The Alien Mind (free)

Secret Revealed

FRIDAY FINALLY ARRIVED, AND RIVI decided to pull out the clothes she had brought from Aun. The clothing was made of a lightweight material. Over her undergarments, she wore a long-sleeved light blue dress that went down to her ankles. The dress was straight and without decoration, except for the dark green around the collar that came down to a forty-five degree angle at the center of her chest. In addition, a gold stripe followed the edges of her long sleeves, which were cut at an angle so they fell over the top of her hands at a point.

Over this, she pulled on a dark blue sleeveless robe that was also trimmed in gold and fell straight down to half an inch above the edge of her dress. Since both garments were made of the same material, the articles of clothing moved freely together and made for a comfortable fit.

Compared to this, Earth clothes feel oppressive! Rivi thought.

She slipped on her flat-bottomed, dark blue slippers that she had brought from Aun. After grabbing her book bag and the DVD she and Dan created, she headed downstairs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and listened for any sounds. Everything was still and quiet. Rivi guessed that Miss Tate had left for work earlier than normal. A few steps later, Rivi crossed the entryway and stepped out the front door. She was instantly faced with Dan standing on the stairs.

"Good grief!" Rivi exclaimed. "You surprised me!"

"Sorry," Dan said, laughing.

"That's all right. Here, I didn't forget the disk," Rivi answered.

"Nope, can't forget that," Dan chuckled. "I've never seen that type of material before," Dan said, acknowledging her outfit. "Where did it come from?"

"We wore modified versions of the traditional Aunantet clothing while on planet Aun," Rivi explained. "Miss Tate had some leftover fabric she said I could use, so I decided to make you a set too. The material wasn't quite what I needed, but I manipulated the atoms to make it work. I am afraid that you might feel awkward in them because you are accustomed to Earth clothing though."

"I could try them on," Daniel suggested. "Maybe we could explain that we are wearing traditional clothing from your ... country ... because they follow the belief—"

"That you must be able to convince your mind that you can do anything in order for you to fully accomplish your full potential. Great! There's the ending we were looking for yesterday," Rivi exclaimed, running back inside to fetch the bundle of clothes.

#

Later that day, Rivi and Dan met before health class. Rivi handed the bundle of clothing to Dan and waited outside the restroom while he changed.

"I wasn't sure how I'd feel in a dress, but this is more like a tank top," Daniel said, as he exited the boys' bathroom wearing the Aunantet clothing.

"Actually, in the Aunantet language, the long tank top is called a krodel, and the vest-like robe is called an akruv, speaking of which, you have yours on inside out," Rivi shook her head, as she helped Daniel put the akruv on properly.

Daniel's attire was slightly different from Rivi's in both color and design. The long tank-top-style "dress" went down to six inches above his feet. His krodel was undecorated except for around the neck, which was dark blue and imitated the female attire Rivi wore because it, too, came down to a forty-five degree angle and fell slightly lower on his chest. The rest of the krodel was light green.

The vest-like robe, or akruv, that Dan wore was the same as Rivi's robe. However, it was dark green in color and a bit shorter. Under both the krodel and the akruv, Daniel wore a pair of dark green pants made of the same material.

"They're called oronets in the Aunantet language," Rivi informed him. "The whole outfit is normally called an akat."

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you these."

Rivi pulled a pair of green slip-on shoes from her backpack.

"These had to be designed especially for the human children," Rivi commented. "The Aunantet and the Aruk have different feet."

"What do the Aun people look like?" Dan asked curiously, as he sat on a bench against the wall to change his shoes.

"Perhaps one day I could show you," Rivi answered with a chuckle, "but right now, we have to get to class."

"Right," Dan answered, as he collected his belongings and they headed for the health classroom.

#

Rivi listened politely as the other students read their reports aloud. As she listened, she could tell which of the students displayed the most potential in the areas of health and health science. These particular students would make great healers someday. Unfortunately, Rivi knew that, at the rate the human culture on Earth was progressing, very few of these students would even start to tap into the beginnings of their minds' potential.

