Roswell Fanatics

Alix: I hope you were having fun while you were away and welcome back. Your fb always makes me feel good.,..thank you.
Carolyn: Hey, I think this one is going to be fun with a little bit, not a lot, of drama thrown in. I'll have to send you some clips from the KIIItv news broadcasts...they seem to like our boy too. It's a grandma thing, you can understand that.
Eve: Hey, sorry for any confusion but the Evans' don't know about the kids' other worldly status yet, but that's coming up way down the road. Glad you're enjoying.

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 11

“Was I married to this ‘person’ in that other life?” Isabel wanted to know.

“No…you weren’t.” Cal didn’t want to tell the young girl that she had been betrothed to Michael in that other life, it would serve no purpose. Cal looked over toward Nasedo and shook his head as the shape shifting alien was about to spill some news that no longer applied.

Tess looked surprised that Cal had dropped the subject so abruptly and wondered why.

Cal took notice of the questioning appearance in the young girls face and smiled as he spoke to her while holding his hand up to Nasedo.

“I’m sure you have been fed a lot of lore by your ‘Uncle Ed’ ” Cal emphasized the words, “But you have to know that those rules no longer apply. You are here for your safety and possibly to find a way to save your planet from the rule of a tyrant. If, or how, this is accomplished is only speculation at this point.

“Right now it is imperative that we keep all of you safe and that includes your new friends. You are all in danger now so we need to instruct you on some life saving measures as well as providing you with some protection.

“The first thing you must know if you encounter one of the skins is how to eliminate them. I will not use the word ‘kill’ because it will probably be against everything you have ever been taught and believe in. They are not people as you are. They are creations…they have been created to protect their ruler, Kivar, the tyrant. They have been sent here to find the Granolith and to return it to Antar. They are computerized for lack of a better term, soldiers, and must be treated as the enemy.

“There is a switch, a plug, or whatever you choose to call it; it is a device that maintains their human appearance. It is located right at the small of their back, belt line as you will. Hit this “plug” as hard as you can with anything you can get your hands on, use your foot if you have to and kick it with all your might. They will literally disappear…turn to ashes, disintegrate.

“Do not feel as though you have committed murder, you haven’t. You will have eliminated a human looking, free thinking computer so to speak.

“If the danger is not eliminated during the performance of this act then the danger is human, if it means to harm you then get rid of it in the normal fashion…kill it. I will explain to you the reason why some humans wish you harm later…much later. They don’t want you dead they want to study you, use you as specimens, but we won’t worry about that, not yet anyway.”

Cal studied the group and saw a mountain of emotions running through these people’s minds. He could just imagine how they must feel. He could see the look of disbelief, fear and anger written all over Jeff Parker’s face. He could see the anguish in Nancy Parker and there was a look of awe surrounding their daughter’s face. The girl was fascinated with the entire scenario and he could only smile inwardly…she was going to be their greatest asset, of that he was certain.

*

Nasedo looked at Cal Langley with absolute contempt. The shape shifting alien was ruining all of the plans he had made with Kivar but he couldn’t allow the skins to ruin everything he had worked for either. He needed to get to the garage and contact the ruler as soon as possible.

He was also rapidly losing control of Tess, if she kept it up she would soon see through all of this and nothing would come to fruition. He needed to get back to Antar with the heir and the royals and the sooner the better. “FUN!” What sort of nonsense is she thinking?

*

Cal Langley looked at the shape shifter that had accompanied the pods to Earth along with him and the two others who had been killed and wondered how he had ever made the cut in the first place. The man was a psychopath for one thing and a self-indulgent one at that, then he thought to himself, ‘just like me’. They needed to keep a close eye on him.

Maybe the skins would get to him and they wouldn’t have to worry about him any longer.

Cal smiled and pointed to the two ‘soldiers’ who had helped the girls in with the refreshments and started to assign duties. He told those two that they were to protect the Parkers, another two were assigned to Max and Isabel and another one to Michael. He sent one with Maria and another with Alex. That left one to stand guard at the Harding’s. Cal felt quite comfortable that he and Nasedo would be able to deal with any problems at the Harding homestead. He was sure that young Tess would also be able to help in an emergency.

*

After Cal gave out his assignments he set up an appointment with the young Royals to meet out in the desert for some “combat” training. Liz raised her hand…

“Isn’t there something we could learn also? I know we have no powers but we could surely learn something.”
Cal smiled, yes, a real asset.

“If you would like to learn some maneuvers I am sure that Bruce would be more than happy to train you. We will be working very hard and you’ll probably get very sore from the workouts but if you want to join us we will be glad to have you; the more we have the better off we will be.”

“Great…I’ll come. Maria, Alex?” Liz looked at her friends…

Then Jeff Parker smiled…

“Nancy and I will join you as well; it won’t hurt us to be able to defend ourselves against these things.”

“No it won’t Jeff. Well…Maria, Alex? Are you going to join us?”

The two skinny kids looked at each other and then the rest of the group… they were still in a little bit of shock about all they had heard but when they saw the looks on everyone’s faces they nodded in assent to each other and then Alex answered for both of them.

“Count us in and Mr. Langley, I think my parents should know about this too. I know my father will not be shocked and I also know that he can keep secrets. He’s a federal employee, privy to many secrets and he is also very broad minded. If I tell him I trust you then he will trust you as well. I know you don’t feel comfortable sharing this news with people and I also understand why but you have to trust someone. The more you have on your side the easier this battle is going to be and we are talking world wide security here.”

Cal Langley was very impressed with this young man; he was nobody’s fool.

“Let me think about this for a while Alex. I’m sure you can trust your father but I am not as sure as you are. You will keep our secret won’t you?”

“Yes Mr. Langley. I sort of feel honor bound to keep it since Max saved one of my best friends and what good would it do for me to break this confidence anyway. It would only hurt rather than help.”

“Very true Alex and thank you.”

“I know you’re going to investigate my dad Mr. Langley and that’s alright, just make sure that you don’t hurt him in doing so. Just as I won’t hurt you I don’t want anything to happen to him either.”

Cal Langley smiled; ‘a really great kid here’ was what he was thinking.

“I promise he won’t be harmed in any way at all Alex. We will be as discreet as we can be in our investigation and if your father is anywhere near the man that you are I am sure that we will be glad to have him on our team. Does anyone else have anything to add?”

Cal looked around the room and smiled at the guests and noticed the look on Nasedo’s face…not good. The bastard was up to something and Cal didn’t like it. He wasn’t above a mind rape if it came to that and was fully prepared to do so if things got out of hand but he really didn’t want to be so untrusting. The shapeshifter did call him after all so he’d just have to deal with it.

*

Ed Harding was sorry as hell he called Cal. He only wanted the man to get rid of the skins, not take over his entire plan. The man was ruining everything. He really did need to get to Kivar and quickly.
Cal saw the wheels turning and looked the man dead in the eye and said…

“Ed, we will discuss this in a minute. Don’t leave my sight.” And Ed Harding knew he was in deep trouble, the king did put Cal in charge and he was bound to obey.

*

The rest of the group sat up and started to leave after having decided to meet at the rock quarry tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. Liz and Maria had the morning and lunch shift tomorrow and got off at 1:00 and Jeff and Nancy said they would be glad to drive all three of the kids to the desert with them and Max said that he and Isabel would take Michael with them. It was agreed that Tess and the rest of the group would go with Cal and the meeting was closed.

Cal looked at Nasedo and motioned him to follow him upstairs.

*

“Ed, I know you are up to something and let me tell you right here and now that there will be no plans to take that Granolith back to Antar as long as that maniac is ruling. If you have any plans regarding this they have just been changed.

We will eliminate the skins… have no doubt but we will not, under any circumstances, release that icon to Antar without a sane ruler. Is that understood?

The young king will know the importance of this project before this is all over and know this, those kids are free beings. They are free to live the lives they choose for themselves and no ancient edict will change that. They are citizens of the United States of America, planet earth, and while it is still a free nation they are free citizens. Is that understood?

I never dreamed in a million years that life could be so good and I will see to it that they have it just as good. I will not let you ruin it for them…never. Do you understand?”

Ed Harding stood and listened to the ramblings of his fellow shape shifter and wished to the Granolith that he had never called the man…it was the biggest mistake he had ever made. If the skins didn’t kill him Kivar would. Maybe he should contact the skins and make a deal.
*

Eve: A day late but better late than never...Maybe this chapter will cheer you up some.
Michelle: I totally agree with you. These shapteshifters were sent to take care of these four not make problems...maybe I just take a job too seriously, a fault I suppose but I think it's a good one.
Eve:I only missed leaving fb on other fics...I've updated weekly, honest. I've been really busy with RL lately and some other stuff not worth mentioning...Michelle will read me the riot act!
Cardinal: Thank you so much...wait til you get a load of the one Michelle is helping me with. I've got myself so tangled up in plots even I'm confused....
Carolyn: I thought they needed some adult help on the show too...even Sheriff Valenti wasn't enough sometime.

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 12

The following day, Sunday, a group of various looking characters converged upon an old stone quarry on the outskirts of Roswell, New Mexico. The only thing they all had in common, except for one, was the reason for being there.

Cal Langley chose his best self-defense soldier and assigned him to the human students along with the two adults in the group and the man started with basic strengthening exercises.

They started out with breathing properly and then running, surprisingly enough the man was very impressed with all of them except for Alex…his breathing was excellent, probably due to his music, but his overall strength left a lot to be desired although his coordination was superb, again the music. Obviously Liz, Maria, Nancy and Jeff were so used to running around the Crash Down that they were in fairly decent shape as well.

Cal Langley took the four hybrids and started out with some heavy concentration exercises, he wanted to see what their various gifts were and to embellish on their natural talents. Tess was the most advanced of the four of them but that was to be expected.

Four of the guards were posted at the four corners of the work out area, far enough away that they could see anyone who might be coming into the area to make sure that they were not discovered while Ed Harding had the other three men learning to dig further into their consciousness and trying to get them to tap into the parts of the brain that would not come into use for another couple hundred years.

There were beings on this earth that were able to move objects, levitate and do all sorts of things that seemed strange to the general public but these people were few and far between. All humans had the capacity to do these things even though they did not know how to. Although Cal had chosen his men wisely and they were extremely talented they had only tapped the surface of their abilities and Cal knew this.

Nasedo was not the most patient of teachers but he did know what he was doing and Cal had to use what he had.

*

Back at the carnival grounds there was a different kind of activity going on. Since it was Sunday and the City Council did not want to pay anyone overtime to go out and check the equipment on the rides the carnival was shut down until Monday.

“I don’t want to leave this burg until we have some answers. Call the next stop and tell them that we’ll be a week late in arriving. That means all stops are delayed one week.

If we find what we’re looking for here we cancel all further stops and find a buyer for this,” waving his arms erratically Nicholas continued, “this, fiasco. Whose idea was this anyway?”

Nicholas was still ranting like a two year old and Greer was getting totally disgusted with the man.

“Nicholas, this ‘circus’ as you put it was your idea and you know it; now, either you calm down or the rest of us are heading back to Copper Summit and you can handle this on your own. You had no right to eliminate Scooter. If his plan had worked you would have praised him from now till hell froze over and you know that too. You have to stop these tirades; they are getting us nowhere, and if you don’t like your position then give it up…this is getting old.”

