Pilot to gunner—the flak’s getting pretty thick, Frank, but we’ve got to make it.”
His goggles fitted closely over his eyes, Josh held the Dauntless dive bomber, a torpedo plane, straight on its course. He ignored the black explosive clouds and the shell bursts that flowered around them. He felt the bullets from the guns of the enemy carrier shake the plane violently.
“Right on target. Go in and get that tin can!”
Josh held to the controls tightly. The cumbersome aircraft was only thirty feet above the water, which crawled beneath him in green waves. He had taken off from the U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet two hours ago, and, one by one, the members of his flight made a torpedo run at the huge Japanese ship.
“Got to get it. We just got one chance.” Josh gritted his teeth and poised his thumb over the release switch for the torpedo. Every gun on the carrier, it seemed, was aimed directly at him. Even as he watched, a piece of lead tore through the plastic windshield so that it spider-webbed. “Can’t see where we’re going, Frank,” he yelled, “but I’m going to ram this tin fish right down where she lives.”
The world exploded with noise, and Josh felt a bullet rake the top of his right shoulder, numbing his hand. Then he saw the target looming ahead. Desperately he pushed the control that released the torpedo. Instantly the bomber, freed from its heavy weight, roared toward the carrier.
We’re going to hit it! Josh thought wildly. He could barely see out the shattered canopy. As the bulk of the warship flashed by, he saw streaks of gunfire and could make out small figures running around the flight deck. Then, as he cleared the ship, he heard a tremendous explosion. Looking back, he saw a huge plume of smoke rise into the air, accompanied by fragments of steel.
“We got it, Frank! We got it!” he yelled. “She’s gonna go down!”
He pulled the battered aircraft up as quickly as possible. The guns below still hammered, and he felt the plane vibrate as it tried to rise. But then he saw the carrier begin to list to one side. A swell of satisfaction came over him, and he whispered, “We got it. We got a whole aircraft carrier.”
Then the vessel below started to fade from view. The sea turned from brilliant emerald green to a formless gray shape . . .
Josh resisted the impulse to awaken, for he longed to stay and finish his dream. But he felt the cockpit of the torpedo bomber melt away and the hard wooden chair take shape under him. He felt the headset of the Dream Maker’s controls on his temples, but he remained sitting with his eyes closed.
“Come out of it, Josh.”
Oliver’s voice was soft but insistent. Still, Josh remained in a state of semiconsciousness. It was like those dreams that occur just before you awake, he thought. If they are pleasant dreams, you want to stay there and not come into the reality of morning.
But Oliver’s hand was on his shoulder, and then Josh felt the headset being removed. Reluctantly he opened his eyes and swept the room with a glance. “Hard to come back,” he muttered. “Just hit an enemy aircraft carrier with a torpedo.”
“Quite a thrill, I guess, Josh.” Oliver went to the window and looked out. It was early afternoon, and the late sun came through the glass, illuminating half of his face. He was carefully and neatly groomed, as always, and seemed to be lost in thought.
Curious, Josh pulled his mind back from the excitement of flying a dive bomber during World War Two. He went over to stand beside Oliver. “Is something wrong?” he asked.
Quickly the older man turned, and there was a strange smile on his face. “No, quite the contrary, Josh,” he said, and the excitement in his voice caught Josh’s attention.
“What is it?” Josh asked. “Have you found one of our missing people? Some kind of a clue maybe?”
“Well, I’m getting closer to that, but that’s not why I’m excited.”
Josh had never learned to read Oliver’s moods. He was an outgoing, cheerful man, with a fund of entertaining and humorous stories. Still, at times he fell silent, and his eyes were hooded, concealing something that Josh could never fathom. Now he examined the inventor’s face and saw that his cheeks were tense from some sort of strain.
“Is it trouble?” Josh asked quietly. “I’m sort of used to that. We haven’t had anything but trouble since we got to this time and this place.”
Sympathetically, Oliver nodded. He patted Josh on the shoulder. “I know it’s been hard on all of you. It’s hard on everybody on this planet. This war going on between the Dark Lord and Goél—I think everybody’s had about all they can take.”
He did not like to see Oliver discouraged, for he had found in their friendship a release from the strain that had been tearing him down. “Can you tell me about it?” he asked.
Oliver seemed to be weighing something in his mind. His eyes narrowed slightly as he scrutinized Josh. “I’m not sure whether I ought to tell you or not.”
“Does it have anything to do with—with Goél and the battle with the Dark Lord?”
“It has something to do with everything,” Oliver said. He smiled mysteriously, then laughed aloud. “I know that sounds odd, but it’s really true, Josh.” He hesitated for only one fraction of a moment, then he threw both hands out, palms upward. “Josh! You remember I told you that I was working on something big—something really big?”
