Finally they reached a door that was painted in bright psychedelic colors, with a large green apple in the middle. It was marked Dressing Room — Do Not Enter. A battalion of security people were guarding this door. Annie whispered to Hunter that he should wait here. She then charmed her way past the guards and went through the door. That's when Hunter caught a brief glimpse of the people inside the dressing room. It was an image that would stay with him for a long, long time, though he would never be exactly sure why.
He saw four musicians inside. They were all wearing the same kind of silver collarless suit. Each had perfectly coiffered if longish hair, more styled than the people in the crowd or even his own. Three were holding instruments Hunter recognized as guitars. The other was drumming on a table with drumsticks. Just as the door was closing, one of the guys with the guitars spotted Hunter. They stared at each other for a long moment, then the guy raised his hand and flashed two fingers at Hunter. Hunter was baffled for a moment. 'Two? Two what?"
But then the guy just mouthed the word Peace… and then finally the door closed.
Hunter waited outside for about a half hour. He was greeted in a friendly manner by just about everyone he met. He finally discovered the source of the curious haze; it was coming from a type of cigarette many people backstage were smoking. Hunter had invitations to take a drag from one of these smokes; in fact, just about everyone who walked by offered him a puff, but he declined. His body had been transported thousands of years in the future. He'd undergone entire lifetimes via mind-ring manipulation. He'd been to Heaven and back. What more could this stuff do for him?
The band onstage finished their encore, and the crowd went crazy with cheering and applause. The band members ran right past Hunter; one commented on his "out-of-sight threads." Now Hunter could feel the crowd's anticipation building. He put two and two together. The headliners were the musicians he'd seen behind the multicolored door. If this dizzylando attraction was a world where dreams come true, who then could they be?
At that moment, Annie reappeared. Here eyes were red; she'd obviously partaken in the happy smoke. She was very excited.
"I've got good news," she told him with a giggle.
"You found the Mad Russian?"
"Not quite," she replied. "But I found a guy who knows a guy who knows another guy who knows everything about everything."
It took Hunter a moment to sort that out. "Could there be such a person?" he finally asked her.
She laughed and gave him a tight hug, just like Annie from the first adventure. "Remember where you're at, man!" she told him. "Anything can happen here!"
Hunter would come to regret that he never saw the four musicians in the collarless jackets play their concert. The crowd was near fever pitch, waiting for them to take the stage; it was almost as if they were anticipating a religious experience. But Annie told him they had to return to the Jenny biplane and wait there. Hunter followed her lead.
They left the backstage area, went through the fence and up the road, this while hundreds were still walking down into the bowl, heading in the opposite direction. Several of the kids stopped them and said, "Where are you going? You're going to miss them."
Hunter could only answer with smiles and shrugs.
For the first time in his life, he felt like he was swimming against the tide.
He and Annie returned to the Jenny and waited as instructed.
The screaming coming from the concert area was so loud, Hunter never heard a note the headliners played. It was very apparent, though, when the concert was drawing to a close as the crescendo reached fever pitch. Not five minutes later, four large automobiles appeared on the road leading out of the concert site. There were police vehicles surrounding each of them. The car fourth in the line — it was a stretch limo — stopped. The rear window came down, and a hand from the back waved for Annie and Hunter to climb in.
They did. There were four people in the back of the limo, including one of the musicians in the collarless suit. He smiled at them, but then put his finger to his lips. Where they were going and what they were going to do when they got there had to remain a secret.
They rode along in near silence, following the three other limos, soon passing the army of cars and vans that dotted the fields turned into parking lots. They drove up into the forested hills, past secluded ponds, and along a cold, swiftly running river. The other people in the limo — three beautiful blond girls — spoke softly among themselves. Music was wafting out of the limo's rear speakers. Another funny cigarette was passed around. Annie took a few puffs, Hunter again politely declined, though he was sure that just his proximity to the secondhand smoke was enough to affect him.
But not much though. Because the scenery was beautiful. And it was a beautiful day. And this Dreamland was a place where nothing ever seemed to go wrong.
So he just sat back and enjoyed the world going by his window.
The four limos climbed up out of the hills and into the blue mountains beyond.
Soon Hunter was looking down at the rapidly moving river, which was now wide and looking almost icy, but still refreshing. He caught himself on occasion eavesdropping on the conversation among the others in the back of the limo. They spoke with unusual accents, thick as pudding, and it was hard to follow along. The topic seemed to range from music to the current state of the universe. As before, he just stayed quiet, sometimes musing to himself that it seemed virtually impossible that he wasn't on some distant version of Earth instead of one of the many moons of Saturn.
How strange his life had become…
They drove on for about an hour. In that time the terrain outside changed dramatically. The trees and vegetation suddenly seemed more suited to a jungle environment as opposed to a northern forest. The condition of the roads changed radically, too. They went from wide and paved to dirt and narrow very quickly. And Hunter could tell it was getting very hot outside, this even though he could see snow-covered mountains way off in the distance.
The trek ended at the gate of a camp hidden away atop one of the tall mountains. The camp was adorned with many brightly colored flags and emerald-leafed trees. An ancient wooden sign at the front gate gave the only hint of what this place was. In cracked paint, it read: Spiritual Ashram.
The camp consisted of a dozen or so simple wooden huts, a communal dining table, and a large house in the center. There were a few people wandering around the grounds. They were wearing long, frilly, flowing gowns, both men and women. The place was very rustic, yet those in residence didn't seem a bit fazed when the four very modern limos roared in.
The limos stopped in front of the large house. Annie started to climb out, pulling Hunter with her. The guy in the collarless jacket said to him, 'The man in that house has the answers to everything. Tell him you're our mate. He'll help you out."
Hunter shook his hand. "How can I thank you?"
The musician pushed his glasses back up onto his nose. "Just do me one favor. Wherever you go, whoever you talk to, please tell them that peace and love are the only answers."
Hunter hesitated a moment. The guy obviously didn't know who he was talking to. Or then again, maybe he did.
"I'll try," was all Hunter could say.
The musician gave him a kind of mock salute. Hunter stepped out of the limo and closed the door. All four cars roared away, out the gate, and back down the mountain.
Annie was waiting for him on the front steps of the big house. She was still giggling, still beautiful. Two men with bald heads were watching the door. They seemed friendly. When Annie explained how she and Hunter got here, the two men let them enter.