The Starfleet Academy Adventures By: Christine Schnell

Enter: The Sandman

DeArra sat trying to remember the dream that she had, had last night. Unfortunately, she couldn't. The dream had seemed so real. When she had awoken, she thought that she was still dreaming. The one and only thing she remembered from the dream was that it took place in this very room.

She couldn't believe she couldn't remember the dream. She had always been able to remember the dreams she had, even horrible ones. She was so frustrated. She glanced over at the chrono display and saw that it was only three hundred hours. If only she could go back to sleep. She couldn't, something kept her from it. She wanted to go back to sleep for the small chance that she would have the dream again and finally remember what it was.

She lied down again and closed her eyes. Sleep never took her. She lay there for two hours tossing and turning until she finally gave up. She sat up again and looked at her two roommates. "How can they sleep?" She wondered. She walked over to the food processor and ordered a warm glass of chocolate milk. She hoped that would help her sleep.

She went back to bed and again closed her eyes. She actually started dosing off when she heard the alarm. Then she heard Stephanie mumble something to the computer. DeArra realized it was time to get up even though she didn't want to. DeArra sat up and looked at her two companions. Stephanie was getting out of bed and Jenifer just turned over and slept quietly. "Wake her up Stephanie."

"Why?" Stephanie asked pulling on one leg of her pants.

"Because she makes me sick. She is sleeping so peacefully." DeArra complained.

"Bad night DeArra?" Jenifer turned over and smiled at her.

"What do you think?" She asked sarcastically and went to her closet to get dressed. Jenifer shrugged and got dressed as well.

The three girls walked together down the hall to the mess hall. "So why couldn't you sleep last night?" Stephanie asked.

"I had a dream and I just couldn't get back to sleep. I can't even remember the dream." DeArra admitted.

"I thought Betazoids were able to remember their dreams." Jenifer said.

"Usually I can. That's why this one disturbs me." DeArra disclosed.

"So you can't remember a dream. What's the big deal?" Jenifer exclaimed.

"Jenifer you don't understand. This dream had some meaning. Not because I can't remember it but because there was something in the dream of importance. I can't remember the dream to find out what that was." DeArra explained.

"Why don't you just forget about it? With any luck you might have it again tonight. Maybe then you will remember it." Jenifer tried to change the subject. "Are you guys ready for the test in Combat Strategies today?"

Stephanie moaned. DeArra shook her head. Her friends wouldn't even listen to her when she had to talk to them.

***

DeArra scribbled a couple of pictures on her data pad. Darian looked over to the pad. "Aren't you supposed to be taking notes?" He whispered.

"This face just popped into my head. It was a part of my dream last night. I know it. I just can't figure out what it is. It even isn't a very good drawing but it is a little close to what I can remember it looks like." DeArra whispered back.

Darian took a better look at the scribbles. True it wasn't the best drawing he had seen but he could tell it was something hideous. The face had horns like a cow. His beard was much like that which is in style with the Orion pirates, a mustache connected to a beard that is spiked on the bottom. With creases in his face from age or was it just a way to add to his repulsive visage.

"What is that he's holding in his hand?" Darian asked quietly. He was referring to a hand a little lower than the face with what appeared to be a time glass.

DeArra confirmed his thought. "It's supposed to be a time glass. I guess I didn't draw it that well."

"What importance does that have?" Darian inquired.

"I don't know yet. I hope to find out. Tonight I'm going to try to go into a trance. I know I'm not full Betazoid but perhaps I can go enough to remember my dream." DeArra informed him.

"Well, good luck. I know how frustrating it is when I can't remember a dream." Darian told her.

"Really, Do Bijorians always remember their dreams?" DeArra asked.

"Absolutely. Doesn't everyone?" He asked in return.

"A lot of species don't. Humans for example. Though there are some who can but most can not." She looked up to see Lt. Etion still giving his lecture. He has not noticed the two talking out of term, yet.

"You know I have had a reoccurring dream lately. I'm back on my home planet but many centuries ago. I'm one of few crew members aboard an old sailing ship and we're stuck in a storm. I have to scramble all over the deck to secure everyth…" He trailed off as he noticed his voice was now the only one heard in the huge chamber. Everyone in the room was staring at him and Lt. Etion, stood, arms crossed, staring very intensely at him, listening.

"I'm sure your dream was very fascinating Mr. Setek. However, I'm positive dreams have no bearing on interdimentional physics. So if you would please stay with the program I would appreciate it." Lt. Etion said a little too politely.

"Yes sir, I'm sorry sir." Darian sheepishly shut up and the rest of the class turned their attention back to Lt. Etion.

"So you should be Mr. Setek. Now class, as I was saying…" Lt. Etion went back to his lecture. Darian looked back to DeArra. She glanced at him and he shrugged then they went back to listening to Lt. Etion.

***

Arron had decided to go to bed early since DeArra didn't want to go out tonight. So he slept.

One thing he loved when he was a kit was the storied his father told him bout far off worlds with mysterious people and wondrous treasures beyond anyone's imagining. One of his favorite stories was the one of a world called Tolemac. The inhabitants of the planet were bird type creatures. They all had brightly colored feathers and the older they were the brighter the feathers became. The leaders of the world are born of a distinct part of their culture. Each born with a huge red feather extending from their forehead up.

As the legend goes there are two leaders of the world. The leaders each control a hemisphere. The leader of the Northern Hemisphere is said to be in possession of the Golden Amulet. The golden Amulet is one key to the Treasure of Tolemac. The second key, the Silver Amulet, has never been found.

The legend further goes to say that only the leader of the Southern Hemisphere could find and take possession of the silver Amulet. To retrieve the Treasure of Tolemac both leaders must work together. First, they had to travel through mazes and traps and through many adventures, finally to their last test. To work as one to place the amulets on the Wings of the One. Then the wings would fold down and reveal the treasure to be shared by both hemispheres once they become a whole planet and not separated.

The problem is the two hemispheres have been at war for millennia and will be forever. At least until Arron Steele, master negotiator, arrived.

A silhouette of sparkling energy formed on the equator of Tolemac. He planned this for fear of showing favoritism of beaming down in either hemisphere. On each side of the boarder stood two Tolemacans. Arron could tell from their brightly colored feathers and the one huge feather on both foreheads, that these were the leaders of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Ved, the leader of the Northern Hemisphere, wore the Golden Amulet around his neck. Mes, the leader of the Southern Hemisphere, wore nothing around his neck and looked jealously upon his rival.

Arron clasped his hands together in front of him and cocked his head slight to Ved then to Mes. Both put their wings together and bowed in return. Arron was happy that at least the two were polite rivals.

The three went to a mutually appointed site where the people of both hemispheres built a small shelter where their negotiations would take place. For five days and six nights the three argued over land and money. Pending the approach of the subject of the Treasure of Tolemac. Once the subject arrived all bickering stopped. Both were willing to find and share the treasure, together.

Arron traveled with the two and found the Silver Amulet. From there they traveled for months on end. They moved through the dangerous mazes and around the traps until they came to an outstanding opening in the side of a mountain that no one had ever noticed before. The three entered and found two huge wings covering a doorway. Ved and Mes looked to each other and walked slowly to the end of each wing. Simultaneously they placed the amulets on the wings. A loud screeching sound could be heard for miles away as the wings slowly slid down to reveal the doorway to the Treasure of Tolemac. Arron could feel the victory whelm up inside him as he saw the two leaders join together to earn a new freedom.

***

Arron awoke still feeling that wondrous victory. He had to tell someone about it so he went to the first place he could think of.

The door chime rang. No one answered. It rang again. Once more no one answered. Arron started to wonder if anyone was home. He decided to try again. For the third time he pressed his finger against the cold metal of the wall. Inside he could hear the muffled ringing of the chime. No one called to open the door nor came and opened it themselves. He turned and left. When he was half way down the corridor he heard the soft whisper of a door opening behind him.

He turned and saw DeArra standing haggardly at the door he just left. He turned fully around and walked back. "Why didn't you answer the door? Were you sleeping?" He walked up to her and started to lean to kiss her but she backed off.

"Can you come later? I have things to do." She backed up.

"Yeah, I guess." He said but his words were drowned out by the hissing of the door.

DeArra backed up all the way into the empty room and sat down on her bed. She had been trying to meditate. It's hard enough for her since she's only half Betazoid but if she keeps getting interrupted, meditating would be impossible. Stephanie and Jenifer promised to stay out for the night, but she forgot about Arron.

She sat for an hour and couldn't concentrate enough to go into the trance that was required to properly meditate. So instead she went over the dream in her head. Nothing came to her. Over and over she tried but the only thing she could remember is that face and sometimes not even that. She gave up trying and fell asleep.

***

"Ha ha ha ha." The laughter echoed all through out the land. DeArra looked all around her but could not see where the titter was coming from. She walked for what seemed like hours, but was in reality only minutes. Soon she came upon a threesome ahead of her moving towards the mountain ranges in the distance.

She approached them but never reached them. She was always behind them no matter how much she tried to catch up with them. She was far enough back for them not to notice her and for her not to be able to tell who they are. "Ha ha ha ha ha." The laughter rang again. DeArra looked around and found no one except the three ahead of her, who obviously did not notice the guffaw.

"They will never make it." Laughed the mysterious voice. "You'll see. I won't let them." Squealed the voice.

DeArra looked ahead but the three did not hear the voice. "Who are you?" DeArra cried.

"You'll never be able to stop me." It shrieked.

"Who are you?" DeArra asked once more.

"You can try but you will never succeed. They will die. Ha ha ha ha ha…" The laughter repeated.

"Will you stop that." The laughter never stopped. DeArra gave up trying to talk to the invisible voice and ran for the three in front of her. She ran and ran but could not catch up.

"You'll never make it. I can control everything. Ha ha ha ha ha." The laughter continued.

"Oh shut up." DeArra said softly but it continued. There was no place to hide from it. She knew that. She could not do anything to get to they mysterious people in front of her. She was trapped with the most annoying laughter. All she could do was scream.

***

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...." Jenifer walked with Stephanie toward their room.

"What is that?" Stephanie asked.

"That sounds like DeArra." Jenifer sounded worried. The two girls ran towards the room. By the time the door slid open for them DeArra had stopped screaming. "What is it? What's the matter?" Jenifer asked nervously, looking around, and ready for a fight.

"Nothing. I just had a strange dream." She faltered for a minute. "That, I can't remember. That's the second one in a row." She stopped staring at her friends. They looked concerned but not for the reason she was. They were concerned for her safety. She was concerned because of the dream. Because of a stupid dream! "Wait a minute. I do remember something from the dream."

Jenifer walked to her bed and took off her boots. "What, may I dare ask, is that?"

"Laughter. That stupid, hideous laughter that wouldn't stop." DeArra seemed proud of herself. Happy and renewed that she remembered just a small piece of the dream.

"I don't get this fascination with dreams that you have DeArra." Jenifer said changing into her pajamas.

"You just don't understand." DeArra complained.

"Excuse me but didn't we already have this conversation?" Steph asked from across the room.

"You're right. You see I finally did remember something from the first dream also." DeArra went to the table and picked up the pad she was drawing on earlier that day. "See." She shoved the picture in Jenifer's face.

"What is that supposed to be?" She asked.

"I don't know. It's just a face from my first dream. The laugher from the second dream. You know the two kind of fit together. This thing looks like it could have that horrible laugh." DeArra was even happier now that she could put two dreams together. "You know what?"

"I'm afraid to ask." Jenifer said sarcastically.

"I think I'll go back to sleep to find out more about those dreams." DeArra hopped into bed joyfully.

"It's about time." Jenifer lied down and pulled the covers up and threw a pillow over her face.

***

Jenifer rode over vast lands ready for the battle she knew was coming. Dressed in battle armor, with shield in had, she urged her steed onward. She was chosen out of the many knights to defeat the beast that has been rampaging their land.

This beast was a fire breathing, sharp clawed, green scaled, ten foot tall dragon. A magician from a warring kingdom, created the beast to destroy the kingdom in which Jenifer lives and serves.

As she road her confidence grew. She knew she would defeat the dreaded dragon. That is until she had her first glance at the monster. She pulled on the reigns of her stallion until it stopped. She sat there gapping at what she traveled so far to slay.

This gigantic monstrosity, that had destroyed her home and countless others, lay in front of her sleeping like a baby. She sighed and pressed her horse to go nearer to the dragon. The horse was reluctant yet he obeyed his master and moved closer.

Jenifer dismounted her horse and walked up to the dragon. She drew her sword and moved to the chest area of the beast. As she was about to plunge the sword through his heart, the dragon snorted and raised his head. Jenifer moved backward quickly in shock. The beast rose to its feet and stared down at her. She swallowed hard and ran back to her horse.

She mounted and turned it around, ready to ride out of there. Then she thought, "What am I running from? I was sent to kill the dragon, so I have to kill the dragon." She drove the stallion half way around and charged straight for the dragon. She waved her sword high in the air. Faster and faster toward the dragon. When she approached close enough the dragon spit a ball of fire at her. It missed entirely, for she was already underneath him. As she road she thrust her sword into the beast's chest and held onto it as she road out from under him.

