"I feel like I'm going crazy," said Kaila. "Everything is happening so fast."

"Third dimension existence is always hard," Jordyn replied.

"I don't know what you mean."

"You're coming awake more every hour."

She was acutely aware of his presence. He felt like gravity, tugging her; she moved closer to be near him.

"Tell me," Kaila said. "Am I crazy or did you visit me last night in my dreams?"

"You know," Jordyn said. "But you have to come to the answers yourself."

"And what was that design in the gra.s.ses at my house?"

He drew her to him. He bent his head close to hers. "Like the G.o.ddess Aphrodite. You look so beautiful," he said. "And no matter what the others say, I like your new coverings. I think they're . . . s.e.xy."

She smiled, softening like warm pudding. She felt his arms, his chest, his warm breath. Her heart fluttered like a bird beating its wings in a cage.

As quickly, Jordyn pushed her away. He rubbed his temples. "I can't believe I just said that."

He stood straight as a soldier. Kaila could actually feel his energy withdraw, as if he had put up an intentional cloud over his sun.

"It's time for cla.s.s," he said thick as night. He walked toward the cla.s.sroom trailer. "Understand," he said over his shoulder. "We are as alone as you. We are far away from home. You are the best we've encountered since coming here."

Kaila stared at Jordyn's shoulders in the silver overalls. "Do you mean New Mexico?"

Jordyn kept walking.

"I don't know what to do with this," she called.

He turned, faced her. "You do, Kaila. You have a powerful mind just like us. Wake up."

They stared at one another as the sound of a mower cutting gra.s.s hummed in the background. The smell of fresh cut gra.s.s filtered through the breeze.

"Be who you are," he urged. "Take off the head covering."

Kaila hesitated. "If I take it off, they will come for me." She didn't know what she was saying, merely parroting her mother's words.

"You needn't be afraid anymore," Jordyn said. "We are already here."

"You are late," Mrs. Bourg said as Kaila and Jordyn opened the door to advanced physics. "Do you have a good excuse?"

"Yes," Jordyn said, breezing over to Mrs. Bourg. He placed his hands on her desk. He leaned over and stared his large hazel eyes intently at her. As Mrs. Bourg met his gaze, her face went slack. Her expression went blank.

"Kaila fell and hurt her knee," Jordyn said. "We had to clean it and put a bandage on it. That is all." Jordyn turned to Kaila and rolled his eyes.

Mrs. Bourg came around from her desk, bent and examined Kaila's knee. "That looks like a terrible fall," she said. "I can see the bruise below the bandage."

Kaila peered down and saw nothing. Jordyn wore a thin smile.

Brandy, Tara, Douglas and Phyllis looked confused.

Kaila realized that Jordyn had made Mrs. Bourg see a bandage and bruise that wasn't there. Jordyn and his group could implant false visions of what people saw. Was this really happening?

"That is an acceptable tardiness," Mrs. Bourg said. "Now, please take your seat. And consider wearing lower heels, Kaila."

Kaila's ribs tightened like a steel band. She couldn't breathe. This was too much to compute. What did he mean "we are already here"? Should she be afraid of them? And what in h.e.l.l were these supernatural powers? Overwhelmed, she staggered, dropped into her seat, gasping for breath.

"What's the matter?" Jordyn asked.

She thrust out her left hand as she frantically rummaged through her book bag for her inhaler with her right hand. She couldn't draw a breath. Her airs.p.a.ce had shut.

As she placed the inhaler to her lips and pressed the spray, she saw Brandy and Tara observing, their mouths agape. Oh G.o.d, her left hand was out! They had seen her three long fingers. They would tell everyone she was a monster.

Kaila curled her fingers into a fist and buried it in her lap while holding the spray in her lungs. Her face, neck, and chest heated.

Jordyn stood by her side, his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Mrs. Bourg marched to the front of Kaila's desk. "Sit down, Jordyn." After he took his seat, Mrs. Bourg asked, "Are you all right, Kaila?"

Kaila felt her lungs opening. She nodded.

