I've had a good weekend and managed to finish this next part...Whew, it was so hard to stay away from my other fic 
but I managed to put some time into this one...
Part 5
Sometime later two medical personnel entered the large living space followed by Liz and the others. Each stood by a door of a hybrid and watched the team set up a table and some equipment.
‘Maria?’
Maria was surprised to Max’s voice inside her mind and swung her head to where he stood near the shield. Her green eyes met his amber. She quickly looked back at the medical team trying to ignore what she’d just felt.
‘Maria, what are they going to do to us?’ Max calmly asked. His suspicion of their connection was confirmed when she had turned and looked at him and their eyes met. He was a little taken back by the feeling that ran through him.
Maria paused a moment deciding if she should tell him.
‘They are going to implant a chip in each of you so that we can control your powers.’
She was met with silence. No more questions, no protests. She took this as his acceptance of what she told him.
When the team finished, one looked to Liz. “Who is first?”
“I say the fearless King is first.” Kyle said quickly. He’d been watching Tess and hated how she kept looking to Max for comfort or approval. Jealousy seeped into his veins.
Liz nodded to Maria who lowered Max’s shield. She took his hand and was glad that he did not pull away or protest. In fact the warmth from his hand ran up her arm and left her a little lightheaded. She led him to the table and had him lie face down on the table.
Max took several deep breaths unsure exactly what was going to happen but felt that he could trust Maria and not be harmed. Suddenly he felt a sharp pinch in the back of his neck. He stiffened and a small yelp escaped as the pain intensified for just a second before it backed off. He felt lightheaded and the other’s voices filled his head asking if he was alright. The voices were loud and left his head aching but the one that he felt the most was Maria’s. He could feel her distress. With much effort he pushed out all the noise.
‘I’m fine.’ He sent out to the four of them. He could feel Maria’s distress calm as she soothed him mentally.
Max was grateful for Maria’s assistance off the table then her support as she took him to a couch. He still felt lightheaded and weak, the headache still strong.
Alex opened Isabel’s door next but she had taken several steps back from the shield and just stood there shaking her head, looking ready to flee at the first chance.
“No. You are not going to do that to me. What did they do? No more. I’m tired of all of this.” She started to yell, her voice getting higher with each word as she began to panic.
Max felt every word she said pound against his head making the pain worse. He lifted his head form his hands and looked to where Isabel stood.
“Isabel!” he barked wincing at the pain his words brought. “Just do it.” He said softer, pleading with his sister. He didn’t want anymore harm to come to any of them knowing that they would force her to do this anyhow.
“Isabel.” Alex called to her softly, holding out a hand to her.
She looked into his soft blue eyes. She could sense his caring and kindness and could tell that he was a good guy but she had trouble trusting her feelings with the predicament they were in. Seeing no way around it she finally took Alex’s hand and let him lead her to the table.
After Isabel’s chip was inserted, Michael was next. His face wore a scowl but said nothing as Liz led him to the table. Tess was last. On the outside, she looked calm and showed no fear but inside her stomach churned and was upset. She looked to Max several times for the encouragement and comfort he sent to her. Max in turn ignored the heated glare Kyle gave him, concentrating on his family.
When the four hybrids each had the chips in place, the medical personnel started packing their equipment. Max looked at his family and noticed how each had one of these strangers hovered near them as Maria was doing with him. He had to wonder the significance of it. Once the medical team left, Liz and the others took the chairs from the kitchen and sat them near the couches.
“I think it is time for us to talk.” Liz started, suddenly feeling nervous as four sets of eyes turned on her. “You four are here and alive for an important purpose.”
Suddenly Isabel rose with her hand covering her mouth. “Oh god. I’m going to be sick.” She mumbled and rushed to the kitchen sink to vomit. Alex was right behind her, grabbing a towel to attend her. Max and Michael stood also to go after her but abruptly sat back down as nausea and dizziness overtook them.
Liz watched as their faces turned pale, fighting the side effects of the chip placement. She wanted so badly to feel nothing for these four. It was because of them that she was taken from her parents, family, her real home but she had observed the love and caring that they held for one another knowing that the two groups were more alike than she’d first thought.
Liz rose and went to Michael who sat, taking deep breaths, his eyes closed, trying to calm the revolt his stomach was creating. She placed her hand on his neck, the connection immediately flared to life.
Flash**
She watched a frustrated Michael running through a worn down, dirty trailer park late at night. He looked to be 13 years old. Tears streamed down his face, glass shattering as he passed by some cars. She could feel his anger, frustration, hurt and loneliness. The emotions overwhelmed her, making her gasp.
End Flash**
Michael’s breath caught as he felt her warm energy rush through his body.