This created a huge gash in the belly of the creature. The skin of the dragon was split open revealing all of his organs. The tear started to open and Jenifer could hear the ripping sound as the skin tore and revealed more of the innards of the beast. Then with a gush and a splash some of those organs fell from the crevice. Jenifer looked back and immediately was sorry she did. The dragon fell into its own blood and guts and looked back at her with mournful eyes.

She felt sorry for the beast now, to see it die this slow death. She decided to be merciful. She charged again. This time she leaned forward with her blood reddened sword out in front. She collided with the dragon and fell from her horse as her sword dug straight into his heart. The dragon threw up his head and screeched for only a few seconds. Then its head fell with a thud and the horrible threat was no more. Jenifer stood and bushed herself off. Breathing heavily she pulled her sword out of the dragon and walked back to her horse. She mounted and road slowly back to her kingdom.

***

Jenifer tossed once more. DeArra was about to wake her up but thought better of it. Jenifer probably enjoyed whatever dream she was having and so DeArra allowed her to sleep. She however could not. She had been trying to get back to sleep for the past hour. She had also been debating to get up and get another glass of hot chocolate. It seems as if last night was just replaying itself over. She spent the next hour trying to fall asleep. She finally did after tossing and turning for a half hour after that.

***

DeArra stood in the middle of rolling hills. Off in the distance was a lone figure on a horse. Then laughter filled the land. "Oh no. Not again!" DeArra cried.

"What this time as I lead them to their demise." The same voice as before called out. "Be witness to my powers."

"Who are you?" DeArra asked again.

"This one will die a most horrible death." The voice said.

"Will you stop this. I haven't seen any one die." DeArra said.

"Then watch and you will."

"Watch what?"

"Watch what you see."

"Stop talking in riddles and tell me."

"You will know all by the end of the night."

"Now what the hell is that supposed to mean."

"Watch and learn" The voice repeated.

"Who are you?" DeArra asked getting thoroughly pissed.

"I am a man. I can control you as I control the sands of time."

DeArra looked around for this being, this man, that controls "everything." "What's that supposed to mean?"

The being laughed. "Figure it out yourself." It said and all was black.

***

"Let's see, I have this ugly face, a laugh, and he says he controls the sands of time. That must be what the time glass if for." DeArra pondered.

"Maybe he's the 'sand' man." Jenifer joked.

"Very funny." DeArra said tiredly. "Each dream I can only remember one thing. God, I wish I could remember a whole dream, just once."

"Well, what else did he say to you?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't remember. That's just it. He probably doesn't want me to remember. He did say something about controlling me as he did the sands of time."

"Listen it's two AM. Can we please go back to sleep?" Jenifer begged.

"I can't until we figure this out." DeArra said.

"We? Oh no. You're not going to get me into this one." Jenifer protested. "You've gotten me into enough messes already."

"Come on. DeArra needs our help." Stephanie urged.

"What can we do? It's her dreams inside her head. I think it's her problem." Jenifer crossed her arms finished with the whole situation.

"Fine, if you ever need help, don't count on us." DeArra said and turned to Stephanie. "So what do we do?"

"You go to sleep. We will talk about it in the morning." Steph lied down and was finished also.

"What if I have another dream?" DeArra asked.

"Then you wait till morning to tell us. Good night." With that Stephanie turned over and fell asleep.

***

People all around her were sick, literally. The small ward was a mess. Small buckets by people's beds radiated a sickening odor. The few beds they had were filled and so were the hallways and extra rooms in the space station on Nyra 4. Stephanie walked around the small sickbay. As she moved passed the people in the beds they outstretched their arms for attention. Unfortunately, she could not give them any since she was too busy trying to find the cure so she wouldn't have to look at these people, throwing up in front of her.

She loved being a doctor especially when hundreds of people counted on her to find the cure to save them. She despised the smell of vomit. She went tot her office and looked through the file on the virus again. This virus was more dangerous and faster acting than the AIDS virus of the late twentieth to mid twenty-first centuries. As of right now the virus was classified as number 153-jn-086. The people on this planet call it the Tribble Epidemic.

The Tribble Epidemic started with one virus that mutated in a chemistry experiment. The virus reproduces as it intakes hemoglobin, thus the more hemoglobin intake the more virus outburst. Unfortunately, this virus, unlike the AIDS virus can travel through the air. Fortunately it only has a limited life span while airborne. It must find another victim in close proximity before it dies.

Stephanie rubbed her forehead. She didn't know what to do. She was about to call up the lab for a report on their progress when the com panel chirped. Stephanie plugged the button, "Koval here, what is it?"

"Doctor," The voice on the other end sounded excited. "We need your help down here in the lab."

"I'm on my way." Steph took her finger off the panel and ran out the door.

"What's wrong?" Stephanie came bursting through the lab doors, almost before they had time to open.

"Our first try at the antidote failed. We know that it wasn't the chemicals, just the amount of the chemicals we put in were either too much or not enough. We need your help to find the right amount." The nurse said.

"Okay here's what we do…" Stephanie started explaining what they needed to do and within the next three hours they had the antidote ready for the first test. Stephanie walked out into the sickbay, with the antidote hypo in her hand. She selected one person at random and jabbed the hype into her arm.

The patient looked up to her. She was already showing signs of getting better. The antidote worked! Stephanie went around the room and used up what was in the hypo. Then she ordered her nurses to make up more antidote and pass it around the station. Everyone was getting better and soon the entire sickbay was empty. The stench and all were gone. Stephanie walked proudly to her office and fell asleep.

***

DeArra decided that she would have to go back to sleep. The idea of having another dream that she couldn't remember, was not too appealing. Yet she was excited at the thought of maybe picking up another piece of the puzzle. She was hopping to have it solved by the end of the night. She would whether she wanted to or not. She decided not to worry about it and soon she fell asleep, again.

***

A room filled with people appeared before DeArra's eyes. This was definitely different. She knew that before she was never close to anyone and now there were people all around her. Not only that but before she was on open land. Now she was in some sort of sickbay. Of course, everything seemed normal because this was a dream. DeArra had realized that dreams may seem normal while they are happening but once reality set in they were anything but normal. For now, though, everything was as it should be.

DeArra walked among the sick and dying thinking of the mysterious voice. Right now she remembered everything that had happened in all of her dreams but she knew when she woke up all would be forgotten. The strange voice has not shown itself yet and she was glad of it.

She walked through a door and into what appeared to be some sort of chemical lab. At the far end of the lab was five people working at their counters, not paying any attention to who just walked in.

"Hello." DeArra said but no one acknowledged her. "Hello!" She said a little more loudly.

"Hello." The voice startled her. It was the same voice that she had been hearing all along.

"Oh great." DeArra sighed and tried to walk over to the others. She was walking but their counters just moved further away from her. "I'm getting tired of you so will you please stop it?"

"Stop what?" It asked innocently.

"Stop moving people away from me. At least let me talk to someone." DeArra pleaded.

"No."

"Why not?"

"You must figure it out yourself."

"Oh shut up."

The voice must have taken her advice, for there was no reply. DeArra didn't know what to do. In front of her were three people she couldn't talk to. Somewhere there was someone she didn't want to talk to.

DeArra picked up one of the cylinders and chucked it toward the people. It hit the ground right behind them but they paid no attention to it.

DeArra slumped against the cabinet behind her. She couldn't figure it out. Some voice out of no where tells her that some people are going to die. She didn't even know who the people were. "So why does he think I care if they die?" She asked herself aloud.

"Because you do know them." The voice said shortly and then was gone again.

"What? What do you mean: I know them. I've never seen these people or these places before in my life." DeArra told the mysterious voice.

The voice kept quiet. Now DeArra was confused. She looked toward the three, none of which looked familiar. "All right I give up. Will you show yourself. I'm tired of playing these games."

"I will show myself only when the it is time. Or when you know who I am." Answered the voice.

"How am I supposed to know who you are if you don't give me a few clues?" She asked.

"I have already given you many clues. You have not been paying attention."

"Yes, I have."

"No, you haven't. Look over to the glass cylinder, which you threw to get their attention."

DeArra looked toward the people. There on the floor was the cylinder. It wasn't broken like she thought, but it was whole. She had not watched the cylinder when it hit the ground because she was watching the people, so she did not notice that it had never shattered when it hit the floor. "I don't understand. What relevance does that have to you?"

"I am able to control everything in your dreams. Even you."

"Really? Then why don't you show me, how you can control me?"

"Not yet. Not until you know who I am."

"And who are you?"

"As I have stated before, you must figure that out yourself." Again the room turned dark.

***

Jason slept unawakened by his friend, who had been trying to fall asleep for the last hour. He wanted to tell Jason about the dream that he had had, yet he didn't want to wake him up. Darian laid awake staring at the ceiling of their room. He was playing the dream over and over in his mind. One thing that kept coming back the clearest was the face that he had seen earlier that day. He didn't know how it fit into his dream but he didn't want to go wake up DeArra to ask her what it meant. He stared at the wall for a long time until his eyes became very heavy. He fell asleep to have the same dream replay itself over.

***

The blue water was cold as it splashed on Darian's face. He moved about the ship preparing it for its rough sea voyage. He ran across the deck and helped one of the crew men fasten a mooring. Just then a huge wave hit the ship. Darian fell over as the wave hit him. Someone fell on top of him. He looked up to stare right into the face of his captain. The huge muscular man was a prime example of why Darian was still only a second class shipman. Captain Afris was, in Bijorian years, 51. At seven feet tall he made Darian look like a munchkin. Darian did not have muscles as he did either. In fact in the eyes of others Darian was a flat out wimp.

Captain Afris stood and actually held his hand out to Darian. He took the hand graciously and stood swiftly. Afris didn't say a word. He simply turned and left. Darian knew that he was probably imagining it, but when Afris turned away, Darian swore he saw a faint smile on Afris' face. Darian turned back to his job at hand. Later the winds started to pick up again. A sonorous sound came from above head. Darian looked up and found one of the sails ripping. He climbed up the mast and grabbed the two sides of the splitting canvas. He unhooked the said from the pole and threw it to the deck. He climbed back down, as they looked up, after he touched ground, Afris stood there before him. "Thank you." He said in his low tone. "You thought quickly. That's very good. Now get that sail out of here and fix it."

"Aye sir." Darian said very happily. His captain said that he did something good. If he kept on this track he just might get a promotion soon.

After the sail was fixed and back in its place, Captain Afris called Darian to his quarters. Darian cautiously walked in and came to immediate attention. Captain Afris just waved his hand at Darian. "This is not a formal meeting Mr. Setek. Have a seat." Darian did as he was told and waited for the captain to speak again. "You acted with bravery. I was not expecting that of you. I am deeply considering your promotion to first class shipman. Keep up the good work and you may see a gold pin on your chest." Afris walked over to one of his glass cabinets and produced a tall bottle with a long neck. "I would like to get to know brave men. So, a toast." He handed Darian a glass and raised his above his head. "To a courageous gentleman."

As the captain put the glass to his lips, one of the crew came bursting in the door. "Enemy ship to port." He cried. "Captain it's one of the Torman's"

"Setek, get above deck and man the artillery." Captain Afris ran out the door leaving Darian and the yeoman behind.

Darian went above deck and to his station. He manned one of the port cannons. As he looked ahead of him he could see three Torman ships headed directly for them. He readied his cannon and aimed it properly. Now all he had to do was wait for the order to fire.

Closer the enemy drew. He could feel the adrenaline rushing through his blood. "Fire!" The order was give. He pressed his finger against the firing button. A missile shot out from his cannon. The blast was only one of many but it did make its mark on the Torman's. Darian's missile hit one of the masts and exploded. The mast fell and knocked down another, not to mention when the sails feel they covered most of the deck and the people on them.

Darian whooped with joy as he shot yet another missile from his cannon. It flew out with ease and straight into the bow of the second ship.

The gigantic hole created by the missile caused the ship to begin to sink. Darian could see many people jumping off the side of the ship trying to escape the watery death. Just as Darian was beginning to think they would win this war, one of the enemy's missiles detonated just inches away from the ship. The explosion caused a huge tidal wave to splash onto the deck. Darian was washed away from his post, but was still safe. He ran to the other side of the ship and found Afris hanging from one arm. Darian gripped it firmly and pulled with all of his might. Ever so slowly, his captain reached for the railing. Finally he grabbed hold and pulled himself over to the deck.

Afris brushed some splinters off his pants and looked up to Darian. "Thank you." He paused looking down at the lonely, young second class shipman. "Return to your post, First class shipman, Setek."

Darian looked to the older man. He did not dare show his joy at the promotion but did as he was told and went back to his station. He did his best as he fired upon the Torman's and in the end he helped in destroying the two remaining ships.

