Perchance to Dream, Part 3
Etain Antrim
Five days later, Devon woke in the middle of the night. At first she was unsure what woke her, but then she started at a noise from Uly's side of the tent. Her son was muttering agitatedly in his sleep. She reached over to shake him, but he didn't wake up. She reached for her gear and called Julia and Yale, "Come quickly. Something's wrong with Uly."
Julia arrived shortly after Yale, huddled in a blanket wrapped over her warm sleeping clothes. "What is it?" She pulled on her diaglove and monitored the boy's vital signs. "It looks like he's having a Terrian dream. Whatever it is, he is being disturbed by it. We should wait until he wakes himself. Hopefully, he'll be able to remember what bothered him."
"Alonzo! Alonzo!" Uly cried out and sat up suddenly, hitting Devon on the chin with his head, "Ouch!"
"Uly, are you all right?" Julia asked carefully.
"That hurt!" He glared at his mother, then he looked around and realized he had an audience, "Am I okay?"
"We think you were having a Terrian dream, Champ. Can you remember?" Julia tried to speak calmly.
"Ohhhh." He turned to look at the doctor. "Julia, the Terrians said that Alonzo is really sick and needs help." He looked up at the doctor with an adult appreciation for what he was saying, "It was hard to understand them. The dreamplane is all messed up."
Julia had frozen with Uly's first words, and missed the rest of what he said. *Alonzo was sick. He needed her NOW.*
Yale had been standing quietly next to Uly's cot. He reached over and placed his hand on Julia's shoulder. When she looked at him blankly, he said, "Julia, start packing. You should leave at first light."
She nodded and walked back to her tent.
Yale turned to Devon, who stood still as a statue, and said "Uly should go with her. He will be needed to communicate with the Terrians. Should you or I go with him?"
Devon started and said, "I'll go. You stay here and help keep things running. Danziger should go with us too. We'll need someone to help Julia with lifting, and he can keep any equipment she needs in good shape. Would you mind going to tell him?"
Yale nodded and left the tent.
At sunrise, Julia, Devon, Uly and Danziger were already in the 'Rail and moving toward the caves. They left a subdued camp behind them.
***
They arrived at the cave after a quiet trip. Uly dozed lightly in the back seat with Devon, while Julia silently urged the 'Rail forward from the front passenger seat. Danziger had given her a pat on the shoulder as they met at the vehicle in the dark, quiet camp, and said, "We'll get there as soon as we can, Julia. I promise you that." She had nodded briefly but said nothing, and Danziger could feel the tension and fear radiating out from her. He had once been in the same position, and knew that false hopes were foolish and hurtful. Unable to think of anything honest that he was willing to say, he left her to her own thoughts.
Danziger had insisted on trying to reach Alonzo by gear, but had gotten no response. He still harbored hopes that the message was a mistake, but those evaporated when the 'Rail was met at the cave entrance by two Terrians. They trilled at them before the vehicle had completely stopped.
Uly said quietly from the back seat, "Julia, they want you to follow them. They'll take you to Alonzo."
Julia nodded, grabbed her smaller med-bags and hopped out of the vehicle. Danziger helped Uly and Devon out, and the three of them followed Julia into the cave.
Alonzo wasn't in his cavern but was 'lying' in the Terrian bed. He was standing in the rock wall itself, surrounded by a yellow glow. Danziger was suddenly reminded of an old painting he had once seen of the battered body of a martyred saint surrounded by a halo. Julia, having seen the Terrian bed, was more interested in the man, but Danziger and Devon looked at the bed with wonder. Alonzo was pale, shivering and sweat-soaked and muttered fitfully in the dim light. Julia ran her diaglove over him, then grimly turned toward the others. "He is running a very high fever, and is dehydrated. It looks like it has been some time since he last ate or drank. Uly, can we move him into his room?"
Uly turned to the Terrians and trilled. He listened intently to their reply, his head cocked to one side. Devon tried to ignore the pit in her stomach that she always felt when her son acted like a Terrian.
"No, we can't move him. They say that he is still on the dreamplane. If we force him out of it, he will lose a piece of himself. He has to stay here until he leaves the dreamplane by himself."
