Whispers in the Dark

Jantallian

A moonless winter night. The bunk-room of a certain relay station. Midnight. The air is full of dreaming.

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"You awake?"

"No. I'm talkin' in my sleep!"

"Thought so. Quit that snoring, will you!"

"Slim, how come I'm talkin' to you and snorin' at the same time?"

"Oh, yeah."

Pause

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"That snoring's still going on ..."

"Yeah?"

"And it's coming from the foot of my bed."

"Looks like you got company then. Just keep your big feet still."

Two minutes later

"Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"You asleep?"

"I was!"

"You know what was snoring at the bottom of my bed?"

"Yeah?"

"It's stopped."

"Good. Go back to sleep."

"Jess?"

"Ugh?"

"Whatever it is, it's awful heavy."

"Stands to reason. Must be somethin' big to snore that loud."

Pause

"Jess, what do we know that's big and heavy and likes to sleep in the warm in winter?"

Grunt. Yawn. "I dunno."

"Well, wake up and think! I don't pay you to lie there snoring all night!"

"It ain't me snorin'."

"Nothing's snoring now. But what's lying on my feet?"

"Big and heavy and likes sleeping in winter?"

"Yeah."

"Probably a bear."

"A bear!"

"Yeah. Look on the bright side."

"What bright side?"

"It ain't gonna wake up until Spring. Now go back to sleep."

Two minutes later

"Jess? Jess!"

Crossly. "What?"

"I know Andy's not here, but this isn't one of your practical jokes, is it?"

Chuckle. "With a live bear? Are you out of your mind?"

"Sure?"

"Yeah. If I was jokin', I'd've tied your feet to the bed. Should've gagged you anyway!"

"Jess?"

"What?"

"I can't move my feet."

"Just as well. Bad idea, kickin' a sleepin' bear."

"But -"

"Just go to sleep. At least it's keepin' your feet warm."

Two minutes later

"Jess?"

"What now?"

"About this bear."

"What about the bear?"

"Maybe you should have a look, make sure -"

"Slim, it's pitch-black in here. How the hell can I see what's on your bed?"

"You could light the lamp."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"Too risky. The lamp's on your side of the room. I'd have to feel my way round the foot of your bed. An' I don't wanna make a closer acquaintance of anythin' that's sleepin' on it. Or in it, for that matter."

"But you like risks."

"Not that kind of risk. Anyway, I ain't gotta match."

"I knew I shouldn't have stopped you smoking in bed."

"So it's your own fault. You'll just have to put up with the bear!"

Five minutes later

"Jess?"

Muttered curse.

"You awake?"

"I am now!"

"You know that thing at the bottom of my bed?"

Groan. "Never met it."

"The thing that's lying on my feet?"

"I wish it was lyin' on your head, then you'd shut up about it!"

"Jess, it feels different!"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Lighter and more sort of ... curvy."

"Then it's probably the cat."

"The cat?"

"Yeah, the cat. An' if you've woken me up four times just to tell me about the cat -"

"Jess, it's much too big for the cat!"

"Big? Light-feelin'? Curvy?"

"Yeah."

"Think yourself lucky - it's probably a woman."

"That is a most improper suggestion!"

"Slim, you're dreamin' an' anythin' goes in a dream."

"Not in mine, it doesn't!"

"Well, go back to sleep and quit botherin' me about it then!"

Five minutes later

"Jess?"

Silence disturbed only by a faint grating sound.

"I didn't know you could grind your teeth like that."

"That's because I ain't never had the provocation before!"

"But you know the sound of teeth?"

"Teeth?"

"Yeah. When they click together. Like something's going to take a bite out of you?"

"Nothin' ain't gonna take a bite out o' me!"

"No, your hide's too thick!"

"Thanks!"

"But mine isn't and I can hear that noise, right next to my bed-head."

"I thought you said it was snorin' at the bottom?"

"Not any more."

