Antar's 2nd Chance (CC/ mature) April 9 COMPLETE

[ken_r]

Antar’s Second Chance

Author: ken_r
The characters are not mine and i hope I use them with dignity due to the pleasure they have given so many in the books and TV about the young people of Roswell.

I looked at it as a challenge to make CC pairings.
The rating is probably mature. I want to be free as to the language and as to the actions of the characters. Sometimes i wish I could be as sexy as so many writers I admire

Time is like a river. It has great inertia as it flows in the only natural direction it knows. If you were to travel back in time and effect change the change would be quickly swallowed up in the surging stream. True there would be change but the change would only momentary as the pressure of the flow would force the stream to continue in its path. The time paradox would be of no conquence because if you did kill your grandfather time would just flow along a stream where neither you nor your grandfather existed anymore. If, however you tampered over and over with time, even the strongest stream would find itself at the edge of the flow. At the edge any perturbation might cause the flow to form eddies and even be absorbed into the ether bank where that part of stream be stopped forever.

Alex the man who had learned to buy only the best was taken back. He was received by a tall blonde girl with sparkling brown eyes. She had flawless shinning complexion. Her long blonde hair showed off her black gown. A gown that with all of his experience of only having the best Alex had never seen the like. It gave the appearance of being almost erotic. As she walked arm, side and thigh all made brief but modest appearances. To the observer it was as if staring would assure a completely erotic visage of nudity but the result was always made modest by last minute changes of the placement of the fabric.

As the night wore on he got closer and closer to Isabel until their lips met. Alex had in the past finally found his dalliances, but kissing Isabel was an experience that had no comparison. For the first time he noticed there was a bed in the shadows of the room.



Antar’s Second Chance

The bus pulled into its terminal. The terminal, like so many bus stops today, was run down and dirty. The people waiting were the common people whose only choice of transportation was the bus. The people getting off were, for the most part, men and women with their possessions in cardboard boxes fastened with string, which also served as a handle. They were tired and sweaty. The bus stank of the smell of packed humans and the deodorant used in the almost useless toilet in back. Four people in fashionable dress also got off. The patrons glared at the four as if to ask, why did these people dare to place themselves with the commoners of the world? These four, who obviously were children of affluence, should have kept to their planes and cars instead of allowing themselves to affront the masses with their presence.

The four were all close to thirty years in appearance. Their clothes were of an expensive cut. Even the one called Rath, who wore a pullover sweater with corduroy slacks showing over obvious combat boots, was wearing clothes more expensive than he would have worn on any of Antar’s worlds. His features were rugged, as were those of the other male, Zan. They both had seen combat. You could tell from their walk and the scars they bore on the visible parts of their bodies. Zan wore a sports jacket over comfortable slacks. The cut of both showed their linage from clothiers of New York. The two females definitely showed their taste in apparel since they had simple dresses that could be purchased with more than the yearly salary of some of the other passengers. Vilondra was tall. She was blond when it was in her desire to be. She changed her hair color more than she changed her clothes, sometimes. Nominally, she was the sister of Zan. Obviously, at least one of her parents was different. The remaining female, Ava, was small. She was blonde by choice. She flaunted her figure, well-filled out, even if it was petite. These were the names they used on their home world. Their real names would be impossible to pronounce, as well as represent with human phonetics. They were not the men and women that had filtered through the sewers of New York as are known by so many readers. They, all four were fresh from Antar. Except for their conditioning by the Prime, they only knew the war and strife of their dying system. They had been chosen mathematically for a mission.

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The Prime went over his calculations again for the fourth time. His acolyte was surprised since the prime never made mistakes. Why was he so unsure of the results of his calculations? The truth was that Prime, for the first time in his life, was wishing for an error. Anything, except the truth told in the equations, would be preferable. The director of the department of Time Calculus had been plotting time lines and their alternatives since he had passed his exams and been installed. In a world where time travel was possible, and even used as a weapon, his department was the one to foresee the consequences of the generals and their ambition. The warring factions of the Antar system had been using time travel to change time lines, and then to change again, until the Department of Time Calculus had determined that they had moved the people of Antar to the edge of the time stream. Tiimelines in the middle of the time stream could be altered and twisted. They would straighten them selves out as the inertia of time continued. Those who found themselves at the edge of the stream were subjected to variances and eddies that would often lead to termination. Termination for the mathematician meant the problem had no solution, but to the people involved, it meant death. Billions of people in both factions, the Imperion and the Plebic, faced annihilation unless the Department of Time Calculus found a solution. It was assumed that the opposite side had their computers also foretelling of this disaster.

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Zan, the nominal leader of the group, called a taxi and handed the driver an address. Most of their stay had already been organized by the Imperion Intelligence Core, who had been in place since the late nineteen forties of this planet’s time. The taxi drove them through an older neighborhood to a large house. Zan pulled out an envelope and checked it to find an amount of US cash and a key. He pocketed the key and handed the cash to the driver. The driver thankful for the large tip helped the four people with their luggage. The luggage would have been questionable for the driver except for his memory of the large tip. The luggage was all identical. Four medium-sized suitcases, all marked Travistar. Four identical carry bags with the same marking and color. It was no business of the driver what these people did or who they were, as long as they were so generous with his tip.

Zan opened the door and the four wrestled their luggage into the house. It was a sprawling one-story affair. It had probably been built half a century ago. There had been one other piece of luggage that the driver had carried to the front step. It was a wide briefcase, locked and immediately taken possession of by Zan. The four each walked into the house and took possession of a room. They unpacked their luggage. This was to be their principal residence for the next two years, at least.

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The prime was granted immediate audience with the Imperion. The Imperion was a body that had imposed itself on the people of the old monarchy once it was decided that the old monarchy could not manage the conflict. They had used the method of time warfare gladly. The ability to go back in time to remove an important leader of the opposite side was just too tempting to be ignored. Trouble was that the opposition was, at the same level of technology, and they, likewise, delighted in this same opportunity. The two parties had practiced this infanticide, the killing of future leaders as soon as they were born, so prevalently that, if not stopped, the entire culture of Antar and probably surrounding cultures would self destruct within five Earth years. The prime had calculated, viewing adjacent time lines to twenty-five degrees variance, that there was one line where the introduction of genetics and ideologies from a distant world had brought stability and even peace to Antar. It was calculated that if these genetics and ideologies could be reintroduced into the present time line, there was a ninety-percent chance Armageddon, that term known in all cultures under different names, could be avoided.

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Zan was medium height. His hair was dark and his beard stubble showed through before a day was out. On Antar, he would either wear a beard or he would depilate this facial hair when he was in battle. Here, it had been chosen for him that he would shave every day so his appearance would fit in with the indigenous population. He opened the briefcase and took out four folders. He passed them out to the respective recipients. They contained the starting plan for the four to establish themselves within Earth culture and pursue their objectives. First, was their names. They were given human names, determined by the Department to Time Calculus to be those of the Antarian subjects who originally brought the needed influx to that other time line.

Zan looked at his folder. His new name was to be Max Evans. He was to become a student at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and take principally biology and anthropology classes. He and Vilondra would also be required to become very close to an elderly couple with the same last name as theirs. They were to be treated almost as parents. Any wisdom and knowledge the couple possessed was to be learned by both Zan and Vilondra. Max had a driver’s license and a social security number both registered in their respective departments and totally legal, as did the others.

Vilondra was to take on the name and character of Max’s sister, Isabel Evans. Besides the afore mentioned affinity with the elder Evans family she was to develop. She would be a marketing executive and, along with her identification, she was given a biography of the character she was to assume.

Rath was to assume the name Michael Guerin. His biography was brief. It alluded to military experience that was covert and would not be discussed. He was to take the roll of a soldier of fortune, willing to work for anyone. The rest of it was really close to his actual history.

Ava was given the name of Tess Harding. She was to be in commercial sales and have the education of a social worker. She would be the one to anchor the team. Since she would probably stay in Roswell. It was evident that the others would have to travel.

Zan, now Max Evans, handed out the second set of folders. They contained as much information on their individual objectives as the intelligence post could collect. None of this project could happen except for the Imperion having far flung outposts through out the galaxy.

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It had been two years in the planning. The prime had detected the anomaly in the time flow and calculated that any change in the time line by the time travelers going back would only increase this anomaly. It was then that the Department of Time Calculus investigated whether they could divert time by future choices instead of past aberrations. It was then that the Department discovered the influx of alien data had, in one part of the flow, concluded the wars and brought peace to Antar. They had calculated, with the greatest mathematicians and the greatest computers, the possibility that this influx could change their ultimate destination with obliteration. That was when the Prime bearing a list of four names and four alien objectives to the Imperion, which had the phenomenal probability of achieving this stability. The four names from the Imperion, two of which were of the old monarchial house, who were contacted and appraised of their obligation. The other two were a minor princess and a soldier. The two from the old monarchy had, since birth, been made to conformed to obligation and duty. Both of them had stolen time for themselves only to be berated for this extravagance and made to feel public shame, although privately they both felt this time was theirs to be savored. The minor princess was pissed off completely. She had not been important enough to be considered a symbol and, to this point in her life time, she had enjoyed relative freedom. The soldier would have preferred to lead a battalion, but he would follow his orders to the limit of his ability.

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Max and the three others studied their objectives carefully. His was a scientist, Elizabeth Parker, graduated with a doctorate from Harvard, one of the top schools on the Earth. She was currently employed at the University of New Mexico Medical School, doing research on a cancer project. Cancer being still, for these earthlings, a major illness. She was engaged to a Doctor Henry Forthwithe, a medical researcher in molecular biology. She was born in Roswell, New Mexico. There were other folders marked with addendums that the intelligence people had learned while they researched the good Doctor Parker.

Vilondra, now Isabel, found in her folder a man who was on his way to displacing Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. Alex Whitman had graduated with a special Degree of Engineerings, a combination of several different engineering fields, from a college in California called by the unlikely name of Harvey Mudd. This degree was a composite of many fields of engineering. Then he had proceeded to study at several other universities, finally receiving his doctorate in computer engineering. He, then, formed a company and developed the molecular memory chip. This chip stored memory as the direction of molecular motion and promised almost unlimited possibilities for memory. He was known to be a bit of a recluse and, to most people, he was unapproachable.

Ava, also known as(AKA) Theresa or, better, Tess, was assigned a broken-down soldier named Kyle Valenti. He had served twice in Afghanistan as a covert sniper. The last time he had been badly shot up and was living at his father’s house in Roswell. That was why Tess would probably not have to leave Roswell proper to attain her objective. Because Kyle was badly hurt, he had turned to drugs and alcohol to get through his day. His father, Jim Valenti, the sheriff, regulated his prescription drugs, but he did not have the heart to condemn Kyle’s use of alcohol because he knew how much pain his son endured. Tess wrinkled up her nose. Why was she saddled with an alky? How was she supposed to get a stinking drunk to love her, embrace her and return with her to form a family that would in someway save her world?

Rath, the soldier, now Michael, just looked at his objective. She was pretty, but what did he know about music? She was a singer touring through the country and protected by a phalanx of bodyguards. He was to approach her and convince her to give up her fame and glory to become his mate and establish a household on a foreign planet. Her name was Maria DeLuca.

All four of the objectives had been born in Roswell and, except for the fact they knew each other in school, they had nothing else in common. Max, getting used to calling himself by his Earth name, opened a book. It detailed their activities to establish themselves in the community. Tonight, they were to eat at a restaurant owned by his objective’s parents, the Crashdown.

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In the two years from conception to implementation, Prime had set in motion his intelligence post stationed on Earth. He had, by mathematical calculation, developed the initial plans. He had instituted training for his four subjects. The two children of the old monarchy were the easiest to train. They had been trained to assimilate roles on demand. The soldier did everything that was asked of him, but prime worried whether he would be flexible enough to complete his mission. The damned princess could be a bitch. She complained constantly of what she was giving up. She proclaimed how much she missed her many lovers. She demanded that she receive better support since she deserved it, according to her perceived station in life. If there had been one person Prime would like to have replaced it was the princess.

Prime ran recalculations daily. He projected the path of the Imperion as it was and paths of the Imperion with various levels of success. The answer came back the same every time. All four objectives must be achieved for the ninety percent chance of success. Partial success fell off sharply after that. These four objectives would bring passion, skills and genetic material that were important to stabilization. True, there were preferred successes. Doctor Parker was instrumental in stabilizing the time line and rebuilding the ecological system. The others were needed to fortify her efforts. Their genes would revitalize much of the gene pool that had been destroyed by the infanticides. Their passion could bring back the will to rebuild.

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There was a car in the driveway registered to Tess. She drove them to the address given as the Crashdown. As they entered, Max observed one wall dedicated to the Parker’s daughter. There were pictures of her high school graduation, pictures of her years at Harvard, and finally, pictures of her receiving her doctorate. The Parkers were in late-middle age. Jeff Parker’s hair was streaked with gray. His wife, Nancy, was operating the cash register and acting as hostess to greet the customers as they entered. Jeff employed high school girls as waitresses. They ran around the restaurant with bobbing antennae fastened to their hair bands. There was one interesting anomaly, a bullet hole in one wall was framed and a note telling of the near miss their daughter had had with death.

As the four entered, Nancy experienced a momentary flash of memory that made no sense. She saw her daughter walking down the aisle with Max, but that made no sense. Liz was going with that famous researcher from the university. Nancy didn’t like him very much, but if he made her daughter happy, that would be enough.

Jeff also felt something as they walked in. It was funny how his missing his daughter, Liz, colored his imagination. Sometimes he would see her running plates from table to table with her antennae flopping. How she had hated that uniform! How he missed her, even with his pride in her accomplishments.

The four aliens, at least on Earth, looked at the menu. They were aghast at the names of the items. Will Smith burger, Tommy Lee Jones omelet, the men in blackberry pie, were some of the better ones. Isabel and Tess had a moonscape salad while the two men settled on burgers with Saturn rings as a side order.

The food was good just with an unworldly flair. About that time, the sheriff dropped in. He talked to Jeff for a minute. Then, he walked over the table where the four strangers were sitting. Without adieu, he pulled up a chair and sat down.

“I understand you are new to our community?” he asked.

“Max Evans,” Max replied, “We will be living here and traveling in and out of Roswell for the next two years.”

Sheriff Valenti looked surprised when he heard Max’s last name, “We have an Evans family here in Roswell. Are you any connection to them?”

Max shook his head, “I do not think so. Our family is from back east and we know of no relatives in these parts.” With that, he introduced the other three aliens.

When the sheriff shook the hand of Tess, he held it for several seconds. “You seem familiar to me for some reason,” he looked at her carefully.

Tess smiled, “Sheriff, I have never been in the southwest before.”

The sheriff related the normal small talk about the advantages the town offered. Then, again shaking hands with everyone, he left. As he was walking out the door, his mind kept playing tricks on him. He kept seeing a jeep. He saw Kyle and Kyle was shot. He saw a fire and he felt the flames on his body, but on shaking his head, he was just in the cool night air of Roswell. It gave him a very uneasy feeling.

Early the next morning, Max and Isabel were to go walking down the street from their house. They passed a man mowing his lawn. As they passed, Max waved and replied hello. He looked up, and resting on his mower, looked like he wanted to talk.

“Hi, my name is Max Evans,” Max stated, “This is my sister, Isabel.”

The man frowned, “That is strang. My name is Evans also. Do you think we might be related or something?”

Max smiled, “No, I don’t think so. As far as we know, we have no relatives in this area.” They talked for a few more minutes. Mr. Philip Evans enjoyed talking to the young people. All the while, he kept thinking that there was something about them he should know.

After Max and Isabel left, Philip went into his house. “Diane, what were those names you had saved when we were hoping to have children?”

Diane Evans had been reading in the living room. It took her a few minutes to think what Philip meant. So long ago, when she had hope, she had picked out two names for the hoped for children, one was Maxwell for a boy and Isabel for a girl. They had even tried to adopt a baby at that time, but she had had cancer when she was young. Therefore the authorities refused to entrust her with the life of even a homeless waif. She looked at Philip, questioning him for the reason he was bringing up a painful subject for both of them.

“Diane, we have some new neighbors who have the same last name we do. Do you know what else? Their first names are Max and Isabel,” Philip just looked at Diane.

“Max, that was just weird,” Isabel said as they walked on down the street.

“I know Isabel, but the book said that getting to know the Evans couple would help us in our quest. It doesn’t say how,” Max reminded her. “Every time we get near someone we were close to in the other time line, we get special feelings.” They finished their walk.

When they got home, they found Michael preparing to leave. “I have to reconnoiter that Maria girl,” he said. “Waiting around won’t make this any easier. I will be back in two weeks. I have the cell phone the Intelligence guys assigned me. Wish me luck.” With that, he was gone to the airport.

Isabel and Tess intended to build up their wardrobes so Isabel would stay in Roswell a few more days. There was nothing Max could do except hang out at the crashdown until school started. He kept hoping Doctor Parker would return to see her parents before the hectic schedule of the fall semester began.

Isabel lay on the bed in her room. All of her life, it had been obligation and duty. As any youth growing up in an institution, she had been able to find numerous ways to defeat the system. She had had many lovers. There was that handsome guard who often allowed her to escape the walls of the palace. Then, there was Kivar, the leader of the Plebic faction. She had met him, not knowing who he was. They had danced and she had gone to his room. Their love making was torrid and hot. When they were through, her naked body was covered with sweat. Her lips were bruised and her skin tingled. Isabel had worried her way out other times to meet him. Every time was the same. At last, Kivar had asked her to open a door so he could bring an end to the hostilities that kept them apart. Isabel, upon thinking, decided that this was asking too much. She told Max. When Kivar was waiting at the door, Max led a skirmish group. He ambushed Kivar killing most of his men, but he missed Kivar himself. Since Max was the only one to know about the tryst, and he saw no reason to reveal where he got the information he used to quell the plans of Kivar, Isabel’s secret remained theirs alone. Her assignment now was to seduce a man well on the way to becomeing the richest man in the world. A petty dictator was child’s play compared to what she must try now. She must be the greatest seductress, as well as the most enchanting companion, sexually, intellectually and emotionally. First, she must meet him; hence the need for a completely new wardrobe.

[ken_r]

Stories by ken_r
This is essentially a science fiction story. Others have written stories like this but it is my first time. Science Fiction in the classical sense, like Vern, Wells and into the Fansinzes ( fan magazines) of the forties, always had scientific theories or social commentaries to hold them together. I have written essays comparing time to a stream or river so many times, when using it to a new audience I was tongue tied.

Xmag: first bought it to my attention that I need more explanation.
Sternbatrachter: seeing that for aliens to change already established lives will be difficult. And also giving me the “Sliders” analogy which my own blindness hid from me.
Kittens: seeing that the Earth people must be willing participants.
Natalie: I hope I can keep entertaining you in this fic.
Begonia9508: You have supported me in everything I have written. Thankyou. I wrote the almost daja vu for my own amusement. You have a point. If multiple universes exist then maybe they do bleed into each other.
Tequathisy: I hope I can hold your interest.
Imnotec: thank you very much. I spend a lot of time in deep depression and I appreciate the fact that some like my writing.
Mezz: you are another one that has followed my writing and I appreciate it. I hope I can live up to your trust.
KatnotKath: I hope to explain the Imperion and Prime better as we go along. Imperion follows much of history who says benevolent dictators aren’t. Think what else besides being surrogate parents can the Evans offer Max and Isabel. The Evans are still lawyers.

This is more comments than I have ever gotten thanks. Ken r

Chapter 2

Tess planned her first foray tonight. She knew that Kyle frequented a certain western bar. She and Max would attend the bar tonight. Max would strike up a friendship with Kyle, and after accessing Kyle’s injuries, he would introduce Tess and they would embark on a program of both healing and seduction.

