Stardust Dreams (25 page)

Nuzzling his neck, she
said, "Why, Captain, that would make me as devious as you are. But, just
for the record, would it work?"

Uttering a low-pitched
growl, his hand cupped her breast and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll let
you know in three days."

Rom interrupted his
telecommunication with the chief of Outerworld Monitor Control, and called
Aster to join him in their living room. "OMC is going to transmit a film
of an American newscast that was televised a short while ago. She suggested we
view it immediately." He turned on the monitor and sat on the sofa next to
his mate as the program began.

"Good evening, ladies
and gentlemen. This is

Betsy Arnett with news from
around the world. The top story today has everyone trying to remember when the
last time was that they said their prayers. There has been another supernatural
sighting at a religious shrine—this time, however, someone had a video camera
on hand and was able to tape the final portion of the sighting. For the story,
here's our man in Japan, Ray Valez."

The picture switched to a
balding man holding a microphone. "At twelve noon in Kamakura, Japan,
approximately five hundred people were milling around this huge bronze statue
of the Great Buddha." The camera panned to the statue, then showed the
stunned faces of various people in the crowd behind the reporter.

"I was told by several
eyewitnesses that four bolts of lightning suddenly streaked out of the sky and
hit the statue, all at the same time, accompanied by crashing thunder. With the
last bolt, a man appeared, looking very much like the statue behind me. He
stood on the Great Buddha's thumbs and spoke to the crowd in Japanese, in a
voice almost as loud as the thunder. He greeted them as, quote, my children,
unquote, and warned them that Judgment Day is coming. A tourist managed to turn
on his video camera in time to catch the tail end of the appearance."

The grainy quality of the
film identified the beginning of the amateur's tape. The messenger did indeed
look like the statue, and his words were being translated into English across
the bottom of the screen.

"The Supreme Being of
all the universe is coming to Earth. As the wicked nonbelievers and the greedy
will be punished, so shall the obedient believers and the generous be rewarded.
Prepare yourselves to meet your Maker and obey Him in all things. Now look upon
His image and remember it."

Over the face of the Great
Buddha statue another face was superimposed for a few seconds, but the
cameraman's hand was unsteady and the features were blurred. Then with another
flashy display of lightning and thunder, both the Buddha look-alike and the
image vanished.

The program was turned back
over to the anchor-woman, who went on to review the other sightings that had
recently occurred around the world. "Our most recent poll shows that in
the United States eighteen percent of the people believe the sightings are true
messages from God, thirty-three percent are convinced they are hoaxes, and
forty-nine percent are still undecided.

"It is interesting to
note that in the countries where the sightings occurred, the percentage of
believers is considerably higher. Perhaps, we Americans are just waiting for a
more personal message."

The film ended a moment
later and the serious face of the OMC chief reappeared. "As you requested,
we had assigned several emissaries to keep watch at all religious shrines in
the northeastern quartersphere on the surface. Coincidentally, P68, who had
been near the sighting in India, was at the statue referred to in this
newscast. His report has just come in.

"Again he states that
he picked up a surge of mental energy, only at close range it was much stronger
than what he had sensed before. However, the surge did not last long enough for
him to narrow down its origin. He reports that a one-thousand-meter square
around the statue has already been searched, and no evidence of electronic or
photographic equipment has been found. The search area is now being expanded,
but based on what he sensed, he doubts that anything physical will be
found."

Rom asked the chief to
stand by for a minute while he and Aster discussed what they had seen.

Aster rubbed her abdomen in
an attempt to calm her daughter. "Interesting."

Rom smiled. "Still
don't believe it?"

"I suppose we should
allow for the remote possibility that the sightings are legitimate warnings. Some
of the governments of Outerworld have made strides toward peace and improved
living conditions since I was out there, but not enough to make any vast difference
in the future of the planet. Perhaps the fear of a global Judgment Day is just
what is needed to put individuals on the right track, then the governments
would naturally follow. God
could
be behind this."

"Or someone bent on
total world power," Rom countered. "In which case, we can't afford to
let that person get away with it. I think it's important that the messages all
contain the warning that nonbelievers will be punished and the obedient will be
rewarded."

