Faithful Friends

Although they were on a planet so far from Earth that it took 22 light years in cold sleep to get there, the old Earth way of marking dates were still used by some members of the group. So when Eben mentioned that it was almost Christmas time on Earth, Julia was struck by an idea. One of the traditions of Christmas was the giving of gifts, and Julia figured that giving everybody a small gift in the spirit of Christmas was a good was of showing her appreciation at the second chance she had been given. The problem was: what could she give them? They were barely managing to survive on what they salvaged from the crash, and it was not like there were any stores on the planet they could purchase anything from.

It was not until they had stopped for the night and she was analysing some roots they had gathered during a rest break that Julia had some inspiration. The roots were highly toxic and therefore useless as a source of food; but they secreted a milky sap that had a strong perfume. There were different varieties of the root and they each gave off a different smell—some definitely masculine, others distinctly feminine (if one was to categorise them in such a way). The scent was so strong (though not unpleasant) that a few drops diluted in a small bottle of water made a rather good cologne or aftershave. Given the rather ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ varieties of the sap, and the limited toiletries available to the group, Julia figured that she could make individualised scents for everyone in the group.

She worked through the night, taking care not to act suspiciously, filling the little bottles she had managed to scrounge together with various concoctions tailored to suit the individuals in the group. For Devon Adair she went for a subtle scent; for Bess Martin a flowery one. She took the time with each one to make it just right, and thus had no idea how much time had actually passed while she was busy.

It was perhaps an hour before dawn when Alonzo took his shift for watch and noticed that there was still a light on in the medical tent. Thinking that maybe Julia had fallen asleep while working he went in to check—and found her working hard still.

“What are you doing still up?” he asked in a loud whisper.

Julia jumped and whirled around. Although Alonzo had only whispered, it was still loud in the unbroken stillness of the night. “Alonzo! You scared the Hell out of me!”

“Sorry,” he apologised. “I was just wondering what you were doing. Have you been working all night?”

She ran a hand through her blond hair. “Yeah, I have, although I didn’t notice how late it was.”

“Can I ask what it is you’re working on?”

She hesitated. “You’ll think it’s stupid.”

“No I won’t. Come on, tell me,” he cajoled.

Unable to resist his big brown puppy dog eyes, Julia broke down and told him. To his credit, Alonzo did not break into hysterical laughter. “That’s a really nice idea, Julia,” he said instead.

“Really?”

He nodded. “Although you didn’t have to go to so much trouble.”

“I… I know, but I wanted to,” she looked down nervously.

Alonzo picked up the small bottle marked with his name. “I take it this one’s for me.” Without waiting for confirmation he took the stopper off and sniffed cautiously… then broke into a grin. “Mmm, I like it,”

“Really?” Julia looked hopeful.

“Yes, really,” he enfolded her in his arms and gave her a warm kiss. “Are you done here?”

She looked down at where she had been working. “Just about. I just need to label the last bottle.”

“Well finish up, and I’ll distribute them for you while you get some sleep. I guess you were gonna do it anonymously.”

“I was, actually,” she admitted while labelling the last bottle (it was for Baines). “But you don’t have to do that.”

“I want to,” he said. “Besides, I’m supposed to be on watch, it’ll look less suspicious if I’m up and about. And you definitely need some sleep. So go to bed.” He softened the command with another kiss.

“Yes sir!”

Confusion reigned once morning broke. When the group began their usual routine of packing the camp for the day’s journey, each found a small bottle marked with their name. Naturally they were confused; and everyone converged on Devon Adair to find out what it was all about. But Devon was as much in the dark as everyone else.”

Eventually it was the pragmatic John Danziger who noticed that only Alonzo appeared unconcerned about the strange turn of events. He also noticed that Julia was conspicuously absent. “Lonz,” he called out to the other man. “Where’s the doc?”

“Still sleeping,” the pilot replied.

“No, I’m not,” Julia emerged from the medical tent, all tousled-haired and bleary-eyed. “What’s going on?”

“Well, when everyone woke this morning, they found these little bottles, all individually marked. No one seems to know where they came from.” Danziger eyed her critically. “Alonzo here was the only one who didn’t look surprised by it. Neither do you, come to think of it. Know anything about it?”

Julia was uncomfortably aware that all eyes of the group were now on her. Some were frankly curious, others, like Morgan Martin, were faintly accusing. “I made them,” she admitted finally.

“What are they, bottles of poison?” Baines quipped, his jovial tone somewhat forced.

“Well, yes, if you decide to drink them,” the doctor replied. “The contents are highly toxic. They’re meant to be bottles of cologne or aftershave.”

“How did you make all this?” Devon wanted to know, prompting Julia to explain about the roots and how fragrant they were for such a purpose, and too toxic for anything else. As she was explaining about making the individualised fragrances, she was cut off by an angry Morgan Martin.

“Do you think you can just buy us off after what you’ve done?” he demanded.

Julia flinched at the accusation. Despite her desire to do this for the group, she knew that some would regard the gesture with suspicion. But before she could explain what she had been trying to do, Alonzo jumped to her defence.

