Birthright *Series* Season 2 (CC, TEEN), Chapter 75, 12/31/19

[Roswelllostcause]

Great part. The pod squad would really be lost without Liz!

[Kathy W]

Hello, everyone! I have the coolest thing to show you! We had my (somewhat belated) birthday celebration since I was last here, and one of my presents was...*drum roll please*...ALL OF MY BOOKS IN PRINT!



I was beyond gobsmacked. This represents the combined efforts of my husband, a friend of his, and our very own Misha! Misha did all the artwork, the covers, and the summaries on the back, each of which matches the chapters included in that volume. My husband's friend had the task of formatting the text for print, including the removal of all those bulletin board tags. The amount of work this represents is mind-boggling, and I am so very, very grateful to everyone who made it happen.

Okay. *breathes deeply* I'll come down off my high just long enough to put up another chapter...

[Kathy W]

I liked your take on Alex's involvement with the computer and finding a floor plan......great idea!

Thank you! I just loved Alex, so I love bringing him into the story more. Alex was so right about so many things, including, as many of you noted, his take on the Liz/Max situation. (I know he didn't really say that, but I'd bet good money he would have.)







CHAPTER FOURTEEN




September 7, 2000, 10 a.m.

Route 70 West, New Mexico





"How's it going?" Isabel called.

"Not bad, not great," Max answered from the back. "I'm remembering some of it."

'Keep trying," Isabel advised.

"Want me to quiz you again?" Tess asked.

""Let me get one more look," Max said.

The maps Alex had provided swam in front of him, campus maps, building maps, cyclotron maps. He wouldn't have time to consult them tomorrow, so he was trying to commit them to memory and then test that memory when they reached Las Cruces for a dry run of tomorrow's latest meeting with destiny. Isabel was driving to give him more time to pore over the maps, which had made for an awkward situation when they'd picked up Tess. Always something of a third wheel even when they were four, she was even more so now that they were three. Usually it was guys in front, girls in back, but with Isabel driving and him in the passenger seat, Tess would have been alone in the back, and that had just seemed...rude. Obvious. Even calculated, although it wasn't. Isabel had felt it too, judging from her stricken expression after they'd paused in Tess's driveway and honked the horn. Tess, for her part, had plopped into the back seat and buckled her seat belt without so much as a moment's hesitation as he and Isabel had struggled silently with the new seating arrangement.

"I'll sit in the back," Max had said suddenly.

"Yeah, that'd be good," Isabel agreed.

Tess had eyed him warily as he'd climbed into the back with her. "I don't need a babysitter," she'd objected.

"I'm not babysitting," Max had said. "I need more room to spread out all these maps."

She'd given him a pitying look. "Seriously? I know you don't like me. It's not like it's a big secret."

Something had stirred in Max then, something annoyed, and rebellious, and...pissed. "What I don't like is having my life planned out for me," he retorted. "What I don't like is being told my opinion doesn't matter, that the way it used to be is the way it must be in the future. I don't like any of that, but none of that means I don't like you. On the contrary, I could use your help. You're way more skilled at this kind of stuff than we are."

Tess' eyes had dropped. "Oh. Sorry," she said, taken aback. "You're all pretty good at this yourselves. You were doing fine before I showed up."

"But you're more used to it," Isabel said. "We can do it, but it's harder for us. You stay cooler, keep a clearer head. We need that."

"And your experience," Max added. "Will you help us, or would you rather pout because you're not my wife? Because if that's what you're doing, you can do that at home."

"Of course I'll help," Tess said firmly. "Anything. Just name it."

And so had commenced the three and half hour drive, a flurry of studying and being quizzed. He was getting better, but not fast enough. Gathering up the maps, he handed them to Tess.

"Okay...quiz me."

She pulled one of the maps out of the pile. "If you're going north on Campus Boulevard, which way do you turn to get to the Particle Physics Lab?"

"Right," Max said promptly, "or east."

"Yes," Tess confirmed. "Inside the lab, do you take the north or the west staircase to get to the cyclotron?"

"North. The west stairs don't go down to that floor."

"Good. How many elevator shafts go all the way to the top of the building?"

Max hesitated, struggling to recall. "Time," Tess said after 10 seconds had passed, their predetermined time limit for recalling crucial information. "You're doing better."

"I'm doing crap," Max sighed, taking the maps back. "Each time I remember and forget different stuff, and any of it could be important."

"Keep trying," Tess urged. "I'll keep helping."

"Or one of us could go with you," Isabel suggested. "Two people might remember more details."

"No," Max said firmly. "We went over this. The more people in the building, the more likely one of us will get caught."

"Okay, then, what about that 'scanning' thing Nasedo was talking about," Isabel went on. "At the base, remember?

"What's this?" Max asked.

"When we were getting ready to rescue you," Isabel explained. "Nasedo gave Michael a map of the base and told him to 'scan it into his brain'."

Max looked at Tess. "Do you know anything about this?"

"Yeah," she admitted. "I do it all the time. Some humans do it too; they call it 'photographic memory', although our version tends to be on the more intense end of the scale."

Max shook his head. "Not following."

"Okay...think of your brain as a computer," Tess said. "When you scan something, it's just like when you scan something onto your hard drive—you make a copy you can look at later, only this one's in your head.

"Don't we do that already?" Isabel said. "Max and I routinely remember all sorts of stuff for school. We read textbooks, and then we don't have to reread it because we remember it."

"This is more than just remembering," Tess said. "Suppose there was something in that textbook you didn't remember. Could you call up those pages again in your mind, like they were right there in front of you, and reread them to find out what you were missing?"

"No," Isabel allowed.

"But that's exactly what I need," Max said eagerly. "So you can do this?"

"Nasedo taught me a long time ago," Tess nodded. "It's how I always knew where we lived and always remembered the new escape route even though we moved a lot. It's like having a portable library in your head."

"Can you show me how?"

"I can try," Tess said. "But one thing you should know is that it's always faster to remember. If you've scanned something, you can look up what you need to know, but it takes time. Remembering is always faster, and that takes work, just like you're doing now."

"Got it," Max said. "What do I do?"

Tess looked down at the top map, one of the campus. "I'm...not sure. I was really little when I learned."

"Show me," Max said, handing her the map.

Silence descended as Tess stared at the map, Max watched closely, and Isabel swerved slightly because she was looking in the rear view mirror. About five seconds later, Tess looked up. "Done. Test me," she said, handing the map to Max.

"But you'll remember a lot of this stuff," Max said. "You're been quizzing me about it for hours now."

"Then pick something I haven't asked you," Tess said. "Find something that's far away from the lab, something that wouldn't have anything to do with why we're there. We haven't been paying any attention to that."

