Thanks for all the FB everyone! I know, 4 chapters in 4 days! I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this up, as I go back to work tomorrow, but as I spit 'em out I'll post them.
xmag said:
Huh, "Was it of your son again"? I didn't understand that part, Michael didn't have a flash of his son, but of Maria and his parents from the first timeline, so was it meant to be "was if of your parents?"
Kyle has never given Michael a flash from the first timeline. Since Michael seemed upset he assumed it was of his child, and Michael, emotional and raw, didn't correct him.
RhondaAnn said:
I know he's speaking of a family, but that last part seems a bit harsh to Maria. Then again, I'm just overly sensitive where my M&M are concerned.
I am too, but poor Michael has never known the unconditional love of parents, to have them be proud of you, to have them accept you. Yes, he has great love with Maria, but the two cannot be compared, especially when he knows he grew up scared and abused and could have grown up in such a loving environment.
begonia said:
It's really something I never thought would happen!.... bc FMax told once Liz that Serena would be once her friend!..... a friend with a knife to broach Liz's back!
Ahh but FMax wasn't really Max. It was an enemy. Serena and Liz were friends in the last timeline, but we haven't got to that part yet
Chapter 7
"So did you always want to teach elementary school?" Liz asked Max after she swallowed another delicious bite of Lobster.
They had stopped about three hours outside of Los Angeles, in a quaint little town with a wonderful view of the valley filled with grape fields. After finding a bed and breakfast, the owners had pointed them to this little restaurant, raving about the food and music.
After some discussion they decided they should face Kal fresh, not tired and sore from driving fourteen hours straight. Liz and Max were about the only couple still eating, as it was almost 10 pm, but they smiled as they watched the other couples swaying to the string quartet on the outside terrace, dancing under twinkling lights.
He swallowed and wiped his face with his napkin. "Yeah," Max said. "Ever since fifth grade. Mr. Hanson really left an impact on me I guess," he said smiling.
"Mr. Hanson was the best!" Liz said, smiling back. He was that teacher that every kid loved. He just had that ability to make kids believe they could do anything.
"That he was," Max said. "When Isabel and I first started school, in 3rd grade, well Mrs. Thomas didn't know what to expect. I mean, she knew how we were found, I think all the teachers knew. She just kind of ignored me I suppose, not wanting to frighten me by calling on me in class or pointing me out."
Liz nodded. She remembered that shy boy, sitting in the back of the room. Every once in awhile she'd turn around and sneak a peak at him, and would usually get caught by Maria who would make faces at her.
"Then there was Mrs. Smith in 4th grade, who seemed determined to drag me kicking and screaming out of my shell, calling on me constantly, asking me to assist her in front of the class," he shuddered. "It was a nightmare."
"I remember," Liz said. "I felt so bad for you because you seemed so uncomfortable that first part of the year."
"Oh you have no idea," Max said. "Isabel finally told my parents and they put a stop to it. Fifth grade, fifth grade was different though. Mr. Hanson seemed to understand. He didn't ignore me, but he didn't make a spectacle of me either. Even if it was just something written at the top of my paper he could make me feel special. I'd love to be able to do that for a child."
Liz reached across the table and held Max's hand. "I'm sure you will Max," she said, squeezing his hand. "One day you'll be a wonderful teacher," she said with a smile.
"I hope I get the chance to try anyway," Max said quietly. Liz had learned that Max and Isabel had finished college, mostly by online courses and the satellite campus from U of M. Ironically enough, he had done his student teaching under Mrs. Smith, and she was convinced that Max had wanted to become a teacher because of her. Max, who always tried to be kind, let her believe it.
Michael had gone into carpentry, and he now built hand made furniture for his "Earthly" living. Liz had seen some of his pieces during various visits to Roswell, and they were gorgeous. Maria took classes here and there, but she concentrated on writing songs, and hoped to sell her songs to a record label. While she still performed on occasion at local bars, she had no desire to become famous.
