CAMPFIRES AND DARKNESS
by
Ellen Lindow

The mood of the Alphans was festive. The crews of the six Eagles that had landed on the planet they had named Calle were filled with anticipation of the upcoming order for Operation Exodus. Calle was the most likely planet Earth's runaway moon had come across in a long time and all the Alphans were anxious to find a new home and settle down.
   On Helena Russell's advice, Commander Koenig had brought down as many Alphans as possible for this first look around. Her theory was that the more people who got a chance to walk around on green grass and smell the fresh air, the better. Even if Calle didn't turn out to be their new home as many people as possible would have had a break in the routine.
   The Moon's elliptical orbit past the planet gave the Alphans plenty of time to make their decision and everything looked favorable. As more reports came in the morale and the expectations rose higher. Air, water, mineral deposits, edible plant and animal life, areas of geologically stable land on two vast continents, no signs of intelligent life; Calle was getting high marks from every department on Alpha.
   They had been on Calle a week, the Eagles situated on a bluff overlooking the ocean and the commander was expected to make a decision soon. Koenig had curbed exuberant spirits as much as possible demanding tight security at all times and no romantic walks in the moonlight. After dark everyone had to be inside the security fence which surrounded the Eagles. He did permit a campfire and someone had brought a harmonica along so evenings took on the feel of summer camp even though some of the scientists came and went as channels to Alpha were freed up for reports to colleagues left behind.
   Late in the afternoon a call came in from a team down on the beach that had been netting sea life for study. One of the fishermen had slipped and cut his hand on some rocks. Could Dr. Russell came down and treat it?
   Koenig found Helena Russell at one of the science stations busily dissecting a small furry creature with the help of one of her staff biologists. Her lab coat was splattered with blood but she smiled cheerfully when she saw her commander and long time lover.
   "Hi," her cheery greeting was muffled by her sterile mask.
   "Hi, yourself. You're a mess."
   "Well, the circulatory system was a bit different from what the sono's implied. What's up?" She could tell by looking at him that he hadn't come for just a visit.
   "Toshi Fugita has hurt himself down on the beach. They need you."
   She nodded. Stripping off her surgical gloves and lab coat, she turned the dissection over to her assistant and gathered up, medkit, commlock and a large hunting knife which she tucked into her belt.
   Koenig watched her with admiration. Not a moment wasted, she was ready to go. He loved her professionalism. In fact, he admitted to himself, he loved everything about her and he wished not for the first time that week that he could figure out a way to break his own rule and go for just one romantic moonlight stroll. They hadn't even been able to find time for a good cuddle this week since they shared sleeping space on an eagle with 6 other people.
   They set out for the beach, lacing their fingers together. She smiled up at him. At least they could enjoy this short walk. "Have you made a decision yet?"
   "This place seems very tempting, but I haven't decided yet. You'll be among the first to know, I promise."
   She smiled and they arrived at the cliff. A rope ladder was secured with several pitons and tied firmly around two trees well away from the cliff, Koenig frowned. "There should be a safety line too."
   Helena shrugged and secured her medical kit to her belt. The cliff angled down to the sea with the ladder laying against it. Small shards of rock lay all along the cliff and boulders were strewn around on the beach 50 meters below. "It's not that difficult a climb. If you did slip, you should just slide down without any permanent damage," she slid over the edge of the cliff with a smile.
   "I think the fresh air is effecting you, Helena," John teased as he knelt beside the edge of the cliff to steady the rope. "I always thought you were a cautious person."
   "I've climbed cliffs steeper than this since childhood," was her reply. "My father used to take me camping in the Rockies."
   She concentrated on her descent and paused halfway down the cliff as a fist size rock fell loose by her foot jiggling the ladder. Then the cliff seemed to simply disintegrate around them. Rocks and boulders were falling all around her and she clung to the rope, hoping John could pull her to safety.
   Koenig was having problems of his own, however. Looking down, it appeared that the entire cliff face had shifted downward and shattered in the process he tried to grab for the rope but missed and he too was headed down the cliff with the assorted rocks. Everything went black shortly after.

   On the beach below the fishing party watched in horror as their commander and chief medical officer disappeared in a pile of rubble. They called back to base camp and went running toward the rock slide as soon as everything stopped moving, but there was nothing they could do. The cliff was too unstable to do any digging. Base camp reported that the computer no longer registered life signs from their commlock. The commander and the doctor were lost.

