you, Bess?" "Morgan, she's- She's got a lot on her mind." "Bess, I've heard the way she talks to you, ordering you around like- like your dad's bosses ordered him around." "Okay, let's not argue about this now." "Let's just scrub the abort code and see if the darn thing works." "All right." "Let's give it a try." "Right here?" "Yeah." "I'll set the zone size to minimum." "Say, half a meter?" "Uh, sure." "Ready?" "Okay." "Reaction will commence in 10 seconds." "Move away from the zone." "Move away from the zone." "Bess?" "Bess?" "Morgan, turn it off." "I can't turn it off." "There's no abort code." "Hide it." "Cover it up." "Five, four, three, two" "What was that sound?" "Uh" " Uh, Terrians." " Devon, what can we do for you?" "I, uh" " I made a list of things to go after on our next trade." "I know you mentioned a geolock, but that is way down on our list." "First, we need fruit, and I think I saw solar panels and heavy clothing." "Bess, what's going on?" "Do I work for you, Devon?" "No." "No, you don't, Bess." "Then why do you treat me like I do?" "I didn't know that I did." "You do, and I don't appreciate it." "Now then, Morgan and I were right in the middle of something, so I will come find you when I'm ready to trade again." "Fine." "Fine, I'll be in my tent." "Holy cow." "It really works." "How big of a chunk will this thing freeze?" "Maximum diameter is a little over a kilometer." "Well, um" "Should I go and get everybody?" "I think they're going to want to see what we've got." "We're keeping this for ourselves, Morgan." "It's apparently every woman for herself here." "I couldn't agree more, sweetie." "I could not agree more." "Morgan, it's so hard what this planet does to you." "Where we came from, we changed the world to suit our needs." "On this planet, we will be the ones to change, for good or for bad." "Bess grew a little, but let go a piece ofherself, maybe an innocence she once cherished." "While others, like Alonzo, rediscovered pieces they thought they had lost forever." "It's okay, pal." "I'm not going anywhere."