The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults)

by Robert Scanlon

  “Simple when you put it like that, Nathan, isn’t it? Shall we?” The Professor stood and held Nathan’s gaze.

  Nathan grinned. ‘Try and stop me. Curious cats haven’t got anything on me!”

  ~~~

  “Lena.”

  The voice was familiar.

  “Lena.”

  Mr Big Bird!

  She was in the warehouse dream again, but Mr Big Bird wasn’t obvious. “Are you hiding again? I bet I know where you are!” Lena walked to one end of the warehouse and looked up into the rafters. “Are you there?”

  “Lena.” The voice was behind her.

  She turned around and shrieked. “There you are! You crept up on me!”

  “Yes. Was it ... fun?” The bird-man towered over her, his eyes glinting.

  “Oh yes! Let’s play again. Shall I hide first?”

  “No, Lena. We’re going to play a different game this time. But it will be even more fun, I promise. Are you ready?”

  The girl squealed with delight. “A new game. Goody. Bet you I win first!”

  “I think you will, Lena, I think you will,” Valkrog said. “This time, we are going to invite a very special guest. Someone I think you have wanted to share our games with for a long time.”

  Lena’s eyes widened. “Daddy? Is it time for you to meet Daddy?”

  The huge bird-man nodded. “It is, Lena. We’re going to play hide and seek with your Daddy—”

  “Yes! Yes! He loves to play hide and seek—shall I go and get him now?”

  “Not yet. We are going to make this game extra special for your father. It will be”—he curled his beak-like lip—“a combination of the guessing game and hide and seek. And he will be the first person to be blindfolded. Do you have a scarf we can use for a blindfold?” The girl nodded.

  “Then we will begin the guessing game. When you wake up, go and get the scarf. Find your father and ask him to guess who you would like him to meet. Tell him it is a surprise. But do not give anything away. If he cannot guess in three turns, then bring him outside and point one of your hand-lights into the sky; flash it on and off and wait for me.”

  Lena jumped up. “I’ll make sure I get my best torch. I’m ready Mr Big Bird, can you wake me up please? Daddy’s going to be super-surprised!”

  Valkrog nodded. “I think he will, Lena.”

  ~~~

  Professor Harrison had taken home a stack of papers after several brain-stretching hours with Nathan had left them both too exhausted to continue.

  Now he sat at his at desk at home, aware that he had been staring at the papers for almost an hour.

  Curiosity aside, they were no closer to understanding what had happened and he felt his entire project was in danger of falling apart. How much longer could he risk the children? It wasn’t right. And in the end, he’d be no better than Malden. He thought of Sarina. Even Lena’s powers paled up against Sarina’s creative ability, yet he was prepared to not only put them both at risk, but jeopardise Sarina’s chances at her well-deserved success in the art world. He’d become desperate, no doubt. And desperation did not make for good science. Only evil scientists. Tomorrow he would take Nathan aside and explain the project had to be terminated. He’d send the kids home and have the collider destroyed. If the world was doomed to suffer rem-loss and an eternity of diminishing intelligence, then let someone else fix it. He would not risk the children’s lives any longer.

  He heard a noise from behind him and turned from his desk.

  Lena stood at the door of his office, holding a scarf and beaming. Goodness knows he had neglected the poor child. He recalled the awful scene in the collider-room. She deserved his full attention, no matter how tired he was.

  “Lena. It’s very late. What are you doing awake?”

  “I couldn’t sleep, Daddy. I’ve got a new game I want to play with you, and I couldn’t sleep thinking about it.”

  The Professor glanced at the clock. Though it was late, he would play along. “Do you want to play it now, Lena?”

  Lena clapped her hands and squealed. “I knew you’d say yes!” She gave him a sidelong glance. “It’s a guessing game. Are you ready?”

  He nodded.

  “You have to guess who my new friend is.”

  He chuckled. “Alright, Lena, I’ll try. Let me see ... is it ... Sarina?”

