“Well, I’m fairly certain that this is the right place,” said Maria as she struggled to park the Jetta among the four cars already at the end of the dirt road.
And it certainly didn’t take an Indian scout to follow the parade of footprints that had moved up the path toward the cliffs.
They heard the noises of rocks being crushed repetitively, as they moved up toward the base of the cliff.
“It might have been a good idea if someone had thought to bring a gun,” said Alex.
“Well great, Alex,” said Maria sarcastically. “Where were you with that one when we drove by that sporting goods store?”
“They’d have made us wait three days anyway,” he replied. “I just wish we had some sort of a weapon.”
Liz Parker had never in her life been quite so nervous. Her hands…her arms…her entire upper body seemed to be almost twitching. She stumbled on some loose rock, and put out her hand to steady herself on a small pinon tree. Green sparks flared out from her hand, and the branch wilted.
“Uh…Liz…is there anything you want to tell us?”
“I have no idea what just happened, Ria.”
“Well try it again…”
The same thing happened to the next branch.
“How about this one?” asked Alex as he moved it toward her. Instinctively she reached out and the green sparks flew up the branch and over Alex’s arms. He yelped and dropped the branch.
“Alex, I’m so sorry…are you OK?”
“Yeah, but my arm feels like it’s been TASERed.”
“Is it OK?”
“Yeah…no real damage…but how did you become an electric eel?”
“I don’t know….maybe when Max healed me.”
“Well, I still wouldn’t press your luck. Whatever you have…it’s about like a strong electric fence. It may scare off a steer, but it wouldn’t stop him if he were really interested in going through it…”
But then Liz went around the corner of the trail and saw the mangled bodies….saw Nasedo reaching for Max, to pull him up onto his shoulders.
Ignoring attempts by Alex and Maria to restrain her, she ran quickly toward him….
Dominoes falling..... (M/L) Mature 9/26/06 complete
Moderators: Anniepoo98, Rowedog, ISLANDGIRL5, Itzstacie, truelovepooh, FSU/MSW-94, Forum Moderators
It surprised more than hurt him when the green sparks hit. Apparently there was something new under the sun. Even his internal status monitor seemed confused:
Sensors: ???? Unknown force
Threats: designate threat Eta azimuth 160 degrees ??? modified human
Threat status: immediate close proximity - ?????
Threat function Eta – 100%
Damage to self – Minimal/Nil
Power reserve 30%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
And the surprise continued as he turned to face her. It was that stupid girl that had interfered with the other heifer’s attempted seduction of Max. So apparently at some point he had healed her from a serious injury….that was interesting. Some day she might be a formidable opponent herself, perhaps even the equal of the hybrids. But that someday wouldn’t be for years….maybe decades.
But of course, she wouldn’t be alive then. Strangely, the autofire wouldn’t engage her, but that was hardly necessary.
Nasedo grabbed Liz by the throat and slammed her to the rocky ground. As she lay there stunned he put his palm above her heart. It started to glow as he lowered it. The powerblast caught him completely by surprise.
Sensors: powerblast
Threats: Epsilon – azimuth 185 degrees
Threat status: immediate moderate close proximity – already neutralized…Threat Epsilon DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO FORM LAST POWERBLAST.
Epsilon – minus 7% Multiple long bone fractures, crushed chest, concussion. LOSS OF CORE ENERGY FOR INTEGRITY OF EXISTENCE.
Project Epsilon TERMINATION OF ALL FUNCTION 5 SECONDS
Damage to self – Powerblast tissue disruption anterior body, slowly being repaired due to depleted reserves, high sensor alert state.
Power reserve 23%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
There had been a legend…..Nasedo had thought just a tall tale…about an Antarean who had once used up his entire life force…his soul….fighting for someone he loved. Who would have thought…that Max would do it...for a human?
But even as he realized…the bitterness of defeat came to him. Max was beyond any help now….even that of the pods. He would go….Tess would not have his child…..Kivar was going to be pissed. The young earth girl’s attack had been deadly to his plans…not because of her trivial powers, but because she caused the boy to self destruct in a hopeless effort to save her. In rage he turned to strangle the girl with his bare hands, but she somehow got by him….somehow found Max..
