Sliding Into Antar
All The King’s Horses…
Chapter 19
XIX
“Hello, Isabel.”
The voice behind Isabel was soft and imbued with a unique sweetness. It gave Isabel a warm, happy feeling all over. She smiled and turned around, knowing exactly what she would find…
“Alex!”
Crouching with his hands on his knees atop a large rock, Alex smiled. Then he leapt to the ground, landing lightly on his feet in front of Isabel…
“So you’re gonna try to put Humpty Dumpty back together again?”
Isabel wrinkled her nose and smiled then touched her hand lovingly to Alex’s cheek… “Not Humpty Dumpty, Alex… someone a lot more special to me.”
“You’re not concerned about the old ‘all the king’s horses and all the king’s men’ thing then?”
Isabel shook her head, appearing totally confident. “The king’s horses and the king’s men won’t be called on for this job, Alex. I’ve got someone more capable… a regeneration specialist.”
“You really think it’s possible, huh?”
“It’s more than possible, Alex. It’s going to happen. I’m not spending the rest of my life without you… not here, not anywhere. I’ve made up my mind. And when I’ve made up my mind…”
“Heaven help anyone who gets in the way… Is that what happened to Kivar?”
Isabel smiled. “Something like that. He had some crazy idea that he could substitute himself for you. I had to set him straight. I… I did have some help, though, Alex… from Tess.”
“I know. Who do you think told me you were gonna put the old Whit together again?”
“You’ve seen Tess?”
Alex nodded.
“Why did she do that, Alex? Why did she make me hate her so much then go and sacrifice herself for you… for us?”
“Life is full of mysteries, Iz… like… what happened to all those crocodiles?”
“Croc… Omigod! Alex… those were only in my mind. I create things sometimes… in my mind… as a way to cope… You understand? I don’t always even mean to do it… it just happens. How did you know about the crocodiles?”
“I saw them. I could see your feelings. You must have been pretty upset.”
Isabel smiled and nodded, somewhat embarrassed. “I was, I guess, wasn’t I? But you don’t see any crocs now, do you, Alex?”
Alex shook his head and smiled. “No crocs… just throbs.”
“huh?”
“Heart throbs… you know, my heart longing to be with you.”
Isabel grinned and kissed Alex on the lips. “That was sweet, Alex. Do you… uh… you know… do you… have a heart?”
Alex smiled then laughed. “I don’t know. Why don’t you listen and see?”
Isabel placed her ear against Alex’s chest and listened for several seconds, then she moved her ear and listened again. “I don’t hear anything.”
“I guess ghosts don’t have a heart then, Iz… even ones who can make themselves solid for short periods of time. They better put me back together, ‘cause I really need a heart.”
Isabel smiled and touched Alex’s cheek lovingly… “Alex… even without a heart you have a heart.”
“But I need a real one, Iz… otherwise, what do I have to give to you?”
“Do you really want me to answer that, Alex,” Isabel asked with a girlish grin. She was sure she noticed Alex blush ever so slightly, and she wondered if that was actually possible for a ghost.
Alex smiled sheepishly… “I guess you’d better make sure that they put me back together right then.”
“I’ll personally see to it,” Isabel said, giving Alex a gentle kiss on the lips. This time she knew he blushed…
And she loved it.
**********
It was late afternoon when the hovercar pulled up quietly in front of the little house owned by Zory and his granddaughter, Tryla, and a man got out. Inside the house, Isabel and the others had been watching and waiting, and they knew, even from Kivar’s brief description, that this was the one they were waiting for.
The man took a couple of bags from the hovercar, then the car and its driver left. Turning around to knock on the door, the newcomer nearly ran into Isabel, who was already outside and standing behind him.
“You’re the regeneration specialist?” Tryla asked, stepping up beside Isabel.
“Yes,” the man replied, with all the grimness of an undertaker, “Where is Kivar?”
Even though she did not understand the language, Isabel could sense that the specialist was not especially thrilled to be there.
“Kivar isn’t here,” Tryla said. “He had a slight… accident.”
Isabel wasn’t certain, but she could have sworn that the man’s face seemed to brighten. But then why shouldn’t it? Kivar had banished him to a dreary swamp planet and was only recalling him for a special job… one that anyone might assume would only favor Kivar’s interests.
“Who is the patient,” the specialist asked.
“A boy from Eluymer,” Tryla said. “Kivar had need of him, but now you will be healing him for us… and for the boy’s sake. His name is Alex.”
“Can he… can he fix Tess, too?” Isabel asked hesitantly, wondering if she should be asking, but then feeling guilty for having doubts.
Tryla turned to the regeneration specialist and told him what had happened to Kivar and Tess, then she asked him what Isabel had asked.
“Is there at least ten percent of the body left,” the specialist asked.
Tryla nodded. “Probably twenty-five percent.”
“Then I can do it,” the specialist said, “Will you want me to regenerate Kivar, too?”
Isabel understood that and shook her head… “No need. All the king’s horses and all the king’s men are going to be working on that.” She knew that Tryla and the specialist didn’t understand her reference to the Earth nursery rhyme, but they seemed to get her meaning… probably from her smile.
“Show me the patients,” the specialist said.
Tryla turned to Zory, and the old man nodded. “You girls had best stay outside until it is done. What you would see will not be pleasant.”
“I promised Alex I would make sure he was put together right,” Isabel said, not really expecting Zory to understand… But he smiled…
“I will make sure that he is perfect for you… Isabel.”
Isabel felt her cheeks become warm, as they reddened, and she smiled and nodded.
“It’s okay,” Tryla said, putting her arm around Isabel comfortingly, “The regeneration process does not put everything back together… It regenerates the damaged or destroyed parts. Then the healer salvages the memories and the core self of the patient and reactivates the physical body. It will be perfect, because it is created by the patient’s own DNA. Do you understand?”
Isabel nodded. “But will it still be Alex?”
Tryla smiled and nodded. “The same Alex you always knew.”
Isabel closed her eyes, and a feeling of relief flooded over her.
The sun was setting, when the door of the house reopened and Zory came out, followed by the specialist. They looked at Isabel, and she saw that both men had tears in their eyes…
“No…” Isabel whispered. “No, I don’t want to hear it.”
“Go inside,” Zory said. “Go now.”
Tryla put her arm around Isabel, and the two girls walked into the house. On the sofa sat Alex, and Tess had her arms around him. She was sobbing uncontrollably…
“Alex, I’m so sorry. Can you ever, ever forgive me?”
“I forgive you,” Alex said, for the hundredth time, then he looked up at Isabel and smiled, and Isabel sat down beside him on the sofa. Carefully peeling Tess’ arms from around Alex’s neck, Isabel replaced them with her own…
“I forgive you, too, Tess,” Isabel said. “But there’s only room for one set of arms around Alex right now. And that’s mine.”
Tess sniffed and nodded. “I’m sorry for what happened, Isabel. I know I messed up. I don’t know what else to say.”
Isabel kissed Alex passionately. When they finally looked at each other again, Isabel asked, “Well, did they put everything back where it should be?”
“Someday soon,” Alex said, stars twinkling in his eyes… “Someday soon, Isabel… if you still love me… you’ll find out.”
“I’m counting the days,” Isabel said with a wink, then she kissed him again.
tbc
Sliding Into Antar - (CC, ALL, TEEN) 01/01/06 COMPLETE
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Sliding Into Antar
Sliding Into Antar
The Boy Who Would Be King,
And The One Who Wouldn’t
Chapter 20
XX
“You see now why I don’t like to talk about what happened in the past…” Alex said, looking uncomfortable about having told everyone as much as he had. “Whatever Tess did a long time ago, she’s more than made up for it. She gave up her life to save me… and Isabel… and Zory and Tryla. And let’s not forget that she got rid of Kivar in the process… The whole planet is grateful for that. The old slate has been wiped clean and started over. It’s the right thing to do. Dwelling on what happened back then is only hurtful and embarrassing to Tess, and that’s not the way I want to run my planet… or treat my friends…”
Liz smiled and nodded understandingly, laying her hand on his… “Alex, the only thing greater than your lovability… is your nobility. You deserve to be a king.”
Alex smiled but rolled his eyes.
“You do!” Maria said, agreeing emphatically with Liz. “Alex, some people are born noble. You’re one of them. Just accept it.”
“Isabel was born noble,” Alex protested, “Not me. I’m just the same Alex I always was.”
“Exactly,” Maria exclaimed. “That’s our point exactly!”
Liz nodded. “Alex… you ARE exactly who you always were… That’s why you deserve to be a king.”
Alex sighed. “Well, apparently a lot of people here agree with you. I tried to tell them I was just a dumb kid from Roswell and didn’t know squat about being a king, but they kept treating me like the king… And Isabel was royalty by rights… so eventually I just stopped fighting it. Arguing with them didn’t seem to faze them anyway. I would say, “I’m not a king. I’m a plain dude from a little town on Earth,” and they would smile and say, “We know. What would you like us to do next, your majesty?”
Liz and Maria laughed and nodded.
“Antarians can be kind of single minded,” Liz said, smiling, “…when they know they’re right.”
Alex nodded. He seemed to accept it, though not without some embarrassment.
“After Kivar was killed, Isabel, Tess, and I became some kind of heroes on Antar. It seems that nobody had ever liked Kivar very much… even his closest confidants and his own guards. At first, they put us up in a very nice place, kind of like a hotel, for several weeks, then they gave us our own homes in CoruzAntar, the capitol. In the beginning, the people kept asking us about Max and Michael. They called them Zan and Rath. They wanted to know when Zan and Rath were coming back to be their king and protector again. Six months after Isabel, Tess, and I got here, the Antarians put together a special team of three Antarians to travel to Earth and bring Max and Michael back. But Max and Michael both decided they wanted to stay on Earth. Max didn’t want to be the king.
I had planned to return to Earth after they came back, but I got talked into staying here. It seemed like the right thing to do at that point, and Isabel agreed. Plus… well… we had gotten married in the meantime. Do you think Roswell would recognize an Antarian marriage?”
Alex chuckled, and the others laughed.
“Well, you could always get married again… on Earth, I guess,” Liz said, “But I see your point.”
“I was wondering about something you said earlier,” Max said… “You seemed upset with my double in this dimension… but I think it goes deeper than just that he decided not to come back to Antar.”
Alex nodded. “Well, honestly, it’s not really our Max that I hate… it’s his future self or whatever he is… the guy that came back and tried to get Liz to fall out of love with him… or to do something to make him fall out of love with her. But future or present, he’s still Max, right?”
“Omigod,” Liz said, turning red, “We derailed future Max’s plan in our dimension. Max and Michael came back from their future, which wasn’t as far ahead as future Max’s, and we all intercepted future Max… but Max told me about what happened in the old timeline, before it was changed… I mean… what WOULD HAVE happened after future Max left if his plan had gone as intended. It happened in the time Max and Michael came from, but not in mine, because they stopped it.”
Alex nodded… “But he wanted you to fall out of love with him. And because of him, you were hurt… I mean, our Liz was hurt. Our Liz couldn’t do what Max from the future told her to do. She told our Max about him. But it took her a very long time to get over the hurt. She couldn’t believe that in some future, any future, Max would want to force her away so that he could be with someone else.”
“But he thought it would save the world,” Michael said, “I never thought much of the future dude myself, but maybe you’re being just a little hard on him, Alex. I mean, geez, he did love Liz. Their world was ending, and he… they… were doing everything they knew how to do to save it.”
Alex shook his head. “I know. I considered that. I did. But there’s one thing I’ve always known… even when I was a kid… Doing something that’s wrong cannot make something else right. It just can’t. And what he did was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! He only hurt Liz… She didn’t do what he said, and the Earth didn’t end anyway. So what did he accomplish? What would have happened if Liz had done what he said and made Max fall out of love with her? The world might have ended because of him.”
“It did… I mean, it would have,” Michael said, “We know that now. That’s why we went back and intercepted him in our dimension and sent him packing back to his own time.”
Alex nodded. “Well… I always suspected it. You just can’t make things right by doing what is wrong. You can’t do it!”
Liz smiled… “Where were you when I needed you? Never mind. Don’t answer that, Alex. I know you didn’t know about it at the time. In our dimension, my earlier self didn’t tell anybody about future Max. But I… she… could have sure used your help.”
Alex smiled.
“Well,” Maria interjected, “I so, like, totally agree with you about the right and wrong thing, Alex, but there’s probably something you ought to know. When we intercepted Max’s future self or whatever he was… Liz and I were there. When our Max told him that his plan to make Liz fall out of love with him was going to fail, he wasn’t upset… he was relieved. He actually cried. He said that he felt like he had been trying to sell his soul and that we had taken a terrible burden off his shoulders. After that, I could never hate him. He was wrong, but he really was doing what he thought was right… and it was killing him to do it.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“Why did you have to tell me that, Maria? I’ve sort of enjoyed hating Max all these years. Well, maybe hating is too strong, but deploring his actions and… and whatever made him hurt Liz like that. I even justified the fact that I had taken his throne by telling myself that any SOB who would treat Liz that way didn’t deserve to be the king. Now I’ll have to stop hating him and consider whether I might have been wrong.”
Sitting beside Liz, Max from the New Granolith grinned… then, unexplainably, he laughed… “Alex, you are the king here, and don’t ever doubt that it was meant to be. If my double in this dimension didn’t want to come back and take his throne, it was because he knew there was someone very capable already sitting on it… you and Isabel… and Antar wouldn’t need him. Because of you and Isabel… and Tess… Kivar was gone and Antar had a new king, a good one. I’m quite certain that my double just looked at the facts and decided that you can’t make a right by doing what is wrong.”
“That’s not fair, Max… throwing my own words back at me,” Alex said, starting to grin in spite of himself… “But thanks, dude. I’ll try to remember that.”
Max nodded. “Anytime I can help with some words of wisdom… even if they’re yours.”
The others laughed.
“So how long have you and Isabel been the king and queen,” Maria asked.
“Seven years, three months, and four days… in Earth time,” Isabel said.
“You seem to have a prosperous planet,” Max said. “Looks like you’ve been good for Antar.”
Alex shrugged. “Common sense… and peace with our neighbors. Iz and I have promoted interchange of ideas and projects with the other planets in our sector… and with some that aren’t in our sector. The result has been prosperity for everyone.”
“I like your personal car,” Michael said, “A Dyygitix-16 would cost two years of my salary on our Antar… and we’re doing pretty well ourselves…”
Alex smiled. “One of the planets we trade with buys a lot of Dyygitix-sixteens from us. It’s lowered the price considerably. Right now, it costs the average Antarian the equivalent of about six months’ salary for a Dyygitix-sixteen. A Fan-Ji IV is about three months salary.”
Michael turned to Max and grinned, his mind clearly working overtime on a plot… “Max… if we could trade with this Antar, interdimensionally, think of all the benefits for both planets…”
Max raised his eyebrows… “Trading with our own planet in another dimension… It’s a novel concept. I’m pretty sure it’s never been done. Interesting idea!”
“We’ll trade with you,” Alex said. “If you’re interested, just have your accountants set up a co-op agreement with ours. You’ll need proof of solvency and financial statements for the last five years…”
Liz and Maria laughed out loud, and Max grinned sheepishly, nodding… “No problem, Alex. We can do that.”
“Alex the banker,” Michael mused, grinning broadly, “When did you get to be so savvy, Alex?”
“Experience,” Alex said with a sly grin. “I’ve got to protect the kingdom, you know.”
Michael nodded.
**********
After dinner, Alex and Isabel assigned each couple or individual a guest room for the night. Then they all met on the large balcony on the second floor…
“Iz and I like to come out here and watch the stars at night,” Alex said.
“It reminds me a bit of Frasier Woods,” Isabel added with a wink. “The stars are different, but who can tell. It’s like being back home on Earth… only I’ve got Alex with me now all the time.”
“Well, you have to take the bad with the good, I guess,” Michael joked. Liz slapped Michael playfully on the arm. “Michael, you’re terrible!”
Michael grinned.
Alex put his arms around Isabel and kissed her, and she reciprocated. A moment later, the door behind them opened, and a grandmotherly Antarian lady peeked in.
“Come in, Matiya,” Isabel said, “It’s okay. We’re all sort of family here. Are they ready?”
The lady smiled and nodded, then she opened the door and two little girls ran through the room and out onto the balcony and jumped into Alex and Isabel’s arms.
“This is Maria Elizabeth,” Isabel said, holding the eldest of the two, who appeared to be almost six.
“And this is Gloria Diane,” Alex said, turning the smaller girl, who appeared to be about four, so that they could see her face.
“Oh my God, they’re adorable!” Maria exclaimed, as she and Liz both rushed to hold them, getting there at the same time as Isabel and Tess, who had been standing on the other side.
“You named this one for your mother… and Alex’s mother,” Liz said, taking the four-year-old in her arms and kissing her then handing her to her mother’s double, who looked like she might die if she had to wait one more second to hold the little girl.
Isabel nodded and handed the older girl to Maria. “And we named this one for the two best friends we had to leave behind.”
Maria grinned and took Maria Elizabeth in her arms.
“Another reason we stayed here,” Alex said with a wink. “The girls seem to have developed some unusual… abilities. I blame the Antarian air.”
Isabel nodded. “When Maria Elizabeth was only three months old, we got our first clue that she might be different. I walked in to check on her, and the whole room had a soft glow. Maria Elizabeth didn’t like the dark, so she just waved her little hand or wiggled her little nose or whatever she does and made it light. I still don’t know how she does it, and she can’t tell me.” Isabel turned to her daughter… “How do you make the room light, sweetie?”
The little girl shrugged and smiled… “I just make the dark go away.”
“See what I mean,” Isabel said.
“Sounds pretty clear to me,” Liz said, “She makes the dark go away.”
Isabel laughed and nodded.
“Gloria Diane first started showing an unusual ability at about nine months,” Alex said, “Or, at least, that’s when we first became aware of it… but she may have come by hers honestly… from her mother… Isabel. We first realized something was going on when she kept appearing in our dreams.”
“When she felt frightened or alone… or just in need of cuddling at night,” Isabel said, “She came into our dreams with us. We finally realized that it wasn’t just coincidence that we dreamed about her every night.”
“And she made us all have the same dream together,” Alex added. “She would come into Isabel’s dream, then she would come get me and bring me into the dream with them. Sometimes she would get Maria Elizabeth and bring her into the dream, too. She still does.”
“That’s so sweet,” Liz said.
Alex nodded. “Yeah, it is… but it kind of crimps my dream life, if you know what I mean. I haven’t learned to put child locks on my mind yet, and sometimes when I start to have a great dream about Isabel and me… I wake up and shake my head, because I can’t keep from thinking that Gloria Diane could just come toddling into the dream anytime with Maria Elizabeth by the hand.”
“And I thought Zorel was a handful when he was little,” Michael laughed. “He would stand outside our bedroom door and call for us at night if he heard a noise or had a bad dream or something, and if we ignored him too long, he blasted the lock and let himself in. But at least the blast gave us plenty of warning he was coming… and I could always get more locks.”
“Gloria Diane will learn to use her ability more discretely as she grows older,” Isabel said. “Until then, we can live with it.”
Alex smiled and nodded. “They’re only this age for a few short years. Some day I’ll look back and say, what happened to those good old times… when Gloria Diane would bring us all together at night to cuddle.”
Alex looked at Liz and Maria, and both of them had tears running down their faces.
“Wha… did I say something? I’m so sorry! Really, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you!”
Liz shook her head and sniffed. “You didn’t say anything wrong, Alex. You just made me think about how much I’ve been missing my own children. I haven’t seen them in almost two months, and I never intended to be away from them so long.”
Maria, Isabel, and Tess from the New Granolith were sniffing, too; and Max, Michael, Alex, and Varec looked so glum that Alex wished he could take back everything he had said.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said again, apologetically.
Maria wiped her eyes and smiled. “Don’t be sorry, Alex. What you said was beautiful. We wouldn’t be crying if it weren’t. We’re just all missing our children. You and Isabel are so lucky!”
“But I didn’t want to hurt you, Maria… any of you.”
“You didn’t, Alex. Being away from our families and our homes so long hurts us. But being here with you… this is the closest thing we’ve experienced to home since we’ve been gone; and that’s unexpected, because your planet is the most different in a lot of ways. But there’s a feeling of home here.”
Alex looked around the room, and the others were nodding. He sighed deeply and hugged Isabel and his two little girls together in his arms. “This IS home. This is where Isabel and my girls are… It’s where my heart is.”
“Do you ever miss Earth,” Michael asked.
Alex nodded. “We miss it… but like I said, my heart and soul are right here.”
“That’s why it feels like home,” Liz said.
Maria smiled and nodded… “Because it is home. It’s your home, and we feel it, because you feel it so strongly.”
Alex smiled. “It would be wonderful to see my parents again… and our friends… but the team that was sent to Earth to try to bring Max and Michael back destroyed the only ship we had capable of going that far. They pushed it past its limits and… sort of blew the engines. It was an old model. It can’t be fixed. But we’re building a new one… a better one… more modern. It will be ready in eighteen months. We trade all the time within our system and have a lot of good ships, but Earth is seven galaxies away.”
“A year and a half!” Liz exclaimed. “Alex, you need to find Varec… if he’s here on your Antar.”
Max and Michael laughed and nodded.
Liz turned to Max with a grin, and he took a deep breath. He knew that look. It was the “Can’t-we-do-something-to-help-them” look. Max looked at Michael, and Michael just smiled.
Max turned back to Liz and shrugged, without saying anything. He didn’t have to.
“We can get to Earth in five days… maybe four,” Liz said, “In the New Granolith. If you could take a few days off, we could take you to see your parents and friends.”
Alex and Isabel both smiled from ear to ear, and Isabel collected the girls up into her arms…
“Would you girls like to meet Grandma and Grandpa?”
The girls’ smiles lit up the room. Alex looked back at Max, then he reached out and took Max’s hand in his, with all the warmth of a perfect Antarian hand shake.
tbc
The Boy Who Would Be King,
And The One Who Wouldn’t
Chapter 20
XX
“You see now why I don’t like to talk about what happened in the past…” Alex said, looking uncomfortable about having told everyone as much as he had. “Whatever Tess did a long time ago, she’s more than made up for it. She gave up her life to save me… and Isabel… and Zory and Tryla. And let’s not forget that she got rid of Kivar in the process… The whole planet is grateful for that. The old slate has been wiped clean and started over. It’s the right thing to do. Dwelling on what happened back then is only hurtful and embarrassing to Tess, and that’s not the way I want to run my planet… or treat my friends…”
Liz smiled and nodded understandingly, laying her hand on his… “Alex, the only thing greater than your lovability… is your nobility. You deserve to be a king.”
Alex smiled but rolled his eyes.
“You do!” Maria said, agreeing emphatically with Liz. “Alex, some people are born noble. You’re one of them. Just accept it.”
“Isabel was born noble,” Alex protested, “Not me. I’m just the same Alex I always was.”
“Exactly,” Maria exclaimed. “That’s our point exactly!”
Liz nodded. “Alex… you ARE exactly who you always were… That’s why you deserve to be a king.”
Alex sighed. “Well, apparently a lot of people here agree with you. I tried to tell them I was just a dumb kid from Roswell and didn’t know squat about being a king, but they kept treating me like the king… And Isabel was royalty by rights… so eventually I just stopped fighting it. Arguing with them didn’t seem to faze them anyway. I would say, “I’m not a king. I’m a plain dude from a little town on Earth,” and they would smile and say, “We know. What would you like us to do next, your majesty?”
Liz and Maria laughed and nodded.
“Antarians can be kind of single minded,” Liz said, smiling, “…when they know they’re right.”
Alex nodded. He seemed to accept it, though not without some embarrassment.
“After Kivar was killed, Isabel, Tess, and I became some kind of heroes on Antar. It seems that nobody had ever liked Kivar very much… even his closest confidants and his own guards. At first, they put us up in a very nice place, kind of like a hotel, for several weeks, then they gave us our own homes in CoruzAntar, the capitol. In the beginning, the people kept asking us about Max and Michael. They called them Zan and Rath. They wanted to know when Zan and Rath were coming back to be their king and protector again. Six months after Isabel, Tess, and I got here, the Antarians put together a special team of three Antarians to travel to Earth and bring Max and Michael back. But Max and Michael both decided they wanted to stay on Earth. Max didn’t want to be the king.
I had planned to return to Earth after they came back, but I got talked into staying here. It seemed like the right thing to do at that point, and Isabel agreed. Plus… well… we had gotten married in the meantime. Do you think Roswell would recognize an Antarian marriage?”
Alex chuckled, and the others laughed.
“Well, you could always get married again… on Earth, I guess,” Liz said, “But I see your point.”
“I was wondering about something you said earlier,” Max said… “You seemed upset with my double in this dimension… but I think it goes deeper than just that he decided not to come back to Antar.”
Alex nodded. “Well, honestly, it’s not really our Max that I hate… it’s his future self or whatever he is… the guy that came back and tried to get Liz to fall out of love with him… or to do something to make him fall out of love with her. But future or present, he’s still Max, right?”
“Omigod,” Liz said, turning red, “We derailed future Max’s plan in our dimension. Max and Michael came back from their future, which wasn’t as far ahead as future Max’s, and we all intercepted future Max… but Max told me about what happened in the old timeline, before it was changed… I mean… what WOULD HAVE happened after future Max left if his plan had gone as intended. It happened in the time Max and Michael came from, but not in mine, because they stopped it.”
Alex nodded… “But he wanted you to fall out of love with him. And because of him, you were hurt… I mean, our Liz was hurt. Our Liz couldn’t do what Max from the future told her to do. She told our Max about him. But it took her a very long time to get over the hurt. She couldn’t believe that in some future, any future, Max would want to force her away so that he could be with someone else.”
“But he thought it would save the world,” Michael said, “I never thought much of the future dude myself, but maybe you’re being just a little hard on him, Alex. I mean, geez, he did love Liz. Their world was ending, and he… they… were doing everything they knew how to do to save it.”
