Roswell Fanatics

Well here is part IV. Lizzybug is still wrastling Real LIfe so this comes unbetad. All due respect to the incredible creators of Highlander and Roswell. Needless to say no offence or financial consequences are offered. This is still CC, no changes there, just a continuation of the story. The MA is probably overkill, but better safe then sorry.

Another Life IV Part 1

It did take a while to settle in and get used to being back on earth for the foreseeable future. Also it took some time to getting used to the fact that they would not have the same freedom to move around as they had on Antar. With a relatively sparse population and one that while loving the Royals knew the difference between watching and obsessing about them, they were able to really be themselves and quite often walk around Antaris without being bothered much. But on Earth that could not happen. Between the paparazzi, crazies, and just plain rubberneckers they had to sneak out and usually go far away from Roswell to be able to just be normal people. And that of course took time and planning, which pretty much destroyed the atmosphere anyway. Max had insisted that the plans for the settlement outside Roswell have some areas shielded from the outside so that they could just sit and relax, let Liz do her KATA, and so on. Still it was a more restricted life then they had before.

One of the first constructions in space had been a yard and service area for the interstellar ships, especially the scout ships that were so critical to finding a new planet. It was finished just before the last movement from Antar, and all three scout ships were currently refueling and getting ready for their first mission in finding a planet near earth to move to. Max called in the three captains for a meeting. Liz had been talking with the Granolith which had absorbed all the data and observations that earth telescopes, satellites, space probes and the Hubble had gotten over the last 20 years. It had then come up with about 50 best candidates as regards systems to check out. They were looking for a sun not unlike Sol, or a binary system that could approximate Sol’s output. Liz had asked what difference a sun would make to the Granolith, which took its energy that way.

“Your Majesty, I was built very specifically to take my energy from Pegasus, since it was never really thought that I would need to go anywhere except maybe a short journey. In the 50 years I was on Earth I was only able to reach 62% of my energy needs as regards having the ability to perform all my functions. That was why I was only able to make the trip back to Antar once. I have researched and tested and I believe that this solar collector I have designed will reach the 80% level.”

Liz thought about that for a moment. “How will that restrict you as regards transporting people?”

“I will be restricted to approx 2000 light years as regards the ability to transport several times in a short period. Of course the farther away the more energy required. And I would need some time to recharge.”

“Is there no way we can boost that?”

“None that I have been able to find.”

Liz was thinking about that conversation as she sat beside Max as he talked to the Captains. As usual with matters scientific, Max turned over the meeting to Liz.

Liz stood up. “Gentlemen, here are your assigned areas to explore. They are the best possibilities that we have been able to find near earth. They are all within 500 light years so it should not take anywhere near as long as your searches did before we left Antar. After you have examined them and the surrounding systems, you will then move and search these areas next. If you are not successful after that you will return to Earth and we will decide where next to look. If at all possible we want to find a planet within 2000 light years of earth.”

After the meeting was over as they were returning to the Palace, Max asked Liz ”Why the 2000 light year limitation?”

Liz then told him about the Granoliths limitations.

Max shook his head. “ I had forgotten about how being away from Pegasus limits the Granolith. I am going to make putting that solar collector together a high priority.”

“I also asked the Granolith how hard it would be to terraform a planet that had the necessary gravity, water and heavy enough atmosphere. It told me a minimum of 40 years to a maximum of 100, depending on how much effort one put into planting the necessary trees and such to make the atmosphere palatable to us. And trying to get more moisture to a dry planet involves capturing and then sending comets heavy with ice to that planet which would then involve a lot more effort and possible damage to the planets geological stability. So that is pretty much out.”

Max grimaced. “I kind of thought so but was hoping…”

“Yeah so was I. Sci Fi strikes out again.”

Liz took a deep breath as they entered the Palace and went up to their rooms. Once inside she took Max’s hand and sat him down and then sat in his lap.

Max looked at Liz and saw that she was biting her lip- a sure sign she had some serious things to talk about. He pulled her closer and said “Spit it out Liz, I can see you have some heavy stuff to unload.”

“There is something we have been avoiding talking about and now that we are here on Earth for at least several years it can no longer be ignored.”

Max knew right away what she was talking about. “Your immortality.”

Liz nodded. “While the time I spent on Antar did age me a few years, it will become more noticeable in time that I am not aging. I am almost 23 by the calendar but only a little over 19 as far as age is concerned. In 2-3 years it will start to get obvious- especially since there are so many pictures of me at 17-18 floating around from Antar. Depending on how far away the new planet is when we find it, it will still take one to two years to move. We still have the ships and the pods went into storage so we can do that part a lot faster, but we would still need to build settlements on the new planet. Alex and his nerd-herd have been working on it, but still have not found a way to block a significant amount of the energy that powers my Quickening outside of using a pod, which obviously is out. When I am 26 or 27 it will start to be a problem.”

Max sat and held Liz and thought. Her immortality had always been a plus to him, especially since they had found a way to beat the “No Children” part. He knew she thought very differently. Her fear of losing him, watching all those she cared for age and die, and especially the children, was always there just under the surface. He himself was a little torn about things as regarding the next 20 years or so since he was well aware that once it became clear she was not aging her immortality would come out, and therefore threatening her friends and other immortals. And he had to admit that deep down inside he was not sure how he would handle himself getting older and her not. As much as he adored Liz, he worried about possibly coming to resent her for her immortality as he aged. And he knew that would be devastating to her. Leaving out how losing her friends and family one by one to disease and old age would hurt her as well. And that also left another question: their plans to hopefully dissolve the Monarchy so that they could stay on Earth. That looked like not likely due to their continued popularity among the people of Antar. And even if they did it still left the question of aging on earth. He knew she was not at all worried about staying somewhere and losing her immortality for good-she was not at all adverse to aging alongside him and her children and friends and family. It was a big can of worms that they had successfully ignored while occupied with moving to Earth. But it was one that could not really be hidden away now.

“I really don’t know Liz. We will just have to take it one year at a time.”

Liz nodded. She had hated to bring this up but felt she had to- she did not want something like this festering under the surface.

She decided to have a grand meeting, the first since moving back to earth, and that would be one of the topics. Max and she thought about where to do this, while the palace seemed the logical place Liz was worried that all the paparazzi hanging around might get pictures of some of the immortals and increase interest in them again. The Inn seemed a good choice, if they could arrange for it to be completely empty. Rachel and Connor were currently staying there, Connor looking at opening a antique shop nearby so that they could stay-as much as he liked NY, he found being back in the Highlands a bigger draw then he had thought. Rachel told Liz when she called that it would not be a problem if they gave her a months warning. Liz called Duncan and he told her it should not be a problem but that he would check with the others. A day later it was set.

Duncan looked around the Inn and realized that it had become one of his favorite places to be. In the Highlands, separate and isolated, it appealed to him on many levels. With the huge changes in his life over the last few years, he had come to the opinion that he had for too many years tried to just exist instead of live. With Amanda and the children, he now knew what really being alive was all about.

Amanda watched Duncan standing out in the field slowly turning and viewing the Inn and the Highlands. She knew he had come to love the area and accepted that they would be coming here quite often. As a change of pace for a few days or a week she was fine with that. Being a city girl through and through though she had her limits. Even loving Duncan as she did, and now with her dream come true with her twins, at heart she was not meant for country living.

Connor checked the small building that he had decided would do for an antique shop one more time. Rachael would stay in NY to run the main shop, but he would be able to spend a lot of time here and still be involved in the business. Now with a wife and children, he found that he no longer had to look for ways to pass the time. And he knew he had never been happier.

Rachel went over the inventory of linen and whatnots to make sure that there was plenty for the coming week. She made sure that the help knew that this was a special time and that they would only need to come by for a few hours each morning. The small kitchen would be run by her and Connor and a couple of volunteers from the group. She wanted to make sure that as much as possible the group would not have to worry about someone hearing something they should not.

Richie, Courtney and the kids had come with Duncan and his family as the first ones there. Richie was less of a type to brood or ponder things, much like Courtney, and he just accepted being here as part of the deal.

Methos and Grace and their children came a day later, with Joe and Rebecca, Charlie and Cynthia and their kids. He looked forward to his usual banter with Duncan, as he was never short of a acid quip. Grace was eagerly looking forward to talking to Liz and by being with her able to contact the granolith; a breakthrough of significance had come with the DNA research she had been concentrating on. Grace thought that she was now in a position to identify some of the unknown parts of the DNA that even the Granolith had not figured out.

Joe and Rebecca looked on this time as a real vacation, which they felt they needed since they had just recently enacted the reorganizational changes that the Watchers Council had approved to tighten up on the Watchers. Research and indeed found several other cases of watchers helping their Immortals hunt; they had all been dealt with. The immortals in question had been contacted by Duncan and Connor and told in no uncertain terms that unless they wanted to face them in a challenge, they were to forget the watchers ever existed. The immortals had not been stupid about it and so far were behaving themselves.

Charlie and Cynthia were always happy to go to the inn since it was a real vacation for them; though Cynthia was as always worried that Liz would get another challenge. They had moved back to Roswell when Liz was in the palace; and Charlie had opened a Gym in Roswell that had already become very popular. Duncan was sad to lose him, but in a stroke of luck a friend of Charlie’s had just gotten out of the military and had been able to take over at the gym without missing a beat. He had even been brought into the Immortal world and had handled that pretty well.

The families had arrived a day after the last of the Immortals came. The royals used the granolith and just poofed in. It was a pretty full inn now with every room filled. That evening they had a huge barbecue with a bonfire as the weather was clear and warm for the highlands (in the upper 60’s). Max and Liz mingled and enjoyed themselves. After a massive dinner they all gathered around the bonfire.

As usual Maria decided to start things off.

The Kids had been bundled off to bed so that the adults could talk freely.

“OK, Chica, you called this thing so whats on your mind? Hopefully nothing as big as we have just had. I think we are all entitled to a little less stress and galaxy wide situations.”

Liz grinned at her best friend. “Just wanted everyone to be here so we could talk and enjoy being together. I DO have a couple of things to bring up.” (Maria snickering loudly to Liz’s playful glare and fingering of her sword which as always was at her side).

Richie piped up. “Come on Max, tell the truth- you have to share Liz with her sword.”

Kyle snickered. “He is way too whipped to ever complain. Madame Sharp has him fully muzzled.”

Liz looked at Kyle. “You remember what I said to you right after you found out about Immortals. You asked if I was into short haircuts and you KNOW what I said then? You are just about to be a candidate for Liz’s patented quick and dirty cuts. BLOOD OPTIONAL.”

After the laughter died down Liz became serious. The others saw the change and sat up.

“Guys, I want to ask your advice. My immortality is going to become a problem in the next few years as it becomes rather clear that I am not aging. With so many good pictures around of me from when I was 16-17, and the fact that I only aged a couple of years really on Antar, its going to get noticed. I figure I have maybe 3-5 years before questions start getting asked. Alex, I take it you have not had any breakthroughs there on your research?”

