Red Shift Part 3 Chapter 17
Posted: Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:19 pm
Hi everyone!
Two weeks ago, I was told my internet would be down for approximately one hour while they upgraded some equiptment at my local exchange. Two weeks later...
The joys of technology.
Thank you all for voting for me and my stories. PW picked up another, RS picked up a few and even my Xmas fic picked one up. Thank you so vvery much.
Anyway, I'm under the weather tonight, so I'm just going to post and run, I'm afraid.
Red Shift
Part 3
Chapter 17
The road was strange. Strange, yet in so many ways, it seemed so very familiar. He had seen it somewhere before, only it had been different. Where he had expected to see one thing, something else was there instead. And there were buildings that he could not help feel just should not have been there. He could not help shake the sense of déjà vu that was surrounding him.
A short distance from him, a little up the street, there was a small crowd gathered. There were perhaps forty to fifty people. Most of this crowd, perhaps seventy five percent were older teenagers or young adults. All were dressed in strange clothing; flowered smock type tops, long flowing skirts or dresses and bell bottomed jeans. The clothing had badges sewn on to them, and were died with mysterious circular 'splash' type patterns. They all wore flowers in their hair. The carried large placards or long banners with words he could not quite make out. They were chanting, too, walking in a circle in front of a building obscured by the small forest of placards. Strange words involving counting numbers.
Across from this group was a thin line of green clad deputies and blue and grey policemen. They were watching the group patiently, neither moving to or from the circular parade of brightly colored people. Behind them, a small group of bulldozers and their drivers sat patiently waiting, watching the scene before them.
As the circle turned, a young woman walked into view; a woman whom he recognized.
"Maria?" he called out. "Maria? What are you doing here?"
But Maria ignored him and continued with her chanting. At that moment, one of the deputies stepped forward, and grabbed Maria. It was a signal and the other officers of the law also stepped up and seized someone while one or two of their comrades assisted by protecting them from a sudden rain of placard. The man who grabbed Maria flipped her and expertly snapped a handcuff over her wrist. With a quick jerk, he had Maria's arms pinned behind her back and the other half of the cuffs found her other wrist.
"Kyle!" he gasped, recognizing Maria's captor. "Kyle, what are you doing? Let Maria go."
Like Maria before him, Kyle ignored him, instead, leading a violently resisting Maria to a police vehicle. He turned to survey the scene of violence, and he could not help but gasp. Now that the placards and banners had fallen, he could see what they had been hiding. The building was strange. It was almost a dome, but not quite. Octagonal in shape, it rose from the ground, constructed with a series of long, thin tubes forming the vertical walls. At about head height, the length of the tubes shortened, interlocking as they spiraled over the top, affecting the curved domed roof. From the dome's pinnacle, a long, misshapen spike speared upwards, a number of jagged protrusions sticking out from it. It looked like a missile. An ugly, garish missile.
With a start, Max Evans woke up from his dream, convinced that he could hear someone chuckling in the recesses of his mind.
* * *
President Clayton was sitting behind her huge desk in the Oval Office. Across from her sat three of her Chiefs of Staff. She looked pale, and rather shell shocked.
"Do you want to run that by me again?"
"It seems that those kids, the ones that Jim told you about... it seems that their death's were prematurely exaggerated."
"Which ones?" she shook her head. "The aliens... I mean, the hybrids? Or the human counterparts?"
"Both," was the reply. "All of them. They've all turned up at Chaco Canyons. Marched in, as bold as brass by all accounts, bringing some stragglers in with them."
"So how on earth..." she pulled a grimace. "So what did they do? Some kind of resurrection thing? Can this Max Evans bring people back to life?"
"We have no idea how it happened," he shook his head. "The people concerned seem to be tight lipped about it. All we know is that a group of teenagers turned up and they answer to the names and descriptions of the original gang. Uh, we've sent a message to Valenti for confirmation, but I have no doubt as to where his particular loyalties will lay. His son is with them."
"What does this mean for us?" she turned to look at the map of New Mexico pinned on the wall behind her desk. "For any future plans of a counter attack?"
"Hopefully, they will help us," was the reply. "I mean, they are the mortal enemies of this Tess and Nikolas, by all accounts. Madame President, it strikes me that we have a golden opportunity here. We should extend an invitation to these... hybrids. We can use their knowledge and expertise to train, and later, lead our forces. And maybe they can assist us with developing new weapons too."
* * *
Max was on his hand and knees, crawling over a large map that had been rolled out on the floor like a large rug. The length and width of this map was almost three times Max's height. With his feet pointing southeast toward Roswell, Max was currently looking down on the Chaco Canyons.