   The pain hit first. Then the darkness. Helena Russell blinked twice and tried to figure out whether or not her eyes were damaged. The darkness was so intense it hurt. So did her right hip. She shifted her weight, listening to pebbles and rock shards fall off her as she moved. Feeling for her commlock, she pulled her hand back quickly as a sharp piece of glass sliced her finger. She reached back gently and felt the mangled commlock. It was a useless mass of glass shards and twisted metal and plastic. She felt her hip which had landed against the little machine; it was bruised, not broken, she thought.    She lay still and took a couple of deep breaths, her eyes closed against the inky blackness. She used her other senses to gather as much data about her surroundings as possible.
   She was laying feet down on an incline of less than 45 degrees which consisted of small rocks and pebbles. The temperature was cooler than the outside air had been. She estimated it to be around 65 degrees Fahrenheit, not quite comfortable in her book, but not bad. The echo of falling rock told her she was in a cave, the air was still but dusty from the recent cave-in she had experienced. In the quiet she could hear breathing and she held her own breath to see if it were an echo. It was John Koenig's breathing. She knew it well, but she couldn't get a direction. A movement of her head caused rocks and pebbles to begin slipping and remembering the last time that had happened, she immediately stopped moving.
   With the commlock a total loss, she slowly moved her hand along her belt to her medical kit. Inside a pouch, it had been more protected in the fall and she was relieved to find all the instruments still in their proper place. She pulled out one of them and set the familiar instrument for the widest light beam possible by sense of touch. She flicked the switch and sighed with relief as the tiny beam diffused around the cavern, giving her a view of the rock ceiling above. She resisted the urge to sit up and slowly rolled over to her left, searching the pile of rubble with her tiny light.
   She found him about 10 meters away. He was further down the slope and half buried in the rubble. He was on his back with his head toward the bottom on the slope. A gash on his cheek was slowly dripping blood, but appeared superficial. His breathing was good and she began to hope they might yet get out of this with only a few bruises. She looked carefully at the rubble between her and Koenig and turned off her little light to conserve its power.
   It took an eternity to creep through the darkness but she continued to move carefully and slowly to avoid another landslide. When she did finally reach him it almost startled her to feel anything besides rock. As she took his pulse and felt his cheek to discover the severity of the cut, he took a deep breath and started to sit up.
   "Easy, John," Helena said quietly, using her best bedside voice and a firm hand on his shoulder.
   "Helena? Where are we?" Koenig was experiencing the same disorientation that she had gone through. She leaned her head against his and squeezed his shoulder. "There was a landslide, do you remember? The cliff gave way and I saw you fall." She felt him nod. "We're in a cave, and I'm afraid this rock will start falling again if we move too much. Do you have your commlock?"
   She felt him reach for it. "It's not there," he answered. "it must have fallen off my belt. Yours?"
   "Destroyed," she answered. "Your legs are buried. Are they pinned?"
   As he moved them, the rock around them began to stir again. "No, but if I try to get them out --" Koenig didn't need to finish.
   Helena turned over and removed the little examination light from her pouch again. "We'll just have to get down off of this pile of rubble before we're buried. Look," she said as she turned on the light. They were still about 10 meters above the cavern floor. All the rock below them was pebble size. They exchanged a glance before Helena clicked the light off again. Koenig put his hand over hers in the darkness. "Let's get off this slide as fast as possible. Then we'll see about finding a torch and getting a way out of here."
   "Let me know when you're ready."
   Koenig agreed and on the count of three they both pushed off down the hill ignoring new bruises and old in their haste to get out of the way of falling rock.
   A branch which had fallen into the cavern with them made a good torch, lit by Helena's surgical laser. They had the leisure to explore the flickering image of the large cavern.
   The bottom was sandy and the sand was arranged in patterns that suggested that the cavern sometimes held water. They gathered any branches they could find to use as future torches and began to go over every inch of the cavern walls searching for a way out. Neither of them mentioned that the loss of their commlocks probably meant that their Alphan friends thought them dead. They both knew that their release from the cavern was up to them. They could expect no help from the outside.
   Their search led them winding through caves, and large rooms, some containing pools of fresh water, others dry with sandy bottoms. The fresh water pools were welcome and they stopped to ease their thirst. Their trail was marked either in the sand or with pebbles lined up to show which direction they had taken. They climbed and descended, twisted and turned. Koenig's sense of direction, usually quite acute, had already been abused by a tumble down the cliff and was completely confounded. He was almost relieved to see Helena sink wearily onto a rock beside another pond.
   He sat beside her and kissed her softly on the cheek. she smiled and took his hand. "We need some rest. It was late afternoon when we got in here. It must be well past midnight by now."
   "Not that we'd be able to tell in here. But you're right. I'm exhausted. And I ache everywhere."
   Helena found a less rocky place in the sand to lay down and then extinguished the torch. The inky darkness returned and Koenig settled down next to her. He touched her cheek gently, then covered her lips with his. She relaxed into the kiss and then pulled back as his hand travelled down her body and began unfastening her belt.
   "I thought you were tired."
   "Not that tired."
   She wished she could see him. She could hear the smile in his voice as her fingers traced the smile on his lips.
   "We'll get sand all over us."
   "Who cares," he murmured, kissing her again.
   She realized that she didn't care and joined in his pursuit with her customary eagerness.
   Koenig chuckled, and murmured into her ear. "Alone at last, Dr. Russell." She laughed with him and later they slept with no alarm clock or appointments to keep for the first time since they'd known each other.