Isabel was going to law school, wanting to follow in her parent's footsteps. After getting a degree in Information Technology, Alex had started his own business offering technical solutions to companies. Kyle had opened a small garage, and spent his spare time tinkering with engines.
How they accomplished all this while fighting a band of roaming skins was beyond Liz.
Max volunteered tutoring at various local boys and girls clubs, but until he felt safe, really safe, he refused to get a job as a teacher. He was scared to death that he might lead something dangerous into a class full of kids.
None of them needed to work, not really. In the last timeline they had found an area of the pod chamber that held many valuables. It had been naive of them to think the Antarians would have come to Earth with nothing, especially since it seemed they had visited before. Mr. and Mrs. Evans helped to legally disburse the money after they had discreetly sold the artifacts, and Max had insisted it be split between everyone, not just himself, Michael and Isabel, so the shifters, the rebel skins, Maria and Alex all got a share.
It wasn't like any of them could own their own private plane or anything, but with proper planning they all could live a very comfortable life and not work.
"What about you?" Max asked. "I heard you have offers from all over the place, and you were coming home next month to figure out what to do next."
Liz smiled. "That was the plan," she said. "There are lots of really great places I could go, and they kind of expect you to work for these huge companies when you graduate from Harvard. But lately, and especially now...."
"Liz," Max said, looking at her seriously. "We'll figure this out. You don't have to be stuck here."
"No, that's not what I mean," Liz said. "It's just I've always worked so hard, put my life on hold for this dream of mine. Most of the offers that I've received, well they are research jobs that will require me spending at least 12 hours a day at the lab. Sure, they are high profile projects, but there was one job that I've really wanted to take this fall. It's at Meta-Chem," she said, knowing the person from the last timeline wasn't involved with the lab since Max hadn't exposed himself this time.
"Why Meta-Chem then?" Max asked.
"Well, they are doing really exciting things with antibiotic resistance markers," Liz said. "They are making better and better medicines based on this research, medicines that are doing a lot of good for people with conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and other auto-immune diseases. I got into science because I like the mystery, like figuring things out, but I'd also like to help people, not just work in my field to win accolades and awards."
"That is very noble of you Miss Parker," Max said. "I have to admit that decision would make me a happy, happy man," he said, almost shyly.
Liz smiled. "I'm glad," she said almost as shyly as Max. "I really miss Maria and Alex too. Courtney is great, and I don't know if I would have made it without her, but no one could ever replace Maria and Alex. A lot of people don't have that, life long friends. It really deserves to be cherished. I realized how much I took them for granted while I was at Harvard. A lot of people barely have the same friends for years, but I know both of them will be there for me, always."
"Would you miss being in a big city if you came back here?" Max asked.
"God no," Liz said. "It took me forever to get to sleep there, so noisy, so busy, especially when Courtney and I moved off campus and got an apartment. Pollution, crime...I always felt like someone was following me."
Max laughed out loud. "It was probably Courtney," he chuckled. He knew what she meant though. Whenever their alien adventures took them to the bigger cities, he hated it.
Liz smiled and shook her head. "Probably," she laughed with him. "I guess I was just meant to be the smallest of small town girls," she said. "Even though we only drove through town for a minute today, I was surprised at how much I missed it."
The server came to the table and began clearing their dishes. Liz was pleasantly full and she looked out at the terrace and smiled.
"Do you see that Max?" she asked as he looked at the terrace too. "The elderly couple?"
"Yes," said Max, curious.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she said as she sighed. "The way they dance together I mean. The other people look great too, but there is just nothing more beautiful than seeing people dance that have been dancing together for decades."
"Hmmm," Max replied. "Would you like to dance Liz?" he asked.
She nodded her head yes with a big smile and he led her out to the dance floor.
Max was an incredible dancer, and as she swayed slowly in his arms to the heartbreakingly beautiful music she couldn't help but feel that this is where she belonged. More than once in the last couple of days her head was screaming at her to run, run far away from this mess and hide, but her heart, oh her heart was telling her that she should stay right where she was, right with this man.
