Finished Canon/Conventional Couple Fics. These stories pick up from events in the show. All complete stories from the main Canon/CC board will eventually be moved here.
I am Roswell Oracle. Most of you probably don’t know me. I was a frequent lurker on the Roswell 1 board back in the day, but never really a poster. In fact, I posted so infrequently that my membership lasped and I had to rejoin.
I have been writing a Roswell fan fic for my friends and my mom, because we all really hated the way things turned out on the show. And now they have convinced me to post it.
The story is finished, so you don’t have to worry about that. I will be posting it in parts here, and on my website, http://www.roswelloracle.com which was previously open only to my friends.
Not being a frequent poster, I may screw up from time to time, so please bear with me. Feel free to post or e-mail feedback or qestions, and if anyone finds any mistakes let me know.
I hope you enjoy the story.
TITLE: ALPHA & OMEGA
AUTHOR: Roswell Oracle
CATEGORY: The whole gang and others, but focusing on Max & Liz. I'm definitely a dreamer at heart.
RATING: YTEEN maybe some MATURE
SPOILERS: Anything in season 1 & 2 is fair game
REPOSTING: Please ask permission before reposting. I like to know where my story is going to live.
CREDITS: A list of credits will be given at the beginning of each part of the story.
FEEDBACK: Feel free to send e-mail feedback to the contact link. Corrections are appreciated and all questions will be answered as quickly as possible. And if you want me to explain my logic at certain story points, bring it on, baby!
DISCLAIMER: Roswell, the characters and the story, are owned by Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and Fox Studios (although the way they have abused them I don't think they deserve them) and are used here purely for entertainment purposes.
Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
Any additional characters or situations not mentioned in the show are the creation of my dementia.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I really wanted to know the events on Antar leading up to the pods being sent to Earth. I wanted to know the events on Earth before the pods hatched. I wanted to know what happened to the dupes, Nicholas, the skins, the other shape shifters, Brody, Shawn, etc. Why Max was drawn to Liz from the first moment he saw her but didn't recognize Tess, until she started 'helping' him to recover his memories, even though they supposedly shared a great love in their other life. Any kind of plausible explanation for Max's behavior at the end of season 2. Why anyone, the skins, Khivar, the leaders of the other planets, would want the Granolith if it was only a one-use, disposable transport device?
I was hoping that TPTB would at least give us a hint to what was going on about some of these things and all of the other incomprehensible stuff that happened, but they have chosen to ignore the past. So I decided to make it up myself. I am also sick of all of the loose ends and unexplained nonsense so I tried to work in as much as possible into my story.
I have done extensive research, combing the transcripts of season 1 & 2 for every conversation, every clue to the past and future and I have incorporated as much as possible into the story. Everything in the story is either directly from the show, the Crashdown timeline or the now defunct website The Silver Handprint or I have created it based on clues from these sources. Sometimes the sources contradict themselves or each other and on some things these sources are clearly wrong or I do not agree with their interpretation. In these cases I have reconciled the facts as closely as possible.
I have used the information from the Silver Handprint website as much as possible because I, along with most people, consider it part of the canon but the website was so full of inconsistencies, it nearly drove me insane. I had to ignore or alter some of the situations to make them fit in with what happened on the episodes. The dates given on the Silver Handprint are even worse. Some of them don't fit with the episodes, giving them too many or not enough days and some of the dates given would put the gang in school on Saturday or Sunday. The dates are also inconsistent within different parts of the Silver Handprint, Topolsky's e-mails saying one thing and Whitaker's diary saying another. TPTB quite obviously did not do their homework. (Just the problems with the dates between Crazy and Destiny are enough to make you go screaming into the night.) So the dates in parts of my story might be different than you think they should be but I gave more weight to the dates mentioned in the episodes when there was a conflict. If anyone is interested, I am including a timeline with each part of the story and I have broken down each episode into days.
There were many places in seasons 1 & 2 where I would have chosen to do things differently (EOTW, the entire Hybrid Chronicles, everything after VLV, etc...) but since they aired I had to work with what I was given. So if some of the explanations for nonsensical scenarios seem a bit crazy, I apologize up front. Also there were certain events that were so without basis in reason that I simply abandoned any idea of 'fixing' them and skipped on to something else (reasons for how, why etc. in the Hybrid Chronicles, any kind of semi-coherent explanation for some of the entire Ganderium fiasco). I'm a writer not a miracle worker, Jim. In other words, I am not taking credit for the miserable writing and mess left by TPTB.
*** WARNING!!! – RANT AHEAD!!! ***
In my opinion season 3 was a ridiculous travesty, an exercise in idiocy, an insult to the intelligence and loyalty of the viewers, totally disregarding all of the unanswered questions and problems left over from seasons 1 and 2 and instead pandering to the ratings gods and failing miserably. Season 3 was like watching a train wreck that kept getting worse. It was like a really bad alterna-universe fan-fic. They used tired and just plain ridiculous plot lines and the one or two interesting things they came up with were dropped and never mentioned again. (Khivar? Hello? Ever heard of him TPTB? You know the uber-bad guy. The reason the podsters were sent to Earth in the first place. What the crap happened to him? He has this nifty new transport device and instead of sending an army or assassins to kill Max, he just quietly goes away. I don’t think so! Hello? Is there anybody out there who can hear me? Hello? TPTB? Anyone? What about Brody? Nicholas? The skins? The dupes? Michael worshippers? Hello? Anyone? Bueller?)
Each episode in season 3 was progressively, even exponentially worse than the last and the personalities of all of the characters changed so much, I didn't care about what happened to any of them by the end. I really think TPTB tried to give us the worst they could come up with, so there would be no chance of ‘saving’ the show again. They wanted it to end and they very effectively killed it.
Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.
(takes a deep breath and thinks of Buddha to calm down)
So it may come as no surprise that I am completely disregarding season 3. In my world it does not exist. My story was conceived in its entirety before the start of season 3 and any similarities are purely coincidental.
SUMMARY: The story is linear but will jump ahead in time occasionally, with fair warning. It explains the crash and capture of the shape shifters by the government, the skin's arrival and settlement on Earth, Nasedo's journey after his escape from the special unit, including the stories of with Atherton, River Dog, Hubble & the skins, what happened to the other shape shifters, the original events before Liz & future Max changed things, the story of the dupes, what really happened at the New York summit, the events that led to Alex's death, what happened on Antar, the true purpose of the Granolith and what I think should have happened instead of the garbage that was season 3.
Book 1 is the story of the shape shifters bringing the pods to Earth and the events that happened
up to and including the crash.
Books 2, 3, 4, & 5 pretty much all cover the same time period from 1947 to 1999 but each book
tells a different part of the story, following the separate groups.
Book 2 is about the skins, from just before the crash to 1999
Book 3 is about the shape shifters, from just after the crash to when the pods hatch
Book 4 is about the pod squad hatching and their early life up to 1999
Book 5 is about the dupes’ lives in New York, recounting the story of how they got there in
1947, up to 1999.
Sept. 19, 1999 is the magic date, because that is when Liz was shot, starting this whole thing. So all the story lines come together in Book 6, on that day, and go forward from there.
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Wed Mar 30, 2005 10:13 am, edited 83 times in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the Royal palace is located
King Zantor Tageonant (Zan) - Max
Queen Avalynd Telnada (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel
Queen Nedra Tageonant (ne'-dra) - Zan & Vilondra's mother
Sodan (so-dan) - Nasedo - aka Ed Harding - Zan's most trusted protector
Jensto (jens-toe) - a scientist in Zan's employ
Sir Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's head General and second in command
Kaldar - Rath's most trusted protector
Lady Chanya Santas (shawn'-ya) - Vilondra's friend
Udac (oo-dac) - Chanya's handmaid
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Duke Khivar Roistar - the man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Major Grester - T. Greer - Head of the Vilondra Project
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - aka Ed Harding - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability astral projection and illusion
Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
PREFACE
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The preface briefly shows the last days on Antar before the pods were sent to Earth. It introduces some of the characters and sets the tone for Book 1. The story of what happened on Antar will be told in its entirety in Book 11.
Obviously Antarians do not speak English but since most of us cannot read Antarian I have translated everything into standard English.
Each change of date is marked. There are 10 months in the Antarian year with 38 days each, giving the Antarian year 380 days. The dates are in the form (month.day.year)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Antar - The Royal Palace in the Capitol City of Tageonon)
(Antar Date 2.20.23628)
Khivar strode down the hall with General Nicaron and Major Grester. The day he had waited for was finally here and in just a few moments he would secure the throne. He smiled as he entered the cell that held the boy King Zan and his child bride Ava. Very soon he would have everything he wanted.
"Zan Tageonant," Khivar said commandingly, "you will bow before me as your new King."
"I will never bow before a traitor," Zan growled.
"You should not anger me," Khivar said softly, "you do not know the extent of my wrath."
Zan quickly glanced at Ava. "I will bow to you if you give me your oath that you will spare Ava."
"No Zan," Ava said, taking his face in her hands and forcing him to look at her. "Do not debase yourself for my sake. I would rather die at your side."
"I could not give you my oath anyway," Khivar admitted. "I have already struck a bargain with the traitor in your midst for the life of the Queen. Both of your lives are forfeit. After all," he said glancing at Ava, "I could not take the chance that the young Queen is carrying your heir."
Khivar motioned to Nicaron and Grester and they raised their hands to fire.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan, Zan’s most trusted protector, arrived at the camouflaged entrance to the palace just after dark. He raised a hand to activate the locking device but the door cracked open and he quickly threw himself aside to avoid discovery.
A lone figure emerged from the passageway and looked around as if to ascertain the correct direction.
The figure changed shape before him and Sodan immediately recognized her. She was Lady Chanya's handmaid, Udac.
Sodan stepped forward to make his presence known. "Udac."
She whirled toward him, and he knocked aside her outstretched hand just before she fired. He held her tightly but saw recognition cross her features and released his grip as she spoke.
"Sodan, I thought you were dead."
He smiled, "I thought the same of you. What are you doing here?"
"When the camp was taken we were all brought here,” Udac explained. “Khivar has killed the King and Queen and my mistress Chanya." Udac held up a pair of tissue harvesting devices. "But before she died, my mistress was able to collect the essence of the King and Queen."
"Then there is still hope for the future,” Sodan said softly. “We must get this to the lab as quickly as possible."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(2.21.23628)
The next day, Duke Khivar Roistar presided at the state funeral for the King and Queen and they were buried in the Tageonant crypt alongside the Princess Vilondra.
That evening, in a large, spectacular ceremony, Khivar was crowned King.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(2.22.23628)
The next evening, Udac and Sodan arrived at the secret lab and the final preparations were made to send the transport to Earth.
Sodan, and Kaldar, Rath’s protector, had eagerly volunteered to be sent to Earth with their fallen masters. Both were experts in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and Sodan was also an excellent pilot. Two other shape shifters had also been chosen for the mission; Letras, Zan's former tutor and an expert in history, philosophy and military tactics, and Cuerena a scientist and Granolith specialist.
The Granolith and the two sets of pods, the real ones and the decoys, were carefully loaded onto the ship along with the communication orbs, memory retrieval devices, healing stones and the book written in the royal code. Queen Nedra, Zan and Vilondra’s mother, gave the travelers final instructions and said her last goodbyes to her children.
Udac removed the pendant from around her neck and turned with it to Sodan. "Here is a symbol of our planet, wear it proudly and bring them back to us."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(2.23.23628)
Khivar was woken early the next morning by General Nicaron. "Your Majesty, the air command has reported sighting a uncleared transport leaving the atmosphere."
"Why didn't they shoot it down?" Khivar asked groggily.
"It was too far out of range,” Nicaron explained. “It launched from an area that we had thought deserted."
Khivar's attention focused immediately. "Were they able to trace its origin?"
"Yes and there are troops on the way even as we speak."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nicaron struck Zan’s head scientist, Jensto, once again, knocking him to the floor.
"Please," Jensto begged as he huddled on the opulent carpet. "I cannot tell you what I don't know."
Khivar spoke up, "General this is getting us nowhere. Use your powers to pry the information out of his mind."
Jensto tried to crawl away from Nicaron, but at a gesture from their commander, Khivar’s soldiers grabbed the scientist on either side and held him tightly. Nicaron placed his hand on the Jensto’s head, and after a moment, a surprised look crossed Nicaron’s features.
"Your Majesty,” Nicaron reported, “it seems that the scientist here is a specialist in cloning, and has recently discovered a new technique that allows for the transfer of memories into a clone."
Khivar stood up. "Vilondra, we can bring her back."
"I am sorry your Majesty but she has been dead too long for the transfer to work. It must be done within a couple of days apparently. But the good scientist here, working with Zan, Ava and Nedra have already done it for us."
"They have cloned Vilondra?"
"Yes,” Nicaron confirmed, “and General Varros, Zan and Ava. It seems they had a back-up plan in case things went against them. They were cloned and sent to a planet they thought would be out of our reach, to prepare to take back Antar."
"How clever of them," Khivar sneered. "Which planet?"
"I have never heard of it,” Nicaron shrugged. “It is called Erth."
"Erth?" Khivar asked. "Where is this planet?"
Nicaron indicated the scientist huddling on the floor. "He does not know, but Sir there is a more urgent issue. The Granolith."
"What about it?" Khivar asked dismissively.
"It was sent to Erth with Zan."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(3.18.23628)
A transport loaded with two hundred of Khivar's most loyal followers, led by General Nicaron, prepared for departure. Their orders were to eliminate Zan, Rath and Ava, by any means possible, and bring Vilondra back to Antar.
A secret directive was given to General Nicaron - retrieve the Granolith.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
cru-ci-ble -
1 : a place or situation in which concentrated forces interact to cause or influence change or development
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is an account of the events that surround the crash and subsequent capture of the shape shifters and the pods by the government, with a small mention of events from the episode Summer '47.
DEFINITIONS:
Sephtafus - Antarian mythical goddess of good fortune – the ship that brought the shape shifters and the pods to Earth
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. What is the story of Grandpa Dupree?
2. What was the cause of the crash?
3. What were the events around the government's capture of the shape shifters?
4. How did the pods get to New York?
5. Who buried the orb?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 1 - Salvation's Crucible (Earth - The Crash)
EARTH
Shape Shifters Loyal to the Royal Four
Nasedo - Sodan - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot, special skill - heat and energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert, special skills - illusion
Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, special skill - empath
Skins
Nicholas Crawford - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Khivar's right hand and head general
Congresswoman Vanessa (Crawford) Whitaker - Major Nesta
Lieutenant Sacor – skin soldier
Humans
Charles Dupree - Grandpa Dupree - human taken by the shape shifters for his DNA - Laurie Dupree's Grandfather
Dr. Roderick Wayne - the Dr. that performed the autopsy on the 'dead' alien and examined the pods
Yvonne White - the nurse who helped with the autopsy on the 'dead' alien - played by Liz in the episode Summer of '47
Colonel James Cassidy - head of the base where the shape shifters and pods were taken - played by the Sheriff in the episode Summer of '47
Captain Sheridan Cavitt - Counter Intelligence Officer - played by Alex in the episode Summer of '47
Agent David Lewis - FBI agent and first head of the Special Unit
Don Harris - Dr. Wayne's assistant
Captain Hal Carver - Air Force Captain who helped the aliens escape from the Air Force Base - played by Michael in the episode Summer of '47
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant - (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel
Queen Nedra Tageonant (ne'-dra) - Zan & Vilondra's mother
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the King's palace is located
Sodan (so-dan) - Nasedo - Zan's most trusted protector
Jensto (jens-toe) - a scientist in Zan's employ
The Sephtafus (named for the Antarian mythical goddess of good fortune) - the ship sent to Earth with the pods and the shape shifters
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Kaldar - Rath's most trusted protector
Duke Colrath Varros - Rath's father and a Senator
Sir Aladar Varros - Colrath Varros' uncle and Rath's great uncle - a leading scientist who headed the project to destroy the red giant
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) - the man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Major Nesta - Congresswoman Vanessa (Crawford) Whitaker
Lieutenant Sacor – skin soldier
Roistar (roys'-tar) - formerly Tageonon, Khivar changed the name when he assumed the throne
The Leptes (the Antarian word for Vengeance) - the ship Khivar sent to Earth with Nicholas and the skins
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Antar Date - 4.15.19628)
(Earth Date - January 9th, 1936)
(On a transport headed toward Earth - The Leptes)
General Nicaron sat at the desk in his quarters studying the information the researchers had gathered about the planet Earth. The planet's atmosphere was deadly to their species, immediately on contact, turning their bodies to dust. The scientific team on-board would use the time on the journey to devise a plan to help them survive in the planet's atmosphere.
Nicaron pulled up another file containing the information they had gathered from Zan’s scientist Jensto, concerning the Royal Four's cloning plan. He scanned it briefly, already familiar with the contents. It would take the incubation pods that held the Royal Four, approximately forty years to complete the combination of the genetic materials, after the shape shifters had gathered the human DNA. Nicaron had no idea how long it would take to find the appropriate donors but he knew the trait required to make the combination was rare among humans. Hopefully it would take some time, giving his troops an opportunity to discover the shape shifter’s location. But he was a realist and had no illusions about their chances.
The power of the Granolith would allow the Royal Four's transport to reach Earth in only a month while it would take his slower ship several years. The shape shifters would have plenty of time to accomplish their tasks and blend in with the native population. He sighed as he sat back in his chair, this would be the most difficult mission he had ever undertaken.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Transport containing the Royal Four - The Sephtafus)
Kaldar rolled one of the communication orbs around in his hands, unconsciously embedding memory fragments in it. The addition of the Granolith's power to their transport's engines had cut their traveling time to practically nothing. They were rapidly approaching Earth and he was becoming increasingly nervous. Antar's future rested on their shoulders. It was a large responsibility and being somewhat empathic, he could feel the tension in those around him.
The scientists had discovered for the cloning to succeed, they needed human genetic material that possessed a certain irregularity in its DNA. And they had to find at least two different donors to allow for the pairing of the couples. Vilondra and Zan's clones could have DNA from the same donor or family but Ava and Rath would have to have a different donor. But Cuerena had already told them she wanted four donors if possible, to make the gene pool diverse.
They had brought two sets of pods to make two sets of clones. One set would contain the Royal Four and the other set would contain decoys.
The plan had included a set of decoys because they had been certain Khivar's forces would be able to detect the transport leaving Antar and if Khivar sent troops to destroy the clones there would be a good chance he would get the wrong set.
Kaldar had been assigned to watch over the decoys until they had reached maturity and then he would return to his place at Rath's side. He had served as Rath’s protector since Rath was a child and it would be hard to leave his master but there were other considerations and he had to follow his orders.
Kaldar's attention was drawn to a large gas planet they were passing, with large bands of color and a prominent red spot. It was impossibly beautiful. Images of other incredible celestial bodies they had passed on their journey flashed through his mind. Sometimes he wished he hadn't been born a protector and he could have followed his dream to become an explorer.
Wistfully he thought back to the one other time he had been off Antar. He had been very young and newly assigned as a trainee to Rath’s great uncle. Aladar Varros had been one of the leading scientists on Antar and he had led the team that destroyed the red giant star. Kaldar had never seen anything as beautiful as the dying star and he still mourned its loss.
The image of the red giant floated fondly through his mind as he considered the next phase in their journey. They did not know how far humans had technologically progressed in the four hundred years since the exploration team had visited the planet, but it was suspected the humans would not possess the technology to be able to detect their transport approaching Earth. Still it was decided they would take a stealthy orbit path closely following that of the planet's only moon and monitor the technology before attempting to land.
Kaldar felt the ship slow as they approached the small moon and their destination, the planet Earth.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Earth Date - February 13th, 1936)
(The Sephtafus - Orbiting in the Moon's Shadow)
Over the next month, an overwhelming amount of data was gathered about Earth due to the constant broadcast of entertainment and news programming from Earth on various frequencies. The planet was divided into numerous regions called countries, and the shape shifters had been able to learn of the political systems in the larger countries. They also discovered that they had come to the Earth just a few years after a war, involving almost the whole world.
They learned of the military forces and the technology the humans possessed and determined the country called The United States of America would be the best area in which to settle. That country was the most technically advanced and also seemed to be the most stable politically and it was separated physically from the more aggressive and war-like countries. It also had a governmental system comparable to the type of government Zan had tried to instate on Antar. But perhaps most importantly, the United States was a large country with many unsettled areas. They all decided it would be the best choice.
It had only taken them a couple of days to learn the English language. It was a simple language, only containing twenty-six letters and a simple sentence structure. Then they had concentrated on the dress and customs of the country.
During this time, Cuerena had also looked for an area to house the pods and the Granolith. She wanted something away from human settlement, that was unlikely to be disturbed and finally she found the perfect place.
Cuerena approached Sodan on the transport's command center. "I have found an isolated area in the southwest desert that will be perfect. It contains a number of large rock formations we could easily alter to contain the Granolith and the pod chamber."
"Excellent," Sodan answered. "The humans have no technology capable of tracking our presence so we will simply wait until dark to descend and scout the area. If it is suitable, we will begin work immediately. Have you discovered a way to speed up the human donor selection?"
"No,” Cuerena said. “I am afraid we will have to gather samples for testing. The search for the proper DNA could take a very long time. It will mean abducting the candidates and extracting samples forcefully."
Sodan looked at her strangely. "I am not concerned about inconveniencing the humans."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 20th, 1936)
(The Desert outside Roswell, New Mexico)
Sodan, Kaldar and Letras had worked all night and most of the day to enlarge the rock formation and construct the chambers that would house the Granolith and the pods containing the Royal Four. The heat was greater than they were used to but their bodies naturally adapted to almost any conditions.
The pendant Sodan wore around his neck, swung back and forth, knocking repeatedly on the supports he was erecting. He stopped to remove it and ran his thumb over the raised pattern, the symbol of Antar. With a sigh of homesickness, he placed it on floor by the chamber opening, as Cuerena called him from the transport.
"Sodan, have you finished the work on the chamber?"
"Yes Cuerena," Sodan answered. "The Granolith will be installed tonight."
"Good. Return to the transport when you have finished, and just before first light we will go to a new area and start taking humans for testing."
"Have you decided where to start?" asked Sodan
"Tucson, Arizona."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(March 23rd, 1943)
(Knoxville, Kentucky)
Sodan glanced out the car window, absently watching the trees and rolling green hills. Since the attack on Pearl Harbor had pulled this country into the World War, he and the other shape shifters had been forced to restrict their search to human methods. Their search had originally been hampered by the planet's lack of technology and now ironically it was a technological advance that was continuing to disrupt the search.
The humans had developed a technology called radar that was capable of tracking metallic objects, including their transport. It was easy enough to alter the transport's shields to avoid detection but with all of the paranoia caused by the attack on Hawaii, many more Americans were watching the skies for foreign aircraft. They could not take the risk that the transport would be spotted and shot out of the sky, mistaken for the enemy, so they had resorted to traveling by automobile.
Sodan sighed. The search was not going well. They had been on the planet for over five years and had only located one suitable donor and that had just been pure dumb luck. The Dupree man had practically fallen into their laps, to use an Earth colloquialism. He had been mining outside of Tucson, near where they had landed and they had been forced to take him to suppress his memory of the event.
Sodan almost laughed aloud at the memory. He and Kaldar had altered their appearance to match pictures of extraterrestrials they had seen in a magazine, and had taken the man prisoner with their 'ray guns.' It had just been a lucky coincidence that the human had possessed the DNA irregularity they were searching for. They had also attempted to check the DNA of his family but he had no living blood relatives and had produced no offspring. Possibly because of the irregularity, he had also been practically immune to the memory suppressant and they had been forced to keep him on-board the transport until they had finished their search of the area. They had not been concerned when they had released him, knowing his stories would be dismissed as the ramblings of a mad man.
Cuerena had predicted that the search might take a long time but Sodan had never imagined it would be this long. The humans had no data storage devices other than crude written records and it made the search very difficult. Cuerena suspected that the DNA irregularity was most prevalent in a certain blood type but the humans had only discovered the differences in their own blood a little over two years ago and blood type technology was still not widely used.
The human's discovery of the blood types had helped to narrow the search considerably. They had started to check hospital records to find individuals with the correct blood type and then tested their entire family.
At first they had taken individuals at random for testing. They had been careful not to take too many humans from the same area because even with the memory suppressant drugs, it was possible the humans would still retain some fragments of the experience.
Suddenly Cuerena's voice broke into Sodan thoughts, "I believe the war can help us greatly in our search."
"How is that possible?" he asked, skeptical but interested.
She held up a copy of Life magazine she had been reading. "This article says that because of a new directive, human soldiers are required to wear a set of identification tags listing, among other things, their blood types. It also says a great many humans have been injured in the war and extensive medical records have been kept. We can start a new search in those records and narrow the possibilities considerably.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 4th, 1947)
(The Sephtafus - near San Diego, California)
Cuerena carefully prepared the human DNA for combination with the Antarian genetic material. When they had first started their search, they had stumbled on the Dupree man whose DNA she would use for Rath’s clone. Then five years ago they had found a brother and sister with the genetic abnormality, that she would use for Zan and Vilondra’s clones. The final donor had been located yesterday, and now they had all of the samples they needed to begin the cloning.
She carefully mixed the DNA with the Ganderium and injected it into the pods already containing the Antarian genetic material. In just a few hours, with the help of a rapid growth compound, the pods would contain what appeared to be normal human fetuses. The clones would have a human body and physiology but to make them compatible with the Antarian genetic material, their blood would be noticeably different. It would appear red if they were injured but stained and under a microscope, even a casual observer would be able to see the differences.
The scientists on Antar had ensured that the clones would regenerate more quickly than their human counterparts and they would have immunity to all of the planet's diseases. The structure of the human brain had also been slightly altered not only to accommodate the memories of the clones’ past lives but also to be advanced enough to use the powers the originals had possessed.
The clones would emerge from the pods as children and age at human rate until they reached maturity, then their aging would slow to the natural Antarian rate. Their bodies would continue to regenerate lost or damaged cells as human bodies did not and they would have an expanded life of up to 350 Earth years.
The clones would physically resemble their human donors but Cuerena left their coloring up to chance, interested to see if their Antarian genetic material would dominate the human DNA. She had kept image disks of the donors and carefully engraved the images of what she estimated the Royal Four would look like into the book, first as children and then as young adults.
A genetic code was added to trigger their sexual drives, in the tenth year of life after hatching from the pods, in the hopes that Zan would produce an heir. Kaldar, who had been studying the stars around their new home had discovered early in the tenth year, the system's second planet Venus, would move into a position that would make it appear to be aligned with four stars, producing the same 'V' pattern as the royal seal. Cuerena agreed that this coincidence would make a fitting start to the clone’s maturation cycle. As a back up, she programmed the communication orbs to also be activated by the planet Venus coming into alignment and release an additional trigger signal.
Queen Nedra had asked Cuerena confidentially if it would be possible to remove Vilondra's memories of her love for Khivar. Cuerena knew that such things were done with the living but the erased memories were rarely repressed permanently. They almost always resurfaced at some time. But the Queen had insisted she at least try to suppress Vilondra's memories and Cuerena had vowed she would attempt it.
She carefully separated the cells that had been taken from Vilondra's brain, removing those she knew to contain the memories, and with Kaldar's help she tagged a memory suppressant to the cells he felt carried the strongest memories of Vilondra's love for Khivar. Cuerena feared that removing the cells would create a hole in Vilondra's memory, and she was fairly certain at some point Vilondra would regain the memories, but perhaps by then she would be better equipped to deal with them.
Using the memory retrieval devices, the clones should remember most of their past lives. The only exception seemed to be the time near the subject's death. On Antar, Jensto had accomplished the cloning process several times with almost complete success in restoring the subjects' memories but all of the clones lacked the details of the last few hours of their life. Cuerena thought it was a good thing personally. She wouldn't want to remember her own death.
When she had finished implanting the pods with the DNA and Ganderium, Cuerena contacted Sodan in the command center. "The pods are prepared and ready to be transferred to the chamber."
"We will lift off immediately," he responded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Onboard the Leptes)
Nicaron waited impatiently for the latest report. They had been in orbit around Earth for over a month with no progress to report. He was afraid that the only chance they had to locate the Royal Four was if their protectors made a mistake.
His attention was drawn to the door as Major Nesta came rushing in. "Sir, we have them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan navigated the ship into the Earth's upper atmosphere to wait for nightfall to descend over their destination. Even though the human's technology could not detect them, they did not want any witnesses and the darkness would cover their approach.
Kaldar's shout caught his attention. "I am detecting a transport approaching us from quadrant five at rapid speed. It is of Antarian design. Khivar has found us."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nicaron watched the transport approach them. "Lieutenant Sacor,” he called out, “show them our intentions are deadly. Send a shot across their command center."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan attempted to turn their transport to engage Khivar's troops but they were hit by a blast from the other transport, crippling their propulsion unit. They were still in the grip of Earth’s gravity and immediately the transport started to fall back to the planet, rapidly gathering speed until it reached terminal velocity. Sodan struggled with the controls, attempting to control their descent, and using every bit of strength and his powers, he was finally able to wrest the transport back under minimal control.
Kaldar watched helplessly with a death-grip on the orb he was holding. The ground rushed up to meet them and he braced for impact. At the last moment, the transport leveled off and passed just above the tops of the mountains.
Sodan yelled over his shoulder, "I have the transport under control for the moment and I am attempting to bring us closer to the pod chamber but the propulsion unit is destroyed and I cannot slow our speed enough to land. I will try to angle the transport and slow us using the ground.
But instead of skimming the ground as Sodan had intended, the transport hit the rough sand like it had impacted a brick wall and the hull shattered, spilling debris in a long trench that it etched into the desert floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Nicaron slammed his fist against the console next to the Lieutenant. "I told you to shoot across them."
"I am sorry Sir," the Lieutenant tried to defend himself, "but they turned into the shot."
"We need them to lead us to the Royal Four. Sacor," Nicaron bellowed, turning to the navigator, "tell me you were able to track their descent."
Sacor cleared his suddenly dry throat. "Sir we lost them in the atmosphere ionization but I have the trajectory of their descent." He pulled up a map on his monitor. "They should have landed in this vicinity," he said pointing to an area on the map.
Nicaron looked at the label on the map where Sacor indicated. Copper Summit, Arizona. "We will start our search there."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The desert outside Roswell, NM)
Cuerena stumbled through the rough brush, amazed at the amount of destruction. The transport had been completely destroyed and pieces of it were scattered as far as she could see.
She had no idea how long she had been unconscious but when she had awoken moments ago, she had started the search for the others. The first things she had found were the memory retrieval devices and she could tell with a glance that they would never work again.
As she followed along the top of the trench the transport had carved into the desert floor, she also found the healing stones and the book written in the Royal Code. Neither seemed to be damaged and Cuerena took it as a hopeful sign.
Suddenly, ahead, throught the bushes, she saw the pods containing the Royal Four. She rushed forward but was stopped by the sound of human voices. Dropping to the ground, Cuerena quickly buried the healing stones and the book and she watched as the humans approached the pods.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan carefully rose to his feet and looked around at the remains of the transport. The pods were engineered to survive a crash but the amount of destruction around him made him doubt. He was not even sure how he had survived, but he began to search through the rubble for the pods and the others.
As he stumbled down the trench in the desert floor, he became aware of human voices. Sodan quickly ducked behind some bushes and crept toward the sounds. He spied the pods first and he noticed with relief that they appeared to be intact. Then he saw that the two humans had also discovered them and were apparently discussing what to do with them.
One of the humans picked up a stick and starting poking the pods containing the Royal Four, and at that moment, Cuerena rushed out of the bushes distracting them. Sodan used the opportunity to rush them from the other side. The humans attempted to draw their weapons but Sodan used his powers to throw the weapons aside before they could be used. Sodan grabbed one of the humans roughly and used his powers to heat his internal organs, quickly killing him.
Cuerena grabbed and killed the other human in the same way but not before he had cried out, warning more humans they could now see on the ridge above them.
The humans ran and Sodan knew they had only moments until they were captured or killed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar awoke to paralyzing pain that ripped through his body, and for a moment he was disoriented. He was lying face down in the desert sand and then he remembered the crash. He attempted to move his head, but searing pain tore through him once again and he squeezed his eyes shut. He waited for a few moments, hoping the pain would become bearable, before attempting to move again. Carefully, he flexed his hand and realized he was still holding the orb.
Gradually Kaldar was able to sit and he looked around, but what he saw squeezed his heart and brought tears to his eyes. Debris was strewn along a trench in the desert as far as he could see. He knew the pods were designed to be tough, but could they possibly have survived an impact of this degree?
Suddenly he could hear shouts coming from the other side of the ridge, and pulled himself painfully to his feet. He lurched to the bushes for cover and watched as armed humans started to search the area. Silently, he moved away from them, but something was terribly wrong with him, his pain was too great.
In his current condition Kaldar knew he didn’t stand a chance against so many humans. The only chance he had to save the pods was to heal himself. He recoginzed that he was a couple of miles from the pod chamber, where he thought the healing stones were, and he used several bursts of super speed to quickly travel the short distance.
He noticed the new radio tower immediately and a brief thought went through his head that the humans must have built it while they had been looking for human DNA donors. But suddenly a blinding pain started in his head again and he collapsed to the ground at base of the metal tower, unable to go any farther. Kaldar could literally feel his lifeforce draining out of him and knew he would soon die, but he had to hide the orb so it would not fall into human hands. He just hoped the others survived to save the pods.
