The Saga of the Pod Squad (I/A M/M:MATURE) [WIP]

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:05 pm

Part 21

A blonde girl siting at one of the tables - one of the few diners in the crashdown at this moment in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon, waved as JD came in. He smiled and walked over. "Um, may I?" He waved at the seat opposite her.

"Oh, please. It's nice to see you again, JD."

He nodded and smiled vaguely, feeling more than a little disadvantaged. But after a moment, he looked into the girl's face and hazarded. "You're... Laurie, right? Michael's sort-of sister?"

She grinned. "Yeah. I guess you were still feeling more than a little overwhelmed the last time we really met."

JD acknowledged the truth of this with a semi-bowed head. "I like to think that I've gotten the hang of a lot of things Roswellian by now, though."

"I'm sure that's true."

"Umm... so, what brings you here?"

"Oh, couple of things. Visiting Michael and his friends for one thing - also, I kinduv wanted to check in with Liz about the prairie chicken situation. I was running around out in the desert last fall, taking samples from little streams and sand depoits from the ground, so I'd like to think that all of that work is going to some sort of good cause, and not just telling us how badly we're messing up this little patch of the planet."

"Alright." A waitress came by, and JD ordered a lemon soda and a small batch of saturn rings. Laurie leaned a little closer when she was gone.

"So... something like a day and a half before Michael's first interstellar flight, yes?"

JD blinked. "Umm, you know about that?" Laurie nodded firmly. "Yeah, well, ehrrr, I just hope that it works. There's a lot that the guys still have to practice to get this thing right... but if we manage, it's going to be an amazing experience for them."

"I can believe it. Just the thought of... well, I never thought I'd want to have much to do with that sort of thing again, but the possibility of walking on a new world might make me reconsider."

JD grinned. "Yeah, it's a trip, at that. Oh, hey Max. How's it going?"

Max smiled as he sat down with the two of them. "Hey, Laurie. Any idea how much longer you have before you need to go back to Arizona?"

"Umm, not yet," she admitted. "Probably going to be calling Richard sometime tonight, and I'll have a better idea after that."

"Of course," Max said, nodding hishead, and JD smiled. "Umm... did I forget to answer a routine question or something."

Laurie laughed. "Yes, I think so," JD told him. "How's it going?"

"Uh... pretty good, though classes, Bethany, and my sister are managing to do a pretty good job of keeping me busy," Max sighed.

"Not Maria as well?" Laurie teased him.

"Umm... she's not too bad yet... I've gotten used to her usual style of craziness, and she doesn't have nearly as many demands on my time vis-a-vis being pregnant as Isabel. Of course, I sympathize with Iz... everything that she's going through is starting to dominate every aspect of her life."

"Is... is she okay?" Laurie asked nervously. "Nothing's gone wrong, is it?"

"Not really," Max said. "Her little girl is a little bit on the big and heavy side, at least as far as I've been able to tell, and her back and leg muscles are having a hard time keeping up. I suggest that she should spend as much time in bed as she can, but... trying to get my sister to stay put in any one spot for long is a bit like..."

"Like trying to throw a chain around the tornado," JD put in.

"Wow," Laurie blinked, surprised by the poetical phrasing from an alien newcomer who was still often grasping for the wrong word.

"How did you come up with that one?" Max asked in a low voice, guessing at one possible answer.

"It... it's more or less a direct translation from a saying that my parents had," JD said, just as quietly. "Fairly common around where I grew up, actually."

Max smiled, his guess confirmed. "And who was telling you the English names for different kinds of storms and weather phenomena? Tess??"

"Umm... her a little, yes," JD agreed. "Also some of them I just looked up online I think. Can't remember offhand which category 'tornado' fell into."

"Okay," Max said. "I think it's an apt comparison, actually." He sighed. "Liz said that she and Tess were going to rig up a bed-desk thing, like those tv dinner tables - something that she can have over her midsection while she's lying down, and keep all of her correspondence course stuff on it. That can be supported entirely from one side, you know."

Laurie nodded. "Umm... sorry, I can't quite picture what you mean," JD admitted, blushing slightly.

"Here, like this." Laurie pulled out a piece of paper from her bag, it looked like a half sheet of typing paper, and a sharpened pencil, and started to quickly sketch something out for JD. A simple table with a wide metal base, two strong legs, and a top that projected out from the legs over the base. If the legs that were present could bear sufficient weight without deforming, and the tabletop didn't bend or break it could obviously not be tipped over, despite the fact that nothing was holding up one side. She added, in very light strokes, a bed mattress and a woman's figure propped up on some pillows, to make the point that the tabletop could extend over the bed, where a real table couldn't be used because some of its legs would intersect the mattress.

"Okay, okay," JD told her. "I get the idea now, and thanks." He sighed. "I hope that Isabel likes it and uses it."

"Me too," Max agreed. "Laurie... how did you learn to *sketch* like that, anyway?"

"Hmm??" She looked at him as if she was completely shocked by the question. "Umm... I dunno, I've been drawing just about as long as I can remember. Ada Jane used to tell me how to draw something when I couldn't seem to quite get it right... she said she used to teach Granpa Charles too, when he was trying to sketch something into his notes."

"The notes about... about when he was abducted?" JD said in a low voice.

Laurie smiled slightly. "Not just that. He made notes about all kinds of stuff... kind of like a diary, except that he didn't do it that regularly, and they were never all organized and compiled in one place. Business deals that he was working on. A cool bunch of trees that he found out in the middle of nowhere that weren't quite like any that he'd heard of before." She smiled. "I even saw a bunch of notes that he made about me, when I was really young... like three weeks, a month old. Kinda freaky."

"I can imagine," JD agreed.

"Hi guys!" a new voice said, and Kyle pulled up a seat at the table. "What's up?"

"Not much, just talking about sketches and pregnant girls," Max quipped. "Guess the Clapman street gang is all here - plus one." That was where the apartment that the three boys was sharing was, and Max had tried to use the term a few times before, but nobody else was letting it catch on.

"Yep, just me and three handsome, strong young men," Laurie giggled. "Even if two of them are spoken for by someone else... and me too, when it comes to that."

"Yeah, Max you're quickly becoming the only single guy for miles around," Kyle teased his long-ago nemesis. "You among the guys, and Liz Parker among the girls... now who'd have ever thunk that?"

"Yes, yes, I get your point," Max agreed with a bit of a sigh. "Umm, JD, do you want to swing by the girls' place? See if Tess, Isabel, or both of them are up for a quick astral trip, just to make sure our nonphysical selves are nice and limber, or whatever?"

"And he's off," Laurie muttered to Kyle under her breath. It wasn't quite quiet enough for anyone else there to not hear her, but JD pretended that he hadn't been aware of the remark.

"Yeah, I guess we can go by," he said with a smile. "If Tess doesn't want to drill, maybe we can figure out something else to do." Kyle chuckled, and JD got out some money to pay for his food. Laurie hugged Max goodbye.

"So," Kyle said to Laurie once the others had gone. "What's up?"

"Not much with me," Laurie replied. "What's the latest with you and Martine??"

"Funny you should ask..." Kyle stretched out his legs and helped himself to JD's last saturn ring.

----------

"I dunno," Isabel said to Max. "I don't really feel like drilling just now. Tess and I did a big practice session this morning, and I'm still a bit tired out from it."

"Umm, okay," Max shrugged awkwardly. "Just, umm, thought I'd come by and ask."

"Actually, it's good that you came," Tess said. "JD, there's, umm, there's some other things that I wanted to show you. Down at the mall."

"Alright, cool." JD waved at Max and Liz. "Thanks for the lift over here man."

"Don't mention it," Max muttered, unable to quite keep the disappointment out of their voice. Tess giggled and wrapped one arm around JD's chest from behind as they headed out of the apartment. "Well, glad to see that things are going so well for them, I guess."

"Yeah, it really is," Isabel agreed. "So, do you wanna hang around here for a while? Liz and Bethany should be back soon."

Max smiled and took a seat in the living room. "Where did they go anyway?"

"Oh, New Mexico alliance stuff, not sure of the details."

"The plight of the prairie chickens again??" Isabel shrugged a 'maybe, I'm not sure,' and sat down on the loveseat. "So... how're you doing, anyway?? It's getting, umm, err--"

"Thirty-five weeks," Isabel filled in. "Getting into the home stretch. But I'm doing well, thanks."

"Still eating plenty?" Max asked with a smile.

"Umm... yeah, I think so - why?"

"Oh, just something that was in one of the books - the baby is starting to put pressure on your stomach now." Isabel made a bit of a face. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay, I need to be told about stuff like this, even though it feels a bit weird." Isabel sighed. "Since we're getting kinduv close... well, I've been thinking about what you've told me about when Liz had Bethany, and... and I *really* don't want to give birth in a hospital. Umm... is there any way that we could..." She trailed off uncertainly.

"Well... we can probably make some kind of alternate arrangements," Max said slowly. "That's something that's been bugging me too... I don't like hospitals any more than you do, and though I don't think any of the tests they did with Liz or Beth would have shown if they had a true alien heritage... but if there's a complication, some damnfool doctor might order bloodwork, or a chemical test on your amniotic, or whatever." He considered again. "But we need to be smart about it - we can't just try to deliver your baby in the apartment without a slightly more trained person on the scene than myself. Would raise a lot of questions." He looked up at her. "What do you think about looking for a licensed midwife?"

Isabel laughed and smiled. "Umm, I'm not sure myself. I know that they have to pass tests, and probably go through medical training similar to doctors and nurses." Was there actually a midwifery program at the college? Max thought that sounded familiar. "But I definitely associate them with the idea of mothers going through childbirth in an environment that they feel more comfortable with than a hospital."

"Alright, let's find out more," Isabel decided. "As quickly as possible. And I'll talk to Alex about if when he... Oh, hi!!"

"Hi girls!" Liz had just come through the apartment door, carrying Beth in a snuggly on her front. "Um... hello Max," she added when she could actually get a clear look at him. "Is, uh, is Tess still around?"

"Nope," Isabel replied. "Off with JD again - there was something vital he just had to learn about at the mall." Liz and Max chuckled at that.

"How did your thing go?" Max asked.

"Umm... not particularly great actually, but I'd rather not talk about it just now," Liz said in a soft voice. "Is there anything particular to which we owe the honor of your presence?"

"Not really," Isabel filled in again. "He came over talking about drilling again, but neither Tess nor I was really up for it."

"But I'm happy just hanging out," Max filled in quickly. "Unless I'm in the way that..." He broke off as Liz gently set Bethany down on the living room carpet, and she immediately started to crawl curiously over to one leg of the coffee table.

"Naw, it's cool that you're here," Liz assured him, sitting down on the seat beneath the window. "Anything interesting come up in conversation?"

"Isabel wants to get a midwife," Max explained.

"Probably makes a lot of sense," Liz agreed. "I wonder if Maria will need one too."

"Not sure," Max admitted. "Even though their children will both be quarter Antarian, Isabel is a hybrid and Maria is human, so anything not directly having to do with the baby is a much lower risk level for Maria. Ultimately, it'll be a choice that she and Michael have to make, of course."

"When you say it that way, that almost seems ominous, Max," Isabel said, and Max looked at her, surprised. "I mean... I'm half alien, and my baby is three quarters human. We're not exactly the same, but there's nothing in her that's completely foreign to me... that my body would be completely unequipped to handle. But if Maria is all human, and her baby is part alien... is there a greater risk of complications because of that?? What if there's something that alien babies need in utero that Maria's system isn't equipped to give to her."

"Hmm, yeah, that's something of a point," Liz agreed, frowning. "You and Alex got that delivery from Kal - or at least, we assume it was Kal, soon after you knew you were pregnant. I don't think that Michael and Maria have heard from him. If he's still keeping close tabs, he probably knows that Maria's pregnant too."

"But Maria isn't one of us," Max said. "I'm not sure Kal would be as protective of her as of Isabel... though if he has any concern for the baby, then that wouldn't be any different." He sighed. "Maybe I should get in touch with him again."

"Could be good," Isabel said. "Maybe Maria should be taking some of the same stuff that he sent me... I can't remember exactly what the note said."

"We'll sort it all out - things will be okay," Liz said, reaching out to pick her babygirl up and hold Beth in her lap. "So, when is it that you guys go on your first big interstellar trip?"

"Six days, minus a few hours," Max said softly. "I guess I'm kinda nervous about it."

"Don't worry," Isabel said. "We'll do fine."

-----------

"Okay, there's something that I don't really understand," Maria said as she went through her wardrobe, considering clothes and not finding exactly what she wanted or needed. "I thought JD was saying that somebody would come to earth and take over a human body... but now all five of you are going off to an alien planet first?"

"Well... Max kinda made it clear that he didn't approve of aliens 'posessing' human beings who didn't understand what was going on," Michael replied from the bed. (He didn't have to go into work for a few hours yet.) "The whole abduction bit. Maybe it's because of that that when an alien did 'come' to Earth, he didn't take a real body at all, but just dreamwalked Isabel and Alex. And he proposed that the next step was for us to go to that colony. It didn't seem worth making a fuss over the original plan, especially considering how hard it is to make any kind of conversation at all over these distances."

"Oh, okay," Maria muttered, considering that. "Makes sense I suppose." She sighed. "I... I have to say I get worried at the thought of you going so far without me."

Michael got up and put his arms around her. "I'll always come home to you - you realize that?" She nodded. "This is just something that we kinduv need to take care of... no, that we decided we *wanted* to help with. But... well, it's only a few months until the conferenece, and then it'll be behind me."

"I hope so." Just as Michael was about to ask what she meant, Maria kissed him.

Michael kissed back, and drew her closer to him with one arm, while the fingers of his left hand strayed to a particular spot that he had a lot of practice finding at the base of her neck. Maria's whole body shook, and she hugged him back hard, but after a moment she broke the kiss and complained in a heated whisper. "Not fair, you can't do this to me right now!! I have that meeting with the Furious Suburbanites in twenty-seven minutes, and I haven't even showered yet!!"

"So, you'll keep them waiting a bit," Michael murmured back. "It'll just make you look more like a busy, important, highly-in-demand Manager."

"Not if my skin is still flushed and I haven't entirely scrubbed away the smell of hot sex," Maria pointed out... but she didn't protest when Michael swung her around, and they both fell back down onto the bed, Michael's deft fingers stroking her earlobes, and then running over the skin of her shoulders. Since all Maria had been wearing was an old dressing gown, he didn't even really need to undress her for them to get down to business, just open it up wide.

Once Michael had finished making his wife late, and she was finally in the shower with clothes picked out and ready, he wandered, (still naked,) over to the computer to check email. Hmm, spam, spam, something about a concert in Albuquerque, more spam... Alex? Why was Alex sending him an email??

He had opened the message and read the first few paragraphs before it dawned on Michael. Alex had *not* sent HIM an email. Maria had been the last person to use the computer, and Michael hadn't quite been with-it enough to realize that it was still logged into her email. He probably should stop reading her personal correspondence with one of her best friends.

But he wasn't going to stop. Somehow Michael just knew that.

"Hey there, *senora.* How's impending motherhood treating you, hehe? Just putting together a quick note before I head out into the office for the day. Let's see... not much to report from out here just north of the border. Work's going fine... they've got a lot for me to do, and that's good enough at this point I guess. I've been trying to follow your advice and find some other things to do here in town, try and distract myself from thinking about Isabel and everybody else I miss... a few hits and a few misses so far."

"The gaming club has probably worked out best so far. Someone in marketing from work hooked me up with these guys... a bunch of total classic video game freaks. I'm not nearly as obsessive as they are, but they've done their best to make me feel really welcome, and trying to match reflexes with them on the original super Mario or wandering around the wordy byways of the Underground kingdom of Zork is a pretty fun way of wiling away and idle evening. (Enough w's there?) Guys' movie night out didn't go nearly so well... I can't even speak of it yet... though maybe I'll dish the next time I'm up in Roswell.

"Okay, I think that's enough about me. How are things going down in there, with all of the new developments? How's the cafe doing? Liz said that her parents were going to be leaving the day before yesterday, so now it's just you girls right?? Don't freak or stress - you're so totally up to this. And how's Michael reacting to the whole alien voyages thing? If he's getting too wrapped up in it and not paying enough attention to you, I'll come back down there and hit him again... well, maybe not. Unless you want me to. I know that normally anyone who lays a hand on your Spaceboy will have to deal with you...

"Ohh, jeeez, I just realized that I've been sitting here typing too long. Laters!"

And that was it, except for Alex's signature, which currently had a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy quote and a link to the Browncoat's online forum, whatever that was. Smiling, Michael opened up a reply window... and was just about to start typing when a voice distracted him. "Who're you emailing??" Michael turned around, shocked, but Maria wasn't paying any particular attention to him - which was probably why she'd asked instead of just continuing to spy over his shoulder until she could answer her own questions. She pulled a skirt out of the hallway closet and disappeared back into the bedroom with it. Michael sighed and left email entirely without continuing his message at all. Maria had noticed him using the computer and anyway, he'd completely forgotten whatever he was going to accomplish by pretending to be her. So he pulled up a pinball game and shot off a few balls to try and calm himself down.

Six minutes later, Maria emerged, looking very nice and hip in her denim skirt and a tailored ice green silk blouse. Michael paused the game and hurried up to give her a hug goodbye, (noticing as he did, that her cheeks were creamy and just a tad on the pale side, and she smelled of nothing but mango shampoo and moisturized soap.) "Knock 'em dead."

"Yeah, well." Maria shrugged. "Not sure if I can really take on another band at this point, but since it was for Alex, the least I can do is meet them, right?" She kissed him on the cheek and cocked her head. "Are you on late shift tonight?"

"Uhh... not especially. On 'til six I think."

"Okay. How about we meet for dinner at that barbecue grill place you like. Umm... Fred's fried frack?"

"Close enough... and yeah, that'd be great," Michael said, grinning at her. What he'd read in the email was very much on his mind... he wasn't sure if Maria thought he was getting too wrapped up in the Confederation planning and not paying as much attention to her as he could be... but he felt like making a point out of ensuring that she definitely wouldn't continue to hold that opinion.

After his wife left, Michael sheepishly went back into her email just one more time, to mark the letter from Alex as 'not yet read.'

----------

"Okay." JD looked around the living room. "This one, ladies and gentlemen - is for all the marbles. Next stop - the stars themselves!!" He smiled sheepishly. "Okay, so who's first??"

"I'll go," Max said after a moment. He reached out, took the orbs in both of his hands, concentrated, and slumped into his chair. Liz caught the orbs from his limp fingers before they fell - brought them over to Michael and Isabel, who went into Astral mode together, and then to Tess and JD. Tess concentrated on JD's face as they crossed the divide between physical reality and a realm that was... something else, but when their spirits floated free, she couldn't sense 'face' in JD's astral body... just a familiar tangle of energy and quantum improbability, unmistakeably carrying his personality and spirit with them, but leaving that boyish, eager countenance and the mop of blonde hair behind. The other three were hovering nearby too. Michael reached out and brushed a lock of Maria's hair away from her eyes with his powers, and she smiled, recognizing the gesture by now.

*Okay, where's our first blink to??* Isabel asked impatiently. Alex couldn't be here to see her off, and she probably felt a little sore about that.

*Umm... way out past Pluto,* JD said. *Say, four times as far. That'll be far enough to get our bearings in the neighborhood.* A wave of nervousness seemed to pass through the other four spirits. They'd realized that they'd have to travel a lot further than they'd ever been before... though they'd been further than JD had just said, they hadn't covered that much distance in a single hop. But something that JD had said returned to Tess... that if they could picture their destination, they shouldn't have trouble reaching it, no matter the distance. And she could picture what he'd said... maybe if they could all get there in one jump, she'd be able to picture going further and reaching this alien planet.

*Okay, let's do it.* And boldly, Tess blinked first... and found herself in very empty space... though not as empty or as cold as other territory they'd need to travel through, she knew. The sun was just a bright star in the distance, but brighter than any other, and Pluto, nearly as far away, was a tiny grain of sand that she couldn't have spotted with human eyes, but just within sensing distance for her astral body. And something else of interest seemed to surround her here... she was in the heliopause, the very outer boundary of the sun's solar wind. Around her, Max, Michael, Isabel, and finally JD popped in, miles away but seemingly very close compared to everything else that she was aware of. In fact, even Tess herself seemed to be spreading out and occupying very nearly a cubic mile, in response to the great distances of space.

*So we're here,* Michael said, sounding satisfied and happy. *And now?*

*Now, we need to cover some serious distance,* Max filled in. *Umm... how about a quarter light year that way??* He pointed off towards Orion's belt, brilliantly recognizable in the distance.

*Does everyone know how to measure a quarter light year?* Tess asked, and Isabel was giving off doubtful energy. *Okay, we're... what, about a light day out from the sun right now, yes?? And Alpha Centauri is... is something liek four light years that way.* She pointed off to the side, down towards Celestial south. *That should help you get your bearings.*

*Okay, let's try it,* Isabel replied, with a sensation that would have been taking a deep breath if she'd had a body.

They all blinked, and came out scattered over a volume of cubic light-days, with Izzie being the furthest away, and Tess was worried that she was too lost to find, and wondering if she'd have the presence of mind to return to Earth after a few hours. But eventually they all rendezvoused, and the next jump went more smoothly. (Searching vast tracks of space for each other was complicated by the fact that the mental emanatins that allowed one Astral individual to sense another only travelled at the speed of light, and drifting was quite a lot slower, so you had to quickly blink about and try several different places, hoping to spot someone else.)

Tess decided that she was getting the hang of this kind of travel nicely... she had probably spent more time than Michael or Isabel wrapping her mind around the scale of interstellar distances and what the geography of space (astrography?) might be like. Max was doing alright too. It was tricky, lonely business though... taking long enough that she was starting to wonder if her previous life on Earth... where she'd had blonde hair and blue eyes, was studying to be a teacher, and made out with JD, had actually happened. JD led them in towards a yellow-orange star.

*What's the deal, J-man?* Michael sent. *This... this isn't the destination system, is it?*

*Right you are, Michael,* he sent back. *But I thought we could at least do with a change of scenery, since there isn't anything else that we can do as a rest stop.* So they blinked in towards this star's planetary system, and something about it did make Tess feel better... seeing the star grow into a fiery little disc, its radiant energy seeming to warm her soul. There was a cloud of mixed comets and asteroids circling the star a fair ways out, a gas giant and a somewhat smaller gas planet further in, and then a rocky ocean world.

*Is there life here??* Isabel asked, delighted by the prospect, as they drifted in the upper atmosphere of the cold wet ball.

*I'm not sure, actually,* JD sent back. *But it wouldn't be at all like Earth or Antarian life, if there is. Those seas are ammonia, not water-based.*

*Cool anyway,* Michael decided. *Are there any other planets further in??*

*One, I think, though it might be a stretch to call it that. Smaller than Mercury, though a little bigger than Earth's moon,* JD said. *You can go take a quick look if you want, but we'd better get moving again soon.*

*Nah, don't really need to see a big ball of bare rock,* Michael decided. *Roll out.*

----------

Michael had gotten used to the sensation of 'going Astral', but inhabiting the prepared alien host was quite a disorienting experience. For one thing, the bodily systems of his 'guy' seemed to be able to tell that there was a new life energy inhabiting it, and wasn't doing that well with the experience. The native mind was doing his best to keep everything going smoothly, establishing conscious control over his heart rate and some other vital function that Michael couldn't immediately identify. Michael wanted to say hi to the guy, seemed like only common courtesy when someone was lending out their body, but on the other hand he didn't want to distract him. Maybe pleasantries could come later.

Meanwhile, someone else was speaking to him. "Mikhail? Mikhail Gooren?"

"Mikewl," he muttered, stumbling over the familiar name because of an unfamiliar tongue shape that he was using. "Mye-kell." That was better. "I'm okay, it's just a lot to get acclimated to."

And belatedly it hit him that he'd spoken that sentence in a completely unfamiliar language... or at least, it was unfamiliar to his spirit self. Apparently he was able to use the brain speech centers of his alien host... which was part of the point of this routine, aside from being a quick transportation alternative, wasn't it? "Where... where are the others?"

"Maybe you should engage your [visualizers]." Michael was stunned at the use of the unfamiliar concept, followed rapidly by its demonstration in down-to-whatever-planet-this-was reality. The process wasn't... wasn't like opening an eyelid... if there was any sort of sliding barrier that could be used to protect the visualizers, they hadn't been in use when Michael arrived. Neither was it a simple act of focusing a lens. Whatever sort of 'eyes' these aliens had, they apparently didn't work without a more direct expenditure of energy than human eyes needed. Did that make any sense in terms of the laws of optics? Michael wasn't sure... but then, maybe alien evolution didn't follow the rules in quite the same way.

He wasn't sure if he'd subconsciouly engaged the visualizers when they were mentioned, or if the host mind had done it for him, or if there was some other explanation. However, he was definitely 'seeing' his surroundings, and it didn't take long to realize that four other aliens (maybe he'd better just start calling them people,) nearby were also showing signs of recovering from something fairly disorienting... two female and two other males. Michael tried to reach out with his astral senses to figure out who was who, but they refused to react right just at the moment... probably because he was still settling into this body. "Max?? Isabel?"

"Hey there soldier," one of the guys replied in the alien language, and Michael tried to smile in response to the old joke as he recognized Max. However, apparently the smile reflex of his body was tied into some sort of expression that would be seriously disconcerting to a human's sensibilities. Michael tried to ignore it.

"Okay this is... seriously weirder than I thought it would be," one of the girls said. Was it Isabel? Probably Tess wouldn't have spoken first without qualifying herself, since Isabel had been asked for. And then the other girl looked at the guy who hadn't spoken yet, and that convinced Michael. Tess would be wanting to make sure who JD was.

Satisfied about the others, Michael started to take inventory of his loaner body. Seemed pretty decent... two arms and two legs in more or less the right places... what about senses?? Of course there were the visualizers, and a voice box that apparently worked in more or less the same way as a human one, and some way to hear sound. With another start of surprise Michael realized that his ears were out on antennae. It somehow seemed unsafe for them... but then, they seemed to be much more sensitive than his usual ears. Probably that was the upside of being seperated from the rest of the head, instead of buried inside. Sense of touch was pretty much as usual too, except that some fo his fingers had sensitive fingertips that went all the way around them, instead of just being on one side like human fingertips. (The others had little horns that seemed to work in about the same way as fingernails.) Also - fingers were jointed in opposite ways, so that they could bend either backwards or forwards. and his 'elbow' apparently worked on the ball and socket principle, able to bend in any direction, through a nearly full sphere. Not too shabby.

Umm... sense of smell?? Yes, but - hmm. His sniffer organs appeared to be not in the head, but deeper down in the breathing tract. Where was the upside in that? Not only were they seperated much further from the brain than they had to be, but they'd be less useful as advance warning of dangerous fumes before they got to the lung-equivalent. In fact, they were possibly inside the lungs themselves. With a human nose, you could breathe shallowly, get a good whiff of something without really breathing it all the way down. Hmm...

"As soon as you feel ready, perhaps you should try to get up and move around," the person who had mangled Michael's name and told him to turn on his eyes suggested. "All of the surfaces here are cushioned so that you're unlikely to harm your host bodies."

So Michael did indeed stand up, paying careful attention to the slightly unfamiliar way in which his lower limbs jointed, and explored the space they were in. It looked an awful like one of those 'padded rooms' in cartoons where crazy people got put, and he tried not to dwell on that resemblance. Then, belatedly, something occured to him. The others - Max and JD and Tess and Isabel and the guy who was apparently some kind of guide to the process of adjusting to their bodies... they were aliens, but they weren't the same kind of alien as Michael was... they were fairly human looking, humans with odd skin tones and different kinds of hair and different facial features, but no weirder than some of the tamest alien species on 'star trek.' By comparison... well, Michael couldn't see a reflection of himself - they'd probably be worried of one of them falling and breaking a mirror - but he was a freak! "Hey, what's the deal?" he growled, upset.

"Yeah, that's... that's weird," Max agreed... using that kind of tone that Michael instantly recognized as him trying to be polite and not saying something more honest that he thought would hurt Michael's feelings. Even though he was speaking from a different voice, a different face, and in a different language, something essential about his reactions had not changed in the least.

"Umm... if you're referring to the fact that your host body is... is a Klenthorr," the guide muttered, sounding a little worried. "Well, we aren't used to hosting meetings on this scale, and there aren't many accredited astral hosts around in this district. We'd get in trouble with the Society if we tried to pull in volunteers off the street for you to, umm, borrow their bodies. We thought that we'd be one person short and had no idea what we'd do - probably turn away one of the Antarians, though there are only two of them and each have important things to tell you, I'm certain. Aartegys came from hundreds of gunes away to help us out of the jam, he's a very well trained astral host and has been involved in thirties of situations like this. We... we have no prejudice against Klenthorrs here... they're a well respected minority of our population and have many valuable talents."

"Umm..." Michael considered that. "All right, I... I guess there's nothing but to try and make the best of the situation. I... I was just a little startled, because... well, because he's not that much like my human self." And then, suddenly feeling that the right moment had come to make an introduction, he tried to communicate mentally with the host mind, who seemed less distracted with bodily functions at the moment. *Sorry, man. Umm... I didn't mean any offense. Michael Guerin, nice to meet you, and thanks for sharing with me.*

*Bruun 2t1 Aartegys,* the host mind sent back. *No worries at all... I've had to deal with much bigger wig-outs before... and thanks are strictly not necessary. This is a job to me.*

*Really?* Michael considered that. *How much does it pay?*

*The rates are rather complicated, and you have other things to worry about at the moment. Generally, though, I do okay.*

"Okay, well, now that that's settled," Tess said, speaking from her alien Rahlicx body for the first time, Michael realized. Her tones seemed curiously melodious to him. "I... okay, yeah, we need a little bit of time to get used to these bodies." She had tried to stand up too quickly and nearly lost her balance - JD was supporting her protectively. "But what happens then?"

"You go to the meeting room," the guide said. "The two envoys from the Antarian confederation movement have already arrived, and they will have much to tell you, and some question to ask probably. That's all that I know."

"Alright," Michael said, walking back through the center of the room, with more and more confidence in his body. "Umm... what's your name, anyway? Out of curiosity."

"Umm... Janavik. There's, uhh, there's more to it, but that will do if you just want something simple to call me by."

"Sounds good, Janavik," Max said. "Do you know who all of us are?"

"Pretty much, yes." Did he mean that he knew who was in which body, or just that he knew all five of their names? Michael couldn't tell whether Janavik had been looking specifically at him when he said his name, or if he'd maybe just been taking roll. He didn't announce anyone else's name though.

It didn't take long before they were all confident enough to leave the padded playroom, and J led them through some fairly plain, modern-looking hallways into a conference room with a simple table, chairs, a kind of projection screen up on one wall... in nearly every important way that Michael could detect, it could have been a board room in the building where he worked. Well, except for the writing that somebody had left up on a kind of a dry-erase board, which weren't in the roman alphabet or the English language. But that seemed like a fairly minor detail.

"Hello, it's so nice to meet you," an impressive Rahlicx man... or an Antarian in a Rahlicx host, said as they filed in. "I'm Don Esseverli, one of the Infamous Twelve who were unlucky enough to come up with this Confederation idea in the first place." He laughed in a self-deprecating fashion. The term 'Don' was not a literal rendering of the word he'd used, or a reference to the diminutive form of 'Donald', but a reference to some sort of academic role that wasn't quite 'professor' or 'doctor', so Michael had filled it in subconsciously with an earth term that seemed vaguely appropriate.

"I... I heard about you when I was still back at the University, sir," JD said, stepping forward and inclining his head respectfully.

"Then you must be our young Emissary," Esseverli said, also nodding, but in a fashion that Michael's host mind recognized as showing gratitude. "On behalf of the movement, I definitely need to..."

"Please don't," JD interrupted, and the Don poked his head forward slightly - confusion? "You don't need to thank me," JD insisted, "in fact - I feel like I am the one who owes a debt of gratitude to the peace movement, for sending me on this incredible journey. I... I only hope that fufilling my mission and my duty is return enough, for all of the blessings I have discovered on Earth." And he took Tess' hand in his, very deliberately. Esseverli seemed more than a little stunned by this reaction.

"Perhaps it's time that I introduced myself," the other waiting alien said, and four pairs of eyes and one set of Klenthorr visualizers turned to consider him. For the first time Michael realized that something had not gone as they'd expected. If Esseverli was there on behalf of the confederation cause itself, then the other person would be a representative of the old-royalist supporters - the Liaretians. But JD had said that they would probably send Raydeleen, the personal proxy of Zan and Vilandra's mother, queen Alinda. But this alien host was male, and cross-gender transfer hosting was not practiced among Antarians or any of the other species that had similar concepts of sexual identity. Of course, Rayde might have been too busy and sent someone else on her behalf, but...

Max cut straight to the point. "We were expecting the Gervehlkah of Queen Alinda, Raydeleen."

The Liaretian envoy was similarly blunt. "There is no longer such a role for Rayde to assume."

For a second, the truth didn't come through. Isabel was the first to actually say. "Then... she's dead? The old queen mother??"

"Yes. It is a recent development... a semi-zoan infection that came on her suddenly, and resisted treatment by our Healers. She passed on four rotations ago, Antar time." He nodded respectfully. "I'm sorry to have to bear the news. Alinda was... was hoping very much to meet the four of you, when you attended the confederation summit. Apparently, it was not so to be."

"So just who are you?" Michael asked.

"And who leads the Liaretian faction now?" Tess added.

"That would be Vorjal, the eldest son of princess Kahvai, who survived the purge," he said. "I am Turik Vannler, one of his seneschals, and he has directed me to conduct talks with you on his behalf."

"And just what happened to Rayde??" Michael pressed. From what JD had said, she had been quite an impressive woman, helping to stablize the Liaretian forces, exerting the moral authority of Queen Alinda, who had been too weak to act on her own behalf as strongly or as often as she wished. It would be terribly unjust for her to get turfed just because Alinda had finally lost her battle with old age and sickness.

"At the moment she has no formal role to replace her old one, but she is close in Vorjal's councils, and I have no doubt he will soon find her a suitable situation," Turik assured them. "She worked closely with me preparing for this meeting, since she had, as you surmise, expected to come herself."

And why couldn't she STILL come, even if Alinda was dead, since she was so well prepared for it? Michael wondered to himself. Two obvious answers presented themselves... that in the light of the sudden change, Vorjal needed her close by him too much to lose her - or he wanted to show that he was in charge by sending off his own guy instead of Alinda's woman. Hard to sort out exactly which of those was closer to the truth from this distance in space.

"Well, alright I suppose," Max said. "What do you have to tell us about? JD has already told us the basics of what would be expected of us at the conference, and some background information on most of the factions that he expected to attend."

"That's good," Esseverli said, waving at the table, and belatedly they all took seats. "I suppose the first order of business is to confirm whether, and to what degree, you are willing to comply with the three major requests that we passed on to him."

The four or them shared a bunch of glances in quick last-minute confirmation. Max continued to speak for the Roswell contigent. "Well, I don't think that declaring our support for the Confederation initiative, or renouncing any claims we have on the throne or political power in favor of the Confederate council, will be a problem."

"Ahh!" Esseverli shook his head, but this apparently meant the opposite to what it would on earth - Michael's host was informing him that this was a gesture of confirmation or of finding out something that one had already guessed to be true. "So the sticking point is to be the Granilith? I suggested to by friends that would be the case."

"Hopefully not a huge sticking point, I hope," Max conceded. "JD suggested that your interest in the Granilith is more as a matter of principle than a practicality?" The professor shook his head in agreement again. "Then here's how it's going to go. I will yield *authority* over the Granilith to the confederate council, on the understanding that I am to be retained as its caretaker, and it will remain under my safe keeping on Earth. If the council wishes at a later time to turn their theoretical authority over it into a real, practical matter, they will have to agree on the details of its transference to another caretaker unanimously, without exception - and also to take sufficient measures to convince me that the transference orders are genuine and are in fact authorized by a unanimous vote." The confederation plans called for all of the major factions, and most of the minor ones, to have representation in the council. It seemed more than likely that they would never be able to agree on ANYTHING unanimously, never mind over something as important and contentious as the Granilith. He took a breath. "I realize that making the communication completely irrefutable across such a great gap of distance and culture may be difficult for the respected Council... and that's just too bad. I will *not* yield it without being certain that I am acting in accordance with the will of the many peoples and factions of Antar, as represented by their duly selected council."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:08 am

Part 22

"Very well, Max, since you cannot be swayed, I suppose I will need to throw the influence of the movement behind your plans for the future of the Granilith." Esseverli sighed after saying that. "I suppose I had better ask to use the visual communicator facilities, to let my colleagues know about it before I return." He rose from his chair and moved towards the door. "When I come back, we can talk about your trip to the Conference itself, and a few other things."

Once the Don had left, Isabel turned in her borrowed body to face the representative of her alien family. "Turik, did... did we ask for too much?" Diplomatically, she didn't let Max bear the responsibility for his stubbornness alone, even though Isabel had been somewhat tempted to send the Granilith back to Antar, if they asked for it, just so that she could stop worrying about the thing once and for all.

"No, I don't think so," Turik replied. "Esseverli is playing the favor game... he wants to convey the impression that you owe the movement if Max's requests go through. Truth is, it's a proposal with a lot of diplomatic benefits. Some of the big fish in the pond - like Kivar, are probably hoping to get the Granilith for themselves, but there are a lot more smaller factions who would appreciate safeguards to keep that kind of power from falling into the hands of their stronger enemies."

Tess smiled. That was more or less what JD had said while he and Max were hatching the plan to keep the Granilith on Earth without flaunting Confederation authority. "But... but if the reactions of the faction leaders are so competitive, is the new government going to last long?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Turik replied. "I'm committed to the process, as is my lord... but there's only so far you can go to convince your enemies to play along."

"And a fine line to walk, between being honorable and stupid," Michael grunted. (His body seemed to be good at grunting.) "You can't guard for betrayal too obviously, because that violates the spirit of co-operation and sows distrust throughout the entire government. On the other hand, you can't leave yourselves wide open for a knife in the back from... certain people."

"Yes," Turik agreed. "A lot of precautions like that have been built into the negotiations, but it does sometimes feel like walking upon the blade of a sword."

"How are things going back home, anyway?" JD asked. "I... I haven't heard much ever since I left the place where I landed on Earth... and, well, the Royal four probably can't make up their minds where to start asking questions."

"Umm... well, things are too interesting," Turik said, "but not as bad as they've been at some points in the recent past at least." He stretched his limbs slightly. "You know, there's no particular reason that we should talk here in this stuffy conference room... unless you guys think that anything else would be disorienting?"

"No," Michael decided. "I'm pretty well acclimated I think, and I'd like to see a bit more of this settlement, or colony, or whatever you call it."

"But what about Don Esseverli?" Isabel asked. "Won't he be upset if he finished making his call home and comes back to the conference room, and we're not here?"

"I'll leave a message for him," Turik said, going to something that looked a little bit like a keyboard-enabled PDA, except that it was affixed to the wall near the door. "I suspect that he won't be able to finish his arrangements for a little while in any event."

"Alright, let's go," Max agreed. This was a chance that they probably wouldn't get very often... not that he was incredibly curious about alien worlds. His heart was on Earth, and the same could really be said for all five of them, more or less. But still, as a tourist opportunity he couldn't entirely deny the allure.

At first, they just walked through fairly close, windowless corridors as they talked - it could have been the set of a sci-fi television show, or even a very fancy office block or something of the sort back on earth. Turik told them some about Antarian history from the time just after the four of them left for Earth... JD hadn't volunteered much about that sort of thing, saying that he wasn't sure he could trust his history books to give them a relevant and unbiased picture. Max wasn't sure if Turik was old enough to remember that time personally, but he seemed to be well versed in the events, and if he spoke from hearsay, he uttered the secondhand words confidently and casually. He also mentioned a few more recent developments and passed along a message from an acquaitance of JD's, a friend of his brother's who was in a faction that was closely tied to the core Liaretians.

In the middle of this conversation, the hallway that they had been walking through suddenly became a catw... no, not really a catwalk because that implied a lack of stability and strength. It was a pathway through midair that was as solid and immovable as if it had been carved out of living bedrock granite, (if not more so,) and it stretched over a... over some kind of combination market, carnival, food court, and dramatic bandstand. Tess leaned against the side of the path - a transparent wall that came up a little over waist-high on all of them, and looked down at the small figures below... mostly Rahlicxians and a few Klenthorrs here and there.

"How... how many people live in this... how many live here?" Isabel breathed, somewhat awestruck at the sights.

"Umm... well, obviously, that depends on how you define 'here', Turik told her, barely supressing alien laughter. "I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but for the Kaalto townstative district, which would be, umm, this complex and outside territory ten to twenty miles away, maybe eight hundred thousand, including fifty thousand Klenthorrs and a few thousand other non-Rahlicx. For this planet as a whole - maybe nine or ten millions, total.

"Hey," Michael put in. "How do you know about miles??"

Turik just smiled in that somewhat disconcerting way. "We know more about earth culture than you might imagine, though that's little enough, just snippets and odd facts. I learned as many earth concepts and units of measurement as I could so that I'd be able to communicate with you easily."

"Alright." Max sighed as they began to reach the midpoint of the mid-air walkway. He looked around, and noticed that Isabel seemed nervous, as if there was something else that she had wanted to ask the Liaretian envoy about, but hadn't had the courage. Max thought he cold guess what that might have been - something that she hadn't even mentioned to JD, as far as he knew. Hoping that he was doing the right thing, Max decided to mention it himself.

"There's... there's something that we've been worrying about for a long time," Max said. "When we first ran into other aliens on Earth, Kivar's agentss... they often referred to... to a kind of storyline involving Vilandra and Kivar."

"Ahh," Turik said. JD jumped slightly in surprise. "And you would ask me if they were telling the truth or not?"

"If - if you have any information, we'll take it under advisement," Tess said, reaching out to put her arm around Isabel's borrowed body supportively.

