The dogs leapt as one and he felt himself sinking. The stone was cool against his cheek and he heard the ripping of his clothing and flesh as the beasts lunged for him. He felt their teeth in him and the white-hot searing pain… …
"SPENCER, HEAR ME Now. This is Adjani. If you can bear me, say 'yes."' "Yes.
"You are dreaming, Spence. It is only a dream. Do you under stand?"
"A dream."
"Don't fight the dream, let it come. In a moment you will awaken and remember your dream. I want you to remember it." "Remember." The word was soft and mushy. Spence was deep in his dream.
Adjani knelt close beside him, his lips to his ear. He spoke slowly and with authority, as a hypnotist would speak to his subject.
"Spence, I want you to wake up now. I'm going to count to three, and when I reach that number I want you to wake up. Do you understand?"
"Yes."
Adjani counted off the numbers and Spence awakened to see his friend standing over him.
"Adjani!" Fear and relief mingled in his voice. "I was dreaming! "
"Yes, I know. I heard you cry out in your sleep." "You woke me up-"
Adjani nodded.
"It was terrible. Horrible. Oh!" Spence made to rise up, but Adjani placed a hand on his chest and held him down.
"Tell me about it. Quickly, before you forget."
"I won't forget this one." He proceeded to tell his dream in vivid detail.
"Yes, very frightening," murmured Adjani when he had finished.
"Very. I remembered, Adjani. I remembered everything. I've never been able to do that before."
"I gave you a hypnotic suggestion. I thought it might help us." All at once the significance of what Adjani was saying broke in on Spence's sleep-dulled brain. "The Dream Thief!"
Adjani nodded slowly.
"They know I'm alive. They're trying to get to me again."
"Was there anything in your dream that might give a clue to who they are or what they might want from you?"
"I don't know-it all seems rather bizarre. Dogs and castles and bridges… it doesn't mean a thing to me." He shuddered involuntarily as he remembered the flashing, slashing teeth tearing into him and heard again the sickening crunch of his own bones. "But is was so real! I've had lucid dreams before, but they were nothing like this. It was really happening."
"Maybe I shouldn't have awakened you so soon."
"I'm glad you did! They would have killed me!"
Adjani glanced at him sharply.
"Hold it!" Spence protested. "You don't think they actually could-no, it's impossible! You can't kill someone with a dream. Can you?" …
THE SNUB-NOSED TASER GUN seemed very natural in Tickler's hand. He held it steadily and surely; there was no hint of nervousness or jitters. It occurred to Spence that he had handled the weapon before under similar circumstances.
Spence had been waiting in Adjani's room for Adjani to return. "I'll fetch Ari and be back in a few minutes and we'll go over our plans for the trip down tomorrow," he had said and slipped out.
When he heard the signal Spence answered the door and found, not Ari and Adjani, but Kurt and Tickler, wearing the read and black jumpsuits and caps of the GM security force.
"You!"
"You have led us a merry chase, Reston." Tickler smiled a thin, snaky smile. "But now you're coming with us."
"I'm doing no such thing," said Spence. Then Tickler had drawn the taser – a mean little gadget which expelled a tiny electrified dart, instantly rendering its victim paralyzed and unconscious for two or three minutes.
Generally speaking there was no escaping a man armed with a taser.
"You will do as I say from now on, Reston." Tickler mouthed the words with special relish. It was clear he enjoyed his role as tough guy.
"Put that thing away, Tickler. Are you crazy?"
"Not crazy, doctor. Concerned. We've been very worried about you. When you didn't return from Mars we thought we'd lost you. It turns out that we were wrong. Happily so. Now that you're back we mean to hold onto you for a while."
"What is this all about? What do you want with me?" Spence hoped to keep them occupied until Adjani returned. It was his only hope.
"You are inquisitive, aren't you. But we have no time for questions now. There's someone waiting to meet you."
"Where are you taking me? I demand to know!" Spence shouted shrilly.
"Your demands mean nothing. Keep your voice down or we'll carry you out of here. Come on-" The taser waved him ahead. "Get moving."
"Just a minute. I need my shoes." Spence indicated his stockinged feet.
"Get his shoes for him," said Tickler. "Only you won't really be needing them once we get where we're going."
Spence took the shoes and sat down at Adjani's desk. He placed both shoes deliberately on top of the computer keyboard. He took the first shoe and put it on. When he picked up the second shoe he deftly tapped the ComCen key; the monitor flashed on across the room. Neither of the intruders noticed; their backs were to the screen.
Spence stood and said, "So, you're taking me down to the docking bay, huh? Then where? Not back to Mars, I hope." As he spoke he pushed the DICTATE key and hoped that Adjani had the machine programmed the same way he did.
"No place as far as all that," answered Tickler. "You'll find the trip anything but boring, I assure you." He jeered the nose of the gun toward the door. "Now, get going. And I warn you, Reston-don't try anything or I will make you very uncomfortable. We have a vehicle waiting outside."
"Nothing but the best for the condemned man," said Spence. He hoped the machine had picked up their conversation.
"You're taking this very well," said Tickler. "I hope you have abandoned any notions of escape. I will not hesitate to use this on you. I've used it before."
"I bet you have."
Millen led the way into the corridor and took the driver's seat of a small electric car. Tickler and Spence sat facing one another in the back as the open vehicle moved noiselessly away with its red light flashing to warn oncoming pedestrians to stand aside. …
"HE'S GONE," SAID ADJANI as soon as he entered the room. "Something's happened."
Ari looked stricken. "You mean they've taken him?" "Right. But maybe we can still catch them."
"Look!" Ari pointed to the ComCen screen on the wall. "Bravo! He left us a message." Adjani leapt to the computer console and tapped in instructions for an audio replay.
This is what they heard:
"… far as all that. You'll find the trip anything but boring, I assure you. Now get going. And I warn you, Reston-don't try anything or I will make you very uncomfortable. We have a vehicle waiting outside."
Then they heard, "Nothing but the best for the condemned man. "
There was a rustle and the faraway sound of people moving in the room. The first voice, faded and indistinct as the party left the room, said, "You're taking this very well. I hope you have abandoned…" The rest was lost as the portal slid shut.
Ari turned wide, horror-filled eyes upon Adjani. But her voice was calm and steady. "Do they mean to kill him?"
"I don't think so. Not yet, anyway. His reference to the condemned man was to let us know that he was under armed guard, I think."
"Where will they take him?"