George stood motionless at the edge of the woods, staring at the impossible scene in front of him.  If he had thought the china country was impossible, that was nothing compared to what he was looking at now!

It looked like a large swimming pool.  There was a stone walkway all around it, and an expanse of blue, rippling water.  And swimming in the pool were some of the oddest creatures George had ever seen.  They were small, and brown and leathery.  They wore funny looking little swimsuits in bright colors.  There were dozens of them, running around the edge of the pool, or splashing and laughing in the water.  And right in the middle of them all was the Protector!  In contrast with the others, he was still in the form of the swarthy man he had transformed himself into on earth before coming back to rescue Emberly and George.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” called out the Protector to him.  George was so stunned by the scene that he could not reply.  “Here, let me get out and we’ll talk.”  The Protector started wading slowly toward George across the pool.  After a minute, he pulled himself out, dripping profusely, and caught up a towel which sat on a reclining chair at the pool’s edge.  He was wearing a swim suit with bright red and white stripes, which made him look like a candy cane.

Drying himself off with the towel, he came slowly up to George.  “Impossible, isn’t it?” he asked casually.

“What? … How? …” George spluttered.

“I know exactly how you feel,” said the Protector.  “It’s unbelievable and impossible that this pool can be here, filled with the creatures from my home planet.  But here it is!  And it’s a very nice pool, at that.”

George turned on the Protector, trying to articulate the confusion in his mind.  “How can this be happening?” he asked at last.

“I don’t know,” said the Protector calmly.  Having finished drying himself off, he dropped the towel on the chair and put his hands on his hips, staring at the pool.

“I was working on engine number 2 over there at the ship, which is just on the other side of those trees,” said the Protector, pointing.  “All of a sudden, I heard laughing and splashing over here. I came to investigate—and behold!  A Dluron swimming pool, just like you find all over the place on my planet.  Swimming is a very popular sport there, you know.”

“But how did it get here?” demanded George.

“I haven’t the faintest idea,” said the Protector casually.  “All I know is that I’ve been dreaming about this pool for the last week.  And now, here it is!”

“Dreaming!” cried George, grabbing the Protector’s arm.  “You dreamed this pool?”  His eyes were intense, boring into those of the Protector.

“Yes, I did,” said the Protector calmly.  “For several nights in a row, now.  I Can’t seem to stop dreaming of it, in fact.”  He looked sharply up at George.  “I’d bet you were just coming to tell me you saw something out there that you dreamed about, too?  Is that right?”

“How did you know?” asked George blankly.

“Simple deduction,” said the Protector, walking slowly over to a canopy to get out of the sun.  “If it happened to me, it probably happened to you.  Although we both know that it’s impossible and it can’t be happening at all!”

“But how is it happening then!” cried George, almost in a frenzy. 

“I haven’t the foggiest notion, like I said before,” replied the Protector.  “And none of my people who you see swimming here are any help.  They all look at me as if I'm crazy when I ask them how this pool got here to planet L91.  They're convinced they're back on Dluron!"

The Protector stroked his chin for a minute, while George continued to stare at him in confusion.  "My speculation," he began slowly, "is that it has something to do with this planet.  Perhaps there is some power here, some invisible, bizarre force that creates the things we dream about.”

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“But how?” cried George.  “And why didn’t the first explorers to this planet find it?”

“They probably didn’t stay long enough,” answered the Protector.  “We’ve been here more than a week, whereas they stayed only 3 or 4 days.  As for how it’s happening, all I can say is that there are many strange things, in space, that can’t be explained.  Space explorers have often come across phenomenon like this on other worlds.  It makes for exciting reading, and excellent book sales in newsstands across the galaxy!”

“So this planet has some mysterious power to create real dreams?” said George slowly. 

“It does seem to, yes,” replied the Protector.

“Is it safe, then?” asked George worriedly.

The Protector gave George a pointed look.  “As long as our dreams are safe,” he replied.

“What in thunder is all this?” came a voice from the other side of the pool.  Looking up, George saw his father standing under the shade of a tree at the far edge of the pool.  His eyes were opened wide as he stared at the carefree Dluronians, none of whom paid any attention to him.

“A dream,” called out the Protector calmly, walking around the pool toward George’s father.  “I was just explaining to George that I have dreamed about this pool for the last several nights, and now here it is.  He also dreamed something that has come into reality.  It would seem that this planet has a strange power to make our dreams come true!”

George’s father stared at the Protector for a moment.  At last he sighed deeply, and said, “I knew we should have stayed up in space, and not come to this blasted planet!”

“We really didn’t have much choice,” responded the Protector, unruffled.  “If we had tried to stay up there, we would have lasted only a few days.  Then we would have had to come down here anyway.  We would have needed water, food, and even oxygen to breath.  We simply couldn’t have stayed up there for long.”

“But this!” cried George’s father, pointing wildly at the pool and its carefree inhabitants.  “This is impossible!  Has the planet affected our minds?  Are we’re going insane?”

“I think not,” said the Protector.  “What appears to be going on here is a force generated by the planet somehow that turns dreams to reality.  I don’t think it’s threatening in any way, as long as the dreams are safe.”

“By the way,” said the Protector suddenly.  “What have you been dreaming about lately?  Has it come true as well?”

George’s father was taken aback.  “I almost never dream,” he said curtly.  “Some people don’t, you know.”

“So, you haven’t had any dreams at all, then?” asked the Protector curiously.  “Nothing?”

“No,” said George’s father with a frown.  He was wringing his hands uneasily.  “I don’t like this.  There’s something dangerous here.  We need to get off this planet!  Even being held by the Grak would be better than the dangers here!”

“Really?” said the Protector, raising an eyebrow. 

George also stared at his father.  “How can you say that?” he gasped.  “You know what they tried to do to us—what they tried to do to the whole earth!  Anything would be better than being held by them!  Even this insanity!”

George’s father stared at his son for a moment.  Then he shook his head from side to side, as if trying to clear it from a fog.  “You’re right,” he said softly.  “I don’t know what I’m saying.  I guess I was held by them too long.  I just don’t know what to make of all this.  It’s eerie.  It could be dangerous.  We just don’t know.”

“It is a bit spooky, I suppose,” commented the Protector dryly.  “But then, it has it’s good sides.  When I first saw the pool, I just couldn’t believe it.  But then, after awhile, I decided that I might as well go in for a little swim while I tried to figure it all out.”

Before anyone could reply, they heard a wild scream.  It came from the other side of the trees, where the teddy bear ship was sitting.

“What was that?” said George’s father, peering curiously through the trees.  “There’s no one over there, but—“

“Emberly!” cried both George and the Protector at the same time, as they started to run.