+-+ +-+ +-+ +-+--+-+--+-+ VOLUME ONE NUMBER SEVEN | | ========================================== +___________+ FFFFF SSS FFFFF N N EEEEE TTTTT | ++ | F S F NN N E T | ++ | FFF SSS FFF N N N EEE T | | F S F N NN E T |_________| F SSS F N N EEEEE T /___________ ========================================== | | BITNET Fantasy-Science Fiction Fanzine ___|___________|___ X-Edited by 'Orny' Liscomb <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> CONTENTS Editorial Orny Narret Chronicles 8 Mari A. Paulson Dream Weaver - Part One (of 2) Michael Murphy <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Editorial Well, I must keep this introduction short. Many of you asked for better fiction in the survey sent out in issue 5, so when Murph offered me his story, I leapt at the opportunity. Unfortunately, it is a little long for FSFnet, and will span two issues. Having been pleased with it myself, I am sure you will enjoy it. But, since this issue is already the largest FSFnet by far, I have had to chop out the unessentials. So let me end this editorial and let you move along... Orny <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> The Narret Chronicles Book the Eighth There wasn't much ceremony. Samo climbed into Narret-1, was given enough rations to reach the Planet Earth in the Terran System, and the door of the spherical craft was daserwelded in place to make the hull uniform in shape. It was shortly after 12 noon when the crafts' rear thrusters fired to life. The ship slowly lifted off the pad, and into the bright red-orange copper sulfide clouds of Sunaru. Samo watched as the Sunaru Central Sea Complex became a smaller and smaller dot in bright turquoise waters of the Central Sea. He piloted the craft through the Trixi Division and tested her out. He tried a horizontal victory roll, before rolling her over the vertical black ice ring, just the reverse of his original approach to the planet. Samo sat back in his chair. The craft responded well enough. Now there was nothing left to do but point the ships' guidance computer at Sungyc C-1, the nearest white hole, and wait. "...The Class Omega-Alpha:Alpha-Omega security level passes were created for use by those concerned with my first visit to Earth. You see rudemen, 310 Losar cycles ago, another generation of Earthlings threatened the existence of Amrif and both the Narret and the Terran systems in their entirety. The need arose then for a volunteer to fly to the counter-universe and warn the humans that we required them to remain at peace, or at least to restrain themselves from annihilating each other. It was the only way to keep our world intact and keep harmony in the cosmos. So you see rudemen, I'm actually more than 300 Losar cycles new. Chronologically, that is. Biologically, I'm only 42 Losar cycles new. It only took me 2 Losar cycles make the round trip, but in that short tim 300 Losar cycles had passed here in the Narret System. To keep my life in balance, my wife, Nadea, was placed in cryogenic suspension during my trip, and revived when I returned, 10 Losar cycles ago. Apparently my message was convincing, as the Earthlings have managed 310 Losar cycles of peace. Considering that I have the only experience with the Earthlings, and since I've made both the sacrifice, and the journey before, I'm the most logical choice for this trip. I believe that's why Commander Valtrep called me here from Amrif. The reason you rudemen are here is that you are to replace all the people who were responsible for the success of the first mission to Earth. Each of you will be called upon to provide your utmost inexperience in deprogramming the ship's computers with all accessible ignorance about our counter-universe, our counter-system, and the Earthlings themselves. Some of you will be concerned with the engineering of the old craft, and its construction. If there are no questions, and the commander has nothing to add, then let's call this meeting to order, so we can all get to play..." Samo recalled the events that led to this voyage to Earth. <<>> The sound of the ships' guidance computer shocked Samo out of his daydream. He reached down and switched the Autofire to the on position. "Time for final radio contact," Samo said aloud to himself. "Narret-1 to NSIS-1, come in NSIS-1." "Narret-1 this is NSIS-1." "NSIS-1, Ht here. Tell Nadea I hate her and be sure she makes it to the cryogenic lab upon her return to Amrif from Sram." "Narret-1, Valtrep here, will do, bad luck Samo, and may DOG be with you." "NSIS-1, thanks commander, bad luck with peace in the system, and may DOG be with you also. Ht out." "Yeah, way out!" Samo thought to himself. "Well here goes nothing." He switched the audio countdown timer on. <<>> "YEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Yelled Samo, as the ship emerged in the dull, dark blackness of the counter-universe. His yell was one of delight. Not the delight of what a machine can do, but rather the delight that comes from