It was one thing to dream of doing something, and it was another thing to use a dream to plan something. That is what they had to do now.
It was difficult and tiring. Everything that Pritch, Selentaya and Piacho said had to be repeated by Liana, so that Herago could understand what was going on. Sometimes she got mixed up, and wasn't sure who she was talking to, and, strangely, sometimes it seemed to Liana that Herago knew what the others were about to say even before Liana told him. That was a good thing, but Liana found it a bit baffling.
It turned out that the Barty man, Pritch, was in charge of the Festival of Invention. Actually in charge. This seemed very odd to Liana, and Herago was rather suspicious of the whole idea, but Selentaya and Piacho quickly convinced Liana that Pritch was somebody they could trust. It took quite a bit longer for Herago to be convinced, as he was not able to hear and see what the two Seren-ilians were saying. Sometimes Liana wasn't sure that Herago even believed that she was talking to Selentaya and Piacho, or that Pritch even existed. It was difficult for Herago, Liana knew. The dream must have been even stranger for him than it was for Liana, with people he couldn't see telling him things it was hard to believe. It wasn't surprising that he had doubts.
Eventually though, Herago decided to go along with the plan. But then there was a problem of communication. For a while, the three in Bartyronis could see Liana, but only faintly, and they couldn't hear her at all. They started talking amongst themselves about what Herago and Liana would need to do.
'This is just a waste of time,' Herago said. 'We'll never get anywhere like this.' He was angry, Liana could see. 'I might as well go and dream about something a bit more pleasant, like butterflies, or Seren food, or new Impossibles.' And as he said that, Herago just ... disappeared.
It was horrible. It reminded Liana of that time, all those years ago, when her father, Ralkino, had disappeared in the middle of telling a story. Though this was different. Herago just vanished in one go, whereas her father had slowly faded away. Suddenly she became convinced that her father disappearing had been another dream. But this was not a comforting thought, now that it seemed that dreams were more real than she had realised.
And then, a few seconds after Herago vanished, so did the others – Piacho, Selentaya and Pritch. Liana was alone. All on her own in the House of the Green Jewel. Suddenly she felt more alone than she ever had been before. She knew that this was not a real place. That before long she would wake up in a world where she had to obey orders and do things she didn't want to do. She looked around at the walls with their shelves of books. She looked at the decorations on the corners of the walls. They were all things she had hardly noticed when she had spent so much time here, when this was a real, real place. And now she was looking at a dream which could never return.
Liana's eyes filled with tears, blurring her view of the Seren surroundings. Then, as the tears rolled down her cheeks, the whole of the dream started to drift away from her. Why had this happened? Were they ever going to manage to carry out their plan? Once again, doubt filled Liana's mind. Suddenly all their plans seemed stupid. She knew now that she had been telling herself a story to help her cope with the awful things that were happening. None of it was true. How could people meet up in dreams? Why had she believed all that? She was not a Seren-ilian. Not any more. She was a Grabbler. Grabblers had no right to hope.
Liana opened her eyes on the world now controlled by the Bartys. The dormitory. It was still dark in the room. She started to hear herself sobbing, and became afraid. She was making too much noise. If she continued like this, someone would come over and tell her off. Maybe take her away. Who knew where?
She tried to stop the loud sobs, but found that she could not. She tried to control her breathing, holding her breath for a few seconds at a time. The sobbing continued. And then she realised. The sound of sobbing came not from her, but from the next door bed.
Silmoa.
Liana looked over at Silmoa. There was not much light, but as Liana's eyes adjusted, she could make out Silmoa's chest moving up and down under her blanket. The sobbing would die down for a second, then start up again. Her breathing was uneven, broken. Liana felt fear for Silmoa, but also for herself.
'Silmoa?' Liana whispered, as quietly as she could manage. There was no answer from the bed next to her, but the sobbing died down a little.
Maybe she should use the Barty name. Maybe Silmoa would reply to that. 'Simek?' she said, a little louder now.
'Are you all right, Simek?' More sobbing.
'Can I do anything for you?' Liana continued.
'Wh... wh... wh...' Silmoa was trying to speak, but couldn't get past the first word.
'What are you crying about?' Liana asked, gently.
'Wh... why would you do anything for me?' Silmoa eventually blurted out.
'I just...' Liana began, very quietly. She thought that if she spoke quietly, she might get Silmoa to do the same. It was dangerous to speak above a whisper at night. Somebody might come to find out what was happening. Of course, they may already be checking whatever they could from the thought-scanner, but it was too late to worry about that now.
'Why would you care about me, after I had been so nasty to you?'
'Because you're my friend. We were friends before ...' Liana was going to say 'in Seren-ila' but she stopped herself just in time. Even thinking the name might be dangerous.
'Yes, we were,' said Silmoa, a bit calmer now. 'But even then I was nasty to you. I was always telling you how wrong you were about the Seren Way and all sorts of things.'
'You were probably right about all that, Simek,' said Liana, though she still felt pangs of resentment.
'You can call me by my real name,' said Silmoa, 'No. No, I was being nasty. I was nasty there, and I've been nasty here, and now I'm getting my punishment. You shouldn't feel sorry for me. I deserve to feel bad. I shouldn't have done what they told me to do.'
'Who?' said Liana.
'What?' said Silmoa.
'Who told you to do things?'
'The Bartys, of course. They said that I had the potential to be like an honorary Barty, if I worked hard. Which sounded nice. But the rest didn't sound so nice.'
'What was the rest?' asked Liana.
'If I didn't do what they said, everyone I cared about would suffer. My father, who I haven't seen for so long, and all my friends from Seren-ila, including you. And Herago, of course. They said they knew everything that was in my mind, so I had to be careful what I thought. They didn't say how people would suffer, but I was sure it would be very bad. I tried to think differently, I tried to think the Barty way, but I couldn't, really. Now they probably know everything I'm thinking, and everyone will get punished because of me.'
This is what the Bartys had done. People were punished, then made to feel that they deserved their punishment. It couldn't go on. It mustn't go on.
'Silmoa, maybe some of the things you did were wrong. But it's not your fault. This is how we are made to live. Thought-scanners and punishment make people do bad things. Maybe even before,' again, Liana avoided "in Seren-ila" 'there were some sorts of punishment, though we didn't talk about it like that. But things can change. Things can change, Silmoa.'
Silmoa was quiet. After a while, she spoke.
'What do you mean? How can they change?'
It would be dangerous to tell Silmoa about her dream, about Herago, about the people in Bartyronis. She probably wouldn't believe it anyway. Liana wasn't sure she believed any of it. And if she did, might she tell somebody in charge? A sudden thought came into Liana's mind. Could she trust Silmoa? Could all of this just be a trick, to trap Liana into saying something about the plans she and Herago were making? This thought was horrible. No, it couldn't be true. But she had to behave as if it was.
'I don't know what I mean,' Liana said, eventually. 'But we can hope for something better. We can hope. Nobody can stop that.'
Silmoa's sobbing stopped. After a while, her breathing deepened, and she seemed to be asleep.
It would soon be time to wake. Liana drifted into a dreamless sleep.
The dream of Herago and the others had to be real. Otherwise what she said to Silmoa was not true. There had to be hope.