Blue Remembered Hills (M&L CC, Child) (Complete)

[WR]

Part 60

"So that's it," Max shrugged. He looked around the circle of his closest friends, waiting for their opinions. "In a nutshell, President Forest wants to meet with us."
"Just like that?" Kyle looked up.
"Well, not exactly," Max sat in the chair next to Liz. "I mean, I don't really know what Forest wants to talk to us about. Glenn says that the President asked him to set up a meeting with him, at Camp David. I get the feeling he wants to, uhm... accept that extra terrestrial life does exist."
"No," Kyle shook his head. "I meant, we forgive them, just like that?"
"We have to start somewhere, Kyle."
"Why Camp David?" Isabel wondered out loud.
"I guess because he doesn't want the press to know about the initial meeting. I mean, you can hardly say that maybe there is life out there after all, if the press has been saying that he's been holding secret talks with them."
"Can we trust him?" It was Jesse's turn to question.
"We can trust Glenn," Liz answered for Max. "Forest is something else entirely."
"You don't trust him, Liz?" Max frowned.
"I didn't say that, Max," she shrugged. "I've never met him, so I don't know what drives him."
"He's coming up for re-election next year," Connie pursed her lips. "You could look at it two ways. One, he announces that aliens exist and what's more, he's just become all friendly with them, or two, it's a trap and he uses your... powers for his own ends."
"Like someone else wanted to," Liz shuddered.
"Either way, he wins," Connie nodded.
"But if it's genuine, and come on, guys," Maria rolled her eyes. "He is the president and all. If it's genuine, this could be good for all of us."
"I'm not so sure," Jesse shook his head. "Just because he's the president doesn't necessarily mean he plays by the rules. The opposite is true, I'd say. I mean, who was the last president you truly trusted?"
"I agree with Jesse," Isabel nodded.
"Look," Max retook control. "Let's put it to the vote. Okay? Majority decision."
"Not just aliens, right?" Maria narrowed her eyes.
"Not just aliens," Max confirmed. "Liz?"
"I say go for it," she nodded.
"Maria?"
"Me too. Let's do it."
"Jesse?"
"No," Jesse shook his head. "I really don't think this is a good idea."
"Me neither, Max," Isabel took Jesse's hand. "I can't help remember what our so called leaders allowed to happen that time when... I vote no."
"Kyle?"
"What do I know? I really want to live a normal life again, but only if you guys can, too. I vote yes."
"Connie?"
"This doesn't affect me as much as it does you guys," Connie shook her head. "Maybe I shouldn't have a vote."
"You're one of us," Max smiled. "And it does affect you, unless I've been reading the signals wrong." Max smirked at Kyle holding her hand.
"Well, in that case... I grew up believing that you could trust the government. I mean, that's why I joined up. You know, to help protect the American way. But then my..." A shadow passed by Connie's face. There was a catch to her voice when she spoke again. "My Dad was almost murdered by the same people I was told I could trust, just to keep your presence a secret. I vote no." She cast an apologetic glance at Kyle.
"Michael?"
Michael looked around the room at all his friends.
"When we started this," he exhaled, waving a hand across his front. "This life on the run, I mean. I really thought that we'd get captured or... killed. One by one. But we haven't been. You've led us through some tough scrapes, Maxwell. But we made it through each time. I know how badly you want to have that normal life and perhaps Forest is our ticket. I say go for it."
"Thank you, everybody," Max nodded. "That's four to three in favor. I'll speak to Glenn after the wedding tomorrow and tell him to arrange the meeting."
"When?" Michael looked up.
"Well, Liz and I are going to see Langley in LA over New Years, so how about if we set it up for the first weekend in the new year?"

* * *

As the others rose to leave the diner where they had held their council, Kyle remained stationary while his eyes scanned his friends as they started to leave.
"Liz," Kyle attracted her attention as she took Max's hand to follow the others out.
"Yes, Kyle?" Liz hung back from Max.
Kyle looked toward her husband and then down at his feet. Liz did not miss the motion, nor its significance.
"Max," Liz called. "I just need to speak to Kyle a moment, okay?"
Max turned and saw the nervous look on Kyle's face.
"Sure," he shrugged. He smiled at Liz. "Want me to wait out here for you?"
"It's okay. Go on back to the cabin. I won't be long."
"Okay," Max walked up to Liz, and pulled her close for a kiss before he departed. "Don't be too long."

As he left the building, Max watched Eldugar move closer to Liz's side, taking a protective stance. It was almost as though Kyle did not exist to him as the tall alien moved his eyes around the room. Max smiled. He knew that after the recent scare in which Bektor had given his life to save hers, the Antarians had become jumpy over Liz's security. Eldugar made sure that when Max was not around, he was in a position to 'take the bullet' should it become necessary.
"I wonder what Katya thinks bout that?" Max wondered out loud.
"Excuse me?" Connie frowned.
"Nothing," Max grinned. "Just thinking out loud. Listen, Connie," Max placed his hand on her arm, a touch of sympathy, he hoped. "I'm sure your Dad is okay. I mean, he knows how to look after himself, right?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I just miss him, you know? Don't get me wrong, but you guys all have your folks around you. And as much as I like Kyle, sometimes a girl needs her Dad."
"I'm sorry," Max sighed.
"It's not your fault... directly. I mean, you saved his life. And for that, I thank you."
Max stared up into the sky and shook his head.
"I wish this could all end," he looked back at Connie. "Look, I have to go and sort some stuff out. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Sure, Max."

* * *

"So Kyle, what's up?" Liz watched through the window as Max spoke with Connie and then headed off into the camp.
"Um..." Kyle glanced at Eldugar hovering by Liz's shoulder.
Kyle nodded at the alien and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You can try to get rid of him if you want, Kyle," Liz shrugged. "But there's no way he'll leave. Not since..."
"Oh, okay," Kyle nodded with resignation.
"So what did you want to see me about?"
"You're a bridesmaid, for Amy, right?"
"Yeah," Liz smiled. "It's how she always wanted it. Maria as her matron of honor, with me as her attendant. Why?" Liz frowned. "Does Jim have a problem with that?"
"What?" Kyle sounded shocked. "No. Come on, Liz. You know my Dad looks on you like a daughter. He's as happy as a hound dog in heat that you're a bridesmaid."
"Nice analogy," Liz shook her head with a grimace. "So what's the problem?"
"Well, you know Michael's giving Amy away, right?"
"Ah," Liz nodded in understanding. "You would normally be expected to walk with Maria back up the aisle, but with Michael there..."
"Yeah. So I was wondering..."
"Of course," Liz started to laugh. "I'll be honored to walk with you."
"Thanks," Kyle smiled. "But I was going to ask if you could speak to Max about it?"
"Oh," Liz kept her face straight. "You mean you want to walk with Max up the aisle?"
"What?" Kyle spluttered. "Liz. No!" His face was a mask of outrage.
"Got you," Liz started to laugh.
Kyle stared at her, opening and closing his mouth but no sounds came out.
"Yeah," Kyle started to laugh with her. "I fell into that one."
"I haven't... laughed... this much... in ages," Liz managed to force out between bouts of hysterical laughter.
"Me neither," Kyle was bracing himself with his hands on his knees. "It feels good though."
Liz stopped laughing, her eyes widening with horror.
"I better..." Liz pointed to the door. She ran.
"Damn!" Kyle swore. "Me and my big mouth."

* * *

"What's she doing?" Jim looked over his shoulder again. His hands twisted together, almost as if they were searching for something.
"She'll be here," Kyle, standing at Jim's side, offered.
"I don't know," Jim bounced from one foot to another. "I think I'm more nervous now than I was the other night during that... you know."
The shelter that had been constructed for the Christmas meal was now being used as a chapel. Jim stood at the base of the podium, where a minister from a nearby church stood by the imported altar, clasping his service book. Behind him, everyone except those with sentry duty had crowded in to the chapel.
"Relax," Kyle shrugged. "It's not like you haven't done this before."
"Not for twenty odd years," Jim shrugged. "At least." He glanced at his watch. "What's keeping her?"
"Aren't brides supposed to be late?" Max smirked from the seats behind Jim.
"Was Liz late?" Jim raised his eyebrows as he turned to face Max.
"Are you kidding," Isabel, beside Max, rolled her eyes. "She was as eager to marry Max as he was to marry her. If anything, she was early."
"She was late, Jim," Max confirmed as he glared at Isabel.
"Only 'cause Maria and I had to hold her back," she started to laugh.
"You should have let me keep my hat," Jim scolded Kyle. "At least then I coulda kept my hands still."
"What?" Isabel demanded. "You can't get married wearing a ten gallon hat."
"Why not?" Jim ran his hands over his hair. "I feel almost naked without it."
"He's wearing his boots, though," Kyle looked down at Jim's feet.
"Men," Isabel rolled her eyes with a shake of her head.

* * *

"Mom," Maria's face lit up when her mother stood back in the cream colored dress. "You look absolutely..."
"Beautiful," Liz finished.
"Thank you girls," Amy smiled at them. "I feel beautiful, too. Isabel does good work."
"What can we say?" Liz rolled her eyes. "She's had plenty of practice. But you're right. The dress so suits you."
Amy had opted for a calf length dress with straps over her shoulders. In deference to the cold weather, she had a matching bolero jacket to cover her shoulders. There were no bows, no frills and no lace. Liz had volunteered to make enough silk for Isabel to fashion the dress, which fit Amy like a glove. Isabel had also made a short veil to go with it. Liz had used her growing abilities to encourage some flowers to bloom early so that Amy's bouquet was just right.
"You girls look fabulous, too."
"Thank you," both girls smiled.
Like Amy, their dresses were calf length, with simple straps and matching jackets. The silk material that clung to their bodies like a second skin was colored a pale lilac.
"You know that all the guys will be looking at you, right?" Amy winked. "And not just your own."
"Mom!" Maria rolled her eyes.
"It's nearly time," Michael called through the door.
"Not yet," Maria called back. "She has to be late. It's tradition."
"I don't think we need worry about tradition today, Maria," Amy rolled her eyes. "It's not like I haven't been married before."
"You have to be late, Mom," Maria was adamant.
"Was Liz late?" Amy's eyes sparkled.
"Yes!" Liz was indignant. "But is wasn't MY idea. They had to use physical force to stop me from running into that chapel."
"It was just down the road, wasn't it?" Amy looked at the girl that had been a sister to Maria for their whole lives. "Where you and Max got married, I mean. I wish I could have been there."
"It was wonderful," Liz nodded.
"Any regrets?"
"Only that my friends and family weren't there to make the day even more special than it already was. But as for marrying Max? No. No regrets at all."
"Anyway, Mom," Maria interrupted. "This is your day. And it will be every bit as wonderful. So... are we ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Amy nodded.
Amy stepped up to the door, with Liz and Maria lining up behind her. Liz raised her hand and the door opened. Amy glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
"You look lovely, Amy," Michael smiled, holding his arm out to her.
"What a dear boy," Amy smiled as she linked her arm into Michael's.
"Oh, you look good too, Maria."
"Be still my beating heart," Maria rolled her eyes.
"Thank you, Michael," Liz called from the back.
"Uh... you too, Liz."
Maria reached forward and flicked the back of Michael's ear.
"You should take lessons from Max," Amy whispered from the side of her mouth.
"I think you might be right," Michael gazed up at the ceiling.

* * *

Jim Valenti's heart rate rose as he heard the first notes of the Wedding March. His legs started to shake.
"Please, God, don't let me fall over and embarrass myself," Jim mumbled as stood beside Kyle in front of the altar. "Like on those home video shows."
He risked a look over his shoulder and his heart skipped a beat when he saw how good Amy looked. He could see that like him, she had a nervous smile on her face.
"Glad it's not just me," he gave a slight shake of his head.
Behind Amy, he could see Maria's look of self-satisfaction, as though this whole idea had been her plan from the start. Perhaps it had been. With Maria, you never knew. Behind Maria, half hidden by the two taller women, Liz looked every inch a Queen. Who would ever have that that the Queen of a distant planet would attend him, James Valenti Junior, the deputy sheriff of a small town in the American mid-west at his very own wedding? What a story this would make in the papers.
"Nervous?" Amy mouthed as she took her place at his side.
With his eyes locked into hers, Jim nodded.
"You?" he mouthed back.
Amy gave him a quick nod, turned to face Maria and handed her the bouquet. She lifted her veil and turned to face the minister, the couple's hands finding each other.
"Dearly beloved," the Minister looked up from them to face the huge congregation. "We are gathered here today before the sight of God..."

* * *

"What God has joined today," the Minister finally pronounced, "let no man put asunder."
"Or alien," Kyle murmured softly.
To the cheers of the congregation, Jim pulled Amy into a hug and kissed her. After what seemed to be an eternity to Jim and Amy, but just a short second or two to the others, they broke apart, and grinning like fools, Jim escorted the new Mrs. Amy Valenti back up the aisle. Kyle stepped behind his father and offered his arm to Liz. She smiled, and rested her hand on top of it.
"So," he winked. "Today, I am the best man."
"You're only Jim's best man, Kyle," Liz giggled as she looked at Max. "Not mine."

"Shall we?" Michael offered his arm to Maria.
"We shall," she grinned, as she wrapped her arm into Michael's. "I can't believe it," there were tears in her eyes. "My Mom's all grown up now."
Michael cast a sideways glance at her.
"You know what I mean."
"You know what?" Michael shook his head. "The thought frightens me, but I think I do."

Max watched as Liz walked past him, her arm on Kyle's. A pang of... wrongness swept over him. It was only calmed when Liz looked up from her giggling as she and Kyle shared a joke, and smiled at him, a smile filled with warmth and love.
"I love you," she spoke silently.
"I love you too," he nodded, no sound coming from his moving lips. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you," Liz lowered her eyes as a pink tint colored her cheeks.


"You okay?" Max asked Connie as he escorted her up the aisle behind Michael and Maria.
"Sure," Connie nodded.
"No you're not," Max shook her head.
"Is this some new power of yours?" she tilted her head to one side.
"It might be. You want to tell me what's bothering you?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "I guess... sometimes... I feel like an outsider."
"Is it something we do?" Max frowned. "Or don't do? Cause it's not intentional. You may not have been with us long, Connie, but you are every bit as important a member of this group as Jesse, or Maria or Liz, or even me."
"No," Connie shook her head. "Not as important as you, or Liz. And no, it's not anything you do, or say. You guys have always made me feel welcome, a part of the team. I... it's..."
"It's because you're almost like an orphan. We all have our parents around us. Even Michael's been sort of adopted by the others."
"Yeah," Connie nodded.
"Well," Max smirked. "Now that they're married, Amy and Jim are going to be badgering their kids into getting married too. That means Maria and Kyle. So don't be surprised if Amy starts acting all mother hen over you now."
"You know," Connie looked up at Max and grinned. "I think I might like that."

Everyone made their way to the diner. Just outside of the main entrance, a marquee had been erected. Inside, the wedding party had lined to greet the guests. For the actual wedding breakfast, only family and friends had been invited, but the whole camp had been asked to celebrate the marriage and to stick around for a toast. So while Max arranged everyone into an orderly line outside the marquee so that they could all file through and pay their respects, Amy, Jim and the others who had lined up to greet them all. To Max, it seemed to take forever, until he had finally seen the last person through the marquee's entrance. He stepped through himself.
"Congratulations, Jim," Max shook his hand.
"It's been a hell of a ride, hasn't it?"
"And it's not over yet." Max moved to Amy, kissing her on the cheek. "Be careful, Amy," he smirked. "You know that me healing Liz changed her, right? I hear alien intimacy can be pretty mind blowing."
"What?" Amy stared wide-eyed at Jim
"That was a mean thing to say," Michael smirked as they shook hands. "Wish I'd though of it."
Max just looked and Michael with a grin and shook his head.
"What?" Michael's face fell.
Maria started to snigger as Max moved on to her.
"Your day will come, Maria," Max kissed her cheek. "I promise."
Max shook Kyle's hand but he did not register a single word that the came out of Kyle moving mouth. He could feel her. From the corner of his eye, he could see Liz still talking to the last man that he had sent through. Max stepped away from Kyle, and surprising her in mid sentence, Max placed one arm around her waist and the other around her shoulders, his hand supporting the back of her head. He swept her right back, delivering a huge, deep, passionate kiss. Their lips caressed, their tongues teased and the kiss ended only when his own knees started to buckle and he feared he might drop his precious bundle. Released from their serious clinch, Liz couldn't stand unaided so Max held her as one of the waiters approached with a tray with glasses on it. Max handed Liz one and took another for himself.
"Max," Liz panted. Even in her passion filled stupor, she realized the danger of mixing Max and alcohol."
"Apple juice," Max held up his glass and smiled.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the young man who had volunteered to act as 'MC' called out. "I give you, the bride and groom."
Everyone raised their glasses. "The bride and groom," they all intoned and took a sip of their beverage.

* * *

Max could never get over just how much the men who had agreed to follow him were doing for him and his family. Many of them had volunteered to act as waiters, or cooks, or to fill any other duty that needed filling. Isabel had had a field day as the wedding planner and issued everyone with their tasks. More than once, Max had heard the words 'wedding' and 'Nazi' in one sentence. He had shown his developing royal wisdom and kept out of the women's way.
"This is great," Liz beamed at him. "This is just what we needed."
"Yeah," Max agreed. "And one day, it will be safe enough for Michael to stop avoiding his own big day."
"And Kyle and Connie," Liz smirked.
"A double wedding, perhaps?"
"Perhaps. Max, when it's safe... do you... do you think we should think about what Bektor's been saying to us. I mean, I know that what he was saying makes sense, but what do you think, really?"
"I think that I would like nothing more than to start a family with you, Liz," Max reached out and touched her face with a sense of reverence. "To see you blossom with my child inside you would be like heaven to me. But only if and when we are both ready. We have a lot of dreams to fulfill."
A ringing sound attracted their attention. Kyle had stood up and was tapping the side of his glass with his knife. When he had everyone's attention, he picked up a huge apple from the arrangement in front of him and looked around the room. He held the apple up in the palm of his hand.
"Alas poor Yorick," he began. "I knew him well."
"Horatio," Liz shook her head as everybody started to laugh at Kyle's joke. "I knew him, Horatio."
"He's a jock," Max grinned at her.
"No," Kyle continued. "Unlike our friend, Major Armstead. I'm not going to twist some speech from a dead author and turn it into yet another praise to Max Evans."
There was more laughter.
"Because, for once, today is not about Max. Today is about my Dad and Maria's Mom. Jim and Amy."
"Here, here," came the murmurs of agreement. Max was foremost amongst them.
"Maria was telling me the other day about the time, when my Dad was still trying to discover Max's secret, how she and Liz went home and found his hat and some uneaten pie in the kitchen. Amy and Jim stumbled in and they looked... well, lets just say that pie wasn't the only thing on the menu that night."
At the look of embarrassment on the bride and groom's face, the room erupted again.
"I guess that was the start of a rocky road to this day. And it's been filled with some pretty big rocks. But Dad, it's been a long time coming, and you don't know how happy I am to know that if things don't work out like we plan, that you won't be alone any more. And of all the people you could have picked, I'm glad that you picked Amy. Welcome to the family, Amy." He looked over to Maria. "And welcome to the family, Maria."
Kyle was met with an assortment of 'Ah's.
"Maria and I may no longer live in our family homes," Kyle looked around the room. "But I can now reveal that the Valenti household will soon be echoing once again to the patter of tiny feet."
Everyone turned to face the wide-eyed Amy and Jim. Many silent questions were left unanswered.
"Mom!" Maria squealed as she looked at her mother in open mouthed shock.
"That's right," Kyle nodded. "Dad always said that he'd get a dog when he ever remarried again."

* * *

At the sound of insistent ringing, Nikolas looked up from the television set where his eyes had been glued to the action showing on the cable channel he had unscrambled. Naked bodies writhed across the screen.
"What?" he demanded.
"Dregen here, sir. I went to that garage in Nebraska," the distant voice related. "You know the one. The stories of that man who destroyed those motorcycles just by pointing his hand at them."
"So that was Zan?"
"No," the voice denied. "I think it was Rath. And where Rath is, Zan can't be too far away."
"Does anyone recognize the pictures?"
"The guy here thought he looks similar to the one in the photo, but he hardly noticed him. He was too busy fearing for his life."
"Did anyone see which way they went?"
"No. But I started asking around. I pretended to be a private investigator looking for some runaways. Some locals remembered how a small gang of teenagers helped this old woman out a while back, around the time of the harvest."
Nikolas winced.
"But these kids took off when a bunch of Feds turned up. Everyone figured they were fugitives."
"So this is a dead end then?" Nikolas sounded annoyed.
"Maybe not. I went to the old lady's house. It's all locked up. Someone passing by told me that she went to visit friends and family up in Idaho, more than a week ago."
"So?"
"With a truck full of food. Enough to feed a small army."

Nikolas dropped the phone and crossed the room to his map. He located the white pin in Nebraska and changed it for a red one. He then traced a path westward toward Idaho, where a number of white pins were stuck.
"Slekt," he called out. A small man stuck his head through the opened door. "Get me the details of this place!" Nikolas stabbed his fingers on the white beaded head of a pin. "Camp Sawtooth."
"At once, sir," the skin called Slekt saluted.
He turned into the small room and leafed through the files, finally locating the one Nikolas had asked for. He pulled it out and opened it as he returned to Nikolas' room.
"A wages robbery that went wrong," Slekt read. "The perpetrators were overpowered by some kids. They claim that they shot a young girl in the stomach, but she was subsequently found to be unharmed."
"Why does that sound so familiar?" Nikolas shook his head. "He might just as well have lit up a neon sign. 'Here I am.' What exactly is Camp Sawtooth?"
"What it says," Slekt shrugged. "Where people go to camp. Except it's got cabins and stuff."
"Big enough for a small army?"
"Yeah," Slekt nodded. "Sounds like it."
"Call everyone back," Nikolas ordered. Assemble the troops. With luck we can have this all sorted out before Kivar gets here.
Nikolas watched as Slekt hurried to the transmitters. He turned to the board and looked at the photograph of Max pinned in the top right hand corner.
"Got you!" he stuck a red pin between Max's eyes.

* * *

[WR]

Part 61

“I could get used to this,” Max smiled as they settled into the luxurious surroundings of the private jet.
“Me too,” Liz sat beside Max as he fastened their seat belts. “It’s amazing that someone knew someone who arranged this for us. You do realize that between you and your men, there isn’t anything that we can’t get done?”
“My men?”
“Huh?” Liz looked confused.
“You called them my men.”
“Yeah, well they are. Sorta.”
“It’s just… to hear you say that, you know, like I’m some kind of…”
“King?” Liz inclined her head. “Whether you like it or not, Max, you are growing into one hell of a leader. And if you are the King, then… why not? As long as you remain the quintessential Max we all know and… love.”
“They’re your men too,” Max smiled. “I know,” Liz shrugged. “But what would I do with them?”
“If Kyle was here…”
“But he’s not,” she pressed her fingers to his lips. “So don’t you dare.”
Another couple joined them in the cabin.
“The pilot says we’ll be taking off, soon,” Eldugar informed them.
“Thank you,” Max nodded as Eldugar sat in the seat opposite them.
“Thanks again for arranging this, Liz,” Eldugar watched as Katya sat beside him and fastened her buckle. Katya took Eldugar’s hand as soon as they were settled. They both looked as impressed at the jet plane as they had been by the helicopters. Not very impressed at all.
“It was no bother,” Liz shook her head. “It’s like I told Serena. It’s easier to explain two young couples than it is one couple with an extra man tagging along. And as little as I care about stranger’s opinions, if the crowd we’ll be mixing with is half as bad as I think, then someone will make some stupid remark that will not only embarrass Max, but hurt him too.”
“You’re too good to me,” Max teased.
“I know,” Liz shrugged. “But I’m worth it, right?”
“And more,” Max leaned in to kiss her.
“You know,” Liz giggled in between returning Max’s kisses. “Somehow, the mile high club doesn’t seem as exciting anymore.”
“I wonder why?” Max grinned, ignoring the strange looks from their guards.

* * *

“Did I already tell you how good you look?” Max asked as they were being driven in their rented limousine to Cal Langley’s mansion.
Liz had her hair piled on her head with a cascade of loose curls tumbling from a coronet of flowers. She wore a short, figure hugging, strapless gold dress that showed every contour of her body, with matching gold high heeled sandals.
“Yes,” Liz nodded as she gazed at Max clad in a black tuxedo. She straightened his bow tie while she moistened her lips. “But you know how we women like hearing it. Again and again.”
“Well, then I’ll tell you. Again and again. You look absolutely beautiful, Liz.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“No,” Max shook his head. “Only a select minority. Only if they have long chocolate brown hair, deep brown eyes, a petite figure and are loyal and true.”
“Are you saying that you wouldn’t love me if I was fat and bald?”
“Absolutely not,” Max smirked. “Us Kings have an image to uphold. We’re only allowed to have beautiful Queens, right?”
“Who made up ‘that’ one,” Liz arched her eyebrows.
“I never made the rules, Liz,” Max smirked. “I just try to live by them.”
“What about Queen Elizabeth the first? Are you saying that she was beautiful?”
“Sure,” Max nodded. “If you go for the fake hair, bad skin, missing teeth and body odor like the guy’s locker room after a big game.”
“That’s… quite a picture you painted there, Max,” Liz wrinkled her nose. “No really, thanks.”
“You look beautiful, tonight, Liz,” Max reached out and lightly caressed her hand. “Really beautiful, as always. But it’s your soul that calls to me. It is that which is more beautiful still. Your external features are the icing on an already delicious cake.”
Max and Liz locked their eyes into each other’s and just as they started to lose themselves in one another, the journey was over.
“Max, Liz,” Eldugar cleared his throat. “I believe we’re here.”

