Dreamworms Book 1: The Advent of Dreamtech by Isaac Petrov (drm ebook reader TXT) 📕

turns to face the man, who holds her gaze with defiant blue eyes. “We are not, Elder Luuk. We are shepherds.”

“You know my name?!”

Rew keeps her eerie white eyes fixed on the man’s for a short while. Then she says, “I do, Elder Luuk. I do know each of you.” She slides her gaze across the forty-eight youngsters. “I met you already. In your dreams.”

“Why are we here?” The stocky farmer—Elder Luuk—asks. “Why us?”

“I do know your desires, Elder Luuk. I do know the deepest needs of each and every one of you. You do burn inside from longing. Alas, you shall never be satisfied. Society resists your wishes—unmoved, merciless. You are all wounded by desperation.”

Nobody interrupts her words. Not even Elder Luuk. Some have gasped, as if suddenly realizing they are naked. Ximena feels Gotthard’s inner passion as he swaps a glance with Rutger. He for one is not afraid of exposure. Only careful.

“You are here,” Rew continues, “because your non-conformist cravings are powerful. You do want to change your world. So do we.” She turns her white, lifeless eyes to the stocky man. “You shall be our agents, Elder Luuk. Our agents of change. If you so desire.”

“What if we don’t?” Elder Luuk asks.

“Then you shall return to your world in peace. And desperation. But if you stay with us, if you do yield your will to ours, we shall grant you the power to achieve your every goal.”

“Which power?” a girl asks from behind Gotthard. Ximena turns her head. It is Edda, her eyes drilling the aliens’.

“The ultimate power, Redeemed Van Dolah,” Rew says. “The power to penetrate others’ minds, and to influence them decisively. The power to truly persuade. The right idea, in the right mind, at the right time, and you shall accomplish anything. With our rigorous guidance, your history shall fly forward, free from the shackles of tradition.”

Usually Gotthard is quite the cynic—Ximena begins to get him already—and yet, somehow, he feels in his guts that Rew is speaking the truth. Ximena can feel his lust rising like the Pacific tide—thick and relentless. He wants so much to believe the alien. He needs that power. Oh, what he could accomplish. With that power they would finally have to listen, those narrow-minded fools. They would see as clearly as he does. They would have no choice but to mobilize all the resources of Goah’s Imperia for a new space program, jumping from horses to rockets, even if half the planet starves to death. Because the alternative… The alternative is inconceivable.

“And what’s in for you?” Edda asks. “What do you want in exchange?”

“Edda!” Aline mutters, and pulls from her hand, as if warning her.

“Your compliance, Redeemed van Dolah. Your obedience. We shall dictate policies, and you shall execute them to the utmost of your abilities. Which are considerable—a factor you have also been selected for.”

“Which policies?” Elder Luuk asks.

“I do feel your skepticism,” Rew says. “But do not fear. You humans and us marai ultimately want the same: for humankind to flourish anew. To fill the world like you did centuries ago. And to keep it this time.”

“Sure, sure,” Edda says, ignoring the insistent pulling of Aline. “But what do you want us to do for you?”

“I cannot give you details, Redeemed van Dolah. Our policies are flexible, and shall adapt to your own successes. But do not fear. Our instructions shall remain compatible with your private desires. It is in our interest that you accomplish your own goals and put yourself in a position of influence. Only then you shall serve us with maximum efficacy.”

“So, you scratch our backs, and we scratch yours?” Elder Luuk asks.

“Indeed.”

“Fair enough,” he says. “I’m in.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, yeah?” Edda says. “What if even with those magical powers of yours we can’t make, uh, whatever it is we need to do?”

“If you do fail yourselves, then you are of no use to us. You would then be free to return to your inner despair in peace, without further obligation towards us.”

“It’s a no brainer.” Elder Luuk shrugs and turns towards Edda. “There’s no downside.”

“No downside, yeah?” Edda squints at Rew. “Except that we might be sealing a pact with the devil.”

Those words hit a nerve. The body language of forty-seven youngsters changes abruptly. They seem more aware of their featureless surroundings, more defensive. Expressions have tensed noticeably. Even a mind as rational as Gotthard’s seems touched by irrational fear. No, he thinks, that’s superstition. And to be honest, what’s the alternative? He’s got to take every chance, even if…

“I’m in,” Gotthard says. “And if you’re the devil, Elder Rew, I’m still willing to accept your conditions.”

A murmur of voices crisscrosses the group, many of assent, some of doubt. “I’m in,” Rutger says. Others join. “I’m in.” “Me too.”

They must be truly desperate, Ximena thinks, if they are willing to gamble their souls.

And yet, not everybody seems convinced, not by far. About half of those present, including Edda and Aline, remain silent—a long silence of uncertainty, mistrust written on their faces.

“This is a dream,” Edda says, staring at the palm of her hands. She raises her eyes at Rew. “You’re not real.”

“I am most certainly real, Redeemed van Dolah. Real in my world. Real in your dreams. And I am really most impressed with your innate awareness—indeed, you are dreaming. We all are. This is a permascape, a shared dream. Every marai you see, and every human, is real. Only the dream is not.”

“I want to believe you, Elder Rew,” Aline says, after swapping a glance with Edda. “And that’s why I can’t. Without evidence, I can only trust my hope, and hope is a lousy source of truth.”

“Show us your powers of influence,” Edda says. “Convince us. I want to be convinced.”

“I did indeed expect a degree of resistance,” Rew says. “It’s in your nature. Thus, I have arranged for a demonstration.”

Rew raises an appendage-finger and the empty infinite flat landscape, flying saucer and all, vanish as if