The Rebel *Sequel* (CC ALL, YTEEN) Ch. 39 - pg. 22 - 2 / 15 / 25

[Meka]

Happy New Year Misha!!!

I just wanted to comment and say that I'm still reading and enjoying the new chapters, im just not able to reply after reading them.

I wanted to leave a general comment in the new year, to let you know that I'm still here and that I really appreciate you committing to finishing the story. I really love that there are authors like you who are still willing to feed my obsession with Roswell even in 2025, lol.

I've been reading some other really great fics that have been un-finished for over 15 years, so you comitting to finishing this GREAT fanfiction is really appreciated, thank you very much.

I hope 2025 treats you well, and that the muse keeps on feeding your obession with Roswell, lol, cause then we can all still live in that world for longer.

Blessings and Love from Trinidad ,
Meka

[Misha]

xmag, no, you're right about "what the hell was Daniel thinking that he got brain cancer?" You're not the only one wondering that, but that's one or two chapters ahead, still Langley is busy

Meka, awwwnnn thank you girl! I love being back in my Roswell universe as well Also thankful there are still readers who want to be here, too!


There are several things happening at the same time, so the following chapters are more or less going to be in parallel. Also, I have more gaps to fill, so it might take a few more days to post... As a fun story, the last part of this chapter was written as four different scenes, editing that part was hard





Part 36: Vanishing Act
November 2nd, 2011 - New York


1 : Isabel

The shapeshifter who walked with her was tall, broad, and intimidating all around. He wouldn’t look misplaced in a boxing ring or as a bouncer at some fancy bar. He moved with the agility of someone who knew how to fight, and she had serious doubts about how skilled she was if she had to fight him.

Ahead of them, Jake talked about biochemistry and drugs and timing. She understood half of it, but her heart beating in her ears did little to help her listen to what the man was saying.

Max was going to die.

She’d seen Max dying once already, when he’d transferred himself to an old man’s body, a feat that even Max wasn’t sure who he’d managed. He’d basically rewired or recloned himself into that man’s body, effectively escaping death.

Now though, now there was nowhere to go.

Vilandra had never known Zan had been killed. Her last memory was knowing Khivar had lied to her as his rebellion invaded the capital city and entered the palace with a triumphant shout of victory.

She’d seen him, from a window in the palace, where they had exchanged glances, one with glee and the other with horror.

You promised! she had told him with her eyes.

And you believed me? he had answered back.

That was the last memory she had. Michael had told her once that she’d been the first to fall. His own last memory was about running to protect Max, ordering someone to go find the queen. He had already known Vilandra had fallen by that point and had little doubt about how Khivar had bridged the palace.

But Max didn’t remember the day, the same way he didn’t remember transferring to that man’s body, the same way he didn’t remember much of what had happened at the hands of the FBI. Max’s mind masterfully knew how to hide trauma from him, and for that she was thankful.

She’d always loved Max fiercely because she’d always sensed the world was not going to be kind to him, not to his kindness, and his shyness, and that awful way he would bottle things up. She was constantly worried about Michael, where he was sleeping, if he had eaten that night or not? But Michael knew how to blow stuff up, how to defend himself, how to stand in front of the world and not be afraid.

And yet it was Max who was going to die.

It should’ve been me, she thought, as if there was a way to make a deal with Khivar, her life for his, and let’s be over with the whole thing. Kyle had asked her what it would take to redeem her, and impossible as it was, trading places with her brother would feel just right.

If she failed, though, if Max died in this place in a one last effort to outrun Khivar, she knew she wouldn’t be far from joining his fate. And she was okay with it. Yet nothing could prepare her to see Max sitting in that gurney as the shapeshifter doctor was attaching the electrodes to his chest and Liz was explaining something to him. She froze, even if nobody noticed her at all.

The shapeshifter who’d escorted her melted to the wall and Jake talked to the doctor, but she remained frozen in place. The hands that had opened that door a lifetime ago were going to be the ones to keep Max’s heart beating.

She didn’t know if that was irony or destiny or both.

One looked at her, though, and Max knew. He gave her one of his small smiles, like a secret shared between siblings that no one else understood. Liz turned to talk with Jake and Rose, and Max extended his hand for Isabel to come.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Max said, lying down and getting comfortable on the bed.

“You do know this is insane, right?” she said, trying to smile, trying not to cry, trying to be reasonable.

“You remember when were little and we would spend hours wondering what kind of things we could do? Whispering under the bedsheets so our parents wouldn’t hear us?”

She nodded, moving some wires so he wouldn’t detach anything already in place.

“We never thought about this…” he said, giving her a wide smile.

She smiled back, but it was forced.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, holding her hand. “I’m sorry for putting you in this position. I was resigned that I wouldn’t be able to outwit Khivar, and Jake has told me there’s no guarantee I will wake up, so this might just be for nothing.”

“Don’t. Don’t even think about it, Max. You’re going to be just fine, you hear me?”

“I know, I hope so…” he trailed off, as Jake, Liz and Rose were getting ready. “There is a good chance I won’t wake up, Iz. And I know how much Vilandra is haunting you…but if we believe for a moment that you are her and that I am him, now would be the perfect moment to tell Zan whatever you want.”

“Max…” she said, tears springing to her eyes.

“Go ahead. If we were both reborn, knowing what we know now…” he trailed off, giving her the opening she needed.

“I’m so, so sorry,” she said, gripping his hand. “Sorry for not believing in your vision for our kingdom. Sorry for siding with Khivar because it was convenient. Sorry for opening that door, for being part of our downfall, for believing—for believing he was better than you,” she choked for a moment. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, brother, nor do I have any hope of ever gaining it, but for what is worth, I do believe in you now. Maybe I’m a lifetime too late, and maybe neither of us will survive today, but I’ll be always grateful that I got a chance to be your sister again, and that I can thank you for trusting your life into my hands once more.”


2 : Max

He stared up, the circular lights above him mercifully turned off. He could hear his heartbeat on the monitor beside him, beep-beep-beep as it anticipated his own mortality. And induced coma was far gentler than Khivar actually killing him, but this was not a sure thing.

Above him, Jake and Rose argued about something or other, most likely because neither of them knew how his hybrid biology would react. Beside him, Isabel held his hand.

“If you slip away, I’ll catch you,” she said with a smile full of tears.

Outside, the faint sounds of explosions reached them, a reminder that this was but one of two main problems they had to deal with.

“I trust you,” he said, as Jake finished attaching the last electrodes to his calp.

“This will make you drowsy for a moment,” Rose said, though Max didn’t feel when the needle went into his vein.

“See you on the other side, little brother,” Isabel said, holding his hand tighter as Max’s grip faltered. He felt drowsy all right, but if it was the drugs or Khivar’s puppet machine was anyone’s guess.

Beep… beep… beep…

His eyes closed without any further prompt, and faintly, he heard Jake telling Isabel to go slow. She would cool him down first, and through their linked hands, he briefly got a flash from her: she was looking at Max, walking down the road where their parents would find them, naked and cold, yet not lost because they had each other.

Beep…

Beep…

Beep…

He opened his eyes, for a moment thinking the whole thing was over. He was standing in the clinic, not feeling cold or hot, while the entire room was silent to an eerie point.

“Liz?” he said, though it sounded hollow, as if an echo had filled the air between them. She sat on the edge of a plastic chair, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped, leaning her forehead as she looked at the floor.

Confused, Max turned to look back. And sure enough, Jake, Rose, and Isabel were there, the three looking intently at—him?

His phantom heart accelerated, but in the real world, his heart flattened for a long moment. The EEG that followed his brain waves started to flatten as well.

I’m dying, he thought, but it was more curiosity than fear that invaded him. Maybe he was truly not going to make it, but he’d done everything in his power to try.

I’m sorry, he thought, getting down to Liz’s level. I’m sorry if I do end up leaving you.