That night at the bar, Max and Tess were sitting at a corner table. Tess received and accepted several offers to dance, especially after it was seen that she might be sitting with Max, but she was not “with” Max. They were waiting for Kyle.

Kyle Valenti, sports hero and state junior rifle champion. After graduation from high school, he drifted. At first, he was working as a assistant in a two bit repair garage. His father was so firmly entrenched in the local law enforcement, that he rebelled. Kyle wanted nothing whatever to do with law enforcement. Working as an assistant mechanic was not going anywhere, either. Opportunity arrived in the form of an army enlistment. It didn’t take more than one day on the range before Kyle found himself shuffled in a direction that would end at the sniper school. Sniper school requires much more than good shooting. A sniper is the example of patience. Living with his dad, if this didn’t developed patience, Kyle, he didn’t know what would. Sniper school requires the ability to read land, trail and people. The same attributes would have made Kyle a good law enforcement officer, but that was a trail, following his father, he wanted no part of. Kyle found that he could almost shut his mind down. Concentrating on a single objective as he just lay in his hide waiting for the objective to come into view when he would instantly, again, become fully conscious. Kyle was sent to England where he studied under the masters of subterfuge. Yes, the British had learned from their younger colonial cousins. They had a unconventional war group in place by the time Napoleon appeared. They were disciplined to act in way that the conventional soldier could not. They were effective. The British high command was no better than any other nation once the conflict was over. They tried to pretend that a British soldier would never behave in such, as they saw it, a dishonorable manner. So they won the contest of revitalization of this type of soldier at least in the number of times they rebuilt these forces, through the years and conflicts. Kyle was a trainer for American forces when he suddenly found himself in Afghanistan. He was hidden in the sand for three days. He would, from time to time near dawn or sunset, take a shot at the leadership of the other side. Then, he would hide in his cover as searchers would comb the dunes looking for him. He completed his first tour with a remarkable toll of enemy confirmed dead. For a tremendous bounty, Kyle reenlisted. For most of his tour, Kyle did fine. It was just bad luck that some dumb camel stepped on him while hidden, and then, Kyle became the target.

It was late when he came in. Max and Tess sat watching Kyle as he sat at the bar. One or two girls came up and tried to talk to him, but he rebuffed them. As far as Max could see, Kyle was just interested in getting drunk. Finally, Max walked up to him and offered to buy what ever he was having. Kyle looked at the scars on Max’s face and hands, “You’ve been there too, I see.”

Max nodded and sat hunched over his drink. Kyle was muttering as he sat. Finally Max said, “What outfit?”

Kyle muttered, “The special operations. I was there two times. I remember that damned Kipling, ‘the Afghan is the bugger of the world.’ We read Kipling in school, but I lived him for real. How ‘bout yourself?”

Max hunched and said nothing for several seconds, “You would have never heard of the places.”

Kyle nodded, “You were one of the spooky boys. You can’t talk about it. I saw several of you in the highlands.”

Max just nodded. He just let Kyle build his own story about Max. It would be easier that way. The two men sat for several minutes, each in his own thoughts or so it seemed to Kyle. Kyle turned to Max, “How do you keep them from still coming at you?”

Max shrugged, “Sometimes, a woman helps. Sometimes, I go looking for them.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. You just have to go out and strike at them until they leave.” Kyle muttered.

A drunk stumbled by and fell into Kyle. With a blood-curdling scream, Kyle went wild. He struck at the drunk and missed, hitting another man in the back as he was walking back to his table, his hands full of drinks. The man spun around and struck at Kyle. Max reached over and just put him to sleep with a nerve hold learned a thousand light years away. The bar tender came over the bar with a club and aimed it at Kyle’s head. Max caught the club and wrenched it out of the barkeep’s hands. The other bar tender was dialing the phone, so Max grabbed Kyle and dragged him out of the bar. They were still fighting when he got Kyle into Tess’s waiting car. Tess was furious, “This is what I am supposed to seduce? It would be better to take him to a veterinarian and have him prepared to give a semen sample. Let’s just do it with a turkey baster!”

Max just grunted, Tess never could see any plan that required any extra work. She could only see the stinking drunk. Maybe, Max hadn’t had as bad an experience as Kyle, but he knew the fear of battle and what it could do. As far as Max could tell, Kyle had been trapped for a very long time alone and was scared. As they were driving away they passed the sheriff and several deputies, going the other way, toward the bar, with lights blazing and sirens blaring. Tess looked at Max. “Take him to our house,” Max directed.

They got Kyle home and put him up in a spare room. Max had a chance to examine his body. Kyle had several bullets in his back close to his spine. Kyle was conscious, but not coherent. Max tried to get into his mind. It was difficult because of the alcohol, but Max, finally, was able to dissolve two of the three bullets. He covered Kyle and left him.

Tess was still furious. “I am supposed to fuck that drunk? How do we know if he even likes women any more? He is totally lost!” she complained.

“No, Tess you are not supposed to fuck that drunk. We are supposed to get him into shape so he can function and use his skills to help us. Then you are supposed to seduce him to make him part of our world and you are supposed to make a family with him,” Max was exasperated at the pettiness of Tess. She acted like she was the only one called upon to do anything or to make sacrifices.

Tess just stomped off to bed. Max knew from experience that she would pout until she saw no other way of getting out of her duty.

Tess was always furious when it came to dealing with the royal house. Just because she wasn’t that high born, didn’t mean she wasn’t as good as any of them. She had tried to seduce Max once. He came in after a small battle. She waited until he had showered, and then, she appeared naked in his chambers. He had taken her and she had given to him all parts of her body. She stayed with him four days. They made love, and then, they just fucked. She crawled over every inch of his body trying to receive and give every sensation anatomically possible. They had taken time out to eat and shower and rest, but in the end, she was as unsatisfied as he had been. She felt no higher in her station and she felt that she was no closer to any power than she had been before. She left. Max never mentioned this to anyone. For that, Tess was thankful. She had tried everything she had and failed in her quest because her quest was wrong. Now, she was to be used like a whore. A whore, her, Tess! She had been ordered to come on this stupid expedition and was going to attempt her duty, but she was sure they would blame and punish her if she failed.

The sheriff was afraid when he heard the name of the bar where the fight was occurring. He knew that Kyle would find a ride to the bar someway and he felt in his bones this fight would be Kyle’s fault. When Valenti and his deputy, Hanson, entered they had their sticks drawn. Most of the fight was over. He rounded up the drunks that obviously had been involved and when the paddy wagon arrived, they were transported to jail. Valenti didn’t ask any questions and no one saw fit to make any statements. The only thing Valenti was thankful for, was that Kyle wasn’t among the arrested. Kyle wasn’t at home that night either. The sheriff wasn’t worried because he felt that when the pain got bad enough, Kyle would wander home to get the shots and pills Valenti senior would dispense. Imagine his surprise the next morning, when on entering the Crashdown, he saw Kyle with Max and that blonde girl who lived with Max. Kyle had a couple of small bruises, but they were nothing like the wounds on those the sheriff had arrested last night.

Kyle waved when he saw his dad come in, “Hey dad, over here.”

Valenti walked over to the party. He nodded at Max and looked at Kyle asking, “what happened last night?”

“There was a fight at the bar last night, but Max and his friend, Tess, got me out before I got hurt,” Kyle seemed almost pleasant. Normally, Kyle would be hurting so much by now, that he would be screaming for his quota of drugs. Valenti hoped that Max hadn’t given Kyle some other type of drug that would get him into even more trouble later.

About that time, Jeff brought the sheriff a cup of coffee and took his thermos to be filled, as he did every morning. One of the waitresses brought Kyle a stack of pancakes swimming in butter and syrup. Kyle hadn’t eaten breakfast since he had returned from the service. They sat and talked, which was another thing the sheriff hadn’t done with his son for a long time. Max and Tess were relatively quiet.

Kyle looked at his father, “Dad, Max was a special medic in the service. I am going to stay at their place for a few days. He helped me last night and he says he can help me more.”

The elder Valenti looked at Max. Well, that explained the scars. “Do you want me to run your medicine over to Max’s house?” he asked.

Kyle looked into the remains of his pancakes and shook his head. “Max can come and get them if I need them. Maybe, I can break free from that monkey,” Kyle sighed.

The elder Valenti just shook his head and rose to leave. Jeff came over with his thermos. “Lizzy will be home this weekend,” Jeff was exhilarated.

Max took note of that. This would be his chance to meet the great Doctor Parker.

Kyle hadn’t felt this good since before he entered the service. He still had the nightmares, but the pain in his body was greatly relieved. He went walking with Isabel and Max every morning. Sometimes, they would stop and talk to the Evans family. Mr. Evans would call out to his wife when Max and Isabel stopped by. Mr. Evans had heard that Max was helping Kyle. He knew the sheriff and remembered Kyle when Kyle was a little boy.

Max and Isabel were gone a great part of the day, and sometimes, Tess would sit and talk to Kyle. At first, she was cold and not very friendly, but as time wore on, she seemed to warm up to Kyle. Finally, she asked Kyle, “Why do you scream at night?”

Kyle shook his head. He was almost embarrassed, but these people had taken him in and he did feel better since he had met them. “Sometimes, at night, they come for me again.”

Tess raised her eyebrows, “Who comes for you?”

I was shot and left out in the sun. if I tried to sleep they would shoot me again. They were using me as bait. If someone tried to reach me, they would shoot me to make me scream. Every time they put a bullet in me, I prayed for it to be the last one. Those bastards knew how to place each bullet so it would cause pain, but not bring that blessing of death. Finally, one of my mates called in a high altitude precision air strike and the cave they were hiding in was blown apart. Then, the special forces came for me and took me back to the hospital.”

Tess frowned, she had known several soldiers back at Antar, but she hadn’t thought of them as very heroic. They thought they were heroic in bed, but they weren’t even good at that. The soldiers she had known were palace soldiers, chosen for looks and charm, rather than fighting ability. Tess was wondering what a trained killer like Kyle would be like in bed. Well, she would soon get her chance to know.

Isabel left for Albuquerque. She had a job with an electronics distributing company. They had determined that this would be the best way for Isabel to meet Doctor Whitman.

Early Saturday Max was at the Crashdown for breakfast. He had heard that Liz had driven in the night before.

Liz was still a little girl at heart. She came bounding down the stairs. She kissed her mother and then hugged her father. She looked out over the dining room as she had for so many years before. She froze a minute when she saw Max. Her father had just finished making Max’s breakfast. He called Liz over to meet Roswell’s latest citizen. He put a cup of coffee for Liz at Max’s table and left. As Liz approached, Max stood up. When she came to his table, he said, “I am happy to meet you Doctor Parker. I feel I know so much about you,” Max greeted. Liz frowned but Max waved his hand toward the wall her father had made with all of her awards and pictures.

Liz blushed a little, “My father is prouder of what I have done than even I could be.”

“Well, he should be. A daughter that graduates with a doctorate from Harvard is something to be proud of,” Max extended his open hand inviting her to sit with him.

Liz frowned again, “Do I know you, Max? For some reason, I feel that we have met before.”

“Not in this lifetime, my good Doctor. I have just recently come from a great distance to attend school in Albuquerque,” Max explained.

“Max Evans should be familiar some how,” then Liz caught herself. “How did I know your name was Evans?”

Max shrugged, “Perhaps your father mentioned it. It is also the name of an old couple who I live near.”

“Is Isabel with you?” then Liz caught herself again, “You do have a sister named Isabel, don’t you?”

Max just smiled again. Liz was frightened now. “Max, will you have time to talk this afternoon?”

I am at your disposal, but the car I am driving belongs to one of the girls who lives at our house, Tess Harding,” This time, Liz really jumped. “Give me your address, Max, and I will pick you up at about two.”

Max smiled, paid for his breakfast and left.

Liz went back to her father’s and asked, “Who is that man?”

Jeff just shrugged. “Honey, he is just a newcomer. He came in here the other day with his sister, Isabel, and their friends Tess and…
“Michael,” Liz completed. Just how did she know that.

Her father smiled, “Exactly, he comes in for breakfast almost every morning. He seems to be a nice guy. He is trying to heal Kyle. You know Kyle has been getting worse ever since he got back from service,” Jeff was just talking, but Liz felt that every thing he was saying, she had known before.

Liz drove her car to Max’s address. She saw Diane and Philip working on their flower garden. As she passed, they waved. That was strange, she knew the Evans, but they barely knew her. They were waving like they were long lost friends. She arrived at the address Max had given her. She went up to the door and knocked. Tess opened the door. Liz jumped back, “Tess,” she exclaimed. One part of her was glad to see the little blonde, but the other part felt that she should hate her.

Tess looked incredulously at Liz, “Do I know you?” she inquired hesitatingly.

Liz frowned, “No, I guess not, for a minute, I thought you were someone I should know.”

Max came to the door. “Come in Liz, I will be ready in a minute,” he said.

Liz entered the door and was guided into the living room. There, she saw an old friend. “Kyle, I haven’t seen you since school. Where have you been?”

“Oh, you know, Liz, two tours in Afghanistan and a long recovery at home. I, truthfully, do not know if I have seen you since school or not,” Kyle explained.

It was not true that Liz hadn’t seen Kyle since school. One time, when she was home, the sheriff asked her to stop over and see if someone out of his past could shock Kyle back to reality. Then, he was thin and pale. His eyes were sunken and he smelled of body-odor, alcohol and urine. He now looked so much like the old Kyle ,that Liz was pleased. There had been one time, when she was a sophomore, that she thought Kyle was everything in the world. Max came out with a light windbreaker and they left.

“What did you do to Kyle?” was the first question Liz asked.

Oh, I was a medic in the service. I have had some experience with Kyle’s condition. Tess helps also. She is quite accomplished, you know.

“Yeah, at warping peoples minds,” Liz muttered.

“What did you say?” Max was frowning.

“Oh nothing, Max, I was just muttering,” Liz responded. “Where do you want to go, Max?”

“You are driving. If you want to talk, we need to go somewhere private, but not out sight of people. I wouldn’t want the good Doctor Forthwithe to get mad at me, yet.” Max instructed.

Liz hit the breaks, “That is what I mean. How do you know Doctor Forthwithe?”

“Liz, around your parents, your life is an open book. Please don’t look for anything sinister,” Max chuckled.

Liz frowned again. She was certainly doing that a lot lately. She pulled into a Starbucks. “Okay, Mr. Starman, you can buy coffee.” Max bought two tall cappuccinos. Liz drove them to the city park where they sat at a table under one-hundred-year-old trees. Liz had made another statement that was confusing her. Why did she call him starman?

“Well, again, Max Evans what are you doing in Roswell?” Liz sat across from Max sipping coffee.

Max said, “I am correcting the destiny of my people.”

Liz frowned. Now that was a conundrum if she had ever heard one. “Well, to correct that destiny, what are you planning to do?” she inquired with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I must study under a master, I must seduce a beloved who is not really loved and I must convince a maiden to leave all she knows to save a world,” Max intoned.

“Wow, nothing simple that can be done in an afternoon,” Liz mused.

Max smiled. “Only if I used magic and I am forbidden from doing that,” Max stated, wiping his hands on his napkin. “My first task will be to take courses at your University of New Mexico. I have been in wars many places. Now I have a brief respite and I want to make the most of it,” Max said.

Liz studied Max. Wars would explain the many scars, but if Liz was right the one on his face was a saber cut. She had seen one once before at Harvard. There was a German from Heidelberg who had a scar of honor. It was claimed that he got it in combat. “Wars Max? What wars have you been in?” Liz inquired.

Max looked at her, “The wars I have been in would be ones you wouldn’t know about. They were distant wars and not known to most of the public here.”

Liz tried again, “Dad said Michael was with you. Where is he?”

“Michael is following a singer,” Max chuckled.

“Not Maria! Max, this is just so weird. Everything you say I think I have heard before. What is this, Max? Who are you and what do you really want?”

“Liz, I am just a soldier doing his duty and hoping to get a little schooling before I have to go back to the war and, maybe, die.”

Liz stood up. Max stood also. “Max, I think you are being a little dramatic. I probably won’t be back in Roswell until next spring so I will never know,” Liz was talking to herself as well as to Max.

“I will be at Albuquerque at the university for the next two years,” Max stated.

“Yes, but I work in research in a secure locked building. I never see the campus or the students. After work, I live with my fiancé, Doctor Forthwithe. And you are right, he isn’t very nice about visitors,” Liz explained.

“Liz, you just don’t know what will happen,” Max smiled, and Liz drove Max home. Max thought this part of the job was going to be very pleasant. Max was essentially a shy person. As royalty, he had been forced to assume certain duties that required him to be forceful. When Tess had appeared in his room, he was so run down that his mind didn’t even think as he just took her. This was not in Max’s character. A bright lady like Doctor Parker would be a pleasure to be with. Now, how was he to convince her to drop the researcher and take up with him? What did Max have to offer that would attract a girl to leave fiancé, her planet and go away with him, even if he was pledging her a royal title.

[ken_r]

Stories by ken_r

Chapter 3

Prime was back with the Head of the Imperion. “The latest calculations show that the course on which we have embarked has increased to a ninety-two percent chance of succeeding. That was welcome news because the other news the Head had been given hadn’t been good. Kivar was searching for Vilondra. Spies had confirmed that he was paying money for any information about her whereabouts. Both sides of the war were at a standstill. Neither side could gain advantage. Before, when one side got stronger, the time machine was used and the advantage swung the other way. Now using the time machine, as calculated by both sides, would cause ruin. If Kivar had some scheme to upset the balance, he might be in power when the four accomplished their quest and he would use them to his full advantage.

--------------------------------------

Michael had followed Maria DeLuca for three weeks. He was overdue to contact Max and the others. He had been at all of Maria’s concerts and all of her press conferences. She had three full time bodyguards. They were all well built, but very soft in the head. The head body guard, Gary, always attacked the same way. He blocked by an upswing of his left and then when he had gotten close, put all of his power into an over arm punch. The punch was powerful. That was obvious, but what if he wasn’t allowed to get that close or if someone side stepped the punch, Gary had nothing left. Michael wondered if Maria was sleeping with them because they were more beautiful than useful. Then, one night Michael found out that two of the guards had eyes for each other. So, that left only Gary and yes, Maria was sleeping with him. Michael watched as one night the crowd was truly unruly. The three guards were tricked into coming into the crowd. Once there, they were mobbed. Maria was alone. Michael waited until someone from the crowd grabbed Maria. Then, he waded in. With Michael, it was just so easy. Michael had risked his life with nothing, but a sword attacking an armed brigade back on Antar. One minute, Maria was alone on the stage and the next, Michael was beside her. Without effort, he just melted away any attempt at approaching her. He whipped a blanket covering a camera and quickly wrapped her in it. With the blanket pulled down so it hid her face, Michael guided her through the crowd to her trailer. Maria was confused. She had a lot of confidence in her bodyguards, but here was this man whose arms and face bore many scars. He, alone, was able to convey her safely to her trailer. “How did you do that?” she asked.

Michael shrugged, “Your body guards are pretty, but they have no experience.”

“And I suppose that you do?” Maria asked.

Michael stretched out his scared arm, “I assure you, I didn’t do this to myself. Every scar was made by a man who paid the ultimate price.”

“Who are you?” Maria inquired.

“Just a soldier passing through,” Michael ascertained.

About that time, the three guards knocked on Maria’s door. She opened the door. They burst in and stopped with surprise when they saw Michael.

Gary pointed to Michael and ask, “Who is he?”

