by Gareth Otton
“Take them back to London as quick as you can and then get back here. I don’t think anyone’s going to wait for you if you take your time,” Stella said to Tad.
Tad wanted to stay, not enjoying leaving everyone even for a second, but knew Stella was right. He approached the group of politicians and raised hands to head off questions.
“Join hands and then grab my shoulders.” He barked his orders over their objections and made it clear with his expression that he needed it done quickly. He waited until the circle was complete and the second the last hand touched his shoulder he changed the channel. In a moment of petty cruelty and maybe a touch of vengeance, he forewent telling these people to jump.
They arrived outside 10 Downing Street and they doubled over as the effects of dreamwalking hit them. Tad took half a second to enjoy their discomfort and then jumped back to Cardiff so he could end whatever Jacob had been up to.
He arrived in time to catch Stella issuing orders to Trevors and the soldiers with him.
“I need you to lead the team against the King Dream Gate. We need to take that back if for no other reason than to stop normal people going into Dream, or coming out of it.”
“Coming out of it?” Trevors asked a little doubtfully.
“I know they haven’t yet, but calling it a gate got me thinking. If that is where normal people can go into Dream, then what’s to say that’s not where people can also step out of Dream? Either way, it seems like a vulnerability and I suspect that’s why the army kept a presence there for so long.” She shook her head, “Whatever the case, we need to take that back. I want you to take care of that first, then I want you to divide your men up amongst more military groups and start taking back the installations we’ve lost today. Hopefully we can take back Cardiff before the day is over.”
Trevors frowned like he might argue, and Tad suspected he didn’t like being taken away from where the main action was. However, the man was still shaken from what happened at the DTHQ and his own poor decision-making. He agreed and returned to the group of soldiers with him while Stella turned to face Tad with a serious expression.
“If they leave now, they can deal with the other dreamwalkers before Jacob’s people can warn them that we’re coming. I know we’re splitting our forces, but if we can catch them by surprise then—”
“I wasn’t second-guessing you,” Tad interrupted. He knew she had better instincts for this than he did, and while he wouldn’t have divided their forces, she was probably right. They needed to clear the way so more military forces could come back into the capital along with the police to reclaim the land they had lost. They didn’t have enough dreamwalkers nor dreamcatchers to bring more people in themselves, so they had to do this now.
However, that made the confrontation here even more precarious, as they didn’t have the overwhelming force Tad might like to deal with Jacob. However, that would have to be enough. This had already gone on long enough. As Tad turned toward the Senedd and spotted his friend issuing his own orders, he hoped maybe they wouldn’t even need to use force. He hoped he could talk reason into Jacob before it was too late.
Unfortunately, he knew that was just a fool’s hope. Jacob had never listened to reason before, so why start now? Whatever the case, as Tad stepped past the line of soldiers and approached the steps leading up to the building with Stella by his side, he drew the attention of all the dreamwalkers surrounding the Senedd. Tad prepared himself to do what he must. One way or another, this had to end today.
Seeing their approach, Jacob stepped away from the ground but kept the Prime Minister close to his side as he locked eyes with Tad and called out, “So, you’ve finally chosen a side.”
Tad sighed in response. He had chosen his side and if push came to shove, he was prepared to fight to defend it.
37
Wednesday, 30th November 2016
17:33
What a difference a nod could make.
A slight incline of Tad’s head to indicate he’d chosen a side made Jacob’s expression harden, the dreamwalkers freeze, and conjured an unnatural stillness in the surrounding soldiers. Tad wanted to say something to break the silence, but he was locked in a staring contest with Jacob, watching his reaction. The longer he looked, the more Jacob’s expression twisted into something like hate.
“Really? After everything we’ve been through… You still don’t understand? I thought time might change your mind, but you were never ever going to see reason. No matter what happened, you were always going to side with them against your own people.”
“Listen to yourself. Everyone here are my people. We are all some form of human and are no different from—”
“Yes we are!” Jacob screamed, spittle flying with his words. “I know it, he knows it,” he said, shaking the Prime Minister to indicate who he was talking about. “The whole world knows it. If they believed otherwise, they could never have drafted that law. When the whole world knows something and you don’t, it’s time for you to stop being stubborn. Ever since the Merging, we left humanity behind.”
“I refuse to believe that. While we may have talents others do not, that doesn’t change the fact that we’re human at our core. No matter how you try to justify it, it’s a city full of humans you took hostage today. If anyone else did that, you would condemn their actions alongside me. That’s all I’m doing. This isn’t about picking sides, and this isn’t about them or us. This is about right and wrong, and you’re in the wrong.”
Jacob was shaking his head before Tad finished speaking. Tad wasn’t getting through to the man, and he was about to try something more drastic when he felt a nudge in his ribs. Turning, he found Stella was looking at him with a raised eyebrow that somehow told him to keep talking. He didn’t understand until he noticed her phone was out and saw the name on the screen; Miles. Suddenly he remembered her plan.
He turned back to Jacob, who struggled to find the right words to counter Tad’s point.