Alex shook his head. “I know. I considered that. I did. But there’s one thing I’ve always known… even when I was a kid… Doing something that’s wrong cannot make something else right. It just can’t. And what he did was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! He only hurt Liz… She didn’t do what he said, and the Earth didn’t end anyway. So what did he accomplish? What would have happened if Liz had done what he said and made Max fall out of love with her? The world might have ended because of him.”
“It did… I mean, it would have,” Michael said, “We know that now. That’s why we went back and intercepted him in our dimension and sent him packing back to his own time.”
Alex nodded. “Well… I always suspected it. You just can’t make things right by doing what is wrong. You can’t do it!”
Liz smiled… “Where were you when I needed you? Never mind. Don’t answer that, Alex. I know you didn’t know about it at the time. In our dimension, my earlier self didn’t tell anybody about future Max. But I… she… could have sure used your help.”
Alex smiled.
“Well,” Maria interjected, “I so, like, totally agree with you about the right and wrong thing, Alex, but there’s probably something you ought to know. When we intercepted Max’s future self or whatever he was… Liz and I were there. When our Max told him that his plan to make Liz fall out of love with him was going to fail, he wasn’t upset… he was relieved. He actually cried. He said that he felt like he had been trying to sell his soul and that we had taken a terrible burden off his shoulders. After that, I could never hate him. He was wrong, but he really was doing what he thought was right… and it was killing him to do it.”
Alex closed his eyes.
“Why did you have to tell me that, Maria? I’ve sort of enjoyed hating Max all these years. Well, maybe hating is too strong, but deploring his actions and… and whatever made him hurt Liz like that. I even justified the fact that I had taken his throne by telling myself that any SOB who would treat Liz that way didn’t deserve to be the king. Now I’ll have to stop hating him and consider whether I might have been wrong.”
Sitting beside Liz, Max from the New Granolith grinned… then, unexplainably, he laughed… “Alex, you are the king here, and don’t ever doubt that it was meant to be. If my double in this dimension didn’t want to come back and take his throne, it was because he knew there was someone very capable already sitting on it… you and Isabel… and Antar wouldn’t need him. Because of you and Isabel… and Tess… Kivar was gone and Antar had a new king, a good one. I’m quite certain that my double just looked at the facts and decided that you can’t make a right by doing what is wrong.”
“That’s not fair, Max… throwing my own words back at me,” Alex said, starting to grin in spite of himself… “But thanks, dude. I’ll try to remember that.”
Max nodded. “Anytime I can help with some words of wisdom… even if they’re yours.”
The others laughed.
“So how long have you and Isabel been the king and queen,” Maria asked.
“Seven years, three months, and four days… in Earth time,” Isabel said.
“You seem to have a prosperous planet,” Max said. “Looks like you’ve been good for Antar.”
Alex shrugged. “Common sense… and peace with our neighbors. Iz and I have promoted interchange of ideas and projects with the other planets in our sector… and with some that aren’t in our sector. The result has been prosperity for everyone.”
“I like your personal car,” Michael said, “A Dyygitix-16 would cost two years of my salary on our Antar… and we’re doing pretty well ourselves…”
Alex smiled. “One of the planets we trade with buys a lot of Dyygitix-sixteens from us. It’s lowered the price considerably. Right now, it costs the average Antarian the equivalent of about six months’ salary for a Dyygitix-sixteen. A Fan-Ji IV is about three months salary.”
Michael turned to Max and grinned, his mind clearly working overtime on a plot… “Max… if we could trade with this Antar, interdimensionally, think of all the benefits for both planets…”
Max raised his eyebrows… “Trading with our own planet in another dimension… It’s a novel concept. I’m pretty sure it’s never been done. Interesting idea!”
“We’ll trade with you,” Alex said. “If you’re interested, just have your accountants set up a co-op agreement with ours. You’ll need proof of solvency and financial statements for the last five years…”
Liz and Maria laughed out loud, and Max grinned sheepishly, nodding… “No problem, Alex. We can do that.”
“Alex the banker,” Michael mused, grinning broadly, “When did you get to be so savvy, Alex?”
“Experience,” Alex said with a sly grin. “I’ve got to protect the kingdom, you know.”
Michael nodded.
**********
After dinner, Alex and Isabel assigned each couple or individual a guest room for the night. Then they all met on the large balcony on the second floor…
“Iz and I like to come out here and watch the stars at night,” Alex said.
“It reminds me a bit of Frasier Woods,” Isabel added with a wink. “The stars are different, but who can tell. It’s like being back home on Earth… only I’ve got Alex with me now all the time.”
“Well, you have to take the bad with the good, I guess,” Michael joked. Liz slapped Michael playfully on the arm. “Michael, you’re terrible!”
Michael grinned.
Alex put his arms around Isabel and kissed her, and she reciprocated. A moment later, the door behind them opened, and a grandmotherly Antarian lady peeked in.
“Come in, Matiya,” Isabel said, “It’s okay. We’re all sort of family here. Are they ready?”
The lady smiled and nodded, then she opened the door and two little girls ran through the room and out onto the balcony and jumped into Alex and Isabel’s arms.
“This is Maria Elizabeth,” Isabel said, holding the eldest of the two, who appeared to be almost six.
“And this is Gloria Diane,” Alex said, turning the smaller girl, who appeared to be about four, so that they could see her face.
“Oh my God, they’re adorable!” Maria exclaimed, as she and Liz both rushed to hold them, getting there at the same time as Isabel and Tess, who had been standing on the other side.
“You named this one for your mother… and Alex’s mother,” Liz said, taking the four-year-old in her arms and kissing her then handing her to her mother’s double, who looked like she might die if she had to wait one more second to hold the little girl.
Isabel nodded and handed the older girl to Maria. “And we named this one for the two best friends we had to leave behind.”
Maria grinned and took Maria Elizabeth in her arms.
“Another reason we stayed here,” Alex said with a wink. “The girls seem to have developed some unusual… abilities. I blame the Antarian air.”
Isabel nodded. “When Maria Elizabeth was only three months old, we got our first clue that she might be different. I walked in to check on her, and the whole room had a soft glow. Maria Elizabeth didn’t like the dark, so she just waved her little hand or wiggled her little nose or whatever she does and made it light. I still don’t know how she does it, and she can’t tell me.” Isabel turned to her daughter… “How do you make the room light, sweetie?”
The little girl shrugged and smiled… “I just make the dark go away.”
“See what I mean,” Isabel said.
“Sounds pretty clear to me,” Liz said, “She makes the dark go away.”
Isabel laughed and nodded.
“Gloria Diane first started showing an unusual ability at about nine months,” Alex said, “Or, at least, that’s when we first became aware of it… but she may have come by hers honestly… from her mother… Isabel. We first realized something was going on when she kept appearing in our dreams.”
“When she felt frightened or alone… or just in need of cuddling at night,” Isabel said, “She came into our dreams with us. We finally realized that it wasn’t just coincidence that we dreamed about her every night.”
“And she made us all have the same dream together,” Alex added. “She would come into Isabel’s dream, then she would come get me and bring me into the dream with them. Sometimes she would get Maria Elizabeth and bring her into the dream, too. She still does.”
“That’s so sweet,” Liz said.
Alex nodded. “Yeah, it is… but it kind of crimps my dream life, if you know what I mean. I haven’t learned to put child locks on my mind yet, and sometimes when I start to have a great dream about Isabel and me… I wake up and shake my head, because I can’t keep from thinking that Gloria Diane could just come toddling into the dream anytime with Maria Elizabeth by the hand.”
“And I thought Zorel was a handful when he was little,” Michael laughed. “He would stand outside our bedroom door and call for us at night if he heard a noise or had a bad dream or something, and if we ignored him too long, he blasted the lock and let himself in. But at least the blast gave us plenty of warning he was coming… and I could always get more locks.”
“Gloria Diane will learn to use her ability more discretely as she grows older,” Isabel said. “Until then, we can live with it.”
Alex smiled and nodded. “They’re only this age for a few short years. Some day I’ll look back and say, what happened to those good old times… when Gloria Diane would bring us all together at night to cuddle.”
Alex looked at Liz and Maria, and both of them had tears running down their faces.
“Wha… did I say something? I’m so sorry! Really, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to upset you!”
Liz shook her head and sniffed. “You didn’t say anything wrong, Alex. You just made me think about how much I’ve been missing my own children. I haven’t seen them in almost two months, and I never intended to be away from them so long.”
Maria, Isabel, and Tess from the New Granolith were sniffing, too; and Max, Michael, Alex, and Varec looked so glum that Alex wished he could take back everything he had said.
“I’m sorry,” Alex said again, apologetically.
Maria wiped her eyes and smiled. “Don’t be sorry, Alex. What you said was beautiful. We wouldn’t be crying if it weren’t. We’re just all missing our children. You and Isabel are so lucky!”
“But I didn’t want to hurt you, Maria… any of you.”
“You didn’t, Alex. Being away from our families and our homes so long hurts us. But being here with you… this is the closest thing we’ve experienced to home since we’ve been gone; and that’s unexpected, because your planet is the most different in a lot of ways. But there’s a feeling of home here.”
Alex looked around the room, and the others were nodding. He sighed deeply and hugged Isabel and his two little girls together in his arms. “This IS home. This is where Isabel and my girls are… It’s where my heart is.”
“Do you ever miss Earth,” Michael asked.
Alex nodded. “We miss it… but like I said, my heart and soul are right here.”
“That’s why it feels like home,” Liz said.
Maria smiled and nodded… “Because it is home. It’s your home, and we feel it, because you feel it so strongly.”
Alex smiled. “It would be wonderful to see my parents again… and our friends… but the team that was sent to Earth to try to bring Max and Michael back destroyed the only ship we had capable of going that far. They pushed it past its limits and… sort of blew the engines. It was an old model. It can’t be fixed. But we’re building a new one… a better one… more modern. It will be ready in eighteen months. We trade all the time within our system and have a lot of good ships, but Earth is seven galaxies away.”
“A year and a half!” Liz exclaimed. “Alex, you need to find Varec… if he’s here on your Antar.”
Max and Michael laughed and nodded.
Liz turned to Max with a grin, and he took a deep breath. He knew that look. It was the “Can’t-we-do-something-to-help-them” look. Max looked at Michael, and Michael just smiled.
Max turned back to Liz and shrugged, without saying anything. He didn’t have to.
“We can get to Earth in five days… maybe four,” Liz said, “In the New Granolith. If you could take a few days off, we could take you to see your parents and friends.”
Alex and Isabel both smiled from ear to ear, and Isabel collected the girls up into her arms…
“Would you girls like to meet Grandma and Grandpa?”
The girls’ smiles lit up the room. Alex looked back at Max, then he reached out and took Max’s hand in his, with all the warmth of a perfect Antarian hand shake.
tbc
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Island Breeze
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Sliding Into Antar
Sliding Into Antar
Roswell Revisited
Chapter 21
XXI
Jim Valenti looked up from his desk, as his office door opened and Deputy Hansen looked in…
“Uh, Sheriff, there’s some people out here that say they want to talk to you… if you have time.
“Anyone I know, Hansen?”
“No, sir… I don’t think so. They say they’re travelers and they’ve got a problem that only you can help them with.”
“They asked for the sheriff?”
No, sir… I mean, yes, sir… I mean they asked for you, sir… specifically… by name.”
Sheriff Valenti smiled but looked amused… “Well, I never knew I had any kind of reputation outside of Roswell, but okay, show ‘em in. I guess I can give ‘em a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hansen turned to the people waiting outside… “You folks can come in now. The sheriff will see you.”
As Jim watched, three young couples, a fourth young woman, and two little girls walked into his office. Jim stood up and stepped out from behind his desk…
“How can I help you folks? Are you planning to stay with us a while or just passing through?”
“A bit of both,” answered one of the young men, a handsome blond who looked amazingly like a young Robert Redford, “We came to see family, but we won’t be staying.”
“You have family here?” Jim asked, a bit surprised, “Do I know them?”
The young man nodded cautiously, trying to judge the sheriff’s reaction as he spoke…
“Chuck and Gloria Whitman… and Philip and Diane Evans…”
Jim looked at the group again, one by one, and his face became suddenly more serious…
“Where did you folks say you’re from?”
The young man took a deep breath. “I don’t think we did say, and that’s kind of the reason we need your help, sheriff. We’re not from around here… well, not anymore anyway. It’s kind of hard to explain. I’m just going to show you.”
The young man motioned toward the fourth young woman, and she gave him a sort of “are-you-sure” look. He nodded again, and as he did, his entire look began to change… eyes, lips, hair… everything.
Jim instinctively reached for his gun, but he didn’t pull it out of the holster. Instead, he looked back and forth several times between the young man and the young woman who had somehow changed him, then he set his jaw and looked at the young man in deadly earnestness…
“Whoever you are… I think you should know that I am rarely in a mood to play ‘guess-the-alien,’ and that goes double for today. You just made one very big mistake. Alex Whitman died in a car accident back about seven years ago. So you’re impersonating the wrong person.”
Jim walked to his office door and called for Hansen, then he looked back at the Alex look-alike, and as he did, his eyes somehow were drawn to the two little girls standing at his side.
“Sir?” Hansen asked, hurrying to the door.
Jim looked at the girls and swallowed.
“Sir?” Hansen asked again, “Did you need me?”
Jim nodded. “Yes, I did… I mean I do. Hansen…”
“Yes, sir?”
Jim looked at the young man then at the girls again…
“If anyone wants to see me for the rest of the day… I’m going to be unavailable.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jim closed his door and looked at each of his “guests” again… “I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say that none of you is what you appear to be… except these two little girls. I should have seen it before…”
Jim walked over to one of the little girls and put his hand under her chin, lifting her eyes up to meet his…
“I remember a little girl who came to us years ago… one who looked just like this one. Only that one had no known parents, and she was found wandering in the desert. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
The little girl looked at her mother, and her mother said softly, “Chahad na-ee… sto sha dral.”
The little girl smiled and looked at Jim… “Gloria Diane.”
“Gloria Diane… Whitman,” Jim said, adding the last name for her.
The little girl nodded.
“And what’s your name,” Jim asked the other little girl.
“Mali.”
“Chahad dra na-ee," the mother said.
“Maria ‘Lizabeth,” the little girl corrected… “Mali.”
“Mali,” Jim nodded.
“Gidi,” the little girl added, smiling and pointing at her sister.
Jim nodded. “Mali and Gidi… Maria Elizabeth and Gloria Diane. I don’t consider myself a genius, but I’ve been told I’m pretty good at figuring out clues, and I’ve been putting a lot of them together here. The girl’s names… You know, the disappearance of Alex’s body seven years ago and of Isabel Evans and Tess Harding at the same time was a mystery in this town for a long time. Actually, people are still talking about it. I always thought foul play was involved myself. It didn’t seem right that Isabel Evans would disappear like that… Tess Harding, maybe… a body, maybe… but not Isabel. I never found a shred of evidence, but my theory was that Tess stole the body to eliminate some kind of incriminating evidence, and Isabel caught her and wound up getting killed as a result… maybe they both killed each other… or maybe Tess fled afterward…
But now I’ve got a new theory. All of you were in on it… Max, Michael, Tess, Isabel… probably Liz and Maria, too. You stole the body, and Tess took it to the one place where they might be able to do something for him. Isabel went along… either by plan or by accident… I still don’t know why she would disappear without saying a word to her parents… just leave them to suffer like that. How am I doing so far?”
“You’ve got just enough of it right to have it all screwed up,” one of the guests, a tall, blond, almost white-haired young man said drolly.
“Ah! And you would be… let me guess…” Jim said. “Spike, right? Spike… and Buffy.”
The tall, light-haired man looked at the young woman beside him then back at Jim… “You know who Spike and Buffy are?”
Jim ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “I may look old to you kids, but I don’t live in a vacuum. You’re damn lucky you didn’t attract attention walking over here looking like that! That was incredibly STUPID for someone who’s trying to hide.”
“People come to Roswell all the time made up to look like aliens, TV stars, whatever…” the tall man said. “Nobody pays them any attention. The alien convention starts in three days. It’s a ‘circus’ out there.”
Jim nodded. “Okay, I’ll drop the ‘in.’ It was CREDIBLY STUPID.” Jim looked at the girl who had changed Alex back… “Change them back, too.”
She looked at the Spike look-alike, and he nodded.
“I should have known,” Jim said, “Spike and Buffy… Michael and Maria. Of course!”
Jim looked at the pretty redhead, who had already been identified as the mother of the girls…
“Isabel,” he said with certainty.
Isabel nodded, as Tess changed her back.
“I wasn’t quite sure who you were patterned after,” Jim admitted.
“Lucille Ball,” Isabel whispered, “and Willow… a little bit of each.”
Jim nodded. “You were Lucy… and Alex was Robert Redford…”
“Actually, I was going for Brad Pitt with Alex,” Tess said, “Not Robert Redford.”
Jim walked over to the third couple and looked the young woman over. She was a dead ringer for Jessica Alba. “Liz,” he said with certainty, then he turned and looked at the young man with her and grinned…
“Did you piss Tess off, Max?”
“It was Michael’s idea,” Max groaned. “I trusted him.”
Michael snorted. “You should watch more classic TV, Max. Then you’d have known.”
“You said he was a pirate,” Max protested.
“He was… in one episode.”
“Pirates are usually swashbuckling… action types… not this.”
“I tried to tell you,” Tess said.
“I know,” Max sighed, “But someone had already seen us. I couldn’t be changed again out in the open. I just had to go with it.”
Jim nodded.
“Take the warp off,” Max said. Tess grinned and complied.
“I kind of liked the whole Urkel look, Max,” Jim said with a grin. “You might want to use it more often.”
Jim was sure he saw Max’s ears reddening.
“And Rory Gilmore over here is Tess… interesting,” Jim said, raising his eyebrows. “So, Michael… what did I get wrong?”
“We weren’t all in on it. We’re not even who you think we are,” Michael said, noticing the look of concern return to Jim’s eyes.
“Oh, I’m Michael Guerin and he’s Max Evans… and that’s Liz… and Maria… just not the ones you know. We’re from a different dimension. Alex, Isabel, and Tess here are from this dimension. The rest of us are not. We’re kind of… helping them out is all. They needed a ride home. Our doubles in this dimension weren’t involved in the disappearances. They don’t know any more than you did.”
“So… there are different dimensions, too?” Jim asked cautiously… “You mean, there could be an infinite number of Michael Guerins out there somewhere?”
Michael shrugged and smiled. “I guess so.”
“Oh God!” Jim said, sitting down again.
Max chuckled and nodded. “Scary, isn’t it?”
“Don’t blame me because you don’t know the classics, Max,” Michael chided.
“All right… okay…” Jim said, “All other issues aside, why are you here? I mean… in my office? What is it that you need from me?”
“Well,” Max said, “We wanted the girls to see their grandparents and Alex and Isabel to see their parents again… but there’s a little problem. Alex died seven years ago, and everybody in town knows it. If he just pops back up without a really good explanation, it could be chaos. And I can’t even guess what his parents would think. They don’t know about us. My parents… I mean Isabel’s parents… don’t either, not for sure. We were hoping that you could help us come up with an official explanation for the disappearances and reappearances… like Alex wasn’t really in a car wreck, he was working on a secret government coding project or something… and Isabel was helping him… and Tess went to California or something. We thought you could come up with something credible… so they can… you know… appear again.”
Jim let out a long breath. “You don’t ask for miracles, do you, Max? Let me think about it. I’ll see what I can come up with.” Jim looked at Mali and Gidi and winked. “We all want these girls to see their grandparents after all.”
“Thank you,” Max said softly.
“How did you get here,” Jim asked, his mind already going to work on a plan… “Do you have a space ship or something hidden out there in the desert?”
Max smiled. “It’s hidden… but not in the desert.”
“Where is it?”
Max pointed upward and grinned.
Jim walked to the window and looked up, but he saw nothing but a blue sky and a few clouds.
“You won’t see it,” Max said, “It’s enveloped in an invisibility shield. But it’s there… directly above us.”
“How big of a ship are we talking about,” Jim asked.
“Big,” Max replied. “If it weren’t encased in the invisibility shield, a quarter of Roswell would have the sun blocked out right now.”
“That’s… big,” Jim agreed.
Max nodded.
“I think I may be able to solve your problem,” Jim said. “Go back to your ship and wait for me to contact you. Uh… how do I do that, by the way?”
Michael reached into his pocket and took out a small item that looked like a tie clip, then he handed it to Jim.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a communication device. You press it here then speak into it. We’ll get the message. It’s not two-way, so we can’t answer back… but we’ll get back to you.”
Jim nodded. “Okay. Can I offer some advice?”
Max nodded.
“Don’t use the disguises you used when you came here. They’re bound to draw attention, convention or no convention coming up. People expect to see masks, paint, fake antennae, all that stuff… not the real items… and not something that looks like the real items. Attention is something you want to avoid, even in disguise.”
Michael nodded then took out another small device and passed his right hand over it. Suddenly, part of the room was flooded in an odd soft light…
“We won’t need the disguises. We’ll wait for you to call.”
Michael stepped into the light and disappeared, then each of the others did the same, leaving Jim standing in the room alone. For a moment, Jim wondered if what had just happened had really happened, then he noticed the communication pin in his hand. He clipped it onto the underside of his collar, out of sight, and opened the door of his office.
Hansen was sitting at a desk in the lobby, his head resting on his hands, and he jumped up when Jim walked in.
“Sorry, sir… I was just resting. I’ve been working late hours recently.”
“It’s okay,” Jim said. “Go ahead and relax. I know I’ve been working you pretty hard.”
“Did you leave those people in your office alone, sir?”
“They left already. Didn’t you see them?”
“N- No, sir. I… I didn’t.”
Jim nodded. “Watch the office for me, okay, Hansen? I’ve got to go see someone. I expect to be back before closing time.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jim left the building, closing the door behind him. Hansen sat at his desk for several moments, with a puzzled look on his face, then he got up and walked into Jim’s office. The people were gone. Hansen looked out the window and shook his head, then he sat down on Jim’s chair…
“The only other way they could have got out of here is if they climbed out the window and down the wall. I’ve got to be working too hard… They walked right past me, and I slept through it. It’s the only possibility. Hansen… note to self: Get a full night’s sleep tonight. You’re starting to zombie out.”
**********
The group of friends on the New Granolith didn’t have to wait long to hear from Jim. A little over three hours after they returned to the ship, the communicator light came on.
“Sheriff Valenti is trying to contact us,” Liz said.
Varec handed Max something he had hurriedly improvised that looked vaguely like a cell phone, but instead of keys for all the numbers from 0 to 9 it had a single button in the middle.
“What do I do with it,” Max asked.
“Just press the button. It’s cross-linked with the earth system and calibrated to the number in the sheriff’s personal office.”
“You tapped into his phone?”
Varec nodded.
Max smiled and pressed the button. As he did, the phone in Jim’s office began to ring, and Jim picked it up…
“Roswell Sheriff’s Office… Jim Valenti speaking. How can I help you?”
“We’re returning your call, Sheriff.”
“Max?”
“Did you come up with a plan, sheriff?”
“Max, how did you…? If you have a phone up there, why didn’t you just give me the number?”
“It’s unlisted.”
Jim removed the receiver from his ear and looked at it as though it had malfunctioned, then he put it back to his ear again…
“You tapped into my line.”
“Yes.”
Jim shook his head. “I solved your problem. Shine that light thing down here in my office again so I can come up there, and we’ll discuss it.”
There was a short pause, then Max came back on the line. “Okay. Be ready.”
“I’m ready now,” Jim said.
A moment later, a part of the room was awash in a soft, almost invisible light that was, in reality, composed of magnetic ions rather than light as we know it. Jim turned to Chuck and Gloria Whitman then to Philip and Diane Evans and held out his hand…
“I’ll go first if you’d like.”
“We’ll all go together,” Philip said.
Jim nodded and stepped into the ion field, and the others did the same. Then they all disappeared.
On the New Granolith, five new “guests” appeared. The door of the transference chamber opened, and Jim stepped out into the ship followed by Chuck and Gloria Whitman then Philip and Diane Evans. Max, Michael, and the others were all there, waiting. But this time, the surprise was on them… They had only expected to see Jim.
Diane spotted Isabel immediately and rushed past the others, with Philip right behind her, to hug her daughter. She tried to speak but found the words too hard, and both of them wound up just holding each other and sobbing. Chuck and Gloria Whitman rushed to Alex’s side, huge smiles on both of their faces and tears of joy in their eyes.
“Jim… what did you tell them,” Max asked in a whisper. “We need to get our stories coordinated.”
“The truth,” Jim said.
Max looked at Jim, incredulous.
“You’ve got this whole big spaceship floating up here invisibly, Max. I thought about that and realized that you could all get together here and not have to worry about what anyone else knew or didn’t know… You’ve got total privacy here. I told them the simple, unvarnished truth, Max. Trust them a little bit. Those of us who are in the next generation up from you aren’t totally incapable of understanding or accepting the truth… even when it’s as bizarre as this is right now. We just need logical… or at least reasonable… explanations. That’s what I tried to give them.”
“And they believed you?”
Jim shrugged. “They’re here, aren’t they?”
Diane knelt down in front of Mali and Gidi and looked into their faces. “This one looks just like you, Isabel, when you were her age.”
Isabel nodded and wiped her still-tear-filled eyes… “Gidi… Mali… Myy’la t’l alad na Grandma Evans.”
“Grandma Evans,” Gidi repeated, throwing her arms around Diane and hugging her tightly, as Mali threw her arms around her, too. Diane hugged Gidi and Mali to her and found her tears starting to flow again. If Diane had had her way, she probably would have held the girls until they had to beg to be let go, but Gloria and Chuck Whitman were already anxiously waiting to meet them, too.
“Gidi… Mali… Myy’la t’l alad na Grandma Whitman, Grandpa Whitman.”
Both girls threw their arms around Alex’s parents -their grandparents- and hugged them tightly.
“Grandma… Grandpa…” Mali said softly, enjoying the sound of the alien words that felt somehow so right.