   They continued wandering the caves, stopping to sleep three more times before they found and caught some blind fish in one of the pools. The fish were bony and small but tasted great after going so long without food. Both of them were beginning to worry that they would be unable to find a way out especially since their supply of wood was running out. They had no way of knowing how much time had passed, but once their source of light was gone, it was unlikely that they would be able to find a way out.
   They both also knew that the more time that passed the less chance there would be that anyone would be waiting for them on the surface above. If the Alphans had decided to initiate Operation Exodus, they might still have chosen another site to settle anywhere on the planet. Four sites had been investigated so far, and only one other site was on the same continent as this cave. There was also the possibility that the Alphans would not chose to settle on Calle and return to their rogue moon to search further for a new home.
   These topics remained unspoken subjects. Both John Koenig and Helena Russell were practical people and they knew nothing could be accomplished regarding the Alphans, so they used all their energies to try to find a way out of the maze they were in.
   They had only one torch left when they slid down a chute into a new cavern. They stood together and Koenig put his arm around Helena. She hugged him in return, closing her eyes and pressing her face against his chest, fighting the despair she could feel rising inside her.
   Panic wouldn't help them any and she refused to give in, but it was so unfair to snatch their lives away when they finally had a chance to live on a beautiful planet and plan a future together.
   She remembered the words of one of her favorite professors who had tried to comfort her after the death of her father. "Death is not fair, Helena, neither is it unfair. It is truly neutral, not taking any circumstances or timing into consideration. Once you accept the neutrality of death you can use your energy to help the living live the highest quality of life possible without looking at death as an enemy which cannot be defeated."
   Koenig kissed the top of her head and simply held her, sensing she needed the closeness and some time to deal with the disappointment of another pool filled cavern with no way out.
   "Let's rest here," he suggested.
   Helena agreed and knelt beside the pool for a drink. She sipped cautiously Some of the pools were fresh, others salt, especially in the deeper caverns. This one was salt water and she spat it out. Koenig sat down in a sandy area and prepared to put the torch out. He held out his hand. Exhausted and weak, Helena didn't even have enough strength for tears. The two curled up together, knowing this was probably the end for them and not taking much comfort from the fact that they would most likely die together.

   Helena awoke to the sound of her name. She turned slowly and reached for John, then sat upright, fully awake and aware of an odd blue light illuminating the pool. John was kneeling beside the water which was lower than it had been when they had gone to sleep.
   "This is the way out, Helena," John said with conviction. "That has to be sunlight reflecting off of the rocks at the bottom of the pool.
   Helena knelt beside him, staring grimly at the deep pool shimmering in light. The light was dim, but their eyes were so accustomed to dim light, she had no trouble detecting it.
   "I'll go first," Koenig said, as far as he was concerned, the decision was made. They had to try to swim for it.
   Death by starvation or death by drowning. She knew the man she loved was right, this was their only chance. But she also knew something else. "We'll go together," she said firmly.
   She and Koenig gazed steadily at each other for a moment then he nodded agreement. She pulled two thin but durable plastic specimen bags from their small compartment in her medkit and handed one to Koenig. Then she pulled off her boots and tattered pants and tunic and placed them in the bag. pressing as much air out of the bag as possible and using her belt to fasten it to her back. Koenig did the same. Then, with a last kiss for luck and a deep breath, they dove in the warm salty water and began to swim.
   Both were strong swimmers but Helena knew just how deadly cave diving was, even with SCUBA equipment. The next few moments were likely to be their last as Koenig twisted into a small opening and Helena followed with sunlight glinting teasingly off the silica crystals that surrounded them.
   Her lungs were pressuring her to take a breath but she swallowed hard andpulled herself along over the sharp crystals. She cut her hand but ignored it, staying focused on holding her breath and following John's feet paddling ahead of her.
   Suddenly Koenig shot straight up and she noticed the water ahead actually got darker with the absence of the light refracting crystals. She tugged herself along, getting another cut in the process, then she was out and heading up toward the sunlight above. She bobbed up out of the water, continuing to hold her breath for a beat to check for crashing waves, then gasped for air.
   John was only a few meters away getting his own breath back. A wave separated them, then they entered a long trough and swam toward each other. He pulled her to him and hugged her, both of them unmindful of the water as they bobbed under again. They came back up laughing.
   The got their bearings and struck out toward shore, using the wave action to carry them the nearly 200 meters to the beach. After walking through the gentle breakers of low tide they sat together basking in the sun and spending a moment enjoying being alive.
   They pulled on their clothes and looked around. The rock strewn beach stretched up toward the cliffs which they now knew were honeycombed with caves extending out under the sea. They could be anywhere on the beach, even several miles away from the landing site.
   Helena pushed wet blond hair away from her face and looked steadily at Koenig. "Is there any chance the others are still here?"
   Koenig sat on a convenient rock and tugged on his boots. "We haven't any idea how long we were down there. But I'd say unless the others chose this site to settle in we're out of luck. If they're still on the planet at all we may never know it. There were four other sites under consideration."
   "We'd better get up this cliff and try to find the landing site. Then we'll know," Helena replied.
   Koenig helped her stand and put his arms around her waist. "No matter what we find, I want you to know how glad I am that we're alive and together. Even if the others decided to return to Alpha and we never see anyone again, I'd rather be with you."
   Helena smiled and reached up to kiss him; then she pulled back, her green eyes sparkling with humor, "That's good, because you're likely stuck with me. Now let's get up that cliff." She turned toward the rocks.
   "I think I've developed a phobia about rock climbing. Isn't there another way?"
   "None."
   "Too bad."
   The climb was uneventful. More on a hunch than anything else they set off to the west moving through the woods as close to the cliff as possible. They soon came to a clearing, the cliff beside them an unstable pile of gravel. Helena stopped short and Koenig stopped behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
   A large boulder had been planed off by laser. Cut into the stone, in simple lettering were the words:

