Aftershock CC mature pg 5, ch 17, Apr 18, 2016 complete

This is the place to post all your General Roswell fanfiction. Any Canon fics, which pick up directly from any episode of the show and that focus on Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex or Isabel/Jesse, Kyle/Tess, or all the couples together! Rule of Thumb: If Max healed Liz in the Crashdown in September 1999, then your fic belongs here. If it picks up from the show in any way, it belongs here.

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ken_r
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 3, ch 9, Sep 6, 2015

Post by ken_r »

begonia9508:

keepsmiling7: They never figured it out, but Kyle met another being, similar to the "Skins," but much more volatile. When Kyle deflated the creature, that caused the explosion.

chapter 10

Isabel came back into the room. “He is resting peacefully. For a time, his face was contorted as if he was fighting a battle.”

“That’s our Max all right. I have never been able to get him to explain those episodes when he seems so restless,” Michael sighed.

“You told me that Max once declared that he was trying to help someone and never could quite do it. Do you suppose that Liz Parker-Evans has anything to do with this? Isabel asked.

“It could be. Ever since he ran to the back of the crashdown to save Liz, I have covered for him, I have supported him, I have stood with him. He was always able to accomplish these deeds of help. There was that time when we were at the children’s hospital and it was me who got caught on the monitors. Max tried to help as many children as he could. Now, from his mumblings, I take it that he no longer, at least in his dreams, is able to do any of those things, especially when they involve Liz.

--------------------

Jesse settled back for a long boring ride. Fortunately, the passenger next to him promptly fell asleep, without snoring too loud and Jesse didn’t have to suffer through any harrowing life stories. Jesse had never been able to sleep on airplanes. He didn’t think it was from any fear of crashing, but rather just the idea of sharing a bedroom with a lot of strangers, even a bedroom in the sky.

Jesse came from a small Hispanic family in New Mexico. His cousins all came from large families, but Jesse’s father had died shortly after Jesse had been born. Jesse was never comfortable in crowds. He mindlessly sorted through the several tabloids. It didn’t matter if his mind drifted, the tabloids were just a distraction. The monumental decision now, was which tabloid to start with. Usually tabloids had startling headlines and tantalizing pictures to tease customers into buying them. Jesse had just scooped several up at the newsstand without looking at them at all. “Let’s see,” Jesse mumbled. “My son married a Martian, that is too close to home.” It had been a trial, but Jesse had come to terms with Isabel being an alien. Two children later, Jesse was firmly in the alien camp. The next tabloid had no pictures on the cover. There was in large type, “Ria Jones outed.” At work, Jesse usually had soft jazz or classical music, floating through the office sound system, just above audible perception . Occasionally, so his children would learn some of their Hispanic heritage, Jesse would play recordings of Spanish music and sometime Salsa Jazz from Cuba. He wasn’t really quite sure who Ria Jones was or what she was coming out for. He idly flipped the first page and was faced with a picture of a woman about his wife’s age. For some reason she looked familiar. “Could Ria Jones really be a small town girl from Roswell, New Mexico, named Maria DeLuca?” read the headlines.

The town named Roswell and then, the name Maria DeLuca caught Jesse’s eye. Jesse was from Roswell and there had been a girl who ran around with Isabel and her brother named Maria something, Jesse, at first, couldn’t remember her last name. She had been that girl friend of Michael’s.

Raphael Sebastian Carter, now that also was a name Jesse knew. He didn’t know Raphael personally, but Old lady Carter had hired Jesse’s law firm several times. At the time, Jesse felt sorry for her son, Ralph. Ralph was one of those who didn’t have a single purpose in his life. He was smart and he was driven. If he had been poor, he would have grown up to make a wonderful engineer, but Ralph never had any reason to have a career. He could buy a night with almost any woman he knew. He could travel and do almost anything he chose. But, Ralph never had a purpose that he could really dedicate himself to. Jesse had heard that he was a pretty fair writer, but Ralph was always looking for something important to write. In the world Ralph lived in, there wasn’t much that was very important. It looked like, at least to some people, Ralph had finally found something monumental to write about.

Jesse had always had to work while in Harvard. He saw girls and women who would only favor him with a pasted smile, while he was serving their tables, fall all over themselves for a night with the likes of Ralph Charter.

“Could it be that the famous Ria Jones is indeed a girl from New Mexico?” the article started out. “When I first met Ria Jones, I thought she was just a scandal factory,” the article continued. “Later, I got to see how much of herself she gave to another. Ria Jones has a sister named Beth whom she doesn’t talk much about. Beth is handicapped in someway and seldom ever is seen by Ria’s public. There is no record of Maria DeLuca having any sister, but Maria DeLuca did have a close girl friend named Elizabeth Parker. Maria and Elizabeth both disappeared, thought to have been lost in a massive explosion in Roswell. Ria Jones has a stepbrother named Kyle Valenti. Maria DeLuca’s mother, at one time, was close friends with a law officer named Jim Valenti who had a son named Kyle. Elizabeth Parker was reported to have married a man named Evans. Both families, the Evans and the Parkers have all died out or moved. There is no longer any trace of them in Roswell. DeLuca’s mother and Jim Valenti are both reported dead and while trying to reach the son Kyle, I was warned that he very much valued his privacy.”

“Oh shit,” Jesse breathed. Usually the tabloids masked the time he had to spend in travel. Now, he was impatient to land and contact his wife. Her friend/relative Michael would especially want to know what he had found. We live in a transparent world. Nobody can hide for long, well, it had been ten years and that wasn’t really a long time. If this article drove Maria DeLuca back underground, then it might take another ten years for them to find her again. If that handicapped sister was indeed Elizabeth Parker-Evans, then what it would do to or for Max was another question.

-----------------------

Raphael stretched as he lay in bed. How could a woman be so satisfying when she demanded to be showered with so many gifts? Any other woman, knowing Raphael and his family, would be holding out for marriage and not be half as talented at Ria Jones. Then, it slowly settled in on Ralph. This was the day he had to come clean with Ria. This was the day that she might believe he had betrayed her. Ralph had a check made out for five hundred thousand dollars to Ria Jones/Maria DeLuca. Ralph hoped that the money would soften some of the harsh feelings she might have. If she would consent to another article allowing him uncontestable proof of her real identity Ralph would get another check for the same amount. Ria was caring for her sister and a million dollars would buy a lot of care.

As was there usual activity, Ralphael and Ria showered together to rid their bodies of last night, or rather this morning’s, exertions. Wrapped in robes they walked arm and arm to the kitchen where coffee and pastries waited them. Sitting at the breakfast table, Ralph handed Ria the check. A strange expression appeared on Ria’s face. “What’s this for? A half million dollars is a lot more screwing than I can ever give you,” she stated.

