Roswell Fanatics

Part 50
* * *

“Yes, Sarah,” Senator Glenn McCarthy smiled down the telephone. “I miss you too. Have you managed to catch up with them yet?”
“No,” Sarah replied with a sigh. “He’s incredibly evasive. By the time I get a lead on him, he’s already long gone.”
“Well, if it’s hard for you to find him, it’s impossible for his enemies, right?”
“Yeah. It’s just…”
“I know.”
“So, are you going to your mother’s for Christmas?”
“I had planned to,” Glenn nodded, even though Sarah could not see that. “But she tells me she’s visiting friends in Idaho. She invited me to tag along, but I don’t know these friends, so I’d only be in the way.”
“Have you managed to sound out a few of your fellow senators yet?”
“Sort of,” Glenn chuckled. “Let’s just say that I’m not the only one with an open mind. If ever there was concrete proof, I would have a lot of support in the senate.”
“Enough to run for the White House?”
“Perhaps,” Glenn gave a bright smile. “Wouldn’t that be something? So how about you? What are you doing for Christmas?”
“I think I’ll pop over to Idaho and see your mom.”
“She’d like that.”
“She’d like it better if we were both there.”
“Oooh,” Glenn laughed. “Emotional blackmail.”
“You love it.”
“Careful, lady. I might just become the most powerful man on the planet. One day.”
“Think anyone would vote for you?”
“My mom would.”
“That remains to be seen,” Sarah laughed. “Especially if you don’t see her over Christmas.”
“You’re relentless.”
“I know. Look, I have to go now.”
“Okay, Sarah. Look after yourself.”
“You too. I hope I see you soon.”
Glenn shook his head, and returned to the document he was reading. He had hardly read the first line, again, when someone knocked on his door.
“Come in,” he called.
Two huge men in dark suits, wearing ear-pieces entered his room. They gave him a courteous nod and conducted a quick search of the office, making sure that there was no other person inside. They then used a hand held scanner to check for bugging devices.
“Clean,” one agent spoke into his wrist.
A third agent entered the room.
“Senator McCarthy? The President of the United States.”
His jaw dropped and Glenn quickly rose.
“Senator McCarthy,” President Forest entered the room with a smile and extended his hand.
“Mr. President,” Glenn took his hand and shook it.
Like his father before him, also once a president, President Forest was a large man, determined to carve a name for himself. He was keen to crack his military might when he felt it was needed, and quick to use diplomatic muscle when force would be like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. You either loved him, or you hated him. There was no gray area with President Forest.
“These kids from Roswell I’ve been hearing a lot about,” he came straight to the point. President Forest was not one to waste words. “What do you know about them?”
“Only what my girlfriend writes about them,” Glenn remained cagey.
“Have you ever met any of them?”
“No, sir. I haven’t. And neither has Sarah, although she knows the husband of one of them. Isabel.”
“You know, the White House has been giving this situation a great deal of thought, and we, well… I got around to thinking, what if they really were aliens, like the FBI claimed.”
“Sir?” Glenn narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve been thinking about this. I’d like to talk to them. Find out more about them, and if it’s true, where they came from. What they’re doing here, how we can help them, that sort of thing. Perhaps it’s time that the U.S. Government policy joined the twenty-first century. Do you think it might be possible for you to arrange for me to meet them?”
“I… I don’t um… know. I guess, uh…”
“Now this is strictly between you and me, okay? Set up a secret meeting. Somewhere safe. Somewhere quiet. Do you think they might like to visit Camp David?”

* * *

Beep. . . . . . . . shhhhh. . . . . . . . . beep. . . . . . . . . whooo. . . . . . . . . beep…
The room had been well prepared for his arrival. The wall had been covered with a smooth, white material that was easy to keep clean and sterile. An array of additional power outlets had been rigged along the far wall to cater to the bank of electronic instruments that all but surrounded the high metal-framed bed. From these devices, a network of cables, wires and tubes ran to the inert figure dressed in a simple white gown, laid out on the bed. The only sounds were the hum of the machinery, the steady ‘beep’ from the heart monitor that gave of the slow intermittent indication that Max was still alive – if only just – and the strange susurrus sucking and blowing of the respirator that kept his body breathing. Max had been rushed into this room within moments of the medivac helicopter’s arrival. He had been receiving the best care possible.

On the other side of a transparent, yet flexible barrier, three figures stood and watched the green displays of the monitors that told them how close to death Max was. The two men wore white hospital scrubs, their hair completely covered and their face masks dangling beneath their chins. Beside them, also in scrubs, a woman had already removed her cap and her mask.
“I’m really not happy about his temperature,” the eyebrows of the smaller of the two men knitted together. “I’ve never heard of anyone surviving that.”
Everyone had been showing concern over the abnormally high temperature, as well as the other less-than-normal readings.
“Trust me,” Michael shook his head. “We’re okay with it.”
“As long as you’re convinced you got all of the bullet out, he’ll be fine,” Isabel, playing nurse, rolled her eyes. “We’ve been here before.”
“You make a habit of getting shot?” the doctor’s eyes widened.
“Not if we can help it,” Michael smirked. “But so far, it’s the fourth time.”
“It’s just that…”
“Look, do what you have to do, okay?” Isabel placed his hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “As long as you don’t touch his cerebral cortex, and as long as he’s alive, everything’s okay. He’ll patch up whatever internal damage he has by himself when he wakes up.”
“I’m sorry,” the surgeon sighed. “It’s just… he seems so human, you know? All of his internals, his… other… stuff was just as I expected. But high temperature like this is just…”
“Relax, okay? You’re doing a good job,” Isabel gave him a sympathetic smile. Although the people here had all known this day would come, interacting with actual aliens was full of surprises.
“I wish someone would tell his wife that,” the surgeon looked toward the door to what had become the waiting room. “Every time I see her, I’m convinced she’s going to blast me with lasers or something.”
“Don’t worry about her,” Michael chuckled. “She’s only human.”

* * *

On the other side of the door, Max’s unique, extended family sat in what had become the waiting room. The room was stuffy and had the smell of people staying there for longer than was necessary, not that any of them noticed. Liz sat on a sofa, sandwiched between her mother, and her mother-in-law. She had not slept since they had arrived, last night. It was now early evening.
“You know,” Jesse sat in a dining room chair, just across from her. He had lifted her hand and held it, hoping that even though her eyes were vacant, she was listening. “Isabel recovered from her gunshot wound with only a basic first aid kit and a disgraced doctor on a kitchen table. Max is in there, in a purpose built operating theatre with the best of everything. These guys are professionals and they know what they’re doing. If anyone can survive this, it’s Max. Besides, he has you to come back to.”
“And Isabel had you,” Liz murmured.
“Yeah, but we weren’t exactly on the best of terms at the time. She thought I didn’t want her.”
“He’s right, Liz,” Maria told her. She too looked numb. Max was more than just an honorary girlfriend. Max had come to mean so much to her. “You know he won’t give you up that easily. Not now that he’s found you.”
The rest took their turn at consoling Liz, but she sat between her ‘moms’, pushing her consciousness out to find Max’s. She knew that as soon as he started to wake up, she would sense it. He had her blood in him now. He had Michael’s and Isabel’s too, but it was mostly hers. Hers seemed to help him the most and she had given far more than she should have. After all, if Max didn’t make it, what use did she have of it?

Jim cleared his throat, and sat up on the edge of the seat he had collapsed into.
“You know, back in the early days, before I knew, I used to wonder what power it was that Max was holding over everyone.” He looked at Liz. He hoped that talking about his memories of Max would help her. “I saw it first with Michael and Isabel. Then you, Liz, and Maria, and… Alex. I wondered why they would do practically anything to protect him and his secret. Even when I first found out what that secret was, there was still a part of me that believed that it was something alien. That he was controlling you all, somehow.” He looked from Liz to Maria and then Kyle. “But it wasn’t an alien power,” Jim shook his head. “His power was human.”
“What power is that, Jim?” Jeff frowned. He didn’t like the idea of anyone, not even Max controlling his daughter.
“He commands your respect,” Jim shrugged. “You just do things for him, not because he wants you to, but because you want to. He will never give up on something… or someone… he believes in. You only have to look at Liz for that. Max believed in him and Liz. He believes in her. He believes in life. He’ll not give that up for anything. If Death wants to take Max away from Liz, he’s going to have to fight him every inch of the way. And that’s a fight that I have no doubt that Max would win, even without his special powers.”
Everyone nodded their agreement.

“I never really noticed Max,” Amy took up her memory. “Not until Maria started dating Michael.”
“I don’t think you were supposed to,” Kyle smirked. “He’d been doing his best to not get noticed.”
“Even when I did start to see him around, I never knew that he was so attracted to Liz.”
“How could you not see it, Mom,” Maria rolled her eyes. “Jeez, half of Roswell knew they’d hook up before those two did.”
“Anyway,” Amy glared at her daughter for the interruption. “I just thought he was this quiet person, you know? A shy loner. The guy had ‘loser’ written all over him.” Amy rolled her eyes. “How wrong was that? But Liz must have seen something in him that we didn’t.”

“I really didn’t like Max when I first met him,” Jesse shook his head. “And then there was that Utah thing. I was getting close to Isabel at the time, and I was so afraid that the things he was involved in would affect her. I couldn’t understand how a smart girl like Liz would get involved with a punk like Max.” Jesse started to chuckle. “You know, I told everyone about the ‘magic steak’ that Max put on my eye. It became like a fish story. Whenever anybody says something that is obviously exaggerated or totally unbelievable, someone will say, ‘put some steak on it.’ He looked up at his mother. “Once I found out about him, about them, I was so afraid of Max. In the end, it took a heart to head talk with the kindest, most forgiving young lady I know, to help me see him for what he is.” He turned his attention to Liz. “I’m glad now that he was my best man at our wedding. I wish that I had taken the time to get to know him better back then. I mean, so many people love him. I should have seen that he was… different.”

My first recollection of Max and Liz’s relationship wasn’t so rosy,” Nancy smirked. “I was called into school by the principle after Liz had been in the eraser room, making out with Max. Sexual activity was how he described. I was ready to read Liz the riot act. But even then, I could see how loyal Liz was to Max, how she wouldn’t even think of letting me forbid her from seeing him. The morning after they had stayed out all night together was a defining moment for me. When they arrived together, hand in hand ready to face the music, together, I knew that Max would always be there for Liz. One way or another.”

Jeff gave a soft snort.
“I didn’t know anything about their relationship until then. I never even noticed after seeing her whole face light up, just cause Max came into the café. Hind sight is twenty-twenty.” Jeff shook his head. “Not even Kyle put that light there.” Jeff paused and looked embarrassed. “Uh… sorry, Kyle.”
Kyle just shrugged.
“Now that I think about it, when Mom died, it was only Max’s presence that helped her get over it. He always seemed to be there for her. I’m so glad that he gave her the chance to say goodbye. I wish…” A tear formed in the corner of his eye. “I wish I had that chance.”

“I was so flipped out over Max and the others when I found out,” Maria broke the awkward silence. “I really was afraid that Liz was getting into something that she couldn’t handle. But Max, he was so calm and patient with me, almost apologizing for his presence. I remember this one time when he helped me out when I short changed this woman, I was in such a state. I guess it was then that I knew Max would never hurt me. Michael on the other hand…”

“It wasn’t until that night I got Max drunk that I realized how much Max loved Liz,” Kyle cut the start of Maria’s rant short. He recognized the signs. “That was when I finally let her go, and accepted that he was good enough for her. We never really bonded, Max and me. But when I saw that his feelings for her were way more than mine, sure, I loved her, but no where near like Max loves her. Anyway, he’s a great guy, Liz. He’ll always be there for you. You just gotta let him find his way home. That’s all. The path to enlightenment must, by necessity, lead you through the dark.”

“I saw his leadership qualities when he and Michael went to rescue my Dad.” Connie took over. “He was so calm and he knew exactly what to do and how to do it.” She shook her head. “And the way he looked at Liz. And how he treated his friends. I remember after they left, I was talking to Liz and Maria. They were so calm, like they had so much confidence in them, they knew they would stay safe. That they would succeed. They never had any doubts, and that rubbed off on me. My first reaction was what can two teenagers do to help my dad? But they did. No one ever explained to me how they did it, but I’ll be eternally grateful that they did. I still have that confidence, Liz.” She smiled at her distraught friend. “If Max can pull that off, he can pull anything off.”

* * *

Liz sat on a comfortable chair, next to Max’s bed, holding one of his hands in both of hers. After the immediate danger had passed – although his heart rate was still weak, and he still needed the respirator - Liz had him transferred to a less clinical room.
“I don’t want him freaking out on me when he wakes up,” she told Michael. “He’ll think he’s back in the white room.”
When Liz made demands, she got her way, especially where Max’s welfare was concerned. Michael gave in, and even advised Bektor not to try and interfere. Max was still weak, so he was still connected to the machines that kept him alive.
“I’m sorry if I’m talking too much for you,” she told him. “I remember reading somewhere, once, that talking to people in comas is good for them. So I’m going to keep on talking ‘till you wake up.” A small smile crossed her lips. “So if you want to shut me up, you better wake up. I’ll do anything I have to, to make sure that you find your way back to me.”
A nurse came into the room, and gave her a sympathetic smile before taking a note of the monitor readings. She then checked the feeds that led into Max’s arm, the connections taped to other parts of his body and the tube that was lodged in his throat. She left them alone as soon as she was finished.
“You have to fight, Max. You have to come back to me. To the rest of your family. All of them. They’re all talking about what they remember of you. You really should wake up so you can hear it. They all love you, Max. I love you. I’ve always loved you. And, you know… I’m so sorry for all those time’s I’ve ever let you down. When I gave up on us.”
“Any change?”
Liz turned to see Isabel peering around the corner of the door.
“No,” Liz shook her head and wiped away the fresh tears she was shedding. Where had all the water for her tears come from, she wondered? “Nothing yet.”
“He’ll make it,” Isabel told her again. Liz knew that Isabel was as frightened as she was and said those words for her own benefit as well as Liz’s.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. “Of course he will.”
“Maybe you should rest,” Isabel told her. “I can keep watch while you grab something to eat and nap. And maybe a shower? You want to be at your best when he wakes up, right?”
“Just for an hour,” Liz nodded, knowing full well that she would not sleep. But food and a shower seemed a good idea.

* * *

“It’s been three days, Max,” Liz scolded. “Huge black lines ringed her eyes. “It really is time you stopped all this nonsense, you know.”
There was a knock at the door. Liz frowned. Her family and friends just came in without knocking. Who could this be?”
Eldugar rose from his seat by the door and opened it. Liz could hear his quiet murmured words with the caller.
“Mrs. Ramirez would like a word with you,” he bowed.
Liz nodded, so Eldugar opened the door wider and stepped back to allow the older woman in.
“Why don’t you go and get yourself a drink, or something, Eldugar,” Liz suggested.
“That won’t be necessary, your… uh, Liz,” He shook his head.
“Look,” she snapped. “Michael and Isabel are in the next room. I’ve got Antarian guards surrounding this building. Human guards are everywhere else. Right now, I’m probably in the safest place on the planet.”
Eldugar beat a hasty retreat, recognizing one of Liz’s more dangerous mood swings approaching.
Liz rolled her eyes, and then pulled a spare seat closer to hers.
“Come and sit down, Mrs. Ramirez,” Liz patted the seat.
Jesse’s mother ambled across and sat in the offered seat. Liz noticed that she hadn’t looked at Eldugar and neither had she looked at Max.
“You love him, don’t you?” Mrs. Ramirez finally spoke.
“More than anything,” Liz took up rubbing Max’s hand again.
“Tell me about him. About what he is.”
“You know, Mrs. Ramirez, perhaps that’s where you’re going wrong. He’s just a young man who was born on another planet to very important parents. Because of some local problems and some advanced technology, he ended up here, an alien soul in a human body. However you look at him, he’s human, Mrs. Ramirez. More human that the man who did this to him.”
“They frighten me,” she replied after a lengthy pause. “All three of them. I don’t know how to treat them. They have those powers.”
“Why not just look on them as normal people who can do things,” Liz shrugged.
“They’re far from normal,” Mrs. Ramirez pointed out. “Not only do they come from another planet, they are royalty. And what about their religion? Are they even of God’s creation?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” Liz twisted her head. “I mean, if God created the Earth, us and everything else, why wouldn’t he have made them as well? And as for royalty, well, you can tell Max that he’s a king until you’re blue in the face, but he’s still Max. They’re just normal people, like us, caught up in something bigger. Don’t treat them any differently to how you’d treat them if they weren’t who they are.”
Mrs. Ramirez studied the small woman before her.
“Did you know that Isabel and Elizabeth come from the same root? The ‘El’ part comes from the Hebrew word, God. It means Oath of God.”
“I didn’t know that,” Liz shook her head.
“Isn’t it funny how the two most important women in his life share the same name? How they both love him?”
“That’s Max for you,” Liz grinned. “But Isabel loves Jesse, too,” Liz leaned toward the older woman. “Just as much as I love Max.”
“Nevertheless, I am afraid of them,” she admitted. “Afraid of the life Jesse has now.”
“I wish that I could say something to assure you that it will all be worth it, that it will all end happily ever after, but you should know that being with Max is all I need. It’s all worth while as long as we are together. Jesse and Isabel feel the same way. Neither one of them was happy with their life until they were reunited.”
“But Max… Michael… the way they… I mean, they have these soldiers all doing what they say. They could kill people.”
“Only our enemies,” Liz confirmed. “Look, Mrs. Ramirez, by all means, you can think whatever you want to of Max, okay? You can hate him, you can be afraid of him, whatever you want. He won’t mind. But accept Isabel for who she is. Your son’s wife. Your daughter-in-law. It will make things easier for you in the long run, and then maybe, somewhere along the line, you might even find that you can accept Max.” Liz started to smirk. “Maybe Michael too, but that’s probably expecting too much.”
“They are right about you, Liz,” Mrs. Ramirez smiled. “You are indeed a remarkable woman. I’ll leave you in peace now. Thank you.”
“Any time,” she smiled and once the door had been closed, she returned her attention to Max. “I guess that explains the hostility Isabel’s been feeling from Mrs. Ramirez, ever since they met up again at your parents house. Iz will be happy, when I tell her that her mother-in-law doesn’t have a heart of stone.”
Liz’s eyes flew wide.
“Oh, my god!” she exclaimed.
She leapt up and ran for the door. She met Isabel, rushing in to her.
“I know how to help Max!” they both exclaimed at once.

* * *

Part 51

His bed had been pulled out to the middle of the room. They formed a pentagon, all five of them surrounding Max and his machines, Liz by his head, followed by Isabel, Michael, Maria and finally, Kyle. They each held one of the new healing stones that Serena had given Max on the royal cruiser, Nyelda. Forming a semi-circle, intently watching the proceedings, Nancy, Jeff, Philip, Diane, Amy, Connie, Jesse, Mrs. Ramirez, Bektor, Serena and Eldugar held hands and hoped that this would work. As he was instructed, Jim began to incant the words that Liz had taught him.
“Wherever we are from, our bodies carry the same energy that's in these stones. It’s called the balance. Hold the stones until your energy activates them, then the balance of our friend will be restored. But remember that there is a risk,” Jim reminded them. “The balance can pull you in. It's a force that can change both your body and your mind unless you navigate it properly. Now, clear your mind... and drink from the bowl.”
Jim walked in a circle and held a large glass of water to each of the five youngster’s mouths.
“This is water,” Jim continued. “Something in common with all of us. By drinking from the same bowl, we begin the connection. Don't change the way you feel about our friend, and you'll come out on the right side. Do not stop the flow.”
Jim started to chant a strange song. Liz joined in, followed by Isabel, Kyle, Maria and finally, Michael. No one could say how they knew the right words, they just did. As their chant built in volume, so it seemed that a multitude of ethereal voices joined them. From somewhere, from nowhere, from all around them, a drum beat from a hundred hundred campfires reverberated throughout the room, matching the steady cadence of the chant.

* * *

He was in the desert, standing in the middle of a wheel with five spokes. He turned and looked at his surroundings. He recognized the place at once; it was a place he had visited once before… no, twice. Both times, it was like this. An almost dream like quality. At the end of each spoke were five people, strangers to him, yet they each evoked a sense of familiarity. A tall, striking female with hair the color of ripened corn rushed across the spoke and grabbed him into her arms. She kissed his cheek, and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was speaking to him, though her words were unclear. She stepped back, and a tall athletic young man took her place. He had dark hair and had the look of inner peace about him. The athletic young man took his right hand, and embraced him with his other. Again, his spoken words were inaudible. Another blond took his place, not as tall as the first, but still attractive. Her eyes sparkled with hope and with friendship as she too kissed his cheek and hugged him. The wary, watchful man with eyes older than his years stepped up when the blond was finished with him. Unlike the other three, he spoke no words, feeling no need for them. He threw both arms around him, squeezed and then stepped away. Then there was her. She was much shorter than the others, but her eyes burned with such intensity. Their color matched her dark brown, almost black locks. She too did not try to speak, but he was deafened by the words that flooded his mind; words of love, and devotion, of passion and of hope, and of an unfulfilled promise. She stepped back, holding both of his hands in her more petite ones, and gazed into his eyes. She stepped up to him, embraced him again and kissed his lips with an unreserved passion, catching his lips with hers. Her final words tore through his whole body.
“It’s time to come home to me.”

* * *

One by one, the stone bearers awoke from their self-induced trance. Liz was the last, but like those before her, her first reaction was to look at Max, still comatose on the bed, and then at the machines which showed no change in Max’s condition.
“I don’t understand,” Diane whimpered. She turned to look at Liz, letting the tears fall from her eyes. “I thought you said that this would heal him.”
Liz looked helpless. “I…”
“It should have restored him to full health,” Bektor stepped up to Max’s side and stared down at his King. “We failed him, somehow.”
“No,” Liz gasped. “There’s still a chance he’ll make it, right?” Liz looked to Serena for assurance.
“I’m sorry, Liz,” Serena wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “If the stones did not heal him, then he is beyond our help.”
“No!” Isabel cried. “We saw him, right? He was up, and he hugged us. He was there.”
“He was saying goodbye,” Michael’s voice was almost a whisper.
“What?” Liz turned on Michael, her face had fallen. “No. He can’t be… He just can’t be.” She grabbed Max’s hand. “Max!” she cried. Her head fell onto his chest. “Maaaaax!”
One by one, the dejected group left the room, both to deal with their own grief and to allow Liz a moment on her own. Michael placed his hand on Liz’s shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, and led Maria from the room.
Liz looked at Max, and started to remove the respirator tube from his throat. She wanted to see him as he was.
“Oh, Max,” she sobbed, stroking the side of his face. “What am I going to do now? I need you.”

* * *

He was alone, now. The not-so-strangers who had been surrounding him had departed for wherever they had come from. He tried to follow them, knowing that he needed to be with them, but they all seemed so… vague. Familiar, and yet, not so. There was a force, a barrier that was preventing him from going to the place that he wanted to be. Perhaps it was this barrier that was preventing him from remembering. Who he was, and who those people were. A voice at the back of his head called to him, but he could not hear. Overhead, an eagle cried, a sound that emphasized his solitude.
“Your path is not clear to you.”
He looked around the desert plains, looking for the person who spoke the words.
“Who said that?”
Although he looked all around his surroundings, there was no sign of anyone else.
“Perhaps you did,” the voice told him. “Or perhaps it was I.”
“Where are you?” the young man demanded.
“I am behind you…”
The young man spun around one hundred and eighty degrees.
“I am beside you, in front of you, above and below you. I am all around you.”
The young man looked all around him.
“And yet, I am inside you.”
“Who are you?”
“Our worlds are touching at last. I have waited a long time for this moment. We nearly met a while ago, but you would not let go, and so I had to wait. You have such strong ties holding on to you, yet at last we have this chance. We do not have much time.”
“Who are you?”
“We have no time for questions, but if you really need to know, the answer lies within you. I am you, yet, I am not you. I am me.”
“I don’t understand,” the young man scratched behind his ear.
“I have things to show you. Perhaps then, you will.”
“But I can’t see you. Show yourself.”
“I have no form,” the voice apologized. “Would it help if I had one?”
“Yes,” the man nodded. “I think I would. It feels… stupid, talking to myself like this.”
“But in a way, you are. Talking to yourself, that is.”
“I…”
“But if it will assist you, I will take on a more solid form.”
Before him, a strange shimmering haze started to coalesce into a more discernable form. It was the form of a young man, a teenager, perhaps a year or two younger than himself. He too had dark hair, cut quite short, but unlike himself and the other two young men he had met earlier, this one was thin, scrawny, almost. He seemed familiar. He was shrouded with a cloud of guilt. ‘My own guilt,’ the young man knew. The name rushed from his memory like a light build switching on.
“Alex?”
He remembered now. His own name was Max, and this was Alex before him. Alex was dead, dead because he had been too wrapped up in his own misery to care for the people he had worked so hard to protect, who had protected him. The memories flooded back at once. Liz, the shooting, the taste of her lips on his, Tess, his destiny, Liz leaving him, sleeping with Kyle. Him leaving Liz, sleeping with Tess, losing Liz, losing Alex, losing hope. A baby! No, he died, killed because he did not posses the seal. Liz! She was in danger! He was in danger. A gunshot!
“Am I dead, Alex? Have you come to show me the way?”
“No, you are not dead any more than I am Alex. Alex is a memory of yours that I used to give me a form. I told you, I do not posses one of my own.”
“Did you have to choose his form?” Max tried to suppress the rising guilt.
“No,” Alex chuckled and turned into Hubble. “I could have chosen this one.”
“No,” Max shook his head.
“Or this one?” Hubble inclined his head to the side with his eyes widened. His shape blended with that of another and Agent Pierce stood in his place.
“Nu uh,” Max growled.
“Or how about his one?”
“No!” Max’s voice was on the edge of panic. “No! Alex’s is fine.”
“Then Alex I shall be,” Agent Pierce agreed while his features changed back into Alex again.
“So why are you here?”
“Because your path is not clear to you.”
“So you said. I thought my path was obvious,” Max looked surprised. “I have to return to Liz and help my friends defeat Nikolas and the Skins.”
“It is not enough to know who you must defeat. You must also know why you must defeat them. How is important too.”
“Easy. To save the Earth. To save my friends, my family. As for how, well, I’m told that I used to be good at tactics. And I have good people helping me.”
“That is true. You have advisors like none you had before. So you know your destination, so what of the path to get there? And what happens when you reach it? With the defeat of Nikolas, is the threat gone?”
“As long as Earth is safe, I would have to say it was. Are you suggesting that I return to Antar to defeat Kivar?”
There was no reply.
“Fighting Nikolas in the desert is one thing. But going to a planet I don’t remember and… It’s Kivar’s back yard. What chance would we have?”
“As I said, there are things I must show you. Your path is not clear to you.”

