Life of a Dream

by Smith, Dean Wesley

  She flexed her fingers and the muscles under the skin rippled.

  It felt wonderful.

  It always felt wonderful.

  No pain, no aches.

  Just the sense of health and youth.

  She had made it again.

  The room smelled faintly of oranges and roses mingled with machine oil, and she loved both smells. She had called her ship The Blooming Rose because of that smell.

  With both hands, she grabbed the sides of the coffin sleep module and lifted herself out, kicking over the side without so much as a caught heel. The feeling of youth was simply wonderful, better than any drug ever invented.

  She still wore her old woman’s nightgown, but she quickly pulled that off and tossed it back in the coffin. She would need it for the return trip, if she lived through this coming fight. If not, they’d need it for her body. And tomorrow morning her son on the west coast would get a call that she had died peacefully in her sleep.

  But she had no plans on dying this mission. She wouldn’t do that to Brian. She wouldn’t leave him there alone to die in his old body. That wasn’t going to happen.

  She flexed the muscles in her shoulders and neck. Her body was one she barely remembered from her youth. Yet each time she went on a mission, this body returned, good as ever. Whatever the strange relative-matter-physics involved in Trans-Galactic travel, she loved this body, and hadn’t appreciated it enough back when she was young.

  At least she hadn’t appreciated it in the right ways.

  She got dressed and then brushed a hand through her now full head of brown hair. Then she turned and glanced at the only mirror in the small room.

  The reflection that greeted her was one of her youth, control, and power. She couldn’t be more than twenty-one or twenty-two on this mission. Only the knowledge and memories inside the young body were of an eighty-seven year old woman who had, seemingly moments before, been asleep in a nursing home room in Chicago, on the planet Earth.

  No telling exactly where in space she was at the moment.

  She looked twenty-one, but was a four-year veteran of the Earth Protection League. Earth time.

  She had earned her ship and her captain’s rank faster than even Brian had done. Brian’s advice and guidance had been amazing and part of that quick rise to being a Captain.

  One nice thing about being in the EPL. Out here it didn’t matter how young you looked. Just that you got the job done.

  She patted the stunner on her hip, enjoying the solid feel of the hard-rubber handle. Years ago she never would have thought she could ever fire a gun, let alone enjoy feeling one on her hip.

  With one more quick look in the mirror, she turned and strode out of the room, turning right toward the Command Center of The Blooming Rose.

  She had a mission to finish and people to talk to before getting back to Brian and getting him out of that nursing home.

  She knew this ship like the back of her now-young hand. She had been on board it for almost a hundred missions, had renamed it when she became captain, had flown it through some of the toughest space in this sector of the Galaxy. It felt like home, far more than her home back in Chicago had ever done. In fact, her cabin on this ship was twice the size as her nursing home room.

  The hallways of the ship were wide enough that three people could walk side-by-side. The metal walls were covered in a rubber coating and painted light blue which made them feel warm and soft and inviting, not like walking down the corridor of a normal military ship.

  She also loved the floors. They were all coated in a thicker rubber substance that kept noise down and were still solid under a person’s feet. Only problem was that one person could sneak up on another easily.

  Every twenty paces was a communications screen on the wall for instant contract from anywhere in the ship and every forty paces was a sliding bulkhead door hidden in the walls that could be closed to shut off sections of the ship.

  Throughout the ship her crew would be coming awake in their cabins, dressing and moving to their stations, getting ready for whatever faced them on this mission.

  She didn’t wait for them, but instead strode directly to the empty Command Center and dropped down into the captain’s chair.

  Her chair.

  Around her the fairly small room was only three other stations, one on her left, the other on her right, both with a high-backed chair like hers and view screens above them showing the blackness of space and seven other EPL warships.

  The fourth station was behind her, the communication station. She never had anyone in that spot, letting her two command crew do that job.

  Brian did the same on his ship.

  Actually, the Command Center was on the very front and highest point of the warship. And the ship itself was so big that even at a good pace it was a good five-minute hike from the Command Center to the engine room at the back of the warship.

  And the ship itself, as all EPL battleships, was shaped like a bird. It seemed that many of Earth’s enemies found birds frightening creatures.

  In front of her a small screen on the panel flared to light and the smiling face of General George Meyers filled it. He had deep blue eyes, white hair, and more wrinkles than almost any human Dot had ever seen. Yet the face was one that seemed comfortable with command. She had no idea where he was located, in what part of space. For all she knew, he could be back on Earth, but she didn’t think so.

  “Glad you made it, Captain Leeds.”

  “Glad to be here, sir,” Dot said. “I’m going to need to talk with you about Captain Saber after this is finished.”

  The General nodded. “Of course.”

  “So what is the problem?”

  She expected the normal mission briefing, but was shocked when the General said, “Not yet. I need you to gather with seven other Captains on Captain Saber’s ship. His second in command, Marian Knudson has the helm for this mission.”

  “When?” Dot asked.

  She had spent a lot of time on Brian’s ship, but never once when he wasn’t on it.