Alex sadly shook his head. “Liz, outside of podding, we have no way to keep the quickening down here on earth. I still hope to figure it out one day but right now it does not look promising.”

Isabel straightened up next to Alex. “Liz, makeup and careful work on clothes and the like can pretty much cover that up. It will be a pain and you cannot afford to make many mistakes but it can be done. You can probably keep it up for a lot longer if you had to. Alex and his nerd herd will figure out something sooner or later. And we will find a new planet – once there you will be aging normally. So I do not think its as serious as you think it is.”

Liz sighed. “Isabel, I have gotten used to pictures being taken of me all the time, and with the modern digital cameras that kind of makeup will start to become obvious pretty quickly. That will cause questions to be asked as well. The more interest there is the more likely someone will stumble on to things. “

Maria shook her head. “Liz, maybe you are over thinking this. Women use makeup to look better or younger, no one outside of actresses playing roles wants to look older. Outside of teenagers trying to avoid being carded, of course.”

Amanda had been thinking about it. “It’s a legitimate worry, Maria. We Immortals are always aware of it. Especially female immortals. With Liz in such a high profile position, her looks will be under a microscope constantly. Any makeup to try and produce wrinkles and the like would be very obvious. Now she is some years from that, but a woman in her middle to late 20s does change as she matures- and that more then anything is what might get noticed since Liz will not change at all. She is supposedly 23, going on 24. In 5 years she will be 28, almost 29. No change WILL be noticed.”

“There might be a way to deflect this somewhat.” This from Methos.

As everyone turned to him, he continued.

“Lets use the event when Liz was shot. Have it get out that one of the benefits of Max healing her was that it also rejuvenated her and made her physically younger. Another such happening could be staged in a few years that would take care of the problem. I know that the Antarians and Granularians would probably wonder, but they are not going to say it cannot happen.”

Liz shook her head. “Sorry Methos, but enough has gotten out since Max healed me that too many would not accept that. Even though I am human, I doubt that would fly.”

Grace pondered the question. “I wonder. Liz, Antarians and Granularians ARE different then humans. Who is to say that it could not happen?”

Max thought about that. “But if it got out it would topple all of it. And that would expose the Immortals.”

Here is the next part still unbetad.

Another Life Part IV Chapter 2

The debate among the immortals and watchers in the know had been going on for some time. In fits and starts it had been talked about before but at the moment it was getting heated.
“More need to know about the possibility.” Grace had been adamant about this from day 1.
“The more that find out the more likely that Immortality will get exposed.” The rejoinder from her lover and father to their children had also been consistent. Methos had always been cautious about his identity as an Immortal.
Duncan was of two minds. He could see why Methos was being cautious and was also partially in agreement. But he had also been the one to talk to friends of his who had been able to become parents. So he was torn about the entire question, as was most of those present.
“If it is done carefully I think that that problem will not come up. But that is the key- carefully.” Joe Dawson opined.
“Has the Council come to any decisions?” asked Grace.
Joe shook his head. “They are still getting their heads around the whole idea and have not really been able to come to any agreement.”
“What a surprise.” Snorted Methos.
Joe felt he had to defend the council somewhat out of loyalty. “This has shaken all the core beliefs the council has had for two thousand years. Everyone on the council grew up on the old understandings and rules. Now a lot of them have been tossed out the window so its no wonder they are having a hard time adjusting. Its not like we here are all in agreement about what to do, right?”
Amanda shook her head. “Actually I think we are in agreement that more Immortals need to know and have the chance to become parents. It’s the how and when that we disagree with.”
Richie, Courtney, Charlie, Rebecca and Cynthia all nodded.
Cassandra was obviously conflicted about how to do it, but was also clearly in favor of others getting the chance to have children like she had. “I think we are in agreement to do it, but how to do it is going to be the hard part. Do we pick and choose who to tell, or do we find a way for the watchers to let them know, which also could expose them and I doubt the Council will ever agree to it.”
Constatine had said very little since the meeting had come together. It had been arranged for over 3 months to quietly get them all together and not let the Council know what was going on.
“I do not think that we can officially involve the Watchers, for reasons we all understand. If that is the case, how do we do it. Its not like we know most or even part of who all Immortals are. How do we decide who should be told over who should not? And who will do it- there are thousands of immortals. And only a handful of us.”
Liz had also been quiet. While agreeing that others deserved the same opportunity that she had had, she was acutely aware of the possibility of the secret of Immortality coming out. Her own concerns about people noticing that she had not aged was also digging at her.
She looked at Joe. “Joe is there any way we can get into the master database and get a full listing of Immortals without the Council finding out?”
Joe shook his head. “Even before Felicia Rising and that mess, that was virtually impossible to do. Now its even harder.”
“And before you ask I cannot do it either with my back door access into the database. It has been set up to PREVENT a download and would almost certainly crash if I attempted it.” Methos was quick to prevent Liz from going in that direction.
Cassandra considered the possibilities. “If we can somehow get that we can work to identify who would be a good risk and who would not be.”
“Do we really have the right to decide that?” asked Grace.
Methos sighed. “We have the responsibility to our own children not to expose them to any more dangers then they already are. Lets face it: if immortality gets out there will be a lot of places looking to get one to take them apart and see what makes them tick. And children of Immortals will be even more sought after.”
The absolute truth of that statement silenced everyone in the room.
The meeting of Immortals and (some of) their Watchers had been called to hash out this question, but Liz felt that going any farther now would come to just another impasse, so she decided to drop her own concern on them and see if there were any ideas.
“One of my big concerns is that it will be noticed in a few years that I am not getting any older. As visible as I am, with photos being taken constantly, it will be noticed in a few more years. The Granolith has been unable to come up with anything I could wear that would dampen my quickening in any substantial way. Everything that could do the job fully requires being in a capsule. What it has been able to come up with at this point only holds back 10%.”
She showed them the somewhat large pendant that she wore around her neck.
Amanda looked at it and shook her head. “Hate to think what it would come up with that could be any uglier.”
Grins and snickers went around the room, further lessening the tension generated by the previous debate.
Methos was pensive. “We still have several years before any real questions are asked. And you could always say being healed by Max after your shooting arrested your aging for several years.”
Liz shook her head. “I really do not want to go down that route since all too many Antarians know quite well that is not true. Someone would talk, sooner or later.”
Duncan leaned forward. “Does the Granolith think it will be able to come up with something any time soon?”
Liz shook her head again. “It is not hopeful. It would take some breakthroughs in a couple of areas to come up with something small enough to wear without being obvious.”
“Even if you do find another planet to go to it would still become obvious and cause way too many questions to be asked.” Stated Amanda.
“I suppose it could be put out that due to how young you were when you were first shot it could be quietly leaked that you were affected very differently, and added to that using the Granolith and being healed again has retarded your aging. No one really knows enough about all that to say it could not happen. “ proposed Grace.
Liz considered that. “Maybe. Would have to think about that but that does sound like a possible way to get around it for a while. Would not last forever though.”
“Still it would buy time for some years after it was first noticed, and by then the Granolith or one of Alex’s nerd herd should be able to come up with something.” Stated Methos.
“He has been working on it, and has his guys looking into it as well.” Mused Liz.
Joe looked around at the room. “I think maybe that is a way around that problem at least for the foreseeable future?” Slow nods came from most in the room, and no outright rejection came from anyone.
Duncan decided that there had been enough evasion of the main topic. “Does anyone here have an objection with Joe and Methos trying to find a way, quietly of course, of getting a copy of the Immortal Database?” Both of them looked a little uncomfortable, but did not object.
Liz smiled a little at Duncan’s maneuvering, something he clearly was not comfortable doing but felt honor bound to do.
“Enough of all these tough questions, lets relax and enjoy the time together. Its not going to be often that this can be managed so lets take advantage of it.”
By one’s and two’s, as quietly and as sneakily as possible, they had all been brought together at the Royal Palace in the Roswell zone. Only Immortals and watchers and Charlie had been at this meeting in order to keep the contention down as much as possible. Max and the rest of the Roswell crowd had been kept out of it at the moment, as Liz has told them that since this was truly an Immortal concern, they should hash it out amongst themselves and their watchers. Only Courtney and Charlie were included because they were married into the Immortal/Watcher world and that was their main concern.

The conversation then went in many different directions as the women and men began to congregate in separate parts of the room to talk about various things.

Afterwards Liz went to talk to Max and the others. Alex was sorry that he had been unable to come up with more to help Liz, who told him to stop feeling guilty.
“If the Granolith is unable to come up with anything more, how do you expect yourself to do so?” said Liz bluntly.
Isabel put in her two cents worth. “Exactly. Stop feeling guilty when you have no reason to. It pisses me off.” And reinforced that with a fierce glare that had Alex obediently nodding.
Maria looked thoughtful. “Liz, all that work we did on Alex has really paid off.”
Isabel smiled. “Never got a chance to thank you guys for training him up so well. Its not been hard for me at all to complete his orientation as the completely acceptable husband.”
Michael shook his head sadly. “Alex, man, we got to save you. A couple of weekends up in the mountains with just us guys and some beer and we can make a man out of you again.”
Isabel fried him with a glare. “Do that Michael and you will never have a good nights sleep every again. How does 300 lb female wrestlers chasing you sound in your dreams?”
Everyone in the room laughed hard at that. Michael tried to smirk but did look a little worried.
“Don’t worry Isabel, spaceboy would not dare. Compared to what I would do to him that would be a walk in the park.” Grinned Maria.

Another Live IV Part 3

Liz loved the new workout/training room in the palace. She had had it designed so that she could quite easily have a full workout /training session with another Immortal. So doing her KATA was no problem at all. She liked doing it alone since it allowed her not only to center herself and relax from the Day to Day responsibilities, she had realized that some alone time was necessary. As much as she loved Max and her children, there were times when she just needed to be along. She had finished and was cooling down and relaxing when the intercom buzzed.

Sighing she pressed the button. “Yes?”
Her secretary, Susan, answered “The first interviewee for your ADC is here now, Your Highness.”
Liz grimaced- she did not like this part of hiring people. “Show her to my office and I will be there in about 10 minutes.”

The whole ADC thing had been Max’s idea. Normally what Queens had were Ladies in Waiting for social events and the like, and secretaries for other duties. Max had suggested an ADC, which normally were for Kings, for her since a lot of her duties would require them. ADC’s, unlike secretaries and Ladies in Waiting, were expected to make some decisions on their own and supposed to take some of the load off of the Royal Highness. Which was mainly why Max wanted Liz to have at least one and preferably several to allow her more free time to spend with families and friends. Liz actually liked the idea, just did not like the process of picking them. She would have to ask personal questions and say no a lot- things she just did not like to do.

Having quickly showered and dressed, Liz headed towards her office, walking down the hall on the third floor of the Palace. Suddenly she stopped in shock.

