Head trauma is never something to joke around about. It can lead to all sorts of complications up to and including death. So when Dave awoke from his forced nap he wasn’t too sure if he was actually conscious or not. For one thing he was in a bed. Well, not exactly a bed. Maybe a table. It wasn’t soft like a mattress and his feet were dangling a little off the end. The next item up for mental debate as to his state of consciousness was the blue glow that enveloped the room. It was soft and not a harsh light, but it was hard for him to discern a light source. The last on the checklist of “Am I dreaming or not?” came when he turned his head to the side and saw a small window about the size of a microwave door. Through this window he saw the full disc of Earth floating outside.

While he was not prone to panic, the view of earth startled him more than a little bit. He sat bolt upright swung his legs over the side of the bed… table…. whatever. Planted his feet on the floor and stood up. Unfortunately for Dave, while there was apparently gravity in this vivid dream of his, it was not a full one G of earth gravity. It was maybe half or less, hence the act of standing up so quickly rocketed him upwards where his head met the ceiling with a distinct gong sound and consciousness took it’s second vacation.

Sometimes when returning from an unconscious state your senses come back in an odd order. Dave heard things first. Strange things. It almost sounded like two ducks having an argument. This dream just got better and better. Then felt the headache and wanted to shield his eyes before opening them. That’s when he noticed he could not move his arm. He noticed very quickly he could not move any his limbs. They weren’t paralyzed, but tied down. Finally, as his eyes opened he saw the source of Donald and Daffy arguing.

Two decidedly NOT human beings were standing over him in an apparently very heated argument. They both had gray skin but not the same shade as one was a little darker than the other. They did have what might be considered an almost human face if it weren’t for twin sets of eyes. Two where human eyes normally sit and two a little higher and nearer the temples of the forehead. They both had noses and mouths that appeared human-like but the nostrils moved much more while talking almost as if the act of speaking were a job for both orifices.

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“I would really like to wake up now.” Dave said into the middle of the quacking argument. The being on his right started and looked down at him. Realizing that Dave was apparently awake his quacking became even more vehement. There was a sudden pain in his left arm and as he looked down he noticed that quacker number two had injected him with something. This led to a third vacation for consciousness.

It was at dawn of consciousness for the third time that Dave decided that perhaps this might not be a vivid dream at all. He opened his eyes and was able to lift his head a little. He was alone in the same room he initially woke up in. He could see that straps were around his wrists and ankles and the strange quacks were no longer in the room. What disturbed him a little more was when he turned his head to the window and they image of earth that was there before was gone. He didn’t know what to make of this. A part of his mind knew that some spacecraft that carried humans went into what was called a barbecue roll to prevent the sunward side of the ship from becoming too hot. Maybe earth was just on the other side of, whatever this was he was on.

Dave took several deep breaths just trying to calm himself down. His head felt like, well like it had been bounced off a floor, a ceiling, then sedated. While the pain made it hard to think, Dave’s penchant for scifi didn’t help his thought processes. Visions of vivisections and anal probing abound. He decided that sitting still might not be the best course of action. He mustered his courage up balled up his fist and strained his right arm against the strap. To his utter amazement the strap broke nearly instantly. The unfortunate side effect of this was that his balled up fist came up and hit himself right in the middle of the forehead. “DAMNIT!” he exclaimed.

Just as he was about to rip free of the strap on his left wrist he heard a calm monotone voice, speaking in English utter “What are you doing Dave?” Damn his nerd brain. A Vision of HAL 9000 causing havoc aboard the Discovery One flooded his mind and inadvertently raising his anxiety. Dave froze and replied in the most calm tone that he could muster, “I would like to wake up from this dream and go home now, please.” After a moment the voice returned with, “You are fully conscious Dave, and going home will not be possible at this moment.”