IN MEMORY OF

JOHN R. KOENIG
Commander
Moonbase Alpha
1957-2005

HELENA S. RUSSELL
Chief Medical Officer
Moonbase Alpha
1960-2005

   The meadow was quiet. Koenig looked toward the spot where singed grass and large depressions the shape of an Eagle's landing pad indicated the site used by the landing party. He pressed against her, arms wrapped around her waist. "Remember when you asked if I'd made a decision yet? It looks as if is been made for us. We stay."

   Dawn came grey and damp and a thin veil of fog spread over the clearing wrapping the small cottage in a blanket of cotton. Helena stepped quietly on the wide porch and took an oiled leather cape from a convenient hook by the door. It was the "dry" season, so the fog was only waist high and would burn off as soon as the sun was above the trees. She surveyed the fog for a moment and listened to the dew dropping from the trees in the predawn stillness. She could hear the comforting sound of John's snoring coming from inside the house. He had spent most of the night minding the kiln they had recently constructed near the stream. Now it was her turn. She settled the cape around her shoulders over the loose weave cotton tunic and leather shorts she wore and slipped her feet into leather thongs waiting on the step. A bright morning star in the east caught her eye and she looked up with a smile to spot other stars which might still be seen in the quickly brightening sky. Just to the south of the familiar morning star another star appeared suddenly and began moving slowly across the sky. "John!" she called urgently. "John, come quickly!"
   "John Koenig reacted instantly to her call, appearing a moment later in the doorway of the small cottage built of a bamboo-like material bound together with strong vines. He brushed long dark hair back from his eyes and held a flint tipped spear at the ready.
   Helena pointed at the sky in silence and Koenig watched with her as the bright object made its leisurely way across the sky toward the northwest.
   A thin contrail appeared as the object hit a more humid stretch of atmosphere. "It's an Eagle, Helena. It has to be," John said with quiet excitement in voice.
   "Then why haven't we seen signs of them before? We've been here nearly four years."
   "Perhaps we weren't looking at the right time, or maybe they have few reasons to use the Eagles. One of the other for possible landing sights was to the northwest of here, near a large river system. They must have settled there."
   "Not necessarily. The other two sights were on the southern continent. What if they were simply going to check out a mining sight or something?"
   "I don't think so. I didn't care much for the two sites on the southern continent and neither did Victor. I have a hunch that Eagle was going home."
   A noise from the cabin distracted her for a moment and she stepped inside, still carrying on the conversation. "I'll admit your hunches are frequently as correct as most people's well known fact, but I don't see what good it does us. We don't have any way of signaling them and they think we're dead."
   She returned to the porch carrying a chubby baby boy. "He's awake, so I'll take him with me," she said handing the child to his father so she could strap on the baby's carryall.
   Koenig held the boy with practiced ease while continuing to stare to the west. Once Helena settled the baby in his pack, she put her hand on John's neck to pull the tall man down to her level and he gave him a quick kiss. "Get some sleep. We'll be back by noon." She picked up a small spindle and a net sack full of cotton.
 "I'll bring some lunch down when I wake up." Koenig called after her as she made her way down the path.
   She nodded and waved. Koenig was still standing thoughtfully on the porch as the path twisted around a grove of trees. She shifted the baby slightly so he could nurse as she walked the half kilometer to the site of the kiln. She picked a banana-like fruit from a tree as she passed. It would be nice to see the others again, she thought as she arrived at the site of the kiln. Jason had finished nursing and she used the carryall to hang the baby from a nearby tree while she checked the fire in the kiln.
   Everyday life settled around her, pushing thoughts of the far away Alphans to the back of her mind. She spent the morning checking fish traps in the stream, playing with the baby and spinning yarn to be used on the loom John had designed for her last year when she had been pregnant with Jason.
   John showed up just as the sun passed its zenith. Helena had just finished stoking the fire once again and had taken the baby for a swim in the nearby pool. John joined them, playing with Jason, bouncing him up and down in the water and coaxing him to hold his breath.
   At nine months of age Jason could already hold his breath and paddle a few feet from one parent to another. As Koenig bounced up and down with him the baby crowed with laughter each time they surfaced. They ended their swim when Helena, the fairest of the group, decided they had had enough sun.
   Returning to the shade tree they let the baby crawl around on Helena's cape while the two of them ate the lunch John had prepared. Wrapped in large leaves were what John had labeled "tropical burritos", coarsely ground grain was made into flat round tortillas and lightly baked. Chopped fish and fruits were mixed together with a tasty leaf vegetable something like spinach and rolled into the tortilla, then heated. They were easy to make and eat. Koenig had found that he enjoyed creating new dishes from the variety of foods they had found here. Tropical Burritos were one of their favorites.
   Jason tried small bites of his father's fish and tortilla but was more contented when his mother let him crawl in her lap and settle down to nurse. Helena leaned back against John's side to allow her a more comfortable position while the baby nursed.
   "I've been thinking, Helena." John started.
   "Hmm?" was the reply. Helena had leaned her head against John's shoulder and closed her eyes. Midday was the time they usually relaxed and talked, made plans and decided what sort of projects to work on such as the kiln, or the large outrigger canoe they had built before the baby was born.
   "I think we should try to find the others."
   She opened her eyes and glanced up at him. Then she looked again. "You're serious aren't you?"
   "Of course I am."
   "John, even if they are on this continent they're thousands of miles away!"
   "Fifteen hundred."
   "Pardon me. What are we supposed to do, just pick up and walk? With a baby. What if we miss them while we're wandering around the continent?"
   "The site was on a major continental river like the Nile or the Danube on Earth. That river would be impossible to miss."
   "The river, yes, but what about the settlement, we could miss it by a few miles and never know it was there. We could turn the wrong way when we got to the river and never find them."
   "Not if we started at the mouth of the river. That would be almost two thirds of the way. Of course we couldn't use the canoe to go upstream but we could walk from there. Jason likes the canoe and we could take it very slowly, travel a few days then stop and rest for a couple of days to hunt up some food to prepare and take with us."
   "You've got this all figured out don't you?"
   "We could even stop at the river delta, then start again in the next dry season. I really think we should do this, and soon, before something happens to make the trip impossible."
   "Such as--" she encouraged.
   "Such as one or both of us getting hurt and leaving Jason here on his own. He should be with other people. He should grow up with other children too."
   Helena sighed. John was right. The two of them made a great team, but if something happened to one of them, the other would find it very hard to survive on their own; especially with a baby. "Well, the last item will be taken care of soon. I'm pregnant again."
   "Helena are you sure?" John asked, surprised. He turned to face her, catching her off balance for a second. The baby leaned back with a sigh, satisfied and fast asleep. "But Jason is still a baby. You're still nursing him!"
   "I'm fairly certain. I think I'm about 6 weeks along. Nursing another baby has nothing to do with getting pregnant. I'm a bit surprised it took so long. I had the feeling I'd be pregnant frequently once my implant wore out."
   John started to say something, but stopped. He was speechless. He had been surprised the last time she had told him she was pregnant, but he had fallen in love with Jason the first time he felt the child move inside Helena. He was too used to a society where women chose to have children or not. During all the years they had spent together he had never even thought about what kind of birth control measures she used.
   Helena touched his arm. "I'm not complaining. I like babies and don't mind being pregnant, but I can't say I want to spend my first two trimesters paddling a canoe every day."
   "This is all the more reason for us to go. One of us would never manage with two babies. We have to think of them."
   He looked at her with those intense blue eyes that she had always found so appealing. And she knew it was useless to argue further. She had never had a problem with voicing her opinions or telling him she disagreed with him. In fact some people would have described their relationship as rather stormy. But in the long run she always found him irresistible and he had the annoying habit of being right almost all the time about almost everything.
   She sighed. "All right. I give up. I suppose you want to start right away."
   "As soon as we can get things ready. Using the canoe will give us a chance to carry more than if we went on foot. And we can probably make better time than walking. We should be able to travel between 10 and 20 miles a day. We should be able to get to the river delta well before the new baby is due."
   Helena smiled to herself as Koenig settled down to planning their trip and what they would need to take with them. He was never the kind of man who gloated over winning an argument. A decision had been made and a plan of action was now necessary. He began with business-like efficiency.