When it was their turn, Rivi nodded to Dan across the room. Dan took the DVD out of his bag and took it to the front of the room. Rivi walked over and spoke a few words to the teacher, Mrs. Jameson, to explain briefly to her what they had decided to do. Rivi nodded again to Dan, who took the DVD out of its protective case and put it into the DVD player mounted beneath the room's TV set.

"Last month," Dan began, "when we studied how certain drugs, scenarios, and other things affect the brain, we briefly discussed the fact that there are some people who hypothesize," Daniel paused. According to Rivi, it was not a hypothesis. He spared a glance at Rivi, who rolled her eyes. Daniel shrugged and looked apologetically toward the class, "that humans use only a small percentage of their brains. I have also recently found out that many other scientists hypothesize that we would be able to do more if we could force our brains into believing."

"Because this is such an abstract idea, Daniel and I decided to test it out and write our report on it. Our test subject was Daniel himself." Rivi paused as Bill, Ed, and Kurt began snickering in the back row. "Our experiment was to see whether a human truly could make his brain believe something it absolutely had not believed before. Like, for instance, how many of you believe that by using your mind, you could manipulate the atoms in an object to cause it to become lighter than its surroundings and levitate it?"

Rivi looked at Dan with a raised eyebrow as he tried to suppress a chuckle. None of the students raised their hands.

"Okay, you don't believe that. Good. I'd be very shocked if you said you did. You'd probably deny it still, even if someone told you it was possible, or at least, you would want proof, right?" Rivi asked.

The entire class nodded.

"Well, that is just how Daniel reacted when I told him I could teach him how to defend himself without teaching him how to fight."

Dan went to start the DVD, and said, "We put together a recording to help you to get a better understanding of what we did."

The class watched as Rivi and Dan went through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings. Rivi and Dan had carefully edited the movie to cut out anything that would point out who Rivi really was. Rivi also made sure they blocked out the bullies' faces to prevent any further problems. As a comp amalgamator, Rivi could enable the movie that she and Dan had edited to be put together seamlessly without losing any of the content important to their report. As the movie ended, Rivi resisted the impulse to turn it off mentally and allowed Dan to turn it of manually.

"As you saw in the end," Rivi said, wrapping up the report, "Daniel had to make his mind believe he could do something he had never done before. Because the odds were stacked against him, three to one, it wasn't easy. Daniel knew that, based only on his physical anatomy, it was impossible to fight against those odds. He needed confidence and the ability to see problems from many different angles in order to get over his fears."

Rivi paused and smiled at Dan who, after a moment, returned it.

"Then, he was finally able to make his mind believe differently. Where I come from, this is a subject that is very heavily studied."

"It is their unique belief that, in order for a person to be able to accomplish their full potential, they must be able to convince their minds that they can do anything," Dan said, hearing his cue. "I'm sure you are wondering about the odd clothes we are wearing. These are the traditional outfits worn in Rivi's country. We wanted to add a little flavor of her home while explaining one of their central philosophies."

Rivi nodded at Dan in approval, and then turned to look at the teacher.

"Very good, Daniel and Rivinaig. That was a very interesting presentation. Thank you." Mrs. Jameson paused as the bell for lunch rang. "Very well, then, I will see you next week."

The class headed out the door. Rivi and Dan collected their things and headed for the lunchroom as well. They were only halfway there when the school intercom came on.

"Rivinaig Tate, your mother has sent someone to pick you up. Please come to the main office."

Rivi looked up at the intercom box.

"Yes, sir," she answered, confused.

"Rivi, they can't hear you," Dan replied, looking at her.

"That can't be very efficient," Rivi said, frowning.

"It works most of the time," Dan answered with a chuckle. "By your mother, they mean Miss Tate, right?"

"I assume so. However, she didn't inform me that we had to go anywhere."

"If you want, I'll walk with you to the office and then head to lunch," Dan offered.

"Sure, you can keep me from talking back to intercoms that can't hear me!" Rivi said, laughing.

As they turned into the main hallway where the office was, Rivi stopped and walked over to look at some posters on the wall.

"What are you doing?" Dan asked, going over to her.

"Do you see those men in black suits and dark glasses beside the office door?" Rivi asked in a whisper.

