DESPERATE  MEASURES

PART TWELVE:

"Damn!" Sid shouted, striding across Maximus' former bedchamber, that room which, 

in reality, was a warp center. Brianna was starting to feel cold in his arms.  He carried 

her through the panel door, practically running down the corridor. Using his elbow, he 
pressed a commlink in the wall. "Medical team!" he roared. "STAT!"

Everyone knew he'd been gone.  Their usual on-guard Sid alertness had relaxed.  His 

inner core med team, in fact, was in the lounge drinking coffee, eating sweet rolls and 
talking about how different it was at Emerald City with both Sid and Terry away.  

Terry, it was widely known, of course, was merely in eastern Europe to attend a wedding. 

But Sid?  No one knew where Sid had gone, if he'd come back, when he'd come back.  

When his voice suddenly barked over the speaker, there was a moment of wild scrambling 

then a mad dash down the hall to Sid's private med center.

More than one jaw dropped at the sight of him, clad as he was in pants, the legs rolled 

up, his feet bare, as was his torso.  His hair was wet, strands of it clinging to his forehead. 

They had never...ever...seen him in anything but impeccable Armani.  He was laying 
the young, blonde woman who had been with Maximus in Sid's palace scenario on an 

examining table as Fenton, the chief physician, hurried through the door, still buttoning 

his white coat.

Sid turned on Fenton, his eyes wide, practically blazing fire. "You save her, do you hear 

me! You save her!!!"

The tall, slender doctor moved to the table, his eyes immediately going to the woman's 
neck. "What bit her?" he asked, his fingers probing the swelling. 

"Something in a cave. I don't know. Some tropical something. Probably two days ago."

Fenton swallowed hard, running a hand through his neat, silver hair.  Did Sid know what 

he was asking?  "Two days...?" he repeated, blanching a bit himself. The woman was far 

gone already, barely alive.  "Get Mica in here," he ordered a nurse rather brusquely. 

Mica was the resident expert in toxins.  The staff jokingly called the good-natured Samoan
the "snake handler" as he had cases of them in his lab. In less than two minutes his wide 

form appeared in the doorway.

"What you got, Fenton?" he asked as he crossed the small room. "Snake bite?"

"We don't know, Mica.  That's why you're here."

Mica leaned over Brianna.  "Ah," he pronounced, "not good."

Sid gripped Fenton's upper arm.  "Don't talk. DO!"

Fenton tried not to gasp with the pressure of Sid's fingers. "What...what is it, Mica?"

"Spider," Mica said profoundly. "Bad spider."

"Do you have the antivenin?" Fenton asked hopefully, knowing even as he asked that 

it was probably too late for that.

"Nope," Mica said amiably.  "This spider is very rare, almost never seen." He shrugged. 

"This woman is going to die."

"Nothing can be done?" Fenton asked, knowing Mica spoke the truth. The woman was 

already going cold. Her lips were quite blue. She was, yes, way too far gone for any sort 

of medical intervention to matter.

"Nothing," Mica affirmed. "Even if I had the antivenin, it's been too long. Her systems 

are already shutting down."

Fenton turned to Sid.  "Sir," he mumbled, "I'm...sorry."

But Sid wasn't listening to any of them any more. He pushed Fenton and Mica aside as 

though they were pieces of furniture in his way and gathered Brianna up into his arms.  
Without taking his eyes off her face, he turned and carried her out the door, back down 

the long corridor, while his med team huddled together and watched in silent wonder. 

It was...unreal.  All of it.  The way Sid looked, the way he had reappeared with this woman 

in his arms. What had he been up to? What in hell was going ON?

He walked slowly back to the chamber, sitting on Maximus' bed, Brianna still in his arms. 

Her breaths werecoming more slowly now, very shallow, further and further between.  He 
kissed her lips, letting his linger over hers,  feeling the barest whisper of her breathing on 

his face.  Something inside him seemed to be breaking.  He could feel it as a tangible thing, 

a central splitting in the middle of his chest. And memory came to him, memory of kissing 

a beloved charred foot hanging in the entrance to his home. And he knew the grief of 

unbearable loss that must be borne.  He knew the requirement of drawing one more breath 

with lungs that were clutched and raw and bleeding from the stabbing wrench of grief.  He 

knew the fullness of meaning in the words "too late." 