*Who could it be? As far as I know none of them are here right now?*

Instinctively her hand went to her sword. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax. She would not need her sword, with metal detectors and other more modern precautions there was virtually no way anyone could smuggle a weapon into the Palace. On the other hand, if they had some kind of knockout drug or gas, they could then use her own sword to cut off her head. It would be incredibly stupid since the quickening would incapacitate them and they would be caught and executed immediately, but you never knew.

She walked into the outer office where her secretary was sitting. She of course immediately stood up as Liz walked in. Liz had found the standing and such that was the protocol for royalty one of the things she did not like but realized that she could not change. She nodded to Susan and took the file that she held out. Liz stood there and quickly read it.

The requirements for ADC had been discussed and debated by the whole group. She had also asked Joe and Methos for input as well since they were much more familiar with what ADC’s did in the past and what she might need them for now. They all agreed that someone in their 20’s, with a good college education and some work experience was a must. After that the debate really broke down to what individuals thought were important. Maria naturally thought that she needed someone who was easy to talk to. Max wanted someone who was a go getter and would take some of Liz’s burdens. Michael wanted a person who would be ready to respond to any emergencies or situations. Isabel wanted someone who looked good and could fit in on ceremonies and any other public events. And so on. Liz was not totally sure what she wanted and felt that she would talk to the candidates that had been screened in as regards to a VERY rigorous background check by Antarian Security (Kyles bunch) and the CIA, FBI, MI5, MI6 and any of the other intelligence and security organizations that were felt to be appropriate for each candidate. That was another reason she was forcing herself to relax. This person had been checked out in every way possible.

Her name was Lisa Marie Anderson. She was 26, 5 foot 6, 120 lbs, graduate of the University Of Iowa, with a degree in Communications. She had worked right after school for public affairs firm based in Chicago. She had spend two years there and then moved on to work at a newspaper in Indianapolis for another year. She had left there 6 months earlier and had unfortunately had a car wreck that that miraculously had not injured her. Liz looked at that hard. That must have been when it happened. She looked at the personal part and saw that she had 2 brothers and a younger sister. No indication that she was adopted. Hmmm. *There is a good chance she has no idea what has happened. Need more info about that car accident.* She also saw that for the last 6 months she had been working as a temp doing odd jobs. Now why was that? Well this was certainly going to be an interesting interview. She kept the folder in her hand as she walked into her office.

Lisa Marie Anderson was a brunette, slightly taller, and a little more solid then Liz. She had stood up as soon as the door opened and faced the door, her hand rubbing at her forehead and then her eyes widened as she looked at Liz. That told Liz she had no idea why her head had been pounding, and no idea why it suddenly went away. *She does not know.*

Lisa forced herself to forget the strange headache she had gotten, and had gone away as suddenly as it came on. She faced the Queen of Antar and tried to be as calm as she could be. She really wanted this job, though it was not likely to be hers. No telling how many had applied and a lot of them must have more qualifications then she had. Still nothing ventured, nothing gained. She believed this would be as challenging and as interesting a job as one could ever have. With the bad taste the last permanent job she had taken had left her with, she was hopeful this would be much better. If she got it.

“Hello, I guess I don’t have to introduce myself do I? Unless you have been living under a rock for the last several years and your file says otherwise. Please sit down.” Liz said as she walked over to her desk and sat down, knowing Lisa could not do so until she did.

Lisa carefully sat down in the chair facing the Queens desk. Queen Elizabeth of Antar was a brunette like her, slightly shorter and slimmer. She was wearing a obviously expensive pants suit, with her famous sword in a scabbard at her side. Her expression was one of amusement as she looked at Lisa. She seemed every bit as open and friendly as she had seemed in all the videos and pictures, and there were a LOT of those, that Lisa had ever seen. * OK girl, give it your best shot.*

“Thank you your Majesty. I am very honored that I have made it this far in the process. I must admit I did not think I would even get this far.” Lisa cringed slightly after saying this- it had sounded a lot better in her head then it did just now. Luckily the Queen did not seem to see anything wrong with it.

Liz smiled at the young woman. She could completely understand her nervousness, which she did a pretty good job of hiding. She thought back to when she met the President for the First time, and that conference at Sydney.

“Do not sell yourself short. You did very well as a college student, and your experience at a public affairs firm and at a newspaper will come in handy. May I ask why you left the newspaper after only one year?” Liz had a hunch there was a story there.

Lisa took a deep breath. The whole truth or the sanitized version. Deciding to be totally honest she gave the unvarnished truth.

“ I found I could not be part of anything that so clearly was biased and determined to further the agenda of the owner and managing Editor, rather then just putting the facts out and letting people decide on their own. Their open contempt for the common man and everyday woman, thinking they were stupid and needed to be “guided” by those smarter and better educated, really got to me. I was able to stomach it for a year and finally had enough and quit.”

Liz slowly nodded. Now that she thought of it, she did remember something about that paper. It was a rag. About as bad as the National Enquirer or the NY Post.

“Didn’t you know what you were getting into before you went there?”

“No, your majesty. The offer came in just when I was feeling really bored at the PR firm and I jumped at it. I really did not like working in Chicago- too big and noisy and impersonal. As a matter of fact I liked working in Indianapolis. It reminded my of my home town, Cedar Rapids. I was only able to stand that paper as long as I did because I liked the city.”
*OK, lets find out something about that car accident.*

“Its noted in here that you had a very serious car crash and was fortunate enough to walk away from it without any injuries. What happened?”

Lisa grimaced. She did not like to think about that.

“I had left the paper only a week earlier and was looking for another job, hoping to find something quickly. It was a cold day in December, and it started to rain which turned to Ice pretty fast. It was a road on the outskirts of town, in the hills not far away. I lost control on a turn and went down an embankment and rolled several times. I lost consciousness and yet I seem to remember feeling my arm break and incredible pain to my head. I was out for several hours before someone spotted me and called the police. I was all scrunched up in the car and it took them over an hour to get me out of the wreck. The paramedics were astonished that I was uninjured. They told me they fully expected to find a body and nothing else. I admit I was as surprised. Not only that I was not even suffering very much from hypothermia, despite the fact that I was rained on for several hours. Cleaned me off a little but I still should have been in a lot worse shape then I was. With my car wrecked, and it only had liability, I could not afford to get another and had to move back in with my parents in Cedar Rapids. The last few months I was a temp while trying to find a permanent job. Then I found out about this and decided to try.”

Liz was nodding her head, thinking hard. *She was very lucky. She died and never knew it. And she did not have the shock of finding injuries miraculously healed like I did. I have to tell her. She will need a teacher. Who should it be?* Liz thought about that for a minute or so then came to the realization that SHE wanted to be Lisa’s teacher. She had always had a personal goal of being one to pass on what she knew. Well aware of just how lucky she had been that Duncan McLeod was in the right place at the right time (her thoughts on possibly interfering higher powers or beings notwithstanding) she wanted to nurture a newbie herself. Well this looked like her chance. Taking a deep breath she decided to take the plunge.

“Well enough of this office. Lets head to my workout room. We can talk better there.”

As she followed the Queen down the hall, Lisa realized that no matter what happened she would get a chance to spend time with someone who was truly different and unique. A human from earth who was the queen of a people displaced from their home world, temporarily staying on earth until they found another world. In the year since they finished the move, Antar’s fast scout ships had spread out looking for new worlds. So far they had not found any good enough to move to, but had found some places not far off. It was thought that it would probably only take another year or two at the most before one was found. If she somehow got this job she might have to make the decision on whether to stay on earth or not. That was just as exciting a possibility as working for the Queen.

Liz opened the door to the training room, it was keyed only to open to her and the group, and a few chosen Antarian security people.

*Now how to do this so as to make it as easy as possible for her to take the news? Quick and hard or try and do it slow and careful. Or maybe a combination would be best?*

Another Life IV Part 4

Liz decided to feel Lisa out a little at first. “How has your view on the universe changed since you found out about Aliens?”

Lisa thought about that for a minute. “I had always believed that there was life out there, but it was more of a concept than anything else. I really did expect them to show up in my lifetime. I remember when the President gave his speech, I was in college and we were in the TV room at my dorm. No one had a clue at what he was going to say. When he came out and said Aliens were real and here and all that, we just sat there with our mouths open. Even afterwards no one had anything really intelligent to say. We were just too shocked. All the next day virtually everyone cut class and gathered in groups to talk about it. And then right after that pretty much we found out they were going to be coming here in LARGE numbers to stay for a while. That spooked some people out a lot, while others were thrilled. Finding out that we would be getting a lot of benefits like cheap energy and advanced medical help and the like just added to the impact. It took me a while to come to grips with it, now it seems almost natural to have them around. Of course the fact that they really do not look different probably has a lot to do with people accepting them. I guess that is pretty shallow but that is the way people are.”

Liz nodded, surprised a little and pleased that Lisa was open about all that. *Will be a good thing when she finds out. Now to probe a little into her family life and see if she knows she is adopted. * “Tell me a little about your family and how you grew up.”

Lisa relaxed a little, it seemed to be going well. “Born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Dad is a Insurance agent, actually a supervisor now for Met Life. Mom is a Real Estate agent. Had to say I had a pretty good childhood. Except of course for my two lunkhead older brothers and a bratty little sister.” She grinned at Liz, showing that that was just words. Liz grinned back, wondering if she knew she was adopted. “Nothing out of the ordinary happened during my childhood or in high school or even college really. At least until the day I found out Aliens were amongst us.”

Liz took a deep breath, deciding she needed to probe a little deeper. “The earliest memory I had was falling down and scraping my need badly when I was four. What was your earliest memory?”

Lisa thought about that. “I think when we went to the city Zoo when I was maybe 4 or 5; I remember looking at an elephant and thinking how big it was; and then being scared by a Tiger that hissed at us. “

Liz was a little frustrated, not wanting to seem too pushy at getting personal information. She decided to take a little different tact. Picking up the folder with Lisa’s resume on it, she asked ”So have you ever had any serious illnesses or injuries?”

Lisa looked thoughtful. “No, cannot seem to remember anything. Though….” She trailed off.

Liz leaned forward slightly and pushed a little. “Though what?”

Lisa was thinking hard and did not notice. “Just before I started first grade, the school system required a full check up and had a list of vaccinations you had to have. My first visit to the doctor they took some blood for routine tests. When we came back for the follow up visit the doctor asked my mother something, I was not really paying attention. Then she told me to go out in the waiting room and wanted to talk to the doctor alone. That did not bother me a bit, and I remember that when she came out a few minutes later she looked a little stressed out and looked at me strangely for a minute, then sort of shook her head and took my hand and we left. Come to think of it she had all us kids go to our room that evening when dad came home from work and talked to him for a while. Huh. Had not thought about that for years. The doctor must have told her something that upset her but I do not know what it was. I have always been perfectly healthy, so it must not have been something important.”

