Devon Adair awoke abruptly for the third time since lying down the night before. Seeing the sunshine coming through the canvas of her tent she decided that she might as well get up and start the day early. Better to lose out on a little sleep than risk a repeat of the dreams that had been haunting her for over a week. Not that being awake would help much, she knew from experience. Throughout the day she would have to fight to stop her mind wandering to the dreams, reliving them and analysing them. As she dressed she made the same resolution she had made every morning for the past three.

She knew that the time had come to go and see Julia, that her disturbed sleep patterns were starting to impinge on her concentration and ability to think rationally. Yesterday, her mind had even started to wander during a …discussion…with Danziger over the enforced crawl at which the group had been moving for the past few days. Given the circumstances, that was probably to be expected but it was a dangerous time to lose a train of thought, she couldn’t afford to give that man an inch.

But every day she managed to avoid meeting Julia – putting off what she knew was going to be a very difficult conversation. Ah well, maybe she’ll give me something to help me sleep without asking any questions. Devon’s eye all too easily conjured up a picture of, at the best, Julia with a small smile fighting through her professionalism. At the worst, the Doctor ended the conversation with tears of mirth running down her face.

As Devon approached the campfire, banked from the night before, in search of breakfast she decided that the best course of action would be to put it off till tomorrow – after all, maybe she wouldn’t even dream tonight. Coward, a small voice in her head proclaimed, causing her to wince guiltily. Devon Adair prided herself on never backing down from a challenge and never, ever running away. So caught up was she with this line of thought that she didn’t even notice the other person sitting at the campfire until she was hailed.
“Morning Devon. Looks like I’m not the only early riser this morning.” Devon jumped and, uncharacteristically, said the first thing that popped into her head.
“I need you to give me sleeping pills, Julia” Ouch! I must be really tired.
“Aren’t you sleeping well? Okay, Silly question.” Julia grimaced at the sight of Devon’s glare. It was much too early in the morning to deal with a mad Devon.
“How long?” She asked instead.
“About ten days.”
“Uh huh. So are you having difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep?”
“Staying.” Like blood from a stone, thought Julia.
“Do you know why?”
“Julia, what’s with all the questions. Can’t you just give me something without the inquisition!”
“So you do know why. But you don’t want to share it. Am I right?” Julia didn’t really expect an answer to the question but Devon surprised her.
“ I’ve been having dreams.”
“Nightmares?”
“Sort of. Not exactly.”
“O.K. What exactly does not exactly mean?” Julia fought to keep the frustration out of her voice.
“It means no. They’re not really nightmares. But they are uncomfortable. And I want to stop having them.”
“I don’t think drugs will do that Devon. In fact I know they won’t. Human beings have to dream. If they don’t, they die. But talking about the dreams may help sort out whatever is causing them.”
“And would that make them go away?”
“Probably. I can’t promise. I’m not a psychologist, Devon.” Julia watched the clash of emotions on Devon’s usually controlled face. Resignation won out. She sighed, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it again and began to speak.
“They’re not always exactly the same. They happen in different places and different people are in them. Usually people on G889 but not always. They always start with some kind of normal activity. I’m reading maps or brushing Uly’s hair or just walking along with everybody.” Devon stopped speaking and Julia looked puzzled.
“They don’t sound too bad – just the mind cataloguing day to day events.”
“No the starts are never bad. But they always end the same way. Or essentially the same way. Again it happens in different places and different ways. But I always end up …inbedwithDanziger.” Devon rushed through the last part of her description so fast that it took Julia a minute or so to realise what she had said. Then she blinked. And blinked again, fighting down her automatic reaction. Devon would never forgive her if she laughed now.
“Okay. And you say you’ve been having this dream for ten nights running?”
“Yes.”
“And never before?”
“No! And why does that matter?”
“Probably no reason. But on this planet a sudden unexplained change in dreaming patterns could mean a lot of things.” Anger won out over Devon’s embarrassment.
“I hardly think the Terrians are popping into my dreams to tell me to have sex with a scruffy mechanic!”
“No, probably not.” Julia broke eye contact, she didn’t know how much longer she could control her laughter.
“ So can I have the pills?”
“Sure. I can give you enough for a few days but that’s all. These things are not a long term solution.”
“ I don’t need a long term solution. This is just an aberration. Brought on by stress. Stress can cause strange dreams, right?”
“Yes. So come by tonight and I’ll give you the pills.”
“Thanks, Julia.” The young doctor nodded and headed off towards the med-tent leaving Devon feeling slightly guilty for ever doubting her professionalism. Devon was reaching for a bowl when she heard Julia’s voice hailing her, loudly, from halfway across the campsite.
“Hey Devon, if it helps I always thought you and Danziger would make a cute couple.”