  She shook her head cheekily. “Uh-uh. Try again.”

  “Hmmm. I know—is it Jimmy?”

  She pouted. “Don’t be silly, Daddy. Jimmy’s not my friend. He’s too grumpy. Last go!”

  “Last go? Do I only get three goes?” He smiled.

  Lena nodded. “Yes. And if you don’t get it on the last guess, I have a special surprise for you.” She looked around, as if concerned about being overheard, then whispered. “I don’t think I’m supposed to give you a clue, but he’s in my dreams!”

  The Professor nodded thoughtfully. “I see. In your dreams. And it’s a ‘he’.” He perked up. “I know! It’s Mr Rabbit!”

  Lena looked surprised. “Very clever, Daddy. But wrong. Well mostly wrong. You did get a little bit of it right. Would you like to meet him?”

  He was happy to see Lena playing like a child was supposed to. Imaginary friends—everyone had them, didn’t they, he supposed. Well, he could imagine along with the best of them! “Yes I would, Lena. I would very much like to meet him. But you haven’t told me his name?”

  Lena’s expression was grave. “It’s Mr Big Bird. See? You got the first part right. He’s quite big, so we have to go outside in the front garden to see him. I have to blindfold you so he can surprise you. He might even be on the roof!”

  He bent down and let her tie the scarf around his head, and again he marvelled again at the girl’s creative energy. No wonder she couldn’t sleep.

  He held out his hand. “You’d better lead me out and introduce me, don’t you think?”

  Lena grabbed his hand and, leading him to the front door, picked up the flashlight and dragged her ‘daddy’ outside.

  “So what now, Lena? Is there a secret signal?” He laughed.

  “Daddy! I told you not to eavesdrop on my dreams. Of course there’s a secret signal. It’s this”—she pointed the flashlight into the air and switched it on and off repeatedly—“but you’re not allowed to see it, that’s why it’s secret.”

  Startled, he heard something which sounded like a giant carpet being shaken off a tall building and turned around in panic.

  He ripped the scarf off just in time to see a massive, bat-like bird with a humanoid face was swooping down towards them, its long talons extended.

  “Lena, quick, inside!” He pushed the girl to the door, but was too late. The giant talons encircled them both and they were whipped away into the air.

  Lena shouted over the wind. “See, Daddy! It’s Mr Big Bird!”

