WC1 - The When Sleep.

Later.

The bunting flapped weakly as the occasional desert breeze from the large sugar-white
gypsum left it's strange home of White Sands and wafted the dusty smell of the Soaptree
Yucca down Highway 70 to where James and the white-man known as John stood waiting
for the race to begin.

It was the annual Los Alamos And Holloman Air Force Base Carnival and when President
Herbert Hoover had declared the strange area of alabaster desert a National Monument,
the folk who had built the world's first Atomic bomb felt that a Carnival would be a good
way of showing the surrounding towns of Almogordo, Las Cruces and the Elders of the
local Native American reservation that they had a caring side.

The Fair had gone well with the many stalls and competitions that the Government
facilities and families of it's employees had provided and for the first time -this year, there
were two booths that offered colouful dream-catchers and daubed desert paintings from a
local tribe.
It was this July of 1963 that James Ashkii Dighin decided to enter the Dunes Cross-Country
Run.

The twelve year-old Navajo boy tilted his tanned-face towards the late- afternoon sun and
murmuring a small chant, James reluctantly handed his home-made crutches over to his
new-found friend.

"Remember..." said John in his strange accent "...just focus on your own pace and don't let
the others distract you from your goal"

James glanced at the gnarled wooden walking- aids on the side-walk beside John and
wished he could use them in the race. He would have, but the man that had stepped out
of the desert two weeks ago had assured him that he wouldn't need them.

"Your name means 'Sacred Child' and that tells me that your spirits will help you" John
whispered softly, but the stone-like features never changed or offered any kindness.
James had been born lame, his left leg had been twisted during his time in his mother's
womb and only because of his unwavering persistence, he had never used a wheelchair.

"Thank you John, you're a good man" James said towards the crouching man in the faded
clothes and then turning, he limped towards the Starting Line.
As the crippled lad with the night-black shoulder-length hair wound his way through the
twelve other participants, Charles Shaw stepped up beside the rising man with the
rickety crutches.

"Heh, redskin..." a young man with hair the colour of the scarlet ribbon they sell at
the Marbury Store in town -grunted "...you shouldn't be here with the civilised folks"
This remark brought a murmur of laughter from the surrounding runners and a couple
of spectators.
James merely gulped and looked out the white desert before him.
...................

"Do yer' think he'll finish the race...?" Charles said amiably and fired up a homemade
cigarette "...Ah' mean the kid's bum-leg is gonna hold him up a tad" he added as he
shook the flame from the kitchen match. John never turned to look at the interloper,
he knew who it was.

"So the great Professor Charles Shaw has found me..." John said keeping his eyes
on the small boy among the taller runners. Mayor Antonio Chaves was still talking with
a group of men and it was he, who was to start the race.

"...That's quite a rare gift you have there" John said and moved James' crutches into
his left hand, Charles made a mental note that this particular 'When Sleep' was right
-handed by freeing a favoured arm to kill him with.

James was the only Native American in the race and Charles knew that this statistic
wouldn't be lost on the artificial killing-machine standing slightly ahead of him.

"Oh, ah' was just visiting some friends and thought that a trip to the Carnival would
do me some good, I used to come here when I worked at Los Alamos" Charles said
quietly and stepped beside his one-time experiment. "But you knew that" he added
and waited for the bait to be taken.

John turned and looked into the eyes of the man who had guessed the 'When Sleep'
agenda many years ago, the white-haired man had aged well -he thought.
"So you will alert the authorities and receive tributes for your discovery?" John hissed
softly as Mayor Chaves waddled his large girth towards a small dry-goods crate
that doubled as a platform.

Charles smiled and blew a plume of blue smoke into a sky that laughed at the faux
colour "Not me fella, those days are long behind me" he muttered and dismissed the
question by turning back to the race.
...................

The starting pistol was loud and the crowd of around a fifty acknowledged the sound
with a moan-like gasp, Mayor Chaves looked down on his people with pride as the runners
set off.

James was pushed to the floor as the runners jostled to get ahead, but the thin boy with
the pronounced limp merely clambered erect in a instant and set off after the group.
It had been this way all of his life -he thought and licked his lips.
"But not today" John whispered to nobody.
...................

The blanched crystals of White Sands made the going tough and older onlookers knew
that this obstacle could assist in levelling the playing field. Originally, the race was held
for the fun value only, but in recent years, it had become very competitive and this was
largely due to gambling.

Anyway, nobody had betted on the gimp Indian kid... nobody but some white-haired
stranger with an angry face -that is.

"He will run because he has the right to run..." John said and Charles noticed the strange
tone in the voice, it was almost like a prayer.
"He will run and feel the earth turn and he will know that life is a race. If you fall and
weep, you will be left behind" John murmured and again, Charles heard a reverence
in the assassin's words.
...................

