But here is a new part.thanks again!
Part 10
“Where are we Max?” Isabel asked as they looked around the desert that surrounded them. Max stood a few feet in front of her, trying to process his new surroundings.
“I’m not sure,” he replied. They had landed in a desert place somewhere.
Max covered his eyes at the brightness of the sun. That was the major difference that they all had noticed about Antar and Earth, Earth was a lot brighter.
Max looked over at where Michael had placed himself on a rock. He was staring straight ahead, with no expression on his face.
“What are you thinking about Michael?” asked Max as he walked up to him.
Michael kept staring ahead as he answered. “Everything’s so quiet. I can’t remember the last time everything has been quiet. I’m expecting something to explode and then another war to break out.”
Max put his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “We’re not going back Michael. Things aren’t gonna be like that anymore.” Then Michael did something that Max hadn’t seen him do in five years. He smiled.
“Dad.” Zan’s voice turned Max’s attention away from Michael. His son was standing next to Isabel, looking around at the desert around him.
“What’s up little fella,” Max said as he picked him up.
“What’s this place.” Zan asked.
“Earth. Home. It’s where you should have been all along.” Max replied. Zan shrugged. “It’s really quiet,” he said, still looking around.
“I know this must feel weird Zan, but it’ll be ok, you’ll get used to it.” Isabel said. Zan looked at her. “It doesn’t feel weird,” he said as Max put him down again. “I’m just gonna go look around,” he said, and started to walk off.
“Maxwell aren’t you gonna stop him?” Michael asked from his position on the rock.
“No, I think he will be ok,” Max said. “Zan always needs to look around and explore every place we go. He’ll be fine.”
Max then turned to Isabel. “Have you seen Tess come back yet?” He asked her quietly. Isabel shook her head. “She seemed pretty angry, Max. Just give her some time and she’ll come back.”
Max closed his eyes and recalled what had happened when Tess had woken up and they had told her where they were. Her face had immediately turned pale, and then after a moment of silence she had gone absolutely crazy. She started yelling at them, something about “you have no idea what you have done” and “how could you do this to me”.
Max had no idea why she had reacted so badly. Sure, he knew that Tess had always had a love for their home planet that they didn’t have, but surely she had to have understood that they were all in danger if they had stayed. That Antar was the wrong place for Zan to grow up.
“It must have been a shock to her Max,” Isabel said, bringing Max out of his thoughts. “I mean, one minute she is fighting in a war and then when she wakes up she is on Earth. Don’t worry, she’ll be back.” Max nodded. That must be it. She was just shocked, that’s all.
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Liz stood in front of a coffee machine, watching the coffee as it slowly poured into her cup. Liz groaned. “Come on,” she whispered. She could feel herself falling asleep, she hated working this late at night. Especially at the hospital, it wasn’t the happiest place to be.
“Hey beautiful,” a deep voice whispered in her ear. Liz gave a little scream. She turned around to see Ben standing there with a boyish grin on his face. “You!” she said, pointed at him. “You scared the hell out of me!” Ben laughed.
“Yeah but at least I woke you up,” he said.
Liz picked up her coffee and started to walk away with him.
“So I was thinking that we should go away this weekend,” Ben said. “My parents own this holiday home and its really nice. We used to go there all the time when I was younger. What do you think?” he asked. Liz smiled. “I’d love to,” she replied. She was telling the truth. She couldn’t be happier than she was at this moment, drinking her coffee and having Ben’s arm around her waist. And she was making plans for what could turn out to be the happiest weekend of her life. Liz smiled again and put her head on Ben’s shoulder.
********************
Max had booked them all into a little apartment for the night-Isabel had created the money for them. He was staring out the window, looking at the stars. Isabel came up behind him and sat down.
“You’ve been staring at them too, ” she said.
“They look exactly the same on both planets,” Max said. “Everything else is completely different, but the stars, they are just as bright, just as hopeful.” Isabel nodded next to him, as they both looked up at the sky. They didn’t notice Tess come out of the bathroom.
“I’m going to bed, not that either of you care,” Tess snapped. Max sighed. “Tess, you know that we are sorry for not telling you. But we had to get out of there as quickly as we could.”
“Not listening,” Tess said, as she pulled the covers over her head and pretended to fall asleep.
For a while Max and Isabel sat in silence, until they were interupted by a loud snore from Michael. They both started laughing.
“Max, I’ve been waiting for you to bring this up, but you haven’t. So I’m going to have to say this…what happens when we get back to Roswell?” she asked cautiously. Max closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against the window. “I don’t know,” he sighed. “I guess the first thing we do is find Valenti. He needs to know that we are back. But after that…I have no idea.” Max said, and looked at Isabel.
Isabel understood what he was feeling. She had no idea what was going to happen, and she was scared. More scared than she had been when the wars had broken out on Antar. She couldn’t help but think of what the others would think of them. Would they turn them away? Would they stare? Would they start screaming at them? What will happen when they see Zan? Isabel’s face turned into a look of pain when she thought about Liz and Maria. Who knows how they will react. Then she thought of their parents and had to stop herself from crying at loud. How could she do this? What would she say?
She was really scared. She didn’t know if she was strong enough to do this. But then she looked over at Max, and he looked even worse then she did. He was battling his own demons too. And that is when she knew that she had to go, she needed to be there for Max.
She looked out the mirror again, and silently prepared herself for when they travelled to Roswell tomorrow, and would come face to face with the friends and family they left behind.
tbc