  “Twenty minutes,” he said and the screen went blank.

  “What was that all about?” Steve “Quick Draw” Oldham asked as he dropped into his chair in the station to her right.

  Steve was her second-in-command and had been her close friend for years now, even turning down his own ship to stay with her as a team. He lived in a nursing home in California somewhere. On Earth he was three years younger than she was. He looked like a teenager on this mission. It seems they had really pushed them out farther away from Earth than normal.

  Steve had gotten his nickname in basic camp because he could draw a photon stunner faster than even the instructor and was a deadly shot with it. Watching too many Roy Rogers westerns when he was a kid, he had said. The nickname had stuck.

  “Not a clue,” Dot said, shaking her head.

  She didn’t like having to get with other captains and without Brian to lead them. It meant something real ugly was happening.

  She stood as her third-in-command came in.

  Carrie Nelson lived in the Chicago area as well, but out near the airport, and was about Dot’s age on Earth. Out in space she was a petite little blonde who couldn’t be more than five-two at best. Dot at five-six seemed to tower over her.

  Yet Dot had seen Carrie in a fight. She was like a whirlwind and if Dot had to pick Steve or Carrie to have her back when things got ugly in hand-to-hand, she would pick Carrie.

  “A little meeting first,” Dot said to Carrie’s puzzled look. “Got to go over to Captain Saber’s ship.”

  She smiled. “Not too much time I hope.”

  Captain Saber is not along on this mission,” Dot said. “Not feeling well.”

  “Oh,” was all Carrie said, looking at Dot with a compassionate look.

  “Don’t worry,” Dot said, smiling at her friend and third-in-command. “I’ll get his ass out of that nursing home when we get done here.”

  “So who’s driving Th
e Bad Business?” Steve asked.

  “Marian Knudson is acting Captain,” Dot said.

  “I hear she’s a red-headed dream on two legs,” Carrie said, laughing and winking at Dot. “You should take Steve along. He needs to get laid once before he dies.”

  Steve put his hand up in the air. “I volunteer for that duty.”

  Dot shook her head. “I have a hunch Acting Captain Knudson makes it a habit to not sleep with anyone with Quick in their reputation.”

  She winked at Carrie who could barely contain her laughter with her back to Steve’s frown.

  “Get the ship up and ready to go,” Dot said, smiling at her two friends. “I’ll be back shortly. I have a hunch we’re in some deep trouble with this mission.”

  And whatever they were facing, she was going to beat it and get back to Earth and Brian, one way or another.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  April 20th, 1962

  Equivalent Earth Time

  Location: Deep Space

  DOT STOPPED BESIDE the other six captains, all of whom she already knew well, as Acting-Captain Knudson walked to the front of the room that the crew used for mostly dances and watching movies.

  Dot and Brian had spent a lot of time in this room after missions, dancing and talking.

  Right now the big movie screen had been extended from the wall and everyone was facing the screen.

  The silence in the room felt like that of a funeral. Dot just hoped it wasn’t going to be all of their funerals they were attending.

  Marian clicked the intercom. “Go ahead, Carl.”

  A moment later General Bank’s face filled the big screen. The General didn’t wear his normal smile as he said, “Good morning, captains. We have an ugly situation at hand.”

  Dot stood back to one side and tried to focus on what the General was saying and not worry about Brian.

  Almost impossible to do.

  “The Dogs have broken through once again,” the general said. “It seems our destroying their base sort of made them angry.”

  “What?” Dot asked, stunned. The other captains all shifted and shook their heads in understanding.

  The general went on. “They broke through our outer defenses yesterday Earth time. We’ve had a few skirmishes with them along the border over the last few days, but this breakthrough now is major. Our allies in the League and border patrols couldn’t stop them and had to pull back.”

  “That bad, huh?” Dot asked. A feeling of dread was quickly replacing the wonderful feel of being young again.

  The general nodded. “This morning we got data that make it clear that they are headed to Earth to destroy the center of the League once and for all. And they have enough ships to do it.”

  Dot stepped forward toward the big screen and looked intently at the general, not letting the worry filling her chest show. Since without Brian here, she was the most senior captain in the group. She felt it was her job to ask the questions.

  “How many ships did they send?”

  “Over five hundred of their warships got through the border and are headed for your position at a very slow, but still Trans-Galactic speed,” the general said. “Your job is to try to slow them down even more, give us time behind you to form a second and third line of defense to turn them and keep them from reaching Earth.”

  “Understood,” Dot said.

  “Anyone have any questions?” the general asked

  Dot glanced at the other captains.

  All looked firm and determined. But none of the captains seemed to want to say anything.

  She turned back to the general. “We’ll slow them down. Maybe knock their numbers down a few. You can count on that.”

  The general nodded. “I knew I could depend on all of you.”

  The screen went blank.

  She took a deep breath, stunned. At least the general had the common decency to not say that it had been nice knowing them all. Or even good luck.

  This would be the last mission for all of them.

  The general knew it. They all knew it.

  This was their funeral.