“Ta myy’la t’l alad na Grandpa Evans,” Isabel said, as Philip held out his arms to the girls. Both Gidi and Mali climbed into Philip’s arms, and he picked them both up and held them, kissing them each on the cheek and smiling from ear to ear…
“I never thought this day would come,” Chuck Whitman said, as he stood with his arm around Alex’s shoulders, his own eyes brimming with tears in spite of the enormous smile on his face. “It’s a miracle!”
Gloria put one hand on each side of her son’s face and kissed him yet again, then she looked at him and smiled. “It IS a miracle, you know, Alex.”
Alex nodded. “I know, Mom. I’ve wanted to share it with you and Dad for the last seven years, but I had to wait for these guys to come along and make it happen. I didn’t have a spaceship that could make it back to earth again. We’re building one now.”
Charles nodded understandingly… “Are you happy, Alex? Jim said you would be going back. Is that because of the girls?”
“Well, yeah, Dad… it’s the girls… but there’s more than that that you don’t know yet. Sheriff Valenti doesn’t know either. I kind of have to go back. I have a… a job.”
Gloria laughed. “Oh, Alex! I think they would understand if you quit your job. It’s not like you don’t have a good reason. Are they treating you well? Do you have everything you need? Do they pay you enough to live on… comfortably, I mean?”
Alex shook his head and smiled, then he looked at his dad. “I don’t have you and Dad, Mom. But except for that… yeah… they treat me well. I have everything else I need.”
“Just stay here for a while, Alex…” Gloria said, “A few months… a year. I’m sure you’ll change your mind and stay with us if you just give it a chance. You’re feeling grateful because they saved your life. That’s understandable. But you belong here with us. Please stay, Alex.”
Alex shook his head again… “I can’t, Mom. I would dearly love to be near you and Dad, but I have a job… an… important job. I can’t just walk away from it. Too many people depend on me now.”
“Your dad could get you a job at the mill, Alex. It doesn’t pay much to start, but they advance good workers there quickly. You could bring your family and live with us until you’re able to save up and get a place of your own. If the mill doesn’t suit you, there are other jobs… you could even find something in another city. Finish your senior year of high school… or take the GED. Go to college. Then you can get a real job… a good job. Alex, anything would be closer than where you are!”
“I can’t, Mom. Believe me when I tell you this, I love you… and Dad, too… with all my heart, but I can’t. I… I belong there now. They need me.”
Gloria sighed. “You always were a diligent son, Alex. If I can’t convince you to stay here with us now that you’re back, I hope they at least appreciate you up there.”
“They do,” Isabel said, walking over and putting an arm around her husband, “They made him the king… of the planet.”
For several long moments, nobody spoke. It seemed like longer than it actually was, especially to Alex. He had actually wanted to tell his parents this small detail, but somehow he hadn’t been able to figure out how to do it in a way that would not seem, at least to him, immodest.
At this moment, a part of Alex wanted to run and hide under a table. It wasn’t that he was shy. He wasn’t. In fact, Mister “I-The-Stud,” Mister “Spank-the cop,” could be quite outgoing, even dicey, at times, but there was also this odd streak of modesty, and right now, it was in full bloom.
Isabel, on the other hand, was enjoying the Whitmans’, her own parents’, and Jim’s reactions immensely. Her eyes seemed to dance when she said that Alex was the king. It embarrassed Alex, but he had to admit to himself that he loved it. He would probably never understand what Isabel, who in his eyes was simply born beautiful, and a princess by all rights, actually saw in him. But he loved it when Isabel lavished praise on him. Isabel could have told everyone that she was the queen, but her first thought… her only thought… had been for him. It gave her an almost child-like joy to say, “Alex is the king… my Alex!”
“King?” Chuck asked, finally breaking the silence… “As in… castle and all that?”
“It’s more like a palace, Dad.”
“Oh.” Chuck nodded. “I guess you won’t be needing that recommendation at the mill then.”
Alex shook his head. “No, Dad.”
“I’d love to hear how this all came about,” Chuck said. Mrs. Whitman nodded… “So would I!”
Alex smiled… “It’s a long story, Dad… and boring. The gist of it is that their king… the legitimate one… was killed by a bad dude named Kivar, and his DNA was secretly preserved so that he could be regrown from a baby and brought back, but with his former memories intact. That’s the way it was supposed to be. But when it was time for him to come back, he had fallen in love and didn’t want to be the king anymore or come back to his planet. He was happy where he was with his new bride. After Tess took me to Antar with her to be healed, she tricked Kivar into annihilating himself, and Iz and I got the planet’s government back on an even keel. The people there got to know us and… well, they just decided that Iz and I would be a good king and queen. And we took the job.”
“That’s it?” Gloria asked.
Alex shrugged. “I told you it was boring.”
“Well, I don’t think it was boring at all,” Gloria said. “I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“No, Mom! You can’t! I’m sorry… but you can’t tell anyone about this, Mom… You either, Dad. There’s someone whose life could be in serious danger if certain people found out where he is…”
“The former king… he’s here… on earth,” Chuck surmised.
Alex nodded. “Your own lives could be in danger, too… from the same people.”
“What people?” Chuck asked.
“Certain elements in the FBI… and in the army… and former followers of Kivar called ‘skins.’ They could be dangerous to you… if they had any idea that you had anything to do with the… you know… the ‘aliens.’”
Chuck nodded. “I think I understand. Did you know about all this Jim?”
Sheriff Valenti shook his head. “Apparently not everything. Alex neglected to tell me that he and Isabel were the king and queen now.”
“Did you know about this other alien king among us, Jim… the real one?”
“I heard… things… you know how it is in Roswell, Chuck. You hear all kinds of talk. You don’t pay much attention to most of it… at least not where aliens are concerned.”
“Jim… why do I think you know more than you’re admitting?”
Jim smiled. “If I do, Chuck, it might be because I’ve told you all I can. You wouldn’t want me to say anything that would endanger any citizens… or break any confidences… I’m sure.”
Chuck nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Whoever he is,” Gloria said softly, “His people returned Alex to us, Charles. They must be good.”
“Yeah…” Chuck nodded… “Yeah, they did, didn’t they. You’re right, Gloria. We owe them a huge debt.
Besides…” Chuck leaned over and picked up Mali… “In a way, we’re related to them now. Our granddaughters were born on their planet. They’re Antarians. They don’t even speak our language.”
Gloria knelt down in front of Gidi… “Gidi, how do you say ‘I love you’ in Antarian?”
Gidi smiled and threw her arms around her grandmother, hugging her tightly and kissing her.
Gloria looked at Chuck and grinned. “They speak my language, Chuck. I understand them just fine.”
Chuck nodded and kissed Mali on the cheek, and she smiled and hugged him. He wiped his eyes with his free hand and smiled back at her. “We do speak the same language after all, don’t we.”
tbc
Roswell Revisited
Chapter 21
XXI
Jim Valenti looked up from his desk, as his office door opened and Deputy Hansen looked in…
“Uh, Sheriff, there’s some people out here that say they want to talk to you… if you have time.
“Anyone I know, Hansen?”
“No, sir… I don’t think so. They say they’re travelers and they’ve got a problem that only you can help them with.”
“They asked for the sheriff?”
No, sir… I mean, yes, sir… I mean they asked for you, sir… specifically… by name.”
Sheriff Valenti smiled but looked amused… “Well, I never knew I had any kind of reputation outside of Roswell, but okay, show ‘em in. I guess I can give ‘em a few minutes.”
“Yes, sir.”
Hansen turned to the people waiting outside… “You folks can come in now. The sheriff will see you.”
As Jim watched, three young couples, a fourth young woman, and two little girls walked into his office. Jim stood up and stepped out from behind his desk…
“How can I help you folks? Are you planning to stay with us a while or just passing through?”
“A bit of both,” answered one of the young men, a handsome blond who looked amazingly like a young Robert Redford, “We came to see family, but we won’t be staying.”
“You have family here?” Jim asked, a bit surprised, “Do I know them?”
The young man nodded cautiously, trying to judge the sheriff’s reaction as he spoke…
“Chuck and Gloria Whitman… and Philip and Diane Evans…”
Jim looked at the group again, one by one, and his face became suddenly more serious…
“Where did you folks say you’re from?”
The young man took a deep breath. “I don’t think we did say, and that’s kind of the reason we need your help, sheriff. We’re not from around here… well, not anymore anyway. It’s kind of hard to explain. I’m just going to show you.”
The young man motioned toward the fourth young woman, and she gave him a sort of “are-you-sure” look. He nodded again, and as he did, his entire look began to change… eyes, lips, hair… everything.
Jim instinctively reached for his gun, but he didn’t pull it out of the holster. Instead, he looked back and forth several times between the young man and the young woman who had somehow changed him, then he set his jaw and looked at the young man in deadly earnestness…
“Whoever you are… I think you should know that I am rarely in a mood to play ‘guess-the-alien,’ and that goes double for today. You just made one very big mistake. Alex Whitman died in a car accident back about seven years ago. So you’re impersonating the wrong person.”
Jim walked to his office door and called for Hansen, then he looked back at the Alex look-alike, and as he did, his eyes somehow were drawn to the two little girls standing at his side.
“Sir?” Hansen asked, hurrying to the door.
Jim looked at the girls and swallowed.
“Sir?” Hansen asked again, “Did you need me?”
Jim nodded. “Yes, I did… I mean I do. Hansen…”
“Yes, sir?”
Jim looked at the young man then at the girls again…
“If anyone wants to see me for the rest of the day… I’m going to be unavailable.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jim closed his door and looked at each of his “guests” again… “I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say that none of you is what you appear to be… except these two little girls. I should have seen it before…”
Jim walked over to one of the little girls and put his hand under her chin, lifting her eyes up to meet his…
“I remember a little girl who came to us years ago… one who looked just like this one. Only that one had no known parents, and she was found wandering in the desert. What’s your name, sweetheart?”
The little girl looked at her mother, and her mother said softly, “Chahad na-ee… sto sha dral.”
The little girl smiled and looked at Jim… “Gloria Diane.”
“Gloria Diane… Whitman,” Jim said, adding the last name for her.
The little girl nodded.
“And what’s your name,” Jim asked the other little girl.
“Mali.”
“Chahad dra na-ee," the mother said.
“Maria ‘Lizabeth,” the little girl corrected… “Mali.”
“Mali,” Jim nodded.
“Gidi,” the little girl added, smiling and pointing at her sister.
Jim nodded. “Mali and Gidi… Maria Elizabeth and Gloria Diane. I don’t consider myself a genius, but I’ve been told I’m pretty good at figuring out clues, and I’ve been putting a lot of them together here. The girl’s names… You know, the disappearance of Alex’s body seven years ago and of Isabel Evans and Tess Harding at the same time was a mystery in this town for a long time. Actually, people are still talking about it. I always thought foul play was involved myself. It didn’t seem right that Isabel Evans would disappear like that… Tess Harding, maybe… a body, maybe… but not Isabel. I never found a shred of evidence, but my theory was that Tess stole the body to eliminate some kind of incriminating evidence, and Isabel caught her and wound up getting killed as a result… maybe they both killed each other… or maybe Tess fled afterward…
But now I’ve got a new theory. All of you were in on it… Max, Michael, Tess, Isabel… probably Liz and Maria, too. You stole the body, and Tess took it to the one place where they might be able to do something for him. Isabel went along… either by plan or by accident… I still don’t know why she would disappear without saying a word to her parents… just leave them to suffer like that. How am I doing so far?”
“You’ve got just enough of it right to have it all screwed up,” one of the guests, a tall, blond, almost white-haired young man said drolly.
“Ah! And you would be… let me guess…” Jim said. “Spike, right? Spike… and Buffy.”
The tall, light-haired man looked at the young woman beside him then back at Jim… “You know who Spike and Buffy are?”
Jim ran his hand through his hair in exasperation. “I may look old to you kids, but I don’t live in a vacuum. You’re damn lucky you didn’t attract attention walking over here looking like that! That was incredibly STUPID for someone who’s trying to hide.”
“People come to Roswell all the time made up to look like aliens, TV stars, whatever…” the tall man said. “Nobody pays them any attention. The alien convention starts in three days. It’s a ‘circus’ out there.”
Jim nodded. “Okay, I’ll drop the ‘in.’ It was CREDIBLY STUPID.” Jim looked at the girl who had changed Alex back… “Change them back, too.”
She looked at the Spike look-alike, and he nodded.
“I should have known,” Jim said, “Spike and Buffy… Michael and Maria. Of course!”
Jim looked at the pretty redhead, who had already been identified as the mother of the girls…
“Isabel,” he said with certainty.
Isabel nodded, as Tess changed her back.
“I wasn’t quite sure who you were patterned after,” Jim admitted.
“Lucille Ball,” Isabel whispered, “and Willow… a little bit of each.”
Jim nodded. “You were Lucy… and Alex was Robert Redford…”
“Actually, I was going for Brad Pitt with Alex,” Tess said, “Not Robert Redford.”
Jim walked over to the third couple and looked the young woman over. She was a dead ringer for Jessica Alba. “Liz,” he said with certainty, then he turned and looked at the young man with her and grinned…
“Did you piss Tess off, Max?”
“It was Michael’s idea,” Max groaned. “I trusted him.”
Michael snorted. “You should watch more classic TV, Max. Then you’d have known.”
“You said he was a pirate,” Max protested.
“He was… in one episode.”
“Pirates are usually swashbuckling… action types… not this.”
“I tried to tell you,” Tess said.
“I know,” Max sighed, “But someone had already seen us. I couldn’t be changed again out in the open. I just had to go with it.”
Jim nodded.
“Take the warp off,” Max said. Tess grinned and complied.
“I kind of liked the whole Urkel look, Max,” Jim said with a grin. “You might want to use it more often.”
Jim was sure he saw Max’s ears reddening.
“And Rory Gilmore over here is Tess… interesting,” Jim said, raising his eyebrows. “So, Michael… what did I get wrong?”
“We weren’t all in on it. We’re not even who you think we are,” Michael said, noticing the look of concern return to Jim’s eyes.
“Oh, I’m Michael Guerin and he’s Max Evans… and that’s Liz… and Maria… just not the ones you know. We’re from a different dimension. Alex, Isabel, and Tess here are from this dimension. The rest of us are not. We’re kind of… helping them out is all. They needed a ride home. Our doubles in this dimension weren’t involved in the disappearances. They don’t know any more than you did.”
“So… there are different dimensions, too?” Jim asked cautiously… “You mean, there could be an infinite number of Michael Guerins out there somewhere?”
Michael shrugged and smiled. “I guess so.”
“Oh God!” Jim said, sitting down again.
Max chuckled and nodded. “Scary, isn’t it?”
“Don’t blame me because you don’t know the classics, Max,” Michael chided.
“All right… okay…” Jim said, “All other issues aside, why are you here? I mean… in my office? What is it that you need from me?”
“Well,” Max said, “We wanted the girls to see their grandparents and Alex and Isabel to see their parents again… but there’s a little problem. Alex died seven years ago, and everybody in town knows it. If he just pops back up without a really good explanation, it could be chaos. And I can’t even guess what his parents would think. They don’t know about us. My parents… I mean Isabel’s parents… don’t either, not for sure. We were hoping that you could help us come up with an official explanation for the disappearances and reappearances… like Alex wasn’t really in a car wreck, he was working on a secret government coding project or something… and Isabel was helping him… and Tess went to California or something. We thought you could come up with something credible… so they can… you know… appear again.”
Jim let out a long breath. “You don’t ask for miracles, do you, Max? Let me think about it. I’ll see what I can come up with.” Jim looked at Mali and Gidi and winked. “We all want these girls to see their grandparents after all.”
“Thank you,” Max said softly.
“How did you get here,” Jim asked, his mind already going to work on a plan… “Do you have a space ship or something hidden out there in the desert?”
Max smiled. “It’s hidden… but not in the desert.”
“Where is it?”
Max pointed upward and grinned.
Jim walked to the window and looked up, but he saw nothing but a blue sky and a few clouds.
“You won’t see it,” Max said, “It’s enveloped in an invisibility shield. But it’s there… directly above us.”
“How big of a ship are we talking about,” Jim asked.
“Big,” Max replied. “If it weren’t encased in the invisibility shield, a quarter of Roswell would have the sun blocked out right now.”
“That’s… big,” Jim agreed.
Max nodded.
“I think I may be able to solve your problem,” Jim said. “Go back to your ship and wait for me to contact you. Uh… how do I do that, by the way?”
Michael reached into his pocket and took out a small item that looked like a tie clip, then he handed it to Jim.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a communication device. You press it here then speak into it. We’ll get the message. It’s not two-way, so we can’t answer back… but we’ll get back to you.”
Jim nodded. “Okay. Can I offer some advice?”
Max nodded.
“Don’t use the disguises you used when you came here. They’re bound to draw attention, convention or no convention coming up. People expect to see masks, paint, fake antennae, all that stuff… not the real items… and not something that looks like the real items. Attention is something you want to avoid, even in disguise.”
Michael nodded then took out another small device and passed his right hand over it. Suddenly, part of the room was flooded in an odd soft light…
“We won’t need the disguises. We’ll wait for you to call.”
Michael stepped into the light and disappeared, then each of the others did the same, leaving Jim standing in the room alone. For a moment, Jim wondered if what had just happened had really happened, then he noticed the communication pin in his hand. He clipped it onto the underside of his collar, out of sight, and opened the door of his office.
Hansen was sitting at a desk in the lobby, his head resting on his hands, and he jumped up when Jim walked in.
“Sorry, sir… I was just resting. I’ve been working late hours recently.”
“It’s okay,” Jim said. “Go ahead and relax. I know I’ve been working you pretty hard.”
“Did you leave those people in your office alone, sir?”
“They left already. Didn’t you see them?”
“N- No, sir. I… I didn’t.”
Jim nodded. “Watch the office for me, okay, Hansen? I’ve got to go see someone. I expect to be back before closing time.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jim left the building, closing the door behind him. Hansen sat at his desk for several moments, with a puzzled look on his face, then he got up and walked into Jim’s office. The people were gone. Hansen looked out the window and shook his head, then he sat down on Jim’s chair…
“The only other way they could have got out of here is if they climbed out the window and down the wall. I’ve got to be working too hard… They walked right past me, and I slept through it. It’s the only possibility. Hansen… note to self: Get a full night’s sleep tonight. You’re starting to zombie out.”
**********
The group of friends on the New Granolith didn’t have to wait long to hear from Jim. A little over three hours after they returned to the ship, the communicator light came on.
“Sheriff Valenti is trying to contact us,” Liz said.
Varec handed Max something he had hurriedly improvised that looked vaguely like a cell phone, but instead of keys for all the numbers from 0 to 9 it had a single button in the middle.
“What do I do with it,” Max asked.
“Just press the button. It’s cross-linked with the earth system and calibrated to the number in the sheriff’s personal office.”
“You tapped into his phone?”
Varec nodded.
Max smiled and pressed the button. As he did, the phone in Jim’s office began to ring, and Jim picked it up…
“Roswell Sheriff’s Office… Jim Valenti speaking. How can I help you?”
“We’re returning your call, Sheriff.”
“Max?”
“Did you come up with a plan, sheriff?”
“Max, how did you…? If you have a phone up there, why didn’t you just give me the number?”
“It’s unlisted.”
Jim removed the receiver from his ear and looked at it as though it had malfunctioned, then he put it back to his ear again…
“You tapped into my line.”
“Yes.”
Jim shook his head. “I solved your problem. Shine that light thing down here in my office again so I can come up there, and we’ll discuss it.”
There was a short pause, then Max came back on the line. “Okay. Be ready.”
“I’m ready now,” Jim said.
A moment later, a part of the room was awash in a soft, almost invisible light that was, in reality, composed of magnetic ions rather than light as we know it. Jim turned to Chuck and Gloria Whitman then to Philip and Diane Evans and held out his hand…
“I’ll go first if you’d like.”
“We’ll all go together,” Philip said.
Jim nodded and stepped into the ion field, and the others did the same. Then they all disappeared.
On the New Granolith, five new “guests” appeared. The door of the transference chamber opened, and Jim stepped out into the ship followed by Chuck and Gloria Whitman then Philip and Diane Evans. Max, Michael, and the others were all there, waiting. But this time, the surprise was on them… They had only expected to see Jim.
Diane spotted Isabel immediately and rushed past the others, with Philip right behind her, to hug her daughter. She tried to speak but found the words too hard, and both of them wound up just holding each other and sobbing. Chuck and Gloria Whitman rushed to Alex’s side, huge smiles on both of their faces and tears of joy in their eyes.
“Jim… what did you tell them,” Max asked in a whisper. “We need to get our stories coordinated.”
“The truth,” Jim said.
Max looked at Jim, incredulous.
“You’ve got this whole big spaceship floating up here invisibly, Max. I thought about that and realized that you could all get together here and not have to worry about what anyone else knew or didn’t know… You’ve got total privacy here. I told them the simple, unvarnished truth, Max. Trust them a little bit. Those of us who are in the next generation up from you aren’t totally incapable of understanding or accepting the truth… even when it’s as bizarre as this is right now. We just need logical… or at least reasonable… explanations. That’s what I tried to give them.”
“And they believed you?”
Jim shrugged. “They’re here, aren’t they?”
Diane knelt down in front of Mali and Gidi and looked into their faces. “This one looks just like you, Isabel, when you were her age.”
Isabel nodded and wiped her still-tear-filled eyes… “Gidi… Mali… Myy’la t’l alad na Grandma Evans.”
“Grandma Evans,” Gidi repeated, throwing her arms around Diane and hugging her tightly, as Mali threw her arms around her, too. Diane hugged Gidi and Mali to her and found her tears starting to flow again. If Diane had had her way, she probably would have held the girls until they had to beg to be let go, but Gloria and Chuck Whitman were already anxiously waiting to meet them, too.
“Gidi… Mali… Myy’la t’l alad na Grandma Whitman, Grandpa Whitman.”
Both girls threw their arms around Alex’s parents -their grandparents- and hugged them tightly.
“Grandma… Grandpa…” Mali said softly, enjoying the sound of the alien words that felt somehow so right.
“Ta myy’la t’l alad na Grandpa Evans,” Isabel said, as Philip held out his arms to the girls. Both Gidi and Mali climbed into Philip’s arms, and he picked them both up and held them, kissing them each on the cheek and smiling from ear to ear…
“I never thought this day would come,” Chuck Whitman said, as he stood with his arm around Alex’s shoulders, his own eyes brimming with tears in spite of the enormous smile on his face. “It’s a miracle!”
Gloria put one hand on each side of her son’s face and kissed him yet again, then she looked at him and smiled. “It IS a miracle, you know, Alex.”
Alex nodded. “I know, Mom. I’ve wanted to share it with you and Dad for the last seven years, but I had to wait for these guys to come along and make it happen. I didn’t have a spaceship that could make it back to earth again. We’re building one now.”
Charles nodded understandingly… “Are you happy, Alex? Jim said you would be going back. Is that because of the girls?”
“Well, yeah, Dad… it’s the girls… but there’s more than that that you don’t know yet. Sheriff Valenti doesn’t know either. I kind of have to go back. I have a… a job.”
Gloria laughed. “Oh, Alex! I think they would understand if you quit your job. It’s not like you don’t have a good reason. Are they treating you well? Do you have everything you need? Do they pay you enough to live on… comfortably, I mean?”
Alex shook his head and smiled, then he looked at his dad. “I don’t have you and Dad, Mom. But except for that… yeah… they treat me well. I have everything else I need.”
“Just stay here for a while, Alex…” Gloria said, “A few months… a year. I’m sure you’ll change your mind and stay with us if you just give it a chance. You’re feeling grateful because they saved your life. That’s understandable. But you belong here with us. Please stay, Alex.”
Alex shook his head again… “I can’t, Mom. I would dearly love to be near you and Dad, but I have a job… an… important job. I can’t just walk away from it. Too many people depend on me now.”
“Your dad could get you a job at the mill, Alex. It doesn’t pay much to start, but they advance good workers there quickly. You could bring your family and live with us until you’re able to save up and get a place of your own. If the mill doesn’t suit you, there are other jobs… you could even find something in another city. Finish your senior year of high school… or take the GED. Go to college. Then you can get a real job… a good job. Alex, anything would be closer than where you are!”
“I can’t, Mom. Believe me when I tell you this, I love you… and Dad, too… with all my heart, but I can’t. I… I belong there now. They need me.”
Gloria sighed. “You always were a diligent son, Alex. If I can’t convince you to stay here with us now that you’re back, I hope they at least appreciate you up there.”
“They do,” Isabel said, walking over and putting an arm around her husband, “They made him the king… of the planet.”
For several long moments, nobody spoke. It seemed like longer than it actually was, especially to Alex. He had actually wanted to tell his parents this small detail, but somehow he hadn’t been able to figure out how to do it in a way that would not seem, at least to him, immodest.
At this moment, a part of Alex wanted to run and hide under a table. It wasn’t that he was shy. He wasn’t. In fact, Mister “I-The-Stud,” Mister “Spank-the cop,” could be quite outgoing, even dicey, at times, but there was also this odd streak of modesty, and right now, it was in full bloom.
Isabel, on the other hand, was enjoying the Whitmans’, her own parents’, and Jim’s reactions immensely. Her eyes seemed to dance when she said that Alex was the king. It embarrassed Alex, but he had to admit to himself that he loved it. He would probably never understand what Isabel, who in his eyes was simply born beautiful, and a princess by all rights, actually saw in him. But he loved it when Isabel lavished praise on him. Isabel could have told everyone that she was the queen, but her first thought… her only thought… had been for him. It gave her an almost child-like joy to say, “Alex is the king… my Alex!”
“King?” Chuck asked, finally breaking the silence… “As in… castle and all that?”
“It’s more like a palace, Dad.”
“Oh.” Chuck nodded. “I guess you won’t be needing that recommendation at the mill then.”
Alex shook his head. “No, Dad.”
“I’d love to hear how this all came about,” Chuck said. Mrs. Whitman nodded… “So would I!”
