"Be still," she commanded. She put her porcelain face near the horse's muzzle. Orion, the black stallion, stamped his hooves and snorted through flared nostrils. Echidna's black eyes magnetized the horse. Orion's eyes rolled as he snorted, showing the whites, then stilled, staring directly at Echidna.

"You are a beautiful animal," Echidna purred, continuing her eye lock.

Orion stood still as Echidna petted his neck.

"I want this one," Viktor announced. Pegasus, a large black Arabian, jerked furiously. He was tied by a rope and stamped his feet, tossing his head.

"We like his spirit," Viktor said.

The horse tried to rear onto his hind legs, but was tied.

"Hey, buddy," Mike called. "This one's a wild one."

"All the better." Viktor focused his blue eyes on the horse.

Viktor put his thick fingers to the horses' jaw. He stared intently so the horse couldn't look away. Pegasus gazed into Viktor's alien eyes.

"Be still. You will be ridden."

The horse obeyed and stood still.

Everyone had picked a horse. Mike threw saddles over their backs. He went outside and the horses followed. He offered his hand to Echidna to help her mount.

Echidna ignored Mike and hopped up onto the saddle.

Mike shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Happy birthday, Perseus said, turning her neck to look up at Kaila. Happy day! She shook her head and stamped her foot.

"Thanks, girl." Kaila patted Perseus's mane as she nudged her thigh, and Perseus trotted toward the fence. The hive followed. When she was out of earshot of Mike, she reined in, said over her shoulder, "Any of these horses get hurt and I'll knock you back to Zeta Reticuli or wherever it is you come from. Understand?"

"We come not to hurt, but to honor your birth," Echidna said, looking affronted.

"Y'all been around horses?" Mike called.

Echidna, on Lyra, stared at Mike as if he was an aphid. "Open the gates," she said.

"Yes, open the gates," Viktor said, his horse staring blankly.

"Open the gates," Lucius said, holding the reins in one hand.

Mike complied. As the gate swung open, the horses bolted forward into the open field. The horses galloped ahead, leaving the barbecue smoke behind.

Kaila squeezed her thighs on Perseus's back as the wind rushed on her face.

This was what she loved best in the world. Riding a horse in fresh air.

Jordyn rode Mira next to her, hunched over with his rump in the air like a jockey.

Kaila looked behind. Echidna, Viktor, and Lucius rode full gallop. Their rapt expressions showed that they felt the taste of freedom, riding in the sunshine on wild Earth.

Kaila's thighs melded with Perseus; her body merged with the horse to one. The horse's legs were hers. Such bliss becoming one with a beloved animal, one with the gra.s.ses and pond, one with the dragonflies lighting on the lily pads, one with the wind and the sun.

To Kaila's left, Jordyn matched her stride. His face lighted in sheer delight. She guided Perseus to a trail into the woods. Jordyn followed. Echidna, Lucius, and Viktor turned, preferring to gallop in the open fields.

"Let them go," Jordyn called.

They rode in silence, enjoying the smell of the damp forest floor, the sound of birds chirping in the trees. The trees formed a canopy of leaves above.

When they reached the stream, Kaila dismounted.

Kaila and Jordyn sat cross-legged before the stream, the water glistening in the sunlight as it bubbled over rocks.

"This is my private place," Kaila said.

"It is beautiful," Jordyn replied. "Thank you. We have never experienced riding horses. It was incredible."

Drawn like two magnets, they embraced, wrapping arms about each other.

"I missed you," he said.

"I missed you too."

"Take this off." He removed her wig then unbound the plastic from her head.

"Wait," Kaila said, retrieving a comb from her pocket. She had come prepared.

"Don't," he said. "You are beautiful in all your ways."

"Still." She combed her hair, happy to be free of the wig, happy to be alone with Jordyn.

"I don't understand why you all are so concerned with clothes and hair," Jordyn said. "It's so much easier to wear the same thing every day." He pointed to his silver bodysuit. "Wasted thought energy over body coverings." He shrugged. "But now, I give you a birthday present."

Kaila wondered what sort of a birthday present Jordyn might offer.

"Do you remember the night we watched the television?" he asked. "And you said you always wanted to see the pyramids?"

Kaila recalled the show on the History Channel.

"I will teleport you there," Jordyn said. "Now."

He enfolded her with his arms; his eyes went black. The green leaves of the forest and the silver cascading water glittered in vibration, then receded. A moment pa.s.sed where just Kaila and Jordyn held one another, suspended in time and s.p.a.ce.

The outside world materialized and they sat on hot sand. Kaila looked up.

"Oh my G.o.d!" Kaila shouted. Before her towered the great Pyramid of Giza.

Chapter 11.

The pyramid towering in the Egyptian desert left Kaila awestruck. Constructed of mammoth rectangular stone blocks, its peak pointed to the clear blue sky. The fact that she stood in Egypt left her stunned. To one side was the city of Giza with its buildings, buses, and cars. To the other was desert sand and another pyramid.

Tourists milled on the sands around the pyramid, posing while taking pictures. People visited from all around the world. Some women wore black, robe-like abayas covering their whole body and head, leaving only a peephole for their eyes. Many women wore colorful veils covering their hair.