He felt a sense of flying. There was darkness and then there was the light. What he saw was a lot like Earth, yet Max knew that the images he was seeing was not of his adoptive world. The clouds had a green tint to them, and the sky was the color of a magical sunset, though it was clearly just midday. The buildings were constructed - though grown might have been a more accurate description –from a white, opaque crystal. Pathways and roads were nestled between bushes and trees of every color and shape. Outlandish birds flitted from huge, amazing flower to another huge amazing flower, while children played strange games amongst the foliage. All was peaceful and serene.

The clouds started to turn an ugly purple color and the sky darkened to a blood red. Whispers on the breeze were replaced by howls amongst the quickening tempest that blew blossom and leaves from the trees to leave them bare skeletons of their former glory.
“She’s killed them,” they cried. “They’re all dead. All is lost.”
The children vanished into the buildings that gave no safety as soldiers charged through the pathways and broke down protective doors to haul those old enough away, for work details. Schools were ripped down to make way for factories that churned out pollution and weapons of war. Parks were wiped from existence and in their place, deep mines delved ever deeper to dig away the minerals below. What once was heaven became hell, and it was the people who suffered.
“Your people,” Alex told them.
“But what can I do?” Max demanded. “Look!”
Max pointed to the parade grounds and barracks that bulged at the seams with soldiers. Surrounding the pockets of resistance, more soldiers milled like ants over a disturbed nest. In the skies above Antar, a vast fleet of transport ships were ready to spread Kivar’s disease throughout the universe.
“Kivar has rounded up every able bodied being,” Alex nodded. “From both Epsilia and the parts of Antar he holds. He will use those soldiers to subjugate the rest of Antar. From there, he will conquer the other three remaining planets, and finally, with an army too numerous to number, he will come and wreak his vengeance on the planet that gave succor to his most hated enemy.”
“Me,” Max whispered. “Alex, Liz changed all that, didn’t she? When she made me think… when I came back and…”
“All Liz did was to stop you from consummating your relationship at a point that would have prevented her transition. Kivar’s invasion is still inevitable, although with your recent action against him, you have set him back. Though not by much. Even with Tess, you would still be too weak. Do you honestly believe the four of you could stop that? Even if Tess could mind warp them? No, your path is not clear to you.”
“But I have these soldiers who will help us. I know they’re not many, but who knows? A few more from here and there… careful planning… and the guns we’re making…”
“Are but a drop in the ocean compared to the forces that Kivar will have once he controls the Five Planet Federation. Even now, Kivar is sending the first elements of his invasion fleet toward the Earth.”
“You said you would show me something to help me. How does this help?”
“That is for you to decide. You have a good heart.” The voice gave a soft chuckle. “And she will make an excellent Queen. I have faith in the trust that the Granolith has shown you.”
“I won’t…” Max sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll try not to let Antar down.”
“Remember that your path is not clear to you.”
Alex started to fade.
“I am so proud of you,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” Max wiped away a tear, “Father.”
“The gap is growing weak, my son. It is time for you to return. You have work to do and your friend’s grief should come to an end. Your absence pains them.”
Everything went dark. Alex, rather Zan’s father was gone. Max felt lost and alone. Overhead, the eagle cried again. How could he find his path home, let alone the path his father spoke of? And then he saw it. Like the Statue of Liberty that offered hopes, dreams and the chance of a new life to millions of refugees, she stood as a bright beacon to offer the same things to Max. Her long, dark hair blew with the breeze that caressed her gentle, loving features. Liz.
“Give my love to my daughter and tell her I am proud of you both,” the bodiless voice whispered to him. Then came the words that struck a chill through his very bones. “Kivar wants those seals. He will collect yours last.”

* * *

Max sat upright in one fluid movement, sucking in a lung full of air. Momentarily shocked, Liz stared at him, wiped her eyes and stared again. He turned to face her.
“M… Max?” she asked, almost out of disbelief. She held back for a moment, making sure that this was real and not some dream. “Oh my god, Max! You came back to me!”
Joy soared through Liz’s whole body as she launched herself into a hug with her husband. Automatically, Max’s arms wrapped around her.
“Oh, Max,” she started to cry as she showered his face with kisses. “I thought I’d lost you.”
“Liz,” his voice was ragged.
His eyes fluttered closed again as he took a number of deep, ragged breaths. Liz looked up at the monitor and saw that with every passing second, his heart was beating stronger. Max had come back to her.
“Are… we…” Max struggled with every word, “safe?”
“Yes, Max,” Liz started to shower kisses on his face. “We’re perfectly safe, now. Thanks to Colonel Roberts and his men.”

Liz sat with Max, not talking anymore, but just watching. He faded in and out of a light sleep, but she knew that he was stronger, now. He was no longer in danger. Her eyes never left his, though, even when they were closed. She held his hand in one of hers while the other stroked his face. She knew that she should tell someone – after all, they were all worried for him, and thought he was beyond help - but this was her husband. She wanted these precious moments to herself.
“You’re all right now, Max,” she murmured. “You’re safe with your loved ones.”
Max’s eyes blazed open.
“Liz?” Max croaked. “Sean?”
“Sean won’t be bothering us anymore, Max,” she soothed.
“Did he…?” A look of concern crossed his face.
“No,” she stood over him, and looked into his eyes. She knew what he thought. “Nothing happened,” she shook her head, squeezing his hand for reassurance.
“Did you…?” he eyes showed his concern. “Are… you… okay?”
“Yeah,” she smiled. “I’m okay. I didn’t kill him. He fell. Off the roof.” She let herself smile. “He saw me sparkling like a Roman candle and freaked out.”
Max thought for a moment. “Good,” he nodded.
There was a moment of silence while Max took some deep breaths.
“I heard you,” his voice was getting stronger. “Someone was trying to take me away, but I heard you calling me. I couldn’t find you. I wanted to tell you I was coming, but I couldn’t make you hear me. Then you… you all came for me. And I… but Alex… no, not Alex. Someone… else. He was there. They… he wanted to talk. To warn me. And it was dark, and I couldn’t find my way home. But then I saw you, standing there, like a… my shining light.”
“Your North star,” she smiled. “And you came back to me.”
“Always,” Max nodded. He looked around the room. “Where are we?”
“We’re at Camp Sawtooth, Max. Remember those men that Colonel Roberts told you about? The ones he wanted you to lead?”
Max nodded.
“Well, Mr. Anderson, you know… the owner. You saved his daughter’s life?”
Max was still nodding.
“Anyway, he’s letting us use this place as a base.”
“Won’t…” Max tried to swallow. He couldn’t. “Won’t…” His voice was dry and raspy.
“Oh, here,” Liz turned and took glass of remaining water that Jim had left behind. She held it to Max’s lips. “Not too much, ‘kay?”
Again, Max just nodded while he took small sips of water.
“Won’t a lot of armed men in a camping ground in the middle of winter look… well, suspicious?”
“No, it’s all taken care off,” Liz shook her head with a smile. “We’re in the middle of a big reunion. Cheap rates and all. The weapons and vehicles have been hidden and camouflaged.”
“Vehicles?”
“Yeah, uhm…” Liz caressed his face again. “We have a few Jeeps and a couple of helicopters at our disposal. Kyle said they were called… uhm… something to do with Donald Duck.”
“Donald Duck?” Max frowned. His face broke into a grin. “Hueys?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, a little shame faced. “That was it. Apparently, they restored them or something. Colonel Roberts said that it would only attract too much attention if we had a couple of Apache’s.”
“How did we get here?” Max nodded. “The last thing I remember was… Albuquerque. And those stairs.”
“That would be Colonel Roberts again. Your Dad phoned him as soon as he heard we were in trouble. One of the helicopters is… like an ambulance. The other ones were used to collect Mom and Dad, and the other’s in Santa Fe. They brought us all here.”
“Liz… did I… Did I see Michael up on that roof?”
“Yeah,” Liz smiled. “He broke every land speed record getting to us. The motorbike he used got so hot, it just melted.”

* * *

“I can’t stand this,” Isabel was hugging her mother, both trying to gather whatever comfort they could.
Maria clung to Michael, while everyone else stood around feeling useless. Bektor and Serena looked devastated.
“Think about how Liz must be feeling,” Kyle shook his head.
“Are you sure there’s no other way?” Isabel asked the two Antarians.
“The healing stones are the last resort,” Serena laced her fingers behind her neck and touched her elbows together. “If he can be healed, they will heal him.”
“So what do we do?” Maria wept.
“We go on,” Michael told them. “Like Max would want us to.”
“But…” Kyle began. There was a real look of concern on his face. He was interrupted by the door to Max’s room opening.
Everyone turned to Liz who came out.
“Oh, Liz,” Maria rushed to her best friends side.
“Uhm,” Liz smiled at Maria’s reaction as she pulled her into a hug. “Guys? Max is awake now.”
“What?” fifteen voices demanded.
“Yeah,” Liz’s smile was evident that she was not mistaken. “He came back to us.”
“Came back to you, you mean,” Kyle smirked.
No one cared about the semantics. Fourteen people started to move toward the door. Only one held back. Liz pushed Maria, trying to be the first one in, back, and pulled the door closed.
“Hold it,” she ordered, holding up her hand. A few lines of green flashed across her palm. “He’s still tired. You can’t all go in at once.”
Everyone stopped, a little stunned at Liz’s determination.
“Diane? You’re family. You Philip and Isabel can go in first,” she stepped back to admit Max’s immediate family members. “Michael, you and Maria can go next.”
“That’s okay, Liz,” Michael gave her a grin. “Let the others go first. I’ll wait till last.”
Liz remembered Michael’s reaction on the rooftop, so she nodded.
“Okay then, Mom, Dad, you can go in next, then. Kyle, you and Connie can go after them, and Jim, you can go in with Jesse and his mother.”
“Uh, I don’t… know him, really.” Standing at the back of the room, Mrs. Ramirez shook her head. “I… I can wait.”
Liz gave her a warm, sympathetic smile.
“You and Serena can see him after,” Liz nodded to Bektor.
Bektor shook his head.
“As representatives of his Kingdom…” Bektor started.
“You wait,” Liz placed her hands on her hips. “Family first. Then duty.”
Serena nodded and tried to hide her smile.

* * *

“You had us worried there, man,” Michael smirked. “You sure know how to keep your audience waiting.”
“Call it a knack,” Max grinned. “I heard you redesigned a motorbike to get there.”
“Yeah,” Michael pushed his hand through his hair. “Although it sort of redesigned itself, when I stopped. Something to do with metal when it gets too hot.
“I can imagine. No trouble with the law?”
“Only the law of physics.”
“Michael!” Max rolled his eyes.
“I didn’t see any,” Michael shrugged. “And I doubt they saw me.”
“I bet there’s a few stories being told over a beer or two.”
“Yeah,” Michael snorted.
“Listen, Michael. Thanks. You know, for getting there.”
“Yeah, well, maybe if you… we hadn’t… split up, you know? I mean…” Michael wanted to tear Max off a strip, but he just could not do it. “Just don’t… Next time, you… Glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks, Michael,” Max smiled at his friend’s attempt to tell him off. “For everything.”
“Out of the way, Spaceboy,” Maria elbowed past Michael. She pulled Max into a hug. “Don’t you ever do that to us again, girlfriend,” she growled. “And don’t you ever make Liz live through something like that, or else I will make sure that you wish you had died!”
“It’s good to see you too, Maria,” Max returned her hug. “It’s really good to see all of you.”

* * *

“Are you okay, Kyle?” Liz noticed that after visiting Max, Kyle had not left for his own room, like the others had.
“Yeah,” Kyle nodded. “Just… I’m just thinking how bad things could have been, you know.”
“Tell me about it,” Liz looked down at the ground.
“The thing that worries me the most about something like that,” Kyle stared at the ceiling, “is Michael.”
“Michael?” Liz looked surprised.
“He gets the seal if something happens to Max, right?”
“Yeah. I guess,” Liz frowned. “I mean, he did the last time, but Max took it back. Maybe that changed something.”
“But as far as we know, Michael would get it again.”
“Up on that ship, we were told Michael went all Neanderthal on us ‘cause he didn’t have the support of the other seal. Your seal. He didn’t have your support.”
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. “That’s right.”
“So, the question is, if… if something happened to Max, and knowing what would happen, would you, like, you know?”
“Absolutely not,” Liz shook her head with a look of disgust. “Not only would I never do something like that to Maria, and no offence to her but Michael is so not my type."
“He’s not, huh?” Kyle smirked.
“In fact, I think you could say that I would rather die before taking up with Michael.”
“That’s not funny, Liz,” Kyle’s eyes grew dark.
“It’s not meant to be,” Liz shrugged. “If Max had died, I would have followed him. Plain and simple.”

* * *

“I’m glad to see that you’re good for something,” Liz grinned at Eldugar. He was escorting Liz back from the diner with a tray that held Max and Liz’s evening meal. The diner had been taken over by the catering corps of the ‘volunteers.’ Gone was the fried, greasy food, and in its place, ‘cordon bleau’ cuisine.
“I would hope that I am more useful to you than just a porter, Li… Your Highness,” he replied.
Liz turned and raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of his address. Eldugar almost always called her Liz, except when…
“Ah, Liz,” Bektor approached her from the building they were just passing.
“Good evening, Bektor,” Liz shook her head and rolled her eyes. “How can I help you?”
“How are you? Are you quite recovered?”
“I am, yes, thanks.”
“Good, good,” Bektor nodded. “And your family? Are they well?”
“They are, thanks for asking.”
“Uh, huh,” Bektor continued nodding. “And your friends? I trust they are all well?
“We’re all fine,” Liz growled in exasperation. “The soldiers are fine, the trees are fine, the animals are fine and the birds are fine. The snow on the ground is fine. Everything is fine.” She stopped and turned to face Bektor. “Even Max is fine, though I notice you never mentioned him. What did you really want to talk to me about?”
“It’s…” he swallowed. “It’s about Max’s heir.”
“No,” Liz shook her head. “That wasn’t Max’s heir, remember? The child didn’t have the seal so he died. Max doesn’t have an heir, he never did.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
Liz stared at him in confusion.
“This recent situation showed us just how tenuous our royal line is. Should anything happen to His Majesty, he would have no heir. The seal would not be passed on and who knows with what serious repercussions? Without an heir to unite behind, the resistance on Antar would segment and fall apart. All would be lost. You have an obligation, Your Highness. You are the Queen of Antar.”
“Look, Bektor. I’ve just about had it,” Liz stepped up to Bektor and started to poke him in the chest. “The only obligation I have is to Max, okay? And right now, making him a father and giving him just one more thing to worry about is not high on my agenda, okay?”
“But once the prince was born, Max would not need to concern himself over him. We would remove him to a place of safety and the responsibility would be passed to us. Your Highness, the Crown Prince is never raised in the same place as the King.”
“What?” Liz stared at him with incredulity. “You want me to… and then… just… You’d take him away? My god! What kind of monsters are you? I could never do that to Max. I could never do that to myself. We’re finished here, Bektor. This conversation is at an end. Max and I will have children when we are ready and no one else. And they certainly will not be taken from us, not while I have any breath left in my body.”

* * *

Liz slammed the plate with Max’s pepper steak, sauté potatoes and mixed vegetables in front of him. Some of the vegetables bounced from the plate and onto the table. She slammed her own plate down and flopped onto her chair. Max watched as she tore at her own food, though she did not eat any of it.
“Are you angry with me, Liz?” Max asked as he looked up from his meal.
“No,” she snapped. “Why’d you ask?”
“It’s just… I’m sensing all this hostility from you. And you’ve hardly spoken to me since you got back with dinner. Have I done something wrong?”
“No,” she sighed, placing her cutlery on the plate. She had lost her appetite. “Not you.”
“Okay,” Max nodded, and placed his own cutlery down. “So what happened?”
Liz looked at her husband, shook her head and groaned.
“I wish we could just… go away. Just the two of us.”
“I wish we could, too,” Max nodded and reached his hand across the table to take hers. “Like that week in Puerto Rico. But with this… meteorite… and Nikolas to deal with, it’s just…”
“Can’t Michael deal with it?”
“I wish he could. All these people are counting on me, Liz. I can’t…” Max paused. He looked down and grinned. “I’m probably the most important man on this planet.”
“Put some steak on it, Max,” Liz rolled her eyes.
“Excuse me?” Max started to laugh. “What does that mean?”
“You need to ask Jesse,” Liz laughed while she moved around the small table to sit in his lap.
“It’s just… I can’t let all these people down.”
“I know you can’t,” Liz smiled at him with affection. “And I don’t really expect you to. I’m just… I’m being a bit selfish.”
“And you have every right to be,” Max kissed the top of her head. “Listen, we have to talk to Langley at some point, don’t we? Why don’t we take a few days off after Christmas and go pay him a visit?”
“Sounds like a good idea, Max,” Liz grinned. “Maybe we should wait till the new year.”
“I don’t know,” Max’s eyes twinkled. “Langley throws the best parties. I would imagine that his New Year’s Eve party would be amazing.”
“Oh, yes, Mr. Evans? And how would you know what his parties are like?”
“I sort of crashed one.”
“Did you?” Liz’s voice sounded dangerous. “I hope you behaved yourself.”
“I most certainly did,” Max pulled his most innocent look.
“Yeah,” Liz smirked before kissing her husband. “I bet.”

* * *

Part 52

“I bet it felt good,” Liz held her husband’s hand as they took their daily stroll through the trees, after lunch.
Max had remembered the feeling of isolation that he and Liz had shared up on the space ship, Nyelda and in an effort to make sure it did not happen again, he had demanded that a number of time slots throughout the day were allocated to be spent with his family and friends.
Firstly, breakfast, lunch and dinner were always to be shared with Liz. Sometimes, family and friends were invited, but always with Liz. Additionally, one hour after lunch was always set aside for just he and his wife. The hour after dinner was for family and friends while Max and Liz were unavailable to anyone, unless it was an emergency - Maria and Michael falling out did not constitute one – after nine o’clock in the evening till after breakfast the next day. Although Bektor did not like it, the rest of the gang accepted it and tried to bring Max their problems when he was in his ‘Leader’ mode. Right now, he was in ‘Soul Mate’ mode.
“What felt good,” Max raised an eye at Liz.
“Healing yourself,” she smiled. “I knew you were still in a lot of pain.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “Now, I’m as good as new.”
“Did you get any visions from yourself?” her eyes twinkled.
With her spare hand, she rubbed Max’s arm that she was holding.
“This feels strange,” Max looked around at the scenery.
There was a light dusting of snow on the ground and a cold wind blew through the dense evergreen trees. Lights shone from the cabins, even this early in the day.
“What does?”
“Being back here, after everything we have been through.”
“Yeah,” Liz agreed. “I just hope Mr. Anderson doesn’t lose too much money over this. All these soldiers are staying for free, and he has to pay for the gas and electricity.”
“I don’t think so,” Max chuckled.
“What do you mean, Max?”
“I saw Kyle and Michael over at the main control room. I think they pulled something highly illegal, and strictly unethical. But I chose not to investigate too closely. So, are the men all comfortable?”
“Women too,” Liz objected. “I think so, yeah,” she nodded. “The cabins are all well made, and very warm, even now, in the winter. I expect they’ve seen worse. Plus, the fact that they have their families with them…”
“I still wonder about the wisdom of that, but then, I wouldn’t want to be separated from my family. What about the Antarians? This must seem so primitive to them.”
“Yeah,” Liz chuckled. “We mixed them up a bit, so that the humans all got a chance to see them, and talk to them. Michael didn’t want any factions or cliques forming.”

“Good afternoon, Max,” Mr. Anderson emerged from the trees. “Liz.”
“I guess he doesn’t know the rules,” Max whispered with a smile. “Hello Mr. Anderson.”
The two men shook hands and then the older man hugged Liz and kissed her cheek.
“I must say, you look much better than you did when you arrived here the other night.”
“Uh… yeah,” Max scratched his ear. “Thank you for letting us use your camp like this.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Mr. Anderson assured him. You know, after…”
“Oh,” Max remembered. “Your daughter will be okay. Nothing strange will happen as a result of me healing her.”
“She’ll be disappointed,” he chuckled. “She’s been looking forward to developing death rays so she can help you.”
“Sorry,” Max grinned. “So, it should be safe for her to come home now.”
“Already in hand,” Mr. Anderson smiled. “She should be getting back later on this afternoon. She can’t wait to see you both again. I actually came up to tell you that someone’s asking for you. Down at the main gate.”
Max and Liz exchanged concerned frowns and followed their host back down the hill. By the main entrance was a large truck. They could see that Michael, Isabel, Maria and Kyle were already there, talking to the driver.
“Granny!” Liz cried, and rushed ahead to meet her dear old friend.
“Oh, Liz!” Granny smiled, releasing Liz from their hug. “Look at you, girl. You get more beautiful every day.” She smiled at Liz’s blush. “Hello Max.”
“Hello, Granny,” he embraced her with a grin.
“My surrogate grandson is already a King, huh?” she teased. “With his own army too.”
“What good’s a king without an army?” Max shrugged.
“All you need now is someone to fight and a castle to conquer.”
“It’s funny you should mention that,” Liz grinned.
“So what’s in the truck?” Max looked at its size. “Did you drive this thing by yourself?”
“I sure did,” she smiled. “I used to haul these things back during the war when the men were all off fighting.”
Everyone was suitably impressed.
“As for the content’s, well, let’s just say that an army marches on its stomach and I have your army’s stomach in there. Enough vittles to last you a month, or maybe two.”
“Granny,” Max shook his head. “You didn’t have to do that. Where on Earth did you get the money?”
“Well,” she smiled. “It seems that since the insurance company suddenly realized that they had processed my claim incorrectly, and added a huge bonus for my trouble…”
“Meaning they settled out of court, big time,” Jesse whispered from behind Max. “I doubt insurance companies like being sued for fraud.”
“…so I didn’t need to sell that corn you kids harvested to pay my mortgage. Oh, and I didn’t have to sell up everything. I sold my farm to my neighbor but hung on to the house. So, I used the money to buy stuff you might need. Oh, and you might like to know that my friends and neighbors all pitched in too. Now that no one has to worry about losing their farm no more, they’re all willing to help one another again. As for not having to, I know that. I wanted to.”
“Thank you,” Max hugged her again. “Now come and meet my family while we leave the unloading to someone else.”

