Realistic Dreamer, yes, they do have some shoddy advisors, don't they? And considering that Cal is one of two people left who can give them answers...I sure hope Serena's more willing than he is.
You have to remember that Cal doesn't want to go back...he likes it here. And if he can keep the aliens here as well, he thinks everything will be fine. He hasn't seen what will happen in the future and he doesn't think Khivar can come to earth. Everyone will calm down about the visions they saw...that second timeline was a doozy.vegas, hope you like history...cuz you'll be getting a lot more in the next couple of parts.
frenchkiss, yes, Liz will talk to Max about his plans. But not really to talk him out of it.
Zan was being controlled by whoever had him attack Liz and Ava realized it. We'll find out soon who it is. cherie, yah...Maria's always so quick to blame other people, isn't she? I sure hope she realizes it...although, Max isn't really thinking a lot about Maria and what she thinks of him at this point in time.
Gigo, The new story...no, the white room is not where it all starts for Max. You'll just have to wait and see.
And of course! TONS of angst! You know me...Kath, the main goal I had with this story was to show these characters as mature adults who know how to talk to each other. And by eliminating most of the crap from seasons 2 and 3 in this new timeline...they don't have any of the issues they did on the show. You'll find out all about the visions and why FM came back a second time soon. I think in part 36 or 37? Not sure where you're at...oh, and Kyle will show up soon with a bigger role.
Itzstacie, he's not exactly planning on leaving today.
out of this world, don't worry. Max doesn't plan on taking this on all on his own. He'll talk to everyone he needs to and everyone will have the chance to voice their opinions.
BelevnDreamsToo, No one trusts Cal, especially Max. Don't worry, Liz and Max will talk...and stuff.
Breathless, yes, Maria can be irritating at times...she can't help herself.
Welcome to all the new readers! So glad you're all enjoying it. I know everyone's curious about Khivar and Serena. This next part...and the one after...are heavy with back story and history. Hope it's not too boring, but i needed to paint a picture of Khivar because I get bored with Khivar always being this omnipotent evil entity on another planet. He needs depth...
And I know you're all anxious to see Max and Liz talk...or Michael and Maria...or Alex and Isabel. Don't fret, it'll come. But we really do have other urgent matters to deal with and the three aliens are FINALLY presented with a chance to find out all the answers they've wanted about themselves. The love fest will have to wait. LOL Hope you guys enjoy!
Part 40
“…Max…” He jerks his head up to his sister when he hears her loudly call his name.
“Huh?”
“Now is not the time for you to be checking out on us, Maxwell.” Michael says. “Cal’s getting ready to leave.” He nods his head toward Cal who’s heading toward the basement.
Max looks around and notices that Liz is no longer in the living room. At his questioning gaze, Maria says, “Liz and Alex went upstairs until Zan’s gone.”
He nods absently and wonders how he could have let his mind drift so much that he became completely unaware of his surroundings. Bringing his hand up to his forehead, he stands up just as they hear a knock at the front door.
Everyone looks at the door at once…as if it will attack them at any second…and Kyle laughs nervously. “Geez, you guys are jumpy.”
Serena walks over to the window and peeks out through the curtains. “It’s your dad.”
Max looks sharply at Kyle, who notices the look of distress on his face. “Kyle, he can’t know we’re here.”
“Alright. Nobody panic.” Kyle says. “Isabel, why don’t you, Max and Michael head back to my study? Cal, he doesn’t know you…you should stay. It would help explain one of the cars.”
As the three aliens head down the back hallway, Kyle goes to the door to greet his dad. “Hey, Dad. What brings you by?” He opens the door, letting Jim Valenti into the foyer.
“You have company?” He asks, nodding toward the cars parked on the street.
“Just me.” Maria says as she walks into view, smiling.
Jim smiles back and says, “Ah, just who I was looking for. You said you’d call your mom this morning…and I find you here instead.”
“Yah, just thought I’d pop in and say hi to Kyle and Serena while I was here.” Maria says, trying to remain casual.