He could hear the humans coming closer as he dug a hole with his bare hands, and dropping the orb inside, he covered it, wishing he could crawl in the hole with it. From their years of living on Earth, he knew how paranoid the humans were about invasion and he had no doubt the humans would kill them if they were captured. But he knew he didn't have the strength to get away and hide, so he simply used his remaining energy to disguise the place where he had buried the orb, and then fell to the ground.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cuerena turned to Sodan, "We must protect the pods."
Sodan looked around quickly, trying to get his bearings, "We are too far away from the chamber, perhaps two miles, but maybe we can disguise the pods, hide them here."
Cuerena looked around them and nodded. "We can use the rocks to shield the pods until we can get rid of these humans."
"Yes that will have to do," Sodan agreed.
They worked as quickly as possible, but the humans returned with reinforcements before they could finish hiding the pods, and the humans surrounded them with weapons drawn. Sodan and Cuerena looked at each other and knew they had failed. They could never hope to triumph against so many.
The circle tightened around them and humans came forward with raised clubs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cuerena awoke suddenly to find herself in the back of a truck. Painfully, she turned her head and saw an unconscious Sodan beside her. A movement nearby drew her eyes to another truck just as several soldiers loaded the two sets of pods into it and covered them with tarps. Two humans climbed into the cab of the truck and she studied them, quickly memorizing their faces. And as she helplessly watched the truck drive away, she slipped back into unconsciousness.
When Cuerena awoke again, it was full dark and she and Sodan were still in the back of the truck. But this time the truck was traveling and they were covered with a heavy tarp and surrounded by soldiers. She focused on Sodan and he nodded slowly, so as not to attract the attention of the humans, letting her know he was okay. Cuerena carefully reached for his hand and instantly connected with him so he could see what she did.
She used her powers to connect with the human she had seen driving the truck that carried the pods. It took only a moment and then she could and see through his eyes. Only one other human was in the truck and they were traveling through the desert. Cuerena focused her powers, attempting to disable the truck, but she was exhaused and injured from the crash and the beating, and was only able to dampen the engine’s power and slow the truck.
She carefully spun an illusion and sent it into both human's minds, showing them an image of Sodan in the road in front of them. The humans stopped the truck, believing they had struck the being and got out to find him. Cuerena watched through their eyes as they searched the area and then finally looked into the back of the truck at the pods. She had to get the humans away from the pods and then she and Sodan could concentrate on escaping to retrieve them.
Cuerena started to build her powers to send a fearful illusion to the humans with the pods, hoping to scare them away, when one of the human soldiers in the truck beside her, spoke.
"I am sure glad we’re almost back to the base. I don't know what is going on and I don't want to. But I’ll tell you one thing, we’ll all be safer when these things and those glowing sacs in the other truck are under lock and key back at the base."
Cuerena let the energy she was building disapate, understanding that they were being taken to the same place as the pods. She turned to Sodan, releasing his hand and carefully nodded to him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived at their destination, Cuerena and Sodan were carelessly tossed into a cell and she watched as Kaldar and Letras' seemingly lifeless bodies were taken through a set of doors at the end of the corridor. And after a few minutes the pods were taken through the same doors.
Sodan turned to Cuerena, "Kaldar and Letras are here too. So we just need to liberate ourselves, get them and the pods and continue with the mission."
"Yes but there are obstacles," she replied, motioning to the guards. "Those weapons will not kill us but if there is no one to use the healing stones to bring us back, it could take weeks to heal ourselves."
Sodan nodded his agreement. "We will have to wait for an opportunity."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Eagle Rock Military Base)
"Nurse White, rib-spreader," Doctor Wayne said distractedly. He had been told what he would be autopsying but the briefing had not prepared him for the reality. The being lying on the examination table was approximately four feet tall with gray skin and large black eyes. But the outside was relatively normal compared with what he had discovered inside. There were organs, if they could be called organs, some similar to the anatomy of humans, others that he could only guess at their purpose, and the skeletal structure was like nothing he had ever seen.
He noticed that the nurse was staying as far away as she possibly could from the being on the table. "Circular saw, please." He cut into the skull and lifted off the cap to examine the brain. It was similar in appearance and size to a human brain but the area comparable to the cerebellum, which coordinates muscular movements in humans, was much larger.
Doctor Wayne took samples of the organs and brain and preserved them for testing. Then he looked at the clock. It was approaching midnight. They covered the corpse and put it in storage with the other being recovered from the wreckage. The second autopsy could wait; the more pressing matter was the two glowing sacs that sat on a table in the corner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 9th, 1947)
"Colonel Cassidy, with all due respect," Doctor Wayne said somewhat sarcastically, as he glanced at the silent man who sat beside the Colonel and Captain Cavitt. "We don't know what we have here. Cutting into those sacs could kill the things that are inside."
"Doctor, we don't know if the things inside are alive," Cassidy pointed out.
Wayne argued, "From all appearances..."
"Doctor," Cassidy interrupted, "you have been studying those things for two days and the best you can do is tell us that you think they are alive. There are two sets of sacs, cut one up and then you can observe the other."
"But the fetuses inside appear to be human," objected Dr. Wayne, "what if..."
"What if you are killing human children?" asked Cavitt sarcastically. "Don't make me laugh. Even if those things were human at one point they stopped being human when those creatures got a hold of them."
Colonel Cassidy watched the doctor leave the room, and as the door closed behind him the man at his side spoke for the first time. "You know that our orders are to learn what we can from the autopsies and the sacs and then destroy any evidence."
"Yes," Cassidy agreed, "but Doc Wayne is the best and he will cooperate as long as he thinks it is in the best interest of science."
"What do you think those things in the sacs are?"
"I am not one for idle speculation Agent Lewis but..." Colonel Cassidy lowered his voice and glanced at Cavitt before he spoke, "it looks to me as if this is the first phase of an invasion army."
"Why do you think that?" Lewis asked.
Cassidy shrugged, "What other possible reason could the aliens have to make beings resembling humans? It would be the perfect cover, they could blend in and overtake us from the inside."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Dr. Wayne entered the autopsy room and approached his waiting assistant, Don Harris. "We have been ordered to start a more invasive examination on the sacs."
"But the fetuses, we could kill them," Don said.
Dr. Wayne sighed. "The Colonel, in his wisdom, has pointed out that there are two sets and we can sacrifice one set for scientific advancement."
"We could refuse," Don pointed out.
Dr. Wayne shook his head, "They would just get someone else who would do it."
Don agreed sadly, "You're right."
Dr. Wayne motioned to the nearer set of sacs. "Let's start with an analysis of the fluid inside."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan and Cuerena made their way quickly down the corridor to the doors marked Authorized Personnel Only, through which they had seen their comrades and the pods taken, two days ago. That afternoon the number of soldiers guarding them had lessened to two, and Cuerena used the opportunity to lull their captors into a trance of sorts, and she and Sodan had easily escaped from their prison.
Beyond the doors was a maze of corridors and doors leading into still more rooms and they checked each as quickly as possible, encountering no one.
Finally they found the room that held the pods. Two men were bent over the pods containing the Royal Four with knives, and Sodan burst through the door and immediately attacked. He killed one man easily, taking him by surprise, while he used his powers to hold the other man in place, preventing his escape.
"Please," Dr. Wayne begged, glancing at the pods. "We didn't mean any harm, and the others," he motioned to the drawers on the other side of the room, "were already dead."
But Sodan was beyond caring, and with a glowing hand, he quickly ended the human's life.
Cuerena approached the pods with a growing horror. "They have cut into the pods containing the Royal Four and extracted some of the fluid."
Sodan was immediately at her side, as she examined the damage to the pods, a concerned tone in his voice, "Are the clones damaged?"
Cuerena released a relieved breath. "They are intact and the damage to the pods is minimal. I can repair them."
As Cuerena worked on the pods, Sodan walked behind the screens and opened the drawers the human had indicated. He called out to her, "Kaldar and Letras are here but they have cut Kaldar open. Do you think we can heal him?"
Cuerena rushed to his side. She turned on a nearby lamp and shined it down on Kaldar, examining the damage to his body. "I don't know. If we had a healer maybe, but with only the healing stones I just don't know."
Sodan moved closer and silenced her with a gesture. He motioned toward the door and then she heard the sounds too, someone had entered the room. Sodan moved stealthily behind the cloth screen and she followed him closely, ready to attack. Sodan looked around the divider and saw only a single human. He stepped from behind the barrier as he quickly built up his power, causing his whole body to glow. His hand was outstretched, ready to defend his King and then saw the human's surprise at what the pods contained.
Hal Carver turned and saw the two glowing beings with outstretched hands and quickly ducked behind the pods, fearful for his life. The being in front withheld his fire and Hal realized the small being was afraid of endangering the pods with a misplaced shot. And the realization dawned that they were just protecting their own.
"Save them," he said and slowly backed out of the room.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan changed his appearance to match that of the doctor and maneuvered a truck to the outside wall of the room where the pods were housed, using his powers to create an opening in the wall. He and Cuerena quickly loaded the pods, and Kaldar and Letras' bodies into the truck, and they drove out the front gate without any trouble.
They stopped in the desert near the crash site to retrieve the book and the healing stones where Cuerena had buried them. When they reached the pod chamber, they used the stones to renew Letras and Kaldar. Letras was immediately active but Kaldar seemed disoriented and they left him in the pod chamber while they installed the pods containing the Royal Four.
Cuerena had used her powers at the military base to seal the breaches in the three pods and noted that the humans had left only left Ava's pod intact. The pods were designed to compensate for unforeseen circumstances and she felt confident the minimal loss of fluid would have no adverse consequences on the clone's development.
She, Sodan and Letras changed the appearance of the army truck into a civilian one and loaded the pods containing the duplicates aboard. Kaldar had been assigned to be the protector of the duplicates but since he was injured and possibly permanently damaged, Cuerena offered to take Kaldar's place with the decoys. It had been decided that the decoys would be taken as far as possible away from the real Royal Four and the place they had chosen was New York. Cuerena would stay with the decoys until they had reached maturity and then she would return to the pod chamber on the appointed day, to rendezvous with the others.
There would be no contact between the groups, except under dire circumstances, to avoid leading their enemies to the Royal Four. Two of the three communication orbs had been on the ship when it crashed. Kaldar had buried one but he couldn’t remember where, and the other orb was missing. It was decided Cuerena would take the orb that had been left in the pod chamber with her, and Sodan and the others would try to retrieve the one that was buried, and search for the third.
Cuerena argued that they might have greater need of the orb than she, but in the end they convinced her to take it, confident that they would recover at least one of the others. Sodan, Kaldar and Letras took their leave and Cuerena drove the vehicle onto the highway and headed north.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Agent Lewis rolled the cool, metallic orb in his hands as he walked toward the lab where the alien sacs were being examined. After a good deal of thought he had to agree with Colonel Cassidy. What other reason would aliens have for impersonating humans except to take-over the planet?
He pushed open the door leading to the containment cell and stopped just inside the room. The door to the cell was ajar and the aliens were gone. He ran to one of the guards, who was still standing at his post. The man was alive but he seemed to be unaware of his surroundings.
Lewis shook him. "Corporal. Corporal, wake up," and when he received no response he struck the soldier across the face.
The man blinked and looked around as if disoriented.
Lewis shook him again, "Corporal, what happened to the beings in that cell?”
The soldier's gaze swung to the empty cell and Lewis saw the surprise that crossed his features. "Sir, I am not sure," he responded in a frightened tone.
"Sound the alarm," Lewis instructed the Corporal, as he crossed to the doors at the other end of the corridor. He quickly ran down the hall to the lab, and just as he had expected, the alien bodies and sacs were gone. He turned to examine the doctor and his assistant on the floor. Silver handprints were seared into their chests just the same as the other victims.
Captain Cavitt burst into the room. "How the hell did they get out of here?"
Lewis shook his head, "I don't know but I have a feeling that I know exactly where they are heading."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan and the others knew that at any moment the humans could discover their escape and return to the site. They quickly searched the entire length of the trench that their crashed ship had cut into the sand, hoping to find the orb and salvage some of their equipment, but they were disappointed to discover that the only sign of the crash was the disturbed earth. The humans had taken everything.
Kaldar suddenly remembered where he had burried the orb and led them back to toward the pod chamber. He ran ahead, reaching the top of a ridge before the others and waited for them on the other side.
But suddenly the air was alive with noises. Several trucks filled with human soldiers drove into sight and Kaldar watched helplessly as Sodan and Letras were taken once again.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Agent Lewis listened intently to the voice of his superior on the phone.
"These beings have hidden the sacs containing the fetuses and we can only conclude they are a threat to national security. Agent Lewis, since you have been in on this from the beginning, I am authorizing you to form a special unit of the FBI that will deal solely with the study and interrogation of these beings and the retrieval of those sacs or whatever it is that comes out of them. This information is on a need to know basis only. Handpick your men and report only to me. You will transfer the beings immediately to your new base of operation, a facility near you that will be completely at your disposal; Eagle Rock Military Base."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
END OF BOOK 1 - SALVATION'S CRUCIBLE (EARTH - THE CRASH)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
in BOOK 2
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Fri Jan 14, 2005 10:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
scourge -
1 : a cause of widespread or great affliction
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR' NOTE: The events surrounding the skins settlement on Earth and the search for the Granolith and the Royal Four.
DEFINITIONS:
legion - a unit of soldiers containing 5000 men
trithium amplification generator - aka amplifier - the black, chevron-shaped device that is used by the Skins for communication and stopping the powers of Antarians among other things.
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. What is the deal with the skins?
2. Why is Nicholas a kid?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 2 - The Scourge of Hope (The Skins)
EARTH
Skins
Nicholas Crawford - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Khivar's right hand and head general
Courtney Banks - Lieutenant Scorene - (skor-ra-nay) - member of the Michael worshippers
Congresswoman Vanessa (Crawford) Whitaker- Major Nesta - Head of the Granolith Project
Tyrone Greer - T. Greer - Major Grester - Head of the Vilondra Project
Walt Crawford - Colonel Jafto - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Ida Crawford - Idos - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
Gregory Jensen - Gragras - (gra-gras) - the scientist in charge of the skins project
William Hudson - Major Yorgam - Vanessa's lover and member of the Michael worshippers
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant - (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the king's palace is located
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) - man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Lieutenant Scorene - (skor-ra-nay) - Courtney – member of the Michael worshippers
Major Nesta - Congresswoman Vanessa (Crawford) Whitaker - Head of the Granolith Project
Major Grester - T. Greer - Head of the Vilondra Project
Colonel Jafto - Walt Crawford - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Idos - Ida Crawford - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
Gragras - (gra-gras) - Gregory - the scientist in charge of the skins project
Major Yorgam - William Hudson - Vanessa's lover and member of the Michael worshippers
Roistar (roys'-tar) - formerly Tageonon, Khivar changed the name when he assumed the throne
The Leptes (the Antarian word for Vengeance) - the ship Khivar sent to Earth with Nicholas and the skins
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics - captured by the special unit and died
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath - injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 5th, 1947)
(The day after the crash)
(General Nicaron's transport - The Leptes, orbiting the Earth)
Nicaron strode onto the Leptes' command center. "Report on the search, Lieutenant Scorene."
"Sir we are having trouble with our equipment," Scorene replied. "The metal content in the area is interfering with the data we are receiving."
"Then figure out how to compensate for it," he responded in a low growl.
"Yes Sir."
Nicaron turned and walked back toward the console to look at the map. He would have to send troops down to the surface of the planet to conduct a proper search. The environmental suits they had brought with them could be modified for short-term exposure to the Earth's atmosphere but the way things were going, it looked like they might need a longer-term solution. Nicaron struck the console. They should have been in possession of the Royal Four and the Granolith by now but he was surrounded by incompetence.
"General there is a message for you from the lab," Scorene said timidly.
He turned to her and ground out impatiently, "Well, what is it, Lieutenant?"
"Sir, Gragras requests your presence in the lab."
Nicholas turned on his heal and with a quick stride, headed toward the lab. As he entered, he addressed the head scientist, "Gragras, what do you have to report?"
"General we have devised a solution to the problem of the Earth's atmosphere." Gragras motioned toward a sealed container that housed a small oval patch of a substance resembling human skin. "This container is filled with a sample of the Earth's atmosphere and as you can see the substance we have developed is unharmed."
"What is the substance?" asked Nicaron.
Gragras explained. "Basically it is a genetically engineered environmental suit. It is thin but it has several layers and is almost indestructible. It is stronger than most metals and if any small scratches or punctures were to occur, it will immediately seal itself, without losing pressurization. Of course if the tear was of sufficient size it would not be able to fix itself fast enough, and it will be vulnerable to extreme temperatures like fire or freezing."
Gragras motioned to himself, "We will wear them over our bodies, and they will give us the added bonus of camouflage because we can engineer them to look human."
"Excellent work, Gragras," Nicaron said, giving a rare compliment. "When will these 'skins' be ready for use?"
"That is the only problem, General. Even using our growth enhancers, it will take approximately three Earth years to grow the skins to the proper size."
Nicaron considered the alternatives briefly. "Start the growth process immediately." It would take longer than he had anticipated, but they needed to cover all their options. And while they waited for the skins to mature they could use the environmental suits to search. He turned to the console and activated the com, "Major, ready the scouts to go to the surface as soon as it is dark."
They had searched the area for three years using the limited capabilities of the environmental suits but they had found no trace of the transport, the pods or the shape shifters. The troops were growing restless from the long period of inactivity and Nicaron was relieved that the skins had matured more quickly than the scientists had anticipated. He would use the cover of night to land the Leptes in the hills outside of the town and at daybreak they would enclothe themselves in the skins for the duration of their stay on Earth.
Nicaron had spent the time in orbit attempting to familiarize himself with the human's customs and teach the troops English. Then he had divided the troops into family units. He would set up house, as the humans called it, with his senior officers, Major Nesta as his sister, Colonel Jafto as his father and his loyal servant Idos as his mother. Nicaron would adopt the guise of a child, giving him added protection and camouflage. And he had ordered all of the troops to change their names to human ones. Nicaron choose his human name because it was similar to his own, Nicholas.
His troops believed that Nicaron possessed the power to alter his body and appearance but only a few, such as Khivar knew the truth. Nicaron was a shape shifter and did not require a skin to survive on the planet. But he would have a skin made for him so that the troops would not discover his true nature.
The Antarian tradition marked shape shifters as servants, who could never hope to obtain rank in the military. But Khivar had not cared about his genetic make-up, Khivar valued Nicaron for his mind and abilities.
Nicaron had learned to conceal his true identity at an early age and he was always careful to stay away from other shape shifters in case they recognized what he really was. Shape shifters who spent much time together, learned to recognize one another easily, even when they were in different forms, and they tended to pass thoughts and feelings to each other, sometimes without trying. The last thing Nicaron wanted was to share his thoughts with a bunch of shape shifters. Because of his power to extract information from people’s minds, he was somewhat immune to others reading his thoughts, but there was no sense taking any chances.
Nicaron let himself into the conference room and stood before his gathered troops to address they one final time before the descent to Earth. "There are two parts to our mission and both are equally important. The first is to gain possession of the Granolith.”
Gasps of surprise rose from the troops and Nicholas signaled for silence and continued. “Apart from Khivar and a few of his trusted advisors, we are the only one's who know the Granolith is no longer on Antar. We must take possession of it and return it to Antar to help Khivar secure the throne.” He motioned to a woman beside him. “Major Nesta will lead this part of the project."
"The second goal, and just as important as the return of the Granolith, is the retrieval of Princess Vilondra's genetic material, so that she might be returned to Antar and reunited with our King. As you know, she sacrificed her life to aid Khivar's cause and he is eager for her return." Nicaron motioned to the man at his side, "The Vilondra project will be headed by Major Grester.” He turned back to address the troops in front of him. “You will be divided and assigned to one of these projects. Report all findings directly to your project leader and they will report to me."
"The first team will enter the village of Copper Summit under the guise of a family searching for a domicile. They will become fluent in the language and local customs, returning to the ship to tutor the others. We anticipate there will be an adjustment period in the skins and after it has passed, new groups will be dispatched every few days to search the surrounding area."
Nicaron held up a small, black, pentagon-shaped object. "Each group will be issued a trithium amplification generator. It is new technology developed just before our departure. It has several purposes. First it can be used as a communicator to send and receive encrypted, untraceable messages. Secondly it can be used to intercept messages sent on the frequencies used by the former Tageonant royalty. It can also be used to temporarily suspend mental powers in Antarians and shape shifters, but use that mode cautiously because it will suspend your own powers as well. There are also several other uses that will be explained by Gragras later."
"We have learned that the Royal Four will incubate in the pods for more than forty Earth years, so don't expect them to be living next door. We will have to concentrate our search on the shape shifters."
"Also the scientists can only speculate how the human DNA will affect the clones' memory recovery process. It is believed that it will take several years with memory retrieval devices to completely restore their memories. So if we could find them soon enough we could use that to our advantage."
He paused and looked out over the eager faces that were turned toward him in rapt attention. "Our mission is of the utmost importance. We will not leave this planet until all the objectives have been accomplished."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 4th, 1957)
(The Crawford House)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
Nicholas had just received another casualty report. He looked at the numbers and cursed. Almost twenty percent of the troops had died over the last seven and a half years and morale was low because they had made no progress in their search. They had discovered a vague report of a UFO crash more than ten years prior in the desert outside of Roswell, New Mexico, which they now knew to be the actual crash site. But it had happened so long ago, Nicholas had rejected the idea that the Royal Four’s shape shifters would still be in the area.
Nonetheless he had sent a search team, led by some of his best people, to see if they could find any trace of the Royal Four’s transport or its occupants. Under the guise of writing a book, they had interviewed hundreds of people in the area. They had been subjected to wild tales and speculation, but they could find no real evidence of the crashed transport or its inhabitants.
Over five years ago Nicholas had divided the troops into teams and sent them out to search the entire country, surmising the shape shifters would stay in the country that so closely echoed Zan's political ideals. And in that time, Nicholas had discovered that America, as the inhabitants called it, was fascinated with aliens.
Sightings were reported with regularity and he had formed several teams to investigate any evidence of alien activity. But with the exception of the original '47 crash, the sightings were fabrications of fertile human imaginations.
Nicholas was beginning to suspect the search was hopeless. No signal had been detected on any alien frequency and there was no evidence pointing to any specific location. It was as if they had simply vanished after the crash. There was nothing to lead them to the pods or the Granolith until the pods hatched, and according to the scientists, they would have to wait forty years for that to happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 27th, 1962)
(Universal Friendship League Building)
Vanessa watched helplessly as her lover William was unmasked as a traitor to Khivar. Nicholas had discovered that he and several others in her group of friends were actively conspiring against Khivar and sabotaging the mission. The conspirators were plotting to murder a Lieutenant who had become suspicious of them and Nicholas suspected most of the other fatalities within their troops could be directly linked to them.
Nicholas had gathered the traitors in the common room to use as examples for the rest of the troops. He would take the information from their minds and then kill them, and even though William had betrayed her, Vanessa was still foolishly in love with him.
Vanessa and Yorgam, or William as she now knew him, had become lovers after they had settled into Copper Summit. Nicholas, as a practice, did not police the actions of his troops as long as duties were attended to, and he had made no objection to their affair. And over the years, Vanessa had grown to love William. She had not detected anything in his actions or demeanor that had made her suspicious, which made the discovery of his betrayal all the more devastating. When confronted, William had admitted he had been assigned to seduce her, believing that as one of Nicholas' closest advisors and leader of the Granolith project, much information could be gathered from her.
William stood proudly as he pronounced his final words, "We are not the only ones. Our fellows on Antar will continue the fight and we will take back the planet in the name of the people." As he finished, he and the others reached behind them and broke the seals on their husks, instantly turning to dust before anyone could stop them.
Nicholas let fly a string of curses. The traitors had killed themselves before he had been able to search their minds for information. He turned slowly, studying the faces of those before him, wondering if all of the traitors had been unmasked. He could search every mind for any sign of disloyalty but the aftermath of his search was often destructive and sometimes deadly. He did not want to risk it yet. If he suspected any individual, he would deal with them at the time, but for now he would have to continue to be vigilant for unusual activity among his troops.
He waited until he reached his quarters to send a coded message to his master. "Khivar, my liege, I have discovered five traitors among the troops and executed them. From them I have learned there are others on Antar who are among the troops, as we had suspected. They are actively sabotaging our efforts, working toward their goal to take back the Government. I suspect there may be other traitors on Earth but I was unable to force the information from their minds before they died. But be assured, if there are others, they will be discovered and dealt with."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 3rd, 1965)
As more and more traitors had been unmasked, Nicholas had decided to go into the field and do surprise inspections to see if he could detect any treachery. Unfortunately his journey had taken him to New York City where he had unmasked a traitor and received the worst disappointment of his life. But that was a story for another time.
Now he was more determined than ever to root out the treachery in his remaining troops and return victorious to Khivar. He would make sure every traitor got exactly what they deserved.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 20, 1968)
(Gregory's (Gragras') Lab on the Leptes)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
Nicholas waited in the lab for Gregory's diagnosis. Some of the troops who had returned from assignments over the past few weeks had noticed a sloughing on the outer layers of their skin and Nicholas worried it might mean a premature and unsuccessful end to their mission. Nicholas hated failure but more than anything he hated failing Khivar. Even though he was as much his own person as a shape shifter could be, he was programmed to obey his Lord and master and he could not escape it.
The troops were demoralized because they had made no progress in their search, some were still mourning their friends who were exposed as traitors and with this latest setback Nicholas expected a mutiny. He paced the room as he waited, trying to lay out a plan in his mind, and considered executing one or two of his soldiers just to remind the others of their precarious situation.
Gregory entered the room. "As we suspected, some of the skins are starting to peel."
"How much time do we have?"
"The skins are living organisms," Gregory explained. "They must regenerate, and in order to do that they are sloughing away the dead top layer."
Nicholas released a sigh of relief. "So this is not going to affect our mission."
"Eventually it will," Gregory continued. "The life span of the skins is only about fifty Earth years and as the end approaches, the peeling will be much more noticeable."
"Fifty years," Nicholas echoed. "We have been in the skins for almost twenty years, so we have thirty years left."
"Approximately thirty, although we don't know precisely," Gregory said. "Each skin could age differently depending on the conditions it is subjected to. The ones that are peeling now are worn by soldiers who have spent a considerable amount of time in dry climates."
"So if we stay in more humid areas, the skins will last longer."
Gregory nodded.
Nicholas sighed. "I will make sure the soldiers are rotated into humid areas on a regular basis," he said distractedly. "I want you to keep this information to yourself for now. I will tell my senior staff but no one else must know."
"What will we tell the troops if they become suspicious, Sir?" Gregory asked.
Nicholas waved his hand dismissively. "Tell them the peeling is a natural part of the skins regeneration process. It is close to the truth and it will sound believable."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 14th, 1978)
(The Crawford House)
Nicholas looked around the kitchen table, where he held all of the meetings with his senior advisors, taking in the faces of his faux family and the scientist Gregory. They had still made no progress in their search, the pods were not due to hatch for another ten or so years and Nicholas decided a back-up plan was necessary. "We have made little progress in our mission and it looks doubtful that we will complete it until after the pods hatch. I want to devise an alternative to the skins in case we are forced to remain on this planet longer than the skins will live."
Vanessa spoke up, "Why can't we just make more skins?"
Gregory answered her, "We can make more skins. I have been experimenting with a new type of skin that would be far superior to the originals. It is a hybrid cross of our skin cells and human cells. The technology is similar to what the scientists used to re-create the Royal Four but we won't have to die to use them. We could use each individual's cells to grow a skin specifically for them. It would link the individual to the husk, giving the wearer greater sensitivity and control because all of the senses will be accessed through the skin. But we have used all of the rapid growth compound and the elements required to manufacture it do not exist on the Earth, and we cannot create them."
Nicholas had never considered growing more skins because he had assumed that the time required to bring them to maturity on this technologically backward planet would be more than they had. But now he turned to Gregory. "How long would it take to cultivate the skins without the growth enhancers?"
Gregory considered for a moment. "It would take approximately twenty years."
Ida voiced the thoughts of the table's occupants. "That would be cutting it mighty close to the end."
"Yes," Nicholas answered thoughtfully, "but we could house those whose skins failed on the transport until the new skins were ready. And when the husks mature, we would call in all of the troops from the field to attend the," he paused searching for a word, "the harvest."
Vanessa spoke again, "Twenty years is a long time. We could return to Antar, get more growth enhancers and come back to Earth..." She trailed off as Nicholas cast a withering glance her way.
"No one is going back to Antar until we succeed," he said in a soft but deadly voice. "I will not admit failure and Khivar certainly will not accept anyone who fails him. You know the Leptes only had enough fuel for a one-way journey. We must have the additional power of the Granolith to return. Do you think Khivar will send another transport here to save us?" He voice raised to a roar, "We will not return to Antar until the Granolith and Vilondra return with us."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 14th, 1993)
(The Home of Arizona State Senator Billings)
After Nicholas had ordered her to get involved in human politics nine years ago, things had progressed quickly for Vanessa. She had moved to Phoenix and actively worked to enter the political arena. First, she had volunteered for the local Democratic Party and used every resource available to her to move steadily into the inner political circle.
Since the unmasking of her lover as a traitor, she had been in disfavor with Nicholas and she was eager to use this opportunity to get back in his good graces. Nicholas had probed her brain for any signs of disloyalty and had been satisfied she had been a pawn in the conspirators' plot, but he still blamed her for not discovering their plans earlier. Vanessa had truly loved William and it had taken her years to get over his loss, even though he was a traitor.
But she had always been ambitious. Her greatest desire was to gain the highest position possible in Khivar's regime, but Khivar trusted Nicholas completely and one bad word from him would smash her plans irrevocably. But if she were the one to recover the Granolith, it would put her back in Nicholas' favor and surely earn her a promotion or even possibly a position in Khivar's administration.
Vanessa returned her attention to the City Council member who had been droning on for over twenty minutes. "And if we can get the patrician politics out of the way, this new policy will help put us on the map."
Vanessa agreed with him to head off more of a discussion and politely excused herself. Earth politics, she thought to herself, what a boring waste of time. She headed for the bathroom to get a moment to herself but was stopped by the host. "Vanessa, there you are. I have been wanting to introduce you to someone all evening."
She eyed the tall, handsome man at the Senator's side as the introductions were made. "John this is the woman I have been telling you about, Vanessa Crawford. Vanessa, this is a Congressman from New Mexico, John Whitaker."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 30th, 1996)
Vanessa straightened her collar in the mirror, with satisfaction. Everything was working out just as she had planned.
She could remember the day four years ago when she had read an article about a Congressman's widow who had been appointed to her dead husband’s seat. And when she had been introduced to a newly appointed Congressman three years ago, everything had fallen neatly into place. After they were married, she had made sure to stay very visible in the public eye, being seen as a political team with her husband and dropping hints about possibly running for office herself. And as planned, her husband's supporters had approached her about taking over his seat after his tragic death.
She smiled. It had been so easy to maneuver the humans to do as she wanted, she hadn't even needed to use her powers to influence them.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 25th, 1999)
(Washington, D.C.)
Vanessa pasted on her practiced smile as she listened to the Congressman from Texas drone on about grazing rights. Inwardly she sighed, another dull political party. Nothing really interesting ever happened on this backward planet. During the years she had been in office, she had discretely made inquiries into alien activity, only to meet one brick wall after another. And she was beginning to wonder if the government knew anything at all.
She let her eyes wander as her companions warmed to their topic. The same people always attended these things. The politicians and their staff, the lobbyists, the upper crust political supporters but there was never anyone interesting.
She excused herself from the others and headed out onto the balcony to get a breath of fresh air. She closed her eyes and leaned against the rail, somehow the sounds of the bustling city soothing her. Suddenly she knew she wasn't alone and her eyes snapped open as she turned to confront the person who intruded into her solitude.
Vanessa had never seen the man who joined her on the balcony. He was handsome with dark hair and eyes and even though he was relatively young, he had the strange smile of a man who had seen too much. They stood looking at one another for a moment before he spoke.
"Congresswoman Vanessa Whitaker from New Mexico." His voice was deep and soft and sent a thrill of awareness through her. "You are more beautiful than I had heard."
"Thank you," she said cautiously, "but you have me at a disadvantage."
His smile broadened, "I hear we have a lot of common interests and I think we should get to know one another much better. Our association could be," he paused as he let his eyes roam over her body, "mutually beneficial."
"And what interests would those be?" she asked.
"Aliens," he said simply. He held out his hand to her. “I am with the FBI. My name is Daniel Pierce."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
END OF BOOK 2 - THE SCOURGE OF HOPE (THE SKINS)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
in BOOK 3
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Fri Jan 14, 2005 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
BOOK 3 - THE PRICE OF FEALTY (NASEDOS' CHRONICLES)
fe-al-ty -
1 : the fidelity of a vassal or servant to his Lord or master
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: What the heck were Nasedo & the other shape shifters doing to pass all those years they were waiting for the pods to hatch? What is the deal with Atherton, River Dog, Jim Valenti Sr. and Sheila Hubble? Read on.
DEFINITIONS:
legion - a unit of soldiers containing 5000 men
trithium amplification generator - aka amplifier - the black, chevron-shaped device that is used by the Skins for communication and suspending the powers of Antarians among other things.
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. How did Nasedo know to call Khivar’s troops the skins? They weren't wearing skins on Antar.