"Some. I... I was young when it happened, but... well... I saw Kivar entering the capital city, with Vilandra by her side." Isabel's breath caught. "She had opened the gate for his elite forces and his top lieutenants, and she ordered my city guard squadron to stand aside or escort them to the palace. My sergeant said that he couldn't do that, that he had his orders to protect the King from his enemies, and didn't recognize the Princess' authority. The fight was short - we were completely outmatched - about half the squad was killed, and the rest of us were held prisoner by a few of Kivar's lowest ranking bodyguards until the rest of it was over." He sighed. "I... I wasn't at the execution, but I heard about it from a fairly reliable witness. Kivar turned on Vilandra, ordered her to her death with her brother, his wife, and her fiancee the general. As the smoke rose up from the execution fires, he seemed to have second thoughts, even calling to his men to free the princess. However, his closest lieutenants argued against that, and the guards weren't sure what to do. Soon - it was too late for any of them to be saved."

"I... I see," Isabel sagged. "That... that explains a few things, at least." She suspected that Turik was refusing to speculate on what Vilandra's relationship to Kivar had been before that fateful day. "And... and why was Vilandra included with the others, for getting cloned and sent to Earth? If everybody knew that she had led Kivar to the others..."

"I don't know all of that," Turik admitted. "But, first, the Queen mother loved her eldest daughter greatly and would hear no accusations against her. Secondly - there were several witnesses who said that Isabel had let Kivar into the city under truce, and in search of peace." Isabel let out her breath again. "She might have shown naiviete and bad judgement in her actions, but she didn't intentionally betray anything."

"Thank... thank you." Isabel forced a smile. "It... it helps to hear some answers, even if they weren't all the ones I was hoping for. Obviously Vilandra had some sort of traffic with Kivar in those early months of the civil war. It definitely looks as if she wasn't true to her alliance to Rath."

"Maybe not," JD said, inserting himself into the conversation for the first time. "She was young, and probably had a very isolated upbringing, and her betrothal to Rath was engineered as a way to win the public and the various factions back over to the old royal line... the working man's son, of no nobility, winning the hand of the beautiful princess. Like Ava was married to Zan because he needed a royal bride, and because her family was a power base that they thought could be won away from Kivar's influence by giving them a personal stake in the Liaretian fortune." He deliberately stopped himself from starting to lecture. "Whatever Kivar's reasons for trying to seduce Vilandra - if they were all pragmatically devious, or if he had real interest in taking Vilandra as his wife - she would probably have been ill equipped to resist him for long. He was a charming, powerful man, older than she but still in the prime of his life - and with an unscrupulously skilled mind."

"Maybe... maybe we should head back," Max suggested. They had reached the end of the walkway, which looked out on relatively forbidding terrain outside the building - dark sandy hills, little clumps of purple plants emerging here and there - strong winds blowing and some kind of snow or hail beginning to fall. Turik nodded and they turned around, though Tess looked wistfully at the stairs that would lead them down to the market level. "So, does Kivar have strong abilities, with respect to affecting other people's minds?"

"Oohh, that's his specialty." Turik shivered. "I just hope they'll be taking strong enough precautions against his tricks at the Conference. He developed a technique of mental rape all by himself... you've heard of that?" Isabel nodded unhappily. "And he's well trained in projecting sights and sounds to other people's minds, reading surface thoughts, walking among dreams, and implanting subconscious suggestions. Actually, I've heard stories that that was how Vilandra first got involved with him... she had mental power aptitude herself - as you do, I think, Isabel, with the facility you've shown in dream walking." Isabel jumped a little. "The story goes that she first went to Kivar as a student, in defiance of her father, the old King, and that he had manged to mentally implant the suggestions that she should fall in love with him."

"Hmm." Isabel considered this. "But you don't believe that?"

"No, actually, at least not the latter part. Though I suppose it fits with a lot of what happened." He shrugged, and a little light on his suspenders blinked. "Yes, yes, we're on our way back," he said testily, pressing on the light.

They hurried back.

-----------

Maria hurried over to Michael as the five of them stirred. "How... how did it go?" she asked.

"Umm... not bad," he muttered. "But they'd better find a body for me if they want me to cross light-years for them again." He groaned. "And the whole thing was more tiring than I'd expected, either." He looked around - Liz was checking on Max and Isabel, and Kyle was helping Tess and JD to their feet. "How... how long were we out?"

"Err... something like fifteen hours," Maria mumbled. Michael blinked. They had left around five-twenty on a friday afternoon... as soon as he'd been able to get off work. Now - when he looked around, he saw that the clock said eight forty-five AM... more like fifteen and a half hours, and well into Saturday morning. He turned to Maria. "You.. you didn't get much sleep, did you?"

"I... I tried, but I couldn't," she confessed. "Not - not when you were lying there like that. I'm sorry."

Michael hesitated. His first impulse had been to... well, not quite tell her off, but very nearly - to remind his wife in as strong words as he could come up with how important it was for her to take care of herself, for by taking care of herself she was also taking care of their baby. But Maria *knew* that very well, and he wouldn't help the situation any by harping on the obvious. "C'mere a minute," he muttered, sitting himself up in the armchair, and Maria eagerly snuggled into his lap. Michael kissed the side of her face and stroked a hand through her hair, and he could feel the girl he loved starting to relax. "Do... do you want me to tell you a story," he whispered softly.

"Tell... tell me what happened to you on your trip," she whispered. "The whole deal."

Michael smiled. Maria was wanting to get the worst over with... but nothing really bad had happened on the trip, and he didn't really want to keep her awake long enough to go through the whole thing in detail. On the other hand, he wouldn't need to. He started to tell her about travelling through cold empty space, and being the only one of them who landed in a less-than humanoid body on the alien planet. Once he got to the point of meeting the actual Antarian emissaries, and Max's negotiations about the Granilith, Maria was starting to snooze, and then to snore quietly. Satisfied, Michael looked around the room.

"I don't care what you say, Max," Isabel was insisting, pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "I'm calling him right now!" Surely enough, Isabel already had a firm grip on the telephone handset, and Michael didn't need three tries (or even two,) to guess which 'him' Isabel was talking about. Apparently, Max didn't either - though possibly the name had already been mentioned while Michael wasn't paying attention to anyone other than Maria.

"Of course, call Alex right now," Max said, putting his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "I'm not trying to stop you. All that I said is, don't say that we're picking him up right now. You know that none of us has the resources that we'd need to spend on a remote-source teleportation right now. Maybe... maybe in a few hours."

Isabel scowled a truly impressive scowl at the unwelcome truth of what her brother was saying, but also made an exasperated nod of concurrence before disappearing into her room with the telephone. Michael smiled and spoke softly to avoid waking Maria up. "So, Kyle, when did you turn up?"

"Oh, just a little before seven," Kyle replied, also quietly. "Actually I was expecting that you guys would be done by now and that I could spend a little time with Tess. Figured that she wouldn't have been able to sleep after all the excitement. But I didn't mind hanging around and waiting."

"You figured that, huh?" Tess asked. Kyle blinked and nodded. "Well, I guess that maybe you were right. Hmm... anyone up for going down to the Crash for breakfast?"

"Yeah, me," Liz agreed. Max nodded, and JD smiled and stepped close to Tess. (Was he feeling suddenly insecure about Tess and Kyle's relationship?) Michael considered.

"Alright, I'll come too, just give me a moment." He had to extricate himself from the chair without waking Maria up first. So Michael bent down and kissed Maria on the forehead, and used the contact to initiate a superficial connection, sending her temporarily into a deeper level of slumber. While she was nearly unwakeable, Michael was able to gather her carefully up in his arms, stand, and then lay her down on the sofa where she'd probably be more comfortable.

"She's supposed to be behind the grill at ten, Michael," Liz pointed out softly.

"I don't care," he insisted. "If they're really short-handed, I'll strap the apron on one last time myself, for old times' sake. Still remember how to flip an Eclipse burger... and she needs her rest."

Liz couldn't argue with that as they filed out of the apartment. However, she did add, more as an FYI for him than anything else, "But we've got a lot of different things on the menu since you were working there. You don't have any idea how to make a Mountains of Oberon??"

"Hmm." Michael deliberated with his best deflated attitude until they were nearly down the two flights of stairs. "Pretty much, actually. The tricky bit is not deep-frying the meat loaf for too long, right??" Liz stared at him in utter shock. "What... I've been living with Maria for nearly nine months, while she's been general manager of the Crash. And Maria talks a lot. I might not have recent hands-on experience, but I'm up to speed with what's been going on there."

"Okay, okay," Liz agreed. "And you could probably have told that much just from the fact that you still eat there pretty often, too." Michael nodded. "But you can't pick up everything that way."

"Maybe not," Michael said, shrugging equably. "Just saying, nobody's going to wake Maria up before noon."

"Then maybe you shouldn't have left her behind with Isabel," JD pointed out. Michael suddenly got a stricken look on his face.

"Don't listen to him, Michael," Kyle said. "Isabel's going to be in her room, talking with Alex until well past noon, I think." Pause. "Which would probably be a pretty big entry on the phone bill."

"No, she's not going to be on the telephone that long," Liz corrected Kyle knowingly in turn. "Maybe fifteen minutes tops. Then they'll switch to the computer, either with voice chat or just text instant messaging." She turned to Max. "So, the negotiations went well, your majesty??"

Max blushed slightly, but also smiled and nodded. "Yeah. The confederation facilitators and several other factions are already supporting my proposal about the Granilith." He sighed. "On the other hand, it looks like I'll probably need to go for at least one other trip before the conference itself, to negotiate with some of the powerful undecided power blocks."

"Just you?" Liz exclaimed in surprise.

"Not just Max, but probably not all of us either," Tess said. "JD and I will be going too, almost certainly... JD is turning out to be a good cultural interpreter for us at this point." She smiled and looked back at JD. "Michael might or might not go, probably not, and Isabel almost definitely won't."

"Good," Kyle decided. "She has other things to worry about, like the baby." He paused. "What does she think about staying behind?"

"Oh, umm, I think she's okay with the idea," Michael said after a moment. "Was a bit surprised when Max suggested it, but she sees how much sense it makes."

"By the way," Liz added. "I know that you were, umm, just being honest about the situation, as far as not being able to blip Alex in here yet, Max... but maybe a few of you should go back to the apartment as soon as possible after we eat and give it a try - if you feel up to it, that is. He was calling again and again - really upset that he hadn't been able to make it here before you guys left." The original plan had been that Alex would get teleported over first, but an unexpected emergency had kept him too late at work the night before.

"Yeah, I understand," Max said. "And I was already trying to work out how soon we could do it before... wait a moment." He looked around. The procession of them had already walked more than a block from the apartment. "Are we going all the way downtown on foot?" That was quite a long distance - a little over a mile. Nobody had even really noticed the various cars that were parked outside of the apartment as they left.

"Oooh, no, not if we want to eat and come back quickly," Tess said, smacking herself on the head. "I was in lazy saturday mode - never mind. Come on, let's go." And she led the way back up the street at a brisk trot.

"Alright, so who goes in which car?" Kyle asked. "We've got, umm, one two three four five six people, that's kind of too many to fit into one."

"Max, you and I can ride with Liz," Michael suggested. "Kyle, JD, you go with Tess." He paused for a moment, suddenly realizing something. "Wait a second, Liz? Where's Beth??"

She laughed slightly. "Alex's parents have been babysitting her lately - I drove her over there about ten minutes before you guys came back to earth. I think that they want to have some practice under their belts before their own grandchild makes an appearance." She smiled slightly. "Today's their first time without me watching and hovering a bit. I... I feel a little nervous about it, but they're great with her."

"Okay." Michael nodded. "Well, okay, Crashdown here we come."

The Cafe was nearly packed - not too surprising for a Saturday morning lately, and they actually had to wait about five minutes for a big enough table to open up that all six of them could crowd around. (They were able to place their orders before sitting down, though.) JD and Kyle got into a Simpsons trivia contest while mowing through their waffles, to Tess' mixed annoyance and affection, and Liz decided to go into the kitchen and help Michael out in covering for Maria. Kyle had to go and meet some friends from work for a pre-scheduled touch football game, so he caught a ride with the three aliens back to the girls' apartment in Tess' car, where he could retrieve his own. Liz would take her own wheels home whenever she was done, possibly giving Michael a lift at the same time.

When Tess led the way into the apartment, Isabel was standing in the kitchen, quietly stirring a pot of oatmeal, with a tiny bottle of tabasco ready among the other condiments to add to the porridge once it was done. Maria was still quiet asleep on the couch, though she had stopped snoring. "Hey," Tess whispered to her old friend. "We thought that you'd still be chatting with Alex."

"Nah," Isabel replied just as quietly. "We probably could've, but he wanted to check on the stuff that he'd packed and make sure that he didn't forget anything, and I was hungry. I guess even though our bodies aren't doing much when we leave them, they still use up a bit of energy, and so we need to catch up on eating when we get back... and other biological functions."

"Yeah," Tess agreed. (There had been a line for the bathrooms at the Cafe when the need to catch up on particular biological functions had hit them, just after their food arrived.) "Okay, should we just go into your room, call your man up, and bring him over?? No need to interrupt your breakfast activities."

Isabel grinned. "Actually, I'll be in there in just a few minutes myself. This just needs to stand a little and cool down himself." And sure enough, by the time that Alex and his suitcase had popped into existence (the latter before the former,) in Isabel's room, Isabel was just wandering in herself, with a bowl of oatmeal porridge in her hands.

"So, anything not astral-related been going on recently?" Alex asked, after putting his hand on his wife's rounded stomach to feel the baby.

"Ehh, not really," Max replied. "The good prairie chicken fight continues... we've got a lot of support from the students at the college -- but I'm not sure if it's enough to make any headway against Meta-chem."

They chatted a little about other recent news, (being careful not to let the volume get loud enough to wake Maria,) and then sort of split up - Tess had some worldwide backpacking websites that she wanted to show JD, and Isabel was silently insistent about wanting to get Alex alone to herself. Max wandered down to the driveway again, wondering whether he should go back to his place to study, or something else. Without deliberately making a decision, he realized that he was driving back to the Crashdown, and smiled. Maybe Liz would want him to come along when they picked Beth up from Mister and Mrs Whitman.

----------

"Hey Michael, Hi Maria," Martine said, taking Michael's jacket from him. "Welcome in and all that, so glad that you could come."

"Yeah, happy to be here," Maria said, though she felt like she couldn't quite get a bit of uncertainty out of her voice. She'd never really expected to be coming to a party that Martine was hosting at her Aunt and Uncle's place... well, until the invitation had come last week. There was something about the whole deal that she couldn't quite but her finger on... but she liked Martine, pretty well, and hadn't wanted to be rude enough to decline when she really didn't have a good reason. "Is there anywhere in particular we should... oh, hi Liz!"

"Hey, how's it going," Liz replied, from a couch in the living room that Maria had just gotten far enough into the front hall to see.

"Um, pretty well, and you?" Maria rushed forward, nearly stopped still, detoured around Beth, and then, on second thoughts, scooped the little girl up in her arms and sat her down in her lap as she sat next to Liz. Bethany cooed and gurgled with a bit of mild frustration at having her afternoon crawl interrupted, but otherwise seemed happy enough with the arrangement.

"Got here ten minutes ago," Liz said with a smile as Michael came in, well, halfway in, and stood with a nervous look on his face in the doorway. "Still feel a little foolish by being the only one to bring a little kid, but, well, nobody else seems to mind."

"If anybody else *had* little kids and didn't, then you have a right to feel out of place," Maria said with a laugh. "You're just the first, after all, and pretty soon you won't be the only one in our little group. Hmmm." She tried to unobtrusively point at a darkhaired young man sitting at the piano and apparently tuning around without any particular song in his head. "Any idea who he is?" she whispered.

Liz shook her head. "Friend of Kyle and Martine's from NMU... and I think Alex might know him too. Why?"

"Ehh, no real reason, just curious."

"And she pays attention to anyone who goes near a musical instrument," Michael joked. "Figuring out if they have any talent is a later step." Maria looked at her husband, made as if to slap him, and then apparently thought better of it, as it would clearly take two hands if she wanted to keep Beth from crawling away again.

"Are there many of Martine's friends here?" Maria asked. "I mean, erm, not people on Kyle's side of the gang in a traditional sense, but, err..."

"Yeah, three or four, so far," Liz replied with a reassuring smile to show Maria she knew what her friend meant. "Alex and Isabel are in the kitchen, but Max, Tess, and JD haven't shown up yet."

"Good," Michael put in, finally stepping into the living room and sitting down on the couch next to Maria. "Maria was worried that we'd be the last ones here." Maria quickly slapped him. "Hey, come on - you were!"

"No, it wasn't for that," Maria said. "Delayed payback for the musical instrument crack." Michael thought about that for a few seconds, then shrugged.

All of a sudden Martine was rushing back into the room, leading Kyle and a few other people who Maria didn't know. During the introductions Isabel and Alex came in from the door at the other end of the living room, (Liz gave her seat on the couch up so that Isabel didn't have to stand,) and Tess and JD turned up at the door, and soon snacks were being passed around and conversation was going fairly well. Maria found herself between Isabel and a girl who had been introduced as 'Jill Regan.' Jill bent over, made a few funny faces to the delight of Bethany, and told Maria how lucky she was to have such a precious little girl.

Maria laughed. "No, this one isn't mind, I'm just borrowing her." Jill's face showed her surprise clearly. "She's Liz's daughter," Maria explained further, and pointed out Liz, who was chatting with JD about something by the kitchen. "I just hope mine will be anywhere near as... well, no, I guess no matter what, he or she'll be very special." She sighed. "Bethany's some kind of... incredibly sweet little fruit, though, isn't she??"

"Uh, yeah, really," Jill replied, trying to roll with this change in the conversation as best she could. "Are, are you... do you have a baby on the way already, or..."

"Yeah," Maria assured her. "I'm nearly two months along."

"Who's the daddy?"

"That tall drink of something disreputable," Maria giggled, pointing at Michael, who was in the middle of telling Martine and the piano-guy a story and acting out huge gestures of... of what Maria wasn't quite sure. Maybe the time he'd gone down Mount Dusty in a home-made landsled. "So, tell me about yourself, Jill."

After the initial mingling, there were some organized party games - picture charades, an old board adventure game where you had to gather weapon and magic cards to defeat fierce vampires and dragons with, and that kind of thing. Then there was pizza and other food, around two different tables. Once everybody had mostly finished their ice cream or other dessert, Martine stood up, and somehow effortlessly commanded a hush from her fellow young people without saying a word. "I... I'm sure that you've all been kinda wondering why I asked you here. We've had a lot of fun I hope, but, well... the real reason was that I kinduv wanted an audience... that I wanted all of our best friends around for this moment." And with that, she turned to Kyle, took his hand in hers, and got down on one knee. Tess nearly squealed with realization, and grabbed JD's arm as he sat next to her, looking completely confused.

"I... I realize that this is a little unfair on you, because I told you that I was ready and you'd have asked first if I hadn't," Martine began, "but once I'd made my mind up, I just didn't want to wait, and I kinduv wanted to do things my own way. I don't have a plan worked out for exactly how we'll start our life together - but somehow between the two of us, we'll get all that stuff figured. If... if you'll have me, that is. Kyle Valenti, will you marry me?"

Kyle looked more than a little surprised himself, but he leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, and pulled both of them to their feet. "Yes. Yes, I want to be your husband, Martine Tychnowich."

"Yeah!!" Tess called out, unable to restrain herself from words any more it seemed. "Toast! A toast to the happy couple!!" So anybody who had finished their drinks got refills, and Jill made a toast to Kyle and Martine's future together, and soon Tess was telling once again the story of how she first found porno magazines and 'Buddhism for beginners' under Kyle's mattress.

Once the party was breaking up, Liz sighed to herself a little as she put her coat on and made sure that Beth's little hat was straight. Life was going on, and one more couple making their plans to stand and face life side by side. It made her think of Casey and all that she was missing out on a little... but also everything that she'd been blessed with in her life, (among which her daughter, as always, came first,) and her heart ached a little bit for something that she didn't yet dare put into words, even to herself.

"Is the prettiest girl in the whole world ready to go outside?" Max asked. "Yeah, looks like you are, Bethany... such a pretty hat you've got on there." He smiled a little bit at Beth. "If you guys are getting a ride home with me, you'd better come soon."

-----------

"Hey," Max said as he tentatively opened the door to the small apartment.

"Yo!" Michael's voice came from the living room. "Come on in, Maxwell, don't be shy." So Max did, and found his oldest friend stretched out on the couch watching a hockey game. "To what do I owe the pleasure? More confed stuff?"

"Umm, not really." Max smiled. "Just wanted to see if you were up for hanging out this afternoon, as it were." He sighed. "We don't ever seem to spend much time together outside of business, since you up and got married."

"Ehh, well, you know how it goes," Michael replied with a grin as Max sat down in a chair. "I've got work and you've got classes, and the alien business IS important. But yeah, I already had a full day of lazy nothing planned, and I'd love some company. Can I getcha something to drink?"

"Yeah, but no snapple," Max joked. "Anything cola." Michael got up and padded over to the kitchen, and returned in a bit with a cold can of diet coke. 'Padded' being more than a little appropriate under the circumstances - Michael was wearing slippers that were designed to look like Grizzly bear feet or something. "Nice gear, man," Max said, pointing at his choice of footwear and supressing too loud of a chuckle.

"Ehh?" Michael looked down, (could he have forgotten that he was wearing those?) and smiled slightly. "Yeah. The better half got me those as a stocking stuffer for Christmas. Eh, what can I say? I'm her big, lovable, but slightly fierce, bear of a man." He growled softly, and Max was frankly glad enough when he stopped it.

"So, come on, Max," Michael said as a commercial started to play over the television screen. "Alex and I are married already, Kyle's getting hitched, probably this summer. Even Tess has found some steady lovin'. When are you gonna get off your ass and either find a new girl or get back with your old soulmate??"

Max blinked. "Umm... when I can figure out which I want to do, or which is possible?" he sighed. "Liz is great, but I feel like I don't want to risk the closeness that we have now by making a big move. I tried telling her how I felt last year, and it didn't work out so well."

"She said it was too soon after her fiancee, Bethany's father, died," Michael reminded him. "Maybe now it isn't too soon. She doesn't seem, umm, so sad about the past lately."

"Yeah, but I still feel like it's a big risk to take," Max insisted. "If she still isn't ready, and I bring the subject up a second tme - then that's establishing an unhelpful pattern." He groaned. "And I... I feel like I can't really devote myself to any kind of dating or relationship stuff while the Confed conference is still hanging over us. Once we've been, and come back, then that should be that and I can direct that energy somewhere else."

"You're lucky, then," Michael pointed out with a bit of a smile. "If you're already in a relationship when something like this conference pops up, you don't have the option of avoiding 'relationship stuff' until it's over. Even Isabel has to deal with married people stuff - and living apart from Alex is kinduv just making it worse."

Max nodded, but didn't continue on that thought... he didn't really feel like talking about Isabel's marriage when she wasn't around - or when she was, for that matter. "So, anyway, how's married life treating you these days, anyway? Is anything particularly different from when you were just 'engaged and living together'??"

"Hmm." Michael considered that. "A little, but it's hard to pin down the differences, because they're not really concrete and practical stuff. They're all emotional, and you know how I'm not the best at relating to emotional issues." Max laughed. "Just a difference in how we relate to each other I guess, now that we've took the final step, and we're definitely in this thing for keeps. I mean, we've been pretty tight ever since senior year, but..." He sighed. "And then, well, finding out that she was going to have a baby so soon - that WE'RE going to have a baby I should say, since it's mine too... that was another adjustment." He thought about that. "A little kid running around with my attitude and Maria's chutzpah. Somehow, I'm not quite sure that the Earth is ready for this yet, huh?"

Max laughed good-naturedly. He opened his mouth to say something else, but then, more than a little to his surprise, realized that he didn't need to. So they watched the game together, just like they occasionally had years ago, arguing about referree's calls and making fun of the commercials. Once that game was over, they grabbed slices at a pizza place down the street, and then Michael found an old baseball and they threw it around in the building courtyard. It was a pretty cool day.

"Oh, one 'business' thing I did want to mention," Max muttered. "For this second negotiation session... do you want me to try negotiating for sometime when you wouldn't generally have to be at work?"

Michael thought about that for a long moment. "No... if I decide I really have to come, I can call in a sick day - that's probably better than trying to make everybody else fit our schedule." He considered. "I guess you three don't have nearly as many firm commitments when it comes to time as I do, huh?"

"Ehh, not really, yeah." Max had his classes, and Tess too, but they weren't anyhting that kept either busy all day, and neither was JD's job at the flying saucer hall of fame. "And the conference itself will probably be in another three weeks."

"Should be well before Isabel has the baby, then," Michael said, "though still pretty close - maybe only another two weeks later." He considered. "When is this date and time negotiation supposed to be happening, and how? Are they going to dreamwalk somebody in the group again?"

"No, I don't think so." Max made a face. "More likely, we'll be getting a visit from an 'alien abductee' I hate it, but it doesn't seem worth it to let them hear any more about it."

"Yeah," Michael muttered. "Well, when this camoflage alien shows up, you give me a yell, okay? I wanna be there when you're talking to him - or her - if I can. okay?"

"Definitely," Max agreed. "Thanks."

"Hey Max." Both guys spun around, and saw Maria walking up the sidewalk towards them. "Have a fun day?"

"Umm, yeah, actually. How're you doing?" he asked.

"Me? I'm good." Maria laughed softly. "Or should I maybe say that *we're* good?" She laughed and rubbed her still-trim stomach a little, as if for luck.

"Glad to hear that, definitely," Max said with a smile. "Guess I should probably be going."

"Naw, come on, stay for dinner," Maria cajoled.

"We both ate around an hour ago," Michael told her. "Ernesto's pepperoni."

"Oh." Maria rolled her eyes. "Well, we could, umm... eh, I dunno. Stick around if you like, and go if you want to. We'll find some way of amusing ourselves, with or without you." She stepped forward to hug Michael.

"Yeah, I actually need to go get working on a paper," Max mentioned. "See you guys later."

"Bye, man," Michael said, with a wave.

----------

"Okay, lady, just what do you want?" the harrassed-looking plant manager said, staring straight at Liz.

"Can, umm... can we talk to your superior?" she muttered, a little taken aback. To the extent that she'd ever planned for a moment like that, she'd expected to be talking to somebody suave and a little bit oily in a suit. Not a middle manager stuck in the sandwich.

"You know, I really don't see that happening," he shot back wryly. "Come on, tell me your demands, and then we can get on with this." He looked around, and Liz turned to see the forty-five or so people, mostly college students, that she and her friends had turned out for this protest outside the MetaChem building. Some of them were holding up handmade signs with slogans along the lines of 'DON'T DUMP' and 'THE CHICKENS WERE HERE FIRST.'

"Okay." Liz sighed. "Demands. We want your company to comply with the state guidelines for industrial waste disposal, and stop dumping ammonia compounds and other contaminated solvents into the Pecos watershed." She smiled tightly. "A new enforcement law has already been put before the state legislature, but we want you to comply *now*, before any more poison gets dumped into the ecosystem around here."

"Riight." The manager said. "Well, I will take that 'message' to my superiors, but I wouldn't hold my breath." He laughed hollowly. "Especially on any anti-pollution bill getting passed in Albuquerque." He picked up a long flat package, which he'd carried under his arm out the door and laid down against his leg while talking with Liz, and started to unwrap it and turned to the wall of the building.

"Wait--" Liz blurted out. "That... that can't be it!"

"Oh, this is it," he replied. "Personally - well, I sympathize with what you're trying to do, but it's my job to keep daily operations moving smoothly and keep costs down. Implementing those guidelines would cost me my job. And the upper management isn't going to change my budget unless enforcement laws are passed - for which, see above - or unless local public opinion shifts against dumping practices MUCH more solidly than... than a few dozen college students who want something to protest showing up." He had taken the flat thing out of its package by now - a sign - and attached it to the wall of the plant. It was a 'trespassers will be prosecuted' notice.

"And this is where you kids get out. This whole area is private property, and according to New Mexico law, now that a sign has been posted, it can be enforced for criminal trespass. If anyone's still here in five minutes, I'm calling the Sheriff." And with that, he swept back inside. Liz daringly reached out and tried the door, but he'd already locked it.

Alex,.Michael, Tess and the others hurried over to crowd around Liz and try to cheer her up. She had stepped away to negotiate with the plant manager, as a courtesy to him, and now Liz let out a deep sigh at how badly it had gone. "So, umm... I guess that we fall back to the public land around the county road?" Alex suggested. "Not really blocking off traffic, but trying to attract some attention from the sides."

"Maybe." Liz heaved a deep sigh. "I... I have this wild urge to stay here and let the deputies arrest me for my principles." She turned to the little girl in her arms. "Whatcha think, Beth - wanna see the Sheriff's station?"

"Getting arrested is one thing," Maria said slowly. "If that were it, I'd say hell yeah, try to make a stand." She sighed. "Though maybe bringing your little girl along isn't the best way of doing it."

"It'd be a fun story to tell her when she's older," Liz pointed out. "Nobody would hurt her or anything - they'd probably bend over backwards to take care of her." She sighed. "You guys would bail me out pretty soon, right? Or Max and Isabel would."

"Bottom line," one of Tess' friends, a tall, stocky but somewhat handsome guy with glasses, put in. "What you need to be thinking about is what would happen after getting arrested and bailed - the arraignment, the trial." Liz wondered if he was in pre-law.

"Oooh, do you think that they'd really press charges?" Michael asked. "Wouldn't it open them up to bad publicity about why we were here in the first place?"

"It'd be a good way for them to paint us all as wild crazy radicals," the glasses boy answered regretfully. "Legally, the issue would be pretty clearly on their side. It's their land. They have a right to keep us out if they don't want us here. It... it's not the example you want to set."

Liz thought... not so much about the example, but the possibility of being stuck in jail for, what, weeks or months for taking a stand here... and not getting to see her baby girl. "No, you're right." She sighed. "We fall back."

"Maybe we should be concentrating more on getting more people in town upset about the pollution," Tess suggested as they left. "You heard the guy - that's the only way they'll change their mind - that or the state legislature."

"You heard him?" Alex asked. "I didn't." Tess shrugged a little.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 6:04 pm

Part 23

"Hey hey?" Maria called at the door of the girls' apartment. "Isabel, you around??"

"Yeah, in my room. Come in." Maria headed for the second door to the right without any hesitation, and pushed it open. Isabel was lying flat on her back, looking a little tired and drawn.

"Oh, umm... hey. How's it going?"

"Ehh, not too bad, all things considered." Lifting herself slightly, Izzie rearranged her pillows and got herself into a sort of graceful half-sitting-up pose on the bed... aided by some mechanism that seemed to be capable of changing the angle of the mattress, a bit like it was a hospital bed, though it didn't look like one. "How did the protest go?"

"Oh, nothing special. Except that we had to talk Liz out of letting herself get indicted for trespassing." Maria sighed and pulled up the desk chair to sit down in. "Didn't Alex tell you about that when he got back??"

"No, umm... he had to get back home really quickly - called me to let me know, but I'm not sure of all the details. Work emergency and so on. Tess and Michael teleported him back."

"Oh," Maria said, blinking slightly. "But... but wouldn't that seem suspicious? Suddenly getting back to Las Cruces all of a sudden, just because there was something going on at his office??"

"Well, I think the deal was that nobody from his work actually knows how much time he spends here in Roswell," Isabel said, and Maria's mouth suddenly went 'oh' as she got it. "Would be hard to explain very fully in any case, so - he turns off his cell phone so that it isn't obvious and checks in via some sort of mobile email thingee." She sighed. "Can we talk about something other than my dearly non-present sweetheart? It's kinduv bumming me out a bit."

"Okay," Maria said. "Let's see... I have some ice cream cups here, plenty of chocolate..." she went rooting around in the bag, "some tabasco for you to drizzle on anything of course... and some of those strawberry wafer cookies that you love so much. So what's the poison for today?"

"Oh, my!!" Isabel stretched her arms wide to hug Maria, who quickly hurried forward so that Isabel would be able to embrace her without really leaning forward, so that she could still lie back. "Bless you and thank you and... and all kinds of good stuff like that." She chuckled. "I think the ice cream cups come first, as long as they're still cold - that way they won't have a chance to melt away."

"Yeah, they should be good," Maria said, taking them out and feeling the smooth translucent plastic critically. "Took 'em outta the deep freeze right before I headed over." She passed one over to Isabel, who sprinkled a few drops of tabasco from her own bottle on the banana-yellow confection, and opened the second one herself. Soon both girls were taking little scoops out of the ice cream with little plastic spoons. "Figured that you could use plenty of pick-me-up, and I guess from your reaction I was right." She sighed. "Any idea how much longer you have to stick with bed rest??"

"No, Max isn't sure." Isabel sighed. "At least I have plenty of opportunities for keeping busy - all kinds of notes for the courses that I've been taking, some good books, both in print and on the CD player." She sighed slightly. "Liz is even letting me borrow her laptop computer as often as I want it - well, as long as she thinks that I'm 'up to it.'" Isabel shook her head slightly. "How girls were able to stand this sort of thing when we didn't have the technology to bring so much of the world to us wherever we are, I don't know."

"Yeah, but still it can't be easy," Maria remarked softly. Isabel shot her a look. "Okay, okay, I won't push or pry... yet." She sighed, sat back, and had another spoonful. "Okay, are you going to suggest a new topic, then??"

"Hmm." Isabel was silent for a long moment. "Do... do you want Max to ask Kal Langley about your baby??"

"Okay, that's somewhat out of the clear blue," Maria commented. "Umm... I don't really know. For one thing, if Kal's keeping any kind of tabs on Michael's life, then he probably knows a bunch about me. It wouldn't really be hard." She let out a low whistle. "Since he hasn't communicated, maybe he doesn't feel that there's any danger or anything he can usefully contribute." Big breath. "Or, maybe he doesn't care about Maria or the baby, just about Michael. In which case I'm not sure how I feel about Max essentially bullying him into helping, just because he has the power to command Kal's obedience. It - it was a bit different with you, since Kal made the first move, and all that Max had to do was get some clarification and assurances."

"Yeah, and possibly the fact that Max felt he had to look a gift horse in the mouth when Kal sent me the basket would make Kal less inclined to make the first move this time." She sighed. "Maybe he should have asked about you and Michael back then - it wasn't like it was hard to see this coming." Maria giggled slightly. "On the other hand... well, I know if if was me, and Kal *hadn't* opened things out, I'd probably have asked Max to look for him a few weeks later at most. It might not have been terribly fair to him... but there's very little that I wouldn't do to assure the health of my little girl here." She rubbed her belly protectively. "We're stuck out here on a planet that is, generally, fairly hostile to alien life, and I don't have much compunction about taking advantage of any tool that I can get ahold of."

"Yeah, I do understand what you mean," Maria said. "On the other hand - hey, wait a moment! Back then, Kal was pretty much our only source of alien knowledge. Now, there's all kinds of alternatives."

"Like, what, JD??" Isabel asked. "Don't think he's got much information available on the subject of hybrid pregnancies."

"Okay, that's true," Maria said, getting more excited. "But... but you guys are talking with other aliens. Heck, you're negotiating with them for the political future of your homeworld. Isn't... okay, I admit that it would be a bit awkward to ask for a consultation with an Antarian obstetrician or anything like that, but..."

Isabel's eyes seemed to catch fire. "Awkward never stopped me before. You're right - this is an opportunity that neither of us can afford to ignore, really." She smiled. "I'm glad you thought of that."

"Ehh, I'm only surprised it didn't occur to one of us before." Maria stretched a little bit. "Okay, looks like that's it for the ice cream." Sure enough, while talking both girls had finished their little plastic tubs. "Up for a bit of chocolate??"

"Hell yeah," Isabel replied, and suddenly the computer on the desk made a soft binglike sound. "Oooh, can you get that first, though? There should be a blinking light in the bottom right corner - just click on it." Maria swung up out of her chair to lean over the desk, and followed the instructions. Suddenly there was a soft hum as the speakers came alive.

"Hi, babe." It was Alex's voice coming from the machine. "Umm, just a little note to let you know that I'm almost done here at the office, and... and I'll talk to you again once I'm back at the apartment. Miss you loads and loads... take care of yourself, and of the baby. I'll be back there first thing Tuesday afternoon, kay?? Alex Whitman, over and out." Maria turned back from the computer to see a few tears running down Isabel Whitman's cheeks.

"It... it won't be much longer," she blurted out suddenly. Isabel looked up at her. "You're going to have the baby, and she'll be healthy and beautiful, and the Confederation conference will go great, and then there'll be nothing to keep all three of you from being together again. You'll be family." Maria sat down, not on her chair, but upon the edge of the bed, next to her friend's chest. "And... and I'm going to miss you a whole lot, because I've gotten used to you being back here in town, but that's just the way things go sometimes."

"I... I'll miss you too," Isabel said between soft sobs, "but... but you're right. It'll be better when I can go back home." She took in a long ragged breath. "Come on, now. Make with the chocolate... and tell me something about what being married to Michael has been like."

"Are... are you sure that you really want to know?" Maria joked, passing over a wrapped bar of peanut wafer, caramel, and dark chocolate. Isabel laughed and nodded.

-----------

"Hey, good morning, Mithruk, Shavanee," Max said casually as a man and woman sat down at the table on the patio of a coffee shop on the south side of Roswell. "How fared you over the night??"

"Tolerably well," Shavanee said in an oddly inflected voice, "but I will need to return to our own place soon. Have you made your decisions on our demands??"

"Umm..." Max shared a look with Tess and JD, who were seated at either side of him, (and, to Max, looked like they would rather have been next to each other, for all that it had been JD's insistence that Max should be in the center.) "Well, if you take a look at these papers that you gave me, I've indicated general reactions in colours... the shade of green, here, indicated items or sections that we have no problem with. The light blue are subjects that... well, that I'd like to hear further details on, because none of us really know enough to come to a decision... is something wrong??"

"Umm, no, sir," Mithruk muttered, still staring at the pages intently. "Except I... I am having a few problems relating to this form of symbology. Continue to explain the legend, as that will probably assist me."

Now Tess definitely seemed confused. "Do people of the Antarian race not routinely use color-coding, Mithruk?"

"Not... not in this fashion, as an overlay on printed words," he muttered. "In fact, color symbology is generally used less frequently with us than with some other races we know of, as mutations and other variations in sensitivity to certain wavelengths are common. I myself, for instance, in my own body have an inherited form of gunn-derla insensitivity..."

"Color blindness?" Max asked. "Certain forms of color blindness run rampant among our population?" He shook his head. "I... I'd never have thought of that. There are humans who have certain insensitivities like that, but it's not anywhere near as common."

"Not only insensitivities, but people who can see MORE colors than the norm, or for whom the limits have drifted," Shavanee put in. "However, I believe I am acclimating well enough to human color vision for the moment. Please, continue Max."

"Right," Max said, smiling slightly. "Okay, the yellow are items of certain concern, probably nothing too important, and the orange-red are the things that I'm most definitely upset about."

"Alright," Shavanee said. "Let's start with those." She was the representative of about a dozen minor factions, while Mithruk had been sent as an emissary of Max and Isabel's old family among the aliens. "Government censorship guidelines?? This is a... a red-flag item for you??"

"We... we've been brought up in a nation where the freedom of the press is... is very highly thought of," Tess managed to say. "Now, now I realize that there might not be the same tradition back home, but I think that it's a principle that you could at least try to put into practice, so that..."

"Perhaps," Shavanee spat. "But you have not been there, Miss 'Tess'. So don't presume to lecture to me..."

"But I *have* been," JD said with quiet authority. "The people have been clamoring for a respite from the lies that spew out of propaganda organs - Kivar's, the Royals, and those of dozens more factions besides. The same people whose support has been the entire groundswell of this Confederation conference, and without whom all the factions would be thrown into chaos. So you would do well to listen to this."

The argument, carried on in reasonably hushed tones went on for nearly two hours, covering a lot of the points on Max's color-coded sheet, and then there was more discussion about the availability of Max and his friends for the conference itself at various times, which involved complicated conversions to and from the Antarian system of dates and the sunrise-sunset times at the conference site. Finally every point of information had been addressed, every debate thrashed out at least a little, and the two abductees made their excuses to return the host bodies to their homes and travel back across the long, cold, empty light years. "I think that went reasonably well, all things considered," JD mentioned once they were out of sight.

Tess nearly burst out laughing, while Max looked from one to the other dubiously and then shook his head. He'd been hoping that it wouldn't be this hard... but certainly there were worst-case scenarios that hadn't arisen, so that, at least, was a relatively good sign. "So... when they've actually settled on the time and date of the conference, how will we get informed, do you think? Another dreamwalk?"

"Either that or my little pulse communicator," JD said. "Don't need to worry about that for a while yet." He sighed. "Anyone for more of these 'waffles'??"

-----------

"Oh, hi Kyle, hi Martine," Liz said as she came into the Cafe dining room, Bethany quiet and half-asleep in her snuggly. "What's up??"

"Oh, trying to figure out our future," Martine chirped. "Feel free to sit down, if you want." Liz smiled and tried to think about the logistics.

"Maybe it'd be easier on Liz if we moved out of the booth," Kyle suggested, and soon they were all arranged around one of the empty tables.

"So, the future, huh?" Liz asked. "As in wedding plans?"

"Not so much that," Kyle said. "I got my permanent offer at Silverwinds, and it's here in Roswell, so looks like Martine will be coming here to stay. But... we don't know where we're going to live, or if she can get a job, or anything like that."

"Hmm." Isabel thought about that. "This is going to be at the end of your spring term, Martine, right?" The blond girl nodded. "Well... Isabel's going to be moving out around then, and heading back to Las Cruces to be with Alex, but I don't think that you're going to want to move in with Tess and I, huh??"

"No, we, umm... we were thinking more of a place that we could be together," Martine said shyly.

"Hmm... well, with a bit of reorganization we might be able to swing something," Liz said suddenly. "Say... Kyle moves into our place with you and me... Tess goes down to Clapman street with JD and Max?" Kyle shot her an eloquent look. "Hey, it isn't bad for you couples - Max and I get the raw end, as the third wheels."