   Three weeks later they were ready to leave. Belongings were packed, a net playpen had been made for Jason in the middle of the boat, complete with a grass mat cover for shade, supplies had been waterproofed as much as possible, and the things they had decided not to take with them were cached inside the now cool kiln.
   Koenig considered adding a sail to the outrigger, figuring the time saved by the ability to use the wind for power would more than make up for the delay caused by remodeling the boat; not to mention the relief it would give Helena. But a sailboat would require lee boards and the outrigger was so massive Koenig was afraid it might still have too much drag. A permanent keel with ballast was out of the question if they were to be able to put into the beach. Also, even with an outrigger, stability would be a problem in a stiff wind.
   They began their journey early on a foggy morning, heading out past the breakwater and setting out on a course paralleling the coast. Jason was not happy at being penned up and spent much of the time calling and reaching out to his parents and crawling back and forth in the small space provided for him. Helena had snacks and toys at hand for him, but the confinement was unusual and the baby complained bitterly.
   After a few days, however, the baby became used to the new routine. Up with the dawn to take advantage of the still morning waters of the dry season, the parents generally scooped up the sleeping baby and enjoyed a peaceful hour of paddling. By mid morning the adults needed a rest and the baby needed some activity. They would put into the beach, hunt or fish, let the baby toddle around a bit, and eat a mid day meal. Jason would nurse and settle happily down in his pen for a nap. John and Helena would travel again for several hours while the baby slept, woke, snacked and played. When he got fussy, his parents sang to him, his favorites included "Row, Row, Row Your Boat", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Puff the Magic Dragon". If they couldn't remember all the words to a song, they made up new ones. Jason didn't know the difference and singing helped give the adults rhythm for paddling.
   They would begin to look for a campsite by mid afternoon. It was important to find fresh water and they would stop early if the vegetation on the beach gave signs that fresh water was nearby. After living so intimately with an environment more than four years they could easily detect good campsites. By the time the baby began protesting to be let out they would stop, usually well before sundown even if it meant using some of their small supply of fresh water.
   Evenings were a time for swimming, searching for shellfish in the tidal pools, preparing an evening meal and food for the next day, if possible; and repairing any broken tools. They rarely pitched the tent, sleeping under the stars next to a friendly campfire. They had found a few predators in the jungle which edged the sea, but none would brave the smell of fire. Helena had also found certain bushes which, when burned, repelled some of the more annoying insects. She usually kept a few sticks around to throw on the fire at intervals.
   The terrain they passed by gradually changed. The jungle receded and the steep cliffs were seen less frequently. They passed by two separate groups of barrier islands and the entrance to a large bay. Sometimes water became difficult to find on the islands and they might have to make a trek to the mainland in search of water.
   Three months into the journey the terrain changed again. Koenig guessed they were more than two thirds of the way to their goal. The coastline took a southern turn. A small peninsula was in their path and they would have to go around it to get to the mouth of the river they were looking for.
   The mainland jungle moved back from the shore and small rocky islands dotted the marsh grasses. They tried to keep to open water, but sometimes found the channels deceiving and they spent time backtracking and staying father out to sea.
   Weather patterns were changing too. The dry season was coming to a close and afternoon thunderstorms were becoming the norm. The baby was terrified of the thunder and their travel became restricted to mornings.
   The insects were worse here too. The entire marshy peninsula was a breeding farm for biting insects. All three of them were miserable and Helena couldn't find the brushwood she had been burning to keep the bugs away.
   They were in a "Catch 22" situation, the further they went, the harder it was to travel and the harder traveling conditions became the more urgent was their need to travel quickly. They could have used a compass and a good aerial survey of the area, but wishing for that was no different than wishing for an ice cream parlor on every other island.
   Helena was growing homesick for their little cabin in the jungle. Her pregnancy was advanced to the point were everything was uncomfortable, breathing, sitting, walking, paddling a canoe. She had never been the type to complain, however, and now she grimly went about their daily routine. Every bit of her energy was focused on getting through the task at hand. John assumed as much of the care of Jason as he could and he began to grow concerned about her. She could tell by the worried looks he gave her, but could not summon the energy to acknowledge his concern, she simply accepted it.
   As their course veered northward again, Koenig hoped they were past the worst of their journey. Helena had no energy for hope, she just endured.
   She was using her paddle to steer one afternoon, when something struck at her paddle. She jerked back reflexively against the pull. John turned in his seat at the forward end of the boat in time to see a fish, something like a barracuda, leap out of the water after the paddle. It was nearly a meter long, had rows of teeth that seemed to big to fit into its narrow mouth. John and Helena held eye contact with each other and began to paddle again with a newfound vigor. One of their main concerns was that they had been paddling quite close to a small island away from the marsh grasses in open water. It was the kind of island they preferred to camp on and they frequently enjoyed an evening swim which brought temporary relief from the heat, the bugs and for Helena, gravity. As they paddled hurriedly away from the ferocious looking fish, Helena wondered what else this place had in store for them.