He felt himself drifting, truly lightheaded, when Liz’s eyes stared right into his. “You promised me you would come back to me,” she whispered with all the protectiveness in the world, “so you better come back, Max. You better come back.”

And then, he vanished.


3 : Jade

Watching Max dying was like having the air sucked out of the room. No one was left unaffected. For too many years, all five Royal Guards had stood with him, listened to him, be a part of his complicated waltz between being Zan and Max.

Jade had always been by Liz’s side, and this was no different, even if he was part of the ceiling right now.

We’re bearing witness to Zan’s greatest sacrifice, Jade thought with trepidation as Max’s heartbeat slowed down. Even if he survives, it wouldn’t diminish the risk he’s taking.

All five of them were needed somewhere else, to defend Van, to defend the base, to defend the last hope of the Rebellion—yet not one of them moved. Jade could sense them around him, all wanting to protect Max from something none of them could do anything about. Max was out of their reach, despite being right there, in front of them.

“Okay, Isabel, nice and easy,” Jake instructed as the heartbeat monitor flatlined. She placed her hand over Max’s chest, and a faint glow irradiated from her fingers into Max’s body.

When the monitor beeped once more, everyone exhaled. He’s not out of the woods, yet, Jade thought, aching to reach for Liz’s clasped hands. She’d been whispering something just a moment ago, a plea for Max to come back. He looked back at Jake, the man who’d come up with this plan to begin with, and the glowing hand that kept His Majesty’s heart beating, and thought about how fragile the whole thing was. How fragile the whole rebellion really was.

How fragile their dreams of freedom were.

Rose nodded once, the sign for shifters to leave and inform Van and Luke of what was happening. He felt the others leaving a moment after, not even shadows passing through the walls, and knew he had to follow.

In the hall, only Violet and Ash reformed. Jet had left to bring the news, and Shade was still in Guard mode, invisibly protecting His Majesty not two feet from the door.

“We need to protect this place,” Ash said as Jade took human form. “We’re outnumbered. Soon, we’re going to become sitting ducks here.”

“We need to find a way out before they start a siege,” Violet said.

“We cannot move Max right now,” Jade said, the obvious problem they had. Shifters could move anywhere in this world undetected, but they were only a handful against their human enemies.

“We could infiltrate their ranks, dispose of their men, saw chaos and confusion,” Ash said.

“Jake said he had enough to keep Max under for four hours. Let’s bring this idea to Luke and see what he wants to do.”

“I’m staying here with Shade,” Jade said, turning to look at the door behind. “If worst comes to worst, the Queen will need to be moved, and she won’t be in any state to walk herself out.”

Violet’s eyes softened. “Jade, if worst comes to worst and Zan truly dies, she won’t be the queen anymore. You know that.”

“The General would still be himself. His wife wouldn’t leave her friend here. If Max falls, he wouldn’t want the rest of them to fall with him.”

“Let him be here,” Ash said as Violet was about to protest. “Guard that man’s heart with your whole being, Jade. If any of us knows how to, that’s you.”

The three of them vanished into the walls. It wasn’t until a minute later that Jade wondered if Ash was talking about Max’s literal heart—or about one Liz Parker.


4 : Michael

He felt it when Max died.

It was more like an absence of something, really. The world tilted for a moment, and it lost some colors in the process. His chest ached, more a reaction of what it meant than an actual indication of Max’s death. Yet he felt it all the same, and through him, Maria did as well.

Although she was with Van somewhere else, he could picture her placing her hand on her mouth and her eyes filling with tears. They weren’t pretending Max was dead. This was real. If the Seal had not gone to Van, Michael would be sporting a nice five-dotted V on his chest right now.

He’s going to come back, this is going to work, he told himself as he had a new problem in his hands: priorities.

“We need to protect Zan,” Violet argued. Max was not ten minutes into his induced coma, and already this was creating a problem.

“The Royal Seal of Antar resides within Van, so he’s the ruler right now,” Luke argued back. “If Zan lives or dies is irrelevant. Van is our priority.”

“They both are,” Michael said, with all the authority of his general persona. “We need to keep the Unit at bay so Max has a chance of waking up. If the Seal resides in him or not, that’s not the point here. We cannot abandon a king of Antar, no matter on whose forehead the Seal is shining on.”

“It shines?” Violet asked.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Michael answered. “We need to be prepared to defend the clinic until he wakes up.”

“We’re more than capable of defending him,” Violet said, sounding offended.

“It’s not only defending him, it’s getting him out as well. All of us,” Michael pointed out.

“We also need to think what we should do in case Zan is—unwell,” Luke said. Of course, if Max died, that would be the end of it. Taking Max’s body would be a nice to have, but honestly? He wouldn’t be a priority anymore.

“Van would never abandon Zan, not even if he has the Royal Seal,” Violet said, clashing with Luke yet again. These divided loyalties were going to get them killed.

“Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” Michael said instead, his plate getting too full, too fast. “The Unit will dig through the main entrance soon. We still have no definitive answer on how to get out.”

On the table, the hologram detailing the entire blueprint of the base showed where everyone inside was. Shapeshifter were colored in blue, humans in red, and Max and Van in green. He loved how organized these people were.

“We haven't settled the portal question,” Ray pressed. “Can you open it from here to somewhere else on Earth?”

“No, not at all,” Luke said. “Those portals have one point in this world and one point on Antar. You can go back and forth, but not from Earth to Earth.”

“But it can be opened here,” Ray said.

Luke turned to look at Violet, and then to Michael. “Yes, if your intention is to go to Antar.”

Michael froze at the implication.

Violet shook her head. “You might end up arriving at an ambush if you’re not careful. We secure the entry and exit points days if not weeks before the traveling is done.”

“We only need it as a connection point,” Ray said. “Get there, and then get back to Earth. That’s how it works, right? We humans would be okay?”

“Yes, but the amount of energy that would require, though…” Luke said, frowning. “It wouldn’t be an immediate thing, either. It would take a couple of hours to have the portals operating again for your travel back.”

“And the more people cross,” Violet said, “the more energy it will require. The energy consumption would glow red on Khivar’s own maps.”

“Then we leave in groups,” Ray said, turning to Michael. “What do you say, General? Human bullets or potential Antarian bullets?”

All eyes in the room turned to him. “Let’s find a secondary way to leave…but if everything else fails, then that’s our escape route.”

[xmag]

Oh, interesting plan! Teleporting to Antar, even for a short while, is a great idea. Well, I was afraid that with Zan/Max dying and the seal going to Van, it would mean that our Roswellians wouldn't even go to Antar once. I mean, it's where it all started. It's the battle for Antar being fought. So for them to not see even once their original world would be sad.

Max is having a NDE. That's what you are going for, right?

[Misha]

Well, it took me a while but it's a long chapter! The next one should be out in the next few days, too!

xmag, there's a difference between brain death and an induced coma. Jake needs to take Max as close to brain death as he can. He's really hoping a deep enough coma convinces aliens they won Also, here's the semi-quasi-kinda explanation Daniel has for his behavior...




Part 37: Fine Lines
November 2nd, 2011 - New York


1 : Van

He felt different. He wasn’t entirely sure if the Royal Seal of Antar by itself could make such a change, or if it was the knowledge that he was the current King of Antar. His words were law, his very existence was history in the making.

He knew how to move in the shadows, how to be invisible. Hardly anyone alive today knew of his lineage, but everyone out there spoke in whispers about the Rebellion’s leader. With the Seal, though, Van had to become a creature that walked in the light, a public figure everyone everywhere would know.

His own shifter friends, all of those who had fought with him and would guard him with their lives, were bound by the power of the Seal. They would no longer have a choice but to obey him. His heart ached at the prospect of robbing them of their autonomy.

He was finding out that the weight of the crown was heavy indeed.

