Outcasts of Gideon

Strange New Worlds

Dewey lowered the glowing orb into the receptacle. Doctor Daris looked on eagerly. Dewey had come to like the older woman. She was part scientist and part child, excited by each new discovery. This brought an infectious sense of wonder to their interactions.

He saw something similar in Cara. In her case, it was the things he did that sparked excitement. He'd decided this was more than mere coincidence, or even common infatuation. Something else had to be at work with her. She was a dream he'd had on many a lonely night, only this dream came true. There was a time when he wouldn't have questioned it. The voice changed that.

The sphere in his hands was a dream he'd never had. It seemed possible that Cara had helped make it happen. If Cara was beyond the reasonable or expected, then the orb was also far more than just the two of them.

Being in contact with the orb helped solidify this thinking. It might have been the unearthly glow it gave his hands as he held it. It may also have been the strange sensation of weight he got from it. Rather than a feeling of heft, it offered resistance to his touch. Then there was the energy it possessed, a charge that defied description.

Releasing the orb, he expected it to fall to the bottom of the receptacle. In the labs, spin gravity served to keep their feet to the ground. It stood to reason that this applied universally. The orb appeared to defy this, remaining right where he left it, hovering in the mouth of the crate. Pushing it lightly, the sphere complied, nestling in the corner of the transparent box. He looked at Doctor Daris.

Her eyes had grown even wider. "So it's not subject to gravity?" Dewey wasn't sure if the question was directed at him. Even if it was, he wouldn't know how to answer. "I suppose it's not real gravity, but it serves the purpose. Maybe it would behave differently in real gravity." She made a note in her comm.

"Any idea how you did it?" asked Dawn.

Dewey offered her a smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, it had to be the meditation," said Cara.

"Creating the right state of mind," said Kishan. "Once there, how did you make the object appear? Was it somewhere else and you brought it here? Did you conjure it out of nothing?"

Dewey lifted his eyebrows and shrugged again.

"Is there anything you can tell us?" Dawn had that impatient look in her eye, the one she often had back in dispatch.

Dewey usually felt like a scared puppy when she confronted him like that. The feeling didn't rise up this time. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I wish I could tell you more. I just listened to Cara talkin' and there it was."

"Okay," said Kishan, "Let's work with that. What should we do next? If we can channel action through suggestion, then let's figure out what that action should be."

Dawn shook her head. "It's not that simple. What he is able to do here isn't going to be enough to start Luna, or stop it. He's gonna need to get out of our space. If he can do that, we may not be able suggest anything."

Dewey furrowed his brow. "Why not?"

"What do you mean, 'why not?' Because you'll be in another plane."

"Dawn, you're the one thinkin' like a human. Remember, this space we're in is part of somethin' bigger. We're already in that other plane. We just can't see it from here."

Dawn fell silent.

Cara grabbed his hand from behind and gave it a squeeze. "Like your dream."

"Right. I could see Pyro. I could visit the Aion. All of that was inside Aitaoperaa. And all of Aitaoperaa was inside the next place."