Josh straightened up. Oliver’s excitement caused him to feel some excitement too. “You mean you found how to do it?”
“I think I’ve got a piece of it,” Oliver said slowly, almost in awe. “Josh, this is so big—it’s bigger than I even dreamed it would be!”
Josh smiled. “You warned me once not to believe anything inventors said. Does that still go?”
“I may be overestimating what I found.” Oliver began to walk around the room rapidly, slapping his hands together, bobbing his head, and muttering to himself. It was as if he had forgotten that Josh was there.
The young man stood watching, afraid to interrupt.
At last Oliver turned and came toward him, a determined set to his features. “It’s something really big, though, Josh. The biggest thing I ever dreamed of, and it’s going to happen. I just know it is! I can feel it in my bones.” He took a deep breath. “I’m going to try to tell you about it, but I warn you—you’ve got to think big.”
“Let her rip, Oliver,” Josh said. “What is it?”
“Did you ever read any science fiction, Josh?”
“No, not very much. Just a little when I was twelve or thirteen, and most of it was over my head.”
“Well, science fiction isn’t really about science,” Oliver said. “There’s all kinds of talk about ‘science,’ but it isn’t. For instance, in one of Edgar Allan Poe’s stories he wrote about a man who traveled in a rocket-ship. When someone asked him how it worked, he just said, ‘You wouldn’t understand it.’” Oliver laughed. “They went to the moon, and the reader just accepted that there was a ship at that time that could do that. Well, you’re just going to have to accept what I’m going to tell you, without a scientific explanation. It’s something I’ve worked on all my life, and now I found it. In a way, it’s all tied up with the work I’ve done with the Dream Maker.”
“What does your new invention do?”
“Those fellows who write science fiction talk about what’s called a parallel universe.”
“I’ve heard of that. I read a story about it once. No, let’s see. I saw it on a television program. It was about this man who discovered that there was another universe almost exactly like the one we’re in.”
“That’s it!” Oliver said excitedly. “There’re a lot of books about that for sci-fi readers, and I’ve found out that, in a way, it’s true.”
“But how could you find out about that?” Josh demanded.
“You see, you want scientific explanations. I can’t give you any. Come, sit down, Josh, and listen. I think it’s more a matter of philosophy than anything else. In any case, through the Dream Maker I’ve done a lot of roaming through old books. And somehow, some time ago, I broke through into what I knew wasn’t anything on this planet. Most everything was the same, but some things were different. For example, I went back in time to 1994. At that time, Bill Clinton was president of the United States; but in that universe—the one I’d stumbled into—he lost the election to George Bush.”
“But Clinton was elected.”
“In this universe, yes. But not in universe number two.” Oliver smiled, “It’s out there, Josh, with just a few changes.”
Josh sat and listened with growing excitement while Oliver talked. But he could not understand all of what was being said.
Finally Oliver cocked his head. “You don’t really understand the significance of this, do you?”
“I guess I don’t. What if it is out there? What would that have to do with us?”
“Why, don’t you see?” Oliver asked, his eyes almost glaring with excitement. “Josh, we can go there. You could go home again. Back to the way things were.”
The words seemed to hang in the air, echoing hollowly. Josh stared at Oliver. Over the man’s shoulder, a beam of golden sunlight illuminated his silvery hair. Tiny dust motes swam by the millions in that beam, and suddenly Josh thought, Why, every one of those motes could be a separate world, just like ours. I read a story about that too. Aloud he said, “You mean we can use the Dream Maker and go into that parallel world like you did?”
“You’re not thinking right, Josh.” Oliver’s face grew terribly serious. “What’s your life been like since you came to Nuworld? You’ve told me about it. Danger and doubt, losing friends to death, dangerous missions. It’s been nothing but hard times.”
“Not all of it’s been hard,” Josh said defensively. “I’ve met some good people. I met you for one, Oliver, and a few others.”
“I’m glad to hear you feel that way, Josh.” Oliver smiled. “I feel that way about you too. But just think about your life in Oldworld. You had parents there. You’ve told me about them.”
“They’re both dead now,” Josh said shortly. The pain from the loss of his parents still hurt him, and he did not want to talk about it.
Oliver, however, said, “But they’re not dead in that world. You can go back and be a boy again. Your parents will be there. Your grandparents will be there. Remember the fun you used to have with them on the farm every summer?”
Memories came floating back to Josh, and he nodded slowly. “Yes, I remember.”
“And you had a dog, didn’t you? What was his name?”
“His name was Jock. He was the best dog a kid ever had.”
“Well, Jock will be there. It’ll be just like it was, Josh. How would you like that?”