Well...I haven't, Max thought, combing the map for something that would be a true test. He found it in the lower right hand corner, so faint that he had to work at reading it. "The publication date," he said. "What is it?"

Tess closed her eyes for much longer than five seconds this time, frowning after a few before breaking into a smile. "Found it! Man, that's tiny. It's smudged, but I think it's...1998. Could be 1999 because it's the '8' that's smudged."

"Wow," Max said wonderingly. "Incredible!"

"Give her something she's never seen before," Isabel suggested. "Like the car manual. It's in the glove compartment."

"Good idea." Max leaned into the front seat to fetch it and selected a page with a dense table of information. Tess spent no longer gazing at the manual than she had at the map.

"Okay. Test me."

"What's the title?" Max asked.

"Normal Maintenance Replacement Parts," Tess recited.

"What's it say under 'PCV Valve'?"

"Code 8 Base Model, part number 94859406. Code 8 AWD Model, part number 94859404. Code L, part number 88969512."

"What about the spark plugs? The Code 8 kind."

"DENSO SK16R11, NGK IFR5A88 or part number 94859448," Tess answered.

"Is that right? Oh, my God!" Isabel exclaimed when Max nodded. "You didn't look at that anywhere near long enough to memorize all that!"

"Because I'm not memorizing," Tess reminded her. "I'm scanning. Scanning means you just read it, the same way Max is reading it off the page."

"I'm sold," Max announced. "How do I do it?"

"Well...you concentrate on what you're scanning, and..."

"Throw power at it?" Isabel suggested.

"Read it?" Max added.

"No...no, I'm not reading it, and I'm not using power, at least not in the conventional sense," Tess said. "I'm not exactly sure how I do it. I just concentrate on it, and think about scanning it. You try," she suggested, taking the manual from him. "Here...this is a good one.

Max looked at the list entitled "Instrument Panel Fuse Block". "Do I read it, or—"

"No," Tess said. "It's not reading, it's scanning; you can read it after you scan it. You don't read, you just look at it."

"Okay," Max said doubtfully, staring at the page and feeling slightly silly as he fought to overcome the natural urge to read what he wanted to remember. This was an alien power, so shouldn't he be using his powers? Closing his eyes, he cautiously aimed power at the page...

...only to have it snatched out of his hands. "It was smoking," Tess said, slapping at a darkened corner of the book. "You're trying to scan it, not burn it."

"I don't know what that means," Max said in frustration.

Tess's expression softened. "I know. I'm sorry I don't have a better explanation."

"Maybe it's something only you can do?" Isabel suggested.

"Maybe," Tess allowed, "but I doubt it. Nasedo made it sound like it was a small thing, not a big power like your dreamwalking."

"A 'small thing'," Max said ironically. "Just another 'small thing' we don't know."

"So let's find out," Isabel said. "Try again, Max. Maybe it's like one of those 3D pictures hidden inside another picture. Remember how Dad could see them, but Mom couldn't? But she kept looking at it, and eventually she figured it out. It had something to do with what she was focusing on. Keep trying."

Max sighed and settled back into the corner, his eyes on the page. He did remember his dad teasing his mom because he could see the 3D pictures right away while she couldn't, and as he recalled, it wasn't what she was focusing on that finally made them visible to her—it was figuring out what not to focus on. Holding the manual tightly, Max stared at the page again, but this time he crossed his eyes hard. Then he slowly let the two images come together until they were hovering just near the edge of symmetry...

"Got it," Max breathed a moment later.

"You did?" Isabel said. "What did you do?"

"I...I'm not sure," Max admitted. "I'm not even sure how I know it worked, but it did."

"Let's test it," Tess said, taking the manual from him. "What's the fourth fuse down on the lefthand list?"

Incredible, Max thought as the page appeared before him as though he held it in his hands. "AM2," he read. "Charging System, Starter System, Engine Control."

"How about the sixth one down on the right?"

" 'CIG'," Max read. "Cigarette Lighter, Power Outlets, Audio System, Automatic Transaxle Control System."

"He did it!" Tess said. "You really did it!"

"Give me the maps," Max said eagerly.

It took longer this time. Beginner's luck, Max thought when it took him a full ten minutes with three breaks to scan the campus map. The building layout was slightly less difficult, though, and by the time he confronted the most confusing of the three, the cyclotron, it was noticeably easier. "This is amazing!" he exclaimed, leafing through the maps in his head. "It really is just like having them right in front of you."

"We're here," Isabel announced.

They were. New Mexico State University blared the huge sign beside the wide drive Isabel had turned onto, only to slam on the brakes when she encountered a long line of traffic. "What the...!" she exclaimed. "The place is crawling!"

"Looks like freshmen are moving in," Max said.

"Good," Tess said. "The bigger the crowd, the less anyone will notice us."

"And if we wind up in the wrong place, we're just three lost freshman looking for our dorm," Max said. "That would be 'Garcia'," he added after consulting his internal university map. "It's the furthest from the Particle Physics Lab."

"Knock'em dead, Max," Tess smiled.




*****************************************************




"Egads; this must be freshman orientation," Vanessa grimaced, steering the car between throngs of bewildered teenagers and their equally bewildered parents. "I'm so glad you came to your senses, Daniel. You won't regret it."

"Well, what choice did I have?" Daniel said. "It was either that or hand you over to the Unit. Whatever Unit I wind up forming, that is."

Vanessa glanced sideways; he was smiling, at least faintly, but still...she couldn't quite tell where they stood. He'd agreed to work with her, and on the surface he was, but the signals he was sending were mixed at best. "So...a school?" he went on, gazing out the window at the mobs. "When I agreed to 'join forces', I didn't expect to wind up in a day care. Never took you for a schoolmarm."

"Good," Vanessa said. "I loathe children. We're here for something we need, something we can only find here. Something that will hopefully restore my credibility."

"Mine's shot already," Daniel shrugged.

"At the Bureau, perhaps," Vanessa noted, "and via self-inflicted wound. But not everywhere, and you'll need it back. You want to start your own Unit, and to do that, you'll need agents. This will get you those agents."

"So we can find 'our' aliens," Daniel said.

"Exactly," Vanessa answered. "We both want the same thing, so we'd be foolish not to work together."

"Too bad you didn't just say that," Daniel said. "Before you started fucking me, that is."

"Excuse me?" Vanessa protested. "I thought we'd established that your hopping into my bed was also politically motivated?"

"Of course it was," Daniel said. "That doesn't change the fact that you came looking for me because you knew I could help you find what you wanted. But it's a grand human tradition to sleep your way to what you want. Maybe you're more human than you think."