“Oh, you look really good in blue,” Maria complimented his new attire as she entered the comms room. In her hand, she carried the speech that would make or break their world in the next twenty minutes. “Luke had some annoying comments and a couple of good ideas. But it’s up to you, Your Majesty.”

She placed the piece of paper that deceptively weighed nothing in his palm.

“You would have been an incredible asset to our cause,” Van said without reading it.

“I like to think of myself as a little bit of a rebel,” she said, her contagious smile eliciting a fleeting one from him.

“The General chose well in this lifetime.”

Her smile faltered at that. “Speaking of that… would it be too much to ask if you reconsider Isabel’s position in all of this—Your Majesty?” she hastily added the title at the end. Another thing that felt too heavy for his liking.

“She’s declared herself guilty of treason, Maria, that’s not a small thing.”

“Didn’t she die because of that?” she pressed. “Because let’s be honest here. You know Max is not Zan. I mean, Royal Seal of Antar and all that aside, he’s given you all you want short of him coming to your home. It’s an out for him and you and the whole Antar debacle. Couldn’t you extend the same courtesy to your sister?”

That felt like treason, right there and then. He almost crumbled the piece of paper in his hand.

“Although we share a mother, I do not—”

“—think of her as your sister,” she finished for him with a raised eyebrow, “That’s convenient.”

“I do not have the power to publicly forgive her,” he corrected her, making her blush at her assumption. “I’ve never cared about the whole Vilandra story. She did what she had to do for what she believed in. I can respect that. My world, though, they need a scapegoat.”

“You’re about to declare to your future kingdom that Zan has sacrificed himself and you are the next in line. If you find it useful to also proclaim that the past is the past and Vilandra has no claim to the throne by virtue of her giving up her claim—you might find this other speech helpful. But again, it’s up to you, Your Majesty. All I’m saying is, that starting your kingdom with a nice touch of forgiveness might do wonders for your first days as a monarch. Let the Royal Four story live to its full potential.”

She gave him a second, slightly longer speech. The whole thing would not even last three minutes—they were pressed for time and the message had to be swift and concrete—but as her astute green eyes looked at him, Van begrudgingly read the longer speech first.


2 : Dave

Every single law enforcement agency in New York City was on edge, so all Dave needed to do was a few pushes here and a few others there to see his magic working. He sent the NYPD scrambling to ten different areas in the city and the FBI was inundated with hundreds of reports of suspicious activity.

Although McKay held the best position by claiming the terrorists were hiding under the warehouse, it didn’t mean that other places in New York were not at risk of copycat terrorist cells, or that this particular cell didn’t have people operating somewhere else. Every threat had to be investigated, and every lead had to be followed. And since McKay couldn’t shout to the four winds that aliens were the threat here, well… he was powerless to stop his reinforcement from thinning out.

Most of all, Dave was working in parallel to either find Sybelle or stop any communication from the Unit to get out to Interpol. His Network was mostly down, but every single Network Keeper had been tasked with hindering McKay’s ability to contact his goddaughter.

The door opened suddenly, a panting Kyle entering with little decorum. “I can’t find Daniel,” he said between two heavy breaths. “I’ve looked everywhere I could, it’s like the earth swallowed him whole.”

“He’s in jail,” Dave said, getting his eyes back to the monitor. “He pissed off Max of all people, so he ordered him to be sent to jail.”

“Max Evans? For real?”

“The one and only. I’m pretty sure Daniel deserved it. He ratted Sybelle’s location to McKay.”

Kyle cursed in colorful ways before turning around. “You said he’s in jail, right?” he asked, with all the intention of going to beat the crap out of Danny Boy.

“Kyle, wait,” Dave said, a part of him deeply regretting he had to stop the man. “Ray’s still in the secondary war room, looking for a way to get us all out. Tell him I can give us an opening in about thirty minutes. See if he can work with that.”

“Great, now I’m a glorified errand boy…” Kyle muttered before leaving. In the distance, another explosion tried to open the compound’s doors, making the ground vibrate.

Maybe thirty minutes was all they had.


3 : Jesse

His new cellmate was most definitely not an improvement over his wife. While Isabel had been allowed to go and help with the let-Max-die-to-come-back-later plan, Jesse had been left behind in his cell, just in case he got any weird ideas and tried to make a run for it.

Talk about false imprisonment, he depressingly thought.

A few minutes after that, a kid younger than his wife and friends had been unceremoniously thrown into another cell on the opposite side.

“What are you here for?” Jesse asked without much humor, as the kid looked ready to explode yet too shocked with whatever he’d just done.

“Nothing…” he evasively whispered, coming out of his daze. “Nothing at all,” he added as he walked the length of his cell, tentatively placing a hand to feel the invisible force field that kept them in.

It sounded like every guilty client he’d ever had.

“It must have been a pretty big nothing for them to throw you in here. I mean, from what I heard, they usually shoot first and ask questions later.”

“No one shot at me,” the kid sullenly said, finally sitting with his back against the wall, mirroring Jesse’s position. “I came here as an asset. They’re crazy to not have me with them. They need me to get the Unit off their backs. Max has just absolutely ruined his chances right now.”

“You saw Max—and they didn’t shoot you?”

“I’m too important to be shot at,” he said, turning to look directly at Jesse. “You’re Isabel’s husband, aren’t you? Jesse Rodriguez?”

“Ramirez,” Jesse corrected. “I don’t know who you are, though.”

“I’m Daniel Walsh. Dave’s most brilliant hacker.”

“Never heard of you,” Jesse honestly said, taking a cheap shot at deflating Daniel’s ego. The guy soured immediately.

“You have no idea about the things I’m capable of…” Daniel said, narrowing his eyes.

“No, you’re right, I don’t,” Jesse said, now baiting him. What had this kid done? And would knowing it help Jesse get out of here faster? “What did Max do that he ruined his chances with the Unit?”

“Nothing...” Daniel said, looking at the floor, annoyed.

“But you do know about the Unit. You an agent or something?”

“I’m an agent of my own self,” Daniel said, looking at Jesse with disdain.

“Well, in my experience, if you know about the Unit, it’s because they’re either chasing you or you’re working with them.”

“I told you, I’m Dave’s best hacker. Everything Dave knows, I know. That means I know about Max, and Antar, and the fact that you were all going to be here today.”

That rang all kinds of red alarms in Jesse’s internal system, though he didn’t show it.

“Our grand vacation,” Jesse nodded instead. “Maria has been planning it for months. New York City, baby, what better city in the world to spend time together, right?”

Daniel didn’t say anything, just brooded in silence.

“You really must be the best if you could follow Maria’s plans, that’s what I’m saying,” Jesse clarified with a conciliatory tone.

“I don’t waste my time with that kind of thing,” Daniel answered, offended. Then Daniel’s head wiped up so fast that Jesse winced. “Wait, you’re a lawyer, right?”

“I am,” Jesse said, for all the good it’s doing me today…

“Then you need to defend my case.”

“Against New York City?” Jesse asked, completely lost in this conversation.

“Against Max!”

Against the Crown, then. Get in line, I have a wife to get out of jail first.

“He’s the one who imprisoned me. He just said I was never sick, and I have no way to know if that’s true. In fact, I don’t even think that’s the actual truth—but the point is that he sent me here when all I’ve done is nothing but protect his interests!”

“Slow down, please. I have absolutely no idea what you’ve been through or what Max has to do with anything.” I’m also damn sure Earth’s international law does not cover alien royalty. And even if it does, Max would have diplomatic immunity to do with you whatever he wants.

Not that Max was prone to hand out punishments. This kid must have really pissed off Max to be in here by his orders.

“What did you do, exactly?” Jesse asked.

“Not following Maria’s chaotic plans, that’s for sure,” Daniel said, back to being offended again. “What I actually did was I hacked into Dave’s communications and saw that Van had requested to meet Max, Michael, and Isabel soon. Then Dave talked to Maria to settle the date this week. All I had to do was be in the right place at the right moment to cross paths with Max Evans.”

