She jammed her finger up against her nose and recoiled from the smell of the barbecue sauce. The jelly fish disappeared as she took a deep breath.
The trail appeared in front of her again. She forced an image of Nathan to appear in her mind and held it there. Creatures wild and vile snapped at her hair; things slurped across her back, but she kept the barbecue smell in her nose. It was working!
She was close to Nathan now, she knew it. She slowed as she saw the trail in front break out into a small clearing. She came to a halt and climbed a little way into a tree, and settled to watch.
In the clearing was a group of some of the ugliest and most brutish men she had seen. They were scrappily dressed and unwashed. Almost all of them had an array of weapons about their person. Crossbows, axes, knives, chains. Each one looked like they would rip your head off for breakfast.
She shuddered.
Some of the group parted and left a gap, and what she saw terrified her more than any ghoulish vision. She instinctively jammed both the tomato and barbecue sauce fingers into her nose.
But this was no nightmare.
Standing up and tied to each other, and bound to a tree, were Nathan and Paolo. Nathan had a dumbfounded look on his face and was drooling. What had happened to him? Paolo looked beaten; both physically and emotionally.
She lowered her gaze and then gasped out loud.
Both boys were standing on a large pile of chopped wood. A horribly familiar voice spoke from beneath her. “Quite appropriate don’t you think? Do you burn witches at the stake in your world, too?” Hands tugged at her legs and she fell heavily from the tree. She was pinned by three huge and ugly men, one of whom leered at her with a tooth-gapped grin.
She reached for the finger with the sauce, but her arms were being held down by two of the men.
Toothy leaned into her face and she flinched at his foul breath. Foul breath? This was no apparition. She struggled to free herself.
Makthryg sneered. “I wondered if your sympathy for your poor friend’s plight would bring you here. This is my first warning. Your world has a power I wish to harness. A power to transform our valley and bring new life and opportunities. You will deliver the workings of this power to me—I do not care if it is through the Valkrog creature or not—or I will burn these boys. Very slowly.”
She had managed to free her hand and slammed her fingers up to her nose. Vinegar assaulted her senses and the vision of Makthryg and the men vanished. She opened her eyes and screamed. The Professor was still in front of her, only his face had turned into that of a rat. His extended rat nose was sniffing closer to her face and his mouth opened baring a row of sharp, snapping teeth.
She brought her hand to her face again and winced as the mustard stung her nose and eyes, and she broke out into a fit of coughing. She ripped off the Intensifier and stood up, brushing herself down as if to sweep away the horrors, but only succeeded in smearing sauce all down one side of her freshly laundered clothes. “Yuck!” She recoiled and looked at the Professor, thankfully now normal, and looking quite concerned.
“Too much to take?” He really did sound worried.
She shook her head, both to answer in the negative and to clear it. “Thank goodness for your idea to use smell. If it hadn’t have been for that, I’m not sure I would have coped.” Privately she thought it may well have triggered another spate of mental problems, but, once again, now was not the time. A fleeting thought came and went: When would be the time?
“Lots of nightmares?”
She sat down and looked at the smears of sauce, mustard and vinegar down her clothes and held up her hand. “Do you have—”
“Oh yes, of course!” He slid behind his desk, opened a drawer and pulled out an unopened pack of tissues, which he ripped open and gave to her.
She spoke while she wiped her hand clean. “It’s far worse than just nightmarish apparitions. But I think we should discuss the easy bit first. We will have to teach the other kids how to handle it. Any of them who are not very well emotionally balanced, well to be honest, Professor, they shouldn’t be included. It’s frightening enough. But like you said, using the smell to remind yourself it isn’t real, actually works.”
She pursed her lips and looked at the anxious man in front of her. “Something occurred to me though, if we are to find Nathan and try to bring him back. You see, when I used the smells of your sauces to”—she nearly said ‘keep me sane’—“to remind me of reality, they also instantly brought back memories connected with that smell. And it can be a teeny bit distracting remembering a pleasant barbecue when you are battling a giant jellyfish.”
The Professor frowned. “Yes, I see, but—”
“We need smells of Nathan, Professor. Strong ones. That way, when we smell them in the middle of a nightmare vision, not only will it ground us again, it will also keep us on track by recalling Nathan.”
He stared at her. “Brilliant work, Sarina. I’ll go and get some of his clothes from his room. We can use those, and anything else the kids suggest.”
“Professor?”
“Yes?”
“Please don’t bring his underwear.”
He managed a small smile and got up to leave, but Sarina shook her head.
“I said I’d tell you the easy bit first. Here’s the really bad news. I made it into Paolo’s world again.”
The Professor’s head jerked up. “And?”
“Makthryg is definitely alive and well, and has captured Paolo as well as Nathan. He’s assembled a small band of thugs and it looks to me as if they are heading up to the fortress. There’s something wrong with Nathan too”—she bit her lip and tried to remember—“he had this really ... vacant look. And he was dribbling. I’m sure Makthryg has done something horrible to him. Even if we can reach him, I don’t know if he’s in any state to communicate or follow instructions. But the big problem is Makthryg has tied Paolo and Nathan together to a tree and placed a big pile of wood under them.”