Vanessa's hands gripped the steering wheel harder as yet another barb flew her way. Give him time, she counseled herself. She'd just told an alien hunter she was an alien, and every bone in his body must be itching to haul her in, to use her to get his job back. He was either having trouble getting his head around it or he was truly still on the fence, and if the latter, she'd have to convince him otherwise.

They reached the Particle Physics Lab, and she pulled into a parking space, killed the engine, and sat in silence, staring straight ahead. "Please tell me your people don't meditate," Daniel said.

"Some do," Vanessa allowed, "but I was just thinking...it's not just a human tradition. Our new king used it to depose the old one, although it didn't quite work out the way he'd intended. Sleeping your way to power is more of a sentient species tradition."

"So we're considered 'sentient'," Daniel said dryly. "Delighted, I'm sure. I gather you think you have 'power' where you come from?"

"I have power everywhere I go," Vanessa assured him. "I'm attached to our king's 'second', meaning his second in command and heir."

"Vanessa, darling," Daniel chuckled, "I don't know how they do math in your part of the solar system—"

"Galaxy."

"Whatever. I hate to break it to you, but hanging with number two doesn't make you number three—it makes you number zero. So you have no power. No wonder you wanted some here."

"I have the ear of the king's second," Vanessa said crossly. "Haven't you ever heard of the 'power behind the throne'? That holds on whichever planet the throne happens to be sitting."

"If you say so," Daniel said skeptically.

"Why all the hostility?" Vanessa demanded, losing her patience. "Do we have a problem here?"

"Of course we 'have a problem here'," Daniel said testily. "You keep banging on about 'working together', but I still don't know what that means. Yes, I know you said you're chasing deposed kings, but what if you're planning an invasion? What if I'm literally sleeping with the enemy?"

"If we've been planning an invasion for the past 40 odd years, we must be pretty crappy at it," Vanessa noted.

"Supposedly you've been hunting that king for the past 40 odd years, so does that mean you're 'crappy' at that?" Daniel retorted.

Vanessa had just opened her mouth to let rip on that one when she pulled up short...and started laughing instead. ""Did I say something funny?" Daniel said peevishly. "Do tell."

"It's just that...it looks that way," Vanessa chuckled. "I mean, it must. I've been stranded on this backwater rock for almost half a century, and I can safely assure you that I can't wait to get home. That's why I slept with you, why I wanted to know what you knew, because the faster we found what we were looking for, the sooner we could get out of here. And if you do manage to start your own Unit, if you share with me what you find, I...I might actually get to go home. Finally." She stopped, suddenly self-conscious as her throat constricted with very unwelcome emotion. "Let's go in."

They walked inside in silence, pushing through the throngs of students and parents. "Congresswoman Whitaker!" an official looking someone wearing a name tag said in surprise. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow—"

"No worries," Vanessa said, holding up a hand. "I'm showing a colleague of mine what we'll be doing tomorrow. We just wanted a look at the cyclotron."

"You and the rest of the universe," the woman chuckled. "It's not in use today, so the viewing windows are open. Go right up." She paused, staring at Daniel. "Hey...aren't you that FBI agent—"

"No," Daniel said flatly. '" 'Cyclotron'?" he murmured as they joined the line climbing the wide staircase. "What the hell is that?"

"It's a machine," Vanessa answered, "a huge, slow, inefficient machine. But everyone will listen to the results it produces, and that's what matters."

"I take it you think your...'people'...could do better?"

"Of course we could," Vanessa said, not missing the jab, "but we don't have the right materials on this planet. This will have to do."

"Do what, exactly?"

They'd reached the second floor. Huge floor-to-ceiling windows ringed an oval in the center where, two floors below, was the cyclotron, a massive construct that filled a major part of the basement level. "You may have found it politically expedient to deny the existence of cadmium-X on national television," Vanessa said as they joined the crowds at the windows, "but fate has sent a murder victim my way, a man killed by the very aliens we're both chasing. His skeleton will prove that cadmium-X is real. This machine is crude, but it will get the job done."

"So?" Daniel said. "The Bureau already knows cadmium-X is real, and has a herd of similar skeletons. And I don't care how much you want 'credibility, you can't go public with this. We don't want hordes of people hunting aliens they've suddenly been told are real, especially since some of them are bound to be sympathizers. The last thing we want is to find them new friends."

"Gracious, do you think I'm stupid?" Vanessa demanded. "This isn't for the public; it's for us."

"And here I thought this was just for you," Daniel said sardonically. "Oh, wait—it is just for you!"

"It's for you, too," Vanessa argued. "How do you think you're going to rally people to your Unit? This will never go public, but word will get around, inside the Bureau and the halls of Congress. When that happens you'll have more than just Unit agents flocking to your cause, plus some serious financial backers that you'll need to get up and running."

"So you can get 'up and running'," Daniel said. "As in 'running home'. So is 'home' all it's cracked up to be? Are you really that much better off there than here?"

Am I? Vanessa thought, staring through the glass at the machine which might get her what she needed, the prospect of going home suddenly looming larger than it had in ages.

"No," she admitted. "Not really."





*****************************************************





"Crowded," Tess murmured as they nudged their way toward the glass windows which formed a ring on the second floor of the Physics Building.

"Very," Isabel agreed, looking down at the machine which might get Michael killed. "So what do we do? Can we break it?"

"That won't help," Max said, "for the same reason stealing the bones won't help. It'll just look suspicious, and eventually they'd fix it or ship the bones somewhere else where we can't reach them. We have to come up with a way to get an answer they'll accept which will also get Michael off the hook."

"Can you take the cadmium-X out of the bones?" Tess suggested.

"Maybe," Max allowed.

"But if the cadmium-X comes from our powers, won't anything we do to them with those powers leave that behind?" Isabel said.

"Crap," Tess sighed. "How about if we alter the test result? You know, have the computer say it didn't find anything even if it did?"

"That would throw them off," Max agreed.

"Wouldn't we need Alex for that?" Isabel said.

"I'll talk to him," Max said. "Maybe he has some ideas. If that won't work, I can try and do something to the bones, but I'll need access to them."

"Nasedo can help with that," Tess said. "He can look like anybody, so he can go anywhere."

"Yeah, hopefully without leaving a pile of bodies behind," Isabel muttered.

"No more bodies," Max said firmly. "I'll talk to..." He stopped suddenly, shrinking back into the crowd, pulling Tess and Isabel with him. "Back up," he said urgently. "Look who's here."

They followed his gaze across the chasm to where Congresswoman Whitaker and Pierce, or rather Nasedo looking like Pierce, stood on the other side of the oval. "What are they doing here?" Isabel hissed.

"Probably the same thing we are," Max said. "Let's go. We still have to check out all the entrances and exits. I can figure out what I'm going to do later."

