Perchance to Dream by Etain Antrim

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Perchance to Dream, Part 6
Etain Antrim

Morgan was happy to have Bess to himself for a change. When they were in camp, she was always worrying about everyone else, but now she had only Morgan to look after, and he was enjoying the attention. Bess had made a quick dinner from the camp supplies they had brought with them, and was now getting the bedding ready for the night. She had mentioned being worried about Alonzo a couple of dozen times, but Morgan had no doubts that he could distract her from that worry for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow, when they found a Grendler, they would be doing all they could to help him anyway. Tonight, she could concentrate on Morgan.

"Morgan, honey, are you ready for bed?" Bess called out from the tent.

"Sweetie, you know I'm always ready for bed when you're there to share it with me. I've already closed up out here." Morgan climbed into the tent as he spoke.

Later that night, Morgan and Bess were snuggled into the blankets and each other, sleeping soundly. Morgan found himself standing by a grave with Bess and the rest of the crew. The scene was sharp, all the colors saturated. *Laser Telecast* he thought to himself. The grave marker said "Eben Sinh," and suddenly, Morgan knew where he was.

Morgan rolled over and groaned, pulling the blankets off of Bess, who pulled back on them without fully waking up. She sank back into her dream of the Eve-virus.

The colonists were sitting at the camp after the funeral, deciding on what to do.

"We've been here for eight days, and we've been sick for six. I say we move on while we can." Danziger was saying.

Morgan suddenly noticed himself in the group when Julia walked up. "And our only doctor doesn't have a clue..."

"Shut it Morgan, or you won't have to worry about withering away!" Alonzo's voice carried raw emotion, disgust on the surface, and deeper, love and hate. Morgan was amazed to feel the irritation directed toward himself. Where was that coming from?

The scene changed to the caravan as the TransRover stopped unexpectedly and refused to start again. Bess saw the dream Morgan point to the Earth Ship. "Look there!" Suddenly, the air was charged with excitement and desire. A Venus class cruiser, how she had loved to fly those ships! Bess knew that something was wrong here. This wasn't her dream, it couldn't be. What was happening? She followed the dream Alonzo as he opened the hatch and started down the steps, the actions felt so familiar, like she had done this hundreds of times before. Alonzo ramped up the power in the ship with no hesitation, and Bess could feel his satisfaction and affection for the ship, and then his surprise as Julia found people in the cold sleep chamber.

As Devon collapsed at the feet of Bennett and Elizabeth, Morgan felt more concern for Uly than for his own personal reaction. The boy was not going to take this well, and needed to be sheltered as much as possible.

With a speed that made her dizzy, Bess found herself looking down on Alonzo as he woke up to find himself in the Medtent. Julia was putting a blanket over him, and tenderly pushing his dark hair out of his eyes. Bess could feel how much Alonzo loved Julia, his concern for how tired and ill she looked, and his fear that he was now another burden on her. When Julia walked toward the ship with Elizabeth, his concern for her became acute, and Bess had to fight down panic when she disappeared into the ship. Julia's reappearance after the pain that so brutally attacked them brought Alonzo great relief. But Elizabeth's last words were confusing and frightening.

Morgan watched Devon's collapse with fear and uncertainty, and felt a great emptiness as the caravan pulled out, leaving the woman who had brought them all to this point in a fragile cold sleep.

Morgan and Bess fought their way out of sleep together, and sat up gasping in the tent. Outside, it was completely dark and cold, with no night sounds to reassure them where they were. Bess put her hand up to her cheek while Morgan ran a hand through his hair.

"Bess, I just had the strangest dream..." Morgan began once his breathing had calmed enough to talk.

"I did too. Was yours about the Eve virus?"

Morgan nodded and Bess threw her arms around him. "From Alonzo's perspective?" Morgan asked, and this time Bess nodded. "What the hell is going on?"

***

Julia and Danziger were sitting on the sleeping bag with their backs against the stone walls of the cave. Alonzo was still feverish and delirious; there had been no real change in his condition, except that he was no longer dehydrated. He had not regained consciousness and was, they assumed, still on the dreamplane. Julia was falling asleep, her head nodding even as she fought to stay awake. John put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a slight shake. "Hey, Doc."

"John?" She sat up and looked at him in alarm. "Is Alonzo all right?"

"No change Julia. Listen, you should get some sleep. You're not going to be much use to him if you're so tired you can't think straight. I can stay here with him and wake you if there is any change."

"I know. But I want to stay with him a bit longer. I'll catch some sleep later."

John looked up at their patient. He was in the same clothes they had found him in, sweat-soaked and dirty as they were. Devon had tried to change them earlier, but the Terrian bed defeated her efforts. His black hair looked even darker now, damp with sweat and cool compresses, further emphasising in the dim light of the sunstones and bed how ashen his face had become. The hollows on his face, amplified by his weight loss, were sunk in shadow while his eyes looked bruised and his lips were cracked and dry. He was a sad sight, and John was not at all confident that Julia would be able to save him. He had never seen anyone look so sick, not even Les and Alex before they died. Worse, Julia and he listened to a constant delirious mumble as Alonzo wrestled with his nightmares. There seemed to be no respite on the dreamplane; no sooner had Alonzo finished one dream than he began the next. John had no desire to sleep again if it meant joining the pilot in his worst memories. Once was definitely enough.

Julia followed John's eyes to Alonzo, then nodded at John. "I just wish we could let him sleep peacefully. These dreams are placing a great strain on him, and he can't take much more."

John put his big hand over her slim, cool one as it rested on the sleeping bag. "Julia, the Martins will bring the Grendler drool tomorrow morning. He just has to hold on a little bit longer.

"I know John. There isn't much more we can do for him until they arrive. None of my standard anti-viral medicines had any effect at all. All we can do is continue to keep him hydrated and to keep the fever as low as possible. At least those are working. Even so, he may have permanent damage if we can't lower his temperature to a safer level soon." She sighed and stretched. "If you don't mind, I'm going to stretch my legs and grab another cup of coffee. Let me know if there is any change." John could see the immense effort she was making to keep control in front of him. He waved her to go on. She needed the break.

Julia peeked in on Devon and Uly as she walked outside. They were both sleeping soundly.

End of Chapter 6.

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