1/12/98
Loni elected to wake Cat and Shannara first, as she had no idea
what Zarah was like first thing in the morining.
"Ugh, go away," Cat groaned, throwing a pillow at Loni, who
deflected it easily.
"Hey!" Shannara protested when the pillow landed on her; she
threw it back at Loni.
The three girls regarded each other for a moment, then broke into
to a pillow fight.
Their giggling soon woke Zarah, who walked in and regarded them
all puzzledly. "What's going on?"
"Oh, sorry; we're just having a pillow fight; sorry we woke you,"
Loni replied.
"Pillow fight?"
"Yeah; c'mon and join in!" Shannara encouraged.
Zarah simply turned on her heel and walked out.
Cat stared after her, concerned, until Shannara pulled her back
in to the pillow fight.
Less than a minute later, Zarah returned with her own pillow.
"Every man's fantasy & here I am too beat up to enjoy it
properly...." Loki sighed from the doorway a few minutes later. Zarah
blushed, but the others just laughed; Cat launched her pillow at him,
hitting him in the chest.
"Oof!"
Loni drove the three girls back to the entrance she'd used
Saturday night on Zarah's reccomendation; while it would be fine for
Cat & Shan to walk in the front door, Zarah doing so would raise too
many questions they decided. "See you later Cat; Shan, see you around
I guess; Zarah, I promise Teagan'll have Loki back in top condition
before the day is out," she said as the others got out of the car.
"Bye cousin; keep in touch!" Shannara answered.
"Thank you Loni," Zarah replied.
"See you when I get home; try not to eat all my ice cream," Cat
called as Loni pulled off.
"Loni and Teagan, are they....related?" Zarah asked Cat quietly
as they made their way to her Tower office after parting company with
Shannara.
"So you noticed the resemblence too, huh?" Cat replied. "Loni is
Teagan's gaurdian, officially; if there is a blood relationship there,
she has not seen fit to tell me. Until and unless she does, I won't
ask; you have to remember, even for those born to the School there are
no mothers, fathers, brothers, or sisters, only cousins."
"Then why are they together?"
"Because Teagan is being fostered by Loni."
"I thought you all grew up in 'dorms'?"
Cat chuckled; "For most of the children that's true, but healers
are a special case. A healer in a dorm would be burned out rather
quickly, what with the way kids tend to get banged up and all."
"Are only healers fostered out?"
"Well, everyone spends part of their time fostered, but permanent
fostering is mainly reserved for those for whom it would be dangerous
to by surrounded by so many people all the time, including some of the
more sensitive healers and empaths. And before you ask, personalities
are given a hell of a lot more weight than any bilogical ties that may
or may not exist."
"Are biological ties never acknowledged?" Zarah asked
thoughtfully.
"Only for medical records, and then only in the form of genetic
information & medical histories. Mothers and fathers are too often
seen as irreplaceble by children; they`re too unique. This causes too
many problems, the first being a possible sore point between those who
have families and those who don't, the second being what happens
should a parent, or child, die or something."
Zarah frowned; "But doesn't fostering run into the same problems
with attachment?"
Cat shook her head; "Guardians are replaceble; and there are
always more cousins."
"So you never really lose your family, there's always someone
there."
"More or less," Cat nodded.
"You sound as if you're not sure you agree with the policy,"
Zarah remarked astutely.
"Oh, I wonder sometimes," Cat admitted, "but it really is the
best way they could handle things. And once a Student graduates, they
can make their own choices, including having a more conventional
family. But even independents can usually call on at least one or two
cousins for support if they really need to."
"Is Loki an independent?"
Cat grinned; "Very much so."
"What about Shannara?"
"I don't know," Cat shrugged, "never asked. Ah, see, we made it
here with none the wiser," she added as they reached the office. "Now,
if you'll excuse me, I really need to catch up on my paperwork." Cat
hurried off before Zarah could question her further.
Either nobody noticed Zarah's absence, or they had decided to
keep their mouth shut; either way, the day was relatively uneventful.
That eveniong, Loni arrived to pick Cat up after work, taking the
time also to give Zarah the update that Loki was now healed, and
seemed to be recovering nicely mentally and emotionally. Zarah knew,
however, that it was likely to be a long time before Loki would come
to visit her again, and that she would not be able to sneak out to
visit him herself very often either.
To Cat's surprise, Loki was still there when she got home. He had
prepared dinner, claiming that Loni and Teagan deserved a decent meal
before their long trip home, and that Loni shouldn't have to worry
about cooking AND the long drive.
