Asylum – (CC, Adult) [WIP]

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

Asylum

Disclaimer: The characters of "Roswell" belong to Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, WB, and UPN. They are not mine and no infringement is intended.
Coupling: M/L, M/M, K/?, I/?
Rating: Adult (only in sections and I will give a warning beforehand)
Summary: After being on the run for years they are approached with some dangerous new information. How they choose to deal with this will affect both their lives and Earths. What could cause the gang to go public with their secret? They need to make some decisions but will their plan work out?
Authors Note: Special thanks to reinla for betaing this.

Chapter 1

March 2009

President Graham had been at the post for just over a month, and it already seemed that the job of the American president was not that dissimilar to that of a CEO of a large corporation. Something he had a lot of experience at. For twenty-three years Theodore Graham had worked for big business, originally as an investment banker in his youth but then moving sideways into the corporate sector. He had been on the boards of eight companies during that time and was a CEO or director of five. He has dealt with business mergers, corporate restructuring, hostile takeovers, workplace disputes, public relation nightmares and even insolvency. The daily activities of the President were not that different.

Every minute of every day was scheduled with meetings. Conducting negotiations with international leaders or party representatives was not that different to the negotiations that are such a routine part of business life. The compromise and power games that occur between corporate despots continue to play out on this much larger scale. The way of dealing with these people is no different to dealing with the needs of everyday people. The key is to listen. As the CEO of a company or the President of the United State of America you need to get the best out of people. You are nothing without them. So you must listen. They aren’t screaming at the top of their lungs if it doesn’t matter, because all that matters is what is happening to them. That little gem was from his Grandfather.

Well he listened. In business he listened and now as the President he listens. And boy did he listen. From 8am to an undisclosed time of late everyday President Graham listened to lobbyists, senators, defence personnel and any number of his staff and advisers in meetings, briefings and discussions about matters, which he had to keep reminding himself, were important in the lives of the people they are affecting.

It was 11:30 by the time he had finished today’s meetings and briefings. Despite being extremely exhausted after sitting, through a meeting for the last half hour with some environmental/space/pollution lobbyists and all the facts and figures that were being thrown at him in every second sentence, President Graham wasn’t about to leave the Oval Office. His day was finished and he needed to relax.

It’s not that it was inherently a comfortable environment, personally he thought the lounges were a bit stiff and the furnishing in general were a bit too impersonal and like those he grew up with to really like at all. But it had an interesting acoustic and it was the space where he liked to play, to relax.

At thirteen, and what some in the family saw as a pre-emptive act to teenage rebellion, Theo Graham was given his Grandfather’s guitar. It was an old rhythm guitar from the late 1940’s that had been hand made personally for him. The age of the wood and continual good care had left it with a beautiful smooth sound that suited the Blues. Being from Connecticut the Blues wasn’t something that you usually heard played on a Saturday night at the local Country Club. During the war his Grandfather’s best mate was from New Orleans and had taught him to play and in turn he taught his grandson.

Turning off all the lights except the one above his desk. President Graham poured himself a whisky and removed his Grandfather’s guitar from his private office before returning to his desk. Placing his whisky to the right of the desk and kicking his feet up with his guitar resting on his lap Theo closed his eyes and started to strum out a familiar Blues rhythm while half humming a tune along with it. This time let his mind wonder and relax. Like a massage for his brain he could forget about the stresses for the day and remember when just playing had been his job. A short-lived dream but one he got to live for a while. His staff knew that this was his refuge after a particularly hard day and wouldn’t disturb him unless it was extremely important. That’s why he was shocked when he opened his eyes slightly only to find a woman standing in front of his desk with a slight smile on her face.

Flattening his hand on the stings, bringing his feet down and sitting up in his chair President Graham asked, “Can I help you?” When she didn’t answer straight away he carefully placed his guitar on the left hand side of his desk and took in for the first time the appearance of the woman. She had short brown hair, which came down in different layers to the middle of her neck and was wearing a dark grey pants suit, but she was not carrying any document or for that mater wearing any ID. She appeared to be in her early twenties so he assumed she must be a new intern a bit nervous about meeting the President for the first time. That or she was hoping for a Clinton moment in which case she obviously has not met the First Lady. “Did you need to tell me something?” the President tried again.

This time the slight smile on the woman’s face grew and with a slight nod she started to speak. “Yeah, sorry about that, I had a few technical difficulties on my end”. President Graham gave her a slightly odd look then. Unless she had a Cochlear implant that he couldn’t see, he had no idea what she was on about. Just as he was about to repeat his last question she started talking again.

“Mr President. I am sorry that this is so late at night and in your private time but it’s important that we talk.”

“Look, if you’re some lobbyist or whatever, then you will…”

Interrupting him quickly the woman spoke with authority. “I am here representing Antar’s exiled Royal house of Thorthenhur.” Giving the woman a blank stare for a moment and wishing it wasn’t almost midnight Graham rubbed his face before asking what he knew sounded like a dumb question. “Ahh. Is, that one of those new Baltic states?” then continuing straight away “Look I’m sorry but it’s really late. I have no idea how you got past the Mrs Jensen but there is protocol for this. It usually occurs during business hours.” Standing up Graham politely indicated one of the doors out of the Oval Office and said “So if you don’t mind I’m really tired and we can talk about it later.”

Taking a breath the woman spoke again “It might be best if you take a seat Mr President. Antar is not a country…it is a Planet.” Seeing that President Graham was taking a moment to deal with the situation the woman spoke again and with a little laugh. “Congratulations. You’re the first American President to have dealing with people ‘Not-Of-This-Earth’. We just guaranteed you a place in history”

Coming out of his shocked state and not hearing anything after ‘Planet’. President Graham started to realise the stupidity of the statement and his reaction to it. “Are you kidding? This is ridiculous. Got any proof to back this up?” He said with a little laugh “You could be some deranged loony gone off their meds…” his sentence petered out when the women simultaneously disappeared and reappeared across the room. Giving him a half smile she reappear back in her original position. “Well how do I know that I haven’t gone loony?” he said while reaching for his forgotten glass of whisky and downing it before slowly sitting.

“Well that’s a risk we’ll have to take.”

“What do you want?”

“At the moment all I want for you to do is to sit down and listen.” Relieved that that was all she wanted, he sat back in his chair. But thinking that he should demonstrate some control of this situation he spoke up again. “Just so you know all I have to do is call out and a dozen Secret Service agents will be in here in a second ready to shoot to kill”

“Well, luck for me I’m not actually here. This is what we call an astral projection. With our history with the government we couldn’t risk coming to the White House in person. And even if we could how would we go about making an appointment?” Holding her fingers to her ears like a phone she tipped her head to the side and put on a fake Brooklyn accent ‘Hello? Hi. I’m ringing on behalf of the exiled Royal family of a place you’ve never heard of and a Government you don’t acknowledge. We were wondering, could we have access to your President for a meeting? So…How about it?’ … I really don’t think that’ll work.”

Exhaling Graham mumbled, “Well, maybe the accent wouldn’t help” while he stared into the distance. The woman smiled and gave a little laugh under her breath. “How you feeling?” Opening his mouth he took a breath as though he was about to say anything and then let it out again. “What can I call you?”

“My name is Elizabeth. You can call me Liz.” Frowning a little at the very anglicised name coming from the representative of an alien government he just nodded his head.

Glancing at the clock behind the President Liz decided it was time to get down to business. “Look Mr President it’s getting late so we should get down to it.” Talking a step forward to the edge of the desk, she continued “What I’m about to tell you is the information you need to trust us. We’ve come to you for a reason but we need you to trust us first.”

Nodding, President Graham moved his guitar to rest against his desk on the ground. “You might also want to take some notes. There’s a bit to this.” Picking up a pen he nodded.

Taking a breath before she started Liz steadied herself for what she was about to do. This was her idea, she needed to make him understand. Everything they knew told them that this President was a good man. And the danger they had ahead of them meant the Earth needed to be prepared as well.

“There are some files, that you might want to consult, from the FBI. The majority have been destroyed but there are some that still exist. They were compiled by a division within the FBI called the ‘Special Unit’. This unit was formed in 1959 after a number of murders where the only evidence was a silver hand print and a melted skeleton. This unit operated as an independent group, outside the normal controls of the FBI. They answered to no one. Not even you.” While Liz was explaining this history President Graham started taking notes. Scribbling names and dates to look into later.

“Initially, I assume, their job was to hunt down this murder, but essentially they became alien hunters. To them, if you were different you became a threat, to be studied or killed. Even if all you wanted to do was live a normal life. The murders they were investigating were committed by what we call a shapeshifter.” Seeing Grahams look she elaborated, “He could change his external appearance for a short period of time. He did not feel emotion, he did not value human life and for everything he did we can only express our greatest regret.”

Holding onto this first bit of concrete information that he could understand, Graham leaned forward. “Well if there was an alien out there murdering all these people then maybe we did need people hunting them down.” Talking a moment to compose herself, Liz hung her head. “Unfortunately it’s not that easy.” Glancing up again. “The US government captured two people from the ’47 crash. One escaped very early on, the other was held, experimented on, tortured, for three year before he escaped. His name was Nasado”

“Wait a sec. The ’47 crash? What do you mean by that?” Graham asked feeling at a loss again about the information she was giving him.

“Roswell” she repeated evenly. Looking the President in the eyes, Liz tried to read his reaction.

“Roswell?”

“Yes. The weather balloon was a cover. Roswell”

“…O.K.”

Fixing the President with a clear gaze Liz hoped that what she was saying would make him understand that the alien in the Special Units files was in a way created by the United States and was no longer a threat. “The murderer that the Special Unit was after was Nasado. I’m not saying that he was a good person, he wasn’t, but he is dead now. He was killed by our enemies, the same enemies I’ve come to warn you about, in 2000.”

“Ok. Yeah. You need to tell me about them. Who are they? What do they want? That’s why you’re here right?”

“No.” This response shocked the President. “You don’t get that information yet. I’m telling you what you need to know so you can have an appreciation for who we are and where we come from. What our lives have been like on this planet…Our history with this government…Our history with both the threat that has destroyed Antar and which is threatening you. You need to know this, so you may have some understanding of the significance of me being here and what we’re trying to tell you. We need to trust each other first, that is why I’m here.”

~*~*~*~

TBC

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

GregInClearWater:
Thanks for that. Your right I know where I'm going in the end it will be the getting there that could be interesting .
Also thanks for the bump. I was waiting for my beta to get back to me with the next chapter, but
I've just decided to post anyway. Lucky you
The bushfires that you are thinking of are down in Victoria which is luckily 1000-odd km away. There is a bushfire near where I am but it's far enough away that it isn't a threat. The firies are doing a great job.

keepsmiling7:
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy this chapter.

begonia9508:
Glad your enjoying

Janetfl:
Thanks Jan.

nibbles2:
I'm so stoked that you liked the way this has started. As to the furniture thing. That was a stuff up on my part I meant to change that before I posted and forgot but I've fixed it up now. So thanks for that.

cjsl8ne:
Thanks. That is the hope The President would make a good friend.

The Sushi Monster:
Hey glad you're liking it. Unfortunately Alex is dead but continue reading there will be some new character introduced soon which you may enjoy.

Destinyc:
Glad your liking the start.

Alien_Friend:
Thanks stay tuned for the next installment.

Natalie36:
"Awesome" what a complement. Thanks.

Buddha-boy:
Glad you enjoyed the intro. Keep and eye out for Kyle in this chapter and let me know what you think.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Chapter 2

September 2004

Chicago was nice, in Maria’s opinion. She could do this city, if they were able to stay anywhere. Not that she’d experienced it in winter, and not that she’d like to, but the place had a good feel. They had spent the last couple of months moving around the city and it’s neighbourhoods. Even thought they were constantly on the move it didn’t mean that they had to travel long distances all the time. And Chicago being a big city meant that they could play a lot of cover stories.

When they first arrive in a place they generally like to play the tourist, it’s such a simple and easy way to scope a place out and what’s the point of constantly being on the run if you can’t appreciate a bit of the country on the way. Maria’s favourite area was right in the city, in some of the parkland right along the waterfront, and then along the Chicago River as it weaves its way through the city. The effect of light on the building and the water, gave her a sense of peace which she needed in her life.

This was also some of her favourite areas to busk. They did need to make money and she preferred the honest way to some others that they have had to resort to. So whenever she could on their travels, she would busk. In the park she’d sing, usually some jazzy-soul tunes that could handle the open spaces and Michael had invited himself to enough of these performances that he’d started to bring a bucket along ages ago and would give her a backing beat. The Lake front park was a good place for her to be. The business types would usually sneak down there in their brakes and many would hang around to hear her sing or the tourists would be around taking in the ‘culture’ of the city. Both were quite happy to donate to her cause.

If she wasn’t singing she was playing guitar and that’s what she had been doing today as she made her way though the city streets to a café they had all agreed to meet at. It was a bit off the main streets, but it had outdoor seating and was reasonably priced and being on the edge of a wide open area gave them good range of sight if anything went wrong.

With her guitar in her hand she was channelling her inner ‘Sienna Miller’ Bohemian and with Michael walking besides her, a large sketchpad, some charcoal sticks and pens in his hand, wearing some of his paint splashed clothing, they did make quite the artsy pair.

It didn’t take a lot of convincing on Maria’s part to get Michael to see the value of honest money. It was actually Michael who first started doing caricatures in parks and town squares as they travelled around. This started as a good cover for surveillance or for keeping watch when they were out in the open. But it soon evolved into sketches of landscapes and local landmarks, which he could then sell at town markets or in parks. Some times, when he was inspired he would even do a couple of canvases. Michael had once told her that it was his outlet, like her singing, he needed an escape.

Turning the corner they could see the street open up at the end of the next block. When they finally reached the café the rest of the gang had already arrived and were sharing a large plate of fries. Pulling up a couple of chairs they squeezed in, on the corner, between Kyle and Max before Michael leaned over to grab a handful of the fries.

While Maria stowed her guitar case on the ground between her and Kyle, Max leaned forward “So how were the crowds?”

Sitting back up Maria had a disgusted look on her face, replied “Stingy”

“Yeah it’s only these business types out. There’s some conference on or something. They could be out there but I don’t think so, there was no-one paying attention to us.” Michael filled in as he waved over one of the waitresses and ordered drinks for Maria and himself.

“Yeah which means that I’m now financing this little adventure a dim at a time.”

Reaching over and giving Maria a hug Kyle said “and we appreciate everything you do. Your our sugar mamma.”

“Kyle!” Maria pushing him away “Your welcome to contribute any time”

“Hey I do.” Kyle laughed indignantly “You have a free mechanic right here for whenever the Love-Bug brakes down.”

“The Love-Bug?” Liz questioned, joining the conversation from the other side of the table next to Max.

“Hey I know what’s happened in that van!”

“Kyle!” all the girls cried, Maria and Liz in indignation and Isabel in disgust. “Must you.”

Even Michael joined in “Dude, don’t go there”.

“Well you know what the eyes see…” Kyle reasoned.

“Kyle, don’t be jealous” Max teased while Michael called out “Where are our drinks?”

“What’s there to be jealous about it’s not like I’ve had any for the last 3 years.”

“Kyle…” Isabel started.

“Don’t. Unless you’re offering yourself Isabel, just don’t.”

“I wasn’t. But I was going to give you some money. We could go down to the Levee and you know find a solution to that problem.”

“Ahh. Tempting but I’m looking for an emotional connection.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers”.

“Mmm. And you?”

“Ah well. I have a solution to my problems.”

“And that’s where this conversation ends” Max spoke up.

“Oh I don’t know I could hear a bit more” Kyle said while facing Isabel more. “So, how often do these ‘solutions’ occur? You know anytime you want I could just…”

“Yeah right Kyle, not happening. You’ll just have to take care of your own problems.”

Turning away Kyle mouthed ‘Already there’ as the waitress arrived at their table with Michael and Maria’s drinks.

Wearing jeans and a black T-shirt, she was tall and slender, of African decent with tiny plats in her hair. As she leaned across the table to hand them their drinks Kyle turned to look at her, catching her eye’s for a second and smiling as she straightened up. Giving him a half teasing smile back he caught the scent of her perfume and quickly had to adjust his seating position slightly. Shaking his head Kyle mumbled “pathetic.”

After handing them their drinks the waitress remained standing next to the table surveying the group expectantly. Seeing the look on her face Max gave her a questioning smile while Maria whispered “Sweetie. You get the tip after we pay.”

When another waiter approached the table with a huge 1950’s grin on his face Liz started to get the feeling that something was off. Michael was getting the same impression and started to rise while keeping his eyes trained on the two.

When the other waiter joined their current waitress she whispered to him “It’s them” while a smile broke out on her face also. As the guard on the group quickly rose and they started to move backwards out of their chairs into the open area behind them. Ready to run if necessary the waitress spoke quickly and quietly, “ No wait. We’re on your side. We’ve been searching for you for ages.”

“How did you know we’d be here?” Liz asked. The only one who had not fully risen from her seat yet.

Seeing the guilty look on the woman’s face Liz knew the answer before she replied, “We followed you”. Starting to rise, Liz continued to stare at the woman’s face, ignoring the other waiter for the time being, content that he could in fact be an alien based on the look of his face. She couldn’t read him, she’d get more out of the waitress.

“What do you want?” she asked. Noticing that the waitress kept glancing warily at Michael and Max who were standing to the right of Liz, and Isabel who was standing to her left. She even threw a quick puzzled glance at Kyle who was now standing slightly further back with Maria and every now and then had a green spark arch between his thumb and index finger. Seeing the affect they were having on the woman, Liz made a decision, “ Tone it down guys” she mumbled while not braking eye contact.

“Liz” Michael said, leaving it at that. Knowing that she would understand everything he was asking and saying with her name.

Taking a breath, she watched the reaction of the woman and let her instincts guide her. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

~*~*~*~

“Ok. Who are you?” Michael demanded as soon as the door closed to the room. That had been his first question when they loaded her and her smiling friend into the van also, but Max had decided that no one was going to be asking any questions until they were some place where they could all speak. Michael asked Kyle and Maria to take his motorcycle and follow them, to make sure they weren’t being followed and also for their protection in case something happened to them in the van. Kyle had only had his powers for a year and after preferring to ignore them for the better part of seven months he still wasn’t that strong with them.

Despite not liking that they were relegated to the tail car of their convoy Maria understood Michael enough and his thinking to know why. Not the over protective part where he was trying to protect her, but the soldier who needs to protect his leader and his family. She understood that part of him very well. It was with him all the time, she could read it in his eyes and could feel it through their tentative connection at those times when Michael let his guard down.

They drove to West Side by a round-about route, with Max regularly doubling back on the way. Hanging further back Kyle and Maria kept watch for followers as they trailed the rest of the group to a cheap highway hotel. When they arrived Isabel was waiting for them outside. She had had an outfit change and what once had been a flowing sundress had become, with the flick of her wrist, skin tight black capris and a hot pink tub top.
The whole outfit was topped off with some extremely ugly plastic heals and a cigarette hanging from her right hand.

Nodding to the room behind her as she stamped out her fake cigarette and turned to follow both Maria and Kyle to the room, Kyle teased, “You know. You do cheap hussy well.”

Smiling back Isabel replied, “You know who else I do well? Lorena Bobbitt.”

Glancing at her quickly he amended his statement “Professional observation only.” Seeing that her smile had become anything but friendly, he quickened his pace slightly.

Slipping into the room they noticed that the waitress and her smiling friend had been placed in the seats at the small table in the front left corner of the room. As Isabel closed the door behind her Michael demanded his question “Ok. Who are you?”