"We didn't know you had asthma," Mrs. Bourg said. "But that is not uncommon. Auto-immune disorders, allergies, sensitivities are prevalent in our mixed society."

Kaila barely heard her. Brandy and Tara studied her with narrowed eyes. She prayed they wouldn't gossip about her hand.

Mrs. Bourg fluffed her bra.s.sy hair. "Today," she said. "We have a different lesson. Imagine traveling great distances in s.p.a.ce. There are many theories on how it would be possible to travel to other galaxies. But there is only one of them that works."

She snapped her fingers. "Antonia, come to the head of the cla.s.s."

Antonia obediently stood in front of the cla.s.s. Her skin was rich as espresso, her eyes dark as coffee beans. The silver overalls displayed her toned physique, revealing firm b.r.e.a.s.t.s and st.u.r.dy, long legs. She wore a purple t-shirt below the metallic overalls. Her hair was short, with tufts sticking out in wild abandon. She had larger, more sensual lips than the others.

Kaila remembered Antonia had said that she, Melissa, and Pia were intuitive and evolving. She had tried to be friendly.

Mrs. Bourg prodded, "Antonia."

Antonia put a hand to her kinky hair. Then Kaila leaned over to return her inhaler to her book bag.

"Look at me," Antonia commanded, clenching her fists. Her pupils expanded, leaving no hint of the coffee iris, till her eyes were solid black. Antonia's eyes magnetized the students so that they could not look away.

"Come to the ship," she said. Then the cla.s.sroom walls started to shimmer and fade; the ceiling popped off revealing dark s.p.a.ce.

Kaila saw that the students were under Antonia's spell, their heads lowered, their eyes blank. The whole cla.s.sroom vibrated and shimmered.

Was this real? Or was Antonia creating a visual illusion like Jordyn had with her knee? The walls could not actually be vibrating.

But not only were the walls vibrating, they emitted an ethereal glow. Kaila gasped and covered her mouth.

Mrs. Bourg snapped her fingers. "Antonia!" She pointed to Kaila.

Antonia leaned over Kaila's desk and put her lovely face two inches from Kaila's. Her black eyes were huge and powerful. Kaila could not look away.

"When you wake up and declare your alliance, I will not have to do this to you anymore," Antonia said almost as an apology.

As every muscle in Kaila's body went limp, she felt the floor of the cla.s.sroom drop down into the universe.

"Come to the ship," Antonia repeated.

Mind-split.

All the students were aboard a ship. Bright white light glowed, but Kaila could not detect the source. Everything was white-the walls, the floors, the ceiling, and everything had rounded edges. A low hum vibrated throughout the craft.

"The craft looks small to you from the outside, but when you come inside, you see how large it truly is," Antonia explained.

The students trailed after Antonia who led them through bare white rooms. She took them to a larger room. The perimeter curved, and embedded in the curves were gray screens. Above were portals, or windows. In the middle was something like a bay window. Outside, all was black.

"Here we have no phones or computers," Antonia said. She pointed to the controls on the ship. Red, green, and white lights blinked. "You can control this ship with your own power." She stepped to Kaila entreating her with her large black eyes. "Kaila. Move the ship with your mind."

"I can't," Kaila said, aware she was submerged in a dream state.

"You can." Antonia stepped closer.

Kaila smelled ozone and a disturbed energy field. Antonia put her face right in front of Kaila's so she felt her warm breath. Antonia's eyes were darker than the deepest well, dragging her down. Kaila swallowed a lump of fear thickening in her throat.

"Do it," Antonia commanded. "Move this ship with your mind."

Duly commanded, Kaila's fear submerged. She scrutinized the blinking lights on the control panel.

Echidna put her face to Kaila, her eyes solid black. "Do it."

Viktor stepped closer, his cheeks ruddy, his eyes serpentine. "Do it."

Lucius went to Kaila. He wore no sungla.s.ses now. His emerald eyes fastened on her, then the black pupils expanded like a kaleidoscope. "Do it," he said.

Kaila felt drugged, asleep and awake, conflicted and understanding, splitting in half. This dream was a non-reality. Or was this the reality and when she was awake the non-reality?