“He is the man who got me to my trailer while you monkeys were fighting the crowd.” Maria stated. “He may also be my new head bodyguard.”

The three growled, “How do you know he is good enough?” one of them asked.

Michael answered, “Because while you were watching the crowd, I was watching the singer. You are not hired to be tough or to fight. You are hired to protect Miss DeLuca.”

One of the guards threw a punch at Michael, and without even moving, Michael caught his blow in a powerful hand and twisted it until the guard was on his knees. Another tried to throw another punch while Michael was occupied. With a single sweep of his leg, the man was on his butt. The third man looked at Michael and said to Maria, “How do you know that he is not some crazy rapest?”

Maria looked at the guard and said, “I don’t, but if I hire him to do a job and he does it, what he does on his off time is his own business. Now do you accept him as the head guard or do you leave? The guards hung their heads and mumbled.

“I think there has been some mistake. I work alone or I don’t work at all,” Michael stated.

Maria turned on him, “I think we need to establish who is boss here.”

“No ma’am, we need to establish what you want. Do you want to hire lackeys that you can boss around or do you want to hire the best protection you can have?” Michael said.

“How do I know you are the best?” Maria asked.

‘The very fact that I am alive means I am the best,” Michael concluded.

Maria turned to the other and said, “I guess that is it, boys hit the road. Pick up your checks tomorrow.”

After the guards, left Maria turned to Michael and stated, “You do understand that your salary is all I am promising? Any perks those vagabonds might have alluded to are just so in your imagination.”

Michael looked at Maria, “Lady, I have screwed the slave girls of a mighty kingdom. I have laid a general’s daughter in the middle of a battle. It takes a lot for me to be enticed. You have a body guard, nothing else.” With that, Michael went to the front room and laid out his bedroll.

Maria DeLuca, had graduated from Roswell High. In school, she had been only a mediocre student. She, however, had excelled in chorus and drama. She had been fortunate to have a chorus teacher who saw the fire in the young lady. He saw that she had a chip on her shoulder all of the time and he strove to educate her in using this chip to induce power into her singing. She had an alto voice, something that was unusual in a person so young. He taught her to think of why she seemed to be mad at the world and to direct these feelings into her singing. When she belted out the songs he gave her, she was facing her mother, her father who she always blamed for deserting her and the world that gave special attention to the sports heroes and neglected the performing arts. Her chorus teacher told her to not worry whether or not her anger was justified. But rather, to consider the anger itself to be a gift that let her offer the world a role model who knew it was all right to be angry and to let this anger dissipate itself in positive ways. Working from before the time she was sixteen, Maria had saved enough money to attend the University Extension college at Roswell. She majored in music and music theory. She was discovered not by lucky chance, but by consistently barraging the music industry with her writings. Meanwhile, she was singing at a small club in Roswell. Finally, maybe just in desperation to rid himself of the worrisome writer, a producer traveled to Roswell and heard her singing. Maria had dated, but somewhere in her mind there was that mantra “find your soul mate.” With her father’s desertion also fixed within her mind, she decided that there was no such thing as a soul mate. Just as in high school, Mara’s love life remained immature. She had lovers of convenience. They were dismissed just as easiy. She never was saddled with the reputation of being a loose woman because she always insisted on discretion as a condition of her favors. One or two former lovers had tried to write an expose´ of her love life, but subtle hints from her producers who were very happy with her performances, corrected those misdirected souls. Maria was aware that this might be her final tour. First, she was tired. She had no idea of what she would do, but when talking to her producers, she learned that they also wanted to quit on a high note. If she left soon, they could bring her back later as a star and not as a has been.

Gary was a body builder. He had been a bouncer in a notorious club where his skills had been tested over and over. Maria recruited him to head her security. He was handsome. He also imparted to Maria invulnerability. He had two acquaintances who he also asked Maria to hire as her bodyguard team.

Maria
I found being on the road difficult. At heart I guessed I would never get out of the small town. I found love where ever I could. It was always by chance and love never dictated the direction of my life. I made it a point to never let sex raise it’s ugly head to jeopardize my career. I always controlled it. I was always looking for something that I didn’t even believe in. I looked at the families of those I grew up with. I saw their families: mother, father, siblings and secretly lusted for that comfort. As I sang, I directed my anger to power and my teacher told me that was what separated me from the pack of other young singers who used electronics to amplify their, otherwise, weak demonstrations of voice. When you put me on the amplifier, it was the band that had to work to not be covered up.

I made mistakes. There was that actor. Truthfully, I had never heard of him. I was introduced by a so called friend. Robert was suave. He presented himself to me as someone I, as a small town girl, had never met. On the first date we had, I was in bed with him. He introduced me to sex that I had never experienced. The few boys I had been with in high school seemed so amateurish that I was ashamed to even have to remember them. The men I had slept with, as an adult, were so straight-forward and unimaginative, that again, I wondered that maybe their purpose was just to prepare me for Robert.

The terrible truth was discovered when my manager was told by a sympathetic secretary for one of the tabloids, that Robert had already contracted the sale of our story. This had happened before, but those had been just small time stage people who could be easily intimidated or bought off. Robert was something else. He had planned to seduce me and I mean this in the most derogatory way, to bring me down as he built himself as the great lover. It was only at the instigation of my manager that worse hadn’t happened. Robert’s manager was found with both of his legs broken. When questioned he was silent. Then, Robert was run off the road by a large truck. We soon learned that the deal he had with the tabloid had been canceled.

When I hired Gary and his friends as body guards, I was giving up on sex and love. I was determined to just sing and remain celibate. It was my manager who encouraged me to find a discreet lover. One that could offer me solace, but also anonymity. Gary’s friends were off the menu for obvious reasons, I learned later. Gary was with me most of the time. He was not bright. In fact, he was repetitious and a bit stupid when it came to imagination. After Robert, he was a disappointment. Gary though, was discreet. We were together most of the time because of his job. It was so easy for him to quit sleeping in the other room and start sleeping with me.

The day I met the soldier was a terrible day. My manager warned me that things were going to be rocky. The promoters had scammed most of the people who had come out to hear me. I warned Gary, but his boyish grin put me at ease as it always did. I had to walk almost 25 yards to the stage. Usually, I enjoyed this. The fans would shower me with garlands, they would reach out their hands just to touch my fingers, but this time, they were growling. The crowd was shouting at me and what they were saying was not pleasant. Someone must have said something very bad, to and about, Gary’s two friends. They walked off the runway and into the crowd. Gary ran to back them up, I guess, and now, the crowd was on me. I was terrified. Then, I felt the strong arm holding me. I started to scream. Then, I noticed the arm was pulling me away from the crowd and the crowd was melting before who ever owned that arm. My eyes followed the arm, noticing the many scars, up to the, likewise, scared face. Meeting that face in any other circumstance I would have been terrified. Quickly, he threw a blanket over my head and the next thing I was standing in my trailer safe and alone, except for my scared benefactor. Two things he said stayed with me. Each scar had been earned at the cost of a man’s life and that the fact he was still alive meant he “was” the best.

I tried to regain my control, but he put me off by the reply of, “What did I want control or the best protection there was?” Again, after firing my previous protection team, I tried to regain some facsimile of contro, but he informed me that all I had hired was a bodyguard. Nothing else.

Story
Isabel was having a trying time learning about Doctor Whitman. He was a recluse and, as far as she could see, he only liked making money. He was obsessed with equaling Bill Gates. Isabel had hired reporters to attempt an interview with him. No luck. Alex Charles Whitman was a man who was unapproachable. It was lucky that the Imperion had unlimited physical resources. Isabel arranged to hold four letters of intent to buy four of the biggest U.S. electronics companies. The take-over would be completely hostile. None of the companies wanted to sell, but leverage was placed so they were forced to honor the letters if Isabel so desired. Isabel had no idea of how many billions this took to arrange. Isabel faced the Microsoft company. Mr. Gates no longer had interest in the day-to-day operation of the company, but when he heard of the proposed merger she was arranging, he was curious to meet her. They met informally. Isabel made a huge contribution to his charities. Mr. Gates and his wife were interested in how such a young woman could do so much, so quickly. They spent a pleasant afternoon as they talked business trends and future developments. When Isabel left, both of the Gates’ were impressed about her intelligence and drive as she was forming a powerful consortium. Bill mentioned that if she had been around when he was starting his company, he would have hired her immediately. Isabel started a company to study the Whitman electronics company. They were to prepare detailed reports of strengths and weaknesses. Out side of these private publishings, nothing more was heard from Isabel or of the intended merger. Even from his secure position at the top, Alex was made cognizant of the activities of this young lady apparently known, at least somewhat, by Microsoft. She was shaking the tree of commerce with her activities and, now, her lack of activity. The options and letters of intent she held all were good for six months. Isabel returned to Roswell.

Chapter 4

Doctor Elizabeth Parker returned to her research job. She found she had been assigned to a different research director. She was also informed that one of her new duties would include teaching one class of biology. Her fiancé, Doctor Forthwithe, was furious. He considered teaching to be a mundane job beneath his dignity or the dignity of anyone connected with him. He made all sorts of threats, but he found that the Imperion-backed administration were not interested in his threats. They acted like they might even be happy if he resigned. Liz was upset at first. Then she remembered that when she first started school, there had been this wonderful professor who had encouraged so many students to seek out the mysteries of biology. Maybe this was payback for what he had done for her. She was looking forward to the experience.

On her first day of class, Doctor Parker walked into the lecture room. It was full, but even with the many faces, she saw the smiling face of one, Max Evans, sitting surrounded by a bevy of girls who were all looking at him more than they were looking at their teacher, Doctor Parker.

Liz opened her lecture. She was bothered that so many of the girls surrounding Max did not seem to be paying attention to her presentation. Then, she saw Max lean forward and say something to the girls as he pointed to the board and for the rest of the class, they diligently copied notes and were model students.

After class, the girls filed out and Max descended down the steps to the desk where Liz was collecting her notes. “Doctor Parker, I am so happy to be able to take my first class from a master,” Max said in his soft, pleasant accent.

Liz did a double take. It seemed that every time he spoke, she had some sort of strange feelings. There was something about his words, “taking a class from a master,” that stirred something in the back of her mind. She was also bothered by visions of falling into his embrace and madly kissing him under a sky filled with stars. “Well, Mr. Evans, I hope you do not become a distraction as you were at the start of the class.”

Max smiled, “I told the students that they must keep their attention on you because you are an inspiration for both men and women taking biology.”

Liz frowned again. Was she to do this every time Max spoke? There really wasn’t an answer to give him. Then she gave him a smile as he held the door open for her and she proceeded to her research office for the rest of the day.

Max found that he really had caused a stir among the students he had met this first day. While sitting in the cafeteria of the student union building, several girls and a couple of the men came by to talk with him. His scars were in question. He could hardly tell them the truth. That he had led a charge into a company of Plebics and how they were too close to use particle weapons, so they fought with knives and fists. Like Michael, each scar was given by a man who paid the price of his life, for getting that close to the prince. The scar across his face, which really was due to his own stupidity, was questioned. “Ah, only for the love of a forbidden lady,” he sighed.

The students all got closer sensing a story coming up.

“She was a fair lady, young, wild and saddled with the marriage to a pig, a man that considered her an ornament nothing more. He slept with her as his right to a trophy that he had bought, rather than won. He never told her how she was so fair that she paled the maidens of the fashion world. I was doing a duty to the softer, but stronger sex,” Max was a poet as he bowed to the girls surrounding him. “I was giving of myself without shame to showing her what she could do to a real man and not that cardboard dildo she had married.” Max took a breath and surveyed his audience. They were swallowing every word of it. “Where the cardboard dildo would give her minutes, I would, energized by her as inspiration, give her whole evenings. It was only because of bad timing that the idiot came home a day early. He was enraged because of the laughter he invoked, both from that fairest of flowers and also my humble self. Unfortunately it is so true, that story that a man with his pants down is at a disadvantage. I fled for the window, but the cad got in a lucky swipe. Thus, the scar that reminds me to watch my timing better.”

The crowd roared. The men shook their heads and the girls sighed. This man with the soft accent was so romantic. The story swept the campus almost instantly. Even in the locked facility where Liz worked, the story of the fantastic lover was heard. Liz wrinkled her nose and, then, could find no reason why she did that. What Max did before, and even now, was not any of her business. She was his professor and no more. Besides Liz had the semi-cold comfort of Henry. Now, why did she think that?

Chapter 5

Kyle still screamed at night. One night, Tess couldn’t take it anymore. She usually slept in the nude so she just walked naked into his room and before Kyle could say anything, she engulfed him with her soft feminine body. Tess could feel his tremors lesson and his breathing returned to normal. Tess held him to her as they both returned to sleep. When she awoke in the morning, Kyle was calm and quiet. Tess left his room. As she walked out, she could feel his eyes roaming her nude body. At breakfast, they said nothing, but Tess could sense a change in Kyle’s attitude. Kyle picked up his clothes and did his own laundry. He went outside in the warm Roswell morning and swept the walks. Kyle disappeared and, for a time, Tess was worried. If he took off, it would be accounted to be her fault and again she feared punishment. When Kyle returned a couple of hours later, he wore a fresh shave and a haircut. He was only limping slightly. The next many nights, Tess would again and again crawl between his sheets, nude and wrap her arms around him. Only on those nights would he sleep in peace. As the days would follow, Kyle did more and more chores. Tess and Kyle would go to the Crashdown and every time, the sheriff would see his son who he had lent to the army, was finally returning to the way he left.

Kyle
What happened last night? They came as they did so many nights. They always came in the night with their hoods and their AKs, the rifle that seemed to always represent the enemy. They prodded me, they stuck me they told me I would scream in eternal hell. Then an angel came. I had almost forgotten God or anyone else, but this angel came. She was not like the angels shown on Christmas trees, but rather she was so fair and so unadorned. That is the way angels should look. Bare in the body that God made for them. Why would they have trappings of mankind? She surrounded me with her body. She gave me warmth. Her soft breasts pressed against me and her sweet smelling hair lay in my face. I could see the enemy flee. They had no desire to face the beauty that meant life and pleasure. The enemy only wanted to cause me harm. They no longer had any chance when faced with my angel. I knew, then, that I would not die in hell, yet. If I would take it, I had been given a reprieve. I had my dad. I had my new friends. I had my angel.

story
It was probably the tenth night when Tess crawled into bed with Kyle, that he took her in his arms and his mouth found hers. The kisses started out timidly, but they grew in intensity as the power that was in Kyle built up. When he finally screwed her, it was as awkward as if he had never had a woman before. As the nights went by, it became more making love and more passionate. Finally, Tess began to experience the passion of a true soldier who made love with the ferocity of one who did not know if they would ever have another day. Tess found in Kyle that what made him a soldier, also made him a powerful mate. Their bouts with love developed into something she had never experienced on Antar.

Kyle
The angel came every night. The enemy stood at the edge of the shadows. Every night, I would see that body and every night I would feel it pressed close to me. Then, a marvelous thing happened. The angel transformed. She became a woman. Not just any woman, but a woman wrapped around me. I found her mouth and I felt like a school boy on his first date. I stumbled and fumbled, but she always came back the next night and every night. It was as if she was giving me first, protection against the enemy still waiting in the shadows and second, she gave me strength to take her magnificent body. It was magnificent because it was the first body presented to me after my rebirth. And truly, I had been reborn. My humble attempts at making love weren’t rebuffed, but rather, encouraged until I possessed her body in love with the same power I used in hate, when I faced the enemy, but now, the emotion became love and passion.

To Readers and writers of Roswell

If you have time I would like you to look at my attempt at a novel. It is rated mature but is no more sexy that anything else I have written. It is about a lady on a distant planet that rises from slavery to a position of respect and about her children and friends that stand by her.

The Slave Girl
this an original story. it is in four parts. let me know if you like it. All of the parts will be posted at:
Writers Cave at Roswell Heaven

part 1The Slave Girl
part 2 Wife and Lady
part 3 Jenny’s Pride
part 4 Oliver The Dream Complete

[ken_r]

Stories by ken_r

Sternbetrachter Kivar is an alien. The idea is to use human tactics to fight him. Men of earth will enrich Antar. I hope Michael and Maria will please you.

Natalie thanks for good words

Imnotic MM I think is predictable. So many so called body guards just aren’t up to the job. AI coming but not yet. I am trying to show Tess as a bit petulant but willing to do her duty and that when she gets close to Kyle she will develop feelings for him something she never did with the lovers at the royal court.

Begonia9508 you do not think mystery man is intriguing? Liz will have see beyond the stories and outer appearance. I, myself was surprised at how she related to Max in the end. Her position at the end of the story was also a surprise to me. I guess that is my ride as I write to see how I will end things.

Buddha-boy That is a real complement and one I need as I continually get discouraged.

Bethann you and Buddha-boy and the others like you keep me going. My background is different from many fic writers and I worry that I might be too different to be accepted.

To all of you I offer my thanks.


Chapter 6

At first, being the body guard with Maria was not that exciting. Michael, who had single handedly attacked overwhelming odds over and over, found keeping down the few flies that were attracted to Maria barely tenable. Without the constraints of earth law, he would have just swatted them with one hand, destroying any who were trespassing in what he considered to be the venue of his protectorate. As it was, he became a feared adversary. One of her managers tried to hire an assassin, but when the man came up against Michael, it was weeks before he got out of the hospital. One of her accountants was caught stealing off the top of her ticket sales. Michael broke his hands and threw him out the door. One of Maria’s new lovers roughed her up one night forgetting that Michael was always around somewhere. The man pissed blood for days after Michael threw him out of her room. In no way, did Michael interfere with her activities unless he felt she was being hurt. Then, he issued simple justice and, again, faded into the background.

Understood only by the other crazys that follow the celebrity world, one night the show’s promoters had, again, clearly angered the crowd. They had, in the manner of greedy promoters, over sold and the fire department had limited the entrance crowd. The crowd was milling around becoming angry. Then, one man came running at Maria with a gun firing as he ran. Michael put himself between the shooter and Maria. Michael took two bullets before his thrown knife penetrated the man’s face and he fell dead. Maria wanted to call an ambulance, but Michael just shook his head. Once inside her trailer, Maria cleaned the wound, “Pour some whisky into the wound,” Michael told her.

“Your blood it is clotting a funny color,” Maria exclaimed.

Michael just nodded, “It is the drugs I take. They deaden pain and speed the clotting of blood, but if the hospital found them, I would be turned over to the police.”

Maria nodded. She knew that many people in show business took strange drugs. If Michael did also, she would not want him to get into trouble. After all, he was her bodyguard and he was the best at his job. Now, Michael would have a pucker scar beside the many knife and sword wounds.

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Prime hadn’t always been a cold calculating machine. There was one time, long ago, when he had sought love like most others of his planet. The monarchy was in control and the planet had lived in relative peace. The planets of the Antar system were beautiful planets. It was a rare system that had more than one habitable planet, with that magic distance from the primary where heat and cold would be balanced. The three planets had all developed a beauty of their own. As the distance from the primary increased, the mean temperature would decrease, but with the planets internal heat you still had moderate climates. The monarchy had developed on the middle planet. The temperature was always slightly alpine. The mountains were constantly snow capped and the valleys were constantly moderate. The people had developed the luxury of art, science and politics early in their development. They were not creatures who evolved on any of these planets, but rather, transferred eons ago by some entity long forgotten. Now, none of the mountains any longer had their spectacular spires nor did any of the valleys have their lush vegetation. Sometimes Prime had waves of guilt that the very mathematics that he embraced had brought all of these planets to the verge of ruin. The abuse of time calculus had brought the system to this ruin.