For the first time since they had met, the smiling man spoke up without changing his expression. “Hello, You may call me Terence, and it is a pleasure to meet you Sir.” Rising, he extended his hand to Max. When Max did not immediately take it he instead gave a slight nod of his head first to Max and then to the rest of the group.

“Terence?” Maria commented “cute name.”

Turning to face Maria who was standing, leaning slightly against the end of the bed, Terence elaborated, “I have chosen Terrance as a name to use here on Earth. My true name is from an old Antarian dialect that the English vocal cords would have difficulty pronouncing. I believed that this would be less conspicuous.”

While a slight understanding smile appeared on Maria’s face, a scowl forming on Michaels “Fascinating” turning to the waitress he questioned “How about something more specific.”

Speaking from next to Max, on Michaels left, Liz offered “Maybe her name would help first Michael”

Scowling as he turned back to the waitress he growled out “Fine” while giving her an expectant look.

Slowly she spoke, “My name is Serena.” Despite the shock of recognising the name, Liz’s face remained neutral, waiting for more information. “We are members of Antar’s Black Guard, who are the personal guard of the royal family.”

Stepping forward Max spoke up for the first time “Why should we believe you?”

“When Ava escaped with your son, the Queen wanted to ensure that both you and her grandson had protection.” Terence spoke up. His smile now dimmed. “The Queen feared that her returning to Earth could focus Kivar’s attention on the planet. That it would only be a matter of time before he sends forces here to.”

“They’re coming here? Now?” Liz asked as the decisions of her past started to surface in her mind. Even though she had come to terms with her actions to a large extent, the knowledge that she had affected the future and was the cause of their current situation was not something she could easily forget.

Sensing her thoughts Max’s hand reached out to rest on her lower back, before pulling her to stand in front of him. Wrapping his arms around her waist he bent his head down and whispered “It’s not your fault” in her left ear, while Terence replied “We’re not sure, My Lady. We know it would take them some time to organise a force big enough to attack Earth. It would also take some time to reach here. A force that size will move slowly, slower than we did. But before we left there were reports that he was looking to expand. Whether that meant physical control of the other planets in the system or further afeild we can’t be sure. But we were sent here for your protection.”

Having been leaning against the television counter, Isabel spoke up “How long have you been here?”

Glancing at her Serena spoke up “About a year and a half”

“A year and a half. Are you kidding me?” Kyle questioned shocked. “We’ve been running, hiding, looking over our backs everywhere we go for two years and you’ve been here for a year and a half. You know there were some things I was planning to do with my life while you were getting around to doing your job.”

“Hey! We were doing our job.” Serena shouted while quickly standing and taking a step towards Kyle. “You should be pleased with yourselves you were so hard to find but you aren’t the only people we had to protect.”

“Zan.” Max whispered.

“We found him in a week” Serena whispered with disappointment lacing her voice. Seeing the colour drain from his face she continued “He okay.”

“He was meant to be safe.” Max tightened his grip on Liz and addressed Serena. “How did you fine him so quickly?”

“The Seal.”

This elicited a round of exclamations from the rest of the group but Max remained silent. “How is that possible?” he finally asked

“For your safety the Black Guard has the ability to locate and trace the Royal Seal. It is how we are meant to find you if you are in trouble.” Terence replied while also standing.

“But you gave it away Max. To a child who had no protection.” Serena accused.

Stepping up to her brothers defence Isabel lashed out at Serena. “A child who is human. Who had no powers to raise suspicion. No-one has ever used the Seal to track us before, how was Max to know.”

“It was irresponsible.” Serena ground out through her teeth.

“It was meant to be the end of it” Max spoke up, “I’m not a King, that’s why I go rid of the Seal. I had no idea it would place him in danger.” he whispered.

“It’s ok he’s safe” Terence reassured “No-one knows he has it and we’re the only ones who can track it.”

“No he’ll never be safe with the Seal. I need to find him, I have to take it back” Max said with determination, while releasing Liz and walking up to Terence.

“Well ya can’t do that” Serena stepped in “It’s too dangerous. At his age he could get brain damage. Die. The only safe way is for him to give it to you.”

Taking a moment to think, Max asked “What about his family?”

“They’re all safe. We’ve left fifty of our guards in the town. We assessed that he was safest remaining with his family for the time being.” Terence replied before adding “Unless you decide otherwise Sire.”

“I think we’ve now all establish that I’m not the King anymore.” Max reflected quietly.

“No, your not. But you are the Regent” Serena snapped with conviction. “In the event of a child taking the throne their nearest relative acts as Regent. That’s you.”

“Listen Sunshine what is your problem?” Maria had had enough of this girl attacking Max, and so apparently had Liz, who had just made the exact same demand.

“He gave away the Seal. Do you get what that means?” Serena asked with anger shining in her eyes. “He abdicated.” Looking around at everyone in the room she addressed them all. “You may not have wanted this job but it is a responsibility that has been entrusted to you…Get over it”

~*~*~*~

Authors Note: For anyone that didn't get the reference, Lorena Bobbitt castrated her husband John Wayne Bobbitt in 1993

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

keepsmiling7
I'm glad I could bring Lorena Bobbitt back into the hearts and minds of the public . You'll have to keep an eye out in the next couple of chapters for information about Zan and his family.

xmag
Thanks. I don't think baby Zan is used enough if fics.

begonia9508
Ok this may be just my interpretation but at the very end of 'Four Aliens and a Baby' when Max is giving baby Zan away for adoption he passes his hand over his head and a constellation appears. I don't know what it was or what it was meant to be so I'm invoking authors license on this one. So just as Max gave Zan up for adoption he transferred the Seal to Zan then. As to the Michael thing, I am aware that he had the Seal and that will be dealt with in the future.

destinyc
That is very true. The more you try to run from something the more it will come back to haunt you.

Alien_Friend
Yes the Queen is a very smart lady. She may be popping up from time to time in the future so you will see more of her to come.

cjsl8ne
Yes perilous adventures, damsels in distress, treachery and even a quest for buried treasure. Stay tuned for the next installment...Oh look here it is

nibbles2
Yeah well I always preferred them as the artistic couple than being bummed out and fighting. Artistic M/M I always associated with happy times so that's why I went that way and also I though it has some valid surveillance options.

Janetfl
Thank you for the complements I'm glad your enjoying it. I'll quietly just tell you I'm hoping to post one chapter every week. We'll see how that goes in the future with work.

Buddha-boy
Glad you enjoyed Kyle. He's fun to write and I wasn't sure I had him a hundred percent. As to him and Isabel well I can't tell you that because there would be no suspense then but remember that she is still a married woman and that's something she takes very seriously. Family is everything even if he isn't there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Authors Note: This chapter has some Adult content so if there are any young types out there or you are uncomfortable with that sort of thing then this chapter might not be for you. I have indicted where the adult content start with this symbol so you can make that decision for yourselves.


Chapter 3

March 2009

Since going into her trance, Liz had been laying peacefully on the bed. The only light in the room was coming from a lamp on the bedside table, which illuminated the deep blue wall of the hotel room. It cast a soft glow on her face that, accompanied with her rapid eye movement, gave the impression of a peaceful sleep.

To make Liz’s projection easier, they were staying at one of the closest hotels to the White House. The energy that would be required to maintain a projection, for the hours that it was suspected these meetings would take, meant that every percussion was taken to reduce the energy output Liz would have to make. The room was large, with a dark blue feature wall that ran the length of the room behind the bed. The bed had a large queen sized pillow topped mattress, with blue sheets that matched the rest of the room. In all, the room resembled the layout of most hotel suites but with touches that indicated the wealthy, political nature of the clientele.

In preparing for the night, both Max and Liz had opted for clothes that would be comfortable to wear while lying down for hours at a time. For comfort Max was wearing a pair of grey sweat pants and a green T-shirt while Liz was wearing a pair of long, cotton, drawstring pyjama pants with a well-worn purple T-shirt with an orange and red flying-saucer. She had bought the shirt two years previous and Max was particularly fond of it. Or more specifically Liz in it.

Since Liz had started her projection Max had watched over her. It was not a question of her ability to create a projection, but the strain that maintaining it for a great length of time could have on her body. After they had initially agreed to her plan, it had taken a lot of convincing that it should be Liz who approached the President. Many alternatives were put forward; a member of the Black Guard, Serena, Max even nominated himself. But Liz refuted each argument and finally convinced them that she was the only logical solution.

It came down to the fact that she was human. Despite Max, Michael and Isabel all growing up on Earth, and despite at various times wishing they were different, they had always viewed themselves as alien. Liz knew the innocence of the world before the shooting and she also knew the danger of the world after it. If anyone was to tell their story it should be her. She had been in the Presidents shoes, she knew the shock, she knew the fear, but she also knew the stakes. She had the character to persuade him. So Max had agreed to the plan, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried.

As Liz was preparing for the night Max was getting increasingly more worried. Since it had been decided that Liz was to be the one to approach the President he had actually given little thought as to the consequences of this meeting. The amount of energy required to create and maintain a projection for the length of time they suspected a meeting like this would take was dangerously high. Rhine had warned them of the dangers, that she could burn herself out, even die, if she exerted too much energy in a projection that lasted for so long. So since starting, Max had been watching over her.

Through their connection he monitored her energy levels. He could feel her emotional responses to thing and also received some fleeting reflections of the conversation she was having through their connection. Despite his worry, he admired the control she had over her powers. She was carefully limiting the amount of energy being put into the projection. He even suspected that she could maintain this on her own for several hours before starting to feel the effects. But that didn’t stop Max from periodically siphoning off her exhaustion.

He had started the night sitting on a chair next to the bed, on alert if anything were to go wrong with her. But after monitoring her power usage and physical condition he had started to relax slightly and was now laying on the bed with her body pulled tight to his chest. Even though her mind was elsewhere Liz’s fingers had automatically laced with his when he lay down beside her. And as the night wore on his fingers started to trail lines and patterns along her body, causing a slight smile to form on her lips.

The bedside clock read 3:12am when Max sensed Liz dissolving the projection. When she first became awake she pulled his arms around her tighter, while whispering “You know I could feel you hands while I was with the President.” Turning around in his arms she glanced at him, while slowly angling her face up to his. “It was very distracting.”

Pulling his head back slightly so her lips could only just brush his he replied while nibbling at her lips “Not too distracting I hope. You were there on official business after all.” Turning them over and pining Liz’s body beneath his, he trailed his lips down her right cheek to her ear and whispered “Don’t want to give the wrong impression.”

“Oh no. I think he got the impression we were after.” Liz breathed out while her husband attacked her ear. “I have very good self control.”

Pulling back to look at her Max raised an eyebrow “Oh really?”

Staring up at his lips for a moment she mumbled “Maybe not” before sitting up to catch his lips.

Their lips attacked each other’s while Max’s hand trailed up under her shirt and came to rest on her lower back. The warmth of his hand made her arch into him while he pushed his lower half down into her. Slipping his left leg between hers, Liz’s leg wrapped around it trapping him between her legs.

Her hands had come up under his shirt and while one went north up his back, the other went south and came to rest on his butt. Running her hand over his butt and down his inner thigh she pulled on his leg and flipped them over so she was on top. Adjusting her position so she was straddling his waist she started kissing his lips languidly. After a little while Max growled and tried to deepen the kiss but Liz wouldn’t have it. Pulling back slightly she giggled and then started to get up but Max’s reactions were too quick and he pulled her back down on top of him, causing them both to groan when she landed on the prominent bludge in his sweat pants. “And just where do you think you’re going?” Max inquired as both hands snaked up under her shirt to rest on her tummy and hips.

“I was just going to clean my teeth and get ready for bed.” Liz replied with a smile while glancing over her shoulder in the direction of the bathroom. “It’s late…or early. I am a bit tired.” She started to rise again but Max’s grip prevented her moving far. His hand rose higher under her top and came to rest just under her left breast and as his thumb reached out to brush her nipple he said “You are already in your pyjamas.”

Hitching her breath as he brushed her nipple and breathing heavily she replied “But I still need to clean my teeth and maybe I should put on another pair.

“Another pair?” Max inquired. He knew she had no intention of getting ready for bed but was intrigued by her answer.

Replying quickly and adopting a casual air to her voice she said “Yeah. It’s a bit cold so I was thinking my flannelette pair you know the ones with the stars on them?”

Sitting up quickly and engulfing her breast fully with his hand, he whispered “I’ll give you stars.” before taking possession of her mouth again. Their kisses were fiery, Max pulled her body back down on top of his as their tongues wrestled for dominance. Liz’s mind was exploding with their connection, every feeling, every thought, they were experiencing was coupled with images of their past.

Braking away from the kiss, Liz moved down his body to the skin exposed as his top rode up. Pushing it higher she started to lay kisses along the outside of his pectoral muscles before licking across his nipples. Sitting up she pulled his top with her to make him sit up before lifting it over his head. As soon as the top was removed Max claimed her lips quickly while his hands rode up the back of her top. Pulling it up Max released her from the kiss as she raised her arms above her head and he pulled her top over her head.

Still sitting up he held her lower back and attacked her breasts. Running her fingers through his hair she held his head in place as he licked and suckled on her flesh. Grinding her lower half into his she released a gasp as he turned them over quickly, laying her body on the bed all the while not releasing her breasts.

Finally releasing them he glanced up at her face, which was flushed. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was partly opened as she took in deep breaths causing her chest to rise and fall in the fore of his vision. Waiting until she opened her eyes to look at him he gave her a teasing smile before moving his way down her body placing little kisses on first her breasts, then her stomach, her belly button, and then along the band of her pyjama bottoms. Taking a hold of the waistband he pulled it down while kissing each area of exposed skin along the way.

Once the pants were removed, Liz was lying there naked and Max’s hands were gently stroking up and down her legs. As he moved back up her body his hands slowly travelled up her inner thighs before moving up to rest on her waist. His lips followed this same course, up her calves and then her inner thigh. He took his time working his way up her right leg slowly getting closer and closer to where she really wanted him to be. When he brushed the light curls of her centre with his chin he moved his way to the top of her leg and licked and kissed across her hipbone. His hands, which had almost been completely encircling her waist, started to move south as his lips made their way to her belly button. Liz’s hand came to rest on his head and her fingers combed through his hair as he dipped his tongue in and licked around its edge imitating what he imagined doing where his fingers were.

Slowly parting her folds Max dipped his fingers into her waiting centre. She was wet as he slowly entered two fingers into her folds before pulling them out and entering them again. Bringing his thumb down he slowly started circling her nub while his fingers continued to slide in and out of her.

Moving his lips up her body he kissed and licked along the underside of her breasts before making his way up between their valley. Raising his body up with this free hand he brought himself directly over her face to watched her expression.

Her face was flushed and she was breathing heavily, her body moving in time with his thrusting fingers, feeling his gaze she opened her eyes to stare at his eyes. For a couple of minutes they stared at each other neither saying anything just experiencing each other’s feelings through their connection. Finally braking into a half smile Max inquired “How you going with those stars?”

Throwing her head back and rising slightly, as she felt herself getting closer to climax, she focused her eyes back on him before replying, “I’ve seen the universe” and sealed her mouth to his.

As they continued to kiss Liz’s hands travelled down his back and slipped under the band of his sweatpants. Squeezing his butt for a second she then started to push his pants down. As Max’s fingers started to build in speed she brought her feet up to help remove his pants, deepening his thrusts. With the help of her feet she pulled his pants to his knees and used her legs to flip them both over, immediately sinking down on his length.

Pausing once he was completely impaled, they stared at each other both breathing heavily with smiles on their faces. “I think I just saw stars” Max whispered and continued to stare at her before quietly breathing “Mrs Evans.”

Leaning forward they shared soft languid kisses, as Liz’s body started moving slowly up and down his length. Despite the frenzy of their earlier actions their lovemaking started out slow. Liz slowly pulled Max’s length all the way out before completely sheathing it again. Her hand lightly brushed up and down the side of his torso before coming up to frame his face. One of his hands came to rest on her butt while the other threaded through her hair holding her face in place as their kisses became more forceful. As Liz increased her speed their kisses became more demanding and both their tongues fought for dominance in each other’s mouths. Braking away from the kiss to breath, Liz brought her head to rest on Max’s collarbone biting his shoulder slightly as his hand came down to join the other on her butt, increasing their speed.

Resting on her elbows above his head, her hair stuck to her face with sweat. She sucked and kissed her way up his neck and chin, working her way across his face to his lips. When she reached his lips they sort each other out stealing kisses around their ragged breaths.

Their pace was now fevered. They were so close to climax and Max was helping her pace with thrusts of his hips and hands. Sitting up sightly Liz change their angle and Max’s hands came to rest on her hips helping her slam into him. This angle changed the way Max had been penetrating her as he started to hit a cluster of nerves deep inside her causing the pleasure to build in her until she was teetering on the edge. As they thrust into each other one more time Liz felt her walls burst then clamp down on his length as an explosion of light and a vacuum of sound filled her. When Liz climaxed Max felt it both in his body and through their connection as an avalanche of emotion and feeling slammed into him causing his body to go over the edge as well. As this emotional and physical storm surrounded them their pace continued as they continued to ride out their climax. Their movements continued as each others orgasm and emotion fed back to the other continuing to heighten their senses.

Gradually their movements slowed and eventually Liz stopped and collapsed on Max’s chest. Both of them were breathing heavily and Max combed her hair out of her face with his hand before lightly kissing her temple. Turning them on to their side Max pulled the sheet up to cover their bodies as Liz snuggling into his chest and breathed a slight laugh whispered, “Now I’m tired”. Closing his eyes, a smile formed on Max’s face as he was already falling asleep, he used his power to turn out the light before bringing his arm down to slowly track the contours of Liz’s body and come to rest on her hip murmuring “Good”.

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

keepsmiling7
Glad you enjoyed

Janetfl
Jan you seem to have enjoyed that last part. Did I get that right?
Well I was actually a bit nervous about posting it because I've never written anything like that before, so I'm happy it's worked out.

destinyc
Thanks for that

Alien_Friend
I'm glad you agree with the Liz rational because ultimately she was the most logical person I could think of to approach the President.

And I'm happy the dreamer moment worked well. I was actually aiming at showing that they still have a youthful playfulness about them even after everything they've been to.

Natalie36
Thanks

begonia9508
Ahh. You will have to be patient for Grahams reaction. A couple more parts to go still.

Buddha-boy
Thanks. How they start to deal with Serena and Terence will be coming up very soon.

cjsl8ne
Buried treasure...hmm. I still need to figure out how to work that part into the story but the rest...stay tuned.

Your going to have to wait a little while longer to hear more of the negotiations.

kissme4ever123
Glad you enjoyed the dreamer moment. Actually the Max's son bit will play a much more important role in the future so you will have to wait a little more for it. And as for a mini Max/Liz combo. It hasn't been planed yet but you never know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 4

September 2004

It took all of that night and most of the next day to reach their destination, a secluded mountain area an hour east of Breckenridge, Colorado. When Terence had first told them about their base they had all reacted with shock and a vague scene of relief at the realisation that they had somewhere safe, away from the FBI, and their enemies where they could hide. For the first time in many years there was the promise of a place were they didn’t have to constantly keep looking over their shoulder. They could relax.

The hotel had always been a short-term solution when it came to questioning the two. While they hadn’t planned specifically where they were going to take them they knew they would have to go someplace more secluded to talk about the full implication of the Black Guards arrival. So when Terence mentioned their base they decided it was as good a place as any to go for this discussion. That was until they discovered it was in Colorado.