“Sounds like you did a lot of moving pieces around to get your wish,” Jesse prodded, having absolutely no idea why meeting Max was so important to him.

“I did!” Daniel proudly said, eager for the recognition he so clearly deserved. “You know what else I’ve been doing? Keeping tabs with the Unit, something none of you, not Dave, not Van, not anyone had been doing.”

“For real?” Jesse asked, genuinely impressed. “I guess we all owed you for that.”

Now Daniel’s eyes were shining with emotion as he had the audience he was hungry for. “And you know that kind of surveillance is hard to come by.”

“So, you knew about the Unit because of Dave, but then followed them on your own?”

“Sort of…” Daniel said, now evasive. “I mean, I was a one-man operation, and the Unit has tight security around their systems. If any of you were safe during this time from them, then it was thanks to me and my quick thinking. I misdirected the Unit on a few occasions, you know?”

“That’s—that’s really—thanks, I mean. Thank you for keeping an eye on us. You really were hacking into the Unit?”

“Pft. You make it sound as if that was difficult.”

“Obviously not to a brilliant mind like yours.”

“Still, McKay is an astute man. He’s very paranoid about computers. He’s ancient in his ways of doing things, very old school.”

Very weary of Dave, most likely.

“What I’m saying is, to keep the integrity of the data, I had to make myself known to McKay. Dangle a few carrots here and there. Let him know I had it against Dave and knew about his targets. He welcomed me with arms wide open and a big, fat check.”

I bet McKay was also very paranoid about you, Jesse thought as he put the picture together. “You were playing double-agent?”

“Yes. For a while, at least, just long enough that I could have something to bring the Unit down.”

“And you were doing all of this to meet Max? Why not just ask Dave?”

“Dave and I hadn’t spoken for years by this point. Look, at first I did it for the fun of it. Aliens, you know? How cool was that?”

In Jesse’s own experience, there was absolutely nothing cool about that. Whatever perks he got from their powers, being around them usually led to a dangerous life.

“And it was getting intense,” Daniel continued, now lost in his own story. “Rebels. Aliens fighting against each other. The Unit was always a step behind you, and then messages started coming from outer space. I probably would have tired of it sooner rather than later, but then I got diagnosed. Brain cancer. This brilliant mind of mind was going to go to waste.”

“No… I’m so sorry, man.”

“Don’t be. I had already been dabbling with the Unit’s systems and knew that my only way to get close to Max was to bring valuable information. So that’s what I did. I got the info. I mean, sure, sacrifices needed to be made, appearances needed to be kept. He touched me in the hall and said he saw all of it, but for some reason, despite knowing everything I did, he still dismissed me.”

Now despair filled his eyes. “Max is lying, he has to be.”

“Lying about what, exactly?”

“That he saw anything at all. He never heals, so why—”

“He does. If Max put his hands on you to heal you, he definitely saw your life. You didn’t see anything from his end?”

“Nothing. See? He wasn’t even trying. But he then said that I’m not sick. That there’s no cancer!”

“Max might be many things—and God knows I’m not his biggest fan—but he’s not a liar. He also never heals, as you well know. If he decided to do this, he was not half-doing it.”

“You all pray at Max Evans’ altar, don’t you?” Daniel said, now narrowing his eyes in distrust.

“Woa, woa. Did you get a second opinion?”

“Why? It’s not like a doctor will confuse brain cancer with anything else.”

“You might be surprised—but that’s beside the point. You ever had any symptoms? Headaches? Pain? Any reason to believe you were sick?”

Daniel looked at him, not saying a thing, his lips getting thinner and thinner as he pressed them harder and harder.

“I mean, how did you even know to look for a doctor?”

“I went to the hospital because I had a stomach bug that wouldn’t stop. They did tests. They told me they found it, the tumor…” Daniel was making himself smaller and smaller by the second, as something he didn’t want to face was becoming obvious. “Max said… he said in the hall that someone set me up so I would come after him. I don’t believe that.”

“Well, does the timeframe work for that? Did the Unit know about you before that?”

“Maybe—No…they wouldn’t even know.”

“Did the Unit tell you that Max could heal?” Jesse pressed, wishing he had powers of his own to read this man’s mind.

“They had thousands of pages detailing what they can do. And it wasn’t like I didn’t see it in Jake’s private files, that Max could but wouldn’t heal. Max never told him why, though. Why doesn’t he heal?”

“That’s irrelevant. What information did you give the Unit about us?”

“But—I mean, if I was set up, then none of this is my fault!” Daniel triumphally said as the answer to his prayers became clear in his mind.

“That’s not how these things work,” Jesse said, exasperated with the thickness of Daniel’s thoughts. Maybe not reading minds was the best course of action here.

“How could he order me to be thrown in jail if McKay was playing with me all this time? I’m telling you, as my lawyer, you have to argue my case!”

“I’m not your lawyer, Mr. Walsh. I’m not even a free man myself—”

The door to the containing area opened, and a shifter rushed in. “We need to go,” he said, swiftly deactivating the energy field on Jesse’s cell.

“Go? Go where?” Jesse asked, scrambling to stand up.

“The Unit is about to breach the second entrance, and we need to be in place to leave—” the shifter turned to look at Daniel, shutting up whatever information he was about to disclose. “We need to go,” he repeated instead as Jesse walked out.

“Wait! Aren’t you forgetting about me?” Daniel shouted, leaning over the invisible wall.

“I forget nothing,” the shifter said. “It’s your people who are coming. I’m sure they’ll be delighted to have you back.”


4 : Jake

The first attack registered in the EEG not two minutes after Max had been placed in a coma. Isabel felt it, too. She turned to look at him and then at Max, holding his hand tighter.

“Is this affecting you?” Jake asked. She shook her head.

“Nothing I cannot fight. It just feels—like a disconnect. Max isn’t dreaming or anything, and yet I can feel our connection slipping by. I wouldn’t even feel him if I weren’t holding his hand.”

“Let’s make sure you don’t let him go, then,” Jake said with a smile that Isabel didn’t return.

Tough crowd, he absently thought, as the peaks and valleys in the monitor slowed down and then flattened. Whatever the aliens were trying to do in Antar, they had just realized that something was different.

They tried again to reach Max three minutes later. And a third time ten minutes after that. By this point, Liz had taken a seat opposite Isabel, holding Max’s other hand.

“He’s so cold…” Liz said, rubbing her hands against his in a misguided attempt to warm him up. He needed to be cold.

“Let’s wait a couple of more attempts,” Jake said.

“Violet will let us know when the Rebellion takes control of Khivar’s machine,” Rose reminded them, hawkishly observing the whole thing, waiting for them to fail of all things.

Isabel was visibly transpiring, though her own breathing was calm and even. She had been keeping Max alive for close to forty minutes.

“Maybe we should call Michael,” Jake proposed, “just in case you need some rest.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. But the Rebellion should have a plan by now. Maybe Max’s guards know if any progress has been made on our escape route.”

“Jade—” Liz said without taking her eyes from Max’s still face, “could you go ask them for an update, please?”

Out of the wall, a shifter materialized at once. “Yes, Your Majesty,” was all he said before walking out of the room.

“They sure are handy,” Jake lightly joked.

“Their only purpose is to keep Max alive,” Liz said, placing Max’s hand on her cheek. “This must be torture for all of them.”

Violet rushed in as if summoned by Liz’s words, Jade barely standing out of the door itself. “It’s done! Khivar has proclaimed victory as the Rebellion cut all energy towards the lab. He has no way to attack Zan now.”

A sigh of relief left Jake’s soul, as Isabel grinned.

Liz gripped Max’s hand then. “You hear that, Max? It’s time for you to wake up, now.”