ALERT: Threats Eta and Epsilon have apparently fused energies.
Combined power now 6% of Antar-hybrid normal and failing rapidly. Anticipate Dissolution of energy/Termination of threat Eta/Epsilon in 12 minutes.
Liz felt the energy blast from Max…and somewhere in her soul remembered. She forgot Nasedo…Max’s soul was naked…..about to dissolve into nothingness. Nothing was more important to Liz’s soul than that.
As their bodies touched Liz’s soul enveloped his…weakening itself. They had only minutes…but they were at least together and whatever happened…well now they would never be apart.
Nasedo was again amazed. Who would have thought a weak Earth girl…..but she was weak, and growing weaker. He had only minutes to get the pod prepared, get Max in it…stabilize him. There wasn’t room for two in the pod…but she was expendable.
It would work…he was almost sure. He wasted some energy to scan the area completely….no weapons of any kind. Except for Tess….all were dying, and she was barely conscious with no power to do anything. He had won…if only he could get the pod prepared in time.
He turned from the carnage of the battlefield and went to the cave entrance, his energy reserve down to 22.5%, the lowest since he had been reactivated after arriving on earth. The pod chamber would use less than 1%. He smiled. He knew he had won.
Sensors: ???? Unknown force
Threats: designate threat Eta azimuth 160 degrees ??? modified human
Threat status: immediate close proximity - ?????
Threat function Eta – 100%
Damage to self – Minimal/Nil
Power reserve 30%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
And the surprise continued as he turned to face her. It was that stupid girl that had interfered with the other heifer’s attempted seduction of Max. So apparently at some point he had healed her from a serious injury….that was interesting. Some day she might be a formidable opponent herself, perhaps even the equal of the hybrids. But that someday wouldn’t be for years….maybe decades.
But of course, she wouldn’t be alive then. Strangely, the autofire wouldn’t engage her, but that was hardly necessary.
Nasedo grabbed Liz by the throat and slammed her to the rocky ground. As she lay there stunned he put his palm above her heart. It started to glow as he lowered it. The powerblast caught him completely by surprise.
Sensors: powerblast
Threats: Epsilon – azimuth 185 degrees
Threat status: immediate moderate close proximity – already neutralized…Threat Epsilon DID NOT HAVE THE POWER TO FORM LAST POWERBLAST.
Epsilon – minus 7% Multiple long bone fractures, crushed chest, concussion. LOSS OF CORE ENERGY FOR INTEGRITY OF EXISTENCE.
Project Epsilon TERMINATION OF ALL FUNCTION 5 SECONDS
Damage to self – Powerblast tissue disruption anterior body, slowly being repaired due to depleted reserves, high sensor alert state.
Power reserve 23%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
There had been a legend…..Nasedo had thought just a tall tale…about an Antarean who had once used up his entire life force…his soul….fighting for someone he loved. Who would have thought…that Max would do it...for a human?
But even as he realized…the bitterness of defeat came to him. Max was beyond any help now….even that of the pods. He would go….Tess would not have his child…..Kivar was going to be pissed. The young earth girl’s attack had been deadly to his plans…not because of her trivial powers, but because she caused the boy to self destruct in a hopeless effort to save her. In rage he turned to strangle the girl with his bare hands, but she somehow got by him….somehow found Max..
ALERT: Threats Eta and Epsilon have apparently fused energies.
Combined power now 6% of Antar-hybrid normal and failing rapidly. Anticipate Dissolution of energy/Termination of threat Eta/Epsilon in 12 minutes.
Liz felt the energy blast from Max…and somewhere in her soul remembered. She forgot Nasedo…Max’s soul was naked…..about to dissolve into nothingness. Nothing was more important to Liz’s soul than that.
As their bodies touched Liz’s soul enveloped his…weakening itself. They had only minutes…but they were at least together and whatever happened…well now they would never be apart.