  She would not make it back to see Brian again.

  That thought just broke her heart and she shuddered.

  She would die young and in deep space, just as Brian had always hoped he would. Better than in his sleep in the nursing home back on Earth. So that meant that if he wasn’t going to die there, she had to win this coming battle somehow.

  She took a deep breath, shoved the fear aside, and turned to the other captains. “Looks like we’ve got some work ahead of us.”

  She strolled for the door, headed for her Command Center.

  If this was her last mission and she would never see Brian again, she intended to make it a good one.

  If she had anything to say about it, she was going to save Earth one last time.

  And the man she loved in the process.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  April 20th, 1962

  Equivalent Earth Time

  Location: Deep Space

  “SO, HOW WAS the dreamboat Acting Captain Knudson?” Carrie asked as Dot entered The Blooming Rose command center. “Steve here can’t seem to concentrate.”

  “You know I’m here, don’t you?” Steve said.

  “Ignoring you like usual,” Carrie said, staring at Dot. “You look upset, Captain. Was it that bad?”

  “This mission sucks.”

  She dropped down into her command chair and just stared at the screen showing the empty space around them and the other seven EPL warships.

  “So what do they have us doing this time?” Steve asked. “Can’t be much worse than those reptile things we had to clean up on Darren Six last mission.”

  “The Dogs got pissed at us for sending a moon at their military base and broke out of their fence,” Dot said. “We’re supposed to try to slow them down until the League can mount a decent defense behind us.”

  “Crap,” Steve said.

  “You’re kidding, right?” Carrie asked.

  Dot didn’t turn to look at her second-in-command. She knew that Carrie’s face would be white.

  “How many?” Steve asked, his voice low and hushed.

  “Five hundred of their warships. Eight of us.”

  “Oh, for a moment there I thought we were in trouble,” Steve said.

  “Does the League have any idea how we’re supposed to do this?” Carrie asked.

  “Not a word,” Dot said, smiling at her friend. “They left it up to our ancient wisdom to come up with something to slow them down.”

  “I hate it when they do that,” Steve said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Dot said, trying not to laugh. Thank God for friends around her. They always made things easier in the toughest situations.

  “You two work on finding out how much time we have until they get here, what speed they’re moving, so on, and I’ll brief the rest of the crew. Call them all to the rec room, would you, Steve?”

  She pushed herself easily to her feet and headed out.

  She could have done this task from her command chair, but she wanted to feel young again, walk quickly again, just one more time.

  And besides, her crew deserved to learn they were about to die from her personally.

  It was the least she could do.

  It was halfway through the personnel briefing with the almost forty members of his gathered crew that Dot came up with the plan that just might give them a little better chance of staying alive a little longer.

  And maybe in the long run, save Earth.

  A few minutes later she finished the briefing and sprinted back to the Command Center of the ship, her shoes making almost no sound on the rubber floors of the hallways

  She enjoyed the run, but then finally dropped into her chair. Wow, she loved being young, being in shape, being able to just walk. Let alone run.

  “How long?”

  “Five hundred Dog Warships will be barking on our front steps in exactly thirty-fiv
e minutes,” Carrie said.

  “Perfect,” Dot said.

  “Perfect?” Steve asked. “You have a very weird way of looking at this situation.”

  Dot laughed. “Steve, contact all the other ships and have them be ready to match the Dog’s Trans-Galactic speed in fifteen minutes.”

  Steve glanced over at her. “You really like getting your butt kicked by slug-looking poodles, don’t you?”

  “How old are you, Steve?” Dot asked, her fingers working on the board as she talked.

  “Six months short of the big eighty-five,” Steve said. “And still getting around just fine with the ladies at the home I might add.”

  “They can’t be very picky,” Carrie said.

  “And how long did it take us to get from Earth to this position?” Dot asked.

  “From what measuring point?” Steve asked.

  Dot liked Steve because he understood all the crazy things that went on with space and time on these ships.

  “Earth time?” Dot asked.

  “Over sixty or so years,” Steve said.

  “Transport shipboard time? How long did the trip take to get us out here?”

  “Six days, ten hours, and a few odd minutes while we slept like babies.”

  “And it will take us that long to get back?” Dot asked, “Right?”

  “Shipboard time,” Steve said. “They’ll speed up the ship slightly on the return voyage and we’ll end up back in our beds less than thirty minutes after we left, Earth time that is, even if we spend weeks out here. You know that.”

  Dot nodded. It was why she knew she could safely leave Brian sleeping. She was only going to be gone for a few minutes in Brian’s time if she survived.

  “So how are the Dogs handling the same matter/relativity/time problem on their flight toward Earth at the speeds they are traveling?”

  “How the hell would I—”

  Suddenly Steve stopped and smiled at Dot. “I see where you’re headed Captain. Their life spans are shorter than ours, right?”

  “Exactly,” Dot said. “Which is why they are moving at a slow Trans-Galactic speed, because they don’t dare go any faster or they would end up Dog-pups or not exist at all when they reached Earth.”