She had made a promise a long time ago that she would always follow her heart, and she intended to keep it. During the nine hour drive out here and the day before, she had learned a whole lot about Max Evans, and he was everything she could ever want.
"Max?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah?" he said softly in her ear.
She leaned back a little to look him in the eye. "In a lot of ways these last few days have been the worst in my life, but I'm also the happiest I have ever been. How can that be?"
"I think that's what being in love is," Max whispered.
"I think so too," she said as she reached up and kissed Max lightly on the lips. "I want to try Max, I want, no I need to see this leads."
A huge smile broke out over Max's face as he cupped her chin, looking into her brightly shining eyes. "Me too Liz," he said as his lips descended towards her, kissing her with a sweet passion she had never known.
________________________________________________________________________
"Five out of nine," Michael demanded.
"Nope," Maria said.
"Come on Maria," he said.
"No Michael, No no no no," she said. "Admit it, you just suck at rock paper scissors. I beat you the first time, let you talk me into three out of five, and then I smoked you again."
"Maria," he said, his voice getting impatient. "Sweetheart," he said sarcastically. "You know I am not good at being the good cop."
"I'm always the good cop Michael, always," she said. "It's so much more fun being the bad cop. Me, I want to be the bad cop Michael."
Michael thought for a moment. They were on their way to visit Jacob, the shifter that owned the farm. By the process of elimination they were down to Jacob and Jose. The other three had not been anywhere near the area until Kyle had shown up, and he knew they had lived all the way across the country in the last timeline.
No, the likely suspects were Jacob and Jose. Both had said they moved to the area figuring the hybrids were close. Jacob bought a farm to cover his identity, and Jose took the job at the Crashdown.
Both explanations were reasonable, but one of them were lying.
"Alright, yep, you are right," he said. "You can be the bad cop."
"What's the catch?" she asked slowly.
"There's no catch," he said, trying to hide his smile. "I mean, we are going to try and out someone that wants to go back to Antar at all costs, and so the good cop would be for that point."
"How DO you do that?" she asked as she stopped walking on the trail that led to the house.
"It's a gift," he said.
"Fine," she said and started walking again.
"Are you mad?" he asked.
"Yes," she said.
"Good," Michael smirked. "You are so much better at this when you are mad," he said kissing the top of her head before she could move away.
Maria turned and gave him a sexy smile. "Guess what though?" she purred. "I get to be the bad cop....tonight," she said and with a wicked grin and a wink, she walked up the steps to knock on the door.
"Evil, she's so evil," Michael said to no one in particular and then in his head thought 'down boy'.
"Hi Jacob," Maria said cheerily when he opened the door. Jacob was a non descript middle aged man like most of the other shifters. His base character was a little older, which would serve him well as he could stay in Roswell longer that way.
Jacob smiled widely at Maria. "Hello Miss Maria," he said, taking her hand and kissing it gently. "Hi Michael," he said looking over Maria's shoulder. "Come in, come in." Jacob really liked these two, and since they had started visiting the farm to plan their wedding reception he had learned one thing. It was never boring when Michael and Maria were around.
They sat around Jacob's big table and Maria talked about some of the things she wanted for the wedding, asking which field would be free at what time, when certain flowers would be in bloom, things like that.
"That's really all we have to do now," Maria said. "You know, pick the date."
Jacob was refilling their iced tea and smiled. "Do you have an idea of when you'd like to have it?"
"Well I'd love a fall wedding, you know, because it would be cooler outside. The summer is to hot here," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Michael here, well he thinks we might want to wait until spring because of all the.... well all the recent events," she said giving Michael the death glare.
"Maria," he said with a stern look. "Let's not get into this again. Almost all our enemies are gone. Nicholas and the few others that remain may have been given more robust husks, but they won't last much longer."