They melted into the crowd, hurrying as fast as possible in the opposite direction, with Max only stopping once to read a poster advertising an upcoming presentation.

Nuclear Weapons Testing in New Mexico—How Were We Affected?




******************************************************




Students and parents wandered by, looking through the windows and exclaiming over the university's latest toy as Vanessa and Daniel stood in awkward silence, her flushing, him gaping. Had she actually just said that out loud? Had she actually just said she was better off here than on Antar?

"Wow," Daniel said softly. "Did not see that one coming."

Vanessa leaned against the glass, overcome with a sudden, unfamiliar urge. She couldn't talk about this with anyone, certainly not Nicholas, but not anyone else either; she'd be reported in a heartbeat and her career, if not her life, would be over. But Daniel was safe. He wouldn't go ratting her out to Nicholas, couldn't even if he wanted to. For the first time in years, she found herself with an option to be something she rarely was: Honest.

"What I'm about to say doesn't leave this room," she whispered. "And never gets repeated to anyone, your species or mine."

Daniel smiled faintly. "It's not exactly a 'room', but I can certainly do the species part. You're the only alien I know. That I haven't killed yet, anyway."

"Stop posturing," Vanessa said impatiently. "You haven't killed any aliens; if you had, I'd know." She paused. "Here's the deal—Antar is a mess. Our new king was never accepted by the people, and they've been fighting him ever since the coup...and let's just say he's not doing much to win them over."

"I see," Daniel murmured. "And the old king? Was it that bad under the old regime?"

"No," Vanessa admitted. "We were peaceful. Prosperous. Stable."

"So you traded peace, prosperity, and stability for chaos? Doesn't sound like a fair trade to me. What moron made a deal like that?"

"The same moron who makes any deal like that," Vanessa said savagely. "A man. The old dynasty had their problems, chief among them that they didn't give my faction its due. But since the old king escaped with his family, everyone's been waiting for him to return, and that just infuriates our new king. He's been throwing a tantrum ever since and blaming it on everyone who won't accept him, when all he's really doing is proving he isn't fit for the post."

"What about this 'second' you mentioned," Daniel said. "Would he do a better job?"

"God, no," Vanessa said bitterly. "He's worse."

"And this is what you're dying to go back to?" Daniel said skeptically.

"Because I can't fix it from here," Vanessa said sadly. "I'm stranded here while my world is falling apart, and the fastest way to fix that is to find the king and his family. If I can't—"

"This is all deeply touching," Daniel interrupted, "but it doesn't have a damned thing to do with me. If you find cadmium X in your skeleton, so what? Even if that gets me a Unit, we're no closer to finding the aliens, and what happens when we do? You jet off home with your prizes and leave me with nothing? Because that's not gonna work for me." He leaned in closer. "Get to the part where I get something out of this. Give me something I can use."

"Right," Vanessa said, noting that one of the reasons she'd fallen in love with him was that he was a hardass like her. "The ones who make the silver handprints are the royal family's guardians. There are two of them, and they're shapeshifters; they can look like anyone or any thing. You can identify them because their bodies glow in infrared light."

" 'Glow'?" Daniel chuckled. "What, like lightening bugs?"

"Don't joke," Vanessa said crossly. "The royal family numbers four, and they look human."

"Do they glow? Do you glow?"

"No," Vanessa said, praying for patience, "and we can't change shape. Don't get mired in the details. I can help you find them, and when we do, I just need the king's sister. The rest are yours."

Daniel blinked. "What...the sister? You don't want the old king? What about the guardians?"

"Just the sister," Vanessa repeated. "I can get home with just her."

"Okay, this throws your whole story into doubt," Daniel said. "You came here chasing a deposed king, but now you're making him the booby prize? That doesn't make any sense."

"It does when you realize what would happen if that king ever sets foot on my planet again," Vanessa said. "If anyone gets wind of his presence, there will be an uprising to end all uprisings, and he'd be back on the throne in a heartbeat. The sister is who the new king is in love with; she could give him the legitimacy he's never been able to claim for himself. The sister is all I need."

"And your boss agrees with this?"

"Of course not," Vanessa said impatiently. "It's not what he wants, it's what will work. This is why the powers behind thrones are always the ones who get things done; the ones closest to thrones can't see straight."

"Huh," Daniel murmured. "What about the guardians? Don't you want them?"

"I especially don't want them," Vanessa said darkly. "They're incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous—you can have them and the rest of the royal family. There's just one catch."

"There always is," Daniel agreed.

"Don't kill the king," Vanessa said. "Do what you want with the rest of them, but keep the king alive."

"Why?"

Vanessa hesitated. "Because if all else fails...we may need him."

A slow smile spread across Daniel's face. "A back-up plan. With offsite storage. That's positively devious."

"Like I said," Vanessa smiled, "we have a lot in common." She leaned in closer, her lips close to his ear. "So...do we have a deal?"

His lips brushed her forehead as grossed out teenagers shied away. "I'll take it under consideration."

He'll do it, Vanessa thought, noting the smile on his face as he walked away. No way would he turn down a grand total of five aliens even if he did have to warehouse one. She followed him, working through the crowds with Daniel ahead of her when a family pushed in front of her. And that was when, from a vantage point several yards back, she saw his entire body briefly light up like a flare.

Stunned, Vanessa stood stock still. It had only been there for a second when he passed an open doorway, and she pushed her way through, ignoring the startled yelps of protest. "What is this place?" she demanded when she arrived in the doorway of what looked like a lab. "What are you doing here?"

Startled students in lab coats gaped at her. "Uh...it's freshman orientation," one of them said uncertainly. "We're demonstrating—"

"Demonstrating what?" Vanessa broke in. "What is that?"

"It's...night vision," one of the students stammered.

"Night vision," Vanessa whispered, looking after Daniel's retreating figure. "Which uses...infrared."




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




I'll post Chapter 15 on Sunday, September 21.

[Roswelllostcause]

Nice part. Oh if little Nicky knew what Vanessa was playing he would be s pissd off!

[Misha]

Ah! They do look lovely together, don't they? I only got to see them as flat files on my screen

GO MAX!!!! Scanning always seemed like this really useful power no one was talking about It could potentially explain how Isabel managed to graduate earlier and Max graduated at all

Heh, talk about inspiration. Nuclear devices indeed. I love how Max's brain works

It's so creepy how much Jaddo sounds like Pierce Creepier that Vanessa has finally figured it out And to think, if this were the real Pierce, how badly things could have gone for our podsters!

[keepsmiling7]

As much as I hate to admit.......the pod squad really needed Tess for this project. She proved she knew so many things the others didn't.
Of course I remember who pointed them to the correct location......Liz!