   They found out the next morning. Helena awoke before the sun as usual, no longer comfortable lying down. John lay next to her snoring in a familiar monotone and holding her hand in his. Jason lay between them, sprawled out in the typical way a baby has of taking up three quarters of any available sleeping space.
   She watched him sleep for a moment, marveling at how much he had grown in the last few months. She touched his dark curls softly, and noticed that he felt warmer than usual. She moved her hand to his forehead and then to his throat to feel his rapid pulse. Forgetting the slower movements pregnancy usually imposed on her, she moved quickly to the boat rummaging through unpacked belongings to find the precious though seldom used medkit.
   John awoke as she knelt beside the baby. "What's wrong?"
   "I'm not sure yet," she replied distractedly, her attention focused on the baby and her instruments. Get some of the clean furs we use for diapers and get them wet. He's running a high fever."
   Helena calmly did what she could for the child, bathing him to keep the fever down. She tried to encourage him to nurse but with limited success.
   Koenig followed Helena's directions and spent most of the day worrying. Unable to contribute much, he prowled the camp until Helena suggested he do some fishing. She knew he was best at handling problems he could act upon, patience had never been one of his virtues. She also suggested that they camp here for a few days and he began to use his excess energy to gather firewood and fresh water, pitch the tent and take the cast net out to catch some fish.
   Helena spent the day worrying too. The baby's fever continued unchecked and he was never more than semi conscious during the day. She didn't tell John how serious the child's illness was. On Alpha she would have ordered a dozen tests by now and decided on a method of treatment. Here she couldn't even make a decent diagnosis. She allowed herself a rare moment of intense homesickness for her nice clean lab on Alpha, while she bathed the baby again. She was afraid he was having a toxin reaction to an insect bite or perhaps a build up of toxins from the numerous bites he had received in the past few weeks. She didn't even want to think about the possibility of an insect transmitted disease like malaria which would have been common in a similar environment on Earth.
   She was tired, uncomfortable, hot and frustrated. In the time they had been away from Alpha they had always been able to confront any problems they had and act upon them. Now all she could do was wait. She lay down next to the child and watched his shallow breathing until she drifted off to sleep. It was several hours before Koenig returned to find both mother and child lying in the tent unconscious and with blazing fevers.