Alex smiled… “It’s a long story, Dad… and boring. The gist of it is that their king… the legitimate one… was killed by a bad dude named Kivar, and his DNA was secretly preserved so that he could be regrown from a baby and brought back, but with his former memories intact. That’s the way it was supposed to be. But when it was time for him to come back, he had fallen in love and didn’t want to be the king anymore or come back to his planet. He was happy where he was with his new bride. After Tess took me to Antar with her to be healed, she tricked Kivar into annihilating himself, and Iz and I got the planet’s government back on an even keel. The people there got to know us and… well, they just decided that Iz and I would be a good king and queen. And we took the job.”
“That’s it?” Gloria asked.
Alex shrugged. “I told you it was boring.”
“Well, I don’t think it was boring at all,” Gloria said. “I can’t wait to tell everyone.”
“No, Mom! You can’t! I’m sorry… but you can’t tell anyone about this, Mom… You either, Dad. There’s someone whose life could be in serious danger if certain people found out where he is…”
“The former king… he’s here… on earth,” Chuck surmised.
Alex nodded. “Your own lives could be in danger, too… from the same people.”
“What people?” Chuck asked.
“Certain elements in the FBI… and in the army… and former followers of Kivar called ‘skins.’ They could be dangerous to you… if they had any idea that you had anything to do with the… you know… the ‘aliens.’”
Chuck nodded. “I think I understand. Did you know about all this Jim?”
Sheriff Valenti shook his head. “Apparently not everything. Alex neglected to tell me that he and Isabel were the king and queen now.”
“Did you know about this other alien king among us, Jim… the real one?”
“I heard… things… you know how it is in Roswell, Chuck. You hear all kinds of talk. You don’t pay much attention to most of it… at least not where aliens are concerned.”
“Jim… why do I think you know more than you’re admitting?”
Jim smiled. “If I do, Chuck, it might be because I’ve told you all I can. You wouldn’t want me to say anything that would endanger any citizens… or break any confidences… I’m sure.”
Chuck nodded. “Fair enough.”
“Whoever he is,” Gloria said softly, “His people returned Alex to us, Charles. They must be good.”
“Yeah…” Chuck nodded… “Yeah, they did, didn’t they. You’re right, Gloria. We owe them a huge debt.
Besides…” Chuck leaned over and picked up Mali… “In a way, we’re related to them now. Our granddaughters were born on their planet. They’re Antarians. They don’t even speak our language.”
Gloria knelt down in front of Gidi… “Gidi, how do you say ‘I love you’ in Antarian?”
Gidi smiled and threw her arms around her grandmother, hugging her tightly and kissing her.
Gloria looked at Chuck and grinned. “They speak my language, Chuck. I understand them just fine.”
Chuck nodded and kissed Mali on the cheek, and she smiled and hugged him. He wiped his eyes with his free hand and smiled back at her. “We do speak the same language after all, don’t we.”
tbc
Last edited by Island Breeze on Fri May 06, 2005 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Island Breeze
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Sliding Into Antar
Sliding Into Antar
My Home Is In The Stars
Chapter 22
XXII
Oh give me a home where the wild pawgors roam
Where the yeggs and long-hair shebbles play
Where seldom is heard an English word
And the ocean is golden all day
Home, home on Antar
Where the jah-ee and jaras-dru play
Where cars float on air
And the skies are all clear
And the ocean is golden to stay…
Alex ran through a bright and musically complex, if somewhat un-western-sounding rift to end the song then looked at his guitar again lovingly and set it down at his side, as Mali and Gidi clapped appreciatively.
“This is so awesome, Mom! I can’t believe you thought to bring me my guitar!”
Gloria smiled, returning another hug from Mali, who was sitting in her lap. “Well, I’ve missed hearing you play it in your room every night before you go to bed, Alex. I… we, that is… have a lot of missed time to catch up on.”
Alex smiled… “We do, don’t we!”
“Interesting version of Home On The Range, son,” Chuck said with a chuckle, as he balanced Gidi on his shoulders.
Alex grinned… “One of my first kingly requests was to have them make me a new guitar on Antar, and I made that version of the song up… kind of as a lark. Back then all I had was Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein?” Gloria asked, with a puzzled expression on her face.
Isabel nodded… “They made him four guitars before they got it right. Alex kept all four… and gave each one a name. ‘Frankenstein’ was the first one.”
Alex chuckled… “They got it all wrong… It looked like it was made with parts from all over the galaxy… including some things nobody ever heard of before… all glued together. They had this big bolt coming out of the neck of the guitar to adjust the strings with. It reminded me of Frankenstein. I had to throw several people in the dungeon for that one.”
Gloria gasped.
Chuck looked Alex in the eye, and a smile worked its way across Alex’s face then he snorted and began to laugh, his eyes sparkling with a playful mischievousness. Chuck nodded understandingly.
“I’m kidding, Mom,” Alex said, shaking his head, “No one went to the dungeons. I paid the artisans for each guitar… whether it was made right or not. We’re pretty civilized on Antar… a lot more so now that Kivar is gone, I might add.”
“What did you name the other three guitars they made for you,” Gloria asked.
Alex shrugged… “’Frankenstein’ was flat-bodied and short-necked, so when they made the second guitar they over-corrected and made the body really round and the neck super long… It almost looks like a sitar. The strings are so long that they tend to vibrate and make a weird droning sound. So I call it the ‘Antarsitar…’ or the ‘RaviStarsitar.’”
“‘Ravi’ is Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player,” Isabel said.
Alex nodded. “The third one they made for me is ‘Flipper.’ It looks really good… it’s great for show… but it has a squeaky sound when it’s played.”
“He was going to call it ‘Britney,’” Isabel said with a wink, “But he changed his mind.”
Michael and Max looked at each other and groaned then laughed and slapped each other’s hands…
“Isabel didn’t like your fingers all over ‘Britney,’ huh?” Michael asked with a grin.
“The fourth guitar…” Alex started to say, ignoring Michael’s comment… but then he hesitated and swallowed, and Isabel smiled.
“Go on,” Maria coaxed.
“The fourth guitar… I named, ’Isabel,’” Alex said, appearing to blush slightly.
“ISABEL,” Liz and Maria both repeated, looking at each other and winking.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing… if it sounds like my sister,” Max said teasingly.
Alex sighed. “No, you see… they finally got it right. It was perfect… It was everything I ever wanted and ten times more than I ever thought I’d get.”
Liz looked at Maria, and both of them went, “Awwwwww” together, then Maria whacked Michael lightly on the back of the head.
“What? I didn’t say anything this time,” Michael exclaimed, “That was Max!”
“You were both thinking it… and the only reason you didn’t say anything is because what you were thinking couldn’t be said.”
“Sometimes she’s really scary,” Michael said with a guilty grin on his face.
“What I want to know,” Chuck Whitman said, “Is what the heck is a pawgor or a yegg… or a jah-ee… or a jaras-dru… or a shebble…”
“I was wondering that myself,” Gloria laughed, “I’m glad you asked it for me! I couldn’t remember them all!”
“Yeah, well…” Alex said, scratching his head and smiling, “Yeggs are kind of similar to buffalos, I guess. Shebbles are… kind of what deer might look like if they had long thick hair that reached all the way to the ground… or sheep if they had long legs like a deer and hair all the way to the ground. Jaras-dru are flash bugs… they’re sort of giant fireflies or lightning bugs or whatever you want to call them, only bigger… about the size of a really big beetle or a small hummingbird. Their whole belly lights up and their rear end flashes. I actually never saw a pawgor before getting on this ship. I don’t think I ever even met anyone who had seen one. I had heard of them, but… well, I’ll let you decide what they look like. And the jah-ee is a mythological giant Antarian bird… It’s a fairy tale.”
Max shook his head.
“It’s not a bird?” Alex asked.
“It is,” Max replied.
“Not Antarian?”
“It’s Antarian.”
“Not… mythological?”
“Bingo,” Max said with a grin.
“Ooo-kay,” Alex said. “Every Antarian I know says they’re a myth. I think I liked it better believing that.”
Max laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll probably never see one.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you know they’re real, Max.”
“Good. It’s a long story.”
Michael snickered and nodded.
“Did you know that you have an accent when you speak Antarian,” Max asked.
Alex groaned and nodded. “Mali and Gidi never stop reminding me.”
“Jaras droosh,” Max said, “Not jaras-dru.”
“Jaras droosh,” Alex said, pronouncing it perfectly.
“That was excellent,” Michael exclaimed.
“I know,” Alex nodded, “But jaras-dru is easier. That ending sound was not made for earth lips… or tongues. It’s not exactly a ‘shhh,’ it’s not exactly a ‘ssss.’ It’s more like the sound a pressure cooker makes… or the wind blowing through a crack… very sibilant.”
“But you did it perfectly,” Liz said.
“He can speak with no accent at all when he tries,” Isabel said. “When he talks to officials and important people, he enunciates perfectly.”
Alex nodded… “Then I come home and suck ice chips to reduce the swelling in my tongue.”
The others laughed.
“It’s not that bad,” Liz said, “You get used to it.”
“I guess,” Alex agreed. “Mali and Gidi have no problem with it… neither does Isabel.”
“And neither do you when it’s important,” Isabel said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.”
“You really like it there, don’t you,” Gloria said, reading the truth in Alex’s eyes.
Alex nodded and smiled. “You should stand on our balcony on a warm summer night, Mom… with the one you love… with Dad… and watch the jaras droosh light up the sky and the two moons rise over the Golden Sea. (Alex took care to pronounce ‘jaras droosh’ perfectly.) It’s like… living in Disneyland and watching the fireworks from your own balcony every night… only better! I miss a lot of things about earth, but you know…” Alex paused and sighed… “My home is in the stars. It’s where I belong… It’s where WE belong.” He reached his arms around Isabel and the girls and pulled them all three into his embrace. “It’s home.”
Gloria closed her eyes and smiled, and Diane sniffed and pulled out a handkerchief to dab her eyes with.
Isabel whispered something to Mali and Gidi, and the two girls’ eyes lit up then they ran from the room. Noticing that everyone had turned to look at her, Isabel smiled. A few moments later, the door opened and the two girls came back in, both of them with their arms around something that could only be described as a very compliant saber-tooth tiger.
The first reaction was gasps, then absolute stunned silence. At some point, without realizing she had done it, Diane found that she had relocated onto Phillip’s lap. Jim Valenti swallowed and fought an initial urge to place his hand on his gun… just as a precaution… but for some reason that even he couldn’t explain, he never did. Gloria put both arms around Chuck and stared, speechless, at the impossible big-toothed cat. It was clearly tame. It even allowed its head to be tugged downward enough for the girls to get their arms around its neck… until it was in the room. Then it raised its head to look around… and lifted both girls, giggling, off the floor.
Jim looked at Max and Michael, and Max and Michael both grinned. The question was written all over Jim’s face, but the words seemed to be hiding somewhere and wouldn’t come out… which is what Jim had a strange feeling he should be doing… though somehow he knew instinctively that it would be useless.
“It’s a pawgor,” Max said, anticipating the unasked question.
“Do you… have a lot of these… on your planet,” Phillip asked. “Doesn’t it make it dangerous to live there? I mean… they can’t all be as tame as this one appears to be.”
“It would be dangerous if we had to live where they live… in the Nan-Torel forest,” Max said, “But Antarians never go into the Nan-Torel, and pawgors never come out of the Nan-Torel… except Jung-Jo here, and you can thank our Jim for that.”
“My double?” Jim asked, somewhat incredulous.
Max nodded. “Unlike Antarians, who are very intelligent, Jim likes to trek around in the Nan-Torel, hunting and learning about the wildlife there, and one day he found Jung-Jo trapped under a fallen tree. Jung-Jo was just a little guy then, and his mother had been killed by the falling tree. So Jim brought Jung-Jo home and took care of him. As it turned out, Jim’s youngest son, Danyy, who was born on Antar, is able to talk to animals, and he befriended Jung-Jo. Nobody knew he had that ability until then.
“I’m shocked,” Jim said.
“That you brought a pawgor home or that Danyy can talk to them?” Max asked.
“No… that you got me off of earth. What did you guys do… abduct me in your dimension?”
Michael laughed. “No, you came willingly.”
“My feet have roots in that soil down there,” Jim said, incredulous, “I can’t imagine willingly going to another planet.”
Jim reached out cautiously and touched Jung-Jo, who smiled contentedly and increased his purring.
“I can see myself bringing this guy home, though… I like him,” Jim said.
Max nodded. “He likes you, too.”
“You didn’t have much choice about going to Antar with us in our dimension,” Michael said, “Some elements in the FBI decided that since we were gone, all of you… our parents, and anyone else who had ever been touched by us… were the next best choice for lab rats. The FBI figured you might not be the aliens, but you could have been affected by them, so they rounded you all up, in cooperation with a secretive group from area 51, and had you quarantined on the army base. We just happened to come along in time to rescue you… I mean your doubles.”
“Well, I guess things are different in this dimension,” Jim retorted, “I don’t think I’m going to be playing Buck Rogers. I’ll stay on earth and take my chances.” Jim smiled and rubbed Jung-Jo on the head. “I sure wish I had this guy, though. He’d be a great deputy!”
Max nodded and laughed. “Yeah, you’re right, and things ARE different in this dimension. For one thing, Alex is the king and Isabel is the queen.”
“In our dimension,” Michael said, “Max and Liz are the king and queen.”
“You know,” Diane said, “Before you leave and go back to Antar, Isabel, I want you to talk to your brother. Max is living in Washington… the west coast state, not DC… with Liz. She’s a physics professor at the University, and he’s a private pilot for some bigwig there. You have to let Max know that you’re okay… that you’re still alive… and about Alex. It’s only right that you should be the one to tell him. He’ll want to talk to you.”
Isabel looked at Max, and Max shrugged. “I guess we could make a stop in Washington to see my double. He is your brother. We’re invisible in the New Granolith. It would only be another day or so out of our way.”
Isabel smiled and nodded to her mother.
“If Max tries to get you to stay here,” Diane said, “Tell him about all those things Alex was talking about… the yugs and sheepels and… and the Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night. Don’t tell him about the tigers, though.”
Isabel giggled and started to laugh.
“I’m serious,” Diane said, “If you tell him there’s saber-tooth tigers and stuff running around up there, he’ll do everything he can to keep you from going back.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Isabel said, kissing her mother, “That means a lot to me… especially since I know how much you want me to stay here yourself.”
Diane nodded, and Isabel dissolved into laughter again. Everyone, by now, was looking at her.
“It’s alright! I’m okay!” Isabel said, swallowing hard. Then she dissolved into hysterical laughter again.
“Isabel, what’s got into you,” Michael asked.
Isabel shook her head and put her hand over her face then began laughing again.
“Are you okay,” Alex asked with growing concern, putting his arm around Isabel and lifting her face up to look at him. Isabel looked into Alex’s eyes and dissolved into more hysterical laughter.
“I’m… I’m sorry… I’m sorry everyone. I just got an image in my mind that seemed so ludicrously funny that I couldn’t help myself.” Isabel started giggling again but managed to stifle it before dissolving into hysterics this time…
“When you referred to the jaras droosh as those Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night, Mom, I got this picture in my mind of a whole bunch of Jar Jar Binkses flying around in the sky with their bellies glowing and their butts flashing.”
Isabel started to laugh again and had to find a napkin to wipe the tears out of her eyes.
“That’s not funny,” Michael said soberly, “That’s sick! Nobody would live on a planet like that.”
“At this, Isabel lost it completely.
Watching Isabel laugh herself silly, it was hard for the others not to laugh, too, and within moments, the whole room was laughing, even Mali and Gidi, who had no idea what they were laughing about.
“I think Jar Jar has scared a few people off of THIS planet, too,” Jim said, wiping his own eyes, after the laughter had died down somewhat.
“I like Jar Jar!” Liz said resolutely. “Everybody picks on poor Jar Jar. I think he’s cute.”
“Yeah, I like him, too,” Maria said, backing up her best friend and putting her arm around her.
“How do you know about Jar Jar, in your dimension,” Jim asked. “You’ve been away on another planet for a lot longer than our Isabel and Alex have.”
Liz nodded. “Thanks to Varec, we get earth cable TV… well, it’s more like satellite TV… bounced off of several stars and compressed into a microns-thin beam. We see everything that cable viewers see on earth… plus Antarian TV.”
“You’re stealing cable?” Jim asked.
Michael grinned. “It’s a different dimension… not your territory, Sheriff. Besides, the Special Unit is getting billed for it.”
“Oh, well, then…” Jim nodded, with an amused grin, “As long as someone is paying for it.”
“I wish we had it on our Antar,” Isabel said, “Do you think Varec could show us how to get it, too?”
“I didn’t hear that,” Jim said.
Max chuckled. “When earth and Antar forge a communications agreement, we’ll honor it. In the meantime, I don’t think anyone cares if we pick up earth cable TV… except maybe the Special Unit.”
“You’re probably right,” Jim said… “Since they’re paying for it.”
Everyone laughed.
“Are you sure you have to go back to Antar, Isabel,” Diane asked, as Mali took Diane’s hand and placed it on Jung-Jo’s back then smiled at her grandmother. “This is the happiest I’ve been for… well, since before you disappeared.”
Isabel nodded… “It’s our home now. Like Alex said, we belong there… on Antar. But in about eighteen months, we’ll have a ship capable of returning to earth for visits. It’ll be able to make the trip in ten days… not as fast as the New Granolith, but it will get us here.”
“And I’ll be looking for it,” Diane said, as Phillip nodded in agreement.
Alex put his arm around his mother… “I’m going to miss you and Dad when we’re gone, Mom! The girls are going to miss you, too. But I’m glad they finally got to meet you… and their other grandparents, too.” He smiled at the Evanses, and Diane picked Mali and Gidi up and set them both on her lap together, then Phillip put his arm around them all.
Chuck Whitman glanced at his wife, and she smiled. “Your mom and I have been talking about it, Alex, and… well, Phillip has his law practice here, and he and Diane have Max in Washington. And Jim, well, he’s the sheriff, and he has Kyle. But your mom and I, since I retired, have been doing a lot of not much… more like nothing. Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when you’ve got an empty nest and the little bird is light years away… with his own little birds.”
“What are you saying, Dad,” Alex asked, praying silently that what he was thinking was right.
Chuck smiled… “That I’d kind of like to see those romantic Antarian nights with your mom… if the Antarians… and you… will have us.”
Alex broke into a huge grin… “We would LOVE to have you and Mom nearby, Dad! And the Antarians will welcome you with open arms. We don’t have a Special Unit. Heck, we don’t even have an FBI. We just had Kivar, and now that he’s gone, everybody’s happy again.”
Jim held out his hand to Chuck. “You’re a brave man, Charles! Are you sure about this?”
Chuck nodded and took Jim’s hand, shaking it.
“Then good luck,” Jim said, “We’ll miss you and Gloria. Maybe you can come back and see us sometime when that ship gets finished.”
Chuck nodded again. “Thanks, Jim.”
“What are you going to do with your house?”
“Would you lock it up for us, Jim? We’ll try to get back by to pick up a few things if we make it back to visit. After that, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll give it to charity.”
Jim nodded. “I’ll lock it up for you.” He looked around and sighed… “Well… as much as I’ve enjoyed this, I need to be getting back to the office. Hansen will have the bloodhounds out looking for me. Besides, I promised him I’d let him off early enough to get a full night’s sleep tonight.”
Gloria laughed. “You work that poor boy too hard, Sheriff.”
Jim smiled and nodded. “I’ll let him keep thinking that… for now.”
“I’ve got a suggestion,” Michael said, looking at the Evanses, “Since we’re going to Washington to see Max and Liz, why don’t you guys come with us. We’ll bring you back here before we head off back to Antar.”
“Michael, that’s a wonderful idea,” Maria exclaimed, hugging Michael.
Diane looked at Phillip, and he smiled and nodded. “It IS a great idea. Okay… We would love to!”
Michael looked at Max, and he nodded and smiled.
**********
A single figure reappeared in Jim Valenti’s office at the Roswell Sheriff’s Station, seemingly out of thin air. Jim looked around, taking stock of where he was, then walked to his door and opened it. Hansen was sitting at his desk in the outer office, and he sat up straight and stared at Jim, with a puzzled look…
“Where did you… What did you… How did you get in there, Sheriff?”
“I have the key,” Jim said, “It’s my office, remember?”
“Yeah, but…”
Jim smiled. “I’m letting you go home early tonight, Hansen… so you can get that sleep you’ve been missing.”
“Thank you, sir… I think I need it.”
Jim walked out of the sheriff’s station, and Hansen stood up and walked over to Jim’s office door, then he opened it and looked around inside, scratching his head… “How did he get in there without me seeing him go past me? If I keep going to sleep on the job like this, Jim’s going to fire me!”
tbc
My Home Is In The Stars
Chapter 22
XXII
Oh give me a home where the wild pawgors roam
Where the yeggs and long-hair shebbles play
Where seldom is heard an English word
And the ocean is golden all day
Home, home on Antar
Where the jah-ee and jaras-dru play
Where cars float on air
And the skies are all clear
And the ocean is golden to stay…
Alex ran through a bright and musically complex, if somewhat un-western-sounding rift to end the song then looked at his guitar again lovingly and set it down at his side, as Mali and Gidi clapped appreciatively.
“This is so awesome, Mom! I can’t believe you thought to bring me my guitar!”
Gloria smiled, returning another hug from Mali, who was sitting in her lap. “Well, I’ve missed hearing you play it in your room every night before you go to bed, Alex. I… we, that is… have a lot of missed time to catch up on.”
Alex smiled… “We do, don’t we!”
“Interesting version of Home On The Range, son,” Chuck said with a chuckle, as he balanced Gidi on his shoulders.
Alex grinned… “One of my first kingly requests was to have them make me a new guitar on Antar, and I made that version of the song up… kind of as a lark. Back then all I had was Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein?” Gloria asked, with a puzzled expression on her face.
Isabel nodded… “They made him four guitars before they got it right. Alex kept all four… and gave each one a name. ‘Frankenstein’ was the first one.”
Alex chuckled… “They got it all wrong… It looked like it was made with parts from all over the galaxy… including some things nobody ever heard of before… all glued together. They had this big bolt coming out of the neck of the guitar to adjust the strings with. It reminded me of Frankenstein. I had to throw several people in the dungeon for that one.”
Gloria gasped.
Chuck looked Alex in the eye, and a smile worked its way across Alex’s face then he snorted and began to laugh, his eyes sparkling with a playful mischievousness. Chuck nodded understandingly.
“I’m kidding, Mom,” Alex said, shaking his head, “No one went to the dungeons. I paid the artisans for each guitar… whether it was made right or not. We’re pretty civilized on Antar… a lot more so now that Kivar is gone, I might add.”
“What did you name the other three guitars they made for you,” Gloria asked.
Alex shrugged… “’Frankenstein’ was flat-bodied and short-necked, so when they made the second guitar they over-corrected and made the body really round and the neck super long… It almost looks like a sitar. The strings are so long that they tend to vibrate and make a weird droning sound. So I call it the ‘Antarsitar…’ or the ‘RaviStarsitar.’”
“‘Ravi’ is Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitar player,” Isabel said.
Alex nodded. “The third one they made for me is ‘Flipper.’ It looks really good… it’s great for show… but it has a squeaky sound when it’s played.”
“He was going to call it ‘Britney,’” Isabel said with a wink, “But he changed his mind.”
Michael and Max looked at each other and groaned then laughed and slapped each other’s hands…
“Isabel didn’t like your fingers all over ‘Britney,’ huh?” Michael asked with a grin.
“The fourth guitar…” Alex started to say, ignoring Michael’s comment… but then he hesitated and swallowed, and Isabel smiled.
“Go on,” Maria coaxed.
“The fourth guitar… I named, ’Isabel,’” Alex said, appearing to blush slightly.
“ISABEL,” Liz and Maria both repeated, looking at each other and winking.
“I don’t know if that’s a good thing… if it sounds like my sister,” Max said teasingly.
Alex sighed. “No, you see… they finally got it right. It was perfect… It was everything I ever wanted and ten times more than I ever thought I’d get.”
Liz looked at Maria, and both of them went, “Awwwwww” together, then Maria whacked Michael lightly on the back of the head.
“What? I didn’t say anything this time,” Michael exclaimed, “That was Max!”
“You were both thinking it… and the only reason you didn’t say anything is because what you were thinking couldn’t be said.”
“Sometimes she’s really scary,” Michael said with a guilty grin on his face.
“What I want to know,” Chuck Whitman said, “Is what the heck is a pawgor or a yegg… or a jah-ee… or a jaras-dru… or a shebble…”
“I was wondering that myself,” Gloria laughed, “I’m glad you asked it for me! I couldn’t remember them all!”
“Yeah, well…” Alex said, scratching his head and smiling, “Yeggs are kind of similar to buffalos, I guess. Shebbles are… kind of what deer might look like if they had long thick hair that reached all the way to the ground… or sheep if they had long legs like a deer and hair all the way to the ground. Jaras-dru are flash bugs… they’re sort of giant fireflies or lightning bugs or whatever you want to call them, only bigger… about the size of a really big beetle or a small hummingbird. Their whole belly lights up and their rear end flashes. I actually never saw a pawgor before getting on this ship. I don’t think I ever even met anyone who had seen one. I had heard of them, but… well, I’ll let you decide what they look like. And the jah-ee is a mythological giant Antarian bird… It’s a fairy tale.”
Max shook his head.
“It’s not a bird?” Alex asked.
“It is,” Max replied.
“Not Antarian?”
“It’s Antarian.”
“Not… mythological?”
“Bingo,” Max said with a grin.
“Ooo-kay,” Alex said. “Every Antarian I know says they’re a myth. I think I liked it better believing that.”
Max laughed. “Don’t worry. You’ll probably never see one.”
“I’m not even going to ask how you know they’re real, Max.”
“Good. It’s a long story.”
Michael snickered and nodded.
“Did you know that you have an accent when you speak Antarian,” Max asked.