Jake went to revert the anesthetic, carefully following Max’s rhythm. Until those brain waves didn’t start to peak, he couldn’t let Isabel stop providing assistance. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. Granted, this was uncharted territory, and it wouldn’t be out of place for Max to take a couple of hours to recover, but…

It wasn’t working.

[Parker1947]

Just realized there was new material LOL. Excellent story so far. Very interesting.

[Misha]

Parker1947, Thank you for still reading! It's definitely a long story

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I wrote this chapter way back in 2014. It's been my guiding star for so long This is the chapter I wanted to get to all this time. All of Antar's backstory can be trace back to this idea. I can't believe I'm actually posting it! I hope you enjoy it!!





Part 38: The other life


1 : Zan

It had been a nightmare.

Breathing fast, sweating cold, Zan sat in his royal bed while his racing heart wanted to leave his chest. The blue curtains of his room moved with a gentle breeze, an assurance that all was well with his kingdom. He'd been dreaming some strange dream, where he wasn't himself, he wasn't a king, and he’d been somewhere that wasn’t Antar…

It was only a dream, he thought, taking a deep, calming breath. It was a dream and it's over, he told himself as his hands let go of the sticky sheets.

Deciding there was just too little time to go back to sleep before he had to get up, he got out of his bed and went to the balcony. The three moons were a welcome respite, a sign of things placed where they were meant to be placed.

He had a nagging sensation that something was amiss, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. Soon, his royal routine would start, Rath would come to overlook the day's activities, and this upsetting night would be over.

Life would go back to normal, and Zan couldn't wait for that to happen.

* * *

Ava was beautiful. Even from this shadowy spot, he could tell that. She was talking with his sister, and the thought of talking to her made his cheeks go red. I'm so stuck behind a tree, he fleetingly thought, and his heart ached at that, though he couldn't understand why.

"You're the mighty king of Antar, and you're hiding here, speechless while contemplating women?" Larek teased in a strange accent that jarred Zan's ears.

"Hey, I'm not just thinking about me, okay? Whoever I choose, she'll be Antar's queen. I have to be careful…"

Not to mention that he was already terrified. Marriage was one of the very few choices he had in life. It wasn't enhanced in his genes like intelligence and a perfect balance were. It wasn't written into law, there wasn't much his advisers could advise… Simply put, there were no real guidelines for this aspect of his life. And for someone who had always known what to do, who had been created with the express purpose of ruling, not knowing was paralyzing.

How did my father ever talk to my mother?

* * *

"All I'm saying is that if you were to get a bride, people would get a sense of things being stable," Rath said with patience. "I'm not saying you have to get married next time the moons rise, for crying out loud."

Zan glared at him. "This idea that I’m not 'stable' enough without a woman by my side is disturbing," he replied. "Look, I know I'm young by anyone's standard. The last time Antar had someone my age was so long ago it's laughable. But ruling is not a popularity contest."

Rath eyed him for a moment. "You're wrong," he said with nonchalance. "Ruling is about popularity. And if you don't start taking that seriously—"

"Oh gosh, there you are!" Vilandra said, entering the room with complete disregard of what state matters were being discussed—or not. "I've been looking for you all over the palace," she went on as Rath immediately stood to attention. "I want to throw a party on your behalf," she started, his heart accelerating at the thought of a social event. He hated social events. He was shaking his head before she had even said ten words.

"No," he said firmly.

"Yes," she answered with the widest of grins. "You think I wouldn't notice how you were looking at the new girl, Ava? Plus, you have Larek to thank for the heads up."

"No," he said again, this time with less aplomb.

"Dear brother, how are you going to meet women otherwise? You'll wait for a life and dead situation where you'll jump in out of nowhere, wave your hand, and dissolve the problem away?"

The whole world stopped at that.

"What did you say?" he whispered.

"It's no secret you're the shyest man to ever walk these halls. Don't be ashamed of it. Just outgrow it, okay? Rath, advise my brother he has to outgrow it, please?"

Rath smiled, almost laughed, really. But Zan's mind was somewhere else, trying to piece together this sense of loss that had invaded him so suddenly.

* * *

The moons were silently crossing the sky. It was past midnight, and Zan found himself staring at them. Somewhere, in his mind, he got the feeling that there shouldn't be three of them. What would a planet with just one moon be like? Boring, he thought dismissively, yet he couldn't unglue his eyes from the gigantic satellites that orbited his world.

Something was wrong, he just didn't know what. It was as if life was passing him by in the blink of an eye. He felt like an outsider in his own life, searching for something he was beginning to think he would never find.

Not in this lifetime.

If he looked carefully, he could see Larek's own planet right on the horizon. One of the only friends he had who knew what the burden of the crown really meant. He'd been such a solid presence to have at his father's funeral and his coronation. Yet Larek was going to disagree with him on matters of state. Changes too fast… you wouldn't listen. The future echoed in his mind like it had been doing for the past nights. He knew things to come and then he didn't. He didn't want to go to sleep, he didn't want to know. Because something terrible was going to happen… he just couldn't remember what.

* * *

"Am I boring you?" Rath pointedly asked. When it was only the two of them, he didn't address him as Your Majesty, which suited Zan just fine.

"Of course not…" he said, half through his breakfast.

"Because I'm not the one who's getting married. I'm just the one who is organizing the entire security protocol, but that's small business."

Zan rolled his eyes. It felt like just yesterday he was waking up in his room, haunted by a terrible dream. Now it all seemed so ridiculous in broad daylight. Ava had said yes, and he couldn't be more elated. He was going to get married to the most beautiful girl.

So why can't I concentrate on anything lately?

"Sorry," he apologized, "It's just… It feels surreal, sometimes."

"I bet. Being the leader of an entire planet, waiting to fight the evil within, sure, it's bound to get messy. But you have to pay attention."

Zan's heart leaped as it always did when something out of place happened. It dragged him back to those dreams he couldn't remember, to that certainty that a dark cloud was whirling over their heads.

"Evil within?" he slowly asked, frowning.

"What?" Rath absently asked, looking over his latest notes.

"You just said…"

"That we have to go over the security detail? Good. Finish your breakfast and meet me at the Grand Hall. There are some things I need to show you."

Out his best friend went, leaving Zan feeling lost.

* * *

"Have you ever… had this feeling that things are… I don't know… surreal?" Zan quietly asked as he shared his moons and the sunrise with Ava. She was not an early riser, but she was smiling as they shared their first sunrise together.

"Every single day," she answered, her long hair cascading on her back. He looked at her, expectantly. Maybe this hollow feeling he was experiencing was not unique to him. "I get to wake up and be the Queen. How more surreal can that get?"

His hopes dropped.

"Sometimes…" he confessed, "I feel like I'm not really awake… That I'm dreaming someone else's life. That I should wake up."

"Zan, you are awake," she reassured him with a bright smile.

I wish I could believe you…

* * *

The man who looked back at him in the mirror was not himself.

Zan couldn't breathe, much less blink, as his eyes were deceiving him with the image of a man who was not himself, but who had the same startled expression Zan knew was on his face.

Fear turned to anger. You're the one who is making this all wrong! He thought at his non-reflection. The hazel eyes turned to anger as well. Everything you represent is wrong, he thought with cold resentment. From the short hair to the weird clothing, the being on the other side of the mirror was the embodiment of his hollow feeling that things were getting closer to an inevitable ending.

For someone like Zan, who had his whole life planned out in front of him, this unknown phantom in the mirror had no place in his world. Or his mind.

"What do you want?" he whispered.

"I want to wake up," his reflection whispered back.

* * *

"…but genetic manipulation is just… wrong," Khivar was saying animatedly. The man had charisma and a convincing act. It just so happened that Zan had been trained to not fall for the show.

"So basically, you're telling me my existence is for the worse," Zan said with a smile, as his wife, sister, and second-in-command shared an informal meeting with the Northern Colonies ambassador, Ava's home region as well. She'd gotten this meeting on behalf of her countryman, but that was as far as Ava's reach went. She'd known of Khivar by reputation, but thankfully, that was all. Spending more than a couple of hours with the man was torture.

