Visions Of Danger
Chapter 53
LIII
The man sitting on a little platform high up in the tree appeared to be waiting for something. Maya felt uncomfortable. She had been dreaming about playing on the j'koozzeen –the beach- when her dream had taken a strange turn. Suddenly, she was no longer on the j'koozzeen by the Golden Sea. She was somewhere else. There were trees all around… and flowers. It was a pleasant place… actually quite pretty. But there was the man in the tree. He worried Maya. In his hands, there was a long thing that looked like the primitive projectile hurlers that Antarians once used. Some Antarians still had them, though Maya had never seen an Antarian one herself except on the VidScreen.
Why would a man climb up in a tree with a projectile hurler? Maya wondered where this place was. The man lifted the ancient weapon to his face and peered through some kind of scope. He must have seen whatever it was he was hunting. Maya turned to see what that might be. She didn't see any animals… only a woman pushing a wheelchair with a younger woman in it. Maya couldn't see her face.
"The man in the tree will have to wait now," Maya thought to herself. "The lady pushing the wheelchair probably scared his prey away." Maya looked back at the man in the tree. He was preparing to fire his weapon. Maya looked again at the woman pushing the wheelchair, and her mind registered alarm. "Is he planning to…?"
Suddenly, there was a deafening sound, as a shot was fired. Maya saw the young woman jerk back then fall from the wheelchair, bleeding from the head. The older woman ran hysterically, screaming for help. Maya's breathing quickened, and her heart raced in sheer panic. She tried to look at the face of the younger woman who had just been killed, but the vision began to vanish. In its place, Maya saw a man start a chainsaw and begin to cut through the trunk of the tree. In a few moments, the tree came crashing to the ground, bringing with it the man with the projectile hurler. Maya watched as the man with the chainsaw stuck the end of his own projectile hurler against the nose of the man in the tree. She turned again to look at the young woman who had been killed… only now the young woman had not been killed. She was alive, and the older woman was still pushing her in the chair. Almost as though she somehow sensed Maya's presence, the young woman turned and looked in Maya's direction.
Liz and Max heard the scream at the same time. Both jumped out of the bed and ran to Maya's room.
"Maya? Maya! What's wrong, honey," Liz asked, flipping on the lights. Maya wiped the sleep out of her eyes and grabbed her mother, sobbing inconsolably.
"What happened, honey," Max asked softly, running his hand over Maya's back protectively. "Did something hurt you?"
Maya shook her head. "Something hurt Mommy," she said, her voice breaking, as she began to sob again.
"I'm here, Maya!" Liz said soothingly. See? Nothing happened to me. I'm okay! You must have had a bad dream."
Maya sniffed and wiped the tears off her cheeks and out of her eyes.
"Mommy, some man hurt you. And… and you couldn't walk. Another lady was pushing you in a chair with wheels…"
"A wheelchair?" Liz looked at Max. "Are there any wheelchairs on Antar, Max? I don't think there are."
Max shook his head. "Wheelchairs haven't been used on Antar for over ten thousand years. Spinal injuries are curable."
"Where would Maya have seen a wheelchair," Liz asked, stroking Maya's hair as she held her close to comfort her.
"I don't know. Do you think she could have been sensing something that happened to one of the 'Antarians Too'… on Earth?"
"Do you think so," Liz asked, repeating Max's question.
Max shrugged.
Maya wiped her eyes as she began to calm down a bit and her pulse returned to closer to its normal rate. "No, Mommy. It wasn't one of them. It was you. A man with one of those things you call a gun threw a bullet at you and hit you in the head." Maya sniffed and wiped her cheek again.
"Shot me? Who would have done that," Liz asked.
"I don't know," Maya replied. "Another woman was pushing you in the chair, and a man in a tree killed you."
Max looked concerned. "Maya could be seeing the future, Liz."
"Maybe," Liz said. "It can't be the past. That never happened before."
"Well, there's nothing to worry about now, Maya," Max said. "Your mama is fine. I'll protect her. If you're seeing something from the future, we'll be very careful to make sure that it doesn't ever happen. Okay?"
Maya nodded and sniffed again.
"Will you be okay now if we go back to bed," Liz asked.
Maya nodded and kissed her mother on the cheek. Liz returned the kiss then tucked Maya back in and closed her door.
"What do you think that was all about, Max?"
"It could be the future… or it could have just been a bad dream… like you said."
"I guess. Maya's never had premonitions before. She just sees things that happen to others sometimes when they're happening."
"Maybe she's developing a new thing… like a new power," Max said. "You have premonitions. Maybe now Maya does, too."
"Well, unless we're planning on going back to Earth anytime soon, I don't see this dream coming true, Max."
Max nodded. "You're right. Let's go back to bed."
**********
Max woke up early and rolled over. Liz was already up. Walking out to the kitchen, Max found Liz sitting at the table writing in her diary. A cup of coffee sat steaming in front of her.
"Oh, you're up," Liz said smiling. Max kissed her and sat down at the table.
"I've got some blue hen eggs out. You want them scrambled or in a taco?"
"I don't know… You decide. On second thought, the egg taco sounds kind of good… with a little Tabasco on the eggs."
"Of course."
"What are you writing about?"
"I was just updating my diary. The last time I wrote in it was when we went diving in the Golden Sea and Alex and Isabel came with us and helped us watch the kids."
"Well, that wasn't so long ago, Liz. Did you put something in there about Harold?"
