Roswell Fanatics

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Roswell belongs to a lot of people (UPN, 20th Century Fox, Jason Katims, Melinda Metz) and the Word of Darkness is a trademark of White Wolf
Summary: A young Chorist and a Virtual Adept, running from the NWO arrives in Roswell and decides to hide in plain sight thus launching a series of events leading to...
The real reason for this fic is that I just got fed up that Liz has to be an alien in every second dreamer fic. She is always the long lost love of Max from Antar. It was kind of cool first but the tenth was downright annoying. So I decided to write a fic where Liz can do cool things without being green and slimy. And the thing that I love Mage has nothing to do with it of course..
Rating: Can go up to MATURE (I'm shit at ADULT, have to take cold bath after every sentence)

Chapter 1
Prologue

Part 1
RING RING
'Fuck. Damn alarm clock' thought Max while reaching out to silence the thing. He got up, got dressed and wandered down for breakfast. The moment he exited his room, the smell of something dreadful hit his nose. Oh no! His mother's been trying out new recipes. Again. Most of the time he felt grateful that the Evans found him and Isabel, but on mornings like this he would have switched with Michael, who was adopted by the Parkers. Being the only son to a restaurant owning family had its certain appeal, while the only good thing about Diane Evans's creative cooking sessions was that he could barely feel the taste without Tabasco anyway.
This was their first day in their sophomore year at West Roswell High, and Max was definitely not looking forward to it. He was enjoying the school part - learning, especially sciences came easy to him, the being around people part was what he didn't like. He had only a few friends: Michael whom he considered a sort-of brother, Maria, and his step-brother, Kyle. The only two humans who ever knew of his out-of-this-worlds origins. When on a camping trip 2 years ago, Kyle fell from a tree and broke his spine. He healed him. Before that they hadn't spoken a word, but it turned out that Kyle made a loyal friend if you saved his life. They had to tell them the truth, much to Isabel's and Michael's dismay. Maria of course freaked out, but after lots of cedar sniffing she cooled down and found it cool. The existence of aliens shook the foundations of Kyle's world, but after a quick-course in Buddhism, he claimed that he found the light and nothing can ever surprise him again.
During the last year he invited Max and Michael into the football team and they fitted perfectly. Both of them were quick and strong though they didn't know whether it's the consequence of their heritage or just the effect of the regular workouts. But even with the team, they had no true camaraderie. They didn't go partying (except for Isabel), mostly he and Michael just avoided crowds whenever possible. Less contact, slimmer chances of getting caught. It was the same with significant others. Isabel had lots of boyfriends - a new one every two weeks or so, but they were just toys, status symblos to her, and for Isabel, status meant everything. Max could have sworn sometimes that there was something between Michael and Maria, but his suspicions were always dispelled by an earth-shattering quarrel between the two of them. As for Max- he didn't have anybody. It was not that he was not lusted after, any girl who could claim him would make it instantly to the top of the social ladder; Max -according to Isabel - was between the top 5 boys of the school, but he just found the cheerleaders empty, the clever girls nerdy and all of them too childish. Gossiping, playing stupid social games, paying to much importance to looks - being alien in Roswell puts a lots of things into perspective, thought Max with a sarcastic smile.
'Max darling do you like it?'. He was snapped out of his thoughts by his mother. 'Yeah of course', he answered, while thinking what exactly 'it' can be. By the color of it, eggs had to do something with it at some point, but he could identify nothing else. After his mother left, he stole a glance at Isabel who was sitting across him at the table, and was instantly outraged. His sister was using her powers to make food disappear from her plate! Isabel flashed him a smile then stood up and started towards the kitchen. Max quickly looked around and did the same. They quickly said their goodbies, stating that they don't want to be late and got into Max's jeep, Bob
'Now how about a real breakfast?' Asked Isabel grinning devilishly.
'Crashdown?' Said Max referring to the restaurant the Parkers owned.
'What else? Put your feet down, I don't want to miss my grand entrance to the school.' Isabel always had the moment and angle of her entrance preplanned to everywhere. Possibly when everyone - everyone who mattered - was there, just a minute after the second best girl, who was usually Pam Troy, in a gap of the music, sun shining behind her etc, etc. I think you got the gist.
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When they entered the Crashdown they met an extremely grumpy Michael Parker.
'Hi, what's up Michael?'
'My life is so screwed up!'
'Meaning?'
'Some idiot relative of my parents have just arrived overnight. She'll be staying with us for I don't know how long. My private life is like over!' Maria spotting, them, went there.
'Stop whining Michael Parker, it's not like she is staying in your room, isn't it? By the way, hello guys.' Michael threw a glare at her and continued while they took places around their usual table.
'You haven't heard the best part yet. She's a teacher. I don't need everyone running to me to every time she gives someone an E to help them whining for something better!' It was funny seeing Michael so exasperated over something, he usually maintained a stonewall facade, no matter what.
'What does she teach?' 'What she looks like?' asked Max and Isabel at the same time.
'I don't know. I've never met her. She arrived yesterday late in the night, asked my parents if she could stay and left early in the morning.'
'It's strange. She came just yesterday and she already has a job? As a teacher?'
'Chill, Isabel.' said Max 'She must have applied a lot earlier.'
Putting aside the problem of Michael's second cousin being a teacher, the four friend chatted over cherry cokes and fries until Isabel declared it was time to leave.
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Max was standing at the end of the line at the cafeteria for his daily intake of junk food, when he felt eyes boring into his back. It was one of his special abilities, just like dreamwalking to Isabel; he always knew when he was being watched. He turned his head expecting to see some determined cheerleader who decided that this was her day, preparing mentally to turn down any attempts at chit-chat or invitations to dates or parties, but found instead that a petite, dark-haired girl was coming towards him. 'She's quite pretty. I've never seen her. She must be a junior, though she seems older' he registered as the girl stepped up beside him at the end of the line. She saw that he was watching and offered him a smile. Max started to blush when their eyes met.
She had incredible, soulful, brown eyes. It was like a spark connected them for a moment. He had no time to admire the beauty of her eyes, as soon as the eye contact was made, the girl stumbled, as if she slipped on something, though she was standing still. Max reflexively reached out and caught her.
The moment their skins made contact, he felt a sudden surge of power running through his veins, ready to burst out. He had to quell this power immediately or he might blow up something. It took several seconds of inner battle to regain control, and just when his focus returned to the outside world, did he realize that he was still holding the girl tightly in his arms. He released her instantly, reddening like never before. The brunette tried to regain composure and mumbled something like 'Sorry gotta get ready for class' and quickly turned and hurried away leaving a dumbfounded Max behind. 'She has to get ready. Like there's not another five minutes from the break. You scared her away.' he thought as he started on his way to PE.
'Way to go, Evans.' he felt a slap on his back.
'Thanks Kyle, for reminding me that I just made fool of myself in front of the whole school.'
'Hey it's not so bad. It was not the whole school.' He said with sincere compassion radiating from his voice. Then he made a show of looking around and flashed an evil grin 'Just half the school saw you feeling up that chick'. Seeing Max's expression darken he quickly added. 'Or this will be the rumor. Anyways, Buddha says, that one must humble oneself before reaching enlightement and you just took a great step down that road.'
'I wonder who she was.'
'No way! Max Evans is expressing interest in a female!. Hey everyone, that's a first!' said Kyle with raised voice
'Kyle! Everyone is looking at me!'
'And? When do you plan to ask her out?' They heard choking sounds behind them. Another football player, Paulie nearly spat out half his Cola.
'What's up Paulie?'
'Nothing Kyle, but I couldn't help to overhear...'
'And?'
'And I don't think this is the best idea...'
'Why, is she already taken?'
'No, but look, Kyle..'
'Hush and go away, Max deserves someone and that chick looked OK, don't you think?'
'Yeah, but.. Oh crap, I gotta run, bie!' They reached the gym by now. Max and Kyle entered and Paulie left for chemistry.
'What was his problem with that girl? Maybe she doesn't want to...' started Max but Kyle interrupted.
'Look, pal, next time you see her, you invite her to share a cup of cafe, OK? And if you chicken out I will personally tear down your green and slimy balls.'
They continued to argue during PE and Kyle finally managed to convince Max to try to ask her out.
Hi everyone, I'm sorry but this will be a quite boring part for some of you, who know something about magic-theory a la Mark Rein'Hagen, and a bit confusing for those who don't. I hope within the next few parts the working of magic can be made clear to everyone, and I can concentrate on the story, it can be quite complex for those who grew up on Harry Potter or AD&D, but once you understand a few basic concepts it fits surprisingly well into the modern world.

Part 2
3 days earlier, outskirts of Albuquerque, an apartment house.
"I`m Elizabeth Parker and this is the new diary, my best friend Alexander made me for my 24th birthday. I don`t know yet what will I write into it; my life consist mostly of secrets that cannot be committed to a PalmTop. Hell, why not. It`s not like anyone will ever read it. Alex guaranteed that the new fingerprint scanner can't be fooled and the machine will destroy all of its contents if it`s tampered with. But on the other hand, Alex's motto is: no information is in safety.
I think all Adepts are a bit weird. Well, anyway apart from being 24, single and supposedly pretty, I'm also a mage. Yes, you've heard right. (It feels strange, conversing with a computer). I'm not magician, pulling rabbits out of hats, or doing card tricks (though I could show you a few good ones). I deal with Quintessence, the pure energy, the fabric of the universe. I'm one of the Celestial Chorus, a member of the Nine Traditions. We like to think of ourselves as the most caring Tradition, we try to help the Sleepers (non-Awakened folks) whenever we can. Originally we were more bound to our religions, but I personally believe in no God. But I feel the Song which moves all living, the endless harmony echoing in the universe, and I serve that harmony.
Unfortunately even mages have their enemies. A war had been raging behind the scenes in the last five hundred years. The War of Ascension. The nine Traditions against the Order of Reason, alias the Technocracy. They are wizards (though they consider themselves scientists) who want all realities to be the same dull ones, with predetermined uniform lives, no change, no creativity, no real life. We fight against them. Unfortunately for the last few hundred years the Technocracy was winning. Some of us are like guerillas, warring desperately to the bitter end, but most of us just wants to live in peace. I fall into the later category, though neither Alex, nor me will turn down a chance to sabotage a Progenitor project or hinder the New World Order if the opportunity arises.
Alex is a Virtual Adept. They are the Ninth Tradition, renegades of the Technocracy. Some fifty years ago the leadership of the Adepts decided that the anti-creativistic, slow-progress orientated ideals of Technocracy are not for them, and during one bloody night a whole Tradition turned cloaks and joined us. Now some of them are even trusted with a knife even if there are only five armed mages in the room. Our kind is a mistrusting one. Not that I blame them. Anyways, Alex is my "bestest" friend. There is nothing romantic between us, but we really understand each other and our skills complete the other's. He deals with computers, information and hypertech I cannot even begin to understand, despite the fact that I majored in biology. Generally it's unusual for a mage to graduate from any sciences, because most of them are the product of the Technocracy, but I wanted to understand the workings of the human body, and it can't hurt to know how the enemy thinks. Alex's gadgets work the same way as my songs: his will forces reality into the desired shape. It's the same magic, even if he denies it. He built a few weeks ago a computer to detect heartbeats. But it only works in his hands, because he believes that it will. From hundred years from now, when humanity will believe that such machine can be constructed, it will show living beings in anyone's hand. If I'm interested in who is around I'll just open myself to the harmony and see if there are sentient ones around, resonating to the eternal tune. "
Elizabeth put down the palm and started to concentrate. It was such a long time ago she last heard the beauty of the Song. It suddenly seemed a good idea to do what she just wrote down. She flung herself into the music, slowly humming the tune of Life. Her awareness was instantly filled with the swirling, breathing chaos which was called life. She let go and embraced the magic that flowed around them. She sensed Alex munching on some pizza in the kitchen, then their neighbors, after them a few people on the street. Then she sensed something disgusting getting out of a car on the street. Neither machine- nor human. She snapped out of the trance instantly.
'Alex! Technocrats!'
'What?!' They instantly sprang to action. Liz stepped to the window and looked out. Two suits getting out a black car. Both tall, blonde, wearing mirrored sunglasses, moving with inhuman precision. Liz's back started sweating. Then she spotted a car approaching from the end of the street. It rained yesterday she thought. The road must be slippery. She concentrated and started to hum as she raised her hands to the sun. The agents quickly looked towards the window, sensing the change in reality and started to reach inside their suits, but they were way too slow.
The blue sedan's driver must have been careless. He drove the car over a small wet spot, which was incredibly slippery. It was dumb luck for Liz that when the driver lost control the sedan jumped up to the pavement and hit both agents. Or wasn't it? The driver surprisingly had not a scratch, just passed out for a few minutes from the crash. One of the agents died immediately as the one ton car hit him fully in the middle, the other started to get up when he received a shot in the head from Alex, who leaned out of the other window.
It was over in 5 seconds.
`Let's get the hell out of here'. They were both prepared for such occasions; while Alex stood guard, Elizabeth quickly threw her most important things into a suitcase. On impulse, she picked up the electronic diary and put it too into the bag. In some fashion, it saved their lives after all. Upon finishing she relieved Alex. He took a little more time packing, his precious instruments required greater care. Neither of them spoke much; they knew the drill, it was not the first time they had to flee, leaving everything behind.
Less than five minutes later Liz started towards their car, but Alex shook his head.
`They probably can trace it back to us. We need a new car.` Liz looked up and down the street, inspecting the cars. She slowly raised her hand and closed her eyes, and let luck guide her hand. She pointed at a Ford.
`That one'
'Okaay' He stepped up to the car and took out something from his back pocket. `It’s an infrared scanner. If I start to scale the frequency and modulate the amplitude it will open the car. `
'Just do, it okay?' Within a few minutes they were sitting their new car. The owner, when he later realized that his car was stolen, was really glad that he just made the most expensive insurance last week. It's how the magic of modern times work. A few lucky coincidences instead fireballs and armies of dragons. If you mess with reality; reality will mess with you as well, and it's not pleasant. Liz quickly changed the license plates with a sweep of her hand - using vulgar magic like this can take a lot out of someone, but she had no time.
`OK, where now?'
'I have a few relatives in some nearby small town. Let's lay low there` She said massaging her temple. If one uses to many power in front of witnesses, the universe, formed by the common subconscious can kick back. It's called the Paradox and now it hurt like hell.
'Which town?'
'Roswell. And put your feet down.'
Part 3
After leaving Albuquerque, the adrenalin started to drain from their systems, and the events that took place started to sink in.
`Alex will not it be ever over? Do we have to kill again and again? `
`I don't know Liz. I think we just to have to keep running. And it's better to kill than to be killed`
`But sooner or later we will make a mistake.'
`I know` He said in a cheery voice `That's the story of our lives, I guess. Where do you want to be buried? `
`Jerk! ` She punched him in the arm.
`Liz, ` he started in a more serious tone `It's no use wasting yourself away. We did what we had to, and if need be, we will do it again. If it makes this easier, don't think of them as human. They are not. Or not in a sense as you or me. `
'But they were human at some point! Why would anyone subject himself to such horrid transformation? What ends can require such means? ` She nearly cried. She killed a sentient human being in cold blood. Without thinking. She, deep down, knew that these half-men, half-machines hadn't felt emotions or anything at all, but it was wrong to kill. Very wrong. And the worst part was that she had been through this before. And she survived it without the guilt consuming her, and she knew that she will this time too. Did it make her a horrible person?
`Hunger for power. Lies. Belief in wrong things. Brainwashing. Who wouldn't want to be strong and quick and healthy? They just forgot to have a look at the price tag. `
`Yourself. ` Her voice sounded dead.
`Exactly, Liz. They made their own decisions, forged their own destiny, and if it included getting shot in the head, that was their problem. Don't mourn them. They are not worth it. They were beyond salvation. `
`Everyone needs to be mourned. ` Liz stated with deep conviction. She couldn't let it go. `There can't be meaningless deaths. Just can't. ` She said as she started sobbing.
Alex remained silent. As much as it hurt him to see his friend crying, he knew he said what had to be said and it's now up to her to process it. It was hard to kill for him too, and it wasn't getting easier. It helped a bit to know how these people were made, and it caused a sudden flare of anger towards those who could do such things. It was everything his Order stood against. It was why they left the Technocracy. Alex of course was too young to remember the old days, but he heard stories. Their computers, their precious children were forced to help design such monstrosities. It was like using a thousand-year-old sword to chop wood. A perfect statue of Michelangelo to hang coats. Perversion. Unholiness. Inhumanity. As his grip tightened on the steering wheel, his ever-analitical mind recognized the pattern. `She deals by taking up the guilt and letting the pain to wash her away for some time, just to come back stronger, while you cope with anger and frustration that builds up within you. It's supposed to be unhealthy. Like I could go to a pshrink. ` Despite everything, he nearly laughed out loud. That would be lovely `Hey, Doc I just shot in the head a very evil half-cyborg with an enchanted Magnum. Do we want to talk about it? `Not likely. We did what we had to. It was a belief he clung to with his life, lest insanity would wash him away.
They both sat in silence for the rest of the day, as Alex drove the car towards Roswell, New Mexico.
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Next morning, a few miles from Roswell.
Alex was driving for ten hours now. They could have made it with half the time, but he chose to take sideroads and some times backtracked a bit to see if they were followed. As far as he knew, they weren't, but he couldn't be sure. Liz cried herself to sleep sometimes around ten o'clock. He gave himself an injection after midnight, filled with anti-sleep, concentration-increasing drugs. It weakened his emotions as well, which he considered a good thing. It was a fifty-year old recipe of the Progenitors; the Adepts took it with them when they turned cloaks. At that time it was state-of-art medicine, usable only in the forts of technocracy, in the outside world it was just as useless as most of the old magics. But in the last fifty years the possibility of the existence of such chemicals slowly slipped into the common subconscious, so they worked on not just a select few, but on your average Joe as well. That was how Technocracy formed the world and beliefs of the people, slowly making them to accept their science and theories.
He was now wide-awake and on alert, and will continue to be so in the next 24 hours, and after that he would sleep for sixteen hours, but it didn't matter. What mattered was to get themselves to safety.
Liz slowly stirred in her sleep.
`Good morning.' She yawned 'Where are we? `
`Good morning to you too. ETA half an hour. You okay? ` He asked with concern in his voice.
`I will be. `
`Where we are heading exactly and what we'll do when we get there? `
`I think it'd be the best if we arrived separate ways. You could stay at a motel, while I play visiting relative at my cousin, if it's okay with you. `
He slowly nodded, grateful that she suggested separation before he'd had to. `And in the long run? `
`I don't know. ` They just drove past West Roswell High. It seemed to give her an idea. `Wait, what if we applied here. I could teach nearly any humane subject or biology or physics, and I'm sure you'd be far more than capable to teach calculus or computer sciences. It's nearly the start of the school year, and I'm sure there are same vacancies. ` She stressed the word sure with a weak smile.
`You bet. Is it safe to use even coincidental magic? What if they have some weird sensor up? `
`Not likely. The technocrats leave this town alone. It's full of conspiracy theories, black suits in black cars wouldn't go unnoticed. Yeah, they could come up with some disguises, but it's easier to pretend Roswell doesn't even exist. There is nothing here anyway. I was here some ten years ago, a year after my Awakening` She meant the process when an individual becomes able to access magic. It was always a spontaneous thing, it couldn't be forced; though it could be accelerated or made easier. `There's not a trace of supernatural here, everyone keeps out of the town for the same reasons. Anyways it's too small to support a leech and there's nothing here for a garou. People tend to be open minded and they believe in a lot of things, but that can be expected. `
`Fine by me if I don't have to put my brain through the grinder everytime I try something new. So it seems an ideal place to stop for a few months.` He pulled the conclusion. He pulled over to a gas station with a restaurant. `Why don't you get us something to eat, inform that cousin of yours and contact the school, while I start doing the paperwork. ` He said and reached for one of his laptops.
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Around 20 o'clock they were both new teachers at West Roswell High. She had to remain Parker or she'd have a hard time explaining why her name changed even if she wasn't married. (They tried the wife-husband act before and it just hadn't worked.) Alexander Herber became Alexander Charles Whitman, which earned him a raised eyebrow from Liz, but he quickly explained. `Hey I always thought Charlemagne had a cool name! `. He got himself an apartment and she told his cousin that she'd drop by and she needed a place to crash 'till she got herself an apartment. Jeff said they had a spare room anyways and she could stay as long as she wanted, but her dream home was not over a restaurant. However, it will do as a temporal solution.
After making some worst-case scenarios they were both incredibly drowsy, Alex because the drug started to empty from his system, Liz because there was only one vacancy, and making the bio-teacher to win an academic scholarship for a whole year, which he simply couldn't turn down, the same day as an other unemployed teacher arrives to the town is more than a huge coincidence. She normally wouldn't be able to cause such things happen; she had to use a lot of her Tass reserves. Tass was the manifested magical energy, Quintessence forced into form, which she usually kept for emergencies. She just hoped that she could tap into the UFO museum's reserves. It was a place where way too much people went, believing in a lot of strange things. And Quintessence was Quintessence and while it came from belief in other realities, acceptance of supernatural things, free creativity, hopes, bustling emotions and life, it didn’t matter if the source was the equinox ritual at Stonehenge or the crowd of nuts milling around daily at the museum.
In the old times when magic was a common thing, and it was normal for a witch to get on her broom and fly, but now it was considered impossible by humanity so it was nearly impossible for a human. Free quintessence was in abundance those days, when dragons soared in the sky and mage-princes carved out huge empires from nothingness for themselves. Now every little bit of manifested Quintessence was a treasure, to be guarded and fought for. Quintessence was not just the magic, it was the strands from which the fabric of reality was woven, but as time passed the fabric grew more and more rigid, harder to bend, and loose strands became harder to find and to pull at one's leisure.
So she was totally spent when she arrived at the Crashdown nearly 11 pm. She greeted Nancy and Jeff, was informed that their foster son Michael was already in bed. She claimed being exhausted from the road and after a few unavoidable questions about her, she could hit the bed, just to be awaken at 6 o'clock next morning.

Chapter 2
Getting to know you

Part 4
Elizabeth woke up to with terrible headache next morning, and she knew that it was caused by the unusual amount of magic she used in the last days. She took a few aspirins and consumed an early breakfast. Nancy tried chatting, but she was really not in the mood. `This'll be a nice first day at a new workplace. If I don't take care I'll make a really good first impression as a moody bitch,` she thought. Upon this reflection she forced a smile and managed five minutes of actual conversation with Nancy, before she excused herself that she had to leave.
By the time she arrived to the school, her headache was mostly gone. She entered the school a bit more lightheartedly. She was actually looking forward to teaching. Despite what her papers said, she had no formal education on education, but one of the quirks of being a mage was, that if need be, she could recite her high school teacher's lesson with near-total accuracy. However, she planned to do things her way. She'd teach the usual stuff, without fault, but she planned some interesting experiments, testing the students’ limits. Maybe she could find a student whom she could mentor on more than just biology. The fabric of quintessence was a bit less rigid in this place, so the usually near-impossible feat of finding anyone at a regular high school who could be helped to Awaken, was instead just really unlikely. Not that luck meant anything to someone who could bend reality at her whim.
She got over the formalities at principal's office quickly and found out that her first class was two hours away. She silently thanked whatever power gave her time to prepare for the lesson and quickly headed out to the library to find out at least what does the biology book like. 'God, I hate last minute decisions. Plans. I thrive on plans. Note to self: when things got a little more relaxed, come up with some emergency plans.' she pondered while flipping through the first few pages. It was the same she was thaught of, and after making some notes she decided to have a snack before her first lesson.

Liz
After taking out the book I head for the cafeteria, or in the direction I hope it is. I'd really feel better after a sandwich and a cup of cafe. I hate speaking on an empty stomach. Not that I've stage fright or anything. I'm just a bit nervous, but nothing extra. I finally find the cafeteria. It has a decent-sized queue. Well, I'll stand to the end of the line; I don't want to make a bad impression by using my privileges as a teacher. Anyways, I look young (hell, I am young), and with my luck I'd be mistaken for a student. It'd be embarrassing as hell. So I set out for the end of the line, when I notice something strange.
A boy. Dark hair, green shirt, jeans. Showing his back to me, so I can only guess at his age. As I start towards him (and the cafeteria) from the other end of the quad, he turns his head suddenly, looking directly at me. From his features, I guess he is eighteen or something, but somehow he manages to look much older. Something is wrong with this kid. I slow my steps and take a deep breath, slowly opening my consciousness to the eternal music. I focus my gaze at him. My body is in autopilot mode, it continues to walk while I try to feel him. He is Resonating! He is radiating waves of power. They are muffled, but inherently strong. His true self is an open book to me, which is really strange, considering most people, even Sleepers cloud their inner self, their Avatar. He is strong, oh how strong! Desire to control. Unshakable sense of authority. Incredible confidence in himself and those who belong to him. It's the Avatar of a ruler, a leader or an Archmage. But I can only take a peek at his Avatar when his outer layer blocks out the view. It's hard to read. He has a complex personality. Too much worry, fear, insecurity. No sense of purpose. I have never seen so much differences between a person's Avatar and outer self. The Avatar tends to form his "shell" to an image of himself. I can't decide whether he is a Sleeper or not. His Avatar is too visible. But no mage would leave his inner self laid out for anyone to scrutinize. My legs, still on autopilot step beside him. I offer him a smile and finally make an eye contact. I want to know everything about him!
The moment our gazes lock his Destiny slaps me in the face. I've met people who stood their places against terrible odds and won. I've met people of whom oracles spoke hundreds of years before their birth. Great men, and terrible enemies, heroes and traitors. I've looked them in the eye. They all radiated the same sense of purpose. Their path was chosen for them and they fought to fulfill their destiny, hoping that the cup at the end won't be the bitter one. But they were candles where this boy was the noon sun, the scorching heat of a volcano, the flow of the lava which destroys anything that tries to stand in its way.
I stagger and fall right into his arms. Power, waves upon waves of power are radiating from him as he holds me tight. What is he doing? Release me! I know, if he chose to direct this power at me, I'd be, despite ten years of training, nothing more than a pile of ashes. Panic overwhelms me. I'm just starting to struggle when he suddenly releases me. I practically flee the scene muttering some stupid excuse - not that anyone is listening. When I turn the corner I threw my back to the wall, panting. Wow!
My mind screams to run and never |ook back, my instinct screams that he wouldn't hurt me and my heart is whispering some annoying thing about how right it felt in his arms. I shut down my mind and turn on the autopilot, destination: my next class (I spend way too much time with Alex. I'm not a machine!). Next, I tell my instincts to shut up, no one is going anywhere and last I scold my heart for her stupidity. After my schizofrenia-rush subsided, I consider my options and decide that I'll find an opportunity to sit down with him someplace public and have a little talk. Of what, I don't know. Yet.
Maybe he already Awakened, but knows nothing of his situation. In this case he is the strongest apprentice of the decade. Or maybe he is just a Sleeper incredibly close to Awakening. Things can get weird that time, when decades of unused energy try to find an outlet. Currently I'll go with theory number two. Which means he requires finesse and tactful handling, if I don't want to be blown up and if he really doesn't know who and what he is. This still leaves a few questions open: why does he have such a Destiny, if he is just a smalltown boy in the middle of nowhere? Or why could I see his naked Avatar one moment and why was it gone the next? Well, there is only one way to find out, as I step into the classroom. Note to self: don't wander around this place with a naked mind like an apprentice two weeks after her Awakening. You are a mage, girl and falling into complete strangers arms just because you look them in the eye does not qualify as responsible behavior for one of the Celestial Chorus. No matter how handsome they are. And where did the last part come from? Aaaargh!
I try clear my thoughts to be able to focus on the task at hand - teaching.
Part 5
Maria and Isabel entered the biology classroom and headed for their separate seats. Isabel sat down with her cheerleader friends, while Maria hopped down beside Mark. He was a decent-looking guy and he and Maria were helping each other out in science classes through the whole junior year. The theory behind their cooperation was that if you put two nothings together you'll get something. It worked, more-or-less.
They just took out their books when the teacher entered. She was quite young, a small-framed woman in plain clothes, with nearly no makeup. She had long, brown hair and looked a bit troubled. Mark chose this moment to whisper to Maria. 'Who is that new chick? I've never seen her before.' She stood in the doorway for a second or two then composed her and went to the teacher's desk.
Maria looked derisively at Mark. 'Can't you see that she's at least 23.'
'You must be joking, she can't be a day older than eighteen. Well, I guess she must be, if she really is the teacher.'
'You guys are so blind that I'm surprised you can go down a corridor without banging into the walls.'
'That's so not true!'
'Well, who started the day with checking out the new teacher?'
They became aware that the whole class, including the teacher is staring at them. They both turned red and thought at the same time. 'I hope she didn't hear what I said.'
'Hello everyone, I'm Elizabeth Parker and I'll teach you biology. And just for the record I'm 24.' Everyone sniggered, Maria and Mark turned bright red again.
'This is Michael's cousin. I'll be soooo dead if Mr. Parker finds out.'
'There goes my chance for a B,' were their respective reflections. '
We will cover chapter one to sixteen 'till winter break, and we'll finish the book in the spring. I expect hard work from everyone who wants anything apart from a D.'
'There goes my chance for a C'
'And this doesn't mean that you will pass if you don't do anything.'
The rest of the class was pretty uneventful; she seemed a capable, if somewhat strict teacher. After bio, Maria went to English, which she had with Michael and after that, the last class, Computer Sciences. It was an experimental class, for those who were interested in a bit more than word-processing software and the proper use of the mouse. Maria, Max, and to everyone's surprise Kyle signed up as well. Kyle teased Max mercilessly during the break about some girl whom, according to Kyle, Max felt up. Maria couldn't really imagine Saint Max Evans groping someone, but the way his ears flamed was a telltale sign. She was glad that her "girlfriend" found someone who was worth a try. She has been trying to hook up Max with different girls for months now, but he was hopeless. So she listened intently to the story about the brown haired junior. It never occurred to her to make a connection between her and Michael's cousin until much later, when it was already too late.
The teacher was five minutes late. He was a tall, skinny, geeky looking man, around 25. He started with an introduction, that his name is Alex, and he will not be called anything else. He said nothing else about himself and started asking everyone why they took this class and what were their expectations.
'Maria?' 'It seemed a good idea at that time. I hope it will be interesting.'
'Max Evans?' 'I was always interested in programming and the workings of the software. I hope this is my chance to learn something useful.'
'Kyle Valenti?' 'I was curious what is there to computers beside PS2.' Alex went on until it was clear that out of the fifteen in the class only two or three have actual experience in computer technology, but everyone seemed to come with genuine interest.
'I will not teach you algorithm-theory, for I don't have the time, and you don't have the necessary mathematical equipment. I'd rather show you small things that only a few people now about their PC. Much of the term will be about the net. I'll show you scripting techniques, data-combing and if you are interested maybe a little hacking, just to know what you have to be prepared against.' After that statement he spent the entire hour explaining how the net evolved from a military project, what were are the basics of its workings. He told a lot of stories about the engineers working on the project, about the initial failures and he spiced it up with a few rather good jokes. He managed to illustrate incredibly complex concepts in such fashion, that even Maria understood them. They all left the classroom in a good mood, thinking that it was a great idea to sign up. They all sat down in the quad to eat lunch. Michael joined them soon; even Isabel left her fellow cheerleaders. They saw Alex enter the quad with his lunchtray. He looked a bit lost and was looking around like he was searching for someone. After a quick but intense dispute, which Maria won, they signaled him to join them.
Alex was a bit worried; he couldn't see Liz, though they agreed to meet for lunch. He caught Maria waving him to sit with them. After a short hesitation he shrugged and hopped down at their tree at the center of the quad. This class has been a blast. He found out that he really enjoyed teaching. These kids seemed a decent bunch. There was something strange with this Max, though he couldn't really put his finger on it. He had no equipment with him to check him, but honestly, what threat could a seventeen years old teenager pose? He was introduced to Michael and Isabel, and after a few minutes he took over the conversation. They knew none of his jokes, and it took only ten minutes from entering the quad, to the entertaining five teenagers, juggling apples while stepdancing. During his performance Max got up and said 'See you later' to everyone and hurried away. Alex nearly dropped the apples a minute later when he saw Max again, but this time with Liz at his side talking animatedly, and she was wearing the most sincere smile he saw in the last few days. They were leaving the quad, Max opening the door to her. They exited through the door at the opposite side of the quad, behind the back of the band.
'Hey, that's the chick we spoke of!' said Kyle, who was just coming back from bathroom, so unlike the others, he could see them.
'Where?' Maria immediately got, up but only saw Max who exited behind Liz. Alex caught the apples. The wheels were spinning inside his head. Kyle spoke of Liz, as if she were someone of his age. They might be relaxed with him, but there was no way they could be that relaxed about a teacher in front of another one. He didn't know what game was she playing, but weren't planning to ruin it for her. Not wanting to lose their just-won trust he formed his question with great care.
'Kyle if I were you I wouldn't use the c-word when ladies are present. Anyway, what's the story?'
'Max met this “lady” in the cafeteria this morning, and when she slipped or something, he caught her. The problem was that Max being Max hadn't released her for about half an hour and it was starting to look strange. When his brain finally caught up with him and he let go of her and she left in a rather hurried manner. Comrade Max must be apologizing his head off about now and making an idiot of himself, as usual.'
'That's my brother we are talking about!'
'And your point is?' They continued to bicker playfully while Alex sat down thinking hard about what the hell is happening.
Part 6
Max
I really enjoyed the CS class. Alex is funny guy. He is now sitting with us, sharing some story about Bill Gates getting stuck in his computerized WC. I suddenly have the similar feeling of being watched. I look up. It's the girl from to cafeteria. She looks incredibly beautiful. The way her eyes shine, the way the wind is playing with her long tresses of her silky hair. It's breathtaking. Mesmerizing I have no clue what happened to me this morning, but my body's reaction to her was amazing and quite a bit frightening. I don't know who she is, but if that wasn't a sign that I should find out, I don't know what is. So I try to muster whatever courage I have and get up. I quickly say my goodbyes, take a deep breath and start walking towards her. She is standing still, looking at me, waiting for me. I cannot really read her expression, but it's not downright rejecting and considering the circumstances of our previous meeting, it's a good sign.
`Hello. `
`Hello. About this morning...`
`Yeah I'm really sorry, I fell.` She is sorry? When I was a total loser?
`No I'm sorry that I...` groped you? I can't really say that.
`Seems that we are both sorry, why don't we just forget it?` So I'm let off the hook this easily? Fine by me!
`How come I've never seen you around here?`
`Yes, I'm new in town. In fact just moved here yesterday. ` I suddenly got tongue-tied and babble out the Big Question:
`Would - would you like a guided tour of our little town? ` She seems to be considering the answer. She will say no. I'm just a loser from another planet. A freak. Why 'd anyone go out with me?
`Yes, it seems a good idea.` I'm in heaven, she said yes. Okay, what's the next step? Think Evans, think. My hormones get fed up with my brain and take control of the conversation.
`And when would my lady grace me with her presence?`
`I don't have anything to do today, if my lord could sacrifice some tidbits of his precious times to help a damsel in distress, I'd be happy to take up on his offer anytime.`
------
Liz
I can't believe myself! I'm shamelessly flirting with a schoolkid. A quite special schoolkid, but for heaven's sake, he at least 6 years younger than me. Not that it matters. At least now I haven't fainted. My mind is a closed fortress now. It's not a pleasant thing and requires an awful lot of concentration, like continuously holding your stomach in. But I'll not repeat this morning's fiasco. I'm determined to find out everything about him. Start with the basics. Let's see what's his name.
`By the way, I'm Liz.` I offer him my hand in a rather ungraceful gesture. He takes it and kisses it. He is so sweet.
`I'm Max Evans, at your service, milady.` I know I should tell him that I'm a teacher, because if he finds out from someone else, that could be quite a shock. I'd definitely think of it as a betrayal. But if I tell him now, he'd cancel this date-like thing we are having. Remembering my high-school self, there is no way I'd have gone out with a teacher, not even if he was as good looking as him. I really hope he is not a student of mines. So I'll tell him later.
`And what'd my lady be interested in? Our little town have only a few things to offer, and most of them are full of little green men, much to my grief.` I continue our play.
`I'm really new in these parts milord. If you'd just name a few of those things, you keep referring to, then my humble self could perhaps express what interests me.`
`The two most likely candidates that are worth a look are the UFO museum, especially if you are interested in stuffed little green men, and the Crashdown café, which offers the best junk food in town.` The Crashdown. I panic. There's no way we'll be going there. Falling out of my role, I only manage to mutter:
`The UFO museum sounds fine, I guess.`
------
They had a fantastic time together, spending two hours in the UFO museum. Max worked there most afternoons so he could give Liz a behind the scenes tour as well. They found quite a few things to talk about, though he noticed that Liz deflected most questions about her life or her past. However, she seemed genuinely interested in him, and for the moment, only that mattered. After exiting the UFO museum, Liz had to turn down an offer for some sundaes at the Crashdown, so they said a rather awkward goodbye.

