Parent-Teacher Conference Ch. 09

Chapter 9 -- The Debriefing of Dreams & Nightmares

The three of us sat and talked for what felt like hours. I told them how I was a teacher back on Earth and they shared stories of the all the worlds they had visited. The food we ate was like nothing I'd ever tasted before. They ordered different items, almost like several sampler platters and I tried everything. Some of it I really liked, some, not so much. Other creatures joined us and they too would share stories about space travel and the different worlds they had seen. It seemed I was somewhat of a celebrity here. Everyone wanted to know about Earth, me, and how I came to be on the ship. Among those who joined us included Valente and Sharma, plus several others from different sections of the ship. We were laughing and just having fun when suddenly, everyone got rather quiet. At first, I didn't know why, then I saw Oliver and Iman walking over. The creature sitting closest to me quickly stood up and moved away and Oliver smiled, took his seat, and clicked something to him.

"No using our native language," said Oddo, "Alexis Perry doesn't understand... oh, sorry sir. I didn't realize it was you."

"No need to apologize Oddo," said Oliver smiling. "You were right, it was rude of me."

"Alexis Perry," said Iman. "How are you feeling?"

"Better now that I know what things are supposed to look like," I said smiling.

"I am sorry I did not realize your optic receptors were malfunctioning," said Iman. "I fear we did not ensure you were as well as we hoped."

"Considering all that was wrong with me," I said. "I didn't know there was something wrong with my eyes until Lara said something."

"And as much as you've all enjoyed getting to meet and get acquainted with Alexis, I'm going to steal her away for the night," said Oliver as he took my hand and kissed the back.

The group moaned their disappointment and Oliver said, "Don't worry, she's going to be with us for a while so you can all get to know her better while she is with us."

I stood up, as did Lara and most of the group, bid my new friends goodbye, and followed Oliver and Iman out of the room, with Lara behind me. We quietly walked down the different hallways until we entered a room with a table and chairs around it. It had a sense of familiarity to it, but I shook it off as Oliver said, "Lara, would you wait outside, please."

"Yes sir," she said and left room. I noticed the friendly Lara was once again replaced with the more militaristic one.

We sat down at the table as Iman said, "Ol-lee-ver has asked me to speak with you about what he and I have witnessed."

"You mean the nightmares?" I asked.

"Yes Alexis Perry," she said. "It seems that we do not experience these dreams or night-mares as you call them, we had some difficulty understanding them at first. However, we did some research and found a correlation that we do experience to help us better understand."

"So what does that mean?" I asked.

"It means we now understand how they work, and why you were so upset by them," said Oliver.

"I would think the 'why' was kinda obvious," I said.

"Yes," said Iman, "and now we understand how the tracker was able to use them against you. The tracker saw these as a weakness and thus, tried to use them to torture you during your rest period. On some level, it did work. However, there were more than the two you were aware of."

"How many were there?" I asked nervously.

"I am not sure Alexis Perry," said Iman, "But we only just finished watching them. I believe they occurred during your time of unconsciousness during the time your injuries were being repaired."

Oliver's face was ashen as he shook his head and said, "I knew those trackers were monsters, but I had no idea the depravity they were capable of reaching. I know now you will not be safe until they are captured and put to death."

I wanted to be sick. I mean, I've never really thought much about capital punishment before as it was such a hot topic issue. But here I was, listening to Oliver talking about killing two creatures... no, monsters. I knew he was right, but there was still a part of me that was appalled at the thought of killing unless it was necessary. Then I thought of Lara's father and brother, and how they were killed because of me. Then Fleck's words flashed in my memory, 'I never fail... I will make sure you have a front row seat when I do. I'm sure Ms. Perry is quite the freak... especially in restaurants.'

A tear fell from my eye as I said, "This is a lot to process."

"I agree Alexis Perry," said Iman.

Oliver took my hand and asked, "Alexis are you all right?"

"I'm not sure," I said.

"I think Alexis Perry needs to rest without the fear of the nightmares," said Iman.

"There's no guarantee of that," I said.

"What do you mean?" asked Oliver.

"Sometimes I have nightmares for no real good reason," I said.

"Is this normal Alexis Perry?" Iman asked.

"Yeah," I said. "But sometimes I have good dreams as well."

"Yeah," said Oliver. "We saw some of those as well."

I blushed as I got the feeling they involved him. Iman said, "I know you said only nightmares, but I did not realize that a few of the good dreams slipped in. So many of these nightmares started the same way as the dreams did that it was an easy mistake to make, until we realized what was happening, and that you were not in fear or at risk of harm."

I blushed harder as Oliver took my hand into his. "Alexis, I now understand what you go through and what you are most frightened of. I will do what I can to keep you safe."

I smiled, "Just knowing that makes me feel better."

We rose from the table and left the room. Iman left us and we walked back to another room with Lara right behind us. Oliver told Lara she was to be in the room across from us and he would let her know when he was leaving me in the morning so she knew when she had to be with me. She was also to keep something on and listen for sounds of me in danger. Then he clicked something and she nodded. Lara bid us both farewell and entered her room. We entered our room and even though I was sure this was the same room I has slept in, and got sick in before, it looked so different to me now. I looked at Oliver and asked, "Is this the same room we were in before?"

