Justin walks through the door.
Joy puts her hand on Charlie’s shoulder, stopping him from walking forward. As soon as he stops, she motions with that hand that they should wait. Her other hand is on her sword, ready to pull it out.
“Come in!” Justin says. “All clear!”
We all walk into the dome.
The look of the room is surprising. It is just an empty dome. There isn’t a table, a carpet, a chair, a piece of paper, a picture on the wall. There is the inside of the smooth dome. And then there are the telescopes - the three giant telescopes that I’ve seen outside begin inside, converging in the middle of the room.
“This is creepy,” Charlie says. “Where is everything?”
“Everything disappears when I wake up,” Justin says, “or when I’m not dreaming about him. Everything except the things Joy had made permanent. Like Captain Badass himself, this dome - but not anything inside - and his ship.”
“Oh, look!” Joy peers into one of the telescopes. “I can see his ship! It’s upside-down in the ocean, just floating!”
Charlie takes a look as Joy moves away. Justin and I form a line behind him.
Joy moves on to the next telescope. “Ooh!” she says. “Yuck! This one’s aimed right at your home, Grampa!”
“What!” Justin grabs the telescope and looks in. “There’s Mom in the garden!”
Justin straightens and shakes his head. “He’s been looking at us from his base all those years! That’s how he always found us!”
Master Mind is walking around the dome when he says, “Pirate, there is no way to tell if he had been in the base over the last year or not. The base would be empty if he arrived and empty if he didn’t.”
“Oh, no, we know he’s been here,” I say, happy the scientist in me also serves a purpose in Justin’s dream and my granddaughter’s life. “The telescopes. Our house didn’t exist before he went to the belly of the ship,” I say. “The telescope is aimed at it because he’s been here since. At some point. At least once. Same thing with his pirate ship.”
Justin’s jaw tightens up. “Good point, Dad. He may be watching us at any time. Master Mind, you have to remember that. When I’m not here…”
“I will always be on watch, Pirate.”
Justin nods, then looks at Joy who is peering through the third telescope. “He’s watching his old ship, he’s watching our home. What else is he watching?”
Joy looks up. “The suns.”
Justin throws me a quick look. Is Captain Badass outside the dream? Is he lurking? Is he waiting? Did he fall? Did he go into a faraway dream?
(To be continued…)
—Told by Grampa Walt