* * *

Although the Antarian soldiers had all been split up and dispersed throughout the camp to help the human soldiers and their families get used to the concept of aliens, they still gathered together at the end of each day. This was to help them relax from the strain that was imposed on them. They were, after all, outnumbered, and to them on an alien planet. Tonight’s topic of conversation was the health of their King. While he had been… ill. It had been a taboo subject.
“So she really said that, Eldugar?” Frimona, one of the female guards double-checked. “Zan’s recovered from that drug and healed himself completely?”
“He doesn’t like to be called Zan,” Eldugar explained. “He doesn’t like being called ‘Your Majesty’ or sire, either. He likes to be called Max. Just Max.”
“I find it strange to use his given name,” Tallen shook his head. “I mean, back on Antar, someone would order our execution for less.”
“Like it or not, I think Antar is in for a big shock if Max returns.”
“If?” Geyshan frowned. “Are you suggesting that our King might not be returning to Antar?”
“He figures his life is here. But I know he will help us to defeat Kivar, so I guess he will come to Antar, if only for a short while. But to return to the earlier question, yes, Max has healed himself.”
“Is it true,” Quonum, Frimona’s room-mate started, “that Her Highness…”
“Liz,” Eldugar interupted.
“Excuse me?”
“She likes to be called Liz. Even by me. She said so.”
“We have a strange King and Queen,” Quonum shook her head
“But they are great,” Tallen nodded his agreement. “All of Antar will worship them.”
“Is it true that… Liz never left his side?” Geyshan asked.
“That is correct,” Eldugar confirmed. “Apart from the one time to shower. She was worried about him, as were we all,” he indicated the group of guards. “But she spoke to him, constantly. Not about duty or responsibilities, but of love and devotion. It was most strange but very enlightening. Bektor will have a hard time getting them to do things the Antarian way. Serena is learning to try to meet them… I was going to say half way, but it’s not even that. Things definitely go the way Max and Liz want them to.”
“They are strange, these humans,” Geyshan shook his head in wonderment.
“Attractive, though,” Moiran, another of the male guards smirked.
“I agree,” Tallen added. He looked around the room. “I would never say this in the presence of anyone else, but I think that Maria is very exciting. She would keep your blood warm in the winter.”
“Don’t let Rath… erm, Michael hear you say that,” Eldugar chuckled. “His temper is not one I would care to test.”
“Are you saying that you prefer human girls?” Frimona raised her eyebrows.
“Uhmm….” Tallen looked guilty.
“Cause now you mention it, that Kyle has a certain something about him.”
“Not to mention Rath himself,” Quonum added.
“Or Zan,” a quiet voice from the back smiled. “I mean Max.”
“Get real, Katya!” Tallen smirked. “You think that you have a chance that Max will throw his Liz over for you? There’s more chance that Antar will appear in the same orbit as the Earth tomorrow.”
“What?” Katya looked at the males smirking at her. “None of you even remotely desires our Queen?”
They all looked away with guilt-ridden faces.
“Thought not,” Katya hooted with laughter.

“Attention,” Eldugar snapped.
Bektor and Serena entered the room as the rest of the guards reacted to Eldugar’s warning.
“Relax,” Serena nodded to them.
“We were discussing the good news of His Majesty’s recovery,” Eldugar told her.
“That’s why we came,” Serena stood in the middle of the room. “Now that Max is one-hundred percent fit, we can now start planning for the assault on the Skins, and the destruction of the new stone.”
Twelve faces looked around the room at each other, becoming more military with that one statement. It was time.

* * *

“Gentlemen,” Max began. He was sitting at the head of a long, rectangular table, around which sat Michael, Kyle, Connie, Jesse, Jim, three majors, two captains and four lieutenants, all from different arms of the military. Colonel Roberts, being an active serving member of the Rangers was away, on duty. At Max’s side sat Liz, holding his hand to lend him moral support for what, to Max, was a difficult task. Planning death and destruction.
“Before we start, Max,” Jim interrupted. “I know how you enjoy her company,” there was an amused chuckle from around the table, “but wouldn’t Liz be more comfortable with the others.”
Michael shook his head with s slight smirk.
“No, Jim,” Liz’s dark eyes burnt a hole through him. “I wouldn’t.”
“Liz,” Jim failed to realize his danger.
“Look,” Liz snapped. “Being a Queen does not mean I have to avoid being anywhere near Max when he’s talking about playing G.I. Joe.”
“This isn’t playing, Liz.”
“I know, Jim. I’m here to make sure that you don’t forget that.”
“Liz is more than my Queen, Jim,” Max interrupted. “She’s more than my wife, even. She’s my partner. That means she goes wherever I go, as long as that is what she wants.”
“Besides that, there are female soldiers out there, human and Antarian. Why shouldn’t we have a female in here where we’re planning what to do with their lives?” Liz looked around the room. “Oh, sorry Connie.”
Jim turned to look at Bektor, a fact that Liz did not miss. She too turned to glare at him. Bektor ducked his head down.

“I know that you are not used to having someone like me…” Max took control again, “or even Michael here, to tell you what to do. I know that you respect experience and I can only hope that what little experience we have gained fighting these people over the last few years will hold us in good stead. The last thing I… we need right now is for anyone to not perform an allotted task because they’re questioning my ability to… lead.”
“We all know what happened out in the desert, Max,” Major Armstead leant forward and looked around at his fellow officers. “We know what you’re capable of, and we have all agreed that you did a fine job under difficult circumstances. All of the men have heard and they all know that it will be an honor to serve under you.”
“Thank you,” Max nodded. “I want you to know that I will do my best. I also want everyone to know that I am not in favor of suicide missions. I refuse to plan any assault that will result in any unnecessary casualties.”
“That can never be guaranteed, Max,” Captain Fowler shook his head. “The enemy will fight hard, as will we. But you can never plan for zero casualties.”
“That’s just how I will plan this,” Max pushed both his hands to the back of his head, interlaced his fingers and leaned forward onto his elbows. “I accept that someone might… die, but I refuse to believe that it is acceptable to expect it.”
He could see the professionals were skeptical, but Max refused point blank to expect any man, or woman, under him, to accept death as an inevitability.

“Here’s the situation as we know it,” Max rose and pulled down a large projection screen. At the other end of the table, Connie rose and turned off the lights. Jesse turned on a projector, throwing a map of Groom Lake and the surrounding terrain. “This is a detailed map of the terrain we’ll be fighting in. Here, here, here and here,” Max pointed to four red triangles that formed four points of a pentagon, “are the bases that the army have surrounded. It’s concealed by some barrier that prevents any kind of detection. Colonel Roberts assures me that any projectile fired into this… force field appears to do nothing. There’s no sign of impact or an explosion. It’s my belief that the force field disintegrates the projectile.”
“His Majesty is correct,” Bektor announced. “Any non-Antarian metal would be detected and destroyed.”
“The same appears to be true of flesh,” Max shook his head. “Two volunteers died trying to enter the barrier.”
“It’s a little less specific than that, Your Majesty,” Bektor added. “While a human entering that field would die, neither you, Michael nor Isabel would. It has more to do with… brain patterns.”
“Thank you, Bektor,” Max nodded to his advisor. “Surrounding each of these ‘bases’ is a company from one branch of the army or another. I even believe Marines have been called in to assist at one of them. Now this site here,” Max indicated the green circle that formed the last point of the pentagon, “is where the new meteorite will land. This will contain the fifth stone, and I have no doubts that there will be reinforcements with it.”
“How many?” Lieutenant Carter asked.
“We don’t know,” Max shook his head. “Now, your guns are not going to work in the conventional manner,” Max looked to see that the new comers understood this. Their nods indicated that they had all heard the stories. “But a bullet to the base of the spine… uh, Liz?”
Liz stood up and turned her back to the room.
“Just here is their weak spot.” Max lifted her shirt while Liz pulled the back of her jeans down a fraction and showed them the small of her back, where the seal would be located. “A bullet there will kill them. Not wound or incapacitate, kill. They explode with a shower of fine dust.”
“Sir,” Captain Stone raised his hand. “I have a question?”
“Yes, Captain,” Max looked at him. “What is it?”
“Will there be females among these… skins.”
“I would think so,” Max nodded with a frown. “Is this a problem?”
“Only if their fannies are as cute as your wife’s.”
The table erupted into laughter. Max blushed. Even Liz turned around with a scarlet face, tucking her shirt in with a swift snap of her hands.
“Moving right along,” Max growled.
“Oh, man, Evans!” Kyle was in hysterics. “The look on your face!”
“Max?” a lieutenant called.
“Is it another comment on my wife’s… about Liz?” Max glared at Lieutenant Carter.
“No, sir,” Carter gained control of his laughter. “It’s about the guns. Our men are trained to shoot at targets, naturally, and of course, we have a number of snipers, but sir? We need more than a few lucky pot shots to take these guys down. I mean, we’ve been trained to use suppressive fire, that is, to shoot bursts of concentrated fire at the enemy positions so that they keep their heads down while other units move up under the cover. If these Skins don’t have to take cover, then we can’t do our jobs as we’ve been trained to.”
“I’m expecting a delivery of guns that will kill them, regardless of where they hit,” Max informed them all. “Plus, the Antarian soldiers each have one of these guns. They don’t all need one; they have… another weapon available to them. Although this alternative won’t kill a skin, it will incapacitate them for a while until someone can finish them off. They’ll take cover when we start showering them with blasts that can kill them.”
“How many guns in total, Max?” Michael asked.
“Three dozen.”
“That’s not very many,” Kyle spoke for all of them.
“It’s better than a sharp stick,” Max shrugged. “Any more questions before we move on?”
“What about air support?” Major Armstead asked. “Can any of the small ships from your mother ship help?”
“I’m afraid not,” Bektor shook his head. “Your atmosphere is too heavy for our ships to maneuver. That’s why we’ve had so many crash on your planet. Although your radar would have trouble detecting us, your weapons would easily knock us out. So would Nikolas’ weapons. Kivar did build a prototype of a ship that should have been capable of flying in your atmosphere, but it didn’t work. It crashed the first time he had it tested here.”
“So there’s your answer,” Max shrugged. “But one thing we do have in our favor is the element of surprise.”
“How do you figure that, Max?” Michael demanded. “Nikolas is not stupid. He knows we’re coming.”
“Yeah, but he thinks there’s only the six of us.”
Everyone started to smile, and nod their agreement.
“So, what’s our, um… status? How many soldiers do we have?”
“We have fifty combat troops, Max,” Major Armstead informed him. The rest of the force consists of support personnel, pilots, medics, communications, that sort of thing.”
“And with Liz’s guard, we have twelve Antarian warriors,” Michael added.
“And us,” Kyle smiled.
“And this, gentlemen,” Max turned to the map, “is our plan.”

* * *

“Your Majesty,” Bektor called. “Might I have a word?”
“As long as it’s quick,” Max checked his watch. “It’s dinner time. Unless you want to wait till after?”
“No, no,” Bektor shook his head. “I shall be quick. It’s about your relationship with her highness.”
“Liz? We’re fine.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. How long have you been… intimate with her?”
“I don’t think that this is any of your business, Bektor,” Max growled.
“I assume that your intimacy started when you married her, right? Last June? So seven Earth months. And how often would you say that you mated?”
“You’re getting off on this, aren’t you,” Max accused. “What’s going on?”
“I suspect that Liz might be barren. I’m led to understand that at this age, the human female is at her most fertile.”
“Don’t be so… stupid, Bektor. I’ve had enough of this conversation.”
“You can’t heal that, Max. Antarian biology is not that different from Human’s. That sort of thing cannot be healed by molecular manipulation.”
“You have no evidence of this, so just… stop it.” Max was getting angry.
“Sire, it is vitally important to maintain your line, now that the Granolith has consented to grant the Royal Seals. You need an heir.”
“We’re still young, Bektor. Liz is not ready to start a family. I’m not even ready. There’s so much we want to do, first.”
“That might not be a possibility,” Bektor snapped. “I have a suggestion. One I think would suit all parties.”
“Go on,” Max sighed, sensing that he would get no peace until he heard Bektor out.
“Remove Liz’s seal.”
“What?” Max’s whole face fell with disbelief.
“You needn’t divorce Liz, or anything. Just give her seal to one of the Antarian female guards so that she might bear your children.”
Max stopped walking and stared hard at Bektor to make sure he had not been drinking any of the alcohol he knew some of the human soldiers carried. “You have till the count of three to get out of my sight.”

* * *

“Are you okay, Max?” Liz asked when she entered their cabin that evening.
It was after nine o’clock. Their time. No one would disturb them, unless it was an emergency. Their time together was so precious to them; it would be a waste if they allowed their moods to impede upon it.
“I spoke with Bektor today,” he allowed his anger to dissipate. “What is up with that man?”
“Why? What did he say?”
“He thinks you might be barren.”
“Does he?” Liz’s voice grew tight.
“He suggested I take away your seal and give it to someone else so I can father an heir.”
“He told me that I had an obligation to Antar.”
“That’s stupid, Liz. I hope you don’t think that I support this theory.”
“No, I know you don’t. But Max? Maybe he’s right.”
“About taking away your seal, or about your obligations?”
“Do you want to take away my seal?
“What?” Max looked shocked. “No way.”
“So…” Liz bit her lip. “Maybe I should consider what he said.”
“Do you want to start a family now?”
“Do you?”
“I asked first,” Max smirked. “But Liz? Honestly? No. Not yet. Not until we can give our children the stability and the security I never had. It’s just not…”
“Fair?” Liz whispered.
“Exactly,” Max nodded. “Besides, we have other priorities before starting a family. We’re young, Liz, and we haven’t been… ‘together’ for too long. Let’s just enjoy our youth while we still can.”

* * *

The dark saloon car pulling the U-Haul trailer was greeted with suspicion by the couple in their late twenties, sitting by the front gate. Although they appeared to be making out, they were actually on sentry duty. It just looked less conspicuous this way. The car pulled over opposite the gate while the inhabitants, a middle aged man and a teenaged girl looked at the map. The man climbed from the car, looked up at the sign and then over at the young couple.
“Excuse me,” he interrupted the couple watching him with a wary mistrust. “Are you guys guests here?”
“Yeah,” the man nodded. “Our regimental reunion.”
“Right, right,” the man nodded. “I’m looking for a young man. Tall, with dark brown hair. He has a gorgeous young wife, with dark hair too, she’s a little shorter. I’m supposed to meet him here.”
“They got names?”
“Um… You know, maybe if there’s someone of that description here, you could tell him that Arthur Anderson and his daughter will meet him at the, uh… there’s a motel about two miles back down the road” Arthur pointed his thumb back over his shoulder. “Tell him we’ll wait there for him.”
“Arthur Anderson? The electronics guy?”
“That would be me.”
“Tell you what. Why don’t I ask the camp owner? I don’t know everyone who’s here, but maybe he might know.”
“Okay. We’ll just…” Arthur nodded at his car.
“Sure,” the man shrugged. He and his girl turned toward the main reception building.

* * *

Max and Liz, accompanied by Michael, Eldugar, Jim and Peggy Anderson, the young girl Max had healed after the failed wages robbery, appeared from the trees that hid the reception office from the main gate.
“There he is!” Terrie squealed. “Max! Max!”
Unable to contain her excitement, Terrie rushed from the car and threw herself in Max’s arms.
“Hey, Terrie,” Max grinned. “Good to see you, too.”
“Oh, please,” Peggy Anderson stared at the spectacle and rolled her eyes. “Could she like, be any more obvious?”
Beside Peggy, Liz covered her smile with her hand.
“Shouldn’t it be me who’s the jealous one here,” Liz asked her in a quiet voice with her eyebrows raised.
“Hello, Max,” Arthur stepped up behind his daughter. “Hello Liz. How are you both? Hello, Jim.”
“Hey, Arthur,” Max joined the hand shaking after untangling himself from Terrie. He nodded at the U-Haul. “I guess those are the uh, merchandise?”
“They are,” Arthur chuckled. “I wouldn’t trust any one else to bring them to you. Oh, and I managed to make a few more.”
“Great, Arthur. Thanks,” Max smiled. “Wheel them in. Michael and I can start testing them.”

* * *

“So,” Granny looked up and down the huge table around which sat Max, Liz their families and friends, sharing their evening meal. “Tomorrow is the big night, huh?”
Sitting across from her, Liz nodded. Although she tried her level best to show confidence and support for her husband’s plan, she could not help feeling all knotted up inside.
“You know, Liz,” Granny smiled. “We’ll really need to start planning for Christmas. We have an awful lot of mouths to feed here, and Christmas dinner doesn’t just happen, you know.”
“It’s kind of hard to think past tomorrow,” Liz looked down at her plate.
Although the chatter around the table appeared to be upbeat, no one was eating. Everyone was dwelling upon tomorrow night’s event. No one would be sleeping tonight.
“I remember the Christmases we used to have, you know, when Glenn was a boy. We wouldn’t put the tree up until Christmas Eve. When it was trimmed, and the lights were all up, we’d sit in front of the fire and have a light snack. Hot Chocolate, marshmallows and Oreo cookies. Glenn would leave out a glass of milk and some cookies for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer and then head for bed, dragging his Christmas stocking behind him. Then, once he was fast asleep, we’d sneak his stocking out from his room and fill it full of little gifts and stuff. He’d find it at the end of his bed in the morning. Then, after breakfast, we’d open our presents together. We’d usually have friends and neighbors over for lunch. Christmas was great.”
“You know,” Liz looked up. “We could maybe put a big tree in the main square.”
“I have enough lights for one,” Mr. Anderson pointed out, overhearing the conversation. “Course, the diner isn’t big enough to hold everyone to eat together.”
“If the weather holds,” Max added, “we could set up makeshift tables outside in the courtyard. Between us, we have enough power to do that. If we need to, we can rig up some kind of roof.”
Max noticed everyone looking at him?
“What?” he asked. “We do everything together. Everyone gets treated equally.”
“But Max?” Michael shook his head. “As long as you accept that some will be treated more equal than others.”
“You know,” Granny continued. “The cooks and the serving staff would have to eat later. Maybe some of us could serve them.”
“No,” Max shook his head. “We’ll have just fought a battle together, and who knows how that will turn out. I want everyone sitting down together, celebrating, together.” He looked around the room. “Now, why don’t we all get an early night? We have a long day ahead of us.”

* * *

They lay together on their bed, in the comfort of their own cabin. Unable to sleep, they had spent their time making love.
“That was…” Liz gasped.
“Incredible,” Max finished. “Yeah.”
“So, thoughts of tomorrow didn’t have an adverse affect on your performance then?”
“You tell me,” Max teased, running his hands over her smooth, naked skin.
They kissed, cuddled and caressed some more, while they slowly came down from the amazing climax they had shared.
“Liz?” Max nuzzled into her ear. “I don’t suppose that there is any way that I can persuade you to stay behind, tomorrow night, is there?”
“About as much chance as Michael has of persuading you to stay behind.”
Max gave her a grin. “I just thought I’d check.”
“I know, Max,” Liz touched his cheek. “It’s just you being you and thinking of me and my safety. And I love you for it.”
“Just promise me that you’ll be careful.” Max poured every inch of his sincerity into his look.
“You too, Max,” Liz returned his steady gaze. “You’re not the only one who wouldn’t be able to function if something bad happened. And I just had a taste of that, remember?”
“Liz?” Max propped himself up on an elbow, and gazed down at Liz’s lips. He moistened his with his tongue. “If something does… happen to me, the Granolith will pass my seal to Michael. You’ve got to…”
“No, Max,” Liz placed her fingers over Max’s lips. He started to kiss them. “Don’t even go there, okay? Not only could I not do that to you, I couldn’t do that to Maria.”
“Oh,” Max gave a smirk. “I was going to say that you need to try to find a way to pass your seal to Maria.”
“Oh,” Liz blinked. “You know, Max? I don’t think it works that way. Besides, can you really see Michael and Maria as the king and queen?”
They started to chuckle.
“But nothing will happen to either of us as long as we are both careful,” Liz finished.
“I love you, Liz Evans,” Max descended to her lips.
“And I love you, your majesty,” Liz started to nibble Max’s lips.
“I’ll give you all the majesty you can handle,” Max started to tease her with his fingers.
“Promises, promises, Max,” Liz giggled.
She rolled away from him, and started to rush for the bedroom door. Max rose from the bed, lifted his hand and using his powers, pulled her back to him and shut the door. He gave her a kiss filled with love and adoration.
“You’re such a cheater,” Liz shrieked.
“You’re just a bad loser,” Max started to kiss his way down her neck and across her chest.
Liz pulled his face to hers and started to kiss him, suckling his lips while grinding her body against his in a way that made his knees start to weaken.
“Who says I lost?” Liz smirked, pulling Max down onto their bed.

* * *

Part 53

The tension could have been cut with a blunt knife. No one spoke as they assembled in the sheltered canyon, about fifteen miles away from the meteorite's landing site. The day had been spent ferrying the participants there, away from the prying eyes of whatever authorities might be present. Like the rest of the soldiers, the teenagers had changed into desert issue battle dress. They had discarded the kevlar body armor, knowing that it would prove useless against the energy blasts of the Skin's. Liz had had to alter her kit as they had nothing in her size. No one could ever remember seeing a soldier as small as her. They had fallen over with laughter when her head disappeared beneath the smallest helmet they could find, a much needed break from the ever rising anxiety.
"Whoa, Liz," Max teased. "How can you look so sexy in camouflage?"
"Natural talent," Liz smirked. "Get your head out of the gutter Evans." Liz gave Max's shoulder a playful slap.
"Here, Liz," Jim, in charge of allocating the Antarian guns offered one to Liz.
"No," Liz shook her head. "Give the gun to someone who needs it. I have this personal guard, remember? If I need to shoot anybody, he can do it for me."
"Are you sure, Liz?" Max looked at her. "I'd feel happier if you could defend yourself.
"Max? With you AND Eldugar there? Please. Besides. I can blast butt too, you know."

* * *

Elsewhere, the various couples, unused to the concept of preparing for battle, were having similar conversations to the one Max and Liz had resolved the previous evening.
"Maria," Michael groaned. "Look! I want you to stay behind, okay? You're no soldier."
"If Liz goes, I go," Maria crossed her arms and stared at Michael. "So see if you have any luck with her."
"If Max couldn't stop her from going, what chance have I got?"
"Exactly," Maria smirked, placing her helmet onto her head. "I go."
"Look, Maria," Michael started.
"So, tell me. How did you deal with Max making all the plans?" Maria knew which of Michael's buttons to press.
"He discussed the options with me, first," Michael shook his head. "I made one or two suggestions."
"You didn't feel... I don't know, surplus to requirements or something."
"It was kind of hard, finding out that Max was the one who knew what to do, you know? That he was the tactician while I just followed orders."
"I think you were more than that to him," Maria pointed out. "I mean, you didn't betray him like Kivar thought you would, so you must have been good friends. Like you are here. But it's more than that. You wanna know what I think? I think that while Max made the plans, he knew that you would not only follow them, but be able to change them on the fly if you have to. You and Max will make an awesome team."
"Thank you, Maria," Michael nodded after a while. He laid his hand across her shoulders. "Coming from you, that means a lot."

* * *

"Connie," Kyle watched as she checked the Browning her father had given her. Their assigned duties meant that they would have no need for an alien weapon. "You know, of all of us, you're the only one who actually looks like you belong in battle dress."
"Are you going to try to persuade me to stay behind?" she looked at him with her head twisted sideways. "'Cause you know, it should be me trying to persuade you to stay. I've actually had some training for this."
"I'd love to stay here," Kyle grinned. "Or even back at the camp. You know, where it's safe. But I won't and neither do I expect you to. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with it. I mean, this isn't really your fight, is it? Ever since you hooked up with us, it's been one crazy nightmare after another. And this is kind of dangerous."
"I can see why you might think that way," Connie nodded. "But, you know, my dad would be dead if Max and Michael hadn't risked their lives so that he could live. The least I could do is risk mine so those two could live. Besides. The odds are better for me now than they were for Max, then."

* * *

"I don't know how to think," Jesse frowned at Isabel's clothing. "I know you're capable of looking after yourself out there, but you know, being a guy, I can't get my mind to look at it that way."
"Will it help if I say I'll be careful?"
"I guess," he nodded.
"As long as you are careful too."
"What can go wrong?" Jesse smirked. "I have my wife to look after me."
"Exactly," Isabel nodded. "So what else is on your mind?"
"Do you really think it's a good idea that both you and Max are in this thing? I mean, what if something happens to Max? Don't you like, take over or something?"
"That would be Michael, remember?"
"Yeah," Jesse nodded. "But that's just some self preservation thing. Doesn't the Granolith decide who would follow Max in the succession? Surely that would be you. Unless Max and Liz..." Jesse pushed his hand through his hair. "I really don't understand any of this."
"It's quite easy, really. Max has the seal, right? And Liz does too, so the next... King or Queen will come from them. If something happens before they have an heir, then that's it. End of the line. The Granolith will take the seals back, when it can. Until then, Michael would take it, and we all know what that means."
"So..." Jesse pursed his lips. "So that means that you have no place in the succession?"
"That's right," Isabel shrugged. "And to be honest, I'm glad. So you see, it's not me you should be trying to stop from taking part in this fight. It's Max. Or Liz."
"Fat chance."
"Exactly."

* * *

"Now you be careful out there, James Valenti," Amy helped Jim to button his jacket. "You're not as young as the rest of these guys, so leave the heroics to them, okay?" Although not taking part in the battle itself, Amy had accompanied them to assist with the aide station that would be set up. Her knowledge and experience of medicinal herbs was an angle they wanted to exploit, should the need arise. They all knew Max would heal those he could, but they also knew that his energy was not limitless. After the fight, who knew what condition Max would be in.
"I'm going to pull my weight, Amy," Jim warned her. "I'm not just going along for the ride, you know."
"I know," Amy held Jim's lapels. "But that doesn't mean you have to try to outdo the kids, okay? They don't expect any heroics from you. And no showing off."
"No, Ma'am," Jim chuckled.
Amy grabbed his lapels and pulled him to her level, where she gave him a serious kiss.