Eldugar and Katya stepped out of the limo first. After looking around to make sure that there was no possible threat to either of their monarchs, Katya leaned in and nodded. Max climbed out first, and extended a hand to Liz. He helped her out of the car amid the hushed whispers of the onlookers, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone famous going to the infamous New Year’s Eve party held by that most notorious producer, Cal Langley.
“Who is it,” someone called. “Can you see?”
“Is it that guy, whatshisname? The one in that film about that thing?”
“Don’t know,” someone added. “But isn’t his date that girl from that show?”
Max was oblivious to the many comments and flashing bulbs around him. As he assisted his wife from the vehicle, it was all he could do to stop staring at her cleavage when Liz bent forward to climb out. When Max caught a glimpse of Liz’s thighs, past the tops of her thigh highs all the way to her underwear, he broke out into a sweat.
“What’s the matter, Max?” Liz smiled at him, filling her eyes with complete innocence.
“Are they the ones you…”
“No,” she shook her head. “Of course not. They were totally unsuitable.”
“Oh,” Max looked relieved.
“There was far too much of them to wear under this dress. I had to make a smaller pair.”
Max started to gasp for air.
“You’re going to give me a heart attack, Liz,” Max complained.
“Uh huh,” she smirked as she wrapped her matching shawl around her arms and shoulders. “But wait until the night’s over, okay?”
Max linked his arm into hers and led her to the gate as Eldugar and Katya flanked them, looking very menacing. Around them, they could hear the excited chatter as people asked if anyone knew who they were.
“Wouldn’t you just love to tell them the truth?” Liz winked.
Max grinned in response.
“Think they’d stick around?”
“You are?” an impressed security guard held a clip board and started to scan the lines.
“Going in to see my old friend Cal,” Max shrugged.
“No, I meant who are you?”
“You mean you don’t know?” Max looked offended.
“I’m sorry, sir,” the man stammered. His face fell. “I haven’t been here all that long. I don’t know everyone, I’m afraid.”
“I shall have to talk with Cal about you.”
“Yes sir,” he nodded, his face going bright red. “But in the meantime, I’m afraid that I must ask for your names.”
“I am…”
“Mr. and Mrs. Eattie,” Liz shook her head. Liz reached forward and placed her hand on the clipboard. “And you know what? I bet we’re the last names on the list.”
The security guard turned the pages to the last one. There at the bottom were the names, ‘Mr. and Mrs. Eattie, plus two’. The guard ticked the entry and stood back to let them through.
“Thank you,” Liz smiled at him.
“You’re welcome. Have a nice night.”
“You’re getting pretty good at that,” Max smiled with pride as they passed through the gates.
“Thank you,” Liz lowered her eyelashes.
“Eattie?” Max raised his eyebrows.
“Well,” Liz laughed, “If the caps fits.”

Hand in hand, they wandered through the house pointing out the well known celebrities to each other.
“The day will come, Max,” Liz gazed up at him with a look of total adoration, “when you will be one of the famous people that are being pointed out.”
Max studied her for a moment, and then smiled.
“That would make you famous, too.”
“Can’t have it all, I guess,” she shrugged.
“Would you like a drink?”
“Please,” Liz nodded.
“Alcoholic or not?”
“Not,” Liz shook her head.
“Okay,” Max smiled before heading for one of the many bars.

It wasn’t too long before Liz was no longer alone.
“Hello, doll face,” someone spoke to her from her other side.
“Oh,” Liz didn’t look impressed. “Hello.”
“You know who I am, right?”
He wore a white tuxedo and his hair - Liz could see that it was a wig - was jet black. He appeared to be in his late forties.
“Um,” Liz paused. “You’re on TV or something, right? Aren’t you one of the judges on that reality TV show where a load of actor and actress wannabe’s demean themselves for the chance to be famous?”
“That would be me,” the man puffed himself up, and straightened his tie. “Greg Gregson. So tell me. Have you ever wanted to be an actress?”
“Um, no,” Liz shook her head. “A micro biologist, yes, an actress, no.”
“Micro biologist? What’s that? Some kind of robot miniaturization thing?”
“No,” Liz shook her head. “Not really. It’s more to do with… Never mind. It’s a science thing.”
“Oh, you mean like chemistry? Like what you and I have?”
“Not like what we have at all,” Liz shook her head. “You know, I’m kinda waiting for my h…”
“I could give you everything you desire, you know,” Greg stepped closer to her.
“I’m sure you think so,” Liz rolled her eyes. “But I somehow doubt you could compete with my h…”
“Name it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Name your greatest desire? You tell me what you want most in the world right now, and we’ll see who can get it for you. Me, or whoever it is you’re waiting for.”
“Okay,” Liz nodded. “I want to take a ride to the other side of Pluto and back.”
“No, something real. Something that’s possible.”
“I told you what I want. Can you deliver the goods?”
“Of course I can’t,” Greg spat. “Can he? The one you’re waiting for?”
“My husband?” Liz smirked. Her eyes softened as she saw him approaching with two glasses in his hands. “Of course he can.”
“You’re weird,” he backed away.
“What was that about?” Max watched the man back away, shaking his head.
“Someone who wanted to usurp the King’s position.”
“Ah,” Max nodded. “An Elvis impersonator. He’s not very good.”
Liz looked up at Max, not sure if he was joking or not.

“What are you doing here?” Cal Langley appeared in front of them.
His face was red with rage, and his anger was barely concealed in his voice.
“Dancing,” Liz smiled.
“Drinking,” Max grinned holding up his glass of cherry cola. “Uh, soft drinks.”
“How did you get past security?”
“Huh?” Max smirked. “Do you really want to know?”
“So,” Cal shook his head. “Has the ‘boy’ come back to order me to fly the ship home again?”
Max gripped his drink. The glass in his hand didn’t shatter. Instead, it grew hot. The liquid inside boiled away and the glass distorted under the pressure of Max’s clenching fist. His whole face seethed with anger. He spun on his heel and stormed through the door toward a door that led out to the grand patio and outdoor swimming pool. Langly started to follow him.
“You hold it right there, mister,” Liz ordered, grabbing his lapel. “Just who do you think you are? He came here in peace, you know. He just wanted to talk to you. He didn’t have to. He doesn’t want anything from you. This stupid… feud that you have with him has got to stop. If you took the time to get to know Max, I mean the real Max that I know, not the frightened, desperate Max who showed up here last year, you would see just how wrong you are about him. Now go and find him, and talk to him. Civilly.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he bowed to an astonished Liz.

* * *

“So, here you are,” Langley stepped into the gazebo that was sheltered from his huge mansion by a cluster of crepe myrtle bushes.
“Yeah,” Max sneered. “Here I am. I looked for the playhouse but you don’t seem to have catered for us ‘boys’.”
“I’m sorry about that,” Cal turned and sat down. “I guess you just showing up here like that kind of threw me. No one informed me you were coming. In fact, my sources have been unable to keep an eye on you too well lately. Where have you been?”
Max stared for a moment before his eyes softened.
“When was the last time you knew where we were?”
“Colorado,” Langley shrugged. “We lost track of you right after you saved that woman and her twins. So where did you go?”
“Here and there,” Max shrugged. “But we eventually found ourselves caught up in the landing of more skins and some healing stones.”
“So that’s what they were doing. I thought it was strange that they set up that pentagram around Area 51. I guessed that it was you involved in the point that didn’t get set up. What happened?”
“We, uh… found out that some soldiers would be killed fighting some skins there…”
“Liz?”
“Uh,” Max’s face clouded at the memory. “Yeah. So we were there to, uh… assist the soldiers. We got them out, destroyed the stone which killed the skins.”
“So do you know what they were trying to do?”
“We think so. Heal the skins that the authorities have collected in Area 51 over the decades.”
“That makes sense,” Langley nodded. “God, I should write this all down. What a film it would make. Would you mind?”
“Knock yourself out,” Max shrugged. “Listen, I think you should know. We have Antarian guards with us.”
“What?” Langley’s eyes widened. He looked around with panic on his face. “You brought Antarians here? Where did they come from?”
“After our… fight with the skins, we bumped into some… old acquaintances. Three Antarians called Bektor, Chyn and Kalyn. They, uh… invited us up to their ship. My ship. The Nyelda.”
“The Nyelda’s here?” Anger and panic tightened his voice. “Oh thanks. That’s just what I wanted. So you’ve come to take me? I told you I didn’t want to go back. Is this some form of revenge?”
“No,” Max shook his head. “They’ve been ordered to stay away from you. You have a Royal pardon, and you are free to live where ever and however you choose. And if I knew how to do it, I’d remove the programming that forces you to obey me.”
Langley fell silent.
“Thank you,” he spoke at last.
“I, uh… wanted to apologize. For last year, you know, what I did to you.”
“King’s don’t apologize, Max,” Langley sighed.
“This one does,” Max shrugged. “When I was here before, I was desperate. And you were right. I’d let go of the ones who loved me. And it took me a while to find them again.”
“At least you did.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “While I was on the Nyelda, I learned about my past.”
“I see.”
“And I wanted you to know. I have it on good authority that you’re not… you’re not my father.”
“Don’t you think I don’t already know that?” Langley spat. He glanced toward the house. “Sorry.” He let out a long sight. “I mean, yeah, I loved your mother. And I like to think that she loved me too. But she never… Ah. I see. No, Max. We never… She was loyal and faithful to your father.”
“Thank you,” Max nodded. “In a small way, that helps me. But it’s why I thought you hated me so much. I thought that you felt some sort of self-loathing or something.” He watched as Langley shook his head. “You called me selfish, yet I never knew you. I never even met you. What did I do? Please tell me, and that’s not… an order.”
“You almost killed her,” tears rimmed Langley’s eyes. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to watch another man take the one you love? And then to see that the fruition of their union almost takes her away from you for good it’s… it’s…
“I think I can imagine,” Max forced the image of Kyle in Liz’s bed away. “Do you think I had a say in any of that?” Max’s eyes had his own tears glistening in the starlight. “How can you possibly think that it could have been my fault?”
“Who else can I blame?”
“So just because the woman you loved became intimate with her husband, you…”
“You really don’t know much about Antarians, do you?” Langley shook his head. “I mean, really know about them. The act of sex has nothing to do with love on Antar. It’s purely a means of procreation. Two bodies coming together. That’s all it is. It’s the coming together of our essence that makes love so pleasurable for us. We see each other, completely. Every thought, every wish, every dream and every desire. There can be no greater show of love than that.”
“Is that why things are so… special between Liz and me? Humans put a lot of faith in physical intimacy. I mean, I know how betrayed I felt when I thought Liz had… And I know how much I hurt Liz when I… with Tess… But we see each other, too. Our souls, our… essences. Is that why we get these… flashes?”
“Sounds like it. To an Antarian, any physical contact means absolutely nothing. You know, it’s like… grazing your knuckles. Our regenerative qualities just cause it to become a thing of the past. Not even a memory. Do you remember every time you’ve ever grazed your knuckles?”
Max shook his head.
“So basically, sex is like grazing your knuckle?”
“To us, it is,” Langley nodded. “So when I saw that she had shared her soul with your father, yes, that hurt. And yes, I guess I hated you in his place. But it was the fact that my beloved nearly died because of your demands upon her.”
“You knew… know… my mother. Suppose she knew in advance that there was a chance that she might die by giving me birth. Do you think she would have terminated the pregnancy?”
“No!” Langley spat. “Of course not! Your mother was… too… too…” Langley slumped back in his seat and sighed. “Your Liz reminds me so much of her. She was so strong, so loyal. Her only fault lay in her determination to adhere to the damned protocol that was killing our hierarchy.”
“Well,” Max shrugged. “That’s where they differ, then. Liz thinks the rules and customs that Bektor’s was trying to force on us suck, too.”
Langley looked at Max’s darkened feature.
“Was? You mean he finally saw the futility in butting heads with Liz and gave up?”
“No,” Max shook his head. “He, uh… He died, saving Liz.”
“Oh.” Langley remained silent for a moment. “I won’t exactly mourn his passing, but I’m glad that his death had some meaning.”
“I’ll never forget him,” Max nodded. “And I can never repay him.”
Langley studied Max for a moment.
“You’ll make a good king, Max. Especially with Liz by your side.”
“Thank you,” Max squirmed in his seat.
“Did you know that she bullied me into talking with you?”
“She did?” Max raised an eyebrow. He started to chuckle.
“Yeah,” Langley nodded. “Do you realize just what you have gotten yourself into by marrying her?”
“Oh, yeah,” Max broke into a grin. “I sure do. But with Liz, I’ll take the rough with the smooth.”
“I bet for you, it’s all smooth,” the director smirked.
Max nodded.
“How come you never… I mean… On the ship, they thought that Liz was a woman from Antar, called Lady Millia. They thought she was responsible for my death. Did you… did you hope she would kill me again?”
“I never knew Lady Millia,” Langly shrugged. “I mean, I knew OF her, but I never knew that she looked like Liz. Isn’t that odd? That they should share looks, I mean. I’m told that you were quite taken with Millia too.”
“No,” Max shook his head. “I liked her, but not like that. And anyway, she was a loyal friend, not a traitor. She witnessed our murder, not caused it.”
“That’s… that’s good, Max.”

“I had a dream,” Max continued. “In it, my father came to me. He said that my path wasn’t clear, that I didn’t know why I had to win.”
“And do you know now?”
“I… I think so. This isn’t just about me, and Antar, is it? It’s about Earth, and the people who live on it.”
“And perhaps the countless millions of others on planets so far away that even Antar does not yet know they exist. It is time to put the old rules of warfare into action. You’ve seen my films. Have you learned everything?”
“Your… your films were to help me? Teach me?”
“I would hazard a guess that as you have so far been successful, it has worked. That you have been remembering your tactical skills. My only regret is that I gave that film to George. He made too many changes, but at least he left the fact that someone was trying to create a galactic empire. There was so much for you to learn from that film.”
“George…?” Max’s jaw dropped. “You mean, you…”
“The long and short of it is, Max, you are fighting two enemies. Larek’s Epsilians and Kivar’s Antarians. And you have a kind of force. Can you fight both at once?”
“So… I guess I need to divide and conquer?”
“That would seem best.”
“But that would mean returning to… I’m like you, Langley,” Max sighed. “I don’t think I want to go back. Not now that I…”
Langley watched Max as he looked back toward the house, toward Liz. He placed his hand on Max’s shoulder and sighed.
“You are of both world’s, Your Majesty.”

* * *

As Max walked back into the main room, he saw Liz fending of the unwanted advances of another middle-aged man.
“Can I help you?” Max growled at him as he stepped up beside Liz and wrapped an arm around her.
The man took one look at Max’s face and retreated.
“Why is it only the older guys?” Liz shook her head. “How come the young, hot guys keep their distance?”
“Cause they recognize that I’ll blast them with my death ray eyes if they don’t,” Max grinned. “Older guys are more desperate.”
She hugged him.
“So, how did it go?”
“Surprisingly well,” Max nodded. “You little bully, you.”
“He told you?”
“Uh huh,” Max grinned. “He took great pleasure in doing so. I think he thinks that you give me a hard time.”
Liz leaned into Max, stood up on her toes and licked the underside of his chin.
“Just as long as you give me a hard time, tonight,” she breathed into his ear.
Max turned a dark shade of red as he looked around to make sure no one had heard her.

“Ten!” someone from the crowd shouted.
“Nine!” others took up that call.
“Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One… HAPPY NEW YEAR!”
Klaxons, sirens and horns rang out through the house as paper steamers and balloons drifted from the ceiling to cover the loving couple.
“Happy New Year, Liz,” Max breathed as his lips worked to entrap hers. “I hope this one is the one that brings all our dreams back.”
“Happy New Year, Max,” Liz tried her best to grasp Max’s lips. “And just so you know. I have all my dreams. Right here, right now.”
As the gathered crowd started to sing Auld Lang Syne, Max and Liz ignored the attempts to pull them into the ring. They ceased fighting and worked together, their lips moving in unison to kiss each other with a tender passion that never failed to ignite their desire for each other. As the flashes of their past drove them on to greater heights of closeness and love, the desire for their future pulled at their passion. The world, no, the universe lay at their feet, and both Max and Liz knew at last that together, they were unassailable. The world would have to wait a long time before it ended.

* * *

A dark shape lifted his head above the boulder and looked up the road to where two men stood out in the open. He watched as they turned away and walked the opposite direction.
“Now!” a voice hissed.
Another shape detached itself from the darkness of the tree and scurried across the road. It disappeared as soon as it reached the trees on the opposite side of the road.
“Wait,” the first voice hissed as the two sentries turned and walked back toward them.
Someone called and the two men moved toward the large gate that they were standing in front of.
“Now,” the shape hissed and another shadow darted across the road, while the first shape followed, taking advantage of the sentry’s lapse of concentration.
All three of the intruders dropped into the shadows and waited to see if anyone had detected them.
“Let us hope that they have no detection devices,” one of them commented.
“If they do, we already know they have other Antarians there. Why wouldn’t they assume we were part of their force? We are only three, after all.”
“This way,” their leader looked up from the map they had obtained from a store in town and nodded toward the camp.
The three men picked their way through the trees until they came to a large, tarmac square with the wooded shelter built over it. They scanned every direction for any signs of life.
“Over there,” one pointed to the small hill at the far end of the square.
A small cluster of rocks and trees on the hill gave a commanding view of the main part of the camp. Keeping close to the buildings and using the shadows, they made their way around the square and into their chosen shelter.
“Now what?”
“Now we wait in hiding, watching until the time is right, for the right opportunity. Then, we strike.”
The three men pushed themselves against the rocks and trees, and vanished from sight.

* * *

[WR]

Part 62

Isabel huffed and bounced herself on her bed as she rolled over yet again, punching her pillow as she turned.
“Can’t sleep?” Jesse tried to pull the blankets back to cover him again.
“No,” Isabel grumbled. “It doesn’t mater what I do, I just can’t get comfortable.”
“Max and Liz are fine, Isabel,” he sat up and tried to reach out to his wife. He guessed the reason for her restlessness. “They called in like they were supposed to. Not only do they have their own powers, they have Eldugar and Katya, too. Plus, four special ops guys went out ahead of them to make sure it was safe. They’re all fine.”
“I know, Jesse,” Isabel rolled over again, turning to face him. “I just keep getting this feeling, you know? It’s more like a nightmare that something bad is going to happen.”
“I thought premonitions were Liz’s thing.”
“Not a premonition,” Isabel shook her head. “Just a feeling.”
“Well, we have guards on duty here, too. We’re all being well looked after. What could possibly happen?”
“If I knew that,” she spat, “I wouldn’t have to worry about it.”
“Look,” Jesse tried to be as soothing as he could. “Max will be home soon. Just relax and try to get some sleep.”
“If it makes you feel better, fine!” Isabel forced herself to lay back.
The urge to roll over again was almost too much for her but she managed to suppress it. She knew that by keeping him awake, she was only storing up trouble for herself, and it wasn’t as though the tossing and turning was actively helping. So she lay perfectly still, waiting for that moment when the change in Jesse’s breathing pattern would tell her that he was asleep. When she was sure that he was indeed in slumber, Isabel rose, crossed to the closet and pulled out a thick robe. Belting it tightly at her waist, she slid her feet into a pair of slippers and left the bedroom, crossing to the front door. As she stepped out into the cold night air, she was glad of the thick pajamas that she wore. Isabel picked her way through the dark path toward the diner. She thought that perhaps some hot milk might help to relax her, and they had drunk the last in their cabin earlier.
“Who’s there?” a voice challenged from the dark trees.
“It’s only me, Isabel,” she peered into the trees, unable to see the sentry, but glad that he was alert. “I just on my way to the diner.”
“Oh, okay,” the voice sounded relieved. One of the soldiers she recognized from the night they assaulted Nikolas stepped from some bushes. “Be careful, yeah? The path’s a bit uneven, and in the dark... Would you like an escort?”
“No, it’s okay, thank you,” Isabel shook her head with a wry smile. If anything happened, chances are that it would be Isabel protecting the escort rather than the other way around. “I’ll be fine.”
She smiled as she continued on her way. Perhaps Jesse was right. The guards were doing a good job looking after them.

* * *

Max and Liz waited outside of their hotel room with Eldugar while Katya inspected the interior in case they had received any visitors in their absence.
“All clear,” she stepped out into the corridor. “You may enter now.”
“Thank you, Katya,” Max nodded and led Liz into the room by her hand. After everything that had happened recently, Max was not taking Liz’s security lightly. “Oh,” he stopped and turned to face the Royal guards. “I know you have the double room next door, but are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable with separate rooms?”
The two guards looked mortified.
“Uh… quite sure… thanks,” they both nodded, looking everywhere except at Max.
“He’s just teasing you,” Liz shook her head with knowing smirk. She slapped Max’s arm and turned to face the other couple. “Go. Have fun.” She turned to Max. “Just stop it and leave them alone. You should be more concerned about my comfort, Mr. Evans.”
“Is that so, Mrs. Evans?” Max pushed the door closed with his powers, shutting out their guards while he started to move toward her.
“Yes, it is,” Liz backed away with a twinkle in her eye. “So what are your plans concerning me?”
“Well,” Max grinned. “First, I plan to do this.”
Max made a sudden lunge that caught Liz off guard. She squealed with laughter as he wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her body into his.
“Uh, huh,” she smiled up at him. “And this helps, how?”
“Because, from here, I can do this.”
Max ran his finger along the zipper that ran from between Liz’s shoulder blades, down to the start of the dimple on her backside. The back of the dress fell open. His finger remained to tease the top of her panties. He could feel the thin straps that indicated it was a simple G-string. He murmured his appreciation into her ear as he nuzzled the side of his face into hers.
“And then?” Liz squeaked. She was having trouble with her voice… and her breathing.
Max assisted the dress with its natural reaction to gravity. A pile of golden silk pooled at her feet.
“Oh,” she sighed, feeling the smooth cut of Max’s suit against her near nakedness.
Even through the jacket, and the shirt he wore, Max could feel her hard little buttons poking into his chest.
“You have too many clothes on,” Liz groaned. “Why?”
“Because I like how you get when I have you in my complete power,” Max whispered hotly in her ear.”
“So you think,” Liz gasped as Max’s hands reached around and started to caress Liz’s softer parts, “that I’m completely in your power?” She twisted her body to make herself more accessible to him, to help him find her secret, hidden places.
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Liz cried as Max’s finger teased a sensitive spot of her femininity. “Oh yes! Yes!” She started to rock herself against him, holding herself up around his neck. “Please, Max. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
Liz groaned when Max removed his hand from her, but mewed with happiness when she realized that he was taking his jacket off.
“Hurry,” she panted as she pulled his shirttails out from his pants.
Max was about to throw his jacket onto the nearby chair.

“Your Majesty!” the hotel room door was pushed open.
In one fluid movement, Max had Liz wrapped in his jacket and pushed to safety behind his broad back. He had his hand up ready to defend them from the intruder. Eldugar stood at the door with his hands covering his eyes, looking down at the floor.
“Eldugar,” Max spat. “You’d better have a damn good reason for barging in here like this, or I’m sending your sorry ass back to the ship.”
“Forgive me, sire,” Eldugar gave a low bow. He kept his hands pressed to his eyes. “You know that I would not intrude upon your time with her highness, but I’m afraid that this could not wait. I’ve just received a message from Serena.”
“Serena?” Max frowned. “I thought she returned to the ship with the Antarian casualties.”
“That’s correct,” Eldugar nodded.
“So what’s happened that forced her to risk making a move from behind the cover of Pluto to send us a message?”
“A large ship has been detected approaching the Sol solar system.”
“That’s our system, right?”
“That is correct, sire.”
“What’s with the formality?” Max’s eyes narrowed. “And whose ship it?”
“It is time to be King, sire,” Eldugar looked up at his liege. “The ship belongs to Kivar. It’s his personal battle cruiser. Our intelligence suggests that it carries an invasion force. Evidence suggests that Kivar himself is on board the ship. It seems that he is bringing the battle to us, your Majesty.”
“Max!” Liz gasped.
“Oh,” Max nodded. His face looked numb. “How long until he gets here?”
“Approximately fourteen days.”
“Can the Nyelda defend herself?”
“No, your majesty. The Nyelda is merely a cruiser. Against the battle cruiser, it wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Can she outrun the thing?”
“Of course, sire,” Eldugar nodded. “It was built for speed.”
“Good. Tell Serena to bring any soldiers not needed on board down to me, and to hide the Nyelda from Kivar. We can’t afford to lose our ship. Oh, and I need to speak to her. Then pass a message back to Michael. We’re heading for home tomorrow.”