Alex groaned and nodded. “Mali and Gidi never stop reminding me.”
“Jaras droosh,” Max said, “Not jaras-dru.”
“Jaras droosh,” Alex said, pronouncing it perfectly.
“That was excellent,” Michael exclaimed.
“I know,” Alex nodded, “But jaras-dru is easier. That ending sound was not made for earth lips… or tongues. It’s not exactly a ‘shhh,’ it’s not exactly a ‘ssss.’ It’s more like the sound a pressure cooker makes… or the wind blowing through a crack… very sibilant.”
“But you did it perfectly,” Liz said.
“He can speak with no accent at all when he tries,” Isabel said. “When he talks to officials and important people, he enunciates perfectly.”
Alex nodded… “Then I come home and suck ice chips to reduce the swelling in my tongue.”
The others laughed.
“It’s not that bad,” Liz said, “You get used to it.”
“I guess,” Alex agreed. “Mali and Gidi have no problem with it… neither does Isabel.”
“And neither do you when it’s important,” Isabel said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.”
“You really like it there, don’t you,” Gloria said, reading the truth in Alex’s eyes.
Alex nodded and smiled. “You should stand on our balcony on a warm summer night, Mom… with the one you love… with Dad… and watch the jaras droosh light up the sky and the two moons rise over the Golden Sea. (Alex took care to pronounce ‘jaras droosh’ perfectly.) It’s like… living in Disneyland and watching the fireworks from your own balcony every night… only better! I miss a lot of things about earth, but you know…” Alex paused and sighed… “My home is in the stars. It’s where I belong… It’s where WE belong.” He reached his arms around Isabel and the girls and pulled them all three into his embrace. “It’s home.”
Gloria closed her eyes and smiled, and Diane sniffed and pulled out a handkerchief to dab her eyes with.
Isabel whispered something to Mali and Gidi, and the two girls’ eyes lit up then they ran from the room. Noticing that everyone had turned to look at her, Isabel smiled. A few moments later, the door opened and the two girls came back in, both of them with their arms around something that could only be described as a very compliant saber-tooth tiger.
The first reaction was gasps, then absolute stunned silence. At some point, without realizing she had done it, Diane found that she had relocated onto Phillip’s lap. Jim Valenti swallowed and fought an initial urge to place his hand on his gun… just as a precaution… but for some reason that even he couldn’t explain, he never did. Gloria put both arms around Chuck and stared, speechless, at the impossible big-toothed cat. It was clearly tame. It even allowed its head to be tugged downward enough for the girls to get their arms around its neck… until it was in the room. Then it raised its head to look around… and lifted both girls, giggling, off the floor.
Jim looked at Max and Michael, and Max and Michael both grinned. The question was written all over Jim’s face, but the words seemed to be hiding somewhere and wouldn’t come out… which is what Jim had a strange feeling he should be doing… though somehow he knew instinctively that it would be useless.
“It’s a pawgor,” Max said, anticipating the unasked question.
“Do you… have a lot of these… on your planet,” Phillip asked. “Doesn’t it make it dangerous to live there? I mean… they can’t all be as tame as this one appears to be.”
“It would be dangerous if we had to live where they live… in the Nan-Torel forest,” Max said, “But Antarians never go into the Nan-Torel, and pawgors never come out of the Nan-Torel… except Jung-Jo here, and you can thank our Jim for that.”
“My double?” Jim asked, somewhat incredulous.
Max nodded. “Unlike Antarians, who are very intelligent, Jim likes to trek around in the Nan-Torel, hunting and learning about the wildlife there, and one day he found Jung-Jo trapped under a fallen tree. Jung-Jo was just a little guy then, and his mother had been killed by the falling tree. So Jim brought Jung-Jo home and took care of him. As it turned out, Jim’s youngest son, Danyy, who was born on Antar, is able to talk to animals, and he befriended Jung-Jo. Nobody knew he had that ability until then.
“I’m shocked,” Jim said.
“That you brought a pawgor home or that Danyy can talk to them?” Max asked.
“No… that you got me off of earth. What did you guys do… abduct me in your dimension?”
Michael laughed. “No, you came willingly.”
“My feet have roots in that soil down there,” Jim said, incredulous, “I can’t imagine willingly going to another planet.”
Jim reached out cautiously and touched Jung-Jo, who smiled contentedly and increased his purring.
“I can see myself bringing this guy home, though… I like him,” Jim said.
Max nodded. “He likes you, too.”
“You didn’t have much choice about going to Antar with us in our dimension,” Michael said, “Some elements in the FBI decided that since we were gone, all of you… our parents, and anyone else who had ever been touched by us… were the next best choice for lab rats. The FBI figured you might not be the aliens, but you could have been affected by them, so they rounded you all up, in cooperation with a secretive group from area 51, and had you quarantined on the army base. We just happened to come along in time to rescue you… I mean your doubles.”
“Well, I guess things are different in this dimension,” Jim retorted, “I don’t think I’m going to be playing Buck Rogers. I’ll stay on earth and take my chances.” Jim smiled and rubbed Jung-Jo on the head. “I sure wish I had this guy, though. He’d be a great deputy!”
Max nodded and laughed. “Yeah, you’re right, and things ARE different in this dimension. For one thing, Alex is the king and Isabel is the queen.”
“In our dimension,” Michael said, “Max and Liz are the king and queen.”
“You know,” Diane said, “Before you leave and go back to Antar, Isabel, I want you to talk to your brother. Max is living in Washington… the west coast state, not DC… with Liz. She’s a physics professor at the University, and he’s a private pilot for some bigwig there. You have to let Max know that you’re okay… that you’re still alive… and about Alex. It’s only right that you should be the one to tell him. He’ll want to talk to you.”
Isabel looked at Max, and Max shrugged. “I guess we could make a stop in Washington to see my double. He is your brother. We’re invisible in the New Granolith. It would only be another day or so out of our way.”
Isabel smiled and nodded to her mother.
“If Max tries to get you to stay here,” Diane said, “Tell him about all those things Alex was talking about… the yugs and sheepels and… and the Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night. Don’t tell him about the tigers, though.”
Isabel giggled and started to laugh.
“I’m serious,” Diane said, “If you tell him there’s saber-tooth tigers and stuff running around up there, he’ll do everything he can to keep you from going back.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Isabel said, kissing her mother, “That means a lot to me… especially since I know how much you want me to stay here yourself.”
Diane nodded, and Isabel dissolved into laughter again. Everyone, by now, was looking at her.
“It’s alright! I’m okay!” Isabel said, swallowing hard. Then she dissolved into hysterical laughter again.
“Isabel, what’s got into you,” Michael asked.
Isabel shook her head and put her hand over her face then began laughing again.
“Are you okay,” Alex asked with growing concern, putting his arm around Isabel and lifting her face up to look at him. Isabel looked into Alex’s eyes and dissolved into more hysterical laughter.
“I’m… I’m sorry… I’m sorry everyone. I just got an image in my mind that seemed so ludicrously funny that I couldn’t help myself.” Isabel started giggling again but managed to stifle it before dissolving into hysterics this time…
“When you referred to the jaras droosh as those Jar Jar Binks things that light up in the night, Mom, I got this picture in my mind of a whole bunch of Jar Jar Binkses flying around in the sky with their bellies glowing and their butts flashing.”
Isabel started to laugh again and had to find a napkin to wipe the tears out of her eyes.
“That’s not funny,” Michael said soberly, “That’s sick! Nobody would live on a planet like that.”
“At this, Isabel lost it completely.
Watching Isabel laugh herself silly, it was hard for the others not to laugh, too, and within moments, the whole room was laughing, even Mali and Gidi, who had no idea what they were laughing about.
“I think Jar Jar has scared a few people off of THIS planet, too,” Jim said, wiping his own eyes, after the laughter had died down somewhat.
“I like Jar Jar!” Liz said resolutely. “Everybody picks on poor Jar Jar. I think he’s cute.”
“Yeah, I like him, too,” Maria said, backing up her best friend and putting her arm around her.
“How do you know about Jar Jar, in your dimension,” Jim asked. “You’ve been away on another planet for a lot longer than our Isabel and Alex have.”
Liz nodded. “Thanks to Varec, we get earth cable TV… well, it’s more like satellite TV… bounced off of several stars and compressed into a microns-thin beam. We see everything that cable viewers see on earth… plus Antarian TV.”
“You’re stealing cable?” Jim asked.
Michael grinned. “It’s a different dimension… not your territory, Sheriff. Besides, the Special Unit is getting billed for it.”
“Oh, well, then…” Jim nodded, with an amused grin, “As long as someone is paying for it.”
“I wish we had it on our Antar,” Isabel said, “Do you think Varec could show us how to get it, too?”
“I didn’t hear that,” Jim said.
Max chuckled. “When earth and Antar forge a communications agreement, we’ll honor it. In the meantime, I don’t think anyone cares if we pick up earth cable TV… except maybe the Special Unit.”
“You’re probably right,” Jim said… “Since they’re paying for it.”
Everyone laughed.
“Are you sure you have to go back to Antar, Isabel,” Diane asked, as Mali took Diane’s hand and placed it on Jung-Jo’s back then smiled at her grandmother. “This is the happiest I’ve been for… well, since before you disappeared.”
Isabel nodded… “It’s our home now. Like Alex said, we belong there… on Antar. But in about eighteen months, we’ll have a ship capable of returning to earth for visits. It’ll be able to make the trip in ten days… not as fast as the New Granolith, but it will get us here.”
“And I’ll be looking for it,” Diane said, as Phillip nodded in agreement.
Alex put his arm around his mother… “I’m going to miss you and Dad when we’re gone, Mom! The girls are going to miss you, too. But I’m glad they finally got to meet you… and their other grandparents, too.” He smiled at the Evanses, and Diane picked Mali and Gidi up and set them both on her lap together, then Phillip put his arm around them all.
Chuck Whitman glanced at his wife, and she smiled. “Your mom and I have been talking about it, Alex, and… well, Phillip has his law practice here, and he and Diane have Max in Washington. And Jim, well, he’s the sheriff, and he has Kyle. But your mom and I, since I retired, have been doing a lot of not much… more like nothing. Retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when you’ve got an empty nest and the little bird is light years away… with his own little birds.”
“What are you saying, Dad,” Alex asked, praying silently that what he was thinking was right.
Chuck smiled… “That I’d kind of like to see those romantic Antarian nights with your mom… if the Antarians… and you… will have us.”
Alex broke into a huge grin… “We would LOVE to have you and Mom nearby, Dad! And the Antarians will welcome you with open arms. We don’t have a Special Unit. Heck, we don’t even have an FBI. We just had Kivar, and now that he’s gone, everybody’s happy again.”
Jim held out his hand to Chuck. “You’re a brave man, Charles! Are you sure about this?”
Chuck nodded and took Jim’s hand, shaking it.
“Then good luck,” Jim said, “We’ll miss you and Gloria. Maybe you can come back and see us sometime when that ship gets finished.”
Chuck nodded again. “Thanks, Jim.”
“What are you going to do with your house?”
“Would you lock it up for us, Jim? We’ll try to get back by to pick up a few things if we make it back to visit. After that, I don’t know. Maybe we’ll give it to charity.”
Jim nodded. “I’ll lock it up for you.” He looked around and sighed… “Well… as much as I’ve enjoyed this, I need to be getting back to the office. Hansen will have the bloodhounds out looking for me. Besides, I promised him I’d let him off early enough to get a full night’s sleep tonight.”
Gloria laughed. “You work that poor boy too hard, Sheriff.”
Jim smiled and nodded. “I’ll let him keep thinking that… for now.”
“I’ve got a suggestion,” Michael said, looking at the Evanses, “Since we’re going to Washington to see Max and Liz, why don’t you guys come with us. We’ll bring you back here before we head off back to Antar.”
“Michael, that’s a wonderful idea,” Maria exclaimed, hugging Michael.
Diane looked at Phillip, and he smiled and nodded. “It IS a great idea. Okay… We would love to!”
Michael looked at Max, and he nodded and smiled.
**********
A single figure reappeared in Jim Valenti’s office at the Roswell Sheriff’s Station, seemingly out of thin air. Jim looked around, taking stock of where he was, then walked to his door and opened it. Hansen was sitting at his desk in the outer office, and he sat up straight and stared at Jim, with a puzzled look…
“Where did you… What did you… How did you get in there, Sheriff?”
“I have the key,” Jim said, “It’s my office, remember?”
“Yeah, but…”
Jim smiled. “I’m letting you go home early tonight, Hansen… so you can get that sleep you’ve been missing.”
“Thank you, sir… I think I need it.”
Jim walked out of the sheriff’s station, and Hansen stood up and walked over to Jim’s office door, then he opened it and looked around inside, scratching his head… “How did he get in there without me seeing him go past me? If I keep going to sleep on the job like this, Jim’s going to fire me!”
tbc
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Island Breeze
- Forum Moderator
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Sliding Into Antar
Sliding Into Antar
Rocky Mountain High North
Chapter 23
XXIII
The candle flickered, as the young woman kneeled and held up it in front of her face, staring at the flame. Then she carefully placed it on the altar of the little chapel high in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
“Someone very special?”
She looked up to see who had asked the question and saw an elderly man wearing a robe.
“Someone I once knew. He died in a car accident fifteen years ago.”
The man in the robe nodded. “Do you know the proper way to do this… the candles?”
The young woman shook her head. “I’m sorry… I’ve never been to… you know… your church before. But a friend who comes here told me I could light a candle for him here. Is it okay?”
The man smiled understandingly. “I prefer to think that it’s God’s church rather than mine. He’s the authority. I keep the doors open all the time. We’re all God’s children… if He let you in, why should I not?”
“Thank you,” the young woman said. “I… I’ve never done this before… lit a candle for anyone… but I’ve been thinking about my friend a lot recently, and I needed to feel closer to him right now… to them… Alex… and Isabel.”
The man nodded. “I’ll leave you to your meditation.”
“Thank you,” the young woman said again, turning and looking into the candle’s flame for several minutes, as she thought about Alex and said a silent prayer for him. Then she took out a second candle and lit it. Holding it up, she stared into its light for several moments and offered a second silent prayer. Then she opened her eyes and looked into the candle’s light again, but this time she saw a face… a young girl’s face. Liz stared into the flicker of the flame for a moment, captivated by the vision of the little girl, who could not be more than six. Then she realized what it was about the little girl that held her… It was Isabel’s face.
The candle slipped from Liz’s hand and fell onto the floor, catching the hem of her dress on fire before she could stand up. But as quickly as it happened, another little girl, one who appeared to be only four or five years old, waved her hand over the dress, and the flames died. Shocked by what had just happened, Liz looked at the two little girls and realized that they were quite real. She started to say ‘thank you’ -or tried to- but instead, she gasped as she looked into the face of the second little girl. The eyes were Alex’s, though they were softer… so was the mouth… and the nose was Isabel’s. The little girl was quite pretty, very pretty even, but there was no mistaking the look, especially in the eyes.
Liz swallowed hard and glanced back at the young ‘Isabel,’ who smiled but did not speak.
“Thank you,” she finally managed to say, turning back to the younger girl, who had put out the flames.
The little girl smiled and pointed toward the door of the chapel, and Liz turned to look. Walking toward her were two people, one a young woman, the other a young man wearing an enormous grin. Liz took a deep breath and held it… for a brief moment, questioning her eyes… then she grinned and her mouth dropped open…
“ALEX! OMIGOD, ALEX!” Liz rushed to throw her arms around him and held on as though she feared he might disappear again if she ever let him go.
“Alex…” she repeated several more times before pulling back and looking at him again… just to be sure she hadn’t lost her mind and grabbed the priest. “Alex, Omigod, where did you… how did you… what…”
“All the ‘W’ questions except ‘when ,’” Alex chuckled.
“When did you…” Liz added, smiling, then she turned to the young woman at his side… “And Isabel! Omigosh, this is wonderful! This is just… so incredible! I can’t believe it!”
“It’s all a long story,” Alex said, hugging Liz again, with a sheepish grin on his face.
Liz looked at him and put her right hand on her hip… “Well get comfortable… because you’re not going anywhere, Mister Alex Whitman, until I’ve heard every last detail of it.”
Alex sat down, and Isabel sat down beside him, then Mali and Gidi jumped into their laps, smiling at Liz.
“They’re ours,” Isabel said, turning and kissing Alex, who was smiling from ear to ear.
“Ba’sha ein ‘er na-ee?” the older of the two little girls asked.
Isabel smiled and nodded.
“You named her after me?” Liz asked.
“You understood that?” Isabel asked, surprised.
Liz put her hand over her face and nodded. “Max and I studied everything we had available… including some books and manuals that were given to him when they tried to get him to return to Antar. We learned a few words and expressions.”
Isabel nodded. “It looks like more than a few!” She smiled at the older of the two little girls, sitting on her lap… “This is Maria Elizabeth. We call her Mali, for short. And this is Gloria Diane…” she indicated the younger girl, sitting on Alex’s lap, “We call her Gidi.”
“They’re so precious,” Liz said, reaching out to hug each of the girls then lifting Gidi’s face up to look at it. “I always knew you would look good as a girl, Alex!”
“Okay, now, see, that’s just so not what I came back to hear, Liz,” Alex said, grinning in spite of the faked tone of indignation adopted.
Liz scrunched up her nose and smiled. “But it’s true,” she said insistently.
“It was always my curse,” Alex said, smiling at Isabel… “The girls all thought of me as just another girlfriend.”
Isabel grinned. “Well, we’ll just keep the truth to ourselves, okay Alex? They never need to know.”
“Oo-kay… moving on to other things,” Alex said, closing his eyes tightly and smiling.
“We saw the password on your computer, Alex,” Liz retorted, “Maria figured it out. But you’re special… you’re more than that… a lot more… to us.”
“Well, I guess I’m kind of different things to different people,” Alex said, grinning sheepishly.
“As it should be,” Isabel replied, nodding, and threading her arm through his.
Liz gasped… “Omigod! I just thought about something… how did you know where to find me?”
Isabel nodded toward the door. “Max told us. He’s outside with… ummm… well… with some friends. You’ll see.”
“Ooh, a mystery,” Liz laughed… “Okay.”
“They didn’t want to all come in and make a circus out of it in here,” Isabel added.
“Alex…” Liz said, looking straight into his eyes… “What happened to you? You supposedly died in a car accident, which I still think Tess had something to do with, then you reappear here, alive and with children… and married to Isabel… You ARE married, aren’t you?”
Isabel held up the back of her hand and wriggled her fingers for Liz to see the rings… “The best wedding coruns could buy.”
“Antar,” Liz said, nodding. “I kind of figured that out. Now fill in the details for me… and DON’T leave anything out.”
Alex did his best to tell Liz everything that had happened… how Tess had caused his death then had taken him to Antar to be healed, how Isabel had gone along on impulse while chasing Tess, how they had gotten rid of Kivar and had become the king and queen after Max had refused to return to Antar, and how their doubles from the other dimension had shown up and had brought them back to earth for a visit.
“So when I walk out there…” Liz said slowly, “I’m going to find two Max’s?”
Alex nodded.
“And another Alex… and another Isabel?”
Alex nodded again, adding, “And a Kyle and a Maria and a Michael who are not from this dimension… and Tess… two of them, ours and theirs.”
Liz’s jaw dropped.
“Like Isabel said,” Alex chuckled, “They didn’t want to create a circus in here by all of us coming in.”
Liz nodded. “Let’s go back to our house… We can talk there. Do you have transportation? I got a ride here with a friend.”
Alex smiled… “Of a sort,” he said, pointing upward.
“You have a space…!” Liz lowered her voice to a whisper and raised her eyebrows… “You have a space ship… up there above us?”
Isabel smiled and nodded. “Freaky, isn’t it?”
“Just a little,” Liz admitted. “That’s your transportation?”
“Hey, don’t knock it,” Alex retorted with a grin, “Maria’s mom’s Jetta wouldn’t make it to Antar and back.”
“Maria’s mom’s old Jetta wouldn’t make it up this mountain,” Liz laughed.
“The old Jeep would never have made it to Antar and back either,” Alex added, “So we’re stuck with the new Jeep… up there.”
Liz smiled… “Omigosh! You remember Max’s Jeep? That’s so… What do you mean, the ‘new Jeep?’”
“Just kidding. ‘IT,’ up there, belongs to Max from the alternate dimension, so I call it the new Jeep. That’s one big, shiny, alien Humvee up there!”
Liz nodded… “All right… Okay… We go your way. We take the UFB.”
“UFB?”
“Unidentified Flying Bob.
Alex laughed. “Good choice… Max had it detailed on Venus after the Jovian mud races just so you’d be impressed. He even promised not to pop any cosmic wheelies while you’re onboard!”
Liz laughed. “You know something, Alex,” she said, turning to him and smiling happily, “You’re certifiable! …And I’ve missed you like crazy! Have you seen Maria yet?”
Alex shook his head. Then he, Isabel, and the girls walked out with Liz, and moments later, everyone was gone.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>> </center>
Two hundred feet above the small chapel in the Rockies, Liz and Max stared out the huge bridge window of the New Granolith at the mountains below.
“Pretty incredible, huh?”
Liz turned and looked at her double from the other dimension, and nodded. “It’s kind of hard to take this all in. I mean… Max and I went onboard a spaceship once before… when they wanted him to return to Antar. But that ship was nothing compared to this. It was like a rowboat compared to… the Queen Mary.”
Liz’s double laughed and nodded. “Interesting comparison… but pretty accurate. The New Granolith is all state of the art. Varec designed most of it and helped build some parts of it. I’ve only ever seen one space ship that was bigger and more complex than the ‘New Granolith,’ and that’s Shaqor-Niseel’s ship, the ‘Xarius Voyager.’ Shaqor-Niseel Vredis Davor is the king of Xarius. The Xarius Voyager is like this huge city… well, more like a small planet, actually… You can fly all through it in these smaller spaceships. We saw lots of smaller ships flying around inside it, and he once stored a small moon in his cargo bay while searching for kidnappers who had taken refuge on the little moon. The Xarius Voyager has these air lanes mapped out between one sector of the ship and another all over the place, and it’s really busy. Shag told us that there are over 500,000 people on his ship, and each one of them has a specific job to do! Several thousand of them make their permanent home on the ship, get married there, have children there, and live their entire lives there.
“Wow! That is pretty impressive,” Liz admitted. “But this ship is plenty amazing itself. It’s huge!”
“It is,” the other Liz agreed, “And it’s a great ship. We love it. It’s like a small city compared to Shaqor’s planet-sized ship… but we have extensive gardens… and even a small forest with a trail going through it on one level. And we don’t need 500,000 people to operate this ship! Max and Michael have flown it to earth by themselves before. Of course, there are a number of automated droids onboard… fancy robots that do a lot of the work… like cleaning, cooking meals, gathering the vegetables from the gardens…”
“I’d love to see the gardens and forest,” Liz said.
Her double nodded. “You will… don’t worry! Max would never let anyone get away without showing off his ship!”
Both Liz’s laughed, and Max smiled.
“We have another surprise for you, Liz,” Max from the other dimension said… “My, uh… double here already knows about it, since we went to your house first.” He turned and motioned toward the entryway to the bridge… Phillip and Diane Evans stood there, a big smile on both of their faces… and beside them were Liz’s parents, Jeff and Nancy Parker.
“We thought you guys might like to see them… being so far away and all,” Max said.
Liz gasped, and her face lit up as though the sun had just been let in and had suddenly shone on it. Running to hug her mom and dad, she met them halfway, tears forming in her eyes… “Thank you! Thank you! Omigod, this is the greatest thing I could ever have asked for! Alex and Isabel came back… they’re alive… and you’re both here!”
“We were surprised when Max showed up and asked us if we’d like to come see you,” Jeff said, “But how could we turn down an offer like this?”
Liz laughed and sniffed, nodding in agreement.
“How have you been,” asked Nancy, checking her daughter over, “It’s so rare that we hear from you, Lizzy.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. We still have to be careful… even after all these years. Pierce is still out there. We haven’t seen him for years now, but we keep tabs on his career, in a manner of speaking. I write to you as often as possible. We just don’t want to give Pierce too many opportunities to pick up on our location.”
“Are you safe up here, Max?” Jeff asked.
Max shrugged. “We think so. We’re as safe here as we’re ever going to be anywhere. We’re pretty high up in the Rockies… they call them the Columbia Mountains around here… the Kettle Mountain Range… We’re very close to the Canadian border. We could slip over the border in an instant if we had to. So far, we haven’t had to, though. We have friends here. They don’t know everything about me, but they would let me know if anyone were asking questions or looking for us. This area is pretty rugged and remote… and it’s really beautiful. I’ll show you some of it while you’re here.”
Jeff nodded, and Nancy smiled.
“You can see some of it from up here,” Liz said, pointing out the bridge window, “That peak way over there to the west is Abercrombie Mountain. It’s in Stevens County, the next county over. Beyond that, if you look hard, you can see another of the highest peaks in the area, Copper Butte. It’s two counties over, in Ferry County. Here in Pend Oreille County, the highest point is Gypsy Peak, and of course there are hundreds of smaller peaks in these mountains, too. It’s all mountains up here. Idaho is just to the east of us, and Canada is just to the north.”
“We have elks, caribou, bears --both black and grizzly-- moose, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, eagles, geese, ducks, ospreys, and many other kinds of wildlife,” Max said, “And these mountains were once a big gold rush area. Gold and other ores can still be found up here.”
“Max has a special knack for finding large gold nuggets,” Liz added. “We’ve kept a low profile, but any time there’s a big bill coming due or we need something, he just happens to find a nugget or two.”
“If you get too many, I could use a few,” Jeff said, with a wink.
Max nodded and smiled.
“I heard you were flying, Max… private small jet pilot for some bigwig.”
Max nodded again. “Over on the coast. I’m on call all the time, but I only fly a few times a month. He likes to keep a low profile, and so do I, so we don’t ask each other too many questions.”
“Is he… like you,” Nancy asked.
“God, I hope not!” Max exclaimed, “He’s kind of a geek…”
“Would we know him,” Nancy asked.
