The Dream Jumper's Secret

by Kim Hornsby

  Once in her room, she locked the door and opened the note. Not from Jamey and disappointingly brief.

  “Wednesday--7 a.m.”

  That was tomorrow. Knowing Milton had been in touch gave Tina hope for the first time in days. She was so relieved that a plan was in place, she thought she might finally cry. Milton, or someone from his team, was coming to get her, to take her to Jamey.

  The room was nice enough. It had a small desk with a bright yellow painted metal chair, a twin-sized bed and a bedside table. Apparently, there was a TV room in another building, if you wanted to watch the local news station, or CNN. Three buffet-style meals were included in the room’s fare. The builders said the food was actually quite good. They catered to Europeans and Americans because more were coming in every day to work, now that the war was looking like it might not end quickly. Tradesmen were being flown in to fix, build and maintain. The idea that these were people who weren’t military made her feel slightly better. Tina had almost asked the men on the shuttle if any civilian women worked on the base, but then she might be setting herself up as a fraud, not here for a fiance but strangely desperate to get inside the gates.

  If Milton, or someone else within Sixth Force, didn’t come at seven tomorrow morning, she’d take a car over to the base gate and show her passport, see if she could get in. For the first time in her life, Tina wished she knew more about the military.

  When the sun dropped behind the desert horizon, hunger pangs set in, but she didn’t dare leave her room in case the dream found her while walking around out there. She’d bought a chocolate bar in London and ate that along with two crackers she’d saved from her snack on the last flight.

  For the last two hours she’d been hoping that the dream might come to her, even wondering if somehow the heat of the shower that day in Seattle had brought on the jump. She crossed to the tiny bathroom and stepped into a hot shower. Thoughts of Jamey brought nothing.

  After drying off and getting back in her jeans and T-shirt, she thought about going to the restaurant for something to eat, but the foreign men would be there now and she didn’t want to sit around with them when she’d inferred that she’d be going to the base tonight. Also, the dream could creep up on her and slumping to the floor in the middle of this Afghani hotel would be embarrassing, maybe even dangerous. Tonight, she’d get into bed hungry and hope for a dream. Knowing Jamey was only a few miles away gave her hope that they might have a shared dream. Their close proximity made her feel better, but it meant nothing if she couldn’t help him escape the dream.

  Jamey had once told her the story of his Uncle Don’s heart stopping after a few days in a coma. The older police officer had been jumping a serial killer’s dream, and he’d never woken. If this was a similar situation, and Jamey had been stuck in this dream for five days, he was probably running out of time. If she managed to get in the same room as him, she’d try the hand on the back of the neck trick that Jamey used.

  The best possible outcome would be that she had the dream tonight and was able to jump out, taking him with her, like exiting the snow dream. Then she could catch the morning flight back to Dubai and leave Jamey to finish his work. If he was able to jump again, it might be awhile before Sixth Force let him go, regardless of his health.

  It was eight a.m. in Seattle. After calling both Pops and her mother to report that she’d made it to Kandahar, Tina pulled back the blankets and checked inside the bed for visible bugs. The sheets were pristinely white and she slipped between the cool sheets. After thirty-four hours of travelling, she was exhausted. The alarm was set for six the next morning, eleven hours from now. She’d have breakfast at the restaurant, then wait in the lobby until someone from Sixth Force came for her at seven. Tomorrow she would see Jamey, one way or another.

  When she fell into the dream, there was very little journey time. She landed in the marketplace area again. This time, it was devoid of people. The stalls, huts, food, rugs, pottery, people, even the animals, were gone. The craziness of the marketplace had been replaced by an eerie hush. The only way Tina knew it was the same area was the brown corrugated shacks at one end.

