Years ago, I was a part of a group of friends I'm pleased to still keep in touch with to this day. We were members of the University of Minnesota Gaming Society and the Fantasy Role Playing Games Association ... or "UMGS" and "FRPGA" for short. We would meet twice weekly to talk, socialize and play games of all types. Then, one day while mowing my mother's lawn, an idea came to me. Actually, it was a sentence ... and it needed fleshing out. But from those few words, "The Mad Penguin sat in the darkened cockpit of the Dreamer's Folly..." sprung an idea that I've adored ever since. I would put forth a story -written by members of UMGS and FRPGA- that starred those self-same members in a semi-alternate-Universe setting of Science Fiction. I began by writing the first installment, followed by other members who quickly warmed to the surreal idea. We ranged from serious SF to pulp fiction to comic books to Anime to comedy and back again. It was a great amount of fun... And, for the first time on the web, here it is...

In The Dreamstate: Part Seven
by Mark Edwards

Reeling from the shot, Todd crashed into Hans, knocking the device off. Both men went down in a heap as the device bounced clear. Two of the robots clustered around Todd as the third chased after the errant device.

This surprised Lou. Todd should have gone straight down for the shot was perfect. Not only that, Todd should be dead. But he was alive and slowly crawling away. Lou holstered his sniper pistol and drew his blaster. "If at first you don't succeed, use a bigger hammer," he commented softly to himself.

"Quickly, bring the mind assimilator to me!" Todd gasped as his robot picked it up. The sniper bullet, as it was designed to do, had penetrated deep into his neck. This would instantly kill a normal person, but then Todd isn't normal. But he is dying, for the shot did irreparable damage to his systems.

<CLANG>

The grating hit the floor, followed by Lou. Rolling, Lou regained his feet, leveling his gun at Todd in the same fluid motion. Both robots interposed. Lou fired. The first robot was knocked back and down, with a huge smoking hole in its body. The second charged and met with the same fate.

"Stop him!" Hans shouted.

But it was too late. Todd, using his last reserve of energy stood, snatched the assimilator from the remaining robot and jammed it on his head. Lou pulled the trigger at the same instant Todd pulled the switch.

"Quick, get that, that... thing off his head," Hans ordered urgently.

Lou turned and stared at Hans. No one orders Lou around. Not even customers.

"Hurry or we are all dead!" Hans exclaimed as he futily tried to move.

Lou's well honed instincts told him that this was the truth. Quickly crossing the distance, Lou yanked the assimilator off Todd's head. Surprisingly the robot made no attempt to stop him. Returning, Lou grabbed Hans and pulled him into a sitting position. Hans examined the device closely while Lou held it for him.

Lou's shot had blasted a large hole in Todd's back, so the assimilator was undamaged. Hans was no computer expert, but he did recognize the antenna structure on the crest of the skull cap, which was obviously for transmittal of the program to the alien computer. Looking closer, he spotted a small screen. Displayed on the screen were the words, "Download Successful," confirming Hans' worst fear.

Hans stared at it, trying to steady himself. He had to do it. There was no alternative, he must stop the mad doctor. He looked Lou in the eye and very calmly said, "Put that thing on my head, and activate it."

Lou slowly raised the device and held it over Hans' head. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked softly. Since Lou had been paid in advance, he had no qualms about this. In fact, he was slightly amused.

"Yes," Hans replied.

"The customer is always right," Lou commented as he lowered the mind assimilator onto Hans' head. As he had seen Todd do, Lou flipped the switch. Hans screamed, jerked violently, and then was still. Dead silence.

"Wow," Yuk Ki stated. There was no other word for it. Lou looked at the body of his employer. He had 'killed' him. Bad for the reputation. Best not to leave any witnesses. Lou slapped a new charge into his blaster and turned to Yuk Ki and Steve...

The crystal around Mark's neck began to glow. Mark stirred and awoke. Sleepily, he sat up in his bed and rubbed his eyes. The glow caught his attention. Mark smiled. Sitting up straight he folded his legs into the lotus position and grasped the crystal with his left hand. Mark took a deep breath in, and then slowly exhaled.

"It's about time," Mark thought.

Two images formed in Mark's mind. The first was of several spaceships stuck together in a huge traffic jam. The second was of a dog eating a piece of paper clearly labeled 'Navigational Data.'