* * *

All too soon, the preparations were complete, and the soldiers had lined up into their designated squads. Max, accompanied by Liz, Michael, Major Armstead, and Bektor, climbed up onto a raised wooden platform. A hush descended upon the canyon as everyone waited for Max to speak.
"I just wanted to let you all know... how much I... how much WE appreciate your help. I know that this isn't your fight yet, but I do know that one-day, it will be. This is quite a moment. Antarians and Humans will be fighting a planned battle together for the first time in history, but it will not be recorded. History will not remember it. We're fighting in a war that neither of us wants but one we have to win. We can't let Nikolas activate those stones."
A murmur of agreement swept through the assembled warriors.
"There will be no medals, no parades, no welcome home hero banners. Neither will there be televised... funerals. Any death will be marked and mourned only by those of us who... remain. In a world of covert operations, this is about as covert as you can get. There will be no widow's pensions, but if ever I'm in a position to do so, I will see to your families' security. I want you all to know, that I appreciate what you are doing. But you are not just doing this for me. You're doing this for yourselves too. And your families. And your family's families. My enemy plans to destroy this planet, simply because I was raised here. Now, you all know what you have to do. Execute your tasks with the professionalism that I know you have all been taught, look out for one another and please. Be careful. I want to see you all back here tomorrow for our victory celebration."
"Ooh Rah!" the assembled warriors who now swore allegiance to another worldly King resounded their appreciation.

* * *

In that strange late evening darkness of the desert, broken only by the huge lights that illuminated the strange rock formation that sprung up one night, not too long ago, a small squad of soldiers stood their sentry duty. They blocked the make-shift track that had been worn by the comings and goings of military vehicles whose duty it was to contain whatever strange force that had created the brightly lit rocks. Pin points of light disturbed the darkness as they emerged from around a distant butte. Soldiers readied themselves, taking defensive positions and checking their weapons. The rumble of approaching heavy vehicles broke the silence. The trucks stopped a short distance away, and a single figure climbed down from the lead vehicle.
"Halt!" the soldier called out, squinting against the headlight beams. "Who goes there?"
"Friend," the silhouetted figured called.
"Advance and identify yourself." The soldier did not lower his gun.
"Colonel Roberts," the man started moving forward. "Third company, U.S. Rangers." Colonel Roberts handed the man some papers.
"Good evening, Colonel Roberts," the sentry examined the papers and snapped to attention with a salute.
"At ease, soldier," Roberts returned the salute, "Time for you to go home. We're your relief."
"Yes, sir. Thank you sir," the soldier responded. He turned to his men still in the darkness. "You heard the man," he called. "Let's move it on out!"
Half an hour later, Colonel Roberts stood beside Sergeant Perkins watching his men take up the defensive perimeter while the previous incumbents headed back to their base for much needed R and R.
"That went well," Perkins watched the last of the trucks disappear around the corner.
"I hope everything else goes as easily," Roberts turned away to the communications tent.
"Knight takes Rook," Roberts spoke into a small hand held transmitter.

* * *

"Anything yet?" the tall, young man with short blonde hair asked as he paced across the desert floor.
Beside him, a taller, older and much fuller figured man checked a hand-held device. The dark screen was blank.
"Nothing, Nikolas," Grier told him.
"The ship should be here soon," Nikolas threw a stone into the darkness. "I really thought Zan would have been here by now. Is he going to just let me set up the final beacon? I don't believe he would be so accommodating. Does everyone know the plan?"
"Yes," Grier nodded. "We've taken all the men you've thinned out from the other bases and formed them into squads. Those squads are hiding in the desert and on your signal, will move to trap Zan and the others when they make their assault."
"Why should we try to protect our bases when we can let the humans do it for us? They act as our own guards."
"Zan will never know what hit him," Grier allowed himself a smile of satisfaction.
"But remember, he's no fool. No one will have as good a chance at killing him than that imbecile, DeLuca had. And he still managed to blow it. But it just goes to prove something."
"What's that?" Grier raised his eyebrows.
"Never send an alien to do an Epsilian's job."

* * *

"Knight takes Rook," a voice spoke through Max's ear piece.
He looked up at Michael who had heard the same report in his ear piece. His friend nodded. Max pressed the small transmit button on the side of the small stalk that extended from the clip holding the ear piece to just in front of his mouth.
"White King's Pawn to b3," he commanded. He looked around at the rest of his small group. "It's started. I hope this works."
His comrades all patted his shoulder. No one said a word. What was there to say?
"It's a good plan, Max," Liz broke the silence that seemed oppressive. She looked to the others for confirmation.
"Yeah," Michael nodded. "It is. But just in case something goes wrong, don't forget that we don't really know how Nikolas' mind works. He might not do what we expect him to."
"Expect the unexpected," Max nodded. "I'm hearing that a lot lately."
Max went to Liz's side, needing the warmth of her arms around him. She accepted him without question.
"How long do you think it will be 'till we know?" she murmured into his chest as she welcomed the strong arms that enveloped her.
"I'm sure he'll react quickly," Max laid his cheek on the top of Liz's head. "If he reacts at all."
"God, I hope he does what we want him to," Liz allowed herself a moment of doubt. "What would you do? If you were in his place, I mean."
"I guess I'd react the way we think he would."
"There you are, Max," Liz smirked. "So stop worrying."
"It's time, Max," Michael called from the short distance away he had moved to.
Max looked at his watch, pressed the button to illuminate the face and nodded.
"For good or bad," Max looked around at his group, "here we go." He pressed transmit again. "White King to e8," he said with a confidence he was not feeling.
The small group assembled around him turned toward the waiting helicopter, its rotor blades starting to whine as they turned. The last to board was Max. He glanced at the other three helicopters, turned his hand in circles around his head and climbed inside. The other three helicopters started their rotors and at last, they all lifted from the ground.
"At last," Michael shouted over the roar of the chopper blades.
Max felt a momentary feeling of disgust at Michael's enthusiasm, but action was Michael's forte. Unlike Max, he was in his element.

* * *

Grier kept his eyes fixed on the blank display of the scanner while Nikolas continued his pacing.
"Twenty minutes," he muttered. "And still no sign of that bastard. I was sure he would want to get here before the drop-ship arrived. Surely he knows that it will bring us reinforcements."
"Maybe he's not around no more?" Grier smirked. "From what Baurline told us, there was a lot of blood on that roof. Even Zan couldn't have survived that."
Nikolas leveled a cool, steady stare at Grier.
"Or maybe he just doesn't know where it's gonna land? Maybe he hasn't figured out what the other bases are? Or maybe he's just plain scared."
"He's out there, Grier," Nikolas turned himself in a slow three hundred and sixty degree arc, staring hard into the darkness. "I can feel him. Besides, Baurline says that the detectors have been going crazy all day. Says it's like he's everywhere at once. That's the trouble with the longer-range scanners. The fool couldn't get a fix on him, but he's out there."
"Nikolas, sir?" a voice crackled over a small device on Nikolas' belt.
"What?" Nikolas barked into his communicator when he had lifted it to his face.
"This is Commander Gatak, from Zeta Quadrant. I'm picking up four contacts, due north of us. They're heading our way, apparently on foot."
"What?" Nikolas demanded. He sounded shocked. "Are you sure?"
"Yes sir. They appeared a few moments ago in sector AX21. We've been monitoring them carefully in case they were just echoes or something."
"How many men do you have?" Nikolas already knew the answer. He had withdrawn almost everyone from his bases. He had never expected Zan to assault one of the bases.
"You only left us with six, sir," Gatak confirmed.
"Are the human soldiers still in place?"
"They are, sir. But you know as well as I that Zan is more than capable of sneaking through their lines."
"But not if he has any human helpers with him." Nikolas narrowed his eyes and stroked his chin.
"He wouldn't need them. The force shield won't keep Zan or Rath out, and we are no match for four of them united."
"Keep me informed," Nikolas barked. "I'll get reinforcements to you right away." He snapped the communicator back onto his belt. "Grier, Zan's coming for the Zeta stone."
"I heard sir," Grier was already speaking into his communicator, calling the officers to him.
"He's coming from the North," Nikolas turned to the large three-dimensional holographic map behind him. "We're almost directly south of them, and they're on foot. We can still beat him there. Leave enough men to receive Vardal... at least two squads. Get the rest mounted. Split up into three columns. Take this, this and this route. We'll approach from the South, and from the east and west. We'll squeeze Zan between the two pincers and hit him in force from the front.
Grier looked at Nikolas.
"Come on," he ordered. "What are you waiting for? Get those soldiers back in here. We don't have any time to lose. Let's move."
Grier shoved his scanner into a pocket and turned to issue the orders.

* * *

"Anything yet?" Kyle asked Connie in a low voice.
"Not since you asked me..." Connie checked her watch, "...twenty seconds ago." She returned to watching a large cluster of rocks through the enhanced night vision, high powered binoculars.
With a couple of ex-special force soldiers, they had spent the better part of that day moving into their positions to watch Nikolas's encampment. Being one-hundred percent human, they would not register on any alien scanners. Once they had melted into the darkness, there had been no sign of their 'protectors' for hours, but they both knew they were being well looked after.
"Wait!" Connie murmured. She stared at something in the compound. "Something's happening."
"At last," Kyle released the breath he had held since Connie's exclamation. "Max is already on the move. So what are they doing?"
"It looks like they're getting ready to pull out. Yeah, yeah. They're getting into ... trucks. Where did they get army trucks? Yeah, there they go."
"Great," Kyle shook his head with relief. "Which way did they go?"
"Ummm..." Connie looked disappointed. She seemed to be checking in multiple positions. "They're splitting up. They're taking all three possible routes."
"Damn!" Kyle swore and hit the ground with his hand. "Which route did Nikolas take?"
"I didn't see any sign of a kid," Connie shook her head. "Sorry."
Kyle reached up and touched a button on the stalk by his mouth.
"Black King to A7, B7 and C7," he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Rolling."

* * *

"Black King to A7, B7 and C7," Kyle's voice echoed in Isabel's ear. "Rolling."
"What does that mean?" Isabel snapped. "How can he be going down all three routes at the same time?"
"I think he means that he's split up his forces," Jesse spoke as the voice of reason. He pulled out his map. "We knew that he had to take one of those routes to avoid the detection devices around Groom Lake. He's just taking all three. Look." Jesse traced each of the routes. "Actually, it's quite clever really. He could use the ones from the east and the west to act as pincers and use the other one as a frontal assault. You guys wouldn't stand a chance."
"I'll be sure to tell Max that," Isabel rolled her eyes. "I can't believe it. Max's plan is actually working."
"It was a good plan, Isabel," Jesse frowned. "Sometimes, you don't give your brother enough credit."
"That's Liz's job," Isabel smirked. "I'm his sister."
"So which route do you think Nikolas has taken? Did Kyle's message say?"
"No," Isabel shook her head. "I don't think he knows. But knowing Nikolas, he will be in the group that makes the frontal assault. He will want to be able to see Max's face when he confronts him. He'll be in this one." Isabel pointed to the middle route.
"Perfect," Jesse nodded. "All we need to do now is hope that they don't check their own scanners too early and spot our ambush."
"Even if they do," Isabel shrugged, "they'll be trapped in that gorge. We knew we'd have to fight it out anyway. Surprise would just make it easier."
"They'll be here soon," Jesse nodded. "Let's get the men set up."
"There are women here to, you know, Jesse."
"Figure of speech," Jesse smirked. "But just for you, let's get the men, women, aliens and humans set up."
"Funny, Jesse," Isabel rolled her eyes behind his departing back. "Funny."

* * *

"Black King to A7, B7 and C7," Kyle's voice echoed in Max's ear. "Rolling."
"He's split his forces," Max yelled over the noise with a nod of his head. There was a slight smile on his lips. "Good. That makes Isabel's job easier."
"It would be if Kyle knew where Nikolas was," Michael responded.
"He's in the middle group," Liz shouted. "Isabel will know that."
"Care to explain how you figure that?" Michael raised his eyebrows.
"Because he wants to be the one to take Max down," Liz shrugged, though her action was lost beneath her combat jacket. "He's planning a classic pincer movement. He'll be in the main thrust from the south that will... hope to catch us. He'll be there."
"What's our E.T.A.?" Max called out to the pilot.
"Three minutes, Max."
"And the meteor?"
"We don't know for sure," he shook his head. "But best guesses indicate about five to ten minutes after us."
"Okay," Max nodded. "If we don't get enough time before it arrives, we'll just have to improvise."
"He's getting good at this," Michael observed to Liz.
"He's always been good at it, Michael," Liz gazed at her husband in adoration. "You just never listened."
"In the words of Maria," Max yelled so that everyone could hear him. "Let's rock and roll!"

* * *

Part 54

“It’s started,” Philip ceased his pacing of the diner in Camp Sawtooth and glanced at his watch.
At the far wall, one of the radio engineers with the earphones raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up. There were a few muted cheers from the other technicians, but no one was getting too excited. There was still a long way to go. At the table that was shared by Nancy, Diane, Jeff, Mrs. Ramirez, Granny, the Anderson’s and the Carlton’s, Jeff reached across to a chess set and moved the white knight to knock over the black rook.
“I wish it was over,” Diane groaned, wringing her hands in her lap. “I hate this waiting.”
“You and me both,” Terrie mumbled from where she sat with her head buried in her folded arms.
No one wanted to go to bed. They all decided to wait up all night, hoping to hear any news if and when it came in.
“We all do,” Mr. Anderson agreed.
“It was easier when we didn’t know exactly what they were up to,” Nancy nodded. Her hands were on the table flicking the empty coffee mug on its bottom rim with her fingers to make it spin in lop-sided circles. “Sure we worried. But because we could hope that they were enjoying a moment of calm, the worry was the ‘I hope they’re all right’ kind.”

“Max won’t let anything happen to Liz,” Philip offered his comforting words.
“Philips right,” Jeff reached over and took the cup away from Nancy. Like everyone else, the sound it produced was beginning to grate on his nerves. “You know he’ll look after her.”
“I know,” Nancy nodded. “But what happens if anything goes wrong? I mean, this is like… a war. What if anything was to happen to Max? Who would care for our little girl then?”
“They all will,” Diane had turned a very pale color at the thought. Her hands clenched together causing her knuckles to whiten.
“Max should have let Philip and I help,” Jeff complained.
Philip nodded his agreement.
“How would giving Max two extra people to worry about help him?” Granny, who showed less anxiety than the others, asked. It wasn’t that she didn’t share their fears. She was just able to mask them better. “Neither of you have any military training, you’re not used to firearms and you’re not as fit as you used to be. How could you help?”

“Jim’s out there,” Nancy pointed out. “So’s Amy.”
“Jim has had training,” Granny pointed out. “He knows how to handle a gun, and himself. And Amy is well away from the fighting. She’s there to help the medics.”
“Granny’s right, Jeff,” Philip nodded, copying the kid’s calling her by that. “We’d just be in the way.”
“We’d be an extra pair of eyes,” Jeff refused to accept that he was unable to help protect his daughter. “We could be watching their backs.”
“And Max would have to watch yours, instead of what he’s supposed to do. Look, he knows how important you are to Liz, Jeff. Do you think Max would let anything happen to you, knowing it would destroy her?”
“Max’s plan is a good one,” Philip walked across to the counter where flasks of hot coffee were being kept in constant supply. “I mean, I want to be out there as much as you do, Jeff. But I think this is something they have to do on their own. Our kids have grown up.”
“I wish it was over,” Nancy repeated Diane’s earlier comment.

“You know,” Diane looked thoughtful as she pushed her empty cup toward Philip for a refill. “I don’t think that I actually know what the plan is.”
“It’s quite simple really,” Phillip looked around the room. “We know from reconnaissance that Nikolas has managed to withdraw most of the soldiers he had guarding those bases and placed them at the meteorite landing site. He believes that Max will attack him there rather than risk an assault through human containment lines and against an established defense.”
“How do we know he did that,” Arthur asked. “That this Nikolas guy moved those soldiers. I mean, how did we see through that force field?”
“Nikolas’ arrogance,” Philips smiled. “He didn’t believe that human technology could detect him when he snuck the men out during the night. Colonel Roberts has been fully briefed as to the numbers, and of course, has fed them to Max. So, Max’s choice was to attack a defended position, or to assault the landing site and a vast defending force. He needed to take away the initiative from Nikolas, so he’s wrong footing him. Colonel Roberts has arranged for his own company to take over sentry duty around this base here.” Philip pointed to the red triangle marked ‘b4’. “His call sign is White Knight and the containment lines are nominated Black Rook.”
“Knight takes Rook,” Jeff smiled. “That means that Colonel Roberts has his men in position. Max knows that it’s good to go.”
“As soon as they get the signal from Max, four Antarian guards will start to make their way from just outside scanner range toward the base, b4.”
“King’s pawn to b4,” Jeff nodded.
“As soon as they’re in range, they’ll be detected as four contacts on the scanners. We hope that the defenders will call Nikolas…”
“Who will assume that it’s Max and the others,” Jeff finished. “Nikolas will be so scared that Max has outmaneuvered him that he will rush his forces to help defend that particular stone.”
“Meanwhile,” Philip continued “Kyle and Connie have crept into position as close as they can so that they can overlook onto Nikolas.”
“Isn’t that rather dangerous?” Nancy looked worried.
“Sure it is,” Philip nodded. “This whole thing is dangerous. But they’re both one-hundred percent human and so are invisible to the Skin’s scanners. I don’t suppose Nikolas has ever considered keeping watch on the humans. Besides, they have a couple of Special Forces with them. Max didn’t want them out there without someone who knew what they were doing. As soon as Nikolas sends help, down one of these three routes here…”
“A7, B7 and C7,” Jeff intoned from memory.
“… they’ll call Max with a coded message…”
“Black King to whatever 7.”
“Meanwhile, Isabel, along with Jesse, Jim and a number of human troops will set up to ambush the relief column. They’ll take out whatever vehicles they use, snipers will try to pick off any stragglers, while they’ll use blasters at close quarters only if they have to. Isabel’s job is to tie them down, not wipe them out. But the more they kill, the better.”
“Won’t they spot Isabel on their scanner?”
“Max is gambling that Nikolas won’t bother, once he knows that the base is monitoring four contacts. Anyway, when Nikolas makes his move,” Philip looked around the room at the faces all turned to him, “that’s when the fun really begins.”

* * *

“Damn that Zan!” Nikolas punched the dashboard of the truck he was in. Behind him, three more trucks followed. “When did he remember he was a tactician? Ava said he was a dithering fool too wrapped up in that girl to give a damn about anything else.”
“I doubt that’s something you’d forget,” his driver shook his head and looked at the hole Nikolas had left. “Anymore than forgetting your powers. It’s a good thing he doesn’t know about our scanners. He won’t realize that we know exactly where he is until it’s too late. It won’t even matter if he does have those humans with him.”
The color drained from Nikolas’ face, although in the dark, the driver could not see this.
“When Zan attacked the stone the last time, how did the human soldiers react? To us, I mean.”
“Well. The survivors claimed that they seemed less afraid. Once they figured out that there was a way that they could hurt us, they started to aim at our release seals.”
“Grier!” Nikolas called into his communicator. “I think Zan might be playing games. I have a bad feeling about this. You take over. Take half the men to Zeta base, and if you’re there before him, set up a trap or something.”
“Affirmative, sir,” Grier complied. “What about you?”
“I’ll return with the other half of our forces to the landing site, in case his human allies try to attack. I almost forgot that the stone is what’s important here.”

* * *

In a motel, on the outskirts of the infamous town of Rachel, Nevada, Baurline sat in his room, trying his best to zero in on the confusing signals that kept the readings on the machines in front of him leaping all over the place. It didn’t help that the symbols used were not in any human language, but strange purple hieroglyphics.
“Maybe if you spent some time actually teaching me how to use this fucking thing instead of just leaving me to get on with it!” he cursed Nikolas and Grier. “Maybe then I’d know what these fucking symbols meant and what the fuck is going on.”
He turned the dial again which seemed only to change signal strength. As before, the readouts fell when he turned the dial counter clockwise and rose when he turned it the other way.
“Stupid machines,” he spat, slapping his hand against it.
He caught a near invisible button by accident. It illuminated briefly with a strange symbol and then returned to normal. At once, instead of the multiple spiked and peaked readings, the readout steadied, for the first time since he had started using this machine.
“What the?” Baurline started to move the direction finder. A soft bleep made him stop. The figures seemed to be steady. “Got you!” Baurline shouted with glee.
He read out some figures, and punched them into the computer that Grier had set up for him. On the 3D image of Groom Lake, four distinct dots appeared due North of one of the black Circles Nikolas had seemed so keen on.
“I’ll just check the other settings, before I call Nikolas,” Baurline decided.
He turned to the button, felt for it, and pressed it. A new symbol lit up and then faded. He started to move the direction finder. The readings changed. Once he had punched the new figures in, a single dot appeared midway between the black circle, and the red dotted square that he knew Nikolas was waiting at. Baurline stared at the single dot with a frown. He retyped the original readings, and the single dot was replaced by the four dots to the north of the black circle. Again, he frowned. Baurline typed in both sets of figures, separated by a comma. Both sets of dots, five in total, appeared at their original positions. Baurline rose and started to pace around the room. What did this mean?

“There’s another one!” Baurline decided, his face looking surprised.
He had never considered that there might be more than four, but then, six kids took off. Why would they not be alien, too?
He pressed the button again, moved the finder, and read off the results. He entered these into the computer by themselves, and watched as six dots appeared inside the black circle. Baurline’s eyes widened. Repeating the steps, he started to isolate six dots at each of the black circles and a huge amalgamation by the red dotted line.
“Shit!” Baurline exclaimed. “There’s a whole fucking army of them!”
Sweat started to bead on his forehead. Another tap of the button showed eleven dots headed for the box.
“Two fucking armies. It’s a fucking war! And I’m in the middle! Son of a bitch!”
Realization came to Baurline like a wrecking ball meeting a derelict building. His face fell and drained of all color. He slid his hand through his close cropped hair. Nikolas and Grier were aliens.
“Damn!”
He had been working with aliens the whole time. They were paying his pay-check. He wanted to run – he even grabbed his coat and headed for the door - but even as he took the first step, he remembered something. An alien was responsible for the deaths of too many good men and the ruination of too many careers. Too many to be abandoned just like that, and allowed to live freely and do who knows how much damage? He owed it to Pierce, to Summers, to faceless others. He owed it to the countless casualties at Edwards Air Force base. He owed it to his country. He owed it to humanity. He owed it to himself. This evil alien had to be stopped. Nikolas, another alien himself, wanted this alien too. He would help his alien benefactor get his revenge and then he would turn all of them in and extract mankind’s own vengeance. But first, he had to warn Nikolas that there was a large and possibly hostile alien force moving on his position. He doubted that his employer even knew that force existed. He turned to the radio that Grier had left him.

As he pressed the button, ready to transmit, all hell broke loose. First, the lights went out. The window shattered and he heard something small fall to the ground. The resulting detonation filled the room with noise and a bright light that not only blinded him, but deafened him too. As some minor form of coherency returned, he saw the now darkened room filled with smoke. The whole room started to spin and solid shapes became ethereal shadows. Thin, red lines crisscrossed the darkness. One seemed to be aimed at his forehead. He raised his eyes, trying to see the red spot he knew would be there. A figure loomed in front of him, causing his jumbled mind to recoil in fear. The figure was completely black, and smooth with two large, round shiny eyes. Its mouth was hexagonal, with symmetrical rows of holes, and protruded from its jaw. Baurline could hear the strange sucking sound from its breathing. Strange cylinders protruded at an angle from just below its mouth, at the top of its throat.
“This is the one we want,” a strange, tinny voice called out as it lifted Baurline by his shirt collar.
Baurline felt his arms being strapped together behind his back. He heard a rapid zipping sound when he felt his wrists tighten in an ‘x’ behind him. ‘They use that method too,’ he thought, recognizing the bite of plastic disposable handcuffs. As he was pulled backwards along the floor, trying to keep up and easing the pressure on his neck by scrambling his legs, he saw that the creature’s comrades were dragging another body in while they took his out. The body’s clothing was that of a homeless vagabond, and it looked dead. The last thing Baurline saw, as he was thrown into the creature’s ship, was a strange orange-red glow emanating from the door that was his room.
“I can’t believe it,” his last thoughts before unconsciousness were spoken out loud. “I’ve been fucking abducted by aliens.”

* * *

Part 55

From behind a cluster of rocks, above the mouth of the ravine that Isabel and Jesse were watching; two small red flashes pierced the darkness.
“Only two?” Isabel frowned. “He had lot’s more than that. Max was sure that he would send at least three-quarters of his strength to reinforce that base. Even if he split his columns equally, there should be at least four truckloads.”
“Maybe he sent more in the other two columns?” Jesse shrugged.
“But that doesn’t make sense,” Isabel was worried. “You need the bulk of your force in the middle for the head on confrontation.”
“Two, three or four, Isabel. What does it matter? We guessed wrong and now it’s too late. We take them out all the same. It’s not like those four Antarians will actually assault the base. No way are they walking into an ambush. If the Skins didn’t kill them, Max would.”
“No, you don’t understand, Jesse,” Isabel held his arm. “He didn’t send them all. He held some back. Max is going to attack a much bigger force than he’s expecting. We have to warn him.”
She lifted her hand to the mouthpiece.
“There’s no chess move to cover that, Isabel,” Jesse grabbed her hand. “Max is not stupid. He’ll see that there’s more Skins than he was expecting. It’s not like we knew how many he would send in the first place. We don’t want to go blabbing on the radio and give the game away, okay? Now come on. We have a job to do.”