*Paydirt! I bet the doctor told her mother that her blood type could not have been possible with the types her and her husband had. She did not know herself, I bet there was the old switcheroo pulled at the hospital when Lisa was supposed to have been born. So Lisa has no idea and her parents have probably been wondering about that for years.*

Liz stood up and went over to the weapons racks along the wall. She looked for a moment, then chose a small throwing knife. Walking over to Lisa, she handed it to her, holding the knife blade so Lisa could grasp the handle.

Lisa was puzzled. Why was the Queen handing her a knife. She held it gingerly, never having handled any kind of a weapon in her life.

Liz told her “ Examine that knife- what do you think of it?”

Lisa was even more puzzled. She looked at the knife and then to the queen. “It’s a small knife. I really do not know what to say. Its like the ones I see on TV and in the movies. Its not big, not much bigger then a steak knife.”

Liz nodded and took back the knife and stepped back a few feet. *Here goes*

Lisa looked at the queen as she took the knife by the handle and placed it against her forearm.

“Now just sit there Lisa and do nothing. I am about to show you a secret that will frankly blow your mind. Probably more than knowing Aliens are real.” She then cut her forearm for about 6 inches.

Lisa opened her mouth to yell when the Queen cut her arm- then left it open in shock. The cut was HEALING! Blue Sparks danced all around it as it got smaller and smaller. Finally after maybe a minute or so it was gone. The Queen walked over to replace the knife then walked back and showed her forearm to Lisa. THERE WAS NO SCAR! It was like it had not happened at all.

Liz walked over and sat down next to Lisa and waited. After a minute or two, Lisa blinked and shook her head.

“Is this something to do with Antarians or you being Queen?” She stumbled a little trying to get that out clearly.

Liz shook her head. “It has absolutely nothing to do with Aliens or anything from another planet as far as I know. I was born this way. A very tiny percentage of humans, much less than one thousandth of one percent, are like me. We are Immortal.”

Lisa goggled at her. *The Queen was right-this was a bigger deal then Aliens! Slowly her mind started to work again. Why was the queen telling her this? I guess I have the job, but it still does not make any sense for her to tell me something so incredible.*

Liz could fairly accurately gauge what Lisa was thinking from the emotions on her face.
“And you are wondering why I am telling you this? Something so clearly important and something so that clearly needs to be kept secret. If this got out there would be those trying to find Immortals to take them apart to see what makes them tick. Since we are called Immortals with good reason- we do not age at all. We can heal virtually any wound. Though only on Earth. The energy that does this we call the Quickening. The Granolith was able to sense that about me and figure out that only on Earth was there energy to power it. The unique signature of Earths magnetic and radiation fields and the suns power all come together to make it as far as we know unique to any species. On Antar after a time My quickening went away and I began to age normally. Its actually a worry of mine that people will start to notice I am not aging.”

Lisa slowly nodded, thinking hard. This made sense, the need to keep it secret and the fact that only on Earth would the unique conditions happen. She blinked and started to ask some questions. “I can see why you need to keep it quiet, so why are you telling me now?”

Liz reached over and took Lisa’s hand. “A few other things about Immortals. The Quickening prevents us from having children. But once it is removed we can. And the only way for an Immortal to die permanently is for their head to be cut off.” She sat back a little and waited to see if Lisa could put it all together.

Lisa looked at the Queen then down at the sword at her side. Her eyes widened. “So that is why you learned to fight with a sword- to protect yourself. From other Immortals?”

Liz nodded. “If an immortal cuts off the head of another, all their power, the power of their quickening, goes to the other immortal. Its quite a ride, almost like a drug high, I have been told.”

Lisa blanched. “So there are bad immortals out there that like to cut off heads to get high?”

“That is part of it. The other part of it is called the Game. Legend has it that one day after no new immortals are born, the numbers will gradually get smaller until only a few are left. They will fight until only one is left. That Immortal is supposed to get the power of all the Immortals that have ever lived-enough power to rule the world.”

Dazed, Lisa looked at Liz. “Legend?”

“The oldest Immortal I know of, that anyone knows of, is over 5000 years old. He says that is what he heard back then. Another thing that makes it even more strange. The one rule even evil immortals will not break is this: No one will fight on holy ground, holy to any religion anywhere. The reason for this is that according legend again, two immortals fought on holy ground once. Next to Mt Vesuvius in 79 AD.”

Lisa’s eyes widened again. “That is what caused the eruption that buried Pompeii?”

“All Immortals believe this. So that is the one place all Immortals are safe from each other. There is something else. All immortals are foundlings. There never has been found a mother of an immortal. We are all adopted or orphans. I was found at the age of one day in the dumpster outside of the Crashdown. My parents found me and adopted me on the spot. They had just moved to Roswell and the Sheriff of the time arranged for them to take the baby- there was never any paperwork. He looked around for a while but could find no trace of anyone. That is why it is not known that I am adopted.”

Now Lisa was openly staring at Liz in shock. “No Trace of a mother or anything- EVER?”

“Never. And many have looked over the centuries. Just one of the reasons I personally believe that someone or something else has a hand in it. That this is no natural occurrence. “

Lisa just shook her head and thought for a few minutes. Liz waited patiently. Finally Lisa looked at her. “Why are you telling me this?”

Liz took a deep breath. “ That headache you got that went away as soon as you saw me? We call that the BUZZ. It warns us that an immortal is nearby. Because you are one of us. You are Immortal. “

Another Life IV Part 5

Lisa stared at Liz. Mouth gaping open. Liz leaned forward and with one finger closed her mouth. “No need to catch flies, Lisa.” She then got up to the intercom and pressed the button. “I need to speak to the king.” “One moment your Majesty.” “Liz, whats up?” came Max’s voice. “Could you come down to the training room in a while?” “Do I need to be there right away?” “No hurry.” “OK I will be there in about 10 minutes.” “See ya soon”. Liz then went back to the bench and sat next to the shell shocked young woman.

Lisa was pretty much beyond shock, not far from catatonia. Liz wondered if she should have tried to find a way to ease the shock, but really did not know how to do so.

Lisa was barely able to keep herself from falling to the floor and curling into a ball. One shock after another had pretty much put her down for the count. But slowly she began to come back to herself. *Immortal? Me? But that means according to the Queen that I was adopted. Mom and Dad have never said anything to me about that. Wait a moment…that doctor… Mom looking at me strangely…. That talk with Dad that night……could that be it? Could the doctor have told her that there was no way I was her child do to the blood type? This is crazy. But I did get that headache out of the blue and it went away as soon as I saw the Queen. Just like she said. Could I really be Immortal?*

Lisa looked at the queen. “That part about foundlings, never finding a mother…Mom and Dad have never said anything?”

Liz nodded sadly. “There have been cases where a newborn was found and a mother gave birth to a still born baby and one was substituted for the other without anyone being told. It apparently happens even in this day and age, despite all the records and such. Which is what I bet happened in your case and your parents never knowing until that blood test you got before you started first grade. Another reason I think that something beyond nature is involved. Things just too conveniently happen. “

Still a little dazed Lisa nodded. The Queen had a point. It certainly sounded like someone or something was working here besides nature. She had another thought. “I have never heard anything about this, never a rumor or a hint. How has this secret been kept over thousands of years. Especially nowadays with so much advanced medical knowledge and records keeping and the like? You think something or someone is still involved?”

Liz firmly nodded. “I think so. Just like in my life so many things just happened at the right time and right place with the right people. Maybe God is a lot more hands on than anyone thinks, or maybe he has a meddling subcontractor or something. Who knows? I have come to the conclusion that whoever or whatever is involved is not going to let us know anytime soon. Maybe he/she/it whatever gets their jollies watching the whole show.”

Lisa grimaced. “That is not a comforting thought. Sounds like that whatever is kind of unpredictable and chaos causing. Not someone you can count on in a pinch.”

“Yeah. So I usually just cuss them out and move on.”

Lisa giggled. “Sounds like a plan. So now what?”

At that moment the door opened and Max walked in. Lisa scrambled to her feet as Liz walked over to Max and laid a big kiss on him.

“So Liz whats up?”

Liz motioned to Lisa. “She is immortal.”

Max’s eyes grew large. “Holy Shit!”

Lisa giggled again. For Royalty they certainly were informal and just like normal people.

Max walked forward with his hand out. “Pleased to meet you.” Lisa, not knowing what to do, took his hand and said “Lisa Anderson, your majesty.”

Max waved away the formality. “When its just us, drop the your majesty part. It helps us keep acting like normal people, which we are when its all said and done. So how does it feel to have your whole world view dumped on its rear end?”

Lisa shook her head. “I am pretty much still in shock. Its all so hard to believe.”

Max nodded. “That is the way it happened to me, even when I knew I was an alien, when Liz told me I was just sitting there with my mouth open for a while. I mean most people would not be shocked about aliens, but Immortals are a whole other story.”

Lisa slowly nodded. “Even now I still find it hard to believe. Uh, your majesty” as she looked at Liz.

“Like Max said, when its just us drop that part. What is it Lisa?”

Lisa pointed at the weapons. “I need to see it myself.”

Liz nodded and went and got the knife and handed it to her. “You will not heal as fast as I did since you are a newbie with no heads to your credit.”

Lisa took the knife and started to place it against her arm when Liz’s words penetrated. “Heads to your credit? You have taken heads?”

“Three of them. All headhunters. None of them all that strong but I seemed to have gotten a boost from Max’s healing me. So I have stronger Quickening then most Immortals have with the same age and head count.”

Lisa blinked then nodded. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she cut her arm, but only for a couple of inches. IT HURT! Then she opened her eyes and looked at the cut. At the blue sparks as the wound healed, slower then the Queens had but still in less then two minutes it was healed with no scar. She kept looking at her arm.

Liz walked over to her and took the knife gently from her while Max guided Lisa towards the bench and sat her down.

Lisa just sat there for a few minutes looking at her unmarked arm. Then she raised her head and looked at Liz. “Wow.”

Liz grinned a little. “Yeah its quite a feeling. Takes a little getting used to. Don’t worry about it, we all go through the same thing. “

Max looked at Liz. “So who are you going to call? Duncan? Or are you going to talk to Amanda or Cassandra about training her?”

Liz firmly shook her head. “I intend to train her myself.”

Both Lisa and Max looked at her in shock.

“Liz, are you sure about this?”

“Your Majesty, are you sure about this?”

Liz grinned widely at the two. “Yep.”

Max frowned. “Liz, are you sure you are ready to have your own student? Duncan was a lot older then you are when he had his first student.”

“I have always wanted a student, Max. I wanted to make sure a newbie got as good a deal as I got when Duncan found me. And yes I am ready for one. The basics are the basics and you know I have that down pat. She is only a little bigger then I am so that should work out well. And we are in a very good position to train her, what with all the security and such and training areas well away from prying eyes.”

Max frowned but could not find a hole in her logic.

Lisa looked at them. “Do I get a say in this?”

Liz walked over and sat down next to Lisa. “Of course you do. If for whatever reason you do not want to be my student I can arrange for you to have another. There are several possibilities. Its just that I want to and I really believe I am ready to have a student.”