“And just who the hell do you think you are Tom? I’ve not heard any complaints from anybody else.”

“Why would they bother, you don’t listen to anything anyone has to say anyway; you would rather feel your own breath blowing back at you than to listen to sound advice. It’s time for you to grow up! Did it ever occur to you that you have a child’s body because you act like a child? Grow up Nicholas, it’s time.”

The two men stared at each other with neither feeling as though anything had been accomplished, and in truth it hadn’t.

Nicholas thought for a second and then said…

“Why don’t we send a couple over to the Harding’s and see if we can find out anything today and then let’s head on over to that restaurant where we sent those two to take out one of those kids. We haven’t heard from either of those two and nothing has been reported in the paper. See if you can get someone to break into the sheriff’s office and find out anything about a gun shot. This whole thing is strange. There haven’t been any reports of any kind one way or the other. Did those two just take off with the money? Something isn’t right here.”

Tom nodded and left the trailer to locate two of his best burglars, they all could be fairly sneaky if they had to but some were better at it than others.

*

Back at the stone quarry a group of young people and an almost middle aged couple were deep in exercises when Liz got the giggles.

She wasn’t necessarily upset about anything it was just that the whole week-end was suddenly taking its’ toll on her and she started to laugh. The giggles went to an all-out belly laugh building up to hysterical laughing and soon Alex and Maria were running toward her with horrified looks on their faces.

They knew what this meant even more so than her parents since these episodes usually took place without her parents knowing about them. Hell, her parents were usually the cause of the hysterical laughing in the first place.

“LIZ! What’s wrong girl friend? Come on! Calm Down! My God nothing’s wrong.” Maria was yelling and a group of people stood and watched as the young girl got herself to the point where she could hardly breathe…

Alex ran over and grabbed Max by the elbow and dragged him toward his best friend…

”Do something Max…she needs help!”

Max looked at Alex’s bewildered face, he had no idea what was happening nor did anyone else…

“Alex, what!”

“Something is upsetting her Max…she only does this when she’s upset and it’s never been this bad, ever.”

Max ran over to the laughing girl whom he secretly loved since third grade and grabbed her by the shoulders…

Liz looked into his soulful eyes and laughed even harder and then started choking between the fits of laughter…

Max grabbed her head, one hand on either side and looked into her eyes and started to get visions of total exhaustion, angst, fear and hidden way down deep in the depths of her soul he saw love.

He kept pulling her feelings out of her, one by one and then he stood and gazed into those beautiful brown eyes. Now was not the time, if it ever was, and Liz calmed down as she stared back into those honey colored orbs she had been watching for years. No, now was not the time, but she now knew, as well as Max, that someday would come.

Cal Langley watched the entire episode and smiled. He was right about this girl…she was not afraid and there was a whole lot more to it than they were ready to admit to each other.

Nasedo cringed.

“Lizzie, what’s wrong?” Jeff wanted to know…

“Nothing dad…I guess I just got tired and I started to get bombarded with the entire week-end and all that has happened and I just started laughing. I’m sorry if I upset anyone, let’s get back to work before we lose any more time.”

Liz was just a little bewildered at her behavior and felt foolish over it all, ‘what a wuss!’ she thought to herself feeling like a total idiot.

And so they all disbanded and picked up where they had all left off.

Cal looked over toward Nasedo and frowned at the man…he sent a silent message and Nasedo didn’t like what he was hearing…’don’t you dare interfere!’

*

It was now late Sunday night and the sheriff had locked his office and left Owen manning the front desk and one deputy on patrol. Monday would bring in the busy week-end business as well as the usual warrants, court cases and emergencies that would arise. Jim was more or less glad for the reprieve…he wanted to make sure Kyle was still comfortable with the excitement of the carnival and attempted robbery at the Crash Down.

He really hadn’t had a chance to talk to his son much since it all happened and he was finally on his way home to a late dinner and some one on one time. All was good in Jim Valenti’s life.

While back at the sheriff’s station Owen was busy filing the week-end reports and working on next week’s schedule when an unsavory looking character managed to slip past the front desk and make his way to the upstairs office of the sheriff.

The sneaky little man stood in front of a stack of folders on the sheriff’s desk when he came across the second folder from the top labeled Crashdown robbery. He opened the file and quickly scanned it with his phone/fax and made his way back down the stairs as quietly as he had made his entrance and was long gone before Owen was ever the wiser.

When the scrawny looking skin made his way back to the head trailer at the back of the carnival grounds he knocked and entered and nodded to the young looking leader of his group. He downloaded his file into Nicholas’ computer and the boy/man sat and read the file in total disbelief.

'A blank shot was fired'. What the hell was this all about? Who in the hell gave those idiots blanks and then he thought…maybe, just maybe, there was a group of people covering up a real shooting.

Nicholas looked at the scrawny looking young man and spoke very calmly… “I want you to go and search every one of those kids’ homes. We’re looking for evidence of a gunshot wound. I don’t care how long it takes, but search every home thoroughly and check in with us, leave nothing unchecked. Something is wrong here”…

it was his gun and it was not loaded with blanks.

*

Ken: Thank you so much, I hope so, you know I'm not so good at unfluffy stuff but I tried.
Carolyn: Well, along with being busy I managed to get sick so it's been a real mess around here. Fabric everywhere and crap that should have been put away a week ago sitting around. Talk about wanting to hide under the bed, I can't stand living with myself when I get like this but today was Dr. day, I finally broke down and went and with good drugs I think I'll survive. Hope you enjoy this installment.
Natalie: I don't think there is a single fan out there that doesn't agree with you. We all wish it would have been different but I guess we're stuck with what they gave us and now we can write it like we want it.
Alix: I agree with you whole heartedly, I think Cal/Kal should have been a whole lot more involved with the royals than he was, it was what he was sent here for; as for Nasedo, well...never did like that dude.
Eve:I hope you're feeling better, so sorry to hear that...my goodness. I wish we were closer I could have made you some soup! Take care.
Lizza: Don't tell anybody but when things get too bad for me I either cry my heart out or laugh my head off there's no in between. It just depends on how bad the situation is. The last few years have been a lot of tears but I get through it. Glad you like the story....

*~*~*~*~*
Chapter: 13

Monday morning found all of the kids headed in from different directions toward West Roswell high, all meeting up in the parking lot at approximately the same time as planned with almost as many guards arriving in as many vehicles behind them. One guard each, taking a position at an entrance to the school in an obscure location in order to keep a close watch to make sure that all entrances were covered. Cal also had a guard posted at the carnival, reporting the comings and goings of the personnel and a second one to tail anyone looking suspicious.

Isabel’s friends came up to her the minute they saw her, waiting to go over the week-end gossip, and she explained that she had to see Liz Parker before class; these girls were positively floored at that statement.

“Isabel! You have an image to maintain! You can’t be serious! If you’re seen with that mouse you will lose all credibility!”

Isabel looked at the girl who spoke and was in shock…was she really like that? God! What must people think of me? she thought.

She glared at the group of girls, shook her head and said “chill”; she had nothing more to say to them.

*
John, Cal’s number one surveillance man, called in with a report that one of the skins looked as though he was headed out for some ‘lurking’ and Cal immediately told him to send Chuck out to follow him. If anyone else looked suspicious give him a call. Maybe they needed more men from California.

It was Ed who suggested to Cal that they contact River Dog, the old Indian out at the Mesa Lika reservation, to help them. Ed wasn’t too fond of the idea of the skins getting in his way anymore than Cal was.

“Who is this River Dog and how do you know him?”

“I know him from 1947. He was just a boy then but he was of great help to me. He is in possession of the healing stones and is aware of us. I’m sure we can rely on him to help us.”

“It is all well and good that this man helped you when he was a boy but we need trained personnel if we intend to deal with these skins. My men know about us, they know what we are up against and they know how to fight these aliens. They also have been protected with a special shield that I personally designed for them; they are protected against power blasts and mind rapes. Is your Indian friend so equipped?”

“No.”

“Well then I think I need to make a phone call. Let’s not lose anyone of this earth shall we not.”

“As you wish.” Nasedo was ready to kill Cal with his own mind and Cal knew it. It was enough to make Cal want to laugh in the misfits face but he would contain himself. As long as Ed didn’t do anything to upset the plans to protect those kids then Cal wouldn’t do anything to harm him. Now, as long as we can keep the damned Feds away from us we’re doing good Cal thought to himself. He actually felt sorry for young Maxwell as Michael called him. The poor kid was clueless about the whole business and took a huge step in putting his trust in Cal. Cal only hoped that he could live up to that trust.

*

Chuck followed the skin to the Harding’s home first and couldn’t believe what he was seeing…the man was actually trying to get in through an upstairs window.

Chuck called it in to John immediately, Cal was in the house at the time and Chuck didn’t want to lose the guy’s tail by alerting Cal and then John told Chuck to eliminate the skin so that’s exactly what he did. Then he went to the front door and knocked.

Ed answered the door and stood there looking at one of Cal’s men with a blank expression on his face.

“Hi, is Cal here?” Chuck asked, wondering if this man had half a brain in his entire body.

Ed stepped aside and Cal came into the foyer from the kitchen…what’s up Chuck.

“Cal, I eliminated a skin that was trying to break into the upstairs window but I don’t know what the guy was looking for. John said to take him out so I did. This doesn’t look good.”

“No it doesn’t Chuck…you did just fine we need to step up our surveillance. I’ll make a call and we’ll get more help. Ed, we need to go shopping. This is going to be our headquarters…is the house next door vacant?”

“Yes, each on either side is.”

“Good, get me your realtor’s name…I’m buying both of them right now. We’ll need beds, linens, food and all the comforts of home. Do they all come with these rec. rooms?”

“I believe they do. I didn’t choose the house Tess did.”

“She did well; get the realtor over here now.”

And Ed did as he was ordered as Cal called a special number on his private cell phone. This was going to be an all-out war it seemed. “We need to find out what Liz Parker did with the garment that had the bullet hole in it and destroy it.” Cal told Chuck.

*

Back at the school things seemed like they were fairly normal, none of the kids saw anything strange going on and attended their classes the same as always and at lunch time there was one exception to the norm…there were two large tables pushed together where eight young teen-agers gathered together for lunch.

A new camaraderie had taken place and now it seemed that these eight young people were becoming inseparable. Paulie and Tommy couldn’t figure out why Kyle wasn’t hanging out in the jock section and Kyle was oblivious to everyone except Tess…he was totally besotted and Tess was thrilled. Max was just too serious to suit her.

The eight young people laughed, joked and teased one another unmercifully and Max Evans, along with his sister and best friend, actually laughed. The guards were enjoying this duty very much even though they knew it was serious, they still enjoyed the joviality and so far life was good.

*

When the real estate agent showed up at Ed’s home that afternoon Cal had him take him over to the two homes and show him around. Thankfully both places had five bedrooms. Well actually there were four bedrooms and four baths upstairs, a maid’s quarters on the middle floor which could serve as two more bedrooms, and then the main living area with the rec. room in the basement. With twin beds in each bedroom and two in the rec. room they could sleep 14 easily in each home. The maids’ quarters had a bath; there was a half bath on the main floor and another ¾ bath in the basement.