“Ria, I am a tabloid writer. I traced your story back to Maria DeLuca back in Roswell. If you will either correct my facts or collaborate my story, I can promise another half million,” Ralph carefully stated.

Ralph wasn’t sure what to expect from Ria Jones. The look on her face was one of anger and fear. “You published my real name and the fact that I was from Roswell. You fool, you will get us all killed,” she said in almost a whisper.

“Ria, if it is something to do with the law, I can hire lawyers who can break any legal problem. If it is with some other group, trust me, it will be better if you come out in the open and get legal protection,” Ralph explained.

“Ralph,” Maria said as coldly as she could. “You don’t understand that half of our trouble is from the government and the other half is from something that has nothing to do with anything on Earth. If those things out there have their attention drawn toward us, several of us might be killed.”

“Ria or do you prefer Maria, I can’t believe that protection can’t be bought for any problem,” Ralph said mater of factually.

“Ralph, you have been too sheltered by your money. Things, which will want to kill me, can brush you aside like they would a fly. They all thought we were dead. We couldn’t even look for each other. Now they at least know I am alive and if you mentioned Beth, they can finish trying to kill her,” Maria said as she started to sob. This was all too much for her to handle. She would need Kyle quickly. Maria had a number, which Kyle had given her, if there was an emergency. Maria also needed to call home and tell the nurse to prepare Beth to travel. Without another word, Maria walked back into the bedroom dropping her robe as she went. Ralph followed bewildered as, in no way, had he foreseen this reaction.

As she walked naked about the bedroom mumbling to her self, first picking up one thing and then another, Maria was heard say, “Will they want to kill me for breaking Max and Liz free? Will they want to continue the dissection of Liz that they started? Will it be a SUV full of men in black or will it be another wave of UFO’s full of Skins?”

Ria Jones had perfected the art of nudity. The way she appeared to potential lovers from behind the screen was skillfully performed to raise the libido of her audience. Now she was just an angry, frightened woman pacing back and forth to no purpose. Ralph almost felt sorry for his action.

As a child, Maria DeLuca had never played doctor with any boy next door. When Liz and Alex became her friends, they didn’t even develop a curiosity, respecting each other privacy as they played together. Maria, through her mother, saw the need for a man. She also heard the statement, “A good man is so hard to find.” At puberty, it was Liz who seemed to be pushing the boundaries. It wasn’t until that night when Michael met her with paper plates painted with Scooby Doo and the Italian meal which he used to announce that he was leaving, that Maria pushed him back in the couch and taking his head in her hands she kissed him as passionately as she knew how. Maria unbuttoned her blouse allowing it to fall open showing her teen-aged breasts, encased in a bra, for Michael’s pleasure. In their efforts at petting, Maria found herself on the bottom and she leaned back allowing Michael to remove her clothing, the first time she had shown her entire body to any boy/man for his pleasure. Her body was for Michael, but until he offered some sort of permanent commitment, she was determined not to be his exclusively.

Again there had been Billy. He was the closest she had ever come to playing doctor, but they were at band camp and the camp counselors were experienced at their charges wanting to play doctor. Some petting and a few feels were all that were accomplished. Later when she was a senior in high school, Billy reappeared, wouldn’t you know it, on a weekend when Maria’s mother was out of town. It was more to upset Michael than anything else, Maria took him home and Michael was convinced that she rode him high those two days. The truth was that they had sex, but the sparkle of the eighth grade was long gone for Maria. Poor Billy left town very confused at what had happened between them. Billy was also, confused about who Maria had become. Billy had no idea that being with a girl could be so wonderful.

Michael retaliated with a skin girl only 50 years older than he. The skin she had chosen was preserved at the age of about nineteen. She, finally, died trying to protect Michael from others of her race.

Then, Maria became Ria Jones. She had no idea of what had become of Michael, the best guess was that he had been killed in the explosion. There was the Playboy photo, the gifts, the dates, which usually ended up in bed for a price. That all led Ria Jones to scandal city. Favors in bed led to more gifts which financed her care of Beth.

At first, when she came to Raphael’s home, Maria carefully folded her gown on a chair. Remember on nights when Ria intended to give in to seduction, she wore no underwear. In so many ways, underwear just would get in the way. As she became more comfortable with Raphael, Ria would slip out of her dress and walking naked in front of Raphael, she would carefully hang the dress up in his closet. This took Raphael to heights where he would almost loose it. By the time when Raphael was holding her in his arms and pumping his love into her body, he was convinced that there could be no one as great as the woman in his arms.

Now, as she picked up her hose, picked up her shoes placing them on his bed and going to the closet to turn without removing her dress and stare out the window, there was nothing erotic about her. There was no promise of sex, no promise of romance of any kind. Now naked, Ria or rather Maria was simply a woman reduced to her natural state. She was vulnerable before the world and Ralph had brought her to this. Ralph was seeing her as near to a naked innocent child as the circumstances could allow.

Finally, she did get her dress out of the closet and managed to pull it over her naked body. Maria had made her call to Kyle’s emergency number. The emotionless person on the other end only asked her name and promised that Kyle would return the call as soon as possible. Now Maria stood looking out the window shielded in her hastily applied dress. Were they out there already? Maybe, they were just down the street waiting for her to walk out the door. Her phone finally rang.

“What’s up babe?” Kyle asked.

“The man I was with betrayed me. He published my real name and the fact that I was from Roswell,” she answered.

“Do you want me to have him killed?” Kyle asked.

“No, I don’t think that is an answer. I have to do something, maybe, go back into hiding. I have a check for a half million dollars and my bank account is full, maybe I need to set up some failsafe way to get at my money,” she said.

“My name is already on your accounts. What was that lawyer’s name, the one married to Isabel?” Kyle asked.

“Jesse Ramirez, do you think he will remember us?” Maria answered in question. “You are right; I think for the fee he would get from this much money, he would be willing to oversee this account. Kyle, we got to get Liz out of here. I will meet you at home and we can decide what is next.”

It wasn’t the carefully manicured Ria Jones waiting for the taxi. It was a waif whose hair was a mess, no fresh make-up and obviously wearing a dress with nothing under it. The cabbie was a little worried about his fare. He wasn’t sure that he would be willing to take the fare out in trade if that was what she would offer. He had nothing to fear as they were met by one of the bodyguards who pealed off several bills saying, “Take this, buddy and forget where you brought her.”

Ralph was slightly shaken. This wasn’t the act he had ever foreseen. He noticed that Maria did take the check. Ralph Carter tried to feel that taking the check cured any guilt he might feel. After all, she was just another greedy whore.

