Earth2: Robin-a-Tumble Story: Mixups

Devon stood upright in the passenger seat of the Rail and raised the jumpers to survey the grounds ahead. Danziger sat behind the wheel, arms resting atop while he used the short break to relax sore muscles. They were looking down into a wide valley hemmed in by steep slopes that were mostly hidden beneath thickets. A fast moving river dissected the valley. White-crested waves churned wildly where tributaries running down from the hills added their water.

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.

"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.

"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.

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: Maggie Czarney

A quick survey of the area produced no sign of John. Devon climbed over a fallen log and slipped on a patch of mud, sliding halfway down the small hill. "John!" No answer. Devon looked around for a broken branch, a muddy print, anything to let her know where John had gone. There was nothing. With the help of the rain, he had vanished without a trace. Devon suppressed her urge to panic and considered her options. One, keep looking for John. Two, call camp for help. Pushing the rain-soaked hair out of her face, she said to herself, "Okay, now how about realistic options, Devon." She couldn't see three feet in front of her with this rain, and help from camp couldn't get here until dark. And the rain would slow them down even more. Still, she should call camp and let them know what was going on.

She glanced back the way she came. Her gear was in the Rail. She realized it was probably a good idea to get the Rail out of that stream. If the water level rose and the Rail washed away, Danziger would never forgive her. She bent over to collect a few drier-looking branches under the boughs of a pine tree. "I should let it wash away," she said, frustrated. Devon looked up and again called. "Where the hell are you, John?"

Arms full of branches, she made her way back to the Rail. She dumped the branches in the backseat of the Rail and forded the stream to reach the front seat and her gear set. "Devon calling camp. Come in." She reached in and snagged John's set, hanging from the wheel of the Rail. She sighed, but couldn't manage to be angry about him leaving his gear behind. She was used to it by now.

Devon leaned against the side of the Rail. "Ah. No. We ran into a slight problem. Danziger's disappeared." She quickly outlined what had happened. Yale promised to call Alonzo and Baines back with the ATV, but they had veered off in the opposite direction from camp. It would take them a couple hours to just get back to camp, let alone to get to Devon's position. Devon argued with him to keep everyone there till morning. Driving in the dark and in this rain would do no one any good.

Devon sighed. "Fine. I'm going to keep looking. I'll check back with you soon," she told her worried friend, seeing he was about to protest.

"I will, Yale," she said, and signed off her gear. She turned back and looked at the Rail. "Okay, so maybe crossing the stream was a bad idea." Not that she'd ever admit that to Danziger. If she ever found him. Pushing those negative thoughts out of her head, she grabbed the branches and bent to place a few of them under the tire. She walked around to the other side and repeated the process. When she got up, her feet slipped out from under her and she landed on her back. The current started to carry her down; she tried to regain her footing, but she was in a deeper part of the stream and couldn't stop her downward slide towards the rain-swelled river. She let out a short scream as she was carried over a short waterfall, knowing no one was nearby to help.

John sighed. One minute, he was walking along, looking for semi-dry branches, and the next minute, he was falling down a hole. More like sliding down a chute, actually, for which John was grateful. Falling straight down the distance he had covered probably would have killed him. As it was, he had managed to land on his feet. Mostly, anyway. And now he was here, in this underground cave. He could hear the river, so he knew that there was a way out of here somehow, if only by water. Finding that way out was a whole different problem. This cave had all sorts of twists, turns, and his personal favorite, dead ends. And then he had to figure out how to get back to Devon. She was probably pretty pissed by now. Especially since he once again didn't have his gear.

Danziger froze in his tracks and in his thoughts as he heard something approaching from around the bend. He pressed himself to the side of the cave wall, for the first time grateful that he was covered head to toe in mud. He held his breath as the footsteps came closer - two sets, he thought, but he couldn't tell for sure. Whoever - or whatever - it was, he hoped they would just pass him by.

By: Nicole Mayer

Danziger almost fell over in shock when he saw who was rounding the corner. Alonzo and Baines. Who, as far as Danziger knew, should be safely back at camp. "Are you sure no one could be tracking us?" Baines asked, sounding worried, when Danziger stepped from the shadows.

He tried to tell the men how glad he was to see them, but what Danziger hadn't yet realized that not only was he covered in mud, but the mud had congealed together and thus formed a seal over his mouth. He couldn't talk even if he wanted to - all that came out was a muffled sound of groaning.

