For the next three weeks, they stayed at Tallyn's dwelling, enjoying luxuries like baths and hot meals, along with such delights as sweets and films, long strolls in the forest and swimming in the heated pool. The council summoned Tallyn, who returned with the welcome news that it had agreed to let them stay. He urged them to learn Atlantean, and provided them with the necessary material.
Rayne found that she could learn at a remarkable rate, and retained the information with startling clarity. Rawn experienced the same phenomenon, but Tallyn would not explain the anomaly. It worried Rayne for a while, but then she accepted it and concentrated on her studies. By the end of the week, they spoke and read Atlantean, and practised on Tallyn. Some of their blunders amused him, but not sufficiently to make him laugh, or even grin. Rayne wonder if he did, in fact, have teeth.
Rayne studied other interesting subjects, like space flight, the theories behind the transfer Net and anti-gravity. Tallyn brought holofilms that they watched together after supper. The trio grew comfortable together, and Tallyn eventually laughed at one of Rawn's tasteless jokes, revealing even white teeth and dashing Rayne's theory on his reluctance to bare them to the light of day. Life settled into an ordered rhythm, which seemed normal to Rayne. Tallyn was away most days attending his duties, of which he rarely spoke.
After three weeks, Tallyn said he wanted them to meet an alien, ignoring Rawn's quip that there was one right in front of him. He took them to a little house, saying they would discover their talents, which intrigued them. Tallyn left them at the door with a parting smile.
They entered a room with a round black pool in the centre, bare but for a few plants. Rawn became wary, his old raider instincts kicking in. Rayne had grown to trust Tallyn a little more over the weeks, and was less concerned.
"A good thing too. He's earned it," a soft voice said.
Rayne gasped and glanced around in alarm.
"What's wrong?" Rawn demanded.
"I… There's someone here."
The honey sweet voice came again, and this time she realised that it was in her head. "So, you can hear me, but your brother can't. It's usually the females who have the power."
A strange itching made Rayne want to scratch behind the bone of her temple, and she rubbed her brow. Rawn looked puzzled. The sensation of a voice speaking inside her head was unpleasant, as if vibrations quivered her brain.
"Well, that's not a bad description," the telepathic voice said. "Don't worry, the itching goes away after a while."
"Where are you?" Rayne asked, and Rawn frowned at her.
"Over here."
She glanced around. A creature sat beside the pool, and Rayne wondered why she had not noticed it before.
"Because I did not wish to be seen before, my dear."
This time it spoke aloud, and Rawn spun around, his hand dropping to his belt, where his gun had once resided. He scowled. "Who are you?"
"I'm your teacher. My name is Callamindra-Falona, but you can call me Mindra for short."
The alien spoke clearly, even though it had the split lip and muzzle of a cat, which had always been thought to prevent animals like cats from being able to speak. It spoke Atlantean fluently, without any trace of an accent. It rose and walked towards them, looking like an overgrown cat with wide ears, sleek black fur and a bushy white tail. Its slanted golden eyes were set in a grey-furred face that was long and pointed, rather like a highly bred Siamese. A white ruff encircled its throat like a fluffy collar.
Mindra purred, "But you want to know what I am more than who I am, so sit down and I'll tell you."
They sat by the pool, a little stunned, and the cat-alien settled in front of them, curling its tail around its paws.
"First of all, I'm a she, not an it," she said. "I'm Shyanese. I come from the star system of Tryan. Many years ago, the Atlanteans came to our world looking for new planets to colonise. At first we stayed away, thinking they would leave, but when they started building houses we decided enough was enough, and made them leave. You see, we're the most powerful espers in the known universe, and that's what I've come to teach you. Tallyn asked me especially."
Rayne tilted her head. "How did you make the Atlanteans leave?"
Mindra's eyes twinkled. "We teleported them and all their equipment back aboard their ships, then teleported the ships about twenty light years away from our planet."
"But they came back."
"Oh yes, dearie, they did, but this time they came as friends, not colonists. They didn't try to invade us again." She gazed at them with wide, beguiling eyes.
Rawn leant forward. "So you've come to teach us ESP?"