Cal informed the agent that he would need a cleaning service to come in once a week and the agent was on the verge of hyperventilating. Cal made a very good cash deal on both places and everyone was happy except Nasedo. He wasn’t going to have one minute to himself but one thing was for certain; those skins were going to get a run for their money.

A trip to Sears, which was the major home center in Roswell, and a list of items needed to furnish both places, was given to a hyperventilating sales woman working on commission and everything was covered.

Cal didn’t want anything custom…just load up some trucks with twin bed linens, towels, terry robes, all extra-large, some blinds and off the rack drapes and sheers, and appliances for two homes. He assured the woman that they needed everything, absolutely everything. Then off to a furniture store. They needed 28 twin beds for starters and the female sales person insisted on going to the homes to see what else they would need. Cal smiled at the woman and said that 14 men would be living in each house and they didn’t need a woman’s touch they needed comfort. The woman said she understood and then Cal had a brain storm.

“Just a minute…” and he looked at the woman’s badge, Jennifer, “Jennifer, let me make a phone call and I’ll send someone over with a list of items we want. How’s that? In the meantime you order 28 extra-long twin beds with firm mattresses and I’ll have Nancy Parker come over and take care of the rest after she looks at the houses.”

“Oh, I know Nancy, that will be fine. How soon do you think she’ll be here?”

“Well, let me call her first and then I’ll let you know.” Cal smiled at Jennifer and left the store with his cell phone in his hand. He called the Crashdown and Jeff Parker answered…

“Jeff, Cal Langley here. I just bought two houses, one on either side of Ed Harding, for my men. We’re going to need more men but my main concern is furnishing the places. I just ordered the mattresses and springs but they are going to need some comfortable furniture. I was wondering if Nancy would be interested in earning a little pocket money, say two thousand, for going over and checking the places out and then go down to the furniture store and get some furniture for in there.

We need to do it quickly…I know they’ll have to order the stuff but I’d like to get it started. Oh, and Jeff, we need to find Liz’s bloody clothes and destroy them. There have been some strange goings on over at the carnival and we don’t want to take any chances.”

“First off Cal, I’ll go look for the clothes as soon as we’re off the phone and I’ll let you talk to Nancy now, I’m sure she would love to furnish the places for you but be careful, it’s not her money and she just might go nuts.”

Cal Langley laughed…

“Let her have some fun Jeff. It’s okay. When this is all over I’ll sell the places furnished so the nicer the better.”

“Great, here’s Nancy and I’ll get back to you before you hang up.”

“Fine Jeff and thanks.”

And Jeff Parker handed the phone over to his wife and took off for Liz’s room.

When he got there he found a strange man just climbing through the window and remembered what he had learned out in the desert and took Liz’s desk lamp and knocked the guy right below his waist and stood there in awe as the skin disintegrated. Liz’s top was all that was left and Jeff grabbed it and ran back to his office where Nancy was still getting her instructions from Cal, who had given her carte blanche.

Jeff was as white as a sheet. He held the top up to Nancy and pointed to the phone and indicated that he wanted to talk to Cal and Nancy nodded in understanding.

Things were really getting interesting.
*

Alix: I think Nicholas is going to do his best to get his hands on that Granolith.
Carolyn: Isabel is doing all right here, and I'm glad I never had to order that many beds too...although sometimes it seemed like it when they all showed up at the same time but it was fun. Brought the motor home beds into the living room for kids, hida-bed in the family room once we even let the boys pitch a tent in the back yard. Oh my, those were the days. And thanks for the soup. I think I'll live.

chapter: 14
When Nancy had finished her conversation with Cal she handed the phone back to Jeff who was still shaking from his ordeal in Liz’s room…

“Cal, I just found one of those skins crawling out of Liz’s bedroom window with her top. I didn't know if he was what you told us or not but I still whacked him a good one across the small of his back and he disintegrated right in front of me. I have the top right here in my hands and I am going to burn it in my trash can as we speak. Cal, I’m getting a little terrified here.”

“Where’s your guard Jeff?”

“I’m not sure…I haven’t seen him.”

“I’m sending John over right now…tell Nancy to stay put until he gets there. I don’t want her out shopping alone. Someone is honing in on the kids and we need to make sure that all the evidence of the shooting has been destroyed. It is imperative that they don’t find out who the royals are. They know Tess is one, but the other three are still a mystery to them and they are looking at all of them so just sit tight.”

“Will do Cal. Are you sure we shouldn't bring in the sheriff?”

“Not yet. If the time comes we will. I think an extra 28 of my soldiers will do the trick, but if we need more fire power we’ll ask for it.”

“Thanks Cal…and we’ll be on the lookout for John. Should I wait until he gets here to look for your other man?”

“Absolutely, don’t go getting heroic on me…that’s what my men are for.”

“Thanks, and I’ll go back upstairs and see if there’s any more evidence lying around.”

“Good, John’s on his way.”

And they rang off. Jeff told Nancy not to leave without John and she nodded in understanding.

She overheard Jeff’s conversation with Cal and was shaking from head to toe…what had they gotten in the middle of? This was not good, not good at all…it’s like their whole world had gone insane.

*

Nicholas was pacing and Tom Greer was watching as the boy/man ranted.

“Where are they? Have any of them checked in?”

“Not a one and there’s no evidence of them out there anywhere. We can’t communicate telepathically or via cell phone. Something isn't right.”

“How many did we send?”

“Two.”

“And neither one of them have checked back?”

“Neither.”

“We need to find them.”

“I agree.”
*
Nasedo was still trying to get out of Cal’s sight to contact Kivar but it seemed as though Cal had his number and wasn't about to lose sight of the rebel alien.

Cal smiled, ‘let him stew’ he thought to himself. God knows what the man has been telling Tess all these years. The only thing that was really important was keeping the Granolith safe from Kivar, and now the skins of course. When in the hell did they get here anyway? Did Kivar send them down here for the firm purpose of locating the artifact? Just what was going on?

*

That afternoon the kids met in the parking lot of the high school to coordinate their visit to the rock quarry.

Isabel looked over at Alex and gave him a great big smile which shocked the gangly teen-ager almost out of his shoes. Isabel still had visions of him dancing to his own drummer and she couldn't keep the grin from her face. He was just too cute.

“Hey Isabel…how’s it going?”

“Great Alex, do you need a ride to the quarry?”

“No, that’s okay. I’ll just hitch a ride with Maria. I think Tess is going with Liz so I’ll keep Maria company today.”

“Uh, Alex…maybe you and Maria should go with Tess and Liz. Liz can always swing back by and let Maria pick up her car. I think it’s safer to keep one of us with you, don’t you think?”

About that time Chuck showed up in a 15 passenger van and told the kids to get in.

Cal had sent him out to the school to pick the kids up along with the four guards that were around the school due to the incidents at the Harding’s and Parker’s. The kids weren't really sure what was going on but it looked like they would be traveling together from now on. None of them were quite sure how to handle this new development but they all did as they were asked and piled into the van.

*

In the meantime John had arrived at the Crash down and ran into the guard as he was coming around the side of the building and John asked him how the skin managed to get by him. The guard had no idea what John was talking about and John immediately called Cal.

“I think we have a problem. Jim doesn't remember anyone trying to break into the Parkers apartment…I think he’s been mind warped, we need to do something more about the blocking ability, it’s not working.”

“I’ll meet you at the quarry. I’ll need to do some connecting to all of you and make sure everything is working properly. Tell Jim to relax, we’ll take care of this. I’ll bring Ed Harding with me,” Cal looked around the room to make sure he was alone before speaking further, “I don’t trust the man.”

John was a little surprised at Cal’s confession because he wasn't too impressed with the alien guardian either. It seemed that the man had an agenda of his own and it wasn't very healthy for anyone else.

“I agree Cal; I’m not really impressed with him either.”

“We’ll take care of it John, see you at the quarry. Is Nancy with you?”

“Yes, she’s excited about going shopping…Jeff is really getting a kick out of it even if it is on the dangerous side.”

“I can just imagine…a woman on the loose with unlimited funds, it has to be something to see when it’s the first time it’s ever happened. I wish I could be the one going with her, I think I would really enjoy it even though shopping is not one of my favorite past times…make sure to take her over to the houses and let her see what is needed and don’t be afraid to add your input.”

“I’ll let her know if there’s something I think we would appreciate…especially oversized chairs and I’ll guard her with my life.”

“I’m sure you’ll take good care of her John…see you soon.” And the two men rang off.

*

When Cal arrived at the quarry with Ed Harding in tow he was quite taken aback by the sight before his eyes. Liz Parker was sitting on her butt rubbing her hands against her jeans while Tess Harding was doubled over laughing at the girl as she held her hand out to help her up. The other kids had all stopped what they were doing to watch the spectacle and Chuck was having a tough time keeping a straight face as well.

As they explained it to Cal, Chuck was showing the kids a karate move that would enable them to spin and kick the skins in the back and apparently Liz really went for it and got air borne and landed flat on her behind sending Tess into a fit of giggles. The rest of the kids were standing there semi laughing at Tess because she was so out of control and by this time Liz was laughing so hard she decided to just stay where she was since standing up was too much of a chore.

Cal just shook his head and grinned and Nasedo was disgusted with the entire group. He couldn't wait to get Tess off this planet with the unborn heir to the throne. It looked like the girl didn't care whether she ever left the way she was acting.

After Cal’s men had finished their lesson for the day all the kids piled into the van amongst fits of laughter and fun and they all decided that, with the heavy work out of the way they just had to have, no they needed to have, some sustenance and made plans to meet at the Crash Down. Liz called her dad to make sure they could handle an extra eight in the dining room and Jeff assured her they had plenty of room and to bring Chuck and the rest of the crew if they wanted to come.

“I’ll ask dad but I think maybe they've had enough of us for one day. I don’t think we’re making their lives any easier by acting like a bunch of kids.”

Jeff had to laugh…

“Liz, you are a bunch of kids and I’m sure they understand. Have you learned anything at all with these lessons?”

“Well, I did learn not to do a flying cartwheel and spin in the air while trying to kick at someone’s back…not pretty dad, not pretty at all.”

Jeff was laughing now…

“I can just imagine what you kids are putting those poor men through. They strike me as being very serious about their jobs and it appears to me that you are not making it any easier.”

“Ah dad, we really are trying. Hey, we’ll be there as soon as we pick up our cars at the school parking lot. See you in a few.”

“Okay Liz, be careful.”

“Will do dad, bye…oh and dad, tell mom to have fun. I overheard a conversation between Cal and Chuck and I know mom’s going to be in seventh heaven with her new job.”

“You can count on that Liz. Bye.”

And they rang off just as Chuck pulled into the school parking lot.

Unbeknownst to any of them there was an old truck parked across the street from the school with an unsavory looking character taking in all of the activity and seeming not too pleased with what he saw.
***

Eve:Let's hope you and your computer are both doing well...
Lizza: I hope things work out as well... Thank you.
Carolyn: Well, let's see how the kids are doing this week...it's been longer than I usually take to update and to tell you the truth, I forget where the last chapter left off but I think this one has a few fun moments. I guess it depends on what you call fun though.
Natalie: Yep, Ninja is a very good word right now...I believe I use it in this chapter.

*~*~*~*

Chapter: 15

“Greer! What in the hell do you mean there is no evidence of where they are. Do you think they could have been destroyed?”

