Gaia Dreams (Gaiaverse Book 1)

by Pamela Davis

  Click, click went the keys.

  She glanced at the screen again.

  OPEN YOUR MIND.

  "Open my what? Open my mind? Have you lost your marbles? Have you...hey, wait just a doggone second here...you did sorta get into my mind before, didn't you? How did you do that? Like telepathy...cat telepathy...oh, boy, I'd better never go see a shrink again because I'd get locked up for sure! Okay, okay, let's think about this. You did tell me stuff--how did I know it? I just kind of knew it, without really knowing how I knew it. Well, that's helpful. How exactly do I open my mind, oh, Merlin the Great?"

  Click, click went the keys.

  The screen said, RELAX.

  "Hello? Anyone inside that skull of yours? Duh, I'm driving! I don't think relaxing and driving go real well together." Her tone getting more sarcastic, Lisanne went on. "Let's see, I'll just go into a little trance here right on the highway doing sixty miles an hour and then you can talk all you want to me--but, oh yeah, that's right, it won't matter anymore 'cause we'll be dead, you numbskull, after we run off the road or slam into a bridge abutment or something like that!"

  Click, click went the keys.

  Angrily she looked at the screen.

  It said: YOURE AN IDIOT.

  Lisanne exploded, "I'm an idiot! That's what you write? That I'm an idiot? Why you four-legged excuse for an intelligent being! I'll tell you what you are--you're a--you're a--you're...a cat!" and then she started to giggle, realizing how ridiculous and wonderful the entire thing really was. "Oh, Merlin, you're a cat! And we're having an argument! Isn't that delicious!" And in that moment she relaxed and Merlin got into her mind.

  Behind Lisanne's car, Andy's emotions had ranged from disbelief to limited acceptance back to denial of all he'd experienced today and then to resigned acknowledgement that he was, in fact, following a woman he hardly knew to Memphis based on the advice of a cat and a dog. He had picked up the cell phone to give her a call when Lisanne's car swerved to the right lane, narrowly missing a white Toyota. Speeding up to pass the Toyota, Andy managed to maneuver his Range Rover behind Lisanne again and then punched in her cell phone number, wondering what was wrong. Her car was still weaving in the right lane.

  After three rings she answered, her voice sounding soft and fuzzy. "Hello?"

  "Lisanne!" Andy said sharply. "Did you fall asleep?"

  "Wha--What?" Her voice began to change. "What's--What's going on?"

  "Lisanne! It's Andy, behind you. You've been weaving all over the place and you almost took out another car--"

  "Merlin! I told you this was going to happen!" he heard Lisanne saying sternly.

  "Lisanne," Andy began. "What's going on? I think we need to pull off somewhere and talk."

  "No," she said. "We don't have time--well, okay, maybe we have a little bit of time. Where the heck are we right now?

  "Coming up on the exit for Winona - 55 intersects with Highway 82 up ahead...look, let's get off at that exit."

  "Okay," said Lisanne. "I think I need some coffee, and you're right - we most definitely need to talk about what just happened."

  She switched off her cell phone and said quietly, "Now Merlin, I don't suppose I have to yell and scream about what just happened because you can read my thoughts, right? Well, be sure and read all of them very carefully right now!"

  The cat flattened his ears and hissed at her and then turned his head away to look at the window. Humans were a trial to deal with, he thought miserably. Watching the land speed by, he was still fairly satisfied with himself. His goal had been accomplished, the door to Lisanne's mind had been opened, and communication between them would become easier and easier with time and a modicum of effort on his part. He thought for a moment and then admitted to himself that it would most likely take more than a little effort on his side of the equation and growled low in this throat. Lisanne was a full plateful of trouble to deal with, make no mistake. She had her own ideas about things and he couldn't make assumptions that she would just continue to blindly follow him. But, he argued with himself that had been why he jumped ahead to forcing the link between their minds. To get her to see his logic sooner rather than later. If she fought him at every turn, they might not make it, might not survive the disasters that lay ahead on their trip. He needed her brain working with his, not against.

