Chapter 1 - The Dream

"Keep still."

The doctor's needle pierced my arm and slipped under the skin, red liquid slowly filling the syringe. Seconds later, the needle was withdrawn and replaced with cotton wool for me to hold onto my arm.

I recalled the day the doctors brought me to this medical facility. I'd been fifteen years old and I'd been practising some daring stunts with friends on our hoverboards. I'd flipped the board over the central ring, lost balance and fallen off, breaking my arm. Breaking my arm had been annoying, but the reason I'd been taken to hospital was because I'd also hit my head, and despite it being covered by a helmet, the angle I'd fallen at had meant that I'd created a wound that had been bleeding.

I'd been rushed to the nearest hospital after one of my friends called for an ambulance, and I remember the concerned look that my Mum had worn as she burst through the door to my hospital room. The doctors had taken good care of me, and had reassured me I would be all right, but the worry had still been etched into her features.

I'd tried to reassure her that the injury looked worse than it really was, and that I'd be out in a few hours. I hadn't seen what all the fuss was about. Teenage boys had accidents like this all the time. I'd assumed Mum was overreacting, although I knew it could have been partly because she didn't like hospitals and we'd managed to stay away from them until my accident.

Shortly afterwards, one of the medical team had come into the hospital room and told us they'd found an anomaly in my blood that needed investigating. I hadn't really known what that meant.

It turned out it meant I needed to be quarantined in a medical research facility on Selenia, one of the moons of a planet called Omega 6 that I'd never heard of before that day.

That was three years ago, and I'd been here ever since. For my own safety apparently, even though I'd been perfectly fine living on Earth with my mother up until that point. I couldn't understand why my safety was suddenly in question now. Nobody seemed to be able to quite explain to me what I was doing here, other than this blood anomaly. The doctors and scientists in their bright white lab coats had said they would let me know when they had answers.

In the meantime, I was well looked after. I had access to books, films and games, and my Mum visited me every day. I taught myself how to pilot different types of spacecraft from flight manuals and simulations, in the hope that one day I might actually get to fly one.

But still, they couldn't give me the one thing I wanted more than anything. To get out of here. To go back home and get on with my life. Freedom. I was so bored with being poked and prodded and tested. With all the physical exercises and measurements of my heart rate and blood pressure. With the blood that got taken from me three times a day. What on earth could they be doing with so many blood samples?

"Mr Miller?" A lady's voice brought me back to reality. She was on the other side of the transparent forcefield that kept me in my living area. She was pretty, with strawberry-blonde hair and blue eyes, and her name tag read 'Dr. Milan.' I didn't recognise her, so I assumed she was new.

"Hmmm?" I'd totally missed the question.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, or from her point of view, probably repeated.

"Yeah, I could eat." I smiled at her. "What's on the menu?"

She smiled back. "A little birdy told me you like the burgers."

She wasn't wrong. My smile broadened as I agreed to a burger. The food was good here, at least.

Several minutes later she returned with a large juicy burger, with a side salad. They all knew I was one of the few people that didn't like chips, and they had stopped offering them to me. As soon as the forcefield dropped, the amazing smell of the steaming hot meat and warm bread hit my nose. I thanked her and sat down to eat. Whatever was supposedly wrong with me, it clearly hadn't affected my appetite and the food was gone within minutes.

I pushed my empty plate and cutlery to one side, and that was when he walked around the corner, wearing a white lab coat and standard issue name badge. The man of my dreams. Only, this guy was substantially better than any of the men in the dreams I'd had so far. His dark hair was messy and stopped slightly before it fell into his ocean-blue eyes. He didn't look much older than me, probably early twenties, and his full pink lips parted to speak to Dr Milan, who was only a couple of metres from my forcefield and probably about to take my plate away.

"I'm looking for Damon Miller?" he asked politely, smiling at her with a dimple appearing, and my heart jolted me upright, knocking my chair over as I stood.

Not only was he the most gorgeous creature I had ever set eyes on, but he was looking for me? I wished I had a mirror available to check I looked presentable. I rested back against the table, trying to look casual, despite the chair still lying on the floor.

Judging by the way the strawberry-blonde was tripping over her words and blushing while she directed him to me, apparently, he was the man of her dreams too.

Mr Gorgeous thanked her and took the couple of steps needed to get to the edge of my forcefield.

"Hi Damon," he smiled, and I swear I nearly fainted.

"Hi," I squeaked back, trying to stay casual and failing miserably.

"I just need you to come with me for a couple of tests please?" he said, releasing the forcefield.

Well, this was strange. Not the fact that the medical staff wanted to run tests on me; that part had been fairly standard. But they generally had a timetable and they stuck to it. Taking me for a test straight after dinner had never happened before. However, I'd learned that I didn't really have much say in these matters. Besides, I would get to be alone with – I managed to drag my eyes away from his face long enough to read his name badge – Dr Tarnung.

"Sure," I replied, trying to make my tone lower and more manly than the squeak I gave him before.

In silence, Dr Tarnung led me down various polished white corridors that I'd never been down before, much further than I'd usually go for tests. I had the distinct impression he was concentrating, and I was torn between wanting to talk to him, and not wanting to annoy him by breaking his concentration.

In the end, the temptation to talk to him outweighed anything else.

"So, what are we testing for today?" I ventured.

"Just keep walking please," he replied, but his tone wasn't unpleasant, just firm.

We rounded a corner and were stopped by a short, grey-haired man in the standard uniform. I recognised Dr Firth because he was someone who regularly did my blood tests. He looked between Dr Tarnung and me, and then back to Dr Tarnung again.

"Damon shouldn't be out of his room," Dr Firth said, sounding confused, and then his tone turned suspicious. "What's going on?"

Dr Tarnung seemed to consider his options for a couple of seconds, and then brought his arm back. When his arm shot forward, it was fisted, and connected with the smaller man's chin, sending him flying backwards, dazed.

"Run!" he shouted at me.

Confusion rooted me to the spot. Was this part of the test? I looked at Dr Tarnung, who had started running towards the forcefield at the end of the passageway. He paused only to swipe the scanner that released the forcefield.

"Run!" he repeated, waving to encourage me to move, and this time I obeyed, following him through where the forcefield had been and outside.

Outside? What the hell? I hadn't been outside for the last three years! Why was I outside?

"Get to the ship!" he shouted at me, pointing to the small battered-looking space-craft parked in the fifth docking bay.

That's when I realised I must be dreaming. I was being rescued from my dreary hospital-life by a guy who looked more like a god than a human. Of course this wasn't real. Adrenaline coursed through me, but it was through excitement more than it was through fear. I heard the buzzing of laser-fire from behind as they tried to stop us, which just served to make the dream more exhilarating. I felt light on my feet, like I was part running and part flying.

We made it to the ship – the 'Pavo' according to the letters in faded white written up the side – and like any good dream, the door closed seconds before they could stop us.

"Yes!" I cried out, punching the air like a child.

Although I would probably wake up soon, I intended to enjoy my outdoor adventure for as long as it lasted, even if it was all in my head.