“Julia didn’t have to do this,” the pilot shot back. “She just wanted to show her appreciation for the second chance she’s been given.”

“Eben said that it would almost be Christmas back on Earth. I know we don’t really celebrate Christmas anymore, but I… I thought that Christmas presents would be a nice gesture…” Not knowing what else to say, Julia fled back into the med tent, and sounds of harried packing could be heard.

Alonzo turned on the rest of the group. “She stayed up most of the night trying to do something nice for us. Is there anything wrong with that?” He was about to say more, but the look on Morgan Martin’s face would have prompted him to say something he would later regret, and he knew that discretion was the better part of valour.

“Alonzo’s right,” Devon spoke up before he could turn on his heel and follow Julia into her tent. “It was a nice thing for Julia to do, and she didn’t have to. I think we’ll have a rest today. We can get under way tomorrow.”

Bess approached the medical tent hesitantly. She had avoided being alone with Julia since that incident, being rather angry and indignant over the treatment her husband had endured at the hands of the doctor, a supposed professional. Her link and apparent betrayal to the Council only made it worse. But Julia severed her ties to the Council and tried to make amends for the damage that she had caused. And in the light of the Christmas gifts, Bess felt that it was time to talk to the woman who had once been her friend.

Morgan hadn’t wanted her to go, of course. Bess felt that she couldn’t blame him for the way he felt—Julia had pushed him down a steep incline, and being under the influence at the time, so to speak (hyped on Uly’s Terrian-altered DNA) was no excuse in Morgan’s mind. He was also distrustful of the present left for him, but he had to admit that the scent that Julia had made for him really suited, and that the doctor had gone to a lot of work. He was still suspicious of her motives, though, and wanted his wife to stay away from the doctor.

But Bess really liked the flowery perfume that Julia had made for her, and wanted to thank the doctor in person. She also wanted to belatedly accept the apology that Julia had made after everything she had done. In the days since, Bess had some to realise that Julia had indeed been caught between a rock and a hard place.

Stopping outside the tent, Bess could hear the conversation going on inside.

“… come on, Julia, don’t take what Morgan said to heart. You know what he’s like.” Bess bristled at Alonzo’s words, but she knew that her husband was not the most popular man in the group and had rubbed many the wrong way.

“I know, I know,” Julia replied, sniffling. It was obvious that she had been crying, as foreign a concept it seemed to Bess. “I wasn’t expecting miracles, you know. I just wanted to show my appreciation.” Julia choked back whatever else she was about to say, and then laughed at herself. “Look at me. I’m not supposed to get emotional like this…”

Bess chose that moment to walk in. “Alonzo… Julia. I hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Uh, not at all, Bess. Come in.” Julia was flustered, trying to wipe away her tears without being obvious about it. Right at that moment, the wife of Morgan Martin was the last person she wanted to face.

The two women faced each other nervously, the tension between them so thick you could cut it with a knife. Alonzo cleared his throat. “If you’ll excuse me, ladies, I need to see Danziger about something.”

“Alonzo…” Julia looked at him imploringly, not wanting to be left alone with Bess. But the handsome pilot just winked at her and walked out.

Taking a deep breath, the doctor turned to the other woman. “So Bess, what can I do for you? Are you all right?”

“Oh no, I’m fine,” Bess said hastily. “I just wanted to thank you.”

Julia’s head shot up. “Thank me?”

“For the perfume,” the other went on. “It’s lovely, a really nice thought. It was really nice of you to do all that for us when you didn’t have to.”

“It was nothing…”

“No it wasn’t,” Bess insisted. “Alonzo told us how you worked most of the night. But that… that wasn’t all I came here to say. I wanted you to know that I… accept your apology, the one you made the other day after Morgan… I… I know you didn’t mean to hurt him.” Without waiting for a reply, Bess backed out of the tent and fled.

Julia stood in the middle of the medical tent, unmoving, for a long time. It came as a shock that Bess had come to her like that, let alone accepting her apology. Bess was normally a sweet-natured woman, but could get like a lioness protecting her cubs when her family was threatened. Julia thought it would be a long time before she received anything other than icy tolerance from the other woman. Of course, Morgan Martin was another matter, but suddenly, she didn’t care.

“Are you okay?” Alonzo’s voice startled Julia out of her musings and she jumped.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied. “Bess just wanted to thank me for her perfume… and to accept the apology I made when Morgan was hurt.”

Alonzo slid his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “See? I told you everything would work out.”

“Not quite,” Julia said dryly. “But it’s getting there.” She frowned as she felt him shuffling behind her, moving one arm from her waist. “Alonzo, what are you doing?”

“Shh. Close your eyes and hold out your hand.”

“What?”

“Just do it,” he insisted. When she complied he slipped something into her hand and closed it around the object. “You can open them now.”

Julia looked down at her hand. In it was a perfectly smooth, multi-coloured stone, polished to a shine, with a natural hole at the top through which a long piece of leather had been threaded. “Alonzo, I…”

“You like it? I found it just after we crashed here. I’ve been polishing it up since, wondering what to do with it. I knew I wanted to give it to you, but I didn’t know how or when. Your work last night inspired me.” He softly kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Julia.”