Khivar looked Zan straight in the eye, and something inside Zan's stomach felt like a rock. This man is dangerous, his gut instinct told him. This man will take away everything you love, his other voice informed him.

"Kings… have been playing with genetics for far too many generations," Khivar said with caution, ready to strike at the slightest opening. "So, I don't think you, your Majesty, are 'for the worse'. But I think, that left to nature, we would have gotten a set of unforeseen talents that bioengineering has robbed you."

"So, you're saying he could be better," Vilandra said with a genuine smile. She was having too much fun with this, and Zan didn't like it. His sister was no fool, but men like Khivar were not men who should be around Antar's princess.

"I say we'll never know," he said with a smile of his own.

"That's stupid," Rath said in an uncharacteristically display of ill manners. He was certainly finding Khivar's presence less than charming. "Bioengineering gives you the best of all your genetic traits. Who would want a leader who's a wild card? Especially when your other option is a well-tailored individual who has both the intelligence and the temperament to guide an entire world."

"Ah, but there lies the problem," Khivar said triumphally. "Who chooses what those traits are? Surely, one can be intelligent but have no common sense. Or be too shy to confront problems face to face?"

Are you challenging me? Zan thought, his blood starting to get warm. As Rath had said, Zan's temperament was also part of his carefully designed genetic make-up, and it took a lot to get him angry. Yet Khivar seemed to bypass every scientist's prediction about how much and for how long Zan's perfect patience could endure.

"I'm sure those traits have been carefully selected," Ava interceded, sensing Zan's limit to this nonsense getting dangerously close. "After all, we know they work. Peace has endured for more than a century. We are at the greatest time to be alive," she smiled at him, her hand reaching for his.

"I think the brightness of our times might be blinding us a little," Khivar answered in a low tone. "Take for example the shifters, those—"

"You will not speak ill of them," Zan cut him down, serious enough that Rath tensed by his side, ready for a threat. "The people who guard me the closest are shifters, and I have the highest respect for their commitment to me, the Royal House, and our Arm Forces."

The mood in the room had changed. It was no secret that Khivar did not think well about their bioengineered race, to put it mildly, but such bigotry had no room in his palace.

"They sure are practical," Khivar said with more than a little sarcasm.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Zan asked.

"Zan…" Ava tried to rein him in.

"All I'm saying is that it must be so comfortable to you, having that Seal, being able to order every single one of them into submission. While the rest of us have to live in fear of those creatures, never knowing if your neighbor is really your neighbor, if you know what I mean."

Silence.

"Let me get this straight," Zan said after a whole uncomfortable minute had gone by. "You asked for a private meeting with the king, to point out that Antar's greatest achievements in biology are one, giving you less than appropriate leaders; two, instigating fears and paranoia against a group of people—not creatures—who have better things to do any given minute than give you a second thought—"

"You cannot—"

"And," Zan continued, not even blinking, "three, who have died serving this crown and this world, even defending those who wish they had never been born. Am I missing something?"

It was obvious that Khivar wanted to argue. It was equally obvious that Zan was daring him.

"You don't have to say it like that," Vilandra said, embarrassed at the words being exchanged.

"I don't know, Lonnie. Some people might think I'm too shy to speak my mind," he answered, his eyes still on Khivar.

"Very well," Khivar said after a pause. "It's certainly disappointing that one cannot bring this subject to his king without being slapped—"

"Careful there," Rath warned, "that might be taken out of context, and though I wish it weren't so, our king is a pacifist to his last chromosome."

Khivar glared at him. Zan almost laughed.

"I can talk about this subject for days, Khivar. Do come back to discuss it when your plan does not include exterminating an entire race just because you don't feel comfortable around them. Shutting down genetic research would mean going back centuries in Antarian exploration and limits. I will not have the progress that thousands of men and women have accomplished be erased by a subjective notion of right and wrong."

"Subjective? I don't think—"

"This meeting is over."

Vilandra gasped. Rath immediately stood up, while Khivar looked as if he had, indeed, been slapped.

Not used to being told to shut up, uh? Zan thought with satisfaction. This was not the first time the issue of genetics had been brought to him, but hardly anyone would have dared to talk about genetic manipulation with such contempt when the king himself was a product of it.

And a damn proud product I am, he thought as he excused himself and went in search of fresh air. Ava knew his heart well enough to let him be.

I'm going to change this, he thought fiercely, knowing his Invisible Guard was already here, out of sight but not out of reach. I'm going to put an end to this absurd idea that one thing is better than the other. No matter how unpopular Rath says this is.

* * *

The man in the mirror was back, but this time, Zan was not afraid.

"I think I know what you mean by waking up," Zan quietly said, afraid someone might hear him, even in the close quarters of his bathroom. "Wake up this world, wake up these people who think Khivar is right. I'm gonna wipe out their fears with facts, and show them that the monsters they fear are only in their heads. How does that sound for a plan?"

There was no answer.

* * *

"You're kidding me, they really think that's possible?" Ava excitedly asked as they were eating a quiet dinner. These days, it was a miracle that they could both sit down and eat in peace.

"Yeah, I went by the genetic labs today. They are quite surprised with these new findings on the aliens' brains."

"It's so weird to think that somewhere, out there, there's a whole other world that looks like us…"

"But not really us," Zan pointed out as he cut his food. "You know, my Father always wanted to make first contact, though my Mother said it involved too much time and resources and it just wasn't worth it."

"What about you? Would you like to be this little planet's first contact?"

Zan smiled.

"If I can pull my own planet into order… sure."

"You would be a wonderful first contact," she said, teasing him.

You're not an a—alien, I mean… are you?

He stopped eating, his eyes lost in a vision out of his reach. Go away! He thought, mesmerized at what he was seeing, unable to blink it away.

"Zan? You okay? You got silent all of a sudden…"

He looked at her then, a feeling of foreboding freezing his heart.

"I love you," was all he could say to keep the feeling at bay.

* * *

"Do you think… I don't know… hallucinations seem a bit strong to what I have…" Zan said, frustrated at his lack of understanding of what was happening to his mind.

Sitting across from him, Jake expectantly looked at him.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked with a smile, "That you might be going crazy might sound good, but it's not really objective."

Zan glared at him.

"I don't know what I know. Things just seemed messed up… mixed up. Like a dream that follows you to your waking life, I guess, until you don't know which one is the dream and which is reality."

"Do you think this is a dream?" Jake asked, thoughtful.

Yes.

No.

"I know this can't be a dream. But something terrible is coming, Jake. And if I don't do something, it's going to take away my own life."

"Then you have to wake up…" Jake said.

"Yeah, I'm trying… I think I'm trying, anyway…"

"You have to wake up," a woman said, making Zan looked up. Jake was gone. The whole room was gone.

"Max, wake up!"

With his heart in his throat, Zan turned around and ran as fast as he could. He ran to his life, to his kingdom, to his world.

* * *

"You've become so quiet," Ava said, coming to his side as he contemplated the moons setting over the horizon, the sun about to come up.

"I think I have to do something…" he said, eyes in the sky, "but if I do it, I might lose more than I'm willing to."

"Hey, if this is about Khivar and his absurd views…"

He smiled at that. Oh, the irony that his world was at the brink of greatness if only he could pull himself together.

"I have the feeling he's going to surprise us," he said, letting go of his doubts about waking up. About what was real and what was not.

"You know he's not even serious about what he says, right?" Ava declared. "He's just looking for a weakness, something to use against you. And shifters are an easy target…"

"Do you think I shouldn't have been bioengineered?" he asked. "That it represents everything that goes against nature itself?"

"Yes. I only married you because I love tiaras," she said in all seriousness.

He kissed her as if there was no tomorrow.