  The Professor didn’t answer. The creature had knocked him out when he plucked them from the ground.

  ~~~

  “But I thought we were going to play hide and seek?”

  It was Lena’s voice.

  His head thumped like crazy as he tried to lift it and he instinctively tried to bring his hand up, but it was stuck. His head dropped again and he lost consciousness.

  Moments passed. How many? Not sure.

  “Daddy? Are you awake now?”

  His head still hurt, but he was able to open his eyes and look around. The light was dim, but bright enough to see they were in a large, empty warehouse. He tried to get up and discovered his arms were crudely bound to his side, and his shins were roped against the old crate he was sitting on. He looked down. His feet were tied together.

  “Daddy?”

  Lena. What was she doing here?

  The horror came flooding back. The huge creature, swooping down to them. Him pushing Lena away and fending off a massive talon. Then nothing.

  “What happened, Lena? Where are we?”

  “Mr Big Bird brought us here, Daddy. We’re going to play some gam
es ...” her lower lip fell. “I thought we were going to play hide and seek, but Mr Big Bird asked me to help him tie you up. He told me it’s an escaping type of game, but we have to start with a guessing game ...” Her voice dropped and she tugged at her nightie. “Are you OK, Daddy? You must have been tired because you’ve been asleep for a long time.”

  He grunted. “Where is ... Mr Big Bird now?”

  “Here, Professor.”

  The grating voice came from behind him. The bird-man strutted around to face him. The creature was tall, with giant talons for feet and hands. His leathery black wings fell in heavy loops, like a large, misshapen cape.

  Recognition flooded through him with a shock. This was beyond a doubt the creature Sarina and Nathan had encountered in Paolo’s world. He struggled to think. Hadn’t they vaporised it? What was it doing here—and how did it get here? Was the collider involved?

  “You must be Valkrog.” Speaking was an effort. “What do you want from me? Whatever it is, I will do nothing until you let Lena go.”

  The creature dismissed him with a wave of its hand, causing loops of folded wing to swing around. “She is in no danger. And I think you will tell me what I need to know. But I am impressed—you know my name. How is this?” He stared at the Professor.

  “Let the girl go, and I will tell you.”

  “Daddy, it’s a guessing game! I want to stay and play!”

  The bird-man’s beak-like face twitched and its eyes gleamed. “I think Daddy will play. Maybe we need to give him some time to think. Come on, Lena. We will fun-fly and let Daddy rest.” His eyes blazed as he looked at the Professor. The implication was obvious.

  The creature scooped Lena off the ground and together they flew up to the rafters and through an opening in the gables, then they were gone.

  The Professor groaned. Lena was under the creature’s spell—why else would she believe leaving him tied up was acceptable? What had he done? That cursed machine would be the death of him. He wished he and Malden had never hypothesised the existence of rem-particles in the first place.

  Now the machine was left unguarded, and Nathan was due in the next day to get the last of the data out. He sighed. If Nathan even touched the machine while they were in this delicate part of the assessment, it could be ... what? What were the implications if the machine went out of control? He shivered.

  Now Lena was under the bird-man’s influence—or so it seemed—then it dawned on him. The Dreamer Kids. What would they do when he was reported missing?

  He caught himself. His mind was spinning and he wasn’t thinking clearly. Had Lena somehow programmed the machine and transported the bird-man here? But how was that possible? Nonetheless, she was obviously under the creature’s influence. He shuddered. If the creature had learned of the collider’s existence ... The scientist in him shook him back to his senses. He would need to observe closely, learn as much as possible, and discover the creature’s weakness. He had to find a way to protect Lena and to escape.

  But how to do all that and keep Nathan and Sarina safe? Surely if the creature were to discover that this was their home, he would seek them out?

  He cursed his own smart comments. Why had he let on that he knew the bird-man’s name?

  He drew himself up against the ropes to test their tightness. Nothing budged. No matter how strong he might be, he was firmly tied down.

  No. To escape that way would place Lena in danger, and that would be completely unacceptable.

  And if he couldn’t escape, somehow, he would have to get Nathan to shut the machine down, before the creature discovered its whereabouts.

  What about Sarina? How could he reach her? Wasn’t she at some isolated retreat?

  He sighed again.

  He would play along with the creature’s dangerous ‘guessing game’. What other choice did he have?

  ~~~

  Nathan swiped his ID card and made his way past the security screens behind the foyer in the lab.

  All the kids had the cards, which meant they could come and go by themselves during the day, knowing that the building’s security guard at the front desk allowed them to work safely and without interruption on the mind-expanding projects set by the Professor. The Prof had given him a special ID card that allowed him access outside of normal hours; to allow him to arrive early, and for later in the day, after the front security had left for the day and the lab was only patrolled hourly from the outside.

  Today was one of those early starts. He intended to plan in more detail the things he wanted to ask the Prof, before their meeting at nine.

  He made his way down to the café, thinking about the scholarship. A study of dream-portal theory would be a sure way to give himself a major advantage over any other entrant.

  But the Prof wouldn’t be keen, since they would risk the likely spread of knowledge about the existence of the rem-particle.

  And right now, what with the latest errors with the machine; and the stunning revelation that the rem-loss was causing a literal dumbing down of humanity, if the knowledge fell into the wrong hands? Not a good look.

  But he thought he might be able to work out a way to use the project in his scholarship, without even mentioning the rem-particle. He just had to find a way to break the idea to the Prof. A brief thought flickered through his mind. What point was there in having a scholarship if the entire world was losing its marbles? The thought was too horrible to pursue, and he shelved it as something else to take up with the Professor.