`I'm heading home, head literally spinning. I've never had such a wonderful time with anyone. She was everything I ever wished for. Intelligent, beautiful, caring. I know, I don't really know her. Yet. But I intend to. I know we have rules. But screw the rules. It's not like I gonna tell her anything. I wonder where does she live. Coming to think of it I don't really know anything about her. Why she came here? What do her parents do? And how old is she? I mean if she came here yesterday, then she isn't necessarily junior. I hope I have some classes with her. So if I really want to make a move on this girl I need some advice. It isn't my primary area of expertise. But whom? Michael? No way. Isabel? Just too damn embarrassing. I think I'll talk to Kyle. He has a lot of practice, even if only the half of the things he claims to have done is true. And I need some woman's perspective. The only choice seems to be Maria, though I'm a bit worried what will happen if Hurricane DeLuca is set loose upon my love life. Not that I have any. But I'm working on it, at last! So I'll just call Maria and treat her an ice cream, and I'll talk to Kyle after practice. Sounds like a plan. Ta-daam. That's your new Max. A man on a mission. `
With that thought he reached for his mobile phone to call Maria.
------
Meanwhile in Alex's motel room:
`I know Alex, this sounds ridiculous, but that boy's Destiny was stronger then anyone's I've ever felt.`
`I'd like to point out that I'm not convinced that this Destiny thingie even exists. How can you feel it? Where does it come from?`
`Alex, I just know, ok? I don't question your gadgets, you don't question my instincts. It has saved our ass a few times, remember?
`Okay. If, and that's a big if, this boy has some set-in-stone destiny then what? You don't need to go gaga over him.`
`Excuse me, but I never "go gaga", as you tactfully put it.`
`Yeah, it's totally the ever-planning miss Parker, who goes out on a date with a mysterious and admittedly dangerous stranger two hours after she fainted at the mere touch of him. You are acting out of character, sweetheart.` Liz was already opening her mouth to add some crisp remark, but she realized that maybe he had a point.
`Alex, I know, but it's not something I can let lay. If we can recruit him... He was incredibly powerful. It isn't controlled, it's not conscious, just raw power. `
`That's another big if. I think I need to remind you that you are playing with the boy. You haven't told him that you are a teacher. And he'll find out sooner than you'll expect. It will blow up in your face, mark my words.` Alex hated to be the voice of reason. They worked really well together because they were both level-headed, cool thinkers, and it was more than disturbing to see Elizabeth acting like some hormone-crazed teenager.
`I know Alex.` She was sounding troubled. `I needed him talk to me, I knew it was wrong, but as he came to me it seemed the only possible route. I'll clean up this mess at the first possible opportunity and salvage what I can. `
She shuddered at her own words. Salvage. She knew she blew it. And there seemed no hope of making it alright. Once he knew she was a teacher and worse, that she lied to him, it'll be all over, even before it had a chance to begin. And, she admitted grudgingly to herself, would like to give it a chance. Max was an incredibly attractive guy. Sweet, caring, thoughtful, clever, everything she was looking for in guys. Not to mention the body of a greek god. And that he is an incredibly powerful apprentice? mage? sleeper? whatever, it just adds a bit of thrill. She knew that getting yourself caught up in someone else's Destiny is a really stupid way to die, but she couldn't help it. If she walked away she'd playing "what if" for years, if not for the rest of her life.
`Liz, you have to understand, my problem is not you falling for a high school kid-`
`Excuse me?` The indignation in her voice could move mountains.
`So we are playing "the Nile is not just a river in Egypt". We are both adults Liz and I've been practically living with you in the last five years. I know you, and I know you won't admit it here and now, but hear me out. You have it bad. And it's okay with me. Sure, Max has some quite impressive muscles, and if not for the circumstances, I too, would give Max's sister a try,` He said with a grin.
`Alex!` she cried out indignantly. He continued in a serious monotone tone as if nothing happened
`but there are circumstances. And every single one of them screams that it's a wrong idea. Still, you act like there's no tomorrow. And it troubles me. A lot. It can lead to no good. I just know it. So I'll leave you here before we get into a shouting match. Think a bit, before you act. I'm just asking you to be careful.` Before she could say a word he walked out the door, leaving Elizabeth alone. And for the sake of variety it was now her who sat down thinking really hard about what the hell was happening
Part 7
(I've changed the workings of dreamwalking. Now it doesn't need a picture. Think about it. What has to do having a picture of someone with the psychic ability to enter one's mind? I also used the Shadowrun's astral-plane conception instead the Mage's Umbra)

Same evening, Crashdown
Liz came home around 7 o'clock and was having dinner with her aunt and uncle in the middle of the restaurant, chatting about general things. She finally met Michael and found out that Maria from her class was working in the Crashdown. She really enjoyed seeing her squirm when she told Jeff about what happened in class.
Meeting Michael was a disturbing experience. She instantly felt that something was amiss with him. However she has learnt from the morning's experiences and retreated to the bathroom for five minutes to prepare herself. She cast a spell around the bathroom preventing anyone to see or hear anything aside from the expected things. She pulled the walls around her mind as tight as she could, then placed a small anti-magical shield around herself. After these, instead of opening herself as she did this morning, she began a slow prayer to the winds of the spirit realms and sent out her consciousness. To the outside observer, supposing he could see through the web of illusion woven around her, she was sitting in lotus on the floor of the cubicle, motionless, expect her eyes which were darting seemingly randomly. Her consciousness bridged the distance between her and Michael instantly. Distances lost their meaning in this place, however finding someone could be hard, especially if the location in the physical world was far away and unknown.
Michael had the same raw power. She could only sense from here that he was working in the kitchen, doing something to dead tissue - meat. Non-living materials were hard to see here. If she concentrated she could take out the rough outlines of the kitchen. But it didn't matter. The important things here were the emotions, the feelings. And if people felt an emotion strongly, or for a long time, the feeling attached itself to the surroundings. There were places best avoided from the astral plane. Prisons, slums, slaughterhouses, industrial plants. Where there was no life or it was a sterile one, without improvement, without hope, filled with misery, then the surroundings could become ugly. Reeking wounds on the back of Gaia, where hungry spirits of hopelessness and destruction could find the way into our world. But the Crashdown was alright - happy or at least relaxed people ate here everyday for a long time, so the café felt like an armchair before a fireplace. Nice, cozy, warm and safe.
He was flipping the burgers on the grill. Another living person entered the kitchen - Maria. There was something between them, some kind of link. It was not love, not yet, but given time, it could evolve into more than mutual attraction. Liz could have heard their conservation, if she really cared but instead concentrated on Michael. He was strong. Not as incredibly strong as Max, but even his raw potential surpassed Liz's own. He felt really strange, the same way as Max did. She couldn't determine his state. He couldn't be a Sleeper, nor someone who was already Awakened. He is Awakening now too? And he had the same sense of Destiny. Why? Even among mages, those whose Destiny could be sensed were rare. Really rare. Now two mageling in one small town with enormous potential and a strong destiny. 'What am I missing?' Liz asked herself as she returned to her physical body. She dispelled her protective magics and exited the cubicle, heading back to the restaurant where she left Jeff and Nancy a few minutes ago. 'Those two are connected somehow. Just like two brothers. Sometimes magic runs through blood. Michael was adopted when he was six. Who were his true parents? Why they left him? Was Max adopted too? Too many questions. I'll have to call Alex later.' She thought as she settled back to chat with her uncle. They spent the next two hours with catching up on each other's lives. They got, of course, a highly edited version of Liz Parker's autobiography.
After closing time, much to his annoyance, Michael was included in the get-to-know you talk too. He was not really in the mood for it; it was already weird that a complete stranger, whom you never met, is living now under your roof, but that she is a teacher as well! Michael didn't really like teachers. They are creatures of the school, and are supposed to remain there after hours, not come into your home and take the guestroom. And something was definitely wrong with Liz. He didn't know how, but he knew. The woman was trouble.
And not just this. Max was behaving totally out of character. He spent the whole practice listening to him going into raptures over some new-in-town girl. Liz is this, Liz is that. Like she was a goddess whose only purpose was to be worshipped by a hormone-crazed alien teenager. Now wait a second! New in town. Liz. A nasty suspicion started to work in Michael's head. He quickly shrugged it off. There is no way this twenty-much woman is the same junior Max was raving about. Still...

Later that night.
'You are suggesting that your cousin is my brother's new obsession? This is ridiculous Michael.'
'Why not, Is? Only Kyle has seen this Liz, but he hasn’t met my cousin. Name fits. Description fits. New in town. Short. Brunette. What is the chance that another short brunette named Liz moved into Roswell in the last few days?'
'Yes, but there is the age factor. That's where your theory crashes. She is not junior, but a teacher. How do you explain that? You are just being paranoid. Again.'
'She looks really young. Mark mistook her for a student.'
'Mark is an idiot. And the question still remains, why'd she make advances to my brother?'
'That's what interests me. That's why I'm asking you.' Isabel sighed. Michael called her ten minutes ago to ask her to dreamwalk his cousin. She still hadn't believed a word of what he was saying, but was willing to do it just to shut him up.
'Fine. I'll do it. But I still think this is stupid.'
'Thanks Is. See you tomorrow.' He said, hanging up. Isabel put down the phone too. 'It's best if I get over this as quickly as I can.' She relaxed, closed her eyes and reached out for Michael. She quickly found him, but of course he was awake. Using him as an anchor she started to look for women around him. She sensed Mrs. Parker and someone else.
'That must be her.' She thought as she entered Liz's dreamorb. She found herself in a green, sunlit field. Liz was standing in a white robe in the middle of the field, arms outscretched, face turned to the sun, signing some hymn in a foreign language. The problem with the picture was that she was doing it with her feet dangling a meter above the ground! However the song was truly beautiful. Isabel couldn't understand a word, but the meaning was somehow clear. It was about the joy of living, a song about the deep connection linking all humans, animals, plants everywhere, about living in complete harmony with the universe. It seemed to awaken something deep inside her too, some sense of awareness stirring in its sleep.
Liz let the verse finish and as the last notes died she lowered her arms and looked at Isabel.
'Who are you and why are you disturbing me?' She said, her eyes scrutinizing her. It was not the greeting Isabel expected. She was standing there dumbfounded.
'I haven't invited you. Get out of my mind!' She was just still standing there, looking at her in disbelief. No one ever noticed her as not belonging to their dreams. When she dreamwalked Max once, he questioned her in the morning, but at night he just accepted her as part of his dream. Who was Elizabeth Parker?
'Okay, if you won't leave voluntarily then have it your way!' She said and she threw her head back singing one incredibly loud, but clear note. Isabel felt herself picked up and hurled out of the dreamplane. She found herself in her room, panting. Her head was hurting like hell and blood was running from her nose. 'Fuck, Michael was right. Something is wrong. Really wrong. But I can't tell him now, he'd go on rampage. I can't tell Max either, if she's really his Liz, then he'd be devastated. Who is she? How did she throw me out? What can I do now?' Isabel sat down on her bed thinking really hard.
Part 8
Max
I enter the school at 7:40. It's quite early, but I hope I might run into Liz. There are only a few people here now. I settle near the entrance, trying not to be seen waiting for someone. I wait in vain. Grudgingly I get up and head for Calculus. I can't help but feel disappointed. I've no reason, we've never agreed to meet, or anything. Still, I hoped... I don't know. Maybe Kyle is right and I have it bad.
Liz
I had a troubled night... Luckily my first class is in second period, so I can sleep. Someone was trying to spy on my dreams. She was not a Technocrat; it didn't feel that way. And when I threw her out, she wasn't even trying to resist. Why hadn't she? She didn't want me to know her power? But that's no reason to extraditate herself to my whim. Maybe she didn't know how to defend herself? But that's the first thing everyone learns! Another lost apprentice? This place seems packed with them. What's going on here?
Girl, you are avoiding the real problem. It is 180 tall, dark and handsome and is called Max Evans. How can I tell him without destroying any chance that he will trust me? I just want to hide in some dark corner, but years of experience thought me, that running away doesn't solve anything. Why am I more afraid now from facing a teenager and admitting to him that I lied last afternoon, than when I was facing NWO agents?
I take a deep breath and enter the school. I hope that somehow, magically it will turn out all right, but that's not what I'm expecting. The irony is not lost on me as I walk down the corridors. Here I am, wizard of the Celestial Chorus, a warrior of the Ascension War, my stomach knotted in a tight ball from confronting a kid, whom despite all his power I could crush at my whim.
Max
I'm coming out from History, my eyes unconsciously searching for her. Then I spot her. She is walking away from me. I hurry my steps to catch up with her, butterflies flopping vehemently in my stomach. She stops, turns and looks at me. How did she know I was there? Maybe humans can feel if they are watched too? I never talked about it with Maria or Kyle. She looks at me, her expression is difficult to read, but it promises no good things. I gather whatever courage I've left and step up to her.

Liz
I feel eyes boring into my back. I slowly turn, hoping and dreading at the same time that it's him. I'm right, the time for confrontation has come. For a moment I think of putting up my standard empty smile, then I decide against is. He'd see right through it. He comes to a halt at a step away from me, I can see him become apprehensive. He hesitates for a second then breathes a weak hello. It's best if we are over this quickly. I take a deep breath and start.

Max
'Max, can we talk for a second? I made a mistake and I want to apologize.' What mistake? That's the part when she tells me she has a boyfriend? I knew! How someone so perfect could be free?
'Sure.'
'I don't really know how to start.'
'Look I understand. You have someone.' She seems clearly shocked. Why? It's obvious from her behaviour.
'NO! I mean I don't have anybody...'
'Thank goodness.' I interrupt her. Whoops. Did I just say that aloud? I want the floor to open and swallow me! I demand it! Of course nothing like this happens.
'Max, I didn't really tell everything about me, and there's a very important thing, that you should know...' It's clearly really awkward for her. Maybe it's about her past. She didn't really talk about it yesterday. I've my secrets too, she shouldn't feel obliged to tell me her own.
I quickly silence her with placing my finger on her lips. It's like bolts of electricity shoot through my body. I start to wonder, what the feeling would be like if I kissed her?
'Do you want to tell it?' She seems clearly shocked. Maybe I went too far.
'Not really,' she smiles weakly 'But I have to.'
'No, you don't. You'll tell when you want to, okay? I've my own secrets too.' Relief illuminates her face. She really didn't want to talk about it, whatever it is.
'Thank you. But I still think it's best if I tell you now.' I don't like seeing her being so uncomfortable.
'Why don't we talk about after school? If you still want to continue exploring Roswell.' I hope my voice doesn't show how much I hope in a yes.
She hesitates for what seems like an eternity.
'Okay. I have 4 more hours today. And you?'
'Me too. Why don't we meet before the school at one o'clock.'
'It's a date.' My heartbeat skips at her words. I somehow mystically managed to turn this conversation from the dreaded 'I don't want to see you anymore ever' to 'we have a date in the afternoon'. God, life is beautiful!

Liz
I can't believe I'm so weak! All it took for him to break away my resolve was to touch my lips. After that I couldn't think straight. He is so perfect! He knows that I've some nasty secret and he is still a perfect gentleman. My knight in shining armour. And I of course turn into a pile of Jell-o. After agreeing to meet later we stare into each other's eyes for about an eternity then I reluctantly break the eye contact and mutter some goodbye. I haven't solved the problem, I just postponed it. But for the first time I feel like this could end all right. I fervently hope so. The way his finger felt on my lips... It's an experience I want to explore in depths.
------
Maria
I'm coming out of the bathroom with Is. She suddenly stops mid-step, and I nearly trip over her. Then I see what's she staring at. Max talking to someone. It's clear from his behaviour that she the girl Max was mooning over. OH MY GOD! This is Miss Parker! I need some cedar oil and I need it fast! How? Does he know? Of course not, he has biology only three hours later. Could it happen? My best girlfriend is head over heals with Michael's cousin. Isabel seems ready to kill. Why? Is this some alien mumbo-jumbo? No one is allowed to touch my brother thing? I quickly grab her before she does something stupid like going to them. Now Max is raising his finger to her lips. I quickly glance around. Others are watching too. The whole school will know by this time tomorrow! What tomorrow? Within ten minutes. It is the hottest piece of gossip of the last ten years! And I can't think of a way to stop it. Someone has to break the news to Max. I'd hate to be the one. What can I do now?
------
Isabel
'Michael's worst suspicions were true. My brother completely lost it. And with his biology teacher. Who is Michael's cousin. I don't even know what the worst part is. Yeah maybe the fact that she could kick me so hard out of her dream that my nose started to bleed. She is definitely not who she says she is. No biology teacher'd flirt with my brother and conveniently forget to tell him her occupation. Not when the brother is an alien. Maybe she is some undercover government agent with psychic abilities? I don't care who she is. Just stay away from him! I start towards them, but Maria grabs me. Of course, she is right. I can't go there trembling with fury. I'd make something explode. Probably her head. I gonna have a little talk with my brother this evening! I'll rally the rest of the group; I just don't need to watch this.
------
Max
I'm in seventh heaven. After I parted with Liz the time seemed to stop. The seconds were dragging sooo slow. Maria tried to talk with me before Biology but I was so lost in Liz-land, that I missed the warning the bell and I had to rush away before I was late. She really seemed agitated. I can't imagine what it can be. I'll find out later, no doubt. I settle at my usual laboratory table. I don't have a lab partner yet, none of my friends took up AP Bio; the teacher'll assign me one. The whole class is here, the teacher is late. I see the door opening, but it's only Liz. She stops and looks at me. It must be really uncomfortable. She knows no one here; she is the last to arrive so she has to sit down beside some stranger. I wave to her and half-shout.
'Liz, over here.'
Liz
I enter my last class. if I'm through this, the day'll be over. After I left Max apprehension started to slowly seep back. He seemed really accepting, but even he can't be that accepting. I open the classroom's door and step inside. That's when the lightning strucks. He is standing there. I freeze on the spot. Oh no. I want to run. Maybe he has found out by now. But he hasn’t. He waves his hand to me and invites me to sit there. What if I went there and sat down and pretended that I'm waiting for the teacher too? It suddenly seems a good idea. But I can't do that. Some of the students know, of course. They start to snigger. There'll be one hell of a gossip from this. Like I care. I just want the floor to open and swallow me. Hell, I could make the floor open and swallow me. But it wouldn't solve the problem. I decide to do what I consider the least painful. I walk up to the teacher's desk and start.
'I'm Elizabeth Parker, and I'm your new biology teacher...

Chapter 3
No more lies

Part 9

Liz
This is a nightmare. I can do the only thing possible – apart from crawling under the teacher’s desk and dying there – I try to behave like nothing is happening. The whispering subsided after the first five minutes. I try not to make eye contact with them – with him. I know it is supposed to be unhealthy to the student-teacher relations, but if I looked into his amber eyes, I’d die of shame. He is just sitting there stonefaced, but I feel waves upon waves of pain coming from him. I wish I could go to him to apologize to him, to tell him it’s a misunderstanding, that it’ll be all right. But I can’t now and it’s not a misunderstanding and it’s not gonna be all right.

Max
She walked to her desk, the teacher’s desk!, like she didn’t know me. I know now. She was trying to tell me. Maria was probably trying to tell me. But no, I had to be a gentleman. Instead I was a fool. I’ve never had been so humiliated in my whole life. The whole school must be laughing at me. She must be laughing like me. I bet she really enjoyed playing a bit with a stupid, naive teenager. Why don’t we tryst a little with good ole’ Max, break his heart then stomp on the bits. And I actually believed someone could like me. Someone could enjoy time with me. But I’m a freak. An alien. No surprise she was laughing all the time, she wasn’t laughing with me, rather at me. Who wouldn’t enjoy making fun of a freak? She is tormenting me right now. She keeps looking at me when she thinks I wouldn’t notice. Well miss, I have some bad news. I always know when people are looking at me. Especially if they do so with beautiful chocolate-brown eyes – No! Don’t go there! She lied to you. She used you. She betrayed you. I can’t believe I was so blind! I continue to bathe in the pain inside of me as I stare at my desk.

At last the bell rings. I start to gather my things, determined of getting out of here whether she is finished or not. She puts down the chalk saying something like ’We’ll continue from here on Friday’ Like I care. I exit the room, and head out of school. I don’t really want company now.

I feel that she is following me. How can I feel it? Why her of all humans? She is getting closer. I hurry my steps, she is smaller than I am; let her run if she wants to catch me.
’Max. Please wait.’ She says softly. I pretend that I hadn’t heard her. Let her beg if she wants something. I’m fed up with her schemes.
’Max, please.’ Her voice is weak and trembles a bit. I can’t help but stop. I look at her. We stand in the middle of a corridor, students streaming past us. She looks at me, begging.
’What do you want?’ It comes out a bit harsher than intended, but like I said, who cares?
’I just wanted to... apologize to you. But you don’t really seem be in the mood. I’m sorry.’ She sounds sad, defeated.
’Okay, talk to me. I’m really interested in your explanation. How you conveniently forgot to mention that you are over twenty-five. Or maybe it just slipped your mind that you’re a teacher?’ I know I’m being cruel. I want to be cruel. That’s what is supposed to give me some satisfaction. But it does not. None at all.
’I can’t. I don’t have an explanation. I was an idiot. You were just so... And I couldn’t make myself to...’ Hey, wait a minute!
’I was so what? An easy target to play with? I bet you really enjoyed doing this.’
’No. Not. If that’s what you think...’ I interrupt her. My temper is getting the best of me. I know I’m getting carried away, but I can’t help it.
’Yeah, that’s what I think. I’ve been a naive fool! And I don’t know why I’m standing here, listening to you lying again.’ She looks like I slapped her. ’I’m sorry.’ She mutters as she turns away, defeat written all over her. She walks away, her shoulder trembling. Is she crying?
’Liz’ I call out and start after her. She breaks into a run, I pursue. I don’t know what got into me. In front of the half student body, I’m running after a teacher that I made cry. I finally catch her and grab her wrist.

Liz
He grabs my wrist, I struggle to break free. I don’t want him to see me like this. I don’t want to see him. It was too much for me. I couldn’t take it any longer. I deserved every word he said, still, nothing ever hurt like this before. He is strong, stronger than I am. All I manage is that I loose my footing and I fall. He catches me, I know it must be by instinct, he hates me, still, he holds me. My eyes close shut. I don’t want to see, I don’t want to be seen. I just wish myself away from here. Magic starts to pour out of me. No! I quickly grab for control. I can’t make myself invisible in the middle of a crowd!
’Liz, I didn’t mean to...’ He seems at loss for words. Another sob shakes my body. He pulls me into a tighter embrace; his arms close around me and he holds me tight. ’I didn’t mean that...’ I hug him back. It feels so... right in his arms, there’s no other word for it. Warm. Safe. It takes a minute for me to calm down as we both whisper apologies. Only when my shaking subsided, dare I open my eyes. I look up from his chest, where my head was resting, to his eyes. He smiles at me, and with his thumb he wipes away a teardrop. That’s when I become aware of our situation. Me, a teacher was crying in the arms of one of my students in the middle of the school day. I try a weak smile.
’You still up to introducing to me to Roswell?’ A hint of hurt flashes in his eyes. Of course not. That I cried like a baby doesn’t make things ok between us. But the hurt is gone and a smile lights up his face.
’I am.’
I’m becoming aware of someone familiar approaching through the crowd.

Max
’What’s going on here?’ A voice rings clear and full of authority. My arms instinctively pull Liz closer to protect her, though I know it’s not the wisest thing to do. Alex pushes through the people watching us. Why are they here? Don’t they have better things to do? He steps closer. It’s not the same friendly, laughing guy, I knew from yesterday. There is spring in his step, his head is up high and his eyes are alert. He holds his right hand slightly away from his body. I’ve a strong feeling of deja vu, I’ve seen this stance before, but I don’t know where.
His gaze is fixed on Liz. She answers him before he can ask the question.
’I’m all right. I think.’ Her voice is still a little shaky. I immediately feel regret as I realize I made her like this. He steps closer.
’Sure? I’ve felt...’ He starts in a low voice.
’I'm okay.’ Her voice is growing steady as she disentangles of my embrace. Of course she doesn’t want to be seen with me, I step away too. She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze.
’Max and I were just going for a walk.’ She forgot to release my hand. Or hadn’t she?
Alex seems to relax. He turns to the students watching us.
’Don’t you have a better thing to do? Shoo!’ They start to move away, reluctantly.
’I’ll talk to you later. Goodbye.’ He says to Liz.
She pulls my hand indicating to leave. ’Bye Alex!’ I join too. ’Goodbye!
He calls after us when we are a few steps away, walking hand in hand. ’And behave yourself! Curfew is eleven!’ His voice is full of humor again, like he wasn’t ready to kill a minute ago.

Only after we exit the school, the thought hits me: what did he mean ’I’ve felt’?

Author’s comment: there was a strong urge in me to make Alex reach Liz before Max. Imagine him, seeing her throwing herself into Alex’s arm... But I’m basicly a Dreamer, so I overcame it.
Part 10
They left the school mutely, comfortable beside each other. Neither of them dared to break the silence; afraid of the things needed to be said. When they reached Max's jeep he opened the door for her and they both sat in. He finally gathered his courage and began to speak.
'Liz, I'm truly sorry for the things I said. I was a complete jackass and I didn't mean any of those. I know you're not like that.'
'I know you didn't. The whole thing was my fault. I should have told you in the beginning. I just couldn't. I wanted to give us a chance.' It was out in the open. Max was struck speechless. She wanted to give them a chance? She really wasn't just flirting? She said that before, but it was so hard to believe. Why'd someone so perfect want be with him?
Liz, misinterpreting his silence started to get out of the car. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.'
'No, wait! Me too. I mean I want to give us a chance too.'
'Really?'
'Really.'
Uncomfortable silence filled the space between them; none of them knew what to say. Then suddenly Liz burst out laughing.
'What's it?'
'Nothing, I just imagined... If Roswell High is only a bit like my high school was, then we started the rumor of the century.'
A dark shadow passed over Max's face.
'Liz, I just realized that you could get fired for what I've done today.'
'Done take the blame on yourself. I was there too. And I don't care. I don't really have to work. I just do it for the fun. Besides, you're worth it.' She blushed after the last part. Max struggled with to keep his mind on the conversation.
'But your reputation...'
'My reputation? No one knows me. And I truly don't care. I consider myself above these things. But you'll have a hell of a time 'till it calms down.'
'What for? For going out with the most beautiful woman in town?' It was his turn to blush He wondered if it was too bold to use the term going out. They were not an official couple or anything. And adults didn't think in terms of going out.
'You look so sweet when you blush like that.'
Silence settled between them again, but this time it was not uncomfortable, more like filled with tension. They were leaning closer and closer during the conversation, and now they were completely lost in each other's eyes. Liz leaned closer to him, tilting her head in the universal language for 'kiss me'. 'She wants me to kiss her? What if I misunderstood and I make an asshole of myself?' 'What is he waiting for? He doesn't want kiss me. Am I being too forward?'
However, they continued to move towards each other till their lips met. Though Liz remembered closing her walls the very last minute, it was still an electrifying experience. They wasted no time to deepen it to a full-blown kiss. It was Max's first one ever and he thought that he died and has gone to heaven. He caressed her soft hair as bolts of energy jolted through his body making the hairs on his arms stand up. He gave himself over totally to the kiss; enjoying it like nothing ever before.
Liz on the other hand was having one of the hardest times of her life. She wanted to devote herself completely to him, but she had to maintain the wall between them. And it was becoming increasingly harder. 'Where did he learn to be such a good kisser? I have to concentrate, I have to concentrate, I have to...' She felt she was going to lose it the next second and she knew she should pull away, but she couldn't do it. Max broke the kiss finally and they both gasped for air before crashing together again.

