Accidental Dreamer

by John Gordon

were a poor replacement for telling Martin about my ridiculous dream and his role in it. A short, powerful man in a lab coat sat down next to me.

  He had a slight middle eastern or perhaps dark skinned Israeli cast to his appearance, with pitch black hair and a lip hugging mustache. He introduced himself as Albert Tinberry and I mumbled his own name in response, not wanting to encourage him.

  "Martin asked if any of us saw you, to tell you we can use your help on Landine. The Brack's are on our trail."

  I wanted to laugh. The laugh was right there in my throat; but this man had no hidden humor in his eyes, just a sort of grimness.

  "You know this is serious business. It could mean remarkable things for the human race. But we have to get back here with the information." The man sipped his coffee and watched me with piercing eyes. A flash of what it must feel like to be a mouse being scanned by a cat zipped through my thoughts.

  I wanted to put an end to this joke. "I don't, I just don't completely grasp this. If you mean the formula, I have it. So does Martin. What is there to get back to? If it works, what does some dream have to do with it?"

  "Martin doesn't have a copy of the formula, not at all. His lab was rifled last night."

  I grinned. Now I knew there was some game going on and I was supposed to be the dunce. "I never erased the formula from my computer. And it's in the University mainframe as well, under a password I control. No one can erase it. So what's the problem? We've got it."

  Tinberry slid out a small cigarette case.

  "I'm sorry about this Ed. We have to keep our worlds pure. You will have to come with me now." He aimed the case. Something hit me in the chest.

  Under Fire

  "Ed. Ed, wake up! Come on, get up." Elise shook the hammock almost flipping me out of it.

  "Hey, cut it out. What's going on?" But I knew as soon as the words left my lips. It was the battle tank. I was on Landine again.

  "The Bracks know we're in this area. Our rear guard was shelled. We have to get out of here fast."

  Elise led him to the pedestal. "You'll have to work the turret." She pointed at the bubble. "Annie went back to help with the injured. They'll delay the Bracks for a while; but we've got to move. I'll take the tail gun."

  "I don't know how this works." I was still sleepy and I had a memory of some fanatic hitting me with something in the Bio-Chem snack shop. Now I was supposed to play games with machine guns?

  "Just point and pull the trigger," she yelled.

  I discovered a rare excitement as the seat rotated up into the bubble. The little fear I felt dissolved as I settled in the comfortable seat and clicked the belts over my chest.

  The half-track churned into a sharp curve then in clear terrain it opened up to top speed. The sky was a pale silk tapestry of filmy clouds against a turquoise blue. Behind us the netting collapsed and a cloud of dust marked our movement until the dampening field came into play behind each tank.

  Any pressure on the grip swung the turret, seat, and the weapon in the direction of pressure. I tingled with an insane pleasure and practiced spinning and lining up on shrubs and rocks.

  An explosion rocked the half-track and a rain of rock chips and dirt grittled over the bubble. I took my hands off the grips to relax the tenseness that locked up my chest and hands. Another shell came screaming in and a shower of dust and smoke filled the road. This shouldn't have been so real and now I was afraid.

  The vehicle bucked twice, like hiccoughs as we trundled along, and I glimpsed the heat wave from the shells Elise fired. The pellets rocked a half-dome hill far behind them. There must be something there but I couldn't see a thing that she was firing at.

  "Those are Brack transports on that hill Ed. Hit the blue button to magnify your turret. Can you get a shot?"

  I pushed the button twice for a close-up. Two heavy vehicles with a turret gun on the top of each crawled along a road down the side of that distant cliff. The scope lines circled the leading tank. I hesitated. I could see the enemy's gun aimed a little higher than his view, set for a trajectory shot at us. There were people in those vehicles; human beings. I didn't want to kill them.

  "Ed. Can you get a shot. There are enough of them shooting to bracket us." Elise's voice wavered with panic. Her guns bucked again.

  I couldn't destroy living beings so lightly. I moved the circle to the side of the lead tank and pulled the trigger. A puff of dust rose behind both tanks, off to the side.