“That’s the only explanation. I think we need to send some teams out to see what’s happening because I know they couldn’t have just disappeared like that unless someone knows how to eliminate us. Nasedo would know but he doesn’t seem to be around. Of course he could be and we wouldn’t know it if he’s shifted into someone else.”

“Well then, send a couple of teams out there and see if you can find out anything. I don’t like this, not at all!”

“I agree, but we need to stay calm and keep our wits about us. There’s something strange going on and we need to find out what it is before it destroys all of us.”

“What do you mean, it destroys us. No one can destroy us.”

Tom Greer looked at the boy/man standing there before him and if it wasn’t so pitiful he would laugh at him.

When did he ever get so cocky as to think they couldn’t be destroyed? Hell, Nasedo could destroy them one by one and they wouldn’t even be aware of it…maybe that’s what’s going on. They’ve been discovered and war has been declared and they didn’t even know it.

*

Meanwhile back on Antar there was a very frustrated leader trying to figure out what was going on down on that dreadful planet. He hadn’t heard from Nasedo in days and it was starting to play on his nerves. Maybe he should use the worm hole and go down to check things out on his own. It couldn’t hurt.

*

All of the kids made it to the Crash Down in no time at all and while the boys headed to the restroom Liz and the girls all headed up to her room to clean off some of the dust they managed to collect on their bodies and Liz needed to change her levis even if Tess did do an emergency repair job on the butt, she just felt crummy.

As they started up the stairs a strange man started down and Liz took one look at him and leaned into his shins with the full force of her body; Isabel, who was following her, grabbed the man around his waist as he started falling over Liz’s body and, using her body weight, she threw him over herself and he came to a landing at the bottom of the stairs where Maria gave him a good swift kick right in the small of his back.

It all happened so fast that none of the girls heard Jeff Parker yelling that the man had been sent over by Cal to guard the back room. Maria stood there in shock, Tess offered the man her hand but he couldn’t move and they all just stood there staring as did Jeff.

“Well, it looks like you’ve all learned something. Let’s see if we can’t give Harold a hand up.” Jeff offered.

But Harold wasn’t moving.

Isabel ran to the dining room to get Max who immediately picked up on his sister’s distress and followed her back to the stairway and that’s when he noticed the man lying unconscious on the floor.

“What happened?”

“We thought he was a skin Max, fix him.”

Max looked confused but turned the man over; he was just coming to…

“What’s his name?” Max asked in a bewildered voice.

“Harold.” Jeff answered…

Liz and Maria were busy keeping waitresses and cooks away from the scene of all the noise as Max leaned over the prone man.

“Harold, look at me…you have to look at me.”

A bleary eyed Harold opened his eyes and looked at Max while Max started working some magic.

The girls had done some serious damage to Harold’s lumbar area and if it wasn’t so serious Max would have laughed. Chuck was pretty damned close to laughter and Jeff was standing at the back door thinking that the lessons were working pretty damned good, in his humble opinion.

When Harold was finally taken care of Max stood up and offered the man a hand…

Liz and the other girls could only stand there and apologize profusely while Chuck stood there and smiled then he nodded to Harold,

“Maybe we should let them travel in a pack, what do you think?”

“Hey, they’re pretty damned good as a team that’s for sure. Wait ‘til Cal hears about this, he’s going to give them a medal.”

“You’re probably right. Well, let’s get busy and see what’s in store for us besides fighting off Ninja teen-age girls.” And they all laughed.

*

Cal was just coming in from one of the neighboring houses with John and Nancy when Chuck came in and nodded toward the group as he made his way to the kitchen and the water in the pantry.

Most of Cal’s men were very serious about their health regimen and plenty of water was on the top of the list. He overheard Cal telling Nancy that he had made arrangements with all of the stores in town for blanket credit in his name and that included the local grocery stores and meat markets. She could buy anything she thought they needed and anything she thought they just might want. John understood perfectly what Cal was telling her and simply nodded to his boss. He would see to it that she did not try to over think or cut corners. Just get the job done as quickly as possible.

About that time Chuck came in to rejoin them and to bring Cal up to date on what had happened to Harold.

Chuck felt that Nancy should hear this as well since it was her daughter that was in as much danger as the rest of them. Cal just belly laughed at the entire situation and then decided that having the girls in groups when away from their homes would probably be a good idea…then he suggested to Chuck that they train them in group formations as well as singularly. John agreed and headed on out with Nancy.

Although the situation they were all in was dangerous Nancy was still semi excited about her new job. Spending someone else’s money was going to be so much fun. So, armed with window measurements and a rough idea of room sizes she and John headed out to make some of Roswell’s merchants just a little bit richer.

*
Meanwhile, the truck that had been parked inconspicuously was now back at the carnival grounds and the driver was talking to the spoiled brat in the main trailer.

“Boss, I think those kids are all being trained in warfare by someone and they seem to be heavily guarded. The men following them and carting them around in a bus are no ordinary citizens. These men look armed and dangerous and as for our scouts, they’re gone. Just disappeared…I’m sure we will never hear from them again.

"I drove by Nasedo’s house and there were two black SUV’s parked there and these people were not regulars. Something is going down and I think we had better be careful and do some planning because it looks like the roof is about to come in on us. I don’t like it one bit.”

Nicholas jumped up from his desk and started throwing things everywhere and Tom Greer just sat back on his couch and watched. This wasn’t going to get them anywhere and it was time to do something about the little general. He was definitely out of control and if they weren’t careful he was going to get all of them killed.

*

Back on Antar Kivar was sitting in a meeting with a bunch of his advisors and wondering what was happening light years away.

“Have any of you heard anything from Nasedo? Anything that might indicate what is going on down on planet earth? I haven’t had a communiqué from him in weeks and I’m starting to worry.”

“No sire, we haven’t heard anything from the skin population either…we don’t know what they’re up to, it could be bad.”

“Yes, if that boy gets his hands on the Granolith before we do we might just find ourselves in some really deep trouble up here. We don’t need him and his band of rebel rousers back up here wreaking havoc. We have enough on our plate keeping the population under control as it is… thinking their king is going to come back and save them is ludicrous.

“Who plants these ideas in their heads anyway? It’s been almost 65 years, you would think they’d let it rest already and get on with their lives. I’m not so sure the royals really want to come back regardless of Nasedo and his promises. The Royal Four, as he likes to call them, have only been living real lives for the past ten years. That isn’t a very long time for them to be ready to try and take over the throne, especially since they haven’t even had time to mature. Maybe we should concentrate more on ridding our world of skins more than worrying about the return of the heir. That could make our lives easier, but right now I don’t see these Royals as too much of a problem. What do the rest of you think?”

The council looked at their leader, all in deep thought. Some were in total agreement with his thoughts on the skins but there were still those of the old school that felt that the possessor of the Granolith was where the real power was.

“Sire, maybe we should discuss this just a little more and weigh all the probabilities. The Granolith is still a big concern of the population and we know that the real king is in possession of it…at least that’s what we’ve been told.”

“Yes, that’s what we’ve been told. And who is keeping this legend alive? It could be that the Granolith was destroyed when the ship was destroyed, we don’t know anything for sure.”

“No we don’t sire and so far I don’t believe we can rely on any information we are getting from earth. We don’t know who we can trust anymore. We need to find someone who doesn’t have a hidden agenda to investigate this for us.”

“As I said before, maybe I should just use the worm hole and go down there myself. These skins have no idea there is another way of travel nor does Nasedo and I don’t want them to find out. Let’s all think about this and meet again, say, in another week and see if you can come up with a few different scenarios, pro and con. What do you say?”

The council was in total agreement. They had a lot to think about, even those that were secretly anti Kivar.
*

Carolyn Those teenage girls will get you every time!!! LOL I'm not so sure Kivar is the brightest penny in the roll in this story, although the guy that played the role on the series wasn't too shabby.
Eve: Just hayfever and pollen like you...I was at my son's home for 2 weeks watching dogs... And yes these girls are a little feisty to say the least, hope you enjoy them. I'm not sure that you're aware or not but Shiri gave birth to a baby girl on Mar. 23rd. Said there will be a wedding in the near future. I swear the world has turned upside down...oh well, I'm just getting older by the day....
Natale:Yep, "NInja" teenage girls...I thought that had a nice ring to it!
Alix: Hey there, glad to see you're still with me here and I've read a few romance novels by Linda Lael Miller, who i found at the super market and probably have read 30 of her books since then. Easy reading, western romance stuff and still trying to wrap my ulcers around book 6 of the Outlander series. Still not sure I want to take that on yet.
Michelle: I like "Cal's Angels", that's cute, never thought of it.
Cardinal: Well, they are "hotties" as you stated, no doubt about that...hence the "Calendar" fic. I wrote. That one came about from searching the web for pics for another fic. that was going on. I figured someone had to put those photos somewhere....

Thank you all for your kind words, they mean a lot to me.

*~*~*~*~*
Chapter: 16

Nancy and John had made the rounds of every store in Roswell that sold furniture, new and old, and everything else that might be needed in the houses that Cal Langley had bought and John was having almost as much fun as Nancy was having just watching her. She even asked his opinion on the color schemes, not wanting to be too feminine nor too masculine because Cal intended to sell the places furnished. It had to be classy without being pretentious and John smiled. Cal was going to be very pleased with the choices the woman made. She even gave careful consideration to choices of cutlery, making sure there was a service for 24 in each kitchen to be sure they had some extra to use for snacks.

Nasedo was having an awful time trying to get a minute to himself when Cal finally cornered the shape shifting alien…

“It’s no use trying to get to your private communication device Nasedo…I won’t have you contacting anyone on this planet or any other and putting those kids in harm’s way. We are fighting for our very existence here and any hidden agenda you may have will need to be tabled.

“Also I’ve explained it to you, and I don’t want to have to repeat it, those kids are free to live their lives as they see fit. Yes, Max has been given the key to the Granolith for its safe keeping and as long as it’s safe we will not disturb the order of things.

“I don’t know who you have been in touch with but I have a pretty good idea so forget it. I mean it, you are expendable. How did you separate Tess from the others in the first place?”

Nasedo looked at Cal for a long minute before answering his question…he would find a way to get to Kivar regardless of what the bald headed, shape shifting, egotistical ass said. Cal smiled broad at the shape shifting psychopath.

“The other three pods had been opened and empty by the time I got back to them. Tess was the only one left and I had no idea where the other three were or who they were for that matter. The special unit was hot on my trail and I took on this disguise and headed for cover. We have been looking for the other three for ten years while dodging Pierce.”

“How did you get the job with the government?”

“That was easy…some mind warping, manual manipulation of computer records, and they think I’m a reincarnated Einstein.”

“Well, it looks like you’ve done well for yourself. Why would you want to leave this life for the shithole we left?”

“I never felt Antar was a ‘shithole’ as you put it. Everything I knew and loved I left behind to come here.”

“No, I find that hard to believe. Just who did you mind warp to get on that ship and land the position of ‘protector’ to those pods. You were not in the queen’s service, this is obvious. I believe you worked and still work for Kivar. How’m I doing?”

Nasedo got a sick look on his face for just a second and Cal didn’t miss one bit of it, he had hit the nail right on the head…

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was sent to protect the Royal Four, just as you were, and now it seems that a visit to a carnival has brought the wrath of Nicholas down on us.”

