Raven & The Angel

Chapter 15 - Astral Gaze

A door opened silently, revealing a bright light as a smooth platform lowered to the ground. The Reef gestured for Angelina to step onto it, but she hesitated. Penfold trotted straight on and looked up towards the light, before turning and staring back at her.
"Okay, okay." Angelina muttered and stepped onto the platform. The Reef followed and they were lifted into his spaceship.

The Reef was right - it was like nothing Angelina had ever seen in her life and she had seen some weird and wonderful stuff in her dad's lab. Every surface seemed to be covered with screens and brightly lit buttons. The inside was very compact and the whole thing was designed with a sleekness that oozed exquisite quality and a build for maximum speed. There was a larger area that seemed to be the nerve centre of the ship and had six rather complex looking seats in it. They could obviously move to different positions depending on which screens or dials a pilot, or passenger might need to sit by, but they also looked as though they would recline to offer a very comfortable place to relax and sleep. Towards the back of the ship were two small rooms. One looked rather plain with a single seat like the ones in the centre of the ship and what you might describe as a writing desk to one side. It reminded Angelina of an extremely futuristic version of her mother's tiny study where she wrote up all her journals and experiment trials. The other room looked like a cross between a shiny kitchen and a nursing cubicle - Angelina couldn't quite make her mind up which.

"Wow..." was all she could say.
"So now you believe me?" asked The Reef.
"Um, yes. Sorry." Angelina mumbled. "So Reef, why are you here and what do you want from me?"
"I have travelled to your earth once before and found many interesting things about your history and technologies, but I have never spoken to a human. We speak hundreds of languages and study a planet before we visit so that we can interact with many different species. We have spoken with some of earth's intelligent species like the Dolphins, gorillas and elephants, but we really want to learn from human knowledge. I didn't choose you, you came to me, whether by accident or fate. The Angelina, will you spend time with me, teach me about human life and the history of your survival on this planet?" asked The Reef.
"Well, yes I'd love to! I can tell you lots about human life on Earth - I've always enjoyed studying that kind of history. I could even teach you about my father's scientific work and theories. Oh and my mum is a herbalist so if you like I could teach you about natural medicines and all sorts!" Angelina stopped for breath, realising she may have sounded a little too enthusiastic and slightly surprised at her own sudden excitement about teaching an alien being about the human race. For a second it crossed her mind that maybe it would be dangerous to tell this alien stranger such things, but as she glanced down, Penfold looked up into her eyes and smiled reassuringly. She trusted his judgment implicitly and knew by the expression on his face that sharing her knowledge was not going to cause any harm.

The Reef was also excited and relieved. To find a species so willing to share their knowledge was a rarity and something told him that The Angelina herself was very special.
"Thank you" he bowed. "I cannot tell you how important it is to our race to have found you. We will be forever in your debt for your willingness to help us."
"Hey, it's going to work both ways you know" Angelina smiled "You're going to have to teach me all about your race and planet too! But just one thing... It's going to take a long time to tell you all I know and the same for you to tell me about your people. How are we going to get through all this without someone seeing us?" she asked.
"That's a good question and at the perfect time. I was about to ask you if you would like to come with me to visit my planet?"