---------------------
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
keepsmiling7
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 10, Sep 20, 2015

Post by keepsmiling7 »

The intrigue continues....
It appears that Max feels the need to help Liz. How I wish that he could.......if she was being dissected......can she ever be brought back to a normal state?
And the betrayal of Ria.......hope Kyle can get there to help this situation out.
It's good to see Jessie coming into the picture.
Outstanding story!
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ken_r
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 10, Sep 20, 2015

Post by ken_r »

keepsmiling7:

chapter 11

“I swear, Isabel, I think Maria has been hiding in plain sight as a singer named Ria Jones. I think that Maria has also been taking care of Liz if the story is right. I hired a law firm locally to investigate the reporter Ralph Charter. I don’t know if he has more information or not. I am coming straight to your apartment. Then, I want to interview this writer.”

After Jesse hung up, Isabel turned to Michael. “Maria might have been found. If so, Liz might be hiding with her. I think you should go with Jesse when he talks to this Ralph person. Decide whether or not we need to hit him hard with a mind rape. I am no Nicholas, but I think I could handle most simple humans,” Isabel grimly said.

-----------------------

Jesse had a very efficient office. When the call came requesting to speak to him, the receptionist explained that he was out of the office. “Look, I am an old friend from Roswell. I am in a bind, Jesse should understand. I am sending a considerable amount of money in Jesse’s name and I want him to set it up where I can get at it without revealing my location,” an excited Maria stated.

“Let me call one of our other partners to handle this. I am sure they can do as well as Mr. Ramirez,” the receptionist started.

“No!” came a sharp reply. “This must be handled by Mr. Ramirez, himself. The money must be in his name and he is the only one I can trust to take care of me,” with this Maria hung up.

That was enough to get Jesse in gear. When he heard it was Maria DeLuca/Ria Jones, he knew that part of the puzzle had been found. All he had was the statement of the receptionist, but all the office noticed that Jesse handled the account without question. Only his secretary noticed that he did not take out a fee for his services. Now, he had to meet Michael and together, they had some investigation to do.

As they approached the house of the writer, Ralph Carter, they saw two men holding someone and a third man, tightly gripping the someone’s head. This man was screaming. Michael bailed out of the Mercedes and ran at the three men. The one holding Ralph turned to meet the interloper as Michael hit him with a blast of pure energy. Jesse shuddered, a skin no one would notice, but what if it was a fed? Killing FBI was tricky even if the feds were in the wrong. Jesse had done it once and sometimes, he still had nightmares about that action. For the moment, Jesse would have to trust Michael to be responsible in his actions. Jesse breathed a sigh of relief as the man facing Michael seemed to melt into a small pile of dust. The two men holding Ralph dropped their hold and took up defensive stances of their own. Michael was not in a negotiating mode. They both blew away, as had their associate.

Ralph was still shaking as he said, “Who are they and who are you?”

Michael was still angry as he growled, “You must be the fool who is fixing to get us all killed.”

“Look, I didn’t mean anything by it. I wanted a first rate story and I wanted to get a large sum of money for a woman who needed it. I didn’t intend for any of this to happen like this. Again who were those guys?” Ralph said in his quivering voice as he settled for half of his previous question.

“Congratulations, ‘estupido.’ You landed yourself in the middle of an inter-galactic war. Now let’s see how you do when the local FBI humans descend on you,” Michael said.

Ralph pulled himself up to his full height. “Hey, I wrote that article within my First Amendment Rights.”

“Look, those guys who had hold of you were not from around here. They are called Skins. They have no idea of what any amendment or any constitution, means. The word ‘right’ is what they can pull from your guts. The next guys will be FBI. They don’t care about any amendment or any rights either. Buster, you are screwed,” Michael explained. “The Skins would pull from your brain, what they wanted and leave you a halfwit. The FBI will just beat you to death trying to find out what they think you know.

----------------

When Maria arrived at their home, Nurse Sharon Adkins had prepared Beth to travel. This was difficult because anything outside her darkened bedroom frightened Beth greatly. “Sharon, I will give you severance pay, whatever you think is right. We need to get out of here and I advise you to disappear also,” Maria stated.

“Ria, I have cared for Beth for some time. If I have to go into hiding, I would rather go with someone who knows what we are hiding from. You need someone who can take care of Beth’s medical condition and I don’t have anything holding me back here,” Nurse Adkins explained.

There were tears in Maria’s eyes. After being betrayed by one person she had found loyalty in another. Maria made one call before Kyle would gather them into the van he had purchased. “Rafael, this is Maria. Look I want to beg you to say as little about me as possible. Hey, I can’t explain what has taken over thirty years to develop. You may be responsible for my death and I am asking you to do as little more damage as you can. There is someone at the door? Okay, I will wait a few minutes,” Maria stated on the phone. She heard Ralph at his door and she heard angry voices yelling at him. I must be either the feds or the aliens. Ralph was in for a bad time either way, but Maria felt that it was his own fault. She hung up as the yelling turned to screams. It was time to get out of ‘Dodge,’ as Michael used to say. Michael was referring to the Dodge City of the 1800’s. Whether it was Bat Masterson, Wyatt Earp or some other town tamer, there always came a time when it was better to flee than to face the benevolence or the authorities.

--------------------

Jesse was driving his sleek Mercedes. Michael turned to look at the pitiful figure huddled in the back seat. When they described what might happen if the FBI got hold of him, Ralph was not quite so brave as he tried to appear before. The Skins had held him just long enough for him to realize that there were forces that he couldn’t control. As Jesse drove, a troop of black SUVs charged past them, heading to where Ralph had lived.

________________

Raphael Sebastian Charter had just seen his world dissolve. Like many Americans, he had always believed in the protections of the constitution and the “American way of Government.” He had seen himself caught up is something that money couldn’t buy him out of. Ralph wasn’t sure what he believed now, but as they say, “There are no atheists in the fox-hole.” Ralph Charter had been confronted by several things that were way greater than himself. Single-handedly, Ralph had caused his lover, maybe friend and muse, to have a breakdown. He had been warned, by his publisher that Ria Jones was connected to some powerful people. Then, he had been grabbed and manhandled by three man-like creatures. Even the two men who were with him now referred to the creatures as other than human. Two creatures had grabbed him and the other placed his fingers on Ralph’s head, Ralph could only describe the situation as totally helpless. Instinctively, Ralph thought that he owed Ria or whatever she called herself, some allegiance. Screw a woman for as long as he had been screwing Ria, unless you are a complete cad, you have to form some sort of feeling. They were looking for Ria Jones, Maria DeLuca and any other reference to the life of his singer.

In his effort to offer his protection, Ralph began shifting memories to impede whatc ever the creature was seeking. As memories came out, Ralph felt totally helpless. He also felt stripped naked of his most sacred and covert thoughts.

------------------------

Ralph’s tormentor almost screamed as a forgotten memory, which resembled so much as what was happening to him now developed. Ralph had been pre-teen. With the security of his parent’s wealth, Ralph did pretty much as he wanted through those years. The sixteen year-old girl across the street was the talk of the older boys as to her wild parties. As adolescent boys sometimes do, they pretended sophistication and knowledge as they described necked reveries that took place at her house when her parents were not home. Ralph was not about to reveal his inexperience and ignorance by asking more questions of his elders, even though they were elder by only a couple years.