His acolyte followed him as he ventured out of the building. The acolyte was looking at the skies. If his master was bent on musing, then it would be his duty to be looking for rockets of other normal weapons that were still being used, even if there was a moratorium declared on the time weapons. “Edwar, are you old enough to remember when the mountains were proud? When the winds were filled with the scent of flowers? When men played outside without looking up at the skies, fearful of what they would see?” Prime was old. How old sometimes he himself could not remember but he did remember when his mathematics was a study to be proud of.

The acolyte without leaving his diligent scanning replied, “No master, the skies have always held danger and the mountains have always been as they are now. Flowers are only something in the special rooms deep under ground prepared just for them.”

Prime sadly turned to the acolyte, “Edwar, do you have news for me?”

“Master. if we could but return to the safety of the building, yes, I have the latest calculations,” the acolyte responded.

The old man and the young one slowly walked back into the safety of the building. “Here master, the calculation has risen one more point to ninety-three percent correction if all four objectives are obtained.” The young one handed Prime the pages of calculations with his signature ascertaining that he had checked the figures himself.

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Dr. Parker was doing something that she knew she shouldn’t. She had been amazed at the progress of her soldier student. Every Friday after her lecture, she had started having coffee with Max. She knew that Henry would be furious if he ever found out, but there was something about this scarred soldier that interested her. There were the strange sensations she felt whenever she was near him, but there, also, was the intellectual knowledge he seemed to posses. He had made hundreds on every paper he had turned in. It was reported that he had organized many of the other students into study groups and all of her classes seemed to be above average. The students were asking more insightful questions and they were turning in papers that showed more depth of thought. Whenever she saw Max during the days, he was always surrounded by students. Once, she had slowed down as she walked through the student union and heard him expounding on study habits. For whatever reason, she had started to look forward to the Friday stops for coffee.

This week had been particularly trying. Everything they tried had failed. Liz worked at a secure facility and she was not allowed to talk about her work, but Max seemed to know how discouraging the week had been. “There is a plant,” He gave it its Latin name, that isolates weak cells and makes them vulnerable to other solutions,” Max related.

Liz looked up. “How do you know this, Max?” she inquired.

There is a mountain tribe in Asia that I lived with for many days. They showed me the plant. I deduced its properties from their narratives about it,” Max responded.

The next week, Liz looked into the properties of the plant and, sure enough, it isolated cancer or any other cells that were weak and made them more susceptible to the chemotherapies. Liz hurried to tell Max of her find. He just smiled. Liz wanted to know if he didn’t want credit somehow? Max just smiled and said, “The tribes that showed it to me have no use for credit or anything else from the modern world.”

Henry Forthwithe also heard about his girl friend’s find. He quickly descended upon the lab. “Where did you hear of this plant?” he queried.

Some instinct within Liz responded, “I was just listening to some students talk about folk medicine. Their descriptions brought to mind a drug that would help in chemotherapy.”

Henry checked and rechecked Liz’s labs. Finally, he announced the find, “We have a new weapon against cancer. It helps to inhibit weak cells from throwing off the effects of the chemo. It will greatly speed up the cures we are already using,” Doctor Forthwithe never mentioned the work done by Liz.

The plant was not a rare plant. It did have to be imported from Asia but Henry Forthwithe was soon in charge of preparing and testing the plant. He was transferred to a location in California. This precipitated an angry discussion about Liz dropping her teaching and following him. “No,” Liz was adamant, “I have a responsibility to my students. I just can’t drop everything I am doing and follow you when you are working on my find, after all.”

This infuriated Henry. He did not like Liz mentioning anything about her original discovery of the plant. They argued and he stamped out. Liz had worshiped Henry Forthwithe. He was one of the most brilliant researchers she had ever known. He was renowned for the many discoveries of his teams. When Liz was a post-graduate student at Harvard, she met the great Dr. Forthwithe. He was a good-looking man. He had complemented her on one of her papers. The next thing she knew, her ego was being stoked as he complemented her research in general. He was always looking for additions for his team. Liz had been too blind to see that his team had openings because the members got tired of Henry stealing all of the credit for their discoveries. Henry courted her mind as well as her body. Liz was not an outgoing girl and she had been gratified at he attention he was giving both her person and her work. The professor had a reputation of looking for pretty assistants and then misusing them. By the time, Liz received her doctorate, she was infatuated with Henry. She could not see that he had worn out his welcome in the eastern United States. When he proposed to her and asked her, not only to become his wife, but to follow him to his new job in Albuquerque New Mexico, she accepted both propositions. Now, Henry felt the fools in the southwest would be fodder for his ego mill. Poor Liz did not even question his choice of location or her position offered, as he said, gratis of his stature in the medical world. In truth, she was hired by virtue of her own reputation at Harvard, despite her association with the man many at the university considered an ass and in the southwestern tradition after a few drinks, they always suggested he be run out of town with tar and feathers.

There were many at the research facility who sighed when Liz handed over her hard-earned research to Henry. Liz was liked as much as Henry was detested. When he broke with the research facility, there were some thoughts of lawsuits, but others just considered their good fortune that he was leaving. The research facility was happy to let Henry out of his contract, but they quietly informed Liz that she was to be held fast to hers. Liz was in tears. She felt betrayed by Henry and trapped by her job. She took a short cut through the student union and, as luck appeared to have it, she saw Max sitting alone, although minutes before he had been surrounded by bevies of students listening to his stories. Liz sat down in his booth. She was on the verge of tears and, then, she was actually crying. Max’s voice was so soothing. “I would suggest a quieter place if you would like?” Max intoned.

Liz found herself nodding her head yes. She was being picked up by a student, something, she would never in her right mind do. Max led her outside the union to the parking lot where he opened the door of a late model pickup. They drove for about fifteen minutes north and east to a fashionable part to town. Max drove up to a nice-looking duplex. He unlocked the door and stepped aside as Liz entered. She was ushered into a nicely appointed room. The walls were lined with bookcases. She walked over to the bookcases and perused the offerings. She found rows of history and political books. Then, further on she found several collections of biology and biochemistry texts and collections of papers. Many were of very advanced topics. She found a smattering of math and physics texts. Then, she found a large collection of romance books, starting with classical romances and then modern romances through a section of erotica. Liz turned to Max with a questioning look.

“What can I say, I am a student of the human psyche. I read especially fast and I have only a short time to assimilate as much as I can about human thought,” Max shrugged.

For the moment the presence of one Max Evans made Liz forget her own sadness. She sat frowning at Max as he handed her a drink. “Sip this very slowly, Doctor Parker. It is a very strong drink, indeed.”

Liz noticed he was drinking just a plain Coke. As the liquid passed through Liz’s lips, she felt a warming throughout her body. She also felt a calming effect. As she began to take another sip, she felt Max’s hand caution her. She put the drink down and looked at Max and sighed.

“The good doctor, I take it, took all of the credit for your discovery?” Max said with his soft accent. Liz nodded. Max continued, “Did he take off with the research notes you made, as well?”

Again Liz just nodded. “He wanted me to leave my teaching and research contract and follow him. The research facility wouldn’t let me break my contract nor did I want to leave my students without preparation.”
“Didn’t Doctor Forthwithe have the same contract you did?” Max asked.

Liz thought, “Yes, he did. They didn’t try to stop him even when he had the results of what should have been rightfully theirs.” Liz was confused, Forthwithe was allowed to leave with essentially stolen information and she was detained. Max didn’t tell her that the Imperion run research facility wanted Henry Forthwithe to leave and that the information he had stolen carried a very delayed side effect. He would make sure Liz discovered it before anyone got hurt.

Max said, “You were living with Doctor Forthwithe. Are you afraid he will take your possessions with him as he leaves?”

Liz thought for a minute. “Henry is obsessed with things. He is dangerous when he is like that. I think I am afraid to face him or confront him,” Liz stated thoughtfully.

“I will go with you. If you want, we can take what is yours and store it here until you get a new place,” Max spoke as one who had no fear.

Liz looked at him. Max was dressed in Levis. He wore a leather-fringed jacket over a western shirt. He was wearing cowboy boots that showed some wear. Liz remembered the suavely dressed man she had met in Roswell. Max seemed to be a chameleon changing his appearance all of the time. “Max, you just do not know Henry. He is a very dangerous man. I would not want you hurt and you might not understand, but I lived with Henry for almost a year. I do not want him hurt. either,” Liz stated.

Max just smiled, “I promise that I wont hurt Henry, nor will I let him hurt me, but we will rescue your things.”

Max and Liz drove in his pickup to the house she shared with Doctor Forthwithe. They found a U-Haul trailer backed up to the garage. Liz looked inside and it was still empty. Max knocked on the door and there was no answer. Liz tried her key and it would not open the door. The lock had been jammed. Max smiled and tried again. With a little twist of the knob along with a mental jolt to the mechanism, the door opened. Liz was confronted with the sight of an almost-crazed man loading every thing in the house into boxes. “Henry, you are taking my clothes, my books and everything,” Liz wailed.

“Everything you own is mine. You were mine and you deserve nothing if you stay here,” Henry growled. He looked at Max and quickly fell back. Max’s eyes were onyx orbs staring out at him from Max’s face. Henry had never faced the anger of an Antarian king before.

Max just said, “Liz, start packing your things. I do not think Henry wants to dispute you right now.” Liz quickly started to fill boxes with her things. She just stuffed them into the boxes without folding or being neat. She went through the boxes of books and separated out those that Henry had taken, even though they were marked the property of Dr. Elizabeth Parker. It took Liz almost two hours while Max stood where she couldn’t see his face, but Henry clearly could. Henry shook with anger, but the blank, black eyes looking at him scared him more than anything he had ever faced. He was lucky because if Liz hadn’t been involved, the Antarian powers of the king would have reduced him to dust without any adieu. Liz, using Henry’s cart, wheeled the boxes out to Max’s pickup. She left them at the rear of the truck. When she had finished and was sure no more of her possessions were in the apartment, she went back to Max in the house. Max turned to Henry, “Liz is never to be hurt by anyone.” They went out of the house. Max turned to Liz, “If you want to say any private goodbyes to Henry I will load the truck.”

Liz couldn’t understand why, but she went back into the house and faced Henry, “Henry, I gave you my heart. Why did you treat me like this?”

Henry just sat there and quivered, “He is a monster,” He mummered

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Coming soon is my attempt at a Roswell fanfiction which is a western. It will take place in the wild west around 1880 and at the same time in modern times. The western part will explore our unique Hispanic culture and how it is integrated into the culture we have to day in northern New Mexico. It will be CC with out aliens. The Loves of Maximo Dilgato. banner for Maximo Delgato

The Slave Girl
this an original story. it is in four parts. let me know if you like it. All of the parts will be posted at:
Writers Cave at Roswell Heaven

To Readers and writers of Roswell

[ken_r]

Stories by ken_r

Begonia9508 so you don’t like Henry. I had to make him an ass because I couldn’t have Max break up a happy relationship.

Natlie36 be glad Henry is almost gone.

Nibbles2 my experience with entertainment business has only been from the security side. I have found the ones I was associated with did work for extremely shady characters. One of the bits of advice I gave to the girls in my classes that were going into the entertainment business was to take courses in business management in college because the chance of the manager ripping off the entertainer is great. I did run into some strong arm situations that we never could prove.

Sternbetrachter yes but the point is all four earth people must come on board of their free choice.

Imnotic the poser of the Antarian king is important that is why i put in a surprise ending. please stay with me and be patient.

Chapter 7

Liz just shook her head and went back to help Max load the truck. When she got there, the truck was already loaded and Max was waiting in the cab with the motor running. They drove back to the duplex without a word. When they arrived home; Max unpacked several of the boxes that contained Liz’s clothes. “Liz, why don’t you get a hot shower and I will unpack the boxes and bring them in the house,” Max said. That sounded like a wonderful idea to Liz. She was tired from packing the boxes and, also, from the tension she had been under from Henry. By the time she had showered, changed and returned to the living room, she found the boxes all stacked against one wall.

Liz slouched on the couch. “I guess I will have to go apartment hunting tomorrow,” she stated. “I hope you do not mind storing them for a while until I find a place.”

Max was sitting in an easy chair, facing Liz, “I have a proposition for you Liz. I have a spare bedroom that you can use as long as you wish. The duplex is owned by my sister and me. It is no problem for you to take one room.

Liz caught the fact that this was the second time Max had called her Liz, rather than Doctor Parker. She looked at Max, “What else would this imply?”

Max laughed, “Some polite conversation with my sister and myself and the enjoyment of your company. The rest of the time would be yours to do with as you wish.”

Liz frowned, “I hope you do not have any other ideas. I am your professor and I do not want to be put in a compromising position.”

Max laughed, “Liz, I could flunk the final and still pass. No, I am just offering you a place to stay in an emergency with no strings attached.”

Liz thought a while. She didn’t want to take the time to go apartment hunting right now. She was still depressed and Max had been a real gentleman to help her. He had implied that his sister was living right next door. Maybe, this would be a godsend for her at this time. “Max what would I pay you?”

“Liz, the wars I fought in paid very well. My sister and I live very comfortably. You could even ride with me to the university and back every day, since it appears Henry is keeping the car,” Max replied.

This was a tempting offer and Liz, right now, couldn’t find a reason to refuse.

Tess was sleeping and having sex with Kyle every night. It was more than sex. Kyle was putting more passion into their lovemaking than Tess, the courtesan of three worlds, had never experienced. Tess felt this bottled up ferocity every time she slept with Kyle, that he had had when he was attacking the enemy. This was not a pretty soldier, but a man who was a savage in battle and not far from that in the bedroom. It was as if he stored up his passion and expounded it into his lovemaking with Tess. Tess’s pouting about doing her duty was dissolving. She was finding that power she had sought for so long. She was feeling the intoxicating power of being the woman of a mighty warrior. Being his woman was making her feel strong. She was not comparing herself with those hated, high-born imperials, but rather, she was a woman whose mate held power within himself and thus within her.

Maria was cleaning up Michael’s shoulder. She had poured whiskey into it and Michael just sat there, not flinching. He asked her to pick up all the cloths she used that might have his blood on them. Maria was looking at his bare chest. There was one wound that traveled diagonally across his chest. It was purple and raised, showing stitch marks on either side. It must have been very bad when it happened. She could see that both of his arms were scared. Maria had never known a man who had absorbed that much punishment. She had bandaged his bullet wound and, now, was just sitting beside him looking at his body. Michael was leaning back on her bed with his eyes closed. For no reason that she could think of, Maria leaned over and kissed him. Michael’s eyes snapped open and he grabbed her. For an instant, his face was ablaze with anger. Then, just as quickly he released her and sighed, “Sorry.” Michael reached out with his two hands on her waist. He lifted her high above himself. Maria had a flashback. When she was little and her father still lived with them, he used to lift her high in the air and she pretended she was flying. It was like this now, but she was a grown woman. Maria wasn’t a heavy weight, but she was a full grown woman with ample curves. Michael lifted her easier than her father had so many years ago. He moved her through the air and she instinctively stretched her arms and legs just as she had then. Closing her eyes, Maria felt the sensation of flight. When little, she had giggled as her father would bring her down for a landing. Michael bent his arms and brought her down to his outstretched body and, while still supporting her in the air, he kissed her. Maria opened her eyes and gazed into his eyes. She managed to look past the scarred face and not see the cuts on his torso. She saw only the pools of his eyes, which in her mind turned into black onyx as she passed out.

Maria had never passed out before. She was a strong woman under the sexy exterior she displayed for the public. It was just that she had never been exposed to the strength or the apparent endurance she saw in the man below her. When she came to, she was lying on his chest with his arms wrapped around her. Michael rolled over on his side and carefully placed Maria on her back on the bed beside him. Maria watched as Michael carefully sat up. He looked carefully for any scrap of bandage that would have blood or any thing else that would give evidence of himself and bagged everything. He reached into his duffel bag to get out a clean pull-over shirt and dressed. He extended his hand to help her out of bed. She just shook her head in return and remained watching him.

Maria had handled men before. She learned to handle men when she was still in high school and they, for the most part were still boys. The men who came to see her mother had occasionally tried to hit upon Maria when they thought her mother wouldn’t know. Maria had always artfully dodged their advances. With the boys, she had selectively rejected or accepted as she thought would best serve her body and mind. Maria couldn’t remember when she lost her virginity, but she always maintained the attitude of a lady in her affairs. As was said before as a professional singer, she had picked lovers who wouldn’t interfere with either her performance or her reputation. The grumblings of her rejected suitors reinforced her rigid reputation of still being always in control. Her affection with her former bodyguard was discrete enough so that it had even taken Michael a time of careful trained observation to discover it. Looking right now at Michael, Maria knew that she was not in control. At first it scared her, but then, she felt the strength of his arms as he had lifted her. She was not sure she ever wanted to return to any former state she had assumed before. Michael finished dressing and pulled up a chair and sat backwards in it with his arms crossed on the chair back as he studied Maria.

Isabel had been in Roswell for over a month now. She occasionally had breakfast with Tess and Kyle. The house was large enough that several couples could co-exist without being in each other’s space unless they so chose. Isabel was pleased at the progress Tess had made with Kyle. There was still, probably, one more bullet that Zan-Max would have to take care of before Kyle was totally healed. Michael was overdue to check in, but in the field Rath had been known to disappear for extended periods of time and then make a reappearance, with the news that his mission had been totally accomplished. This morning Isabel had received an email from one of her front companies that Dr. Whitman had been inquiring about who Isabel was and looking for any information as to what she was doing. It was reported that he was very concerned about her conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Gates. Since her actual whereabouts was unknown, she received another email requesting an audience with Dr. Whitman’s company in three days in Denver. Isabel knew she had another front company in Denver, so she replied she would be glad to meet with them at her office in three days just before noon.

Isabel packed the best she had in all things. She was wearing all designer clothes that spoke of affluence and influence. She took up rooms in a penthouse at one of the Denver office buildings.

On the appointed day, Isabel, tall and platinum blonde, by choice, standing in her high heels, wearing her designer suit awaited the two men who were ushered into her office. “Gentlemen, welcome. I understand you wish to see me,” she said in a voice faintly accented, but musical to their ears.

The two men, experts in negotiations, were clearly not at ease as they sat before her. It was almost as if they were commoners approaching a reigning queen with a petition, which, unknowingly, they were. “ Miss Evans, Dr. Whitman would like us to determine your intentions as to the approaching acquisition of the properties, with which you now hold letters of intent,” one of them, probably the spokesman for the two, inquired softly.

Isabel smiled, “Gentlemen, I intend to rule the world. I am just now looking for who I am going to share this ruling with.”

The two men looked at each other, “Ah… may we inquire what your conversation with the Microsoft people entailed?”

Isabel laughed, “You may inquire all you want but any discussion at the level you are discussing should be only be conducted at the same level with your company. Doctor Whitman will be welcome at my penthouse for supper in two days. If this is not convenient, I shall be back at my private retreat for the next two months. Gentlemen, I thank you for your interest and I bid you a pleasant day.” With that, Isabel stood and left her office sweeping out the door, leaving only the slight scent of her perfume as evidence that she had ever spoken to the men.

Alexander Charles Whitman grew up in Roswell New Mexico. He went to high school there, but he left little of his passing. The Kyles of the school did not even know of his existence. Elizabeth Parker and Maria DeLuca were childhood playmates with the stringy Whitman boy. They both adopted him in grade school, but as they grew up and went on to boyfriends and dating, they left Alex, the computer geek, behind. Neither Liz nor Maria realized when Alex was no longer part of either of their worlds. They entered that world of sexual maturity and left Alex, still in the crowd of youth who never quite reach their dreams of dating and moving on.

