4-Dreams

The first leg of the race went beautifully. After the hectic maneuvering out of the start gate, the ships spread out and eased into cruise mode. This particular section of the race wasn't notably long, nor was it especially dangerous. In fact, it was almost as relaxing as flying a trade lane.

The engines on the Bat rattled out a rhythmic beat that enticed Bret into a deep sleep...

Bret was in a small, white room, sitting on a white chair at a white table. The lights hurt his eyes. He was wearing a white robe. Bret felt so out of place, but he couldn't get up from the chair--something compelled him to sit. Soon, a man walked into the room. He was wearing a black robe. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at Bret. There was something about this man that absolutely terrified Bret, but Bret couldn't move or yell or do anything. Slowly, the lights began to dim, and as they did, the room turned darker and darker. Then the room was pitch black and...

Bret awoke with a start. Irridan looked over and said, "Are you well?"

Wiping sweat off his brow, Bret replied, "Yeah, I'm...okay. Just a dream."

He excused himself and went aft, into the restroom and washed his face with cold water. Just a dream. Just a dream. Yet it somehow felt incredibly real, just like the sense that he should be very afraid of this man.

The Bat landed on Doran, at the Landing City spaceport. A spot had been reserved for them, and maintainence crews jumped to work as soon as the engines powered down. Bret and Irridan disembarked to register at the local race office. There was a mandatory 20-hour stopover at each checkpoint, so there was plenty of time to rest and repair any possible damage.

At a news kiosk, Bret learned that one of the ships had burnt out its engines only 20K out of the start gate, and a recovery tug had already brought it in. All the other racers had landed already, or were nearing orbit. Bret was interested to find that the Sabre had come in second place, only an hour behind the Bat. Well, well. Some competition. Bret just might have to look up this Captain Hamil.

Bret was unable to find anything further on Captain Hamil, and Bret was unfamiliar with the class of ship that he flew. So he kept in mind that when the next leg began, he would discreetly do a scan of the ship. Although, that not might help as much since the Bat's scanners were not the best there was. Even the upgrades they had gotten while on Cruan'atan had not improved the overall ability of the scanners. Also, the underground information network that Bret so often relied on was mostly absent here on Doran; what there was in terms of black market info dealt with local matters. So he returned to the ship early, not wanting a mishap much like what happened to Iruoko.

When he returned, still troubled and thinking of the dream, he found Irridan returned as well with armfuls of fruit. And, strangely for her, she seemed quite pleased with herself. He had to ask, "What are you doing?"

"This is gavna fruit. It is from my homeworld. I have no idea how anyone imported gavna fruit from Namor to this lonely planet in a frontier sector, but I was curious about the markets here, as this planet is an agricultural world, and I found a vendor selling gavna fruit. They call it hefiit fruit here on this world."

"And how do you know whether or not hefiit is in fact just a random parallel evolution to gavna?"

"I have eaten gavna fruit as a youth until I was bloated and sick. I know gavna when I eat it."

"Yah, alright. Just don't repeat your past glory here on this mission, okay?"

Bret stormed off to the cockpit to find something to do. Irridan began storing her fruit in one of the food storage bins.

Several hours later, still troubled by the mysterious dream, he decided that he had to talk to someone. Irridan was puzzling over a genetic sample of her fruit she had scanned into the genetic medical scanner. He entered the cramped crew quarters where she sat at the small desk with the equipment and a half eaten piece of fruit. "It would appear that I was right, Bret. This fruit is indeed gavna. Although it has been modified for the soil and environmental conditions of this planet, it is still gavna from Namor."

"A long way from home, isn't it?"

"We Namorrians have been many places in this galaxy over the course of our 20,000 years of history."

"Your people been to this world?"

"No, I doubt it. But the story of this fruit probably starts with Namorrian travelers to other parts of the galaxy."

"Yah, sure. Uh, look. Irridan, when I woke from that dream I had when I was in the cockpit, well, uh..."

Irridan turned her full attention to him, "What was your dream?"

Bret told her his dream, as much as he could remember, which turned out to be a lot. Irridan nodded, "On Namor on the Blue Plains there is a temple called the Temple of Dreams. I have been to this temple once to dream. We Namorrians are a very spiritual people, and know that dreams can be a conduit. When I hear this dream, I know that I am hearing a conduit, and not just a random sub-conscious dream. We will have to be very wary from now on. If we see this man, I think we will be correct in shooting first, and asking questions later, as you have said in the past. The Bat is fast enough to outrun almost any ship, so if this man attacks us while at space, we will most likely be able to outrun him."

"You think this was vision of the future?"

"I think it was vision, it could be a warning. Beyond that, I do not know."

Bret thought for a time, then decided to change the subject. "What is Namor like?"

"From space, it appears as a brilliant blue planet with a swirling gaseous atmosphere. On the surface, its skies are purple. It has three moons. There are many temples spread across its surface. The Temple of Dreams I told you about is on the Blue Plains, although I have often thought it should be named the Sky Plains, as the plains are covered with a grass that we call greyanths and that are the color purple. It is like the sky is reflected by the sea of plants."

Bret felt better somehow, having someone help watch his back.

The time for lift-off came and the Bat hit orbit with several other racers. When the clock hit time, the Bat once again showed its amazing speed. Bret sat at the controls, feeling well for being in space again. But still, a cold tingle went down his spine when he thought again of the dream.