Suddenly Josh thought he would give anything to go back to what life was like when he was twelve or thirteen. He had had problems then, too, but nothing like the terrible things that he’d encountered in Nuworld. Slowly he nodded again. “It would be all right. It would be great. You mean I use the Dream Maker and dream about all that?”
“No, it just doesn’t seem to work like that,” Oliver said. “Somehow there’s a difference. You can go into books and come right back out again, or into movies, or TV, but there’s something different about going into this parallel universe. Once you get there, it’s not as easy to get back. I had a horrible time, and I’ve been afraid to go back ever since. I think, Josh, that at least usually the choice is either to go back and stay or you stay here.”
Josh could not think clearly. “But I couldn’t go away and leave my friends. And leave Goél. He’s depending on us to fight. There’s a big battle coming up.”
“I know there is. But in that other world, that wouldn’t matter. Nuworld would be a dream world. You would be living in reality, Josh, don’t you see? All this here would be just a dream, a bad dream.”
Something tugged at Josh. He was torn two ways. He longed to be back in those golden years in Oldworld—but he was still disturbed at the thought of leaving his friends. “I’d hate to leave my friends.”
“You mean Jake and Sarah. Especially Sarah, I’ll bet.”
“Well, yes, Sarah. I’d hate to leave her. And the others too.”
“Josh, you’re still not thinking right,” Oliver insisted. “They’ll go back too. Sarah will be going back, and Jake and Reb. They’ll all go back again. If you want to find them in Oldworld, you can go find Reb in Arkansas. You won’t lose your friends. I’ll bet you’ll be better friends than ever.”
“What about Goél? Will he be there?”
“It’s hard to say about Goél. He’s not like you or me, but if he wants to be there, he will.”
“Say, that’s right, isn’t it?” The idea began to grow on Josh, and he got up and paced the floor excitedly. “I just don’t know. It’s a big decision. Are you sure we can’t come back here? You did.”
“With great difficulty. I don’t think it’s like trying on a suit. If you don’t like a suit, you can put it back. Somehow, when you shift to that other universe, that’s it, Josh. Look,” he said, “why don’t you go talk to your friends? See what they say.”
“I’ll do that. I could always talk with Sarah. She’s got a level head.”
“You do that. Come back and tell me. Maybe bring her here. We can all talk it over together, if you like.” Oliver smiled. “I’d sure like to see that dog of yours myself.”
Josh thought of the sable-and-gold collie that he had loved as much as he had loved anything in Oldworld beside people, and he whispered, “I’d sure like to see Jock again.”
“Let me explain Oliver’s new invention . . .”
Josh was meeting with Wash and Sarah. The other Sleepers were all scattered. “We can get to them later,” Josh had said.
Sarah and Wash stood listening as he talked about Oliver’s latest discovery.
“I tell you, Oliver says it can be done,” Josh protested.
Sarah could see that Josh was more excited than she had ever seen him before. His eyes were bright, and he was animated and filled with enthusiasm.
“Don’t you see?” he said. “We can leave all this trouble, and who knows whether we’ll live another day in this place or not? We could go home again.”
Wash bit his lip thoughtfully. “But what about Goél? What about the battle that’s coming up?”
“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Josh said hastily. “You see, when we get back to that other universe, that’ll be the reality. All this here will just be a dream.”
Sarah was doubtful. “I don’t see how that could be. This isn’t a dream we’re in now.” She reached out and pinched Josh, who cringed and said, “Ouch!”
“See—you don’t feel things in a dream, Josh. This is reality here.”
“It’s too complicated to explain. I don’t understand it all myself, but just think about going home again,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be great?”
“Well,” Wash scratched his head thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t mind gettin’ back and having some good Oldworld cooking again. And there are folks I’d like to see back there. I miss my brother a lot, but it just doesn’t sound like it could be so.”
The more Josh argued, the more Wash seemed to grow adamant against the idea. Finally, Josh snapped, “Look, Wash! In this battle that’s coming up, we don’t know how it’s going to turn out. The Dark Lord has about a hundred million troops, more or less, and we know how many there are of us. Not enough to fill a football stadium. I don’t see how we can win.”
Sarah said timidly, “But we’ve got Goél . . .”
She knew that was a stumper for Josh, for he loved and trusted Goél. He had no answer, but she saw that the pull of his homeland was so strong that he’d closed his mind to all his feelings for the one who meant so much.
“He can get somebody else,” Josh said. “I want to go home. You think about it. We’ll tell all the others. Wash, you go explain it to Reb. And you can tell Abbey, Sarah. I’ll tell Jake and Dave, and I think we ought to all go back together. Then we’ll all be in the same universe, and we can get together and have reunions. We can remember this as sort of a dream. We’ll meet when everybody knows what’s going on, and make our decision.”