  The first time she’d jumped into this dream, she’d landed by the edge of the last shack. The second time, she’d almost landed by the first one. This time she was farther off the strip, in a side lane. This time she wasn’t in a burqa, but dressed in the jeans and T-shirt she’d worn to bed. Having fallen to the dusty ground, Tina quickly picked herself up and looked around. She wasn’t a trained soldier, but something told her to run for cover, just in case. The gunfire started when she was halfway across the lane. Her heart jumped into her throat, and she zigzagged her way to a doorway. The shots stopped. They’d come from the far end near her first portal. She’d taken cover behind a pile of cement chunks and wooden crates around the corner from the gunfire. Out of the shooter’s field of vision, she believed that was why the gunfire stopped. She wasn’t completely safe here if the shooter was on the move. Where the hell was Jamey?

  Looking around, Tina noticed a better hiding spot in a doorway facing the cross street, farther away from the gunfire’s origin. Running for that doorway would be risky. She’d be exposed for a few seconds, but if she made it, the hiding spot was better. If she died, Tina supposed they’d find her body lying there in a coma, like Jamey. They’d be unable to figure out what was wrong with the American lady who’d just checked in to the AMTEX the night before. Maybe she’d end up on the base at the hospital, the care of the American doctors and she’d wither away beside Jamey.

  She had to go now. Waiting to run just gave the shooters more time to get ready to fire again. Or move.

  Getting into a running crouch, she took one last look at the shacks where the gunfire sparks had come from, then took off across the fifteen feet of open expanse to the doorway. The shots were too late. She’d already landed in the doorway when a round of ammunition sounded and hit just beyond the door. Breathing heavily, she tucked as far back as possible, and realized she was totally stuck now. What looked like a laneway was only a deep doorway. The door was locked. A fatal funnel, Jamey called a place with only one way in or out. When he’d said this, he’d been talking about cornering her for a kiss, in the shower. The memory of that kiss was a nice thought in a horrible moment. But, someone was out there shooting at her, something she hadn’t expected when she jumped in. She had no idea where to look for Jamey. Would it get dark in this dream or stay light? If it got dark, she might be able to creep out unnoticed, but then, would the enemy be creeping around, able to see in the dark?

  Tina was not equipped for this. She was a business major, a scuba instructor, not some GI Jane character. When she’d imagined coming in to this dream to help Jamey, the scene included the bazaar with crowds of people, and freedom to talk about how to get out of the dream. For all she knew, Jamey was dead on this street, the sniper having finished him off. The thought made her shudder. Then it would be just her against the shooter, trying to get out of the dream.

  Just then, something scratched behind the locked door. The door she leaned against. The faint scratches were too high up to be a rat. She moved away from the door and plastered herself as flat as she could against the outside wall in case bullets came through the door. Then a faint knock sounded. She froze. Someone knew she was hiding on the other side of the door. She waited for a bullet to rip through the wood. Or several. The Taliban used these machine gun, rapid-fire things. Tina looked out in the lane and considered running farther down. If she ran and the shooter was still there, she’d still be giving him a few seconds with a clear shot at her back. And she liked her back, wanted to keep it. The clicking of a lock from the other side of the door, made her heart leap. Someone was planning on coming through.

  Tina got ready to kick and run. But, just as she poised to take off, a knock sounded on the far side of the wooden door. A knock that only an American would use, the cadence that usually ended with the other person supplying the final two knocks. Jamey?
She gently tapped twice on the door and the doorknob turned.

  Chapter 28

  “Tina? It’s me, Jamey,” the voice on the other side of the door whispered.

  She pushed open the door and grabbed Jamey. “How did you know I was here?”

  He pulled away from her crushing embrace and glanced out at the street. “I heard the shots and came over. Then I saw you run, and came in the back door.” He kissed her quickly. “Hmm. You taste good, even in dreams.” His expression became serious. “There’s only one guy out there with unlimited bullets. He’s been firing at me for weeks.” Stroking her face, he smiled, sadly. “I’m glad to see you, but this is so fucking dangerous. You have to go back.” He kissed her again and glanced to the street. “Where is your portal?”