Cat was relieved that Loki was in such a jovial mood; even if
most of it was most likely forced, it was definately a good sign. Both
she and Loni had expected him to immediately retreat from the world at
large, his usual response to disturbing events. Cat chalked a heavy
portion of it up to Zarah's visit; she knew how conscious he was of
the risk his lover had taken to see him.
Dinner was a relaxed affair, with much good-natured teasing
banter between the three friends, with even Teagan scoring a few
astute hits.
That night, after the others had left, Cat made her way down to
the basement room.
As she had expected, it was as empty as the rest of the house.
But the frost on the window of the outer door had been cleared.
1/13/98
I HATE paperwork, Cat thought to herself as she attempted to wade
her way thru the backlog of work left over from the weekend. It was
afternoon, and it still seemed she'd barely made a dent in the stack
that had greeted her the previous morning. She glanced at the clock
and decided to take a break.
She was peering in on the Exchange when Dreamwind approached her.
"I hear thine shoulder has been healed," he said.
"Yes, good as new," she answered. "Let me guess, you're wondering
when I'll be stopping by for another session."
"Thou seest right thru me," he chuckled, "I have some time free
now, if thou dost?"
Cat sighed; "Alright, give me a few and I'll be down to nap wit'
ye," she agreed.
Dreamwind smiled as he watched the first of Cat's dreams unfold.
While technically a nightmare, he found it more amusing than
worrisome; in it, she was being burried in neverending stacks of
paperwork. Looking over at her, he saw that even she was smiling
slightly in her sleep. The dream played itself out within a few
minutes.
The next dream was far more disturbing.
Cat is walking and talking happily with a girl with blonde hair
and green eyes, maybe a few years younger. Suddenly, the girl is torn
from Cat's side by an unseen force.
"Lauren! Lauren!" Cat searches frantically for her friend;
instead, she finds Lauren's bullet-ridden corpse on a surrealistic
black and red desert lamdscape.
Cat's pulse and breathing were racing; Dreamwind clicked on the
blue-grey "calm" icon. He wondered briefly who the girl Lauren was as
the screen filled with the color and Cat's breathing and pulse started
returning to normal.
Suddenly, the rates started spiking again; Dreamwind turned back
to the screen to see what was happening.
The winter sky is grey-blue over a small mountain town. Cat and
Lauren, wearing snow suits, walking down the street. Suddenly, Lauren
is torn away by an angry man weilding a gun.
The screen filled with an image of looking straight down the
barrel of a gun; on the bed, Cat was flailing in the restraints.
Dreamwind quickly clicked on the "control" icon, watching the gun
barrel be replaced by a soft white light. Cat's struggling slowed, but
did not stop; her pulse and breathing slowed also, but did not return
to normal.
On the screen, the white faded into a black and white scene that
slowly gained hints of color. Confused that the dream was continuing,
Dreamwind clicked several time on the owl icon to remind Cat it was
just a dream; but each time the owl appeared, it flew off the screen
after only a few seconds. All the while, the dream continued.
Suddenly, it dawned on dreamwind what was happening. He watched,
horrified, as the scene played itself out over the next few minutes,
realizing this was no mere dream.
It was a memory.
Lauren enters a smal sporting goods store; she is again wearing
a snow suit. She spends some time browsing when, suddenly, a rough-
looking man grabs her from behind, pointing a gun at her head.
"Alright you little bitch, where's the disk?" he shouts at her.
"I don't have it, and I don't know where it is," she says, trying
to stay calm as he drags her back from the rest of the customers, who
are fleeing.
"Liar!" he shouts; "Tell me!"
Lauren continues to deny any knowledge as he drags her to the
back wall; meanwhile, some local cops have come in and are forming a
loose semi-circle in front of them. They keep their distance, however,
no doubt because he has a hostage.
After a little bit, Cat wanders up next to one of the officers.
She surrepitously eases his revolver out of its holster and then
circles around to an opening in the semi-circle. Carefully concealing
the gun at her side, she stepps out to approach the man. "She's
telling the truth; I'm the one who took it, and I'm the only one who
knows where it is."
"Then tell me before I blow her fucking head off!"
Suddenly Cat snaps the gun up, pointing it directly at the man's
head; "Why shouldn't I just blow your's off instead?"
"Oh yeah? And who's to say my gun won't go off too? You don't
want to risk your friend here, do you?"
Cat sighs, lowers the gun and looks at the floor. "You're right,"
she sighs, emptying the bullets into her hand. She drops all but one
to the floor. She replaces the one bullet, spins the barrel, and then
snaps it shut. "But how much are you willing to risk?" Suddenly, she
snaps the gun back up again.