That was a good two days of driving and Michael for one had no intention of waiting two whole days to get answers. Kyle also objected “I know we’ve done it, but I really don’t feel up to piling into that van like sardines with two extra passengers!”

“Yeah” Maria spoke up “There’s no way I’m going to be sitting next to “Little Miss Sunshine” over there.” She said while indicating Serena with a nod of her head.

While everyone else spoke up to point out the problems with going all the way to Colorado, both Terence and Serena stood by watching their interaction. They did not differ to rank, both humans and Antarians spoke up and talked over each other in turn.

Michael retained a negative attitude about the proposed trip. Most of the others did not object to the trip to Colorado in general but getting there in the van with extra passengers was not something they were looking forward to. Despite the group input there was a slight deference to Max’s decision, his comments carried with them an air of authority. Though this was an authority that the group did not openly acknowledge. This was a strong unit who worked together to make decisions and despite their personality differences and their unorthodox approach, this was a strong relationship.

As their argument progressed and they started to arrive at the opinion that travelling to Colorado with only the van and Michael’s bike was un-feasible, Terence spoke up “If it will make things easier I could organise transportation for everyone.”

“Like what? Fly?” Isabel asked. She couldn’t help the hope that that thought rose in her. While she knew that flying was not an option she still experienced a slight hitch in her chest at the possibility of flying, at the freedom it offered to see her husband, to see her family. But as much as she would like to walk on to a plane and go directly to Colorado, or elsewhere, it just wasn’t a possibility in their situation.

“No. But I will organise something.” He replied. A ghost of a smile formed on his face upon seeing the hope in her eyes. “Maybe a bus.”

Speaking for the whole group Max said, “Ok, it sounds like a good solution.”

“Well, hang on.” Kyle spoke up “What about the van? I’ve put a lot of work into that.”

“Yeah and my bike” Michael joined in. Six months into their escape Michael had picked up a very old and knocked up 1960’s Triumph in a junkyard. The bike was a wreck and if most other people had got it there would have been nothing they could do without a complete rebuild. But with Michael’s powers and Kyle’s help they were able to get the bike back into good condition. It was his pride and joy. “I’m not leaving it behind.”

“Fine.” Serena spoke up not sounding impressed. She’d been listening to these people argue about whether or not they’d be going to Colorado for a while now and now they were whingeing about some crappy old van and a motorbike. “Put the bike in the van and I’ll drive it back.” Not waiting for a response she continued “Good? Great.”

Turning she went to wait outside. “Umm Serena?” Kyle spoke up as she reached the door. Going over to her he indicated the door and said “I was, umm” Kyle started as they walked out the door moving his hands. Finally indicating the van he haltingly asked. “Do you want some company?”

Looking at the van and then turning to look Kyle up and down she smirked and answered. “Sure, why not.”

Max, Liz, Isabel and Kyle all loaded into the van while Michael and Maria took the bike. The group was leaving to gather all their stored cloths and possessions which were hidden in ‘specially’ modified luggage holds and other compartments around town. While they were doing that Terence and Serena would be organising their transportation “We’ll meet you at Busse Woods by the marsh.” Serena called as the group left the hotel “Don’t be late.”

~*~*~*~

The drive to Colorado was long. While most of the group had assumed they would be getting seats on the next Greyhound, the bus that Terence had got them was really a small 20 seater. In this bus they all had room to spread out and the seats were comfortable. When they had met up in the seclusion of Busse Woods, Terence had been driving and so had taken the drivers set again when they all left.

In general it was a quiet trip. Max and Liz were sitting together in the second row, Liz’s head resting on his shoulder as they both watched the scenery pass in silence. They were lost in thought together both considering the actions of their past which had brought them to this moment. While they watched the scenery fly past their window and the environment change they remained a comforting presence to each other trying to sooth each others inner turmoil.

Isabel sat near the back on one of the single seats; her long legs stretched out resting on the seat across the aisle while a well-worn paperback book rested on her knees. It was her favourite, while on the road she had taken to reading classic 19th Century Romance novels and ‘Mansfield Park” which she was currently reading had become her favourite. She identified with Fanny and while she couldn’t experience her great romance, while everyone else around her did, she new she would be reunited with her ‘Edmund’ in the end.

On the very back row Maria lay across the seats sleeping. Earlier she had been quietly playing her guitar but had given up after the first hour and had instead lain down to get some sleep.

Michael had opted to sit up the front with Terrence. Very early into their trip he had started asking questions again. “So what are the plans now that you’ve found us?”

“Since our arrival we have had time to plan the best solution for your protection.” Terrence started. “But I believe that Max would prefer me to wait until we are all assembled so that I might properly explain the situation.”

Scowling, Michael replied “Well Max isn’t King so he doesn’t get to control everything. We’re going to be driving for two days so why don’t you tell me now and you can explain it to the rest later.”

Glancing in the rear vision mirror Terrence asked “Sir?”

Turing away from the window where he’d been lost in thought Max looked at the two before slightly raising his eyebrow in question.

Michael sat quietly with an unreadable expression on his face while Terrance supplied Max with an answer. “I was wondering whether you minded if I was to explain some of our future plans to Michael during the drive?”

With his thoughts still elsewhere Max replied “Well…we all need to hear it so it might be easier if we wait and are all together.”

“Max he can tell you guys later but its two whole days, I’m not going to sit around and wait when he can tell me right now.” Michael replied.

Still slightly distracted by his thoughts Max asked “What about Kyle and Maria?” turning he saw Maria’s head hanging slightly over the edge of the seat, her mouth slackly open in sleep. “I think we all need a chance to rest and relax… and think, after everything that’s happened.” Max turned back around and reasoned. “Why don’t you just relax for a bit Michael?”

“Max I...”

“Fine. Michael do what you what I don’t care.” Max cut him off and gave him his full attention. “But while we’ve got the chance I want to relax for a bit… to think. So you can do what you want. Just leave me be for a while.”

Turning back to the front Michael watched the countryside come towards them. The houses and pastures of Iowa past them by for the next couple of minutes while silence again fell in the bus.

“So those plans…” Michael slowly ventured.

Giving a little chuckle, Terrance leaned over and gave him a good-natured glance and smile “Not happening Michael.”

“What!”

“No, no. It’s for the best. I don’t believe that I can…” Terrance started as though he was about to explain an ethical situation to a child.

“Fine! Then something else.” Michael tried. Thinking of another route to get information out of Terrance. “What about our enemies? What have they been up to?”

“Michael…” He started giving him a reproving stare. As he started to speak he was interrupted again.

“Well, how many of you are there?” Michael desperately tried for some information.

“Max has made himself clear to me. It is not appropriate that any of this be spoken about without everyone present. Especially Max. ”

“Arr, what ever.” Michael replied quickly realising that the conversation was not going anywhere and put his headphones in his ears just as Terrence started to apologise again.

~*~*~*~

“10 158”

“You know that’s a lot” Kyle replied. “It’s kinda like a small town”

“It will do for the time being.” Serena replied without glancing away from the road. “If Kivar were to try to attack we wouldn’t have a chance”

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” Kyle quoted while watching the scenery go past.

Turning away from the road Serena stared at him incredulously. Glancing back to the road before turning to look at Serena again Kyle quickly did a double take with the road and gave a slight chuckle “That is cool” before glancing back at the roads “But I think I might feel a little bit better if you were actually looking at the road.”

Still not looking back at the road Serena asked “Have you been smoking something lately.”

“No. Seriously. Look at the road.” Kyle said glancing quickly at the road again.

Waiting a second, Serena turned back to the road where she was still driving in her lane on the highway.

“How’d you do that?” Kyle asked in amassment

“Our brain can process multiple things at once.” Serena reply quickly before going on to ask “What the hell was that non-sense you were spewing out earlier?”

“It’s not non-sense it’s a quote from Buddha” Kyle replied.

“What?” she asked

“I’m Buddhist” he explained.

Glancing at him again Serena replied “Hmm” before turning back to the road. “That still doesn’t rule out you smoking something.”

“Buddhism doesn’t do that” Kyle explained “and even if it did I’ve seen the affect of alcohol on those guys. Can you imagine what drugs would do!”

“You were born human. I assume you’ve been changed.” Kyle nodded “Well it’s not going to effect the way you process alcohol.”

Turning to look at her again Kyle explained “Look the first time the Special Unit caught up with us on the road I’d been having a really bad time and was feeling sorry for myself and had gone out drinking. I hadn’t drunk in a while so I got pretty waisted. Lucky Izzy was there with me. She saved my butt. I haven’t drunk since.”

Seeing the reflective look on his face Serena giving a little chuckle to break the tension “Nice timing.”

Exaggeratedly flicking his hair out of his face and facing her, Kyle said “Yes well I was going for dramatic effect.”

“Is that right?” Serena queried with a smile on her face.

“Yes well all good action heroes need an obstacle they must overcome.”

“And having no hand-eye co-ordination was yours” she laughed.

“I wasn’t that bad.” He tried to defend.

“Yeah. You just had to be rescued by a girl. Right?” Serena questioned.

“Hey Isabel’s scary when she’s angry”

Laughing now Serena said “That still means that your heroic feat primarily involved getting rescued by a girl”

“Well no I did quite effectively knock over a garbage bin” he defended.

“What no powers? She questioned.

“Well I didn’t have them then.”

Turning to face him still with a smile on her face, she asked “Really? When did you get them?”

“August 27th 2003…I kinda lost it and blew up the vans engine by accident”

Glancing at him again from the road, she mouthed “Ohh” and gave him a questioning look.

“I didn’t adjust well” he explained, “I knew it was going to happen. Like, that was my reason for coming. Well one off them” he amended “But when they started to appear I kinda when into denial. I quietly ignored them and vehemently blamed Max for my predicament.” Smiling he added, “It was very therapeutic.”

Chuckling she replied “Good way to deal.”

They settled into a comfortable silence after this. Serena drove, following the rest of the group in the small bus.

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

Alien_Friend
Glad your enjoying it so far

cjsl8ne
Thanks Kyle does have a particularly unique way of looking at their life

destinyc
Yeah. Poor little Michael just has no patients.

begonia9508
Michael and Maria hmm. Well you might need to keep an eye out in the future.

keepsmiling7
Thanks alot.

nibbles2
Don't worry you got there in the end
You know half the time I don't think Max realise's he's doing it he's just saying what he thinks. It's everyone else who follows him.

With Terrence and Serena you have to remember that they are 100% alien. They are also military their observation I think was more a comparison to a hierarchical system. You may know one thing but seeing your leaders acting in a different way to the way you might expect can be a shock.

Janetfl

Kyle and Serena seem to be getting on alright ... hmmmm future romance maybe?

Maybe, maybe.

tequathisy
You think it's a case of Max being all controlling or a case of Michael being impatient?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 5

Late the next afternoon, approaching Breckenridge Colorado, they entered the surrounding bushland. Weaving their way through the mountains and along progressively lesser-used tracks they continued for another 45 minutes before starting a slow climb up an old overgrown logging track. After driving for a time the vegetation started to open up and the setting sun, while not directly illuminating their destination, cast a bright glow along the gravel track, causing long shadows to form on the gradual incline. Their destination was concealed by the curve of the road and a wide cliff face that rose about 30 feet above them. As Serena ran up to the next corner and ran her hand over a large boulder imbedded at the base of the cliff they were given their first view of the entrance to the Black Guards base.

As Terrance inched the van forward and around the corner, the incline increased and the track deteriorated forming erosion gullies where the wheel tracks should be. But as they rounded the boulder the sun caught along the cliff face exposing a dark opening into the mountain, which was obvious against the bright setting sun.

Liz murmured in wonder as the entrance first came into view. As they entered and started on a decent they noticed that the passage-way was lit by a dimmed internal light source that brightened as they passed through. The area was large, the hight of the cliff face and twice as wide with the walls carved unnaturally smooth.

They continued down the passage for a couple of minutes before an end came into view and the occupants of the bus started to talk up, murmuring. Sitting forward everyone looked around as they entered an impossibly large chamber. Lined in front of them, row upon row, were thousands of men and woman dressed completely in black. Their outfits gave off no reflection and seemed to absorb all the light.

Tearing his eyes away from those immediately in front of the bus, Michael glanced upwards and noticed that there were three floors above this large chamber with walkways extending around each side. On each of these were more Black Guards lined up at attention, creating the impression that there were thousand of dark spirits lined up and looking down on them.

As the bus pulled to a halt a sudden wave of nerves hit Michael causing him to seek out Maria’s hand. Despite all his dreams of home as a child, the prospect of meeting all these people terrified him. He may have been a General in his past life but he was staring to realize that in this life he new nothing of that role. What would they expect of him?

Clutching Maria’s hand tightly and looking around the bus he saw that everyone else seemed to be nervous as well. Max and Liz were huddled together in their seat and while Max hugged her, his head rested on her shoulder as he whispered something into her ear. Glancing at Isabel, who was still sitting in the single seat just in front of him, he noticed that her knuckles were white as she bunched up the shawl lying across her lap. Reaching across the isle he took Isabel’s hand from the shawl and gave it a squeeze. Looking in his eyes for a moment Isabel took some reassurance from his presence before Michael released her hand and turned to Maria.

He had half expected to see some panic or nerves in her eyes but when he turned to her she was smiling at him. Her eyes were bright with excitement. For him! he realized. She was excited for what this moment meant to him. Pulling her to him he kissed her as the sliding door to the van opened and Terrance stuck his head inside.

“We’re here.” he said before standing up again.

Max and Liz were the first to move. Standing, Liz exited the bus first with Max following close behind still holding her hand. Seeing Kyle and Serena climbing out of the van and coming to join the others outside, Isabel stood and took a breath to compose herself before stepping out of the bus with her calm façade in place. Squeezing her hand as tight as he dared, Michael rose, and with Maria, walked into the large chamber.

~*~*~*~

To everyone’s great relief they were not required of much on their first arrival. The presentations of all the Black Guards was a formality and after their official introduction the Guards performed a welcoming salute before the group was brought though the middle of the assembled soldiers and taken down one of the hallways leading off the large chamber.

Walking down the hallway they were taken to some alcoves lined up on both side of the hall. They were transport devises that could either transport one person or large groups from different sized ports. Assembling into one of the larger ports Terrance explained that they worked by thought. Placing his hand on the wall near the entrance to the alcove he explained it was only necessary to think of the floor, immediately everyone felt like they were being sucked through a wind tunnel before instantaneously surfacing on the 2nd floor.

Turning to walk down the hallway they weaved their way down corridors while Terrance spoke to them “I’ve had a meal prepared for everyone, if you’re hungry. And I believe that some of you are a bit impatient for information” he continued casting a wry smile at Michael. “So if you would like we can continue our discussion from yesterday while you eat if you would like.”

Quietly nodding their agreement they enter what looked like a long conference room. After Terrance indicated for them to take a seat a man they had not seen before entered the room, followed by a line of men and women carrying large bowls filled with salad, pasta and bread. Placing these on the table they then left, as the first man started laying out plates and cutlery in front of those seated.

Once the plates were set Terrance introduce the new man. “This is Marh from Food Supplies, he will serve you and get you any drinks you need.”

As Marh approached Liz, who was closest to him and started serving out dinner and drinks the door opened again and a group of four men and women entered the room lead by Serena. Still dressed in their black uniforms the new people took their seats at the table giving a slight bow of their heads first to Terrance and then to the group at the end of the table. Serena was the last to take a seat and after bowing her head to Terrance she turned and gave Max a contemplative look before sitting with out offering a bow. While the other members of the new group didn’t say anything, some of them did exchanged looks before glancing at the younger people sitting at the end of the table.

“Well we’re all here now so what would you like to know?” Terrance asked by way of starting the conversation.

Leaning forward Kyle spoke up “Yeah. Who are they?” he asked referring to the new arrivals.

Isabel drew a sharp breath as she turned and slapped his arm “Rude!”

“Hey” he yelled while rubbing his arm “Well?”

Speaking up, an older man with silvering hair sitting to Terrance’s right introduced himself. “My name is Colonel Tar. I’m in command of the Royal Guard 2nd Regiment”

“And what do they do?” asked Michael sitting forward and taking a large mouthful of his pasta. Despite his curiosity he was starving.

“They are the primary combat regiment of the Black Guard” Colonel Tar replied in his deep smooth Indian accent.

Sitting next to him a tall thin man with short-cropped red hair spoke up “I’m Colonel Larren. I command the 3rd Engineering Regiment.”

As the group nodded in silence a younger woman with long black hair spoke up in a Hispanic accent “I am Colonel Solon of the 1st Black Guard Regiment. Our Primary responsibility is tactics and logistics.”

“Oh” Maria said sitting next to Michael. Pausing for a moment she continued “Where do Terrance and Serena fit into this?”

“I am in charge of commanding all the Regiments in the Guard” Terrance said from the head of the table.

“And ‘Little Miss Sunshine’?” Maria continued while eyeing Serena.

“Lieutenant Colonel Serena is in charge of all our intelligence operations.” Terrance filled in for them. “It is she who found you.”

“Goodie” Maria bit out with sarcasm.

As Maria said this Max spoke up “I want to know about Zan. I have to figure out a way to get the Royal Seal back off him.”

Solon spoke up “That is something we can not do Max.” She had great compassion in her voice “No matter what happened and what you wish, Zan is the King now. We can not willingly act against that.”

“But he’s in danger” Max exploded “That god damned Seal is a tracking beacon anyone can find him. He has no way of protecting himself. How can you happily sit by and let this happen” he continued as his voice started to brake as he ended his speech. “He needs protection.”

“And he has protection Sir.” Tar spoke up. “In the town where he is living with his family we have 50 troops stationed and a further 200 in the countryside outside the town to act as backup and lookouts. He is protected.”

“And like I told you Max, only the Black Guard are able to trace it” Serena spoke up

“He’s my son!” Max bit back in reply “What about me meant to be Regent, don’t I get a say?”

“You’re meant to be…” Serena started before getting cut off by Terrance.

“Max” he started quietly “You gave him up for adoption. For the purposes of our situation, you are the Regent. But as a parent you gave those rights up. His protection is the job of the Black Guard, trust us to do it.”

Sitting quietly Max listened. He new Terrance was right and no matter how much his heart protested the situation he had to make himself accept that even though he was Zan’s father he wasn’t his Father. As he tried to convince himself of this, his mind of it’s own accord conjured an image of baby Zan the day he gave him away. Three years ago. Nodding his head in silent acceptance to Terrance, he started to think about what he could look like now. This was something he usually only allowed himself to do once a year, on the anniversary of Tess returning Zan to him, but he couldn’t stop the image he’d been forming over the years from surfacing. He didn’t even know what his son looked like but it was always the same face and even though his imagination changed it slightly every year this was the son Max always held on to.

Feeling where his thoughts were taking him Liz sent waves of love and reassurance through their connection. She knew how depressed he could get when thinking about Zan and what he had done. It was a guilt that he revelled in to punish himself.

Breaking out of his thoughts something occurred to him “Can you answer me this?” he asked raising his head to look at the group “I know I gave him the royal seal. Why do I still have the powers? When I died – sort-of, Michael got the seal and the power to heal and all that. I lost those when that happened, why do I still have them now?”

Collectively the group of Colonels drew in a sharp breath at hearing that Max had died. A look of alarm passed between the three of them and Terrance. Serena’s face remained impassive during this exchange while she continued to watch Max.

“What happened?” she asked

“We had to break in to this lab…” Max started before getting interrupted by Serena

“Not that. What happened between you and Michael?” She asked “You’re obviously alive so we don’t have to worry about that. You died for a moment. What ever. You came back. The Seal went to Michael.” She narrated “What happened?”