Devon slept much better the night after Julia gave her the tablets. She still dreamed but at least they didn’t keep wakening her. And Julia’s actions at the end of their early morning conversation had given her something other than her dreams to focus on during the day – revenge. There was no way Devon’s pride could allow Julia to get away with that. It came to something when your own doctor made jokes at your expense and Devon had decided she wasn’t going to take it lying down.

Unfortunately, she hadn’t been able to come up with any bright ideas on how best to exact revenge. She had the general idea – she wanted it to be public, she wanted it to be embarrassing and she wanted it to be funny. But that was as far as she had gotten. Devon hadn’t had a lot of experience pulling pranks. As an only child she’d had no siblings to practice on when she was young and the adults she’d been surrounded by her entire life had been singularly serious people.

And so for days she wracked her brains trying to come up with a plan. She even thought briefly of getting Uly to help as he and True were fast becoming experts at playing practical jokes on one another. But there was no way she was going to explain to him why she wanted to play a joke on Julia and she knew he’d ask. She was going to have to do this on her own and she would, even if it took her months.

In the end it was Danziger, of all people, who provided her with the perfect idea. She was sitting beside him at the campfire late one evening when Alonzo excused himself for the night and headed to his tent, followed a few minutes later by Julia. Devon was smirking at their pathetic attempt at cunning when Danziger spoke.
“I hope those two are being careful. The last thing we need is to have to drag some pregnant woman across this continent.” Devon automatically dismissed this as just being part of Danziger’s as yet unexplained dislike of the young couple’s relationship. It wasn’t till she lay in bed that night that she recognised his statement as being the answer to her current conundrum. She was grinning when she fell asleep and for once the inevitable dream didn’t bother her in the slightest.

Devon didn’t put her newly formulated plan into action immediately. Timing was of vital importance if she wanted to succeed and so she patiently bided her time. Two weeks after her conversation with Julia the group came across an almost perfect campsite and the decision was made to stop there for a few days to give everyone the chance to rest.

The first morning at this campsite Devon made sure she was one of the last to come out of their tents, waiting until almost everybody had sleepily congregated around the fire before heading out to get her own breakfast. Filling her bowl, she made a beeline for Julia and sat down close beside the doctor.
“Morning, Devon.”
“Good morning.” Devon leaned her head toward the other woman, trying to create the impression of a confidential conversation.
“You look better. I take it you’re sleeping okay, now. No more dreams?”
“No.” Devon lied. “Everything’s back to normal. I told you those dreams were temporary.” Julia nodded.
“So you did.”
“But I do need to talk to you. Could you examine Uly today?”
“Why? Is he sick?” Devon almost smiled as Julia’s concerned expression played right into her plan. She sent a silent apology to Uly for using him.
“No. He’s probably fine. He’s just been tired the last few days.” Julia nodded again.
“No problem, Devon. I’ll scan him later. But it’s probably just the heat – it’s been sapping everybody’s energy.”
“I know. But it will make me feel better to know for definite. Thanks Julia.” Devon leaned over and briefly hugged the younger woman, knowing that such out of character behaviour would attract the attention of anybody who hadn’t already noticed the private chat. Devon then stood and moved away, leaving behind a slightly bemused Julia.
Devon walked slowly toward her tent and when she had covered about half the distance she turned around, a look of compassion plastered on her face.
“Oh, and Julia, don’t let this bother you. I know the timing’s not great but I’m sure you and Alonzo will make fantastic parents.”