Waking the Dreamer (Transhuman) Read online

  Transhuman #1:

  Waking the Dreamer

  by Andy Kaiser

  More by Andy Kaiser

  Dev Manny: Superliminal

  League of Scientists: Ghost in the Water

  © 2011 Andy Kaiser

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  First Printing, 2011

  Digital Bits Network, LLC

  www.digital-bits.info

  This book is dedicated to my grandparents, Patricia and Donald Kaiser.

  Without them, many things would not exist, including this book's cover art, my wonderful daughter, and me.

  Everyone changes the world in uncountable ways. I'm lucky to have learned from those who have changed it for the better.

  My thanks, appreciation and love.

  Grateful acknowledgments to those who directly contributed to this book’s creation:

  Anabel and Olivia

  Brian J.S. Miller

  Megan Miller

  Bruce Abernethy

  Carla

  Chris and Mary Kaiser

  Eric Johnson

  John Frewin

  Jim & Paula Kirk

  John and Rita

  Monica Kaiser

  Patricia and Donald Kaiser

  The Paul Family

  Scott Bockheim

  Chapter 1

  “Over here, Ty!”

  I whipped the tennis ball at Zack so hard it hurt my arm. I threw it off to the side, giving him the chance to jump for it. He pushed off the bottom of the lake and shot out of the water, like a tall, tanned arrow with messy blond hair. He grabbed the ball in mid-air and curled his body around it before he smashed back into the waves.

  Zack could do that kind of stuff. Jump and flip and land and have it look pretty cool the whole time. Not like in a movie, but close. He'd taken gymnastics and was obsessed with martial arts. He wanted to be a stuntman when he got older. He'd probably do it, too.

  I wasn't like that. I wasn’t fat, but I was way out of shape.

  I would never say it to my friends and my parents never seemed to care, but I was. I was actually kind of skinny, but it wasn’t from working out. It was from having no muscle at all, from spending way too much time gaming at home. Watching a ton of TV didn’t help, either, but I did it anyway.

  Sometimes I felt sick in gym class, like I’d run around too much and I’d feel out of it, and the gym teacher would make me sit down. If that was the price I had to pay to enjoy video games, so be it.

  Which is probably why Zack blasted the ball back at me and aimed it right for my face. It was his way of being nice, of making it so I didn't have to work for the catch.

  Even though we were a couple dozen feet away, the tennis ball moved faster than I wanted it to. I threw up both hands to protect me – forget about trying to catch it – and the ball somehow pinballed through my forearms and hands and it slammed into my nose.

  My arms spun in circles as I tried to keep myself upright in the stomach-deep water. I lost my balance and fell backward. My legs slipped out from under me and for a moment it felt like I was floating in space. I hung there for a moment in the shallow water and squeezed my eyes closed against the pain in my nose.

  Then my leg brushed into a slimy chunk of half-submerged seaweed. I hate seaweed. It looks like snot and feels about the same. I know it's nature and life and everything, but it's so gross I think it should be removed from all lakes and oceans. Or I could just swim in pools the rest of my life. Either solution would be great.

  When the seaweed wrapped its slime around my calf, I freaked out and tried to thrash away. It took me an extra few seconds to get my feet under me and heave myself, gasping, back into the air.

  Zack helped me the rest of the way up, looking at me with concerned eyes.

  “Hey, you okay? I seriously did not mean to hit you.”

  “I think I'm okay. My nose hurts.”

  His eyes widened.

  “Oh geez, dude, you're bleeding.”

  My face was wet. I felt liquid running off of my head and down my face, back and chest. I'd thought it was water but now I didn't know. The word blood started to bounce around in my brain. I was not good with blood. I felt light-headed, like I was about to tip over. Zack grabbed my arm and pushed me to shore.

  “Mom,” Zack said. He shoved me towards her. “Tyler hurt his nose. We were playing catch and I threw. And he missed.”