"Well, that'll be a nonissue if Tess and JD skip town once the conference is finished," Kyle pointed out, and Liz's face fell. "Say, did anything end up happening with the upstairs apartment here?" he asked suddenly. "You know, when your parents moved out??"

"Umm... actually, no," Liz said. "Some of their stuff is still there, actually - they ran out of time to pack things away into storage before they had to leave. Maria said something about moving in there... but Michael's got a lease at his old place which has another few months on it, so nothing happened there." She considered. "It'd be kinduv weird to have you guys as tenants, but I suppose anything is possible. Especially when everything else seems to be changing." Liz let out another long extended breath.

"Sorry, we won't bug you about it," Martine quickly volunteered. "Everything seems like it's just happening too fast?"

"Something like that," Liz said, absently reaching out and toying with a water glass that happened to be sitting in front of her - it was empty. "Or *going* to happen to fast, since most of it seems to be out in the future. You coming to town. Isabel, Tess, and JD leaving. Two little babies on the way. All my friends participating in a huge political peace conference thingee on a far-distant star." She thought about it. "Somebody, unspecified as yet, moving into the apartment where I grew up. It's quite a lot."

"Yeah, I get that," Martine said. "But... well, life's like that. You can't keep anything as it used to be... you'd just end up hurting the more for trying."

"Is this the point where you say some variant on 'If you love someone, let them go, and if it's meant to be, they'll come back to you'??" Liz asked, a hint of sourness in her voice.

Silence for several seconds. "No, not really," Kyle muttered. "But since you bring that up, it seems to have worked half-way for Max." Liz shot him a look, and got an oddly pensive and surprised look on her face.

"Okay, well, enough of that," Martine put in. "How's the prairie chicken stuff going?"

"Not... not that well," Liz admitted, her mood sinking again. "No matter what I try, I... I can't seem to get very many people to even care. This might be one fight that the little guy doesn't win."

"Hey, waitress?" Kyle called out, and pointed to Liz. "I think the part-owner here needs a milkshake, and QUICK."

----------

"Hello?" Michael asked as he picked up the cordless phone.

"Oh, hey man. Is Maria around??"

"Alex!!" Michael chuckled slightly. "No, I think she's working at the cafe. Tell her you called, though."

"Well, thanks, but you don't need to hang up." Alex laughed a bit. "One Guerin is as good as another."

"Actually, I don't think Maria's using my name," Michael pointed out. "Like, EVER. But anyway, yeah, I'm good for a chat I guess. What's the haps?"

"Nothing too much - which is why I'm calling. Bored out of my skull." Alex sighed. "Any news on the confederation thing?"

"Yeah, we had a few abductee visitors," Michael explained. "Human people with alien astral spirits driving them. Nothing terribly interesting... just a whole lot of quibbling over details. I wasn't there for most of it." He sighed slightly. "We just got word on when we'll be going - it's something like a little over two weeks. You gonna be able to be here??"

"For Isabel?" Michael could hear the other guy's fierce little laugh. "Yeah, try and stop me. I think I've got some sick days I can use even. Do you remember the exact date??"

"No, but Isabel or Max can get you the info," Michael replied. "And, let's see... nothing too interesting going on at my work, or with my girls' as far as I know." He spent a moment lost in thought. "I know that Isabel really misses you - are you going to give her a ring soon?"

"Actually..." Alex couldn't hold in a laugh, "I just got off the computer, composing her this big long email. When the two of us get on the telephone together... well, long-distance charges seem to add up so fast." He thought about that. "I think I could probably risk giving her a direct call, though. I imagine that she probably can't spend that much time on the compu... is she still on bed rest??"

"Last I heard, man, yeah." Michael sighed. "You getting back to town before the weekend?"

"As long as I can count on alien express lines, yeah. Tomorrow."

"Great. I'll probably see you then, and I know that Isabel will love to have your company. Regardless of whether or not she'll be able to get out of bed."

"Oh, I think she'll find a way." Alex laughed slightly. "You're sure that Maria's doing fine?"

"Um, yeah, I think so, why?" Michael frowned slightly, getting up from the couch because a commercial had come on. "She's only, what, a few months along."

"Oh, I wasn't talking about that, though it's something to consider." Alex hmmmed over the phone. "Just... she seems to have so much on the plate, just between the cafe and her talent management... and then paying attention to you and all the confederation stuff." He sighed. "She acts like she can handle anything, but I think we both know that's not true."

"Hmm... I guess you're right," Michael said, twisting off a snapple bottle top with one hand. "Well, I'll keep a closer eye on her - thanks man."

"Right. I guess I'll say bye now, and call m'darlin' wife. See ya."

"Yeah, you got it." Michael hung up the phone, looked at it for a long time, and turned off the television. Then he scrolled through the phone's memory and found another number. "Hey?"

"Yes, who is this?" the person on the other end snapped, probably a little put off from having him speak before she did. "Uhh... Michael?"

"Yeah, hi Laurie. Umm... this isn't a bad time, is it? Are you still in Roswell?"

"Actually, um, I'm in Albuquerque, at the airport, and I don't guess it's a particularly bad time to talk, considering that it doesn't look like I'll be boarding for another - oh, five hours or so."

"Oh, wow." Michael's head swam... for a second he wasn't even sure where she would be heading from Albuquerque. "Okay, umm... why don't you find somewhere to sit down and unload a little about your day, then? Sounds like maybe you need to vent a bit."

"Umm, yeah, that's be pretty good I guess. Okay, well, if I start at the beginning, it would probably be when I managed to break my watch..."

----------

"Hey, Alex," Isabel said, shaking her hair out slightly.

"Hi." He stepped inside her room and his heart jumped into his throat again from seeing her. "How do you feel??"

"Umm... possibly like I'm literally some blobby and tentacled creature from another planet," she whispered softly. "But better now that you're here." Alex grinned. "And... and like maybe I can stand up and go into the living room for a while. Do... do you want to ask Max if..."

"I already did," Alex filled in. "He said it should be fine if you feel good enough. Or... or do you want him to come in and take a look at you anyway?"

Isabel shook her head. "No, he was already around to give me the once-over just before you called... and I guess he wanted to let you pass along the good news instead of giving me a chance to get used to it."

"Well, doesn't it sound better coming from me?" Alex asked, and Isabel shook her head. With Alex hovering nearby to offer her an arm of support if she needed it, Isabel sat up, slipped her feet into casual sneakers, and grabbed a jacket from the corner bedpost. She had one slightly unsteady moment while making her way through the kitchen, but no real accident, and a few friends gathered around the apartment's lounge - Liz, Tess, Max, and Bethany. Tess poured drinks and brought out some simple snacks, and they caught Alex up on just about everything that had happened since he had last been, about two days before. Isabel didn't say much, just sat close to her husband, hugging his arm to her body.

"Okay, so... it's about two weeks now before the conference starts??" Alex asked.

"Yeah," Max said. "We'll be leaving, probably around six or seven PM on the thursday night... so I guess if you can take a personal day from work on a week next Friday, that'll be good." Alex nodded. "Hoping to be back by Sunday mid-afternoon or dinnertime."

Alex gasped out loud. "So... so long?"

"There's a lot that we have to go through," Tess said in a low voice. "The full conference itself will be lasting for about six and a half days, our time - they realize that we couldn't possibly be 'in posession' for that long, but we can't just show up for a little half-hour session and go our merry way." She let out a long breath. "Unfortunately."

"But... but how are your bodies going to manage for that long?" Alex had to ask. "That's seventy-two hours, without..."

"We've kinduv been through all of this, Alex," Liz told him softly. "We'll be doing what we can to take care of them... giving them drinks of water, a little bit at a time, so that they can swallow it just by reflex action. That'll work - there are simple nervous systems that'll be working just fine while they're 'out'... and of course, they won't be exerting themselves at all."

"Also," Tess said softly, "this time JD is staying behind, to use his powers to help sustain our bodies as well. There are techniques involved, that he's studied."

"Don't be worried... well, any more than you can help," Isabel told him. "I'll be fine - we'll be fine, I mean."

"And... and I guess that Isabel will need greater 'sustaining' than the rest of you," Alex pointed out. "Because of the baby... she may not be exerting herself, but the baby will probably still be active to a certain extent, and definitely she'll still be growing."

"Yeah, Alex," Max said. "We... we won't let anything happen to her. Either of them."

"Yeah," Alex said with a bit of a smile. "So, how's Bethany been lately, Liz??"

"Umm... pretty great, as far as I can tell," Liz said, casting a fond eye on her little dark-haired pixie childling, who was as usual crawling around the living room while mommy and her friends talked. "I can't believe that she's getting so big already."

"Not as big as she's gonna get in another few years," Isabel put in, laughing, but yeah." She looked at Bethany herself for a long moment. "Wow."

"What?" Alex asked her.

"Oh, just... just thinking about the fact that in only a few weeks, everything going right... our baby is going to be out in the world. I... I've gotten so used to keeping her safe and warm... but the next stage in being Mommy and Daddy is going to come no matter whether we're ready for it or not."

"Yeah, I know," Alex said softly. "You're gonna make a great mom."

Isabel laughed and shook her head slightly in disbelief. "Yeah, and what about you?" Alex shrugged, not responding.

"Hello?" someone called from the door. It turned out to be not just JD, but also Maria and Kyle, and there weren't really enough chairs in the lounge area for everybody, so Max, Liz, and Bethany headed off to play together in Liz's room and let the new people hang out with Alex and Isabel.

"Where's Michael today, anyway?" Alex asked. "I sortof thought that he'd be around when I was coming in today."

"Oh, something with a friend of his from work," Maria said softly. "He wasn't terribly clear on the details."

"Oh, no," Alex shook his head. "I... I just hope that he hasn't taken it upon himself to save somebody's job again." Maria groaned - the original gang all remembered a particular escapade in the early spring of senior year, not long after Michael had started working for a security guard the first time, and had... well, you needed to have been there. JD looked around at the expressions on his friends' faces, completely mystified.

"I... I'll try to explain later, honey," Tess assured him. "Might take a while." She sighed. "And no, I don't think it's anything potentially illegal. Michael's keeping Max in the loop on the situation, whatever it is, and you know Max would reel Michael in if he was getting out of control."

"I know he'd try," Isabel said with a slightly worried look on his face. At that point Kyle took it upon himself to distract everybody and get the conversation on a slightly happier note by telling JD about the time that he, Maria, and Michael had found the mysterious Enigma new year's eve rave.

----------

Liz sighed to herself, checked on Beth, who seemed to be reasonably happy in her little baby seat, and pulled out the next batch of accounts from the pile on the table. It was a fairly quiet afternoon in the cafe - she took a sip of her cherry cola, nearly down to the dregs of a few not-quite-melted ice cubes now, and set the glass down on top of her long-cleaned plate. Then she pulled out a small palmpilot and loaded up her custom calculator program, quickly entering several numbers by tapping the stylus on the screen. After about two minutes of this rapid-fire data entry, a soft cry from her daughter attracted Liz's attention. She looked at Beth, picked her up to quickly check the diaper and so on, but found no obvious cause of distress. She didn't continue to wail or express her discontent, but somehow Liz's maternal intuition, (such as it was,) wouldn't allow her to disregard the small outburst. Unsure what else to check, Liz looked deeply into the little baby's face. "What's wrong, precious girl?"

And then, it was Liz who was crying out in shock and alarm, passing a hand in front of Bethany's face to verify what she had realized. Beth stared in front of her, then slid her eyes off to one side, completely failing to follow the movement. This was so completely uncharacteristic that all sorts of fears jumped into her mind at once. Instantly she'd pulled out a cell phone and dialed a familiar number. "Hello, Max?"

"No, it's JD," the voice from the phone replied, and Liz fought down a sudden irrational urge to swear at him.

"Any idea where..."

"No, I was just kinduv wondering about that. He... I think that he was over at your place, umm... I tried calling Tess but nobody picked up."

"At our apartment?" Liz filled in. "Well, I'm not there, I'm at the cafe." She sighed slightly. "JD... do you have any, umm... talent like Max has?" Lowering her voice she whispered into the phone, "healing??"

"Umm... no, not really... I don't have that gift. When I was young I showed a remarkable propensity even for fouling up broken bone repairs and other simple repairs that most kids my age could do." He sighed slightly. "Since then I keep my powers out of people's bodies, unless I need to use them to fight for some reason." He paused. "Why, what's..."

"It's Beth," Liz said. "She... I don't know, she's acting like she can't see anything. That... that can't be remotely normal, can it? Her eyes are open, she seems awake, but she won't even follow something that's waved in front of her face..."

"Tammit," JD burst out. "I... I wish I could help you, Liz. I'll... I'll help with tracking down Max, if I can, but..."

"Does it sound like anything that's familiar to you?" she asked. "I... I mean, it's stupid of me to be looking for... for unusual things wrong with Beth, especially since I'm not that out of the ordinary and her dad was... was normal in the best sense. But..."

"No, it doesn't fit anything I know about," JD said. "Now, let's quit talking about it and figure out where Max went."

"Alright." Liz hung up and started hitting other numbers quickly. No, no answer on either of the two land line numbers at her apartment, or on Max's cell phone... or Kyle's. Tess didn't have a cell, or Isabel... Michael, on shift at work, had no idea where Max might be, nor did Maria, who had been prepping for one of her talent management meetings, an important negotiation session. Liz hesitated a moment to figure out who else might possibly know, and then telling herself for not thinking of it sooner, called Max and Isabel's parents.

"Hello? We're on our way out the door."

"Mister Evans??" Liz blurted out. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, umm... hi Liz," he said, apparently surprised by the question. "Umm, didn't anyone tell... no, I guess things may have been too quick for you to..."

"Please, just tell me," Liz implored. "Does it have something to do with where Max has gone?"

"Umm, well yes," he said. "Isabel... Izzie just went into labor. I imagine that they're both at the midwife's place."

Liz's thoughts were racing. It was still quite a while before Isabel's due date... but that possibly wasn't a danger sign, especially given her hybrid status... and Max had been commenting on how big and strong her unborn daughter seemed to be getting - that was why he had her on bed rest as much as possible. This explained why they had disappeared so quickly, and probably the cell phone thing too - maybe the midwife had some rule about phones being turned off to avoid disturbing the mothers. Liz thought that she could find the midwife's building, and was capable of bundling Beth and the truly confidential files into her car to get there... but there was something else that needed to be handled first. "Philip... Isabel didn't ask for you to be there during the labor, did she?" Liz was pretty sure that Isabel wouldn't have... she was scared that something 'unearthly' might happen when she was giving birth. Letting a midwife see something strange was a risk that they pretty much had no way to avoid... but she didn't want any chance of her parents finding things out this way. "You... are you and Diane just planning to show up and surprise her?"

"Umm... well," Mister Evans seemed to be more than a little put off his stride by the way that Liz was suddenly calling him and his wife by their first names - something that she had never, EVER done, but she must have instinctively seized on it as a way to exert some kind of authority on her elders. "We hoped that she wouldn't be too upset, that maybe she'd be a little pleased by the surprise..."

"Please, listen to me," Liz urged, already arranging some of the Crashdown's books. "Don't do it. I... I know that you can't wait to meet your granddaughter, and Isabel can't wait to introduce you either. But... but let her go through this on her own terms, if she wants to." Big breath. "I... I know whereof I speak."

"Umm... okay, Liz. Yeah, I guess you'd have something to say about that." Mister Evans did a big breath too. "If... if you're heading over there tell her hi from us."

"I... I will if I can," Liz said. Her priorities, now, were more on Bethany and Max than greeting Isabel on anybody's behalf. "See you soon." She hung up, gathered the files under one arm, took Bethany's baby seat in the other, and hurried out the front door of the Cafe.

She didn't realize that she'd left her palmpilot sitting on the corner of the table.

----------

Max was just in the middle of doing breathing exercises with his sister when Liz charged into the birthing room. The midwife, Ms Austreggo, was right behind her, complaining about her negative aura and how she couldn't just walk right in and disturb a mother-to-be, especially with a baby of her own who was upset and crying. Max just spun around and flared, "Lady, don't even *START* with me. Max, I *have* to speak with you in private!"

Eventually, they were put into a spare room together and told not to come out until their souls were at peace.

"Umm... yeah, I see what you mean," Max muttered, waving a bright blue hankerchief in front of Beth's face, frowning as her stare just went blankly through hankerchief, hand, and him. "Umm, I guess you want me to... to connect with her?"

"Please," Liz muttered. "And maybe also mention why you happen to have a bright blue hankerchief in your pocket?" Max shot her a look. "Not very important in the great scheme of things I know, but I can't help but wonder."

"It... it was a gift from a friend," Max muttered uncomfortably. "Okay, umm... are you sure? I mean... the fact that I've been connecting with Beth regularly, back to when she was only twenty weeks from conception, is one of the weirder things about her at this point. I... I just don't want to make anything worse."

"You've been connecting with me nearly as much," Liz argued, "and... and I don't seem to be the worse for it. Okay, yeah." She didn't say it out loud, but both of them knew that Liz had been much older when Max had first connected to her, and maybe that made a difference. "And... and if this is something to do with your powers, then... then we may not be able to cure if by conventional means, safely, anyway." She took a deep breath. "I... I'm willing to try it at least once, risk making things a little worse for the possibility of a cure. If... if you can't definitely help her, without causing a relapse... then - then we'll cross that bridge then."

"Al-- alright," Max muttered, and touched the little infant girl on her arm, looking into her still-oddly-blank eyes. For a few long seconds they remained like that, little girl and tall handsome man, meeting each other's gaze in a motionless trance, while Liz looked on, almost out of her mind with worry. Then Max straightened slightly, looked at Liz - and smiled, and Liz's knees actually melted in relief. She stumbled, and Max clumsily hurried forward to try and catch her. "Umm, sorry - I, I'm never terribly co-ordinated coming out of a commection like that."

"I... I remember," Liz said softly. "So... so there's good news, right?"

Max nodded. "I... I think it was a kind of an eye infection, and I was able to clear it away." He tried the hankerchief trick with Bethany again, and this time her eyes were obviously tracking it and she actually clapped and laughed softly in delight. Liz wondered if she could remember the period of blindness and felt the same sort of relief she did now that it was over.

"So... so it wasn't anything weird? I... I could have taken her to the emergency room, if I'd been willing to wait a bit longer for conventional techniques to..."

"Umm... I - I'm not sure," Max muttered. "For one thing - well, I hate to say it, but I think usual emergency room techniques for diagnosing and clearing up infections aren't as certain as mine. If this had been resistant, there could have been damage to the back of her eye." Liz gasped softly. "And... and I'm not sure that it's ENTIRELY normal. The infectious agent... was earthly in origin, but I'm not entirely sure that there isn't something slightly inhuman in... in Bethany's DNA, that might explain how the infection spread so quickly."

"In... in her DNA?" Liz breathed. "But... but Bethany's DNA comes from Casey, and from me - and we're both hu..." She couldn't quite say the word. "Max - *am* I still completely human, since you healed me? That... that's one question that we've never entirely answered. Maybe - maybe it's time that we did."

"Lovely," Max said, quirking a slight smile. "Any idea how, short of a state-of-the-art medical library capable of mapping your entire genome and comparing it against... well, that of your parents I guess." Liz stuck her tongue out at him, just for a second. "Oh, how very mature and parental of you."

"Okay, got it." Liz sighed. "Learn to live with a little mystery." She sighed. "Shouldn't we ask to be let out around now?"

"Hmm." Max thought about that. "Nah, both of us are still a bit excitable and tense from what's happened." He sighed. "Better to wait it out a little. Plus - I suspect that my darling sister is doing okay with Tess and Kyle to help her out."

"Alright," Liz replied. "Maybe all *three* of us still excited," she added, bending down and fussing over Bethany. "Umm... okay, does Alex know that his wife is in labor?"

"Umm, yeah." Max sighed. "Unfortunately, too many people knew that he had a big day in the office at Las Cruces today, so we can't just whizz him over in no time flat without attracting unwelcome attention."

"So... is he actually coming here the overland way?" Liz asked, blinking.

"Not so much... more like lying low and pretending he was," Max filled in, and Liz smiled when she realized the point. "Tess and I will sneak off to 'rendezvous' with him when the time seems right... or Michael, if he's off work by then." He looked up at her. "Did you happen to tell anyone else that..."

"Umm, actually no," Liz filled in. "I... I called him, and a bunch of other places looking for you, but once I heard, I... I didn't take time for any more calls."

"I guess I can understand why," Max said, smiling fondly at his little god-daughter.

"Then again, the wheels I set in motion may have had unintended consequences," Liz added, just thinking of that. "JD said he'd help me track you down. He might have heard what happened... from the same source that I did, if your parents were the only ones near their phones who knew." Max nodded. "So he might have filled in Michael and Maria."

"Okay, good enough," Max said. "I don't think JD will spread the news in any unwise direction."

"Yeah." There was a long, somewhat uncertain silence. The sort that's usually described as a pregnant pause, Liz reflected to herself, but that didn't seem quite appropriate here. "So - just who gave you the hankerchief, Max??"

"Hmm?" That nervous, uncertain look returned to his face. "Umm, just a friend from class. Gag Valentine's day thing."

"A friend from class?" Liz repeated. "Like, a girl?"

"Well, that's one of the benefits of being in the nursing program," Max joked. Liz shook her head. "Her name's Anita. I... I've been meaning for you guys to meet, invite her to dinner with the gang, or something, but somehow the right opportunity hasn't come up."

"Dinner with the ex and the best friends," Liz said dryly. "Big step."

"Umm... no, it's not like that... exactly. We're... we're just friends."

Liz looked straight at Max for a long moment. "But... but maybe you might become more than friends?" Max shrugged, not saying anything. "Well, any friend of yours is someone who I want to meet. Really."

"Okay," Max said uncomfortably. "I... I think I'll try to get us back out now." Liz nodded and let him past, and then bent close to her daughter again.

"Any 'more than a friend' of yours..." she whispered silently, so that even Beth couldn't hear her, "I... I don't know how to feel about yet."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Mon Jan 08, 2007 4:44 pm

Part 24

Alex nearly leapt on the phone as it lit up, (not ringing, he had turned the ringer off,) in his darkened living room. "Hey?" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Al-- already?"

"I... I don't know," Tess hissed back quietly. "It's... I think she's okay, but things are going quickly." She took a deep breath. "I... I don't know what happened to Max, Liz showed up and... well, maybe I should call JD down here and 'get' you."

"But... but it's too soon," Alex whispered back, even though every fiber of his being was crying out to do whatever was necessary to be by Isabel's side. "Hardly - hardly even an hour since..."

"Couldn't - couldn't we say that she had a feeling, and that you left work early??"

Alex's mind raced as he considered the new proposition. "I... I'm not sure it'll fly forever. Remember that my parents will be VERY interested in whatever we have to tell them about this. Hers too. And... and if it ever comes up when my father is talking with people from my work... I don't know that that's likely to happen, but you never kn-"

"You're being too paranoid, Alex." Tess groaned, and Alex could just picture her pushing some stray blonde locks away from her forehead and her face to go along with that sound. "Do... do they even have to know that you were here for this part of it? None of the parents are here."

"You're not being paranoid enough," Alex muttered, though he was strongly tempted. "What if... what if they show up unexpectedly, or... or it just accidentally gets mentioned..."

"Fallback story," Tess suddenly announced. "You dodn't go by road, you found some small charter plane travelling from a Las Cruces airfield to the Roswell port."

Alex took in a deep breath. This fit well enough - heck, it was something he could even picture himself doing. "Oh- okay. Call me when you've got a spotter."

"Right," Tess said, and laughed a slightly determined laugh. Alex hung up the phone and waited.

-----------

The sensation of suddenly materializing from a stream of disconnected molecules and airborne quantum information was starting to feel distinctly 'old hat' to Alex Whitman, something that would definitely have startled him if he'd been told about it on the day of his first such trip to Roswell for the wedding. This time, he hardly even thought about it except to take a bit longer than usual to get his bearings, since the surroundings of his arrival were not at all familiar to him. In fact, as he looked around, staring in every direction and patting his limbs carefully to make sure that they were all attached in the right way, two of the circumstances nearly made his mouth drop open.

"In the open?? On a CELL phone?"

"Come on, Alex," Tess said to him softly, taking his arm in her hand in a way that could have been comforting, or just authorative. "You... you wanted to be here as soon as possible, right? Trying to find a nearby location as... as secure as our usual operating parameters would have... well, it could have been a long search." Alex weighed this, and mentally conceded the point. "Nothing's gone wrong."

At least, not as far as they could tell from a casual look around, Alex filled in, but he didn't protest and allowed Tess and JD to lead him inside the building. A bunch of quiet 'make way, proud father coming through'-ing ensued, and then Alex was being brought towards Isabel, and he reached out to take her hand in his.

From everything Alex had ever heard of midwives or found out about Ms Ariel Tyson, including his one visit to meet her, he had sort of expected Isabel to by lying in a mud bath for some reason, or something equally unusual. (He hadn't seen the birthing rooms themselves, or seen a labour in progress, so he didn't have too much to base this judgement on.) Instead, Isabel was lying on a kind of hospital couch, on her back, as she breathed in bursts so short that they sounded like a subdued kind of machine gun. She smiled through obvious pain at his presence. "How... how's it going?" Alex asked. "Where's Max?"

"Bathroom break," Liz said, waving towards a white-painted door in the narrowest wall of the room. "He... he's been doing what he can for her, but - but it isn't as easy for her as it was for me." She seemed troubled by that. "Maybe... maybe his talents don't work quite so well on other hybrids, or..."

"It... it's going to be okay now," Isabel gasped. "I... I can tell what was wrong now, now that it isn't going wrong anymore." More lamaze breathing as a contraction shook her. "I... I had mental walls up, keeping Max from getting in. That - uhh, that has to be it. I... I always have my walls up, even with him a little.Always did... until you came into my life, Alex... and so I guess I still do when you're not around."

Alex smiled slightly. "Well, I'm here now, so I guess it's another try. That's assuming that my being here is NOT just making everything automatically all right." Isabel nodded, unable to quite keep the tears out of her eyes.

As soon as Max had flushed the toilet and opened the door, Liz was explaining what Isabel had said to him. (Max washed his hands as Liz talked.) Soon Max was holding Isabel's other hand, and sure enough, the natural pain-deadening effect of his healing gift seemed to wash over Isabel where it didn't have much of a chance to penetrate her labour before, and even Alex felt himself a bit lost in the dreamlike effect of it. He concentrated all of his attention on Isabel, on being there for her, going through this with her, and sort of lost track of everything else...

"Hey, Daddy!" The words penetrated Alex's tired haze, and he realized that Liz had been repeating herself over and over.

"What?" And suddenly he realized that Isabel was relaxing, almost drowsing, and utterly lovely in her exhaustion. He also heard a faint crying, and his heart leapt when he realized what that meant.

"It's a girl, sure enough," Max said, not bothering to stifle the joyous chuckle. "Do... do you guys have a name settled on by now?"

"Yes," Isabel said softly, and looked up at Alex as if waiting for his final approval. He looked over at the tiny little person in her uncle Max's arms, and nodded. "Caryn, with a c and a y," Isabel said, and several people laughed at the fact that Isabel's obsessive precision even stretched this far. Liz, Kyle, and Tess, also Michael, who Alex hadn't even noticed coming. "Caryn Michelle Whitman."

"I... I think it suits her," Max said softly. "Congratulations. She's healthy and... oooh, and very strong for her age. And I think it's Mommy's turn to hold her." Caryn was passed over, and Alex leaned in, drinking in every square millimeter of his newborn daughter. Every slight movement, every new angle he saw her at was a revelation.

"We... we're so lucky," he breathed, and hugged Izzie tight.

----------

"Well, I guess this changes some things," Maria said as most of the gang was once again gathered around the living room of the girls' apartment. Isabel, Alex, and their new little addition were in her room, but JD and Tess, Michael and Maria, Max and Liz and Beth were all just kind of hanging around and decompressing after the excitement of the day. (Kyle had had to take off for some critical work emergency thing.) "Isabel won't still be pregnant when you guys head off for the conference, but... but Caryn will be so young, and to leave her baby, even for just a few days..."

"Well, I guess I'll volunteer for leader of the babysitting detail," Liz put in with a smile. "Only fair considering how much Isabel, and everybody else, helped me out with Beth, and I still remember what it was like when she was so young, that... I hope I'll be more or less up to the job."

"I can't imagine anyone better to take care of my niece," Max said, and smiled at Liz. "But yeah, there'll be some extra confusion on this trip." He sighed slightly. "I almost wish that Caryn had been willing to stay in for a little longer, but it doesn't do any good to say so NOW I guess." Michael chuckled. Max turned to Maria. "And I guess you're my only remaining OB patient now."

Maria looked back at Max for a long time. "Yeah, well, I hope I won't have that much work for you for a little while yet," she muttered, and Max shrugged. "She definitely seems very cute though, for that little brief glimpse I got at least."

"She's going to grow up to be a lot like her mother," JD said, smiling slightly. Tess turned to look at him, her face betraying a little surprise at this prediction. "Not sure how I can tell."

"Wouldn't surprise me too much," Max put in. "Not that Alex won't be a great influence on his daughter, both environmentally and genetically speaking, and an amazing father, but... sometimes I think Isabel has the more dynamic personality, that she overwhelms him just slightly."

"When she really puts out the energy, yeah," Liz allowed. "But she doesn't feel like she *has* to be like that all the time anymore. Thanks to Alex, I think."

"Hmm, yeah," Tess muttered, and the conversation turned to who wanted anything for snacks and beverages, and so on and so forth. Liz told her friends about how she'd recognized Bethany's infection and rushed over to get Max's help with it... at least, once she'd figured out where Max was. The Evans parents called in, and Isabel invited them over to meet Caryn. It was about five minutes after that call, when Maria and Michael were getting ready to head home so that they wouldn't be underfoot any longer, when Maria asked Liz something about the accounts that she'd been doing earlier in the day, and that was when she made the connection.

"Ohmygawd, Max, Tess? Get over here!" Somewhat perplexed, the close compatriots that she had mentioned drew near. "My... the Z machine is, well... I don't have it, and it wasn't in the car. I... I left it at the cafe, I'm sure of it, and..."

"Wait a second," Max muttered. "What's 'the Z machine'?"

Maria looked at him as if she was wondering what else he didn't know about Liz. "Her digital assistant thingee."

"Yeah," Liz agreed. "I call it that because the model name is made up out of a Z and some numbers." She sighed. "I... I can't believe that I managed to..."

"Okay, Liz, come on," Max said. "Just how much incriminating stuff is on there about... you know, about us?"

"Umm..." Liz blushed. "Diary notes. Some stuff I was meaning to talk to you about the Confederation negotiations." She sighed. "And pictures."

"What?" Tess said. "You've never taken pictures of us using our powers??"

"Not *you*," Liz sighed and groaned.

"Okay, come on," Maria said, trying to take charge of the situation. "Umm... probably best to head back to the cafe right away." She thought. "And call in. It's probably not that much to get worried about, Liz, really. The people with the most chance of picking up Z are the staff - the waitresses. Who know you, and know that you were sitting there. They'd have put it behind the counter, or in the back."

"Without snooping around on the boss lady?" Liz asked with a bit of a sigh, and Maria sighed. "Okay, come on, let's go."

None of the staff who were still on duty knew anything about the palmpilot's having been left behind after Liz rushed out of the Crashdown. One of the waitresses from back then was still around, the other had left about an hour ago. Liz searched all over several of the booths, and also very nearly tore her car apart looking for the little gadget, but there was no trace. Then her cell phone rang, and it was Tess, who had stayed behind at the apartment.

"Some creep called here, it was about Z," she said tersely. "He's got it, but he's trying to fish for a steep reward. Won't give it back without getting something, I think."

"Dammit," Liz swore, and when a mother with two little kids started looking daggers at her for her language, she headed into the back room. "I... I didn't have our phone number on the 'owner info' page... but he could have found it out by poking around in the address book. What if he's looked around in other stuff?" She groaned. "Did he say anything much about what was on it?"

"Not really, just that he thought you'd be very glad to have all of your personal stuff back," Tess muttered. "It's your call, obviously, but myself I think it's better to agree to pay quickly, rather than risk drawing the whole thing out one minute more. Not... not ANYTHING he asks... but a fairly generous price." She took a deep breath. "Then, once we know who he is and where we can find him, Michael and I move in, make sure that he doesn't know too much, that he didn't take copies or anything. And *sheesh*, Liz, the least you could do is learn to use a security password on that thing!"

"I... I did," she suddenly remembered. "Not that there aren't ways around that kind of thing I think... and probably not all of the juicy stuff is password-protected properly. I... I try to keep it all up to date, but..."

"Okay, I understand," Tess said. "Not too surprising that you didn't think of it until now. And... and that's something of a relief that there's any kind of bar against casual snooping. So... do you want to call him from there, or come back to the flat first??"

"Umm... you come over here," Liz said suddenly. "Michael and Max too, if they want in. We can use the upstairs apartment as a home base - the phone's still hooked up and everything. Wouldn't want to bother Isabel and her family with this kind of thing."

"Be there in four," Tess muttered. "Leave a window open."

"Huh?" And then Liz got it, and hurried up into the apartment where she had grown up, so that her friends could teleport over.

----------

"Come on, two hundred dollars is ridiculous as a reward, I could buy a brand new one for less than that," Liz argued into the phone. "Yes, I know it wouldn't have my stuff on it, but... one-sixty going once, and I'm not going to count to three. Going twice, it's about to go down... okay. And we'll meet somewhere neutral to make the trade. The park on second street? Okay. No, come on, aren't I paying enough for express service. Make it fifteen minutes, bud. Okay." She hung up. "How am I doing?"

"It's a fine line," Michael said thoughtfully. "Being determined, being tough, is fine, but you don't really want to piss him off." He sighed. "Well, we'll see how it goes."

"Not all of us," Tess said. "He'll want Liz to come alone - or to think that she's alone, at least. The best method of hiding is my mindwarp power, but that'll work better and longer if I don't need to cloak three other people."

"Well, I can stay out of this one," JD volunteered. "I don't have as much experience with this kind of criminal caper as you guys do."

"But if we keep leaving you out because you're not experienced," Tess teased, "then you're never going to be."

"Still, this isn't the right situation for a guy on training wheels," Michael said, completely missing the joke. "Maxwell, you in?"

"Yeah," Max said tightly. He'd been sitting in one of the living room chairs, a very dark mood wrapped all around him. "And what's the plan for after the switch?"

"We tail him for as long as we can," Tess said. "See where he goes. If we make it to his home, then maybe we try to make a move and play it as it goes there."

"Right," Michael said. "Otherwise... oh, anybody got a digital camera? We should make sure to take his pic so that Isabel can dreamwalk him later - if we need to involve her." He thought for a moment. "And bring along some of those alien masks downstairs - they might come in handy if we jump the guy."

When Liz finally met her 'scumbag' at the park, she had to admit that it would've been hard to imagine anyone who less looked the part. He was young and quietly pretty, maybe a few years older than Liz and her friends were, with blue-grey eyes that radiated concern and nervousness about the situation. Without saying a word, he dropped the palmpilot carefully at her feet, and Liz dropped the envelope with her money, and each circled around to take the others. He examined the envelope and counted the bills, so Liz started up Z and checked a few things... password protection still on, most of her files seemed to be unvandalized - good enough. As the guy headed off, Liz called out softly, "Tess?"

"Yeah?" Tess dropped the mindwarp for her. "What is it?"

"Be... be careful," Liz whispered. "I... I think it's possible that this isn't really the guy we wants, just a..."

"A stooge?"

"A lackey or helper. That's something that we didn't count on..."

"No, but it won't stop us. Thanks for the warning, but we've gotta go." Liz nodded, watched as Liz headed off in pursuit of the courier, or possibly the scumbag himself, Liz still couldn't tell. Maybe she should have made him say something, so that she could have compared his voice against that of the person who'd spoken with her, and Tess, on the phone. Well, Tess could think of that herself, and arrange to get him to talk when and how she pleased. For right now, there was nothing really more for Liz to do than head back home.

And then a chill went through her. What if... if there was one courier, there could be other lackeys and helpers. She was without help or guardians now. What if... no, that was the paranoia talking. Mostly.

She hurried back to the diner, got into her car, and sped back to the apartment. No obvious misfortune befell her, but she kept imagining that she was being followed.

-----------

"Hey, what are you doing here??"

Maria looked up to see Martine stepping across the dining room. "Umm... nothing much, just thinking about a few menu changes," she muttered. And trying not to worry about my husband, off trailing a possible criminal, she thought to herself. "What... what about you? Does Kyle know that you're in t... oh, right, he had that work thing, right."

"Yeah, pretty much," Martine agreed. "I was able to talk to him for a few minutes, and I'll be heading down to their apartment in a few hours, but until then I have time to kill it seems."

"Alright, fair enough." Maria said. "Ohh... ohmygod, you need to hear this. Umm, that is, well maybe not 'need' but... Isabel had the baby today."

"Uhh... she - she did?" Martine said, blinking in surprise. "Wow, that's... she was still..."

"A little early, but yeah," Maria agreed. "And her little girl is healthy and energetic and OH so cute." She smiled a little bit. "Hope I'm so lucky."

"Oh, your baby is going to be pretty great," Martine said. "And you'll have Laurie for a... probably not an aunt, literally. What's she going to be, a cousin??"

"Umm... it gets REALLY complicated." Maria sighed. "Have... have you thought about kids yourself? Not that... that it was really something that Michael and I planned, but..."

"Yeah, we've talked about it, but not really sure yet." Martine sighed. "For one thing, I... I don't really have a career or anything to focus on at this point, so it kind of makes a little more sense to have children early." A pause as she thought about how that must seem to a girl who had two jobs that were both very important to her and a baby on the way, and two good friends who were trying to juggle children with other 'focus' in their lives. "I mean, just for me, that is..."

"I... I understand what you're saying, I think." Maria said with a smile. "Though, in my experience, life is rarely so plannable. If you got pregnant... presumably after the wedding... then I suspect that something else would probably pop up to keep you from focusing entirely on motherhood... but I guess I don't know for sure." She smiled. "Of course, I think that you and Kyle would make very good parents regardless."

"Thanks." Martine sighed and made a gesture to 'drop' the subject, one of her mannerisms that Maria had been aware of for a long time. "I guess I'll grab something to eat - you want to join me?"

"Actually, that sounds good, yeah. Rachel!" She grinned slightly as a waitress hurried over - one of the benefits of being a manager, Maria decided, as they ordered. The two of them talked a bit more about Martine's classes... she was still on what would probably be her last term at the University in Albuquerque, before moving to Roswell for good to be with Kyle - and about some of what was going on with Maria's talent management business.

Once the food was done, Martine said her goodbyes and hurried off, explaining that she had a bit of shopping she wanted to do, and Maria decided to call cousin Laurie, to tell her about the news and just talk for a while.

----------

"Hmm... well, she has your ears, I think, babe," Alex said, and kissed both his wife and daughter. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah, umm, yeah, you're probably right about that," the proud mother agreed. "I think she'll have your eyes though... and maybe just a bit of your chin."

"Oh, boy." Alex groaned, and Isabel giggled. "Oh, hey, who is... hey! Liz!!"

"Hi!" Liz said, coming into the living room. "Oh, boy, did everybody else leave Beth with you guys when they rushed off to help me?" Alex nodded slightly. "Sheesh, I thought I said that the babysitting would be going the OTHER way around."

"Actually, my parents volunteered to help watch her," Isabel said. "But... but I just kind of wanted to relax, felt I had to be 'on' while they were around. Beth's been very good, no trouble at all just keeping an eye on her." Beth noticed her mommy right around then and let out an enthusiastic cry. "Although I suspect that she might be a bit hungry."

"Okay, right." Liz smiled. "Well, we'll be in our room then."

"Just one question first, and don't feel like you have to take too long answering," Alex said. "What... what happened about..."

"Oh, the palmpilot?" Liz asked. "I... I've got it back. Not sure what the deal is with the guy who found it, or if Tess and the others are going to get me my money back."

"Money?" Isabel repeated, and Liz made a face. "Okay... baby gets her dinner first, and then you can explain." A pause. "Or you could try both at the same time... assuming that breastfeeding in front of my husband isn't completely out of the question."

Liz raised her eyebrows at that. "I... I guess I'm up for it if you guys are. Hadn't thought of..."

"Umm..." Alex was blushing slightly. "Maybe... maybe I get used to YOU doing it in front of me first, darling," he suggested to Isabel, who giggled and nodded. Bethany waved bye, and then she and Liz disappeared.

"Speaking of, no time like the present I guess," Isabel said, shrugging her wraparound shirt partly open. Alex's eyes widened. "Well, she might not be screaming for it yet, but it's better to not let things get to that point. Soon Caryn, too, was enjoying a little supper.

"I... I keep trying to get my head around how much things are going to change in our lives, and... and not really being able to absorb it all," Alex admitted.

"Yeah, me too," Isabel admitted. "Trying to go back to classes in Las Cruces, even in the fall, is going to be a challenge if it's possible at all. But... but things were a little bit like this when we got married, wasn't it? Not really being used to it at the start??"

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "But getting married didn't really change anything that seriously in practical terms... moving in together maybe. But either of them..."

"Yeah, nothing like how having our little girl is going to turn our lives upside down," Isabel agreed fondly. "Well... we've got a little time to start figuring things out." She yawned slightly. "And then, we get to decide if we want to try for a little sibling."

Alex's eyes went wide. "Not right away, of course. But... but just like I can't imagine life without having Max as my brother... I think it would be great for her to have other kids in the family. Bethany and Maria's daughter and any other little ones from the gang are going to be close friends, of course, but... but she won't be able to see them as much as I'd hope, not as long as we're living in Las Cruces at least."

"Well... like you said," Alex said, "we'll figure it all out in time." And he kissed her, and they lay side by side on the couch without saying anything.

----------

When Kyle finally got back to his place, he was a bit surprised to see Martine and JD standing around the kitchen and chatting together. "Hey, I thought I said..."

"Yeah, but I couldn't wait," Martine said, stepping up to him and giving him a kiss. "Don't be mad."

"Well, what can I say to that?" Kyle turned to JD. "Thanks for entertaining my lady."