DeArra hated waking up multiple times in the night. She always felt as if it gave her less sleep than if she stayed awake all night. She wondered what her next dream might bring. Perhaps another clue? Maybe even the entire puzzle. Who knows she may even figure it out before the end of the night. She looked at the chrono on the wall. It was only twenty minutes since she had fallen asleep before. Than a horrible thought crossed her mind. "I may be able to figure it out before morning, if it ever comes."

***

Now she was on a boat. A kind of boat she had never seen before. It resembled the ships of old day earth, yet it was different. It had the weapons of the early twenty-first century and a similar layout of the late eighteenth century earth. Of in the distance was another ship similar yet different also, plus it was carrying a different flag than the one she was on. To either side of here were two boats about 100 yards out.

She could tell that they were on an intercept course with the other ship and had a feeling she knew why. The only thing she could think of was this was a deliberate attack on the one vessel. Right now she would rather be someplace else than examine these old ships. She started to walk to the bridge of the ship but something blocked her way. A shadowy figure blocked the stairs that led up to the small control room. "Let me pass." She demanded.

"No." That voice. That was the voice she had been hearing all along. She looked up to stare into the face that generated the voice. She couldn't see clearly. There was too much shadow on the figure.

"I have to get up to the bridge." She told the figure in earnest.

"No." It repeated. DeArra turned to find another way up there and was met by another shadowed figure. She turned again, and again. She was surrounded by four shadowed figures that all looked the same. A noncommittal form that seemed to just stand there and never move.

"What do you want now?" She asked of the first configuration she met.

The figure did not answer. Instead each one moved a little closer. DeArra immediately moved into a fighting stance anticipating their attack. Then she was knocked off her feet and into one of the shadow people. A wave had hit the ship and only one of the four shadows remained, the one underneath her.

She stood up and stared down at the body. Still a shadowy blur. It did not move. She left it lying there and went up to the bridge. At the top of the stairs another one of the shadows blocked her path. This time she did not hesitate to try to get it out of her way. She tired to grab a hold of it but was unsuccessful. When she fell on it before, it was solid this time it was not. So she tired to rush through it. Bad move, she rammed straight into it and was knocked head over heels down the stairs from the bunt.

DeArra lay there unmoving watching the figure move gracefully down the stairs toward her. Far different from the way she came down. She started to get up but found she could not move beyond sitting up. The shadow moved in closer. DeArra did not know what to do. She looked around her and just out of her reach was a large piece of wood. She watched it come closer. She had to do something. She stretched for the wood. Her arm was so far out she thought that soon it would come out of its socket. She winced as she stretched just that tiny bit more. Yes!

DeArra successfully grabbed the piece of wood. She sat up instantly swinging the wood into the mid section of the shadow. It went on through the other side without harming the ghostly figure. DeArra sighed. She was growing tired of fighting something she knew she could not defeat. Ever so slowly she looked up to the shadow. And it was gone. DeArra searched all around her the shadow was no longer there.

Where was here? She was no longer on board the ship instead she was in the cold vastness of dark space.

***

Darian make a triumphant noise that awoke his friend. Jason stared at Darian while he slept. His friend always talked in his sleep. Although, Jason could never ascertain what he was talking about. Not only that but Jason had been having a rather wonderful dream and he wished to get back to her before he forgot what he was dreaming about. He smiled at the thought of the beautiful woman, who was courting him in his dreams. He lay back down to try to get back to her and what they were doing.

***

The woman sitting next to him was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen or even had dreamed of. Unfortunately, she wouldn't even know he was alive if it wasn't for the fact that she had to help plot the courses for their ship to take. Jason remembered the first time he had seen her. It was his first day as helmsman aboard the USS Luxly. She was there as navigator and she looked up to him and smiled. God he would never forget that moment. Of course now she knew him better and she did not smile at him in that way any longer. He would let her plot a course with him anytime.

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She paid him no attention. He watched her long slender fingers roam over the board with practiced ease and found himself wanting to reach out and grab those fingers all to himself. Though if he did try it she would slap him across the face with her free hand or knee him in a most sensitive spot.

He winced at the thought than thought nothing more of it. He turned back to the screen and saw something glimmer in the distance. It was not a star yet it was still too distant to tell what it was. He checked his board to confirm what it was. By the time he figured it out it was almost too late. Five Romulan Warbirds were coming at them at warp eight.

The captain and first officer were not on the bridge since the ship was in its night cycle. Jason acted instinctively putting up the shields and going to red alert. He heard in the background, the communications officer calling the captain to the bridge. Jason worked fast as he entered evasive maneuvers to move away from the enemy fire. He moved the ship in simply outstanding and unbelievable ways. Always keeping one eye on the viewscreen and one on the controls he flew the great ship in circles around the Romulan warbirds. Jason did not need weapons to beat the Romulans. All he needed was a good imagination.

The captain ran onto the bridge and practically leaped for the command chair so he wouldn't hit anything, as the gravity generators tried to keep up with Jason's sudden course changes. Jason kept up with his loop-da-loops while waiting for his captain's next order. Quickly the captain ordered them to fire on the Romulans right ahead of them. Jason did as they were told. As the Romulan ship's debris spread out, the Luxly swam straight through it to get the next warbird. When the first two letters of the word fire were out of the captain's mouth, Jason destroyed yet another of the warbirds.

Now they were down to three. Two of which were clearly in front of them on the screen, but the other? Where was it? It was there a second ago. Jason forgot it and figured he'd come back for it later. Right now he had to kick some Romulan butt.

Another fancy maneuver, another Romulan destroyed. The last one started to make a run for it. Jason plotted a course after it when they were hit from behind. The other Romulan must have clocked and now was back for a fight. Well, Jason could take care of that. He whipped around and threw a couple of photon torpedoes in their face. The depleted their shields and so Jason came back at them with full phasers. Seconds later the Luxly was the only ship left in the system. Jason wanted to go after the one that got away but the captain told him it wasn't worth the time and energy. So Jason plotted a course back to the starbase and relaxed.

A few minutes later after the captain had left the bridge, the female navigator turned to Jason. "That was very impressive." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "How about dinner sometime?"

Jason was at a loss for words. He just nodded and she turned back to her station. Jason smiled. Later that evening he went to her cabin and to his surprise she had dinner waiting as if she knew he was coming. He went in and had a wonderful, joy filled night.

***

DeArra saw the Constitution class starship fly in front of her. She could not figure out how she was outside the ship in the vacuum of space, and still be alive. She swam in zero g towards the ship, which was traveling at warp speed. This was impossible. DeArra was traveling just as fast as the ship. There was no way that her body could stand up to that speed. Of course she was out in space without protection, so what says she can not also be traveling at warp speed?

Suddenly something tapped her on the shoulder. She twisted around and saw nothing. Again, something tapped her on the shoulder. She turned again and found absolutely nothing. "Show yourself." She demanded.

"Why should I?" That mysterious voice asked of her.

DeArra took a stab at answering him. She knew it was not the truth but perhaps she could get some answers out of him. So she said calmly, "Because I know who you are." All of a sudden there was a brilliant flash and the starship was gone.

***

Everything was gone, even space itself. DeArra looked around her and everything was white. She contemplated if this was what death was like. Instead she decided if she was dead she probably wouldn't even be aware of herself.

Something hit her head. It wasn't heavy. Maybe it was rain. She looked up and received a couple of grains of sand in her face. No, that definitely was not rain. After a couple more pebbles came falling down and then some more, DeArra started to think of what Jenifer had said earlier that night.

There was a juge pile of sand by the time DeArra saw the figure off in the distance. At first she thought it was a rescue from this white world, but deep down in her mind she knew who it really was. She waited for the figure to come nearer, but it stopped some distance off, hidden in shadows that came from no where. "You said you know who I am." The shadowed figure spoke.

"I believe so, yes." She answered flatly.

"So?" She did not answer. "Who am I?"

"You are a being who lives on tormenting others." She started.

"I believe I had stated that."

"Yes, but not in so many words. You also live to distract people while you do your dirty work."

"Get on with it." He yawned.

"To put it simply, you are, the Sandman."

As if provoked the figure stepped out of the shadow and showed, for the first time, his true appearance.

That face. That was the same face that she had first dreamed about. Somehow, now it looked a lot meaner. The Sandman started to laugh, that horrible laugh, again. DeArra started to back off as something grabbed her on the shoulder. "DeArra." This was a totally different voice. Familiar, yet not. "DeArra." It called again. "DeArra?" Now it was a worried question. DeArra turned and everything went blank.

***

"DeArra?"

"Is she okay?" Jenifer asked.

"I hope so." Stephanie answered. "DeArra." Stephanie called to their sleeping friend.

DeArra slowly opened her eyes to find the two of them leaning over her worriedly. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"We've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes. What were you dreaming about?" Jenifer asked.

"I think I have put everything together. All of my dreams are all fitting together now. All of them were controlled by one person. That person, or rather thing, is the Sandman." Jenifer laughed and DeArra looked at her funny. " What's so funny?"

"I told you it was the Sandman. Would you listen to me? Nooo. Who would listen to little old Jenifer?" Jenifer joked.

DeArra ignored her and looked at the chrono. It was only five minutes since she had last looked at it. How could that be? Her dream had to last more than five minutes. "Is it just me, or is that clock wrong?"

"That's one of the reasons we woke you up. I've been staring at that clock for the longest time and it hasn't changed one second." Jenifer explained.

"Not only that," Agreed Stephanie, "The sun should have risen a long time ago."

"Oh, God. That's what I was thinking just before I fell asleep. That morning would never come. Do you think it's true?" DeArra asked.

Stephanie opened her mouth and a chime range. She looked around in confusion and realized it was the door chime.

Jenifer went and answered the door. Darian and Jason walked in. "Do any of you know what is going on. I woke up after a dream and couldn't go back to sleep. Two hours later it's still dark and my chrono is totally off." Jason sat in one of the chairs at the table.

"We were wondering the same thing." Stephanie told him.

"Where's Arron? We figured he would have been awake by now and would have been here." Darian asked.

"You think we should wake him up?" DeArra inquired.

"Na, let him sleep. Maybe he'll wake up and come over here." Stephanie said.

"I think we should do the same. Maybe this is all in our imagination. Who knows, maybe it is even a dream." DeArra suggested.

"Are you sure about that?" Jenifer asked. "We've been sleeping for hours and it's still practically the same time. Besides I'm tired of sleeping." Jenifer argued.

"Fine, I don't know about you guys but I am going to sleep." DeArra went to bed and fell asleep almost instantly. "Well, what do we do now?" Jenifer asked.

"We wait and see what happens when she wakes up." Stephanie answered. Jason and Darian moaned.

***

"Ha ha ha ha ha." The laughter echoed all through out the land. DeArra looked all around her but could not see where the titter was coming from.

"Not again she moaned." She looked around again and in front of her was three people. The same three people as in her dream before. This time she could tell one was human and wearing a Starfleet uniform. "Hello. Hey can you hear me?!" She shouted to no avail.

"They can not hear you. They will never here you. You will watch them die." The voice called. She knew the voice. It was the Sandman.

"Not if I can help it." DeArra said.

"You can not stop me. No one can stop me." The Sandman screamed.

"I'm sure going to try." With that she ran for the three in front of her. The Sandman only laughed.

She ran up right behind them and as she was going to pass them she hit something. Just like hitting a wall at full speed, she bounced off and fell to the ground, but there was nothing there but air. She got up again and slowly she caught up with them and looked straight into their faces. "Arron!" DeArra said surprised.

Arron said nothing and walked right through her. "What the…?" DeArra turned and watched them walk on. Bewildered, she followed them. Not long after they reached a huge maze. All four entered and began their long journey. They came upon two doors. One would lead to the exit, the other to who knows what. Arron walked up to the two doors and chose. As the door opened, Arron knew he had chosen the wrong door. A phaser bolt came speeding out of the door way and hit him straight in the chest. Two other bolts came flying out and hit the two Tolemac leaders. All three were dead. The air was quiet except for the laughter of the Sandman.

***

"God I am getting tired." Jenifer admitted.

"Sitting up and doing nothing for two hours can make you a little bored." Darian said.

"I'm going to bed." Jenifer went back into bed and soon fell asleep.

Stephanie stretched. "Me too. See ya guys."

Darian and Jason shrugged. Soon before they knew it they had fallen asleep.

About an hour later DeArra shot straight up. She looked around her and everyone was asleep. She got out of bed and ran to Jenifer's. "Jenifer, wake up. Wake up." DeArra screamed.

Jenifer's eyes flung open. "What's wrong? The bogeyman gonna get you?"

"Be serious for just one moment. I saw Arron die." DeArra said hurriedly.

"How did you see him die?" Stephanie asked from across the room.

"In my dream. He opened a door and a phaser bolt shot him." She explained.

"So?" Jenifer asked skeptically.

"So, the Sandman killed him." DeArra started to break down. She sat on Jenifer's bed.

