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We? said Jack without turning around. Talbot didn t answer.
When Jack turned back, Talbot had gone.
Seventeen
Though he tried desperately to stay in the dream, as soon as Talbot
disappeared, Jack found himself dragged upward through the layers. The room
and the aliens grew foggy, blowing away in wisps and strands that curled
around him like the cloying shadow from before. He fought, but soon the cabin
lights filtered with dark pink light through his eyelids, and with a grimace
he opened his eyes. Back in the blank cabin aboard theAmaranth, and if
anything, he was more confused than before about what his inner senses were
telling him.
With a frustrated mutter, he swung his feet off the bed, reached for his
clothes, and slowly pulled on his shirt. He looked at his case, the bundled
clothes, and other things protruding from the top, wondering if there was any
point in unpacking. One thing he knew for sure: He had to replace the stone
shard and keep it out of harm s way. Who knew what would happen if he d left
it lying around and they lost spin again. Standing, pulling on the rest of his
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clothes, he then bent and pushed everything back into the bag, including the
shard, and shoved it back in the locker.
He needed someone with whom to talk through what he had seen. He needed
Billie. Ever since she d come into his life, she d acted as his sounding
board, pointing out flaws in his thinking whether he wanted it or not. Running
solo again was different. If he was lucky, Dog might serve the same purpose,
though he was a little wary of sharing the insides of his thought patterns
with someone like Dog. Not that he didn t trust him. Well, he didn t,
completely. Jack had sensed traces of skepticism in McCreedy s reactions, but
that was normal. He often sensed skepticism just about every time he took on a
case.
It didn t hurt to try.
He unlocked the cabin door and headed forward.
The control room/bridge, whatever it was, sat empty, along with McCreedy s
seat. Jack wandered over to the seat and scanned the controls, but there was
nothing there that made any sense to him. Color-coded displays, numbers,
symbols; it was all very impressive, but told him nothing. He thought about
rousing Dog from whatever he was doing, but decided against it. His fellow
passenger would emerge soon enough. Jack wasn t sure how long he d spent in
dreaming, but even if it hadn t been that long, it couldn t be much more time
before Dog would have to appear to make the adjustments required before their
next jump.
Instead, Jack took his own seat, stretched his legs out so that his feet were
resting on the front console, and stared out into the Dopplered stars showing
through the viewscreens. Off to one side a weird pinkish cloud shot with
orange and trailing off to white tissue at the farthest end dominated the sky.
Looking out to the right, he saw a small glowing ball shining with blue light,
almost too bright to look at.
He pulled his feet off the console and sat forward, scanning the image in
front while he thought. For some reason the aliens had been asking him what he
was doing there. Or at least Talbot had been. Were they one and the same? And
if so, why would his dream consciousness transpose the two?
One by one, he picked through the images. The tall buildings, the room he had
been in they were the same as the buildings he d seen on Mandala at the City
of Trees, but whole, rather than weathered and damaged by whatever disaster
had struck that planet. So it was an alien city, and it had to be on the alien
homeworld, where they were headed. What he didn t get was that complete
immobility and apparent lack of awareness. Every time he had dreamed the
aliens, they had been completely aware of his presence. They had responded;
but this time it was Talbot who had been doing the responding. Yet Talbot had
said he wasn t there. None of it made sense.
And it was getting him no closer to Billie and Antille.
Ah, Jack. Any luck? asked Dog as he wandered in. Jack watched him approach
in the slightly distorted reflection in front. Dog was pulling his fingers
through his hair in a halfhearted attempt to get it in some semblance of
order. By the time he reached the back of Jack s chair, he had given up.
Not really, said Jack without turning around. I got some images that I
think are the alien homeworld, but apart from that, no clear message. Just
some stuff that makes me think I m not done yet.
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How often can you do this? asked Dog, leaning on the back of the chair now.
Jack grimaced as he answered. I really don t know. I ve never really pushed
the limits, or needed to. When I ve tried to go in too many times in a short
period, the dreamstate just gets shorter and shorter. I really think I m done
for a couple of days now. I then have to knit the sequences together to
anything meaningful, and I can feel that starting to happen now. There s
something there, but I m still not getting what it is.
Dog rocked back and forth on the chair. Will you look at that?
Jack looked up at him. Dog wore a rapt expression, staring out at the view in
front.
Damn, I never tire of this stuff, and it just gets better. Better than
drugs, you know?
Jack turned back to look at what Dog was seeing. Yeah, it was impressive, but
it clearly didn t stir Jack s emotions in quite the same way.
The jump drive s made all the difference, said Dog. Old conventional
drives, the same things over and over, day after day, week in, week out. But
this& He shook his head, his eyes wide. Who would have considered the
possibilities? His voice trailed off. Man, he breathed.
Yeah, I get it, said Jack. So how long have we got?
Dog tore his attention away from the view and glanced over at a display.
Hmmm, about an hour and a half, I d say.
Jack nodded.
Sit down, Dog, said Jack.
McCreedy frowned but did as he was asked. What is it?
What s really in this for you, McCreedy?
Dog lowered his gaze and scratched at the back of his neck. He glanced up at
the view again, then back to Jack s face. That s part of it, out there.
Adventure, the undiscovered, something new. I m serious. I get bored real
easy, Jack. You just happened to strike me at the right time. Just lucky, I
guess.
Come on. What gets you, Dog? What do you want?
Dog was looking down at his feet. I never owned anything growing up, he
said quietly. I was just shoved from place to place and never had any
control. The military was a way to get away from that, but that was a mistake
too. In the end, it wound up being just more of the same. I thought I d
escaped. He gave a short, self-deprecating laugh. But now& He lifted his
gaze slowly. I own the fucking universe, man.
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