Perchance to Dream by Etain Antrim

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Perchance to Dream, Part 4
Etain Antrim

By mid-morning, Alonzo was stable, but he was still delirious. His fever remained high, although it had dropped somewhat through the application of the derm-apps and through water cooling. Devon was working by Julia's side, applying wet compresses to the top of the pilot's head. Working with a vertical patient was proving difficult, but they had developed several work-arounds.

Alonzo was tossing his head back and forth and muttering, "No. No. Please . . ., I didn't . . ." He was unaware of the women who were caring for him, absorbed instead with the shadows in his mind.

Danziger pulled Devon to one side of the small chamber they were working in. He had brought Julia the rest of her medical supplies, rigged an IV stand to supply Alonzo with fluids and nourishment, and started to set up Alonzo's room for their use. "Hey Devon, I told Yale we'd try to keep them informed of what is happening here. Listen, if there is nothing else I can do at the moment, Uly and I thought we'd take a nap while things are fairly quiet."

"Good idea. I'll come get you if we need any help. In the meantime, Uly could really use some rest. He's been sleepwalking all morning."

"Yeah, I noticed. When we wake up, I think you and Julia should consider resting too. It looks like this might be a long haul."

Devon glanced over at Julia, who was sitting staring at Alonzo and chewing on her lower lip. She lowered her voice a bit to reply. "Okay, I'll work on getting her used to the idea. I'm not sure she's going to be happy leaving him in someone else's care, even for a short time."

Julia turned to her as Danziger left, "I need to take a blood sample to see if I can isolate what is causing this. Can you watch him while I work on that?"

"No problem." Devon smiled with secret relief. "Where do you want to set up your equipment?"

"I'll do it outside for right now. I could use the light, and it's nice and warm today. More importantly, working outside will lessen the chance of any of us contracting whatever it is from the sample."

Julia efficiently took a sample and walked down the passage with it, leaving Devon to care for Alonzo.

***

Danziger and Uly lay on the sleeping bags that now covered most of the floor in Alonzo's room. Neither of them had any problem falling asleep, they were both exhausted. Uly lay quietly, his eyebrows contracting occasionally in response to his dreams while Danziger groaned and twitched in his sleep.

Danziger became aware of standing in the shadows watching as a slightly younger Alonzo peacefully slept in a cold sleep capsule. The ship he was on looked old, maybe even as old as the Venus-class cruiser in which they had found Elizabeth and Bennett. The edges of each item about him were sharply defined, as if the image was being projected by a high quality laser system. Danziger felt like he was an audience for a play, not a part of the action but privy to what happened. He started when he felt a small hand slip into his. Uly looked up at him and smiled.

"Mr. Danziger, we're on the dreamplane. This was what the Terrians were upset about."

"What? You and I are together on the dreamplane? Why?"

"This is Alonzo's dream. The sunstones in the cave make the 'plane very strong here."

"What should we do?" Danziger was not happy with this turn of events.

"Nothing. It's okay. We're just sleeping."

At that moment, the figure of Alonzo began to shiver inside the capsule. John and Uly felt cold, a deep cold that quickly penetrated to their bones and made them shiver too.

"What the hell... Uly, what's going on?"

"I don't know, it's so cold. I think Alonzo woke up inside."

Danziger felt claustrophobic, he had to get free. . . out. Alonzo's eyes opened, and his fear at being trapped was palpable. They felt him trying to summon the energy to move his arms, to escape the freezing capsule. Their arms and legs ached with cold and an inability to move. They shivered and shook in unison. The pain in their limbs mounted as their breath froze in their lungs and their hearts labored to move their slushy blood. A bellow of pain and loneliness rose from the figure in the capsule.

"Damn it Uly! What can we do? We can't stay here!"

"Hold my hand. I'll wake us up."

"Do it!"

The two of them came awake at the same instant in the cavern, panting still with the effort to breathe in the icy air of the dream. Uly had huddled into a small ball in his efforts to warm himself. Danziger had pulled the sleeping bag he had been lying on over on top of himself and was now shivering for real on the cool dirt floor.

"Damn!" Danziger breathed. "What was that?"

"Let's go see Alonzo. Maybe he's still there."

Danziger levered himself up and then extended a hand to Uly. Hand in hand they walked down the passageway to Alonzo. The pilot was a sorry sight as he shivered and groaned, "Out! Please, somebody, let me out."

Devon was trying to calm down the panicked sick man, but was having no effect. She looked up at her son and John as they walked in.

"Are you two okay? You both look like you've seen a ghost. I thought you were napping."

"We were, until a bad dream woke us. It seems that Alonzo's dreams are contagious. Uly and I just watched him wake up in a cold sleep capsule and not be able to get out. It looks like he's still there." Danziger nodded toward toward the still struggling man.

Julia's cool voice behind them said, "It's his first cold sleep. The capsule malfunctioned and he woke up 5 days early. He said he couldn't get out and he couldn't get back to sleep." She walked over to Alonzo and tenderly brushed the damp hair off his brow.

Danziger stared first at Julia and then at Alonzo, astonishment on his face. "You mean he went back and did it again after *that* ? He's more nuts than I thought. Man, I don't think I'll ever be able to lie down in a cold sleep chamber again. I still feel cold, and Uly and I weren't there with him for long at all, especially if he spent five days in that hell!" He rubbed his hands over his face. "Well, if this keeps up, sleep's gonna be lots of fun. Fly-boy there definitely dreams great nightmares."

"Julia," Devon hurried to change the subject, "do you have any results yet?"

The doctor turned to face them again. "Yes. It looks like Alonzo's illness may be caused by a virus. Like everything else on this planet, it is not at all like anything I ever saw on the stations. I don't think any of my anti-viral medications will work, though I'll try them anyway. If we can get more Grendler saliva, I'd like to try that. It may be our best shot."

"I'm sure Morgan and Bess will want to give it a try. I'll go call them on gear now. The camp will be glad to hear that there is some hope." Devon stopped abruptly, aware of her slip, but Julia had turned back toward her patient and was examining Alonzo as if she hadn't heard the last sentence. Danziger and Devon glanced at each other, he nodded toward the entrance, and she left in that direction.

"Julia," Danziger put his hand on the small of the doctor's back, "is there something I can do to help?"

She turned away from her patient to look into his face and suddenly he could see her exhaustion and fear. "Thanks John. Maybe you and Uly could just keep me company for now? I don't think I want to be alone."

He nodded, and turning to Uly said, "Hey Champ. Go get us a sleeping bag to sit on. Okay?"

End of Chapter 4.

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