Nasedo was again amazed. Who would have thought a weak Earth girl…..but she was weak, and growing weaker. He had only minutes to get the pod prepared, get Max in it…stabilize him. There wasn’t room for two in the pod…but she was expendable.
It would work…he was almost sure. He wasted some energy to scan the area completely….no weapons of any kind. Except for Tess….all were dying, and she was barely conscious with no power to do anything. He had won…if only he could get the pod prepared in time.
He turned from the carnage of the battlefield and went to the cave entrance, his energy reserve down to 22.5%, the lowest since he had been reactivated after arriving on earth. The pod chamber would use less than 1%. He smiled. He knew he had won.
Sensors: Projectile weapon
Threats: designate threats:
Theta azimuth 180 degrees human
Iota azimuth 185 degrees human
Threat status: immediate close proximity – MASSIVE LOW SPEED PROJECTILE POWERBLAST INITIATED AT EXTREME CLOSE RANGE
Threat function
Theta– 26% long bone fractures/soft tissue trauma/concussion
Iota - 28% long bone fractures/soft tissue trauma/concussion
Damage to self – Minimal/Nil
Power reserve 22%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
The seventy pound rock had fallen almost 25 feet from the cliff. The math was easy, almost 1900 foot-pounds, the equivalent of six 357 magnum projectiles.
He had been slow at detecting it, since the sensor coverage from directly above was intentionally limited to save power….there wasn’t supposed to be an aerial threat. Even so, the sensors had been late to pick it up….too much other rock. It wasn’t until the falling rock had accelerated to a healthy velocity that the sensors had even recognized it as a projectile, despite….or perhaps..because…of its size.
He had destroyed the rock less than a meter before it would have struck him with more than adequate force to deplete his reserves, the same powerblast going on to smash into the two humans standing above on the cliff. These Earth teenagers were tenacious, he thought, with grudging respect. They just weren’t quite strong enough.
Maria had helped Alex lift the huge rock, but then he’d carried it to the cliff face by himself so he could aim it better. She lifted the thirty pound rock intending to throw it when he threw his, but she hesitated at the last fraction of a second, fearing his would knock hers from its aim. But as soon as his was clear she threw hers. Maria looked down hoping for the best, but the powerblast caught her before she ever knew the outcome.
The sensors picked up the smaller rock as it came through the dust cloud of the first one. Apparently it had been in the shadow of the first rock, and protected from the initial powerblast.
The proximity alarm in Nasedo wailed, but it was less than two feet away, and he had no time to recharge and powerblast.
Time seemed to stand still for Nasedo and he remembered his trip to Europe….the one he’d returned late from and missed the opening of the first three pods. He remembered the cave in southern France with the cave drawings…stick figures of primitive humans tossing rocks at the mammoth from off a cliff, where the hunters had driven it. Somehow it seemed appropriate.
He wouldn’t win but eventually he could be brought back from shutdown. At least all these around him would be dead. The rock impacted…..
Damage to self: MASSIVE TRAUMA TO HEAD AND UPPER TORSO
POWER RESERVE 17% INITIATING SHUTDOWN TO DORMANT MODE, PENDING RECHARGE.
Threats: designate threats:
Theta azimuth 180 degrees human
Iota azimuth 185 degrees human
Threat status: immediate close proximity – MASSIVE LOW SPEED PROJECTILE POWERBLAST INITIATED AT EXTREME CLOSE RANGE
Threat function
Theta– 26% long bone fractures/soft tissue trauma/concussion
Iota - 28% long bone fractures/soft tissue trauma/concussion
Damage to self – Minimal/Nil
Power reserve 22%.
Autofire engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
Sensors engaged for projectile weapons and powerblast
The seventy pound rock had fallen almost 25 feet from the cliff. The math was easy, almost 1900 foot-pounds, the equivalent of six 357 magnum projectiles.
