Chapter 41
Lonnie’s Bedroom, Laurie/NY 4 Residence, 08:00
Rath had woken up to find Lonnie draped over him. She was sound asleep and after last nights activities he was wondering why he wasn’t still asleep. Slowly he stroked his hand down her hair and kissed it. He was perfectly content to lie there and simply enjoy the feel of her against him.
He closed his eyes and continued to stroke up and down her hair, he had never been this relaxed and felt like he could stay here all day. Slowly Lonnie began to stir and Rath re-opened his eyes. Every so slowly she lifted her head and her eyes fluttered open.
“Hey!” said Rath
“Hey.” Lonnie replied as her eyes struggled to fully open as the light streamed in from the window
“How are you this morning?” he asked, a little more chirpy than he usually is
“I’m great…a little sore but at least I have a good reason for it! You?” Lonnie said as she smiled up to him
“I’m good…I just have to remember to thank my sister later!”
“Hmmm, me too!” said Lonnie as she rested her head on his chest.
Rath reached his head down and kissed the top of her head, he wrapped his arm round her back and over her body and held her close. “So you and the others are going for that makeover thing today?”
“Makeover thing?” she sniggered, “Yeah we’re meeting the others at the mall.”
“Well…a makeover can be good, but it wont make much of an improvement. You can’t improve on perfection!” Rath told her before lifting her hand and kissing her knuckles.
“Smooth talker!” she joked before she reached up and kissed him hard on the lips.
The kiss grew more passionate and Lonnie pulled her body up to straddled his hips. She pressed herself against him and as she rose up her tits scrapped against his chest. When she lowered herself back down his hard dick slipped inside her. Lonnie circled her hips and ground against his groin as they made love once again.
Dinning Room, Down Stairs
Zan and Ava had walked in hand in hand. He was wearing the thick cotton robe that Laurie had provided; she was wearing the slip and kimono she had bought yesterday. After Zan had seen her in it last night they had a very wild session, the kimono was removed but the slip remained. Zan had loved the feeling of the satin as he slid on top of her, the only part of the slip that came off was the shoulder strap and that was only so that he could kiss and suck on one of her nipples.
Now that they were awake they felt very hungry and came down to find Laurie eating a bowl of cornflakes and reading the morning paper.
“Hey guys…well that looks like it was money well spent!” Laurie said as she looked up at them
“Mmm you can say that again.” Said Ava seductively as she grabbed Zan’s head and kissed him hard and fast.
Zan was left complete breathless and sat down once his senses had returned to him
“So where’s Rath and Lonnie…they’re usually up by now?” Zan asked
“AHHHHHHHH GOD!!!!!!” They heard Lonnie scream from upstairs
“Oh they’re up alright!” said Laurie as she shook her head and smiled
Zan looked back and forth between the door and Laurie. “When the hell did that happen?” he asked
“Last night…believe me when Laurie gets it in her head to do something, she does it!” Ava said as she poured some milk into the bowl of cereal
“Okay.” said Zan, “If something like…oh I don’t know…their wedding happens, you guys will tell me right?”
“Oh sure…would five minutes before hand be enough time?” Laurie joked
“Uh, no…Ten would be great if you could manage it!” Zan said sarcastically
“Deal.” She answered
“So what are you guys doing after the makeover?” he asked
“Probably come straight back here. I’ve got a feeling that Lonnie will be wanting to spend more time with Rath.” Laurie replied
“And we certainly haven’t finished what we started last night…I’m sure I could find a few other things to wear.” Ava teased as she ran her hand up his thigh and cupped his cock.
Zan nearly coughed up his cornflakes when she made contact but managed to catch it.
“You know is it just me or are Antarians really horny?” Laurie asked
“Oh its not you. Not by a long shot.” Ava joked as Zan tried to hide his embarrassment.
“Come on we better get ready…who get to disturb the rabbits upstairs?” Laurie enquired
“Ah, I think we better use the intercom.” Ava suggested
“Good call!” Laurie replied
They both went upstairs and got dressed. Once Laurie was ready she buzzed the intercom and signalled Lonnie. After a few minutes of no reply she buzzed again but this time spoke and told her friend that it was time to get ready. That time she got a response from a very out of breath alien who was panting on the other end of the line.
“Yeah {pant} sure Laurie, I’ll {pant} be down in {pant} five!” she breathed out.
Tess’s Bedroom, Harding Residence, 08:10
Kyle had slept with Tess spooned up against him and had his arm over her, angled so that his hand was resting on her breast. Slowly Tess began to wake up and turned her body over. When her eyes did open she was looking over at her peacefully sleeping lover. He had some hair in his eyes and she decided to move it away.
As she made the light contact Kyle brought his hand up as though to swat a fly away. The action caused Tess to smile and decided to tease him a little. She lightly touched the tips of her fingers to the skin of his face over and over again; each time he made the same movements. But then Tess put her finger on the tip of his nose. Kyle brought his hand up hard and whacked himself in the nose causing him to wake up sharply.
Tess burst out laughing and rolled on to her back. Kyle looked around for that damned fly and saw Tess, he suddenly realised what she had done and moved over to her. It was time for payback! He started to tickle her everywhere and they both laughed their heads off as she tickled him back.
Once they stopped tickling each other they looked into each other’s eyes and allowed their breathing to normal.
“Tess how would you feel about moving back here?” Kyle asked
“What…you want me to move out?” Tess responded with disbelief
“No that not what I mean! I mean later…this is a good house to raise a family in.” Kyle said
Tess smiled at his reasoning but was concerned. “I don’t know Kyle…this place would be good but I got a lot of memories of this place and most weren’t pleasant. Nasedo kept drumming it into me to do what ever I could to get Max…and there were some things…”
“Then I say lets do this house a favour and give it some good memories.” Kyle said as he ran his hand down her body
“Hmmm, you mean like last night.” Tess said seductively
“Definitely like last night…just with a little more love and a little less lust!” Kyle said
“Yeah that was very wild…I guess the Granolith got a little impatient.” Tess agreed as she looked over at the clock. “Oh god is that the time…I’m gonna be late!”
“Why don’t you grab a quick shower while I fix your dress. Then we can go home and you can get changed.” Kyle suggested
Tess nodded and ran into the bathroom. Kyle got up and ran downstairs; he slipped on his suit and repaired the large tear he ripped in her dress last night. Once he was satisfied with the results he took the dress up to Tess. He entered the bathroom to find her still in the shower but she was turning off the water. He grabbed a towel and started to dry her off once she left the cubicle.
Tess then pulled the dress on over her head and down her body. When they were both dressed they went out to the car and Kyle drove them home. A few minutes later Tess was changed and out the door while Kyle showered.
Crashdown, 08:30
Maria and Isabel were waiting for Liz to come down stairs and for Tess to arrive. Michael was in the kitchen turning on the oven and deep fat fryer before the restaurant opens, he was still a little stunned that Maria was pregnant with twins and that it was standard for a human/Antarian mating. However, he was happy and that happiness spread to Maria once he made his feelings known to her.
Max and Alex were pouring out some soda for themselves and the girls. Just then Liz entered. She was scratching at her neck and the rest of her as she tried to get comfortable in her clothes.
“Hey, you okay?” Max asked
“Yeah…my sheets were just a little itchy last night!” responded Liz
“Then I’ll have to see about that.” Max said as he hugged her
Tess then entered the building and Liz and Maria just smiled as they looked at her.
“What?” Tess asked
“How did last night go?” Maria asked
“It was…you know?” Tess said as she looked at her friends
“Yep…we were up at the Granolith last night. Phoenix said that it was getting a little irritated by you two so it pumped up the hormones!” Liz said, “So…are you…you know?”
“Yes, complete with glowing hands!” Tess said calmly. All the girls move to her and offered their congratulations. After asking how Kyle was and a variety of things about their date they said goodbye to the guys and went to the mall.
Max had been thinking about what he could do for Liz and her uncomfortable sleeping. Then it hit him but he needed a way of getting a hold of it quietly to keep it a secret from Liz until he gave it to her.
“Alex, I got an idea…can I use your computer?” Max asked
“Yeah sure, come on!” he answered
“Hey Michael, we’ll see you later.” Max yelled into the kitchen
“Sure man.” he yelled back
Roswell Mall, 09:00
Today was the only day that the four girls had off in the morning and they arranged to spend some time together being pampered. Maria had also arranged for Laurie, Ava and Lonnie to join them…Isabel was less than thrilled but she had promised Alex! They had arranged to meet at a small fountain near the centre of the building and that was where Liz, Isabel, Maria and Tess found Laurie, Lonnie and Ava.
As the two groups moved toward each other Isabel’s gaze fixated on her sister who immediately pushed her head down to look at the floor and avoid the look she was getting. Laurie and Ava just looked back and forth between the two and then back at each other.
“Lonnie could I have a minute?” Isabel asked
{Isabel!} She heard in her mind
{Relax sweetie, I just have to talk to her…I wont hurt her!} She told Alex through their new telepathic connection.
“Uh, yeah, sure…over there?” Lonnie stated as she indicated to a small table in a dinning area.
They moved over to the table and sat down.
“Listen Isabel, I…” Lonnie started but Isabel held up her hand
“Save it Lonnie! I don’t want to hear it, if it was up to me I would rip you a part but I promised Alex!” Isabel said coldly
“So, what did you want to say?” Lonnie asked
Isabel was about to speak but she fell short and shook her head. “I…I don’t know. I can’t believe this; I had it all worked out in my head now it’s blank. I suppose I wanted to ask you why?”
“I guess I wanted to feel what you felt…I can’t say that I’m sorry it happened!” Lonnie replied
Isabel looked up at her double and looked at her, pain filled her eyes. “How can you say that…you could have ruined something special?”
“No that’s not what I meant…I am sorry for what I did but I’m not sorry for the result!” Lonnie said
“Just exactly was the result?” Isabel asked carefully
“Alex helped me figure out how I feel about Rath. Last night he and I made love for the first time.”
“You and Rath never had sex?” Isabel asked. She was amazed and shocked at the idea.
“Oh we’ve had sex alright! Hot, steamy, wild romps that would cause the hair on the back of a porn stars neck to stand up but last night we made love…seven times and once this morning!”
“Seven times.” Isabel whispered
“And once this morning!” Lonnie corrected
“Wait…back to Alex!” Isabel said
“Right, I really am sorry Isabel. I know that seems inappropriate and nowhere near enough but its all I can give to you. That and the promise that I’m going to be one hell of an aunt to those kids of yours.” Lonnie swore
“Thank you…Christ this is so not the way I pictured this going. I figured I’d do what you did when one of Pam Troy’s friends came on to Rath.”
“Well I do have to admit that was fun.”
“Hell if it wasn’t for the promise I made Alex I probably would do it!” Isabel said
“Why don’t you?” Lonnie asked
“What?” Asked Isabel
“Listen, this wont be over between us unless you do what you need to do…I know I would do it as well. So just hit me!” Lonnie explained
“You’re serious!”
“Yes I am…so do something. Take it out on me then we can move on!”
Isabel considered it and did it. With the back of her hand she smashed across Lonnie’s face causing her head to turn sharply.
Lonnie shook it of and used her powers to repair the damage.
“Feel better?” Lonnie asked her
“Much! But you know if it wasn’t for Alex and the fact that he’s can hear me you would have a hole in you!”
“Yeah…wait…how could he be listening in? You guys haven’t been together long enough, it take months of constant…togetherness for the link to form.” Lonnie asked
“Oh we got these rings from the Granolith, they made a link between us.”
“You have the bonding rings?” Lonnie asked with shock
“Okay why do I get the feeling there is more to these than we’ve been told?” Isabel said
“Because there is more…those rings are like wedding rings, you sister just got married!” Lonnie said
“Huh?” Isabel queried
“All noble weddings happen before the Granolith…it a holy icon and any union that it recognises are considered marriages by our people. It may not be recognised on Earth and you could still go through a human ceremony but…”
“Yeah…okay I’m freaked!” Isabel said
“Come on lets get back to our friends and get the makeover done then you can get back to your husband!” Lonnie joked
“Yeah…makeover…friends…wow!” Isabel stammered out, still reeling from the news
The two moved back to the others who were waiting and watching them. They looked as though they were on tender hooks waiting to step in. They almost jumped out of their skins when Isabel slapped Lonnie but Laurie had stopped them. She knew that they needed to get this over with and knew that even this wouldn’t do the trick.
However Isabel stopped Lonnie from moving. “Lonnie, you do realise that this was only the beginning…”
“Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from my sister…just make sure it isn’t too painful!”
“Done! Let the games begin!” Isabel said
“After the makeover!” Lonnie stated clearly
“Yeah okay!”
They made their way over to the others and all seven girls went inside the beauty parlour.
Alex’s Room, Whitman Residence, 09:45
Max and Alex had arrived and went straight into the bedroom and turned on the computer.
“Okay, so what do you want to look for?” Alex asked
“Well…I was thinking about some new bed sheets for Liz. Something like…”
“Silk.” Alex finished for his friend
“Yeah, how’d you know?” Max asked
“I’ve been thinking about something for Isabel as well.” Alex answered
“Great minds think alike!” they said in unison
They turned their attention back to the computer and Alex brought up a few suitable web pages. They looked through the site until they found what they were looking for. Alex found sheets that were completely made of red silk, even the pillowcases! Max found some that Liz would love…creamy white silk.
However, they felt like it wasn’t complete. There was something missing from their selections and continued to look around the site. They were about to give up and turn to the pay screen but then Max saw something.
“Wait…click right there!” he said
Alex clicked on what he pointed to and realised that Max was right on target.
“Perfect!” said Alex
They were greeted with the sight of numerous models wearing long nightgowns. They looked through each item, examining the details as closely as possible. Max found what he wanted to get for Liz…a silk nightgown, pure white and with a spit up one leg. The front had a V that dipped down to the cleavage and had thin straps over the shoulders to hold it up. The silk would travel half way up her back and small stands of silk would crisscross over a small dip in the middle. Alex choice was similar but once again was in red and had no back except for two thin silk straps that crossed on her shoulder blades. Alex could see Isabel wearing it and knew that the back would go down far enough to show the small of her back…maybe even a little of her butt!
Their choices had been made and they pulled out a credit card. They moved to the ‘checkout’ page and paid for their orders and arranged for the delivery to be brought here to, Alex’s home. They knew that their ladies would love the gifts just as much as they knew they would love seeing them in them. Too bad they had to wait for the delivery!
Max looked down to Alex and saw the look on his face.
“Hey get that smirk of your face! That’s my sister!” he said
“She maybe your sister but I love her.” Alex countered
“Yeah I know…sorry.” Max apologised
“Actually I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”
“Yeah?” Max asked
“Yeah…given that you’re the king and Isabel is a princess I kinda figured that I should ask you this…I would like your permission to marry Isabel! Once we’re old enough of course.”
“You really mean that don’t you?” Max asked
“No less than you intend to marry Liz!” Alex stated
Max held out his hand and Alex took it.
“Of course you have my permission…why’d you even ask?”
“Because you are her brother, the king and the closest member of her family…next I have to ask your dad!”
“You really know how to do things by the book don’t you?”
“Oh like you wont be ask Mr Parker as soon as you think he wont kill you!” Alex joked
“Well I can’t argue there!” Max said, “Well…welcome to the family! You know there is something I should tell you about…the Granolith has these rings that…”
“Yeah I know, Isabel and I went up there last night…I asked Isabel if she would marry me when we were given the rings. It felt like it was the right time to ask!”
Max remembered back to when he and Liz got their rings. He knew exactly what Alex and his sister had done up there and suddenly felt uncomfortable. However he remembered that Alex did love his sister and that they were having their own children so he shook it off.
“Well I know what that like…when I gave Liz that ring everything in me told me to ask her!” Max said
“Have you thought about what you’re going to do after school? Things have really changed now and…well the college I was hoping to go to, its miles away from where Isabel wanted to go and with the children on the way! Neither of us wants to give up the courses but the kids have to come first.” Alex said
“Have you thought about doing your course through correspondence?” Max asked
“Correspondence?”
“Yeah, you do the course through mail and the Internet from home and besides it’s not like we don’t have the money to hold off on college and go later.” Max explained
“Yeah…good idea and it’s not like we have to make a decision right now.”
“Exactly. Come on, my dad said he wanted to see me about the money!” Max said
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, Kalaria, Same Time
Lorat had just received disturbing information from a probe he had sent out following Kivar’s apparent trip to Earth. He needed to confirm some suspicions that had been raised since Kivar declared a small moon on the other side of the sun of limits. Now that Kivar was gone and that a clone was in his place he took the opportunity to do some covert information gathering while Larek recovered from his trip.
“Damn it!” he cursed
Just then Larek entered the room and looked around.
“Lord Larek, it is good to see you well. How was Earth?” Lorat asked
“Good for the moment. The existence of Zan and the others is now public knowledge but so far nothing appears to be significantly wrong…they even have a group of human protectors assigned by the their nations leader. How are things here?” Larek asked
“Not good…a probe I sent has just transmitted its results. It would appear that Kivar is building an experiment warship.”
“What?” Larek said as he moved to look at the monitor
“The probe indicates that the new ship is nearly finished and ready for testing. Its firepower is nearly 30 times that of his conventional forces and appears to have an energy core similar to that of the Granolith…it’s speed would allow Kivar to take control over all worlds under Antarian occupation within 2 weeks.”
“That’s impossible! Kivar could not have replicated the technology of the Granolith.”
“I know but the energy emissions are nearly identical, weaker but identical. If this ship reaches completion then…” Lorat said as he shook his head
“I know, Kivar could use the ship yard to construct a fleet and with this kind of fire power and the ships he already has…he would be unstoppable.” Larek stated with concern and fear. “It appears that our only options are either to destroy that ship and any facilities near by or try to level the playing field!”
“Larek?” Lorat enquired
“We put together a strike force and take that ship!”
“Larek I want that ship as much as you do…if for nothing else that to take it apart and learn how it works. But some of the surrounding ships belong to Kivar’s personal guard, they are the best trained in Antar. What about that cloaking field you developed for your probes? Could that be adapted to ships the size of troop transports?” Larek asked
“It’s possible. But to take a ship that size…even if it has a skeleton crew we would need at least 3 transports.”
“How long to get ready?”
“Well assuming that the cloak can be adapted…three days and that is just to get the troops. You do realise that if Kivar never went to Earth we wouldn’t have found out about this.”
“Oh we would have found out all right. About five minutes before his troops stormed every command centre in the system. He could have taken out all the council members before we would have called an alert. We have to get that ship or at the very least get access to its computers…if I know Kivar he would have put all schematics of that ship in it to make sure that the information stays secure.”
“Yeah good point. I should prepare a computer uplink; we could download all its data in case something happens after we secure the vessel. We may even be able do find out how Kivar replicated the Granolith.” Lorat said as he pushed some buttons and brought up a selection of computer components that could be used for the task.
“Good, call me when you are ready. I’ll go and arrange for the troops and transports…will you need any help in getting the cloak on line?” Larek asked
“Yes! There are a few engineers at your own shipyards that could help.”
“I’ll have them report to you within the hour! Make this one work Lorat.”
“Yes sir!” Lorat replied as he replicated the parts he needed for the uplinks.
To Be Continued…
Other Paths - ADULT - CC - Chapters 1-100 [COMPLETE]
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
Chapter 42
Living Room, Michael’s Apartment, Mid-Morning
Michael and Maria had decided to break the news of Maria’s pregnancy to her mother over dinner. Michael was cooking this meal and intended for everything to go swimmingly. He had already cleaned up, dusted and vacuumed everything in sight and to make sure he used his powers. He had even done his own laundry, dried the clothes with his powers and put them away. Within two hours the place was spotless!
Next came preparation for dinner…chicken, roasted in a little marinade of his own concoction. He defrosted the chicken in his microwave and then poured the sauce all over it before covering it with film and sticking it in the fridge. But just then there was a knock at the door.
When Michael opened it he was met by his double.
“Rath? What can I do for you?” Michael asked
“I brought drinks and food. Time we got to know each other!” Rath said as he held up a six-pack of Coke and another pizza. However Rath started to sniff the air. “What’s cooking?”
“I’m making dinner for Maria and her mother tonight!”
“Anything wrong?” Rath said as he entered the apartment
“We…we’re telling her that Maria is pregnant…should be fun!” Michael said sarcastically
“Yeah…well then my visit has perfect timing! You need to relax bro!”
“Rath I appreciate the idea but I don’t want anything to go wrong…”
“Mike this is perfect, I love to cook so I can help…I just never get the chance. Besides it’s way early, you got some time to kill.” Rath re-assured him
Michael smiled and nodded. “Thanks…so…what’s up with you?” he said as they sat down in front of the television and turned on a football game
“Nothing much…oh piece of advice, when Laurie gets it into her head to do something, NEVER go against her.”
“Hell I could a told you that…what did she do to you?” Michael asked
“Nearly drowned me in her swimming pool that’s what!” Rath said as he took a swig of coke.
Michael just shook his head while chuckling. Obviously he and his brother were more like Laurie than he had originally given credit. “So what was it she wanted?” he asked
“Oh nothing much, just admit to myself how I really feel about Lonnie. Speaking of which, what’s the deal with you guys?”
“Huh?”
“You and Isabel…you can’t tell me you’ve never had a stiffener when thinking about her.” Rath teased
“Yeah I can say it…well aside from some freaky ass dreams we had last year! I’ve more or less thought of her as a sister.” Michael said as he tried to dismiss Rath’s comments and not think about the dreams.
“So you had them too ehh? Got a tell ya, the week we had them was…well lets just say that a good time was had by all. So what are you cooking?” Rath asked
“Chicken…done in a sauce that I made! And apple pie for desert.” he responded
“What about soup?” Rath enquired
“Soup?”
“Yeah…I mean this is a major thing tonight, you gotta do it right. I take it Maria’s mom is…” Rath trailed off while gesturing with his hand
“Lethal when pissed? Yeah!” Michael finished for Rath
“I was gonna say…Like Maria, but yeah your way works too.”
“What of it?” Michael asked
“Well, you have to show her that you can take care of her baby girl…and cooking is the best way to get in with the olds.”
“How the hell would you know?”
“I just…common sense, okay!” Rath said as he tried to think of a reason but he had come up short…he didn’t know!
“Yeah right! So what do you suggest?” Michael asked
Rath just sat there and thought for a moment before looking back across to his brother. “Hey what about mushroom? Simple, classic…and I’ve got a few tricks with the ingredients that will blow her away!”
“Yeah, okay. We’re gonna need some mushrooms then huh?”
Rath just looked at Michael. “Would help!” he said flatly
“Be back in five…watch the chicken for me!” Michael yelled as he ran out of his apartment.
Rath grabbed a sheet of paper and waved his hand over it. In about a second he had a complete list of ingredients he was going to need and folded the paper up into a paper aeroplane. He then ran over to the window and yelled out to Michael who was about to jump on his bike.
“Hey Mickey, catch!” He said as he threw the plane out.
Michael waited for the plane to come into reach and grabbed it.
“Just some things you need to get!” Rath yelled down.
Michael looked at the list and then looked back up to his window. {What the hell did he need 20 condoms for?} Michael asked himself, and then it hit him. “Hey I am not doing your shopping too bro!” He yelled back up. He just got on his bike, put on his helmet and drove off to buy his groceries.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, Kalaria, Very Early Morning
Larek was having a very restful sleep when he received a call from Lorat to come ASAP. Once he was dressed and down to the chamber he found his long time friend punching away at his consol, bringing up several old files and images.
“Lorat, tell me you weren’t here all night?” Larek asked
“Yeah…good thing too, we have a major problem.” Lorat responded
“Seriously, you have got to get yourself a life man!” Larek replied
“I’m serious as well!”
“What’s the problem?” Larek asked
“The probe I have monitoring Kivar’s new ship! It sent back pictures of some of the testing going on out there.” Lorat pushed a few keys on brought up pictures of small orbs with six cones coming out in each direction. The feed showed the orbs being shot out of small launch holes on the sides of the ship.
Larek rubbed his eyes and studded the pictures closely before speaking. “Wait, you got me up for atmospheric seeders? Half the ships in the system have those.”
“Yes but no warship has them and a prototype vessel never has them installed. Besides I had the probe run a metallurgical analysis on the seeders…they’re made from pure Crolyssiam!” Lorat said
That got Larek’s attention! He looked up at his friend and back to the monitors and read outs. “You’re sure…please tell me it’s possible there is an error!” He said quickly and highly agitated
“There isn’t! I ran the test five times; I even looked up the old records to make sure. It is Crolyssiam!”
“Kon’ma’Ra…Kivar has to be insane just to do the research on that stuff again!” Larek said
“Insane or not this could be the break we need. We could use this to rally the support of the council and the other nobles…”
“NO!” Larek said abruptly. “If word gets out that Kivar has recreated Kon’ma’Ra…the council will be on the fence and the nobles would either run and hide or surrender on the spot! We need to move a head of schedule…how many cloaks can you get on line by the end of the day?”
Lorat looked at Larek with concern. “Not nearly enough, I’ve only just finished the first when I found out about this! To get the rest done by tonight…”
“Not tonight…I want to launch before mid afternoon!” Larek stated
“I’m going to need help…a lot of help. It will take all three troop transports to pull this off and we’ll need a command and backup unit!”
“Who could help with this?”
“Well there is always Lady Shalara. Shalara controls the largest colony outside of the star system. The Industrial sector is the best of the outer colony worlds. Besides she and Ava were more like sisters than cousins, she has always spoken out against Kivar despite the fact her family has taken a neutral voice in the whole thing.”
“I don’t think she would want to help!” Larek said slowly
“Why not…this would give her the perfect chance to strike back at Kivar?”
“What I mean to say is…she wont help me!”
“I don’t understand?” Lorat said
“Remember 65 years ago at the Rebirth Ceremony when Rath smuggled in that bottle of Borisity!”
“Oh yeah, that was one hell of a night…I remember you got so drunk that you tried to hit on some girl and ended up throwing up all over her. She ran so fast…” Lorat stopped talking and looked to Larek who wasn’t sharing his smile. “Tell me…TELL ME, that girl wasn’t Shalara!”
Larek just looked at him and nodded.
Lorat struggled to contain the laugh that wanted to break free. He tried to look away and begged the gods not to make him burst out into laughter…he failed!
“HA, HAAAAAAAA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Lorat burst out, his head was resting on his arm on the consol and his free hand was in a fist, bashing away at the metal.
“Hey, it’s not funny!” Larek said adamantly
“Yes…HA…yes it is!” Lorat wheezed out
“No…No its not!” Larek said but a smile was beginning to creep onto his face as well. “It’s not…HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Both nobles were now laughing their heads off as they remembered that night.
Ten Minutes Later
“Oh…Ha, Remember the time…HAA…Rath tried to cook a cake and it blew up in his face…Ha, Ha, ha, ha, ha…and we was covered in that goo that stuck to everything for a day!” Larek breathed out between laughs
Lorat had a tear running down his face as he tried to breath. His face was bright red and neither could stop.
Twenty Minutes Later
“And then there was the time Ava took Zan ice gliding. HA…He had to hold onto a rock to keep his footing but his feet kept sliding everywhere…he just gave up then fell flat on his face!” Lorat said with indicating with his hands
The laughing of the two men doubled in intensity as they remembered the times they spent with their old friends. All of a sudden, as Larek leaned back in his chair he fell backwards and landed on the floor. Lorat’s laughter grew stronger and just pointed at his fallen friend. Soon they looked back to the displays before them and their hysterics died down.
“As I said…a problem!” Lorat said
“I’ll talk to Shalara right now.” Larek got up and walked to the door
“The words ‘I’m Sorry’ wouldn’t hurt.” Lorat yelled at him as the door opened
“Yeah!” Larek said as he closed the door
Water Fountain, Roswell Mall, Noon
Max and Alex had arrived to escort their ladies and the others back to school. They couldn’t wait to see them and were sitting on the edge of the fountain, throwing coins in to keep them busy.
“You’re sure they wont find out about our presents?” Max asked
“No way…this will be our secret until we give it to them.” Alex said but Max sharply turned his head to face him. Alex realised just what he had said, “The presents, give them the presents!” he quickly corrected
At that point the girls came into view and moved over to the fountain. The sight of Isabel caused Alex to hold his breath for a minute. He never thought that she could look more beautiful but he was wrong.
“Hey!” He said
“Hey” Isabel responded
“You look incredible.” Alex said
“Thanks.”
Lonnie just looked back and forth between her sister and Alex. She knew what they both wanted to do but couldn’t figure out what was stopping them. “Oh for goodness sake just kiss her already!”
Both teens just looked down and sniggered. Alex moved closer to his lover and kissed her gently on the lips. A few sweet nothings were whispered between Max and Liz and then they too shared a kiss.
Alex pulled away and then looked to his friends. Liz’s hair definitely looked a little more bouncy and Maria looked as though she was smouldering. He knew that she was getting desperate to see Michael. He then looked over to the new additions to the group. Ava had the dye removed from her hair while Lonnie had not only used her powers to grow her hair longer but also had a single streak of red down the left hand side. Her hair also drifted down over her left shoulder.
“Lonnie…I like!” He said as he looked over the red streak. “Rath’s gonna love it.”
Isabel looked at Alex in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that Alex would give Lonnie compliments after what she did. Alex caught a glimpse of the look in Isabel’s eyes and immediately regretted his comment. “Hey, I’m being nice…she is your sister!” he whispered in her ear. “Besides, I don’t know how it’s possible but you look infinitely more beautiful.”
“Sweet talker!”
“The Whitman charm does it again.” Alex said as he took hold of her hand.
“Listen, I need to tell you something…” she said and then looked over to Max and Liz “you two should be there as well!”
“What’s up?” Max asked his sister
“Not here, okay. I’ll tell you later.” Isabel said as she looked back at Lonnie who nodded
On mass the group left the mall and walked back to school. Laurie, Lonnie and Ava were going with them to meet up with Serena who was talking with the Principle. After ten minutes they came across the Sheriff’s station and saw Kyle crossing the road.
“Hey Kyle!” Yelled Max
Kyle had heard the call and went over to his friends. “Hey guys…Tess!” he said before pulling her into a very heated public display of affection. “How are you feeling?”
“Good, I’m feeling good! Isabel didn’t start the whole coughing thing for a week or so.”
“Well if you need anything you better let me know!”
“Count on it…so where are you heading?” Tess asked
“To see my dad…I gotta tell him!” Kyle nodded as he said it
“I should be there too!”
“No, you have a class in twenty minutes! I’ll deal with the fallout from this, you just enjoy the rest of your day.” Kyle suggested
“Enjoy school? Yeah, when you’re done, go home and lie down…the heat must be getting to you.” Tess joked at Kyle’s idea.
“Hey Kyle, mind if I come with you?” Alex asked.
Everyone looked at him but it was Isabel who knew what he wanted to do. “Alex, you shouldn’t do this.”
“But I need to do it.” Alex said as he kissed her goodbye. “I’ll see you later!”
With that he followed Kyle inside while the others just walked away to school.
Valenti’s Office, Sheriff’s Station, Immediately Following
Jim was sitting at his desk, writing out reports and filing away some documents. His paperwork was increased severely since the kid’s secret was exposed. The tourist activity had gone through the roof and with it so had a number of petty crime…most of them traffic offences and a few were people who got a little to close to the Antarians that the Agents permitted.
Kyle and Alex then knocked on the door and entered the room.
“Kyle, Alex…what can I do for you?” Jim asked
“Well I need to talk to you…Alex needs…” Kyle said
“I want to see Sorenson!” Alex finished
“Alex, I don’t think that’s a good idea! You should…”
“I don’t care if it’s a good idea or not Sheriff I need to see him!”
Valenti nodded. He knew that if someone had tried to kill him then he would want to look him in the eye, just like Alex. Jim pressed on his intercom and called Hanson into the office.
“Hanson…take Alex down to the cells!”
Alex thanked the Sheriff and left the roof. Before Hanson followed Valenti asked him to keep an eye out for his young friend.
“So, Kyle…what’s up with you?”
“Dad…I need to tell you something.” Kyle got out slowly
Jim stopped writing and looked up to his son. “It was option three, wasn’t it?” he asked
“Dad?”
“Tess is pregnant!” Jim stated
“Yes…last night…I…we…”
“Kyle I don’t need to know the details. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s great.” Kyle said
“And you?”
“I’m good too.”
“Kyle…I spoke with the others. I guess they wanted me to be prepared for it. Kyle, you are about to enter a stage of your life I thought wouldn’t come for…well a very long time. I already know the answers to these but I need to hear it from you…do you love her?”
“Yes!” Kyle stated whole-heartedly
“Are you okay with all of this and I mean ALL of it?”
“Dad, I’m more than okay with it! I’m a part of this, Tess is my life and I’m going to stick by her through whatever hell comes our way!”
“Well then that answers question three…okay, you should go to school but I want you to know that if either of you need anything you can come to me!” Jim said
“Sure dad and thanks!”
“You sound surprised?” Jim said
“Well I kinda figured there would be fireworks…you know, big booms or something.”
“Wait until junior gets to the terrible two’s…that will be sufficient punishment. Especially if it takes after you.”
Kyle left the room and went down to how Alex was doing.
Sorenson’s Cell
Sorenson was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall when he heard the sound of the metal doors opening and the distinct sound of two people walked down the hall. The next thing he saw was the young man he tried to kill standing before him.
Alex had never felt like this before but the look on Sorenson’s face was almost satisfying. Grant looked like he was looking at a ghost, the fear and abject terror was evident on his face.
“Sorenson!” Alex said
“Yeah…so you really are alive!” Grant replied
“No thanks to you.”
“Well…I’m s…”
Alex quickly raised his hand and a trail of energy whipped Sorenson’s face leaving a little cut. “DON’T, Don’t you dare try to tell me your sorry! Piece of shit…what was the plan, be a shoulder for Isabel to cry on so that you could sleep with her.”
He never got a response.
“ANSWER ME!” Alex yelled as he whipped his hand again, causing a second cut to appear on the other side of Sorenson’s face as it jerked round.
“Yeah…more or less. I wanted her, you were in the way!”
Just after finishing speaking, Sorenson started looking around and smelling the air. Alex looked around but couldn’t smell anything but Sorenson closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them Alex noticed a change, a cold dead gleam that wasn’t there before was now meeting his gaze – the Ganderium Queen within him had caught the scent of Laurie from Alex and now the hunt was on!
Sorenson moved over to the bars and started smashing away at them. Hanson pulled Alex back and both watched as some of the bars started to buckle. Hanson drew his gun and aimed at Grant, all the while he yelled at him to back off. Sorenson became like a wild animal and bashed away at anything he could, the result was a broken bed, sink and several dozen dents in the brickwork of the cell.
All of a sudden he rammed the bars and reached through to grab a hold of Alex but he missed.
“SOMEONE HELP US!” yelled Hanson
Out in the hall, Kyle had heard the call for help and started to run for the cells. When he entered the area he moved beside Alex and looked at Sorenson. Kyle also noticed the change in the would-be killers eyes but got a little to close to the cell. Grant once again charged the bars but this time caught hold of Kyle.
Acting out of instinct Kyle felt a change within his body and then everyone saw the passing of Sorenson’s hand through his body. Hanson acted quickly and took a shot at the prisoner.
The bullet hit its target and penetrated the heart. Sorenson slumped back and landed on the floor. Barely a second went by before small blue shards shot out of his chest and then everyone looked on as the parasite burst free and floated around the room, its tentacles waving around.
Nobody in the room could speak and the stared at the entity. The Ganderium itself now had the scent of Laurie Dupree and now that it was free of its host it could use all of his senses and could easily follow her. All it had to do was get out of this cage!
All of the commotion had attracted a lot of attention and the Sheriff along with half the department was now looking on at what was going on.
“Someone wanna tell me what the hell that is?” Valenti asked
“I have no idea!” Alex said
The Ganderium was looking at the humans before it but the only thing it’s instinct were focused on was the human with the genetic flaw that would allow it to bond with all humans and effectively end their race. It rammed the bars and broke them easily and it never stopped. It burst through the empty cell behind the humans and bashed its way through the brick wall, in its wake left several human lying on the floor injured.
Kyle, Alex and the Sheriff were left uninjured. They all moved to help the others but Alex knew that Kyle could catch up to that thing and told him to go after it. The jock teen nodded and ran out of the building and ran after it, following a trail of staring humans as they watched the blue glow fly down the street.
West Roswell High, 4 Minutes Later
Max was sitting, writing away at a report when all of a sudden the wall burst in and the Ganderium left through an open door. The second he saw it his mind flooded with a thousand images of the initial discovery of the Ganderium crystals in the future and what they wanted.
However, before he started to run after it there was a shimmer in the wall and watched as Kyle ran through it and after the alien. He never stopped! Max ran after him, quickly followed by half the class.
Kyle ran down the halls, hot on the trail of the alien. The Ganderium could feel her close, it knew that soon that it would bond with the D.N.A of the human. It drifted down hall after hall, floor after floor looking for its prey.
Empty Class, Across from the Principles Office
When the girl’s split up, the Roswell group went to their classes while Lonnie, Ava and Laurie had come here to wait for Serena to finish her meeting. They were busy talking about various things but most of all, Laurie’s attraction to her Secret Service protector. It was the girls favourite subject to tease her on and both had privately vowed to get that agent into Laurie’s bed ASAP and judging by his reaction whenever Laurie was around it was not going to be hard. They only had to deal with Rath and Michael!
All of a sudden the Ganderium entered the room and Laurie ran to the back of the room while the others moved off to the sides. Both Lonnie and Ava kept trying to use their powers to contain the thing but just looked at each other when they failed. The tentacles waved around the room and whipped the two alien hybrids until they were on the floor unconscious.
It then turned its attention back to Laurie, wrapped the tentacles around her body and rushed toward her.
“AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” her scream echoed down the halls
To Be Continued…
Living Room, Michael’s Apartment, Mid-Morning
Michael and Maria had decided to break the news of Maria’s pregnancy to her mother over dinner. Michael was cooking this meal and intended for everything to go swimmingly. He had already cleaned up, dusted and vacuumed everything in sight and to make sure he used his powers. He had even done his own laundry, dried the clothes with his powers and put them away. Within two hours the place was spotless!
Next came preparation for dinner…chicken, roasted in a little marinade of his own concoction. He defrosted the chicken in his microwave and then poured the sauce all over it before covering it with film and sticking it in the fridge. But just then there was a knock at the door.
When Michael opened it he was met by his double.
“Rath? What can I do for you?” Michael asked
“I brought drinks and food. Time we got to know each other!” Rath said as he held up a six-pack of Coke and another pizza. However Rath started to sniff the air. “What’s cooking?”
“I’m making dinner for Maria and her mother tonight!”
“Anything wrong?” Rath said as he entered the apartment
“We…we’re telling her that Maria is pregnant…should be fun!” Michael said sarcastically
“Yeah…well then my visit has perfect timing! You need to relax bro!”
“Rath I appreciate the idea but I don’t want anything to go wrong…”
“Mike this is perfect, I love to cook so I can help…I just never get the chance. Besides it’s way early, you got some time to kill.” Rath re-assured him
Michael smiled and nodded. “Thanks…so…what’s up with you?” he said as they sat down in front of the television and turned on a football game
“Nothing much…oh piece of advice, when Laurie gets it into her head to do something, NEVER go against her.”