“No, you said it yourself, the skins know who you are and they know Tess by association. The incident at the carnival was a hunting expedition. You have brought all of these aliens here and now we need to clean up your mess. I like it here Nasedo, I like it here very much. We have been gone for 65 years, we have made a life for ourselves, and it seems like it’s been good to both of us. We can’t live like this on Antar no matter what you’ve got in your head. You need to start thinking straight and help me work through this nightmare. Forget your private agenda for the moment and get on with the task at hand. Protect those kids, all of those kids.”

Nasedo gave that some thought and then decided that Cal was right in one respect…if he didn’t protect the kids he possibly would not be here to go back to Antar with anybody let alone an heir to the throne.

Cal could see the thoughts running through the aliens head and then turned his concentration to the task at hand; getting rid of the damned skins and getting back to his life in Hollywood. That he understood.

*

Over in the Sheriff’s office Jim Valenti was on the phone with the head councilman…

“Councilman Benning, Jim Valenti here. Did you send someone over to check out those rides at that carnival that’s in town? You know the Ferris wheel had a malfunction Friday night and almost took out two of our young people and God knows what other damage would have been done had we not got there in time. This is of the utmost importance; we can’t have that traveling circus leaving our town while we know they have faulty equipment. We could be setting ourselves up for some serious law suits if this news became public.”

“Yes Jim, Toby sent his top mechanic and welder over to check out everything over there and Toby has assured me that all is in good working condition including the faulty chair on the Ferris wheel. Toby said that whoever repaired the chair did an excellent job…why do you ask?”

“Because I have an incomplete file on my desk,” and then Jim noticed that some of the pages were out of order and suddenly got a chill… “I just want to wrap this up. If you say all is in good working condition I will release the hold I placed on the equipment and let those men get on their way.”

Councilman Benning bid the Sheriff good day and hung up. He was sure Toby had told him everything was fine over at the carnival grounds but it seemed like maybe he only thought that’s what Toby had said. Strange he would feel this way suddenly.

Jim Valenti called Owen at home, something he didn’t like to do, and questioned his deputy about the week-end’s security at his office. Owen assured him that there wasn’t anyone near the office during the night…as a matter of fact he was able to get caught up on all sorts of office work and Jim thanked the man and apologized for disturbing him during his off hours. Of course Owen didn’t mind at all…

“Why do you ask Jim?”

“Well someone was in one of the files on my desk and usually when one of you are in the folders you leave a note for me.”

“Jim, it wasn’t me…I swear. And I can’t recall anyone else going to your office either.”

“Thanks Owen. Maybe I just put the report back together out of order.”

“Anytime Jim. See you this evening.”

“Yeah, take care.” And the two men went about their business.

Jim Valenti knew the report had been put in order when he closed the folder and decided he needed to visit the carnival and have a look around. This wasn’t setting well with him at all…always the suspicious type he took off and told Hanson where he was headed.

After he made his way to the main trailer where he had spoken to a Tom Greer Jim managed to be sidetracked by some loud conversation going on among two of the workers.

“If Nicholas isn’t careful I think Greer is going to make short work of him. We can’t continue this charade much longer, too many of us are in jeopardy and Nicholas is getting worse. Why can’t we just go back to Copper Summit and get on with our lives. It’s been 65 years now and we’ve managed quite nicely if I do say so myself.”

Jim Valenti got a puzzled look on his face and then continued on his way to the trailer that was used as an office while pondering over what he had just heard. Who the hell was this Nicholas character they seemed so concerned about? He had dealt with Tom Greer…

Jim was just about to knock when the trailer door opened and a kid about 15 or 16 was about to step out.
Nicholas stopped immediately and smiled at the Sheriff before asking if he could help him.
“Yes, I’m looking for Tom Greer. I have the release papers for the carnival to leave whenever you’re ready.”

“Oh, well just a minute.”

Nicholas made his way back in the door and yelled…

“Tom, the Sheriff is here with the release papers for you.”

And Jim heard the reply and got a chill…

“Thanks Nicholas, tell him to come in.”

“Go right in Sheriff, he’s at his desk right now on the phone, he’ll be right with you.”

And Jim Valenti watched the kid saunter down between the trailers on his way to a parked van. ‘Something isn’t right.’ He thought to himself as he went through the entrance to the trailer office.
*~*~*~*

Lizza: I'm so happy to hear you liked the update, here's another one for you...posting between bouts of sneezing, napping and sneezing some more. I hate allergies almost as much as I hate 117 degree weather.
Carolyn: Thank you...
Eve: Let's hope these kids get things taken care of pronto. I think, with the help of Cal, that all will be set right eventually.
*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 17

Kyle had basketball practice after school that afternoon and it was great as far as the rest of the group were concerned because they were starting to feel like awful people for leaving him out of the loop. They socialized in school, ate lunches together and then would meet up at the Crash for cokes and convo after everyone had finished with their various jobs and duties before going off to bed for the night and It seemed they were constantly making excuses to Kyle for leaving him out of the loop and it bothered Liz something terrible and Tess wasn’t too happy about it either.

Kyle had a few questions about the girls spending so much time with each other and what was with all these sleepovers? It wasn’t like them to be so chummy, especially with Isabel Evans; who, even though he discovered for himself, was a lot of fun once you got to know her. He just worried himself almost to distraction about it.

Something was niggling at the back of his mind and he knew it wasn’t good. And who were all of those strange men hanging around? No something was wrong. He thought he’d talk it over with his dad when he got out of practice today. It was their night for pizza and a ball game. ‘Yeah, dad needs to know.’ He thought to himself.

So Kyle continued on with basketball, trying to focus on the game, and waited patiently until it was time to go home. When he finally got out to his car he didn’t pay any attention to the huge man sitting in a black SUV parked discreetly at the end of the aisle where he was parked. Yes, Cal Langley made sure the sheriff’s son was being watched over just like all the other teens.

When Kyle got home his dad was already waiting for him, blue shirt hanging out of his jeans, boots still on and his badge and wallet on the table. Jim’s holster was hanging on the hook by the front door with his revolver still in it and this was unusual but Kyle just shrugged it off as he hung his backpack on the next hook and made his way to the refrigerator, walking past the dining room table and waving to his dad as he went.

“Kyle, let’s go eat over at the Crash tonight. I want to talk to Jeff about some things.”

“Sure Dad, but what about the game?”

“Let’s record it and not listen to the sports review until we’ve watched it. Is that okay with you?”

Kyle thought about it a minute as he screwed the cap off his bottle of water…

“Yeah dad, I’d like to talk to you about something too. It’s not important, I don’t think, but it’s bugging me. Ever since the carnival episode the Evanses, Guerin, and that new girl are getting pretty thick with Liz, Maria and Alex. Well, I am too, but I get the feeling that the rest of them are privy to something I’m not and although it’s not a problem it’s been bothering me.”

“I see. What do you think they’re privy to Kyle?”

”That’s just it Dad, I don’t know but yet I think I do and I just can’t put a finger on it.”

“Hmm, let’s just head on over to the Crash and see if we can straighten some of this out.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan.” And Kyle grabbed his beige jacket off the hook next to his back pack as Jim tucked his shirt back into his pants, grabbed his wallet, badge, holster and hat and they were ready.

Kyle watched his dad get back into uniform and wondered just what was running through the man’s head…did he really need to show up on his night off in uniform. Sometime Kyle forgot was that the sheriff was never off duty…and so they were off.

The black SUV parked down the street pulled out behind them, just far enough away to not draw attention to himself and followed the two Valenti’s to the Crash Down Café and this pleased the gentleman to no end. He was ready for some dinner as well.

When Kyle and Jim walked into the Crash they were greeted by Maria, carrying a full coffee pot, antenna bobbing up and down on her head, wearing a great big smile.

“Kyle, sheriff, how nice, I thought this was pizza and ball game night.”

Jim Valenti had to laugh in spite of himself. “Maria, you know too much for your own good.” The middle aged man smiled at the young pixie looking girl.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Was Maria’s only remark and Jim raised an eyebrow.

The Evanses, Michael Guerin and the new girl Tess were all in the back booth sipping cherry cokes and Kyle’s eyes immediately lit up when he saw Tess back there and Jim Valenti smiled. ‘Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all’ he thought to himself.

“Where would you like to sit Jim?” Maria asked, pointing to the vacant booths and the one remaining empty table in the center of the floor.

“Maria, is Jeff here? I’d like to talk to him before eating. Maybe Kyle can join his friends.”

“Sure sheriff, he’s in the back with some other guy but I’m sure he has time for you. Kyle, pull a chair up to the back booth and I’ll bring you water.”

“You know me too well Maria, see you later Dad.”

“Yeah Kyle, I’ll be out shortly and then we’ll order.”

And with that the two men, one young one middle aged, made their way to their destinations.

When Jim Valenti went through the back door he noticed two big bruisers sitting on the break couch and a very bald headed man and another tall slender balding man in Jeff’s office. Jim nodded through the window and Jeff motioned for him to come in.

“This would be a good time to bring the Sheriff in on this; he needs to know what’s going on here.” Jeff said in a determined whisper as Cal Langley smiled knowingly and Nasedo sat there pouting...the best word to explain the man’s behavior.

“Jim come in; this is Cal Langley and the other gentleman is Ed Harding, young Tess’ Uncle and guardian. Is there something on your mind?”

Jim looked out at the couch and then at the two men sitting in Jeff’s office and wondered if he should say anything right now.

“Jeff, I was hoping we might have a talk about the carnival incident and the other night. I stopped over there today to give them the release to leave town, their equipment passed inspection and I overheard a conversation between two of the workers about this Nicholas.

It seems these men think he’s “out of hand” and they want to go back to a Copper Summit because it’s been 65 years now. Then, knowing I had been dealing with a Tom Greer I wondered who this Nicholas was and when I got to the trailer they were using for an office a kid of about 15 or so came out and I asked for Tom Greer. When the kid went back into the trailer and told Tom I was there this Tom said ‘thanks Nicholas’ and then the kid actually sauntered out of the trailer and down the path between all of them.”

Jim looked at the men in the office and noticed that the bald man was smiling like a circus clown and the other man had a scowl that would put a two year old to shame. Jeff looked at Cal Langley and nodded his assent. It was time.

Jeff went out of the office and grabbed a chair from the dining room and returned within a minute and told Jim to have a seat as he closed the office door.

“Jim, those men at the carnival are here to kidnap the Evans kids, the Guerin boy and Ed’s niece Tess. You may have a tough time believing anything we have to say but believe me it’s all true. I have seen it with my own eyes and the only thing I can say at this time is that I will thank God until the day I die for Max Evans. That was not a blank the other night. Liz was shot and dying and Max Evans healed her, now I will turn the floor over to Cal Langley.”

Jim Valenti soon wrapped his mind around what Jeff Parker had said and then waited to hear the rest of the story. He had been reading his father’s reports for years and was not shocked but surprised and open to what was about to be said.

When Cal Langley had finished talking to Jim, and he left nothing out, Jim just sat there and rubbed his face in mild disbelief. Cal even told him about Tess ‘erasing’ Kyle’s memories of the shooting and then had to add the story of Liz almost taking Harold out. That Jim laughed at.