"Listen, why don't we go over to Arron's room and we will see that he is all right. Okay?" Jenifer suggested.

"Okay." DeArra agreed. All five of them got together and headed out the door. There was no one in the hall ways. Not surprising since the computer confirmed that it was practically the same time as three hours ago. They walked through the hall way to Arron's dorm room. DeArra rang the door chime. One of Arron's roommates answered. "What do you want at this time in the morning?" He asked.

"We want to talk to Arron." Jenifer said.

"Just a moment." The door closed as he walked into the room.

"See he's fine." Jenifer said.

"How do we know? All he said is he would get him for us." DeArra asked.

"That means that he is alive. Other wise his roommate wouldn't have told us to wait. He just would have said, 'He's dead.'" Jenifer told her.

"Thanks a lot. That makes me feel a lot better." DeArra said.

Just then the door opened again. The roommate was more awake than he was earlier but he looked much sadder. "What's wrong?" DeArra asked.

"It's Arron…" As soon as he got the "A" of Arron out DeArra had pushed her way through the door.

She ran up to Arron's bed and shook him. He never woke up. "Arron!" She screamed.

Stephanie came up to him and put two fingers on his neck and pressed slightly. She looked up to DeArra and shook her head.

DeArra started to cry. Jenifer came up from behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry DeArra. I shouldn't have joked about it."

"It's all right." DeArra told her. "What happened?" She directed her question toward Arron's roommate. When she turned to look at him he was already in his bed and asleep. "What's going on here?"

All Jenifer could do is shake her head. Stephanie had gone into the corridor to get one of the emergency tricorders and had come back to examine Arron. "DeArra how did you say he died in your dream?"

"A phaser bolt. Why?" DeArra looked at her confused.

"Because that's exactly what happened. He died of a phaser blast on sitting five I'd say." Stephanie informed them.

"How can that be? The only phasers in the academy are locked up and only Commanders and above can get into the phaser lockers." Jenifer said.

"Somebody, of the rank of Commander and above could have killed him." Jason proposed.

"That raises the question of why." Darian said.

"And who." Stephanie added.

"I think we should bring this to the attention of Admiral Steele." DeArra said moving toward the com panel. "Ensign Kiljian to Admiral Steele. Please come to Ensign Steele's quarters." She left the com channel open for a few seconds but no one answered. DeArra frowned at the unanswered call. "Jenifer, can you go and get Admiral Steele?"

"Sure." She started out the door.

"We'll go too." Darian pulled Jason along out the door.

"What are we going to do now?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't know. I wish Arron was alive though. He would know what to do in this kind of situation." DeArra said.

"I just wish there was something we could do for him. There is no way we can bring someone with a phaser wound like that back to life." Stephanie started to cry.

"Come on. Don't cry. I don't think he would want that." DeArra helped her to sit down.

"I don't care. I'll cry all I want. He's dead and there is nothing we can do." She cried a little more. "I wish I could have been with him again." DeArra thought about that last statement but let it pass for now. "DeArra, I'm so jealous of you. He liked you more than me I know it."

"Don't be silly. He loved you very much. It just didn't work out." DeArra tried to reassure her.

"Did he ever say that?"

"Yes, he told me that he loved you."

"No. Did he ever say that he liked you more than I?"

"No, he never did say anything like that." DeArra wasn't sure what to say.

"Okay I feel better now."

"What?!" DeArra looked at her astonished.

"I'm just kidding."

"I sure hope so."

***

"I can't believe how quiet it is." Darian looked down at each corridor that they passed.

"That's because it's only 2:30 AM, according to the computer." Jenifer said.

They walked to where Jenifer's hovercraft was parked and got in. "What if we get caught?" Jason asked.

"Why do you always think of all the bad things that could happen?" Darian asked.

"I don't care if we do." Jenifer started the hovercraft. "Besides we want the admiral to know about what's going on." Jenifer pushed the hovercraft to its highest speed.

When they reached the Admiral's house the three got out of the hovercraft and went up to the door. Jenifer pressed the door chime but the admiral never answered. She pressed it again. Still nothing. She frowned at her comrades. "Admiral!" She yelled. Yet there was no answer, even after two more tries. She looked at the door controls on the wall besides the door and decided to give it a try. She stood there for several minutes trying different codes until she hit the right one. The door slid aside to let them in.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Jason asked.

"Oh, it's just something I picked up a while back." They walked through the house to the back room. There Admiral Steele was sleeping soundly. Jenifer, Darian, and Jason walked up to his bed slowly.

"Admiral." Jenifer tried to be quiet so as not to frighten the admiral. "Admiral?" She looked confused at her friends when Adam did not awaken. She shook him slightly and repeated his name several times.

Maybe she should take more extravagant measures. So she bent down closely to the admiral. She put her lips right next to his ear, took a short breath and yelled, "ADMIRAL!"

Alas, the admiral slept undisturbed. "Damn." She said shortly and turned to the others. "Do you have any ideas?"

Jason looked to Darian. Darian looked at the admiral, "Well, we could always push him out of bed." He said almost jokingly.

"Why not. Who knows it could work." All three got on one side of the bed and pushed Adam Steele right off the other side. With a thud he hit the ground. The trio ran to the other side to find Steele sleeping like a baby. "Maybe he's in a coma." Jenifer suggested.

"I think we should call DeArra and let her knew what's going on." Jason said.

"Where's the com panel?" Jenifer looked around the room then walked out to the living room. She walked around a table and wound up in front of his communication center.

She pressed the button that would open a channel to the Academy. The usual face of the communications officer did not appear. Instead there was a message with the UFP logo, it read: "Message can not be received. Error in Academy communication's center."

Jenifer stared at the screen. "What the hell?"

"There should be someone, even at this time of night, at that station." Jason voiced what everyone else was thinking.

"Let's go back to the Academy." Jenifer looked back toward Admiral Steele's room. "Let's take him with us."

"Isn't that a little like kidnapping?" Darian asked.

"So? Besides he may wake up on the way. We can use him when we get back if he does wake up." Jenifer walked back to the room. She lifted his arms and tried to lift him off the ground. With a grunt she got him halfway up. "God, Arron your father need's to go on a diet." She looked to the two boys. "How about some help over here?" The Bijorians each took one leg and they practically dragged the admiral out of his house. They lugged him into the back of the hovercraft and headed for the Academy.

***

Jenifer, Jason, and Darian came into the room, dragging Admiral Steele along. Stephanie and DeArra stood immediately. "What happened?" DeArra asked.

"We don't know. He just never woke up." Jenifer explained.

"Great, just great. Arron's dead, and nobody in the entire Academy will wake up." DeArra threw her arms in the air giving up.

"What do you mean, nobody in the Academy will wake up?" Darian asked.

"These two," Steph pointed to Arron's roommates, "wouldn't wake up, then we went to several rooms and tried to call a few people and no one answered. They all are sleeping."

Jenifer looked at DeArra sternly. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because you are the one that caused this. Now all of us are in a fix." Jenifer accused.

"Don't blame me. Blame the Sandman." DeArra told her.

"The Sandman is a figment of your imagination. Something happened because of your Betazoid brain that's causing all of this." Jenifer started to get very angry.

"Wait a minute Jenifer." Darian stepped in front of her to block her path to DeArra. "This can't be DeArra's fault and you know it. Just because she is Betazoid doesn't mean a thing. Her brain is not powerful enough to effect all of us."

"Excuse me?" DeArra said rudely.

"No offense DeArra." Darian said quickly.

DeArra half smiled then looked to Jenifer. "I know how you feel. Believe me I feel a hundred times worse than you do. Right now we have to pull together as a team and fight the Sandman."

"How can 'we' fight this Sandman when he's in your head?" Jenifer asked.

DeArra plopped back down into the chair. "I don't know. If I were lucky I would just wake up and all of this would be a dream."

"Then we all must be having the same dream." Jason said.

"Dream? That's what you should do DeArra." Stephanie spoke up.

"What?" DeArra asked with a hint of anger in her voice. "All I have been doing all night is dreaming. That's how we got into this mess."

"She's right." Jenifer agreed with Stephanie. "You have to take control of your dreams. Find out what's happening in them and take control of them. I have not had a bad dream for a very long time because during one dream I decided to fight instead of run. From that one on I have been able to change my dreams once they star getting bad."

"That is easier said than done." DeArra told her. "Ever since this Sandman started showing up in my dreams I have been trying to control them. I think he has more hold over them than I do. He even said he could control me."

"You've got to fight him." Darian said.

"Fine I will. But first I have to get comfortable. I'm going back to my room." DeArra started to walk out.

"What about Arron and Admiral Steele?" Stephanie asked.

"I don't know. Tell you what. I'll deal with the Sandman. You deal with them." With that DeArra walked off back to her room.

The four looked at each other and had absolutely no idea what to do. They finally decided to leave the sleeping lye and went to their respective rooms.

***

"Why am I the one that has to do everything. Just because I'm the one having the dreams, doesn't mean I'm the one who can solve them. Who do they think they are anyway, telling me what to do?" DeArra mumbled aloud as she walked to her room.

Once she had reached her room she lied down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She stared for a while and found her eyes growing heavy. She thought of what the others had said, "Take control of your dreams." She thought to herself. With that she fell asleep.

***

A vast valley of very vibrant vegetation. The land was not tamed at all. DeArra looked to the horizon and saw the rising sun. This looked just like one of earth's most beautiful eras. When the land was empty, the air was clean, and life was simple. From the horizon she spotted a moving figure. A person on horseback. She waved to the person but received no answer. As the person got closer she could see it was a knight with his helmet off. Or rather her helmet off. As the rider approached DeArra could tell from the flowing hair and the slim figure that it was indeed a female.

That female looked suspiciously familiar. DeArra blinked a couple of times to clear her eyes but she was sure that whom she was seeing was truly her friend, Jenifer. As Jenifer neared her, she did not slow down. Jenifer just kept riding past as if DeArra wasn't even there. DeArra cocked an eyebrow and followed Jenifer.

"Watch as she dies horribly." The Sandman called out from no where.

DeArra looked around her but could not catch sight of the obnoxious Sandman. DeArra ignored him and kept following Jenifer. "She will die and you will watch her. There is nothing you can do." DeArra kept walking and did not say a word.

Somehow, almost miraculously, DeArra kept pace right behind Jenifer and her horse. The Sandman had not spoken in quite some time. DeArra was hoping that she was controlling this dream and the Sandman would not bother her. Soon after they climbed over one hill DeArra could see something off in the distance. She couldn't quite tell what it was but she knew that, that is what Jenifer was going after.

There was a huge lump of something. Some kind of animal. If DeArra didn't know better, then she would think it was some sort of prehistoric dinosaur. She knew that dinosaurs were no longer still alive. Although this was a dream, and anything could and most likely will happen in a dream. Even so, DeArra could not believe that that was a dinosaur. Her thoughts were confirmed as they neared the gigantic beast. It defiantly was not a dinosaur, but a dragon. A big, green, scaly, mean dragon, just like in the fairy tales. DeArra followed Jenifer until they got close to the monster, then DeArra stopped. She understood what the Sandman had said earlier.

"What's the matter? Do you not wish to see your friend die?" The Sandman said from no where.

"No, I don't." DeArra turned around and started walking the other way.

The Sandman laughed. Jenifer and the dragon appeared in front of DeArra. DeArra ignored this and turned around again. Again Jenifer appeared in front of her. She gave up and watched the show.

Jenifer road her horse up to the dragon, dismounted, and drew her sword. She was about to kill it when the dragon awoke and stared down at her. It rose and Jenifer raced back to her horse. She rode towards DeArra and then did a 180 back to the dragon, charging at full speed.

The dragon blew a dangerous breath of fire at her and missed by inches. Jenifer veered off and charged again. Again the dragon breathed fire and missed again. This time Jenifer was able to get beneath the beast. She drew her sword and stabbed the dragon. The dragon roared as the steel went straight into his belly. Jenifer tried to pull the sword out again but was unable to. The horse kept moving and she lost her grip on the hilt. She looked back and saw the sword hanging with blood dripping, stuck in the stomach of the dreaded dragon.

She brought her horse around again in hope of retrieving her sword. As she was coming around, the dragon intercepted her and a ball of fire landed right in front of her. Her horse stopped sharply and threw Jenifer off. Just as she was falling, the dragon whipped its head around, down to where she would have been. With sharp teeth the dragon ripped the horse's head clean off. The blood gushed out of the open arteries and the decapitated horse lashed around furiously. As it did, one of its hooves lashed out and kicked Jenifer in the chin. She went rearing backwards, unconscious. Blood spewed all over her as the horse finally started to die. It slowed until finally it collapsed right on top of Jenifer's legs. The jarring brought Jenifer back to consciousness. She struggled to get her legs out from under the horse. She did so just in time because the dragon came around and in one bite, ate what was left of the horse.