Alex was smart and he had intuitive computer skills. In college, he was almost unnoticed. He made good grades and, with several schemes and businesses, he began to see where his ability could take him. He did tend to become bitter. He had watched Maria and Liz, two girls whom he always considered his sisters, bloom into beautiful intelligent women, but in his own life, he had found few opportunities, so far, for dalliance. By the time Alex was working on his masters and his second business, which was soon to be sold for another million dollars, Alex found that when he made public appearances he could get almost any type of femine companionship he wanted. Most of the women he met were after his millions and seldom had any intellect to share. Alex then found that he could afford to select companionship of considerable skill. It was later that he found he could order intellect of any measure that he wanted when he wanted, for a price. He learned to take care of his physical desires and his mental ones, also, but not to entangle himself with personal baggage that would slow down or drag down his new goals in life, those of becoming the richest man in the world. When Alex did mingle with the world, he took extreme steps to disguise his identity. He had attended a lecture given by Doctor Parker and a concert given by Maria DeLuca without either woman knowing he was there. He had complemented Doctor Parker and he had contributed to a fund that was supporting her research. Likewise, he had kissed the hand of Maria once in a receiving line and paid the price for a ticket to a private club engagement she had made for charity. Neither girls had recognized their old school mate.

Alex, now, was confronted with a lady of extreme power. She had conversed with Microsoft and dined with Mr. Gates. She was on the way to maybe outstripping Alex in a quest for power. The open invitation she had sent, indirectly, to him for dinner was too much to resist.

At eight o’clock sharp a nondescript limousine drove into the underground parking garage of a prominent business building. The immaculately dressed young man got out of the car and proceeded to the elevator. He took out a envelope and from this removed a key. He placed the key in a slot marked private. When he turned the key the elevator went non-stop to the penthouse on the roof. Alex, in black tux and hat exited the elevator and walked the short distance to a door. He touched a button and the door was opened. Alex, the man who had learned to buy only the best, was taken back. He was received by a tall blonde girl with sparkling brown eyes. She had a flawless, shinning complexion. Her long blonde hair showed off her black gown. A gown that, with all of his experience of only having the best, Alex had never seen the like. It gave the appearance of being almost erotic. As she walked, her arm, side and thigh all made brief, but modest appearances. To the observer, it was as if staring would assure a completely erotic visage of nudity, but the result was always modest by last minute changes of the placement of the fabric.

Alex, for a minute, was completely speechless. Then, the years of training and classes took over and he accepted the hand of the lovely goddess as he said, “Enchanted, Ms. Evans. I am so pleased to make your acquaintance. He was surprised that the lady took his hat and coat and, stepping into a room just off the hall, she placed them on a bed. Alex was also surprised that he saw no sign of a household staff. The house had all of the appearance of being managed by the beautiful woman before him. She led him into a cozy room where a table for two had been set up. There was a sideboard on wheels that she glided to a location she could reach and she politely waited for him to seat her. Alex was prepared for anything except this. The meal was not fancy. It was of the southwest, but it had a spice that he could not identify. They ate and joined in small talk. Music, politics, history and business were all mentioned and Alex was confronted by intelligent repertoire in all subjects. The lady mentioned her retreat was in Roswell, New Mexico. Alex was so surprised for a minute, he could not think of what to say. Isabel mentioned some connection with Doctor Parker and that she had a friend in contact with the singer, Maria DeLuca. Alex, the man who had learned to pride himself in his poise, was dumbfounded. How suddenly his past seemed to be catching up to him.

As their dinner was finished, Isabel stood, her flowing gown opening and closing in a completely disconcerting manner, extended her hand and led Alex into a room where coffee and liquors had been set. They sat talking about so many subjects that Alex became infused with the intoxicating personality of his host. Alex didn’t, yet, completely understand her intentions in the establishment of her business, but he more and more was becoming totally uncaring of whatever they were. There was an unearthly feel about Isabel. Alex with his wealth and experience, had now become a suave and sophisticated young man. As the night wore on, he got closer and closer to Isabel until their lips met. Alex had, in the recent past, finally, found his dalliances, but kissing Isabel was an experience that had no comparison. For the first time, he noticed there was a bed in the shadows of the room.

As she stood up, Isabel’s dress simply fell to the floor. Before him, Alex saw a completely naked woman, clothed only in a golden chain around her waist. A lump rose in Alex’s throat. He broke into a sweat as she lead him into the shadows and the promises. Isabel sat on the satin covering of the bed waiting as Alex divested himself of his outer clothing and, finally, his shorts. Alex fell into her arms and they intertwined themselves in loves that were memorable, not for their complexity, but rather for their depth and intensity. Alex, truly, knew he had never met someone like Isabel. For her part, Isabel found that the intensity she was able to elicit from this human paled the Plebic leader, Kivar. This was part of what the systems of Antar had lost.

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coming soon. In 1881, the wife of Ernesto Delgato, the Señora Felicia Gutierrez-Delgato, presented her husband with twins, a boy and a girl. The boy was named Maximo and the girl Isabella. The young Ernesto was delighted. These were his firstborn and one of them was a boy. Ernesto now had an heir. He also had a daughter to marry off to some man of power to protect his heritage and his name.
banner for Maximo Delgato

The Slave Girl
this an original story. it is in four parts. let me know if you like it. All of the parts will be posted at:
Writers Cave at Roswell Heaven

[ken_r]

Imnotic please stay with me. At this time in writing I really did not know what was coming up either.

Smac and Sternbetrachter remember at this time none of the aliens have any idea of what the humans are needed for. They are charged to make real and lasting emotional ties and it is assumed that the prime chose them because they would be able to do this. I take it back I think that it is clear what they want from Kyle. He is knowledgeable in war and they need something different to stop the war.

Nibbles2 thank you for being with me so far.

Chapter 8

Liz was settling into her new situation. At first she was fretful, examining every offer Max made to assist her in getting her to work and waiting for her in the afternoon. He kept insisting that his schedule was totally flexible. The first semester ended and, of course, Max received an ”A” which could be justified by anyone. Her relationship with Max was never questioned. She had learned one thing which disturbed her greatly. She discovered a terrible side effect in the plant that Henry had stolen. When the side effect was found, the research facility immediately informed the medical testing lab. There was a terrible stink about going forward with the research on that plant. Henry Forthwithe accused the lab of sabotaging his research. Questions were raised about the notes for the research. Of course, when Liz’s notes were studied, there were several caveats about needing more testing. As the notes, more and more, were studied, it was seen that Henry knew very little about the plant and it effects. He had jumped on someone else’s work and presented it as his own. Henry wanted to attack Liz, but the Imperion run research lab made it clear that they might prefer charges of pilfering their work. Henry wanted to attack Liz to get back at her, but he still remembered those black onyx eyes staring at him.

Through Max, Liz met some scientists from Asia. They had worked on the plant he had given her. They knew well of its shortcoming but they shared with Liz another related plant with similar properties and without the apparent side effects. This time, Liz took charge of the research and, jointly with the Asians, she developed the drug that enhanced the use of chemotherapy.

Liz found one thing that she, truly, had missed while living with Henry. With Max, she had a person who was always sympathetic to her problems and her failures, which often make up most of research. Max would always have a kind word to say when she was depressed and had encouragement when she was working on a line of reasoning. Max always complemented her on her classes. He repeated comments he had heard from students favorable about her presentations. In a word, Liz was becoming very comfortable with the presence of Max. She dreaded the time when she would find that apartment, and move out and, again, be alone. Max never mentioned her leaving. Neither had he offered her any hints of romance. Sometimes when she would close her eyes and lean back when he was in the room, she would see herself as a teen with a young boy looking much like Max except without the scars. They would be kissing under the stars. She never mentioned this to Max and she never understood what it meant.

When Liz had in been bed with Henry, he told her what to do for his gratification. Liz was not that experienced when she met Henry, but she felt that she should have received more from sex than she got from him. She dutifully hoped that he would become more gratifying to her as their relationship grew. He hadn’t.

It was between Christmas and New Years when Max announced that he had to make a run to Roswell for a few days. Would Doctor Parker like to accompany him and stay a few days with her folks? Liz was ecstatic. With Henry, she had to beg time to go see them. He would only, very seldom, accompany her. And then, he complained and they left after a very unsatisfactory stay. Liz and Max left early the day after Christmas and arrived in Roswell that afternoon. Liz ran into the Crashdown and greeted her mother and dad. Liz’s mother was worried when she heard about the break up with Henry. She was surprised and pleased that the scarred stranger they had met last summer had brought her daughter home. Max paid his respects and hurried to his house near the elderly Evans family.

Tess met him and they talked outside by his truck. Kyle was getting better, but he needed one more treatment from Max to remove the last bullet. Kyle was attending the extension college in Roswell and taking history classes. He, also, was working at a local garage in the afternoon.

Kyle had been the first of the earthlings who had been seduced and assimilated into the system the aliens were forming. It was Tess’s contention that he should be informed, at least a little, of what they wanted from him. Max was surprised about the changes he saw in Tess. Gone was the drive to get power anyway she could. Gone, also, was the pettiness that she showed about the imposition her duty placed upon her. She seemed confident that Kyle could more than accomplish what the Imperion wanted from him. She was surprisingly ready to start a family with him.

It was with great care that Max approached Kyle that night after supper. Kyle knew that Max was a soldier. He had began to believe that Max was a mercenary. They talked about war. Kyle was not eager to get into another war, but he was willing to listen, anyway. Max made sure to tell Kyle that his choice would not affect his relationship with Tess, no matter what it was. “Max, I do not want to loose her. Do you think she would ever marry a broken-down soldier like myself.”

“Kyle, what have the last few weeks been like?” Max asked.

Kyle still did not completely understand the relationship between Max and Tess. He knew, or thought he knew, that Max and Isabel were siblings. How could he comfortably talk intimate things about Tess to someone who also might be her brother. Max settled him somewhat, “Kyle, I can tell you that Tess has become a lot easier to get along with since she met you. At home, she was difficult and demanding. Many times, she would not see duty without complaint, and now she seems a lot happier. So what ever your relationship has become, it has been good for her.”

“Max we, are sleeping together and I think we both want to make it permanent. I need to get where I can get a job and get some more education, if I am to marry her. That is, if she will have me,” Kyle stated.

There were several minutes before Max replied, “Kyle, there is a job that would be mainly consulting. There would be some danger and you would have to be willing to live, for a time, in a foreign land. It is the land where we are all natives. Marry Tess, no matter whether you accept the job or not, but if you would accept it, it would set you up for life, either back here or in that other land. Tess will go with you no matter where you choose to go.

Kyle was frowning. Max continued, “You can remain in this house after you marry because we need Tess here for at least a year or more. Think about the job and let us know if you accept it.”

Max left Kyle with many thoughts to assimilate. Kyle had to come to the project of his own choice, but if he refused, most of the other work Max and the others were doing would come to naught.

Max returned to the Crashdown for supper. He was immediately ushered up stairs to the family room to have supper with Jeff, Nancy and Liz. The first thing Jeff asked was, “How is your business coming?”

“Well Jeff, I took a class with a master this fall and the rest of business is about one fourth complete,” Max declared.

Liz blushed, “Max is one of the most intelligent and educated men I have ever known. He never missed a question on my assignments and, besides, he organized study groups and, in general, helped the whole class.”

Jeff in an aside, “Max, we certainly are thankful for your help to our Lizzy in her time of break up with Doctor Forthwithe.”

“Jeff, Nancy, it was my pleasure and fortune to be in a place where I could assist your daughter. Liz deserves so much better than the doctor. Liz is a queen and she deserves to be treated as such,” Max went on.

Liz was perplexed at what he said, but she listened carefully. Her parents were happy that she had been freed from the former relationship safely.

Max returned to his house. He didn’t see Kyle, but Tess reported to him. “Isabel has met Alex. Michael is working for Maria and I am in the process of cementing my relationship with Kyle.”

“How do you feel about Kyle,” Max asked.

“I think I can be happy with him as a mate,” she answered. “I am happier now than I was when this expedition started. I know my duty and I hope I am a loyal subject. I think that with Kyle, I can raise a strong family,” she finished.

Max nodded. She had grown up a lot, “I talked to Kyle and I think he will be amendable after thinking about it. You may remain with him, if you want, no matter whether or not he accepts. Remember, if he refuses, it might not be safe here, either in a few years.”

The next morning, Max appeared at the Crashdown for breakfast. Liz came down and sat with him. “I am looking for someone to guide me about Roswell and to spend some time with me visiting an elderly couple who have become, quite dear to me,” he said. “Know any one that would be free to do this?”

Liz giggled, “I would be proud to show you the whole town of Roswell. Then, after that fifteen minutes, we can visit your friends.”

Max laughed, “I think it might take more than fifteen minutes to see all of Roswell.”

Liz was surprised. What Max wanted to see was the schools she attended and the places she had played. Who her friends were? Who were the boys she dated? Liz was surprised because it was like going through her life story. Kyle was the only boy still around that she had dated. She had not had many boyfriends until she met Henry.

Even in Roswell it was chilly in the winter air. Liz found she was hugging Max’s arm as they laughed their way through the streets. Liz had not felt this happy in a long time. They ate at a Mexican-Chinese restaurant, “Senior Chow’s.” Then they stopped at the UFO Museum. There were several exhibits about the weather balloons. Liz, the whole time, clung to Max like a teenager with her first boyfriend. They stopped by the elder Evans’ home and spent several hours just talking to Philip and Diane. Liz was surprised at how the Evans treated her. If it seemed that they treated Max like a son, they treated Liz like a daughter. By the time they were back at the Crashdown, they were tired, but Liz was very happy. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Max. “Thank you for a very good time and a happy holiday.” After she said this, she realized how much she meant it.

Max returned home. Tess and Kyle had no more news for him. He and Liz intended to return to Albuquerque tomorrow. Max had breakfast at the Crashdown and picked up Liz’s things. After fond good byes they took off to Albuquerque, heading north on highway 285. Liz looked at Max. “How much of a hurry are you in getting back?” she inquired.

“I don’t know, Liz. What do you have in mind?” Max asked.

“We could spend the day in Santa Fe and return tomorrow,” she suggested. “I just haven’t had a vacation in so long where I wasn’t doing something I was supposed to do, that I thought it would be fun.” Liz said.

Max smiled, “There is no hurry. What I was hoping to find in Roswell hasn’t happened yet, so, I guess, it would be all right.” They continued on 285 to Santa Fe instead of turning back toward Albuquerque.

Liz and Max spent the day walking through Santa Fe. There were so many sights to see. There were the museums, the art galleries and bookshops, that they both enjoyed visiting. Toward night, Max turned to Liz, “Do you want to make a run for Albuquerque or do you want to stay in Santa Fe tonight.”

Liz looked at him, “Do you think we could stay here? It is so beautiful.”

They found a nice motel and at the desk Max asked Liz, “One or two rooms?”

Liz looked at him shyly and said, “Would one room be OK?”

They went out to dinner and then returned. Max took both of Liz’s hands in his gnarled ones. She felt the scars with her fingers. She shyly ran her finger across the scar on his face. She quickly pulled her hand away, “I am sorry Max, I didn’t mean to pry into your private life. I am sure that scar is something you do not want to talk about.”

“Liz, every scar means a man died giving it to me. Even if they were enemies, I do not like to think of killing. I am sorry if they bother you. For me, each scar means I was the one who lived,” Max stated; then, he fell silent. Max took off his shirt. There were more scars, several in his chest and stomach region.

“Max, where are you from to have had so many fights?” Liz quizzed.

“Liz, I can’t tell you, now, but someday, I hope I can. I have been fighting for my life since I was twelve. I killed my first enemy at thirteen and I do not know how many since,” Max replied. “I can still go get a separate room if you want me to,” he offered.

Liz put her arms around him. She had never known a man who had fought for his life before. Henry was not very brave, but just being with Max, she felt that he must be brave and very powerful. Maybe, that was why he could work with Kyle. When Max pulled her face to his bare chest she could hear his powerful heart pounding. As his lips caressed her hair, she felt safe within his arms. When his lips sought hers, she felt the passion a man could give when he knew that this might be his last time at making love and he wanted to enjoy it to the fullest. She also was to learn as he slowly took off her blouse and bra, that his scarred fingers had a gentleness that Henry had never had. When Max made love, it was all about Liz. He would get his pleasure from what he was able to give her. After he had removed all of her clothes, among many kisses, Max ,much like Michael. lifted her like a child above himself. Liz looked down at Max’s face, scars and all. She also looked down at the bed below where Max intended to share with her his essence and his love. He slowly lowered her and placed her on the bed. He shed his trousers, socks and shoes. Liz was, again, amazed at the scars on his legs. When he took off his shorts, Liz saw a ragged scar across his groin. Max consciously rubbed it and said, “I was very careless that day and it almost cost me my throne. A king with out procreation can’t exist. With that, he lay beside her. With tenderness that Henry had never possessed. he took Liz into his life and into his heart. Liz had not experienced love like this with Henry. Max told her things about herself that she had never dared think. He told her that she meant as much to him as his own life. He told her that if she wanted, he could make her a queen and she would rule whole worlds. For Liz, this was all too much as she finally gave in to fatigue and sleep.

Liz awoke the next morning naked and clutched in the scared arms of Max. Normally, Liz didn’t sleep soundly, but last night there was nothing that could bother her. She was happy and refreshed. They showered together and dressed to go find a place for breakfast.

When they finished, they got in the truck and headed back toward Albuquerque. The Bajada, (pronounce the j like an h,) is an escarpment of lava that is about half way between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. It is a long hill. As the road comes off the lava flow, that makes up most of the mountains to the north, the country changes to the rolling hills that make up the land north of Albuquerque. After they had descended this hill, Liz turned to Max, “I have to know. How much of what you said last night did you really mean?”

Max wasn’t smiling, “All of it, Liz. I would make you a queen over a vast land. Everything I ever said to you, I meant. Last night was, for me, not a passing thing. I do not know how your people take it, but we can be very passionate in loving those who mean a lot to us.”

For the rest of the trip into Albuquerque, Liz just sat there lost in thought.

Liz
I think I had always known that there was something different about Max. I could sense that he did not like Henry. Most people did not like Henry. I never thought of his dislike as jealously. Now, maybe, it was. He handled Henry so easily. I was so frightened that Max would get hurt. Then I was afraid he would hurt Henry. I didn’t want Henry hurt and I am sure no one understands this. I loved Henry at one time. Then, I didn’t want Max to get in trouble if he did hurt Henry. I soon learned to believe, that neither Henry, nor anybody else could hurt my Max. My Max, that has a wonderful sound. Max is a stranger. Could he ever be mine? What is his mysterious job? He has never, since that first meeting when he said, “I am correcting the direction of my world,” mentioned what he does. He alludes that he took a class from a master, meaning me, I think. What does he mean when he says, “Seduce a beloved who was not loved?” Was last night seduction? I thought it was all my idea. Now I am not so sure. Maybe, the seduction is still yet to come. Maybe I am not the one to be seduced. Maybe I am just an interlude until the real objective of his search appears. Max said that what he expected to find in Roswell hadn’t happened yet.

