Me.
Two dozen women, chasing after me. And I was still not really fully conscious from my long stay under suspended animation.
Maybe I'm dreaming! I thought.
No. No dream. I was at least wide-awake enough to tell that. The women were battling furiously; I was being shunted back and forth from one to another. I was starting to feel like a plaything. So I struck back.
I landed a fist in a tough, unyielding female stomach, then splatted a hand into a pair of lovely lips. I was fighting for my life now; they were threatening to smother me. Two of them got me down, while a third grabbed one arm and tried to drag me away.
Suddenly I heard a loud voice yell, "Stop!" And an instant later, everything stopped. Completely. None of us could move a muscle. I was locked in the embrace of a wild-looking but rather lovely blonde, whose face was frozen in an expression of glee.
Only my eyes could move. I rolled them around and saw a woman in regal panoply stalking majestically toward us. She held a small metal weapon in her hand.
"You've all behaved disgracefully!" she said ringingly. She clicked the weapon at us a second time and the stasis broke. The horde of women picked themselves up and stood staring sheepishly at the floor. The Queen—for her rank seemed obvious—swept imperiously toward me.
"Are you the Sleeper?" she demanded.
"I believe so, your majesty."