He had been slow at detecting it, since the sensor coverage from directly above was intentionally limited to save power….there wasn’t supposed to be an aerial threat. Even so, the sensors had been late to pick it up….too much other rock. It wasn’t until the falling rock had accelerated to a healthy velocity that the sensors had even recognized it as a projectile, despite….or perhaps..because…of its size.
He had destroyed the rock less than a meter before it would have struck him with more than adequate force to deplete his reserves, the same powerblast going on to smash into the two humans standing above on the cliff. These Earth teenagers were tenacious, he thought, with grudging respect. They just weren’t quite strong enough.
Maria had helped Alex lift the huge rock, but then he’d carried it to the cliff face by himself so he could aim it better. She lifted the thirty pound rock intending to throw it when he threw his, but she hesitated at the last fraction of a second, fearing his would knock hers from its aim. But as soon as his was clear she threw hers. Maria looked down hoping for the best, but the powerblast caught her before she ever knew the outcome.
The sensors picked up the smaller rock as it came through the dust cloud of the first one. Apparently it had been in the shadow of the first rock, and protected from the initial powerblast.
The proximity alarm in Nasedo wailed, but it was less than two feet away, and he had no time to recharge and powerblast.
Time seemed to stand still for Nasedo and he remembered his trip to Europe….the one he’d returned late from and missed the opening of the first three pods. He remembered the cave in southern France with the cave drawings…stick figures of primitive humans tossing rocks at the mammoth from off a cliff, where the hunters had driven it. Somehow it seemed appropriate.
He wouldn’t win but eventually he could be brought back from shutdown. At least all these around him would be dead. The rock impacted…..
Damage to self: MASSIVE TRAUMA TO HEAD AND UPPER TORSO
POWER RESERVE 17% INITIATING SHUTDOWN TO DORMANT MODE, PENDING RECHARGE.
They had actually thought their kids were a lot more responsible than that, but when they’d seen first one and then the second car of teenagers tear off at high speed, Jeff and Nancy and Amy had gotten in the car with the Evans’s, and gone off in pursuit.
But as the high speed chase continued, their anger was replaced by fear. Whatever was going on…it wasn’t just some sort of car race. And as they had seen the Jetta turn off down the dirt road, Diane and Philip had looked at each other with wide eyes… “That’s the road.”
“What road?” Jeff had asked..
“We found Isabel and Max…walking along that road…naked and alone…almost eleven years ago now.”
Their fears got worse when they found the small parking lot at the end of the road, filled with familiar vehicles. They saw the trail and heard the noises, but it was quiet when they arrived. They were stunned at the carnage…broken bodies and blood were everywhere. There was only one person moving…and she was barely conscious.
The story Tess told….well if they hadn’t been surrounded by the damaged bodies….seen the machines…it would have been incredible. But considering what they saw…how it explained what had happened back in the vault…it really did make sense.
Jeff stood with the other four parents, forming a star around the couple. They were obviously dying. The girl had told him that Liz had somehow fused her soul with Max…that even though she wasn’t hurt…she was dying too. She had told them…told them all, that if anyone had any doubts…any reservations…this couldn’t work.
So how did he really feel about his daughter loving…an alien? It didn’t matter. He’d never seen her so happy as when she’d been with Max…all he cared about was getting her back. He looked at Nancy, wondering if she was having the same thoughts, wondering if she still feared Max? ‘I guess not,’ he thought, as he saw the stone start to glow in her hand. His flared as well.
‘So that was his secret…their secret, for all these years,’ thought Diane Evans. ‘Silly kids, it’s not like it would have made any difference.’ She looked at the worried face of her husband as both of their stones glowed golden.
Amy’s eyes were full of tears as she looked at the shattered and unconscious bodies of Maria, Michael, ..Jim…Kyle…, so many of the people she loved. They were her world….she couldn’t bear the thought they would leave her…..the tears trickled down her cheeks, but the stone in her hand glowed brightly.
They had gone into the chamber, found the pouch of stones, the ones that had been brought to activate the protectors after the long journey to Earth. But they weren’t just that…they were healing stones....they’d work for Isabel and Michael and…if they could get him back…Tess said Max could help the others. It was their only chance, and even Tess wasn’t sure it would work.