“Is there a reason you wanted to do that before telling your mother you’re in town?” He lifts a disappointed eyebrow at her.
“You know how she is in the morning. I just thought I’d stop by here first, let her have a few cups of coffee, then go see her at the store.” She explains. “Don’t worry.”
Serena steps forward and says, “Jim, you want some coffee? I can make some for you quick.”
“Oh…don’t you go to any trouble, Serena. I have to run.” He turns to Maria and says, “You wanna ride with me? I was gonna stop off to see your mom on my way in.” Jim looks into the living room and sees a strange man.
Maria follows his gaze and says, “Jim, this is Cal. He’s a producer…came with me so we could discuss my next show.” She doesn’t doubt that he’ll buy it. Although he’s proud of her and brags about her all over town, Jim’s never paid too much attention to the complicated workings of her career.
Jim tips his hat and says, “Nice to meet you, Cal.”
“You too.” Cal says back, hoping he leaves soon.
Maria grabs her purse from the side table and walks over to Jim. “I think I’ll take you up on your offer, Jim.” She turns to Kyle and hugs him briefly. “I’ll stop by later.” She then gives a quick hug to Serena before turning to Cal and saying, “I’ll just leave my car here and pick it up later. Can you find your way back to the hotel without me?”
“Uh, sure. You go ahead.” Cal improvises.
“Ready?” Maria asks Jim as she loops her arm around his.
Jim smiles and says, “After you.” He ushers her through the door while Kyle and Serena wave goodbye.
Once they’re gone and Kyle shuts the door, Cal looks over Kyle’s uniform and muses, “All in the family, eh?”
“You have no idea.” Kyle smirks.
“Yah, I do. I had an unfortunate run-in with your grandfather back in ‘59.” Cal glances out the window to watch the sheriff’s truck disappear down the road. He turns back to Kyle and says, “You look just like him. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“All the time.” Kyle walks back into the living room, wanting to hear more about this shapeshifter’s run-in with his grandfather. Is it that incident that caused is grandfather to begin his obsession with aliens? “They’re gone!” He yells toward the back of the house.
When Max, Michael and Isabel walk out, Max notices Maria’s absence. “Where’s Maria?”
“She went with him…it kind of seemed like the easiest thing to do. Dad was going to the shop before work so she just went along with him.” Kyle explains.
“The shop…” Max and Isabel glance at each other, obviously missing something here.
Kyle narrows his eyes at them in question and asks, “You do know that my dad and Maria’s mom got married, right?”
Isabel’s eyes open wide and she says, surprised, “Oh…no, we didn’t know.”
Max relaxes, then. Finally he understands why the sheriff would come by looking for Maria and why she would willingly go with him. He looks at Cal and asks, “Ok, why don’t we go have a chat with Zan?”
Cal gets on his phone to call Stephanie, telling her to get the jet ready to go back to L.A. When he’s done, he and Max head toward the basement.
“Is your programming going to interfere with this plan?” Max asks him.
“No. I only obey the King…and that’s you.” Cal says.
“And Liz.” Max adds, remembering what he told her on the phone the other day.
“Right.” Cal nods. “I can keep him line if that’s what you’re worried about. I just can’t kill him.”
“Good. I’m really hoping I can trust you with him…because there’s not a lot I trust about you lately.” Max says as they walk down the stairs, ignoring the curious look from Cal. At the bottom, Max surveys his surroundings, impressed by the warmth and comfort of the basement. The carpet is tan, the walls a homey golden color. The furniture looks comfortable and placed for optimum viewing of the large entertainment system on the far wall. Further back, he sees a bar…framed pictures of various sports figures behind it and an antique looking tap jutting out from the top. There’s a pool table and dart board as well, and Max can tell that the basement gets a lot of use because it doesn’t smell or feel like a basement.
He can imagine Kyle and his friends watching football or playing pool while drinking beer. He didn’t see a TV upstairs, so he assumes this is where Kyle and Serena relax together and watch movies or their favorite TV shows.
“Finally.” Zan breaks Max out of his reverie. “Thought you was gonna keep me down here all day.”