"All the more reason to celebrate!" Jacob said, then curbed his enthusiasm a bit when he saw Michael's face. "I mean, with the intelligence we have from the rebel skins, I bet they will be gone by the fall, sooner if we find them first."
When they had met up with Courtney and the others they had learned that Nicholas had given himself and some of his favorite cronies more robust husks. They would last longer than the typical 50 years, but not forever. They were nearing their expiration date, which is probably why they took the chance and grabbed Michael.
"That's exactly my point," Michael said. "Look, we really haven't discussed this, since we have been worried about what is going on here, but soon we will need to think about what we are going to do about Antar."
"Antar! Antar?" Maria said sarcastically. "Michael, we don't even know what is going on there. There hasn't been communication in years. Then there's the little problem that oh I don't know, you all don't remember anything from then? How can anyone expect you to go back and save a planet you know nothing about? I mean really, if they can't do it, knowing what they know, how can you?"
"She's right," Jacob said quietly.
"What?" Michael said.
"I said she's right Michael. We aren't ever going back there, and I for one am glad. Plan your wedding Michael, live your life," he said with conviction, an emotion Michael couldn't quite read in his eyes.
Michael nodded and Jacob and Maria started talking dates.
The rest of the visit was Antar conversation free, with Jacob smiling and waving as Maria and Michael got in the car.
"What just happened there?" Michael asked as he backed out of the driveway.
"What do you mean what happened?" Maria said. "What happened was we ruled Jacob out, because he sure as hell doesn't want to go back to Antar."
"No, I mean it sure feels like you got to be the fun cop," he said, "and we set our wedding date."
"You're not the only one with gifts Spaceboy," Maria said, leaning over and kissing him on the cheek. Annoyed, he wiped it off and Maria punched him one in the shoulder.
Their relationship might not be conventional, but for them, it worked perfectly.
_________________________________________________________________________
Jacob watched out his window as the two of them drove away. He really hoped that he could help them have a great wedding, as he truly felt he owed Michael that much and more.
In all honesty Jacob didn't know how bad Michael had it growing up. He had food and shelter, which was much more then some beings had back on Antar, and a nurturing parent? Well that was something that was just not possible for most.
He didn't realize his mistake until Kyle came back in time. Humans needed that nurturing environment, and their former Royalty had a whole lot of human running through them.
Kal would kill him if he ever found out. He had been his eyes and ears in Roswell, watching them grow, watching for Nasedo.
When they had stowed away on the Nicholas's ships they tried to learn what they could about Earth, but Jacob had never been as good at shifting as the others. The others caught on much quicker as they could blend with the walls when the skins were learning their Earth lessons, and when one of the ships crashed, they had all been split up.
Kal had found him roaming in Arizona, causing disturbances since he didn't know anything of Earth's culture. He taught him the language, how to read English, and later, after the children emerged from their pods, bought him this ranch so he could stay close to them.
No one was to know he was in contact with Kal, that had been a direct order.
One thing he did know, those kids were fishing for something this afternoon. Oh, they were good, those two, but they were trying to get information from him.
He wondered if they were finally on to what he had suspected for a very long time. He sure hoped so.
__________________________________________________________________________
Alex heard the front door open and heard the whirlwind that was Isabel enter. "Alex, I'm home," she called.
"I'm in here," Alex called back, squinting at the computer screen. He was looking up Kal Langley for Max and Liz, trying to see where he might be in the morning.
Alex heard books hitting the counter, the refrigerator open, the microwave being turned on. Isabel came into the room and bent down and gave Alex a kiss.
"Did you have a good day?" Alex asked.
"Sort of," Isabel said. "It was hard to concentrate at school with everything that's going on."
"I'll bet," Alex said. "I'm looking up the Kal person for Max and Liz. He just called. They stopped a couple of hours outside of LA so they'd be at 100% when they find him."
"Good," said Isabel when she heard the microwave beep. "Want a refill?" she asked, picking up Alex's glass.
