keepsmiling7: Yep, they had to eat in order to keep their strength up.
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xmag: We know it’s a pain to wait such a long time for an update, but you know how real life can be… and sometimes it just doesn’t want to let go of you. However, here we are with an update.
Book One – Chapter 12
October 13, 2016 – Pete’s Liftoff Gas Station, Outskirts of Roswell, NM – 1847 Hours
“Wait, what?” Maria interrupted, certain the comment deserved an in-depth explanation. “He took a green rod out of his armor?”
Liz’s mind was turning the information over and over as she kept an eye on Max. She’d seen it through their connection… and she’d seen it before. Or at least something that sounded like it. “Like the rod in the Welcome to Roswell sign when all of the humans in town disappeared?”
Max nodded. “Yeah, it looked exactly like the description you gave us. The difference is that this time all the Antarians disappeared.” He watched Liz, easily identifying the little nuances in her features that indicated the wheels were turning in her head.
“So, you said that time exists differently on Antar, right?” Maria asked, needing clarification.
“We think they went to another plane of the battlefield.” Max shrugged one shoulder and shot a glance at Michael.
He picked up without missing a beat. “We can’t be sure.”
Maria and Liz exchanged a look, a lifetime of friendship allowing them to carry on a conversation that didn’t require a single word be verbalized between them. She spoke up when Liz gave an imperceptible nod. “What kind of plane are we talking about? Something like a different time zone?”
“Not exactly, no.” Max tapped the side of his thumb against the weapon at his hip as he considered the best way to explain. “It’s more like an exhibition game in chess. Think of the planes as additional chess boards and there’s a grand master being challenged on each board by different challengers.”
Maria shifted to look at Michael and she couldn’t stop the questions from tumbling over one another. “So all of those soldiers, the Resistance and the… the what, the Opposition, went to another battlefield? Wouldn’t that be dangerous? I mean, how would they know where they’d end up? What if they ended up on another occupied field?”
In spite of the years of subduing his human side, time hadn’t dulled his senses where she was concerned. He shifted, his stance indicating his patience was waning. His jaw was working as he waited and his fingertips began to drum restlessly against his weapon.
Isabel couldn’t take much more of the four of them standing there staring at each other so she moved to stand between them, drawing their attention to her. “We don’t know where they ended up and yes, it was dangerous.” Her tolerance for the incessant questions was at an all time low. She felt Max move just enough to put him closer to her, felt herself calm when he placed a hand on her shoulder. She nodded, knowing he would pick the thread of the conversation up and give her time to collect herself.
“We believe the actions of the Resistance officer was a failsafe to ensure our survival.”
“Then why not just move all battles to these other planes of existence to protect you? Why not just have the… Different planes of existence,” she mused aloud. “Do you mean they all died? The green rod the Resistance officer threw was some sort of weapon, an explosive device with amplified power or something, and it killed everyone but you?” She looked between Max and Isabel, studying their expressions, and deciding that she was on the right track.
Then her eyes sought out Michael, suddenly aware of his pain, and she wondered if he somehow felt responsible for the man’s death… for the death of all of those on the battlefield that day and every other day of the war he’d been thrown into. He hadn’t moved a muscle, but he’d never had to. He could radiate dozens of emotions with nothing more than his eyes and in them she saw the truth, the weight of the responsibility he carried.
Liz was mulling over this most recent information while half-listening to Maria’s rapid-fire questions and she shook her head slowly. “No,” she said after a couple of minutes. “The rod that was stuck in the Welcome to Roswell sign was emitting a signal of some sort that made the humans in town disappear.”
Max watched her and a faint trace of a smile eased his features for the barest of moments. He’d missed her so much. It had gone even deeper than a physical ache; it had been soul deep and nothing had filled the hole left by her absence in his life. His head tipped slightly when she began to speak again.
“When the electrical field was interrupted it blew up and the humans reappeared, completely unaware that they had ever been gone.”
Maria considered the explanation and her eyes rested on Michael again as she exhaled slowly. “You’re right. Yes, we go with what we know, which makes it entirely possible that they simply disappeared, moved, shifted or something to some other plane.”