   Victor Bergman answered the knock at his door with a distracted "Come in" without looking up from the computer screen embedded in the drafting table. He and Alan Carter were both bent over the table, lightpens in hand going over the schematics of a light aircraft engine they hoped to build. The windows were wide open in the small wood frame house to let in the cool spring breeze. Bergman expected his visitor was Shermeen Williams, who regularly stopped by to drag him away from his projects and remind him to eat. Despite the fact that she and her husband Eddie held all the responsibility for the surrounding farm lands and the crops grown in the other two Alphan villages, Shermeen had "adopted" her next door neighbor and insisted he take an evening meal with the family. Bergman would admit only to himself that he enjoyed the young people's company and was pleased that their two young children called him "Uncle Victor."
   Carter was facing the door and glanced up first. With a grin he leaped up and bounded over to the door "Sahn! What are you doing here?"
   The petite brunette smiled her calm smile and returned Alan's hug, then turned to hug Victor too. "I needed to talk to you Victor, about some of the finding Dave's and my research has turned up. I wanted to see if you drew the same conclusions from the data we have, so I took the monorail down."
 "And walked from the station in your condition!" Alan said indignantly. "You should have called, I would have picked you up."
   "I'm pregnant, not terminally ill, Alan. And I'll take my chances without riding on that deathtrap you call a motorcycle." she teased. Glancing at Victor for permission, she saved the data on the screen and entered her own memory cube in the slot provided.
   Bergman noticed with interest that she had carried the data on a cube instead of retrieving it from the public computer net which held most data, and she also entered a security code with practiced ease. Alan chuckled, although he had also missed none of her actions and waited eagerly to see what she was being so cautious about. "You've been talking to Jamie."
"We keep in touch," the young woman replied, shifting to reach the screen comfortably without leaning her child swollen belly against the table. "When are you going to marry her and start your own family? She's certainly put up with you longer than anyone else would."
   "Obviously, you haven't talked to her lately. Bob Mathias just gave us the word that we should have twins in about 30 weeks."
   "That's terrific, Alan, but why weren't Dave and I invited to the wedding?"
   "Well, Jamie still has doubts as to how good a husband I'll make. I'll convince her yet though. Why hasn't that crazy Irish cowboy of yours been down for a visit lately?"
   "You shouldn't have given him that new toy, to play with if you wanted to see him. Ever since you put that new Landsat up a few months ago, I can hardly get him to stop long enough to eat." She turned to Victor.
   "We are getting excellent pictures as you can see." She indicated the table which was now covered with a three dimensional photo of the northern hemisphere of Calle. "This is a photo in visible light. The coastlines are quite distinct. Once we move up to infrared, the atmospheric conditions are immaterial." She gave the computer a command and the cloud features of the photo disappeared. "The other satellites we've been using have been fine for meteorological use. But Pat Osgood and Dave have been trying to trace geothermal hot spots both as use in plate motion and geological searches for minerals we need now and in the future. The satellite we recently sent up has incredible resolution. I can refine the searches for different temperature ranges which would mean different types of geological formations, such as geysers and hot springs or basaltic or lava volcanoes. I can also track something as small as a campfire."
   She changed pictures as she spoke, retrieving different kinds of data to show the men the types of items she and the geologists had examined. A more detailed map of the area of the continent where the Alphans had settled appeared. "These photos were taken last month when Tony and Maya took a team from the south settlement to the plains to the west of us to try to catch some of the herd animals out there. See, you can track the progress of their trip by their evening campfires."
   She overlaid a series of photos showing the progress of the party over several weeks. Carter and Bergman were impressed. They could see the different campfires mark a trail across the plains. Bergman caught her watching them. He sat down across the table and gave her a searching look. "All right, Sandra, just what have you found."
   Sandra Benes-Riley pressed her lips together in a gesture of frustration familiar to her old friends from their years together on Moonbase Alpha. She talked slowly, staring at the screen and avoiding eye contact as she showed another wider section of they continent they inhabited. "This was part of a hemisphere wide survey which was made as an overall test of the consistency of the data we had been receiving over the last four months. It took up incredible amounts of memory and I was about to purge it when I noticed something peculiar about a hot spot showing on the southern coast. Instead of overlaying in a stationary spot like a natural phenomenon, it kept moving; and it is only there for a few hours after sundown. The time frame is the past four months, I'll add a daily picture every half second."
   The men watched the picture of the hot spot moving along the coast. It did not consistently move each "day". Sometimes it would stay in the same spot two or three times. At other times it would continue along at quite regular intervals.
   "Could it be some kind of creature that absorbs heat during the day and radiates it after the sun goes down?" Alan suggested. "Or maybe a natural solar phenomena?"
   "Solar absorption could not account for that much radiation, Alan." Bergman replied thoughtfully, tapping the readings at the bottom of the screen. "This matches the readings of the campfires you showed us before."
   Sandra nodded.
   "Campfires, you mean you think it's other people?" Alan asked. "We've been here over four years without any sign of intelligent life on this planet."
   Bergman walked over to a bookcase behind Sandra and took out a notebook which he opened and paged through thoughtfully, peering over Sandra's shoulders occasionally. Sandra kept quiet and Alan looked puzzled. Victor noted the look on the younger man's face and asked a question he already knew the answer to. "Where did the campfires originate from four months ago, Sandra?"
   It was obviously the question Sandra had been waiting for. She brought up a closer picture of the area surrounding the first location of the phenomena. "Here, only a few miles away from Exodus Site A."
   "Exodus Site A? Where John and Helena were killed?" Alan asked. As she nodded her head he sat beside her and turned her to face him. "Sahn, I was there, you weren't. I saw that cliff. They were buried under tons and tons of rock. They couldn't have even had time to realize what happened to them."
   "But what if they didn't die, Alan?" Sandra cried, taking his hands in hers. "What if they've been out there for the last four years, not even knowing if we were still on the planet. Don't you think we should at least investigate this?"
   Carter stood up and paced the room. "They're dead, Sahn. Don't you think I'd like to believe they're alive? Helena patched me back together more times than I like to think about. And John and I were on Mars together. They were my friends, but..." his voice trailed off, ending in a silent sob as he stared out the window at the verdant fields of their new home. The home he knew his friends had hoped to share someday. He realized that he had never taken the time to grieve for them. In the effort to create the kind of world they would have wanted he had denied his loss. Maybe everyone had, he thought, remembering the pleading in Sandra's voice.
   "Yes," Victor's calm voice cut through his reverie. "I saw the cliff too, and the chance is very slim that either or both of them survived. It would be a miracle; a lot like surviving a nuclear accident on the moon."
   Carter smiled. "Maybe that's enough miracle for one lifetime. You think we should get everyone's hopes up too?"
   "No, I don't think that was Sandra's intention when she came down here with these pictures on a memory cube. She could have simply used the net in that case. But whatever this phenomena is we could be justified in using some of the Eagle's precious fuel to check it out. In the last four months it has steadily come over eight hundred miles closer to us. From a security stand point it would be a good idea to see if this is something that might threaten our communities."
   "Quite logical, Victor." Carter pulled himself together. He still wasn't ready to face the fact that his friends might have been elsewhere on the planet alone for the past four and a half years. But the lure of the unknown was a familiar siren to him. "Well, beautiful, how about a joyride? We haven't been flying together in ages."
   Sandra smiled. "I would love to."