"I'm going to teach you how to use more of your brains than you ever have before." Her ears twitched. "It's a shame to waste potential. So, let's not waste any time. I have a busy schedule. First, let's see what you can do now." She looked at Rayne. "You're already a little telepathic; an unformed talent. But you have more. Have you ever sensed people's moods in the past, and perhaps when they're lying?"
Rayne nodded.
"You have a slight empathic ability, most undesirable, although not too bad at such low levels." Mindra turned to Rawn. "You can't even hear me, which, considering how powerful I am, is amazing. I want you both to try to speak telepathically."
Rawn looked puzzled. "How?"
"Just think the words, dearie."
Rayne recited a poem to herself, and Mindra's luminous eyes rested upon her. "You I can hear faintly, but Rawn I can't. Let's try teleportation."
A rock near the pool floated over and landed in front of them. They gaped at it, and Mindra looked a little smug. "Lift it."
Rayne concentrated and Rawn scowled at it. Once more Mindra's eyes rested on Rayne. "I can feel power from you, but weak. Again, Rawn, you have nothing. Now I want you both to lie down and make your minds blank. I'm going to unblock the channels in your brains. You must relax and trust me. It may hurt a little, but don't try to resist, or it'll hurt more."
Rayne met Rawn's worried glance, sharing his obvious aversion to allowing an alien to do weird things to their brains.
Mindra purred, "I'm not going to hurt you, but it's your choice. If you choose not to do this, I'll understand. The crude operation the Atlantean doctors performed on you is also a harmless, perhaps even beneficial to you."
"What operation?" Rawn demanded.
"Ah." Mindra's ears flicked back. "Ask Tallyn.
"That's about as much good as asking a brick wall."
"Then I can't help you. Now, what have you decided to do?"
Rayne bit her lip, but Rawn shot her a wry smile and lay down. "Hey, I'll try anything once."
Mindra sat beside his head and gazed down at him. His trust surprised Rayne, for he was usually more suspicious of strangers than her, but the little cat-alien appeared to have inspired his confidence. In her, he seemed to sense an uncompromising integrity, and her gentle nature would not allow her to do him harm. Rayne sensed it too.
Mindra said, "You're correct, Rawn, and I'm flattered by your perception. Now, please empty your mind."
He smiled. "That's easy."
Rayne took his hand and cast him an encouraging smile when he glanced at her, then he closed his eyes and relaxed. Mindra sat like a statue, staring into the middle distance. Several moments passed before Rawn gasped and gripped Rayne's hand. She chewed her lip, her eyes darting from his impassive face to Mindra's. He grunted, twitching, and Rayne leant closer to put a hand on his arm. He winced four more times before Mindra's eyes regained their focus, and she relaxed.
"All right, it's over, you can think again."
He stared up at her. "What did you do?"
"I cleared a few blockages, but you'll never have any great ESP power. Now you have improved intelligence and memory. You might be able to hear telepathically, but that's about all I can do for you, I'm afraid. You just don't have the ability for more."
Rawn sat up. "Why not? I mean, what gives some people the ability and others not?"
"People with the ability have pathways in their brain through which the power flows, but you don't have them. That's the best way I can explain it."
Rawn looked disappointed, but shot Rayne an encouraging smile. "Go on, it's not too bad. You can handle it. Maybe you'll get more from it than I did."
Mindra nodded. "She will, but that also means it may be more painful."
Rayne looked from one to the other. "How painful?"
"It will be over quickly," Mindra said, "and you'll be glad you did it."
"This was Tallyn's idea? I wonder what I did to him."
"It's for your own good. Now relax and clear your mind."
With a sigh, Rayne lay down, closed her eyes and blanked her mind. A slight tingling sensation started inside her head, almost itchy. It moved from front to back and side to side, then stopped. There was a stab of pain, like a plucked nerve, and she yelped in surprise.
The tingling sensation continued to explore her brain for much longer before the next stab made her yelp again. Rawn took her hand and patted it. The pain faded, then another stab made her grimace and grit her teeth, squeezing Rawn's hand until he winced. Five more stabs of pain followed, then the tingle vanished, leaving her head throbbing.
"Rayne." The voice was in her head and much stronger now, clearer. "Sit up. It's over. You're now able to receive and speak telepathically. You'll be able to teleport objects over short distances, but nothing too heavy. Mostly your power is healing."