Recalling the near disaster
they helped Earth avoid ten years ago, Aster angled her head at him. "You
think we might have to interfere again?"

"At least we have to
be prepared for the worst. The face that Buddha showed is the only clue we
have, but I could barely see it." He asked the chief to replay that
segment and have the computer enhance the image.

The blurred face was frozen
on the monitor, then in a matter of seconds, it was clarified.

Aster gasped and reached
for Rom's hand. "Dear Lord. Is that who I think it is?"

The man staring out from
the screen was not wearing an eye patch, but the two white streaks in his long
black hair helped identify him positively for Rom. "Unless he has an
identical twin, it looks like the forthcoming Supreme Being is Gallant
Voyager."

Bessima smiled at the three
young men she had lured to her table in the San Francisco hotel's cocktail
lounge. It didn't matter that they thought she was their favorite entertainer. She
was in violent need and would use any illusionary trick it took to drive these
males into a frenzy of animal lust. She had already discovered that Terrans did
not normally get aroused to the point of oblivion as Illusion males did. They
had to be teased into it, and she could see her efforts were beginning to pay
off with her present companions.

When she had first arrived
on Terra, her illusionary talent had yet to be tested in a practical situation.
As she successfully accomplished larger and more complex illusions, her
confidence grew. It took very little to convince a Terran that the paper in
their hand was currency or tickets for transportation, or that the little
booklet was the required passport for travel between countries.

The princess had equipped
Bessima with a translating device that Chief Advisor Josep had given her,
claiming that many Noronians wore them to aid communication. It allowed her to
speak and understand thousands of Terran languages, but until she saw with her
own eyes that the people were deceived, she hadn't believed it would work.

During her years of training
for this mission, she had practiced creating sounds as much as images, but she
had never even tried to produce an illusion as magnificent as the lightning and
thunder at the Buddha statue. She decided that would have to become a regular
part of her demonstration.

As confidence in her
abilities mounted, she dwelled more and more on her options should the princess
and her army fail to show up. She had come to the conclusion that one of the
newly merged Middle Eastern countries, like Iranraq would be the best place to
set up her kingdom. They held power, yet were less advanced than most other
countries, and the people had strong religious beliefs. All she had to do was
have an illusion of the Supreme Being proclaim herself His personal messenger
to them.

For a while she had given
consideration to some of the South American countries, but their proximity to
the United States was a definite drawback. Although she was in America now, she
was concerned about whether or not she would be able to deceive them. She had
heard their skeptical news reports and was prepared to create an even more
elaborate "miracle" than she had in Japan to try to impress them.

Returning her attention to
the present, she noted that the young man sitting next to her had inched his
way closer until their knees were touching. While the other two continued to
gush over her music and glamorous appearance, she ran her hand up the inside of
the male thigh closest to her. When he got over his initial shock, he relaxed
and spread his legs to let her explore his pride at will. She decided he would
do nicely, and slipped off one of her shoes to let her bare foot investigate
what the two across the table had to offer.

Once there was no doubt she
had them hooked, she suggested, "Why don't all three of you come to my
cabin, and we can continue getting to know each other… in private?" They
practically knocked over the chairs in their rush to cooperate.

Her triumph in Japan had
stirred up a hunger that she doubted these three could satisfy, although she
intended to force them to do their best. What she required to release the
pent-up excitement was a blood fight, but she wasn't so distracted by her need
that she would take such a risk. As she ogled the young flesh that would soon
be exposed for her pleasure, she thought perhaps she could get away with
drawing just a little blood. After all, she had learned that celebrities are
usually excused for their eccentric behavior.

"You have been a
student long enough, Cherry," Mar said, standing beside her. "It is
time for a test."

She looked up at him from
the bench seat and laughed. "Yeah, right. Why don't you just turn the
controls over to me and see where I take us?"

"Go ahead," he
said with a perfectly serious face.

"You are kidding,
aren't you? Dot, you tell me."

Dot turned to her. "It
is not a joke. We have intentionally taken the ship off course for this
exercise. You may show us that we have not wasted our time with you by plotting
a new course, then calibrating the time it will take to get there."

Cherry glanced at Gallant,
who was leaning back in his chair, absently rubbing his chin as he observed
them. "Is this okay with you?"