* * *

“They’re clearing the mouth of the ravine…” There was a pause. “Now!” Jim, watching the two trucks through night-vision binoculars dropped his raised arm to emphasize his timing.
Two army trucks, laden with enemy soldiers moved into the wider expanse of the killing zone that had been especially selected by Max’s military advisors for just this task. From the hidden positions beside him, two missiles leapt out into the darkness. Jim remembered only at the last minute to look away from the impact. The operator’s aim was true, and the two trucks leapt into the air. A shower of flames, metal and the remains of the truck bodies fell to the floor amid the wails of the alien passengers.
“Woo…hee!” Jim crowed. “Would you look at that?”
From around the high rock walls, red lines reached out to seek the targets, or as the soldiers now referred to the alien’s seals, their ‘cute fannies.’ The Skins recognized the threat at once – although not before two of their number had exploded in a shower of dust - and twisted themselves out of the laser sightings. A tall, rather tubby man barked out orders in a language that no one understood. The Skins scurried for whatever cover they could find, taking care to press their backs against the rocks, or even each other, in their efforts to protect their weak spots. They then used their own blasters by aiming at the origin of the sighting lasers. A blast of energy struck the rocks near to Jim’s vantage point, causing him to dive for cover.
“Damn!” Jim swore at himself. He wiped his hand across his face and pulled it back to show it was covered in blood. Amy was going to kill him, if the Skins didn’t do it for her. “Acting like a damn raw recruit!”
“Go to visual,” Isabel’s voice commanded over the radio.
At once, the red lines vanished, but the Skins did not move, except to maneuver themselves into tactically better positions.
“How long do you figure we need to hold them up?” Jim asked his neighbor, a veteran of the first Iraqi war and of Afghanistan.
“We could leave now,” the soldier smiled while aiming his sniper rifle at the shapes below. “They ain’t going anywhere soon. But as we have no other task to perform, we stay till we’re ordered.” He fired at his target but shook his head when he missed. “This is almost like shooting rats in a barrel.”
A group of Skins rose from behind some shelter and made a break for the ravine walls. One was struck by a sniper bullet from behind and vanished. As they approached the shelter of rocks, a number of figures rose and fired at the oncoming enemy. Afterwards, the soldiers said that the look of surprise on their enemy’s faces were priceless.
“Yep,” the sniper fired off another shot. This time, he found a Skin who had exposed his seal for only a fraction of a second. He exploded. “Rats in a barrel.”

* * *

At the sound of the approaching rotors, Kyle and Connie rose and watched the four dark helicopters swoop in low and fast and land in a semi-circle in front of the meteorite’s landing position. Dark shapes scrambled from the choppers and scurried into cover. The helicopters lifted off again, and keeping low, pulled back from the landing zones, to wait a mile back where they would wait for instructions. It was over in a few seconds, before any of the Skins could react. From Kyle’s side, he heard the tell-tale percussion of a sniper rifle. Their protectors now had another duty to perform. To help keep the Skins pinned down so they could not react to the assault squads.
“Did you get him?” Kyle asked.
“Nah. But he’ll think twice about moving again,” the reply came back.
“Buddha?” Kyle looked up at the sky and mumbled. “Do you think you could get together with all your pals up there and keep an eye on us all?”
“How do you think its going?” Connie reached out and took Kyle’s hand.
The squads in the helicopters were working well together. While three of them laid down ‘suppressive’ fire – a hail of bullets at waist height mixed with the energy blasts of the Antarian guns – the fourth squad would scurry to shelter nearer their target. Each squad split into two separate squads, making eight in total in an attempt to encircle the Skin’s position. It was a constant treadmill; cover fire, advance, cover fire, advance. Kyle watched as the group he knew to contain Max and Liz moved behind the shelter of a low ridge. The ridge would bring Max almost to the Skin’s rear. With his shield and the alien guns, Kyle doubted that resistance would last for very long, once he started to move into their middle. He regretted his lack of alien signal that made him the excellent choice for this lookout task. Kyle wanted to be down there, with his friends. Something caught his eye. Kyle looked up and saw approaching headlights. As soon as he spotted them, they went out.
“Oh, no!” Kyle gasped. “This is not good.”
“What?” Connie had been watching Michael and Maria’s squad.
“Nikolas is coming back,” he pointed down the ravine.
Connie raised her binoculars and with the night vision, saw the approaching vehicles.
“Shit!” she swore. She lowered the binoculars to Max’s position. She saw him leading his soldiers, each holding their weapons ready. “They’re heading straight for Max.”
“Screw orders,” Kyle lifted his hand. “Now I’m glad I let grandpa teach me how to play chess all those years ago.” He pressed his transmit button. “Uh, Black King to e8! Check! Check! Check!”

* * *

“I don’t think that any of us consider this to be fun, Philip,” Diane scolded. “That’s our kids out there.”
“Sorry,” Philip acknowledged. “My enthusiasm gets the better of me, sometimes.”
“He’s like that in court, too,” Diane rolled her eyes.
“Anyway,” Philip shrugged. “As I was saying, Isabel will wait until the enemy column has advanced out into the open and the forces in her command are surrounding them. Once they are surrounded, Jim will give the word and they’ll take out their vehicles with some wire guided TOW missiles. That means we have more than half of Nikolas’ army stranded in the middle of nowhere and pinned down. Isabel will then take out as many Skins as she can before melting down their prepared escape routes ready to be collected later.”
“While that’s going on,” Jeff continued. “Max, Liz and the rest of them will zoom in on the helicopters and land a short distance away from the meteorite landing site. They have to move quickly, because they need to circle the enemy forces and knock them out before the meteorite lands. That’s the uh… Black Queen. The plan is to take the reinforcements without a fight. They, uh…” Jeff started to falter.
“Let’s just say that this is Max’s least favorite part of the plan,” Philip finished. “Once both Max and Isabel have engaged the enemy, the helicopters will start to ferry any… casualties to their base camp where Amy is with the rest of the medics. When it’s all over, they can start ferrying everyone home. I expect Max will be the last one back.”
“Won’t the authorities be interested in all of this helicopter activity?” Arthur asked. “I mean, they’re already watching this place closely. Isn’t there a no-fly zone or something?”
“Friends in high places,” Philip grinned. “Colonel Roberts is taking care of it. I didn’t ask too closely.”
“I wish it was over,” Peggy moaned.

* * *

“Uh, Black King to e8! Check! Check! Check! ” Kyle’s voice surprised Max.
He was not expecting any more radio reports so he jumped when the voice rang out in his ear. The news this one brought him was immediately understood. Max looked toward the mouth of the ravine he knew the reinforcements that Nikolas had originally sent to the other base would return.
“Private,” he waved up the soldier carrying their TOW missile. “There’s a column heading toward us from up that ravine.”
The soldier nodded, understanding the threat at once.
“As soon as you can make the shot, I want you to take out the first truck. Do you think you can do that?”
“I’ll need to get closer.”
“Eldugar,” Max looked around. “Go with him, just in case.” He turned back to the soldier. “If you miss, just get the hell back here. Okay? Don’t take any risks.”
The soldier nodded, and with the reluctant Eldugar, who felt that his place was at Liz’s side, they headed toward the ravine.
“White Knight One?” Max held the transmit button.
“White King, this is White Knight One. ” Major Armstead responded.
“Expect the Black King down the ravine to my back. Can you see it?”
“Affirmative, sir. I heard the message and understand. ”
“We need to buy us some time. Can you get your TOW guy closer? We’ll take out the first truck. They’re bound to try to just pass it. If you knock out the next one, it’ll block the ravine and they’ll have to approach on foot over open ground.”
“White King, this is White King’s Bishop, ” Michael’s voice joined the conversation. “Want me to move a pawn or two your way? ”
“Negative, King’s Bishop,” Max shook his head. “Keep the rest driving for the middle ground. Clear out the Black Pawns so you can capture the Queen. White Knight One can help me hold back the Black King and his Knights.”
“Okay, ” Max could tell from the reluctance in his confirmation that Michael wanted to rush to his assistance, but there was a larger picture to consider.
“What’s going on, Max?” Liz looked worried. “What did Kyle mean, and where are Eldugar and that man going?”
“Nikolas wised up,” Max frowned. “He’s coming back.”
“Can we fight him and these others too?”
“I don’t think so, Liz,” Max scratched his ear.
“It’s all falling apart, isn’t it?” Liz was staring at the end of the world.
“No!” Max took both of her shoulders in his hands. “It’s just a setback, Liz. We’ll hold them off, while Michael finishes the job.”
“If he can’t, how will we get away?”
“Well, when they start to get close, you and Eldugar can slip around the side here, and….”
“No,” Liz placed her hand over Max’s mouth. “I’m not running away. Either we both walk away from this, or we stay here to the end, together.”
Their eyes locked. Max finally nodded and gave her a smile.
“Together,” he agreed.
A detonation behind them drew their attention. Nikolas’s first vehicle had been struck by the TOW. Almost straight away, a second truck, moving around his fallen comrade was struck by another missile. A small fireball lit up the desert sky.
“He got the gas tank,” Max shook his head.
“A few less to worry about then,” Liz grabbed his arm.
“Come on,” he nodded. “Let’s get ready for our guests.”

* * *

“What’s he doing?” Connie asked when she saw two of Max’s men move toward the ravine. “I thought he said no suicide missions?”
“What’s happening?” Kyle peered into the darkness.
“Two guys just headed off that way,” Connie handed the binoculars to Kyle while pointing toward Max’s position.
“It’s probably the guy carrying the missile launcher,” the nearby hidden sniper called out to them. “He needs to get closer. If Max is smart, he’ll try to block that ravine with destroyed trucks and force them to come on foot.”
“It’s what he’s doing,” Kyle nodded. “There’s another guy with a missile on the far side moving closer.”
“Then he’s smart, this Max. I hope he’s as lucky.”
“Max makes his own luck,” Kyle rolled his eyes.
He scanned the rest of the field with the binoculars. Down below, Michael was starting to drive the squads forward with a fierce intensity. He could almost sense the urgency from up here. He could see one or two men down, one with a medic in attendance, but he could not tell if they were just wounded or dead. Kyle could feel the inspiration Michael was emanating as the soldiers followed his lead. The circle was nearly complete, except that Max and another squad - it looked like Major Armstead - had been forced to face the direction of the returning Skins. Kyle swung the binoculars back to the ravine to check the progress of Nikolas’s trucks. Max was in a very dangerous position.
“Aaaaah!” he cried out in pain, dropping the binoculars as the first explosion illuminated the sky. Kyle stumbled and fell to the floor. “Jesus H. Christ!”
“Kyle!” Connie was at his side in an instant.
So too was the sniper, appearing from nowhere.
“Has he been shot?” she demanded while the sniper checked Kyle over.
“No,” he chuckled, watching Kyle holding his eyes. “He’s just learned the hard way not to watch explosions with night vision.”
“Oh,” Connie nodded, just as a second, brighter explosion lit up the sky. “You okay, babe?”
“Are you okay, here, do you think, Ma’am,” the sniper asked. “His eyes won’t return to normal for some time, but they’ll be fine.”
“Yeah,” Connie nodded. “Why?”
“We’re going to go help Max. Lay down some covering fire from that ridge up there.”
“Oh, okay,” Connie nodded. “You, uh… be careful, right? Remember what Max said.”
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “But the battlefield is a fluid place. When a situation changes, so do the rules. Max needs some help, and we can give it to him. Don’t worry. I’ll be there to get a Christmas dance off you.”
“Huh,” Kyle growled. “Not if I see you coming.”
“You won’t,” the soldier smirked.
“I’ll start heading for the aide station,” Connie pointed out into the desert.
“Negative,” he shook his head. “You stay put. It’ll be safer for him up here. You might get turned around down there, and get lost.”
“I can read a map,” Connie objected.
“Please, Ma’am. Remember what Max said? No unnecessary risks. Taking him out there is both a risk, and unnecessary. I know you’re capable an’ all, but we’re in enough trouble as it is, okay?”
“Okay,” Connie sighed. She looked down at Kyle. “We’ll stay here.”
When she looked up again, the soldier was gone.
“Do you make a good Seeing Eye dog?” Kyle moaned.
“Nope,” Connie pulled him into a hug. “Stop rubbing your eyes. You’ll only hurt them more.”
“I bet you’d look good in one of them white dresses. Really, really short, you know? And high heels.”
“I don’t have the patience to play wet nurse to your erotic fantasies,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re on your own.”
“No I won’t be,” Kyle tried to smirk, but the pain was too intense. “I’ll get Liz’s sympathy. I wonder if she would wear a nurse’s uniform.”
“In your dreams, cowboy.” Connie kissed his eyes.

* * *

Michael waited for the count. Like all his men, they waited for their chance to break for the next cover.
“Now!” a young soldier called out. Michael and the other six soldiers in his squad leapt from their cover and rushed toward the rocks that marked their next vantage point. Energy blasts bounced around them, but they reached the safety of the rocks with no casualties.
“Maria?” he called out. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” her shaky voice responded. She sounded out of breath. “Why didn’t you persuade me to stay behind, Guerin?”
In the darkness, Michael grinned and shook his head. He bit back the ‘I told you so’ that tried to emerge. He twisted himself, and peered through the gap between two boulders. So far, he had not seen any sign of the enemy, but he knew they were there. He stared hard at the positions.

“White King’s Bishop, how is it going? ” Max’s voice sounded in his ear.
“Slowly,” Michael responded. “Why? You need help?”
“No. Not yet. It looks like the Black King has chickened out. He’s holding back. ”
“Probably cause he knows the Queen will be here any moment,” Michael stared up into the darkness. “If they can deploy those reinforcements, we’ll be in trouble.”
“You mean we’re not, now? ” Michael could almost sense Max’s amusement, which made his anger flare. Couldn’t he take anything seriously? “Listen. If you can distract them long enough, I can force a path in with my shield. That should open them up to your final assault. ”
“As long as you’re careful!” Michael ordered. “Don’t let anyone in behind you.”
“’Kay, ” Max agreed. “I’ll keep watch for the right moment to make my move. You go when you see my shield. ”
“Damn him!” Michael growled as he turned to study the Skin’s positions again.
“Who, sir?” a soldier asked, surprised by the venom in Michael’s explosion.
“Max,” Maria smirked. “Don’t worry about those two. They love each other really.”
“Shut up, soldier,” Michael growled.
Maria rolled her eyes, causing the soldier to snicker at her antics.

It was nearly time for them to move again. Michael had not taken his eyes from the enemy lines. He was desperately searching for his way in. At last, his patience, not something he was normally known for, paid off. He saw movement and realized he could see a Skin. At once, he concentrated on the Skin and made his strange connection with him. He was no longer with his men behind the rocks, but behind another rock looking out at the hail of bullets and energy that kept his host pinned down. He turned and saw that the Skins were almost all sitting with their backs to the defensive wall, waiting in shallow hollows for their attackers to come over the top and find themselves trapped in a ring of fire. Across the compound, near to where Max was about to start his shielded march into their center, he saw that they had prepared the same kind of surprise.
“They’ve dug themselves in,” Michael informed them all. “We’ve hardly scratched their defenses. He reached for the transmitter. “White King, hold your ground. Repeat, do not advance on the Black Pawns.”
“What’s up, White Bishop? ”
“They’re expecting you. They’ve dug themselves in and our blasters and bullets are having no effect.”
“So we need to reach right over the far side or…” There was a moment of silence. “Remember the dance at the high school with the Black King? ”
“Yeah,” Michael shook his head in disbelief. “No. What are you talking about?”
“Gotta go, ” Max swore. “Black King’s trying for a Check Mate. ”
“Shit!” Michael slammed his hand into the rocks. He could here the gunfire from the other side now. It sounded like Max was being hard pressed. If those Skins he saw waiting for Max chose this moment to counter attack, Max would be in severe difficulty. Black King? Dance? High School? The only time Nikolas had been at the high school was when the Skins had uses that time thing on them, and captured them all at the school. If it hadn’t been for Tess and that strange fireball…”
“Incendiary grenades!” Michael called out. He turned to his men. “Do you guys carry incendiary grenades?”
“Sure,” the soldier nodded. “Standard army issue. Old habits die hard.”
“Use the incendiaries. Lob them just over the top so that the explosion will backfill against the wall. Fire will destroy them just as fast as a kick to the seal.”
“I wish you’d told us that sooner,” one soldier grumbled. “We coulda come out here with flame throwers.”
The message was passed down the line, and one by one, soldiers started to toss grenades across the gap. Fireballs started to explode in the compound, providing the desired effect. Faced with the option of burning to death, or trying to fight their way out of trouble, the Skins started to fight. They climbed from their defensive positions and were now exchanging fire. In the open, the blasters started to find their mark, and there were still the balls of fire that the Skins had to contend with. Headway was being made at last.

* * *

“So we need to reach right over the far side or” Max paused, trying to think of a way to encourage the Skins to leave their defensive positions. Then he remembered Tess’ fireball. “Remember the dance at the high school with the Black King?”
“Yeah, ” Michael sounded skeptical. “No. What are you talking about? ”
“Max,” Liz hissed. “Look.”
Max looked out across the desert and saw that Nikolas’ men were making their move, rushing in waves, zigzagging across the open terrain.
“Gotta go,” Max swore. “Black King’s trying for a Check Mate.” He hoped Michael would work it out. He turned to his men. “Hold the blasters till they’re closer. Concentrate bullets at waste height. When they’re in range, use incendiary grenades. Take cover.” He turned to Liz. “What ever happens, don’t move from my side.”
“Not a chance, Max,” Liz agreed. She knew he would want her behind his shield.
“Eldugar,” Max called. “Keep an eye on that ridge. There’s a squad of Skins waiting just behind it. If they come,” he tossed a grenade to him, “lob this into their midst.”
“Yes, sir,” Eldugar saluted.
“Open fire,” Max called.

* * *

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit” Connie gasped.
“What’s happening,” Kyle twisted his head, trying to picture in his mind what was going on from the sounds below.
“Max is trapped. Nikolas is rushing him. There’s about a dozen Skins hiding behind a ridge, just a little way from Max. I couldn’t see them till Michael started to throw incendiaries. I can see them now.”
“How about Michael? How’s he doing?”
“He’s doing, uh… quite well, actually. There’s two squads nearly at the wall. He’ll be over in a minute. I hope those others don’t attack Max yet. Oh no! Oh shit!”
“What? What is it?”
“They’ve just gone over. They’re attacking Max’s rear.”

* * *

“Nikolas,” Grier yelled into his radio. All around him, his Skins were being picked off. A few moments ago, panic broke out when they started throwing fireballs at them. “We’re pinned down. I’m losing men. Requesting assistance.”
“I have troubles of my own,” Nikolas swore. “Zan’s knocked out my two lead trucks and blocked the ravine. I have to work my troops out on foot and then rush him across open ground. I can’t let him take the landing site. Too much is at stake,”
“What should I do?” Grier demanded. He could not believe that it had come to this, out fought by some dumb kids and a handful of human soldiers.
“What you were trained for!” Nikolas’s voice had a cold edge to it. “You die fighting, like warriors. Maximum damage, Grier. Make sure you make his Royal Pain in the Ass regret taking us on.”
As soon as his leader had disconnected, Grier threw his communicator to the floor in disgust. He looked around at his men, rapidly dying as they fled the fireballs and were picked off by the snipers. He shook his head, and retrieved the communicator. He turned the frequency to a strange symbol, and pressed the transmit button.

* * *

“Wow,” Jesse shook his head as he watched the carnage below. Ever since Isabel heard Max’s cryptic comment to Michael and ordered the use of incendiary grenades, the Skins were being decimated. “That’s made a difference, huh?”
“It’s not fast enough,” Isabel shook her head. “We need to finish them off and get to Max. We need to get closer.”
Isabel started to move down onto the plain below.
“Iz,” Jesse called, scrambling behind her. “Don’t get carried away.”
“My brother’s in trouble and I’ll be damned if…” Isabel pulled to a stop and pressed her hand to her ear.
“Can you hear me. My name is Grier, commander of the trapped Epsilian forces. I wish to speak with Zan. ”
“What is it, Isabel?” Jesse asked, taking her arm in his hand.
“Zan is not here,” she sent out her telepathic thought. She knew that this Grier was transmitting a telepathic message, rather than a radio signal. “I am in charge here. My name is Isabel.”
“Vilondra? Okay, you will do. I wish to negotiate our surrender. ”
“Surrender?” Isabel could not hide her surprise. No one had counted on this.
“Isabel?” Jesse demanded. He could not hide his concern. “What is it?”
“They want to surrender,” she told him in a hushed voice.
Isabel pulled out the flare pistol, and loaded a green flare. She aimed into the sky and fired. After a few seconds while the projectile climbed, the sky was illuminated with a pale green light. At once the battlefield went quiet as her soldiers all held their fire.
“Damn!” she cursed. What was she supposed to do now? “Grier? I want you and your men to put your hands straight up in the air, and then stand up. I want you all to move into the open where we can see you. Stay in a group, but spread yourselves out.”
One by one, the Skins did as they were instructed. Isabel pressed the transmit button again.
“If anyone drops their arms, shoot them.” She then sent a message to Grier. “Anyone does anything… foolish, we’ll toss in a couple of grenades and finish you all off.” So much for rushing to Max’s assistance.
Above her head, the sky illuminated red as a streaking ball roared past, drowning out the green flare.

* * *

“Max!” Eldugar called.
Max turned to see the Skins scrambling over the top of the ridge and open fire. Eldugar was firing back and had just tossed his grenade. The grenade exploded as Max threw up his shield. More than half of the Skin attackers died under Eldugar’s assault, but Eldugar himself fell to the ground. Liz cried out as Max pushed his shield to protect him. Liz rushed to Eldugar’s side and cradled her fallen guard’s head.
“Behind my shield,” Max shouted at the top of his lungs.
Soldiers scurried for cover while Max’s shield absorbed the Skin’s blasters. He knew from experience that he could not hold it for long. Because he was concentrating on his shield, he could not reach for his transmitter. From the corner of his eye, he saw Liz take Eldugar’s blaster. When she turned to face him, tears were running down her cheeks. She stepped over and stood beside Max, and waited. She would take as many of them as she could. Behind him, the other soldiers were fighting a losing battle. The Skin’s were getting closer, driven on by something more frightening than the threat of the incendiary grenades.
‘This can’t be it,’ Max shook his head. He refused to give up his life with Liz. “We have nothing to lose,” he called. “take the initiative.” He took a step forward, pushing his shield with him. He took another, and then another, forcing the Skins to scramble back toward the ridge as they sought to avoid contact with the barrier of energy. One started to move toward the edge of Max’s shield, but Liz aimed her blaster and fired. She might not have been a good shot – something Max promised to have rectified later, if there was a later – but the threat was enough. The Skin backed off and continued his withdrawal. They continued up the ridge, with Max’s soldiers following up. They let Max concentrate on the front while they watched their backs. The enemy units crawled back over the top of the ridge, intent on taking their defensive positions, but they met something that they did not expect.

* * *

Connie grabbed the radio set from Kyle and quickly jammed it on over her head. She pulled the stalk to her mouth and pressed the transmission button.
“White King’s Bishop,” she called. “Be advised. White… shit, Max is in trouble! Repeat. Max is in trouble.”
“Connie? ” Michael’s voice sounded scared. “What’s going on? ”
“He’s being squeezed. They’re attacking him from the rear now. Someone’s down. I can’t see…”
“Is it…?”
“No, it’s not Max. He’s just put that shield up. They’re shooting at it. I don’t think he can hold it too long. Liz is with him.”
“Keep me informed, Connie, ” Michael barked.

* * *

“Fuck this for a game of soldiers,” Michael barked as he pulled his hand from the transmitter. He turned to face his men. “I’m going in. You coming with, or staying?”
Without waiting for a response, Michael rose and scanning the defensive walls, rushed at them, firing his gun at anything that moved. When he was shooting his gun in one direction, he would fire his energy blast in another. He was dimly aware that others had risen to join him. Blasters reverberated around him, but he ran with a single-mindedness that only he could be proud of. Skin after Skin rose to confront him, but fell under either his, or another’s onslaught. A familiar cry of pain almost distracted him, but though he felt the pain as if it were his own, he had to go on. Now was not the time for sentimentality, not when Max’s life was in danger. At last the wall was breached, but his job was not ended there. Across the open space, he saw the familiar glow of Max’s shield. He moved toward it, and started to shoot at the Skins that seemed to be scrambling back up the hill.
“He’s pushing them back, Michael, ” Connie warned him. “There’s about ten of them. ”
“What about the others?” he demanded. “The ones who are coming back?”
“They’re still coming,” Connie confirmed. “But some snipers got behind them. They’re a little more cautious now. Oh, and Major Armstead’s attacking them from the side. ”
Beside him, the men who were allocated the Antarian guns were helping. They had taken this fiery young warrior to heart and would follow him anywhere. This near suicidal charge was the stuff legends were made of. Years from now, they could say that they were there. A strange light filled the sky, but Michael barely noticed it. He was concentrating on one task. He had to save Max and Liz. With his men, they kept on picking off the Skins as they scrambled for safety.
They met at the top of the ridge. Max and Liz protected by his fading green shield, meeting Michael surrounded by his shield of men. Michael turned to check behind him and was surprised to see the compound swarming with human and Antarian soldiers. His charge had been infectious and everyone had joined in. The remaining Skins had broken, but with no way to escape from the tightening ring, they were wiped out to a… husk. Michael turned back to Max just as Maria, panting heavily and clutching her bloodied arm to her chest, reached his side. The shield dropped, and the alien King stepped forward to embrace his second in command. Liz and Maria fell into one another’s arms. Everyone noticed that Max was holding Liz’s hand, even while they embraced their best friends. They had done it. They had beaten Nikolas’s skins, and taken their objective.
“Better than Iwo Jima,” someone whispered with revered awe.