"And the sun was in your eyes too," was Mark's next thought. Turning serious, Mark added, "Status report."

This was answered by an image of a control panel, all lights green. Next came the image of a massive imperial space ship with a smaller one shadowing it, both heading towards CoMann's World. Superimposed on the first was the faces of Senator Comeau and General Taylor. On the second was the faces of Senator Widerski and Michelle.

"When?"

A calendar appeared, indicating four weeks.

"Stay cloaked. Allow no one on board, not even Michelle. It is vital that your presence goes undetected."

The bridge appeared in Mark's mind, centering on the empty command chair.

"I don't know, things here are sealed up tight. They are expecting an attack."

The image faded to be replaced by a bedroom with an empty bed. The scene was colored lonely.

"I miss you too, Christi," Mark psi'ed.

Mark's crystal flared then went dark. "Damn," Mark swore silently. It would take several days for the crystal to recharge. He could still talk to the ship via dream talk, but that was a very vague language filled with lots of strange symbols. And, of course, it only worked when he was sleeping.

Dressing quickly, Mark left searching for Dan. As usual, Dan was on night duty. Mark found him hunched over a monitor.

"Surf's up dude," Mark announced as Dan looked up. "The California is in the system."

Dan... smiled. Then he queried "Is Monty on board?"

"Rats. Didn't think to ask. However Comeau and his pet general are on their way here. Four weeks."

Now Dan shrugged. "It just means that the Imperium is not going to attack us. The senator would not fly into a combat zone, he's not that stupid." Dan thought a moment longer and added, "He wouldn't dare come at all unless he had our pay. You don't cross the Penguin and live long." Dan turned back to the monitor which had several blinking red numbers on it. "I hope I get a bonus, I have a lot of bills to pay."

TODD entered the system with ease. But something was wrong. A computer system, even one built by aliens, should follow certain basic design principles. Everything should be precisely defined, logically organized, and ruthlessly efficient. In other words, everything should be - clean.

Instead, he found himself in - what?! Everything was vague and formless. TODD felt - felt?! TODD shouldn't feel anything, for he is just an algorithm. Or was he? Did the process of assimilating do more than just create an A.I. program that simulated Doctor Todd Clasen? But that would be impossible, a computer can not store or use anything other than bit patterns. If, indeed this was a computer...

In a flash of inspiration, TODD realized his mistake. The Dirmenians were psychic engineers. They made androids out of psychic energy. They made everything out of psychic energy - including computers. TODD was not inside a computer's system, he was inside a computer's mind. But if a computer had a mind, that meant that...

It was alive.

The computer, the factory, the constructs, everything that the Dirmenians constructed were alive. Perhaps even they didn't realize it, and treated them like machines. That would explain the Constructs' rebellion.

TODD was at a total loss. Doctor Todd Clasen has spent his entire life involved with robots and computers. He understood their world of precision and logic. But he never bothered to try to understand people. He considered the mind to be a sloppy, disorganized and totally irrational. He wanted nothing to do with it. Now he was inside one. He had truly died and gone to hell. It couldn't possibly be worse.

"Hello."

"YOU!!"

"Well you wanted me in here, so here I am," HANS snarled.

HANS attacked. More precisely, he tried to attack. Like TODD, he could not perceive anything in this formless universe. Not only that, he couldn't do anything. Neither could TODD. This was because the mind they were in was dormant. Not dead, just asleep. And it was having the strangest dream...

Captain Blake Johnson studied the tactical viewscreen. It showed a small lifecraft on a direct course to the sun. A readout in the corner of the screen showed that the craft had no power. He puzzled over this as Troi walked up next to him. Blake turned to her and inquired, "Do you sense anything?"

Troi turned glassy-eyed and a moment later reported, "I sense great fear and confusion. There is a single lifeform, a female aboard that ship. She is scared to death."

"We can't rescue her without revealing out presence," Blake commented. Diana started to protest, but Blake silenced her with a wave of his hand.

"But we can alter he course undetected. When her lifecraft passes here," Blake jabbed a finger at the viewscreen indicating the far side of CoMann's moon, "two or three one-second bursts of the tractor beam should put her in orbit around it. The solar batteries on the lifecraft will keep the life support functional until the Penguin rescues her. There will be no trace of our involvement."