  Merlin licked his paw and washed his face, preparing for the visit with Andy and Waldo. If he had been human, he would have sighed resignedly. He wished he could get another sense of the cat presence he felt briefly before, the one who lived where they were going. Now that one would have known how to deal with Lisanne! He seemed wise and older than Merlin. But the presence had been felt for only a few moments as it imparted vital information, and then it was gone...and now Merlin was on his own...with a dog of all things and a disbelieving man! Although, the dog had turned out to be not so bad, even if he was gigantic and wanting to make friends so much that he had actually slobbered all over Merlin when they first met! Of course, the cat had suffered stoically in silence, not letting on how inappropriate he thought this behavior was. And after a while the dog settled down and even seemed to pick up on how he should be acting. The things he was having to do to support the cause! Wait now, he thought in surprise...that was interesting...what cause? Just what cause were they all fighting for, working for, working toward? Merlin prided himself on knowing his own mind, on keeping well-ordered thought processes (unlike humans), and on focusing his thoughts (unlike dogs). This was a slip, an unknown...support the cause...interesting! He'd have to think about just where that thought had come from and what it meant.

  "Merlin!"

  He started and realized Lisanne had been calling to him. Amazing! He'd actually been lost in his thoughts!

  "Well, are you coming or not?"

  He looked out the window and saw they were parked at a diner and that Lisanne was motioning for him to come with her to Andy's car. Gathering himself and his wayward thoughts together, he leaped from the car into her arms, thinking, you're not going anywhere without me, Lisanne.

  Lisanne's eyes widened a bit and she said, "I heard that! Or rather, I knew it, I knew you said it...oh, I don't know how to describe it...." She just looked hard at him for a moment and then said, "No, I don't suppose I'm going anywhere without you, either."

  Slamming the door to the car, she marched over to Andy's, and Merlin could tell she was feeling at once pleased with herself for hearing him while also feeling somewhat scared by the whole experience. It was a start, he thought pragmatically.

  Somewhere over the Southern States

  Maria's cell phone rang, waking her from a sound sleep. "Hello?" she said sleepily.

  "Maria? Its Margaret," said the voice on the other end. Maria woke up quickly.

  "What's wrong now?" Maria said alertly.

  "Wrong? Oh, nothing's wrong, exactly, it's just that I need for your plane to stop outside Houston at a small airport there to pick up some people who were stranded...I'm afraid you all are going to be a bit crowded for the rest of the trip."

  "Well, uh, sure. No problem. It's your plane after all. Besides, if we can save some people, I'm all for it." Maria said this last with some bitterness.

  Margaret said nothing for a moment, and then spoke calmly, "I do understand your feelings, more than you can possibly know. It's a horrible thing to know what will happen and be helpless to stop it, helpless to save people. But you are right. This side trip of yours will save people and it's necessary. I do need to warn you, though, that it's going to be a bumpy ride because the winds have picked up there, so this won't be easy."

  Maria berated herself mentally for her thoughtlessness. Of all of them, Margaret knew what it felt like to see what was coming and be unable to save everyone. "Yes, all right," Maria rallied, "we'll be ready for our new passengers." She clicked off the phone and explained the details to Zack. Phoebe, thankfully, remained unconscious.

  Exit at intersection of Highways 55 North and 82 West, Mississippi />
  "Okay, so what you're telling me is that you went into some kind of trance-like state and Merlin was in your mind and he talked to you?" Andy said, his questioning tone rising in scale.

  "Not quite like that, no. Look, I can't really explain it to you. I had been complaining to him that there had to be a better way to communicate and he said, on the computer, that there was--basically, from what I understand it's like a door opening in your mind, and once that door is opened, a link can be made between the animal and you. Then it's like you just 'know' what they are saying. You don't exactly hear it like words, but you know it. Does that make sense?" Lisanne said, cocking her head to one side.

  Andy looked at her shiny, black cropped hair still sticking out in all directions. The heavy mascara was long gone after the tears of the day, and her eyes were luminous in the neon lights of the diner, shining in the night. Her rosy red lips were curved in an anxious smile and he thought fleetingly that he'd never seen more kissable lips when he saw them speaking again, and heard, "Hello? Andy? Are you even listening to me? If I'm going to take the time to explain this stuff to you, the least you could do is pay attention!"