The Terrians trilled again. "They said that a human was once pulled out of the dreamplane without wanting to leave, and he..." Uly paused to think of the right word. "He went mad, I think. He lost a piece of himself, that's what they said."
Once again the Terrians spoke. Uly turned back to Julia and added, "The reason it was hard to get the message is that Alonzo is having nightmares on the dreamplane. The Terrians can't use it the way they want to. They don't like that."
Danziger couldn't help but snort at that. Here they demanded Alonzo come learn how to "dream" properly, then complained when he dominated the dreamplane! But he kept his thoughts to himself. The first order of business was to get Alonzo well. Any political gripes could wait. He turned to Julia, "So, what can we do to help?"
"We need to get his fever down, and to administer some rehydrating caps. Do you think you could rig a stand for an IV?"
"Sure thing Doc. I'll go start on it now if you don't need me for anything else."
"I've got some rehydrating caps here. I'll need my big bag out of the 'Rail soon, though." She nodded as Danziger turned to walk back to the vehicle, "and Devon, help me strip him as best we can. We may need to cool him down with water. In the meantime, hand me one of the fever-reducing derm-apps in my case. Uly, ask the Terrians how we can get in touch with them if we need them. It sounds like the dreamplane won't work."
Having set everyone else in motion, Julia turned back to Alonzo. Her heart ached as she looked at him. He had lost even more weight and the bones on his face cast unfamiliar shadows in the glow of the bed. She tried to pull herself together. Alonzo needed her medical skills now; she would just have to bury her despair. She applied the derm-app that Devon handed her, then started to infuse the rehydrating caps.
***
Back at the camp, the mood was somber. Yale had informed the remaining crew members about the crises after Danziger had called on gear to confirm that Alonzo was indeed sick, or as the mechanic bluntly put it:
"Yale, he's in pretty bad shape. I hope Julia will be able to pull him out of this, but it's not gonna be easy." His expression was serious in the gear image.
"You will let us know if there is anything we can do. I guess I should tell the rest of the crew."
"Yeah, do that. Hey, tell True that I asked you to look after her. Try to keep her on her usual schedule. She's gonna miss Uly too."
"All right John. Will you be able to check in regularly on gear?"
"I'll get Devon to do that. The gear doesn't work inside the caves, and if we get real busy, you might not hear from us for a while, but we'll keep you informed as best we can."
"Understood. Yale out."
Many of the crew had gotten far less sleep than they needed, and all of them were worried but had no way to do anything to help. Everyone was keyed up, tense and bored, all at the same time, reminding Yale of the atmosphere in a hospital waiting room. Yale was busy trying to keep True occupied and focused on her lessons. Without Uly to spur her into competition, she was drifting off into daydreams. Finally, Yale sent her off to take a nap. Her sleep had been cut short when the tutor had rousted her dad the previous night.
True lay in her cot, too excited to sleep. The sun was shining brightly through the walls of the tent, and she could hear a quiet murmur of voices and noises outside. Gradually, however, her eyes began to shut.
Suddenly, True could see a young boy, just about her age, and a tall man in front of her. The boy looked up at the man with fear in his eyes.
"No sir. I didn't do it! I don't know who did."
The man smiled sadistically, "Young Waverly says you did. Are you calling him a liar?"
True could feel the fear and panic in the boy as he said, "I didn't do it sir. I don't know why he says I did."
"Listen, Solace, I think you did. And I am going to act on that belief. I have already called your mother to come pick you up, but first I want you to bend down and touch your toes. Believe me son, this is going to hurt you more than me." The man laughed, an unpleasant grating sound, while satisfaction shone in his eyes. He pulled out a wicked looking bat with a flat end, and started to hit the boy with it.
True was horrified. She could feel how much it hurt the boy, almost as if she was being hit herself. The boy was trying not to cry, but tears had welled up in his dark brown eyes, tears of anger and pain.
True sat up suddenly with a gasp, back in the bright and homey tent she shared with her dad. What was that? She didn't have nightmares, at least not very often, and when she did, they weren't about other people, but about her. That did it, she would not go back to sleep unless someone else stayed in her tent with her.
End of Chapter 3.
Chapter End Notes:
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