The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (11 page)

Oddly moved by her tears, he floated closer.  She
was pretty, he’d decided instantly, looking all of a child for how small and
fragile she’d seemed.  Yet there was no mistaking that the pleasant curves
outlined by the blankets surrounding her were those of an attractive woman, not
a child.  Her sadness touched a chord in him, setting his determination to try
and bring a smile to this dreaming child-woman of sorts.

Thus he’d met her that night in a
dream he’d engineered to comfort her.

He hadn’t counted on the most strong-willed young
woman behind those tears.

Upon returning months later, he was surprised to
find her much as he’d left her before, still unhappy, and crying herself to
sleep again.

Appearing in one of the only
visible forms he could while the other dreamer was awake, he’d remained close
by her window, no doubt seeming like a star to the unaware woman, despite his
much closer proximity.  He’d been startled when she gasped, and even more when
she wished aloud to see the Dominick she’d dreamed of before.

She still thinks of me?
he’d mused, oddly pleased.

And then she seemed to stare directly at him,
mentioning his name again.  As if she’d known that he wasn’t a star at all,
although that was surely impossible.

When she’d returned to her bed,
he dimmed his light so she couldn’t see him, and followed her to glance at the
book she was reading.  The people on the cover dressed differently than what
he’d seen of her world lately, but if the history lessons he’d overheard on
Earth were of any consequence, this story took place in another era.  Unseen,
he moved in back of her to read what she did, grinning at the rather
interesting segment she was fascinated by.  So she liked romance, did she? 
Well, perhaps he should oblige her then.

Hence followed their meeting in
her dream.

He’d been interested to find more than just
beauty or passion in her.  She was also intelligent and amusing when she’d
overcome her initial hesitancy towards a stranger.  And then when she told him
of Roger, he’d found yet another side to her.  One that seemed to crave
comforting as he’d once noticed before.

Far be it from Dominick to resist lending his own
assistance there!

Tonight, he noticed her science fiction novel
with its spaceship on the cover, wondering briefly if Earth might one day use
one to find Chavernos.  Highly unlikely, due to its mist obscured appearance
and its parallel position on the other side of the sun.  Yet if it
could
be made possible... perhaps he might one day receive the chance of meeting
Julianna while they were both awake.

But for the time being, a dream rendezvous would
have to suffice. 
Science fiction scenes
, his mind thought quickly. 
Perhaps Julianna would prefer that background instead this time, nodding once
to the idea.

In the next moment, his astral
form vanished and his dreamphasing ability took over.

Julianna’s boots echoed as she walked across the
spaceship floor to the nearby viewing deck.  As before, she had no knowledge of
how she’d gotten here, but it felt real enough.  This time she was garbed in a
skintight suit made of a shiny white material, with green and blue stripes
across the shoulders.  The outfit was also adorned with a gold belt.  Her feet
were encased in black boots, which reached halfway to her knees and fit against
her like a second skin.

Hearing laughter, she backed closer to the
observation port.  A small group approached, a few women and a few men, wearing
similar outfits.  All of them passed by her obliviously, with the exception of
one man who turned to smile at her.  His eyes were a familiar striking blue. 
Slowly remembering the evening before, confusion surfaced.

Before she could react, he’d turned the corner
with the others.

Deciding to follow, she’d only gotten a few steps
when her hand brushed against something cold, startling her.  Looking down, she
saw it was a silver gun attached to her belt.

Removing the weapon swiftly to examine it, she
ran shaky fingers over its metal surface.  Several blinking red lights upon it
only unnerved her further.  She’d never seen anything like
this
before on Earth.  And for that matter, if she was in space, just where
was
Earth?  Was this ship hovering above it, or was it halfway across the galaxy?

With her luck, probably the second.

She gasped sharply as warm hands eased the gun
from her shaking grasp.

“Careful, my lady,” came a familiar gentle
voice.  “You don’t want to accidentally blast a hole in the wall and send us
hurtling into the vacuum of space, do you?”

Julianna looked up in shock.  “You!” she
exclaimed.

The man grinned back at her.  He was dressed
similarly, except that his outfit catered to his male form instead.  And while
she was certainly surprised to find him here, she couldn’t help but notice how
well the suit fit him.

Still, she was unnerved by this strange
coincidence.  Could this be the same Dominick that she’d met the day before?

Sensing her confusion, the man spread his hands. 
“Aren’t you glad to see me, Julianna?” he asked, his voice expressing a touch
of sadness.

“You know me?” she inquired cautiously.

He could only laugh.  By Chaos, how long would it
take her to catch on to the repeated coincidences of their meetings, and
realize that he was the same person returning each night?

Still, he was a dreamphaser and used to such
things.

His fair companion was not.

“Of course I know you,” he replied patiently. 
“I’m Dominick Westbrooke, remember?  We met at a fancy ball yesterday, wherein
some mirrored rooms you pursued me most successfully.”

“I thought we agreed not to mention that again!”
she snapped, even as she put her hand to her mouth in renewed surprise.  The
realization was clear.  This was the same Dominick.

“Ah, I must have forgotten,” he said quietly,
strangely subdued.  “I’m sorry, my lady.  I won’t trouble you again.”

Julianna stared after him in disbelief.

He was just
leaving
without another
word?

For a moment, she remained where she stood as he
continued down the unfamiliar corridor, disappearing from view. 
Surely
he’ll change his mind and come back
, she thought.  But he didn’t.  And here
she was, stuck on a strange spaceship, heaven only knew where in space, all
alone.