“Hell I could a told you that…what did she do to you?” Michael asked
“Nearly drowned me in her swimming pool that’s what!” Rath said as he took a swig of coke.
Michael just shook his head while chuckling. Obviously he and his brother were more like Laurie than he had originally given credit. “So what was it she wanted?” he asked
“Oh nothing much, just admit to myself how I really feel about Lonnie. Speaking of which, what’s the deal with you guys?”
“Huh?”
“You and Isabel…you can’t tell me you’ve never had a stiffener when thinking about her.” Rath teased
“Yeah I can say it…well aside from some freaky ass dreams we had last year! I’ve more or less thought of her as a sister.” Michael said as he tried to dismiss Rath’s comments and not think about the dreams.
“So you had them too ehh? Got a tell ya, the week we had them was…well lets just say that a good time was had by all. So what are you cooking?” Rath asked
“Chicken…done in a sauce that I made! And apple pie for desert.” he responded
“What about soup?” Rath enquired
“Soup?”
“Yeah…I mean this is a major thing tonight, you gotta do it right. I take it Maria’s mom is…” Rath trailed off while gesturing with his hand
“Lethal when pissed? Yeah!” Michael finished for Rath
“I was gonna say…Like Maria, but yeah your way works too.”
“What of it?” Michael asked
“Well, you have to show her that you can take care of her baby girl…and cooking is the best way to get in with the olds.”
“How the hell would you know?”
“I just…common sense, okay!” Rath said as he tried to think of a reason but he had come up short…he didn’t know!
“Yeah right! So what do you suggest?” Michael asked
Rath just sat there and thought for a moment before looking back across to his brother. “Hey what about mushroom? Simple, classic…and I’ve got a few tricks with the ingredients that will blow her away!”
“Yeah, okay. We’re gonna need some mushrooms then huh?”
Rath just looked at Michael. “Would help!” he said flatly
“Be back in five…watch the chicken for me!” Michael yelled as he ran out of his apartment.
Rath grabbed a sheet of paper and waved his hand over it. In about a second he had a complete list of ingredients he was going to need and folded the paper up into a paper aeroplane. He then ran over to the window and yelled out to Michael who was about to jump on his bike.
“Hey Mickey, catch!” He said as he threw the plane out.
Michael waited for the plane to come into reach and grabbed it.
“Just some things you need to get!” Rath yelled down.
Michael looked at the list and then looked back up to his window. {What the hell did he need 20 condoms for?} Michael asked himself, and then it hit him. “Hey I am not doing your shopping too bro!” He yelled back up. He just got on his bike, put on his helmet and drove off to buy his groceries.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, Kalaria, Very Early Morning
Larek was having a very restful sleep when he received a call from Lorat to come ASAP. Once he was dressed and down to the chamber he found his long time friend punching away at his consol, bringing up several old files and images.
“Lorat, tell me you weren’t here all night?” Larek asked
“Yeah…good thing too, we have a major problem.” Lorat responded
“Seriously, you have got to get yourself a life man!” Larek replied
“I’m serious as well!”
“What’s the problem?” Larek asked
“The probe I have monitoring Kivar’s new ship! It sent back pictures of some of the testing going on out there.” Lorat pushed a few keys on brought up pictures of small orbs with six cones coming out in each direction. The feed showed the orbs being shot out of small launch holes on the sides of the ship.
Larek rubbed his eyes and studded the pictures closely before speaking. “Wait, you got me up for atmospheric seeders? Half the ships in the system have those.”
“Yes but no warship has them and a prototype vessel never has them installed. Besides I had the probe run a metallurgical analysis on the seeders…they’re made from pure Crolyssiam!” Lorat said
That got Larek’s attention! He looked up at his friend and back to the monitors and read outs. “You’re sure…please tell me it’s possible there is an error!” He said quickly and highly agitated
“There isn’t! I ran the test five times; I even looked up the old records to make sure. It is Crolyssiam!”
“Kon’ma’Ra…Kivar has to be insane just to do the research on that stuff again!” Larek said
“Insane or not this could be the break we need. We could use this to rally the support of the council and the other nobles…”
“NO!” Larek said abruptly. “If word gets out that Kivar has recreated Kon’ma’Ra…the council will be on the fence and the nobles would either run and hide or surrender on the spot! We need to move a head of schedule…how many cloaks can you get on line by the end of the day?”
Lorat looked at Larek with concern. “Not nearly enough, I’ve only just finished the first when I found out about this! To get the rest done by tonight…”
“Not tonight…I want to launch before mid afternoon!” Larek stated
“I’m going to need help…a lot of help. It will take all three troop transports to pull this off and we’ll need a command and backup unit!”
“Who could help with this?”
“Well there is always Lady Shalara. Shalara controls the largest colony outside of the star system. The Industrial sector is the best of the outer colony worlds. Besides she and Ava were more like sisters than cousins, she has always spoken out against Kivar despite the fact her family has taken a neutral voice in the whole thing.”
“I don’t think she would want to help!” Larek said slowly
“Why not…this would give her the perfect chance to strike back at Kivar?”
“What I mean to say is…she wont help me!”
“I don’t understand?” Lorat said
“Remember 65 years ago at the Rebirth Ceremony when Rath smuggled in that bottle of Borisity!”
“Oh yeah, that was one hell of a night…I remember you got so drunk that you tried to hit on some girl and ended up throwing up all over her. She ran so fast…” Lorat stopped talking and looked to Larek who wasn’t sharing his smile. “Tell me…TELL ME, that girl wasn’t Shalara!”
Larek just looked at him and nodded.
Lorat struggled to contain the laugh that wanted to break free. He tried to look away and begged the gods not to make him burst out into laughter…he failed!
“HA, HAAAAAAAA, HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Lorat burst out, his head was resting on his arm on the consol and his free hand was in a fist, bashing away at the metal.
“Hey, it’s not funny!” Larek said adamantly
“Yes…HA…yes it is!” Lorat wheezed out
“No…No its not!” Larek said but a smile was beginning to creep onto his face as well. “It’s not…HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
Both nobles were now laughing their heads off as they remembered that night.
Ten Minutes Later
“Oh…Ha, Remember the time…HAA…Rath tried to cook a cake and it blew up in his face…Ha, Ha, ha, ha, ha…and we was covered in that goo that stuck to everything for a day!” Larek breathed out between laughs
Lorat had a tear running down his face as he tried to breath. His face was bright red and neither could stop.
Twenty Minutes Later
“And then there was the time Ava took Zan ice gliding. HA…He had to hold onto a rock to keep his footing but his feet kept sliding everywhere…he just gave up then fell flat on his face!” Lorat said with indicating with his hands
The laughing of the two men doubled in intensity as they remembered the times they spent with their old friends. All of a sudden, as Larek leaned back in his chair he fell backwards and landed on the floor. Lorat’s laughter grew stronger and just pointed at his fallen friend. Soon they looked back to the displays before them and their hysterics died down.
“As I said…a problem!” Lorat said
“I’ll talk to Shalara right now.” Larek got up and walked to the door
“The words ‘I’m Sorry’ wouldn’t hurt.” Lorat yelled at him as the door opened
“Yeah!” Larek said as he closed the door
Water Fountain, Roswell Mall, Noon
Max and Alex had arrived to escort their ladies and the others back to school. They couldn’t wait to see them and were sitting on the edge of the fountain, throwing coins in to keep them busy.
“You’re sure they wont find out about our presents?” Max asked
“No way…this will be our secret until we give it to them.” Alex said but Max sharply turned his head to face him. Alex realised just what he had said, “The presents, give them the presents!” he quickly corrected
At that point the girls came into view and moved over to the fountain. The sight of Isabel caused Alex to hold his breath for a minute. He never thought that she could look more beautiful but he was wrong.
“Hey!” He said
“Hey” Isabel responded
“You look incredible.” Alex said
“Thanks.”
Lonnie just looked back and forth between her sister and Alex. She knew what they both wanted to do but couldn’t figure out what was stopping them. “Oh for goodness sake just kiss her already!”
Both teens just looked down and sniggered. Alex moved closer to his lover and kissed her gently on the lips. A few sweet nothings were whispered between Max and Liz and then they too shared a kiss.
Alex pulled away and then looked to his friends. Liz’s hair definitely looked a little more bouncy and Maria looked as though she was smouldering. He knew that she was getting desperate to see Michael. He then looked over to the new additions to the group. Ava had the dye removed from her hair while Lonnie had not only used her powers to grow her hair longer but also had a single streak of red down the left hand side. Her hair also drifted down over her left shoulder.
“Lonnie…I like!” He said as he looked over the red streak. “Rath’s gonna love it.”
Isabel looked at Alex in disbelief. She couldn’t believe that Alex would give Lonnie compliments after what she did. Alex caught a glimpse of the look in Isabel’s eyes and immediately regretted his comment. “Hey, I’m being nice…she is your sister!” he whispered in her ear. “Besides, I don’t know how it’s possible but you look infinitely more beautiful.”
“Sweet talker!”
“The Whitman charm does it again.” Alex said as he took hold of her hand.
“Listen, I need to tell you something…” she said and then looked over to Max and Liz “you two should be there as well!”
“What’s up?” Max asked his sister
“Not here, okay. I’ll tell you later.” Isabel said as she looked back at Lonnie who nodded
On mass the group left the mall and walked back to school. Laurie, Lonnie and Ava were going with them to meet up with Serena who was talking with the Principle. After ten minutes they came across the Sheriff’s station and saw Kyle crossing the road.
“Hey Kyle!” Yelled Max
Kyle had heard the call and went over to his friends. “Hey guys…Tess!” he said before pulling her into a very heated public display of affection. “How are you feeling?”
“Good, I’m feeling good! Isabel didn’t start the whole coughing thing for a week or so.”
“Well if you need anything you better let me know!”
“Count on it…so where are you heading?” Tess asked
“To see my dad…I gotta tell him!” Kyle nodded as he said it
“I should be there too!”
“No, you have a class in twenty minutes! I’ll deal with the fallout from this, you just enjoy the rest of your day.” Kyle suggested
“Enjoy school? Yeah, when you’re done, go home and lie down…the heat must be getting to you.” Tess joked at Kyle’s idea.
“Hey Kyle, mind if I come with you?” Alex asked.
Everyone looked at him but it was Isabel who knew what he wanted to do. “Alex, you shouldn’t do this.”
“But I need to do it.” Alex said as he kissed her goodbye. “I’ll see you later!”
With that he followed Kyle inside while the others just walked away to school.
Valenti’s Office, Sheriff’s Station, Immediately Following
Jim was sitting at his desk, writing out reports and filing away some documents. His paperwork was increased severely since the kid’s secret was exposed. The tourist activity had gone through the roof and with it so had a number of petty crime…most of them traffic offences and a few were people who got a little to close to the Antarians that the Agents permitted.
Kyle and Alex then knocked on the door and entered the room.
“Kyle, Alex…what can I do for you?” Jim asked
“Well I need to talk to you…Alex needs…” Kyle said
“I want to see Sorenson!” Alex finished
“Alex, I don’t think that’s a good idea! You should…”
“I don’t care if it’s a good idea or not Sheriff I need to see him!”
Valenti nodded. He knew that if someone had tried to kill him then he would want to look him in the eye, just like Alex. Jim pressed on his intercom and called Hanson into the office.
“Hanson…take Alex down to the cells!”
Alex thanked the Sheriff and left the roof. Before Hanson followed Valenti asked him to keep an eye out for his young friend.
“So, Kyle…what’s up with you?”
“Dad…I need to tell you something.” Kyle got out slowly
Jim stopped writing and looked up to his son. “It was option three, wasn’t it?” he asked
“Dad?”
“Tess is pregnant!” Jim stated
“Yes…last night…I…we…”
“Kyle I don’t need to know the details. Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s great.” Kyle said
“And you?”
“I’m good too.”
“Kyle…I spoke with the others. I guess they wanted me to be prepared for it. Kyle, you are about to enter a stage of your life I thought wouldn’t come for…well a very long time. I already know the answers to these but I need to hear it from you…do you love her?”
“Yes!” Kyle stated whole-heartedly
“Are you okay with all of this and I mean ALL of it?”
“Dad, I’m more than okay with it! I’m a part of this, Tess is my life and I’m going to stick by her through whatever hell comes our way!”
“Well then that answers question three…okay, you should go to school but I want you to know that if either of you need anything you can come to me!” Jim said
“Sure dad and thanks!”
“You sound surprised?” Jim said
“Well I kinda figured there would be fireworks…you know, big booms or something.”
“Wait until junior gets to the terrible two’s…that will be sufficient punishment. Especially if it takes after you.”
Kyle left the room and went down to how Alex was doing.
Sorenson’s Cell
Sorenson was sitting on his bed with his back against the wall when he heard the sound of the metal doors opening and the distinct sound of two people walked down the hall. The next thing he saw was the young man he tried to kill standing before him.
Alex had never felt like this before but the look on Sorenson’s face was almost satisfying. Grant looked like he was looking at a ghost, the fear and abject terror was evident on his face.
“Sorenson!” Alex said
“Yeah…so you really are alive!” Grant replied
“No thanks to you.”
“Well…I’m s…”
Alex quickly raised his hand and a trail of energy whipped Sorenson’s face leaving a little cut. “DON’T, Don’t you dare try to tell me your sorry! Piece of shit…what was the plan, be a shoulder for Isabel to cry on so that you could sleep with her.”
He never got a response.
“ANSWER ME!” Alex yelled as he whipped his hand again, causing a second cut to appear on the other side of Sorenson’s face as it jerked round.
“Yeah…more or less. I wanted her, you were in the way!”
Just after finishing speaking, Sorenson started looking around and smelling the air. Alex looked around but couldn’t smell anything but Sorenson closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them Alex noticed a change, a cold dead gleam that wasn’t there before was now meeting his gaze – the Ganderium Queen within him had caught the scent of Laurie from Alex and now the hunt was on!
Sorenson moved over to the bars and started smashing away at them. Hanson pulled Alex back and both watched as some of the bars started to buckle. Hanson drew his gun and aimed at Grant, all the while he yelled at him to back off. Sorenson became like a wild animal and bashed away at anything he could, the result was a broken bed, sink and several dozen dents in the brickwork of the cell.
All of a sudden he rammed the bars and reached through to grab a hold of Alex but he missed.
“SOMEONE HELP US!” yelled Hanson
Out in the hall, Kyle had heard the call for help and started to run for the cells. When he entered the area he moved beside Alex and looked at Sorenson. Kyle also noticed the change in the would-be killers eyes but got a little to close to the cell. Grant once again charged the bars but this time caught hold of Kyle.
Acting out of instinct Kyle felt a change within his body and then everyone saw the passing of Sorenson’s hand through his body. Hanson acted quickly and took a shot at the prisoner.
The bullet hit its target and penetrated the heart. Sorenson slumped back and landed on the floor. Barely a second went by before small blue shards shot out of his chest and then everyone looked on as the parasite burst free and floated around the room, its tentacles waving around.
Nobody in the room could speak and the stared at the entity. The Ganderium itself now had the scent of Laurie Dupree and now that it was free of its host it could use all of his senses and could easily follow her. All it had to do was get out of this cage!
All of the commotion had attracted a lot of attention and the Sheriff along with half the department was now looking on at what was going on.
“Someone wanna tell me what the hell that is?” Valenti asked
“I have no idea!” Alex said
The Ganderium was looking at the humans before it but the only thing it’s instinct were focused on was the human with the genetic flaw that would allow it to bond with all humans and effectively end their race. It rammed the bars and broke them easily and it never stopped. It burst through the empty cell behind the humans and bashed its way through the brick wall, in its wake left several human lying on the floor injured.
Kyle, Alex and the Sheriff were left uninjured. They all moved to help the others but Alex knew that Kyle could catch up to that thing and told him to go after it. The jock teen nodded and ran out of the building and ran after it, following a trail of staring humans as they watched the blue glow fly down the street.
West Roswell High, 4 Minutes Later
Max was sitting, writing away at a report when all of a sudden the wall burst in and the Ganderium left through an open door. The second he saw it his mind flooded with a thousand images of the initial discovery of the Ganderium crystals in the future and what they wanted.
However, before he started to run after it there was a shimmer in the wall and watched as Kyle ran through it and after the alien. He never stopped! Max ran after him, quickly followed by half the class.
Kyle ran down the halls, hot on the trail of the alien. The Ganderium could feel her close, it knew that soon that it would bond with the D.N.A of the human. It drifted down hall after hall, floor after floor looking for its prey.
Empty Class, Across from the Principles Office
When the girl’s split up, the Roswell group went to their classes while Lonnie, Ava and Laurie had come here to wait for Serena to finish her meeting. They were busy talking about various things but most of all, Laurie’s attraction to her Secret Service protector. It was the girls favourite subject to tease her on and both had privately vowed to get that agent into Laurie’s bed ASAP and judging by his reaction whenever Laurie was around it was not going to be hard. They only had to deal with Rath and Michael!
All of a sudden the Ganderium entered the room and Laurie ran to the back of the room while the others moved off to the sides. Both Lonnie and Ava kept trying to use their powers to contain the thing but just looked at each other when they failed. The tentacles waved around the room and whipped the two alien hybrids until they were on the floor unconscious.
It then turned its attention back to Laurie, wrapped the tentacles around her body and rushed toward her.
“AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” her scream echoed down the halls
To Be Continued…
Chapter 43
West Roswell High, Same Time
Liz and Maria were working away in class until they had seen Kyle run passed the room quickly followed by Max and then by a couple of dozen students. Both girls looked at each other and made their way to the door and ran after everyone else. Then they heard Laurie’s scream.
They forced their way through the surrounding mass of teens and into the classroom to find the Ganderium and Laurie suspended in mid air, the aliens tentacles starting to penetrate her skin and both were glowing. Both Kyle and Max tried to get the creature off of their friend but found their powers useless, so when that failed they resorted to a physical attack.
Kyle leaped up and grabbed hold of the mass but only succeeded in irritating it. The Queen started to buck back and forth but never loosening its grip on Laurie. Eventually Kyle had to let go, sharp protrusions began to cut into his hands and the pain was getting too much. Once Kyle was clear Max decided to give it a shot but he had more luck. This second attack agitated the alien parasite, it wanted and needed to bond with the human in its grip but the constant distraction from the locals was weakening its focus.
Its decision was made and released Laurie; it turned its attention to Max, extended its tentacles and charged toward the alien. As Max tried to raise his hand to defend himself, the tentacle wrapped around his wrist. He felt a massive burning sensation pour through his veins, it overwhelmed him and he lost control of his link to Liz.
The energy poured through the bond and caused Liz to scream out in pain. “STOPPPPPPPPPP!” she screamed out.
The Ganderium did just that. It released Max and hovered over to Liz while looking her over. Serena and the Principle who heard the commotion had managed to make it into the room. Serena just stared at the entity that she hadn’t seen since she left the crashed ship. She had hoped that it hadn’t survived but now it was right before her and that meant that Earth was infected, god only knows how far the crystals have spread.
Slowly she beckoned Max and Kyle over to help with Lonnie and Ava who were now beginning to wake up. Liz on the other hand couldn’t loose the creature’s stare, whenever she turned her head the alien floated over so that it was continually in her line of sight.
“Someone wanna tell me what this thing is!” Liz asked as she moved her head again
“Oh boy.” said Tess as entered the room and slinked off to the side to join Maria and the others
“Liz, just back away slowly.” Serena said
Liz just nodded slightly but with every step backwards the alien floated forward, always staying barely a foot away from Liz’s head.
“Okay…any more suggestions?” she said softly
Just then Laurie woke up and looked up the aliens butt. Her scuffling around drew the Ganderium’s attention and turned back to its intended victim.
“No!” Liz said quickly and the alien turned back to her. When it was looking at her again Liz brought her hand up
“Liz, what the hell are you doing?” Max asked with concern
“Wait I just want to see…” With that Liz moved her hand out the side and quickly brought it back in. The Ganderium followed the movement and returned back to its position. Liz did the same movement and once again it followed her.
“Serena…that cannot be normal!” Max said
“No…definitely not. I’ve never seen it act like this.” She said as she moved and helped Laurie to her feet and back over to the others.
“What the hell is that…thing?” Laurie asked weakly
“It’s the Ganderium Queen…I’ll get into the details later but right now it seems to like Liz.” Serena responded
“Like Liz? For what, breakfast, lunch or dinner?” Maria asked as she watched Liz circle her hand. The Ganderium stayed in the same place but rotated itself upside down and back round. “Okay this is freaking me out.”
“Sit on the desk!” Liz said to the alien and it flew over to the teacher’s desk and just landed on it, still looking at Liz. “Just…stay there, okay?” The alien just gave a little screeching growl that caused Liz to smile.
Liz walked over to her mate and took hold of his wrist. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, its just a little tingly now.” Max said to re-assure her
“So that’s a Ganderium? What’s it doing here?” Liz asked
“Well before it saw you it was targeting Laurie. Because she is the granddaughter of Michael and Rath’s D.N.A donor it would make sense that she has the genetic flaw that he had.” Serena said. When she saw Laurie nod Serena continued, “That flaw combined with a Ganderium crystal let us bond Antarian genetics with that of human.”
“And made us.” Max said
“Yes…but now it looks like the Queen is following its instincts and trying to bond with humans. By using Laurie it would become compatible with all other humans.”
“Okay so how do we kill it?” Laurie asked as she looked coldly at the alien on the desk
“When I saw that thing I got some flashes…in the other…” Max paused when he saw the principle and several dozen students gathered around the door. The last thing he wanted them to know was just how much power he and Liz had at their fingertips. “…The last time this happened, we found out that the need oxygen to breathe!”
“HEY, we are not killing her!” Liz said defiantly
“Liz…that thing wants to kill Laurie. I don’t thing Michael would be to happy to have it anywhere near her.” Max told her calmly
“First off its not an it, it’s a she. Secondly I can control it…I think.” Liz said as she stood toe to toe with her boyfriend.
“Yeah, how can she do that?” asked Kyle as he rubbed his jaw from where the creature’s tentacle had whacked him. Along side him was Tess who’s arm was draped over his shoulder and her free hand was gently stroking his earlobe – Kyle found it to be a little distracting and noticed a few of the girls in the hall whispering and giggling about it.
“Maybe it’s a queen thing.” Maria joked
“Huh?” Kyle asked
“Yeah, you know…it’s a queen and Liz is kinda on the path.” Maria explained
“No, that’s not it…the Ganderium were originally small parasites on Antar. It was knowledge from the Granolith that allowed us to engineer them into that.”
“So she’s responding to the Omniriad energy in me?” Liz concluded
“That could be it?” Serena said, “But the question is what do we do with her?”
“I could keep her.” Liz suggested
“Wait, you’re not thinking about keeping that thing…sorry…her as a pet? Are you?” Tess asked
“Why not? She responds to me, I’m probably the only one who can so why not be responsible for her. And if need be Phoenix could help.”
“Okay, well lets get her out of here. We’ll discuss it later.” Max said
The mass at the door separated and the group made there was out the door. Liz beckoned the Ganderium and it floated over to her and followed her.
“I still liked my queen idea. But at least Liz is nearly there.” Maria said as she ducked her head when the alien flew over her.
“Well actually she is there.” Lonnie said
“What?” Serena asked as she looked at Lonnie
“They have the bonding rings from the Granolith.” Lonnie whispered to Serena so that Maria could not hear
Serena looked back to Max and Liz who hadn’t heard their quiet discussion. She could not contain the smile; soon another part of her duties would come into play. All she had to do was go to the storage chamber of the Pod Chamber and collect one little item, when the time comes for their official wedding, all of Antar will know their queen. Laurie, Ava and Lonnie stayed with Maria and Tess in a separate classroom until the others left. The three girls were still a little weak, Laurie most of all!
Lorat’s Lab, Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, Kalaria
Lorat was sitting in his lab, working away with half a dozen engineers to get the second and third cloaks modified to work with ships as large as the troop transports. The whole thing was giving him a headache but he was glad of his last meeting with Larek. He hadn’t laughed like that in years and it felt good to remember the good old days with his brother and friends.
“Sir, I’ve finished upgrading the emitters on unit 2. Unit 3 should be done in twenty minutes, after that all we need to change is the interface.” Said one of the engineers
“Excellent, what about the programming?” Lorat asked
“There is a problem with that. There is a difference between the computer systems; it requires significant modifications so that they will be compatible. The others are working as fast as they can.”
Over the intercom a female voice spoke, “Lord Lorat, please report to the central chamber.”
Lorat stood up and told the chief engineer to contact him should anything change. He left the room and went to the room; Larek was sitting at the consol.
“So what’s the word?” Lorat asked
“She’s in. Shalara was a little…icy, when she saw my face but a chance to get back at Kivar…that she jumped at.” Larek said
“Good, so how long before she can get her people here?”
“Actually she’s coming herself along with a small group of engineers and a small contingent of her best troops. It’ll be under the cover of a diplomatic trip.” Larek explained
“Well you must have loved that. So…how long?”
“She will be launching within the hour, travel time between the colony and here is 2 hours.” Larek said
“I’ll tell my people to expect them…I take it we’ll be in ceremonial dress when they get here.”
“You got that right. I don’t want to piss her off anymore than she all ready is and protocol is high priority among her family.”
“In that case we better get cleaned up, it takes nearly two hours just to get into that getup.” Lorat suggested
“Yeah…oh wait I also got a message through for you. Your nephew is on his way, he was planning on spending some time at the pleasure domes.”
“Great timing as always. No doubt he wanted to avoid his mother for a while until she’s done this birthday party for him.”
“He does seem to lack the party spirit that your family has in abundance!”
“I know…believe me if his uncle Rath was around then he would move to the domes.” Lorat joked
“Hey you never know…Michael and his duplicate, Rath, could help you with that.” Larek said as they walk out of the door
Both men went to their rooms to prepare for the arrival of Shalara. This was the part about diplomacy that nearly every noble hated but all had to go through with it.
Spaceport 1, Kalaria, 2 hours 45 minutes later
Both nobles had come to the port a little early to greet Lorat’s nephew. It had been a while since either of them had seen the young man and both were looking forward to it. Slowly the ship completed the docking procedures and moved into position before as the exit tunnel extended up to the hatch.
Jared moved down the ramp to see his uncle and along side him was the planetary ruler. He loved the connections his family had built up and loved this planet. In particular he loved a certain area of the pleasure domes that were normally forbidden to people of his age, but then he had contacts.
“Hey uncle Lorat, Lord Larek! What’s with the outfits?” Jared asked
“Jared, good to see you too. Anyway Lady Shalara is coming to help us with something. She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes so you have enough time to get changed…just be thankful you don’t have to wear all of this stuff.” Lorat told him
“Oh come on Uncle L, I came here for a break. This is the last thing I need…no wait scratch that! The last thing I need is mom showing up and trying to get me take part in that damned party.”
“Come on kid…besides I’ll make it worth your while.” Larek said as he pulled a gold disc from his pocket
Jared’s eyes widened, “Is that what I think it is?”
“An all areas pass to the domes…and I mean ALL areas.” Larek said
“Done. Call me when they get here!” Jared said as he grabbed hold of his bag and ducked into a waiting lounge to change.
Later…
Shalara’s ship had arrived and Jared had been called. All three now stood before the ramp along with a ceremonial detail of guards and watched as two women walked toward them. Behind them were several armed guards and behind them several engineers.
“Lady Shalara, allow me to welcome you to Kalaria.” Larek said as he bowed before his guest
“Lord Larek, I thank you for the invitation. Allow me to present my ward Lady Sira.” Shalara said as she indicated to her young companion who appeared to be barely 16, a couple of years younger than Jared.
“Welcome Lady. This is Lord Lorat and his nephew Jared.” Larek said as he introduced his companions.
Lorat bowed before the two women, Jared hesitated as he looked at Sira but then remembered the protocol but only after his uncle nudged him.
“Gentlemen, before we begin I need to know. Is your claim true, has Kivar succeed in recreating the Kon’ma’Ra virus?” Shalara asked
“We can’t confirm without a sample but from what we have seen then…yes, he has succeeded. That is why we’re moving this quickly.” Larek said
“Then I suggest we forgo those annoying rituals and get straight to work. Sira, I will be with our friends for a time. I would like you to remain in the palace.”
“Jared you are free as well.” Lorat said as he flicked the pass like a coin to land in his nephew’s hand.
“Thank you uncle but I think I would like to get settled in the palace first.” Jared said
Both men looked at the young man before them and were surprised. “Jared passing up the chance at the domes. That’s new.” Larek whispered to his friend
“Yeah!” Lorat had not missed the looks that passed between his nephew and Shalara’s ward.
The group moved to the waiting transport and piled in as they left to the palace. Shalara had also noticed the looks her ward was given the young man. She was pleased to see her interested in something other than the old books of her library. She decided to give a little leeway and see what she could do to help Sira.
“Jared, Sira has little time to spend with others of her age back home. I would appreciate it if you could show her around the city while the rest of us are working.”
“I would be honoured, Lady Shalara. We could leave when we reach the palace…if the lady is agreeable?” Jared asked. Both of the elder men looked at each other and were amazed at how rapidly he said yes, not to long ago Jared couldn’t wait to get into the domes and prayed that he wouldn’t take Sira to at least one of the domes.
“Yeah could be fun!” Sira answered as she brushed some hair from her face. It was an action that caused Jared to squirm a little in his seat.
Living Room, Parker Residence, Noon
Liz and Max had walked in. Liz had instructed the Ganderium to wait in the hall for a second while she talked to her parents.
“Mom, Dad…you guys here?” Liz called out
“Yeah honey, be out in a minute.” Nancy replied from the bedrooms
Soon her father came in from the kitchen and Nancy entered as well. Both looked at their daughter and future son-in-law and noticed the concerned expressions on their faces.
“Okay, what?” Jeff asked
“Well I was wondering if you’ll let me have a pet?” Liz asked
“A pet? Now after 17 years and everything in the last couple of weeks…now you’re asking for a pet?” Jeff said
“Well we kinda came across a stray.” Liz said. She moved over to the door, opened it and in flew the parasite.
Nancy jumped up out of her chair and walked backwards to the rear of the room. Jeff who was already standing just stared at the blue alien.
“Liz, what is that?” Jeff asked
“That is…she is a Ganderium. Actually she is the queen and she needs a home.” Liz answered
Jeff looked over at Max. Max responded by holding up his hands. “Hey don’t look at me, this one is entirely on Liz.” He said defensively
“Dad, I’m the only one who can control her. We think it has something to do with my Omniriad side…please!” Liz begged
Jeff and Nancy looked at each other and silently communicated. Eventually they both nodded and agreed.
“Okay but only on a trial basis…anything goes wrong I want you to take it up to the Granolith and let Phoenix take care of it.” Jeff said
“Okay…but number 1, it is a she!” Liz said
Michael’s apartment, Same Time
Michael entered his apartment carrying a bag of everything Rath had asked for. He dumped it on the counter and found his brother coming out of the bathroom.
“Okay I got everything, including these.” Michael said as he tossed the pack of condoms to Rath.
“Thanks bro…okay lets get started.”
The two guys moved around each other, cutting up ingredients and dumping them in a pot of water. After an hour of it simmering away Rath grabbed a bottle of Tabasco and tipped the bottle to pour out its contents. But Michael grabbed Rath’s wrist to stop him.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked
Rath was a little confused and didn’t understand Michael’s action. “The soup needs pep!”
“Ms Deluca and Maria are humans…that kind of pep is not good.”
“Oh Yeah…oh well. It’ll still be good but you better keep a bottle close by. Come on, we’re done here for now.” Rath said
“What do you wanna do?” Michael asked
“Well we could stop by and see Laurie?” Rath suggested
“Yeah, good call.” Michael said
“Lets go!” And with that they turned off the cooker and hob, put the lids on the pods and left.
To Be Continued…
West Roswell High, Same Time
Liz and Maria were working away in class until they had seen Kyle run passed the room quickly followed by Max and then by a couple of dozen students. Both girls looked at each other and made their way to the door and ran after everyone else. Then they heard Laurie’s scream.
They forced their way through the surrounding mass of teens and into the classroom to find the Ganderium and Laurie suspended in mid air, the aliens tentacles starting to penetrate her skin and both were glowing. Both Kyle and Max tried to get the creature off of their friend but found their powers useless, so when that failed they resorted to a physical attack.
Kyle leaped up and grabbed hold of the mass but only succeeded in irritating it. The Queen started to buck back and forth but never loosening its grip on Laurie. Eventually Kyle had to let go, sharp protrusions began to cut into his hands and the pain was getting too much. Once Kyle was clear Max decided to give it a shot but he had more luck. This second attack agitated the alien parasite, it wanted and needed to bond with the human in its grip but the constant distraction from the locals was weakening its focus.
Its decision was made and released Laurie; it turned its attention to Max, extended its tentacles and charged toward the alien. As Max tried to raise his hand to defend himself, the tentacle wrapped around his wrist. He felt a massive burning sensation pour through his veins, it overwhelmed him and he lost control of his link to Liz.
The energy poured through the bond and caused Liz to scream out in pain. “STOPPPPPPPPPP!” she screamed out.
The Ganderium did just that. It released Max and hovered over to Liz while looking her over. Serena and the Principle who heard the commotion had managed to make it into the room. Serena just stared at the entity that she hadn’t seen since she left the crashed ship. She had hoped that it hadn’t survived but now it was right before her and that meant that Earth was infected, god only knows how far the crystals have spread.
Slowly she beckoned Max and Kyle over to help with Lonnie and Ava who were now beginning to wake up. Liz on the other hand couldn’t loose the creature’s stare, whenever she turned her head the alien floated over so that it was continually in her line of sight.
“Someone wanna tell me what this thing is!” Liz asked as she moved her head again
“Oh boy.” said Tess as entered the room and slinked off to the side to join Maria and the others
“Liz, just back away slowly.” Serena said
Liz just nodded slightly but with every step backwards the alien floated forward, always staying barely a foot away from Liz’s head.
“Okay…any more suggestions?” she said softly
Just then Laurie woke up and looked up the aliens butt. Her scuffling around drew the Ganderium’s attention and turned back to its intended victim.
“No!” Liz said quickly and the alien turned back to her. When it was looking at her again Liz brought her hand up
“Liz, what the hell are you doing?” Max asked with concern
“Wait I just want to see…” With that Liz moved her hand out the side and quickly brought it back in. The Ganderium followed the movement and returned back to its position. Liz did the same movement and once again it followed her.
“Serena…that cannot be normal!” Max said
“No…definitely not. I’ve never seen it act like this.” She said as she moved and helped Laurie to her feet and back over to the others.
“What the hell is that…thing?” Laurie asked weakly
“It’s the Ganderium Queen…I’ll get into the details later but right now it seems to like Liz.” Serena responded
“Like Liz? For what, breakfast, lunch or dinner?” Maria asked as she watched Liz circle her hand. The Ganderium stayed in the same place but rotated itself upside down and back round. “Okay this is freaking me out.”
“Sit on the desk!” Liz said to the alien and it flew over to the teacher’s desk and just landed on it, still looking at Liz. “Just…stay there, okay?” The alien just gave a little screeching growl that caused Liz to smile.
Liz walked over to her mate and took hold of his wrist. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, its just a little tingly now.” Max said to re-assure her
“So that’s a Ganderium? What’s it doing here?” Liz asked
“Well before it saw you it was targeting Laurie. Because she is the granddaughter of Michael and Rath’s D.N.A donor it would make sense that she has the genetic flaw that he had.” Serena said. When she saw Laurie nod Serena continued, “That flaw combined with a Ganderium crystal let us bond Antarian genetics with that of human.”
“And made us.” Max said
“Yes…but now it looks like the Queen is following its instincts and trying to bond with humans. By using Laurie it would become compatible with all other humans.”
“Okay so how do we kill it?” Laurie asked as she looked coldly at the alien on the desk
“When I saw that thing I got some flashes…in the other…” Max paused when he saw the principle and several dozen students gathered around the door. The last thing he wanted them to know was just how much power he and Liz had at their fingertips. “…The last time this happened, we found out that the need oxygen to breathe!”
“HEY, we are not killing her!” Liz said defiantly
“Liz…that thing wants to kill Laurie. I don’t thing Michael would be to happy to have it anywhere near her.” Max told her calmly
“First off its not an it, it’s a she. Secondly I can control it…I think.” Liz said as she stood toe to toe with her boyfriend.
“Yeah, how can she do that?” asked Kyle as he rubbed his jaw from where the creature’s tentacle had whacked him. Along side him was Tess who’s arm was draped over his shoulder and her free hand was gently stroking his earlobe – Kyle found it to be a little distracting and noticed a few of the girls in the hall whispering and giggling about it.
“Maybe it’s a queen thing.” Maria joked
“Huh?” Kyle asked
“Yeah, you know…it’s a queen and Liz is kinda on the path.” Maria explained
“No, that’s not it…the Ganderium were originally small parasites on Antar. It was knowledge from the Granolith that allowed us to engineer them into that.”
“So she’s responding to the Omniriad energy in me?” Liz concluded
“That could be it?” Serena said, “But the question is what do we do with her?”
“I could keep her.” Liz suggested
“Wait, you’re not thinking about keeping that thing…sorry…her as a pet? Are you?” Tess asked
“Why not? She responds to me, I’m probably the only one who can so why not be responsible for her. And if need be Phoenix could help.”
“Okay, well lets get her out of here. We’ll discuss it later.” Max said
The mass at the door separated and the group made there was out the door. Liz beckoned the Ganderium and it floated over to her and followed her.
“I still liked my queen idea. But at least Liz is nearly there.” Maria said as she ducked her head when the alien flew over her.
“Well actually she is there.” Lonnie said
“What?” Serena asked as she looked at Lonnie
“They have the bonding rings from the Granolith.” Lonnie whispered to Serena so that Maria could not hear
Serena looked back to Max and Liz who hadn’t heard their quiet discussion. She could not contain the smile; soon another part of her duties would come into play. All she had to do was go to the storage chamber of the Pod Chamber and collect one little item, when the time comes for their official wedding, all of Antar will know their queen. Laurie, Ava and Lonnie stayed with Maria and Tess in a separate classroom until the others left. The three girls were still a little weak, Laurie most of all!
Lorat’s Lab, Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, Kalaria
Lorat was sitting in his lab, working away with half a dozen engineers to get the second and third cloaks modified to work with ships as large as the troop transports. The whole thing was giving him a headache but he was glad of his last meeting with Larek. He hadn’t laughed like that in years and it felt good to remember the good old days with his brother and friends.
“Sir, I’ve finished upgrading the emitters on unit 2. Unit 3 should be done in twenty minutes, after that all we need to change is the interface.” Said one of the engineers
“Excellent, what about the programming?” Lorat asked
“There is a problem with that. There is a difference between the computer systems; it requires significant modifications so that they will be compatible. The others are working as fast as they can.”
Over the intercom a female voice spoke, “Lord Lorat, please report to the central chamber.”