* * *

“Status report?” the tall man demanded as he entered the battle cruiser’s bridge. He had thick, jet black hair, and steel gray eyes. He wore a tight bodysuit made from a reflective black material. Around him, gray clad figures scurried about their tasks.
“We are approaching the Sol system, Lord Kivar,” one of the men in gray stood to attention from behind his console. “We are no more than fourteen days away from our destination planet. The ship is in prime condition. The morale of the men is good, considering that they have been idle for so long. Perhaps a period of acclimatization on the planet’s surface would be of benefit. They will feel better once they are in action.” He looked up at Kivar and narrowed his eyes. “Some still feel that it was a mistake to leave our ship to ship weaponry and our fighter craft behind, but extra duties soon convince them that it is not their place to question their betters.”
“Pah! Don’t they know that this feeble planet does not have a single airborne vehicle that can damage this ship?” Kivar rolled his eyes. “It is far better to have removed all the excess fighters and canons so that we can carry more troops. The siege lasers are all we will need. They will quickly destroy any vehicles that the humans have to offer, which by all reports are archaic by our standards. Our troops will meet little if any resistance, once we let them see what we can do. The more ground units we have, the quicker we will be able to subdue this planet.”
“I think the men still fear the rumor that the Nyelda left for Earth a few months before we did. If they took reinforcements to Zan…”
“The Nyelda carries only a few light scout craft,” Kivar barked. “It does not carry a single ship that could attack us. Even if it were here, one hit from our laser would render it useless. The range our lasers are far in excess of anything they posses. Let’s see them outrun a few well aimed bursts of energy. And the Nyelda cannot carry a tenth of the men we have here at our disposal. Regardless of how many reinforcements it might have brought Zan, his days are numbered, as are all the rebellious scum who support him and that mockery of a government. As soon as we are in range, I want the planet analyzed so that we may identify which resources we can strip. The sooner we are done here, the sooner I can subjugate the other planets.”
“Affirmative, sir.”

* * *

Isabel pushed open the door to the diner and crossed to the kitchen, throwing a wave to the two guards sitting in front of the bank of CCTV monitors. She opened the large refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. Reaching into a cupboard, she pulled down a mug and poured the milk into it. With a wave of her hand, her beverage was heated to Isabel’s precise drinking temperature preference. Reaching for the sugar, Isabel poured almost half the bowl’s contents into her cup. Sipping the hot, sweet liquid, she crossed over to see if the guards were okay, as they seemed to be having a heated discussion in hushed whispers.
“Mrs. Ramirez,” one of the privates was startled. He hadn’t seen her come in.
“Oh, please,” Isabel rolled her eyes. “Call me Isabel. When I hear Mrs. Ramirez, I see my mother-in-law.”
“Uh, right,” he nodded. “Isabel it is.”
“So what’s the whispering about? You have a problem with some of the cameras?”
“We, uh… think we might have a situation.”
“Yeah?” Alarm bells rang in her mind, “Like what?”
“The scanner you gave us is detecting something that isn’t there. We don’t want to disturb Michael on account of him not having had much sleep over the last couple ‘a days. And his mood after that call a moment ago… Johnson here thinks that it’s just an echo.”
“Yeah,” Johnson nodded. “I noticed the other day that it does that from time to time. And no way do I want to waste Michael’s time.”
“So what’s it detecting?”
“Three contacts. In the middle of the camp. Thing is, they’ve been stationary since we spotted them.”
“Show me,” Isabel nodded, placing the cup on a nearby table.
“Right there,” the first man pointed to three dots that had blended together. “That puts them over there in them trees, but when we look, there ain’t nuthin there.”
“Let me see,” Isabel held her hand out for the night vision binoculars.
Isabel lifted them to her eyes and studied the cluster of trees and rocks. She could see nothing.
“Do you have any of those things that detect body heat?”
“Infra red?” the man narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, but not here.”
“Could you get them for me?”
“Of course,” the man nodded, leaping to his feet.
He sprinted through the diner’s exit and into the darkness outside.
“How long have they been there?” Isabel again stared at the trees through the binoculars.
“They must have arrived while everyone was celebrating the New Year,” he looked guilty. “Taylor brought us some champagne to toast it in. When we returned to our posts, they were there. At first, I thought that maybe, like Daigle said, it was an echo or something. Too much champagne. Then I started to think maybe it was some weird… uhm… ritual these people have and were, uhm… you know.”
“I see,” Isabel’s voice was tight.
“We’ve been figuring what to do about it ever since.”
“Here you are,” Daigle returned to the diner, holding another set of binoculars.
He flicked a switch and handed them to Isabel. Isabel lifted them to her eyes and stared at the trees while she turned the dial on the top of the enhancing device.
“Oh my God,” Isabel exclaimed. “There’s three heat sources there. They must be shapeshifters.” She lowered the binoculars and handed them back to Daigle.
“Shapeshifters?” Johnson frowned.
“The Antarians have this ability to project an image. What you see when you look at them is what they want you to see. They could, if they wanted, make you see them looking like anyone… or anything, else.”
“Like rocks and trees?” Daigle nodded, staring at the three sources of heat.
“Right.”
“So they’re your… uh, our guys after all,” Johnston looked relieved.
“Not sitting out there like that,” Isabel shook her head. “They must belong to Nikolas. It looks like he found us.”
“And we found them,” Daigle narrowed his eyes. “As long as they stay put, we know where they are. All we have to do is toss in an incendiary, and poof.”
“No,” Isabel shook her head. “Not these guys. Unlike the Skins, they probably have defenses against that. Besides, maybe we can use this to our advantage. Let’s try to find out what they want.”
“Max, probably,” Johnston shrugged.
“I think an experiment is in order. Listen, guys. Firstly, say nothing about this to anyone. Keep me informed of their position, okay?”
“What about our relief?”
“Same rules apply to them. Tell them, but they must tell no one else, not even Michael.”
“Can I ask why not?”
“Because the last thing we want is for everyone in the camp to keep looking at those trees suspiciously. They’d spot that for sure. Secondly, I need to speak to someone. While I go and get dressed, could one of you fetch them for me?”

* * *

“Morning, Langley,” Max rose from the table at the diner where he had arranged to meet him. He indicated an empty chair across from him.
“Max,” he nodded while he sat down. “Liz.”
“Good morning, Cal,” Liz smiled up from her seat.
“So, breakfast, huh?” the director shrugged. “Shouldn’t you guys be sleeping in or…” Cal smirked, curling the corner of his mouth. “…something.”
“Probably,” Max stared down into his orange juice. “But, uh… something’s come up. Which is why we called you.”
Langley picked up the worried tone in Max’s voice. He was about to speak when the waitress interrupted.
“Good morning sir,” she sang. “What can I get you this morning?”
“Just tea,” he watched Max closely. “Earl Grey. Lots of lemon.”
The waitress scribbled his order and left.
“So you wanna tell me what’s bugging you?”
“We got word from the Nyelda,” Max exhaled. “Early this morning. Kivar’s on his way. Here. In his battle cruiser.”
Cal stared at Max and then at Liz. The silence hung heavy between them.
“Here you go,” the waitress placed a cup in front of Cal, followed by a metal pot filled with a steaming liquid. The fragrant bergamot oil filled their senses. She placed a bowl filled with slices of lemon beside it. “Enjoy.”
“Why is it always metal?” Langley shook his head while he watching the waitress leave. “Why not a decent china pot? Philistines.” He waited until he was certain that they were alone. “How long?”
“Two weeks,” Max shook his head.
“Shit. That doesn’t give us much time. Any idea where he’ll turn up first?”
“I have an idea, yeah,” Max nodded.
“And that would be…?”
“The last place he knew for a fact where we were.”
“Do you need anything from me?”
“I don’t expect anything from you, Cal,” Max looked up. “I’m only telling you incase you want to…”
“Look, Max,” Cal reached across the table and placed his hand on Max’s arm. “What do you need?”
“Thank you,” Max smiled. “I think some cash would be useful. We need more supplies, fuel for the helicopters… and I uh… think Arthur could use some to get the materials he needs to make some more lasers.”
“Lasers?”
“Yeah, I gave him one of the Antarian guns. He reverse engineered it for us. He made us a couple of dozen by himself so that his workers couldn’t leak what was going on.”
“How clever of him.”
“But they’re not as powerful as the real thing,” Liz reminded Max.
“No,” Max agreed. “I promised him that I would speak to someone about correcting tolerances. I guess what with everything going on, I forgot.”
“I’ll get some money to you at Sawtooth. I’ll also set up a bank account for you. In the name of Zan King. I’ll send you the details. That should help with any other problems that arise.”
“You don’t need to do that, Cal,” Max looked surprised at his generosity.
“I’ll get in touch with this Arthur guy,” he shrugged. “I’ll help him with the tolerances. And anything else he needs.” He formed a ‘V’ shape with his thumb and index finger along the ridge of his chin. “You have the patent in your name I trust?”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “No point in having lawyers in the family if they can’t do that for you.”
“You guys be careful,” Langley counted out a few dollars and placed them on the table. “Kivar’s ship will be able to use long range weapons to wipe out any forces you can muster. Your best bet is to remain hidden and use hit and run tactics against him.” He cast a level stare at Max. “But you’re not going to do that, are you?”
“No,” Max and Liz exchanged glances. Neither could hide their sadness. “You know as well as I do that Kivar is going to destroy any city in his path until he gets to me. It might be best to get it over with, once and for all.”
“Then you will be wiped out.”
Max looked beyond Cal through the large plate glass window at the heavy, bustling beyond. A woman walked by, pushing a pram with two other small children holding onto it’s handle.
“Better to die fighting than hide behind the graves of millions of innocents.”

* * *

In their bedroom that had been allocated to them, Philip and Diane were busy packing their clothing into suitcases.
“With this meeting with the President looming, and Nikolas’s whereabouts unknown,” Philip pushed his shirts with a little more forcefulness than he intended, “I don’t like the thought of leaving any more than you do. But we knew this day would come. We knew that we had to get back to Roswell first thing in the new year.”
“Can’t we wait until Max and Liz come home?” Diane tried to use the same puppy eyes that she had seen Liz turn her son to jelly with. It did not seem to have the same affect on Philip. “Please?”
“We’ve said our good-byes to them already,” Philip shook his head, unmoved by Diane’s antics. “Neither Max, nor Liz will expect to see us here. I have work stacking up at home, dear.”

Next door, in their own bedroom, the same scene was playing out between Nancy and Jeff.
“I promised Jose that I would be back tomorrow,” Jeff shrugged.
“But you know as well as I do that he wants to take over as manager,” Nancy took great care in placing the wooden statue of Max and Liz together into her case.
The kids had given both sets of parents identical Christmas presents.
“Not this suddenly,” Jeff looked up at her. “Besides, I need to make sure that he’s doing a bang up job.”
“But Jeff…”
“Look,” Jeff pushed his hands through his hair. “I want to stay, too, but everyone else is leaving. As soon as their honeymoon is over, Jim and Amy will make straight for Roswell. Glenn and Sarah left right after the Valenti’s wedding, the Carltons left early this morning and even Granny is leaving tomorrow morning.”

“Apart from which,” Philip looked up at his wife. “There’s something else we need to consider.”
“What’s that, dear?” Diane sounded… snippy.
“The FBI.” Philip’s eyes turned cold. “The longer we stay away from home, the more interest in our whereabouts they’ll have. It will give them the ideal excuse to gain legal access to our home, my… office.”
“Why is that?” Diane demanded. “Since when has it become a federal matter if a citizen chooses to take a vacation?”
“Since the agency decided they could simply snatch kids off the streets.”

* * *

They stood amongst their family and friends by the side of the main road, just outside the main gate. With the shelter still erected over the main square, this had become the temporary landing pad for the helicopters. Dressed against the cold, they said their good-byes. Beside them, a helicopter was warming its engines, ready to fly them to New Mexico.
“I bet Jim and Amy are glad they decided to take their honeymoon in California,” Nancy hugged herself in her thick jacket.
“Yeah,” Jeff agreed.
“Look,” Michael shook his head. “The immediate danger is over, right? Once we trace Nikolas, we shouldn’t have any problem getting rid of him.”
Michael sounded nervous. The Parkers and the Evans exchanged worried glances.
“I really think it’s best if you all head for home,” Michael faced them all. “There’s no point in hiding in the middle of nowhere anymore.”
“But…”
“We’ll all be heading back to Roswell ourselves, soon.”
“What’s going on, Michael?” Philip demanded through narrowed eyes.
“Not till I’ve spoken to Max,” Michael shook his head.
“Michael,” Philip drew himself up to his full height and leveled his most imposing glare.
“I’ve been glared at by Max,” Michael smirked. “And you don’t have half of what he has. Don’t think you can bully me into saying anything until Max says I can. I’m not a kid anymore.”

The sudden roar of another helicopter distracted them.
“At last!” Isabel looked down the road at the new arrival.
As Isabel hurried to meet the new arrivals, Michael assisted the parents into their helicopter.
“Wait!” Nancy exclaimed. “That’s Liz, and Max.”
Everyone watched as Max and Liz climbed from the recently arrived machine. With hardly a glance at their friends and family, they followed Isabel toward the camp.
“What was that all about?” Jeff asked Philip.
“No idea,” Philip shook his head. “Michael?”
“It’s probably nothing,” Michael shook his head, staring at his departing friends. “I’ll make sure they give you a call tonight.”
“Something’s wrong,” Nancy shook her head. “Didn’t you see the distance between them? Normally, you can’t pry them apart with an iron bar.”
“Yeah,” Maria nodded. “They don’t seem their normal google-eyed selves. Something must be wrong.”
“Well,” Granny called from where she watched the young couple disappear into the camp with Isabel. “We shouldn’t interfere. They need to learn how to work out any problems they have on their own. All we can do is be here for them if they need us.”
“Except we have to go home!” Diane complained.
Michael started to urge the others to continue their climb into the helicopter. At last he turned the handle to the closed position, and with a wave, turned and ran into the camp.
“What’s got into him?” Maria fumed.
“Something’s going on and he doesn’t know what,” Granny shrugged.

* * *

“Are you okay, Max?” Once Michael had caught up with them, he noticed at once how Max seemed to be concentrating hard on something. “You seem kind of…”
By way of an answer, Max simply nodded, staring straight ahead of him.
“So how was LA?” he turned to Liz.
She simply shrugged.
“Well, everyone on camp is ready to pack up at a moment’s notice, Maxwell,” he shook his head. “All we need to do now is decide where we’re going to meet Kivar and get ourselves set up.”
“Not now,” Isabel snapped at Michael.
Michael glared at Isabel, and then turned to look at Max and Liz, and the gap between them.
“Will someone tell me what is going on?”
“They’re following,” a voice spoke in Isabel’s ear.

Isabel could not help the lapse in concentration and glanced over her shoulder. She saw three human soldiers following her, a short distance away, looking as though they were just out for a walk.
“They’ve had plenty of chances to shoot,” she whispered to Max. “Maybe that’s not what they want.”
“What are you talking about?” Michael demanded as Max nodded his head at Isabel.
“Stay on your guard, just in case,” Isabel continued.
The tension in both Max, and Liz’s shoulders were evident. It was obvious that they were waiting for something to happen. Something bad. Michael could only look at his friends in confusion, knowing that there was trouble but frustrated beyond belief at the lack of information coming his way. It wasn’t soon enough for Michael when they reached Max and Liz’s cabin. They all stepped inside, closing the door behind them.
“What the hell is going on?” Michael demanded.
Isabel glanced out through the window.
“We have company, Michael,” Isabel peered in both directions.
“Who?”
“Nikolas’s shapeshifters.”
“Here? In camp?” A blood vessel in Michael’s temple started to twitch. “Why wasn’t I informed?” He turned to face his King. “Max?”
Max and Liz exchanged glances and then looked at Isabel. Both appeared awkward.
“Because I didn’t want you charging into them and wiping them out,” Isabel glared at him. “I’m hoping we might be able to use them to find Nikolas.”
“And you agreed to this?” Michael demanded of Max.
“Look, they’re not here to kill Max or Liz,” Isabel tried to placate Michael. “They’ve had dozens of chances to shoot at them but they didn’t.”
“Maybe they’re here to surrender,” Michael sneered.
“Maybe,” Isabel shrugged. “Maybe Max and I should step outside and see if they try to contact us.”
Max nodded and followed Isabel to the door.
“Not without me,” Michael joined them as they stepped out onto the porch.
“I can’t see them,” Isabel looked around at the trees. She reached up to a microphone and pressed the transmit button. “Where are they, guys?”
“They’re still there,” the voice assured her. “Trouble is, because of the range of this thing, and all of you in such a small place, you’re all one big blob.”
There was a sudden crash from inside the cabin, followed by a surprised scream. Max charged through the door, closely followed by Michael and Isabel. There was a large hole in the exterior wall, and there was no sign of Liz.

* * *

[WR]

Part 63

Steve Baurline groaned as he felt the light return to his eyes. He knew that when he opened them after his sleep – he hesitated to call it a night’s sleep, because he wasn’t sure – he would see the familiar surroundings of the white room in which he had been living since his abduction.
“Abduction,” he snorted. That had been a good one. He now knew that the conclusion to which he had leapt in the confusion of that night amid the stun grenades and the gas canisters had been incorrect beyond imagination. When he had recovered his wits and awakened in this room, similar to the many white rooms he had looked into so often during his career, he knew who his abductors were. An experienced team of military personnel had seized him. Special Forces, no doubt. Baurline remembered seeing the black protective combat suits and how alien it made the men seem in the half-light. The large, round, reflective eyes were simply protective goggles. The hexagonal mouth with the rows of holes, and the strange protrusion beneath the chin was a breathing apparatus, a gas mask. Necessary when using both gas and stun grenades at close quarters. His captors were mere humans, skilled in the art of abduction. The only questions he had regarding them were who? The ‘why’ was simple. It had to be alien related.
He could only guess how many days he had been here. The lights had been left on all the time, giving him no hint of day or night. Baurline guessed that fifteen days had passed since he had been taken. He had spent his time performing a series of both mental and physical exercises to keep his body and his mind active and alert. Baurline had seen no one during his incarceration. There was a drinking fountain in the corner of his room, near the bathroom, and his food appeared at regular intervals through a slot on the wall; although there was no telling from one day to the next which was breakfast and which was dinner. His daily routine was the same. His room was the same. Nothing had ever changed. Until today. Today, as he rose to a seated position on his bed, he could see that a chair and a table had appeared near the far corner. Attached to Baurline’s ankle was a chain. He lifted it in one hand, inspecting its strength. He knew without testing it that the chain would allow him access to every part of his white room, except for the corner with the table and chair. Someone was coming to see him. Now he just had to be patient and wait.

* * *

“Oh, God, Max,” Isabel whimpered. “I’m so sorry.”
“Just what were you thinking, Isabel?”
Max’s anger was more frightening due to the fact that he spoke quietly, rather than yelling in her face. Beneath his apparently calm exterior, she knew that he was a furious pit of boiling wrath. He was holding it in only because of the others, the soldiers. Beside her, Daigle and Johnson stood to attention, ready to accept their share of the blame. Max made a big show of not even looking at them. He left them to Major Armstead, afraid that he might take his fury too far with someone unable to adequately defend himself.
“You are supposed to be experienced veterans!” Armstead bawled, his nose almost touching Daigle’s. He moved his face to Johnson’s. “You have been in the field, soldier! You know the consequences of withholding battlefield intelligence!”
“Sir, yes sir!” they responded in unison.
Michael felt no compunction to limit his anger to his own kind. He was furious with everyone involved and didn’t care who saw it.
“I can’t believe you were so…so irresponsible, Isabel,” he snapped. His voice was louder than Armstead’s. “How can I do my job when you hold back important stuff from me? And as for you two.” He turned to face the soldiers. “I really thought you guys were an asset to us. Not asses for us.”
“You’ve let me down,” Max shook his head. His calm voice sent shivers through everyone. “Have we learned nothing? You know how dangerous it is to keep secrets. God Isabel. What were you thinking?”
“Max, I…”
“If anything happens to her,” his cold eyes burned into her. “I will never forgive you for this, Isabel.”
“I’ll never forgive myself, Max,” she murmured. “I know how badly I let everyone down. Especially poor… Look,” she stood her ground and met Max’s piercing gaze. “I accept full responsibility, but I really did think that it was a good plan.”
“We understood what she was doing, sir,” Daigle tried to intercede on Isabel’s behalf. He suspected that he was chancing his luck by speaking directly to Max in this mood, but he had to try. “We knew she was right when she said that she needed to make sure people didn’t keep looking up at the knoll.”
“So you thought that just watching enemies in our midst was just a fine and dandy thing to do, right?” Michael sneered. “Like some prime time TV show. America’s Dumbest Aliens. Did you take them up some pillows and blankets?”
“We thought we could find out what Nikolas was up to,” Isabel winced at Michael’s barb.
“Who cares what he was planning? When you stick spies into your enemies camp, it’s about sabotage, espionage, assassination or… kidnapping.”
“Yeah, okay, Michael,” Isabel defended. “But we needed to know for sure.”
“Well now we know,” he glared at her.
“Okay,” Max’s calmness brought their attention back to him. “We all agree that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do. Hindsight is twenty-twenty. All this bickering stops here. It’s done. Now let’s worry about getting her back where she belongs.”

* * *

“Report,” Serena addressed her officers.
“Kivar is making straight for the planet,” Chynn informed her. “If he knows of our presence, of which we are sure, he is ignoring us.”
“Small wonder,” Mantik nodded. “He has us outgunned. His attack ships alone would take us out before we could get a single shot off against him. We’re nothing more than an insect to him.”
“Max says we’re to hide, not fight,” Serena advised.
“Just as well,” Mantik clenched his fists at the impotence he felt. “Though the idea grates.”
“He doesn’t have his attack ships,” Chynn interrupted.
“Excuse me?” Serena looked across to him.
“Our spies have informed us that Kivar has left all his attack craft behind in favor of more troops. He knows how useless they would be in the Earth’s atmosphere.”
“It was lucky for us that his experiment with a ship that would work in the atmosphere failed,” Mantik looked relieved. “If he had air superiority as well as an advantage in numbers, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“You mean we have one now?” Serena raised her eyebrows.
“There’s more,” Chynn held his hand up. “He has removed all his defensive canons, and has left only a few attack guns. To deal with any vehicles the Earthlings might posses.”
“Does Earth have any weapon that would work against him?”
“No,” Chynn shook his head. “All Earthling weapons are based on projectiles of one form or another. And that means they will be made of earthly metal. Kivar will almost certainly be surrounded with a shield. Only Antarian… or Epsilian weapons will have any affect him.”
“How many soldiers can we get down to Max?”
“If we leave only essential personnel for the running of our ship, we can take approximately four hundred warriors. Perhaps only five to ten percent of what Kivar will have available to him.”
“Do we have any heavier weaponry than the hand lasers?”
“We have a few long range guns. And four mounted laser canons.”
“Take every weapon we have with us. We’ll have no need of them up here.”
“It will take us many trips,” Mantik stared off into the distance. “But we should manage to get everything down to the surface before Kivar gets here. Just.”
“Good. Start making the arrangements. Chynn, plot a course to take the Nyelda to the opposite side of the solar system, somewhere where you can watch the battle cruiser so it can’t sneak up on you.”
“We will almost certainly be spotted by the humans,” Chynn frowned.
“Try to avoid it if you can. At least until we hear that the humans have spotted Kivar’s ship. How soon will that be, do you think?”
“At the speed he’s travelling at, I would estimate that they will see Kivar two days before he reaches their atmosphere.”
“Has Max decided on tactics?” Mantik wondered.
“Yes,” Serena shook her head. “He plans to meet Kivar head on.”
“You’re kidding right?” Mantik looked astonished. “This is the human sense of humor we have heard about, correct?”
“No,” she shook her head. “Max is afraid that they’ll destroy every city, one at a time until they get to him. Just like Independence Day.”
“What is Independence Day? Is that a city or something?”
“I have no idea,” Serena shook her head. “Max says no one is going to die while he hides behind them.”
“So this is it, then,” Chynn placed his forehead on the table. “The end of Antar.”
“Well, if it gives you any hope, Max says that we shouldn’t count our chickens until they are hatched.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Mantik knitted his eyebrows. “I fear living on Earth has affected our King?”

* * *

“What’s the latest status from Nikolas?” Kivar demanded.
He was sitting in the navigator’s chair, watching the stars as they flew past in long strings of white light.
“His last reports claims that he still has had no contact from Ava since her return, sir,” the adjutant standing beside him told him. “He has no idea as to whether she survived her landing or not. It appears that she collided with an Earthling aircraft and the local military seized the ship after it was forced to crash land. There were rumors that the military launched a full-scale search in the nearby town. We have no information on who they were searching for, nor whether they were found.”
“Ava was not the prime concern,” he shrugged, ignoring the stunned look on his adjutant’s face. “Any female will do as an incubator. We need those zygotes.”
“There’s good news and bad news about those, sire.”
“Isn’t there always?” Kivar’s voice was dry.
“Nikolas knows the location of the zygotes.”
“But?”
“He is unable to gain access to the room in which they are stored.”
“Why not?” Kivar narrowed his eyes.
“It seems that the room was sealed by Zan himself, and only one with the seal may open it.”
“Damn him!” he spat. “He’s more wily now than when he was alive.”
“Technically, he is alive now, sir. And given the fact that the scientists gave him a human brain with their advanced potential realized, it’s hardly surprising.”
“Nikolas was the strongest of the General’s available to me. I sent an entire battalion with him. He should have found him while he was still a child rather than wasting time doing whatever it was he was doing. We shall have words, Nikolas and I. Has he revived the others yet?”
“That would be negative, sir.”
“Dare I ask why not?” Kivar sighed with resignation.
“It seems that Zan has destroyed the spare stone we sent down.”
“What?” Kivar’s angry outburst caused the people on the bridge to jump. “You mean that even after Zan destroyed the first one, and knowing he would attack the replacement, Nikolas still managed to make a complete… mess of the situation?”
“So it would seem. All reports suggest that this was Zan at his tactical best.”
“Get me Nikolas on the com. Now!”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the adjutant shook his head. “He seems to be unavailable just now. We think something is going on.”
“You mean he’s trying to pull his ass out of the fire,” Kivar spat.