Loved seeing all of your books in the picture......aren't you so very proud??
Thanks,
Carolyn

[emerald123]

Interesting chapter. I Found the part about scanning very interesting. Looking forward to next chapter.

[cjeb]

As always, Thanks. Waiting for more.

[Kathy W]

Oh if little Nicky knew what Vanessa was playing he would be s pissd off!

That would be fun--I love pissing off NIcholas. Although it occurs to me that NIcholas and Jaddo are somewhat birds of a feather, with Jaddo the more civilized one. (And that's one of the few times I've used "Jaddo" and "civilized" in the same sentence. )

Ah! They do look lovely together, don't they? I only got to see them as flat files on my screen

We have a set for you that we're packing up! I need to clear off a shelf. Or two or three...

It's so creepy how much Jaddo sounds like Pierce

He fooled her for several months, so he must have been good at it. Although it occurs to me that Jaddo and PIerce are somewhat birds of a feather, with Jaddo the more civilized one. (Damn! I did it again!)

As much as I hate to admit.......the pod squad really needed Tess for this project. She proved she knew so many things the others didn't.

She could have been such an asset. I wish she hadn't been so stuck on recreating the past. I see why she was, I just wish she hadn't been.

Found the part about scanning very interesting.

I want to be able to do that!

As always, Thanks. Waiting for more.

You're very welcome!


Back in a bit.

[Kathy W]

CHAPTER FIFTEEN



September 7, 2000, 2 p.m.

Harding residence





"So we'll be here at 6 a.m. tomorrow," Max said as Tess climbed out. "Is that too early?"

"Of course not," Tess answered. "I'll be ready."

"Good. See you then."

The jeep pulled out of the driveway, and Tess waited until it rounded the corner before sinking down onto her front step. God, what an exhausting day. Being with the Others was always tiring because she had to be constantly on guard lest she do or say something to upset them, but without Michael it was even worse. No one understood her the way Michael did. Michael wanted to go home; Max and Isabel clearly wanted to stay here. Michael felt a sense of responsibility to those on their home planet; Max and Isabel did not. Granted Michael didn't exactly trust her, but then he didn't really trust anyone, nor did he just default to the worst possible interpretation of anything she said or did. She and Isabel were still technically friends, but with Max there was always the specter of that message in the pod chamber, not to mention the looming shadow of that day in Chemistry class when her few minutes of fun had destroyed the possibility of them ever trusting her. Chemistry class was always on Max's mind and sometimes on Isabel's, but Michael seemed to have moved on; he was a pragmatist, and her only real ally. Which made it all the more important that they get him out of his current predicament, and in a way which settled the matter for good.

Bills, Tess thought, emptying the contents of the mailbox. Electric, water, and what looked like the school tax bill topped the stack of mostly junk mail which she tucked under her arm as she fished her keys out of her purse. She'd been living alone all summer now, and despite her earlier misgivings, she'd gotten used to it. Far from being a lonely desert, the empty house had become an oasis where she didn't have to be so careful about every single thing she said or did. In some ways, all the time she'd spent with the Others had been wonderful; their shared crises had created something vaguely resembling a bond between them. But eventually—and inevitably—their innate distrust of her would rear its ugly head, making retreat wise and the empty house welcome. Empty houses, by default, were always glad to see you, not to mention they never argued with you, yelled at you for not taking out the trash, or forgot to get groceries. She'd seen Nasedo all of twice this summer, and each time had only driven home the point that life was better without him. Each and every time he'd returned had resulted in arguments and a huffy parting, and this latest visit would likely prove no exception. They needed their protector, but he was a lot easier to stomach from afar, so better that he do his protecting elsewhere; he could always be recalled if need be, as he had been this time. At least he'd been diluted by the group yesterday, and she had a few hours of precious solitude before the games began again. Food, she thought as the front door swung open, and maybe a movie. She'd just tossed her keys on the table when she heard it—someone was upstairs.

In stealth mode now, Tess crept up the stairs soundlessly. The noises were coming from Nasedo's bedroom, and whoever it was sounded like they were ransacking the place. Had the FBI caught up with them? Had the Others' paranoia reached a level where they'd decided to take advantage of a time when they knew she'd be out of the house? The former was worse, but the latter was galling, and she'd worked up a good head of steam by the time she reached the top of the stairs.

"I can hear you," a voice announced.

Tess froze, blinked...and rounded the corner into the bedroom. "You did better coming up the stairs," Nasedo allowed, "not that it mattered; everyone on the other side of the galaxy heard you when you came in."

"I don't usually creep around in my own home," Tess said crossly.

"This is not 'home'," Nasedo said. "This is where you happen to be living at the moment, and it could be compromised at any time. If you've learned nothing else from me, you should have learned that."

"What are you even doing here?" Tess said, abandoning an argument she knew she'd lose. "I thought you were going all snugglebunnies with the congresswoman at the university."

Nasedo paused, looking gratifyingly startled. "How did you know that?"

"We were there," Tess said nonchalantly. "Max and Isabel and me."

"Why?" Nasedo demanded.

"Scoping out the place. For tomorrow."

Nasedo considered that for a moment. "Not a bad idea," he remarked. "Did Michael think of that?"

"No; Max did. Michael's in jail," Tess reminded him when he looked disgruntled. "He's not exactly available for chit chat."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Nasedo said. He glanced around the messy bedroom. "Love what you've done with the place."

"All I did was save everything," Tess protested. "You're the one who messed it up."

"Kind of had to," Nasedo said. "Your filing system leaves a lot to be desired. I went through the bills, but I couldn't find the school tax bill—"

"It's right here," Tess said, holding it out. "It came today."

"Good. I thought you'd lost it."

Smoldering, Tess sank down on the edge of the bed. Nasedo's bedroom was where she'd been keeping the mountain of paperwork which came with running a house; it had seemed a fitting place given that his bedroom housed the mysterious box with the mysterious lock. Everything from bills to receipts to bank statements were arrayed in neat little piles on the bed, the dresser, the windowsill, in descending order with the most recent on top. Or what she'd thought were neat little piles; of course he didn't approve. When did he? "If you wanted a particular filing system, you should have told me," she said. "Don't specify, and you get what you get."

"I didn't realize that failing to 'specify' meant I'd get 'mounds'. Is there a reason everything's splattered like a cyclone hit?"

"It was fine before you got here," Tess retorted. "You're the cyclone. And where exactly did you want it? Arrayed on the dining room table for everyone else to see?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a filing cabinet, one that wasn't bedroom sized," Nasedo said, tossing a stack of bank statements onto the bed. "How are you and Max getting along?"

"Well enough," Tess answered

"What does that mean?'