“What Kyle would’ve called a Hail Mary pass,” Liz said with a sad smile. How many times had he explained football to them in an attempt to get them to remember the rules, the history, the absolute beauty of the game? How many games had they sat through with him, rolling their eyes at each other while he had one-sided arguments with referees, yelled at the players when they made bad plays and shouted in triumph when his team scored or the other side fumbled the ball?
Maria breathed a little easier when she caught the slight easing in Michael’s tense frame. She was glad Liz had made that small comment about Kyle. It had been the right thing to say in that moment. She glanced at the tall blonde who had fallen silent after telling them what had happened on the battlefield. “Isabel, you said what you all thought you knew about the granolith was a lie.” She met Michael’s eyes and her voice was quiet as she said, “What’d you do afterwards?”
“We made their sacrifice count. Isabel and I moved Max back to the granolith chamber.”
“Max was alive, but extremely weak,” Isabel said as she glanced between the men flanking her. Max had fallen silent, letting them offer some of the information while gathering his thoughts. She knew he would take over soon, was familiar with his pattern of contemplative thought before taking charge. How many times had she witnessed it over the years? “Michael needed time to recover from healing him and we all needed time to regroup.”
They hadn’t passed a single Antarian on the way to the chamber. After the unending auditory assault of a war that would not end the silence had been deafening and it had been unsettling to find themselves suddenly alone, no longer surrounded by others. “We had no idea how long we had before Kivar’s army discovered the loss of their forces on the battlefield. We needed answers and we needed Max to heal quickly. I didn’t trust anything Tess told us about what to do if one of us was seriously injured.” The anger that bordered on pure unadulterated hatred wasn’t new, but it burned in her veins as thoughts of the murdering hybrid surfaced, and it took an effort to bring it under control. Now wasn’t the time to focus on that, she reminded herself. “I remembered what River Dog told us when Michael was dying.”
Michael’s posture relaxed slightly as he looked at Maria. So many memories rushed through his mind, memories of a time that hadn’t necessarily been easy, but had still held a touch of innocence. “I remembered the map in the cave that held the healing rocks.”
Liz and Maria looked at each other, mentally connecting the dots at the same time.
“The balance,” they said at the same time.
He nodded. “We searched the cave. The map was there, hidden outta the line of sight.” His eyes took on a faraway look as they locked on something only he could see, but his voice remained strong and steady as he relayed the story. In his minds’ eye that moment flared to life and as he spoke he could see the scene as if it was happening in real time.
Max had been weak and in spite of the healing there was still the possibility they could lose him to blood loss or the shock his system had suffered. He’d helped Isabel lean him up against the wall, knowing she needed the relief as much as Max did. He had frantically searched the walls, desperately needing to find the healing stones he knew were hidden there.
“It’s gonna be okay, Max,” she assured him, needing it to be true. “We’re gonna find the healing stones and make a circle just like we did years ago when Michael was so sick.”
He felt her eyes boring into him, searching his hands in vain for the healing stones. He wouldn’t let them down. He continued his search in earnest, shoving the weakness in his own body down and drawing on his inner reserves to give him the push he needed to keep going.
“If you can’t find the stones,” Max said, his voice projecting to sound level and strong, “the two of you place your right hands on the Granolith and focus on home. Perhaps there’s a chance the connection can take you home in time to stop Kivar.”
Isabel’s voice was insistent when she responded and there was no doubt of her resolve. “I’m not going without you, Max.”
He could hear the movement as the King forced himself to a sitting position. “You can put your hands over mine and connect to it.”
“This will work,” Isabel insisted, hearing what he wasn’t saying. It had to work. What did it matter if what he was saying was possible if he wasn’t alive to see it come to fruition? She looked between the two men. “We don’t have any water. When we did this before there was water.” She paused as a thought occurred to her. “There was more than just the three of us.”
Michael shut out their voices as he reached deep inside himself, searching for his human side. It had been so long since he’d allowed it to surface; hiding it from himself as well as his enemies, protecting it… preserving it. When his eyes opened once more they held no trace of Rath.