James limped on and the pain from his back came almost straight away. As he had
grown up and if he had walked too far, the small of his back would begin to throb
with the compensation his body had to do in allowing the left leg to move.
And he hadn't even reached the end of Stage One yet.

The sands pulled at the sweating young men that assaulted it's surface, the eye-aching
whiteness offered a blindness of the mad, a view that the brain struggled with.
James lunged on and muttered the words John had told him.
"I will not fall... and I will not be left behind" he chanted through gritted-teeth.

The stranger called Porter stood beside the wooden tourist board-walk and watched the
tallest of the white youths pass by and then -he too, began his quiet statement.
"Every sentient being holds the right to live as one with the world around him..." Porter's
thin lips moved as two more runners plodded through the loose sugary gypsum.
"...No man-made law can halt this demand and no human will oppress another... For I am
When Sleep"

James skirted around the big Yucca that told him he was moving into the second part of the
race, he was surprised to see the red-haired young man with a face covered in freckles
nursing his swollen ankle and leaning against the flaky trunk of the tree.
But the look of disgust from the ginger-haired youth told James to press on.

"I have a right to be here, I survived and nobody will stop me..." he whispered and winced
at the sudden-sear of pain in his spine "...For I am Me" he hitched and stifled a grimace at
the darkening azure sky.
The hill beckoned and James urged himself forward.
...................

John moved away without looking at the old chain-smoking scientist and his pace showed
Charles that he wasn't fleeing, merely moving into a better position to view the race.
The act of acquiring optimum conditions was one of the many attributes of the 'When Sleep'
-Charles thought and smiled to himself as he followed the tall fair-haired male carrying the
kid's sticks.
He smiled, but watched the man ahead warily, 'When Sleep' were built to kill.

"Did you leave or did they kick you out, Mr. Shaw...?" John asked as he scanned the bright
surroundings, the small clump of runners were heading down a large sandy hill towards a
collection of dunes and hollows that would make the viewing difficult for the spectators.

Most of the noisy crowd were now meandering along the Carnival's midway and Charles'
guess that they were heading to finishing line over at where the Refreshments Marquee
waited.

With a rub of his stubbled chin, the ex-Professor peered out at the white dinosaur of sand
that died in the Tularosa Basin and contemplated his answer.
"Once ah' knew what yer' were going to do, I thought it prudent to high-tail it outta there..."
he said softly, James was not too-far behind the main pack but he looked like an ant
crawling across an icy waste.

"...The Government put you and yer' friends to good use -I hear" he whispered sarcastically
and John's eyes flickered only slightly with the acid response, but Charles saw it.
"This is true, Charles..." John admitted and revealed a slight-smile to the older man near
him. "...But our plans became our priority and so, we decided to leave"
The smile held the warmth of a grave-digger's belt buckle.
...................

To mark the race's course, small flags had been placed every eight feet to show a six-foot
wide corridor through the more barren parts of the dunes. The small valleys held no foliage
and a person could become lost among the confusingly-same surroundings.
In the first dip, the 'When Sleep' called 'David' waited for the runners to pass.

"They say only the strong survive, but the true meaning of strength resides in the
ability of service to the weaker..." David said against the panting of the struggling young
men. "...To help another is the most noble of acts, to see the weak succeed feeds the soul"
David proudly announced and placed his hands behind his back.

James lumbered by with the jockey of pain laughing on his back. Passing the fluttering
flag marked '3' the small Navajo wondered what the man in the weathered clothes was
doing out here alone. Alone and smiling.

"I will not fall" James gasped and stumbled on towards Stage Three. David nodded in
agreement and let his tears come. The dark-haired man sniffed and struggled to finish
his statement. "...For I am When Sleep"

Stage Three took out two of the competitors due the rough incline of the large dune
staring down at the dip, the bare feet of James almost glided over the snow-white
surface and the young boy was grateful of John's suggestion of shedding his moccasins
-earlier.

Even though his leg troughed through the sand and left a wake that resembled the tracks
of the Diamondback, James knew he was closing the gap between himself and the other
runners and this was the belief he battled against the pain with.
"Come on" he growled to himself and picked-up the pace.
...................

"We will be travelling east soon..." John said to the returning-Charles Shaw as the old man
that had witnessed the deadly training of John and his cohorts, stepped closer with two paper
cups of lemonade.
The Refreshment Tent was filling up with those who wanted something a little stronger and so
Charles and the escaped experiment from over ten years ago watched the distant race without
any eavesdroppers.
"...Your President will be in Dallas and we wish to speak with him" John said and with a nod,
thanked the human bearing gifts.