He felt her begin to leave, the oddest combination of a lightening of  something at the very 

moment the body began to grow heavier with the solid coming of death.  The muscles of 
his arms began to vibrate with the touch of it that communicated to him through her 

chilling flesh.  He bit hard on his lower lip, confused by all the feelings that were surging 

through him. 

Then another thought, electric in the sudden shocking coming of it, jolted through him 

and he stood, striding with her to his hidden controls,  rapidly entering in lines of code.

"Hello, Brianna."

She turned so quickly at the sound of her name she tripped. Strong fingers gripped
her arm, holding her upright.  "Maximus?"

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, she found herself looking into a pair of softly seagreen 

ones that were regarding her with something more than mere affection. There was a relief 

in them, a gladness to see her that was startling in its intensity. Then she realized.

"SID!" She pulled her arm free, staggering back, dropping her load of mangoes. For one
brief instant she'd thought.... "Damn you!" she spat.  "You've made me drop my fruit!"
She felt stupid for saying it, but was flustered by the anger and the sudden loss of hope
that were butting heads inside her, and stooped, trying to gather the scattered mangoes.

He stooped, too, picking up two or three and holding them out to her. Unwillingly she
looked at him. That expression was still there. She looked quickly away. Why? Why was
he looking at her like that?  She stood, pressing her bundle of fruit to her chest.
"Haven't you caused enough trouble? Why are you here?"

He didn't speak for a moment and she could see he was almost trembling. Sid never 

trembled. Lifting her eyes to his again, her lips parted in surprise. He was blinking 

back tears. "Is something wrong with you?" she asked, genuinely puzzled. 

"I...," he started, but his voice choked and he turned away for a moment trying to 

regather himself.

Now she was really worried. This was too weird. Was he malfunctioning, about to 

explode or something? He must've just warped here. Perhaps it had affected him 

somehow?

He turned back, more in control of himself, but that oddly disturbing look still in his
eyes. Smiling at her he said almost shyly, "I'm so glad to see you're all right."

"Of course I'm all right, Sid," she said impatiently. "I'm a big girl. I know how to take
care of myself. Why wouldn't I be all right?"

"I know," he replied. "I'm just...glad."

"You're...glad?" She almost snorted and a mango fell through a fold of the cloth, falling 

atop her foot. She ignored it, but he bent, retrieving it. 

"Yes, Brianna, I am glad to see you looking so well."

"I'm fine, Sid. No thanks to you."

"Have you seen the big pond yet?"

What in the world was he talking about? Why would he care about that? Had he been 

spying on her while she watched Maximus swim? Oh, God...that must be it! A blush crept 

up her face. "That's none of your business, Sid. None of your business at all!"

He saw the blush, figured correctly it must be connected somehow with the General. But 

that was not what he was interested in, not at the moment. "I was there a while back," 

he said, looking at her levelly, "and noticed a cave-like depression just to the left of the 

waterfall. Have you seen that?"

"I have. So what?"

"It's full of poisonous spiders, really...deadly...ones.  Just thought I'd mention it. A nasty 

place."

"Sid," she asked, frowning, "did the warp dump you out on your head?"

He smiled. "Just a bit perhaps."

How could such a repulsive creature smile so appealingly? She shook herself. Hold on 

there, girl, she remonstrated her thoughts, this is Sid. Don't forget that!" 

Leaving him still holding the mango, she strode past him, hissing, "GO AWAY! You 

are not wanted here!"

He watched her as she made her way through the last bit of undergrowth toward the 

beach, then he fell to his knees, pressing both hands to his face. It had worked. In that 

last moment, just before her final breath, he'd warped them back to the island, warped 

them back to a point two days earlier, before the first storm, before she'd made her nest 

beside the waterfall. 

He'd dropped the mango and, this time, let it lie where it fell. After a moment he got to 

his feet and followed the path she'd taken.

"What the heck...?" She came out of the line of trees to find a large mound of crates and 

boxes lying on the sand.

Sid watched her awhile from the shade of the palms, his eyes following the way the ocean 

breeze blew golden wisps of her hair about her face. Her skin was a creamy peach color, 

warm, healthy, alive. The sight of her, standing there, bathed in sunlight was the most 

beautiful thing he'd ever seen. 

He stepped out, coming up not far from her. "I'm so sorry, Brianna, that you arrived here 

with no supplies. I...I thought...perhaps...if I brought you some...." His voice trailed away 

at the look of disbelief in her eyes. Her expression said clearly, What are you up to? What's 

your real motive?