Ask Ralph’s parents and they would assure you than their son was safely tucked in bed, but Ralph couldn’t remember when he wasn’t able to sneak out and prowl the neighborhood. Looks in night time windows, brief glimpses of panties and bras, maybe a “beaver” shot or two, still were not giving Ralph what he heard from the older boys. The thought that he wasn’t yet old enough to be sexually stimulated never occurred to Ralph. No, he still wasn’t finding that passion that he saw in his mentors.

It was a very poorly kept secret, at least among the students at school, that Susan Kaufman was having a swimming party tonight. A party, where it was assured that 6her parents would be absent. “Kaufman is gonna have a strip show tonight.”

“Boy I would give anything to get an invite to that bash. I hear the cheerleaders and the drill team both, are invited.”

“Yeah, old man Kaufman will have your balls on his rear view mirror if she claims you crashed that bash.”

The older boys had the desire, but none of them had the ability to sneak in and out of tight places as did little Ralphie. His parents safely asleep, the tinkle of laughter from across the street, drew little Ralphie like a magnet.

The Kaufmans had a private pool. They were not the kind to issue a blanket invite, “Come over and use our pool any time you want,” to the neighborhood. The pool was behind a high wall and it was topped with glass shards in the plaster. The only entrance was through the house and that had the absolute security that most of the neighborhood enjoyed. Ralph knew of a weakness. He had found it while prowling late one night. Many times, security is weakened by the desire for convenience. In the back wall, there was an enclosure to receive the trash. Again, for convenience, there was a door that opened outside the compound to remove the trash, without bothering those by the pool. A football lineman with a hard on couldn’t get through there, but it was a cinch for little Ralphie.

Susan had had the trash removed that morning, so it didn’t even smell too badly for the little boy looking for what mysteries girls concealed. Yeaaa…h, in the boob department, Ralph saw everything from cupcakes to water melons. It was the same with pubic hair. Ralph knew that he was supposed to be turned on by the sight so he decided, yes, he was turned on, or at least, he thought he was. Was this what the older boys meant when they said “Tits and Ass?”

Things were going pretty good for Ralph until someone decided to empty the coke can container. “Hey, look what we have here,” was the cry.

“Looks like we have a peeper,” another voice rang out.

“Bring him out,” a third voice called out. “Let’s see if we can use him.”

They lifted Ralph out of the trash compartment. It wouldn’t do to run as everyone knew that brat, little Ralphie Carter. “Little boys shouldn’t be here,” Someone said.

“Especially, little boys with their clothes on,” was called out.

The humiliation that followed had long been hidden in Ralph’s mind. Two girls held him as the others ripped off his clothes. They poked him and prodded him; then someone again called out. “He is too little to even get much of a rise out of. Throw him back.”

It was for little Ralph to creep back to his room and spend years burying this memory deep in his mind. He did learn one mystery about girls. They could be very vindictive when they felt their boundaries had been crossed.

-------------------------

The man’s fingers bit deep in his scalp as he screamed at having to paw through the filth of human sexuality. The other two held Ralph even tighter as the interrogator pressed deeper looking for that Ria story. To this date, Ralph Carter only knew aliens as someone who cleaned your house, trimmed your garden and drove your kids to school. Ralph was sure that these were definitely not that kind of alien. The only thing Ralph had to do with conspiracies was exposing them in his writing. Little green man, flying saucers and monsters who wanted to suck your brains out were only in fantasies. These men were definitely from some place else. They were not green and there was no sign of any ufo’s. That son-of-a-bitch holding his head was definitely trying to suck his brains out. The aliens had no idea that their own actions had given Ralph that one bit of cover. Ralph was thinking anything to distract them from what they wanted to know about Ria Jones. Ralph’s humiliations at the hands of the girls so long ago, was not that much different from what Ralph felt here.

Just as Ralph thought he could fight no longer, “Here is everything I know about Ria Jones, take it and let me go,” rang through his mind, the searing heat of a power blast shot past Ralph’s head and his tormentor fell into a pile of dust.

------------------------------
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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begonia9508
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 11, Oct 5, 2015

Post by begonia9508 »

Hey Ken, nice to have finally times to read your work! But it's frightening me that what was in an article and more, written by an idiot, can do to the lives of people who are persecuted!

I couldn't believe what I read; they wanted to dissect Liz... In the hope of what: that an alien whould spring out of her?

Anyway I loved these two parts and I hope things will go better as they are now... :?

Thanks ! EVE :mrgreen:
- Les jouissances de l'esprit sont faites pour calmer les orages du coeur!
- On reconnaît le bonheur au bruit qu'il fait quand il s'en va!
- L'amour vous rend aveugle et le mariage vous redonne la vue!
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 11, Oct 5, 2015

Post by keepsmiling7 »

It was so good that Nurse Atkins is loyal to Maria and Liz.
Things are looking positive in Jesse's office.......I'm anxious for this gang to get back together again.
And hopefully Max can heal Liz.
Thanks
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 11, Oct 5, 2015

Post by ken_r »

keepsmiling7:

begonia9508: A certain class of scientist want to dissect everything when they ant to understand it


chapter 12

Clinton Walker was a low level FBI agent. Being low level was the way he survived. Gone were the days of Daniel Pierce who threatened the existence of the aliens. Pierce was gone, shot by a .357 revolver, but there were enough scars on his skeleton to believe that someway, aliens had been involved. Walker was well aware where the three aliens, Max, Michael and Isabel were living. Pierce had been bested by young aliens, whose abilities had not yet matured. Tackling a mature alien was not for the faint of heart. If an agent was dedicated to fighting aliens, the human allies were the ones to study. That Husband of the alien, Isabel, would have been a good choice. True, he was a lawyer, but he was only a young Hispanic boy from the alien capital of the world, Roswell, New Mexico. The FBI was still WASP enough to not think a boy from Roswell, New Mexico could be a threat.

Suddenly Jesse Ramirez took over the Philip Evans Law Firm and with the help of both Philip and Diane Evans, they silenced the FBI proper in questions about Max, Michael or Isabel. No matter where they were from, three Harvard degrees held by three very intelligent people had whipped the FBI asses, but good. After that, when another bunch of aliens blew themselves up, Clint walker began to make plans to seek out the civilians who had the most contact with the aliens. That Kyle Valenti was rumored to have been very close to several of the aliens. After kicking Satan out of the bar, Kyle had neither fear nor respect for the agency and Clint recognized Kyle along with all his military contacts was well above his ability to approach. That left the two women. That Maria girl had flat disappeared and the Parker girl had probably been killed in the explosion with the second group of aliens. Then came Ralph Carter’s article. Clint was well on his way to hunting associates of aliens. When they arrived at Carter’s house, nobody was there and there were several suspicious looking piles of dust. Walker took samples, but the women he wanted were again in the wind.