  “You’re coming with me. I came here to get you out. You’ve been here for days. Days in the real world. Almost a week.”

  He shook his head. “I believe it. I’ve been in this dream, fighting this same guy for well over two months.”

  “We have to get you out.”

  He glanced at the street, then grabbed her elbow. “Come on, he’s only guarding the portal, we can leave here and talk. He never goes anywhere.”

  Tina noticed Jamey didn’t have a weapon. “No gun?”

  “Funny thing.” He wasn’t smiling. “There aren’t any. It’s the bad guy’s dream not mine, he’s a jumper, and everything I tried to summon didn’t materialize. I’m surprised you got in.”

  “Me too.”

  “Try to summon a gun. AK47.”

  She tried to picture it in her hands, Jamey’s hands. When nothing appeared she tried grenades, handguns, anything she could think of that shot bullets, then tried a crossbow, spear, but she wasn’t able to make anything appear.

  “It was worth a try.” Jamey led her back through the doorway in to what looked like a very crowded general store. The back door was locked. Jamey smiled as he undid the bolt and opened the door. “Didn’t want him coming in behind me.”

  Tina couldn’t help it. She had to kiss him. He looked so sweet, minimizing this potentially fatal situation. For her sake he was trying to make it seem like a game when she knew it was so much more than that. “Wait.” She threw herself into him and planted a big one on his lips. When they came up for air, she spoke. “We’re going to get out of this.”

  His smile was sad as he kissed the tip of her nose and then led her away from the marketplace. They scooted along a lane and over several streets to a building that looked like every other one in this village. Jamey took her upstairs to the second floor, down a hall to a room with a desk and one chair. “Welcome to my life, here in Dreamland,” he said. “When it gets dark we’ll try to get you back to your portal.” He sat on the edge of the desk and motioned for her to come closer.

  She did, fitting between his knees and fastening her arms around his neck. “We can go home. I’m here to help you find a portal.” She kissed him, but sensed his distraction and pulled back to look at him. “How do you know the sniper didn’t follow us here?”

  “In the weeks he’s been shooting at me, he never leaves his post, only watches the street where you came in just now. I have traps and signals set up so I’ll know if he leaves the area. He seems to exist right there, without food or water or anything. Like me.”

  “You haven’t eaten since you’ve been here?”

  Jamey shook his head. “I don’t need to. I’m figuring I’m on an IV in the real world and don’t need to eat.” He kept his eyes on the street through a slit in the window boards. “If anyone comes down the street, a bell will ring up here.” He pointed to a small jingle bell near the window.

  “How did you change back from the other guy, the one I saw in the marketplace?”

  “No idea.” He almost smiled. “Something happened after I tried to jump out of the dream. Everyone was gone out of this dream, including the marketplace, and that’s probably when I changed back. I’m thinking the dreamer woke up, like when you woke, and I didn’t get out then either. Then he came back, and now he’s guarding the portal. Maybe my team up top drugged him again and he re-entered the dream state. It’s just a theory. I have lots of time to think down here.” He rubbed her arms with his hands. “How’s Pops?”

  “He’s fine. Concerned.”

  He stopped rubbing. “He knows I haven’t come out of the dream?”

  She nodded. “When I jumped in before, a few days ago.”

  “A few weeks ago for me,” he said.

  “I was in your bedroom in Carnation, in your bed.”

  “Now that is a fantasy I like.” He pulled her in closer. “Can I ask why?”

  “I sensed you were in danger that day. I had a premonition that was very strong, and I had to find you. Pops thought it might work if I tried to jump from your room.” She didn’t want to tell Jamey about her father’s death. She’d wait until Jamey was safe and well again. There was plenty of time for talking later. Right now he only needed the basics. “I fell asleep in your bed, but I couldn’t stay in the dream, remember?”

  He nodded. “I remember. That was only a few days ago?”

  “Three days. I couldn’t get back in.” She thought of something. “Sixth Force must be trying to get you out too.”