“Why don’t you explain what your plan was?” Tad suggested. “Maybe me not understanding is why I’m having trouble with this. From what I can see, you started the day by locking away someone you call brother. Then you attack the building run by the woman I love, takeover the Dream Gate, then kidnap the Prime Minister, Lizzie and a host of other people, before clearing out Cardiff. After that, can you blame me for not understanding? What I’m missing?”
Jacob stared at Tad like the answers should be obvious, but slowly that hesitation turned into desperation to convince his friend of the righteousness of his cause. After thirty seconds of indecision, Jacob took the bait.
“We need a place where we can be safe. Think of our history, you taught enough of it. The story of humanity is always one person standing over another telling them what to do. Mass injustices take centuries to recover from. If I didn’t act today that same thing would happen to dreamwalkers the world over. I refuse to wait centuries to put that right. We need to act before this bill becomes law, to show the world we won’t be treated this way.
“Cardiff could be a utopia where dreams come true and mankind can advance to the next stage of evolution. We could lead the world out of global warming, get rid of starvation, reduce poverty to nothing. The possibilities that comes from Dream are endless, you of all people know that. But when self-serving politicians who fear losing their power sideline the people who understand Dream the most and turn us into nothing more than animals, then you squander this amazing opportunity.
“A year was all I was going to ask for. One year running Cardiff our way. We would promise not to leave the city so wouldn’t be a threat to anyone else, and in that year we could show the world the good that comes from embracing Dream. This has never been about hurting people. and it has never been about vengeance or whatever else you think. This has always been about protecting our people and showing the world we’re not a danger to them, but their saviours.”
Suddenly Tad understood how Jacob turned so many dreamwalkers to his plan.
As always, he spoke well and with passion, trying to promote the purity of his vision. Tad could see how people terrified for their own safety might react to that.
However, Jacob was only focusing on the positives of the Merging and ignored that there were two sides to every coin. For every dream come true, there was a nightmare. For every way to use Dream to improve the world, there was a way to use Dream to do the opposite. The very proof of that could be found in the men and women who’d lost their lives today. Beyond that, Jacob’s actions had ruined a year of work and would more than likely lead the world into a conflict that Tad suspected would redefine the term World War.
Therefore, while Tad understood Jacob’s motives a little better, he wasn’t on his side.
Finally receiving a nod from Stella out of the corner of his eye, telling him he had stalled long enough, he let Jacob know where he stood.
“I understand your reasons, but you’ve taken things too far. Now it’s time to see reason yourself. You’ve made your point, the world knows what’s at stake now and it’s time for you to step back. Let the Prime Minister go and turn yourself in. That’s the only way this doesn’t end poorly for everyone.”
Jacob’s face had morphed from frustration to hope as he spoke of his cause, but twisted again in a moment. He was beyond frustrated this time, was furious.
“Turn myself in? Are you joking? Surely you know we’re not as out-gunned as we look. You should know better than anyone that you can’t surround a dreamwalker. Beside’s don’t you think we’ve prepared for—”
“Bradley Tanner, Silus West, Carmen Montoya, Anthony French, Raj Ahuja,” Stella called out, along with a list of 30 other names. Her interruption somehow went unchallenged as she read her list, and with each name called, a dreamwalker’s expression twisted with surprise. Between Tad and the dreamwalkers they captured at the DTHQ, Stella had found enough information for Miles to get to work. Stella now had vital information on every dreamwalker present and could move on to the next stage of her plan.
“We know who you are. We know where you live, and we know who your families are. I’d answer that if I were you.”
As if some magic signal had just been sent, phones started ringing, a lot of them. Soon nearly every dreamwalker scrambled through their pockets to fish out their phones, their faces blanching as they hurried to answer. Tad couldn’t hear their conversations from where he stood, but he saw the moment Jacob realised something was wrong.
“What is this?” he asked, again drawing the Prime Minister close and using him as a human shield.
“Those are their families and loved ones asking them what on earth they’re playing at and telling them to stand down,” Stella answered. “This is the problem of taking people away from their homes and commanding them to do something this stupid, it only works until someone they respect explains the consequences.”
“You threatened their families?”
“No, we simply informed them about how this would turn out if your dreamwalkers don’t turn themselves in. We agreed to be lenient on anyone who hasn’t taken part in any killing today, though they will all see the inside of a prison cell for at least a few years, that’s unavoidable.”
One by one, phone conversations were ending, most resulting in dreamwalkers who looked pale and shaken up. However, in some cases the dreamwalkers were furious as their conversations hadn’t gone well.
Tad knew Stella had prepared for both outcomes, and by the looks of it, they had fared better than he dared hope. At least half of the dreamwalkers were backing away from Jacob, not wanting to be part of this any longer. Tad sighed in relief. The truth was Jacob had been right, he wasn’t as outgunned as it looked. Even though the soldiers had secured the perimeter and they severely outnumbered the dreamwalkers, Tad knew a well crafted dream could take out tens of soldiers at once, instantly removing their advantage. The less dreamwalkers they had to face, the better.