"Umm... well, I don't know how entertaining I was," JD said, and Kyle wasn't sure for a moment if that was a pun or just JD missing the point. But then he chuckled, and it wasn't a nervous chuckle. "Certainly it was a bit educating for me."

"Well... glad that nobody was bored," Kyle muttered, trying to put it behind him. "So, umm..."

"Come on," Martine said, pulling him into the rec room. "Tell us all about what happened with work."

"Well, it's not that interesting of a story," Kyle said. But Martine insisted, and as Kyle related the tale as a dry farce about free-daily advertising pages, a mockup that had accidentally been left behind in a doctor's waiting room, (a lot of that sort of thing seemed to be going around that day,) and a small poodle-terrier crossbreed who had somehow managed to lock herself into the trunk of Kyle's bosses car, he got more and more into it. Martine and JD certainly seemed pretty entertained. Then Martine asked for more details about when Isabel had first found out that she had been going into labour - Kyle had been hanging out with Tess and Max on his day off when everything had started - and Kyle asked if anything interesting had happened over at the girls' apartment after he'd left.

"Umm, actually," JD said. "There was a whole big thing about Liz losing a palm pilot, and somebody wanting a reward before they gave it back. Most of the gang headed over to the cafe - that's all that I heard about it."

"Hmm," Martine muttered. "Only Maria was around when I went by there, and she didn't mention anything about it."

"Maybe she didn't think you'd be interested," Kyle said uncertainly. Martine shrugged.

About three quarters of an hour later, when the three of them were munching on leftover pizza and watching a taped episode of 'Las Vegas', Max showed up. Everybody wanted to hear how the palmpilot stuff had gone, but it didn't take much to tell that he didn't want to get into the real details in front of Martine. "Umm... Liz has it back, yeah. Upset about how much she had to pay the guy... it's extortion, but well - we're not quite sure if there's anything we can do about that."

So Max joined the group, and ordered in some Mexican food delivery because the pizza supplies had almost run out, and there was a very cheap space movie on cable that everyone seemed to have fun laughing at. Finally Martine had to leave to head over to her aunt's place, and Kyle was gone for about fifteen minutes saying goodnight to her properly, and when he came back he blurted out to his friends, "Isn't it time I started to tell Martine about this alien stuff??"

"Umm..." Max blinked. "That... that's kind of up to you. I certainly wouldn't stand in the way of you sharing the truth with the woman you're about to marry, especially since Martine seems generally cool overall - but I would warn you to be very careful about it. There... there's a lot at risk, both for you and for the five of us."

"And Liz, and Alex and Maria," JD pointed out.

"Did your Dad ever say anything to Maria's mom, when they got engaged?" Max asked Kyle, curious. "I... I think he was asking some of us at one point if it was okay, and I more or less said it would be, though we didn't really have this conversation right out in the open like this." He sighed. "A bunch of stuff was spoken nearly in code, about a man and wife keeping secrets from each other and stuff."

"Umm... I'm not sure actually," Kyle admitted. "Don't keep in touch with them so much. And I think that he probably doesn't think of you guys and protecting you as so big a part of his life, as when he was still here in Roswell." Max nodded at that. "Back then, if they'd hooked up this seriously, it'd have killed him to not share the truth with her, but... but it's not a secret he's *sharing* in any more, I think. In his mind, anyway. He's given it back to you, and so it's a trust that he doesn't really need to break to be completely honest with Amy." He sighed. "Which doesn't really apply to me and Martine."

"Yeah, I suppose," Max agreed. Kyle turned to stare at JD.

"Umm... don't look at me, I don't really have that much to say about all of this secrecy and human attitudes about honesty and marriage stuff," JD disclaimed quickly.

"Yeah, but I'd be interested in your opinion," Kyle said with a smile. "You usually find a way to come at things from a completely different perspective that's often useful. Imagine if the situation were reversed, if that helps. If you were back home, and Tess was... was trying to hide her earthly half-human origins from the people there. Err... no, wait, that doesn't quite fit. Oh, umm..."

"No, it doesn't, but I think I understand what you're getting at." JD sighed. "I... I agree that you should find some way to tell her soon, but I also realize why Max is nervous about things not going well. I... I wish I knew some way to help out, but I don't... don't really know Martine well enough to suggest anything."

"Eh," Kyle said, and looked at Max, who shrugged too. "Ah well. Come on, there has to be something else good on." He picked up the remote control.

-----------

"Out of town?" Max repeated. "Umm... why?"

"Just... you guys are going to be apparently unconscious for, what, four days or so while you visit the Conference out-of-body, right?" Liz asked. Max nodded slightly. "That's... that's a long time for us to be hiding you in any of the usual places... especially considering that your parents are now suddenly proud grandparents. Then there's Martine and other people - classmates, work friends, and so on and so forth. If - if we go somewhere out of town, ideally somewhere that nobody really knows the details of but US, then the chances of a surprise discovery, or even an awkward situation where discovery would be a possibility, would be difficult."

"Hmm." Max considered the idea. "There's something to that, I have to admit. On the other hand... you guys are already going to have your hands full taking care of us, and of the two babies. Will things be stretched too thin if we're all someplace that doesn't have much in the way of stores within easy driving distance?"

"Hmm." Liz considered that. "Yeah, it's a fair point. Hopefully we'll be able to find someplace with a general store or convenience mart not too far away. Anything more exotic than the stock there would probably still be enough to throw us into a panic if we needed it while the four of you were out, even if we were home." Max nodded in acceptance of that point. "I'm not saying that anything has to be decided today, though it should probably be soon if we're going to have to rent a cabin or anything like that. Just... I wanted to say something to you privately before bringing it up with the others."

"Cool enough," Max said. He finished pouring the last glass and Liz helped him take the drinks into the living room. This was the first time after Caryn's birth that Alex had to go back to Las Cruces, and so the rest of Isabel's friends were doing their best to cheer her up, and having a bit of success with that. "So, whose turn is it?" Max asked. "Umm... Mister brown?"

Michael, who was playing brown, considered the arrangement of pieces on the checkerboard and planted a brown counter in the middle of the joint brown-teal enclave. A few more moves were made by the surviving player, and soon the purple-green faction was out of room. "Oh, darnit," Tess said - she was playing purple. "Should've let you win, Kyle - you have a better line of defense against the teal. Might have been able to come to terms with the black unit."

"Yeah, well, that's the way it goes," Kyle said. When his turn, as green, came, and he didn't have any further space to move, he started picking up all of his counters from the board - they now represented new space for other players to take. "You're not too bad, though, and this way black is kinduv squeezed out too."

"Oh, yeah," Tess said. Teal - Maria, played, and in a little while Black - who was Liz, was indeed out of space. That left purple alone against Teal and Brown, outnumbered but in a fairly good tactical position, struggling with teal for the remains of green, and brown for the black territory. She made a tactical mistake in black-ville, and almost lost, but Michael and Maria started to squabble among themselves, fighting for position when it would just be the two of them to decide the fate of the world, and Tess made inroads, and suddenly Michael was out of room for his brown guys. Once he cleared out though, Tess took a long moment before making her first incursion into the brown territory, but it was pretty clear that teal was better placed - she'd win significantly more of Michael's space than Tess could, and would have to win. Tess conceded with good grace once it was all down to the numbers.

"That was fun," Max said, even though he as blue had been squeezed out very early, so had red Isabel. "We should do this more, it's an interesting test of competition and strategy."

"And co-operation," Michael teased Maria.

As a new game started, Liz laid out her proposal about leaving town to stay in a rented cottage or something like that while the four of them had to travel away from Earth for the summit. There was general agreement that it was probably the best way, and that got everybody started thinking about the plans that they'd have to make... for Liz and Maria to put the Crashdown in the hands of capable assistant managers while they were out of town, (which got Maria thinking about the times that they'd been tapped to essentially run the business while Liz's parents had been away at conventions or meetings with suppliers and retreats with the Roswell tourism association,) for Michael and Kyle to get the time off work, Max to cover his classwork and lecture absences in advance, and so on. That got Kyle on about Martine again, and how he could possibly tell her any of the sort of things that had gone on in his life since he found out that there really were aliens.

"Maybe the best thing is to... to wait for her to ask any question where the true answer really would be relevant and then to NOT duck it," Liz said thoughtfully. "Mention first that the answer is actually kind of complicated, and then start telling her." She sighed. "It might get a bit weird, with her asking you again and again if you're joking, and probably worrying out loud more than once that you're crazy." She sighed. "But... but she knows you better than that by now, and she'd realize that this is actually the truth. I... I wish you the best with it."

"Been thinking about this sort of thing, Liz?" Maria asked.

"Well... I don't have anyone to tell... umm, not until Bethany grows up and starts asking questions," Liz said, looking across the room to where Beth was crawling around, looking up occasionally at some of the grown-ups who loved her very much. "And even then, hopefully it's not going to be a case of 'coming clean' with her about this big secret, as that she's going to grow up understanding as much as she can about why Max and the rest of you guys are so special."

"Oooh, be careful with that, Liz," Isabel suggested. "Especially in terms of the period before she's learned how important it is to keep secrets."

"Yeah," Liz nodded. "I guess more than anything else I was just kinduv wondering how I'd have told Casey if he'd survived... and assuming that I didn't use the same defence as Valenti did, that 'I'm so far away from Roswell that it doesn't matter anymore.'"

"You... you know, I guess I've never thought about things like that," Maria suddenly said. "I... I know you loved Casey very much and would never have 'wanted' him to die in that sense. But... but if he hadn't, would you be nearly a stranger to all of us by now?" Liz blinked in surprise at that. "I mean, if you guys had stayed in Chicago after you graduated, or... or moved to the Northeast to be near his parents or something, I - I'd hardly even have met Beth."

"Oh, you'd have gotten to know her a little better than that, no matter what," Liz said, "but... but I kind of get what you mean." She sighed, unwilling to commit herself one way or the other. "Think I'm just going to say that I'm peace with the way things have gone in my life, grateful that it's led me back to all of my good friends, and leave it at that. Obviously I loved Casey a lot, and he didn't deserve to die just for trying to protect me, but..."

"Yeah, let's lay off that," Max said, seeing how much talking about it might upset Liz. "Anybody else have any big concerns about the Conference night?"

"Umm... is it okay if I bow out of staying at the cabin for the majority of the time?" Maria said uncertainly. "I mean, really... there won't be THAT much to do there but look at you guys being unconscious and worry, right? Taking care of the girls, sure... and JD has his thing to do, and a certain amount of trying to take care of the slowed natural functions of your bodies." She made a face. "But... but all things considered, I'd rather be back out in... in the world of the living, making sure that the Cafe's ticking over fine and making any meetings I have to." She sighed. "That sounded horrible, didn't it?"

"No, of course not," Michael said, hugging her. "You... you go do what you have to do. And you'll be visiting me when you can, right?" Maria nodded. "Okay, fair enough."

"And make sure that my parents don't follow your car out to the cabin or anything," Isabel chimed in. "Shouldn't be a problem - they wouldn't be that good at 'tailing' you themselves, and I don't think Dad would hire a PI for something like this."

"Hope not," Max chimed in.

A little bit later, as the group was breaking up for the night, Tess came to Liz to deliver an update on the ransom for her palmpilot. "I... I think we've found our way from the courier to the guy who really did take it," she said, sighing slightly. "Not quite sure if there's anything to still worry about, aside from getting you the ransom back..."

"If he doesn't have any of my stuff," Liz said, "then not ALL of it was ransom. Call forty bucks a genuine reward."

Tess laughed softly. "Okay, noted. As far as that goes, he might have already spent at least that much, but... I just don't want to move too fast, before I figure out what the deal is. He seems like some kind of digital scam artist, but probably this extortion routine was just a crime of opportunity. After all, you admitted yourself that you left the palmpilot when you rushed out..."

"Actually, I'm not so sure about that," Liz said. "Maybe he was able to swipe it away from me while I was on the cell phone, distracted thinking about Beth - but that doesn't sound too likely." She sighed. "And I can't remember if I went to the bathroom during that period of time." She sighed. "I... I really want to thank you for taking this so seriously, Tess...it means a lot to me."

"Aww, say nothing of it," Tess insisted.

------------

"Okay, let's see," JD muttered to Liz as he picked up something from the table in the guys' rec room. "Cabin is booked and paid for. Supplies are bought, at least anything that doesn't need to be refrigerated or kept frozen. School and work arrangements... are still ongoing in some cases, but that's not really something that we can do on anybody else's behalf." He looked up, thinking of something. "There isn't any important prairie chicken stuff that you forgot about, is there??"

Liz groaned. "There really isn't any important prairie chicken stuff any more, period. The protest momentum has evaporated, and the entire endeavour to save them has, in fact, mostly failed." She sighed. "I... I wish that there was something more I could think of to try and raise awareness, but... but I haven't yet, and frankly I've got bigger things to worry about right now than my chickens." JD nodded sympathetically. "Okay, umm... that's about it on the checklist, right? Let's go over the timeline."

"Alright," JD agreed. "Departure at six oh five PM, thursday night. Arrival on Antar at around seven thirty."

"Isn't that a lot faster than the trip to wherever-it-was?" Liz asked. "Or... or did it just SEEM like it was taking a long time?"

"No, you're right," JD said. "Max and the others might not have mentioned this, but part of the reason for that trip was to make travelling to the conference itself quicker and easier. The hosts that they joined with had a lot more experience with astral travel, and now that experience is theirs to draw on. Including direct knowledge of the co-ordinates of Antar and various 'space-marks' along the way, and techniques to blink farther in a single step."

"Oh, cool," Liz decided. "Yeah, that'll help a lot. And they know the way from here to... what was that colony's name again?"

"Umm... Kaalto district," JD said absently. "Oh, you meant the planet probably, huh? Umm... it'll come to me, just a second..."

"No, Kallto will do I guess," Liz assured him. JD started to correct her pronunciation, then shrugged. "Okay... so, we don't need to worry about doing much to help them along for... for the first twelve to sixteen hours you said, so that'd be around 7 am on Friday morning. That's when you start with the energy transfers, and I help with the sugar water to keep their bodies hydrated..."

"The dextrosaline stuff we got," JD said. "Yeah. Seems like horrid stuff."

"Well, salt levels are important in our bodies too," Liz told him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sat Jan 13, 2007 1:37 pm

Part 25

Even though arriving at the small Kallto outpost had been quite a shock, it was as nothing compared to the first moment when Isabel opened a pair of eyes and got her first good look at the planet of Antar itself. For one thing, even before she had opened her eyes, there was the tide of noise sweeping all around a huge space, not far from where she was. Isabel got to her host's feet, thankful that once again she had a proxy-body that seemed to work more or less like her human one, and took a brief look in a reflective field that had presumably placed there for the purpose. Hmm... yes, the Antarian body she was in really didn't look that different from a human woman she could have passed on the street - and a startlingly attractive one. Of course, her skin was kind of bluey-black, with dark purple hair and brilliany golden eyes, but aside from that and a subtle shift in the facial features, she didn't look THAT different from herself at home. Good figure - without all of the post-baby fat of course, though Maria kept saying she was exxagerating that anyway - and roughly the same kind of curves that had made her a knockout on Earth. Just how closely similar were human and Antarian standards of sex appeal, she wondered?

And, next question - where were Max and her friends? They had all been 'waved in' to the same location, so their hosts had to be very close by. She was in a small enclosed space, kind of like a photograph booth in an Earth mall, and poked her head out to take a look. There was a row of similar booths, and at least one had another face poking out of it. "Umm, hello, you wouldn't happen by any chance to b..."

"Hmm, Isabel Evans, Earth," she said to the striking Antarian man. He grinned in a familiar way that clinched her recognition. "Michael! Does that body meet more with your approval?"

"Umm, yeah actually," he said, strutting out. Michael's proxy was yellow-skinned with just a touch of green, very short hair that was whitish brown, but somehow didn't seem to be the same as any shade of brown, blond, or platinum that would appear on an earth person. His eyes were nearly black with a touch of blue-green in them, and he was wearing a green robe-like outfit. Isabel suddenly realized that she was clothed in a similar fashion, but in purple that complimented her new hair. "Not bad - except that I thought we were supposed to have a private padded room to get acclimated in, like last time."

"Probably some kind of snafu or miscommunication," Max said, sounding so natural that Isabel almost did a double-take when she saw his unfamiliar new face. "Best not to make a hairy deal out of it, I think. What about Tess? Is she..." He considered the row of booths, and paused when he realized that there'd been one between Isabel's and Michael's from which no-one had emerged yet. "Hello, anyone in there??"

"I... I know that it's silly, but I don't want to come out looking like this," Tess replied, and Isabel giggled slightly. Considering what they were all like, could Tess really have any grounds for acting embarassed? Or... had she ended up in another species, like Michael had last time? That seemed unlikely, considering that this was Antar itself, with an available population of about three billion. And there wouldn't be too many other convention delegates arriving from other worlds... the four sister planets would send observers, possibly sign treaties with the new Confederate government, but most of the real business was between different groups and regions on Antar itself - and Isabel had gotten the impression that the other planets were close enough that people could easily travel between them by spaceship... warp drive or whatever it was.

Michael interrupted her thoughts by calling out to Tess. "You... you realize that there isn't a privacy door on there," Michael said. He was right - Tess' booth, like the rest of theirs, seemed to have nothing but a curtain that was made of seperate strands forming an opaque barrier. "If you don't come in, then I will come in and drag you ou-"

"MICHAEL!!" Tess' anguished voice seemed entirely like her, despite the fact that she couldn't have the same voice box here on Antar.

"Tess, Michael, quit it," Max said, slipping into his usual role of peacemaker. "Don't agitate her any further," he said in an undertone to Michael that Isabel could just catch. These ears were really pretty good, even though the dim all around them was more than a little distracting - and Isabel realized that she still hadn't taken in any more of their surroundings than the area that the three of them were standing in and the row of proxy-abduction booths. Well, that could wait until after this little crisis had been defused, assuming that that would happen quickly. "Tess... I - I understand if you might be a little surprised by something about your proxy host. But... but it's nothing that reflects on you personally, and we kind of need to band together and figure out where we're supposed to go at this point. We can't split up and leave you all alone on an alien planet, and we can't spend the whole time waiting outside your booth. So... so will you come out? For me?"

"I... okay, but please don't do anything that even sounds vaguely equivalent or similar to laughing." So warned. Isabel tried to very closely regulate her breathing... and then exploded in an unintentional fit of coughing, because there was something about the Antarian breathing process that wasn't like what she was used to. As long as her proxy had been handing the breathing process in her own natural way, there'd been no problem, but once Isabel took over consciously, she'd tried to apply her own Earth experience to this Antarian lady's lungs or something, and that hadn't worked out well. "I'm serious!" Tess insisted, probably not understanding what had prompted the choking sound and not reassured by it. So Isabel returned control of breathing, as well as speaking or any other sounds made from the area of the mouth, with the silent mental command to not show any disrespect.

It tested their combined mental control, however, when Tess emerged. Like the others, she had gotten a proxy Antarian who matched her physical appearance in a lot of ways - a petite and slightly bouncy girl, with lithe limbs that didn't look as short as they really were. Her eyes were even kind of blue, though a whitish shade of baby blue that Isabel had never seen on Earth, (making best guesses as to how colors were showing up different in Antarian eyes,) and the bottom ends of her pink hair had been dyed a pale yellow that wasn't too far from Tess' own blonde color. Except for one thing, it seemed as if Tess had gotten a *great* host.

There was, well, a sort of skin problem though. (Isabel had to fight off another threatened laugh.) Vertical striped of silver, soft red, and black covered Tess' new face, arms, and any other exposed skin that her jumpsuit-like costume didn't cover. Max sighed slightly. "Okay, that wasn't so bad, was it??"

"Umm... not yet," Tess admitted sulkily, but she didn't resist when Max put a friendly arm around her shoulders and turned to sweep his gaze over the rest of their surroundings. Isabel finally let her own awareness expand in that direction, and shook slightly with a sense of being overrwhelmed that she'd been repressing while Tess had her own crisis.

The wall of booths was on one edge of a larger open space than she'd ever seen... easily bigger than the Albuquerque Coliseum that she'd seen a few pop conerts in, inclusing all of the seating. People were hurrying over most of the expanse, and occasionally she could see kiosks or other small structures dotted here or there. The edges of the concourse, (if that was what it was,) were completely lost to view in two directions, and she could only just catch a glimpse of another barrier meeting the booth wall perhaps two hundred fifty feet away. There was a door in that wall near the corner, and some open consession-type windows set into it before it faded away into the milling crowd.

"Okay, so where to next, fearless leader?" Michael asked, a trace of the old carcasm in his voice.

"Umm... it's no good wandering around haphazardly," Tess put in sensibly. "Any place like this has got to have information booths prominently accessible, probably marked with signs in several languages." She sighed. "Umm, what does that say?" she added, pointing to a big green circle hanging in midair and spinning a little back and forth, eight or nine booths down the line and twenty feet ahead.

"Umm, general inquiries thataway," Isabel read, "Outgoing transfer reservations and rest chambers all species the other, public carriages to all points straight ahead." She considered a moment. "Can't you read the local language, Tess? IS your proxy not co-operating?"

"Umm, I think that she's trying, but we're not on the same mental wavelength," Tess said in a small voice, as if she was worried that she was the problem. "Give us a few minutes."

"Alright, well 'general inquiries' sounds like what we want," Max said, heading in the first direction that Isabel had indicated, which was towards the nearby perpendicular wall. Soon Michael spotted the same words, 'General inquiries,' above the first concession window in that wall. There were nearly a dozen other people waiting in line to ask questions, so the four of them queues up behind.

"Oooh, Antarian cuisine!" Michael said, pointing to the next window over. Sure enough, there was a faint appetizing smell coming from that direction, and the words above it, though Isabel couldn't immediately translate them, did indeed seem to have something to do with edible delicacies.

"Okay, we'll grab some grub after we're through here," Max told him.

"Come on, I could go over there, grab something for all of us, and be back in line before we get up to the top. There's only the people at the head of the line there, and..." All of a sudden the customers of the snack hut wandered away with their purchases. "Okay, now there's nobody at all, and..."

"Do you know if your proxy has any Antarian money, Michael?" Tess prompted. Michael made a face that let them all know that he hadn't considered that, but a moment later he brightened - a mental query had obviously produced an encouraging answer. "Here." He put a hand into a pocket of his clothes and came up with a bunch of flat shiny metal things, in unusual geometric patterns with the corners rounded off just slightly. "This one is worth six ents," Michael rhymed off, pointing to a hexagonal one that was repeated many times over, "worth maybe a quarter in our terms, and the pentagons are twelve enta. The triangles are half-Andos, thirty-six ents."

"So seventy-two ents in an Ando," Tess said, as if memorizing this. "Six by twelve. Wait a second... why are there so many sixes and twelves in their money system?" She brought her hands up to her face as if re-checking something. "Antarians have only eight fingers."

"I dunno Tess," Isabel said. "Maybe it isn't always about figners."

"I'm glad that you're getting the hang of their money," Max said to Michael. "But you'll have to wait until we're done here."

"But *whyy*?" Michael's voice sounded extremely petulant and whiny.

"Because it might be rude to talk to these people while we're eating... especially considering that eating Antarian food for the first time might be a slightly awkward experience."

"Ohh." They'd eaten in proxy bodies once before, on the Rahlicx colony, and that had gone fairly smoothly, even proved an enjoyable experience. But they'd been all alone there and had several solicitous envoys to help guide them. "Alright, fair enough." Michael sighed. "But with my luck, as soon as we've told them who we are they'll whisk us off without any time to grab food."

"Oh, how you'll suffer then," Max shot back dryly. Isabel wasn't feeling *that* hungry herself, though she understood the appeal of eating something as an activity to distract her from the tedium of waiting in line, and she briefly wondered if all of their proxies had eaten before reporting to duty. A faint stream of nearly-subconscious thought issued in response, from her proxy mind, saying that yes, that was so, and it was standard procedure, though occasionally you didn't have time for all of the standards when making an appointed meeting of minds.

Now *this* was an even more distracting possibility. Isabel tried to select just one of the many questions she had for her proxy alter-ego. *Were... were you told anything about us, and what we're doing here??*

*Actually,* the Antarian lady sent back sourly, *I'm starting to think that there's been a mix-up here. I was contracted to rendezvous with a sales agent fron the Velentor route, who was an old hand at these proxy encounters and would be visiting an importing concern in the business sector.* She sighed mentally. *And I know Jjev - and he wasn't supposed to be in the same group. But you guys are rank newbies, here for the conference, huh??*

*Umm... who's Jjev?* Isabel asked. *One of the guy proxies?* There was a mental nod sensation. *Well, umm yeah - sorry for the mixup. What's standard procedure in a case like this??*

*Umm... to stay buggered out and let you sort things out on your own, actually,* she replied. *That's the first and the last rule of the society - stay out of things unless your help is specifically requested for, and then do whatever you can to serve the needs and wishes of your client. No matter if you weren't the one I was expecting, you're my client now, and so you're my priority.*

*Hey, cool,* Isabel said, deciding that she kind of liked this policy. *Alright, so what's...* The proxy girl sent a directional thought, and Isabel realized that they, or at least Max, were/was now at the front of the line. *Okay, we'll talk later.*

"Umm, hi, I'm not sure how to say this exactly," Max said to the attendant of the inquiries desk. "My name is Max Evans, I'm here for the Confederation Conference, from Earth, and... and we were expecting either to be met or to arrive in a private facility."

"I see, sir," the Antarian youth drawled with obsequious brusqueness, or as close to it as was logically possible. "I... I appreciate that this is probably disorienting for you, but there's not much I can do unless you can provide me a contact name."

"Oh, boy," Tess whispered.

"Umm... okay, who were those guys we were talking to on the colony world?" Max muttered. "Don... no, Don wasn't really part of his Antarian name or his proper title. Esther - that's not it."

"Esserveli!" Isabel exclaimed. "Or something like that anyway.

The attendant looked at Isabel as if she were truly dim. "You mean Azjtanggo Esseverli, one of the infamous twelve?" She nodded sheepishly. "Well, I can try, but as you might imagine, he's a very busy man just at the moment and not easy to reach."

"Huh, I didn't realize he was *that* important in all of this stuff," Tess muttered.

"And there was the other guy, dammit, I can't remember his name," Michael muttered. "The one from the... hey!! Is Raydeleen on-planet at the moment?"

"I... I believe so," the attendant said. "Do you know her?"

"No, but she'll have heard of us," Max said. "Max Evans, Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin, Tess Harding. And I bet she'll know where we should be going and who we should be talking to, if you can reach her."

"Very well, but... well, other customers are waiting for more routine services, and it won't be a quick thing to get through to her," the guy said, now sounding well and truly tired of dealing with them. "I may see if I can get the boy to navigate the first layer or two of the bureaucracy." He fished under the countertop and produced a stubby plastic wand. "Please take this with you and don't leave this quadrant of the concourse. It will illuminate and sound a tone when contact has been established."

"That's it?" Max asked in surprise. "How... how do I know where the quadrant e..."

"You'd know if you got there," he muttered cryptically. "And yes, that's it. If you'd like to attempt communicating with Raydeleen yourself using the public videophones, there is a bank located over there," and he waved vaguely, "however if your ignorance leads to any equipment damage, you WILL be held financially liable."

"Come on, Max," Michael said, tugging on his sleeve. "Let's get some food first thing, before blowing our top or anything." Max suffered himself to be led away towards the concession with the appetizing smells.

As Isabel and Tess followed, they were passed by a pair of young Antarian males travelling in the opposite direction. One of them definitely took a fondly appreciative look at Tess' face, and Isabel heard him remark "Oooh, stripey!" and make a sound that reminded her of a high-pitched humming.

"What... what was that about?" Tess asked as they joined the guys at the counter. Michael was already pointing to several things that he liked the looks of, and trying to add up the value of his local coinage.

"I... I think the stripes are seen as sexy here, Tess," Isabel told her with a kind laugh."

"Hmm, really?" Tess turned as if to take a look at the guys, but they had long since disappeared past the inquiries queue. "Well, not like I'd really want to fool around while I was here. Wouldn't be fair to JD. But it's nice to be appreciated that way, no matter what the reason."

Max stopped Michael once he had picked out ten different things for them to try, and they paid the attentand girl behind her counter and found an available table. Isabel bit into an obtuse triangle that felt like pastry, and groaned as several different flavors that she couldn't possibly have described in terms of any of her Earth experiences flowed through her head. "Oh, wow," she groaned.

"Yeah," Max said, picking out a few more green peanut-sized morsels from a disposable cup. "These were worth the whole trip out just by themselves."

----------

Liz sighed slightly, looking at the cabin around them. "So - you think that they've arrived safely by now?"

"I'm sure of it," JD insisted. "They... they've probably arrived in the protected room in the Liaretian headquarters, and are meeting with the new leader of Zan's house and everybody else. Maybe having a few light snacks or a round of ale while the talking gets done."

"Oh come on, why not snacks AND ale?" Kyle asked. Alex laughed.

"Good enough point, but I'm not in charge there," JD said, laughing along, and Liz smiled herself. "Well, come on, we shouldn't be thinking about them too much, it'll just make you more agitated in the long run. How about something else to talk about?"

"I dunno," Liz said. "You've learned a lot about us, I think, in the months that you've been around." JD blushed slightly and spread his hands, but couldn't really deny the statement. His curiosity about anything to do with 'normal' American life was undoubtedly voracious. "Maybe you could talk a bit more about your own childhood... growing up on Antar. I - I don't thik that any of us have heard those stories."

"Actually, I know a bit," Kyle volunteered, and Liz sighed. "Yeah, you should have expected that." Tess had made sure to spend as much time as she could with both JD and Kyle, making sure that they got to know each other well and hoping that they would become good friends - her man and her emotional brother. "I don't mind hearing more though."

"Okay, let's see," JD said, stretching out slightly on the old padded chair, (without arms) that he was sitting on, and staring just above the flames of the fire that they'd finally managed to get started underneath the cabin's chimney. "I... I grew up in a house that doesn't really seem very different from this place, actually... very rustic and rural, even by the standards of the local county, which was far from the height of civilization of the planet." As he talked, Liz and Alex, sitting next to each other on a lumpy couch, held their little children tight and not too tight, and Kyle leaned against a wall with as much nonchalance as he could muster.

"My father was a... he raised animals, creatures that look a bit like cows but the size of pigs, for food, mostly to sell. He... he butchered them himself, and both his younger brother, me, and his other sons helped in the care and the butchery. My mom was a... I guess you might call her the village schoolmarm."

"Oh, boy," Alex muttered, and made a slightly choked laughing sound. JD shot him a surprised look, and Liz swatted him on the knee. "Don't be a pest."

"No, I don't mind," JD insisted. "Just wondering what's so funny... if it's alright to tell me."

"Um, well..." Alex blushed slightly. "It's just... there are human sayings about how a guy, when he grows up, will look for or fall in love with a woman who reminds him of his mother in some way..."

"And the fact that Tess has studied and apprenticed as a teacher, yes," JD agreed, smiling. "Yeah, Kyle mentioned that too." Liz shot a look over at Kyle, who just shrugged weakly. "Well, let's see... I remember the stream out behind our... our farmhouse where us kids would sometimes bathe... if we didn't want to wait for the inside showering mechanism, or if it had broken down."

"It does sound very rustic," Liz said. "Was there any modern technology around the house."

"Mom had a computer interface with a... a kind of long-distance data connection," JD said, smiling. "She needed that for her job. Aside from that, let's see... nothing that would seem especially modern to, um, to anyone back in seventies America. Artificial lighting, some fairly basic cooking and sanitary mechanisms, entertainment audio receivers."

"Phones?" Kyle asked. "Any kind of two-way communicators?"

"Not in the house, actually... but I think that was just my Dad being slightly stubborn," JD said, smiling.

He talked on and on, telling them about childhood friends and the trauma of being the schoolmarm's son once he started going to primary classes himself...

-----------

"No word yet," Max said as he returned to the table and sat down. "From Raydeleen, or Esseverli. The person who answered at general inquiries for the Convention had never heard of us. Oh, and I told him the name that you remembered, Isabel - Turik Vannlor, the Liaretian representative who met with us at Kaalto. He hadn't heard of him, but promised that he'd try looking him up."

"And do we believe him?" Michael muttered. Max shrugged. "Maybe we should try going and using the public vidiphones."

"Do we have enough money for it?" Max asked, tilting his head back and forth uncertainly.

"My girl seems to be doing okay for spending money," Tess said. "Is it okay that we're using their money??"

"My proxy seems to think so," Isabel said. She'd been getting the furthest in actually communicating with the mind of her Antarian body - maybe because the process of voluntary Astral posession reduced them to subconscious influences, and Izzy had a lot of experience in interacting with other people's subconscious. "Part of the usual procedure, I'd expect... you can't get far around here without some money, any more than you can at home. There's probably a built-in expense account in the contract."

"Which we didn't really pay for," Michael said. "I mean, of course *we* didn't, but it wasn't the people who we expected to be footing the bill. The people who were expecting us. Doesn't that mean that we're stealing these bodies, expense account and all?"

"We're here now," Tess said. "Posession is nine tenths of the law, or something like that." She sighed. "Of course, if we can't find any other way, we can try speaking to... to this society of hosts." Max turned to look at her. "I... I think that it's kind of like a labour union for these professional proxy guys. They'd be able to find out what happened to another group of two male and two female hosts, find out if anybody's taken posession or not... and get in contact with the contract-holders. If there's more than one contract that meets those quantities, then it shouldn't take long to narrow down which one is held by Liaretians attending the Convention."

"Hmm... okay," Max said. "Come on, let's try the phones. Raydeleen, then Turik, Esseverli, and the society, in order of attempting."

"Okay, I guess that's really the one cue I can't resist taking up," someone else said from the next table. Isabel turned to stare at her.

"Do... do you mind? This was a private communication!"

"Umm... I suppose that line might work with most people, but it doesn't hold much water when you were mentioning my name." The woman was strikingly attractive for an Antarian, and yet there was something about her appearance that didn't seem to quite fit with what Max had learned about people here. She had shoulder-length reddish-orange hair, deep brown eyes, and grayish-beige skin.

It didn't take long for any of them to narrow down the possibilities. Most of the individuals that they'd mentioned by name hadn't been females, after all. "Are you trying to tell me..." Michael muttered under his breath.

"You're Raydeleen Shorvana?" Max had only heard a sketchy physical description of her once, and that had been third-hand through JD, but... it kind of fit.

"So pleased to finally make your acquaintance, Mister Evans," she drawled in English, (and a somewhat british accent,) while stretching her hand out to him. It took him a long moment to actually recognize the words, when he'd been used to communicating through his proxy guy's mental language center.

So what is Raydeleen doing hanging around some kind of public concourse that we just happened to arrive at, landing in proxy people who thought that they were expecting other people, Max wondered to himself... and immediately got an answer. "You... you arranged all of this, didn't you?" he asked in a low voice. "You... you contracted the service of these proxy hosts, under false pretenses so that nobody would suspect what was going on, and arranged to have our astral bodies directed here by the psychic traffic control entities high above the planet."

"Just as you say."

"And... why?" Isabel asked her. "Did... did you have something to do with the fact that we couldn't contact anybody... besides not picking up on any portable communicator you have yourself, that is."

"I... I did interfere somewhat on that matter too, but it would be tiresome to go into details." Rayde stood up. "As far as why, well, I'll tell you, but surely you're all tired of sitting down. We can walk and talk, and see some of the city. That, too, is part of why I arranged things this way."

Max exchanged a look with Tess, and then with Michael. "We... we should be making our way to the conference site as quickly as possible, and establishing contact with Turik or - or..."

"Or Vorjal, his liege lord," Tess put in. "And yours, Raydeleen, if you haven't turned coat on him."

"So suspicious... but then, I guess I can't fault you for that. I do not mean to betray him, though I'm not so certain that my loyalty to him supercedes obligations that I have to the four of you, personally. And I will convey you to him, and to the conference site, in time for all four of you to play your part. Must I swear that on Alinda's buried heart??"

Max and Isabel jumped more than a little when Rayde mentioned the name of the old matriarch of their family, to whom she had been a... more than a personal assistant. "No, umm, I don't think so," Isabel said, and Max knew that she was shocked by the turn of phrase. Offering to swear on her grave would have been more natural to Max's earthly sensibilities... but he wasn't back home on Earth any longer. The four of them got up and followed Rayde's lead, walking out across the concourse floor well away from the information booth and the tiny cubicles they had arrived in.

"Oh, wait a second," Max said, bringing up the wand that the inquiries desk guy had given him and waving it slightly. "I... I can't just walk away with this, can I?? I mean, we aren't going to need it, but..."

"There'll be a re-use receptacle that you can put it in," Rayde said with a slight chuckle.

"Hmm... not a bad idea," Isabel mentioned.

"Okay, first off..." Rayde said, "although this probably wouldn't be enough reason for me to pull off this rikka-brained scheme on its own, the proxy hosts that Turik and Vorjal had arranged for you were... quite unsatisfactory in my opinion, though Vorjal thought that they were 'adequate.' Only one was a true professional working for the Society of hosts - the others were members of his faction who had passed very basic training for emergency hosting service. None of them were a very good match to the four of you in age or rough appearance... and I didn't think that you'd be satisfied 'living' in their skin for several days while doing what needed to be done." She sighed. "I... I have tried to do better with the resources available to me. Although..." Rayde looked over the four of them, squinting slightly. "I'm not at all certain about the stripes."

"No, come on!" Tess insisted. "I... I wasn't wild about them at first, but... but it's cool. *Really.*"

"Okay then." Rayde took the wand from Max, and tossed it into a kind of barrel made of a transparent substance, joining an odd collection of other items inside. "The other main reason that I brought you here, is that I thought there were some things that you needed to see with... well, not with your own eyes, since THEY're back on Earth, but as directly as possible. Before speaking your piece at the Convention, and committing your word of honor and good name. I... I don't imagine that it'll change too much - at least I really hope not, but still. People making choices that would affect the lives of billions of people based on what they've learned in an abstracted isolation... well, that's something that our world has had far too much of lately. It... it needs to stop now, and this is one good step."

"So... so you want us to see the people who... who have the most to gain and the most to lose, based on whether or not this plan works or not?" Max interpreted.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Rayde said. "This... this is Enelfa, in case you hadn't figured that out. The capital city, the one from which the house of Liaret ruled... and the place that Kivar has made into his bastion since he took power." She smirked slightly. "I've only been here once before in my life, actually, and that was under a cloud of secrecy. But the truce of the Convention protects us all now..."

-----------

"And there she was," Alex said, "with a glass mustard jar in the crook of her elbow and the lid in her other hand," Alex said. "She kind of pointed toward the salamander as well as she could and said, 'can you help me catch it?' And I just waved that plastic sword and said 'capture it? I'm Sir George and I've got to *kill* that dragon!"

Kyle and JD laughed, as Liz kept working on fastening Bethany's clean diaper, blushing slightly at the old memory. "So what was Liz's comeback?" JD asked, and then he cocked his head at a slightly odd angle. "Uh-oh. Proximity alert. Ummm..."

"Uh-oh," Kyle and Liz muttered at the same time, because from the positions that the unconscious bodies of the pod squad were in, it would be hard to convince someone who wasn't in on the deal that they were only sleeping. "Who is it?" Liz asked. "Maria? No, she'd call before she came out here... I think."

"Not Maria," JD said, frowning slightly as he tried to get more detail from that odd alien 'sense' of his. "A... a girl, around our age..."

"Martine?" Kyle guessed in a suprised yelp. "Oh, man, this is bad... SO not how I wanted her to find out about..."

"How would she have known that we were here?" Alex asked.

"How would ANYBODY but Maria have known?" JD chimed in.

"I... I'll go try to head her off," Kyle said. "Regardless if it's my 'her' or not." The sound of a car parking outside the cabin could already be heard by the time Kyle made it out the door. Liz fussed over Max's insensate body for a little while before he called out, "No need to cover up guys - she's okay."

"Okay?" Alex asked, from where he was trying to make Isabel look peaceful. "Wait a second... if it's not Maria, then... then the only other person who might possibly be okay is..."

"Laurie?" Liz guessed, and hurried over to the door herself. Sure enough, it was Michael's sister who Kyle was escorting inside. She went right over to check on Michael himself, and then accepted the offer of a beer and some salty snack foods while everybody caught up on stuff.

"Yeah, of course Michael told me what was going on, and where you'd be," Laurie said. "Sorry that I didn't call before you left to come up here, but - well, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to make it, and I didn't... actually, I thought Michael would tell you that I might be here." She sighed. "Guess he didn't think of mentioning it."

"Well, things have been busy, but it's great to see you Laurie," Alex said. "By the way, this is Caryn."

"Ohmygawd, she's so adorable," Laurie said, looking at the little infant girl, who Alex had just gotten set up with her bottle at that point. "SO precious. Do... do I get any kind of doting Auntie rights?? I... I realize that the family relationships are kind of confusing... it's not like Michael and Isabel are really family, but..."

"Oh, I think that they... and you, are family in all of the ways that count," Liz told her. "But it's probably up to Alex and Isabel to make the final call."

"I... I think that we're going to need all the Aunts and Uncles that we can get," Alex pointed out. "You definitely qualify, Aunt Laurie."

"So, do you think that Maria will make it up here tonight?" Laurie asked.

"I... I think so," Kyle said. "There's no real phone line, but we've got Michael's pager, and it's in coverage. She'll let us know that way."

"Okay, who's for more beverages?" JD asked.

-----------

"Your...." Turik seemed to be uncertain how to complete the honorific, and ended up with just "Max... guys. What happened?"

Isabel smiled... she was really happier with that mode of address than royal titles. "Rayde kinduv hijacked us, but it was a fun trip." Turik turned to stare at Raydeleen.

"What is the meaning of this?" Turik hissed at the self-posessed woman standing by Max's side.

"It means, don't ignore my opinions so cavalierly next time," she replied even and calmly.

"Max is here?" a voice called from around a short corner passageway. Soon a young Antarian man emerged, wearing a semi-formal alien outfit - trousers and a shirt with slightly puffy fringes.

