The Journey Home (2.2)

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?"

"Not really. I was able to tell some of it to my guardian father, Ankh, but I was never able to tell him all of it. The dreams just keep coming back."

"Perhaps it would help if you shared all of it?"

"Maybe someday I'll be able to share all of it with someone. For now, I just live with the dreams," Rivi answered, trying to push the horrible dream from her mind.

"Does the 'floating objects' thing happen often?" Miss Tate asked, worriedly.

"Oh, that? That's nothing." Rivi looked over at a book and made it float over to her new caretaker.

Miss Tate gasped and waved her hand around the book to try to figure out how it was floating.

"It won't bite."

Miss Tate gingerly plucked the book from the air.

"Goodnight, then, if you're sure you're okay," Miss Tate said, still a bit unsettled.

"Yes, goodnight," Rivi answered, rolling over as Miss Tate left and shut the door behind her.