Max doesn’t say anything. Instead, he searches Zan’s face, his body language. Anything that might give a clue as to who’s really controlling him…or even if they’re there anymore. “Sit down, Zan.” Max says to him, indicating the sofa that Ava’s sitting on.
It looks for a moment like he’s about to protest, but he sits. “When are we goin’ back to New York?”
Max takes a deep breath and says, “We’re not going back. You’re going to L.A. with Cal and the rest of us are going to New York.” He waits a moment for that to sink in. He doesn’t have to wait long.
“You’re crazy! I ain’t goin’ to L.A. Especially not with him.” Zan nods toward Cal, clearly unhappy with this turn of events.
“Yes, you are. I don’t trust you. And I don’t want you anywhere near me, my family, or my friends. Cal is your protector and that’s where you belong.”
“What about me?” Ava asks quietly from next to Zan.
Max and Cal exchange a look. They talked briefly about Ava earlier, but want her to make her own decision. “You can come back with us, or go with them.” Max tells her. “Whatever you want. It’s not you I have a problem with.” He levels his gaze back on Zan, seeing the sneer on his twin’s face.
“You gotta be kiddin’ me.” Zan looks between Max and Cal, knowing that they’re serious. They actually expect him to leave his home and move across the country.
Max glances at Ava and she shakes her head slightly at him, telling him that whoever it was who was controlling Zan isn’t there anymore. This is the real Zan in front of him.
“Look, I explained to you already what happened. It wasn’t me! I didn’t mean to kill her…I swear. I won’t come near any of you again…just don’t make me go with him to L.A. I’ll do anything you want…anything but that. Please, lemme go back to New York.” Zan is reduced to begging and clearly hating it.
A small part of Max feels a little bad for Zan, knowing that he really didn’t have control over attacking Liz. But he’s not about to let Zan roam free in the same city as her again. “I’m sorry it has to be this way. But I’ve already made my decision.”
“This is fucked up!” Zan raises his voice as he stands up to face Max. “You can’t tell me where to live.”
Max raises his voice back. “I can, and I just did. You’ll do what I tell you.” He stares at Zan, moving closer to him. “I’m in charge here, and you’ll do as I say. Got it?”
Zan stares at him for a few moments, then slumps back in the sofa in resignation and Ava says, “I’ll go with him.”
This surprises Max and he says, “You don’t have to.”
She looks over at Zan and says, “I want to.”
“This is bullshit.” Zan mutters. “I’m the fuckin’ king, man. You can’t treat me like this.”
“No, you’re not the king, I am. And I will decide what happens to you. I decide whether you live or die…and right now, I’ve decided you live. Don’t make me regret that decision, because I could easily change it.” Max holds his gaze for a few moments, allowing Zan to see the truth in his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~
Cal, Zan and Ava leave without too much more discussion. Cal promises to call Max with any further developments and Max tells him he’ll call the next morning. He wants to talk to Cal about his plans and make arrangements for Cal to come back when he needs him. Max asks Ava once again if she’s sure about going with Zan. But she says she wants to and he can’t really argue with her. Cal tells them that the hotel is paid through for three more days if they want to stay and then they’re gone.
Liz watches them leave from a bedroom window upstairs. “They’re gone.” She turns to Alex, who’s sitting at the end of the bed.
“So, you wanna go down? Or do you wanna wait for a few more minutes?” He knows that Liz is still shaken up by what they saw earlier. He has to admit that he’s feeling slightly squicked about it, too.
Taking a deep breath, Liz says, “We should go down. I can’t hide up here all day.”
He stands up and puts an arm around her. “It’ll be ok.”
“I hope so.” Liz gives him a small smile as they head down the stairs.
When she comes into view of the living room, Liz sees Max, Isabel and Michael talking quietly…Max glancing over at her quickly when he sees her and she tries to figure out what she’s seeing in his eyes. She hates the guilt she sees so plainly, and she wants to wring Maria’s neck for making him feel worse. Actually, she feels like wringing everyone’s necks for how they were all looking at him earlier…like he’d done something wrong.
