"WELCOME TO GRENDLERWORLD!

WHERE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE."

[Teaser]

Displeased by the view Devon murmured something unintelligible and looked back the way they had come. Far behind, tendrils of smoke poking at the gray clouds overhead gave away the location of their camp and spoke of a fire being fed with damp wood. It had been raining non-stop for the past four days; today was the first day the constant downpour had let up, although dark clouds still threatened. The endless rain had frayed tempers to snapping point and Devon called a few days' break when they came upon the swollen river.

"There has to be a way across," she thought aloud.

"No doubt there is," Danziger replied and shifted in his seat. "But we won't find it today. If we don't head back now, we'll be caught out in the dark."

"Just a few miles more," Devon said. "So we can see what's behind the bend there." She pointed ahead at the river that made a sharp turn to the right before disappearing behind a tall copse of grayish-brown rocks.

"Devon, we've been at it all day--" Danziger began when a sharp look made him swallow the rest of his protests. With an exaggerated sigh and a shake of his head in lieu of further objections he started the Rail forward again.

They didn't get far; a few hundred yards of bouncing across the rough terrain and they came upon a muddy stream that had cleaved a deep gully in the hillside. Danziger halted the Rail. "Okay, Adair, that's as far as it goes."

Devon eyed the stream intently. It wasn't very wide although it surged down the hill in its haste to join the river below. "I think the Rail can manage. Come on, Danziger, let's go," she told him firmly. Danziger hesitated. "The sooner you move, the sooner we can go back," she added in an attempt to persuade him.

Muttering below his breath about stubborn women, Danziger set the vehicle in motion again. He cautiously steered it down the steep slope and into the gully. The muddy ground was slippery and despite Danziger's deft handling the Rail lurched violently when they reached the bottom. With a loud squeal the wheels spun in place, creating a fountain of yellowish slop and the Rail refused to move any further.

"Damn," Danziger swore.

"We're stuck," Devon said, a surprised note in her voice. It was half announcement, half question.

Danziger didn't comment. "Take the wheel," he said instead and climbed out of the vehicle. He sank nearly to his ankles in the mud and rolled his eyes in disgust. Feet squelching sloppily he made his way to the rear of the vehicle. Devon moved into the driver's seat.

"Power up when I tell you."

The scene was eerily reminiscent of an earlier time they had been stranded, Devon thought and allowed herself a quick smile. Except their circumstances were quite different now, she added in her mind.

Danziger tore a couple of dried branches from a nearby brush and pushed them underneath the rear wheels as far as he could. "Now," he ordered and pushed with all his might. Devon threw back the handle and the engine whined shrilly. But the Rail didn't budge.

"Stop! Stop!" Danziger shouted behind her. Devon powered down and turned to look at him. She couldn't help it; when she caught sight of him she burst out laughing. He was splattered with mud, from the top of his head full of unruly curls to the soles of his feet half submerged in the slush. He glared at her and she tried to stop laughing. "Oh God, John, you should see yourself..." and she couldn't suppress another bout of chuckles.

A reluctant half-smile broke on Danziger's mud-splattered face. "I suppose it is sort of funny," he admitted grudgingly, wiping his brow and glaring at the smear of goo it left on his fingers. "But we're still stuck here."

Devon nodded, her face serious again. "We need more branches to put under the wheels, or some rocks," she said and climbed from the Rail to help him search. They tramped, half slipping and sliding, through the undergrowth, twigs snapping beneath their feet.

Devon bent to pull at a particularly promising branch. It tore loose with a rustle of dried leaves and almost as if the noise were a starting sign, the floodgates of heaven reopened and another downpour started. "At least we don't have to worry about our water supply," she commented sourly. Danziger didn't reply and she turned around. "John?" But he was nowhere in sight. Danziger was gone.