Somehow Isabel could tell immediately who he was. "Vorjal," Max said, beating her to saying the name out loud. "Cousin."

"Welcome to Antar, my long-lost kinsman," he said, hurrying forward and embracing Max, then Isabel, and the others. "We... I was so worried that something had happened to waylay you on the long trip through space." He pulled Max and Isabel very close to whisper. "What... what has Rayde been speaking to you of? Is she lobbying for one of our seats on the High Council??"

Max and Isabel traded a look. "No, she hasn't even mentioned it," Isabel said, setting Max up for the one-two punch.

"But if there's a choice to be made... I think that she'd be well suited to a post there," Max finished. Vorjal blinked, then sighed softly, realizing that he'd been had.

"Well, we'll talk about it. There... there's just enough time for us to talk a bit about more personal stuff before getting to business." Vorjal led the four of them into a small room, with a round table, and the door was closed with only the five of them inside. "You tell me a little about what it was really like growing up on Earth, and I'll tell you what things have been like for me out here? How does that sound?"

"Gee, everybody wants to hear about our childhood," Michael said, and Vorjal laughed. He was pretty easy to get along with, Isabel realized. So they went through some of the easier explanations... first memories from emerging out of their pods... her and Max getting found and adopted by the Evanses, Michael getting stuck into the foster system and deciding it wasn't a very good fit, Tess travelling with Nasedo. Max told him about healing Liz, a bit about the special unit and their struggles with the Skins and so on.

Vorjal drank in every word with an oddly intent look on his face, and then began to tell his own story when they had finished... growing up, early years in an underground citadel held by the Liaretian rebels, on a distant island where Kivar didn't suspect them of having support networks. A hair-raising escape from enemy raids when he was seven, and then living as a guest of the Gevina co-op board's vice-chairman. (Gevina was one of the other planets that had sent a representative to the old Summit in New York.) More travelling... hiding out among the domes of a farming moon, and on a spaceship cruising through the interstellar void near Antar for nearly a year. Then... when the fighting had started up hot again, Vorjal and his father had taken up arms, becoming officers in the Liaretian rebel air force.

"Wow, that sounds like quite a crazy, mixed-up childhood," Tess told him. "I think I can relate." He smiled slightly at her.

"Well, that's about all of the general discussion we have time for I think," he said, consulting a timepiece that hung from his waist on a self-retracting line. "You're scheduled to go before the Convention delegates in... in fifteen minims. There'll be time for a short speech if you want to make one, Max... please nothing that'll stir up trouble I hope - and then you'll go before the State affairs committee for questioning, and to swear your statements in."

"What... what kind of questions?" Tess asked.

"I... I'm not honestly sure," he admitted. "They may ask you to prove your identity for the record... via seal projection." Max nodded. "And... and they'll probably have some questions about your lives on Earth... mostly stuff that relates on your mental state and the oaths that you'll be taking in front of them. Protesting a question that you think isn't relevant to why you're here is okay - once. They won't pursue the matter unless it's TRULY important, so if you're asked a second time, just suck it up and answer honestly."

"And... and what about this speech thing?" Max asked. "Just what would count as stirring up trouble?" He looked back at Michael and Isabel. "You... you've probably heard that we're generally pro-free speech and freedom of the press. If we went on record about that, say, and asked the delegates to consider increasing the guarantees and protections of that sort in the Confederate constitution - would that be a huge scandal??"

"Hmm." Vorjal considered it. "No, umm... it's not something that I could support unconditionally, but what you say there isn't binding on me - it's your opinion and you're free to convey it - in this situation, at least." He laughed slightly. "May be a bit like shouting over the clifftop, but..."

"Okay, well, we'll take that in mind," Max said. "How long for speeches... do all of us get a chance, or... should it just be, umm, one person?"

"It should be you, Max," Vorjal said, and Max blinked slightly. "Sorry for the forcefulness of that, but... the others are welcome here, but you - well, Zan was the King. Nothing else quite retains as much meaning as that. If... if you want to take a little time for someone else to address the assembly too, then that's alright, but you must speak definitely."

"Uh... alright," Max said. "How long now? I... I'm not even sure how long a 'minim' is..."

It didn't seem long at all before Max and the others had to walk out across what seemed like a huge coliseum floor, with the 'audience' - convention delegates and aides all, seeming to look nowhere but directly at him. He kept his pace quiet and unhurried, walking out to the small podium that had been indicated, and climbed up on the small raised stage. As he took his place, a gigantic hologram of his head and shoulders appeared out of nowhere directly above him, spinning slowly around, so that everybody could clearly see his face, even though his entire figure must be just a tiny little speck from even the nearer stands. He fought off a siege of performance anxiety, and a friendly prod from his proxy self helped. He had been trained to this kind of thing, just in case.

"Well, hello everybody, and it's... it's an incredible experience and a great pleasure to be here in front of you today," he started, fudging the facts slightly. "Most of you have probable heard something about Zan and the Royal four, reborn on the far-away world of Earth, but I'm not sure if you've heard my real name. I'm called Max Evans."

A hush seemed to spread around most of the assembled throng at this self-introduction, with some muttering that even Max could hear as a faint sound like flowing water from here and there. "I... I've been asked to come here and say some certain things because of... because of who Zan used to be, because his DNA and his 'energy essence' were a part of what I was conceived with. I was happy to come, but not because I think of myself as Zan reborn, or even that I want to stake a claim on his inheritance. I... I'm just a kid from a small town in New Mexico... I'm studying to be a nurse, and the biggest priority in my mind right now, honestly, is getting back home so that I can be with my family, my friends... and be there for two little baby girls who have become very important and dear to me lately, even though neither is my daughter by blood."

"But... but I don't suppose that any of this really matters to you people. You've come here because your planet is tearing itself apart with strife and war, you've planned and accomplished so much already working towards a plan that will stop the fighting, get the power struggles under control, and get things here on Antar working again. This is the key moment, where hopefully the finishing touches will be put on that plan, and things in the real world will start to change accordingly. And so this is the moment that you wanted to get some people together who represent pieces of Antar's past, I guess, and ask us what we think of the future that you're trying to build."

"You'll have specific questions for us all later, but this is what I think in general. I... I'm tremendously impressed by what I've learned so far of your accomplishments... and more than a little nervous when I think of all the challenges that are still ahead of you. All of the social problems that I've ever heard and then some... poverty, war, plague, tyrrany, injustice, unfair politics, bigotry, terrorism, substance abuse, twisted ethics and amorality, plus the willful abuse of those powers that your people are gifted with, the abilities that can be and should be tremendously strong and healthy bonds running through your culture... these forces are lying in wait, choosing their moment to ambush your embryonic Confederation and do their best to drag it down into suffering and chaos." A distressed gasping had made great inroads through the audience, and even the other groups out on the coliseum floor, as Max rhymed off those horrible things.

"But... but I believe that if you, and the people you care about, the people who want the best for this great world, work together... that you can overcome ALL of those demons, and make Antar a great planet again!!"

The enthusiastic cheering caught even Max himself by surprise.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Mon Jan 15, 2007 6:50 pm

Part 26

"Hello, Max." One of the members of the 'State affairs committee' said as the four of them lined up behind a counter. Once again a 'Holotronic' projection of some of what was happening was being projected into the empty space above and around them. The rest of Max's speech had gone pretty well, though not so impressive as the start, as he had tried to persuasively express his beliefs about free speech, social contracts, and the power of responsible government. "So nice to have you and your... your really good friends here."

"Umm, thank you, your Honor," Max replied, having been briefed by Vorjal that that was an appropriate term of respect to use to address any of the committee members - he didn't remember any of their names by this point.

"Well, one of the reasons that we wanted to ask you some questions is to get a context for the oaths that you've agreed to swear for the Confederation and the council, in a few minims," he continued on. "First off, I'd like to start with something that you mentioned at the beginning of your speech... that two of the most important people in your life, back on Earth, are very young girls, and that neither is your daughter. Umm... would you mind telling me who they are, and a little about them? Telling us, I mean?"

"I... I suppose not," Max said. He wasn't sure how to feel about this situation... it felt a bit like a cross between a trial (with himself as both star witness and defendant,) and a national interview talk show. (International. perhaps, even.) "One of them... the older one, is Bethany Parker... she's nearly eight months old by human reckoning today, and... and she's the daughter of one of my best friends on Earth, and also... um, also an ex-girlfriend of mine." Trying to convey this into the Antarian language so that there wouldn't be any misunderstandings or need for clarification, Max had a bit of difficulty finding the right term for 'girlfriend'... lover wasn't quite right, (especially not if they read the same kind of sexual connotaion into it as humans did,) and soulmate was a gamble, so he picked one that had some of the same overtones as 'childhood sweetheart.' "She... she fell in love with another man, and was about to marry him, but this other guy was killed," (not the right time to point fingers about WHO had killed Casey, and who Nicholas' boss was, right now... anyway, Nicholas hadn't really been working for Kivar at the time, just trying to get back into his good graces.) "I... I stood by this friend of mine while she was with child, I held her hands and used my healing gifts as she struggled with the pain of childbirth, and I'm serving as Bethany's godfather now, trying, in a small way, to fill the void in her life left by the absence of her true father."

"The other infant girl, only a few days old... is my sister Isabel's child." He waved an arm to indicate Isabel, and the crowd gasped. "We... she was already pregnant by the time word reached us of this Convention, and we knew that the timing might be close enough to get tricky, but... but none of us wanted to use that as an excuse not to come and do our duty before you now. Bethany's mother is helping to take care of my niece, Caryn Whitman, as well as her human father - Isabel's husband, and both of them are keeping watch over our Earth bodies against the time that we can finish our work here and return."

"But... but none of that really tells you about the girls. To a certain extent, I don't really know that much about Caryn yet myself, because she's so young, except that she had her mother's hair and her father's mouth. Hopefully I'll get to learn a lot more about her as she starts to grow up. But Bethany... well, if I started to get on a roll, telling you about her, we'd probably be here for four days on that alone." Laughter rippled through the audience and even a few of the committee chuckled. "She's a lot like her mother... bright, open and inquisitive, easy to hurt but quick to heal. I... I think that's enough to tell you for now."

"Yes, thank you, Max," one of the other committee members, an older female Antarian, said. "My question is for all four of you. Have you... have you all settled down into romantic partnership with... with human natives of Earth?"

"Um... Isabel and I have, your Honor," Michael said. "I have a human wife, Maria, and she is carrying my child. Probably, in time, our daughter will steal Max's heart away too." Pause for more laughter. "Max... well, I think he would have settled down with Liz if she'd have had him, but there was enough confusion about whether Max and Tess were 'destined' to be together, since Zan and Ava had been married, that things kinduv got a little screwed up." He took a deep breath. "As far as Tess... um, well--"

"I fell in love with... with the Antarian boy you sent to tell us about this Convention," Tess filled in, to some gasps of shock. "We... we haven't sworn any life-commitment in the human fashion, or pledged our troth... but - but I hope to be with him forever."

"Interesting," a male committee member with very convoluted jowls around his mouth said. "Max... what are your feelings toward Kivar and the revolution that took the throne away from Zan?"

Max took his breath, getting ready to answer the hard-hitting question. "I... I try to leave all of that in the past, though... though I won't deny that I have some anger for the way agents loyal to Kivar have hurt the people that I love, in their efforts to carry the war on, to kill the four of us because we represent the old Liaretian order. I believe that he holds a large share of the responsibility for the sorry state of affairs the planet has fallen into... but I'm not holding onto those bad feelings as a grudge. If I were... then I wouldn't have come here, urging the people, including the old Liaretian supporters, to approve a Confederation Constitution that approves such wide-reaching power for Kivar and his heirs." That sentence stuck a bit in his throat, but it was sortof the truth at least.

There were many more questions... about what it had been like for them, growing up on Earth, about human 'reaction' to their presence there, (which unfortunately, Max felt he had to bring up the Special Unit while answer,) and about how much they'd learned of their predecessor's lives on Antar. Finally, the same committee member who had first asked Max about the little girls returned the focus to him at last.

"Max, you said that you don't lay any claim to the inheritance of Zan vi Liaret. However, you have also negotiated very fiercely regarding the Granilith, before agreeing to speak of it at all at this Convention.... indicating that you feel a proprietary impulse to protect it. How do you reconcile these two facts, or base any claim to the Granilith - if not through Zan."

Max took a deep breath. "I... I'm not sure if I can explain any of that to you. When... when we first discovered the Granilith, I didn't as yet understand anything about its connection to the Royal house. I... all that we knew, to start, was that Kivar's operatives on Earth wanted it, and that it had been hidden..." There he paused for a moment. Could he hint at the Granilith's hiding place, even now?? Yes... he had at least to say SOMETHING about that, because it would help these people to understand. Then they could appoint him the *official* caretaker of it, as they'd already agreed before, and that would help protect it even from Kivar's attempted theft. But still... don't give the entire show away. "It was hidden in the same place that we had been hidden for all the long years we were growing in suspended animation, until we could come out into the human world as little children. To me, it seemed clear that it was something powerful, dangerous... and something that had been entrusted into our care." He looked around, taking in all of the crowd around him, the committee members on their raised stand that looked a lot like a chief justice's bench, and found that it didn't require any acting talent to sound choked up. (Not that he'd have faked it much anyway.)

"We... we've learned more about the Granilith now since then, that it doesn't belong to us, or to Zan... that it's the legacy of the Antarian people, and others beside. But that doesn't change the fact that it's powerful and dangerous, and that somebody could use it to sweep away the Confederate government that it is the purpose of this Convention to build. I... I will relinquish it if the will of the people is for that to be so. But in the meantime... I do suggest that it remain in our keeping, where it has been for many years now... it has been safe there, and that has possibly prevented a holocaust situation where one of the factions in the unrest might have used it against their enemies."

"I, umm, I think that I've answered your question now."

The woman committtee member chuckled. "That you have and more, Max Evans of Earth. Umm, unless there are any further questions... then I suppose we'll get right to the swearing of oaths." There was a bit of delay and arrangements before this was done, actually. The four of them were not going to be 'spoon fed' their words by prompting from the committee or anyone else - Max had gotten the impression that this had never been a custom on Antar, and that they'd see it as un-genuine and would impugn the integrity of their vows, as if they were just the mouthpiece for others. But because of the importance of the situation, they would have notes, to make sure that no mis-statements that could possibly be avoided would occur.

Tess: "I, Tess Harding, blood child and spirit child of Queen Ava de Liaret out of Derven-see, with whole heart and all my mind, do support and endorse this Convention and the Constitution towards which it is laboring. I... I renounce any claim I might have on the Planetary throne of Antar, or of any lesser political or governmental authority, and vest Ava's remaining royal powers and obligations in the Confederate government, as of the moment of its institution, henceforth and forevermore. I also swear to never again return, after the duration of this Convention, to Antar or any of the other four star systems, without the express permission of the Confederate council, or to in my absence willingly or knowingly allow my likeness, my name, or my reputation to be used by any who might be considered the enemies of the lawful Confederate government. Upon my life, and all those people and ideals that I hold dear, I do so swear it."

Michael: "I, Michael Guerin, blood child and spirit child of Rath far-Selezir, one-time Royal general and betrothed prince Consort, with whole heart and all of my mind, do support and endorse this Convention and the Constitution towards which it labors. I renounce any slight claim I might have on the Planetary throne of Antar, or of any lesser political or governmental authority, and vest Rath's potention royal powers and obligations in the Confederate government, as of the moment of its institution, henceforth and forevermore. I also swear to never return, after the duration of this Convention, to the star system of Antar or those of the other four plants, without the expressed permission of the Confederate council, or to in absentia willingly or knowingly allow my name, my likeness, or my repurtation to be used as tools by any who might be the enemies of the lawful Confederate government. Upon my life, on the lives of those people I hold dear, and the ideals that I cling to, I do so swear it."

Isabel: "I, Isabel Evans, spirit child and blood child of Vilandra fe Liaret, eldest daughter of King Sanren of Liaret, do with whole heart and all of my mind, support and endorse this Convention and the Confederate Constitution that is being written by it. I renounce any and all claim that I or my husband or children might have on the Planetary throne of Antar, or any lesser title, nobility, political or governmental authority, and vest all of Vilandra's royal powers and obligations into the Confederate government, as of the moment of its institution, for now and for as long as all time. I also swear never to return here, after the end of this Convention, to the star system of Antar or those of the other Four planets, without the express permission of the Confederate council, or to in my absence willingly or knowingly, allow my name, my likeness, or Vilandra's reputation to be used as tools by any who might be the enemies of the lawful Confederate government. Upon my life, and on the lives of the people, ideals, and other things I hold dear, I do so swear it."

Max: "I, Max Evans, blood child and spirit child of Zan ril-Sanren vi Liaret, who was beloved King and Ruler of all Antar, do with whole heart and all of my mind, support and endorse this Convention and the Constitution which it has convened to write. I renounce and and all claims that I or my unconceived children might have on the Planetary throne of Antar, or any lesser title, nobility, political or governmental authority, and vest all of Zan's royal powers and obligations onto the Confederate government, as of the moment of its institution, henceforth and forevermore. I also swear never to return, after the end of this Convention, to the star system of Antar or any of the other Four Planets, without the express permission of the Confederate council, or to in my absnce willingly or knowingly, allow my name, my likeness, Zan's reputation or my own, to be used as tools by any who might be the enemies of the lawful Confederate government.

I also swear, in the event that I am named the caretaker of the Granilith, to never employ its powers or mechanisms for personal gain, or even for the... for the safety of myself or my loved ones, without previous authorization by the Confederate council." (He hated that part, but others had insisted on it... with the promise that some sort of pre-authorization terms would be granted before they left.) "I will risk and sacrifice my life to protect it from unlawful seizure, and will cede it to the proper vested authority of this Council when called upon to do so, and make suitable arrangements to have this responsibility taken on by another in the event of my death. Upon my life, and on the lives of the people and ideals I hold dear, I do so swear it."

"Thank you all. You are dismissed from these proceedings for now."

----------

"Wow, incredible view," Michael muttered.

After watching the negotiations for the elections into the lower Assembly of the confederate government, and on what the extent of its budgetary powers were going to be, Esseverli found the four of them watching, and suggested that they all take a brief convention break. Tess had expressed surprise that he wasn't following what was going on with more attention, but the old Don had explained that there were others who were capable of overseeing the debate, and he'd have a chance to vet the compromise before it became locked into the constitution - assuming that there actually WAS a resolution to the arguments before they returned.

So now, the five of them, and a few other confederation figures whose names Michael at least couldn't remember, were watching the planet from a low-orbit waystation. From this distance, Antar looked very much like Earth did, Michael rather thought - a few more yellow and orange tones than the familiar blue-green-white sphere of Earth, but there were still those colors in evidence too - apparently a lot of the blues were forests and greens were seas, but the whites were still clouds at least.

"I... I heard about the switch that Rayde pulled," Esseverli remarked casually.

"Yeah, well, she had her reasons," Isabel argued back. "She saw that there was a need for more than passive acceptance of the plans that others had made and sacrificed her own interests to see to the greater need." Pause. "Those are the kind of traits that would make her a great civil servant in the Confederation - if she gets her chance."

"I suppose... though public servants do need to work in teams and occasionally to respect the decisions of others that they don't agree with," the old scholar remarked idly. "But that wasn't what I was getting at."

"Alright," Max said just as evenly. "It was a bit of an eye-opener, walking from that Concourse where we arrived to the Convention proper - through the poor and ravaged parts of the city." He sighed. "I... I recognize the need for cultivating the rich and the powerful to get them on-board with this enterprise, but I do hope that the Confederation can offer some hope for those who no longer have much left to offer their planet."

"Yes - that's my hope too," Esseverli said. "And, with any luck, when the government supports the poor, many of them will be able to resume their feet, become contributing members of society again, and thus..." He sighed. "It... it seems mercenary or callous to say that they start to repay the 'investment' of proper care in them... but often it works that way, and that helps to mollify those who think of little other than Andos and ents."

"Yeah," Tess agreed. "Well, I wish you a lot of luck, since it seems that after this, we're not going to have much say in what goes on around here."

"I suppose not." They watched the view out the window for a little while more. "Did... did Raydeleen speak to you of... of the vows that she made to Alinda before she died?"

Max jumped a bit. "Um, no, that didn't come up. Actually, we didn't talk too much about the old queen... something that Isabel and I were kind of hoping to rectify before we had to leave. Why??"

"Did... did she promise to look after us, or something like that?" Isabel guessed.

"That was indeed, as far as I know, the effect of the promises that she made."

"Oh, boy," Michael muttered. He remembered, quite vividly, the image of the woman that they'd seen in the Pod chamber shortly after defeating Pierce, and some of the words that she - that Alinda, had said. '...that I may once again hold you in my arms. I live for that moment. I love you.' They had been most directly about her, her stand-in children, Max and Isabel, but Michael could tell that Alinda had loved all the Royal four, and he couldn't fight off the anger that the reunion she had longed for so long had been denied them by only a few months' time.

And... and if Raydeleen had, by promises sworn, inherited Alinda's attachment to the four of them, then... did that mean that pushing for her direct inclusion in the Confederate government's roster of officers was not so great an idea? Would she be so devoted to her prior obligation that she'd make decisions that were not in the best interests of Antar... or even reject the posting outright? Well, they could hold off on the lobbying until Max had a chance to talk with her or something like that.

"So.. so what happens next?" Tess asked. "The message said that we'd need to stick around for four days, earth time - but nearly everything that we agreed to do has already been accomplished, and it's only been a matter of hours since we first arrived."

"Yes, umm, well, the major remaining item is that you will be expected to stand as witness to the ceremonial signing of the Convention," Esseverli said, sounding a bit embarassed by that point. "Assuming that we can get the main text sorted out in time, that is. There will be formal banquets and a few other meetings, but aside from those the time between now and then is yours to do with what you will. As has been agreed, this is your only chance to see your homeland now. I... I thought that you would welcome all the time that you have."

"Guy's gotta point," Michael admitted. "Though we can't be late getting home to Earth, understand? I'll have a shift at my job to make it too, and will probably have a huge Astral headache all day after I get back as it is."

"Yes, I understand. Thank you again for coming, and everything you've done to help the cause."

"It was our pleasure," Max told him. "Really." He sighed. "Formally dumping off all of my royal obligations, for one thing, it was like a load of weight coming straight off my shoulders."

"Yeah," Isabel chimed in. "That part really didn't suck."

----------

"Yeah, dump that log right on," Maria chimed in. "I can't seem to get warm."

Liz took a moment to consult her wrist watch, touching a button to make the face of it glow a blueish-green and clearly show her the digital numbers. It was after midnight, which meant that this was technically Monday morning, which meant that the four hybrids were definitely many hours late on their expected return time. Liz looked over at Max, Isabel, and Tess, trying not to get too worried. A lot of perfectly innocent things could be delaying them. But... but a little voice inside her head couldn't be kept from whispering about what they would ever do if none of them ever woke up. Between the six of them, they couldn't keep the bodies alive indefinitely, and taking any of them to hospitals was straight out. Would she have to stay here and watch Max die? What would they ever say to Mister and Mrs Evans?? And what about JD, and Maria, and Alex... and Laurie...

"Hey, come on, snap out of it Liz," Alex said, clapping his hands in front of her.

"Um, what??"

"Yeah, like I couldn't tell you were getting a horribly angsty mope on," he teased her. "Don't worry about it. Could be a few hours yet until any of them come back to us, and things'd still be perfectly fine." Just then a very soft moan could be heard from Tess' couch. "Um, on the other hand, maybe it won't even be a few minutes yet."

Liz rushed over to Max again to see if he was showing any signs of life. For a long few seconds, there was nothing, and then one of his arms jerked. Soon his eyes had opened, and Liz was helping him into a sitting position. "So, umm... how did it go? Everything, err..." Liz trailed off, not certain even what question to ask, so she distracted herself by getting up again and checking on Beth, who was sleeping, but starting to fuss in her sleep, as if the rising noise and bother would wake her up in a few minutes.

"We are officially, as of this moment, exiled from Antar," Max muttered." Liz turned to him and his mouth curled into a grin. "Exactly as planned."

"So it went through okay??" JD asked. "What was the delay??"

"Oh, some last-minute arguing about how many assembly seats it would require to make a constitutional amendment eligible for ratification," Tess said. "They wouldn't let anybody sign the big scroll until that had been settled, and it was SO important that we be available to stand around and watch while everybody and his kid sister signed off." She hugged JD. "I... I'm just so glad that this is finally over with, it's like the biggest thing we've had to talk about for months and months, and... and now it's finally in the past, and the future is spreading out in front of us."

"I'll drink a toast to that," Alex said, grabbing a little bottle of pepsi. "We have our daughter, sweetheart, and you've finished with your mission here. All of your classes this term are over the internet, so... so maybe we can go home together, before the end of April??"

"Just... just maybe," Isabel replied, reaching out to Caryn and playing with the little strands of golden hair that had already grown on her head. Caryn took a deep breath and howled. "Five hours, maybe more, in the car with you and our little screamer of a girl. Can't wait." Alex chuckled.

"And we have so much to look forward to as well," Michael reminded Maria. "Our own little baby..."

"And all of my plans for the diner, and the recording contract for Square Root Cellar," Maria added. "Gonna be an interesting summer."

"Oh, you can bet on that," JD chimed in.

Liz looked over to Max, and it came very clearly into her mind that she wished she could... could be making plans with him, like all the other couples were. But she and Max... they weren't a couple, and - and maybe she'd missed her chance to be together with Max again. She wasn't sure about that, though. "And... and we're supposed to have dinner with this Anita girl sometime," she said, feeling a strong impulse to test the waters. "I... I thought that we'd be able to do that before you left town, Isabel."

"Oh." Isabel shot a look over at Alex. "Um... well, mayy- no. How about... about coffee, instead of dinner?" Isabel smiled a little bit faintly. "Just, you know... what with Caryn and all."

"Oh, right," Liz said, trying to picture how she'd have reacted if someone had wanted her to go out to dinner with... well, with a guy friend of Tess' perhaps, right after Beth had been born. "Yeah, of course."

"Well, coffee sounds good to me, yeah," Max said. "I'll see if I can ask her tomorrow at class."

"Or, later today at class," Kyle suddenly put in. "It's monday already."

"Oh, boy," Michael muttered. "I didn't think we'd be this late."

"Come on, honey," Maria said to him. "It's straight to bed for you now... and not 'bed' as in anything that'll just tire you out and keep you awake, more's the pity."

"But - well, I don't really feel tired," Michael said. "In a way, I've been doing nothing but sleeping for almost..."

"Just save it, buster," Maria sighed. "Max, or JD? Could either of you connect with my dear husband just enough to send him straight into a deep sleep??"

"Yeah, I've gotten pretty good at that trick," JD said. "A bunch of you could probably use it I think."

"No arguments here," Liz decided. And wondered if she'd have the nerve to have JD put her to sleep right here, sitting next to Max.

She nearly did... but Max moved, and Liz didn't have the nerve to follow him to the bunk bed. Alex, Kyle, JD, and Laurie were staying up a bit longer it seemed, with nothing too pressing to worry abot the next day. JD often didn't seem to sleep much anyway - perhaps there was something in his unchanged alien DNA that had to do with that. Liz set Bethany back down in her own little cradle-bed before letting JD drift her off, wondering as she did so whether Kyle had work at the ad agency the next day.

----------

"Here you go," Tess said a day and a half later, slipping a number of bills onto the table in front of Liz. The same table, the same booth, Liz suddenly realized, that she had left the palmpilot at.

"Is... is that..."

"As much as was left, or as much money as he had laying around to replace what was conned out of you," Tess said in a very low whisper. "We... Isabel got enough from a dream to know that we should interfere, and that it wouldn't be too dangerous too. Max, Michael, JD, and I all went in, with our faces covered, and freely showing our powers." That thought obviously made her smile more than a little. "Definitely freaked him out good. Michael trashed his computer and I atomized some kind of backup memory chip."

"So... so he was trying to get at the information that I'd had on the Z machine?" Liz asked, her voice very quiet too. "Isn't that risky to draw any more attention to it then? What if... what if he was able to figure out..."

"He hadn't actually gotten to anything other than a few plain text files you had, and those were just..."

"A grocery list, errands I had to run with Beth," Liz chimed in at the same time. "And name ideas for Isabel's daughter, not that she asked me for any." She sighed. "But... but if he'd been sneaky enough to save stuff onto his own machine, he could have poked around on Z itself... you wouldn't be able to tell that."

"Dammit," Tess muttered. "You're right, I didn't think of that." She sighed. "Any idea how likely he'd have been to come across anything really compromising that way?"

"Not that high... but it depends on how snoopy he was."

"Based on what I saw on the computer, not very," Tess said, and Liz smiled tentatively herself. "I think he was able to extract copies of every database that was on the palm, and did that just as a routine measure, but wasn't really sure of how to get any more use out of it. Not that motivated, perhaps."

"Okay," Liz said, and smiled slightly. "What did he react like when you used your powers? Was he freaked??"

"Uber," Tess replied. "There was more than just the one guy there, too. But let's not talk about that any more here." She sighed, and waved at little Beth, who took the pretext to start exercising her lungs, and Liz had to work a bit at calming her down, actually going out into the parking lot just long enough to turn the car motor on for a minute or so - it always seemed to calm the baby down. Once Liz came back, Tess wasted no time in changing the subject. "So... are you upset about this Anita stuff?"

Liz blinked in surprise. "I... I'm still a little surprised, and not quite sure what the situation is, if Anita's really just a friend, a new girlfriend, or something kind of in between." And here she let out a loud sigh. "And maybe I feel as if I've let myself get too complacent about what's left of my feelings for Max, that if anything else could possibly ever happen, that there'd be time to let it happen in. Thinking about some other girl that he might be interested in makes that seem really foolish and naive."

"Liz." Tess sighed and shook her head. "Max... he might be considering testing the dating waters with this girl. He might be thinking about moving on." She paused significantly. "But... but if he had the slightest clue that you felt this way, Anita would not possibly stand a chance. You *have* to know that. He... he's never stopped loving you."

"I... I guess I get that," Liz said softly. "And... and I still love him too. But... but if I let things stand still between us, and only woke up because I thought I might lose him to some other girl... is that the best way to start things over again with him? I... I hate to say it, but I'm still not sure that I could be in love with Max again... I know that it's been a long time since I lost Casey - longer than I was with him, but I still haven't healed my heart completely..."

"Then take it to the Healer," Tess said. Liz turned to stare at her. "I... I didn't mean to be flippant there. But... but maybe grieving Casey isn't something that you have to do alone, that you have to finish before you and Max start things over again. I... I realize that with ordinary human social rules it might be... but we can sometimes do better than that. Max might not be able to wave his hand and make all the pain you feel for Casey go away, but he'd be capable of respecting it and giving you your space while the two of you move on to the next thing... whatever that happens to be and however much distance is appropriate for you." She sighed, her clear blue eyes boring into Liz like they were sapphire lasers. "The important thing, though, is to TELL Max how you feel before he gets any more committed to Anita, if there's anything between them so far. You... you owe that much to the both of you."

"I... I can't deny that I'd like to do just that," Liz said. "I... I'm not so sure that it's the right thing to do." Tess made a face. "Not... not that you're deliberately telling me the wrong thing, just... I know that you want the best for me, and have this idea about what would be good for Max and I, and maybe you're letting that affect your judgement."

"Oh... oh so *I'm* the one who can't be objective about this?" Tess shot back. "I... I think that you're just scared to actually open up to Max after so long, and that's why you can't even let yourself see how good the two of you could be again if you just took the plunge."

"HELP!" The cry shocked both girls out of what was turning into a pretty emotionally intense spat. "Miss... Miss Parker, are you still out there?"

"It... it's coming from in back," Tess said, half standing up to get a better look.

"Yeah. Gwen, is that you?? Yes, I'm here."

"Umm... maybe you'd better call an ambulance. It's... it's Mrs Guerin."

"WHAT??" Liz's first impulse was to charge back inside, but an infuriating calm and logical voice in the back of her head argued against it. She... she had been asked to call through to 911, and her cell phone was right there on the table. She... she could help Maria better by... by sounding the call for help, instead of...

Then again - Maria was pregnant with an alien baby? Could they... did they dare call an ambulance, and take her to a hospital, if anything was wrong? What if... what if one of the tests revealed inhuman cells? Frightened doctors might do just about anything after making a sudden discovery like that, including a number of things that might be very bad for the baby, and the whole thing could even lead to exposure of her dear alien friends. And... and little Caryn, if - if anybody happened to suspect about her... Liz froze, the single '9' lit up on the telephone display waiting for the rest of a number.

"Hey, Max?" That was Tess, who had her own phone open already, and apparently was thinking a bit more clearly than Liz herself. "Yeah, Crashdown. Get your butt down here RIGHT now. It's Maria, and she's hurt." Tess nodded absently, and pulled the phone away from her mouth a bit. "Liz, I'll take care of the ambulance... after giving you-know-who a chance. Go see what's up."

Liz smiled gratefully at her, rushed into the back, and stared. Maria was crumpled into a heap on her front, just around where the stairs from the upstairs apartment ended.

----------

"She's okay?" Alex asked, and Liz nodded vigorously, hugging him in their shared relief.

"She's not in great shape, but she's fine, and the baby will be too." Alex had just shown up at the front door of Michael and Maria's apartment - Maria had been brought home and was resting in her bed. "By the time the paramedics came, it was pretty clear that the situation wasn't enormously serious, though Maria had to do some of her trademark fast-talking to keep them from taking her into the hospital to do a more careful once-over on the baby. Max was there not long after, and he did his thing to confirm."

"So - so what happened anyway?" Alex asked. "Was it just an unlucky tumble? Some kind of... of momentary hormonal imbalance from the baby??" He seemed to be unwilling to accept the good news immediately, which Liz could accept... she'd felt the same way herself -- and it wasn't ALL fine and dandy even now. She led Alex in towards the living room.

"Overwork, and lack of sleep," Tess filled in. "Mostly, anyway. That's what Max said, anyway. Being pregnant, and the fact that her body is having to adapt to sustain a quarter-Antarian child, can't have helped out, but basically..."

"She's been refusing to listen to anybody suggesting that she should slow down and take things a bit easier," Alex filled in, his face suddenly looking very pale and slightly gray. Liz helped him onto the end of the couch. "I... I was a little worried about her, but... but I never thought anything like THIS would ha..."

"I, I know," Liz said. "Neither did I - and neither did Michael or Maria, definitely." She took a big breath. "Maybe, on some level, fainting like that, scaring all of us like that, is the best thing that could have happened to her. Since she didn't do herself any lasting harm... it was just about the biggest possible STOP sign to show her. Maria's very shaken herself, but I think she finally realizes that she only has so much energy to go around now, and she needs to make sure that taking care of herself, and of the baby, are her biggest priorities. Everything else, she'll have to figure out starting from there."

"Yeah, sounds like it could have been a lot worse, for sure," Alex said numbly. Someone else walked into the living room. "Oh, hey Max. Do... do you think that I could see her, for just a moment, before I go??"

"I... um, that depends on how long you're willing to wait," Max said, with a smile. "Maria... she and Michael have some things to sort out, and I think he's going to insist that she rests alone after that's over."

"Okay, well... umm... I should call Isabel, let her know so that she won't worry too much," Alex said, picking up the phone. "Ohh, is the Anita thing cancelled, I assume?"

"Rainchecked, for certain," Max assured him. "I told her a bit of what happened, and she understands. If... if you have to spend the rest of the week in Las Cruces..."

"Well, we'll see. I'll definitely need a lift back there tonight... and this looks like the right place to get one unless anybody takes off." Alex took his cell phone and hurried off down the hallway to have a bit of privacy to talk to his wife in.

"So, there's something that I've been wanting to mention to you, Liz," Tess said with a shy smile. "Seems like this is about as good a chance as I'll get. Oh, don't worry, Max - I don't care if you hear about this too."

"Let me guess," Liz suggested. "About you and JD... and, umm, say, hitting the open road once your Spring term is done?"

"Ooof," Tess grunted softly. "Didn't realize I was that easy to read."

"Umm, not generally, no," Max said. "But... but I remember you talking about that sort of thing a while ago, and the general sense of it was always 'just wait until the Convention is over and we'll revisit it."

"Ahh," Tess nodded, seeing it. "And now it's over with, yeah. I... it's not that I don't *want* to stick around Roswell, spend more time with you guys, but... well, but the impulse to go further afield, to explore and share those explorations with the guy that I love... right now, that's stronger."

"Well, it's not like I mind," Liz said. "In fact, I think we've kinduv been waiting to see if you guys actually went through with it to figure out who moves back in above the cafe, so you don't need to worry about leaving the apartment."

"And Isabel's going home very soon anyway," Max pointed out, "and the apartment that you and Liz originally had together has been rented a while ago, yeah?"

"Yes," Liz said, "Though it's more students, so I was hoping that just maybe it'd come free again at the end of April. Well, no big deal." She turned to Tess. "Have you actually talked about this with JD?"

"Umm... we've both mentioned it, yeah, since I came back from the Convention, but hardly more than that," Tess admitted. "I... I kinda felt that my heart might get ahead of practical considerations if I started really getting into it with him before I'd even mentioned it to you. Specifically you, Liz, though I think that JD kinda wanted me to bring it up with either you or Kyle or both, Max."

"Right... well, you've done that, though I think he's going to have to tell us himself if he wants to move out," Max said, smiling. "Oh, hey." Now it was Michael who had come out. "So... how did it go??"

"Umm... not too bad," Michael sighed. "We had a nice long talk. I took my own lumps and gave her a few."

"Your own lumps?" Max asked. "Do... do you think that some of this is your fault, Michael??"

"Well, *duh,*" he replied eloquently. "If... if I hadn't been so wrapped up in my own things, if I'd been paying more attention to her, then... then, (a), I'd have seen that she was running on fumes and figured out my own way of getting her to slow down and recharge a bit." Tess giggled softly. "And, b, if she hadn't been feeling neglected on some level, then I doubt that she'd have thrown herself into other things quite hard enough to miss the warning signs herself. Yes, yes, I know, convention thing was very important, but still... there were times that I could have done things differently."

"Couldn't we all say that," Liz muttered softly.

"Well, I guess I'm glad that you're coming to an understanding," Max said after a moment.

"Yep. Oh, she's complaining that you left a boo-boo still hurting on her leg, Max,"

"Yes, indeed I did," Max replied definitely, and Michael smiled, realizing the point. "Figured that it'd help keep her from charging off full-tilt again, even if she forgets that she's not supposed to. It's nothing too bad, just bruise under the knee from where she fell. Wouldn't surprise anybody."

"Alex... oh, hi Alex." Liz waved at him. "Alex was hoping to get to talk with her for a moment."

""Well, maybe a bit later," Michael said softly and with a little bit of grump in his voice. "Right now I think she might be sleeping, and I don't want anybody to disturb her for an hour and a half." He sighed. "Anybody in the mood for pizza?"

Tess laughed, and picked up the delivery menus that were on the little square table next to the big recliner.

It was more like two hours later when Alex and Liz went into Maria's bedroom, and that was only because she'd called out that she was damn well going to hobble out of bed if nobody would come in to keep her company. She smiled a little sadly when she saw her best and oldest friends coming in. "Okay, maybe I could have put that sentiment a little bit more calmly."

"Nah, it's no big," Liz said. Maria had never dealt particularly well with being left alone when she wanted company after all... and she usually wanted company. "So... I guess that you've got some big decisions to make."

"I... I think that we've made a bunch of them already," she said softly. "Michael helped. Could... could you call around and see how many of the roster of DeLuca talent management you can find tonight?"

"Umm... sure, of course," LIz told her after a slightly stunned moment.

"That... that I'm very sorry, but I have to get out of that line of work, at least for a little while." Maria let out a long breath. "Lenny... Lenny Swaid, Nicky's little brother, from the old Whits in high school, he's been doing well with his first client band, and I think he's ready to take on more. I'll reccomend him to everybody... well, except for Flying Asterisms, and they shouldn't have any problems finding a great manager. If Lenny runs into anything that he can't handle, then he can call me for advice - he'll know that, though you should probably give him a heads up call to let him know what might be coming."

"Sure, I can handle that part," Alex told her with a smile. "So... so you're consolidating and focusing on the cafe?"

"Well, as much as I can," Maria said, and sighed. "Even with dumping the talent stuff, I think that it'd probably be asking for a bit of trouble to continue being totally hands-on with the Crashdown and taking care of everything myself - I'm going to cut back to part-time." She sighed. "Which suggests that we'll need to get a new Acting General Manager for the business, Liz. We'll have to figure out whether we can promote up from within, hire from outside, or... you can't step into that role with Beth to worry about, can you?"

"Umm... no, probably not," Liz said, sighing. "But... but maybe now that you-know-what is over and the watershed project is pretty dead, I could take on just enough at the Cafe that we could handle things between us. Co-General Managers, or something like that."

"Hmm." Maria considered that. "Well, it's a possibility, and I guess that's all the business I should talk for now." Alex laughed. "What... what did you think of Anita, Liz?"

"Huh?" Liz caught her breath. "I... we didn't meet her yet, Maria. Max called and rainchecked her, pretty much the first chance that he got after finding out that you were hurt... what, do you REALLY think that we'd have had her over for coffee after you scared us all like that?" Maria shrugged awkwardly, and Liz hugged her tightly.

"Wait a second," Alex said after a moment. Something about the way Maria had asked her question set off his sense of the unexpected. "Maria... have YOU met Anita already??"

"Umm, yeah," Maria said. "Just for a bit - she and Max came into the cafe yesterday morning. I think Max needed to get a caffeine boost between classes after his big COnvention trip, because he had like three cups of black."

"Enough about the coffee," Liz said, with a bit of a smile. "Tell me about the new girl."

"Ehh... I didn't want to say anything until after you'd gotten your own chance to make first impressions..." Maria trailed off as Liz aimed the dirty eye at her. "Okay, okay, let's ssee. Dark hair, kinda curly. Probably has some hispanic or mexican heritage, but not as much as you'd expect from the name. Hazel eyes, Short, but kinda curvy figure. Seemed really freindly and kinda laid-back. I definitely think that she's well cut out to be a nurse, just something about the look she gave off."