Lisa shook her head. “I am not sure I want to be trained on how to kill someone with a sword and cut off their head.”

Liz reached over and took both of Lisa’s hands. “I had the same reaction when Duncan McLeod told me about being Immortal and what I had to do to survive. But the choices are limited. Your only real alternative to training is to join a convent. And after 10-20 years it will be noticed that you are not aging and will have to move on. That is if you can stand being in one. I knew I never could.”

Lisa thought about that. “No, I could not either. Just no way. Its not that I have any religious objections or the like, I have never been all that religious anyway. Is there really no other way?”

Liz knew she had to be strictly honest with Lisa. “A good friend of mine, Grace, has never fought and she is over 500 years old. She has had to run and hide quite a few times, Duncan saved her life from a headhunter and so did I not too long ago. Several others have done the same. At any time she could be caught and killed by a headhunter. Even though she makes it a point to keep a very low profile. So it is up to you- but that is the way it is.”

“Duncan McLeod. I seem to recall that he is the one that trained you. So he is an Immortal as well?”

“Yes he is. Maybe the best of them all, not only as a swordsman but as a person as well. Honor is his watchword, a finer person I have never met.”

Lisa nodded, clearly thinking about it. “I have never held a gun in my life, never taken any self defense courses, nothing. I am not sure I would be able to bring myself to take a head even if I won.”

“That is a decision we all have to face. My first fight was against a headhunter, a woman named Felicia Rising. I was only a few months old, not even fully trained when she came to Roswell to take my head. Duncan had found her in London in WW2, and arranged for her training. She went bad and became a headhunter, and when she found out that Duncan for the first time ever had taken a female student, me, she wanted my head. I took hers instead. Right after I had stabbed her, I hesitated for a moment before taking her head. I realized that if I did not she would come after me again, maybe trying to use my friends or family against me. I felt I had no choice. One thing that happens when you take a head, you get all the memories of not only that Immortal, but of all the immortal heads that he or she has taken. Not all the memories, but its like a quick synopsis. Felicia had tormented and taunted her victims, she was truly an evil person. I knew then that I had done the right thing. Its not easy and it stays with you, but in the end there is little choice if you want to survive.”

Lisa thought about that. Could she do it? Could she take a life in cold blood? Even to survive?

Another Life IV Part 6
Lisa had spent the rest of that day getting familiar with the Palace and the Queen and King. Though they made it clear that when they were alone it was Liz and Max. Lisa had a hard time remembering that. She found it also hard to get used to the fact that they seemed so much like ordinary people. Just another young couple with kids. Who happened to be half human half alien, and human immortal. Just like everyone else.

Liz realized that Lisa was still in a slight state of shock from all the revelations she had been hit with and tried to make her feel as much at ease as possible while she came to terms with all she had found out. Liz knew that would take a while- it had for her. She decided that seeing Max and her and the rest of the group in normal everyday life would be best for her to start getting used to being different. The full impact of being immortal would not hit Lisa for a while yet. So she and Max took her around the Palace showing her the sights, as Max put it. The real shock for Lisa would come at dinner when she sat down with the whole group and experienced that bit of insanity. Max and Liz made it a point to have at least once a week the entire group together for at least one meal. It was somewhat easier now since they all lived in the Palace, but as busy as Isabel was finishing off decorating it, and Max of course as King, plus Alex and all the projects he had going with the Nerd Herd, and everyone else with their responsibilities and children and all, it was sometimes a little hard to do. Fortunately tonight would be one of them. All the Royals and all the kids in one place at one time could get kind of overwhelming, but Liz figured Lisa might as well get used to it. Liz had already decided that Lisa was going to be her ADC no matter if Lisa wanted to be trained by Liz or not. Liz had also decided to back off a little and not pressure her to start training as she knew the kill or be killed part was still hard for Lisa to come to grips with.

Lisa was stunned when Liz told her that she would be eating with the whole Royal family and children that night. She immediately objected saying she had nothing to wear. Liz promptly squashed that by telling her that outside of official dinners it was always casual wear in the Palace. As a matter of fact for these dinners the Palace staff was given the evening off and no one outside of the group would be there anyway. Security would be at the doors and outside, but nowhere else. So anything could be brought up and no one had to worry about it getting out. The cooking was done by everyone in one way or another so nobody had too much to do. It was also kept very simple.

Liz deliberately waited until she knew all the others were already done in the main dining hall(which was not the official Royal Dining Hall- that was in another part of the building and was much bigger). Luckily none of the children were old enough to really understand too much of what was going on.

Lisa followed Liz and Max to the dining hall, still a little stunned by all she had learned and also naturally somewhat shy about meeting a lot of strangers all at once.

Maria was nearest the door, just having gotten her kids in their high chairs when Liz and Max came through the door with a stranger right behind them. She paused to give the newbie a good hard look. She figured this must be the aide/gofer/secretary/whatever she was. She looked a little stunned and dazed- Liz must have dropped the whole story on her at one shot. Poor kid-even if she was a little older then they all were-that was a lot to take in at one go and then to be brought in to eat with the entire zoo-that was not easy either. So she figured to try and make her feel at home.

Lisa stopped just inside the door to get a better idea at what she was getting into. She had barely had a chance to look around when a young blond walked up to her, grabbed her hand and started talking, while at the same time pulling her along.

“You must be the new gofer that the Antarians said Liz needed to have. None of us really saw the point but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. I’m Maria and these are my two kids- no point in introducing you since they are too young to figure anything out and you will be meeting too many to remember anyway. My big lunkhead of a husband is helping out in the kitchen so he will be awhile. So whats your name and how do you like things so far?”

Lisa blinked at the blond. “Uh, my name is Lisa…”

“How do you do Lisa, and don’t stand on any kind of ceremony with us. We are just people, maybe a little stranger then most but just people. Though sometimes I have my doubts about Spaceboy and Kyle. I have a hunch their species has yet to be identified, let alone domesticated.”

Liz turned around to see how Lisa was doing and saw her being overwhelmed by Hurricane Deluca. Taking pity on her, she decided on a rescue mission. She walked over to the two, laughing inside at the look on Lisa’s face.

“I see you are getting blown away by Hurricane Deluca. You know, Maria, to have a conversation you need to occasionally pause to let the other person speak. Remember she is a newbie and has yet to experience the joys of life with the Alien/Human/Immortal club.”

“Very funny Liz. I see you have given her the whole story at one go- talk about me overwhelming her? She probably is a half step away from hysterics or fainting dead away.”

“Just like you did when I told you I was Immortal?”

“Hey! That was before I knew about Aliens and that we had one working right in the Crashdown and you were dating another. I had every right to faint!”

Even more dazed then before, Lisa tried to keep track of the conversation. She still found it hard to believe how just like normal people everyone here seemed to be. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they had not been born into it, unlike old royal families.

“Come on Lisa, I will introduce you to everyone. Thanks for grabbing the kids, Maria. What with showing Lisa around and filling her in on everything I would never have had the time.”

“No problem. I still wonder how come your kids are so quiet compared to everyone elses?”

“Maybe because they have a fairly quiet day normally. They feel no need to raise hell.”

“Very funny! I have you know I only through one tantrum a day and never chuck more then one thing at a time at spaceboy.”

“And that is your story and you are sticking to it no matter what?”

“The kids are too young to say anything and Spaceboy knows better then to squawk.”

“Makes sense when you put it that way. Lets introduce her to everyone else.”

“Fine go and destroy what little sanity she had left. See if I care!”

Liz took hold of Lisa’s hand and dragged her over to where Kyle, Tess and their kids were sitting.

“Liz! I saw you rescue the newbie from Hurricane Deluca. Good job- tough enough around here without getting blown away!”

“Kyle, behave. This is Kyle and Tess. Kyle was my first boyfriend, and Tess was the only one of the Royal Four who did not grow up in Roswell. Though considering who she had to grow up with anyway you cannot say she had it easy.”

“Hi Lisa. So how are you taking getting initiated into the group? I can tell you firsthand that its quite an experience.”

“Hey! We are not that bad.”

“Kyle, no lying. You and Michael are much worse. As your wife I can truthfully say that”

“Lisa, Tess here is probably the most sane one of the entire zoo here, as I said considering who she had as a so called parent if she survived that she can survive anything.”

“It was not that bad. But then you have a somewhat biased view of Nasedo since he killed you the first time you met. Then you cut off his head so there was no second time. “

Lisa stood with her mouth open. “Your parent was an immortal?”

“Nah, just a traitorous shapeshifting alien. He had plans to sell us out to Kivar but Liz cut off his head so his plan sort of died with him.”

“Like I said we are normal people, mostly.”

“And if you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale. CHEAP.”

“Very funny. Now to your next happy couple. This is Isabel, Max’s sister, and Alex who with Maria was my closest friends growing up. Maria and I spent a lot of time domesticating Alex. Unfortunately she has a hard time keeping him that way since he spends time with Kyle and Michael.”

“Truer words have hardly ever been spoken. I told Michael just yesterday that if he and Kyle even think of trying to get Alex to spend a weekend with them camping, drinking beer, burping and telling filthy stories I would spend the next year sending 400 lb female wrestlers chasing him in his dreams. Hi!”

“uh, Hi. What was that about 400 lb female wrestlers?”

“I can dreamwalk people-basically get into their dreams. One of the side benefits to being Antarian- or should I say half Antarian? I first threatened Michael and Kyle with 300 lb ones. I decided I had to up the threat level since they seemed somewhat underwhelmed. I am probably actually going to have to do it. Going to have to google huge female wrestlers so that I can get a clear mental image to inflict on them.”

“And her quieter half here is Alex, our resident nerd and my best guy friend ever.”

“Hi Lisa. Don’t take everything Izzie says seriously- she really wouldn’t do it.”

“Oh yes I would! See if I don’t if those two morons keep it up!”

“Actually I think she might. Sometimes those two need to learn the hard way.”

“Sometimes?”

“OK. Most of the time.”

Ever afterwards Lisa would think that her first meeting with the group pretty much described them. My Favorite Martian crossed with Married with Children crossed with King Ralph.

Another Life IV Part 7
Lisa had asked the Queen if she could have a few days to think about things. Liz said no problem and call if you have any more questions. Liz then arranged for Lisa to stay at the House, where Grace was at the moment with Methos and the children. Liz told her that both Grace and Adam were Immortals, and would be quite happy to answer any questions, especially Adam.

Lisa had been pretty quiet the first day, obviously thinking hard about things. Liz had told Grace what the situation was, so she made sure that Lisa was not bothered.