But as the high speed chase continued, their anger was replaced by fear. Whatever was going on…it wasn’t just some sort of car race. And as they had seen the Jetta turn off down the dirt road, Diane and Philip had looked at each other with wide eyes… “That’s the road.”
“What road?” Jeff had asked..
“We found Isabel and Max…walking along that road…naked and alone…almost eleven years ago now.”
Their fears got worse when they found the small parking lot at the end of the road, filled with familiar vehicles. They saw the trail and heard the noises, but it was quiet when they arrived. They were stunned at the carnage…broken bodies and blood were everywhere. There was only one person moving…and she was barely conscious.
The story Tess told….well if they hadn’t been surrounded by the damaged bodies….seen the machines…it would have been incredible. But considering what they saw…how it explained what had happened back in the vault…it really did make sense.
Jeff stood with the other four parents, forming a star around the couple. They were obviously dying. The girl had told him that Liz had somehow fused her soul with Max…that even though she wasn’t hurt…she was dying too. She had told them…told them all, that if anyone had any doubts…any reservations…this couldn’t work.
So how did he really feel about his daughter loving…an alien? It didn’t matter. He’d never seen her so happy as when she’d been with Max…all he cared about was getting her back. He looked at Nancy, wondering if she was having the same thoughts, wondering if she still feared Max? ‘I guess not,’ he thought, as he saw the stone start to glow in her hand. His flared as well.
‘So that was his secret…their secret, for all these years,’ thought Diane Evans. ‘Silly kids, it’s not like it would have made any difference.’ She looked at the worried face of her husband as both of their stones glowed golden.
Amy’s eyes were full of tears as she looked at the shattered and unconscious bodies of Maria, Michael, ..Jim…Kyle…, so many of the people she loved. They were her world….she couldn’t bear the thought they would leave her…..the tears trickled down her cheeks, but the stone in her hand glowed brightly.
They had gone into the chamber, found the pouch of stones, the ones that had been brought to activate the protectors after the long journey to Earth. But they weren’t just that…they were healing stones....they’d work for Isabel and Michael and…if they could get him back…Tess said Max could help the others. It was their only chance, and even Tess wasn’t sure it would work.
Last edited by greywolf on Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It had taken three days…….. five sessions with the stones. They had brought back Max and Liz, and the two had almost instantly depleted themselves to unconsciousness as Max had worked on Kyle, Jim, Maria and Alex. Even then he had only stabilized them. He and Liz seemed to be stronger as a unit….no surprise there… as they held hands and he drew from her power as well as his own as he gradually, over three days, restored all of the injured. All but one.
It wasn’t much of a Thanksgiving in one way, but in another…it was the best that the parents had ever had, as their kids were restored to them. Amy and Nancy made a quick trip to town…to the Crashdown, and brought back sleeping bags, food, water.
The convalescing hybrid kids leaned against the pods that had held them for so long, eating turkey and dressing. All of them were pretty whipped, but that didn’t stop Kyle from feeding Tess since her arms were still pretty mangled that first day. He had to, of course…I mean she was eating for two….something they’d eventually have to tell his dad.
It was five days before Jim Valenti was really mobile enough to get it done. Liz had worked out the math…pretty easy, really. The 55 gallon drum weighed about 25 pounds. Empty, it would have had almost 440 pounds of buoyancy. Add a 200 pound alien murderer…a poor fit initially, but the sledgehammer that Jeff and Philip had wielded had kind of …molded… him into the bottom of the barrel, well that left room for almost 300 pounds of concrete to harden around the body. As the three men rolled the barrel off the deck of the raft that they had towed from the county swimming area to the center of Bottomless Lake, they were pretty sure they’d never see Nasedo again.
The Sheriff hoped that no one else ever thought about this…it was just too easy to get rid of a body this way.
The lake was way too deep to dive in, and the bottom was soft enough to let the barrel sink deep into the mud.