"Hmmm." Liz mulled that over, and didn't like the taste that it left in her mouth. "And... and Max, did he give any signals off when they were talking together?"

"Umm... I'm not sure that I had a good chance to notice," Maria said apologetically. "He introduced me to her and vice versa, just said that she was 'a friend from classes', while I was 'one of his oldest and best friends', actually."

"Eh well," Liz said. "I guess I'll get a chance to see for myself tomorrow night, or whenever the raincheck actually gets cashed."

"Liz," Alex said. "Are you feeling upset that there's somebody new in Max's life?"

Maria shot Alex a disbelieving look. "Umm, of course she is, what, you hadn't figured that out already??" Alex just shrugged. "Ehh, well, since you're a guy, I'll give you a pass on that one." Alex looked like he wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. "But... but Liz, maybe you should say something to Max about how you feel before the big meet happens. If... if they are in a state of pre-dating, then the 'taking her to meet his best friends' is kinduv a milestone thing. The ante gets raised right then."

"I... I wouldn't know what to say to him at this point," Liz said in a small voice. "Maybe after I see her with my own eyes, I can figure that out." But a little voice inside her was wondering if it was already too late for her to say anything at all about it.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sun Jan 21, 2007 10:06 am

Part 27

Liz really wanted, in a certain part of her, to hate Anita the moment she first saw her. She wasn't sure if this would have accomplished anything, but in any event, her heart wasn't quite up to the job. As Max led her into the apartment, she quickly evaluated the girl and came very near to liking her on a first impression instead. There was an expression on the slightly dusky face, framed by long dark curls, that was shy, nervous, and slightly friendly all at once and Liz's sentimentality tugged at that combination. And a little voice inside was telling her that Anita and Max made a pretty couple, and she should be happy for her friend.

She just got more confused as the coffee got served out and conversation started.

Max was... he was doting on Anita, Liz decided, offering to take her coat, making sure that Tess knew how she liked her coffee, and feeding her plenty of cues to tell the group about herself. Liz found out that she was from Rio Rancho, just north of Albuquerque, and had come to Roswell because of the nursing program at ENMU. (Liz had to do some mental adjustment to the idea of someone coming from the big city to Roswell for post-secondary education of any kind... with no offense meant to her friends who were East New Mexico alum, she still thought of Roswell-ENMU as a safe haven for townies who couldn't or wouldn't go away to... well, to better schools. On the other hand, the notion of the nursing program as something that was good enough to attract enrollees from further afield made her proud that Max was doing well in his own classes.)

Tess seemed to have a guarded attitude towards Anita, probably because Liz had confided in her about her sudden spate of jealousy, while Michael seemed to still be preoccupied with Maria's state of health, for all that she hadn't come, and Isabel and Alex were more wrapped up in their new baby than anything else. Anita was very interested in the little children, (which just about figured,) and doted on both Caryn and Bethany as much as manners would permit under the circumstances. She also asked a few questions of Max's friends, both about them and fishing for 'dirt' on Max, and as luck would happen, managed to completely steer of all of the subjects that would be awkward to answer honestly without talking about extraterrestrial matters. After about an hour, she mentioned that it was probably about time she was leaving, since Caryn seemed to be getting a little fussy, and Michael would probably want to be heading home and make sure that Maria wasn't getting stir-crazy cooped up in bed.

Liz went to put Bethany down for a nap at around that point, but she came back out just in time to see Max kissing Anita at the door, a kiss that looked somewhat short of 'firey and passionate' but definitely far above 'just friends' territory. Liz expected that Max would leave with... with his girlfriend, but she waved bye-bye (in a cutesy fashion, though maybe that was just Liz's critic looking for ways to find fault,) and headed down the stairs herself, while Max turned around to walk back in -- and caught sight of Liz. The stricken way she felt must have been all too clear on her face, because Max blushed and started to speak with a trace of stammering in his voice. "Umm... okay, that probably wasn't the easiest way for you to, umm, to find out that Anita and I aren't j-just... umm, well... I, I was wondering if you'd pick up on any signals when you, umm, when you saw us together, but I - I just didn't feel comfortable coming right out and saying..."

"Well, yeah, I've definitely got the picture now," Liz blurted out. "Except, umm... just how serious are things? I... I can't quite get a reading on that, so far I mean."

"Err - not sure if either of us have quite figured that out yet either," Max admitted, flushing slightly more. "That, umm, that wasn't our first kiss - I guess it was our third. We're... we haven't gone out on an actual date or anything, just hung out together a bit. But... but I do like her, Max."

"As much as you used to like me?" Liz said, and instantly regretted it. "I... I'm sorry, I'll take that back if I can." Max just looked at her. "But... but, well, I have to say that since I heard there was an Anita, I've been looking at you differently." She took a big breath. "Max, I've never stopped loving you, and I'm starting to think that I've gotten too comfortable with keeping you at arm's length ever since... since I came back home to Roswell. Thinking that... that you'd always be there, whenever I got ready on my own time."

"Well, I never said that to you," Max said suddenly, and Liz looked up in surprise. "I... I still love you too, Liz. But... but a part of me feels like it'd be better off to just seal the possibility of a romantic reunion between the two of us off forever. You've already caused me more than enough pain for a lifetime." Liz gasped in surprise. "And... and if you think that you can say something about old feelings, *knowing* that I'm in the middle of starting a new thing with someone I like very much, and have me drop Anita in a second and come running back to you, then you have another think coming."

"Whaaa?" Liz gasped out at the coldness she felt under Max's words. "Well, thank you very much for the message, your ma.." And it hit her that she couldn't really call him 'your majesty' anymore, since he'd formally abdicated any claim of his alien throne. (Well, she could still use it figuratively at a stretch, but that could be confusing and mess the situation up even more. "I... I read your signals, loud and clear, Max. Excuse me." Liz wasn't sure what to do now, though. She wanted to be able to make a dramatic exit, but she didn't want to disappear back inside her room, since Beth had been sleeping calmly and Liz didn't want to disturb her daughter... on the other hand, she couldn't exactly sweep dismissively out of the apartment entirely. So she settled for storming into the lounge and ignoring Michael, who was apparently on the phone with Maria. She shot one look back and saw that Max had just knocked on Isabel's door... probably he was wanting to do a checkup on her or on Caryn, or both, to make sure that mother and daughter were both doing well.

And as Max slipped inside, Tess emerged from further down the hallway. "I... I heard," she whispered, settling onto the couch next to Liz. "Enough, anyway. I'm so sorry, sweetie."

"Umm, thanks," Liz said, and sighed softly. "Never would have guessed that I'd be having THIS conversation with you, way back when."

"True enough," Tess admitted with a sad shake of her head. "Me neither."

----------

"Hey, what's up?" Tess said, slipping into the Crashdown booth, Liz following her. Michael and Maria were babysitting Beth, but Liz felt more than a little nervous whenever she was out of sight or easy walking distance of her daughter, ever since the eye infection scare around the time that Caryn was being born. "Hello, Martine."

"Hey, not much, nice to see you," Kyle said. The 'not much' surprised Liz - she knew that Kyle had called Tess, said that he had to see her and Liz very soon, and that it was important. But she managed to not blurt that out loud, because she suddenly got the impression that Kyle was playing something cool, as if... as if he didn't want Martine to realize the importance of whatever was about to happen. Then... then why had he brought his fiancee here? And hadn't he been talking about coming clean with Martine, when there was a good opportunity to? So what was all of this hush-hush stuff about??

It didn't take extraordinarly long for her to find out, although orders were placed and some alien-themed munchies were delivered first. "Okay, umm... do you think I should tell them??" Martine asked, not sounding terribly concerned with whatever it was.

"Hmm, yeah, I think they'd be interested," Kyle filled in.

"Okay, well - my cousin Jeff - actually, well, he's my cousin's wife's brother but you know... he said he got attacked by a... by something weird."

Liz looked at Tess and Kyle, trying not to make it look too suspicious before turning back to Martine. "What... what did he tell you about what happened?"

"He... he said that they were masked figures, could have been people or... or something else, though how it'd be hard to be sure about that I can't quite figure out. They... they came into one of his friends' house while they were all kinduv hanging out, and half-assed working on this home business stuff they're in on together, and - and they were shooting weird energy all around, and hovering, and when Jeff tried to run it was as if some invisible wall was holding him in place, all around. They swiped a little money, not all of what was there, and trashed a whole bunch of computer stuff - like, not just smashed it, but melted and shredded metal and insulated cable and chip components. It's so weird."

"Wow," Tess muttered. "Is the computer stuff going to be a problem for any of them? Whose house was it?"

"Umm... Jeff calls him Tayner, or something like that," Martine answered, frowning for a moment in thought. "They... they're not sure, but the business is probably in trouble for a while - Jeff's trying to get a temp position with my cousin to make ends meet for a while, though he's tried that before and it didn't work out terribly great. Same thing for the others, I think, that they're all looking for work and not sure where they'll find it."

"Hmm... I'm sorry to hear that." Inside, Liz didn't feel all that sorry, but she said it just because she knew it was the expected response. If... if these guys were the ones who Tess had traced her missing palmpilot too, then... then she suspected that this 'home business' was little other than petty crime, computer-based and otherwise. If their operation had been disrupted and the gang members had to look for slightly more honest labour, well, Liz didn't mind that thought too much, though she also wasn't sure how much overall good it might do.

But the fact that this whole business was connected to Kyle's fiancee was something that Liz hadn't anticipated. Any attempt to tell her the alien secret would now be much riskier... if she connected Tess and the others with the beings who had 'attacked' her distant relative, would she tend to take his side instead of theirs? Would her relationship with Kyle suffer fallout because he was Tess' best friend, was close with some of the others, and because it had started over Liz's PDA, and Liz was Kyle's friend too??

There were no easy answers to that question, and Liz sighed, wondering if she should order herself a milkshake. Tess seemed more than a little depressed by this revelation too, and Liz realized that they'd need to make sure that Martine didn't see anything was odd about how seriously they were taking the news. "Did... did you hear about the fight that Max and I had, Kyle??" she blurted out.

"Umm, he mentioned that you guys had words over the big Anita coffee thing, yeah," Kyle said, sighing. "I... I've got to publicly show support for the boy, guy code solidarity and all that, but I do think it sucks that things couldn't have worked out differently. Max... he may like Anita, but it's nothing compared to how he... how he probably still feels for you, underneath the anger and frustration." Kyle sighed. "But... but his pride's been hurt, and he's having a few trust issues. Not... not sure I blame him, as far as that goes."

"Umm, not to spring too big a deal on Martine with no warning," Tess mumbled. "But, well, I've always wondered what the real deal was with... no, no, we can't talk about that here."

"About what??" Martine asked.

"Umm... no, it's okay, we don't need to hide this from her," Kyle insisted suddenly. He locked eyes with Liz to see what her reaction was, and Liz nodded slightly. "Okay, well, even Tess doesn't have the full dirt on this yet..." He turned to Martine. "You're clear on the Liz-me-Max-Tess backstory, more or less, right?? I was dating Liz over the summer before sophomore year, she met Max, sparks flew, I got jealous, Liz dumped be and I became bitter and suspicious of both of them. Liz and Max dated briefly then he dumped her, then they got back together again, Tess came to town, had a HUGE thing for Max and tried to steal him away from Liz... Liz decided that Max was better off without her and left her, Max told Tess at the junior prom that he could never really fall in love with her, and so on??"

"Umm, yeah," Martine said. "Some parts of it I don't exactly understand, but I follow the sequence of events at least."

"Okay, well, there was something that you don't know about yet that happened during the fall of junior year..." Kyle frowned for a long moment, and then turned to Tess. "Why don't you say what you know about it first?"

"Well, umm, I was out sitting in the park one evening when Max showed up, looking really devastated. He didn't say much about why for a long time, but it turned out that... he'd gone up to Liz's balcony over the Crashdown parking lot, hoping to surprise her with some kind of concert tickets or something, except when he got there... Liz and Kyle were in bed together." Martine gasped slightly. "Yeah. For a while, Max really had problems dealing with it, even occasionally spouted off this weird kind of denial, but eventually he accepted things for the sake of his friendship with Liz."

"Alright," Kyle said. "Now, the weird thing is, that weird kind of denial was actually more on target than you accepting things at face value," Kyle said, "because Liz and I didn't really sleep together."

"What, you didn't?" Tess exclaimed, a little bit louder than Liz would have liked her to say it. "But... but why play out the charade?" She turned on Liz. "Are you SURE you didn't..."

"Quite sure," Liz told her with a laugh. "I was a virgin up until the night that Casey popped the question to me. Trust me."

"Wow," Tess muttered.

"As far as why," Kyle continued, "Well, I was just doing it as a favor to Liz, and I assume that she was just doing it to push you and Max together for some reason of her own." He looked over at Liz, who couldn't entirely stifle a giggle at the layers of secrets in this scene. Liz was keeping secret the true reason of why she had done it, about Future Max, of course... and though Kyle and Tess knew more than a little about destiny and the reasons Liz might have bought into it at that time, they couldn't explain to Martine yet about how Max and Tess had been born from the DNA of an alien King and Queen, and Tess had thought that their fate was to re-enact their love in their own lives.

"Yeah, and come to think of it," Tess muttered, "that was just a few days after you showed up and tried to set me up with a low-cut black top and Max's favorite book..." Tess muttered. "Though it's probably good that you interrupted Kyle and I from what we were about to do just then, all things considered..." No matter how Martine pleaded, Kyle and Tess refused to be drawn out about that.

"Well, Liz," Tess continued, "you *have* to tell Max about this."

"No, come on!" Liz inisted. "He already has trust issues with me. If he finds out that I deceived him, and kept insisting on and on that what he knew was false was true... he'd probably never talk to me again. Come on - and you guys have to promise not to tell him, either."

"Well, okay, I promise," Martine said. "Not really my business."

"I already gave you my word that I'd never tell him," Kyle reminded Jim.

"I... I'm not going to promise anything," Tess insisted. "I... I'm not about to tell him right away, because I think that it should be *you* to spill it, but making promises like that might get me in trouble later. I'll respect the fact that you told me and not try to hurt you with it, though."

"Oh well, guess that's the best I can ask for," Liz said. Tess was pretty inflexible when it came to stuff like that... refusing to bend from her sense of what was right, for better or worse.

"Well, I guess I'd better be heading back," Liz said a little while later. "Martine, if you take my advice, don't worry about the weirdness of Roswell. It doesn't do any good to dwell on unusual stuff like that."

"I suppose that you're right," Martine muttered. "I just wish that Kyle's dad was still around. From what I've heard, he was pretty good with figuring out stuff like that."

Kyle did a good job of containing his groan, so that only a small whistling sound could be made out.

----------

"Yeah, it was fun," Maria said, waving a goodbye to Liz and Bethany as they left. Then she turned back to Michael and walked over to the loveseat, still limping more than a little on her right leg.

"Come here, baby," Michael said softly, and brought her injured leg up into his lap, pulling up her long skirts so that the knee was uncovered. "Okay, I think I can do something to help with this. Nobody tells Max."

"Really?" Maria said, and then, just before Michael himself was about to speak, she suddenly made the connection. "Hank. Lot of practice fixing bruises, sprains, even breaks, though you can't really do anything more."

"Right," Michael admitted. "Actually, bruises can be tricky... like that black eye he gave me that finally convinced Isabel that she needed to get me out of Hank's life entirely." Michael sighed. "But... but I think that it's the joint sprain that's giving you trouble in getting around... and the swelling. It won't look any prettier after I'm done with it, and it'll still hurt some. But..."

"I, I get it," Maria said, reaching out to take one of his hands and bring it to her lips for a grateful kiss. "Much obliged, my dear husband." So Michael focused and concentrated, and Maria tested the knee again and found that she could bend it further and put more weight on it without discomfort. "Cool!"

"Alright, and now that we've gotten that little matter dealt with," Michael said, pulling Maria back down onto his lap, "I... I realize that things are still a little bit up in the air in terms of all the stuff at the diner and some of your band clients... but - well, do you think that you can arrange for a week off or something??"

"Umm... I guess that I could, yeah - why??" Maria's eyes suddenly sparkled with the possibilities.

"Well, I've been thinking that the two of us should head off somewhere. Call it a second honeymoon, maybe, after all, our original one wasn't so nice that it can't benefit from a do-over." Michael sighed. "But more than that... ever since this Confederation stuff first came up, months before the wedding... I've been concentrating on that and the alien stuff. I didn't mean to let it get so big that it crowded you out, but I think that was the effect, something so slow that I couldn't see it happening but hard to stop. And... and you dived into the other stuff in your life to distract yourself from all the attention that I wasn't paying to you, even if you knew you should be taking it easier, maybe?" Maria unhappily nodded. "In a lot of ways we're more disconnected than we were the day before I proposed, and that's not the way it should be. My fault. And so... I thought that heading down to the beach in California or something like that might be the perfect way to start over again."

"Hmm... the beach. Has possibilities," Maria admitted. "But... well, where would you find the money for a trip like that?"

"Umm... I do have an answer, but it's one that might surprise you." Maria caught her breath. "I... I've been in contact with Kal Langley for a little while now."

"What??" Maria exclaimed. "Yeah, 'surprised' is one way to put it, buster. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner??"

"Umm... for one thing, he wanted me to keep it secret for the time being," Michael said in a low voice. "Said that he'd know if I told anybody, and cut off all ties. I... I hated keeping the secret from you, but really, things were so crazy that I might not have made a point out of mentioning it anyway." He shrugged, and Maria frowned at him. "Well, anyway, I think something changed after I mentioned the little tumble that you took. Not sure exactly why..."

"Maybe he feels protective towards your child, if not to me... or that obviously to you," Maria muttered.

"Not sure that that's all of it. Anyway, he offered to bankroll our trip, even make up some of what I'd lose by taking unpaid leave at work... and he wants to meet both of us. I... I think that that'd be a good idea too."

"Wow," Maria breathed softly. "Well, this is... this is a lot to take in all at once, and I'm not quite sure how to reply... except that I'm very pleased to see that you care about me and you're trying to do the right thing for us." She kissed him, and then the phone rang. It was an applicant for the position of acting general manager at the Crashdown, so Maria hurried off, grateful that she could walk more easily now, to get her hiring notes.

----------

"Does anybody need to go to the bathroom in the next hour??" Alex called out.

"No, daddy," Isabel said, and giggled. JD chimed in with 'no, daddy' too. The one person in the car who was really entitled to call him Daddy didn't say anything, of course, and that was just as it should be. Alex kinduv hoped that she didn't start talking for at least six months or so now. (But not too long, actually... Liz had mentioned that Bethany was starting to seem very quiet and reluctant to vocalize... some baby girls who were nearly eight months old had already said 'mama', and Beth was nowhere near there yet as far as anyone could tell.) Alex corrected course, realizing that he'd gotten lost enough in thought that the car had started to drift out of its lane, and focused on his driving for a while.

"Thanks again for doing this JD," Isabel mentioned. "It's a long trip, but we're really grateful that you're taking Tess' car back to Roswell so that we could borrow it for our ride home."

"Not a problem at all," JD assured her. "Guess this sort of thing happens when you're used to blipping back and forth with alien powers, instead of taking the long way." He sighed. "It must be weird for you, facing the idea of living in Las Cruces again after so many months in Roswell. So far away from your brother and your friends."

"Well, yeah, but there are upsides to it," Isabel said, her gaze resting fondly on Alex. "And the independence of being by ourselves out in a new town is fun too, in a way. We'll probably have to get used to a lot of road trips back and forth, though."

"Shouldn't be that hard," Alex said with a little grin.

"So, umm, have you and Tess talked about your plans, once her term is over?" Isabel asked, hoping that this question wouldn't come as a surprise.

"Yeah, a bit. She does want to go off exploring, at least for the summer term... we'll probably take stock in early August and figure out if we're going back to Roswell or... or doing something else." He sighed. "I... I'm easy to please - all I really need is to be with her."

"Yeah, I know how that goes," Alex said. "So, let's work it out. With us gone, and you guys... there's Liz and Bethany, and Max, and considering the fallout from the Anita thing they'll probably want to keep their distance from each other a while... Michael and Maria, Kyle and Martine... and that's pretty much it for the old-guard gang."

"Or significant others," Isabel pointed out. "Since Martine doesn't count as old-guard."

"True," Alex admitted. "Well, maybe Martine will move into the Clapman street place, since there's some room there after you leave, JD, and... and then Liz could move back in above the Crashdown."

"Hmm... maybe," JD admitted. "Except that I'm not sure if Kyle wants Martine moving in with any aliens."

"Errr," Isabel said, rocking her daughter softly in her arms and considering that. "Then they'll want to either be with Liz or in a place of their own. Maybe the two of them take above the Crash... but where does that leave Liz?"

"She could always get her own place," Alex said, "but I think that she's gotten used to having a roommate or two." He considered. "Michael and Maria could move in with her into the place that she was sharing with Tess and Isabel I guess."

"And that would leave Max all alone," JD pointed out. "Well, he could go back into the residence... didn't seem to mind that much I think."

"Yeah," Isabel said. "Well, none of this is really our problem I guess." She sighed. "Do... do you think I'll be able to go back to classes in September, really, Alex??"

"I... I dunno," he admitted. "We can see about child care options for Caryn... but, well - there's so much we have to be worried about. She's the first quarter-Antarian child naturally born, so we don't know if anything will show up during her infancy that might seem odd or attract attention to us." He frowned slightly. "I... I've been thinking about trying something - it's a new business idea, and would probably let me work from home and help keep an eye on her. The thing is, it's much riskier and will pay less well than keeping on going into the office."

Isabel's eyes sparkled. "Maybe we can find a way to shave the risk somehow. I... I know that you love your job, and I'd hate to take you away from it - but in a lot of other ways, that sounds great." She sighed. "And we have most of the summer before we need to come to a decision like that."

"Yep, plenty of time to talk," Alex agreed, and drove on.

-----------

"Oh, hi Max," Tess said, stepping around the table at the college cafeteria so that he could see her. "Hello again Anita. How's it going?"

"Umm. not too bad," Anita said. "Except for biochem finals. Well, Max doesn't mind the biochem actually, I think, but he's stressing over anatomy."

"Hmm... I'd have thought you'd be good at anatomy," Tess mentioned, and shrugged. "Mind if I?"

"Oh, go ahead," Max said calmly, and Tess pulled out a third chair and sat down at the small table. "None of my finals seem like they'll cause me too much trouble."

"Well, that's good I guess," Anita said. "And have you figured out what you're doing for summer term?"

Tess blinked a bit in surprise. "Umm... heading out of town with my boyfriend, seeing the USA, and possibly not coming back in the fall." Max smiled slightly. "And you??"

"Umm... there are a few summer term classes in the life sciences department that I'm probably going to tackle... wait a second, not come back to Roswell? Are you serious??" Anita said, her eyes slowly growing wide.

"Umm, yeah, I mean..." Tess cleared her throat, and hesitatd for a moment. "We, we both love to travel and learn about new places - and neither of us are too proud to find odd jobs wherever we happen to be and support ourselves that way. JD comes from, um, from Maine, and I grew up all over and am used to travelling, so we've both seen a bunch, but nowhere near enough." She sighed. "I'll miss my friends, and we'll be sure to come back to New Mexico pretty often and catch up, but... yeah. Of course, it's not a definitely permanent thing... maybe after spending a few months out there, I'll want to come back. But... whichever way will be, will be."

"That's, well, that's kind of cool and romantic and everything," Anita said. "Have... have you two thought about getting engaged? I mean - well, I know that Isabel, Alex, and Michael are all maried..."

"Don't forget Maria, she is too," Max said.

"Well, yeah, of course," Anita agreed. "And, well - I haven't met Kyle or his fiancee yet, but I know that you and he are very close. Haven't thought about going the marriage route yourself?"

"Well, to be honest, I haven't put that much thought into it, yeah," Tess agreed. "Not that I'm against the institution of marriage or anything, but... well, JD and I haven't known each other THAT long... only seven months or so. And we didn't start dating right out of the gate - though I suppose it didn't take that long either."

"A little while," Max corrected. "I remember Michael and Maria's wedding - you weren't completely officially escorting each other to that, even though you did dance together at the reception and so on."

"Yeah, you're right I guess," Tess admitted. "We kissed for the first time after I got back from one of the dress fitting sessions." She sighed.

"Well, I guess waiting to make things official can't hurt," Anita said. "I guess Max and I are kinduv taking it slow too." Her wrist immediately beeped. "In certain other parts of my life, though, I must rush. Bye bye, nice to see you again Tess."

"Yeah, good luck with the lines," Max wished her, and Anita got up with her tray and her bag, dumping the garbage from her lunch along the way.

"So," Tess said, looking over at Max once the new girl had left. "You couldn't find a better way to let Liz know that you were moving on?"

Max smiled awkwardly. "I... I'm not sure that I realized that I was, even when I brought Anita over for coffee. I guess... I do think that in some very small part of me, I was *hoping* that Liz would get shaken out of her rut by seeing me with someone else, and that maybe we'd get back together because of it." He sighed. "But... but I started falling for Anita in those few days after getting back from the Conference, and when Liz *did* speak up, it wasn't going like... like I had hoped it would." He sighed. "Maybe things are better this way."

"For you, at least," Tess remarked softly.

"Liz... will be okay," Max said. "She's bummed, I can understand that, especially since it was because of me that she put herself out before she was really ready to, I guess, and then I rebuffed her. But... but when Liz is ready to put herself out again, for real, she'll find someone great. How could she not?"

"Ohh, I dunno about that," Tess remarked. "Sure, Liz is great and *deserves* someone who'll treat her right, but life isn't always that fair. She's a single mother, and that isn't typically a great attractor for guys."

"Anyone who'd reject her because of Beth isn't worth her," Max argued back. "She has enough other things going for her."

"Any guy who's worth Liz..." Tess remarked ominously. "I think that there are fewer of them around than you think, and a lot of them are already spoken for."

"What... what do you want me to say or do, Tess?" Max snapped in frustration.

"Umm, sorry - nothing specific. I just get myself started sometimes." She sighed. "So, problems in Anatomy, huh??"

"Ehh, not really with the material. Just have issues with this teacher." Max sighed. "I'll work through it." He thought about that. "You know, once upon a time, you might have offered to 'tutor' me in a situation like that."

Tess laughed and shook her head. "You're right, I might have." She sighed... it seemed hard to believe how crazy she had made herself about Max and destiny and all of that stuff. It seemed so far away from what her life was now.

-----------

"So, what did you think of that Kenneth guy?" Maria asked Liz.

"Umm... not bad," Liz decided, as she stretched up on her tip-toes to reach the patterned beach towels. There was a hall closet in Michael and Maria's apartment where any spare towels were kept, along with some clothes that Maria kept meaning to give away, old class notes, and some video game stuff that Michael wasn't playing with lately. "The only thing is, he seems to be a bit full of himself and sure that his way is the best way. I... I'm not so sure about hiring a guy like that at the Crashdown... we may not be the most efficient or best-organized restaurant in the state, but we've got friendliness and we've got heart. I don't want some new guy to come in and manage that away, and I guess I'm worried about that with Kenneth."

"Okay, sure, I'm on board with that," Maria said. "But it might be a good idea to call someone and arrange for a trial run while Michael and I are in Cali - probationary basis, under your personal supervision and all of that."

"Yeah." Liz brought the towels into Maria's room and put them next to the nearly-full suitcase - she couldn't imagine that Maria could make room for them, but maybe they could go in a different bag. "But don't worry about us, Maria - we'll be fine. Jennifer's been great as a shift manager when neither of us were around, and she's really eager about stepping up and taking on more." Liz considered. "I think that we could do a lot worse than promoting her up, honestly."

"Well... maybe this will be her trial run, and if she's working out fine by the time the honeymoon is over, then we'll make everything official." Maria considered the suitcase and the small pile of other stuff next to it. "What is it that I'm forgetting?"

"Hmm... a suitable outfit for meeting an alien bodyguard?" Liz asked with a trace of a smile.

"Um - well, I've got the blue green and white dress... you don't think that's dressy enough for Kal Langley?"

"No, it'll be fine," Liz insisted. "A windbreaker or poncho?"

"Come on Liz - it never rains in Southern California!" Maria grinned and giggled after delivering that line.

"Oh, that's just plain not true," Liz pointed out. "Long range forecasts are talking about a tropical storm coming up from the west coast of Mexico." Maria sighed and went to her closet, rooted around for a while, and finally pulled out a small yellow plastic fabric pouch zipped up into itself. The belt that the windbreaker was attached to was hung up on the closet hanger rod, and it took a moment before Maria could actually find the clasp, detatch it, and toss the packet over to the bed. "Okay, what's next?"

"Maybe take a break?" Liz said with a smile. "Make some chocolate milk or something else that'll make us feel a bit younger?"

"Umm... sure, okay I guess." Maria shrugged and followed Liz out into the kitchen. "Why chocolate milk?"

"I dunno, just thought I hadn't had it in too long," Liz giggled, looked around as if expecting Bethany to be within a few steps, but she was off with Tess and JD today. (Tess was surprisingly good with Liz's little girl - Liz wondered if she'd have kids of her own soon.) "Do you have chocolate syrup?"

"Michael lives here, Liz," Maria said as if that should answer the question. "So, have you figured out what to do with the apartment after Tess leaves?"

"Yeah, Kyle and Martine have decided that they'll move in - they can't seem to find anywhere else in Roswell in their price range. It'll be nice to spend some time with Kyle - I just hope I don't turn into a big third wheel."

"Well... I think they'll do their best to keep you from feeling uncomfortable," Maria sighed. "It... it kinduv seems a waste to keep the Crashdown apartment empty, but I'm not sure if Michael or I are up for such a big move."

"Well, it's yours if you want it, of course, partner," Liz said. "Think we won't ask much rent of you either."

"Maybe that'll help decide things." Maria giggled. "And come to think of it, I think that the lease is up for renewal at the end of June... that'd be the time to do it if we're gonna." Liz nodded. "One more thing to talk about while we're lying on the beach or whatever. Michael isn't really the type for sunbathing, is he?"

"No, but I think he'll hang out and find somebody to play Frisbee with or something while you work on your tan," Liz said, and Maria giggled, nodding. "And then take you out dancing or whatever."

"Yeah." Maria sighed. "What he said, about how much we've drifted apart, even while we were getting married - that's true. I... I was so worried that night when I woke up alone in the hotel, our wedding night, even though I hadn't had any of those doubts when he gave me the ring. It... it was because part of me knew that we hadn't been spending enough time together, I guess."

"Well, I wish you a lot of luck catching up and renewing your love, or whatever," Liz said, and hugged Maria.

"Thanks." There was a short pause. "Are you still bummed about the whole Max-Anita thing??"

"Maybe a little, yeah. Not so much that Max has found someone else... well - maybe I'm a bit melancholy about it, but... that's just kismet working against us, or something. Timing didn't work out. Star-crossed lovers, all over again." Maria nodded uncertainly. "But... but I'm really upset at how I left things with him. Kinduv trying to get up my nerve, apologize for some of the things I said... give him the chance to say something to smooth our friendship over, all of that. I mean... he's Bethany's godfather, I can't feud with him forever about dating some girl."

"Very wise words," Maria said. "My advice is, this time don't wait. Go over to Clapman street RIGHT away."

"Really?" Liz smiled. "You'll be okay with the rest of the packing?"

"If I'm not, I'll wait until spaceboy comes back home to help out," Maria assured her. "And Tess and JD are okay with Beth-sitting for another hour and a half, right??"

"Umm, yeah," Liz said, still a little bemused and bewildered by the vehemence of Maria's reaction. Then again, maybe she saw the same signs of the rift that had opened up between herself and Michael in what Liz had described about the clash with Max... and maybe she was right in that. "Okay, umm..." Liz took one sip out of her chocolate milk, (which she had been stirring as Maria told her to leave NOW,) hugged her oldest friend, and hurried down to the parking lot.

-----------

"Well, I can see why you decided to come over here and eat crow," Max teased Liz as they sat in his room. "You'd finally clued in that with Isabel gone, Tess leaving town, and Maria trying not to overwork herself, I'm the best babysitting resource you've got and you can't manage to do with out me."

"No, that's just a side benefit," Liz shot back, smiling slightly. "I... I just, my world didn't seem to have a direction as long as we were fighting, Max. I've been counting on you so much for the last year." She leaned over to reach out and hug him. "I... I can't pretend that I'm entirely pleased about you and Anita, but I do wish you a lot of happiness together, honestly."

"Well, thanks," Max said. "And... and I hope that when you're ready, you find someone to love again who's everything you've ever dreamed of."

"Thanks." Liz sighed slightly. "Okay, well, moving on slightly, discussions about moving seem to be the order of the day. Have... have you thought about what you're going to do as far as a place to live once Kyle and JD have moved out of here?? Somebody said something about you moving back into residence, but that might just be a wild-ass guess or something."

"No, actually, I think I've got other plans lined up," Max said with a smile. "There are a couple of pretty cool guys in my classes, who like the idea of moving off the college campus, and I think they'd be pretty good roommates."

"Hmm, sounds cool actually," Liz said. "Well, I wish you luck with it. Taking more summer classes?"

"Oh, yep," he agreed. "And trying to find a co-op placement for the fall term... orderly in the hospital or something like that, so that I can learn about how things work, see the nurses doing what they do and get my feet wet in it."

"Oh, that sounds cool," Liz told him, smiling.

"And any idea what's next in your life?" Max asked. "Aside from spending a lot of time with Bethany, of course."

"Not sure, really," Liz said. "A little bit disenchanted with the environmentalism stuff, I guess... I might pitch in again if there's another cause I can get fired up about, but mostly I guess I'm afraid of being disappointed." Max nodded. "I do want to stay involved at the Crashdown, get more active there, if only so that Maria isn't tempted in the slightest to do everything herself. That sounds like enough to worry about for now."

"Alright, good enough," Max decided. "You know, I could do with a Will Smith burger myself, come to think of it."

"Hmm... cool, yeah," Liz agreed. "But remind me that I need to go back home by four o'clock."

"I will... buddy," Max said, and they got up and Liz picked up her jacket.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 8:04 am

Part Twenty-eight

"Okay, now boarding Union America flight seveny three fifty six, direct from Albuquerque to Catalina Island airport, California," the lady behind the desk announced, and fairly quickly the line at the gate door started to move. Michael was about eighteenth in line when it started moving, and Maria got up from her seat to come over to him and pick up her carry on. Michael had refused to let her wait in line with him, on her feet for 'all that time.'

It wasn't terribly long before the pair of them were up at the door itself, where a young man around Michael's own age scanned their tickets with a fancy portable barcode thing, and looked at the display. "Hello, Mister Guerin, Ms DeLuca-Guerin," he said. "Nice to have you travelling Union today." There was a short pause. "Miz, I see a listing here that you're pregnant, correct?"

Maria was flustered... she wasn't sure if she was more surprised that such a detail was in her ticket file, or that being in the file, the airline employee was actually asking her for confirmation instead of taking the computer reading as infallible. "Yeah, not quite four months."

"Oh, okay. Everything going okay so far?"

"Yeah, as long as I don't get too stressed out or anything."

"Well, a little stress is unavoidable with airports and planes I guess, but minimizing it is what we're here for. There probably isn't much chance that you'll need it, but as it happens there are two doctors on the flight, one of them an obstetrician."

"Just great," Maria said, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes. Temptation asserted itself more strongly.

"Well, you're in the comfort club section, which is back near the tail of the plane, so just go straight back through the Economy seats."

"Yeah, thanks man," Michael said in a friendly way, and moved along. Soon they were walking through the little enclosed tunnel that connected the gate itself with the plane, and from there it didn't take very long to find their seats. The Union 'comfort club' more or less lived up to its name, Maria decided, looking around critically. The sort of opulent comforts that she associated with first class were nowhere in sight, but the seats and rows were wider than in economy class, comfortable, and a little homey. They were in the middle section, (not window seats, alas,) with a third seat on the other aisle, where somebody else would presumably be sitting. Michael sat himself down in the middle, as if he felt it was part of his job to protect Maria from the faceless stranger. (Presumably when the stranger actually arrived, he *would* have a face.) Maria took the aisle seat with a small sigh.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, just..." She thought about getting into the issue, and then decided against it. Maybe Michael had chosen to sit in the middle for other reasons - maybe he'd just thought she'd feel crowded and cramped in there, or that she might need to go to the bathroom more frequently than he did. (Both of which points weren't inappropriate.) She fished in her carry-on, and found the little digital sound player that she'd loaded up with audiobooks and fresh indie music before leaving. Soon she was thoroughly lost in an alternate, magical version of mid-east coast America in the early 1900s, caught up in the adventure of three young people who were just in the process of figuring out that a society of Sorcerors were trying to kill them.

Halfway through the flight she took the headphones off, went off to the airplane bathrooms, and then tried to get some sleep.

----------

"Okay, so how do you think this should go?" Liz asked as she led Martine out of the kitchenette, Kyle following behind. "Do... do you guys want my room? I mean, there's the two of you, you'll want to be sleeping in the same room, and this one is the biggest, so I don't really mind, but..."

"No, that's okay, we'll be fine, Liz," Martine assured her. "Umm... Isabel's old room looks fine, actually, doesn't it honey?" Kyle nodded. "Of course, getting a nice big bed up the stairs and through the hall could be a bit of a problem..." The hospital-style bed that Isabel had been using over nearly four weeks of her stay her in Roswell had been a rental, and it had been taken back six days ago.

"Umm... I think that if... if Max, Tess, and JD help out with the moving, they shouldn't have that much trouble with it," Kyle muttered. Liz shot him a warning look. "They're very good with stairways."

"Well, if you say so," Martine said, a little uncertainly. "And, well... what do you want to do about Tess' old room?"

"Well, that's kind of up to you guys," Liz pointed out. "Three people, each paying equal share, and three rooms. If you choose to both sleep in the same room, then you get to do whatever you like with the other one. That only seems fair."

"No, come on," Kyle insisted. "It's not like either of us really need a study or an office or anything. And you've been very generous about all of this. It should be something that all three of us can benefit from. Maybe... an exercise room?" Martine shot him a look. "What, come on, you like going to the gym more than I do, sweetie."

"Actually, workout room doesn't sound bad, if Liz doesn't mind."

"Suits me fine," Liz decided. "I've been thinking that I could probably spend some time to get in better shape."

"Really?" Kyle said. "I mean - I know it's not the same as planned exercise, but I would've thought that keeping up with Bethany would do something to help out."

"I guess there's that," Liz admitted.

"And obviously we're willing to do whatever's necessary to make sure that you don't feel uncomfortable with this arrangement," Martine promised. "Sharing an apartment with a couple - well, it isn't hard to see that there are potential problems with the arrangement." Liz nodded. "We'll try to keep any, umm, displays of mutual affection in our room as much as possible - I mean, not casual kisses or anything, though we won't make a point of doing that a lot while you're around, but..."

"Yeah, that's okay," Liz insisted. "I think with a bit of common sense and respect, we'll do fine." She sighed - and then Bethany cried softly. "Just a second."

-----------

"Hey, sweetie," Isabel called from the couch as Alex came in. "What's up??"

"Oh, nothing much," Alex said, hanging up his light jacket and hurrying over to his wife and his daughter. "How are you two?"

"Umm, we're fine, and I'm talking about the mysterious something that kept you out a bit later than your usual time back from work, and that you were vague about when you called this afternoon and told us not to worry about you," Isabel reminded him pointedly. "I want more details, and I kinduv want them now."

"Okay, alright," Alex said, sighing softly. "Well, a few of the guys and I were meeting with this capitalist guy."

"Capitalist guy?" Isabel frowned for a second, wondering if he just REALLY liked the underpinnings of the free market economy. "Oh, you mean, like a Venture Capitalist? For that starting-your-own business idea??"

"Yeah," Alex agreed. "It went pretty well."

"Meaning just what, in terms of us??"

"Well... that they'd be willing to advance a substantial amount of money - not dot-com-boom money, but enough to get wheels turning and afford us some advantages that we'd never have access to without those kind of funds, in exchange for partial share in blah blah blah," Alex replied. "I'm sure you know the general drill."

"Not quite as specific to us as I was thinking of," Isabel put in. "What do your other friends think??"

"Umm, I'm not sure yet," Alex said. "The part of the meeting with mister VC went longer than I expected, so I hurried back here as soon as it was done. But I'll find out how the rest of the guys feel about it soon enough. We don't have to jump into this too fast, and we've agreed that if anybody backs out then the rest of us will wait - no pressure, and no moving on without somebody unless we're sure that we're ready for that."

"Okay, that's better," Isabel said. "And... and for you, specifically..."

"I'm a bit nervous and excited at the same time," he admitted. "This... this won't be a cakewalk compared to the job I have now... in fact it might be harder, but the flexibility to work from here and watch Caryn while you're off at classes or in study groups, yeah, we'd have that."

"Okay, cool." Isabel said. "I guess we can leave it at that for now... generally a positive slant, but no commitments yet."

"Right," Alex agreed. "Any dinner in the process of getting made?"

"Um, yeah, but only my baby girl's." Isabel giggled softly. "Do you want to call for pizza or something?"

"No, no pizza. Chicken?"

"Sure, chicken's okay I guess. Fries with mine."

"Got it." Alex grabbed the phone and dialed a local barbecue delivery outlet.

"So, any news from Roswell?" he asked after hanging up.

"Umm... I think there was an email from Max, but... but actually, I didn't have time to read more than the first few lines," Isabel said. "New people moving into his apartment, and Michael's still off in California. That's it."

"Wow, so I guess that means that Tess and JD are really gone," Alex remarked, a bit sadly. "Feels a bit weird to have them disappear quite so suddenly."

"They'll be back soon," Isabel pointed out. "Remember, they're both really good with the teleportation trick. As long as they're together... they can be in Roswell - or here in Las Cruces, in seconds, and then go back to wherever they left their wheels just as easily."

"Yeah," Alex admitted. "A bit of a shame that they can't just travel like that all the time, like if they could use their powers to find out about where they wanted to 'pop in.'"