“So what are you guys gonna do now?” Kyle asks, pulling Liz’s gaze away from Max. “You’re staying a couple of days, right? I mean, aren’t you going to visit your parents, Liz?”
Liz bites her lip and shrugs. “I…I hadn’t really thought about what we’re doing now.” She questions Max silently with her eyes, wondering if he’s planning on staying here now or going back to New York. The look on his face earlier told her what he’s planning. She may not know him that well in this lifetime, but from what they saw at the Granolith she feels that she can make a pretty good guess at what he’s planning to do.
But her parents? She hadn’t really thought about seeing them. It’s been a while and she’d love to see them, but how will she explain her sudden and unexpected trip to Roswell?
Max looks back to Isabel when he sees Liz look away. “…be our brother?!” Isabel is trying to keep her voice down as she looks from Michael to Max.
He shakes his head and sighs, bringing his hand up to run through his hair in agitation. There’s too much to think about right now, but too many answers to learn. And he wants those answers, that’s why they came here. “I don’t know, Is. But we’re gonna find out.”
“Do you think Cal’s been lying to us?” Michael asks quietly.
“Either that, or he doesn’t know as much as he claims. Right now I don’t trust him and I think we need to sit down with Serena and see what she can tell us.” Max says.
Everyone’s attention is diverted when Serena turns and says loudly, “Ok, so what’s the plan? We have plenty of room here if anyone wants to stay. I have the rest of the day off, and I know that we have a lot to talk about.”
Max clears his throat and looks at the others. “We still have our rooms at the hotel if anyone needs to stay there.” He looks at Serena and says, “We need to talk.” Looking over at Alex and Liz, he says, “You’re welcome to stay, but if you’d rather go see your parents...”
“I think I’ll head over to my parents’ house for now.” Alex says. “I need a little…normalcy for a while. And uh…I need time to process…everything.” He misses the hurt expression cross Isabel’s face as he grabs Liz’s hand and looks down at her. “You can come with me if you want. My parents would be thrilled to see you.” He knows she’s wavering about seeing her own parents and wants to offer her an alternative in case she doesn’t want to stay here.
Liz glances at Serena before squeezing Alex’s hand. “I think I’ll stay. But thanks, Alex. I’ll see you later, though?”
He nods and says, “Of course. Call me.” Turning to Kyle, he says, “It was good to see you again, Kyle. Thanks for…well…thanks.” He lets go of Liz’s hand and says goodbye to Serena, then offers a wave to the three aliens…shooting an apologetic look to Isabel before he leaves. He knows Isabel is a little hurt that he’s decided to leave, but he just needs to get out of there for a while…think about things. It’s not even 10 in the morning and already he feels like he’s been awake for two days straight. Chuckling lightly to himself, he remembers that he pretty much has been.
Isabel watches him get in one of their rental cars and drive off as she looks out the front window. She wishes she could have had a chance to talk to him alone but there are just too many people here for that to be possible. Tonight. She’ll get him alone tonight and then they can talk. She could see how tired he was and she feels guilty for keeping him up most of the night. A blush creeps up her face as she looks down to the floor…hoping no one else notices.
“So, are you guys hungry at all? I could whip up something quick.” Kyle offers after Alex leaves.
“We ate.” Michael says as Kyle looks to Liz.
“Yah, we uh…we had breakfast early. But thanks.” She smiles at him, rolling her eyes internally at Michael’s gruff answer.
Serena grabs her Diet Coke and heads toward the basement door. “Why don’t we go downstairs…it’s more comfortable.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“You’re wondering about Khivar.” Serena quickly guesses after everyone gets settled. She’s sitting on one end of the large, curved sofa with Liz and Max, Michael and Isabel are seated on the other. Kyle drug over an easy chair from the other side of the room and is sitting in front of the large screen TV, his feet comfortably propped up on the coffee table.
“You said he was our brother…” Isabel starts, but Serena interrupts her after absently kicking Kyle’s feet off the table.