Lisa had been thinking very hard about things both Immortal connected and not. Thinking about living for possibly thousands of years was very sobering. Of course not getting old and dying, not getting sick, looked very good. But on the other hand outliving all her family and friends, having to move every 10 years or less to keep from being found out, worrying about Headhunters, was not of the good. And actually having to kill someone, cut off their head, was especially troubling. The alternative of going into a Monastery, was totally out of the question. The other possibility of just running and hiding went against the grain for Lisa. She had never run from anything. She was reluctantly coming to the conclusion that learning to sword fight might be the only way that she could go. She just did not know if she had it in her to do what would be necessary come a challenge. She could defend herself, she was sure of that. But to take that last step and deliberately cut off the head of another Human Being, she was not sure at all. Of course as long as she worked for the Queen it was doubtful she would have to worry, security being what it was. But she knew that was a cop out. One other possibility of living in the middle of nowhere up in the mountains and being a hermit was also just not for her.

It was in this frame of mind that she decided to talk to Grace and Adam. Liz had told her that Grace was one of those that would not fight; and that Adam avoided it as much as possible. So she knew she would get that point of view from them. The matter of fact way the Queen had talked about the three heads of headhunters that she had taken pretty much covered that way of doing things.

Grace had just put the last of her children down for a afternoon nap when Lisa approached her. Accurately figuring that Lisa wanted to talk she took the young woman down to the kitchen to get coffee and talk. There they found Adam looking over some of the research papers Grace had authored recently. She still had not come out as the author since that would cause problems, and the Microbiology community was very curious about who the author was. He looked up at them and also came to the correct conclusion that Lisa wanted to ask some questions. So he put the papers down and sat back, and looked at her expectantly.

Now that the time had come to start asking questions, for a moment Lisa drew a blank. Then taking a deep breath she looked at Grace and said “ Liz told me that you have never fought, and yet have managed to live 500 years. How did you do that?”

Grace knew that question would come, yet an easy answer was not what she wanted to say. “I made the decision right after I found out I was immortal; the man who found me wanted to start training right away, and since he had gotten me out of the village where they were going to burn me at the stake for being a witch, I felt beholden to him and for a few days started to learn how to use a sword. But each day it got harder for me and finally I told him that I could not take a life. He then wanted to take me to a monastery, and did. I spent about 6 months there and realized that that was not the life for me. I knew the risks, but I was determined to never fight, never deliberately take a life. And so far I have. But I want to make it clear that its been very difficult, and I have just barely escaped dozens of times. On more than one occasion another Immortal would appear and take out the Headhunter after me. Duncan did it twice, and Liz did it once in Roswell.” At Lisa’s startled look, Grace described what happened in Roswell.

That got Lisa thinking hard again. Liz had not told her about that; but it fit right in with what she knew of Liz. So it could be done, but it was clearly very risky. Though probably not as bad now as it had been. She asked Grace about that.

Grace sat and thought about Lisa’s question. In some ways it was easier now, with all the police and security forces around in the world. Yet it could still happen. But how to be fair to Lisa and give her a good answer that was not too colored by her own experience. Adam decided to jump in, though.

“Of course its easier to avoid a challenge in this age of having police forces everywhere, at least in first world countries, anyway. However the more determined headhunters will hang around and look for an opportunity. So that is not necessarily the easy way either. I make it a point to avoid the situations as much as possible, but I have had to fight on occasion. Grace has survived by the skin of her teeth on many occasions. Each one could have been her last. It’s a wonder to me that she survived this long not hiding in a monastery.”

Lisa pondered that. “Liz told me the same thing, and she frankly thinks that there is something or someone out there running the whole Game, interfering when it feels like it. I have to admit that when I am told that we just appear, no mothers or anyone nearby, and that it still happens to this day, added to what supposedly happened at Pompeii, and someone like Grace seeming to miraculously escape losing her head by another Immortal just happening by to protect her, and not happening once but many times, and I wonder myself.”

Grace sighed. “Many things about Immortality do not add up, and defy logic. I cannot say myself that what Liz suspects is not true. On many occasions I was very close to losing my head and I got out of it or was saved by another. My feelings on God are mixed; on one hand all this makes you wonder about a supreme being; on the other so much bad happens to so many innocents that it makes that God if he does exist seem very fickle.”

Adam though about it and decided to come clean. This was pretty unusual for him but he felt the occasion warranted it. “I am a lot older then anyone else you will meet as part of this particular group of Immortals. As a matter of fact you will not find a group like us anywhere else. We in many respects are unique in that Duncan and Connor, Richie and Amanda, Liz, Grace and myself are so comfortable around each other. Immortals are almost always loners as regards other Immortals; a few couples have lasted quite a while but that is it. And having a group of mortals around that know about us is just as rare. So we are the absolute exceptions to the rule.”

Grace was looking hard at Adam. He looked at her and nodded. She blinked, then shrugged.

Adam looked at Lisa. “My actual name is Methos, and I am over 5000 years old. As far as anyone knows, I am by at least 2000 years the oldest immortal anywhere.”

Lisa stared at him with her mouth wide open. 5000 years old! That was IMPOSSIBLE! That was incredible. What he had seen, what he had experienced. He could maybe answer if there actually had been a Jesus. He was old enough to have seen most of civilization as it developed. Questions danced around her head and then she closed her mouth firmly and shook it. No, that was for another time, maybe, but not now. Still she could ask a couple of things. She looked at him.

“Were you anywhere around when Mt Vesuvius erupted?”

Methos shook his head. “ At that time I was in France, northern France. I heard about it months later, and from several immortals later on. Now how anyone could know I cannot say but every story I heard said two older Immortals had fought each other on Holy ground and as soon as the head came off of one of them the Mountain started to erupt, and there was no warning. Once again I have to say I wonder about the sources, like how anyone could escape, since the ground was buried under many feet of volcanic ashes. Even an Immortal would have a lot of trouble getting away. One thing to remember- if you lose an arm or leg it does not grow back. And it’s a distinct possibility that if the ash was hot enough it would actually melt a person, and we would not recover from that. Just like if we were blown to many pieces by an explosion. So I have personally been a little skeptical- and yet I have never heard anything to the contrary from anyone. Its also not known who the immortals were or if one of them did escape after beheading the other. “

Lisa chewed on that for a while. “What about the Game? Did you ever get any information when it was started?”

Once again Methos shook his head. “From the Immortal that found me, who was hundreds of years older then I was of course, it was a matter of our world and not to be questioned. Over the millennia I have also never heard anything different or gotten any details. It is my personal belief that Immortals have been around for at least 2-3 thousand more years then I have been. And no one has ever had any better information.”

Grace smiled at Lisa. “ I have had the opportunity to talk to other older Immortals, from many parts of the world, and no one I have ever been with has had a better explanation on anything. Darius, an Immortal priest who was once a warrior conqueror, and who was changed by a White Quickening, had dreams about the past and the future. He never saw anything different; never saw anything that contradicted the beliefs long held in the Immortal Community.”

Lisa thought about it for a while. Then looked at Methos again. “Liz mentioned some of the logical holes in the “there can be only One” claim. Such as what happened to all the Immortals that were as you described melted, destroyed in explosions, trapped in avalanches, trapped in sunken ships deep in the ocean, beheaded like in Paris during the Revolution, and so on. What happened to their quickening? If someone is supposed to win at the Gathering, he or she will not have all the Quickenings ever because its not possible. What do you think?”

Methos shrugged. “She has a point, one that many Immortals over the centuries have thought about. Some think that the quickenings are just lost; some think that when the one wins all those will come to him anyway. I myself think that that is a question that might not have an answer. The possibility of some god like being running the whole thing- well one never knows, does one?”

Lisa slowly nodded. “Thanks for answering my questions honestly. I have a lot to think about.”

Lisa sat in her bed that night thinking as hard as she had all day after the time talking to Grace and Adam- or Methos as she now knew him. She knew she had to make a decision- she just did not know what it would be.

Another Life IV Part 8
Liz had just finished her KATA when the buzzer sounded. She walked over to the intercom and hit the respond button. “Yes?”.
“Your Majesty, Lisa Anderson is here to speak with you. You did say that when she came she was to be immediately shown to your office and you would be informed.”
“OK, I will be down in a few minutes”.
It had been three days since Lisa had had the bomb dropped on her. Liz figured it would take at least that long for her to come to grips and think about it. She knew that Lisa had talked to Methos and Grace, and she figured that between those two she would get a pretty balanced discussion. She wondered if Lisa had come to a decision yet or just wanted to ask some more questions. That did not bother Liz at all; for such an important decision one should ask every question possible and think hard about it all.

Lisa sat in the outer area of the Queens office and tried to calm herself. It had been a difficult few days. Trying to come to grips with all of it, then talking to Grace and Methos (and finding out he was over 5000 years old had truly rocked her), it had all jumbled together in her mind to leave her totally unable to think straight. For the last day she had just sat in her room and try and put it all together. She thought that she had come to the point where she could decide, but felt that she had to talk to the Queen one more time.

Liz walked in and saw Lisa sitting in the outer area and obviously still in deep thought. She looked up, startled, and scrambled to her feet. Liz smiled at her and motioned for her to follow into the office. She went behind her desk and sat down and looked at Lisa expectantly.

Now, sitting in the Queens office with her waiting, Lisa found she could not say anything.

Liz, seeing how conflicted Lisa was, decided she would have to push a little.

“Got some more questions? Don’t worry about it; this is pretty important and one should never rush important decisions.”

Lisa took a deep breath. Here goes. “Can you describe how it was when you took your first head?”

Liz blinked. Now that question surprised her a little. She thought for a minute.

“I had only been immortal for a couple of months. Not even close to finishing my training. So I was really hyper and tense. Then suddenly just as we started I got very calm and collected. Felicia Rising was a headhunter and a very unscrupulous one. Not as bad as some that used guns and knives, but still pretty bad. She had prayed on young female immortals- going after them just after they finished their training but without any heads of their own. A real piece of work. She was not as good as she thought she was, and I was better. Looking back on it, it was not that hard of a fight really. I got her angry and she lost control and then she lost her head. After I beheaded her, I remember what Duncan said to me about getting ready for the quickening. To get close to the ground, put your sword down, and try and hold yourself together. Then the first jolts of the Quickening hit me; its like lightning strikes. You become charged with energy, then you start seeing them=all the lives of the immortals that Immortal had beheaded. I felt them; their fears and worry and terror; above all I saw her laughing at them as she took their heads. Enjoying their terror. It seemed to go on forever but actually only lasts a minute or two. At least for small to medium quickenings. Duncan described for me what happened when he took Kalas’s head- a very evil Immortal over 3000 years old. That one lasted over 10 minutes. I cannot imagine what that must have been like. Hopefully I will never find out. Connor, Duncan’s cousin, took the head of the Kurgan- possibly the most evil Immortal ever. Connor told me that he found out later that that one lasted over 15 minutes. He told me that he did not have the words to describe it, but it was pretty horrible. You have been told about Dark Quickenings, right? That one almost took Connor down; Duncan succumbed to another a few years ago and almost took the head of his student and friend, Richie, before he was helped to get out of it. Fortunately as far as we know, there are no longer any really evil old Immortals left so that is not likely to happen again. Thank God. You will carry their essence with you the rest of your life. I can still feel them- not really as individuals more of a collective sense. One good thing, I guess, is that you are never truly alone again. You will always have them with you. And to me it’s a bit of a comfort.”