Naturally, Baines shrieked in fright and practically leapt into Alonzo's arms at the sight of the hulking, brown-gray creature making threatening noises at them. "It's me!" Danziger tried to say, bringing his hands to his mouth in an attempt to push away the mud but his efforts were useless. It had a consistency that reminded him of very fine glue, or a polymer, which wouldn't break down unless the correct solvent was used.

Alonzo, having extricated himself from Baines, hoisted a MagPro and aimed it straight at Danziger. Danziger was kicking himself for having not noticed the weapon earlier; then again, it was standard procedure that whenever a member of Eden Advance explored new territory, they would be suitably armed.

"Shoot it!" yelled Baines. "It's gotta be rabid, look at it clawing at its mouth like that!"

Danziger heard the telltale noise indicating that Alonzo was about to fire. Desperately, he lifted his hands up in a sign of surrender, hoping that his friend had the sense to recognize the signal for what it was. Danziger didn't trust Baines to look past the visage of the possible cave monster but he had more faith in Alonzo.

And for once, his faith was justified. "Wait," Alonzo said to reassure Baines. "Do you think it understands human signs?"

Of course I understand them, you moron, Danziger thought. How long would it take them to figure out who he was? Okay, so maybe he did look kinda scary covered in mud and running around in dark caves, but that was certainly no excuse to shoot him. Deciding to go with the illusion of a friendly creature, Danziger, careful to keep his hands above his head, slowly dropped to his knees.

Oooh, Baines was going to pay for that cocky comment once Danziger could speak again.

Alonzo had tilted his head to one side and was staring intently at Danziger. "It's not Terrian, I can't sense anything like that," he mused aloud. "But I get the weird feeling as if I know what it is, as if I know it."

Score another point for Alonzo, Danziger thought. Now just keep up that train of thought?

"Well, what do we do now?" Baines asked. Danziger had no idea, but he hoped that whatever conclusions the pair reached, it would allow him to get up off the cold ground and hopefully find the river to try and wash some of the muck off. His knees were beginning to freeze.

Shrugging, Alonzo said, "I guess we could just back away slowly, and hope that it has enough sense to stay put." Alonzo adjusted something on the MagPro and Danziger hoped that meant he was turning it off.

Danziger felt equal measures of frustration and relief as Alonzo and Baines began edging back the way they came. At least he could follow them and find a way out of here, and then he could deal with his other little "problem". Once the pair had rounded the tunnel corner, Danziger cautiously got to his feet and began to creep forwards. He didn't want to scare Baines again.

Unfortunately, he wasn't quite careful enough. He tripped on a rock just as Baines poked his head back around the corner, MagPro carefully held in front, and in the moment before he was shot Danziger reflected that he probably did look as if he was lunging for Baines...

"You shot it!" The voices were coming from a long way away, Devon blearily realized. She felt so sleepy and wondered why people were waking her up in the middle of the night.

"It was trying to attack us!" There was another voice intruding on her thoughts. Slowly, she rolled over, wondering why the movement felt so difficult. Her body was so heavy, she was so cold.

"Anyway, it's only stunned. The setting was turned right down." Blissful silence for a moment, and Devon kept her eyes closed. Perhaps if she kept quiet enough she would be allowed to go back to sleep.

"We can't leave it here." Her head ached intolerably, and Devon knew that even if she wanted to get up, she wouldn't be able to.

"We'll take it back with us." Shuffling sounds, as if something was being dragged. Devon wished that they would all shut up, she was having enough trouble resting as it was, and she knew she needed her rest more than anything else. It was so cold here, so very, very cold, and only sleep provided the comforting illusion of warmth. She didn't want to go anywhere else.

After a long while, she realized that the shuffling sounds were gone. Devon was alone again and the thought (irrationally) frightened her but she didn't have the energy to fight it. She just lay there, wherever she was, hearing nothing but the sound of rushing water as the floods grew higher and began washing over her legs. And by the time she managed a weak, "Hello?" there was no one around at all. No one to save her and her body was too broken for her to save herself.