Story
Michael just sat there and stared at Maria lying on the bed. He said nothing as she slowly unbuttoned her blouse. She leaned forward and took the garment off and let it drop to the floor. Just as slowly, she removed her bra and let it follow the blouse. She raised her hips and slid her skirt and half-slip off her legs. She was now in her just panties and hose as she looked back at him to judge his reaction. She, again, raised her hips to take off the last of her clothes. Then she lay back as he simply watched her. Finally, just as she was about to think she was going to get no reaction, he removed his shirt, stood and scoped her up in his arms. He sat with her naked body in his lap as his lips sought hers. She felt them, this time, as he was kissing her in return. She felt the scars on his face as she brushed her lips across it. With her fingers, she couldn’t help following some of his scars running across his back. The bandage she had just fixed for him was still tight, but she ran her hands across his shoulders. They were like iron. As she gently scratched his back with her nails, she felt it quiver. His hands on her legs were a security that she had hadn’t known. Maria had learned, through the years, the many ways to pleasure a man, even if this knowledge was discreet. But, Michael just placed her on the bed. He quickly shed his pants and shorts. Then, spreading her legs, he proceeded to love her with intensity much like Max and Kyle. These were all men who had faced death in the past and they knew that they might face it again, tomorrow. They were not about technique and sophistication, but rather, intensity given only by one who is determined to make his last memories the best memories. Finally, Maria’s naked body curled into Michael’s and they sought sleep. When awaken, Maria felt refreshed from their love making and not trashed as she had with so many others. Maria had six more months on this tour. When it was over, she wanted to return to Roswell and think about what she wanted to accomplish in her life.

[ken_r]

Sternbetrachter In this story Kyle is a very powerful person who was terribly wounded not only in body but in spirit. Snipers are the only really cost effective unit in the military. Society, trying to sanitize warfare many times tries to deny their operations. Snipers do what any soldier does but they do it on a much more personal level. I know this sounds bad but war is bad. Please notice the statement on my signature given to me by my oldest son. The celebration of birth of a child for Kyle I hope is seen as almost a rebirth. He now has something to live for and maybe even fight for even though he is not anxious to enter another war.

Ashleyt recently in stories I have written I have noticed that the love scenes many time are with at least one person being greater than real life. Rather than technical descriptions of sex, which I am not good at, I am attempt to create highly emotional scenes. To me the erotic feeling of anticipation says it all. All fics to some extent are alternate realities. I am trying to write these realities as from other fics I have read. Please remember that I am planning an obviously military solution to the problem of Antar. Hope fully I will surprise the readers in what happens.

Katydid I could not write a time line story without it being guided by a mathematician. In a couple of chapters a problem occurs much like Isaac Asimov in his Foundations where he had to use hands on interference rather than just depend on mathematics.

Imnotic I am glad you still are with me. One of the reasons I avoided writing any story involving Antar is I never liked stories where aliens throw power balls at each other. Alien warfare always bothered me until I realized that almost every war is fought by alien methods. WWI and WWII both introduced mechanization which was a alien as you could get. American Revolutionary war introduced a divergent warfare. taken by the British and described by Bernard Cornwall in his series “Sharps Rifles.” So I hope you will not be disappointed in the solution I use.

Begonia9508 I have been picking on academic snobs as of late. Many of my favorite writers, who by the way are academics themselves, denounce some of their colleagues for less than admirable personalities. To be true to Max he had to let Liz think their relationship was her idea. This may have been especially true after she felt used by Henry. This feeling still comes up to haunt her later.

As to the scars. You got me until I remembered my professor from Heidelberg. I will write this explanation in next post. Thank you for finding a loose end in the story.

Tequathisy I hope you continue to enjoy the story

Smac I wish I could have come up with links to the other fics that were about the alternate time lines I mention. I tried but my library of fanfic is rather extensive but chaotic. Some of the readers that know many of the different stories I hope will recognize them. That was part of my enjoyment of writing this.

Sunshine6258 I hope your interest continues as I wind this story up in the near future.

Chapter 9

In the morning Alex was eating breakfast with Isabel. They were both naked except for silk dressing gowns that Isabel supplied. He thought about last night. Nothing, with all of his money, could produce the effect she had on him. They still talked about mundane things and, finally, she led him to a shower they shared, they dressed and then he called his car. He offered her back her key and she waved it off. Alex did not know what the future promised, but he had found something new to hope for and it wasn’t putting Mr. Gates in second place. When he had arrived home, Alex found an envelop in his pocket. He opened it and it contained a card. On one side it said simply Isabel. On the other side there was a ten digit phone number marked private. He held on to the card as well as the key.

At home, or rather Max’s house, Liz was thinking about the new arrangement in her life. It was strange that she thought of this as home. She had only a few days until she would head back to the research lab and to the university. She stood in her room and then walked into Max’s room. She was surprised to see his closet open and only half of it contained clothes. It was one of those large closets that took up a whole wall. Out of curiosity she looked in his dresser and she saw that only one side of his dresser was filled with his clothes. She also saw that there were two dressers and one was not the usual type for a man’s room. The second dresser had a mirror and it was completely clear on top.

She jumped when a hand touched her shoulder. “If you want to move in, I will help you,” the voice of Max intoned.

Liz whirled to face him. “What is with the furniture in this room? she asked.

Max shrugged, “Isabel furnished both parts of the duplex. We did not know at first who would be living here and who would be staying in Roswell.”

Liz felt it was strange that she still hadn’t met Isabel. Somewhere in her mind she felt she should know her, but it was not clear. “Where is Isabel?” she asked.

Max made a face, “I think she is still in Denver. She is trying to meet an old friend of yours, Alex Whitman.”

Liz frowned, “Alex, I haven’t seen him since school.”

Max smiled, “Yes, you did. He made a sizable contribution to your research a couple years ago. It was the million dollars from Memory Corp.”

Liz frowned again, “I remember that. It was a contribution that was tied up in all sorts of strings that Henry couldn’t untie. It was to be used for the research I was doin. He tried to convert it to his work and the lawyers refused to allow it. Henry was really angry. I think I remember the man that made the contribution. Was that Alex? He didn’t say anything.”

Max smiled again, “Alex is a private sort of person nowadays. With any luck, we might see him in a few months and you can talk to him then.”

They did move Liz’s things into Max’s room.

Liz’s research was going well, and her classes were going well also. Every one noticed that she was inordinately happy.

Alex met with his board members the next morning. They were very unhappy that he did not seem to have the answers to the questions they needed. No one knew what Ms. Evans was up to. Alex had met with her and he didn’t seem to care. The board knew she still held the options, allowed by her letters of intent, which were good for three more months. They had intercepted several letters from Microsoft to Ms. Evans, but they were coded. They were talking about some sort of charity donation. The best analysts were trying to fit them into the doings of the business world.

Alex received an invitation. There was a Broadway musical opening in a few days. It had been sold out for months. Would he like to attend as the guest of Ms. Evans? If so he could meet her at the airport the afternoon of the opening and they would fly to New York in her private jet.

Of course Alex jumped at the chance. He arrived with his tux in his travel bag. He was met by a Sky Cap, who escorted him to a private room, opening out onto the runway. Isabel came forward, kissed him and they proceeded to her private plane. Alex was impressed with the accoutrements on the plane. He didn’t know, but Imperion technology and money could outfit a very nice plane. The plane flew almost silently as it went through the sky. Alex and Isabel talked about things of interest. Isabel mentioned that her brother was involved with an old friend of his, Doctor Elizabeth Parker.

“I thought she was engaged to that prick, Henry Forthwithe?” Alex mentioned.

Isabel smiled, “Things change. I think she got tired of him taking all of the credit for her work. My brother is now involved with her. I am not sure how, but they went back to Roswell during Christmas break.

Alex smiled also, “That is good. She is a wonderful woman and she always deserved someone better than old Henry.”

They went to a hotel room that Isabel had arranged. They dressed and ate in a very good restaurant and both enjoyed the musical. The tabloids marked the beautiful blonde with the reclusive Doctor Whitman. That night at the hotel room, Alex, again, made love to Isabel. He no longer even thought of the loves he had bought. The love given by Isabel was so much better and truer that the other lovers he had experienced. Alex was to realize that the lovers he had formerly purchased were so far from that, which Isabel gave and that he was now, beginning to see as real. He did remember to ask her about the options. Isabel smiled and said they would be for a present. That was too cryptic for Alex.

On the way home, Alex asked Isabel if she would like to spend a week with him at a place he had rented on the Riveria? Isabel consented and the next week it was in Alex’s plane that they flew to a place of his choosing.

Alex and Isabel, jet setted for the next month. Finally, it was announced that prenuptial agreements had been drawn up and they were married in Italy. The agreements were clear. Since both parties had their own fortunes, they would share these fortunes as long as they were married, but if one of them died or if they divorced, they would both return to their private fortunes on separation. Both Isabel and Alex had strong clauses about the inheritance of any children the couple might have. Then, Isabel laid a bomb on Alex. She presented him with a letter to be opened for their wedding. The letter was a release of her four options for a considerable concession in computer chips for the next ten years. As he read the letter, Isabel kissed him and said that was her wedding present to him. Alex did not know what to say. His stock in Memory Corp went up, but, truly, Alex really didn’t care about that any more.

Max received news that Tess and Kyle were married and she was expecting a child soon. He had received the news that Alex and Isabel were married and they were living at her place in Denver. Max also received an answer from Kyle, “Include me in as long as Tess can be as close as is safe.”

Liz was told that she would be given a one-month vacation in June. They would talk to her about new projects when she returned.

Maria and Michael would return to Roswell at the end of June. Maria wanted to rethink her career.

Alex learned that being married had many compensations. First, he had someone to talk to who didn’t have to be cleared by company security. The sex was always a plus and he was finding many more interests than in just making money.

“Alex, how would you like to take over a very large corporation?” this was asked by Isabel one day when Alex was shuffling around the penthouse.

It was clear that his interest was piqued. They talked for sometime about new challenges. “How are your skills in diplomacy? What would you do if you took over a government?” Isabel was still teasing him with ideas. They had developed in their relationship, the habit of challenging each other. Alex outlined what it would take to set up a new government. They debated this for a week and, finally, Isabel faced Alex.

“Could you make that proposition in writing? It is needed for an important project. Do you think you could trust me to do this without questions?” Isabel requested.

Alex did it more as a challenge than really thinking it was for real. When he had finished it, he presented it to Isabel. She kissed him and that night they made such passionate love that Alex forgot, for a time, about the project, all one thousand pages of it. The men who had helped him assemble it never understood what they were being asked to do.

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Prime received the manuscript. It was only distributed to a trusted few. The Head of the Imperion was no longer one of them. It was a limited democracy with tremendous input for education at all ages. The premise was, that with education at all levels, the government could succeed. Alex had made exit clauses all along the way to conform to emergencies or setbacks in the governmental process. It rotated power in such a way that only a complete coup could cause the process to be undone. You couldn’t derail a small part of the process, but you would have to upset the entire program and, with annihilation the immediate result of derailing this, it was hoped that cool heads would prevail.

When Prime recalculated, as he did every time, the new information came forth he found that if all four objectives were achieved with the new information the probability of avoiding destruction within the time stream was now ninety four percent. That was one more point rise.

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Max left for Roswell leaving Liz back at the university with a rented car. He would be gone for almost a week. When he arrived at their house, he was met by, a heavier, but smiling, Tess. Max’s objective, now, was Kyle. They went out to a room in the back of the house to talk. Kyle was clearly willing to take the job Max was offering, but he needed intelligence about the terrain and the people they would be working with. Max simply told him. “It is off world, Kyle. There is a civil war. The country is totally messed up. You and Michael, who you haven’t met yet, will determine what, the military can do to solve the problem. Probably, it will involve surgical strategic rearranging of certain forces and leaders. Michael knows all about our way of fighting, but our way has, so far, only caused a standstill. We are in the process of instituting a whole new system of government, but there are some elements and leaders who are going to have to be modified. That will be up to you and Michael.

Kyle had one pointed question, “Is there a clear line between the right side and the wrong side. Which side are we on and how do I know it is right?”

Max looked at Kyle for a minute. “The right side is for the war to stop. The wrong side is for the war to continue. The actual sides do not matter. We just want the war to stop before it destroys everyone. This destruction might reach as far as Earth.”

Kyle shook his head and then calmly said, “Count me in. Start getting me intelligence and arrange for me to get with this Michael as soon as possible.”

Maria’s life had changed, as some of her former lovers soon learned. A few of them, unwilling to believe it had to be carried to hospitals. Her time and her love were now monopolized. She put on great concerts and she continued her tour. Some of the people who figured to use her show for their own gains soon learned that the letter of the contract would be followed. The pressures they had applied to former performers would not faze Maria or her bodyguard.

During pillow talk proceeding or after intense lovemaking, Michael had asked Maria how she felt about starting a program for arts of all kinds. He hinted that he could get funding and all it needed was administration. Maria had started to think about this. This would be a legacy like Carnegie or Rockefeller. Maria had had a wonderful life performing. She knew that very few could keep this up for many years. She did want to leave a legacy and Michael’s ideas were interesting. They would be in Roswell at the end of June and she would discuss this project with the people he would introduce her to then.

Liz was bringing her research to a closing point where it could be turned over to someone else. She would take her month vacation and maybe, even ask for a sabbatical for a year.

Max and Liz arrived in Roswell on the first of June. Nancy first noticed the difference in Liz. She turned to Jeff, “I wouldn’t be surprised if our daughter has a new boyfriend.”

Jeff laughed, “If you mean Max, that is more than a just a possibility. I like him a lot. Much more than that other, Henry, feller.”

Max was welcomed at the Parker home. Liz asked him to return in a few hours after she finished talking to her parents. Liz was thirty years old, but she still had a lot of respect for her parents. She wanted them to understand her feelings toward Max.

When Max returned, Liz climbed up into the truck and kissed him. Then they drove to the house where Tess and Kyle were waiting. Max took Liz to his room and later they had supper with Kyle and Tess. Liz was pleased to see how well Kyle was doing. She made a fuss over Tess talking girl talk about babies, due dates and things girls always find in common. Liz had none of the flashes she had the first time she had seen Tess. In fact, everything seemed to be correct in her mind.
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I have started a new story The Loves of Maximo Delgato
This is a Roswell love story with a Hispanic western twist. I will post the second chapter this week.

[ken_r]

Sternbetrachter Kyle is happy in his new life. He feels loved and he is excited about being a father. Question about Alex and Isabel, when does sex become an affirmation of love? Women have clouded a man’s mind for centuries by giving love to remove doubts.

Mezz thank you I work hard to improve.

Sunshine6258 these are adults and they are mature and educated enough to bring true aid to the one faction of Antar. Liz still respects her parents and doesn’t want to loose them. It is not mentioned but I guess Maria and Alex no longer have living parents. Kyle’s father does take part in the story later.

Author’s note
The episode of preparing for war I took from Frederick Forsyth and his novel “Dogs of War.” It was reported that he wrote this novel to cover a large loss he suffered when he tried to finance a revolution somewhere and got caught. The weapons were my own choice as they would be what I would what I would use in a situation such as this. The Glocks are universally no nonsense pistols. These pistols are 45 caliber because i just do not like the 9 millimeter the military uses. The FN P-90s are a short rifle that is almost instinctive to point. Little training would be involved. The Barratts are superb in what they do. they use the huge cartridge 50 caliber Browning machinegun ammunition.

I need to thank the Ultimatepickupline for her help in finding the location of the story linked to this text. it is an old story but it was one that influenced me to write this one. It is very sad and I cried when I read it. don't give me a bad time even strong men cry a lot.

Chapter 10

Max and Liz drove over to Bitter Lakes Refuge and found a place where they could watch the birds and talk without being bothered.

Max started, “Once upon a time there were four children. They were abandoned by their parents because great evil was searching for them. One child was a little boy. He was quiet and lonely. The other was a girl who called herself his sister. She was beautiful and outgoing. There was another boy and he was lost for a time. He was taken by a bad man and treated badly all of his life. There was one more child and there is a poem about her by Longfellow.
There was a little girl,
Who had a little curl,
Right in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good,
She was very good indeed,
But when she was bad, she was horrid.

These children lived in many timelines. Most of the timelines let them have very good and productive lives. Sometimes, they went home to their strange land and sometimes they stayed here on Earth. In most of these time lines, these children met other children. They grew up and became powerful families because of the others they met. In some lines, the little boy meets a little girl and she was shot. The boy had the ability to heal. He brought her back to life and they became very powerful because of their love. The little boy in each of these stories is always called Max and the girl he saved is called Liz.

Liz stopped him. “Max, where is this story going? I never knew you and I was never shot. But, one time…” Liz trailed off as she remembered that time when she felt the bullet just miss her.

Max continued, “In some tales the little boy didn’t save the girl and she died. Her friends went insane because of her loss and the little boy never rose to his potential on Earth because he didn’t have her with him.” you can read about this in this story. It had a lot to do with me writing my fic.

In many timelines the fourth child, the little girl, would be bad. Sometimes, she killed some of the other children but in other timelines, she was good and she helped them. Her life was the most variable.

In one very obscure but important time line, the children never came to Earth. The Earth children never met any of them. On this star system called Antar there was a war. The people fighting this war did many very bad things to their planets and to their timeline. This timeline is important because it is the one in which we all live. It was discovered that if the Earth contacts could be made and the Earth children were willing, the four sets of children could return to Antar as couples and right the timeline so it would survive. Remember, if we do not survive, other timelines will continue, but the people we all know will perish.

Liz thought for a long time, “Max, who are these people who can help your people, and maybe mine, to survive?”

“One is a soldier. He is in a lot of pain, but he has worked to become healed. He has paired with a spoiled princess. She is now pregnant with his child. She seems to be growing up and willing to assume her duty to both her new companion and her world. She also seems to be experiencing a true love for the first time. The other is a very bright man. He grew up bitter. He developed into a powerful man with very great management skills. He wanted to be the richest man in the world. He met a true princess and he now is considering the problem of managing a system of worlds. His companion is a brilliant woman who is very loyal to her duty. She is also trying to live down a terrible indiscretion she committed long ago. That indiscretion has the potential of getting her whole family killed. The third is a singer. She has the ability to remain calm and think clearly during times of excess pressure, even though normally, she is a bit of a ditz. She also is willing to take charge of planning a performing arts program, which will keep people from forgetting what we are fighting for. And the last is a scientist who is to be made a queen. She will lead our people with scientific thought and direction into a new free and democratic world. Her companion is to be a king, but he only knows how to butcher men. She will temper him and help him to free his world, and then, free himself from his world.”

Liz had little to say after this speech. They drove back to Roswell and she asked to be driven back to the Crashdown where she left him. Liz needed her space to think for a while.

When morning came, Liz came slowly down the stairs. This was different from how she normally had descended, ever since childhood. Liz saw Kyle talking to his father, the sheriff, who was just leaving as she walked up and sat down across from Kyle.

Kyle smiled, “Did Max give you the big speech yesterday?”

Liz made a very small smile, “Yes and he explained how he needed four of us to complete his plans to defend his world.”

Kyle stated, “I always wanted to be part of something bigger than Roswell.”

“Don’t you feel used, Kyle? Liz asked. I mean you were courted to be taken into this master plan.”

“Liz, it makes no difference to me. Tess stays with me no matter what I do. If she had a reason for courting me, now she has given me a very good little reason to want to help and stay with her. Liz, I am going to be a father. I am going to have a child,” Kyle was smitten by the idea of fatherhood.

Liz stared at Kyle. What was required of her to give up to become a Queen? Her whole life was dedicated to research and teaching. Now they, who ever “they” were, wanted her to research a new world and lead a star system. Liz had one thing she was not sure she could ever give up. Her parents had always stood by her in good times and in bad. She could not bare the thought that she might never see them again.

Kyle stood up. He extended his hand, “Come on, Liz, walk with me back to our house. It is part of something bigger than all of us. You will see this is why we all were born.”