  My eyes were closed but I could guess what my mom would do. First she'd throw up her hands in the air in surprise and fear. Then she'd get super-paranoid and would probably-

  “Tyler! What in the world did you do!”

  I opened my eyes and saw my mom coming at me. Her hands were up in the air with surprise and fear. She looked scared. She reached out towards my face.

  “We were just playing catch, Mom. I missed the-"

  “Oh, this is my fault. I should've been watching you boys closer. It's just that this is our vacation, so I didn't think you'd be able to get in trouble on the lake. And Zack is always so responsible.”

  That was nice for Zack, but that also meant I wasn't responsible. That felt worse than my nose. I felt my face going red.

  “I'm fine, Mom.”

  “Here. Let me just clean you up. Your nose is swelling.”

  “I'll do it. I'm fine.”

  My mom moved away, talking to herself about putting ice on my nose and checking to see if it was broken. I could tell by the tone of her voice she was already forgetting about this latest crisis and was prepping for the next one.

  Mom liked to move from one emergency to the next. It meant that Zack could usually get away with a lot. He generally didn't have emergencies. That was my job.

  I turned away and touched my nose gingerly. My fingers came away clean. Most of what was dripping off me must just be water. No horrible bloody nose. The pain had settled down to a gentle throbbing. I hoped that was a good sign.

  I plopped down on the beach in a crunch of wet sand and heat. Out of the water, I was already sweating from the noon sun burning down on my head, neck and back. Zack sat down next to me. We stared at the lake, at the gentle waves created by far-off speedboats, and at the dozens of kids jumping around and playing on the beach in front of us.

  “Hey Ty, I'm really sorry.”

  “I know. It's not your fault.”

  “Want me to tell Dad or anything?”

  “No. I'm fine.” My nose still pounded softly, feeling like it had only recently been attached to my face.

  Zack was a tough guy. I didn't want to look like a wimp in front of him. And our dad wouldn't care, even if we could find him. He was probably out doing his “Extreme Living” thing, where he slept on the ground at night without a sleeping bag, ate stuff he found in the forest and built tents out of leaves. My dad was weird and didn't really ever hang out with Zack or me.

  This was my family's yearly vacation to “something fun”. We usually did it around my birthday, June 20, so it was always in the blistering hot days of summer and a good excuse to go somewhere we could swim.

  I'd just turned thirteen. Zack was fifteen. This year's trip was to The Lone Wolf Lodge in Michigan. It's a family resort where you go and stay in a cabin – a real log cabin – and swim in a lake and explore the forest and as my dad says, “Enjoy the simple life.” For Zack and me, that one command meant three rules: No Internet, no cellphones, no gaming. That's what Dad likes. I think it sucks.

  There was another reason I hadn't wanted to leave home this year. Somebody was still back in the city.
<
br />   Emily.

  Zack was the only person who knew that I was seriously in love with Emily Dowers. I told him two years ago and he swore never to tell anyone else. He didn't. Zack was cool about stuff like that, a good older brother who didn't feel the need to beat on me like some of my other friends' brothers.

  He was also good for advice. He'd dated plenty of times. He'd told me about how to kiss a girl with or without tongue, what to do, where and how to touch. Listening to what Zack did made me jealous, but at the same time I listened, because I might need to know it. I'd never even kissed a girl. Actually, I should tell the full embarrassing truth: I'd never even held hands with a girl. ...Well, yeah, I'd held hands with my mom, but she didn't count. I mean a real girl.

  I'd known Emily since we were kids. We were in the same grade school and would probably do the same high school after we graduated eighth grade. We didn't hang out with the same friends, though, so we never had a chance to talk. But I watched and listened. She was cool. Funny and smart. Not irritating-smart, but good-smart. She was hot. More in the last couple years. She had soft curves, better than any other girl in the class, and I really liked that.

  She didn't know I existed. Or if she did, she probably didn't care. I wanted to call her, ask her out on a date, whatever, anything, but it just wasn't that easy.