By: Sue Sadler

Then, from behind her, there was a chirping noise. A small, gentle hand was placed on her temple, the way she used to touch Uly when he was ill. It occurred to her that she should either be very afraid, or be in incredible pain judging by the little she could see of her body. Instead she felt a strange disconnected sensation. The kind you felt on the point between dreamstate and wakefulness, when everything and nothing is understood.

The noise the being made grew louder and seemed concerned. A face came in front of her, belonging to one of the most absurd looking creatures Devon had ever seen, almost as if some scientist had put together different animals to make one combined one. And more interestingly for G889, the being had fur. The six limbs were, however, peculiar and Devon was more than half inclined to put this down to a hallucination. The creature chirped at her again and in her mind she felt a sense of urgency as if some one was telling her to move, that she was in danger.

One of the creature's upper limbs pointed at the bank of the river and it made an urgent sounding 'meep'. It was obvious that it wanted her to move out of the river and Devon moved weakly to try to comply, her self-preservation instinct finally kicking in. Moving was a mistake and the pain that up until then she hadn't experienced hit her in an explosion of sensation that forced her into unconsciousness.

When she came around, her first coherent thought was that she should have been dead. The rising water, combined with being out cold should have killed her. Instead the strange disconnected feeling was back. As if someone, or something was blocking her conscious mind from experiencing the trauma of her body. The small creature was still there making a plaintive meeping noise, far more soothing that the chirping sound it had made earlier, it's face only a hair's breadth from hers as it looked into her eyes. One of its middle limbs extended in her direction and a small furry hand brushed her forehead and once again sleep claimed her.

The next time she awoke, she was whole. No injuries that she could feel, no sign that she'd ever been in an accident. She crawled cautiously to the side of the 'bed' she found herself in, though a giant furry hammock would have been a better description. This was good. No pain, no dizziness. Just a slight weak feeling. Slowly, not wanting to rush her body, she stood. The floor beneath her was wood and so were the walls. But they weren't held together by any physical means she could see. In front of her was an open doorway with light streaming through.

She moved to the doorway and gasped in astonishment. The wood hut was one of hundreds, the majority of which were much smaller than hers, all interlinked by smooth wood bridges which weaved around the trees giving the huts their home. And countless of the furry creatures were lining the bridges faces turned toward her expectantly...

By: Sarah Watkins

Devon shook her head. She was having great difficulty accepting this as reality. Surely she must be dreaming.

The furry creatures continued to gaze expectantly - and, unless she was very much mistaken - adoringly up at her, and she smiled faintly. "Uh... hello."

A hubbub of noise washed over her as the creatures surged forward at her words of wisdom. Devon backed up, alarmed at the onslaught and almost fell off the wooden bridge on which she was standing.

"Stop!" She held up a hand, commandingly and the creatures obeyed. "Oh boy," she said to herself. "NOW what do I do?"

Danziger groaned as he began to come around. His whole being ached and he was so cold... what had happened? The last thing he remembered was Baines' face... full of terror... and then...

The words, although spoken aloud came out as a muffled grumble. He was, he realized with consternation, still caked in his mud mask. The sensation of movement beneath him made him realize that he was in the back of a vehicle. He sighed heavily. They were taking him back to camp.

"It's OK, Baines," Alonzo said. "It's not going to hurt us. Trust me on this. I can't tell you why, but I can sense a strong... I don't know... comradeship. As if the thing has known us for a long time. Maybe it's been following us about. I don't know."

"It gives me the creeps," Baines muttered, turning his back on Danziger. "It has got the scariest eyes I've ever seen on anything. It looks JUST like Danziger does when he gets into one of his tantrums, don't you think?"

Danziger's ears pricked up to hear Alonzo's response. The pilot was silent for a while, then gave a short laugh. "Yeah, I guess it does kinda bear a resemblance... what the hell is it doing?"

Alonzo stopped the ATV and he and Baines turned round to face the mud creature, which appeared to be banging its head repeatedly on the floor of the vehicle.

Devon shook her head. Here she was, up a tree, separated from her party, being seemingly adored by a bunch of... fluffy things... with no idea where she was or what these... fluffy things... wanted. She clicked her tongue in exasperation.

The sound of a thousand... fluffy things... clicking in response startled her a little. Curious, she clicked again, just to see what happened. They responded in kind and she smiled. She was communicating with them! For what good it was achieving, she added, mentally.

