Jon Merz - Prey

“You ever have any other dreams like that again?”

“Never as bad as that first one, no.”

“But you’ve had others?”

“Sure. Every few years or so since then. I think I’ve had probably five in total since that first time. I’m never really as scared by them. I feel more like I’m observing something.”

Darren looked up and frowned. “Shit, see? You’re all looking at me like I’m some sort of psycho case. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned anything. Thanks a lot Nung.”

Nung looked at him. “I don’t think you’re a psycho case, buddy.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I’m being serious. I don’t think you are.”

“Why so?”

Nung frowned. “Because you just described the exact same dream I had as a teenager.”

“The exact same dream?” Darren shook his head. “That’s kinda far-fetched to think two people could have the same dream.”

“You’re right,” said Vikorsky. “It is far-fetched. And I think three would make it even more so?”

Julia snapped her head up. “You too?”

Vikorsky nodded. “The lights, the weightlessness, the trip down here. All the same. Same order, same amount of subsequent dreams. All the same.”

Wilkins cleared his throat. “Me, too.”

“And me,” said Havel.

They all looked at her. Everyone but Mick who still had his half-closed eyes on the ceiling. Julia swallowed. “Me, too.”

Nung’s jaw was tight. “What the hell is going on here?”

Wilkins shook his head. “We can’t jump to any conclusions about this guys. There’s something weird about us all having the same dream, sure, but we’re here now and we’ve got work to do.”

Nung shook his head. “What if this is something more? After all, we still haven’t figured out where the hell everyone else is yet. What if it’s connected somehow?”

“How?” said Vikorsky. “We’re on one of the most inhospitable land masses on the planet. It’s not like some giant creature came in here and grabbed everyone. There’d be a lot more evidence that something had gone really wrong. There’s nothing. This place is just a ghost town. Whatever happened it doesn’t seem to have been especially violent.”

“Unless whatever happened here was like our dreams,” said Darren. “Weightless and powerless to do anything. They could have been carried off.”

Wilkins snorted. “Christ, by what?”

“I don’t know, “ said Darren. “All I know is it is really freaking me out that we’ve all had the same damned dream. We’ve all got that connection and it’s just really really weird.”

Wilkins shot Julia a look that said she’d better move to restore some calm to the situation. She nodded and pushed her coffee away from her.

“It’s late. We’re all tired. Yeah, we all had the same dreams. We can discuss it some more tomorrow maybe. For right now, we’ve got to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s a brand new day and we’ve got a mission to get underway.”

“Not to mention fifteen staff members too find.”

“Vikorsky!” Wilkins looked pissed.

Julia held up her hand. “It’s all right. It’s all right. He’s correct. Finding out what happened here is definitely a priority also. But we’ve got to maintain our composure.”

She looked at Nung. “How are communications?”

Nung shrugged. “Can’t make much out of the rig right now. The way it looks, everything’s cool. We’ve got satcom and UHF but I couldn’t test either one of them this evening with the storm coming. These snows will drown out the strongest signal I can shoot off. Until this storm passes, we’re isolated. That’s the poop.”

Darren frowned. “Wonderful. Stranded down here without the ability to reach out and touch a rescue team.”

“Calm down,” said Julia. “The pilot said the front wouldn’t last all that long. Once the snows break, we place a call to home base and see if we can get a plane down here ahead of schedule. We explain what happened and that we’re going ahead with our primary objective. Nice and simple.”

She glanced around the room. The faces of five men stared back at her. They looked like they’d bought into her plan, at least for right now. She hoped she’d been able to quiet her own inner concern about the dreams. She hoped it didn’t show on her face.

Wilkins clapped his hands. “Right then, beddy-bye time.”

Everyone rose. Julia looked at Mick who hadn’t moved. “You coming along?”

His eyes rolled over toward her. Even in the diminished light she could see how blue they were. “I might stay up a while.”

“You need some sleep.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Julia looked at him. She glanced at Wilkins who simply waved at her. The other men had already filed out. She waited until Wilkins disappeared down the corridor.

Then she looked back at Mick. “You didn’t say much when Darren told us about his dream.”

He smiled. “That’s right. I didn’t.”

Julia leaned against the table. “So?”

“So what?”

“So, did you have the same dreams as the rest of us?”

Mick leaned in toward her. “If I say no, will you kick me off of the team? I mean, I won’t be the same as everyone else.”

Julia smiled. “I won’t kick you off. I’ve got no place to put you, anyway.”

Mick nodded. “Nice to hear.”

“Of course, if you didn’t have the same dreams, that would be a good thing.”

“How’s that?”

“It means there’s just coincidence in that we’re all here despite those dreams. You not having them means it was just happenstance. Not some sort of divine direction.”

“And the guys on the team would be more relaxed?”

“Exactly.”

Mick nodded. “I wish I could help you out.”

Julia’s heart sank. “You mean?”

“Yeah.” Mick nodded. “I had the dreams, too.”

“Damn.”

“It’s not necessarily bad,” said Mick.

“How’s that?”

“We don’t know if Kendall had the dreams, too.”

Julia grinned. “Kendall’s enough of a nightmare just being around this place. It doesn’t matter much if he did or he didn’t.”

“Good point.”

“What do you think it means?” asked Julia after a minute.

Mick went back to staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know. But a big part of me seems convinced we’re going to find out before too long.”

“The most curious thing,” said Wilkins, “is that both the Snowcats are fully gassed up.”

“Meaning what?” Julia stomped her boots into the snow. She didn’t want to have to stay outside in the blazing sun and cold any longer than necessary. The quicker Wilkins finished his explanation, the better.

“The station only has two Snowcats. So, whatever happened to the crew, they didn’t take the transportation.”

“You think they walked?”

“Well, we certainly won’t be able to track them. Not after last night. Besides, we’ve got no idea how long they’ve been gone.”

“Had to be some time between their last radio check-in with Tierra Del Fuego and when we arrived. That gives us — what, a week?”

“Four days.”

“Ninety-six hours is an awful long time to get lost in,” said Julia. “I don’t like it.”

“No one does,” said Wilkins. “Kendall’s still skulking around the place looking for what he calls ‘clues.’”

“What’s he think he’s going to find?”

“Probably nothing. But he’s not really looking for anything solid. He’s looking to spread enough paranoia that the crew loses faith in you and turns to him for guidance.”

“Wonderful.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. We all know what kind of guy he is. I don’t think anyone’s ready to throw their lot in with him.”