2. Why was Atherton killed?
3. Why was Shelia Hubble killed?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 3 - The Price of Fealty - Nasedos' Chronicles
EARTH
Humans
Colonel James Cassidy - head of the base where the shape shifters and pods were taken - played by the sheriff in the episode Summer of '47
Captain Sheridan Cavitt - Counter Intelligence Officer - played by Alex in the episode Summer of '47
Agent David Lewis - FBI agent and first head of the Special Unit
Dr. Stephen Cantor - Dr. in charge of alien studies at Eagle Rock Military Base for the Special Unit
River Dog - native American boy of the Mescalero tribe who befriended Nasedo and saved his life
Lou - River Dog's friend
Grey Owl - council elder of the Mescalero tribe
Wind Walker - council elder of the Mescalero tribe
James Atherton - UFO nut and author of "Among Us" who lived in the geodesic dome, was killed by an alien in 1959
Mayor Harker – mayor of Roswell in 1959
Agent Joseph del Bianco - 2nd head of the special unit
Everett Hubble - his wife Shelia was killed by an alien for which he later blamed Max - Hubble spent over 30 years searching for the murderer
Shelia Hubble - wife of Everett Hubble and aspiring photographer - killed by an alien in 1970
Joyce Barton - Shelia's friend and assistant
Sheriff Jim Valenti Sr. - Sheriff of Roswell 1955 - 1972 - the scandal surrounding the silo murder forced him to leave office
Jimmy Valenti - the son of Jim Valenti Sr. - the future Sheriff of Roswell and Kyle's father
Shape Shifters Loyal to the Royal Four
Nasedo - Sodan - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot, special skill - heat and energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics, captured by the special unit and killed
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert, special skills - illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Tic Tac - Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, special skill - empath - injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
Skins
Nicholas Crawford - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Khivar's right hand and head general
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant - (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel – Zan’s sister
Sodan (so-dan) - Nasedo - Zan's most trusted protector
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the king's palace is located
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Kaldar – Tic Tac - Rath's most trusted protector
Lady Chanya Santas (shawn'-ya) - Vilondra's friend
Udac (oo-dac) - Chanya's handmaid and protector who gave Sodan the pendant
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) – the man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Roistar (roys'-tar) - formerly Tageonon, Khivar changed the name when he assumed the throne
The Leptes (the Antarian word for Vengeance) - the ship Khivar sent to Earth with Nicholas and the skins
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics - captured by the special unit and died
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Kaldar - Tic Tac - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath - injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
PART 1
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 20th, 1947)
(Eagle Rock Military Base)
Sodan stumbled into the moonlight, quickly looking around for pursuers, and not seeing any, he sprinted for the line of trees a few yards away. When he reached the cover offered by the foliage, he allowed himself to look back at the building that had been his prison for the last few weeks.
While they had been performing their experiments, the scientists had kept him drugged, trying different combinations, attempting to keep his powers in check. But in the last few days he had pretended to be more affected by the drugs than he had been and they had lowered the dose, allowing him to build his power enough to escape.
Sodan did not think they would miss him until the morning but he continued moving as quickly as he could. He did not know what had happened to the others, if they had been captured or not, but he headed straight to the pod chamber to make sure the Royal Four were safe and hopefully find the others.
As he made his way, he constantly checked around him to make sure he was not leading the humans to the Royal Four. When the humans discovered him missing, he suspected they would go to the main crash site to look for him. It was a couple of miles from the pod chamber, and even though he was on foot, he hoped their misdirection would give him some extra time to reach his destination. He had been injured during his incarceration but he ignored the pain and traveled quickly all night, using extra bursts of speed Antarians are capable of, as often as possible. And as the sun started to rise, he finally reached the pod chamber.
Sodan carefully let himself inside and sealed the door behind him, igniting a light above his head with an upraised hand. The chamber appeared as it had the last time he had been there and he released a tension-filled breath. He brushed a hand over the softly glowing pod closest to him and examined the embryo inside. The Royal Four and Antar's hope for the future were still safe.
He looked around the chamber carefully, noting that the healing stones and book were exactly where they had left them. Strange, he thought to himself, it appeared as if no one had been in the chamber since the day he was captured. What if the other shape shifters had been captured too? He briefly thought of the others being subjected to the same treatment he had received at the hands of the humans. If they had been captured, Sodan did not want to consider what was happening to them but there was nothing he could do to help. They would have to take care of themselves.
Now that he was free, he couldn't risk leaving the Royal Four without protection.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 21st, 1947)
(Eagle Rock Military Base)
Agent Lewis turned to the scientist in charge. "Dr Cantor how was the alien able to escape?"
"The technicians were afraid they were giving it too much sedation,” Cantor explained, “and lowered the dose. Apparently it was only pretending to be incoherent and when the dose was lowered, it built its strength up enough to escape."
"So it burned a hole in the cell and killed Riley," Lewis said. "But the guard on duty at the door reported that Riley left last night so it must have taken his form."
Dr Cantor nodded his agreement. "The one that escaped was particularly uncooperative and would not even speak to us, but the other has been more helpful. It’s name is Letras. It has an excellent command of the English language and it has been telling us about its shape shifting abilities. It can take the face of any human."
"We had suspected as much,” Lewis said. “That is why they escaped so easily the first time, they just used the faces of the doctors they had killed to get out of the base undetected." Lewis paused and looked at the papers in front of him. "Has the remaining alien, Letras, told you what it is doing on Earth?"
"No," said Cantor, shaking his head. "It won't say specifically why it is here but it insists they mean no harm to humans."
"No harm!" spat Lewis. "They have killed a least half a dozen humans already!"
"It claims the humans were killed in self defense," the Cantor continued.
"But why are they here and what did they do with those sacs?" Lewis demanded.
Cantor shook his head, "Letras says it doesn't know where the sacs are and it will not tell us why they are here."
Agent Lewis rose from his seat. "Because they have come to colonize the Earth."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan looked around the pod chamber for any sign of the others but the undisturbed dust on the floor told him that he was the first to enter the room in the last month. He knew he couldn’t stay in the area long because the military would be searching for him. He took one last look around the room and decided he would have to continue with his mission without the others. He morphed into the guise of a drifter, gathered the healing stones and turned to open the door.
As the door slid back and sunlight filtered into the pod chamber, a glint of metal caught Sodan's eye and he noticed his pendant lying by the door, where he had left it. He slipped it over his head and fingered the symbol of Antar engraved into it. The fate of the entire planet rested on his shoulders until the King, his master, was ready to resume his role as leader, and Sodan would not let him down.
As Sodan left the pod chamber and walked into the desert, he did not notice the dark-skinned man who observed him from a near-by rock formation.
The man waited until Sodan was out of sight and then he popped a peppermint candy into his mouth. Since he had been revived, Kaldar had suffered from a constant pain in his head and whenever he changed form or used his powers, the pain became unbearable. But on one of his trips into town for supplies, he had been given a peppermint candy. He had discovered that candies helped to ease the pain in his head, and now he carried a constant supply.
Kaldar had been surprised to see Sodan after all of this time. He had suspected that the humans had killed Sodan and Letras when they recaptured them, and he had taken up the mission of protecting the Royal Four, staying near the pod chamber. But Kaldar was often confused about the events that happened around the time of the crash. He knew he had been assigned to protect the decoy clones and he should not be with the real Royal Four but he had a strong feeling that his place was here with his real master. And being somewhat empathic, Kaldar had learned to never question his feelings.
Kaldar watched silently as Sodan disappeared into the desert. He was afraid if he revealed himself to Sodan, the other shape shifter would not approve of his presence so he had remained out of sight. No matter what anyone said, he would protect the Royal Four.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 28th, 1947)
Kaldar had watched from one of his lookout blinds as the human military cordoned off the area around the crash site with a perimeter fence. They had been camped in the area for a week and it appeared as if they were waiting for something to happen. Kaldar suspected they were looking for him and Sodan.
The humans were camped near the main crash site, about two miles away from the pod chamber but Kaldar stayed vigilant on the off chance they discovered it. Since his revival he had avoided using his powers to keep the pain in his head at bay, but he would do anything required in order to protect the Royal Four.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 30th 1947)
(Eagle Rock Military Base)
Letras had tried to cooperate with the humans, hoping they would realize he was not a threat to them but there were things he could not reveal. Lewis and Cantor continued to ask him the purpose of his presence on Earth but he had remained silent. At first they had asked and cajoled but then they had started to threaten and finally they had turned to torture.
Letras had endured hours of pain over the last few weeks but he had still refused to tell the humans anything about the mission. At one point they had brought in one of the communicators and demanded he tell them how it worked. All he could think of was the Royal Four, hopefully still safe in their incubation pods and how the people on Antar were depending on them. If he showed the humans how to work the communicator he might endanger the pods by revealing their position. But after hours of continual pain he yearned for relief and concocted a lie to stop the torture.
He told Lewis and Cantor that the device was a communicator but it would not work alone, there needed to be two of them and the others had been lost in the crash.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 22nd, 1948)
(Frazier Woods)
Over the last few months Sodan had changed faces many times. Since the supposed crash, strangers were treated with suspicion and Sodan decided it was best to stay out of populated areas. He also wanted to stay relatively near the pod chamber, and after a few days search, he had discovered a cave near the Mesaliko reservation and made it his home. He gathered sustenance from the wilderness around him and tried to keep to himself.
On several occasions Sodan had sent a signal for his comrades from the woods near his dwelling, knowing they could track it to its source. Each time he had waited anxiously for days, but he had not seen any sign of Letras or Kaldar.
Sodan had been living in the cave for almost four months before he saw anyone. He had gathered his day's sustenance and was heading back to the cave when he encountered a group of children from the reservation. He came upon them suddenly, too late to avoid them, so he tried to act casual and nodded a greeting. The boys seemed curious but cautious and went on their way.
Over the next few days, he saw the boys several more times. He would nod and smile, and the boys grew bolder with each meeting, laughing and attempting to follow him. Every day for the next week, they were waiting in the same place at the same time, eager to greet him.
On the eighth day, the boys were back, but this time they were not alone, two elders from the reservation were with them.
The older man stepped toward him and Sodan waited apprehensively to see what the man would do. "The boys tell us you are living in the cave near here."
The conversation took Sodan by surprise and he answered amusedly, "The cave is not on your land."
The elder nodded. "You're right, it's not part of the reservation." The elder studied him for a moment. "We wonder though why you would want to live away from other people, others of your kind."
Sodan shrugged. "I have my reasons."
The second elder spoke up, "We are only concerned for the safety of our people."
"I do not threaten your safety," Sodan said with a smile.
The elder nodded again and at his signal they all turned back toward the reservation, one by one being swallowed by the blackness of the forest. The youngest boy stopped at the edge of the trees for one last look and then he too disappeared into the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
When they returned to the reservation, Wind Walker met with the rest of the council to discuss their new neighbor and he related what they had learned. "As River Dog and Lou have told us, the stranger lives in a cave just beyond the bounds of the reservation. He gathers food at night and said he does not wish to be among his own kind."
A murmur of disapproval echoed around the room and Wind Walker held up his hand for silence. "The stranger also claims that he is not a threat to us."
The oldest member of the council, Grey Owl, spoke. "Why does this man avoid his people? Has he committed a crime for which he is hunted?"
"He would not tell us why, only that he has his reasons."
Grey Owl was instantly suspicious. "I believe the stranger is not a man at all but an evil spirit sent to destroy us."
Several members of the council nodded their agreement and Grey Owl continued. "We must invite the stranger to be tested in the sweat and his true nature will be revealed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 23rd, 1948)
(Frazier Woods)
The next evening Sodan encountered only one boy as he was searching for food. The youngest boy had returned alone and he stepped forward and offered his name and a gift.
"My name is River Dog," he said holding out a handkerchief toward the man. "This is frybread and honey."
"Frybread?" Sodan asked.
"Yes." He unwrapped the handkerchief to allow the man to see the contents. "My mother made it. It's good."
Sodan cautiously reached for the bread as he eyed the boy before. "Your name is River Dog."
The boy nodded.
"Why do you come here?" Sodan asked.
River Dog shrugged, "I want to be your friend."
Sodan tasted the bread and found it a little bland, but then River Dog drizzled some of the golden honey on it and Sodan was pleased at the difference.
They moved to sit on a nearby rock as they ate. After a few moments of silence, River Dog turned to his companion. "Who are you? Why do you live in the cave?"
Sodan considered his answer for a moment and finally said, "I am simply a visitor."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 20th, 1948)
River Dog came to the woods every evening to see the man who called himself a visitor, and each night he would bring the man part of his dinner. River Dog enjoyed the man's company and started calling him Nasedo, the word in his language for visitor. The man had laughed and said he liked the name and River Dog was pleased. Nasedo treated him like an adult instead of a child.
On the night before the full moon River Dog made his way through the woods for his nightly visit. As he approached the cave he heard the murmur of voices ahead. Curious about who was visiting Nasedo, River Dog crept to the edge of the trees and peered through the leaves. He was surprised to see Wind Walker and two other elders talking to Nasedo. River Dog was too far away to hear the conversation and he waited until they were gone before he revealed himself.
"Nasedo, what did the elders want?" he asked as he emerged from his hiding place.
Nasedo answered him, seemingly unsurprised by his presence. "They invited me to a ceremony being held tomorrow. A sweat."
River Dog nodded, impressed. "It is an honor for an outsider to be included. Will you go?"
When the elders had invited him, Sodan's first impulse had been to decline but he had quickly reconsidered. He was likely to be living in the area for a number of years and it wouldn't hurt to be on friendly terms with the locals. He smiled at the boy, who was waiting anxiously for his answer and nodded. "I will attend."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 21st, 1948)
Sodan approached the village cautiously, wishing he didn't have to come so close to so many humans. It was not that he feared them but the memories of what had happened to him in the hands of the military were still fresh in his mind and he was apprehensive about what would happen if someone discovered his true nature.
Wind Walker met him at the edge of the village and led him to a small structure where the ceremony was held. They went inside to join the others who were already gathered and Sodan took a seat near the door where Wind Walker indicated.
Grey Owl waited until everyone was seated and began the chant as he poured the first ladle of water onto the hot stones.
As the herb-laced steam swirled into the air and floated around the room, Sodan started to feel strange, and after just a few seconds, he knew something was seriously wrong. He lurched to his feet and ran to the opening to get to the clear air outside but the odd sensations did not dissipate in the open and he turned to make his way back to the cave.
The members of the council looked at each other, convinced they had been right. River Dog and a couple of others rose to their feet, concerned for the visitor's health but Grey Owl intervened. "The visitor was invited here to be tested and he has failed. Do not follow him. Leave him to his fate."
River Dog settled back into his seat but he was worried for his friend and at the first opportunity, he slipped out. River Dog suspected Nasedo would head to the cave where he lived and he hurried in that direction.
He approached the mouth of the cave cautiously and called out for it's inhabitant but he received no answer. The interior of the cave was dark and he proceeded slowly inside. After several twist and turns of the passageway, River Dog realized it was becoming lighter and when he rounded the next corner, a soft yellow glow illuminated a larger room. Nasedo was sitting on the floor of the chamber with his back pressed against the wall. His face was hidden in shadow, but River Dog could see that he held two small stones in his hands.
River Dog stopped just inside the room and called out again. "Nasedo?"
"River Dog," croaked a voice that was barely recognizable. "I am ill. I need your help."
The boy crossed to him and knelt beside his friend. "How can I help you?"
Sodan raised the glowing stones so the boy could see his face.
River Dog recoiled when Nasedo's face was revealed. His eyes were white and his face was coated with a substance that resembled cobwebs. "I have never seen a sickness like that. What is wrong with you?" asked the boy.
Sodan smiled sadly wondering if his revelation would cause the boy to desert him. "I am not like you. I come from another world."
River Dog considered Nasedo for a moment and then nodded in acceptance. "I believe you. It was you who caused the lights in the sky, wasn’t it?"
Sodan nodded and waited for the boy to leave him, but when River Dog made no signs of moving, he continued in a gruff voice, "I need your help. I am too weak to heal myself."
"I will help you. Just tell me what to do."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 29th, 1948)
Sodan waited until dark and made his way carefully to the pod chamber. He looked around the chamber as the door slid open and stepped into the undisturbed room. He had hoped he would find evidence of Letras and Kaldar having visited the chamber but again he was disappointed. Sodan strode to the wall opposite the pods and with a brush of his hand left a message explaining where they could find him.
It had been almost a year since he had seen Kaldar or Letras and even though he had made a few acquaintances among the residents of the reservation, he missed his own kind. He yearned to hear his own language spoken and to discuss his world and his mission with the others. Sodan had never considered that he might have to spend forty years on the planet alone and it was a daunting possibility.
He turned to look at the pod containing his King. Sometimes he envied Zan for being able to sleep through this time but he did not envy Zan's future when he awoke. His King would have no memory of the past but he would have to prepare to save not only themselves but also their people back on Antar.
And not for the first time, Sodan wondered about Khivar's men who had followed them to Earth and shot their transport, causing the crash. He had seen no sign of them since the crash. To move among humans they would have to adopt some kind of disguise, because even though Antarians were humanoid, they were not human. At first he had dismissed the possibility of Khivar's troops coming to the surface of the planet because of the toxic atmosphere, but Sodan knew Khivar would have to ensure Zan's death and retrieve the Granolith to solidify his position. Yes, he thought to himself, Khivar would have ensured his troops would survive on Earth.
It was obvious Khivar’s troops hadn't been able to track the exact position of the crash or they would have arrived before the human military to finish off any survivors. It was possible they might have learned of the crash in the media and they would have searched the area, but the pod chamber was luckily a distance away from the main crash site.
Sodan's gaze wandered over the pods, the equipment, the pieces of Antar brought to Earth. This was the only place on Earth where he felt close to his home. But he would have to stay away from the pod chamber in the future. His mission had taken a few unexpected turns but the basic goals were the same and he was resolved to see it through no matter what the personal cost.
As he turned to leave, his eyes fell on the book that had been sent with them. He picked it up and flipped through the pages. The symbols on the pages were written in the Antarian language but they made no sense because they were in the royal code. Only the Royal Four were capable of deciphering the words contained in the book, but as his hands traced the symbols on the pages he felt a little closer to his home. He put the book in his pocket before he could change his mind and without a backward glance, left the pod chamber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 2nd 1950)
(Eagle Rock Military Base)
"Doctor Cantor," Agent Lewis started, "we have had the creature here for almost three years and we are no closer to finding the others than we were when we first brought it here."
"No," Cantor agreed, "Letras is unusually resistant to all types of torture and persuasion. It refuses to tell us anything about its purpose on Earth and its companions."
"Its escape attempts are becoming tiresome," said Agent Lewis. "It has killed four agents in the last month. I think it has outlived its usefulness."
Cantor nodded, "I will prepare for the autopsy."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 12th, 1954)
(Nasedo’s Cave)
Sodan stepped back to study his handiwork. Over the last few years he had meticulously studied the area and everything he had learned was included in the map he had drawn on the wall of the cave.
He had used Antarian symbols and letters to make the markings, and a legend of how to use the map. It had to be aligned with the stars in the constellation the humans called Ares, as it approached the summer solstice. Sodan had chosen the same constellation in the same position that would activate the sexual drives of the Royal Four. He thought it would be easily recognizable to the other shape shifters if they ever saw the map.
He often wondered what had happened to Letras and Kaldar. Maybe they had been captured by the humans and killed or maybe they were hiding like he was. Perhaps they would all meet at the pod chamber on the day when the pods hatched.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 8th, 1957)
(Houston, TX)
Atherton could hear the sniggering as he left the room and knew without a doubt he was the cause of it. He had been so proud of the book when it had been published a couple of years ago but it had not been as warmly accepted as he had hoped. In fact, his fellow UFO buffs had ridiculed almost every aspect of his theories.
He paused at the outer door and took one last look back. He would have to get the evidence to prove his theories before they would believe him and he knew just were to start looking. The place where the whole thing began.
Roswell.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 1st, 1958)
(Parker's Bar)
Atherton had made several trips to New Mexico over the last year, searching for anyone with information about the crash or its survivors, with little luck. Those who he believed knew anything, were too scared to talk, and those who would talk just parroted the same anecdotes and B-movie plot lines.
Soon Atherton’s failing resources would force him to return to Texas permanently. If he just had a lead, he would justify any expense, but he feared he was doomed to fail.
Atherton's gaze swung around the room, taking in the faces of the usuals. He had come to be known as the crazy UFO guy and most of the patrons avoided him until they became too drunk to remember why.
His eyes turned to the door as it opened to admit a group of young men he had never seen before and he noted their arrival with interest. They were obviously from the reservation and it was unusual for them to come into the bar.
He waited patiently until they had been there over an hour and had several beers apiece before he approached them. "Can I buy you boys a round?"
They nodded eagerly and invited him to sit with them.
Atherton started the conversation casually, "So you from around here?"
"We are from the reservation."
He nodded, "My name is Atherton."
One of the boys spoke up, motioning to the others on his right, "this is Joseph and Cody and I'm Lou."
Atherton noted Lou's slurred speech and flushed face and hoped he was intoxicated enough to want to talk. "Do any of you remember when the UFO crashed about ten years ago?"
All three of the boys nodded.
"I was eleven or twelve," said Lou.
Atherton threw out his next question hoping to catch them off guard, "Did any of you see the aliens?"
The boys all laughed. Cody slapped his knee. "Yeah, there are hundreds of 'em running around in the woods. See 'em all the time."
They laughed so hard that Joseph almost fell off his chair before Lou caught him. "Do you guys remember? That's when Nasedo showed up. The elders thought he was an evil spirit and tested him in the sweat."
The three broke into convulsive laughter.
"Imagine anyone thinking that Nasedo was an evil spirit," Lou said.
Atherton waited until they had caught their breath to continue, "Who is Nasedo?"
"He is a guy who lives in a cave near the reservation," Lou explained.
"Why did the elders think he was an evil spirit?"
"He lived there alone and kept to himself and supposedly strange things had been going on in the woods, you know, unexplained lights and stuff, and they thought he was causing it. They invited him to a sweat to exorcise him."
"I guess it proved he wasn't an evil spirit," Atherton said.
Lou nodded, "No he's just a harmless guy. A little crazy maybe but not an evil spirit."
"Does he still live in the area or did the elders scare him away?" Atherton joked.
The boys laughed again and Cody answered. "Yeah, he lives in that same cave."
Atherton considered them for a moment. This 'Nasedo' was the best lead he had gotten in ages. "You know," he said, thinking quickly, "I came to this area to write a book about the history of the area and I wanted to include a chapter on your tribe. Would you introduce me to some of the elders who could tell me the legends and history?"
"Sure," said Lou. "They love to tell tales about the old ways."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 15th, 1958)
(Mesaliko Reservation)
Over the last few years Sodan had made many friends among the residents of the reservations. He had even learned to trust a few of the humans, even though River Dog was the only human who knew his true identity. Eventually Sodan had adopted the name River Dog had given him, Nasedo. It meant visitor in their language and Sodan found it amusingly appropriate.
It had been more than ten years since the crash and Sodan had only been to the pod chamber once since he had taken up residence in the cave. Cuerena had said it was not necessary to continually oversee the pods, but in the last month Sodan had felt a growing urgency to check the condition of the pods. Then two weeks ago a new human had come to the reservation and Sodan deemed it best to keep his distance from the chamber.
The man's name was Atherton and he claimed to be writing a book about the history of the area. Sodan had been immediately suspicious and had tried to keep his contact with Atherton to a minimum but the man had sought him out on more than one occasion. Sodan tried to remain casual about Atherton's attention, to avoid arousing suspicion, but Atherton had an inquisitive mind and asked all manner of questions. He had inquired about Nasedo's reasons for living in the cave, wondering what had happened to drive him from his friends and family.
Sodan had long ago devised a story about his past that he told to humans, and he had related the same story to Atherton. He had told everyone that after the death of his wife he had become disenchanted with his life and wanted to make some fundamental changes. But he hadn't known where to start until he read "Walden" by Thoreau and had decided to live in a similar manner. So he had sold all of his possessions and moved to the cave. In essence he put his former life behind him, including his name, to start anew.
Atherton was apparently fascinated by his chosen lifestyle and used it as an excuse to spend many hours with him and a sort of friendship grew between them. At the end of the first month, Atherton confided in Sodan that he was actually in the area in search of extraterrestrial survivors from the 1947 crash.
Sodan listened to his tales of aliens amusedly. "Why do you want to find an extraterrestrial?"
"Wouldn't it be fascinating to meet a being from another planet?" Atherton asked excitedly.
Sodan just shrugged. "What if they are monsters?"
Atherton laughed, "Could monsters possess the technology to travel across space? I don't think so."
Sodan continued soberly, "Perhaps they came here to conquer Earth and enslave its people."
"Well it's possible," Atherton admitted, "but if that is what they intended, they certainly are taking their time about it. The crash was ten years ago." He shook his head, "No, I think the aliens who came here were peaceful explorers and I know plenty of people who would love to meet them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 28th, 1958)
Atherton had been convinced within the first few minutes of meeting Nasedo that he was one of the aliens he had been searching for. Nasedo's speech seemed off, like English was a second language and his reactions to things seemed odd, like he was experiencing them for the first time. The more Atherton interacted with Nasedo, the more he was convinced.
He laughed at the irony of discussing aliens with an extraterrestrial, both of them pretending ignorance of their subject. Atherton had to get this alien to trust him, to open up to him. He knew it would take time and careful maneuvering on his part but it would be worth it. He would expose Nasedo as and alien and then he would have the proof he needed to clear his name and reputation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 18th, 1959)
(Nasedo’s Cave)
Sodan waved his hand over the leaves he had gathered, transforming them into his favorite Antarian delicacy and inhaled the aroma greedily. He placed the meal on the makeshift table and performed the same alteration to the water in his cup, changing it to Tageion ale. But before he could sit to eat it, a sound from the direction of the entrance alerted him to another's presence.
Sodan swung around surprised at the intrusion, his hand coming up automatically in defense. As he turned, the chain on which he wore Udac's pendant snagged on an outcropping of the rock wall and snapped, spilling it onto the rough, stony floor. "Who's there?" he challenged.
River Dog stepped into the light. "It's just me, Nasedo. I'm sorry I startled you."
Sodan shook his head, "It is my fault. I have grown complacent here. I will have to be more careful, especially with a stranger in the area."
Rived Dog came forward and retrieved the pendant. "Oh," he exclaimed when he saw it was broken. "I’m sorry. Maybe we can find the piece and repair it," he said as he dropped to his knees to search for the fragment.
Sodan gently lifted the young man to his feet and took the pendant from him. "No," he said simply, fingering the jagged edge. "I will wear it like it is. The break will remind me of the fragility of life and my duty."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(November 8th, 1959)
(Mesaliko Reservation)
Atherton had been with the tribe for almost a year and gradually Sodan had grown to trust him. They had often talked of life on other planets and shared theories about space travel. Sodan had come to enjoy the time he spent with Atherton and considered him a friend. As the summer approached and Atherton talked of leaving, Sodan felt a sense of loss. Atherton had left for short periods before but Sodan knew he would be gone for an extended time on this occasion and perhaps he would not return.
Sodan would miss Atherton's fanciful ideas about the nature of extraterrestrial life. After the experience he and his comrades had endured with the military, Sodan had thought all humans would be fearful toward otherworldly visitors. But Atherton had shown him that not all humans were alike. Some humans looked eagerly for aliens, would welcome them, and Sodan was relieved that they had a potential ally in Atherton.
Sodan approached Atherton's car to say his farewells and wished he had a gift to give him. Unlike any other, even River Dog, Atherton had given Sodan hope in humankind. Then he remembered the pendent Udac had given him, a piece of his world brought to Earth. It was the perfect symbol of friendship between the two worlds, even if Atherton never knew the significance of it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(November 9th, 1959)
(Marathon, TX)
Atherton used the key to open the secret entrance to his basement and then dropped it back into his pocket. He hadn't been home for over three months and the dust had gathered thickly on the papers he had left on the table. He quickly unpacked all of the notes he had written concerning Nasedo, loaded all of them into a box and sealed the lid. Then he withdrew the pendant Nasedo had given him. He studied it closely, tracing the design with his thumb. He suspected that this was an artifact from another world and smiled as he hung it carefully on a sculpture.
The pendant swung from side to side slowly and Atherton considered his plan of attack. In the year he had known him, Nasedo had been careful not to say or do anything that Atherton would consider otherworldly. Atherton hoped that by leaving and giving Nasedo some space he would be able to observe him and get proof positive of alien existence.
Atherton climbed the stairs and re-locked the basement door. He went into his bedroom, stuffing the few things he would need into his pack, as he reached for the phone. He was returning to the reservation but this time he would not be there as a guest but as a spy.
He dialed the number quickly and waited impatiently as it was answered. "Johnston, this is Atherton. You, more than anyone else, have scoffed at my theories but I want you to know that I have been in direct contact with an alien and soon I will have proof."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
BOOK 3 - THE PRICE OF FEALTY (NASEDOS' CHRONICLES)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
PART 2
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(November 16th, 1959)
(Frazier Woods)
Atherton had been observing Nasedo for almost a week and had seen nothing unusual, but as he followed the Nasedo into the desert and across a military parameter fence to the '47 crash site, he knew he was about to get his proof. Atherton stayed just far enough back to stay unobserved, but close enough to catch Nasedo's every move in the darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
River Dog hurried to keep up with Atherton as the man disappeared over the horizon, the full moon helping to keep him in sight. He had seen Atherton sneaking around the cave where Nasedo lived and had become suspicious. He had followed Atherton into the desert and as they got further away from the reservation, a bad feeling settled into the pit of his stomach.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar watched as a man came out of the desert and walked toward the pod chamber. No one had come into the area for almost ten Earth years but the lapsed time had not made him less vigilant. He raised his hand to take aim at the intruder and then lowered it as he recognized Sodan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Sodan approached the pod chamber, he stopped and quickly looked around but seeing no one he opened the door and proceeded inside. He checked the pods, which appeared to be fine, noting the growth of the clones with a glance and left the chamber, having spent less than five minutes within.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar watched Sodan disappear inside the rocky structure but his attention was drawn in the direction Sodan had come. A human was approaching stealthily, following Sodan, and he had seen the entrance to the pod chamber. Kaldar readied for an attack, waiting for the human to come closer to insure a deadly shot, but then Sodan re-emerged from the chamber.
Kaldar used his power to nudge some rocks off their precarious perch next to the human, alerting Sodan to his presence.
Sodan spotted the human immediately and walked rapidly toward him, and Kaldar slipped back into his veiled shelter.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Atherton confronted Sodan recklessly, "I knew it! You’re an alien."
"Why would you think that?" Sodan asked casually.
"I told you I came here searching for the survivors of the crash. When I met you, I just knew you were one of them, but I had no proof. Now I do have proof," he said, motioning toward where the pod chamber door had stood open just a moment before. Atherton could picture Johnston and the other members of the UFO society making hasty apologies to him and scrambling to be near him. "I will show them all that aliens do exist. I will be the one to expose the conspiracy that has hidden your presence."
"You cannot do that," Sodan said sadly, knowing what he had to do.
Sodan's words pulled Atherton out of his fantasy. "Why not? You can't stop me," he challenged with a laugh, unaware of the danger he was in.
"The reason for my presence on this planet is more grandiose than you could possibly imagine." Sodan moved toward Atherton as he spoke and clasped his arm around the other man's shoulder, holding him tightly. "Many lives are at stake and I cannot let you risk them for fame and glory," he said without regret.
Sodan placed his free hand over the human's heart and poured energy into his organs heating them to a fatal temperature in moments. And when Atherton's body sagged lifelessly, Sodan tossed him over his shoulder and started back toward the reservation.
He had only taken a few steps when he saw River Dog running toward him. "Is he dead?" asked the young man motioning to Atherton’s still form.
"Yes," Nasedo said simply.
River Dog nodded and fell into step beside him. They made their way quickly back to the cave and Nasedo began gathering his things.
"You're leaving?" River Dog asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes. There are men looking for me. They want to kill me and I must stay alive." He took out the healing stones and the book. He could not risk being captured with them and he couldn't take the chance of returning them to the pod chamber for fear of leading more humans to it. He thought for a moment, reviewing the list of possible hiding places and smiled. He had only been into town a few times in the last ten years but one of the structures he had seen being built would make a perfect hiding place for the book. He looked toward the map he had drawn on the wall and placed a symbol where he would secret the book, the library. He smiled at the irony of it, hiding a book in the library.
Then he turned to River Dog. "It is possible someone may come looking for this cave but don't show it to anyone until you are sure they are like me. Test them, make them show you proof." He motioned to the map he had drawn on the cave wall, "Show these markings only to those who pass the test."
River Dog nodded his head slowly, understanding the seriousness of Nasedo's request. "Will you ever return?"
"Perhaps someday. When it's safe." He looked at the boy who had grown into a young man during their acquaintance. "I have one other request," he said as he extended his hand with the healing stones. "I cannot take these stones with me. I can't risk them falling into the wrong hands. Will you keep them safe?"
River Dog took the stones from his otherworldly friend, "I will guard them with my life."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sodan had changed his appearance, hidden the book at the library and dumped Atherton's body just outside Roswell in less than two hours. He had planned on spending the time until the pods hatched in the cave near the reservation but he did not know to whom Atherton had spoken or what he had told them. Sodan decided it would be better to leave the area and not return until the pods were ready to hatch.
He had often wondered if Khivar's troops were still on Earth and if they were, he had resolved to find them. Of course he had to be careful. It was unusual for him to worry about his own safety, having been raised as a bodyguard, but it was possible he was the only one of the shape shifters who had survived. And when the Royal Four came out of their pods they would need a protector and an educator. He wouldn't risk himself, he would simply try to determine if Khivar’s troops were still on Earth.