"Um... can you help me?" she asked, tentatively. "I need to get back to my friends."

A thousand pairs of eyes stared at her uncomprehending. A gentle-eyed... fluffy thing... moved forward and stroked her gently.

"No," Devon said firmly, removing its appendage from her face. "No. I... need... help." She had always been terrible at charades, even as a child. But now, she tried desperately to communicate by acting out what had happened.

As she pretended to roll down the bank into the river, she felt the eyes on her and sheepishly wondered how stupid she must be looking. Thank GOD no one was here to see her making such an idiot of herself.

By: Maggie Czarney

It was dark when the ATV pulled into camp. Still, it was immediately surrounded by a group of curious and worried people. Alonzo and Baines climbed out of the ATV. Baines held up his hands in warning. "Hold on, be careful, we found some kind of monster out there."

Now he was a monster, not just a creature. He was moving up in the world. Danziger prayed that someone intelligent in camp would recognize him and get him out of this mud cast, so he could kill Alonzo and Baines.

Julia moved up to the back of the ATV, diaglove at the ready. "You shot it? Why?" Yale followed Julia over to the ATV.

Danziger tuned out the immature argument and focused on Julia, willing her to recognize him. Yale joined Julia by the ATV. Julia looked at the diaglove's readings and frowned, then looked at Danziger. 'Please, please, Julia, figure it out,' John thought, growing hopeful when he realized Yale was staring at him too.

"This may be really stupid, but... John?" Julia asked. John nodded quickly, elated beyond belief. "My god," she said, helping him into a sitting position. "Let me get something that will wash this clay off."

'Now that someone's figured it out, yeah, I'm great,' Danziger thought, and nodded again to Yale.

The peanut gallery finally noticed what was going on by the ATV and stopped their argument over whether the creature had actually attacked and whether it was such a good idea to bring it back to camp.

"Wait a minute, I shot Danziger?" Baines said, his eyes wide. He looked at Alonzo. "Oh, shit."

Julia came out with the solvent and poured some of it on John's hands. He rubbed them together and the mud fell off. He reached for more, but Julia held it away from him. "Wait. Any burning?" He shook his head. "Okay, here. Watch your eyes," she said. John took some and applied it to his face, washing off the mud mask he'd worn for hours now.

"I fell down a hole," John said. "When I woke up, I was in those tunnels, and then I ran into Baines and Alonzo." He glared at the two again. The men backed up even more than they already had. John scanned the group. "Where's Devon?"

Yale paused, then answered. "We don't know. She called early in the afternoon, reporting you missing, and we haven't heard from her since."

"Yes, we do," Yale said. "Tomorrow, though. It's too late to do any searching tonight."

Julia stepped up to him. "Here's the rest of the solvent, get cleaned up and get some rest, okay?" John took the solvent gratefully, giving Alonzo and Baines another glare for good measure before he left to get cleaned up.

Julia looked behind them at the four people in the DuneRail. Walman was driving, Alonzo sitting next to him. Baines and Magus were in the back. Magus was grinning and Baines looked miserable. Julia smiled and shook her head, turning back around. "Magus is still giving them a hard time," she informed Danziger, wondering if he would answer her this time. He had been brooding for most of the morning, worried about Devon and putting a fair amount of blame on himself for her being missing. He hadn't responded to half the things Julia had said.

She decided to try and keep the conversation going. Although getting him to talk about his misadventures with Baines and Alonzo probably wasn't the best of ideas, she'd try anything to keep him from more worrying. "John, how mad are you at them?" Julia said, part of her concerned about her lover. The other part of her thought he probably deserved John's anger.

She sighed. The conversation had ended entirely too quickly. He just wasn't going to stop.

Danziger nodded. "Yeah. Julia and I will cross and go down river, you guys go the other way. Call us if you spot anything."

"Yeah, you too," Walman said. "We'll check out the tunnels again tomorrow if we don't find her by then." Danziger nodded in agreement and the two groups got ready to split up.

"It's getting darker," Julia observed as she watched the scenery for any trace of Devon. "Maybe we should stop for the night?"

Danziger slowed the ATV. "Maybe. Let's keep going a little while longer, though." They reached a hill and Danziger accelerated quickly, gaining momentum to reach the top. Once there, he stopped the ATV.