  He saw that the smile had become a frown and quickly said, "No, no, I was listening. It makes no sense at all."

  "What?" She glowered at him.

  He just smiled back at her bemused. "But I believe you, if that's any consolation," he said.

  She stopped short and then said, "Oh. Well. Well, that's different, then," and sat back, mollified.

  As she sipped her coffee latte, he asked, "So what did you learn about why we're going to Memphis? What's there for us?"

  Turning to face him again, Lisanne said excitedly, "That's the big news. We have to change course. Merlin thinks Memphis traffic could be too heavy-duty, or something like that. I don't understand exactly what's going to be happening there. But he thinks we should go ahead and cross the Mississippi River at Chicot, Arkansas. And that means, we should take 82 West, which means we take a left here at this exit."

  Andy frowned. "But I thought we were supposed to be heading north to get out of the way of the storm."

  "Yeah, well, so did I and we are, but we maybe are okay on that for now. The bigger news is that the Mississippi is going to flood big time. So we want to be on the other side. Because wherever we are going to end up is on that side," Lisanne said triumphantly.

  "Now just hold on," Andy began. "What do you mean, where we will end up? Just what are we doing? I've left my job, my house, everything--all on the say-so of your cat! I've followed you blindly all over the place. I have my dog, my car and the clothes on my back and that's it! I'm not prepared for a long trip. I think I deserve more explanation than this, don't you?" By the time he was finished, Andy's voice had risen until he was almost yelling.

  Lisanne was startled by Andy's outburst. He had seemed so calm and steady up to now, almost placid. She might have to re-think this guy. He had some feelings inside there after all. She looked at Merlin and he stared at her for a minute and then nodded.

  "Okay, okay, settle down," she said. "I know this is bizarre. And I know it's not fair that it got sprung on you with no warning. I didn't get much warning either, but at least I got to bring some of my stuff with me. The problem is," and here her voice became sympathetic and gentler, "your house probably isn't there anymore. Your clothes, possessions--they're all gone by now. Because you followed us blindly, you and Waldo are still alive--and that's a good thing. We're all caught up in something bigger than any of us and we don't know where it's going to end up. But we're going to try and survive and maybe we'll get some answers eventually. By some miracle, you and I, and maybe other people out there, have some connection to these animals so we are getting warnings of these--these--I don't know what to call them--these dire things that are happening. Because we have the warnings we can get ourselves to safety. And the other thing we know is that there is some place the animals seem to be drawn to, seem to pushing us to go to, so that is probably where we should go. My guess is that if we go there we will get more answers." She stopped talking and reached out a hand to him, tentatively.

  Andy saw her hand outstretched, and thought irrelevantly that he'd never seen anyone wear dark purple nail polish before. He gingerly touched her hand then grasped it tightly and held on as if for dear life.

  "I'm scared by all this, Lisanne," he said simply.

  She gave a small laugh and said, "If you weren't, I'd think you were really nuts!" She paused for a moment and then said, "I'm scared, too, Andy. I'm scared too."

  Airfield outside Houston, Texas

  After the scariest landing she'd ever experienced, Maria wanted nothing more than to get off the ground again as soon as possible. One look out the window convinced her that Houston was the last place she wanted to be. Wind and rains lashed the tarmac and she was concerned they wouldn't be able to take off with all the debris flying around.