Sodan drove west. He had been able to roughly determine the path the transport had traveled on its fatal descent and he decided to follow the trail backward to look for clues of Khivar's troops. The crash had been more than ten years ago and though it was unlikely that any evidence would remain, he had to start somewhere.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(November 18th, 1959)
(Roswell Sheriff’s Station)
When Sheriff Valenti Sr. had first seen the body with the glowing handprint seared into its chest, he had known it was the work of aliens. He had been present at the crash site more than a dozen years ago and no matter what lies the military concocted, he knew the wreckage hadn't been from a weather balloon or anything else of an Earthly origin.
Since the crash, he had looked for signs of alien activity and had pursued every lead. He had seen the lights in Frazier Woods many times and even though he had never seen the aliens, he knew they were on Earth. Many people said he was obsessed, crazy even, but he knew the truth and now no one would be able to deny it. The unidentified body in the morgue was incontrovertible proof that aliens existed.
A knock at the door drew his attention and before he could answer, the door opened to reveal the Mayor.
"Sheriff Valenti, this report is unacceptable," Mayor Harker said tossing the folder onto the desk separating them. "Glowing handprints? Aliens? Are you trying to turn the Sheriff's office and this town into a laughing stock?"
"Mayor," the Sheriff started in a calming tone, "everything in that report is true. The body at the morgue..."
"I have just come from the morgue," Mayor Harker cut him off. "I wanted to see this glowing handprint for myself. But all I saw was a body. There was no handprint."
"What do you mean, no handprint?"
"Either it faded or washed off," the Mayor scoffed. "Not my idea of proof of alien activity."
"But we have the photos and the autopsy report," argued Valenti.
"The photos prove nothing and the coroner is ruling the cause of death as unknown. Not alien related unknown, but Earthly causes unknown. Now, I want you to change your report and take out all references to aliens." The Mayor ran his hand over his face. "Jim, we have known each other a long time. I would hate to see you throw away your career over something like this."
"I know," the Sheriff said exasperatedly, "they call me Sergeant Martian and worse but I have seen things that have no Earthly explanation."
"I know you believe, but until you have direct proof I don't want to hear any more about it. Half the town already thinks you’re crazy. The next time, the city council may want to take action to have you removed from office."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 7th, 1960)
River Dog had avoided the cave since Nasedo left, but on that day almost a year later, he felt compelled to return. Without Nasedo to light the interior, the cave was pitch black and River Dog had to use a torch to light his way. He approached the chamber where Nasedo had lived with an overwhelming feeling of loss. Nasedo had been his friend for almost twelve years and he wondered how the alien was getting along in the world.
He looked around the empty room; the few items Nasedo collected had been taken out when he left. The light of the torch bounced off the bare, rocky walls and dirt floor as River Dog turned in a complete circle. Finally the torch illuminated the symbols Nasedo had drawn on the wall. Nasedo had said another of his kind might come looking for the markings someday and River Dog wondered, not for the first time, what the message said. He smiled. He would probably never know.
River Dog turned to leave and stopped almost immediately, his attention drawn by a glint of light reflected from the torch by an object on the floor. He reached for the object but quickly withdrew his hand when a jagged edge cut his finger. He bent down, bringing the torch closer so he could get a better view. At first he wasn't sure what it was but as he turned it over in his hand, realization dawned. It was the piece of Nasedo's pendant that had broken.
He stood with the fragment in his hand. He had wished for Nasedo to return but somehow he now knew he would never see his friend again. His memories and the fragment of the pendant were all he would have of him. River Dog pulled his medicine bag out from inside his shirt and slipped the piece inside.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 6th, 1962)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
Khivar's troops had actually been very easy for Sodan to find. He had simply backtracked along the descent path of the crashed transport, searching each town until he had come to the town at the beginning of the trail, Copper Summit.
Sodan had been surprised at first when he realized the beings occupying the town were from his own planet. If he hadn't been paying very close attention to them, he might have taken them for human. They had obviously used some kind of technology to make themselves look human and help them survive in the planet's toxic atmosphere.
Sodan had watched the town and its occupants, from the surrounding hills, for over a week. Almost immediately he had seen evidence of their complacency and failing military discipline. There were no patrols, almost no security and they used their powers in the open without any concern of discovery.
By the end of the second week, Sodan had singled out a likely candidate, learned his routine, and killed and replaced him. Because he looked like one of their own, it was easy for Sodan to learn their plans and what had transpired in their time on Earth. The skins, as they called themselves, had not been subtle in their time on the planet. They had brazenly moved into the small town of Copper Summit, Arizona, ruined the local economy and caused strange occurrences until they had driven most of the humans away.
Sodan discovered from them that they had been sent to Earth with three purposes. They were systematically searching the country to find the Granolith and the Royal Four and when they found them, they would kill the King, Queen and General Varros, and they would return Vilondra to Antar.
Sodan had known of the Princess' affair with the usurper Khivar, but he thought it had ended long before her death. It was obvious to Sodan that Khivar only wished to marry Vilondra to make his claim to the throne legitimate, and he dismissed the vague talk of Vilondra's treachery as Harcion rhetoric. He had known the Princess her entire life. Vilondra would never betray her brother and King.
The skins leader, whom Sodan discovered to be none other than Khivar's right hand, General Nicaron, known as Nicholas on Earth, was rotating patrols to different parts of the country and chasing UFO sightings in attempt to locate the Royal Four, but so far they had made no progress. It had amused Sodan to discover that the skins had learned the crash had happened in Roswell almost ten years after the fact. Nicholas had sent a team to investigate but they had come back empty-handed. It was the first time Sodan had been glad the human military had cleaned up the area so well.
He had also made another, unexpected discovery. The skin he was impersonating was a member of a rebel group that was working to overthrow Khivar and place General Rath Varros on the throne. The group had been actively sabotaging the mission from the inside by killing Khivar's loyal troops and searching on their own for the General. Sodan respected the fact that the rebels were working to unseat the pretender Khivar but he was deeply offended that they wished to place the General, who was a mere ducal heir and half Harcion, on his master's throne, and Sodan vowed they would all die for their insolence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 21st, 1962)
(Delta, Colorado)
Sodan had arrived in Delta five days ago with a specific plan. He had replaced a local farmer, faked a UFO sighting and reported it to the media, hoping to draw his prey to him. Using a trithium amplification generator he had obtained from his time in Copper Summit, he was able to monitor the skins movements. And this morning a skin investigative team, sent by Nicholas, had come to his door under their usual cover story of writing a book about UFO sightings.
He had given the skins a story of extraterrestrials with descriptions of shape shifters accurate enough to keep them in the area searching. Over the next two days he would kill the skin Lieutenant, who was in charge of the investigation, and assume his identity. Then he would kill one of the others and when they returned to Copper Summit he would accuse the other two of the murder.
Nicholas was known for his deadly temper and Sodan was counting on Nicholas to strike first, whether there was proof of guilt or not. But even if Nicholas did not kill the soldiers, the seeds of doubt would be planted and hopefully it would tear the group apart from the inside.
But before Sodan could put his plan into action, he had another unexpected visitor. Apparently the skins were not the only ones who were investigating UFO sightings. Sodan answered the knock at his door and recognized Agent Lewis immediately, even though he had not seen him for over ten years. Lewis had been in charge of Sodan's capture and torture and his was a face Sodan was not ever likely to forget.
"Good afternoon Mr. Barnett," Lewis greeted him. "I am agent Lewis from the FBI. I'm investigating your claim of a UFO sighting.
"Agent Lewis," Sodan said with an outstretched hand, "come in. I will be glad to answer your questions."
Sodan glanced out the door as he moved aside to allow Lewis to enter. Lewis had arrogantly come to interview him alone and Sodan smiled with satisfaction as he closed the door behind the human. Sodan didn't waste time bantering with the human but subdued him easily and morphed into the form he had used during his capture. "We have met before, but perhaps you would remember me better with this face."
Sodan was gratified by the look of genuine surprise on Lewis' face before he slowly ended the agent's life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 27th, 1962)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
Sodan watched with amused satisfaction as Nicholas ranted. He had led Nicholas to suspect the two skin soldiers and several others, were actively conspiring against Khivar. The amusing part was that Sodan had accused them of plotting to murder him, or more precisely plotting to murder the skin Lieutenant he was impersonating. The satisfying part was that he had exposed William, the leader of the resistance against Khivar on Earth.
Tomorrow Nicholas would execute the traitors as examples but by then Sodan would be long gone. When it was discovered he was missing it would be assumed that more traitors had killed him. Sodan smiled. He had successfully started a war within Khivar's troops and with any luck they would destroy themselves.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 25th, 1967)
(Union City, Tennessee)
Over the next five years, Sodan repeated the same scenario several times at different locations around the country. He would report a sighting and then wait for the skins to come to him. He succeeded in killing at least a dozen skins and tricked Nicholas into killing at least ten more.
The special unit had continued to investigate the sightings but they had grown more cautious. The new head, agent del Bianco, made sure all agents worked in pairs and reported to headquarters often. Sodan had a particular hate for the special unit and took great pleasure in killing the agents whenever he got the opportunity, and that morning he was presented with an opportunity he could not pass up.
Agent del Bianco came alone to the house where Sodan was staying to investigate the latest counterfeit sighting. Agent del Bianco told Sodan his partner was running late and would meet them in twenty minutes. Sodan could not believe his luck and wasted no time subduing and killing the human.
He left the body on the front porch of the house to ensure that the other agent would not miss it when he arrived. Then he changed his face, placed his belongings in the newly colored black car and headed out of town.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 15, 1970)
(near the pod chamber)
Kaldar had watched the two human women for the last few minutes as they had been taking photographs in the area near the pod chamber. At first he had been concerned that they might pose a threat to the pods but relaxed when he realized they were simply enjoying the outdoors.
Kaldar didn't see many people, especially females. Over the years when he went into town, he would borrow the faces and attire of drifters who were often seen in the area, in order to draw as little attention to himself as possible. Few people acknowledged or talked to him and none of them who did were female.
Curious, he moved closer to the women's truck where he could easily hear their conversation.
"Joyce I think we've gotten some great pictures today. I’m sure the gallery will buy some of these shots."
"I think you’re right Shelia," Joyce agreed. "The desert provides a perfect backdrop for the rock formations and the scrub brush. It looks so desolate and that is what people want these days, but you're the aspiring artist, I just tote your camera equipment."
Shelia didn't answer her friend right away, her attention focused on the rock formation where the pod chamber was hidden. "You know it's the strangest thing. I wanted to come to this place because I had seen photographs that had been taken here back in the thirties," she motioned to the rocks that held her attention, "but I don't remember this formation being this big. And that unique shape, almost like it’s pointing up into the sky, surely I would have remembered that."
"That's ridiculous," Joyce laughed. "Rocks don’t change that fast."
Sheila shook her head. "I'm positive it wasn't like that," she said heading for the truck. "I have the photos. We can compare."
Joyce glanced at the huge rock formation with disbelief. Of course it hadn’t changed. The thing must weigh tons.
Shelia trotted up to her with the photos and they quickly flipped though the stack, looking for shots with the correct angle. Finally they found a photo that covered the area where the rocks stood but just as she had said, the formation was smaller and a different shape in the photo.
"This is impossible," Joyce said, shaking her head. "It must be a different area."
"No," Shelia said. "Look," she held up the photo and pointed out the landmarks she had recognized. "There are those two rocks, and that other large rock formation is there."
Joyce shook her head. "You're right but it can't be."
"Well," Shelia joked, "supposedly this is the area where the UFO crashed in 1947 maybe the aliens formed the rock for some reason, like the ones at Stonehenge or Easter Island."
"Yeah that must be it," Joyce laughed. "I wonder what really did happen. Some kind of geologic phenomena."
"Yeah,” Shelia agreed, “maybe somebody from the university geology department can explain it."
"I’ll contact someone there tomorrow," Joyce said as she turned and headed back to the truck. "But it's getting late and I'm sure that husband of yours has big plans for tonight, since it's your first anniversary."
Kaldar lurched toward the truck, a feeling of dread overcoming him. The previously harmless women suddenly posed a threat to his charges. If they alerted others, there was a possibility the pod chamber would be discovered and he couldn't let that happen. In the past he simply would have killed both women where they stood but his powers were not always reliable and he couldn't risk letting them get away. He rushed forward as they closed the trucks’ doors and slipped under a tarp in the bed of the truck. He would wait until he had a better opportunity.
The truck traveled for almost half an hour before stopping again. Kaldar peered out through a slit he had made in the canvas covering him. It was obviously the home of the woman called Shelia. She exited the truck with her damning photos and went into the house.
Kaldar waited until the truck drove to the end of the street to make his move. He used his powers to stall the engine, hopped out of the truck and reached through the driver's side window quickly ending Joyce's life. He shoved her body down onto the floor as he changed the color of the truck and the number on the plates. Then he climbed behind the wheel just as a car came around the corner toward him.
He turned the truck and drove back the way he had just come, watching in frustration as the other car pulled into the driveway of the house where he had been headed. Kaldar drove the truck past his intended destination and parked down the road. He would wait until dark to enter the house and finish his task. He reached for the Tic Tac brand mints that he always kept in his pocket. He had seen the mints for the first time on a visit to town a month ago and had discovered they offered greater relief from the headaches than anything he had previously tried. He shook the plastic container, causing the familiar rattle, and popped a few of the small mints in his mouth to quell the growing pain in his head from the use of his powers.
After just a few moments, Shelia and the man who had been driving the car, exited the house and climbed into the car. Kaldar followed them discreetly in the truck, waiting patiently for an opportunity. As they drove, he considered the situation carefully, quickly coming to a decision. The woman Shelia was his only target. Even if she had told the man what she had discovered in the desert, it was unlikely he would know the location of the pod chamber. Kaldar would kill the woman, return to her house and destroy the only evidence; the photos, and then the man would pose no threat.
They had only been driving for ten minutes when the car pulled off the road, stopping at a small cafe. Kaldar stopped his vehicle just down the road and when the man walked alone toward the store, Kaldar rushed toward the woman in the car. Like all Antarians, he was capable of shorts bursts of extraordinary speed and he was next to the car in seconds.
She was just getting out of the car as he reached her. Kaldar pushed her back against the seat and placed his hand on her chest, using his powers to kill her quickly. He dragged her behind the car and allowed her limp body to fall onto the ground. He stood and glanced back toward the cafe just as the man emerged from the building, and their eyes met briefly. Kaldar turned and walked quickly across the parking lot and down the road toward the stolen truck.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Hubble exited the cafe and glanced at the drifter who was headed toward the road but drifters were common in the area and the man did not hold his attention. He continued to his car, opened the door and climbed inside, only noticing then that Shelia was not in the car.
He sat for a moment thinking. His eyes flicked to the cafe. Perhaps she was in the restroom, he thought, but he had not seen her enter the cafe. He got out of the car and looked around the dark parking lot seeing no one. Even the drifter had disappeared. Then he started around the back of the car but stopped almost immediately.
Shelia was lying on the ground and Hubble rushed to her side. He reached for her but the glowing handprint on her chest stopped him momentarily, the unreality of the situation making his mind swim in confusion. Without touching her, he knew she was dead. As he gently gathered her in his arms, his tears started to fall. His beautiful wife had been taken from him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar's head was pounding painfully from the use of his powers and he dumped a generous amount of Tic Tacs into his mouth. After a short drive, he pulled onto the driveway of Shelia’s house and entered under the cover of darkness, easily finding the photos he was searching for. He paused to look around at the other photos that littered the tables and shelves. Many showed the man and woman together, smiling or laughing and he had just destroyed their happiness. A wave of regret passed over him but he pushed it away. He had done what he had to do to keep the Royal Four safe.
He glanced at the photos he was holding. They were simple photos of rocks and sand. They seemed so innocent, so innocuous but they heralded death; either the deaths of the Royal Four and the hopes of millions on Antar, or the deaths of two human women. Kaldar had not hesitated in his decision and he would do the same thing again. With a wave of his hand, he turned the photos to a fine dust that filtered through his fingers and down onto the formerly pristine carpet.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(November 3rd, 1972)
(Roswell Sheriff’s Station)
"Sheriff?"
Jim Valenti Sr. looked up from the paperwork he was doing." I'm Sheriff Valenti," he said, rising with an extended hand. "What can I do for you?"
"Everett Hubble," the man responded, taking the proffered hand, "and I'm hoping you can help me. I heard you were the man to see."
"See about what?"
"My wife was killed and I'm hoping you can help me track the killer."
"But why come to me?” asked the Sheriff.
"Because my wife was killed by an alien."
Jim sat back in his chair. "Very funny. Who put you up to it?"
"I assure you Sheriff it isn't a joke. My wife, Shelia was killed two years ago." He motioned to his chest, "She had a glowing handprint just here." His eyes lost their focus as he remembered. "The thing must have been trying to steal my car and maybe Shelia tried to stop it, but it killed her without a second thought."
"I'm sorry," Valenti said, "but not many people believe, and I take a lot of flack."
"I know what you mean," Hubble said with a nod. "I thought all of the stories about aliens were just that, stories, until I got firsthand knowledge. And for the last two years I have been investigating, trying to find out all I can while I look for the one that killed my wife." He paused. "I heard you were a crazy old man who believed in aliens but when I found out you were at the crash in '47, I knew you weren't crazy."
"What have you been able to find out?"
"Well there aren't many people who are willing to talk. But I have heard rumors about shape shifters that can take on the face of any human. The one that killed my Shelia looked human. He wears the face of a drifter." Hubble looked at the Sheriff, knowing he was winning him over. "Will you help me Sheriff? We have to find it so it can't do the same thing to anyone else."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Valenti House)
Jimmy Valenti watched as his father approached the house with a man he had never seen. He stood back as they came in, hoping the new man was not another UFO chaser. Over the years his father had been involved with one lunatic after another, always searching for proof of aliens. Jimmy had eagerly listened to his father's tales when he was younger but as he matured, the teasing he received from the other children made him resent his father's obsession.
His father made the introductions. "Jimmy this is Mr. Hubble."
Hubble held out his hand, "Nice to meet you son, but everybody calls me Hub. Are you an alien hunter, like your dad?"
Jimmy shook his head sadly. It was just as he feared, another alien nut. He quickly made his excuses, mumbling something about a date and left. He didn't want to be around as his father dug himself deeper into the hole of science fiction.
"Sorry about Jimmy," said the Sheriff, "he doesn't believe."
"Jim, I wish every day that I didn't believe," Hubble said. "Because the truth is, if there were no aliens my wife would still be alive and my daughter would be almost two years old."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 6th, 1972)
Sheriff Valenti glanced at the man riding in the car with him. They had been tracking the drifter Hubble thought was responsible for his wife's death for more than a month but this time they had a solid lead. A man who fit the description had chased another drifter out of his home at the old silo.
They would reach the silo in just a few minutes, but the Sheriff was wary of Hubble's reaction to the man and sought to reassure himself. "Now when we find this man, if he's the right one, we're just going to talk to him, right?"
Valenti waited for an answer but Hubble stayed silent. He looked toward Hubble but the other man’s expression gave away none of his feelings. "Hub?” Valenti said. “Hubble!" he repeated louder and gained the other man's attention. "We're just going to talk to him."
"Yeah Jim. Don't worry," Hubble reassured him with a smile, as he fingered the gun in his pocket. "We'll just talk."
Valenti stopped the car near the silo and the two of them went inside. The Sheriff entered the dark silo first but Hubble saw the drifter first and recognized the man immediately. He pushed past the Sheriff and grabbed the drifter by the collar, lifting him off his feet. "Why did you kill her?" he demanded.
"Kill who?" the drifter said groggily. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Hubble threw the man against the wall, "I know you're lying. I was there. I saw you. It was two and a half years ago. May 15th, 1970. Pepper's Cafe."
"I have never heard of that place and I've never killed anyone," the drifter protested.
Hubble turned to Jim, "He's lying."
"Okay," Valenti agreed. "Let's just take him in and we can get everything straightened out to everybody's satisfaction."
"I can get my satisfaction right here," Hubble said. Before Jim could stop him, he quickly drew his gun and fired twice into the drifter's chest. He wasn't sure what he expected but the man's body simply dropped to the ground, a bloom of crimson quickly covering his chest.
Sheriff Valenti rushed forward and felt for a pulse. "He's dead."
"That alien deserved to die for what he did to Shelia," roared Hubble.
The Sheriff looked closely at the dead man on the ground. "Hubble, I don't think he is an alien. He looks human."
"Of course he looks human. He can change his shape," Hubble said.
"But shouldn't he change back now that he's dead?" Valenti pointed out. "Or have green blood or, I don't know, something. Something not human?"
"He can't be a man," Hubble said, as a kernel of doubt started to grow within him. "He left the glowing hand print."
The Sheriff sat back on his heals, realization dawning as the seemingly inconsistent pieces suddenly fit into place. "The alien left the hand print. The alien killed your wife. The alien changed his appearance to look like this man, but this isn't the alien. This is a human and the alien took his face." Valenti turned toward Hubble, "Hub, we killed a man. We hunted down and murdered a human."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 17th, 1989)
(The Pod Chamber)
Kaldar glanced at the sun overhead. It was only April but already the heat was pounding down like it was July. There had been little rain that year and there was almost no foliage to provide him with cover. Fortunately his kind was capable of adapting to almost any atmospheric condition and the heat was merely an annoyance.
He had needed to go into town to replenish his supplies for the last week but he had been overwhelmed by the impression that it was of the utmost importance for him to stay near the pod chamber. He was an empath and even though his ability was only considered to be moderately powerful, he always followed the impressions he received. He did not always know what they meant but they were almost never wrong. So as his few remaining supplies dwindled, he stayed alert, carefully scanning the horizon for any signs of danger.
Kaldar was so certain the danger would come from the direction of the highway, that when he heard the grinding sound of the pod chamber door opening, he didn't immediately recognize it. His eyes flicked quickly around, but after a moment, recognition dawned and he turned toward the sound with wide eyes. And he sat dumbfounded as his young master emerged from the dark chamber.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 15th, 1990)
(Roswell, NM)
Sodan noted the growth of the town as he drove through it for the first time in thirty years. It amused him that the entire area seemed to have its economy based on aliens. Alien themed businesses lined the main street; restaurants, souvenir shops and even a museum. But he was not there for the tourist attractions and quickly passed through the town toward his destination.
He drove for several more miles before pulling onto a familiar dirt road that continued into the desert. Sodan stopped his car in front of the rock formation that had housed the Royal Four in pods for over forty years. Finally his years of waiting were over. He approached the door eagerly and opened it ready to welcome his King.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
END OF BOOK 3 - THE PRICE OF FEALTY (NASEDOS' JOURNEYS)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
In BOOK 4
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
fate -
1 : the principle or determining cause by which events happen
in-ter-ven-tion -
1 : to occur or come between points of time or events by way of hindrance or modification
2 : to compel or prevent an action
3 : to turn aside from an original purpose, path or course
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Most people seem to think that Tess' pod hatched late. I think the other three must have hatched early. This recounts the events around the time that the pods hatched and the activities of the shape shifters.
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. Did Tess' pod hatch late or did the other three pods hatch early?
2. Why couldn't Nasedo find Max and the others for 10 years?
3. Why didn't Valenti suspect Michael & Isabel of being 'otherworldly' when all three of them were found wandering in the desert at approximately the same time?
4. Why weren't medical tests performed on the kids when they were found?
5. The police must have investigated the area where Max and Isabel were found. Why didn’t they see their footprints leading back to the pod chamber?
6. Why was Michael fostered to a single man?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 4 - Fate's Intervention (The Pods Hatch)
EARTH
Humans
Deputy Owen Hawk - native American deputy of the Mescalero tribe who investigated the children found on the side of the road (Max & Isabel)
Deputy Jim Valenti Jr. - future Sheriff of Roswell - Kyle's father
Mrs. Kathleen Valenti - Jim's wife and Kyle's mother - she left them in 1989
Sheriff Gary Miller - Sheriff of Roswell 1972 – 1991 - Deputy Jim Valenti Jr.'s boss
Philip Evans - Max and Isabel's adoptive father - he is a lawyer
Diane Evans - Max and Isabel's adoptive mother
Vivian Whitmore - Hank's wife and a nurse at Artesia General Hospital and Michael's foster mother
Hank Whitmore - Michael's foster father
Mary Simpson - director of the Westlake Orphanage where Max and Isabel are taken
Agent Daniel Summers - Head of the special unit before Pierce, he recruited Pierce
Agent Daniel Pierce - Deputy Dave Fisher - head of the special unit 5/2/1999 - 5/14/2000
Liz Parker - the girl that Max Evans loved at first sight
Brody Davis - Brody Davis - internet start-up millionaire - believes he was abducted by aliens and cured of his cancer
Shape Shifters Loyal to the Royal Four
Nasedo - Sodan - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot, special skill - heat and energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics, captured by the special unit and killed
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert, special skills - illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Tic Tac - Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, special skill - empath -
injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
Skins
Nicholas Crawford - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Khivar's right hand and head general
Hybrids
Max Evans - Zan
Isabel Evans - Vilondra
Michael Guerin - Rath
Tess Harding - Alyssa Morgan
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel – Zan’s sister
Queen Nedra Tageonant (ne'-dra) - Zan & Vilondra's mother
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the king's palace is located
Sodan (so-dan) - Nasedo - Zan's most trusted protector
Jensto (jens-toe) - a scientist in Zan's employ who Khivar captured
General Toaks - named Zan's second in command after Rath died - Queen Nedra's head General in the resistance against Khivar
Kranon – Queen Nedra’s head scientist
The Sephtafus (named for the Antarian mythical goddess of good fortune) - the ship sent to Earth with the pods and the shape shifters
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Kaldar – Tic Tac - Rath's most trusted protector
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) - man who usurps Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Roistar (roys'-tar) - formerly Tageonon, Khivar changed the name when he assumed the throne
The Leptes (the Antarian word for Vengeance) - the ship Khivar sent to Earth with Nicholas and the skins
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics - captured by the special unit and died
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Kaldar - Tic Tac - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath - injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Earth Date - October 5th, 1988)
(Antar)
(Capitol city of Roistar - formerly Tageonon)
(Secret Headquarters of the Resistance Loyal to the Tageonants)
"Your Highness," General Toaks addressed the dowager Queen Nedra as he bowed formally. "Our operative inside Khivar's inner circle has discovered that Khivar sent troops to Earth within a month of when the transport left with the Royal Four."
Nedra rose to her feet in surprise. "They left that long ago and we have not known about it," she said distractedly, her mind rushing through the many possible scenarios.
"Khivar has told very few people of the mission," Toaks said.
"Who is leading this mission?" asked Nedra
"General Nicaron," he said, noting the Queen's shock. "Apparently a shape shifter has been impersonating him in Khivar's court to disguise his absence."
"Was the operative able to determine Nicaron's mission directive?"
"The troops are to retrieve the Granolith and..." Toaks trailed off with a sigh. There was no easy way to tell the dowager Queen his news. "I am sorry your Highness, but Nicaron’s orders are to eliminate the King and Queen and General Varros."
Nedra accepted the news stoically, "And Vilondra?"
"Khivar has given strict orders that the Princess is to be returned to Antar to be reunited with him. As you know, your Highness, rumors have been circulating for years that Princess Vilondra betrayed her brother and her entire family because of her great love for Khivar. And he has used Vilondra's supposed support for his position as King to gain sympathy among the nobles. If she were to return and continue her relationship with Khivar..." he let his sentence trail off to avoid causing the Queen more pain.
But Nedra finished his thoughts, "Vilondra's presence could lend credence to Khivar’s claim to the throne because he would have married into the Tageion line." She turned toward the image cubes on the table that depicted the likenesses of her children. She did not know exactly when the four would emerge from the pods, since communication between Earth and Antar would be dangerous, but when they did leave the protection of the pods they would be defenseless children. A shiver of dread raced through her but she pushed it aside and turned back to the General. "Khivar's men cannot have completed their mission or Khivar would have announced his victory to the people of Antar."
"Yes," the General agreed, "I believe the Royal Four must be safe, for now."
"We cannot contact them through the communicators, the signal is too easily tracked. But we have to find a way to warn them." She dismissed the subject for the moment and concentrated on the question uppermost in her mind. “How did Khivar discover our plan and where the Royal Four were sent?”
“It appears that when the pods were sent, Khivar was able to find the lab, as we had feared. But his troops arrived before the lab was destroyed and he captured several of the scientists who were unable to escape. Among them was Jensto.”
Nedra sighed, “I thought he had been killed. Jensto would never willingly betray us but, no doubt, General Nicaron pried the entire plan out of his head.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 14th, 1989)
(Roswell Sheriff's Department)
Deputy Jim Valenti Jr. knocked on the doorframe of the Sheriff's office. "Gary?" he called into the Sheriff, "Can I talk to you?"
"Sure", replied Sheriff Miller, motioning him inside, "Take a seat, Jim."
Jim took the offered seat and Gary's gaze quickly took in his disheveled appearance and tired expression. "Is something wrong, Jim? You don' t look so good."
Jim rubbed at his tired eyes to avoid looking the older man in the face as he imparted the news. "Gary, you know Kathy and I have been having some problems. Well," he paused to clear his suddenly tight throat, "she left last night."
Gary looked down at his desk to give Jim a moment of privacy with his grief, but his deputy's words brought his eyes up to meet the younger man's.
"She left the boy too," Jim said.
Gary's surprise was evident, "Kathy left her son?"
"Yes," Jim said tonelessly. "It seems she wasn't ready for marriage and motherhood. Said the boy and I were tying her down."
"Oh Jim, I'm sorry. I knew you and Kathy didn't always get along but I had no idea things were that bad."
"Thanks Gary," Jim said distractedly. "I actually came to ask you a favor."
"Just name it. I'll do anything I can to help."
"Gary I have some vacation time coming and I would like to take it now. Kyle is upset and I would like to spend some time with him, to help him get through this."
"How much time do you want?"
"I have two weeks..."
Sheriff Miller cut him off. "I don't want to see you back here for at least a month and I'll work it out so you receive your full pay."
"Thank you Gary," Jim said, emotion making his throat tight. "I don't know what to say." He stood and offered the older man his hand.
"You don't have to say anything," Gary replied as he took Jim's hand and came around the desk to clap him on the back. "Just make sure you take care of yourself and that boy of yours."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 17th, 1989)
(The Pod Chamber)
Kaldar was so certain the danger would come from the direction of the highway that when he heard the grinding sound of the pod chamber door opening, he didn't immediately recognize it. His eyes flicked quickly around but after a moment, recognition dawned and he turned toward the sound. And sat dumbfounded as his young master emerged from the dark chamber.
Rath appeared to be a human child but Kaldar would have known him anywhere. He watched as the naked child looked around, taking in his surroundings, shielding his eyes from the bright sun overhead. The child-General scrambled down the incline on unsteady legs and instinctively headed for cover as he reached the bottom.
Kaldar was sure the pods should not have hatched for more than another Earth year and quickly checked his watch. He had only bought it a couple years previously but he had kept it in good condition and regularly changed the battery. The watch confirmed the date and he shook his head, trying to clear it. Sometimes he became confused about things, but he had been positive of the date the pods should hatch, August 15th, 1990. Some kind of glitch in the pods must have caused them to hatch early, he thought to himself as his eyes followed the progress of the boy among the rocks, or maybe the malfunction was only in his master's pod.
Starting forward out of his hiding place, Kaldar's attention was drawn back to the pod chamber by the sound of scattering rocks, and two more small figures emerged into the afternoon sun. He recognized them immediately; they were undoubtedly King Zan and Princess Vilondra. They made their way slowly down the incline, hand in hand, supporting one another but as they reached to bottom, they separated, the Princess continuing, while the boy-King stopped to examine a dying bush.
Kaldar looked back toward the General, his master. The child had not left the cover of the rocks but he had seen the two others. He appeared distrustful of them, as if they might harm him.
Kaldar was unsure about what to do. He was not equipped to care for the children and there was no way to contact the others without possibly leading their enemies to them. He glanced back toward the chamber, Queen Ava had still not come out.
After a few moments of indecision, he sneaked back to the chamber, careful not to reveal himself to the three children. From the doorway, Kaldar could see that the Queen remained in her pod and the fluid within was still in a liquid state. Cuerena had told them when the pods were getting close to hatching, the fluid would become more viscous until it was the consistency of the ocean on Antar. That meant Queen Ava was nowhere near ready to come out of her pod.
There must have been a malfunction in the three pods, he thought to himself, as he sealed the pod chamber door. Somehow the malfunction had caused the three pods to hatch early but it had not affected the final pod. Kaldar remembered the feelings he had followed, urging him to stay near the pod chamber. If he had not been there when the pods had hatched, three of the Royal Four might have been lost.
Sodan had been assigned the task of caring for the Royal Four until they reached their maturity but he had not returned to the pod chamber for almost forty years and there was no reason for him to come back a year early.
Kaldar discretely followed the three children as they wandered through the desert, trying to decide what to do. As the day progressed he found himself referring to them by their first names, the grandiose titles seeming somehow out of place on the small beings. Vilondra was bold and curious, scrambling up rocks and examining every plant, while Zan seemingly oblivious to his sister just a few yards ahead proceeded slowly, approaching each new discovery with caution.
The day was scorching hot and Kaldar could see that the sun's relentless heat was taking its toll on the children, causing them to appear listless and burning their delicate skin. He used his powers to create a spring that flowed from the side of a large rock formation ahead of Vilondra and watched as Vilondra, then Zan and finally Alarath, separately found and eagerly drank from the cool water.
As it grew dark, Zan and Vilondra found each other again but Alarath had still not made his presence known to them. They continued walking in the general direction of the highway and Kaldar knew he would have to do something before they reached the road.