"Thanks," he smiled as she went to the kitchen, gathered her late dinner, and brought back drinks for the two of them. She settled into the big comfortable chair after she gave Alex his drink.
She took a nice long drink of her Tabasco and sweet tea. "Mmmm," she said. "So did Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boy figure anything else monumental out while on the road?"
"Not that he said, but I do think they figured out they like each other," Alex said, amusement in his eyes.
"Duh," Isabel said, taking a bite of her food. "That doesn't exactly take a rocket scientist."
Alex shut the computer off and went over to Isabel, who lifted up her plate and drink so that Alex could slide in next to her in the big, overstuffed chair. He put his arm around the back of the chair and she leaned into his chest.
"I know that Isabel," he said, rolling his eyes. "He just sounded happy, really happy. You know how he always wanted to avoid Langley like the plague after he saw how he treated him last time around. I figured he'd sound like classic brooding Max, but he wasn't Isabel. He was over the moon."
"That's Max for ya," she said, offering Alex a bite of her food. He shook his head saying no, he had learned a long time ago not to eat anything on Isabel's plate unless he had a huge glass of water handy. "I hope it works out for them, he's been so lonely," Isabel said.
"I know it will," Alex said confidently.
Isabel laughed. "You don't know that Alex."
"Oh yes I most certainly do," he said.
"Why is that?" she asked curiously.
Alex rested his head on the top of Isabel's. "Because I'm really starting to come around to Valenti's way of thinking. That cone thing may have allowed people to change time, but they can't change the things that were supposed to happen. Maybe this time around is how it was all supposed to go down. Maybe the last timelines were just a warm up for the main event."
"So God let us do this, but certain things still will happen, no matter what?" Isabel asked.
"That's my story, and I'm sticking to it," Alex smiled. Out of everyone, Isabel and Alex were the most spiritual. Alex's first flash was of himself as a ghost, talking to Isabel after his death. It had made believers out of both of them. Max had asked him one time how he could believe in God with all that they knew, and Alex always replied with 'how could i not?'
"In a lot of ways I think you may be right," Isabel said. "The last timeline, the way you all found out, everyone dealing with such intense love while so young and alien catastrophes all at the same time, well we were doomed from the start. I don't think we were meant to be doomed Alex."
"I don't either Isabel, I don't either," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I also don't think that NOT dealing with it all was the answer either," he contemplated. "I mean, yes, everyone was blissfully happy the first time around, but how long would that have lasted? Sticking our heads in the sand and not dealing with all the alien problems might have just left our children to deal with that, and I sure wouldn't want that," he said, gently rubbing Isabel's stomach.
"Me either Alex," she said, concentrating on the brand new life growing inside of her. She still couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. It was the first time she had been pregnant in any timeline, so she really wanted to believe that this was it. They would fix this, fix this for their children's futures.
"When are we going to tell everyone?" Alex asked.
"I kind of like keeping it between us for now Alex, maybe after I'm a couple more months along," she said.
"Alright, but only if you don't blame me if it slips. You know how bad my secret-keeping skills are," he laughed.
It was their own private joke. Back in high school, Alex had a huge crush on Isabel, and sometimes she would flirt with him. The last day of school Alex was driving home, and he noticed Isabel was behind him. He kept glancing in his rear view mirror, trying to get a peak at her. Seeing how this was dangerous, he turned down a not often traveled country road, surprised when she followed at a discreet distance.
If he wouldn't have been checking his rear view mirror every five seconds he probably would have seen the horse that ran out into the road, but unfortunately he was and his car went careening into the forest, hitting a tree.
He hit his head, but other than that he was fine. He was a bit dizzy, and he was cursing that he had spilled his V8 Splash all over himself when he heard Isabel calling his name, and the next thing he knew she was doing something....different...to him.
The bump on his head was gone and she was ripping his shirt open. She then realized that he was not fatally wounded, and also that she had exposed herself.