She felt her lip quiver as her bravado finally ran out of steam. “He’s going to burn them alive if we don’t give him the secret to our so-called power. Professor, what do we do?!”
The Professor, who had been half-standing, slumped back down into his chair. “Then we have no choice,” he said. “We have to go in somehow and rescue them, and bring Nathan back. The man’s mind is twisted. The power of the rem collider must not fall into his hands.”
She nodded, unable to speak.
~~~
They went to Nathan’s room together to find suitable items to smell.
She had to admit, this would have to be the most creepy thing she’d ever done in her life; go to her friend’s room and pick things up, including clothes, and smell them. But in the case of an emergency, she thought as she picked up a baseball cap and sniffed it, that’s not important any more.
The Professor already had an armful of things, including one of Nathan’s skateboards.
She raised her eyes. “A skateboard?”
He held it under her nose. “Smell.”
She sniffed and recoiled. “Ughh. Oily dirt smell.”
He nodded. “Exactly. The boys will identify easily with this one. I think some of them even helped Nathan when he was working on his decks.”
“Hmm. I’m glad you were here. I would never have thought to use that. Eww. Is that a sock?”
“Yes.”
“Who is that for?”
He looked apologetic. “It’s for you, Sarina.”
She rolled her eyes and reminded herself it was an emergency. “I’m sorry I asked. What now?”
“Let’s take these things to my office and try to match them to their respective user, and agree a plan to share with the rest of the kids who agree to help.”
They walked back with their arms full of ‘Nathan’, and dumped most of the stuff on one of the spare chairs, putting what didn’t fit on the floor.
“Sarina, let me ask you a question.” He had that worried look again. “Y
ou are our most powerful dreamer, and even you had trouble. With the rem drain increasing, I’m not only worried that we don’t have much time; but that the kids will not have sufficient power to open a portal at the same time as dealing with the nightmares. And without that, we can’t possibly rescue Nathan. Even if one of you were powerful enough to get one open, because of the instability of the rem, it could collapse on the way through, which would have ...” he trailed off.
“Fatal consequences?”
He nodded.
“So you are asking me if the kids can handle it? Professor, I don’t see we have much choice do we?” She pulled at her lip, trying to think.
The Professor frowned, then scratched his head. “I’m having trouble coming up with options. There’s no doubting the creativity loss is a major problem, whether or not we rescue Nathan. But as it gets worse, we won’t even have enough creativity left to devise rescue plans.”
Sarina knew it was worse than that. “The dark rem seems to be a problem for everyone. You know; the nightmares. That doesn’t help when you are trying to think—”
He leaped up out of his chair. “Brilliant, Sarina! That’s it of course. Right in front of my nose.”
She was confused. “Brilliant? What is?”
He sat down again and looked at her with bright eyes. “It’s risky, but it will be our best chance yet. I should have thought of it before, though it’s no surprise I can’t think given the loss of rem.”
“Professor! What?!”
“I’ll reprogram the machine. Instead of trying to make a portal using rem, we’ll do it with the help of the unaffected part of the machine. Using dark rem.”
Her jaw dropped. “Isn’t that? ... Won’t it cause? ...”
He nodded and his expression became grim. “Yes, it will be dangerous. And it will cause very distorted images, similar to the nightmares. But I believe it will give us enough power to open a portal. Though ...” he tapped his lips, “to be completely safe, we cannot venture through. We will only be able to use it to bring Nathan through, and even that will be dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Because the dark rem is a magnet for ... the darker powers. If rem is responsible for the creative brilliance like the sun is for a summer’s day; then dark rem—as far as I know—will be the equivalent of a thunderstorm. Destructive and powerful. So if we are able to create a portal using it, it’s not worth risking anyone.”
“Except Nathan.”
“True. But with only one journey through it, and a return journey at that, thereby restoring natural order to our world, it might work. Ironically, it’s the project Nathan was working on for his scholarship. The science of dream-portals.” He stared into space. “Yes. It could work. As long as we don’t exceed the threshold.”
“Could work, Professor? Don’t we need to be more sure? And even if we bring him back, what do we do about the rem drain?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve been thinking about that too. It does involve a process that will mean destroying the machine, so ...” he looked at Sarina.
“So,” Sarina said, “we need to get Nathan back as soon as possible using an unstable machine to create a dangerous portal that will attract evil thoughts; free him and Paolo from a mad sorcerer; prevent said sorcerer from learning our powers or stealing the machine—which includes defending ourselves from an on-the-loose oversized vulture—then you somehow reverse the problem of the entire world becoming rapidly even more stupid than it was; destroy the machine; and get me to the competition by Saturday?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but Sarina interrupted. “And we do all this with a bunch of scared kids no older than twelve, who will keep themselves safe by smelling Nathan’s socks. Professor, is this wise?”
He rubbed his face. “Wise? No, not when you put it like that. But when there is a lot at stake, and very little time within which to achieve it, we must be bold and take risks.” He pointed to a poster on his wall with a picture of a young girl in a freeze-frame, somersaulting high over an elephant. Underneath was the caption:
‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!’