“Could be,” Max nodded. “I’m not at liberty to say. But, yeah, just between us, I’m pretty sure you do.”
Jeff nodded.
Max turned to his double from the other dimension… “Do you think we could take this ship south over the plateau. I’d like to show you some things.”
Max turned to Michael, and Michael nodded and jumped into the pilot’s seat. Moments later, they descended over some smaller mountain ranges and then over a large plateau.
“That range way off in the distance to our west is the Cascade Mountains,” Liz said. “That’s where some of the better-known peaks, like Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier, are. Between the Cascades and the Rockies lies the Columbia Plateau, which is what you’re seeing below us now. The Yakama Indian Reservation is at the south end of the plateau, and the Colville Indian Reservation is up near us. The Snake River lies to the south, and the Columbia River lies to the north. The Columbia Plateau is part of the largest lava plateau in the world. Those dry canyons with steep walls that you see are called ‘coulees.” After the last ice age, glaciers blocked the Columbia River’s path to the ocean, and the water and ice flowing around the glaciers cut trenches across the plateau as they melted and moved on toward the Pacific. Later, after the glaciers had melted, the coulees dried up, leaving spectacular gullies. You’ve probably heard of Grand Coulee. Wherever you see extensive patches of dried lava covering the land, those are known as ‘scablands.’”
“It’s… oddly beautiful,” Phillip Evans said, gazing at the varied rugged landscape below the ship as they passed over it.
Max nodded. “There’s a lot of variety here in Washington state. We have mountains… big ones! We have the Columbia Plateau, with its coulees and scablands… and on the Pacific coast, to our west, there are the islands. Liz and I generally prefer to remain up in the mountains, where we feel at home and safe, but Bill sometimes lets me have the jet… to keep my rating up and earn flying hours… so Liz and I occasionally fly down here to the plateau or over to the coast. And Spokane isn’t far to the south of us… It’s right below Pend Oreille County.”
“Then why couldn’t you fly down and see us,” Diane asked.
“We’ve considered it, believe me,” Max said with a sigh, “But if Pierce is still watching for us down there, he’s bound to notice a corporate jet flying into Roswell with his number one alien at the controls.”
Diane cringed. “I hate Pierce! Can I say that?”
Max smiled. “Why not? I think we all understand.”
“Well, what I don’t understand, Max,” Alex said, “Is why you chose to stay here, where Pierce is looking for you, when you could have returned to Antar and been the king… with nobody hunting you… I mean, once Kivar was gone.”
Max sighed and nodded. “I understand why you feel that way, Alex, but Michael and I both talked about it… with Liz and Maria, too… and all of us decided that we belong here now. This is our home. Pierce can’t take that away from us. We can’t allow him to. And besides, the Northern Rockies are beautiful and adventurous. Liz and I are happy here… so are Michael and Maria.”
“Michael and Maria are here, too?”
Max nodded. “We’ll see them… before you leave. I’m assuming you intend to go back to Antar again and haven’t abdicated the throne.”
“As odd as it might sound, Max… Antar’s my home now,” Alex said with a grin. “Isabel and I are happy there… Our children were born there.”
Max nodded then smiled. “Sounds like it worked out for the best for all of us then.”
Alex nodded.
“I’m so glad that you and Liz are happy here,” Isabel said, “I’ve worried about you, Max.”
“You’ve worried about us!” Max exclaimed, suddenly turning on Isabel unexpectedly… “Alex was killed in a car crash… we thought… and you disappeared off the face of the earth… No one had any idea what happened to you! We’ve all had this big hole, Isabel…” Max swallowed, and his eyes grew uncharacteristically misty… “In our hearts,” he said, finishing his sentence, after he had steeled himself to make sure that his voice wouldn’t break. He tapped his fist against his chest and blinked away the tears that threatened to betray him.
Isabel put her hand on Max’s cheek and smiled, looking into his eyes, then she put her arms around him and hugged him. “I’m sorry, Max. I’m sorry for everyone I left behind without saying anything. But you better than anyone should know that our lives sometimes force instant decisions on us. I love Alex, Max… If I hadn’t gone… right then… I would have lost him forever. What would you have done, Max?”
Max nodded and closed his eyes. “I would have done what you did, Iz.”
Isabel smiled. “I know. You saved Liz’s life even though Michael and I thought you had betrayed us and had put us all in mortal danger. I understand why you did it now.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Liz said… “If everyone has seen enough of the coulees and scablands, lets go see Maria and Michael.”
Everyone seemed to like that idea, and Michael from the other dimension reassumed the pilot’s seat of the New Granolith… “Same coordinates, Max?”
Max nodded. “That’ll work. Their house is only about five miles from our house. I can guide you to it once we get there.”
As the sun set in the distance over the Pacific Ocean, an invisible alien ship climbed back into the skies high above the centrally located Columbia Plateau and drifted off toward the high Rocky Mountains in the northeast corner of the state.
At the same time, in a small chapel high in the Northern Rockies, an elderly priest noticed two candles that had been left on the altar. Bending over, he picked them up and looked at them… they had long ago burned down to the holders they had been placed in. He smiled and looked upward… toward Heaven…
“I pray that the young lady has found the peace she was looking for.”
tbc
Rocky Mountain High North
Chapter 23
XXIII
The candle flickered, as the young woman kneeled and held up it in front of her face, staring at the flame. Then she carefully placed it on the altar of the little chapel high in the Northern Rocky Mountains.
“Someone very special?”
She looked up to see who had asked the question and saw an elderly man wearing a robe.
“Someone I once knew. He died in a car accident fifteen years ago.”
The man in the robe nodded. “Do you know the proper way to do this… the candles?”
The young woman shook her head. “I’m sorry… I’ve never been to… you know… your church before. But a friend who comes here told me I could light a candle for him here. Is it okay?”
The man smiled understandingly. “I prefer to think that it’s God’s church rather than mine. He’s the authority. I keep the doors open all the time. We’re all God’s children… if He let you in, why should I not?”
“Thank you,” the young woman said. “I… I’ve never done this before… lit a candle for anyone… but I’ve been thinking about my friend a lot recently, and I needed to feel closer to him right now… to them… Alex… and Isabel.”
The man nodded. “I’ll leave you to your meditation.”
“Thank you,” the young woman said again, turning and looking into the candle’s flame for several minutes, as she thought about Alex and said a silent prayer for him. Then she took out a second candle and lit it. Holding it up, she stared into its light for several moments and offered a second silent prayer. Then she opened her eyes and looked into the candle’s light again, but this time she saw a face… a young girl’s face. Liz stared into the flicker of the flame for a moment, captivated by the vision of the little girl, who could not be more than six. Then she realized what it was about the little girl that held her… It was Isabel’s face.
The candle slipped from Liz’s hand and fell onto the floor, catching the hem of her dress on fire before she could stand up. But as quickly as it happened, another little girl, one who appeared to be only four or five years old, waved her hand over the dress, and the flames died. Shocked by what had just happened, Liz looked at the two little girls and realized that they were quite real. She started to say ‘thank you’ -or tried to- but instead, she gasped as she looked into the face of the second little girl. The eyes were Alex’s, though they were softer… so was the mouth… and the nose was Isabel’s. The little girl was quite pretty, very pretty even, but there was no mistaking the look, especially in the eyes.
Liz swallowed hard and glanced back at the young ‘Isabel,’ who smiled but did not speak.
“Thank you,” she finally managed to say, turning back to the younger girl, who had put out the flames.
The little girl smiled and pointed toward the door of the chapel, and Liz turned to look. Walking toward her were two people, one a young woman, the other a young man wearing an enormous grin. Liz took a deep breath and held it… for a brief moment, questioning her eyes… then she grinned and her mouth dropped open…
“ALEX! OMIGOD, ALEX!” Liz rushed to throw her arms around him and held on as though she feared he might disappear again if she ever let him go.
“Alex…” she repeated several more times before pulling back and looking at him again… just to be sure she hadn’t lost her mind and grabbed the priest. “Alex, Omigod, where did you… how did you… what…”
“All the ‘W’ questions except ‘when ,’” Alex chuckled.
“When did you…” Liz added, smiling, then she turned to the young woman at his side… “And Isabel! Omigosh, this is wonderful! This is just… so incredible! I can’t believe it!”
“It’s all a long story,” Alex said, hugging Liz again, with a sheepish grin on his face.
Liz looked at him and put her right hand on her hip… “Well get comfortable… because you’re not going anywhere, Mister Alex Whitman, until I’ve heard every last detail of it.”
Alex sat down, and Isabel sat down beside him, then Mali and Gidi jumped into their laps, smiling at Liz.
“They’re ours,” Isabel said, turning and kissing Alex, who was smiling from ear to ear.
“Ba’sha ein ‘er na-ee?” the older of the two little girls asked.
Isabel smiled and nodded.
“You named her after me?” Liz asked.
“You understood that?” Isabel asked, surprised.
Liz put her hand over her face and nodded. “Max and I studied everything we had available… including some books and manuals that were given to him when they tried to get him to return to Antar. We learned a few words and expressions.”
Isabel nodded. “It looks like more than a few!” She smiled at the older of the two little girls, sitting on her lap… “This is Maria Elizabeth. We call her Mali, for short. And this is Gloria Diane…” she indicated the younger girl, sitting on Alex’s lap, “We call her Gidi.”
“They’re so precious,” Liz said, reaching out to hug each of the girls then lifting Gidi’s face up to look at it. “I always knew you would look good as a girl, Alex!”
“Okay, now, see, that’s just so not what I came back to hear, Liz,” Alex said, grinning in spite of the faked tone of indignation adopted.
Liz scrunched up her nose and smiled. “But it’s true,” she said insistently.
“It was always my curse,” Alex said, smiling at Isabel… “The girls all thought of me as just another girlfriend.”
Isabel grinned. “Well, we’ll just keep the truth to ourselves, okay Alex? They never need to know.”
“Oo-kay… moving on to other things,” Alex said, closing his eyes tightly and smiling.
“We saw the password on your computer, Alex,” Liz retorted, “Maria figured it out. But you’re special… you’re more than that… a lot more… to us.”
“Well, I guess I’m kind of different things to different people,” Alex said, grinning sheepishly.
“As it should be,” Isabel replied, nodding, and threading her arm through his.
Liz gasped… “Omigod! I just thought about something… how did you know where to find me?”
Isabel nodded toward the door. “Max told us. He’s outside with… ummm… well… with some friends. You’ll see.”
“Ooh, a mystery,” Liz laughed… “Okay.”
“They didn’t want to all come in and make a circus out of it in here,” Isabel added.
“Alex…” Liz said, looking straight into his eyes… “What happened to you? You supposedly died in a car accident, which I still think Tess had something to do with, then you reappear here, alive and with children… and married to Isabel… You ARE married, aren’t you?”
Isabel held up the back of her hand and wriggled her fingers for Liz to see the rings… “The best wedding coruns could buy.”
“Antar,” Liz said, nodding. “I kind of figured that out. Now fill in the details for me… and DON’T leave anything out.”
Alex did his best to tell Liz everything that had happened… how Tess had caused his death then had taken him to Antar to be healed, how Isabel had gone along on impulse while chasing Tess, how they had gotten rid of Kivar and had become the king and queen after Max had refused to return to Antar, and how their doubles from the other dimension had shown up and had brought them back to earth for a visit.
“So when I walk out there…” Liz said slowly, “I’m going to find two Max’s?”
Alex nodded.
“And another Alex… and another Isabel?”
Alex nodded again, adding, “And a Kyle and a Maria and a Michael who are not from this dimension… and Tess… two of them, ours and theirs.”
Liz’s jaw dropped.
“Like Isabel said,” Alex chuckled, “They didn’t want to create a circus in here by all of us coming in.”
Liz nodded. “Let’s go back to our house… We can talk there. Do you have transportation? I got a ride here with a friend.”
Alex smiled… “Of a sort,” he said, pointing upward.
“You have a space…!” Liz lowered her voice to a whisper and raised her eyebrows… “You have a space ship… up there above us?”
Isabel smiled and nodded. “Freaky, isn’t it?”
“Just a little,” Liz admitted. “That’s your transportation?”
“Hey, don’t knock it,” Alex retorted with a grin, “Maria’s mom’s Jetta wouldn’t make it to Antar and back.”
“Maria’s mom’s old Jetta wouldn’t make it up this mountain,” Liz laughed.
“The old Jeep would never have made it to Antar and back either,” Alex added, “So we’re stuck with the new Jeep… up there.”
Liz smiled… “Omigosh! You remember Max’s Jeep? That’s so… What do you mean, the ‘new Jeep?’”
“Just kidding. ‘IT,’ up there, belongs to Max from the alternate dimension, so I call it the new Jeep. That’s one big, shiny, alien Humvee up there!”
Liz nodded… “All right… Okay… We go your way. We take the UFB.”
“UFB?”
“Unidentified Flying Bob.
Alex laughed. “Good choice… Max had it detailed on Venus after the Jovian mud races just so you’d be impressed. He even promised not to pop any cosmic wheelies while you’re onboard!”
Liz laughed. “You know something, Alex,” she said, turning to him and smiling happily, “You’re certifiable! …And I’ve missed you like crazy! Have you seen Maria yet?”
Alex shook his head. Then he, Isabel, and the girls walked out with Liz, and moments later, everyone was gone.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>> </center>
Two hundred feet above the small chapel in the Rockies, Liz and Max stared out the huge bridge window of the New Granolith at the mountains below.
“Pretty incredible, huh?”
Liz turned and looked at her double from the other dimension, and nodded. “It’s kind of hard to take this all in. I mean… Max and I went onboard a spaceship once before… when they wanted him to return to Antar. But that ship was nothing compared to this. It was like a rowboat compared to… the Queen Mary.”
Liz’s double laughed and nodded. “Interesting comparison… but pretty accurate. The New Granolith is all state of the art. Varec designed most of it and helped build some parts of it. I’ve only ever seen one space ship that was bigger and more complex than the ‘New Granolith,’ and that’s Shaqor-Niseel’s ship, the ‘Xarius Voyager.’ Shaqor-Niseel Vredis Davor is the king of Xarius. The Xarius Voyager is like this huge city… well, more like a small planet, actually… You can fly all through it in these smaller spaceships. We saw lots of smaller ships flying around inside it, and he once stored a small moon in his cargo bay while searching for kidnappers who had taken refuge on the little moon. The Xarius Voyager has these air lanes mapped out between one sector of the ship and another all over the place, and it’s really busy. Shag told us that there are over 500,000 people on his ship, and each one of them has a specific job to do! Several thousand of them make their permanent home on the ship, get married there, have children there, and live their entire lives there.
“Wow! That is pretty impressive,” Liz admitted. “But this ship is plenty amazing itself. It’s huge!”
“It is,” the other Liz agreed, “And it’s a great ship. We love it. It’s like a small city compared to Shaqor’s planet-sized ship… but we have extensive gardens… and even a small forest with a trail going through it on one level. And we don’t need 500,000 people to operate this ship! Max and Michael have flown it to earth by themselves before. Of course, there are a number of automated droids onboard… fancy robots that do a lot of the work… like cleaning, cooking meals, gathering the vegetables from the gardens…”
“I’d love to see the gardens and forest,” Liz said.
Her double nodded. “You will… don’t worry! Max would never let anyone get away without showing off his ship!”
Both Liz’s laughed, and Max smiled.
“We have another surprise for you, Liz,” Max from the other dimension said… “My, uh… double here already knows about it, since we went to your house first.” He turned and motioned toward the entryway to the bridge… Phillip and Diane Evans stood there, a big smile on both of their faces… and beside them were Liz’s parents, Jeff and Nancy Parker.
“We thought you guys might like to see them… being so far away and all,” Max said.
Liz gasped, and her face lit up as though the sun had just been let in and had suddenly shone on it. Running to hug her mom and dad, she met them halfway, tears forming in her eyes… “Thank you! Thank you! Omigod, this is the greatest thing I could ever have asked for! Alex and Isabel came back… they’re alive… and you’re both here!”
“We were surprised when Max showed up and asked us if we’d like to come see you,” Jeff said, “But how could we turn down an offer like this?”
Liz laughed and sniffed, nodding in agreement.
“How have you been,” asked Nancy, checking her daughter over, “It’s so rare that we hear from you, Lizzy.”
“I’m sorry, Mom. We still have to be careful… even after all these years. Pierce is still out there. We haven’t seen him for years now, but we keep tabs on his career, in a manner of speaking. I write to you as often as possible. We just don’t want to give Pierce too many opportunities to pick up on our location.”
“Are you safe up here, Max?” Jeff asked.
Max shrugged. “We think so. We’re as safe here as we’re ever going to be anywhere. We’re pretty high up in the Rockies… they call them the Columbia Mountains around here… the Kettle Mountain Range… We’re very close to the Canadian border. We could slip over the border in an instant if we had to. So far, we haven’t had to, though. We have friends here. They don’t know everything about me, but they would let me know if anyone were asking questions or looking for us. This area is pretty rugged and remote… and it’s really beautiful. I’ll show you some of it while you’re here.”
Jeff nodded, and Nancy smiled.
“You can see some of it from up here,” Liz said, pointing out the bridge window, “That peak way over there to the west is Abercrombie Mountain. It’s in Stevens County, the next county over. Beyond that, if you look hard, you can see another of the highest peaks in the area, Copper Butte. It’s two counties over, in Ferry County. Here in Pend Oreille County, the highest point is Gypsy Peak, and of course there are hundreds of smaller peaks in these mountains, too. It’s all mountains up here. Idaho is just to the east of us, and Canada is just to the north.”
“We have elks, caribou, bears --both black and grizzly-- moose, deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, eagles, geese, ducks, ospreys, and many other kinds of wildlife,” Max said, “And these mountains were once a big gold rush area. Gold and other ores can still be found up here.”
“Max has a special knack for finding large gold nuggets,” Liz added. “We’ve kept a low profile, but any time there’s a big bill coming due or we need something, he just happens to find a nugget or two.”
“If you get too many, I could use a few,” Jeff said, with a wink.
Max nodded and smiled.
“I heard you were flying, Max… private small jet pilot for some bigwig.”
Max nodded again. “Over on the coast. I’m on call all the time, but I only fly a few times a month. He likes to keep a low profile, and so do I, so we don’t ask each other too many questions.”
“Is he… like you,” Nancy asked.
“God, I hope not!” Max exclaimed, “He’s kind of a geek…”
“Would we know him,” Nancy asked.
“Could be,” Max nodded. “I’m not at liberty to say. But, yeah, just between us, I’m pretty sure you do.”
Jeff nodded.
Max turned to his double from the other dimension… “Do you think we could take this ship south over the plateau. I’d like to show you some things.”
Max turned to Michael, and Michael nodded and jumped into the pilot’s seat. Moments later, they descended over some smaller mountain ranges and then over a large plateau.
“That range way off in the distance to our west is the Cascade Mountains,” Liz said. “That’s where some of the better-known peaks, like Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier, are. Between the Cascades and the Rockies lies the Columbia Plateau, which is what you’re seeing below us now. The Yakama Indian Reservation is at the south end of the plateau, and the Colville Indian Reservation is up near us. The Snake River lies to the south, and the Columbia River lies to the north. The Columbia Plateau is part of the largest lava plateau in the world. Those dry canyons with steep walls that you see are called ‘coulees.” After the last ice age, glaciers blocked the Columbia River’s path to the ocean, and the water and ice flowing around the glaciers cut trenches across the plateau as they melted and moved on toward the Pacific. Later, after the glaciers had melted, the coulees dried up, leaving spectacular gullies. You’ve probably heard of Grand Coulee. Wherever you see extensive patches of dried lava covering the land, those are known as ‘scablands.’”
“It’s… oddly beautiful,” Phillip Evans said, gazing at the varied rugged landscape below the ship as they passed over it.
Max nodded. “There’s a lot of variety here in Washington state. We have mountains… big ones! We have the Columbia Plateau, with its coulees and scablands… and on the Pacific coast, to our west, there are the islands. Liz and I generally prefer to remain up in the mountains, where we feel at home and safe, but Bill sometimes lets me have the jet… to keep my rating up and earn flying hours… so Liz and I occasionally fly down here to the plateau or over to the coast. And Spokane isn’t far to the south of us… It’s right below Pend Oreille County.”
“Then why couldn’t you fly down and see us,” Diane asked.
“We’ve considered it, believe me,” Max said with a sigh, “But if Pierce is still watching for us down there, he’s bound to notice a corporate jet flying into Roswell with his number one alien at the controls.”
Diane cringed. “I hate Pierce! Can I say that?”
Max smiled. “Why not? I think we all understand.”
“Well, what I don’t understand, Max,” Alex said, “Is why you chose to stay here, where Pierce is looking for you, when you could have returned to Antar and been the king… with nobody hunting you… I mean, once Kivar was gone.”
Max sighed and nodded. “I understand why you feel that way, Alex, but Michael and I both talked about it… with Liz and Maria, too… and all of us decided that we belong here now. This is our home. Pierce can’t take that away from us. We can’t allow him to. And besides, the Northern Rockies are beautiful and adventurous. Liz and I are happy here… so are Michael and Maria.”
“Michael and Maria are here, too?”
Max nodded. “We’ll see them… before you leave. I’m assuming you intend to go back to Antar again and haven’t abdicated the throne.”
“As odd as it might sound, Max… Antar’s my home now,” Alex said with a grin. “Isabel and I are happy there… Our children were born there.”
Max nodded then smiled. “Sounds like it worked out for the best for all of us then.”
Alex nodded.
“I’m so glad that you and Liz are happy here,” Isabel said, “I’ve worried about you, Max.”
“You’ve worried about us!” Max exclaimed, suddenly turning on Isabel unexpectedly… “Alex was killed in a car crash… we thought… and you disappeared off the face of the earth… No one had any idea what happened to you! We’ve all had this big hole, Isabel…” Max swallowed, and his eyes grew uncharacteristically misty… “In our hearts,” he said, finishing his sentence, after he had steeled himself to make sure that his voice wouldn’t break. He tapped his fist against his chest and blinked away the tears that threatened to betray him.
Isabel put her hand on Max’s cheek and smiled, looking into his eyes, then she put her arms around him and hugged him. “I’m sorry, Max. I’m sorry for everyone I left behind without saying anything. But you better than anyone should know that our lives sometimes force instant decisions on us. I love Alex, Max… If I hadn’t gone… right then… I would have lost him forever. What would you have done, Max?”
Max nodded and closed his eyes. “I would have done what you did, Iz.”
Isabel smiled. “I know. You saved Liz’s life even though Michael and I thought you had betrayed us and had put us all in mortal danger. I understand why you did it now.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Liz said… “If everyone has seen enough of the coulees and scablands, lets go see Maria and Michael.”
Everyone seemed to like that idea, and Michael from the other dimension reassumed the pilot’s seat of the New Granolith… “Same coordinates, Max?”
Max nodded. “That’ll work. Their house is only about five miles from our house. I can guide you to it once we get there.”
As the sun set in the distance over the Pacific Ocean, an invisible alien ship climbed back into the skies high above the centrally located Columbia Plateau and drifted off toward the high Rocky Mountains in the northeast corner of the state.
At the same time, in a small chapel high in the Northern Rockies, an elderly priest noticed two candles that had been left on the altar. Bending over, he picked them up and looked at them… they had long ago burned down to the holders they had been placed in. He smiled and looked upward… toward Heaven…
“I pray that the young lady has found the peace she was looking for.”
tbc
Last edited by Island Breeze on Sat Jul 30, 2005 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Island Breeze
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Sliding Into Antar
Sliding Into Antar
Mountain Candy
Chapter 24
XXIV
Michael wiped his brow and set the axe down beside him for a moment. He could easily have felled the large tree with a blast from his hand, but that would probably have looked suspicious if anyone had happened to see it. Besides, Michael actually enjoyed the exertion. He had gained some impressive muscles since coming to the Northern Rockies. The mountain life seemed to agree with Maria, too, at least physically. Michael was pretty sure that she had never looked so radiant as she did right now, not even when she was a teenager.
Michael took a deep breath and picked up the axe again then drew it back over his shoulder to swing it, but as he did, something made him hesitate and look up… He wasn’t sure what it was… It was mostly a feeling. The first thing he noticed were the treetops… they seemed to be bending over, as though there were a stiff breeze, a breeze that was only in the very tops of the trees. Michael felt nothing at ground level. The other thing he noticed was the silence. The birds had stopped chirping and calling to each other, the katydids had stopped singing, even the wind seemed to have stilled… except in the tops of the trees. It was bizarre. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but a mountain person would. And Michael was now as attuned to nature as any mountain man. Still, aside from the breeze in the tops of the trees and the eerie silence, he saw nothing, felt nothing, and had no reason to believe that anything was different than at any other time… but it was, and Michael knew it.
So did Maria. Stepping out the back door of the house, she walked down to where Michael stood and stood beside him, looking up at the treetops… and listening.
“Something’s wrong.”
Michael nodded.
“It’s too quiet.”
Michael nodded again and looked around cautiously. He had already leaned the axe against the tree, and his hands, though still down by his sides, were flexed and ready. Maria knew. She could see the muscles in his arms, chest, and stomach flex as he stood there, shirtless, sweat glistening on his skin.
“You guys looking for something?”
Michael spun around, and his hand went up in the blink of an eye. The unseen voice had a vaguely familiar sound, but Michael spent no time analyzing it. It more than spooked him. As attuned as Michael was to his environment, he had been totally unaware of anyone sneaking up behind him. Now, he stood face to face with someone who had, apparently, done exactly that…
At first, Michael stood there, his mouth open, his hand still at ready, prepared to blast someone or something; but instead, he found himself unable to utter a single word. And he was not, apparently, the only one. Without a sound, except for an almost inaudible gasp, Maria rushed forward and threw her arms around the surprise “guest,” and then she began to shake.
“Hey! Hey! hey! No crying, Maria! If I’m making you sad, I’ll go away.”