They sat there a long time, Isabel telling him a wild tale of aliens and visitors from the future. It was starting to get dark when Sheriff Valenti stumbled on them, and Isabel asked Alex to keep it to himself for awhile. She wasn't ready to tell them all what she had done.
As the Sheriff walked up and asked what happened Alex said, "I got in an accident and Isabel healed me."
Isabel just shook her head and told Alex he was the worst secret-keeper ever.
__________________________________________________________________________
Courtney looked over at Serena, who had calmed down quite a bit. She had talked her into going to Boston with her. All she had to do was finish packing and wait for the movers, and they could hop right back on a plane to Roswell in the morning. If she knew Liz at all, everything was already packed and she had just kept out the things she needed.
She was right off course, when they entered the small two bedroom apartment. Courtney saw all the boxes, some with her name, some with Liz's, neatly stacked around the apartment. Serena followed her in, taking a look around.
"Well I guess she didn't leave you to do all the work," Serena begrudgingly admitted.
"I knew she wouldn't Ser," Courtney said carefully. She was treating her with kid gloves right now. After the flash, she told her she couldn't tell her what is was, but that she would in all good time. She was going to tell Michael about it, but him and Maria were already on their way to Jacob's place. She was pretty sure they'd figure it out on their own.
Maybe it was for the best, because Courtney would have all night and tomorrow to help Serena see the truth. She knew it was going to be a blow to her, finding out that she had been manipulated by someone she trusted.
Courtney didn't want any of the others to hear Serena hysterically talk about Antar and being Queen the way she had heard earlier in the day. With all this stuff with Liz, with them knowing an enemy was in their camp, she couldn't risk the stigma that would haunt Serena, even after what had been done to her came out.
They would never trust her again, and she would be alone. She knew it wasn't fair, but after the memories of Tess, she knew some were wary of her, namely Maria.
She couldn't blame her, as Serena did seem to get more obstinate about Liz as the years went by. Courtney cursed herself. She should have saw it instead of writing it off as a harmless school girl crush. Maybe if she wouldn't have been away for so long at Harvard, maybe if she didn't have to hide whenever Liz was in Roswell and had seen the way Serena was acting, well maybe it would be different.
That was neither here nor there, and hopefully they would not relive this again. Serena didn't have a regular childhood, hell she had no childhood at all. She was born on a ship and didn't set foot on land until she was ten years old. Her parents had died, and Courtney had taken her to the small town an hour from Roswell where a bunch of the rebel skins and Jose lived.
Come to think of it, Jose is the one who made contact, who knew they were coming. God only knows what would have happened if they weren't there. She didn't think Serena would have faired as well as the pod squad since there would be no one to clean up the wreckage.
Courtney knew about being alone. She spent nearly 50 years alone until Serena came into her life. Sure, there were the other rebel skins, but it wasn't like family, more like work. Then there was the explosion in Copper Summit and the meeting with Kyle, which brought her even more family.
They had decided to keep Serena separate from the others at first. It seemed like any past timeline flashes the group first received were of Tess, and Jose didn't think bringing in another female hybrid at that time would be wise. It had made sense to Courtney, but she didn't know Jose had a hidden agenda.
Serena and Courtney had been positioned in the northern part of the state, watching and researching for any signs of the elite skins whose husks were still in tact. Max and co. knew about Serena, but they didn't meet her until Liz and Courtney were at Harvard.
Even though she had a new husk, she wasn't naive. People from her world's life spans weren't as short as humans, but they weren't that much longer. Her new husk may last 50 more years, but her alien body inside wouldn't make it another 35. After all she was almost 30 years old when she signed up to come to Earth, so she was 75 by her planets standards. Only her fresh husks veiled the signs of old age.
Serena would be all alone after she was gone, far to young to be all alone. She had to fix this. She knew in her heart that even if Serena had something to do with going back in time before, she wouldn't have done it if she knew what would happen to an innocent girl. She knew it with all her heart.
