Life Could Be A Dream...Or A Nightmare

Posted on Thu May 14th, 2015 @ 1:00pm by James Holbridge

Mission: Breaking New Ground
Location: Piper Medical Wing

"....what....how?"

"Hey Slick! You are finally awake!" a thin, smiling young man in a Fighter Corps flight suit smiled down at him.

"Wilcard! How long was I out?" Jim asked trying to rise to his feet, but the bandages and pain held in place.

"You been out since they pulled your ass outta that wreckage! You are lucky to be breathing, but good pilots are always lucky!"

Jim looked at Wildcard and noticed that half of his face was shot away. "What happened to you?"

Wildcard fell to the floor and dissolved into dust. Jim closed his eyes, allowing himself to let his mind relax. I'm dreaming......It has to be.....Wildcard died in Chin'Toka

"That is what you are to believe, Holbridge!," a familiar sneer said in his ear.

"Kieran! How the hell did you get past the...?"

"You truly are a modern medical marvel, having functioned so long with one-fourth of a brain!" Kierean laughed. "You were attacked by a woman, and you wonder what this is? This is your life, or what you call a life......."

Kieran faded into the blackness, and Jim closed his eyes again...

......Can ....you....hear....it calling....EMPIRE!

"Stop it!" Jim yelled.

"I am leaving you again, Jim. You said you would keep us safe!" Tricia cried, blood spurting from her abdomen, covering two rapidly growing children..

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PIPER MEDICAL COMPLEX
ICU LEVEL, PRIVATE ROOM

Jim Holbridge thrashed on the bed, held in place by restraints. A Long-Term Medical Hologram snapped on beside the bed. "Administering .50 cc's of anesthetic." the LTMH announced, summoning the medical staff. "REM sleep reestablished. Vitals are within tolernaces. Offline"

The nurse looked at the sleeping man. "He's fighting the coma. Not good."

A physician's assistant nodded. "We better get a somnetic inducer on him, ASAP.

Within twenty minutes, Jim Holbridge's EEG was back to a controlled rhythmic pulse, indicating he was asleep and not dreaming.

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Jim Holbridge
Off To Never Never Land