Charles breathed deeply through his nose and offered a doubtful look. "There are some that
will not want you to do that" he said evenly, John had returned to gazing out at the New Mexico
desert.
"We know that we're seen as just 'product' by some, but we have self-awareness now and we
wish to exist freely" John snipped "Your leader will see this" he chirped confidently.
...................

The stranger with hair that rivalled the sand around him stood erect from his work and stared
out at the oncoming runners, Adam had been the first of the 'When Sleep' created and it had
been his plan to assist the crippled boy in the race.

Three other men waved from the top of the dunes and the Adam knew the plan was in effect,
he bowed at his younger brothers and placed his hands behind his back.

"There are many who covet and many who hoard... " Adam sneered as the remaining runners
banked left and followed the small markers out across a flat plain.
"Materialism holds their spirit and the burden prevents the soul taking flight" he whispered and
trammeled his anger beneath his skin. A runner wearing a stained-baggy vest gave up the race
and fell to the warm sand, the evening was tapping it's impatient foot and yet the heat of the day
still resided in the desert.

Gasping for air, the young man -who must have been topping six-feet four in Adam's reckoning,
rolled over and stared at the cloudless sky.

Adam and the others busied themselves replacing the flags back to their original position and
waited for the small boy to crest the bank to his right. The passing of the dark-haired youngster
made the angry man show a rare smile.
"We certainly are When Sleep" Adam chuckled.

"Heh... Albino!" the young man in the sweaty vest shouted from his prone position "...the Injun
is going the wrong way" Adam turned and with all his might, and pushing his rage down, he
stepped up to where the runner lay.
"No son..." the snowy-maned killer rumbled "...YOU have gone the wrong way" and reached for
the confused human in the sand.
...................

Charles Shaw watched the killer from Los Alamos laboratories hold his tiny cup of lemonade
and stare out at a weak-mangled child trying to win something.
Knowing what the 'When Sleep' were capable of, the scientist who had witnessed the sky-ripping
explosion out at the Trinity Site couldn't stop himself smiling at the figure before him.

"Do you think the Government will just let you live free?" he asked squarely and after his grin had
subsided "I mean, you'll be a more assertive species and that -they will see as a threat" he
supplemented.
John sighed and pulled his gaze from the bleached visage of barren land, the piercing eyes warned
Charles not to interrupt him.

"We will endure. The world is large enough for your people and mine, the eventual actions of your
ancestors against the indigenous peoples of this land testifies to that" he whispered.
...................

James' left leg was going numb and twice, he had stumbled towards the sand and almost tumbled
down one of the dunes. He knew he didn't have much time left before the limb would not be able to
function and the tight-lipped grimace told of the boy's memories of having to stay in bed for two days
after such damage.

"Don't fall down.. don't fall down" he recited to himself and gripped his toes into the warm granules,
he was so tired.
Still, John and his friends said that he could do it and that was enough for the solitary runner who
groaned at his back-pain and pushed his weary legs forward.
He would go on -he thought to himself, he would endure.

The small clump of tents near the Finishing Line appeared as James rounded the large deposit
of sand and salt-bins. What on earth the highway needed salt for with an ever-encroaching desert
as a neighbour, the young Navajo had never understood.
Anyway, he had reached the Finish Line and that was enough for him.
...................

"We will behave as you do, nothing more and nothing less" John said as his granite-like face
broke into a beaming smile. The audience that spilled from the Marquee looked around confused
as they searched for the other runners.

But just a small well-tanned boy hobbled alone across the paved road towards them.
Charles offered wide-eyes at the sight and as the spectators were doing, he looked for the rest
of the field. "Wha...?" he gasped and felt a light hand on his shoulder, John passed him and walked
towards the limping child.
"We will behave as you do" John muttered to himself and broke into a run.
...................

It would be another ten minutes before the remaining runners lumbered over the scuffed line of
the finish. The parents and onlookers couldn't understand how their boys and wagers had gone the
wrong way and the report from the tall lad about alone stranger in the desert showing him how to get
back on-track was something that just didn't make sense.

Still, the small Indian with the gammy leg had come first so with a buried reluctance, Mayor Chaves
handed the slightly-dented silver cup over to the Navajo called James something-or-other.
...................

Charles left the annual Los Alamos And Holloman Air Force Base Carnival as the sky produced it's
treasure trove of jewels. The old man climbed back into his pick-up pondered the last words John
had said to him.

The 'When Sleep' had wandered off towards the ghost-coloured dunes as the evening had
pressed home and there, seven man-shaped shadows waited near the roadsign that showed the
way west. James -trophy and crutches in hand, was with them.

"When the day comes that you accept us as your equal, it will be the day that your species will be
truly honest with itself. You and I may even become friends.
Sleep well Professor"