Maria’s voice came to life, her tone calm and soothing, and he could almost see her solemn green eyes locking on him as she spoke. “Try it again.”
And he had. His hand had swiped across the wall and in a matter of seconds he had found what he was looking for.
“We don’t need the water,” Michael interrupted as the familiar symbols came to life before his eyes. He abandoned the wall to draw a rough circle around the Granolith with his weapon. He nodded at the map that was now visible, specific points brighter than others as the stones glowed with their incandescent, unearthly light. “It’s the same one we saw on Earth on the cave wall and in the dream plane. The symbols of where we come from and where we were sent and then the four of us connected like the spokes on a wheel.”
Max wheezed as his head dropped back to rest on the wall, so focused on what Michael was doing that he didn’t feel the dull thud. “The point in the center has to be the Granolith.”
Michael and Isabel exchanged a look and he nodded. “We need to move him, brace him against the Granolith.”
They crouched down on either side of him, preparing to move him when Max reached out to grip Michael’s arm in a forearm clasp. The move effectively stopped him in his tracks and their eyes locked. A million things passed between them in that moment, but of them only one was spoken aloud.
“Remember what Onaedlak told us,” Max rasped. “If I don’t make it the seal of the King transfers to you.” His eyes moved to his sister and then back to his Second. “You won’t put yourselves in danger to save me. The Granolith can’t be used to reset the timeline again. Kivar must die this time.”
It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t the plea of a dying man. It was a direct order from their King.
They retrieved the healing stones and took up positions on either side of him, careful to remain within reach of the Granolith in case Kivar’s soldiers showed up. They drew upon their memories of a time long ago, the stones cradled in their cupped palms as they focused their thoughts on healing Max.
The chamber around them was suddenly illuminated by a light so powerful it was blinding. They were unable to see the Granolith, Max or each other. Using a combination of instinct and training they scrambled to reach him, to touch the Granolith as ordered. The light was so bright it was impossible to see anything and fear spiked through them like a living thing.
They felt rather than heard the pained hiss of indrawn breath when they collided with him, hands latching onto whatever limb they came into contact with as they slammed their free hands against the Granolith that might as well have been invisible. The pain was immediate, running through their bodies like a live current unlike anything they had ever experienced. And then the shocking jolt of pain faded, replaced by a strange, languid euphoric state.
Max was the first to regain consciousness and he smiled to himself when he recognized the cave on Earth. It was only fitting they should return to the place where a fateful decision had changed so many lives. His hand flexed and he slowly moved his arm, testing it and finding its motion free and without pain. His palm landed against his chest and came into contact with living tissue rather than the breastplate that had become a part of him what seemed like a lifetime ago.
He heard Isabel groan to his right but his eyes landed on Michael first. He was stirring and the first thing he noticed was the absence of Rath’s armor. He reached for his sister as her eyes slowly opened and she suddenly started when she saw them. “Max! What happened?” She moved quickly, crouching next to him so she could check him over. “You’re alright?!” It was a question and a statement all rolled into one. To say she was overwhelmed would have been an understatement. Movement drew her gaze and she caught sight of Michael as he began to orient to his surroundings.
Michael sat up gingerly; hands moving over his chest, abdomen and sides as he tested his range of motion and cataloged potential points of injury. Absently he responded to Isabel when she called his name and inquired about his status. “I’m good.” Rath’s shied was gone and he hurt like hell. Nothing was broken, none of the pain indicated internal injuries, but that didn’t stop the pain that radiated through his body.
“Michael?” Her tone was insistent and she wasn’t going to be put off.
He shook his head. “I’ve had worse Antarian hangovers,” he muttered and tested his limbs as he carefully got to his feet.
She rolled his eyes at his dismissive statement. Translation: Drop it.
“Max, what happened?” he asked rather than get into a pointless argument with Isabel.
“I don’t know.” He sat up straighter, his eyes traveling over the cave they had found themselves in. “I saw the dream plane, like we did years ago when we healed you. We were in the desert on Earth and then a bright white light wiped out what I could see. When I opened my eyes we were here.”
“All I could think was how much I wanted us to go home,” Isabel mused as she helped Max to his feet. His body, now healed of its life-threatening injury, stood solid and immovable next to her.