------------

Ralph was sitting in a kitchen chair. Across from him sat a slender Hispanic man with a trimmed mustache. Leaning against the sink was an attractive lady in her late thirties. She was feigning interest in the proceedings as she manicured her nails. Ralph couldn’t take his eyes off those nails. They were almost half an inch long and the lady was carefully sharpening them with an emery board. Ralph’s mind ticked off the people surrounding him. Were they alien or human? The man across from him, named Jesse Ramirez, was the lawyer that Ralph had heard about. Ralph remembered that his mother had used a lawyer one time. His name had been Ramirez. That man had been involved with some sort of suite against the government. All Ralph could remember was that Jesse had beaten the government soundly. The other man at the table was named Michael. No last name given, just Michael. There was something very strange about him. First of all no matter what else Ralph felt, Michael was sitting on the edge of a meltdown. The other thing was that Ralph remembered the feeling of being with those other aliens and Michael gave out similar, but not identical, feelings.

The woman had to be the Isabel, who Michael and Jesse had been talking about. They used words like “mind rape” and “strip him naked.” These thoughts did not bide well for Ralph. From the looks she gave him, Ralph decided she must also be alien. Usually in situations like this, Ralph would dig out the checkbook. The car they used to bring him here was a Mercedes not a YUGO. Ralph understood that Jesse was not a man impressed by money. Michael had some agenda, but Ralph was sure that, if anything, Michael considered a writer named Ralph Carter as a roadblock to get passed and then level. To Ralph’s great worry was added a scramble coming from Michael switching back and forth between the concepts of “Roadblock” and “Roadkill.”

Jesse had a quiet, but authoritative voice. “Let’s start by you telling us everything leading up to your writing the story that has endangered all of us.”

At first, Ralph reverted to his usual mode of blowing off interviews with some yarn or the other. Then, he saw Michael’s hands pressed flat against the tabletop. Sparks were arching between his spread fingers. This was not a place to test the waters of believability. Ralph told the truth starting with the challenge to write, for half a million dollars, the true story of Ria Jones.

When he got to intimacies with Ria Jones, Ralph saw something in Michael’s eyes which scared him. This Ria, or rather Maria woman, was someone special to Michael. Ralph might have just gotten himself into something, which could easily cost him his life. Well, line up in the rear. Ralph was losing count of how many different groups were all coming down on him at the present. A chuckle in his mind, he wasn’t a good candidate for life insurance about now.

“What do you think, Isabel?” Michael asked.

“I think he is telling the truth as far as he knows it. I think Maria might have left residuals in his mind that neither of them would remember. Whether he can still eat with a spoon or not, is going to depend on his degree of cooperation in the next step.” Isabel had put her file away and was examining Ralph carefully.

Michael turned to Ralph. “Let’s get this the first time. The only human, besides you, here, is Jesse and he is married to Isabel. The other folks you met who were trying to shrink your head while you were still wearing it, are called ‘Skins.’ Even we don’t know much about them. We have a feeling that wherever they come from, they are sort of second-class aliens. We know them as mean little bastards, but they are not nearly as strong as we are. They would have pulled everything they wanted from your mind and you would have been left as second place to a turnip. Now we can do the same thing, but if you don’t fight us, there is a good chance you can come out with very little mind damage.”

The quiet voice of Isabel was almost musical to Ralph. “Ralph, relax. The first thing is to accept that everything you know is going to be shared with us. Resolve your self to the fact that every secret you know is going to be uncovered no matter how trivial. Just let it happen. The only things we are interested in are what you know about Maria. Now some of your relationship with Maria, or Ria as you know her, is going to be upsetting to Michael so he is going to go into the other room until I am through,” Isabel stated, ending with a hard look at Michael.

Ralph gave a quick look at Michael as he stood up. Michael’s face was as calm and stoic as any professional poker player, but Ralph remembered those eyes as the men holding him had dissolved into dust. “Now Ralph, Michael is gone. If you cooperate, I will promise that he won’t hurt you. Jesse might be biased toward me, but he is a lawyer and right now he is the best we are offering to protect your rights. The rights he is protecting are that you can live and that your mind will still sort of work. It is all up to you,” Isabel informed him.

---------------------

Liz was sitting in the bedroom of the motel. She wouldn’t have understood anything they were saying anyway. The most that Nurse Sharon had learned about her was that Liz was living in a very different time flow, one that took hours, maybe, days for a sentence or thought to be processed. “It depends on what you want to do,” Sharon stated. “If you want to head to Canada, I grew up along the Canadian border. I think I might be able to find a safe way across.”

Before Maria could think this out, Kyle shook his head. “Crossing state lines gets enough agencies after us. Crossing a national border would get the state department and whoever they answer to involved. We need to lay low for a while, but I would rather keep it in the US, thinking about later problems.” Kyle was the most paranoid of all of them, but Kyle had faced Satan and survived. Maria, at least, thought that gave him a lot of creditability.

Sharon shrugged, “Then, I can offer some hunting camps in the north woods near the border.”

Kyle was clean-shaven, but there had been many times when he wore a full beard. He still stroked his chin when he was thinking. “If you know this country and have some contacts, that might be the best plan.”

Sharon got up and poured another cup of coffee. Her next words must be carefully chosen. Nurse Sharon had become very fond of Maria. Maria dedicated so much to her sister. Caring for Beth or who they now called Liz, Sharon had learned what they all had faced. They were a tight group who had provisionally let her in. Now, Kyle, frankly, scared the crap out of Sharon. All she could say was that he got things done. Sharon had a brother, Joseph Adkins, who was not above doing some questionable things and keeping quiet afterward. Their great Grandfather had smuggled whisky during the great experiment of the United States, that was the time of prohibition. Old Joe Kennedy, the father of the president of the country, had brought whisky in along the northern ocean shore to the elite of New England. Great grandfather Adkins had brought the same across the Canadian border by mule to the thirsty farmers of the mid west. The Adkins had stayed out of dope, but there was a thriving market for Canadian prescription medicines sold much cheaper in Canada.

--------------------

Kyle was still nervous. He was putting trust in people with whom he had not personally experienced combat. His line of trust went through Maria. Kyle’s father and Maria’s mother had been lovers years ago. In fact they both had died within a few weeks of each other. Joseph Adkins and his son Pete were nice enough guys. They both recognized in Kyle a dangerous adversary. Joe’s main concern was what kind of people had their sister gotten hooked up with. If Kyle got his aunt into trouble, Pete was all for planting a knife in his back. Joe on the other hand wasn’t sure that Kyle ever showed his back to anyone.