"You developing a God complex?" Michael snorted as he emerged from his bedroom.
Max looked up, his original mask of concentration falling to a look of disappointment.
"Oh," Max sighed. "Is Maria still in bed? I kinda thought Liz was with her. She wasn't in her room when I woke up."
Michael gave a small smile at Max's disappointment.
"She is," Michael nodded. "With Maria. They left ages ago."
"She did?" he looked up, a stricken look on his face. "What do you mean, left?"
"Relax," Michael smirked. "Something about checking out the lay of the land."
"I hope they stay in camp," Max frowned.
"Well, Isabel went with them," he shrugged. "I think that between the three of them, they'll be fine. Anyone tries anything on them, then if Maria doesn't screech them to death, Isabel can blast them."
"Not funny," Max shook his head.
Michael just shrugged.
"So what you looking at?"
"I'm just trying to find something," Max returned to the map.
"The Granolith?" Michael started to look at the map's features.
"I hardly think we'll find it marked on a map," Max gave a smug smirk. "Like some tourist signpost."
"So, what then?"
"What do you remember about the night we died," Max rolled over and sat down on Albuquerque.
"Dying," Michael shrugged. "Wasn't our finest hour."
"Seriously, Michael," Max shook his head. "What do you remember? That night, when we drove out to the chamber. Can you remember what happened?"
"Yeah," Michael nodded with a look of disgust. "We got outflanked. We got caught between two units of Nikolas' men. When we tried to retreat from the first group, we ran headlong into Tess."
"That's what I remembered, too," Max nodded. "But then I started thinking. And something didn't add up. Something wasn't right."
"Care to explain?"
"Remember how we ran into that first group? It was like they knew we would be there."
"Tess would have warned them that we might show up," Michael shrugged. "Not exactly a surprise."
"But they were shooting to kill," Max stated. "They killed Isabel. And then when we ran into Tess... I can remember her shouting something about taking me alive. And then one of the first group was shouting that he had us cornered, he was shot by the Tess's group. Does that sound like they were working together?"
"Not especially," Michael shook his head with narrowed eyes.
"There were two separate groups out there that night, Michael," Max was frowning. "With different agendas. One group wanted us... at least, me, alive. And the other, I think they wanted us dead."
"So you're saying that there is a second group of aliens on this planet, and that both of them are hostile to us."
"Actually," Max took a deep breath. "I think there might be three."
"How do you figure that?"
"Although maybe this third group is another part of the group that wants us dead... and that's what has me worried."
"What makes you think there's a third group?" Michael asked again, wondering if Max might be cracking up under the strain of recent events. "I only saw something that might... or might not have added up to two separate sides. How can you figure a third?"
The knock at the door interrupted them.
"Come in," Max looked up at the door.
Jim Valenti opened the door and stepped into the room.
"Max," he nodded touching two fingers to the brim of his Stetson. "Michael. So what's with the note?" He nodded back at the closed door.
"What note?" Michael frowned.
"The note on the door," Jim looked at Michael. "The one that says 'Knock and wait to be invited in. You getting all regal on us, Max?"
"When I close the door," Max shrugged. "Only I can open it."
"Is that necessary?" Michael rolled his eyes.
"Not when Liz isn't around," he sighed. "I guess not."
"You wanted me, Max?" Jim decided that it would be better to talk business than let Max miss Liz.
He had heard of Liz's disappointment in not sharing a room with Max. Jim wondered how much that decision had been based on some kind of respect for his diminutive girlfriend, and how much was based on the fact that Max knew her parents were still alive.
"Yeah," Max nodded, his game face on again. "Jim... how much do you know about what happened the night of the invasion? I mean the whole event and not just what happened in Roswell."
"Only what we pieced together for our report to President Clayton. When I knew what was going on, I reported to an army officer to tell them everything I knew about the skins. I figured, with you guys either dead or in hiding, my silence was doing more harm than good. Anyway, this officer guy flies me out to Washington where I tell Clayton and the chiefs of staff everything."
"This report..." Max ignored the implication of Jim's admission that the authorities knew about him and focused on his immediate problem. "What did it say about Chaco Canyons, Jim?" He looked down at the region on the map. "Why didn't Nikolas's forces capture this area? Why didn't they take all of New Mexico? And how come he's left it pretty much alone since then?"
"That's pretty much a mystery to us, Max," Jim shook his head. "We don't know why they left this place alone. It was kind of uninhabited at the time. "We've been using this place as a base ever since we discovered that any kind of sensors won't work anywhere within 20 miles of the canyons' periphery. And there is too much open country out there for the aliens to cover. So we can pretty much move about undetected."