Lisa sat there and thought about that. Liz calmly looked at some paperwork that always seemed to appear no matter what.

Lisa took a deep breath. “I guess for me there is no other choice. I really thought about trying to go the way Grace has. She has managed to live over 500 years never fighting. But that is her; her deep belief in the sanctity of life. For me its different. I think that you really have to truly and deeply believe that in order to survive. Perhaps the whoever or whatever that is running the Game allows someone like her to just skim by; who knows? For me it would be more the case of avoiding the responsibility of taking a life, rather than the deep need to preserve life. And I think that I would not make it that way. Just a deep feeling that I have gotten over the last day or so. So if you are willing to teach me I want to be your student.”

Liz slowly nodded. Now that Lisa had accepted her as her teacher, Liz felt some doubt about her ability. Then she ruthless tamped down her doubt- she could not afford to have Lisa doubt her, that would be disastrous. She was reasonably experienced; she had had perhaps as good a teacher herself as anyone could ask for in Duncan McLeod, and she knew she could ask him for advice if necessary. The responsibility would be hers, but she believed that she was ready and that she would do a good job.

Liz stood up. “OK first things first. Lets head down to the training room where we will try out some practice swords for you. And get you some wrist and ankle weights.”

Lisa looked a little puzzled. “What are the weights for?”

Liz looked at her with a grin. “You have to get a lot stronger and that is the best way to start. You will also be doing some running. 1 mile to start, then to 3, and finally to 5. Strength and endurance are keys to keeping your head. I will be training you the same way Duncan trained me. He seemed to do alright with me so I figure to not change something that has already worked.”

Lisa slowly nodded, starting to realize that there was a lot more to this then she had thought.

After trying several practice swords, Lisa found one that seemed to fit her. Liz told her that it was very important even for a practice sword for one to fit. Liz gave her two sets of ankle and wrist weights, each 5 lbs. So she would start out with 20 lbs extra and she was to keep them on every waking hour. In three weeks or so that would double; at the same time she would be running more and more. Liz told her that physically the first month to six weeks would be the most physically demanding, with the mental part getting harder later on.

Liz first showed Lisa her KATA, performing it so that she could watch it beginning to end.

Lisa was amazed at the grace and speed the Queen showed in that exercise. And more then that the studied intent and purpose. She began to get an idea about what it was all about. She knew she had a long ways to go.

After a week of training, Lisa fell into her bed with a groan, just barely having the energy to take off the weights. She felt like she would float off the floor when they were off. She was staying in quarters designated for staff at the palace; Liz wanted her nearby both to make it easier to train her, and to protect her. While aware it was very unlikely a Immortal would be anywhere near the palace, Liz was taking no chances. She had made it clear that if Lisa felt a buzz she was to get to a police station or someplace very public and call Liz right away. Above all else to NOT go anywhere where she could be ambushed. Lisa thought that Liz was being a little too careful, but really could not argue with her. And of course on top of the training she was now acting as the Queens ADC, which was fairly involved as well. Liz had a fairly hectic day normally, and now with Lisa’s training it was even more so. There were several meetings or the like each day, and of course the Queen also made it clear that her children would always have some time each day as well, especially first thing in the morning and last thing before they were put to bed. Lisa found the two children absolutely charming and very well behaved; clearly Liz and Max wanted to make sure that privilege and being Royalty would not go to their heads. Lisa hoped that one day she would meet someone and be as lucky as Liz had been. Not necessarily a king or anything like that, just someone that would treat her as a Queen.

She laid back and thought about the lunch they had had with Maria. That girl was a real trip!

First thing when they sat down in the private dining room that the King and Queen had, and waited until the servants had left, Maria had looked at her and said.

“So how has week one of learning the ways and means of extracting the head from the body of an evil immortal gone?”

Lisa had blinked at her and then looked at Liz, who was grinning and shaking her head.

“Maria does not beet around the bush-she is pretty blunt and honest. You never have to wonder what she is thinking- its all out there for anyone to see!:

Maria had looked affronted. “Hey. I am not that transparent!”

Liz had just looked at her.

“OK, maybe I am – SOMETIMES.”

Liz had then grinned. “And that is one of the reasons we all love you Maria. Every group needs a brutally honest person in it that spits it right out and does not beat around the bush.”

Somewhat mollified, she had then fixed Lisa with the gimlet stare.

“So how goes the preparation for gore, intestines and brain dissection?”

“MARIA!”

Another Life IV Part 8

Liz had as usual put together a plan for training Lisa even before she had accepted. First she had called Duncan; that had been interesting.

“Duncan? Its Liz. Got some questions.”

“Fire away.”

“You know I let myself get talked into getting an ADC, right?”

“I heard and happen to agree that it would take some of the burden off of you.”

“Be that as it may, the first applicant showed up and she is Immortal.”

“Did she know?”

“Nope. Car accident in a fairly remote area and she died and came back without knowing it and by shear chance there was rain that cleaned away all the blood. The paramedics were amazed but figured she was just lucky. She mentioned she remembered thinking she had felt her arm breaking then a head impact and that was it.”

“Lucky for her in that she got to keep her life. Just like you.”

“Yeah except it did not require lots of work and subterfuge.”
“True. So what has she decided to do, or is she still recovering from finding out?”

“Still thinking though I think that she will accept training and I have decided to be her teacher.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Interestingly, I am. You know I have wanted to become a teacher and pass on to others what you taught me, and how you taught me. I feel I am ready but figured I should talk to you before she formally accepts me.”

“What do you want to know? The way I started you out was my standard procedure, though of course it got changed due to circumstances beyond anyones control. Physically, what is she like?”

“She is about 5 foot 6, maybe 125 lbs, certainly more solid then I was, but normal otherwise. She is fairly athletic already, though she has currently no workout regimen. First thing that comes to mind for me is what kind of sword?“

“It’s a shame Miroki has passed on. He was the best I have ever seen, as you well know. But since she is somewhat bigger then you are, a regular Katana might be the way to go. There is a very good sword maker in Germany that has a fine reputation over the last 20 years. I will get ahold of him- its better that he does not know about you all things considered.”

“Thanks Duncan, and I had not thought about that but you are absolutely right.”

“Anything else?”

“That was the big thing- everything else I will probably have to adjust on the fly. I am making out a training plan, but that is pretty simple as regards physical training, and then working on her KATA. I remember how you trained me as someone who had never handled any kind of weapon before so that will be how I start her out. After that its just work on standard defense, then standard offense, then throw in some other things later on.”

“And of course the standard warnings about living as an Immortal.”

“Of course. Fortunately she will be staying at the Palace so that consideration is not so important as it normally would be.”

“Sounds like you have made a good start. I will get back to you once I have made contact. He will want molds of her hands.”

“I remember that. Should not be a problem. Thanks Duncan.”

“You are more then welcome Liz. Becoming a teacher is very difficult but can be greatly rewarding. Good Luck.”

Lisa had moved into the palace the next day after accepting the position as ADC to Liz and also becoming her student. Liz had told her that she would guess that her parents would want to visit and see what their daughter had gotten into and that would be fine. Pretty much anytime would be OK. Lisa had agreed and said it would not be long- then had asked her what she thought about telling her parents about her new long lived status. Liz had told her that it would be necessary someday more then likely, but that there was no reason to rush it. It would make life a lot more complicated once they knew. It was decided that mornings would be mostly the ADC stuff, while afternoons would be for training, with occasional switches depending on events.

Liz was in her office at 8 each morning, after getting the kids up and to the pre school that was in the Palace. Lisa was there by 8:30, ready to go. Liz decided to get the molds done for Lisa’s hands and send them to Duncan so that he could get the process started. After thinking about how Duncan had done it, Liz decided to enlist Maria as she had really gotten into helping out at the daycare and therefore was into lots of art stuff that had molds. So when Lisa came in they headed down.

Maria had just put her batch of kids down for their morning Nap when Liz and Lisa walked in.

“Hey, is this the tour or do you actually have a reason to come on by?”

“Actually I do have a reason. We need to do a mold of Lisa’s hands.” Liz then did an imaginary sword cut. Maria slowly nodded, thinking hard. Then she brightened. “You are lucky. We still have some plaster for making masks. That should do well for what you need.”

“When Duncan did it with me he did it in two ways- one palms flat and fingers spread, the other with finger curled with the index finger touching the thumb. Apparently the master needs both to figure out how to do the grip on the sword. “

It took them about an hour to get it all done and then to get the dry molds packed and shipped to Duncan.

Liz then took Lisa around the rest of the palace showing her the more off limits areas that were not part of any tour.

That evening Liz insisted Lisa come to dinner with just her and Max and the kids.

Later on in her rooms, which was an actual suite, and very luxurious (She figured a hotel would probably charge $500 a night at least) Lisa sat and thought about that dinner with Max and Liz and the kids.

*It still amazes me just how normal and everyday they all seem. Max is an actual king of a whole people who will someday find another planet and rule there. Liz is his Queen, an Immortal, and mother to two wonderful children. The kids, while still young, are sweet and nice and not spoiled at all. You can see how hard Liz and Max work at making sure they do not get that way. As much as they have to do, its clear that they put their family first.*

The next morning Lisa found it a lot harder to get around, with the 20 lbs of weights she was wearing. Liz had her on the go all day long as they went out into the compound that was this settlement and visited all the main buildings- something Liz did at least once a week. That took up most of the day as the Queen talked to not just the various higher ups but just normal Antarians. It deeply impressed Lisa just how beloved the Queen was. She did not spot one single person that did not smile as they recognized Liz. Not that Liz was dressed as a Queen, or one would think a Queen visiting her people would wear. A pants suit that was neat and trim with her Sword at her side-though maybe that was what really identified her more then anything else. They ate lunch at the far end of the settlement and then went through the rest of it, stopping at the Granolith late in the afternoon. Meeting the Granolith was another surprise- Lisa did not realize, mainly because it was not advertized, that the Granolith was sentient. It seemed pleased to have another Immortal that it could examine. Liz explained that one of the Granoliths ongoing projects was to more closely examine the Immortal energy signature, and make sure it had identified all the energies involved. It also explained what Lisa would have to do if she wanted children some day. It involved being podded for up to 6 months, then getting pregnant, then being monitored to make sure the quickening energy did not interfere with the pregnancy. All in all complicated, but at least she had a chance to have a child.

Lisa was pretty worn out by the end of the day and Liz took mercy on her, telling her to get something to eat and then fall into bed- she would need the rest. Lisa was not about to argue.

The next day they stayed in the palace and Liz started her working with a practice sword on her KATA, which Liz said would take at least a week or two before she was able to do it without thinking. In between that they worked at paperwork which always somehow appeared no matter what. Then Liz told her late in the day that they would be visiting one of the other settlements in Uruguay that next day- going by the Granolith. Lisa could hardly wait!