Later in the Crashdown
Maria, Michael, Isabel were debating in low tones in one of the back booths. Isabel told them about her experience with Liz's dream. To say they were troubled was an understatement. Michael wanted to rush away to Max and it took both of them to make him sit down. Maria took over the conversation.
'We need to quash the rumors. Michael she is your cousin, we can say that they were cozy because he is practically family. Isabel you could convince the cheerleaders, Michael could take care of the jocks and I'll spread it wherever I can.'
'Maria, I'm not troubled because of the stupid rumors. I can take care of them anytime. But she kicked me out of the dreamplane. It never happened before. Who is she? How did she do that? What if she is a government agent?'
'And what if she is the fourth?' Michael opened his mouth first time for minutes.
'What fourth? Oh. I see.' There were four pods in their hatching chamber. Max and Isabel hatched at the same time and found one pod already open. They waited in vain for Michael for two days then hunger and thirst drove them out of the cave. Michael was more than a month late, so they had no idea when the fourth alien could have hatched. They searched the adoptation records for years back but they've found nothing.
'What if she got out seven years before us? We've been there for forty years and we only looked six-year-old. It's possible. More than possible, likely. I mean look at Max. He never gave a girl a second thought, now he is head over heals in love with someone after the first date. And it'd explain your little problem this night.' It was quite a long speech for Michael.
'And what if we are wrong? We can't just go to her and say, hi I'm a Cheslovakian, aren't you one too?'
After another half our of discussion they agreed on watching Liz, dispelling the rumors, informing Kyle and keeping it more or less secret from Max. They were just starting to get up when Maria suddenly said in a rather strange voice.
'Guys? The rumor thing? It won't work.'
'Why not? Are you implying that I don't carry enough social power?'
'Nothing can be enough for this. Look there.'
Isabel and Michael turned to the door too.
'Holy crap.'
'I agree.'
Max and Liz were standing in the doors of the Crashdown kissing like there was no tomorrow.

They spent the entire afternoon together, just having fun, kissing whenever the opportunity arose. And with their attitude, it happened quite often. They ate a late lunch in the Crashdown. The others came over to greet them then left quickly. Max nearly choked on his cherry coke, when Maria said 'Goodbye, Miss Parker'. It was so strange for him. He sat with the girl of his dreams and nothing seemed to matter. Neither that she was seven years older, nor the fact that he was alien. He was just carefree and happy. They tried to restrain their PDA in front of Jeff, to avoid his early death from a heart attack. Around 6 o'clock they regretfully parted, agreeing that they'd go to the movies next evening. After the first few hormone-crazed hours they decided that they'd try to keep a low profile in public places, to avoid the scandal, acting like they only knew each other through Michael. After a last soul-searing kiss Liz went to Alex, dying to share her happiness with someone.

'Alex, you were right. I'm so much in love! He is so perfect!' They were sitting in Alex's motel room, sipping on Alex's favorite vodka-orange cocktail.
'I'm glad you found someone.' He smiled 'So the trouble in paradise is over.'
'What trouble? Oh. Yes, it's cleared up.'
'I've never seen you so... well, happy. I mean I've seen you come home sometimes in the morning but never anything like this. You know what might cause this?'
'He is everything I've ever dreamt of. And I mean everything. He is perfect.'
'You've already mentioned it. A few hundred times. But you seem to forget that Mr. Perfect has some non-mundane qualities. He and your cousin. I wonder about his sister too.'
'Alex, I've forgot to tell you. I had a visitor last night.' He nearly fell out of his chair, choking on his drink.
'Elizabeth, if it was Mr. Perfect, then I don't want to hear about it.' Liz grabbed a pillow and threw it at him.
'No, you jerk! It was not Max.' She spaced out for a moment imagining what it'd be like if Max tapped at her window this night. 'She came to me in my dreams. I don't know who she was or how did she find me. She was not really talkative. I gave her two warnings, then kicked her out. She didn't even put up a fight.'
'This is really interesting. What did she look like?'
'Tall, long, blonde hair, blue eyes, a great figure. Seemed somewhat familiar, but I couldn't place her.'
Alex got up and went to one of his laptops. He pushed a few buttons then showed the screen to Liz. 'Familiar?'
'It's her! Who is she? How did you find her? I'm amazed.'
'You should pay attention in class. She is one of your students.' Lamps switched on in her head.
'Isabel!'
'Yes, your boyfriend's sister. I did a little data-mining and found a few interesting facts. Both the Evans kids were adopted. I broke into the adoptation records. They were found naked, wandering near the highway. Their parents never showed up. They seemed six years and couldn't speak a word. However, they learned English in two weeks. A month later another child was found the same place, same circumstances. He became adopted as Michael Parker.'
'Wow. What else?'
'Nothing. No reports of missing children with matching description, no highway murders, nothing. No explanation where they are from. But I've a theory. Maybe they were not born on Earth.'
'I see. You mean they are from a Horizon-realm. They might be children of mages, who wandered into a rift between the worlds, and the travel through the Gauntlet could easily erase their memory. Maybe a hidden rift, only children could access. This'd explain Michael's appearance later and their power. Children of Archmages perhaps?'
The Horizon-realms were secluded mini-realties carved out by Archmages or powerful creatures. They could be very small - just a pocket dimension to carry items around- or very large, like Doisstep, a gigantic castle with thousands of inhabitants. The Gauntlet, a mystical barrier, separated the Horizon-realms from Earth. Travelling through the Gauntlet was risky even under the best circumstances. A six-year-old has to be really lucky to even survive. As a mage grows more and more powerful it becomes increasingly difficult to live on Earth with its static reality and under the threat of the Paradox. In the Horizon-realms there is no Paradox; everyone living there is ready to accept anything.
'I suggest we just observe for some time. From your description Max and Michael are at the brink of Awakening. Maybe Isabel too. We can be there to help. If your little stunt today didn't get you unemployed.'
'Sounds like a plan. And trust me, it takes a hell of a principal to fire me for something this minor.'
‘If you plan to do something major, call me before, I want to be there to see it.’

Chapter 4
Those happy days

Part 11
Isabel
Five weeks have passed since the incident in school. My brother came home that night with the biggest and goofiest off all smiles plastered on his face and asked me to help him to cover their tracks. He begged me for the same thing we were planning earlier. He promised that they would be a lot more discreet. (Thanks god. If they were any less discreet they'd be taken away for public indecency.) Of course I made him pay big time for enlisting me - no housework for me this month. So the invincible gossip machine was given green lights. Maria and me denied everything and made a few examples of people who didn't shut up. Then we sent a few incredible rumors flying, who cheats on whom, who has a crush on whom - some of them were even true. In the general chaos following our workings Max and Liz slowly got forgotten. Some credit goes to the soulmates too - Maria christened them because of all the staring-into-each other's-eyes. They really put up a convincing act; even I'd believe it, if I didn't know for fact where my brother spends half of his evenings. He is always home for the night, though I don't really know why. I mean I bet they've taken the "last step", Liz has no reason not to and I don't think that my brother'd have any objections. Coming to think of it he may have (it's weird thinking of him this way), the possible incompatibility. We suspect that this might not be a problem, but we can't know for sure. He still hasn’t told her and it's slowly eating him. I don't blame him; it must be a pretty hard step to take. Sometimes I think we should tell him that we think she is the fourth, but I don't really want to admit to him that we were more-or-less lying to him the whole last month and we were spying on his girlfriend. We can't follow them when they are together - Max'd know immediately - but Michael tried to track her a few times. She is incredibly lucky; he always manages to lose her. Michael knows for sure that she takes quite a lot late night strolls and I know for sure, that at those times Max is sitting in his room - alone. We don't really know what is she doing, but we'll find out.
As I've said before, I've never known that my brother had acting capabilities of this magnitude. The way they behave around each other at school is fabulous. Everyone pities Max because the new bio teacher is picking at him hard. They are incorrigible. He plays bad boy and gets extra homework assignments as punishments for his impudent behavior. Liz went as far as calling our parents in to discuss the behavioral problems of their son. So my brother spends endless hours in the library doing homework. Little they know that he turns in dossiers with empty papers and receives As for them. They are equally cautious in the Crashdown. Liz usually sits with us, "somehow" they both manage to become hungry at the same time and it's of course just a coincidence that my brother became addicted the Crashdown food lately. Mr. Parker remarked that he sees Max more than Michael, but he doesn't suspect anything. Those two can manage to remain stonefaced and carry a normal conversation while their legs... I don't want to think about it, let's just say, that both of them need to retie their shoes when they get up. In general, Roswell as a community is unaware of their relationship.
My mother knows that something's going on, she asked if I knew what's up with Max. I told her that he has quite a big crush on someone, but nothing more. She have been battering him ever since to invite her to dinner. If only she knew!
The Parkers are coming over this evening mainly for introducing Liz. My brother only got home an hour earlier from the "library". I don't know what they'll come up with, but I bet it'll be an interesting night.

Michael
Liz has been only home for half an hour, I'm sure she spent the last hours making out with Max somewhere. Again. I don' t know what those two think they are doing, they'll get caught sooner or later, it's only a question of time. It'll be the scandal of the century in Roswell. And we are not a step closer of finding out anything about her. She goes out at midnight at least four times a week. I don't know how she manages to survive, after the first week I started to collapse from the lack of sleep. I mean I can manage with five or six hours at most, but she seems to go on with even the half of that. Since then, I only follow her at weekends, in weekdays I only get up at one o'clock to check if she is in her bedroom - at most times she isn't. I only managed to follow her once to the UFO museum. She broke into it. Not exactly broke into- she used keys, I think they were from Max. I dared not follow her inside. She came out three hours later and seemed really satisfied. Sometimes she just wanders around seemingly aimlessly. I can't figure out any system in her strolls except that they end up in the same neighborhood, where I lose her. I don't know how she does it, I'm sure she doesn't know that I follow her. Anyways, we have to get ready, we are having dinner with the Evanses, I just hope that Max and Liz'll be able to control themselves. Liz is the more dangerous; she seems to think it's just a game.
Five minutes later we are all out the door; the Crashdown'll manage itself without as this night. Max lives only a short distance away, so we walk.
Max opens the door for us and lets us in, helping the coat off Mum and Liz. When my parents don't look they wink at each other. I start to panic. These have planned something! Mum and Dad go ahead with Liz to greet the rest; I grab Max and hold him back.
'You don't plan to do anything stupid, do you?' I hiss.
'What are you thinking Michael. Of course not.' he answers way too loudly.
Liz comes back from the diner. 'Michael why don't you go inside? Everyone is waiting for you.' She says with a mischievous smile as she starts to kiss Max. I quickly get inside. After the compulsory kisses and hugs, it takes a minute to settle down. Still no sign of Max and Liz.
Diane starts to stand up. 'I'll see if those two killed each other yet.' Kill? Why? Oh, I forgot that Liz is supposed to be the ugly teacher who picks at their poor child. Talk about their sense of humor.
I'm ready to volunteer to get them, I'm sure it'd do Mrs. Evans no good to walk in on their greeting ritual. I don't need to do that, the door is opening. I settle back and reach for my glass of cherry coke. Liz and Max come in hand in hand. It takes a second for me to realize that it's not the way they should be behaving. My drink stops in midair, Isabel chokes on her own. Max speaks up.
'Mum, Dad, I've great news. Liz and I have decided that we need to move forward on our relationship.' Isabel stops choking, she spits out her coke. I'm panicking again, did they go crazy? Max, ignoring Isabel, continues.
'We decided to settle our differences and try to form a normal teacher-student relationship, maybe even become friends.'
'That's great, I was so worried that you two can't get along. Isabel, darling what's the matter?’ She is choking on her previous gulp. As they sit down beside each other I start to relax. They had their little prank, now maybe we can enjoy our dinner. I'm wrong of course. Only five minutes pass when Liz needs to go to the bathroom. Max immediately volunteers to show her the way. As if she wasn't here a hundred times! And his parents are even glad that he is making an effort. Dad isn't so surprised, he has seen her eating with us quite a few times. He is telling Diane about it right now. If they are not back in two minutes I go after them. I share a look with Isabel; she feels the same way. It'll be a long night.

Liz
We are leaning to the bathroom door, his hands all over me. Doing this when his parents are just a room is a big turn on for me, and I feel at my waist that it's for him too. The last month was the best time of my life. We played like two teenagers. Well, he is a teenager, but I'm well known for being responsible and cool-headed in any situation. We spent the last four weeks with making out at every possible location. He uses his powers shamelessly to guarantee privacy; I've felt him lock the door. I can't figure out how he can perform such vulgar magic daily without the Paradox tearing him up. He thinks I don't suspect anything. I know he wants to tell me, he started it a few times but he always back off. It could be really hard. Even I wouldn't want to explain I'm a mage to a supposed sleeper, but at least I know what I am. I'll wait for him to finally gather the courage, and then I'll have a little surprise in my pocket for him.
I use my magic a lot nowadays too. I was able to access the Node in the UFO museum and tap into it, so I've nearly unlimited energy reserves now, and I think a lot of my "over-enthusiastic" behavior comes from that. I can manage with three hours of sleep a day and reality easily bends at my whim. Michael started to follow me, but I took care of him. Now he is taking healthy late-night strolls, chasing a phantom, while I'm doing serious work with Alex. A whole Node for the two of us! It's even better than in Horizon. I can perform magics I never thought myself capable of, while Alex is building dozens of gadgets at the same time and some of them are pretty impressive. He got himself a nice, big house, when he is not teaching he is locked up there. We both have learned from the last time; the security electronics and the protective magics around the house could hold up a smaller army. With creative use of the sphere of Time, we can work a whole day every night, and trust me it's not something I'd be able to do regularly.
I'm having the best time of my life. I practically bathe in Quintessence, I have a great friend, two works I enjoy doing; one for the day and one for the night; and I've found the love of my life, who is trying to kiss me senseless at the moment, with great success, if I might add. I break away panting.
'Darling, I think we got Michael and Isabel on the edge by now. We should go back, before your parents notice anything.' I love calling him darling, or beloved or things like that. I want nothing more (except for perhaps some much-needed sex) than to claim him as my own, in front of everyone. I know he loves me, still when I see one of his classmates drooling over him, it takes all my self-control not to blast the little bitch to kingdom come.
'You are right, as always.' He says as kisses me one last time. We exit the bathroom and rejoin the table. We finish the main course; Diane really did a good work. She is a great woman and she did a wonderful job raising Max and Isabel. Isabel! That reminds me! I look up and down the table. Its circular, Phillip is sitting opposite of us and he is opening a wine bottle. I cause a small ripple in reality, reforming it in a way that pleases me (literally!). The bottle slips out of his hand, as he tries to grab it, he manages to knock over the salad-dish. Everyone looks there and I use the occasion to snatch a small kiss from Max. I start to giggle. I just altered the universe for a kiss from my boyfriend when his mother is sitting at the table. Even I'm outraged by myself! Max looks pleasantly surprised. The quick interlude is over and thanks to me, no one has noticed us. Isabel looks at me with a puzzled look. I know she knows that I'm not an average teacher. I wink at her. I know that you know. Let's see what she can make of it. Entering poor, defenseless girl's dreams. Served her right, that kicking out!
Philip regained control over his end of the table and pours wine to the adults; the children get cherry coke. I'm amazed at myself at times like this. The man I love is sitting beside me, and when it comes to drinking I categorize him unconsciously as a child! As if a teenager is any stranger to drinks! I don't know why parents even pretend. I take a sip of my wine as Nancy helps Diane in cleaning the mess I caused.

Isabel
She is drinking wine! I can't believe it! Maybe she changed it to some non-alcoholic stuff. And that earlier accident with the wine bottle. I know that somehow she caused it! Max looked all flushed when I looked at them. She must have way more control over her powers than we do. And she winked at me. Can she read my mind? We are slowly getting up. After everyone leaves the table for the study I quickly inspect her glass. It's wine! She can resist the alcohol when none of us can? She is not one of us? Then what is she? Hell, I need answers, not more questions!

Chapter 5
Revelations

Part 12
Void Engineer FSCC-NH (Flux-sensor command center, northern hemisphere)
'Sir! Look at these readings!' The technician held out a few papers to Captain Andersen.
'What are these, Sergeant?' He said in a cold, calculated manner. He was only assigned as Captain of this research vessel a few months ago, but he already had enough of it. The CC was sitting on high orbit, directing the satellites and collecting data. Nothing ever happened here. The flux-sensor net was an incredibly useful project, that required the best of the Iteration and the Void Engineers and it transmitted all it's data to the New World Order and that was an unheard-of cooperation of the Technocratic Conventions. But Captain Andersen was not trained for sitting duck in an unarmed space station. He wanted to explore the depths of space and to defend humanity from the monsters of the outer cold. And in the last three months not even one of those ridiculous barks of the Sons of Ether showed up to provide entertainment for the fighters defending the station. And every day at least a dozen idiots turned up flourishing a sheet of paper like they've won the lottery.
'Captain, in the last month the flux output of a small town quadrupled. I'll immediately begin transmission to the headquarters, Sir!' He was not really interested in the answer but he asked nevertheless.
'Which town?'
'Roswell, New Mexico, United States, Captain.' Northern hemisphere, planet Earth, Sol system he added in himself. Not that there were any other planets suitable for intelligent life ever found...
------
Old quarry, Roswell, NM, USA, NH, Ea, SolS
Isabel, Michael, Maria and Kyle were holding council in the old quarry just outside of Roswell. It was a place to retreat in times of alien crisises (not that there were many).
'I think we should include Max.' Maria stated and Kyle nodded in agreement.
'And what could we tell him? Hi, Max, we thought your girlfriend was an alien, so we followed her, but we learned nothing and now we are not even sure in that. It's not really convincing. We don't know if she is not just a human who likes late-night jogging. I mean she is my cousin. What is the chance of two aliens being separately adopted into the same family?'
'And what of the little incident in the dreamplane?' Isabel interrupted Michael.
'I don't know Is. But apart from that, we have no evidence. Maybe it'd be the best if we wait until Max tells her. We'll know then.'
'That's not a plan!'
'If you have any better, then let's hear it!' That managed to shut up Isabel. She couldn't think of anything else either.
'I still think that we should tell Max. He'll be pissed off like hell, if he founds out later.'
'If he finds out. No one is telling him anything. I know my brother, and he is not exactly what you'd call a sound thinker when it comes to Liz, so I’d rather not include him.'
------
Next morning
Liz was getting out of her new car in the school parking lot when a nauseating feeling hit her. She immediately froze, looked around, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She sat back into her car, took a deep breath and plunged her consciousness into the flow of the eternal song. She started to scan her surroundings for any threat. When she found it she snapped out of the trance and gasped for air as she reached for her mobile phone.

Somewhere in the building, in an office the new guidance counselor jerked up her head. She thought she heard something. She looked around, shrugged and went back to her work.

'Alex, we're in trouble.'
'Calm down, what happened?'
'I had a premonition a few minutes ago. When I checked, I found a mage in the building. She was organic but definitely not of the Traditions.'
'So either a Marauder, a Nephandus or a Technocrat.' Alex quickly listed their most powerful enemies.
'Or something completely else. Do you have means of cloaking your Avatar?'
'Of course I do. I can appear as mundane as I want. I trust you can take the same measures.'
'Yes, I'm prepared.'
'Then we continue, like we suspect nothing. We locate the intruder and have a little chat with her somewhere in private.'
'I agree. It's settled then. I've to go, my first period is with Max, I got to prepare.'
'Fuck! Liz, we forgot the kids! They are not cloaked! If she is not blind and deaf she'll sense them.'
'Hell, you're right. What can we do?' She was not worried for herself, but the mere thought of what the technocracy'd do to Max sent jolts of terror through her.
'Can you do some hocus-pocus to hide their Avatar? I have no formulae calculated for this occasion.'
'I can try but it'll take a lot out of me. I've never practiced anything like this either.'
'You'll only have to keep it up for a limited time I'll call in sick and try to build something. I think I can make a pretty-efficient low-level resonator to mask their particular wave-pattern...'
'Alex, I don't need to hear the techno crap. Do whatever you have to and in the meantime I'll weave enchantments around them and try to protect them.'
'And Liz? Stay away from her. I don't want you to fry your mind in some duel when I'm not around to avenge you.'
'Thanks for the faith, Alex. I have to go.'
'Good luck.'
'Luck has nothing to do with it.’ She said, her voice ringing with confidence. ‘Goodbye.'
Liz pressed the No on her mobile and got out of the car. She knew Michael'll be arriving later, he always slept as long as he could. Max and Isabel'd be arriving together, so she needed to cast two spells in quick succession. She started to gather energy in advance because it won't be a piece of cake. She had to work powerful magics during a short time interval, without being detected, on two unaware targets, who were mages themselves and without the chance to properly perform magic: by chanting. And it's only quarter to eight. So every possible hindering circumstance was stacked against her. ’That’s my life’ she sighed and began to hum as loudly as she dared, leaning against her car.

When five minutes later Bob turned into the parking lot, the two invisible webs were ready. Only Liz could see them, but to her, they were completely real. Nets woven from sparkling blue energy, ready to be thrown. Max and Isabel got out of the Jeep and Liz walked towards them. She was concentrating heavily, making last-minute adjustments to the spells. Without saying a word she waved her hand towards Isabel and a second later she threw the other web at Max. The nets entangled them, but they didn't notice it. The strands of magic were already melting, creating a protective barrier around them. Liz made a few other motions with her arms, to indicate that she was just stretching. It was not really convincing, but she had other things to worry about.
In general it was pointless to meet Max before school, because they had to pretend they didn't like each other, but they did it anyways and now she was glad they agreed, even if she couldn't greet him properly. She just said hello as they walked past beside each other. However, her hand found his for a moment and gave it a squeeze. She walked away as if nothing happened, when all she wanted to do is to stop her legs trembling from the exhaustion.
While she waited for Michael she dispelled and hid the magics she has cast in the last month. She let go of the few cosmetic charms she used, as well as a few other useful, but not critical enchantments. Next, she moved on to hiding her protective spells and the enchantment that made concentration on maintaining her mindshield around Max unnecessary. She destroyed the spell around Michael that prevented him to follow her. When Michael arrived she placed the third enchantment around him, confident that no trace of magic was to be found on either of them. By this time she was completely spent, if not for the reserves accumulated in September, she'd be out cold. She was definitely not looking forward to the four hours she'll hold today.
------
Max and the others were waiting for Alex; he was now five minutes late. When the door finally opened a tall, blonde woman around thirty came in. She had an ice-blue gaze and she wore her hair in a tight braid. She introduced herself.
'Good morning everyone, I'm Kathleen Topolsky I’m Mr. Whitman's substitute teacher, who is sick. By the way, I'm your new guidance counselor and I think it's an excellent opportunity to get to know you...
Part 13
The day was like a nightmare for Elizabeth. She was extremely drained from the morning's exercises. She considered going home and calling in sick, but it could draw too much attention from the intruder if both of them disappeared the day she arrived. She planned to go out for a trip to the desert with Max in the afternoon, but she decided to cancel it. She was in no condition to walk miles, and it wouldn't be wise to be with him right now. She was introduced to the new guidance counselor after the fourth period, she immediately identified her as the intruder.
It took every ounce of strength not do something, either attack or run or anything. Instead she tried to act as innocent as possible. She hoped that "Kathleen" had no photo of her memorized; if she had, they were screwed. Otherwise she played a convincing "teacher with a headache", ending their conversation as soon as possible without seeming to do so.
Her best guess was that she was an agent of the NWO, the New World Order, the technocratic Convention, which controlled the media and the sleeper governments behind the curtains. She definitely seemed ruthless enough. She was not mad enough to be a Marauder and the Nephandi had an all-permeating aura of evil around them. Of course she can be some threat they never even heard of, this option could never be crossed out in supernatural conflicts.

After school she decided to check Alex to see what he managed to accomplish. The spell she put on them'll hold out until sunrise, after 6 o'clock next morning it needed to be repeated if there was no other solution. She pushed the bell and the door opened half a minute later. He was greeted by an equally spent Alex.
'Hi Liz, you look like a mess.'
'I feel like one. You don't look any better.'
'I just need some rest and I'll be okay. Why don't you sit down, I'll make some food, I haven't eaten today yet.'
'What'll you have?'
'Pizza a'la microwave. You want one?'
'Yes, thanks. I'm hungry too.' Alex took out two boxes from the fridge and put the first pizza into the oven.
'Did you manage to..?'
'Yes all the three of them. And I don't really want to do it again if I don't have to. You mentioned some machine.' She finished in a questioning tone. Alex's eyes lit up like every time when it came to his children.
'I'm ready with two. They'll work perfectly, they just have a minor fault...' Liz felt a twinge of foreboding. Alex definition of minor flaws included things like 'they just don't work yet' or 'they blow up after half hour, but I'm working on it'.
'What minor flaw?' He picked up a circuit the size of a small plate. It was buzzing quietly.
'It's the smallest I could make them. If we want them to wear it, even in sleep, we either have to come up with something extremely creative or we just have to tell them.
'Couldn't I conceal them with magic?'
'I don't think they'd like that. Their purpose is to conceal magic not the other way. And we have to dissuade them from using their own magic anyways so I don't really see any other solution.'
'Neither do I, I'm afraid.'
'You don't want to tell him, do you?'
'I lied to him before, and he didn't take it well, and this time it's much larger. I don't want to lose him, Alex, and I dread that I will.'
'Sooner or later you'd have to. And he’s been doing the same to you.'
'It's completely different. I know I'm a mage. He has no idea who he is. I've been waiting for him to come to me, and now I don't know if that was the wisest thing to do.'
'Liz, it's gonna be okay. You love him, he loves you. I'm sure he'll be happy that you are similar to him and glad to have some answers to his questions instead of being angry with you.
'I hope you are right. I wouldn't survive to lose him.' The pizza was ready by now. They ate in silence and when they finished the conservation turned to the best course of action. After Liz described her encounter with Topolsky they decided that they can't just kill her, and it's not an option to flee, it'd be an admission. They need to deceive her and bide their time until she goes away. And they needed the kids cooperation for this. So Liz started to organize a meeting in someplace quiet, while Alex tried to gather background information.

Max
Instead of being alone with Liz having a romantic stroll, I'm sitting on my bed in myself, and for the first time in my life, I'm ill. It's a strange feeling, and I don't know whether it's the same with humans, I've never talked about human illnesses with Kyle. I've seen him go down with a flu last year, but I didn't really understand it.
I realized something's wrong when I was sitting in my first class. Everything was strange. My senses dulled, my head dizzy, even the air tasted strange. I was just annoyed until Isabel mentioned she felt weird too. We rushed to Michael and he was experiencing the same symptoms. And then, we were truly frightened. Something is wrong with all of us. We are currently waiting for Michael, when he arrives I'll try to heal us. I don't know if I can cure this illness, neither that we are truly ill or something completely else is happening, but I'll give it a try; I don't like this whatever it is, not one bit.
My phone rings. It's Liz.
'Hello, love.'
'Max, we need to talk.' Her tone frightens me. It's a tone for break-ups.
'Sure, what is it?'
'All of you are in danger. We need to meet, so I can explain.' My alarms go off.
'All of whom? What danger?'
'I don't have time for this Max. You, Michael and Isabel are in danger. We need to meet in secret, out of town, the sooner the better. Can you leave for a few hours?' I'm starting to panic. What's going on?!
'What are you talking about? How..?' I'm at loss for words.
'Max, you have to trust me. Your abilities are not so unique as you might think. And there are people who'd hurt you for who you are.' I'm shocked. My girlfriend has just told me, that I know that you are an alien.
'Do you remember the lake we went to last week?' Of course, I remember. We spent an incredible afternoon there last Saturday, having picnic, watching the water; just being together.
'Yeah.' That's all I can manage.
'Can you three be there in an hour? It's important. Your lives can depend on it.'
'I think... But what is happening? How do you..?'
'I'll explain everything.' She speaks in hurried words, clearly anxious. 'And one more thing. Don't use your... abilities, unless it's a matter of life and death. Do you understand?'
'Yes, I do.'
'See you in an hour. I love you.' And the phone clicks dead.
I sink onto my bed. I cannot even begin to process all the information. Isabel pops her head into the room. 'Was it Michael?'
'It was Liz. She said we are in danger and I promised that we'll meet with her in an hour.'
'Oh my god. What danger? How did she know?'
'I don't know. She seemed to know that we are... different. She forbade us to use our powers.'
'So we were right.' She mutters. Isabel seems to be less shocked by the news than I am.
'What are you talking about?'
'Nothing. I'll call Michael, you get the Jeep, okay?' And not waiting for my answer she storms out of my room.

Half an hour later the three of us are driving to meet Liz. It is an understatement that we are anxious. For the first time in our life we'll get some answers. Who we are, where we came from, what is our purpose here? We are waiting and dreading the rendezvous at the same time. What was the danger Liz spoke of? Why we can't use our powers? Why we feel ill? But I have my own questions. Who is Liz? How does she know about us? How does it affect the two of us? And I'm afraid I won't like the answers she is going to give me...

Part 14
When they arrived to the lake they saw two cars. While the jet-green Honda Civic belonged to Liz, they had no idea whoose the black Mondeo was. Two figures were standing near the cars. As they got closer they guessed that the smaller one was Liz. The other one was taller and obviously a man. Max felt a pang of jealousy, who was this man standing beside his woman? He was holding a big, silver gun which looked quite threatening. They pulled up beside them, and got out of the car. Liz and the man came forward. When sunlight lit his face they could practically hear their jaws hit the ground.
'Mr. Whitman?'
'Good afternoon Isabel. And the name is still Alex.' he answered seeming oblivious to their more-than-tense mood.
'Mr. Whitman is an alien? And who else?' they all thought.
Next Liz spoke up.
'It's best if we sit down. We don't have much time, you'd be missed, but I think we have enough.' They looked at her amazed and they obeyed.
'Liz, it's the best if you handle the talking, I'll stand guard.' She nodded, so he turned away from the teenagers towards the road. Their gazes fell to the weapon he was holding. It was the size of an assault rifle, but it was silvery and shining, full of blinking lights and displays. Wires were hanging here and there. The gun looked like some prop from a sci-fi, it managed to look malicious, threatening and unreal at the same time. It was a weapon they could imagine an alien with. They looked back to Liz, who took a deep breath. They were all watching her, waiting for her to begin.

'It's a long story and I've to cut it short. Interrupt me if you have questions, it's important that you understand. Where to begin... Me and Alex... Well, we are more than we seem. We both have powers that ordinary men don't. You have these powers too. I don't know in what words should I explain this. You are different from the ordinary men.
'You don't have to sweat it, we know we are aliens.' Michael spoke up.
'Aliens is a way to put it. But it's not like the crap they believe around here. You are Awakened, that makes you alien from the sleeper crowd.'
'Wait, what do you mean not in the way they believe here? We are aliens, aren't we? In the sense of not homo sapiens sapiens.' asked Max.
'No, you are humans. ' Liz seemed surprised by the idea. 'I see. You were brought up in alien themed town, it's only natural if you identify yourselves with the only supernatural myth around here. We don't know your full history yet, but we don't have a reason to believe that you are anything other than exceptional humans.'
'We are aliens. We hatched from pods, for God's sake!' Max's voice was trembling. She swept aside his existence away like it was nothing just superstition. Isabel and Michael were sitting dumbfounded, giving up their rationality and just watching the events.
'What do you mean you hatched?'
'We came out of pods looking like six year olds in a cave! And those pods were nothing we've ever seen anywhere else.'
'That's impossible. There are no aliens.'
'If there are no aliens how do you explain this?' He threw up his hand and produced a shimmering green shield hanging in the air. Liz saw that he was beyond reason and decided that he needed a shock to snap out of this madness he was in. She was amazed at the same time that he dared to use vulgar magic even if they were in the middle of nowhere. 'He definitely needs a few lessons, if he wants to survive.' She raised her fists to the skies as she cried a counter-magic.
'Val'jek porra!' Blue light illuminated her hands and seemed to suck away Max's shield in an instant. He lost his balance and fell to his face.
'Stop showing off your little magics! You want to get us all killed?' She was shouting at him. He slowly gathered himself and got up. He was looking at her in dumb disbelief. She continued in a calm, soothing tone, like she was not screaming at the top of her lungs a moment before...
'We think you might have got here from someplace else, but you definitely didn't hatch from pods. Maybe your mind, when tried to deal with the events created them.' Michael jumped to his feet. It irritated him that she, who could easily dispel Max's force field didn't believe them.
'If you don't believe us, we can show them to you.'
'Can you?'
'Yes. They are about ten miles away from here.'
'Then we shall see. Alex!' He saw earlier the little duel that took place. Mr. Perfect might be strong, but he was definitely was no match for Liz. He came to them and gave her a questioning look.
'They want to show us something. We are moving.'
'Fine by me? Where are we going?' He looked at them.
'They'll lead. Let's move.' She was starting to get curious. She didn't give a second thought to the alien theory, but they seemed adamant that they were not born, but "hatched". She was really interested in their "pods", maybe they can give a clue about who these kids really were.