Troi was not satisfied, but sensing Blake's determination, she let the matter drop.

Blake turned back to the viewscreen, studied for it for a moment longer then issued orders to the helm. As the course correction were being implemented he leaned back and allowed himself a moment of reflection.

Yes, it was cruel. That poor woman would be stuck in orbit, totally helpless. Though Blake spoke confidently to Troi about the woman being rescued by the Penguin, privately he had some serious doubts. Something incredibly bizarre must be happening aboard the Dreamer's Folly, if lifecrafts with no power are being launched into the sun with people on board! Blake would love to scan the Dreamer's Folly but that may alert the Penguin.

They must remain hidden. If the Penguin discovered them, he could easily foil their attempts to smuggle Mark off the planet. It was difficult enough as it was now. Any landing craft sent in would be either captured or destroyed. Cloaking the landing craft was not possible, for the generator crystal was much too big for the small craft. What they needed, of course, was a diversion. Fortunately, one was on the way. Senator Comeau's arrival should draw everyone's attention, allowing the landing craft to slip in unnoticed.

But why was he coming?? If he merely wanted to pay the mercenaries, a courier would have sufficed. He was up to something. Unfortunately, Michelle's message didn't elaborate on this. All it said was that she had some extremely important information, so important she didn't dare transmit it, even using the ship's psi-link. So she was star-hitching Comeau's ship to CoMann's World, and bringing Senator Widerski with her.

Why Widerski? And how much did Michelle tell him? Did she tell him the truth about the California?

Secrecy was important. Everyone believed that the I.S.C. California was nothing more than a pleasure ship for some rich merc. It even had the unofficial title of 'The Empire's biggest whoreship.' Little did people realize that the 'whores' and the other 'entertainers' on the ship were in reality, psi-scientist, researchers and psi's. Even Michelle, a real whore, only came to the California to learn about her shape changing ability.

It must stay this way. Hari Sheldon's famous paper, 'The Emergence of Homo Psi' which proposed that the small but rapidly growing number of psi's were the next step in human evolution, evoked a galaxy-wide reaction. Homo Sapiens didn't much like the idea of being second class anymore than the Neanderthal Man did when Cro-Magnon appeared. Compounding this was the fact that normals felt completely naked and powerless in the presence of psi's for there was no known way for normals to block psionic attack. It seemed that the only way to prevent the psi's from taking over was to kill them first. So they did. Hate groups swelled and persecution of psi's was everywhere. The government did little, except to grab the most useful psi's for their own purposes. The rest had only one place to turn - the I.S.C. California.

Because of this, Mark had secret contacts with psi communities all over the empire. And he used this large base of psi to great advantage by studying it thoroughly. And this produced an astounding result. Mark, a normal, through study and training gained psi ability! Though his psi was rudimentary at best, it was still a major breakthrough. If ordinary people could use psi, their hate and fear of natural psi's would be greatly diminished for now they could compete on an equal basis. But there was still a long way to go...

"Sir."

Blake swiveled his chair around.

In front of him were two beautiful young women dressed to kill - literally. They were decked out in full battle armor. One was cradling a two-handed mega blaster, a gun so powerful it could blow holes through ships' hulls.

"Request permission to go planetside," stated the red-haired one.

"What?"

"We should be with Mark, for after all we are his personal body guard," Kei replied. Then she smiled mischievously and added, "Besides, Yuri has a crush on him."

"Do not!"

"Do so, I seen the way you look at him," she teased jokingly.

"Grrrrrrr."

"Ladies," Blake commanded. He stood and gently guided them away from chair, aiming them towards the bridge's exit. "Things are under control at this point. You will be called as soon as we are ready to move."

"Make sure you do, we don't want to miss any of the fun," Kei said.

Yuri gave Kei a dark look and muttered, "If you want excitement, meet me in the gym for hand-to-hand practice."

After they left, Blake slumped down in the command chair. Why Mark hired those two from the 3WA was beyond him. Wherever they went, chaos and destruction followed. He remembered the 'clandestine' rescue mission on Ceti 6 after which Ceti 7 had to be renamed Ceti 6. If he sent those two planetside, CoMann's World, with all its mercenaries and rebels, wouldn't stand a chance.

Continue to Part Eight...