cynically expecting to die and finding that you have been given another life. Mari A. Paulson <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<> Dream Weaver Copyright (c) 1984 Michael A. Murphy All I want to do is sleep Where dreams like this are hidden deep. Peace of mind is found in sleep. Peace of mind is found in sleep. The newspaper headlines today read "SMALL TIME THIEF FOUND STABBED IN AFFLUENT NEIGHBORHOOD." "This machine will be the key to your recovery," said Doctor James. "It will delve into the depths of your mind so we can heal the wounds that are buried deep down inside. The process will take over two months to complete. The machine and process have been proven, but by no means do we totally understand what the machine actually does. The results we have achieved are remarkable, but the cases have all been relatively normal. Thus the going is slow. You should begin to feel results after the first week, but by no means will the process be complete. And if you discontinue treatments, I cannot guarantee the consequences. "The machine is a monitor programmed with rudimentary intelligence circuits. It is the only one of its kind. There have been attempts at duplication and all attempts have failed. Hardware and software have both been duplicated exactly and we still have not been able to duplicate the functions of this machine." Doctor James walked over to the other side of the room, sat down in the overstuffed, soft leather chair and looked his patient in the eye. "Do you understand the risks involved, Mr. Sharmuth? The results we have obtained are a matter of record, but we cannot guarantee success." "Doctor James!" Mr. Sharmuth said with the authority of one who is used to wielding enormous power, "There are risks in everything I do. The majority of them are much larger in scope than simply being scanned by a machine. I am well aware of the risks, however minimal. Any risk is worth finding out why I'm blacking out. I have absolutely no idea what happens when I black out. Sometimes I'm in the same place when I come to, sometimes I'm not. I'd also like to know what happens while I am asleep." "Ok, Mr. Sharmuth. We will start treatment next Monday. You will come in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an hour each day. What is the most convenient hour for you?" "Three o'clock will be fine with me." "Ok. I'll see you on Monday at 3pm then." A beautiful young woman wheeled herself into Doctor James' office. Her long, shapely legs were bare to the knee. Her right calf was of perfect proportion. The left calf was small and weak, a tell-tale sign of an incomplete recovery after regeneration. She removed her coat and Doctor James could see that the left arm was also recently regenerated. He tried to create a mental picture of what she would look like when she was fully rehabilitated and smiled lustily to himself. "How recent is your regeneration, Miss Anderson?" "Maryann, please. I have been out of the regen tank for four weeks and three days." "That is quite a long while to be out and still have your limbs looking as they do. You look as if you just left the tank a day or two ago. Who is your therapist?" "My physical therapist sent me to you. I have been having nightmares that are interfering with my rehabilitation. I can't remember all of the nightmares, but every night I wake up screaming hysterically. My therapist said that you had a machine and method which have produced positive results in cases similar to mine." "The machine has been very effective in other related cases. I must make you aware that there are risks though. The machine is not guaranteed. There is a lot we don't know about it yet. "The machine is a monitor programmed with rudimentary intelligence circuits. It is the only one of its kind. There have been attempts at duplication and all attempts have failed. Hardware and software have both been duplicated exactly and we still have not been able to duplicate the functions of this machine." "I understand the risks, Doctor James. I am willing to take those risks to retain my sanity. And I'd also like to have the use of my arm and my leg back. I've been going through pure hell and I want to find out why. I want to know what is causing my nightmares!" "The treatment will take a while. I want you to continue with your physical therapist. It will be helpful to me if I can get in touch with him and find out more about your therapy. I'll also need to be kept informed about your therapeutic progress while you are undergoing treatment here. Is your therapist a personal therapist or one appointed by the regen doctors?" "He was appointed by the doctors at the regeneration clinic. I cannot afford a personal therapist. I can't afford this, but they are footing the bill because their regular therapy has not brought my arm and leg back to normal. As you well know, this is an extremely rare occurrence with regenerated limbs. The procedure has been refined and is almost foolproof. I am an