"Maybe that'd be too easy," Isabel said. "Driving places the old-fashioned way isn't so bad." She thought about it a moment longer. "And at least this way, seeing so much of the country, they'll have a lot of choices for where to teleport to next time - assuming that they can keep so many co-ordinates straight in their heads."

"And assuming that they all stay valid," Alex pointed out. "How much is the 'picture' of where you want to go important? If something has changed, is that a danger sign?" He shook his head. "That's how Lessa of Pern got herself into trouble."

"Who was... oh, right, those dragon rider books," Isabel said, and sighed. "I forget how they relate, though."

"Well, the dragons could teleport, in a way, too," Alex said. "Along with the people who they were carrying, if any. It wasn't described as molecular transportation, like yours, more like wink out of one spot, spend a few seconds in a space that was cold and empty, and then arrive wherever else."

"Hmm," Isabel considered. "Like travelling out of our three-dimensional space, maybe."

"Could be, yeah," Alex agreed. "But the dragons had to have a clear picture of where they were going. Lessa tried going between to her home, using the memory of the day that enemies attacked her home hold and overran it. Because it didn't look that way anymore, she accidentally travelled back in time."

"Well, I doubt that anything like *that* is likely to happen with us," Isabel said. "I... I think that one of the first times that Michael tried going to Laurie's house in Tucson, he was suprirsed because one of the trees he'd been orienting on had been chopped down. Doesn't seem to have really messed things up too badly - there's a moment of realization that things aren't orienting right, and you can either grab for a new orientation, or if all else fails, revert back to wherever you were coming from."

"Alright," Alex said. "Well, I do hope that Tess and JD drop by soon. I wonder which direction they were heading in?"

"I wonder when the chicken's gonna get here."

"Patience, mommy. It's only been a few minutes ago that I called it in."

----------

"Hey, mister Langley," Maria said, looking around the cafe's out of door seating and trying not to look nervous. (Which almost never worked.) She wasn't sure what else to say to him.

"Don't... don't worry about me, Maria," Kal Langley said, and for a moment she could forget that he was actually a very old shapeshifter protector "I... I'm not going to turn into a bug eyed monster on you... *believe* me. I've worked very hard at staying exactly who I look like right now, it's just starting to pay off and I don't intend to ditch this body now."

"Umm, okay, I guess that's kind of a relief," she said. "So... Michael said that you wanted to meet me. Mind if I ask why??"

"Well... for one thing, I was curious what kind of Earth girl would end up married to an alien - especially THIS guy." Kal nodded at Michael, and Maria laughed softly, totally caught off guard by the remark. "I've also been starting to, umm, reconsider the whole 'hands off' thing. I was more than a little worried and paranoid when Max first showed up, for reasons that aren't hard to understand, but... but you guys just want to settle in and be happy on Earth, and it helps sometimes to have somebody else to turn to who knows some of the ropes. I can understand that."

"Yeah, I guess so," Maria said, and took a bite out of the buttered english muffin in front of her. "Do... do you age, Mister Langley?"

"Not the way that you guys do, no." He almost sounded wistful about that. "I could use the shape change and become a much older man... except that I'd lose all of the human senses that I've cultivated if I did. At some point, probably in the next twenty-five years or so, some vital part that humans don't have a word for will give out inside of me and my body will fade away until there's nothing left of it but dust. I hope it doesn't happen sometime when I'm in public, when there are a lot of witnesses around, but those are the breaks. Aside from that, though, I will be much the same as I appear now." He considered that thought philosophically. "In previous decades, it was something that I had to keep under wraps. Hollywood being what it is these days, nobody even seems to notice that I'm well-preserved compared to the early nineties."

"And before then?"

"Umm, up until 1992 I was working in Manhattan for five years or so... dealing in hardware."

"What, like faucets and pipes?" Michael burst out.

"No, like guns and explosives," Langley said in a whisper. "And I threw the local coppers an occasional tip when something bad was going down. Before that - well, I've been around. No need to go into all of the details."

"Okay," Michael said. "So, umm... did you hear about the Convention."

"A few whispers... including some signs that you and the new guy in town were involved," Kal said, smiling. "Tell me about it a little if you like, but I'm not really THAT interested. In anything about other planets any more, to tell the truth."

"Okay, so what do *you* want to talk about then, Mister Smart Pants," Maria shot back.

"Tell me about what's going on in your lives... here on Earth," he suggested.

"Ehh, not much of interest in my work," Michael said, sighing. "Not that I loathe going to work or anything - it just seems like a big boring hole in my life. I put five or sometimes six eight-hour shifts a week into it, and they get sucked away and a paycheque pops out. Not that bad a deal."

"Hmm... no," Kal admitted. "But occasionally you find ways to get a paycheque without so much of the sucking. We can talk about that later."

"As far as me... well, I've been trying to find ways to not be working so much, because Max thought that I was overexhausting myself and it wasn't good for the baby," Maria said. "So we're promoting a new acting Manager at the cafe, maybe, and I've let other people take over managing all of my musical acts."

"Say, speaking of music," Michael said. "What happened to, umm, to that great wedding present you got? The money for recording your own album."

"Still sitting in a bank account," Maria said. "I haven't even had time to think about songwriting lately, and I don't want to touch the cash unless I can actually put it towardes the dream it was meant for... or maybe if we REALLY need an emergency fund for some reason."

"Well, maybe if you're taking it easy in other ways, you'll have some time to focus on music," Kal remarked idly. "It can be very relaxing, I'm told. You wouldn't be the first lady if you write an amazing album while 'taking time off' to have a baby."

"Yeah, I suppose that's right," Maria agreed, smiling. "And, well, I'm also trying to get ready for dealing with Roswell without some of my best friends around... Alex and Isabel, Tess and JD."

"Right... moving on without your friends. I know how tough that can be." For a long moment, Kal looked somewhat haunted, and Maria couldn't help but wonder how many people HE had lost. Had he been close with anybody who had died in the Crash, or had to leave behind a mate or children when he came to Earth in the first place? Well, she wouldn't ask right now that would probably just upset him more.

"Did you know about Michael's sister, Mister Langley?"

"Hmm? Oh, you mean Charles Dupree's granddaughter? Well, I knew that you've both kept in touch with her, yeah. Hadn't heard that you think of her as a sister."

"Well, it seemed easiest," Michael said. "She was family, and just about my age, more or less." He sighed slightly. "You know, it's been too long since Laurie visited Roswell."

"Yeah," Maria agreed.

"Okay. Ummm..." Langley hemmed for a moment. "Did Max and Isabel tell you about that movie I helped shoot in Roswell?"

"A little bit, yeah," Maria said. "She was living with me at the time. But I'd like to hear more I think... unless there's something that I don't want to know."

"Hopefully not, yeah," Kal agreed.

-----------

"Are... are you sure about this sweetie?" Tess asked, looking out at the tremendous clifftop not far away from the bushes in which they were crouching.

"Umm, yeah, I'm sure, but we won't go if you're not sure, honey," JD replied, kissing her shoulder through the tight shirt she was wearing. "Gut check?"

Tess chuckled at how easily her boyfriend, who had just months ago seemed incredibly alien, was now using offhand Earth expressions like that one. "Gut responds... positive. Let's do... wait a second, there are people over there, on that lookout point. Wouldn't they see us?"

"Hmm..." JD considered the distant gleam of metal railing, which was as much as could really be made out besides a darkish knot that was presumably the 'people' that Tess was worried about. "Maybe they'll see *something*, but I doubt that they'd even suspect it was people, or aliens. There are a lot of large birds that do gliding into the Canyon, I think."

"Alright, then count of three to dash out. One, two. THREEE...." And Tess led the way, hurrying out, staying fairly low, and experienced only a momentary flash of fear as she hurled herself with as much momentum as she could dig up into the Grand Canyon.

One second, two seconds of free fall. Tess counted up to four, and then started to concentrate on her powers, fashioning an invisible net of force trailing from her spread arms, that would catch the air and help keep her aloft. For a second, it didn't seem to be working, and she almost panicked before remembering what they had worked on. All of the information about glider design, aerodynamics, and properties of lift came back to her, and she could then immediately sense what adjustment needed to be made to her invisible gliding wings, and make it. The air seemed to catch her and guide her path without impinging on the incredible sense of freedom that came with sailing through the air, untouched and untouchable.

Then she thought of looking around for JD. He... he was nowhere in sight, until she arced around lazily, and then he was in front of her (which meant he had been lagging behind,) and considerably further down the crevasse already. Was... was there something wrong with his implementation of glider wings? If Tess had figured it out, how could JD, considerably more skilled in his powers no matter how much Nasedo had trained with her - how could he have gotten it wrong? And if he had... would Tess be able to catch him and do anything to help? For one thing, she'd have to fall FASTER than he was...

But no, Tess caught a - a stray current of emotion from JD's mind, and the nearest she could come to it was joyous exhiliration. JD was simply having fun by diving, confident that he could still catch himself in time to avoid a crash - and indeed, his path seemed to be levelling out about sixty feet below her. Tess contracted her 'wings', lost some altitude herself, and neatly glided into his arms.

It was only at the last moment before meeting that either of them realized that the laws of physics might have a few worthwhile things to say about colliding on a head-on intercepting course... things like equal and opposite vectors of momentum cancelling out to reduce horizontal velocity to almost nothing for one thing - and they needed horizontal velocity to maintain some sort of lift. (Not to mention the bits about the force of impact that could result from such a mid-air meeting.) But almost as if they'd planned it that way all along, JD curved to the left, Tess banked to the right, and they approached side by side and kissed. (Well, neither of them were going to turn the other way, at least - to Tess' left or JD's right, because the cliff wall was much too close there.) Modifying her active powers slightly, Tess shrank her left 'wing' and concentrated on the right one - JD was doing the same in reverse, so that instead of each being their own glider, they had to remain together and form one larger aircraft... or air-creature.

They went most of the way down side by side like that, and then teasingly, Tess left to fly away on her own, and danced through the air in formation with him for a brief moment as they looked for a place to land that didn't have any likely witnesses hiking along. When she finally landed, Tess ran for about sixty feet, shrinking whatever portions of her invisible wings that would otherwise drag much against the ground, and turned to look for JD. He was only a few steps away from her, and they embraced and kissed passionately yet again, proceeding from there. Tess was sorry that she couldn't really indulge her feelings the way that she wanted to - but the chances of getting discovered in an embarassing position was just worrying enough to draw the line at a little second-base action and associated fondling, under clothes.

Then they hiked over to look for the cache of camping supplies that they had 'dropped' down into the Canyon with a home-made parachute, and darkness was already closing in by the time they found its location. Something had managed to break in just enough to abscond with a large package of trail mix, but everything else seemed to have been left alone, and they worked together to set up the tent. "It's going to get pretty cold," JD commented, the first thing that either of them had said in over twenty minutes. "Maybe we should gather some dry wood for a fire?"

"Not much dry wood around here," Tess pointed out. "Anyway, I have you to keep me warm... and our powers."

"Yeah... though the latter wouldn't be evident to anyone who comes by in the middle of the night, or in the morning."

"So, what business is it of somebody else's how we keep warm?" Tess asked, and JD couldn't come up with a very good answer to that. They ate fruit with tabasco sauce dripped over it for dinner, and talked about the long trip they'd have to make out of the canyon on foot starting in the morning, and then head around to get back to where they'd left the car.

"So, any idea where we should go next, sweetie?" Tess asked him, as his arms wrapped around her in a double sleeping bag, with the stars shining down from the canyon opening stretching side overhead and down through the open slit in the tent door. "Vegas??"

"Nah... leave that for later," JD said with a sleepy smile on his face. "Maybe up into the mountains or something, I dunno. Hit some of the skiing towns during the offseason and see what things are like there."

"Won't be much work," Tess pointed out.

"True. Well, we could turn around and head east, then."

"Yeah, I guess so."

----------

"Yeah, just a minute," Max called, and hurried over to the door of the apartment. "Oh - umm, hi, Kyle."

"Hey, bud." Kyle smiled a little at what he'd just said. "Umm, was just kind of passing through the neighborhood, and I thought I'd come by, that if anybody was around, I could see what you've done with the place. Or, I guess I should say, if you were around, since I probably wouldn't have bugged your new roommates if you weren't here - because I mean, what do they care that I used to live here, but you are, so it doesn't really matter."

"Come on in, ex-roomie," Max said with a bit of a laugh. Kyle stepped in and immediately reflected that he didn't think the apartment had changed much - not that it really should have, he supposed - neither JD nor Kyle himself had asked for much of the furniture when they left - Kyle had taken one little end-table that he really liked over to the new place, but aside from that moving furniture just didn't seem to be worth the bother, especially since Isabel and Tess had left behind some perfectly good stuff over at Liz's, very little of it obviously 'girly' in any way. The second thing that Kyle noticed was that somebody was in the living room, watching TV.

"Kyle, this is Willis Stern, a friend of mine from the nursing program. Willis, Kyle - from my old high school gang, and one of the tenants here until he up and decides to move in with his girlfriend."

"Fiancee," Kyle corrected proudly. "Hey, Willis." The other guy, who was tall and fairly athletic looking, with shaggy collar-long hair that was almost as dark as Max's, looked up and waved. Kyle headed in and saw that some kind of fairly cheesy fantasy show or movie was playing. Cool enough. "So, just how many guy-nurses to be are there in the program?"

"Umm, I'm not sure if I've taken a formal count, in all the various years and classes," Willis commented. "Somewhere between five and eight, if you want my best guess." He sighed. "What the heck - I don't really mind taking care of people, and it's a major - and a career, for that matter - that involve working with a lot of chicks."

"Okay, yeah, there's that," Kyle said, though he wasn't sure if that would be worth being around so many sick people to him. But then, it took all kinds. "What's the show?"

"Oh, it's an old episode of, umm... what was it called again? 'Thor's mountain, I think," Willis said. Kyle looked around for Max's reaction, and realized that Max had left the living room area sometime during the past minute. "Not bad, I guess, for a Saturday afternoon recharging after work. The girl who plays Sif is pretty darn cute." He sighed. "So what's the deal with you, aside from having a fiancee?"

"Ehh, not that much to tell, I guess," Kyle said, shrugging a bit. "Took a few years of liberal arts, up in the Albuquerque. Working at an advertising agency, which isn't too bad."

"Cool."

They watched the show for a little while together - Kyle agreed about the character who was Thor's love interest, and decided that she reminded him a bit of Tess, which just made him miss her and wonder where she and JD were now. Around the next commercial break, Max showed up again. "Hey, sorry about that, but nature was calling."

"Oh, say no more," Kyle said. "Well, I've seen the place, for all that it hasn't changed much, and met one of your new roommates."

"Oh, come on, stay longer," Willis suggested. "We can dish about Bryson."

"Okay," Kyle agreed. "Is he in the nursing program too?"

"Nope - agricultural science, or something like that," Max said, grabbing a can of something from the fridge - a local store brand of black cherry soft drink, Kyle decided. "But he's pretty cool really." He stopped just before sitting down. "Oh, where are my manners. You want anything, Kyle?"

"Umm, yeah, I'll take a pepsi or doc pepper if you've got any."

"Sure," Max headed back into the kitchen as the show started playing again. "So what's the deal with the little guy again?"

"That's Loki," Willis said with a sigh. "The eternal god of mischief... well, maybe not quite a god, just kinduv a hanger-on of the gods."

"Ahh, right," Kyle said. "Part of the entourage."

----------

"Hey, guys," Liz said, smiling as her friends became visible throught he crowd of deplaning arrivals. "How was the trip?"

"Hey, Bethany," Maria said, immediately hurrying over to bend over and make a face at the little girl in Liz's arms.

"Umm, pretty good," Michael decided. "Lot of sun, some tourist attractions, a few movie star sightings."

"Right," Liz said, carefully transferring Beth into the temporary grasp of her oldest friends and helping to carry some luggage. "And, umm, what about Mister Langley?"

"He wasn't too bad at all, actually," Maria said. "We might see him popping by Roswell in a bit. Wouldn't suck."

"Okay," Liz agreed.

"How's the cafe doing?" Michael inquired.

"Yeah - is Jennifer working out well?" Maria continued, her face lighting up.

"Jennifer's been doing FINE," Liz assured her. "I think that we won't need to worry much more about you taking time off from the Crashdown." Maria smiled a little bittersweetly about that. "Oh, and I think that Lenny Swaid wants to get a call from you as soon as you've gotten home and put your suitcase Maria - and gotten a chance to breathe a bit, maybe. Something about having double-booked the Furious Suburbanites, clubs in Hondo and Las Vegas N M."

"Hmm..." Maria sighed. "Well, there are worse problems to get your band into." Michael laughed. "I'll give him a ring... they're probably going to have to pick one and cancel, as soon as possible. Shouldn't be too much of a deal."

"Alright. Then, tell me more about what California was like!" Liz insisted, as she led the way towards where she was parked.

The descriptions of Michael and Maria's trip didn't actually last long - not for lack of details that Maria could have told, but the conversation quickly got sidetracked to some of the things that had been happening back in Roswell in the meantime and older, simpler-seeming times. Michael drove Liz's car over to his and Maria's apartment while they chatted.

"Oh, I've been meaning to tell you, Liz," Maria said as they started piling luggage on the sidewalk. (There wasn't enough of it to make that much of a pile actually.) "We've thought about it and yeah, we want to move in above the Cafe and not renew the lease over here. Right, baby?"

"Yeah," Michael agreed. "Definitely."

"Alright, well, you've got the keys obviously," Liz pointed out. "And if you need anything more from me, you've got my number."

"Cool."

"Okay, wave bye to Auntie Maria and Uncle Michael, Beth." Waving bye was done, and Liz headed off, while Michael hugged Maria and they started carrying their stuff upstairs.

"Okay, the double-booking thing is dealt with," Maria announced about an hour later, stepping out into the living room.

"Cool. Which one gig did they end up sticking with?" Michael asked, about half of his attention devoted to something on the computer.

"Umm - the Las Vegas New Mexico one. It's good exposure in an area where fewer people have probably heard of them. Plus, I know the club owner in Hondo, that he wouldn't be too offended by a cancellation. The guy up in San Miguel County is less of a known quantity - so it was just possible that they might have burned a useful bridge with him."

"Makes sense," Michael decided. "It's a longer road trip up there, though."

"That's part of the deal, being a locally touring performer," Maria agreed, and sighed. "Which, among other things, is making it seem less and less likely that I'll ever really take on that lifestyle, now that I'm a mom-to-be. Couldn't really picture taking a baby on the band bus, or leaving her back home with you."

Michael raised an eyebrow at that. "Okay, out of the many interesting points I might choose to remark on in that sentence... you're so sure that we're going to have a baby girl too?"

"Umm... actually, yeah," Maria said, shrugging slightly. "Which is kinduv a shame, because Bethany and Caryn are going to grow up into incredible, amazing, and gorgeous ladies, and if we had a son, he'd probably get the inside track with at least one of them." She sighed. "But no - I guess it's something that came to me in a dream, if you believe it, but yeah, my precious baby here is a she." She rubbed her tummy slightly. "With light-ish golden brown hair, your eyes and lips, my nose and chin."

"Hmm... she sounds lovely too," Michael admitted, coming over to sit next to her in the loveseat. "I bet that she and Bethany will be growing up so close that they almost think they're sisters."

"Could be," Maria admitted. "So, what were you doing over there on the computer?"

"Not much, reading message board posts about this new fantasy adventure game thingee." He shrugged.

"Okay."

----------

"Hi, Laurie!" Isabel said, blinking slightly in surprise as she sat down on the couch. "Umm, this is a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

Laurie giggled slightly over the phone. "Well, I've got an idea, and I may need some help in actually implementing it. June the eighth is Michael's birthday, right?"

"Umm, yeah - you know that, don't you? Well, I guess obviously you do, even if you might not have been completely sure." Laurie giggled a bit nervously. "Yeah, that's what he picked at social services, actually... and this year he's going to be twenty-four." Isabel blinked at that. "Are... are you planning something special for him, Laur??"

"Umm, well, I was sort of hoping to plan something special, but I hadn't gotten any further," Laurie admitted. "Can you think of something?"

"Hmm..." Isabel considered. "Well, not at the moment, but I'd be happy to help - we've got a bit of time." She considered. "Actually, why don't you come over here at some point? If you want to make it a big surprise, then we probably shouldn't have you in Roswell too much, just because I know that'd be the crowning touch, for you to pop up when he's not expecting you... but there's no way he'd have to know that you're around here."

"Sure, yeah, that sounds great!" Laurie enthused. "How about - umm, I've got your address here, and I can show up quarter to six day after tomorrow??"

"Umm... alright, yeah, I guess that'll do." Isabel grinned. "Should we clear off the couch for you to crash on?"

"Well - no, I think I can make other arrangements for where to sleep." Isabel laughed. "How are things going with the baby? I can't wait to see her for the first time."

"Well - she's keeping both of us very busy, but in a great way," was Isabel's response. "And Michael and Maria are going to have a little baby of their own to occupy them too, very soon. I'm not sure whether to feel sorry for them or - nah, I don't really. It's quite an adjustment though."

"I'm sure. Well..."

"Oh, no! Sorry Laur, I'm going to have to let you go now... but see you on Wednesday!"

"Alright, bye."

Later, over a hurriedly grabbed dinner, Isabel told Alex about Laurie coming over, and the idea of planning a big surprise for Michael's birthday.

"Cool, I guess." Alex sighed. "I... I still remember when Liz first told me about Laurie - long before we had any idea that she was Michael's sister or anything, just after I got back home from Sweden."

"Ohh, right," Isabel said, smiling and nodding. "What *I* remember most clearly is the look that you gave me while I was leaving your welcome back party on the balcony - after I had to take off early to go over to Valenti's place and cover for him, trying to take care of Laurie. You were still setting up your first slide carousel, but you smiled in this incredibly calm and confident way at me, and my knees kind of melted, just a little bit."

"Oh, really?" Alex laughed. "You... you have no idea just how much effort it was taking to act that composed around you."

"R-really??" Isabel giggled herself and grabbed some more peanut butter to spread over one of her crackers.

"Yeah. I... I knew that I didn't want to slip back into the position of mooning helplessly over you, when I got back into so-called 'normal' life in Roswell. I even came up with a big list of resolutions and tactics on the plane ride home... but nothing prepared me for just seeing you again."

"Well, I guess that it's a good thing that I was able to talk you into taking me to prom," Isabel said, her eyes twinkling but never straying from her husband's.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 3:24 pm

Part Twenty-nine

Tess jumped slightly as her jacket pocket began to ring. After being away from Roswell for a few weeks, she had gotten used to not getting any calls at all on the cell phone, which she reluctantly fished out and shot an apologetic look at JD, who had been just about to kiss her. He didn't seem to mind the interruption more than minimally though. "Hello, whoever you are."

"Umm, hi, it's Martine. Sorry to - umm, to bother you if this is a bad time, but I wasn't sure when to get you, or where to leave a message for you other than this phone."

"Uh, don't worry too much about it, Martine," Tess insisted, wondering slightly about what reasons her best friend's fiancee might have had for calling her - and then, at least one possibility occured to her. "I, I admit I was just about to do something important though." JD chuckled softly. "Umm, how about if I call you back in two hours, from our hotel??"

"No, you don't have to call from the hotel," Martine informed her. "Tell me where you're staying, and I'll pick up the charges. I can even find out what room you're in from the front desk, if you don't remember..."

"Not gonna happen," Tess insisted just as firmly. "You're not going to call us again, and to make sure of that, I'm not telling you the name of the hotel or even what city we're in, and I'll be turning off my cell phone in a few minutes. However, I *will* be calling you back in two hours - you can choose to pick up the phone or not, but that's up to you." She considered that for a moment. "Of course, Liz might pick up, but I wouldn't mind calling just to chat with her a bit."

"Okay, okay, you win, see you then," Martine said. "And hope the two of you are having a great time."

"We were right in the middle of it," Tess told her, and Martine laughed for just a moment before hanging up. Tess hesitated a moment, and then followed through on her promise to shut the cell off before turning back to JD. "Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's okay." Somewhat to her frustration, JD didn't immediately move in for the kiss again right away. "What did Martine want to talk about, did she say??"

"Not really, but I suspect it might have something to do with one more wedding in Roswell," she said. JD smiled at the thought - and Tess could tell that he was remembering dancing with her at Michael and Maria's reception. That night had been a bit of a watershed for them... a lot of the events surrounding that wedding were tied up in the story of how they had finally figured out how to act on their mutual affection and become an item were tied up in it... the bridal and bridesmaid's dress fittings and the dance that they shared at the reception particularly. "Maybe it was bad timing to even leave Roswell at all, considering that Kyle and Martine were engaged. I know that he's going to want me there... well, I'd want him there if, or when we get hitched, so I can't blame him. But..."

"I... I'm not so sure about that," JD answered, leading her off towards a suitably isolated bench down a narrow lane. "Not that Kyle will want you - want us, hopefully, to be back in Roswell for his wedding. As you said, that's completely obvious. But... but considering that we both wanted to leave for a while, and that we can get there really quickly - would it really have made sense to stick around just for that?"

"Hmm." Tess considered that, and before sitting down she bent her boyfriend's face down to better fit her petite frame and kissed him instead of continuing to wait any longer. "Well, not if we're just going to show up for the stag-n-doe parties or whatever they call them, and the rehearsal dinner, the ceremony and the reception. For that, yeah, we can just pop in and then pop back here, assuming that we've parked the wheels somewhere that nothing too bad will happen to them." She sighed. "But... well, for some people planning a wedding is a lot more than that, and I'm not there to help Kyle with any of that."

"Do... do you think that he needs your help?" JD asked softly... not a needle, not coming from him - just an honest question.

"I... I'm not sure," she admitted. "I think he might appreciate it... not that he'd ask for much when I've taken off on him like this." She sighed. "But... but I guess I see your point, that if there wasn't anything else holding me in Roswell, that Kyle wouldn't really have wanted me to stick around just because of him and his wedding plans." She sighed. "Why did I say two hours? It wouldn't have taken nearly that long to get back to the hotel."

"Mayybe you wanted to have something for dinner first," JD said with a grin.

"Hmm... stranger things have been known. Okay, let's try heading down that way." She pointed along the main drag that they had just left, and got up, moving with a certain amount of determination, though the sidewalks were hardly crowded enough to warrant it. "On another topic..."

"I've been thinking about a wedding myself," JD blurted out. Tess craned her neck to look up at him as well as she could. "Not that specifically, but... but nearly all of your friends are married, or were about to get married, or are planning a wedding... even your foster father. I... I do know that we haven't known each other that long, but I know that I love you very much and that you love me too, and -- well, I feel like I'm not sure what my cue would be to pop the question."

Tess smiled. JD had an unusual way of looking at things sometimes, but that was very much a part of what she adored most about him. "Well, first off, it doesn't always have to be the guy popping - look at Martine and Kyle, for that matter." They'd both been at the party where Martine had asked Kyle to marry her.

"Yeah, but that was kinduv an unusual situation," he pointed out. "Kyle would have asked, but Martine said that she wasn't quite ready yet and needed to think about things, and then she surprised him. I, I think -- it isn't a huge deal for Kyle, but he was a little bit, umm... disappointed that he didn't get the chance to ask her."

"Oh." Tess sighed. "I... I hadn't thought of that." She paused, and pointed out a homestyle pub. JD grinned and they headed towards it. "So - would you be disappointed if I took the lead on this stuff?"

"Hmmm." He mulled that over. "I... I don't think so, not for me, but I might - umm, might feel a little embarassed about it. The people who know us best... I sometimes feel like they think that you're in the driver's seat, just because I'm a bit shy and still don't feel entirely comfortable with Earth. Finding out that you took the initiative, stepping into the guy's role in such a traditional way... that sounds incredibly silly that I'd even be worried about something like that, doesn't it?"

Tess blinked. For a moment, they waited inside the door of the pub, before realizing that it was the sort of place where people were expected to find available tables and seat themselves. "No, actually, I guess I can understand how you'd feel a little bit twitchy about that sort of thing." She sighed. "Well, then there's the other side. You... you don't really have to worry that much about the earth traditions, not in my eyes. I mean, if you're not entirely sure when to ask me to marry you - what would you do if a situation like this came up back home? If... if you'd never come to earth, and met me - at the University, or in the big city, when you went there because there was a job opening?"

JD looked at her and smiled at the thought. "Well... um, I admit I'd probably still feel a bit clueless about relationship stuff, even on my 'home turf' like that... and I'd ask my friends and my family for their advice. The friends part still holds I guess... though the only friends I really have here are your friends, and they're back in Roswell. But..."

"But talking to your family is a tougher one," Tess realized, suddenly feeling the wind blown out of her high spirits. When the Royal Four were on Antar (metaphysically,) for the Confederation convention, she had been approached by JD's father, who'd been a convention delegate, and very stunned to hear Max mention that she'd fallen in love with his son, 'the emissary' who'd come to tell them all about the need for the four of them to appear at the confederaton talks. All of JD's family had been expecting and hoping that there'd be some way for him to come home once his errand on Earth was complete, but finding out that he was dating a hybrid girl, more than half a legendary princess in their eyes -- and one who had just committed to never coming back to Antarian space, remaining in exile on Earth, was a blow to those dreams of a reunion. JD, himself, seemed to accept the idea that he would remain on Earth for the rest of his life too, though he had been melancholy for a few days after hearing that there was news from his family.

"Don't - don't let your face tug down at the edges like that," he said now, reaching out across the table to hold her hands. "I... we'll find a way to sort out our relationship, we've done okay at it ourselves so far -- and as far as my family, maybe I'll be able to figure out a way of staying in contact from here." Tess sighed reluctantly. "The truth is... is that I knew when I volunteered that my life probably wouldn't include a happy homecoming with the family and settling down with a nice Antarian girl. I... I could have found my way physically back home, maybe, but there was no way back from the hybridization procedure. I'd... I'd have been different over there, a freak..."

Tess stifled a giggle. "You ain't exactly like the locals around here, bub..."

"But I'm with you," he said sincerely. "Everything that I've given up, everything that I miss back home doesn't mean anything compared to that, really."

"Well, that's a sweet thing to say," Tess said, and just as he was giving her his 'I'm not just saying it - I mean every word' look, their food arrived.

Soon enough, they were back in the reserved room, and Tess looked up a number for Martine in her telephone's address book - and had nearly finished dialing before she realized that it wouldn't be current anymore, after the changes that had happened around the same time as she left Roswell. A quick check in the caller ID revealed that Martine had called from Isabel's old land-line number in the apartment. "Alright," she muttered, and dialed through, sititng back against the bed pillows.

"Hello?" Tess smiled, recognizing the voice.

"Hey, Kyle, how've you been?"

"Pretty good, actually. Been kinduv a long day though. Where are you now?"

"Rapid city, South Dakota, which kinduv seems like a funny name because nothing seems to move that fast around here." Kyle chuckled a bit in appreciation of the joke himself. "Umm, this might be a bit awkward, but I was calling for your darling fiancee." Kyle made a somewhat soft sound of letting out his breath, and Tess raised her eyebrows automatically. "Umm, did she say anything about, ehh, trying to get in touch with me?"

"Oh, yeah, for the wedding!" Kyle said after a moment. "Duh, really sorry. Umm, yeah, of course I knew. Maybe it should have been me calling, since I've known you for longer, but - well, she was traditional and kinduv wanted to do everything by the book, which means..." He trailed off for a moment. "Well, did Martine get a chance to actually ask you, erm... anything?"

"Not really," Tess told him, laughing, "but I think I could guess. She wants me to be a bridesmaid??"

"Well, yeah," Kyle said. He took in a deep breath, and Tess wondered if he'd managed to talk while holding his lungs. "Now, as for me, I'd have felt better about you being on my side, since you've been my friend for so long, but... well, I guess apparently that kind of thing is 'just not done' in a relatviely formal wedding, and she wanted her sister who she hasn't seen in a year to be her maid of honor, so I guess what I'm trying to say is..."

"Kyle, it's okay!" she insisted, cutting him off. "I... I don't mind taking whatever role Martine wants in the wedding party, and I can kinduv see her point. It's fine." Big breath. "So I guess we can say that you've asked on her behalf, and I've answered... no, tradition, again - she probably wants to ask me herself. Is she actually..."

"Oh, hey there Tess," a girls' voice answered, and Tess guessed that the phone had been passed from him to Martine. "Alright, tradition can be dealt with pretty quickly. Will you stand as one of my maids of honor?"

"Sure, I'd love to," Tess insisted. "Is there a place for JD too, this time?"

"Umm... no, I don't think so, actually," Martine said, sounding taken aback by the question. "We're keeping the wedding parties fairly small, three attendants each - Kyle picked Alex as his best man, Max and... um, and somebody from his office as groomsmen I think. My side is you, Janet, and Suzy Mac from NMU. Of course, he's welcome to the ceremony and the reception and everything, that should go without saying, but..."

"Yeah, alright," Tess said, smiling and stretching her legs out. "So, umm, what's the timetable look like, and when do you need me for?"

-----------

"Laurie really wanted it to be a surprise party," Isabel said, while people continued to pass the various platters and bowls of food around the long table in the Cafe's dining room. "But, well... between my own bad luck with surprises, and what I could guess about you, I was able to argue her out of it."

"Umm... thanks, yeah," Michael replied. "I owe you one."

"So how many years is it?" Martine asked him. "I mean, umm, how old are you?"

Michael turned to look at her. "Twenty-three today."

"Not doing too badly for it," Max put in. "I mean, did you - umm, think that you'd be married, with a son or daughter on the way, a good steady job... and still have such good friends?"

"Yeah, I'll toast to that!" Maria put in, putting an arm around her husband and raising her glass. "Oh, and what's holding up the roasted potatoes??"

"Is something wrong?" Max asked Liz a few minutes later, after the conversation had broken up into two smaller groups that didn't really include either of them at that point. "You keep looking at your watch?"

"I... I can't help it," she whispered back, "I'm worried about Tess and JD. She *said* that she'd be here, and I checked on the time difference between Wisconsin and here, and everything. It's... it's not like something could just delay them, the way that they..."

"I know," Max muttered, shooting a look over at Martine, but she was deeply focused on her husband-to-be, recounting the story of the Jetta bumper and the Christmas Nazi's pearl earrings... the parts of it that didn't involve healing little kids with bone marrow cancer, of course. Though Kyle had 'laid the groundwork' for the big revelation of their secret, and kept insisting that he was almost ready to tell Martine, they still had visibly to tiptoe around any interesting subjects with her. Max had worried about inviting Tess and JD to teleport over for the big birthday dinner himself, worried about Martine's reaction if they happened to let slip any hint of how far away they had been and how recently, but Liz and Maria had both insisted that everything would be fine.

"May-- maybe they're just stuck in public somehow, and can't -- can't get away," he muttered. But the problem with that was...

"And just what kind of situations pop up where a vacationing couple, passing through town somewhere that nobody knows them, would get 'stuck in public' and unable to make an exit for so long?" Liz asked, her face betraying concern for Tess. Max took just a moment to think of how weird it was that the two rivals had become fast friends, and then faced the problem. Just about any situation that met his criteria that he could think of involved personal danger or injury... and Tess/JD, both being hybrids, couldn't afford to even get taken to a hospital lest their secret be exposed. And... and if it wasn't a case of being trapped in public... "What if... if something really went wrong this time??"

That was an even more horrifying worry, of course. There had never been anything approaching a teleportation accident in all the time that the gang had been using the technique, but Max was very aware that the first could be a doozy, easily fatal. What if they'd both vanished from Appleton, not expecting any problems, and simply not appeared in Michael's apartment??

He and Liz weren't the only ones who had been worried by the time people were starting to finish off eating the main dinner course... which was when there was a tapping on the front door, which turned out to be Tess. "Sorry, so sorry we're late!" she said as Kyle let both of them inside. "Our flight got delayed coming into Roswell. Three hours sitting on the tarmac at Albuquerque, and the stupid lady wouldn't even let us off the plane."

"Of course, if they'd let us off to start driving here, like you wanted," JD added in, "we'd still be about thirty miles away from Roswell." Tess just shrugged.

"Okay, so what's for dinner?? You'd better have left plenty of good stuff for us," Tess said, heading towards the still-laden table.

The *real* story had to wait for later of course, since everybody but Martine knew that Tess and JD really hadn't been anywhere near the Albuquerque airport that day. It was after they'd eaten, of course, which gave most of their friends plenty of extra time to talk and generally have fun, (and for Bethany and Caryn to get used to sitting in matching high chairs, even though the girls themselves weren't really matched in size or color at this point.) After Michael had opened up some of his birthday presents, and chocolate birthday cake with orange sherbert had been served out for dessert. Kyle took Martine home, and Isabel kissed Michael and wished him best happy returns of the day and started to head for home with her husband and daughter. (Alex had an early meeting the next day for the proposed new company.)

Max and Liz, Michael and Maria, Laurie, Kyle and Tess all gathered together in the dining room of the upstairs apartment, and Tess started to tell the real story.

"Okay, so we were just checking out of the hotel, we'd signed off on the tip slip and left our keycard on the nightstand and everything that they told us to do for the quick checkout, and the elevator had gone down two floors or so... and then it shuddered slightly and stopped, everything went dark for a second, and then the battery lights went on."

"Oh my god," Maria breathed out. "A power failure and you were stuck inside the elevator?" Tess nodded.

"Hmm... why didn't you just, umm, get it running again yourselves?" Michael asked, fiddling with the remote controls on a 'real flying saucer' (about five inches across,) that Kal had sent for him. The gizmo hovered silently above the coffee table, making no noise but an eerie faint humming.

"Actually, I tried that after ten minutes or so," JD put in, and Michael's face fell. "Didn't work really well. We dropped a few feet more, the emergency lights went out for nearly five minutes, and... well, from what I could tell, initially the blackout was limited to that one section of the hotel. After I tried to patch things up, the entire city block went out."

"And this one guy started acting really suspicious of us," Tess complained as well. "Not really saying anything particularly on target, just mumbling about how we were acting suspicious. I think he even asked JD if he was from 'the mid east.' I mean, does he *look* like he's been anywhere near there?"

"Well, you never know, it was the pale blonde girl who was an Arab agent in 24," Laurie said. "Umm, but that's probably not relevant, now is it?"

"Not exactly," Liz agreed. "So, umm, how long did you end up waiting, and what happened in the end? Did they actually get the power back on?"

"No, at, umm, at about a hundred five minutes and counting, I got fed up," Tess said. "Opened up the doors and we were able to crawl through and down to the third floor, which wasn't too far. Took the stairs from there."

"Wait a second," Max said, shaking his head. "Why did you need to get out of the hotel in the first place? If you could check out of the room without going to the front desk, couldn't you have just teleported from there??"

"Umm, that was the original plan, yeah," JD said. "But the window wouldn't open. We found this isolated spot with a garden shed that didn't look like it was used too much, and parked the car close by."

"Okay, well, that's that I guess," Maria agreed. "Thanks for coming, even if it took you more effort than you expected to."

"Yeah," Michael agreed. "Didja bring presents??"

"Just one from the both of us," Tess said, sighing. "Oh, umm - I guess I must have left it downstairs - put it on one of the booths or something."

"Oh, I'll run down and get it," Liz said. But just then, Bethany let out a bit of a soft wail.

"You've got bigger priorities, Mom," Tess teased her friend. "It'll be okay." She kissed JD, and then let herself down the stairs, through the back room, and out into the dining room, where the table still hadn't been cleared off very much. She'd help Liz and Maria out with the cleaning up once all of the presents were unwrapped... JD would probably be happy to help too. Just as she stepped close to the front table where her wrapped package had been placed, somebody suddenly pounded fiercely on the front door! Tess jumped and let out a yelp at the sudden sound, and then cautiously stepped closer. "Umm, we're closed."

"Don't get CUTE with me, whoever you are - let me in!" A pause. "I was just here, for the dinner - it's Martine."

Hmmm? The voice did fit with Martine's, as far as that went. "Umm, it's Tess. What, did you forget something too, girl??"

"Ehh... forget?" Martine's voice was still loud and somehow imperative even in indecision. "No, I... I've come back for answers!"

"Where's Kyle?" Tess asked, nervously. Answers?? What did that m... had Kyle said something to Martine about... well, there seemed no reason not to really get into it, whatever the issue turned out to be. Tess spent a long time futzing with the various adjustments on the front door before it would finally let her open itself and let the other girl in. "What are the questions?"

"You're a WHAT?" Martine blurted out, some kind of wild panic in her eyes.

Tess was almost certain what the other girl meant, but long habits of caution left her completely unable to say the truth unless it was put to her more specifically. "Umm, in what sense? I mean, I'm kinduv a hitch-hiker lately, though not just at the moment, and..."

"Kyle, he said... he said that you were... I, I can't even repeat the word," Martine blattered, pacing up and down in the empty space left by bringing a lot of small tables together into one big long table. "It... it must be a joke, isn't it? Is - is it april fool's day??"

"No, umm... no Martine, it's early in June." Tess sighed. "But - but I think that I know what you're talking about." She sighed. "I'm... I'm half alien. Kind of complicated past that point, but that's probably the core of the issue. And... and no, it REALLY isn't a joke. This is serious to me, a case of life and death, if the wrong people found out about it. I'm... we're not crazy and we're not playing around, no matter how weird it souns..." she sighed. "Did - did Kyle just tell you about me? Where *IS* Kyle, Martine? You... you couldn't have gotten back home to the apartment and then come back in this little time..."

"No, umm, no, I left him marooned somewhere on Washington street." When Martine looked up to meet Tess' eyes, there was something embarassed there. "It... it was just too much, and I didn't want to hear any more from him just then... and I wanted to go and confront you without him being here." She sighed. "He, umm, he only mentioned your name, but he said - he said 'some of my friends'. And... and he said that you guys had - that you had inhuman powers that you could show me. I... I realize that this may sound weird, but..."

"Well, yeah, that's easily enough done." Tess sighed, reached out a hand, and as slowly as she could manage, floated a spoon over from an empty table over to it. Then, remembering something, she handed the spoon to Martine and levitated Michael's present over to her the same way. "I... I could try to change the molecular structure of something, or... or make you see something that isn't really here, but - but first I want to take this up so that Michael can unwrap it. And... and then, we should probably go over and give Kyle a lift back here, because he's probably getting really pissed and a bit upset at you for leaving him behind."