By: Nicole Mayer

Sighing in exasperation, Devon threw down the branch. She wondered just how she was supposed to get the Rail unstuck if Danziger was off exploring again. "John, if you can hear me, I suggest you get back here right now," she called, making sure her voice carried the right note of I-am-your-leader-and-you'd-better-not-cross-me-or-I'll-

Her train of thought was interrupted by the oddest sound. It was more than the rushing of the great river which bisected the valley, a noise she had become so accustomed to that she'd almost tuned it out. The noise wasn't the rain, either; it sounded more like a gurgling. Or a giggling.

John Danziger didn't giggle. As far as Devon knew, there was nothing on G889 that giggled except for Magus, Bess and True. And they were safely back at camp.

"Where is that man when I need him," she muttered under her breath, feeling, for a moment, irrationally lonely. As if she'd always been left behind and would always be alone. Resolutely, Devon pushed the dark thought away and returned her attention to the noise, which was suddenly repeated. It came from downriver, and peering through the rain and trees, Devon could see that the ground actually rose for quite a bit ahead of her while the river cut deeper into the ground.

Throwing a despairing glance back at the vehicle, which certainly wasn't going anywhere, Devon decided to proceed on ahead. Most likely Danziger was over the small hill and couldn't hear her calls. Maybe he'd found a family of giggling Kobas that were leading him to a neat stockpile of branches that would help them get the Rail out.

Yeah right. Devon shook her head, the odd notion crossing her mind that now her brain was getting waterlogged as well. She certainly didn't feel her usual sane self.

She pushed through the mud and forest mulch sloshing around her ankles, calling out a half-hearted "John?" every so often. About the only good thing that was coming out of this search for Danziger was the chance to see around the river bend, just as she'd originally wanted to. If Devon was lucky, she'd not only find Danziger but she'd also find an easy river pass.

Yet what Devon found was so beyond her wildest imaginings that she could only stand there in shock, the rain pelting down, the wind chilling through her, and the sounds of giggling, laughing and whooping reaching her ears.

It was a waterslide. No, it was more than a waterslide. It was what appeared to be a Grendler fun park. And John Danziger was right in the middle of all the fun.

Devon could see him about halfway down the giant slide, his hands behind his head, and he was whooping loudly as he slid faster and faster towards the pool at the bottom. The pool itself was part of the river and the waterslide was apparently constructed from some kind of yellow plastic, which collected all the rain's run-off on the hill.

Everywhere Devon looked, there were Grendlers frolicking in the rain. As Devon squinted, she was sure she could make out a gaudy, flashing sign advertising, "Welcome to GrendlerWorld!" in the distance.

"Hey Adair!"

Devon was still too stunned to respond.

"Adair!" The voice was closer this time, and before she knew it, she was engulfed in sopping wet arms and being dragged to the start of the waterslide. "Come on!" Danziger encouraged, not that she had any way of resisting him. "It's great!"

"Danziger," she managed to sputter, "what?how?why?"

Before Devon could even formulate her question, she found herself sitting at the top of the waterslide with giggling Grendlers on either side. Danziger settled himself down behind her and there was a moment of irrational feeling as he pulled her close, making them into what children typically called a train, before he pushed off.

"Danziger - oh, my, God!" Devon found herself screaming as an extra gush of water suddenly rocketed them forward and then they were shooting down the hill at an incredible pace.

"Isn't this great?" Danziger laughed in her ear.

"This is insane!" Devon yelled back. She was having a hard time believing that she was actually here. The trees flashed past at an amazing rate, in amongst them Grendlers were trudging back up the hill for another ride. All down the slide were Grendlers of varying sizes and ages, giggling or making other delighted sounds.

Devon pulled Danziger's arms a little tighter around her as she realized just how fast the bottom was approaching. "Is this a good time to mention that I have a problem with plunging into a river at 100 miles an hour?"

She couldn't see Danziger's grin but she knew he was laughing at her. "Just take a deep breath before we hit," he shouted. "Ready?"

The pool, deep, dark, with a great river racing through it, was almost upon them. Devon closed her eyes, sucked in a huge amount of air, and hit water. Danziger was right behind her.

