Chapter 6 Tanner

The bullets whizzed past my head...008...I'm an agent...under deadly fire and I don't bloody know what I'm doing!

Bond yelled at me to get her out of there. I collected myself and dove across the divide to get the hysterically crying woman out of the line of fire. What could it hurt? It's only a dream!

A splinter of wood hit my ear and it did hurt! What the hell! I've already established that this hallucination is a dream and in no way should be able to hurt me. But it bloody did hurt!

"Meet you at the safe house!" 007 yelled, as he rushed their attackers. I trusted Bond to be able to take care of this and didn't even turn around, as I carried Greta out of the restaurant. I put her in the car and drove….miraculously to the safe house. At least I assume it was the safe house.

An old farmhouse in the countryside, how I even knew where it was, was a mystery of dreamland. The car was a Aston Martin 65 DB5, silver and an iconic British race car that I had discussed at length with Bond over the years. Not that this one was his...I just inserted it into my dream somehow.

It did nothing for me to question the vivid and sporadic nature of my dream. I do wonder if I will eventually become exhausted, just by the level of action that has continued during this dream. It was then that I notice an orb sitting on the mantle of the cottage.

The last I remember of the waking world was M's office and an orb that Bond was passing around...then...this.

The mission came back to me as the girl became Angela again. Angela's father Peter DeWitt was a contact that had been killed earlier today...as least I think he was. She fixed a meal and poured some wine for the two of us to relax in front of the fire until Bond managed to arrive or contact us.

The girl, Angela was no longer crying and very appreciative of the rescue which took my attention away from the orb. Kissing feels like it did in real life and everything that goes with it. Passion, arousal, desire were all the same, it was the details that became foggy. The girl became some faceless thing in my arms, as she morphed into every other woman I'd slept with since I was a teen. She even became women I had never slept with but worked with.

Then just as suddenly I was wrapped in just a blanket on the floor as Bond burst in. Angela was naked beside me and sat up pulling a gun on Bond. Bond shot her in the head!

Behind Bond Eve came with him. "She was a fake! This is the real daughter of DeWitt." Bond said pointing at Eve.

"Eve?" I stood and pulled on my pants and trousers as fast a possible. Blushing at the fact that Eve was in audience. The woman's body disappeared as the room shifted and changed. Bond and I were escorting Eve to M. We were back in London.

M sat at her desk like nothing was different. Something even more strange was that she was with the old M but seemed to be in charge.

"Good you're back. Now give your report Tanner."

I didn't know what to say but the four of us being in the same room together triggered a memory from before…

There was the silver orb on her desk. What would happen if I reached out and…

Q watched with the doctor as he activated the orb again. He had it in his protective gloved hands and touched it to Tanner's hand to gage his response.

"The brain waves changed for a moment but he did not wake." Dr Ross said.

"I can see that doctor. I have this in reverse but nothing. I think I have to go back to the drawing board and try to shock them out of it all at once. I will design enough for each and hope that will work."

"I will continue to monitor them and feed them intravenously. I get concerned by their elevated heart rate at times. Particularly M who's older and may not be able to ride out the stressed this is causing them as long as the others."

"Does she have issues with her heart?"

"No but her age is the main concern over the others." Ross said as he looked at M.

"I wouldn't worry about M's heart. She is made of sterner stuff than you could imagine. I've known her for over 30 years and she has gone through immense stress in the past. I'm sure she will rationalize that this is a dream she's trapped in."

"I will sedate her if I believe her levels are becoming dangerous to her."

"If they are trapped in a dream...they know it...they are looking for an escape. I think I've got it! I need to make them a door!"

"Metaphorically?"

'Yes! I need to make them link together and exit together. They are likely with versions of themselves and each other within the dreams."

"Yes...I've heard Bond cry out for M and Eve, Tanner just mumbled M so you may have something there Q."

"If their brain waves could be sync do you think they could cross into each other's dreams."

"I think we need Dr. Hall on this Q. That would be a stretch to imagine that they could share dreams but I've heard of brainwashing studies that have given a group a shared conditioned dream."

"Get Dr. Hall to meet me in my lab after you've given him the medical background would you please."

"I will Q. Do you want me to make a report to Mallory?"

"Not until he asks you. I'm not sure how much we should trust the man yet."

"Haven't you checked him out?"

"Of course I have...for M, ages ago. But I don't think she would want him to know or comment on what they are dreaming about. Nothing of a sensitive nature I hope?"

"Not that I've noticed. I have noticed, beside agitation of whatever action they are dreaming, the sexual arousal of both Tanner and Bond. That is completely natural in sleep."

"Yes...I see. Well I will go and work on the devices and you take care of their bodily functions." Q said as he left medical in a hurry.