The mud would turn to sandstone and the sandstone be lifted by tectonic action and eventually the barrel might see sunlight again…..but it would be many millennia from now…long after the sun itself had become a red dwarf, and all life would have been gone from the Earth.
As the barrel plunged into the depths it eventually came to rest in the mud and mire. The coincidence might even have amused Nasedo, had he been conscious, as his barrel butted into the other barrel. But neither occupant was in any condition to be amused. Nasedo was dormant. Jimmy Hoffa had been dead since the summer of 1975.
Crashdown Cafe
It was April and the Crashdown was shut down for a private party….a wedding reception.
But the guys were out at the tables while the girls were all in the Ladies room, powdering their noses. In fact, no one powdered noses much any more…they were actually talking about the boys.
“I still can’t believe that the Sheriff let you two get married, Tess. Did you mindwarp him, or what?"
”I did NOT….well, not really anyway. Kyle and I came back from the obstetrician…showed him the ultrasound….told him we were thinking about naming him James, after his grandfather. He caved pretty quickly after that. I did have to mindwarp the priest just a little bit, though…and agree to join the church and raise little Jimmy as a Catholic.”
“Well Jim and my mom got married quickly enough. I don’t see why he should object to you and Kyle. Man do I feel like a fifth wheel around the house.”
“Well,” said Tess, with a crooked little smile, “Michael is emancipated…he has an apartment. He just might be able to find a bed for you….”
“It’s a one bedroom apartment, Tess....”
“And your point, Maria?”…asked Isabel.
“I just might," grinned Maria. "I can’t believe that my mom actually SUGGESTED I ought to start on the pill last week.”
“That’s funny,” said Isabel. “Mine did too.”
“My mom did, too,” said Liz.
There was a brief pause, then Maria. Isabel, and Liz, simultaneously looked at her, and said in unison…
“Tess! Did you mindwarp my mother?”
“I DIDN’T!” she replied emphatically. “I just sort of mentioned to them, when they asked how I was doing with the baby at my young age…well, that in Antar people are just all sexually active by the time they are eleven or twelve….., that you three were well on the way to becoming old maids by Antar standards…..that you’d probably be thinking about things pretty quick yourself.”
“Is that really true?” asked Isabel.
Tess shook her blond curls, “How would I know??”
“Tess….,” Maria said, shaking her head.
“Come on Maria….look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t already…tried out your birth control pills.”
Maria blushed suddenly and turned the other way.
“Leave her alone, Tess. Not everyone is a horndog like you and Kyle,” said Isabel.
“Oh I don’t know. I noticed that you had particularly rosy cheeks when you and Alex came to visit last night, Isabel. Truth or dare….”
“Never mind,” said Isabel, the color rising rapidly in her cheeks.
“What about you, Liz?” Tess asked.
Liz blushed. “To tell you the truth, I was going to talk to Max about that very subject…. do some planning, sort of. He’s going to come listen to music and do homework with me tonight when my parents are over having dinner with his parents. We both kind of like to plan things out. I guess we aren’t as spontaneous as you and Kyle.”
Tess smiled sweetly. ‘You will be tonight….’
She had already told Kyle that she was going to have to take a half hour break during the honeymoon tonight. Their hotel was just two blocks away….plenty of time for her to come back, and if a pregnant lady could climb a fire escape, she planned on being up on that deck and mindwarping the socks off those two….and anything else they were wearing as well. Oh, she knew they’d have probably arrived at the same situation within a few months regardless, but she was taking no chances.
According to Nasedo, the king who had provided the DNA for Max had been a passionless person, reluctant to fight…even for his own planet. Clearly, loving Liz had brought out the passion in Max, and it was still a dangerous world out there. In a couple of weeks, she’d tell them about the nest of Skins they’d have to deal with….start their training. As long as the four of them kept together, they’d win. And what Tess wanted to win was a lifetime of peace and happiness with Kyle. Kyle, little Jimmie, and maybe a couple more little ones.
Yep, Tess was going to make DAMN sure that the other three all bonded to humans, just like she did. Screw that going back and re-establishing the monarchy business, either to help or to oppose Kivar. If the people of Antar weren’t willing to stand up and fight him, why should they?