Flash**
He watched a 10-year-old Liz walking through a forest. He felt her frustration as if it were his own. She stopped and looked to a large branch of an old tree. Raising her hand, she sent a blast to it; only it did not go to where she’d aimed. Instead it veered and hit a beautiful colored bird. She watched in horror as it dropped to the ground. She rushed over and picked it up in her hands. It wasn’t hurt but dead. She began to sob. She’d actually killed a living creature. She was crying so hard she did not notice her hands glowing as she cradled the bird in them. She gasped as the bird began to stir then fly away.
End Flash**
Both Liz and Michael blinked, confused at why the flashes were occurring when Isabel rejoined the group, sitting near Tess who tried to comfort her but feeling as if she would hurl at any moment also.
Maria noticed Michael’s color had returned to normal and he looked better than the other three and knew that Liz had healed the side effects for him. Seeing that Liz had not made a move to do the same for the others, Maria cleared her throat getting Liz’s attention. When Liz looked at Maria, she knew what Maria expected her to do, her bright, green eyes scolding Liz.
Liz sighed and went to Isabel and healed her of the sickness. She did the same with Tess then Max. This also gave her the opportunity to create a connection with each hybrid. Her connection to Isabel and Tess was weak. She had felt their fear and confusion but it was like a flutter in the back of her mind. Max’s connection was stronger and felt the power that he held inside. She also felt his determination to keep his family together and safe. But Michael’s connection had sent her control spinning. He was so intense; she felt everything that was in him like her own.
“Now that that is taken care of, let’s continue this.” Alex said interrupting Liz’s thoughts. She mentally shook off her feelings and looked at the group of people before her.
“We are going to tell you everything that we know about you. We are telling you this because we believe you have a right to know what is happening and why. Just remember that because I am telling you this does not mean that you have a choice. You don’t, it has already been made and has been in the works for years, before any of us were born.” Liz began looking at the four hybrids.
“You were killed during a rebellion uprise over 50 years ago here on Antar. The King, his sister, the General, and the Queen were referred to as the Royal Four. The four were powerful and very close. They ruled fair and were loyal to their planet. However, there were others who thought that others would be better as a ruler.”
“After you were killed” Alex took over. “Four scientists found a way to take your essence and combine it with human DNA making an Antarian hybrid. They placed each of you in incubation pods and stole a ship and headed for Earth. They were to be your protectors, your teachers”
“Why did they do that? Why’d they have to steal a ship?” Michael asked.
“No one knows those answers.” Maria answered. “With Zan, Ava, Vilondra, and Rath dead, the next in line to the throne was Zan’s cousin Khivar. The war lasted about two weeks and then came the mourning of their leaders so Antar was in shambles. It was weeks before anyone realized that the four scientists were gone and even longer to figure out what they had done and where they’d gone.”
“It was about 10 years after that war that the decline in population was noticed. There had been very few births since the war. The babies that survived birth were often weak or had birth defects. Older Antarians were dying and there was not a new generation to replace them. They found that Antar’s water supply had been contaminated during the war and the damage it had caused was irreversible even after it was cleared as best as possible. The Antarian species is now ruined. Khivar then went in search of the four scientists.”
“When he finally found where they had landed, he found that three had died in the crash and one was captured by your government.” Alex continued. They’d heard this story over and over and knew it by heart. “But not before he could hide your pods out of harms way so you could develop freely. Khivar spent years trying to find you but he could not. He concluded that you had not come out of your pods so he waited and watched. During this time, he tried several ways to continue the Antarian species only to fail time after time.”
“OK. Obviously Antarians and Humans are similar in their genetic make-up so why not just mix the two or even make more hybrids like us?” Isabel asked.
Kyle shook his head. “Didn’t work. Both Antarian and human females died along with the baby. As for more hybrids like you? Impossible. It can’t be replicated. The scientists used a rare organic organism called Gandarium to blend the two DNAs together. The process was lost with the scientists along with any information on where the Gandarium came from.”
“Khivar formed another plan.” Liz drew their attention. “One that involved several different phases. About seven years before you emerged from your pods, Khivar chose four human infants, two boys and two girls, and brought them here to Antar. They were raised here; the reason for their life was a mission. When the time was right and the hybrids returned, these humans were to reproduce with the hybrids.”
“You’re entirely human?” Michael asked shocked. What she was saying immediately clicked in his head. They were the hybrids and Liz, Maria, Kyle and Alex were the humans. That was why they were the only people to have any real interaction with.
“But you have powers.” Isabel stated confused.
“Yes we do.” Liz said. “As you said, genetically Antarians and humans are very similar. An Antarian’s abilities come from the cerebral cortex. Human’s minds are underdeveloped. Being here, raised on this planet has helped it develop like the Antarians. We were Khivar’s Phase I.”