"So that's another unanswered question," Max shook his head. "Not only do I not know why this corner of New Mexico is unoccupied, but why don't sensors work here?"
"Max, I don't know if you understand or not, it's not a corner of New Mexico that is unoccupied. It's an island. We are in a small island that is unoccupied. The borders themselves got taken a few months later."
"What's so special about this place?" Michael stepped up to stand at Max's side, joining him in looking at the map.
"When we first set up here, Max, we had all sorts of tests run. Even River Dog and his boys came up to take a look. The sensors found nothing... not surprisingly, but River Dog said that they felt a presence there, but that it was very old."
"The Granolith?" a look of hope lit up Michael's face.
"No," Max shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that the Granolith is close to Roswell. Nacedo would not have had time to move it this far."
"Not the night of the crash, no," Michael shook his head. "But he had plenty of time between then and when we hatched."
"No. Not with Nikolas looking everywhere for him... and it. It would have been safer wherever it was. Is."
"So what could this presence be, then?"
"I think there's another army of aliens here," Max spoke in a whisper. "An army big enough and capable enough to have repelled Nikolas' attempts to take this area."
"What?" both Jim and Michael started looking for hidden enemies.
"I think they're on our side," Max smirked at their antics. "At least, they are not on Nikolas's side."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?" Michael narrowed his eyes. "But what if they are allied to that group who tried to kill us?"
"Because they would have done something by now," Max shrugged. "They would have had a lot of opportunities to kill me. Us. And they haven't, so..."
"No," Jim shook his head. "Max, we've been using this place for two years now. And we have pretty much explored every room, every cupboard and every alcove. If there was an army of any size here, we would have seen them by now. We only found empty buildings."
"Perhaps," Max smirked, "you only saw empty building because that is all you were permitted to see."
* * *
"Madame President?" the tall, dark suited man entered her office after being granted permission to do so by her secretary. "I wonder if I might have a moment of your time."
"You'll have to be quick, Mr. Larkin," she indicated the seat across the desk from her. "I have a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a moment."
"The New Mexico situation?" he raised an eyebrow.
"As it happens," she gave him a wary glance, "Yes. Yes it is."
"It's about the current situation there that I've come to speak with you."
"I see," she nodded. "Go on."
"An opportunity has arisen. An opportunity that does not come ones way very often in a given lifetime."
"And what opportunity would this be?" she frowned. "Mr. Larkin, if you have some input to the current military operations, I suggest that you approach General..."
"This has nothing to do with 'current' military operations," he shook his head. "And everything to do with future military operations."
"I don't understand."
"As you are no doubt aware, three teenagers have arrived at the resistance base in Chaco Canyons," he started.
"How did you know about that?" she demanded.
"Madam President," he looked offended. "I think that in my capacity, you should be more concerned if I did not know about their arrival."
"Go on," she nodded.
"According to my sources," he nodded, "these three teens are of an extra terrestrial nature and lived in Roswell prior to the alien invasion. And also according to my sources, they were all killed in that same invasion. Yet here they are, large as life. Madame President, for this ability alone... Think about it. We need never fear death again."
"You're hinting at something else," her eyes narrowed.
"Yes, I am," he agreed. "As the leader of the largest military force on this planet, what would you do if you wished to apprehend a couple of teenagers that were currently residing in a foreign country? Would you invade that country? Would you risk the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers and civilians, just to apprehend these teenagers? No, of course you wouldn't. If diplomatic means had already failed, you would probably authorize some kind of covert kidnapping."
"Where are you going with this, Larkin?"
"Again, my sources are hinting that this whole invasion has been staged just so that the alien forces can apprehend these three teenagers, and something that they have in their possession."
"What's that?"
"Power," he shrugged. "It doesn't really matter what it is, it's what it can offer us. It's what 'they' can offer us."
"If you're suggesting that we recruit these people to assist with our counter offensive against the occupying aliens, I think that assistance is already pretty much guaranteed. Mr. Valenti has already intimated that both he and River Dog have acknowledged him as their new Commander."
"But are they in the best location for that?" he gave her a cryptic nod. "I suggest. Madame President, that we extend an invitation to Max Evans and his friends to join us here in Washington, where we can... control this power. I mean, look at this. These three teenagers, accompanied by a diverse number of friends, crossed into New Mexico completely undetected by both our own sensors, and apparently, alien ones. They then proceeded to move on to Roswell, across open countryside, again, undetected even by the Native American scouts. Two of them, with their friends, then accompanied the resistance to Chaco Canyons, while the third, this Max Evans, walks right into Roswell. There, he rescues some captured soldiers right from underneath the alien's noses and then 'walked' across hundreds of miles of hostile, inhospitable territory with these soldiers, completely undetected, in only a few days. Madame President. This young man has so far managed to pop up, unchallenged, in the middle of two heavily guarded compounds. Think of the power that he must posses... his abilities! And when the aliens have been defeated, there will be all kinds of worldwide repercussions, all kinds of fallout. If we alone have the means to defeat an alien threat, then we can proclaim ourselves defenders of the planet and pretty much control the United Nations. We know that we are no alone anymore. We can use the threat of not offering assistance to any other nation to secure our own peaceful future."