The connection they had in common with Sharon was her friendship with the two women. One of the women was handicapped in someway, hence the attentions to Nurse Sharon. There was something familiar about the other women, but Joe hadn’t figured that out, yet. Kyle paid for everything in cash. On one of the many lakes, their grandfather had built a hunting camp. This was a front for them being in the woods so much. This crew would have to hunker down during hunting season, but the rest of the time, they should be secure. Joe noticed that the first thing Kyle did was to take off to get the lay of the land. Later, Joe would see failsafe alarms that made approach to the cabin he assigned them impossible without noise.

They had a high frequency radio, one to thirty megahertz, that was strictly illegal without a license, but both parties agreed on short time frames to monitor certain frequencies in case messages needed to be sent. Homeland security knew nothing about any of this and Homeland had pissed off the border patrol so much that those who remembered the old smugglers, were not about to share any information unless they felt it had some dire meaning. After about four months, Kyle made that brief, but cryptic call and Joe came in to guide him out.

Kyle flew to Kansas City Missouri. Here he rented a car and drove north and west to the town of Platte City. Kyle had no idea of what he would find at Platte City. It was just a town picked out from a map. Kyle registered at three motels several miles apart, all on the outskirts of Platte city. At one motel he placed his small duffel of luggage. At the second motel, he sent a telegram saying, “The guardian of the queen wants 20k and talk.”

Kyle didn’t return for two days. He monitored the second motel, but he saw nothing to alert his senses. On the second day, Kyle asked the desk if there was a message for his room number. The clerk handed Kyle the return telegram and Kyle tipped him. In the room he had paid for, but not yet used, Kyle opened the message.

“To guardian of her highness, yes and where?”

Kyle phoned in his reply to the telegraph company. “N39 20.842, W94 51.483 private landing field, make arrangements.” Leaving the receiving party to put the degree and minutes signs where they were needed.

Kyle went back to the first motel and waited again for two days. The next telegram simply said “Friday 3pm.”

Kyle hurried back, checked out and moved his kit to the third, so far unused, motel. He would remain there quietly until Friday. It was strange and a sign of the times that old fashioned telegraph, opened to anybody was more secure than telephone or internet.

----------------

“If Maria is still alive, I want to meet with her,” Michael demanded.

“Michael, we are sure that she is alive and has been going by the name of Ria. This face to face talk is just that, to set up something bigger,” Jesse said patiently. Jesse was on planes with great regularity. He had clients all over the country. Now, if anyone had been watching Michael, he doing any traveling would become of immediate interest.

Jesse still left home around 1:00 am. His secretary picked him up in her Volkswagen and drove him to the airport. Jesse took a commercial flight. Then at Kansas City, he transferred to a small plane which had been arranged to land at the private airport Kyle had marked. Kyle’s rented car was waiting right down the road. First things first, Jesse transferred the two packages each containing $10,000. “Good to see you Kyle.”

“Yeah, good to see you too. Who got out the other side?” was Kyle’s first question.

“They all three got out in good physical shape. Michael and Max took the worst of the blast. Isabel was already out when all hell broke loose. Michael is holding back a considerable amount of baggage and Max is a mental basket case,” Jesse replied.

“Yeah, that is the way with us. Maria, Liz and I got out in fair shape, but Liz took a big hit. Maria will want to get Max and Liz back together to see if they can help each other. Maria, also, will want to see Michael, but she is frightened that he will be angry at what she has done the last few years,” Kyle stated.

“Michael has matured a lot. He has been almost the sole caregiver to Max. Max is very unstable. He drifts in and out of illusions. Michael is frightened that Max is finally going to loose touch with any reality. Of course, he and Maria are going to have to work their problems out on their own, but I think knowing she is still alive will make him a lot less hardheaded,” Jesse explained.

“We shall see. You all are going to take a fishing trip. Joe Adkins will be your guide. All of you, including Isabel, must get some second hand outdoor clothes. Get some beat up poles and tackle. You go to this little town and let it be known that you are waiting for Old Joe Adkins. With that, Jesse returned to the small plane. Kyle, with the 20 thousand dollars, departed to yet another airport for transportation back to where Maria and the others were waiting.

There was a lot of discussion as to how to move Max across the country. They still were hanging on to Ralph. Ralph’s many wild capers made his temporary disappearance go unnoticed. The check had been cashed so the publisher was content that maybe Ralph was trying for the rest of the million. Jesse had told Ralph to, “Write buddy, that is what you do best. We might even let you publish some of it, someday.”

Zigzaging across the country had its pros, but having Max out in view in his condition was begging for discovery. They, finally decided on Jesse leading them all up in a private plane, belonging to one of the corporations he represented and having them flown as close to the area where the Adkins had their hunting camp was the best plan.

--------------------------
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
keepsmiling7
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 12, Oct 25, 2015

Post by keepsmiling7 »

This is getting tense......and the coded messages....."guardian of the queen wants 20 K and talk" makes much more sense when Kyle and Jesse meet up.
So the old fashion telegraphs are more secure than current electronics.
I'm getting anxious for the group to meet up and be together again.
Will Max and Liz be able to help each other??
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begonia9508
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 12, Oct 25, 2015

Post by begonia9508 »

Hey Ken! That was such an ansome part! :shock:

Really evenful for Jesse especially, who has dedicated his life for his wife's companions and who know how to turn the situation at his and his friends and family's profit...

Kyle who has become a fantastic police officer and faithful to his old friends! Having some power can be helpful too anyway...

Poor Liz and Max... they are the most disables of the group and I hope meeting each other will help them recover! At least, Maria is a diva and wellknown and in such a situation, its helps!

Thanks Ken - hope you are well and ready for the winter coming!!

Thanks EVE :wink: :mrgreen:
- Les jouissances de l'esprit sont faites pour calmer les orages du coeur!
- On reconnaît le bonheur au bruit qu'il fait quand il s'en va!
- L'amour vous rend aveugle et le mariage vous redonne la vue!
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ken_r
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 12, Oct 25, 2015

Post by ken_r »

Begonia, thanks, I hope you are still interested in my story.

Keepsmiling: It has been a while

Chapter 13

Zan wiped the red dust off his face. He parked his weapons at the door as was custom. Even the king followed this rule. Zan had learned that those who said a king should be able to do anything he pleased, had either never been kings or if they had power, they had never used that power wisely. A good king did many things that he was asked, even when he knew that the request was as near an order as could be given a king. As he walked up the hall, his little blond queen came running out to him. She was dressed, but the gowns she wore left little imagination in her body. No explanation of her duties and decorum left any mark on her actions. Ava had been brought to his house as his queen. She had not been raised as a queen so Zan guessed he must forgive a few failures. In the distance, Zan saw Vilandra, his sister, dart back around the corner. This was not the girl who Zan had grown up and played with as a child. She was now secretive and sullen when confronted.

