A Higher Calling

[ysonesse]

Real World: Aeithera

Nalieza tapped her thumb on the datapad viewscreen. She had spent the better part of an hour trying to get through the prologue of Tinkin's Progress. But so far, she was only up to screen five.

She pressed the forward button on her datapad. "Is it still gloomy out there?" she asked Josym, who was sitting by the window.

He turned around and gave a look out the window. "Same as before. Too much water for one day."

"That's what winter is like around here. A lot of rain comes down, and makes everything dreary."

Josym shrugged. "You might have a point. And it could be worse, right? It could be snowing."

"Now you could say that's too much water."

"Either way, I still can't trust a planet with this much precipitation falling out of the sky."

"Is the weather any worse than having to read this stuff?"

"You have a point there," Josym responded, getting up from the windowseat to join her on the couch.

Nalieza moved over to the right. "You can't get through this stuff, either?"

Josym leaned back and rested his elbow on the armrest. "Who could? It's boring enough to cure insomnia."

"It certainly didn't help my case of it last night."

He stared at her. "Wait, when did we suddenly switch to that topic?"

She held his gaze for a second, and then decided to study the carpeting. Something better to do than give Josym any hint that something was bothering her. "Well, you mentioned it first."

"You've been having those dreams again," he said.

She shrugged, and kept staring at the floor. There was a worn spot in the carpet that drew her attention. Maybe the circle of gradually fading blue patchcloth could absorb anything and swallow it completely, like a black hole. If she concentrated hard enough, it could swallow all of her thoughts and take away any memory of last night's dream...

"When did they start up this time?"

"They haven't started again."

"Stop being evasive. Tell me."

She sighed. "This one was different."

"Different in what way?"

Nalieza hard. "I talked to him last night," she said softly. "It's..." she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, "...well, I don't know what to call it. But the dream happened. That's the only part I'm sure of."

"You spoke to him."

"Yes."

"Exchanged words. The both of you."

Nalieza felt as if she were being regarded as only slightly less insane than a street prophet. "You don't believe me. Great." She tossed the datapad onto the floor with a frustrated flip of her hand. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?"

"Telling the truth."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure that I talked to him? Of course."

"But that can't be possible."

"Again, sorry. But that was my dream last night." She tucked her knees up to her chest and stared at him.

"It just sounds bizarre, that's all." He leaned forward and put his hand over top of hers. "Look, I'm not trying to doubt you. You aren't lying."

"Okay, maybe I'm crazy."

"I wouldn't call it crazy. More like gifted." He picked up the datapad from the floor and placed it on the arm of the couch next to him. "Okay, tell me everything. How did the dream start? What did you guys talk about?"

"It started in a forest. I found him trapped in a stone wall. I think the place might mean something to him. I never got the chance to ask him about that. The scene shifted, and when everything stopped moving, there I was in the carbon freezing chamber." She dug her fingernails into her leg before continuing. "He was standing in the pit. Looking up at me. Confused."

"How did he get in there?"

"I don't know. He doesn't know either. That was just where I found him." She sighed. "I'm talking to a dead guy. Why is this happening to me?"

"Why you've had these dreams, the Maker or the Creatrix or even the Force only knows. But if they're going to keep happening, which seems likely, then you have to try and understand them."

She raised her head to look up at him. "Are you suggesting that I might be doing aident duty?"

"Maybe this is your tshaud," he replied.

Nalieza shook her head. "Not possible. Not at all."

"Okay, so I don't know much about the dream culture where you're from. But based on what you told me, that's how it starts."

"Yeah, you wind up in somebody's dream. Then they come to you, say that you showed up in one of their dreams, and that's when you know you've been called to become an aident."

Josym nodded. "That fits some of what's been going on, doesn't it?"

"It's not close enough. For one thing, he's not a relative or friend. No aident was ever known to get a tshaud in the dream of a stranger." She stopped pacing the floor.

He stood up. "Maybe it's the Force's way of telling you something about the rest of your life."

"Like what?"

He smiled quickly. "I don't know. That maybe you're meant to become a Jedi."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's not funny."

"Who said I was joking?"

"Then why don't you say it again, but this time with a straight face?"

"Perhaps because it makes sense." Now he wasn't smiling.

"Sorry, you're wrong."

He shrugged. "Only the future will tell."