“Basically he went power hungry. Max lost his powers, Michael got them.” Kyle filled in. Glancing at Michael he said “Sorry dude.”

Shaking his head dismissively he replied “It’s what happened.”

“And with you and Zan?” Serena continued.

“It was his birth-right.” Max sighed “I didn’t think it actually worked ok. Tess told us that Kivar rejected him because he didn’t have any powers, didn’t have the Seal. So the day that they were taking him away I wanting to give him something of me so I gave him the Seal.”

Serena had to hold herself back from saying “DNA wasn’t enough” knowing that her comments were starting wearing thin with some people.

There was quiet around the rest of the table after Max finished explaining until Solon started to speak “I will have to check with Rhine, he’s is in charge of our Medical unit, but I believe you have split the Royal Seal. When you consciously gave him the Seal you were thinking of the visual image of the Seal not the full Royal powers behind it.” For a moment it looked as if she was going to go on but she stayed quiet.

“So what does that mean?” Isabel asked impatient for answers about the bizarre power dynamics in her family.

“Zan’s got the Crown but you’ve kept the jewels.” Serena couldn’t help but replied sarcastically.

“We are bound to serve and protect the Seal.” Terrance filled in “That is Zan. You may be the rightful King but until the time comes that you have the Seal we are bound to him”

“And you remember what I told you about taking the Seal by force.” Serena stated as a warning.

Saying her name in warning Terrance turned to the rest of the group “There is nothing to be done. Everything we can do, we are. Until that changes there is nothing you can do.” Glancing at Michael he continued “Now I know there are some other questions that you wanted answered.”

Nodding his head as he bit into a slice of crispy bread Michael asked “What are your plans?”

Rolling her eyes Serena sat back in her chair.

“For what?” Terrence asked with an indulgent smile on his face.

“The future.” Michael replied exasperated knowing that Terrence knew what he was talking about after their ‘talk’, for want of a better word, in the bus. “What are your plans for the future? You can’t have been hanging around for a year and a half and not made any plans.”

Smiling at him, Terrance nodded his head. “Yes we have plans.”

“And…?” Michael questioned waiting for him to continue. If he didn’t know better he’d think that Terrance enjoyed winding him up by withholding information.

“And…” He drew out “We need to get you out of America. Not just the country, the entire continent. You’re being chased by both military agencies and the FBI. Kivar and any of his followers still on Earth know that this country is the country you stick to. We need you to disappear for while.”

“Wasn’t expecting that.” Michael mumbled after Terrance finished his statement.

“It’s a pretty big thing to move countries” Liz spoke up “You don’t think it’s a bit extreme. Our families are here and even though we don’t get to see them, to be so far away…I don’t know.” Liz continued, reluctant about the idea of moving.

“It is necessary.” Tar replied “For your safety.”

“There are many things that we need to do to prepare you for the future.” Terrance replied “For that we don’t need to keep looking over our shoulders, for government agencies or enemies. We need a place we can control.”

“Where do we go then?” Maria asked.

“There are number of requirements that you have to think about.” Solon stated “It must be outside of America… the continents. The place has to have a low population density so that we’ll be secluded. It needs a good economy. To be stable. We debated about the English language thing but frankly you’ll blend in more if it’s an English speaking country. And finally you need a place where a large group of Americans could be living but where it would be quite innocuous.”

The group listened to this in silence trying to figure out where they were talking about.

“And the prize goes to?” Kyle prompted.

“Australia” Solon provided

“As Americans don’t you think that we’ll stand out in Australia?” Liz asked.

“Of course you will” she replied “Ultimately you will stand out anywhere. That is why you have a cover story. Something that people would recognize as a legitimate reason for you being there.

“One of the things we found is that it’s not unheard of for some of your Christian religious groups to buy land and communally live over there.” Solon explained “It will offer you a place where people won’t question your seclusion.

“I don’t know how comfortable I feel about that” Kyle spoke up.

“Yeah” Maria continued “I’m not even religious and that seems a bit morally…”

“Fraudulent?” Liz provided when she seemed lost for words.

“There is another option” Laren spoke up for the first time. As the attention of the group turned to him he continued. “Serena brought it to my attention that this option might clash with some of your cultural practices.” The attention of some of the group turned questionly to Serena who was looking at the table. As everyone’s attention turned back to Laren, Solon continued to watch Serena in annoyance. “Another option could be that you are an artist’s commune.”

“No offense but with the exception of Michael and Maria none of us really have any artistic talent.” Max stated.

“That’s OK. I have a solution to that. We are an engineering regiment. We have skilled metal workers and wood workers, it would not be too hard for some of my people to produce works that can be sold as part of the artistic output.” Laren offered “This can work with your cover and if you sell any it maybe provide a bit of income.”

~*~*~*~

The meeting continued on for another hour, talking over the merits of a move to Australia as well as other plans the Black guard have to prepare for their future. At the end of the evening, everyone stood to leave the room, “So did everyone enjoy their meal?” Terrace asked.

“Yeah it was good.” commented Michael, “It was amazing” Maria added as she joined Michael as they moved around the table.

“Our Food Supplies Section has been experimenting with many of Earths cuisines.” Terrance replied falling in beside him as they walked down the hallway toward the ports. “Just last week we had grilled cheese” he stated before moving ahead of them to control the port. Turning around as he reached the front and with a big smile he continued “Quite delicious.”

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

Janetfl
Yeah he wasn't really thinking about the powers connected with it at the time just that he wanted his son to have his birth right.

Kissme4ever123
Glad you like it.

Alien_Friend
I'm glad you agree with my idea to get them out of the country. It always seemed stupid that they just stayed in the same place like sitting duck The smartest thing I would have thought was just to get out of the country and disappear.

begonia9508
Well in FAaB Max passes his hand over baby Zan's head and a group of stars appear and then Diane asked "what was that?" and Max replied "just a memory".

I always though it was his way of telling her not to worry about what he just did and it seemed like he had done something far more significant than implanting a memory. Why would that group of stars appear if it was just a memory? And by giving away the seal to a human baby who would not draw any attention (as far as he knew) he would be making that part of his life a memory.

That's what I always thought anyway. The first time I say that episode that was what I though had happened and as far as I know noone has done anything that deals with that yet.

keepsmiling7
You'll have to wait for more in the future chapters.

DeDe PR
Hey a new feedbacker exciting!
Glad you are liking my Kyle and as fore Little Miss Sunshine I think she still has a bit more light to shine on the world

destinyc
Baby Zan hmm... you may have to wait a little bit longer for his appearance.

cjsl8ne
Yeah Max had some really stupid ideas in the show. When he said that line to her I though what an idiot, what better way to disappear and be normal for a while.

xmag
You know what I just couldn't resist using Australia. I know it so well so I though it was as good a place as any. And I had originally wanted them to be a religious community because seriously there are a far few that come out to Aus and all live on a farm like the Bretheren etc. But then I thought some people might get offended so a wealthy artistic group was the next option and I kinda like it a bit more. As for training you will have to keep an eye out in up coming chapters.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 6

March 2009

The next morning the sun rose strong and bright directly into the eyes of Theodore Graham. The curtains, which had been closed the nigh before when he got to bed, had been opened, probably by his wife when she left for her early morning run. Turning away from the sunlight and groaning, his arm came up to drape over his eyes as the memory of last nights meeting started to return. Struggling to think clearly with the effects of the minimal amount of sleep he had received Theo tried to recall the information the woman had given him last night.

Turning fully onto his stomach he pushed himself up onto his hands and knees before slowly crawling out the opposite side of the bed, and out of the sunlight. Walking towards one of the doors in the room he glanced at the coffee table where he’d left the notepad the previous night. Slowing down, Theodore Graham let his hand drag across the blank pages staring up at him from the table. Seeing the clean lined pages on top, a knot tightened in the Presidents stomach, but the hope that it was all a dream quickly vanished as he started to reveal the pages with scrawled notes hidden beneath. At the sight of the writing President Graham closed his eyes in resignation of what was ahead. Removing his hand, the pages fell back flat on the table hiding the secrets beneath.

~*~*~*~

In the East Sitting Room of the Family Residence, Celia Graham was eating breakfast at a small round table overlooking the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. Turning as her husband arrived he mumbled a “Good morning” as he entered dressed for the day. Replying to him as he slowly made his way to the table she asked “What was the problem last night?” Waiting for him to take a seat she continued, “Nothing happened did it?” Being the wife of the American President came with some perks, but being one of the first to know about natural disasters or terrorist attacks was not one of them and that was the first thing that occurred to her whenever her husband was missing in the middle of the night.

“No. Nothing happened” Theo replied while poring himself a coffee “An unexpected meeting just appeared in front of me. I had to take it.”

Pouring himself a bowl of Cheerios, Theo sat quietly staring at his cereal as he started thinking over what had happened the night before. He had talked with this woman Liz for hours. While he didn’t get any concrete answers about what prompted her visits he was left with many intriguing insights, but also a lot more question. On top of today’s busy schedule of meetings Theodore was trying to think what else he would need to do. He was going to need to schedule a meeting with the head of the FBI but before that he was going to have to get the FBI files Liz had told him about. All this needed to be organised and dealt with before tonight’s meeting continued.

Stirring his cereal as he processed these thoughts, his wife sat across from him watching his troubled expression as everything swirled around his head. He was being quiet and she could see that he was troubled. Her husband was never quiet when it came to working out problems, he would usually talk it out, that was how he would process things. But this morning he was quiet and she could see that he had something big on his mind.

Putting her tea down she casually asked “What is it?”

Glancing up from his now mooshy Cheerios, Theo looked at his wife and gave a tired smile. She knew there was something on his mind, that’s why he loved her, she knew him too well and she also wasn’t the type to let up until he started to open up. So he replied with the one word that explained all his problems “Aliens.”

That answer was a bit of a shock, but Celia knew her husband, despite the simplicity of his answer what was going on was anything but simple. “Really!” she replied hoping that she could take his mind off his stress for a little while “The little green type?” she asked sounding intrigued. Continuing she asked “I never took you for a Treky…or are you a Star Wars buff?”

Giving a tired laugh he was about the reply when his wife continued.

“We’ve been married for 34 years. How is it that I didn’t know this about you?” she asked. “You know I can just see you in the whole outfit.” She said as she playfully ran her eyes over him, “Ha ha” he replied as she continued “You have got a kind of fit William Shatner meets Harrison Ford thing going on. You could pull it off.”

Giving a little chuckle she continued, “I know what you can wear for Halloween.”

“Yeah, you know, there just aren’t enough fancy dress ball at the White House” he joined in.

“When was the last time you saw the President do full dress up for Halloween?” Celia asked.

“Your right, it’s just…” pausing “…culturally insensitive” he continued giving a laugh after finding the right words.

“You know we should change that. More dress-ups at the White House!” Celia announced as they both laughed.

Continuing she speculated “We could turn this whole space thing of yours to our advantage” Giving his wife a puzzled look she gave him a little smile before explaining “The Treky vote!” Graham gave a little laugh as she continued “It’s a whole demographic that is being ignored in polling. More should be done to garner the support of the Treky minority. They are an entirely underrepresented cultural group.”

“Yeah I’ll talk to Kath about scheduling an appearance at the next convention” he replied laughing

“And I could do tea with them.” Celia suggested in a refined voice “Ooo and I can learn to speak Vulcan or Klingon. You know you should really consider hiring a translator” she added as an after thought

“Polling Officials won’t know what to do” he chuckled “Maybe we should consider making it one of the language selections on the polling booths” he continued as they both laughed.

As their laugher died down Celia asked “So, those kind of aliens?”

“I wish” he replied quietly thinking how close to the truth their conversation had been. “No, more the through the fence kind.”

“You know the other type would be more interesting” Celia commented as she picked up her tea to take a sip. “Liven the place up a bit.”

~*~*~*~

Walking out into the hallway of the residence he was met by Luis Sanchez, his personal assistant who handed him the day’s schedule. Making their way down the stairs Luis started quickly listing off the most important meetings of the morning as the President glanced further down the list. His day was packed, as was everyday, with meeting scheduled back-to-back. Approaching the entrance to the West Wing Theo stopped. There where no secret service agents in this spot, they were stationed just outside the door and this would be the last chance Theo had to persuade Luis to help him before he was in the official domain of The President of the United States.

“Luis stop. I need you to listen to me for a minute.”

Coming to a stop just before he was to open the door through to the Colonnade, Luis turned to face the President “Yes Sir?”

“There’s some stuff I need you to do for me Luis and you can’t tell anyone” Theo started. Despite giving the President a quizzical look Luis nodded his head as he continued. “I need you to do this and I need you to not tell anyone. You understand?”

“I’m not going to end up in jail am I Sir?” Luis asked half jokingly.

Giving a slight smile the President started “I need you to get some FBI files for me. No questions asked. Use my name if you have to. There’s a girl named Liz, Elizabeth, I don’t know her last name. She grew up in Roswell, New Mexico and she’d be about 20, 25 years old maybe.”

“Sir do I need to remind you what a lovely wife you have?” Luis asked quickly before the President went on.

“No Luis you don’t I’m quite aware of that fact” Theo replied hoping to continue with the list of things he need before this evenings meeting.

But before he could elaborate Luis continued. “So smart and funny and if I may say so Sir very attractive.”

“As long as that’s all your saying” The President cut in hoping to get back on track.

“And Sir…” Luis started again before being cut of by the President.

“Luis you have nothing to worry about I’m not cheating on my wife and you have my guarantee that if I was I wouldn’t be coming to you about.”

“Yes Sir”

“Now this woman. I need you to get her FBI file. That shouldn’t be too difficult but I also need you to get me another file. It should be linked to this woman’s file. It will have top level security clearance and I need you to get them to send it to me.”

“Can you tell me what this other file is Sir, so that I can…?”

“No Luis I’m sorry but I can’t.” Theo apologised “I’m not exactly sure myself, even if I did know I couldn’t tell you any more.”

Seeing how serious the President was he nodded his head “Was that everything Sir?”

“Ahh no.” The President continued “I need you to make some time in my schedule as well. A good half hour. I need to schedule a meeting”

“Half an hour? Sir you are pretty busy today.”

“Do I need to show you that giant seal in the lobby? Some people think that means I have a bit of sway around here.” The President said jokingly as he started walking towards the doors leading out onto the West Colonnade. “The earliest you can make it.”

Just as he was about to go out the door Luis called out to him. “Who do I make the meeting with?”

“Paul Stevens, the head of the FBI.”

~*~*~*~

The Presidents day proceeded as normal until mid morning when Luis came into the Oval office between meetings to talk with the President.

“Sir?” Luis asked as the last of the people filed out of the room.

Glancing up to see Luis enter, the President asked “What news do you have my man?” as he started putting away the loose documents on his table.

“Well, there were 34 Elizabeth’s, of various spellings born in the region of Roswell, New Mexico between 1982 and 1986.” He started.

“If you get me their files I can tell you which one it is.” The President answered moving out from behind his desk and making his way towards the door.

“Mr President there was one file” Luis started haltingly stopping the President in his tracks “It was classified. I didn’t have the clearance to access it. I told them it was for you but they said that it was Special Eyes-Only. I’ve never even heard of that before. The people who would bring it over wouldn’t even have the clearance to handle it Sir.”

“What are you saying?” the President asked turning back to Luis “They’re refusing to give me the file?”

Moving back around behind his desk Graham was reaching for the phone even before he had finished his sentence.

“No Sir.” Luis spoke up “Paul Stevens is on his way over here now. With the file.”

“Is he here now?” Theo asked

“No Sir but he’ll be here in 20 minutes. You have a meeting with Reba Eickman, followed by a meeting with the French ambassador before he arrives.”

“Way to suck the fun out of the next 20 minutes of my life.”

“I do what I can Sir.” Luis Sanchez replied as he made his way out of the Oval Office allowing Reba Eickman to enter.

~*~*~*~

The 20 minute wait for Steven to arrive was one of the longest waits that Theodore Graham had had to make. He felt like a kid with ADD checking his watch every couple of minutes feeling like time was moving backwards.

When Director Steven walked into the Oval Office he was carrying a thin manila envelope in his hand.

“Is that the file” President Graham asked, excitement building at the sight of the envelope in the other mans hand.

Handing over the envelope the President quickly undid the string ties and pulled out a thin manila file. Opening the file there were two pages lying inside. Moving back around to his desk Theo sat down as he read over the information contained on the pages. Taking a moment to process the information or in actual fact the lack of information contained in the file, he sat back in his chair and closed the folder. As he was closing the folder he noticed that the thin cardboard bulged as though it had once contained much more information.

“Kinda thin on the ground for something so highly classified” Graham said levelling Stevens with a questioning look.

“As you can see Mr President, this woman was reported in connection with terrorist activities but she has completely disappeared since that original report.”

“That’s her story is it?” the President asked giving Stevens a speculative look.

Nodding his head Stevens quietly replied “Yes Sir.”

Closing the file and looking at the stamp on the cover Graham looked back at Stevens “You’re in the habit of classifying ‘Eyes-Only’ files based on a report?” The President questioned.

“Sir are you questioning the way the FBI classifies a threat?” Stevens asked defensively as he stepped towards his desk.

“No but I am curious why when your President asks for certain information you feel it is necessary to lie to me and omit pertinent fact.” Standing up from his chair President Graham leant forward on his desk as he addressed Director Stevens with increasing anger.

“Mr President these…people…”

“‘These people’ Director Stevens?” The President asked as he came out from behind his desk again. Approaching the FBI director he asked “How many of these files are there?”

“Mr President I don’t think you know what you’re asking”

“I know exactly what I’m asking Director Stevens. I want you to tell me about the Special Unit.”

“Sir we need to stop this conversation right now before it’s too late.”

“Too late?” the President asked getting more impatent with the Director as he continued to stall.

“Sir I don’t know if you know what you’re asking. What the Special Unit deals with is not exactly…” Stevens stopped searching for the right words “…It’s plausible deniability Sir. If…”

“Me asking these questions should tell you that I’ve passed plausible deniability” President Graham said calmly “I want to know everything.”

Understanding that he had just been given a direct order Director Stevens nodded his head “Yes Sir I’ll get you the files”

Softly replying “Good” Theo Graham watched as Director Stevens made his way towards the door of the Oval Office. Stopping before he reached the exit Stevens turned around to face the President again. “Sir, these…people are dangerous. They have killed in the past and they will kill again. They are no different to terrorists.”

“Thankyou Paul.” President Graham said walking back around behind his desk to sit in his chair “Get me the files.”

~*~*~*~

Later that evening in the Oval Office, Theo was sitting at his desk waiting for tonight’s meeting to start. It wasn’t long after meeting with the Director of the FBI that he came to the decision that these nightly meetings weren’t some prank that he had been sucked into. Director Stevens reaction when he asked about the Special Unit confirmed everything Liz has said the night before. This had the potential of being one of the biggest and most important actions he would make as President and Theodore Graham did not want to damage the tenuous relationship he was forming with these alien royals. These ‘negotiations’ that he was conducting could herald a new political horizon, maintaining that was important. But based on the allusions Liz had made this was bigger than just a couple of rouge FBI agents, there was a much larger conspiracy in both the military and justice departments and Theo needed to ensure that it as dealt with in the most effective way. This wasn’t a situation he could deal with on his own there was too much at stake if this was not dealt with carefully. That is why he had made the decision to include Joseph Booth his Chief of Staff in on tonight’s meeting.

For the last 10 minutes, Theo had been informing Booth on his unscheduled meeting last night and the information he had found during the day.

