Steven Harper: Dreamer

“Yes,” Sejal told her. “He’s on a planet named Klimkinnar. He’s a slave, too.”

Harenn put a hand to her mouth beneath her veil. She tried to say something, but all that emerged was a choking sound. Ben sat beside her on the bed, his own heart overcome with emotion.

“Are you all right?” he asked Harenn. “Do you want something to drink?”

She shook her head and stood up. Ben saw she was shaking. “I want to get ready to leave.”

Kendi put a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Not until we’ve both had a good night’s sleep. In the morning I’ll get authorization to start an expedition.”

Ben stared. Kendi noticed.

“What?” he said.

“Nothing,” Ben replied. “We should all get some sleep.”

Harenn started for the door, halted, came back. Moving quickly, she lifted her veil and kissed Sejal on the cheek. Ben caught sight of a pretty, lined face. Sejal blushed furiously as Harenn rushed from the room.

“Do the Children still organize hunts for Silent?” Ben asked. “I mean, the Dream’s been-”

“There are still Silent who can enter the Dream,” Kendi said, “and the Children still need them. Now more than ever.” He leveled a hard brown gaze at Ben. “Speaking of which, Benjamin Rymar, I was wondering something.”

Ben looked at him innocently. “What’s that?”

“Have you tried to enter the Dream since Sejal brought you there?”

Ben tried to keep a straight face but a smile burst through. “Once or twice. I used some of Mom’s connections to get my drug dosage figured out.”

“And?”

“And what?”

Kendi made an exasperated sound. “Could you do it?”

Ben kissed him. Sejal made “woo-woo” noises. The embrace became more intense, however, and after a while, a faint flush crept up Sejal’s face.

“I’ll just…I mean, I can…oh, shit.” He fled.

When they separated, Ben patted Kendi on the cheek. “Ever think you’d see an ex-prostitute blush twice in one day?”

“You bastard,” Kendi said, still irked. “You’ve been visiting the Dream for-what? Days? Weeks? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise.”

“Well, I’m not surprised.” He kissed Ben again, though not as intensely as before. “You always did have to be different.”

Ben only smiled. “So whose family do we go after first? Yours or Harenn’s?”

“Harenn’s,” Kendi said promptly. “She goes home to an empty house every night. I don’t. We should probably-” He paused. “All life! I just realized-the Real People told me to go to Rust so Sejal could tell me where to look for my family. It wasn’t a metaphor after all.”

“It’s amazing what you find,” Ben said philosophically, “once you stop looking.”

“Let’s go tell the others, if Harenn hasn’t already. See who wants to go.”

“You go ahead,” Ben told him. “Just save me a space on the crew roster. Father Kendi.”

Kendi flashed a bright grin and left. Ben watched him go, then wandered over to the window, opened it, leaned outside. The air was cool and damp on his face. Leaves rustled in a very slight breeze. Far below the house, amid the foggy ferns, lay his mother’s grave. Ben had had her buried at the foot the talltree, and already it seemed as if he could feel her presence in the leaves and branches.

“Thanks, Mom,” he whispered. “Thank you for everything.”

He stayed at the window, staring out into the foggy night. A long moment passed. Then Benjamin Rymar firmly shut the window and turned back to his life.