being there. He didn’t need another criminal charge tacked onto his record.
Chapter Three
Gemma followed the tall hunk through his ship, to the front of the vessel. It had a tricked-out cockpit with two seats. Good thing, because her limbs felt oddly heavy after being weightless. She gazed at stars and a lot of blackness through the front window.
“Strap in,” Big ordered, taking the seat to the left.
“Where are the planets and the moon? The sun? Aren’t we supposed to be in space? Can we see Earth? I might as well enjoy the view while I’m trapped here.”
“Strap in, please.”
She sighed and took a seat, putting on the belts. “Fine.”
“We’re in deep space, not in Earth’s solar system.”
“You mean I dreamed up a black hole? Fantastic.”
He grinned and started the engines. Everything vibrated and lots of lights came on across the dashboard. She noticed some kind of device in front of her. It reminded her of one of her son’s video game controllers. “Can I fly?”
“No.” He flipped switches. “I am not giving control to your side. We’re undocking from the transport and then I’m going to destroy it.”
“Isn’t Sherlock still over there?”
“The android? Yes. I left it. It’s of no use to me.”
“Awesome. Can I blow it up?” She stared out the big window and saw another ship slowly come into view. It appeared boxy in shape and was a light gray color. Seven numbers were painted in black on the side. “I mean, why the hell not? The robot has bugged the crap out of me since this dream started. I might as well get a little joy out of killing it off in my imagination.”
“Push the white button near your left hand when I tell you to.”
She reached out. “This one?”
“Yes.” The space pirate flipped another switch. “Hang on while I target the transport.”
“Okay.”
He toyed with his large joystick. She grinned and watched as they backed farther from the boxlike ship. Big pushed some more buttons on a console over his head, then gripped another joystick attached by a thick sleeve on the dash.
He glanced at her. “Hit the white button now. We’re locked onto the transport.”
She pressed the button with gusto.
Nothing seemed to happen.
But then a hole suddenly appeared in the side of the other ship. She expected it to burst apart, blow up, but instead, big dents began to appear on the metal. It seemed to shrink inward on itself, then small pieces broke off around the edges of the main body, floating outward. There were a few sudden bursts of lights flashing in certain parts of the ship as more holes appeared, and the metal shell seemed to crumple more.
“That’s it? No big bang? No blast of fire? That was kind of a letdown.”
He chuckled. “Sorry. I just breached the interior to decompress the ship. I try to make these things look as if they were accidental. The distress signal didn’t specify the problem. These supply transports are always computer piloted, and it will be impossible for them to take stock of what was inside. The transport is too crushed, and it’s not worth hauling it to a docking station and bringing it inside to see what can be salvaged.”
“Shuttles accidentally decompress? Does that happen often in this dream world?”
“It does if the autopilot is faulty and unable to avoid space debris or asteroids. Rapid decompression will crush the ship. It comes apart at that point. I fired small asteroid chunks at it to create the holes. You didn’t see them because they’re as dark as space.”
She pulled her legs up and rested her chin on her bent knee. “This sucks. I want to be on a beach next to the Pacific Ocean. You could be my cabana boy.” She looked at him. “Maybe not. You’re too large to be a boy anything.”
He messed with more buttons, some switches, and his joysticks. “I know this is difficult for you to believe, but the time you knew is gone. You really are existing in what you would consider the future. I’m setting a course for home.”
He slid out of the seat and bent next to her, releasing her belt. “Come with me.” He stood and held out his arm. “No other ships are in range and my autopilot will alert me if that changes.”
“Right, right. You’re a pirate, and now the space police will want to catch us.”
“They’ll kill us. I’ve possibly got an active death warrant out on me already, and you’re an illegally created