Night time at the top of the world.

Nathan had convinced the Old Ones to allow the Friends to stay on the mountaintop overnight.

The clear dome gave an undiminished view of Grossa and the stars. It was like being in space without all the bothersome cold, vacuum, and weightlessness. The reclined chairs even made acceptable, if not luxurious, beds.

From the full phase of Grossa, it was apparently midnight when Michael suddenly found himself awake. It seemed he had heard something, but everything was quiet except for a few light snores.

As he started to drift off to sleep again, He became aware of Ghoram's mind.

"Hi. What are you doing up?" Or is it night there now?"

"It is, but didn't you call me?" Ghoram answered.

"No. I thought you called."

"We can talk about it in the morning," Ghoram said. "Good night"

As Michael started to doze off again, he wondered why he was still aware of Ghoram. Usually that awareness ended when they stopped communicating. Apparently Ghoram had fallen asleep mid-link somehow. He decided not to worry about it. He stared at Grossa's multicolored bands till sleep took him unaware.

He knew he had to be dreaming because he was halfway between Neuerde and Grossa. He didn't have a body, but that didn't stop him from feeling extreme vertigo.

Something bumped him, and he realized it was Ghoram - or at least his mind.

The two went into a wild spin, holding mental 'hands' to keep from getting flung away by the spin.

They couldn't hold, and were flung off into opposite directions. Michael quickly lapsed into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Ghoram woke with the first rays of the sun in his face. He tried to sit up quickly, and managed to propel himself right out of the reclined stone chair. He felt like he had pulled muscles in both arms.

He was shocked when he looked at his very long arms and legs. What had happened to him? His hands looked wrong. They weren't his. His skin was very dark. Even his hair was the wrong color.

What was he doing naked anyway? He had worn a nightshirt to bed because of the cold. It wasn't cold now though. Somehow, he wasn't very heavy either, which would explain why he had thrown himself off the chair trying to get up. He had exerted the effort that would normally be required to get up, but now he weighed much less.

Very carefully, he got to his feet. He looked down at his incredibly long legs and torso. Then it hit him. He was dreaming that he was Michael.

With that realization, he relaxed, and looked around. There were seven other reclined chairs in a circle. Six of them were occupied. Two seats down from him was a boy of eight or nine. The other seats were occupied by teenagers. All but the young boy had the stetched-looking arms, legs, and torsos.

Yes, this had to be a dream. Two of the seats were occupied by girls, who were just as naked as the boys. Michael's people couldn't be so immoral that they would allow boys and girls to sleep naked and uncovered within sight of each other.

The sunrise was starting to awaken others, including one of the girls. Ghoram desperately searched around his chair for his clothing.

The little boy sat up. "Are you all right, Michael? What are you looking for?"

"I don't know where my clothes are!" Ghoram answered in a half-whisper.

The boy smiled incredulously. "Your clothes! You're from an equatorial state. When would you have ever worn clothes?"

In dream logic that made sense. He probably didn't have clothes.

The little boy spoke again. "If you did have clothes, why would you need them now?"

"She's going to see me," Ghoram said, indicating with a jerk of his head the girl who was approaching.

"She'll see you? Are you sleepwalking? You are acting a lot like the settlers on the first day they arrived here!

The girl continued to approach. "It's just a dream," Ghoram repeated inside his head like a mantra.

"Is something wrong?" asked a female voice right behind Ghoram.

"Michael?" the little boy asked, looking at Ghoram.

Ghoram took a deep breath. "I am not Michael."

"I could see how that might be a problem. Who are you then?"

"I am Ghoram."

Nathan raised his eyebrows. "For the record, I think it's likely you are sleepwalking. But let's take that statement at face value. How did you get here, Ghoram?"

Who was this boy? He talked like an adult. "All I know is we talked during the night, and I dreamed I was spinning around in a dark place with a lot of tiny lights. When I woke up, I was here, naked, in this strange body."

"Of course you're naked," Heidi said. "It's not cold."

"What has cold got to do with it?" Ghoram asked puzzled. He had automatically turned to face Heidi, and belatedly realized he had done so. It's just a dream he reminded himself, fighting the urge to hide himself. He continued to face Heidi, looking into her eyes as he spoke. "When it's warm we just wear lighter clothing."

"Why?" Heidi asked. Now she appeared puzzled.

How could he answer that? "I don't know. We just don't allow ladies to see us naked, and they don't allow us to see them naked. I thought it was like that everywhere."

By now the entire group had gathered around him. He kept reminding himself it was a dream.

"That just sounds dumb" one of the boys said.

