‘We need to examine your dream from Cairo,’ the Professor said to Sam, as they and Eva walked down through the lower levels of the Academy.
Eva looked over to Sam and could see he seemed pleased to be visiting Jedi once more. He told Eva that he’d liked the Academy’s technology wizard instantly when he’d first met him in his computer lab. As they walked deeper into the mountain, Eva marvelled at the maze of tunnels dug out from the solid rock.
‘I didn’t get to come down here last time, this is seriously cool,’ she said as they passed door after door—some showing large empty rooms, some full of intriguing shapes shrouded in tarpaulins, others occupied by teachers and students.
‘If you think this is cool, wait till you meet Jedi,’ Sam whispered as they came around the last corner to Jedi’s lab. As they walked in, the room was buzzing with the hum of the computers that stretched from one end of the long room to the other. Jedi waved to them from his glass office and they headed straight in.
‘Nice to see you back with us, Sam,’ Jedi said as he spun around in his chair to greet them. ‘And this must be Eva.’
‘Great to meet you, Dr Jedko,’ Eva said.
‘Please, call me Jedi.’ Jedi was all smiles. ‘So, whose dream are we tapping into today?’
‘Sam has potentially dreamed of the next of the last 13,’ the Professor said. ‘So we’ll take a closer look and see if we can pinpoint who it is, or at least glean as much information as we can.’
‘Sure thing, just give me a second to set things up,’ Jedi replied, immediately busying himself with all kinds of mysterious gadgets. ‘Feel free to take a look around while you wait,’ he waved expansively around the cluttered room.
‘I might also need to hit you up for some phone repairs,’ Sam smiled as Jedi adjusted dials and levers at a control panel.
‘This is going to be a bad habit with you, I can just tell,’ Jedi joked, giving the wrecked phone a quick once over. ‘But the good news is I’ve got a new toy for you this time—a portable machine so you can replay dreams when you don’t have access to my awesomeness in person. I’ll show you how to work it later. Try not to break it.’
He and Sam laughed together.
Sam’s definitely met a kindred spirit down here. Eva tried not to smile as she looked around Jedi’s office. Books and boxes of computer pieces littered every available surface, while empty soft-drink cans and a stack of food trays surrounded a trundle bed in one corner.
‘This guy lives down here?’ she said to herself under her breath.
Sam walked over to gaze at Jedi’s impressive wall of screens embedded in the far wall. There had to be at least fifty, all showing different channels—foreign news stations, weather reports, IT headlines, even old movies and music videos. Just as he turned away, one screen near the bottom caught his eye. He leaned closer.
‘Are you OK, Sam?’ Eva asked, joining him in front of the screens. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
Sam silently pointed.
‘Sam? Sam, you’re scaring me now, what is it?’ Eva asked, grabbing hold of his arm and giving him a gentle shake. The Professor and Jedi stopped their conversation.
Sam turned to them all.
‘I don’t think we’ll need the dream machine today, Jedi,’ Sam said as they all looked on, incredulous. ‘The search is already over.’ He pointed again. On the screen, a music video played, showing a young girl dancing in the street, all trendy clothes and back-up dancers. ‘We just need to figure out who that is.’
‘Well, that’s not going to be hard,’ Eva said sarcastically. She looked at the three of them and saw that they weren’t getting it at all. ‘Wait—none of you recognise her?’
They all leaned in to stare at the image on the screen.
‘Right, I forgot you’re not teenage girls,’ Eva said. ‘Her name is Gabriella.’
‘Seriously?’ Sam said, taking a closer look. ‘So it is …’
‘You know her?’ Jedi said.
‘Know of her,’ Eva replied. Sam nodded in agreement.
‘So, who is she?’ Jedi asked.
‘Gabriella,’ said Eva, ‘is an Italian pop singer. She’s sold like a billion albums in less than a year. And, according to Sam, she is apparently also one of the last 13.’
‘Well, I don’t know about how many albums she’s sold, but she’s the girl from my dream, that’s for sure,’ Sam said.
‘Wow,’ said Jedi. He turned to his keyboard, googling for pages on the singer. ‘Yep, that’s Gabriella … lives in Rome.’
‘Can you remember anything about how you meet her?’ the Professor asked Sam. ‘We can use the dream machine to find that out, and for other details that may be helpful in changing the course of events.’
‘I remember looking down from a balcony and there was a crowd of people and a huge cake,’ Sam said.
‘Like a birthday cake, maybe?’ Jedi asked, tapping away on his keyboard. ‘Looks like Gabriella is about to turn sixteen and she’s going to celebrate.’ He spun his screen round to show them a recent article from a celebrity gossip website.
‘Good work, Joe,’ the Professor said. ‘We’re obviously on the right track. Lora will speak to our best contact in Italy and we’ll find out how to get Sam into her birthday party. Leave it with us.’
‘In the meantime, we need to take a closer look at that dream, Sam,’ Jedi grinned. ‘Take a seat and we’ll go for a spin in your subconscious.’