* * *

The sound of an opening door drew Bauline’s attention away from calculating the sixty-first decimal point of Pi. He looked up and watched a young man in his mid twenties, wearing a long white lab coat enter the room. Ignoring its occupant, the man sat in the chair and placed a folder onto the table. Baurline didn’t move, failing to acknowledge that anyone had entered. The game was no mystery to him. He continued his calculation, knowing that the idea was to make him feel uncomfortable and start shouting demands at the stranger.
‘I helped to develop some of these techniques, dammit.’
Baurline had seen it all before. He wondered which agency the man might work for, or if he was even an American. While Baurline continued to flex his mind, the newcomer had opened the folder and had started to read its contents.
‘As if he hadn’t already memorized them,’ Baurline smirked.
At last, after perhaps half an hour by Baurline’s reckoning, the man pulled out a pad of paper from the back of the folder, and a fountain pen from his coat pocket. He made a ceremony out of preparing his pen for writing.
“You are ex-special agent, Steven Baurline.”
It was a statement, not a question. At no point did the man try to make eye contact. The way the pen hovered over the pad suggested that he was expecting an answer. Baurline considered the accent. It was clear that he had worked hard to eradicate any trace of an accent, but there was one there. Perhaps he hadn’t even realized it. There was a hint of Irish, but not strong enough to be natural Irish. Perhaps the man had grown up in an Irish neighborhood and was working so hard to hide the American twang that he did not hear his Irish burr. Somewhere like Boston, perhaps? He debated with himself over whether he should answer or not. Continued silence would get him nowhere, however.
“You’ll have wasted an awful lot of resources if I’m not,” he smirked.
The man widened his eyes. It was just a flicker, but Baurline, trained to be observant, spotted it.
“Is that a yes, or no?”
He could sense that man was working very hard to contain his annoyance. Any emotional outburst will mean that Baurline would have won. He doubted that the interrogator had ever met someone not intimidated by his surroundings.
“If you don’t know who I am, then what is the point in having me brought here? Why don’t we skip these games and get to the point?”
“I can make things very awkward for you.” The smile was a tight one, designed to appear threatening.
“Oh, please,” Baurline rolled his eyes. “I know you need me alive, otherwise I would already be dead. Which, I guess, to the outside world, I am.”
“Maybe not.”
Baurline started to laugh.
“Listen, sonny,” he shook his head. “I’ve been playing this game a lot longer than you’ve been born. You really should return to your master and demand a whipping for not paying attention to his lessons. If you had been a student of mine, I would have got rid of you ages ago. You are as intimidating as a dead mouse.”
The man’s mouth opened and closed, but no words came from his enraged face.
“Davids!” a voice snapped over an intercom. “Skip the dramatics and get to the point.”
“See,” Baurline smirked. He had won. “I said that earlier. You could have spared yourself all that embarrassment if you had listened to me.”
“The bottom line, Mr. Baurline,” Davids spat through clenched teeth, “is that some ‘people’ we know believe that they will soon have access to the… aliens that have so far eluded every attempt made by you and your team to… inhibit their freedom.”
“And you need me because…?”
“We wish to… apprehend them. Your experience will be very helpful to us. You can help us to make sure that we don’t make the same mistakes you have made.”
“It’s not that I made any mistakes,” Baurline shook his head with a smile. “You really don’t understand what these aliens are capable of, do you? They have these abilities. It’s like they know you’re there. They knew that I had that team of snipers in place. They knew that I was chasing them through Colorado. I tell you, either they have a spy in the agency, or they can predict the future.”
“Nevertheless, we wish to avoid making the same… we wish to prevent the aliens from slipping through a carefully laid trap.”
“What’s in it for me? I mean, as I am officially dead, you can hardly reinstate me and give me a public apology. And what of my fate when my usefulness comes to an end?”
“We could give you a new life. Similar to the Witness Protection Plan.”
“Uh huh,” Baurline shook his head. “And what happens to those bastards once you’ve caught them?”
“They have the honor of spending the rest of their lives giving us their technology so that not only do the people we represent become the single most powerful force on the planet, they will also have the technology to not only defend the Earth, but to colonize other planets.”
“What about all my slain comrades? The murdered airforce personnel? What of the countless people who have given their lives in the protection from an invasion of these monsters?”
“Eventually, we shall have learned all we can from these… creatures. At that point, they will no longer be of any use to us. Catch them for us, and you can be the one to eliminate them when they are of no further use to us.”
“Seems like I’ve been here before.”

* * *

“Well done,” Nikolas congratulated the three shapeshifters who had been successful in their mission. To give him some leverage over Max Evans. “Did you meet any resistance?”
“None, sir,” the three shook their heads. “They never even knew we were there. Their defenses are pitiful. If we were to launch an all out attack now, we could overrun them in moments.”
“No,” Nikolas shook his head. “Now that I have what I need, I can get what I want. Then we can attack. Without their leader, they’ll be nothing.”
The four men looked down on the bed where the small, dark haired human girl struggled against her bonds. Her hands and feet were bound with metal cuffs and there was a gag tied around her mouth.
“You used depleted uranium?”
“We did,” they nodded. “Does she have powers?”
“I believe so,” Nikolas nodded. “But better not to take any chances. Go and find Slekt. He has your reward for you.”
“Thank you, sir,” they saluted before leaving the motel room.
Nikolas turned his attention to Liz.
“I’m going to take the gag off, now,” he told her. “I really would prefer it if you didn’t scream or anything, but frankly, I don’t care either way. The room is one hundred percent sound proof.”
He removed the gag. Liz moved her jaw around to bring life back to her mouth.
“What do you want?” Liz demanded at last.
Her voice sounded a little hoarse.
“I want something that Max has,” he shrugged. “You’re my collateral.”
“Just who am I talking to?”
“Why, Lizzie,” he laughed. “We have met before, you know. Although, back then, I was just a teenager, though younger than you.”
“Nikolas,” Liz spat.
“That’s right,” he grinned. “I’d like to say in the flesh, but we both know how untrue that is.”
“I see you think you’ve grown up now,” she sneered. “But still behaving like a child, I see.”
“Does this new body do anything for you?” Nikolas formed himself into a bodybuilder’s pose. “Seeing as you have a penchant for alien meat.”
“Oh, please,” Liz snarled at him, tugging at her bonds. “You? Don’t make me laugh.”
“There’s no point in struggling, Lizzie,” Nikolas smirked. “The only way that you will leave here alive… oh wait. You’re not leaving here alive.”
“Max will come.”
“I hope so,” Nikolas laughed. “Otherwise I will have wasted my time won’t I? Either he comes to deal, or he comes to fight, in which case… It’s a win win situation. But for now, he doesn’t know where you are. He’ll come to where I tell him, when I tell him. Of course, I will have set up a suitable trap, first.”
“Didn’t you learn your lesson the other night?”
“Ah, that,” Nikolas shrugged. “Well, this time, I hold an ace. You.”
Liz remained silent.
“Did you know that I have this ability to connect to another person’s mind, and extract all their memories?” Nikolas started to pace around the bottom of the bed. “It’s not very pleasant, I’m afraid. In fact, it’s quite painful. I’m told that my victims call it a kind of raping of the mind.” He stopped and looked down on her. “But don’t worry. There’s nothing that we don’t already know all about you and your crew. And I really would rather not see images of you and Max fucking each other’s brains out. So I won’t rape your mind.”
The door opened, and five of Nikolas’s men came in, all of them looking down at Liz.
“Your body, on the other hand…”
“I’ll fight you,” Liz hissed as the six of them moved in on her.
“Yes,” Nikolas leered. “We’re rather counting on it.”

* * *


Authors Note:

I understand how the subjest of rape can cause problems for some of my readers. I did not use it lightly. All through my story, Nikolas has shown himself to be a bit of a degenerate in his new husk, and this latest venture would be the ultimate insult to Max, a man he hates with a vengence.
If anyone has problems coming to terms with this ending, and is in desperate need of help, please feel free to b-mail me. I will try to help in anyway I can.

[WR]

Part 64

Max sat on the old dock and stared across the lake at the sun rising behind the distant hills. A thin mist rose from the ice cold water of the lake, lending a surreal sense of peace to a mind in turmoil. His thoughts wandered back to those carefree months when he and Liz had been newlyweds, and although the threat of discovery was ever present, their lives had been so simple. By comparison. So different to his days now. After the intense discussions surrounding the rescue plan, Max had had enough of the anarchism that existed around him. He had left the others to plan the rescue attempt, safe in the knowledge that Michael and Major Armstead, at least, knew what they were doing. He had been so angry with Isabel and the others, that he had left the room. Max needed to be alone. Alone with his dark thoughts that at times, threatened to overwhelm him. That had been yesterday afternoon. Unable to sleep, Max had spent the night either in the diner where he had brooded away an hour or two while staring into a cup of cooling coffee, or wandering through the frozen grounds, reflecting. His footsteps had lead him to here, where he remembered with a strange clarity, that night that he had made love to Liz on the floating pontoon on the lake before she had received that vision that started their flight to these times. With a heavy sigh, Max climbed to his feet and headed toward the cabin. It was time to retake the reigns of leadership once more, and discover what plan they had come up with.

He picked his way along the icy path and through the bare branches - denuded by the turning seasons - that grabbed at his jersey as he pushed through them. The rumble in his stomach reminded him that he had not eaten since breakfast, yesterday morning, in Los Angeles. His first port of call was the diner, where he satisfied his initial hunger pangs with two slices of toast, as much as he could eat under the circumstances and a cup of hot coffee, laced with a heavy helping of Tobasco. After placing his dishes in the kitchen, in spite of the protestations of the workers preparing breakfast, he left the diner to the early morning risers. When Max arrived at the cabin, it was as though the others hadn’t moved in his absence. The hybrids, their human counterparts and the military officers were all standing in a circle around the table, exactly where he had left them fifteen hours ago. He wondered if they had even slept.
“So, what’s the plan?” Max asked from the doorway, interrupting their current discussion.
“We mount up, go and get her and leave behind a mess of dust,” Kyle drew imaginary guns from an imaginary holster, shot Max with his fingers, blew across their tips and shoved his ‘guns’ back into their holsters.
“So, you know where they took her?” Max sounded surprised.
“We do,” Maria grinned.
“Did you dreamwalk her, Isabel?”
“That would only have worked if she was in any state to have seen where they took her,” Isabel shrugged. “I’m sure Tess would have told Kivar all about us, who would have told Nikolas, so… Somehow, I doubt that would have worked.”
“So how…?”
“Tracker,” Connie beamed.
“Excuse me?”
“She had a tracking device,” Michael explained.
“So let me get this straight,” Max looked at Isabel. “You thought something like this might happen?”
“Duh,” Isabel glared. “Of course I did.”
Max looked over to Michael who shrugged and shook his head.
“What if they’ve discovered it, and have sent it somewhere else, to delay us? They’re bound to have searched her.”
“It’s internal, Max,” Eldugar told him. “And it uses a low frequency which is almost undetectable by anything the Epsilians use.”
“So… so what range does this thing have?”
“Daigle said about a couple of hundred miles,” Isabel grinned. “But we already found her. I guessed that they would want to be someplace wet and not too far from here. They’re going to want to bargain, I expect. So I figured Oregon. And sure enough, our scouts found them yesterday evening.”
“And we’ve waited all this time, leaving her in the hands of Nikolas and his goons, because…?”
“Reconnaissance,” Michael nodded. He walked across the room to a large map of Oregon. “We tracked them to a motel complex here.” He pointed to a mountainous area just across the Oregon State line, along Highway 20, near the town of Burns.”
“How appropriate,” Max stared at the map.
“Late yesterday afternoon, we sent two families to register at the same motel. They’ve been keeping their eyes and ears open. Not only that, they’ve set up a couple of web-cams.”
“Wait,” Max held his hand up. He looked outraged. “You deliberately put two families at risk over this? Did either family have children?”
Michael looked at Isabel and then back to Max.
“What do you think?”
“Michael, I…”
“They’re facing the end of the world, too, Max,” his friend explained. “They volunteered for this so I figured, let them do what they can. Besides…” His face broke into a grin. “Why should we have all the fun?”
“Fun?” Max exploded.

A gentle hand rested onto Max’s shoulders.
“He’s teasing you,” a soft voice assured him.
Max turned to the source of his comfort.
“Liz,” his voiced lost its tension.
“Where did you get to last night,” she raised her eyebrows. “I missed you, you know.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” he shrugged. “I went for a bit of a walk. You know… to think.”
“You should have let me know,” she frowned. “I would have come with you.”
“No sense in both of us losing sleep.”
“I could have helped, Max,” Liz soothed. “This whole thing really bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I mean, I know Frimona and Tallen volunteered to pose as you and I, but that doesn’t stop me worrying, Liz. What if we had been here? What if they had really captured you? And what will Nikolas do when he realizes that he has an imposter? What will he do to her in any case?”
“Max, we weren’t here, okay?” Liz’s voice was firm, yet filled with sympathy. “You know that there’s no one in this camp that would have placed either you or me in such a dangerous situation. Isabel only did what she did because we were away. You know it would have been different if we weren’t. And Frimona must have known that something dangerous might have come of this. You can’t be held responsible when bad things happen to people who volunteer, okay? It’s like these families. They know the risks they’re taking, but they’re taking them anyway. Not just for you, but, yeah, for you too. Would you behave any differently?”
“I doubt it,” Max sighed, leaning forward until his forehead touched against hers.
“Did you get any sleep?”
“No,” he shook his head. “I’ll sleep later when Frimona is safe.”
“Then let’s get on with the planning. The sooner she’s free, the sooner you can get some sleep.”
Max nodded, laced his hand into Liz’s and approached the table.
“So… what do you think, Michael?”
Michael looked around the table, watching the nodding heads of everyone involved.
“I think that whatever happens, Max, for you, this is personal. I don’t want you in the front line. I want you and Liz to hang back and direct things. With Kivar on his way, we can’t afford to lose you. Any one of the rest of us on the other hand…”
Max looked down at Liz who was looking up and nodding at him.
“Okay,” Max agreed. “But I want to talk to him, first.”
“What?” Michael erupted. “No way, Max!”
The others were voicing their own negative opinions.
“Max,” Michael calmed himself down. “We can’t afford to lose the element of surprise.”
“What surprise?” Max raised an eyebrow. “Nikolas has sensors. We won’t catch him napping again. He’ll be watching them like a hawk. He’ll see us coming. I just…” Max sighed. “I want to give him a chance to surrender.”
“After the last time?” Michael’s jaw dropped. “Are you crazy?”
“Sorry,” Max scratched behind his ear. “I can’t be any other way and still sleep at night.”
“This above all else,” Liz smiled, leaning into Max to lend her support. “To thine own self be true.”
“Great!” Kyle growled. “We’re living our life according to freaking Shakespeare now?”
“Beats listening to Bhudda,” Maria smirked.
“Forgive her, oh benevolent one,” Kyle looked up at the ceiling. “She has yet to see the light.”

Max wouldn’t meet anyone’s gaze as the room fell silent. At last, Michael called the meeting to order by asking for the photographs again.
“Photos?” Max looked up.
“From the web cams, Max,” Liz told him, reaching across the table. She started to lay some pictures in front of him.
“This might be better,” Michael told him, sliding the opened laptop computer to him.
The screen was divided into four sections. In each section, a different view of the motel forecourt was represented. Figures ‘jerked’ across the images. Max seemed fascinated by them.
“Any sign of…”
“No,” Michael shook his head. “Not yet. A few skins we recognize, and some we don’t.”
“But no sign of the adolescent pygmy,” Maria shook her head.
“Wait,” Max called. “Who’s this?”
Max pointed to a young man who walked across the screen. As other skins passed him, they seemed to defer to him.
“Not sure,” Michael started to leaf through the photographs, looking for a clearer picture. “I don’t think we’ve seen him before.”
“It’s Nikolas,” Max stated. He fought down a wave of nausea as his head started to pound.
“Are you su…”
“That’s him,” Max was almost spitting the words out. “He has a new husk, but I’d recognize that arrogance anywhere. That’s him.”
“Excuse me, Max?” a soldier called from the doorway, reluctant to enter.
“Yeah?” Max looked over at him.
“There’s a guy at the gate asking for you by name.”
Everyone looked at Max with concerned faces.
“I think he’s a Brit.”
“Take him over to the diner,” Max smiled. “Have someone rustle up a Galaxy Sub for him. Tell the chef it’s the one Maria prepares for us. And heavy on the Pepperjack.” He turned to his friends as the soldier hurried back to the gate. “Come on guys, let’s finish up here and head down to the diner. We have a guest.”
“Wait,” Maria held her hand up. A look of surprise held her face. “Pepperjack? Brody? You invited Brody Davis up here?”

* * *

“I’ll only talk to Max,” Larek shook his head at the horde of strangers that had descended upon the diner.
Even though he knew that he himself could not be physically hurt by anyone here, it took a lot of time and energy to groom a new host.
“I can accept that,” Max nodded.
“Hey, wait…” Michael looked at Max. His eyes grew dark.
“I said, I can accept that, Michael,” Max warned him.
Michael was learning. He knew when to back down. Max’s next comment, however, fueled his inner rage.
“But I want my wife with me, Larek.”
Larek looked at Max.
“So be it,” he nodded with a smirk. He looked around the room at the faces, some of whom he recognized. “Where is Lady Ava, anyway?”
Max and Liz exchanged an amused look and shook their heads.
“Come on, Larek,” Max escorted Larek into the empty cabin that had been prepared for this special summit. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Liz followed behind them, still shaking her head. This promised to be a long afternoon.
“What’s she doing,” Larek raised his eyebrows when he saw Liz close the door behind them, but remained in the room with them.
“Larek,” Max reached his hand out to Liz. “Allow me to introduce…”
“I know who Lady Millia is, Max,” Larek gave her a polite bow. “I only gave permission to have your wife, Lady, I mean, Queen Ava present. You remember Ava, Zan? Kivar’s daughter? Your wife?”
“Things are, uh… different here, Larek,” Max looked down at the ground while he tugged at his earlobe. He looked up and indicated a chair, allowing Larek to seat himself. “Ava’s uhm… she died. I uh… never married her in this life. And this…” He turned to Liz. “This is not Lady Millia, no matter how much she looks like her. This is Liz. Liz Evans. My wife, my Queen.” Max smiled at her, allowing his love to radiate in his eyes. “My… life.” He led Liz to a chair and when she was comfortable, sat down beside her. Max turned back to Larek. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you. About my life. My past life, I mean.”
“Right,” Larek seemed nervous.
“I heard recently,” Max continued, “that… we were at war… you and I.”
Larek shifted in his seat, appearing uncomfortable.
“Yeah. Yeah, we are.”
Max nodded, allowing those simple words to sink in.
“From our… conversations in New York, at the summit that time, and again with the Gandarium, I assumed that we were friends.”
“We were once,” Larek shrugged, reaching for the pitcher of water and an empty glass. “Then you started your expansionist policy.”
“Expansionist?” Max seemed surprised.
“With my own eyes, I saw your greed when you started to take Kivar’s lands from him. Then, when you conquered the House of Stellarine and took the Lady Millia…” Larek couldn’t help nodding toward Liz. “…as an honor hostage… I would have ignored you had I not learned of your plans for the conquest of the rest of the five planets, and the Universe.”
“Wait,” Max held up his hand and frowned. He looked at Liz as though for confirmation. “I never planned to rule the universe.” He returned to Larek. “From what I’ve been told, I was never truly comfortable with leading my own house.”
“You mean that’s what you want to believe,” Larek sneered.
“I don’t understand. Who told you all this?”
“Kivar,” Larek shrugged. “He was complaining of your demand to marry Ava in an attempt to claim Kreskascent loyalty.”
“There’s a surprise,” Liz snorted. “So basically, you threw away years of friendship and went to war with a man you used to trust completely, just because Kivar, a known enemy of Zan’s and a man recently humiliated by a…” she smiled at Max, “young upstart says so?”
“That’s about it,” Larek nodded. “Yeah.”
“Some friend,” Liz bit through clenched teeth.
“See, we knew you wanted the Granolith. As was borne out when my fleet started to move and Zan seized control of it. Do you have any idea of how much power it possesses?”
“Trust me, Larek” Liz closed her eyes. Her words came out in a near whisper. “I have a better idea than you do.”
“The Granolith chose Zan,” Max stroked Liz’s arm. “He didn’t take it.”
“What?”
“The Granolith cannot be used unless it allows you to use it,” Max shook his head. “The thing selected me… Zan over Kivar to lead as King of a united Antar against the threat from Epsilia.”
“It could have chosen Kivar,” Liz added.
Larek looked confused.
“In New York,” Max stated, “when Nikolas admitted that Kivar didn’t have the Granolith, that I had it, you all looked… shocked.”
“Kivar had always told us that without the Granolith, you were defenseless down here,” Larek’s eyes went distant. “That’s why I had agreed to lend him a force of Epsilians under my best General to hunt you down.”
“And kill me.”
Larek nodded.
“No,” Liz shook her head with an emphatic vigor. Her eyes blazed daggers at Larek’s naivete. “No, that’s not right. Nikolas has known Max’s whereabouts for ages. Nikolas also knew that Max had the Granolith. He even invaded Roswell with some time dilator thing in an attempt to find it. If he’s one of your men, why wouldn’t he have passed that info on?”
“I don’t know,” Larek frowned. “Nikolas’s orders were to find and kill you and to return the other three to Kivar.”
“He had the chance,” Liz growled. She looked over to Max. “But he chose to interrogate him with that mind thing of his instead. Trying to locate the Granolith for Kivar.”
“No. No,” Larek shook his head. “I refuse to believe that my best general would betray me in that way.”
There was a moment of silence, as both men stared at each other in deadlock.
“So why did you warn me… us,” Max spoke at last. “When we spoke to you about the Gandarium. You warned me of its danger to the planet.”
“The danger was a little over exaggerated,” Larek shrugged after a lengthy pause. What harm would telling Max now, do? “It wouldn’t have done any harm to the rest of the planet. The Queen needed a suitable host in which to reside. It’s a parasite. It uses weak willed humans to help it to find suitable hosts. That was the only danger it posed to this planet, the destruction of a new host every ten years or so.”
“But why…”
“Because I wanted you dead, remember? I wanted you to do something that would endanger yourself. If you weren’t killed trying to steal a Space Shuttle, you would have eventually suffocated in space waiting for a promised ship that would never arrive.”
“That’s horrible,” Liz blanched.
“And we were friends?” Max raised his eyebrows. “And that discussion? On how you introduced me to Ava?”
“Fabrications,” Larek nodded. “Kivar informed me that Nikolas was unable to kill you because you were constantly surrounded by your companions. We needed to get you closer to Ava so that she might… get you to drop your guard.”
“So what was the deal with Max’s heir?” Liz asked.
“There was no deal regarding Max’s heir,” Larek narrowed his eyes. “Why would we want an heir to a man we wanted dead anyway? Kivar said that once you were dead and the threat of the Granolith removed, the people would accept him as Ruler.”
“In his dreams,” Liz hissed through clenched teeth.
“I don’t have the Granolith,” Max looked Larek in the eye. “Tess… I mean, Ava took it back to Antar, over a year ago.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s still true,” Max shrugged. “Tess, she, uh…”
“Tess managed to impregnate herself with Max’s son and ran home with the Granolith,” Liz blurted. The faster she said it, the less it hurt. “It was part of a deal with Kivar, through Nikolas. That was why they wanted Max and Tess, I mean, Ava, closer. She tricked Max into firing up the Granolith, and Tess went home in it. I expect Kivar has it now, but Max’s heir died when he was placed on the throne.”
“I don’t believe you,” Larek shook his head.
“How many men does Kivar have on his ship?” Max asked.
Larek looked both bewildered and shocked. Bewildered at Max’s sudden change of topic and shocked that Max knew of Kivar’s approach.
“I’m not your prisoner, Max,” he regained his composure. “You don’t expect me to tell you that, do you?”
“You’re being used, Larek,” Liz told him. “You have been all along. Can’t you see that?”
“That would suit you, wouldn’t it?”
“All I want, Larek,” Max scratched behind his ear, “is to be left alone so I can live my life with my family and my friends.” He gazed at Liz once more with love in his eyes. “With Liz. I don’t want to rule Antar, Epsilia or any other corner of this universe with the exception of my own living room. If I can prove any of Nikolas’… double crossing you, will you consider a peace proposal from me?”
“Only if you show me real proof and not that which you claim is proof.”
“I can live with that,” Max nodded. “Larek, one last thing. The body you use to visit me, he’s a… a friend of mine. A good… friend. It disturbs him to wake up after you leave him, and he finds himself somewhere unexpected. When you’ve finished… could you try to get him home first?”
Larek looked at Max with a strange expression. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you, Larek.”
“Do you have somewhere for me to stay while you arrange for this proof?”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “Of course. I’ll arrange for someone to escort you.” Max looked to the door. “You can come in now, Michael.”
Michael stepped into the room, as though he was already in motion before Max called.
“Can you see to Larek’s comfort?”
“Sure, Max,” Michael nodded.
The look he cast said that the expected the full story on his return. Max nodded.
“So,” Liz rose from her seat, stepped beside Max and slid onto his lap. She wrapped her arms around his neck, running her hands through her hair and placed a warm, lingering kiss on his lips. “You handled that well, Max,” she smiled.
“Maybe we can be friends again?”
“I’m sure you can,” Liz smiled. “If anyone can do this, it’s you. Who knows? Maybe you can even win over Kivar.”
“The impossible I can do at once,” Max smiled. “Miracles take a little bit longer.”
“You are so full of it, Mr. Evans,” Liz grinned.