"Different worlds, different ways," Nathan said. "It might surprise you to know that on Deutscherwelt, people habitually wore clothing irregardless of the weather."

"How would you know that?" an older boy sked.

"I am older than I look. Look at me. I grew up in a one gee gravity field. I stopped growing at the age of eight and three quarters, right before I came to Neuerde. I am the one who wrote your history books."

"Why didn't you mention the clothing thing in the history then?"

"Compulsive wearing of clothing caused problems I didn't want to encourage here. We were all brought here naked, and folks quickly got used to it. It didn't make sense to divert resources to clothing when we didn't need it. By the time we could spare the resources, a new generation had grown up without the need for full-time clothing (except of course in Winter near the arc/trops)."

He addressed Ghoram again. "Michael is from the equatorial region. He has never worn clothing in his life, and it probably never crossed his mind to mention that to you, just as you probably didn't think to tell him that your people wear clothes all the time."

Ghoram tried to recall, then said "I probably didn't. We never talked about clothing that I can remember."

"You'll get used to nakedness, Ghoram. Don't worry about it."

Much to his surprise, Ghoram found he was already becoming more relaxed with the situation. He was surrounded by six naked people and he fit right in with them. There was nothing erotic about their casual nudity. He suddenly wished he could just go walking or running or playing some kind of sport, just to see how it felt while naked. It seemed it would be a great feeling of freedom.

Finally becoming aware of a warmth on his back, almost a burning in fact, he turned to see the fully risen sun shining on him.

"Is that the sun?" he asked.

"Yes it is," Nathan answered.

"I never realized how small and bright it is," Ghoram said in seeming awe.

"Because it normally lights up the clouds. The whole sky lights up as the sun rises?" Nathan asked.

"Yes."

"Don't stare at it. You can damage your eyes."

Ghoram turned to look at the little boy to see if he was serious. There was a dark spot in the center of his vision. "I think I already did!" he said in panic.

"Not yet," Nathan chuckled. "The spots will go away in a few minutes.

"While you're waiting, I'll explain where we are. This mountain is the tallest on the planet. We call it Mt Olympus. It's so high that it literally sticks out of the atmosphere. Outside of the clear dome, there is no air up here."

Ghoram looked at Nathan questioningly.

"Go touch the dome wall," Nathan said, pointing.

Ghoram walked in the indicated direction, using his peripheral vision. He didn't have trouble finding the dome. He walked right into it. He stood for a minute or two, trying to blink away the sun's after-image so he could see the landscape below.

Finally, he turned and addressed the group as a whole. "You people can't live here, do you?" In mid sentence, Ghoram had realized he was speaking and understanding a language he had never actually heard before. That realization made him second-guess whether he was actually saying what he thought he was saying. Then the remembrance that this was all just a dream kicked in again. Of course. Since this was a dream, speaking a foreign language could be easy as breathing.

"This is the first time any of you have been here," Nathan said. "I've been here a few times. The dome was actually my idea. It makes it easier on the Old Ones. The first few times, they had to constantly exert their power to hold the air in. Now, the dome does the work for them.

"Obviously, we do not live here. We are from all over the land you can see down there. Michael lives over there on the West coast," he said, pointing.

"So where is Michael now?" Ghoram asked.

"Umm. I was hoping you could tell us," Nathan said. "You're using his body right now."

"I knew it couldn't be mine. My voice doesn't even sound right, and I can't imagine how the skin got this dark."

The others exchanged glances. Michael's skin was of medium complexion, really. Some them were significantly darker skinned.

"So you don't know where Michael is?" Nathan prompted.

In dream logic, if Ghoram was here, then Michael would be back on Ghoram's world. He pointed up. "I guess up there, wondering how he got there." Why were the players in his dream sweating such details. Chances were, the way dreams worked, one of the chairs would turn into Michael any time now - probably in Ghoram's body.

"So are we saying you guys have swapped bodies somehow?" Nathan asked.

"The only thing I am saying for sure is that this is one really strange dream. It's interesting enough, don't get me wrong, it's just very strange."

Nathan looked puzzled. "I said before that I thought you were sleepwalking, but a sleepwalker isn't generally self-aware enough to suspect he is dreaming. With that level of awareness, you should be able to wake up, or be startled AWAKE!" Nathan screamed at the top of his lungs.

The little boy's piercing scream at such close quarters was painful to Ghoram's ears. Belatedly, he covered them and asked. "What was that for?"

In answer, Nathan, who was standing on his chair in front of Ghoram, punched Ghoram squarely in the solar plexus.

Ghoram dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Michael?" Nathan ased.

Ghoram could not speak yet. He shook his head.