"It means 'well enough'. He tolerates me. They all do."

"Mmm, and whose fault is that?" Nasedo said. "You just had a golden opportunity, an entire summer without the Parker girl, and you squandered it on a few minutes of idiocy."

"I know, I know!" Tess wailed, flopping back on the bed, causing the piles nearest her to jump. "Believe me, I'm reminded of that every single day. Happy?"

"Not happy," Nasedo corrected. "You'll have to do a lot better than 'tolerated' if you want to get back to where you were."

Tess was quiet for a moment while Nasedo leafed through mail. "Aren't you going to ask me about Michael and Isabel?"

"What about them?"

"What do you mean, 'what about them'? I thought…" Tess stared at the ceiling, thinking. "Come to think of it, you never ask me about them. Why not? Why aren't you in a great big hurry for them to get back together too?"

"They weren't married, just betrothed," Nasedo answered. "And you're the queen; it's more important for the monarch and his wife to be united."

Tess sat up. "That's not it. It's because you hate her, isn't it? You've hated Isabel from the moment you saw her. You...you don't want them to get back together, do you? You don't want him to marry her."

"Now you're just making things up," Nasedo muttered.

"Am I?" Tess challenged. "You hate Isabel, you love Michael, wanting good ideas to be his and so on, and you never ever ask me how they're 'doing'. You don't want them to get married. You're trying to change things."

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Nasedo snapped.

"It's not a 'conversation' if all you do is bitch, but yes, there is," Tess retorted. "If it's so all-fired important that things stay the same, then why are you hoping so hard they won't?"

"I'm done with this conversation," Nasedo announced.

"It's not a conversation!" Tess exclaimed. "And why won't you—"

"Call it what you like; I'm finished."

"If you get to change things, then why don't we?" Tess demanded.

Nasedo gave her a level stare. "You want to change things? So you don't want to be the king's wife?"

"I didn't say that," Tess protested.

"Don't let the Parker girl hear that," Nasedo went on. "I'm sure she'd love it. Is there anything to eat in the house? I'm starving."

"You're also changing the subject," Tess muttered.

"Yes," Nasedo said firmly. "To food. You knew I was returning. Did you by any chance lay in provisions?"

"Yes," Tess sighed. "But I didn't know how much to get because I didn't know how long you'd be here."

"Not long," Nasedo said. "Only long enough to settle this business with Michael, and then I'll be off."

"Off where? You already took care of Pierce."

"And now I'll take care of other things," Nasedo said. "Besides, you and I don't exactly mesh; I think we do better apart. But get a different filing system. I don't want to come back to another cyclone."

Tess flopped back onto the bed as his footsteps faded down the stairs, secretly relieved. He hadn't answered her question about Michael and Isabel, but he had answered another, more disturbing one. Once the Special Unit had been disbanded, she'd been expecting him to move back here...and hadn't been looking forward to it. That he wasn't was hands down the best news she'd had all summer.





****************************************************





Crashdown Cafe





"Did we have to meet here?" Jaddo grumbled. "I can safely say I'm sick of this place."

Brivari raised an eyebrow as a hand shot out and he was promptly relieved of his lunch. "Doesn't seem to have killed your appetite," he remarked.

"I never said the food was bad," Jaddo countered. "Are you going to finish that?"

Brivari pushed his drink across the table. "Help yourself. Although I should note that if you order enough 'Alien Encounters', they don't sound so odd any more."

"Precisely my point," Jaddo said through a mouthful of sandwich. "Come here often enough, and you drink the Kool-Aid."

"Then be grateful there's no chance of that happening," Brivari said. "Just one more perk of not living here."

"Add it to the list," Jaddo said, scarfing up fries. "I haven't missed dealing with hormonal teenagers."

"I'd wager they haven't missed dealing with you either," Brivari noted. "So let's end everyone's torment by solving the current crisis and moving along. Did you learn anything from your 'girlfriend'?"

A completely uncharacteristic smile spread across Jaddo's face. "Did I! You are not going to believe this."

"Quite possible," Brivari allowed. "Anything which makes you smile like that is, by definition, unbelievable."

"Very funny. Vanessa confessed to me."

" 'Confessed'?" Brivari echoed. " 'Confessed' to what? Working for a madman?"

"Even better." Jaddo leaned in closer. "She told me she's an alien."

Brivari blinked. "Come again?"

"She told me she's an alien. Or she told Pierce, that is."

Brivari stared at him in shocked silence. "She told what she thinks is a human alien hunter that she's an alien?"

"Yes! Told you you wouldn't believe it."

"And you were right," Brivari said flatly. "I don't. Nor do I find this the best time for humor."

"I'm serious!" Jaddo insisted. "I didn't believe it either; I actually walked away from her for a couple of hours because I couldn't get my head around it. And since when do I joke?"

Good point, Brivari thought. Jaddo's rare attempts to be funny were usually sad swipes in the general direction of humor, not out-and-out whoppers. "Okay," he said carefully. "Assuming for the moment that this incredible tale is true, what on Earth would induce her to take a risk like that?"

"Maybe it's a 'near death experience'," Jaddo suggested. "Their husks are failing."

"So what?" Brivari said. "We know they have replacements. Did something happen to them?"

"Not that I know of," Jaddo answered. "And who cares what caused it? All I care about is what we get out of it, which was access to her laptop and a guided tour of the lab where she intends to have Pierce's bones evaluated."

"Her laptop?" Brivari repeated incredulously. "What, you think she has intimate conversations with Nicholas filling up her in-basket?"

"Of course not," Jaddo said impatiently. "I learned that Pierce is her only FBI contact; there's no evidence of another, something I've wondered about for some time. So when I—or, rather, Pierce—disappears, she'll be out in the cold, which might explain her current behavior."

"Hardly," Brivari argued. "The only thing which would explain anything this drastic is something dire with Khivar or Nicholas, but the Resistance hasn't mentioned anything. What exactly did she tell you?"

"Plenty," Jaddo said. "She was remarkably candid about why she was here. She abbreviated, of course, but the basic outline was correct—overthrown king, escaped royal family, usurper not doing well. She even named our planet. She actually said 'Antar' out loud."

"That's a low risk," Brivari noted. "It doesn't mean a thing to anyone except us. Even the hybrids don't remember."

"She made a bulb blow out," Jaddo continued. "It appears at least some of the Skins have telekenetic powers now."

"They must have done some upgrades," Brivari said. "They've certainly been here long enough to do the research."

"But the best part," Jaddo went on, "was when I asked her what good it would do me to help her round up her hit list, she told me I could keep everyone but Vilandra...but that I couldn't kill the king because they might need him."