"Yeah," Dan replied, lowering his voice as well.

"I just don't know. From the time I was captured by the Aruk, I have always been wary of beings who wish to keep their identities secret. I don't have any idea who those men are, except that they'd only be here because of me."

"The secretary said that Miss Tate sent them. The school would have to hear directly from her if someone else is allowed to pick you up, so they must be ok," Dan said, looking confused.

"That makes sense, I guess," Rivi said.

"How about I go first, to see if I can find out who they are," Dan suggested.

Dan left Rivi by the posters and approached the men by the office door.

"Afternoon," Dan said, as he stopped a few feet away from them.

The man standing closest to the door looked Dan up and down, his gaze then drifted over to Rivi standing farther away in the hall.

"Miss Tate sent us to come pick up Rivinaig," The man said to Dan and then looked over at Rivi in the hall. "The President wishes to meet her."

Dan looked back at Rivi, who nodded and stepped forward.

"I am Rivinaig. This is my friend, Daniel Peterson."

"Good afternoon, Rivinaig. I am sorry if we made you nervous."

"I'm sorry, I have developed distrust about people who don't want their identities known. My friend agreed to help me put my suspicions to rest."

"No apology needed," the man replied, turning to nod at the three men and one woman behind him who took off their glasses as he did.

"If you could come with us, the President wishes to speak with you."

"I will gladly come with you if you will just give me a moment to call Miss Tate ... Hold on," Rivi said, stopping as something alerted her mind.

She looked toward one of the security cameras in the hall. Knowing that they were connected to the school's main computer, she let her mind amalgamate into the connection and into the mainframe, where she found the anomaly that had alerted her. All of the school's computers were connected to the mainframe computer. One whole chain of those computers was crashing synchronously. She then followed the camera connections into that end of the school.

As she retreated back into her own mind, Dan could see her set her jaw firmly.

"What's wrong?" Dan asked, as the suited men looked on.

"Fire in hallway four. The alarm systems are faulty," Rivi said, turning to the men. "Students might be trapped. I am going to go help!"

"Stop! It's not safe!" one of the men called after her. "You won't be able—"

"I will because I can!" Rivi replied.

"Can I help, Rivi?" Dan asked.

"No! The fire's too strong. You'd get burned. Make sure everyone else gets out."

"Okay," Dan yelled as Rivi ran off.

#

As Rivi approached the double doors that opened into the fourth hall, she could feel the heat radiating through them. She held her palm in front of the closed doors and stepped through the middle of the door. Seeing the fire raging all around, she created an invisible bubble around herself, causing the flames to become harmless as they flickered against her.

Rivi heard yelling coming from a classroom halfway down the hall. She opened every door, checking inside each one for other people until she reached the door, where she could hear the pleading calls. Realizing that the fire was stronger here than in the hallway, she decided it would be best to step through the door again instead of opening it.

"Where are you?" she called above the flames.

"Back here!" a young male's voice called, followed by a hacking cough.

Rivi waved her hand and swept aside desks, books, and chairs. Textbooks burned brightly along the edges of the path she created. She walked steadily up to the wooden partition that obscured a small section of the classroom. Rivi feared that if she walked any faster, she might lose her concentration and the bubble around her, which was the only thing keeping her from being burned.

"We're back here! The shelf collapsed, and I think my leg is broken."

Rivi walked to the opening at the end of the partition closest to her. Seeing a few students surrounded by flames, Rivi forced her protective shield to extend around all of them before she did anything. The three boys turned white in shock as they realized the fire's heat was no longer affecting them.

"Bill, Ed, Kurt?" Rivi asked, looking at the three of them over the pile on the floor that was Bill, jackets, backpacks, boxes, and wood from the broken shelf.

"You! How did you get in here?" Bill questioned, although the pain in his leg was apparent in his voice.

Rivi gave a slight smile.

"Things aren't always what they seem at first," Rivi said, as she noticed a bunch of matches laying around the boys' feet.

Bill noticed where Rivi's gaze fell, and his own face turned defiant, although Ed and Kurt looked at their feet.

"Well, are you going to get us help or not?" Bill demanded.