"Yes Alexis," he said smiling. "Tell me what you see."

The room was beautiful. Now I understood why he had brought me here the first time. The bed was large with what appeared to be a purple comforter. I smiled as purple is my favorite color. The chairs that I thought were white, were black and appeared to be quite plush. The walls were a soft yellow color that enhanced the comforter. A large window was across from me, I could see more space, and more stars. I began describing these things to Oliver, including the wall colors, the window's view, and the things I didn't see before like the small table by the chairs, the shelves on the wall, and a picture. At first I didn't recognize it, but as I got a closer look, I realized it was the picture that was taken of us that first night we were together over three years ago.

I smiled as I remembered. We had been walking through the city after dinner in that fateful restaurant, and there was a street fair wrapping up. A young photographer was trying to earn some money but wasn't getting much business. He couldn't have been more than 20 years old, and I don't know why but we decided to let him take our picture. We sat next to each other on the small bench, holding hands. The photographer took a few pictures of us and I remembered that this was the best of the bunch. I wanted to buy this one, but I didn't have any cash and Oliver said all he had was plastic. Yet, here it is, on his shelf. I reached up and held the picture in my hands, looking down at it, and touched the edge of the frame.

"You know, it took me a week to find that young man again and buy that from him," said Oliver.

I looked up at him and smiled. "Was this here all the time?"

"Yes," he said. "I thought you didn't notice it because you were tired and you had complained of being lightheaded. Then we woke, you were so ill that it was pushed from my mind."

"What about the other pictures?" I asked.

"They weren't as nice as this one so I had them destroyed for our protection. But not before I sent several other couples to have him take their pictures, using this to show what a remarkable young photographer he was."

"Did you know about the trackers then?" I asked.

"Yes and no," he said. "I knew my father would send trackers for me eventually, but I had no idea he'd send two such ruthless monsters. That's why I asked him to destroy the other pictures and not use this one. Actually, I paid him handsomely for his silence, explaining that you had a jealous ex-lover who might try to bring you harm. Since I brought him so much extra business, he was happy to keep our secret."

I set the picture back on the shelf and sat on one of the chairs. "Has anyone else seen this picture?" I asked.

"No one on this ship," said Oliver shaking his head sitting in the other chair. "These are my private quarters and no one is allowed in here without my permission."

"But you said there is a tracker on the ship," I said. "If you have a spy on your ship, isn't it possible that he snuck in here and saw the picture?"

Oliver sat back in the chair and seemed to be thinking about my words. He rested his elbows on the arms of the chair, and slipped his fingers within themselves, keeping his index fingers pointed up and touching. He pressed his fingers against his lips and sighed. "I had never considered anyone on my ship until now, but you may have a point. If the tracker on the ship found this picture, then that could explain how they found you so easily. My guardians had kept their distance for your protection, and they blended in the crowd."

"Is there any way you could track who has been in your quarters?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. "But after we've had a good rest period I will find out. Come, I wish to hold you again and rest with you in my arms. I have never shared a rest period with a female companion before, but I wish I had done it much sooner. I seem to enjoy the rest period more when I am holding you."

I smiled as I rose from the chair. "I won't lie, I have but I've never had some hold me like you did after I vomited. Except maybe my mother, that is." The memory of my mom flashed through my mind.

"I was worried. I had never seen anyone do that before like you did."

"You did see what triggered that didn't you?" I asked.

"Yes," he said. "I must admit watching myself be murdered was quite horrid."

"Yeah," I said. "It's the part that I hate the most, I think."

"I would have thought what happened after would have been what you hated," he said.

"I won't lie, it's not my favorite part either," I said and touched Oliver's face. "But I can live through that. Losing you again though, I think that would kill me."

Oliver took my hands and looked deep into my eyes, or filters as I was pretty sure they were still pretty dark. "Come, let us rest."

Oliver pulled back the blankets while I slipped off my shoes and set them just under the chair. I removed my pants, folded them, and put them in the chair just as Oliver had done the night before, then climbed into the bed. This time, Oliver climbed into the bed next to me, and kissed my hair.

"I can see you enjoyed bathing today."

"I did," I said. "You were right; it is a rather enjoyable experience."

"I wish you didn't have to wear these filters on your eyes," he said touching the small frames. "Though I must admit I've never seen them so small."

"The ones Byer wanted me to wear looked too much like the ones Fleck and Wyman always wore and I just couldn't wear them, so he made these for me."

"I'm glad," said Oliver, "These are so much nicer and don't cover up so much of your beautiful face."

I smiled and felt my cheeks burn. "Thanks."

"Did you mention this to Byer?" he asked.

"You mean the sunglasses? Yeah, I told him."

He stroked my hair and looked into my filters. "I wish I could see your eyes, but if this works, I'll see them soon enough."

We laid back on the bed and soon the room was dark. The filters must only work with light as I was now blind like I was before. I gasped and felt panic start to rise in my chest again as I sat up. I felt Oliver's arms pull me down and tighten around me as he said, "Don't be scared Alexis, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

I lay against his bare chest, and just as I began to wonder where his shirt went, I drifted off to sleep.