The Importance of Being Elizabeth - Book 2
Disclaimer: I, in no way, am associated with the actors, writers, producers, etc. of Roswell. The rights to the show belong to: 20th Century Fox, Jason Katims, the WB, Melinda Metz, etc.
Summary: Takes place in a different time. Why was Max attracted to Liz from the first time he saw her?
Category: Max/Liz - honest
Rating: PG
Authors Note: For this story, I have altered the ages of some key characters.
My thanks go to all members of the RBI for their theories, and for their opinions of mine. My special thanks go to three very special people, Qfanny, Shapeshifter and Bluecornmoon, without whose help, kindness and encouragement this would have never appeared.
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Book 2
Part 1
In the dark and empty void of the galaxy, less than a hundred thousand miles away from a large, blue, uninhabited planet with no fewer than eight moons, a slight rippling appeared in the fabric of space. In a sudden flash of bright light, a sleek space craft appeared, almost magically, and hurtled towards the bright yellow star at the centre of this system, a long beam of white light trailing from the position the craft appeared to its current position. Its deceleration was rapid, allowing the tail of light to at last catch up with it. As it slowed to a more reasonable speed, the ship changed its trajectory, aiming towards the planet's distant yellow sun. The ship's destination was a small blue green planet, the third one from its sun.
Inside the ship, Prince Zan stood before the polished metal surface that served as a mirror, and gazed at the reflection before him. Although he bore the same shape as the beings that lived on the blue green planet below, all similarities ended there. His smooth skin was a mottled grey colour; his body, his arms and his legs were very thin. His abnormally large head was hair free, and held two black almond shaped eyes. He wore no clothing, yet his body appeared completely sexless. He lifted his head suddenly, noticing the high pitched whistle of the Star Drive as it disengaged. They had emerged safely from the wormhole, and it was time to change back.
Prince Zan held his grey hand before him, with his long thin fingers outstretched. The room was filled with a pale blue light that seemed to come from within him, and his features slowly changed. His skin turned a pale, an almost translucent pink, and bronze colored hair appeared on his head, which had shrunk to a size that did not seem overly large. Male genitalia appeared at the juncture of his legs. His large eyes however, remained black and almond shaped. With a deep sigh of relief, he waved a hand at a wall. The smooth metallic surface shimmered, and then seemed to melt away to reveal a wardrobe with some shiny white overalls. He removed a pair of these, and stepped into them. At once, the smooth material moulded itself to his shape.
"I hate this," he spat at his reflection, and with another wave of his hand, the wardrobe was immediately covered with a molten metal that quickly solidified, back to it's original condition.
His father, King Xandor, had sent him on this six-year scientific survey mission to a distant planet of advancing life forms that one day might pose a threat to the Five Planets. It was a punishment for his refusal to marry.
Behind him, a buzzer sounded, indicating that someone outside sought his attention.
"Enter!" he called.
A section of the wall seemed to melt away with an audible hiss. Someone entered the room. Like Prince Zan, he had pale translucent skin, but its hue was a more pale in colour. His hair was almost pure white, and his head was not quite as large. His body was slightly stockier, for unlike Zan, who was Perdreian, this man belonged to the Kalithen race. He was considerably older than the young Prince.
"Greetings, your highness." the newcomer spoke with a bow. The man always spoke with a kind of tenseness in his voice, as if the words were carefully formed. "I see you have recovered from the journey."
"Do you know just how much I dislike taking on that shape, Tentious?" he enquired.
"But your highness surely understands how much more preferable it is to take that shape, which is more conducive to the pressures of faster than light speed. It makes your metabolism such that the two year journey from Antar seems as but two weeks for you."
There was a touch of animosity in his statement, for this was an ability the Kalithens did not possess.
Prince Zan looked at him sharply. Tentious was Prince Zan's tutor, a dedicated teacher who had been tasked with ensuring Prince Zan learned everything that he would need to know, so that he would one day be fit to rule Antar and the Five Planets. It was a thankless task, for Prince Zan quickly grew bored with lessons, and would seldom listen. His tutors always quit. Tentious was his tenth tutor, and his lectures were by far the most boring. Zan often wondered how such a boring person as Tentious could ever become a tutor.
Zan was accustomed to his tutors showing silent frustration at his antics, and generally he ignored them, but never the anger that seemed to constantly simmer in Tentious. He needed a reminder of his station.
"You forget to whom you speak, Tentious!" he barked.
"Your pardon, Prince Zan. I'm not yet... ah, I mean... ah, I..." Tentious stammered with discomfort, sounding absolutely horrified. "Please forgive me!"
A strange look of fear surged through him. Zan simply laughed at the stammering fool, enjoying the man's discomfort. "So, I suppose you have come to try and teach me something?" he asked, finally ending the torment, and heading through the doorway. "Of what shall I learn nothing, today?"
Zan did not see the angry look of hatred Tentious threw him, but he sensed it all the same.
After waiting for Tentious to take the lead, Prince Zan followed his Tutor, who lead him to the large viewing gallery in the heart of the ship. The doors 'melted' open with a hiss, and they stepped in to the large domed chamber. Around the edge, the viewing gallery was filled with the Perdreian and Kalithen Technicians, as well as the Tanbo-en workers. They were busy setting the viewing data screens to record the data from the planet that still appeared as a small speck in the holographic image that filled the centre of dome. Prince Zan and Tentious each took one of the seats reserved for them at the back of the room, on a raised dais. They each placed a visor over their eyes, while Tentious started to wave his fingers, playing with imaginary controls. They both touched the sides of the their visors, which went dark.