It wasn’t really that Tess was a bad person, but she had been raised by a psychopathic alien serial killer, so her willingness to be …uh…..pragmatic, was pretty well developed. And nothing was more important to her than the eight of them living happily ever after on Earth, and if that involved helping to cement a few relationships by mindwarping the other six….well, so be it. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t given Liz fair warning. Tess had used her powers to send the bridal bouquet straight into Liz’s hands.
Liz noticed the sudden smile and glow on Tess’s face.
“Tess, what is it?”
“I felt little Jimmy move..”
“OOHH…..,” squealed Maria, putting her hand on Tess’s belly, “..let me feel.”
She felt the tiny kick. “That is soooo cool..”
Ten minutes later the four were back at the reception. Everyone was happy. Tess saw the priest raise his glass of wine to her and smile. Of course, he’d be horrified when he heard about everything she’d done at Confession this week. Particularly when she admitted to mindwarping him the previous week so he wouldn’t remember her last confession……just before she did it again this week.
‘Ok, so I’m never going to be a very honest person,’ thought Tess. ‘Maybe I play a little too fast and loose with the rules… But I’m going to have a damn good life though, and so are all of my friends…’
THE END
It wasn’t much of a Thanksgiving in one way, but in another…it was the best that the parents had ever had, as their kids were restored to them. Amy and Nancy made a quick trip to town…to the Crashdown, and brought back sleeping bags, food, water.
The convalescing hybrid kids leaned against the pods that had held them for so long, eating turkey and dressing. All of them were pretty whipped, but that didn’t stop Kyle from feeding Tess since her arms were still pretty mangled that first day. He had to, of course…I mean she was eating for two….something they’d eventually have to tell his dad.
It was five days before Jim Valenti was really mobile enough to get it done. Liz had worked out the math…pretty easy, really. The 55 gallon drum weighed about 25 pounds. Empty, it would have had almost 440 pounds of buoyancy. Add a 200 pound alien murderer…a poor fit initially, but the sledgehammer that Jeff and Philip had wielded had kind of …molded… him into the bottom of the barrel, well that left room for almost 300 pounds of concrete to harden around the body. As the three men rolled the barrel off the deck of the raft that they had towed from the county swimming area to the center of Bottomless Lake, they were pretty sure they’d never see Nasedo again.
The Sheriff hoped that no one else ever thought about this…it was just too easy to get rid of a body this way.
The lake was way too deep to dive in, and the bottom was soft enough to let the barrel sink deep into the mud.
The mud would turn to sandstone and the sandstone be lifted by tectonic action and eventually the barrel might see sunlight again…..but it would be many millennia from now…long after the sun itself had become a red dwarf, and all life would have been gone from the Earth.
As the barrel plunged into the depths it eventually came to rest in the mud and mire. The coincidence might even have amused Nasedo, had he been conscious, as his barrel butted into the other barrel. But neither occupant was in any condition to be amused. Nasedo was dormant. Jimmy Hoffa had been dead since the summer of 1975.
Crashdown Cafe
It was April and the Crashdown was shut down for a private party….a wedding reception.
But the guys were out at the tables while the girls were all in the Ladies room, powdering their noses. In fact, no one powdered noses much any more…they were actually talking about the boys.
“I still can’t believe that the Sheriff let you two get married, Tess. Did you mindwarp him, or what?"
”I did NOT….well, not really anyway. Kyle and I came back from the obstetrician…showed him the ultrasound….told him we were thinking about naming him James, after his grandfather. He caved pretty quickly after that. I did have to mindwarp the priest just a little bit, though…and agree to join the church and raise little Jimmy as a Catholic.”
“Well Jim and my mom got married quickly enough. I don’t see why he should object to you and Kyle. Man do I feel like a fifth wheel around the house.”
“Well,” said Tess, with a crooked little smile, “Michael is emancipated…he has an apartment. He just might be able to find a bed for you….”