They entered the pod chamber together. Isabel, Max and Michael rediscovered it a few years ago. They came here often, but it held no answers. It was just a well-hidden crevice. Four, now empty, dish-like pods were placed on the tips of a square. It had no protection beside its placement, no hidden alien artefacts, no mystical writing, only the four incubators. They were dead and silent now, but they all head fragments of memories: of warm, safe fluid enveloping them like a womb, of the low hum of the life-support system.
Alex and Liz immediately stepped to the pods. They run hands over them incredulously.
'I sense strong magic in these... devices' She couldn't bring herself to say pods.
'They seem like nothing I've ever seen before. Definitely not a Progenitor design either.' He was referring to the convention that worked with genetic engineering and bio-machinery. They both turned to the three teenagers.
'Ok. Talk to us. We'll listen.' Isabel was the one to answer.
'We came out of these eleven years ago. We looked like six year olds. We hatched together, Michael was a month late. We couldn't speak, we didn't know anything. Our body seems to adapt quickly. We learned English in less than a month, it took as less than two months to master everything required from a 7 year old. We got into foster care after that. Me and Max immediately knew Michael when we met him at school. We slowly discovered our powers. We never told anyone except Kyle and Maria. We don't know where are we from or what happened to our parents. We think they might have been in the '47 crash but we have no proof of it. We don't get sick and we need only half the sleep humans do. We like everything hot and spicy. We can't digest alcohol. Our blood differs from human blood. That's all we know about ourselves.
'There are four pods here.' Alex statement was more of a question.
'We don't know where is the fourth. He or she hatched before us. For a time we thought you might be her...'
'Me? No, I have two parents and I was born the usual...' She was interrupted by Max. 'You what?'
'I'm sorry Max, but when I dreamwalked her...'
'I gave your sister a hell of a headache when she tried to invade my mind. Why didn't you defend yourself?'
'I don't know how to. You knew it was me?'
'I knew from the moment I saw Max that something isn't normal about you folks. We thought that you are like us, so we waited for the right moment to reveal ourselves.'
Max didn't show it, but her words stung. Isn't normal. That was him. So all her affection, all her talk of love was just a ploy to gain their trust. She knew from the beginning, and she hasn't said a word. Now she didn't seem to care shit about him when their play has ended. While he got more and more bitter Isabel took over the conversation.
'Then, if you are not like us, tell me, what are you?'
'We are mages. Humanities ancient myths are more or less true. Hidden from the sleeper world, all kind of supernaturals roam Earth. Vampires, werewolves, fairies, ghosts and of course wizards. And before you say this is ridiculous let me remind you that you are an alien living hidden from the humans around you. Are you still with me?' Isabel just nodded. She was ready now to accept anything.
'Most of the supernatural shouldn't concern you. Roswell is devoid of them. Or the problem is that it isn't anymore. The new guidance counselor, Ms Topolsky is a mage from the organization called Order of Reason, or as we call them, the Technocracy. They are trying to rule the world. Not for power, but to shape it into a form that seems fitting to them. Their gods are Science and Rationality. They think everyone should think the way they do. Alex and me belong to the other side, the Nine Traditions. There is war between the two sides, a bloody and desperate struggle and we are not winning. I'm sorry to say, but I think you got caught up too, in the War of Ascension.
Part 15
Five people were standing in the dimly lit cave, three aliens and two humans, three men and two women, three teenagers and two adults. Tense silence filled the air. Alex knew that they must be really frightened. It always comes as a shock when people realize how strong is the web of lies they lived in. He thought that they've heard enough for one day.
'I think we should postpone history lessons a more appropriate time. I don't think she identified any of us yet. Liz put a shield around your true self to prevent her from locating you. Topolsky has machinery at her disposal you can't even imagine, but we have our tools too. I'll give you three... Well, three devices that'll have the same effect as Liz's spell, but without draining her. We think it's the best if we all keep a low profile until she leaves. I don't know what the Technocracy knows of aliens, but trust me, you don't want her to find you.' They all accepted it without question. In all these years they thought they should be hiding from the FBI, but now they knew they had worse enemies.
'How dangerous is she?'
'If she doesn't know you, then not one bit. Don't go near her, don't act suspiciously and don't use your powers, because she might be able to track it, and you'll be fine. Leave her to us. We can't kill her, the place'd be swarming with them the next minute, but we'll attempt to threw her off our tracks.' This nauseated Isabel. He was talking of killing someone like swatting a fly. Michael on the other hand wasn't really disturbed by the thought. He was going over what he learned in the last few minutes.
'Can this Technocracy know anything about how we got here?'
'Honestly, I don't know. But I'll try to find out, I have to tell I'm more than intrigued who you truly are. I think we should be going. I hope she didn't begin a systematic scan of the town yet. Me and Liz have to prepare my house for that occasion.' So they headed back out to the cars. Alex gave the aliens the cloaking devices he made, instructing them to keep them within half a meter every time, even at night. He emphasized that they mustn't use their powers and with that he headed for his car, leaving the teens and Liz standing there. Liz was watching Max as he followed the others to the Jeep, looking lost. She finally gathered her courage and called after him when he was getting in Bob.
'Max!.. Would you like to ride with me?' She was waiting for his answer anxiously. He stopped and seemed about to refuse, when Isabel nudged him towards her. 'Of course, he'll. Michael, drive please.' Michael turned to him, waiting for his consent. He slowly nodded and gave the keys to him.

They got in the car but Liz didn't start the ignition.
'Max, I'm really sorry that you had to find it out in this way.' She started in a quiet, regretful tone, afraid of what his reaction can be. 'I know I screwed up big time. I can only imagine how are you feeling now. I should have told you ages ago, but I couldn't gather the courage... I love you too much to lose you... Please don't send me away...' She was pleading her, her eyes full of fear.
Max was expecting 'it was nice but now it's over' and instead he found that she was feeling the same way he did, that she was afraid that she might lose him. 'I love you too.' He said as he drew her into his embrace.
'Can you ever forgive me?'
'I've felt the same way the entire time. I've been agonizing on telling you for weeks, but I was afraid too. Afraid of how would you react...' She understood now. So that was what he was afraid of all the time. That she'd not love him when she found out.
'It does not matter where are you from, as long as you are with me. I love you no matter what.'
He was feeling dizzy. Did she really say what he thought she did? Can she truly accept him? Wasn't it just another lie?
She felt his insecurity. She answered in the most ancient way she knew. She reached up and kissed him. He just sat there for a moment petrified, then kissed her back. For the first time she opened herself to the kiss, no walls, no holding back. White-hot magic burned her veins as their tongues battled, filling her with images of his life. She saw pictures of sweet nothings - the healing of a bird, a laugh with Kyle and Michael, the beauty of a flower, the shine of the stars out in the desert. But more importantly she felt his emotions. All his insecurity, all his fear of being found, his worry for his friends, his fear that he can never measure up to her - and she saw herself as he saw her. She was stunned. 'I'm not this beautiful, I'm not this perfect.' 'To me, you are' came the echo from his soul. She felt his hot, burning love pouring into her. 'What did I ever do to deserve you?' His reply came almost instantly: 'No, love, what did I ever do to deserve you?'

An hour later when they pulled over before Max's house he felt like the happiest man ever. He still had trouble understanding that Liz really could love him, even after she knew. I'm an alien and my girlfriend is a wizard! He found the thought incredibly funny. While they were in the desert he couldn't get enough of her. He bathed in her love, feeling complete for the first time in his life. She loved him! He was stuck on this single thought. The car came to a halt. The thought suddenly hit him - he wasn't going to be with Liz for weeks, if not even more! He didn't know how he will survive. He immediately turned to her and pulled her into a kiss. They know they shouldn't, but neither of them could accept that they'll have to spend the coming days apart without a last kiss.
When a good minute later he emerged from the car he was too stunned to notice the familiar itching on his nape that meant he was being watched.

Liz went to Alex and they held council. They decided to cloak all of Alex's important gadgets and turn off the rest. After some thought they decided that they'll leave the defense systems turned on, even if it was a terrible amount of work to hide them. When they were ready, they went to the UFO museum and intensified the magic leakage there; they didn't know why Topolsky came here, but they thought it a good idea to give her some perfectly "natural" magic source to play with, and maybe if she came here because of their activities, she'll leave content that she found out what was wrong. Of course, if she came because of them or the kids, it was pointless, but it was worth a try, nevertheless. Liz went home half-dead and fell into the bed at 7 pm, while Alex spent the night cracking deep into technocrat databases searching for either Topolsky or the aliens.

Meanwhile in the Evans home Diane Evans called someone. When the phone was answered she started to talk in a rather strained voice.
'Nancy, can I come over tomorrow morning? No it can't wait. I don't want to say it on the phone, but I saw something I think you should know about...'
Part 16
It was ten o'clock, next morning. Diane had just arrived. She greeted Nancy and they settled down in the living room of the Parkers.
'You got me really excited last night with that cryptic phone call. What was it about?'
'Nancy, do you know whether Liz has someone special?'
'Not that I know of, but we never really talked about it, why?'
'Well, Max was as happy as a lark in the last weeks, but whenever I tried to talk to him about it he got all shy. I even tried to corner Isabel, but she denied everything. And yesterday I understood why.' Nancy was dying from curiosity by now. What was so important about Max having a girlfriend that needed an immediate and secret meeting. She was glad that Max found someone, but what's the hassle?
'What happened?'
'I was cooking dinner, when a green Honda pulled up to our house. Do you know whose car it was?'
'Liz got herself a green Honda a few days ago...'
'Bingo. And do you know who was with Liz?'
'Are you implying that she and Max... That's ridiculous.'
'That's what I thought. Maybe he just needed a ride or something. Up to the point when they started kissing.'
'Never! Wasn't it just a goodbye kiss?'
'It took more than a minute to say goodbye then.'
'Incredible! She and Max...' Nancy was dumbfounded. Who'd have thought? 'For how long?'
'I've no idea. But I've a nasty suspicion. Remember when you came over last week?'
'Yes, when they came in hand-in-hand, saying they'll try to be friends. Isabel nearly choked on her coke.'
'"We decided to move forward in our relationship", my ass. I think we can safely assume it was a play for the benefit of Isabel and Michael.'
'And we were glad that they are not at each other's throats anymore!'
'But they are, just in an other way.'
'I don't know what to think of it.'
'Me neither. There is the fact that she is seven years older and she is his teacher and she could easily get unemployed if anyone ever finds out, but on the other hand I've never ever seen Max so happy.'
'But how could Liz start a relationship with him? He is her student, for god's sake! What was she thinking? How did they expect that they can hide it?' Nancy was shocked. These were not the news she expected. She didn't she should be outraged or should be laughing. If it weren't their relatives it'd be damn funny.
'They could hide it from us, for example, with great success, if I might add. Coming to think of it, Max was spending way too much time in the library in the last weeks doing extra biology homework she gave him. Now I begin to wonder about that.' Nancy burst out laughing.
'What?'
'They are so devious! They act like they hate each other, thus no one suspects anything, plus he can have a perfect alibi to spend some time with her. They even had the nerve to call you in!'
'I don't see what's so damn funny about it.' Diane said, trying to sound indignant but she failed miserably when she bubbled over with laughter too.
'And all the kids knew it too and they've never said a word about it to us!'
'We sooo have to get back at them for this!'
'Do you have anything in mind?'
'I think I might have. Listen...' And the two women spent the next hour conspirating against their loved ones.

Liz felt like shit. She used incredible amount of magic yesterday, more than she thought she ever could. And now she had to rise one in the morning to get over to Alex. She got up and dressed; then she went to leave the house the usual way; through the front doors; completely oblivious to the fact that she dispelled the enchantment this morning that kept her steps stealthy. Jeff, Nancy and Michael were all awakened to the sounds she was making. Jeff wanted to see what's up, but his wife held him back. Michael on the other hand got up to see what's going on.
'What are you doing?' he whispered when he saw her.
'I need to work. Go back to sleep, Michael.'
'I want to help too.'
'You can't. It requires power, skill and finesse, and you only have the first. You'd be more of a hindrance than a help.' It was not the Liz that he knew, the sweet, caring girl. She spoke in harsh, short sentences, wasting no time for pleasentries. She seemed confident and determined to do what needed to be done. 'Like a soldier. I wonder what they must've been through - they seem to be prepared for these occasion.'
'OK. Just be a bit quieter. You'll wake my parents.'
'Shit. You are right. My footsteps are no longer muted. Goodnight Michael.' 'Note to self: be sneakier.'
''Night Liz.'
Nancy tried to listen in on the conversation but she got only cryptic fragments. She only understood that Liz left at in the morning, and Michael's tone didn't sound even mildly surprised. She had a good - even if completely wrong - idea where Liz was going, but this was totally unacceptable! What's going on in her household?

'Did you find anything, Alex?' They were talking at a one sentence every five minutes rate. They were both absorbed in their work: Liz insulating the house for leakages of magic, Alex deep in various databases.
'I identified Topolsky. She is a middle-class NWO agent. Excellent statistics, medium field experience, no great successes and most importantly no combat experience. I'm quite sure the data is sound. If she is alone, we can take her out anytime. And you?'
'I'm only half ready. When I left this evening, the house could be found if she came into the street. Now most of the leaks are closed, but I've still a lot of work to do. If she just walks down the street with some stupid machine in her hands, she won't find you, but if she knows something's wrong with you, then she can confirm it. I need at least another three hours to prevent that. And on the other topic? Anything?'
'Too much. The web is full of bullshit. I don't know what's real and what is not. I know look for a contact who can help me to break into Void Engineer records. I don't dare to try it alone, they have tight security, they are the second best after us. And of course, if they know something it'll be buried deep inside. This stuff is hot. Actual aliens? The VE'd eat ether first than to let us see the info. So it'll take a few days.'
'Good. I don't know what should we do about Topolsky. It'd help a great deal to know what are her orders.'
'I can't really help you there. The NWO operational records are well-defended. I know the NWO systems in and out, but I don't want to get my mind fried if I don't have to.'
'I just hate to wait doing nothing. I've a feeling that it'll get worse before it gets better.'
Alex couldn't really say anything to this.

The next week was a nightmare for Max and Liz. They were both suffering from their lack of contact, after their last kiss every minute they spent apart seemed like a lifetime. They even stopped dining together to avoid suspicion. They only met in Bio, where they maintained a super-cool facade, the proximity of the enemy haven't left space for anything else. They pretended that the other one didn't exist when they only wanted to melt into the other's arms.
The aliens had to be really careful. They were used to using their powers nearly unconsciously. Isabel suffered most from the lack of sweep-of-hand makeup, she now had to get up half an hour earlier if she wanted to look the way before. Michael's burgers lost from their quality too, and Max appeared with razor-cuts on his face for the first time in his life. For Liz and Alex hiding was like a second nature, but they had more contact with Topolsky, so they had to be extra careful.
Diane and Nancy were ready to follow Max the next time when he goes to the "library", but it was like he sensed it and just sat home everyday. Liz arrived home late regularly and immediately went to sleep. They heard her leaving in the dead of the night one more time, but Nancy forbid Jeff to confront her. They were starting to wonder if their relationship existed only in their mind.

Kathleen was sitting in a pub, sipping her beer. She was sent on an information gathering mission, with no concrete goal. A month and a half ago two agents were killed in Albuquerque. They've been sent out to check a house where two supposed deviants were hiding. It seems they found them. The agents hadn't even had the time to report back, they were killed instantly and at the same time. So agents were checking out every nearby town for that unlikely possibility that the killers haven't fled far. She was using various instruments to locate any source of the reported deviant activity, but apart from the Node at the UFO center, she found nothing. She was silently cursing the Void Engineers and the Iteration and their brilliant FSN. It was the reason she was rotting here. She swept the entire town and still nothing. She decided that the mission was a failure. She went home and prepared her resignation letter, naming family reasons for her leave. Next day she gave it to the principal and was out of Roswell by noon. Only when she turned onto the interstate, it occurred to her: she was only looking for flux-leakage, not for the persons. She never checked the name or the appearance of the supposed deviants, because they could change it easily and usually did so after pulling a stunt like this. Still, she pulled over to do so. It can never help to be too throughout.

Five minutes later she was heading back to Roswell with full gas.

Chapter 6
The war begins

Part 17
'We are finished. Mr. Evans, I'd like to ask you to remain here, I want to have a few words with you.' Liz felt like an incredible weight was lifted from her shoulders. She resigned this morning because of "family reasons". She left, they've won! She immediately informed Alex and now, two hours later, she was going to tell Max. Of course, only after she kissed the breath out of him.
Max was a bit puzzled. Why did Liz want him to remain here? He obliged happily though, he was glad for any time he could spend with her; he was practically aching from need. He took his time to pack his things, it was likely that the topic was private. When the last of his classmates left, Liz closed the door after them and then instantly sprang to take the kill. Max was surprised by the ferocity of her assault. That intensively intimate connection they shared when they last kissed came to life, flooding them with the emotions of the other. His own need was multiplied and intensified as it came back from Liz, echoes of love filling both of their souls. Only when they broke apart at last, panting for air, he managed to breathe: 'So I gather Topolsky has left.' He was holding her close, their lips brushed as he spoke.
'She resigned this morning. She found nothing, so she left, therefore we are celebrating.'
'What do you have in mind, love?'
She only kissed him in response. The thoughts of what she wanted to do with him made him stagger. His body responded immediately, proving that he was more than ready for the task.
'What's the matter, love?' She said as she pressed her body against him. He only managed to stutter.
'No-nothing, I-I-I just...'
'I love you Max, and I want you. All of you. But if you want to wait, I understand.' She said. It was clear that her seduction-session was not going the way it was planned.
'NO! I mean I want you too. I'm just afraid that you and I... we won't work together.' Oh, god, how badly he wanted her. He was aware of every inch of their skin that met, every strand of her hair that was tickled his hands, every soft breath she took. He wanted to take her, claim her as his own for ever, but he was afraid, terrified that he might hurt her. He didn't know anything about himself, expect that he was not human. How could he risk her life?
'Max, do you have any reason to think that...?'
'No, but I don't want to take any chance that you might get hurt.'
'I would give it a try.'
'Believe me Liz, I want nothing more than to be together with you.' He was interrupted by her.
'You can use the expression "have sex", I know it.' She thought that he was beyond cute when he blushed like this.
'But I will not risk your life.'
'You look human. You eat human food, drink human drinks, breath human air. Chances that you can't have human sex seem pretty slim. Trust me, I majored in Biology. There are too much similarities between you and me to assume that anything'd go wrong. Besides, we are both capable to handle things if they get out of hand.'
He wanted to argue more but he knew that she had a point. In every other aspect, he was like a human. Why'd this one be a difference? Still, he didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
'You might be right, but..'
'Look, let's put this aside, okay? I'll wait for you. I don't want to rush you into things you don't want to do. When you are ready, I'll be there.' Translation: 'I'll try to seduce you at every possible opportunity until you are so wrapped up, that you give in, you fool,' but she didn't say the last part aloud.
Max was relieved that the decision had been postponed for him, and after a few seconds of self-reflection they returned to their previous activity, only to break away five minutes later when someone entered the room.

Tracey Schemin has forgot her sweater in the biology lab. She took it off because of the heat and to show off her low-cut top. Let the guys leer a bit. She tried to position herself to offer a bit of "insight" to Max Evans. That guy had a figure like a greek god, and he was free. Though when she asked Isabel, she was told that she stood no chance, but she put it down only to Isabel's maternal instincts. When the cool autumn air hit her, she realized that she was underdressed so she went back for her sweater. She was glad that the door was still open; so she strolled in not really looking around. She only stopped mid-step when she saw movement - the two soulmates breaking apart. Her jaw dropped - Ms. Parker and Max together. She grabbed her sweater, muttered some apologies as she backed out of the room as quickly as she could. That's why Isabel said she had no chance! She is going to get back at her! This'll be all over school if she had any say in it! She'll show them. She looked around to find someone to share the news with.

'What are we going to do? How could we be this careless?' Max was frantic.
'Chill, Max. Watch and learn.' She was glad that she could practice her true profession freely in his presence. There was no one else around, so she could sing in a mildly loud voice, while she summoned the powers of the Mind.
'Feleyts mindent, feleyts saepen, aelmot ho'zok read.' She chanted again and again as her consciousness bridged the distance between her and Tracey. Instead of breaking down her walls she seeped through them like a mist. It was a piece of cake; she was just your average Sleeper. Next, she started to whisper suggestion, emphasizing it with her magic. 'Forget it, you just went in, found your sweater and left. You saw nothing, because there was nothing to see. It's ridiculous, it's impossible, therefore it never happened.' and she went on and on until she was sure nothing remained in her mind of the incident. After that she left as tracelessly as she came in.
Max was sitting beside her physical body the whole time. She was just staring into nothingness, chanting some stupid song, without apparently doing anything. Then suddenly life returned into her. She smiled a wide, evil smile as she said. 'See, that's how it's done.'
'What have you done?'
'I entered her mind, and made her forget that she saw anything.'
'Just like that?'
'Just like that. We have terrible power over Sleepers. They are practically defenseless. It's an enormous responsibility, being a mage. Some think the world is a playground custom-made for them but they meet early and nasty ends. Either the Paradox finds them or something much-much worse.'
'The Paradox?'
'The common subconscious of humanity is called Consenus. It is not sentient, but it behaves so. It more-or-less decides what is not normal, what is magic, and if someone does something that he shouldn't be able to, it strikes him down with the Paradox. I don't know how you guys manage to survive altering colors and everything, I'd go mad from the Paradox after the first few attempts.'
'And what you've done now? Will this Paradox hurt you?' He didn't really understood the concept, but it worried him that some unseen force could cause her pain for just being who she is.
'Don't worry. I was subtle. No one've seen me casting, or at least no sleeper, so as far as the Consenus is concerned it didn't happen.' Of course, it was not entirely true, she used magic and vulgar magic, but it was week and well hidden, so the Paradox that gathered around her will "bleed off" by tomorrow morning, and even until that, it's not likely that she will feel any effects of it.
'I think you all need a quick course in magical theory, and maybe after that some practical applications. It'll take time, but we have time in abundance.'
'Could I ever do that? Just alter someone's memories?'
'First, yes. You are powerful, Max. Far more powerful than you think. Far more powerful than me.' She decided that she wouldn't mention the Destiny thing. He was not really ready to accept even bits of truth about the nature of time and space. 'Second, I didn't alter her memories. I made her forget some minor detail - she only saw us for seconds, and only minutes ago. I just... nudged her mind to erase something. When you get to it, you'll see it's really easy. The true task'd be making new, coherent memories, but luckily, I didn't have to resort to it.'
'I'm stronger than you? You must be joking. I could never do something like this.'
'I'm just more skilled than you are. I've years of practice of hiding and fighting. It will take some time, but you'll be able to do far more than some petty tricks with Mind or Matter.' Max has never considered learning from her before. It was one thing to have a mage as a girlfriend but it was completely another to be trained by one. But hell, why not. He doubted that he really had the power she spoke of, but he was excited by the possibility of expanding his powers. A few weeks ago his "magic" was something to be ashamed of, but she changed that. She was confident in her powers, knew them and more importantly was proud of them, because they made her who she was.
Liz was watching him with new eyes. He was first a mystery, then a student, then a boyfriend. Which phase'd come next? Apprentice or lover? And which one'd she like more?
He finally looked up, with new hunger in his eyes.
'When can we start?'

Alex was sitting before one of his computers (no surprises there). It was the fastest, neatest, cleverest of them, equipped with cutting-edge technology that'll hit the streets only a decade later, if ever. It was The Machine. It was reserved only for the hardest jobs - VR hackings into Technocratic dataforts. During the last week he called upon some favors, collected some debts and now he had a smaller team assembled to attack the VE archives. Of course, the team's members were sitting on different continents, but it didn't matter once they entered the virtual reality, or Reality 2.0 as the Adepts called it. It was, originally, only a network of computers around the world, much like the Internet, but it evolved into something completely else; a Horizon realm, where people could live, people could fight and people could die. It was different from the other Realms. The adepts made crossing the Gauntlet unnecessary, so they didn't take their bodies with them during hacking, only their souls were sent on quest for information. But it took exceptional computers to host a human soul, so that's why no Adept ever let anyone touch their Machine.
Originally the VR was an Adept invention but the other Conventions took it up as well, and when the Adepts left the Technocracy, they still continued to use it. They stored most of their information on standard networks, but some of the hottest material was only accessible from the Virtual Reality, that's why tonight's job was unavoidable.

They managed to dodge the outer layers, but they were just for their decorational value. All the seven of them were outside the illusionary building of the VE archives. The plan was that five'll distract the sysadmins while the best crackers -Alex and his buddy, Samuel - would do the real job, extracting the data. So on Alex's mark the others started to make the electronic equivalent of street hooliganism, bombarding the VE network with invalid requests, stopping some outgoing data - that sort of things. Few VE sysadmins stormed out and Alex and Samuel could slip in beside them, using their password. It was not possible theoretically, but that's magic for you, a la Virtual Adept.
Some of the defenders turned and followed them in, but they increased their speed, made themselves invisible, and after a short chase they managed to threw off all but one, who followed them undetected.
They proceeded to the library section streaming past the recent years and events. There went the nineties, the seventies and the fifties. They stopped at the forties section and started to examine 1947. Their pursuer, still undetected decided to watch what was so important in 1947, that a bunch of Virtual Adepts risked their necks for it. They finally seemed to find the data, downloaded it and started a quick, precise search in the following years. 'They must know exactly what they are looking for, answer to some very precise question.' The sysadmin watched as they combed through reports, articles. They never touched any deep-coded, important research stuff, so she let them continue. They finished really quickly and left as quietly as they came. She watched them leave, she was outnumbered two-to-one, and even if she called for help, they'd be out before she could finish the cry.

When they left she checked the search logs. They destroyed them, not wanting anyone to find out what they were looking for, but she managed to reconstruct some of the queries. They were all about Roswell, the crash or aliens. She logged off and settled back in her chair. '47 was a rough year. The Adepts recent defection had left a deep hole in the Technocracy's side, they were occupied with their own problems. But the crash was just a myth of the Masses. Or wasn't it?
Serena Del'mar of the Void Engineers sipped on her wine, deciding that the topic is maybe worth of a little personal research.
Part 18
`We’ve got it! God am I good!` Alex cried out when he returned to the normal reality. Liz was watching him in the last half hour, worrying for his friend’s life.
`What have you found?` She knew she should give him some time to readjust to the confines of this world, but she was all too eager to get answers.
`I don't know yet, but if the Technocracy knows anything about little green men, we'll know it too.` He was excited too, they've just committed the perfect crime - broke into a datafort, grabbed the information they wanted and left without a trace, leaving their stupid jocks in stupor. Heads'll fall in the VE because of this, but that was not his problem. It was uplifting to be the king of the hill.
`I'll instantly begin to analyze the loot, why don't you go for some moonlit tryst with Mr. Perfect while I set my code-breakers loose on this material?`
`Mr. Perfect is in bed right now, and I don't think his mother'd appreciate me, turning up at midnight to steal her child away.`
`If he is in bed I doubt he’d mind some company.` She was struck speechless for a time, just gaping at him, looking for her voice.
`Alex!`
She finally found it. He tried to seem as innocent as he could but his ear-to-ear wolf grin was deteriorating the effect.
`Why? I’d certainly not refuse if some beautiful angel came to me in the night.`
‘Shall I send over Isabel?`
`I said angel, and she does not really meet that criteria. But on the other hand, I’ll go to heaven anyways for all the good I’ve done for the betterment of mankind, so I don't need divine intervention. Yes, Isabel seems to be a good idea. Why don't you just send her and tell her that she doesn’t need waste time on dressing up much.` He loved teasing her, enjoying to the be the male in their friendship.
`Hmmm. I think I might pass along that message.` she said with an evil smile, evidently imagining the effects of those words on Isabel.
`You wouldn’t dare.`
‘Try me.`
`Elizabeth Parker if you repeat it to her, I’ll personally...`
`Personally do what?`
`Crawl under a rock and hide for a whole week?` She seemed to think on it for a while.
‘Sounds just about the reaction expected from you.` She said with a serious expression, just like she was asked to consider the stock market’s response to something.
`I'm deeply hurt that you think me capable of some immature behavior.`
`Oh, Alex, forgive me please, that I bruised your little male ego.`
They continued to bicker on, well into the morning.

Agent Topolsky’ve been back in Roswell for two days now. She checked Liz Parker from a safe distance, and on a sudden impulse Alexander Whitman too. They were both deviants. The question was what were they doing here and who else belonged to them.
After identifying the deviants she immediately requested backup, with cloaked equipment to avoid warning the subjects before the trap was sprung. They did a quick sweep of the town for other deviants, but found no one else. They had no time for a throughout search, sooner or later their targets’d get wind of what was going on.
In general, the NWO’s wheels turned slow, but the field agents favored quick, decisive actions. The plan was to hit first the women, disguising it as a gunfight getting out of hand in the restaurant she lived in. Doing it before a lot of witnesses will minimize her chances to use her abilities. On the top of that they’ll create a blocking field around the house at the beginning of the shooting to damp whatever she has left of her so-called magic, while the shooters make their escape. The special bullet’d guarantee that no doctor of the Masses will have a chance to save her, and that she’ll remain powerless till the moment of her death.
They’ll siege the other’s house after she is confirmed dead. That place was well fortified so it’ll take some time to get in, but they were determined. They planned to get that one as a prisoner, if they could, but it was not a necessity. After they double checked everything the two teams set out to accomplish their mission, only 24 hours after the alarm was raised.

Liz
We are sitting at the Crashdown, the whole pod-squad plus everyone from the I-know-an-alien club, except Alex. There is no parent-alarm, so we can enjoy each other’s presence without too much pretense. I sit beside Max, my left hand, hidden from the crowd, caressing his thighs while I lean against his side, enjoying his comforting warmth. We are just sitting silently, smiling, loving the chance to be together while the others do the talking. I could spend an eternity like this.
I'm so relaxed that my threat-receivers go off too late. The two men who sat down across the cafe five minutes ago are arguing about something. Just one second before one of them stands up to pull out the gun I realize what’s happening. I instantly reach out to make the appearing gun stuck, but I sense that someone is blocking me.
I panic as I try harder, shrieking something. The first man dives at the sight of the gun, just giving his partner a perfect opportunity to shoot me "by chance". I see the world slow down when he pulls the trigger. Laser flashes in my eyes for a split second - that’s no ordinary gun. The bullet leaves the gun and streaks past the first men, missing him by inches. It’s heading my way and I can’t do anything! As the bullet hits me, the events resume their normal pace again. I'm in pain, blood is streaming from my chest. I try to do something, but I'm too weak to concentrate. I'm dimly aware that the enemy is fleeing the scene, Maria is shrieking, Michael is shouting. I just grasp for Max and grab him, to at least die in his arms.