Jenifer dashed underneath the dragon and yanked the blood reddened sword from the beast. She ran out from under it and faced it with all the courage she could muster. She waved her sword above her head and charged. Stupid move. With one short breath the dragon spit out a fire ball and engulfed Jenifer. In one second, Jenifer was little more than ashes.

DeArra closed her eyes and turned away. The Sandman was right when he said Jenifer would die horribly. If this wasn't a dream and the dragon was real, then DeArra knew that she would feel great satisfaction from it. Instead all she felt now was her own sadness. She should have been able to do something. But what? What could she have done?

DeArra got up the courage to open her eyes and look at Jenifer. When she did open her eyes, however, Jenifer was not there.

***

A room filled with people appeared before DeArra's eyes. The same room that she had dreamt about before. Was this Stephanie's dream? The room was filled with a lot of sick people. She wondered if that was Stephanie in the chemical lab in the earlier dream.

DeArra walked until she came to that same chemical lab. There was Stephanie and two other people working on some kind of experiment. She watched as Stephanie administered the antidote to one of the patients. The woman looked up to her and smiled. "The virus is slowing. It is almost nonexistent." One of the Nurses said.

Then a beep sounded on the other nurse's tricorder. "Something's happening. The virus just multiplied ten times and is increasing."

"Damn." Stephanie said. The woman looked up at her saddened knowing full well her end was near. Stephanie just stood there she knew there was nothing she could do for the poor woman. She had failed. Not only that but she had directly killed a person. She should have done more tests on the antidote before she used it on a patient. The small pinging sound from the tricorder became a steady whine telling everyone around the horrible thing that Stephanie did.

"Stop!" DeArra yelled. Nothing happened. Stephanie pulled the cover over the woman's head and headed back to the chemical lab. "Stop this immediately Sandman."

"Stop what?" The suddenly, strangely, soft voice of the Sandman asked.

"Stop killing people. I'm tired of seeing people die. Please I get the drift. Stop killing people." She pleaded.

"But I like killing people."

"Why?"

"Because it's fun." He merely answered and said no more.

DeArra sighed and walked into the chemical lab. There Stephanie and the others were working. All of a sudden Stephanie became weak. She almost collapsed but the two nurses caught her. They moved her over to the chair. One of the nurses got out his tricorder and scanned her. He looked up to his companion and shook his head. "She has it too." Is all he said. His friend understood and so did DeArra. Without Stephanie they could not find the antidote. Without the antidote Stephanie would die.

DeArra looked over the shoulder of one of the nurses at the tricorder. Her life signs were going fast. She was going to die faster than all the others. Most likely because of her overexposure to the virus. Just because she was helping people she is going to die. DeArra saw the life signs totally go and then walked out of the lab. As she passed through the doors everything went black and all she could hear was that irritating laughter of the Sandman.

***

DeArra awoke from yet another horrid dream. She looked around her and examined the room. All seemed in order. Jenifer and Stephanie must have gotten tired and went to bed, again, since that is where they are now. Yet DeArra was not sure of what to think. After her dream about Arron nothing was really what it seemed. So just to make sure DeArra crept quietly over to Jenifer's bed. Slowly she pulled the covers back from Jenifer's body. She was immediately sorry she did too.

There lying, obviously dead, was Jenifer. Her skin was as black as charcoal. Just like in her dream. DeArra then went to Stephanie's bed.

Two of her dreams have already come true. "Will the third one as well?" She wondered. This time before she pulled the covers off Stephanie she took the tricorder from the night stand where Stephanie had left it. She studied it carefully and found exactly what she expected to find. Again another one of her friends died. Thanks to the one thing she never thought would kill anyone. Her dreams.

DeArra was glad that she had not had any more dreams about Darian and Jason. DeArra went straight to their room to tell them what had happened. She pressed the call button but there was no answer. "Jason. Darian. Wake up."

Still there was no answer. DeArra was becoming concerned. She walked up to the door and it woshed aside for her. She walked in cautiously. Looking around she found everything in order. Everyone was asleep, but at least her tricorder told her that everyone was still alive. Walking over to Jason she slapped his face gently to try to wake him up. He stirred slightly but did not wake up. "Come on wake up." She ordered him. She slapped his face just a little harder.

Jason finally blinked and woke up after a minute. DeArra gave a sigh of relief. "What's going on?" He asked looking up at her worried face.

"Jenifer and Stephanie are dead." She said plainly.

"How?"

"Same way as Arron. They died in my dreams because the Sandman killed them."

"You really do believe that don't you?"

"No, but there is no other explanation. Wake up Darian. I want to bring Arron and Admiral Steele into my room. At least all of us will be together. For all the good it would do us." DeArra watched as Jason woke Darian in quite the same way that she woke him. After a few minutes of Darian's groggy questions, they set to work bringing the two heavy bodies to DeArra's room.

***

Once back in DeArra's room the three sat back and tried to figure out what they were going to do next. Three of the original crew were dead. DeArra figured it was all her fault. She could do nothing now, though. All she could do now is hope to stay awake and not kill anyone else. That was the hardest thing of all. She had been getting very tired. Soon she might not even wake up.

DeArra stared at Arron's dead body. She missed him so much. Not because she loved him, but because she needed his decision making, right now. Then she looked to Jenifer she could use her straight forwardness to get DeArra on track. Also her annoying, continuing lectures on her knowledge of the mind (which wasn't much) could come in handy.

Stephanie would say, just about now, "Never give up. You can beat this." DeArra may not openly admit that she was right but deep down she knew she could. DeArra looked to her two Bijorian friends. Both were the only two in the Academy and as far as she knew, two of the ten that were in Starfleet altogether. That is not what makes them special. It is not that Jason is half human, nor is it that Darian is an outcast. It is that the both of them, so different from each other, could come together and be very good friends and bring out the best in each other.

DeArra stood and went to the computer counsel. She searched through it for anything that would help. Not finding anything in Starfleet records was not surprising. So she moved on to the psychological files. More specifically, the psychological files of Betazoids. What she found was that the Betazoid race was very advanced in their knowledge of dreams. Not only that but dreams are very important in the social content of the Betazoid race.

In her studies she found that there was a very effective way to "control" her dreams. All she had to do right now was meditate. One thing is DeArra had never truly meditated before and honestly she did not know how to do it now. So she pulled up a couple of files and went to work on figuring out how to meditate before she could even start thinking about sleeping.

"What is she doing?" Jason asked Darian.

"I have no idea. I hope she can figure it out on her own because I can't stay awake much longer." Darian stared at DeArra as she just kind of sat there in the chair not moving and hardly breathing. "I also hope that she can keep that up. She looks like she's about to die."

"What's wrong with her?" Jason asked confused. He had been dosing off and on when DeArra had been studying and had started to go into meditation.

"She's just meditating right now. After she gets out of that, then maybe it can help her with her dreams. Then everyone might finally wake up." He told Jason.

DeArra blinked a couple of times and then finally came out of it altogether. Jason came up to her. "Are you all right DeArra?"

"Fine, I think." She said rubbing her head.

"What do we do now?" Darian asked.

"I'm going to bed. You two can keep an eye on me and make sure I get through it all right."

"Okay. We'll be right here by your side." Darian said. With that DeArra went to bed and soon fell asleep. Darian and Jason watched her for a while and nothing happened. Jason soon dozed off again and Darian was left alone to keep and eye on the two sleepy heads.

***

Space the vast darkness and noiselessness surrounded DeArra like a blanket. She drew in on a little point of light that shone in the distance. She swam towards it. It was not far now and she could tell what it was. A startup. The same as the one that she had seen before, the USS Luxly.

"Watch as I kill this one and all the people on that ship." The Sandman said. DeArra turned around but could not find him. Instead she concentrated on going onto the vessel. She wondered who was going to be in this dream. Jason or Darian. It didn't really matter because the Sandman was determined to kill both of them. She concentrated harder and soon found herself in the captain's chair. She was wearing a captain's uniform too. She looked around the bridge and found Jason at the helm. Then her eyes shot to the screen. Five Romulan warbirds were coming up on them fast. "Evasive Mr. Evan." DeArra ordered.

Surprisingly Jason answered her. "Aye sir." That was the first time anyone other than the Sandman had talked to her in her dreams. She was making progress.

Just when the warbirds were in range she ordered the shields up. "Fire!" She ordered as soon as one speed across the screen.

The phaser fire played across the Romulan shields and then dissipated. The Romulan was undamaged. While they were firing, several of the other warbirds got in a few shots. Their shields were not even the least bit damaged. They fired and used evasive maneuvers and picked off two of the Romulans. While they sustained little damage themselves. From somewhere far away the Sandman called, "You can not defeat them. I will not let you."

"Just try me." DeArra said aloud to the Sandman.

"Sir?" Jason was caught off guard and the remaining Romulans fired simultaneously onto the Luxly. Instantly the shields went down.

"Jason!" DeArra was pissed. "Evasive now." She turned to the weapons officer. "I want shields back immediately. Fire when ready."

She received "Aye sir" from two of the officers. Then the Romulans came back for a second shot. The bridge rocked as they were hit. A few of the stations exploded but luckily no one was hurt. They fired on the Romulan vessel and it didn't even hurt them.

DeArra ignored him this time so as to not distract Jason again. It was of no use the Romulans fired again and this time it did take some people down. Namely Jason. DeArra watched again as she could do nothing. The Romulans fired for what was to be the last shot. The entire bridge exploded in one great flash of light.

In the flash DeArra could see a face that she knew as the Sandman's. With that familiar voice he said, "I told you so."

***

Jason convulsed. Darian ran to his side after grabbing the tricorder. According to the tricorder Jason had several broken bones and many burns and bruises. How? How could he have gotten hurt like this? Just a few minutes ago he was sleeping peacefully. Darian just didn't understand it. Jason's condition was deteriorating right before his very eyes. His friend was dying.

It did not take long for Jason to die. Even though Darian was saddened by this he was not going to give up. He took a tricorder to DeArra. Her life signs were stable. Darian did not know what was going on here. Not to say he was completely stupefied.

The DeArra's life signs started to change. Something was happening. Her adrenaline count was going very high, her blood pressure was rising and her body heat was also going sky high. He thought about going to get a hypo spray to bring her out of it then thought again. She might be fighting the Sandman and so she would need all the adrenaline she could get. She could also use some help.

Darian decided that if he fell asleep than the Sandman might bring him into her dream and he could help her. Either that or get killed himself.

***

The Sandman disappeared in a flash and DeArra was left alone again. Now she was on a ship. Just like before. By process of elimination she figured that this was Darian's dream and he had fallen asleep. "No!" She screamed, but it could not be heard over the roar of the ocean. She did not want to get Darian killed just like all the others. She would not let him get killed like all the others.

She examined her surroundings. She was on a different boat then the one that she remembered from her other dream. Soon she saw people start running all over the ship and paid no attention to her. Then she saw Darian run past her. "Darian." He stopped and looked at her funny.

"You have to wake up Darian. If you don't you'll die."

"What are you talking about? I am awake." He said and went off onto his job.

"He must not realize that he is dreaming." DeArra thought. She thought about trying to talk the Sandman into sparing Darian but figured it would be of no use. So she tried Darian again. "Darian, it's me DeArra don't you recognize me?"

He looked at her and for a second DeArra thought he would say yes. Instead he just went on with his work. "Darian, stop being stubborn. You have to realize you are in a dream."

He looked at her again. "A dream you say?"

"Yes, you remember. I've been having dreams and in them the Sandman kills whomever I dream about." She urged him to bring his memory into the dream.

"The Sandman? The Sandman!" Darian finally realized what she was saying. "DeArra." DeArra smiled at him. "I came to help you."

"You shouldn't have. You'll die too." She told him.

"I don't care. Everyone in the Academy needs you to wake them up. SO I'm here no matter what." Darian told her.

"Fine, but if you die it's your fault." DeArra said and then stared into the night sky. It was starting to rain again.

"So where is this Sandman?"

"I don't know. He's only shown his face a couple of times."

"What if he doesn't show his face?"

"Than we go looking for him."

Darian took a look around him just now realizing where he was. He looked at the flag on top of the highest post. He was on a Lernim vessel. "We have to get off this ship."

"Why?"

"This is a Lernim vessel. Way back in Bijorian history there was a civil war between two of the largest countries. Lernim and Torman. If this is the same dream I had before than we are going to get caught up in a fight." He said as he was heading towards the back of the boat.

"Where are you going?" DeArra asked.

"To the lifeboats. Perhaps we can get off this boat before the Tormans show up." He said as he prepared one of the small crafts for sail.

As Darian was boarding the lifeboat a bolt of lightning came crashing down towards them. It slashed right through one of the cables that was holding the lifeboat in place. Darian, caught unaware, fell out of the boat and into the water. "Darian!" DeArra cried leaning over the rail to try to find her friend. He was no where in sight.

She searched for at least five minutes but could not find a trace of Darian. He must have drowned or ran over by the ship. Either way he was definitely dead. Which means, she failed again.