By: Maggie Czarney

They plunged into the water. Devon kept her eyes squeezed shut and held her breath. She felt herself being pulled up by Danziger and finally, they broke the surface. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes to see Danziger grinning at her.

"Well?" he asked.

She stopped, considering. "Let's go again," she said, making her way out of the pool.

Danziger laughed, but didn't say 'I told you so' and he followed her out of the pool.

They made their way back up the hill, having to stop halfway up. "What's the holdup?" Devon asked, trying to see past the long line of Grendlers in front of them.

"Only the first one's free," Danziger said, "the rest you have to wait in line for." He grinned at the disappointment on Devon's face. "Don't worry, the line moves fast." After a moment, the line started moving again. "See?" he said, grabbing her hand and leading her up the hill.

They made their way up the hill, the line stopping frequently and then moving again after a few minutes. "This is ridiculous," Devon said. "Why in the world do we have to wait so long for a 30 second water slide?"

Danziger just grinned at her again. "I thought you didn't like 'plunging into a river at 100mph'."

"I changed my mind!" Devon protested. She wouldn't admit that the thought of having his arms around her on the way down again was the real reason for her impatience. The handholding was nice, but... She shivered as she remembered rushing down the slide, John holding onto her tightly.

"You cold?" Danziger asked, misinterpreting her shivering.

"No, I'm fine," Devon said quickly, trying to control her blush. Danziger shrugged, accepting her statement. Devon inwardly sighed with relief. If he had known what she was thinking... She pushed those thoughts away and hid them in the corner of her mind where they were usually contained. Those thoughts were dangerous; she did not need to be thinking them.

Danziger tugged on her arm, pulling her attention away from her thoughts. "I told you it wouldn't take that long," he said. They were at the top of the hill again, and they were the next ones in line to go down the slide.

The young Grendler in front of them launched himself down the slide as soon as the adults manning it allowed him to. Devon and Danziger took their positions at the top of the slide, the same way as before, Devon in front, Danziger behind her, with his arms wrapped firmly around her. Devon shivered again in spite of herself. After the Grendler gave the signal, John pushed off, and they were shooting down the slide.

By: Sarah Watkins

It is a well-known fact that all good things, of course, must come to an end, and before Devon and Danziger knew it, they were being ushered away from the park, a little sound of disappointment leaving both their lips. Both of them were soaking wet, probably not a good thing to be, they realized, as the G889 night was beginning to draw in and it was not exactly warm.

"I guess we'd better head back to camp," Devon said, reluctantly. "My God...what are we going to do about the Rail?" They had both been having such a good time being irresponsible and silly that they had completely forgotten the stuck vehicle.

"Ah, what the hell," Danziger shrugged the problem off. "Let's just contact the others and say we're stuck for the night."

Devon's lips pursed in an 'I think you're being facetious' kind of expression. "We can't do that," she said. "What about the kids? And besides, what will we do out here on our own... to keep warm... to...." Her voice trailed off.

Danziger sighed. "I guess you're right," he concurred, as he started to work on getting the Rail free. Devon stood to one side, watching him work, an expression of amusement on her face. Danziger looked up. "What?" he said, uncomfortable under her scrutiny. "Adair, stop looking at me like that!" He stood up from his inspection of the vehicle's undercarriage to look at her.

"I'm sorry, John," she said, "It's just that you look so cute stood there, all wet, in the mud...makes me want to..." She broke off abruptly, blushing. But Danziger's interest had been piqued.

"Makes you want to what?" he asked, moving towards her, his own face flushed somewhat.

Devon unconsciously took another step towards him. "Makes me want to..." she breathed.

"Yes?" Danziger held his breath. Was this what he had been waiting to hear since landing on this accursed planet?

She was in kissing distance.

"Makes me want to..."

Danziger growled, half mockingly, half out of frustration. "Cut this crap, Adair. What is it you want?"