Max
She is hit! She is dying in my hands! Concentrate! Focus! You can do this! I place my hand on the wound and try to close it. I feel that something is restricting me, I increase the pressure. I feel power running like magma in my veins as it strains against some invisible barrier. Why can’t I heal her? I try harder and harder putting everything into it. Something suddenly goes pang! and I'm in. I feel her life-force leaving her body through the hole in her chest. I close it then turn my attention to the bullet and nudge it’s molecules apart, dissolving it into nothingness. I pull away, seriously weakened. Liz coughs and spats out some blood, but her eyes quickly regain focus. It took only a few seconds. Then the thought hits me. We are screwed! I look around, panicked, seeking some escape. With a sweep of my hand I destroy any evidence. People are rushing towards us. What are we going to tell them? Of course, my Liz, despite just being shot, knows what to do.
`I'm allright! I wasn’t hit.` she tells the men getting to us.
`But we saw...` He starts but she gives him no chance to speak
`I just panicked and shrieked. Nothing happened, see, no blood. The bullet must’ve missed me by inches. There it is.` She points at a bullet hole near her in the wall. I cannot believe my eyes! It wasn’t there a minute before!
‘There is nothing to see here, nothing at all, why doesn’t you just go home and drink a whisky?` And to my amazement they obey her! She slowly stands up.
`Now excuse us, I think I’ll gonna get some rest. Max, Michael, Isabel please escort me.` Her tone is belying her. She storms out of the restaurant, we run after her, leaving a few dumbfounded Roswellians behind us.
Part 19
Liz
I'm beyond furious, I've been attacked in my home, I've been shot, and I'd have died if not for Max. Anger burns my inside, threatening to overflow and wash away everything. When I told the guest what they've seen, I used magic to modify the memories of about twenty people. I'll pay the price later, no doubt, but currently the only thing that matters is getting to Alex before they do. I know their drill; they attack at the same time, eliminating all targets at once and they bring more than enough firepower with them. But they didn't know about the aliens, that's sure. I get into my car, the three Cheslovakiens hop in with me. I think I should tell them to stay away, but now we'll need every bit of strength we can muster. I try to call Alex, but of course his cell phone has been disconnected from the network. I drive recklessly towards the house, barking instructions to the kids.
`Everyone you see near the house will be an armed enemy, no matter how innocent they look like. There'll be no Sleepers around, they guarantee it. Blast them before they can shoot you, if you hesitate to kill, you'll end up dead. Understood?` If you think I'm controlling, and you're right. I'm not in mood to be messed with. I feel some tension in the air as we approach, they use some device to keep Sleepers away. It's the routine, everyone without a touch of supernatural instinctively stays away. They don't come into the area, they don't look out on the windows, they don't hear anything. It requires tremendous power, but for them, it's worth it.
Magic is radiating off me as I pull over a block away from our destination. I jump out of the car and with one fluid motion I reach up high in the air and make a grabbing motion. My staff materializes in my hand. I got it as a gift from my master, it's an incredibly powerful tool to channel magic and I only dare to use it in times of trouble. The others are watching me with wide-open eyes as I lean on the six-foot long, diamond tipped, oaken staff.
`You coming?`
`Don't we need to plan or something?` Michael tries to reason with me, but I'm beyond reason. Red hot surge of need to destroy boils inside me and I gladly obey. In long strides I head towards the corner. I feel the enemy waiting for me, and I know they feel me too. I know that here and now I'm the more powerful. I'll win. I feel Destiny is in motion here. I'm not afraid. They are. They don't know what went wrong, how can I be up and walking, but they do know that I'm angry. Fear drives their action, hatred drives mine. Fear can give you power to run, not power to fight and that's what they are planning.

Max
We can barely keep up with her, she is walking so fast. Quick, determined strides, her staff making a dull clunk with each step. I feel the air crackling around her, I've never seen her such as this. Now I understand what was all that talk about power and control and the responsibility of a mage. I don’t know what she is truly capable of, but I’m afraid; not for her but of her. Her lines become more pronounced, she becomes more real. Some so far unknown sense whipers into my ears, telling me about the energies surrounding her. She is beautiful, in a deadly sense. Like an angel of death.
She is ready to kill, but I don't think we are. I try to ask something, to slow her down, to make her think, but before I could open my mouth she raises her other hand to silence me.
A large, two-story house stands on the corner, and just before the wall ends she stops. She holds her staff out and mutters something. Colorful auras light up around her, one by one, just to be faded by the next. Crystal blue, emerald green, amethyst purple and then blood red. She now seems to be radiating some inner, white light. She lowers her staff and looks at us, acknowledging our presence at last.
`Hide behind me. Take out as many as you can. Don't try any heroics.` She orders us and turns away, not even waiting for our response. It just doesn't seem to occur to her that we might want a say in it. She reaches inside her pocket and produces a small, leather bag. She pulls it open, some dust is glistening in it. She holds her staff in front of her, the bag in her other hand
She walks out of the cover of the corner. Not jumping, not running, nothing of the action film stuff, just walking calmly. Gunsound roars, and I see bullets streaking past her, always missing. I look at Michael and Isabel. She'll be shot within seconds! We have to do something! Michael jumps ahead and pops his head out. He releases an energy blast at someone. I jump behind him to protect him with a shield.
Five people are on the street, all in black, commando robes. Two are crouching, another two standing right behind them, all with rifles aimed at us. The fifth is standing a bit farther with some machine pointed at us. It looks like a remote control and it projects a thin blue film before all of them. Two cars are parked in front of the house, a van and the car the shooters in the Crashdown used. From the back of the van the two now-familiar agents try to assemble something very big and weaponlike.
I threw up my shield in their general direction, hoping that they can't make it go away, like Liz did. Michael and now Isabel too, hide behind me, releasing energy blasts at them. Liz is just standing beside us, with her hands high up in the air, her face looking at the heavens. She is chanting as we hammer the enemies.
The shield the fifth agent is projecting seems to block off our blasts, but it is weakening. My shields stop the bullets completely. After the first useless bursts they all stop firing and quickly go for their sidearms. Two of them can't make it, one of the lamp posts start to bend; falling on them, killing them. The others just jump out of the reach of the falling post and resume firing. The bullets now streak through my shield, but somehow, miraculously, miss us. Luck seems to be on our side, all of their guns got stuck, one of them exploding into his holder’s face as he continues to pull the trigger. Michael managed to weaken their shield by now, hitting one of the agents square in the middle. He doubles up, while the surviving gunman manages to shoot Isabel.
She shrieks as she collapses. I let my shield go, it's no use anyway, and I jump to her. Michael covers us. She is hit in the shoulder, not deadly. I grab the wound and she lets out another cry of pain. Meanwhile the two shooters from the Crashdown managed to power up their weapon, and it looks big enough to kill all of us with one shot. However they seem extremely unlucky. Their first shot hit the last agent in the back, and when they pull the fire away from him, the bolts of blue energy seem to find the one projecting the shield. Meanwhile I feel Liz's energy stream past me as she bends reality into new and new shapes.
Alex's joins the firefight by now, leaning out of his window with his own rifle. He must've loaded minigrenades or something because it takes only two shots to blow up both cars. As the second car blows up, it's like some wave washes over us, the oily feeling in the air just disappears as if it never was there. It took less than half a minute, and now we stand in a street with five dead people in commando-suits and two blown-up cars. Liz lowers her staff, but the aura of power still surrounds her.
`Quick. Into the house.`
We follow her, Isabel still in pain from the aftereffects of the healing.
Alex opens the door and pulls us in, as the first car turns into the street, stopping with breaks shrieking as the driver sees what's littering the driveway.

Chapter 7
Consequences

Part 20
`What'll happen now?` Isabel was totally lost, she was looking at Liz, waiting for answers. She just collapsed down on the couch, burying her hand in her hands, ignoring her.
`Alex do you have any drugs that guarantee dreamless sleep?`
`Yes, I do. What for?`
`I've just used insane amount of magic, and I want to be out cold, when the Paradox catches up with me. Give me the greatest safe dose. If I sleep through the worst of the backlash, I might survive it.`
`Is it that bad?` He saw that it was. `Okay, wait a sec.`
Within two minutes she slept in Alex's bed. He closed the door on her. Max asked him if he could stay with her, but he shook his head.
`She has to deal with it alone. If you are near, the Paradox might just leash out to you too. You can't help her, no one can.`
`What'll happen to her?`
`I've no idea. There is no system in the effect of backlashes. The best possible result is that nothing happens. In that case she can't use magic for months, to let the Paradox bleed off. She can suffer serious side effects, ranging from mundane to extremely magical. Once, after one of my experiments went seriously wrong, I started to spend sparks everywhere I pointed. It was dangerous as hell but I was glad that I got away that easily. I think her situation is much worse.’ Now Max was truly worried for her.
`Then why did she do it?` He asked as they returned to the others waiting in the living room.
`I don't know. Maybe she didn't dare to do any less. She saved me and herself, and probably you too. She is a Chorist. They are always ready to pay the highest price when it comes to saving others.` Alex voice was strange as if he was fighting tears.

They all sat in silence for some time. Isabel tentatively asked her question again.
`What happens to us now?`
`What'd happen? Nothing. We fought, we won. If there is one sure thing about the Technocracy, that they know when to cut their losses.` He spat out bitterly. `We just laid waste upon at least seven trained agents and lots of valuable material resources. The police are right outside by now. It's an incredible loss of face for the NWO. They'll have to spend lots of time and money to cover their tracks. I think if we just lay low and don't do anything stupid they'll let us be for the time being. We've proven that we can fight. They`ve nothing to gain by attacking us, we represent no threat here.`
`Why they've attacked in the first place?`
`It's a war, and we are the enemy. But they've grown complacent and just don't fight with their full strength. Time works for them. They can wait for us to die, they grow stronger every day while we get weaker. No one in the NWO'll risk his or her carrier by ordering our elimination and we are not big fish enough to get the attention of someone who can survive the consequences if we repeat today’s performance.`
`So we go on like nothing happened? After all this death?`
`No one has seen you. You weren't here. Nothing happened. There was probably some maffia-fight between out-of-towners. The Technocrat demagogy is quite good. The special equipment'll be taken away by “federal agencies”, a few memories get modified and within a few weeks it'll be just a piece of gossip. For a year or two we won't see them around here. Later, it’ll start over, but at that time I won't be around anymore.`

`Here I am` thought Alex `explaining a bunch of frightened kids why they shouldn't be frightened. That the world is nice and life is fair, we've won one battle and the war is over. Not likely. What is more likely that they'll come silently some night a month or more from now on, just not humans, but full-cyborgs and then all we can hope for is that we die before we get taken in for questioning. But we can't run now. If we run, it'll surely happen, if we don't, we might survive. We'll have to bolt later, and much farther this time. Europe? Australia? Who cares. My best friend is dying up in my room while I'm sitting down here telling smooth lies because they couldn't cope with the truth. The truth is if we angered someone who is important enough, we are dead no matter what we do. We can't leave town, we'd be dead before we see the `Welcome to Roswell` sign in the mirror. I can't open a gate to Horizon and Liz is in no condition to do it, and the kids probably wouldn't survive the journey anyways. And I won't pull any of my friends to the abyss with us. “If you have to go, go alone and try to take as many with you as you can.” That's what Liz was doing. If not for her, we'd be all dead by now. I don’t have her bravery, but I’ll not go down without a fight if it comes to that. Our only hope is to wait for the storm to pass and bolt when they don't expect it. Let's face it, it's worse than even money that none of us sees the next full moon.`
------
The aliens went home some time after the police left, not wanting to draw attention by staying away too late on a day like this. Michael told his parents that Liz had to go away to some conference, she forgot to tell them earlier. It was an incredibly lame story but it was the best they could come up with to stop Jeff and Nancy asking questions. Thanks to Alex, “Liz” phoned home later to tell them she’ll be away for indefinite time.

The town was in uproar. Two shootings within an hour, seven dead, not speaking of the two blown-up cars. There were all sorts of weird rumors about alien killers, alien healers, government conspiracies, drug maffia, foreign spies. The city became packed with reporters for a few days, the number of tourists doubled. Meanwhile all the incriminating evidence was taken away, papers and sometimes memories destroyed, fake evidence planted: the New World Order did what damage control it could do, covering up all traces of the supernatural.
------
Serena stared angrily at the memorandum in her hands. She was told to stop "pursuing this particular topic of research". The order came from the highest level. This means she found something. She was an idealistic believer of the Technocratic Union's goals, it was the means she sometimes disagreed with. After closer look on the data stolen by the VAs, she and her two closest friends, Cameron and Josh, launched an all-out investigation on alien activity. They were shut down as soon as they began, their research was declared meaningless. When they protested and referred to the documents in the archives, they were deleted and they were informed that they were there by a mistake in the first place. They continued nevertheless and now came this. A direct order. If they violate this, it means demotion.
But Serena was not the type to turn down a challenge. Why it was so important to someone in the leadership to hide everything about the crash? She was starting to suspect that something happened, something worthy of a cover up on this scale. Deleting fifty year old files? It was a mistake? In their dreams. She never heard of any other intelligent race, but what if? What if there was a crash, and the leadership hushed it up for some reason? They were capable of doing so, if they wanted to, that's what they did to Masses on a daily routine. The Mars-bases, the colonies on the Moon, the photon-crusiers were all secrets for the Masses, waiting for humanity to be ready to accept them. Conspiracy theories were not alien to the thinking of the Technocrats, they lived in one big conspiracy-theory even if they denied it to themselves.
When they were looking for information about Roswell in the other Conventions' databases (which was technically illegal, but if they were caught they could say they were testing their comrades defenses), they found a report of a catastrophic action of the NWO. The VE had usually nothing to do the deviants, except maybe some battles with Etherships or VA hackers, their duty was to protect humanity from threats from the Void and to expand mankind's living space; so Serena only understood half of the techno-speech. She could decipher that some yet unidentified factor appeared and every participating agent died. Someone or something killed those agents in cold blood. Serena stopped in her thoughts, mentally cursing herself. Someone or something defended his or her life from agents who went to kill.
She hated the methodology of the NWO and the image it forced upon human thinking and she wasn't entirely convinced that it was necessary. If the VE just got free hand, they'd lead humanity to undreamed discoveries, conquering space and planets alike, assuming their rightful position between the stars. But the Union's Inner Circle decided that humanity isn't mature enough for that step yet.
Staring at the report she has drawn the conclusion. Something was in Roswell that could not just repel, but completely destroy the NWO's death-squad. Maybe it's worth taking a closer look. She picked up the intercom.
`Josh? I think it's time for a little vacation. What do you think?`
------
Serena wasn't the only one who noticed the echo of the events. A middle-aged man was looking over newspaper-cuts. "Mysterious shooting" "Drug maffia" " Strange devices" "Miraculous healing" "Seven dead". Tabloids could be a good source of information if you knew what to look for.
`If it' s not a false alarm then I've found them. So they were all the time in Roswell? Incredible.` He sat back thinking for a time, then he apparently made his decision as he called out to the kitchen.
`Tess, start packing. We are leaving. I think I’ve found your dear husband at last.`
Part 21
Liz
I slowly open my eyes. Where am I? I see a white ceiling. Ok clue number one didn't provide much information. Let's look for clue number two. I try to find the muscles in my neck. They are there and I try to turn my head. Success! What an amazing machine is my body. I just order it to do things and it obeys. No talking back, no questioning the reasons. Of course, it informs me that this turn-the-head thing maybe wasn't the decision of the year with pain flashing through my body, but it was worth the price, now I can positively identify my position in space: Alex's bedroom. My muscles tell me that it was all they were qualified for today, but why don't I come back in the morrow. So I close my eyes and go back to sleep.

A few minutes later the visions begin.
------
Max was sitting silently among his friends, under their usual tree. During the last two weeks he slowly spiraled down into depression. He missed her like the flowers miss the sun, and was doing the same thing flowers did when the sun was denied of them: he was shriveling up and dying.
Liz was still not moving, not answering despite everything they did. She was on infusion after the first day. Her condition was stable, but Alex had no idea when she'll wake up. Her sleep was not natural, and natural methods simply failed. She could wake up any second or sleep for hundreds of years, and waking her with magic wouldn't do any good to her. They finally agreed that if she is still asleep by the end of the next month, they'd try to snap her out of it, but that's another six weeks and now, it seemed like an eternity.
Max felt incredibly guilty about her situation and no matter what the others said, he took the blame on himself. He couldn't explain it to himself, but he felt that she belonged to him, thus, it was his duty to take care of her.
In the last two weeks he did some serious thinking, and realized that he couldn't live without her. He'll no longer hold himself back, it was destiny that led them together. Once she'll be in his arms, he'll not release her ever again.
------
Alex got the alarm in his lunch time. He spent as much time with the kids as he could, always on alert, always scanning for signs of danger, but nothing so far. He kept the information from the VE archives to himself, they had enough troubles right now. He tried to teach them some things about his science, but it was apparent that their powers were closer to Liz's magic than to his researches.
He jumped when the phone in his pocket started ringing. It was a text-message: the defense system of the house informed him that there was movement in Liz's room. He quickly opened his laptop and logged into his own network. He opened the digital camera's archive, looking for the movement. He found it, it begun 3 minutes ago. She opened her eyes, turned her head and closed them again. In the next two minutes she had been laying motionless. Thirty seconds ago she started to move. Convulsions ran through her body, her back arched, her mouth opened wide like she was screaming - there was no audio feed. She seemed to be in great pain. Alex immediately shut his laptop close, and grabbing his bag, he ran towards his car. As he passed the other's tree and he shouted to them. They got up, Max broke into a run too, to catch him. Once in the parking lot, they all jumped into their cars and pushed the accelerator into the floor. They didn't know what was happening, but by now they've learned if someone shouts `Duck!` the right course of action is to pull down your head and only then ask `Why?` instead of the other way.
They all left the parking lot, Alex leading the way towards his home. When they arrived (breaking every possible speed limitation), Max finally managed to shout a `what's happening` to Alex's running back, but he only got answer when they reached Liz's room.
She was hanging in the air, half a meter above the bed. Purple and green lightning was runing through her body as she silently screamed. Max'd have immediately jumped to her, but Alex jerked him back.
`Do you want to die too?` It was too much to hear for Max, he pushed Alex back and jumped forward. As he reached Liz, the bolts jumped to him, as if he was some kind of magnet. Liz fell down in that instant, hitting the bed.
Max felt like his insides were being ripped out. He fell to his knees as pure Paradox coursed through his body. He felt ropes straining, thin wires that anchored his personality to his body. They tried to hold him together in this storm and they seemed strong enough for a second. After that, one by one - pang - and he found himself fighting to remain who he was instead of who he had been. It was a fight without weapons or tactics, sheer mental and magical brawl where two entities crashed to control one life. It was a battle of willpower and life force. Max was young and inexperienced, while the other was old and powerful. The enemy was cold and alien, heartless from all the time with the dead, yet he was the mirror image of him, knowing his every move before him and countering it with inhuman precision, the precision of many combats. He fought with all his strength, concentrating all his willpower, but it was not enough, not near enough. He felt him winning as he was pushed away from life and the other got nearer to his core, the shining shard of Prime which meant life to all spirits. The alien proceeded to take it back from him, the life that was promised to him in the first place and he couldn't resist. His life slowly seeped out of his hands as he got nearer. Emotions left him one by one and the enemy seemed to get stronger with every loss he suffered. He floated without feelings, without will to fight, he was ready to give up, just to drift away with the winds of the spirit realms, when he felt the winner stop at just an arms reach from his prize. He felt him hesitate. Emotions stolen from him, gave emotions to him. Conflict raged within him, good with bad, hope with despair, old belief with the bitterness of the years. Time stood still for a moment. Then everything came back to him in a rush as the stranger drifted away, seemingly giving up. He felt his sadness, his sacrifice, the fierce love of life, and for the shard of a second he saw into his soul as he melted into the final embrace of the Prime. `All life is holy and it's a sin to take it away. The dead belong with the dead and so do I. Thank you for the chance to be myself for one last time. Live your life, brother, and make better decisions than I did. And good luck`. The echo hung in the airless space for a long time. He found himself sending a thought of gratitude after the one who could've condemned him to the fate he chose for himself, not really knowing if he'd have been strong enough not to take away a life to continue his own.

`Rest in peace, brother.`
Part 22

Visions.
Images of a hundred future.

Images of a hundred death.
------
She is shot in the back by a MIB in a dark alley behind a grocery store, second shot into the head when she tries to get up.
------
After several days of torture she manages to cut her wrists in a New World Order fort.
------
She is ripped apart by bullets from the machine gun of a HIT Mark.
------
Six blue-armored VE Space Marines corner them in the backroom of the Crashdown. They all die at the same time when they open fire from their ion-blasters.
------
A bald man places his hand on her chest. A flash of light and she is dead.
------
Hit by a truck in broad daylight.
------
Defeated by a Progenitor psychic in mental battle.
------
Explosion from a car bomb instantly kills her.
------
Dies on the bridge of a spaceship when the defending battle-station has a lucky shot.
------
Raped beyond recognition, she dies from internal bleeding.
------
A fifteen year old kid blasts her, leaving a 15 centimeter wide hole in her side.
------
Alex kills her with a stray bullet when she suddenly jumps out to release a fireball in a firefight in a parking lot.
------
Someone in black robes slits her throat one night.
------
A blond girl with pale blue eyes fries her brain while she is working in a library.
------
A Progenitor sauroid rips her apart then feasts on her insides.
------
Max, with a strange green light in his eyes, kills her, after she killed the blond girl.
------
Dies on an Ethership when it is blown up by the pursuing VE crusiers.
------
She takes fifteen sleep pills. She never wakes up.
------
She jumps off from a cliff.
------
Isabel shoots her down accidentally when she mistakes her for an enemy in some woods.
------
She cuts up her wrists in the bath-tub.
------
After shooting down Max, she turns her weapon against herself.
------
The blond girl slowly tortures her to death with her powers as Max watches smugly. The same green light illuminates his eyes.

A hundred death.

That's all what the future holds.

She knows, she has just seen them all, she has just felt them all. She has just lived them all.
Part 23
Liz
I'm regaining my consciousness slowly. I feel that I'm in a soft bed, sunshine caressing my face. But my body aches everywhere. I wonder why... Memories catch up with me. I remember everything. A Paradox-storm was raging through me and I was dying. I've seen all the death I could die and I knew they'll remain just a possibility because I was going to die right there, right then. Nothing can stop a Paradox-storm, not one of this magnitude. But somehow it happened. I wasn't aware of the outside world at that time, so I don't know how.
Bitterness gathers in my mouth. I've seen all endings and I was under twenty-five in all of them. I'm not going to be alive a year from now on. But that's not the worst, I was already prepared to die, every second I live from now on is on borrowed time. I'm a warrior of the War of Ascension, I accepted long ago that it's not likely that I'll die in bed. Still I hoped that one day I'll have a normal life, a house, a husband, and children. Now I don't have such illusions.
What I'm not ready to accept is what I've seen. No one can be prepared for this. I've seen him. And her. He left me again and again in all the futures where I lived long enough to see them meet. He'll throw me aside as easily as discarding a used handkerchief. I've seen myself killing her countless times just to be killed by Max shortly after. I don't know what events will lead to their union, but I know I can't stop it. I got caught up in the flames of Destiny, and I'll pay the ultimate price.
I must send him away on my own terms while I can, to save ourselves. I love him enough to protect him from myself at any cost, even if he doesn't really love me.
Or maybe he truly loves me now, just that bitch is his Destiny, that he can't fight. Or she enchants him in some way I'll be unable to break. Or I'll be the one to drive him to her. So many possibilities, so little knowledge. What can I do?
Could I just try to enjoy every second with him, not caring what the end is going to be? Can I ever look again in his eyes not breaking down crying? How can he betray me? Why? Is she that better than me?
I can't find answer to those questions. I know the future is not set in stone, the wheel can be jerked to another path. But I've seen all paths. Or haven't I? My visions ended abruptly. What if there was at least one safe way among the dangers? I don't dare to cling to some false hope. But why should I pull them with me? There is nothing else for me to do, just to ensure their survival. I'm going to die, but I'm not going to take anyone else with me, if I can help it. Now I have a goal to fight for. Not a bright one, but it's a future, even if not for me.

Max
I'm lying in Alex's bed, I think I must have passed out after our battle. I still can't believe what I've felt. Someone died instead of me today. He sacrificed his chance of life for me. The feeling is bittersweet. I can continue because someone has not. I can't help but wonder if it was me who deserved to live. I felt him: he was strong, bright and noble, but full of sadness and regret, heavy from the burden of the years. What cruel fate could force someone to choose between his life and someone else's? And how strong one must be to make the hard choice? I'd die for Liz, but for one I've never known... But he has known me. He called me brother, but I feel we were close than that, I can't explain how. Faces of a coin. The expression flashes in my mind out of nowhere. But it's true. Completely different, yet the same. Faces of a coin.
I contemplate these thoughts while I watch Liz sleeping beside me. They've put us in the same bed, I've no idea why, though I'm glad they did. It calms me to see her breath evenly and I find unsurpassable joy in just watching her. I imagine what it'd be like to wake up every morning with her beside me and I can't help but smile..
I feel myself changed. I'm far stronger than I used to be. Like the difference between a candle and a bonfire. Power runs through my veins but I'm in complete control of it. I feel the possibilities all around me; I've senses I've never even heard of. I can feel every living being in miles, hear every whisper if I want to, my hands not just feel the smoothness of the bed-clothes, I'm aware of every molecule of it. I feel like the world is at my feet. With her at my side, nothing seems impossible. I can't help but reach out to caress her hair. It feels like soft silk between my fingers, my new-found awareness informs me of million insignificant facts about its physical attributes, intensifying the feeling hundredfold.
Her eyes snapped open instantly when I touched her, she is staring at me like she is seeing a ghost.
`Liz... Good morning, love.` She looks at me with an unfathomable expression on her face, but I gather that it means no good. She slowly pulls herself up and without a word she starts to walk toward the door. I jump up quickly too.
`Liz what's it? Are you all right?` She breaks into a run before I could reach her. I decide not to go after her. I don't understand the situation, but she obviously needs some time alone. I'll be here when she comes back.

Liz
Just after I made up my mind to break up with him to protect him from myself, I've felt his hand touch me. It has sent shivers down my spine as usual, but now they felt like my soul is being torn apart. I just keep seeing him watch her torture me with a smirk on his face. I can't get the picture out of my mind.
`Liz... Good morning, love.` Blind hope surges through me. He says he loves me now. If I hadn't seen him betray me countless times, I'd melt into his arms this instant, but I know better. I have to leave before I lose the small control I've now; I start to get out. He calls after me, his voice is full of worry over me. It's too much for me, I break into a run. I can't confront him now, I just can't. It'd be cleaner, but I don't have the willpower. Let's get out of here. I run down the stairs. Alex's working in the living room. He immediately jumps to me, I flung myself into his embrace crying uncontrollably. But his arms provide no comfort. I keep seeing him die with me again and again, shot in the head, blown up, tortured to death, killed in a plane crash, deaths and deaths again. How could I look into his eyes, knowing what'll happen?
He holds me tight as he whispers that everything is okay and everything is fine. But it is not. Not at all.
I get myself under control after a while. He pushes me away a bit and tries to look in my eyes, and I nearly lose it again. How'll I save them all if I can't bear to be in the same room with them?
`Liz what happened? Talk to me.` Can I tell him? Do I dare to tell him? He is strong, but is he strong enough to accept something of this magnitude? I desperately need someone to talk to.
`I've seen the future, Alex. All futures. And none of them had a happy ending.`

Alex
We are sitting in the backyard, she spent the last half hour explaining what she went through. I feel extremely sorry for her. Of all people, she really did nothing to deserve this. I don't question what she says and I don't make any interruptions, as she talks and talks, tears flowing freely. She tells me many terrible things and I know that she keeps the worst in herself. I can't force it out right now, but if she is afraid to tell me, it must have been pretty ugly.
After she finished, saying that the visions ended abruptly I fill her in what happened earlier today. She listens silently, but every time I say Max's name she flinches visibly. I can't imagine what it'd be like to see someone I love die again and again without being able to do anything. At these time I'm almost not jealous of their love. Almost.
`We don't know exactly what happened, we'll have to wait until Max regains consciousness.` She is fighting with tears again. So he did regain consciousness. That's why she's run down crying. I wonder what he said or did. The Max I know'd never hurt her, but what if he got the rest of her visions? They can be enough to drive someone mad. I change the topic quickly, she is not ready to discuss it right now.
`You know the basic rule. The future is not written in stone. You saw only what could've happened if you hadn't seen the visions. We can change it. We'll change it.`
`Of course, you are right, Alex. We'll change it.` She doesn't agree with me, she just wants to avoid an argument. She knows that I know, but I let it pass.
`Can you tell me of the ... endings you remember? If we can make a list and analyze, maybe we can find a way to avoid them.`
`I don't think I'll be much help. I've seen only bits of the events and mostly they were too late. I'm sorry.`
`Okay then just tell me what you can, so we can prepare. But for now why don't we go inside. You haven't eaten for weeks.`
`I'm not hungry.`
`I understand. But you have to eat to be strong.` I suddenly remember. `The others'll be here shortly. Are you ready to face them?`
`I think I am.`
`Liz, I've to ask. What happened before you came down?` She stiffens.
`Nothing. Alex I can't really talk to you about it.` She is on the verge of tears again.
`Liz, whatever happened, whatever you've seen, he loves you. He spent the last two weeks on the brink of insanity. What you two have is completely unique.` It crushes my heart to see her cry like this. `It is not.` she hiccups between sobs. What does she mean? She can't possibly mean that... Now I understand. She has seen herself lose him. But if they were visions of deaths... Something terrible happened or will happen or whatever.
`Liz, you have to tell me! If you don't we won't be able to avoid it.` No wonder she was crying the whole day. The Liz I know was not afraid of death, she would be forging plans right now, to escape them. But it doesn't make sense. Max'd never leave her, he loves her more than his life.
`If we don't die earlier, she'll came, and he'll go to her the moment she sees her.` She is shaking uncontrollably.
`Why? Why'd he leave you. You're his life. It just doesn't make sense. And how do you know about it?` It seems that every one of my words is a dagger in her heart.
`In some futures, in most futures, I've gone mad with jealousy and killed her. Then he killed me. Other times they killed me together. But most of the time I've just committed ...`She can't finish it. I do it for her.
`Suicide. But who is she? We have to find her.` She looks at me as if I've stabbed her in the back. I reveal my thoughts.
`We have to kill her, before she has a chance to seduce Max.` I know Max and more importantly I know Liz, and whoever'd cause so much suffering to her must die.
`I don't know if we can kill her. She has killed me lots of times, she is stronger than me.`
`She won't know what hit her.` Fire ignites in her eyes. I think I managed to show her a way out of the vicious circle of her visions. A way to use them to prevent them from coming to life.