  The door opened and the howling noises from outside entered the interior as their new passengers hustled on board. With everyone scrambling to get seated and the steward hurrying to buckle people in and the pilot urging haste, Maria didn't have time to determine what was so special about these people until they took off. Even then, they were all so drenched she didn't at first recognize the Mayor of Houston and wouldn't have then until she saw Alan Beakman. His imposing presence could not be mistaken. Maria had interviewed Dusty Dubois in her first year as mayor and met Alan then, as well. She admired the feisty mayor and was not surprised to see that she had made it out of Houston. Looking around the rest of the mayor's entourage, she guessed that a few were other city officials. One looked like a sheriff's deputy and that man there...oh, no, thought Maria, that can't be...but, yes, the profile could be none other than Dr. Sheffield Hutton. Maria despised Dr. Hutton. Her interviews with the man never went well and she resented the way he presented science to the world as if it were his property, presented from some pedestal on high, to be administered by priests or gods. His condescending tone and patronizing voice had driven her to great lengths in researching topics before interviewing him, but she had yet to feel she came off looking good when talking to him. The man just felt evil. That he was the President's Science Advisor was one of the scariest things about this administration, Maria thought.

  Maria nudged Zack, who had moved to sit next to her. "Look who's on board," she whispered. "Sheffield Hutton the third."

  Zack leaned across her to look toward the back of the plane. "Oh, hell," he muttered.

  Highway 82 West, Greenwood, Mississippi, An ATM Machine

  Andy inserted his bank card and input his password. Thanking his lucky stars his bank was part of a larger network and not just a small local one, he was able to withdraw the maximum amount for the day. He walked over to Lisanne's car while swearing under his breath.

  She heard him approach and started talking preemptively. "Look, like I said before, nobody told me to think of all the practicalities. I'll start thinking of them now, I promise. I didn't really think about your money. We had all my money and I just didn't think, okay?"

  Andy looked up suddenly from counting the money in his hand and stared at her intently. "What do you mean we have 'all your money'?"

  "Just what I said. I cleared out my bank account when I left town," Lisanne said smugly.

  "In cash? You're just carrying it around in cash with you?" Andy asked incredulously.

  "Well, sure," Lisanne said haltingly. "What else was I going to do with it? Put it in a bank? I just got through taking it out of a bank because the bank was going to get blown to smithereens! I had to take it with me. I figured we'd need to buy stuff along the way and maybe supplies for wherever we ended up going," her final words ending on a defensive note.

  Andy put both hands up to stop the flow of words.

  "Okay, okay, stop. Just how much money did you have anyway? A couple thousand?"

  "Hmmm, a little more than that," Lisanne said hesitantly.

  Andy's eyes n
arrowed and he said sternly "How much, Lisanne?"

  "Well, now I don't think we should get so caught up in dollar amounts, here. After all, it is my money--"

  "Lisanne!" Andy shouted.

  "One hundred eighty-two thousand, nine hundred and fifty-six dollars," Lisanne said quickly.

  Andy just stared at her and then said ominously, "$182,956? And you've been carrying that around with you in cash? All day?"

  "Not exactly. It was more, but I spent about a bunch on the computer for Merlin--" Seeing the look on his face, she continued rapidly, "But other than that, yeah. It's in this duffle bag right here." And she pointed to a black bag with purple piping on the edges on the floorboard of the passenger side of the car.

  Andy opened and shut his mouth a couple of times to say something and finally gave up and started to laugh. Beside him Waldo barked once in appreciation. Lisanne smiled tentatively and gave a little laugh.

  Finally Andy managed to say, "Can I ask you where did you get that much money?"

  "Inheritance. Mother's life insurance money. Would have been more but I bought a condo with a large piece of it. A condo that is probably floating in the ocean right now," she said regretfully.

  "It does solve any immediate money problems, but I still feel strange knowing you've got that much cash with you. However, I can't think of what else you should do with it." He thought for a minute and then said, "I've got close to twenty thousand in the bank. Plus, there are credit cards. Are things really going to be wiped out everywhere? If they are, we should use our credit cards, max them out and get cash advances."

  "Hey, that's a great idea!" said Lisanne enthusiastically. "Although, I have no clue exactly what we are shopping for yet." At that, Merlin nudged her with his head. Looking at the computer screen, Lisanne said, "Wow! You gotta see this, Andy."

  She perched the laptop on the door of the car and Andy saw a list of items that the cat had made up. "It looks like stuff you would see on survivalist wish list--at least some of it does. Some doesn't make sense to me." He looked at Merlin and then said, "But I guess at this point we just go on faith, right?" Merlin nodded and Waldo barked twice.