"That's a relief. Maybe now I can get some sleep."

"But Jess -"

"Slim, it's not gonna bite y'!"

"Why not?"

"Vampires only bite beautiful young ladies - you've read enough to know that."

"Who said anything about vampires?"

"If it's not a vampire, what are you worryin' about? Go back to sleep." Pleadingly. "Please!"

Ten minutes later

"Jess? Jess! Wake up!"

A savage snarl.

"Jess, was that you snarling?"

"What would you do if some blamed idiot kept wakin' you up every five minutes?"

"It was ten minutes this time."

"Whatever! So what is it this time?"

"I think the vampire's gone."

"Good. I'm real glad you woke me up just to tell me that."

"But there's something else."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It sounds awfully real!"

"What does?"

"Listen ... Hear that?"

"What?"

"Something prowling about on the floorboards."

"Rats."

"Sounds awfully big for rats. Listen to those clicks."

"I thought you said the clickin' was teeth?"

"And claws."

"Maybe they just forgot to cut their toenails?"

"I don't see why you should think rats neglect their personal grooming."

"I'm sure they're as snappy as you are on a Saturday night. Now shut up and go to sleep, will y'?"

"Jess, there's an awful lot of them and they're all over the floor!"

"That's ok."

"It is?"

"Yeah, I'm on the top bunk. Goodnight."

Ten minutes later

"J - j - jess?"

"Easy, Slim, I'm right here."

"Jess, what's in the roof?"

"Mostly piles of your ancestral junk."

"There's something moving up there!"

"Then at least it's not in here with us."

"But they're trying to get down here! Can't you hear them?"

"No. They're your ancestors. An' I thought you said they were a pretty decent lot?"

"Not Great Uncle Albert."

"Slim, what's Great Uncle Albert got against you?"

"He didn't need to have something against you - he was never what you would call swayed by reason."

"Mad?"

"Yeah. And all his sons."

"They're long dead. Too weak to break through a ceiling."

"You hope!"

Pause

Gasp. "What was that noise?"

"I ain't hearin' no noise."

"Listen! Up there - rattling against the ceiling - fluttering - leathery wings and little needle-claws -"

"U-u-rrgh! I HATE bats!"

Immediately

The sound of a heavy body descending inelegantly from the top bunk.

"Jess?"

Aroused from his peaceful, dreamless sleep, Slim sits up drowsily and, after some fumbling, lights the lamp. The soft light reveals a wild-eyed Jess crouching on the floor in a tangle of bedclothes, his gun pointing waveringly at the ceiling.

"Oh no! Not again!" Slim crawls reluctantly from his warm bed and drops a blanket over the shivering figure. "What were you dreaming about this time? Imagining something happening in here?"

Jess nods miserably as Slim gently but firmly removes the gun from his unresisting fingers and replaces it safely in the holster hanging from the bunk-post. Then, tidy as ever, he picks up the fallen bedding and returns it to the top bunk. "Good job you have something soft to land on."

Jess, still huddled in the comfort of the blanket, gets shakily to his feet and Slim gives him an encouraging shove in the direction of the living room. "Come on. I'll stir up the fire and make us some coffee."

Fifteen minutes later

"Better now?"

"Yeah - thanks ..." and then, a little sheepishly, "again!"

"What was it this time?"

Jess gives a convulsive shudder. "Horrible … bats!"

"I had no idea you were such a baby about harmless little things like that!"

"You ain't got no idea about those bats! They were dream-bats - monsters!"

Slim looks towards the window. "It'll be light soon. How about making an early start on –"

"Oh no you don't! You ain't foolin' me into doin' extra work after a night like that!" The last words are almost drowned by the slam of the bedroom door and the creaking of wood as someone hastily climbs back into a cold bunk.

"Sleep well, Jess!" Slim grins with wry affection as he takes the two cups back to the kitchen. "We'll both be glad when Halloween is dead and gone!"