Max
I've heard her run down the steps. I followed her with my thoughts; feeling everything around her. It's strange to see without eyes, hear without ears and it's much keener than my sight or hearing ever was.
It felt like spying on them, but I couldn't bring myself to stop. I spent the next half hour listening to Liz recount of her visions, my heart bleeding for her. I wanted to pull her into my embrace and comfort her, but it was clear that she wanted to keep her distance.
Now I know why. I'm sitting on the bed stupefied. I've betrayed Liz? This is insane! I'd never...! But I've, it must be true. I agree with Alex. I don't want to stop loving her, and I'm frightened that someone can so much power over me. How? I'll not let it happen. I'll not let Liz get hurt. My super-awareness is collapsing rapidly, I won't be able to eavesdrop them for much longer. I make up my mind, they must know how I feel.
I get up and go down with as much noise as possible to warn them of my presence. I go straight to the backyard. I open the door, they both jump at my appearance. Before Alex has a chance to tell some lies about what they were talking about, I begin to speak.
`I've heard everything. I agree. We have to kill her before she has a chance to hurt Liz.`
Part 24
Liz
He is standing in the door, tall and proud in a long sleeved black shirt and black jeans. His stance suggests iron determination and strength. Confident, but not overtly so; sure in what he wants and what he'll do, yet loving and caring at the same time. Light seems to be radiating from his eyes, but not the green, oily glow that watched me die, instead some warm, amber sparkle. Raw power. He is frightening as he pulls himself out, his eyes locking with mine.
After he appeared and made his incredible announcement, we just stared at each other for minutes. Alex mumbled something about work to do and left us to alone.
I don't know what to say. `You'll leave me for some blonde bitch, just to kill me later.` Sounds like the line of the century, doesn't it? Not really. But he seems to understand without words.
`I'll never betray you, Liz. I love you more than my life. I'll never let anything come between us.` Confidence rings clear in his words and startling sincerity.
`You have.` My throat is dry, I have no tears left. I want to scream at him. `How could you?` But he did not, not yet. It's an impossible situation. He cheated at me, he killed me, but at the same time he is as innocent as a lamb. But I've seen more than enough, if they meet, I'm screwed.
`It's only a possibility. And I'll do whatever it takes to avoid it, whatever you say, I'll obey. I just don't want to lose you again.` He is looking at me with dark, deadly serious eyes, practically begging me to kick him. he is a perfect target to work off my spleen on. Who is he to defy Destiny? But he didn't say it to calm me down, he said it because he means it. Really means it. It's truly frightening.
`Liz, please just give us a chance. Don't blame me for wrongs I've never done. Please, please, help me to avoid them, to stop your visions from ever coming to life. I beg you. I can't live without you. I don't want to.` All words have left me. My decision to push him away as strong I can, melts like the snow in the summer. Can we make it work? Is it possible? I want to believe, oh how much I want to believe in it. But I can't forget his smile as he watched me die. On the other hand, if I let this chance pass, I'll directly be possible for all my misery, all my anguish. I can't decide what to do, I just stand there mutely.
He steps closer tentatively. I take a small step away. He stops and slowly raises his arms toward me. He speaks in a slow, even tone, like he is taming a wild animal.
`Come to me, Elizabeth. We can make this okay, we can make this work.` He is approaching me slowly, I stand frozen on the spot, like a deer caught in headlights. I should run away, but my heart keeps me there. I just can't throw away the only chance at happiness I'll ever have. But I can't go to him either, I've not forgiven him, though there is nothing to forgive. So I'm caught in the conflicting motives until he reaches me and pulls me into his warm embrace.
I feel my heart beat against his muscled chest like it's about to burst. It's like our first embrace in the school. It feels like it happened years ago. He rocks me gently, kissing the top of my head, whispering sweet nothings. Finally, my dam breaks. I cry, my tears soaking his shirt, as he holds me close.
------
`How are they?` it was Isabel's first question after they got out of the car. Yesterday, she has told their parents that Max has to work late this night, and he might sleep over with Michael; they didn't know how long it'll take them to be able to return into the everyday life. If it'll take weeks then they'll be forced to lie shamelessly again and it'll be much risky this time. But their parents weren't her primary concern. She was sick with worry for Max. It was so typical for him to hurl himself without thought into some magical storm to save her; she just hoped that he'll be all right. Heavens know, she couldn't bear it if something happened to him.
`They are fine, physically at least.`
`They are awake? Where are they?`
`Upstairs. Don't disturb them, they've gone through some pretty rough times.`
They came in one and a half hour earlier, or more like it, Max half-carried Liz. Things weren't exactly okay between them, but Alex thought that their love can overcome the huge rift, the visions put between them. Max's behavior was helping for sure. He hadn't heard what went on in the backyard, but there was no shouting, which was a smaller miracle considering the situation and they came in each other's arms. Physical and emotional exhaustion finally caught up with Liz, she was barely able to carry herself. She clung to him with all her strength, yet, at the same time, she looked a bit uncomfortable in Max's arms. No surprises there. They disappeared upstairs and Max informed him that he'll put Liz to sleep. He's been sitting beside her sleeping form, like a big watchdog, just stroking her hair, when fifteen minutes later Alex went to check them. He closed the door on the way out, and has not seen anything of them ever since.
`But will they be all right? What happened?` After a short hesitation Alex decided they've a right to know and besides they can work better if they know what are they up against.
`It'll be a complicated story, so it's best if you sit down...`

Chapter 8
A new alliance

Part 25
The others took the news quite well, they haven't really understood the gravity of Liz's visions. They considered them a warning which was sent to help them avoid the dangers, not as a bell of Doom it really was. Alex didn't bother to make it clear to them: they have no real chance of survival.
It was eight o'clock when they finished discussing the essentials, and there was still no sign of Max or Liz. So they sneaked up to take a peek. They were sleeping cuddled up together, Max holding her as close as he could, with a sweet smile on his face. They've both awaken in the instant they entered, ready to fight. It took them some seconds to realize they were among friends, they lowered their arms only then. They've had dinner together, carefully avoiding any mention of the visions. They've filled Liz in on the events of the last two weeks. After that an uncomfortable silence settled over the table. They all glanced at the soulmates every minute, but they seemed oblivious of the looks. Those two took adjacent seats on the garden bench and Liz was leaning against him like it was the most natural thing to do. All attempts to start a conversation seemed futile and Alex has forbidden them to bring up the one topic they all wanted to hear about.
It was Michael who asked the right question.
`Alex, and what happened with the files you stole from those space guys? Did you have time to work on them?`
`They're called Void Engineers` Elizabeth tensed a bit. Those Space Marines in power armors... Their visors looked like lifeless mirrors. And those blasters with the deadly blue bolts... She shuddered and Max pulled her closer to him. `Actually I did. There were some interesting things in it. It's more than two thousand pages so I'll just tell you the gist. Of course, if anyone'd rather have a go with the original, it's available.` His joke resulted in some half-hearted smiles.
`So what does it say?` Michael was eager to find out something, anything about their origins.
`Well, nothing concrete, but if we add the fact that you guys are here, it tells a lot more things. The story is that the VE's primitive satellites managed to detect some anomalies which showed a suspicious correlation with UFO sightings. Those machines were really crude, their purpose was to prove that the rockets work, not to get anything done. Let me remind you, that it was in the early forties. Anyways, one night the all the satellites showed turbulences in the electro-magnetic field, gravitational anomalies, magical surges, so all kinds of energy released. There are about a four hundred pages where the researchers are guessing at answers, but they were basically clueless. My guess is that either your ship did some things our technology can't understand yet, or, and that's where I'd put my money, that there was a battle in the skies. With the eyes of someone in the forties it was an inexplicable phenomenon, but to me, it seems logical. Two ships fighting with everything they can, and one loses. Oh, have I forgot to mention that the anomalies are from the day of the crash?`
`So our ship lost?` Isabel asked tentatively.
`I'm not sure, Is, but if battles among your spaceships are anything like between ours, then I think you've won. After a clash between an Ethership and a VE cruiser, the loser remains on the battlefield in form of debris, instead of surviving the entry into the atmosphere, and after that, a crash. No, Isabel, I'd say that you've won (whoever you are), just your ship was injured so much that the pilot was forced to choose landing.`
`And what happened to the ship?`
`That's when it gets interesting. Nothing. The report stops here. By next morning, men in USAF uniforms were swarming the place. The report swears blind that they were real USAF troops, but I say that we face the product of the institutional paranoia so typical of the Technocracy. I've found many clues that this document is highly cut and edited. A reference to a chapter that doesn't exist, or to a page that is twice as far as the end of the report, this sort of thing. The inconsistencies are small, but I have a knack for spotting them. It's sloppy work, anyways, it wasn't done by pros.`
`Then what's the truth?`
`I can only guess. I might be drawing completely wrong conclusions, I don't know much about the internal workings of the VE, much less about what it was like sixty years ago and even less about the standard procedures for alien crashes, so it's more than likely that I'll speak utter nonsense. My guess is that the NWO got their first, disguised as federates with the VE in their tails masqueraded as Air Force. I think it was the VE who got the got the prize in the end, or more like it, a small and elite fraction of the VE. They've cleared up the crash and the NWO covered their tracks, likely for some gadgets from the loot.`
`The bastards!`
`Don't be so hard on them. It was not the VE who shot you down, they had nothing with that magnitude of firepower at that time. And someone managed to get you guys out. That was all I could find out. In the next sixty years nothing happened. There are no reports about Roswell, nothing on aliens, except that the VE used it sometimes as cover-ups for some of their own accidents. I bet my life that there are files about the real events, but their defense must be beyond the abilities of anyone I've ever heard of. If we don't break into a VE space-station directly, we can't access those files. Why is everyone looking at me like this. Forget it! It's impossible!`

After dinner they've agreed that Max'll return to school, if he feels up to it and Liz'll call the Parkers that she is coming back from the "conference". It was clear that Max wanted to stay with Liz and she seemed to agree, even if with some reluctance. Michael's didn't understand it; Alex conveniently forgot to mention some minor details about the blond girl they are supposed to look for...

Liz
They've left at last. It's not like I don't like them, but I've enough problems without having to pretend that everything's all right. After my breakdown this afternoon everything seemed blurry. I vaguely remember being carried upstairs. He enveloped me in his warmth in more than one ways, his strong arms lending me strength as I've slowly sank into the embrace of sleep. I know that he guarded my dream and kept the sleeping demons of my visions at bay. He held me close, his presence making me feel safe and loved, so instead of nightmares I had sweet, sweet dreams of him.
We both jolted up when they opened the door. I know he can feel the attention of others, but I'm so spent that I'm amazed that I can even walk, still, I was wide awake and prepared to fight anyone who threatened us. Us, Two letters, yet it hides the darkest pain, the bleakest despair I've ever felt. It hides the promise of great happiness and never-dying hope too. Is there an us? He wants it, I want it, more than my life, and if anyone, I know the price of those decisions. But are two wills enough to make a dream come true? Sometimes I believe that nothing can ever tear us apart, the next moment I know with deadly certainty that our failure has been determined before our birth. The fate of the fallen awaits us. The fate of the fallen.
I contemplate these dark thoughts as we eat in silence. He never lets me go, not even for a second, and I think I'd collapse the moment he released me. Only his strength keeps me going, without him I'm just an empty, broken shell. Something was damaged inside me, something broke and I can't fix it. I've lost my hope, my will to fight. The frightening thing is, that he shares his own with me and it's enough to create at least an illusion of life.
I sense that he is a different man now, though I don't how and why. What makes me weak seems to make him stronger, while I'm a tree pulled out of my ground by the winds of doom, he is a cliff, standing defiantly into the gale, protecting me in his shadow.
I'm wallowing in self-pity, I know. I should get up and continue, like I've done many times, but I just don't see the point. We are going to die. It's one thing to know that your life is going to end one day, and it's completely another to see the when and how. Who am I to defy Destiny?

Max
She sits beside me, and I feel her thoughts washing the edge of my sentience. My super-awareness is gone, just the memory remains. Though, my senses seem a bit keener, but who can tell? I don't know what's up with my powers, I haven't tried to use them yet. It's strange to sit here near deaf and blind compared to the godlike sentience I've achieved earlier, but at least now I know what's the power about Liz spoke, that hides within me. Though I can't hear their thoughts, nor can I watch the television of someone three streets away, I certainly feel Liz more clearer. It's like when we kissed earlier, when everything was still okay, just more defined. She is like a constant, low hum in the back of my mind, and her tune now is not happy. She is weak, full of dark thoughts. She lost her belief that she can make a difference, while I gained proof that I can. Despite everything she has seen, I still think we can win. We have to. I won't fail again.
Though he is gone, and gone for ever, some fragments remain. He was too close to me, it was unavoidable that he left some marks. They are not clear thoughts, nor memories, more like wisdom and strength. The more time I dwell on it, the clearer it becomes how noble and selfless he was and I won't make his sacrifice meaningless by throwing away my only chance at happiness.
I have to convince her that it's no use to waste herself away dreading futures that might never come true, instead of fighting to be able to fight another day. What has to come will come and we'll be there to face it. Together.

Liz
I know that we have to talk, I just want to avoid it as long as we can. As soon as we say goodbyes he nods to Alex and he hurries away. The traitor! I'll teach him a lesson about loyalties later. If I survive the next ten minutes. He gently leads me back to the garden and I sit on one of the chairs; I can think clearer if he is not touching me, which would be unavoidable if we sat on the bench. He pulls up another chair and sits right in front of me. He takes my hands in his own. I look so small in his big hands. He takes a deep breath and begins.
`Liz, it's doing you no good.` I know, but I can't stop it! I want to scream, but instead I just mutter.
`What's doing me no good?` His voice is calm and reassuring instead of accusing.
`Look into my eyes, I can't talk to you if you don't` Then don't. That's what I'm trying to reach. It is, isn't it? Instead of saying what comes to my mind I just obey. It was a mistake, my resolve to maintain my childish behavior start to weaken in front of the amber fire burning in his eyes.
`I love you Liz. More than my life. And I see you are wasting yourself, dreading some stupid future that might never come.`
I just sit in silence, I can't give him an answer; I don't have one.
`I'll let nothing to come between us. You don't seem to understand. I'd rather die than to see you die. That little tramp won't stand in our way, I've killed already to defend you, and I'll gladly do it again. I'm not me when you are not around. I'm just an empty shell, you fill me with life. Come back to me. Open to me.` His words are like cleansing fire. His love washes through me. His voice cuts, it cuts down the rotten parts around my core. He is oblivious of how his own strength, his confidence. Every note rings clear, full of truth and unshakable belief. Where does this self-assurance come from? His last sentence gives me the final push.
`If it comes to the worst, I'd rather live my last days with you, and not without you. What about you?` He is right! Fuck, he is right! Shame washes over me, I've been a fool.
`No, you haven't. You were just frightened.`
`I've said that aloud?`
`You didn't need to.` he says as he kisses me. The stars seem to flare up as I melt into his embrace.

I have only hazy recollections of that night. I don't remember how we ended up in our room, how we lost our clothes. I only remember small, sweet details. My hands fumbling with the buttons of his shirt. A drop of sweat glistering on his forehead. The feeling of his fingertips exploring me. His heavy sigh as he lost all control. I remember his gentleness, his quiet strength, his love as he held me close, closer than anyone ever before. I remember sky-blue light enveloping us as we drifted to places visited by no one before us. Man and woman, human and alien, we became one that night, one in hope and despair, one in body and soul, thousand unbreakable strands of the oldest magic linking us together. Forever and ever.

Later, we laid naked in each other arms crying tears of sorrow and happiness; the angels of the night sky twinkled above us, and we called them to witness the forging of a new alliance between the stars.
From now on < > means thoughts.
Part 26
Serena
`Miss Delmar?` I'm sitting in my office, making a report. Next morning we'll be out of here for a two week vacation.
`Yes?` The man wears a black suit, his nametag said J. Stephenson. Internal Security.
`Are Mr. Amari and Miss Benett here?`
`Yes.`
`I'd like you three to accompany me. My superior would very much like to meet you.` His tone makes it clear that refusal is not an option. I quickly fetch Josh and Cameron and we follow the suit in silence. We live in the Horizon-realm Staryard, a gigantic assembly station somewhere in the deep space. We don't know where Earth lies compared to the Staryard, we use stable wormholes to enter and leave. The deviants of the Traditions would call them Gates, but they are just short-cuts in the four dimensional flesh of the universe, no occult mumbo-jumbo, just physical phenomena. We use an elevator to reach the highest level of the complex. I've never been in here yet, it's the home of the leaders of three-thousand Technocrats working here. He leads us in the maze of corridors to a signless door. He gestures us to enter; we have no choice, but to obey.
We enter a dimly lit room. There isn't much in here; a few shelves, a big mahagony desk with a computer. A young man sits behind the desk, with jet-black hair and cold, calculating eyes. He wears a suit too, making a contrast to the casual clothing of the most of the crew. When he looks at me, I have a sudden urge to run as far as I can; his cold stare is more than threatening. He waits for half a minute and when the silence starts to become uncomfortable, he starts.
`My name is director Pierce. You have accidentally stumbled upon some material that shouldn't have been there. This leads us to a very awkward situation, Miss Delmar.` He looks at us, waiting for any of us to speak up. We choose to remain silent.
`I'll be blunt. Your abilities are all exceptional, it'd be a waste to dispose of you. The standard procedure in these cases is to erase your memory and rewrite your personality.` I suppress a shudder. What the hell have we found? `However, I'm ready to forget the official method. I offer you a chance to help humanity in a way you've never considered possible before.`
`What do you mean, Sir?` Keep talking Josh, keep us alive.
`I'm part of an organization that stands above the standard hierarchy of the Technocratic Union. In an united effort to protect humanity, the Inner Circle created the Special Unit about fifty years ago. We report directly to the Inner Circle and we have complete executive power. We can access any data, arrest anyone, take any measure necessary to fulfill our mission.`
`What do you mean protecting humanity, Sir?` I've a quite clear idea of what can he mean, and I don't like it. But if I want to keep my mind I'll have to play along with his scheme.
`We defend humanity from aliens. To our current knowledge, there are at least two intelligent species in the galaxy beside humanity. Our goal is to find out as much about them as we can, while keeping them from infiltrating us. This is of course Alpha-Red information. You can't share it with anyone. Ever. If you become part of the Unit your life will radically change. Do you welcome this change?` The choice is clear. If I'm not enthusiastic enough, I'll cease to exist.
`Sir, this is everything a Void Engineer can dream of. Count me in.`
`Me too.`
`I'd be a fool to turn down such an opportunity.`
Josh and Cameron are quick thinkers too, half-hearted answers are not likely to be accepted here. What have we gotten ourselves into?

Liz
Sunlight tickles my face, I slowly open my eyes. I'm in a bed, covered with a white sheet. It takes me a few seconds to realize that I'm naked and another to remember why am I clothless.
Oh. My. God.
He is sleeping beside me, with cutest of all smiles on his face. His arm is laid across my chest possessively like he is trying to protect me even in his sleep. I can't even begin to express how much I love this man. Alex was right, he is mister Perfect: I'm unable to think of any flaws in him. How could I be worthy of him? But after last night, I can't deny that we belong together, and I'm dizzy with happiness. Life is beautiful!
I decide that I'll just lay for a while, bathing in his warmth like a kitten as I memorize every small line of his face.

Max
I stir in my sleep. My alarm bell rings, someone's watching me, this time I know who it is. It’s not a warning of danger, just a low whisper of love. She is watching me. I open my eyes and our gazes instantly lock. The cords that link us tighten, and I hear a faint echo through our connection <Sorry, that I woke you up. I forgot that you...>
<Shh, love. It's okay I want to wake up like this every morning for the rest of our lives.>
She bolts up like I pinched her. She holds the sheet to cover her breasts, not realizing how ridiculous this gesture is.
`How?`
`I don't know. Sorry that I startled you, it came naturally.`
`To me too, I guess.` <But I haven't expected an answer> She looks at me questioningly, she is testing the link. Her words only form in my mind. I hear the thoughts in her voice, but otherwise they are undistinguishable from my own.
< It might be the consequence of our...> I feel my ears go pink, I'm a bit embarrassed to talk about it even in my thoughts.
<You shouldn't be, I was there too, remember?> she teases < It's more than likely, and in that case I'll have to warn Maria.> She doesn’t just hear what I send her, but every one of my private thoughts. It should be disturbing, but it is not.
<What do you mean?> An outsider'd just see two people in the bed staring into each others eyes while the thoughts flow freely back and forth between us.
<You haven't noticed?> A light mental chuckle. <They have it bad. If anyone'd give them a push they'd fall right into each others arms.> I see her grin devilishly as she makes a mental note to herself to give them that push, but it's more weird to feel her grin.
<You playing matchmaker? Hard to imagine...>
<Hey, everyone has right to be happy.> We are starting to venture onto dangerous ground now.
`We do, too.` Some words deserve to be said. I feel that her light, playful mood disappear. She forms her answer carefully and I know it before she says it aloud.
`We do.`
We remain silent for a few seconds, still staring into each other's eyes. Half-formed thoughts race across my mind as I let the meaning of her simple statement sink in.
< I've run enough. We'll fight, Max. And if we have to go, we'll go together.> Her tone is serious. It suddenly strikes me how ridiculous is our situation. Promises that we'll die together are not the typical topics of the mornings after. The ice breaks, she is laughing with me too. She goes a bit pink as she lets the sheet drop, but before I'd have a chance to admire her perfect body, she pulls me into a kiss.
<My body is far from perfect.>
<To me, it is. You are goddess. You have the most beautiful body I've ever seen.>
<Mine is the first body you've ever seen.> A surge of possessiveness flares up in her. <And it'll be the last.>
<Let's concentrate on the kiss, shall we?> She doesn't consider my remark worthy of an answer, she just opens herself to me even more, if it's possible. The borders between us slowly melt as we give ourselves up to the passion. We become one soul the same time when we become one body. Her bliss reverberates through me, as mine through her, doubling the fierceness of our joining. We climax together and after that we just lay together, panting. She is resting on top of me, none of us wants to move away. Our connection is wide open and I'm openly worshipping her, telling her, showing her how much I love her and I receive the same from her. I could spend an eternity like this.
<Me too, love,> comes her answer to my unsaid thoughts.

When we finally decide that we should get dressed, she slowly slides off me. We both automatically turn our backs to each other when we get out of the bed. We laugh out loud as we turn. I finally have a chance to watch her in her naked glory. She stands proudly in the sunlight; her little, pink nipples tighten under my gaze and my member begins to stir to life under her attention. We have such power over the other even form the other ends of the room!
Her body is flawless. I'm amazed that such a delicate frame can carry this strong, powerful woman and I still have trouble believing that she is mine, that she belongs to me. She slightly blushes at my thoughts as I let my gaze wander up and down on her scrutinizing every detail of her skin.
< If we don't move now, we gonna spend the rest of the day here.>
<Would it be such a bad thing?>
<Don't tempt me, I'd give in too easily.> She thinks as she reaches for her panties.
<Where is my bra?> I spot it. She knows where it is, through me, but I'm quicker. I hold my prize high above my head.
<Max, please...>
<What are you giving for it?>
<Maaax!> I just hold it higher. An evil thought comes to her mind, and before I could do anything to prevent it, she acts.
<You asked for it.> She grabs me and gives me a squeeze. I'm so surprised that I drop the aforementioned article of clothing.
<Hey, that was low.>
<Sorry, love, have I bruised your little male ego?> I feign hurt, but I fail miserably as I bubble up.
< Instead of playing games with innocent little girls, grab your boxers. I'm hungry and I think you'd cause Alex a mild heart-attack, if you walked down there naked, no matter how much I'd keep you around like this...> I realize that I could eat instead of ten too.
< I didn't see any innocent little girls around here five minutes ago, where did they appear from? Out of thin air?>
< It could be. That's a nice trick, I'll teach it to you someday.>
We continue to bicker playfully as we get dressed. It takes more than fifteen minutes; I just can’t let her put on her bra, without paying a little attention to the pliant flesh of her breasts. I feel her hot want through our link and it’s a more intensely erotic experience than anything ever before. What could be more beautiful than a woman longing for a man? I know that it takes all her willpower not to collapse on the bed again with legs shaking from bliss. It’s so wonderful to the source of her happiness!

When finally we are both presentable we trot down to ransack the fridge. Alex's up and his grin is as wide as the Grand Canyon. Have we been too loud last night?
< It might be.>
< I hope only he heard us.>
<Me too.> We are interrupted by Alex.
`Good morning.`
<Good morning, Alex.> I answer instinctively. Liz laughs out loud as she snorts `morning` to Alex.
<Aloud, you sweet fool, with you mouth. Remember? The organ mainly used for eating.> I manage a `Good morning` to him as I answer her.
<Eating? What a waste of time. The word kissing jumps to my mind.> Without further ado I lean down and kiss her. I take my time, we are disturbed by Alex half a minute later when he coughs aloud. It hits me, how strange our behavior must look like. We managed to get two steps down the stairs, we had trouble with saying greetings then we started kissing. We reluctantly break away and proceed downwards.

Liz
We settle down around the table and we start to eat. We don't talk too much and when I say we, I mean Alex and us. It's impossible to stop the flow of thoughts between us. He thinks some completely innocent thought, I reply, he replies and we lose the outside world for five minutes. Alex waited for ten minutes before asking what's up with us.
<You or me?>
<He's your friend, you explain.>
`Alex, the situation is that last night... Well I think you can guess what happened.`
< I didn't mean that by explaining!> He complains in my mind.
<Shut up, I can't carry out two conversations at the same time.>
`I couldn't help but hear you. I'm not complaining, but for the sake of the neighbors, next time when you fell the sudden urge to cry `Max`, please, try not to do it at the top of your lungs.` We both go scarlet. I hear Max's reflection, even if he hasn’t intended it to me. <So it was not just him. Pity.>
`Well, my point is, that when we've woken up this morning.`
`Please spare me of the details.`
`I haven't intended to share them. We are good friends, but not that good. I was trying to say that we found that we became linked emotionally and mentally.`
His next sharp remark was on his tongue, but I managed to shut him up.
`What do... what do you mean by linked...?` I think a little presentation is due now.
<Love, can you say what I send you?>
< I think so.>
`I mean` <our minds>
`our minds`
`are more` <or less>
`or less`
`shared` <with the other>
`with the other.`
Alex's mouth wide open. We said the sentence in two voices, faultlessly switching between the two in mid-word.
`You read each other's thoughts.`
`It's passive, not active. I hear his thoughts.`
`And I hear hers.`
`How?`
`No idea. Maybe it's the way with Max's people.` Regret flashes in him. < I've infected her with my abnormality.>
`Don't be ridiculous. It's a gift, not a curse, and I wouldn't give it up for anything. Whoops, I said that aloud.`
`You answered to his thoughts.` Alex sounds amused.
`Yeah, and it's really hard to concentrate into two directions at the same time, so Max, please just stop worrying, can you?` < I love you for who you are. I'm closer to you now than I've ever dared I could be.>
<Still...>
<There is no still. We'll talk about this later, OK?> He accepts the postponement, though I feel that I haven't convinced him.
`You'll need to find a way to control it. Imagine his parents are sitting here instead of me.`
<Brrrr.>
< I happen to agree.>
`You have us convinced. We'll work on it.` Max sends me a thought and I voice it instinctively.
`I think we could pull a bit away, but it's just too damn comfortable this way.` I make a show of turning to him. `And darling, you have your own mouth at your disposal, you can open it when you feel like saying something.` < I'd rather use it for kissing.>
Alex chuckles lightly as he understands what happened. How we'll be able to explain any of this to anyone?
`Why don't you try it? I don't want to push you, but it's better if you attempt it in a protected environment.`
<He is right.> His emotions betray him. He doesn't want it anymore than I do. The whole idea to consciously push him away is... repulsive. What if we can't reconnect later? He assures me. < I'd always find you. You are my other half.> .
------
We take a deep breath together and we slowly pull away from the other. It's like standing up form a warm, comfortable armchair; it's not hard to do, but it's hard to start. We reluctantly disentangle our joined souls, not completely, but enough to be able to function as two individuals instead of one. My senses dull as he pulls away, his must be keener than mine and I feel cold without his strength enveloping me. The world suddenly feels a lonely, barren place.
I tentatively reach out to him through our connection; I find him there, he is seeking me as well. Our minds meet in a rush and the now-familiar feeling of him is there again, in its place. The feeling is dimmed now, but we are both aware where the other is and have a general feeling of the other's emotional state. If I want, I can hear his thoughts, and if I will myself to think in a certain way I can make sure he hears me. It's more practical than the total joining, but it's not half as pleasant. We make a silent promise that we'll return to the "normal" state when the opportunity arises, but for now let's test this one. Funny, how both of us considered the total joining normal.
Alex's looking at us expectantly as we turn to him.
`So?`
`Success.` It's strange to hear my voice without hearing it through Max.
`How do you feel?`
`Not pleasant. It's a cold, alien feeling to be even half-alone.`
`I feel the same way too.`
`What do you mean half-alone?`
`What you'd call normal telepathic link. It's like walkie-talkies with few extras.`
`I'm not exactly what you'd call normal, but you shame me. You talk about being linked to your boyfriend telepathically as other girls talk when their significant others are out of country. You know, your love is the most amazing thing I've ever seen. There'll be songs of you two for thousand of years.`
`Knowing our kind, there probably already are.` Their are entire libraries in Doissetep filled with prophecies of frightening or glorius futures.
`Let's just hope they don't have a tragic ending.`
Part 27
After twenty minutes apart, the dreamcouple joined their souls again. They agreed that they were not yet ready to go to school, it'd be impossible to hide from anyone who saw them. Max had a chance at last to fill her in about his encounter with that mystic entity, and they decided silently what to tell the others and what should be considered private. They spent the afternoon with practice, watching the other to use magic from inside. It seemed that Max's power multiplied during the last few days, but whether it was from the paradox-storm, the inner fight or his joining with Liz, it remained a mystery. Liz wasn't able to determine what's protecting him from the paradox, and he couldn't mimic her spells, though they found new powers. He could move objects with his will, read a paper from the other side or expand his hearing to tell if there are ants walking around the garden.
Liz was getting stronger too, not the actual magic, but her resistance to paradox. Like Max was "infecting" her with his ability to use magic freely. She was exceptionally careful about using her spells first, not wanting to relive the last time's experience, but she found that reality became more accepting of her will. She was still reluctant to weave magic though; the memory of the visions still haunted her, but it was next to impossible to be anything except hopeful with Max in her soul. She didn't really understand what happened to him, but all his insecurities, inner fears, walls were gone. She had woved once that she'd make them go away, but she never imagined that it'd happen this fast. He was a new man, somehow sure that he'd make a difference. His avatar was blazing through his personality; he was becoming more and more himself. The change'd have been frightening if she hadn't been feeling his searing love for her inside him.
He even moved somehow differently. She has seen this stance before, it was the stance of a warrior prepared for battle. He just laughed when he heard that and she decided not to pursue the subject. Life was just too perfect at the moment. Despite all his assurances, she's still felt that she was living on borrowed time, and had a strange premonition that the price will be enormous to pay. It was just too good to be true. Yet, she has chosen to enjoy every moment as fully as possible; life is too short to waste it.
------
<Liz, what'll happen now?>
<Now? I think we are going up to our room. I've enough of magic exercises, I've another type on my mind.> She didn't knew what was worrying him, but the fact that he was worried made her sure that she didn't want to talk about it.
<Don't try to distract me.>
<Why? Is it not working?> She pressed up against him with her full body, and she felt that the distraction was working all right.
<Stop this, I can't concentrate with you so close...>
<You are calling this close?> She teased as she ran her hands down between their body < I think you are delusional and you need therapy right now.> He managed to get a grip on himself and pushed her away to an arms length. She saw that his resolution was stronger than his need right know.
<Okay, maybe later. So what's more important than me?>
<Nothing, ever can be more important than you. Don't believe anything else, not for a second.>
< I was just joking, Max.> she whined light-heartedly.
`I wasn't.` His tone was dead serious .They were beyond confessions of love, they saw what could happen and such words were not enough anymore. They shared a common fear, a fear of a future when they turned against each other and he vowed that he'll never let anything come between them.
`I know. And I love you for it.` < I don't think I could ever find a man remotely like you.>
<So you are not planning to leave?>
<Bet on it.>
< I love you.>
< I love you too.>

After five minutes of kissing she broke away; she felt that whatever was troubling Max hasn't gone away.
<Okay, what's it?>
<My parents. The Parkers. How we gonna hide it from them? I don't think I could spend a night away from you.> She was surprised at his worry. This was such a minor detail with everything else at stake.
<Why'd you have to? We tell them that we are together, and they'll have to deal with it. Parents usually can.> She hasn't sent the second half of her thoughts, but he heard them anyways. <and I plan to spend the rest of my days with you.>.He smiled as he let his imagination wander.
<Yeah, me too.>
<Sorry, I haven't intended you to hear that.>
< It's okay, I want you to remain with me for ever.> He felt her amusement at his words
. <What is this, a proposition?> He blushed to the roots of his hair as he realized what his thoughts sounded like. She felt him making a decision.
<Actually, yes. Elizabeth Parker, I want you to become a permanent part of my life. I love you more than I can express in words, you make me strong, you make me whole, you make me alive. One day, not today, not tomorrow, but one day, will you marry me?> He felt the torrent of emotions rise in Liz. Streams of tears of happiness were running down her face.
<Do you even have to ask?> Even her mental voice seemed speechless with emotion.
< I don't, but it's more proper this way. Your answer is?> There was no doubt in him, how could there be?
<Yes, with all my heart, yes!> They laughed together and he scooped up her into his arms to kiss her fiancée.