Rayne sat up and rubbed her brow, grimacing. "Healing?"
"Yes." Mindra rose and stretched, then settled herself again, her tail wrapped around her feet. "You'll be able to see sickness and heal it by projecting your consciousness into the patient's flesh and commanding it. I can't explain it, but when you meet a sick person you'll know what to do."
"Could it work the other way? In self-defence?" Rawn asked.
Mindra glared at him. "Such uncharitable thoughts do not exist amongst my people. A true healer would not think such things." She turned back to Rayne, her tail twitching. "I also discovered a weak path for creation, which I tried to clear. I'm not sure whether I succeeded, but try."
"What do I do?"
"Concentrate on something, like the tip of your finger, and imagine a tiny flame growing from it."
Rayne hesitated. "Won't it burn me?"
"Only if you do it wrong."
Rayne stared at the air above her finger, concentrating with all her might. Her head pounded, but, after a few seconds, a tiny flame appeared, flickered, and vanished.
"I did it!" she crowed, grinning.
Mindra snorted. "That will never do you any good."
"I could light a fire."
"You have no idea of true power. Allow me to demonstrate, so you'll know what you're striving for." She wandered a few feet away and sat down again, settling her still twitching tail around her paws. "First, teleportation."
Rayne gasped and flailed as she floated into the air, Rawn beside her, his face stretched in surprise. They rose to the roof, where they hovered, along with all the other objects in the room. The rocks and plants around the pool, the water, still in the shape of the pool, and Mindra herself, calmly washing her face, cat fashion. Ending her impromptu bath, she gazed at them with smug eyes.
"This is nothing," she said. "I could lift this whole building, and the rocks it's built on, but that might upset some people."
Everything settled back down where it had been.
"Next, creation."
A pillar of flame exploded in the far corner with a dull boom and grew to the size of a bonfire, filling the room with stifling heat. It vanished, and the air cooled. Mindra nodded at the floor in front of her, and a pile of fruit appeared, dewy fresh.
"Try some, if you like. It's perfectly real, not the images some charlatans project."
Rawn plucked an orange, lumpy fruit from the pile and bit into it. Juice ran down his chin. Mindra's tail stopped twitching. Evidently she enjoyed showing off.
"Next, shape changing."
Her form contorted and her features melted, then expanded into a scaly, seven-foot tall dragon-like creature. It gazed down at them, lifting its lips to reveal rows of shark-like teeth in a parody of a smile. Then the dragon melted into a dark-eyed gypsy woman.
"Like it?" She giggled.
Rawn gaped at her, the fruit forgotten. "Is that… was that… Which is your true form?"
The gypsy woman sat next to him, the little bells on her clothes jingling. "My true form is the one you met me in, dear boy." She laughed again.
"So you could become anything you want?" Rayne asked.
"Anything."
"That was why we didn't see you when we came in?"
"Yes, I was a rockery plant."
"And you could stay like that as long as you like?"
"Yes."
"Do I…?”
"No, my dear, you don't have that pathway."
The gypsy woman became Mindra again. "Then there's telekinesis." She looked at one of the rocks around the pool, and it split in two with a sharp crack, then the water bubbled, steam rising from it.
"I also heal, but that's difficult to demonstrate." She looked from one to the other. "Any questions?"
Rawn wiped fruit juice from his chin. "Can you do more than one at a time?"
"Yes. I could hold my shape as a gypsy woman and do one of the others, or I could teleport and do one of the others, but some combinations don't work, for instance, I couldn't create and do telekinesis at the same time, or creation and healing, or telekinesis and healing. Some things require more concentration, you see."
Rayne smiled. "No wonder the Atlanteans didn't bother you. No one could match your people. "
"Yes, that's true. We're respected amongst the alien races, although we don't travel much."
"So do you just create a spaceship when you want to travel?" Rawn bit into another alien fruit, this one bright green and hairy.
"No, we just teleport. There are two ways of teleporting, this one, which is really levitation," She drifted into the air, "Or this one." She vanished and reappeared several feet away.
"So you just… vanish here and reappear at home?"
"That's right."