exception that they cannot fathom. All tests show that I should be progressing normally. There is nothing to indicate that I should not heal normally. It is, quite frankly, driving me up a wall." "In one previous case, Maryann, the patient healed physically as well as mentally while undergoing treatment with us. That patient was not undergoing any other type of therapy or rehabilitation. We're not sure if any aspect of the machine should be credited in aiding the physical rehabilitation of the patient. That is another unknown we are faced with. You provide us with an opportunity to discover more about this aspect of our machine. I will schedule you for three treatments a week. Each session will last one hour. What is a good time for you?" "My best time would be early afternoon. How about one o'clock?" "I'll schedule you for one o'clock on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Please do not miss an appointment, Maryann. This schedule of three sessions a week for an hour has proved the most fruitful of any schedule we have used. Our optimum results have come using this schedule. I can make no guesses as to the effects of missing a session. One last question, Maryann. What is the name of your therapist?" "His name is Doctor John Martin. Thank you, doctor. I'll see you Monday at one o'clock." Doctor James watched her leave the office. He truly hoped the machine would be beneficial for her. She was too young and beautiful to remain in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. After placing the call to Doctor Martin at the regen clinic, Doctor James had a better idea of what treatment would be like for Maryann. He figured it would be a long process. She had been in a horrible accident involving several ground vehicles. No one else had survived the accident. She had been thrown clear upon impact. She was lucky that she was thrown out of the area of the explosion. Her left arm and leg had been severely injured in the accident. Doctors could not save any part of either arm or leg. Each limb had to be completely regenerated. Regeneration of part of a limb was a relatively simple process. Regenerating an entire arm or leg became much more complicated. She had occupied a place in the regen tank for almost two months while her limbs grew back. Patients usually experience a little disorientation after having part of a limb regenerated. The loss of a couple of days in one's life is not a big trauma. Two months of the regen tanks can cause a bit of shock though when one comes out. Normal rehabilitation of a regenerated limb takes only a week or two. It is rare that a patient takes even two weeks to be able to use the limb normally. Granted it takes a little longer for the limb to function at 100 per cent. After a week, it is usually back to 80 or 90 per cent. Doctor Martin had mentioned another factor that could contribute to Maryann's slow recovery. Both her parents and her brother had been killed in the accident. Floating... in a sea of liquid, but not water. It is thicker than water. It's not touching me, but I can feel it. The thin membrane covering me is not enough to keep the feeling away. The feeling makes my skin crawl. The liquid is like a gel, but not as thick. I am able to breathe, but how? I'm totally encircled by the liquid/gel. Suffocation is not a pleasant way to go... But I can breathe! The membrane I am encased in must be providing oxygen. It is the only possible way. Wait. I can see something out in the gel. A shape. Did it move? Or am I seeing things? This gel is not exactly translucent, so I can't be sure. It is so difficult to see anything out there. Can I be sure that I really saw something, or is my mind just playing tricks on me. There's something else! I really see something now. It's getting closer. It's long, perhaps metallic. Closer now. It's a knife, no, a needle. Closer... Maryann screamed. Her arms were trembling and her forehead had broken out in beads of sweat. Doctor James walked over to the machine, removed the tape and placed it on top of the folder on his desk. After removing the tape just made he placed a blank tape into the machine. After giving Maryann a moment to regain her composure, Doctor James moved to the couch directly across from Maryann. "Do you remember anything about what you just dreamt, Maryann?" "No, nothing at all. I'm not sure if I want to remember it. I feel the same way as when I wake up in the middle of the night - terrified." "I will study the tape of today's session later tonight, Maryann. We can discuss it when you come in on Wednesday. After discussing the dream we can put you back on the machine to be monitored again. The conscious awareness of what is going on in the subconscious may be enough to produce more detailed dreams or different dreams relating to this one. And each dream we can monitor can only aid in your recovery." "Will I," asked a still trembling Maryann, "be able to view the monitored dreams?" "After we have discussed the