She couldn’t run fast enough to catch up with her
departed companion, although she assured herself she was only doing so because
there was safety in numbers.  As she rounded the corner, she kept going until a
voice suddenly halted her from behind.

“Looking for me?”

Gasping for breath, she turned to see Dominick
staring at her knowingly with a grin, arms folded.  Oh, the nerve of him! 
Expecting her to come running after him, as he undoubtedly knew she would.  If
she weren’t stuck in the middle of nowhere, she’d certainly burst that bubble
of his and continue running as far away from him as she could get!

“Only because I was curious as to why we’re
here,” she assured him.  “Care to enlighten me?”

“Why we’re here in space?” he asked.  “Or why
we’re together again?”

“Both.”

Dominick smiled, unwilling to give away the
tricks of his trade so easily.  “As to the space issue, it must have to do with
the local alien threats to the galaxy.  As to why we’re both here, I can only
assume Fate conspired to bring us together.”

“Hmmm, remind me to have a long talk with Fate
when I get back home to Earth,” she murmured.  “Or should I say a long
argument
over messing around with a person’s life?”

“Don’t look at me,” he laughed, gesturing
innocence.  “I’m sure I know as much as you do as to why we’re here.  Too many
sci-fi novels I suppose.”

Julianna quirked one eyebrow at that.  Sci-fi
novels... for some reason that triggered a chord.  But what would they have to
do with why she was suddenly on a spaceship now, let alone stuck with this most
infuriating man?

“Cheer up,” he said brightly.  “At least you’re
not alone anymore.”

“Except for you,” she retorted.  “I’m not so sure
that’s much safer.  I’d probably be better off captured by aliens.”  Her words
trailed off as she walked to sit beside the observation port to gaze at the
stars.

An apt choice of words
, thought Dominick,
considering that we
are
both aliens from different worlds
.  Although of course she didn’t know of
his real identity on Chavernos.  As to the capturing part, he might not mind
doing so with this particular auburn-haired alien!

With her attention distracted, he was free to
appraise her new attire, and it was a change he certainly approved of.  If the
gown she’d worn yesterday enhanced her surface beauty, this new spacesuit she
wore emphasized what the gown had hidden.  Presenting a problem all its own, since
the damned outfit left relatively nothing to the imagination as far as her
shapely body was concerned.  One he’d like to be holding right now, and
kissing, and caressing, and…

Shaking his head as he remembered Chaolyn’s
words, Dominick moved to sit beside her.  “Julianna, I didn’t follow you here
to upset you.  I merely wanted the opportunity to get to know you better.”

Her warm brown eyes looked up at that.  “Why?”

“Why?” he exclaimed.  “Why not?  You’re a
beautiful, intriguing woman who haunts my waking hours.  I couldn’t stop
thinking about you all day today.”

Her brow wrinkled, and she was about to ask where
he’d been earlier.

“You there!” boomed an unfamiliar voice, earning
the attention of both instantly.

A man walked up, followed by a few others, all
dressed in similar attire to their own, albeit with different colored stripes,
no doubt to signify rank or job assignments.  The one who’d spoken was tall,
apparently in charge, and wore an outfit with unique symbols along with
corresponding black and silver stripes.

“What are you doing just sitting there?” he
demanded.  “You should be at your posts.  We need all hands to help speed our
departure to get as far away from the Warp Zone as possible.”

For some strange reason, the words sounded
familiar, yet Julianna couldn’t place them.  “What’s the Warp Zone?”

The man sighed.  “A place our scientists should
never have felt the need to study, since now we’re being pulled towards it.”

“As in a black hole?” inquired Dominick.

“Seemingly yes, but our scientists don’t believe
that’s what it is. 
They
feel the Warp Zone is a safe conduit to
another location, akin to bypassing light years in a quick jump.  But their
information is all theoretical, and they didn’t count on it having a similar
gravitational pull to a black hole or a planet.  They were going to
study
it first.”  The last he sneered.

“Scientific leaps cannot be made without such
attempts,” said a small voice, capturing the attention of all.  He was a man
slighter of build, holding a foreign device.

“No offense, Landers, but this from someone who’s
convinced himself he’s found a way to deal with the Rengar.  Last I checked,
those weapon prototypes of yours still shoot sparks more than doing anything
useful.”

“Scoff if you must, Kyron, but one day you’ll see
just how useful these weapons are.”

The leader clearly wasn’t impressed, returning
his attention to Dominick and Julianna.  “As I was saying, if that wasn’t
enough, we’ve been pulled into a territory that’s under the control of the
Rengar.”

“And who are the Rengar?” asked Julianna.

Kyron shook his head with a forced laugh.  “A
group of space renegades whose only goal is to capture space crafts, enslave
crewmen, and destroy anything they don’t deem useful to their cause.  How have
you gotten this far into the fleet without at least being briefed on them?”

“She was transferred from a different system,”
Dominick supplied, which surprisingly enough mollified the man.

“In any case, our monitors have just located one
of their ships in our vicinity.  You’d best get to your posts, and Landers, you
have other duties to attend to.”

The other man nodded reluctantly, walking away,
while the leader continued down the hall with his group.

Julianna was about to follow, but Dominick’s hand
on her arm stopped her.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

“The question is, what are
you
doing?  You’re no more familiar with the workings of this ship than I am.”  She
couldn’t argue that, having no knowledge of how she got here to begin with. 
“So what are we waiting for?  Let’s explore this place.”

Gesturing towards another branch of the hallway,
he led the way and she followed beside him.  This corridor was better lit and
surprisingly devoid of other people.  The quietude renewed Julianna’s former
curiosity.