To point at her own head.
The man scoffs; "You'd never do it."
"Wouldn't I?" Cat asks, taking a single step forward and pulling
the trigger; empty.
The man looks less sure of himself now."Are you nuts?"
"Am I?" another step, another empty chamber; "Are you willing to
lose that disk forever?"
He reamains silent, staring at her in disbelief.
"Well?" A third step; a third empty chamber.
It is to much for the man; he throws Lauren from him;
simultaneously, Cat throws her gun to the side while launching a
spinning back kick that disarms him.
Cat's gun hits the floor.
And discharges.
Dreamwind sat back wearily and sighed, trying to absorb all he
had just seen. It was not an easy task.
After a few minutes he looked back up and checked Cat's vitals;
they had finally returned to normal. He glanced at the screen and was
relieved to see that the dream was not trying to repeat itself again;
he wasn't sure he could handle any more revelations just then.
As he got up to release the restraints and disengage the head
shield, he thought ruefully that at least this time he didn't need to
replace any more fried circuits.
Not long after he had roused Cat they sat down to review the tape
made by the Dreammachine. Dreamwind watched Cat's reactions to the
scenes intently.
Cat chuckled quietly as they watched the first sequence play
through. "No real analysis needed there I think," she remarked in a
bemused voice.
During the second sequence she maintained an attitude of detached
calm, but Dreamwind's close observation noted the minute hardening of
her jaw, the slight glint in her eye. Afterwards she simply sighed and
hung her head in her hands.
"Art thou alright?" Dreamwind asked quietly.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Cat replied, looking up. "Haven't thought about
that day in a long time."
"When didst it occur?"
"Oh, about eight, no, nine years ago; just before London," Cat
answered frankly.
Nine years? Dreamwind thought to himself in shock; Cat would only
have been thirteen then. He took a breath to steady himself before
asking, "Quite some time; tell me, who wast the man?"
"He was one of my first assignments after I graduated, mine and
Lauren's; he had been caught selling secrets to other countries. The
disk contained some of those secrets; we were contracted to retrieve
it. Lauren and I made a good team; I looked old enough to infiltrate
his workplace, get to know him, and since she looked younger than she
was, she made the perfect distraction the day he invited me over to
his house for a barbecue."
"I am not sure I follow," Dreamwind interjected.
"He was a bit of a pedophile," Cat explained, "though he'd never
actually done anything he could have been prosecuted for. Anyway, I
brought her over with me, and she held his attention while I located
the disk."
"But something went wrong," Dreamwind surmised.
"No," Cat replied, "everything went perfectly actaully. We had
returned to the Poconos long before he even realized the disk was
missing. The incident you saw didn't happen until over a month later.
Apparently one of his governmetn contacts leaked the information on
our location; needless to say, it was a long time before the
Headmaster accepted another government contract."
"Yes, I canst imagine. I am curious however, about the nature of
the first part of the dream; from what I couldst discern, Lauren didst
escape unscathed."
Cat sighed; "Yes, she did; I recently learend that she died a few
years ago during an assignment in the Gulf.
"Ah, I see," Dreamwind replied softly. He was not sure what he
thouhgt of a place that would send children out on such dangerous
assignments, no matter how well trained they were. He thought he was
beginning to understand why Cat had been plagued by these dreams all
her life.
Cat made her way quickly down the hall, glad to be out of the
dream lab. She knew that for some reason the session had disturbed
Windy more than herself. That was part of the reason she had not
wanted to do these sessions in the first place; she'd learned long ago
that most people were disturbed by the life she'd lived, and few could
accept she really wasn't all that bothered by her nightmares, that
she'd grown to accept them.
She was so intent on her own thoughts that she literally ran into
Daielyn in the hallway. As she stopped to apologize and help the girl
pick up the folders she'd dropped, she saw Daielyn's gaze go blank in
a memory read.
As the girl's expression slowly shifted to one of sympathetic
horror, Cat realized just which memory Daielyn was recieving.
Cat reached out to touch the young girl's cheek. "Oh no honey,"
she said in a gently sympathetic voice, "that is not something you
should have to remember." Through the contact, Cat reached out with
her mind, briefly becoming Daielyn herself in order to surpress the
transferred memory in the girl's mind.
A few moments later she was herself again. Daielyn was loking at
her oddly.
"Here," Daielyn said, fishing a tissue out of her pocket and
handing it to Cat; "Your nose is bleeding; don't want Zarah to see
that."
Cat wiped her nose absently, then stared down at the blood on her
hand.
Damn.