"Are you suggesting that we incarcerate him and hold him in a white room?" she looked shocked. "I think you might find he will be most resistant to such an idea. I know I am."
"Madame President," he put on his game face. "You are the leader of the free world. You have an occupying force of aliens abusing American Citizens. The world's eyes are upon us. It's 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' all over again. Do you have the guts to drop this bomb?"
* * *
Unlike any other group of young people out and about in the compound, the quartet of Liz, Isabel, Maria and Kyle did not move around anonymously. Everywhere they went, people stopped and stared. They were the alien and the humans who were in love with aliens. Not everyone knew what to make of them. More than once, one of the soldiers had been heard to mutter "damn traitors" under his breath. As well as the occasional "what a waste."
"Why are we doing this again?" Kyle was trying his best to look like a body guard, but in the face of so much weaponry, it was hard to look unflustered.
"Two reasons," Isabel smirked. "The first is to meet and greet as many people as possible to show them that we're just ordinary people. You know, hearts and minds."
"Uh huh," Kyle nodded. "And the second?"
"Keeping Liz away from Max as long as possible," Maria laughed. "Until he comes to his senses and gives in to his human hormones."
"I'm not keeping away from Max," Liz objected. "I'm giving him his space while he works out how we're going to beat Tess. I'm merely rationing my time with him is all."
"Oh, yeah," Maria nodded. "And he will so cave. This time next week, you'll be sleeping together." A wicked grin passed her lips. "Or not."
For the most part, the Native Americans treated them like any other member of their rather large group. This helped most of the other people, especially the civilians at least tolerate them. The soldiers looked at them with a little suspicion. Maria had worked out that they were not sure where their loyalties lay. Were they with the aliens, or the humans.
"We're all fighting against Tess and Nikolas," Liz had pointed out.
"All they see are aliens, Liz. Aliens over there, aliens over here. And it's kind of strange to them."
Liz knew, however, that once Max and Michael started to show the qualities that has surfaced of the last few weeks, then the soldiers would be right behind them.
She liked this Max. He was still as gentle and kind, and open, but there was a hint of steel to him. She even thought his stubbornness was a little cute.
They were currently talking to a small group of soldiers who had arrived the same day as Richard - whom they had not seen since that last confrontation. Cat came bounding up and sat with them, as though he had been a part of their group all the time.
"Hey, Julia," he announced his presence.
Liz just shook her head and decided against correcting him.
"Wow," he grinned. "Who would have thought that you were practically some queen of a distant planet, huh?"
"Uh, yeah," Liz blinked.
"And I sat with you."
"Yes," Liz grinned. "Yes, you did. Better not let my boyfriend hear you say that, huh?"
"Oh, right," he nodded. "Cause I expect he can do some terrible things to me."
"Yeah, 'cause he really does terrible things to me, too, sometimes."
"What?" Cat gasped, his face turning white.
"Sometimes, he tickles me," Liz shook her head. "And other times, he like... just kisses me senseless, you know?"
"Funny," Cat shook his head. "I thought... I liked you better the way you were back at camp."
"Oh, and here's the other one," Liz pointed at Craig Easton walking toward them with Pam Troy next to him.
"Oh my god!" Liz exclaimed, seeing that their hands were joined.
Her face broke out into a huge smile when she heard Pam laugh. It seemed that Craig was just what Pam needed.
"Ladies," Craig gave an informal salute. "Kyle, Cat."
"Hi Craig, hi Pam," Liz beamed up at them. "You seem to be doing much better," she placed her hand on Pam's arm.
"Uh," she started to blush.
"And, Craig," Liz stood up. "Thank you so much for looking after Max when you guys were heading over here. It meant a lot knowing he had someone to trust."
"He's easy to trust," Craig shrugged. "Any alien who goes out of his way to save a stranger's life..."
"Thank you all the same," she reached over and pulled him into a hug.
With a sudden jerk, she pulled herself away from him, her face drained of all color.
Liz?" Maria gasped. "Liz what's wrong?"
"Max!" she gasped. "I have to see Max." She looked around in sheer panic. "Right now."