Michael’s voice trailed off as he reached the end of what he had to say. What came next would come from Max. Their brother, their leader, their King; the outline of the mission they had drafted Liz and Maria to undertake alongside them would be outlined by him without question. He could feel Maria’s gaze on him, knew the exact moment her gaze shifted away from him. It still amazed him that a look could be felt, could produce such a physical impact.
Maria looked away from Michael when Liz moved from her side, watched her as she came within reaching distance of Max. There was no mistaking the look in her eyes. It was a look she knew from high school, a look that spoke of feelings so deep that words couldn’t adequately convey the emotions involved. And it was a look that revealed a love that had somehow only deepened over time.
Fifteen years ago there had been no doubt that she loved Max, a teenage boy who hadn’t understood where he was from or where he belonged. Now he stood before her a King who bore the scars of battles he’d fought just to return to her. And, somehow, as she watched, she could swear she could see the love they shared arc between them, taking on a life of its own.
Liz hadn’t been able to take her eyes off of him the entire time Michael had spoken, possibly saying more words in that brief explanation than she’d heard him say the entire time she’d known him. She’d listened as he’d described Max’s injury, knowing from her knowledge of biology and anatomy just how close he had come to dying on a battlefield so far away. She’d seen the tiny facial tics, the tensing of muscles in his arms, the fingers of his free hand clenching over the scar tissue from the wound that had nearly ended his life. She could imagine some of what he was feeling as he relived that close call.
And she could easily recall the feeling of icy cold that crept through her veins as she lay on the floor of the Crashdown, her life slipping away as the destruction from the bullet that had torn through her body began to cause catastrophic system failure through blood loss and internal damage. On occasion that piece of her past erupted in a nightmare and she woke shaking and freezing as the memory came back to life in vivid detail.
Max could see the questions building as Liz and Maria absorbed the information that Michael had just given them. He moved, stepping away from Isabel and Michael without breaking ranks to take control of the conversation. “We’re running out of time.” He winced internally at the absolutely dire words. He had rallied troops and inspired weary soldiers on the edge of collapse to charge into battle and that was the best he could come up with? He sighed inaudibly. He was so tired. There was no time for such thoughts, he chided himself and forced his posture to straighten.
“I know how grim that sounds, but it’s the truth. We are running out of time. The fact of the matter is that if the three of us are killed the Granolith will reset the timeline.”
There was a heartbeat of silence before Liz exhaled a slow, shaky breath. “Oh,” was all she could manage.
“Another failsafe,” Maria murmured.
He could see Liz sorting through his statements; thoughts, theories and suppositions coming together at lightning speed. It was something he’d always admired about her.
“How many…?”
Max shook his head to stop the question from forming but he was prevented from having to answer her when Michael spoke up, short and to the point.
“Enough times.”
Isabel shifted. “We learned that from bits and pieces we saw when we were bonded to the Granolith.” She could feel her brother’s gaze as he turned his head in her direction and he took control once again. She was immensely grateful because she didn’t want to be the one to share what he was about to reveal.
“She’s right. There are several variations, but the one constant that has never changed is Tess. There was only once where we didn’t meet her and it failed as well.” He didn’t allow himself the luxury of softening the blow he was about to land. “Tess is necessary for our survival.”
Isabel watched the other women, saw the red-hot surge of anger that sparked to life in their eyes as they exchanged a look riddled with disbelief. She could almost see them digging their heels in as they prepared to do battle and she couldn’t blame them; everything in her rebelled at the thought that Tess was relevant to their survival.
It was Maria who finally broke the tense silence. “No.”
It would’ve been easier to deal with her if she’d gone off on an angry rant. The finality of the word, the force behind it combined with the sincere belief that Max was wrong was somehow all the more volatile.
“No. I won’t accept that. She killed Alex.”
And she had, there was no arguing against her words. How did one argue with the truth? She took a step in Maria’s direction. “We know that.” That truth still tore at her soul. Not a day had passed when she hadn’t been tortured with the knowledge that Alex had been killed by one of them, that she had welcomed his murderer into their midst.