"They might," Brivari agreed. "They'll first try to validate Khivar by bunking him with the princess, and if that fails, they'll have to pull Zan out of a hat."

"No kidding," Jaddo said with satisfaction. "She flat out admitted that if Zan sets foot on Antar, Khivar will be unceremoniously pushed off the throne in a heartbeat. She also mentioned us...said we were 'incredibly powerful and incredibly dangerous', and wasn't interested in having us back either."

"Of course she isn't," Brivari said dryly. "She's Argilian, not stupid. She just wants to use Pierce to do her dirty work, and she's afraid he'll disappear along with her best lead. She must be banking on his insatiable lust for an alien to keep him from taking her as a prize, at least until she gets what she wants."

"Naturally," Jaddo agreed. "But there's more. She fingered Khivar as a failure and Nicholas as worse. She claims that leaving everyone here but Vilandra will anger both Nicholas and Khivar, but that's the only way it will work."

Brivari stared at him, thunderstruck. "She gave you ammunition?" he said incredulously. "She told you something that could literally get her executed? Why would she do that?"

"Bloody stupid if you ask me," Jaddo said cheerfully.

"Precisely," Brivari said. "She's not stupid. So why would she do that?"

"Who cares?" Jaddo said.

"I care," Brivari retorted, "and you should too. It's always a red flag when an enemy behaves in uncharacteristic ways. There must be an explanation. What are you not telling me?"

"Only the drippy stuff," Jaddo said. "You know, the 'we're alike, Daniel', and 'you changed after you came back from Roswell', and 'they threatened you, didn't they?', and 'I can help you'."

"She said you'd changed?" Brivari said sharply. "How so?"

"She said I was 'hard' and 'cold'," Jaddo chuckled. "And when I pointed out that I—or rather, Pierce—had always been hard and cold, she claimed I had a nasty streak that wasn't there before, and she liked that. God, it was all I could do to keep a straight face. That is so unlike her to play the mushy card."

Brivari sat back in the booth, his eyes far away. "Holy crap," he whispered. "She's in love."

"What, with Pierce?" Jaddo said. "Unlikely. He's merely a means to an end--"

Jaddo stopped mid-sentence as the hand reaching for yet another french fry was seized before it reached the plate. "Not with Pierce, jackass—with you."

Jaddo blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you! Vanessa is in love with you!"

There were a couple of seconds of shocked silence before Jaddo burst out laughing. Releasing his hand, Brivari watched him stonily while he guffawed, drawing the attention of several cafe patrons seated nearby, not to mention wandering servers. "Oh, my," Jaddo chortled when he finally caught his breath. "I haven't laughed like that in ages."

"And you have no reason to laugh like that now," Brivari said sternly. "This is serious. Take it seriously."

"You can't be serious," Jaddo said, still chuckling. "The notion of Vanessa 'in love' with anyone is preposterous. Next thing you know, you'll be telling me she's 'in love' with Nicholas."

"Of course not," Brivari said. "She'd never dare tell Nicholas anything damaging. But she told you."

"No, she told Pierce."

"No, she told you," Brivari corrected. "You are the 'change' she speaks of, the 'colder' Pierce, the 'harder' Pierce. You're the one she confessed to, not the earlier version. You said yourself it was odd. How do you explain it?"

"Not that way, that's for sure," Jaddo said. "I still say it's desperation. She wants Pierce to believe her, so she's feigning honesty."

"Only she's not feigning," Brivari noted. "Unlike Pierce, you're in a position to gauge her level of honesty. If I'm not mistaken, 'remarkably candid' were the words you used."

A flicker of unease clouded Jaddo's features. "So she got the details right. So what? It's a huge leap from there to 'in love'."

Brivari shook his head. "Why do I bother? You can't see it; you won't see it. You never have, and you never will. Your inability to see it almost got the king killed, and now it's blinding you to—"

"What?" Jaddo demanded. "Blinding me to what? Let's say you're right—she's head-over-heels in love with me, me, not Pierce. What difference does it make? After I settle this business with Rath, 'Pierce' will disappear, that will be the end of whatever it is, and whatever it was won't matter any more."

"You hope," Brivari said sadly. "As you've often noted, people in love do strange things. You don't by any chance feel the same way about her, do you? You were just telling me how much you admired her and what a pity it was that she wasn't on our side."

Jaddo fixed him with a hard stare, all traces of mirth gone. "Under different circumstances I might be curious as to how you got from admiration to 'love', but I have no desire to join you in Sillyville. I'm done with this ridiculous conversation. I'll let you know when the bones have been safely disposed of. I plan to catch up with Zan later to coordinate our efforts and mention the presence of a wife whom he also 'loved' , or so I'm told. The Parker girl's multi-month absence has failed to remind him of that, although I will. Loudly."

Brivari shook his head as Jaddo stalked out of the cafe. "If only it were that easy," he murmured, "but it won't be. Not for Ava, and not for you."





******************************************************





Liz cracked the back door open and peeked inside; the coast was clear, so she eased in, closing the door soundlessly behind her. Slipping her shoes off, she balanced them on the stack of folders in her arms as she tiptoed across the floor. She hadn't wanted to come in this way, but with her arms full, the ladder to her balcony had not looked inviting. If she was really, really lucky, no one would see her and report her presence...

There was a noise behind her. Right behind her. Holding her breath, Liz turned around. "Oh, good," she said, deflating. "You're not Maria."

"Is that a good thing?" Courtney asked, bemused. "And is there a reason you're creeping into your own home? Because a mid-afternoon curfew for someone your age is a bit aggressive, if you ask me."

"Oh...no, I...I just have a lot to do," Liz finished. "So I'm just trying to avoid, you know, anything that'll help me procrastinate and slow me down. So I'd really appreciate it if you wouldn't tell Maria you saw me."

"The good news is that we don't exactly 'talk', Maria and I," Courtney noted. "More like she bitches at me, and I bitch back."

Liz's eyes widened. "Really? Still? I thought that would be over...wait. The 'good' news...you mean there's 'bad' news?"

Courtney nodded sadly. "Incoming."

Liz blinked. "Huh?"

A squeal behind her answered that question. "Liz!" Maria's voice exclaimed, followed by a hug which crushed the breath out of her. "I've been looking for you all day!"

"Hi, Maria," Liz said weakly. "Look, I've got a ton of—"

"Oh, no you don't," Maria scolded, wagging a finger. "We haven't even started school yet, so don't you dare beg off with homework. I want to know what happened!" she exclaimed, literally hopping on her sensibly sneaker-clad feet. "Tell me what happened!"

"Does the bouncing help?" Courtney asked blandly.