   The distinct odor of Medical Center woke her. A blink of her eyes showed familiar indirect fluorescent lights and she could hear the comforting sounds of the life support monitors above her head. For a prolonged moment she had the horrifying feeling that her recent memories were another alien induced hallucination. It would not be the first time she had experienced something like that.
   She sat up in bed, disoriented and desperately afraid for a baby she wasn't sure even existed. The sight of medical center with its equipment rearranged and is large picture windows displaying a small garden and the rolling prairie beyond did a good job of calming her. A swift kick from her unborn child helped dissipate some of her fears as well.
   Alpha's head nurse, Alicia Berrington walked into the room and turned back to call, "She's awake." Bob Mathias came hurrying behind her.
   "Helena, welcome back," he said with his calm british accent. His pleasure and relief to see her up were apparent as he sat beside her on the bed and gave her a warm hug. Before she could ask he answered her question. "Jason is fine. He and his father are staying with Victor Bergman while you recover. The Professor lives next door to Shermeen and Eddie Williams and they have two children. Shermeen is keeping a close eye on the baby too."
   Alicia smiled and took Helena's hand. "Shermeen doesn't trust any male to watch after a baby."
   "John can take quite good care of him. But Jason was still nursing." Helena replied. With the relief that Jason was all right, Helena was happy to greet her old friends.
   "Not any more," Bob explained. "You've been on somnol for over two weeks allowing us to stabilize you more slowly. The toxcin reaction resembled encephalitis You, John and Jason all had it. Something in that swamp must have bitten you."
   "Everything did," Helena said with a sigh as she leaned back in the bed.
   Bob smiled. "I could tell. Alan and Sandra found you just in time. John and Jason recovered quickly, but we've been more cautious with you because of your pregnancy."
   "How did they know where to look?" she asked. Amazed at all the miles they had covered and the years they had been gone.
   "By our campfires," Koenig answered. He had walked in the door in time to hear her question. He was holding Jason who practically leaped out of his fathers arms onto his mother's bed. "Alan was returning from putting up a new hi-res satellite when we saw his Eagle. Sandra was using it for a geological survey and noticed our campfires."
   Dr. Mathias relinquished his place beside Helena to John. Koenig leaned forward and kissed her, hugging both her and their baby in the process. "Welcome to the land of the living," he paraphrased words he'd used before on Alpha when he'd nearly lost her in a cryogenics experiment.
   Helena remembered a tombstone fifteen hundred miles away and relished the sight of her friends, her son and the man she loved. "It's good to finally be here."

THE END

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