* * *

Now, for those of you concerned for Frimona, please go back an re-read Max and Cal's conversation during the party. That should reat your mind.
And remember, you should trust WR. He's not THAT bad.

Take care, everybody,
Wayne.

[WR]

Part 65

“Remember, Max,” Liz stood in front of her husband and dusted imaginary flecks of dust from his jacket. “Be firm, be strong. We discussed all this last night, so no being the old unsure Max. Be the confident leader, the strong king that we all know you are.”
“I don’t feel confident, Liz,” Max gave a sad snort. “Or strong. What if…?”
“Don’t go borrowing trouble,” Liz placed her fingers over his lips. “We both know that this is the only way we’ll get her out of there. You’ll be just fine. I have every confidence in you. ‘We’ have every confidence in you.”
“I love you,” Max leaned down and brushed her lips with his.
“What a coincidence,” Liz smiled, returning his kiss. “Now go. Prove to Larek that you are still his friend, even though I really don’t think that he deserves your friendship.”
Max turned to face his gathered comrades, standing in a semi-circle behind him.
“Everyone ready?” Max looked at Michael.
“Yeah,” he nodded, answering Max’s question for the fourth time. “You’ll be covered at all times. Just make sure you hold it together enough to throw up your shield if he pulls any stunts. And as soon as you get fed up with the runt, just walk away. As soon as you’re clear, we’ll move in.”
“Michael,” Max warned.
“I know,” Michael shook his head. “You want to give him a chance to blah, blah, blah.”
“Right,” Max nodded, glancing over his shoulder at the Motel. He took a deep breath and exhaled in a slow, steady breath. “Here goes.”
He reached out and clasped Liz’s hand. He gave it a squeeze, smiled at her and then releasing her, turned toward the motel. He stepped through the thick layer of trees that they had used as a shield, even though they knew that Nikolas was aware of their presence. The long row of motel rooms came into view. Max felt a slight sense of relief at the fact that there were only half a dozen cars. That meant that there would be fewer innocents caught in any crossfire.

“Nikolas!” Max called. His breath left a heavy cloud of steam as the call seemed to be absorbed by the snow-dusted trees. “I know that you know I’m here. Come on out so we can talk.”
The door to a motel room in the middle of the complex opened. A tall young man with short blond hair stepped out into the open. He looked around as though checking to make sure that the coast was clear. He walked with an air of arrogant confidence toward Max.
“You found me,” the young man smirked. “How clever of you. Are you developing some kind of new power?”
“You have no idea of what power I possess, Nikolas. Or how strong I am.”
“Ah,” Nikolas sneered. “I expect it was some kind of connection to your slut.”
“Be strong,” Liz’s voice reminded him.
“Maybe,” Max shrugged.
“I suppose you want her back?” He sounded amused.
“That’s the general idea.”
“What if I told you that she doesn’t want to come back? That she’s enjoying her time here.” There was a mocking tone to Nikolas’s words.
“I’d say that was highly unlikely.”
“What is it about them that you find so fascinating?” Nikolas grabbed at his crotch. “I mean, apart from the obvious, which isn’t totally unappealing, why did you ditch your Antarian bride for the weaker sex of a weaker sub-species?”
Max shrugged and stabbed his hands into his jacket pocket.
“You’ve been down here as long as I have. No, wait. Technically, you’ve been here longer than me. And yet, you still see them as weak?”
“Please,” Nikolas raised his eyebrows. “They’re like… a kind of vermin.”
“We’re kinda straying from the point,” Max smirked.
“Ah yes. Your slut.”
“There’s no need to call her that,” Max glared.
“There isn’t?” Nikolas leered. “You see, me and the boys have been welcome visitors to her bed for the last few days. And nights. She moans like a ten-dollar whore, you know. Can’t get enough of us.”
Max felt his blood starting to boil. His fists started to clench and his body shifted, ready to take an involuntary step toward his nemesis. The thought of what Frimona was having to endure was starting to affect him.
“To an Antarian, any physical contact means absolutely nothing. You know, it’s like… grazing your knuckles. Our regenerative qualities just cause it to become a thing of the past. Not even a memory. Do you remember every time you’ve ever grazed your knuckles?”
Cal’s words came to Max’s mind like an antidote to a snake bite. He felt his body start to relax as he allowed his anger to dissipate. He reminded himself that there was more than Frimona’s comfort and freedom at stake here.
“Let’s end this game, Nikolas,” Max shook his head. “I’ve come to offer you and your men the chance to surrender.”

Nikolas stared at Max for moment before he started to laugh.
“That’s rich,” he smirked. “I hold all the aces and you want me to fold my hand? Nuh uh. I don’t think so.” He ran his hand through his short hair. “See, I know how… weak the human girl, Liz, makes you. I know how you will do absolutely anything to save her. So here’s how this is going to play out. First, I want you to retrieve those fertilized eggs that you have locked away in Ava’s lab. Bring them here to me. Then you, Vilondra, Rath and if she’s still around, Ava, will surrender yourselves to me. Then, I will let Liz and the rest of your motley crew go.”
“So why would you want the eggs?” Max asked in a voice that was louder than necessary. “I thought you wanted the monarchy dead?”
“I just want you dead,” Nikolas shook his head. “And that buffoon of a traitor, Rath. But your heir, I want very much alive. Oh, and Vilondra too. Kivar seems to be amused at the thought of having her groveling at his feet.”
“Why would you need my heir? He would be the ruler of Antar, not you, or Kivar.”
“Like that’s gonna happen,” Nikolas sniggered. “Kivar will rule through your heir, moron. You do understand the concept of a Regency, don’t you? Kivar will have access to the Granolith – thanks for returning it, by the way. Kivar was really pleased when he heard Ava had shown up in it. Once he has established a rapport with it, it shouldn’t be too long before he gains control permanently.”
“So then he can rule all of Antar.”
“And the other’s, Zan,” Nikolas shrugged. “Antar’s such a small planet, and after the other four, why not here too? And the rest of the universe.”
“It’s a big place, Nikolas,” Max shook his head. “What’s in it for you?”
“Epsilia,” Nikolas grinned. “I’m sure that some terrible accident is bound to happen to Larek, and well, Epsilia will see me, his most loyal general as his natural successor. Better a figurehead for Kivar than an enemy of his.”

“It’s good that all your men are so loyal to you,” Max observed. “I mean, all it would take is for one of them to tell Larek what you are up to and it’s all over. I expect they view treason on Epsilia in much the same way as they do here on Earth.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “They believe what I tell them. And I tell them that this is what Larek wants. And, as I’m the only one in contact with Larek…”
“I could tell him,” Max grinned. “We were friends once.”
“Yeah, once,” Nikolas laughed. “Do you have any idea how hard we had to work to turn him against you? But we succeeded, and to coin a human expression, it will be a cold day in hell before he’d ever trust you again. Now, time is of the essence. The zygotes?”
“Of course,” Max nodded. “You need them before Kivar gets here. I expect he’ll be rather annoyed that you lost not only one, but two stones.”
Max gave a momentary smile when he saw Nikolas’ shock at his knowledge.
“Never mind Kivar,” Nikolas glowered. “Or the stones. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about Liz?”
“Be the confident leader, the strong king that we all know you are.”
“Liz is fine.” It was Max’s turn to smirk. “She sends her regards, by the way.”
“Yeah,” Nikolas sneered. “Sure she did.”

“I’m getting tired of this fencing. Michael just wants to attack and finish you off once and for all. I’m not quite that… cold. I’d prefer it if you surrendered, but if you don’t, I’m afraid that I have to give in to Michael.”
“If you attack, then I will kill Liz.”
“No you won’t,” Max shook his head. “You will kill an Antarian. She just looks like Liz.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“I’m hearing that a lot lately.”
“Okay,” Nikolas felt the sands shifting beneath his feet. “Say I do believe you. If you attack me, I’ll kill the Antarian.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded with a sad frown. “I guessed as much. Maybe a year ago, I’d have backed down. But you see, this girl that you say makes me weak has helped to give me a strength I never had before. The Antarian girl is a warrior. She volunteered for this assignment, knowing that it might be a suicide mission. I’d prefer it if nothing happened to her, but I won’t demean her sacrifice and throw everything away for the life of one soldier. We have another expression here on Earth. You can’t bake a cake without breaking eggs.”

Nikolas stared at Max. This was not how it was supposed to play out. Max was supposed to be a weak, pathetic fool, pining after this Liz.
“Enough!” Larek called out, stepping from his hiding place in the trees.
Nikolas moved to strike, but relaxed when he saw his leader.
“Excellency,” Nikolas blinked. He performed a strange genuflection with his left hand. “What are you doing here?”
“Bringing overcoats to the denizen’s of Hell,” Larek remarked dryly.
“Have you come to witness Zan’s end?” Nikolas chose to ignore Larek’s sarcasm, though he had an edge to him. “His final demise?”
“To the casual observer,” Larek glanced around at the surrounding trees that he knew seethed with impending violence, “it would seem that it is not Zan who should worry about his demise.”
“Appearances can be deceiving, oh exalted one,” Nikolas bowed.
“Don’t be such a sycophant,” Larek spat. “Your groveling ways irritate me here as much as they did on Antar. But you speak truthfully. Appearances are deceiving. For instance, I could easily believe that you are still loyal to me, Nikolas.”
“But I am, sir,” Nikolas’s head bobbed up and down. “None could be no more loyal than I.”
“Then prove it. Prove your loyalty to me.”
“Just give the command and it is already done.”
“That’s good Nikolas,” he smiled. “Because I want you to save yourself and the rest of my men. I want you to surrender to Zan.”
Nikolas’s face fell.
“You have no need to worry of our fate, Larek,” Nikolas frowned. “We all volunteered for this mission, knowing our possible fate. We are warriors. Let us die fighting our enemy. Besides, there are factors that place the outcome of a battle in our favor. Factors that you might not be aware of.”
“Do you mean that you tried to kidnap Zan’s human wife and hold one of his warriors captive instead? Or the fact that Kivar is on his way?”
“Both,” Nikolas’s eyes darted from side to side.
“As a warrior, and a once great general, do you not find your behavior reprehensible? No matter how hated the enemy, I would never inflict such cruelty upon a civilian.”
“If she is his wife, that makes her the Queen,” Nikolas snarled. “And as such, that makes her a viable military target.”
“The point is moot,” Larek shook his head. “Zan and I have negotiated a peace treaty. Epsilia and Kivar’s Antarians are no longer allied in this conflict, Nikolas. We are now allied with Zan. And as such, I demand that you surrender your forces to Zan.”
Nikolas looked over his shoulder at the motel building.
“I’ll need to talk to my men.”
“Your men, Nikolas?” Larek raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps it’s just as well that I allowed my voice to carry when I spoke my last command.”
“Yes,” Nikolas nodded, hiding his sudden worry. “My men. And why not? For the last fifty years, I have looked after their interests, their welfare. You couldn’t possibly know what we have had to endure. The men are loyal to me now.”
“Don’t be foolish, Nikolas. There is peace between Epsilia and Zan now. That means that Kivar will no longer hold the upper hand on Antar any more. Kivar’s days are numbered.
“You would do well to choose your words with greater care, Larek,” Nikolas started to laugh. “Kivar is on his way to here to destroy Zan. Even with his pathetic human allies, he will still be no match for Kivar. This ends very soon. It would seem that you have allied yourself with the losing side right at the end. And Kivar is one to remember his friends.
“Will you be around to see his victory? Zan and his men have you surrounded.”
“He can talk the talk,” Nikolas smirked. “But can he walk the walk?”
“History hasn’t taught you this?” Larek widened his eyes. “He’s been walking all over you since… forever.”
“Know your enemy, Larek. And I know mine. You need not concern yourself over me and my fate. Better you should concern yourself with your own.”
“Go!” Larek commanded. “Speak with your men. Let them know that you are now, and have always been committing treason. But I shall excuse any man who surrenders to Zan’s forces. You have one hour to decide. After that, you will suffer whatever fate Zan and Rath have in store for you. You’ll be on your own.”
Nikolas looked from Larek to Max.
“Keep your wife safe,” Nikolas sneered. “I’d hate for her to be caught in the crossfire and deprived of her chance to pay her respects to me in my hour of victory.”
“I’ll keep her safe, Nikolas,” Max nodded. “But don’t hold your breath waiting for your triumph. For you, this ends here.”

* * *

With Larek by his side, Max walked back through the trees to meet with his friends and colleagues. Liz was at his side in an instant.
“That was great, Max,” she smiled, her hand clasping his. “Very regal.”
Max smiled at her.
“Zan,” Larek tried to distract Max from his eye intimacy with Liz.
“You’ll have to wait, I’m afraid,” Maria smirked. “They do this all the time. You kind of get used to it.”
“Used to what?” Max finally turned to face Maria.
“See,” she laughed. “Larek was trying to get your attention.”
“Sorry,” Max scratched his ear.
“That’s perfectly okay,” Larek smiled. “Look, Zan,”
“Max,” Max reminded him.
“Max. I’m sorry. I know that my apologies can never really make up for what I helped do to you. Both in your… previous existence, and now in this one. But I really am sorry. I should have placed more trust in my friendship with you, and not believed Kivar's lies."
“Well,” Max glanced at Liz. “If you hadn’t… done what you did, then I would never have been sent here… to Earth. I would never have met… Liz.” He pulled her closer to him. “So I guess,” he smiled at her. “It was destiny.”
“Destiny,” Larek nodded. “Max. I have one favor to ask. Spare the lives of any of my men who surrender to you. Please?”
“Of course, Larek,” Max nodded. “I would have anyway.”
“How can we control them?” Michael asked. “I mean, they have powers, yeah? Like us. And we can’t get enough depleted uranium, and neither can we afford to give them the opportunity to make another attempt on Liz, or Max.”
“If you can obtain an airtight chamber of some kind,” Larek narrowed his eyes. “With some kind of… airlock, you could fill the main chamber with hydrogen. Once inside the hydrogen chamber, the Epsilians can remove their husks. Oxygen would be fatal to an Epsilian without his husk, so you can be sure none will try to escape. You can use an airlock for the supplying of food and water, as well as any other Epsilians that you might capture.”
“Great,” Michael shook his head. “Maybe the local Seven-Eleven carries them. Just where the hell are we gonna find one of those?”
“Actually…” Captain Fowler raised his hand. “My home town is only up the road. Prineville. My Dad works for a foundry that makes decompression chambers for the Navy. That would work just as well, right? If we use a chopper, we could have one in place either here or back in Sawtooth in a few hours.”
Max stared at Fowler and started to smile as he shook his head.
“Fate seems to be smiling on you,” Liz nudged his arm.
“About time,” he nodded.
“Let’s wait and see how many surrender,” Michael suggested. “We need everyone here. Let’s get the fighting over with first, then we’ll take care of whoever chooses to give up.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. Does everyone know what they have to do?”
“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “I just have a few more people I need to see.”

* * *

Nikolas looked pensive as he closed the door to his motel room.
“Well?” Slekt raised the corner of his eye. “Do we fight, or…”
“What do you think?” Nikolas spat.
“But the men. They heard Larek’s command. While many are loyal to you, still more remain loyal to Larek.”
“You,” Nikolas nodded at one of the guards. “Round everyone up in room 12. It’s the biggest.”
“Aren’t you afraid that Zan might start his assault?” the guard seemed concerned. “It would be an ideal time to strike.”
“No,” Nikolas smirked. “Zan is far too noble to resort to such an underhand trick. We have an hour; let’s make the most of it. Now go.”
“At once, sir,” the man saluted and hurried to carry out his orders.
“What about her?” Slekt indicated the door that led to the bathroom, where they had placed who they had thought was Max’s Queen.
“She’s not going anywhere,” Nikolas shook his head. “Leave her there.”
“Why don’t we just kill her now? She’s superfluous to our plans. I mean, it looks like Zan won’t be surrendering those zygotes.”
“She might prove useful to me yet,” Nikolas stared at the doorway. “Now come on. Let’s go see which way the wind is blowing.”
“I think the men will want to surrender,” Slekt advised him.
“Did the men only hear that one command? Did they hear anything else from the conversation?”
“No,” Slekt shook his head. “Only the order.”
“Then we can play this to my advantage.”
“Play what, sir?”
“Fear.”

* * *

“I think we should do as Larek ordered,” one of the men demanded. “We all know that Zan is a man of his word. If we surrender now, we will be treated well and allowed to return to Epsilia.”
“You’re a fool to believe so, Torkan,” another exclaimed. “After what we’ve been doing to his wife?”
“Kinsa speaks the truth,” Nikolas nodded. “We have all heard how close Zan, this… Max is to his wife. What chance do you think he’ll give us once he has us as his prisoners?”
“But Larek will protect us,” Torkan clung to his belief.
“Larek will be long gone,” Slekt pointed out. “He can only hold that body for so long. When Zan is on his own, who will protect us then? He could simply tell Larek that there was a revolt and that he was forced to kill us.”
“And you can bet that Zan will exact his revenge in the most painful way he can think of.”
“Don’t you men see the plus side to this?” Slekt called out. “Look at you. Look at us. Compared to the indigenous population on this planet, we are like that comic book character, Superman. We could live like kings when Kivar has subdued this place.”
“But are we likely to see Kivar’s arrival?” another demanded. “Can we last out that long?”
“We will have a… certain advantage, yes,” Nikolas nodded. “One that will put us on an equal footing with Zan and his human followers.”
“What plan is this?”
“Okay, listen up everybody. This is what we will do.”

* * *

[WR]

Part 66

“Connie,” Michael called when he spotted her as she finished saying her good-byes to Kyle.
As Kyle backed away from her, Michael hurried to her side.
“Michael,” she nodded. “What’s up?”
“I need you to do me a favor.”
“Name it,” she smiled. “You know that I could never repay you or Max for all that you’ve done for me.”
“I’m not askin’ you ‘cause I think you owe me or nothin’,” Michael shook his head. “I’m askin’ this ‘cause I think you’re better suited to do this for me than anyone else here.”
“Uh huh?”
“Max and Liz have agreed to stay back from the front line,” he told her.
“Yeah,” Connie agreed. “I heard about that.”
“But if I know Max, he won’t be able to hold back for long.”
“So you want me to, what? Try and stop him or something?” Connie’s face fell in disbelief.
“No,” Michael smiled. “If I can’t stop him, there’s no one on this planet, or any other who can, ‘cept Liz. See, Maria is going to follow Liz, who is going to be following Max, and, well, Maria is no soldier. I want to put her somewhere safe, but give her the illusion of doing something important.”
“So you want me to baby-sit?” Connie looked disappointed.
“Yeah,” Michael nodded. “I’m sorry to ask you, but if I sent anyone else, Maria would spot it for what it is, and you know Maria.”
Connie rolled her eyes.
“What about Jesse or Kyle,” Connie considered.
“Come on, Connie,” Michael smirked. “She’d see through Jesse straight away and Kyle is bound to let his mouth run away with him and slip something he shouldn’t. Look, I’m not one to say this lightly, okay? But after the last time when she was… Look, will you do this? Please?”
“Do you know how much I want to see that asshole explode?” she demanded. “Especially after his remark about being the weaker sex of a weaker sub-species. What a dick”
“If I can,” Michael grinned, “I’ll capture him alive. As long as we don’t let Max see, you can deal with him yourself.”
“Yeah,” Connie chuckled. “I can see him allowing himself to be taken prisoner. Fix him good for me, Michael.”
“I will,” he nodded. “And thanks.”

* * *

“My,” Isabel smiled when Jesse emerged from their bedroom. “Don’t you look smart?”
“You think?” Jesse looked down at the uniform of an Oregon Highway Police officer. “Maybe a career at the sharp end of Law Enforcement would suit me.”
“So you’ve given up the idea of a political future?” Isabel arched her eyebrows.
Jesse snorted.
“Are you okay with this?” Isabel sounded concerned.
“Yeah,” Jesse nodded. “Max is right. This is going to be different from the battle we had a few weeks ago. What little I know about warfare tells me that fighting from room to room is a different ballgame and more dangerous. Someone has to keep away the innocent bystanders and it’s better that people like Kyle and I do it, rather than tying up more soldiers who would be better suited to the fighting. I can stop traffic from driving past the motel, sending them around on our carefully chosen detour.”
“But still, I don’t want you to think that you’re not important to us. To Max.”
“You worry too much, Isabel. I know how Max feels about putting innocent people at risk. So, in a way, I’m doing something that, to Max, is very important. I don’t feel useless and I certainly don’t feel like Max is just pushing me to one side for the sake of keeping me safe.”
“I just didn’t want you to feel like he’s punishing you for my mistake.”
“Is that what you think?” Jesse’s face fell. “That Max is punishing you?”
“He’s barely spoken to me since…”
“He has been a little preoccupied, Izzy,” he sat on the sofa next to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. “Besides, Liz spent some time with you last night. She wouldn’t have done that if she was mad at you.”
“Then you don’t know Liz very well,” Isabel shook her head. “She’s never mad at anyone.”
“Don’t you believe it,” Jesse disagreed. “Liz is very protective of Max. She can get mad at anyone who upsets him. Trust me, Iz. Max is not mad at you either.” He glanced at his watch. “Look, I gotta go. The others will be waiting and we have to set up the road blocks.”
“Okay,” Isabel smiled. “I know you’ll be out of immediate danger, but you be careful, okay?”
“I will,” Jesse leaned in and exchanged a passionate kiss with his wife. “And you be careful too. I know you guys seem to be indestructible, but those guns of Nikolas’s ‘can’ kill you.”
“I know,” Isabel nodded. “And I will. Be careful, I mean.”
“You never know,” Jesse grinned. “Nikolas might change his mind and surrender.”
“And Max will ask Liz for a divorce on Valentine’s day,” Isabel snorted, sarcasm rolling from every syllable. “You don’t know Nikolas. His pride won’t even let him contemplate such an idea.”
“But he sure as hell doesn’t want to die.”
“He must have a trick up his sleeve,” Isabel pondered. “The problem is, what?”
“I better…” he indicated the door.
“Yeah,” Isabel nodded, waving her hand. “Go.”
Jesse rubbed the back of her hand, smiled and stood up. He walked to the door and pulled it open. He was surprised to find Max standing there, with his fist raised to knock on the door.
“Max!” Jesse squeaked.
“Hey, Jesse,” Max lowered his hand and nodded. “Is, uh… Isabel still here?”
“Sure,” he nodded toward her. “Go on in. I gotta go.”
“Thanks,” Max gave a weak smile. “Be, uh…”
“Careful, I know. You too.”
“Yeah,” Max stepped back to let Jesse pass by.
He waited until Jesse had gone and then stepped into the cabin, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Iz,” Max walked across the room.
“Max,” Isabel nodded.
He winced at the frostiness of her voice. “Thanks for keeping Jesse out of harm’s way.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“I don’t know, Max. Is it?”
“I don’t think so,” Max shook his head. “I need someone who’s good with people manning the checkpoints. And Jesse is good with people.”
He watched Isabel nod her agreement and sat down beside her.
“Look, Iz,” he sighed. “I’m sorry for the way I reacted when I found out about… what happened. I just want you to know that part of that anger was because you could have been hurt, or… worse. You’re my sister, Isabel. No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.”
“I just thought that if I could find out what he was planning, maybe we could set up a trap or something. I mean, we didn’t even know where he was.” There was a thaw in her temperament. “I know I should have told Michael, but he would have attacked them. I know that Frimona is in danger, but at least we’re in a position to end this.”
“At least, with Nikolas,” Max nodded. “We still have Kivar to deal with.”
“Yeah,” Isabel gave a slow nod of her head.
“When we start,” Max shifted uncomfortably, “please make sure you don’t do anything… rash. Please don’t think you have to make the big play to make up for something. You and Liz are the two most important people in my life, Isabel. I don’t want anything to happen to either one of you.”
“I will, Max,” Isabel nodded. “But I’m not skulking behind the trees when the fighting starts.”
“I know,” Max shrugged. “But be careful. Okay?” Max started to grin. “If you get killed, I’m never speaking to you again.”
“I will, Max,” Isabel grinned back.