Liz looked at Max and smiled. "Of course. You don't think I could forget that…"
Max smiled.
"Michael and Maria are going to join us for lunch today at the CrashDown, Max. Is that okay?"
"Sure. We haven't been in there for a couple of weeks at least. Sounds good."
"They're bringing Dan and Diane with them."
"Klein? Are they back?"
"Yeah. They came back several days ago. Dan likes to go yorith riding with Jim, and Diane needs some things from Kyyk's."
"That's the first thing Diane always does when they come back after spending several weeks on Earth… She runs out to shop." Max chuckled.
"It's a girl thing," Liz said. "You wouldn't understand. I heard they're opening a new showroom over on the south end… some Garengian owns it. He's going to be selling the newest hover cars and bikes from forty different planets."
Max perked up. "Maybe we could drop by there later today and look!"
Liz grinned and nodded. "I thought so. Must be a guy thing."
As Liz spoke, Maya, Andya, and JoLeesa walked into the kitchen together.
"What would you girls like? I've got blue hen eggs. There are a few golden eggs left, too, I think… and the pashita bread is baking."
"That sounds fine, Mom," Maya said. "Scrambled."
"Same for me," Andya said.
"Can I boil a couple of golden eggs, Mom," JoLeesa asked.
"Sit down, I'll get them when I get the others," Liz said.
Alyyx walked in at about that time and sat down at the table, too.
"What'll you have, Alyyx," Liz asked. "Blue eggs or golden?"
"I think there were some jaht-roo cookies and japo left over, Mom. I'll have that."
"For breakfast? That's dessert, Alyyx."
"What's wrong with dessert for breakfast?"
"I'll scramble you some blue hen eggs."
"Aw, Mom." Alyyx looked at Max. "Whatever."
"Is Jeffy still asleep, Mom," Maya asked.
"Yes. But I'm sure he'll wake up soon wanting his breakfast."
Maya grinned.
"By the way, Maya, did you have any more dreams last night," Max asked, as Liz poured him some coffee.
"No. Just that one. But it was so real, Dad! I can't explain it."
"What did you dream," Andya asked.
"Well, I was dreaming about us being at the j'koozzeen and suddenly it was like I was somewhere else. There was a man in a tree with one of those things they call a gun on Earth, and he killed Mom."
"What? Where was this?"
"On Earth, I think."
"Eluymer?" Alyyx asked questioningly.
"Duh," Andya replied, as Maya continued.
"Mom was sitting in a chair that had two big wheels and two little wheels on it, and another woman was pushing it."
"It's called a 'wheelchair,' Maya," Max said. "On Earth, they use them when someone can't walk."
"Why wouldn't they be able to walk, Dad," JoLeesa asked.
"They don't know everything we know about fixing injuries, Leese. On Earth, they can't always fix legs or spines when they're hurt bad."
"Oh. So people have to ride in a… 'wheelchair?'"
"Sometimes."
"Who was the woman pushing Mama," JoLeesa asked Maya.
"I don't know. I didn't know her. But the man in the tree was waiting for them to come, and he killed Mom with his gun. Then the dream changed, and I saw a man that looked like Uncle Jim cutting down the tree the bad man was in. When the tree fell, the man that looked like Uncle Jim chased the bad man away. Then the woman in the 'wheelchair' looked at me, and I saw that it was Mom."
"Maybe it was just someone who looked like Mom, Andya said.
Maya shook her head. "No. It was Mom… only… she looked younger."
"You didn't tell us that before, Maya," Max said. "How much younger?"
"I don't know… maybe like she was a teenager."
"Well, that couldn't be Mom," Alyyx said.
"I heard that, Alyyx," Liz yelled back from the preparation area.
"I didn't mean anything, Mom," Alyyx said, as the others looked at him, putting him on the spot. "I just meant you're not a teenager."
Liz laughed. "Well, I'm glad I'm not. Your Dad and I have what we always wanted now. When we were teenagers, we were always having to worry about the Special Unit agents chasing us or someone else finding out about your Dad being an 'alien' (Liz said this word dramatically). We weren't sure we would ever have a real life together. We worried about our parents… even our friends. There were people in the FBI's Special Unit and in the army who wanted to kill us."
"Or worse," Max said, sipping his coffee.
"Why?" JoLeesa asked.
"The same reason they tried to kill us when we were in the mountains," Max said. They don't understand us… so they're afraid of us."
"That's stupid," Alyyx said. "We're people just like they are."
"They don't understand that, Alyyx," Max said. "That's the problem."
"That's why they were chasing Mom… in my dream," Maya said.
"How do you know," Max asked.
"I felt it. The man in the tree… He was afraid of Mom."
"Oh! Some big brave man… afraid of Mom!" Alyyx exclaimed.
"Well, he was…" Maya said. "I'm not sure why, but he was scared of Mom. And he was scared of Dad and Uncle Michael especially."
"Did he shoot them, too," Alyyx asked.
Maya thought for several moments. "I think he did… but… now he's afraid of them."
"Well, if he killed them, why is he still afraid of them?"
"I don't think he killed them," Maya said. "I think he just tried to."
"Did they get away," Andya asked.
"I can't tell…" Maya replied. "I just feel like they're in a lot of danger."
tbc
Coming Next: Maya has another vision, and the group begins to piece together the clues to determine the most likely source of the visions, convinced now that they may not have been dreams after all. And Dan and Diane meet Harold.