* * *
Two weeks ago, I was told my internet would be down for approximately one hour while they upgraded some equiptment at my local exchange. Two weeks later...
The joys of technology.
Thank you all for voting for me and my stories. PW picked up another, RS picked up a few and even my Xmas fic picked one up. Thank you so vvery much.
Anyway, I'm under the weather tonight, so I'm just going to post and run, I'm afraid.
Red Shift
Part 3
Chapter 17
The road was strange. Strange, yet in so many ways, it seemed so very familiar. He had seen it somewhere before, only it had been different. Where he had expected to see one thing, something else was there instead. And there were buildings that he could not help feel just should not have been there. He could not help shake the sense of déjà vu that was surrounding him.
A short distance from him, a little up the street, there was a small crowd gathered. There were perhaps forty to fifty people. Most of this crowd, perhaps seventy five percent were older teenagers or young adults. All were dressed in strange clothing; flowered smock type tops, long flowing skirts or dresses and bell bottomed jeans. The clothing had badges sewn on to them, and were died with mysterious circular 'splash' type patterns. They all wore flowers in their hair. The carried large placards or long banners with words he could not quite make out. They were chanting, too, walking in a circle in front of a building obscured by the small forest of placards. Strange words involving counting numbers.
Across from this group was a thin line of green clad deputies and blue and grey policemen. They were watching the group patiently, neither moving to or from the circular parade of brightly colored people. Behind them, a small group of bulldozers and their drivers sat patiently waiting, watching the scene before them.
As the circle turned, a young woman walked into view; a woman whom he recognized.
"Maria?" he called out. "Maria? What are you doing here?"
But Maria ignored him and continued with her chanting. At that moment, one of the deputies stepped forward, and grabbed Maria. It was a signal and the other officers of the law also stepped up and seized someone while one or two of their comrades assisted by protecting them from a sudden rain of placard. The man who grabbed Maria flipped her and expertly snapped a handcuff over her wrist. With a quick jerk, he had Maria's arms pinned behind her back and the other half of the cuffs found her other wrist.
"Kyle!" he gasped, recognizing Maria's captor. "Kyle, what are you doing? Let Maria go."
Like Maria before him, Kyle ignored him, instead, leading a violently resisting Maria to a police vehicle. He turned to survey the scene of violence, and he could not help but gasp. Now that the placards and banners had fallen, he could see what they had been hiding. The building was strange. It was almost a dome, but not quite. Octagonal in shape, it rose from the ground, constructed with a series of long, thin tubes forming the vertical walls. At about head height, the length of the tubes shortened, interlocking as they spiraled over the top, affecting the curved domed roof. From the dome's pinnacle, a long, misshapen spike speared upwards, a number of jagged protrusions sticking out from it. It looked like a missile. An ugly, garish missile.
With a start, Max Evans woke up from his dream, convinced that he could hear someone chuckling in the recesses of his mind.
* * *
President Clayton was sitting behind her huge desk in the Oval Office. Across from her sat three of her Chiefs of Staff. She looked pale, and rather shell shocked.
"Do you want to run that by me again?"
"It seems that those kids, the ones that Jim told you about... it seems that their death's were prematurely exaggerated."
"Which ones?" she shook her head. "The aliens... I mean, the hybrids? Or the human counterparts?"
"Both," was the reply. "All of them. They've all turned up at Chaco Canyons. Marched in, as bold as brass by all accounts, bringing some stragglers in with them."
"So how on earth..." she pulled a grimace. "So what did they do? Some kind of resurrection thing? Can this Max Evans bring people back to life?"
"We have no idea how it happened," he shook his head. "The people concerned seem to be tight lipped about it. All we know is that a group of teenagers turned up and they answer to the names and descriptions of the original gang. Uh, we've sent a message to Valenti for confirmation, but I have no doubt as to where his particular loyalties will lay. His son is with them."
"What does this mean for us?" she turned to look at the map of New Mexico pinned on the wall behind her desk. "For any future plans of a counter attack?"
"Hopefully, they will help us," was the reply. "I mean, they are the mortal enemies of this Tess and Nikolas, by all accounts. Madame President, it strikes me that we have a golden opportunity here. We should extend an invitation to these... hybrids. We can use their knowledge and expertise to train, and later, lead our forces. And maybe they can assist us with developing new weapons too."
* * *
Max was on his hand and knees, crawling over a large map that had been rolled out on the floor like a large rug. The length and width of this map was almost three times Max's height. With his feet pointing southeast toward Roswell, Max was currently looking down on the Chaco Canyons.
"You developing a God complex?" Michael snorted as he emerged from his bedroom.