A courtier named Jesse, thought to have some influence on Vilandra, led Zan away from his clinging wife and down a dark hall.

“We are hoping that you might have some ability to bring healing to her,” the courtier droned.

The woman on the bed was small, smaller even than Zan’s wife. Where Ava was blond and very fair having skin the color of rich cream, this woman was brunette with skin of polished bronze. Zan stood looking at her for several minutes. Zan had been having visions for several weeks. Only his second in command, Rath knew about this. Rath was very careful to keep Zan out of battle when these spells occurred. Now, sitting beside the woman was the slave girl, Maria, whom Michael had purchased for his own pleasure. She was a singer and Zan had heard her sing the stresses out of Michael’s soul. She was dressed in a robe, but when the robe fell open Zan could see that she wore a very brief garment under it. Beside the slave girl sat a nurse, who had been brought in to tend the woman. Along with those mentioned, there was a man. He said his name was Kyle. Zan was troubled by Kyle as he saw a dark shadow just behind him at all times, even when he crossed in front of the window that shadow followed him. What disturbed Zan most was the woman. She had been in many of Zan’s visions. Suddenly, Vilandra appeared in the doorway. “The hands of the king bring healing,” she intoned. Zan was also bothered by all the names. They had called Vilandra, Isabel, Rath, Michael and when they addressed him, it was not as your highness, but rather just Max.

Zan was a little disturbed as his possessions were all piled on a bed beside that of the dark lady. The possessions were all strange. Strange clothes, which when he looked down at what he was wearing were completely out of context as those of the king. Zan wondered what had happened to his wife. She had never been known as being reasonable about Zan being with someone else. Isabel seemed strange, nicer and less bitter. She had something to do with that Jesse guy. Max saw no sign of the usurper, Kivar. Rumors were running that he was courting, Vilandra. That woman quietly lying there, Max had some remembrance of going on several quests to find her.

The nurse, Zan couldn’t remember her name, cleared the other bed and Indicating, that the now, cleared bed, was his. They all left Zan alone with the strange woman.

They had called him Max. That name had some meaning to Zan. Maybe, if he embraced it, he would understand his relationship to this woman.

-------------------

Zan woke up. He was alone in a strange room. The red sun was streaming in the windows. Max remembered that sometimes, colors seemed to be muddy and dull. Last night just before he fell asleep, the colors seemed to brighten. Max shook his head. Was he Max or was he that person, Zan? Zan looked around. He was alone. If he had fallen asleep, he had better find Ava and make things right. Ava was some hot tamale in bed, but if she thought he might be stepping out, he would have a lot to explain. Zan shook his head wondering, “what was a ‘hot tamale?’”

As he walked down the hall he saw Vilandra sitting, reading something. Last night, she had been so understanding almost like when they were children. Zan sat down without saying anything and Vilandra turned to him almost screaming. What are you doing, Zan? Are you spying on me again?”

So much for the sister of last night. Zan got up and continued walking, not wanting to face Vilandra’s wrath nor engage her in any endless debate. When he got to his apartment, Max or was he Zan took a deep breath and opened the door. Ava was busily pacing back and forth. “Zan where the hell have you been?” she screamed.

Zan, without saying anything, took her by her shoulders and turned her around where her back was facing him. He slowly removed the clasps, which held her gown together and the gown fell to the ground. Standing there naked with her back to him Ava quieted immediately. As he carried her to their bed on the far side of the room, he began thinking. Who was he, Zan the king of Antar who was about to make love to his now obedient wife, or that Max someone, from a strange land who was watching over a damaged woman?

One thing that Zan could never question was that after a night with his wife, he would always be exhausted. Since she started out mad, the energy she had stored up made him sleep the sleep of the dead.

----------------------

Something different had happened to Liz last night. It had happened and ended before she had defined what it was. Liz, all through her slow, dreamy existence had never ceased seeking information about Max. As she lay there, listening to his breathing the sound so low and so slow, she had the impression that Max had returned. Of course by the time she had come to this conclusion, there was no sign of him. “Max,” the cry so drawn out so slow, that if came out as a moan, was made, but not answered.

------------------------

Max was sitting on a couch and Isabel, Jesse and Michael were all confronting him. “Max, Liz survived or almost survived. She has built up firewalls from when we were all held by the Skins. Her only chance to return is for you to break down these walls. Only you know what really went on between you and Liz during that time of interrogation. Only you can know how to bring Liz back to all of us,” Isabel explained.

As he sat facing his family and friends, Max felt everything slipping away. His eyes glazed over and he retreated to that somewhere place.

-----------------------

Max saw Steven Jenson in the distance. That man was a curse. Max had just completed his course with his interrogator. They had been hammering at how close were Max and Liz when they actually felt each other. When Max had been held alone by the feds, this place had been a place of terror. Now with the Skins taking it over, Max couldn’t explain to himself how many human hells he was enduring. Max had already decided that stonewalling these aliens was necessary. They were holding back Isabel for some undetermined experiment. Max knew Liz well enough that in the questions he had been asked by the interrogators, he believed that Liz was thwarting them also in her own way, whatever that might be.

The glimpse of Jenson in his delusion, brought to Max, that there was only the one human, Liz, in this place and except for himself and Isabel there were only Skins. Was Steve Jenson a skin?

--------------------

Wellington had called Maxwell out, personally. “Max, I value greatly your aid in fighting Napoleon, but you need to keep your home fires burning. You have both your queen and your paramour to care for. While O’le Nappy is running, why don’t you take some time off to visit your own kingdom?” the general had said.

Max pulled on the reins of his was steed. The animal reared up and squealed as he always did when he knew they were heading into battle. In Max’s mind there were two heavenly bodies, one the color of fresh cream and the other a marvelous tan, both waiting for him. Max thought as hard as he could, but he couldn’t define in his mind which was a lover and which was his wife.

__________________

Without another word to Isabel and Michael, Max returned to the bedroom where he believed his love would be. Sitting beside her, he took her hand, but try as hard as he could, he couldn’t resolve who she was.

----------------------

Liz’s mind did not see Max slip into her room. This was like when she was a teenager. Liz had felt Max’s presence many times in her slumbers. Even the aliens didn’t yet realize all of their powers, so Liz was never sure if her dreams were just wishful thinking brought on by teenage hormones or had Max actually found a way to slip into her room. Now, Liz’s mind conjured the notion that Max was sitting beside her and holding her hand. Once again, she had no idea of when or from where he had appeared. “Liz, the Skins are all gone. It is safe to return,” she heard.

Yeah, they had tried that one over and over to make her let her guard down. The trouble was that when she had come to this last notion, Max had disappeared and no longer was holding her hand. It was dark as the nurse bathed her and prepared her for bed. Liz actually did not live through this action. It happened so fast, but experienced over and over each time she retained a small fraction, eventually, when it came time for her bath, she experienced it all by piecing every part together. It was now very dark.