* * *

The young boy had been practicing his dribbling in the quad behind the motel, trying his best to look like an ordinary school kid working on his basketball skills, and not the son of a soldier on a spying mission against a group of evil aliens. Earlier, when he saw the steady stream of the ones Max had referred to as Skins file into one room, he just knew that they would be discussing their military plans for defending themselves. This was too good an opportunity to miss. He worked his way to the back of the building, and huddled down behind a bush close to a window. It had been quiet since he got there, but he had heard voices through the window, accompanied by angry shouts.
“Have you rounded them all up?” he heard a deep, confident voice tinged with arrogance.
“We have, Nikolas,” one confirmed.
Who, the boy wondered?
“A few seem to be missing. Perhaps they went into town, or something.”
“Do we have enough to go around?”
“Yeah,” the second voice confirmed.
“Good. I want one bound in the middle of each room. If we have any spare, double them up in the end rooms.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That will slow them down. Zan will never let them use their incendiary grenades when he finds out he’s killing innocent people.”
The young boy’s eyes widened. He had to warn Max. Gambling on the fact that being at the back of the motel would give him some degree of safety, he moved from his cover and bounced the ball across the court toward the trees. Once in their safety, he leaned with his back against a large tree and weighed his options. Where would Max and the others be? He looked up through the trees. He hadn’t heard any helicopters flying overhead, so he suspected, or rather hoped, that Max would be to the east. After getting his bearing, he started to move from tree to tree, trying his best to remain shielded from the motel. It didn’t take him too long before he was completely out of sight. The only question was, how far away would he be? He decided that it was safe enough to make a break for it. He started to sprint, just as a firm pair of hand reached out from a tall thin, bush and plucked him from the ground.
“Let me go!” the boy started to kick and punch. “Let me go!”
“What have we got here?” a voice asked.
“Too big to be a mouse,” another unseen voice laughed. “Maybe it’s a rabbit.”
“Where are you going in such a hurry, little rabbit?”
“No where!” the boy continued to wriggle. “Let me go!”
“I don’t think it’s a rabbit,” a third voice added. “Look at the way he wriggles. Listen to him squeal. Maybe he’s a little piglet.”
“I’m not a rabbit! Or a pig. I’m just a kid! Let me go you big bullies! I’ll get my dad on you!”
“You know who this looks like?” the man holding him asked the others. “This looks like young Tony. The Pettigrew kid.”
“Is that you Tony? I’d be real disappointed if I ate the son of a friend of mine.”
The boy stopped wriggling.
“I have to get to Max,” he panted. “They’re doing something in there. Getting ready for him. Something bad.”

* * *

“So,” Max walked with Michael through the trees toward the command tent where they had set up their communication devices. “This shouldn’t be too difficult, really. We’ll surround the motel to prevent anyone breaking for the cover of the trees. Then our two assault squads, led by you and Major Armstead will start to move along the motel from either end. We’ll toss in a few grenades, use powers to control the blaze, and move in to wipe out any resistance. One room at a time.”
“Just make sure we clean everything up afterwards, Max,” Liz reminded him from inside the tent, where she had been waiting for him.
“Yeah,” he nodded, taking her hand at once. She drew him inside with her. “Isabel will be following Michael, fixing each room as he clears it, while you and I will follow up Major Armstead. That way, I can be on hand if he needs any extra firepower.”
“Just make sure you stay back, Max,” Michael warned. “You too, Liz.”
“Anything happening?” Max called to the operator who had been keeping an eye on the laptop computer.
“They had a big pow-wow,” the man shrugged. “Then they started moving from one room to another. They gathered up the other guests, though.”
“Probably to keep them out of the way,” one of the radio operators suggested. “Unless they want to use them as hostages later. You know, just in case.”
“Keep an eye on them,” Max stared at the screen. “Make sure we know where they are. I don’t want anything happening to those people.”
“Yes sir,” the soldier saluted.
“Time?” Max asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” Michael seemed ready, eager to get started.
“I guess we better start moving to our…”
“Jump off positions,” Michael finished.
“You’re really getting into the jargon,” Max grinned.
“I can talk the talk the talk too,” Michael smirked.
“So, let’s go show Nikolas that we all know how to walk the walk.”
They all started to move toward the tent flap.
“Max!” a shout came from outside.
Three soldiers, heavily dressed for camouflage were running toward them, their hot breath blowing clouds of steam in the cold air. One of them cradled a small bundle in his arms. Max felt his blood drain from him. The three soldiers stopped at the tent’s entrance, and the one deposited his bundle onto his feet. A small boy stood and looked up at Max, worry and fear etched into his feature.
“Tell him, son,” the soldier urged.
“Max,” Tony gasped. “They’ve taken all the people prisoner. My Mom. My Dad. All of ‘em.”
“Yeah,” Max placed his hand on his shoulder. “We know, Tony. We saw them get shepherded into a room in the middle.”
“No,” Tony shook his head. “They’ve like, melted doorways down through all the rooms. They put the people in every room so you can’t chuck in them grenades. They don’t want you to use fire against them.”
The tent fell silent as all eyes turned to face Max.
“What now?” Michael looked lost.
Max suspected that if it was left to Michael, the plan would remain the same. As much as he had grown into his role, Max could not bring himself to sacrifice those people like that. Max stared into empty space for a moment, while his mind whirled with what to do..
“What?” Michael demanded when he saw that an idea had come to Max.
“You’re not going to like it,” Max warned.
Michael’s face fell with resignation.
“Let’s hear it.”
“We use covering fire from the trees to keep the skins away from the windows and the doors,” Max looked around the room. “They’ll have to have the bulk of the lasers. The assault teams should only have a few. Instead of assaulting from both ends at once, we only use one end as a diversion, to pin the skins down.”
“Uh huh,” Michael nodded.
“Meanwhile, the other squad, which now consists of you, me, four Antarians and six soldiers will assault the rooms from the other end. We have to move quickly. We throw in a flash grenade. The skins will panic for a moment, thinking that it’s incendiary. That’s my cue. I rush in, and surround the hostage and myself with my shield. Then you can throw in the incendiaries.”
“No, Max,” Liz’s face fell in horror. “You can’t risk yourself like that.”
“What she said, Max,” Michael growled. “No way am I letting you take point.”
“How else do you think we can do this,” Max rubbed Liz’s back. “No one else can throw up my shield. I’m the only one capable of protecting them. So no one else can take point.”
“What exactly is point?” Isabel frowned.
“It usually means the man in front on a patrol,” one of the soldiers informed her. “Not the most fun place to be. He’s the guy who is the first to come across booby traps, and stuff. In this case, though, it means the first man into a hostile building. Still not fun.”
“This isn’t a topic that’s open to debate,” Max shook his head. “Unless someone can come up with a better idea that keeps the hostages safe, then that is how were gonna do it.”
“So, what code are we going to use?” Isabel didn’t like the idea of Max taking this ‘point’ any more than Liz did, but like Liz, she knew that there was no changing Max’s mind, unless a better idea could be found. She knew that the time would be better spent discussing the plan to insure Max’s safety.
“Code?” Max looked at her.
“You know, like the chess moves.”
“No code,” Max shook his head. “Radio silence.”
“How will we time this?” Michael wanted to know. “We can’t all just stand outside the front door and say one, two, three, go.”
“Agreed,” Max nodded. “We split in two. You and half the squad move along the back wall. I’ll take the rest along the front. We’ll synchronize our watches. At the given time, you lob in the grenade. The split second it goes off, I’ll make my move. I’ll go in, get to the hostage and throw up my shield. You give me three seconds, and then throw in two incendiaries from each side.”
“Max,” Liz looked determined. “You have your shield up when you go in, okay? Not after. You can open it and surround the hostage when you reach him, but I do not want you exposed to that… that excuse for a life form for even a nanosecond.”
“Yes Ma’am,” Max grinned. He looked at the rest of the soldiers. “When those grenades die down, the rest come through openings that the Antarians will make. I can direct your fire, should anything have survived. Isabel? You and Liz can fix the room only when we have cleared the next one, okay? I don’t want you two anywhere near the action.”
Both Isabel and Liz nodded.
“Eldugar? No one and I mean no one gets close to Liz. Unless she confirms that they’re who they say they are, okay?”
“Yes, sir,” both Katya and Eldugar nodded.
“If anyone from your group gets separated, they stay separated. We can’t trust that Nikolas won’t try to pull some stunt like trying to get Liz.”
Everyone accepted Max's words.
“Okay. Does everyone understand what we’re doing?”
“Yes, Max,” everyone nodded.
“Good. Spread the word.” He looked at his watch. “Zero hour is precisely twelve fifteen.”

* * *

An Oregon Highway Police cruiser was parked astride Highway 20, its red lights flickering in the chill air, reflecting against the fresh dusting of snow that had settled in the trees, and on the ground. Two officers stood in front, dressed against the cold in heavy, pale green parkas, and synthetic fur lined caps. They waved their arms from front to back, slapping them against their chest and stamped their feet.
“God, it’s cold,” Kyle moaned again.
“Plenty hot back at the motel, I expect,” Jesse grinned.
“Yeah,” Kyle nodded. “But we’d just be in everyone’s way. All things considered, I guess this isn’t so bad.”
“Isabel thought Max sent me out here as a means of punishing her.”
“She really think that Max is that… that…” Kyle searched for the word.
“Callow?”
“Not sure what that means,” Kyle shook his head, “but as you are a Harvard man, I’ll assume it’s the word I want.”
“I think Isabel’s feeling a bit… fragile just now.”
“Max was pretty mad, huh?”
“Yeah,” Jesse agreed. “I really would hate to be an enemy of his.”
“If Max’s enemies were smart,” Kyle smirked, “they’d make friends with Liz.”
Jesse looked at Kyle and started to laugh.
The sound of an approaching engine distracted them from their reverie. Jessie moved toward the oncoming vehicle and waved his arm at them. The car slowed and then came to a halt. Jesse moved to the driver’s side. The man had already started to roll down his window.
“What seems to be the problem, officer?”
“I’m sorry, sir. The road ahead is closed. You need to back up,” Jesse pointed back up the road, “and follow the signed detour. It’s not very far, and it brings you out about ten miles down the road.”
“But I need to get further on down this road,” the driver objected.
Beside him, his wife was demanding that he simply tell the policeman to move out of their way. In the back seat, two small children were bouncing around, screaming at each other as they played tug of war with a toy.
“Look,” he pushed his spectacles up his nose by pressing his index finger against the bridge. “We need to get to the motel about five miles down the highway there. I’ve been driving, like forever, and I’m beat, officer.”
“There’s another motel back up the highway about seven miles,” Jesse looked away from the car. “The motel you’re talking about is closed. There was a chemical spill in front of it. The whole area’s been evacuated.”
“Tell him, Jerry,” the woman demanded, yelling above the noise made by the kids.
“But we have these vouchers,” the driver held out some tickets. “We even booked a room in advance.”
“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Jesse took the tickets. “There’ll be plenty of empty rooms at the other motel. And you tell the clerk that we’ll come in and sort something out about these vouchers just as soon as our relief arrives.”
“But…”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Jesse shook his head. “If I let you through, chances are you’ll get some kind of horrible poisoning. You really wouldn’t wish that to happen to your children, would you?”
The man looked toward the back seat. The expression on his face suggested that he might seriously consider such a fate. He sighed, and moved the shift into reverse. He maneuvered his car to face back up the highway.
“Man,” Jesse shook his head as the car disappeared around the distant corner. Kyle had walked up to stand next to him. “And I thought I had it bad.”
“You are joking,” Kyle looked concerned. “Right?”
Jesse threw Kyle a look, and shook his head. He turned back toward the car.
“What about those vouchers?” Kyle called after him.
“When we’ve finished here,” Jesse called back, “you can drive over to their motel and pay their bill.”
“Me?” Kyle’s face fell. “Why me?”
“Look upon it as a way to balance your karma.”
“I can tell you’re related to Evans!” Kyle spat.

* * *

[WR]

Part 67

“Telephone lines cut?”
“Yeah.”
“Cell phones jammed?”
“Yeah. Maxwell?” Michael held his hand up to silence Max’s next question. “What do you take me for?”
“Sorry, Michael,” Max pushed his hands through his hair. “I guess I’m a little…”
“Wired?”
“Tense.”
Michael shook his head and rolled his eyes. He reached out for Max’s left wrist with his right hand. He lifted it up and held Max wrist to his own, so that he could see both watches. His hand passed over the top of them.
“Now you’re perfectly synchronized with the rest of us,” he grinned.
Michael turned to face Major Armstead. “Start with the bombs in five.”
“Yes, sir,” Armstead saluted.
“Wait,” Max’s face fell with a look of sheer horror. “Bombs?”
“Smoke bombs, Max.” Michael breathed deeply. “We need some kind of cover to cross the open ground between here and the Motel.”
“I knew that,” Max nodded.
“Liz!” Michael called. “Come and kiss your husband. It’s nearly time to go and we really need him to be calm.”
“It will be a pleasure, Michael,” Liz pulled herself from the clean-up squad that was comprised of herself, Isabel, Eldugar, Katya and four soldiers.
“I’m sure it is,” Michael smirked.
“I’m calm,” Max informed Michael. “Just concerned is all.”
“So you don’t need a comforting kiss from me?” Liz pouted.
“Like that’s gonna happen,” Michael rolled his eyes.
He led Major Armstead to one side to give Max and Liz what little privacy they could muster given that they were surrounded by dozens of soldiers.
“You don’t have someone to say good bye to?” Armstead searched the crowd for Maria.
“Already done,” Michael nodded. “Privacy of bedroom. Maria and Connie already left to watch the path that leads up from the town down there.”
“No one will be using that path at this time of the year, Michael,” Armstead’s eyes narrowed.
“I know that,” Michael nodded. “And you know that.”
“Uh huh,” Armstead nodded. “Your marriage is going to be one hell of a ride.”
“Not even married yet,” Michael grinned, “but it seems like the ride’s been going on… forever.”

* * *

“You okay?” Liz wrapped her arms around Max.
“Considering that I’m about to launch an attack on a motel building filled with our enemies, with innocent people, and not to mention people I know and care about,” he indicated the soldiers with a wave of his hand, “are likely to get killed…” Max took a deep breath. “Yeah. I’m okay. I guess.”
“You can’t let it worry you, Max.”
“I know,” he nodded. “And you don’t have to be concerned for me. I mean, I know that I can’t control what happens, but that doesn’t mean that I have to like it.”
“Yeah,” Liz gave a sad nod. “Do you ever wish that you could go back to how it was before all this started? You know, before I was… shot?”
Max looked at Liz with a steady look of love.
“If being with you as your husband means that I have to put up with stuff like this…” His eyes lit up. “Liz. I would endure anything if it means being with you.”
Liz smiled and pulled herself into Max’s embrace.
“It was all so simple then,” she mumbled into his broad chest.
“For you, maybe,” Max grinned while he ran his hands through her long, dark hair. “I mean, your biggest decision was what to wear on a date with Kyle.”
Liz looked up and grinned. She slapped his arm.
“But you know; I wouldn’t change a thing, just in case. So I’ll do this, Liz. I’ll do this so that we can maybe, just maybe, have some kind of future to look forward to.”
Liz’s face fell from the momentary smile that lit up her face.
“What about Kivar, Max?”
“One thing at a time, Liz,” Max placed a gentle finger over Liz’s lips. “Let’s sort out Nikolas and the skins first. Then we get to meet with President Forest. Who knows? Maybe he will place the entire U.S. Military at our disposal. Maybe we can win this.”
“Just promise me that you will be careful, Max. I need you around you know. And not just to lead our army.”
I will,” he promised. “I want to hold you tonight, so you be careful too.”
Max reached down and kissed her. As their lips and tongues entwined, love and compassion flooded their connection, drowning out all of the fear, worry and concern that they had both been sharing.
“What?” Max questioned her look. In his own haze of desire, he had misinterpreted Liz’s look. “Did you get a premonition?”
“Yeah,” she grinned. “I saw that you’re gonna get lucky tonight.”
“I get lucky every night, Liz,” Max laughed.
“See? My premonitions are getting really good.”

* * *

“Everyone set?” Nikolas stood in the end room, checking on the readiness of his men. “The hours up. Zan will come calling any time now.”
“We’re ready,” one of the men confirmed.
He looked up at the woman he had tied up in the middle of the room, her arms stretched above her head where she was suspended from the ceiling.
“Good,” Nikolas nodded. “With these hostages spread throughout the motel, Zan won’t use those fucking fire bombs. And these other… surprises we have removes the advantages of numbers he has. We have him outgunned again.”
“The surprise will last only for so long, Nikolas,” someone pointed out. “As soon as he clears the first room, he’s bound to spot it.”
“Then make sure that he pays a high price for that knowledge,” Nikolas grinned. “But even if he takes the room, we will still hold the advantage.”
From outside, they heard the sound of muffled explosions.
“What was that?”
“Take a look,” Nikolas nodded at one of the men. “It sounds like Zan’s on his way.”
“He’s laying down smoke,” the soldier informed him. “We won’t be able to see him approaching.”
“Poke holes in the end wall,” Nikolas ordered. “At the very least, we’ll slow him down. We may even get a lucky shot in.” Nikolas looked around the room.
The windows exploded as the room was filled with flying lead and blue light streaks. All of them missed the bound hostage. Everyone ducked to the floor as the woman tried to scream through her gag.
“Take your positions, people,” Nikolas shouted as he crawled on his hands and knees toward the next room. “Show no mercy.”

* * *

The sound of a dozen or so muffled explosions shattered the stillness of the frosty air. A thick blanket of smoke started to drift with the faint breeze, taking it across the last few rooms of the motel. At the other end of the complex, the same thing was happening. Smoke surrounded both ends of the complex, resembling a strange, ethereal barbell. Max stood with his squad as they waited for the smoke cloud to reach its maximum saturation.
“Now,” Max hissed.
He sprang from his concealed position and sprinted across the open ground toward the motel, now concealed by a thick blanket of smoke. He was aware of the other men following him, just as he was aware of Michael leading his squad forward. The air was filled with the sound of gunfire. Max could hear the strange whistle from the lasers, as well as the percussion from standard assault rifles as the squads positioned along the sides of the motel fired at the windows to keep the skins down. The noise was punctuated by the loud crack of rifles as snipers started to shoot at any skin who exposed themselves. Distant sounds of breaking glass added to the concerto. Blue lines of energy streaked through the smoke toward them as some skins aimed through the haze, hoping to strike lucky. Lady Luck was smiling down on Max and none of his forces were hit.
“Made it,” he heard a soldier gasp.
Max turned to look at him and saw the man leaning with his back firmly against the wall, making the sign of the cross on himself as he sucked in huge gulps of air.
“Every little bit helps, I guess,” Max murmured to a man next to him. “I hope Kyle’s spoken to Buddha.”
Breathing heavily, Max looked at the men waiting for his command. He checked his watch and counted the seconds.
“Now,” he nodded to the two men who stood nearest to the corner, by the walkway that led past all the motel room doors.
The two men pulled rings from the tops of the canisters that they held, counted silently, and tossed the grenades along the path. Smoke billowed from them, filling the corridor. With his eyes glued to his watch, Max held his right hand in the air with his four fingers and his thumb extended. He wrapped his thumb into his palm, followed by his index finger and then the others as he counted down the last five seconds. As his little finger dropped, Max moved. The well-trained men followed without hesitation. He led his men onto the path, keeping as low as he could bend to remain below the window line and scurried toward the door. As he passed them, Max indicated two points on the wall, where two Antarians stopped and used their molecular manipulation abilities to remove the exterior masonry for the hole they would use later. Max stopped by the front door and, using the thick wall for shelter, reached up and placed his hand over the door knob. His eyes were again glued to his watch.

Max watched the second hand of his watch reach the zenith of its journey. He heard a strange sound, like two tin cups ringing together. Even with their close proximity, he saw the light before he heard the ear splitting detonation. Max used his power to blow the door, and surrounded by a nimbus of green energy, he rolled into the room. It was filled with a thin smoke, and there was no sign of anyone moving. Crumpled forms lay on the floor. Spotting young Tony Pettigrew’s mother, tied and suspended from the ceiling by a long strip of electrical cable, Max was at her side and had her surrounded by his shield at the same instant that four metallic objects sailed into the room. Max closed his eyes, shutting out the looks of sheer panic on the skin’s faces and in spite of the fact that he knew that they were safe, huddled his body around Elsa Pettigrew’s for additional protection. As the flames vanished, the room was filled with Max’s men. Michael was at his side in an instant while the others searched the room for the possibility that there might be a hidden enemy.
“All clear,” Max shouted as he quickly checked the locations where he had seen the skins.
“You okay, Max?”
“Yeah,” Max nodded as his shield dropped. He made a quick check on Elsa Pettigrew, satisfying himself that she had merely passed out, and handed her to one of the soldiers. “Take care of her,” he ordered. He turned to one of the Antarians and pointed at the makeshift doorway that led from the neighboring room. “Tallen. Keep an eye on that doorway. Make sure we aren’t… surprised.”
“At once,” Tallen moved to cover the doorway.
“Anything?” Max turned to Michael who was checking any potential hiding places.
“No,” his friend shook his head. “Done and dusted.”
“Max,” Tallen called. “You’d better look at this.”
Max crossed to the doorway, and from behind Tallen, peered through into the next room. In the middle, suspended from a wire in the center of the room was another hostage. One who showed signs of severe burns.
“You couldn’t have known.” Taking in the look of devastation on Max’s face, Michael laid his hand on his shoulder.
“I should have,” Max cursed himself. “I should have realized that the flames would expand into any adjoining room.”
“Where are you going?” Michael pulled Max back as he started to step through the doorway. “We don’t know if that room is cleared yet.”
“I have to get to him. I can heal him.”
“First things first, Max,” Michael shook his head. “You can’t heal him if they kill you first.”
Max stepped back and nodded. He surrounded himself with his shield and walked into the room.
“It looks empty,” he called as he enveloped the wounded hostage.
With his gun held ready, Tallen followed his king into the room. Michael was behind him.
“You two,” he called to the men standing by the opening. “Cover that one.”
“Yes sir,” the two men, both human soldiers rushed to protect the gap to the next room.
“Check the bathroom,” Michael nodded to Tallen as he opened the closet. Satisfied that it was, he turned to face Max. “He okay?”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “Is there a hostage there too,” he called to the two men by the door.
“Negative, Max,” one of them called. “It looks clear. Wait.” Both men raised their guns. “Halt or I’ll fire.”
“What?” Michael rushed across to see the back of a skin fleeing from the room through another home made gap.
The soldiers opened fire, a hail of bullets hitting the skin on his seal.
“Shit!” Michael cursed.
“They missed?” Max looked amazed as he laid the badly burned man down on the bed, unaffected by the flames.
“No,” Michael shook his head. “They nailed him good. He got away.”
“He didn’t explode?” Max frowned. “He must have been one of Kivar’s Antarians.”
“But bullets killed Nacedo,” Michael reminded him. “Until we healed him.”
“Sir,” someone called from the doorway. “Any idea what this was used for?”
The soldier held up a charred belt with a large metal disc fixed in the middle.
“He wore a fucking shield,” Max spat.
The men exchanged looks of amusement. A frequent topic of conversation over their beers at night was the fact that Max had never been heard to cuss.
“Nikolas has just removed one of our advantages,” Max continued.
“But we gained one back,” Max confirmed. “He didn’t count on us still using incendiary grenades.”
“Which is why they ran, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Max nodded. “But the fact that there’s no hostage in the next room indicated that he’s going to double them up. Maybe spread them apart. I can’t protect two at once like that.” Max looked out at the smoke drifting past the windows. “Spread the word outside,” he looked at Michael. “Cease fire. There’s no point anymore and they might hit a hostage, if they’re moving them around. Now, I better heal this guy.”
“Just do enough to make sure he lives, Max,” Michael warned. “We can heal him up later. Right now, we need your powers to beat Nikolas.”

* * *

“It’s started,” Nikolas warned his men by stating the obvious.
Like him, they were all on the floor. Nikolas turned back to face into the room he had just left. Away from the windows and protected by the walls, he started to rise. Just as he stood up, he was knocked onto his back by a shock wave through the gap as a stun grenade exploded in the first room. Dazed, he just started to rise again when a wall of searing heat passed over the top of him.
“Damn him to hell!” Nikolas cursed as he was struck with the sudden realization of what Max had just done. “He’s a fucking madman.”
Realizing that Max was willing to risk the lives of the innocent hostages in his effort to defeat him, Nikolas knew that his tactics were no longer valid.
“Retreat to the middle chamber,” Nikolas ordered his men. He looked at the wounded hostage. “Leave this one, but take the rest as we go.” He turned and pointed to one of the men. “You. Stay behind and keep an eye on what he does. We need some intel on what he’s up to.”
Leaving the hostage, and his rearguard, Nikolas and the other men scurried on their hands and knees into the next room.
“Sir?” someone called. “The far end reports that they are resisting the assault. The building has not been breached at their end.”
“So it seems that while Max is prepared to let humans suffer, his human allies are not. Maybe we can use this. Let’s get to the other end as soon as possible.”
“Yes sir.”
The rearguard watched them leave. When he heard Max and the others swarming in the next room, he made a decision to wait behind the wall of the room Nikolas had just entered. Better to be safe than… dead.

* * *

“I don’t fucking believe this!” Nikolas spat. “Tell me? What else can go fucking wrong?”
Nikolas had reached the middle room to find that his forces were suffering a minor rebellion.
“If Zan is prepared to use fire, then we’d rather take our chances with surrendering to him,” one of the men still loyal to Larek stated. “We have no chance against that weapon.”
“Then it appears that you have a dilema on your hands,” Nikolas smirked. “If you leave this room, his forces outside will cut you down. If you stay, he’ll torch you.”
“We’ll wave a white flag,” the loyal Epsilian continued. “Even Zan would recognize that.”
“And what? And say, oh, that’s okay. Sure, you gang raped my wife but I’ll forgive you? I don’t think so.”
“We’ll take our chances.”
“No,” Nikolas shook his head.
Those still supporting him leveled their guns at the rebels.
“You will stay here, and you will fight Zan in a last stand or you will die now,” Nikolas shook his head. He looked up at his loyal men. “Slekt, you come with me. The rest of you, watch them. Move some of them up to reinforce the fighting in the other room.”
Slekt followed Nikolas into the room where he had left the hostages under the watchful eyes of two men he trusted.