"Yes, they are, and look," Julia said excitedly. "There are huts up there, hidden by the branches, see?" She shook her head. "I don't believe it. There's someone living in those trees."

"A whole lot of someones, by the looks of it," John agreed. "I wonder how they built all this, it must have taken years."

"And they might be friendly," she said. "At the very least, we need to check it out, Devon probably stumbled across this place."

They parked the Rail away from the edge of the tree village and approached on foot. Danziger hoped that they would find Devon safe and sound, and pissed at him for disappearing. "It looks like we can get up here," he said, stopping by a tree with a ladder hanging from it. He motioned for Julia to climb up first. She did, throwing a glance at him before she grasped a rung and started climbing up. John sighed inwardly. He knew she was worried about him, but he wasn't the one that needed worrying about. They had to find Devon.

John slung his MagPro over one shoulder and started climbing the ladder. Even if she had just gotten lost, she would have at least called in on Gear. And yeah, maybe something had happened to her Gear, but then why hadn't she just gone back to the rail?

She might have fallen down a hole, just like he did. He didn't care how well Alonzo and Baines say they looked through the tunnels; those two couldn't see the obvious when it was right in front of them. Their reaction to him was proof enough of that. Or maybe she fell in the river. The current had been pretty strong. John paused, his grip on the rungs turning into a stranglehold. He shook off those thoughts and started climbing again. She was all right, she had to be. There was no way she'd let him get away with disappearing on her.

They reached the top of the ladder and looked around. There was no one around, but he could see smoke coming from somewhere in the village. He pointed it out to Julia.

"Hey," Danziger said, rushing up and stopping her with a hand on her arm. "We don't want to be rushing in when we don't know what's going on."

"John, we have to find out if they know anything about where Devon is," Julia said, shaking off his arm and glaring at him.

"I know that," he retorted. "I'm just saying we should take a look quietly before we announce our presence, okay?" He got grudging agreement from Julia and they moved forward across the bridges, John making sure to be in the lead. file: 'There are too many damn headstrong women on this trip,' he thought with a grimace.

They moved closer to the source of the smoke, a bonfire in the middle of a circle of tree huts. Danziger questioned the wisdom of a fire in a tree village, but figured whoever lived here knew what they were doing. Then he saw figures exit from one of the huts and swore softly. "Damn, what the hell are those?"

Julia peered forward, looking at the short, furry tree dwellers. "Wow. I think we just found another form of intelligent life on this planet," she said excitedly.

"Oh, wonderful," John said. More creatures came out of the huts and gathered around the fire.

"Look, they're all gathered around those two," Julia said, pointing out two creatures who stood near the fire. "I wonder if they're the leaders of the group."

"Who knows. Julia, I doubt these things speak English, let's just get out of here, we're not going to find Devon here," John said, turning away from the fire and looking at Julia.

Julia started to answer, and then stopped, looking over his shoulder. "Maybe we will," she said. "Look."

John turned around, and to his surprise, he saw Devon straightening up after crouching to exit one of the huts, wearing her clothes - which looked only slightly the worse for wear - and a thin wreath of flowers in her hair. "Devon!" he called, stepping forward into the light. The creatures gathered around the fire were instantly alarmed, and the bigger ones moved towards Julia and John. "Okay," he said. "Maybe that wasn't the best idea."

"John? Julia?" Devon called out, trying to push forward to them around the crowd of creatures. "Wait," she said as she saw them start to surround John and Julia. "Stop, wait, they're not a threat."

John stepped backwards, pushing Julia back behind him. He held his MagPro lightly, not wanting to seem too threatening. He knew there was no way he could get them all before they overran him. He eyed the approaching throng warily. "Hurry up and convince them, Devon, before they decide to roast us for dinner."

Devon pushed forwards and made her way to the group that was threatening Danziger and Julia. "It's okay, these are my friends." The group chattered among themselves for a moment and then seemed to accept Devon's statement, backing away but still watching them closely. Once Devon was sure the creatures wouldn't try anything, she turned to Julia and John. "Thank god you found me, I wasn't sure how I was going to find my way back to camp." She turned to John. "And you! Where did you disappear to?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. I slipped when trying to get the DuneRail out and got carried away by the river. I blacked out for awhile, and when I woke up, I was underground somewhere and he," Devon turned around and pointed out one of the furry creatures who was watching them closely, "he was leaning over me. I blacked out again for awhile and when I woke up, he brought me here. I've been trying to figure out how to get home ever since."