“Khivar knew where we were?” Michael asked.
“Yes.” Liz said. “Somehow he knew when you were to emerge from your pods.”
“If Khivar knew where we were, why didn’t he come to bring us home then? He is related to Max and Isabel, correct?” Tess finally asked, trying to absorb all the information.
“He wanted to wait until you were old enough. For you to remember who you were, where you came from, letting your genetic encoding take effect.”
“So he could control us.” Max stated, anger filling him. He hated that these four humans could control them with just a word. It took away any free will they had.
Liz just nodded, sensing the anger that filled him.
“Why you four? What is so special about you?” Michael asked.
“We don’t know really. The small amount of information that was found about the hybrids mentioned that they were engineered to reproduce with four humans. That as they grew older, they would be drawn by instincts to find that person.”
“So, you are saying that we are to have sex with you and make babies to populate Antar again because of the way we were made? How do you know it will even work? It could kill Tess and Isabel or even Liz and Maria.” Michael asked trying to control the anger that surged through him. No one was going to tell him who to be with. And the thought of Liz dying because of a baby they produce is unacceptable. ‘Wait. Where did that come from? He thought.
“We don’t really know if it will work.” Alex said. “It is all a theory really. Through years of research and what Khivar has provided, it is thought that the Gandarium is the key for an Antarian to breed with a human since it is what enabled you to be created. Our children should carry it in their DNA making it possible to be with a pure Antarian. In turn saving this world.”
The hybrids sat in stunned silence. They were not sure what they should feel. Honored to be helping to save their dying world or anger at being produced and used as such? Was this the only reason they were created? To breed?
Liz stood. “We’ll leave you to discuss this. Get some sleep tonight. We start early in the morning.”
“What will we start in the morning?” Tess asked cautiously, not sure she was ready for the answer. Would they force them to have sex? Would she and Isabel be raped?
“To start Phase II. Your training. You will fully develop your powers. Then we will be able to see how the human DNA has effected your abilities.”
“The reason for the chip and why you are the ones having contact with us.” Max said looking her in the eye.
Liz nodded. “Thos chips will be for your protection.”
When the humans left, Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel sat where they were, each lost in their thoughts.
“What do we do Max?” Tess asked.
Max got up and started pacing, running his hand through his hair. Sometimes he hated being the leader. Though they never verbally acknowledged it that way, the others just naturally looked to him for answers. It sucked to be the King.
“I don’t know right now.”
“So we are going to do nothing, let them impregnate Isabel and Tess to see if they survive, Maxwell?”
Max stopped in front of where Michael was standing. “What do you want me to do? We have no powers; we are weak in strength with no allies, on a strange planet. You’ve experienced first hand our encoding. We have no choice right now but to do what they want. We develop our powers and wait for our opportunity. Unless you have any better ideas you’d care to share Michael?”
Michael fidgeted, scratching at his eyebrow. He knew that Max was right and it made sense. Khivar wanted them to grow stronger. Maybe it would work to their advantage with their escape.
“So. Phase II is just building our powers. We’ve got some time, right?” Isabel asked, eyes going back and forth between Max and Michael looking for some assurance.
“I hope so.” Max said.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Liz and the others walked a little way down the hall to their own living quarters. It was identical to the one they’d just left. They sat on the couches exhausted.
“You think they’ll cooperate?” Kyle asked.
“They don’t have a choice.” Alex said.
“In a way they do. They could make this really difficult for us and in the end it won’t work.” Kyle said.
“Making our lives more of a hell here.” Maria mumbled.
“Guys, they’ll do it.” Liz stated, sure of herself.
They sat there in silence a few moments each in their own thoughts.
“Kyle, you need to lighten up a bit.” Mar started. “Especially with Max. I see what you are doing.” Kyle opened his mouth to protest but Maria kept speaking. “You will have to work with him one on one and your glaring matches and attitude will not help him or us. Tess may not see it now but she will the longer we are together. Who do you think she’ll side with Kyle? Someone she grew up with and trusts or the person possibly forcing her do things against her better judgment?”
“I know. I’m sorry.” Kyle said, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
“It’s OK Kyle. I just wanted you to know that we all see it and sense it. I have a feeling that we’ll all feel the jealousy bug at one time or another at their closeness but remember, Max and Tess were married in their past lives, not now.”
“That’s something we all have to keep in mind.” Liz said remembering her stomach lurking as she watched Michael hold Isabel. “Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be long.”
TBC...
Yes the Pod Squad left Earth and are now on Antar. The reason for their treatment will be explained in later chapters. OF COURSE IT'S LIZ 