As far as Liz could see, she had two problems. First, she didn’t want to become permanently separated from her folks. Second, had Max toyed with her affections just like Henry had done for his own self-interest? Max had an answer for each.

“Liz, as a queen, you would have a space yacht at your disposal. If we can pacify the conflict, then you would be able to visit Earth and even bring yourf parents to our star Systems. If we fail, the conflict will widen and might even engulf Earth. And, there is still the problem of the time rift. In hundreds of time lines, Max and Liz couples find happiness and produce untold multitudes of children to gratify your want to be a grand parent and they bring together the best of the civilizations of both worlds.” Liz only understood this multitude of universes slightly. She had a lot to think about.

It was a week later that a small private jet flew into the Roswell airport. Isabel and Alex debarked and took a taxi to the house now occupied by Max and Tess and their choices of mates. The fact that Liz was here already played a lot into Alex’s acceptance of Isabel’s proposal. He and Liz spent several afternoons getting caught up intellectually and personally.

Max was gone many mornings. He and Isabel were at the Elder Evans’ family home. Philip and Diane were outlining legal systems. Neither Philip nor Diane understood why Max kept asking these questions, but the joy of having young people interested in their work made them prepare the answers for all of Max’s questions. Toward the end of June, a final cab drove up to the dwelling. Alex and Liz had been talking. They saw a tall man wearing a tee shirt that bore the legend, “Maria DeLuca Tours.”

Both Alex and Liz saw a curvaceous blonde girl get out of the cab. Always hovering nearby was the strong, terribly scared soldier. Both Kyle and Liz, instinctively knew that it was Michael with his charge Maria. The three friends from school had not been together for a long time. It gave a time for both Maria and Liz to scold Alex about not introducing himself the time he had been with each girl.

The four aliens met together with Kyle. “I need to spend a lot of time in learning the operational situation if Michael and I are to develop strategy,” Kyle stated.

Michael, just shrugged, this was action that he understood. Maria would be safe here without his valued services. He would talk with this earthman and they would discuss the future of Antar.

Liz was still confused and bewildered about her place in the scheme of the Antarian world. She still felt that Max wasn’t that much better than Henry. Kyle was satisfied that he was the winner with Tess, the minor princess. Alex was happy with the challenges he received with the true princess. Maria was still talking about the program she was to direct without really understanding all of the ramifications. Max sent the message of half complete.

________________
Prime was pleased. He still knew that the plan was only half completed. He visited the head of the imperion. The head smiled at Prime. There wasn’t much to smile about now days. The time machine had not been used for some time. The time continuum was flowing smoothly, but all calculations placed this timeline near the outside of the stream. The calculations kept fluttering from time to time. Every time a new calculation would come in, the calculation itself would reflect changes in the time line. There was one more event to be considered. It would require the Plebic and the Imperion to come to terms on a final project with a final use of the time machine. Agreement was reached because the doctor going back in time seemed mathematically to stabilize the time stream. The Plebic scientists were not sure why, but they couldn’t argue with the mathematics.

Her common name was Sar. Of course like the others, her name on Antar was not reproducible. She was called into the office of the Prime. She was a young female who was brilliant in medical history. She had presided at the discussions of the corruption that time travel created on the timeline. She was of the monarchical court. As a historian, she was a bit of a romantic. She dreamed of the days when those of the aristocracy were passionate and peace reigned throughout the three planets. Sar was presented with a folder and her compliance was expected. She was given space on an interstellar vehicle. Trouble, was this vehicle was sometime in the past. There were no clones of a dying monarchy on this ship. It was strictly a research ship with secret orders to take the mysterious passenger and deposit her in a desert. Sar would miss the birth of the royal heir and of his half sister. She would be at the right time, but she would be light years away. There would be a celebration during this time and Sar thought she would enjoy what passed for romance 30 years ago. She was to leave almost a year before that happening. Oh well, playing loose with history had gotten the three worlds in the mess they were in. Sar was to join the ship back in time and proceed to earth. There, she was to open the envelope and follow instructions to the letter. It was decided that the last time mission would be approved by the warring nations.

The first thing Sar found in her envelope was the new name she was to assume, Sarinia. This planet did not have time travel to destroy itself but 40 years before her arrival they did almost find their end by nuclear power. Sarina landed at a time when the world was relativelt quiet. She was given identification by the then, almost, newly formed Imperion Intelligence group. She was to be a medical doctor and she was going to assist a young Doctor Sanchez that was a family doctor to most of the town of Roswell. Sarina had more than enough medical knowledge to follow her new identity. She was to present doctor Sanchez with her credentials of being a specialist in Obstetrics.

As in any year, there were many young families just starting out. There was the Parker family. Young Jeff Parker had just taken over a small restaurant. Then there was the young and then, very much in love Valenti’s who were expecting their first child. Sarina had be careful here. In just a few years for reasons never given by the couple Mrs. Valenti would leave her husband and abandon her baby son. Whatever had happened to that now happy family, Sarina could only wonder. There was the Whitman family. They would leave in a year and return when their child was in the forth grade or there abouts. In addition there was the totally independent Amy Deluca. She had started living with a man. He had gotten her pregnant and he would remain with her until he got scared by something and leave Amy saddled with the care and raising of a daughter. One reason for Sarina being chosen for this operation was that she was such a passionate person herself. That fact had not been missed by Juan Sanchez, MD. His hot Latin blood boiled for the passionate young assistant. She seemed to be a gift from heaven. While Sarina was tending the four mothers to be, she also was tending her own fires in the embrace of Juan. It would be a match made in heaven, if that is what you want to call the Imperion.

As each due date approached, Sarina, now known as Señora Doctor Sanchez, spent a lot of time counseling each of the mothers. She was very private with this procedure. The first was Mrs. Whitman. She was going to have a boy. Sarina talked so quietly and soothingly that Mrs. Whitman fell into a sleep. Sarina imparted to the unborn infant, the knowledge of logic and science. He would have the knowledge to run a powerful company. To the unborn Valenti, she imparted strength. Then, she concentrated on reflexes and skills with eye and hand coordination. He would be strong enough to survive in a single parent world and would make not only a great athlete, but also a gifted soldier. When she got to the Parker family, she felt strongest about their unborn child. This little girl would grow up to not only be a brilliant scientist, but would also have a passion that could be awakened by being truly loved herself. She, indeed would be a worthy mate for the king. Finally, Sarina came to Amy DeLuca. Amy was still too independent to either take advice or use advice, even if she, herself, found it. Sarina was cautioned not to interfere with the baby DeLuca since she would be strengthen by the trials in her life. She would be the support the future would need. Sarina gave her a perfect ear for music. She also let some of her passion run into the unborn baby.

When the four babies had been brought into the world and presented to the then, loving and doting parents, Sarina had been instructed to open the final instruction. It read, “Go forth with your passionate doctor. Make many babies to add what we have lost to their gene pool. Your reward for service is to be freed from our cold sterile world, knowing that you may have saved it.”

___________________
Liz had moved back into Max’s bedroom. They were still discussing her participation in the project. One night after a particularly intense love making session, Liz turned to Max, “I think I want to be part of the group to save your world. Just help me not to lose my parents for ever.”

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Prime’s acolyte came running. He had done the morning calculations. If the four objectives were all met, time calculus predicted a complete success of 98 percent. Prime had withheld much he had learned from the Head of the Imperion. He was worried that the head might no longer be reliable. He just informed him that the project was on track. Prime was keeping his own intelligence working. Kivar and the Head recently had entered into private, secret negotiations. Prime had also heard that part of the negotiation was the presentation of the Princess Vilondra. It had been a long time since any of the governments of Antar had negotiated in human currency. Besides, the plan required Vilondra to be the mate and consort of the new governmental manager. Without this, the plan would again have a large failure rate.

----------------------------------

With all four humans finally consenting to join the project, it was now necessary to make final plans and gather materials from Earth that the Antarians wouldn’t have. Kyle was the first and foremost person to submit a list of equipment. He wanted four fifty caliber Barrett’s semi auto sniper rifles with optical equipment, along with this he wanted 1,000 rounds of loaded ammo. This type of rifle had first been used in Korea in the 1950s. It had evolved into a precision machine. It had an effective range of almost 3000 yards. This was almost two miles, grouping within a few inches of point of aim. They were huge rifles weighing up toward thirty pounds and the cartridge was almost 8 inches long. Then, he wanted fifty Glock model 21s, with 500,000 rounds of ammunition. Kyle and Michael had spent numerous hours debating the weapons of Antar against those of Earth. It was finally decided that they needed weapons that Kyle could understand for his participation in the program. It would be Michael’s duty to obtain weapons for Antarian forces under his command. It was decided that, except for the sniper weapons, Kyle would only be responsible for short-range defense. Kyle chose a little known weapon. It was, in fact, only known by most people, as a prop in a little movie series called Star Gate One. The FN p-90 really did exist and it was an easy weapon to use in training palace guards. It was powerful and accurate enough for defense. Kyle wanted 100 of the P-90s along with 500,000 rounds of ammunition. Kyle made it plain that offense, except for strategic sniping, would be Michael’s task because he knew the conditions that would exist. Kyle did order fifty bullet proof vests to be used by those under his command if it came to that. Kyle was not interested in explosives or other ordinance because he felt that Michael would be better suited to make those choices.

The procurement of the weapons was not that difficult. The Barrett sniper rifles were legal in most of the United States except for California. The cost was high. So was the cost of the ammunition which could be obtained at the same time. 1000 round was not great enough to arouse any government security flags. The Glocks would have to be purchased under an “end-use” police purchase signed by an African nation that was willing to make a deal with the Imperion. As a nation, they could apply for the shipment for domestic purposes. This was a normal ploy even though almost everyone knew that a nation smaller than New York State would have little need for a shipment of fifty 45 caliber police pistols. Like wise, the p-90s and the ammunition from the Herstal industries in Belgium, would be sold to an “end-use” license issued to a small island republic in the South Pacific. This would be even more ridiculous. What was the island republic afraid of, an attack of whales? Russia would furnish the ammunition for the Glocks. Since all of the items would be loaded onto an unlicensed space ship that never touched American shores except for a very brief time to on load passengers, no laws had been broken, just bent a lot.

Next was Alex’s list. Since he was used to Earth type computers, he wanted 50 top of the line, business machines. He wanted power converters that would be adaptable to energy sources literally from anywhere in the Universe. None of these computers were licensed to be transported, out of the United States. Alex would have to arrange for them to be picked up at the same time that the ship picked up the aliens and their mates.

Maria would have to build her arts program from scratch when she got to Antar, having no idea of what she would need for that culture. She was put in charge of implementation, which as far as she could see, was just make work. She simply recorded and kept track of where all shipments were located, at any time. This was easy and it wasn’t until one of the end-user licenses was questioned and turned down and Maria quickly contacted the Imperion to make changes, that her value was known. Maria just told herself it was like a tour date that had been canceled and another show had to be booked in its place. She managed to get the end-user permit reassigned to a small dictatorship and the little island in the
Pacific remained vulnerable to any and all whale attacks. Maria could always come through in a panic.

Liz had no idea what she was supposed to do. Neither did anyone else. Max kept his mouth shut because if he said her main purpose was to have a family to help rule the Antar system, she might feel, again, like she was nothing but a baby machine. He imagined that there were other things that prime had for her, but right now, he didn’t know what they were. Liz became the recorder of the group, keeping a journal of all of their activities.

[ken_r]

Sternbetrachter this might have been a bit of the “god of the machine" that the Greeks used to cover bad composition. I used it to emphasize and maybe reassure my self that the humans would be correctly oriented to the abilities that they would need. Just because they were from a parallel universe didn’t mean they would be of the same ability. Read Issac Azimov and the third of the three foundation books. Sometimes you do not trust mathematics or probability you just must put a little hands on to assure history goes the way you want it to.

Imnotic As I write I make a history in my mind. This is why I am in to alternate time lines so much. Behind the lines I write I have to believe there is background. I have gone over several of my stories and I find that no matter how strong I try to make Liz she always has doubts in her self. Maybe this is because I firmly believe anyone who doesn’t question every thing is dangerous because they never know when they are being led astray. The point of war comes from my view of history. Paradigms are the easiest to defeat. Almost every war is lost because of one side not being able to learn new tactics. I always wondered how a oligarchy would respond to democracy. We are seeing this today in countries at war. Power does not like to be relinquished. Powerful figures will turn to enemies who represent power even if it means having to accept different ideals rather than allow a new government to be established. Head and Kivar are essentially the same type of men.

Your signature quote:

You can always make someone believe you, the hard part is convincing them to believe IN you. Always try to do the right thing in life, wheather you like the choices, learn from mistakes made, believe in you.
L.

Liz was offering the people to believe in her and she believed she was doing the right thing not the politic thing. The people believed in neither Head or Kivar.

Smac Even though Zan/Max was king in this place he was acting as a soldier. He knew that Liz was important but even I didn’t know that she was this important until I wrote this part. I tried to show how each human did something indispensable when I was through it was just that Liz became the principal power. Everything she has trained for came into position to save the new government. There is a line said by her son in the next post that says it all.

Chapter 11
Kyle and Rath-Michael were going to be responsible for any military tactics, so they spent a lot of time together. First thing was that Rath-Michael had to teach Kyle the tactics of war Antar style. Their tactics were totally different. Then Kyle would discuss strategy earth style. Fortunately, Rath was enough of a rebel that he could accept the totally unorthodox methods of fighting.

On Antar most of the high-born had powers. They could wield great energy power through their bodies. The common men would be equipped with particle weapons and as a last result, edged weapons. A battle would start with barrages of power from selected high-borns. Lesser-borns would erect power shields. Of course, some of the common men would be unprotected and become casualties. That was war. As the highest-born would weaken on one side or the other, the strongest side would advance. Then, the common men would use their particle weapons weakening the shields until power blasts could get through. It always ended the same way, where at the last, the men fought with edged weapons until the enemy fled from the field. Because the Imperion had most of the highest-born, they usually were able to hold the onslaughts of much bigger armies. Typically, a battle would encompass hundreds of men on either side. Since the high-born needed their bodies to be strong to focus their energy, they were cared for, sometimes at the expense of the common soldier. Causalities were such that you could afford to loose many common soldiers, but the loss of even a single high-born would be disastrous. Michael showed Kyle his scars. The high-born kept their scars to show others that they had been in battle. Both Rath/Michael and Zan/Max had been in many battles. Their scars attested to their bravery and, also, to their ability to fight and live. It showed that they were not soldiers at court, but real warriors.

This went against every thing Kyle had ever stood for. He didn’t really understand the scars of honor. He was taught to fight and win. Then, he wanted much smaller groups of men. His optimum was 25. He wanted to train several companies of 25 men so that if one company suffered causalities, they could be retired to the rear of the action to rebuild their company and be replaced by another company. He wanted nothing to do with masses of men and masses of casualties. Kyle wanted a cadre of high-born with each company whose responsibility would be to protect themselves and the company. They would be also charged with healing the company. They must understand that this was war and no longer a trophy contest to see who could live while collecting the most scars. This would be one of the most difficult changes because it removed the celebrity of the highborn. They would be fighting for a cause and not to show off their own prowess. Kyle addressed this by emphasizing that the protection of the company was most important. Now to get these essentially spoiled men to buy this. Kyle had no issue with hand-to-hand combat, but he made it more egalitarian by the introduction of the firearms. More and more of the high born were defecting to Kivar. He was promising them wealth and power. He was promising that their importance would be preserved. The Imperion was nominally standing for a decrease of the power of the elite status of the aristocracy. This had been started by Zan the elder.

Rath/Michael would be the officer in charge of training these men. He knew his men and he best knew how to make them learn the change. One side note, Rath was renowned for his ability to sling tremendous energy. But, Rath had been infatuated with the Glocks. He bought two while still in the United States and practicedwith them daily. True energy was a powerful way to fight from a distance, but close up the noise, smoke and the destruction of the Glocks was just so much fun for him.

Kyle wanted three men to train. He would be working in an entirely different way than the army.

The eight specially selected people were loaded into the ship. Stops were made to pick up materials. There was a specified time until they made a secure landing in the centrally held lands of the Imperion. The Head of the Imperion had left word that the eight chosen were to be immediately brought to him. Prime interceded under the guise that he had to ready the humans to react in their new environment.

As recorder, Liz was writing everything she saw in her journal. Maria was checking manifests and demanding that other world creatures conform to her sense of order. Arguing with her did little good because her retort was if they wanted her ability to face crises, then they had to give her the comfort of knowing what she could count on to be accomplished. Alien to Antar was security for her.

The sky of Antar was different. On earth, you had a blue sky as the short rays of the sun were able to penetrate the atmosphere. On this central planet, the sky was tinged in red because of the red son. There just weren’t that many blue rays. Then there was the dust. The wind was blowing constantly. The red dust penetrated everything. Maria was going crazy worrying about the equipment. It was worse than putting on an outdoor rock concert in Amarillo, Texas where the wind also rarely stopped. That is why they wanted her. Maria was able to see everything she was called upon to do in terms of things she had overcome while on tour. Liz noted that as they were approaching the planet, the land was pockmarked with craters and areas that had been burned off. Liz had been told that the atmosphere had been affected. Deep in the underground chambers, huge generators were pumping oxygen into the atmosphere, a function formerly taken by plant life. Liz, for the moment, was turned over to Prime’s acolyte.

“What do I call you?” she asked.

He look confused for a minute. It had been so long since anyone needed to label him except for Pirme, that he had almost forgotten his name. “You can call me Edwar. That is the best way I can say it in your language,” he slowly said.

“Okay, then Edwar, we need to know more about the history of your civil war,” Liz requested.

Edwar looked almost surprised. To him, for anyone not to know about the civil war was almost unheard of. All three worlds knew of the war and all three worlds had contributed to both sides of the fighting. He began, “Zan, the elder, father of the present Zan who you call Max was a good king. He wanted reforms. Being a good king, he tried to allow self-rule as much as possible. This led to powerful individual coalitions created by the high-born. They mistook his benevolence for weakness. It was necessary to crush the many individual alliances and this led to anarchy of sorts. One side’s answer was the Imperion who replaced the monarchy. The other was the Plebic who rose up to deny anything that had any connection to the monarchy. On our side, we have a committee led by the man who is called simply the Head. On the other side, we have a congress of military called the Plebic. The Plebic are led by a general named Kivar. For the most part, the monarchy remains on the side of the imperion. There are constant rumors of individuals in the monarchy helping the Plebic cause.”

Liz sat chewing on her pen. “So in reality, you need have a body politic that can grow up and put aside these petty quarrels,” Liz stated.

A gnarled hand rested on her shoulder. “Very succinctly put, my dear Doctor. We need outside ideas to replace what you call paradigms. Our folly of time travel has moved us to the point where we will be destroyed if we are not able to do this. The very highest of the high-born for the most part are inculcated with the necessity of duty. It is those others, of lower birth, who are stretching to grasp power that we have to reach,” Prime said while looking at his acolyte. Prime had chosen the acolyte, Edwar, to follow in his place at his death which probably was to be soon. “The imperion itself is not an improvement of the monarchy. It simply just traded one set of masters for another with no basis for the latter being any better than the former. It also rid the people of any tradition that would create loyalty”

Liz addressed the Prime, “What about the Plebic? Do they have any better chance of being changed than those of the Imperion?”

“Sadly, my dear, they don’t. The Plebic started as a party of the common man, but the leadership has been usurped by a minor prince who is no better, and sometimes worse, than the imperion,” Prime droned on.

Liz was thoughtful, “Then, it seems that you need a third power run in an entirely different way. This new power base must replace both of the power structures and be able to let go when it is time.”