  One time I was hanging out with Zack. He'd handed me his phone. He'd already dialed Emily's number. All I had to do was to hit one button and I'd be talking to her.

  “Just like that,” he'd said. “Say 'hi'. Ask her out to a movie. Or to meet somewhere. Get food. Anything. Just talk. This isn't difficult.”

  I don't respond well to pressure. When I realized how close I was to actually talking with Emily, I froze up. My heart started beating hard. I even felt sick.

  I don't know how Zack does it. Even though we're related, I can't be like him. I can't just start talking to anybody like that, especially without practicing first, especially when that anybody is this perfect girl who I'd been dreaming about for years.

  After I called Emily and heard her say “Hello?” I immediately hung up the phone. I took a deep breath, hiccupped and handed the phone back to Zack.

  …and the phone rang. Emily was calling back.

  Zack answered. She'd seen his number when he called and wanted to know what he wanted. Zack had told her some lie and kept me out of it.

  The phone call only made things worse. Emily Dowers was pretty much perfect. I definitely was not. Zack got girls. The scrawny, quiet kid did not. There was no way she'd be interested in someone like me. So for the time being, I'd worship her from afar.

  That was my life. Pretty boring.

  I want to say that part again: My life was boring.

  Then I met Eena.

  Chapter 2

  Zack and I sat and watched the swimmers for a while longer. Sitting in the hot sun, I was sweating and getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Sand ground painfully in my swimsuit in what was definitely an impolite place.

  Zack got up – he jumped from a sitting position and landed on both feet at the same time. He'd practiced that one for a while.

  “Okay, Tyler dude. Want to go back in the water?”

  “Sounds good. Sure.” I was eager to cool off. I got up like a normal human, though. No flips or anything fancy.

  Zack must've still felt bad about blasting me in the face, because he didn't suggest any more games. We just swam around. He jumped and dove and went way deeper than I did. I stayed closer to the shore and floated around, watching out for more seaweed.

  “Hey.”

  She spoke from behind me and I jumped, startled. She laughed as I spun awkwardly in the water to face her. It was a girl I hadn't met before. At least, I didn't think I knew her. She wasn't part of the groups I'd seen at Lone Wolf Lodge.

  She was small, slender and was a few years older than me. She was shorter than I was, so I looked down at brown hair pulled into a long pony tail. She had a friendly round face with light freckles over her nose. Her smile shone from clear brown eyes and dimples. A few wisps of hair had broken away from her pony tail and were hanging in her face, but it looked cool.

  She stood there and grinned up at me. She wasn't as soft and curvy as Emily Dowers, but close. She definitely looked good in her pale green swimsuit.

  “I'm Eena. You new at the Lodge?”

  “Yeah. We got in yesterday. We're here for the week. I'm here with my parents and my brother Zack.”

  “Cool! What are you going to do? Wanna hang out?”

  “I don't know, maybe. Sure, if you're not-”

  At that moment Zack butted in. He side-stepped into our conversation, slicing between Eena and me. Waves sloshed from his body in the water and bounced around all of us.

  “I heard my name! I'm Zack. Are you staying at Lone Wolf Lodge too?”

  She gave me a quick smile, then answered Zack.

  “Nope, I'm over that way.” She jerked a thumb back to the forest, away from our resort. “Head about a half-mile and you'll hit Camp Nyhill. It's a place parents dump their kids when they want to be alone. Or when the kids want out of the house. I guess in my case it was both. I like it. Awesome place, and I'm there for the week too.”

  “Cool,” Zack said, nodding.

  “Though I'm probably not supposed to be here right now. This is our free hour, but we're not allowed to leave the camp property.”

  I always felt uncomfortable when people just broke the rules like that. So casually and willingly. Zack, though, was still nodding along, like he skipped out of camps every day.

  “Aren't you afraid you'll get caught?” I said.