It was past dark when Kaldar amusedly watched as Alarath stealthily made his way around Zan and Vilondra and scrambled up onto a rock where the other two would pass.
They rounded a corner and when they saw him, approached eagerly, Vilondra extending a hand to him. Alarath jumped down, took her hand and the three continued toward the highway.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Diane and Philip Evans drove silently toward Roswell. They had attended a dinner party in a nearby town and it had run late as usual. Diane was exhausted and kept catching herself dozing off.
Philip turned toward her as she jerked awake again. "Honey, it's okay. Let yourself get some sleep."
She shook her head. "I can't. I just have this weird feeling."
"What kind of feeling?" Philip asked, putting a comforting hand on her arm.
"I don't know. I can't explain it..." she trailed off. "It's like something important is going to happen."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar had still not decided what to do when the three children reached the road. They stopped at the edge of the pavement and seemed uncertain about which direction to continue until their attention was drawn toward two pinpricks of light in the distance approaching slowly. Kaldar's first instinct was to hide the children from the approaching humans but he stopped himself almost immediately. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to let humans care for the children. He looked at them consideringly for a moment. The children appeared human and Kaldar knew the humans would take them in as their own.
He was not capable of caring for them, he knew that with certainty. He quickly reviewed his options and did not see any harm in leaving the children in the care of humans. The children could not reveal the location of the Granolith to anyone because they had been engineered to repress the memories made in the first few hours after they emerged from the pods. And their powers wouldn't develop immediately and hopefully Sodan would have returned by then. Kaldar could still protect them from afar as he had done since his arrival on this planet and when Sodan returned, he would reclaim the children and the plan could proceed on schedule.
Kaldar stayed in the protection on the rocks, having made up his mind and watched. Zan and Vilondra seemed to know instinctively that the lights could be trusted because they turned toward them but Rath balked, afraid to trust, and stood his ground. Zan turned and held his hand toward Rath but Rath shied away and as the headlights drew closer Rath concealed himself in brush beside the road.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What on Earth?"
Philip's exclamation jolted Diane's attention to the road as the car slowed and pulled onto the side of the road, but what she saw left her speechless. When the car stopped, neither of them moved as they unbelievingly watched the two small children revealed by the car's headlights. Philip was the first to act, opening his door and Diane quickly followed him.
As they approached the children, Diane could see they were no more than five or six years old and completely naked. A chill ran up her spine as she shrugged out of her coat and started to reach for the girl but she hesitated, afraid she might scare them. She dropped to her knees and addressed them in a quiet tone. "Hi, my name is Diane."
The two children turned curious faces toward the sound of her voice but they did not speak.
Diane continued, "This is Philip," motioning to her husband who had joined her before them. "What are your names?"
Diane's eyes quickly darted around the area but seeing nothing she turned back toward the silent children. "Are you out here alone?" Her eyes raked over their exposed bodies, looking for injuries. "Are you hurt?"
When the children still didn't respond, she started to inch forward. "We won't hurt you. We just want to make sure you're okay." She reached toward the girl and the bracelet she was wearing slid down her arm, the moonlight glinting off the shiny surface.
The reflection captured the girl's attention and she boldly approached, dragging the boy with her, hand outstretched toward the bracelet. Diane stopped and let her examine the bracelet, while she draped her coat around the girl's narrow shoulders. She removed the bracelet and handed it to the girl as she gathered her in her arms and Philip quickly bundled the boy in his coat.
He easily lifted the small boy and turned to his wife, "Let's put them in the car and you stay with them while I look around. It's pretty obvious they're in shock. They must have been in an accident or something. Maybe there are other survivors."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar watched in confusion as the car drove away with Zan and Vilondra. The humans had put them in the car and the man had looked around the area briefly, but in the end they had driven away with only two of the three. Kaldar looked over to where his master was hiding. He had not emerged the whole time the humans had been present. Kaldar had expected the three of them to be together and now he was not sure what to do. He would have to make sure the humans found Alarath so he could be cared for.
As he pondered the possibilities, a plan formed in his head. With a wave of his hand, he sent a burst of power into air, stirring up the wind to erase the children’s footprints that lead back to the pod chamber. Then he silently approached his master from behind and used his powers to ease the child into sleep. He gathered the small form in his arms and using a burst of Antarian speed arrived at the place where he had hidden the truck, that had belonged to the woman he had killed all those years ago. He deposited the sleeping boy onto the seat beside him and devouring a mouthful of Tic Tacs, drove in the direction he had seen the car disappear.
He caught up with them easily, because they were driving so slowly, and decelerated to keep a distance between the two vehicles. He followed them into town and to Roswell Memorial Hospital, parking in the far corner of the lot and carefully locking his young master inside. Kaldar altered his clothing to resemble a hospital worker and slipped unnoticed into the emergency room where the humans had taken the children.
He stayed close to watch as the children were thoroughly examined, but he started to become worried when the doctor ordered blood tests. Kaldar knew the children's anatomy was human but he was unsure if the Antarian genetic material would be visible in the tests. He followed the technician who took the children's blood to the lab, and waited for an opportunity. When he was alone, Kaldar quickly changed Zan and Vilondra's samples to appear like human blood. He had helped Cuerena in the lab on the ship often enough with the samples of human blood they had taken, and he knew how to make it perfect.
When he returned to the room where the children were being kept, a deputy was also there. Kaldar was careful to stay hidden, but he listened to the conversation.
"You didn't see a wreck or anybody else in the area?" Deputy Hawk asked as he took careful notes.
Phillip shook his head, as he answered. "No, I looked around the area, but there was no sign of a wreck, at least not that we saw."
The deputy made a note. "We're sending a cruiser out to take a look, just in case."
Diane spoke up, "What will happen to the children?"
Deputy Hawk smiled sympathetically, knowing she was concerned for them. "For tonight they will stay here and then it will depend. We will try to find their parents, but it's odd, I mean the way they were found."
He looked toward the two hospital-gown clad children and turned back to Diane and Phillip, ushering them a few paces away and lowering his voice. "If we don't find a wreck," he paused shaking his head, "I mean it's almost like they were dumped on the side of the road like a dog you don't want."
Diane felt tears prick the back of her eyes as she thought of the children being left purposefully in the desert. "What if you can't find their parents?"
"They will be put into the system and sent to the Westlake Orphanage."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Kaldar waited until all of the tests came back clean to make sure the children would not be in any danger and then he headed toward the exit. He emptied the box of Tic Tacs into his mouth to combat his headache as he grabbed some clothing on his way out of the hospital. He climbed into the truck's cab and used his powers to size the clothes for Alarath. He pulled them onto the boy and settled him back onto the seat, knowing his young master would sleep for hours.
Kaldar closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the seat. It throbbed horribly from the use of his powers but he had to give Alarath to the humans before he would allow himself to rest.
Kaldar feared the humans would perform blood tests on Alarath too and he needed to get his strength back before he could attempt using his powers again. Perhaps if he took Alarath to a hospital in the next town, the humans there would forgo the tests.
He straightened in his seat and let his eyes roam over the small form at his side. He had guarded this boy, who would become a Duke and General, since his infancy on Antar, and he felt honored that he had the chance to do it again. Kaldar now knew why he had experienced the feelings to stay near the pod chamber. If he hadn't been there when the pods hatched, the children might have perished in the heat before they reached safety and all of the planning and waiting would have been for nothing.
He smoothed the hair off of Alarath's forehead as he slept, oblivious to the world around him. He wished he could have cared for the children himself, but the throbbing pain in his head was the perfect reminder of why that was impossible. Kaldar started the truck, drove to a convenience store to restock his Tic Tac supply, and then headed toward his destination, Artesia General Hospital.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Evans had stayed in the waiting room eager to hear the results of the tests on the children, and with each passing moment Diane grew more certain of her feelings. She had fallen in love with the children at first sight and she wanted to make sure they were taken care of. But what she didn't know was how Phillip would react, and she approached the subject slowly. "Phillip, what if they were abandoned? Those poor children will be put in foster care."
Phillip nodded and turned to his wife with a smile, already knowing what she was thinking. "I know someone who works in Family Services. I will get us signed up tomorrow as foster parents. Bob will rush the paperwork for us and if the kids are put into foster care, we will be there to make sure they have a good home."
Tears came freely to Diane's eyes as she hugged her husband and he leaned down and whispered into her ear. "We have wanted a family and maybe we weren't blessed with one because we were meant to care for these children. Maybe they are our ready-made family."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 18th, 1989)
(Artesia General Hospital)
Kaldar had taken Alarath to the hospital claiming he had found him in the desert, which he thought ironically, was actually true. He had been asked many questions by the Artesia Sheriff's department but in the end, they had realized he could not provide the answers they wanted.
The hospital had preformed various tests on the boy and Kaldar had been forced to use his powers again. He waited until the tests had come back on Alarath and they showed the boy to be in perfect health, as Kaldar had known they would. Alarath had awoken not long after Kaldar had deposited him at the hospital and Alarath had fought the humans with a stubbornness that made Kaldar proud. One of the nurses, Vivian, had finally been able to calm him down, her gentle manner soothing the boy's fears.
Exhausted by the day's events but knowing his master was in good hands, Kaldar excused himself, making his departure. He used the last of his strength to drive back to his home in the desert. He camouflaged the truck and returned to his dwelling where he collapsed into a deep sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 19th, 1989)
(Roswell Memorial Hospital)
The director of the Westlake Orphanage, Mary Simpson, came to retrieve the two children the next day. She looked into the children's ward where they were engrossed in early-morning cartoons and turned toward the nurse at her side. "They haven't spoken since they were brought in?"
The nurse shook her head, "No. Neither of them has said a word. The doctor thinks maybe it's trauma induced but there is not a mark on either of them. They don't behave as if they have been through a traumatic experience. They seem fine, happy even, they just don't speak."
Mary nodded. "Maybe they just need some time."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 20th, 1989)
(Roswell Sheriff’s Department)
Deputy Hawk knocked on the Sheriff's office door as he entered. "Gary I wanted to report that I haven’t made any progress on the case with the kids the Evans found."
The Sheriff sat back in his chair. "Tell me what you've got."
"I've checked the missing persons reports for the last six months from all of the surrounding states and nothing even comes close to their descriptions. No one has reported these kids missing. It's like someone just dropped them off in the desert."
Gary shook his head, "I was afraid it was something like that. There was no accident they could have wandered away from and obviously they hadn't been out there more than a day, they were relatively clean and well nourished."
"Do you want me to alert the press?” Deputy Hawk asked. “If we run a story, someone might come forward who knows them.”
Gary considered the idea for a moment and then shook his head. "No. Let's wait until they talk. Maybe they can tell us who they are. I don't want to involve the press. If we’re right and those poor kids were abandoned, they will have to live with that the rest of their lives. If we get the press involved everyone else will know too. Let's just keep it quiet and hope for the best."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 22nd, 1989)
(Artesia, NM)
Hank glanced at the clock as his wife entered the house. "Viv you're late again."
She crossed to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I know. I'm sorry, but working in the ward with that little boy…" she trailed off with a shrug. "I just lose track of time. He is so troubled and I feel like I can make a difference in his life."
"Is that right?" Hank asked pulling her into his lap with a smile. "You’re a nurse. You make a difference in people's lives every day."
Her face became serious. "Hank, I know it's early to be thinking things like this but..." she let her sentence trail off.
"Like what?" he prompted.
"I would like to foster the boy."
Hank opened his mouth to reply but Vivian cut him off. "You don't have to answer right now. Just think about it. Please."
"Viv, before you cut me off, I was about to say, whatever makes you happy."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 28th, 1989)
(Artesia General Hospital)
The boy has been here over a week," the psychologist addressed the others, "and it is obvious something happened to him. He is distrustful and violent and he hasn't uttered a single word."
Another doctor spoke up, "I think it's time we do some in-depth neurological testing."
Others nodded their approval. "There may be more wrong with him than we suspected."
"I will set up a schedule for the testing to start..."
They were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Vivian opened the door and addressed the doctor in charge, "I'm sorry to disturb you Doctor, but you said you wanted to be notified right away." She smiled, "The boy spoke."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 10th, 1989)
(Rock Formation near the pod chamber)
Kaldar jerked awake and winced. His whole body ached as if he had been sleeping in the same position too long. He carefully stretched his limbs and noted with surprise that he had reverted back into his natural state. He stared unbelievingly at the pink-gray skin of his arms. He had not been in his true form since he had been revived and he wondered what could have made him change back.
He glanced at the watch that seemed strangely out of place on his alien anatomy and did a double take when the date registered. May 10th. It couldn't be May 10th. He quickly checked the batteries and found them to be in perfect working order. He had been asleep for over two weeks. He must have used his powers to the point of exhaustion and even in sleep was unable to hold his adopted form. He would have to be more careful in the future not to over-tax himself.
He crawled out of his dwelling and changed his appearance back to human. He had to make sure the children were okay.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Kaldar approached the hospital where he had left Alarath almost a month ago, a feeling of foreboding settled over him. He was worried about what might have happened to Alarath since he had last seen him. He had decided to see to Alarath first because he knew the location of Zan and Vilondra. In the hospital that night he had overheard the deputy say they would be taken to Westlake Orphanage and he knew they would be well cared for there. But he was uncertain about what would have happened to his master.
Kaldar changed into the face he had worn the evening he brought Alarath to the hospital. He hoped the staff would remember him and would give him the information he required. If not, he would have to come back and break into the records.
He entered the building and the first person he saw was a doctor whom he remembered from than night. Kaldar reintroduced himself and asked about the boy he had 'found.' "I was in the area and I just wanted to know what became of the boy."
"One of the nurses and her husband decided to foster him," the doctor replied. "I don't know if you met her. Her name is Vivian."
Kaldar felt the tension go out of his body. He did remember Vivian. She had been the one Alarath had responded to that evening. He was glad his master was in a good home. "That's great, I do remember her," he said with a smile. "How is the boy doing?"
"He's doing great," the doctor assured him.
Kaldar left the building feeling much better about what he had been forced to do.
While he was in the hospital, he had been able to obtain Vivian's address and he headed toward his truck eager to see for himself that everything was okay. As he walked across the parking lot a sudden weariness overcame him and he fell to the ground. Surprised, he got up as quickly as his aching body would allow and stumbled to the truck. He must have expended more energy than he had thought. But now that he knew all the children were safe he could return to his dwelling and properly recover.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 12th, 1989)
(Westlake Orphanage)
Mary Simpson looked across the desk at the two anxious faces before her. "Mr. and Mrs. Evans, as I told you on the phone, the children did start talking two days after they were brought here. We thought they would be able to tell us who they were but they still don't remember anything before the day you found them."
The disbelief was evident in Phillip's voice, "They don't remember anything?"
Mary shook her head, "No, not even their names."
"They must have been through something terrible," Diane said shakily.
"The police think they were abandoned in the desert," Mary continued softly as Phillip took Diane's hand in his. "They have found no missing persons reports and no leads. They have given up the investigation."
"What does that mean for the children?" Phillip asked.
"We will place them with you as fosters, and if in a year the parents still haven't been found, you will be able to adopt them." With a smile, she noted the look of relief that passed between them. "Of course they will need therapy and a special school at first but they should grow into happy, well-adjusted children."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 18th 1989)
(Artesia Memorial Cemetery)
The minister clutched Hank's arm as the last of the mourners departed. "Hank I am genuinely sorry for your loss. I know you and Vivian were very happy together."
"Thank you Reverend," Hank managed before his throat closed up.
"I know this is a hard time for you but have you decided what you are going to do with Michael?"
Hank looked over to where Michael was standing with Vivian's sister. "I’ll keep him," he said without hesitation. "That's what Vivian would have wanted."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 13th, 1990)
Kaldar had looked in on Alarath every week for the first few months. He had a feeling he should stay close to his master but he could see that Alarath was being well cared for and his own continuing bad health forced him to make the trip less and less often. He had to use his powers often when he was in town and he'd been forced to cut the visits to once a month and then stop them altogether. He had only seen Zan and Vilondra at the orphanage one day last year but he was satisfied they were well cared for.
For months he had been recovering his strength, preparing for the day when Ava would emerge and he would be reunited with Sodan and Letras. Kaldar was sure they would not be angry with him for disobeying orders and staying near the pods, when they discovered the special circumstances surrounding the early hatching.
He opened the pod chamber door for the final time before the arrival of the others. Because the three had hatched early, he had often looked in on the final pod checking its progress, determined not to be caught off-guard again. He noted with relief, Ava was still in her pod and the fluids were becoming thick and viscous just as they should.
Glancing around the pod chamber for the first time in over forty years, his eyes lit on words written in the Antarian language inscribed on the wall. He had never noticed the writing before and quickly skimmed the message. Sodan had written that he was living in a cave near the Mesaliko Reservation. Kaldar smiled at the irony of it as he sealed the pod chamber door. They had been living so close to one another all of these years and he had not discovered it until the eleventh hour.
If he had known sooner, he could have contacted Sodan and handed the three children over to him. But Sodan would have them soon anyway. And since it was only two days before Sodan and Letras were due to arrive Kaldar decided to look in on the children.
He drove to the house where Alarath lived, only to find another family in occupancy. He asked about the previous tenants but the new humans did not know where they were. Kaldar drove to the hospital and inquired about the woman Vivian only to be told that she had died months before and her husband had moved on with the boy.
Kaldar sat in the truck uncertain of what to do. He had lost his master. He would have to wait until the others returned and then they could help him find Alarath.
He suddenly felt the need to check on Zan and Vilondra and he drove to the Westlake Orphanage in Roswell. But as he pulled up to the building, he could see something was terribly wrong. Where there had once been a fence and playground equipment, now stood a parking lot, and a sign hung from the door that said Westlake Medical Clinic and offered the names of several doctors.
Kaldar inquired at the reception desk about the orphanage and was told it had been closed down just a few months earlier due to an increase in the number of people registered as foster parents. Children were placed with families immediately and there just wasn't a need for an orphanage any longer.
Kaldar stumbled back to the truck unbelievingly. He had lost all three of them. Sodan was due in two days and only Ava was left for him to find. Kaldar knew he couldn't face Sodan until he had recovered the children. He wouldn't admit he had failed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 15th, 1990)
Sodan stopped his car in front of the rock formation that had housed the Royal Four in pods for over forty years. Finally his years of waiting were over. He approached the door eagerly and opened it ready to welcome his King.
As the sunlight filtered into the chamber and illuminated the pods, the sight that greeted him made Sodan stop dead in his tracks. Three of the pods were empty and the occupants gone, including his King. He quickly looked around the chamber, hoping to find them inside, but three of the Royal Four were absent. He ran out into the open and completed a cursory search of the area but there was no sign of them and after a few moments he returned to the chamber.
Zan, Vilondra and Alarath had obviously hatched early. Sodan's first thought was perhaps they had been taken by Letras or Kaldar but as he studied the footprints on the chamber floor, he could see no sign of adults, only the small children had left their bare foot prints in the thick dust coating the floor. The three pods had hatched early and the clones, with no memory, had wandered into the desert. It had to have been some time ago because there was dust in the footprints and the fluids from the pods had dried completely.
He looked back at the remaining occupied pod. The young Queen Ava was the only one left. The fluids in her pod were thick, practically solid and Sodan knew she would soon emerge. He would have to wait for her to hatch and then he could go in search of the others.
He glanced at the wall opposite the pods where he had left the message so many years before. He doubted there was anyone left to read it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 21st, 1991)
Sodan had searched the area around Roswell for almost a year with no sign of the other shape shifters or the three children. He thought the humans must have killed the shape shifters but the children looked human and Sodan believed they must have been taken among the humans as their own. He had done research at the newspaper morgue but there were no stories about any children found matching the descriptions. He had gone to every school in the area looking for them but there was no sign. He had even cautiously approached the Sheriff in Roswell, Jim Valenti, but the man knew of no children found in the area. It was as if they had simply vanished.
Finally Sodan resorted to the only option left to him, he sent a signal, hoping it would draw them out. But when a week had passed and the only respondents were the skins and the Special Unit, Sodan reluctantly admitted it was time to move on.
He felt as if he were abandoning his mission and his King. If he had been on his own he would have stayed to search but he had to keep the young Queen safe. He knew how much Zan loved Ava and he was determined that one day he would reunite them.
But this was a dangerous time for him and his young charge; Alyssa, as he had called her, was just coming into the first of her abilities. They were unpredictable and just like any child, she had a hard time keeping them under control. He did not know what her unique talent had been in her other life. It had been a closely guarded secret even from him but he did know she was very powerful. If she developed a blasting power or something else potentially dangerous, it would be better to keep her away from humans until she could control it and avoid calling attention to them. When it was safe, he would continue the investigation and he would find the others.
Also he needed to lead the FBI special unit and the skins away from Roswell so if the other three of the Royal Four were there, they would be left in peace.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 4th, 1992)
(Artesia, NM)
Michael walked home from school and warily let himself into the trailer. Since Vivian's death, things had gone from bad to worse. First, Hank had started drinking and staying out late, often leaving Michael alone. Then, Hank had lost his job and not long afterward, they had lost the house and been forced to move into a trailer. Since then they had moved from place to place, wherever Hank found work.
Michael was always grateful when they first moved because it meant that Hank would be out of the house more often. But Hank always managed to screw up and lose each new job and Michael would have to be extra careful not to make him angry. Hank had lost another job only a week ago and Michael knew it was better to stay out of his way.
Michael stopped just inside the door, when he saw Hank sitting in his chair with at least a dozen beer cans littering the floor around him.
"It'zs 'bout time youzs got home," Hank shouted. "We've gotta pack up and go."
Michael didn't have to hear Hank's slurred words to know he had been drinking heavily and he proceeded cautiously. "Where are we going?"
"I've gotta job and we're movin'."
Michael stood blinking at him, incredulous that Hank had gotten a new job so quickly, but Hank took his inaction as rebellion. "Go an' do what I tell you Mickey. Or are ya still goin' ta be standin' there next week when you're new school startzs?"
The reality of the situation was starting to sink into Michael. "What new school?"
Hank laughed, "New town boy, new school. Whatta you think you're goin' to commute from Rozswell to here everyday?"
"Roswell?" Michael echoed.
"Yeah," Hank said, slamming his beer down on the arm of the chair. "Haven't you been listenin'. My new job's at the cheezse factory in Roswell."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 7th, 1992)
Max huddled close to Isabel on the bus. They were surrounded by other children, and Isabel seemed to be in her element but Max did not like the crowd. He felt his differences more keenly when he was among a large group and today he felt more out of place than he ever had.
Since his adoptive mother had told them they would be attending a regular school with other children, he had dreaded the day when it would happen. For the last two years they had attended the small classes of a private tutor and Max had gradually grown comfortable in that environment but he feared facing an entire school full of strangers.
Max had been apprehensive when he awoke that morning, and the feeling had intensified as the crowded bus stopped in front of their house, and increased again when they had boarded the vehicle to confront the other students. He had let Isabel pull him to the back of the bus and into a seat, the faces of the strange children dancing before him as if they were taunting him for his shyness.
But as the bus drew closer to its destination, a calming sensation started to settle over him. Max looked around unable to determine the cause but he was grateful for any relief.
The bus pulled up outside Roswell Elementary and the children disembarked, Isabel eagerly dragging Max off the bus with her. As they threaded their way through the other children, a familiar warmth rushed over him, covering him, protecting him. A feeling, for the first time he could remember, of belonging and home.
Max slowed his pace as he was drawn toward the source and Isabel released his hand and ran ahead to join the others. Max turned toward a group of children but the only one he saw was a small girl with long, brown hair. He stopped, stunned by the instant flash of recognition, even if he didn't understand it, but he knew without question that this was the only girl he would ever love.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 14th, 1992)
(The Special Unit Lab)
(Washington D.C.)
Agent Daniel Summers watched as the laser failed to penetrate the smooth surface of the alien orb. Over the years, every test known to man had been performed on it, including radiation, microwaves and every chemical on Earth, but nothing had been able to penetrate it or cause any reaction in it.
Whenever a new testing technique was developed, the orb would be retrieved from the vault and subjected to the procedure, but so far all of them had failed.
Agent Summers opened the vault, constructed from depleted uranium, and walked to place the orb in its container. Someday, he thought, they would figure out how to make it work.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Earth Date - February 27th, 1993)
(Antar)
(Capitol city of Roistar - formerly Tageonon)
(Secret Headquarters of the Resistance Loyal to the Tageonants)
"Your Highness," General Toaks said as he bowed formally before the dowager Queen, "I have good news. The scientists have discovered a way to communicate across great distance and the signal cannot be tracked. They have been able to successfully alter the Thought Projector we currently use, to work on humans."
"Then we can warn Zan about Khivar's troops on Earth," Nedra exclaimed.
The General looked down to avoid the disappointment he knew he would see on her face. "But your Highness, we don't know where they are or even if they have emerged from the pods."
"I have been thinking about that General," she said. "What if we simply replace the message in the communication orbs; record over it. The orbs can hold the message and Zan can access it without sending a traceable signal."
A smile lit the General's face. "That just might work. We could use a human as a local transmitter, so the signal can’t be traced back to us."
"Tell me how this technology works," Nedra said.
"Basically it works the same on humans as on Antarians,” Toaks explained. “It allows the user to take over the mind of a subject and use the body for their own purposes. A small, unused area of the human's brain will be permanently adapted to allow the user to take over and control the human. And because the humans' brains are so similar to ours the user will be able to use their powers through the human subject too. "
"So we can use a human to broadcast a new message to the orbs," Nedra said with relief. "How is a subject chosen?"
"The subject must have a certain flaw in the brain structure. The device can sense this flaw and then we simply prepare the subject, similar to coding a computer. When I was told of the device I gave the order to have a subject prepared for your use."
"The human is not harmed in any way?"
"No, not if it is prepared correctly," the General said, shaking his head. "In fact, we have saved the life of the human the devise chose for your use. He possessed a disease that eventually would have become fatal. His own body was mutating and attacking the healthy parts, spreading corruption throughout his system. Apparently Earth medicine has not progressed enough to cure him but we were easily able to rid him of the disease to make sure of his continuing usefulness."
"And this human I will be using, what is his name?"
"He is called Brody."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Earth Date - March 4th, 1993)
(Antar)
(Capitol city of Roistar - formerly Tageonon)
(Secret Headquarters of the Resistance Loyal to the Tageonants)
Nedra entered the lab with General Toaks at her side. She addressed the head scientist Kranon, “I received word that the human Brody is ready.”
“Yes, your Highness,” Kranon replied. “We carefully prepared the human and moved him from an area that contained a large concentration of technology. It probably wouldn’t have interfered with the signal but we wanted to take every precaution. Now, everything is ready for you to send the message.”
Nedra put on the thought projector and started to read the statement she had prepared. “If you are seeing me now, it means that you are alive and well…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Special Unit Vault)
(Washington D.C.)
The orb was locked inside the vault constructed of depleted uranium and the signal from Antar was unable to penetrate the heavy molecules.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Beneath the Sand - Near the Pod Chamber)
The orb accepted the message sent from Antar and attempted to activate an alert signal, a single brilliant shaft of light. But the sand pressing down on the light sensor confused the programming and it stored the signal for a later time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Sunday, May 2nd 1999)
(Van Buren, Missouri - near the Ozark Mountains)
Sodan sat across the table from Alyssa and motioned to the two men in suits who had just come into the diner. "There are the FBI Agents."
The trap he had set worked. Sodan had stopped sending signals to draw out the FBI and the skins when he had retrieved Alyssa from the pod chamber, but when she had started gaining control of her powers he had started again, to let Alyssa see how the FBI worked. He always avoided the skins, feeling she wasn't ready to face them and concentrated her training on the FBI.
Sodan indicated the older man, "That is Agent Summers but I don't know the younger man." Sodan recognized Summers even though over ten years had passed since he had last seen him. Summers and his partner had interviewed him when he had played a UFO nut on one of the earlier 'sightings'.
Sodan turned his attention back to Alyssa. "In a moment we will leave the diner. You will use your powers to cloak me from the Agents and I will come back in and listen to what they are saying."
Sodan left some bills on the table and they exited. Sodan and Alyssa got into the car and he drove them around the side of the diner and parked. "If anything goes wrong, use your powers to get away and meet me at the agreed upon place."
Alyssa turned her icy blue eyes to her protector. "What could go wrong?"
"Probably nothing but it is always best to prepare for the worst. Ready?"
Alyssa nodded and closed her eyes in concentration, erasing Sodan's image from the minds of the FBI Agents.
Sodan re-entered the diner and crossed to the rack of pamphlets next to the table where the Agents were eating. They obviously did not see him and continued their conversation as if they were alone. They appeared to be having an argument.
Summers leaned forward and spoke softly. "Pierce, you are too quick to destroy. There are so many things we could learn from an advanced race."
The man named Pierce answered softly but his tone was fierce, "I don't believe we can learn anything from these creatures. They are only here to take us over, wipe us out. What other reason could they have for being here so long? They kill innocent people without a thought. They are unprincipled, despicable monsters and we should wipe out every one of them."
"But think of the advantages we could gain in technology, and medicine," Summers argued.
Pierce laughed, "You are getting soft, old man. You used to be the one to say we should shoot first and ask questions later."
"I haven't changed my mind, but now that I am in charge of the Unit, I can see other possibilities."
"I will never think of them as anything but monsters," Pierce said emphatically.
Sodan turned and left the diner. So Agent Summers was now in charge of the Special Unit, Sodan thought to himself. He couldn't let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers. He headed out the door and around the building, crossing to the car. He changed the color of the paint and the license plate. "I think I can learn something from these men. I want you to go to the hotel and stay there. I will meet you in a few hours."
"But I want to help," Alyssa insisted.
Sodan shook his head. He had successfully kept the young Queen away from the sordid business that he'd had to do from time to time. He knew Zan would not want her to be involved and he always made excuses that would relieve her suspicions. "It will be easier if I do it myself. Now do as I say."
Sodan watched as she drove away and then he changed his appearance and went back into the diner where he sat sipping a cup of coffee, waiting for an opportunity. And when Agent Summers got up and walked to the restroom, Sodan followed him.
He let the door close behind him and spoke softly, "Agent Summers."
Summers swung around, "Who are you?"
Sodan smiled as he advanced, hand outstretched. "I am the one you have been looking for."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
END OF BOOK 4 - FATE'S INTERVENTION (THE PODS HATCH)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
In BOOK 5
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Fri Jan 14, 2005 11:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
er-satz -
1 : an artificial and inferior substitute
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The dupes' lives in New York
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. What about the dupes' protector?
2. Why do they live in the sewer?
3. Do they know about the past and who they are?
4. What exactly did their protector tell them about healing humans?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 5 - Ersatz Heirs (The Dupes)
EARTH
Shape Shifters Loyal to the Royal Four
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert, special skills - illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Skins
Nicholas Whitaker - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - aka. Tom - Khivar's right hand and head general
Katian - one of the skins sent to Earth and Nicholas’ lover
Linda - the skin soldier posing as Katian’s mother
Henry - the skin soldier posing as Katian’s brother
Walt Crawford - Colonel Jafto - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Ida Crawford - Idos - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
The Dupes
Zan - Max’s dupe
Lonni - Isabel’s dupe
Rath - Michael’s dupe
Ava - Tess’ dupe
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant - (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel – Zan’s sister
Queen Nedra Tageonant (ne'-dra) - Zan & Vilondra's mother
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) - man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - aka Tom - Khivar's right hand and head general
Katian - one of the skins sent to Earth and Nicholas’ lover
Linda - the skin soldier posing as Katian’s mother
Henry - the skin soldier posing as Katian’s brother
Colonel Jafto - Walt Crawford - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Idos - Ida Crawford - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 15th, 1947)
(New York City)
Cuerena slowed the truck as she entered the heavier traffic of the city. She had been driving for almost a week, only stopping to fill the truck’s gas tank. She had changed the appearance of the truck and herself several times to lessen the possibility that she would be found but she had seen no signs of pursuit either human or alien.
As she maneuvered through the streets, she thought back to the other time she had been in New York. It had been eight years ago and she and the other shape shifters were looking for human DNA donors for the pods, and their search had led them to New York. They hadn't discovered any donors but they had decided New York City would make an excellent place to set up the decoy clones. They had chosen a part of town that was mainly used as warehouse space and even picked a building.
And that was where Cuerena was headed now. She would take a space in the building and house the developing pods there. The other shape shifters would all know where they were located and would easily be able to find them if it was necessary.
Cuerena turned the corner and with a gasp of surprise, pulled the truck to the side of the road. The building they had chosen was no longer there. Instead there was a large construction site and the accompanying sign read,
Future site of the
Gainswaith Commercial
Office Tower,
to be completed in 1952.
The entire block had been leveled for the construction and there was nowhere left to house the pods. Cuerena exited the truck to look around the area for an alternative site but after a few inquiries she found it was a hopeless task. Many of the surrounding buildings were being renovated or destroyed and there was no space available for lease. She would have to take the pods elsewhere to house them but she worried about how the other shape shifters would find them.
While she was considering what to do, she overheard a conversation of two near-by men.
"When they started construction on this behemoth," the first man said, motioning to the Gainswaith building, "they were forced to abandon an entire section of the subway and sewer tunnels underneath and build new ones. That means a lot of extra work for our company."
"So what do they do with the old tunnels?" the other man asked. "Fill them in? Wall 'em up?"
"No, they just reroute a section or two of track," the first man shrugged, "and leave the rest down there."
Cuerena turned back to the truck. If there really were sections of tunnel beneath the building that weren't being used, it could be a perfect answer to her problem. It would mean no rent, or nosy landlord or neighbors, and she could leave a message on the new building telling the others where they were.