* * *

The heavy thump behind them woke everyone to the arrival of the Epsilian drop ship. It was surrounded by what could only be described as a huge, semi inflated ball that just crumpled on impact without bouncing and slowly deflated. This was the part of the plan that Max had hated the most. This way was more preferable to the other. Safer, too, in the long run. Max had said that he would perform this heavy duty, not wanting to order someone to do something that he couldn’t do himself. Michael had overridden him. This was not the task of a king, but that of a warrior. Michael touched the protective covering and dissolved a hole for him to pass through. The heat emanating from the ship was almost overpowering. He reached the side of the large, strangely shaped vessel just as the hatch started to open, releasing a cloud of white gas. Michael pulled out a canister from his backpack, the size of a gallon can, pushed three buttons, and pushed it through the gap. He threw himself to the ground as a pillar of flame rose through the gap fifty feet into the air. Later, when the ship would have cooled down, they would enter it and collect the stone, along with anything else that might prove of value. For now, however, they had the rest of the Skins to take care of, as well as their casualties.

* * *

Part 56
* * *

In the pale glow of pre-dawn, they gathered by the main square of Camp Sawtooth, which was being used as a landing pad for the helicopters ferrying in the combatants. Although they had pressed the radio operators for news of their loved ones, all the operators could say was that there were a number of casualties including a few fatalities. At that stage, no one had been identified.
“Oh, please,” Nancy whimpered holding on to Jeff with a vice-like grip. “Let my little girl be alright.”
“I think we’d have heard if anything bad happened to Max or Liz,” Philip tried to calm her.
“Max, sure,” Jeff nodded. “But not Liz. She’s just another soldier to these guys.”
“That’s not true, sir,” one of the waiting helicopter mechanics shook his head. “She’s as important to us as he is. She’s like… our very own representative in all this. One of us. We all love her too, Ma’am.”
“See,” Philip smiled.
“But what about the others?” Diane frowned. “Isabel and Jesse, Michael, Maria, Kyle and Connie? I mean, would anyone know it they were all okay?”
“I’m sure of it,” Philip hugged her.
The chopping sound of an approaching rotor called their attention as a helicopter swept in over the tree line, hugging the tops of the trees. The machine slowed to hover above the hard surface and allowed itself to descend, coming to a gentle stop. At once, two men rushed to the ‘copter to meet two others who leapt through the opened doors. The four men started to lift out the stretchers, taking them away from the down draft of the spinning blades.
“Come on,” Granny pushed the two men forward. Go and help them. I have a feeling we’ll all be needed tonight.
“Oh my god!” Nancy wailed. “That first one!” She pointed to the first stretcher as the two men who leapt from the helicopter carried it away. “That’s Maria!”
As one, they broke ranks and rushed to her side.
“What’s wrong with her?” Nancy demanded, taking note that she was not conscious.
“We sedated her back at the aid station. She took a hit to her shoulder, ma’am,” the medic told her. “She’s not too bad, but none of the other wounded men would get on the helicopter unless she was the first one evac’d. They respect her almost as much as they respect her boyfriend. He put on quite a show, apparently.”
“How are they all?” Diane asked, holding the medic’s arm. “Were any of our children hurt?”
“They’re hardly children any more, Ma’am,” the medic smiled. “But they’re all okay, at least, they’re all standing. The sheriff’s boy was hurt, not sure how badly, but he walked in, being pulled by that girl of his.”
“Well,” Philip seemed to make up his mind. “Seeing as we couldn’t help them in the war, we can sure as hell help them in the peace. Let’s go over to the make-shift hospital and make sure we help anyone who needs it.”

* * *

Liz woke up just as Max emerged from his shower, a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair dripping wet. She smiled at him.
“’Morning, Max,” she stretched her tired limbs.
Max crossed the room and sat beside his wife, folding an arm around her shoulder and kissing the top of her forehead.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“So, how long have you been up?”
“Actually,” Max stared down at the floor, “all night. I never made it to bed.”
“Max…” Liz started but he cut her off.
“You know that we can get by on a few hours sleep, so it’s no big deal, Liz. There was just so much to… do.”
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. Her eyes filled with compassion. “I guess you do have a lot on your plate right now. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I thought you could come with me to see the… Major Armstead offered to tell them. He said it was up to the commanding officer, but I want to tell them personally. After all, they died for me.” Max again looked at the floor where his foot drew an imaginary line on the floor boards. “It’s the least I could do.”
“Of course I’ll come with you, Max,” Liz placed her hand on her husband’s wrist. “I would have come anyway.”
“Thanks,” he gazed with affection into her eyes. “It’s not something I’ll enjoy, but having you there with me, it’ll seem more…”
“Personal?”
“Yeah. Like, I want the families to know how much I appreciate what their husbands and fathers did for me, but I need for them to understand that they didn’t die fighting a war that was none of their business.”
“So you want me to represent humanity,” Liz looked a little annoyed. “Is that what you’re saying? ‘Cause, Max? You have to stop thinking that you are an alien. You’re a hybrid, okay? You’re both. You represent Earth as much as you represent Antar. These men are here to fight with you, Max. For you, by your side. No one made them do this, they volunteered.”
“Yeah,” Max scratched behind his ear. “But…”
“But what, Max? Do you think these people will look at you and see an alien? I’ll tell you what they’ll see, Max. They’ll see a very sad and sincere young man telling them how sorry he is that their loved ones died fighting for a very noble cause. It’s something that’s been done since the birth of man.”
“I’m so afraid that they’ll blame me.”
“I don’t know how they’ll react, Max,” Liz pulled herself to his chest. “But I do know that you have a way with people. Speak from your heart, just like you always do, and let them feel your love and compassion. Sure, they may hate you initially, but they’ll soon see what a special person you are. Just like I do.”

* * *

“That’s the last of them,” the soldier grunted as he lifted a large, strange stone into a small hole in the side of a rock face.
“I’ll seal it up,” Nikolas waved his hand across the opening, and the rock sealed itself shut. “There’s no way I want Zan finding these. Now let’s get back to base and out of this damned sun. I hate this damned planet.”
The two men stepped over to the huge pick-up truck and climbed into the cab. They had left the engine running, so the cab’s interior was cold from the air conditioning. They sat motionless, allowing the chill to seep into their husks. The soldier slid the stick shift into drive, and the truck sped off, leaving a plume of dust and the four hidden stones behind as it raced back to the nearby town where Nikolas had set up his temporary base. It had been a disastrous twenty-four hours for him. They had been forced to leave Rachel after that fool, Baurline had managed to destroy all their valuable and irreplaceable equipment and Zan had not only defeated him in open combat, he had wiped out more than half his available forces and destroyed the newly delivered fifth stone. Kivar would not be happy when he called for his report.
“Do you know if we have any idea where Zan went?”
“No, sir,” the soldier shook his head. “Our scouts said that they tracked about ten contacts until the early hours, but that they disappeared northward at a terrific speed.”
“Do you think they had a ship?”
“It would explain the additional Antarians he had with him. And the weapons.”
“So he knew where we were,” Nikolas spat. “Damn, I hate that Zan.”
“They could have gone anywhere.”
“It would seem,” Nikolas sighed, “that the only hope left to me is those damned zygotes Tess left behind.”
“But every attempt to retrieve them so far has resulted in failure. The locks that Ava left are impenetrable to us. Which is strange, ‘cause I thought we were stronger than her.”
“So we’ll need to get Zan to open them for us.”
“I doubt he’d do that willingly,” the soldier smirked. “Even if he knew what was in there.”
“Then we’re going to have to get something that Zan would want in trade. It’s simple enough. We give him what he wants, if I get what I want.”
“But even Zan’s gotta figure there’s no way you’ll let him live. Not now he has the means of returning to Antar. What good’s the crown prince when the King’s still around? Besides. What guarantee is there that one of those zygotes will carry the seal?”
“Because if it aint, we’re screwed.”
“Zan might have destroyed them already.”
“You’re just a bundle of good news,” Nikolas spat.
“Just trying to cover the angles.”
“No, not Zan. Not this Zan, anyway. He’s a wimp with no backbone. There’s no way he’d kill his own zygotes. They’ll still be there.”
“General Nikolas, sir,” a voice crackled over the radio.
“What?” Nikolas barked.
“We just got word. He’ll be arriving soon. Mid January. In person. He’s coming, sir.”
“Who?” he demanded.
“Kivar, sir.”

* * *

“They don’t hate you, Max,” Liz assured her long faced husband as they entered the chalet set aside as the infirmary. They were on their way back from telling the relatives of the fatalities that their loved ones had died. “Those harsh words were a result of their grief.” Her arm around his waist gave him an extra squeeze.
“But they were filled with such… venom.”
“If someone told me that you were dead, Max, I’d treat them the same. Except I would already know. But just because you died for someone doesn’t mean that I would hate them.”
“They blame me,” Max frowned.
“Of course they do,” Liz shook her head. “They need to blame someone, and who else can they blame? Talk to Major Armstead. He’ll tell you.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “Thanks, Liz. Where would I be without you?”
“Panning for gold?” she smirked.
“Who do you want to see first?” Max gave her a smile.
“Better see Maria,” Liz tilted her head. “You know how impatient she can get.

* * *

“Go ahead and say it,” Maria watched Michael through narrowed eyes. She lay back on her bed with her arm heavily bandaged from the medics.
“Say what?” Michael asked, feigning as much innocence as he could.
“I told you so,” Maria mimicked his voice.
“I would never say that,” he shook his head. “In fact, I was going to say how proud I am of you.”
“Proud?” she looked surprised. “Of me?”
“Yeah. You always remind me how much Liz has helped Max… helped us. You know, all the stuff she’s done, ultimately for us. But you seem to forget that you do things too, Maria. You’ve been there for us, for me many times.”
Tears glistened in Maria’s eyes.
“So when I felt your pain, I was so worried.”
“You felt it? I thought that only Max and Liz…”
“I guess not,” Michael shrugged. “Speaking of the devil… hey Liz, Max.”

“Hey, Maria,” Liz embraced her friend, taking care to avoid her arm. “How are you feeling?”
“Like hell,” Maria grimaced. She glanced across at Max who was talking with Michael. “Is Max fully recovered yet?”
“No,” Liz gave a sad shake of her head. “Not yet. Sorry. The fight really took it out of him, Maria. He only had enough energy left to keep those seriously wounded soldiers just alive.
“I understand,” Maria nodded. “It’s just… this really hurts, Liz.”
“Have they given you something for it?”
“Yeah,” Maria winced. “But I bet Max would do a better job?”
“As soon as he can, he’ll fix you. It’s just that there are some wounded out there that need his help more.”
“Maybe we should leave the fighting to the guys in future.”
“I see your point, Maria,” Liz laid her hand across Maria’s good arm. “It’s just that I’m not sure that I could handle not being at Max’s side while he’s in action.”
“I know,” Maria closed her eyes. “I never realized how dangerous it was.”

“I guess I know how you felt that day in the Crashdown,” Michael admitted to Max while they watched Liz with Maria. “That day she was shot.”
Max gave a sympathetic nod.
“Sick, angry… weak,” Michael shook his head. “But I had this… determination. You know? To finish the job. It doesn’t mean I don’t love her, does it?”
“I understand, Michael,” Max placed an arm on his friend’s shoulder. “You’re a warrior. I felt the same way when I thought we were trapped… and when Liz said she wouldn’t leave…”
“Women,” Michael shrugged, breaking the mood.
Max looked at Michael, broke into a smile and started to chuckle. Michael joined in, but the two soon fell silent again as they glanced over to their partners.
“You were great last night, Michael. Thank you.”

“Max,” Lieutenant Carter entered Maria’s room. In his hand, he held a cell phone. “I have Major Armstead for you.”
Max cast an apologetic glance at Michael and the girls and took the phone offered by Carter.
“Hello?”
“Max? Major Armstead.”
“What’s up?” Max inquired.
“I’m out at the scene from last night’s fight. You know, cleaning up. Colonel Roberts is keeping the place clear for us. Anyway, we found something we think you should see.”
“I’m on my way,” Max pressed the disconnect button and handed the phone back to Carter. “Liz,” he approached his wife, taking her into his arms. “The major needs me down in Nevada. I have to go.”
“Sure, Max,” she turned to accept her husband’s offered kiss. “You go. But be careful, ‘kay?”
“I will. See you later. I’m glad you’re okay, Maria,” Max smiled at her. He turned and nodded to Michael.
“Wait, Max,” Michael called. “Want me to come?”
“No,” Max shook his head. He looked down at the ground and then back to Michael. “You should stay here and wait for Isabel and Jesse. They’ll be bringing the prisoners in with them.”
“What are we going to do with them, Max?” Michael demanded. He had never liked the idea of prisoners. “It’s not like we can lock them up somewhere.”
“We can’t just kill them, Michael,” Max frowned. He turned away from his friend. “I’m not a tyrant.”
“If they step out of line so much as a millimeter, they’re dust.”
“I can live with that,” Max nodded, looking back again before stepping through the door.
Liz watched through the window until Max had vanished through the trees. When she turned back into the room, she saw at once that Michael and Maria were deep in conversation.
“Well,” she shrugged, doubting that either one heard her. “I guess I’ll go check on Kyle.” With a smile, she left them alone.

* * *

“I don’t think you’re being fair,” Kyle pouted, his eyes staring up at the ceiling as he moved his head from side to side. “Here I am, seriously wounded in the thick of battle and you could care less.”
“I told you I didn’t have the patience,” Connie smirked. “Besides, what do you mean, seriously wounded? What battle? You hurt your eyes looking at an explosion.”
“Well, how was I to know?”
“Duh!” Connie shook her head. “TOW missiles do not take out vehicles without a big flash and a loud bang. That’s what we in the military call explosions.”
“Hardy-har-har,” Kyle growled. “You just wait till Liz gets here. Then you’ll see sympathy.”
“You do realize that Maria is making less fuss than you,” Connie smiled at Liz who had just entered the room through the door behind Kyle. She placed a quieting finger to her lips and Liz nodded. “And not to mention that she was hurt much worse than you.”
“Max can heal her,” Kyle shrugged. “He can’t heal blindness.”
“The soldiers said your sight would come back.”
“Probably come back faster if you put on a nurse’s uniform,” Kyle muttered.
“It would be wasted, wouldn’t it?” Connie raised her eyebrows. “You not being able to see and all.”
“I can see you,” Kyle nodded. “In my mind.”
“Well, put the uniform on me in your mind.”
“Oh yeah,” Kyle leered.
“Behave,” Connie winked at Liz. “Liz will be here soon.”
“Great,” Kyle grinned. “Then you’ll see sympathy. She’ll treat me right.”
“I heard Max made her dress up in a Nurse’s outfit.”
“No way!”
“Yes way. He said something about a tonic for the troops.”
“Man, Evans is really loosening up.”
“Oh, here’s Liz now.”
Liz opened the door and then pushed it shut with a loud bang.
“Hey guys,” she announced herself. “How are you all?”
“Liz!” Connie sounded shocked. “You mean Max lets you wear a dress that short, and heels that high? You can see your stocking tops.”
Kyle spun around and stared straight at Liz’s body, clad in her jeans and sweater.
“Busted,” Liz smirked, standing with her arms crossed.

* * *

Liz paused at the door, gave a timid knock and entered the room. The young Antarian guard, Kayla, who had been fussing over the room’s occupant leapt from the side of the bed and stood to attention.
“Y… your highness…” she stammered.
Liz raised her eyebrow.
“I mean… Liz,” she squeaked. “I wasn’t aware you were visiting the wounded just yet.”
“Max got called away,” Liz smiled. Her eyes twinkled with mirth. “I thought I’d come pay a visit.”
“I was just…”
“How are you, anyway, Eldugar?” Liz turned to the occupant of the bed who was now turning a crimson color. Liz had never seen an Antarian - except for Max but he didn’t count - blush. Here were two of them.
“I will live, thank you for asking, your highness.”
“Just ‘cause you’re wounded doesn’t mean you can’t call me Liz, you know.”
“Yes, I mean, no, your… Liz.”
“You gave us quite a scare there, you know. I really thought you had died.”
“I shall soon be up and at your side again,” he forced a smile.
“Just get better first, ‘kay? Don’t get up before you’re ready.” Liz turned to leave. “Kayla, if he gives you any trouble, send for me.”
“I will,” Kayla nodded, her expression still showing her embarrassment. “Um… Liz, could I speak to you for a moment?”
“Sure,” Liz nodded and waited while Kayla crossed the room to her.
“You won’t uh… mention this to Bektor, will you? That you found me in here, I mean.”
“Not if you don’t want me to,” Liz looked puzzled. “Why? Should you be somewhere else?”
“No,” Kayla looked shocked at the suggestion that she had shirked her duties. “It’s just… you see… by custom, the Queen’s bodyguard is not allowed a mate.” She looked down at the floor. “We tried to stay apart, truly we did. But when I heard he had been wounded. I couldn’t stay away.”
“It’s okay, Kayla,” Liz placed her hand on her arm. “I know exactly how you feel. And its as stupid a custom as most of the others I’ve heard. I won’t mention this to anyone. Well, except Max, and trust me, he won’t mind either.”

* * *

Max slid out through the helicopter’s door, and ran toward Major Armstead, keeping his head low beneath the spinning rotors.
“Liz will kill me if I manage to decapitate myself,” he muttered.
“This is becoming a second home to you,” Major Armstead extended his hand and chuckled.
“Not if I can help it,” Max smiled, shaking the offered hand.
“So, what’s all the fuss?”
“This way,” Armstead nodded toward a small cluster of rocks. “We never spotted this in the darkness last night, nor in the gloom this morning. In fact, we very nearly missed it in bright daylight.”
Next to the cluster of rocks, Max could see a small hollow filled with shrub.
“We’re not sure, but we think the shrub blew in there either during the fighting, or while we were searching after the skirmish.”
“What exactly did you find?”
“We were kinda hoping you would be able to tell us.”
Major Armstead nodded at the two soldiers who were standing in the middle of the hollow. The two men pulled back the dead vegetation and Max peered into the hollow. His face drained of color.
“Oh my god!”

* * *

At the sound of the approaching helicopter, Michael excused himself from Maria’s side and after leaving her with a kiss, made his way to the landing pad.
“These choppers have been pretty busy,” he observed to one of the maintenance men who was waiting to check the machinery. “You guys have been doing a great job.”
“Thank you, sir,” the soldier looked surprised. Max had already thanked them personally that morning and now Michael thanked him as well. He had never received such praise when he was actually in the services. It was his job, after all.
“No,” Michael shook his head as he watched the helicopter land. “Thank you.” He had to shout to make sure he was heard.
While the whine of the rotors started to slow down, the door opened. Two Antarian guards leapt out and took a defensive stance either side of the doorway. A small group of men, dressed in civilian clothing, followed. They stood in a loose group, looking both nervous, and uncomfortable. More soldiers followed. Isabel and Jesse were the last to exit the aircraft.
“Why didn’t you just kill them?” Michael demanded with his anger barely hidden. “What are we going to do with them? It’s not like we have tons of depleted uranium lying around.
“Take a chill pill,” Isabel rolled her eyes. “We do have explosives experts among us, you know?”
“And?”
“And we found a novel way to ensure their behavior,” Jesse stepped in between Michael and Isabel. “We have detonators rigged up to their seals and those guys over there have radio controllers. They try anything out of line and they’re toa... dust.”
Michael thought about this and then nodded to Jesse. He turned to the prisoners.
“Who’s in charge here?” he demanded.
“I am,” Grier stepped forward. “My name is Grier.”
“Didn’t I see you in that one horse town in the middle of nowhere?”
“Yeah,” Grier nodded. “But you saw me in Copper Summit before that.”
“So how did you escape Tess’ fireball?”
“A few of us managed to dive into the lockers.”
Michael gaped in astonishment. Grier was a big man and those lockers were small.
“Faced with imminent death,” Grier recognized the look on Michael’s face, “it’s surprising what you can do.” Grier gave a shrug. “’Course, I had to use two of ‘em.”

* * *

Grier stood to the front of the large dining room where his captors had taken them. The rest of his men stood in the loose group the Antarian guards had forced them into. That had definitely been a surprise. That and the guns they had brought with them. He wondered if Nikolas was aware that Zan now had an unknown number of Antarian Royal Guards with him. Rath had been a surprise too. Grier had been watching him closely. They had always believed that this erratic young warrior would one day turn on Zan, like Kivar had originally hoped, but here he was, as loyal to the King as ever. Even that stupid attempt to make him believe that there was a section of their community loyal to him, that he could be the King, had failed. True, it didn’t help that the one chosen to try that particular gambit forgot where her loyalties lay. Grier had always believed that Courtney had discovered the Granolith’s whereabouts but in her demented mind had believed in her devotion to Rath and chose death rather than what she would see as betrayal.
“You’re a long way from home, Grier.”
Grier turned his attention to the Antarian who had just entered the large room.
“As are you,” he nodded to Serena.
“Don’t you miss your home? Your family?”
“I have been chosen for a task that will grant me immortality. My name will be among those listed among the great.”
“Not any more,” she shook her head. “What will Nikolas say when he finds out that you surrendered?”
“The war is not over yet, Serena,” Grier smiled. “Nikolas will understand when I stand by his side once again.”
“In your dreams,” Isabel smirked.
“Vilondra,” Grier nodded. “Kivar is missing you terribly.”
“I know the truth now, creep,” she shook her hair. “He won’t suck me in again.”
“We all have our destiny.”
“Yeah, so we’ve been told. In fact, I think Max might have something to say about that.”
His captors started to talk among themselves, no doubt discussing where they could be housed. Grier turned his mind to their predicament. While it was true that they had the ability to free themselves, those human soldiers had rigged up some kind of explosive device on their seals that would kill them instantly. The complexity of the devices had surprised him. He had seen at once that any attempt to tamper with them would prove fatal. Grier had no doubt that if one went, so too would the others. The worst part of it all was that while the explosion would be enough to destroy their seals and by definition, them, it would have no affect on any of Zan’s rag tag army that happened to be near to them. It was then that opportunity presented him with a once in a life time opportunity to destroy Zan in one easy movement. Zan’s beloved Queen had just entered the room.

* * *

“Ah, your highness,” Bektor’s voice startled her as she left the hospital cabin. “There you are. Are you recovered from last night’s tumultuous ordeal?”
“Yes, thank you, Bektor,” Liz rolled her eyes. She always thought that Maria was a drama queen, but Bektor was in a league of his own.
“I was so glad to have seen you return unharmed.”
“This from the guy who suggested to Max that he take his seal back from me?”
“I am guilty of that,” Bektor nodded without a trace of embarrassment. “And I will continue to make such suggestions until Max has an heir. I seek only to maintain the royal line.”
“And what if that heir doesn’t want anything to do with Antar? I mean, suppose I bear Max’s heir. He’ll be more human than Antarian. He might want to make Earth his home.”
“Impossible,” Bektor shook his head.
“Is it?” Liz looked amused. “Were you aware just how close a human infant is to its parents? To its mother in particular? Do you have any concept of the bond of love?”
“I am learning,” Bektor nodded. “But if the child is brought up away…”
“Not a chance, Bektor,” Liz growled. “I will not have a child only to see it taken away from me. Not on Earth, not on Antar, not in this universe. Got that?”
“But protocol…”
“Stuff your protocol. I married Max, not Antarian protocol.”
“I will talk this matter up with his Majesty.”
“Don’t you get it yet, Bektor?” Liz demanded. “Max loves me, I love Max. Ipso facto, when you talk to me, you talk to Max. If either one of us doesn’t like something, it’s not going to happen. Law, custom or protocol, it won’t matter to us. We’ve been through too much together to let anyone tell us how we can conduct our relationship. Ever. And just so you know, if I asked Max to abdicate for real, he would. But I won’t do that.”
They continue to walk, in silence.
“May I ask where you are going?”
“Isabel and Jesse have returned. I’m going to check on them.”
“I believe they brought some Epsilian prisoners with them,” Bektor narrowed his eyes. “Perhaps I might be able to advise how best to interrogate them.”
“No torture, Bektor,” Liz warned. “We do this Max’s way or not at all.”
“Of course, your highness,” Bektor shook his head, planning on disobeying that particular order.
She stepped into the diner with Bektor at her side and saw the prisoners, standing in the middle. She noticed the big man straight away. She recognized him from Copper Summit as the leader of that friendship league. She started to shake her head at the sarcastic title. She could see from his eyes that he had recognized her, too. His arm leapt into the air, aiming straight at her. His hand shimmered and a gun appeared to materialize from nowhere. She saw the bolt of energy leave the gun. At that moment, it appeared as though the diner was celebrating the Fourth of July. There were flashing lights, bolts of energy and explosions everywhere. The air was filled with screams of panic and pain. When it all ended, there were twelve less skins on the planet. The room was filled with a snow-storm of dust, and a pair of lifeless eyes stared up at the ceiling.