“Okay, what you’re telling me is, these aliens are here to capture these kids and get a ride back to your planet on this artifact. If they want to go so bad why not let them? I can’t see any reason to keep them here if they don’t want to stay.”

“Well, if we could get them there any other way believe me we’d send them but the means they want to go by is very important and cannot fall into the wrong hands. I don’t believe they would be welcomed “home” without it.”

“I see, they’re trying to use it as a free pass so to speak.”

“Exactly.”

“Now Jim, about this Copper Summit? Was there anything else these men said about this place? Do you have any idea where it is?”

“Only that there is an old mining town in Arizona called Copper Summit but it has been shut down for years. Why?”

“Well, these aliens need to harvest new skins, “husks” actually, every 50 years or so. Their true appearance is anything but human and I’m thinking that maybe they want to stop harvesting new husks for themselves and go home to their natural environment. It makes sense. I need to get some investigators to go there and check it out. If we can find their ‘nursery’ we can insure the world of their demise. We simply kill the harvest and they’ll die before a new crop can be harvested.”

“Isn’t that just a little cruel?” Jim was concerned about the skins now.

“No…it isn’t cruel. Think of them as weeds growing in with your prized orchids. The weeds need to go in order to insure a healthy crop of orchids. They are Antarian rejects and the Earth is a better place without them as well as Antar. Now, let’s see what we are going to do about Kyle. He needs to be “fixed” and he needs to join the troop training that the kids have been going through. Oh, and Jim, Kyle does have a bodyguard assigned to him just as everyone else does. But for right now you need to know that there is a spot right at their back, below the belt line, that you need to hit really hard to break their seal. It’s the only way to kill one other than to destroy their husks and prevent their future existence.” Jim watched in fascination as Cal Langley demonstrated the strategy to him.

“You know Cal, I would swear that someone broke into my office and read the file on the shooting.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. The men they sent to find proof of a shooting never returned so they had to resort to something. Jeff eliminated one trying to get through Liz’s window with her bloody shirt. We’ll deal with this problem Jim and I assure you we will all rest easy. Oh, and Jim, the FBI also wants these kids for lab experiments. Their life is in your hands now as well as ours.”

“The FBI wants to experiment on them?”

“Yes, the special unit of the FBI…it’s headed up by an agent called Pierce.” Cal produced a picture of the man for Jim and then they all decided it was time to eat.

Jim Valenti had an awful lot to digest before morning as he made his way out to join his son for dinner as did everyone else in the back room. Jeff pushed two tables together and the adults took one section of the café as the teenagers took another. Cal motioned Tess over to his table for a minute and explained to her that Kyle needed to be told the truth before leaving with his father and she smiled big and broad for their protector. She no longer felt that Nasedo should carry that title

Lizza: Jim and Kyle take the news pretty well I think, I believe this is the chapter that tells how they take it all in...enjoy.
Eve: I know very well that there are good weeds out there but the 'skins' are definitely not in that group.
Carolyn: I think it's really important that Jim be made aware of all that the kids are facing. I just seems to make sense that someone in authority knows from the onset just what is taking place out there. We have to trust someone some time.
Mixchelle: Welcome home there Kettle, hope you've got all your problems resolved, for a while anyway...and I agree about the kids having someone to care for them. I felt that the show missed the boat where Cal/Kal was concerned. He was, after all, sent as a protector and as far as I'm concerned he failed miserably on the show, but I felt the writers failed miserably also. Oh well, we weren't the writers were we?


Hey, Colin is going to be on NCIS next Tuesday...he still looks like a kid!!!

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter: 18

As the all-knowing adults ate their evening meal Cal Langley had a serious discussion with Jim Valenti regarding the safety of the four teenagers sitting at the table with their friend Kyle. Liz and Maria kept the cherry-cokes and other beverage glasses filled as Tess removed the false memory she had placed in Kyle’s mind and he suddenly looked up from the table and sought his father’s eyes. Jim Valenti nodded to his son in acknowledgement and smiled a reassuring smile to let him know that he was aware of what was going on and then continued his conversation with Cal Langley.

Cal could not stress too emphatically the importance of keeping the FBI out of this.

“You know yourself sheriff that your father was ridiculed for his investigation while at the same time the special unit of the FBI was dissecting two of the four aliens that accompanied the eight pods sent from Antar on that crashed ship. Four of those pods were sent to New York and four were hidden away in that cave, allowed to gestate for over 36 years when they showed up as 6 year olds. We can’t allow the American government to find out about them. These kids aren’t doing anything more than trying to exist just as any other teenager. Please, don’t file any papers in your office where anyone will be able to read about them in a report. This is imperative.”

Jim Valenti thought long and hard about this Hollywood producer as he looked over at his son and his new found friends. He had known the Evans family for years, pillars of the community, and the kids they adopted were both honor students and highly respected among their peers, they never seemed to socialize too much but they never caused any problems either.

However Michael was another story all together, but what could you expect with the hand he was dealt? He could only go by what Jeff had told him and he had agreed with him. Jim knew his own father had been dealt a raw deal and if this story was true, which he didn’t doubt, the U. S. government could have stepped in anytime and taken care of his dad’s problem without ever arousing the suspicion of the local newspapers. What a nightmare; no he would not betray those kids but they needed to take care of this other problem before it became more widespread than it already had.

“Cal, you say there were eight pods, what happened to the other four?” Jim asked.

Cal Langley looked over to Nasedo this time and Nasedo shrugged…

“There were four of us sent to monitor the pods. As Cal said, two of us were captured and tortured to death. I took four of the pods to New York and deposited them safely where they wouldn’t be found and then I had to meld into society for over thirty years. When I came back to Roswell three of the four pods had completed their gestation period and had disappeared from the cave as you know. When I went back to New York the other four had disappeared as well.”

Cal looked at Nasedo and raised an eyebrow and then continued with the story…

“What Nasedo actually means is, he dumped four of the pods in the sewers of New York, shapeshifted into whomever he felt like being and lived a great life for almost 36 years,”

Cal chose to leave out the part of ‘wreaking carnage’ and continued with his addition to the story…

“And then he contacted me and told me where I could find the Roswell pods. I came and found three empty pods and one still gestating. I immediately contacted Nasedo and told him to get his ass to Roswell ASAP and I flew to New York to hunt down the other four since I could be there legitimately and out in the open searching for a filming site. This second group was long gone. Where? I have no idea and can only assume that they have made a life for themselves.

I believe this man has a hidden agenda here and I intend to find out what it is before I go back to Hollywood. Right now our main concern is keeping all of these kids safe from harm.” Cal finished his side of the events while staring Nasedo down…

“No, what Cal actually means is, he took off and went to Hollywood and lived the good life until things got sticky. That’s what happened.” Nasedo hissed… he was pissed that Cal would dump this all on him…

“No Nasedo, I didn’t run away…I woke up clear of the wreckage and watched as the U S Army hauled the last visible piece of our ship away and nothing, I mean absolutely nothing, or no one was to be seen. I searched that desert for what seemed like forever, taking on the shapes of cacti, rocks and animals of every kind imaginable looking for something that would give me a hint as to what happened and I found nothing.

“Eventually I wound up in California and found a job at a movie studio. I worked from the lowliest clapper boy on up in the industry. I studied everything I could get my hands on and yes, eventually I became a household Hollywood name. I’ve worked for over fifty years to get what I have and it’s obvious that you have worked very hard as well, so let’s not throw stones at each other. We are here now and we still have the same job we were assigned to over 50 years ago.

“Now let’s see if we can do that job without losing our four charges. We’ve already lost four and we can’t help that, they’re gone, maybe they’ll show up again someday but right now we have other problems.”

Jim Valenti and Jeff Parker sat and listened to the two shapeshifting aliens recount their lives as four bodyguards ate their meatloaf specials and drank alien smoothies while six teenagers sat across from the adults carrying on their own conversations.

Nancy walked into the dining room area about that time and smiled at everyone in there including her daughter and Maria and made her way over to the men seated around two tables that had been pushed together.

“Cal, your furniture will be delivered tomorrow, the various stores have contacted other branches of their businesses and will be delivering from all over the state. It cost a bit extra for this service but hey, it’s not my money and I knew you needed the stuff so it’s all taken care of.”

Cal Langley smiled and all eight of the men stood as Jeff moved over and made room for his wife to be seated as well as Chuck, who had been accompanying his wife all day.

Soon Liz and Maria had two more place settings and two more orders for Jose’. Agnes came out of the break room and noticed all of the extra bodies and started to make a bee-line for the back room once again when she noticed that it was Jeff sitting at the table with all of those men and Nancy as well. Jeff raised an eyebrow at her and got the attention of Maria and Liz about that time and motioned them to the table.

“Yeah Dad, what can we get you?” Liz asked.

“Nothing Lizzie…you and Maria take a break and visit with your friends. It’s time for Agnes to earn her keep so to speak. She and Christine should be able to deal with the rest of the customers for now.”

Agnes overheard Jeff and nodded, there wasn’t a whole lot for her to do except to start making the rounds and Liz and Maria took their head bands off for the time being and sat down to join their friends in some teenage fun and conversation.

Meanwhile a couple of well-dressed looking businessmen sat in a corner booth eyeing eight teenagers, wondering just which four they were looking for. Cal Langley never missed a beat, he knew who they were immediately and didn’t want to tip his hand too soon. He wanted the entire cell not just two at a time. Besides, if these two didn’t report back all of their lives would be in jeopardy. So far as he knew they still weren’t sure just which of the group was the king.

Cal Langley got the attention of Nasedo and nodded toward the booth nearest the window and Nasedo got a sick look on his face. He immediately recognized the two sitting there and excused himself and went to the restroom. The two at the table didn’t notice this move as they were too involved in checking out the teenagers at the far booth and when Nasedo returned to the table he was an entirely different person than the one who had left. Cal only nodded in recognition while the humans at the table all raised an eyebrow.

“It’s Nasedo, this is what I meant about shapeshifting. The men at the table near the window are skins. They know Nasedo by his usual appearance and we are hoping that they were too engrossed in the kids to take notice of who we were. As far as they know we are just a group having a business meeting…which we are. Now do you see what we are fighting sheriff? Don’t be alarmed, they will not start anything in here nor will we but you must be careful.”

Jim Valenti recognized the two men as the two that had been discussing Nicholas when he visited the carnival.

“Those are the two that are disgusted with Nicholas…” and before he could go on Cal nodded,

“They may be disgusted with the little twerp but he still is the one in charge until something better comes along. I think their best bet would be Tom Greer but we need to eliminate the entire cell. They want to live in a productive colony and not rely on harvested husks for their survival. They cannot reproduce in the state they live in now and I can truly appreciate what that is like but the alternative is much worse. I know that for a fact.” And with that statement Cal Langley looked at Nasedo with a knowing glare and said,

“You know this is true; even if we can perform the act the result will never bring an offspring.”

And Jeff Parker thought, ‘Thank God, even if this man is here to protect my daughter I’m glad he can’t be responsible for bringing more of his kind into our world’,

Agnes approached the two strangers with a fresh pot of coffee and the one facing her shook his head, arose and reached into his pocket, pulled out enough money to cover the bill plus a generous tip and then they both left.

*

“What do you think?” The older of the two, Crawford, asked the younger man.