He moved his hand, indicating the crates. "It didn't seem right. For you to be here with 

no shelter, no...well, all the things you might need. I just...," He paused, trying to think 

of the right thing to say to make a difference. "I just wanted you to...have...these things. 

That's all."

"Why?" she asked suspiciously. "Why do you care what I do or don't have?"

She wasn't going to make it easy, was she? "I...I've made mistakes, done things I regret. 

I hoped I might make amends...just a bit. If you'll let me?"

"You were so damn angry, Sid, the last time I saw you. All you wanted to do was cause 

as much hurt as possible. And you did, damn you, you did. Maximus won't even talk to 

me any more. It's your doing, all of it! Every bit! Why should I take anything from you?"

"You're right," he agreed. "I was angry. I was cruel. I wish I hadn't been. I wish...," he 

lifted his chin, looking at the sky, "I wish there were a way you would forgive me."

"Forgive you, Sid? You don't know the meaning of the word. All you ever do is manipulate, 

pull people's strings for your own ends. You're doing it now, for Pete's sake! You don't 

know how NOT to do it!"

If he had been a normal man, she thought, amazed, that the word 'stricken' would apply 

well to the look on his face. He tipped his head down, his lips pressed whitely together, 

and turned his eyes to the side, blinking rapidly. OK, come on, she thought, he's GOT to 

be malfunctioning. The Sid she knew was simply not capable of such an expression. He 

looked positively...human. 

Finally he spoke. "It's all right, Brianna. I know I deserve that, and more." He smiled 

at her, a rather sad little smile. "It's just that there's no good place for you to find shelter 

on this island and I wanted...," he looked for a moment back in the direction of the 

waterfall, "I just wanted you to be...safe." 

"Sid, you have drugged me, kidnapped me, made me lie, buried me in sand. Whyever do 

you think I'd believe you wanted me to be safe?"

Oh, God...the sand. He'd forgotten about the sand! He puffed his cheeks out, holding his 

breath in a way that bordered on being unconsciously cute, letting his eyes close, shaking 

his head ruefully. What could he say; what could he possibly say? Meeting her accusing 

gaze, he almost whispered, "I've made too many mistakes to count. I know that. There's 

no excuse good enough to offer you. I know that, too. But so much has changed. Everything

...has changed. I...I can't explain. I can't say more than that I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry."

He picked up a crowbar that was lying atop one of the crates and set about opening them. 

"It's for you, all of it. Use what you will, how you will. Leave what you don't. It's up to 

you. It's all up to you."

He said nothing more, just pried open crate after crate, revealing cooking utensils, 

fishing gear, hammocks, lanterns, all the building supplies necessary for a fairly decent 

shelter. After a while, she went to sit in the shade of a palm, watching him, trying to 

figure out what he was up to. He smiled at her from time to time, an expression of quiet 

affection lingering in his eyes. It was unnerving. It made him look like...my God! That 

was it! It made him look like Maximus.

She chewed her lip, studying him carefully. What had he done? Oh...Lord! The program! 

All the things she and Maximus had been experiencing since the chips had been inserted! 

Had he actually managed...had he...somehow? He set down a heavy box then leaned back, 

flexing his hand in that way Maximus had. It was the gesture of a swordsman. She held 

her breath. He had done it! Somehow he had done it. She looked at him, not knowing 

whether to feel disgusted or amazed. 

The wind was blowing his hair as he worked, shirtless, barefoot, giving him a natural,  

casual air that was entirely different from Sid as she had always known him. He seemed 

to be enjoying his work, not minding the sweat that began to glisten on his skin. Sweat? 

Interesting. She had not thought nanotechs sweated. 

Maximus, too, was now watching from several yards back into the palms. His eyes moved 

from where Brianna sat in the shade to Sid wielding his crowbar out on the sands. So, he 

had come, this man who seemed to control his fate, who could send him at will to any place 

he desired. And she, she was watching him, waiting for the things he had brought for her. 

His fingers clenched and unclenched on his tall walking stick. He wanted no part of it. 

Quietly he skirted far to the right, making his way toward a headland that had attracted 

his attention. He wanted to see what possibilities for shelter might lie there. He wanted to 

be away, entirely away, from the couple on the beach. 

ON TO PART 13

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