“No, I said that your mother was also his.” At everyone’s confused look, she continues. “Khivar’s father, Lord Balthor, was your father’s childhood friend. Your families were always close and the two of them grew up together. Lord Balthor was made an ambassador by your father when he ascended the throne…on the nearby planet, Illyad. During his ambassadorship, he married and shortly after, Khivar was born. Khivar spent his younger years with his parents on Illyad, but when he reached schooling age, they sent him back to Antar…to be raised in the palace and sent to school with you.” Serena pauses to take a drink before continuing. “They also sent him back to Antar because there was unrest. The people on Illyad were resisting rising taxes on their exports and rumors of small uprisings against the royal family were spreading.”
“So this Illyad…it was one of the five planets in our solar system?” Max asks.
“Yes, the royal family of Antar ruled over the five planets for millennia. But eventually, a ruling body was created and each planet was to become independent, in theory. Each planet had their own government in place, but the council was always headed by the King of Antar. So, technically, the King of Antar still had ultimate control of the decisions of each planet’s government. There’s a lot of political history that I could go into, but let’s save that for later.” Serena looks to Max for his agreement.
He nods and says, “Go on…you were saying that Illyad was resisting higher taxes?”
“Right.” Serena says. “Lord Balthor was worried about retaliation against his family since they were ambassadors of the royal family and sent Khivar back to Antar to be safe. Zan, Rath and Khivar became the best of friends. They grew up together…caused all kinds of trouble.” She smiles…remembering…before she notices everyone staring at her. “Remember, I was Zan’s council…the guardian…I was close to all of them…all of you. The three of you…Zan, Rath, Khivar…man, you’d get into so much trouble. You’d always be trying to top each other with your pranks. You were always very competitive at everything. Who was the best at sports, who could get into the most trouble, who could get away with the worst prank…and later…there were the girls.”
“During this time, the King and Queen formed an alliance with Illyad hoping to eliminate the bad feelings between the two planets. They arranged for the daughter of the ruler there…Sero…to marry Zan when they became of age. Zan didn’t care. He was young…and too busy being the royal brat prince to care about a future marriage. But Khivar…I could tell it bothered him as soon as the union was announced. Apparently, he had a secret, childhood love for Ava that no one knew about. And the fact that she would be marrying Zan…his closest friend…the one he always competed with for everything…it was just one of many things that started to change him.”
“I think it was shortly after this announcement that Lord Balthor contacted the King, asking to come back to Antar. He felt that there were dangerous resistance groups still on Illyad and he had heard rumors of plots against him and his wife. The King laughed him away, saying that one wasn’t truly important until they had at least one plot for their death. But Balthor was right…there was an attack on his home and both he and his wife were killed, execution style, while they ate their dinner. The King and Queen were stunned…and horrified. They immediately called off their arrangement between Zan and Ava and vowed revenge. But Sero begged them to reconsider…explaining that it wasn’t an attack sanctioned by their government, but by rebels. She insisted that the attackers would be captured and punished…publicly.”
“Khivar was distraught. He blamed the King and Queen for not allowing his parents to return as they requested. And he wouldn’t talk to anyone…not even Zan. Vilondra eventually won over his confidence and I saw her sneaking into his rooms most nights and they would talk for hours. About what…I have no idea. But the two of them became close…and Zan and Rath grew sad over the loss of their friend. They still tried to draw him in, but Khivar politely refused and concentrated on school. After his parents were killed, the King and Queen decided to bring Khivar into their family…officially bring him into their house. It was like being adopted here. It didn’t change much…he was already living there…but the Queen went out of her way to make him feel like part of the family. She loved his parents, as did the King, and they showered him with attention and gifts and anything he ever wanted…trying to show him that they considered him part of their family.”
As Serena told them about their history, Max could see the inevitable events unfolding. Even if she stopped right there, he’s pretty sure he can guess what happened.