Courtney opened the door to Liz's room. "Oh my God," she whispered as she took in the condition of the room. Serena walked in behind her and let out a low whistle.
Boxes had been over turned, the lamp was smashed, and a syringe had been tossed to the floor. Courtney picked it up, her hands shaking. "Bastards," she said, still shaking.
Serena felt a wave of sympathy for Courtney. No matter how upset she was right now, she knew that what they had done to Liz, taking her in the night, scared Courtney to death, and seeing this scene, well it just reinforced it for her.
She quietly began to pick up boxes, putting their contents back in them. They worked quietly together, getting everything put back in place, fixing holes in walls, making the room look as it was.
They were almost done, Courtney putting the drawers back in the dresser and Serena packing the last of the overturned boxes when Serena noticed a picture had fallen under the bed. She reached down to retrieve it, and was shocked at what she saw.
It was a picture of Max and Liz, who had to of been around 8 years old. There was a group behind them, but the picture focused in on a little Max and Liz, him dressed in a suit and Liz in a red and green desk, her hair in ponytails and ribbons. They were holding hands, Liz smiling with all her might and Max, well Max was looking at Liz like she was the only thing in the world.
Courtney noticed that Serena had stopped packing, and that she was looking at something. She came up behind her and took a look over her shoulder.
"Ahh, the Christmas Concert picture," she said softly.
"She kept this all these years?" Serena asked, turning around to face Courtney.
"Yes, yes she did. It was their third grade Christmas Pagent. Liz kept it in her journal," Courtney explained. "She said she could tell Max was scared, and she knew he was shy and new, so when they walked up to the stage she grabbed his hand, and held it through the whole concert. Mrs. Evans took this picture and thought it was so cute that she gave one to the Parkers."
Serena nodded and sat on the bed, still holding the picture. "He never looked at me like that, with that much emotion, and he's only in 3rd grade here," she said almost in a whisper. "How could I have been so stupid?"
"We are all stupid over a man one time or another Ser," Courtney said, sitting beside her friend.
Serena snorted. "You, you would never be stupid over a man."
Courtney laughed. "Oh yes I would," she said.
"Who?!" Serena demanded, her eyes narrowing.
"Rath," she said, a small, sad smile on her face. "And I guess Michael in association."
"You mean back on Antar?" Courtney said, her eyes growing wide. "Wasn't he engaged to Vilandra?"
"Not at first," Courtney said. "We were from two different worlds back there, but when we were young we had a passionate affair. I was certain that we were meant to be together, but then Zan's Father announced that Rath was to marry Vilandra and that was that. He cut all ties, he did his duty. I know he didn't love her, but Rath wouldn't do that to her, wouldn't hurt her honor."
"Wow," was all Serena could say.
"Yeah, wow," Courtney said softly. "I was pretty high up on the military food chain, so I constantly had to see him and Vilandra at different functions. She was so beautiful, so perfect. I didn't think I would ever be able to compare to her, but it didn't matter. Rath had to do what he was told."
"Did it get any easier?" Serena asked.
"It was starting to, but then war broke out. Kivar came from my world, and most people supported what he was doing, why he was doing it. He easily took over our own Monarchy with the support of the people," Courtney explained. "I started hearing of a resistance, a resistance that supported Rath being in charge. The more I found out, the more I needed to join."
"Because you loved him?" Serena questioned.
"No, because they were right," Courtney said. "Kivar had passion behind him, a cause that meant a great deal to him, but he was destroying everything in his path for that cause. Zan, well I really believe that Zan didn't have what it takes to be King, and he knew it. He didn't want it, but he did try. Trying is no match for one with such a passion as Kivar. Rath was the only one that had a sense of duty, a sense of what was good for all the people."
"But now you swear your allegiance to Zan?" Serena asked confused.
"No, I work with Max Evans to make this planet safe again. Serena, it's time you heard the truth about our solar system," Courtney said to a silent Serena.