Traveling by Granolith certainly beat flying, Lisa thought. In less then a minute they were whisked from Roswell, New Mexico to Uruguay in South America. This was not an official visit= they only went to the settlement- but it was still a lot more formal then moving around Roswell’s settlement. Liz was a lot more formal as well, acting much more like a Queen does, at least to Lisa’s way of thinking. Lisa had to be careful as well so as not to offend anyone who thought that she was not giving proper respect to her Majesty. In many ways just like Roswell’s settlement in design, and of course Antarians so the people were the same, but it was still very different. Mainly because Liz was only able to visit a settlement once a year. There were 300 for Antar, and 100 for Granular. Liz did not have to visit any of the Granular settlements, but that still meant a lot of traveling. Liz told her that many times she would do 2, sometimes 3 a day. So in actuality it only took about 125 days to get to them all. But add to that her normal duties, and family, and everything else, and it meant Liz was a very busy woman.

Liz sat there thinking after getting back to Roswell and the Palace, glad to get her feet up and relax from being Queen Elizabeth of Antar and become Liz Evans, wife and mother. It was hard to shift gears so completely, and yet it was necessary for her to make sure that she did not fall into the trap so many who marry into Royalty do: the sense of self importance and entitlement that grabs them and changes them for the worse. Luckily for her she had a natural tendency to scoff at such things, and with Maria and Kyle and the rest of the group around to make sure her head did not swell, she felt she did not have to worry too much. She contemplated Lisa and how she was adjusting. Overall she seemed to be getting there; she had handled today pretty well, the more formal and stuffy part of visiting. Of course this was nowhere near what it would be like at the state dinner they had scheduled for next week with the visiting Emperor and Empress of Japan. THAT would be as formal as it got. Just like the next months formal visit to England, and the Queen of England at Buckingham Palace, and the next day when Max would speak before Parliament. Liz had an evil thought and called Lisa.

“whats up Liz?” “Just thought I would give you a heads up in case no one had told you. Next Thursday we have a state visit from Japan; the Emperor and Empress. A very formal dinner that night. We have to get you a dress.”

“ooooooohhhhhh.”

Another Life IV Part 9
Lisa had made it through the State Dinner for the Emperor and Empress of Japan but it had been nerve wracking. She had loved the dress that she and Liz had picked out at a very sheik little shop in LA that they had gone to- stunned that she would get something like that. Liz had told her that there were a few perks to the job and to enjoy them while she could. The actual dinner had not been too bad; the Emperor and Empress were actually quite shy and nice people. It was the pressure of the occasion and all the photographers and the like that had bothered Lisa. The Queen, on the other hand, had seemed to float through it all so easily and had everyone eating out of her hand that it was all Lisa could do to keep her mouth from gaping open all the time. Afterwards Liz had explained it this way “I imagine all of them wearing clown suits with the remains of crème pies dripping down their faces.” Lisa was seriously doubtful that that was true but it was funny.

The very next day Liz had redoubled the training and had Lisa in the training room over 4 hours that day, in addition to making her run 3 miles chasing Liz all the way. The Palace was shaped in such a way that it was actually bigger at the top then the bottom, and on the roof there was a running track that came in handy so as not to have to worry about paparazzi or security. 3 miles was 50 laps and it did get boring, not to mention tiring. Lisa was getting her KATA down to the point where it was starting to get to be almost automatic, and Liz told her that in a few weeks it would be. The molds of her hands had gone out to Duncan who had called Liz and told her that they had arrived in Germany and the swordmaker had started on Lisa’s sword. It would probably take a couple of months to do.

Liz was feeling fairly satisfied with Lisa’s progress so far. Her KATA was getting smoother and more automatic, and soon it would become second nature. Liz had gotten about halfway through her training plan as regards defensive moves, which Duncan had told her again and again had to come first to form the foundation of the skill set. Liz was thinking it would take about another month to cover the defense, and then would come the offense. In about 3 months she felt that Lisa would probably be about ready to start to spar in earnest. And by then her sword should be about ready. She planned to entice Amanda or Cassandra to visit and help out.

Duncan felt the buzz as he got close to the door of the Dojo, and it was one that seemed somewhat familiar- but he was not sure. Automatically tensing up, he cautiously opened the door and went into the entrance way. Concentrating, he could feel the buzz of Amanda upstairs, and the other buzz seemed to be coming from the main area on the first floor. Deciding to check on Amanda and the children first he went up the stairs to the apartment. As he went into the apartment he spotted Amanda putting the kids into their high chairs, getting them ready to have their dinner. He had offered to get a nanny, but somewhat to his surprise Amanda had been firm about taking care of the children herself most of the time. She had told him after wanting and thinking she would never have children for over a 1000 years, she was not going to waste one day.

Amanda had recognized Duncan’s buzz as soon as he had entered the Dojo. The other Buzz she had felt had concerned her a moment until she realized that whoever it was was staying downstairs. She knew Duncan would be back soon and had decided to let her natural curiosity stay on hold. Things had been very quiet in Seacouver for quite a while; not a challenge or headhunter in site for over a year. She hoped it would stay that way, much to her surprise. She realized that becoming a mother had changed something fundamental inside her; she was no longer the risk taking part time cat burglar and full time party girl she had once been.

Duncan walked over and kissed the children, smiling at their patter. He then grabbed Amanda in a huge hug and kissed her VERY thoroughly, much to her delight. He then asked her if she knew who was downstairs. Her shake of the head and shrug made him smile; the very paranoid and suspicious Amanda of a few years ago would never have acted that way. Becoming a mother had truly changed her. And he was quite happy with the result.

Deciding that at the least politeness required he find out who the visitor was, he headed downstairs. Now it could be an immortal he had never met, or even one who did not even now they WERE immortal, but he doubted it. He had a feeling he had met this one before, and several times. The buzz had too familiar a feeling, even if it was not as easy to identify if it had been Methos or Richie or Grace or Cassandra.

As he headed into the main area of the Dojo, he realized that there was another buzz with the stronger one; clearly a newbie or close to it. More and more interesting.

Charlie was conducting a basic self defense class for beginners, both men and women. He had noticed the two people come in and stay at the back, neither seeming to want to become part of it nor wanting to leave. He figured if they wanted something they would let him know.

Duncan came around the corner to where Charlie was conducting a class and stopped. NOW he recognized the buzz.

Annie was watching the class with some interest; the instructor was pretty good. She wanted to see Duncan and figured he was nearby by the buzz she was feeling. Duncan seemed to have in the last 50 years or so decided to either be a antique salesman or run a gym/dojo. All things considered she was glad he was doing the gym part now.

Duncan observed Annie and the young man with her; he looked in the early 20’s, much like Annie, though his buzz was definitely weaker. He figured he knew what Annie was here for; she had found a newbie and was looking for someone to train him. Duncan was pleased that she had thought of him; they had not seen each other in some years, not since the IRA had pretty much gone out of business anyway. Annie Devlin had seemed to fade away, and he had hoped she had found a measure of peace.

Annie turned and saw Duncan and smiled at him. Her companion turned with her and was not as friendly, looking at him with some suspicion, and Duncan saw with a inward smile, some jealousy. He wondered if Annie had told him how CLOSE they had been on occasion.

Duncan walked over and gave Annie a big hug and a nice kiss without being over exuberant about it. He was glad to see her.

“Been a few years Annie. You look well and happy, which I am almost as glad to see as seeing you. “

“You look very happy and well, Duncan, so things are obviously going well for you. This is Sean Feeny, and he needs a teacher. He has only been one of us for a few weeks. And I want to see to it that he has as good a teacher as there is and that means you.”

Duncan shook Sean’s hand, liking the young man despite his clear jealousy of how happy Annie was to see him. He was almost as tall as he was, and solid. Seemed to move well, and was observant and careful to all appearances. Which was a good thing in a new immortal.

“Well lets go upstairs and talk. I have a couple of surprises for you that will rock your world.”

Annie raised both eyebrows at that. That was not like Duncan. He seemed almost exuberant.

As they walked up the stairs, Annie felt the buzz of another Immortal. Must be Richie. Hoped that there would not be any awkwardness because of their last meeting, but you never knew. But somehow she doubted it was him. Her curiosity was really beginning to grow. As soon as Sean became Immortal, she knew she needed to get him to a top teacher and as far as she was concerned Duncan was the only choice. She was quite good with a sword, but Sean needed a male teacher to do it right and since there was something personal between them, Annie knew she needed to get him someone that would be able to be impartial and tough. Not to mention she wanted to be sure Sean would be around a long time.

As they went through the door Amanda looked up and smiled at them, her grin becoming a little wider as she recognized Annie Devlin, whom she had met on a couple of occasions over the centuries. Secure in her relationship with Duncan, she had no problem with the appearance of someone who had occasionally shared Duncan’s bed.

Annie’s eyes opened wide as she recognized Amanda, but that was not what shocked her. It was the two young children that Amanda was feeding. One about 4 years old and another just over 2 years old. As she stood there, she saw how Amanda was acting and having seen it enough (and hurt enough) over hundreds of years she recognized a mother when she saw one.

Sean saw that the Immortal woman was taking care of a couple of children, and that puzzled him. He had talked a lot to Annie about Immortals and she had mentioned that since they could not have children, and thinking about all the ramifications of trying to adopt and never aging and all the fun that could bring, he was very surprised that apparently Duncan McCleod and this Immortal woman was doing that.

Duncan stood next to Amanda and smiled at Annie, who was staring bug eyed at the children and Amanda. She looked up at him and asked “How?”.

“You might have heard that I trained Queen Elizabeth of Antar?”

Annie nodded- then her eyes got even wider. “She is IMMORTAL?”

Duncan looked over at Sean. Annie shook her head-“He knows how to keep his mouth shut. You think I would have anything to do with anyone who could not, after all my years in the Struggle?”

Duncan nodded. “Yes she is. That gunshot she took at the Crashdown when she was 16 did end up killing her. I just happened by pure chance to be in Roswell and found her. The rest, as it could be said, is history.”

Annie thought about it. “Something they can do allows us to have children?”

At that Sean who had been watching the whole thing with growing questions, blurted out” Annie, you said we could never have children. Does this mean there is a way?”

The way he said that spoke volumes to both Duncan and Amanda, and they smiled at that. Duncan was very happy to hear it himself, as he had always cared very much about Annie.

Duncan decided to get it over with quickly. “Yes there is. The Quickening is a product of Earth’s unique energy and magnetic signature; if you leave Earth in about a year you lose your quickening; and can have children. Amanda and I and a few others went to Antar and the result is as you see.”

Annie was puzzled. “But Antar was destroyed and all their people are on Earth now. Didn’t that pretty much end that possibility?”

“No. It turned out that the Granolith and Liz and a few others figured out that there were other ways to block the energy so that Immortals could have children. Its not easy but it can be done. Liz was actually the first Immortal to have children.”

Annie slowly sat on the sofa, almost by instinct reaching out for Seans hand, and pulling him down to sit beside her. She looked up at Duncan. “Whatever it takes Duncan, we will do it.”