“Over the years, he grew closer to Vilondra and the Queen. He loved them both…everyone knew that. But he could never forgive the King and blamed him until the day your father died for the deaths of his parents. The day after Zan became King, Khivar, Vilondra and Rath were called to the Queen’s office. Zan was there as well, uncomfortable with being a King at such a young age and relying on his mother to help him adjust. The Queen told them that the decision had been made for Rath and Vilondra to marry. She knew that Khivar would be upset…his attachment to Vilondra was known throughout the palace. Rath and Vilondra immediately protested, but the Queen said it had already been decided. That’s the day that Khivar disappeared.”
“Over the next two years, Zan and Rath tried to find Khivar…wanted him to come back to the palace. The Queen was beside herself and ordered a group of guards to spend all their time trying to find him. And Vilondra…she wouldn’t leave her rooms. She cried almost every day. But eventually, the search was abandoned. We all became of age and Khivar was no longer a child. He was a grown man and if he didn’t want to return to the palace, no one could make him. Zan hated the way Khivar’s desertion affected his mother and couldn’t understand why it was all such a big deal. He never complained about having to marry someone he didn’t want to. That’s just the way things were. Zan had never been in love, so he didn’t understand Khivar’s devastation. Once Vilondra and Rath were married, they would soon bond and Khivar would be left…brokenhearted.”
“The day Zan and Ava were to be married, Khivar showed up at the palace asking for the Queen. She was so happy to see him and couldn’t stop hugging and kissing him and telling him how much they missed him. I’m not sure about a lot of what happened after he left the Queen. I saw thousands of men storm the palace…there were explosions and people running everywhere. It was chaos. I saw Vilondra, Khivar and Zan arguing at one point and realized then that this was all Khivar’s doing. I remember him looking at me, and I saw the hatred in his eyes…right before he looked away and stabbed Zan where he stood. It was horrible…and Vilondra…she was screaming…and people were running everywhere…shots flying over our heads. I ran to Zan’s side as Khivar dragged Vilondra away and I saw there was nothing I could do. The wound was fatal and he didn’t have the strength to heal himself. I tried…but healing fatal wounds is the King’s power.”
“The Granolith could have healed him…but I couldn’t find anyone to help me. I desperately searched for Rath, but he was dead. I finally found a couple of men from Zan’s royal guard and ordered them to carry Zan’s body to the Granolith Temple. But by the time we were able to make it there, it was too late. I knew what had to be done, then, and I searched for the Queen. I found her room being guarded by two of Khivar’s men and I snuck away from the palace, confident that I was doing what the Queen wanted me to.”
“Years before, Zan’s father started working with our scientists to try and clone our essence and mix it with alien DNA. They found a planet in another solar system…one that wasn’t as technologically advanced as ours…a planet that had a hospitable atmosphere…a place where no one would think to look. The threat against the royal family was always present, and the King wanted options to be in place in case of an attack. I had my two faithful royal guards with me and they brought Zan’s body to the inconspicuous warehouse where the lab was. I found the scientists there busily working…concluding, like me, that the time had come to implement the plan.” She finally stops and leans back on the sofa, sipping at her Diet Coke. “And the rest…you know.”
The three aliens are speechless, and Liz asks, “So how did you get the others there? And what about the Queen? Did you see her again?”
“I ordered the royal guards to use any means necessary and to use any resource they could to bring Rath’s body back. When they returned, I wasn’t very surprised to see that Ava was dead as well, but I was in complete shock to see that they also carried the dead body of Vilondra. I don’t know what happened, or why she ended up dead. That’s why I was a little disappointed that you didn’t have any of your memories. It’s locked in there somewhere, and it would help to explain what happened with Khivar during those last hours. And no, I never saw the Queen again. But she was able to have a communicator delivered to the warehouse, so I knew she was alive and aware of what we were doing.”
“And you? What happened to you?” Liz asks, fascinated by the entire history.
“My memories of Antar stop the day I was podded and the ship left for Earth. Like I said before, most likely Khivar would have sought me out since I am the Granolith guardian. But in that event, I would have made it impossible for him to capture me. With the King dead, he could have gained control of the Granolith through me. That’s another reason I sent the Granolith along with the pods…it has to be kept out of Khivar’s hands. Without it, he will never truly be able to rule.”
~TBC~
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