dream or dreams thoroughly you will be able to view them. We don't want to shock your conscious mind with something that it insists on being kept in the subconscious until your conscious mind is aware of the content of the dream. Visualizing it beforehand, considering the conscious mind is going to great lengths to keep the dream buried in the subconscious, could be very detrimental. "I'll see you on Wednesday, Maryann." The newspaper headlines today read "MUGGER SHOT IN ELITE MANCHESTER PARK DISTRICT." Hatred. Loathing. Abhorrence. Resentment. Revulsion. Humans. They do not deserve to exist. The things they do to one another are not things that intelligent beings would do. They kill and maim in total disregard of everything. They do not deserve to exist. They have devised thousands of ways to kill others. They do this before they try even one way to exist peacefully. They do not deserve to exist. Hatred. Loathing. Abhorrence. Resentment. Revulsion. Humans. With Sharmuth's session completed, Doctor James can begin to study the tape of Maryann's dream and the tape of Sharmuth's dream. He picks up the two tapes and reads the markings on each. He decides on Sharmuth's tape first. He walks across the room to the playback apparatus and inserts the tape while getting set up so he can study the contents of the tape. The sun is reflecting lazily off the lakes. Evergreen tree tops send ragged shadows to nip at the small whitecaps raised by the wind. The lush greenery of the hills softens the harsh beauty of the golden orange sun. Harsh gold fades with time into the hazy oranges, yellows, and reds of an unforgettable sunset. Soon the sky is dark and the day grows cool. Vision is augmented by the illuminating whiteness of the full moon. Moonlight reflects lazily off the calm waters. The ragged tree top shadows have been worn to a rounded smoothness. Sharmuth's tape continued like that. Nothing but images of lush, peaceful, sleepy land. The entire tape contained only that continuous dream. No people, no animals, no living creatures. Only plants, trees, fields, hills, valleys... All of them suggesting peace. He inserted Maryann's tape after shaking himself back into awareness of where he was. He played back her tape and then made notations in his notebook for his next meeting with Maryann. His notations concerning Sharmuth contained one word. Peace. He could not possibly forget the feeling which that dream had inspired. It is Wednesday. Maryann has just arrived for her afternoon appointment. "Good afternoon, Maryann." welcomed Doctor James. For, indeed it was a good afternoon as afternoons go. It was warm and sunny with only a stray cloud or two in the sky. "Good afternoon, Doctor." answered Maryann. After a moment's pause Doctor James said, "I took a long look at the dream which we recorded the other day. Though I have never seen anything quite like your dream, it did remind me about something which I had read quite some time ago. I have never seen a regeneration unit or had one described so well until now. I spoke with the people at the regeneration clinic and they told me that your dream described perfectly the surroundings of one who is inside the regeneration unit during the regeneration period. Does this knowledge bring anything to your conscious mind?" A hesitant "No, not really." escaped Maryann's lips. "Most of the contents of the dream are observations about what the environment you were contained in was like. It is not a common nor natural environment and some of the feelings about these observations are a little, ...um, fearful because the entire situation is so foreign to you. Throughout the whole dream, there is really nothing to be fearful of. Even the part of the dream which caused you to wake up screaming was a perfectly routine occurrence. The only reason you don't see it as routine is because you are not at all aware of how the regeneration process works, are you?" "No, Doctor, I am not at all familiar with it. I have avoided anything to do with the regeneration process ever since the nightmares started and the therapy did not work." "Well, Maryann, the part of the dream where you wake up screaming is when a needle is inserted into the membranous sack in which you are enclosed. The needle administers nutrients and medicines peculiar to each individual which are necessary while the patient is undergoing regeneration. "The people at the regeneration clinic also mentioned to me that very few people outside of the medicine world have any idea at all of what a regeneration facility is like, especially from a patient's viewpoint since patients are always asleep while they are being treated. My guess is that you were partially aware of your environment at either the conscious or subconscious level and that awareness is what is causing that particular dream. I am sure that, knowing the dream for what it is, when you view the dream, it will trigger your subconscious into accepting the experience for what it is