“Enough!” Jacob shouted. “I still have the Prime Minister and—”
“Everybody who agreed to stand down please dreamwalk to the group to my far right and surrender yourselves,” Stella interrupted, motioning to the solders who waited to secure the dreamwalkers. “You have ten seconds before the deal that was explained to you by your loved ones is off the table. Don’t think of running because as you just found out, we know who you are where you live. If you make us come looking, you will be treated as terrorist and hunted down. Come on, I’m waiting.”
The frightened dreamwalkers looked at each other and whispered a few last desperate words before one by one they dreamwalked to the soldiers Stella had indicated, meekly accepting the handcuffs inlaid with dreamcatchers that would block their powers. Nearly twenty men and over half of Jacob’s remaining force.
The last straw for Jacob was when Brad took one long look at his friend, shook his head sadly, then turned himself in. Jacob blinked like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, then he lost his cool. He turned to those few men who remained and screamed, “Now!”
Fireballs flared into existence and laser pointers sprang into the hands of other dreamwalkers. One man started waving his arms as he stirred up the surrounding air. In an instant, the fragile peace was broken.
No one needed to give the order for the soldiers to open fire. They had been told that at the first sign of dreamwalker aggression they should be taken out immediately, as the risk was too high. The sharp cracks of gunfire split the relative silence, making Tad jump and the dreamwalkers flinch, but that was all they did. The dreamwalkers were prepared for this and every dreamwalker who hadn’t yet conjured deadly Dreams did something Tad had never seen before.
Air shimmered in an arc around the front of the building, and as the bullets hit that bubble, they stopped instantly. Tad knew they were playing with the natural resistance of air as it was a favourite trick of his, but he had never thought to use it to stop bullets. He wouldn’t trust it for that purpose, and he wondered just how long they must have been training for something like this to be so confident. The results spoke for themselves. The bullets hung in the air, unable to break through, but did nothing to protect the people on Tad’s side from the deadly effect of Dream.
Fireballs passed through that dense air like it was nothing, and the laser light was unaffected as it cut into men who screamed as they were both burned and cut in half.
Ten soldiers were taken out in an instant. The loss of life was so sudden that it would have frozen Tad in shock. Rodney, however, was outraged at the loss of military life and used his outrage to force Tad past his shock. Those dreamwalkers had crossed a line Tad couldn’t live with, and even though those soldiers knew the risks, that loss felt personal to both Tad and Rodney. They agreed to come here under the Dream Team’s command because the Dream Team and Tad were supposed to counter the worst of the Dream attacks so they could do their jobs.
He had already failed, but that failure ended now.
Tad called to Tony even as he reached for the additional strength from the two ghosts he was already merged with. Tony responded instantly, breaking into mist and rushing to where Tad waited with an outstretched hand to draw him in. Tad added that power to his already vast reserves, then pulled over Dream in waves. It took moments to picture what he wanted, then he stamped his foot.
Unlike what happened at the DTHQ, the ground didn’t crack or split, it rumbled and shifted like they were standing on the back of a giant who had just woken up. The ground shook so hard that buildings groaned in protest, the waters of the bay roiled, and every window in sight shattered at once. The dreamwalkers were standing near a building that was nearly all glass, and they screamed as they fell and covered their heads as shattered glass rained down on them.
Car alarms sounded in the distance as the rumbling rippled outward before losing momentum. In the wake of that earthquake, those alarms were the only sounds that broke the silence as soldiers stopped firing their guns and dreamwalkers stop shouting. There was the tinkling of bullets hitting the
ground as the shield fell, but Tad ignored them as all eyes turn to him, most filled with fear.
From where he cowered at the top of the steps, hidden behind the Prime Minister, Jacob stared at Tad like he was looking at an alien. However, those eyes soon narrowed and he waved both his arms in a violent gesture.
The tinkling of falling glass and bullets intensified into a chiming roar as thousands of glistening shards were picked up by an enormous wind that rose from nowhere, flying like a plague of locusts, ready to tear everyone to shreds.
Copying what he had seen just a moment earlier, Tad called to Dream and cast his will on the surrounding air. So soon after creating that earthquake, the strain of calling that much Dream was almost too much, even with the aid of his ghosts. However, though exhausted, he had broken no rules of Dream yet and it wasn’t actually painful. Therefore he held that door open long enough to turn his dream into a reality and a rippling wall of air shimmered into existence between Tad’s people and the oncoming debris, wide enough to surround the Assembly building and tall enough that it dwarfed the building as well. The shards of glass and metal hit that wall with enough force to stagger Tad back and nearly make him lose concentration, but with the aid of his ghosts he kept his mind strong and his barrier held. Soon it became a physical barrier that looked almost like crystal as the glass collected along its surface and held there.
Tad endured the strain of holding that barrier for as long as he could, and then when he was sure that the wind had died down, he let go of one dream and called another. He brought his arms inward like he might clap his hands, but stopped short, calling up twin winds of his own to blow those glass particles and bullets toward each other to create one giant mass. Once the air had started moving, he called yet one more dream, and this time stretched the limits of what he could achieve.
He used the now familiar fireball trick of creating friction and then augmenting that heat to create a flame, but he tried to intensify that heat to a temperature that would turn the coalescing cloud of glass and metal into a single molten mass. There was a familiar spike of pain as his vision wavered, but again Dream answered.