  “I’m sure they are. I have information for them. Critical intel.”

  She nodded. She wouldn’t ask what it was. “Pops left a message for Milton. And now I’m here to get you to my portal. Remember when we jumped out of Noble’s dream on Maui, and I came back through your portal?”

  “I do.”

  “I think that might be the way to leave. Like the dock dream. To join hands with me like before and jump out. Together.” Jamey looked troubled, and Tina shook her head, knowing what he’d say. “Don’t give me that attitude. I’m not leaving without you, Jamey. We’re going to get you out this way. And I don’t care if you think I should leave without you, or anything stupid like that. We’re going together.”

  He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. “I want that, but I’m not sure how we’ll both jump when there’s someone with a gun watching the portal all the time. I’m thinking I might distract him long enough for you to jump out, but not both of us.”

  “He never leaves?”

  “I’ve never gotten close enough to see him. I’m assuming it’s the Taliban jumper who almost killed me last time. The guy I was with when you jumped in the first time. But, it might be someone else. Someone the jumper planted before he left. If the dreamer is dead and someone else took over this dream, then that person might be calling the shots.”

  “Why doesn’t he just burn this town to the ground then? Ferret you out?”

  Jamey shook his head. “I wondered too. Or a flood. No idea. Maybe he isn’t smart enough to figure that out. I only know I can’t get to the portal without him firing at me, and I can’t get to him without him firing at me. He seems to know when I’m coming, like he’s reading my mind.”

  “Maybe he won’t know when I’m coming.” Tina was serious. It was worth a try. They had to get to the portal.

  Jamey shook his head. “I don’t want to risk you approaching him. Let’s just plan to get you to the portal while I distract him.” He frowned, and the lines between his eyes reminded her of when he smiled, of happier times when they were on Maui, talking about him coming home for his daughter’s birthday. It seemed like a world ago, another time.

  “How will we get to the portal if he’s always looking?” she asked.

  “I’ll create a distraction.” Jamey looked like a plan was formulating in his head, and she waited to see if he revealed what he was thinking.

  Outside the window, the sky turned darker. Tina was surprised at this. “You don’t need sleep?”

  He took her hand. “No. Are you tired?” Jamey looked weary, but not sleepy.

  “No, but when I went to sleep I was exhausted.”

  He stared at her for a few charged seconds, and then a horrified expression clouded his face.
“You didn’t jump from Seattle, did you?” Jamey looked like he might’ve figured out her location. She wanted to keep her trip to Afghanistan a secret but had a feeling he already knew.

  “No.”

  He held her by her shoulders at arm’s length. “Where are you? When you went to sleep, where were you, Tina?”

  Taking a deep breath, she took a run at the explanation. “I needed to get closer to jump. I wasn’t having any luck from America.”

  “No.” He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

  “I flew to Dubai.”

  He shook his head. “No, Tina. Tell me you’re not here.”

  “I’m in a very nice hotel near the base.” She wouldn’t look apologetic. She’d done what she needed to do.

  Jamey’s jaw twitched as he dropped his hold of her and walked to the far side of the room. “You’re in Kandahar?” He spun around to look at her. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to be in this country?” He crossed the room to her. “Do you know what a ticking time bomb this fucking country actually is? Especially for anyone who doesn’t look like a local, and I’m guessing you’re not wearing a burqa up top.” He stared her down. “We are at war here. White women are like gold to these rapists and murderers. What were you thinking?”

  “I know that. I’m willing to risk that I’ll be safe until someone comes for me tomorrow morning. I got a message, probably from Milton that someone’s coming to the hotel at seven tomorrow morning.”

  He looked like he’d just lost her. “But you don’t know, because the message wasn’t signed, right?”

  “Right.”

  Jamey turned and punched the wall.

  “Jamey, no one knew I was checking in to the hotel except Milton and Pops, and a couple of the men on the flight who helped me get into the country, and they didn’t have time to get a message to the front desk because we all walked in together from the shuttle.”