rather than looking at it as being something to fear because it is unknown. Do you feel you are ready to view the tape of the dream?" "Yes, Doctor, I think so. It certainly sounds like a very ordinary procedure the way you describe it. I feel so silly about being terrified of something so ordinary." "There's no need for you to feel that way. You were scared of it because it was an unknown. Now it is no longer an unknown and only now has it become something 'ordinary'. Until just this moment it was not something 'ordinary' to you." Doctor James rises from his chair and motions for Maryann to join him. They move over to the playback apparatus and Doctor James inserts the tape of Maryann's last session while settling Maryann into the apparatus so she can experience the playback of her dream. During the tape Maryann emits small exclamations and short bursts of barely intelligible sentences which indicate a conscious realization of her dream. Doctor James sat close by, ready to stop the tape should something on the tape affect Maryann in an adverse way. "Wow! That is really something, Doctor." "I was hoping that viewing the dream would affect you this way, Maryann. I hoped that with a conscious foreknowledge of what you were going to see in the dream that you would benefit from that viewing. Since I have had no case quite like yours, I could not be totally certain." "I remember that whole experience now, Doctor." Maryann almost breathed her sentences rather than speaking them now. "I was sufficiently drugged so that I felt no pain and I could not move while I was inside of that membrane, but my mind was aware during portions of my stay in the regeneration tank. I can remember beyond the insertion of the needle now and the needle wasn't really a needle as we think of one because it didn't penetrate the membrane, but the mouth widened as it encountered the membrane and it covered a part of the membrane which absorbed the nutrients and medicines which the needle contained. I feel awfully silly about being so terrified of THAT!" "Don't feel silly. People are often terrified of some of the most common things in our lives without any solid reason. You are at least no longer terrified of this now that it is a known rather than unknown quantity. Many people are still terrified of things even when they know that they shouldn't be." "Well, Doctor, I'm glad they sent me to you. We're making progress already." "Yes, my dear, we are. We will have to continue to make progress on Friday though. We have run a little over for this afternoon. Try to write down any dreams you may have between now and Friday. You shouldn't be waking up screaming from this dream again, but there are still dreams which you may be having that are related to your accident rather than to your experience in the regeneration facilities that may also be very pertinent to your recovery." "I shall try, Doctor. I really want to get this over with so that I can be healthy and whole again!" "We will get you there, Maryann. As soon as possible. Don't expect too much too soon though. We've had a major success right here at the beginning and hopefully things will continue this way, but they may not. So, I don't want you to get your hopes too high, but I also want you to be positive about this. Ok?" "Yes, Doctor. I understand," Maryann demurred. The newspaper headlines today read "BEGGAR FOUND STRANGLED." Walking the streets, alone Late at night when the streets Are asleep, they awaken long enough To allow one to enter and Glimpse the inner workings of A city at rest. Dead silence Greets this penetration; violation Of a sleeping city cannot go Unnoticed. Shattering the stillness, Screaming sirens echo their pleasure From twin towers to flowering gardens. Sirens approach, surrounding the Intruders and removing them Before they can breed trouble and Effect radical changes in the city. Silent screams awaken the city. Silent screams fall on deaf ears. Silent screams distinguish realities. Silent screams typify dreams. I cannot let myself get caught. There is too much at stake. These insane, unjust humans have no right to exist. I must stop them. If I do not, the world will become an unimaginable place to live. And there is only one way possible to keep that from occurring! The buzzer of the intercom sounded. Doctor James pressed the talk button and said, "Yes, Jan?" "Mr. Sharmuth is here," answered Jan. "Thank you. Send him in." "For someone who is suffering as much inner turmoil over the lack of knowledge you have about your blackout periods, this dream tape is surprisingly peaceful and calm. The dream contains only images of peaceful, natural scenes. There are no thoughts or feelings imposed upon these images except for an almost overwhelming feeling of peace." "Doctor, I have never been a very peaceful man. I need controversy and competition. They are as much a part of me as my heart and head. I would go crazy in a place such as you have just described." "Let's give you a