“This may seem incredible Joe but from what I’ve found it seems real” Theo said after explaining everything.

“Aliens Sir?”

“I know.” The President exhaled, understanding his friends scepticism “Just do me a favour and listen to her when she shows up.” As his Chief of Staff gave a nod the President continued “I’m going to need your help with this Joe. It’s going to be big…” Letting his sentence drift off Theo lent back in his chair and turned to face his friend fully. “We’re standing at a turning point in history Joe. In the future these conversations are going to be studied and speculated upon. We can’t afford to screw this up, there are things she’s hinted at that make me think that the worst is yet to come and when it does it’s going to be big.”

“Theo you’ll do your best. That’s all you can do.” Leaning forward in his chair he looked at his friend “You can’t think about that other stuff. Legacy will take care of it’s self, there’s no precedent for this. The best is all you can do.” Sitting back in his chair Joseph looked up and noticed a woman standing in front of him. Sitting up quickly Booth sucked in a breath. This must be the woman they were waiting for. He wasn’t expecting to see her just standing there and as he sat up fully he said “Hello” while still watching her speculatively

Hearing his friends sharp intake of breath Theo sat up in his chair and turned around to face his desk. Seeing Liz standing there with a calm expression on her face as her eyes passed from Joe to himself the President gave a smile “Liz”

“Good evening Mr President” Liz smiled and gave a nod as her eyes turned to lock on Theo. Seeing her gaze slowly shift to her right again the President spoke up “Liz this is Joseph Booth, he’s my Chief of Staff” he started indicating his friend sitting on a chair to his left “I hope you don’t mind but I’ve asked him to sit in on these meetings.” Giving a slight nod of her head in greeting her expression remained calm not giving away her feelings about the Chief of Staffs presence.

As soon as she had appeared in the room Liz had known that Joe Booth would be joining them. They had done their research before approaching the President. Joe was a long-time close friend of the President as well as being his Chief of Staff and they suspected that Theodore Graham would bring him in on these meeting early on. Knowing this did not mean that she was going to casually accept Booths appearance. In these meetings she needed to maintain the upper hand and allowing the President to dictate the terms of the negotiation by introducing people whenever he wanted was not going to achieve that.

Standing for a moment in silence Liz calmly waited to see if either the President or Chief of Staff was going to elaborate. Seeing that they weren’t Liz spoke up again, directing her question to Joe she asked, “Do you have any questions?”

Quietly shaking his head the Chief of Staff said “No.”

Affecting a surprised look at this Liz asked “Really?” tipping her head on the side she continued “You just found out aliens exist and you don’t have any questions.”

“Your right I do have a question.” Joe started leaning on the edge if the Presidents desk “Why now? Why have you come to us now?” Becoming more comfortable in his questioning Joe continued “I think you should tell us why you’re here.”

“No” Liz replied firmly. The directness of Joe’s questions had startled her and with the progression in his questioning the balance of power was starting to get away from her. The way he built momentum in his questioning was making her feel trapped. She could see why he was such a political force. Holding her ground she repeated her answer “No” Taking a deep breath she continued “I don’t trust you.”

“Then why should we trust you?” He asked on the offensive.

“I’m telling you everything there is to know about us. You have no reason to feel out of the loop.” Liz replied defensively

“Everything except this threat to Earth.” Pausing for a moment to watch Liz, Joe could not read her expression he wasn’t sure if he had got to her yet. He was trying to goad her into telling them this information. In any conflict timing as essential and if Earth was under threat then the more time they had to prepare the better. Deciding it was time to call her bluff he continued. “Lets cut to the chase. You need our help that’s why you’re here. Well you need to tell us or…”

“No I don’t.” Liz replied cutting off the remainder of his sentence. “We don’t need your help. We can leave any time we want. Us being here is a courtesy.” Stepping closer to the Chief of Staff as she said this she forced him to sit back in his chair slightly. “We want to work with you but that’s not going to happen until we trust you. And trying to force me to tell you isn’t going to help your cause.” Taking a shallow breath she continued more quietly “So you’re going to work with us until we trust you because we’re the ones that were hunted for 5 years. And you need us.”

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

keepsmiling7

.....the seal, Max's son, what is the president going to do???

Ah that would be a topic for another point in time. Not just yet anyway. But I'm sure they will come up in the near future.

DeDe PR
Not exactly sure what 'accident' he might have. Maybe he'll slip in the bath? Hmm

Glad your enjoying it.

xmag
Yes making preconceived decisions about people isn't a good idea and I'm sure the FBI guys will be raising their discriminating heads in the future.

cjsl8ne
Five years in the future. That time can change people and can a trip down under

destinyc
I'm glad you liked the Presidents Misses. She's one of my favourite characters. I know most of her back story I just hope I'll be able to use it. Just trust me when I say she's a pretty cool lady.

begonia9508
You trust Booth hmm. Interesting. I thought he was a bit unpredictable....

Janetfl
I think the President understands that the consequences for disregarding what Liz is saying will be far worse for him than for our gang.

I'm really glad your liking this and there will be much more to come of this story...floating around my brilliant mind...

KatnotKath
Serena is actually my favourite character. She has such a complex story. I love her.
Glad you're enjoying it.

Alien_Friend
I think Liz is holding onto everything as strong as she can so she won't get rolled in these meeting. But she is lucky that she has a trump card up her sleeve.





Sorry about being a couple of days late but I had Graduation on Saturday and my parents came up to visit. So if you like you can think of this as a special treat, this one is a bit longer than normal this week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 7

September 2004

Meeting outside their rooms the next morning the group was joined by a member of the Black Guard. Jaris, was in command of the Bodymen assigned to the physical protection of the Royal family. While the Black Guard was the personal guard to the royal family, it was a completely self-sufficient unit. Many members of the Guard did not physically guard the family, while they were trained in their protection, the day-to-day responsibilities fell to Jaris and those he commanded.

On Antar he had been responsible for the protection of the Queen Mother. During Kivar’s coup, Illiana was away from the capital. She spent much of her time with the disadvantaged. Illiana had grown up in a small rural community, the daughter of a general, where she had spent many years in her youth helping the local people who were suffering under severe drought. As Queen she continued to spend much of her time trying to help those in need. During the coup she had been volunteering in a community for children who had been orphaned by disease. Many of those children where still suffering from the illnesses that had orphaned them and on her visit, Illiana had aimed at raising the profile of their plight while helping out with their everyday lives.

The significants of Illiana’s absence from the capital was not missed when Kivar took power. As the head of the Queens royal detail, Jaris was there to protect her when she got trapped outside the capital while her family was killed. He was also with her when she insisted on making the trip back into the city even before the fighting had died down. Making that trip into the capital, every member of the Guard expected they would be killed as the other Black Guards had been. Jaris was prepared to spend his last breath protecting the Queen. But that never happened. They were allowed to return without any opposition. Arriving at her residence the place was untouched, there had been no looting, and no renegade forces were waiting for her. In the days that followed no move was made to imprison her in her home. This lack of action frightened Jaris and many others. The protection of the Queen while she was in the City was virtually impossible and the unpredictability of Kivar frightened all of them.

Since that day the Queen has maintained the same freedoms she enjoyed before the coup. Kivar never approached Illiana but within the first days of taking power his personal guard arrived at her residence to offer their protection. According to the Law, Illiana became next in line to the throne when her children were murdered. This change in status meant that those Black Guards who had survived the coup flocked to protect her.
Kivar did not want this. He both feared and respected the Black Guard, they were responsible for the protection of the Royal family and they were fiercely loyal to their cause. Allowing the Guard to continue their duties was a threat to his new regime and he feared that it could form the base of resistance.

The Queen refused the offers of protection from Kivar on many occasions until she arrived at the Palace one day and insisted on a private meeting with her children’s murderer. Arriving at the Palace with the Black Guard she went against the normal protocol and refused to allow any of the Guards in the room. Stationing themselves around the doors of Kivar’s meeting room the Guard waited in silence. The wait was long and hostile. As soon as the door closed to the room soldiers and mercenaries who had followed them started to congregate in the room. Being heckled and jeered, the Guards waited in silence, while the growing group that surrounded them tried to goad a response and start a fight. But their training held out.

Illiana’s meeting lasted for 10 minutes. Exiting the room Kivar’s men immediately fell back. They left the Palace without any objections; she had ensured the right of the Black Guard for her protection. Ostensively as an honorary detail and with limited numbers the Black Guard rebuilt itself from that day. Jaris continued to guard the Queen as the head of her Bodymen until she asked him to travel to Earth and protect her children.

Walking through the halls with his true King, Queen, and their family, Jaris was struck by how young these people were. The protection of these six people as well as Zan and his family was his responsibility and before there was to be any peace there was going to be a long fight. As they continued down the hallways Jaris showed them various rooms used for training, research, and other activities. Reaching the end of the hallway he turned to the right and entered a large room.

Filled with the smell of cooked food they entered the room and came to a halt, drawing the attention of all those inside. Walking the halls on Jaris’ tour they had not encountered any other people. Quietly taking in their surroundings, they had forgotten for a moment that they where surrounded by thousands of soldiers. But turning that corner it all came back to them. As they entered the room every head turned to look in their direction.

The dinning hall wasn’t large, accommodating approximately 10 large tables, that would have been less than a quarter full. Walking further into the room Jaris led the group to the serving area. “This is one of the smaller dinning Halls” he said as he stated to serve himself breakfast. “There is a larger one on the ground floor and there are also six smaller ones, with two located on each of the upper floors.” Walking over to one of the empty long tables on the edge of the room he took a seat as the conversations in the room started to resume. Waiting for the rest of the group to sit he continued “you can get food at any of these halls 24 hours a days.”

Sitting quietly as they ate their breakfast the groups was still trying to adjust to their new surroundings. Jaris had met them at their rooms first thing this morning and had started to show them around the floor they were staying on. They were not the only people staying on the third floor and it was not used solely for accommodation. They had seen a variety of rooms, each used for different purposes, but most things appeared to be concerned with medical and scientific research.

As they ate Kyle took in the rest of the room. It wasn’t even a quarter full with people. After their entrance the people had gone back to their breakfast and there was a quiet hum to the room that crescendo and dipped in tone as the peoples’ conversations started up again. This was not a busy dinning hall but every couple of minutes one or two people would enter walking to the food service area before heading over to one of the groups of people or empty tables. It was usually at some point on their way to or from the food that these people would stop in their tracks at the site of their group sitting in the corner of the dinning hall. This continued through their breakfast while Isabel started a conversation about what their plans were for the day.

About to shift his attention to this topic Kyle was caught by surprise at the sight of Serena as she entered the room. Initially he didn’t recognize her wearing her Black Guard uniform; it was the reaction of the other people in the room that got his attention. The conversations which had been humming along to that point quickly patted out as again their attention was drawn by someone’s entrance. Unlike when their group had entered, none of these people would make direct eye contact with Serena. But she did not appear to be fazed by this treatment and as she turned to take her seat she glanced in the direction of their group as though she had known they where there all along. Sitting, she started to eat, as her fingers lightly travelled over a collection of document as though they were written in Braille. Again the conversations in the room started up but to Kyle’s ears they were much quieter than before and he could very clearly see that those sitting near her were not talking at all but studiously easting their breakfast.

Turning his attention to Jaris who was talking he quickly realized that of the people in the room their table was the only one not to notice Serena’s entrance.

“…it should be finished about lunchtime. After that it will be up to you but you can decide that part later you don’t have to do it now.”

Seeing everyone’s head nod he figured that they had just been told their plan of attack for the morning, presumable for their tour of the base.

“So what will we actually be doing while we’re here?” Michael asked after everyone had been quiet for a couple of minutes.

“What ever you want, you lot are all in charge.” Jaris replied good-naturedly.

“But what do you expect?” he asked with a degree of uncertainty. The full significance of their ‘destiny’ had been playing on his mind since they were contacted by Serena and Terrance. While they were teenagers and on their own he clung to parts of his destiny as something real that he could strive for. But arriving at the base amongst all these professional soldiers he had started to really understand the scope of what his destiny was asking. “I don’t really know anything about this past life…thing” he confessed suddenly sure of his position. “Like…are you expecting me to be some General because I’m not, I have no experience.” Michael said straight out.

“Michael we aren’t expecting anything from you” Jaris replied calmly accepting Michaels position. “If you would like the job it is yours by birth right and we will give you all the training you need” but if he didn’t want it he still deserved their protection because of who he was and what he had done.

“I don’t want it” he replied almost cutting off the end of Jaris’ sentence.

Shocked, the rest of the group turned their attention to Michael. They weren’t expecting that answer. While his obsession with his alien home had died down none of them ever expected that he would flat out refuse his ‘destiny’ like that.

“Are you sure Michael?” Isabel asked concerned, she had not expected that response. “This is everything you have searched for your whole life.”

“It’s not everything Iz.” Michael replied, calmly turning his attention towards Isabel. “I wanted family. A real family… I have that here” he replied slightly embarrassed while glancing around the group “I can’t be a General just because someone says so. It’s too big, too important. I can’t screw that up.” Sitting in silence for a moment he continued “I want to be involved, I’m just I’m not a General.”

Maria was the first to break the silence after this revelation. She wasn’t as shocked as the rest of the group. Michael still kept part of himself hidden with her, but he did have moments where he was open and she knew the complex emotions that surrounded his sense of duty and call to ‘destiny’. “That’s really brave Michael.”

Not wanting to make a fuss he grunted a “Humpf” before taking a drink of his coffee stopping any further questions on that subject.

“What about this training?” Kyle asked perked by what Jaris has said. “Does that apply to everyone? Even us humans?”

“Yeah. Some of us could use some help.” Maria said not so subtly indicating Kyle.
Struggling with her own internal doubts she decided to venture a question about her own uses here. Taking a deep breath she started by stating the obvious. “You guys are a freaking army. Right?” Seeing Jaris give a slight nod of his head Maria’s eyes dropped to the table where she was tapping her hand. “Don’t get me wrong or anything, I’m not some weak little damsel in distress type, but I don’t have super powers at all. I’m just a lowly human with no optional extras. What can I do? I want to do stuff…but I don’t know what I can do…” she trailed off.

“There’s heaps you can do Maria.”

Surprised, the group they all turned in the direction of Jaris, who was sitting at the head of the table, but it wasn’t Jaris who’d made the suggestion. Standing behind him was Serena who had obviously been listening in on their conversation.

Hearing her voice address the group Jaris stood to face her.

“May I help you?” he asked with a voice that held only civility. While nothing he said was outwardly antagonistic the way he asked the question revealed his true feelings towards Serena.

“I need to see these people this afternoon” Serena requested casually, again giving no indication that there was any hostility directed towards her.

“This afternoon?” he questioned looking reluctantly.

“I thought you said we were finishing at lunch time” Serena replied straight away “You know what I need to do and I’m free this afternoon.”

Turning red in the face Jaris turned an accusing gaze at her “Serena I haven’t worked out what’s happening yet.”

“I’m sure their quite safe here. And don’t worry I can explain the rest” She interrupted giving a slight glance at the other Guards in the room. “3 o’clock, my training room” Turning her gaze to the rest of the group she continued “don’t be late” before turning to make her way out of the room.

“What was that?” Maria asked waiting until Serena had left before asking her question “Is she listening in on our conversations?”

“Look she’s…” Jaris trailed off turning to look back to the door that Serena had just exited. Shaking his head to dispel his internal thoughts he continued “she has some unique skills which make her very good at her job. Which is what we want.”

~*~*~*~

It was more of a narrow tunnel than a hallway. With no doors the walls were smooth and lit with an internal light like in the entrance tunnel. Walking down this hallway the group made virtually no noise as though the walls of the passage were absorbing all the sound. They continued down the passage for a number of minutes before, out of the dimmed light of the hallway, a rectangle doorway started to appear on their right. Jaris took the lead as they approached the entrance. Pausing at the door he entered allowing the rest of the group follow him in.

The room they were in was not large but had a wide-open space, the size of a small bedroom that was lined on one side by three large steps which ran the length of the room. Sitting on the bottom most of these steps Serena’s legs were crossed as they stretched out in front of her. With her back resting against the back wall her arm was resting on the next step with her fingers lightly travelling over a document lying within a manila folder.

As the group entered the room her hand again travelled over the page, this time emitting a faint white light, rendering the once embossed page blank and smooth. Closing the folder casually with the deliberate movement of her fingers she watched as the group settled themselves on the other end of the steps. Being the first to take their seats Liz and Max sat on the middle most step while the rest of the group spread themselves out and settled around them. Uncrossing her legs and slowly standing Serena addressed Jaris “You can leave.”

Court off guard by this instruction Jaris remained where he was and it took a second for him to register what she said. “Serena, I know what this meetings about…” he started to say before being cut off.

“You can’t be here.” She emphasised as she started to walk into the centre of the room.

“Serena I’m in charge of their Body detail.” Jaris again spoke up in defence of his position.

Turning to face the group sitting on the steps she only turned her head to Jaris to give the next remark, delivered with the right combination of honesty and sarcasm. “I promise not to hurt them.” The meaning of her comment was clear to Jaris; she was telling him to leave. It was an order and something he had to follow. Standing his ground as long as he dared he cast his eye over the group he was entrusted to protect before quickly turning to make his way out of the room.

“You can wait on the other side of the door if you like.”

Turning his head around quickly, Serena was facing the groups as they sat on the steps giving no indication that she had just said the previous sentence. He was shocked by this comment, never expecting that she would give any way to him in her presence. Turning back to the hallway he stepped through the door as it sealed itself behind him leaving no indication that a door existed there in the first place.

Once the door had closed, Serena addressed the group. “So Jaris gave you the grand tour?”

Receiving a grunt from Michael and a couple of nods from the rest of the group she continued. “Did you meet your Bodymen?” Moving backwards to the wall on the other side of the room she again noticed a couple nods of heads as she stated more quietly, “Their elite you know.”

“That why you’re not one of them?” Maria asked giving her a half smile with her baited question.

“I was one” she answered as she rested her hands behind her back to lean against the wall. “But my skills are better used elsewhere.”

“Why are we here?” Liz asked hoping to stop another sniped comment from Maria.

“You all need to learn how to protect yourselves.” Serena replied casting her eyes over the entire group.

“We know how to use our powers. Well most of us do” Isabel corrected giving a not so subtle glance over her shoulder at Kyle. At this comment he pulled a face just as Serena started to speak.

“Whether you have powers or not is irrelevant.” She replied “When they capture you…” she started but seeing some of the colour drain from his face and the subtle reaction of those around him she directed the remainder of her explanation at Max “…the last thing you will have to protect yourself with is what is in your mind.” Returning her attention to the rest of the room she continued, “The knowledge that you keep may be the only thing that can save your life or at least delay the inevitable.”

“Nicholas” Max provided to the unnamed threat posed to them.

“Nik’lo” Serena provided a name of her own. “There are others though, so don’t go thinking she’s the only threat. You need to be prepared for everything.” Speaking again to the group she continued, “Your mental shields are pathetically weak any Quor’tr would be able to pick up whatever is on your mind by just being in the vicinity of you. If they wanted to find something out they would ask you and it would just pop into your mind they wouldn’t even have to try to find it. But it wouldn’t be hard if they had to.”

“What about me?” Maria asked quietly. What Serena had just told them was doublely significant for her. “I have no power, no way to defend myself. I know everything these guys do. What am I meant to do?”

“Exactly what these guys are doing.” Serena replied “For you its more important than anyone. But their powers are human and you are human. You should at least have the ability to protect your mind.”

“Your talking about mind rape aren’t you?” Kyle asked “The Quarter, they’re the Skins?”