Rayne leant forward. "You said I would be able to teleport. Will I be able to do that too?"
"I don't think so, dear. Your powers are limited, though Tallyn was right about your being talented. That's not your strongest talent. You're best at telepathy and healing, concentrate on improving those things. Now that you can communicate with your brother, practise that, and visit a hospital."
"Why don't you heal the sick?" Rawn munched the apple.
"I do, when I'm asked to, but I have other things to do at home. These are not my people. Besides, they have healers of their own."
"You said I had a talent for empathy. Did you strengthen that too?" Rayne asked.
"No." Mindra's ears flicked back. "That's one talent you're better off without. The ability to sense other people's emotions is fraught with disadvantages. You're better off without it. If I could, I would even remove that talent, but unfortunately pathways are far more difficult to close than they are to open. Your channel for empathy is large, but you appear to be unable to use it, for some reason. Rather leave it that way."
Rayne pondered this, no new questions springing to mind. The rock drifted over to her again.
"Lift it," Mindra commanded.
Rayne concentrating on it, and it wobbled. She tried harder, her head pounding. The stone rolled, then rose a few inches.
"I did it!" she crowed, and the rock cracked down on the floor.
"Very good." Mindra's eyes twinkled.
"But it hurts my head." She rubbed her forehead, where a steel band tightened.
"It will at first. You're using areas of your brain that you've never used before. The pathway is weak. You must exercise it, then it will get stronger and the pain will stop."
Mindra stood and stretched, arching her spine like a cat. "Now, if you have no more questions, I think my job's finished."
Rayne glanced at Rawn, unwilling to let this fascinating alien go, but not knowing how to delay her. His gaze was blank, and she turned to Mindra with a sigh. "We're very grateful for your help. Is there any way we can repay you?"
Mindra's ears flicked back, and her tail twitched again. "I have no use for money, if that's what you mean. I did it for Tallyn as a favour. If you wish, you can both owe me a favour. How's that?"
"Agreed." Rawn rose and helped Rayne to her feet.
Mindra looked up at them with mischievous eyes. "Well, good luck, and farewell." She vanished.
After staring at the place where she had been for several seconds, they turned to leave. Before they reached the door, Mindra's voice spoke in Rayne's mind. "Oh, I almost forgot, I slowed down your ageing to the same as the Atlanteans'. For some reason, you evolved into a far shorter-lived race than them, or maybe they did it to you. Anyway, you'll live a lot longer now."
They spun around, scanning the empty room.
"Mindra?" Rayne said.
"Yes, dear?"
"Are you at home?"
"Yes."
"How long will we live?"
"Several hundred years. Same as everyone else."
Outside, dusk spread cold fingers through the forest. Soon after they emerged, Tallyn arrived to take them back to his dwelling. Rayne found that her experience with Mindra was too personal to share, even with Tallyn.
The following day, Rayne studied ESP. Tallyn gave them access to the data web through the web line screens in his house, where they found a treasure trove of information. Rayne was a little surprised when Tallyn revealed that he was a telepath, and that most Atlanteans were, to varying degrees, but none had the awesome power of the Shyanese. Rayne added the Shyanese to her list of interests, and Rawn shared her curiosity. A vast amount of information was available from the technical library. Rayne knew that even if she lived to be three hundred she would never learn all it contained, even with their enhanced abilities.
They learnt how to operate the gravcar, and Talon brought one for them to use. With this, they visited the local library, where they found extra facilities for studying the store of knowledge. They often spent the whole day with the flocks of students that attended the various lectures and demonstrations.
Time seemed irrelevant, and Rayne was surprised when six months passed without her noticing. The council seemed content to let them live with Tallyn, and he appeared to enjoy their company. Rayne asked him if he had ever had a wife, and he told her he had made contracts with four women, two of whom had borne his children. He explained that Atlanteans made temporary contracts of a few years, during which time they might have children.
When the couple terminated the contract, the children stayed with their mother and the father supported them. To Rayne, it sounded a lot like a human marriage, only all parties knew from the outset that the end would come. Tallyn saw his children once a week, spending a day with each of them.