Prime bowed, “Exactly, my queen, you are that power we need. You will control the carisma of Zan-Max and coming from a world where you do not like despots, it is hoped you will freely relinquish your position when needed.”

Liz was stunned. Whoever had suggested she become a political power was insane. She hated politics! Most of the time, she always voted against the worst of the candidates. She really could never remembering supporting anyone. Liz remembered once reading a silly story about hitching a ride about the Universe. “Those that most do not want power should be the ones presented with it.” Liz, who for a time, thought she would be the fifth wheel of the group, maybe only brought along because she was to be he mate of Zan or rather Max, was to be the crucial component of the new order.

Maria was having one break down after another. She had guessed that after the years of handling roadies, agents, and would be lovers, the logistics of a revolution should be easy. But, she never thought of how many things would be needed to foment revolution. It was surprising that as soon as she was just told that the movement of materials was her responsibility, she managed to do it. She still had her bodyguard nearby.

Alexander Whitman had been transported into another world, both literally and figuratively. This was like the one he worked in when he was still young at Earth. He was doing things by the seat of his pants. He was making decisions and carrying them out with the help of the men dedicated to the Prime. He had set up his computers and hacked into the strange system of the Anterians. Alex had put his manifesto, as he had begun calling it, on his data base. Now, he just had to wait for the go ahead to institute the entirely new system. The Head of the Imperion had become more and more insistent that he be given access to the alien technology and ideology the newcomers had brought. Also, Kivar had stepped up his inquiry about Vilondra.

Kivar, felt that he surely had a chance to regain the trust of his lover, Vilondra. She was of the highest-born second only to the King, that boy now man, Zan. Kivar had no knowledge of the relationship Vilondra now had with the Earthman. Privately, Kivar despised the thought of bringing the un-evolved earth men to Antar. These people were savages. They had made no progress toward their mental powers at all. He had seen the so-called scientist and he wouldn’t mind a night with her. Her rough savagery would be refreshing compared to the consorts Kivar had sampled lately. He still wanted his Vilondra to come to him and collapse the foolish Imperion. Secretly, the Head of the Imperion was deciding that his best path no longer traveled with that of the few high-borns in the imperion. Prime had it on very good authority that the Head would go over to Kivar taking the Earthmen with him as soon as he was given access to them.

Michael-Rath and Kyle had taken slightly over a hundred men picked men out of the stockades and jails of the Imperion. They had managed to accomplish this without the Imperion noticing. Zan would eventually be in charge of these men. He and Rath divided them into their four companies. At the start of training Rath made it clear that disobedience or treason would be met with immediate death. He was not interested in any tribunals or trials. The men were rough, but undisciplined. Kyle and Rath simply just beat the shit out of any of them that questioned any orders. Rath, with his new toy, did shoot a couple when they tried to ban together and fight him. Soon, those who remained, formed themselves into a tight group, tough and intensly loyal to the unit.

Prime announced that he was ready to present the saviors of Antar to the Head. Secretly, Kivar was notified when this was to take place. He had finally gotten a letter to Vilondra. He spoke of the riches and power he would bestow upon her and the viral love he would make with her.

Zan was with his troops. Rath was representing the Imperion with Prime. Vilondra was clad in a silver gown of the monarchy. It was Doctor Elizabeth Parker who was the surprise. She was clad in a golden gown, under a drab gray cloak. She was accompanied by a high born whose duty was to bring up a shield at a moments notice. Prime had stressed over and over that Doctor Parker was to be protected even if the high born had to burn and destroy everyone else to do it.

Prime, the high born, Rath, Vilondra and Doctor Parker advanced to the place where the Head awaited. Prime made the introductions. Head was clearly disappointed. He was prepared to meet men of great political or military ability from the strange world. As far as he could tell, all of the party were Antarians except for the diminutive earth woman. When the earth woman stepped forth, though, Vilondra held her cloak. The beautiful Doctor was dressed in the garments of the highest of queens. Immediately, the high born surrounded himself and Liz with a strong power field. Head was furious. He had been prepared to either reason with the earth creature or to kill it out of hand. He raised his staff and shook it at Prime. They stood like two wizards, challenging each other. It was Rath who rectified the whole meeting. With the simplest of motions, he just drew his Glock and shot the Head several times. Those following Head were dumbfounded. There had been no build up of power; just a loud noise and their leader was slain. They also were gazing on the countenance of a royal queen. This was the first true royalty who had been seen since the fall of the monarchy. Liz raised her hands and the high born lowered the shield. He was prepared to raise it immediately, if need be. Liz said in an amplified voice, “Hear the words of your queen. We bring a new government with which you will rule your selves. I, and my consort, will renounce the throne as soon as the government is in place. The high-born guard felt a surge of power and raised the shield again. There was no need. Rath had sent two to the chest and one to the head just as Kyle had taught him. He stood with his Glock smoking. One of the men loyal to the Head just slipped into the spiritual land reserved for fallen soldiers. The rest stood in awe of the queen and her words. Prime took over, and with promises to institute the new government; as soon as possible they left.

Prime had one more stop before he was through. The small party got in an armored carrier and flew to a rendezvous in the desert. Kivar was waiting. The Head had promised to bring the humans as soon as he had them in his custody. Kivar was alone with his two high-born protectors. His generals were assembled some distance behind him. The carrier landed and the party descended. Kivar’s thoughts were clouded as he saw the silver gown of Vilondra. The thoughts of her body once again in his possession were too rich for him to comprehend. He would have both, the person of Vilondra and the princess of the monarchy. Tonight he would have the body of a woman who was remarkable in her love making skills. He did frown as he saw the small woman in the gray cloak. He also went on alert when he saw that it was not the Head of the Imperion, but rather Prime, that scientist wizard. Why was Rath with them? He knew that Vilondra had been rumored to have some sort of relationship with a soldier named Rath. Well, if she wanted to bring a pet to entertain herself when he, Kivar, was not around, he was not jealous. As they approached, Prime spoke. The Head of the Imperion has resigned. He stepped down in favor of his true queen. Liz let her cloak slip and the men behind Kivar let in an intake of air. They were being presented with a true queen. They would not be fighting the imperion, but rather, the monarchy with all of its tradition. They still had enough of the old monarchy left in their souls to bow to the power of a true queen. Kivar was furious. He was working up to the cast of a power surge. The High-born protecting Liz raised his shield. Kivar simply exploded. There was no noise for several seconds. Way off in the distance there was a boom. Another of the men following Kivar collapsed, then another. Each followed by a distant boom several seconds later.

Some of the troops advanced upon the small group, but they couldn’t get to the queen and most of them didn’t want to. Suddenly from behind the dunes, twenty five men spread out from each other in a skirmish line formation advanced. Their Mp-90s rattled as they delivered death. The men only had to point their trigger fingers and the MP-90s barked out their destruction. Before the army behind Kivar could form up with their tactics they had used for ages, they were covered by a small cadre of men, of the new order, who already had dropped many men of the Plebic.

It was almost an hour later when four strange figures walked in off the desert. They were dressed in ghillie suits. These were from poachers and game keepers in England both involved in the game of stalking and game stealing. The suit was composed of strips of rough cloth. It made the snipers look like things of the swamp. Kyle, his spotter and his trainee and his spotter all walked in. The ghillie suits were red like the sand, the strips hanging down so none of the men gave a distinct outline. Kyle was carrying the heavy barrett sniper weapon. Likewise, was his trainee. Its 3,000 yard range had served well. Kivar and two men were killed by an enemy they had no idea had been waiting. The weapon was heavy and the ammo was likewise. The four men approached and dropped their suits. They stank. They had been in the sand for two days. They hadn’t moved at all until they killed Kivar by one of the oldest methods of earth, but totally strange to the Antar system. Kyle and his three men would be heralded as heroes as soon as they got clean uniforms and took very hot showers.

The men with Kivar were now faced with fighting a true queen or with coming to terms. They would have to consider. They were also bothered with the small company of men who caused such havoc. Many of the casualties were high-born. This wasn’t how war was supposed to work.

With the Monarchy dissolved, it had been easy for Kivar to hold his troops together. Fighting the Imperion was not about fighting tradition. To some, it was fighting to remove a usurper that had stolen the monarchy. Now, they had been presented with a beautiful and obviously powerful queen.

Across the three planets, news traveled fast. The rise of the beautiful queen and the power of her palace guard were voiced across the three worlds. Then, the terrible power she had brought from Earth that was disproportionately a danger to the high-born. The offer of amnesty to stop the civil war was the last story to be spoken.
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A new story of conventional couples and canon
You Can’t Go Back to Yesterday

[ken_r]

Begonia 9508 I struggled through writing this whole story with the Earth characters feeling used. I tried to show that the aliens received emotionally a lot from being paired with the Earthlings. Whether this could translate to the reader into love for the Earthlings I do not know. Liz was the hardest because what she received was the most difficult to see. Kyle received health and brought back to life. Alex received a challenge which a man like he would relish. Maria received empowerment which I do not think she had been allowed to this time but Liz, as I see her, is harder to describe. She was queen but she cared nothing for politics. She did get out of a bad love affair and we have to assume that loving Max had a possible positive value. She had to deal with the after math of revolution which historically ends in executions. Her reward might have been in her child.

Imnotic here it is, the end. thanks for following.

Chapter 12

Alex had been training an army of his own. In personal disgust he had formed a bureaucracy. Oh well, he was bringing a mixed blessing to Isabel’s, or rather Vilondra’s, people. At first, every thing he said was from the queen. As the people became more used to the idea, Alex hoped his words would be from the congress until they were not even his words anymore. As communications among all people were established, Maria sent out word for an academy of arts. She was looking for creative people in all fields of performing arts to assemble to resurrect the arts for public performances. As soon as she had this established, she hoped to rediscover the other arts such as writing and painting and anything that created emotion.

With Alex’s help, the queen began her re establishment of education. This was not just for the young. Liz was trying to create interest at all ages in continuing education. The new order needed to re-establish citizenship. Part of this citizenship must include education regarding the workings of democracy. The high-born needed to be made to feel that they had a duty to themselves to investigate more about their powers. Their powers would be needed to make the new order function. They also had to be monitored to ascertain their loyalty. Alex hated this. To him, it spoke of creating an under people who were not trust worthy without evidence to the contrary. This was one of the first things to be hammered out in democratic discussions.

Rath and Kyle handled the military. They created a police force and positions of authority in military planning to be filled by the high-born. Ridding the culture of feudal claims was the hardest of all things in the new order.

It was an almost fatal situation to the soul of Doctor Parker, that of having to approve of executions. Michael, Max and Kyle tried to make sure as few as possible of the malefactors ever made it for trial for her to judge. This immediately raised questions with Alex. He just couldn’t see this form of lynch law justice. He implemented a court system as soon as he could. This did take the pressure off of Liz so now she could concentrate on implementation of education and establishing scientific research. The scientific community was in the best shape of the institutions in the Antar system. Both sides had embraced science to derive power. Liz only needed to redirect this impetus toward beneficial research to rebuild the system.

It was five years later that two couples, four children and a lady who was clearly a nanny, walked into a bus stop in a small New Mexico town. They had come from the desert. How they got there, no one had any idea. They all bought tickets to the town of Roswell. All three of the women were small, but the similarity stopped there. One woman was blonde. She still had a magnificent figure in spite of the birth of three children. She had sparkling bright blue eyes and was tightly holding onto a boy of about four. The nanny was small and fine-boned. She had soft brown eyes and brown hair that flowed down her back. Her eyes darted everywhere as if trying to take in sights she had never seen before. She was holding the hand of a toddler, and from time to time, she would lift him in her arms and carry him or soothe him as he also looked furtively at every strange thing. The third woman was also brunette with brown eyes, but these eyes held a history of many tragedies and many triumphs. Her bearing was regal and even if she was dressed similarly to the other two, she was set apart both by her body language and by the deference shown to her by the rest of the party.

One of the men had the build of an athlete. He was holding the hand of a little girl of about three. She constantly pulled at his hand to get him to bend down to answer her plethora of questions. His blue eyes were always darting about. You just got the feeling he was aware of every thing in his surroundings.

The remaining adult was badly scared about the visible parts of his body. Across his face was prominently displayed a scar of honor. He had light brown eyes that some would say glowed like jewels of amber. Holding to his pant leg, and also the skirts of the regal brunette, was a shy little boy of three.

The bus stop was hot and all of the children were squirming from the heat. The other passengers waiting wondered about these people wearing nice clothes and carrying no baggage. Why weren’t they taking the planes or renting cars of their class? One middle-aged Hispanic lady looked at the shy little boy holding onto his parents. She made space beside her and said in a soft voice, “Come, Niño, sit here and rest.”

His mother smiled and when he looked up at her she gave her consent. The little boy climbed upon the bench beside the woman and looked up at her. The woman, Mrs Garcia, looked at his mother, “How old is he?”

Liz smiled and said, “He is three.”

Mrs. Garcia put her arm around the boy and he did not shrink away from her as she almost expected. “He is a darling boy, so shy,” she said. Almost musing, she murmered, “¿cómo se llama?”

Liz answered, “His name is Alexander Jeffery Evans. We call him Ajay.”

The woman looked at the lady and smiled. It is good to have a short name. Ajay snuggled against her and he gave her a shy smile.

The four-year-old with the blonde woman was pulling and she found him a place to sit on a box. He didn’t say much, but you could tell his eyes were taking in every sight as the novelty it was. His name was James Avery Valenti. The girl reached up for her daddy to pick her up and once even with his face, she put her arms around his neck. Once secure, she also took in all of the sights and smells. The nanny was holding the toddler who was now only mildly, paying attention to his surroundings. E seemed more intrigued with playing with her collar buttons.

When the bus finally arrived. the five adults and the four children all found a place. They were scattered all over the bus. Liz found herself sitting beside Mrs. Garcia. This suited Ajay just fine because he didn’t have to learn to meet a new person. He was comfortable with the one he knew. Mrs. Garcia sat singing to him in Spanish. Ajay listened because his training even as young as he was, had been directed toward picking up languages quickly. Maybe, even because of his age, he found this natural. Max was back with the nanny, Gurchen, and he was taking his turn holding little Samuel. Kyle and Tess were sitting together; however, and that was good because little Celeste and her older brother, James, were very restless. Max was thinking, “We really need a space port on this planet with modern accommodations. He closed his eyes and imagined Hertz, public restrooms and cafeterias, rather than just being dumped in the desert and having to get to civilization the best way you possibly can. The trip was almost two long, hot, hours.

The five adults and four children got off at the Roswell bus stop in the middle of Roswell. It was still about a mile to walk to the Crashdown. The others hung back and let Liz go in first. Jeff was the first to see her. “Nancy, come down quick! Liz is home!” He called. Jeff left the kitchen. If you had an order coming, it was going to be well done. In fact, the regular diners who knew Jeff and Liz as a girl, forgot all about their meals as they also, were greeting the lady.

Nancy came in. She threw off her apron and hugged her daughter. Then she drew back and looked at Liz. Liz was much more mature than she would have expected from just a five year absence. Nancy looked at Liz’s eyes. She saw strain and a little hardness about them. Nancy saw the people waiting at the door. There was one little boy who she saw and immediately looked at Liz. Nancy saw the elfin face and carefully chisled lines that were like his mother’s. She saw the light amber eyes looking up to the man standing beside him that bespoke of his father. Liz motioned and he obediently came over. Nancy could see that he was shaking. She was amazed that he was so obedient. He approached Nancy and knelt on one knee. She couldn’t help herself but to reach down and pick him up. She could feel him trembling, but he faced her and looked right into her eyes. “Gram ‘ma,” he said. Nancy broke into tears.

Jeff came over and brushed his hand against Ajay’s face. He had a grandson. Then, he smelled burning from the grill and he had to run back to put it out.

Kyle and Tess came in with their three kids and the nanny. Nancy made a fuss over the baby. Celeste and her older brother frowned. Celeste was pulling at Kyle’s shirt, ”Daddy, who are these people?” she inquired.

Kyle made a phone call and the sheriff arrived soon to take his extended family home for a needed homecoming.

A sign went up in front of the Crashdown, “Notice, due to daughter’s homecoming we will close early to night.”

Max and Liz went up to the living quarters and waited for her folks. They intended to stay several years and Liz was glad. Both her dad and mom had aged a lot to her eyes. She had missed them so much. Ajay had had a nap and he was considerably more awake. He still was essentially shy, but his mind was able to cope with the myriad of new sensations he was being exposed to. Nancy was still playing with him. She just couldn’t get enough of the fact that Liz had a child and she had a grandson. Jeff was clearly proud of his Liz. He wanted more stories to put on the wall. Liz smiled, “Sorry, dad the stories we tell are going to have to be secret.”

“Can’t you tell us what you have been doing that took so many years? You were hoping to only be gone for a couple of years,” Jeff said.

Ajay looked at his Mother and she nodded her head imperceptibly, yes. “Mama is the queen. She stopped the war and saved the world,” he stated proudly looking at both of his parents to see if he had said too much.

Jeff frowned at this. He looked at Liz for conformation. It was Max who answered, “What we tell you must, for the moment, remain secret. I doubt that you would even get someone to believe it, anyway.

Epilogue
Max and Liz were able to stay on Earth for five years. They had another child. This time a little girl. They named her Lonnie Abella. Jeff was, at first, astonished. First, he had to get over the fact that aliens really did exist. Then, there was the fact that his daughter had spent five years on another planet. Last, his little girl, his Elizabeth, the girl he had held in him arms and cared for so many years, was now a queen over three planets. Liz kept telling him that she had given up the throne. Now she was just helping start the rebuilding of the education system.

There was another reunion that was tearful. Max and Liz took Ajay and later Lonnie, to the home of Philip and Diane Evans. In the five years they had been gone, the Evans had aged a lot. Ajay started the relationship when he first saw the elder couple. He put his arms around the neck of Diane and whispered in her ear, “I want you to be my Abuela.”

After living most of her life in the southwest, Diane knew that this was the Spanish word for grandmother. Diane hugged him. Ajay then turned to Philip and extended his hand, “Will you also be my Abuelo?”

In the five years they stayed on Earth Max and Liz gave to the Evans the love of grandchildren, even though they had never had the joy of children. When the elder couple died, Max had engraved on their head stones, “Beloved friends and Grandparents.”

Kyle and his family had an interesting time during their meeting with his father Jim. Kyle was now even better than the man who had so long ago gone off to war. Jim enjoyed playing with his grandchildren but he did find them a handful, especially since it had been years since he had handled children. Jim saw that Kyle could control his sons, but the little girl, Celeste was well beyond him.

When Max told the Earth parents that it would be possible for them to visit the Antar system, Jim Valenti was the first to agree. Jeff and Nancy had to talk long and hard about selling their business and leaving but five years with grandchildren was not enough for either Jeff or Nancy.

Prime only lived a few years more after the war was over. Edwar planted a bed of flowers on his grave after his death. As the new Prime, Edwar found he now had the pleasant duty of informing the council that the path for the timeline looked bright.

As soon as the travelers returned, Alex intended to take his family back to Earth. He wanted to conclude his business with Memory Corp. He had left with the proviso that all earnings due him would be saved to an account that would be inactive, except for the deposits, for an indefinite period. Alex wanted his children, all four of them, to see where he came from and understand the vastness of the universe.

The End

Thank you for following my essentially science fiction story.

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The Loves of Maximo Delgato is continuing the saga of a hispanic family in the wild southwest along with a modern day drama of a lady that has given up on relationships

You Can’t Go Back to Yesterday is a canon story better explaining destiny and what might have happened to after. Along with a resolution with dealing with Tess and Nasado.