Lorat stood up and told the chief engineer to contact him should anything change. He left the room and went to the room; Larek was sitting at the consol.
“So what’s the word?” Lorat asked
“She’s in. Shalara was a little…icy, when she saw my face but a chance to get back at Kivar…that she jumped at.” Larek said
“Good, so how long before she can get her people here?”
“Actually she’s coming herself along with a small group of engineers and a small contingent of her best troops. It’ll be under the cover of a diplomatic trip.” Larek explained
“Well you must have loved that. So…how long?”
“She will be launching within the hour, travel time between the colony and here is 2 hours.” Larek said
“I’ll tell my people to expect them…I take it we’ll be in ceremonial dress when they get here.”
“You got that right. I don’t want to piss her off anymore than she all ready is and protocol is high priority among her family.”
“In that case we better get cleaned up, it takes nearly two hours just to get into that getup.” Lorat suggested
“Yeah…oh wait I also got a message through for you. Your nephew is on his way, he was planning on spending some time at the pleasure domes.”
“Great timing as always. No doubt he wanted to avoid his mother for a while until she’s done this birthday party for him.”
“He does seem to lack the party spirit that your family has in abundance!”
“I know…believe me if his uncle Rath was around then he would move to the domes.” Lorat joked
“Hey you never know…Michael and his duplicate, Rath, could help you with that.” Larek said as they walk out of the door
Both men went to their rooms to prepare for the arrival of Shalara. This was the part about diplomacy that nearly every noble hated but all had to go through with it.
Spaceport 1, Kalaria, 2 hours 45 minutes later
Both nobles had come to the port a little early to greet Lorat’s nephew. It had been a while since either of them had seen the young man and both were looking forward to it. Slowly the ship completed the docking procedures and moved into position before as the exit tunnel extended up to the hatch.
Jared moved down the ramp to see his uncle and along side him was the planetary ruler. He loved the connections his family had built up and loved this planet. In particular he loved a certain area of the pleasure domes that were normally forbidden to people of his age, but then he had contacts.
“Hey uncle Lorat, Lord Larek! What’s with the outfits?” Jared asked
“Jared, good to see you too. Anyway Lady Shalara is coming to help us with something. She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes so you have enough time to get changed…just be thankful you don’t have to wear all of this stuff.” Lorat told him
“Oh come on Uncle L, I came here for a break. This is the last thing I need…no wait scratch that! The last thing I need is mom showing up and trying to get me take part in that damned party.”
“Come on kid…besides I’ll make it worth your while.” Larek said as he pulled a gold disc from his pocket
Jared’s eyes widened, “Is that what I think it is?”
“An all areas pass to the domes…and I mean ALL areas.” Larek said
“Done. Call me when they get here!” Jared said as he grabbed hold of his bag and ducked into a waiting lounge to change.
Later…
Shalara’s ship had arrived and Jared had been called. All three now stood before the ramp along with a ceremonial detail of guards and watched as two women walked toward them. Behind them were several armed guards and behind them several engineers.
“Lady Shalara, allow me to welcome you to Kalaria.” Larek said as he bowed before his guest
“Lord Larek, I thank you for the invitation. Allow me to present my ward Lady Sira.” Shalara said as she indicated to her young companion who appeared to be barely 16, a couple of years younger than Jared.
“Welcome Lady. This is Lord Lorat and his nephew Jared.” Larek said as he introduced his companions.
Lorat bowed before the two women, Jared hesitated as he looked at Sira but then remembered the protocol but only after his uncle nudged him.
“Gentlemen, before we begin I need to know. Is your claim true, has Kivar succeed in recreating the Kon’ma’Ra virus?” Shalara asked
“We can’t confirm without a sample but from what we have seen then…yes, he has succeeded. That is why we’re moving this quickly.” Larek said
“Then I suggest we forgo those annoying rituals and get straight to work. Sira, I will be with our friends for a time. I would like you to remain in the palace.”
“Jared you are free as well.” Lorat said as he flicked the pass like a coin to land in his nephew’s hand.
“Thank you uncle but I think I would like to get settled in the palace first.” Jared said
Both men looked at the young man before them and were surprised. “Jared passing up the chance at the domes. That’s new.” Larek whispered to his friend
“Yeah!” Lorat had not missed the looks that passed between his nephew and Shalara’s ward.
The group moved to the waiting transport and piled in as they left to the palace. Shalara had also noticed the looks her ward was given the young man. She was pleased to see her interested in something other than the old books of her library. She decided to give a little leeway and see what she could do to help Sira.
“Jared, Sira has little time to spend with others of her age back home. I would appreciate it if you could show her around the city while the rest of us are working.”
“I would be honoured, Lady Shalara. We could leave when we reach the palace…if the lady is agreeable?” Jared asked. Both of the elder men looked at each other and were amazed at how rapidly he said yes, not to long ago Jared couldn’t wait to get into the domes and prayed that he wouldn’t take Sira to at least one of the domes.
“Yeah could be fun!” Sira answered as she brushed some hair from her face. It was an action that caused Jared to squirm a little in his seat.
Living Room, Parker Residence, Noon
Liz and Max had walked in. Liz had instructed the Ganderium to wait in the hall for a second while she talked to her parents.
“Mom, Dad…you guys here?” Liz called out
“Yeah honey, be out in a minute.” Nancy replied from the bedrooms
Soon her father came in from the kitchen and Nancy entered as well. Both looked at their daughter and future son-in-law and noticed the concerned expressions on their faces.
“Okay, what?” Jeff asked
“Well I was wondering if you’ll let me have a pet?” Liz asked
“A pet? Now after 17 years and everything in the last couple of weeks…now you’re asking for a pet?” Jeff said
“Well we kinda came across a stray.” Liz said. She moved over to the door, opened it and in flew the parasite.
Nancy jumped up out of her chair and walked backwards to the rear of the room. Jeff who was already standing just stared at the blue alien.
“Liz, what is that?” Jeff asked
“That is…she is a Ganderium. Actually she is the queen and she needs a home.” Liz answered
Jeff looked over at Max. Max responded by holding up his hands. “Hey don’t look at me, this one is entirely on Liz.” He said defensively
“Dad, I’m the only one who can control her. We think it has something to do with my Omniriad side…please!” Liz begged
Jeff and Nancy looked at each other and silently communicated. Eventually they both nodded and agreed.
“Okay but only on a trial basis…anything goes wrong I want you to take it up to the Granolith and let Phoenix take care of it.” Jeff said
“Okay…but number 1, it is a she!” Liz said
Michael’s apartment, Same Time
Michael entered his apartment carrying a bag of everything Rath had asked for. He dumped it on the counter and found his brother coming out of the bathroom.
“Okay I got everything, including these.” Michael said as he tossed the pack of condoms to Rath.
“Thanks bro…okay lets get started.”
The two guys moved around each other, cutting up ingredients and dumping them in a pot of water. After an hour of it simmering away Rath grabbed a bottle of Tabasco and tipped the bottle to pour out its contents. But Michael grabbed Rath’s wrist to stop him.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked
Rath was a little confused and didn’t understand Michael’s action. “The soup needs pep!”
“Ms Deluca and Maria are humans…that kind of pep is not good.”
“Oh Yeah…oh well. It’ll still be good but you better keep a bottle close by. Come on, we’re done here for now.” Rath said
“What do you wanna do?” Michael asked
“Well we could stop by and see Laurie?” Rath suggested
“Yeah, good call.” Michael said
“Lets go!” And with that they turned off the cooker and hob, put the lids on the pods and left.
To Be Continued…
Chapter 44
Outside Laurie’s Place, 12:30
Rath and Michael were walking and just chatting away getting to know each other. Michael was surprised at how much Rath was unrestrained and even envied him a little, he always kept away from causing the type of trouble that the Dupes revelled in when they lived in New York. However, Rath found that he also envied Michael. While he was close to his group, Michael seemed closer and especially to Maria – a girl who was outside of the ‘other worldly’ group yet accepted him completely.
“So you met Laurie’s agent yet?” Rath asked
“No, not yet but Max and Isabel said he’s a good guy…what do you think?” Michael said
“Hate him!” Rath said coldly as he remembered his sister’s reaction to Agent Hall
“What? Come on he can’t be that bad, I mean he did pass the test.”
Rath held out his hand and Michael took it. After a little concentration a connection was formed and Michael received images from Laurie’s first meeting with her agent.
“Hate him!” Michael said
“Right on.” Rath responded
“I’ll get Max to replace his ass. He’ll be out of town so fast there will be a dust storm.”
Rath cringed a little. “If we do that Laurie will kill us. If she doesn’t you can bet Maria and Lonnie will.”
“Oh yeah…that’s a definite, but there has to be something we could do.” Michael complained
“Oh come on, its probably just a crush…she barely knows the guy. Give it a while and she’ll be over it and we can go back to normal.”
“I suppose…” Michael said as Rath opened the front door. Once inside they saw the girls sitting on the seats, all with ice packs. Lonnie had ice against a bruise on her cheek, Ava had hers on her elbow and Laurie was lying on the sofa with her pack on her head.
“What the hell happened to you three?” Rath asked as he moved to his lover’s side
“Liz’s new pet got a little slap happy and tried to eat Laurie.” Lonnie said through the pain
“WHAT!” Rath and Michael yelled together
“Rath, your really wanna speak very softly. This headaches a bitch.” Ava said
“What happened?” Michael asked
“Something from our ship is out and about. It wanted to do things with Laurie…some kind of bonding that would let it kill off humans. Liz stopped it and can control it so it’s her new pet.” Ava said
“We tried to stop it but our powers don’t work on it. The damn thing is strong and has…OUCHHHH…one hell of a reach!” Lonnie said as Rath stroked his hand down the side of her face that was unmarked; too bad it still hurt like hell.
Michael moved over to Laurie’s side and spotted little cuts and scrapes down the side of her face and neck. He also saw some tears in her clothing and used his powers to repair them, he would have to wait until he could call Max or wait for Zan to come home before their wounds could be healed.
“How you doin’?” he asked
“Really, really sore…but I’ll live. Just tell Liz when you see her to keep that damn thing away from me.”
“Oh believe me I’ll be seeing Liz all right.” Michael said sternly
Laurie opened her eyes and looked at Michael. “This isn’t Liz’s fault Michael. If it wasn’t for her…god knows what would have happened but it is her fault that that thing is still alive.”
“Well, I’ll still be having words.”
Just then Zan returned. He looked over his housemates and ran over to Ava. He traced his finger around a bruise before taking her hand, within seconds her pain was soothed and the marks were fading. His next patient was his sister and then Laurie, all injuries were gone and then he sat down and listened to their accounts of what happened in the classroom. Max was certainly going to hear from him!
Living Room, Parker Residence, 12:35
Liz was lying stomach down on the couch, looking her pet that was sitting on the armrest looking back at her.
“What am I going to call you?” Liz whispered
Liz received a response in the form of a soft screech as the alien before her cocked what she could only assume was the head. Somehow Liz felt very protective of the Ganderium and even found it strangely cute.
“How about…lets see…you make crystals…Crystal, Crissy, Chris…god this is useless.” Liz said as she turned on to her back and let her hands slid down to her abdomen. “If I can’t name her how am I going to name you?”
The Ganderium floated up and landed on Liz’s stomach, a tentacle stretched forward and touched her face. Just then Max, Isabel and Alex entered the apartment.
“Okay this is freaking me out!” Isabel said as she saw the sight before her
“Oh hey guys.” Said Liz as she looked over to the door
“Liz are you sure that’s safe?” Alex asked
“Absolutely, she’s just a little fluff ball aren’t you?” Liz said, eliciting looks from her friends. “Isabel, I’m trying to think of a name for her…you got any ideas?”
“Ugh…Gandi?” Isabel suggested
Liz turned her head back to her pet. “Gandi…what do you think?” Gandi floated up a little, rolled around and landed on the back of the seat. “I take it that means yes! Well then Gandi it is.”
Liz sat up and let Max sit down beside her. Alex and Isabel took seats across from them. “Well now that that is done, what’s the plan? Oh hey didn’t you have something you wanted to tell us Isabel?”
“Eh yeah…okay…uh…mmmmm…” Isabel ranted
“Isabel, sweetie.” Alex said to get her attention
“Yeah right. Okay when I was talking to Lonnie at the mall she told me something.”
“And?” Max trailed out
“Well apparently the rings we got from the Granolith has a special meaning for Antarians.” Isabel said
“How special?” Alex asked
“Well according to Lonnie, on Antar the Granolith is like some kind of major holy icon thing…any relationship that it recognises, it gives the rings and the couple are considered…married.”
“What?” everyone said in unison. Isabel just nodded and looked to her husband who was looking down to the floor. His face was visible was the questions he was asking himself. “But it’s unofficial! There is a ceremony of sorts that we didn’t go through, we need to have an official ceremony before it’s accepted here not just on Antar!”
Both couples moved closer together. Max pulled Liz on to his lap and caressed her face, the smiles from both of them brightened the room and they started to kiss. They may still have to go through a ceremony but as far as they were concerned they had just heard the best news since they found out about their son.
Alex stood up and moved over to Isabel and extended his hands. Isabel took them and Alex pulled her up to stand on her feet. She was met with a warm, smiling face.
“Your okay with this?” Isabel asked quietly
“Hey I asked you to marry me didn’t I? I may have to wait before we can live together as husband and wife but when that day comes…” Alex said before Isabel grabbed him and kissed him hard. Alex wrapped his arms around her body and held her as tightly was he could until the separated for air.
“Husband.” whispered Isabel
“Wife.” Alex replied
Gandi watched from the sidelines as the two couples held each other, the sight seemed to warm her spirit.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, 13:00
Shalara was sitting with her fellow nobles looking over the data they had collected. Each page brought a new prang of despair, first the discovery of Kivar’s trip to Earth and his replacement with a clone that only function was to maintain the illusion of his presence, then the new class of warship and finally the testing of atmosphere seeders made of a metal that can only be used to contain a viral plague that they hoped was forever lost and forgotten.
“So it really is true?” said Shalara. “Larek, you have my support. Even if my family does remain neutral, the resources of my world are yours.”
“Thank you Shalara. It will certainly make our task easier.” Larek replied
Just then the chief engineer of the facility entered the chamber.
“Yes, Kalat! What’s our status?” asked Lorat
“Lord Lorat, with the additional assistance provided by Lady Shalara’s people we’ve completed all cloaking systems and computer uplinks. The installation is proceeding and the uplinks at being distributes among the commanders and their seconds. Should we continue as we are then we will be ready an hour ahead of schedule.” Said Kalat
“Excellent work Kalat, return and complete the task.” Lorat instructed.
As Kalat left, Lorat turned back to his compatriots. “Shalara, thank you. Your people are extremely skilled, without them I doubt we could have finished as quickly.”
“My people go through rigorous training but thank you. Coming from someone of your status in the science community it means a lot but there is something I feel I may be of further assistance on.” Shalara said
“What’s that Shalara?” Larek asked
“While all military units have teams for biological warfare, very few are trained in situations as severe as this. Most education systems don’t even teach the history of the plague.” Shalara said
“Let me guess, your people are trained in Kon’ma’Ra!” Larek said while smiling
“No…but they are the best trained operatives we could hope for. There is a twelve unit team, we could divide them amongst your own teams and which ever locates the launch room for the virus has a chance of properly handling the substance.”
“Agreed, but if the virus leaks then you realise that the ship will have to be destroyed…with our people on board unless the contamination can be sealed.” Larek said
“I understand Larek, this is a war after all. I brought the team along with my personal guard, I will contact them and tell them to wait with the people you have selected for the mission.” Shalara said
“Well we have some time to wait before everything is prepared, what would you like to do?” Lorat asked
“Well the two of you could tell me what my cousin is up to on Earth?” Shalara asked
“Oh…yes.” Lorat said while getting up to walk around
Shalara looked back and forth between the men…now she was worried. “What?” She asked
Larek looked at her straight in the eye. “Shalara we know that you and Ava were close when she was killed but I have to ask…how important are your families beliefs to you?”
“They are important but compared to the actual family members…if something is wrong with Ava I want to know!”
“Well first of all the Dupes have now joined with those chosen to guard the Granolith. That Ava has mated with her Zan but the other is now called Tess, she has chosen to mate with a human. His name is Kyle Valenti!” Larek explained
“Oh dear! My family is going to hate this.” Shalara said
“Yeah, we kind of figured that would be the case.” Larek said with concern as he looked at Lorat
“The elders of my family are strict on who marries into the house, a commoner is one thing but one who is a human would never be accepted. Larek, when this situation is over I have to speak with Av…Tess. Can you arrange it?” Shalara asked
“Of course, I was planning on informing Max, that is Zan, as soon as the ship or the data was secured. I could arrange for you to join me in the link to a human host.”
“Thank you Larek, needless to say I would like this information to stay away from the others of my house until I have had the chance to my cousin.” Shalara requested
“I understand! I suggest we retire to the dining hall, I’ll tell you all I know of Tess and Ava.” Larek said
Living Room, Parker residence, 14:00
Liz had her head resting on Max’s lap; every so often they would come together for a kiss while they talked. Alex and Isabel were in the same boat, they couldn’t stop touching each other and their hands were never away from each other for long. The news that they were married had been very welcome and they were slowly slipping into the role, the only thing they regretted was that they had to wait until they were eighteen before they could complete the union and have it recognised here on Earth.
“Well job one on this, is definitely not to tell the others.” Said Liz
“Why?” asked Max
“Do you really think that if Michael or Kyle find out about the purpose of the rings that they would go up there? I mean tell them about the rings…that they should know but they have to it out the rest by themselves.”
“Liz is right. Michael would run a mile after finding out what we know.” Isabel said
“I don’t know, I think he would surprise you. Maria has changed him quite a bit and I think he would be more than accepting of it.” Max said
“You know I think I agree with all of you,” Said Alex, “But Liz is right we shouldn’t tell them. If Michael and Kyle decided that they want to marry them then they have to ask without any pressure from us or Tess and Maria.”
“Yeah I suppose.” Max submitted
Just then the door burst open and Michael walked in. “LIZ, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?” he yelled
Just then Gandi shot over from its perch on top of a cupboard and hovered between Liz and Michael. Her tentacles were extended and sharp protrusions formed from them and on her body; she was ready to protect Liz!
“Michael just back away slowly and put your arms down.” Said Liz, “Gandi come over here.”
As Michael moved backward, Gandi withdrew her tentacles and floated over to rest on the back of the seat before Liz.
“Now Michael, you were saying?” Liz asked
“It was actually about that thing right there. It tried to do something to my sister and you take it in as a pet.”
“Yeah because it was only doing what it’s instincts were programmed to do. I’m in control of her now and she will listen to me. She will not attack Laurie again.” Liz said reassuringly
“Where the hell did it come from anyway?” Michael asked
“Burst out of Sorenson’s chest!” Alex said as he looked into Isabel’s eyes, their gaze becoming rapidly heated and slowly approaching the point where they would be excusing themselves.
“WHAT?” Michael asked loudly, drawing the attention of Gandi once again. “What?” he said a lot more softly
“When I was with him today he went berserk, Hanson put a bullet in him and Gandi came out of him. Can’t same I’m sorry though, I’ll tell you that should be one hell of a coroners report…if the coroner can keep from fainting. It was one hell of a mess.” Alex said
Everyone just looked at him and Isabel backed off. “Baby, you’re really turning me off talking about that.”
“Yeah but at least it saved some money. No trial, no fuss and no prison sentence. I think everyone will agree that he got what he deserved.” Liz said
“Yeah but Lonnie’s gonna be pissed.” Isabel said
“Huh?” said Alex
“Oh when she found out what he did, Lonnie said that she wanted to beat him up…or give him a nightmare that would scare him to death.” Isabel explained
“Remind me to send her a thank you note, that would have been nice of her.” Alex said
No one else in the room could believe they were both talking like this but accepted it because Isabel and Alex hated Sorenson the most for what he tried to do. They had every right to what to see something very, very bad happen to him and this more than certainly qualifies.
“Well I think I better go home and do some homework.” Isabel said, “Can you help me?” She said to Alex while winking at him
“Sure.” he responded eagerly
He stood up and followed her out of the room and headed of to the Evans home. They couldn’t have moved faster than they were right now!
Michael looked over at the newest addition to the Parker household and shook his head.
“We’ll talk about this later but I want assurances that she wont try to hurt Laurie again!”
“Okay, I assure you that Gandi wont try it again. I can keep her from doing it…do you trust me?” Liz asked
“Yes!” Michael said before turning and leaving the apartment…he still had a dinner to finish preparing and according to Rath the soup should be nearing completion.
“Finally…I thought they would never leave!” said Liz as she pulled herself up and latched her mouth on to Max’s. “Max you big stud, take me to bed or loose me forever!” she said seductively as she mimicked the line from Top Gun
Max put his arms under her and carried Liz into her bedroom. Once they were inside they quickly relieved each other of their clothing until both were naked. Liz jumped up on Max, wrapping her legs around his waist; he was completely unprepared for the weight displacement and lost his balance. He fell forward and landed on top of Liz on her bed, his dick penetrating deep within her.
Liz rolled over so that she was riding Max, reached down to adjust his dick so that it was a little more comfortable having it inside her and then began to hump against him for all he was worth. She moved slowly at first but soon her pace was so that he was in and out of her every second.
Liz had reached climax three times before Max shot his load. Max was stunned at how wild she had become but couldn’t complain about her, he would spend the next hundred years walking through hell if it meant satisfying his wife. Slowly the two fell asleep and as they did, the fingers on which their rings rested started to glow.
Launch Facility, Military Base Korith 12D, Kalaria, 15:00
The three nobles entered the main room where their soldiers where suiting up for the mission. Four ships have been equipped with the cloak, three for assaulting the ship and one for command and control as well as providing backup. Everything was set and the launch was imminent.
“Attention!” said one of the commanders as she spotted his superiors. Every last troop stood to attention as they faced the trio.
“For security reasons none of you have been told the nature of this mission. That ends now!” said Larek, “The target is a new warship being constructed by Kivar on the other side of the sun. The engine core of this ship emits signals similar to that of the Granolith although much weaker. We can only assume that Kivar has successfully recreated the Granolith technology! In addition to this we believe he has recreated the Kon’ma’Ra plague!”
When they looked around Larek and the nobles where surprised to see such a large number of blank faces. They had hoped that at least some of the soldiers would have heard of the damn thing but apparently not.
“For those of you who need a history lesson…The Kon’ma’Ra virus was created accidentally 900 years ago. The virus has two results; the first is that 80% of those infected will suffer from gut wrenching pains in the muscles, welts bursting all over the body, blood flowing from the ears, eyes and nose and finally the victim’s body temperature rises so that after 29 hours after the initial infection they experience the worst agony imaginable as they spontaneously combust!
On the remaining 20% the reverse happens. The body temperature lowers at a rapid rate, freezing the victim and keeping them in a state of suspended animation. There is a treatment that reverses this effect but on these people it is very temporary. Unless they have continual injections every 24 hours they revert to their frozen condition…this creates an automatic slave population. Anyone who does not serve, will be frozen permanently! Thus the name of the virus, Kon’ma’Ra – Fire and Ice!”
Then Lorat took over the briefing.
“Each commander and their Second have been given a computer uplink. Once inside, the first open relay you find you will insert one of the uplinks and then proceed to take on your assignments. Team 1 will breach deck 2, remove all opposition and then move on to the command centre. Team 2 will take on engineering and team 3 with sweep the ship from the bottom to top taking out any opposition you find, take prisoners at your own discretion. Each team has been assigned three members of Lady Shalara’s bio-warfare unit; if any team locates the viral centre leave 6 soldiers behind to defend those three, call for reinforcements and proceed with your mission. But remember the uplinks, should something happen and we loose the ship we would still be able to get a hold of the ships technical information and schematics.”
Once everything was relayed to the troops they made their way to the transport ships. A backup contingent was put under the command of Lorat and given a fourth ship that would co-ordinate everything from the sidelines, only going in when necessary or when the ship was fully secured and ready to be brought back to Kalaria. Within half an hour the vessels were well on the way to their destination. Larek and Shalara returned to the palace, there they would wait for news.
Evans Residence, Same Time
Alex and Isabel had arrived and opened the front door quickly but quietly. As Alex reached in to kiss her, Isabel rapidly brought her hand up to cover his mouth.
“Mom! Dad…anyone home?” She called out
They waited a moment before Isabel removed her hand and returned to Alex’s embrace. Their mouths came together and kissed each other, their tongues caressing the other as their hands took on a life of their own, touching and squeezing as they pushed their bodies closer together.
Isabel pulled away, her hands slid into Alex’s, walked backwards and pulled him toward her bedroom. The door slammed shut as Isabel jumped against Alex and attacked his mouth. Alex then started to take a more active role as he wrapped his arms around her and walked her until she was against her desk. Slowly Isabel snaked her hand down and grabbed hold of his crotch.
“I’ve never felt you this hard before.” She whispered in his ear before biting the lobe
“What can I say, I’m making love to my wife. It’s a complete turn on.” Alex replied before blowing into Isabel’s ear
Moving quickly Alex spun Isabel around so that she was facing away from him and pulled her tight against him. The bulge in his trousers was firmly placed against her rear, both grinding against the other as he latched his mouth onto her neck. Alex slid his hand down across her body to her right thigh. He took hold of the hem of her short skirt and lifted it enough to slip his hand under it.
Alex trailed his fingers along her panty line and then along the fabric.
“Hmmmm, lace underwear! I like.” He whispered
“Black lace…I kinda figured you’d like them.” Isabel said, her breathing was heavy and her voice was sultry. It sent shivers of excitement down his spine.
Alex then knelt down on the floor, his hand travelled up the length of her legs and under her skirt until he reached his goal. Both hands covered the soft, firm globes of her ass. Taking hold of the delicate fabric that circled her waist he pulled down her panties, off her ankles as she raised each leg and then put them into his pocket. Alex stood back up and Isabel turned back round to face him, she grabbed hold of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head.
Before Alex could mimic the action Isabel pushed him backwards so that he landed on her bed. Slowly she walked over to him, gently pealing off her clothing as he hurried to unfasten his jeans and pull them off. As Isabel stood before him wearing nothing but her bra and skirt, she reached back and undid the fastener and let the confining garment fall to the floor.
As she closed the distance to her bed she undid the button and zip on the side of the skirt. The loosened cloth slipped down her legs as she moved and came closer to the bed, by the time she reached it both of them were naked, Alex couldn’t resist the urge to grab hold of his dick and jack himself off a little as he watched Isabel.
Isabel climbed onto her bed and lay down next to Alex as his arm wrapped around her body. As she slid to the middle of the bed her lover and husband (at least on Antar) moved on top of her and moved between her legs. As he raised himself up onto his elbows, both of them looked each other in the eye. Ever so slowly he pushed his hips forward and allowed his cock to slid an inch at a time into Isabel’s waiting warmth.
Once he was fully sheathed within her, Alex lowered himself slightly so this his chest rested upon her tits. The feel of their nipples pressing against the other sent waves through them as Alex began to withdraw and then slowly move back inside before the tip of his raging hard-on left her. They came together in another kiss, their eyes closed as both of them continued to grind against each other.
For the next hour they continued to make love, they revelled in the fact that at least on one world they were married. It seamed to double the tenderness of how they acted after their bodies joined and could only compare the pleasure they were feeling to that of their first time together.
Eventually Alex removed himself from her and rested beside her. Alex was always able to remain awake long enough to watch Isabel slowly drift off into sleep, it was a sight he would always cherish – her peaceful form covered in a thin layer of sweat that magnified the glow of warmth from her body. He pulled her duvet over their bodies, kissed her cheek, wished her sweet dreams and soon he joined her in sleep, his body as close to hers as possible and his arm draped over her, protecting her!
Alex’s mind became a wash with dreamed images. For the first time, Alex was asleep with his lover in her bed and not his own. Soon they would have a bed that they could truly call their own and that is what he saw. Their bed, with Isabel sitting on it and shaking rattles as she played with their children.
Little did he know that Isabel was seeing the same images but from her own perspective. She had never felt this happy and giggled as her son and daughter reached up to try and grab hold of the toys in her hands. As she looked over she saw Alex leaning against the frame of the doorway, just watching them. The smile on his face was incredible and looked as happy as she felt. Then she remembered another smile like the one she was looking at.
She started to remember the dreams that she and Michael shared last year. The smile from Alex was almost identical to the one that Michael had and in that moment Isabel knew just how happy Alex was. He was truly her mate; her dreams had now shifted from her intended mate to her chosen one. Now she was truly content and knew that everything would be okay with her Antarian family once they found out about Alex. She felt it with all certainty and every fibre in her being!
As they dreamed, the bonding rings hidden beneath the skin on their fingers began to glow!
To Be Continued…
Outside Laurie’s Place, 12:30
Rath and Michael were walking and just chatting away getting to know each other. Michael was surprised at how much Rath was unrestrained and even envied him a little, he always kept away from causing the type of trouble that the Dupes revelled in when they lived in New York. However, Rath found that he also envied Michael. While he was close to his group, Michael seemed closer and especially to Maria – a girl who was outside of the ‘other worldly’ group yet accepted him completely.
“So you met Laurie’s agent yet?” Rath asked
“No, not yet but Max and Isabel said he’s a good guy…what do you think?” Michael said
“Hate him!” Rath said coldly as he remembered his sister’s reaction to Agent Hall
“What? Come on he can’t be that bad, I mean he did pass the test.”
Rath held out his hand and Michael took it. After a little concentration a connection was formed and Michael received images from Laurie’s first meeting with her agent.
“Hate him!” Michael said
“Right on.” Rath responded
“I’ll get Max to replace his ass. He’ll be out of town so fast there will be a dust storm.”
Rath cringed a little. “If we do that Laurie will kill us. If she doesn’t you can bet Maria and Lonnie will.”
“Oh yeah…that’s a definite, but there has to be something we could do.” Michael complained
“Oh come on, its probably just a crush…she barely knows the guy. Give it a while and she’ll be over it and we can go back to normal.”
“I suppose…” Michael said as Rath opened the front door. Once inside they saw the girls sitting on the seats, all with ice packs. Lonnie had ice against a bruise on her cheek, Ava had hers on her elbow and Laurie was lying on the sofa with her pack on her head.
“What the hell happened to you three?” Rath asked as he moved to his lover’s side
“Liz’s new pet got a little slap happy and tried to eat Laurie.” Lonnie said through the pain
“WHAT!” Rath and Michael yelled together
“Rath, your really wanna speak very softly. This headaches a bitch.” Ava said
“What happened?” Michael asked
“Something from our ship is out and about. It wanted to do things with Laurie…some kind of bonding that would let it kill off humans. Liz stopped it and can control it so it’s her new pet.” Ava said
“We tried to stop it but our powers don’t work on it. The damn thing is strong and has…OUCHHHH…one hell of a reach!” Lonnie said as Rath stroked his hand down the side of her face that was unmarked; too bad it still hurt like hell.
Michael moved over to Laurie’s side and spotted little cuts and scrapes down the side of her face and neck. He also saw some tears in her clothing and used his powers to repair them, he would have to wait until he could call Max or wait for Zan to come home before their wounds could be healed.
“How you doin’?” he asked
“Really, really sore…but I’ll live. Just tell Liz when you see her to keep that damn thing away from me.”
“Oh believe me I’ll be seeing Liz all right.” Michael said sternly
Laurie opened her eyes and looked at Michael. “This isn’t Liz’s fault Michael. If it wasn’t for her…god knows what would have happened but it is her fault that that thing is still alive.”
“Well, I’ll still be having words.”
Just then Zan returned. He looked over his housemates and ran over to Ava. He traced his finger around a bruise before taking her hand, within seconds her pain was soothed and the marks were fading. His next patient was his sister and then Laurie, all injuries were gone and then he sat down and listened to their accounts of what happened in the classroom. Max was certainly going to hear from him!
Living Room, Parker Residence, 12:35
Liz was lying stomach down on the couch, looking her pet that was sitting on the armrest looking back at her.
“What am I going to call you?” Liz whispered
Liz received a response in the form of a soft screech as the alien before her cocked what she could only assume was the head. Somehow Liz felt very protective of the Ganderium and even found it strangely cute.
“How about…lets see…you make crystals…Crystal, Crissy, Chris…god this is useless.” Liz said as she turned on to her back and let her hands slid down to her abdomen. “If I can’t name her how am I going to name you?”
The Ganderium floated up and landed on Liz’s stomach, a tentacle stretched forward and touched her face. Just then Max, Isabel and Alex entered the apartment.
“Okay this is freaking me out!” Isabel said as she saw the sight before her
“Oh hey guys.” Said Liz as she looked over to the door
“Liz are you sure that’s safe?” Alex asked
“Absolutely, she’s just a little fluff ball aren’t you?” Liz said, eliciting looks from her friends. “Isabel, I’m trying to think of a name for her…you got any ideas?”
“Ugh…Gandi?” Isabel suggested
Liz turned her head back to her pet. “Gandi…what do you think?” Gandi floated up a little, rolled around and landed on the back of the seat. “I take it that means yes! Well then Gandi it is.”
Liz sat up and let Max sit down beside her. Alex and Isabel took seats across from them. “Well now that that is done, what’s the plan? Oh hey didn’t you have something you wanted to tell us Isabel?”
“Eh yeah…okay…uh…mmmmm…” Isabel ranted
“Isabel, sweetie.” Alex said to get her attention
“Yeah right. Okay when I was talking to Lonnie at the mall she told me something.”
“And?” Max trailed out
“Well apparently the rings we got from the Granolith has a special meaning for Antarians.” Isabel said
“How special?” Alex asked
“Well according to Lonnie, on Antar the Granolith is like some kind of major holy icon thing…any relationship that it recognises, it gives the rings and the couple are considered…married.”
“What?” everyone said in unison. Isabel just nodded and looked to her husband who was looking down to the floor. His face was visible was the questions he was asking himself. “But it’s unofficial! There is a ceremony of sorts that we didn’t go through, we need to have an official ceremony before it’s accepted here not just on Antar!”
Both couples moved closer together. Max pulled Liz on to his lap and caressed her face, the smiles from both of them brightened the room and they started to kiss. They may still have to go through a ceremony but as far as they were concerned they had just heard the best news since they found out about their son.
Alex stood up and moved over to Isabel and extended his hands. Isabel took them and Alex pulled her up to stand on her feet. She was met with a warm, smiling face.
“Your okay with this?” Isabel asked quietly
“Hey I asked you to marry me didn’t I? I may have to wait before we can live together as husband and wife but when that day comes…” Alex said before Isabel grabbed him and kissed him hard. Alex wrapped his arms around her body and held her as tightly was he could until the separated for air.
“Husband.” whispered Isabel
“Wife.” Alex replied
Gandi watched from the sidelines as the two couples held each other, the sight seemed to warm her spirit.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, 13:00
Shalara was sitting with her fellow nobles looking over the data they had collected. Each page brought a new prang of despair, first the discovery of Kivar’s trip to Earth and his replacement with a clone that only function was to maintain the illusion of his presence, then the new class of warship and finally the testing of atmosphere seeders made of a metal that can only be used to contain a viral plague that they hoped was forever lost and forgotten.
“So it really is true?” said Shalara. “Larek, you have my support. Even if my family does remain neutral, the resources of my world are yours.”
“Thank you Shalara. It will certainly make our task easier.” Larek replied
Just then the chief engineer of the facility entered the chamber.
“Yes, Kalat! What’s our status?” asked Lorat
“Lord Lorat, with the additional assistance provided by Lady Shalara’s people we’ve completed all cloaking systems and computer uplinks. The installation is proceeding and the uplinks at being distributes among the commanders and their seconds. Should we continue as we are then we will be ready an hour ahead of schedule.” Said Kalat
“Excellent work Kalat, return and complete the task.” Lorat instructed.
As Kalat left, Lorat turned back to his compatriots. “Shalara, thank you. Your people are extremely skilled, without them I doubt we could have finished as quickly.”
“My people go through rigorous training but thank you. Coming from someone of your status in the science community it means a lot but there is something I feel I may be of further assistance on.” Shalara said
“What’s that Shalara?” Larek asked
“While all military units have teams for biological warfare, very few are trained in situations as severe as this. Most education systems don’t even teach the history of the plague.” Shalara said
“Let me guess, your people are trained in Kon’ma’Ra!” Larek said while smiling
“No…but they are the best trained operatives we could hope for. There is a twelve unit team, we could divide them amongst your own teams and which ever locates the launch room for the virus has a chance of properly handling the substance.”
“Agreed, but if the virus leaks then you realise that the ship will have to be destroyed…with our people on board unless the contamination can be sealed.” Larek said
“I understand Larek, this is a war after all. I brought the team along with my personal guard, I will contact them and tell them to wait with the people you have selected for the mission.” Shalara said
“Well we have some time to wait before everything is prepared, what would you like to do?” Lorat asked
“Well the two of you could tell me what my cousin is up to on Earth?” Shalara asked
“Oh…yes.” Lorat said while getting up to walk around
Shalara looked back and forth between the men…now she was worried. “What?” She asked
Larek looked at her straight in the eye. “Shalara we know that you and Ava were close when she was killed but I have to ask…how important are your families beliefs to you?”
“They are important but compared to the actual family members…if something is wrong with Ava I want to know!”
“Well first of all the Dupes have now joined with those chosen to guard the Granolith. That Ava has mated with her Zan but the other is now called Tess, she has chosen to mate with a human. His name is Kyle Valenti!” Larek explained
“Oh dear! My family is going to hate this.” Shalara said
“Yeah, we kind of figured that would be the case.” Larek said with concern as he looked at Lorat
“The elders of my family are strict on who marries into the house, a commoner is one thing but one who is a human would never be accepted. Larek, when this situation is over I have to speak with Av…Tess. Can you arrange it?” Shalara asked
“Of course, I was planning on informing Max, that is Zan, as soon as the ship or the data was secured. I could arrange for you to join me in the link to a human host.”
“Thank you Larek, needless to say I would like this information to stay away from the others of my house until I have had the chance to my cousin.” Shalara requested
“I understand! I suggest we retire to the dining hall, I’ll tell you all I know of Tess and Ava.” Larek said
Living Room, Parker residence, 14:00
Liz had her head resting on Max’s lap; every so often they would come together for a kiss while they talked. Alex and Isabel were in the same boat, they couldn’t stop touching each other and their hands were never away from each other for long. The news that they were married had been very welcome and they were slowly slipping into the role, the only thing they regretted was that they had to wait until they were eighteen before they could complete the union and have it recognised here on Earth.
“Well job one on this, is definitely not to tell the others.” Said Liz
“Why?” asked Max
“Do you really think that if Michael or Kyle find out about the purpose of the rings that they would go up there? I mean tell them about the rings…that they should know but they have to it out the rest by themselves.”
“Liz is right. Michael would run a mile after finding out what we know.” Isabel said
“I don’t know, I think he would surprise you. Maria has changed him quite a bit and I think he would be more than accepting of it.” Max said
“You know I think I agree with all of you,” Said Alex, “But Liz is right we shouldn’t tell them. If Michael and Kyle decided that they want to marry them then they have to ask without any pressure from us or Tess and Maria.”