----------------

Zan needed information and the only one to give it to him would be Vilandra. Vilandra had made it perfectly clear that she would tolerate no discussion about her social life. The family all thought that her current love interest was dangerous to everyone. Everyone, that is, excepting for Max’s wife, Ava. Information was developing that Ava, was in someway, related to Kivar. The family all believed that Kivar was involved with political disturbances in some distant towns.

“Lonny, what can you tell me of any other women I might have had relations with?” Zan asked.

Vilandra looked carefully at Zan. She didn’t hate her family, but she would not tolerate any criticism as to where she bestowed her favors. Now Zan was asking about something that concerned only himself. Vilandra had to think carefully to not fall into some sort of trap. “You were always the perfect prince. Ava was brought here and you accepted her without question. Why the question now?” she asked.

“There is something in my mind about a woman with dark hair, large brown eyes and skin the color of the sands at sunset. Who is she? If Ava gets any idea I am thinking of someone else there will be hell to pay,” Zan stated.

Vilandra raised her eyebrows. For once the family might have someone else to critique in their social life. “Zan, I don’t know of any woman like that, but there are stories of new blood coming into the royal line. The family chose Ava because they thought she might bring in this new infusion.” Vilandra was thinking that now, a conveniently forgotten part of the story, that is the dark woman who was returning over and over in the mind of her brother.

Zan walked back into the house and the other Vilandra, the nicer one, they called Isabel greeted him. “Max, Liz has been calling your name,” she stated.

Max grimaced, “Yes, I know. I will stay with her until she rests more peacfully.” The grimace was because Max was not good at juggling half-truths and lies. Half truths because even though Max was unsure of who Liz was or who she was to him and lies, because if the queen got wind of what he was doing, a screeching blonde bombshell did not help stabilize the kingdom. Vilandra was enough of a problem, if Zan, the king, brought disquiet, it might be thought that the house of Zan was a failure and should be disbanded.

It was easy to see how agitated Liz was when she was alone. Max holding her hand was the first sign that she might be reaching for something and Max might be that thing.

---------------------

“Maria, we have been around this rodeo before. Sharon is quite able to care for Liz. In fact, Liz needs less distraction away from Max than she gets when you are around,” Michael tried to explain.

Michael had tried to patiently wait for Maria to approach him. Okay, he got it. Maybe, she no longer wanted to be with him as a lover. The FBI, the Skins and all the baggage they both carried made things difficult for them to work together. Michael knew by his upbringing that he wasn’t the most socially savvy guy in the group. You don’t learn to deal with social games when your stepparent is a drunk and you work out puberty and adulthood on your own. It had been Joe Adkins, the nurse’s brother, who stopped Michael one day and asked him, what he intended to do about Maria. Michael looked at Joe with one of those blank expressions. He knew he had to do something about Maria, but he didn’t know what, when or how.

“Mon’ami, maybe you and Maria need to go where there are no other ears. Maybe, things need to be said that no one but the two of you should hear. Sharon told me to mind my own business. She said you were not like other men. Damned nurses, they get to thinking that they are doctors and know everything! I know when a man is shaken to his soul. I can offer you a place where you and the lady will be trapped for a period of time, say a fortnight. In that time, you will both have to make some decisions, which you can both live with. They might not be the right decisions, but they will be something.

Now, Isabel and Michael along with Maria were sitting around the table, Isabel discussing Joe’s words. “Maria, I had Jesse. Michael was so busy taking care of Max that he couldn’t afford to let his feelings out. You took care of Liz and without your work, you both would have died. Now, it is time for you and Michael to define your respective futures. Neither of you can just walk away,” Isabel declared.

This led to Michael and Maria getting out of a small boat and entering a small cottage by one of the many lakes. “Mike, It isn’t just a shack we use for hunting. I take the wife and daughters there in the summer. It has a water closet, but you have to pump the tank by hand. There is a root cellar where I store potatoes, onions and some other vegetables. In the side of a nearby hill, I have a small cave stacked with ice we cut from the lake in the winter it holds a couple hams, a haunch of venison and several crocks of butter. There is running water, but again you have to hand pump it.” Then, Joe handed Michael a bag of general groceries, bread and milk.

“There is no bed, but we have a large sleeping platform where we usually just throw out sleeping bags. I have laid out a large feather bed comforter. You and the lady can progress as to how close you want to sleep together. I will see you in two weeks. Watch out for bears and work out your problems,” with that, Joe returned to where the others were waiting.

Maria frowned when she saw the sleeping platform. It was large and topped with a cotton-batting mattress. A fluffy feather bed covered the entire platform. Eventually Maria’s frown faded as she thought, “This isn’t pushing me to any intimacies I don’t want.” Maria still liked to be the one in control. She threw her suitcase on one end of the platform as Michael placed his at the other.

Michael left to explore their food supply. Maria began to think, what did she want from this two weeks? She had agreed because all the others seemed to think she and Michael needed something. Maria, herself, had no idea of what she wanted. Since Michael’s arrival, he had made no advances toward her. Maria knew that Michael and the others had discovered her by reading Ralph Carter’s article. If it did nothing more, the truth in that article told explicitly all that she had done. Maria knew that Michael could have no illusions as to how she spent the years since they had been separated. She was sure that Michael had faced much the same pressure as she had in going on this retreat. Maybe, he no longer had any desire for her like he had before. Oh, yeah, in two weeks, the two of them alone, if given a chance, Michael would probably toss her onto a bed and take whatever she was willing to give. All these years, Maria liked to always think she was in control, but in the end, the “john” got what he paid for and Maria put out like a very expensive whore.

Michael brought in a wedge of cheese and two venison stakes, which he had proudly carved off the hanging haunch of venison. Michael smiled. Maybe, he could get used to this backwoods living. Michael didn’t kid himself. He wasn’t going back to his roots. He wasn’t even sure what roots aliens like him had. All together, potatoes, onions and venison steaks all fried on the wood stove in the kitchen, along with toasted bread with slices of cheese, washed down with cups of coffee charged with maple syrup, made a good supper.

Maria changed clothes in the small toilet room while Michael quickly stripped down to a tee-shirt and his boxers. Maria had put on a pair of heavy flannel pajamas and when she came out, Michael was already under the feather bed and turned to face the wall. Maria made no statement as she climbed into bed on the far side and wrapped her self in the ample down comforter. She made no impression, if that is what she intended. Soon, she was fast asleep.

---------------------
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
keepsmiling7
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Re: Aftershock CC mature pg 4, ch 13, Jan 30, 2016

Post by keepsmiling7 »

read this part "over there" and can't wait to find out how Zan manages the Queen verses the brunette with polished bronze skin.
Great descriptions Ken!
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