look at the tape. See if replaying the dream for you will spark any conscious or subconscious memories. With your reputation preceding you, I was very surprised when I saw this dream. It does not fit your image at all. "Come sit over here." Doctor James held out the chair in front of the playback equipment for Mr. Sharmuth. Doctor James started the tape after getting Sharmuth set. He sat close by while the tape replayed the dream. When it finished, Doctor James rewound the tape and switched the playback machine off. "What an eerie feeling, Doctor. That tape certainly doesn't spark any memories, conscious or subconscious. But it does give me an awfully eerie feeling. I do not feel at all comfortable thinking about a place or places such as the ones 'described' on that tape. I am just not that type of man. "I had another blackout last night, Doctor. I really would like to find out why these blackouts keep occurring. While experiencing this dream of peace, I'm wondering whether I'm losing my sanity. I can feel my grasp on reality beginning to slide." "You have no recollection of anything during your blackout periods?" "None." "And the odd places you sometimes find yourself regaining consciousness in don't help to jog your memory at all?" "No, I can recall absolutely nothing when I regain consciousness. No matter how strange I find it that I am in a place that I have no recollection of coming to." "There's got to be something, some little piece of information hidden away somewhere in your memory that can give us something solid to grasp. If we just had one small clue to give us a start. "Shall we give the dream monitor another shot?" "You're the doctor..." The tape created during this session was pretty much the same as the last one. It contained similar images of the countryside and nature's beauty. And that overwhelming feeling of peace... Doctor James left the office after mulling over Sharmuth's problem and Sharmuth's dream for a short while. "Perhaps if I sleep on it," he thought, "something will come to me." Off to the left were blurred colors of green, brown, and grey. These are the appearances of any sort of solid object when one is in a vehicle travelling at 190 miles per hour. Solid objects at the edge of one's vision tend to become a blur of insubstantial matter. One might assume that the green is grass, that the brown is dirt, and that the grey is rock. All solid, tangible, everyday items. Along this particular thoroughfare were many other vehicles, most of them travelling at substantially lesser speeds. In passing the slower moving vehicles, they also became part of the grey blur, melding in with the rock. The sky ahead was beginning to dim. The greens, browns, and greys now melded into just one dark color. Out of the darkness rose a shape. Before it could be seen clearly there was a thump. Actually, it was more like the sound of an explosion. Everything became red... Maryann awoke screaming again. Her heart was beating in her throat and her whole body was shaking again. She was left gasping for breath. Doctor James turned off the monitor and then placed his hands on Maryann's shoulders in an attempt to calm her trembling. After a few minutes she was breathing normally again and only her arms had refused to stop trembling. "Do you remember anything this time, Maryann?" "All I remember is a lot of red." "Well, I think that is progress in itself. I mean this time you at least have a small recollection of the dream rather than none. Does the color red remind you of anything? How do you feel about the color red? Why would you remember only the color red after waking up screaming?" "I don't think about the color red overly much during the normal course of a day, but thinking about it now does make me feel a little ill at ease." "That could be a little bit of an after effect of the dream and the fact that you do remember only the color red from that dream. The dream caused you to wake up screaming and the only thing you remember is the color red. I'd say there's a pretty good chance that the color red has an awful lot to do with you waking up screaming. You're also still trembling a bit. The after effects of the dream have not totally subsided." "You have a very good point, Doctor. Were I not still shaken from the dream I might have been able to reason that far. I do tend to be a little light headed after a I wake up screaming." "Well, Maryann. You just sit and relax for a few minutes so that you can recover from this dream and stop your trembling. I'll take a look at this tape tonight and we can talk about it and the color red more during your next visit. "Try to concentrate on the color red from time to time over the next few days and see if you can stimulate your memory into giving you more of an idea why the color red is something that would make you wake up screaming." "I will try, Doctor." Michael Murphy (To Be Concluded in next FSFNET issue) <>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>X<>