“Alex,” Maria managed to whisper… then her voice began to come back… “You go away right now and I’ll hunt you down and hurt you… I swear it… if you’re not dead already!”
Alex smiled and raised his eyebrows… “Wow… I guess I’ll stay awhile then.”
Noticing that Michael was still standing there and hadn’t said a word, Alex waved his hand in front of Michael’s face.
“I wouldn’t do that, Alex… not until I calm down and let the energy drain back out of my hand. I might have an accident.” Michael reached out to Alex with his left hand, and Alex took it.
“I guess you’re real, huh,” Michael said. “I wasn’t too sure you weren’t a ghost… You sneaked up so quietly.”
Alex nodded. “I had a little help in that department.” He pointed up, and Michael and Maria both realized at the same time what was happening.
“Alex?” Maria said, looking at him questioningly.
Alex pressed a small button inside the edge of his shirt, and suddenly three more people stood there with him.
“Isabel!” Maria gasped, her eyes growing wide. Then she looked at the two little girls with Isabel, and she knew…
“Omigod! I don’t believe it! Alex… you and Isabel…? Where have you guys been?”
“A long way from here,” Isabel said, as Maria hugged her… still holding onto Alex with the other hand, as though she feared he might disappear if she released him.
“We’ve been up there… on Antar,” Isabel said.
“Come on in the house… Come on. You’ve both got a lot of explaining to do!” Maria turned and looked at the two little girls again and smiled at them, then hugged them. “Do you girls like candy?”
The girls looked at their mother, and Isabel nodded.
“I’ve got some candy for you then,” Maria said… “In the house… It’s mountain candy. I made it myself.”
“Can we invite anyone else to the party?” Alex asked, still trying gently to pry Maria’s hand off of his wrist… without much success.
Maria looked up and suddenly realized that there might be others… probably Antarians… on the unseen ship above them, “Oh, Alex, I’m sorry! Of course they can come.” She looked at Michael, and he shrugged and nodded. Alex pressed the button again, and almost instantly, Liz and Max appeared.
Michael smiled and nodded… “I should have known.”
Max laughed, and Maria ran to hug Liz, dragging Alex with her by the wrist…
“We never in a million years expected it,” Liz said, hugging Maria back, “It was a big surprise for us, too. They just showed up out of nowhere!”
“Well, come in and tell me about it,” Maria said emphatically.
Everyone went into the house, and Isabel looked around approvingly. “It’s rustic… It’s not the palace… but I like it! It’s homey and comfortable… upstairs… downstairs… roomy… nice balcony… big porch… Not bad.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, coming from you,” Maria said with a grin. “Michael and I love it! Michael built it himself… from the ground up.”
Isabel smiled… “Well, that would explain why he’s all sweaty.”
Michael rolled his eyes and groaned. “Geez, Isabel, I don’t work that fast. I was just chopping some trees down to make room for a game and entertainment center. It’s gonna be like a separate little house in the back.”
Isabel reached out and felt Michael’s bicep… “Hmmm! I guess you have been working! You going out for Mister Universe?”
Michael rolled his eyes again but smiled a sort of half smile. “That’s not me. I like the natural look.”
“Is that what this is?” Isabel asked, feeling Michael’s arm again.
Michael shrugged… “Nature did it… so yeah… I guess it’s natural.”
Maria grinned and put one arm around Michael.
“You know,” Michael said, putting his arms around Maria, “If you would release Alex, you could put both arms around me.”
Maria looked at Alex then at Michael and seemed to consider it for a moment, then she released Alex, but not before giving him a stern warning…
“You stay right there… Don’t move… while I hug Michael!”
Alex raised his hands in mock surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He glanced over at Isabel and she smiled and shrugged.
“Well, I guess it’s time we showed them everything,” Max said. Alex nodded.
Maria turned and looked at Alex… “What does he mean?”
“I think I’d better show you,” Alex said. He pressed the button inside his shirt again, and they all disappeared and reappeared onboard the New Granolith. Maria looked out the huge bridge window at the forest below. Then she looked around the room and noticed that there were others in the room with them… and some of them seemed to be there more than once…
“Okay… now this is going to take some explaining, Alex!”
Liz laughed then walked over and stood beside her double from the New Granolith. They looked so much alike… but the double’s hair was slightly longer… and her clothes were different. Still, they were both Liz. And there were two Maxes, too… and two Alex’s… and two Isabels… and another Michael and another Maria.
“This is just freaky,” Maria said.
Michael nodded.
“Are there two of everybody,” Maria asked.
Liz shook her head. “Not on the ship with us… There’s only one Varec here… and Tess… and Rayylar… and Jim… and Kyle… and…” She pointed behind Maria, and Maria turned around to see Chuck and Gloria Whitman and Phillip and Diane Evans.
“Omigosh! Is Mom here, too?”
Liz shook her head. “She wasn’t home and nobody could find her… Jim went all over town looking for her…”
“Oh.” Maria nodded and smiled, though she was obviously disappointed. “Well, Mom was probably visiting with a friend or something. It’s just that I haven’t seen her in…”
“I know,” Liz said, giving Maria a hug. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Maria said, waving her hand dismissively, “I’ll give her a call from a pay phone sometime.”
Maria walked over to her own double, the one from the New Granolith, and looked at her, then she raised her hand slowly. Sensing her intent, the other Maria did the same, imitating her move exactly. Maria turned her head both ways, and her double did the same, like a mirror image. Maria bent suddenly to the right, and so did her double. Then both began to giggle.
They look alike, they act alike, sometimes they even talk alike… Maria hummed under her breath, and her double nodded.
“What was that tune?” Liz asked.
“Michael likes to watch these old black and white TV shows. That was from one about two girls that were supposed to be identical cousins.”
“Oh.”
“It’s classic television,” Michael said. His double nodded… “You see? Somebody agrees with me!”
“Well, you do look identical, Maria… and Michael, too,” Alex agreed… “Almost.”
Maria’s duplicate, from the New Granolith, walked over to Michael and looked at him. He was still shirtless, and his muscles glistened in the light. She touched his bicep and his chest, then glanced at his abs and grinned… “Impressive.”
“I’ll remove MY shirt if that turns you on,” Michael from the New Granolith said, putting an arm around his Maria and gently turning her back toward him. Maria grinned from ear to ear, and Michael blushed…
“Okay, Alex,” the local Maria said, turning to Alex with a stern look, “It’s time to start explaining. You and Isabel have a lot of explaining to do, and I want to hear it.”
“I’d like to hear it myself,” Michael agreed.
Alex nodded. “Well, let’s see… where to start…”
“How about at the beginning?”
Alex nodded and motioned towards a sofa and some seats nearby. Michael sat down, just as his double, from the New Granolith, returned and handed him one of his shirts to put on.
Michael grinned and put it on.
Alex started at the beginning and went through pretty much the whole story, as he remembered it, occasionally assisted by Isabel.
“So you’re King Alex the First?” Maria asked, grinning.
“Well…” Alex smiled and kind of laughed. “They just call me Alex. Everybody there is kind of on a first name basis.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Maria nodded… “Like Zan or Rath… or Vilandra.”
“Yeah… Right.”
“Or ‘your majesty,’” Isabel added. “A lot of people say ‘your majesty,’ but Alex doesn’t like it.”
“Hate it,” Alex said, scrunching up his nose.
“I promised these girls some mountain candy,” Maria suddenly exclaimed, jumping up and looking at Mali and Gidi. “I never go back on a promise, especially to someone so special. You will stay long enough for that, won’t you… before you go back?”
Alex smiled and nodded. Then he looked at Max from the New Granolith, and Max nodded.
“I have to catch the bus when it leaves, so I had to check with the driver… He says it’s okay,” Alex added with a wink.
The others all laughed.
“Let’s all go down to the house,” Maria said. She looked at Varec and the others… “You, too. There’s enough candy for everybody.”
“I’ll get the girls ready,” Isabel said, taking the girls by the hand and leading them out of the control room. Leaving the bridge, Isabel took Mali and Gidi back to their room to freshen up.
“Why don’t you put on your new Kyyks outfit, Mali? It’s in your closet,” Isabel said, in Antarian, since the girls did not speak English.
Mali nodded and ran to the closet, but a minute later she was back.
“I thought you were going to change into your new outfit?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“There’s someone in my closet.”
Isabel looked at the closet, and her face paled momentarily…
“Okay, Mali… Gidi… don’t be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Mali said.
Isabel nodded. “Go stand by the door, both of you, and if something goes wrong, run and get Uncle Max and Uncle Michael… and your Dad.”
The girls nodded and stood next to the door, then Isabel turned out the lights and walked slowly toward the closet. She put one hand on the closet door handle and held the other hand in front of herself, creating a glow with it that lit up her face and gave her enough light to see in front of her. Then she opened the door.
As the door swung open, Isabel gasped and stepped backward, and Mali and Gidi both ran from the room.
“Amy!” Isabel exclaimed, incredulous.
But the surprise that Isabel felt was nothing compared to the shock that Amy felt as Isabel’s face, dimly lit by the glow of her hand, appeared in the darkness, in the closet with her.
In seconds, Max, Michael, and Alex rushed into the room, only to find Isabel holding an unconscious Amy’s hand and trying to bring her back around.
“Is she okay, Max? I didn’t kill her, did I?”
Max felt for a pulse and shook his head. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” Isabel said, still shaking, “I think I scared her to death.”
“How did she get here?” Michael asked, checking Amy’s eyes and checking her pulse again.
Isabel shook her head. “I don’t know. Mali found her hiding in the closet.”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Amy moaned, holding her head. Then she looked at Isabel and Alex and started to faint again, but Michael patted her face… “Stay with us, Mom. They’re not ghosts. Really. They came back.”
Amy groaned again then looked at Isabel. “I saw a disembodied head floating in the closet with me… Isabel’s head.”
“Well, that would be pretty scary, I guess,” Michael said with a wry grin. Isabel gave him a whack on the arm.
“What are you doing here?!” Michael from the New Granolith asked emphatically, “And more importantly, how did you get here… on this ship… without anyone knowing?”
Amy smiled slightly. “Michael, you of all people, know I’ve got my ways.”
“Yeah, I do,” Michael agreed, “But it’s a matter of security, and I’m in charge of security here. I need to know.”
Amy grinned. “Don’t worry about it.”
Michael looked flustered and frustrated; he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Still, he was determined to get an answer… eventually.
“Okay, WHY did you stow away on the ship then?”
“Well, that I can answer,” Amy said. “I wanted to see my daughter.”
“Well, geez…” the local Michael exclaimed, “Why didn’t you just ask? We looked for you and nobody could find you.”
“You did?”
“Well, Jim did.”
“Oh.”
“You weren’t home.”
Amy sighed. “I wasn’t home, because I was here… on the ship. I overheard Jim talking to someone in his office about this alien ship going to see Maria and Michael and Max and Liz… and I wanted to go, too. I didn’t know there was anyone on the ship but… you know… people from Max’s planet… Antar. Anyway, I figured when they got to wherever Maria and you were I’d sneak off again and see Maria. You know, all I ever get is a call about once a month… and it’s always from an untraceable line… and she won’t tell me where she is… except somewhere in the west or northwest.”
The truth is, Amy did know that Maria and Michael were in Washington state, she just didn’t know where in Washington state. But she had no intention of telling Michael or Maria that she knew this much.
“You could have wound up on an alien planet!” Michael said… “And you wouldn’t even know the language!”
Amy shrugged. “I’d survive.”
Michael nodded. “It’s the Antarians I was worried about. They aren’t prepared for you.”
Amy pursed her lips and glared at Michael but then adopted a pouting look.
“I just wanted to see Maria… and she won’t ever tell me where she is.”
Michael smiled and nodded understandingly, “Sorry, Mom… she can’t. We’re still hiding from Pierce.”
“Give me his address,” Amy said, “I’ll get rid of him for you.”
Michael smiled. “Tempting… very tempting. But if you got hurt, Maria would never forgive me.”
Amy nodded and grinned. “I know.”
At that moment, Maria and Liz rushed into the room with their doubles, who had taken them on a quick tour of some of the ship while Isabel took the girls to freshen up; and they had just found out what was going on. Maria rushed to her mom and threw her arms around her, then she pulled back and looked at her with a mixture of joy, irritation, and awe in her eyes…
“Mom… how the hell did you get here?”
Amy smiled. “Michael couldn’t get me to talk with torture. You’re not going to make me talk either.”
Maria looked at Michael, and Michael held up both hands… “I didn’t torture her!”
Maria smiled, knowing her mother and Michael both well.
“God, Mom, they looked for you everywhere…”
“Well, I didn’t know.”
Maria sighed, then hugged Amy again. “It’s wonderful to see you, Mom.”
Amy wiped a tear from her eye and nodded, kissing Maria and hugging her. “Yes, it is!”
Maria looked around the room. By now, everyone was there…
“Let’s go down to the house, okay? I’ve got mountain candy and coffee waiting for everybody.”
Alex grinned, and Max transported them back down using his transporter remote; each of the crew, as well as Alex and Isabel, had one on them.
Back in her living room, Maria told everyone to make themselves at home. Then she went into the kitchen and returned with a huge tin full of candy, giving a piece to each of the girls and setting it on the coffee table for anyone else who wanted some. Michael brought out the coffee for her.
Seeing how much the girls seemed to love the candy, Rayylar tried it, and his eyes lit up. Then Varec and the others all tried it, too.
“I have some in a different tin for you,” Maria said to her double and Liz, and to the Whitmans and the Evanses. “It’s not made with 50% Tabasco.”
Diane’s eyes opened wide, and she moved her hand immediately to the new tin.
“I’m glad you told me,” Liz from the New Granolith said, “Although I’m kind of getting used to Tabasco.”
“What is this made out of? It’s delicious!” Diane said. Phillip nodded, stuffing another one into his mouth.
Maria grinned… “Honey, real tree molasses, lots of blueberries, sassafras, a little cocoa, and my secret ingredient… Rice Krispies.”
Diane laughed.
“And for them,” Maria said, indicating Michael and the others, “I add a whopping portion of Tabasco and a few teaspoons of Cherry Cola syrup. It’s just a matter of getting the proportions right.”
“What are the right proportions,” Gloria asked.
“Fifty percent Tabasco, fifty percent anything else you have,” Maria said, getting another laugh from everyone present.
“Actually, it’s about 30% Tabasco, 10% Cherry Cola syrup, 30% blueberries, and the rest is an equal mixture of honey, molasses, crushed sassafras, cocoa, and Rice Krispies. For ours, you just eliminate the Tabasco, cut the Cherry Cola syrup down to about a fourth of what’s in theirs, then add more blueberries and Rice Krispies… and a little more crushed sassafras and cocoa… to make up for the Tabasco and syrup… It’s kind of ‘al dente,’ you know… You know it’s got enough of everything when it tastes right.”
“It’s delicious,” Phillip said, taking another one.
Maria grinned. Fortunately, she had plenty, though after this group, she knew that she would have to make some more.
For the rest of the afternoon, everyone talked and relaxed in the house and on the porch, took short walks in the woods, and got to know each other. But their time with Michael and Maria… and with Max and Liz… was far less than what any of them would have liked. Chuck and Gloria Whitman would be accompanying their son, Alex, and his family back to Antar, so they would be near him and Isabel… and their granddaughters… after this, but Phillip and Diane Evans would have only this short time together with Max and Isabel. Still, after believing that Isabel was dead for so long, this time together with both of them was a real blessing that they would be forever thankful for. Amy, too, would have to go back, but she was happier now, having seen Maria and knowing where she was and that she really was okay… and that Michael hadn’t kidnapped her or brainwashed her.
And that was something that concerned Michael…
“You do know that you can’t tell anyone where we are, right?” Michael said.
Amy looked at Michael and rolled her eyes. “Michael, if your double from that ship up there couldn’t get me to tell him how I got on his ship, do you think anybody’s going to get me to tell where my daughter is… especially if her life could depend on it?”
Michael smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Probably not.”
“Damned right! Your secret is safe.”
Michael nodded. “Thanks… Mom.”
Amy looked at Michael slightly askew then smiled and hugged him… “You take good care of my daughter.”
“I wouldn’t dare not,” Michael said with a grin.
“Good boy,” Amy replied, patting him on the cheek.
<center>End of Chapter 24
tbc…</center>
Mountain Candy
Chapter 24
XXIV
Michael wiped his brow and set the axe down beside him for a moment. He could easily have felled the large tree with a blast from his hand, but that would probably have looked suspicious if anyone had happened to see it. Besides, Michael actually enjoyed the exertion. He had gained some impressive muscles since coming to the Northern Rockies. The mountain life seemed to agree with Maria, too, at least physically. Michael was pretty sure that she had never looked so radiant as she did right now, not even when she was a teenager.
Michael took a deep breath and picked up the axe again then drew it back over his shoulder to swing it, but as he did, something made him hesitate and look up… He wasn’t sure what it was… It was mostly a feeling. The first thing he noticed were the treetops… they seemed to be bending over, as though there were a stiff breeze, a breeze that was only in the very tops of the trees. Michael felt nothing at ground level. The other thing he noticed was the silence. The birds had stopped chirping and calling to each other, the katydids had stopped singing, even the wind seemed to have stilled… except in the tops of the trees. It was bizarre. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but a mountain person would. And Michael was now as attuned to nature as any mountain man. Still, aside from the breeze in the tops of the trees and the eerie silence, he saw nothing, felt nothing, and had no reason to believe that anything was different than at any other time… but it was, and Michael knew it.
So did Maria. Stepping out the back door of the house, she walked down to where Michael stood and stood beside him, looking up at the treetops… and listening.
“Something’s wrong.”
Michael nodded.
“It’s too quiet.”
Michael nodded again and looked around cautiously. He had already leaned the axe against the tree, and his hands, though still down by his sides, were flexed and ready. Maria knew. She could see the muscles in his arms, chest, and stomach flex as he stood there, shirtless, sweat glistening on his skin.
“You guys looking for something?”
Michael spun around, and his hand went up in the blink of an eye. The unseen voice had a vaguely familiar sound, but Michael spent no time analyzing it. It more than spooked him. As attuned as Michael was to his environment, he had been totally unaware of anyone sneaking up behind him. Now, he stood face to face with someone who had, apparently, done exactly that…
At first, Michael stood there, his mouth open, his hand still at ready, prepared to blast someone or something; but instead, he found himself unable to utter a single word. And he was not, apparently, the only one. Without a sound, except for an almost inaudible gasp, Maria rushed forward and threw her arms around the surprise “guest,” and then she began to shake.
“Hey! Hey! hey! No crying, Maria! If I’m making you sad, I’ll go away.”
“Alex,” Maria managed to whisper… then her voice began to come back… “You go away right now and I’ll hunt you down and hurt you… I swear it… if you’re not dead already!”
Alex smiled and raised his eyebrows… “Wow… I guess I’ll stay awhile then.”
Noticing that Michael was still standing there and hadn’t said a word, Alex waved his hand in front of Michael’s face.
“I wouldn’t do that, Alex… not until I calm down and let the energy drain back out of my hand. I might have an accident.” Michael reached out to Alex with his left hand, and Alex took it.
“I guess you’re real, huh,” Michael said. “I wasn’t too sure you weren’t a ghost… You sneaked up so quietly.”
Alex nodded. “I had a little help in that department.” He pointed up, and Michael and Maria both realized at the same time what was happening.
“Alex?” Maria said, looking at him questioningly.
Alex pressed a small button inside the edge of his shirt, and suddenly three more people stood there with him.
“Isabel!” Maria gasped, her eyes growing wide. Then she looked at the two little girls with Isabel, and she knew…
“Omigod! I don’t believe it! Alex… you and Isabel…? Where have you guys been?”
“A long way from here,” Isabel said, as Maria hugged her… still holding onto Alex with the other hand, as though she feared he might disappear if she released him.
“We’ve been up there… on Antar,” Isabel said.
“Come on in the house… Come on. You’ve both got a lot of explaining to do!” Maria turned and looked at the two little girls again and smiled at them, then hugged them. “Do you girls like candy?”
The girls looked at their mother, and Isabel nodded.
“I’ve got some candy for you then,” Maria said… “In the house… It’s mountain candy. I made it myself.”
“Can we invite anyone else to the party?” Alex asked, still trying gently to pry Maria’s hand off of his wrist… without much success.
Maria looked up and suddenly realized that there might be others… probably Antarians… on the unseen ship above them, “Oh, Alex, I’m sorry! Of course they can come.” She looked at Michael, and he shrugged and nodded. Alex pressed the button again, and almost instantly, Liz and Max appeared.
Michael smiled and nodded… “I should have known.”
Max laughed, and Maria ran to hug Liz, dragging Alex with her by the wrist…
“We never in a million years expected it,” Liz said, hugging Maria back, “It was a big surprise for us, too. They just showed up out of nowhere!”
“Well, come in and tell me about it,” Maria said emphatically.
Everyone went into the house, and Isabel looked around approvingly. “It’s rustic… It’s not the palace… but I like it! It’s homey and comfortable… upstairs… downstairs… roomy… nice balcony… big porch… Not bad.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment, coming from you,” Maria said with a grin. “Michael and I love it! Michael built it himself… from the ground up.”
Isabel smiled… “Well, that would explain why he’s all sweaty.”
Michael rolled his eyes and groaned. “Geez, Isabel, I don’t work that fast. I was just chopping some trees down to make room for a game and entertainment center. It’s gonna be like a separate little house in the back.”
Isabel reached out and felt Michael’s bicep… “Hmmm! I guess you have been working! You going out for Mister Universe?”
Michael rolled his eyes again but smiled a sort of half smile. “That’s not me. I like the natural look.”
“Is that what this is?” Isabel asked, feeling Michael’s arm again.
Michael shrugged… “Nature did it… so yeah… I guess it’s natural.”
Maria grinned and put one arm around Michael.
“You know,” Michael said, putting his arms around Maria, “If you would release Alex, you could put both arms around me.”
Maria looked at Alex then at Michael and seemed to consider it for a moment, then she released Alex, but not before giving him a stern warning…
“You stay right there… Don’t move… while I hug Michael!”
Alex raised his hands in mock surrender. “I wouldn’t dream of it.” He glanced over at Isabel and she smiled and shrugged.
“Well, I guess it’s time we showed them everything,” Max said. Alex nodded.
Maria turned and looked at Alex… “What does he mean?”
“I think I’d better show you,” Alex said. He pressed the button inside his shirt again, and they all disappeared and reappeared onboard the New Granolith. Maria looked out the huge bridge window at the forest below. Then she looked around the room and noticed that there were others in the room with them… and some of them seemed to be there more than once…
“Okay… now this is going to take some explaining, Alex!”
Liz laughed then walked over and stood beside her double from the New Granolith. They looked so much alike… but the double’s hair was slightly longer… and her clothes were different. Still, they were both Liz. And there were two Maxes, too… and two Alex’s… and two Isabels… and another Michael and another Maria.
“This is just freaky,” Maria said.
Michael nodded.
“Are there two of everybody,” Maria asked.
Liz shook her head. “Not on the ship with us… There’s only one Varec here… and Tess… and Rayylar… and Jim… and Kyle… and…” She pointed behind Maria, and Maria turned around to see Chuck and Gloria Whitman and Phillip and Diane Evans.
“Omigosh! Is Mom here, too?”
Liz shook her head. “She wasn’t home and nobody could find her… Jim went all over town looking for her…”
“Oh.” Maria nodded and smiled, though she was obviously disappointed. “Well, Mom was probably visiting with a friend or something. It’s just that I haven’t seen her in…”
“I know,” Liz said, giving Maria a hug. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Maria said, waving her hand dismissively, “I’ll give her a call from a pay phone sometime.”
Maria walked over to her own double, the one from the New Granolith, and looked at her, then she raised her hand slowly. Sensing her intent, the other Maria did the same, imitating her move exactly. Maria turned her head both ways, and her double did the same, like a mirror image. Maria bent suddenly to the right, and so did her double. Then both began to giggle.
They look alike, they act alike, sometimes they even talk alike… Maria hummed under her breath, and her double nodded.
“What was that tune?” Liz asked.
“Michael likes to watch these old black and white TV shows. That was from one about two girls that were supposed to be identical cousins.”
“Oh.”
“It’s classic television,” Michael said. His double nodded… “You see? Somebody agrees with me!”
“Well, you do look identical, Maria… and Michael, too,” Alex agreed… “Almost.”
Maria’s duplicate, from the New Granolith, walked over to Michael and looked at him. He was still shirtless, and his muscles glistened in the light. She touched his bicep and his chest, then glanced at his abs and grinned… “Impressive.”
“I’ll remove MY shirt if that turns you on,” Michael from the New Granolith said, putting an arm around his Maria and gently turning her back toward him. Maria grinned from ear to ear, and Michael blushed…
“Okay, Alex,” the local Maria said, turning to Alex with a stern look, “It’s time to start explaining. You and Isabel have a lot of explaining to do, and I want to hear it.”
“I’d like to hear it myself,” Michael agreed.
Alex nodded. “Well, let’s see… where to start…”
“How about at the beginning?”
Alex nodded and motioned towards a sofa and some seats nearby. Michael sat down, just as his double, from the New Granolith, returned and handed him one of his shirts to put on.
Michael grinned and put it on.
Alex started at the beginning and went through pretty much the whole story, as he remembered it, occasionally assisted by Isabel.
“So you’re King Alex the First?” Maria asked, grinning.
“Well…” Alex smiled and kind of laughed. “They just call me Alex. Everybody there is kind of on a first name basis.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” Maria nodded… “Like Zan or Rath… or Vilandra.”
“Yeah… Right.”
“Or ‘your majesty,’” Isabel added. “A lot of people say ‘your majesty,’ but Alex doesn’t like it.”
“Hate it,” Alex said, scrunching up his nose.
“I promised these girls some mountain candy,” Maria suddenly exclaimed, jumping up and looking at Mali and Gidi. “I never go back on a promise, especially to someone so special. You will stay long enough for that, won’t you… before you go back?”
Alex smiled and nodded. Then he looked at Max from the New Granolith, and Max nodded.