  He arrived at the café, ready to grab his morning hot chocolate, when he stopped. That’s funny. All the lights were off. And the hot drinks machine wasn’t yet switched on.

  He looked down at his watch to see if he’d made some weird mistake with the time. Nope. Eight o’clock in the morning.

  He walked over to the lights and turned them on, then to the drinks machine, switched it on and waited for it to warm up.

  He realised he didn’t actually know who normally arrived in the building first, since it wasn’t his habit to be here at eight o’clock. Maybe the Prof did? He waited for the chocolate to finish pouring and sauntered down to the office. Perhaps the Prof had had another of those senior moments he seemed to be having. Was the prolonged work around the collider affecting him? Nathan realised if that was the case, he would also be affected.

  Which led to the return of a previous thought.

  What exactly would be the symptoms of prolonged rem-loss? What did it really mean: ‘We might all be getting more stupid’?

  Would we all end up watching non-stop TV reality shows, he mused, thinking of his parents and wondering if someone had slipped them an early dose of rem-remover. He sipped his drink as he walked and resolved to ask the Professor about the indicators of rem-loss in the human race. He stopped outside the Prof’s office, knocked and turned the handle. It was locked.

  Strange.

  As far as he knew, the Prof virtually lived here. Last night they had worked late, but still hadn’t been at the stage where they could wind the machine down. Though they were both tired, they agreed it could wait another day. Better to start the final and most critical part of decommissioning the machine when you were fully awake, he thought grimly. Pressing the wrong button from exhaustion and lack of care could mean disaster.

  Anyway. No use wondering. All that did was produce more questions. He’d wait. Right now, his time would be best spent planning, and he walked back from the office and into his own private den. His room was equipped with a bed, bathroom and a mini-lab workshop in the corner and meant he could easily spend every hour of the day and night here if he needed to.

  But he wasn’t convinced he’d be able to sleep at the lab, knowing the machine was blinking its steady orange warning across the corridor. He’d probably end up wearing the stupid headshield all night. He smiled as he remembered one of his eccentric uncles, who he suspected had inherited a corrupted version of the Nathan Rosen gene. He insisted on wearing a tin-foil hat every time he went out
in public. Apparently the microwaves from the massive growth in the use of mobile phones were going to fry everyone’s brain.

  Nathan finished his drink and threw the empty cup in the bin. Maybe his crazy uncle wasn’t so far from the truth. He’d have to ask the Prof if the headshield helped to stop the rem-loss, or if the Intensifiers could compensate in the short term.

  He walked over to his desk, pulled out some paper and a pencil and started to make notes about how the dream portal project could be used as his scholarship entry.

  He thought about what he had known before the Prof had shared the rem-particle discovery with him. He and Sarina had used their dream-power to create portals to another world. At first they were only available during his dreams, but they had managed on four occasions to move physically between the worlds. What had Sarina said? “We only managed to make the portals when we were really desperate and joined hands.”

  Something else struck him. He was convinced they would never have made the transition to physical portals without Sarina’s painting talents. Yes, it was true he himself was no slouch in the dream-portal department, and their experiments back at the Professor’s labs had proved that the two of them together were exactly as the Prof had said; quite advanced in their dream-power abilities.

  He sat back in his chair and stared into blank space.

  Think.

  Why would painting be any different?

  Plenty of other kids in the lab could paint—though goodness knows he still couldn’t, even after going back to art classes—and they hadn’t shown any real differences in their dream abilities.

  Sarina was different though, that was true. When it came to art, she was as close to a child prodigy as he had ever seen.

  Think.

  An itch began to bother him somewhere in his brain. The Professor had said something, what was it?

  He had been using a rem-particle scanner, and that’s how he had found evidence of Nathan and Sarina’s existence. But he’d found Sarina in person first when he had bumped into her at school and heard of her creat—

  That’s it!