"You all don't know how to talk to her," Jordyn said. "Kaila, don't let them scare you. Take my hand, I'll help you."

"You have to hold hands?" Echidna sneered. "Are you going to change the little baby's diaper too?"

"Shut up!" Jordyn yelled with his mind like a dart thrown at Echidna.

Echidna staggered, losing her balance. Kaila flailed with the force of Jordyn's words and emotions.

"You can do this Kaila," Jordyn said. "Don't be afraid. Hold my hand and make this ship move."

As Jordyn's fingers curled over hers, she saw five pairs of alien eyes staring at her like a drove of hypnotic praying mantis.

"Look," Jordyn said, pointing toward the huge bay window to the dark sky. "You see that star way out there?"

"Yes," Kaila said, grateful he held her hand. She wanted to lean against him, feel their edges melt as they had in her dreams and merge into one. If this was a dream, she wanted it to feel good, not with these persistent edges of invading fear.

"With your mind, move the ship toward that star," Jordyn prodded. "Imagine it. Envision it. This ship moving toward that star."

Kaila noted Jordyn's commanding eyes yet felt his hand and emanating warmth. Though aware she hung in suspended consciousness, she forced herself to rise to alertness, to know his intentions.

As he gazed at her with his golden eyes, she felt as if a burning sun shone upon her. And yet, yet . . . at the edges lay darkness. She wanted to press herself against him, feel his arms about her and shut her eyes.

He touched her wig. "May I?" he asked.

Kaila hesitated. Her mother claimed the wig protected her.

"You will have better access to your mind," he explained. "Try it. Move the ship. And put it on after if you like."

The hive stared at her expectantly with folded arms. Kaila nodded.

Jordyn removed the wig, then unwrapped the black plastic from her head. Her real blond hair spilled down her shoulders, damp and curly.

Jordyn said telepathically, Isn't it better to be free and who you are?

Kaila nodded, yet uncertain as to who she really was.

"Now access your true powers," Jordyn said. "You can do it. You've always had much hidden inside." He put his thin lips to her cheek. He transmitted loudly with his mind, Know who you are.

Kaila fixed her mind on the distant star and in her mind envisioned the ship moving. Then, as if talking to her dogs, the ship lifted.

Home, she thought, her eyes and mind fixed on the distant star. The ship whisked through s.p.a.ce. This star was home, she realized, knowing then that all were sprung from the stars. But that fact was forgotten. Or was it suppressed? Why shouldn't we remember? Kaila wondered.

The hybrids gazed reverently at the star. From their expressions, she knew her intuitional guidance was true.

Douglas, Phyllis, Brandy, and Tara stared at the star too, but Kaila noted they were not really conscious. With a start, she realized they might not remember this. She pitied them. Or was she like them? Would she remember?

"Jordyn," she said as the ship glided silently through s.p.a.ce. "Don't let me forget this."

"We are proud of you, Kaila," Jordyn said. "Know that one moment can last forever and time has no boundaries like you know it. But raised as a human you can't have it all in full consciousness yet."

"Please," Kaila said. "I want to remember."

She understood she was realizing something profound. When fully conscious, she would investigate further till satisfied. Question everything. It was the Science Channel's slogan. She didn't want to stay slave to cultural beliefs . . . she wanted to know.

Jordyn pressed his lips to Kaila's ear. "There will be a time, dear, when you remember all. But humans have a tendency to always ruin the present with worrying about the future. For now, just be in this moment."

Kaila realized that most people lose their lives worrying about the future. They were doing things, worrying about texts on their phones, what they would wear the next day, the present always slipping away to the future.

The ship wavered. The craft stopped.

"Cla.s.s." Mrs. Bourg clapped her hands. "What Jordyn just said to Kaila was most important. And this is directed at the cla.s.s that is asleep." She looked at Brandy and Tara, the zombie preps. And then she turned to Phyllis and Douglas, the so-called dorks and said, "Did you notice when Kaila started worrying how our ship stopped?"