“Yeah I suppose.” Max submitted
Just then the door burst open and Michael walked in. “LIZ, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?” he yelled
Just then Gandi shot over from its perch on top of a cupboard and hovered between Liz and Michael. Her tentacles were extended and sharp protrusions formed from them and on her body; she was ready to protect Liz!
“Michael just back away slowly and put your arms down.” Said Liz, “Gandi come over here.”
As Michael moved backward, Gandi withdrew her tentacles and floated over to rest on the back of the seat before Liz.
“Now Michael, you were saying?” Liz asked
“It was actually about that thing right there. It tried to do something to my sister and you take it in as a pet.”
“Yeah because it was only doing what it’s instincts were programmed to do. I’m in control of her now and she will listen to me. She will not attack Laurie again.” Liz said reassuringly
“Where the hell did it come from anyway?” Michael asked
“Burst out of Sorenson’s chest!” Alex said as he looked into Isabel’s eyes, their gaze becoming rapidly heated and slowly approaching the point where they would be excusing themselves.
“WHAT?” Michael asked loudly, drawing the attention of Gandi once again. “What?” he said a lot more softly
“When I was with him today he went berserk, Hanson put a bullet in him and Gandi came out of him. Can’t same I’m sorry though, I’ll tell you that should be one hell of a coroners report…if the coroner can keep from fainting. It was one hell of a mess.” Alex said
Everyone just looked at him and Isabel backed off. “Baby, you’re really turning me off talking about that.”
“Yeah but at least it saved some money. No trial, no fuss and no prison sentence. I think everyone will agree that he got what he deserved.” Liz said
“Yeah but Lonnie’s gonna be pissed.” Isabel said
“Huh?” said Alex
“Oh when she found out what he did, Lonnie said that she wanted to beat him up…or give him a nightmare that would scare him to death.” Isabel explained
“Remind me to send her a thank you note, that would have been nice of her.” Alex said
No one else in the room could believe they were both talking like this but accepted it because Isabel and Alex hated Sorenson the most for what he tried to do. They had every right to what to see something very, very bad happen to him and this more than certainly qualifies.
“Well I think I better go home and do some homework.” Isabel said, “Can you help me?” She said to Alex while winking at him
“Sure.” he responded eagerly
He stood up and followed her out of the room and headed of to the Evans home. They couldn’t have moved faster than they were right now!
Michael looked over at the newest addition to the Parker household and shook his head.
“We’ll talk about this later but I want assurances that she wont try to hurt Laurie again!”
“Okay, I assure you that Gandi wont try it again. I can keep her from doing it…do you trust me?” Liz asked
“Yes!” Michael said before turning and leaving the apartment…he still had a dinner to finish preparing and according to Rath the soup should be nearing completion.
“Finally…I thought they would never leave!” said Liz as she pulled herself up and latched her mouth on to Max’s. “Max you big stud, take me to bed or loose me forever!” she said seductively as she mimicked the line from Top Gun
Max put his arms under her and carried Liz into her bedroom. Once they were inside they quickly relieved each other of their clothing until both were naked. Liz jumped up on Max, wrapping her legs around his waist; he was completely unprepared for the weight displacement and lost his balance. He fell forward and landed on top of Liz on her bed, his dick penetrating deep within her.
Liz rolled over so that she was riding Max, reached down to adjust his dick so that it was a little more comfortable having it inside her and then began to hump against him for all he was worth. She moved slowly at first but soon her pace was so that he was in and out of her every second.
Liz had reached climax three times before Max shot his load. Max was stunned at how wild she had become but couldn’t complain about her, he would spend the next hundred years walking through hell if it meant satisfying his wife. Slowly the two fell asleep and as they did, the fingers on which their rings rested started to glow.
Launch Facility, Military Base Korith 12D, Kalaria, 15:00
The three nobles entered the main room where their soldiers where suiting up for the mission. Four ships have been equipped with the cloak, three for assaulting the ship and one for command and control as well as providing backup. Everything was set and the launch was imminent.
“Attention!” said one of the commanders as she spotted his superiors. Every last troop stood to attention as they faced the trio.
“For security reasons none of you have been told the nature of this mission. That ends now!” said Larek, “The target is a new warship being constructed by Kivar on the other side of the sun. The engine core of this ship emits signals similar to that of the Granolith although much weaker. We can only assume that Kivar has successfully recreated the Granolith technology! In addition to this we believe he has recreated the Kon’ma’Ra plague!”
When they looked around Larek and the nobles where surprised to see such a large number of blank faces. They had hoped that at least some of the soldiers would have heard of the damn thing but apparently not.
“For those of you who need a history lesson…The Kon’ma’Ra virus was created accidentally 900 years ago. The virus has two results; the first is that 80% of those infected will suffer from gut wrenching pains in the muscles, welts bursting all over the body, blood flowing from the ears, eyes and nose and finally the victim’s body temperature rises so that after 29 hours after the initial infection they experience the worst agony imaginable as they spontaneously combust!
On the remaining 20% the reverse happens. The body temperature lowers at a rapid rate, freezing the victim and keeping them in a state of suspended animation. There is a treatment that reverses this effect but on these people it is very temporary. Unless they have continual injections every 24 hours they revert to their frozen condition…this creates an automatic slave population. Anyone who does not serve, will be frozen permanently! Thus the name of the virus, Kon’ma’Ra – Fire and Ice!”
Then Lorat took over the briefing.
“Each commander and their Second have been given a computer uplink. Once inside, the first open relay you find you will insert one of the uplinks and then proceed to take on your assignments. Team 1 will breach deck 2, remove all opposition and then move on to the command centre. Team 2 will take on engineering and team 3 with sweep the ship from the bottom to top taking out any opposition you find, take prisoners at your own discretion. Each team has been assigned three members of Lady Shalara’s bio-warfare unit; if any team locates the viral centre leave 6 soldiers behind to defend those three, call for reinforcements and proceed with your mission. But remember the uplinks, should something happen and we loose the ship we would still be able to get a hold of the ships technical information and schematics.”
Once everything was relayed to the troops they made their way to the transport ships. A backup contingent was put under the command of Lorat and given a fourth ship that would co-ordinate everything from the sidelines, only going in when necessary or when the ship was fully secured and ready to be brought back to Kalaria. Within half an hour the vessels were well on the way to their destination. Larek and Shalara returned to the palace, there they would wait for news.
Evans Residence, Same Time
Alex and Isabel had arrived and opened the front door quickly but quietly. As Alex reached in to kiss her, Isabel rapidly brought her hand up to cover his mouth.
“Mom! Dad…anyone home?” She called out
They waited a moment before Isabel removed her hand and returned to Alex’s embrace. Their mouths came together and kissed each other, their tongues caressing the other as their hands took on a life of their own, touching and squeezing as they pushed their bodies closer together.
Isabel pulled away, her hands slid into Alex’s, walked backwards and pulled him toward her bedroom. The door slammed shut as Isabel jumped against Alex and attacked his mouth. Alex then started to take a more active role as he wrapped his arms around her and walked her until she was against her desk. Slowly Isabel snaked her hand down and grabbed hold of his crotch.
“I’ve never felt you this hard before.” She whispered in his ear before biting the lobe
“What can I say, I’m making love to my wife. It’s a complete turn on.” Alex replied before blowing into Isabel’s ear
Moving quickly Alex spun Isabel around so that she was facing away from him and pulled her tight against him. The bulge in his trousers was firmly placed against her rear, both grinding against the other as he latched his mouth onto her neck. Alex slid his hand down across her body to her right thigh. He took hold of the hem of her short skirt and lifted it enough to slip his hand under it.
Alex trailed his fingers along her panty line and then along the fabric.
“Hmmmm, lace underwear! I like.” He whispered
“Black lace…I kinda figured you’d like them.” Isabel said, her breathing was heavy and her voice was sultry. It sent shivers of excitement down his spine.
Alex then knelt down on the floor, his hand travelled up the length of her legs and under her skirt until he reached his goal. Both hands covered the soft, firm globes of her ass. Taking hold of the delicate fabric that circled her waist he pulled down her panties, off her ankles as she raised each leg and then put them into his pocket. Alex stood back up and Isabel turned back round to face him, she grabbed hold of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head.
Before Alex could mimic the action Isabel pushed him backwards so that he landed on her bed. Slowly she walked over to him, gently pealing off her clothing as he hurried to unfasten his jeans and pull them off. As Isabel stood before him wearing nothing but her bra and skirt, she reached back and undid the fastener and let the confining garment fall to the floor.
As she closed the distance to her bed she undid the button and zip on the side of the skirt. The loosened cloth slipped down her legs as she moved and came closer to the bed, by the time she reached it both of them were naked, Alex couldn’t resist the urge to grab hold of his dick and jack himself off a little as he watched Isabel.
Isabel climbed onto her bed and lay down next to Alex as his arm wrapped around her body. As she slid to the middle of the bed her lover and husband (at least on Antar) moved on top of her and moved between her legs. As he raised himself up onto his elbows, both of them looked each other in the eye. Ever so slowly he pushed his hips forward and allowed his cock to slid an inch at a time into Isabel’s waiting warmth.
Once he was fully sheathed within her, Alex lowered himself slightly so this his chest rested upon her tits. The feel of their nipples pressing against the other sent waves through them as Alex began to withdraw and then slowly move back inside before the tip of his raging hard-on left her. They came together in another kiss, their eyes closed as both of them continued to grind against each other.
For the next hour they continued to make love, they revelled in the fact that at least on one world they were married. It seamed to double the tenderness of how they acted after their bodies joined and could only compare the pleasure they were feeling to that of their first time together.
Eventually Alex removed himself from her and rested beside her. Alex was always able to remain awake long enough to watch Isabel slowly drift off into sleep, it was a sight he would always cherish – her peaceful form covered in a thin layer of sweat that magnified the glow of warmth from her body. He pulled her duvet over their bodies, kissed her cheek, wished her sweet dreams and soon he joined her in sleep, his body as close to hers as possible and his arm draped over her, protecting her!
Alex’s mind became a wash with dreamed images. For the first time, Alex was asleep with his lover in her bed and not his own. Soon they would have a bed that they could truly call their own and that is what he saw. Their bed, with Isabel sitting on it and shaking rattles as she played with their children.
Little did he know that Isabel was seeing the same images but from her own perspective. She had never felt this happy and giggled as her son and daughter reached up to try and grab hold of the toys in her hands. As she looked over she saw Alex leaning against the frame of the doorway, just watching them. The smile on his face was incredible and looked as happy as she felt. Then she remembered another smile like the one she was looking at.
She started to remember the dreams that she and Michael shared last year. The smile from Alex was almost identical to the one that Michael had and in that moment Isabel knew just how happy Alex was. He was truly her mate; her dreams had now shifted from her intended mate to her chosen one. Now she was truly content and knew that everything would be okay with her Antarian family once they found out about Alex. She felt it with all certainty and every fibre in her being!
As they dreamed, the bonding rings hidden beneath the skin on their fingers began to glow!
To Be Continued…
Chapter 45
Dreamscape~~~
Alex and Isabel were still dreaming but all of a sudden the images shifted so that they were sitting outside. Their children were in a shallow pool of water with a third child, all three were splashing water over each other and giggling away. Alex turned his head and Isabel followed suit, they spotted both Max and Liz sitting next to them.
They were holding each other’s hands as they watched their son play with his cousins. The smiles on their faces beamed and then they looked over to Alex and Isabel.
“Isabel?” Max asked as his voice echoed
All of them stood up quickly and looked around, now they knew it was a dream and looked around as the images once again shifted and their children and the pool disappeared.
“Isabel, are you dream walking me?” Alex asked. He had still not realised that this was not his own dream but that they were all now sharing it.
“Not me…this has nothing to do with me.” She said as she looked around at the rippling scenery
“You mean your not doing this?” Max asked
“Wait, you’re really here not just a…” Alex said as he realised what he was seeing
“Oh we’re here all right…now how do we get out?” Liz said
“We just have to figure that out…how did this start with you guys?” Isabel asked
“Well, I was watching Liz, she was sitting on a couch feeding our son.” Max said
“Then I looked over and watched Max and then we were here!” Liz continued
“We had the same thing, except I was sitting on a bed.” Isabel said
“Well how does that help us?” Alex asked
“I…I don’t know.” said Isabel dejectedly
“Maybe this is another Granolith thing…or the rings! They were supposed to link us to the Granolith, maybe they’re linking all of us into it.” Alex reasoned
“Okay, this still doesn’t help us.” Max said as he shook his head.
“Liz, your closer than any of us to the Granolith…any ideas?” Isabel suggested
Liz walked back and forth for a second; she tried to think of anything that could help them to wake up out of the shared dream. Maybe in time they would get use to it if it happened again but right now this was too new and far too freaky! Every so often she would look up with a suggestion but quickly dismissed it, she even tried to contact the Granolith itself but with no luck.
“Oh hell, why not just decided to wake up?” she suggested
“We can do that?” Alex asked
“Why not?” Isabel said
“So what do we do?” Max asked
“We could count to three!” Alex said
Everyone nodded and moved closer together.
“One!” said Liz
“Two!” Max continued
“Three!” Isabel finished.
Real world~~~
In both of the girl’s bedrooms, the two couples woke up suddenly. They’re hands quickly found that of their lovers and they both noticed their hidden rings were brightly glowing but then it faded.
Quickly they climbed out of bed and dressed. Isabel grabbed a fresh pair of panties from her drawer then she and Alex were out of the door as fast as they could and were on their way to the Crashdown to meet up with the others. They needed to talk about this one!
Granolith Chamber, Same Time
Phoenix was sitting in the Sweat Lodge with Riverdog when he suddenly felt a conjunction of energy. It immediately got his attention and brought him back to the chamber where he found the First looking over some read-outs from the Granolith.
“What happened?” Phoenix said quickly as he moved to the side of his fellow Omniriad
“Their dreams linked!” Was the simple response!
“I don’t understand.”
“They entered a dream with their mates and somehow it expanded to all four with the rings. Then they started to control it.” The First continued
“That’s not possible! The connection aside, not even Isabel could initiate a lucid dream with all four of them.” Phoenix said
“I know but some how when they realised they were dreaming they could control it, they may not have known they could but they were able to leave it when they wanted to! But the connection is what concerns me…the rings link them to their mates and to the Granolith. They don’t create links that powerful!”
“Then how can this happen? The Granolith?” Phoenix asked
“No, I was checking that when you came in. It’s fully functional and not influencing anything they do…it hasn’t since Tess became pregnant.”
“We should probably find out what’s going on before they come up here then.” Phoenix said
“It may take some time…we should also examine their rings.”
Antarian Star System, Opposite Side of the Sun, 16:50
The small fleet of four ships were cloaked and making their final approach to the target. Lorat’s vessel stopped barely a kilometre from Kivar’s new warship while the other three moved around it to latch on to their assigned sections. Each ship was moving as slowly as possible in order for them not to disturb anything in the area that the ship might be able to detect and once they were in position, a gentle thrust brought them into contact with the hull.
Within seconds, beams of energy cut into the surface of the ship. It didn’t take long for all three teams of the strike force to be inside the ship.
Deck 2
Team 1 breached the hull and found the hall deserted. Silently they crept down the metal corridor when all of a sudden six soldiers turned down the hall at the same moment.
Kivar’s troops weren’t expecting an attack, none of the alarms had sounded and aside from a few small judders nothing out of the ordinary had happened. They were caught completely off guard and as a result they were gunned down mercilessly. The Kalarian forces knew that these men were probably involved with the attack that claimed the lives of king Zan and his friends, as well as several dozen guards and soldiers. Many of who would have trained right along with themselves
They were all eager for a little payback for their fallen comrades.
The commander ordered two of his soldiers to search the bodies; access cards or information on them would be a welcome advantage right now. More than likely their gunfight had set off an alarm in the command deck!
“Sir!” called one of the units. “You should take a look at this.”
The team commander moved over to his underling and saw what he was pointing to. A small access panel in floor that had been blasted open by a stray shot lay before him.
“Excellent!” he whispered as he opened his pack and pulled out an uplink. Carefully he slid it into the access slot and the device buzzed to life.
Back on Kalaria
Larek and Shalara were sitting and waiting. Jared and Sira had still not returned from their trip around the city, Larek had no doubt that they had ended up in a Pleasure Dome. He just hoped that his friend’s nephew would treat the young lady with respect…she was only fifteen after all and compared to the Antarian lifespan of 500 years that was not a lot!
All of a sudden one of the computers in the room started up. It was receiving data!
“That’s it! They’re on board…download should be completed in five minutes.” Larek said
“Finally, I hate the waiting.” Shalara said as she moved over to the computer
“Yeah, tell me about it. At least we know they made it on board.”
Back on the Warship
Team 2 made it easily into deck 32, the mid section of the ship. They had come across 3 patrols already but unfortunately they had been placed on alert. One of the other teams must have been detected! As a result, his people had sustained a few injuries but nothing too serious.
Slowly they moved down the hallways, following the emissions that were being emitted by the engine core of the ship. All of a sudden the soldier on point saw his scanner spike and indicated for the others to stop.
“Report!” said the commander
“Sir, this has to be it. The emissions are of the scale and they match the profile Lord Lorat gave me.” The soldier whispered
The commander indicated to one of the other units who moved over to the door. He slid a small amount of explosive into the access slot and detonated it.
It wasn’t a spectacular blast but it was enough to overload the circuits that sealed the door. The commander and another soldier put some grips onto the door and forced it open. Quickly they moved inside, blasts firing at the guards that were on this part of the engine room.
As they looked around they were stunned by the size and majesty of what lay before them. It was a granolith all right, but it nearly the entire height of the ship, this was the mid section and as the commander looked down to the bottom of the shaft - he could see down at least 20 decks. God knows how further it went into the darkness! It was the same as he looked up, but up there he could see lights flashing at the top of the device. One thing he did know for sure, securing a room this size was going to be impossible.
“I thought Lorat said this thing was smaller than a Granolith!” said his second
“No, he said weaker not smaller. This is going to take some time.”
All of a sudden the section of the Granolith that was inline with this deck started to spin slowly. The grinding sound echoed through the room as lights from the surrounding walls started to flash on the surface.
“To use a human word…Wow!” said one soldier
“Sir, I have an idea!” said one of Shalara’s people as she looked over the consoles before the observation window.
“And that would be?” the commander asked
“I’ve been looking over the systems in here, it looks like this is the central control unit for the engines. From here we could seal off the other decks and pump in sleep gas. We wouldn’t need to fire a shot and we would take a lot of prisoners.”
“Excellent…do it once your ready.” The commander ordered
“Yes sir!”
“Sir…I’ve located a suitable port for the uplink.” said another soldier
The commander moved over and inserted the device. A few minutes later the other soldier sealed the decks and forced any engineers and any other guards into a deep sleep, after informing their other teams. It was decided that they would work from the top down, they moved as quickly as they could as they bound the sleeping prisoners and moved them into a corner away from any alarm systems.
Deck 1
Team 1 had successfully taken out every guard and patrol between their entry point and the command centre. Once they were inside they found a skeleton command staff and in using a stun bomb they took everyone out. The commander decided to keep this lot alive as prisoners, no one had any idea if the controls of this ship were standard or if they required specialist training. If it was the later, then having the commanding units around would be a valuable asset to Lord Larek.
They had done it! Their part of the mission was complete, now all they had to do was hold the bridge until the remaining opposition was neutralised. Then they would have to wait for Lorat before they could get the ship out of here and back to Kalaria.
Somewhere on Deck 43
The team had entered through the lowest most deck and was having the worst time than the others. Five men were down by a heavily armed assault force that pinned them down; they must have been near an armoury when they felt the bumps from the impacts of the ships pinned them down.
Eventually they were forced back into a doorway that they forced open. Once inside they sealed it and used whatever they could to barricade it. Then they turned round…
“Shit!” said the commander
He was in some kind of manufacturing facility and around them was dozens of launch tubes, seeding pods and sealed vats of what they could only assume was the Kon’ma’Ra plague.
“You three better get to work.” the team commander said as he looked to Shalara’s bio-hazard team
The three surviving people activated their HAZMAT equipment and moved into the sealed area of the facility where the virus was produced. Slowly they worked as they handled the samples, mixing together a nice little concoction that they hoped would contaminate the virus and neutralise it.
“Sir, take a look at this!”
The commander moved over to his second who was examining one of the atmospheric seeding pods.
“What’s up?” he asked
“These pods…they’re equipped with internal explosives.”
“What? Why in the hell would he do that?”
“An explosion would spread the virus further…Kivar would need fewer pods. But these look like they are designed to detonate in space.”
“Okay that makes even less sense, the virus couldn’t spread…”
Shalara’s chief soldier interrupted him.
“Commander, I think you better come here!” he said
“What’s going on?” the commander asked
“Somehow Kivar has modified the virus Normally the virus needs fuel, sunlight, oxygen…something to aid in its reproduction but this new strain thrives in any environment…or should I say lack of environment.”
“What are you taking about?”
“This virus can spread in space, it doesn’t need an atmosphere, it’s not affected by heat or cold and it doesn’t need an external fuel source. It’ll just keep reproducing and spreading no matter what…the Crolyssium the pods are made from is still the only material that can stop it.”
“The pods out there are equipped with explosives…if Kivar detonates them in space…”
“Then the virus would spread throughout the entire star system and infect all planets. It would keep on going, spreading throughout space until everything is contaminated.”
“Okay…this stuff, could it be incinerated?” the commander asked
“Sorry sir, so far it doesn’t look like it…if anything the incinerator would have to be a…”
“A star! Load up as much of the virus as you can into the pods, when we pass the sun we’ll launch them into it.”
“Yes Sir!” said the soldier before turning back to the lab.
The machines burst into life as pipes moved into position and filled every single pod until the vats were empty. Then the pods were moved into the launch tubes. The commander communicated with his compatriots on the command deck and in engineering. It was agreed that as soon as they were underway they would get as close to the star as possible and launch the virus.
Meanwhile the guards outside the door where bashing away, trying to get access. The commander of Team 2 however was giving them a little hand. He sealed off sections of all the decks and pumped in the remainder of his gas. Any remaining opposition was either asleep or dead, thanks to a little nerve toxic he mixed in. Once the gas was clear, the access doors were reopened and the units were free to move around as they confined their prisoners.
Outside
Slowly the command ship was drifting between the dozen or so battleships that Kivar had stationed here to here to protect his little treasure. When they moved close to a ship they would release a mine that would latch onto the hull of the ship and detonate when the Warship was ready to move. The amount of chaos that would be created would by enough time for the ships to get back to Kalaria.
Before long all enemy vessels had at least two mines on it, not enough to destroy it but enough to disable it. Lorat wanted to make sure that Kivar could take out a little retribution for their…incompetence.
His ship moved over along side the vessel and together they moved off. The explosions on the hulls sent the ships into disarray. They lost navigation and their orientation shifted, weapon systems couldn’t lock on, gravity failed and many of the lower decks were on fire.
As the warship moved passed the Antarian sun, thousands of pods were launched from the side tubes and entered the sun. The crews of the ships watched as they detonated and the vapour of the virus burned up in the blue flames. The cheering could be heard thought the ship, the greatest threat had now been eliminated and the greatest battle of the civil war to date had been won…even though it was the quietest.
To Be Continued…
Dreamscape~~~
Alex and Isabel were still dreaming but all of a sudden the images shifted so that they were sitting outside. Their children were in a shallow pool of water with a third child, all three were splashing water over each other and giggling away. Alex turned his head and Isabel followed suit, they spotted both Max and Liz sitting next to them.
They were holding each other’s hands as they watched their son play with his cousins. The smiles on their faces beamed and then they looked over to Alex and Isabel.
“Isabel?” Max asked as his voice echoed
All of them stood up quickly and looked around, now they knew it was a dream and looked around as the images once again shifted and their children and the pool disappeared.
“Isabel, are you dream walking me?” Alex asked. He had still not realised that this was not his own dream but that they were all now sharing it.
“Not me…this has nothing to do with me.” She said as she looked around at the rippling scenery
“You mean your not doing this?” Max asked
“Wait, you’re really here not just a…” Alex said as he realised what he was seeing
“Oh we’re here all right…now how do we get out?” Liz said
“We just have to figure that out…how did this start with you guys?” Isabel asked
“Well, I was watching Liz, she was sitting on a couch feeding our son.” Max said
“Then I looked over and watched Max and then we were here!” Liz continued
“We had the same thing, except I was sitting on a bed.” Isabel said
“Well how does that help us?” Alex asked
“I…I don’t know.” said Isabel dejectedly
“Maybe this is another Granolith thing…or the rings! They were supposed to link us to the Granolith, maybe they’re linking all of us into it.” Alex reasoned
“Okay, this still doesn’t help us.” Max said as he shook his head.
“Liz, your closer than any of us to the Granolith…any ideas?” Isabel suggested
Liz walked back and forth for a second; she tried to think of anything that could help them to wake up out of the shared dream. Maybe in time they would get use to it if it happened again but right now this was too new and far too freaky! Every so often she would look up with a suggestion but quickly dismissed it, she even tried to contact the Granolith itself but with no luck.
“Oh hell, why not just decided to wake up?” she suggested
“We can do that?” Alex asked
“Why not?” Isabel said
“So what do we do?” Max asked
“We could count to three!” Alex said
Everyone nodded and moved closer together.
“One!” said Liz
“Two!” Max continued
“Three!” Isabel finished.
Real world~~~
In both of the girl’s bedrooms, the two couples woke up suddenly. They’re hands quickly found that of their lovers and they both noticed their hidden rings were brightly glowing but then it faded.
Quickly they climbed out of bed and dressed. Isabel grabbed a fresh pair of panties from her drawer then she and Alex were out of the door as fast as they could and were on their way to the Crashdown to meet up with the others. They needed to talk about this one!
Granolith Chamber, Same Time
Phoenix was sitting in the Sweat Lodge with Riverdog when he suddenly felt a conjunction of energy. It immediately got his attention and brought him back to the chamber where he found the First looking over some read-outs from the Granolith.
“What happened?” Phoenix said quickly as he moved to the side of his fellow Omniriad
“Their dreams linked!” Was the simple response!
“I don’t understand.”
“They entered a dream with their mates and somehow it expanded to all four with the rings. Then they started to control it.” The First continued
“That’s not possible! The connection aside, not even Isabel could initiate a lucid dream with all four of them.” Phoenix said
“I know but some how when they realised they were dreaming they could control it, they may not have known they could but they were able to leave it when they wanted to! But the connection is what concerns me…the rings link them to their mates and to the Granolith. They don’t create links that powerful!”
“Then how can this happen? The Granolith?” Phoenix asked
“No, I was checking that when you came in. It’s fully functional and not influencing anything they do…it hasn’t since Tess became pregnant.”
“We should probably find out what’s going on before they come up here then.” Phoenix said
“It may take some time…we should also examine their rings.”
Antarian Star System, Opposite Side of the Sun, 16:50
The small fleet of four ships were cloaked and making their final approach to the target. Lorat’s vessel stopped barely a kilometre from Kivar’s new warship while the other three moved around it to latch on to their assigned sections. Each ship was moving as slowly as possible in order for them not to disturb anything in the area that the ship might be able to detect and once they were in position, a gentle thrust brought them into contact with the hull.
Within seconds, beams of energy cut into the surface of the ship. It didn’t take long for all three teams of the strike force to be inside the ship.
Deck 2
Team 1 breached the hull and found the hall deserted. Silently they crept down the metal corridor when all of a sudden six soldiers turned down the hall at the same moment.
Kivar’s troops weren’t expecting an attack, none of the alarms had sounded and aside from a few small judders nothing out of the ordinary had happened. They were caught completely off guard and as a result they were gunned down mercilessly. The Kalarian forces knew that these men were probably involved with the attack that claimed the lives of king Zan and his friends, as well as several dozen guards and soldiers. Many of who would have trained right along with themselves
They were all eager for a little payback for their fallen comrades.
The commander ordered two of his soldiers to search the bodies; access cards or information on them would be a welcome advantage right now. More than likely their gunfight had set off an alarm in the command deck!
“Sir!” called one of the units. “You should take a look at this.”
The team commander moved over to his underling and saw what he was pointing to. A small access panel in floor that had been blasted open by a stray shot lay before him.
“Excellent!” he whispered as he opened his pack and pulled out an uplink. Carefully he slid it into the access slot and the device buzzed to life.
Back on Kalaria
Larek and Shalara were sitting and waiting. Jared and Sira had still not returned from their trip around the city, Larek had no doubt that they had ended up in a Pleasure Dome. He just hoped that his friend’s nephew would treat the young lady with respect…she was only fifteen after all and compared to the Antarian lifespan of 500 years that was not a lot!
All of a sudden one of the computers in the room started up. It was receiving data!
“That’s it! They’re on board…download should be completed in five minutes.” Larek said
“Finally, I hate the waiting.” Shalara said as she moved over to the computer
“Yeah, tell me about it. At least we know they made it on board.”
Back on the Warship
Team 2 made it easily into deck 32, the mid section of the ship. They had come across 3 patrols already but unfortunately they had been placed on alert. One of the other teams must have been detected! As a result, his people had sustained a few injuries but nothing too serious.
Slowly they moved down the hallways, following the emissions that were being emitted by the engine core of the ship. All of a sudden the soldier on point saw his scanner spike and indicated for the others to stop.
“Report!” said the commander
“Sir, this has to be it. The emissions are of the scale and they match the profile Lord Lorat gave me.” The soldier whispered
The commander indicated to one of the other units who moved over to the door. He slid a small amount of explosive into the access slot and detonated it.
It wasn’t a spectacular blast but it was enough to overload the circuits that sealed the door. The commander and another soldier put some grips onto the door and forced it open. Quickly they moved inside, blasts firing at the guards that were on this part of the engine room.
As they looked around they were stunned by the size and majesty of what lay before them. It was a granolith all right, but it nearly the entire height of the ship, this was the mid section and as the commander looked down to the bottom of the shaft - he could see down at least 20 decks. God knows how further it went into the darkness! It was the same as he looked up, but up there he could see lights flashing at the top of the device. One thing he did know for sure, securing a room this size was going to be impossible.
“I thought Lorat said this thing was smaller than a Granolith!” said his second
“No, he said weaker not smaller. This is going to take some time.”
All of a sudden the section of the Granolith that was inline with this deck started to spin slowly. The grinding sound echoed through the room as lights from the surrounding walls started to flash on the surface.
“To use a human word…Wow!” said one soldier
“Sir, I have an idea!” said one of Shalara’s people as she looked over the consoles before the observation window.
“And that would be?” the commander asked
“I’ve been looking over the systems in here, it looks like this is the central control unit for the engines. From here we could seal off the other decks and pump in sleep gas. We wouldn’t need to fire a shot and we would take a lot of prisoners.”
“Excellent…do it once your ready.” The commander ordered
“Yes sir!”
“Sir…I’ve located a suitable port for the uplink.” said another soldier
The commander moved over and inserted the device. A few minutes later the other soldier sealed the decks and forced any engineers and any other guards into a deep sleep, after informing their other teams. It was decided that they would work from the top down, they moved as quickly as they could as they bound the sleeping prisoners and moved them into a corner away from any alarm systems.
Deck 1
Team 1 had successfully taken out every guard and patrol between their entry point and the command centre. Once they were inside they found a skeleton command staff and in using a stun bomb they took everyone out. The commander decided to keep this lot alive as prisoners, no one had any idea if the controls of this ship were standard or if they required specialist training. If it was the later, then having the commanding units around would be a valuable asset to Lord Larek.
They had done it! Their part of the mission was complete, now all they had to do was hold the bridge until the remaining opposition was neutralised. Then they would have to wait for Lorat before they could get the ship out of here and back to Kalaria.
Somewhere on Deck 43
The team had entered through the lowest most deck and was having the worst time than the others. Five men were down by a heavily armed assault force that pinned them down; they must have been near an armoury when they felt the bumps from the impacts of the ships pinned them down.
Eventually they were forced back into a doorway that they forced open. Once inside they sealed it and used whatever they could to barricade it. Then they turned round…
“Shit!” said the commander
He was in some kind of manufacturing facility and around them was dozens of launch tubes, seeding pods and sealed vats of what they could only assume was the Kon’ma’Ra plague.
“You three better get to work.” the team commander said as he looked to Shalara’s bio-hazard team
The three surviving people activated their HAZMAT equipment and moved into the sealed area of the facility where the virus was produced. Slowly they worked as they handled the samples, mixing together a nice little concoction that they hoped would contaminate the virus and neutralise it.
“Sir, take a look at this!”
The commander moved over to his second who was examining one of the atmospheric seeding pods.
“What’s up?” he asked
“These pods…they’re equipped with internal explosives.”
“What? Why in the hell would he do that?”
“An explosion would spread the virus further…Kivar would need fewer pods. But these look like they are designed to detonate in space.”
“Okay that makes even less sense, the virus couldn’t spread…”
Shalara’s chief soldier interrupted him.
“Commander, I think you better come here!” he said
“What’s going on?” the commander asked
“Somehow Kivar has modified the virus Normally the virus needs fuel, sunlight, oxygen…something to aid in its reproduction but this new strain thrives in any environment…or should I say lack of environment.”
“What are you taking about?”
“This virus can spread in space, it doesn’t need an atmosphere, it’s not affected by heat or cold and it doesn’t need an external fuel source. It’ll just keep reproducing and spreading no matter what…the Crolyssium the pods are made from is still the only material that can stop it.”
“The pods out there are equipped with explosives…if Kivar detonates them in space…”
“Then the virus would spread throughout the entire star system and infect all planets. It would keep on going, spreading throughout space until everything is contaminated.”
“Okay…this stuff, could it be incinerated?” the commander asked
“Sorry sir, so far it doesn’t look like it…if anything the incinerator would have to be a…”
“A star! Load up as much of the virus as you can into the pods, when we pass the sun we’ll launch them into it.”
“Yes Sir!” said the soldier before turning back to the lab.
The machines burst into life as pipes moved into position and filled every single pod until the vats were empty. Then the pods were moved into the launch tubes. The commander communicated with his compatriots on the command deck and in engineering. It was agreed that as soon as they were underway they would get as close to the star as possible and launch the virus.
Meanwhile the guards outside the door where bashing away, trying to get access. The commander of Team 2 however was giving them a little hand. He sealed off sections of all the decks and pumped in the remainder of his gas. Any remaining opposition was either asleep or dead, thanks to a little nerve toxic he mixed in. Once the gas was clear, the access doors were reopened and the units were free to move around as they confined their prisoners.
Outside
Slowly the command ship was drifting between the dozen or so battleships that Kivar had stationed here to here to protect his little treasure. When they moved close to a ship they would release a mine that would latch onto the hull of the ship and detonate when the Warship was ready to move. The amount of chaos that would be created would by enough time for the ships to get back to Kalaria.
Before long all enemy vessels had at least two mines on it, not enough to destroy it but enough to disable it. Lorat wanted to make sure that Kivar could take out a little retribution for their…incompetence.
His ship moved over along side the vessel and together they moved off. The explosions on the hulls sent the ships into disarray. They lost navigation and their orientation shifted, weapon systems couldn’t lock on, gravity failed and many of the lower decks were on fire.
As the warship moved passed the Antarian sun, thousands of pods were launched from the side tubes and entered the sun. The crews of the ships watched as they detonated and the vapour of the virus burned up in the blue flames. The cheering could be heard thought the ship, the greatest threat had now been eliminated and the greatest battle of the civil war to date had been won…even though it was the quietest.
To Be Continued…
Chapter 46
Kitchen, Parker Residence, 17:00
Liz had been cutting up vegetables as she helped her mother around the house. Her shorted school day, thanks to the arrival of her new pet, had given her the opportunity to help her mother as well as practice with her new connection to the Granolith. After a particularly exhausting session in which she managed to see the actual programming of the device in her head she decided to help cook dinner. The meeting with Alex, Isabel and Max about the collective dreaming had been unproductive. The only thing any of them could thing of was that the rings they received from the Granolith, their glowing certainly indicated that they had a part to play but something kept nagging at Liz.
Right now she was cutting some chilli peppers and every so often she would toss a small piece up into the air. Gandi, who was resting in her usual high place on top of a cabinet, would either fly out or send one of her tentacles to grab hold of the food and swallow it down. Once she was settled again she would always send a tentacle back down to Liz and touched her cheek, Liz always smiled at the contact.
Just then Max and Maria arrived and headed straight for her, Maria looked up and spotted the newest resident and did her best to keep her distance. Max on the other hand was a little more comfortable; he still didn’t like having a creature like Gandi anywhere near Liz but accepted that Liz could control her.
“Hey Max.” Liz said softly before he kissed her cheek.
“Hey…any problems with you know who?” Max said as he indicated to Gandi with his head.
“Not a one…so what are you guys doing here?” Liz asked
“Well, I’m on my way to pick up mom for the dinner tonight…should be fun.” Maria said with concern
“Hey come on. She’ll be fine and besides it’s not like she isn’t expecting it.” Liz said as she tried to re-enforce her friends failing confidence
“Mom might be expecting it but it doesn’t mean she has to like it…or kill Michael.”
“Maria, your mom likes Michael…granted this will probably be the last time you and Michael have kids after she get through with him…” Max joked before Liz punched his arm. “OUCH…what’d I do?”
“Really great confidence builder sweetie.” Liz said as she gazed into his eyes
Maria was now sitting at the table, her head in her hands. Gandi had observed the interaction between the humans and noted the vibe of despair coming from the blonde female. She floated down and landed on the table before Maria who looked up and saw the blue alien face staring back at her.
“LIZZZZ” she said as she backed up as far into her seat as she could
Gandi reached out and touched Maria’s cheek as she had done with Liz. The action caused Maria to pull away sharply and fall from her chair. Gandi, sensing the fear shot all her tentacles out and caught Maria before she hit the floor. She then brought Maria back up to face her and both hovered above the table; Gandi held Maria in place as she moved forward and rubbed her head against Maria’s cheek.
“I think she likes you Maria.” Liz said as she watched from the sidelines, keeping a hand on Max’s arm to prevent him from moving to intercede.
“Yeah?” Maria asked as she looked at the alien
“Yeah.” Liz stated
Maria reached her hand out and petted Gandi on the head, everyone watched as Gandi tried to move further into her hand and direct it over a nearby spot.
“What…what’s she doing?” Maria asked
“You must have found an itch, she really likes being scratched back there.” Liz said as they watched Gandi let go of Maria after she was lowered onto the floor on to the floor.
“What was that all about?” Maria asked as she watched Gandi fly back up to the cabinet.
“She just wanted to cheer you up…now you! Go get your mother and go have a nice dinner. I know for a fact that Michael spent all day preparing this…hell even Rath helped.” Liz said
“Really? This should be interesting.” Maria replied, “Okay…I can do this, I mean what’s the worst that could happen?” She said as she looked over at Max, “You don’t say a word.”
Max just held up his hand in surrender.
Liz moved round the counter and over to her friend and hugged her. She wished Maria luck and then said goodbye to her. Maria left and went downstairs to her car.
“Hey you never said why you came over?” Liz asked Max
“Do I need a reason to see you?” Max asked seductively
“No…but I saw the look on your face when you came in, that and I can sense some of your thoughts…remember?” Liz said before starching up to peck him on his lips.