"You don't seem to be asleep," Nathan said. "I suspect Ghan was busy last night, Ghoram. Welcome to Neuerde."

Ghoram had been performing a healing ritual in his head, and now felt the discomfort melt away. He stood again.

"If you had done that at home, I would have slapped you into the next village," he said.

Nathan smiled. "As I said, different worlds, different customs. Besides, you would have to catch me first."

"You don't think I..." Before Ghoram could complete the question, Nathan had dived through his legs, somersaulted, and come up behind him in a defensive posture Ghoram had never seen before.

"Where did you learn that?" Ghoram asked, appreciatively.

"In school on Deutscherwelt. At least that's where I got my basics. I have improved my training over the last several decades."

"Decades?" Ghoram asked. "How old are you?"

"Didn't we just have this discussion?" Nathan asked.

"Not with him," one of the Friends answered. "Not with this him," he ammended.

"Ghoram, how do your people measure age?" Nathan asked.

Gorham looked at Nathan the way he might have if there was had been a plant growing out of his face. "Bright Night Cycles. How else would you measure it, days?"

"What is a bright night cycle?" Nathan asked.

Every fifth night, the sky is much brighter than usual. But it is not exactly every fifth night. it slowly drifts."

"The cycle takes 200 days?" Nathan asked.

"Yes. How do you know?"

"This world goes around your world in point .795 of your days. The sun reflecting off of us might light up your night sky."

"Point seven nine five? What does that mean?"

"Seven hundred ninety five thousandths. For every thousand of your days, we go around you 795 times. If our day were .8 instead of .795 then the Bright Nights would fall every five days over part of your world, and never in other parts. but that five thousandths causes the drift you mention. Every 200 days, we complete the cycle.

Nathan paused to think, then said "Figuring five of your days to four of ours, and my age in days, let's see, that makes me close to 100 of your Bright Night ;Cycles. Between 90 and 100 anyway."

Ghoram's jaw dropped.

"Don't let the flies out," Nathan advised.

"I don't see how that is possible," Ghoram said. You look like a child."

"They'll fly out your open mouth. And you look like Michael, if you get my point."

Ghoram nodded. "Things are not always what they seem."

Without preamble, First Face appeared. "It is time to leave," he said. "The Oren that brought each of you here is ready to help you return.

"You will not meet here frequently as a group. It requires a lot of energy to allow you to stay here. Nathan was corect about the dome making it easier, since it holds the air, but we also have to control the temperature to keep you alive."

"I hadn't thought of that," Nathan said.

We know. Ghan is apparently willing to take everyone in the chair to Death Valley. Nathan, would you explain that to them?"

"Sure. I have no idea how he does it, but Ghan is able to transport you to another chair like this back in my valley. it's quite a ride, but safe according to Ghan."

"Death Valley?" Ghoram asked.

Nathan smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "Back on Earth, there was an island with such an ideal climate that the early settlers feared it would be overrun with immigrants once word got out. They named it Iceland to give the impression that it was inhospitable.

"I did the same thing. Death Valley is a wonderful place. The Oreni seem to like it too. They are always around in substantial numbers."

"How do you do it?" one of the friends asked.

"Just lay back and relax," Nathan said, as he demonstrated his words. "I'll meet you guys in the valley." He suddenly shrank to a tiny dot where his head had been. The dot flashed brightly and was gone.

"Everyone stared at fhe now-empty chair for several seconds.

Ghoram spoke first. "Why not?"he said, and moved to the chair. As he seated himself with everyone watching him, he was again aware of his nakedness.

It didn't last long however. As soon as he had settled in, he felt a quick senstion of motion, and saw a bright flash.

"Welcome to Death Vlley," Nathan said. "Enjoy your trip?"

"That was - unique," Ghoram said.

"This from a man who has traded bodies with someone from another planet," Nathan said.

"Or at least dreamed about it."

"Are we on that again? Look. I am not your dream. Do I need to start slapping you around to prove it?"

The thought of this little boy slapping him amused Ghoram. "That's allright," he said, laughing.

So get your lazy butt out of the chair so the next person can arrive," Nathan said.

Ghoram scrambled up in a hurry.

"What was that about?" Nathan laughed.

"I didn't want someone appearing inside me."

"It doesn't work that way. First off, Ghoram is smart enough to notice someone is in the way. Secondly, as their space re-expands, an incoming person might knock you out of the chair, but they wouldn't appear inside you," Nathan explained.

Before he had finished speaking, the next Friend appeared. Over the next few minutes two more appeared. Heidi, the latest arrival, explained that the last two had declined using the chair and were walking down the mountain instead.

"That'll take a while," Nathan said. "You guys might as well have a look around."