Dream Bound Read Online Free Page B

Zianne—were alive.
    He sighed and focused on the six brilliant young men and women watching him so intently. Six minds that were the hope of an entire race of alien beings, maybe even the hope of this whole damned world.
    His hope as well, and with luck, his salvation.
    For some reason, he thought of Dink—Nils Dinkemann, the one who’d been his closest friend and, with Zianne, his lover. God, it was so long ago. He’d been even younger than most of these kids. In so many ways, he and Dink had been little more than children, still finding their way, but they’d made a great team. Mac, Dink, and Zianne—a computer nerd, a young man searching for his sexual identity, and an immortal creature from another world. Ageless. Brilliant, and beautiful.
    He still saw Dink on occasion, but damn it all, he missed Zianne so much he ached.
    “There are some things I can’t tell you right now,” he said, shoving his memories aside. “Things that would make little sense out of context, but that you will learn once we reach the site. I can tell you that intelligent alien life does exist. I can promise that you will be contacting these life-forms, hopefully within the next few days, and that they will reply to you.
    “That connection is the purpose of this entire project, which is similar to SETI, but not officially part of it. Once you sign on for the initial six-month program, you will be the core members of the DEO-MAP project, an acronym for Discovering Extraterrestrial Organisms through Mental Acuity and Projection.”
    He gazed from one person to the next, knowing their lives were going to change over the next few days, weeks, and months. He sensed their skepticism, but he also realized their minds were wide open, their curiosity spiking off the charts. “I am handing you the vehicle to connect with alien minds. All I ask of you is the power of your sexual energy, which is the strongest karmic force in existence. Give that freely, without reservation, and I promise, you will make contact.”
    “How do you know this?” O’Toole had an almost fevered look in his eyes. Mac saw his thoughts, spinning in so many directions it was obvious none of them were registering.
    “I know this, Mr. O’Toole, because I have made contact. I have spent time with, have spoken with, and have learned from an alien being.”
    He didn’t tell them he’d fallen irrevocably in love with that alien being. Not yet. They’d know soon enough, but at their muttered gasps of surprise and disbelief, he sat back and planted his hands on the counter. “I am a very wealthy man, as all of you probably know. I have gained my wealth over the past twenty years through my innovative software and hardware developments. My inventions, my unique discoveries ...” He smiled and shook his head. “Did you ever wonder how I know the things I know? How the technology I developed was so far ahead of the curve?”
    Kiera Pearce stared at him, wide-eyed. “You’re saying that you learned all that stuff from aliens?”
    “I’m saying, Ms. Pearce, that you will all be learning things you never imagined possible. You will see things you thought only existed within the realm of science fiction and fantasy. All you have to do is agree to join me on the most amazing adventure of your lives. Become a member of my dream team, and I promise to show you things you never in your wildest fantasies believed could exist. I will, quite literally, take you where no man—or woman—has gone before.”
     
    Mac poured a shot of Jack Daniel’s, stared at the glass, and then tipped the bottle again and made it a double. He stared out through the big plate-glass window with the view of Silicon Valley spread out below. The last couple of days had been hell. Waiting for the team members to tie up their lives in order to join the project was killing him, and time had dragged.
    Over a thousand applicants, and only six of them had the skills he needed. He’d originally thought he’d