Max looked up, his original mask of concentration falling to a look of disappointment.
"Oh," Max sighed. "Is Maria still in bed? I kinda thought Liz was with her. She wasn't in her room when I woke up."
Michael gave a small smile at Max's disappointment.
"She is," Michael nodded. "With Maria. They left ages ago."
"She did?" he looked up, a stricken look on his face. "What do you mean, left?"
"Relax," Michael smirked. "Something about checking out the lay of the land."
"I hope they stay in camp," Max frowned.
"Well, Isabel went with them," he shrugged. "I think that between the three of them, they'll be fine. Anyone tries anything on them, then if Maria doesn't screech them to death, Isabel can blast them."
"Not funny," Max shook his head.
Michael just shrugged.
"So what you looking at?"
"I'm just trying to find something," Max returned to the map.
"The Granolith?" Michael started to look at the map's features.
"I hardly think we'll find it marked on a map," Max gave a smug smirk. "Like some tourist signpost."
"So, what then?"
"What do you remember about the night we died," Max rolled over and sat down on Albuquerque.
"Dying," Michael shrugged. "Wasn't our finest hour."
"Seriously, Michael," Max shook his head. "What do you remember? That night, when we drove out to the chamber. Can you remember what happened?"
"Yeah," Michael nodded with a look of disgust. "We got outflanked. We got caught between two units of Nikolas' men. When we tried to retreat from the first group, we ran headlong into Tess."
"That's what I remembered, too," Max nodded. "But then I started thinking. And something didn't add up. Something wasn't right."
"Care to explain?"
"Remember how we ran into that first group? It was like they knew we would be there."
"Tess would have warned them that we might show up," Michael shrugged. "Not exactly a surprise."
"But they were shooting to kill," Max stated. "They killed Isabel. And then when we ran into Tess... I can remember her shouting something about taking me alive. And then one of the first group was shouting that he had us cornered, he was shot by the Tess's group. Does that sound like they were working together?"
"Not especially," Michael shook his head with narrowed eyes.
"There were two separate groups out there that night, Michael," Max was frowning. "With different agendas. One group wanted us... at least, me, alive. And the other, I think they wanted us dead."
"So you're saying that there is a second group of aliens on this planet, and that both of them are hostile to us."
"Actually," Max took a deep breath. "I think there might be three."
"How do you figure that?"
"Although maybe this third group is another part of the group that wants us dead... and that's what has me worried."
"What makes you think there's a third group?" Michael asked again, wondering if Max might be cracking up under the strain of recent events. "I only saw something that might... or might not have added up to two separate sides. How can you figure a third?"
The knock at the door interrupted them.
"Come in," Max looked up at the door.
Jim Valenti opened the door and stepped into the room.
"Max," he nodded touching two fingers to the brim of his Stetson. "Michael. So what's with the note?" He nodded back at the closed door.
"What note?" Michael frowned.
"The note on the door," Jim looked at Michael. "The one that says 'Knock and wait to be invited in. You getting all regal on us, Max?"
"When I close the door," Max shrugged. "Only I can open it."
"Is that necessary?" Michael rolled his eyes.
"Not when Liz isn't around," he sighed. "I guess not."
"You wanted me, Max?" Jim decided that it would be better to talk business than let Max miss Liz.
He had heard of Liz's disappointment in not sharing a room with Max. Jim wondered how much that decision had been based on some kind of respect for his diminutive girlfriend, and how much was based on the fact that Max knew her parents were still alive.
"Yeah," Max nodded, his game face on again. "Jim... how much do you know about what happened the night of the invasion? I mean the whole event and not just what happened in Roswell."
"Only what we pieced together for our report to President Clayton. When I knew what was going on, I reported to an army officer to tell them everything I knew about the skins. I figured, with you guys either dead or in hiding, my silence was doing more harm than good. Anyway, this officer guy flies me out to Washington where I tell Clayton and the chiefs of staff everything."
"This report..." Max ignored the implication of Jim's admission that the authorities knew about him and focused on his immediate problem. "What did it say about Chaco Canyons, Jim?" He looked down at the region on the map. "Why didn't Nikolas's forces capture this area? Why didn't they take all of New Mexico? And how come he's left it pretty much alone since then?"
"That's pretty much a mystery to us, Max," Jim shook his head. "We don't know why they left this place alone. It was kind of uninhabited at the time. "We've been using this place as a base ever since we discovered that any kind of sensors won't work anywhere within 20 miles of the canyons' periphery. And there is too much open country out there for the aliens to cover. So we can pretty much move about undetected."