"Umm... okay, I think that I'd like that," Martine said, blushing slightly. "And... if we're bringing him back here, that's so that we can talk more later, instead of going back to the apartment or something?"

Tess thought about it. "Umm, yeah, that's what I was thinking of. Or... or maybe Liz and JD can come with us, and we'll all just stay at the apartment for a long time." That would mean that Max and Michael wouldn't have to be brought into it just yet, and Tess thought that might be better.

"Umm... I can't decide. Let's see what they say when we go upstairs," Martine said. "And... and thanks for acting so - so understanding about this."

"I... I guess I've had time to think of what to say," Tess said, leading the way into the back.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, well... I've known for a long time that Kyle wanted to tell you the whole deal... that he almost *had* to tell you. That's part of the Valenti code of honor or something... no keeping secrets from your wife. We've already had to deal with Maria's mom finding out, for similar reasons. Though that wasn't quite so dramatic really."

"Ohh," Martine said. Just as they got to the top of the stairs and came into the living room, a tiny flying saucer buzzed past both girls. Tess cringed, wondering if this would set off another minor freak-out, but Martine showed off the instinctive reflexes that had been trained by several years as a very good field hockey goalie - she caught the small flying device in her hand. "What the heck??"

"Umm... sorry, I - uhh, I thought that it would just be Tess," Michael muttered, his face flushing a rosy color. "Why isn't it just you, Tess??"

"Well... Kyle told Martine a few interesting things," Tess said, and heard Max's gasp and Liz's soft groan, "and she wants to know more. Here, birthday boy." Tess ostentatiously floated the present box over to the couch. "So, um, honey..."

"Is... is this really, umm, not of this earth?" Martine asked, her eyes focused on the saucer. She had been waving it around a bit. and then let it slip free of her grasp, another hand poised to catch in case it simply dropped. But the device righted itself and floated calmly in front of her. "I mean, I don't figure that it's a real flying saucer that anyone can ride in, but..."

"A trinket, yeah, but one based on non-earthly technology I think," Max said reluctantly. "A friend of ours, umm, sent it as a birthday present."

"JD, Liz?" Tess said. "Do you want to head back with us to the apartment? We'll have to pick Kyle up on the way. Or possibly go fetch him and bring him back here, but..."

"No, it's late," Liz said, standing up with Bethany still in her arms, (and clearly the girl, more than eight months old now, was not as easy to hold as she had once been.) "Going back home sounds very good at this point, even if we'll have to talk once there. And this way, you guys don't have to drop us off." That was said with a nod to Michael and Maria - Liz and Bethany had come over with Kyle and Martine, but arranged a trip home with other friends when it was clear that Kyle wanted to get his fiancee away from the Crash early and Liz had wanted to stay later. So much for the best-laid plans...

"So, umm..." Martine said as they pulled out. "Are... are you, too, Liz? I... I'm not quite sure what to make of things yet, even you, JD... I know that you showed up latest of all, but still..."

"No, umm, I'm human, or at least I was born one," Liz assured her. "Think that I have the dubious distinction of knowing about our crash-landed friends for the longest time, though... because I got shot and Max saved my life."

"Oh." Martine had heard about the day that a gun went off in the Cafe, of course, but it took her a moment to revise the story in such a way that the bullet DID hit the woman she knew. "And... and he told you what had happened?? What he did, I mean??"

"Well, not really," Liz said distractedly, focusing on her daughter's face - Beth seemed to be growing cranky, maybe picking up on a subconscious level of tension that Liz herself felt from talking about this stuff. "I mean, not right away..."

"Oh, there's Kyle," Tess said, pointing out the windshield. "Oh, he really does look mad."

"This wasn't where I left him," Martine commented. "He must have been trying to walk back to the Cafe."

"Good thing that he didn't go off onto a side street where we'd have missed him," JD pointed out.

----------

"I do," Martine breathed softly.

"If there is anyone here who can show just cause that Kyle and Martine should not be married, they should speak up now, or forever hold their peace," the civic justice said. Max stifled a cough or a laugh, but nobody else commented. "Then, by the power vested in me by the State of New Mexico, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Kyle, you may kiss the bride... yeah, like that." Kyle had wasted no time in following his traditional cue.

"Congratulations," Tess said, crossing over to hug Kyle once the ceremony itself had been adjourned, or whatever the appropriate term was. "I think that the two of you really are going to be very happy together."

"Yeah, that's the plan," Martine said with a laugh, and giving Tess a hug of her own. "Thanks for being here."

"Best wishes for many happy years," Amy DeLuca said, stepping up to shake Kyle's hand, and gasped slightly as the groom pulled her into a hug himself. "You both deserve it."

"And now you guys can tie the knot yourselves," Martine put in.

"Well, only if they..." Maria suddenly did a double-take as she looked at Kyle's bride... the wedding had ended up not as traditional as she had originally planned, although the outside park venue had remained the same, and although there were a few insects biting at the height of August, nobody seemed to mind them much. Martine was wearing a pretty pink dress instead of classic bridal white, and... "Wait a second! You don't have a bouquet to throw!"

"Umm, yeah, that was on purpose," Martine admitted, shooting a look over at her new husband. "We... umm, well, even though I realize that the tradition sort of got handed down to us from Isabel and you... I didn't want to go through with it. We - we all know who's going to be the next couple to get married, and it just seemed way too much like a farce if I were to deliberately hand Amy the bouquet or anything. So we'll take it as stipulated or something like that, and if she wants to do it herself, then maybe that one'll be interesting. If there aren't too many girls who have already gotten married at the reception for yours."

"Well, there'll be me," Liz chimed in, "and Tess. Not sure about the flowers, but I think I know who I'd pick." There was a lot of laughter about that.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Anita suddenly put in. A whole bunch of Kyle's friends and their friends were gathered around the happy couple, having managed (unintentionally) to even push Martine's maid of honor to the edges. "You can never tell when you'll meet an amazing guy. Trust me, I know from experience."

There was a bit of silence, as several people absorbed the ironic implications of that statement. (Anita hadn't yet picked up on Liz's spate of jealousy over her sudden arrival, or any hint that feelings between Liz and Max were more than ancient high-school history.) "Okay, umm, do we head off to the reception now?"

"Wouldn't suck," Kyle decided. "Senor Chao's is supposed to be holding the room for us by now. Might as well use it!"

"Cheer, hear!" JD added. Tess shot him a look.

Like a lot of the ceremony, the wedding reception at Chao's seemed a little casual and unexpected to Kyle, but he liked that, and had convinced him that Martine didn't mind the earlier and fancier plans that she had convinced him to discard. A lot had changed between the two of them since that night when the secret came out, but their relationship seemed the stronger for it... as if she was pleased to find out about all of these little hidden facets to the man that she already knew that she loved, and, finally secure in her faith about the two of them, had opened up even more than before, admitting things to him that she had always been afraid to say. Not needing all of the trappings of the church matrimonial and catered banquet hall had been part of that... most of it had come up for discussion originally because Martine had felt insecure in her own choices, and been more comfortable picking stuff that reminded her of her parent's wedding, (or what she'd heard about it, since she hadn't been born at the time,) or other family weddings that she'd been to.

"I... I can't quite decide if you've been spending too much time at work with Max's father," Kyle whispered in her ear as they danced their first dance, trying to distract himself from nervousness because there wasn't much of a dance floor in the private dining room. Maria and Isabel had insisted on doing a 'first dance as man and wife,' and neither of them had objected too much.

"Huh, what??" Martine shifted their position slightly to be able to look into his eyes. "Why do you say that??"

"When you were talking about the bouquet thing," Kyle said, and the look in his eyes was fondly teasing. "You said that we could take it as stipulated that you'd thrown it and Amy caught."

"Oh, right, that." Martine chuckled, sending tremors through Kyle's chest as they danced very close. "Well, yeah, I guess I've been getting hip to the lingo." She sighed. "Was... was wondering about actually going in for a bit of formal training in the law. Paralegal stuff I guess, something like that."

"Hmm." Kyle thought about that. "Sounds cool I guess, if you think that it's something that you'd like." He sighed. "We can work it out later of course, but... did you mention it to anyone at work? Ask if there'd be... um, be openings for work that would take advantage of that kind of training, or..."

"Or a raise available?" she finished, grinning at him. "No... or at least, nobody oficially. Chatted about the prospects very vaguely with one of the paralegals and Mister White's assistant. Nothing offered firmly... but apparently they can do with more help now, and full paralegals make over half again what I do." She sighed. "Of course, there's a lot to sort out... whether I'd take time off from the job to get the training or try to get it done evenings and weekends... and whether or not I'd need to take on more hours and work more nights if I was actually doing paralegal work." She sighed. "But I'm glad that you're open to the idea, at least."

"Yeah," Kyle said somewhat vaguely, though the references to his new wife studying on her Saturdays or working late into the night were upsetting him just a very little bit already. "And then there's... well, you were saying a few weeks ago that you were feeling more open to the idea of having kids soon. If we've got a little one to take care of, then..."

"I know," she admitted. "Well... if I *do* get pregnant, and have to take time off from work, maybe I can get started on my studies then anyway. Probably wouldn't hurt." She cocked her head slightly. "I wonder if we, Liz, Michael and Maria might be able to get a babysitting circle or something like that started."

Kyle smiled. "I dunno, not sure if Maria will want to let her precious babygirl out of her sight for a long time." He considered. "Who knows, maybe we won't, either. It has possibilities, though."

Just then, the song ended, and Martine's sister called them over to cut the wedding cake together.

---------

Michael pushed his cake plate away, and turned to Maria. "One more dance??"

Maria looked at him with incredible remorse. "I... I would, but my feet hurt too much."

"Ohh." Almost immediately Michael had Maria swivelled around in her chair so that her feet were stretched out into his lap, her fancy purple dress shoes taken off, and his fingers were delicately stroking their raised arches, listening for any sounds of pain. Maria just sighed softly, so he started to rub the soles of her feet more firmly, backing off just a bit when she whimpered quietly. A moment's thought, and the discomfort was suddenly numbed.

"Thanks so much," Maria said softly, and Michael nodded. Nearly half of the reception guests had left already... including the bride and groom, who'd made a relatively quick exit for their bridal night. Instead of spending money on a hotel room, they were headed back to the apartment, and Liz and Bethany were spending the night in the living room of the Crashdown apartment, (which Michael and Maria had finally moved into, but they didn't mind sharing their space for just the one night.) The honeymoon would come towards the end of the month - a three-day weekend together for Kyle and Martine in Los Angeles, that they were both looking forward to.

"Hey, it's all right," Michael assured her, continuing to massage her stocking-ed feet, with a smile on his face.

"I... I've been talking to Liz and Isabel about this," Maria remarked absently, and nearly broke into laughing out loud when she caught the look on her husband's face. "No, not toe rubs from you... um, but about the fact that my feet are sore so often lately. And... and other things that I think have to do with the pregnancy. Body changes and so on." She sighed. "It's nice having the two of them to lean on emotionally in this sort of situation, friends of mine who have gone on before. Even if... if no two women's experiences are quite the same."

"Yeah, I guess I can see how that would be important," Michael replied. He waited for her to comment on the subject again, but she didn't for a long while, and finally he decided that no more needed to be said. "So, anything new for the Cafe in the next week or two?"

"Hmm?" Maria considered that. "No, not really. Umm... we've been talking about getting some new specials set up for the fall, maybe even a new menu. Meeting with some local independent restauranters who are talking about organizing... there's been rumors of a big chain trying to move in and establish our town as 'their' territory."

"Hmm." Michael frowned at that. "Well, there's a truth behind every rumor - you should know that by now." Maria rolled her eyes.

"I guess I'll have to take the whole thing more seriously, then." She sighed glumly. "Oh, and apparently Kal is coming through town for the Crash festival."

"Huh, really??" Michael blinked, his hands finally stopping their motion. "How... how did you know that? I... I didn't hear anything from..."

"It, it wasn't from anyone in the group," Maria whispered at him. "There was something in the local paper. Hollywood 'flying saucer man', producer Kal Langley, signed on to co-MC the festival show."

"Weird," Michael muttered. "I don't know why he'd have... hmm. Who runs the Festival, anyway??"

"Umm... it's a joint venture underwritten by the town council and... well, and the UFO tourism lobby here in town," Maria replied. "As you might just about expect. Jennifer's actually really excited about doing more for cross-promotion with the Festival this year, though like anything - if we want to get exposure or advertising from the deal we'll have to put more into it. She wants to try and set up a Crashdown snack stall in the Fair's food lane, and this and that..." She sighed more happily this time."

"Cool for you guys I guess."

"Yeah." And at that point, Maria reluctantly pulled her footsies back out of Michael's reach, put her shoes back on, and stood up. "Okay, boy. Time for that one last dance."

Michael chuckled and smiled as he took her hand and stepped over to the dance area.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Chrisken · Post by **Chrisken** » Tue May 29, 2007 7:28 pm

Part Thirty

Liz looked around her room, sighed, and jumped slightly when she heard someone knocking on the front door of the apartment. Picking Bethany up in her arms, she headed out to answer the door, and smiled when she saw the face on the other side after opening it. (Maybe she should have checked for faces before opening up, via the little fisheye window, but - well, that was neither here or there this time.) "Alex! To what do I owe this delighted surprise?"

"Umm... just thought I'd check and see if I could offer the groom congratulations one more time before leaving town again," he said. "Isabel and the baby are down in the car. Are the happy couple..."

"No, um, didn't you hear at the reception?" Liz asked. "They were on their way to the hospital last night... probably, hmm." She twisted her body around to get a look at the clock on the stove, and Alex reached out to take Beth from her in the way that only really good old friends could get away with. "Well on their way to the frozen north, I guess."

"Ehh?" Liz shot Alex a look. "I swear, I'm getting so far out of the loop. Didn't even get much time to talk with Kyle before the ceremony, and almost none at the party itself."

"Oh, okay, well - why don't you come in for just a few minutes," Liz said, waving them all into the living room. "Umm... don't ask me exactly why, but the honeymoon is in British Columbia somewhere, near the mountains I think. Martine has some family there that wanted to meet Kyle." She sighed, sat down, and watched as Beth crawled down off the couch and started scooting across the floor, standing up on her own now and then, but not quite co-ordinated enough to take a step. "I was just trying to figure out how soon I'll be able to move out."

"You guys are moving??" Alex asked. "Uhh - ohh. Because... because for Martine and Kyle to room with you while they were engaged was one thing, but now that they're married..."

"Yeah, it's kind of a different situation," Liz agreed. "They've found a great little place for a starter couple - in the same building as Michael and Maria's place that they just gave up, actually. And I wish them all the best - but this place is more than I need, or really can afford, for just me and my darling." She sighed. "So it looks like I'll be apartment hunting very soon."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Alex said, getting up and giving Liz's shoulder a quick squeeze. "I... I guess I'd really better be going now. Best of luck."

"You too - with the startup company and all," Liz said. Alex grinned in reply. "Bye now, hope it's alright if I don't show you to the door."

"Sure," he said. "Bye, Liz."

"Bye, Lex."

Both Liz and Alex turned to look at Bethany, who was standing with one little arm propping her up against the side of the couch. "Oh... ohmygaww... has she done that before?" Alex asked, his eyes wide.

"Umm.... er, no, nothing as clear as that," Liz said in a breathy voice. "She's been doing nonsense sounds a lot lately, but I haven't even been able to get a 'mama' outtuv her." She turned to look at him, and laughed a somewhat odd laugh. "I won't say that I begrudge you getting to be her first word, but it wasn't what I would have expected."

"I was only the second word," he pointed out, and Liz sighed. "Bye was the first."

"Still..."

"Bye, munchkin," Alex said, bending down on one knee and gently ruffling Beth's hair. "Take good care of your mommy, while I'm gone, okay??"

"Yeah," Bethany said, and Liz's mouth dropped open again. Then she turned to face her mother, sort-of tripped down into an all-fours position, crawled a little ways closer, and locked eyes with Liz. "Mommy."

"Ohhh..." Liz reached forward, picked Beth up, and carefully hugged both her and Alex at the same time. "You come back really soon, okay? Maybe you've just got a knack for teaching her words."

"I... I'll do what I can," Alex said, shaking his head. "Or maybe you can... no, I guess I can get back here more easily than the two of you can come down to Las Cruces."

"Yeah," Liz agreed. "I know that both you and Isabel have your hands full, but it seems a shame to not have more going back and forth."

"Okay. Umm, I really do need to go now." So Liz let him out of the hug, and did walk him to the apartment door after all, and Beth waved and went 'bye-bye' over and over until he was out of sight down the stairwell.

"Aren't you something?" Liz said in wonder, looking into her daughter's eyes. "Got any other talents that you're just waiting to spring on me when I don't expect them?" Bethany's expression looked perfectly innocent, but Liz wasn't really taken in by that any longer. "Okay, not saying anythng yet?" She giggled. "Fair enough. How about lunch??"

-----------

"Okay, can you take a deep breath for me?" Max asked, and Maria turned her head to shoot him a bit of a look before complying. Sitting behind her, Max touched Maria's side one more time, connected to her briefly, and then climbed off the bed to pull up a chair. "Well, both of you look really healthy. Hopefully, you won't have to get as much bed rest as Isabel did when you get close to your date."

"Well, that's good," Maria said. "And, umm, were you able to tell..."

"Confirming your guess about the baby's sex?" Max said, smiling. "Yeah, maternal instincts are right on the money - you're having a girl too." Maria smiled slightly. "Any ideas for names yet??"

"Well, nothing for sure, though Michael and I have tossed a few around," she admitted. "Maybe Kayla - that has a nice ring to it I guess." She sighed to herself.

"Um - is something - did something upset you?" Max asked, feeling a little awkward about the question. "You seem kind of - well, I'm not sure like what."

"Oh, I got some news this morning, good news, but I guess it made me feel a bit blue about the music business stuff that I gave up," she said. "The Furious Suburbanites signed an independent recording contract with Left Turn records in Albuquerque. I'm excited for them... but I do wish that I could have been more than a part of that, instead of backing out as their manager."

"Yeah, well... life is full of hard choices, and it's natural to feel regrets," Max replied, smiling at her. "Do you really feel as if you could have made another choice that you'd have been able to live with?"

"Hmm... not sure," Maria admitted. "Maybe not." She sighed.

"Oh, and before I forget to ask, is that label name a Bugs Bunny reference?" Max cracked a big wide smile.

"Umm... huh?"

"Left Turn at Albuquerque?" Max prompted. Maria blinked at him. "'Geeez, I knew I shouldn'ta taken that left toin at Albookurkee!'" he tried again, doing the rabbit's accent as well as he could remember.

"Ohh!" Maria's face lit up with a long-ago reminiscence. ~~"I, umm... I never thought of that before, but probably. Kinduv wondered what the name meant." She giggled and shook her head in the way that she usually did when she felt a bit foolish.

"Well, it's not a big deal, I just kinduv wondered."

"When did you start watching Bugs bunny cartoons, anyway?"

"Umm - pretty much as soon as mom and dad brought us home, actually." Maria smiled at that. "They - well, they'd never expected to be parents quite so soon, and weren't sure to do with a bunch of energetic and slightly weird six-year-olds right off the bat."

"Okay I guess," Maria said, accepting that little tidbit. "As far as the music goes, at least I've been getting some songwriting done."

"Oooh, can I hear a bit of it, then?" Max asked right away. Maria looked at him for a long moment.

"Okay, but, umm... I haven't worked out the guitar parts for most of it yet, so we'll have to go out to the living room so I can use the keyboard synth."

"Sure." Max offered his hand to help Maria up from the bed. She hesitated, used it, and then stubbornly made it clear that she didn't need his help any more once she was on her feet.

-----------

"Michael - what are you doing here??"

"Hmm?" Michael looked up. "Oh, umm... Maria asked me to drop by and pick up some old baby stuff from some of our ex-neighbours... who I guess would sort of be your new neighbors." He smiled at Martine. "How were the northern wilds of Canada?"

"Pretty fun, though not as cold as I'd expect this time of year, even up in the mountains." Martine shrugged. "Do - umm, do you have time to come in and chat for a few minutes?"

There was something oddly intent on her face. "Okay, sure." She led the way back to a particular door. "So, no photos of Kyle wearing one of those really thick parkas with the fur lining all around his face?"

"Oh, no, we've got those." Martine giggled. "More as a joke than anything - Tess said that we'd have to come back with some to show her the next time she was around." Michael grinned at that thought. "And, by the way, thanks for giving us the tip on this place - everything's finally moved in and we've started unpacking."

"Wow," Michael muttered under his breath. By his standards, the living room was quite well unpacked, especially considering the time factor. "Just glad that we could help out. Oh, did you hear that Liz found a new place as well?"

"Yeah, the same building as Kyle and the other guys lived in?" Martine said. "You people seem to recycle apartment buildings way too much."

"Actually, no, it's not the same building, though it's fairly close," Michael said. "Kiddy-corner across the intersection, I think." Martine nodded. "So, umm, what did you want to ask me about??"

"Well, uhh..." She looked like she was trying to blurt it out for a second, and then seized on an excuse to put off the moment. "I'm being a terrible hostess - would you like something to drink? I think there's a lemon snapple in the fridge."

"Oh-ho, so you know my weakness," Michael teased her. "Sure, I won't say no to that."

So it was a few minutes during which Martine rushed around gathering refreshments - beverages for both of them, and arranging cookies on a little plate, (which Michael didn't think was entirely necessary - they could both have picked them out of the box, but he reined in the impulse to tell her so.) "Okay, guess I can't delay any longer. Umm... did you hear that my cousin was involved in that whole thing with Liz's PDA going missing, and the creeps who were trying to get her to pay as much of a reward as possible?"

"Yeah, actually," Michael agreed. He hadn't realized that Martine had known the full connection, but his only information on the whole thing dated to back before she'd been somewhat hastily inducted into the secret - Martine had told Kyle and Tess and Liz about how her cousin had been attacked by people with weird powers, which matched up with a payback scheme that Tess had hatched, and that Michael himself had participated, against the people implicated in the case of the lost PDA. But nobody had been able to tell Martine about that connection without explaining how they knew that the people being attacked were - well, it made sense that a lot of that had been sorted out by now. "Is - oh, is there some new development?"

"Yeah, Jeff isn't letting it go," Martine said. "He... he's bound and determined to find out who 'those people' were."

"Does - do you think that he actually has any clues that would lead him to any of us - including Liz??" Michael asked.

"I... I don't think so. Somebody might connect the PDA stuff with Liz's organizer, but if they have I haven't heard about it from cousin Jeff, and Liz hasn't noticed anybody weird poking around in her life lately." Martine sighed. "But - but he's hooked up with some other people who have had 'weird' experiences here in Roswell."

"Oh, boy, this could be a bit of trouble, yeah," Michael admitted. "And, on a more incidental note, it's kind of weird to hear you talking about this other Jeff, because even though I rarely heard him called by that name, I guess I still think of Liz's father."

"Oh, okay, yeah." Martine shrugged. "What canya do about something like that?"

"Not much." He sighed. "So, umm... how's the work stuff coming? For, ehh, for both you and Kyle I guess."

"He's still loving the advertising copywriting stuff," she agreed, "and I'm learning to like the law stuff a bit more. Did, umm, I can't remember if you'd have heard that I was taking paralegal courses at night."

"Umm... it sounds vaguely familiar." Michael considered. "Maybe I just heard that you were thinking of, not that it was actually a done deal. Alright. So you're doing okay in class??"

"Oh, yeah. Not quite the top of the class, but doing really well." She sighed. "I... I probably don't have the patience or the drive to go to law school for real, but there's something that's in a way comforting and cool learning a bit about the law. Maybe... maybe it's giving me a sense of structure that I felt like I was missing in my life."

Michael suddenly blinked in surprise. "What is it?" Martine asked him, clearly bemused by the reaction take.

"Ohh... just something about that reminded me of Kyle from long before you met him, and that, in turn, brought up another question that... well, in all the time that I've known you, we've never spent that much time together, but I'm kinduv surprised that this has never come up. Do - um, would you describe yourself as a religious person, Martine?"

She laughed immediately. "Ahh, now I know what you were thinking of - the Buddhism thing, right?" Michael's eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "Umm, no, I don't think that I follow any faith in the same way that Kyle does, but... well, sometimes I get the impression with him that Buddhism is not so much a question of faith as a pathway, a guide for his life that he follows as a matter of principle, regardless of whether any of the metaphysical aspects like Nirvana are objectively real or just concepts. And - well, I'm a fairly philosophical person, and a lot of my own beliefs and ideas line up pretty well with what he's learned, so we've decided that a few differences in the labels that we put on things aren't really anything to worry about in the long run."

"I guess it's a good thing that you went over all of that kind of stuff before getting hitched," Michael said.

"Well yeah, who wouldn't?" Michael looked away slightly at that question.

"Umm, on another note - err, I guess you guys have heard about the next wedding, up in the big city."

"Well, yeah," Martine replied. "I mean, after all, it is Kyle's dad, and he's going to be there as one of the groom's attendants. So, that's what, four weddings in about a year and a half, among the people that you guys know?"

"Yeah I guess," Michael said. "And we may have not run out yet, given the fact that Tess and JD seem to be tighter every time that I see them - though they've also dropped hints that they may never worry about the nuptial formalities, and just be together."

"I guess that they can do that if they want to," Martine agreed. "Any idea if either of them want children?"

"Not sure I suppose," he said thoughtfully. "Wouldn't exactly fit in with the Jack Kerouac lifestyle thing, but you never know. Why did you ask about that, though? It's not like ~~you really need to be married to raise kids nowadays."

"Yeah, but... oh, the Mescalero people believe that children born to parents who haven't formally joined their lives suffer for it. And that sometimes the cosmos will keep children from parents like that, for their own sake."

"Hmm." Michael thought about that. "Well, Tess and JD might have problems in store if they want to be parents anyway."

"Oh, really?" Martine seemed disappointed by that reply. "Why?"

"Umm... well, JD is more alien than we are, as near as I can figure it, and there's a larger risk of complications if two hybrids tried to have a kid, especially here on Earth. There... there's a lot of complicated biology and genetics stuff involved, most of it pretty sketchy theory, but the basic idea is that a first-generation hybrid is balanced, one gene of each species matching up against that of the other. A second-generation hybrid would have a lot of double-human and double-alien genes, thus, more human and more alien at the same time, in different ways. And Antarians, they can't survive here on Earth unassisted - something about air pollution. So..."

"I, I think I get the idea," Martine said. "Ohh, that's so sad, though, if they want kids and won't be able to have them because of who they are. I... I guess because Alex and Maria are both human, none of your kids are going to have the same problems?"

"Yeah, hopefully." Michael sighed. "So... so how did you find out about the beliefs of the Mescalero? I have a friend up there on the reservation... or, at least, I did have. Sheesh, haven't gone up to see if River Dog's doing alright in years..."

"Well, umm, I did an independent study on them for a linguistics course... it was kind of made up as an excuse to be close to Kyle for a semester when he was here, but I learned a lot, and not just about their spoken traditions and so on..."

-----------

"Yeah, I'll be fine, Max," Liz insisted. "Thanks for helping me move stuff up."

"Hey, what are good friends for?" Max asked, brushing a little sweat off of his forehead. "Hey, wasn't there an important occasion that we should have been celebrating last week?"~~

"What's that?" Liz asked, and then rolled her eyes slightly, looking for possible matches to last week. "Oh - Bethany's birthday?? I... I dunno, I thought about trying to get something together, but everybody's so all over the place lately, that we just kinduv ended up having a little party for two."

"Oh." Max shrugged. "Well, I'd like to get my own opportunity to raise a glass for the birthday girl still... but unfortunately, not tonight."

"Right," Liz said, nodding. "Plans with Anita?"

"Yeah, she wanted to cook me up her spiciest paella, or something like that." Max shuffled his feet slightly, always feeling more than a little nervous when the subject of his new girlfriend came up around Liz - especially when she was the first one to mention Anita's name. "In fact - well, I should be leaving pretty soon."

"Okay, well, maybe you'd better go and use the bathroom to clean yourself up a bit," she said with a fairly big smile. "I know that the 'strong sweaty man' thing can be somewhat attractive, but you don't want to take it too far."

"Umm, right." Max ducked into the large washroom, and when he was done, in about three minutes, he did in fact look much tidier and presentable - including the fact that his ripped and faded tee had been exchanged for a much dressier shirt. Or, more likely, the fabric had just been transformed, though Liz idly wondered just what he'd have made the buttons out of. "Bye."

"Yeah, bye Max. Have a great time." Liz was somewhat surprised to realize that she actually meant it. She spent a while idly unpacking a few boxes, and then had to attend to her newly one-year-old daughter's needs. And that was when the minor emergency hit.

Knock-knock.

"Um, hello?" The door of apartment 205 opened up, and Liz blinked slightly at the young and distinctly handsome man who stood there. "Err - oh, are you the new lady in 204?"

"Well, yeah, that's me," Liz said, her mind idly running over the odd choice of 'lady' and if she'd have been happier with any other term. The new girl? New chick?? Just 'new tenant'? "Umm, and I was wondering if I could, uh... borrow a can opener?"

For a second he looked at her in blank suprirse. "A can opener? Yeah, umm, I've got one of those you can borrow, for sure. I, umm, I might even have one that I'm not using at the moment, but if it's such an emergency that you'd come over, maybe... oh, come on in." He backed away from the door, heading towards the small kitchen, and opened a drawer to provide a fairly cheap but serviceable opener with a bottle top popper at the other end of the one handle. The lliving room area was more than a little bit disorganized looking, and could probably do with getting swept again, but seemed fairly homey in spite of these things.

"So, umm, let me guess," her benefactor said, offering the tool for her to take. "Umm... let's see if I can guess what you need this for. You... you wanted to make a green bean surprise casserole to celebrate your new home, but the only beans that you've got are in a can."

Liz giggled. "Nothing so healthy, actually. My, umm, my daughter is feeling, ohh, I should be getting back to her already..."

"Of course." The guy stepped through his door and closed it from the outside. "I'm Benjamin Sweffer, by the way."

"Liz Parker, nice to meet you. Well, the best comfort food I've found for her lately is canned spaghetti-ohs, and she's feeling a bit uppity about the move, so..."

"Say no more," Benjamin insisted as they got to the door. "Except that... well, when you bring the opener back, I'd like to meet her. Your little girl. I, umm, I love kids."

Liz shook her head slightly. "How young are you, Benjamin?"

"Umm... nineteen. Just started my sophomore year at the college. How about you?"

"I'll have to tell you next time." Liz made that her exit line.

-----------

Isabel sighed softly to herself, took a momentary look at the picture of Alex and herself together that was sitting on the end table, propped herself up on the couch where she had a great view of Caryn's crib, and picked up the cordless phone to dial. It rang three times and then picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kyle. Greetings from Las Cruces one more time."

"Oh, Isabel, hi." There was a soft breathing sound from the other end of the line. "What didja target me for?"

"Oh, nothing special I guessl" Isabel admitted. "Just was wondering how you're liking married life so far."

"No complaints at all," he told her. "Of course... well, I know that there are seldom guarantees, but I'm kinduv hoping that we don't get a little one on the way for, oh, at least another six months."

"Hmm? Okay, I have to admit, as a mother I'm a little surprise. Sure, having kids pretty much turns your life upside down and shakes it back and forth a little for good measure, but... but maybe you'll never understand all of the good parts until it happens to you. But you'll make a pretty great Dad, Kyle, and Martine will be an amazing mom."

"Well thanks - I guess," Kyle said. "Guess I won't bother asking why she got higher praise than me." Isabel just laughed. "Well, let's see... did you guys RSVP for the latest wedding?"

"Yeah, we'll be there, for - well, in the absence of some big emergency coming up," Isabel insisted. "About time that they finally did it. And your job's going well?"

"Busy busy busy, but yeah I'm having fun with it," he said. "What was that?"

"Umm... I didn't say anything."

"No, I didn't think that you did, but something kinduv beeped."

"Not around here it didn't."

"Oh well. There's a big campaign that I'm probably going to be working on until Christmas at least. What about your classes, and Alex's thing?"

"Classes... well, I took a three-class schedule for the fall term, and I'm just hoping that I can handle, since we've already paid the tuition and fees and what have you."

"Good luck with it - and remember to bail out by the drop date if you really are feeling overwhelmed by something."

"Yeah, thanks very much Kyle, though I'm hoping it won't come to that. Well, let's see. Alex has made the decision to give up the nine-to-five job and take a flyer on his friend's startup company. If that works out, it'll probably give me a bit more time and effort to put into classes." A familiar tone sounded on the line, and Isabel responded without conscious thought. "Oh, that's call waiting - I'll be back in a few seconds, Kyle."

"Call wai--" Kyle managed to mutter before he got cut off when Isabel tapped the appropriate button to switch to the other line. "Hey, I'm on the other line."

"Well, screw whoever that is, I'm more important," the reply came quickly. Isabel laughed.

"Don't let him hear you say that, Tess, I'd suggest!"

"Him, who?" There was a short pause before Isabel said Kyle's name, and then she was interrupted. "Are you talking to Max?"

"Um, no, Kyle."

"Hehh? But... but I just called him, and he didn't pick up."

And then things started to fall into place. "Oh, I think that he didn't recognize the call waiting thingee. Maybe they changed the beep, there in Roswell."

"Ohhh." Tess supplied another piece. "He probably just isn't used to it, since they just got it for the new place. Remember, at Liz's she wanted to just have it go straight to the answering service if somebody was on the phone, because we were always getting interrupted for each other's calls."

"Oh, right, yeah," Isabel said. "Well, if you wanna chat, I can three-way us."

"Ooh, how kinky," Tess teased. "Aren't both you and he married to other people?"

"You know what I mean," Isabel said. "Conference calling."

"Oh, *riight.* Sure, go ahead, link me in." Isabel paused a moment to remember the right command sequence and connected the call. "Kyle, hello?"

"Yeah, who was it?"

"One guess," Tess put in.

"Huh?" Kyle stuttered under his breath. "Oh - are we in a three-way now?"

"Everybody seems to be obsessed with three-ways," Tess immediately quipped. "Of course, I won't deny that it might have been fun - especially before I met JD. Something tells me that Isabel has a very versatile tongue - and you've got your talents in the bedroom too, huh Buddha-boy?"

"Huh?" Kyle repeated again.

"Don't encourage her," Isabel said. "By the way, Tess, where are you calling from?"

The conversational diversion appeared to work. "CHICAGO!" Tess called out. "Oh, it's such an amazing city. I wish that you guys were all up here."

"Hmm, so does that mean that it's what... nearly eight o'clock there?" Kyle asked. "I can never remember time zones."

"Umm, yeah actually," Tess agreed. "What - oh, I guess it's still around dinner time back in New Mexico."

"Alex and I ate early," Isabel said. "He's in the spare room, working on something for the new company, while I keep an eye on m'darling girl."

"Give her a hug from her Auntie Tess," Tess asked.

"Yeah, I'll send one of those along too," Kyle added.

"Alright. Two big hugs for little neice Caryn," Isabel recapped. "Got it - but not until after I've put the phone down."

"Okay I guess. What about you and dinner, Kyle?"

"Umm, I've got something on the stove, actually. One of my dad's famous chili spaghetti sauces."

"Oooooh, I remember those," Tess said. "Been too long - I'll have to make a point of dropping in for dinner the next time I'm around." Kyle grunted happily. "So when's it going to be getting served out?"

"Probably not for fifty or so... Martine's working late."

"Got it." There was a short pause. "So, anybody got any other news? Umm... Maria's getting near her time, right? Last of the power of three??"

"Umm, I think her due date is in around two weeks, yeah," Isabel agreed. "Power of three - like that tv show with the witches??"

"Yep, that's my new name for the baby girls," Tess insisted. "Bethany, Caryn, and whatever Michael and Maria name theirs. I know that they won't really be sisters, but somehow I'm not at all sure that you'll be able to convince them of that as they grow up."

"Really??" Isabel asked. "I mean, what with us~~ being way off here, so many hours away??"

"I... I'm not so sure that you'll be staying in Las Cruces, actually," Tess replied. "Call that a spooky alien hunch."

"Well, I'd hate to bet against them at this point," Isabel whispered. "Weird, though... I guess I assumed that we'd be staying out here and putting our roots down well away from Roswell... Alex and his business stuff, and me finding a place to practice here." She reconsidered that. "On the other hand, I think more of the founding members of the new company are Roswellians than native Crucians, if it comes to that."

"Well, as a Roswellian, I think that we'd be glad to have you back," Kyle put in laughing. "Umm, so, come on, tell us more about Chicago, Tess!"

"And what's JD up to?" Isabel asked.

"He said that he wanted to wander around the streets near the hotel a bit. I just hope that he doesn't come back with more bags of souvenirs than we can fit into the car again..."

-----------

"Hey, baby," Amy DeLuca said, running forward to hug her quite pregnant daughter, and then her son-in-law no less fiercely. "How was the drive?"

"Umm, not too bad, all things considered," Maria admitted. "But I'm looking forward to checking into the motel and stretching out for a while before the rehearsal dinner - if we have time."

"Nothing but time," Jim Valenti assured her with a smile. "Well, maybe that's not true I suppose - we have sunlight, and lots of love, and... you know, come to think of it, I wonder where that expression came from. If you really had nothing but time, you wouldn't be doing too good, would you?"

"I think it's just a slightly weird kind of superlative," Michael put in. "In which case it might be slightly misplaced, because I don't think that we have unlimited amounts of time or anything - an hour or two at most."

"Alright, smart guy," Valenti shot back. "Well, how about we switch cars to get the two of you to your motel? The DeLuca ladies can ride together and catch up on wedding stuff, or anything else they care to chat about."

"I guess that that works for me," Maria said, and her mom agreed. Amy kissed her groom-to-be and then got behind the wheel of Michael's car, and Michael headed off towards hers. "So, umm... how's the private dick business going anyway, sir? I... I guess I haven't heard much at all from you about that in... well, in quite a long time."

"There are reasons for that," Jim admitted. "For one thing, clients generally expect and appreciate a bit of discretion, which doesn't exactly jibe with a lot of telling friends of the family about my workload. But... it's interesting stuff - if I'd realized that private work was more like this, maybe I'd have left the Sheriff's force in Roswell earlier than I did."

"Hmm, really?" Michael asked, intrigued by that notion. "I wonder if things would have been any different with you and the bunch of us then."

"I'm not sure," Valenti admitted. "I mean, when you think about it, I'd probably still have been obsessed with aliens and flying saucers, even as a civilian. So I'd probably still have been on Max's trail, and if I had fewer resources to bring against him without being Sheriff, I'd also have more freedom to act on my own without getting watched by others, like the boys on the force, or the town officials above me."

"Right," Michael agreed.

"Oh the other hand - well, there isn't really much private eye business in Roswell, so probably I'd have had to leave town anyway, suggesting that I'd have been unlikely to get caught up in the lives of you particular aliens." Jim sighed. "And I'm not sure if I'd have been that eager to pull Kyle out of school and bring him to the big city when I had a steady gig, come to think of it." He sighed. "And you're not really that interested in hearing to me ramble on about what would have been huh?"

"Well, it's something interesting to think about," Michael allowed, "but yeah, we could change the subject now."

"It's not going to be too long until you're a father yourself, right?" Michael didn't immediately answer. "Yeah, I remember how hard it was to get my mind around that when it was my turn. Come to think of it, I'm wondering if I'm going to have to readjust to being 'Grampa Valenti' anytime soon."

"Well, keep this under your hat, but I think that Martine doesn't want to try for kids RIGHT away," Michael said. "We got to talking a little while ago."

"Alright."

"Has Amy been going on and on about becoming a grandmother?" Michael asked.

"A little bit... and, well, wondering if there's going to be any trouble from the fact that her granddaughter will be part alien."

"Oh, right, that." Michael laughed a little. "Almost forgot that part myself, actually."

"Yeah. Well, the fact that Isabel and Alex haven't been having any immediate problems like little Caryn flying all around the apartment or making her stuffed rabbit start hopping around the room has reassured her somewhat."

"That's good," Michael said. "So, what, no hint about even one private eye case that you've been working on lately? I promise that I won't tell a... okay, well, Maria, if it happens to come up, but I'll swear her to secrecy too."

"Alright, alright, except I'll probably have to leave the story unfinished, because I believe we're almost at your motel," Valenti said with a wink. "The client came in asking us to find out why..."

Michael carried all of their luggage in while Maria got her settled down. "So, umm, did you have a nice talk with your mom."

"Yeah," she said. "You know, it's kind of weird, I always sort of thought that she'd get married before I did... again, I mean, I know that she was married to my Dad a long time ago, but... well, you know."

"I guess," he said. "And when did you realize that that wasn't going to happen?" Maria looked up and saw that Michael had a fairly wide grin on his face

"Umm... well, the easy answer would be when I found my engagement ring," she said. "Pretty obvious that she wouldn't try to rush in before us then. And... and I guess before that, when I got the bouquet at Isabel's reception, that was probably a clear signal." She sighed. "She could've caught that one - she was right there, pretty much next to me."

"Interesting," Michael said, and meant it. "Well, I don't have any regrets about how things went for the two of us." He brushed some of her hair in a familiar gesture, uncovering a patch of forehead, which he promptly kissed. "And I think I can tell that you're a bit sick and tired of being so pregnant, and..."

"And I need to go to the bathroom," Maria finished.

"What, again??" Maria glared at him. They'd had to stop for bathroom breaks more often than Michael had liked on the way up, which had ended up triggering something of a snarkfest when Michael had blurted out that he could try 'doing something' with his powers to keep her from having to use the facilities one more time. Maria had testily asked if he was planning on extracting stuff from her bladder when they were in the car, (which they had both found quite unsettling,) inhibiting her kidney function, (thus putting her and the baby at risk of waste poisoning,) or just numbing her awareness of the fact that her bladder was in fact bursting.

"Okay, then. Do you need a hand up?" Michael asked his wife.

TO BE CONTINUED...