“I can’t swear to any of their identities. They were all there at the carnival together, they all seem to hang out together and none of them seem to show any special aptitudes, if you know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t think either one of the waitresses are who we are looking for though. Why would a royal wait tables?”

“What if they don’t know who or what they are?”

“How could they not know?”

“Well hell, it’s been over fifty years since they landed here…maybe they aren’t even teenagers. They could be a whole lot older, we don’t really know.”

“Yeah, but we’ve had a pretty good handle on Nasedo and he’s been caring for a female that would now be about 16 and he was last spotted here which tells us he’s found the whereabouts of the other three.”

“Well, that’s what we’ve been told anyway. I still can’t figure out which ones are the four we want.”

“Well, we have to tell Nicholas we’re still in the dark. I don’t know what to tell you, I can’t figure them out.”

And the two of them continued on their way.

“Well what do you think sheriff? Is their secret safe with you?” Cal asked with a little skepticism in his voice. He would mind warp the man right now if he didn’t get the right answer."

Of course their secret is safe with me, I’m just a little overwhelmed with it all and I’m not sure I like the idea of murder but if they are what you say they are then they definitely are not living beings…it’s just really hard to wrap your mind around all of this.” Sheriff Valenti just couldn’t fathom that these beings were walking around among us and no one was any the wiser.

“Are they the one’s that leave the silver handprint on the people they kill?” Valenti was curious…

Ed Harding suddenly got a horrified look on his face and Cal Langley looked very serious for a minute and thought carefully before answering.

“Sheriff, we all leave that mark when we concentrate on a body. Be it to heal or to kill; except of course for the skins. They can be incinerated and if we can get them in a group that’s what we’ll do, but the only way to take care of one in a one on one fight is to “pull” their plug so to speak. They just disintegrate into ash. Why do you ask?”

“I have my father’s files that he collected over the years and there have been many deaths with the silver handprint over the heart and the cause of death actually undetermined, it was like an implosion…but of course my father was ridiculed for his beliefs in extra-terrestrials and I never pursued it but I have studied the files.” Cal smiled.

“Sheriff, I am going to confess that Ed over here is the cause of these deaths and they were all in self-defense. Most of these people were with the special unit or connected to the people that were of the special unit. There will not be any more deaths of humans I can assure you. We do need to find a way to disband the special unit and I do have military connections as well as Ed…and maybe, just maybe, when this is all over we can use our connections to see about this. Until then we need to concentrate on protecting these kids.”

Jeff and Nancy both sat there and listened to the two men talk and watched Nasedo’s reaction to a lot of the explanations and they weren’t buying it any more than Jim was. They were present when the order was given to stop the killings and Jim would find all of this out eventually they were sure. The man was not stupid by a long shot then Jeff asked the all-important question…

“If the skins are mere “nursery” items so to speak and you two are shape shifters just what are these four kids?” Jeff knew that Max risked his life to save Liz and he wanted to know just what the hell his daughter was in for by associating with these ‘aliens’ socially.

“They are human Jeff.” Cal answered…and then when he was sure Jeff had digested that statement he went on to explain.

“Our Queen took human DNA and mixed it with the essence of the four royals after they had been murdered and put them into gestating pods to be shipped to earth along with the Granolith. They were programmed to be released from these pods when they had reached full human beings. As you know, they were found wondering in the desert by Philip and Diane and then another by a local couple who turned Michael over to child services.

Nasedo returned for the children and Tess was the only one that had not been “born” yet and he didn’t know where the rest of them had gone. He just figured out where they were a while back and now he’s brought the wrath of Kivar down on them.

We must eliminate the skins before they find the Granolith or the young king, and before the tyrant on Antar comes to town. Time is of the utmost importance and I think the first order of business is to get to Copper Summit and find the harvest and eliminate that along with the skins; they are in dire need of those husks.”

“So what you’re saying is that these four kids are human but can do things humans can’t”

“Wrong Jeff, humans can do these things too, they just haven’t tapped into that part of their brains that allow them to do these things. You just haven’t evolved into this yet. The kids don’t know any better nor did the Queen for that matter, she gave them human DNA and they progressed beyond the times is all.”

“Hmmm, so what you’re saying is, these kids can basically mate with humans and everything will be the same as if they were humans?”

“Exactly. They are human, although their blood is a different cell structure.”

“What’s that mean?”

“Well, because they have evolved beyond the present existence of man here on earth so have their blood cells. I don’t imagine they know any of this but they will learn.”

“Who’s going to teach them?”

“Well, it looks like we have more than self-defense lessons to teach doesn’t it?”

And Cal Langley smiled as he looked over at the table where all of the teen-agers were laughing and talking as if there wasn’t a problem on earth of any kind.
*

Lizza: In my story Cal knows that Nasedo is up to no good...as for what else the kids need to learn, well, they need to learn about being of the Royal family of Antar, they need to learn about their people and numerous other things. They don't know anything about their history or where they're from.

Carolyn: Watched Colin last night and he plays a meanie quite well even if he does look like a kid. I guess his character on "Dexter" is not such a nice guy either but I don't get that channel so I can't discuss that intelligently.

I watched "Revenge" a couple of times when it first started just because of Nick but I just couldn't get into it for some reason...I know, I'm getting weird in my old age, that's what it is!

Eve: I;m not so sure Michael is going to have a new family in this one but he does get to work with Jeff and the girls and that's a plus, no?

Alix: When you say that you're enjoying my little story after reading something like the "Outlanders" really make my day because there's no way I even come close to that kind of writing...hell if I did I'd be a millionaire too!!!

*~~*~*~*~*
Chapter: 19

As Cal watched and smiled at the group Tess looked across the table and asked Maria and Liz if they had to work tomorrow night and both girls shook their heads ‘no’ in unison…

“What do you have in mind Tess?” Maria asked…

“Well, after we finish up with our training how about a slumber party at my house. All of the ‘men’ will be next door except for our guards and we can order in pizza, make pop-corn and pig out on junk food. What do you say?”

Liz looked over at Cal and caught his eye… He excused himself from the table and joined the girls.

“You look like you have a question Liz?”

“Yeah, I do. Tess wants to have a slumber party at the Harding’s tomorrow night, is this allowed?”

Cal smiled, the part of life he was missing the most, PARENTHOOD.

“It’s fine Liz, I’m glad you asked though. We will have to shift some people around but the furniture should all be in place in the new homes and the additional men are arriving tomorrow afternoon so yes, that’s fine.”

What about the boys?” Alex asked.

“I thought they had guards of their own.” Liz answered with some confusion and Alex laughed at her reply to his question.

Cal just smiled at the young man and knew what he was getting at… ‘They’ll have to plan their own slumber parties’ he thought to himself.

“Great, count me in Tess.” And Liz smiled big at their new friend.

“Me too.” Added Maria; Isabel just sat and looked at the other three not knowing what she should or shouldn’t say…Finally they all looked at Isabel with questions appearing on all three faces without saying a word.

Liz had her eyebrows raised almost to her hair line and those big browns were even bigger than they usually were as she waited for Isabel’s answer and Max Evans heart was starting to beat out of his chest while Cal watched in amusement.

“Isabel, what do you say? I know you don’t work anywhere, do you have plans or do you just not want to come?” Tess asked.

Isabel was so relieved; she had the feeling that maybe she was not included but now she almost felt foolish as she answered her new friend.

“Of course I want to come. What time should I tell my mother so she won’t be concerned?”

“Throw your pj’s into your backpack and we’ll leave when we get back to the school from training when we stop pick up the cars. How’s that?” Tess asked.

“That works for me. Max, you’ll be fine won’t you?”

“Well, since one of us should be with one of the non-aliens at all times I think we should make some kind of arrangements for Michael to be with Kyle or Alex and I’ll take the other.”

Cal was still standing there and then he nodded to the group.

“You boys should come to the houses as well. We have the others joining us and until everyone is settled in and on a schedule and we figure out just what they should be doing I think it’s a good idea to keep you all together anyway. Just all plan on heading over to the Harding’s after practice and we’ll decide how to handle all of this at that time. Maybe Jeff, Nancy and Jim would like to join us for some dinner of pizza.”

“Ah Cal, I wanted a slumber party not a meeting of the United Nations.” Tess looked as though all her plans for some fun had just turned into a big fat zero on the entertainment of the year scale of votes.

Cal Langley laughed.

“A slumber party it is Tess, at your house. The rest of the party can be next door.”

“Great. Then you take care of your party and I’ll take care of mine.” Tess informed Cal.

With that decision made Liz and Maria donned their antennae and started to finish their shift as the rest of the teens continued with more fun and conversation.

Ed Harding was not very happy with any of this but it seemed that all power had been taken from him, even the care of his charge, and he resigned himself to the fact that these kids were Cal Langley’s problem now. He simply needed to contact Kivar and Cal Langley looked at the man and sent a menacing thought to his brain, ‘DON’T’. It had been a very long time since he used telepathy on someone but it was like riding a bike, it came back very easily.

*

Over at the Carnival Grounds Nicholas was getting his report from Crawford and his cohort and the news wasn’t anything they could add to the knowledge they already had.

“We need to get into that Harding house and see what they’re hiding over there. We know that Ed Harding is one of the shape-shifters and that the little blond is his charge. We just need to figure out who the other three are and get possession of the king and get the hell off this planet.”

“Well, I can tell you right now that the eight kids who were at the carnival are thicker than thieves. They were all there together again this evening; two of them are waitresses who joined them as soon as they could. They acted as though they didn’t have a care in the world.”

“Well, maybe they don’t know they have problems and that will work in our favor. They’ll be totally surprised when we take them.”

“Yes, but who are we going to take? We don’t know who is who.”

“We’ll take them all and eliminate all of them when we have what we want.”

*

In the meantime a couple of scroungy looking drifters drove into Copper Summit, Arizona in a rusty old pick-up truck that contained the latest state of the art surveillance equipment known to man and the place was practically deserted. A curly headed thirty something looking man came out of a large barn type building right in the middle of Main Street and approached the two men with the cockiest attitude either had ever seen on a person.

“He looks like he’s prepared for anything doesn’t he?” The driver remarked.

“Yeah, do you suppose he’s one of what we’re looking for?”

“I don’t doubt it for one minute…look at the inside of the place. It looks like a filthy hole from first appearances but take a good look, clean as a whistle.”

“You’re right…I wonder why it’s kept so sterile. Do you think that what we’re looking for is in there?”

“Only one way to find out.”

“Yep.”

And about that time the inhabitant of the barn reached the truck.

“Are you guys looking for something in particular?”

“Well yeah, the tourist map we have said this was an old mining town and we could check it out.”

“Well, the map is wrong; it must be an old map. This is a privately owned town now and there are no visitors allowed. Why don’t you just head on over to Yuma and visit the old prison there. That’s an interesting place if you’re into ‘old places’.”

“Well, that’s great, maybe we will. Is there anywhere we can freshen up and get a drink of water at least?”

“Well, there are no public places in town but I have a water fountain you can help yourselves to before you take off. And make it quick.”

When the two men got out of the truck the skin from the barn noticed the interior of the vehicle and knew these men were not what they seemed to be but by the time he had raised his hand in an offensive move the passenger of the vehicle rounded the back of the truck and recognized immediately what was about to take place. He made a fist and brought it down, hammer style, right across the guys back and the skin disintegrated right there in front of his eyes. The driver looked on in shock and motioned to the barn… “Pull the truck in and I’ll go check it out, we have to hurry and get our asses out of here as fast as we can”.