“Yeah I remember…okay, remember that phone call I got from the president?” Max asked
“Yes…you said he wanted to arrange to buy some of the material from the cave.” Liz said as she sat down
“Well that was only part of it and my dad has decided to take up the selling part of everything. The uhh…other part was that a number of Senators, Congressmen and foreign leaders have expressed in interest in meeting me. Basically he would like me to speak before Congress…and the U.N.!”
“Oh!” Liz said as she remembered her mates’ distaste for being the centre of attention and this was about as centre as anyone could get.
“Yeah!”
“You gonna do it?” Liz asked
“I don’t think I have much of a choice, do you? I mean people out there are already afraid of what we have to hide…I don’t do this, it’ll just get worse!” Max said
“I suppose so…I could go with you if you want?”
“I was hoping you would say that but you’ve already missed a bit of school because of all of this. I don’t want you to miss anymore!” Max said
“Forget school, my husband is going to speak to the most important people on the planet. I’m not going to let you go through that by yourself…besides the term just started, catching up will be easy.” Liz said as she took his hand in hers
“Okay, but I don’t want you to push yourself. God, what the hell am I going to say?”
“How long do you have?”
“The president left it as an open invitation…basically when I’m ready he can arrange it! He did offer to have his speech writers do it but that seems kind of…”
“Not you.” Liz finished
“Yeah, exactly but it could be a good call.” Max said
“Well we have some time for arrangements, don’t worry about it just now, we’ll figure out what to do.” Liz said as her thumb stroked his hand
“Off topic a little, when do you want to tell your parents…about the rings I mean?” Max asked
“I’m not sure, this is kind of unofficial but maybe we should wait and see.” Liz said
“Okay…I kind of think Isabel feels the same way. Privately this is ours, it doesn’t need to go out there yet…at least not until it is official. Oh by the way, do have any more ideas on that shared dream of ours?”
“No…the rings seem to be obvious but somehow it doesn’t seem right. I’ve tried to call Phoenix but he just said that he’ll look into it.”
“Meaning…he doesn’t know? How can that be, his people made the Granolith’s and we got the rings from it…how could he not know?” Max rambled
“I don’t know but at least he’s trying to find out what is happening.” Liz said
“Well I better get going…mom is expecting me home for dinner.” They both stood up from the table and moved to the door. The stood still for a moment before giving each other a very heated goodbye kiss.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, 17:20
Larek and Shalara were waiting for Lorat’s return. He had sent word that the ship was now hidden in a crater on Kalaria’s fourth moon and to make doubly sure, he ripped out the cloaks from the transports used in the assault and planted them inside so that it would remain unseen. Once the message had been received a final ship was launched, one that contained over a hundred engineers that would go over every inch of that ship. Other engineers planet side were busy going over the technical schematics provided by the computer uplinks.
“So, how did you become Sira’s guardian?” Larek asked as he tried to make conversation to lighten the mood.
“Her parent’s were my closest servants. When they died in an accident I took her in, I have no heir and I liked the idea of raising her. Sira was less than a year old when it happened, I’m just thankful that she doesn’t remember it.” Shalara responded
“Bad?” Larek asked
“Very…an explosion near the palace, there wasn’t much left of them.”
Just then two of the younger guests on the planet had arrived back.
“Lord Larek…where’s my uncle?” Jared asked
“He’s on his way Jared. Now what happen to you two?” He asked as he looked over the young man
“We…uh…went…” Jared stammered
“Jared showed me the Pleasure Domes!” Sira said excitedly
Jared closed his eyes and cringed a little.
“WHAT?” Shalara asked loudly
“Not that dome…we stayed clear of that one!” Jared spat out quickly
“Jared?” Larek said sternly
“The amusements, parks, holo-domes…we did the lot. But we stayed away from the red sector, promise!” Jared said with a tone that made him sound like he was begging
“Well…good then!” Shalara said, visibly more relaxed
“What’s the red sector?” Sira asked innocently
“Remember that door with the seal on it…you asked what was through there and I said you didn’t wanna know?” Jared asked
“Yeah!” Sira trailed out
“That’s it! It’s…uh…adults only!”
“Oh. OH…right, gotcha.” Sira said as her face began to blush.
Jared had seen her skin turn red, he found her even more beautiful than when he first saw her but his attention was removed from her when his uncle entered and not in the best of moods…
“He’s insane, that bastard is totally insane!” Lorat ranted
“Lorat calm down…” Larek said, “What happened?”
“Kivar…he modified the virus. He made it so that it could survive in any environment, including space. If he detonated the pods he could have spread the damn thing all over the solar system, even his own planet would be infected!”
“You destroyed the virus, right?” Shalara asked
“Yeah, we emptied all of the plague into the pods and launched them into the sun. It’s all gone, sensor sweeps showed nothing in the immediate vicinity so we can safely assume that none of the virus got away.
Larek, this damn stuff just got scarier than hell. If one pod were detonated anywhere, then it would continue to spread. Nothing could stop it and while it may take millions of years it could have infected every planet that exists.” Lorat said
“Well at least it’s gone now and we have his ship.” Larek said with pride
“Yeah, we got the ship!” Lorat said as he returned his attention to the goal of his very successful mission. “It may take some time to go through all the information we have but when we do we should be able to recreate the vessel in massive numbers. We could have a fleet that could be used to protect our worlds instead of being used to destroy them.”
“Excellent…Shalara, I believe we have an appointment on Earth.” Larek said
Larek escorted her out of the chamber and to his personal quarters. Once there they sat in the chairs, closed their eyes and focused. In a few hours they would be on Earth.
In the Command Chamber, Lorat looked over his nephew and the young lady visiting the planet.
“So…how was your day?” Lorat asked
“Fun, I can’t remember the last time I actually had some.” Sira said
“Well that’s because you spend your time in a library.” Jared teased, “Believe me, when ever you’re with me those books will be the last thing on your mind.”
“I hope so.” Sira whispered but Jared and Lorat heard her.
Jared’s smile couldn’t be contained; Lorat’s smile was on the inside. Finally his young nephew was beginning to grow up a little and was proud of him for keeping away from the Red Sector of the domes while he was in the company of Sira. Hopefully someday soon he could introduce Jared to his two uncles on Earth.
Michael’s Apartment, 17:35 – Dinner Time
Michael had the table set, borrowed a tablecloth from the Evans…thanks to Isabel’s suggestion. The decent cutlery he had bought was out and the soup was in the bowls, all he waited for was his guests. Then came the knock at the door.
“Hey.” he said as he hugged Maria
“Hey.” She responded as she breathed in his scent. Somehow it calmed her.
Michael then turned to his other guest. “Ms Deluca, how are you doing?”
“Fine Michael, fine!” Amy said as she looked over to the table. She was suitably impressed. “Looks like you’re really out to impress someone.”
“Yeah well…did it work?” he asked humbly
“You can say that again.” Amy replied, “And call me Amy!”
Michael looked at Maria, they both smiled. Michael took their coats and sat them down at the table.
“So what did you two want to talk to me about?” she asked as she took a spoonful of soup. She was very surprised at how good simple mushroom soup could taste.
“Well mom the thing is that your were…hey Michael great soup!” Maria said quickly changing the subject as her nerves took hold of her once again.
“Maria?” Her mother said
Michael reached his hand over and placed it on top of Maria’s. Amy saw the move and saw how much it seemed to calm her, she never felt like that with that no good looser who ran out on her.
“Maria, it’s okay!” Michael said calmly
Maria nodded and looked back to her mother.
“Mom, you were right a couple of days ago…I’m pregnant!” Maria said
Silence!
Amy had been expecting it; Nancy and Diane had had a nice little chat with her. They had told her to expect it.
“So you lied to me that morning?” Amy asked
“NO!” Maria said quickly, “No mom, I really thought it was the pizza. It wasn’t until you suggested it that I got this kind of flash.”
“Flash?” Amy asked
“Yeah I had it as well, we saw…well we saw when it happened…” Michael said vaguely
“I see. So what do you two plan on doing?”
“Well we kinda haven’t talked…” Maria started to say
“Actually, I have. Max, Isabel and the others…we all agreed that Maria and the others will get a share in the money when all that stuff is sold. We wanted to make sure that if anything happened to us then the others and the children will still be taken care of.” Michael said
“Well I’m glad that you’ve done that Michael and I’m glad Maria is going to be taken care of but what about marriage?”
“Well that we haven’t talked about but if you need some reassurance then all I can tell you is that I’m not opposed to the idea. But we do need to talk about it.” Michael said as he looked into Maria’s eyes. The warmth and love he saw was unmistakeable, that and the smile that was as wide as it could go.
Amy nodded and after that the conversation was slow and a lot more relaxed. As they finished the soup, Michael brought in the main course. They loved the chicken; even Michael was surprised at how well the sauce came out.
“Well at least you’ve got an excuse to get out of doing the cooking Maria.” Her mother joked
“You got that right!” Maria said
“Hey, I like to cook. Doesn’t mean to say I have to do it all the time.” Michael said
“Well you did a good job here and if I’m carrying your kids for over a year then you do the cooking Spaceboy.” Maria said
Both Michael and Amy looked up from their plates and look at each other then over to Maria.
“What?” They both said at the same time.
Maria looked up as she realised what she had done.
“I forgot to tell you didn’t I?” Maria said, “Uh Michael…we’re having twins.”
“Twi…twins?” Michael coughed out.
“Yeah. Its an alien thing.” Maria said
Michael stood up and moved over to Maria. He helped her stand up and hugged her tightly; Maria could feel the smile coming off him. Amy stood up and moved up to her daughter. Michael saw her coming over to them and released Maria who then went into her mother’s arms.
“Congratulations sweetie!” Amy said warmly
The dinner went on and Michael received more compliments, enough so that his ego was on the verge of breaking loose. Eventually the meal was finished and they sat down, very rarely was Michael’s hand away from Maria’s. The entire evening was a success, they sat down and talked all night before Amy decided that she better go home before she fell asleep. Maria said goodnight to Michael and made a promise that he would receive one of her ‘special’ phone calls soon.
Empty & Condemned Wing, New Mexico State Prison, 17:50
Prisoner 87687 had been grabbed out of his cell by a guard and dragged out here. He put up one hell of a fight before the guard beat the crap out of him, just to keep him quiet. Eventually he woke up and looked over to see a kid sitting in front of him, he was chained to an old steam pipe that prevented him from moving more than half a foot in any direction.
“You the fuck are you?” the prisoner asked
“87687…My name is Nicholas, my predecessor spoke to you before about an early release. I represent certain parties that require your services.”
“What kind of services?”
“No doubt your aware of the alien situation in Roswell. My employers have concerns about their presence on Earth and would like to see them removed.” Nicholas said
“How the hell can I help you there?”
“Simple.” Nicholas said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a photograph. He slid it across the desk. “You can get close…my people have tried, they can’t!”
The prisoner looked down at the photograph and saw a face he knew all too well.
“Maria!” he said with a smile.
“Exactly…listen, through her you can get close. Here is the deal, we arrange for your early release and you go to Roswell. You do exactly what we say, ultimately all you have to do is hand over this female alien and you will be hailed as the man who saved Earth from the Alien Threat!” Nicholas removed a second photo, that of Isabel and gave it to the prisoner.
“That’s all, just her?”
“That’s all!” Nicholas said
“DONE!”
Both of them smiled, Nicholas’s was distinctly more sinister and evil!
Granolith Chamber, 18:00
The First and Phoenix used the Granolith and turned the chamber into a miniature laboratory. They were going over every ounce of data they had collected in order to find out how the collective dream was initiated. For someone who never slept and who, up until now, was immortal he certainly felt tired.
Just then he spotted an anomaly in one of the reports.
“Oh dear!” he said
“You have something?” The First asked
“You might say that! Here.” Phoenix said as he handed the report to his elder
The First scanned the report looking for his Phoenix had spotted. He had to look twice before he could accept what he was seeing.
“This is impossible!” he said as he held up the report
“That’s what I thought but its accurate…it’s inside him!” Phoenix said with concern
“I sensed an absence but this…”
Both Omniriads looked round to the black device their species had created. Things certainly had changed since the two systems merged into the new machine before them but could not have expected a change like this. Heads were certain to role when the kids find out about this. Another thing they would have to get use to. Might not be as bad as they think but two of them certainly had a reason to be concerned.
Core Chamber, Omniriad Home world, Same Time
The core had been made aware of a flux in the Granolith network and Phoenix’s subsequent research using the Granolith on Earth. They were as shocked to discover the same anomaly. They ordered every scientist and expert they had to study the incident and its impact. Unfortunately the life of a human was about to change even more dramatically than it already had…a human called Alex Whitman!
To Be Continued…
Kitchen, Parker Residence, 17:00
Liz had been cutting up vegetables as she helped her mother around the house. Her shorted school day, thanks to the arrival of her new pet, had given her the opportunity to help her mother as well as practice with her new connection to the Granolith. After a particularly exhausting session in which she managed to see the actual programming of the device in her head she decided to help cook dinner. The meeting with Alex, Isabel and Max about the collective dreaming had been unproductive. The only thing any of them could thing of was that the rings they received from the Granolith, their glowing certainly indicated that they had a part to play but something kept nagging at Liz.
Right now she was cutting some chilli peppers and every so often she would toss a small piece up into the air. Gandi, who was resting in her usual high place on top of a cabinet, would either fly out or send one of her tentacles to grab hold of the food and swallow it down. Once she was settled again she would always send a tentacle back down to Liz and touched her cheek, Liz always smiled at the contact.
Just then Max and Maria arrived and headed straight for her, Maria looked up and spotted the newest resident and did her best to keep her distance. Max on the other hand was a little more comfortable; he still didn’t like having a creature like Gandi anywhere near Liz but accepted that Liz could control her.
“Hey Max.” Liz said softly before he kissed her cheek.
“Hey…any problems with you know who?” Max said as he indicated to Gandi with his head.
“Not a one…so what are you guys doing here?” Liz asked
“Well, I’m on my way to pick up mom for the dinner tonight…should be fun.” Maria said with concern
“Hey come on. She’ll be fine and besides it’s not like she isn’t expecting it.” Liz said as she tried to re-enforce her friends failing confidence
“Mom might be expecting it but it doesn’t mean she has to like it…or kill Michael.”
“Maria, your mom likes Michael…granted this will probably be the last time you and Michael have kids after she get through with him…” Max joked before Liz punched his arm. “OUCH…what’d I do?”
“Really great confidence builder sweetie.” Liz said as she gazed into his eyes
Maria was now sitting at the table, her head in her hands. Gandi had observed the interaction between the humans and noted the vibe of despair coming from the blonde female. She floated down and landed on the table before Maria who looked up and saw the blue alien face staring back at her.
“LIZZZZ” she said as she backed up as far into her seat as she could
Gandi reached out and touched Maria’s cheek as she had done with Liz. The action caused Maria to pull away sharply and fall from her chair. Gandi, sensing the fear shot all her tentacles out and caught Maria before she hit the floor. She then brought Maria back up to face her and both hovered above the table; Gandi held Maria in place as she moved forward and rubbed her head against Maria’s cheek.
“I think she likes you Maria.” Liz said as she watched from the sidelines, keeping a hand on Max’s arm to prevent him from moving to intercede.
“Yeah?” Maria asked as she looked at the alien
“Yeah.” Liz stated
Maria reached her hand out and petted Gandi on the head, everyone watched as Gandi tried to move further into her hand and direct it over a nearby spot.
“What…what’s she doing?” Maria asked
“You must have found an itch, she really likes being scratched back there.” Liz said as they watched Gandi let go of Maria after she was lowered onto the floor on to the floor.
“What was that all about?” Maria asked as she watched Gandi fly back up to the cabinet.
“She just wanted to cheer you up…now you! Go get your mother and go have a nice dinner. I know for a fact that Michael spent all day preparing this…hell even Rath helped.” Liz said
“Really? This should be interesting.” Maria replied, “Okay…I can do this, I mean what’s the worst that could happen?” She said as she looked over at Max, “You don’t say a word.”
Max just held up his hand in surrender.
Liz moved round the counter and over to her friend and hugged her. She wished Maria luck and then said goodbye to her. Maria left and went downstairs to her car.
“Hey you never said why you came over?” Liz asked Max
“Do I need a reason to see you?” Max asked seductively
“No…but I saw the look on your face when you came in, that and I can sense some of your thoughts…remember?” Liz said before starching up to peck him on his lips.
“Yeah I remember…okay, remember that phone call I got from the president?” Max asked
“Yes…you said he wanted to arrange to buy some of the material from the cave.” Liz said as she sat down
“Well that was only part of it and my dad has decided to take up the selling part of everything. The uhh…other part was that a number of Senators, Congressmen and foreign leaders have expressed in interest in meeting me. Basically he would like me to speak before Congress…and the U.N.!”
“Oh!” Liz said as she remembered her mates’ distaste for being the centre of attention and this was about as centre as anyone could get.
“Yeah!”
“You gonna do it?” Liz asked
“I don’t think I have much of a choice, do you? I mean people out there are already afraid of what we have to hide…I don’t do this, it’ll just get worse!” Max said
“I suppose so…I could go with you if you want?”
“I was hoping you would say that but you’ve already missed a bit of school because of all of this. I don’t want you to miss anymore!” Max said
“Forget school, my husband is going to speak to the most important people on the planet. I’m not going to let you go through that by yourself…besides the term just started, catching up will be easy.” Liz said as she took his hand in hers
“Okay, but I don’t want you to push yourself. God, what the hell am I going to say?”
“How long do you have?”
“The president left it as an open invitation…basically when I’m ready he can arrange it! He did offer to have his speech writers do it but that seems kind of…”
“Not you.” Liz finished
“Yeah, exactly but it could be a good call.” Max said
“Well we have some time for arrangements, don’t worry about it just now, we’ll figure out what to do.” Liz said as her thumb stroked his hand
“Off topic a little, when do you want to tell your parents…about the rings I mean?” Max asked
“I’m not sure, this is kind of unofficial but maybe we should wait and see.” Liz said
“Okay…I kind of think Isabel feels the same way. Privately this is ours, it doesn’t need to go out there yet…at least not until it is official. Oh by the way, do have any more ideas on that shared dream of ours?”
“No…the rings seem to be obvious but somehow it doesn’t seem right. I’ve tried to call Phoenix but he just said that he’ll look into it.”
“Meaning…he doesn’t know? How can that be, his people made the Granolith’s and we got the rings from it…how could he not know?” Max rambled
“I don’t know but at least he’s trying to find out what is happening.” Liz said
“Well I better get going…mom is expecting me home for dinner.” They both stood up from the table and moved to the door. The stood still for a moment before giving each other a very heated goodbye kiss.
Command Centre, Kalarian Royal Palace, 17:20
Larek and Shalara were waiting for Lorat’s return. He had sent word that the ship was now hidden in a crater on Kalaria’s fourth moon and to make doubly sure, he ripped out the cloaks from the transports used in the assault and planted them inside so that it would remain unseen. Once the message had been received a final ship was launched, one that contained over a hundred engineers that would go over every inch of that ship. Other engineers planet side were busy going over the technical schematics provided by the computer uplinks.
“So, how did you become Sira’s guardian?” Larek asked as he tried to make conversation to lighten the mood.
“Her parent’s were my closest servants. When they died in an accident I took her in, I have no heir and I liked the idea of raising her. Sira was less than a year old when it happened, I’m just thankful that she doesn’t remember it.” Shalara responded
“Bad?” Larek asked
“Very…an explosion near the palace, there wasn’t much left of them.”
Just then two of the younger guests on the planet had arrived back.
“Lord Larek…where’s my uncle?” Jared asked
“He’s on his way Jared. Now what happen to you two?” He asked as he looked over the young man
“We…uh…went…” Jared stammered
“Jared showed me the Pleasure Domes!” Sira said excitedly
Jared closed his eyes and cringed a little.
“WHAT?” Shalara asked loudly
“Not that dome…we stayed clear of that one!” Jared spat out quickly
“Jared?” Larek said sternly
“The amusements, parks, holo-domes…we did the lot. But we stayed away from the red sector, promise!” Jared said with a tone that made him sound like he was begging
“Well…good then!” Shalara said, visibly more relaxed
“What’s the red sector?” Sira asked innocently
“Remember that door with the seal on it…you asked what was through there and I said you didn’t wanna know?” Jared asked
“Yeah!” Sira trailed out
“That’s it! It’s…uh…adults only!”
“Oh. OH…right, gotcha.” Sira said as her face began to blush.
Jared had seen her skin turn red, he found her even more beautiful than when he first saw her but his attention was removed from her when his uncle entered and not in the best of moods…
“He’s insane, that bastard is totally insane!” Lorat ranted
“Lorat calm down…” Larek said, “What happened?”
“Kivar…he modified the virus. He made it so that it could survive in any environment, including space. If he detonated the pods he could have spread the damn thing all over the solar system, even his own planet would be infected!”
“You destroyed the virus, right?” Shalara asked
“Yeah, we emptied all of the plague into the pods and launched them into the sun. It’s all gone, sensor sweeps showed nothing in the immediate vicinity so we can safely assume that none of the virus got away.
Larek, this damn stuff just got scarier than hell. If one pod were detonated anywhere, then it would continue to spread. Nothing could stop it and while it may take millions of years it could have infected every planet that exists.” Lorat said
“Well at least it’s gone now and we have his ship.” Larek said with pride
“Yeah, we got the ship!” Lorat said as he returned his attention to the goal of his very successful mission. “It may take some time to go through all the information we have but when we do we should be able to recreate the vessel in massive numbers. We could have a fleet that could be used to protect our worlds instead of being used to destroy them.”
“Excellent…Shalara, I believe we have an appointment on Earth.” Larek said
Larek escorted her out of the chamber and to his personal quarters. Once there they sat in the chairs, closed their eyes and focused. In a few hours they would be on Earth.
In the Command Chamber, Lorat looked over his nephew and the young lady visiting the planet.
“So…how was your day?” Lorat asked
“Fun, I can’t remember the last time I actually had some.” Sira said
“Well that’s because you spend your time in a library.” Jared teased, “Believe me, when ever you’re with me those books will be the last thing on your mind.”
“I hope so.” Sira whispered but Jared and Lorat heard her.
Jared’s smile couldn’t be contained; Lorat’s smile was on the inside. Finally his young nephew was beginning to grow up a little and was proud of him for keeping away from the Red Sector of the domes while he was in the company of Sira. Hopefully someday soon he could introduce Jared to his two uncles on Earth.
Michael’s Apartment, 17:35 – Dinner Time
Michael had the table set, borrowed a tablecloth from the Evans…thanks to Isabel’s suggestion. The decent cutlery he had bought was out and the soup was in the bowls, all he waited for was his guests. Then came the knock at the door.
“Hey.” he said as he hugged Maria
“Hey.” She responded as she breathed in his scent. Somehow it calmed her.
Michael then turned to his other guest. “Ms Deluca, how are you doing?”
“Fine Michael, fine!” Amy said as she looked over to the table. She was suitably impressed. “Looks like you’re really out to impress someone.”
“Yeah well…did it work?” he asked humbly
“You can say that again.” Amy replied, “And call me Amy!”
Michael looked at Maria, they both smiled. Michael took their coats and sat them down at the table.
“So what did you two want to talk to me about?” she asked as she took a spoonful of soup. She was very surprised at how good simple mushroom soup could taste.
“Well mom the thing is that your were…hey Michael great soup!” Maria said quickly changing the subject as her nerves took hold of her once again.
“Maria?” Her mother said
Michael reached his hand over and placed it on top of Maria’s. Amy saw the move and saw how much it seemed to calm her, she never felt like that with that no good looser who ran out on her.
“Maria, it’s okay!” Michael said calmly
Maria nodded and looked back to her mother.
“Mom, you were right a couple of days ago…I’m pregnant!” Maria said
Silence!
Amy had been expecting it; Nancy and Diane had had a nice little chat with her. They had told her to expect it.
“So you lied to me that morning?” Amy asked
“NO!” Maria said quickly, “No mom, I really thought it was the pizza. It wasn’t until you suggested it that I got this kind of flash.”
“Flash?” Amy asked
“Yeah I had it as well, we saw…well we saw when it happened…” Michael said vaguely
“I see. So what do you two plan on doing?”
“Well we kinda haven’t talked…” Maria started to say
“Actually, I have. Max, Isabel and the others…we all agreed that Maria and the others will get a share in the money when all that stuff is sold. We wanted to make sure that if anything happened to us then the others and the children will still be taken care of.” Michael said
“Well I’m glad that you’ve done that Michael and I’m glad Maria is going to be taken care of but what about marriage?”
“Well that we haven’t talked about but if you need some reassurance then all I can tell you is that I’m not opposed to the idea. But we do need to talk about it.” Michael said as he looked into Maria’s eyes. The warmth and love he saw was unmistakeable, that and the smile that was as wide as it could go.
Amy nodded and after that the conversation was slow and a lot more relaxed. As they finished the soup, Michael brought in the main course. They loved the chicken; even Michael was surprised at how well the sauce came out.
“Well at least you’ve got an excuse to get out of doing the cooking Maria.” Her mother joked
“You got that right!” Maria said
“Hey, I like to cook. Doesn’t mean to say I have to do it all the time.” Michael said
“Well you did a good job here and if I’m carrying your kids for over a year then you do the cooking Spaceboy.” Maria said
Both Michael and Amy looked up from their plates and look at each other then over to Maria.
“What?” They both said at the same time.
Maria looked up as she realised what she had done.
“I forgot to tell you didn’t I?” Maria said, “Uh Michael…we’re having twins.”
“Twi…twins?” Michael coughed out.
“Yeah. Its an alien thing.” Maria said
Michael stood up and moved over to Maria. He helped her stand up and hugged her tightly; Maria could feel the smile coming off him. Amy stood up and moved up to her daughter. Michael saw her coming over to them and released Maria who then went into her mother’s arms.
“Congratulations sweetie!” Amy said warmly
The dinner went on and Michael received more compliments, enough so that his ego was on the verge of breaking loose. Eventually the meal was finished and they sat down, very rarely was Michael’s hand away from Maria’s. The entire evening was a success, they sat down and talked all night before Amy decided that she better go home before she fell asleep. Maria said goodnight to Michael and made a promise that he would receive one of her ‘special’ phone calls soon.
Empty & Condemned Wing, New Mexico State Prison, 17:50
Prisoner 87687 had been grabbed out of his cell by a guard and dragged out here. He put up one hell of a fight before the guard beat the crap out of him, just to keep him quiet. Eventually he woke up and looked over to see a kid sitting in front of him, he was chained to an old steam pipe that prevented him from moving more than half a foot in any direction.
“You the fuck are you?” the prisoner asked
“87687…My name is Nicholas, my predecessor spoke to you before about an early release. I represent certain parties that require your services.”
“What kind of services?”
“No doubt your aware of the alien situation in Roswell. My employers have concerns about their presence on Earth and would like to see them removed.” Nicholas said
“How the hell can I help you there?”
“Simple.” Nicholas said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a photograph. He slid it across the desk. “You can get close…my people have tried, they can’t!”
The prisoner looked down at the photograph and saw a face he knew all too well.
“Maria!” he said with a smile.
“Exactly…listen, through her you can get close. Here is the deal, we arrange for your early release and you go to Roswell. You do exactly what we say, ultimately all you have to do is hand over this female alien and you will be hailed as the man who saved Earth from the Alien Threat!” Nicholas removed a second photo, that of Isabel and gave it to the prisoner.
“That’s all, just her?”
“That’s all!” Nicholas said
“DONE!”
Both of them smiled, Nicholas’s was distinctly more sinister and evil!
Granolith Chamber, 18:00
The First and Phoenix used the Granolith and turned the chamber into a miniature laboratory. They were going over every ounce of data they had collected in order to find out how the collective dream was initiated. For someone who never slept and who, up until now, was immortal he certainly felt tired.
Just then he spotted an anomaly in one of the reports.
“Oh dear!” he said
“You have something?” The First asked
“You might say that! Here.” Phoenix said as he handed the report to his elder
The First scanned the report looking for his Phoenix had spotted. He had to look twice before he could accept what he was seeing.
“This is impossible!” he said as he held up the report
“That’s what I thought but its accurate…it’s inside him!” Phoenix said with concern
“I sensed an absence but this…”
Both Omniriads looked round to the black device their species had created. Things certainly had changed since the two systems merged into the new machine before them but could not have expected a change like this. Heads were certain to role when the kids find out about this. Another thing they would have to get use to. Might not be as bad as they think but two of them certainly had a reason to be concerned.
Core Chamber, Omniriad Home world, Same Time
The core had been made aware of a flux in the Granolith network and Phoenix’s subsequent research using the Granolith on Earth. They were as shocked to discover the same anomaly. They ordered every scientist and expert they had to study the incident and its impact. Unfortunately the life of a human was about to change even more dramatically than it already had…a human called Alex Whitman!
To Be Continued…
Chapter 47
Computer Lab, Roswell High, 10:30am The Next Day
This was the only class Alex had by himself; none of the others had any luck with computers. Sure they could do typing and general stuff but when it came down to it Alex was the one who actually understood what was going inside them. Now he was listening to his teacher rattle on about EIDE connectors, it was something that was so basic that had put him on the precipice of sleep. His attention was suddenly drawn when there was a knock at the door and in walked an older man in a suit, with a very thick and bushy beard. Mr Grace, the teacher, looked at the guest and nodded.
Alex could have sworn that when the gentlemen moved to the back of the classroom that he gave him a quick look…and was given another by Mr Grace. The stranger said nothing but he just sat an empty seat in the back corner and watched as the lesson continued. When the class was about to end, Mr Grace started to hand out last weeks graded homework assignments.
“Okay class all of you did moderately well!” Mr Grace said. However, he never handed out Alex’s work and before anything could be said the bell rang. “Alex, could you stay back for a moment.”
As the class shuffled out, they each gave looks to Alex that made him feel like he was about to be sent to the principle. Mr Grace opened his desk drawer and pulled out Alex’s work…very thick work!
“Alex I wanted to talk to you about you homework…quite frankly I don’t know where to begin.” Mr Grace said as his guest moved beside him. “Alex this is Jack Ringer, he was a professor of mine over at MIT…a long time before I became a teacher. I sent him a copy of your work because, to be honest, this is way over my head.”
“Mr Whitman, when I looked over this I could barely comprehend what you had in here…given your relationship to the Antarians I need to know that this is your work and that you wrote this without any assistance.” Ringer asked as he handed Alex his copy of the document.
Alex looked over the first few pages and skimmed several others, “Uh, yes sir this is my work and believe me none of the others have any interest in computers…unless Michael’s Playstation counts? And call me Alex.”
“No, that definitely doesn’t count.” Ringer chuckled. “Alex, I looked over this and gave it to a few of my colleagues. What you have written here is extremely advanced and never even been considered before…hell this is so theoretical that it doesn’t have a name.”
“Crystalline Optics!” Alex uttered out without thinking about it. He looked back up at the others and noted the amazed yet confused looks from the elder men. “Don’t ask where that came from.”
“Alex…” Ringer chuckled as he shook his head. “Listen, what you have proposed is a completely new area of computer technology, we probably don’t have a computer language that could make use of it.”
Alex suddenly turned, grabbed a pen and started writing down pages full of binary code. The two teachers looked over his shoulder as he worked and looked over when Isabel knocked at the door and peaked her head in. She had been waiting for Alex and was getting worried when he didn’t show. Mr Grace beckoned her in.
“Jack this is Isabel Evans, one of our resident Antarians. Isabel this is Jack Ringer.”
“Hey…what’s going on?” Isabel asked
“Wish I knew?” Alex said as he ripped off a page and started on the next
Thirty pages and a very tired Isabel later Alex stopped writing and gathered up the pages lying around. “Done!” he said
“Done what?” Mr Grace asked
“I think I just wrote a programming language and an operating system for it.” Alex responded as he handed the pages over the Mr Ringer.
He looked over the papers and asked Alex if he could take them. Alex agreed.
“Excellent, I have some friends who could look over this…they can tell us exactly what we’ve got here.”
Grace and Ringer left leaving Alex and Isabel alone. Alex sat down next to Isabel who turned to face him.
“Something we need to talk about?” Isabel asked
“Yeah…yeah I think so! I had a quick look over the paper that I handed in; I was good with computer but not that good. Certainly nowhere near inventing a new type of computer.” Alex responded
“What do you want to do?” She asked as softly as she could
“Not sure, but I’m tired of weird things happening to us without answers or explanations that are vague. I mean what the hell does Antarian Law have to do with this, we still haven’t got a decent answer on that one…I just need to know what’s happening to me. I don’t want anything spilling over to these guys.” Alex said as he rested his hand over Isabel’s belly.
Isabel placed her hand over his and the two teens rested their foreheads against each other. “Well no matter what, I’m here for you…we all are.” She said
At 11:15 they walked out of the lab and went to their next class, hand in hand.
Principles Office, Same Time
The Principle was sitting at his desk, he had agreed to the alien Serena’s request. It was reasonable and he agreed that it needed to be done, the kids needed to learn about the political system of their home and it seemed natural that it should be done here. The only problem was that he was extremely eager to pick up the phone and call an old classmate of his. Studying foreign politics was his strong suit and it had earned him a position as a political advisor to one or two dignitaries. An opportunity like this and he would have been on the next plane out.
Principle Edwards picked up the phone and dialled quickly.
“Allan…Graham Edwards here…listen I have some thing here you’re gonna want to know about.” Edwards continued to explain what was going on. Little did he know that soon after the call was over, his friend was back on the phone – spreading the word!
Eraser Room, Roswell High, Lunch Time
Michael and Maria had shifted their way into the room quietly; making sure that no one had spotted them. When they were both inside they grabbed each other, kissing and feeling each other’s bodies. Michael slid his hands down Maria’s back and eventually cupped the firm globes of her ass. He lifted her up and soon Maria’s legs were wrapped around his waist.
As they kissed hard, Maria started to undo the buttons on Michael’s shirt. When the shirt was unfastened she started to run her hands along Michael’s naked torso.
“Ughh, you have no idea how much I wanted to stay with you last night.” Maria moaned after biting on his lower lip.
“You kidding? I was fighting to stop myself from throwing you on the table and take you right then.” Michael responded. He started to pull her top up and once it was over her breasts he pulled down the fabric of one of her bra cup. When he was greeted with a rosy red nipple, Michael latched his mouth over it and nibbled and sucked.
“Ahh…in front…in front of my mom? That would have gone down well!” Maria gasped out as her eyes rolled back in pleasure
Michael pulled his head away and said, “Maybe she would have learned a few things.” He then dived down on the other succulent mound.
Maria was suddenly overcome with a need to taste Michael. She loosened her legs and slid back down his body until she was kneeling before him where she unfastened his jeans. Once his throbbing member was free, Maria took him into her mouth. Michael moaned and groaned as Maria vigorously bobbed her head back and forth, running her tongue over his engorged length.
“God baby…you’re really getting good at this.” Michael moaned as he leaned back against the wall.
Maria pulled away, causing Michael to groan in protest, licking the underside of his cock and then the tip. “You better believe it!” She said with confidence before plunging back, taking his full length into her mouth. Michael’s pleasure doubled in intensity and grabbed hold of a mass of hair, guiding her head back down.
Maria was certainly doing a number on her lover. Every time he felt like he was about to cum, Maria sensed it and pulled away. The frustration was building in Michael who desperately wanted force her back to finish the job but the tease was a part of Maria and ultimately he loved it almost as much as he loved her. As Maria backed off, she removed a piece of clothing. First came the top and then as Michael removed his shirt, off came her bra. All too soon, Michael’s jeans that had pooled around his ankles were lying on the floor.
Within minutes Michael was on the floor, Maria was on top of him sucking him off as his head was between her legs and eating her out. Michael’s hands caressed along her body down her sides and up her back until they rested on her butt. Every time Michael licked Maria’s clit the subsequent wave shot through her causing her to clamp down on his dick, sending a wave of pleasure through him.
Five more minutes of their 69, Michael had received all he could take and blasted his seed into Maria’s mouth. She caught his gift and eagerly swallowed it all down before licking his dick clean. Soon she was resting beside Michael, he was almost completely wiped but he did manage to finger his girlfriend to her own orgasm. Both were very satisfied and felt like sleeping as their naked legs rubbed against each other.
“Why is it we only seem to have time for this at lunch time?” Maria asked
“Wish I knew, but I’m going to start make a hell of a lot more time.” Michael responded before kissing her.
Unfortunately of them, the bell rang! They jumped to their feet, put their clothes back on and sneaked back out into the halls but not before giving each other a passionate kiss that was full of promise of the things to come.
Granolith Chamber, After Lunch
Phoenix had been going over a packet of data from his home world. It was certainly bad news, he had hoped that the fluctuation in the network had gone unnoticed by the core but then again that was unrealistic. He was going to have to tell Alex and his superiors were not like to take ‘no’ as an answer…certainly not from a human!
“Bad news?” asked the First
“Yeah, pretty much!” Said Phoenix. “It is the judgement of the Core, that to prevent unknown repercussions to the human race, the human known as Alexander Whitman shall be removed from Earth and transported to Omniria.” He quoted from the document.
“You’re kidding? They want to take him to Omniria?”
“I wish to god I was kidding I should go speak to them…no point in putting it off.” Phoenix said. He stood up and walked away before fading away.
English Class, Roswell High, A Few Seconds Later
By now everyone had heard of what Alex had done. All of his teachers had looked over his recent work and compared it to that which he did before the exposure occurred - improvement was an understatement. None of them could figure out how they missed it, although most were focusing on the abilities of the other worldly students.
Isabel had also quietly informed Max and Liz, like Isabel they were concerned about what was going on but like Alex they were determined to find out what was happening. The usually rowdy class was once again in debate mode, their teacher was mediating the talk and once again Islamic Extremists was the topic. Usually the teacher tried to get everybody involved and now that she had alien royalty in the class she kept turning to Max and the others for their opinions. Taking the smart move they kept their mouths shut, they had no idea if anyone other than the class was listening and the last thing they wanted was to make any comments that could be taken out of context.
All of a sudden there was the sound of a bird screech and a burst of flame next to the board. All of the students were stunned in frozen silence as the flames took the shape of a human.
Liz who was continuing to write in her book had her head resting on her hand just looked up. “Hey Phoenix.”
“Hello Liz, Max…” He stopped as he looked over the students he didn’t know before speaking again. “…You know you humans have this little requirement. Its called breathing!”
There was an audible sound as everyone started to breath again.
“So what are you doing here?” Max asked
Phoenix then turned to Alex. “Alex, I have been instructed by my government to…take you from Earth.”
“WHAT?” Isabel yelled
Alex put his hand on her arm to calm her. He stepped in front of her to square off with Phoenix.
“Mind explaining that!” Alex asked
“I take it you’ve noticed a few changed recently?”
“Yeah…you could say that. Apparently my last computer homework, I theorised a new computer technology and then I wrote out thirty pages of binary code, I called it Crystalline Optics. Don’t suppose you got some answers?”