"So that's another unanswered question," Max shook his head. "Not only do I not know why this corner of New Mexico is unoccupied, but why don't sensors work here?"
"Max, I don't know if you understand or not, it's not a corner of New Mexico that is unoccupied. It's an island. We are in a small island that is unoccupied. The borders themselves got taken a few months later."
"What's so special about this place?" Michael stepped up to stand at Max's side, joining him in looking at the map.
"When we first set up here, Max, we had all sorts of tests run. Even River Dog and his boys came up to take a look. The sensors found nothing... not surprisingly, but River Dog said that they felt a presence there, but that it was very old."
"The Granolith?" a look of hope lit up Michael's face.
"No," Max shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that the Granolith is close to Roswell. Nacedo would not have had time to move it this far."
"Not the night of the crash, no," Michael shook his head. "But he had plenty of time between then and when we hatched."
"No. Not with Nikolas looking everywhere for him... and it. It would have been safer wherever it was. Is."
"So what could this presence be, then?"
"I think there's another army of aliens here," Max spoke in a whisper. "An army big enough and capable enough to have repelled Nikolas' attempts to take this area."
"What?" both Jim and Michael started looking for hidden enemies.
"I think they're on our side," Max smirked at their antics. "At least, they are not on Nikolas's side."
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, huh?" Michael narrowed his eyes. "But what if they are allied to that group who tried to kill us?"
"Because they would have done something by now," Max shrugged. "They would have had a lot of opportunities to kill me. Us. And they haven't, so..."
"No," Jim shook his head. "Max, we've been using this place for two years now. And we have pretty much explored every room, every cupboard and every alcove. If there was an army of any size here, we would have seen them by now. We only found empty buildings."
"Perhaps," Max smirked, "you only saw empty building because that is all you were permitted to see."
* * *
"Madame President?" the tall, dark suited man entered her office after being granted permission to do so by her secretary. "I wonder if I might have a moment of your time."
"You'll have to be quick, Mr. Larkin," she indicated the seat across the desk from her. "I have a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff in a moment."
"The New Mexico situation?" he raised an eyebrow.
"As it happens," she gave him a wary glance, "Yes. Yes it is."
"It's about the current situation there that I've come to speak with you."
"I see," she nodded. "Go on."
"An opportunity has arisen. An opportunity that does not come ones way very often in a given lifetime."
"And what opportunity would this be?" she frowned. "Mr. Larkin, if you have some input to the current military operations, I suggest that you approach General..."
"This has nothing to do with 'current' military operations," he shook his head. "And everything to do with future military operations."
"I don't understand."
"As you are no doubt aware, three teenagers have arrived at the resistance base in Chaco Canyons," he started.
"How did you know about that?" she demanded.
"Madam President," he looked offended. "I think that in my capacity, you should be more concerned if I did not know about their arrival."
"Go on," she nodded.
"According to my sources," he nodded, "these three teens are of an extra terrestrial nature and lived in Roswell prior to the alien invasion. And also according to my sources, they were all killed in that same invasion. Yet here they are, large as life. Madame President, for this ability alone... Think about it. We need never fear death again."
"You're hinting at something else," her eyes narrowed.
"Yes, I am," he agreed. "As the leader of the largest military force on this planet, what would you do if you wished to apprehend a couple of teenagers that were currently residing in a foreign country? Would you invade that country? Would you risk the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers and civilians, just to apprehend these teenagers? No, of course you wouldn't. If diplomatic means had already failed, you would probably authorize some kind of covert kidnapping."
"Where are you going with this, Larkin?"
"Again, my sources are hinting that this whole invasion has been staged just so that the alien forces can apprehend these three teenagers, and something that they have in their possession."
"What's that?"
"Power," he shrugged. "It doesn't really matter what it is, it's what it can offer us. It's what 'they' can offer us."
"If you're suggesting that we recruit these people to assist with our counter offensive against the occupying aliens, I think that assistance is already pretty much guaranteed. Mr. Valenti has already intimated that both he and River Dog have acknowledged him as their new Commander."
"But are they in the best location for that?" he gave her a cryptic nod. "I suggest. Madame President, that we extend an invitation to Max Evans and his friends to join us here in Washington, where we can... control this power. I mean, look at this. These three teenagers, accompanied by a diverse number of friends, crossed into New Mexico completely undetected by both our own sensors, and apparently, alien ones. They then proceeded to move on to Roswell, across open countryside, again, undetected even by the Native American scouts. Two of them, with their friends, then accompanied the resistance to Chaco Canyons, while the third, this Max Evans, walks right into Roswell. There, he rescues some captured soldiers right from underneath the alien's noses and then 'walked' across hundreds of miles of hostile, inhospitable territory with these soldiers, completely undetected, in only a few days. Madame President. This young man has so far managed to pop up, unchallenged, in the middle of two heavily guarded compounds. Think of the power that he must posses... his abilities! And when the aliens have been defeated, there will be all kinds of worldwide repercussions, all kinds of fallout. If we alone have the means to defeat an alien threat, then we can proclaim ourselves defenders of the planet and pretty much control the United Nations. We know that we are no alone anymore. We can use the threat of not offering assistance to any other nation to secure our own peaceful future."
