oblivious to the growing discomfort in the back.
'Where are your factories, industries and so on?'
'Those are mostly underground.'
Rayne gripped her seat. 'How far is it to your house?'
Tallyn looked back at her. 'Not too far.' He shot them a brief smile, turning back in time to swerve around a tree.
Rayne released her white-knuckled grip on the seat as they passed the tree. A few minutes later, they landed in front of a rustic log cabin in a glade, and quit the vehicle. The cabin's door slid open at Tallyn's approach, and it appeared to be a lot larger inside than it had looked from the outside.
They passed through a long room that housed a heated swimming pool set amid rocks, ferns and palms. A transparent roof allowed sunlight to flood in, filling the house with cheerful warmth, and soft grey moss served as carpeting. Atlanteans, Rayne reflected, certainly seemed to like plants. They entered another spacious, sunlit room decorated in pastels and filled with alien foliage.
Tallyn handed out fruity drinks and flopped into a comfortable chair with his own.
Rawn settled on another chair. 'How long were they going to keep us locked up in that damned room, anyway?'
Tallyn shrugged. 'I don't think they had given it much thought. Once you were safe and installed in what they thought was a suitable environment, provided with food and entertainment, they thought they had done enough.'
'I'd have thought they'd take better care of someone who might be their precious Golden Child.'
'Rayne is only a candidate. One of four, I believe, that have been found on other worlds. If she's the one, she'll be accorded the respect she deserves, but until then she'll be treated just like anyone else.'
Rayne asked, 'What are the other girls like?'
'Mostly children, except for one older girl, but I believe you are the oldest.'
'So there are another three planets dying right now, just like Earth is?'
'No, we've found five or six. One might be saved. Two girls were taken from one of them, and none were found on the other three.'
'What are they like?'
Tallyn looked thoughtful. 'The two who were taken from Hendis seem to fit the prophecy's description better. They're young, five and eight of their years old, and they have golden skin, hair and eyes. There's biological warfare on their planet, and the people are dying from a disease they unleashed. But the planet itself is not dying, and the prophecy definitely says 'the dying planet'.
'The other girl, who's sixteen, comes from a race of white-haired, brown-skinned people. She only has golden eyes. Her world is being destroyed by radiation released through the foolish testing of nuclear weapons, but again, the planet may recover, although grossly changed, and inhabited by mutated animals, mostly insects.' He glanced at Rayne. 'The council agrees that you're the most likely candidate, although Rawn fits the description better.'
Rayne glanced at her brother, who met her gaze with raised brows and a teasing smile. She wondered what lay in store for them on this alien world, and how much they could trust their new benefactor. Although he seemed genuinely concerned about their welfare, she clung to the old habit of distrust that had served her so well in the past.
Chapter Seven
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