She walked slowly down the stairs and when she reached the bottom step she looked up. She was in a room the size of a football field. It was plain and had nothing on the walls. Even though the entire room was evenly lit there was a shadow in one corner. "All right Sandman, show yourself." She demanded.

"Do you really expect me to give into your petty demands?"

"Yes…, I mean no… I mean they are not petty."

"You may think not because you are mortal. For those of us who are not, they are merely nothing."

DeArra breathed deeply. "This is just a dream. You can defeat him." She thought.

"You can defeat me?" He laughed.

"Listen I've played your games. You've killed my friends. And you have humiliated me. Now why don't you get to the point of bringing me here and tormenting me?" She just merely wanted to get this all over with.

"That is why I brought you here; to humiliate and torment you. That is what I live for you know." He informed her.

"I kind of figured that out, but then why kill all of those people?" She asked.

"Because it's fun." Even though she could not see his face, she knew he was smiling. "I know. Let's play another game. I know you'll like it."

"No, I don't think so." DeArra started to walk away. She didn't know where she would go since there was no way out of the room. She just walked away from this mad man.

"I DO think so." Just like magic he was able to pull DeArra nearer to him. "You want out of this dream?" She nodded. "You want your friends lives back." DeArra's eyes widened. "Then all you have to do is walk through that door."

"That's it?" She asked skeptically.

"That's it." He said.

"What's the catch?" The Sandman did not answer. She looked at the shadow and then at the door, shrugged and then walked through it.

***

When she passed through the door she turned around. The door was gone. "I guess there is no turning back now." So she looked ahead of her. A gigantic maze. "Wonderful." She said and walked forward.

As she was walking, the Sandman started to speak. "The objective of this game is not a hard one. It is simply to find all of your friends and the exit alive. Completing the objective is not going to be easy. So I'll start you out. Make a left at the first intersection and then a right at the next one. From there you will find your first friend. Have fun." He laughed.

DeArra did as she was told. She walked to the first intersection and made a left. As she turned the corner she fell straight down a chute. At the end of the chute was a mud puddle. "I'm off to a great start. Thanks Sandman." She said aloud.

"Oh you are quite welcome." He laughed even more.

She was afraid to make that next right but she did so anyway. She found herself come face to face with a gigantic fan that was blowing feathers all over the place. Now she was covered in mud and feathers. "Wonderful." She spit a feather out of her mouth.

At least the Sandman was right. Not far from where she became a bird. She found her first obstacle. A fissure and on the other side was Stephanie. She was just sitting there not doing anything. DeArra called to her. "Stephanie!"

Stephanie looked up and to her surprise DeArra was just across the cliff. Stephanie stood up and waved to DeArra. "What happened to her? She looks like a dried chicken." Stephanie thought to herself.

DeArra looked around her but could not find a thing that could help her get across the crevice. She thought of the feathers that covered her body. "That's it I'll fly over." She thought. Then thought again, "How? I can't fly?"

"Think DeArra." Stephanie urged. "You're dreaming aren't you?"

What kind of stupid question was that? Of course she was dreaming, otherwise Stephanie would not be alive. "Wait a minute. That's it. I'm dreaming and anything can happen in a dream. Hell. I'll give it a try." She thought and went to it. With a leaping bound she jumped off the cliff. Wow, she did it. She was flying. The key word is was." For now she was falling.

"Concentrate DeArra! The Sandman can not have total control over you!" Stephanie yelled.

So DeArra concentrated as hard as she could. Just as she was about to hit the ground she stopped falling. She let out her breath. She looked up to where Stephanie was and suddenly she was there in front of her. DeArra quickly brushed some of the drying mud off her and looked to Stephanie. "Come on let's get out of here." She said as they started to walk off. Stephanie was not following. DeArra's eyebrows came together. "Come on."

"I can't. I'm stuck in here." Stephanie touched the invisible wall and it glowed at her touch.

DeArra did not realize until now why Stephanie had not moved from the same spot she was in and why she wasn't moving around. "How do I get you out of there?"

"I don't know. But you better hurry. Look DeArra." Stephanie pointed to a mountain lion that was standing only meters away from them. He was examining them curiously. Like a child receiving a new kind of food.

DeArra concentrated. Then she produced a phaser from her pocket. Stephanie looked down at her in surprise. She thought DeArra was going to use it on the lion. Instead she shot the force field. A few seconds later the force field glowed and then blinked out of existence. DeArra grabbed Stephanie's arm and started to run. The lion followed swiftly.

DeArra kept looking behind them. The lion kept pace with them. It neither was slowing down nor was going to over take the. It was keeping just behind them. They turned a corner and ran straight into a wall. Stephanie hit the wall with a thud and DeArra stopped millimeters away from hitting the wall. The two looked behind them to find the lion was gone. Stephanie looked at DeArra confused. "What's going on?"

"Have you forgotten that this is a dream. I have a feeling that things like this will be happening for a while. We have got to find the others. Let's go." They walked back to the corridor and checked just to make sure that the lion was no longer there.

They walked for what seemed like hours. Until they could hear some sort of crazed screaming. They ran until they found the source of the screaming. DeArra stopped and smiled. Once Stephanie saw what DeArra was smiling at she smiled too. Arron was surrounded by snakes. He was practically climbing up the walls to get away from them. "Get them away. HELP!"

"God Arron, calm down." DeArra walked over to where the snakes were. She picked up one. "Can't you tell they are not poisonous." She nearly shoved the snake in Arron's face. He moved back slightly but after further inspection he did notice it had no fangs. He looked on the ground and examined the other snakes. Most were just garden snakes. Perfectly harmless.

"I can't believe this. Our fearless leader is afraid of harmless snakes." Stephanie laughed.

"You wouldn't laugh if you were in the same predicament. Besides before you two got here they were poisonous. There were rattlesnakes and everything." At the mention of rattle snakes they heard something that sounded like a rattle from a snake. DeArra looked at the snake in her hand and screamed. She was now holding a Diamond Back rattlesnake. She threw it back on the ground and kept screaming. Arron jumped away from all the snakes and Stephanie joined in DeArra's screaming. All three ran from the sight.

After a while they slowed down and caught their breath. "That was a close one." Arron said.

"I know." DeArra looked around the gigantic maze. "I could have gotten killed."

"You were lucky." Stephanie said.

After a minute DeArra spoke up again. "I wonder where the Sandman is. He hasn't said anything in a long time."

"Well, then don't say anything about it. He may hear you and start talking." Stephanie told her.

DeArra shut up. Soon they came to an intersection. "Which way?" DeArra asked.

Arron looked all ways and shrugged. "Anybody have a coin?" He joked.

"What do you think Stephanie?" DeArra asked.

"Umm…left." Stephanie said.

"Okay, let's go right." DeArra and Arron started to go right and left Stephanie behind.

"Hey! Get back here." Stephanie demanded.

DeArra and Arron walked back laughing. "We were just kidding Stephanie." DeArra admitted.

Stephanie smiled slightly. "I forgive you." All three walked and walked and walked. Choosing different directions each time they came to an intersection. Off in the distance could be heard some sort of fighting. People arguing about something. They came up to a large crowd of people. They pushed all the people aside until they reached the front row, where they could see what was going on. It was Darian. He was surrounded by several rather large Bijorians. Arron tried to get pass two of the Bijorians but they merely whipped him aside.

"Darian!" DeArra called. Now all the attention in the area was directed at DeArra. She parted the two Bijorians that had whipped Arron away. "Are you okay?"

"Fine now." He told her.

"Who are you?" One of the Bijorians asked, obviously the leader.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is you are picking on my friend. Either you leave now or I will personally show you the way out." DeArra pulled herself up to her full height and yelled at him.

The lead Bijorian motioned to his two thugs and they each took one of DeArra's arms. Arron ran up to them and tried to pound his fist into their stomachs but it did him no good. Their stomachs were made out of rocks.

"Let her go." Darian demanded. He may be little but right now that was to his advantage. He drove his fist right into the crotch of the leader. He stumbled back and looked at Darian in shock.

DeArra started to struggle furiously. Kicking and scratching with what little nails she had. One of the Bijorians loosened his grip. She pulled her arm free and came around punching the other straight on the nose. Taking this distraction Stephanie got together and started hitting the second thug. "Um guys. Let's go before their leader decides to retaliate." Darian said.

The others agreed and they ran for their dear lives. The Bijorians did not follow. As they started walking again, DeArra heard a soft laugh. "Go away Sandman." She said. The others looked at her strangely. They must not have heard the laughing.

"Why do you run away from all your problems? I thought humans were supposed to be brave and stand up to their enemy." The sandman asked in a mocking voice.

"We ran to save our lives. Not because we were scared." DeArra said.

"Speak for yourself, DeArra." Stephanie whispered.

"See that one is smart. She does not lie to herself." Sandman said.

"Neither do I." DeArra somehow did not believe her own words. Perhaps the Sandman is putting that doubt into her head. Or it is true doubt.

"Even so, I have been too easy on you. From now on you will have harder obstacles to over come." With that the Sandman spoke no more.

***

After a few wrong turns, they reached Jason without incident. This looked easy enough. Jason was standing by himself. There were no lions, snakes, Bijorians or any other threat. So what is wrong with this picture? Jason came up to them and greeted them. "It's about time you came to rescue me."

DeArra smiled. "We ran into a few wild animals trying to pick up these other people." She waved at the three that accompanied her.

"Where's Jenifer?" Jason asked.

"We haven't found her yet." Arron answered. "We better before the Sandman gives us another trap.

So the five started to walk on. When they hit a dead end. They turned around. Another dead end. There was a wall on either side of them. "I think you spoke too soon." Stephanie said.

That's when the lights went out. Then there was some sort of growl. "I hope that is some one's stomach growling." Darian said quietly. The lights came on again. "That wasn't someone's stomach, was it?"

The growl was heard again. Darian turned around and looked where Jason was standing a few seconds ago. He wasn't there nor was he anywhere. In his place stood a huge Mugato. It lashed out at the four. They all scrambled back to the wall. They pressed their backs against the wall as far as they could. The Mugato came closer and swung its clawed hand at the four scared cadets. Arron tried to get in front of the others so he would be the one who got hurt first.

"Quite a brave man, isn't he?" The Sandman asked.

DeArra ignored him. "Arron what are we going to do?"

"You are going to die." Said the Sandman simply

"We have to get some sort of weapon." Arron said.

DeArra thought about how she was able to get a phaser out of thin air earlier. "Here, will this work?" She handed Arron a phaser.

He looked at her in surprise but took the phaser gratefully. He put the phaser on heavy stun, just in case that was Jason. He aimed and fired. Nothing happened, except the Mugato swung again and hit the phaser out of his hand.

DeArra concentrated really hard. She produced a hypo with a sedative drug in it. She handed it to Arron and he looked at her even more strangely than before. But he did take it. He tried to get around the swinging arms of the Mugato and almost got scratched by one of its poisonous claws. He finally got around it. The Mugato was headed straight for DeArra. The Mugato brought its arm up to swing down at DeArra's head. Arron pressed the hypo onto the Mugato's arm and its arm fell. Then its entire body fell, right on top of Arron. "Help." Arron's muffled cry came out from under the hairy beast.

The three that were still standing went and all tried to lift the Mugato off Arron. As they lifted it off, slowly it turned back into Jason. They easily lifted Jason off Arron and Arron stood up. They were all still trapped between the four walls. Darian picked up the phaser that was on the ground and set it to setting 10. He fired. Amazingly the phaser did work and within a few seconds there was a hole in one of the walls. Darian smiled and said. "Instant door." He waved his hand towards the doorway. Arron picked up Jason and walked out first. The rest followed.

***

Jason had recovered from the sedative and was now walking fine. As they were walking they paid no attention to anything. That is why they almost missed Jenifer. They had walked right over where the Sandman was keeping her. They would have kept walking if she wouldn't have screamed as loud as she could. Everyone gathered around the square cell. "Are you okay Jenifer?" Stephanie asked.

"I'll be fine when I get out of this cramped cell." She answered.

"We'll have you out of there in a hurry." Darian whipped out the phaser and aimed it at the force field.

Arron grabbed Darian's arm and took the phaser out of his hand. "What do you want to do, kill her?"

"Well…" Darian hesitated.

"Darian!" Jenifer said surprised at his hesitation.

"I'm kidding Jenifer. How are we going to get her out?" He asked.

"Jenifer, how do you usually deactivate force fields in engineering?" DeArra asked.

"Well, if you are on a ship you could use a manual override. Since we are in dreamy dream land, I would say that phaser is the best bet." Jenifer told them.

"We don't want to hurt you." Stephanie said.

"Unless you have a better idea, then you will have to take the chance. If you had a tricorder we could determine the best setting for the phaser." Jenifer said.

"Will this one do?" DeArra produced an engineering tricorder.

"Definitely. Scan the force field. Is it a high density or low density field?" Jenifer asked.

"High. It is just above the density of a personal shield." DeArra told her.