Tallyn explained the semi-defunct cast system, which was a casual ranking based on hair colour. In the past, it had been an important part of Atlantean culture, and only those of high cast were allowed to hold high office. Now it was a symbol of status, but its use to advance careers was frowned upon.
The more diverse an Atlantean's hair tones were, the higher status he or she held. Tallyn was therefore exceedingly well bred, which he admitted was the reason for his many contracts. The same rules precluded him from making a contract with a woman whose hair tones were insufficiently dissimilar, however. The whole thing sounded rather cold-blooded to Rayne, but, from her experiences with Tallyn, Atlanteans did seem to be a reticent and undemonstrative race.
Meanwhile, the seduction of knowledge continued to enthral her and Rawn with its bounty of discoveries waiting to be plumbed. Since they seemed to have no other function than to wait for the prophecy to come true, they studied alien cultures, languages, space flight, ships, and technology.
When Rayne glanced at the calendar again, nine Atlantean months had passed. The summer warmth faded as the planet moved away from its sun on its shallow elliptical orbit. The nights grew chilly, and they spent many pleasant evenings in the heated pool. Tallyn invited his friends over, and Rayne asked him to introduce her to more aliens. He took them to a crowded bar hidden deep in the jungle, where they met a bizarre collection of aliens.
Sseth, the owner and bartender, was a burly reptilian with a huge, frog-like mouth, four bright yellow eyes and a red-gold skin that gleamed like wet silk. Rayne asked permission to feel it, to Sseth's delight, and found it as rough as shark skin. Four sturdy legs supported his three hundred kilos of muscular bulk. He also had two pairs of arms, one pair long and delicate, with four-fingered hands, the other short and powerful with stubby hands.
Sseth grinned at Tallyn as he poured their drinks, lifting his lips to reveal several rows of pointed teeth. It was the best he could do, since his mouth was rigid. He and Tallyn were old friends, and he seemed pleased to see the Atlantean commander again. The alien band was an amazing collection of strange beings that seemed totally out of place with the sweet music they made. The flute player must have weighed several hundred kilos, and rested his huge tusks on the floor to hold up his head while he played the flute with tiny hands.
Rayne turned her attention to Sseth when he said, "I hear you're building a fancy ship, Tallyn."
"Your ears been flapping again, Sseth?"
Sseth grinned at what was clearly an old joke, since he had no visible ears. "I hear a lot of things behind the bar, like, for instance, that she's going into Quadrant Forty-Four."
"Who told you that?"
Sseth shrugged. "Don't remember. Alcohol loosens a lot of tongues. I just flap my ears." He made a hissing, grating sound that passed for laughter, Rayne assumed. "Besides, people have been wondering what's in there for centuries."
Tallyn frowned, finishing his drink, and Sseth poured him another.
"What do they say is in there?" Rawn asked.
"It's just a lot of tall tales," Tallyn said. "No one knows."
"Oh, yes, most of them are," Sseth agreed. "Like beautiful space sirens luring men to their deaths, and mysterious forces tearing ships apart." He leant closer. "But the latest one is interesting. There's supposed to be an ancient machine, left by some long-gone super race, which still guards the quadrant."
Tallyn snorted. "That's a load of rubbish. How can you repeat such nonsense?"
Sseth wiped the counter. "Some people believe it. They like to hear stories."
"And tell even bigger ones." He turned away.
"Could there be any truth in it?" Rayne enquired.
"Nobody knows what's in there. These are just stories that people with nothing better to do make up."
"What harm can it do?"
"Lots. Some poor sod might believe it enough to go in there, thinking he can make contact with this robot ship, or whatever it is, and live to tell the tale. There are a lot of would-be heroes around."
"Is there a fancy new ship that's going to explore the forty-fourth quadrant?" she asked.
"That's classified. Personally, I think it would be a waste of time going in there. Ships cross it all the time. It's only explorer ships that vanish. Whatever is in there doesn't want to be found, and when it is, no one lives to tell the tale. Does it sound like a good idea to go and look for it?" He sipped his drink. "Plenty of probes have been sent in there, and none of them returned either. It's a waste of money and men."
"Could it have something to do with the prophecy?"
"If it does, we'll find out when the time comes."
Rayne shivered. "I'd rather stay away from Quadrant Forty-Four, and whatever's in it."