“Quor’tr” she corrected “…and yeah.” She responded with resignation as though she was expecting something to happen.

“How do we train for something like this?” Max asked for the first time. “How do you train to protect yourselves against something only the Skins can do?”

Lowering her head at this question she was preparing herself to respond when Liz spoke up. “You’re Quor’tri. You’re a Skin.” It wasn’t a question. Everything in Serena’s body language was telling her that she was hiding something and that was the most likely explanation.

Maria was the first to respond to this announcement “Oh you’ve got to be kidding me” she bit out in disgust. The rest of the group responded in different ways, Michael sat up straighter on his step, while Kyle slouched back against the wall looking away from her. Max and Isabel were the only two not to give any immediate response to this revelation.

“Yes” she responded directing her answer at Liz “My mother was Quor’trn and my father was Anterian”

“And they let you in the Black Guard?” Isabel asked

“The Black Guard does not discriminate against based on race, Isabel.” She bit out in response “Anyone from the Five Planets can join.”

“Yeah but still.” Maria replied still not comfortable with the revelation that Serena is a Skin.

“Not all the Quor’tr supported Kivar.” She responded to the group as a whole “I’ve chosen a side and I’m doing what I can. Yes my mother is a Skin but my father is also Anterian.” She continued, the conviction in her voice rising with every word she spoke. Pausing to assess the response of everyone she answered the questions that were floating across the thoughts of most of the people in the room. “I am not the enemy.”

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

begonia9508

So Serena was an allie like Sydney - with the difference that Serena's father or mother is antarian while Sydney is 100% skin!

Sydney? wasn't she Brody's daughter? The one with cancer. Were you meaning Courtney?
Either way Serena is a complicated character you'll just have to wait to see how much...

DeDe PR

so miss sunshine is a skin nice.... is gonna b kind of hard 4 her working with people that not trust her......

Yes but I'm sure she'll get over it.

Alien_Friend
Glad I surprised you. I don't think I've heard of a Serena who was a Skin. This should be fun.

cjsl8ne

Wow the scale of the operation on Earth is impressive. Hopefully it will be enough for what they need later on.

10 000 Guards to protect earth? That's promissing.

destinyc
You were the only one who picked up on Kyle. Well done.

keepsmiling7
It's nice to do the unexpected.



This is an extra long one for you enjoyment...They seem to be getting longer. Tell me if you think they are too long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 8

September 2004

“How are we going to do this?” Liz asked

Pushing herself off the wall Serena took a step towards the group “I’m going to need a volunteer.” Watching the group, no-one would make eye contact with her. Looking amongst each other they were waiting for an indication that someone was going to make the first move.

Seeing that no-one was prepared to do that, Max turned his body back around to face Serena “I’ll do it” he said standing up. The memory of Nicholas invading his mind had almost left him until Serena mentioned reading their minds. The pain and violation he felt after the mindrape came back to him. The feeling of having your thoughts and emotions stripped bare for anyone to see was not something he wished to experience again but this was something they needed to do. While he didn’t think that Serena would be as invasive as Nicholas had, he at least knew what it would be like. By going first his friends would know what to expect when it was their turn.

“No” Michael said standing up quickly “I’ll do it”. Making his way down the stairs he lay his hand on Max’s shoulder. He knew what Max was doing, as the only one who had experienced anything like this he was taking the first hit for everyone “You don’t need to do this again”. Looking him in the eyes Michael let him know that he knew what Max was doing. Not waiting for him to sit Michael walking over to Serena and turning to face her crossing his arms in front of his body “What do I need to do?”

“Stop me any way you can” she replied walking to the other side of the room to give them more space.

“Even powers?” he asked also stepping back to the other side of the room.

“Any way you can.” she repeated

“I could kill you” he reasoned as fair warning of what might happen.

“Stop trying to chat me up Michael and get on with it” she said while carefully watching for any movement.

Raising his hand in preparation of her next move he waited.

Reaching out with her mind she immediately broke through his conscious thoughts to the unconscious below. He was aware of every move she made waiting for the slightest indication that she was going to begin. He had no idea that she had already started. His power was building up, like pressure building in a pump waiting to be released. But he was also conscious of the spectators sitting close by. His friends who could be hurt by any misdirected blast. Maria in particular was amongst his first thoughts and Serena could read clear as day the depth of feeling he had for her. He cared for her deeply but surprisingly she detected that despite everything they had been through together he still held something of himself back from her. He did not completely trust her. In their past she had hurt him, betrayed him, and he had not completely forgiven her for that.

Raising her hand, a barrier appeared in front of the steps effectively shielding the spectators from any wayward blasts. At her sudden movement she felt the power start to surge in Michael. Preparing herself to block his blast she smiled internally as she noticed that he suddenly pulled back while releasing an internal barrage of insults at her for her misdirected move. She was actually warmed to find that he cared if her hurt her or not. Her sudden movement has scared him to the core making him think she was about to attack his friends and his reaction had been instinct. It took all of his control to reign in the blast which he had started to release. The deadly potential of his blasts was a constant in his thoughts and he did not want to accidentally inflict that on her.

She paused in her exploration at finding that. That was not something she was used to. Many here did not trust her, but that didn’t matter, most here did not have to trust her for her to do her job. Doing this exercise with many of the Black Guard she was familiar with a conscious indifference to her life and many of the Guards held an outright hostility towards her.

Her time as a Bodyman had been short but she was selected for a reason. She was a natural. She was trained as a child, her family insisted on it. Her gifts were honed with hours of training so nothing of her potential was waisted. She was taught tactics and flattery and other perceived ‘vital skills’, which would help her in the future.

Entering the Black Guard she was chosen as the Queens personal Bodyman a position that by nature is very secretive. The rulers personal Bodyman is a position held in the confidence of the ruler only. Noone else, not even the rest of the Bodymen were to know the identity of the person. Their secrecy was mandatory. There could be one or many, but their identities were protected. She was Iliana’s Bodyman for almost 2 years before Jaris had blown her cover. He had screwed up. Looking where he wasn’t meant to. Trying to do her job for her. She was forced to leave because she could not longer do her job in anonymity. But her work and contacts in both the residence and the palace meant she was ideally suited for intelligence gathering. It was when she appeared with the intelligence services that the Black Guard was first introduced to her. The majority of the Guard have no knowledge of her service. When she tested their mental barriers the reaction of many of the Guards was potentially deadly and very few had the inclination to dampen or reabsorb the power of the blast they would send at her. Her training as a child and as a Bodyman protected her from many careless bursts of power directed at her in a attempt to win the contest of the training session.

Deciding that she had played in his thoughts for long enough and it was time for them to realise how scary their situation could be, she clumsily brushed against his mind while moving deeper.

For the first time he felt Serena in his mind, it was like a tickle running between his ears. This feeling prompted Michael to suddenly release a restrained burst of energy which she blocked easily with the flick of her hand. Seeing the ease with which she deflected his blast he tried to push her out of his mind while again releasing another blast.

She blocked his blasts with out any difficulty. As she started to walk towards him he released another blast. In his mind all his attention was directed at getting her out of his head but his effort were not slowing her down. Reaching further into his mind as she came closer, the number and power of Michaels blasts increased. Continuing to block these she noticed sweat starting to run down his face. To her left she was also aware that their spectators were now on their feet gesturing mutely from behind the barrier.

Reaching through his thoughts she searched for his earliest Earthly memory. Now only a foot away, Michael tried to stop Serena again, this time by holding his palm to her skin and releasing a blast but before he could do that her hand came up flat against his and as he released the blast it felt as though his hand had been slammed against a brick wall. Dropping and shaking it, his eyes locked with Serena as she brought both hands up to frame his face finding his earliest memory she brought it to the surface for Michael to watch.

Dropping to his knees in both exhaustion and shock he remembered as he woke up inside his pod. Moving his weak arm for the first time in the thick amniotic fluid they pushed against the wall of his small cocoon. Stretching the walls slightly before the weakness in his arms forced him to relax he floated in the fluid resting. Turning his head he could see through the distortions of the liquid the light blurred outline of another pink being like himself floating unmoving next to him. He knew they were the same, that they were important and turning back to the wall of his liquid cocoon he pushed again with his arms. Bringing one arm up he tried to bring it down to beat on the wall but the thick liquid slowed his movement. Frustrated he turned to the left again to still see the figure floating unmovingly. Now fighting to get out, something was telling him that he needed to escape he needed to be ready when the other one woke up. Pushing all his weight on the wall it stretched again and as his arms started to shake in exhaustion he pushed with all his might as the wall held at it’s furthest extent before giving way as his small hand escaped the membrane. As the cold air of the outside hit his wet hands he started to tear at the membrane causing the liquid to rush out past his hands creating a large gaping hole. With the liquid spilling out of the cocoon he felt himself starting to slip as he was pulled towards the now large gap. Falling through headfirst he closed his eyes and stretched out his arms in front of him. Still surrounded by the liquid escaping he didn’t know how far he was falling. Hitting the ground suddenly his hands cushioned the blow as his little body fell to the side sliding for a moment in the slimy liquid covering the floor. Shakily twisting his body around he coughed and splattered as he expelled the liquid in his mouth. Trying to push himself up his hand slipped out from underneath him causing him to fall back to the wet stone floor. Placing his hand on the rough stonewall behind him, he pulled himself up. Standing for the first time he slowly turned his body around while still holding onto the wall. Curious about the other pink being he saw while still in his cocoon he let go of the wall and took his first step. He had slipped around a slight corner and could no longer see the other. Stopping after this step he looked around and decided that he needed to take another one or two to see it properly. As he took another step his foot slipped slightly on the floor, feeling a sudden tingling in his middle his eyes widened as he quickly extended his arms out to balance himself again stopping in his place. Deciding that it was safest to stay still he looked up to see if he could see the other. But looking up there were four large cocoons hanging form the wall and in three of them, floating peacefully were small pink beings like himself. At the shock of seeing three more like him he opened his mouth and felt a rush of air travel down his throat as he took his first breath. As quickly as the memory had taken over his vision it was gone and he found himself kneeling on the floor with his back against the wall.

Releasing Michael’s head from her hands Serena also dropped the barrier which was protecting their spectators. As soon as the barrier dropped Maria rushed to Michael’s side shoving her out of the way.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Maria yelled, cradling Michaels head in her hands.

Bringing herself to a standing position she replied “I didn’t do anything to him” but before she could continue she found herself flung back against the wall and pinned there by Isabel’s powers.

Running up to Michael, Max dropped to his knees to try and help him “Why is he like this?” he asked Serena while trying to get Michaels attention.

“He exhausted himself I didn’t do anything to him” Serena again defended.

Slowly opening his eyes after the vision Michael was surprised to find himself surrounded by a large group of people. “What’s wrong?” he asked a bit groggily.

“What did she do to you Michael?” Maria was the first to ask panicked.

Max was the next to ask a question almost immediately after Maria “Michael where are you hurt?”

Taking a second to process what had just happened to him he sat back against the wall and took in the rest of the room. Both Max and Maria were on their knees in front of him, behind them stood Liz and Kyle while Isabel had her hand extended pinning Serena to the wall.

Pushing himself up off the ground he started to say “Let her down Isabel” stumbling as he started to stand both Maria and Max reached for him. Shrugging off their hands he stood up and repeated his earlier command “Let her down Isabel she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

As Isabel lowered her hand Max asked again “Are you OK?”

“Yeah” he replied brushing himself off.

“What did she do to you?” she asked while running her hands over his body checking it for any injuries.

“She…” he started before trailing off “She gave me a memory” he finished turning to stare at Serena.

Still against the wall, she had adopted her earlier position and was leaning against it with her legs crossed casually as they supported her weight. Watching Michael warily she waited to see his next move.

“She gave you a memory?” Liz asked to his obscure response.

“Yeah” he replied looking back at Isabel and Max. “I remember waking up in the pod and trying to brake free. I was so weak.”

Turning to look at Serena their expressions changed to one of wonder. Lost for words everyone just stood there for a moment before Kyle spoke up “Why did you collapse then?” he asked

Scowling Michael replied “It was a bit of a shock.”

Nodding his head Kyle replied “Oh. I thought it might be because you’re a bit tired.” Giving Michael a smile and turning his head in question he waited.

“Well it wasn’t. Ok” Michael growled a bit embarrassed that none of his blasts had slown Serena down.

“Good to know. Fit as a fiddle” Kyle added as though he was making a confident assessment of Michaels health.

As the group stood in place for a moment Liz spoke up “So what exactly happened?”

Pushing herself off the wall with her hands Serena took control of the situation again “Why don’t you take a sat and we’ll go through it.”

Moving back to the stairs, Max, Liz, Maria, Michael, Isabel and Kyle again took their seats while Serena remained standing next to the wall.

“How do you think you went Michael?” Serena asked to gauge how significantly he viewed his failure in their little experiment.

“Well, I didn’t stop you” he replied not offering any more information.

From the short time she had spent in his head she know what Michael was doing. Despite everything he had been through with these people, perhaps because of everything he had been through with these people, he didn’t want to appear weak.

“Really?” she ask not hiding the sarcasm in her tone “Thankyou for pointing that out for me” she baited hoping to elicit a more detailed response.

“Hey you aren’t that good” he snapped back at her “I felt you as soon as you entered my head. If your power had any benefits you wouldn’t feel it, it would have some subtlety.” He added the last part dripping with sarcasm.

“Michael you felt me when I wanted you to feel me” She said taking a step towards him “I’d been in you head a long time before I let you know I was there. You all should be able to sense when I’m in your heads but I should have got that far. You need to develop a shield and it needs to be permanently in place.” She finished addressing everyone in the room.

“So did you learn anything helpful?” Maria asked again irritated by Serena’s attitude.

“Yes. Your powers are pathetically weak” she pointed out causing Maria to role her eyes in disgust “It’s another thing you are going to have to work on”

Standing in silence after her last statement she could feel the hostility radiating from the group. She was treading a fine line and was getting very close to falling right over it. As the head of the intelligence service of the Black Guard Serena was given a lot of freedom when it came to dealing with people, something she planed on taking full advantage of with some of the members of this group.

“Well I think you’ve managed to point out how pathetic we are.” Isabel finally spoke “I hope you don’t mind if we go now.” Standing she moved towards where the door had been, she was followed at a varying pace by the other member of their group. Swiping her hand across the wall she waited for the silver handprint to appear. When nothing happened after the first swipe she moved her hand to another area and swiped again. Moving her hand across the wall again and again still nothing happened. Turning to face Serena with impatience written across her face Isabel asked “Why isn’t it working?”

“Only I can open that door” she replied standing patiently in the same spot “We’re not finished so you can take a seat we’ve got more to do.”

Pausing for a moment while some of the other people took a seat Isabel locked eyes with Serena. Holding her gaze and challenging her to look away she waited, wanting to show her that she would not be dictated to. Holding her eyes for a couple of moment Serena gave a small laugh, she was enjoying the game with these people. They made it too easy for her.

Turning to face the people sitting in front of her she started talking again “As Isabel has drawn your attention to, your powers are weak. But that’s not your only problem” she started as Isabel remained standing against the wall. “Your powers are a product of genetic engineering and they come from your human brain. That is a very important advantage one which you have squandered so far.”

“Human powers are an advantage?” Michael asked sceptically

“Yes” she replied. “In case you’re wondering why you have human powers rather that alien ones it’s because as humans you’re stronger. These bodies…” she said indicating Max and Michael with a nod of her head “…are the pinnacle of human development. It is only the immaturity of the human brain which prevents the greater population accessing their full potential. Your powers are different to ours. Because of the way you were engineered you have the potential to access far more power than any of us.” Pausing for a moment she continued “But your powers aren’t what I want to talk about.”

Again walking across the room to the wall she lent against it before starting to speaking again. “I need to give you something” she started “It will help you prepare for what’s ahead.” Pausing for a moment she continued “Humans have the most amazing ability to produce beauty in violence” she said reflectively “The science that has gone into the study of violence on this planet is truly amazing.”

“What are you talking about?” Maria asked confused.

“I’m talking about you Maria” she snapped annoyed at Maria’s interruption.

“Me?” she questioned.

“Yeah. You wanted to know what you can do” she started “Well I told you, you could do a lot and I meant it.”

Shocked that Serena’s attention was directed at apparently helping her she asked sceptically “Like what?”

Smiling at her, Serena elaborated “Even a human body without access to latent powers can be a weapon. You need to learn to use it like one.”

Puzzled Maria asked “Like karate or something?” She still didn’t understanding what Serena was talking about.

“Or something” she replied evasively. “What I can give you is knowledge”

Still unsure about what she was talking about Maria just gave her a questioning look.

“Everything you need to know to fight, to defend yourself I can give you right now” Serena said.

“What? Just like that and I’m some super ninja Wonder Woman?” Maria asked still sceptical about Serena’s offer.

“No” she replied before giving a slight chuckle “You will know technique, the physical movements. But you won’t have any muscle memory. If you’re serious about wanting to be involved or any of this, then you’re going to have to train until these movements become second nature. That’s what I can offer you. All of you I guess if you’re interested.”

Looking amongst themselves few words were needed. The group had been together for so long that they could tell what the others felt without words. As she looked around Maria could see that everyone was considering Serena’s offer. To gain the knowledge to protect herself was something that she wanted dearly, she did not want to be collateral damage but she did not trust Serena no matter what everyone else thought.

“How would we get this ‘knowledge’?” Maria asked hoping to have her suspicions confirmed “Injection, brain transplant, worlds biggest instructions manual?”

Smiling slightly at Maria’s spunk she replied “I will implant a memory in your head it will only take a minute.”

“Yeah see that’s my problem” Maria replied “I don’t want you in my head. I don’t want you anywhere near my head.

“That’s your choice Maria, but that’s my offer.” Looking up from Maria she cast her gaze over the rest of the group “Is that everyone’s position?”

Speaking up for the group Max asked “Can we think about it?”

Raising her eyebrow and shaking her head she replied “It’s a one time offer.”

“One time offer?” Maria asked disbelievingly “Like you can’t just go rooting around in our heads anytime you like” she said sarcastically. “What’s waiting a day going to do to the Back Guards?”

“This isn’t the Black Guards making the offer. This is me.” Serena said “I don’t particularly like rooting around in your head anymore than you want me there” she said using Maria’s wording “You’re going to train with the Black Guard. There aren’t enough of us here to protect this planet if Kivar was to attack, so you’re going to need to learn to protect yourselves. You can start from scratch, learning to do everything or you can take what I’m offering.” She finished leaving them with that ultimatum.

Turning back to the group Max said “I think we should take it”

“Don’t give into her Max” Maria said from her position on the next step above him “We don’t need this.”

“This is for you more than anyone Maria” Michael said turning to face her and taking her hand.

“I don’t trust her Michael!” Maria said in a voice loud enough to travel to Serena who had moved back to the wall to wait for them to make a decision. Turning her eyes to catch her reaction, Serena just smiled as she watched their conversation.

“I don’t trust her either Max” Isabel said quietly as she walked over to join them

“We haven’t known her long enough to trust her” Max reasoned “But she’s a member of the Black Guard she can’t be that bad. I’m sure it’s just her personality”

“Hmph” Maria said still not convinced by their arguments. In truth she couldn’t explain what it was that made her not trust Serena, perhaps it was her personality but there was something that made her think that she was lying to them. The fact that she was a skin didn’t much endear her to her also.

“Maria I’ve been in your position. Look at me I’m still in your position” Kyle said referring to his underdeveloped powers “This is a chance to finally, really be of use. Don’t pass this up just because you don’t like her.”

