Prophecy

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