"This is amazing," Kaila said. "But how are we here in Egypt with the sun overhead as it is in Louisiana when we left?"

"Time is an illusion," Jordyn replied. Kaila could barely listen; she was so enraptured with the exotic tourists, camels, and the ancient pyramid. She held her breath, afraid to move in this magical time and s.p.a.ce.

"Illusion?"

Jordyn took her arm. "Look. Over there."

Kaila put her hand over her eyes and looked. She saw a silver strip of water shimmering over the sands. "It's a mirage, isn't it?" she said. "There's really no water there."

"And so it is with time."

"I don't get it."

"The mind and collective beliefs create the illusion. So I transported us here at the perfect time for us, which is for them, yesterday, but for us, now."

"I think the more I know, the more my mind is blown."

"Don't say that," Jordyn said. "You have no idea what your mind is capable of."

Kaila stared at Jordyn, who wore an inscrutable expression, but she felt him radiating to her, strong as the burning sun overhead. He looked at her lips. She watched his mouth.

She arched her back, wishing he would kiss her. She wanted to throw herself on him. But making out in front of the pyramid was probably not the best idea.

He smiled. Kaila blushed, realizing he was reading her mind.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "You want to ride a camel?"

"Yes!" She exhaled, grateful he had diffused the moment.

Jordyn approached a camel herdsman. A camel lay down, allowing Kaila to mount. Jordyn climbed up behind Kaila. She took the reins, feeling Jordyn's body snuggly behind.

They swayed on the camel's back over the sands, admiring the three pyramids of Giza. The sun warmed her shoulders, matching the glow in her chest-she was elated-stunned with the teleportation and to be in Egypt while her family barbecued in Louisiana, half a world away.

They drank in the colorful tourists, many robed with covered hair of the east, many in jeans and t-shirts of the west. The camel wandered over sand dunes to another pyramid as Jordyn's arms encircled Kaila's waist. She reined in to stop and admire the pyramid. An entrance leading inside the pyramid was flanked by two uniformed guards wearing sungla.s.ses and berets. Jordyn brushed Kaila's ear with his lips. "Want to go inside?" He breathed alongside her neck.

"Yes," Kaila said, ecstatically covering her mouth with her hand. Jordyn dismounted and helped Kaila onto the sand. Jordyn took the reins and stared at the camel, his eyes going black.

But I'm tired, hot, and thirsty, the camel protested. I don't want to work anymore.

Sorry, buddy, Jordyn said. I'm not your master.

The camel lifted its lip showing stained teeth. You can understand me?

Go. Jordyn waved his hand.

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, the camel muttered, lowering his head. What I wouldn't do for just one day off. He turned, plodding across the sand back toward his keeper.

"Camels speak English?" Kaila asked.

Jordyn smiled. "a.n.a.lyze what you heard. Was it English?"

No, it had been pure thought. Thought didn't have a language. And telepathy was merely ideas expressed and received.

"Cool." Kaila nodded.

Since they carried no bags, Kaila and Jordyn bypa.s.sed security. Kaila stooped in the dark stone corridor, dimly lit by hanging electric bulbs. They walked a good ways, the pa.s.sage dim, silent, and musty. They pa.s.sed a barred opening with steps leading downward. Kaila wondered what had been seen in these pa.s.sageways for the past thousands of years.

They reached the center of the pyramid. It was empty.

"It's all been robbed," Jordyn said. "But this will give you an idea."

"Awesome!"

"Just pause here. Feel it."

Kaila closed her eyes. A strange energy wavered in the air. She moved her consciousness down inside her body and mind. It felt as if the atoms in her cells vibrated.

Kaila opened her eyes. Jordyn observed her intently. She saw him more clearly, in more vivid color. She could feel him, all of him. She swallowed, overwhelmed.

"Good," he said. He took her in his arms, squeezing her tight.

She felt the warmth of his cheek, the bristly hairs, his heart beating in his hard chest in symphony to hers. She drew back and looked at him. She saw the owl eyes. In them, she detected the dark side of the moon.

"I am the dark side, you are the light," Jordyn responded to her thought. "Together, we make a whole. Don't be afraid, Kaila. You've just received another gift." He pressed his small lips to her ear. "Be all that you are. Be proud of who you are."

She felt his lips brushing her ear lobe and his warm breath. He withdrew and extended his long fingers. As her fingers intertwined with his, they turned to go back.

As Kaila trod the wooden floorboards, stooping in the long, dark pa.s.sage, she sensed that she'd been here before. Dimly, she heard voices, detecting movement and energy all around. Like the pyramid itself, she sensed that she was in the midst of a layered multi-dimensional spot where time was irrelevant and all time was one.

When they emerged outside, they squinted in the harsh sunlight. Kaila's mind and consciousness grew, like a flower bud erupting from rich soil. "This is . . . amazing," she said.

"It is a place of high energy," Jordyn explained. "One of the central vortexes on Earth. Our fathers were behind these. Many years ago in your time."

"It does have energy." Kaila blinked.

"You have energy." Jordyn drew her to him. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.