"Are you suggesting that we incarcerate him and hold him in a white room?" she looked shocked. "I think you might find he will be most resistant to such an idea. I know I am."
"Madame President," he put on his game face. "You are the leader of the free world. You have an occupying force of aliens abusing American Citizens. The world's eyes are upon us. It's 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' all over again. Do you have the guts to drop this bomb?"
* * *
Unlike any other group of young people out and about in the compound, the quartet of Liz, Isabel, Maria and Kyle did not move around anonymously. Everywhere they went, people stopped and stared. They were the alien and the humans who were in love with aliens. Not everyone knew what to make of them. More than once, one of the soldiers had been heard to mutter "damn traitors" under his breath. As well as the occasional "what a waste."
"Why are we doing this again?" Kyle was trying his best to look like a body guard, but in the face of so much weaponry, it was hard to look unflustered.
"Two reasons," Isabel smirked. "The first is to meet and greet as many people as possible to show them that we're just ordinary people. You know, hearts and minds."
"Uh huh," Kyle nodded. "And the second?"
"Keeping Liz away from Max as long as possible," Maria laughed. "Until he comes to his senses and gives in to his human hormones."
"I'm not keeping away from Max," Liz objected. "I'm giving him his space while he works out how we're going to beat Tess. I'm merely rationing my time with him is all."
"Oh, yeah," Maria nodded. "And he will so cave. This time next week, you'll be sleeping together." A wicked grin passed her lips. "Or not."
For the most part, the Native Americans treated them like any other member of their rather large group. This helped most of the other people, especially the civilians at least tolerate them. The soldiers looked at them with a little suspicion. Maria had worked out that they were not sure where their loyalties lay. Were they with the aliens, or the humans.
"We're all fighting against Tess and Nikolas," Liz had pointed out.
"All they see are aliens, Liz. Aliens over there, aliens over here. And it's kind of strange to them."
Liz knew, however, that once Max and Michael started to show the qualities that has surfaced of the last few weeks, then the soldiers would be right behind them.
She liked this Max. He was still as gentle and kind, and open, but there was a hint of steel to him. She even thought his stubbornness was a little cute.
They were currently talking to a small group of soldiers who had arrived the same day as Richard - whom they had not seen since that last confrontation. Cat came bounding up and sat with them, as though he had been a part of their group all the time.
"Hey, Julia," he announced his presence.
Liz just shook her head and decided against correcting him.
"Wow," he grinned. "Who would have thought that you were practically some queen of a distant planet, huh?"
"Uh, yeah," Liz blinked.
"And I sat with you."
"Yes," Liz grinned. "Yes, you did. Better not let my boyfriend hear you say that, huh?"
"Oh, right," he nodded. "Cause I expect he can do some terrible things to me."
"Yeah, 'cause he really does terrible things to me, too, sometimes."
"What?" Cat gasped, his face turning white.
"Sometimes, he tickles me," Liz shook her head. "And other times, he like... just kisses me senseless, you know?"
"Funny," Cat shook his head. "I thought... I liked you better the way you were back at camp."
"Oh, and here's the other one," Liz pointed at Craig Easton walking toward them with Pam Troy next to him.
"Oh my god!" Liz exclaimed, seeing that their hands were joined.
Her face broke out into a huge smile when she heard Pam laugh. It seemed that Craig was just what Pam needed.
"Ladies," Craig gave an informal salute. "Kyle, Cat."
"Hi Craig, hi Pam," Liz beamed up at them. "You seem to be doing much better," she placed her hand on Pam's arm.
"Uh," she started to blush.
"And, Craig," Liz stood up. "Thank you so much for looking after Max when you guys were heading over here. It meant a lot knowing he had someone to trust."
"He's easy to trust," Craig shrugged. "Any alien who goes out of his way to save a stranger's life..."
"Thank you all the same," she reached over and pulled him into a hug.
With a sudden jerk, she pulled herself away from him, her face drained of all color.
Liz?" Maria gasped. "Liz what's wrong?"
"Max!" she gasped. "I have to see Max." She looked around in sheer panic. "Right now."
* * *