Julia had already gotten her diaglove out and was scanning Devon. "Well, you seem to be fine, now. I want to give you a complete check when we get back to camp, though."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I fell down a hole and ended up in those underground caverns. Alonzo and Baines found me, and--" He cut himself off and shook his head. "It's a long story, we'll tell you about it later. Do you want to leave now?" he asked. "Or do the tree huggers have something planned?"

Devon rolled her eyes at the nickname he had pegged on the creatures and answered, "Something's planned, but I'm not sure what. Some sort of celebration."

Devon's rescuer approached them and took Devon's hand, trying to lead her to stand by the fire. She hesitated and pulled her hand away. "What's going on?" she asked him.

Devon glanced back at Julia. "Well, not really, but I've been trying." Her rescuer chattered at her and grasped her hand again, pointing to her and then to himself with his free hand, and then pointing at the fire, where another creature, an older one, stood waiting. "I don't understand," Devon said, "what's going on?"

John stepped forward to stand beside Devon as she pulled her hand away again. Julia frowned and looked around at the creatures gathered around the fire, then back at Devon's rescuer, who was still gesturing at Devon. "I think I know what's going on." Julia said, suppressing a smile.

"Well aren't you the insightful one lately," John said dryly. "Care to share with the rest of us?"

She shook her head. "I don't know, I might be wrong." A smile burst out on her face. "I hope I'm wrong," she finished.

She smiled at her. "Devon, I think the celebration is their form of a marriage ceremony."

"I guess that means she doesn't want to get married," John commented to Julia. She laughed at that, quickly covering her mouth with one hand when Devon glared at her.

"This isn't funny!" she said, glaring at John before looking at her rescuer and would-be husband. "Look, I can't marry you, I'm sorry." He gestured at her and himself again, then motioned towards the fire. Devon shook her head. "No, I can't," she said. She pointed at him and then at herself, shaking her head vigorously to get her point across.

"Devon, it doesn't look like he's taking no for an answer," Julia said with barely suppressed laughter.

She glared briefly at Julia before turning back to her rescuer and trying to make him understand that she couldn't marry him. He gestured wildly, pointing to one of the huts and then back at her and himself again. 'What are you..." her eyes widened as she remembered. "Oh."

She glared at him. "I didn't know what he was talking about! I thought he was going to help me find my way back to camp." She glanced back at her rescuer. "I didn't know he was proposing." She glared at John, whose shoulders shook with silent laughter, and turned back to her would be husband. "I really can't marry you," Devon said, and then with a burst of inspiration, "you see, I'm already taken." That, at least, got John and Julia to stop laughing. They looked at Devon in surprise.

"I'm already with someone," she repeated to the furry creature in front of her. He didn't seem to understand. She pointed at Danziger, then at herself. "I'm with someone."

"Shut up, you're the only one here," she said, moving to stand next to him. To her extreme annoyance, John put his arm around her shoulders. She was going to have to kill him later. "I'm sorry, I can't marry you." Her rescuer chattered angrily, gesturing quickly. Devon didn't follow most of it, but caught the general message. "I didn't understand," she said, emphasizing her point with hand motions of her own. "I didn't know what you were asking." She put her hand on John's chest. "I'm with someone."

Her rescuer stopped and considered it for a moment, then shook his head again and chattered at them animatedly. "I don't think he believes you, Devon," John murmured, his amusement at the situation fading. He shifted the MagPro strap on his shoulder.

"I'm with someone already," Devon said again. "I can't marry you, I'm sorry." Her rescuer gestured at her and John again and shook his head angrily. "We are together," she said. She shook her head. John was right, he didn't believe her, and never would, at this rate. She closed her eyes and sighed. She just wanted to go home. Then an idea occurred to her, and she acted upon it before she could convince herself otherwise. She turned to face Danziger and leaned up while pulling his head down so she could reach his lips for a kiss.

John was so shocked at Devon's move that he didn't even move for almost 30 seconds. Then he reacted on instinct, or maybe it was his dreams. He put one hand on her shoulder, near the nape of her neck, rested the other on her waist, and kissed her back.