* * *

Part 57

Max stared into the hollow with wide eyes while his head shook from side to side.
"I thought you said they exploded into dust when they died," Major Armstead broke the silence.
Three tall, thin, gray shapes lay at the bottom. They looked in every detail, just like Nacedo did before he disintegrated the day they had tried to heal him. They looked like his true shape.
"They're Antarian," Max told him in a low voice. "From my planet. They must be men loyal to Kivar. I never... I never thought there would be any down here." He looked up at Armstead. "I should have realized."
"So, what does this mean, Max?"
"It means I'm not doing a very good job," Max berated himself. "It means that I'm still that... boy.
Major Armstead gave Max a look of confusion.
"It means," Max continued, "that if there are any more of them down here, we can't trust anyone being who they say they are. Damn!"
"How's that?" Armstead narrowed his eyes.
"They're shapeshifters. They can change their appearance to look like anyone they want. You, him, even me. They can even blend into the walls and stuff. They'd be practically invisible."
"Your scanner thing would still pick them up, though, right?"
Max's heart started to pound. The world started to spin around him as he gulped huge swallows of air and fell to his knees. He could feel his blood rushing through his veins as he suffered a severe adrenaline overload.
"Max?" Armstead cried out. He looked around fearing Max had been shot. "Max, are you okay?"
"Liz!" he gasped. "Liz is..." Max collapsed to the ground.

* * *

She shook her head, trying to clear the thick fog that had descended upon her. The world seemed to be moving in slow motion. She was stunned by how close Max's enemy had come to killing her. Only Bektor's quick reactions, making the ultimate sacrifice for his King by throwing his body between the 'would be' assassin's blaster and his Queen had saved her life. Now Bektor lay dead at her feet, his lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling, extinguished by the blast that had been destined for her.
"Liz?" Michael gasped as his attention focused on her. The squeak in his voice made his panic only too clear to every person in the room. "Are you okay?"
Liz looked up from the star shaped wound gaping in Bektor's chest to Michael. Her eyes showed that she was not focussing which belied her nod of confirmation. Michael hurried to her side and pulled her trembling body into a hug.
"You two," he grabbed the attention of the two nearest guards. One was Antarian and the other was human. "Escort her highness to her room." He turned his head to look around the room. "Iz, go with her. Make sure she..."
"Sure, Michael," Isabel nodded. She snapped out of her daze and crossed the room to take Liz from him. She wrapped her arm around her sister-in-law's shoulder. "Come on Liz," she hugged her.
"Mmm-hmmm," Liz mumbled but it was clear that she had no idea what was happening.
Liz followed Isabel robot-like, though it seemed that her mind was elsewhere. The two guards flanked the two young women and escorted them from the room.
"Jesse," Michael continued. "Go find her parents. Tell them what happened. They'll want to go to her. And see if you can find a doctor or something."
"Will Amy do?"
"Only if you can't find a real one," Michael nodded. "She's going into shock." He raised his voice a notch. "Someone get Max for me."
Michael's cell phone rang.
"Never mind," he smirked with a shake of his head. "This will be him now." He pulled the phone from his pocket. "She's okay Max," he confirmed. He didn't even need to see if it was him or not. He just knew that Max would be aware of his wife's discomfort.
"What happened?"
Michael could sense Max's relief.
"She came into the diner while we were talking to the prisoners. One of them tried to kill her. Bektor... saved her."
"Make sure that the prisoners don't get within a hundred yards of Liz again."
"It's taken care of, Max," Michael snorted. "They won't be causing us any more problems."
"Good." Max released his breath after a short pause. "Can you put her on?"
"Isabel took her back to your room. She's a little shaken up just now."
"Okay," Max sounded disappointed. "I'm finished here anyway. I'll be back soon. Tell Liz that I love her."
"She knows," Michael rolled his eyes. "But I'll remind her."
Michael looked down at Bektor while he put his phone away.
"Someone take him to the make shift morgue," he looked up. "Get him cleaned up. Max will want to pay his respects."

* * *

"Did you hear?" The shocking news swept through the camp like a brush fire. "Yeah. Thank goodness for Bektor, God rest his soul."
"I tried to get in to see her."
A steady stream of well-wishers had made their way to see her but were turned away at the door after being assured that her highness, Queen Elizabeth was well. They had all come, soldiers, their partners, their children and most especially, the families of those who lost loved ones in last night's fighting. They all remembered how they had said hasty, unpleasant things only that morning to Max and his lovely wife.
"I said such dreadful things to them this morning," one mourner commented.
Now they felt guilty, believing that somehow, the bad things they had wished upon him had almost come true as a result of their deeply regretted words. These already upset people wanted to apologize to Liz.
"It's okay," they were reassured. "They'll forgive you. They're like that."
Frustrated by Michael's security - only the doctor, Liz's parents, Isabel, Michael and the two guards were allowed in the cabin - everyone gathered in the diner to hold vigil. They all looked up when they heard the approaching helicopter.
"Max," Diane gave a weak smile. She wrapped her hand around Philip's wrist. "Maybe now he's back he'll let us see our daughter-in-law."
"Not 'till she's ready," Philip shook his head. "You know as well as I do that no one will see Liz until Max is convinced that she's okay. And we all know how much he cares for her, how protective of her he is. I bet even Nancy will have a hard time getting close to her now."
"I hope I find someone like Max," Terrie crossed to the large window and watched Max as he sprinted into the trees toward his cabin.
"I'm sure you will," Granny stepped up beside her and placed an arm across her shoulder. "Just don't expect him to be just like Max. I mean, how many half human, half alien kings do you think there are out there?"
"Not enough," Terrie shook her head. "Not enough by far."

* * *

"It was my fault," Isabel stared out of the window while Liz slept at her side. "If I hadn't have accepted their surrender, Liz wouldn't have been placed in danger and Bektor would still be alive."
"It wasn't your fault," Nancy shook her head as she watched Liz from the other side of the bed. "You did what you had to do. You can't just kill people in cold blood 'cause you don't know what to do with them."
"But..."
"Nancy's right," Jeff interrupted. He was sitting in an armchair across the room. "In the last world war, the Nazi's slaughtered... I don't know... countless innocent people. They had a habit of killing their prisoners, too. Do you remember that film? 'The Great Escape', with Steve McQueen?"
"Who can forget," Isabel smirked. "It's rerun every Christmas."
"Well, that was based on a true story. And the scene where a bunch of recaptured prisoners were executed in a forest clearing really happened. Unarmed men executed, no, murdered. Is that who you would like to model yourself on? Do you want the people of Earth to associate Antar with Nazism? Do you really want people to look at Max and see Adolph Hitler?"
"No," Isabel shook her eyes widening with horror at the thought.
"War is not pretty, Isabel. I know that if he could, Max would like to resolve this situation without bloodshed, but it looks like this Nikolas has other ideas. Just because we have to fight, doesn't mean that we have to descend to the levels of barbarity to do it. We can still fight with honor."
"And trying to assassinate a defenseless woman is honorable?"
"Just because the enemy has no scruples doesn't mean that we have to abandon ours."
"Liz!" Nancy gasped.
Although the medicine that the doctor had administered to Liz should have kept her sedated for hours yet, she was sitting upright in her bed. Her eyes looked much more alert than they had earlier.
"Max is here," she informed them, watching the door.

* * *

The helicopter hadn't even landed when Max leapt through the opened door, landing on the pavement and breaking into a full sprint toward his cabin. Startled soldiers leapt out of his way, recognizing the look in his eyes as one that meant that they did not want to block his path.
"I hope Thompson doesn't take his duty too seriously and try to stop him," one joked to another. "He just might find himself flying out to the middle of the lake."
Thompson wisely chose not to impede Max's single-minded journey to get to his wife's side. Neither did Hulstan, the Antarian guard. Both would rather face the predictable wrath of Michael than whatever reaction Max could come up with.
"Max!" Liz cried out as he burst through the door.
Max didn't even spare a glance at Isabel nor his in-laws. He went straight to Liz's side and pulled her into an embrace.
"Oh, God, Liz," he gasped, finally accepting the fact that she was okay.
"I'm so sorry, Max," she started to cry.
Max leaned back, and placed his hands on either side of her face. He wiped her falling tears with his thumbs. "It's not your fault," he breathed.
"If I hadn't gone to see the prisoners like they were some side show freaks, then Bek..."
"Shhhhh," he soothed, stroking her hair. "You're all right. That's all that matters. I was so scared Liz. One minute, I was talking with Armstead and the next, I'm so pumped up with adrenaline, I can't even stand. Your adrenaline. I knew that something was wrong."
"That man," Liz sobbed, reliving the event. "He had a gun. From nowhere. He shot at me, Max. Almost point blank. I would be dead if it hadn't been for Bektor. He saved me. He..."
"Where is Bektor?" Max looked around the room. "He might be a pain in the ass, but I can never repay him for what he's done for me."
Liz looked at Isabel, her eyes pleading for help.
"Max," Isabel attracted his attention. "Bektor ah... he died, Max. He jumped in the way of Grier's shot. He took the blast that was meant for Liz."
Max fell silent. He looked at Isabel and then back at Liz who nodded at him in confirmation. He looked around the room at Nancy and Jeff, who also nodded.
"Maybe..." he swallowed hard. "Maybe it's time to... maybe I... I should just... surrender."

* * *

They went the same way they had started this whole thing, together. It was a solemn procession that wound its way through the trees to the small cabin that had been converted into a temporary morgue. Max with Liz at his side, as always, led the way. Behind them came Michael, holding Maria up. Isabel and Jesse were just behind them while Kyle and Connie brought up the rear. Once inside, the low temperature seeped into their bones. On a series of tables lay the bodies of eight fallen warriors, five humans and three Antarians - one of whom was Bektor. Max looked around the room, his sad face shaking from side to side.
"Senseless," Max whispered.
"It's my fault," Liz moaned as she stood next to Bektor.
"No it's not, Liz," Serena stepped out from the shadows. "Any more than it was Isabel's. No one is apportioning blame, especially not to you. Everyone on this camp loves you, Liz. There isn't a soul, human or not, who wouldn't die for you, just as Bektor had done."
"Thank you, Serena," Liz nodded, looking more than a little humbled.
"Can't you just use your healing stones to bring them all back?" Connie asked.
"They don't work that way," Isabel shook her head as she paced around the outside of the room. "The humans have been dead too long, for one thing."
"The regenerative qualities of both the Epsilians and the Antarians are well known by each side," Max continued. "The guns they developed were designed to make sure they couldn't... be restored. We've had... first hand experience of this."
Everyone turned to look at Max. His voice sounded so defeated.
"Max wants to surrender," Liz told them, sensing Max's dark thoughts.
"What?" Michael spun to face Max. "Is this true?"
"Yeah," Max nodded. "How many more have to die because of this... secret?"
"Max," Isabel stepped into the middle of the room. "We have no idea what Kivar plans for us. I mean... you know what he wants from me."
"We don't know that, Iz," Max defended. "We heard back on the ship that he was just using you. It's me he wants. My seals."
"Except that now I have one of them, Max," Liz's cold words cut through to Max like no others.
"And if that's not enough," Kyle added, "just take a look around you, Max. These men gave their lives for you. For your... our cause. They believe in you, Max. They all do." Kyle ran his finger around the room to indicate everyone. "We all do. Don't devalue their deaths by throwing in the towel just because you're getting a bit squeamish at the sight of blood."

* * *

"Max says that they'll all be over in a moment," Nancy told the other members of the extended family when she had returned to the diner with Jeff. "He's going over to pay his respects first. The others are going with him."
"How's Liz?" Diane demanded, leaping from her chair and rushing into Nancy's arms."
"She's okay," Nancy smiled. "Now that Max is back."
"She had enough sedatives to knock out an elephant," Jeff chuckled. "As soon as Max walks in the room, she's up like it's nothing."
"Those two are incredible when they're together," Granny commented. "I remember watching them when they stayed with me. The little glances, the little touches. That night he carried her over the threshold into their little apartment is a moment I will carry with me to the grave."
"I'm so glad that they've all had such good times among the bad," Amy smiled. "Cause when things get bad, like now, it gives them something to look back on."
"You know, the kids are really down right now. They need something to cheer them up," Jim sat down beside Amy.
"You mean something like Disneyland?" she twisted to face him and arched her eyebrows."
The Parkers and the Evans exchanged wide eyed glances. Could they take such a risk?
"No," Jim shook his head. "What they need is a reminder of just why they are doing all this."
"What have you got in mind?" Granny's suspicious nature and powers of observation had added two and two together. And mathematics was always one of her strong points.
"I do," Jim looked up at her and grinned. He reached into his jacket pocket and produced a small felt covered box. In one fluid movement, he was on one knee in front of Amy, holding her left hand in his.
"Amy DeLuca?" he looked up into her startled eyes. "I may only be a lowly deputy, and things might not be... stable right now, but my feelings for you are every bit as strong as Max's for Liz." He flipped open the box to reveal a solitaire diamond engagement ring. "Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Amy? Will you marry me?"
Amy looked down at Jim, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. She had thought for a moment that this might be some kind of a joke.
"Yes," her voice squeaked. The word did not come out clearly enough. "Yes," she repeated."
"Well," Philip beamed. "I guess congratulations are in order."
"So when do you plan for the big day?" Nancy grinned, as she hugged her long time friend.
"Well," Jim looked around at everyone. "I was kinda thinking... hoping... that maybe... next week."
"Next week?" every woman in the room shrieked.
"Well, yeah," Jim looked at everyone. "What better way to give the kids something to do?"
"Yeah," Amy nodded with enthusiasm. "I'm sure we can manage that."
"Can I make a suggestion?" Diane interrupted the hugs and hand shakes. "Can I suggest that we not tell the kids until after tomorrow's memorial ceremony?"
"Enhorabuena!" Mrs. Ramirez kissed them both on each cheek, framing their faces between her hands. "Que romantica!"

* * *

The following morning, the central square that had seen so much action during the past forty-eight hours gave way to a more muted moment. Dressed in black, everyone had gathered to say prayers for those who had given their lives in the recent battle, and for Bektor who had given up his life for a remarkable young woman born millions of light years away from the planet to whom she was now Queen.
"I wanted to say... something suitable. Something fitting," Max's whispered words reached every corner of the still square. "But I couldn't. I couldn't do them justice. So instead, I think I should just say some words that are more fitting. That, were written by someone far more clever than me." Max looked around the square and nodded at the lone man standing to the rear. The man lifted a bugle to his lips and started to blow a well known, mournful tune. Max waited for a while before starting to speak again. The bugler kept playing.
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. Lest we forget."
Max remained silent and motionless, staring at the ground for two minutes. Either side of him, also clad in black, Liz, Michael and Isabel, representatives of Antar stood with Maria, Jesse, Kyle and Connie, representatives of Earth. Behind the podium, seven soldiers dressed in full dress uniform fired off three successive rounds into the air. As the last bugle note faded, Max looked up at his audience, unashamed at the tears glistening in his eyes.
"It seems such a little thing to say," his hoarse voice croaked. "But... thank you."

* * *

Part 58

“So, Max,” Michael looked around the room and wondered why there were only the three of them there. “What’s with the meeting?”
“And why the secrecy?” Isabel added, noticing too that they were alone. Max’s invitation had asked that they come on their own. “And what’s with the touchy feely stuff?” She watched as Max removed his hand from her arm. He had been holding Michael’s arm earlier.
“I have some news,” he looked around to make sure that no one was eavesdropping. It was an unnecessary precaution, given that guards were outside keeping everyone away. "I just want to wait for Serena."
“Looks like we don’t have to wait any longer,” Isabel nodded out the window. “Here she comes now.”
“Sorry,” Serena apologized as she closed the door behind her. “Losing Bektor has placed an even bigger burden upon my shoulders,” she frowned. “I have so many responsibilities.”
“Then get help, Serena.” Max looked at her while he placed his hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps Isabel would be interested. If not her, then why not ask Maria, or Connie.”
“I’m sure they would rather keep themselves free of such entanglements.”
“You won’t know until you ask,” Isabel replied for Max. “I think I would prefer to keep free in case you need me, Max. But maybe one of the others would appreciate something to keep them busy. Something to help them feel useful.”
“How about Jesse, Iz?” Max smiled at her. “Do you think he might like to learn more about Antar?”
“I can always ask.”
“Or you could summon the other one that was with you, Serena,” Max turned back to her. “What was his name?”
“Chyn?” Serena nodded. “I’m sure he would be honored to help.”
“Are we here just to sort out domestic arrangements?” Michael huffed. “’Cause I can’t see the need for this cloak and dagger stuff for that.”
“No,” Max shook his head. “No. I wanted to tell you what Major Armstead found down in Nevada. You know, when he called me.”
“So, what was it?”
“Three dead aliens.”
Michael looked at Isabel and Serena, his annoyance mirroring their confusion.
“Duh!” Michael pulled a stupefied look. “We were involved in a fight against a bunch of them. Remember?”
“We were in a fight against Skins, Michael,” Isabel spat. “When they die, they…” Isabel moved her hands apart for emphasis.
Realization dawned in Michael’s eyes.
“You mean… aliens like us.”
“No,” Serena shook her head while continuing to watch Max. “He means aliens like me.”
Max nodded.
“But that would make them…”
Max continued to nod at Michael’s statement.
“So that explains touchy feely,” Isabel smirked.
“What?” Michael glanced at her.
“He was checking us, Michael. Making sure we were who he thought we were.”
“Paranoid much?”
“Nacedo made Liz believe that she was with me,” Max shrugged. “Who’s to say they wouldn’t try something similar?”
“Is this why you wanted privacy?” Michael snapped. “To check us out?”
“No,” Max scratched his ear. “I wanted to let you know what we found without worrying the others.”
“We have to tell them sometime, Max,” Isabel narrowed her eyes.
“Yeah,” Max agreed. “But I wanted to talk to Serena first.” He turned to face her. “Is there any way to detect if the person you’re talking to is a shapeshifter?”
“Shapeshifting is just our… projection of an appearance into your mind, Max. Even if there was a way to detect it, every Antarian would be detected. We all project.”
“But if you take the form of a human, we would know that it’s wrong.”
“I’m not aware of a way, Max. But I’ll ask Chyn when I contact him. Perhaps he can think of something.”
“What do we tell the others, Max?” Michael asked.
“I’ll tell Liz later, and Serena can tell the Antarian guards. I’ll leave it up to you to tell Maria and Jesse. It’s up to you. Just remember the paranoia that this news is going to cause. I’ll, uhm… talk to Kyle… later. I think that we should always be in pairs, too. It means that anyone on their own should be suspected.”
“Any excuse to keep Liz at your side,” Isabel smirked.
“I don’t need an excuse,” Max smiled. His eyes shone with love.
“He’s definitely Max,” Michael smirked. “No shapeshifter alive could mimic that sappy look.”

* * *

“Thanks, Max,” Maria smiled, rubbing her shoulder where Max had just healed it. She pulled him into a hug.
“Uh, no problem, Maria,” he chuckled. “Could you leave my ribs intact?”
“Sorry,” she grinned.
“Thanks, Max,” Michael slapped his hand against Max’s shoulder. Max grunted under the onslaught.
“No problem.”
“Come on, Max,” Liz extracted herself from Maria’s hug. “I guess these two want to be alone right now.”
“Hey,” Maria complained. “I resent that remark.”
“Uh huh,” Liz smirked.
As they closed the door the cabin Maria and Michael shared with Kyle and Connie, they could hear the frenzied activity behind it.
“See,” Liz grinned.
Max nodded. “I hope Kyle and Connie steers clear for a while. How is he, by the way? I haven’t had a chance to see him.”
“Kyle’s fine,” Liz shook her head. “He’s… he’s Kyle.”
“He is?” Max raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t ask,” Liz laughed with a shake of her head. “You had to have been there.”
Max shook his head as they walked down the path, toward the diner which had become the central meeting point. For the first time since their arrival, Liz noticed that the soldiers were saluting Max as he passed.
“I know,” he sighed. “I’ve asked them not to do that but they won’t stop.”
“It’s a mark of respect, Max.”
“Major Armstead told me the same thing.”
“Who can that be?” Liz pointed to a black Mercedes that had just pulled up outside the main gate.
“I have no idea,” Max steered them toward it. “Maybe we should get closer.”
“If you think it’s safe.”
“I want to be on hand,” Max frowned. “It’s Christmas Eve. No one is dying today. Or tomorrow.”
A young man of medium height and build stepped out from the car. Max guessed he was in his thirties. He walked around the car, opened the passenger door and assisted a younger blond woman from the car.
“He looks familiar,” Liz murmured.
“Excuse me?” Max stared at the man to see if he too might recognize him.
“I’ve seen him somewhere before,” Liz frowned. “Not in real life, but in a… a magazine, or a picture.”
“A TV celebrity?” Max shrugged.
“No,” Liz shook her head. The man was asking the young man, a guard, something.
“Nah,” Max heard the guard say. “Camp’s closed. We’re holding a regimental reunion.”
They saw the young woman step up in front of the guard.
“Is there a Jesse Ramirez in your… regiment?”
Max and Liz exchanged glances.
“Excuse me,” Liz called. “I know you from somewhere. Um. Who are you?”
“My name’s Glenn McCarthy, Miss. And this is my fiancé, Sarah Brackham.”
Liz’s face erupted into a smile.
“I’m Liz,” she reached for the man’s hand. “And this is my husband, Max. If you come with us, we’ll take you to your mother.”
“Max?” Sarah asked as the two couples exchanged handshakes. “As in Max Evans?”
“That would be me,” Max gave a crooked grin.
“Are you really an… a…”
“You can say it,” Liz smirked. “And yeah. He is.”
“Oh my god,” Glenn’s mouth fell open.
“They all react like that,” Liz grinned, pressing the senator’s mouth closed.

* * *

“Glenn!” Granny exclaimed. “Sarah. How wonderful to see you.” She swept her son and his girlfriend into a hug. “Are you staying for Christmas?”
“Well,” Glenn glanced around at the room full of strangers. “I had planned on it, but I see that there’s already too many.”
“You’re more than welcome,” Liz offered. “The more the merrier, as long as you don’t mind pitching in.”
Granny smiled at Liz.
“Then we’d love to stay,” Glenn looked at Sarah who nodded her agreement. “But what about this reunion?”
“Oh, no,” Granny smiled. “The reunion is a cover. You see, the men here all follow Max. We… uh…”
“We’ve been fighting against my enemies,” Max interrupted. “And I don’t mean the FBI.”
“So those reports about the strange areas the army have sealed off are true?”
“They were,” Michael smirked. “Nikolas has disappeared into the night, licking his wounds.”
“Nikolas?” Glenn started to show signs of shell shock.
“Sarah!” Jesse exclaimed as he entered the diner with Isabel.
“Jesse!”
He ran to her to pull her into a hug. She met him half way. Isabel was not the only one who looked on with a slight green tint.
“Sarah, this is my wife. Isabel. Isabel is Max’s sister.”
“Sister? Max? As in… alie…”
“Yeah,” Jesse rolled his eyes. “I can see that this is going to take some time. Come on, let me introduce you to our huge family.”
“Jesse,” Sarah held back. “How… how many of these people are… you know.”
“In this room? Just Max, Isabel and Michael.” Jesse pointed to each one. “Liz has these abilities, but that’s because of her special relationship with Max. And we have… um, maybe eight or nine Antarians with us. The rest of us,” he looked around the room, “are human.”
“You know, I really suspected this, I really did, but actually knowing, you know? I think I need to sit down.”
“You and me both,” Glenn was watching and listening.
“Why don’t I start from the beginning?” Max offered, sitting down on a chair and pulling Liz onto his lap.”