“I know” Maria exhaled “I know this but I just don’t…” Pausing for a moment she turned her attention to Liz “Liz you trusted her before back in Chicago. You had a reason right? If you tell me she’s trustworthy then I’ll do it” she decided, putting her trust in her friends.

“Maria I trusted her because…” searching for the reason Liz paused. “I don’t know. Something told me she could be trusted. I trust her Maria.”

“You trust her” she said as though convincing herself. Nodding her head quietly she said “Ok”

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

xmag
Serena is... this chapter might give you a clue.

Alien_Friend
Yeah the mind this had always fascinated me. There had to be reason they chose Earth and a human body to reincarnate the Royal Four in so I though I might explore that.

destinyc
Two posts for the price of one. Thanks.
Yes people skills are not Serena's strong point though she's never really had to cared what people though of her before.

begonia9508

Are you kidding????? it's never too long!....

Good to know but unfortunately this one is a bit shorter so sorry to disapoint. But I think the plot should more than make up for the length.

DeDe PR
Not everyone's nice in this world. Serena might just have a personality disorder:twisted:

Keepsmilling7

memory ???
Max wants to take the offer.....
Maria really doesn't trust Serena....

The intrigue!

Timelord31
Welcome. New readers yay. Glad your enjoying it.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 9

The room was dark. Echoing in the still space, the rhythmic breathing of sleep could be heard as though amplified. Sleeping peacefully the sound of their breath traveled around the room like an audible breeze. Travelling across the sheets and around the furniture the breath passed over everything in this space like a spectral century guarding the sleeper. Drawing in a breath they paused before drawing in another as though the passage of their breath was blocked. Hitching mid breath the silence that followed was as loud as the sounds that followed, consuming the space with the sudden sound of air being forced down the constricted passageway.

As the breathing became shallower, the person in the bed started to move, the rustling of the sheets joined the breath which now had turned into a quiet whimper.

“Awake” a voice commanded. The effect causing pain to shoot through the figures entire body. “Awake” the voice again commanded as the figure stopped moving completely.

“My Lord” the figure spoke for the first time in a shallow wheezing voice.

“How are you today?” the voice asked in false interest, enjoying the pain he was inflicting on the subject.

“I have been waiting for you My Lord” the figure replied in it’s shallow voice caused by the intrusion of this visitor “How can I serve you?”

“Waiting for me?” the voice laughed amused at the fear and devotion of the figure “Oh I like that” it continued quietly. Giving a quite malevolent laugh that sent shots of pain deep into the figure’s skull the voice continued “I have a job for you”

“Yes My Lord” the figure spoke gaining more control of their voice.

“Kill the King” the voice bit out knowing the figure had been waiting for these orders. She was impatient. Told to wait, She’d done her job like a good soldier, but She had failed him in the past and he wasn’t going to accept it again.

“I won’t fail you again…”

“I know you won’t” the voice interrupted menacingly. She wouldn’t fail him…He knew. She wanted the King dead as much as anyone and he would suffer, the voice though viciously. A small part of him wishing he was on earth to witness it, the weak child King trying to defend himself against the full power of Her. He didn’t have a chance. “I want him dead” the voice continued. Laughing at the though of the child King trying to protect himself and his rag-tag human followers he added “Make it interesting” as his laughter consumed him, became the only sound the figure could hear.

A smile broke out across the face of the figure in the bed despite the pain now consuming the body. Sweat now soaking the sheets as it twisted in pain as the voice continued to pound in his head “Find him and kill him” it repeated. Tightening his grip, pain shot through the figures body as it pounded, setting every nerve on fire. Then suddenly the pain was gone and the figures eyes fluttered closed as the smile remained and the memory of the voices laughter bubbled though to the room as the figure continued laughing.

~*~*~*~

Looking through the familiar blackness Isabel saw the door she was looking for. Reaching her hand out she started to enter the room that had become the only home she had. As the door opened the Tucson Ochre walls were revealed in front of her, drawing her fully into the room. Walking through the empty room she was drawn on a familiar path to the kitchen. Every night she followed the same routine, coming home to their house she would wait for her husband to appear. Sometimes he would be there before her, if they were on different sides of the country, but tonight the house was empty.

Walking into the kitchen she went over to the oven and reaching into the cupboard above it, taking down a wine glass. Turning around she walked over to the bench next to the fridge and reaching next to the knife block she pulled out a bottle of red wine which had been recorked and stored there previously. While they couldn’t drink in real life, on the Dreamplane they could do what they liked and Isabel liked to have a glass. Walking back into her lounge room the lights dimmed and the candles, placed around the room were lit as she curled up on the lounge.

Sitting on the lounge she took a deep breath as she closed her eyes. Resting her head on the back of the lounge she thought back on the days events. Despite what Liz had said she was more inclined to side with Maria. She did not trust Serena. Nothing in the way she acted or what she said to them made her think that she was trustworthy. The fact that she was also a Skin did not help her. She couldn’t understand why they would put someone like her in charge of gathering the intelligence for the Black Guards. Unless she got the job some other way…if she could mindwarp people or control them to get what she wanted…She may have used that to get to the position she was in. Opening her eyes she took a sip of her wine. If Serena was a spy then her position monitoring their intelligence would be perfect, she’d be able to hide any threat being made to them, she could even be feeding them false information. It’s only on her assurance that Zan is safe. Any member of the Black Guard could find him, while she didn’t know how the Black Guard were able to find the royal seal, how do they know the she wasn’t giving that secret away?

Taking another sip of her wine she contemplated this. She knew she may be going overboard but why would Serena join the Black Guard when she plainly didn’t like them. It didn’t make sense, there must be another reason.

As that thought occurred to her the front door open again and her husband stepped through.

“Jessie” she whispered as a wide smile broke out across her face.

“Hey Iz” he replied closing the front door behind him.

Walking over to the lounge he took a seat next to her putting his hand over the back of the lounge as she snuggled into him.

“Your late” she said as she was getting comfortable.

“I know I’m sorry I had to schedule a business dinner with the representatives from the Stevens Group.” Jessie said as he stole her glass of wine from her hand and took a sip.

“The Stevens Group? Why are you meeting with them?” she asked as she stole her wine glass back from him. Jessie was working in criminal law not corporate so she was puzzled as to why he would need to be meeting with an investment company like the Stevens Group.

“Craig’s dealing with an embezzlement case. He wants me there as second chair.” He explained for her.

“Wow that’s great” she said lifting her head to look in his face. Giving him a kiss she settled back against his chest. “So do you think this will lead anywhere? Are you planning on moving in a different direction? Into Corporate?”

“I don’t know” he replied shrugging his shoulder “ We’ll have to see.”

Stealing Isabel’s wine glass he took another sip finishing it for her. Sitting in a comfortable silence for a moment Jessie turned his head and kissed Isabel’s forehead before getting up. Taking the empty glass with him he called out to Isabel as he made his way to the kitchen “How was your day? You get the Royal tour?”

“Yeah they showed us around but then we had to have a meeting with Serena” she said emphasising her distaste in the pronunciation of her name.

“Who’s she?” he asked on his way back with a second glass and the half empty wine bottle.

“This Skin that they have running their intelligence.” She said “She couldn’t make it more clear that she hates us. It’s almost like she enjoys trying to humiliate us. She’s organised so she can get into our heads as well and I just do not want her near me.”

Taking his seat next to her again he pored them both a glass before handing one to Isabel and leaning back in the seat. “This isn’t because she a Skin is it?” he asked, looking down on her head “I know they are your enemy but this is more than her being a Skin right?” The way she had talked about her it seemed that her reaction was based of what Serena was, not who she was.

“It’s not that she’s a Skin Jessie.” Isabel said turning to look up at him quickly “But she hates us and now she wants to get into our heads…and the fact that she’s a Skin on top of that. There’s something not right about it.”

“Iz, how long have you known her?” he asked trying to reason with her. “You’ve probably misunderstood her. Why would she hate you? She’s there to protect you.”

“Jessie, that’s what I’m saying” Isabel said putting her wine glass down and turning fully to face her husband. “I think she’s a spy”

Hearing this he started to laugh “A spy? Isabel” he said sceptically in between laughs, “Don’t you think that’s going a bit overboard? You’ve known her for two-three days you don’t even really know her.” Giving an uncommitted grunt in assent Isabel let Jessie continue. “Listen the Black Guard is meant to be this elite unit right?” he asked as he brought his hand up to frame the outside of her face. Brushing his fingers through her hair he let his hand travel down to the base of her neck “They’d have some pretty rigorous procedures to get in. Background checks, psyc. tests, they’re not going to let just anyone protect their royal family and especially not someone who could so obviously be your enemy. She’s probably had to jump through more hoops than anyone and for no other reason than her race.”

“I don’t hate her because she a Skin Jessie” she replied defensively

“No you do. Partly anyway” looking her in the eyes he continued “You definitely don’t trust her because of what she is. You don’t know what its like Iz, to be judged based on the colour of your skin.”

“I don’t know what its like?” she ask in anger and disbelief

“Yes Iz. You’ve grown up in the perfect suburban home, as this leggy blond who’s dads a lawyer.”

“Are you forgetting that I’m also a different species?” she asked in disbelief “If people knew about me how do you think they’d look at me? With disgust!” she predicted “Their first reaction would be to kill me or to capture me and run experiments. I know exactly what it is like to be discriminated against based on the colour of my skin” she finished, articulating the last part. Calming down for a moment she continued in a quieter voice “This is more than that and I’m telling you she can’t be trusted.”

Resting her head back on Jessie’s shoulder she took a sip of her wine as she sat in silence.

“Iz…” he started exhaling a deep breath he continued “if that’s what you think then I’ll trust you on that.” Kissing her on the top of her head, he smoother her hair out. “OK?”

Nodding her head they settled back in a comfortable silence. They sat in silence for a number of hours. Just enjoying being in each other presence. As dawn slowly drew nearer they both started to get drowsy. Gripping her husband’s shirt as her eyes started to get heavy she whispered “Stay awake”

“I am awake” Jessie whispered in reply as his head drooped in exhaustion.

“Don’t let me go to sleep” she whispered as she tightened her grip on his shirt “We can stay here forever if I could just say awake.”

“I’ll stay with you forever Isabel” Jessie whispered as he was loosing his fight to stay awake.

As his body started to fade from the Dreamplane Isabel’s eyes also drifted shut revealing a blurred room bathed in light. As the image of the room slowly came into focus she released her left hand, which had been tightly bunched in her sheets. Smoothing her hand over the crumpled sheets she stretched her arm across the mattress searching for Jessie’s presence. Blinking her eyes the room came into focus, looking around she took in her surroundings. The walls of the room were unnaturally smooth but still retained the patterns of the stone. The stratified lines of the rock extended around her room, as she turned onto her back her eyes travelled up to the roof where she noticing a band of green vulcanised tuff running horizontally around the corner of her room and up to the roof. Closing her eyes she tried to bring back the Dreamplane and their lounge room but all she saw when she closed her eyes was black. Squeezing her eyes tightly she released a whimper as she felt the sting of tears quickly pooling to her eyes. She knew she was being pathetic but after yesterday she just wanted to be held and waking up alone just brought back to her that Jessie was on the other side of the country and they couldn’t be together. Lying with her eyes closed she tried to get her emotions under control. She just wanted him with her.

Since they had been on the run she had spent many nights thinking these same thoughts but she had to keep reminding herself that it wasn’t possible. As her emotions started to get more under control her thoughts also started to calm down and it occurred to her that, for the first time they finally had a place where they could be safe. Snapping her eyes open her breathing increased as she started to realise that this did not have to be her life anymore. Jessie could come stay with them if he wanted to. But that was the key point.

She knew better than anyone what their life meant giving up. Living on the run was not the life she wanted for Jessie. It was the reason she had left him behind in the first place, if she hadn’t been weak and given into her desire to see him, he would most likely be living a happy uncomplicated by life now. But she knew she had ruined that for him the first time she had dreamwalked him. At least he was living a good life without her. He was working at one of the best law firms in Boston, running their litigation department. She knew he enjoyed this work and with the news she’d heard last night it seemed like he was going to be expanding his responsibilities. She didn’t want to be responsible for taking all that away from him.

The memory of last nights dreamwalk returned to her along with that the pain she felt first thing this morning waking up alone. Forcing herself to get out of bed, she stood and made her way to her bathroom. She could not bring her husband into this world unless she knew they would be able to live a normal life. Until that time, Isabel told herself, they would just have to continue to live as they were. No matter what she selfishly wanted.

~*~*~*~

[ForeignLoveMonkey]

Timelord31
I know what you mean but in Isabel's defense her fear was real even if she didn't give people a change to judge her. She saw her brother tortured by her government just for being an alien and even if the Special Unit was a bunch of extremists, in her mind they confirmed all the fears that had been planted by movies and books while she grew up.

begonia9508
Serena or Izzy...

keepsmiling7
Thanks and more to come

DeDe PR
Serena too obvious? Maybe....maybe not.
Baby Zan will be along soon. Not much longer to wait.

Alien_Friend
Serena is a very complicated person and we have a lot more to learn about her but don't underestimate her she has issues.

destinyc
Hopefully by moving in with the guards that normalcy might come about

xmag
You'll have to wait to see if the person is being forced to work for Khivar. But the pain thing, that's all for fun.

cjsl8ne
Well aren't you evil!
Well seeing as their is 5 years between Isabel's dreamwalk and Liz's talk with the President int he future I'm hoping this solution will happen sooner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 10

Her arm extended with familiarity, as though she had executed this move everyday of her life. Twisting at her hips, her other arm then extended, as she brought her arm back into her body. Her movements felt so controlled it surprised her. She knew exactly what she was doing with complete confidence.

Taking a step both her arms came out in front of her, palms up, in a slow controlled movement. Letting her eyes wander along the lines she watched as the serious Bodymen executed this same move. Their movements were focused and precise. In perfect unison they rehearsed the same moves she was doing for the first time. It was a strange feeling. Taking a step back in the other direction she turned her body as her arm extended, before twisting her hips and extending her other arm.

Watching Kyle, who stood in front of her, she was amazed as he moved in perfect time with the Guards around him as though he had been training his whole life. He always was the sporty type so she shouldn’t be surprised, but she envied the easy with which he moved, sure that she would not look as graceful.

Stepping to the side and turning her hips to face the front she lunged again extending both her arms in front of her with her palms facing up. At the thought of what Kyle might say if he knew she’d just called him graceful she started to giggle. Standing up she heard a voice speaking very close to her ear “Maria. You must concentrate.” Turning her head quickly to catch who had spoken to her she saw Jaris standing at her side. Giving her a half smile he mouthed quietly as he started to move backwards “Your out of time.”

Turning to look at her friends she saw that she had fallen a step behind everyone else. Hearing a chuckle she turned back around and saw Kyle facing her as he executed the next move. “You must concentrate Maria” he imitated with a teasing smile as he changed arms.

Squinting her eyes at him she stuck her tongue out as he continued to laugh at her. He could be so immature some times she thought as she quickly fell into step with the rest of the Guards training. Turning around as they faced the back she saw Liz also silently laughing at her as she blew the air out her nose in irritation, turning her attention back to the drills.

Liz, Kyle and Maria had decided to join a group of Bodymen who were training first thing in the morning. They wanted to make use of their newly acquired knowledge of the fighting arts.

It was intimidating at first for the three when they arrived in the main yard of the mountain compound. Jaris had informed them yesterday that the Bodymen ran massed training session first thing in the morning where they ran through their fighting drills and hand to hand combat. When they arrived dressed for a training session the Guards were assembled in groups around the space, talking with each other or variously mucking about. Their arrival caused much of the activity in the room to stop momentarily as the assembled Guards took in their presents.

Standing together near one of the entrance halls the three spoke to each other a couple of times, but mostly watched the Bodymen. These were professional soldiers who had dedicated their live to their protection and while the three of them were not the ones they had originally planned to protect they had extended it to include them without any complaint. The Guards quickly went back to their activities as they waited for the start of their training.

Joining them without their notice, Jaris started speaking “I am glad you chose to join us this morning” he started. Turning to face them Liz smiled and greeted him with a "Hi".

“Good morning” he replied before continuing “This will be your first training session. Now I understand you will only be beginners at this, and I’ll try and take things slow but this is one of the Guards main training session so I can’t afford to hold your hand. You may watch if you feel you cannot keep up. I have also assigned one of the Bodymen to look after you in this session and teach you the movements…”

Interrupting Jaris before he went any further Kyle spoke up “Actually Serena did this little thing with us yesterday” he started while waving his fingers in front of his chest “she implanted all these memories on how to fight and stuff. So we won’t exactly be starting from scratch”

Seeing the expression change on Jaris’ face he faulted slightly “What did she do to you?” Jaris asked.

“She didn’t really do anything” Kyle started in Serena’s defence “she just…” struggling to find the right words Liz interrupted.

“She implanted a memory in us.” Liz started silencing any interruption Jaris might have made “so that we all know how to defend ourselves” she said while glancing at Maria. “Now we just know all this stuff.”

“You made that dissension on the spot?” he asked a troubled expression on his face “Just to let her do that?” he asked.

“Look I wasn’t that keen on the idea of her playing in my head” Maria spoke up “but I trust Liz and she knows these things” she said with confidence while giving a confident smile at Liz.

Not sure how she felt about Maria’s confidence in her judgment or her apparent assumption on how she came to that decision she instead watched Jaris. Staying quiet for a moment and clenching his jaw, he ground his teeth as though he was restraining himself from saying something “Well it’s done now isn’t it” he said. Indicating the assembled Guards behind him with a sharp thrust of his head he continued “We’re about to start. So if you think you know the moves try and keep up, I’ll keep an eye on you. Ok.” Turning his back on them he walked out into the centre of the yard and by some silent order the assembled Black Guards started to move away from their groups and out into lines in the centre.

Waiting to see the Guards organised themselves the three hung back for a moment.

“You ready for this?” Kyle asked as they spied a less crowded section to their right.

Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves Maria raised her head to look at the non-existent sky. Lined up along the railings of the balconies where hundreds of Black Guards. Turning around to get a better look at them, both Liz and Kyle also noticed her distraction and looked up as will.

“Wow” Kyle whispered as he took in the large number of people watching the assembled Guards preparing to train.

“They are here to watch you” a voice spoke from behind them.

Turning around they came face to face with an impossibly tall man. He was at least a foot and a half taller than them with skin as black as his uniform. Smiling down at them the whites of his teeth shone against the deep maroon of his lips. Straining her neck to look at his face Liz commented, “Word got around quick.”

“Not really” he replied in a deep African accent “You kinda stand out.” Releasing a chuckle in his deep voice, it invited the others joined in. “You will be joining the practice today?” he asked when their laughter died down. Seeing Liz give a slight nod of her head he continued “Then you better hurry. We are starting”

Looking behind him they saw that most of the Guards had taken their positions in the lines “Oh. Right” she said as they started making their way to the free space left near the edge of the practice yard.

“I am Suto” the Guard told them as he started to walk in the same direction as them. Court off guard and ashamed at forgetting her manners it took Liz a moment to realise that they had not introduced themselves. Quickly wanting to reply she started to speak “I’m Liz” before realising that he was walked away from them, leaving her voice to trail off.

As though hearing her reply he quickly turned around and gave a bow in one fluid motion before turning back in the opposite direction and continuing on his way.

Arriving in the vacant spots the three of them waited as the remaining people joined the lines. Looking around, it was Maria who spotted her first, walking out of one of the lower walkways wearing black pants and an opened black leather jacket. Scowling despite Liz’s assurance of trust she muted “Oh she better not be joining us” as she watch Serena walk around the edge of the yard.