Liz bit back a smile as Maria stopped bouncing. "Why are you still here?" she said tartly. "Can't you tell this is a private conversation? Don't you have some orders to deliver late and cold?"

"A private conversation in a public area accompanied by squealing and bouncing," Courtney said thoughtfully. "You're right—this is the epitome of stealth and discretion. I'm sure a career in the CIA awaits you. In the meantime, I'll explain to your tables that their food will arrive late and cold because you're having a 'private conversation'."

"Unbelieveable!" Maria groused as Courtney retreated. "Who does she think she is?"

"I think she's someone who gives as good as she gets," Liz noted dryly. "Why are you so down on her? My father says she's a good waitress."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Maria scowled. "But enough about her—I want to hear about yesterday! What happened?"

"Nothing 'happened'—"

"Nuh uh," Maria protested. "Alex already told me how you went all Mata Hari on him."

"I did not go all 'Mata Hari'," Liz objected. "And if Alex told you, why are you asking?"

"Because I want to hear it from you! Alex said you saved the day by finding out where the bones are and how to get to them."

"Correction: We found out where the bones are and how to get to them," Liz said. "All I did was use a little deductive reasoning and make a phone call. Alex pulled up the maps and gave them to Max, and they were all going to the university today to scope the place out."

"Yes, yes, but they wouldn't have known where to go unless you'd figured it out," Maria insisted. "Take that away, and none of the rest happens. It all hinges on you."

"Maria," Liz said carefully, "I said I'd help, and I did, but this does not mean Max and I are back together."

"Did I say it did?" Maria asked innocently.

"Nor does it have anything to do with you and Michael," Liz added.

"Did I say it did?" Maria repeated.

"You didn't have to," Liz said. "Everything is about Michael."

"Well, he is kind of in jail—"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Liz said. "And he won't be there much longer; Congresswoman Whitaker is having the bones examined tomorrow, so I'm sure Max will find a way to make whatever she finds out work in Michael's favor."

"Are you going with them?" Maria asked.

"Of course not. Are you?"

"Well...no, but—"

"But there's no reason for us to go with them," Liz said patiently. "The kind of help Max needs tomorrow comes from the kinds of things Tess and Isabel can do, not me, not you. I already helped him as much as I could."

"See, this is what this is really about," Maria said. "Not me, not Max, not even Michael; it's about this idea you've got in your head that you're useless because you're human. But you're the one who found the bones, Liz. Yeah, I know Alex helped, but why was Alex there in the first place? What, he just happened to stop by? Or maybe you called him because you knew they'd need his skills? Eh? That's what I thought," she went on when Liz's eyes dropped. "You keep saying, 'He needs Tess. He needs someone stronger, or with fancy powers, or who can make FBI agents party at gas stations,' but he also needs the kind of things you do. And someone who loves him."

"Tess loves him," Liz said dully. "Just ask her."

"Tess thinks she loves him," Maria corrected. "But Tess doesn't even know him. She's in love with who she thinks he used to be. You're in love with who you know he is. What do you think he needs more—someone who lives in the present, or someone who lives in the past?" She glanced back toward the kitchen as Courtney walked past with laden arms. "Think about it. I've got tables."

Think about it? Liz thought wearily, leaning against the wall. She wouldn't have admitted it out loud under torture, but the fact was that was all she thought about, and the last thing she needed was someone else thinking about it. Next time she came home with her arms full, she was climbing that ladder to her balcony even if she had to go up and down ten times.





*****************************************************





"How have you and Tess been getting along?"

Walking in step beside him, Jaddo felt the king stiffen, only slightly, but enough to notice. So Tess was right; things had not improved despite the absence of that perennial distraction, Liz Parker. "Well, I haven't performed any mating rituals, if that's what you're asking," Zan answered.

"You heard your destiny," Jaddo noted. "You heard it with your own ears."

"I just want to get Michael out of jail and go back to my life," Zan retorted. "I am not a king, and we are not at war."

News to me, Jaddo thought. "You're the boss," he said out loud. "I would just be careful not to confuse what you want to be true with what really is true."

Zan stopped and turned to face him. "How do I know what's 'true'?" he demanded. "How do I know that what I heard on that recording, or whatever it was, is true? How do I know that you're telling me the truth? You never bothered to mention that you were at the university yesterday with Whitaker, so you probably already knew when the bones were going to be there."

"You never bothered to mention that you were there also," Jaddo said, "and what difference does it make? Our information matches, which is a good thing, isn't it?"

"I'm supposed to be your king," Zan shot back, "which means you're supposed to tell me everything."

"You just told me you weren't a king," Jaddo reminded him. "Which is it? You can't be a king when it suits you and toss off the crown when it doesn't. You can't have it both ways. Make up your mind, Your Highness. If you won't shoulder your responsibilities, I'll have to find someone who will because our people need a leader, even if you find that inconvenient."

Zan stared at him, stricken. "Right," he said after a moment, chastened. "Let's start by getting Michael out of jail."

"Agreed," Jaddo said. "I'll see you tomorrow...whoever you decide to be tomorrow."

Jaddo walked away, leaving Zan staring at the ground. Good, he thought darkly as he headed for his car. Feel guilty. It was high time someone took this boy king in hand. Perhaps he was a child by human standards, but he was embroiled in a man's game. He needed to grow up fast, and the sooner he realized that, the safer they'd all be. Brivari may have been his father's Warder, but the truth was he'd always coddled Zan more than he should have, so it was no surprise that history would repeat itself…

Jaddo stopped dead, his keys dangling from his hand. A piece of skin lay on the ground beside his car, an unmistakable remnant of an Argilian husk that was highly unlikely to have come from Vanessa; she'd always been meticulous about keeping that part of her existence from Pierce. Which could only mean one thing--reinforcements.

"Oh, no," Jaddo whispered, looking warily around. A town full of royal hybrids and Argilians...not a good mix. He stamped out the piece of skin with his foot and climbed into the car; he'd dropped Vanessa at her office earlier, but cruising by, it appeared closed, so he headed for her hotel. "C'mon, c'mon," he muttered during the interminable wait for the elevator, stepping in first when it arrived and closing the doors behind him, drawing yelps of protest from the crowd left behind. "Vanessa?" he called, knocking on her door. "It's Daniel. Are you there?"

The door opened immediately. "Didn't expect to see you just yet," Vanessa said.

"We have a problem," Jaddo said tightly, hurrying into the room, still debating how to frame this without letting on that he knew…

The light changed abruptly, the yellow-tinged incandescents replaced by a pinkish glow which was emanating from the five-sided device he hadn't seen in her hand, just like the cold stare he hadn't seen in her eyes.

"And what problem might that be...Warder?"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


I'll post Chapter 16 on Sunday, October 5.