* * *

“Max,” Glenn caught him as he was crossing the square, trying to find Liz.
“Hello, Senator,” Max waited for him.
“No, please,” Glenn shook his head. “It’s Glenn, okay? I mean, seeing as my mom all but adopted you, we’re practically brothers.”
“Not quite,” Max started to smirk.
“No,” Glenn shook his head. “Um, listen, I need to discuss something with you, something big.”
“Can it wait?” Max raised his eyebrows. “What with Christmas to get ready for, it’s more a family time right now. I need to find Liz to pass on orders from the Christmas Nazi.”
“Excuse me?” Glenn frowned.
“Isabel,” Max chuckled. “She, uh, likes to make sure that everyone has a great Christmas, whether they want it or not. So she takes over preparations. She even has a list.”
“Does she check it twice?” Glenn smirked.
“Compared to Isabel, Santa Claus is an amateur,” Max started to laugh outright. “Now, if you want to just kick back and relax, I’d hide from her if I were you.”
“Max!” they heard Isabel’s cry. “So where is she?”
“On my way, Iz,” Max rolled his eyes.
“How can I open Santa’s Grotto without one of my elves?” she demanded. “You know how the kids will expect Santa to be attended by two elves.”
“She’ll be there,” Max smiled. “Too late,” he whispered to Glenn through the side of his mouth.”
“What do you mean?” he looked confused.
“Still here, Max?” Isabel queried. “Now, Glenn. We need help with the kid’s refreshments. By the diner is a long table with stuff for the kids’ party. Your mother’s in charge there. She’ll tell you what to do.”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Glenn didn’t move.
“Chop chop,” Isabel crossed an item from her list and turned to move to another part of the camp site.

* * *

Max stood back from the square and watched the excited children as they lined up to visit with Mr. Anderson, in the guise of Santa Claus.
“You have to admit,” Michael appeared at his side. “She really outdid herself. That’s an amazing Santa suit.
“Not Isabel’s doing,” Max grinned. “It’s his own. He says he often dresses up as Santa for the nearby community.
“You hiding too?”
“No,” he turned and smile. “Just watching the kids.” Max looked back at the children where Liz and Maria were doing their best to shepherd them into an orderly line. “Isabel may annoy us at times, but look at them,” Max nodded. “They’re having the time of their life.”
The kids, once Santa had issued them with a small gift that Max chose not to questions the origins of, they moved over to the refreshment table where they helped themselves to chocolate cake, jelly, hot chocolate and sodas. Someone had produced a small stereo system and a few of the older kids were dancing to the latest pop tunes.
“So what should you be doing?”
“Done it.”
“Done what?”
“We were supposed to decorate the tree,” Michael shrugged. “She wanted it done just so. It’s easier with a little…” Michael waved his hand in the air.
“Right,” Max nodded.
“What about you?”
“I’m actually in the clinic right now, seeing to the last of the wounded.”
“But you already healed everyone.”
“Isabel didn’t know that.”
“It pays to know her, doesn’t it?” Michael grinned.
“Merry Christmas, Michael.”
“Merry Christmas, Max.”

* * *

“Yes, Glenn,” Max looked up from the desk he was working at when he heard someone enter his living room.
“Liz said that you were free at the moment,” Glenn sounded full of apology for interrupting Max. “What’s that?” he nodded at the small intricate item Max was concentrating on. “A fishing lure?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Max grinned. “But not for fish. So what did you want to speak to me about?”
“I understand that the federal authorities are not exactly your best friends, just now.”
“That would be correct,” Max nodded.
“If you had the chance to bring everything out in the open, and live without the fear of an FBI manhunt, would you take it?”
“With both hands,” Max leaned back into his seat. “But I can’t really see them doing that. There’s too much water under the bridge.”
“I had a visitor the other week. President Forest.”
“Oh yeah?”
“He asked me what I knew about you, which wasn’t much. I mean, everything I knew was from Sarah or Mom.”
“Uh huh,” Max looked on with suspicion.
“He, uh… suggested that he wanted to bring the government’s attitude into the twenty first century, that maybe we should embrace the idea of extra-terrestrial life.”
“Meaning that the fact that Area 51 is stuffed full with dead aliens, he still doesn’t believe it?”
“Max, he wants me to set up a meeting between you, Michael and Isabel and him. At Camp David.”
Max sighed, stood up from his chair and crossed to the window. He looked out onto the dark forest. The moon was shining on a fresh dusting of snow.
“I see,” he nodded at his reflection in the glass. “I need to discuss this with the others. Liz, Maria, Kyle, Jesse and Connie too. This affects them as much as it does the three of us.” He turned to face Glenn. “But it can wait till after Christmas.”

* * *

“It seems that we have suffered a number of… setbacks,” Nikolas stood in front of his remaining commanders in the motel room on the outskirts of Seattle.
“We thought that Zan had only a few humans to help him. Kids,” someone commented.
“When I last had any dealings with him,” Nikolas nodded at the speaker, “there were just the four of them, plus these four human kids.”
“As I recall,” another spoke, “even then, you were sent running.”
“That was a lucky break. For some reason, Ava created that… firestorm. I don’t know what she was playing at.”
“Yet you still underestimated him this time.”
“So, did any of you know that he had accumulated an army down here? That he had found a squad of the Antarian Guard to help him? Where could he have found either? I can’t do everything myself, and there were others who were supposed to gather information on him.” Nikolas cast an accusatory glance to one corner of the room.
“It wasn’t my fault,” the man complained. “As soon as I had set myself up, they all took off when the FBI tried to kill them. How could I follow them when I didn’t even know they had already planned to run?”
“I see,” Nikolas’s voice grew tight. “So instead, it would be my fault.”
There was no comment.
“Enough of the recriminations,” Nikolas shook his head. “That’s not why I summoned you. It seems that all of our high tech methods have not worked…”
“Perhaps hiring that FBI Agent was a mistake. He cost us our scanning equipment.”
“Perhaps,” Nikolas nodded. “But he had found them before; I had hoped he would be able to do it again. Anyway, if the high tech failed, maybe we should go low tech.” Nikolas passed his hand across the back wall of the room. A large map of North America appeared. Stuck to the map were a large number of pins with white beaded heads. “Each of these pins,” Nikolas pointed to them, “represents an unexplainable phenomenon that has occurred ever since Zan and his crew went on the run. It’s my belief that Zan was involved in some of these at least. Most of them are probably just hoaxes, or some exaggerations. I want you to send out your soldiers and investigate them. Question the people involved, any witnesses, see if anyone recognizes any of the players. Root around for information. Let’s see if we can find out where Zan is hiding.”
“Uh, sir?” someone called out. “There’s hundreds of them, thousands. We are so few in number now.”
“I believe that he has stayed in the western side of the country,” Nikolas nodded. “And I doubt he has crossed any border.” Nikolas turned and drew two intersecting lines across the map. “Keep your search to this area here. Talk to the locals. Someone must know something.”

* * *

Part 59

He was warm. Warm and safe. Through the clouds of sweet smelling mist, he could feel the love of his life surrounding him, protecting him from life’s dangers. All was calm, all was as it should be. Until he felt something pressing against his chest. It was nothing to worry about, because the way the lower regions of his body reacted to the warmth that he felt upon it meant that it could only be one thing.
“Ma-ax,” a warm, sweet voice crooned. “Oh, Ma-ax, time to wake up.”
Max opened his eyes, blinked and shut them almost as instantly when the light stabbed into them.
“C’mon, Max,” Liz teased with her honey laden voice. “Get up.”
“What time is it?” Max grinned at the feather soft kisses she started raining on his face. His eyes remained closed.
“A little after six.”
“Six?” he groaned. “Liz, it’s way too early.”
“I thought you said that you didn’t need much sleep?”
The trace of acid in her voice was enough. Max was awake.
“You are so easy, Maxwell Evans,” Liz laughed at him.
“Uh huh,” Max grinned as he looked with lust filled eyes at the thin nightdress his wife was almost wearing. “And too human, too. Seems I suffer from a morning affliction human guys do.”
“And how would you know about that, huh? “ Liz grinned, pressing herself to his morning hardness. “That human guys suffer with that.”
“I read,” Max shrugged as he wrapped his arms around her pulling her even harder into his body.
“Merry Christmas, Max,” Liz kissed him.
“Merry Christmas, Liz,” he kissed her back, mirroring her passion.
“Now, I want to give you your present,” she smiled. “But first, I want you to have a shower.”
“I thought we could…,” Max waggled his eyebrows, “first.”
“Oh, did you now?” she smirked. “Well you thought wrong. I’ve already had my shower, so there.”
“So? We could shower together.”
“Max, if you don’t go shower, you don’t get your present.”
“Will I like it?”
“You’ll love it. Trust me.”
“You know I do,” he grinned.
Max kissed her on the cheek and with reluctance, rose from the bed, heading for the bathroom.
“And don’t forget to shave,” she reminded him.

Although he was eager to return to her side, Max decided to play Liz at her own game. He took his time, giving his hair and his body a thorough wash. After drying, and applying his deodorant, Max brushed his teeth and shaved the day old bristle from his face. After applying some cologne and after-shave, Max belted on his bathrobe and stepped out into the room. It was empty. Empty, that is, except for the large Christmas present that lay on the floor in front of the roaring fireplace. It was long and perhaps a foot and a half across, wrapped in blue paper with pictures of golden bells and green-and-red wreaths.
“I wonder where Liz is,” Max speculated out loud. “And I wonder who left me this present?” Max knelt beside the present and grinned when he saw the tell tale rising and falling of the paper. He reached over for the label. “To my darling Max,” he read out loud. “I hope you enjoy your new toy. You can do whatever you want with it. With all my deep and abiding love, Liz.” Max gave a soft chuckle. “I must have been a really good boy this year for Santa to bring me such a wonderful gift!”
Max reached out and let one finger glide along the wrapping paper, pressing against the contours of the gift beneath. He soon found an area where the paper was pushed up into a mound by something underneath. He gave the mound a gentle squeeze. Something inside moaned.
“It feels so soft,” Max observed. “Maybe it’s something I can wear.”
The present giggled. It started to writhe now as he continued running his fingers down its length. About halfway down, they accidentally ripped through the paper and the tips of his fingers pressed against something very warm and very soft. The present emitted a light gasp.
“Oh, wow,” he whispered with awe. “Whatever is in here feels so good!"
Max ran his fingers softly against the present, causing it to buckle slightly. He could hear some of the wrapping paper rip. He ran his fingers up the paper, taking hold of a seam and started to peel the wrapping back.
“That looks just like a stomach,” Max commented as more skin was exposed.
He started to caress it with his fingers, noting how it tensed when he touched it, but soon relaxed as his fingers caressed it. He could hear more paper tear as the gift squirmed. He bent over and kissed the warm surface and was rewarded with a sigh of pleasure. He allowed his tongue to dance across it, making the gift start to giggle again, accompanied by a loud crinkling of paper. Max continued to kiss the willing flesh, pressing his face into its softness. His hands reached up and pulled more of the paper off. Two small but luscious breasts, enclosed by a brassier spun from the thinnest silk that Max had ever seen sprang into view. The silk was so thin that it was transparent. It resembled spun glass. A pair of tight nipples poked through the gauze-like material. Max placed his hands over the breasts and gave another gentle squeeze. There was a hint of desperation in the sound that came from the present.
“So warm and soft,” Max groaned. “Mmmm”
He gave the breasts another gentle squeeze before he turned his attention to the pert nipples that capped them. He lowered his face and ran his tongue across while his fingers teased the other.
“Max,” the present begged as it arched itself into Max’s touch.
He pulled the nipple into his mouth and suckled at it.

The present was really moving now, and he could hear more wrapping paper ripping under the stress. Max pressed his face into the valley between the breasts, running his tongue back and forth along the skin where it met the top edge of the gossamer material. His hands, meanwhile, slid downward and ripped away more paper, discovering sexy hips, clad in a garment created from the same material as the bra. The hips felt so good to caress and squeeze. One arm went underneath the present as he hungrily kissed and licked all over the stomach and chest. Then he sat up on his knees, and proceeded to remove all the remaining wrapping paper.
"Oh, what a beautiful present. I must remember to thank my wife for giving me such a gift," Max gazed down with a look of total adoration and lust in his eyes.
With the matching bra and panties, the gift wore stockings held up with a garter belt. The sexy present looked up at its new owner with just as much love and maybe even more lust.

He tenderly stroked her cheek with one hand, and then placed it behind her back. His other hand slid under her legs. Effortlessly, Max lifted her off the floor. She was all smiles as she let her arms hang down and her head flop back. He carried the succulent present to the bed, pausing sometimes to kiss some part of it. The smooth skin felt and tasted so very good. He reached the bed, and placed his present down upon it with a kind of reverence. She immediately sat up and pulled him down with her, then began untying the belt of his robe. She was trying to speak, but the words were coming out as unintelligible squeaks and moans. She parted the robe and pressed herself against him as she hugged him tight. Max put his arms around her and held her.
"I'll have to examine my new present all over, make sure it wasn't damaged anywhere in shipment," Max chuckled as he started to blaze a trail across the warm, trembling skin.
She purred something like "Yesssss..." and closed her eyes.

Max’s masculinity was so hard now as he gazed upon her body stretched out before him. He bent down and ran his face and tongue and hands lightly and slowly down the whole length of her body, from head to toe. His fingers caressed, stroked and rubbed, searching for any imperfections. But of course, there were none. After all, this present seemed to be modeled in the likeness of his idea of perfection herself. His lips and tongue sucked and nibbled at the flesh of her legs as his hands reached up and kneaded her breasts. He slid his body up hers, until his chest and hers were squashed together, and he was staring straight down into her soft gaze. Their lips came together. They kissed, long and passionately, as his hands continued to feel her all over.
“Make love to me, Max,” the present begged.
Max complied, again and again.
“The strangest thing,” Max sighed as he cuddled his new present that Santa had left by their fire. “My present feels and tastes so much like Liz.”

* * *

“So where’s my present,” she grinned.
“Oh,” Max’s face fell. “You know, Liz. With all that’s been going on, the… fighting and the wounded, and then the trip to… and you… I’m sorry, Liz. I never had the chance to get to the stores.”
“It’s okay Max,” she tried to placate him, but he could see her disappointment. “I didn’t expect a gift. That’s why I did what I did for you. ‘Cause I couldn’t buy anything either.”
“What about this?” Max lifted up the transparent silk lingerie.
“Oh,” Liz grinned. “I didn’t buy that. I made it.”
“You made this?” Max’s face fell in astonishment.
“Sure,” she bubbled with enthusiasm. “Once you’ve watched your boyfriend make a diamond from a charcoal briquette, making silk is a cakewalk.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “But Liz. A diamond is made from carbon. How on earth did you make silk?”
“Well, natural silk is a fibrous protein composed of a number of amino acids, glycine, alanine, serine , valine, tyrosine, glutamic acid and some others. Chemically, natural silk is C15H23O6N5.”
“But even so, Liz. Where…”
“Glycine is found in many foods high in protein, such as fish, meat and beans. Same for alanine. Serine can be produced from glycine. Valine…”
“I get the picture,” Max started to laugh a deep throaty laugh. “You little Miss Scientist, you. How on earth did you know all that?”
“Oh, uh…” Liz started to blush. “It was for a chemistry project I did during our senior year.”
Max stopped laughing, propped himself up on one elbow and gazed at his naked wife.
“You know,” he started to caress her soft feminine shapes. His voice fell to a soft, soothing tone. “It won’t go to waste, Liz. You will get your chance to explore that particular dream.” He leaned over and kissed the swell of her breast. “I promise. But hey!” Max leapt from the bed. “I almost forgot. Santa didn’t forget you after all.” Max handed her a long thin box wrapped in golden paper. “Here.”
“I thought you couldn’t get to the stores?” Liz started to unwrap her present.
“I couldn’t,” Max grinned. “I, uh...”
“Oh, Max,” Liz gasped as she opened the box. She lifted out the necklace.
“… cheated.”
“You made this?” Liz gasped. The gold necklace was so thin it was almost invisible. The point was a series of five small diamonds in the shape of a ‘V’. There appeared to be nothing holding them in place. “Max, it’s… it’s incredible. But won’t it break?”
“Never, Liz,” Max breathed. “It’s indestructible. Just like my love for you.”
“But the diamonds? How do they…”
“There’s actually a piece of thin wire holding them there. It’s just too thin for you to see. It’s only a few molecules thick.”
“Where did you get the gold for this?”
“I panned for it,” Max shrugged as he helped Liz to place it around her neck. The ‘V’ nestled just above her breastbone. “It was a souvenir from Colorado.”
“Oh, Max,” she threw herself into her naked husband’s arms. “I love you so much.”

* * *

“Jesse, is the coffee on?” Isabel panicked as she rushed around the living room of their cabin, making sure that there were enough snacks and cakes for her guests to nibble on.
She had insisted on playing the perfect hostess and inviting her family around to Christmas breakfast.
“Yes Isabel,” Jesse rolled his eyes at his mother. “Coffee’s on.”
“What about the oven? Is the oven on to keep the food warm? Those rolls have to be warmed through.”
Mrs. Ramirez laughed.
“Relax, mi hija,” Mrs. Ramirez smiled, and pulled Isabel into a hug.
Isabel’s eyes widened with surprise and hugged her mother-in-law back. It was the first time that her mother-in-law had shown her any affection. She was instantly calmed.
“I just want everything to be perfect,” Isabel smiled.
“It will be,” the older woman shrugged. “Because they are your family and family don’t care about perfection. They only care about family. It is being together that makes it perfect.”
“Anyway,” Jesse looked out of the window, “your mom and dad are here.”
“Don’t just stand there,” Isabel scolded. “Let them in.”
“Merry Christmas, mom,” Jesse greeted Diane with a kiss to her cheeks. “Phi…” Jesse paused at his father-in-law’s stern look. “Dad.” They shook hands.
“Merry Christmas, Jesse,” they both replied before moving to kiss Isabel. Merry Christmas, honey. Merry Christmas, Mrs. Ramirez.”
It had become a term of endearment now. No one could imagine calling her anything other than Mrs. Ramirez. Except for Jesse and Isabel who called her Mom.
“Are we the first?”
“Yeah,” Isabel nodded.
“But here are the Parkers,” Jesse went to the door again.
The Valentis along with Connie arrived next. Behind them were the DeLuca women with Michael in tow.
“So where are Max and Liz?” Maria asked as she looked around the room.
“Not here yet,” Diane observed.
“No guesses for why they’re late,” Michael smirked. “Probably having wild monkey sex.”
“Can we not talk about my daughter like that?” Jeff growled at him.
“Sorry,” Michael found something interesting about his feet. It would be some time before he would get used to the parental units being so closely involved with their group.
“Here they are now,” Kyle called from the other side of the room.
“About time,” Isabel rolled her eyes. She was the first one to greet them. “Hey, Max,” she kissed his cheeks. “Hey, Liz,” she pulled her into a hug. “Merry Christma… Oh my God! Where did you get that? It’s… it’s…”
“Merry Christmas, Isabel,” they both responded.
“What’s got Isabel so tongue tied?” Maria demanded, joining her friends at the door. “Whoa!” Maria exclaimed.
“Do you like it?” Liz peered down at her necklace. “Max gave it to me.”

* * *

“Well,” Max rose from his seat, pulling Liz with him. He brushed the crumbs from his shirt. “Time to play the fearless leader card. We have to try and see as many people as we can before lunch, so…”
“Wait, Max,” Philip called. “Before you go, we have a Christmas present for all of you.”
“Dad,” Max complained. “We agreed…”
“No, son,” Jeff continued. “You agreed. But we were talking the other night and we decided that you guys need something good to happen in your lives. Something to help you remember what you’re fighting for.”
“Just having you safe and sound with us for a while is enough,” Max told them with honesty.
“So what’s that?” Liz narrowed her eyes, looking at her parents.
“Well,” Nancy shrugged. “We thought a wedding.”
“Yeah, but we’re already married, Mom.”
“Not you two.”
“No way,” Maria shook her head. “Not till Michael and I are ready.”
“And I think that it’s still a little too early for Connie and me.”
“We weren’t thinking of you” Amy hugged her daughter.
“Or you either, son,” Jim slapped his son’s back.
“So who?” Isabel raised her hands upwards.
Max looked around the room with narrowed eyes. He spotted the barely hidden ring on Amy’s finger and broke into a smile. He nudged Liz and nodded at Amy. Her eyes widened when she too saw the ring. They both crossed the room
“Congratulations,” he extended his hand.
“Thanks, Max,” Jim shook it.
Liz flew into Amy’s arms.
“I can’t believe it!” she squealed. “When?”
“When what?” Maria and Kyle exchanged confused glances as everyone gave their congratulations to Amy and Jim.
“So, when is this going to happen?” Isabel asked.
“When is what going to happen? Mom? Who’s getting mar… Oh my God!”
Maria flew into her mother’s arms.
“I never thought you would be so slow,” Amy laughed. “Especially about something like this.”
“Wow, Mom. This is awesome.”
“Okay, can someone tell me what the heck is going on?” Kyle shouted above the noise and from behind the crowd that had gathered around Amy DeLuca.
“What does Bhudda think about being Best Man at your father’s wedding, son?” Jim asked.
Understanding dawned in Kyle’s eyes.
“Oh, man,” he groaned. “Does this mean she’ll be my sister?”
“Worse than that,” Max slapped his back. “When he marries her, Michael will be your brother.”

* * *

“Look at this place,” Glenn nodded at the people who were rushing about. “A regular hive of industry.”
“Everyone has a job to do, son,” Granny told him. “Max said that everyone eats together, no shifts. And everyone helps out.”
“But what about the cooks, and the servers?”
“All taken care of, son.”
“Okay, so that’s why I got lumbered with returning the chairs to the cabins when we finished, huh?”
“Is that the task you drew from the hat?”
“Yeah,” Glenn nodded. “What did you get, Sarah?”
“I’m uh… serving.”
“Don’t tell me. Seeing as Max is a real live King, he just gets to sit on his throne and watch everything?”
“That would be no,” Maria growled at him. “Max was up late last night, helping make the shelter that will be keeping the snow off your backside while you eat,” she informed him. “And after the meal, Max drew washing up duties. Do you even know how many people tried to trade duties with him so he would have things a little easier? And you can bet that he’s wandering around now helping the cooks, or someone else.”
“What did you get, Maria?” Granny asked.
“Serving,” she spat. “Liz too. Can you believe that? I swear, the stack has definitely been loaded against me. Once a waitress, always a waitress. Now if you’ll excuse me, I see that they’re ready. I have to get to work now.”
It all went smoothly. With a little assistance from those who had the abilities to help, the food was delivered to the entire camp, seated beneath a large wooden shelter, piping hot. At last, everyone was seated, and after grace was said by one of the more ecclesiastic members of their company, they all began to eat.

The meal was soon over, and it seemed that no one felt like moving. Wearing party hats and covered in paper streamers, they all leaned back in their chairs and promised one another that they would not eat again for a week. Major Armstead rose to his feet, and started to tap his knife against the side of his glass. The ringing tone rang out through the ‘hall’ attracting everyone’s attention.
“I wanted to say a few words,” he began. “Actually, what I have to say is what I wanted to say the other night before we all went to battle, but Max beat me to it.”
There was a light round of chuckling.
“I really think that the historical event that happened the other night should be marked, if only by ourselves. But the day will come when the world will know what happened here.”
There were nods of agreement and a few calls of ‘hear hear’.
“And in any case, I think it’s appropriate that I say this today. Kind of like a Christmas gift. So at the risk of sounding blasphemous, and with apologies to William, here goes…”
A hush fell upon his audience. When he spoke, it was with authority, and his voice boomed out.

“This day is called the feast of Maxwell. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home, will stand a tip-toe when the day is named, and rouse him at the name of Maxwell. He that shall live this day, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors, and say 'To-morrow is Saint Maxwell’s day.' Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars and say 'These wounds I had on Maxwell’s day.’ Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot, but he'll remember with advantages what feats he did that day, then shall their names, familiar in his mouth as household words. Maxwell the King, Elizabeth, Isabel and Michael, Kyle and Jesse, Maria and Connie, be in their flowing cups freshly remembered. This story shall the good man teach his son, and King Maxwell shall ne'er go by, from this day to the ending of the world. But we in it shall be remembered. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with Max shall be his brother, be he ne'er so vile. This day shall gentle his condition, and gentlemen on Earth now a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Maxwell’s day.” ****

As Major Armstead sat down, he was met with thunderous applause. Max sat in his seat, his face burning bright red as his friends all laughed at him. Many held their thumbs up. Liz leaned over to him, and gave him a short but sweet kiss. He smiled at her, and then smiled at the hundred faces grinning at him as they clapped their hands together.
“Thank you,” he nodded at the major. “And uh… merry Christmas everybody.”

* * *

“What!” Nikolas barked down the phone.
“I’m calling from a diner, near Santa Fe.”
“They’re open today? I thought this was some kind of religious festival?”
“Seems that some are more religious than others. It’s one of the sites you wanted checking. There was an armed siege here a while ago. It seems that there were some strange things happening. Light bulbs flaring together and going out, windows exploding for no reason. That sort of thing.”
“Are we getting to the point any time soon?”
“I was asking around. No one seemed to know anything useful. Trouble is, they hired new staff. Most of the old ones wouldn’t come back. Then this guy comes in and he overheard me talking to a waitress. He’s a travelling salesman and he was here that day. So I showed him those photos. Sir, he remembers Zan. Zan was here that day.”
“Good work,” Nikolas smiled. “Keep it up.”
Nikolas hung up the phone, and lifted a red pin to the spot marked on the map. He took out the white pin, replacing it with the red.

* * *

****Plagiarized without shame from William Shakespeare’s Henry V.