"Good, than you only need to use setting 5 for a duration of 3.6 seconds. Can you determine the weakest points?" Jenifer asked.

"All points are equally dense." DeArra told her.

"Well then start shooting. Just don't aim directly at me." She pleaded.

So Darian set his phaser and fired for exactly 3.6 seconds. The field glowed but was not depleted. "I don't get it. That should have taken the shield out. Try again this time use setting 7 for 2.9 seconds." She stood back to get out of the way of the phaser fire. This time the shield dissipated completely. Arron reached down and gave Jenifer a hand up.

"Now that wasn't that hard was it?" Stephanie said.

"Yes, it was too easy." DeArra confirmed.

"What are you walking about?" Jenifer asked.

"We had a couple run in with a few traps on our way here." Stephanie said.

"How come you guys get all the fun? Not only that but why am I always the one that is the last person to know anything?" Jenifer asked disappointedly.

"Just the luck of the draw I guess." DeArra said.

"We better get going and find the exit." Arron said.

"Wait a minute." A voice came from behind them.

Everyone turned. DeArra was amazed they all heard him this time. She was just beginning to think that she was the only one that could hear him. "You haven't finished my game yet." A shadow figure walked up to the six young ensigns.

"You said all I had to do is find my friends and then the exit. Well, all we have to do is find the exit. So come back later when we do finish the game." DeArra ordered the Sandman.

"As you have noticed, there has been a trap at each of the places where your friends were held. I deliberately aloud you to defeat each trap so you could come to me in the end. Now I am your final test." The Sandman said.

"Excuse me, Mr. Sandman." Jenifer said mockingly. "You said that there was a trap with each of DeArra's friends. She can not face you until she had defeated each of your traps. She has not defeated all of your traps because you did not have one when they rescued me."

"You're the lucky one I guess." The Sandman said as equally mockingly. "Now as I was saying, all of this was a test, to see how you, DeArra Kiljian, would react to certain stimuli. Just like your species, mine is a curious one. We like to find things out. You have been, let's see if I use the term right, my guinea pig." In that instant all five of her friends disappeared. DeArra was surprised and was about to say something but the Sandman spoke before she was able to. "See you have not finished my little game. Your friends are no where to be found. I guess you will just have to go find them again." He sat back on an imaginary chair.

DeArra tried to stand as stiffly as she could be she was fidgeting with rage. "I will not play your game."

"You have no choice. You see I can control you in any way I wish. Any time you think you have control, that is all it is, you are thinking. In reality I have control over you and everybody. No one of your species will wake up until I have experimented enough with you." He laughed.

"You will not do this to them. I will not let you." DeArra said through clenched teeth.

"I'm afraid you have no choice in the matter." With that he disappeared. The room changed and she was in some sort of laboratory. A shadow appeared in the corner of the room. DeArra was expecting the same shadowy figure she had seen all along but instead a young scientist appeared out of the shadow.

"You aren't the Sandman." DeArra declare.

"On the contrary, I've been sick." He said jokingly. "Actually, I have many shapes and sizes. I just chose this one for this occasion. You see I'm going to do an experiment on your friends here. Walk this way please."

DeArra walked with him over to a table where there were many glass jars and tubes. The Sandman waved toward a set of six jars. Each one held one of her friends. She leaned down and examined them closely. They were not moving. Were they dead? DeArra looked up from the table to the Sandman. "What have you done to them?"

"Don't worry about your friends. They're not dead…yet. Of course depending on how you act they may be alive and well. If you act in a way that I do not approve, then…well, I don't think I have to tell you what will happen." He threatened.

DeArra took in a deep breath trying to decided her next course of action. She could either fight, and her friends would die, or she could give into the Sandman and he would probably kill them anyway. She wondered what Arron would do at a time like this.

Well, she didn't know what he would do but she sure as hell knew what she was going to do. She whipped around to face the Sandman. He was small in comparison to her. He was kind of wimpy too. There was something about his eyes that disturbed her. They were almost glowing. She looked away from those hypnotizing eyes and said, "There is no way that you can ever make me give into you."

She turned back to her friends and took the top off the jars. Suddenly they were all standing by her. They looked to her in confusion but after seeing the man who claimed to be the Sandman, they understood. So they surrounded him.

He looked at them and laughed. "You think you can hurt me?" They started to close in on him.

As they closed in he started to mutate. Slowly his skin bubbled and stretched. Swelling in places skin shouldn't swell. His muscles swelled and his head grew beyond acceptable ranges to the point of bursting. His scream was as bad to the ears as the old fashion nails on a chalk board. Ever so slowly horns formed on his head. He ripped off his clothes and left nothing on. Not that he had anything to hide.

Once the transformation was complete he looked like the Sandman DeArra had come to know and hate. He opened his mouth and something like a phaser bolt came lashing out. Everyone jumped back even though it came no where near them.

The sandman turned to DeArra. "Now will you give into me?"

"Never." She said sternly.

The Sandman was more than past his anger limit. With a scream he lashed out another bolt. Arron saw this coming and ran for DeArra. He crashed into her knocking her down on the floor and out of danger. DeArra looked up to him on top of her. "Thanks Arron."

"No problem." He got up and helped her up. There is a problem." The Sandman looked down to them. "You resist me. It will only be harder on you if you resist me."

The group crowded together and tried to get as far away from the Sandman as possible. "Don't you think he can hear us no matter where we are?" Jenifer asked.

"Jenifer, stop being so pessimistic." Arron ordered. She shut up.

"DeArra, you're dreaming all of this." Stephanie reminded her. "Why don't you just wake up?"

It was a good question but DeArra didn't know if she could. She looked up to the Sandman and he was waiting almost too patiently, looked as if he had all the time in the universe. DeArra was so worried. What if she couldn't wake up? What if she could but the Sandman wouldn't let her? What if she woke up but everyone was still dead?

What if she never would wake up again?

As her thoughts drifted she did not notice the Sandman closing in on them. Darian tapped her on the shoulder. She whirled around and came face to face with the ugliest face she had ever seen. A small screech is all that left her as she stared into that face.

Everyone who was standing around her ran far away into safety, except her. She finally tore here eyes from him and saw the others running. So she decided to do the same. What she decided to do and what she actually did was two totally different things.

She ran as fast as she could but she was not moving one inch. She looked down to her feet. There was nothing under her, nothing at all. She realized that, looked to the Sandman, he smiled, she looked down again and fell. "All right, you're falling." She thought to herself. "This is just a dream and when you fall in a dream you always wake up before you hit the ground." She looked down. "If there is a ground."

She forgot about falling and started to concentrate on her friends. She wanted somebody to wake up if it wasn't going to be her. So she hoped that concentrating on them to wake up would wake them up and then they could wake her up. She fell for a long time afterwards not knowing when the ground would come.

It never did. Soon after she heard voices. She looked around but could not see where they were coming from. They also sounded as confused as she felt.

***

"Why isn't she waking up?" Arron asked.

"I don't know why don't you ask her?" Jenifer asked sarcastically. "Besides, I would like to know how you are alive."

What do you mean?" Arron asked totally confused.

"Just a little while ago you were dead." Jenifer told him.

"Impossible I was merely sleeping." He said completely sure of himself.

"Merely sleep without breathing and with no pulse? I guess you were sleeping rather soundly, Arron." Stephanie almost laughed but knowing what the situation was right now she could not laugh at all.

"I'm sorry to say this," Darian interrupted, "but you were all dead."

"All? As in everybody including me?" Jason asked.

"Including you." Confirmed Darian.

"I don't remember dying." Jason said.

The others shook their heads in agreement. None of them remembered either. "We can't just stand here and chit chat all day." Arron broke the silence. "We have to help DeArra."

"How?" Jason asked.

"One of two ways." He looked at each individual. Each showed loyalty and would follow anything he said. He did not want to condemn them to death, for surly that is where this was leading them. Did any one of these people truly want to go on a kamikaze mission? He decided to ask and find out. "Either we wake DeArra up and risk the Sandman taking us all back into his domain and dying. Or we all go back to sleep and try to help DeArra fight the Sandman head on."

There was silence for several minutes. Everyone was contemplating the dangers of this mission. Either way there was a good possibility they would die. Arron knew what he wanted to do but he wanted to find out what they thought first.

"I say we fight." Darian finally said. "We can't afford losing DeArra trying to wake her up. I think we should go in there with a lot of weapons and kill the Sandman."

"Weapons may not work in the dreams Darian." Jenifer said. "It is the Sandman's domain and he has a hell of a lot more control over it than we will ever have."

"That's surprising coming from you." Stephanie turned to her. "Just a few hours ago you were preaching to DeArra about controlling her dreams. That would suggest that we would have more control there than he does."

Jason got into the conversation. "When ever any of us would fall asleep we all would die. Of course that was when we were separated. We should all try to get together as a team…"

"And defeat the Sandman as one team." Arron completed his thought.

"Right." Jason confirmed.

"Well, what are we waiting for. We have an appointment with the Sandman." Jenifer jumped into her bed. Everyone followed to their own bed or floor and they all fell asleep.

***

DeArra was still falling. She had tried everything to wake up or to stop falling but none of it worked. She had given up a while ago and was hoping that if she ever did hit the ground then she would not feel too much pain. At that precise moment she stopped falling. She looked around her and to her surprise Arron was holding her in his arms.

"How…?" She began to ask but then thought better of it. They were here and that is all that mattered. Arron let her down and smiled at her. "We better get out of here." She said kind of looking up.

"To where?" Stephanie asked.

"Anyplace but here." Answered DeArra. She looked around nervously to make sure the Sandman was no where around.

They walked for a short while in no particular direction, when they came to a very bright light. Everyone shielded their eyes and tried to see what was beyond the light. "What is that?" Jason tried to squint his eyes.

"I have no idea." DeArra walked closer to peer into the light. Arron grabbed her arm. She looked back at him. "What?"

"Don't get too close. We don't know what that is." He told her.

I'm a grown girl now. I can do what I wish. Besides this is My dream." DeArra gently pulled her arm away from him and started to walk into the light. Arron hesitated but slowly he followed her. The rest of the crew followed their captain obediently.

DeArra passed through the point where the light was. She could not find anything that was emanating the light. As she was looking around she saw something that caught her eye in the distance. She moved closer. When she was near enough she made out the object to be some sort of time glass. The only thing was it was empty. She leaned closer to it in wonderment. "Where's the sand?"

She was shocked at receiving an answer. "You must replace the sand."

"Who said that?" She searched the area but no one was in sight.

"I did." A feminine voice called.

The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere. "Who are you?" DeArra asked of her.

"I have no name." She said. "Nor no body, I merely exist. That is why I need you to help me."

"Help you with what?"

"You are the only one that has been able to get this far. Once you had started to concentrate hard enough and control your dreams, I was able to protect you. I guided you here once you were close enough."

"What are you talking about?"

"You have shown great strength and courage against the one who calls himself the Sandman. Though he is not truly the Sandman your folklore's spoke about, he does have great strength in controlling dreams. Especially the dreams of those who are empathetically capable.

"He only wishes to control the real world as he controls the dream world. He could do this easily with someone who is empathetically strong. Such as yourself. He was trying to put all the people of your world to sleep so that he could control them more easily. He killed your friends as an example to you at how strong his powers are. However, they were only dead in your world. My world is much different and in that way you were only able to bring them back to life because the Sandman killed them in this world.

"You were a surprise to him when you started to fight back. If I might say it without insulting you, you were quite stubborn. You proved to me that you were the only person that could capture him. I know of no way of totally defeating him.

"He had escaped recently from my grasp and went on his rampage. The only way I can recapture him is if I was to trick him into going back into this time glass." The time glass became more brilliant than it was when DeArra had first seen it. The mystery voice continued. "The Sandman knows me too well, so it is up to you and your friends to capture him for me."

"Speaking of my friends where are they? I thought I heard them follow me."

"They did." The woman said. "I just wanted the time to talk to you without interruptions. Here they are." All five of DeArra's cremates walked in.

They looked in awe at the time glass and at DeArra. "Take the time glass. Hurry, the Sandman is trying to get through my shield to you. Good luck." With that they heard no more from the mysterious female voice.

DeArra took the glass gently and stuffed it under her arm. She looked at her friends and said, "I have a plan."

***

DeArra sat there staring at her time glass. She moved it around to look at it from all angles. She was so intrigued in the colors that the glass turned the lights into on the ground, that she did not see the Sandman walk up to her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a foot in front of her. She followed the foot up a muscular leg, to a bulky body and finally to a fiendish face. She smiled. He did not smile back.

"Do you honestly think you can get me into that thing?" He asked quite sincerely.

"Yes." She said equally sincerely.

"How do you propose to capture me?" He looked down at her and almost laughed. He restrained himself as he saw the stern look on DeArra's face.

"Why don't you stick around and find out?" She stood up and walked away.