Before Zan's eyes, an image of the small planet zoomed closer.
"It's inhabitants call it Earth, so we call them Earthlings." Tentious stated. "Diameter, twelve thousand, seven hundred and fifty six kilometres. Average distance from its sun, one hundred and forty nine point six million kilometres. Orbital speed around its sun, twenty-seven point seven nine kilometres per second. Mass, Volume and Gravity is similar to ours. Average surface temperature, fifteen degrees Celsius. Its atmosphere is a mixture of the gases, mainly nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen, water and dust. Nitrogen is at such a high volume, this planet is lethal to we Kalithens, but you Perdreians could easily adapt."
"What do you mean?" Zan asked. "Would we have to change, like when we do for travelling at light speeds?"
"No," your highness, Tentious sighed, as though he had explained this a dozen times or more. "Your bodies are so adaptable, they would simply... adjust to the atmosphere. You would notice no difference, yet for us, the air would be like acid."
Tentious continued droning on about the Earth, it's geography, and it's history. After fifteen minutes, Zan grew bored with the lecture, and quietly slipped his visor off. Leaving his tutor talking to himself, Zan approached the wall of the gallery, and found an unmanned console. Looking around, and seeing no obvious occupant, he slid into the seat, which instantly moulded itself to him.
"Plot course." He spoke clearly, so the computer would understand him, "Start, Earth. Destination, Antar. Display."
Above the console, a small image of Earth appeared, and a thin red line stretched away through a myriad of stars. Zan used his fingers to pull against the holographic line, as though he were reeling in a fish on the end of a line, watching the planets and the stars zoom by as the image followed the line into the depths of space. Finally, as Antar came into view, he started pushing against the line, and watched Antar recede. He kept his eyes fixed on the glowing planets, and was surprised to see that when he finally returned to the image of Earth, the V shaped cluster of the Five Planets was still visible. He wished the ship had viewing windows, so that he might look upon home. He would never admit this to anyone, but he missed his family. He missed his father, and his father's constant attempts to mould him into a great leader. He missed his mother, and her plans to make them the most beloved rulers ever. He even missed Ava, the silly girl with the nervous giggle, who his father wanted him to marry, because her father was his father's best friend, and leader of the Kalithens. Most of all he missed his sister, Vilondra.
"What do you think you are doing!" a female voice angrily demanded, snapping Zan back to his current situation.
How dare this woman talk to him this way. Zan turned, intent on giving the new comer a scorching look that would cause her to slink away, back to whatever dark corner from which she had come. Instead, he looked up into a pair of eyes that, although blazing in fury, were the most beautiful he had ever seen.
"I... I... ah, that is... "
Uncharacteristically, Zan started to stammer. He had never seen such eyes before. She was clearly Kalithen, and had the same almond shaped eyes they all shared, but they were deep brown in colour, not black. A sign? She was quite lovely, even in her anger. He had never met this girl before, yet she seemed so... familiar.
"Get out of my console, now!" she barked. "Just who do you think you are? If you do not remove yourself instantly, I shall call security."
Zan slid from her console, and could only watch as she took his place. With a disgusted flick of her fingers, the image over the console disappeared.
"Homesick moron!" she spat. "Some of us have real work to do. Shouldn't you be attending to whatever task it is that you are trying to avoid?"
"Do you know who I am?" Zan asked, having recovered from his momentary lapse. Who is this girl, and why does she affect me so much? I could have her arrested for speaking to me like this.
"No." she stated firmly, "And I don't care. Now please leave! Do you realise how much trouble I could get into? If you've damaged anything!"
"Um... no... no damage." Zan apologised. "Look, you won't get into trouble, I'll see to it. Okay? I'm sorry."
"That's typical of you Perdreians. You think the Universe revolves around you! All puffed up with your own importance!" She pointed away from her console. "Go! Just... go!"
Zan started to chuckle, as he left the angry girl's console. No one had ever spoken to him like that, well, with the exception of Vilondra. He admired her fire. As he passed near to the command console, he glanced up and saw the two supervisors having an agitated discussion. Zan noticed that part of their display was blank, and that they were looking angrily at the girl he had just left. He realised that he had got her into trouble after all.
"Excuse me," he interrupted.
The supervisors, both Perdreians, looked up, their faces showing their awe at their visitor.
"Your highness," they both exclaimed with a bow. "How may we serve?"
"The young Kalithen, down there." he said pointing. "What is her name?"
They both looked at him, with stunned amazement on their faces.
"That is Taysha, my lord, Science Technician Class A." one exclaimed, as if that explained it all. "Don't worry, Prince Zan, she shall be punished for her impertinence."
"Uh, no, that won't be necessary. It was my fault."
The two men looked puzzled.
"I interrupted her. That's why her console isn't functioning yet. She was answering some questions for me."
"I see." one of them said, just as her console leapt into life.
"There." said Zan with a smile. "She's ready. No need to mention this discussion to Taysha, is there?"
The two supervisors shook their heads, their mouths open as if in shock. With a sigh, Zan returned to his seat. Tentious had continued his lecture, unaware that he had no student listening to him. Zan replaced the visor, but did not engage it. Instead, knowing that she would be unable to see him, he watched the lovely young Kalithen technician as she wove her magic over her console.
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