“Yes. Since the Granoliths’ merged there has been a developing sentience in it. However, it has been limited through constraints in the Granolith itself but it found another way to help its evolution. When you died there was a ripple throughout the network of the Granoliths, the system on Earth downloaded information from all the others and then it dumped it into you. It gave it more room in its memory for development, the ring you have provided a link so it can use the data…basically this situation was never thought of as possible.”
“So you’re saying I’ve got the knowledge of a couple of dozen races in my head?” Alex asked
“No…I’m saying you have the complete history, technology and beliefs of a couple of MILLION races, all throughout the universe. That computer system you mentioned was developed by a race called the Skla’a. It’s over 800 years away from being developed here on Earth.” Phoenix said
“Okaaaay…so the Granolith screwed up, what does this have to do with your lot?”
“They view that kind of knowledge in a human to be an unnecessary risk and to remove the danger they believe they must remove you.”
“Wait a minute, I thought that was the whole point of the Granolith’s? To teach the races!” Liz said
“Yes! But to teach them at a slow pace so that they could develop safely. Alex, they believe you represent a massive leap forward for human technology…a dangerous leap.”
“What about me?” Isabel asked humbly, “Can I go with him?”
“No, your removal will constitute a violation of the Antarian Political situation. That they won’t deal with.”
“They can go to hell!” Alex said bluntly
Everyone looked at him.
“Alex, they won’t take no for an answer. Their only other option will be to terminate you.” Phoenix said
“Phoenix, you can tell them that under no circumstances will I leave my home, I will not leave my family, my friends and like hell will I leave Isabel. Fuck them and if they want to kill me then they are more certainly welcome to try.” Alex said
Phoenix looked over the young man and smiled. He had hoped that Alex would have responded like this and he knew that he would never leave Isabel. He extended his hand and Alex took it.
“I was hoping you would say that!” Phoenix said, “I’m going to give them your response but when they come I’ll stand by you and we may have an ace in the hole.”
He turned away and faded into nothingness. Everyone in the class just looked over at Alex who just sat back down in his seat next to Isabel.
“You okay?” Max asked
“No, no I’m not…Isabel I want you away from me.” Alex said without looking at her
“Alex, I…” Isabel started
“No, Isabel…I’m sorry but I don’t want you anywhere near me when they come.”
“Well you don’t get to make that call. What affects you affect us, if they come I’m going to be right next to you!” Isabel said with conviction. There no way a race that was going to be dead in ten years would take Alex away from her and their unborn children.
“We will all be there.” Said Max as he stood next to his future brother in-law.
“And you can bet your ass I’ll be there as well!” Lonnie said as she entered the room. She was coming over to try and wrangle her sister to ditch school but had overheard Phoenix. “And I’ll make sure Zan and the others come too…those bastards will have one hell of a fight on their hands.” With that Lonnie turned and left the school to find Zan.
To Be Continued…
Computer Lab, Roswell High, 10:30am The Next Day
This was the only class Alex had by himself; none of the others had any luck with computers. Sure they could do typing and general stuff but when it came down to it Alex was the one who actually understood what was going inside them. Now he was listening to his teacher rattle on about EIDE connectors, it was something that was so basic that had put him on the precipice of sleep. His attention was suddenly drawn when there was a knock at the door and in walked an older man in a suit, with a very thick and bushy beard. Mr Grace, the teacher, looked at the guest and nodded.
Alex could have sworn that when the gentlemen moved to the back of the classroom that he gave him a quick look…and was given another by Mr Grace. The stranger said nothing but he just sat an empty seat in the back corner and watched as the lesson continued. When the class was about to end, Mr Grace started to hand out last weeks graded homework assignments.
“Okay class all of you did moderately well!” Mr Grace said. However, he never handed out Alex’s work and before anything could be said the bell rang. “Alex, could you stay back for a moment.”
As the class shuffled out, they each gave looks to Alex that made him feel like he was about to be sent to the principle. Mr Grace opened his desk drawer and pulled out Alex’s work…very thick work!
“Alex I wanted to talk to you about you homework…quite frankly I don’t know where to begin.” Mr Grace said as his guest moved beside him. “Alex this is Jack Ringer, he was a professor of mine over at MIT…a long time before I became a teacher. I sent him a copy of your work because, to be honest, this is way over my head.”
“Mr Whitman, when I looked over this I could barely comprehend what you had in here…given your relationship to the Antarians I need to know that this is your work and that you wrote this without any assistance.” Ringer asked as he handed Alex his copy of the document.
Alex looked over the first few pages and skimmed several others, “Uh, yes sir this is my work and believe me none of the others have any interest in computers…unless Michael’s Playstation counts? And call me Alex.”
“No, that definitely doesn’t count.” Ringer chuckled. “Alex, I looked over this and gave it to a few of my colleagues. What you have written here is extremely advanced and never even been considered before…hell this is so theoretical that it doesn’t have a name.”
“Crystalline Optics!” Alex uttered out without thinking about it. He looked back up at the others and noted the amazed yet confused looks from the elder men. “Don’t ask where that came from.”
“Alex…” Ringer chuckled as he shook his head. “Listen, what you have proposed is a completely new area of computer technology, we probably don’t have a computer language that could make use of it.”
Alex suddenly turned, grabbed a pen and started writing down pages full of binary code. The two teachers looked over his shoulder as he worked and looked over when Isabel knocked at the door and peaked her head in. She had been waiting for Alex and was getting worried when he didn’t show. Mr Grace beckoned her in.
“Jack this is Isabel Evans, one of our resident Antarians. Isabel this is Jack Ringer.”
“Hey…what’s going on?” Isabel asked
“Wish I knew?” Alex said as he ripped off a page and started on the next
Thirty pages and a very tired Isabel later Alex stopped writing and gathered up the pages lying around. “Done!” he said
“Done what?” Mr Grace asked
“I think I just wrote a programming language and an operating system for it.” Alex responded as he handed the pages over the Mr Ringer.
He looked over the papers and asked Alex if he could take them. Alex agreed.
“Excellent, I have some friends who could look over this…they can tell us exactly what we’ve got here.”
Grace and Ringer left leaving Alex and Isabel alone. Alex sat down next to Isabel who turned to face him.
“Something we need to talk about?” Isabel asked
“Yeah…yeah I think so! I had a quick look over the paper that I handed in; I was good with computer but not that good. Certainly nowhere near inventing a new type of computer.” Alex responded
“What do you want to do?” She asked as softly as she could
“Not sure, but I’m tired of weird things happening to us without answers or explanations that are vague. I mean what the hell does Antarian Law have to do with this, we still haven’t got a decent answer on that one…I just need to know what’s happening to me. I don’t want anything spilling over to these guys.” Alex said as he rested his hand over Isabel’s belly.
Isabel placed her hand over his and the two teens rested their foreheads against each other. “Well no matter what, I’m here for you…we all are.” She said
At 11:15 they walked out of the lab and went to their next class, hand in hand.
Principles Office, Same Time
The Principle was sitting at his desk, he had agreed to the alien Serena’s request. It was reasonable and he agreed that it needed to be done, the kids needed to learn about the political system of their home and it seemed natural that it should be done here. The only problem was that he was extremely eager to pick up the phone and call an old classmate of his. Studying foreign politics was his strong suit and it had earned him a position as a political advisor to one or two dignitaries. An opportunity like this and he would have been on the next plane out.
Principle Edwards picked up the phone and dialled quickly.
“Allan…Graham Edwards here…listen I have some thing here you’re gonna want to know about.” Edwards continued to explain what was going on. Little did he know that soon after the call was over, his friend was back on the phone – spreading the word!
Eraser Room, Roswell High, Lunch Time
Michael and Maria had shifted their way into the room quietly; making sure that no one had spotted them. When they were both inside they grabbed each other, kissing and feeling each other’s bodies. Michael slid his hands down Maria’s back and eventually cupped the firm globes of her ass. He lifted her up and soon Maria’s legs were wrapped around his waist.
As they kissed hard, Maria started to undo the buttons on Michael’s shirt. When the shirt was unfastened she started to run her hands along Michael’s naked torso.
“Ughh, you have no idea how much I wanted to stay with you last night.” Maria moaned after biting on his lower lip.
“You kidding? I was fighting to stop myself from throwing you on the table and take you right then.” Michael responded. He started to pull her top up and once it was over her breasts he pulled down the fabric of one of her bra cup. When he was greeted with a rosy red nipple, Michael latched his mouth over it and nibbled and sucked.
“Ahh…in front…in front of my mom? That would have gone down well!” Maria gasped out as her eyes rolled back in pleasure
Michael pulled his head away and said, “Maybe she would have learned a few things.” He then dived down on the other succulent mound.
Maria was suddenly overcome with a need to taste Michael. She loosened her legs and slid back down his body until she was kneeling before him where she unfastened his jeans. Once his throbbing member was free, Maria took him into her mouth. Michael moaned and groaned as Maria vigorously bobbed her head back and forth, running her tongue over his engorged length.
“God baby…you’re really getting good at this.” Michael moaned as he leaned back against the wall.
Maria pulled away, causing Michael to groan in protest, licking the underside of his cock and then the tip. “You better believe it!” She said with confidence before plunging back, taking his full length into her mouth. Michael’s pleasure doubled in intensity and grabbed hold of a mass of hair, guiding her head back down.
Maria was certainly doing a number on her lover. Every time he felt like he was about to cum, Maria sensed it and pulled away. The frustration was building in Michael who desperately wanted force her back to finish the job but the tease was a part of Maria and ultimately he loved it almost as much as he loved her. As Maria backed off, she removed a piece of clothing. First came the top and then as Michael removed his shirt, off came her bra. All too soon, Michael’s jeans that had pooled around his ankles were lying on the floor.
Within minutes Michael was on the floor, Maria was on top of him sucking him off as his head was between her legs and eating her out. Michael’s hands caressed along her body down her sides and up her back until they rested on her butt. Every time Michael licked Maria’s clit the subsequent wave shot through her causing her to clamp down on his dick, sending a wave of pleasure through him.
Five more minutes of their 69, Michael had received all he could take and blasted his seed into Maria’s mouth. She caught his gift and eagerly swallowed it all down before licking his dick clean. Soon she was resting beside Michael, he was almost completely wiped but he did manage to finger his girlfriend to her own orgasm. Both were very satisfied and felt like sleeping as their naked legs rubbed against each other.
“Why is it we only seem to have time for this at lunch time?” Maria asked
“Wish I knew, but I’m going to start make a hell of a lot more time.” Michael responded before kissing her.
Unfortunately of them, the bell rang! They jumped to their feet, put their clothes back on and sneaked back out into the halls but not before giving each other a passionate kiss that was full of promise of the things to come.
Granolith Chamber, After Lunch
Phoenix had been going over a packet of data from his home world. It was certainly bad news, he had hoped that the fluctuation in the network had gone unnoticed by the core but then again that was unrealistic. He was going to have to tell Alex and his superiors were not like to take ‘no’ as an answer…certainly not from a human!
“Bad news?” asked the First
“Yeah, pretty much!” Said Phoenix. “It is the judgement of the Core, that to prevent unknown repercussions to the human race, the human known as Alexander Whitman shall be removed from Earth and transported to Omniria.” He quoted from the document.
“You’re kidding? They want to take him to Omniria?”
“I wish to god I was kidding I should go speak to them…no point in putting it off.” Phoenix said. He stood up and walked away before fading away.
English Class, Roswell High, A Few Seconds Later
By now everyone had heard of what Alex had done. All of his teachers had looked over his recent work and compared it to that which he did before the exposure occurred - improvement was an understatement. None of them could figure out how they missed it, although most were focusing on the abilities of the other worldly students.
Isabel had also quietly informed Max and Liz, like Isabel they were concerned about what was going on but like Alex they were determined to find out what was happening. The usually rowdy class was once again in debate mode, their teacher was mediating the talk and once again Islamic Extremists was the topic. Usually the teacher tried to get everybody involved and now that she had alien royalty in the class she kept turning to Max and the others for their opinions. Taking the smart move they kept their mouths shut, they had no idea if anyone other than the class was listening and the last thing they wanted was to make any comments that could be taken out of context.
All of a sudden there was the sound of a bird screech and a burst of flame next to the board. All of the students were stunned in frozen silence as the flames took the shape of a human.
Liz who was continuing to write in her book had her head resting on her hand just looked up. “Hey Phoenix.”
“Hello Liz, Max…” He stopped as he looked over the students he didn’t know before speaking again. “…You know you humans have this little requirement. Its called breathing!”
There was an audible sound as everyone started to breath again.
“So what are you doing here?” Max asked
Phoenix then turned to Alex. “Alex, I have been instructed by my government to…take you from Earth.”
“WHAT?” Isabel yelled
Alex put his hand on her arm to calm her. He stepped in front of her to square off with Phoenix.
“Mind explaining that!” Alex asked
“I take it you’ve noticed a few changed recently?”
“Yeah…you could say that. Apparently my last computer homework, I theorised a new computer technology and then I wrote out thirty pages of binary code, I called it Crystalline Optics. Don’t suppose you got some answers?”
“Yes. Since the Granoliths’ merged there has been a developing sentience in it. However, it has been limited through constraints in the Granolith itself but it found another way to help its evolution. When you died there was a ripple throughout the network of the Granoliths, the system on Earth downloaded information from all the others and then it dumped it into you. It gave it more room in its memory for development, the ring you have provided a link so it can use the data…basically this situation was never thought of as possible.”
“So you’re saying I’ve got the knowledge of a couple of dozen races in my head?” Alex asked
“No…I’m saying you have the complete history, technology and beliefs of a couple of MILLION races, all throughout the universe. That computer system you mentioned was developed by a race called the Skla’a. It’s over 800 years away from being developed here on Earth.” Phoenix said
“Okaaaay…so the Granolith screwed up, what does this have to do with your lot?”
“They view that kind of knowledge in a human to be an unnecessary risk and to remove the danger they believe they must remove you.”
“Wait a minute, I thought that was the whole point of the Granolith’s? To teach the races!” Liz said
“Yes! But to teach them at a slow pace so that they could develop safely. Alex, they believe you represent a massive leap forward for human technology…a dangerous leap.”
“What about me?” Isabel asked humbly, “Can I go with him?”
“No, your removal will constitute a violation of the Antarian Political situation. That they won’t deal with.”
“They can go to hell!” Alex said bluntly
Everyone looked at him.
“Alex, they won’t take no for an answer. Their only other option will be to terminate you.” Phoenix said
“Phoenix, you can tell them that under no circumstances will I leave my home, I will not leave my family, my friends and like hell will I leave Isabel. Fuck them and if they want to kill me then they are more certainly welcome to try.” Alex said
Phoenix looked over the young man and smiled. He had hoped that Alex would have responded like this and he knew that he would never leave Isabel. He extended his hand and Alex took it.
“I was hoping you would say that!” Phoenix said, “I’m going to give them your response but when they come I’ll stand by you and we may have an ace in the hole.”
He turned away and faded into nothingness. Everyone in the class just looked over at Alex who just sat back down in his seat next to Isabel.
“You okay?” Max asked
“No, no I’m not…Isabel I want you away from me.” Alex said without looking at her
“Alex, I…” Isabel started
“No, Isabel…I’m sorry but I don’t want you anywhere near me when they come.”
“Well you don’t get to make that call. What affects you affect us, if they come I’m going to be right next to you!” Isabel said with conviction. There no way a race that was going to be dead in ten years would take Alex away from her and their unborn children.
“We will all be there.” Said Max as he stood next to his future brother in-law.
“And you can bet your ass I’ll be there as well!” Lonnie said as she entered the room. She was coming over to try and wrangle her sister to ditch school but had overheard Phoenix. “And I’ll make sure Zan and the others come too…those bastards will have one hell of a fight on their hands.” With that Lonnie turned and left the school to find Zan.
To Be Continued…
Chapter 48
Roswell High School, 14:00
While the others were in class, Alex found a nice quiet room and just sat looking out of a window. He had a lot to think about but he was adamant that he was not going to be forced away from Isabel, Kivar wont do it and certainly not some race that was going to be dead in ten years. Oh no, he was not leaving, all he had to do was find a way out of it and beside him on the desk was a possibility.
When he arrived in the class he had taken out the transportation device Liz had gotten from the Granolith and had taken it apart a piece at a time. With each component he removed he drew a schematic on a piece of paper and before long he had a complete diagram of the inner workings of the device. At first his actions were guided by pure instinct but then he started to put it back together but more to the point he understood what he was doing!
“Hey you okay?” came a voice from behind him
Alex turned and saw Kyle standing at the door. Kyle had missed the earlier events in the classroom but the news spread like wildfire through the school and someone from that class had graciously informed the press who were once again standing at the gates of the school.
“Oh yeah I’m great.” Alex said sarcastically
“So…a million races huh?”
“Give or take.” Alex responded
“You aren’t going anywhere…hell if they tried Isabel would rip them to shreds.” Kyle joked, “Listen, I’ve already called my dad. When they come, you are going to be surrounded by cops and Secret Service…as well as the rest of us.”
“No way! Absolutely not!”
“Hey as I understand it you already had this talk with Isabel, right?” Kyle said
“I may not be able to win with her or you guys but I can keep other people away from this. I’m not going to let anyone risk themselves because of me!” Alex stated firmly
“Why not?” Kyle asked
“What?”
“Why not? Simple question I thought!”
“Because…because…I’m not…” Alex said quietly
“Not what…worth it?” Kyle asked and Alex nodded. “Alex you have an Antarian Princess who loves you completely, very loyal friends, a whole whack of powers and now to top it off you got a lot info in that head of yours. Why in the world…and any other, would you think that you’re not worth it?”
“I…oh come on. I’m the class geek, you’re the jock, and Isabel’s well, she’s Isabel.” Alex said with reverence as he spoke the name of his mate
“Alex you were the class geek, in case you haven’t noticed there are a lot of people trying to get close to us.” Kyle said
“Yeah so they can get close to the others.”
“Maybe…come on I’ll buy you a coke.” Kyle said. Alex picked up his stuff and the two walked out of the room.
Stands, Football Field, Roswell High, Same Time
Just as Lonnie had come to talk Isabel into ditching school, Ava had done the same with Tess. Now they were lying on their backs on the top seats looking up at the clouds.
“Elephant!” Ava said as she spotted a cloud
“Uhhh…rat!” Tess said
“Where?” Ava asked
“Up a little bit and over to the left.”
“Oh come on, that is not a rat!” Ava said
“Is too!” Tess countered
“Not!”
“Is!”
“Not”
“Is!” Tess said forcefully
“Not!” Ava said but then she decided to play a little
“Is.” Tess said
“Is!” said Ava
“Not!”
“See!” Ava teased
“Oh god I can’t believe I did that. What is this a Saturday morning cartoon?” Tess said as she moved her hands up over her face.
“Easy mistake to make.” Said Ava, “Hey who’s that?” she said as she turned her head to see two people approaching.
“That’s Brody…I don’t recognise the other person.” Tess said as she followed her sister’s gaze.
Both girls stood up and ran down the steps and went to the approaching pair.
“Brody, what’s up?” Tess asked
“It’s Larek…how are you two doing?”
“Fine, who is this?” Ava asked
“Tess, Ava. Allow me to present Lady Shalara…your cousin.” Larek said
Both of them were stunned, neither had hoped that they would actually meet one of their original family members.
“Uh hi!” said Tess
“It really is you isn’t it?” Shalara said as she looked at both girls. She could see something of her cousin in both of them and a tear started to run down her cheek.
“Well if you’ll excuse me I have much to discuss with Max.” Larek said as he walked away
“So…Shalara, were we close? When we were back home I mean.” Tess asked
“Oh yes we were very close, we did almost everything together. I never thought I would see you again and now there are two of you…both still beautiful.”
“Is it just me or is this weird?” Ava said casually, trying to lighten the mood. Both her sister and her cousin smiled.
“So why are you on Earth?”
“Well I was hoping to get to know you two and I need to speak to you Tess.”
“Me? Why?” Tess asked
“Larek has told me that you have chosen to mate with a human and not your Zan…Max Evans?” Shalara said
“Yeah his name is Kyle Valenti.” Tess said carefully
“Well there are a few things that you may not be aware of. The main one is that our family placed a high value on protocol, they would not approve of your choice.” Shalara said
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Tess said
“I wish I was but you’re parents, well our entire bloodline has been raised on protocol. There are a few like myself who are not as strict with it but on general they will not accept Kyle as your mate. I really am sorry but I thought you should hear it from me.” Shalara said sympathetically
“Well the family can go to hell. I love Kyle and nothing can make me leave him.” Tess spat
“Hell?” Shalara asked Ava
“Yeah you know, the place where the evil go when they die, lakes of fire and eternal torment!” Ava explained
“Oh Dohart!” Shalara said with understanding. “Tess I understand how you feel, believe me I wish that you could choose who you want but nothing will change there minds.”
Just then Kyle and Alex, who were behind the stands listening in, came round. The look of pain and hatred was clearly visible on his face and all Alex could do was look concerned.
“Shalara, this is Kyle.” Tess said as she took his hand. “Kyle this is my cousin Shalara. She said…”
“I heard what she said and I don’t mean to shoot the messenger but I am not going to leave Tess. Nothing your family could do would change that.” Kyle said bluntly
Shalara looked the young man over and liked what she saw. She could see in the eyes of her cousin and his own just how much they cared for each other.
“Wait a minute…where does our family get off making that kind of a call for us? I don’t remember seeing them when I came out of my pod.” Ava said
“Neither did I!” Tess said
“That wont matter to them Tess.” Shalara responded
“Well it matters to us and I’m not leaving my family without a fa…” Kyle stopped speaking
“What were you about to say?” Shalara asked
“Without a father!” Tess finished for him, “I’m pregnant.”
The smile that appeared on Shalara’s was unmistakeable and moved over to hug her cousin. Tess was a little surprised at first but then returned the embrace.
“Congratulations, that could help convince your parents.” She said as she pulled back from Tess. “My time is nearly done here, but I want to come back. Can I?”
“Of course.” Ava and Tess said together. Tess moved back into Kyle’s arms and gently kissed him on the lips. Shalara held both her cousins close and before leaving asked Kyle to take good care of them.
Just as Shalara left, Lonnie came round the corner.
“Who was that?” she asked
“Just our cousin.” Ava responded, “What’s up?”
“I can’t find Zan or Rath anywhere. I need to tell them what happened today but I can’t even find them!” Lonnie said agitated
“Did you try at home?” Ava asked
Lonnie just looked stunned at somewhere she didn’t even consider. “Okay my brain needs to wake up.” She then noticed Alex’s presence. “As soon as I find that no good brother of mine we are going to keep you on this rock! You can count on that Oopie, no way am I going to let my nephew and niece be raised without their father.” Lonnie reassured him.
Inside the Main Building…
Larek had found Max in the cafeteria and sat down next to him. He filled the young king in on the existence of Kivar’s new ship and the subsequent success of the mission to liberate it. Now came the bad news.
“So your going to do what? Take it apart and figure it out?” Max asked
“More or less. We have the designs downloaded from the ships computer, we have engineers going over them now and we should be able to replicate the ships and mass-produce it. With our associates help we would have a fleet that could deal with Kivar’s forces without much of a fight.”
“Okay so what’s the bad news?”
“The ship is powered by a device…a Granolith!” Larek asked
“What?” Max asked with disbelief
“Somehow Kivar has managed to replicate the Granolith technology. He can’t get it exactly correct but with our technology he created a fair approximation of it.”
“How could he do it, I thought that the technology was too advanced to replicate.”
“That’s what we thought.”
“I might be able to find out how he did it. I’ll have to speak to a friend first…how much time do you have left?”
“Not long, my companion has already returned home.” Larek said
“Okay well I will hopefully have an answer by the time you come round again.”
They both stood up and Larek left. Max went back to his classes, he would have to see Liz and then head up to the Granolith and speak to Phoenix. He just hoped he could get an answer.
Granolith Chamber, 2 hours later
Alex beat Max to the punch and arrived for his own answers. He wanted to find away out of this situation with the Core and if anyone could come up with suggestions then Phoenix could. So after activating his transport unit he arrived in the chamber and was greeted by the exiled alien.
“Alex…I should have known you would come here.” Phoenix said
“Well first you tell me that your people want to take me from here and then its because that thing put everything it had into me. So, yeah! You should have known.” Alex said angrily
“Alex you have every reason to be angry but I’m on your side on this. Come on, sit down and we’ll talk.” Phoenix said. Within a few seconds two chairs and a table formed from the ground and they sat down.
Alex reached into his bag and pulled out the diagram. “Here, I want you to take a look at this.”
Phoenix looked over the paper and then over to Alex. “You drew this?”
“You seem surprised.” Alex said
“I am…how did you make this?”
“I took the unit to bits then put it back together. I drew that as I went.” Alex responded
“Alex, having the knowledge is one thing but what you’ve done is show that you understand it…given a little time, you might be able to replicate it. I want to ask you some questions, just to see how much you already have adapted to.”
Alex nodded, if answering a few questions got him answers then that was fine by him.
“Okay…in Equatarian physics what is the fourth principle?” Phoenix asked
Alex looked confused for a second, this term he had never heard before but after thinking about it for a second he answered. “Space and time are separate, kept apart by a barrier of high energy particles.”
That was all that Phoenix wanted to know but before he could interrupt Alex continued.
“Manipulation of these particles is possible by using a combination of neutrino and magnetic fields. This results in passages…wormholes through space able to send travellers to any point without the progression of time.” Alex finished
Phoenix just looked at Alex. He knew the theory all to well; his own people surpassed it when they evolved to a state of energy but what Alex suggested was a far simpler method than the Omniriad had ever conceived of.
“What?” Alex asked
“Alex…that was so simple it was…Alex what mineral is capable of producing perpetual energy after initial start up?” Phoenix asked
“Delorite ore, found on 26% of all know habitable planets…but the molecular structure of plutonium can be changed by using a regulated flux generated by a nuclear reaction.”
Phoenix just smiled before asking his last question. “Where and what is the centre of the universe?”
“A mass of quantum energy and spatial gasses located at the point of space that intersects a position of 99,798.87 trillion light-years from Earth, 12.5 million light years from the Carovi Asteroid Field and 25.789 Light years from Krell Prime. Was that right?” Alex said
“Yeah Alex, it was right…and impossible!” Phoenix said
“Why impossible?” Alex asked
“Because the only race that has that knowledge is my own and we never put it in the Granolith’s. You calculated its location by yourself and on the basis of all the data you possess theorised its composition. In addition to that you came up with a new method for wormhole generation and devised a way to create Delorite.
Alex even with all the data you have it could never be implemented because humans aren’t advanced enough to understand it…or so I though! You not only understand it but you can improvise to achieve the same results.”
“Is this good?” Alex asked humbly
“Oh yeah very good. Will you let me run some scans? I want to see what’s going on in your brain.” Phoenix asked
“Sure…they wont do any damage will they?” Alex asked
“No, you’ll be fine.” Phoenix said. He guided Alex so that he was standing in front of the Granolith. Beams shot out from the walls and impacted off of Alex’s head before a last beam went out and into the Granolith.
Phoenix studies the results as the appeared on a display in front of him. The smile on his face was gone within a second.
“What? Is something wrong?” Alex asked
Phoenix discontinued the scan and turned to Alex. “No nothing is wrong. I just need to study these result a while, why don’t you go home. I’ll come to you later.”
“Okay.”
With a wave of his hand the Granolith shot its transport beam out and scooped Alex up depositing him back in his home.
“What have you done?” Phoenix asked
“It’s what had to be done. This just confirms that Alex is a lot more than he knows. More than he’s ever known.” The First said as his image appeared
“It was you all along. There never was an emerging sentience in the granolith was there. It was you who forced the mating of the group, you magnified the Antarian energy in his system when he died, you implanted the information and you altered his brain! The neural structure is nowhere near human…what the hell justifies that.” Phoenix said coldly
“I’ve altered nothing. His brain was like that to begin with.” The First responded
“What? Impossible, Alex is human. He was born human and aside from the energy inside him he is completely human. His brain looks more like…Omniriad.”
“Don’t try and tell me that you’re this blind. Haven’t you ever wondered why of all the worlds in the universe, that we constantly return here?” The First said. Once Phoenix looked up at him he continued. “They’re us Phoenix! Less evolved, different form but more than certainly us.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Trillions of years ago when the first signs of life appeared on our world, Omniria was hit by an asteroid. The impact sent fragments out into space, one of those fragments travelled for thousands of years, the life on it froze in the coldness of space but then it impacted on Earth. The radiation it was subject to in space caused it to mutate, develop faster, Earth’s oceans became seeded with our D.N.A. They are us! Earth’s environment influenced their development, they became bi-pedal mammals…Alex is closer to us than any other human, except for Liz.”
“No, this I can’t believe. The chances of his being here in Roswell when all this is going on are astronomical. Even for us.” Phoenix said as he shook his head.
“Well I have to admit there is a problem there. This region was subjected to nuclear testing in the past, as close as I can tell residual radiation affected his bloodline and the proximity of the Earth Granolith caused a minor evolution in a few families that result in his creation. Alex is still several millennia behind our race and a century or two behind Liz but…”
“But its true and that might be Alex’s way out.” Phoenix said
“I would say so!”
MIT Main Computer Lab, 16:30
Professor Ringer had gathered his best students and given them copies of what they had dubbed ‘The Whitman Code’. He had assigned each of them a section to analyse before they typed it into a computer. Unfortunately they didn’t know what to expect when they actually implemented it and when they did graphic shifted, programs became corrupted and the network crashed completely.
“What the hell happened?” asked Ringer
“This coding…its way to advanced. The current O.S. couldn’t read it and the machines couldn’t handle it.” Said one student.
“They’re toast sir.” said another as he pulled out a smoking circuit board. “Expensive toast!”
Kivar’s Headquarters, New York, 17:00
Kivar had been sitting in his chambers, dwelling on his memories of his last time with Vilandra. Soon she would be his once again!
Nicholas then came into the room with a smile on his face.
“What are you smiling about?” Kivar asked
“Sir, I’ve just received a report. Our associate was released far earlier than expected; he is on his way to Roswell as we speak.” Nicholas said
“Excellent…you’re sure he can get close to Royal Four.”
“Yes sir, his relationship to Rath’s consort will allow him access.” Nicholas said
“Very well, is there anything else?”
“Yes, we received this report from Antar a few minutes a go. It’s encrypted under your personal code.”
Kivar took the pad and waved his hand over it. The encrypted text became legible and Kivar started to read the report. His personal task force and guard were disabled, his plague was gone and his new ship stolen by unknown forces.
Kivar could easily guess who it was. Larek, he was the only one of the nobles who actually stood up to him.
“NO!” Kivar yelled. His voice permeated the walls, everyone in the building heard him and for the first time New York City registered a minor earthquake.
To Be Continued…
Roswell High School, 14:00
While the others were in class, Alex found a nice quiet room and just sat looking out of a window. He had a lot to think about but he was adamant that he was not going to be forced away from Isabel, Kivar wont do it and certainly not some race that was going to be dead in ten years. Oh no, he was not leaving, all he had to do was find a way out of it and beside him on the desk was a possibility.
When he arrived in the class he had taken out the transportation device Liz had gotten from the Granolith and had taken it apart a piece at a time. With each component he removed he drew a schematic on a piece of paper and before long he had a complete diagram of the inner workings of the device. At first his actions were guided by pure instinct but then he started to put it back together but more to the point he understood what he was doing!
“Hey you okay?” came a voice from behind him
Alex turned and saw Kyle standing at the door. Kyle had missed the earlier events in the classroom but the news spread like wildfire through the school and someone from that class had graciously informed the press who were once again standing at the gates of the school.
“Oh yeah I’m great.” Alex said sarcastically
“So…a million races huh?”
“Give or take.” Alex responded
“You aren’t going anywhere…hell if they tried Isabel would rip them to shreds.” Kyle joked, “Listen, I’ve already called my dad. When they come, you are going to be surrounded by cops and Secret Service…as well as the rest of us.”
“No way! Absolutely not!”
“Hey as I understand it you already had this talk with Isabel, right?” Kyle said
“I may not be able to win with her or you guys but I can keep other people away from this. I’m not going to let anyone risk themselves because of me!” Alex stated firmly
“Why not?” Kyle asked
“What?”
“Why not? Simple question I thought!”
“Because…because…I’m not…” Alex said quietly
“Not what…worth it?” Kyle asked and Alex nodded. “Alex you have an Antarian Princess who loves you completely, very loyal friends, a whole whack of powers and now to top it off you got a lot info in that head of yours. Why in the world…and any other, would you think that you’re not worth it?”
“I…oh come on. I’m the class geek, you’re the jock, and Isabel’s well, she’s Isabel.” Alex said with reverence as he spoke the name of his mate
“Alex you were the class geek, in case you haven’t noticed there are a lot of people trying to get close to us.” Kyle said
“Yeah so they can get close to the others.”
“Maybe…come on I’ll buy you a coke.” Kyle said. Alex picked up his stuff and the two walked out of the room.
Stands, Football Field, Roswell High, Same Time
Just as Lonnie had come to talk Isabel into ditching school, Ava had done the same with Tess. Now they were lying on their backs on the top seats looking up at the clouds.
“Elephant!” Ava said as she spotted a cloud
“Uhhh…rat!” Tess said
“Where?” Ava asked
“Up a little bit and over to the left.”
“Oh come on, that is not a rat!” Ava said
“Is too!” Tess countered
“Not!”
“Is!”
“Not”
“Is!” Tess said forcefully
“Not!” Ava said but then she decided to play a little
“Is.” Tess said
“Is!” said Ava
“Not!”
“See!” Ava teased
“Oh god I can’t believe I did that. What is this a Saturday morning cartoon?” Tess said as she moved her hands up over her face.
“Easy mistake to make.” Said Ava, “Hey who’s that?” she said as she turned her head to see two people approaching.
“That’s Brody…I don’t recognise the other person.” Tess said as she followed her sister’s gaze.
Both girls stood up and ran down the steps and went to the approaching pair.
“Brody, what’s up?” Tess asked
“It’s Larek…how are you two doing?”
“Fine, who is this?” Ava asked
“Tess, Ava. Allow me to present Lady Shalara…your cousin.” Larek said
Both of them were stunned, neither had hoped that they would actually meet one of their original family members.
“Uh hi!” said Tess
“It really is you isn’t it?” Shalara said as she looked at both girls. She could see something of her cousin in both of them and a tear started to run down her cheek.
“Well if you’ll excuse me I have much to discuss with Max.” Larek said as he walked away
“So…Shalara, were we close? When we were back home I mean.” Tess asked
“Oh yes we were very close, we did almost everything together. I never thought I would see you again and now there are two of you…both still beautiful.”
“Is it just me or is this weird?” Ava said casually, trying to lighten the mood. Both her sister and her cousin smiled.
“So why are you on Earth?”
“Well I was hoping to get to know you two and I need to speak to you Tess.”
“Me? Why?” Tess asked
“Larek has told me that you have chosen to mate with a human and not your Zan…Max Evans?” Shalara said
“Yeah his name is Kyle Valenti.” Tess said carefully
“Well there are a few things that you may not be aware of. The main one is that our family placed a high value on protocol, they would not approve of your choice.” Shalara said
“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Tess said
“I wish I was but you’re parents, well our entire bloodline has been raised on protocol. There are a few like myself who are not as strict with it but on general they will not accept Kyle as your mate. I really am sorry but I thought you should hear it from me.” Shalara said sympathetically
“Well the family can go to hell. I love Kyle and nothing can make me leave him.” Tess spat
“Hell?” Shalara asked Ava
“Yeah you know, the place where the evil go when they die, lakes of fire and eternal torment!” Ava explained
“Oh Dohart!” Shalara said with understanding. “Tess I understand how you feel, believe me I wish that you could choose who you want but nothing will change there minds.”
Just then Kyle and Alex, who were behind the stands listening in, came round. The look of pain and hatred was clearly visible on his face and all Alex could do was look concerned.
“Shalara, this is Kyle.” Tess said as she took his hand. “Kyle this is my cousin Shalara. She said…”
“I heard what she said and I don’t mean to shoot the messenger but I am not going to leave Tess. Nothing your family could do would change that.” Kyle said bluntly
Shalara looked the young man over and liked what she saw. She could see in the eyes of her cousin and his own just how much they cared for each other.
“Wait a minute…where does our family get off making that kind of a call for us? I don’t remember seeing them when I came out of my pod.” Ava said
“Neither did I!” Tess said
“That wont matter to them Tess.” Shalara responded
“Well it matters to us and I’m not leaving my family without a fa…” Kyle stopped speaking
“What were you about to say?” Shalara asked
“Without a father!” Tess finished for him, “I’m pregnant.”
The smile that appeared on Shalara’s was unmistakeable and moved over to hug her cousin. Tess was a little surprised at first but then returned the embrace.
“Congratulations, that could help convince your parents.” She said as she pulled back from Tess. “My time is nearly done here, but I want to come back. Can I?”
“Of course.” Ava and Tess said together. Tess moved back into Kyle’s arms and gently kissed him on the lips. Shalara held both her cousins close and before leaving asked Kyle to take good care of them.
Just as Shalara left, Lonnie came round the corner.
“Who was that?” she asked
“Just our cousin.” Ava responded, “What’s up?”
“I can’t find Zan or Rath anywhere. I need to tell them what happened today but I can’t even find them!” Lonnie said agitated
“Did you try at home?” Ava asked
Lonnie just looked stunned at somewhere she didn’t even consider. “Okay my brain needs to wake up.” She then noticed Alex’s presence. “As soon as I find that no good brother of mine we are going to keep you on this rock! You can count on that Oopie, no way am I going to let my nephew and niece be raised without their father.” Lonnie reassured him.
Inside the Main Building…
Larek had found Max in the cafeteria and sat down next to him. He filled the young king in on the existence of Kivar’s new ship and the subsequent success of the mission to liberate it. Now came the bad news.
“So your going to do what? Take it apart and figure it out?” Max asked
“More or less. We have the designs downloaded from the ships computer, we have engineers going over them now and we should be able to replicate the ships and mass-produce it. With our associates help we would have a fleet that could deal with Kivar’s forces without much of a fight.”
“Okay so what’s the bad news?”
“The ship is powered by a device…a Granolith!” Larek asked
“What?” Max asked with disbelief
“Somehow Kivar has managed to replicate the Granolith technology. He can’t get it exactly correct but with our technology he created a fair approximation of it.”
“How could he do it, I thought that the technology was too advanced to replicate.”
“That’s what we thought.”
“I might be able to find out how he did it. I’ll have to speak to a friend first…how much time do you have left?”
“Not long, my companion has already returned home.” Larek said
“Okay well I will hopefully have an answer by the time you come round again.”
They both stood up and Larek left. Max went back to his classes, he would have to see Liz and then head up to the Granolith and speak to Phoenix. He just hoped he could get an answer.
Granolith Chamber, 2 hours later
Alex beat Max to the punch and arrived for his own answers. He wanted to find away out of this situation with the Core and if anyone could come up with suggestions then Phoenix could. So after activating his transport unit he arrived in the chamber and was greeted by the exiled alien.