She locked up the truck and went into the tunnels, in search of their new home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Abandoned Sewer Tunnel)
Cuerena carefully anchored each of the pods to the wall of their new home in the abandoned sewer tunnel. It would be decades before they hatched and this sheltered room would be a perfect sanctuary.
She looked around the bare concrete walls. She was a protector and was capable of living in very sparse surroundings but when the duplicates emerged she would have more homey comforts in place. Even though these clones weren't the real Royal Four, they were derived from them, and Cuerena felt they deserved some consideration.
She could never tell them the whole truth about what they were, of course. To be useful as decoys, they had to believe they were the Royal Four, should the need arise. They would have no memories of their past and all memories about the plan and the royal codes had been carefully blocked.
Cuerena ran her hand over the surface of the duplicate Vilondra's pod. They had not blocked her memories of Khivar as they had with the real Vilondra. There was little chance the duplicate would remember her past life without help and they would receive no assistance in recovering their memories. It had been agreed that the decoys would not be told about the past in any great detail, they would only be given a general outline, but Cuerena had often wondered what she would tell them if any of them did have memories from their other life.
She supposed she would just have to deal with the situation if and when it arose, but for now her duty was clear. Protect the pod at all costs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(January 25th, 1965)
Nicholas had been in New York for more than a week, observing the squad of soldiers that were assigned to the area, hunting for traitors. In that time he hadn't witnessed anything unusual and had intended to leave in the morning, but then he had seen the Antarian writing on the side of one of the buildings called the Gainswaith Tower. The Antarian symbol for knowledge had caught his eye first. It was cleverly concealed within a larger pattern of meaningless symbols on the building and as he had scanned the pattern, he saw more Antarian words.
There was not a sentence or even a coherent thought, but the words were there none-the-less. Instantly dismissing the probability of coincidence, Nicholas was left with only two options: the message had been left by traitors within his organization, or it had been left by the supporters of the Royal Four.
It was obvious the message was written in some kind of code but he had never been gifted in cryptography and doubted he could crack the code alone. He decided to avoid contacting the soldiers in the area for help until he could determine if one of them had written it and that would mean investigating more closely.
First, Nicholas cautiously interviewed the Gainswaith building's owner and architect and discovered the original plans had not called for a design, and each thought the other had done it on a whim. Then he tried to track down the person who had done the work, but no one involved with the construction would admit to making the pattern.
And now totally convinced the message had been put on the building deliberately, Nicholas concentrated on searching the area around the building for any otherworldly activity. He interviewed residents and business owners, workers and the homeless, but no one remembered anything out of the ordinary, and when he asked about the symbols on the building, most admitted they had never before noticed them.
Then Nicholas carefully searched the Gainswaith Tower and the surrounding buildings but he could find nothing suspicious. And that point, he decided to reveal himself to his troops.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After the man had asked her about strange occurrences and then the symbols on the Gainswaith building, Cuerena had carefully kept him in sight. It was obvious he must be part of Khivar's troops who had shot their transport out of the sky almost twenty years ago.
She had been shocked when he asked about the Antarian symbols, but she had coded the message using one of the Tageonant battle codes only known to the closest household royal staff and she wasn't afraid he would decipher the message. There were over a dozen Antarian characters on the wall but the message itself was very simple if one knew the code. Through a process of elimination and clues it simply said, below.
But she was worried that he was so close to her charges. Whenever she left the tunnels, she donned the appearance of an older homeless woman and physically sealed the entrance to the chamber. That's what she had done three days ago to get fresh supplies, when she had run into the man asking questions. He appeared to be in his early twenties and had introduced himself as a student of NYU, saying his name was Tom. Then he had starting asking questions.
At first, Cuerena hadn't been suspicious, writing it off to just another weird New Yorker but when he had asked about the symbols, she'd worked to keep her features carefully still. She'd told him that she had never noticed the symbols before and he didn't seem surprised, obviously having gotten the same answer from others.
He had dismissed her quickly and she'd slipped behind one of the buildings and changed her appearance in order to observe him. Then she had carefully tracked him for three days as he systematically searched the Gainswaith Tower and every surrounding building. She had hoped, when he didn't find anything, he would simply leave but when he had finished searching the last building, he shifted into the form of a child.
Cuerena had never known Khivar to use shape shifters in his troops, but she wasn't an expert in his military tactics, and immediately decided to follow the shape shifter to see what he was up to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(January 28th, 1965)
Nicholas knocked on the door where his troops were living as a family, waiting impatiently for the answer. All troops inserted into communities outside Copper Summer were assigned to five-man teams, posing as families. This family consisted of a mother and father, sister and brother in their late teens, and a grandmother. He thought it unlikely that any of this group were traitors but he needed to investigate every possibility thoroughly. The soldier posing as the daughter was his occasional lover, Katian, and Nicholas knew she was as loyal to Khivar as himself. If she had discovered even a hint of treachery, she would have alerted him immediately.
Finally, the door was opened by the woman he recognized who posing as the mother, Linda.
And she gasped as she recognized him. "Sir, what an unexpected surprise."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cuerena followed the enemy shape shifter to the house and watched as he was admitted. She was not close enough to hear what was being said but when the door closed behind them she moved around the side of the house to the room where they were sitting and pressed her ear against the window.
She couldn't catch every word but she heard enough to realize that the shape shifter was a superior officer to the people in the house, posing as a family. She never heard his real name, assuming Tom wasn’t it, the others simply called him sir or General. He asked them about the writing on the Gainswaith building and they said they had never seen it. He theorized that either supporters of the Royal Four or traitors had left the message and he ordered the soldiers into pairs to start an immediate search for other messages. Cuerena drifted back into the bushes as the groups left the house and changed her appearance again in order to follow the General and the girl he called, Katian.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It didn't take Cuerena long to see why the General had divided the troops as he had. He and Katian waited in the shadows around the corner and once the others were out of sight, they doubled back to the house. The General changed his appearance in the alley and now he wore the face of the young man in his twenties, Cuerena had met.
As they approached the door, Katian reached out to open it but the General slammed her back into it and took her lips in a rough kiss. "It's been a long time," he said huskily when he released her.
Katian nodded, "Let's not waste any time. The others will be back in two hours."
As they disappeared inside, a plan was already starting to take shape in Cuerena's mind that would make the General want to forget about New York forever. It would be too dangerous for her to try and confront all six of the enemy soldiers but with a little of her power applied in the correct places, hopefully she could bring them all down.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 1st, 1965)
Nicholas awoke in the bed he had shared with Katian, with a giddy feeling. He had always been one to keep his feelings under control, but the last few days with his lover had made his thoughts turn to more tender things. For the first time in his life, he was in love and as he showered and dressed, he made plans for their future together.
First they would finish the investigation of the alien writing and then Nicholas would take Katian back to Copper Summit. She would be given a promotion and moved into his house so they could be together all the time. He should have felt ridiculous, being in love. He was no kid and he'd had his share of beautiful women, but there was just something different about Katian and he wanted to spend his life with her.
He opened his door and started toward the stairs but he was distracted by Katian's whispered voice coming up through a vent.
"Were you able to get a message to the others?" she asked.
"Yeah," answered the soldier posing as her brother, Henry. "The head of the resistance sent the reply that we should take the message off the building and then act surprised when the General finds out. And hopefully he will turn his investigation in another direction."
Nicholas was stunned, and for a moment he couldn't move. There was silence below, but after a few seconds, Nicholas heard the distinct sounds of kissing and he felt his heart break.
"I hate that you have to spend time with him," Henry hissed. "I want to kill him for touching you."
"Henry," Katian sighed, "we have to careful. You know it disgusts me to be with that toad, but it won't be for much longer and then we can be together."
The rage within Nicholas built to the boiling point instantly. He couldn't believe he had been so stupid to fall for her act. Katian had played him like a pro, with her soft kisses and professions of love. He knew love was for fools but he had let himself believe and followed her like an idiot.
In an instant, the love he had felt for her turned to a searing hatred, and at that moment he wanted nothing more than to see her die. Barely aware of his actions, he bounded down the stairs and burst into the kitchen where Katian and Henry were sitting at the table and with two well-placed blasts of energy, he turned first Henry and then Katian dust.
Nicholas was still savoring the look of surprise and fear on her face as the other members of the family rushed into the room, stopping suddenly as they saw the telltale flakes of skin floating around him.
"What happened, Sir?" asked the senior officer.
Nicholas whirled to face them and with a blast of power, forced them to their knees. "Either you are harboring traitors, or you are traitors yourselves."
"No," the senior officer instantly denied. "We are loyal to Khivar."
Nicholas advanced on him with an outstretched hand. "We'll see about that."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cuerena watched from outside as the General tortured and executed each of the soldiers. And then, looking far older than the twenty years of his adopted body, he sank down into one of the chairs and put his head in his hands.
It had been obvious to Cuerena that the General was in love with Katian and she had used it against him in the most painful way she could think of. Her powers made him overhear a conversation that had never taken place, causing him to think Katian and Henry were traitors and blame the writing on them. The plan had worked better than she anticipated because of the General’s raging temper and now she just hoped the experience would make him forget about the investigation and leave.
After a few moments, the General took out a device that Cuerena couldn't see, and spoke into it.
"Walt, we need a new team in New York. I want them here tomorrow. And tell mom I'll be home the next day."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 15th, 1990)
(Abandoned Sewer Tunnel)
Cuerena had watched in anticipation as the fluids within the pods had solidified to a thick, viscous consistency, knowing the time had come for the clones to emerge. Lonni had pushed through the membrane first, followed closely by Ava and Rath but Zan had not emerged until almost an hour later.
As she had cleaned and clothed the small clones, Cuerena wondered what they would be like. There were many theories about the behavior of clones compared with the originals. And even though Antarians had been cloning for generations, there was no accurate way to predict how they developed. The few clones that had been created and given back their memories had been exactly the same as the originals.
The clones in her charge would not be given their memories though, and there was also the added unknown of the human DNA. But perhaps the biggest variable was the fact that the original genetic material had been separated into two clones. It posed the possibility that some traits would be absent in one set of clones and present in the other set. For example, one of the New York clones could have a bad temper, while the other in New Mexico did not. Or it was possible they could be identical.
Of course, Cuerena would get a chance to find out for herself when her charges came of age and she returned to Roswell to be reunited with the others. She would leave the duplicate clones in New York with a communicator, in case they were needed, and then concentrate her energy on the real Royal Four. It wasn't fair and perhaps it was wrong, but it would help ensure the survival of her people and put an end to Khivar's treachery and evil.
She looked at the four sleeping children, so small, so innocent, but it was all an illusion. They had been created for one purpose only. To die.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 21st, 1990)
Cuerena spent the first few days with the clones simply talking to them and teaching them English. The children learned quickly and after a week, all four of them were chattering away as if they had been raised with the language for years.
She had given them their original names, as she had been ordered, and would start their instruction today. The clones would be given an education that would include all manner of math, science, literature and art, and they would also be taught about Earth as well as the basics of their own planet and language. And when their powers started to develop, a regime would be included to train the clones to master their abilities.
It would be about a year until the clones started to show any signs of their powers. Cuerena had placed a neural inhibitor in the children's genetic code that would suppress their powers until then. But when it wore off, the children would have to control their wildly unpredictable and awesome abilities. That is why their education about their powers would start today, along with their other lessons.
"Children," Cuerena called out. "Come and sit here," she motioned to a small table with four chairs, "and we will begin."
She waited until they were seated and then started with the history of their past, as she had been instructed. "We are not from this planet, Earth. We come from a planet very far away called Antar. On our planet you are known as the Royal Four." She motioned to each of the children as she spoke, "You are Zan the King, Ava his Queen, Vilondra his sister and Rath his counselor."
The children looked at one another as Cuerena continued. "On our planet there was a great war and your former selves were killed. You were created from the genetic material of your alien predecessors and human subjects. You were given human form so you could live safely on this planet undetected until the time comes for your return. I am Cuerena, your guardian, and I will protect you from danger and keep you hidden."
"As you mature, you will regain you memories of your other life and develop powers that will aid you in your fight against your enemies. When it is time, you will return to our planet to oppose the usurper and his factions and take back your rightful places as the rulers of Antar."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(June 10th, 1991)
The sound of running feet and shouts startled Cuerena out of her studies and she jumped up into a defensive position just as the children entered the room.
"Cuerena, guess what?" Lonni exclaimed excitedly as she bounced into the room just slightly ahead of the others.
Cuerena relaxed as she realized there was no danger. "What happened, Lonni?"
Ava blurted out before Lonni could speak. "Zan got his powers."
Lonni turned on her angrily, "Ava!! I was going to tell her!"
Ava shrank back against Zan and he automatically came to her defense, "Don't freak out, Lonni."
"What happened?" Cuerena asked.
Lonni looked at Zan, waiting for him to tell the story but he motioned to her. With a smirk, she started, "Rath and Zan were playing handball and Zan fell and hurt his hand and it was bleeding and he healed it."
Rath pushed forward. "Are we all gonna get healing powers?"
Cuerena looked at her charges. "Each of you will have the ability to heal simple wounds but only Zan has the ability to heal more serious wounds and life-threatening injuries." She turned to face him. "Zan, your healing power is much stronger than the others. It is a special ability you were born with and you will have the ability to bring someone back from the brink of death."
"Can I heal animals, and humans too?" Zan asked, eager to learn about his ability.
Cuerena nodded, "Yes, but let me caution you against using your powers on humans. As we have discussed before, most humans won't understand that you are different and it could be dangerous if you reveal yourselves to them."
"But I could heal a human," Zan said stubbornly.
"Yes," Cuerena agreed. "You have the power to heal humans." She motioned to the others, "All of you can heal on a small scale, simple wounds and broken bones. But only Zan can heal larger wounds or diseases. It takes a great deal of power to manipulate living flesh and bone on a large or very delicate scale, and not everyone is capable."
She turned to Zan. "You could heal a human from a life threatening wound but it would present a problem. In order to heal a human on the verge of death, you would have to alter their cells to make them able to regenerate themselves. The cells would become like your own, part human, part Antarian. Over time, the human would become immune to the diseases on this planet and their life span would be extended just as yours. The human would slowly change, perhaps developing powers of their own and eventually every cell in their body would be like yours. In essence, they would become a hybrid like yourselves."
Zan, Lonni thought to herself, everything is always about Zan. She stepped forward to focus Cuerena's attention on her. "So what are my powers?" Lonni asked.
"You will all develop the basic powers to manipulate matter," Cuerena said, "but as for your unique powers Lonni, I do not know. When you were engineered, you were given your own capabilities but you were also given an advanced human brain, so it is possible you could develop new powers you didn't have in your other life. As for the specific nature of your powers, I just don't know. On Antar the nature of your power was a closely guarded secret, as with all females, so we will just have to see how it manifests."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 7th, 1992)
Zan struggled through the thick, blackness that appeared to be everywhere around him. He had been looking for a way out for what seemed like forever, but the more he fought against it, the more hopeless it became. The blackness was a tangible thing, its weight pressing down on him, chilling him to the bone and threatening to consume him. He called out, hoping someone could hear him and lead him out of the seemingly never-ending night.
As he continued to struggle, a voice whispered his name and he turned quickly toward the sound. In the distance he thought he saw the flickering movement of a soft, golden light and he moved toward it as quickly as he could. With every step, the light seemed to grow in intensity but it was as if the blackness refused to let him go, making each movement harder than the last.
"Help me!" he called, afraid he would never escape the chill of dark.
The light flickered briefly and rapidly grew in intensity until it was so bright he was forced to cover his eyes. Suddenly the darkness released him and he fell forward and quickly scrambled on hands and knees toward the source of his salvation.
The light receded as he approached and Zan gasped as he realized the golden light was being emitted from a small girl. It was a part of her, surrounding her and it welcomed him with a promise of warmth and love. He crouched before the girl, desperately trying to see her face, but it was obscured by her long dark hair, blowing across her face.
She reached out to him, taking his hand and pulling him to his feet as she once again spoke his name. "Zan."
Where their hands met, her warmth rushed into him, chasing the cold from his body and for the first time in his short life he had a sense of belonging and home.
Her hair shifted in the breeze and for a brief moment he thought she would be revealed to him but she released his hand and stepped back, and the intensity of the light started to obscure her again.
"Wait," he called, "who are you?"
Somehow he could feel her disappointment and as she was entirely engulfed in the golden light, she whispered a single word. "Love."
Zan rushed forward but the light faded until only a small flickering flame was left and the girl was nowhere to be seen. Zan felt the chill of the darkness start to seep into him again and called out desperately, "Wait! Where are you? Don't go! Come back! Come back!"
Zan felt a heavy hand on his shoulder and fearing the darkness was back, struggled against it, but he was suddenly jolted awake by Cuerena's soft voice.
"Zan, you are having a bad dream."
He blinked at her uncomprehendingly for a moment and then realized the truth. The girl he had been so desperate to see, the one who had saved him, was not real at all. She was only a dream girl.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(December 3rd, 1992)
Cuerena hurried down the tunnel with the groceries. She didn't like leaving the children alone for long, fearing what could happen to them. They were growing into their abilities and becoming quite powerful but they were still only nine-year-old children.
As she approached the entrance, she could hear raised voices and she sprinted the last few yards.
"Get off me Rath!" Cuerena heard Zan call out angrily.
"Make me!" Rath replied.
"You're such a baby, Zan," Lonni taunted.
"Get off right now or you'll be sorry and you too Lonni!"
Cuerena entered the room just in time to see Rath holding the smaller Zan to the floor with a knee in his chest, as Lonni egged him on.
"What are you going do, you big baby?" Lonni said in a singsong tone.
Suddenly a burst of power erupted from Zan, throwing Rath across the room and knocking Lonni to the ground. Zan and Rath got up at the same time and Rath rushed toward Zan.
Seemingly unconcerned, Zan watched Rath running at him with a raised hand.
But Cuerena interceded, stepping between them and grabbed Rath's hand before he could follow through with his intended action. "Stop."
She had always felt strange disciplining the children because she had been raised to respect her station in life, but she couldn't let Rath's behavior go unchecked. "Rath, Lonni, this is unacceptable behavior. Zan is our King and we must show him respect."
Rath glared at them, but under Cuerena's gaze and a nudge from Lonni, he finally relented with a small bow of his head. "I'm sorry, your Majesty," he said stiffly.
Lonni held her head high. "Sorry, Zan. We just got carried away."
Zan accepted their apology and Ava rushed forward, from where she had been hiding, to fuss over him.
Cuerena entered the makeshift kitchen and started to put the groceries away. Lonni and Rath were getting more willful and disrespectful with each passing month and she wished she knew how to handle the situation better. This hadn't been the first time she'd had to separate the boys. It seemed as if they were always fighting, Rath constantly challenging Zan's position as leader. She couldn't let Rath harm Zan but she knew he would never respect Zan if she kept interceding.
Zan had always been smaller and quieter than Rath, who seemed to attack everything with the same head-on stubbornness. But Zan had surprised her today with his power. She had not known he possessed the strength or the control his action required, she just hoped it gained him some ground in the battle. If Rath respected or feared Zan's powers enough, he would back off.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(February 27th, 1993)
The burst of blue light that emitted from the orb surprised Cuerena more than she would have thought possible. She and the other shape shifters had agreed to maintain complete communicator silence except in emergencies and she was worried about what could have prompted them to contact her.
Cuerena crossed to the table where the orb was sitting. It was lucky the children were out playing so she didn't have to explain what was going on. She picked it up and pushed a stream of energy into it, to retrieve the message.
A blue light floated into the air before her and transformed into a human woman. At first Cuerena was confused but the woman's words quickly revealed the truth.
If you are seeing me now, it means that you are alive and well. I take this form because it will be familiar to you, and it will help you to understand what I am about to say. You have lived before. You perished in the conflict that enslaves our planet but your essence was duplicated, cloned, and mixed with human genetic materials so that you might be recreated...
Cuerena listened to the entire message and then she passed her hand over the orb, erasing it permanently from the memory. It was not meant for her charges and there was no reason for them to hear it.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(May 15th, 1997)
Ava looked across the dinner table at Zan with a sigh. She had loved Zan her entire life but he had never returned her affections. When they had first come out of the pods Cuerena had told them about their destiny and since then Ava had been waiting for Zan to acknowledge her place in his life. They were great friends but any time she mentioned their future together, Zan pushed the subject aside. Over the years, Ava had grown more impatient and now that they were fourteen, she felt it was time to move past mere friendship.
Rath and Lonni had accepted their destiny eagerly, coupling with the ferocity of wild animals even at their young age, and Ava had to admit she was jealous of the close relationship they shared. And Lonni and Rath often teased her about not being able to capture Zan's interest. Ava wished she could simply use her powers on Zan to make him see her like she wanted but they had practiced together so many times that Zan could tell when she was using her powers. He was far more powerful than she, and easily blocked her attempts to use her powers, so she had no effect on him.
Ava had reminded Zan many times of their duty and it hadn't done any good, but then her eyes fell on their protector and an idea suddenly came to her. "Cuerena," she started casually, "tell us again about how connections are formed."
If Cuerena noticed anything odd in her request, she didn't show it and started the story she had told them before. "Most of our people, who possess power, are able to make some form of connection through touch. Some of these connections are weak and some are strong, it usually depends on the amount and type of powers the participants have. The connections are stronger if there is some kind of common bond between the participants such as a family relationship or friendship or a romantic involvement.”
“Almost all of our people with power are able to form connections through sexual intercourse. These connections are the strongest because the participants’ consciences momentarily merge and unlike other types of bonds, it is difficult if not impossible to hide anything from one another. Most connections are temporary and can only be reestablished through physical contact, but in some rare cases the connections are particularly strong and are always open between participants. They can speak to one another telepathically and send emotions and sometimes images, and some are active even across great distances."
Cuerena continued but Zan rose from the table, having heard enough, and left the dwelling. He walked quickly, confidently navigating the disused sewer and subway tunnels, until he reached his special place. Zan had found it when he had been exploring a few years ago, and now he went there whenever he needed some time alone.
It was an abandoned subway station that had been built in the thirties and was elegantly decorated with murals, tile work and colored glass. The ceiling rose twenty feet above his head, formed of interlocking arches that were supported by ornately carved columns. The light fixtures were made of colored glass and when Zan used his powers to illuminated them, a rainbow of colors and patterns danced along the planes and curves of the walls and ceiling. To Zan it was a magical place where he often indulged in daydreams, most of which included his dream girl.
He would pretend the station was a ballroom in a faraway palace, filled with ladies in swirling gowns and men in stately uniforms. And as he stood observing from the sidelines, the dancers would occasionally part, revealing to him glimpses of a beautiful girl with long brown hair in a sapphire-blue gown, standing across the room. He would duck and bob attempting to see her more clearly but she always seemed just out of his reach, disappearing behind the twirling couples.
Frustrated, he would finally walk across the dance floor, ignoring the strange looks his breach of protocol earned him, and boldly take his dream girl by the hand. They would say nothing to one another, not even exchanging names, and he would lead her onto the dance floor, the other couples automatically parting for them as he took her into his arms. The two of them would dance the night away, losing track of the time because they were only focused on each other.
With a sigh, Zan sank down onto the sofa he had made from an old bench. It was a beautiful dream, but he had never shared it with anyone because he knew they wouldn't understand. If Rath or Lonni found out, he would never hear the end of it. Zan the romantic, the dreamer, they would mock. And what would Ava say if she found out he was daydreaming about someone other than her?
He had heard the lectures from Cuerena, Ava and the others about their destiny more times than he could remember, but it just didn't feel right to him. Cuerena had told him he and Ava were married in their other life, but in this life the feelings he had for her didn't go beyond friendship.
He knew what love felt like because he had been in love since he was nine years old. Unfortunately the girl who had captured his heart was not real, but she had visited his dreams almost every night over the years. Sometimes he would simply get a glimpse of her or only hear her soft laughter, but other times she came to him and chased away his loneliness and fears. He had never actually seen her face but they had a connection like the ones Cuerena had described. He could feel her emotions and hear her voice even when she didn't speak.
But she wasn't real and he knew he would have to face that. He was fourteen and a King and as he grew older, he knew the others would expect more and more from him. They were pressing him to accept his destiny and he didn't feel like he had any other choice. And no matter how much he loved his dream girl, no matter how perfect they were for each other, his dream girl was just that, a dream. She was someone his unconscious had invented to fill the empty spaces in his heart.
A noise drew Zan's attention to the tunnel and he watched Ava emerge from the darkness. Zan felt a slash of disappointment because she had found his special place but knew it was his own fault for being careless enough that she had been able to follow.
He sat silent, as Ava crossed to him, noting her confidence. Ava had accepted that they were meant to be together since they had first been told. She had never questioned it.
"Can I sit down?" she asked.
Zan scooted over making a space for her. "Sure."
Ava sat and looked at Zan. She had followed him because she had assumed he was upset. "Do you wanna talk about it?"
Zan shook his head, "No." How would he explain to Ava he could never love her because he was in love with a dream? She wouldn't understand and he didn't want to hurt her.
They sat in silence for a few minutes and Ava started to get nervous. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea for her to follow Zan. He seemed so sad and her presence didn't seem to be helping. She couldn't imagine what was wrong and she wondered if he wanted to be alone. "Do you want me to leave?"
Zan studied her face, seeing the nervousness and uncertainty creep in. He didn’t want to hurt Ava, she was his only real friend and ally. He had to accept his destiny, but in order to do that, he also had to accept that he wasn't meant to be happy.
Zan shook his head, and answered her with a sad smile. "No."
Ava scooted closer to him with a smile, placing a hand on his shoulder, sure that Zan was finally coming around.
Zan didn't move as Ava closed the distance between them and pressed her lips to his, but he squeezed his eyes shut to stop the tears that suddenly threatened. He knew this had to happen but he felt his heart break because he was betraying his love.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(April 12th, 1998)
Since they were children, Lonni had become more and more resentful that her little brother was King simply because he was male. She was the older sibling, she was just as smart and capable as Zan if not more so because Zan had the annoying habit of worrying about right and wrong according to human terms. But they weren't human and Lonni didn't feel they had to live by human rules. Occasionally she could get Zan to see that and those were the times they were the closest, but he always got caught up in his conscience in the end.
She and Rath understood one another better than she and her brother ever had, probably because of their connection. They had become lovers at fourteen and even though the connection hadn't formed for almost a year afterward, it had helped bind them together. Lonni was able to read Rath's emotions and she was able to speak in his head, and even though he couldn't do the same to her, they had developed a kind of mental shorthand that allowed them to work together like a well-oiled machine. Also in their favor was the one major interest they had in common.
Lonni often thought it seemed like a small thing to base a relationship on, but their common goal and mutual lust had so far been enough. Both of them disliked Zan and resented the fact he was in charge but even together they weren't strong enough to take Zan on. Most of the time, Lonni and Rath acted like the loyal sister and friend they were suppose to be, but from time to time they would test Zan to see if they were strong enough to oppose him.
Over the years they were becoming stronger, but so was Zan, and Lonni could see they would never win going directly against him. Any plan to get rid of Zan would have to include a surprise attack. There was also the additional problem of their protector. Cuerena supported Zan in whatever he decided and she would have to be dealt with before they could move on Zan.
But Lonni was patient and they had time. They just had to wait until the time was right and they would take out the shape shifter and Zan.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(August 5th, 1998)
Zan rounded the bend in the hedge maze just in time to see the dark-haired girl disappear around the corner ahead, her soft giggle urging him after her. He hurried down the path but rounded the next corner even farther behind her, only catching a glimpse of the white dress she wore as it disappeared around the next wall. He ran faster and faster but she was always ahead of him, just out of reach.
Around the next corner, Zan skidded to a halt as three paths opened before him and he had no idea which direction his dream girl had gone. He quickly searched for any sign of her but seeing none, he called out playfully, "Where are you?"
A soft giggle echoed and he turned toward the sound.
"Zan," she called out.
With a smile, he ran down the left path and continued around a few more turns before emerging into the center of the maze, where he stopped, suddenly breathless.
The girl sat on a stone bench with her back to him, her long hair and gauzy white dress swirling in the warm breeze, and Zan thought he had never seen anything so beautiful. As he slowly approached, he noticed the slight golden glow illuminating the skin of her exposed arms and shoulders, and he reached out to touch her. He trailed a light hand down the soft skin of her arm, causing a more intense glow to trail after his touch, and when he reached her hand, their fingers intertwined.
At that moment he had never wanted anything more than to kiss her and as if she heard his thoughts she whispered, "Close your eyes."
He reached up with his free hand and touched the side of her face. "Let me see you. Please, just once."
He briefly felt her sorrow, and again she said, "Zan, close your eyes."
This time he obeyed immediately and was rewarded with the sweet touch of her lips on his own. It was over too briefly and he reached for her, but his hands only met empty air, and when he opened his eyes, he was in his own bed.
Zan could still feel the touch of her lips on his, so different than kissing Ava, and with a sigh whispered, "My love."
Unknown to him, Ava was awake in her bed just a few feet away and heard his words.
She sighed sadly, somehow knowing he wasn't dreaming about her. Even though they were together, Ava had never felt the type of closeness with him that she expected, that she craved. It always seemed as if Zan were holding a part of himself back from her, and no matter what she did, she would never really know him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(October 17, 1998)
Rath watched Ava across the table with a growing sense of annoyance. The diminutive blonde had whined and pouted all through dinner, doing anything to gain Zan’s attention.
Rath had resented Ava for years, feeling she didn’t deserve to be the Queen of their planet. She was weak, pathetic. Ava seemed to have no thoughts of her own, no opinions, simply content to echo whatever Zan wanted. She seemed to live her entire life for Zan, only defining herself as an extension of him.
But the joke was on Ava, Rath thought, because even though Zan was with her, Rath could tell Zan didn’t love her. It was painfully obvious to Rath that Zan was simply with her because he thought was his duty.
Rath and Lonni had often joked about Ava privately and teased her when Zan wasn’t around. Lonni had more contempt for Ava than he did and Rath followed Lonni’s lead in his treatment of Ava.
Finally Zan left the table, telling them he wanted some time alone. Rath waited until he was out of the room before he threw a french fry at Ava. “See that retard?” he asked, motioning to the door where Zan had left. “You’re so worthless even your own husband doesn’t want you. Why don’t you get a life instead of living his?”
“Shut up, Rath,” Ava huffed. “Zan loves me.”
Rath rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(March 2nd, 1999)
Lonni awoke with a start. She'd had the dream again.
Memories of their other life had always encroached into Lonni's sleep but they had only been glimpses, fleeting images, feelings. In the last few days however, the memories had started to come to her when she was awake and they were more clear, more solid. One memory held her interest more than the others but it always ended before she could see the outcome.
There was a beautiful golden-haired man and they had been in love, but so far she had been unable to remember who he was. The images and emotions of the dream still lingered in her head and she quickly shut her eyes, concentrating on them, trying to pull the truth from the dream.
She could see herself in an elegant room, enjoying the attention of the handsome suitors who surrounded her. She was Princess Vilondra. Every man in the kingdom desired her and every woman envied her. She wore the most elegant gowns and the most wondrous jewels, her style setting the fashion for the entire kingdom. She danced with one partner after another, giving attention to all but preference to none, twirling around the room, her golden beauty drawing all eyes to her.
The memory slowly faded to be replaced by another.
She and a male companion were walking along a path in a garden, softly illuminated by the light of the moons. She turned toward him and his face was revealed to her as he stepped closer, out of the shadows. She traced his handsome features with her fingertips and he pressed her hand to his lips. She shivered with reaction, anticipating the feeling of his lips on hers and as she raised her head to accept his kiss, she whispered his name. "Khivar."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(July 25th, 1999)
Cuerena ended her lesson and the others left the room but Zan kept his seat. Once again their protector had told them about the situation on Antar but when Zan had started to ask questions, she had carefully diverted to other topics, and Zan realized it wasn't for the first time.
Whenever he asked how the plan to send them to Earth had been conceived or how and when they were to return to Antar, she claimed ignorance. Cuerena had always told them they held the answers, and eventually they would remember, but Zan had no memories from his other life and as far as he knew, neither did the others. They wouldn't know anything about their world if Cuerena hadn't told them.
She claimed they were royalty and maybe it was true, but for over a year Zan had known they weren't being told the whole truth. There were just too many things that seemed wrong. They had no memories of the past, no ship, no alien weapons or artifacts and only one protector, who seemed to be ignorant of much of the plan.
But Zan trusted Cuerena. She seemed sincere and obviously cared for them but maybe she had been ordered not to reveal certain things to them. Then the obvious question was, who had given her the orders?
Cuerena looked at Zan. "Do you have a question about the lesson?"
Zan studied her for a moment. Perhaps everything she was doing was for their own good, but he still had doubts. He just knew so little about the situation. "What was your life like on Antar?"
The question took Cuerena completely by surprise. "What do you mean, Zan?"
He shrugged, not really sure where he was going, but was suddenly interested. "Did you know me?"
Cuerena shook her head, "No, not really. I was a scientist in your employ."
"You weren't a protector?" Zan asked surprised.
"All shape-shifters are engineered to serve," Cuerena explained. "I had the protector training we all receive, but it was determined that my natural ability for science would be wasted as a protector."
"So why were you sent with us?"
"I volunteered."
Zan absorbed the information with a nod. "Cuerena, I know you aren't telling me everything. Why are you keeping things from us?"
Cuerena's instant reaction was denial but instead she curiously asked, "How do you know I'm not telling you everything?"
Zan shrugged, "It's just a feeling I have. What you do tell me feels like the truth, but it isn't everything."