She looked at him from under her eyelashes. "Makes me want to shove you in the mud," she laughed, doing just that. Danziger went down with a wet sound and immediately picked up a handful of mud and flung it at Devon, who shrieked with delight.

They therefore didn't hear the Gear as it bleeped and Yale's voice came across. "Danziger? Devon? You'd better get back to camp - there's a storm heading your way."

By: Sue Sadler

The tussle had turned into a mudball fight. If either had been born planet-side in a different age, they would have recognized the fight as an inbuilt urge that people of all ages exhibit around water, whether in it's natural, frozen or mudpacked state.

When involving two members of the opposite sex, it finished, as most play fights do, with one person flat on their back, the other half sitting on the chest with one knee on either side.

"So now you've got me, just what are you going to do?"

Any words were lost as the storm hit silently. The last thing Danziger remembered was thinking why the hell couldn't this god-forsaken planet have a normal storm with wind and rain.

* * *

At camp, Uly watched the storm. It was small, and glowed an eerie purple. True pulled at his arm.

"Uly, Yale says we have to come in. The storm's heading this way."

"No. It's not. It's found what it needs."

The tone of voice stopped any remark True would have made. It sounded remote, almost metallic. She looked into his face. It was as if he didn't see her. He focused on the distant storm, his eyes glowing the same purple color. Then, abruptly all color drained from them and he collapsed into a crumpled heap.

"Julia. JULIA!" The frightened girl's scream brought the camp swarming out toward them, Yale in the lead. Before he could reach Uly, the ground erupted and a Terrian emerged, its staff weapon pointed at them. A second Terrian emerged to its waist beside Uly, reached over the unconscious boy in a motion not dissimilar to a swimmer diving into the water, taking him down into the earth. The first Terrian sank gently back into the ground.

At that instant, the storm blinked out of existence.

* * *

Back at the rail, the muddy, bedraggled figure of John Danziger picked himself up. Grimacing at the pain that wracked his body. Beside him, Devon moaned gently as she came round.

The man ran his hand gently, almost reverently down the side of the woman's face. Looked deep into her sparkling mauve eyes and smiled.

"After so long, to be free. Goddess be praised."

By: Nicole Mayer

The woman opened her eyes, and clear blue met clear blue. She smiled, warmly. "It's you," she whispered. "It's really you." She lifted her head, just a little, taking in her surroundings. "We're really here?" Her voice had a note of hesitation, of apprehension, as if she couldn't quite believe it was true.

"Yes," the man replied, caressing her cheek again. "You and I, my love, freed from the horror at last." He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against hers in a kiss intended to be chaste, but it soon grew into much more as passions lost eons ago were suddenly released.

So lost were they in each other that neither heard the rumbling of the ground that indicated the presence of the alien beings, and neither paid attention to the small explosion of dirt upwards which heralded the arrival of Ulysses and two vanguard Terrians.

"Mom!" he shouted, his voice resonant through the dark of evening. The woman reluctantly broke apart from her lover and squinted. She moistened her lips with her tongue as she, with the man's aid, got to her feet and together, they faced the small boy.

"Who are you?" asked the man in Danziger's body.

The small boy was shaking, but he squared his shoulders and thrust forward his Terrian staff. "I am Ulysses the Great, Defender of this planet!"

The woman curtsied graciously, and it was impossible to tell if she was mocking Uly or not. "I am pleased to meet you, sire. May I ask your purpose with us?"

"I am here to free my mother," he stated solemnly. "You have stolen something that doesn't belong to you."

The woman's eyes grew large and frightened and she turned to her companion, clutching his arm. "No," she hissed. "These bodies were empty"

"They were not," countered Uly.

The man turned to face the boy, compassion in his eyes. "You are right," he conceded. "They were not empty yet, but they would have been very soon." He gestured wildly. "Look around you! They were lost, in a freezing rainstorm, with no hope of rescue." A pause, as he smiled sadly. "You know what was going to happen."

"No," Uly protested, violently shaking his head.