“Alex…I should have known you would come here.” Phoenix said
“Well first you tell me that your people want to take me from here and then its because that thing put everything it had into me. So, yeah! You should have known.” Alex said angrily
“Alex you have every reason to be angry but I’m on your side on this. Come on, sit down and we’ll talk.” Phoenix said. Within a few seconds two chairs and a table formed from the ground and they sat down.
Alex reached into his bag and pulled out the diagram. “Here, I want you to take a look at this.”
Phoenix looked over the paper and then over to Alex. “You drew this?”
“You seem surprised.” Alex said
“I am…how did you make this?”
“I took the unit to bits then put it back together. I drew that as I went.” Alex responded
“Alex, having the knowledge is one thing but what you’ve done is show that you understand it…given a little time, you might be able to replicate it. I want to ask you some questions, just to see how much you already have adapted to.”
Alex nodded, if answering a few questions got him answers then that was fine by him.
“Okay…in Equatarian physics what is the fourth principle?” Phoenix asked
Alex looked confused for a second, this term he had never heard before but after thinking about it for a second he answered. “Space and time are separate, kept apart by a barrier of high energy particles.”
That was all that Phoenix wanted to know but before he could interrupt Alex continued.
“Manipulation of these particles is possible by using a combination of neutrino and magnetic fields. This results in passages…wormholes through space able to send travellers to any point without the progression of time.” Alex finished
Phoenix just looked at Alex. He knew the theory all to well; his own people surpassed it when they evolved to a state of energy but what Alex suggested was a far simpler method than the Omniriad had ever conceived of.
“What?” Alex asked
“Alex…that was so simple it was…Alex what mineral is capable of producing perpetual energy after initial start up?” Phoenix asked
“Delorite ore, found on 26% of all know habitable planets…but the molecular structure of plutonium can be changed by using a regulated flux generated by a nuclear reaction.”
Phoenix just smiled before asking his last question. “Where and what is the centre of the universe?”
“A mass of quantum energy and spatial gasses located at the point of space that intersects a position of 99,798.87 trillion light-years from Earth, 12.5 million light years from the Carovi Asteroid Field and 25.789 Light years from Krell Prime. Was that right?” Alex said
“Yeah Alex, it was right…and impossible!” Phoenix said
“Why impossible?” Alex asked
“Because the only race that has that knowledge is my own and we never put it in the Granolith’s. You calculated its location by yourself and on the basis of all the data you possess theorised its composition. In addition to that you came up with a new method for wormhole generation and devised a way to create Delorite.
Alex even with all the data you have it could never be implemented because humans aren’t advanced enough to understand it…or so I though! You not only understand it but you can improvise to achieve the same results.”
“Is this good?” Alex asked humbly
“Oh yeah very good. Will you let me run some scans? I want to see what’s going on in your brain.” Phoenix asked
“Sure…they wont do any damage will they?” Alex asked
“No, you’ll be fine.” Phoenix said. He guided Alex so that he was standing in front of the Granolith. Beams shot out from the walls and impacted off of Alex’s head before a last beam went out and into the Granolith.
Phoenix studies the results as the appeared on a display in front of him. The smile on his face was gone within a second.
“What? Is something wrong?” Alex asked
Phoenix discontinued the scan and turned to Alex. “No nothing is wrong. I just need to study these result a while, why don’t you go home. I’ll come to you later.”
“Okay.”
With a wave of his hand the Granolith shot its transport beam out and scooped Alex up depositing him back in his home.
“What have you done?” Phoenix asked
“It’s what had to be done. This just confirms that Alex is a lot more than he knows. More than he’s ever known.” The First said as his image appeared
“It was you all along. There never was an emerging sentience in the granolith was there. It was you who forced the mating of the group, you magnified the Antarian energy in his system when he died, you implanted the information and you altered his brain! The neural structure is nowhere near human…what the hell justifies that.” Phoenix said coldly
“I’ve altered nothing. His brain was like that to begin with.” The First responded
“What? Impossible, Alex is human. He was born human and aside from the energy inside him he is completely human. His brain looks more like…Omniriad.”
“Don’t try and tell me that you’re this blind. Haven’t you ever wondered why of all the worlds in the universe, that we constantly return here?” The First said. Once Phoenix looked up at him he continued. “They’re us Phoenix! Less evolved, different form but more than certainly us.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Trillions of years ago when the first signs of life appeared on our world, Omniria was hit by an asteroid. The impact sent fragments out into space, one of those fragments travelled for thousands of years, the life on it froze in the coldness of space but then it impacted on Earth. The radiation it was subject to in space caused it to mutate, develop faster, Earth’s oceans became seeded with our D.N.A. They are us! Earth’s environment influenced their development, they became bi-pedal mammals…Alex is closer to us than any other human, except for Liz.”
“No, this I can’t believe. The chances of his being here in Roswell when all this is going on are astronomical. Even for us.” Phoenix said as he shook his head.
“Well I have to admit there is a problem there. This region was subjected to nuclear testing in the past, as close as I can tell residual radiation affected his bloodline and the proximity of the Earth Granolith caused a minor evolution in a few families that result in his creation. Alex is still several millennia behind our race and a century or two behind Liz but…”
“But its true and that might be Alex’s way out.” Phoenix said
“I would say so!”
MIT Main Computer Lab, 16:30
Professor Ringer had gathered his best students and given them copies of what they had dubbed ‘The Whitman Code’. He had assigned each of them a section to analyse before they typed it into a computer. Unfortunately they didn’t know what to expect when they actually implemented it and when they did graphic shifted, programs became corrupted and the network crashed completely.
“What the hell happened?” asked Ringer
“This coding…its way to advanced. The current O.S. couldn’t read it and the machines couldn’t handle it.” Said one student.
“They’re toast sir.” said another as he pulled out a smoking circuit board. “Expensive toast!”
Kivar’s Headquarters, New York, 17:00
Kivar had been sitting in his chambers, dwelling on his memories of his last time with Vilandra. Soon she would be his once again!
Nicholas then came into the room with a smile on his face.
“What are you smiling about?” Kivar asked
“Sir, I’ve just received a report. Our associate was released far earlier than expected; he is on his way to Roswell as we speak.” Nicholas said
“Excellent…you’re sure he can get close to Royal Four.”
“Yes sir, his relationship to Rath’s consort will allow him access.” Nicholas said
“Very well, is there anything else?”
“Yes, we received this report from Antar a few minutes a go. It’s encrypted under your personal code.”
Kivar took the pad and waved his hand over it. The encrypted text became legible and Kivar started to read the report. His personal task force and guard were disabled, his plague was gone and his new ship stolen by unknown forces.
Kivar could easily guess who it was. Larek, he was the only one of the nobles who actually stood up to him.
“NO!” Kivar yelled. His voice permeated the walls, everyone in the building heard him and for the first time New York City registered a minor earthquake.
To Be Continued…
Chapter 49
Kivar’s Headquarters, New York, Immediately Following
After causing his little earthquake Kivar had come down to the communications centre in an attempt to learn more of his loss.
“I want a full report!” Kivar boomed
“My lord, information is still coming in from our forces on Antar…for what we can put together, an three team strike force somehow breached the hull of the ship in different locations. They proceeded to take out our on-board patrols and secure the main sections. A fourth team attached low-level explosives to the hulls of the surrounding vessels…nothing severe, just enough to cripple them. They then proceeded on a growing circular orbit away from the area, once at the sun they launched several pods that ejected some kind of chemical into the star. Their destination is completely unknown.” Said one of Kivar’s minions as he read the report from the screen.
“Oh we know where they went.” Kivar said knowingly
“Kalaria?” Nicholas speculated
Kivar simply nodded. “How many ships did we have protecting the area?” he asked
“27, my lord.” Said another aide
“Identify the captains…once complete send word to Antar. Their immediate families are to be terminated for treason and sedition.” Kivar said gleefully as he left the room
Whitman Residence, 17:15
Alex had just dropped Isabel off back home and then returned to his home. He had only felt this tired after his resurrection but this time it wasn’t physical exhaustion, it was mental. In the past few weeks he had learned that he was destined to die at the hands of Tess which was now dealt with, he had gotten together with Isabel and they like their friends were expecting children, he had died because Sorenson wanted to get in Isabel’s panties, the alien story had broken worldwide, he developed powers and now he had learned that he is a walking alien database and as a result the government leaders of the Omniriad were coming to take him away. He just wanted to grab something to eat and then sleep through till tomorrow…at least he would have Isabel in his dreams with him.
Alex walked into the living room and saw his parents sitting there, waiting for him. When they spotted him they jumped to their feet, facing him.
“Alex, oh my god, tell me they can’t do it?” His mother cried
“How’d you find out so fast?” Alex asked his parents
“Someone in your class broke it to the press…they’ve been reporting it all day. Alex, this is just a bluff right…these Omniriads wont take you will they?” His father asked
“I wish it was…they can basically take me when they want to and nothing can stop them!” Alex said as he plumped down into a seat. He ran his hands down his face and took a deep breath.
“What about Isabel…I mean they wont try to separate you at a time like this will they?”
Alex just chuckled slightly. “The…uh…invitation is for me only. Apparently I’m the big threat to the future of humanity, all because they can’t control their own tech.” He said with spite at the idea of leaving Isabel.
“I’m so, so sorry Alex.” his father said while putting his hand on his son’s shoulder, “You’re not leaving, I wont allow it.”
“You can say that again, they want me? I’ll tear them apart first…hopefully before Isabel gets to them. That would be a lot messier.” Alex said as he stood up and started to walk out of the room.
“Where are you going?” His mother asked softly
“To the basement…I think I got an idea?” Alex said as he pondered for a moment before heading down the stairs. His parents wanted to follow him but they knew he had to try to do this by himself.
The basement had been converted ages ago into a little engineering work area, mainly for computer repair. It had everything need for the job from chips and circuit boards to soldering irons and wiring. He grabbed some paper and a pencil, closed his eyes and focused. When he reopened them he started to draw schematics, page after page of the interior of a device. As it took shape it began to resemble his first drawings of the transport unit he did earlier but there were significant differences to accommodate human technology.
“That can’t be right!” Alex mumbled to himself, “Its way to simple.”
He grabbed some materials and started to put together his new toy. At the very least it would by him some time…and be fun in the process!
Then he heard a knock at the front door upstairs.
“Alex!” his father yelled, “There is a package for you!”
Alex ran up the stairs and found his father signing for the box that had arrived. A secret service agent had brought it in and placed it in front of Alex. The agents had been told to expect it and no one missed the smile that was on his face.
Slowly he cut away the tape and checked inside, he found a number of smaller packages. All was present and made sure his parents couldn’t sneak a peak while he grabbed the phone and speed-dialled the Evans.
“Hey Mrs Evans, it Alex!”
“Oh hi Alex, I’ll just get Isabel…” Diane said
“No it’s actually Max I need to speak to.”
“Okay!” she said. A few minutes later Max came on the line.
“Alex?” Max said
“Max…the package has been delivered!” Alex said smugly
“What package?” Max asked
“You know, our little gifts for Isabel and Liz.” Alex said quietly as so we wouldn’t be overheard
“Oh…I’ll be right over.”
“Listen I’ll be in the basement when you get over, okay. I’ll tell my parents to send you down.” Alex said
They hung up their phones, Max raced out to his jeep while Alex carried the box down into the basement where he went back to work.
Granolith Chamber, 17:20
Phoenix was now sitting on the seat he made for Alex earlier, absorbing everything The First had told him.
“Okay, so humans and every other form of life on Earth are descended from D.N.A from our world that came here on a meteor. Humans are evolving faster than we did and Alex is at a closer point to us than any other but is still behind Liz. You didn’t alter his neural structure but you did force the kids into a mating that would cause bonds to develop that melded to two Granoliths. You influenced their hormones to make them sleep with each other until they became pregnant and you downloaded the information into Alex’s brain.”
“That about sums it up!” The First said
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why download the knowledge?” Phoenix asked
“To correct a mistake I made along time ago.”
“What mistake?” Phoenix was getting confused now; errors concerning the First were few and far between.
“What do you know of our history? From immediately after our transcendence and the birth of the new age.”
“What is there to know? You were the first to make the transition and others followed. After a few days we all felt something wrong and you having the gift of foresight saw the end of our race. You summoned the first 25 who followed you, they merged together to form the Core and you forced your own essence through them and out to the rest of us, you save us all.” Phoenix said
“No…I doomed us!” he responded bitterly
“What do you mean?”
“Our race wasn’t dying…we were skipping an entire evolutionary stage. We had grown beyond this universe and were about to enter a new one.”
“That’s what you saw in the vision…you knew all along what was happening to us! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS?” Phoenix yelled
“THE SAME REASON OUR RACE DOES ANYTHING!” The First yelled back, “Fear…it was out of fear of what could happen to us.” He said more calmly
“Fear doesn’t motivate our race, curiosity drives us. That’s why we came out to the stars.”
“I wish it was my friend. Ever major advancement our people has achieved has been done out of fear. When we first came out of the caves, do you know what the first thing we did was? We learned out to build a wall to keep others away. When that wasn’t enough we built weapons and dug ditches, we fortified our positions, all in an attempt to keep our contact with anyone else down to a minimal.”
“Ridicules! If that was the case our people could never have unified and why would he come out here?” Phoenix asked
“Because we learned of other races, other threats and other fears. It was in the very early days of our people that a decision was made - that all must be thought of an enemy. When we journeyed beyond our star system we created the first Granoliths, tools designed to send back data on the world in which it was placed. That way we would never have to risk going there again.”
“But the Granoliths teach the races, helps them grew develop…if all this is true then why did I risk everything to create Liz?”
“The more recent Granoliths teaches because we wanted to know what the younger races would do. Later after a world destroyed itself were the classifications of Light, Dark and Neutral applied. As for Liz, well you Phoenix appear to be one of the very few of our race who is not afraid…you honestly do believe in the ideals of helping younger races don’t you? You created Liz because you wanted someone around who could do what we say…and not be how we act. That has earned you a great deal of respect.”
“So is our race dying now? You did say we were becoming part of a new universe.”
“No unfortunately by bonding with the core I tied our people to this universe…we are dying this time…all…well most of us!”
“Most of us?” Phoenix enquired
“H’Ebon…before hiding my essence in the Granolith, he fed of my life energy. I was able to retain some of it but he got enough to live for several millennia after we are all gone. Beyond that he could be sustained by the Granoliths and as a result of our passing…”
“He’ll have free reign of the universe.” Phoenix said with understanding
“But with the genetics of Liz’s offspring and the knowledge Alex has, there will be enough of our legacy to keep the bonds of his Exile in place. He’ll remain trapped on Antar.”
“We shouldn’t be using them like this.” Phoenix said
“Part of this is for their protection and the rest of the universe as well. H’Ebon can do a lot of damage if he is ever freed, besides I have reason to believe he has been assisting this Kivar.”
“How?”
“I detected a minor ripple in the network, a new Granolith was constructed but it’s weaker and composed of Antarian materials. I listened in on a conversation between Max and Larek, a new war ship of Kivar’s was captured…it was powered by a granolith!”
“Well hasn’t this been a great day!” Phoenix said despondently
Laurie’s Place, Same Time
After Lonnie found Ava they made their way back home. They hoped to find Rath and Zan to fill them in on the situation with Alex but had come up short, god knows where they are but they hoped to find them here. The girls unlocked the door and went inside. They were more than a little surprised at what they found.
Secret Service Agent Andrew Hall was sitting on one of the very comfortable chairs and sitting on his lap was Laurie, their lips were fused together with their hands gently exploring each other’s bodies. While Ava had a grin on her face the size of a banana, Lonnie however cleared her throat quite loudly.
The couple jumped apart and up to their feet. Laurie’s face was bright red while Hall tried to straighten his suit.
“Well...uh…I…uh…I’ll be outside if you need me Ms Dupree!” Agent Hall said
“Okay Agent Hall!” Laurie said as he walked out the front door and back to his post
“Well, well, well!” Ava said
“Laurie, you know the rules. You’ve got to let us do the matchmaking; you’re not allowed to do it yourself.” Lonnie teased with sternness
“Yeah, I…” Laurie stammered out
“Looked like you were enjoying yourself!” Ava said while nodding her head. “Was he any good?”
“Oh god yeah.” Laurie said as she fell back onto the seat, she was very dazed as she reeled from the kiss. The other girls sat down on either side of her, all three were smiling. “You guys can’t let Rath or Michael know about this!”
“Relax, besides if they did anything then they would have to deal with me and Maria…and quite frankly I would rather shack up with Kivar again than face that bloodbath.”
“Yeah you two certainly would make a great tag team in wrestling.” Ava agreed, “So…planning on any lingerie modelling any time soon?”
“Oh come on we’re no where near that…this just kinda happened. One minutes we were talking about my aunt and uncle locking me up in that hospital, then were on the couch kissing the life out of each other.”
“Hey, you don’t know where my brother and Rath are?” Lonnie asked
“No, why?” Laurie responded
“There is a problem with Alex…I haven’t been able to find those two anywhere?”
“Anything serious?”
“Well unless we stop it, Phoenix’s lot are planning on taking him…permanently!” Lonnie said with spite. Ever since her failed seduction she had gotten to know her sister’s mate and she liked him, she was adamant that she was going to be at their official wedding as well as seeing their kids with a father. Something she and her fellow dupes never had.
“Well we could always try that old soap factory. I heard them talking about it, some kind of plans they wanted to put out.” Laurie suggested
Within a few minutes all three were heading out the door. All followed by a bunch of agents including Agent Hall who received a very warm smile from the girl he was protecting and who was grinding against him barely 10 minutes ago. Boy was he going to get it when his superiors heard about this!
Evans Law Firm, 17:30
After Alex dropped Isabel off at her home, she showered and got changed before she headed over to her father’s law practice. It was about time she told him, Isabel knew that Alex wanted to ask first but given the amount put on her dad’s shoulders recently she felt like she owed him one. When she got into the waiting room his secretary greeted her.
“Hey Mrs Rosin!” Isabel said
“Isabel dear, I haven’t seen you since your story broke. How are you doing?” Mrs Rosin responded. She was an elderly woman now, but quite often in her youth she hung out with Claudia Parker. In recent decades they had lost contact but when she heard of Claudia’s death she made arrangements to attend the funeral.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that one…your acting like…”
“Like nothings changed? Isabel my father used to tell me stories, he would be glad about you being safe.”
“Stories…what kind of stories?” Isabel asked as she sat down
“Well in his youth my father was in the army…at least until he got injured…lost his arm, he got to know a soldier and the two became quite close. When the crash happened that soldier was assigned to the clean up detail but he found your pods and met two aliens. He provided a distraction that allowed them to escape with you and my father helped get him to a safe location. Neither of them ever found out what happened to you, I’m sorry that my father never knew that he really did save you.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“So tell me how is that young man of yours, Alex isn’t it? The two of you make quite the couple on television.” Mrs Rosin said with a twinkle in her eye
“Oh god their not still putting pictures up of us, are they?”
“I’m afraid so dear, every day since this all started there has been something new about all of you…I’m guessing you’ve stopped watching the T.V.?”
“Just the news programs, Larry King, talk shows…basically anything that’s going to plaster our lives up for everyone to see.” Isabel said heavily
“Well I suppose it was to be expected…this is the biggest story in history after all. Anyway I take it you’re here to see your father?”
“Yeah!”
“Well go on in…quite frankly I think he could do with a distraction!”
Isabel stood up and went to the door to her father’s office. She knocked before she opened it and was greeted with a warm smile from her dad when he saw her enter.
“Isabel! What are you doing here?” Philip asked cheerfully
“Do I need an excuse to visit my favourite daddy at work?” Isabel asked
“Okay what’s going on?” Philip asked a little more hesitantly
“What?”
“You have only ever called be daddy when you’re about to tell me something and that’s usually when I need a scotch.” Philip said
“Lets go out for a walk. I’ll buy you a hotdog.” Isabel said
“Oh no! This can’t be good.”
She moved around behind her father’s desk and pulled him out of his chair. When they were out in the street, Isabel bought a couple of dogs from a stand at the corner. She was immediately recognised and ended up giving away half a dozen autographs to the small crowd that had gathered.
“So what’s going on?” Philip asked his daughter
“Alex, he asked me to marry him!” Isabel said
Philip turned his head and looked at his daughter for a moment before turning forward again.
“You know I’m finding it more and more difficult to find a reason not to kill him.” Philip said as he took a bite
“Well when you run out of reasons the last one could be that it’s illegal.” Isabel joked
“Oh I passed that one the day I found out you’re…you know!”
“Dad you can say it you know…I’m pregnant and I couldn’t be happier…well I will be happier when this other thing is dealt with.” Isabel said as she remembered the day’s events
“What other thing?”
“Oh nothing we can’t handle and remember if you did kill Alex, Max would just bring him back again.” Isabel teased
Philip chuckled slightly. “I suppose you told him yes.”
“Of course I said yes…what’d you expect me to say, I love him.”
“Did he ask you because he felt obligated or…” Philip said
“DAD! He asked me because he wanted to not because he needed to. There is just one thing…he was wanting to ask for your permission, he wants to do this right but I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Do things right?” Philip said with disbelief as he shook his head. “Oh well, I guessed he would be my son in-law the first time I saw the way you two looked at each other. At least my grand kids won’t be…”
“Finish that sentence and you know mom will be aiming for a little punishment when you get home!”
“Your mother knows about this?” Philip asked as he remembered the last time he received punishment from his wife.
“Not yet, I wanted to tell you first!”
“You and Alex got any plans yet?”
“No nothing yet.” Isabel responded
“Good cause you know your mom will want in on that action.”
“Oh Yeah.” Isabel said
As they finished their dogs and their talk, father and daughter walked back to the office.
Bathroom, Valenti Residence, 18:00
After a vigorous workout session with the coach and the rest of the football team, Kyle definitely needed a shower. He really had over taxed himself and drove himself to near exhaustion after he head that Tess’s Antarian family would want her to have nothing to do with him. He was totally pissed!
He stripped out of his clothes and turned on the shower but before he could get under the cascading waters, Tess entered the room with a predatory gleam in her eye. Tess looked him over and as she walked over to him slowly she pull her top off over her head, exposing her bra-covered breasts. As she got closer she took his hand in her own and brought it up to her face.
Deeply she inhaled his scent and scraped her teeth over the soft flesh of his wrist.
“God you smell good!” Tess said huskily
Kyle couldn’t resist his mates activities and buried his head in her neck, kissing and nibbling his way to her throat and over to the other side.
“So do you, Princess!” Kyle replied and he pushed the straps of her bra down over her arms.
Tess reached round behind her and undid the clasp. Letting the lacy garment fall to the floor she pressed herself firmly against her naked lover as he undid her skirt and pushed it to the floor, leaving Tess in her panties.
Ever so slowly Kyle kissed his way down her body, between the ample mounds of her breasts, over her stomach and stopping briefly on her abdomen where their children lay. When he was ready he took hold of her underwear with his teeth and dragged the down her legs where Tess kicked them off.
The next thing either of them knew was that Kyle was kneeling on the floor, under the shower with Tess sliding down on his aching member, her legs straight out behind them. Soon the moaning started as Tess began to raise and lower herself of his Kyle’s hard cock while he fed of the nubbins that would one day soon feed their offspring. The delicious pleasure soared though their bodies as the copulated, Tess’s stomach undulated and rippled as the steady rhythm she had started had cause Kyle to use what little leverage he had to start thrusting into Tess.
“Oh god baby…more...oh god yeah! Tess screamed. Every so often Tess would tilt her head back and open her mouth. The water poured over her face and filled her mouth that she spat out with every gasp.
As their bodies became wetter by the second, Kyle took a handful of Tess hair and tilted her head forward were he captured her mouth in a searing, white-hot kiss.
“Come on Tess, cum for me baby…ugh god yeah!” He moaned loudly
He didn’t have to wait long before his girlfriend came apart in his strong arms. He held her limp body close and he continued to thrust in and out, over and over again as he desperately tried to reach the threshold of pleasure his mate had reached.
With each thrust there was an audible grunt that filled the barely conscious mind of Tess Harding. She had reached her peak but was exhausted by it to the point that she could barely move but was content to let Kyle have what he needed, even if she was no longer an active participant.
The feel of Tess’s silk walls eventually sent Kyle over the edge and he spurted his white seed into her once again. He could never get enough of her body, mind and spirit. There were times when they were both in perfect synch and could never get enough of each other, unfortunately this was not one of them but Kyle was left with a question.
“What got into you?” he asked his lover
“I don’t know…you just smelt so good.” Tess responded wearily
“Tess, baby, I really stank after that workout today.”
“Hmmm, not to me you didn’t…Kyle I want to go to the Granolith!” Tess said
“Why?”
“I just feel like we should go…don’t you feel it to?”
Kyle thought for a moment…he did feel a pull somewhere and the Granolith certainly got his attention. “Yeah, I do…but not just now okay. You need to get some sleep first.” Tess just sighed contently. Kyle lifted her out, dried her body and carried her to their bed.
To Be Continued…
Kivar’s Headquarters, New York, Immediately Following
After causing his little earthquake Kivar had come down to the communications centre in an attempt to learn more of his loss.
“I want a full report!” Kivar boomed
“My lord, information is still coming in from our forces on Antar…for what we can put together, an three team strike force somehow breached the hull of the ship in different locations. They proceeded to take out our on-board patrols and secure the main sections. A fourth team attached low-level explosives to the hulls of the surrounding vessels…nothing severe, just enough to cripple them. They then proceeded on a growing circular orbit away from the area, once at the sun they launched several pods that ejected some kind of chemical into the star. Their destination is completely unknown.” Said one of Kivar’s minions as he read the report from the screen.
“Oh we know where they went.” Kivar said knowingly
“Kalaria?” Nicholas speculated
Kivar simply nodded. “How many ships did we have protecting the area?” he asked
“27, my lord.” Said another aide
“Identify the captains…once complete send word to Antar. Their immediate families are to be terminated for treason and sedition.” Kivar said gleefully as he left the room
Whitman Residence, 17:15
Alex had just dropped Isabel off back home and then returned to his home. He had only felt this tired after his resurrection but this time it wasn’t physical exhaustion, it was mental. In the past few weeks he had learned that he was destined to die at the hands of Tess which was now dealt with, he had gotten together with Isabel and they like their friends were expecting children, he had died because Sorenson wanted to get in Isabel’s panties, the alien story had broken worldwide, he developed powers and now he had learned that he is a walking alien database and as a result the government leaders of the Omniriad were coming to take him away. He just wanted to grab something to eat and then sleep through till tomorrow…at least he would have Isabel in his dreams with him.
Alex walked into the living room and saw his parents sitting there, waiting for him. When they spotted him they jumped to their feet, facing him.
“Alex, oh my god, tell me they can’t do it?” His mother cried
“How’d you find out so fast?” Alex asked his parents
“Someone in your class broke it to the press…they’ve been reporting it all day. Alex, this is just a bluff right…these Omniriads wont take you will they?” His father asked
“I wish it was…they can basically take me when they want to and nothing can stop them!” Alex said as he plumped down into a seat. He ran his hands down his face and took a deep breath.
“What about Isabel…I mean they wont try to separate you at a time like this will they?”
Alex just chuckled slightly. “The…uh…invitation is for me only. Apparently I’m the big threat to the future of humanity, all because they can’t control their own tech.” He said with spite at the idea of leaving Isabel.
“I’m so, so sorry Alex.” his father said while putting his hand on his son’s shoulder, “You’re not leaving, I wont allow it.”
“You can say that again, they want me? I’ll tear them apart first…hopefully before Isabel gets to them. That would be a lot messier.” Alex said as he stood up and started to walk out of the room.
“Where are you going?” His mother asked softly
“To the basement…I think I got an idea?” Alex said as he pondered for a moment before heading down the stairs. His parents wanted to follow him but they knew he had to try to do this by himself.
The basement had been converted ages ago into a little engineering work area, mainly for computer repair. It had everything need for the job from chips and circuit boards to soldering irons and wiring. He grabbed some paper and a pencil, closed his eyes and focused. When he reopened them he started to draw schematics, page after page of the interior of a device. As it took shape it began to resemble his first drawings of the transport unit he did earlier but there were significant differences to accommodate human technology.
“That can’t be right!” Alex mumbled to himself, “Its way to simple.”
He grabbed some materials and started to put together his new toy. At the very least it would by him some time…and be fun in the process!
Then he heard a knock at the front door upstairs.
“Alex!” his father yelled, “There is a package for you!”
Alex ran up the stairs and found his father signing for the box that had arrived. A secret service agent had brought it in and placed it in front of Alex. The agents had been told to expect it and no one missed the smile that was on his face.
Slowly he cut away the tape and checked inside, he found a number of smaller packages. All was present and made sure his parents couldn’t sneak a peak while he grabbed the phone and speed-dialled the Evans.
“Hey Mrs Evans, it Alex!”
“Oh hi Alex, I’ll just get Isabel…” Diane said
“No it’s actually Max I need to speak to.”
“Okay!” she said. A few minutes later Max came on the line.
“Alex?” Max said
“Max…the package has been delivered!” Alex said smugly
“What package?” Max asked
“You know, our little gifts for Isabel and Liz.” Alex said quietly as so we wouldn’t be overheard
“Oh…I’ll be right over.”
“Listen I’ll be in the basement when you get over, okay. I’ll tell my parents to send you down.” Alex said
They hung up their phones, Max raced out to his jeep while Alex carried the box down into the basement where he went back to work.
Granolith Chamber, 17:20
Phoenix was now sitting on the seat he made for Alex earlier, absorbing everything The First had told him.
“Okay, so humans and every other form of life on Earth are descended from D.N.A from our world that came here on a meteor. Humans are evolving faster than we did and Alex is at a closer point to us than any other but is still behind Liz. You didn’t alter his neural structure but you did force the kids into a mating that would cause bonds to develop that melded to two Granoliths. You influenced their hormones to make them sleep with each other until they became pregnant and you downloaded the information into Alex’s brain.”
“That about sums it up!” The First said
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why download the knowledge?” Phoenix asked
“To correct a mistake I made along time ago.”
“What mistake?” Phoenix was getting confused now; errors concerning the First were few and far between.
“What do you know of our history? From immediately after our transcendence and the birth of the new age.”
“What is there to know? You were the first to make the transition and others followed. After a few days we all felt something wrong and you having the gift of foresight saw the end of our race. You summoned the first 25 who followed you, they merged together to form the Core and you forced your own essence through them and out to the rest of us, you save us all.” Phoenix said
“No…I doomed us!” he responded bitterly
“What do you mean?”
“Our race wasn’t dying…we were skipping an entire evolutionary stage. We had grown beyond this universe and were about to enter a new one.”
“That’s what you saw in the vision…you knew all along what was happening to us! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THIS?” Phoenix yelled
“THE SAME REASON OUR RACE DOES ANYTHING!” The First yelled back, “Fear…it was out of fear of what could happen to us.” He said more calmly
“Fear doesn’t motivate our race, curiosity drives us. That’s why we came out to the stars.”
“I wish it was my friend. Ever major advancement our people has achieved has been done out of fear. When we first came out of the caves, do you know what the first thing we did was? We learned out to build a wall to keep others away. When that wasn’t enough we built weapons and dug ditches, we fortified our positions, all in an attempt to keep our contact with anyone else down to a minimal.”
“Ridicules! If that was the case our people could never have unified and why would he come out here?” Phoenix asked
“Because we learned of other races, other threats and other fears. It was in the very early days of our people that a decision was made - that all must be thought of an enemy. When we journeyed beyond our star system we created the first Granoliths, tools designed to send back data on the world in which it was placed. That way we would never have to risk going there again.”
“But the Granoliths teach the races, helps them grew develop…if all this is true then why did I risk everything to create Liz?”
“The more recent Granoliths teaches because we wanted to know what the younger races would do. Later after a world destroyed itself were the classifications of Light, Dark and Neutral applied. As for Liz, well you Phoenix appear to be one of the very few of our race who is not afraid…you honestly do believe in the ideals of helping younger races don’t you? You created Liz because you wanted someone around who could do what we say…and not be how we act. That has earned you a great deal of respect.”
“So is our race dying now? You did say we were becoming part of a new universe.”
“No unfortunately by bonding with the core I tied our people to this universe…we are dying this time…all…well most of us!”
“Most of us?” Phoenix enquired
“H’Ebon…before hiding my essence in the Granolith, he fed of my life energy. I was able to retain some of it but he got enough to live for several millennia after we are all gone. Beyond that he could be sustained by the Granoliths and as a result of our passing…”
“He’ll have free reign of the universe.” Phoenix said with understanding
“But with the genetics of Liz’s offspring and the knowledge Alex has, there will be enough of our legacy to keep the bonds of his Exile in place. He’ll remain trapped on Antar.”
“We shouldn’t be using them like this.” Phoenix said
“Part of this is for their protection and the rest of the universe as well. H’Ebon can do a lot of damage if he is ever freed, besides I have reason to believe he has been assisting this Kivar.”
“How?”
“I detected a minor ripple in the network, a new Granolith was constructed but it’s weaker and composed of Antarian materials. I listened in on a conversation between Max and Larek, a new war ship of Kivar’s was captured…it was powered by a granolith!”
“Well hasn’t this been a great day!” Phoenix said despondently
Laurie’s Place, Same Time
After Lonnie found Ava they made their way back home. They hoped to find Rath and Zan to fill them in on the situation with Alex but had come up short, god knows where they are but they hoped to find them here. The girls unlocked the door and went inside. They were more than a little surprised at what they found.
Secret Service Agent Andrew Hall was sitting on one of the very comfortable chairs and sitting on his lap was Laurie, their lips were fused together with their hands gently exploring each other’s bodies. While Ava had a grin on her face the size of a banana, Lonnie however cleared her throat quite loudly.
The couple jumped apart and up to their feet. Laurie’s face was bright red while Hall tried to straighten his suit.
“Well...uh…I…uh…I’ll be outside if you need me Ms Dupree!” Agent Hall said
“Okay Agent Hall!” Laurie said as he walked out the front door and back to his post
“Well, well, well!” Ava said
“Laurie, you know the rules. You’ve got to let us do the matchmaking; you’re not allowed to do it yourself.” Lonnie teased with sternness
“Yeah, I…” Laurie stammered out
“Looked like you were enjoying yourself!” Ava said while nodding her head. “Was he any good?”
“Oh god yeah.” Laurie said as she fell back onto the seat, she was very dazed as she reeled from the kiss. The other girls sat down on either side of her, all three were smiling. “You guys can’t let Rath or Michael know about this!”
“Relax, besides if they did anything then they would have to deal with me and Maria…and quite frankly I would rather shack up with Kivar again than face that bloodbath.”
“Yeah you two certainly would make a great tag team in wrestling.” Ava agreed, “So…planning on any lingerie modelling any time soon?”
“Oh come on we’re no where near that…this just kinda happened. One minutes we were talking about my aunt and uncle locking me up in that hospital, then were on the couch kissing the life out of each other.”
“Hey, you don’t know where my brother and Rath are?” Lonnie asked
“No, why?” Laurie responded
“There is a problem with Alex…I haven’t been able to find those two anywhere?”
“Anything serious?”
“Well unless we stop it, Phoenix’s lot are planning on taking him…permanently!” Lonnie said with spite. Ever since her failed seduction she had gotten to know her sister’s mate and she liked him, she was adamant that she was going to be at their official wedding as well as seeing their kids with a father. Something she and her fellow dupes never had.
“Well we could always try that old soap factory. I heard them talking about it, some kind of plans they wanted to put out.” Laurie suggested
Within a few minutes all three were heading out the door. All followed by a bunch of agents including Agent Hall who received a very warm smile from the girl he was protecting and who was grinding against him barely 10 minutes ago. Boy was he going to get it when his superiors heard about this!
Evans Law Firm, 17:30
After Alex dropped Isabel off at her home, she showered and got changed before she headed over to her father’s law practice. It was about time she told him, Isabel knew that Alex wanted to ask first but given the amount put on her dad’s shoulders recently she felt like she owed him one. When she got into the waiting room his secretary greeted her.
“Hey Mrs Rosin!” Isabel said
“Isabel dear, I haven’t seen you since your story broke. How are you doing?” Mrs Rosin responded. She was an elderly woman now, but quite often in her youth she hung out with Claudia Parker. In recent decades they had lost contact but when she heard of Claudia’s death she made arrangements to attend the funeral.
“Shouldn’t I be asking you that one…your acting like…”
“Like nothings changed? Isabel my father used to tell me stories, he would be glad about you being safe.”
“Stories…what kind of stories?” Isabel asked as she sat down
“Well in his youth my father was in the army…at least until he got injured…lost his arm, he got to know a soldier and the two became quite close. When the crash happened that soldier was assigned to the clean up detail but he found your pods and met two aliens. He provided a distraction that allowed them to escape with you and my father helped get him to a safe location. Neither of them ever found out what happened to you, I’m sorry that my father never knew that he really did save you.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“So tell me how is that young man of yours, Alex isn’t it? The two of you make quite the couple on television.” Mrs Rosin said with a twinkle in her eye
“Oh god their not still putting pictures up of us, are they?”
“I’m afraid so dear, every day since this all started there has been something new about all of you…I’m guessing you’ve stopped watching the T.V.?”
“Just the news programs, Larry King, talk shows…basically anything that’s going to plaster our lives up for everyone to see.” Isabel said heavily
“Well I suppose it was to be expected…this is the biggest story in history after all. Anyway I take it you’re here to see your father?”
“Yeah!”
“Well go on in…quite frankly I think he could do with a distraction!”
Isabel stood up and went to the door to her father’s office. She knocked before she opened it and was greeted with a warm smile from her dad when he saw her enter.
“Isabel! What are you doing here?” Philip asked cheerfully
“Do I need an excuse to visit my favourite daddy at work?” Isabel asked
“Okay what’s going on?” Philip asked a little more hesitantly
“What?”
“You have only ever called be daddy when you’re about to tell me something and that’s usually when I need a scotch.” Philip said
“Lets go out for a walk. I’ll buy you a hotdog.” Isabel said
“Oh no! This can’t be good.”
She moved around behind her father’s desk and pulled him out of his chair. When they were out in the street, Isabel bought a couple of dogs from a stand at the corner. She was immediately recognised and ended up giving away half a dozen autographs to the small crowd that had gathered.
“So what’s going on?” Philip asked his daughter
“Alex, he asked me to marry him!” Isabel said
Philip turned his head and looked at his daughter for a moment before turning forward again.
“You know I’m finding it more and more difficult to find a reason not to kill him.” Philip said as he took a bite
“Well when you run out of reasons the last one could be that it’s illegal.” Isabel joked
“Oh I passed that one the day I found out you’re…you know!”
“Dad you can say it you know…I’m pregnant and I couldn’t be happier…well I will be happier when this other thing is dealt with.” Isabel said as she remembered the day’s events
“What other thing?”
“Oh nothing we can’t handle and remember if you did kill Alex, Max would just bring him back again.” Isabel teased
Philip chuckled slightly. “I suppose you told him yes.”
“Of course I said yes…what’d you expect me to say, I love him.”
“Did he ask you because he felt obligated or…” Philip said
“DAD! He asked me because he wanted to not because he needed to. There is just one thing…he was wanting to ask for your permission, he wants to do this right but I wanted to give you a heads up.”