Because he loved her.

And because there might not be a tomorrow.

* * *

"The interesting thing is, we think we can make a hybrid," the scientist was telling him as Zan watched an enhanced DNA sequence.

"A hybrid of what?" Zan asked, his mind lost on the protests that Khivar had staged against any kind of genetic manipulation. So many diseases cured… so many advantages… All this can be gone if someone like him were ever to gain control. And for what? So he can make ignorant out of our generations?

"Well, an alien and an Antarian."

Zan stopped his thoughts dead in their tracks.

"What?"

"It's just an interesting project. Two completely alien species… No other species has been a real candidate till now."

Khivar would have a field trip with this one.

"Interesting as it would be just for theoretical fun, or interesting as it having practical uses?" Zan asked cautiously.

Interesting in that it will save your life, his other self said, amused. It was the first time it had ever sounded amused.

"Right now, the potential is there. But Earthlings… they are deliciously complex."

"Work on it but keep it theoretical for now. Things are a bit shaky to be announcing great discoveries."

The scientist looked surprised for a moment, and then understanding dawned in his eyes. "It's a dark time when great discoveries cannot be announced, Your Majesty."

* * *

He was going to die.

He never saw his assassin. At least he was glad it hadn't been Khivar. There were not enough stars in the sky to count how annoying it would have been to have Khivar talking while he died.

He'd tried. He'd really, really tried to bring change. To make people understand that it was never about being popular, but about being truthful. Yet the truth seemed to have too many facets, too many shades. Larek had told him so. Rath had tried to find a middle ground. He'd failed to listen to either of them.

He was going to die, and that would be the end of all things.

Through his window, he could see the moons setting, the sun still a few minutes away from rising. This day would rise without him. This day would see the birth of an Antar that he would never recognize as his.

The only real regret now was that he'd never understood what waking up meant.

We're going to die, the other voice said. If you don't wake up, we're going to die.

"I'm sorry," Zan said. "I tried to wake up… I tried so hard."

Wake up! The same woman from before yelled somewhere in the darkness that wanted to consume him.

We're going to die, his other self repeated.

"Yes, I'm quite sure of it," Zan agreed.

I'm not you… but I promise I'll carry your memories. I promise I'll help Antar get a true leader. But I can only do that if you don't let me die.

Zan was listening, unsure what this was all about.

Let me go, Zan… believe this is the dream and let me go back.

He exhaled one more time… and finally let go.
 

[xmag]

Oups, I missed a part! That will teaches me to not check my emails.

So, Daniel... boy, that guy is thick. And arrogant. So, so, so arrogant. He can't even see that he had been manipulated from the start, while he believed he was the one doing the manipulation. I wonder, if he gets out of it alive, if he will accept that he had been had by MacKay.

The next part, Nightmares. A bit disturbing. I'm still trying to understand what happened. Max dead or quasi-dead and... what? He time traveled back to Zan? Or Zan had somehow, through time and space, been in contact with Max but without knowing what was happening?

Or is this just Max in his coma being lost in Zan, whose memories he has? Or is Max so far gone that Zan is the dominant personality remaining?

[Misha]

Sorry for the delay, life got in the way. But rest asure that I'm here till The End!

xmag, you were right! You'll know which one of your multiple theories was the right one in just a moment




Part 39: Hurry
November 2nd, 2011 - New York


1 : Max

Air rushed in his lungs as Max finally untangled himself from Zan’s gripping memories. Pain hit him right in the middle of his chest as his head felt heavy enough to tilt him downward.

Hands grabbed him—to steady him, to guide him, to hold him, he really couldn’t tell for what—while absurdly loud voices mixed up with beeping sounds and the floor looked like the ceiling at the same time.

Overhead, the lights started to shine brighter as his powers were making a run for it. He closed his eyes tightly—he was going to be sick.

“Let’s give him some room,” someone said, making all the hands go away except for two that were holding his shoulders down. “Max, just breathe, okay?”

Jake. It was Jake’s voice. “You’re hyperventilating. Slow down.”

He was? He had no idea what his body was feeling, much less how to slow down if he couldn’t even tell he was breathing at all.

“You’ve just survived Khivar’s assassination attempt,” Jake said, “your brain is in overload right now.”

“I—I’ve just—I’ve just died,” he managed to get out between erratic intakes of air.

“Yes, I’m pretty sure we lost you for a moment there,” Jake said, his voice sounding strangely amused. Max shook his head.

“Zan—I finally—I remember—how he died…” and it was that thought that anchored Max’s present to reality. He wasn’t Zan anymore, he wasn’t living trapped inside Zan’s life, trapped in a dream that all but guaranteed they were both going to die.

“Max…” Liz said, finally coming into his view. In a world where he wasn’t sure if he was real or dreaming, feeling her connection was all the reassurance he needed.

“Liz…”

She came to him, holding his hand and then embracing him over the narrow bed. He held her for dear life, not taking for granted the luxury of having her in his arms.

“I hate to say this, Your Majesty, but we need to move,” someone said, a shifter by the sound of it. Liz untangled herself from him then. The world looked steady enough.

Bits and pieces of their earthly predicament started flowing through Max’s mind. “How long was I out?” he asked as Jake shone a light in his eyes.

“A little over an hour,” Liz said. A sense of urgency filled their connection as well as the air around them.

“How are you feeling?” Jake asked him, following the lines of various monitors.

“I’m…fine…” he said, convincing no one. He realized that Isabel was sitting right beside him, looking pale and spent. “Iz?”

“I’m…fine,” she said with half a smile. “You took your time coming back,” she said, passing a hand over her face to disappear all signs of exhaustion. “We do need to move, though. Jake?”

All eyes turned to look at the doctor. “If you can walk on your own, then I’ll let you go,” he said, looking stern. Max didn’t wait for an invitation. He sat up with some effort as Isabel and Liz helped with detaching the various electrodes. The world moved in a peculiar way for a moment. Rose looked at him with narrowing eyes, as if she thought he was hiding Zan somewhere in there.

Maybe he was.

“Where are we going?” he asked as he stood up, his sense of balance taking a second before he felt confident about stepping forward.

“Well,” Liz said right beside him, “the current plan is that we’re going to Antar.”


2 : Ray

“How long till the wormhole opens?” Ray asked as three different strategies were spinning at the back of his mind. He needed to get eleven people and eight shifters out of this place. They weren’t going out together, and probably not all of them would even go out on the same route. They just had to get out.

“In about ten minutes. The coordinates must be precise since we’re underground. We cannot have it opening in the middle of the compound and sucking out a metric ton of soil and concrete,” Luke explained.

“Okay, the first group to go needs to make sure we’re not arriving at an ambush,” Ray said. “You know far better than I how this thing works, including security checks.”

“We’ll go by pairs at different intervals,” Luke said, “I’ll organize us, and once it’s all clear, then Van and Zan should follow.”

“We still need to split up to hurry the process of going and coming,” Ray said. “As I see it, we have three entries,” Ray said, pointing them out in the holographic blueprint in front of them. “The Unit is currently positioned here, and we most likely won’t want to come out here, since it’s too close to the road they’re coming from. If some of us stay, our best bet is to go out this way, straight into New York City, and disappear.”

“The compound has one Land Rover and three bikes,” Luke explained, the hologram changing to a basement camera feed, where their escape vehicles were parked.

“The question is, who is going that route?” Michael said, narrowing his eyes.

“All shifters will be going to Antar,” Luke said, “We’ll be needed to protect Van as we cross between worlds. Zan, Vilandra, and yourself, General, have powers of your own that will be appreciated as well. Besides, I’d feel better knowing you’re on Antar grounds rather than here on Earth, escaping bullets.”

“You and I both,” Michael said. Ray nodded.