So while the driver started exploring the ‘barn’ for secret rooms the passenger jumped in behind the wheel and backed the truck into the barn, out of sight, and waited while his partner searched. Soon he heard a loud noise and the once driver jumped into the passenger seat and yelled…”GO!”

And that truck took off like a bat out of hell as the barn’s interior started to explode all over the place.
Several skins ran toward the barn, stopping and grabbing their heads, and then they watched as their lives as they knew it went up in smoke.

“Jess, what the hell was that?”

“That’s what Cal sent us to destroy. That place was packed with human looking specimens all in giant glass test tube type containers. One of them even looked like the guy you whacked on the back. I think this should please Cal, let’s just get to hell out of here and go back to the airport and grab that flight to Roswell like we were told to do.”

At the same time this was happening in Arizona an entire group of carnival workers in Roswell were all grabbing their heads and screaming in pain as Nicholas yelled to the top his youthful lungs…”NOOOO!”*

Lizza: No slumber party this week but we're getting close...
Carolyn: Wll, NCIS left us with a resolution to the Gibbs problem and then threw a real cliff hanger at us. Colin did a great job and like you, I watch everything the "Kids" are in and I too watched Private Practice. I checked out a few of Kadee's interviews over the internet and the woman is a real kick, I can see why Jason loves her so. As for the fic...well it's moving right along I think and the wedding is 1.5 weeks away and I think I'm ready. Leaving next Wed. and yes, I'm very excited...
Eve: The skins are still hanging around, at least for a bit anyway...moving right along here let's see what's going on.

*!*!*!*!*!*


Chapter: 20

The next morning, Friday, a number of delivery trucks appeared in Ed Harding’s neighborhood and started to unload truck load after truck load of furniture while Chuck stood and directed the men as to where things should go while Nancy Parker stood at his side and smiled.

She had a number of women from the local employment office there to follow her lead as far as pressing drapery panels and lining cupboards while Cal’s men were hanging blinds and installing rods for drapes. The homes had been cleaned thoroughly the day before and Cal Langley stepped outside to enjoy the activity taking place when a couple of shady looking characters managed to slip by everyone and make their way into Ed Harding’s home.

Cal knew immediately when Ed Harding had been killed, he had felt those same sensations years ago and it wasn’t anything you ever forgot. He grabbed Chuck and they both took off just in time to see two skins ascending the stairway and Cal let loose with a blast that knocked both of the intruders down the stairs.

Cal and Chuck each took onh one of the skins and they were dust in an instant and then Cal went and grabbed Ed’s hand and tried to heal the alien but to no avail…Ed disappeared into dust as well.

“It didn’t have to be this way Ed.” Cal said quietly and then he was gone. Cal waved his hand over the dust and removed all visible signs of an intrusion.

“We will tell Tess about this later. Right now all she needs to know is that Ed has gone on a special assignment. These kids are scared enough and we need to keep their spirits up and keep a much closer look on things. These beings are getting desperate.”

When Jess and his partner pulled into the address they were given after landing at the small Roswell airport and using the black SUV that had been left for them they couldn’t believe the activity that greeted them. Apparently they were going to be here for the duration.

“Hey boss, what’s this?”

“This is your new living quarters for the time being. We are about to fight a war and we need all of us as near as we can be to each other. We have eight teenagers who are in danger of losing their lives as well as a couple of the parents. The skins only recognize one of the four they are looking for; therefore they are all in danger. What happened in Arizona?”

“The harvest as you call it is gone. We destroyed it but the inhabitants are still roaming the neighborhood. If what you told us is true, they need to find this artifact and leave soon or they are dust, literally.”

“They aren’t going to get the artifact and we will see to it that they are dust soon enough. Now let’s go see how things are coming in the houses. The red head over there is Nancy Parker; she is one of the parents that we need to protect.

“We just lost Ed Harding to a couple of skins who managed to slip by us so we need to double our watch. Young Tess is bringing a group of girls over for a slumber party this evening and the boys will be bunking in at one of the new houses so we really have to be on our toes. At least they will all be in one place.”

“Does Tess know Ed is gone?”

“No, and I don’t want to tell her just yet…she has enough on her mind and is just learning what it’s like to live normally. I don’t want to make her any more frightened than she already is so we keep that to ourselves for the time being. Only Chuck and I know what really happened so keep it to yourself. As far as the rest are concerned Ed’s away on special assignment, okay?”

“Okay. Which house do you want me in?”

“Choose one, they’re both pretty much the same. You will all be sharing a room with someone but you do have your own beds…extra-long, extra firm.”

Jess smiled and picked up his duffle and headed inside where he ran into an entourage of his fellow ‘soldiers’. They all nodded and stood back as Nancy Parker told the housekeeping crew what to do. Chuck looked at Jess and grinned…

“Just like home, huh?”

“It sure is.” And both men made their way to the kitchen where they found more men congregated around the kitchen table with various cold cuts, condiments, and breads of every flavor. Well, it was time to dig in and make themselves at home.

*

Up on Antar Kivar was meeting with his council once again, as they had planned, and the council had decided to give Kivar their thoughts before he had a chance to TELL them what he was going to do. He wasn’t getting any younger either.

“Kivar, if you use the worm hole to go back to Earth the skins will certainly find out how to get back to Antar and this will insure that the inhabitants know the royals are alive and would most certainly cause an uprising, if they don’t have the Granolith or they can’t get it then we don’t want them here. We feel this is a big mistake. You should wait for Nasedo to contact you and if he doesn’t then you know that his plan has failed.”

“What of my plans to marry Valondra?” Kivar was practically whining by now…

“Kivar, you killed Valondra. The Valondra you want is dead…you made sure of that. Why do you want her now all of a sudden?” The spokesman asked,

“She would be exactly what I need if I have the heir to the throne. With Ava back she would have someone she knows and it would be good for the inhabitants of Antar for part of the royals to be on the throne.”

“Kivar, these words are not those of a clearly thinking individual. You should have thought of these things years ago when you massacred the entire family. Do you not know that this new Valondra will most likely find you repulsive? You look absolutely nothing like the people she is used to nor is she Antarian, what makes you think she would want you?”

“I can manipulate my appearance into anything she wants.”

“Kivar, you are already on the throne, let this rest. If Nasedo comes back with the heir then you will raise the child as yours and that will be that but I wouldn’t make any plans without hearing from the shapeshifting alien first. He could be dead for all you know…just let it rest.”

Kivar looked over at his chief advisor and friend,

“Jamal, do you feel this way?”

“Yes sire, I do.”

“Hmm, I see. Let me think about it. We will meet again in three days.” And with that the self-imposed king of Antar left the council chambers, bewildered that his counselors were so against his wishes, something he did not totally understand.

*

Nicholas paced his trailer impatiently while waiting for news from the two skins he had sent to Harding’s place and wondered what had gone wrong now. He knew they should have been back hours ago but still no word. Maybe they couldn’t find a window of opportunity just yet. He would have to learn to be patient.

“Hey Tom, why don’t you take a drive over to the Harding place and just do a drive by; let’s just see what kind of activity is going on over there if any. We have already lost too many to not do some surveillance.”

“No Nicholas, I’m not doing a drive by. As you said, we’ve lost too many. We need to sit down and draw up a plan and follow through with it. This is out and out war now, they have destroyed our harvest, they have eliminated all of the troops that you’ve so generously sent out on these fact finding missions of yours and all we do is keep losing our kind without getting any answers.

“Now it’s time to really plan an attack. We don’t know who we’re fighting here but I have a pretty good idea and I think you do too. The other protector has taken over and he has unlimited funds, unlimited power and unlimited people to work for him. It’s time to plan for a war because like it or not little man, that’s what this is.”

Nicholas looked as though he was about to blow a cork when Tom looked at him and shook his head ‘no’. Tom had had enough tantrums, now he needed to get results from planning.

*

After the Nasedo incident Cal placed a man at all entrances to the homes and took the men he needed with him to go out to the rock quarry and meet the kids and their guards for more training exercises. He had determined that the girls were all working very well together and now it was time to pair them up with the young men.

Alex would definitely need Tess or Isabel since his strength was not physical but his brain was as sharp as any he had ever encountered. Kyle was very strong but lacking in agility, his was more of a brute strength type of ability and Michael was just plain reckless, Max tended to think too much before acting.

Against his better judgment he decided to put Max with Liz, for some reason he felt the two of them may get sidetracked but he needed their individual strengths and then he thought about it; if their lives are at stake they aren’t going to let anything get in the way of their survival or anyone else’s.

So he had the line up all straight in his head by the time the 15 passenger van showed up.

“Alright everyone, the girls are working very well together as are you young men…now we have to start pooling your strengths in other directions. Isabel you will work with Alex, Kyle with Tess, Maria with Michael and Max with Liz.

You will learn to read each other’s moves, learn to anticipate the enemy and use this knowledge as your strength. You will learn various formations; circles, squares and pairs. Always watching and defending each other. You will always be in pairs, I can’t stress this enough, if not the assigned pairing at least never alone. Do you understand? Don’t even go to the restroom alone, always in pairs until this is over.”

All of the teenagers nodded and started to pair up as instructed.

“Now I know you have individual strengths and you also have individual weaknesses. Michael you can blast things but can you control those blasts yet?”

“I’m getting better at it but it’s still erratic at times.” Michael answered honestly.

“You will need to work on this…Maria, your job is to see to it that Michael stays on target and doesn’t lose his temper. Keep him focused and learn to use your feet a little better. You need to aim just a little higher in order to reach that belt line.”

“Aiming higher is all well and good Cal, but there are shorter people you know.”

Cal smiled, “Yes, I know, Maria but the majority of the ones we are after are a little taller than your knees, lift your foot.”

“Yes sir.” And Michael grinned…the pixie was to keep him focused, that shouldn’t be so hard, hell, he was all for that.

Cal noticed the grin and knew exactly what the kid was thinking…

“Michael, your life is on the line here and so is everyone else’s, this is serious.”

“Yeah, I know…I promise I won’t lose it.”

Isabel and Alex just stood there waiting for instructions and Tess was all but hanging on to Kyle’s arm. Liz and Max looked so serious that it was hard to tell whether they were listening or not.

“Okay, everyone listen up. Chuck is going to take over the group formations. It’s his choice which one we start with today and we will continue with only one until you understand every in and out of it and then we will work on another. The square and the circle will evolve into the same maneuvers eventually so once you understand one the next will be a breeze. Then the pairing comes in so take your positions first according to size then we will form a pattern.”

Michael, Alex, Max, Isabel, Kyle, Maria, Liz and Tess all stood there looking at each other and grinning…if they were going to pair up this was going to be fun. Talk about mismatched sizes. ‘Tall, taller, tallest to short, shorter, and shortest’ Liz thought, then she started to laugh and Max immediately went to her and took her hand, he looked into her eyes and didn’t see any panic just silly fun and he grinned and then nodded to Cal; she was alight.

Any misgivings Cal had about pairing these two up were immediately resolved as he watched Max handle Liz and the possibility of a laughing panic attack…all was well and the training began.