Wash watched as he left the room, then turned to Sarah. “What do you think?”
Sarah was confused. “It sounds wonderful,” she admitted, “and Josh is sure carried away with the idea.”
“I’m not sure that’s the real Josh,” Wash said. “He’s been so tired and worn out and strained that he’s not thinking straight. Another thing,” he said quickly, “I’m not sure all this Dream Maker stuff has been good for him.”
“Well, what’s wrong with it? You never have liked it, I know.”
“It’s like I said from the beginning. You can get hooked on things like that. It’s easy. You just sit there, and Oliver puts that clamp on your head, and suddenly everything is nice and you’re playing, you’re enjoying, you’re dreaming. It’s like dope was back in Oldworld. Guys that were on drugs—they could dope out for a while and everything seemed fine.” Wash frowned. “But they had to come back sooner or later. And they got to where finally it was so easy to stay doped up, and so hard to live in the real world, that they just forgot about the real world and became dope addicts.”
Sarah was listening carefully. She knew that this small young man had deep wisdom that was not obvious to those who did not know him well. “I think that’s right, but do you really think this is that kind of thing? I mean it’s just a game.”
“You remember back, just before the big war, when computers had gotten big? I had a friend that got on the Internet. It was just a game, but he kept spending longer and longer times at it. Finally, he was staying at that dumb thing for five, six, seven hours a day. School, family, nothing meant anything to him—just Internet. He was hooked on that thing like some get hooked on dope.”
“And you think the Dream Maker’s doing that to us?” Sarah asked.
“It could do it to me. And I can’t say about everybody else, but I think it’s changed Josh. He’s gotten used to the easy way of dreaming. And what Oliver is saying, I think, is that we can go back to one big dream.”
“But he says that’s the reality and this is the dream.”
“Well, I don’t believe it,” Wash said stubbornly. “And I’m not going back. I’m staying here.”
Sarah sat for a long time after Wash left. She had learned to love Josh Adams, first as a young girl will admire a boy near her own age. But lately, as they were passing into adulthood, she knew that somehow it was more than that. “I want to trust Josh,” she whispered, “but I’m not sure this is the right thing.”
What if he goes and leaves you here?
The thought leaped into her mind, and fear along with it. “No!” she said aloud, almost in terror. “I can’t let you do that, Josh. If you go back, I’ll have to go back too!”
Josh talked to Jake and Dave. Both were interested but somewhat doubtful. However, Josh was so excited that they were carried away with the idea. “I’m going back to talk to Oliver one more time,” Josh said. “I’ll get back to you, and we’ll make our decision.”
“I think your decision is already made,” Dave said slowly.
“Well, it sounds like a way we can keep each other, and get away from this place, and get back to what we used to have. I’ll see you later.”
Josh did not go at once to Oliver’s house. He walked for a long time. He was really torn in two directions himself. Thoughts of Goél kept coming to him, and he remembered the kindly face and how Goél had preserved him through so many difficult times. Almost like a prayer, he said, “Goél, why don’t you come now when I need you? You could tell me what to do.”
But Goél did not come, and in desperation Josh knew that he would have to make his own decision.
He entered Oliver’s house at the man’s invitation, and for a long time the two sat talking. Josh explained his difficulty, and Oliver was sympathetic.
“I know exactly what you mean,” he said. “And I can’t make the decision for you.”
If Oliver had tried to persuade him, Josh was ready to resist. But Oliver made no attempt to do so. Instead, he said, “You’re a smart young fellow, Josh. If you don’t want to go back home, that may be right for you. Some of the others may feel differently, of course.”
“Wait a minute, Oliver. I didn’t say I wasn’t going back. It’s so hard . . .”
“I’ll tell you what,” Oliver said abruptly. “I have a history book on small towns in America. Why don’t you just go back to Oldworld on the Dream Maker and visit? Then we’ll see. Maybe you’ll get an idea about what to do.”
This struck Josh as wisdom, and he said eagerly, “Yes, that’s what I’ll do!”
Josh found himself walking along a tree-lined street in a pleasant neighborhood. He saw his house up ahead, and his heart leaped as a large collie came out barking, his gold-and-white coat shining in the sun.
“Jock!” Josh fell to his knees, embracing the dog, who licked his face furiously, then ran around him barking sharply and pulling at his pants leg.
Then Josh looked at the house. His heart rose in his throat like a lump. He walked inside.
Immediately his mother appeared and said, smiling at him, “I’ve made fresh cookies, Josh, and your dad is taking you to the ball game tonight.”
“That I am.” Josh’s father poked his head around the door and winked. “And afterwards we’ll go out and get a pizza.”
Josh stood still, unable to speak. His eyes suddenly filled with tears.
I’m home again, he thought and knew then that he had made his decision.