Cuerena sighed, "I don't wish to keep things from you, but when you conceived of the plan, you laid it out in a very specific way. I am simply following the orders of your former self."
"And if I ordered you to reveal everything?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"I would have to refuse."
Zan nodded his understanding and Cuerena left. He knew she meant her revelations to be comforting but they had been just the opposite. His former self had engineered their lives so they would be ignorant and Zan wondered what terrible secret he hadn't wanted them to know.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Cuerena's thoughts turned to Zan as she entered her quarters. He put up a good front for the others but she had seen through it for years. Whenever he thought he was alone or thought no one was watching, he let down his guard. Zan developed his powers and did his lessons but he was miserable in his life and Cuerena had figured out that the main reason was, he didn't love Ava.
Zan always tried to do the right thing and he and Ava were together as a couple as they were supposed to be, and she could see that Ava was mostly happy with the arrangement. And even though Zan did and said all of the right things, Cuerena knew the smile he wore never came close to touching his eyes or his heart. She wished there were something she could do to help him but she didn't know how.
Cuerena sighed. These clones had been made to be expendable and even though she knew she shouldn't have let herself come to care for them, she had. But she couldn't let her concern jeopardize the mission and she pushed the tender feelings to the back of her mind and concentrated on staying detached.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(September 16th, 1999)
Once Lonni had discovered how to bring her memories out, she spent a great deal of time trying to remember everything she could about her other life. There were a lot of things she couldn't remember and some of the memories were still very vague, only disjointed images and sounds, but she could remember her love for Khivar and her elegant life as a princess, and she wanted that back. But while she was trying to recover memories from her life, she had discovered something totally unexpected about Ava.
Lonni had not uncovered the whole truth about her brother's adoring wife, but the bits and pieces she did remember, definitely proved that Ava was not what she seemed. Lonni had laughed aloud when she had unraveled the memories, anticipating torturing the other girl with the information. Lonni had disliked Ava since they were children because she was always following Zan around and sticking up for him. Ava seemed to have no opinions of her own, only echoing what others said and Lonni had found that Ava was easy to manipulate and enjoyed tricking her to voice opinions she knew would make Zan angry. And it never failed to amuse her when she had made Ava cry.
But now that Lonni knew the truth about Ava's past, she could use it to turn Zan permanently from her. She anticipated Zan's reaction to the news with a cruel smile, but her calculating side immediately came to the front. If she used the information now, it would be fun, but it could be more valuable in the future and Lonni decided to keep it to herself.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode – Pilot)
(September 19th, 1999)
Zan ran as fast as he could, dodging trees and bushes, pushing branches out of his way. The soft golden light was receding into the distance at an alarming speed and a dense black fog rushed in to fill the places the light had abandoned. Zan was propelled by a sense of urgency he couldn't account for, only knowing he had to reach the light.
"My love," he called out, fearful something might happen to her. But she didn't stop or even slow her pace and he pushed on at an even greater speed.
The trees became more and more dense, their rough branches clawing at him as he ran, but he was unmindful of the small injuries. The fog swirled around him, obscuring the ground but still he raced on.
The trees became so dense that Zan was forced to slow his pace and the encroaching darkness grabbed at him, surrounded him, trying to suck him in. He struggled against it but it was too strong and rapidly overwhelmed him, pulling him to his knees. Then the blackness rushed past him, quickly obscuring everything until the soft golden light was all he could see.
Zan waited for the light to grow and chase the darkness away, as it had so many times before but he could see instantly that something was wrong. The light flickered as if it were a candle in a strong wind, stuttering alarmingly for a handful of moments, keeping rhythm to the beat of his heart, and then it was gone.
"NO!" he cried, struggling furiously to reach the place where the light had been, but the darkness held him fast. He lashed out with his power, wildly pushing everything away from him and suddenly he was free. Crossing to where the light had been, he collapsed to his knees to find only a single glowing ember that was rapidly dying.
"My love," he whispered, as he carefully gathered it in his hands. "Don't leave me."
He pushed his healing power into it, and for a moment felt a blinding pain slash through his abdomen, but when it was gone the ember's glow started to intensify. It burned brighter and brighter, growing in strength, chasing away every trace of the darkness until only he and the light remained. Slowly the outline of his love was discernable in the illumination and she reached out to touch his face.
Through the light Zan could see her smile, visible to him for the first time.
Suddenly Zan jolted awake, sweat covering him, knowing he had almost lost the person who was the most important to him. And even though she wasn't real, he didn't know if he could live with himself if she had died.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
END OF BOOK 5 - ERSATZ HEIRS (THE DUPES)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
In BOOK 6
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
BOOK 6 - CAUSATIVE RELATIVITY (THE PROBLEM OF LIZ)
caus-a-tive -
1 : effective or operating as a cause or agent
2 : a subject causes an action to be performed or a condition to come into being
rel-a-tiv-i-ty -
1 : the state of being dependent for existence on, or determined in nature, value, or quality by relation to something else
2 : a theory in physics that considers mass and energy to be equivalent and predicts changes in mass, dimension and time
DISCLAIMER: Some of the dialogue used was taken from the episodes and I am not claiming credit for having written it but used it simply to set up the tone of a scene or show parallels between lives and realities.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: It has always seemed like such a coincidence that the shooting in the Crashdown was the thing to set the whole series of events into motion. But what if it wasn't a coincidence? What if events, in a timeline that we never knew anything about, unraveled so that the shooting was forced to happen? A set of circumstances that led to someone deliberately wanting Liz dead, for very specific reasons.
This is a depiction of those events, an original timeline that was never even suspected because no one lived to tell the tale.
Wrap your mind around this - Originally the shooting does not happen, so Liz, Maria and Alex do not find out about Max, Michael and Isabel. The Sheriff is not suspicious of them and the FBI is never involved, no Pierce or Topolsky. Max does not work at the UFO Museum. The aliens don't know about Atherton, River Dog, Brody, the dupes, the skins, Nasedo, Tess or their destiny and they continue with their lives as 'normal' teenagers. None of the events from season 1 or 2 happen except as depicted below.
All dates are shown and a complete time line is included that shows when each event took place. I have labeled the scenes with Episode Equivalent Titles to show the reader the timing of events in relation to the timing of the episodes that aired.
The events surrounding the episode Independence Day happened as they aired with the exceptions depicted here. Of course Maria and Liz were not involved in any way.
P.S: I had to throw in a "parents conveniently out-of-town" scenario. It's just too classic.
WARNING:
Multiple character death - but since it is an alternate time line, it isn't permanent.
CREDITS: Star Trek and The Brady Bunch are the property of Paramount
I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore is by REO Speedwagon
My Favorite Martian is the property of William Morris & Disney
Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowlings & Scholastic Publishing Inc.
DEFINITIONS:
legion - a unit of soldiers containing 5000 men
trithium amplification generator - aka amplifier - the black, chevron-shaped device that is used by the Skins for communication and suspending the powers of Antarians among other things.
NAGGING QUESTIONS:
1. Would Nasedo have ever found the Pod Squad if Liz hadn’t been shot?
2. Was Liz's shooting an accident?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
WHO'S WHO & NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Book 6 - Causative Relativity (The Problem of Liz)
EARTH
Humans
Liz Parker - the girl that Max Evans loved at first sight
Jeff Parker - Liz's father - owns the Crashdown Cafe
Nancy Parker - Liz's mother
Grandma Claudia Parker - Liz's paternal grandmother
Philip Evans - Max and Isabel's adoptive father - he is a lawyer
Diane Evans - Max and Isabel's adoptive mother
Maria DeLuca - Liz's best friend
Amy DeLuca - Maria's mother - owns a novelty store specializing in alien merchandise
Alex Whitman - Liz and Maria's best friend
Chuck (Charles) Whitman - Alex's father
Gloria Whitman - Alex's mother
Kyle Valenti - Liz's boyfriend
Sheriff Jim Valenti Jr. - Sheriff of Roswell - Kyle's father
Grant Sorensen - geologist - possessed by the Ganderium Queen
Laurie Dupree - Granddaughter of Charles Dupree (Michael's DNA donor) - kidnapped by the Ganderium Queen because of a rare gene flaw
Shape Shifters Loyal to the Royal Four
Nasedo - Sodan - Sam Morgan - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot, special skill - heat and energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics, captured by the special unit and killed
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert, special skills - illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Tic Tac - Kaldar - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat, special skill - empath
- injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
Skins
Nicholas Crawford - General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Khivar's right hand and head general
Tyrone Greer - T. Greer - Major Grester - Head of the Vilondra Project
Walt Crawford - Colonel Jafto - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Ida Crawford - Idos - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
Gregory Jensen - Gragras - (gra-gras) - the scientist in charge of the skins project
Corporal Raltos - one of the soldiers prepared for Khivar to possess on Earth
Captain Evos - soldier in charge of the skins stationed in Boston
Hybrids
Max Evans - Zan
Isabel Evans - Vilondra
Michael Guerin - Rath
Tess Harding - Alyssa Morgan
The Dupes
Zan - Max's dupe
Lonni - Isabel's dupe
Rath - Michael's dupe
Ava - Tess' dupe
Possessed Humans
Grant Sorensen - Ganderium Queen
ANTAR
Tageions (tauj'-ee-ons) - people inhabiting the north lands
King Zantor Tageonant (tauj'-o-nant) - (Zan) - Max - the rightful King of Antar
Queen Avalynd Telnada Tageonant - (Ava) - Zan's young bride
Royal Princess Vilondra Tageonant - Isabel - Zan’s sister
Tageonon (tauj'-o-non) - the capitol city of Antar, where the king's palace is located
Sodan (so-dan) – Nasedo - Sam Morgan - Zan's most trusted protector
Jensto (jens-toe) - a scientist in Zan's employ
General Alarath Varros (Rath) - Michael - Zan's best friend and second in command
Kaldar - Rath's most trusted protector
Harcions (Har-see-ons) - people inhabiting the south lands
Khivar Roistar (roys'-tar) - man who usurped Zan's throne
General Calles Nicaron (kal-ees) (ni-ca'-ron) - Nicholas - Khivar's right hand and head general
Major Grester - T. Greer - Head of the Vilondra Project
Colonel Jafto - Walt Crawford - Nicholas' second in command, posing as his father
Idos - Ida Crawford - Nicholas' personal servant, posing as his mother
Corporal Raltos - one of the soldiers prepared for Khivar to possess on Earth
Captain Evos - soldier in charge of the skins stationed in Boston
Roistar (roys'-tar) - formerly Tageonon, Khivar changed the name when he assumed the throne
The Leptes (the Antarian word for Vengeance) - the ship Khivar sent to Earth with Nicholas and the skins
Shape Shifters sent to Earth with the Pods
Sodan - Nasedo - Sam Morgan - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat and a pilot - special ability energy blasts
Letras - (le-tras) - Zan's former tutor, expert in philosophy, history and military tactics - captured by the special unit and died
Cuerena (soor'-ren-ya) - scientist and Granolith expert - special ability illusion - assigned the dupes protector
Kaldar - Tic Tac - expert in hand-to-hand and weapons combat - special ability empath - injured by the humans and has terrible headaches when he uses his powers
Leaders of the other planets in the Antarian system
Larek - Brody - Royal Duke of Talros (tal'-ros)
Hanar - Minister of Sofek (so-fec')
Sero - Chancellor of Yedom (yea'-dom)
Kathana - Royal Duchess of Ravok (ra'-voc)
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
PART 1
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Pilot)
(Sunday, September 19th, 1999)
(Crashdown Cafe)
Liz approached the couple at the table with two plates, "Okay, I have got one Sigourney Weaver, that's for you. And one Will Smith. Can I get you guys anything else? Green Martian Shake? Blood of Alien smoothie?"
"No, thanks. We're good," replied the man.
Liz took in their appearance. Out-of-towners, she thought to herself, and alien nuts. "Are you guys here for the crash festival?"
"Yeah, can't wait," said the man. A speculative gleam entered his eye and he rapidly followed with, "So, does your family come from Roswell?”
Liz smiled. Definitely alien nuts. "Just four generations," she replied innocently, knowing exactly the subject that interested him.
"Uh, well, does anyone in your family have stories about the UFO crash?" asked the man eagerly.
"Well, I guess it would be okay to show you guys this," Liz said. Looking around furtively, she took a photo out of her pocket depicting a fake alien and showed it to them.
Maria walked past with a coffee pot, shaking her head and smiling at the gullibility of the public.
Liz continued with her tale, "My grandmother took this picture at the crash sight right before the government cleaned it up." The tourists, she noted, were definitely hooked.
"Do people know about this photograph?"
"Well, I know about it, and now you know about it." Liz turned to leave but added mysteriously, "I'm gonna be right back, don't show that to anyone."
"No." they quickly agreed.
Liz and Maria walked sedately to the cash register but as soon as they were out of earshot Maria burst, no longer able to contain her laughter. "You are sooo bad, girl!” She looked over Liz’s shoulder. “Oh, and Max Evans is staring at you again."
"No way, Maria," Liz said. She took a quick glance in Max's direction, they locked eyes briefly and he looked away. “That is so in your imagination." Liz shook her head, certain that someone as smart and handsome as Max would not be interested in her. "Max Evans?" she said, gesturing to her face. "This? No, uh-uh."
Maria jokingly pinched her cheeks. "And with those cheeks! Preciosita tan linda!"
"Maria!" Liz laughed at her friend, "And, and even if it were, I'm going out with Kyle. I mean, he's steady and loyal, and he appreciates me."
Maria frowned. "Sounds like you're describing a poodle."
Their attention was diverted to two large men who were arguing loudly.
"I was here to get my money today not tomorrow," yelled one man as he stood.
The other man jumped to his feet, pulling a gun. "You won't need the money if you are dead," he shouted.
The first man grabbed the gun and they struggled for control.
Gasps of surprise and screams echoed through the diner and everyone dropped to the floor. The men, surprised the argument has gotten so out of hand, and fearful of being arrested, quickly left the diner.
Everyone, still stunned, slowly got up from the floor. Max looked toward Liz to see if she was all right, but she was already trying to calm some of the patrons.
Michael grabbed his arm. "Max, let's get out of here. The police will come and we don't want to be here when they start nosing around."
"Yeah, you're right," Max agreed. They quickly headed for the door but Max took one last look behind him at the girl he loved.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Monsters)
(Wednesday, October 13th, 1999)
(West Roswell High School)
Song playing: Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls
Max watched as Kyle straddled the bench next to Liz and covered her eyes with his hands. She leaned back into him laughing, and Max looked away, feeling jealousy twist in his gut like a knife. He had loved Liz since he had first seen her in third grade but because of his differences he knew they could never be together.
He had often wondered what it would be like to be with Liz and live a normal life, fantasizing about what it would be like to spend time with her. He envied Kyle and any other guy who was lucky enough to experience the simple joys of laughing and talking with her, smelling the fresh scent of her hair, touching the soft skin of her cheek and kissing her sweet lips.
Max turned his attention back to where Liz and Kyle were sitting. He hated watching Liz with another man but he could never be with her in the way he wanted. He would have to be satisfied with being her friend and dreaming of what could have been if he were a different person in a different lifetime.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Leaving Normal)
(Friday, October 22nd, 1999)
(West Roswell High School)
Max glanced at the empty chair next to him again. It was unlike Liz to miss class. Yesterday she had seemed distracted, detached and he had wondered if something was wrong. He had asked her if she was okay and she had told him she was fine. The tone of her voice had told him she wasn't really fine but he didn't feel they were close enough for him to question her further.
The bell rang and Max was the first one out of the door, immediately heading for Maria's locker. She wasn’t there when he arrived and he used the time to come up with a plausible excuse for his curiosity. He opened his notebook and waved his hand over a blank page, copying the notes he had taken in Biology class.
He tore it out of his notebook just as Maria approached her locker. He took a deep breath and walked over. "Hey Maria."
Maria looked somewhat surprised to see him but she greeted him warmly. "Hey Max. How's it going?"
"Good," Max said nodding, not quite sure how to start. "Fine. I'm fine." Maria was looking at him expectantly and he continued nervously. "Um, Liz wasn't in Biology today and I thought she would want the notes," he said, thrusting the paper in her direction. "You'll see her later and you could give it to her. I mean if you're working."
Maria took the paper from him with a smile. "Thanks Max but you could have given it to her yourself. You are coming to the Crashdown after school like usual, aren't you?"
Max stuffed his free hand deep into his jeans pocket and suddenly became interested in the spot on the floor he was scuffing with the toe of his shoe. "Um, yeah but I though she might be sick or something."
"Oh, you didn't hear," Maria said softly. "Liz's grandma had a stroke, and it doesn't look like she’ll make it. Liz has been spending a lot of time with her at the hospital."
Max's eyes snapped back to Maria's face. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. Is Liz okay?"
Maria shook her head. "She and her grandma are really close and Liz is taking it pretty hard."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Later that night)
(Roswell Memorial Hospital)
Song Playing: Higher Love by Steve Winwood
Max wasn't sure why he had come to the hospital that evening, he just needed to be near Liz. He watched unseen as Liz and her parents emerged from the room in intensive care with tears in their eyes and he knew Liz's grandmother had passed away. He longed to comfort her but they didn't have that kind of relationship, they were barely more than acquaintances.
Liz's parents left with a doctor while she stayed alone in the waiting room and turned toward the window to look out into the night. She couldn't believe her grandma was dead. It seemed so unfair that someone who loved life so much could be taken away so quickly.
Liz felt guilty that she hadn’t spent more time with her grandmother on this visit but she was grateful for the time they had been together. Just before the stroke, she and her grandma had talked and Liz would cherish that time for the rest of her life. Her grandma had given her a piece of advice that she intended to live by, 'Follow your heart.'"
Max could see that Liz needed to be alone and he felt as if he were intruding. He quietly moved to go past her and toward the exit, pausing to take one last glance at her.
Liz saw a movement in the reflection in the window and turned expecting her parents, but instead she was surprised to see Max. She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and managed a small smile. "Hi Max."
Max winced at the pain that was evident in her voice. "Hi Liz."
"What are you doing here?"
He quickly searched for an appropriate answer. "I uh, I'm visiting a friend." he said, not wanting to lie to her. "Um, Maria told me about your grandmother."
Liz nodded, tears filling her eyes again. "She just passed away."
Max stepped forward his hands extended, aching to comfort her. "I'm sorry Liz." Realizing what he was doing, he stopped a couple of steps away and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Liz smiled at him sadly. "Thanks. It's just... it was so sudden."
"Maria said you were close."
"Yeah,” Liz nodded. “She was one of my best friends."
"Really?" he asked softly. "What kinds of things did you to do together?"
"She is the one who introduced me to science." Liz smiled remembering. "She encouraged me to be whatever I wanted to be. She said the possibilities were endless." Liz met Max’s eyes. "She was an incredible woman and I hope I can be like her."
Max smiled, "She has a pretty incredible granddaughter."
Liz searched Max's face as if seeing him for the first time. "Thank you Max." She impulsively closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around him pulling him into a quick embrace. "Thank you for what you said. I'm glad you're my friend."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Thu Jan 20, 2005 5:35 pm, edited 3 times in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
Michael walked into the trailer, noting that Hank was drunk and quickly ducked into his room to avoid a confrontation. He collapsed onto his bed but Hank followed him, looking for a fight. "I told you to do the wash," Hank ordered.
"I'll do it later," Michael said dismissively.
Hank came further into the room, standing over the bed threateningly. "Today."
"I'm not your maid," Michael snapped.
"Oh, you're right. You're good for nothing. Do the wash now."
"Go to hell, Hank," Michael said as he left the room.
But Hank was warming to his topic and followed him. "No wonder your parents left you out in the desert. Who'd want ya?"
"Who are you, father of the year?" Michael sneered. "You're a man who keeps me around just to collect the monthly check!"
Max and Isabel stopped the Jeep in front of the trailer and heard raised voices from inside. Worried for Michael's safety, Max burst into the trailer followed closely by Isabel.
Michael was surprised to see them and a bit embarrassed that they had caught Hank at his worst. "What are you guys doing here?"
Isabel eyed Hank suspiciously. "We heard some yelling."
"What's going on?" Max asked.
"Just get out, all right?" Michael said, not wanting them to get involved.
Hank looked Isabel up and down. "Well hello dolly."
Michael came to her defense, "Shut up, Hank."
Hank ignored him. "Wanna have a drink with me?"
Michael stepped closer to Isabel. "She doesn't want a drink."
Hank's gaze turned toward Michael. "Who the hell are you, her lawyer?"
Michael tried to calm the situation, hoping to keep Max and Isabel out of it. "Leave her alone, Hank, all right?"
But Hank, fueled by the alcohol, was eager to fight. "I asked her a question. I'm waiting for her answer."
"Here's your answer," Isabel answered sweetly. She took the drink that he offered and threw it at him. "If you ever touch Michael again, I will kill you!"
Hank was enraged and grabbed his gun, pointing it at Max and Isabel. "You're gonna kill me? I don't think so!"
Max raised his hands and tried to calm the irrational man. "Just take it easy. We're going."
Michael stepped between Hank, Max and Isabel, raised his hand and unleashed his untamed power toward Hank. For a moment, a chair wobbled and then slid across the floor and slammed into a wall, shattering it to pieces. The refrigerator doors opened and closed, the lights dimmed and brightened, and a wind swirled loose papers around the room. Hank's gun started to shake, jerkily it pointed away from the three and discharged.
Hank was stunned by what had happened. "What the hell?!?" He turned to Michael, "Oh, you little bastard. You're a freak. I always knew it. You're a freak!"
Max turned toward the door. "Michael, let's go."
Isabel grabbed Michael by the arm. "Michael, we have to go. Now, Michael!"
Michael looked one last time at the only home he had ever known and reluctantly followed them out the door. And once they were outside he turned to them accusingly. "Congratulations, you made it worse. Now he knows."
Isabel tried to make him see reason. "Michael, Hank was so drunk, he's not gonna know what he saw and he sure as hell isn't gonna remember it in the morning."
"Isabel, I can't go back there," Michael said, trying to explain.
"Good," Isabel countered.
"You just don't get it, do you?" Michael asked, getting angrier. "I know Hank's a jerk, but that's the only thing I had, and now you guys screwed that up for good."
Max spoke up for the first time. "Look, just come back with us for now."
Michael shook his head, "Max, for how long? I mean, two days, three days. What's that gonna do? I..."
Max cut him off, "We'll figure something out."
"Max, I don't belong there. I don't belong there. I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere." He got out of the Jeep and started walking away.
"Where are you going?"
Michael kept walking, without looking back he called over his shoulder, "Doesn't matter."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Independence Day)
(Thursday, February 16th, 2000)
(West Roswell High School)
The next morning Michael's concentration was suffering as he tried to take an exam and he let himself be distracted by the sound of the door opening. He was surprised to see a deputy enter the classroom, who spoke in a low voice to his teacher, and more surprised when his teacher looked in his direction.
"Michael."
The deputy motioned for Michael to follow him and they walked down the hall to a room where Sheriff Valenti was waiting.
The Sheriff motioned for him to have a seat and Michael complied nervously. He shifted in the chair trying to make himself more comfortable. "What is this about Sheriff?"
"Last night some of your neighbors reported hearing gunshots."
"I don't know anything about that," Michael denied a little too quickly.
"But you were there last night?" the Sheriff asked.
Michael shook his head, "No, but I went home to get some stuff."
"What time was that?"
"Um," he said thinking, and then realized what the Sheriff was asking. "Does it matter?"
"Well, not really," said Sheriff Valenti. "We have Hank in custody for illegally discharging his firearm in a populated area. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"Thanks for the concern Sheriff,” Michael said, “but I'm fine."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night Michael met with Max and Isabel but things were still strained between them.
Max spoke up attempting to be the peacemaker, "So, everything's okay?"
"Oh, yeah, great," Michael replied sarcastically. "Hank is in jail, probably for a while."
"So, what did Valenti say?" Max asked.
"Well, he said he was gonna find me a new foster situation. Not a home, a situation."
Max sighed in frustration, "I'm sure he meant... "
Michael cut him off, "No matter what home I get, it's a substitute for the real one."
"We don't know anything about our real home," Max pointed out.
"No we don’t," Michael agreed, "because all we have ever done is sit on our asses and wait for someone to find us. Well I'm sick of it. I'm going to start looking for them."
"Michael, you can't just leave," Max said.
"Watch me."
Isabel stepped forward, concerned that part of the only family she had ever known was leaving her. "Where are you going to go?"
"Anywhere but here. You two can stay in your nice little world with your pot roast and your monopoly games, cuz it's pretty clear to me you're not interested in finding our real home. But I'm going to. I'm going to find my real family."
"And what are we?" Isabel raised her voice, her fear making her angry. "You want to know what I think, Michael? I think it's time you either put up or shut up."
Michael turned to her, "Very poetic, Isabel."
"You act like a five-year-old,” Isabel said. “When are you going to grow up and stop blaming everybody else?"
"Is that what you think, Max?" Michael asked.
Max thought carefully for a moment, afraid the wrong word would send Michael running. "I think it's not safe out there. We need to stick together now more than ever."
"You're wrong, Max," Michael said dismisively.
Isabel was practically in tears but refused to let Michael see how much he was hurting her. "Go on and run Michael, it's what you do best."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Later That Day)
(The Evans House)
Max used his powers to open Isabel's door and walked in.
Isabel turned to him, "I thought I locked that door."
"Uh, yeah. Yeah, you did," Max smiled, looking guilty. "What're you doing?"
Isabel turned back to the window. "I was thinking about our home. We don't know anything about it and it's hard to think of it as real. Our planet, our family, our home. It's more like a dream. But sometimes when I look out at the stars it's like I realize that we had a home somewhere, a real place. But even if we found our family tomorrow, it wouldn't mean anything, not without Michael."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Hank’s Trailer)
Max entered the trailer searching for Michael. He heard noises coming from the back room and watched for a moment as Michael stuffed clothes into a bag. "Packing?"
Michael turned to him briefly before resuming. "You could call it that. Everything I have fits in this bag."
"You have me. You have Isabel."
Michael scoffed, "Say goodbye, Max."
"I can't."
"We'll keep in touch, all right?" Michael said dismissively.
"It's not good enough."
"Well, it's gonna have to be, all right? So say goodbye."
"I can't."
"Max..."
Max cut him off, "I know what you're scared of, Michael."
"No, you don't," Michael responded heatedly.
Max shook his head. "You keep telling me how lucky I am, to have a great home, great parents. But in one way, it's harder for me, because when I screw up, I have no excuses. But you, you can do and say anything you want because you have Hank, and you can blame it on that. But what happens without him? It'll all be on you, that's what."
"Well, leave it up to me to still screw it up, huh?" Michael asked.
"It's okay Michael,” Max continued, “because if you do, we'll still be there for you. Maybe you have to start thinking about someone other than yourself, Michael. The three of us belong together. There's a reason that we're together. We're family. So, go if you want to, but no matter where or how far, we will always be connected."
Michael heard his words, but they weren't enough. He picked up his bag and pushed past Max. "See ya."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Michael walked down the side of the road for over an hour before anyone stopped. Finally a truck with three guys pulled over. The guy sitting by the window rolled it down and yelled out, "Where are you headed?"
Michael indicated the road with a jerk of his head. "As far as you're going."
"We're headed to Texas for a gig."
Michael nodded. "Texas is just great."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Sexual Healing)
(Sunday, February 20th, 2000)
Song Playing: Collide by Howie Day
Max stood transfixed in the dark outside the Crashdown as he watched Liz in the restaurant. She had just finished coring a bowl of strawberries and he felt his throat tighten as she raised a succulent, red berry to her mouth. He swallowed hard as he imagined her sweet lips pressed against his, her small frame enfolded in his arms. Max had wanted to be with Liz since he had first seen her, but in the last week the feelings inside him had grown in strength until they were an undeniable force. He thought about her every moment of every day and had a difficult time concentrating on anything else.
He had fought against going to the Crashdown that evening, but in the end he hadn't been able to stop himself. Max didn't know exactly what had brought him to her tonight but he figured it was just his hormones kicking into overdrive. He knew being with Liz was impossible but he had loved her since they were children and he wanted nothing more. All he could think of was taking Liz in his arms and kissing her senseless.
Max took a couple of steps toward the door with his hand outstretched, but stopped himself when he realized what he was doing, and shook his head to clear it. He couldn't act on his impulses no matter how much he wanted Liz. Coming here had been a mistake. Instead of dampening his feelings as he had hoped, seeing Liz had only made them stronger. With a final look at the girl he loved, and supreme will of effort, he turned away, climbed into the Jeep and drove home.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - Wipeout)
(Sunday, October 29th, 2000)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
(The Crawford House)
Ida walked into the living room where Nicholas was playing Mortal Kombat. "Sir?"
Nicholas ignored her, concentrating on his game.
"Excuse me Sir," she said a little louder.
"Not now mom," he yelled. "I'm at a crucial part." His fingers furiously pushed the buttons on the controller but his character fell to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Nicholas threw the controller to the floor as he leapt to his feet, "Damn it mom," he bellowed, "How many times have I told you not to interrupt me?"
"I'm sorry Sir."
"Well what is it?"
"The last of the troops have gathered for the harvest."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Sunday - November 5th, 2000)
(Copper Summit, AZ)
(Onboard the Leptus)
Nicholas winced as he watched the body that Khivar possessed continue to rant. He had been pleased the harvest had gone well but he was frustrated they had been on Earth for so long with no clues to the location of the Royal Four.
"Nicaron the situation is intolerable. According to Jensto, the pods have surely hatched by now and every day that passes is one more day I am without Vilondra."
Nicholas wondered if Khivar would blame him for failing to locate Vilondra, and if he did, what he would do to him. Nicholas knew being on Earth wouldn’t save him from his master’s wrath and he made a bold inquiry. "What would you like us to do?"
Khivar considered the question for a moment. "I will send four legions of troops to Earth to help you locate them. Then if it is necessary we will give the humans an example of our superior power and make it clear to them it is not in their interest to harbor the Royal Four."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - To Serve & Protect)
(Friday, January 26th, 2001)
(The Evans house)
The year without Michael had been difficult for Max and Isabel and they had grown closer than they ever had been. At first Max had been lost without Michael, his best and only friend, but as the weeks passed he came to rely on Liz's companionship. She had broken off her relationship with Kyle not long after her grandmother had died and she and Max had grown closer. They spent a lot of time together studying, going to movies and just hanging out, sometimes with Maria and Alex but most of the time it was just the two of them.
Max was happy just to be around Liz and he knew he should be satisfied with their friendship but he often found himself wishing for more. Sometimes he thought Liz wanted more out of their relationship too but he was careful to keep his distance. Max glanced at his sister next to him at the table where they were watching television. Isabel had tolerated his friendship with Liz but he knew she would loudly voice her disapproval if he allowed the relationship to progress.
Isabel had always known her brother loved Liz Parker but she had never suspected he would act on his feelings. At first when he had started spending time with Liz, Isabel had been resentful, but the more she saw them together she realized that around Liz, Max could relax. His whole demeanor around the Liz was different. He was more open, he laughed more and he seemed to truly be himself.
Isabel had wanted to keep Max only to herself but she knew Max was lonely without Michael and she couldn't bear to see him so unhappy. So even though she disapproved of his friendship with Liz and often reminded him to keep it purely platonic, she didn't have the heart to tell him to end it. And as Isabel interacted more with Liz, she came to respect and accept her as a friend too.
As Isabel and Max sat in front of the TV on the kitchen table, she had used the remote to surf around the dial at least three times. "There's nothing on."
Max shook his head incredulously, "We must have fifty channels."
Isabel continued to press the channel button commenting on each program, "Crap. Crap."
"Uh huh," grunted Max agreeing with her.
"Boring."
"Uh huh."
Isabel rose from her seat and dropped the remote on the table. "I'm going to go to bed."
The glazed look left Max's eyes momentarily. "Good night Iz."
Isabel quickly got ready for bed and collapsed into her pillow. She wasn't really tired and laid in the dark contemplating her ceiling, but eventually she drifted into a light sleep.
Suddenly she was standing in a clearing in the woods and she felt confused and frightened. She could hear a girl screaming and looked around to find the source but all she could see were trees and blinding flashes of light. She stumbled forward toward the trees that seemed to be rushing around her, but she stopped when a man came into her line of vision. At first she couldn't tell what was happening but then her vision cleared and she stared in horror at what she was witnessing. The man was dragging a body bag but the struggling person inside was obviously still alive.
Isabel jolted awake. "No!" she shouted, before realizing she was safe in her room. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and buried her head in her hands trying to catch her breath.
Max raced into her room and skidded to a halt, seeing nothing out of place. "Iz? What's wrong?"
She shook her head trying to clear the vision. "I don't know. I got a vision or something."
Max sat on the bed at her side. "What kind of vision?"
"There's a girl in trouble. Someone is hurting her."
"How could you know this?" he asked skeptically.
Isabel shook her head again, "I don't know but we have to figure out how to help her."
"It was a dream, Iz," he tried to reassure her.
"No, Max it was real. I could feel her fear. We have to help her," she pleaded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Saturday, January 27th, 2001)
(The Evans House)
The next evening, Isabel was scared to go to sleep. All day she had questioned herself. Last night the vision had seemed so real but she had received no additional visions after she had finally gotten back to sleep. Max had adamantly insisted the whole thing was just a bad dream and as the day had progressed Isabel had started to believe it herself. But now that it was time for bed, Isabel dreaded what her dreams would reveal to her. She flipped on the television in the living room and turned to a bad sci-fi movie hoping to stave off sleep, but after only a few minutes, her heavy eyelids closed and she drifted into sleep.