* * *

Max peered into the room. He surrounded himself with his shield and stepped through the gap under the watchful eyes of Michael and Tallen.
“It’s all clear,” Max shook his head.
Michael moved to step into the room.
“Wait,” Tallen pulled him back. “Let’s check for booby traps first.”
“But Max walked in there,” Michael objected.
“Yeah,” Tallen agreed. “Surrounded by a shield. Do you have one?”
Michael looked past Tallen to Major Armstead, expecting his support.
“He’s right, Michael,” Armstead nodded.
Michael rolled his eyes, and stepped back. Max watched the showdown, and then turned toward the bathroom. Tallen and one of the soldiers started to conduct a search for traps as they edged into the room, Tallen searching for extra-terrestrial devices while the soldier checked for more… normal ones.
“The bathroom’s all clear,” Max announced as he reentered the room. “You guys find anything yet?”
“Negative, sir,” Tallen replied.
“This is ridiculous,” Michael snapped and stepped over the two men who were searching the floor. “They took off, okay? No way would they have time to leave us any surprises.” He cast a look of disgust at Max’s grin. “Come on. Let’s get a move on. It’s taken us fifteen minutes to check one friggin’ room.”
“We need to be sure, Michael. Liz and Isabel are coming up behind us. Do you really want to expose them to any danger?”
“They’re my sister’s too, Max,” Michael growled. “If I thought for one moment that there was a threat to either one of them, I’d take each room apart, brick by brick. Now close that mouth and let’s pick up the pace.”

* * *

“Why don’t we just surrender?” Slekt asked. “We know that Zan knows it wasn’t his wife we raped. He would honor any surrender.”
“No way,” Nikolas shook his head. “I would rather die than surrender to that mongrel. And do I need to remind you that Kivar is on his way?”
“What good is that if we are dead?”
“Because I don’t plan on being dead. I plan on being very much alive when His Excellency arrives.”
“But how…?”
“I’ve always had a backup plan,” Nikolas shook his head. “I learned never to underestimate Zan. And I haven’t. I knew that he might think of something, I just didn’t know what. So, I had to have another trick up my sleeve.”
“Which is?”
“Our escape.”
“Escape?” Slekt gaped. “How?”
Nikolas unfastened the belt he wore around his waist. His men copied him, allowing the shield to drop to the floor.
“First, we need to give the soldiers out there something to do other than shoot at us.”
“They stopped, by the way,” someone pointed out.
“What’s going to do that?” Slekt wondered.
“This is,” Nikolas grinned. He turned to face the hostages, who were looking very frightened. “Okay, people,” he sneered. “We’re going to play a little game. It’s called, I believe, a duck shoot. See, in a moment, that wall is going to vanish. There won’t be anything between you and freedom except a gap filled with a thin smoke. Now, here’s where it gets interesting. You can wither or run for freedom, and risk getting shot by the trigger happy morons in the trees, or you can stay here where I ‘will’ shoot you and any one else I can, in the back. But I’ll give you a chance, I’ll count to ten.”
The human hostages flickered their panic stricken eyes around the room.
“Gentlemen,” Nikolas nodded at the two remaining Antarian shapeshifter. They waved their hands across the wall, causing it to vanish.
“One!” Nikolas shouted.
At once, like a herd of sheep, the humans ran for the trees.
Nikolas knew from the way they loitered at the back, acting like shields, that the last two men were soldiers. Ordinarily, he would have shot them. But not today. Today, he was just one of the gang.
“Ten,” Nikolas grinned. He started to run after the humans, mimicking a look of fear on his face. He didn’t even bother to check if any of his men followed.
As he knew they wouldn’t, the soldiers in the trees did not open fire. At least, not at the stampeding cattle. They did, however, open fire on the motel, seeking to prevent anyone attempting to prevent the mass breakout. As soon as he reached the trees, Nikolas ducked into a large bush that he had already chosen as his hiding point. It was a thick, evergreen bush. The snow that lingered on the foliage would not be knocked off by his passage into its interior. He waited and listened to the sounds of footsteps running, and people crying with relief when they found someone to help them.
“Halt!” he heard a shout go up.
Nikolas knew that one of his men had been spotted. A series of shots rang out.
“Got him,” he heard a cheer go up.
“Warn the others,” someone called. “Some damned skins have tried to sneak out with them. Have everyone checked.”
Nikolas grinned, sat back, and waited. When the voices seemed to grow more distant, he risked a look out at the surrounding area. He was alone. Using the trees as cover, Nikolas angled away from the motel, and toward the back of the mountain, where he had parked a Jeep for this very eventuality. As he did so, he used every breath to curse Zan, vowing that he would find a way, any way, to inflict pain upon him. That was when he saw Connie.

* * *

“What kind of job is this?” Maria demanded. “Standing out here like… I don’t know, Nanook of the North or someone. And freezing my butt off, might I add?”
“You did say after that last fight that the smart thing would be to stay away from the fighting.”
“Yeah,” Maria nodded. “But at the time, I meant stay somewhere warm and cozy. Not in the middle of the North Pole.”
“We’re hardly at the North Pole, Maria,” Connie rolled her eyes.
“You know what?” Maria demanded. “I bet Michael did this on purpose. I bet he said, where is the worst place I can put Maria? I know. I’ll stick her in the middle of the forest. It’ll be nice and cold out there.”
Maria reached into a bag and pulled out a huge thermos flask. She opened the top and poured a large helping of steaming coffee into a plastic mug.
“Do you think that was such a good idea?” Connie shook her head. “I mean, you know coffee is a diuretic, right? And you do know what effect cold has on your bladder.”
“Of course,” Maria snarled. Her face softened. “What’s a diuretic?”
“You’ll see,” Connie laughed.
“Look,” Maria started to dance from one leg to another. “I’m fine. Okay?”
“Sure you are.”
“No, really. I like grew up in the Crashdown, right? I was practically weaned on coffee.”
“So why are you doing the Dance of the Desperate?”
“I am not.”
“Right.”
“It wasn’t the coffee,” Maria poked out her tongue. “Where is the nearest one, anyway?”
“Right there, I guess,” Connie pointed at a cluster of bushes.
“No way,” Maria shook her head. “Oh no. Nuh uh, not this girl.”
“Suit yourself,” Connie laughed. “But as we have to stay here until it’s all over, you’re gonna have to hold it.”
“I can do that,” Maria looked around at the silent trees. “If I want to.” She started to hurry toward the bushes, pulling her mitts off and fumbling with the catch to her jeans. “But I don’t want to,” she called. Maria stopped as she reached the bush. She turned to face Connie. “Wait. Do they like, have bears or wolves in Oregon?”
“Well,” Connie considered. “The Grizzlies come down from the mountains when they’re hungry, and wolves come flooding down from Canada where it’s frozen solid in search of easy prey.”
“You’re mean,” Maria glared at Connie. “Whatever does Kyle see in you?”
With Connie’s laughter echoing throughout the forest, Maria disappeared into the thick bushes.

* * *

She heard the sound of footsteps long before she saw anyone approaching. Expecting to see someone come to fetch them, Connie was surprised to see Nikolas step out from behind a tree.
“What do you want?” she demanded. She tried to hide her sudden sense of fear.
“From your spirit,” Nikolas grinned, “I’d have to say that you are one of the mongrel’s bitches.”
“You really ought to be careful what you say, you know,” she warned. “On earth, even bitches can fight.”
“Oooh,” Nikolas stepped back in mock fear. “I like it. I think I just might take you along with me. Max’s whore would have been better, but you, I like just as much.”
“You’re not taking me anywhere,” Connie watched him as he edged toward her. She turned to maintain he stance facing him. “One call from me will bring soldiers down.”
“No,” he shook his head. “They’re all busy. There are no soldiers around here for quite some distance. It’s just you, and me. And I know that you know what I am capable of.”
“I swear, Connie,” Maria shambled out through the bushes. “If you tell a living soul about this, I’ll…” She spotted Nikolas.
Nikolas turned around to face the new comer, his hand rising ready for defense. He started to chuckle when he saw Maria.
“This is too good. If I can’t have Zan’s whore, I’ll take Rath’s.”
“I’m more than you can handle,” Maria spat. “You po-faced, perverted little runt.”
“You are going to regret that,” he shook his head. “I’m going to make you experience extreme agony for the rest of you rather short life.”
Nikolas raised his hand, which started to glow. His attention distracted, he did not see Connie take one step forward, pivot on her left leg and spin a full three hundred and sixty degrees. She brought her right foot around in a wide arc and struck Nikolas in the small of his back. Nikolas did not have time to reflect upon the irony. He was too busy exploding into particles of dust, which settled on the floor where it mingled with the light dusting of snow. The irony, however, was not lost on Connie.
“The weaker sex of a weaker sub-species?” she spat. “Looks like you ain’t so advanced as you thought.”
With a look of amazement, Maria ran to Connie.
“Girl,” she grinned. “You rock.”
Connie and Maria performed the high five, and hugged while laughing together.

* * *

[WR]

Part 68

With a set look on his face, Michael pushed through the evergreen branches along the path that led to the Royal Family’s cabin. His feet crunched through the layer of the snow that had fallen during their time in Oregon while his breath hung in clouds of vapor in the cold, still night air. On their return, Max had been busy seeing to the comfort of the wounded, and to the needs of those who had been held captive. It had taken all of Max and Liz’s persuasive powers to reassure the citizens that they had not leapt from a frying pan and into a fire. Meanwhile, Michael had been overseeing the incarceration of the prisoners that had surrendered to them. It had taken him a long time to get the captives into the air-tight tank that served as a Prisoner of War camp. He had made sure that the guards he posted would keep any and all non-combatants away, especially Liz and Maria. Both Max and Michael had been so busy that neither had seen the other since their return earlier that afternoon. Michael had been wanting to get together with Max for a debriefing all day.
“Good evening, sir,” Daigle stepped out from behind the bush by which he had been standing guard and into Michael’s path, barring his progress. He looked up into the clouded night sky. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”
“Great,” Michael shivered. “If you’re a friggin polar bear.”
He tried to step around the guard but Daigle moved to block him again.
“Is there somethin’ I can help you with, sir?” Daigle inquired.
“You can step out of my way and let me pass,” Michael growled. “I need to speak to Max.”
“No can do,” Daigle shook his head. “I have strict orders that Max is not to be disturbed until morning, unless Kivar himself has arrived, or it’s an emergency. Is this an emergency, sir? Cause I think I might have heard if Kivar had arrived.”
“You realize that I could blast you into a million atoms, right?” Michael threatened.
“Yes sir,” Daigle nodded. “But the pain would be over in an instant. I’m afraid that whatever Liz would plan for me for breaking her orders would last infinitely longer.”
Michael stared at the man for a moment before he turned away, muttering dark words about the duplicity of women.

“He didn’t take that very well,” another voice added from the darkness.
“No,” Daigle shook his head and started to chuckle. “That he didn’t. Don’t get me wrong. I have the utmost respect for Michael. Max, too. I mean, they are just so natural at all this. Between them, I reckon they could beat nigh on any army on the planet.”
“Yeah. Not bad considering they’re still kids. I have a son his age in college. His biggest worry is if the girl he’s dating will put out for him or not. But Max? He has the fate of whole worlds resting on his shoulders.”
“Which brings us to Liz,” Daigle nodded. “The man could have his pick of beauties from his own planet but he chooses a regular girl next door from small town USA.”
“’Cept she ain’t no regular girl,” the other man stepped out to join him. “She’s…”
“Special.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “And she’s our own. One of us. Sure, Max and Michael are one of us too, in a way. But Liz was born on this planet to human parents.”
“Our own regular hero.”
“Hey,” he grinned. “I’d vote for her.”
“I take you heard about Connie?”
“Killing the boss man? Yeah. She’s pretty cool, too.”
“I guess that’ll teach those things from whatever planet they crawled from not to mess with us.”
“Hope so,” they both looked up into the night sky, feeling a little less safe than a moment ago.

* *

The door slammed behind him as Michael entered the cabin he and Maria shared with Kyle and Connie. He found the three of them in the living room.
“Oh, aren’t we the happy soldier?” Maria looked up and spotted his surly mood in an instant.
“Probably still bummed that I got Nikolas and he didn’t,” Connie grinned.
“Funny,” Michael glared at her.
“So,” Maria smirked. She rose from her seat and walked behind the sofa the other couple shared to approach Michael. She stopped when he went straight into the kitchen. “What’s bitten your ass?”
“Liz,” he grumbled, retrieving a Snapple from the refrigerator.
“Say what?” she frowned, remaining where she stood. “Liz bit you in the ass? I hope you mean figuratively.”
“No,” he looked disappointed. “She wouldn’t let me see Max. She’s ordering those soldiers around like they’re hers.”
“Duh,” Maria laughed. “Maybe that’s ‘cause they are.”
“We have things to discuss, Maria,” Michael snapped. “Like this president deal. I still don’t like it.”
“Look, Michael,” Maria’s tone took on a more sympathetic air. “You remember what happened on that ship of theirs. How bad it made them both feel to be kept apart because of… stuff. This is their down time.”
“Knowing Max and Liz,” Kyle smirked. “It’s their ‘up’ time. Depending how you look at it.”
Standing behind Kyle, Maria slapped the back of his head.
“Ow!” Kyle complained, twisting to face her and rubbing the spot she had hit. “What was that for?”
“I don’t care if you are my brother, now,” Maria growled. “You still don’t get to talk about Liz like that.”
“Okay,” he sat back still soothing his stinging head. “I was only joking.”
He looked to Connie for support.
“What?” Connie laughed. “Don’t look at me. You brought that on yourself.”
Michael started to chuckle.
“You couldn’t kick his butt for me, could you?” Kyle asked.

* * *

Philip Evans opened his front door, to let in both the Parkers and the Valentis. As the two couples made their way into the living room, Philip, out of habit, looked up and down the darkened street, looking to see if they were under observation. Satisfied that all was well, he closed his door and followed the others indoors.
“Jim,” Diane smiled. “Amy. Did you have a good time?”
“Oh,” Amy smiled. Her eyes went distant. “It was great. You guys just have to visit California. Some of the scenery is just… breathtaking.”
“Didn’t think newlyweds would have time to see scenery,” Jeff commented to Philip.
The two men earned glares from the women while Jim fidgeted with his Stetson.
“Sit down,” Philip collected himself. “Help yourself to the food there. Beers on the sideboard, and wines on the table. Mi casa es su casa.”
“I take it this isn’t just a friendly get together,” Jim reached for a plate and started to place a few of the hor d’ouvres onto it.
“You’re right, Jim,” Philip nodded, joining Jeff in helping themselves. “While it’s always nice to have friends over, and let’s face it, this… secret we share makes us special kind of friends…”
“Family, Philip,” Nancy reminded him.
“You’re right, of course, Nancy,” Philip smiled. “Family. It’s always pleasant to do this, but it also makes a good cover if someone comes knocking. Not that I’m expecting it.”
“It’s the kids, isn’t it?” Amy face fell. “Something’s happened.”
“Well, yeah,” Philip nodded. “They’re all okay, it’s just… they’ve been involved in another battle.”
“Did they find Nikolas?” Jim asked.
“In a manner of speaking,” he nodded. “Nikolas found them, actually. Remember how we all thought that something was off between Max and Liz?”
“That’s right,” Nancy nodded. “There was just so much space between them. Almost like it wasn’t really them.”
“It wasn’t,” Philip confirmed. “It was two of the Antarians, shifted to look like Max and Liz. Isabel found three of Kivar’s men in camp. She wanted to find out what they had planned, and decoyed them. Anyway, the one looking like Liz was… kidnapped. Max and the others followed her to Oregon and laid siege. Apparently, Nikolas tried to escape and, well, he ran into Connie. I guess she’s tougher than she looks.”
“They’re all tougher than they look,” Diane informed him.
“But they’re all okay, right?” Nancy looked concerned.
“They are. No one was killed, just a few wounded. Max saw to them all.”
“So that’s it?” Amy looked hopeful. “It’s all over? They can come home?”
“No,” Philip shook his head. “There’s still the matter of Kivar on his way, and of course the FBI.”
“I thought they were meeting with the President?”
“They are. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the dogs of war have been called off.”
“So I guess we should all head for home and pack, then,” Nancy rose from her seat.
“Why?” Philip narrowed his eyes.
“Because we have to get to Idaho,” Diane stood up next to Nancy. “We have to help our kids.”
“Absolutely not,” Philip shook his head. “Max told us to stay put until he finds out what Forest wants. I offered to go with him, you know, as his legal representative, but he said that Jesse would act in his behalf. Max says he’ll let us know what he wants us to do when he’s finished.”
“So we just wait?” Amy demanded.
“What else can we do?” Jim shrugged. “If Max…”
“We can go and see what help we can provide, for one thing,” Amy took a belligerent stance. “After all, we have a responsibility toward them.”
“No,” Jeff shook his head. “We may be their parents, but they’re adults now. And Max is looked upon as a leader. What message will we be sending those who follow him when we are seen to disobey them?”
“Yeah,” Jim agreed. “It will seriously undermine whatever authority Max holds.”
“So we wait?” Nancy grumbled. “Again.”
“We wait,” Philips nodded.

* * *

“I would have loved to see the look on Nikolas’s face the instant Connie’s foot connected with his seal,” Jesse laughed as he cuddled with Isabel on the sofa.
“Yeah,” Isabel chuckled. “But I doubt he would have had much chance to reflect upon it. It would have been… poof! Over.”
“Good for her,” Jesse grinned. “That’s what I say. So what did the big warrior and his chief have to say about a lowly female taking the big scalp?”
“Michael was really bummed,” Isabel smirked. “He so wanted to take Nikolas, one on one.”
“Man to… scumbag.”
“Yeah, anyway, he was walking around with a face like thunder all day.”
“Didn’t he say anything to her?”
“Oh yeah,” she nodded. “Eventually. Want to know what makes it even more ironic?”
“What’s that?”
“Michael asked Connie to baby-sit Maria. He deliberately sent them out there, thinking they would be safe.”
“That’ll teach him. So, what about Max?”
“I don’t know,” Isabel shook her head with a frown. “He seemed so… blasé about the whole thing. When everyone told him, he looked at her, smiled and said, how’s that for destiny? Like it was no big deal.”
“I doubt Max wanted to kill the guy himself, but he knew that there was no way Nikolas would just… surrender. So in a way, I guess he recognized that Connie did him a favor.”
“No,” Isabel shook her head. “I know my brother. And he is hiding something. I think he might be a little peeved, but knows he can’t show it. I bet Liz gives him a real ribbing over it.”
“Is it right that I heard Connie’s being proposed for some Antarian award or something?"
“That’s right,” Isabel grinned. “Services to the crown. Something like that.”
“I guess two guys who freeze their tails off sending drivers with whiney kids back up the highway don’t get anything special, do they?”
“I can’t really say,” Isabel shrugged. “But I know one guy who gets a very special something, for what he’s done for us.”
“You do, huh?” Jesse grinned, kissing Isabel’s cheek as he pulled her to him. “Anyone I know?”
“I don’t know,” Isabel smirked. “I’ll have to introduce you sometime.”

* * *

“So you’re sure Frimona’s okay?” Liz asked her husband yet another time.
“She says she is,” Max assured her. “And after what Cal told me about… sex and the Antarians, I guess being raped is no worse to her than…”
“Getting her knuckles grazed,” Liz nodded. “You said. But still, Max. Rape is…”
“And I agree,” Max pulled her into a hug. “I’ve told her to take whatever time she needs to get over it, but she assures me she already is. What more can I do?”
“Can I talk to her?”
“You don’t need my permission to do anything, Liz,” Max’s eyes grew soft. “I hope you realize that. I may be a king to these people, but you and I, we’re… partners.”
“And you don’t know how good that sounds,” Liz pulled herself closer. “Is Michael still peeved?”
“Michael’s Michael,” Max shrugged. “I’m glad we decided to keep it from them, though. I mean, if Michael knew that Connie was going to kill Nikolas, then he would never have asked her to look after Maria. And if he hadn’t done that, then it would have been Maria out there with someone else. Like, maybe a soldier who would have reacted with his gun rather than his foot. And then Maria would have been in danger.”
“You know how worried I was about her, right? I mean, ever since I had that premonition, I’ve played every possibility through my mind. I just couldn’t work out how Connie and Nikolas would end up in the same spot.”
“Are you still annoyed that I wouldn’t let you say anything to anyone?”
“No,” Liz shook her head. “I understand how the decisions they would make might change the future. But let me worry about things when you do that, okay?”
“As long as you let me worry when we go into these battles.”
“Deal,” Liz smiled. “So… so now we only have Kivar to deal with.”
“Not quite,” Max shook his head. “There’s still the little matter of the authorities. We still need to meet with President Forest.”
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. “Once he meets you, he’s going to see that you’re no threat to National Security. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
“Liz. This meeting…”
“Don’t you dare ask me to stay behind, Max.”
“No,” Max smiled. “I really want you with me. I want him to see that I’m who I am because of you. I want him to realize that although I may have been originally born as Zan of the house of Talluvia on the planet Antar, that I am Max Evans, teenager, and husband to an incredible young human woman who gives me the strength to face up to my responsibilities.”
“Max…” Liz breathed. No other words could escape her. She pulled her husband into a tight hug.

* * *

Caution - R rating from here!!!

“It’s snowing again,” Liz peeked through the heavy lined curtains at the night outside.
“Then snuggling in front of this fireplace is just the place to be,” Max looked from where he was sitting on a rug in front of the roaring fire.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded.
“You okay?” Max had sensed that she was not.
“Just…” Liz waved her hand in the air. “I don’t know.”
“Come here,” Max held out his arm.
Liz crossed the room, accepted Max’s hand and curled up beside him. They sat in each other’s arms, accepting the warmth from the flames, allowing the touch to put them at their ease. The soft pops and cracks from the burning wood provided a gentle contrast to the stillness that only falling snow could instill.
Liz placed her head onto Max’s shoulder. He turned his face so that he could inhale the wonderful aroma of her dark locks. Max wrapped his arm around her shoulder, letting the silken strands play through his fingers. Liz murmured her contentment and snuggled closer to Max, all trace of her concern vanished. She closed her eyes. Liz’s warmth came from the fire, while Max’s came from the knowledge that he had Liz there in his arms. His childhood dream a reality. Never speaking a word, they reveled in their seclusion. Suddenly, they had no problems at all. Serenity flooding his senses, Max felt himself drifting into a peaceful sleep.

How long he dozed, Max didn’t know. He was awoken with the feeling of a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned his head and met her gaze. He looked into her eyes and could see the reflection of the flames dancing in them. Max raised his hand to her face and traced a light path across her cheek. Liz placed her hand on his and guided it to her mouth. She placed soft kisses against the tips of Max’s fingers, one by one. Max traced a delicate path over her lips as she kissed. The smoldering look within her eyes told him that as far as she was concerned, the evening had only just begun. Max reached behind Liz’s head and pulled her toward him. She did not resist. They joined in an affectionate kiss, a gentle teasing of lip against lip. They soon locked together as one. Max placed his hands beneath her jaw line, holding her face while he kissed her, his fingers teasing her hair as Liz ran her more delicate hands down his back, allowing him to feel her nails, even through his thick shirt. Still kissing, she grabbed the bottom of his shirt and began to pull it upward, ignoring the buttons still holding it together. Max felt his muscles tense as her nails drew lines down his skin, sending shivers down his spine. With his shirt at his shoulders, they broke their kiss so that Liz could pull it away with ease. The warm air against his bare skin felt good. She reached forward with her finger and placed it on his forehead. Liz slid the finger down Max’s nose, softly touching his lips as he kissed her fingertip, and continued to draw a line downward, over his chin and down his neck. The finger reached Max’s chest and began to play with the few fine hairs she found there, twirling them in small circles. After a few moments, she continued her downward descent over his firm muscled torso and reached his stomach. The hairs there created a pathway for her finger to follow, and she complied with their direction. She slid her finger underneath the waistline of Max’s jeans and ran it around his waist, tickling his lower abdomen. She placed her thumb over the button and unfastened his pants. The zipper lowered as she opened his jeans. A teasing smile came to her lips as she gazed downward, admiring what her seductive play had done to him.

Liz leaned down and kissed Max’s belly, twirling her tongue on his skin. He could feel her warm breath against him. He breathed deeply, wondering what she had in store for him. Liz continued to tease his body, with slow, feathery kisses. The kisses worked their way up his chest, bringing a momentary sense of disappointment to him but his heartbeat quickened, non-the-less. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes so that he could isolate all distractions and focus on her loving touches. She worked her way to his neck, placing gentle bites against the delicate skin, making him tremble, and grin at the ticklishness. The light scent of her delicate perfume wakened his senses. She then began to kiss him behind his ear, in the spot she knew drove him crazy. Liz ran her fingers through his short hair, eliciting a sigh at the gentle touch of her massage. Her body tensed tightly against his and he could feel the gentle touch of her nipples poking him. His hand, unoccupied for way too long, began to rub her back, easing any tension from her body. By now, he could feel the heat radiating from her, rather than from the fire. He decided that her clothing had been on much too long. He pulled her flannel shirt from out of her jeans and began to unbutton it, one button at a time as Liz leaned back to allow him access. The angle in which she was positioned allowed him to gaze down into her shirt and he enjoyed the view of her cleavage that was becoming more exposed as he went. The sight of her bra-less, swaying breasts, small though they were, were enough to drive him on. Reaching the last button, he pulled open the shirt to expose her bare torso. Her soft flesh looked so magnificent to him in the light glow of the fire. He slid her shirt down each arm, brushing her skin as he went. She raised her arms behind her back so that he could slip the sleeves off. She sat before him, exposed from the waist up. Max treasured this most beautiful sight, his face filled with wonder, smiling so that Liz knew that he was pleased with what he saw.