Everything shockingly jumped in a moment. A buzzing as if I was electrically shocked happened and I was suddenly in the jungle with Eve. Bond and M were suddenly nowhere to be seen.

"What is going on now?"

"I don't know Bill...this is your dream...I'm just a passenger. Where are the others?"

"I don't know but I suppose we should look for them."

It was hot and I removed my jacket and tied it about my waist. Eve was in jeans and a white blouse, a look that I've always loved on her…head in the game Tanner...enough of that.

"I hope they aren't far." I said. "I wonder if the point of all this is for the four of us to find each other...then we will be able to leave this dream?"

"I think you may be right Tanner. You remember who you were with before all this happened?"

"Yes the four of us in M's office."

"Maybe that is where we have to go. The four of us together."

"Yes but you're not the real Eve….she is likely dreaming her own dream like me."

"So how do we meet the real M and Bond if they are all just the fabric of the dream like me?"

"I don't know."

We walked along what could only be described as a trail through the jungle and a rushing sound echoed suddenly as an opening came into view. We could hear talking and rushed forward to see Bond and M drinking water from the stream.

"There you are." I said to them. M was still in the mini skirt and outfit from the late 60's I saw her in. Her pixie hair still blonde. Beside her was Bond with his dress shirt openen as he splashed water on his chest. M held his hand as they climbed back up the bank.

Once he reached the top M did not let go of his hand. It was confusing to see...but it seemed so natural somehow.

"There you are." M said with a smile. "Now where do we go?"

"I think we should head for higher ground to get our bearings." Bond said and pointed to the right. There was a rock face in the distance so we began along the narrow trail. I lead and Bond took up the rear. I checked to see if I was still armed and I was.

"Eve, Bond do you have weapons?"

"Yes, we do, but M does not." Bond answered pulling out his Walther. Eve checked the sniper rifle slung over her back that I had failed to notice before. I patted my jacket pocket that was tied at my waist and pulled out a second Walther. I handed it back to Eve.

"Take this Eve incase the riffle is not useful or give it to M."

We worked our way through the forest of ferns to a rock face and we picked our way upward as a sudden animal sound rustled in the trees. There was a distant rumbling and a sudden roar.

We looked at each other and I yelled, "RUN!"

There was a bloody dinosaur chasing us. Bond turned back shooting at the T-Rex as we crested the rise and found a cave. The four of us bolted into the cold cave as the massive creature roared, stopped and searched for us. Sniffing the air as if to find out where we were.

"Bloody hell!" Eve said panting as hard as the rest of us as we pressed up against each other in the narrow entrance. I gave my jacket to M to ward off the damp cold. She was only dressed in a mini dress and the rest of us had suddenly changed into combat trousers and turtle neck jumpers. Standard mission gear all but M who was frozen in time in her knit 1960's mini dress.

"Search your pockets. We need matches and or a torch." Bond said. We all looked through what we had as M pulled a torch out of the pocket of the jacket I was wearing. Bond and Eve found bullets, ration bars and matches.

"Well...it looks like this cave is about to become home until we escape this dream or it changes." I said. M moved further into the cave using the torch. Her being the smallest assisted her travels.

M moved ahead of Bond and myself as she and Eve squeezed through the opening faster. It opened into a larger room. Bond asked for the torch and M handed it to him as he aimed it up to the ceiling. There was a small amount of light coming through.

"Good...if we need a fire it will allow the smoke out. Tanner we have to go out the way we came for wood. Eve and M can keep the torch...we can make out daylight on our way back. Try to find any other entrances and exits and be careful. Kill anything that moves, or slithers.

"Fantastic...just what I wanted to think about." Eve said as she took her pistol in hand. M used the torch as Bond and I went back outside. The T-Rex must have gotten bored of waiting for a quick snack.

"How the hell are we going to get out of this?"

"I don't know Tanner, it's your dream."

"Right." It was as if I had forgotten in all the excitement. Like the fact we found a habitable cave just as we needed it. We magically found the wood we needed as we made our way back. "We could be in for a cold night."

"I plan on snuggling up with M for body heat."

"Of course you will. By god, you're brazen even in my dreams Bond."

"Fine, I'll take Eve then."

"No you bloody well won't!" I said defensively.

"I knew you liked her!" Bond said or me really, since he was a manifestation from my mind.

"Just as I've always known that you've a crush on M. I heard about your breaking into her flat. She told me just incase you went off the rails and became a danger."

Bond became agitated and pushed me up against a tree. "I would never hurt her! I...I…"

"Relax James. I know that neither of us can articulate what we are feeling right now. Eventually Q will get us out of this and I think it has something to do with that glowing metallic orb."

"The one from M's office?"

"Yes."

The world seemed to bend and the four of us were now sitting around a fire that made lovely shimmering flickers on the cave walls.

To be continued...