Immediately she was transported back into the vision. She watched as the girl was attacked walking to her car, once again feeling the terror the girl was experiencing. Isabel received a flash of drugs and a syringe and then suddenly she was back in the woods watching as the girl was dragged in the body bag by her attacker. Isabel cried out as she came awake, the other girl's fear still running through her, causing trembles to rack her body.
She was now positive the visions were real and she was determined to help the girl even if she didn't know how it was possible. Maybe if she tried to make contact she would be able to see more details.
Isabel went to her room and climbed into bed, and taking deep breaths she tried to open herself to the visions. It was different than dream walking, where she knew her target and controlled the situation. She wasn't sure it would work, but after a few moments she was pulled back into the woods. Again she saw the girl being dragged through the woods but this time she concentrated on trying to see the attacker's face. He was backing toward her, dragging the body bag and almost as if she had willed it, the attacker turned and she got a good look at his face. It was dark but she quickly ran her eyes over his face, memorizing every detail.
The girl's terror washed over her once again and she rushed forward to help but the vision dissolved as she came awake. Max was shaking her and calling her name. She clung to him, shivering in reaction. "I saw it again Max. The girl was kidnapped and drugged and then he took her into the woods." A sob escaped her and she continued in gasps, "I saw him. I saw his face."
Max pulled back from his sister to study her face and he could see her determination. "Okay Iz, what can we do?"
"I got more from this last vision. I think I should try again."
A concerned look crossed Max's face. "I don't know. It was like you were in a trance. This could be dangerous."
"Max the visions come to me whether I want them or not. I can't stop them."
"Okay, but they seem to be getting stronger. I had a hard time waking you out of the last one."
Isabel nodded, "Somehow I'm being pulled into her. I can feel what she was feeling."
"That's what I'm worried about. We don't know what's going on."
"Well then you'll just have to be close the next time it happens and hopefully when we rescue her, the visions will go away."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Sunday, January 28th, 2001)
Isabel had not been able to sleep the rest of the night and after a full day of worrying she was exhausted. Just after dark she climbed into bed and fell into a fitful sleep. Once again she was back in the woods.
She looked around wildly, "Where am I?" She saw a shed with markings she recognized. Then she saw the girl again and suddenly the attacker appeared.
The girl screamed, "No, please don't!"
Isabel could feel the other girl's terror as if it was her own and called out, "Max, Max! No, Max! Max!"
Isabel watched as the attacker took out a syringe and she screamed. She was connected so closely to the other girl, it felt as if it was happening to her and she struggled, desperate to get away. "Help me!"
Max ran into Isabel's room and shook her trying to wake her. "I'm here, Isabel. Isabel wake up."
But Isabel was still in the control of the vision. "No, please!" she begged the attacker. "Don't do this. You don't have to do this. No!"
Max shook her harder, crying out to her and finally she came back to consciousness. "Isabel, are you alright?"
Isabel looked around and when she saw she was safe she allowed herself to collapse into him. "Oh my God." She allowed Max to hold her shivering form for a few moments before pulling away from him. "Max, I know where she is."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Frazier Woods)
Max stopped the Jeep in the clearing by the shed and looked at Isabel in the seat next to him.
She nodded, "This is it."
"Okay," Max said, "we're here. Now what?
Isabel shrugged, "I don't know. She's here. She's here somewhere."
"Okay, let's start looking around but be careful. The attacker could be around here too."
Max and Isabel headed off in different directions, searching the clearing for any signs or clues.
Isabel walked toward the line of trees and stumbled. Using her flashlight she looked down at a mound of earth that extended in a straight line in both directions. "Max, come over here."
"What did you find?" Max asked as he approached.
"Look at this. What do you think it is?"
Max looked both directions, "I don't know. Let's follow it and see where it goes."
They walked for a few minutes and where the mound ended, a plastic tube emerged from the ground and twined around a bush where it attached to an oxygen tank.
"Oh my God," Isabel said, realizing what it meant.
Max grabbed the tube and started to follow it back the other direction. When Isabel didn't follow him he yelled back over his shoulder, "Come on."
They quickly followed the tube until they reached the other end, where it disappeared under ground.
Isabel dropped to her knees and started digging. "Oh God, she's under here."
They dug frantically with their hands until they uncovered the girl, her head incased in a clear plastic box.
Isabel sat back, shocked when she saw it. "Oh my God. What did they do to her?"
"I don't know," Max said softly, shaking his head.
Isabel carefully lifted the girl's head. "We've got you. What did they do?"
The girl started to convulse.
Max continued to dig out her lower half. "Isabel, there's something wrong with her. Can you get this thing off?"
"Yes."
A shot rang out, hitting the ground close to them. Both Max and Isabel looked in the direction the shot came from, trying to see the danger. They both heard the click of the hammer as the gunman pulled back on the trigger and then the explosion that launched the bullet toward them.
Max held up his hand instinctively as if to ward off the bullet and a glowing green shield appeared between them and the gunman. The bullet hit the barrier, slowed and finally bounced off in the opposite direction. Isabel gathered her power and shot it toward where the gunman was concealed.
"Isabel, hurry!” Max called out. “I can't keep this up much longer!"
Two more bullets were fired in rapid succession, bouncing harmlessly off Max’s shield and Isabel was able to get an accurate position on the man.
"I see him Max!" Isabel fired again as the gunman moved and the blast glanced off his shoulder. The gunman dropped his rifle to clasp his hand to the wound and ran.
Max dropped his hand and the shield dissolved. He looked down at the girl in the ground, who was now still. "Let's get her out of here," he said wearily.
"I've got it," Isabel said, pulling the box off of the girl's head. "Max, is she alright?"
Max placed his hands over her to feel her energy. "She isn't really hurt, just dehydrated and a little malnourished. I think she just passed out."
Isabel studied the girl for the first time. "She's a human isn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Then how did I get the visions from her?” Isabel asked. “It's like I know her, I'm connected to her."
"I don't know, Iz."
"What are we going to do with her? And why did that guy do this?"
Max carefully lifted the girl out of the ground. "I don't know but maybe we should get her to a hospital."
"Maybe but this all seems so..." Isabel paused, waiving her hands, "I don't know, so otherworldly."
Max nodded his agreement, "We should report this to the police but if it does turn out to be," he paused, "otherworldly, and it gets connected to us...," he let the sentence trail off not wanting to consider the possible consequences of being exposed. "Maybe we should take her to our house until we can figure out why this is happening."
“And what was with that shield?” Isabel asked, as she followed Max back to the Jeep. “Did you know you could do that?”
Max shook his head, “It just happened.”
As Max set the girl down in the back of the Jeep, she came to, struggling for her life. Max released her immediately and Isabel rushed forward attempting to calm her. "It's okay. You're safe now. I promise."
The girl's eyes flicked between Max and Isabel and the tension left her body. "How did you know to find me out here?"
"I heard you cry out for help," Isabel said.
"Who are you?" the girl asked.
"Isabel. And this is Max."
"I'm Laurie. You saved my life," she said, as she took Isabel's hand. "Thank you."
When their hands touched, Isabel received a flash. It was like she was seeing into the other girl's cells but what she saw she didn't recognize from her Biology class and as she released Laurie's hand, the vision dissolved.
Max walked around the Jeep and started to climb in but stopped when he saw his sister's faraway look. "Ready to go?"
Isabel glanced at Laurie and then back at Max. "There's something about her, Max."
"What do you mean?"
"It's like I know her."
Max turned to the girl in the back seat, "Laurie, you can stay with us if you want to but I think tomorrow you need to see a doctor."
Laurie shook her head vehemently, "No, no, no. Th-they get into hospitals."
Max looked quickly at Isabel and then back at Laurie. "Are you talking about the person that did this to you? Was there more than one?"
Laurie shook her head again, "It wasn't a man. It was a them. They're not from here."
"What do you mean they're not from here?" asked Isabel, suddenly afraid of the answer.
Laurie looked at her. "They're aliens," she said simply.
As they drove back to the house, none of them noticed the truck following at a discrete distance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(The Evans House)
After Isabel had settled Laurie into the guest room, she found Max in his room looking out the window at the stars. "She's asleep already."
"It's a good thing mom went with dad on this trip,” Max said. “That way we don't have to make up any awkward explanations."
"Max, what are we going to do? What if aliens did this to her?"
"It's all I've thought about since she said it. You always hear stories about alien abductions but I never really believed they were true, even though...," he let his sentence trail off as he gestured to Isabel and then himself, "you know."
He took a deep breath, "It has always been a possibility that there were other survivors out there from the crash. Maybe one or more of them did this to her." He shrugged, "Or maybe she is just crazy. I mean if we were anyone but us and she talked about aliens, what would we think?"
Isabel nodded. "You're right, but because we are who we are, I think we have to consider the alien possibility."
Max nodded agreeing with her. "We should go back to the site in the morning and look around." He shrugged, "Who knows what we'll find."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - We Are Family)
(Monday, January 29th, 2001)
The next morning Max and Isabel drove back to the sight and left Laurie at their house. They recovered the rifle and oxygen tanks but were unsure what to do with them.
Max looked at the items they had gathered, "Maybe we should save them in case we need to turn them over to the police."
"Max," Isabel said exasperatedly, "where would we keep them? In your room? I can see it now, mom is digging through your closet for dirty socks and she comes across a sniper rifle complete with scope. How do you explain that? 'Oh mom, that's just my new hobby?' I don't think so."
She turned and walked toward the hole where Laurie was buried to get the plastic cube that had encased Laurie's head.
Max sighed and called out to his sister. "Iz, we have to make a decision."
Isabel stopped at the hole and bent down to get the cube but a glint of blue caught her eye. "What is that?" She knelt down to get a better look, "Max, come and take a look at this."
Max trotted to where his sister was kneeling near the hole. She pointed to a cluster of blue crystals in the hole. "What do you think these are?"
Max shook his head, "I've never seen anything like them." He thought back to the previous evening. "I'm pretty sure they weren't here last night. Maybe they have something to do with why she was buried here." He motioned to the Jeep, "There's a bag in the back seat. Let's take it with us and see if we can figure out what it is, and maybe it will tell us what's going on."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As they walked from the Jeep to the house, Max turned to his sister. "I think I have my old microscope in my closet. I'll take a look at this," he held the crystals up to the light, "and you check on Laurie."
Isabel nodded as she opened the door. There was no sign of the other girl in the living room or the kitchen and Isabel called out, "Laurie, it's Isabel and Max."
The door to the pantry slowly opened and Laurie emerged, picking at her bloody hands. Isabel rushed to her side and took the other girl's hands, "Laurie, stop. Your hands are bleeding."
Laurie snatched her hands away, "No, no, I have to get them out. They put them under there. That's what they do to me."
Isabel gave Laurie her full attention, "What do they do?"
"Put needles in me. Put stuff inside." She held out her arms to show Isabel, " See?”
Isabel examined her arms and hands carefully, "I don't see anything."
"It's there. I'm not crazy. They put me in a mental hospital, but I didn't belong there."
"Who put you in a mental hospital?"
"The aliens took my grandfather and now they are after me."
Isabel took Laurie's chin in her hands and forced her to meet her eyes. "What do the aliens want?"
"They want to kill me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Isabel left Laurie in the kitchen with some lunch and went up to check on Max's progress. He was checking a book against information on a web site. Isabel sat on his bed, "Are you getting anywhere?"
"I think we're dealing with some kind of, uh, bacterium, or something." He motioned to the computer screen, "I was just cross checking some sites on the internet to try and categorize them. The really weird thing though, it looks like they're pulsating."
"That's not normal?"
"I don't think so, but this is not my best area."
"Maybe you should ask your lab partner,” Isabel suggested. “She's the science whiz."
"Liz?" Max asked consideringly. "I don't know Iz."
"Max, we need help and it's not like we can take this to a lab and have it analyzed."
Isabel was right, they did need help and he knew he could trust Liz. "Okay," Max agreed after a few moments, "I'll call her."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Episode Equivalent - We Are Family)
(Monday, January 29th, 2001)
Song Playing: Give Me Strength by The Alarm
Liz examined the substance under the microscope. "It looks like they're a type of negleria filarae. Water-borne parasites found in the blood cells of certain species of fish, but these are like nothing else on Earth." She looked back into the microscope, "This is an amazing discovery. They are in crystal form but they’re comprised of cells, and the pulsing, I have never seen or heard of anything like it. I can take them to the Biology lab at Las Cruces University and they can probably tell us more about them.”
"No," Max said, nervously looking to Isabel for help. "We can't show this to anyone else."
"Oh," Liz said with a laugh, "you want credit for having discovered them."
"Something like that," Isabel answered.
Max rose and pulled his sister with him, "Excuse us Liz. We'll be back in a minute."
"Sure," Liz answered distractedly, her eyes still glued to the microscope."
Max and Isabel walked down the hall out of earshot. "Did you hear what Liz said?" Isabel whispered urgently. "They are like nothing on Earth."
Max nodded, "She also said they were parasites. That implies they need something to feed on."
"Like Laurie?"
"I don't know,” Max said with a shrug. “Someone put her in that hole. Maybe it's just a coincidence the alien crystals were there too," he said hopefully.
Isabel rolled her eyes.
"I know," Max admitted, "too big a coincidence. We can ask Liz to keep researching, we can trust her to keep quiet, but I don't know how far she'll get with only half of the facts."
Isabel took a deep breath, not believing what she was about to suggest. "Max, this will sound crazy but I think we should tell Liz the truth."
"The truth," Max repeated in a dead, even tone.
Isabel nodded, "We need help and you said it yourself, we can trust her."
"Yes, but Iz…"
Isabel cut him off, "What else are we going to do? We can't just leave these parasites lose on the Earth. What if they are harmful to humans? We have to stop them."
Thoughts were flying through Max's head faster than he could interpret them. He had dreamed of telling Liz the truth over and over, and now that he was confronted with the reality, he was unsure of what he should do. In his fantasies, of course, she had always accepted him for what he was, but in reality he was scared of losing the tenuous friendship he had with her. But she was their only chance at figuring out the true nature of the crystals. He had no other choice. He just hoped she didn't hate him.
Finally Max nodded reluctantly. "You go and keep Laurie upstairs and I'll tell Liz."
Max waited until Isabel disappeared around the corner and then slowly walked back into his room. His eyes roamed over Liz's small form seated at his desk and he felt a wave of possessiveness wash over him. He had always imagined spending time with her in a romantic way, and having her in his room, surrounded by his things just felt right.
He had loved her for so long and he had often fantasized about telling her the truth, running through dozens of scenarios of how it might happen, but now that he was faced with the reality, all of the rehearsed words fled from his mind.
He sat on the bed behind her and took a deep breath. "Liz," he whispered but she was so engrossed in her studies, she didn't hear him. "Liz," he croaked, his throat suddenly dry.
"Yes?" she answered over her shoulder, her concentration still on the specimen before her.
"Liz," he said a little louder, "I need to tell you something." He watched as she turned questioning eyes to him and he looked down at his hands, "I..., um, I'm not sure how to say this."
Liz could see Max’s nervousness and she wondered if he was finally going to take their relationship from friendship to the next level. Liz smiled encouragingly, taking his hand, "It's okay Max, you can tell me anything."
He looked into her soft, accepting eyes and swallowed hard, trying to dislodge the lump in his throat. He decided to start slowly, "Well, the thing is... um, I'm not from around here."
"Oh?" Liz asked, the surprise evident in her voice. Max had told her that he and Isabel were adopted, and they didn’t know anything about their real family. "Did you discover something about your past?"
"In a way," Max admitted.
"Where are you from?"
Max voice suddenly faltered and he simply pointed his finger straight up.
"Up north?" Liz asked, misunderstanding him.
Max shook his head, realizing he wasn't getting his point across. He lifted his finger higher.
Liz followed his finger with her eyes and her sense of humor kicked in. "You're not an alien," she said with a laugh.
At her words, Max's head snapped up and his eyes held hers. He lowered his pointed, up-turned finger to his khakis and the beige color swirled away into a deep blue.
Liz's face paled and she looked at him with large eyes. "I mean, are you?" she asked breathily.
Max tried to lighten the mood, "Well I prefer the term not of this Earth." But when he saw Liz flinch, he immediately apologized. "Sorry, it's not a good time to joke."
Max watched as Liz looked around his room, her eyes darting from one thing to another, trying to process the information. Finally she looked back at his newly blue pants and then at his face. "Yeah, I am," he said softly. "Wow, it's weird to actually say it."
Liz got to her feet and nervously started to gather her things. "Um, I have to go because I'm late and I, uh, have to go."
Max followed her up and stood between her and the door. "Liz, please wait," he said, his hands raised in placating manner, careful not to touch her.
She looked into his face and slowly settled into the chair again.
He took a deep breath when she sat down and regained his seat opposite her. "I can't imagine how you must feel right now, I mean, I've thought about telling you a thousand times.
"You have? Me?" she asked unbelievingly.
Max nodded and an idea struck him. "Sometimes I can make, I don't know, a connection with people and I get a rush of images. I've never tried this before, but maybe I can make the connection go the other way. So you can see, you know that, that I'm still me."
He watched her absorb the information and then continued softly, "I have to touch you."
Liz looked into Max's handsome face. No matter what else he was, he was her friend and she trusted him. She nodded her consent.
Max exhaled the tension-filled breath he had been holding. He had been scared that Liz was rejecting him but he could feel the trust and the acceptance growing in her. He gently took her face in his hands, rejoicing that he was finally able to tell her the truth and she hadn't turned away from him. "Now just take deep breaths and try to let your mind blank out."
Liz tried to relax as Max instructed and at first nothing happened, but then a rush of images and feelings deluged her. In her mind, she saw Max and Isabel. They looked about five or six and they were walking down the road, completely naked and she could feel Max's fear as a car approached them. Next she saw herself through Max's eyes, on the first day he and Isabel had come to school. He had loved her and watched her from afar since that day. He admired her intelligence and her beauty but he was scared to let herself or others really see him. He feared rejection and discovery so he separated himself from everyone, but his loneliness was staggering. Suddenly the connection was broken as Max started to remove his hands, and the images and emotions stopped.
Max watched as Liz slowly opened her eyes, less than a foot away from his own, and their gazes met and held. He was filled with the overwhelming urge to kiss her but a rational part of his mind screamed out for him to stop. He looked down, breaking contact with her eyes. "Did it work?"
Liz was still too moved by Max's feelings and her reaction to them to speak, so she simply nodded.
Max took advantage of her silence to continue. "Liz, listen to me. You can't talk to anyone about this. Not your parents, not Maria. No one. You don't understand what'll happen if you do. Liz please, my life is in your hands."
Liz could hear his pleading tone. "Max, who else knows this?"
He shook his head, "No one."
Liz pressed, "What about your parents?"
Max shrugged, "We don't tell anyone. We sorta think our lives depend on it."
Liz sat up straighter her natural curiosity kicking in. "We?"
"Isabel and Michael are also...uh..."
Liz nodded accepting. "Where did you come from?"
Max shook his head, "I don't know. When the ship crashed I wasn't born yet."
"So there was a crash?"
"All I know is it wasn't a weather balloon that fell that night."
Liz's brain was on overload but still functioning. She shook her head. "The ship crashed in 1947. You're sixteen."
"We were in some kind of incubation pods," Max explained.
Liz motioned to Max's formerly beige pants. "Um, what powers do you have?"
Max smiled. Liz the scientist in action. "We can connect with people, as uh, you know. We can manipulate molecular structures, and...we can...."
Liz cut him off, "Wait, what does that mean?"
Max ran his hand over his pants again, changing them back to khaki. "Um, that's how I changed the color."
"So why did you tell me?"
"Because I knew I could trust you and because we need your help," he said motioning to the microscope.
Liz caught his drift immediately, "The crystals are alien?"
"I don't know, but you said yourself that they were like nothing else on Earth."
"Where did you get them?"
"That is a long story." He took a deep breath and proceeded to relate the events of the last few days to Liz. He started with Isabel's visions and how they located Laurie, continued with Laurie's rescue, and the gunman, and finished with that morning's discovery of the crystals, and the discussion with Isabel that had led up to telling her.
Liz shook her head. "So somebody kidnaps a girl and buries her in the ground so a bunch of alien parasites can..., can do what to her, we don't know. And..., and then how does he know about these parasites? Is he human, or is he alien?
Max shrugged, "We don't know."
Liz nodded. "I'll do anything I can to help." She paused, seeing the relief evident on Max's face. "And Max? I'm glad you told me."
Max smiled, feeling a great weight lift from his heart. "I'm glad too. I just wish it were under more normal circumstances.” His eyes met Liz’s and they held. Liz was attracted to him, Max had seen that when they connected, and for him it was a dream come true. Max suddenly felt as if eveything he ever wanted was within his reach, but he knew it was only an illusion. The reasons he and Liz couldn’t be together were still true and Max reluctantly looked away, getting back to the subject at hand. “Where should we go from here?"
Liz had felt the intensity in Max’s gaze breifly, before he looked away, and it was as if her heart had come alive for the first time. But Max was withdrawing from her again, acting like the moment hadn’t happened. Liz smiled. Now that she knew his secret, she felt like it was only a matter of time until they got together. And there were more important things to concentrate on, like the alien crystals. Liz cleared her throat and answered Max’s question. "Well both you and I have been handling the crystals and nothing has happened, so it sounds like they're not interested in terrestrial organisms."
"Well, except Laurie," Max pointed out.
Liz nodded, "So, maybe there's something unique about her, something the parasites are looking for. Maybe a difference or genetic defect of some kind, but there is no way we can test for that. I think we should concentrate on finding a way to kill these things. But even if we do that, it still leaves one big problem."
Max nodded following her line of thinking. "Who is the kidnapper?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Liz went back to her house and packed a bag, telling her mom she was spending the night at Isabel's. When she returned to the Evans’ house, she and Max started to run experiments attempting to figure out a way to kill the parasites. She suggested various household cleaning products including ammonia, drain cleaner and bleach, but nothing they did seemed to affect the parasites. Then they switched to antibiotics, insecticides and anti-fungal medication with no luck.
Max rose from the table in frustration. He glanced out the window and noticed the sun was going down. He could see Liz reflected in the glass of the window. He had always admired her, but today she has shown him a deep inner strength he had only guessed existed. After all of the shocks she had received, she not only trusted him but also was doing everything in her power to help him. She was incredible, and even though he hadn’t thought it possible, he loved her even more.
Suddenly the tantalizing scent of food drew Max toward the door and he started down the hall.
Isabel met him near the stairs. "How's it going?"
"Well we’ve eliminated a lot of things that don't work," Max said with a shrug.
"So no luck."
"No," Max admitted.
"I made dinner,” Isabel said, motioning toward the kitchen. “Why don't you and Liz come and eat?"
"Yeah. Thanks Iz."
Max re-entered his room just after Liz's latest failure. She sat back into the chair dejectedly and rotated her shoulders. Max came up silently behind her and started to gently rub her neck, using his healing ability to ease the away the soreness. Liz sighed and leaned back into him. He bent down and spoke softly in her ear, "Liz you've been at this all day. Isabel made dinner. Why don't you take a break and we can get back to it later."
Liz nodded, noticing her growling stomach for the first time. "Yeah, I guess I am hungry."
The four ate dinner with little chitchat. Liz made an attempt at a conversation with Laurie but the other girl was not very responsive and Liz didn't want to upset her with talk of the experiments.
After dinner Isabel suggested hot chocolate and reached for the kettle, as she turned on the gas burner. Liz's attention focused on the flickering, blue flame and it was as if the pieces of a puzzle suddenly slid into place. "That's it," she said jumping out of her seat. "That's it! Fire!" She turned to Isabel. "Do you have a metal or Pyrex bowl or container of some kind?"
Isabel fished a Pyrex bowl and lid out of the cabinet. "Will this do?"
Liz took them from Isabel, "It's perfect."
Max went to his room, broke off a small crystal shard and he and Liz took it into the garage. He removed the lid, placed the bowl on the work surface and put the shard in the bowl. Liz tore a match out of a book and used it to light the whole book on fire and dropped it in the bowl too. They watched as the matches burned for a moment uneventfully, but suddenly the crystal shard started to glow. It vibrated and then jumped, bouncing off the side of the container and Max and Liz stepped back as it started to move more vigorously.
Afraid it would jump out of the container, Max grabbed the lid and covered the bowl. The shard flipped around the bowl violently as the matches continued to burn, but suddenly it stopped moving and the glow extinguished.
After a moment, Max removed the lid. "It looks dead."
"Yeah," Liz agreed but her scientific instincts took over. "Let's check it under the microscope though."
They took the shard back into Max's room and prepared a slide. Liz closely examined it and saw no movement. "It's dead, take a look."
Max fitted his eye to the lens. "You're right," he said turning toward her with a smile. "You did it Liz."
Liz shook her head, "I'm just not sure why it died."
"The fire..."
Liz shook her head again, holding up the deceased but immaculate crystal shard. "Look, it's not burnt or even singed." She sat back in the chair, thinking aloud. "Fire not only burns, but also produces heat, or it could be some kind of gas that was released when the matches burned, a dye or chemical. Fire also consumes oxygen." She stopped and looked up at Max. "I bet that's it. The parasites can live in water and in the open air and one thing they both have in common is oxygen. The fire consumed the oxygen in the bowl because you covered it, and the parasites suffocated."
"I'm sure you're right," Max agreed.
"Let's test it to be sure."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Max had climbed into his bed more than an hour ago but he had been unable to sleep. His mind was occupied with too many things. He was worried about how to stop the parasites but that was just an annoying buzz in the back of his mind. Uppermost in his thoughts was the dark-haired girl he was in love with, sleeping on his sister's floor, just across the hall.
He had always dreamed of telling Liz the truth and in his fantasies they had admitted their love for one another and lived happily after. But faced with the actual fact of Liz's acceptance, Max was unsure of what to do. He longed to advance their friendship into a romantic relationship but he feared what he was, would somehow harm her.
The problem of Laurie and the parasites just reinforced his caution. If an alien, one of his kind, had done this to Laurie then what would they do to Liz if his relationship with her were discovered?
A creaking sound outside his door drew his attention and somehow he knew it was Liz. She had been as restless as he, since the adrenaline of their success had worn off, and she had probably been wondering what his revelation meant for their relationship too.
Max pulled on shorts over his boxers, donned a t-shirt and headed down the hall after Liz. He caught up with her in the dark kitchen where she was heating a cup in the microwave. "Couldn't sleep either?" he whispered.
She shook her head, not surprised by his presence, whispering in return, "No, there's too much running through my head. I thought some tea might help." She moved a little closer to him. "Do you want me to make some tea for you?"
Max took a step closer to Liz and reached out to slowly run his hand down the soft skin of her arm, exposed by the tank top she was wearing. He could still feel her emotions running through him from when they connected, and uppermost in his mind was the fact that she wanted a relationship with him too. Again their eyes locked and Max was overcome with the urge to kiss her. He leaned in closer, leaving only inches between them. "Liz, I..."
He was interrupted by a sound coming from outside and suddenly his whole attention was focused on the door.
"What is it?" Liz whispered urgently.
"I don't know, but stay behind me." Max was sure he had locked the door but he watched in horror as the knob wiggled for a moment and the lock popped open. He grabbed Liz's arm and pulled her with him behind the island, as the door swung open. They ducked out of sight and Max peered around the side to size up the intruder.
The man was dressed entirely in black, with a bag slung over his shoulder, but there were no visible weapons. Max decided to use the surprise to his advantage and ran toward the intruder, ducking his head in a football block.
Liz screamed as he made contact with the other man and she grabbed a frying pan off the counter.
Isabel jolted upright in bed at the sound of Liz's scream. For a moment she was disoriented but the sounds of a fight propelled her out of bed and down the hall toward the ruckus. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen just as a black-clad intruder pushed Max away and turned on Liz, who was rushing at him with a frying pan.
Liz swung her weapon at the intruder’s head but he anticipated her, catching the blow on his upraised arm, and struck out, knocking her into the wall. Liz hit the wall hard and slid to the ground.
"No!" Max screamed and turned his fury on the intruder.
As the man turned toward her, Isabel saw his face for the first time and gasped in recognition. She saw him draw a gun from his pocket as he turned toward her brother and instinctively she quickly built her power and aimed a blast of energy at his chest.
The intruder staggered and dropped the gun as he fell to the floor. Max moved forward, grabbed the gun and checked the intruder as Isabel flipped on the light. The energy blast had seared completely through his chest near his heart, and Max could see with a glance he was dead.
Max dropped the gun and ran to where Liz was sitting on the floor. He cradled her head in his hands and released the breath he was holding when he saw she was alive. He nodded to Isabel who had knelt beside them, and he continued to check Liz for injuries. She was fine, but gasping for air because the blow had knocked the breath from her lungs. Max gently encircled Liz in his arms and with his hand on her back, eased the tension out of her lungs, allowing her to breath normally.
Liz desperately clutched at Max's chest as she sucked gulps of air into her lungs. "Max," she whispered, quickly taking another breath. "Max, look."
Max released Liz, and he and Isabel turned toward the intruder as his chest opened and a mass of blue crystals parted and jutted out of the cavity. Isabel gasped as a creature resembling a jellyfish, rose out of the midst of the crystals. It hovered in the air momentarily and then sped toward them.
Max instantly erected a shield, separating himself and the girls from the alien creature. It slammed into the barrier, knocking him backwards but he kept the shield in place. Isabel built her power and aimed at the creature around Max's shield as it came at them again. She hit it squarely with a blast of energy but it seemed to have no effect and again it threw itself against the shield. This time the shield faltered momentarily and Max knew he would not be able to keep it up much longer.
Liz spoke to him from behind. "Max, can you make the shield into a sphere?"
"I guess," he said over his shoulder. "I've never tried it."
"When it hits your shield again, fold the shield around to trap it. Then empty the air and make it airtight. It needs oxygen remember?"
Max nodded his head, "I'll try."
Once again the creature flew toward them. Max tensed, waiting until it was almost on top of them and then he encased it in the shield as Liz had suggested. The creature threw itself against the sides when it discovered it was trapped and Max quickly vented the air and sealed the surface to make it airtight.
The creature grew more frantic as it realized there was no oxygen. It battered the shield repeatedly and Max concentrated all of his energy into strengthening the barrier. Finally the creature gave a final effort, lunging into the barrier with its full strength behind it, and it exploded into a gooey mess.
Max dropped the shield and sagged into the wall, exhausted. "What was that thing?"
"I don't know," Isabel said with a haunted tone, "but that is the man I saw in my vision. He’s the one who took Laurie."
They all looked at each other and said her name in unison, "Laurie!"
Max attempted to rise but Isabel pushed him back down. "Stay here for a minute and rest. I'll go check on her."
Liz rose from his side, wet a dishcloth and knelt back down beside him. She ran the cool cloth over his heated face and neck. "Max you saved all of us, thank you."
He shook his head, "No Liz. Your experiments saved us. Without you, I wouldn't have known how to kill it."
Liz moved in closer, eager to recapture the earlier mood between them. "We make a good team," she said softly.
Max looked into her eyes. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her. He had meant to before they were interrupted, but the events of the last few minutes had changed his mind. He had been right to worry about what could happen to Liz. His heart had nearly stopped when she had been thrown into the wall. She easily could have been killed and Max felt cold just thinking about it. He couldn't take the risk. He had to keep the distance between them to protect her.
Max took the dishcloth from her hand and pushed a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "Liz, it's not safe. I mean, for you and, and me to..." he trailed off and shook his head. "It's not safe."
Liz met his eyes. "I don't care."
Max sighed. Pushing Liz away from him was breaking his heart, but he continued with a sad smile, "Liz I really, really wish that this could be something, you know, more. But it can't. We're just..." he let the sentence trail off searching for the right word.
But Liz finished the sentence for him. "Different."
"Yeah."
Liz motioned to the intruder. "Look Max. The crystals are dying." They watched as the crystals melted into a thick, blue goo. "We should check the ones in your room."
They raced to his room and Max flipped on the light. The crystals on his desk had also turned into goo.
Liz thought for a moment. "The creature we killed must have been the leader, the brain of the group, like the Borg on Star Trek. There is one queen who makes all of the decisions and the others are just drones, workers who do what she tells them. When we killed her all of them died."
"I think you're right," he agreed. "That means Laurie is out of danger."
Liz nodded, "We should check on Laurie and Isabel."
They met the other girls coming out of Laurie's room. Liz explained. "The crystals are all dead. We think it's because we killed the creature downstairs. It must have been the queen of the group and when it died, the rest died too. So there is nothing left to harm you, Laurie. You're safe now."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(Tuesday, January 30th, 2001)
The next day they saw Laurie off at the bus station. She had decided to visit her grandfather in Arizona. Laurie hugged each of the three, "Thank you for what you did. I'll tell my grandfather that we don't have to worry about aliens anymore."
Liz went back to the Evans’ house to help clean up, but Isabel took care of the damage in the kitchen with one wave of her hand.
They waited until dark to load the intruder's body into the Jeep, then they drove deep into the desert and burned the body. At Liz's suggestion, Max and Isabel used their powers to super-heat the flames to make sure there was nothing left.
As they stood watching over the flames, Isabel voiced what they were all thinking. "We don't even know who he was, and no one will know what happened to him. His family and friends will just think he disappeared.” She shook her head. “Whoever he was, he didn't deserve to die like that."
Max wrapped a comforting arm around his sister. "No one deserves to die like that."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
TBC
Last edited by RoswellOracle on Tue Jan 18, 2005 2:43 pm, edited 5 times in total.
The world is full of stories, and from time to time,
they permit themselves to be told - Prey