Julia looked at Devon and John in surprise and shock. She couldn't believe Devon had actually done that. While they were kissing, Julia looked over the crowd of tree dwellers, stopping on Devon's would-be husband. She saw his face fall and she knew he knew Devon couldn't be his. She felt almost sorry for him. Devon and John pulled apart, staring at each other for a long moment before they turned away, embarrassed.

Devon turned back to her rescuer. "I am sorry," she said quietly, seeing he was convinced. He nodded at her and then gestured that she could go. "Thank you for everything." She turned and quickly walked away from the village.

Julia hurried to follow her, with John right behind them. Julia directed Devon back to the ATV, but didn't even look at John all the way out of the tree village. Julia glanced back and forth between John and Devon. They both seemed lost in their own thoughts. For now, anyway. She wondered if she'd be lucky enough if they got back to camp before the blowout happened. With these two, and what just happened back there, it was inevitable that at least one of them lost their temper.

They just reached the ATV when Devon whirled around and faced Danziger. "Listen, Danziger," she started. Julia moved out of the way quickly. She knew better than to try and stop them, she just watched from the sidelines and hoped nothing too damaging would be said.

"I just want to make it perfectly clear that what happened up there was just an act for them, just to make them believe that I couldn't marry him so we could leave. Nothing more than that," she said, glaring at Danziger. "I don't want you getting any ideas, Danziger. That kiss meant nothing at all. There is never going to be anything between us, got that?"

Julia suppressed the urge to whistle. She had definitely gotten right to the point. When she looked over to John, he had already set his face in stone and she had missed his reaction to Devon's words. He stared at Devon for a minute and then shook his head.

"What made you think I'd want anything more between us?" John said. Devon just stared at him as he walked over to the ATV.

Julia blinked as she realized it was over. That had been quick. Quick and bloody, she realized. She sighed. What a pair these two made. "We'd better call and let the others know we found Devon," Julia broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Right, you can talk to them on the way," he said, climbing into the driver' s seat of the ATV.

Julia handed her Gear to Devon and they got in the back of the ATV. "Be sure and call Alonzo and that group, too," Julia said to Devon. She nodded and called camp, talking to Yale quietly.

Danziger checked the controls of the ATV once more and then started it up. Julia leaned forward as he started moving. "John? Are you sure it's okay to drive back at night?" Julia asked tentatively.

Devon sat behind her tent and stared up at the night sky. They had gotten back to camp early in the morning and had been greeted by everyone except the second search team. She had fallen asleep shortly after getting back; it had been a long couple of days. That was probably the reason she was up now, in the middle of the night.

She had hurt him. She hadn't wanted to do that, but she did. Why had she been so quick to tell him that the kiss meant nothing to her, that there would never be anything between the two of them? John's answer was still running around in her head, refusing to go away. "What made you think I'd want anything more?" His words said one thing, his eyes said another. She sighed and covered her face with her hands. That was another thing that her mind insisted on keeping in the forefront of her thoughts. The look in his eyes...

The ironic thing was, the thought of... something more with Danziger wasn't altogether an unpleasant one. And kissing him again most certainly wasn't an unpleasant thought. "I'm such an idiot." She had just wrecked a great friendship and destroyed her chances of being truly happy with someone because she was scared. Fear was not something she usually let control her.

Well. There was only one thing to do about it. Unless she wanted to wallow in self-pity and what-ifs for the rest of her life, that is. She got up and walked over to the mess tent. Devon knew he was there, the mess tent had been her first choice for brooding-place, but she had retreated when she saw that he was there. Now she entered, walking over and sitting down across the table from him. He looked up at her, curious but wary. And... she looked at him for a long moment. yes, still hurt. Damn. She took a deep breath. "Danziger - John," she corrected herself. "I need to... explain why I bit your head off yesterday. I didn't mean what I said." Devon paused to look at John again, and was reassured to see that he was listening to her, giving her a chance to explain, even though he was still hurt. She smiled, and felt hope rise up, chasing away her fear. Maybe she hadn't destroyed her chances after all. Only one way to find out. She took a deep breath and started talking.

Disclaimer: the E2 Robin-a-Tumble stories are based on the Amblin Entertainment/Universal Television series Earth2. All characters are owned by the original creators. The Tumble is only for fan purposes and does not have the intention to infringe on any copyrights.

MIXUPS

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