“I’ll take the old guard,” Ray said. “Dave, Jake, Daniel, and me. Dave and Jake will take the car. Daniel and I will take the bikes. We’ll separate in three different directions once we cross the bridge. If one of us is captured, at least it won’t be all of us at once.”

“I’ll ask Maria, Liz, Kyle, and Jesse if they want to go with you,” Michael said. “There’s a chance we won’t be able to come back to Earth as soon as we want.”

“An ambush is unlikely but not unheard of,” Luke agreed.

The door suddenly opened, and all three of them stood straight at once. It was Kyle, looking as if he wanted to punch someone.

“Dave wants you to know he can create a diversion to get us out in about half an hour… or twenty minutes with how long it took me to find this place,” he muttered the last part.

“That’s our timeframe, then,” Michael said. “Select who’s going to Antar first and get them going as soon as possible. We also need to—”

Michael stopped midsentence, his eyes unfocused for a moment. “Max…” he whispered, a sigh of relief following that word. “He’s awake.”

I’ll never get tired of seeing their powers in action, Ray thought, amused.

“Wait, Antar?” Kyle said, confused. “As in your planet?”

“We’re using a wormhole,” Michael said by way of explanation.

“I’m not leaving this planet,” Kyle said with all seriousness. “Daniel sold out Sybelle’s location to the Unit. Dave is doing everything he can to find her in England.”

“He what?” Michael and Ray asked at the same time.

“Max threw him into prison like an hour ago.”

There were like ten questions wanting to get out of Ray’s mouth at that moment, but all he said was, “If you’re not going to Antar, then you’re going with me.”

“Gather everyone to their parting points,” Michael said, “one way or another, we’re leaving now.”


3 : Maria

Antarian sounded like Portuguese, the Brazilian variety that was mellow and flowery. She had no idea what she would do if Michael suddenly started speaking like that. Van, on the other hand, was nailing it.

“We don’t have time for a third recording,” he said in perfect English. “We’ll send the second one and hope for the best.”

She wished they had the time to record this ten times over and edit it to perfection. Alas, she would have to trust him in this one. “You looked quite kingly delivering it,” she asserted, while he turned to the communications console. The ship—the same one that had brought her husband here and gave her town its fame—loomed dark and cold behind it.

“With a little luck, everyone will think the same,” Van said as lights switched on the board. He was transmitting it to the rebels on the other side. She hoped they were as impressed as Van had been with her hastily written speech. It was heartfelt and courageous—a cry for freedom born out of years of living in fear and persecution.

Besides, she had her stakes in this thing going viral, too. The sooner the Rebellion won, the sooner her husband would be free from this planet.

“It’s done,” Van said, for a moment frozen in place as if he, too, were considering the implications of his own words. After all, he had just declared to his entire solar system that he had royal blood, was a perfectly viable candidate for the throne, and that Zan had died for the second time not an hour ago.

Behind them, the wormhole machine was stirring to life. Soon, she will walk into the very place that ship had come from.


4: Langley

People were moving. Cars drove away while the police line grew thinner. Resources were being diverted, Langley thought, wondering if Dave had anything to do with that.

Beside him, explosives were being moved inside the narrow passage inside the warehouse. The SWAT team had already breached the first of the three doors, and they were aiming to destroy the second.

He was running out of time.

Behind his SWAT mask, Langley moved towards McKay’s location. If he cut the head of this operation, chaos would erupt, giving them an opening. He knew without a doubt that Luke and the shifters were looking for a way out, and he intended to give them a clear signal that it was time to leave.

He reached the van that was the makeshift headquarters—to find no one there. Frowning, Langley turned around just to catch the last Special Unit agent getting into a car.

They’re leaving, too? That didn’t make sense.

Moving in their direction, he barely heard someone shouting before the force of an explosion threw him sideways and slammed him into a car. By the time the warehouse room collapsed under the fire a second later, Langley was no longer part of the game.


5 : Kyle

By the time Kyle traced back his steps to go get Dave, things had changed in that room. He’d never seen Dave frantic before. Not even slightly afraid, and that was something when he’d interacted with Michael every other month. But seeing Dave furiously typing on his computer as he searched for Sybelle only brought home that Kyle was not the greatest danger around her—Dave was.

Well, that’s a depressing thought. Both men in her life are nothing but bad news for her…

Kyle closed his eyes for a moment to look for his inner center. He was going to propose to that woman and have his happily ever after. He was going to make her happy in the same way she brought peace to his turbulent life. She loved him for him the same way he loved her for herself. No aliens, no godfathers, nothing but themselves mattered in this equation.

If he had to survive the Royal House of Antar along with the FBI’s Special Unit, so be it. It had never been easy for him, why would this be any different?

“Hey, we’re leaving,” Kyle said. “Ray just sent me to fetch you and help you out with any equipment.”

Dave didn’t slow down for a second.

“I’ve sent a thousand distractions up there so we can leave, I just need a minute to find her…” he trailed off for a moment, his eyes moving side to side at a vertiginous pace. “She was supposed to come to New York early and surprise you,” Dave said in a flat tone as he typed. “She bought tickets to arrive first thing tomorrow. I thought—all this goddamn day long I thought she was safe, away from here, away from you, and certainly away from everybody else.”

Kyle wanted, really, really wanted to point out that the list should also include Dave himself, but the man looked like hell to do that right now.

“Where did you lose her?” he asked instead.

Dave passed both hands over his head in an uncharacteristic look of desperation. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

“McKay doesn’t have her yet,” Dave said suddenly, opening his eyes with stone-hard certainty. He resumed typing again, not frantically but with absolute concentration.

“What can I do?” Kyle asked.

“Right now, shut up for a minute.”

Easy for you to say, Kyle thought, as Dave’s own thoughts started to intrude into Kyle’s. It had been relatively easy to ignore Dave’s mostly white-noise brain when he’d been looking for Sybelle a minute ago. Now, though, every neuron in Dave’s mind screamed the name McKay in big, bold red letters.

Then an avalanche of coding commands and hacking almost drown Kyle’s own mind. If the pod squad’s minds were crystal clear, Dave’s was the next best thing. Organized, straightforward, and flowing in one single direction. He wasn’t looking for McKay, he was looking for what the Unit had been doing outside New York City for the past eight hours.

“They don’t have her yet?” Kyle asked, placing a hand against the wall so he wouldn’t fall. The speed Dave’s mind worked was dizzying, to say the least.

“No. Think about it. Everything happened today. Daniel stole information about Antar and knew about Van coming today. He lets that slip to McKay, either consciously or by ineptitude, so McKay knows today is a big day for our alien friends. They’re all going to be here today, in US ground, waiting for him to get them.”

In retrospect, it probably had been a stupid idea to come to the US. They had been with Dave for so long now, without a whiff of the Unit behind them, that they had gotten complacent. Dave had gotten complacent, too. The guilt was just waiting to sprout from the back of his mind to his conscious thoughts.

“He didn’t know about Sybelle until today, though,” Dave continued while he typed, “He didn’t taunt me with her when I was his prisoner earlier.”

“He didn’t have her earlier,” Kyle said, frowning, “But he still might have her now.”

“Maybe, but it’s not a sure thing. In any case, I only need to sort through what the Unit was doing in the last few hours.”

“We still need to leave—”

The explosion rocked the entire underground before Kyle could finish that sentence. They froze for a second as the light flickered above them but held. Dave closed his laptop and grabbed it. A moment later, they were both running down the hall.

[xmag]

Oh la la, going to Antar, now that's a great turn. I mean, I love it when Antar is in the picture this way. It's a bit risky for a writer because it means creating a world we know nothing about. Freedom to write, yes, but also lots of work to create this new world.

Apart from the fact that there are what ,5 planets? What do we really know?

Maria is sure taking an interesting role with Van, here. I wonder if it goes on once on Antar?

How are they going to explain Max being alive, on Antar, after announcing that he was dead a second time? A fake death announcement to trap Khivar?