"Yes," said the man softly, taking a step forward towards Uly, his arm still carefully wrapped around his love. "We saved them. Perhaps not as you knew them, but we preserved these bodies so that their legacy may live on."

"We were drawn here," added the woman and she, too, was smiling warmly at Uly. "Such love, such passion, is rare to find and it called to us from a distance. We could feel it, we knew what was going to happen, and after so long in the void..." Her eyes adopted a faraway, wistful look. "So long it was an eternity, my love, we were separated"

"But nevermore," he answered her, cupping her face in his hands and pulling her into a soul-searing kiss. "Nevermore."

"Nevermore," echoed Uly sadly, and blasted them with his Terrian staff.

Devon and Danziger crumpled to the ground.

* * *

So cold, she was so cold. Flash - a picture of sprawling in the mud with John Danziger. The shivers up her spine increasing. Staring into his eyes, knowing that this was the moment and there would be no more denying it, they'd skirted around the issue for long enough.

Flash. Accepting his kiss. Feeling his strong body against hers, feeling a sense of rapture she'd presumed she had lost a lifetime ago. Flash - That abominable sign shouting, "Welcome to GrendlerWorld!" Flash. Uly standing there, watching two bodies entwined. Was it his approval she sensed?

Flash. The Grendler waterslide. Flash. The Rail stuck in the mud. Flash. A Terrian bolt of lightening coming towards her

Devon opened her eyes. "John?" she managed weakly. He was face down in the mud, mere inches away. She groaned, rolled over, and another worried face appeared before her. "Uly?"

"Mom?"

"Uly!"

"Mom!" He flung his arms around her, almost knocking Devon's breath from her again. "You're okay!"

"I think so," she verified, slowly sitting up. Beside her, Danziger was also waking. "John?" she tested, wary.

"Yeah, it's me, Adair," he grunted, bending over and holding his head in his hands before letting out a low groan.

"Sorry," Uly offered, but he wasn't really, as evidenced by the offhand tone of his voice. "I had to do it."

"I know you had to," Devon said, pulling her son close again. "I love you, Uly. You saved my life."

And then he pulled away, his face growing sorrowful again. "No, I didn't," he whispered softly. He stepped backwards. "I love you, Mom," he said before sinking slowly into the ground. The earth moved, and his vanguard Terrians also threw back their heads and descended. Devon shouted Uly's name over and over, but there was no response. Before long, everything was silent again save the harsh breathing of Danziger beside her.

Devon shivered. It was cold, so cold. She glanced at her companion again. The moons had risen, adding a soft moonglow that caused a halo-like effect around Danziger's head. He looked ethereal, insubstantial, and she instinctively reached out to him, holding onto something solid and comforting. "What did he mean?" she asked, not expecting an answer. "Why didn't he stay?"

"It's cold, Devon," was Danziger's only response.

"I know," was her simple reply. She looked around. The buried Rail, the dark of night, the patchy clouds across the sky, which were threatening to regain their territory. It would rain again, and fairly soon. Devon had the terrifying sense that everything was slipping away, and a flash of memory caught her, something about cold and death.

She straightened her shoulders, and crouched in front of Danziger so they were seeing eye to eye. There would be no escaping this conversation, not this time. Devon opened her mouth to speak, a daring smile crossing her face. "We could make our own warmth."

And there was a shadow in his eyes, but only for a moment, because he closed them and lifted one hand to caress her cheek. "Whatever you want, Devon," he whispered, his breath cold on her lips. And then he kissed her and it was magic but it was cold, so cold, and even though her eyes were still open she couldn't see anything but dark mixed with white moonglow, the color of ice.

The color of ice.

And it was still so cold, so very cold, and no matter what Danziger did and no matter how much she might love him, it didn't help and she could dream up a thousand fantasies of laughter, of pain, of love, even of destiny waiting to happen, but not one of them would help because the inescapable truth remained.

She was trapped. She was frozen. And Uly and Danziger had left her behind in a chamber of a dead spacecraft, in the middle of an empty, lonely desert. So cold.

--END--

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