  She laughed.

  “No. It hasn't happened yet. I'm good.” She thought for a moment, then pursed her lips into a smile. Her dimples deepened. “I'll tell you what. Meet me here. Tonight, after dark. Say midnight. I'll ditch my camp again and get out of the girls cabins. As long as I don't wake up our counselor, it should be easy. That's Talia – she's a way heavy sleeper. If I'm here, you know I wasn't caught. And if you're here... Well, we'll hang out.”

  “I can't-”

  Zack put his arm around my shoulder, interrupting me. “We'll be there.”

  Eena pointed into the water, right where we stood. “Meet right here.” She laughed, then half-waved as she turned and waded away. “Later, Zack. Later, Tyler.”

  She waded through the light waves, then ran up the beach and back into the forest to Camp Nyhill.

  “Yes,” Zack said. “I'd definitely like to get to know her better. Like tonight at midnight.”

  “Are you kidding me?” I said too loudly, then lowered my voice to a whisper. “We can't just leave our cabin! Mom and Dad will know! What are we supposed to do, just pretend we're sleeping and set an alarm and sneak out and hope no one notices?”

  Zack nodded, taking me seriously. “Yeah. That's a good plan. Just like that.”

  I shook my head. “I was kidding! No. No way.”

  “Fine. Then I'll just meet her myself. And you can get a good night's sleep. She's my type anyway.”

  “She's closer to my age.”

  “I don't think so. Besides, she acts closer to my age.”

  Something jumped in my stomach. After all, Eena had talked to me first. Maybe I could meet her. She seemed cool. Except for Zack, I'd talked to her more than I'd talked to anyone else at the Lodge. And when she said my name, I liked the way she'd said Tyler, like it was a secret. Most people called me 'Ty', so her saying my full name was something different, like something special she did just for me, and-

  “Zack,” I said, shocked. “Something's weird. She said good-bye to us.”

  “Yeah, that's right. She did say good-bye to us,” Zack said, mimicking my confused tone and grinning. “That's what people do when they leave.”

  I turned to face him. His smile dropped when he saw how serious I looked.

  “She knows both of our names, Zack. You told her yours. But I never told her mine!”
<
br />   Chapter 3

  “How was your day today, honey?” my mom asked me. Zack and I were wolfing down food at the Lodge cafe – really just a small building with a grill for a bunch of hot dogs and burgers and other tables stacked with fries, chips and other snacks. There may have been vegetables and fruit, but I didn't pay too much attention to those.

  I was on my third hot dog. I swallowed and answered.

  “Well, you were there when I hurt my nose. It's still a little sore.”

  “Mmm-hmm.”

  “And Zack and I met this girl.”

  I saw Zack go wide-eyed.

  I continued, “I think she's pretty cool. Zack and I are going to meet her tonight.”

  Out of sight of our mom, Zack shook his head frantically.

  “Mmm-hmm. I wonder where your father is?”

  My mom has a really short attention span. I'm surprised she remembers my name. Sometimes I tell her things just to see if she's even listening, which is why I wasn't worried about telling her about Eena. My personal best was when I told her I was going to join a space circus. Her next question after that was to ask how school was going. She pretty much didn't care.

  “He's probably still outside, Mom. Setting up his tent or something.”

  That's when my dad jogged into the cafe and plopped down next to my mom at the table.

  “Sorry I'm late. Just finished setting up camp for tonight.”

  I rolled my eyes at Zack.

  My dad was pretty much the opposite of me. I was too skinny. I liked living my life indoors. My dad was tall and muscled and was outdoors so often he looked uncomfortable when he was inside, always dramatically looking out windows, lost in thought.

  He looked like he lived outdoors, too. His hands were calloused and his fingernails were dirty. He was wearing a pair of really old jeans and he looked like he'd been rolling in brown dirt all day. He must've recently thrown on the shirt, because it was clean and didn't smell.