  Our tank lurched with another near miss. A large chunk of soil bounced in front of me and over the top of the turret. I made compensations. The next round hit the lead tank in front and slightly off center. It spun, started to topple then settled on the track, blocking the road. They kept firing, but they were going nowhere.

  When a hill cut off their view, I pulled my hands from the trigger guard. They were stiff and they were trembling, all of me was.

  Elise tugged at my pants leg. "You can come down for a while. We're moving at a trajectory to keep the hills between us. We can take a breather."

  She hugged me long and silently. It was all the fighting we saw that day.

  The drivers, Dan and Mela, came back to check for damage. Mela was black skinned and tall. She had a slim figure, bony and sharp. Her bun coiled hair made her face severe. Dan had a gnarled, tree root kind of face. One eye was almost lost in creases from an injury. His other eye was startling blue, sharp as an eagle's. They made a fierce looking couple and they quarreled often, generally ignoring all but the most direct comments made by anyone else.

  Each tank was travelling solo to increase the chances of survival. I felt that separating like this was a glaring lack of optimism.

  That night, sitting next to the tank, with infra-red detectors set up on the highest hill near them, the four of us shared a meal. Mela assured us that anyone coming within miles would be detected.

  "What about Martin?" I nodded toward the hill. "Will that thing tell where he is?"

  Elise shook her head. Her hair was beautiful in the light of the setting sun, it seemed orange and rust brown and her eyes had a gentle glow. I was caught up in the feeling of wanting her, completely. But it was just a dream, and right now I did not want to be trapped in this dream. It scared the hell out of me.

  "No, it doesn't have the range and we won't use radio. We might be traced. When we reach our meeting point, if the other tanks aren't there, we'll signal Martin."

  After dinner Elise invited me to walk up to the infra-red detectors where we sat looking at the stars. I never had the chance or desire to socialize with her on Earth. Here it seemed natural that we be together; and more than that, it felt right to hold her hand and draw her into my arms. The kiss was sweet and tender. We lay together on the hill, under a sky of bright star bands, a sky Earth had never seen.

  Erase the Formula

  "It's a world of illusion Ed Bell. You have no loyalty to it. It's only a dream."

  The man's voice droned like a loud bee my his ears, ears that were ringing painfully when I opened my eyes. I struggled to sit, but couldn't move. Straps crossed my body, binding me to a table. A single overhead bulb cast an umbrella of light around me in the blackness. The shadow of my captor moved into the light. It was Tinberry.

  "What kind of trick is this? Let me up. I'm just a programmer for God's sake. I don't have any money. I'm not worth anything to you."

  "How wrong you are Ed. You told me yourself you have a formula in your computer at home, and in the University data bank as well. I want that formula erased Ed. Then you can go home."

  "What are you, industrial sabotage...a spy?"

  "You could say that. This is a warehouse on campus, but there is only one piece of equipment in it."

  Tinberry turned away at the sound of something rolling across the floor; when he looked back I could see a toothy, reptilian smile.

  "This compute
r terminal is for you to work on. Remember we must have that formula erased. You have no alternative, none at all."

  A small woman guided the computer beside the table. The screen lit up and chirped a ready signal.

  "Now is the time to erase the formula Ed. You will do this."

  Erase the formula? Why not? My head ached. Somewhere a faint hint of a beautiful woman lingered in my mind, someone I could almost touch. What was this bizarre nightmare about? Martin had asked me to erase it anyway.

  "No! I won't do it!" I wished both hands were free so I could slap them over my mouth. I didn't want to argue with this man. The man was undoubtedly insane and right now he looked ferocious.

  "We could force it from you if we had time. There is little. You must erase the formula. We have already destroyed the data in your personal computer. There is nothing there for Resnik."

  "Resnik? Who's Resnik? I don't know any Resnik. You're crazy. Let me up."

  "Ed. What is the problem? Do as we ask and you will be free."

  "What did I do to you? What do you care about the formula."

  "You invaded our lands, built upon a planet where you didn't belong. We want an end to this interference. If need be, we will destroy the university computer. Do you understand? This will just take more time and I don't want to take the time now."

  "How do I know you're not bluffing?" I hated giving up to force. It went against everything in my life, my whole commitment to working with my mind to achieve