7 A New Friend (3.2)

The Earth vehicles came to a stop about five yards away from Rivi. Turning away from the glare of their headlights, Rivi compressed her ship into a small, silver cube and dropped it inside the clear sphere on the cord now hanging around her neck.

As she adjusted the cord, a man and a woman dressed in khaki pants, blue shirts, and dark glasses approached Rivi.

"Greetings," the man said in a slightly louder than normal voice, raising his hands in a gesture of peace.

"I am fluent in most dialects of Earth, including English," Rivi said, shaking her head and smiling slightly.

"Good. Then my name is Ed, and this would be Alice, an associate of mine," the man replied, slightly taken by surprise.

"Was that a friend of yours?" the woman asked, looking into the night sky curiously.

"Yes, ma'am," Rivi replied, suddenly feeling small and alone as she stared after the silver cube that was now almost out of her sight.

"We've arranged for you to stay with one of our fellow employees. If you'll come with us, please," the man said, pulling off his glasses as if he suddenly noticed Rivi's change in behavior.

Rivi nodded and let them assist her into their vehicle. As the vehicles headed into the town, Rivi stared behind her and across the dark horizon. The dirt road from the desert valley turned into a hard, black surface that made the ride smoother. Although she knew that this place would be her new home, Rivi felt as separate from it as the houses in the town were separate from each other. The vehicles turned down a few streets before they came to a stop on the side of a road in front of a blue-sided house. The man got out of the front seat and walked around the vehicle to help Rivi out.

"Do you need help?" Rivi asked, seeing Alice pulling a large cardboard box out of the front seat.

"No, I'm fine," Alice said with a smile.

Rivi looked up at the house as they walked toward it, but her gaze soon drifted back toward the starry sky. They stepped up onto the front steps, and the man knocked on the front door. A light went on in the house, and a woman opened the door, meeting them with a smile. She pointed into the house and up the stairs behind her as Alice carried the box inside.

"This is Miss Olivia Tate. She will be your caretaker," Ed said. "Miss Tate, this is Sarah Ernestine."

"Please, I am much more accustomed to being called 'Rivinaig'," Rivi said with closed eyes as painful memories surged to the forefront of her thoughts, stirred by the mention of her birth name.

"Sure, come on inside then, Rivinaig. You look tired," Miss Tate replied with a warm smile as she stepped back a few steps, welcoming Rivi into her home.

Rivi looked up at her and then back to Ed, who gestured toward the door with his hand. Rivi entered the house as Miss Tate shut the door. Rivi followed Miss Tate up a flight of stairs and into another hallway.

"You only mentioned your first name," Miss Tate said as Rivi made it to the top of the stairs behind her. "Do you have a last name?"

"We never could figure out what all of our full names were. Many of the children were still young," Rivi said. "The Aunantet gave us all new names when they adopted us into their families. They never had any use for last names. The last time I heard my real name was before I was taken by the Aruk. Those are not memories I enjoy reliving."

"Well, you would probably stick out like a sore thumb if you enrolled in school with just a first name, but don't worry. I'll figure something out." Miss. Tate added as she saw a look of concern start to spread across Rivi's face. "The bathroom is here on your right, and your room is at the end of the hall to your right as well. If you need anything, I'll be in the room to the left."

"Okay," Rivi said quietly.

Rivi peered at Alice as she entered the hall from the door that was to be Rivi's room.

"We knew you would need some clothes," Alice said as though that one comment explained everything. "They're basic, regulation stuff, but they'll get you started until you and Miss Tate get some time to get some more."

"Thank you," Rivi said.

"You can put the empty box on the table downstairs. I'll be down in a minute," Miss Tate added.

Rivi watched Alice head downstairs a few steps before Miss Tate patted her on the shoulder. Rivi looked up at Miss Tate, who smiled and tilted her head toward Rivi's room.

Rivi walked into her room and realized that she was still carrying her black box and her palmtop under her left arm. She crossed the room and set the box on the windowsill. Feeling overcome with the events of the day, she walked over and lay down on the twin bed along the opposite wall. Miss Tate watched her silently before quietly shutting the door to give Rivi some space. Within moments, Rivi was sound asleep.

#

Two hours later, a nightmare encroached on her peaceful sleep. Miss Tate ran into the room to find a lamp, a few books, Rivi's black box, and a pair of shoes floating around the room. Shocked, Miss Tate looked toward Rivi, who was flinching and writhing on her bed.