Liz stood up and positioned herself between Max and the fireplace. He could see the flames dancing between her legs. She ran her fingers through her hair, tossing and teasing it with her eyes locked on Max’s. She brought her hands from her hair and onto her shoulders, starting to caress her shoulders. She lowered them further, around her breasts and rubbed them across her stomach. She could see that her little game was arousing Max still further. Liz cupped her breasts in her hands and stroked them for Max’s private viewing pleasure. He nodded his approval. After doing this for a few moments, Liz decided that she wanted, no, needed to show Max more. She slipped her hands inside her jeans and slid them over her hips. Liz pushed outward with her hands, causing her zipper to fall. She gave a seductive sway of her hips, enticing Max even more. Once the zipper had fallen enough, she began to slide her pants down, very, very slowly over her hips. Max could see her exquisite panties, the whiteness contrasting against her beautiful, darker complexion. His eyes traced the shape of the garment, from the band around her hip all the way down to the v of her feminine folds. Liz continued to slide her jeans down lower, showing off her shapely legs as she went. With her jeans bunched around her ankles, Liz stretched her arms high above her head, arching her back, showing Max her whole body. In Max’s eyes, nothing was more magnificent. He rose from the floor and stepped next to her, admiring her body the whole time. They paused for a moment to look into each other’s eyes and then joined in a deep, tender yet passionate kiss, exploring each other’s mouths with their tongues.

Max’s hands slid down her back and reached inside her panties, feeling the firmness of her buttocks. He squeezed and massaged them, enjoying the soft, yet firm flesh there. She moved her hips forward and pressed herself against him, feeling the hardness through his jeans. Liz sighed and began to grind against him. He took a hold of her panties and slid them down her legs. When they reached her calves, she lifted one foot from them, caught them with her toe and slid them down until they met with her jeans. She took a tiny step out of them. Liz decided that it was his turn to get undressed. She opened his zipper the rest of the way and slid her small hand inside, cupping the hard length of aroused flesh she found housed inside. She ran her hand along its length, making him gasp with pleasure. After teasing him for a few moments, she retrieved her hand and started to remove his pants, sliding them over his hips. As she got them past his crotch, his briefs sprang upward from the stiffness within. Liz ran her hand over his thigh and then moved it upward, along the underside of his erect shaft all the way up the length. Max’s breath quickened. Not quite ready to release him, she slid his boxers down further until they rested at his ankles. He stepped aside and kicked them out of the way, falling next to the couch. They pressed together and Liz could feel his throbbing against her belly. The hairs on his legs tickled her thighs. She raised her leg upward, rubbing it along his outer thigh. Max grabbed it and began to massage it, thrilled at the smoothness of her skin. He caressed her leg all over, from her thigh to her calf, fascinated with the perfection of her leg.

Liz pushed herself up a little higher with her other leg, so that his erection slid underneath her. Supported by Max’s strong arms, she lowered herself, keeping him trapped between her inner thighs. This was one time Max did not mind being held captive. They could both feel each other’s heat as she continued to grind against him, harder and harder. Their bodies started to grow slippery from the sheen of perspiration that formed over them. They broke from another long kiss and she tossed her head back, moaning, her flying out like parachute canopy. Max kissed her all over her exposed upper chest, holding her firmly behind her back. He ran his lips from the tops of her breasts to her shoulder. He buried his head between her breasts and she clung to his head, pulling him in tightly. The softness of her flesh against his cheek felt fantastic. Liz wrapped her legs around Max’s waist. Holding her firmly, making sure that his precious cargo didn’t fall, he walked closer to the fire. In front of the fireplace, Max sank to his knees. He laid her back onto the softness of a bearskin rug where he continued to kiss her body all over, hungry for her flesh. Deciding that he had been restrained long enough, Max leant forward so that the tip of his manhood nestled against her silken curls. She reached for him, rubbing him from the head to its base. Max looked down at Liz, smiling at her beauty. Her hair spread around her head like a chocolate halo. Her beautiful eyes glistened like diamonds in the soft glow of the fire. Liz smiled up at him, enchanting him with her angelic charm. She felt the softness of his breath as he leaned in to her, his lips inches from hers. Max placed an oh so tender kiss on her lips. She returned the kiss and they sank into each other’s eyes, oblivious to everything else. They rolled their bodies slightly so that they fused into one. They both sighed at the sensation of the touching flesh. Their joined bodies trembled. The warmth from the fire was nothing compared to the warmth from their love. Their hearts pounded loudly in their chest, matching each other, beat for beat. They moved in unison, born from a love so deep that both knew precisely how much to move to give one another the ultimate pleasure. Their eyes never broke contact. The passion they shared was intense, the pleasure, endless. They were one and did all they could to bring happiness to their lover. Entwined, they were united in spirit as well as flesh. They both knew from experience that their emotional connection was far stronger that any physical experience they could provide. They made love far through the night, totally immersed into the other’s being. They lost count of the number of orgasms, they lost track of the length of them. Neither mattered. All that mattered was that they were here, they were together, and they were in love.

They awoke in the morning to the sound of the winter birds singing in the trees. The fire had long since died out, but the love from Max and Liz had kept the cabin warm. They kissed each other softly.
“I love you, Liz,” Max sighed.
“I love you, Max,” Liz agreed.
They were the first words either had spoken since Liz’s comment on the snow. There was no need for them.

* * *

[WR]

Part 69

“I wish it was busier,” Jeff leaned against the counter looking through the hatch and into the empty café. “It would sure help pass the time.”
“I’m glad it’s quiet,” Nancy sat on a stool on the opposite side of the counter. “I couldn’t concentrate anyway. I’d probably end up serving the wrong meals to the wrong people.”
She stared out of the window, streaked with water droplets, at the torrential rain that was keeping the early morning crowd indoors.
“Yeah,” Jeff sighed. “I’d probably cook ‘em wrong anyway.”
“I hate all this waiting. I wish we were going with them.”
“You and the rest of us,” Jeff nodded. “But Max said…”
“Max said, Max said,” Nancy spat. “She’s our daughter, Jeff. Since when do we listen to what Max says?”
“Since Max married her and took over responsibility for her,” Jeff’s shoulders slumped. “But in this case, I really think he is right. This is something he has to do, and without us. And I really do think that we are better off here than out there. I bet they are all really busy right now.”
“So many things could go wrong, Jeff,” Nancy whimpered. “I hope the president is nice to them.”

The chimes above the door to the Crashdown rang out. Both Jeff and Nancy turned to glare at the customers, hoping that their hostile looks might frighten them away. Their faces softened when they saw who had come in.
“You guys after breakfast?” Jeff asked.
“Not really,” Jim replied. He and Amy stepped into the café and wiped the excess water from their wet shoes. Water dripped from Jim’s hat while Amy ran her hand across her hair, squeezing out what she could. “Just a bit of company. We figured you guys would be as antsy as we are. All this waiting.”
“Nancy wanted to high tail it over to Idaho,” Jeff nodded.
“Only ‘cause I’m concerned,” Nancy defended.
“I know how you feel,” Amy puffed through her lips.
“Coffee?” Jeff reached over for some cups. “I figure it’d be a long day so I made up a whole batch.”
“Something tells me you’ll be making it up all day.”
“More than today, too,” Jeff groaned. He filled two cups and pushed them toward Jim and Amy. “Philip said that Max could be with the president a couple of days.”
“A couple of days?” the ladies squealed.
“So, where’s all your customers?” Jim looked around at the deserted café. He could sense that a change of discussion was needed.
“I really don’t know,” Jeff shook his head.
“Not that either of us mind,” Nancy added. “I mean, we can’t concentrate on service when Liz…”
“It’s like they know, or something,” Amy commented.
“Rain usually keeps ‘em away,” Jeff shrugged. “I’m sure they’ll start turning up soon.”
The chimes rang out gain.
“Looks like everyone had the same idea,” Diane called as she entered the Crashdown. While she and Philip wiped their feet, Diane released the catch of her umbrella. She stood the wet item in the corner. “You all feeling…”
“Useless?”
“Surplus to requirements?”
“Feeble?”
“Replaced?”
“Yeah,” Diane nodded with a wistful smile.
“Where’s all your customers?” Philip looked around. He glanced behind him at the door. “You closed for the day or something?”
The others started to laugh.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Jeff indicated the seats in the booth and pulled over two more cups. “Could you explain the plan to us again?”
Philip nodded and looked at his watch. He reached into his shirt, making sure that his anti-bugging device was still there, and working.
“Okay,” he exhaled. “Early this morning, at five o’clock, Max, Liz, Isabel, Jesse and a couple of guards…”
“Eldugar and Katya,” Diane interrupted.
Everyone nodded, knowing how Liz’s shadows would never be far from her.
“Climbed aboard one of their helicopters,” Philip continued. “They flew the short distance to Stanley where at approximately five thirty; they boarded Cal Langley’s private jet. From there, they flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma. They’re on their way there, now. That’s where they’re meeting the president’s private helicopter, in the main park. Only, the president doesn’t know it’s in the park. The pilot will be given his landing directions when he enters Tulsa’s airspace, so that Max knows that it’s not a trap.”
“What about the president?” Jim asked. “Does he trust Max enough to agree to something like that?”
“Well, seeing as Max has to trust the president, it’s only fair that the president has to trust Max,” Philip nodded. “After all, it was Forest who wanted this meeting in the first place. Max is counting on Forest being an honorable man, and not wanting to try anything… foolish at somewhere so prolific as Camp David.
“I hope Max is right,” Nancy shook her head.

* * *

“What if it’s a trap?” Isabel asked as she placed the special transmitter, changed to a frequency undetectable by human devices, over Max’s wrist.
The sun was only just peeking above the mountaintops in the cold, early morning air. Many of those gathered struggled to stifle their yawns.
“Then Michael can find us through this,” Max held his hand over the device. When he removed it, the device had vanished, melded with his flesh. “He can monitor me with this. He can find my location and if I concentrate hard enough, he can detect my thoughts.”
“Neat little toy,” Maria raised her eyebrows. “So how come we get the James Bond gadgets now? Where was Q when we needed him?”
“Is everyone set?” Max looked around.
“I don’t trust him,” Michael growled for yet another time.
“I know,” Max nodded. “And I agree with you. But I have to try this. I have to see if there’s any hope.”
“If they snatch you, Max, I’m coming in with all guns blazing. I don’t care how many innocent people get killed. There is too much at stake here.”
Max looked at Michael for a moment before giving a reluctant nod.
“It’ll be your call, Michael. You do what you think is necessary.”
“Thanks,” Michael placed his hand on Max’s shoulder. “Look after them,” he nodded toward Liz and Isabel.
“Always,” Max agreed with a smile. He turned to face his small group. “Come on,” he called. “Time to go.”
Their good-byes all said, the six of them, Max, Liz, Isabel, Jesse, Eldugar and Katya climbed on board the helicopter. Moments later, it rose into the air, paused for a second and then sped southward toward a nearby airport where Cal Langley’s private jet awaited them. The remaining friends stood in the quad and watched until the helicopter’s lights, flashing in the subdued dawn light, had vanished behind the distant mountain. They remained a while longer until they were sure that they could no longer hear the chopper echoing through the valley.
“I hope it all goes okay,” Kyle broke the silence.
Everyone nodded their agreement.
“Anyone know a good way to kill time?” he continued.
No one spoke.
“Mikey?” he continued. “A little one-on-one hoops?”
“Another time,” Michael shook his head. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be over at the command center.”
“They won’t get to the meeting point for hours yet, Michael,” Maria crossed her arms in front of her. “Why don’t you just relax? You’re wound up tighter than a… a… tighter than Max.”
“Too much can go wrong, Maria,” Michael turned toward the center. “I won’t be much company today. Sorry.”
“Well,” Connie shrugged as Michael disappeared into the building.
“It’s lonely at the top,” Major Armstead nodded. “He really loves Max, doesn’t he?”
“I don’t think anyone can come close to understanding the bond they share,” Maria nodded. “It’s just…”
“Complex,” Kyle nodded.
“It’s more than that, though,” Maria shook her head. “Michael is still haunted by so many things. Firstly, there’s how he treated Liz in the early days. Neither he nor Isabel wanted Max to have anything to do with her. And how he treated Max, too. Then there’s what happened up on that ship when he was that Rath animal. But most of all, it’s what he learned on that ship. Michael is so afraid that Max remembers how he was originally put in as second-in-command hoping that he would betray him to Kivar, that… Michael is desperate to prove that he is loyal to Max.”
“And the funny thing is,” Connie nodded. “There’s really no need for all this. Max knows that there is no one more loyal to him than Michael.”
“’Cept Liz,” Kyle added.
“’Cept Liz,” they all nodded.

* * *

The flight to Tulsa, Oklahoma was without incident. They sat in silence amid the luxurious interior of the private jet that now seemed to Max and Liz, a second home.
“Why did you want me to come, too, Max?” Jesse asked, leaning forward in his white leather seat. “Not that I don’t want to be here, you understand. I’m just kinda curious.”
Max watched Jesse for a moment, as if he were measuring him somehow.
“If things go the way I hope they’ll go,” Max started to speak in a measured tone. It was authoritative, confident. It was a measure of how much Max had grown in recent months. “Then I’m going to need someone who is one hundred percent human to be my… representative. Someone who can speak for me, yet not someone who will be seen as being some kind of puppet, just a mouthpiece.”
“I think you’re trying to say that you want someone who will make sure that you get a good deal, but not at the expense of Earth.”
“Right,” Max grinned. “Fifty-fifty.”
“But why me? Why not Liz?”
“I think that they might consider Liz to be a little biased,” Max smirked. “Besides, if it ever got out that she was changed when I healed her, who would trust that she was, in fact, totally human still?”
“But I’m married to your sister; doesn’t that make me biased too?”
“In a way, I guess,” Max shrugged. “But not biased. Loyal, perhaps. Apart from which, you are a trained lawyer. I’ll have certain… interests to look after.”
“The patents and things, right?”
“Among others. Jesse, you don’t have to do this for me. If it makes you feel uncomfortable… or if you think that there’s a conflict of interests... I mean, I know that you have these hopes that maybe you can live some kind of normal life, too, and if you don’t want to get involved, you just have to say. As much as I would like you to work with me, I’ll respect your and Isabel’s wishes.”
“Can I discuss this with Isabel, first?”
“Of course,” Max nodded. He glanced over at Liz, deep in conversation with Isabel and Katya, doubtless discussing dating tips. He turned to look at Eldugar and wondered if he suspected that he was being set up. “I wouldn’t expect it any other way.”

* * *

“Once they get to Tulsa,” Philip continued, “they’ll have plenty of time to make their way to the park. They have an SUV waiting for them. Langley again.”
“Remind me to invite Cal over for dinner sometime,” Diane cut in again. “He’s done so much for our kids.
Everyone nodded their agreement.
“Once they get to the park,” Philip continued, “they will wait in the SUV until they are given the nod that the helicopter is approaching. Max has his own men already there, making sure that there has been no breach of security. Which isn’t likely, given that his men are so loyal to him. But this is their president that Max is planning to meet.” Philip paused. “Our President, too. When the helicopter - which will only have Forest, a pilot and co-pilot on board - is cleared to land, Max and the others will climb into it, and be whisked away to Camp David, monitored by Max’s ground crew. Any deviation in the flight plan and Michael will know something is up. He’ll then ride to the rescue. But with Max, Liz, Isabel, Eldugar and Katya all with those abilities of theirs, the president will need to conceal a small army in that helicopter of his.”

* * *

The six climbed into their SUV. A surreptitious nod from the Car Rental attendant made Max smile. Knowing that he was Langley’s man, he felt as though he was in a James Bond film.
“I vos only tventy four hours from Tulsa,” Max whispered through the side of his mouth to Liz.
“Excuse me?” she frowned.
“You’re supposed to say something like, ‘Zen you forgot to vind your vatch.”
“What are you talking about, Max?” Liz’s face was a mask of confusion.
“Nothing,” Max started to laugh.
The others cast looks of concern at Max as Eldugar eased the SUV from its parking bay, moving to join the downtown traffic.

“Not long now,” Jesse turned and stared out of the window.
The journey into town was filled with silence. No one spoke the dark thoughts that inhabited their mind as the miles disappeared beneath the rolling wheels. Liz turned and looked at Max, wondering what the President of the USA would make of the mysterious, dark young man that she had fallen so head-over-heels in love with. Would he see the wonderful person, the kind and caring soul, the loving and passionate heart that she saw every time she looked at him? Or would he see him as a source of power, someone to use and abuse as he saw fit? Or perhaps he might be looked upon as a threat to the US and world’s security, someone who must be eliminated? So many imponderables.

Max could feel Liz’s eyes upon him. He reached over and took her hand in his, allowing her to feel the confidence that he had forced himself to feel. There was so much at stake here, and the lives of those he loved the most in this world, or any other, were at risk. He would do this; he would prevail, no matter what. For them.
“This is the place,” Eldugar steered the car into a large parking lot on the outskirts of a large park in the center of Tulsa. “How much time do we have?”
“An hour at least,” Max glanced at his watch. He reached for his cell phone. “I’ll check in with Michael. When I’m done, make sure you leave your phones in the car. Remember that we agreed not to take any with us.”
As soon as Max had confirmed their safe arrival, they made their way through the park toward the large open space where they would ask the President’s helicopter to land. They waited on a bench, with their back to a thick cluster of trees while they watched the locals at play in the wide, open space before them. They waited. Finally, the small hand held radio-receiver that Max carried in his jacket pocket crackled into life.
“Distant Guest, Distant Guest, this is Welcome Wagon. Do you receive? Over.”
“Welcome Wagon, this is Distant Guest,” Max spoke into the handset. “Receiving, over.”
“Greetings, Distant Guest. We are ready to accept your landing co-ordinates. Over.”
“Roger that, Welcome Wagon. Proceed to your grid reference Tango Quebec four five three seven, Lima Bravo four one six niner. Over.”
“That’s Tango Quebec four five three seven, Lima Bravo four one six niner. Confirmed, Distant Guest. Proceeding. Our ETA is five minutes. Over.”
A helicopter appeared on the horizon, moving in a smooth arc toward them. As it got closer, they could all make out the eagle emblem of the symbol of the United States,
“This is it,” Max exhaled as the helicopter made its landing approach.

* * *

“That was Michael,” Jeff confirmed to the five heads that were looking at him with anxiety etched onto their faces as he hung up his phone.
“And?” Nancy barked.
“And they arrived at the park safely. They’re waiting for the helicopter, now.”
“So far so good,” Philip sighed.
“Relax, Philip,” Jim smiled. “One thing I learned about Max is that he’s pretty resourceful. He’s also pretty quick with that shield. Remember that he had it in place when that Grant character shot at him that time. Max didn’t even know he was there till the shot was fired. That’s some reaction there.”
“Allow me the luxury of worry, Jim,” Philips shrugged. “Under the circumstances, it’s all I can do.”
“He’ll be fine,” Diane seemed the least concerned. “This is Max, right? After five minutes, the president will be under his spell, just like everyone else he meets. Nothing will go wrong. Trust me.”

* * *

The military vehicle caused quite a rumpus when it stopped at the gate of Camp Sawtooth for a moment and was then waved into the camp by the guards on duty. Everyone stopped and stared as it drove straight toward the diner, which had become their center of operations.
“What?” Michael exploded when someone had come in to tell him what had happened. Max was about to meet the incoming helicopter and someone had allowed an unfriendly onto their base. Michael stormed from the console he was sitting by and burst through the door, intent on not only ridding the camp of these intruders, but on reprimanding the imbecile who allowed him into the camp.
“I don’t know who you think…” Michael was shouting at the car even before the occupant had emerged.
The door opened, and an impressive figure in military fatigues climbed from the back seat.
“Colonel Roberts,” Michael was surprised to see the man who had placed them on the road to all this by putting Max in touch with these men. No wonder the guards had let him through.
“Hello, Michael,” Roberts gave Michael a salute he felt was due. “Is Max around?”
“’Fraid not,” Michael shook his head with narrowed eyes. “But I’m in charge in his absence. Can I help you?”
“Maybe,” Roberts looked disappointed that Max was not here. Michael escorted him into the diner. “What do you know of a man named Baurline? Steve Baurline.”
“Rings a bell,” Michael nodded.
“Isn’t he the FBI agent who tried to kill us back in Roswell? He got kicked out, didn’t he?
“Didn’t I read somewhere that he died in some motel fire?” Maria asked.
“Yeah,” Roberts nodded. “He’s the one. Anyway, one of my men has a friend in the Seals. It seems that a few weeks back, the night of our action against that hostile landing, a group of Seals went out on a covert mission. Full gear. Night vision goggles, black coveralls, ventilators, stun grenades, the works. Their target was a man who was known to be stalking aliens. They tracked him down to this motel in Rachel, Nevada. They stormed his room using percussion grenades and stun gas.”
“So the authorities eliminated him for us,” Michael grinned. “Good. Save us doing the job later.”
“No,” Roberts shook his head. “They seized Baurline from his room. They took him, leaving behind a dead body to burn, knowing that it would later be identified as Baurline by a friendly.”
“I don’t understand,” Connie frowned. “What would the Seals want with Baurline? Was this something you organized?”
“No, not me,” Roberts shook his head.
Everyone exchanged concerned glances.

* * *

Max waited with his friends as the helicopter landed, sending a shower of loose debris into the air. As the blades started to slow, Max rose, and turned to face his friends. He held his hand out to Liz, who took it and stood with him.
“Well,” Max called. “We might as well get this over with.”
Jesse and Isabel rose, and stood slightly behind and to one side of Max as they turned and headed for the helicopter. Eldugar moved out in front, while Katya followed behind. They could feel the wind being pushed against them from the rotors. The door on the side of the helicopter slid open as the pilot gave a friendly wave. From inside the helicopter cabin, President Forest smiled and waved at them.

* * *

“No,” Roberts shook his head. “Someone else organized that. Someone who would have known what Baurline had been up to. Someone who would have known that maybe what he had been saying all this time had been true, and needed his expertise.” He looked at the people assembled around him. Someone important. Important enough to have been able to authorize the faking of his death in the fire, as well as circumvent the standard accidental death procedures, such as an autopsy.”
Michael narrowed his eyes as he thought about Robert’s words.
“Forest?” he asked at last.
Roberts gave a slow nod.
“Max is on his way to meet him right now,” Michael’s face took a stricken appearance. “At Camp David.”
“I think that it might just be a trap,” Roberts confirmed everyone’s darkest thoughts.
“No shit,” Michael growled.
“Knowing Forest, he probably wants your technology. Once Max sets foot in Camp David, we might never hear from him again. We need to stop him, before it’s too late.”
“Gee. D’ya think? Damn it!” Michael was already moving toward the radio. “Max was hoping that this could lead to some form of a normal life.”
Behind him, everyone was following.
“Looks like normal for Max is going to be white,” Kyle snarled. “White walls, white floor, white…”
“Not helping,” Connie held her hand over Kyle’s mouth.
“Stop Max, at all costs!” Michael barked into the radio transmitter that linked him to the ground units on location. “Now!”
“He won’t hear us,” the startled voice replied. “The guests are heading for the transport. Repeat, the guests are heading for the transport.”

* * *

“We know that there are more than we first thought,” Baurline told the four other men clad in special camouflage who were hiding behind the seating of the helicopter. From the outside, they would be almost invisible. “So we won’t take any chances. Even though we know for a fact that Jesse Ramirez is one hundred percent human, assume he’s not.”
“Sir, yes sir,” the men snapped.
“The dart guns you have will fire six darts before you have to reload. Each dart carries enough serum to keep the subjects neutralized for a full day. You each have a main target, and a secondary target. Make sure that you hit the main target four times, and your secondary twice. Don’t stop shooting until you are empty. We have been close before, but never as close as this. Take no chances, assume nothing.”
“Sir, yes sir,”
“Sir,” the helicopter pilot called. “We’ve just been given our landing co-ordinates. We’re about five minutes away.”
“Sweep around in an arc. Keep your eyes open in case they brought any additional unfriendlies. Keep your eyes peeled.”
“Roger,” the pilot nodded.
“Gentlemen,” Baurline addressed the men again. “Check your weapons.”
The men ran through their standard drill, checking their ammunition, their firing pins and making sure that their safety catches were off.
“We can see them, sir,” the pilot called. “Only six of them. The four you were expecting and two others.”
“Okay, people,” Baurline grinned while he pulled a latex mask of President Forest over his face. “Let’s go bag us some aliens.”

* * *

“Okay,” Max waved back at the president. Holding Liz’s hand tightly, he started to walk toward the helicopter. “Lets go and talk with Forest. Hopefully, we’ll be back home by the weekend.”

* * *