Maria
At last, school is over. I thought I'd never survive today. Max is missing, I don't know what's up with him, he seemed all right last night.. It's still hard to stomach. Not just some of my best friends are aliens, but two of our teachers are wizards. Miss Parker has been missing for days, she is supposed to be in some kind of conference, instead she was laying unconscious from the backlash of using too much magic. What happened to my little, ordered world? The whole pod squad is on the edge the abyss. Max was in the deepest depression for two weeks. Michael barely said a word to anyone since the fight. Isabel is on the verge of hysterics all the time. They are looking constantly for signs of trouble, always on alert and the stress is starting to catch up with them. Isabel admitted yesterday that she doesn't dare to use her powers at all, she is afraid of who might notice if she did and last day Michael nearly blew up his dad when he went into the kitchen unexpectedly!
When we all finish after sixth period we head for Alex's house. Isabel is starting to get frantic; she had to cover for her brother again. He was supposed to come after us after he said his goodbye to Liz and now it's eighteen hours later and still no sign of him. Isabel called Alex, but he never said what happened just that we don't need to worry.
When we reach the house we walk to the door. Before Michael could touch the bell, it opens without any apparent force moving it.
`Come in!` It's Max's voice. We walk in, and sit down around the living room. Michael plops down on the sofa, so do I. Max and Liz are standing in the doorway leading upstairs, leaning against the doorframe and each other. Nothing remained from the tentativeness of yesterday. Her arms are around his waist while his circle her shoulders. She is wearing a shirt I haven't seen before, but it's a man's shirt. She looks perfect, though her hair is disheveled, like she just hopped out of bed. When I get out of bed I look like a moving haystack, not a sexy babe like Liz. I wonder how she does that? They both have the warmest smile on their face I've seen in days. They are practically glowing. Wait a sec! Max is glowing, so is Liz, even if a bit fainter. A gentle, amber light illuminates both of them, it is the most noticeable in their eyes. Liz's are glittering with their own light, full of happiness and faith, there is only a hint of the haunted look that occupied them yesterday. Max's look is much more intense, determined, almost threatening. It immediately softens when he looks at her, the iron determination is replaced by love and worry for her. I'm so glad they made it up!
`So, Max how's it going?` It's Isabel's way of asking `where the fuck were you last night?`. Max and Liz a look at each other and smile.
`I'm sorry Is, but we had better things to do.` Isabel is speechless, so am I. Michael was always the slow one in these questions, so when he is trying to ask `Exactly what things?` I quickly elbow him. I knew my place is at his side, now I spared him a lot of embarrassment! Of course, he is not appreciating my efforts (he never does), the boy is incorrigible. He is glaring at me and I just shrug innocently. Yeah, I'm the queen of the innocent shrugs.
Alex pours coke to the pod squad and me, while he and Kyle open their beers. We automatically take a sip, while we wait for their next announcement. In retrospect I should have been aware that Alex raised his beer to his mouth and while we copied he hasn't drunk at all. Max's timing was perfect as always, the four of us are taking our first sip when he makes their next manifest with an evil gleam in his eye.
`We decided today that'll marry as soon as possible.` As I said before his timing is perfect. I start to choke, Isabel spits out her coke (she has a tendency to do this), Michael is having a coughing fit and Kyle is rather red at the moment.. Alex's out too; he has doubled up with laughter. The soulmates lose it as well, they burst out laughing.
`It was a very stupid joke and rather immature, I think.` Isabel says after she manages to regain her composure. She takes another sip as she tries to calm down. Does the girl ever learn?
`We were not joking. We think that mid-January'd be excellent.` We saw this coming, Isabel obviously hasn't. She shoots the her second load of coke in two minutes, and now everyone is laughing at her. Alex's beyond control, he just keeps mimicking Isabel, and it's damn ridiculous.
`It's not funny at all,`she says as she cleans her clothes with a sweep of her hand.
`Sorry, Sis, we couldn't resist. But aside with the joke, I really asked Liz's hand and she said yes.` His tone is dead serious, either he has the best poker face in the country or he really means it.
`I said it's not funny at all.`
`We are really getting married.` It's the first time Liz opened her mouth.
`You don't mean this, do you?`
`Trust me, I'd never joke with my marriage.` No woman would. The truth starts to sink in. I'm amazed. It's just happening too fast.
`But Max, what of your parents?` Michael has found the most unimportant part. Who cares about the Evans? But what are they thinking? He is just seventeen. It's not the age to marry!
`We'll tell them. We'll have to decide how much, but they deserve every bit of truth they can possibly accept. We'll have to leave Roswell as soon as we can. We can't bring the war to our parents house. After all they've done for us, they don't deserve to die in a conflict that has nothing to do with them.` He is making sense, Diane or Jeff are definitely not equipped to defend against the agents of the Technocracy or anyone else.
`Excuse me, don't we get a say in this?` It's Isabel. She is furious. I think I can understand her on some level, Max made an awful lot of decisions without us, and while I don't necessarily disagree with him, his interpretation of democratic decision-making is fairly unorthodox.
`The option's are clear. We remain here: we die. We flee: we'll likely die. I'd take a chance on living, thank you.` He is not really diplomatic, but he managed to shut Isabel up. Kyle asks the question that disturbs me most.
`And what will happen with me and Maria? We are not Martians or anything.`
`I think, by now the Technocracy knows that you are involved with us. So if you are left alone, you'll likely to be tortured to see if you have any information about our whereabouts. I'm sorry, Maria, but you are deep in this too.` Alex truly means that he is sorry, but I'm not really worried. I'll go wherever they go, this is my best chance of doing something useful with my life. I'm more thrilled than frightened that I can leave boring ole' Roswell to see the world, to fight evil, do good and ride into the sunset with Michael... Though I'm a bit uneasy about the fighting part, but that's what we have the bigshot aliens and wizards for, don't we?
`It's okay Alex. Count me in.`
`Are you sure about this? I don't want to see you get hurt.`, Michael quietly asks me, concern in his voice. He is so sweet, when he goes all protective!
'You've heard him. I'd be dead by the end of day one after you leave. So it's best if I come with you. And anyways you'll protect me, won't you?` I look him in the eye as I tease him.
`I will, I promise.` My throat suddenly goes all dry. Our staring contest is interrupted by Liz.
`This reminds me of something I wanted to talk about with you. I'll be blunt, but we have little time, and things won't get better. Michael, Maria you both have feelings for the other, why don't admit them for a change instead of denial and enjoy the days you can spend together, they might be your last.`
You could cut steel with the indignation in our voice when we regain enough breath to shout
`Excuse me?` at the same time.
Part 28

Somewhere in deep space
Human Spacestation: Staryard
Level 24
Office of Director Pierce
`Captain, Lieutenants, your first mission awaits. As you know, the New World Order has suffered defeat when tried to capture some deviants in Roswell. The analysis of the energy signatures shows that the attackers were of alien origin. Your mission will be to enter the town under the command of Major Bronski, with another fifteen agents disguised as Space Marines. You have to locate the aliens and capture them. If the capture seems inconceivable, eliminate them. You'll use the cruiser Clear Thought-III, and you'll return to the Staryard immediately after the operation. Here is the detailed information. ` He gave them three opti-discs. `Don't let me retain you.` They've all saluted and marched out of the room.
------
Max
We arrive home around eight o'clock. I can't say I'm not anxious; I'm going to tell my parents that I'll marry one of my teachers. <We are going to tell them, love. You are not alone in this>, I hear her thoughts just at the edge of my consciousness. I think my mom'll definitely freak out, she still believes that I'm his baby boy and I seriously have no idea how my father will react. I don't except that they'll accept it after the first hearing, but I hope they'll finally come to terms with it. I've been going over and over the little speech I prepared. Liz hasn't interrupted, though I feel her concern for me; she knows that need a little time to compose my thoughts.
We get out of the jeep and before I could take a step, I feel that Liz has an idea, so we both stop.
<What's it?> It's still strange that we are so close, I don't need to wait for her to bring forth her proposal, and she doesn't ask how I know about it, we both accept as natural that we know about every thought the other thinks.
< I can put a little spell around you, that'll add a little more weight to your words. No, wait before you protest. It's not modifying their thoughts, it just helps them to think instead of reacting from guts. It's completely harmless and it might prevent them doing or saying something they'd regret later.> She feels my reluctance; using mind-altering magic against my parents is not something I'd like to do.
< It's not against them; it's for them. It'll not make them think anything they wouldn't think anyways, it just helps them to keep their head clear. Please, Max trust me, I won't harm your parents.>
<Of course, I trust you.>
She begins to sing. From the outside she is just standing still, with a dazed expression, but inside a beautiful harmony is unfurling. I love watching her work her magic, it's so much more delicate and refined than my powers. It's a result of a hundred generations' practice; awesome in its complexity. I feel her conscious decisions as she adds strands of magic to the song, forming it to achieve the desired effect; she knows what she is doing and why, while I have no understanding of my powers.
'What's it?' Isabel is waiting for us, oblivious to our inner conversation. I've completely forgotten about her and she doesn't know yet of our link, we had no time to discuss it with all the things going on, but we agreed that we'll bring it up at tomorrow's meeting.
'Nothing Is, let's get going.'
We walk up to the door, I push down the handle and the three of us step in.

Diane
I'm very worried about Max. I've not seen him or heard of him for two days now. Isabel told me the day before yesterday that he has a lot of work to do and he might spend the night with Michael. Yesterday, my daughter arrived home at nine o'clock alone, without any explanation where she's been and told me at ten o'clock when I was about to call the sheriff that I don't need to worry about Max, he is all right and he'll explain everything when he gets home. I've seen in Isabel's eyes that he is not okay, but I couldn't get anything else out of her. I've been trying to call him constantly in the last two days, but his celluar is off.
He was feeling very bad in the last weeks. We wrote it off on account of Liz going to some conference, but now I wonder if we were completely off track and my son really has problems and not just misses his girlfriend. Max was always a good kid, I somehow can't imagine him getting caught up in drugs or crimes, but I'm afraid for him. It's like I don't know him anymore. I wonder when had I lost him; what I should have done differently.
I hear the front door opening, so I get up and hurry to the hall, Phillip trailing behind me. They are at last home! And Liz is here too. She is supposed to be coming home tomorrow from the conference, isn't she? They are holding hands. What happened?
'Max, are you all right? Where have you been?' I rush to him and hug him. I fear that if Phillip speaks first he is going to be too rough; I don't want to drive him away, though he has some serious apologizing to do later.
He hugs me back lightly then pushes me away.
'Mum, let's sit down, we have a few things to talk about.` His tone is flat and even, it makes me obey without further questioning. I release him and we all go into the living room. Me and Phillip sit down on the couch, Isabel in one of the fouteilles. They stop in the doorway, holding hands. He seems very tense; I already dread what he's going to say. She seems more relaxed, her eyes are fixed on us, scrutinizing in a way that makes me squirm. The way she leans against him, as their fingers are entangled makes it clear that they belong together. Whatever he is about to tell us, she supports him in it.
`Mum, Dad, you know that I love you. If you hadn't raised me, I don't know where'd I be. I'll love you no matter what you'll do. But please don't force me to choose...' He leaves the sentence hanging in the air. Suspicion starts to rise in me.
`Choose between what?` He takes a deep breath and it's out.
`This morning, I've asked Liz to marry me, and she said yes.`
`WHAT!?!` Phillip jumps up shouting.
`Dad, calm down.` He says defensively, I place my hand on my husband's arm to retain him if need be.
`What are you thinking? Are you out of your fucking mind?`
`Dad, stop, calm down.`
`Phillip, let's sit down and talk this over.` I try to soothe him. He sits down grudgingly.
`Dad I don't except you to be happy about it, but it's my decision and my life. I'm legally not an adult for another two months, but after that I'll be free to marry whomever I choose. I love her and she loves me and it's more than enough.`
`And how do you plan to support you? With love?` He's voice is full of malice.
`Actually I'll support us, I've more than enough money for both of us.` It's the first word Liz has spoken since she stepped into the house. `Mr. Evans I love your son, and it's not a passing flare. He is a very special man, and what we feel is genuine, the real thing.`
`How long has this been going on?`
`Since the day after I've arrived in Roswell. We've been dating ever since.`
`Son, you're too young to enter a marriage.`
`Dad, we've already decided. I'm not asking your permission, nor your opinion, just your acceptance. I'd have you stand beside me when I marry the woman I love, but if you choose not to, that's your decision.` He means his words. If we react wrongly, we might loose him for good. I feel Phillip getting angrier and angrier at his words, he doesn't like to be openly defied.
`Phillip, calm down. He is eighteen in two months, and he will do whatever he wants. You can't stop them, so please don't drive him away. I can't lose him.` I hope my words get through his thick skull.
`I know it's a lot, but please think about it. I think it's best if we leave now.`
`Where the hell do you think you are going?`
`Home. Goodbye, Mum, Dad.` And with this they are out of the room. My husband is just staring at the empty doorway, speechless.
------
Later that night
After they've left, Isabel disappeared to her room. We've talked well into the night. I don't think he is really okay with it, but at least he won't explode at the sight of them. I shared with him mine and Nancy's earlier suspicion about them. Despite all his anger he was amazed that they could hide it from everyone.
I, personally, don't know what to think. Max was always cautious, level-headed, never the reckless one and Liz didn't strike me as someone who'd rush into things either. I don't doubt that they love each other and they can take care of themselves, but he is still a child. I'm afraid for him. What if things don't work out? His whole life can go wrong because of one hasty decision. Still, they seemed determined. I remember when Max spoke like this. After that kitchen fire last year. I know my son has psychic abilities, I've found numerous evidence of it, but he always refused to talk about it. He told me that he loved me, but if I forced the topic he would leave. So I left it at it. It was the same now. He made his decision, and no matter what we do, he won't change it. He'd be sorry if we didn't give our consent, but he'd continue. I wonder if he shared his secrets with Liz. "Your son is a very special man." I think he did, and she accepted it as part of the package. I can just hope that they'll be happy.

Chapter 9
Unexpected allies

Part 29

Liz
After the shouting match with Max's parents we went back to Alex's; it was unthinkable that we separate. Max was really upset, he had hoped that it'd go better. He didn't calm down until Isabel called us that they seemed to come to terms with it. I'm glad they did, they mean a lot to my husband. Though we are not formally married, I don't think that there is any married couple on this planet who are closer to each other than we are.
We woke up to the alarm clock. I it seems impossible that I could spend a night outside his arms. I had the sweetest, most restful sleep I've ever experienced. We just laid there holding each other until Alex knocked and informed us that school awaits. We get up regretfully and after a quick breakfast we are headed for West Roswell High. I leave him at the gates, I walk to the principal's office to report I'm back while he goes to his first class. I'm still immersed in him, though we've pulled apart a bit since the morning, we are still close. We didn't dare to remain any closer, it'd raise too much suspicion if one of us stopped in mid sentence because the other saw something interesting.
I don't have class 'till the second period, so I settle down at the roots of a tree and open myself to him.
He is talking with Isabel about their parents. I make him aware of my presence and after I just listen silently. They've invited us to dinner through Isabel, but Max is reluctant to go, afraid of a scene. <Why don't we meet on neutral grounds? Some restaurant.> His response immediately comes. <Good idea.>
`Is, Liz says that we should meet on neutral grounds.` <Ooops, darling, you slipped.>
`What do you mean Liz says? You've talked about this earlier.` <You are right, I slipped.> < It's no use lying, we planned to tell them anyways today.>
`Not exactly. We are kind of linked... permanently.` I don't use Max's eyes right know, but I can imagine Isabel's face after this announcement.
`You mean she is with you? Right now?` I nudge Max mentally <Let me!>. I can't explain it any better, he steps aside, giving me partial control over his body.
`Hello Isabel` I say through Max's mouth. He is handling everything else, I couldn't balance a body I've never used, I'd fall flat on his face. It's like guiding someone's hand. It's not me moving his muscles, it's him with my guidance. I think I can be seen in Max's expression.
`Liz, is that you?`, she asks incredulously. I give control back to Max.
`Not anymore, but it was her. We planned to tell you this afternoon. It's a side effect of our... love.` He blushes, I just laugh at his shyness. `That's one of the reasons we decided to marry, it's just plain stupid to be apart, when we hardly tell where one of us ends and where the other begins. Don't look frightened, it's the best thing that ever happened to me.` The bell rings.
`Look, we'll talk about it in the afternoon, OK?`, and with that he leaves a dumbfounded Isabel standing in the middle of the corridor.
He steps into the classroom while I settle outside to enjoy the sun. It strikes as lighting from the clear sky. I feel his emotions explode. Utter terror, hatred flares up in him along with something else. I feel it rushing up from the depths of his soul, something unidentifiable, something alien. A storm of emotions rage in him. I shout <What is it? What's happening?> But there is no response. He is thinking quick, half-formed thoughts, I don't understand any of it. I jump and start to rush towards the building, cursing myself for being so incautious. If anything happens to him I'll never forgive myself. I rush in the gate, I take the steps by three. Suddenly the storm calms. <Liz, are you there?> A tentative question. < I'm coming, hold on!>
<Don't, it's over.> I slow down, but I don't stop.
<What happened?>
< It's her.> I don't need to ask who is he referring to. Fear grips my heart.
<So you've killed her.>
< I know who she is. It's unnecessary. She poses no threat.>
<WHAT?!?> He'll betray me for her! I just knew it!
< I love you, Elizabeth Evans, calm down. Let me explain. If you feel like it after that, we'll kill her together.> I feel his love, his understanding of my feelings, his intentions are clear: he wants me and just me.
<You have one minute.>
<She belongs to my other half, the dead half. I think in all those futures I haven't entered the paradox-storm, so he hadn't woken up, but when I saw her, he did and I was too weak to defeat him. He loved her as much as I love you, so he was not willing to let go as he did this time. Are you with me?>
<So she is not your love, but his?>
<Exactly. I feel nothing towards her. We can kill her if you want to, but perhaps we should at least question her at first. Maybe she knows something about where we are from.> He desperately wants information, but it's more important to him that I have no doubts about his loyalty.
<Okay. Let's question her. But I'm not leaving you alone with her. You might know that she doesn't belong to you, but I'm not so sure about her. She is a powerful, evil bitch. I've seen it. If she makes any suspicious moves...>
< I won't let her hurt you. Come closer. I want you with me; we'll face this together.> I obey a little too willingly and the wall between us crumbles to dust. For a second my vision doubles, my eyesight overlapping his, but then my vision clears; now I have two points of view, I can switch between them at will. I take a good look at her. She looks the same as in my visions. Long, blond curls, cold, blue eyes, pale skin. She is watching us. Or more like trying to ogle with us. We turn away, shuddering with disgust, we remember all the times she killed us, and because of her we killed us, we killed us, we killed us... We pull apart dizzily; there is a me and a him again.
<Liz, are you all right? What happened.>
< I came closer than I intended. I'm sorry, I got carried away.>
< It was... intense.>
<And dangerous.>
<Don't misunderstand me, but it just didn't feel right.>
< It didn't and it shouldn't.>
It's just too uncomfortable to be one person in two bodies. And it leads to no good end; there was a wizard once, or rather two wizards who completely joined and lived in one body. It was called Heylel Teomin, or later the Abomination. It had held once one of the chairs of the Tradition Council, but it betrayed the Council to the Order of Reason. Some say it is the cause where the war is now. It was killed with Gilgul, the most terrible curse there is; its Avatars were destroyed forever, there is no new life, no reincarnation for him and her. I don't know if Heylel's betrayal was caused by simple greed or by its madness, but I don't want to follow the same fate. No one has tried the total joining ever since, and I think with good reason.
<Liz, can you inform the others? I want all of us be there when we deal with her, it's safer that way.>
< I agree. I'll do it.> I call up Alex and explain the full situation to him, and I send an SMS to the others with the slightly edited version of the story. The plan is that Max'll lure her away, Michael and Maria'll watch them. Kyle will wait in the parking lot. Once she is out of school, Isabel and me'll join and escort her to Alex's whether she wants it or not. Three aliens and a wizard must be able to overcome a single alien. In the meantime I go to the principal's office and find out what I can. I lie shamelessly and with a little help from Mind magic, I get everything I want to. Her name is Tess Harding, her father is a military consultant (possible Technocratic link?), they've just moved here. She moved a lot; there are reports from her previous schools. Her average is B, nothing curious, but of course records can be easily edited. We know now her address, her phone number and her cell number. I thank the information and nudge the mind of the clerk to forget me, I'm not in the mood to take unnecessary risks.
The bell rings again, I head for the entrance; that's where I should wait. I hope we can pull this of, and I really hope that she tries something stupid, so we can bury her somewhere in the desert.

Max
The class is over, I know that Liz talked the others into skipping class, my duty is to get her follow me to the gates. Michael will be around, still, I'm wary. I've seen through Liz what she can make me do, though I consciously know that it was not me, and he is dead, but I can't help but be afraid. My resolution wavers, wouldn't be it for the best if I killed her right here, right now? I don't want to lose myself! <As much as the idea appeals me, we truly need information and she seems to be the only reliable source. Note, the reliability is strongly questioned.> <You are right, as always, love.>
I gather my things and get up. I've spent half the class on thinking how should I approach her, so I start.
`Hello, do we know each other?`
`It might be. I'm Tess, I'm new around here.`
`I'm Max Evans.` We shake hands, she doesn't want to release mine, but I jerk it away.
`Can I treat you something in the cafeteria? I'd like to get to know you.` It's not the line of the century, but I think she expects me to be my other half, so she takes it, hook, line, sinker.
`Yeah, it's a great idea! Let's go.` She is a little too cheerful for my liking. We get out and head for the exit. It's more or less in the same way as the cafeteria. Michael and Maria pull up behind us, they try to feign chatting but they fail miserably. I pretend that I'm interested in what she says, she is talking about herself, and I nod encouragingly when I'm expected to, however I have to concentrate on placing my feet before each other. Liz is watching silently in the back of my mind, and she is fuming every time her elbow "accidentally" brushes mine.
We finally reach the main entrance, I think she is getting suspicious..
`Hey where are we going?` I wait a few seconds with the answer while Michael, Maria, Liz and Isabel reach us. I let the fake smile disappear from my face, a vicious scowl takes its place.
`We are going for a little walk. Just you... and us.`
`If you behave nicely enough, you might even survive.` Michael's tone is not a bit less threatening than mine.
`If you try anything stupid, like using your powers, you'll be ashes in a blink.`, Liz finishes.
Her eyes are darting all around, seeking some escape. She is truly frightened, I think she has thought that taking me will be a joyride.
`Zan, why are you doing this?` She is on the verge of hysterics. Zan... That was his name. So she really has information.
`Your Zan is dead. My name is Max. Now, if you don't move, you'll die on the spot. ` She is shocked, but she obeys.

Part 30

Isabel
We surround her and march her to the car. Maria is leading, Michael and me flank her, Liz and Max are behind her, ready to strike. I only know that this girl appeared a lot in Liz's visions, that she is cruel and dangerous. She seems now frightened instead. She is afraid for her life, and she should be. We are past the point where we say "if you make a sudden move, you are dead" and we don't mean it. Our very existence is in danger, and I'm prepared to take away a life if need be. Better her than me! However, I don't want to kill, unless we have a good reason. I'm not some mass-murdering alien monster! Liz's visions provide enough reason though.
Me, Kyle and Maria get in her Jetta, while the firepower and Tess ride in the Jeep. Max is driving, Liz is riding shotgun, her eyes are closed. I don't know what is she doing, but I doubt that she is taking a nap. Michael is beside the girl, his palm is turned towards her, ready to blast at any sign of trouble. She doesn't try anything. When we reach Alex's house, we all get out, first us then Max and Liz, they are followed by Tess and Michael is the last. Alex opens the door and she is led in. She'll either leave the house as an ally or not leave at all, and the second is the more likely.
Once inside, she is handcuffed to a rather crude box, it's the modified version of our cloaking device, it makes us impossible to use our powers. Of course, if we try enough, we are stronger than it, but it can serve as a warning system. Once she is safely tied to the chair, we form a half circle around her.
`Why are you doing this? Who are you?` Tears are streaming down her face. She looks truly miserable, and not one bit dangerous.
`We ask questions. You answer. These are the rules of the game. Who are you?` Max is leading the questioning.
`You know, who I am, Zan.`
`I told you. Zan is dead. Gone forever. You won't find him in me. My name is Max. You can have this the easy way or the hard way. I resent the idea of physical torture, but I'm prepared to use any means necessary to achieve my ends. So I'll ask once again. Who are you?` She gulps. It must be terrifying, being tied to that chair, alone with a lot of strangers, under death threats. Max is frightening enough in himself. Physical torture. I shudder at the thought. If I hadn't known him for years I'd think, he means it. But what if he means it? She is threatening Liz. She already proved that she could kill her. Max is a gentle and caring person, but now he is facing the murderer of his wife. Who knows, what he can do?
`My name is Theresa Harding.`
`When were you born?`
`I hatched about two month before you.`
`You were in the fourth pod?` He does not show surprise, nor any particular interest. He doesn't deny her, that we were born of pods. I wonder how much is Liz, and how much is Max in him right now. Liz is the only one sitting, she is resting her head on the back of her hand, she is concentrating really hard on something.
`Yes.`
`How did you know to come here?`
`I didn't, I came by chance...` Liz interrupts her.
`She is lying.`
`Your thoughts are being monitored. Try again. How did you know to come here?`

The questioning goes on and on for hours, we hold several breaks, she gets none. By the end she is completely broken. She is babbling incomprehensibly. A Shakespearian drama unfurls before us. We were once the rulers of a planet called Antar, Max was the king, Tess the queen, I was Max's sister and Michael was his second in command. I was betrothed to Michael. But a civil war broke out, and we were killed, cloned and sent here to be born again, so we can go back and free our people. Max didn't even flinch at these answers. It happened like Alex said. The antaran royal cruiser was attacked by a small fleet of rebel ships, and though we won, we crashed. We are likely to be considered dead on Antar. Only four antarans survived out of the hundreds. Shortly after they hid the pods, they were taken prisoners. Two died, two escaped. One of them, Nasedo, raised Tess, they don't know where is the other, he has most likely died decades ago. Nasedo has been searching for the royal four ever since. Tess has a few memories from her previous life, so will Michael and me after we do a series of exercises. But my brother's complete personality was preserved, it was supposed to take over, when he sees her. But they haven't expected a paradox-storm.
She is in a miserable state now. She has been tied there for five hours, she is sobbing, and shaking uncontrollably. Max's voice never even wavered, they must really hate her. When we are finished and it's clear she has no more information, except practical ones on our powers, he stands up and says.
`I've no further need of you. You'll be disposed of in the morning.` His tone is cold, I shudder from it. She whimpers in desperation, when Liz suddenly cries out.
`I'm in!`

Liz

It took me hours to worm my way through her defenses. She is a very talented mentalist, she has stronger walls than some of the Archmages. She broke only after several hours of psychological torture. After the first few answers it was clear that she was more a friend than a foe, but we had to make sure. So I suggested Max to continue to bully her until she completely gives up. I know he felt violated because of the cruelty he had to apply against her. I can only imagine her feelings, when the man who was supposed to be her husband, who was supposed to love her like no one else can, told her, that she is of no use and thus she'll be killed. I felt only pity towards her that moment, pity that she can never have someone like Max, pity that she'll never have the love I know. When she heard this, she finally let go of everything. All hope was taken from her, all her life. When her walls crumbled at last, I drove in with the speed of lightning. I'm running through her life, touching a memory hear, a thought there. I'm looking for her motivations, her feelings. She is an open book to me. Just like the others, she has incredible power, but very little skill. I can easily re-wire her inner being. I take away her expectations towards Max, I replace it with undying loyalty. Max is with me, he is giving me pointers. We run amok through her personality. We don't change the core of it, but we make her a better person, and more importantly, we make a loyal and safe follower out of her. She will no longer despise humans, she'll be more considerate, she'll throw less tantrums. We do a throughout work, because it's unlikely that we can shock her into this state ever again. It's the state of complete submission. She accepted death and she has given up on hope. She was free for the taking. On our way out I dull the pain and desperation she felt during the questioning.
We both pull out, Max stands up and releases the ties that bind her. She looks at him with a dazed expression. She is still half in shock.
`I think you deserve a new name after this, something old and something new. Welcome to the family, Avianna Evans.`
Part 31

`Aviana Evans? I like it. It’ll suit me fine.` She was looking thoughtful.
`Okay everyone it's time for some introductions. She is Aviana or Ava from now on. Ava I'm Elizabeth, you can call me Liz. You know Max. They are Michael, Alexander, Isabel, Kyle and Maria.' They were looking incredulously at Liz. One moment she was about to rip her throat out, and now she is acting like they were best friends for ever.
`Liz, what happened to me? I feel strange.`
`We had to modify your personality, or you would have hurt us. We've said cruel things to achieve this, but we didn't really mean them. I hope you can forgive us.`
`It's okay, I think. I don't want to hurt you. You were right to do it.` The others were staring at them with dumb disbelief.
`Ava, why don't you take a nap, I think you deserve one. Let me show you the upstairs bedroom.` She followed Liz without question. She came down to minutes later and hopped down on the couch.
`Alex, give me something strong and harmful. I've put her into an enchanted sleep, we can talk freely.`
Isabel was the first to ask.
`What did you really do with her? How do you know she can be trusted?` Liz took a sip from her whisky and leaned back, closing her eyes. Max answered instead of her.
`We broke her will completely and it allowed us access to her personality. We've practically rebuilt her. Now I can trust her more than I trust myself. She was not a really nice person before, but now she is harmless. Or at least harmless for us.`
`Wait, wait, wait. I think I heard "we". You mean Liz.`
`No Kyle, I mean Liz and me. Okay, that'll be news for some of you, we are linked telepathically and emotionally.`
`Like you can read each other's thoughts?`
`A little more than that, but basically, yes.`
`Ohmygod.` That was all Maria could manage. She definitely will need to get tete-a-tete with Liz sometimes soon. On the other hand, Michael seemed a little hurt.
`Is there anything we need to know about? Any other surprises?`
`Well, my powers became stronger after the paradox-storm, mostly ESP kind of things, but nothing earth-shattering.`

Now that they've run out of topics requiring immediate attention, the room fell silent. Tess's words started to sink in. That they were alien royalties and they were supposed to free the people of another planet god-knows where.
To Max, it was an enormous responsibility, but he felt that he'll be able to rise up to the challenge. He had found love, and now he found duty. He felt the weight, but he was not shrinking from it; it was a niche that his new-found confidence could fill. He didn't know anything about ruling, or war or his race, but he felt, if given time, he could learn it easily. He was born for it, it was his Destiny.
Michael didn't know what to think of it. The second in command of a whole race? Him? Someone gave him responsibility? Someone trusted him to lead? It sounded ridiculous. Michael was used to running from the problems, not dealing with them. He wasn't sure at all, that this is not some kind of enormous misunderstanding. It seemed so... unreal. One day a rebellious teenager with dark secrets, next the general of an alien race... It was a bit too big step for him.
Isabel had trouble believing it too. But somehow it all fitted. Max was always controlling, but he was the most considerate of them too. Like a wise king. Michael was always ready to fight and no matter how much they argued, in the end he always obeyed Max. And she could just imagine herself standing in white robes with a tiara on her head. "Hmm.. Are there crowns on Antar?", she wondered.
Liz knew that she should be frightened. Her husband was the leader of a whole race. This was a responsibility she didn't ask for. Well, she did. She knew that he had a huge destiny when she entered this relationship, and freeing a planet from oppression definitely qualifies as Destiny. She couldn't worry him with her fears; he has enough of his own. She has to be strong for his husband. His husband, the King. The thought caught up with her. This means that she is the queen. Do antarans allow their kings to marry from love?
<Does it matter? I'm the king, and we have bigger things to worry about right now.> From private thoughts they slipped into mental conversation-mode.
<Max, if I undermine your positions because of what I am... I don't know your people, but if the First Lady turned out to be an alien, I don't think the American's would just say "Fine. So what?".>
<They'll have to accept me with you, whether they like it or not. We come in one package. Of course, only if you still want to...>
< I do, never doubt that.>
<So what are we worrying about? We'll deal with the problem when it arises. It's not like we are on Antar and there is a crowd outside the palace demanding that I step off the throne because of you.>
<You are right. I was silly.>
<You were just thinking too far ahead.>
<What are we going to do?>
<We need to act fast. I've a hunch that we don't have much time.>
<Actually, it's me, not you.> Despite their connection, there was still room for misunderstanding.
<You what?>
< I had the premonition, you just got the wind of it.>
<We need information.>
<We need resources.>They thought it at the same time.
<What do you mean by information?>
<What do you mean by resources?> They were still totally in sync, forming the near-same thoughts at the same time. When they both sent the other. <Okay, you start.>, they burst out laughing.
Everyone looked at them shocked. Michael drew the conclusion.
`So I gather that you had some kind of private joke. Care to share?`
`It's nothing...` They both started, and laughed again. It took them half a minute to calm down then Max explained. The conversation continued aloud from now on.
`We need to contact Nasedo, we still know next to nothing about ourselves. I have thousand times more questions than before and I guess it's the same with you. We need a plan and if all of this is true, then we have to leave the planet.`, he summarized his thoughts. Before anyone could say anything, Liz continued.
`And don't forget the Technocracy. It's the quiet before the storm. Sooner or later they'll come, and we'd better be not around here. And I think it'll be sooner rather than later. If you contact Nasedo, ask him, if he could guide a ship to Antar. If he knows the way, we can provide the means. We have to leave as soon as we can, and if we do it in an unconventional way, it's all the better.`
`You mean Ethelbert, don't you?`, Alex asked.
`Don't you think good ole' Ethel would be all hots for some interstellar travel?`
`He is certainly mad enough for that, sure?`
< It shames me, love, but I don't have the faintest idea, what are you talking about.>
<There has to be a first.>, she teased.
`So, Ethelbert is an Etherite, one of the Sons of Ether, the weirdest of the nine traditions...` Alex feigned coughing, it sounded suspiciously like "dreamspeakers". Liz chose to ignore him. `They are your typical mad scientists. Probability mechanics, quantum theory, they invited all this stuff. They believe in the existence of the mystical "Ether" and they make ships that sail in it. Frankly, it's utter nonsense, but I've learned Technocratic sciences, and it works, so who am I to complain? Anyways, Ethel owns an ethership, the NeoNoe II. And he'd be crazy to meet real aliens. He is a sweet, harmless guy, the kind who'd invent thermonuclear reaction just for the challenge, then forget the plans on the table of a public library. To be honest, he is more danger to himself than to anyone else, but it stands for the most Etherites. If you want a lift between the stars, he can give you one.` While explaining this, Liz had to shake the image of an Ethership disappearing in a cloud of vapor in the crossfire of three VE cruisers. "I've only seen it once, so it's unlikely that we'll die that way.", she tried to convince herself.
`He is human?`
`Of course. What else he could be? Okay, stupid question.`
`Humanity has spaceships capable of interstellar travel?` Michael repeated the question. He had trouble believing it.
`First yes. Second it's not a spaceship, it's an ethership. You'll understand the difference when you see the NeoNoe. What technology you see around you, is fifty years late compared to the top labs of the Technocracy, or the Adepts or even the Etherites. There is a lot more up in space than the ISS and a few satellites.`