The moment she disappeared Arron came walking in. He was holding the time glass and was walking with two feathered creatures. The Sandman looked confused as the area around him turned into a gigantic room. There was a door there made out of two huge wings. The two feathered beings put their amulets on the end of the wings. Arron nodded to the Sandman and pointed to the time glass. The Sandman did not understand what he meant. Arron shrugged. The wings parted slowly and out lashed several phaser beams. The Sandman ran for cover but found none. One of the beams breathed against his arm and blood dripped slowly down out of the wound. The Sandman jumped and ran from the spot.

Once he was sure he was clear of the deadly beams he tried to close the wound. He found that he could not stop the bleeding. Something was seriously wrong here. He had no time to contemplate it, however, for next came a sound that echoed through the entire world. He looked around and to his surprise found an armored being on a dragon's back. With the lance ready the knight charges straight at him. The Sandman cleared out of the way just in time. The dragon made a U turn and stopped right in front of him. The knight took off the helmet and the Sandman looked on Jenifer with pure fear. She held out the time glass and said, "Are you ready to give up? Or are you thirsty for more?"

The Sandman flew out of the scene in total fright.

The next thing he saw was Stephanie looking rather odd holding a hypo in one hand and the time glass in the other. She looked as if she were giving him a choice. He did not even want to deal with that. He looked one way then the other. He ran in the direction where he thought no one would be. "Hey, comeback here." Stephanie yelled.

The Sandman found himself in empty space. There was a Constitution class starship just in front of him. He heard laughter. "Having fun yet?" DeArra laughed but said no more.

Five Romulan warbirds came screaming by so close to him he was afraid they might literally run him over. That's when space really got confused. The starship was moving in every most impossible evasive maneuver and firing on the warbirds. The warbirds fired back each time getting closer and closer to the Sandman. Just when he thought he was going to get hit he was on the bridge of the starship. He looked straight at the helmsman. Jason turned around in his seat and in his lap was the time glass.

The Sandman's eyes widened and he ran for the turbolift. He could not get away from these people. There was something stopping him from using his powers but he couldn't quite put his finger on what. When the lift's doors opened, he walked out and the lift disappeared. He turned around and where the lift had been was now a mast. Then something fell on top of him. It was light, some sort of material. He scrambled his way out of it and when he pulled the cloth off of his head there was Darian holding the time glass up to him.

Again he ran for what he hoped would be the last time, since there were no more dreams left. When he was all alone, he gave a sigh of relief. Those people were driving him crazy. He would not allow them to put him back into that damned time glass. The time glass. That was it. That annoying female that held the glass safely in her domain so that he could not escape. But he did escape. She was the one who was not allowing him to control this world. He must be close to her. "So I must destroy her." He said sternly and headed off in the direction he knew would take him to her.

***

There it was the time glass. The Sandman had to destroy it before those kids could get their paws on it and try to capture him. He moved closer and took the glass from its podium. He raised it high above his head and then brought his arms down fast. The time glass smashed into a zillion pieces all across the floor. The Sandman laughed aloud so the whole universe could hear of his victory. Now he would never have to look at that time glass again. He can torture anyone he wants without that female trying to capture him.

Then a door appeared on the far wall and DeArra walked through. Holding, what else, the time glass. The Sandman almost screamed in frustration. He couldn't get rid of that thing. He would just have to get rid of DeArra and be done with it. He opened his mouth wide and a bolt of lightning flashed out straight at her. She did not flinch. The bolt hit against some sort of field that was protecting her. The bolt played beautifully against the shield that held against two more identical bolts.

DeArra chuckled. "Stop that, that tickles."

"Allow me to destroy her." He said it not to DeArra but to the entity that was controlling all of this.

The entity remained silent and let the Sandman play her game. DeArra stood there watching as the Sandman got more frustrated by the second. She decided it was time to initiate the second phase of her plan. She walked around glass all over the floor and up to the Sandman. She smiled at him and said, "Do you wish to give up yet?"

He laughed in her face. She shrugged her shoulders and backed up a few paces. Nodding her head slightly five more doors opened around the room. Out of each one stepped one of the crew, each of them holding a time glass.

Just about this time the Sandman started to go crazy. He had thought that he had destroyed the one and only time glass that could hold him prisoner. Now he found himself facing six of the exact same time glasses as the one that he had obliterated.

All six of them slowly crept up to the Sandman. He tried to back away but there were people behind him. The Sandman was surrounded.

When each one of them were within a few feet of him they stretched out their arms and held the time glasses out to him. He cringed but did not give in. Instead he dissolved into a pile of sand and drifted to safety as if blown by wind. This wouldn't stop the Integra crew. They came after him again. This time in a different formation. Five of them set around him in a pentagon structure while Stephanie stayed out of the group.

The Sandman was distracted because of this long enough that he did not see Stephanie pull a hypo out of her jacket. She snuck around in back of the Sandman and started to press it against his arm. He turned and swatted Stephanie across the face. She flew across the room and hit the ground hard. Jenifer and Arron were about to move to help her when they noticed that Stephanie did get enough of the sedative into him.

The Sandman fell to the ground with a thud. After he had fallen all were awe struck to see him turn into sand and like being sucked in a vacuum, went straight into the time glass DeArra was holding. She shielded it and placed it on the podium.

The others could hear her give a sigh of relief as she set it down to be done with it, hopefully, forever. Since the fiasco was over, Jenifer and Arron went to attend to Stephanie. She seemed to be all right and they helped her to her feet. Arron supported her as they walked over to the podium.

From no where a voice came, it was so strong it sounded as if the voice itself could be what controls all the dream realm. "You have done well, and I thank you. I could have never captured him without your help or even your cunning. You are brave people and this event will not be forgotten. I will return your world back the way that it was and again I thank you."

Five of the crew disappeared. DeArra was left alone staring at a, now full of sand, time glass and talking to someone that was not there. She was not surprised that she was left here alone. She understood that the female entity wished to talk to her alone.

"I appreciate what you have done, DeArra. You have gone through a lot and I am sorry I could not have helped you sooner. I promise you, though, that I will keep a close eye on him and he will not escape from me again." She said.

"That may prove to be a hard promise to keep." DeArra said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because in the past things like him that is powerful enough usually seem to escape from any prison one way or another."

"I will keep that in mind. Now, I believe that it is time for you to wake up. I wish you pleasant dreams when you come back to my world."

"Thank you. I'm sure I will. Hopefully not for a while. I've gotten all the sleep I need for a week. Good bye." With that the podium and the time glass and the room vanished before DeArra's eyes.

***

DeArra blinked her eyes and saw everyone staring at her with the strangest faces. She was glad to see those faces alive and well, though Stephanie still looks a little shaken up but otherwise unharmed. "What are you all staring at?"

"You didn't let the Sandman out did you?" Jenifer asked.

"No, why?" DeArra looked quite confused.

"Because my father is still asleep." Arron said.

"No, your father is just wondering what he is doing in this dorm room." Everyone turned to see Adam Steele rubbing his messed up hair. He looked more confused than DeArra did a short while ago.

"It's a long story Admiral." DeArra propped herself up on her elbows.

Adam looked outside and notice it was still dark. "I think we still have a couple of hours till your first class. So do you mind telling me what's been going on?"

"Not at all Admiral. I think you better sit down. This truly is a long story." DeArra sat all the way up in her bed and began to tell her tale.

***

The Admiral had understood quite well what had happened, for he had seen many a strange thing when he was a captain. After DeArra and the others finished, the Admiral went down to the command center of the Academy and started to file a report. Everything now seemed as it should be. The chrono was moving at what was the right interval of sixty seconds per minute. The sun had risen. Now looking out the window DeArra could see many of the cadets moving along swiftly for their first class of the day. Even most of her friends have moved along to do one thing or another.

Now DeArra was alone. With two hours to spare before her first class she didn't know what to do. Today seemed like the longest day of her life and it hasn't even started yet. It was true it was the longest day, technically.

DeArra sat at the table barely picking at her eggs. She did not feel like going down to the mess hall this morning. The thought of being around so many people at this time was depressing. They would only ask questions about last night. She wouldn't be able to answer them. She can hardly answer her own questions. At that point she realized that she had answered one of the questions along time ago. There on the table before her was her data pad. On it was a drawing of the Sandman and in his hand was the time glass. She couldn't believe that she had had the answer right there in her hands all along and didn't know it.

If only she would have been more observant in the beginning, she wouldn't have had to go through all of this trouble. Now she realized how much she had to learn before she could become a truly good commander in Starfleet. Yet she was happy she had not realized the obvious before. Otherwise she would not have gotten the experience that she had had. Nor would she had learned so much on how to control her dreams and on how to meditate. DeArra couldn't believe, that because of one mistake she had gotten more knowledge than she would have if she would have realized that in the first place. "It only goes to show that you can learn a lot from your mistakes." She thought. "I made enough mistakes to make me the wisest person in the world."

One thing DeArra still could not understand was shy the Sandman had picked her. There had to be at least one hundred telepathic capable people on this planet, so why her? Perhaps it was because she was young and naive. Maybe it was because she was in Starfleet. It could have even be because she was showing great abilities as an empathetic being, yeah right. What if it was just the luck of the draw? That would make her feel real special. If it was the luck of the draw than the Sandman was truly unlucky with this one. "Next time, if there is a next time, he should pick someone else." She mused.

DeArra put the data pad down and erased the picture of the sandman. She stood up and walked out of the room. She didn't know where she was walking, she just was.

***

She found herself walking into Admiral Steele's office. Adam looked up from his desk and smiled at DeArra. "What can I do for you, Ensign?"

"I was wondering sir. Why do things like these always happen to me?" She stood there not willing to move.

Steele wanted to offer her something that might make her more comfortable but in her present condition he was not sure she would except it. "I do not follow you ensign."

"Well, it always seems that when there is something bad that is happening I'm in the center of it."

Adam gestured toward the chair across the desk from him but she would not budge. "Perhaps you have a nose for trouble Ensign." He said trying to lighten the mood.

"Respectfully sir, I do not feel that this is a joking matter." Though she finally did sit down.

"Well, Ensign," he said more seriously, "I do not think that you are always at the center of things when they get going badly. It just seems that way. There are times in everyone's life when they feel the same way. Even the people who don't see that much 'action' still seem to somehow wind up in the middle of a bad situation. The only trouble with Starfleet is there are more bad situations than you can count. Therefore, every person in Starfleet is bound and determined to wind up in the middle of a lot of things. It's just something you have to grow into."

"That doesn't make me feel any better sir." DeArra said almost sarcastically.

"It's not supposed to ensign. You will most likely run into a thousand more situations worse or maybe not as bad as this one, before you retire from Starfleet. As you have seen already it's not going to be easy, of course we never said it would be." The Admiral just sat there not knowing what else to say.

"Thank you, Admiral, for trying at least. But I still don't feel any better. Especially since now I know there will be worse situations than this." She said glumly.

"Don't worry about it. That's what the Academy is for. To prepare you for those types of situations. If there is no better training than what you just had then I don't know what we can do for you. You'll just have to learn to get used to it." He smiled and stood up as she stood.

"Thank you again Admiral. I'll think about what you have said." She walked out of the door and Adam could have sworn that he saw a faint smile on her face.

***

Later that night she walked back to the dorm. She had thought about visiting Arron but thought again. So she went to her room. She was surprised to find Arron sitting at the table looking at her data pad. His fingers were steepled in a very Vulcan fashion that went well with the expression on his face. She walked up to him and he was in such deep thought he never noticed her, until she asked, "Who do you think you are? Mr. Spock?"

At that moment Arron realized that his hands were still in the steeple and put them down immediately. "DeArra I didn't notice you come in." He half way apologized.

She smiled, the first full smile today. "What are you looking at?"

"All I know is this is some sort of drawing of the Sandman." He paused. "And the time glass. DeArra when did you draw this? After your dream last night?"

"Actually, I thought I erased that." She took the data pad from Arron. "I must have pressed the wrong button. I was just so distressed this morning. After a talk with your father I felt better." She put the pad down and this time definitely erasing the picture and whipped all her bad memories of the time out with it.

"You didn't answer my question. When did you draw that?" He asked kindly.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Yesterday, before I had the dream." "You knew about the time glass and didn't tell us?"

"I didn't know about the time glass. I had no idea what it meant. I had one dream before I started to dream about you guys and that dream was just a short one. I don't remember anything about it except for that drawing." She tried to act as if she was done with the subject.

"I'm sorry DeArra I didn't mean to upset you." Arron apologized.

"It's okay. To tell you the truth I don't know why you should apologize to me. It should be the other way around. I'm the one that dragged you into my dreams." She tried to apologize.

"DeArra stop blaming yourself. It wasn't you. It was the Sandman. Now he is in a time glass somewhere in NeverNeverLand so forget about it okay." He took her hands in his and held her softly. He leaned down and gently kissed her.

DeArra smiled at him. "I love you, Arron."

"I love you too." He kissed her again. By the time DeArra finally went to sleep she had totally forgotten the Sandman.

With the love inside her and the control she now felt she had over her life she slept soundly from that night on.