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Today we somersault over elephants.”
Sarina didn’t mind the somersaulting. It was the landing part she was most afraid of.
The kids were waiting for them in the café, having been gathered there by one of the agents. Sarina was relieved to see they looked calmer, though some had puzzled expressions when they saw the pile of Nathan’s clothes, personal bits and pieces and skateboard.
The Professor climbed onto a chair and sat on the back facing them all. Lena of course, was at the front staring up at him. “My friends. I think of you all as my very own daughters and sons, so I have not taken lightly what I am about to ask you. As you probably guessed from the nightmares you all had last night, something terrible is wrong with our world.”
Something you and Malden were responsible for, and that you want a bunch of kids to help you fix, Sarina thought as she watched from the side, but didn’t say.
“And as you now know, Nathan got stuck in another world when he bravely tried to rescue me from that creature.”
She saw some of the kids flinch at the memory of the bird-man and she wondered if this was really a good idea at all. But what else could they do?
“I believe, with your help, and with Sarina here to guide us, we will be able to create another portal for Nathan to return through. After which I will attempt to destroy the machine and set in motion a permanent fix for the problems.” He smiled. “And then we will have no more nightmares.”
Sarina saw how persuasive he was. Most of the kids were smiling. If they only knew.
He took a deep breath. “But this will involve me asking for your help. If you agree, we may be the only people who can save the world.” A chorus of hands raised in assent.
“I’ll help, Professor Harrison!” “Me too!” “I’ll help!”
He held up both hands. “Unfortunately it will also be dangerous. Under normal circumstances I would not even ask an adult to help, let alone my own children. You will face nightmarish visions and you will need to rely on your own determination to fight them off.”
A small girl raised her hand. “Is it a dress up party?” She pointed to the pile of Nathan’s clothes.
He shook his head. “No. I’ll explain that in a moment—but that’s a perfect prompt for me to share something important with you. The research you have all been involved with has been as a result of me identifying a brand new particle. I don’t want to over-complicate things at the moment, but think of this as being similar to the sun: The sun’s rays light up our day, but those rays are also tiny particles, not visible to the human eye. This new particle lights up our creative thoughts and our dreams.”
A chorus of oohs and aahs interrupted him.
“Yes, I know—it’s very exciting, but I also discovered a big problem. This new particle—we call it a rem-particle—is slowly leaking from our world, and this rem-loss is what is partly responsible for our nightmares increasing.” Some of the kids started to look worried. “It’s okay, I have a plan to fix it—that’s why you’ve all been so important to help me with my research, but first we have to rescue Nathan.”
Sarina thought he’d managed to rather conveniently leave out the entire world of dark rem, and the challenges they were all about to face.
“But back to the nightmares. Sarina has bravely tested a way for us to distinguish between what is real and what is not. She also invented a technique for us to use to stay focused on Nathan.”
More oohs and aahs came from the young group.
“All you need to do is to keep smelling Nathan’s scent.”
The oohs and aahs turned into ewws and yucks.
“Actually, this is quite serious. I know it sounds a bit icky ... but we owe it to him to try. And to the world. So please go to the pile of Nathan’s things. I want you to
pick something you know reminds you of him and hold onto it. Become familiar with its smell.”
Smell Nathan’s socks or destroy the world? Had it really come to this?
“Sarina will explain more, but when you are focusing on holding the portal open, you may well see horrible visions that make you want to let go or run away. But we cannot let go. However, we do have a secret weapon. These dark visions have no smell. So whenever you are frightened by an image, or a monster, you smell the item you have taken and you will be reminded that the thing you are being frightened by has no smell, and is not real. By using Nathan’s things, we do two things at once; it will also instantly remind us of him, which will further help us focus the portal on him.”
And stop it from collapsing halfway through Nathan’s escape and sending him to wherever it was horribly de-constructed human bits went to, she thought.
“One more thing,” he continued. “I had a realisation. We’ve always worked together to use your dream-powers to be more creative; to imagine things you’ve never imagined before; to invent things”—he glanced at Sarina—“or to dream paint. As I mentioned before, the rem-loss is affecting all our abilities to do this. But there’s one thing the rem-loss does not affect. Our wonderful memories. So if you find yourself stuck at any time, my advice is to use your sense of smell, but if that isn’t possible, then memorising something you’ve done really well before; or someone you know who is inspiring, will help you tap into your thinking power again. The lack of rem will not take away anything we are already skilled at doing and have memorised; such as a song you know well, or a superhero you’ve drawn many times before. Sarina, for example, would be able to paint a picture she has painted before; but might have difficulty painting a new one. So use your best memories too! Everyone got that?”
He waited for all the kids to nod. “Great. We need to get ourselves organised quickly, so grab an Intensifier each and someone bring a few headshields. Agent Smith will drive us to the warehouse. I’m going to reprogram the collider for a delicate operation, which, with your help, will bring back Nathan and save the world!”
The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) Page 51