“Do things right?” Philip said with disbelief as he shook his head. “Oh well, I guessed he would be my son in-law the first time I saw the way you two looked at each other. At least my grand kids won’t be…”
“Finish that sentence and you know mom will be aiming for a little punishment when you get home!”
“Your mother knows about this?” Philip asked as he remembered the last time he received punishment from his wife.
“Not yet, I wanted to tell you first!”
“You and Alex got any plans yet?”
“No nothing yet.” Isabel responded
“Good cause you know your mom will want in on that action.”
“Oh Yeah.” Isabel said
As they finished their dogs and their talk, father and daughter walked back to the office.
Bathroom, Valenti Residence, 18:00
After a vigorous workout session with the coach and the rest of the football team, Kyle definitely needed a shower. He really had over taxed himself and drove himself to near exhaustion after he head that Tess’s Antarian family would want her to have nothing to do with him. He was totally pissed!
He stripped out of his clothes and turned on the shower but before he could get under the cascading waters, Tess entered the room with a predatory gleam in her eye. Tess looked him over and as she walked over to him slowly she pull her top off over her head, exposing her bra-covered breasts. As she got closer she took his hand in her own and brought it up to her face.
Deeply she inhaled his scent and scraped her teeth over the soft flesh of his wrist.
“God you smell good!” Tess said huskily
Kyle couldn’t resist his mates activities and buried his head in her neck, kissing and nibbling his way to her throat and over to the other side.
“So do you, Princess!” Kyle replied and he pushed the straps of her bra down over her arms.
Tess reached round behind her and undid the clasp. Letting the lacy garment fall to the floor she pressed herself firmly against her naked lover as he undid her skirt and pushed it to the floor, leaving Tess in her panties.
Ever so slowly Kyle kissed his way down her body, between the ample mounds of her breasts, over her stomach and stopping briefly on her abdomen where their children lay. When he was ready he took hold of her underwear with his teeth and dragged the down her legs where Tess kicked them off.
The next thing either of them knew was that Kyle was kneeling on the floor, under the shower with Tess sliding down on his aching member, her legs straight out behind them. Soon the moaning started as Tess began to raise and lower herself of his Kyle’s hard cock while he fed of the nubbins that would one day soon feed their offspring. The delicious pleasure soared though their bodies as the copulated, Tess’s stomach undulated and rippled as the steady rhythm she had started had cause Kyle to use what little leverage he had to start thrusting into Tess.
“Oh god baby…more...oh god yeah! Tess screamed. Every so often Tess would tilt her head back and open her mouth. The water poured over her face and filled her mouth that she spat out with every gasp.
As their bodies became wetter by the second, Kyle took a handful of Tess hair and tilted her head forward were he captured her mouth in a searing, white-hot kiss.
“Come on Tess, cum for me baby…ugh god yeah!” He moaned loudly
He didn’t have to wait long before his girlfriend came apart in his strong arms. He held her limp body close and he continued to thrust in and out, over and over again as he desperately tried to reach the threshold of pleasure his mate had reached.
With each thrust there was an audible grunt that filled the barely conscious mind of Tess Harding. She had reached her peak but was exhausted by it to the point that she could barely move but was content to let Kyle have what he needed, even if she was no longer an active participant.
The feel of Tess’s silk walls eventually sent Kyle over the edge and he spurted his white seed into her once again. He could never get enough of her body, mind and spirit. There were times when they were both in perfect synch and could never get enough of each other, unfortunately this was not one of them but Kyle was left with a question.
“What got into you?” he asked his lover
“I don’t know…you just smelt so good.” Tess responded wearily
“Tess, baby, I really stank after that workout today.”
“Hmmm, not to me you didn’t…Kyle I want to go to the Granolith!” Tess said
“Why?”
“I just feel like we should go…don’t you feel it to?”
Kyle thought for a moment…he did feel a pull somewhere and the Granolith certainly got his attention. “Yeah, I do…but not just now okay. You need to get some sleep first.” Tess just sighed contently. Kyle lifted her out, dried her body and carried her to their bed.
To Be Continued…
Chapter 50
Whitman Residence, A Little While Later
Responding to a knock at the door, Alex’s mother went to it and opened it. On the other side she found Max, behind him were his agents and behind them a mob of screaming fans all yelling for his autograph.
“Hey Max, you better come on in.” Mrs Whitman said
“Thanks Mrs Whitman…Alex around?”
“Yeah, he’s been expecting you. He is down in the basement working on something…hey what’s in the box?”
“Oh nothing much, just a couple of presents for Liz and Isabel.” Max said, trying to hide his smile as the image of Liz dressed in her white silk nightgown, sleeping in the silk sheets of her bed, formed in his head.
Mrs Whitman showed Max the door to the basement and he walked down the stairs. Alex had just set up three emitters on his new device, each pointing to the other and forming a triangle. Just as Max reached the bottom step, Alex threw on the power causing sparks of electricity to arch between the points. They sparked over and over again, getting faster and faster until a sphere of energy burst forth before fading away. Max watched the focal point of the emitters. It was full of a swirling vapour that eventually flattened out, forming a wall of cloud.
“What the hell was that?” Max asked loudly
“Max!” Alex said as he realised his friend was in the room. “Like my new toy?”
“Yeah it looks great…what the hell is it?”
“Well I figured that if the Omniriad want me then why not put up a fight.” Alex said smugly
“This is a weapon?”
“No! Just something that could be very fun…here, watch this.” Alex said.
He picked up a pen, typed in a few numbers in a keypad and then threw the pen into the centre of the mist. Max watched on as it didn’t come out the other side but rather it fell on top of his head.
“What the hell?” Max said as he looked up but saw nothing. Then he bent down and picked up the pen. “How’d you do that?”
“Hmm, looks like I need to calibrate the target co-ordinates.” Alex pondered. He went back to the keyboard and made a few alterations.
“Alex?” Max said impatiently
“Sorry…well I got this idea from Phoenix. He asked me a question and I spurted out something on how to make wormholes.”
“And that’s what this is?” Max asked as he handed back the pen to Alex.
“Yeah, with this I can make doorways to…well, anywhere.” Alex said, “Okay lets try this again!”
Just as Alex was about to throw the pen back through the vapours, Max looked up and took a couple of long steps backwards. Alex tossed the pen threw. It twirled in the air and travelled through the cloud and right into the side of Max’s head.
“OUHH…ALEX?” Max said as he rubbed the side of his head.
“Still needs work!” Alex said, “Sorry man!”
“No problem…hey, you said anywhere right?” Max said
Alex nodded
“Antar?”
“Possibly…but that would need very accurate co-ordinates, better processing power and a shit load of power.” Alex responded, “Why?”
“I’m their king…I’m not going anywhere without Liz and if she wants to stay here…I like having the idea of just having to step threw that and be there while I get to stay with my family. Or the other way around…going to Antar and getting to visit here. What is wrong with the aiming anyway?”
“I don’t know! I probably need to tinker a little more.” Alex said
“Where did you get all this stuff anyway?” Max asked as he looked at the amount to circuits, wires and an assortment of electronic components.
“Everywhere in the house…that reminds me, I’m going to need a new TV for my room.” Alex said as he looked at the part of his device that was made from his television set.
“Anyway about why I came.”
“Oh yeah...its over here!” Alex said
He moved over to the box and opened it. He pulled out the top box and opened it to find the white nightgown he bought for Liz. He felt the material between his fingers and smiled.
“Perfect.” Max said as he closed the box over. He checked the through the others, separating Alex’s choices from his own. Both were pleased by the quality of the garments and the bedclothes, they were much better than they had expected. But Max looked back into the main box and found two extra ones.
“Hey what’s this?” Max asked
“What?” Alex asked as he looked back into the box.
They pulled out the boxes and opened them. Inside they found two full-length silk robes that matched the other gifts perfectly. Along with one of them they found a note that read:
Dear King Zan,
Please accept these gifts from our staff in the hopes of your continued patronage. Please be assured that your custom is highly valued and will be treated with the utmost discretion!
Yours Sincerely,
William Muller
Manager
“How did they know it was you?” Alex asked
“Well we did use my credit card…how many Max Evans live in Roswell and are associated with an Alexander Whitman who lives at this address?” Max said
“I suppose! Well, looks like status has its perks.” Alex said
“Yeah…but I think I’ll send them a thank you note along with a check for these.” Max said
“You really don’t like gifts do you?” Alex asked
“Not when the company is asking for you to shop from them again…this way we’re covered!”
“Yeah I guess; got to admit those guys got some good taste!” Alex said as he looked over the red robe once more before closing the box and put it with his selection. “So when are you giving them to Liz?”
“Tomorrow, no school and she’ll spend a very luxurious night out for dinner.” Max said
“Oh big night planned?”
“Baring the amount of time we’ll spend in Washington together, this will be our last night out because of everything that’s going on…”
“Yeah, oh well at least you get to see her in a couple of days without her scratching.” Alex said
“And no doubt Isabel will be giving you a special thank you.” Max said
Alex was surprised, for the first time there wasn’t any sign of the brotherly tone in Max’s voice when he made the comment.
“Hey don’t look at me like that, it’s about time I was an adult about this. You’re my sisters mate, she’s pregnant with your children…same kinda situation I’m in!” Max said maturely
“That we’re all in!” Alex corrected
“What about you, when are you giving them to Isabel?” Max asked
“Tomorrow as well…I don’t relish the idea of giving them to her only to piss her off because she has to dirty them tonight.” Alex said
“Why, what’s tonight?”
“We’re going hunting for Gandi’s…crystal thingies. Remember? We find them, dig them up and move them to a safe place.” Alex explained
“Oh yeah I completely forgot about that. I take it Liz found a place for them?” Max asked
“Yeah, Serena said that they can dig through loose soil and mud pretty well but they can’t move through solid rock. Liz said we could put them in that cave Zan and Ava used before they got here…once its sealed nothing gets in or out and everything will be fine.”
Crashdown Restaurant, 19:00
Liz and Maria were in their uniforms and serving the latest batch of customers. Michael was in the kitchen, producing burger after burger as he tried to keep up with the demand that they had tonight. All three were just thankful that they only had another half an hour before they finished for the evening.
Liz’s alien pet, Gandi, had once again found the highest flat spot she could find and just perched herself there as she watched Liz and Maria move about, no one else knew about her presence. Maria was certainly a lot more comfortable around the alien creature now but Michael still had issues with it. Given what had happened with his sister, no one could really blame him.
“Order up.” Michael yelled
Maria collected the tray and made her way round the counter to the table of waiting customers. Unfortunately, halfway there she tripped on a bag belonging to one of the customers. Gandi acted fast, she shot from her perch and caught Maria in two of her tentacles, another four grabbed onto the tray and prevented it from spilling its contents.
All the customers just stopped what they were doing and just looked on. Gandi helped Maria back to her feet before she mimicked the actions she observed Liz do over the evening and put the tray down on the table. Slowly she used her last two tentacles to put the plates in front of the customers.
“It’s okay, everyone.” Liz said, “This is my pet and she’s harmless…mostly.”
Maria had watched Gandi’s actions and was suitably impressed, even though the customers had gotten the wrong plates. “Nice trick.”
“Yeah!” said Liz quietly, “Gandi, go on upstairs. I’ll be up in a second!”
Gandi did her usual growling screech before bumping her head against Liz’s cheek. With a similar action to Maria, Gandi withdrew her long tentacles and moved over to the doors to the back room. She pushed threw them and floated up the stairs.
“Totally cool!” Said one of the teenage patrons.
“Yeah.” said one of his friends
Another of the customers was a reporter. He was there looking for a new angle on the alien story and just found it, within seconds he was out the door. Five minutes later, he was up on Liz’s balcony with a video camera shooting film of Gandi moving about, 10 minutes after that he was back out front with a camera crew. When the red light of the camera blinked on he started to speak.
“In the last couple of weeks, the Crashdown Restaurant in Roswell has become known the world over as the Alien Cafe thanks to the small Antarian population that frequents it. But now it has a new reason for fame. The Crashdown now has it’s own alien waiter.
This extraordinary footage was shot of the strange creature just a few minutes ago and before this, it was serving customers. This alien does resemble the description given by several students of West Roswell High of a creature that attacked one of the friends of the Antarians. So far there has been no comment from the Parkers or the Antarians concerning this matter. We’ll have more at 11!”
“And we’re out!” said the Camera man
“When does that air?” asked the reporter
“In about 20 minutes!”
“Good…lets find out more. What was the name of that girl that it attacked?”
“Uh, Dupree…Laurie Dupree. She lives with a bunch of the aliens on the other side of town.” Said a researcher
“Let’s go!” They all piled into the news van and left across town to get the scoop.
Soap Factory, Same Time
“See its perfect!” Said Rath
“Hell of a fixer upper. But it does have promise I guess.” Zan responded as he looked up at the roof of the abandoned factory
Rath looked over at his friend and saw a gleam in his eyes. He knew he had managed to capture Zan’s interest.
“Admit it Zan, you want this as much as I do.”
“Want what?” Lonnie asked as she, Laurie and Ava entered
“Hi ladies!” Zan said as he moved over to Ava’s side, their eyes never breaking contact.
“Hi…what’s going on?” Ava asked
“Well Rath wants…”
Rath cleared his throat loudly
“Sorry, Rath and I were thinking about buying this place.” Zan explained
“WHAT?” all three women said in unison
“Why the hell would you want to buy this place?” Lonnie asked with disbelief
“We want to make it into a nightclub.” Rath said smugly
“A nightclub? Rath what the hell are you on? This place is a dump.” Laurie said
“Guys, how many clubs were we thrown out of in New York?” Rath asked
“Too many…all we wanted to do was have some fun.” Ava said
“Exactly. Here we get to own one and we get to make the calls.” Zan continued
“You guys really want to do this?” Laurie asked
“Absolutely!”
“What are you going to call it?” Lonnie asked
Both men nodded after thinking for a second. “Antar!” they said in unison.
“Hey why are you here anyway?” Rath asked
“There’s a problem with Alex.” Lonnie said
“What problem?” Zan asked seriously
“Well it appears that Alex has got a whole lot of info in his head. The Granolith dumped it in there when he got killed and now those Omniriad lot decided that it’s too much of a risk to have him around little old humans so they want to take him.” Lonnie said with venom
Rath caught her tone loud and clear. He knew that Alex and his girl had gotten closer since Lonnie pretended to be Isabel and felt a little jealous. “Take him where?”
“Anywhere, just as long as it isn’t Earth and they’ve said that it’s only him. Meaning they plan on leaving Isabel and their kids without him!”
Rath then caught on that Lonnie was really concerned about her sister and her family and not just her friendship with Alex. “So what can we do?” He asked
“We are gonna be there, all of us, right beside him.” Lonnie said as she moved in front of her mate. “Right!”
Rath and Zan looked at her as she crossed her arms as she stood toe to toe with them. She stared them down until they were put in their place.
“Yes ma’am!” They both said
Evans Residence, 19:10
Max had given Alex a lift over to his home. As they made their way inside, they hid all of boxes as best they could as they snuck by the living room while being especially careful to avoid Isabel. Once all the boxes were carefully hidden in Max’s room, the two made their way back out to the hall where they were greeted with Isabel, her arms crossed!
“And what are you two up to?” Isabel asked
“What makes you think we’re up to something?” Max asked defensively
“Well both of you have been secretive, you sneaked in here and you…” she said while indicating to Alex, “Have dampened our link so I can’t hear your thoughts…now what is going on?”
Alex looked at Max, “Change of plans?” he asked his mates brother. Max nodded.
“I was intending on it being a surprise…but okay, come on!” Alex said.
Isabel followed them into Max’s bedroom where she watched Alex pull out few boxes from under Max’s bed.
“What’s this?” Isabel asked as Alex laid them out on the bed.
“Presents.” Alex said.
“Presents?” Isabel asked giddily, “Can I open them?”
“Of course you can.” Alex said happily
Isabel moved to the first box but just as she took hold of the lid her father yelled out, “Max, Izzy! Could you come here for a minute?”
“Every time.” Isabel said with frustration
“Huh?” Alex asked
“Every time Isabel starts to open a present, dad has a tendency to call on us!” Max explained as they moved out of the room, down the hall and to the living room.
“Alex, good…this could save some time!” Philip said. He remembered his earlier talk with his daughter and managed to restrain himself from locking his hands round Alex’s throat.
“What’s going on?” Max asked
“I’ve finished opening up your off-shore accounts.” Philip said as he picked up three folders. “These contain all the information you need as well as some instructions so you can set up passwords for the accounts.”
“You sold all the stuff from the cave already?” Max asked
“No, just the metals. Several companies have bought them and some went to government contacts. There is a central account that the money will be paid into before it’s separated into your accounts.”
“What about all those gems and things?” Isabel asked
“The bank is sending out an appraiser, he’ll study the stones, determine their value and arrange for transportation to the bank in Zurich.”
“This guy does know that there is something like a couple of thousand rocks?” Alex asked
“Oh yeah but given the unusual nature of the transaction, he will only pick out a few random stones from each crate.”
All three took the folders and looked at them carefully.
“Now I want you to put those somewhere safe and could you give these to the others. There is one for everybody, including Laurie…when you see her ask if she wants to transfer her assets to this account as well, I can set it up for her.”
“Sure I’ll ask!” Max said
“So, I’m guessing you three have plans tonight?” Philip asked
“Yeah!” said Alex
“Do I want to know about it?”
“No!” all three said in unison
They all stood up but as Max and Isabel started to leave Alex didn’t move.
“Alex?” Isabel said
“I’ll be along in a minute!” he said to his mate
They went back to Max’s room, Alex stayed still!
“Alex?” Mr Evans asked
“Mr Evans…I would like to ask your permission to marry Isabel.”
“You know it is considered traditional to ask me before you ask the girl?” Philip asked
“Yes sir, I’m sorry but I love Isabel and I would like her to be my wife. I have no intention of taking that step without your blessing.”
“And what about this situation that I’ve heard about on the news…something to do with the Omniriad?”
“I’m not leaving Isabel or Earth…nothing those people can do will change that.” Alex said confidently
“You’re sure…I don’t want her raising your children without you.”
“Yes sir! Positive.”
Philip extended his hand and Alex took it, he couldn’t contain the smile.
“Welcome to the family my boy! Now go tell her so she can tell her mother.”
Alex left the room and went back into Max’s room where he found a very concerned looking Isabel. He moved over to her and lifted her up on to her feet. Alex didn’t say a word; he just kissed her passionately, leaving her breathless when he pulled away.
“What…was that for?” Isabel asked
“As soon as you tell your mom, we’re going to be officially engaged.” Alex said
Isabel was speechless; she just pulled Alex against her body and held him tight. Max moved over to the couple and put his had on his sister’s back.
“Congratulations you two.” The young king said cheerfully. Then he looked round to see Alex…
“Uh Isabel, he’s turning blue!”
Isabel let Alex go, who then gasped for breath. Max could only chuckle.
“Oh my god I can’t believe it.” Isabel said happily
“Yeah…too bad we have to wait till we’re old enough.” Alex said, “Hey Max, when are you and Liz going to tell your parents?”
“Soon, I just want to be sure Mr Parker doesn’t have a gun.” Max semi-joked
“Hey, you haven’t opened your presents yet.” Alex said as he turned back to Isabel
“I wanted to wait for you.” Isabel said. She moved back over to the box she started to open before and lifted off the lid. She folded back the packing paper and found the silk nightdress. “Oh my god!” she said softly as she pulled it out.
Both guys just watched Isabel as she held the garment up to her body and looked at herself in Max’s mirror. Alex moved behind Isabel and whispered in her ear, “Princesses and queens should always be surrounded with silk when they sleep.”
Both just looked at each other for a moment before Isabel carefully folded her present and gently placed it back in the box. Slowly she moved over to another, then another and then the last. She couldn’t say a word; she just ran her fingers over the red fabric. It wasn’t only her favourite colour; it was the colour that she looked best in, the colour Alex loved to see her in.
“Alex…I don’t know what to say.” she said quietly with a tear in her eye.
Alex gently lifted his finger to her eye and wiped away the tear. “You okay?” he asked
Isabel just nodded her head as Alex sat down on the edge of the bed in front of her. Once he was seated Isabel leaned over and hugged him tightly.
“Who are those boxes for?” Isabel asked as she spotted them through a crack in the cupboard door.
“Those ones are for Liz, Alex and I kinda had the idea for these at the same time.” Max said
“Well believe me, she will love them.”
“Actually we better get going…were supposed to meet everyone at the Crashdown before out little hunt tonight!”
The three of them packed away the gifts and moved them into Isabel’s bedroom. Then they climbed into the jeep and drove off.
A Very Large Mansion, Somewhere in Beverly Hills, California, Later
The news report of Gandi had just finished and had quickly been picked up by rival news outlets but the damage was done. The Mattel’s were one of the richest families in the U.S. having made their money from oil and clever fiddling on the stock markets. They had just watched the news and once again it was an alien thing but unfortunately, their spoiled brat of a son had seen it as well.
“Mommy I want!” said the youngster
“Sorry sweetie but there is only one of those things and it’s owned by someone else.” Said Mrs Mattel
“I WANT, I WANT, I WANT!” he yelled over and over again
His mother just looked over to her husband, “Son, I don’t think it is smart…”
“GIMMI!” he yelled again
“Okay, I’ll get it for you!” said Mr Mattel
The boy smiled smugly and sat back against his seat. Mr Mattel thought about having one of those things in his house but figured it couldn’t be that dangerous. He was confident that he would succeed in any negotiations, he always won and he always got what his son wanted…even if it was a passing fancy! {Get ready for a new home!} He thought to the alien.
To Be Continued…
Whitman Residence, A Little While Later
Responding to a knock at the door, Alex’s mother went to it and opened it. On the other side she found Max, behind him were his agents and behind them a mob of screaming fans all yelling for his autograph.
“Hey Max, you better come on in.” Mrs Whitman said
“Thanks Mrs Whitman…Alex around?”
“Yeah, he’s been expecting you. He is down in the basement working on something…hey what’s in the box?”
“Oh nothing much, just a couple of presents for Liz and Isabel.” Max said, trying to hide his smile as the image of Liz dressed in her white silk nightgown, sleeping in the silk sheets of her bed, formed in his head.
Mrs Whitman showed Max the door to the basement and he walked down the stairs. Alex had just set up three emitters on his new device, each pointing to the other and forming a triangle. Just as Max reached the bottom step, Alex threw on the power causing sparks of electricity to arch between the points. They sparked over and over again, getting faster and faster until a sphere of energy burst forth before fading away. Max watched the focal point of the emitters. It was full of a swirling vapour that eventually flattened out, forming a wall of cloud.
“What the hell was that?” Max asked loudly
“Max!” Alex said as he realised his friend was in the room. “Like my new toy?”
“Yeah it looks great…what the hell is it?”
“Well I figured that if the Omniriad want me then why not put up a fight.” Alex said smugly
“This is a weapon?”
“No! Just something that could be very fun…here, watch this.” Alex said.
He picked up a pen, typed in a few numbers in a keypad and then threw the pen into the centre of the mist. Max watched on as it didn’t come out the other side but rather it fell on top of his head.
“What the hell?” Max said as he looked up but saw nothing. Then he bent down and picked up the pen. “How’d you do that?”
“Hmm, looks like I need to calibrate the target co-ordinates.” Alex pondered. He went back to the keyboard and made a few alterations.
“Alex?” Max said impatiently
“Sorry…well I got this idea from Phoenix. He asked me a question and I spurted out something on how to make wormholes.”
“And that’s what this is?” Max asked as he handed back the pen to Alex.
“Yeah, with this I can make doorways to…well, anywhere.” Alex said, “Okay lets try this again!”
Just as Alex was about to throw the pen back through the vapours, Max looked up and took a couple of long steps backwards. Alex tossed the pen threw. It twirled in the air and travelled through the cloud and right into the side of Max’s head.
“OUHH…ALEX?” Max said as he rubbed the side of his head.
“Still needs work!” Alex said, “Sorry man!”
“No problem…hey, you said anywhere right?” Max said
Alex nodded
“Antar?”
“Possibly…but that would need very accurate co-ordinates, better processing power and a shit load of power.” Alex responded, “Why?”
“I’m their king…I’m not going anywhere without Liz and if she wants to stay here…I like having the idea of just having to step threw that and be there while I get to stay with my family. Or the other way around…going to Antar and getting to visit here. What is wrong with the aiming anyway?”
“I don’t know! I probably need to tinker a little more.” Alex said
“Where did you get all this stuff anyway?” Max asked as he looked at the amount to circuits, wires and an assortment of electronic components.
“Everywhere in the house…that reminds me, I’m going to need a new TV for my room.” Alex said as he looked at the part of his device that was made from his television set.
“Anyway about why I came.”
“Oh yeah...its over here!” Alex said
He moved over to the box and opened it. He pulled out the top box and opened it to find the white nightgown he bought for Liz. He felt the material between his fingers and smiled.
“Perfect.” Max said as he closed the box over. He checked the through the others, separating Alex’s choices from his own. Both were pleased by the quality of the garments and the bedclothes, they were much better than they had expected. But Max looked back into the main box and found two extra ones.
“Hey what’s this?” Max asked
“What?” Alex asked as he looked back into the box.
They pulled out the boxes and opened them. Inside they found two full-length silk robes that matched the other gifts perfectly. Along with one of them they found a note that read:
Dear King Zan,
Please accept these gifts from our staff in the hopes of your continued patronage. Please be assured that your custom is highly valued and will be treated with the utmost discretion!
Yours Sincerely,
William Muller
Manager
“How did they know it was you?” Alex asked
“Well we did use my credit card…how many Max Evans live in Roswell and are associated with an Alexander Whitman who lives at this address?” Max said
“I suppose! Well, looks like status has its perks.” Alex said
“Yeah…but I think I’ll send them a thank you note along with a check for these.” Max said
“You really don’t like gifts do you?” Alex asked
“Not when the company is asking for you to shop from them again…this way we’re covered!”
“Yeah I guess; got to admit those guys got some good taste!” Alex said as he looked over the red robe once more before closing the box and put it with his selection. “So when are you giving them to Liz?”
“Tomorrow, no school and she’ll spend a very luxurious night out for dinner.” Max said
“Oh big night planned?”
“Baring the amount of time we’ll spend in Washington together, this will be our last night out because of everything that’s going on…”
“Yeah, oh well at least you get to see her in a couple of days without her scratching.” Alex said
“And no doubt Isabel will be giving you a special thank you.” Max said
Alex was surprised, for the first time there wasn’t any sign of the brotherly tone in Max’s voice when he made the comment.
“Hey don’t look at me like that, it’s about time I was an adult about this. You’re my sisters mate, she’s pregnant with your children…same kinda situation I’m in!” Max said maturely
“That we’re all in!” Alex corrected
“What about you, when are you giving them to Isabel?” Max asked
“Tomorrow as well…I don’t relish the idea of giving them to her only to piss her off because she has to dirty them tonight.” Alex said
“Why, what’s tonight?”
“We’re going hunting for Gandi’s…crystal thingies. Remember? We find them, dig them up and move them to a safe place.” Alex explained
“Oh yeah I completely forgot about that. I take it Liz found a place for them?” Max asked
“Yeah, Serena said that they can dig through loose soil and mud pretty well but they can’t move through solid rock. Liz said we could put them in that cave Zan and Ava used before they got here…once its sealed nothing gets in or out and everything will be fine.”
Crashdown Restaurant, 19:00
Liz and Maria were in their uniforms and serving the latest batch of customers. Michael was in the kitchen, producing burger after burger as he tried to keep up with the demand that they had tonight. All three were just thankful that they only had another half an hour before they finished for the evening.
Liz’s alien pet, Gandi, had once again found the highest flat spot she could find and just perched herself there as she watched Liz and Maria move about, no one else knew about her presence. Maria was certainly a lot more comfortable around the alien creature now but Michael still had issues with it. Given what had happened with his sister, no one could really blame him.
“Order up.” Michael yelled
Maria collected the tray and made her way round the counter to the table of waiting customers. Unfortunately, halfway there she tripped on a bag belonging to one of the customers. Gandi acted fast, she shot from her perch and caught Maria in two of her tentacles, another four grabbed onto the tray and prevented it from spilling its contents.
All the customers just stopped what they were doing and just looked on. Gandi helped Maria back to her feet before she mimicked the actions she observed Liz do over the evening and put the tray down on the table. Slowly she used her last two tentacles to put the plates in front of the customers.
“It’s okay, everyone.” Liz said, “This is my pet and she’s harmless…mostly.”
Maria had watched Gandi’s actions and was suitably impressed, even though the customers had gotten the wrong plates. “Nice trick.”
“Yeah!” said Liz quietly, “Gandi, go on upstairs. I’ll be up in a second!”
Gandi did her usual growling screech before bumping her head against Liz’s cheek. With a similar action to Maria, Gandi withdrew her long tentacles and moved over to the doors to the back room. She pushed threw them and floated up the stairs.
“Totally cool!” Said one of the teenage patrons.
“Yeah.” said one of his friends
Another of the customers was a reporter. He was there looking for a new angle on the alien story and just found it, within seconds he was out the door. Five minutes later, he was up on Liz’s balcony with a video camera shooting film of Gandi moving about, 10 minutes after that he was back out front with a camera crew. When the red light of the camera blinked on he started to speak.
“In the last couple of weeks, the Crashdown Restaurant in Roswell has become known the world over as the Alien Cafe thanks to the small Antarian population that frequents it. But now it has a new reason for fame. The Crashdown now has it’s own alien waiter.
This extraordinary footage was shot of the strange creature just a few minutes ago and before this, it was serving customers. This alien does resemble the description given by several students of West Roswell High of a creature that attacked one of the friends of the Antarians. So far there has been no comment from the Parkers or the Antarians concerning this matter. We’ll have more at 11!”
“And we’re out!” said the Camera man
“When does that air?” asked the reporter
“In about 20 minutes!”
“Good…lets find out more. What was the name of that girl that it attacked?”
“Uh, Dupree…Laurie Dupree. She lives with a bunch of the aliens on the other side of town.” Said a researcher
“Let’s go!” They all piled into the news van and left across town to get the scoop.
Soap Factory, Same Time
“See its perfect!” Said Rath
“Hell of a fixer upper. But it does have promise I guess.” Zan responded as he looked up at the roof of the abandoned factory
Rath looked over at his friend and saw a gleam in his eyes. He knew he had managed to capture Zan’s interest.
“Admit it Zan, you want this as much as I do.”
“Want what?” Lonnie asked as she, Laurie and Ava entered
“Hi ladies!” Zan said as he moved over to Ava’s side, their eyes never breaking contact.
“Hi…what’s going on?” Ava asked
“Well Rath wants…”
Rath cleared his throat loudly
“Sorry, Rath and I were thinking about buying this place.” Zan explained
“WHAT?” all three women said in unison
“Why the hell would you want to buy this place?” Lonnie asked with disbelief
“We want to make it into a nightclub.” Rath said smugly
“A nightclub? Rath what the hell are you on? This place is a dump.” Laurie said
“Guys, how many clubs were we thrown out of in New York?” Rath asked
“Too many…all we wanted to do was have some fun.” Ava said
“Exactly. Here we get to own one and we get to make the calls.” Zan continued
“You guys really want to do this?” Laurie asked
“Absolutely!”
“What are you going to call it?” Lonnie asked
Both men nodded after thinking for a second. “Antar!” they said in unison.
“Hey why are you here anyway?” Rath asked
“There’s a problem with Alex.” Lonnie said
“What problem?” Zan asked seriously
“Well it appears that Alex has got a whole lot of info in his head. The Granolith dumped it in there when he got killed and now those Omniriad lot decided that it’s too much of a risk to have him around little old humans so they want to take him.” Lonnie said with venom
Rath caught her tone loud and clear. He knew that Alex and his girl had gotten closer since Lonnie pretended to be Isabel and felt a little jealous. “Take him where?”
“Anywhere, just as long as it isn’t Earth and they’ve said that it’s only him. Meaning they plan on leaving Isabel and their kids without him!”
Rath then caught on that Lonnie was really concerned about her sister and her family and not just her friendship with Alex. “So what can we do?” He asked
“We are gonna be there, all of us, right beside him.” Lonnie said as she moved in front of her mate. “Right!”
Rath and Zan looked at her as she crossed her arms as she stood toe to toe with them. She stared them down until they were put in their place.
“Yes ma’am!” They both said
Evans Residence, 19:10
Max had given Alex a lift over to his home. As they made their way inside, they hid all of boxes as best they could as they snuck by the living room while being especially careful to avoid Isabel. Once all the boxes were carefully hidden in Max’s room, the two made their way back out to the hall where they were greeted with Isabel, her arms crossed!
“And what are you two up to?” Isabel asked
“What makes you think we’re up to something?” Max asked defensively
“Well both of you have been secretive, you sneaked in here and you…” she said while indicating to Alex, “Have dampened our link so I can’t hear your thoughts…now what is going on?”
Alex looked at Max, “Change of plans?” he asked his mates brother. Max nodded.
“I was intending on it being a surprise…but okay, come on!” Alex said.
Isabel followed them into Max’s bedroom where she watched Alex pull out few boxes from under Max’s bed.
“What’s this?” Isabel asked as Alex laid them out on the bed.
“Presents.” Alex said.
“Presents?” Isabel asked giddily, “Can I open them?”
“Of course you can.” Alex said happily
Isabel moved to the first box but just as she took hold of the lid her father yelled out, “Max, Izzy! Could you come here for a minute?”
“Every time.” Isabel said with frustration
“Huh?” Alex asked
“Every time Isabel starts to open a present, dad has a tendency to call on us!” Max explained as they moved out of the room, down the hall and to the living room.
“Alex, good…this could save some time!” Philip said. He remembered his earlier talk with his daughter and managed to restrain himself from locking his hands round Alex’s throat.
“What’s going on?” Max asked
“I’ve finished opening up your off-shore accounts.” Philip said as he picked up three folders. “These contain all the information you need as well as some instructions so you can set up passwords for the accounts.”
“You sold all the stuff from the cave already?” Max asked
“No, just the metals. Several companies have bought them and some went to government contacts. There is a central account that the money will be paid into before it’s separated into your accounts.”
“What about all those gems and things?” Isabel asked
“The bank is sending out an appraiser, he’ll study the stones, determine their value and arrange for transportation to the bank in Zurich.”
“This guy does know that there is something like a couple of thousand rocks?” Alex asked
“Oh yeah but given the unusual nature of the transaction, he will only pick out a few random stones from each crate.”
All three took the folders and looked at them carefully.
“Now I want you to put those somewhere safe and could you give these to the others. There is one for everybody, including Laurie…when you see her ask if she wants to transfer her assets to this account as well, I can set it up for her.”
“Sure I’ll ask!” Max said
“So, I’m guessing you three have plans tonight?” Philip asked
“Yeah!” said Alex
“Do I want to know about it?”
“No!” all three said in unison
They all stood up but as Max and Isabel started to leave Alex didn’t move.
“Alex?” Isabel said
“I’ll be along in a minute!” he said to his mate
They went back to Max’s room, Alex stayed still!
“Alex?” Mr Evans asked
“Mr Evans…I would like to ask your permission to marry Isabel.”
“You know it is considered traditional to ask me before you ask the girl?” Philip asked
“Yes sir, I’m sorry but I love Isabel and I would like her to be my wife. I have no intention of taking that step without your blessing.”
“And what about this situation that I’ve heard about on the news…something to do with the Omniriad?”
“I’m not leaving Isabel or Earth…nothing those people can do will change that.” Alex said confidently
“You’re sure…I don’t want her raising your children without you.”
“Yes sir! Positive.”
Philip extended his hand and Alex took it, he couldn’t contain the smile.
“Welcome to the family my boy! Now go tell her so she can tell her mother.”
Alex left the room and went back into Max’s room where he found a very concerned looking Isabel. He moved over to her and lifted her up on to her feet. Alex didn’t say a word; he just kissed her passionately, leaving her breathless when he pulled away.
“What…was that for?” Isabel asked
“As soon as you tell your mom, we’re going to be officially engaged.” Alex said
Isabel was speechless; she just pulled Alex against her body and held him tight. Max moved over to the couple and put his had on his sister’s back.
“Congratulations you two.” The young king said cheerfully. Then he looked round to see Alex…
“Uh Isabel, he’s turning blue!”
Isabel let Alex go, who then gasped for breath. Max could only chuckle.
“Oh my god I can’t believe it.” Isabel said happily
“Yeah…too bad we have to wait till we’re old enough.” Alex said, “Hey Max, when are you and Liz going to tell your parents?”
“Soon, I just want to be sure Mr Parker doesn’t have a gun.” Max semi-joked
“Hey, you haven’t opened your presents yet.” Alex said as he turned back to Isabel
“I wanted to wait for you.” Isabel said. She moved back over to the box she started to open before and lifted off the lid. She folded back the packing paper and found the silk nightdress. “Oh my god!” she said softly as she pulled it out.
Both guys just watched Isabel as she held the garment up to her body and looked at herself in Max’s mirror. Alex moved behind Isabel and whispered in her ear, “Princesses and queens should always be surrounded with silk when they sleep.”
Both just looked at each other for a moment before Isabel carefully folded her present and gently placed it back in the box. Slowly she moved over to another, then another and then the last. She couldn’t say a word; she just ran her fingers over the red fabric. It wasn’t only her favourite colour; it was the colour that she looked best in, the colour Alex loved to see her in.
“Alex…I don’t know what to say.” she said quietly with a tear in her eye.
Alex gently lifted his finger to her eye and wiped away the tear. “You okay?” he asked
Isabel just nodded her head as Alex sat down on the edge of the bed in front of her. Once he was seated Isabel leaned over and hugged him tightly.
“Who are those boxes for?” Isabel asked as she spotted them through a crack in the cupboard door.
“Those ones are for Liz, Alex and I kinda had the idea for these at the same time.” Max said
“Well believe me, she will love them.”
“Actually we better get going…were supposed to meet everyone at the Crashdown before out little hunt tonight!”
The three of them packed away the gifts and moved them into Isabel’s bedroom. Then they climbed into the jeep and drove off.
A Very Large Mansion, Somewhere in Beverly Hills, California, Later
The news report of Gandi had just finished and had quickly been picked up by rival news outlets but the damage was done. The Mattel’s were one of the richest families in the U.S. having made their money from oil and clever fiddling on the stock markets. They had just watched the news and once again it was an alien thing but unfortunately, their spoiled brat of a son had seen it as well.
“Mommy I want!” said the youngster
“Sorry sweetie but there is only one of those things and it’s owned by someone else.” Said Mrs Mattel
“I WANT, I WANT, I WANT!” he yelled over and over again
His mother just looked over to her husband, “Son, I don’t think it is smart…”
“GIMMI!” he yelled again
“Okay, I’ll get it for you!” said Mr Mattel
The boy smiled smugly and sat back against his seat. Mr Mattel thought about having one of those things in his house but figured it couldn’t be that dangerous. He was confident that he would succeed in any negotiations, he always won and he always got what his son wanted…even if it was a passing fancy! {Get ready for a new home!} He thought to the alien.
To Be Continued…