After a half-hour discussion, they've decided that while the aliens take Aviana to Nasedo and find out everything they can, Liz and Alex'll contact Ethelbert and request help. Maria and Kyle fidgeted more and more as the debate went on around them. They didn't know where they fit in anymore. They didn't have magic and they were plain humans. They've agreed earlier that if time comes, they'll leave Roswell together, but not for an alien planet! Liz noticed their predicament and decided to save them. She stood up and said.
`Excuse me, I'm going to make some sandwiches. Max will speak in my name too. Maria, Kyle, you want to help?` Her tone made it clear that they wanted to help.
Once outside, Kyle tentatively asked.
`What should I do? Cut some bread, maybe?`
`Forget the bread. We have more important things to talk about. I think I know how you feel right now.`
`It's just too...`
`Grand for us.` Maria finished for Kyle.
`You can't remain in Roswell; if we break out of here with an ethership and leave the solar system with the speed of light, they'll be really interested in where we went, and who do you think, they'd start with? I don't even know if it is safe for the parents to remain here. I can ask a few friends, they'll take care of you.`
`Can't we come with you?`, Maria asked her. She didn't want to be left behind, with weird strangers, when her closest friends are heading straight into danger.
`Why'd you want to come?`
`Why'd I want to remain? I mean, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, I can go and see another planet, or I can hide for the rest of my life from powers I'm defenseless against. Which one'd you choose?`
`I go because I have to; it's not a pleasure cruise and there is no return ticket. I'd rather live my life down with Max in some quiet cottage in the hills, but he is the king of a whole race, and he has to follow his destiny, and I'll go wherever he goes. We'd both be happier if he didn't have this huge responsibility, but he has. We are fleeing a planet and dive blindly into a war we know nothing of, we are most likely to die on the day we land on Antar. It's not something I'd take two bystanders with me on.`
`I want to go where Michael goes.`
`You can really regret this later.`
`I know.` Liz wasn't talking with an empty-headed blabbermouth; she was reasoning with a serious, young woman, who was willing to follow her heart wherever it takes her, and who knew and accepted the possible price of her decisions.
`If it's your wish, then I won't force you to stay here. Still, I think you are making the wrong decision. And what about you Kyle? Can I at least convince you to stay here? Don't die with us, you are not equipped for whatever lies ahead of us.`
`I owe Max my life, and I intend to pay it back. If I remain here, how can I do it?`
"They are kids, just kids, still they have to make such decisions. Anyone else'd have run away screaming, but they choose to fight, even if they know that their chance of survival is zero. How does Max bring this out of them? A seventeen year old boy has practically just sworn a blood-oath to his king. I don't think he knows the weight of his words, yet, he says them. I just hope that their death won't be my fault.", she thought.
`If any of you change your mind later, just say it. You don't have to come just because you said so now, you can always back off, do you understand?` They've nodded gravely.
`Good. Now let's make some food. Kyle, you volunteered earlier to slice bread, if I remember correctly, didn't you?`
------
A few hours later they woke up Aviana and the aliens left to fetch Nasedo. Alex and Liz started to prepare the ritual to connect with Ethelbert. It was a strange mixture of technology and magic, Alex providing the energy and Liz focusing it. Ethel was usually in some outer realm, exploring the Horizon, and it required tremendous effort to communicate with him through the Gauntlet. They were extremely careful now, they wanted to go slow, there was battle ahead and they didn't want to waste their energies.
She took out her staff from its pocket dimension, and while Alex formed the various fields around her from behind his keyboard, she began a slow hymn.
Mutashs utat, solyom testver, sarnjallon sabadon'z karat! The song resonated with Alex's walls around her, reverberating from them, the echoes multiplying its strength. The tune gained power and volume as it rose through the spheres, until it became more than just sound, a pure blue, shining link that arched through many worlds. It finally found its target.
------
The NeoNoe II was hovering over a lush-green field, along some of her sisters. It was Concordia, the capitol of Horizon, the seat of the Tradition Council. She just arrived here, for supplies and some minor repairs. Her hull was cast from ithillium and bronze, silver mingling with green streaks. It was vaguely ship-shaped, but the deck was covered with an elongated glass semi-sphere. Odd gizmos were sticking out of it here and there. There were three-three enormous spikes reaching out of both of her sides. While the ship was fifty feet long, they were at least two hundred each. When powered-up, a thin, green film stretched between the spikes; the Ether-sail.
Captain Ethel was laying under the glass dome, enjoying the light from Horizon's twin suns when the call reached him. He instantly opened himself to the connection.
<Elizabeth, is that you?> He was a man well in his fifties, tall and muscled. His face was weather-battered, but his hands were the hands of a scientist. His special goggles were laying beside him, all etherites owned one, and they had more functions than an average military scout plane. He wore white shorts and a white shirt; it was always warm in Horizon.
<Hello, Ethel, how are you?>
<Thanks, fine, girl. We are anchored in Horizon. And where are you?>
<We are on Earth.>
<Always the home sitting type, aren't you?>
<Ethel, we need your help.>
<Sure, what can I do for you?>
<Look I'll be quick, and please don't interrupt me with stupid questions, I can't maintain the connection for long. So: my husband is the usurped king of an alien planet, and we need you to take us to his place, so he can free his race from oppression. Are you in?>
<Your hu... king of wha... free his race...> His jaw was opening and closing as he tried to process the information. <Huh. What are you using, I need some of this stuff.>
< I meant every word.> There was not a tone of playfulness in her voice.
<You really did. If it's true...>
< It is.>
<Then, of course, I'll help.> He didn't doubt her. She might be mistaken, but it was hard to fool Elizabeth Parker. Her mentor was a close friend of his, so he was something like an uncle to her. She always seemed an honest lass, with both feet on the ground. If she said things like this, then it was worth a look.
<Thanks. We are in Roswell, New Mexico. When can you get here? We are in kind of a hurry.>
<Problems with big T?>
<Let's say we have unwanted attention focused on us.>
< I can be there at sunset, tomorrow. I'll wait just on the other side of the Gauntlet. Signal me and I'll break through, but it'll better be in some deserted place; the hull is reinforced, but if we land before a hundred witnesses, it might fall apart.>
<Tomorrow, sunset then.>
< It's a date, baby.>
<Thanks Ethel. Bye.>
<Bye.> When the connection broke, he immediately jumped out of his hammock and with a mental nudge, he rang the bell.
`Alarm!`, he shouted, `all hands back to deck! We set sails in an hour!`
The great ship slowly came to life, lights turned on everywhere aboard, turbines started to spin, the ethersails materialized on the "masts" and within the hour, the NeoNoe II was ready to leave port. She started to rise gracefully, and when she reached the right altitude, the masts jerked away and the surface of the sails multiplied. The ship trembled, they've caught wind. She swept away over Concordia with a loud boom, quickly exceeding the speed of sound.
`Set course for Earth!`
`Yes, Captain!` The mystical ship turned with a fluid, elegant motion and headed for one of the blue gates twinkling over Horizon...
------
The same time, Earth.
An elongated, silvery body slowly descended from the skies. The AG engines didn't generate any sound, it landed unnoticed in the desert, well hidden in a valley between the cliffs. The ramp opened and one by one, tall, bulky figures marched down. They all seemed to be at least seven feet tall, and they all wore a grey and black armor, complete with helmets. They hold silvery guns in their hands. They've communicated with radio waves, their armors were completely insulated, made to endure the cold of the vacuum. The air shimmered around for a second while they've turned on their holo-projectors, and now nineteen humans were standing there, all wearing identical black suits. The air crackled around them a bit; it was an experimental device. The leader motioned with his hand; they broke into three squads and they've started to run towards the town with 30 mph. The Special Unit arrived.

Chapter 10
Escape

Part 32
Liz
In less than 48 hours, we will leave this planet. I don't know if I'll ever see it again, and there are a lot of good people that I'm sorry that I'll never meet again. However, I can't say them goodbye, I'm sure that our outgoing calls are monitored; and I won't drag any of my friends into the abyss. The clock is ticking, I know that they know that we've called in reinforcements, and I just hope that we can get out of here before the heavy-cavalry arrives; once Ethel is here they can screw their agencies, no one can follow us to where we are going.
There is just too much on my mind right now, I don't even know where to start. My life is a mess and I can't think clearly. It's a maddening feeling. Let's start going through them one by one. Aliens exist. I'm in love with one. I share my bed with one. I share my soul with one. I've agreed to marry one. He is the king of his race. He has a civil war to fight. After this transmission, Technocratic agents will be swarming all over the place. I've seen myself die a thousand times and I nearly died of it. I've committed one of the most disgusting crimes: I've destroyed someone's personality. And I feel good about it. I've allowed two sleeper teenagers to come with us into near-certain death. My magic is changing, I'm starting to become immune to the Paradox. I'll leave Earth for good in one and a half day. All of these questions deserve at least a month's worth of thinking, each of them would drive an average sleeper insane. I'm running from a tide of problems, but it'll sooner or later catch up with me. And I can't slip; if I do, we all die, and we take the hope for a planet with us.

Max
We are returning to Alex's house; we have Nasedo with us. I have a disquieting feeling about him. He accepted my authority without question even when I'm informed him that I'm not Zan and I'll never be. He just shrugged and said that the throne belongs to me no matter what, regardless of the spirit within. I know him through Tess, and he is a cold, heartless bastard when it comes to humans. He killed whenever he felt threatened, and it happened often. He behaved like a soldier in hostile territory and he raised Tess exactly the same way; it's no surprise that Ava is trying to put as much distance between him and her as possible. I don't like the thought, but I can understand him. The weight of a world rested on his shoulders. If he fails, we all fall with him. It must've been a terrible burden. All alone for forty years, with nowhere to run, no one to turn to, always chased. I don't wish it for my enemies.
I've asked him if he could navigate a ship to Antar, if he had to and he said yes, though he was curious, where did I find one. I told him to let me worry about that, and he didn't press the topic.
I know through Liz that our vessel is on her way. She is having issues with this whole thing. It's a bit too much for me too, but just like her, I can't afford to be weak. The amazing thing there is, that she is not having second thoughts. She feels no regret, she'd follow the same path again. I don't know what I've ever done to deserve her love. This is one more topic we need to be clear on.
`Nasedo.`
`Yes, Sire?` He is using the shape of a forty-something man, he looks completely harmless, it's a perfect disguise. But I know better.
`You'll soon meet four humans. They are my friends and allies. I know your attitude towards humanity, and they are not to be harmed in anyway.`
`I understand, Sire.`
`And one more thing. One of them is my wife.` He visibly flinches.
`Your wife, Sire?`
`Yes. And your Queen. Her orders are to be obeyed like my own. She speaks my thoughts. I don't know if it's natural but our minds are linked.`
`It is, Sire. But only between Antaran nobility.`
`Well, she is completely human, but it happened.`
`If it is truly so, then of course I'll accept it, Sire. And Sire?`
`Yes?`
`Congratulations. Not everyone finds his soulmate. Your ancestor was among the lucky few. It seems to run in the blood.`
I've nothing to say to this, making small talk is not among my objectives right now. It's fantastic to have someone at my side who can answer some questions finally. I probe towards Liz, she is absorbed in a conversation with Alex. She immediately stops and turns her attention towards me. <Love, we are going to be there in a few minutes.>
< I know. What are you so happy about?>
< I just wanted you to know: there is one less thing to worry about. It seems that the Antarans will accept our marriage. Nasedo already did.> I feel her relief. It must have been a great weight on her shoulders.
<That's great. I'll see you soon, I'd love to chat, but you'd have to tell it to everyone aloud anyways, so...>
<See you.>
<See you too.>
------
After they've arrived back they had to choose what to do next. They've decided that they'll say goodbye to their parents and after that they'll leave Roswell that night, and they'll hide in the desert until the next day's sunset. So Isabel and Kyle asked their parents to come over to the Crashdown, while Michael phoned his father and to convince him to close early, and that it was a matter of life and death. He reluctantly agreed which was a small wonder, so the Crashdown closed at 8 o'clock that night. Alex and Liz were abandoning all pretense, he armed Kyle and Maria with personal shields and handguns with targeting computers. Liz put as much protecting magic on as she dared without the risk of paradox, she definitely didn't need to pass out for the next two weeks. At 8:05 the four-car convoy formed and they drove over to the Crashdown.
------
Meanwhile the nineteen agents in Marine armors have reached the outskirts of Roswell. They've split into two groups of six and one of seven, they've headed into three separate directions once in-town.
------
Isabel
Mum and Dad are watching as we stop, along with Jeff and Nancy, the Sheriff and Maria's mom. I think they are starting to freak out. Mum expected a quiet talk, just the four or five of us, and now she found two other sets of parents and now nine people are getting out of four cars. We all go in, and soon we stand in front of them. Max orders Nasedo with a curt nod to stand guard. He hits his heart with his fist and bows slightly, then he is on the outside. Alex nods silently to Liz and he follows too; they've nothing to do here. Tess, excuse me, Ava, is looking lost, she is not used to this family thing and she has no idea what to do. Liz sees her confusion, and motions her with a jerk of her hand to remain. I'm just watching in amazement. The way Max talked to Nasedo earlier... There is no better word for it, it was kingly. He asked short, clear questions and gave exact orders, with no room for misunderstanding. Where did my shy, soft-spoken brother disappear? He gives orders now without a thought and the amazing thing there is - that they are obeyed. Liz is showing the same symptoms too. If she is to become our queen, then do I have to obey her? It's an interesting question, though I don't doubt that I would, not because of her rank, but because what she does, it usually makes sense. But that's what makes great leaders great. They are not obeyed because of their birth, but because of their deeds. Those two make a frightening pair.
Only a few seconds passed since we entered. Mum is staring at the crowd in disbelief. I think if they start the questioning first, we'll never see the end of it.
`Mum, Dad, Nancy, Jeff, Mr. Valenti, Mrs. Valenti, we have called you here because we have a few things to say. Please allow me to tell the common part, and then each of us will explain to his or her own family. Tonight, we are all leaving Roswell for good. We are hunted, and there is need of us elsewhere. It's not likely that we'll ever come back. We've come to say goodbye.`
`WHAT?` They all shout different questions as they rush to us. There is no us and them now, thirteen people are mingled and they are shouting various things to each other. There is total confusion. We drag Mum and Dad away for a little explanation, they deserve one after this start. Liz goes with Kyle and Maria, they'll need a hand in explaining the situation.
`Max what were you talking about? Who is hunting you?` It's typical of Mum to find the least important thing from the speech. We look at each other with my brother, his eyes say "You explain," So I begin.
`Mum, when you took us in, we didn't know anything, right? Nothing at all.`
`Yes, but what does it have to do with...` I interrupt her. If I want to get to say goodbye to her tonight then it's best if we get over the "I'm an alien" part quickly. I've wanted to tell her like forever, but now I'm a little anxious. What if she won't accept me? What if she'll hate me? Well, there is only one way to find out.
`We didn't know anything, because we were not supposed to. We were only a few days old.` I held out my hand, so they can clearly see it. I close my fist then open it; now a little blue flame is dancing in my palm. They are watching it mesmerized.
`What..? How...?` My father is only capable of opening and closing his mouth rhythmically. It'd be damn hilarious if it wasn't such a serious moment.
`We are aliens, Dad.` Max takes over the explaining.
`That's... impossible.`
`But true. Our ship crashed, but we were in incubator pods, so we survived. We were born `he avoids the expression "hatched", they wouldn't like it, `forty years later. A few days ago we didn't know anything about ourselves, but now we do. That's why we have to leave.` He is interrupted by the loud boom of Jeff's `WHAT?`, I think Michael told them.
`And Michael, Aviana over there and that bald man standing guard out there are aliens too.`
`And Liz?` They are beyond wonder now. I think their mouths ask questions automatically, while the brain tries to deal with fact that their children are aliens.
`That's where it starts to get tricky. Liz and Alex are human psychics...`

Liz

I accompany the Valenti kids, I can give some "evidence" that aliens really exist, if need be. Max is having his own private conversation with his parents. I give him my support, but I don't disturb him. This can be his last hour with his parents, and he loves them very much. I hope they'll accept him for what he is, but I don't know if it's not too much to ask for.
`Son, what is this idiocy?`
`We have to leave, father.`
`You are not going anywhere. What's this silliness. And who are you?`, he turns to me, eyeing me suspiciously.
`She is...`
`Let me, Maria. Mr. Valenti, I'm Elizabeth Evans, I'm Max's wife.` Ouch, that must've hurt. He is gasping for air.
`You what?`
`Mr. Valenti, to put it blunt, Max, Isabel and Michael are aliens. They are hunted for what they are. Your son and daughter got caught up in this, unfortunately. We leave planet this time tomorrow.`
`You are mad. You are raving mad. Kyle, Maria, Amy, we are going home.` He is dragging the kids toward the exit. While they are protesting, I reach out with my will towards the kitchen. I grab a glass with my mental-hands and move it before his eyes.
`Before you leave, why don't you drink a glass of water?` I ask smiling innocently. He is speechless. I call the glass to my hands and put it down on the table beside me.
`If there was any way to leave Kyle and Maria out of this, believe me, I'd follow that, but there is none. I'll leave you alone now, I think you have some things to talk about`, I say as I walk away.
I go to Ava, she is still standing near the entrance, where we came in.
`Why don't we have a cafe while they sort this out? Come.` She is grateful that someone pays attention to her too. It must be awful to see all these families, realizing that you have none. It must really hurt her; I know it does, I created her so.
We retreat to the kitchen, while the conversations go on outside. There is almost no shouting, I think they've taken the news pretty good, no one has flipped yet.
------
It's fifteen minutes later when I feel a sudden flare of danger. I shout `Alarm!`, but I'm late, too late. My words are muffled by the explosion outside. We rush out of the kitchen. Isabel and Michael are firing from behind Max's shield. Alex is backing inside through the front door. Nasedo is lying half-torn up in the broken window. Maria and Kyle have their weapons out, looking for a target. My magical defenses instantly snap into place, I'm protected from just about everything now. I conjure my staff and I’m ready to face the enemy too. The parents are all hiding behind tables, that's good, we don't need casualties.
I don't see the attackers from here, so as I rush forward I borrow Max's eyes for the split of a second. My blood freezes. {i]Space Marines[/i]. The ultimate war machines of the Technocracy. They are nearly never used, the fact that they dared to send them here shows that they figured out to some extent, who Max really is. We stand no chance against them. Their armor is more or less impenetrable to conventional weapons or magic, they are protected from the effects of chance-manipulations and they wear mind shields. I could defeat one of them, if we were alone, with no witnesses around, but here... Impossible. And there are three of them. We have only one option.
`Run! Everybody run to the back exit!`
`I cover Kyle and Maria with a small force-field as they stumble towards the "Employees only sign.". Max does the same for Is and Michael. Their projectiles are battering our shields, they won't last long. They are advancing with incredible speed. How we are gonna survive this?
We won't. I've seen it. Six Marines shooting us down like we are some animals behind the Crashdown. Where is the other three?
<There are more!> I try to warn Max as we run out the employee-entrance.
<They are here!> He releases a bolt of energy at one of them, it's useless.
We slowly back to the end of the alley, me, Max and Alex projecting defensive layers as the others try to harm them. It's a dead end there is nowhere to run. Unless... I drop my shield and put up my hands.
`We surrender!` In the heat of the battle we became nearly one with Max, he instantly follows my example, it's better than death.
`Don't shoot! We surrender.` The others stop firing too. The six Marines form two lines, their uniform is so bulky that they don't fit beside each other. That's strange. In my vision there was a semicircle of them.
One of them in the back line speaks through the speakers in his helmet.
`Drop your weapons!`
We obey. I release my staff; it disappears into nothingness.
`Captain, open fire.`, says one in the first line. We are completely defenseless, it's no use to make a move for our weapons, they'd be faster. So we wait to see what'll happen.
`Sir, our orders are to take prisoners!`, it's the one who told us to drop our weapons. I hope you are right, pal.
`Not anymore.` The three Marines in the back line look at each other and shrug. They all raise their weapons.
< I'll love you forever!> I don't know which of us thought this, it came from both of our hearts.
Time stands still as they pull the triggers.
<Farewell.>
I desperately dive, but we have no chance. Weapons flare, dead bodies hit the ground.
The world goes white, pearly white.
Part 33

Liz

The first volley misses me, I'm laying on the ground with eyes quenched shut; waiting for the second. Why don't they shoot?
<Open your eyes, love.>
I obey. There are only three marines left standing, the others are scattered on the ground. In the place of their heads, there are only fuming holes in their armor. The other three are standing behind their bodies with lowered weapons.
Max pulls me up. The others are unscratched too. We are just staring at them in silence. What'll happen next?
The one standing in the middle slowly reaches to his neck. His glowed hands fumble with the clasps for a few seconds then he manages to unbuckle them. He takes off his helmet.
A woman in her early thirties is facing us. Auburn curls frame her pretty face. Her green, twinkling eyes show intelligence and courage. Her voice is slightly shaking as she starts to speak.
`I'm Captain Serena Delmar of the Void Engineers. And I... I seek asylum with the Nine Traditions.` Her two companions follow her example. They remove their helmets too. An olive-skinned man and a blonde woman, both in their late twenties.
`I'm Lieutenant Joshua Amari of the Void Engineers and I seek asylum with the Nine Traditions.`
`I'm Lieutenant Cameron Benett of the Void Engineers and I seek asylum with the Nine Traditions.`
Alex is the first to regain his composure. He looks at me questioningly, like we could refuse their help. I nod slightly. He takes a step forward and he stands there bolt upright. I copy him, we follow the ancient customs. He starts.
`I'm Adept Alexander Herber of the Virtual Adepts.` He stops and I take over.
`I'm Master Elizabeth Evans of the Celestial Chorus.` We voice our decision in unison
`In the name of the Tradition Council, by ancient laws and customs, we grant you asylum. Let our magic work together for a common goal.` We say the same things, word by word. The language might have changed, but the words had been the same for thousand years. After the last echo dies, I add in a slightly lighter voice.
`Welcome to the Nine Traditions.` We clasp our forearms. It's the traditional greeting between equals, a remnant of better times. The mood is broken by Serena.
`You have to get out of here. There are thirteen other agents in town.`
<Max, take the others and see to your parents. We'll remain and discuss the situation.> I feel his agreement.
`Come on guys, let's get inside,` he says.

We watch mutely as the others leave. The five of us are left alone in the alley.
`Where are they?` Let's talk business, we'll have time for pleasantries like "Thank you" or "Why?" later.
`They went to the Evans house and Mr. Herber's place.` Her voice is still slightly shaky. They've just shot three of their comrades in the back, I don't know if they've planned it before, but I've a hunch that they haven't.
`The name is Alex, please.` Alex, please, not now.
`What was your mission?`
`To capture everyone involved in the battle three weeks ago. The humans and the...` She can't bring herself to say the word.
`The antarans.`
`Antarans? So you know...`
`I'm married to one of them.` I enjoy the bafflement on her face. `How much time do we have?`
`They know that three of us are dead. They must be heading this way. I can't throw them off, they already know of our treachery. ETA ten minutes at least, fifteen at most.`
`We were just about to leave. Will they harm the parents, if we leave them here? They are humans and sleepers.` It doesn't matter that we were enemies five minutes ago, now we are two soldiers on the battlefield, discussing their options as efficiently as possible.
`How much do they know?`
`Only what we've told them in the last half an hour.`
`If you make a successful escape then they'll question them, but they won't harm them permanently. They'll need them as lures.` How much can I tell this woman? Hell, she has just thrown her life away for us!
`There is an Ethership incoming, to take us to Antar.` I see that she has like a million questions, but she concentrates on the current situation. Joshua awkwardly raises his hand. We look at him, she nods and he begins.
`We have a cruiser parked with lightly armed crew outside town. If my ex-comrades find out of our treachery, they'll head back there. But if we get there first, we can overwhelm the crew, and we can greet them properly.`
`Sounds like a plan. Our ship's ETA is twenty hours, and we can't hold out until then against thirteen Marines. Where is the cruiser?` She picks up her helmet and puts it back on. The helmet’s eyes come to life; she projects a holographic map of the nearby countryside, a blinking light indicating their spaceship. It's ten miles from Roswell, deep in the desert.
<Max, how are the others?>
<Mr. Valenti was shot, but I healed him. Everyone else is okay.>
<We have to leave in five minutes. We have incoming company. They probably won't harm your parents, but there is nothing to do anyways, we can't take them with us.>
<Okay. I have an idea.> I turn back to Serena.
`We can leave in five minutes.`

Max
My parents are in shock, too much happened for them in one night. My mother is crying uncontrollably and Dad's hand is shaking so much that half the whisky misses the glass while he is pouring it. The others are in no better shape.
We all exchange hugs and say tearful good-byes when I have an idea.
`Dad, listen to me. If they try to hurt you, if they try anything... Tell them that I'll come back, and if I find out that they've put even one finger on you, I'll go home and come back again, and this time I'll be on the flagship of an invasion fleet. It's within my power. Tell them, that if they want war, then they can get it.` It's a lie, but it's a good one. And they don't know that I'm lying. I think it's called diplomacy. They have to be really, really stupid to risk a war against an unknown enemy.
<Max, we have to leave.>
We exchange one last hug, then we pull away. We walk out with heavy hearts. I don't want to leave my parents so suddenly! There is so much that I want to tell them! But we can't remain, not one second. We get in the cars quickly and with full gas we head out to the desert.

Serena
We are approaching the Clear Thought III. We had to leave our suits behind, through the cameras the crew would have seen everything. Thanks goodness there is no audio feed, the suits were designed to operate in the outer cold, and there is no sound, thus they don't know our plans. So we are wearing only our overalls. It's a skin-tight fireproof material and I feel extremely exposed in it. But we have much serious things to worry about than modesty. The ship's sensors must have detected us by now. I think the crew is sitting behind the targeting computers, looking all over the place for us. Though luck guys, we came prepared.
We have seen what did the SU with the captured aliens, and it was just not right. I've become a Void Engineer to help humanity to assume it's rightful place between the stars, but it doesn't mean that if I meet someone from an other planet, I start to torture him, before I ask the questions. The only possible result of this behavior is war. And we are not equipped to fight one. I believe in the brotherhood of all sentient life, not in the survival of the fittest. If that's the Inner Circle's paradigm, then perhaps it's time to see what the other side has to offer. The methods, the philosophy, the ends and the means of the Unit... It just stinks of evil. The Technocracy's goal was to defend humanity from evil and superstition. Now it has become the evil. This mission was the last straw. We don't even try approaching the visitors peacefully, we were sent to attack and capture. The Inner Circle is blind, if they think that this can lead to anything apart from war and destruction. We are sent against a bunch of kids who were just trying to lead an everyday life!
We can't change the system from the inside, so we have to do it from the outside. We haven't planned to change our allegiance here and now, but we couldn't stand idle while innocents were about to be slaughtered. We knew that this course of events was possible, and we knew that if it happens, we'll need the ship. So Josh placed a trojan in the main computer of the ship. Alex is using the backdoor right now to gain access of the Clear Thought. All VE cruisers are linked to the central command, and he is using that link to enter the computer.
'I'm in!` He is wearing a mobile VR helmet, his hands are moving with light-speed on the keyboard. He must be even better than Josh, who is riding shotgun with him at the moment, helping him to use VE technology against its owners.
The others are standing ready. The five aliens are unarmed, Elizabeth is clinging to her staff. The others are to wait here until the ship is secured.
`All weapon systems disabled. I'll open the doors for you. Now go!` Alex calls out. The others break out from behind the rock we used as cover. They are running in silence, me and Cameron along them. The silver cigar of the ship is hundred meters away, we cover the distance in no time. They don't waste breath on any shouts or war cries, they work seamlessly together, moving as a single entity. Where did these kids become a commando team? Maybe it's an alien thing.
The door opens with a hiss. Two technicians with raised weapons are awaiting us. I take aim, but it's unnecessary, Liz is faster. A quick burst of fire leaps forth from the tip of her staff and hits them square in the middle. They double up, dropping their weapons. I shoot two sleep-darts into them and I follow the others as they charge the ship.


Fifteen minutes later

Major Bronski and the other twelve agents approached the ship carefully. The traitors and the aliens approached the ship half an hour ago. They were sitting there for fifteen minutes, doing apparently nothing. Then there was a short cry in the ether, "They are attacking!", and since then, not a single word. Did they manage to capture the ship? Impossible. Not that fast anyway. Then why was it silent? Maybe they've managed to damage the antennae. There were three of them, but with a well-placed attack, you could take them out. And thanks to the renegades, they knew where to hit. He is going to roast that bitch on open fire! All of them! He was seething with hatred. He led his agents toward the ship. Once they are inside they'll take off and he'll personally guide the plasma cannon and blast off her head. They can't outrun its engines, they can't hide from its sensors, they can't fight its arsenal. It didn't occur to him that he can't fight it either.
They were fifty meters away from the ship, when the guns came alive.

19:00
Void Engineer battlecruiser Isaac Newton

By now, the news of the defection of a cruiser got out. It was still a mystery, how did the defectors manage to capture the ship, but the orders were clear. Destroy them at all costs. Don't take prisoners. And the first priority: they can not be allowed to escape. Three cruisers were hovering above the rogue ship for hours now, prepared to take her off, once she takes off. They had no idea, what are the traitors waiting for. Their best chance would have been to flee the moment they got the ship under control. Maybe it was damaged in the struggle? It didn't matter. Ground troops were on their way, with adequate weaponry. They had no chance of escaping. They'll probably try to flee through space to some far away Horizon realm. Well, the captain was more than willing to face them if they try to.
`Sir, there is some movement!` A woman walked down on the ramp of the Clear Thought III. If they try to escape without the aid of the ship, they are just going to make their work easier. She had long, straight black hair and she carried a staff. So she is a deviant. Traitors and fools. Only discipline prevented him from spitting on the bridge of his own ship. Then suddenly the air was full of blue sparks. What's happening? The area is supposed to be sealed from teleportation! The blue glow was expanding. What are they bringing in? A dragon? Then as the tip of a ship showed he smiled coldly. Of course. An ethership. New traitors traffic with old renegades. He was worried only a bit; three cruisers against one and an ethership - they are still outnumbered. He reached for the com, just to be on the safe side, he is going to call some reinforcements in too.
`Sir, look!` Another blue gate was opening. And another. What the fuck is happening?

19:05
Antaran battlecruiser Clear Thought III

`Ethel, I don't know how to thank you!`
`Don't thank me, the guys thought that a little crusade in the far reaches of the galaxy would be a nice change of climate. But you can throw us a party once we are out of here!`
`You'll get it! Whatever you want! Okay. To all ships: This is the Clear Thought III. We are extremely grateful that you've come. There are three VE cruisers above us, cannons charged. Can we break through them?`
`This is the Max Planck: no problem, Miss.`
`This is the Etherscream: if we are already here...`
`Elemental Chaos reporting in: count on us!
`This is the NeoNoe two. Let's form up kids, and give the lady and her out-of-this worlds lover a lift. NeoNoe on the lead, Clear Thought in the middle, Max Planck and Elemental Chaos on the flanks, Etherscream, you cover our back. All clear?`
`Yes.`
`Yea!`
`Clear as the sky, boss.`
`Then let's get moving. And remember. We haven't come to beat the whole VE fleet, we break through and we are out of here for an interstellar pleasure cruise. If no one's having second thoughts, then OPEN SAILS!`
The four massive, bronze etherships surrounded the fragile-looking silvery cruiser and they've all opened sails at once. The masts jerked away and the thin green film stretched between them. Then they all turned upward and started to rise towards the stratosphere.

An hour later.
Void Engineer battlecruiser Isaac Newton
`They've come, they've seen and they've won.` It was the greatest and quickest space-battle of all times. The five ships rose out of the atmosphere as angels of death, leaving destruction in their trail. Five against three. They've stood no chance. Oddly, they've left when it was clear they've won, without finishing anyone off. The three VE spaceships were all damaged and unable to follow. The last of the diamond-formation have just left their screens; they are moving at top speed and out of the solar system. Fleet Command is screaming orders of pursuit, but it's hopeless. They are gone. But where the hell to?