All at once, Rivi woke, opening her eyes wide. She sat up, trying to figure out where she was—obviously, she was not on Aun! After a second, she looked toward the door to see a frightened Miss Tate looking from her to the objects floating in the room as light from the hallway behind her spilled into the room.

"Sorry ... nightmare," Rivi said, realizing where she was.

She looked at each floating object and lowered them softly to their places.

"Does this happen often?" Miss Tate asked, concerned.

Rivi shrugged and closed her eyes.

"Most nights, yes," she said, as she relaxed and lay back down.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

That night, Rivi woke with yet another nightmare. Thankful that she did not wake Miss Tate again, she walked over and opened the window to her room overlooking the kitchen roof. She grabbed a blanket off her bed and climbed out to sit on the barely slanted roof. Bringing her knees up to her chin, she pulled the blanket around her shoulders and gazed up at the stars. It was not long afterward when she fell asleep, leaning against the wall of the house.

As the sun came up in the morning, and seven o'clock arrived, Daniel came to Rivi's house as he said he would, and proceeded to knock on the front door.

"Hey, Daniel," Miss Tate exclaimed. "Rivinaig was down here earlier, but she went back upstairs. I'll call her."

"No need," Rivi called from the kitchen roof.

Rivi grabbed her book bag and jumped off the roof. As she fell, she changed the ground to absorb her impact so painful shock waves would not travel back up through her legs. She landed squarely on the balls of her feet.

Miss Tate raised her eyebrows and went back inside.

"It's all right. She knows that I already told you. It feels better to not have to hide my abilities all the time," Rivi said with a small smile, as they turned to head toward the school. "She was cross with me at first, but I told her you wouldn't tell anyone."

"Miss Tate ... She isn't your mom, is she." It was more a statement than a question.

"No," Rivi answered.

"Then where are your parents?"

Rivi sighed, looking up into the early morning sky before she answered.

"I don't know where my biological parents are. I haven't seen them since I was kidnapped and taken from them at the age of four," Rivi answered. "My guardian parents are on planet Aun."

"Planet Aun?" Dan asked.

"Yes."

"Okay, then ... How did you get there?"

"Our kidnappers attacked our parents here on Earth and kidnapped me and 149 other children and took us to Aun. They were part of a terrorist faction on Aun called the Aruk. The Aunantet government discovered the Aruk base two years later and rescued me and the other earth children. We were given families and raised as both Earth and Aun children."

"So then, your alien parents are still on Aun?" Daniel asked, raising his eyebrows as if he did not believe a word of Rivi's tale.

"I suppose so. I haven't heard from my father, Ankh, since I got here two days ago."

"Got here? Do you mean this town, Eatonville, or do you mean—"

"Earth," Rivi replied even more quietly, as they turned left down a new road.

"Wait a minute. Let me see if I've got all of this straight. You expect me to believe that you were kidnapped by aliens at the age of four, were raised by them, were taught how to do things using a separate part of your mind, that you've been living with aliens on an alien planet, and have only just arrived here two days ago?" Daniel demanded.

Rivi stopped walking so suddenly that Daniel continued a few steps before he realized she was no longer beside him and turned to face her. Rivi lowered her eyes. She knew this was the test that would tell her if she had a chance of fitting in here on Earth.

"You don't have to believe it, but it is the truth," Rivi answered in a hushed voice.

"Okay," Daniel said.

Rivi lifted her head to look at her new friend.

"I believe you."

Rivi smiled and resumed walking.

"Good," she said, "then you've almost completed stage one of our project."

Daniel laughed.

"For someone who hasn't been to Earth in—what, almost ten years?—you certainly seem to understand how we do things well enough," Daniel replied as he caught up with her.

"We were largely kept up-to-date on what was happening here on Earth, on the chance that we were ever able to return."

"Will the other children come?" Daniel asked.

"I think so, Dan, perhaps one day."

"You know, I've just noticed something. You keep calling me Dan."

"Sorry," Rivi began, but Daniel cut her short.

"No, it's okay. I just thought it was surprising that I hadn't noticed, that's all."

Rivi smiled as they approached the school. "If I don't get a chance to talk with you later, I'll meet you at the park after school."

"Do you know where it is?" Dan called, as they had been turning to go in opposite directions.

"Yes. I found it when I took the long way home yesterday."

"Good. See ya!" Daniel exclaimed, as they both headed to their separate classes.