"Help is already here," Rivi answered, narrowing her eyes.

Bill stared at her blankly. Rivi's eyes closed briefly and then, suddenly, snapped wide open. Bill, Ed, and Kurt looked at Rivi in terror. Rivi stretched out her hands, palms up, and lifted her arms, bringing a pile of charred backpacks and coats off the floor and onto the shelves above their heads.

Watching the backpacks and coats, Bill, Ed, and Kurt shrank away from Rivi in fear. She looked down at them with a sad expression.

"I won't hurt you, although this fire could've injured more than a few people today," Rivi said, kicking at a spent firecracker at her feet. "Ed, Kurt, I'll get you two out first. You two are not injured."

"The fire's too big now. We'll never get out," Kurt answered, scared, and failing to remember that the fire was no longer endangering him, thanks to Rivi's protective shield.

"The fire has little effect on me," Rivi answered matter-of-factly.

She stretched her hands out to the two boys, who stepped around Bill, still sitting on the floor. They took her outstretched hands, grasping at them as if they thought Rivi might pull away, as she led them to the opening of the partition.

"Don't leave me here!" Bill called, terrified.

Rivi released the two boys' hands as they stood looking out into the fiery classroom. Rivi's long brown hair flipped off her shoulders as she turned to look at Bill, sitting on the floor.

"Don't worry. I won't," Rivi answered.

She placed a hand between the shoulder blades of the two boys' backs, and drawing her shield in around them, she led them through the fiery classroom. As they reached the classroom door, Ed held the back of his hand toward the door.

"It's too hot to open," he said.

Rivi said nothing, but pushed them, screaming, through the closed door. They stopped screaming once they realized they had walked through the door, and they continued in shocked silence through the burning hall and toward the door to the exit. Again, Rivi pushed them through the doors and into the safety of the schoolyard, where students and teachers were all gathered together. Ed and Kurt stumbled toward the nearest teacher, who was looking past them to Rivi, who had only come halfway through the door.

Rivi withdrew herself back into the burning hallway. She walked back to where Bill was lying, now unconscious and overcome by the smoke.

"I've never liked doing this," Rivi said to herself, waving her hand over Bill and making him lighter than air, which caused him to float.

Rivi grimaced, knowing that it was much easier for Aun healers to manipulate the atoms in a person's body, so doing this would surely sap her strength. She held her hands under his levitating body and guided him back through the fiery hallway, where she had just led his friends. By the time she stepped outside, the students and teachers were also joined by Dan, the dark-suited men, and the newly-arrived firefighters. As she floated Bill through the outer door and into the fresh air, the firefighters were the first to rush to her side. Dan and the president's men wisely held back.

Rivi lowered Bill to the cool grass, as the smoke-free air began to revive him. Rivi fell to her knees as a firefighter pushed an oxygen mask to her face. Rivi took a deep breath, coughed, and pushed the mask away.

Closing her eyes, she ignored the protesting firefighter, and with the last of her mental strength, stretched her shaking arms toward the sky. Choosing only oxygen atoms, she brought her arms down and drew several deep breaths. When she opened her eyes, she found a few firefighters carrying Bill on a gurney toward a medical truck. The other fireman, who held the oxygen mask, looked at her in confusion.

Rivi gave a weak smile.

"I'm fine now, but thank you," she said, nodding to him as he stood up, still looking confused.

She got up and walked past the stunned students and staff, and over to where the school secretary was standing with Dan and the men.

"You okay, Rivinaig? " The secretary asked.

"You look exhausted," Dan said, concerned.

"I am, but I'll be fine. You said that Miss Tate knows I'm leaving school right?

"Yes, she knows. She told me to assure you that you would be ok with these men."

"Alright, let's go and have that talk with the President," Rivi said, turning toward the men.

"Right this way," one of the men said, motioning toward two black SUVs parked along the edge of the schoolyard on the curb.

Rivi shuffled toward the vehicles, until Dan offered to help. He took her arm and brought it around his neck to help support her. After a few more steps, her legs went limp and he scooped her up into his arms.

"Thanks," Rivi mumbled as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"What are friends for," he said as he carried her toward the vehicles.