“It’s a one bedroom apartment, Tess....”
“And your point, Maria?”…asked Isabel.
“I just might," grinned Maria. "I can’t believe that my mom actually SUGGESTED I ought to start on the pill last week.”
“That’s funny,” said Isabel. “Mine did too.”
“My mom did, too,” said Liz.
There was a brief pause, then Maria. Isabel, and Liz, simultaneously looked at her, and said in unison…
“Tess! Did you mindwarp my mother?”
“I DIDN’T!” she replied emphatically. “I just sort of mentioned to them, when they asked how I was doing with the baby at my young age…well, that in Antar people are just all sexually active by the time they are eleven or twelve….., that you three were well on the way to becoming old maids by Antar standards…..that you’d probably be thinking about things pretty quick yourself.”
“Is that really true?” asked Isabel.
Tess shook her blond curls, “How would I know??”
“Tess….,” Maria said, shaking her head.
“Come on Maria….look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t already…tried out your birth control pills.”
Maria blushed suddenly and turned the other way.
“Leave her alone, Tess. Not everyone is a horndog like you and Kyle,” said Isabel.
“Oh I don’t know. I noticed that you had particularly rosy cheeks when you and Alex came to visit last night, Isabel. Truth or dare….”
“Never mind,” said Isabel, the color rising rapidly in her cheeks.
“What about you, Liz?” Tess asked.
Liz blushed. “To tell you the truth, I was going to talk to Max about that very subject…. do some planning, sort of. He’s going to come listen to music and do homework with me tonight when my parents are over having dinner with his parents. We both kind of like to plan things out. I guess we aren’t as spontaneous as you and Kyle.”
Tess smiled sweetly. ‘You will be tonight….’
She had already told Kyle that she was going to have to take a half hour break during the honeymoon tonight. Their hotel was just two blocks away….plenty of time for her to come back, and if a pregnant lady could climb a fire escape, she planned on being up on that deck and mindwarping the socks off those two….and anything else they were wearing as well. Oh, she knew they’d have probably arrived at the same situation within a few months regardless, but she was taking no chances.
According to Nasedo, the king who had provided the DNA for Max had been a passionless person, reluctant to fight…even for his own planet. Clearly, loving Liz had brought out the passion in Max, and it was still a dangerous world out there. In a couple of weeks, she’d tell them about the nest of Skins they’d have to deal with….start their training. As long as the four of them kept together, they’d win. And what Tess wanted to win was a lifetime of peace and happiness with Kyle. Kyle, little Jimmie, and maybe a couple more little ones.
Yep, Tess was going to make DAMN sure that the other three all bonded to humans, just like she did. Screw that going back and re-establishing the monarchy business, either to help or to oppose Kivar. If the people of Antar weren’t willing to stand up and fight him, why should they?
It wasn’t really that Tess was a bad person, but she had been raised by a psychopathic alien serial killer, so her willingness to be …uh…..pragmatic, was pretty well developed. And nothing was more important to her than the eight of them living happily ever after on Earth, and if that involved helping to cement a few relationships by mindwarping the other six….well, so be it. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t given Liz fair warning. Tess had used her powers to send the bridal bouquet straight into Liz’s hands.
Liz noticed the sudden smile and glow on Tess’s face.
“Tess, what is it?”
“I felt little Jimmy move..”
“OOHH…..,” squealed Maria, putting her hand on Tess’s belly, “..let me feel.”
She felt the tiny kick. “That is soooo cool..”
Ten minutes later the four were back at the reception. Everyone was happy. Tess saw the priest raise his glass of wine to her and smile. Of course, he’d be horrified when he heard about everything she’d done at Confession this week. Particularly when she admitted to mindwarping him the previous week so he wouldn’t remember her last confession……just before she did it again this week.
‘Ok, so I’m never going to be a very honest person,’ thought Tess. ‘Maybe I play a little too fast and loose with the rules… But I’m going to have a damn good life though, and so are all of my friends…’
THE END
Last edited by greywolf on Sat Dec 30, 2006 8:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.