Maria was right, Liz thought. She had heard every word through a fog of white noise. How could Tess be necessary for their survival? After all they had been through because of her, how could he even speak those words? They knew she had killed Alex. She had been cold and calculating and never shown an ounce of remorse for his death. She had betrayed them, led them right into a trap that had nearly cost them their lives. How did they expect to stop it from happening again? How could they ever trust her when they knew what she was capable of?
Max shifted, the motion so subtle she would’ve been missed if she hadn’t been watching him. His posture was ramrod straight, his eyes piercing as he looked at each of them in turn. As she watched she realized she wasn’t just looking at Max; she was looking at the King. He was resolute and the confidence he felt radiated off of him. She felt something in her settle in response to that look and a calm set up residence in its place.
“The plan is to go back to 2001 and change the past. We have to stop Tess from killing Alex and restore her in order for us to be a complete unit in the event that Kivar gets past us here.”
Her mind was snapping back and forth as she struggled to digest his words. From the corner of her eye she saw Maria’s lips move as she began to form a sentence… a question, a statement, she didn’t know because the words never had a chance to be spoken before Isabel silenced her with a look.
“No, she won’t get away with mind warping anyone, conspiring with the enemy to betray us or,” her eyes went hard, “threatening Alex’s life. We’ve been over everything we know about what we’ve seen concerning past timelines. The variable is Tess. This time she will comply.”
Maria swallowed, trying to moisten her suddenly dry mouth and throat. Isabel’s tone was pure ice and it chilled her to the bone. She glanced at Michael, noting the slight nod of his head. She was surprised to feel the easing that came over her. Isabel’s tone, fury beneath ice. Max’s tone, authoritative and demanding. Without looking away from them her hand found Liz’s and she exhaled calmly when their fingers locked together, the simple contact giving her strength.
Max nodded at his Second. “Comman…,” he shook his head. “Michael.” Years on the battlefield had ingrained the association of rank and he rarely addressed his friend, his brother by name.
“There are three objectives that have to be met,” Michael said as he picked up at Max’s command. “The first, as Max said, is Tess. He’ll visit Tess and redirect her goals. They have to be changed in order to restore the group as a complete unit with the Granolith.” He shifted his stance, booted feet planted wide. “Second, Liz visits Max…” he caught the look of confusion that passed between the two women and he nodded to himself. “2001 Max,” he clarified. “You’ll brief him on Tess and Kivar. It’s a priority for you to convince him to seal the Granolith. We believe it’ll take the combined energy of him, my other self and 2001 Isabel to accomplish that task. Sealing the Granolith buys us time to restore Tess to the group in the event we don’t stop Kivar from our end.” He paused to look at Maria and his tone altered slightly, becoming less distant. “And Maria, you’ll have to visit me. I’ll need to see what you know about us now and get me to the Granolith to seal it with Max.” He glanced at Isabel, giving a sharp nod.
“The two of you have to convince Max and Michael to tell our parents who we are,” she said and she could tell by their expressions they hadn’t expected that. “Having them in our corner will be an asset. Having Liz’s parents, your mom, Maria, and Alex’s dad would only make us stronger. Maybe if we hadn’t been so isolated we would’ve been less of a target for Tess, Nasedo and Kivar.” She forced her tone to remain steady. “It might’ve been the difference that meant Alex would still be here.” She nodded to herself. “Jim Valenti and my dad know the law. They have connections and they know how to investigate. Alex and his dad, they know the tech world, which could provide us protection from the Special Unit.”
Max reached over and rested his hand on his sister’s shoulder, reminding her she wasn’t alone. He could read her thoughts as easily as if he was in her head. Every one of the people she had mentioned was either dead or presumed dead and he knew what it was costing her to get through this without breaking down. She wouldn’t allow it to happen in front of anyone, but he knew it was costing her dearly. “Liz, Maria,” his tone was steely, but the apology underlined the words, “if there had been any other way to do this without involving you it would’ve been done.” He drew in a slow breath as he scanned their faces and he was saved from having to say more when Michael spoke up.
“The two of you are the key to the success of this mission.”