Hearing her comments both Liz and Kyle turned to see whom she was talking about. Seeing Serena walk around the edge of the yard, she walked with a purpose as though she was doing something important. Watching her walk Kyle couldn’t help but appreciate the way the leather ridding pants and jacket accentuated her ‘assets’. Scowling at his thoughts he watch as she reached the end of the yard and turned to the right and walked through a large passageway and out of sight. Turning his head back to Maria he shrugged his shoulders before catching the eyes of one of the Bodymen standing around them who had also been watching her progress.

“What’s she doing?” he asked hoping to get some insight into Serena’s life.
“Who knows” one of the Guards grumbled to his right as, in unison, the Guards started to step slowly through a series of movements. Reacting on instinct that Kyle knew he didn’t have he started to follow the same movements.

“She does what she want” another replied in front of him as he turned and slowly with control extended his arm. Continuing, he follow the movements of the drill along with the other assembled Bodymen concentrating on being conscious of the moves he was making for the first time despite the ease with which they came to him.

But his concentration was interrupted by the sound of a large engine. Stopping his movements Kyle stood to see where the sound was coming from. Looking towards the source of the sound he noticed Liz also standing still. Turning his head quickly he saw that Maria had also stopped along with a handful of Bodymen around them but the majority of the Guards where continuing their movements. Turning back to the source of the noise, which had suddenly got louder he watched as a silver racing bike sped out of the large passageway and up the tunnel, it’s rider dressed all in black. Watching who he was sure was Serena ride off, he wondered where she could be going.

Voicing his question Liz asked quietly to no-one in particular “Where would she be going?”

Giving a quiet “Humpf” the Guard to Kyle’s right gave the same answer as he had given to Kyle “Who knows”

“Whoever she’s going to see, I wouldn’t want to be them” a Guard to Liz’s left eventually replied as everyone stated to pick up the movements again.

~*~*~*~

Max didn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t this. The walls were aqua blue! Walking further into the room he saw a yellow sofa sitting against the wall on a spindly metal frame, in front of it sat a low white-topped chrome table with a Guess Who? board sitting askew on one corner, the game unfinished. Turning around to take in the rest of the room he saw a large oval Art Deco style dinning table sitting against the opposite wall with a leather, moulded bucket style office chair sitting behind it, the other unfinished Guess Who? board sat on the far side of the table next to a small round paper weight. In front of the desk sat two orange, low sitting lounge chairs with wooden armrests.

“Oh. My. God.” Isabel said from his left as she turned around taking in the room.

“What the hell was Terence smoking?” Michael asked from behind him after releasing an uncontrolled laugh when he first entered the room.

“You know I thought he was a bit weird…” Max started to say but was interrupted by Isabel who had been standing with her hand to her wide smiling mouth as she took in the room.

“Ooh, he’s still weird” she said quickly, not interrupting her appraisal.

“The walls are aqua…” Michael said in wonder at what he was seeing as he walked towards the apparent desk.

“The lounge is yellow” Max exclaimed now laughing and was quickly joined by Michael and Isabel.

Returning to their room the day previous, after their conversation with Serena, they were met by Terrance who was waiting in the hall outside Max and Liz’s door. Seeing the majority of the group make their way down the hall – Michael and Kyle were absent making a detour to one of the dining halls for a quick snack – Terrance moved to greet them. After inquiring about their day he was quick to get down to business. Drawing both Max and Isabel away he asked them if they could meet with him first thing tomorrow.

“Yeah, but why?” Max asked curious as to why he wanted to meet with only them.

“You are still our rulers” he said seriously for a moment “We will need to talk.” Holding his serious expression while he spoke, the smile that had been almost a permanent fixture since they had met started to creep back across his face once he had finished.

Giving them directions on where to meet, he turned to leave only to see Michael approaching down the hallway.

“Nice of you to join us Michael” Terrence murmured, giving him a smirk as he made his way down the hallway.

“Had to feed the beast man” Michael replied taking a bite out of one of the two corn dogs in his hand as he rubbed his tummy.

“You’re a pig sometimes Michael” Isabel murmured as he joined them watching Terrance walk away.

Shrugging his shoulders, it wasn’t something Michael hadn’t heard before. “What did he want?” he asked with his mouth still full.

“He wants to meet us tomorrow”

Taking another bite of his corn dog, he raised his eyebrows and grunted an “hmpf” before turning around to continue down the hallway.

Gathered in the office the three were still laughing when Terrance finally arrived. Hearing his approach from behind, the three turned to greet him with large uncontrollable smiles.

“Nice place Terrance” Michael commented when he had got himself under control enough to speak. Ignoring the subtle reprimanded he received from Isabel, her eyes grew wide as she quickly turned to glare at him, he continued with disguised sarcasm “who’s you decorator?”

“I’m glad you like it Michael” Terrance replied making his way further into the room. Sounding genuinely pleased with Michaels compliment he took a seat in the leather chair and continued to address him with his plastic smile “It took a great amount of time and searching for me to acquire these pieces of furniture from this planets recent history.”

“Well you’ve done a great job” Isabel said trying to sound genuine, but despite herself smiling with suppressed laughter.

Smiling his wide smile in evident gratitude he thanked her before moving on to the reason they were in his office. “Your lives on Earth have served the purposes of keeping you hidden so that you may return to free our planets. But your time in hiding will be ending soon.” Slowly loosing his smile as he spoke, he now watched them with a serious expression, or as much of one as Terrance could show. He seemed to have a permanent expression of joy or excitement of his face and while he no longer smiled and a small crease framed his forehead, his eyes still shined as though he was secretly enjoying a private joke. “Your protectors were meant to have taught you these things but they failed you. You have been left ignorant of the people you are meant to rule. So it has been left to me to teach you these histories.”

Straightening subtly where they stood, various expressions of excitement, curiosity and worry passed over the faces of the three royals standing in Terrance’s office. Curious as to Isabel’s reaction he initially thought to ask her about it but decided against it as he noticed the carefully constructed façade which almost immediately replaced any worry she had shown. Taking over her entire body she stood at ease as though she was as interested as the other in their history.

Standing at the back of the group Michael turned, making his way to the yellow couch on the opposite side of the room he spoke to himself “May as well get comfortable” as he dropped onto its thin frame, letting his right leg come up to extend across the remaining space on the lounge as his arms rested across the back of the seat. “Story time” he said with a wide smile facing Terrance, his position spread out across the lounge effectively stopping anyone else from joining him.

Rolling her eyes as Michaels behaviour Isabel turned back to face the two orange lounge chairs. Eyeing them suspiciously she slowly walking around them, resting her hands on the wooden armrests she lowering herself into the low-slung chairs. Sinking into the foam padding further that she expected, she found herself sitting very low in the chair; at eye level with the desk with the back of her head resting on the back of the chair. Internally she criticised herself for letting Michael stick her with these chairs, they engulfed her form as she sank down and had obviously been designed by midgets who had a fear of heights and plainly no legs.

While both Max and Iz took their seats Michael played with the Guess Who? board that was been lying on the table just in front of him. Flicking some of the character chips up and down, “I trust you remember what ones you’ve flicked down?” Terrance asked with an amused smile on his face as he watched Michael change the chips on his other board. Court, Michael looked up quickly and smiled “Of course,” before picking up the character card. Turning the card over between his fingers he noticed Terrence watching him with interest. Turning the card so that it faced Terrence he held it between his thumb and fore finger showing him the character, “Bernard” he mouthed raising his eyebrows and giving him a half smile. Returning his conspiratorial smile Terrence replied quietly “Thank you very much.”

Giving an amused laugh, Michael returned the card to its original position and flicked a couple of chips on the board without any real recollection of what the board had originally looked like. Sitting back on the lounge he waited for Terrence to start talking.

Having sunk into the orange chairs, both Max and Isabel watched for Terrance to start talking. Max was curious as to what he wanted to talk to them about. The information they had been given last night was slim. He wanted to speak to them as the presumptive rulers of Antar. Thinking about that immediately made Max think about Zan. He had put him in so much danger by giving him the seal and he had to do whatever was possible to save him from the fate that he himself had been running from for the past three years. Everything he learnt was vital to saving his son and protecting him from their enemies.

Sliding his hand over what they assumed was a small paper weight, a hologram appeared in front of Terrance above the desk. Rotating in front of their eyes the image of a planet appeared. Slowly, as the planet rotated, they could see three large continental land-masses taking up most of the planet. As they watched the planet rotate they could also see two moons circling the planet, their trajectories crossing as they chassed each other around the outside of the planet. “This is Antar” he started indicating the hologram. He then continued “Almost 3000 years ago the Antar were one of many tribal nations that ruled our planet. They managed to rise above many of their neighbouring nations through war and alliance until they controlled the continent of Sǚ.” Indicating one of the larger land-masses he pointed to a region that extended long and broad like a peninsular hanging off the bottom of another, much larger continent. “The Antar made their wealth in agriculture and trade and they were able to accumulate resources from the neighbouring nations they conquered. Technology, precious metals, minerals, the Antar acquired these and traded them out to the other continents. Initially, we believe the Antar lived at peace with their neighbouring continents…”

“You believe?” Max interrupted hoping to get the most information possible.

“We have virtually no records from this period” Terrance replied. “In the time before this, the time of war and expansion, the Antar had writing, they had records there are buildings, but these are all in, what are today, rural areas. During the time of peace the buildings changed, they adopted local styles and traditions, what we see of their culture is totally different. There was some mass destruction event which occurred and destroyed the Antar cities, all the cities on the planet. Very little remains from that time. The Granilith,” he said giving them a significant look “is one of the few thing that we have that predates that great destruction.”

“So by then they had all that technology?” Michael asked from the other side of the room.

“The Silent Times were a time of innovations. The technology we have now is based on what has remained from those times. Very few people survived the destruction. The survivors were few and they had very little food. Some of our stories say that all the planet was scorched, crops were killed and the survivors were too weak to farm it. Searching for food one group found the Antar’s silos. They were located underground, massive cavities that could supply nations with food. They were able to feed the survivors. The few people who had survived came together and called the planet Antar and themselves Antarians after the people who had stored the grain which saved them.”

“Do you know what caused the great destruction?” Isabel asked “Was it war or an accident?”

“We don’t know” Terrance replied “I told you the Granilith came from before that time, it was the Granilith which showed the survivors where to find food. One of them found it in a cave, he found the crystals with it and was shown where the Silos were. The Granilith saved us.” Hesitating for a moment, debating in his head whether he should continue. He did not agree with some of the other theories about the Granilith, but as far as he was concerned it would be too close to lying to leave them out. These theories were extremist babble anyway and most sain people didn’t believe them.

Stumbling to begin with he continued quickly in a dismissive tone, evident that he did not agree with these views “There are some who think that it was the Granilith the destroyed everything” clenching his hand on the table he shook his head saying clearly “but that’s blasphemy.” Looking at them his face was alight with religious passion “It’s our guardian and it shouldn’t have been sent away from Antar!”

From his seat Max watched Terrance in his religious fervor “Well I’ve never been religious” he mumbled feeling a deep regret that he couldn’t give himself to those same religious believes he had seen in his family and friend. Registering too late what he had said out loud he flushed pink, feeling the heat quickly spread across his face as he watched as Terrance’s attention turned to him.

“But there are many who are…” he started slowly trying to judge Max’s reaction to their beliefs.

“He knows” Isabel spoke, up giving her brother a sharp look for his careless comments.

“Yeah” Max cut back in “I respect that.” Mentally kicking himself for his stupidity he listened as Michael tried to suppress his giggles in the background.

“Well–” Terrance said, caught off guard by Max’s comments he absently nodded his head “The survivors mostly joined together, while there was few of them they had the technology to travel around the planet. The first ruling house arose from those who had originally found the silos, they were the House of Zhir and ruled for six generations. Two houses followed this, the House of Tal’him and the House of Loran but it was the House of Thorthenhur, the house of your ancestors” Terrance said giving Max and Isabel a significant look “That created the planetary alliance.

“The further back we go the less we know about these first contacts. Your ancestor, Jien Thorthenhur stated the expansion” placing his hand over the circular object on his desk, again the hologram changed, bringing up the V constellation. The bottom most star of the formation pulsed brighter than the rest “For many years Antar had known of a nearby planetary system that had life, but it was Jien who decided to contacted these people” the first star to the right of the centre most star then started to pulse before the hologram zoomed in on it showing first a planetary system with four plants before zooming in again to the first planet. “Through a treaty the Hyar became the first planet to swear allegiance to Antar.”

The next planet, Gaiia, was rich in Mica” zooming back to the V constellation the second star on the left pulsed before zooming in to show a star system and a large ringed planet “it’s the key ingredient in much of our technology and the sources on Antar were drying up. The war with the Miran lasted for 50 years before we won and were able to establish rule on Gaiia.

“Lornin Kirgen, Jien’s great-granddaughter was the next to expand the alliance.” Returning to the V constellation, the last star on the right pulsed bright before zooming in onto a small blue planet “Lornin was more interested in her pleasure gardens than ruling the people, she wanted Syljet as her personal playground. The native inhabitants, the Tio were pacifists. To welcome Lornin’s delegation they had made a giant mosaic out of sand. Her soldiers cut them down where they stood and any of the survivors were sent to one of the other alliance planets. For almost 500 years Syljet existed as the personnel pleasure garden of the Royal house before Syan gave it back to the people and established law there. It now has rule like any of the other alliance planets but unfortunately there are virtually no Tio descendants alive today.”

Returning to the constellation the first star on the left glowed bright before drawing into a star system that had almost twenty planets circling a giant sun. Drawing closer to one of the last of these planets, a predominantly blue planet with patches of green appeared as the focus. “The last planet to join the alliance was Marj’ih. Almost 600 years ago the planet was discovered by accident when the King, Hanet Syson sent an expedition out in search of a fleet of lost ships. Between Antar and the Marj’ih’s planetary system is a large asteroid belt, the Korom, the fleet had gone missing in there. During the search some of the ships were damaged. Coming out of the Korom they found Marj’ih hidden and protected behind the asteroid belt.”

Looking down from the holographic image of the planet, Terrance explained to the group “The Quor’trn were a tribal people who lived a subsistence lifestyle on Marj’ih before we arrived. A group of them saw our search fleet set down and came to investigate. They thought they were gods so they helped feed them and many Quor’tr started to move to their landing site. They told the crew that they were expecting their visit, ‘a fallen God’ they said, had foretold their arrival. For a long time the fleet thought that this was just a story, a myth that the Quor’tr told to look forward to better times. When they finished their repairs the Quor’tr took them to show them their Gods resting place. This was a great honour for the crew, to be shown this site, very few people were allowed to go there…It was a crash site. The missing fleet had crashed on Marj’ih and the survivors were found by some of the Quor’tr. This was the first contact they had had with any other race and they had no way to communicate, so they used a skill they had developed for hunting. A type of telepathy that let them read the minds of the dying crew, that’s how they knew the second fleet would come, the crew knew that a search party would be sent out and something in what they saw made the Quor’tr believed that the Antar fleet were Gods. The crew were buried like royalty, on raised platforms like their great ancestors, you could still see those graves until a couple of years ago but they were destroyed by…” he trailed off, lost for words as his gaze slipped back to the hologram which continued to rotate slowly in front of them, the planets many moons rotating around the large orb.

Following the shift in his focus Isabel turned her gaze back to the hologram. The look on his face showed regret and disappointment “skins” she supplied, seeing the answer in his face, the slight inflection in her voice giving away her dislike.

Dropping his gaze when Isabel spoke he mumbled “They don’t like to be called that.” Addressing Isabel directly he continued “You, maybe should talk to Serena. She might be able to offer some insights –”

“Done that” Isabel replied giving a small, derisive smile after she spoke.

Seeing his sister’s disdain for Serena getting the better of her, Max was quick to react. There were few people who Isabel outwardly despised; to the majority she portrayed a façade of wide smiles and easy conversation or disinterest and indifference, carefully hiding whatever were her true feelings. But her reaction to Serena was violent, her years of practiced control was irrelevant as she let her emotions take over.

“If the Quor’tr are from another planet how is it that Serena is a member of the Black Guard?” Max asked hoping to return the conversation back to more important issues.

Caught by the change in direction of the conversation, Terence stumbled over his response “Well, her father is Anterian.” Composing himself quickly he amended what he said as he continued “But that is irrelevant anyway, anyone from the five planets can join the Black Guards. The ruling House of Antar is the official royal house of all the five planets, so anyone from these planets can enlist to protect the Royal House.” Seeing Max opening his mouth, Terrance interrupted knowing the question “Each planet has autonomous rule but officially the King of Antar is their Head of State.”

Quickly glancing down at his watch, on the inside of his left wrist, he reached out with his right hand to the small orb sitting on his desk. The hologram disappeared as soon as he touched the device. Leaning back in his chairs he laced his fingers together, resting them on stomach “I think that might be enough for today”

Absorbed in the story Michael was broken out of his concentration by the sudden disappearance of the hologram “What?” he asked seeing Terrance remove the main prop in his story “no more?”

“Maybe tomorrow Michael” he replied, his smile returning to his face “It is almost dinner time”

~*~*~*~

Walking out of the room Isabel faulted in her step as she looked back at Terrance’s room.

“I might catch up with you guys” she said her hand loosely waiving back in the direction of Terrance’s door. “I… I think I forgot something”

Turning and walking back in the direction she had just came the two boy turned back and continued down the hall towards the open walkway.

“I can’t believe it’s almost dinner” Michael mumbled to himself as he made his way down the hallway his hands fiddling with his hair.

“I know” Max responded, distracted by his own thought about what they had been told “It didn’t seem like that long”

Coming out onto the wide balcony which overlooked the courtyard they started making their way around while casually watching a small group of the Black Guards training in one corner of the yard. They were practicing throwing each other over their backs and incapacitating them. The speed, from when they throw them until they had control of their partner was phenomenal. It was one fluid movement that lead from the throw to the incapacitating grip. Watching one of the smallest ones there step up he saw a giant black man step up to partner her. Stopping in his tracks Michael wanted to see this. There was no way that small lithe of a girl could throw her partner but it would be funny to watch. Two sets of partner had stepped up and throwing his hand out he got Max’s attention as they made their way to the balcony. Before they had even reached the balcony the movement was over. In one fluid motion the tiny guard had propelled her partner onto the ground his arm held at an awkward angle behind his back.

Getting off her partner she offered her hand to her fallen comrade before turning to her other thrower and giving an excited squeal. That squeal was familiar and as she turned around to find another partner from her small group a shot of recognition gripped him. As the svelte blond figure partnered with another giant of a Guard he watched as she again throw him with an ease and grace of years of experience.

“Damn” Michael murmured in appreciation, as he watched the ease with which Maria exhausted the moved. Her tiny frame looked as though she should brake just standing next to these men but the ease that she performed these moves with made her incredibly irresistible. He couldn’t look away.

“I know” Max murmured from next to him his gaze focused on the small brunette now partnering up with Maria.

Seeing what was about to happen, they had finished executing their move before Michael had had a chance to respond “I’ll have to remember to thank Serena”

“Me too” was Max’s distracted reply.

Changing partners again this time they were standing behind one of the large guards. Stepping up to them they were on the floor before either Max or Michael knew what was going on. Standing there in delayed shock they watched as the large Black man held his had out bowing to Liz, with a wide, white-toothed smile, as he helped her up.

“Or maybe I’ll just kill her” Max continued gripping the balcony wall with white knuckles.

“I’ll help.”

~*~*~*~