“I have to catch the bus when it leaves, so I had to check with the driver… He says it’s okay,” Alex added with a wink.
The others all laughed.
“Let’s all go down to the house,” Maria said. She looked at Varec and the others… “You, too. There’s enough candy for everybody.”
“I’ll get the girls ready,” Isabel said, taking the girls by the hand and leading them out of the control room. Leaving the bridge, Isabel took Mali and Gidi back to their room to freshen up.
“Why don’t you put on your new Kyyks outfit, Mali? It’s in your closet,” Isabel said, in Antarian, since the girls did not speak English.
Mali nodded and ran to the closet, but a minute later she was back.
“I thought you were going to change into your new outfit?”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“There’s someone in my closet.”
Isabel looked at the closet, and her face paled momentarily…
“Okay, Mali… Gidi… don’t be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Mali said.
Isabel nodded. “Go stand by the door, both of you, and if something goes wrong, run and get Uncle Max and Uncle Michael… and your Dad.”
The girls nodded and stood next to the door, then Isabel turned out the lights and walked slowly toward the closet. She put one hand on the closet door handle and held the other hand in front of herself, creating a glow with it that lit up her face and gave her enough light to see in front of her. Then she opened the door.
As the door swung open, Isabel gasped and stepped backward, and Mali and Gidi both ran from the room.
“Amy!” Isabel exclaimed, incredulous.
But the surprise that Isabel felt was nothing compared to the shock that Amy felt as Isabel’s face, dimly lit by the glow of her hand, appeared in the darkness, in the closet with her.
In seconds, Max, Michael, and Alex rushed into the room, only to find Isabel holding an unconscious Amy’s hand and trying to bring her back around.
“Is she okay, Max? I didn’t kill her, did I?”
Max felt for a pulse and shook his head. “What did you do to her?”
“Nothing,” Isabel said, still shaking, “I think I scared her to death.”
“How did she get here?” Michael asked, checking Amy’s eyes and checking her pulse again.
Isabel shook her head. “I don’t know. Mali found her hiding in the closet.”
“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” Amy moaned, holding her head. Then she looked at Isabel and Alex and started to faint again, but Michael patted her face… “Stay with us, Mom. They’re not ghosts. Really. They came back.”
Amy groaned again then looked at Isabel. “I saw a disembodied head floating in the closet with me… Isabel’s head.”
“Well, that would be pretty scary, I guess,” Michael said with a wry grin. Isabel gave him a whack on the arm.
“What are you doing here?!” Michael from the New Granolith asked emphatically, “And more importantly, how did you get here… on this ship… without anyone knowing?”
Amy smiled slightly. “Michael, you of all people, know I’ve got my ways.”
“Yeah, I do,” Michael agreed, “But it’s a matter of security, and I’m in charge of security here. I need to know.”
Amy grinned. “Don’t worry about it.”
Michael looked flustered and frustrated; he knew he was fighting a losing battle. Still, he was determined to get an answer… eventually.
“Okay, WHY did you stow away on the ship then?”
“Well, that I can answer,” Amy said. “I wanted to see my daughter.”
“Well, geez…” the local Michael exclaimed, “Why didn’t you just ask? We looked for you and nobody could find you.”
“You did?”
“Well, Jim did.”
“Oh.”
“You weren’t home.”
Amy sighed. “I wasn’t home, because I was here… on the ship. I overheard Jim talking to someone in his office about this alien ship going to see Maria and Michael and Max and Liz… and I wanted to go, too. I didn’t know there was anyone on the ship but… you know… people from Max’s planet… Antar. Anyway, I figured when they got to wherever Maria and you were I’d sneak off again and see Maria. You know, all I ever get is a call about once a month… and it’s always from an untraceable line… and she won’t tell me where she is… except somewhere in the west or northwest.”
The truth is, Amy did know that Maria and Michael were in Washington state, she just didn’t know where in Washington state. But she had no intention of telling Michael or Maria that she knew this much.
“You could have wound up on an alien planet!” Michael said… “And you wouldn’t even know the language!”
Amy shrugged. “I’d survive.”
Michael nodded. “It’s the Antarians I was worried about. They aren’t prepared for you.”
Amy pursed her lips and glared at Michael but then adopted a pouting look.
“I just wanted to see Maria… and she won’t ever tell me where she is.”
Michael smiled and nodded understandingly, “Sorry, Mom… she can’t. We’re still hiding from Pierce.”
“Give me his address,” Amy said, “I’ll get rid of him for you.”
Michael smiled. “Tempting… very tempting. But if you got hurt, Maria would never forgive me.”
Amy nodded and grinned. “I know.”
At that moment, Maria and Liz rushed into the room with their doubles, who had taken them on a quick tour of some of the ship while Isabel took the girls to freshen up; and they had just found out what was going on. Maria rushed to her mom and threw her arms around her, then she pulled back and looked at her with a mixture of joy, irritation, and awe in her eyes…
“Mom… how the hell did you get here?”
Amy smiled. “Michael couldn’t get me to talk with torture. You’re not going to make me talk either.”
Maria looked at Michael, and Michael held up both hands… “I didn’t torture her!”
Maria smiled, knowing her mother and Michael both well.
“God, Mom, they looked for you everywhere…”
“Well, I didn’t know.”
Maria sighed, then hugged Amy again. “It’s wonderful to see you, Mom.”
Amy wiped a tear from her eye and nodded, kissing Maria and hugging her. “Yes, it is!”
Maria looked around the room. By now, everyone was there…
“Let’s go down to the house, okay? I’ve got mountain candy and coffee waiting for everybody.”
Alex grinned, and Max transported them back down using his transporter remote; each of the crew, as well as Alex and Isabel, had one on them.
Back in her living room, Maria told everyone to make themselves at home. Then she went into the kitchen and returned with a huge tin full of candy, giving a piece to each of the girls and setting it on the coffee table for anyone else who wanted some. Michael brought out the coffee for her.
Seeing how much the girls seemed to love the candy, Rayylar tried it, and his eyes lit up. Then Varec and the others all tried it, too.
“I have some in a different tin for you,” Maria said to her double and Liz, and to the Whitmans and the Evanses. “It’s not made with 50% Tabasco.”
Diane’s eyes opened wide, and she moved her hand immediately to the new tin.
“I’m glad you told me,” Liz from the New Granolith said, “Although I’m kind of getting used to Tabasco.”
“What is this made out of? It’s delicious!” Diane said. Phillip nodded, stuffing another one into his mouth.
Maria grinned… “Honey, real tree molasses, lots of blueberries, sassafras, a little cocoa, and my secret ingredient… Rice Krispies.”
Diane laughed.
“And for them,” Maria said, indicating Michael and the others, “I add a whopping portion of Tabasco and a few teaspoons of Cherry Cola syrup. It’s just a matter of getting the proportions right.”
“What are the right proportions,” Gloria asked.
“Fifty percent Tabasco, fifty percent anything else you have,” Maria said, getting another laugh from everyone present.
“Actually, it’s about 30% Tabasco, 10% Cherry Cola syrup, 30% blueberries, and the rest is an equal mixture of honey, molasses, crushed sassafras, cocoa, and Rice Krispies. For ours, you just eliminate the Tabasco, cut the Cherry Cola syrup down to about a fourth of what’s in theirs, then add more blueberries and Rice Krispies… and a little more crushed sassafras and cocoa… to make up for the Tabasco and syrup… It’s kind of ‘al dente,’ you know… You know it’s got enough of everything when it tastes right.”
“It’s delicious,” Phillip said, taking another one.
Maria grinned. Fortunately, she had plenty, though after this group, she knew that she would have to make some more.
For the rest of the afternoon, everyone talked and relaxed in the house and on the porch, took short walks in the woods, and got to know each other. But their time with Michael and Maria… and with Max and Liz… was far less than what any of them would have liked. Chuck and Gloria Whitman would be accompanying their son, Alex, and his family back to Antar, so they would be near him and Isabel… and their granddaughters… after this, but Phillip and Diane Evans would have only this short time together with Max and Isabel. Still, after believing that Isabel was dead for so long, this time together with both of them was a real blessing that they would be forever thankful for. Amy, too, would have to go back, but she was happier now, having seen Maria and knowing where she was and that she really was okay… and that Michael hadn’t kidnapped her or brainwashed her.
And that was something that concerned Michael…
“You do know that you can’t tell anyone where we are, right?” Michael said.
Amy looked at Michael and rolled her eyes. “Michael, if your double from that ship up there couldn’t get me to tell him how I got on his ship, do you think anybody’s going to get me to tell where my daughter is… especially if her life could depend on it?”
Michael smiled and raised his eyebrows. “Probably not.”
“Damned right! Your secret is safe.”
Michael nodded. “Thanks… Mom.”
Amy looked at Michael slightly askew then smiled and hugged him… “You take good care of my daughter.”
“I wouldn’t dare not,” Michael said with a grin.
“Good boy,” Amy replied, patting him on the cheek.
<center>End of Chapter 24
tbc…</center>
-
Island Breeze
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:01 pm
Sliding Into Antar
<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Completing The Circle
Chapter 25
XXV
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alex held up a long-stemmed goblet and offered a toast to his benefactors from the New Granolith. It was not the first and it probably would not be the last toast that Alex or Isabel would offer before the night was over. The crew of the New Granolith grinned and laughed, lifting their goblets in turn to their hosts. It was all light hearted and relaxed, almost like being home again back in their own dimension…
-Almost-
For Alex and Isabel… and for their two little girls… it was home. For Alex’s parents, Chuck and Gloria Whitman, it would become home. For the crew of the New Granolith… it was the best thing that wasn’t home. Everyone felt relaxed and happy. But none of them had forgotten that their own Antar… and their own families… were somewhere out there, lost, and they didn’t know how to find them. Each of them had dwelled on that thought many times since becoming unwitting members of the interdimensional frequent flyers club. But being able to take Alex and Isabel and their daughters back to their own earth for a visit had made it more bearable. It had given them all a warm feeling inside… as well as providing some memorable and fun moments…
“I thought Maria’s double wasn’t going to let you come back to Antar, Alex… She didn’t want to turn you loose,” said Michael from the New Granolith, with a grin and a snicker.
Alex smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I’ll have to thank Amy sometime for prying me loose.”
This brought a round of good-hearted laughter from everyone at the table.
“I didn’t realize how much I really had missed everyone,” Alex sighed. “I’m really happy that we got this chance to see them again. I owe you guys a huge favor for that.”
“If you can send us home, we’ll consider it paid in full,” Michael said.
Alex smiled. “I wish I could do that… I really do. I know how much you miss your own planet and your own families… I wish you all the luck in the galaxy finding your way back. But if you don’t… you know… you’ll always be welcome here. Just turn around and come back.”
Liz shook her head. “You’re sweet, Alex, but nothing can substitute for my family. We have to keep going… no matter where it leads… because we have to make it home. We HAVE to.”
Alex nodded. “You will keep our address handy, though, won’t you?”
Liz smiled and kissed Alex on the cheek… “We know where to find you. Varec has all the Antars and earths we’ve been to mapped out on special charts he’s keeping. It’s where we WANT to go… home… that we can’t find.”
“Do you think Amy will try to go back to see Maria again,” Tess asked. “I mean… now that she knows where they are, I’m not sure that anything can keep her from going back if she gets the notion. She could lead Pierce to them.”
Michael nodded pensively. “You’re probably right… She’ll go back… sooner or later.” Then he smiled. “On the other hand, though, if Pierce follows her there, Amy’ll probably solve the problem permanently. I wouldn’t want to take her on… even if I were a psycho, alien-hunting, renegade agent. She’ll probably give him the slip, though. She never did tell me how she got on our ship. She just said don’t worry about it ‘cause nobody else could do it the same way.”
“You think she’s right?”
Michael shrugged. “Probably. I hope so. Short of pulling her fingernails out, I don’t think there’s anything that would make her ever tell how she did it. I don’t even think that would do it.”
“Even if they hurt Maria?”
Michael paused and thought about this then shook his head. “They can’t hurt Maria if they can’t find her… and Amy would die before she’d give up that information. I’m not totally comfortable with them all knowing where Maria is… or my double… or Liz and Max either for that matter, but I have to admit that they’re probably pretty safe. The Evanses will keep what they know hush hush… they’ll never let on that they know anything. Amy will give anyone who tries to follow her the slip. And the Whitman’s… well, Pierce would have to come to Antar to find them now. Have you seen the price of gas on earth lately? I don’t think even Pierce has that much in his budget.” Michael smiled, and the others all laughed and nodded.
“I did feel sorry for your mom and dad, though, Isabel, when you had to leave them to come back,” Liz said. “I kind of understand how they felt… after you had been missing for so long, you know… then to lose you again so soon.”
Isabel smiled. “They didn’t lose me this time. They know where I am now. And they know that once our ship is finished, I’ll be back to see them again. We all will. They understand. Your double’s mom and dad were pretty misty-eyed, too, when they had to leave their daughter in Washington and go back home to Roswell.”
Liz nodded and sighed. “They were, weren’t they? I had a big lump in my throat when we all left earth. It felt like I was leaving my own parents… but I know my parents are back on our Antar in our dimension.” The moment Liz said this, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply… “They traveled all the way across seven galaxies to be near me, and now… if we don’t find our way back home… they may not ever see me again… and I may never see them… ever again.”
Liz’s eyes welled up with tears, and Isabel winced and leaned over to put an arm around her, hugging her sympathetically. Seeming to understand, though they didn’t know all of the words that had been spoken, some of which were in English rather than Antarian, Mali and Gidi got up and walked over to Liz and put their arms around her, too. Then Gidi climbed into her lap.
Liz ran the tips of her fingers across her eyes and sniffed, hugging the girls and Isabel back… “If I didn’t have everyone that I left behind still back there on our Antar, I could be very happy here on yours, Iz. You and Alex have made it really… well, home.”
“They haven’t done bad for the economy, either,” Michael said. “This planet’s as prosperous as ours. And they’ve done some things that we could copy on our Antar.”
Alex smiled. “I’m no wizard. I just do what seems right.”
Maria grinned and raised her eyebrows, and Liz nodded. “That’s why it IS so right, Alex. You’re not a politician or a demagogue… you’re just… YOU… good ole… honest… lovable… sweet… unpretentious… Alex.”
“What! Not a wizard? …Well, if that’s all you think of me,” Alex retorted, pretending to be offended; then he smiled slowly, and as the smile edged over his face, his eyes seemed to light up with a sort of mischievous good humor… and an indefinable warmth that made Isabel grin….
“Those are exactly the reasons why I love you, dear… some of them anyway,” Isabel said, planting a long kiss on Alex’s lips. This unexpected move on Isabel’s part brought out cheers of encouragement and lots of smiles around the table… and left Alex curiously speechless. He grinned and took a swallow of water then shook his head… “Wow!”
Liz and Maria broke down and started laughing, and Tess followed, then everyone began to laugh, including the other Alex and Isabel, from the New Granolith. Gloria Whitman, Alex’s mom, shook her head and smiled, but Chuck appeared to be beaming.
Not ones to be left out of any hugging or kissing that involved their daddy, Mali and Gidi climbed into his lap and planted their own kisses on him.
“If I were candy, I’d be in real trouble,” Alex said sheepishly, hugging his girls back and returning their kisses.
Isabel scrunched up her nose good-naturedly, with a twinkle in her eyes that Alex recognized.
“Don’t say it! I’ll never live it down!” Alex pleaded.
“Say it! Say it!” Michael and Max both coaxed at the same time. Maria, Liz, and Tess all nodded in expectant agreement.
Isabel didn’t say anything, but she smiled at Alex and patted him on the cheek with a wink.
“I’ll never live it down,” Alex moaned, closing his eyes tightly, with a huge grin on his face. “Now they’ll imagine all kinds of things.”
“And all true,” Isabel said, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous gaiety that seemed to match Alex’s own at that moment.
Michael raised his eyebrows and whistled softly.
“Oh, you’re just jealous,” Alex said, eliciting more laughter… and a few nods… from those at the table.
For whatever reason, perhaps feeling the need to show that Michael had nothing to worry about, Maria reached over suddenly with both hands and pulled Michael to her, pressing her slightly parted lips firmly to his unexpecting… but obviously appreciative lips. When she was finished, Michael took a long deep breath and then grinned a sort of intoxicated grin. And again, there was laughter from everyone present. Maria’s actions seemed to have started something, and soon, Liz had planted a kiss on Max’s lips, Tess had kissed Rayylar, and the other Isabel had kissed… and, well, actually… was still kissing… her Alex.
Max raised his goblet to their host, with a smile… “To whatever is in these drinks, Alex!”
Alex laughed and shook his head. “Well, you see, Max, that’s the beauty of it… I don’t have to put any of Madame Vivian’s love potions in Isabel’s drinks.”
“He doesn’t,” Isabel agreed with a smile.
“It must be something in the air here then,” Max said with a wink, looking at Liz, who was looking at him and smiling from ear to ear.
They all knew what it really was. They were relaxed and enjoying themselves, fully at ease in Alex and Isabel’s… and in each other’s… company. It was something that Alex just seemed to bring out in people naturally. In fact, when he was talking business… on matters of the kingdom… he often had to be careful to stifle his natural easy-going appeal a bit. It wasn’t easy, but he had learned to do it. He knew that there were many out there who would take advantage of it. Apparently, though, Alex had not allowed that to happen, because by all appearances, he had reaped all the advantages himself… for the kingdom he and Isabel ruled.
The truth is, Alex still thought of himself as “elected,” and in a very real sense, he was. He never asked to be the king. He was made the king… by the people’s choice. And Isabel was made their queen by their choice… and by virtue of the fact that she and Alex were a package deal. And then, Isabel was, after all, a member of the real royal family, so she, and therefore Alex, as her husband, actually were within the original royal line… sort of.
One might assume that, had Max returned to this Antar with Liz, as he did in the other dimension, the people would have loved them, too; but a quirk of fate had made things turn out differently here. One thing, though, was evident. NO ONE was complaining. Even Max and Liz, back on earth, in the high Rockies, seemed happy with the arrangement. If the crew of the New Granolith had learned anything on this trip, it was that nothing can be taken for granted. There are an infinite number of possibilities in the universe, and it was equally possible that Michael and Maria might be the king and queen on one of the Antars… or even on more than one… or anyone else might be for that matter. This last thought frightened them a little bit. If there were an infinite number of possibilities, then bad rulers… just as bad as Kivar… might rule some of the Antars. It was a sobering thought.
Then again… maybe this planet was just an anomaly… a one of a kind. On every other Antar that they had been to, after all, Max and Liz had been… or had become… the king and queen. Random situations had been different on each planet, but the basic pattern had remained the same. The crew of the New Granolith had pretty much stopped dwelling on the possibilities, though. Ultimately… sooner or later… the possibilities would find THEM… unless they were spared, and the next Antar, or some Antar soon, turned out to be their own.
<center>End of Chapter 25
tbc…</center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Completing The Circle
Chapter 25
XXV
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Alex held up a long-stemmed goblet and offered a toast to his benefactors from the New Granolith. It was not the first and it probably would not be the last toast that Alex or Isabel would offer before the night was over. The crew of the New Granolith grinned and laughed, lifting their goblets in turn to their hosts. It was all light hearted and relaxed, almost like being home again back in their own dimension…
-Almost-
For Alex and Isabel… and for their two little girls… it was home. For Alex’s parents, Chuck and Gloria Whitman, it would become home. For the crew of the New Granolith… it was the best thing that wasn’t home. Everyone felt relaxed and happy. But none of them had forgotten that their own Antar… and their own families… were somewhere out there, lost, and they didn’t know how to find them. Each of them had dwelled on that thought many times since becoming unwitting members of the interdimensional frequent flyers club. But being able to take Alex and Isabel and their daughters back to their own earth for a visit had made it more bearable. It had given them all a warm feeling inside… as well as providing some memorable and fun moments…
“I thought Maria’s double wasn’t going to let you come back to Antar, Alex… She didn’t want to turn you loose,” said Michael from the New Granolith, with a grin and a snicker.
Alex smiled sheepishly and nodded. “I’ll have to thank Amy sometime for prying me loose.”
This brought a round of good-hearted laughter from everyone at the table.
“I didn’t realize how much I really had missed everyone,” Alex sighed. “I’m really happy that we got this chance to see them again. I owe you guys a huge favor for that.”
“If you can send us home, we’ll consider it paid in full,” Michael said.
Alex smiled. “I wish I could do that… I really do. I know how much you miss your own planet and your own families… I wish you all the luck in the galaxy finding your way back. But if you don’t… you know… you’ll always be welcome here. Just turn around and come back.”
Liz shook her head. “You’re sweet, Alex, but nothing can substitute for my family. We have to keep going… no matter where it leads… because we have to make it home. We HAVE to.”
Alex nodded. “You will keep our address handy, though, won’t you?”
Liz smiled and kissed Alex on the cheek… “We know where to find you. Varec has all the Antars and earths we’ve been to mapped out on special charts he’s keeping. It’s where we WANT to go… home… that we can’t find.”
“Do you think Amy will try to go back to see Maria again,” Tess asked. “I mean… now that she knows where they are, I’m not sure that anything can keep her from going back if she gets the notion. She could lead Pierce to them.”
Michael nodded pensively. “You’re probably right… She’ll go back… sooner or later.” Then he smiled. “On the other hand, though, if Pierce follows her there, Amy’ll probably solve the problem permanently. I wouldn’t want to take her on… even if I were a psycho, alien-hunting, renegade agent. She’ll probably give him the slip, though. She never did tell me how she got on our ship. She just said don’t worry about it ‘cause nobody else could do it the same way.”
“You think she’s right?”
Michael shrugged. “Probably. I hope so. Short of pulling her fingernails out, I don’t think there’s anything that would make her ever tell how she did it. I don’t even think that would do it.”
“Even if they hurt Maria?”
Michael paused and thought about this then shook his head. “They can’t hurt Maria if they can’t find her… and Amy would die before she’d give up that information. I’m not totally comfortable with them all knowing where Maria is… or my double… or Liz and Max either for that matter, but I have to admit that they’re probably pretty safe. The Evanses will keep what they know hush hush… they’ll never let on that they know anything. Amy will give anyone who tries to follow her the slip. And the Whitman’s… well, Pierce would have to come to Antar to find them now. Have you seen the price of gas on earth lately? I don’t think even Pierce has that much in his budget.” Michael smiled, and the others all laughed and nodded.
“I did feel sorry for your mom and dad, though, Isabel, when you had to leave them to come back,” Liz said. “I kind of understand how they felt… after you had been missing for so long, you know… then to lose you again so soon.”
Isabel smiled. “They didn’t lose me this time. They know where I am now. And they know that once our ship is finished, I’ll be back to see them again. We all will. They understand. Your double’s mom and dad were pretty misty-eyed, too, when they had to leave their daughter in Washington and go back home to Roswell.”
Liz nodded and sighed. “They were, weren’t they? I had a big lump in my throat when we all left earth. It felt like I was leaving my own parents… but I know my parents are back on our Antar in our dimension.” The moment Liz said this, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply… “They traveled all the way across seven galaxies to be near me, and now… if we don’t find our way back home… they may not ever see me again… and I may never see them… ever again.”
Liz’s eyes welled up with tears, and Isabel winced and leaned over to put an arm around her, hugging her sympathetically. Seeming to understand, though they didn’t know all of the words that had been spoken, some of which were in English rather than Antarian, Mali and Gidi got up and walked over to Liz and put their arms around her, too. Then Gidi climbed into her lap.
Liz ran the tips of her fingers across her eyes and sniffed, hugging the girls and Isabel back… “If I didn’t have everyone that I left behind still back there on our Antar, I could be very happy here on yours, Iz. You and Alex have made it really… well, home.”
“They haven’t done bad for the economy, either,” Michael said. “This planet’s as prosperous as ours. And they’ve done some things that we could copy on our Antar.”
Alex smiled. “I’m no wizard. I just do what seems right.”
Maria grinned and raised her eyebrows, and Liz nodded. “That’s why it IS so right, Alex. You’re not a politician or a demagogue… you’re just… YOU… good ole… honest… lovable… sweet… unpretentious… Alex.”
“What! Not a wizard? …Well, if that’s all you think of me,” Alex retorted, pretending to be offended; then he smiled slowly, and as the smile edged over his face, his eyes seemed to light up with a sort of mischievous good humor… and an indefinable warmth that made Isabel grin….
“Those are exactly the reasons why I love you, dear… some of them anyway,” Isabel said, planting a long kiss on Alex’s lips. This unexpected move on Isabel’s part brought out cheers of encouragement and lots of smiles around the table… and left Alex curiously speechless. He grinned and took a swallow of water then shook his head… “Wow!”
Liz and Maria broke down and started laughing, and Tess followed, then everyone began to laugh, including the other Alex and Isabel, from the New Granolith. Gloria Whitman, Alex’s mom, shook her head and smiled, but Chuck appeared to be beaming.
Not ones to be left out of any hugging or kissing that involved their daddy, Mali and Gidi climbed into his lap and planted their own kisses on him.
“If I were candy, I’d be in real trouble,” Alex said sheepishly, hugging his girls back and returning their kisses.
Isabel scrunched up her nose good-naturedly, with a twinkle in her eyes that Alex recognized.
“Don’t say it! I’ll never live it down!” Alex pleaded.
“Say it! Say it!” Michael and Max both coaxed at the same time. Maria, Liz, and Tess all nodded in expectant agreement.
Isabel didn’t say anything, but she smiled at Alex and patted him on the cheek with a wink.
“I’ll never live it down,” Alex moaned, closing his eyes tightly, with a huge grin on his face. “Now they’ll imagine all kinds of things.”
“And all true,” Isabel said, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous gaiety that seemed to match Alex’s own at that moment.
Michael raised his eyebrows and whistled softly.
“Oh, you’re just jealous,” Alex said, eliciting more laughter… and a few nods… from those at the table.
For whatever reason, perhaps feeling the need to show that Michael had nothing to worry about, Maria reached over suddenly with both hands and pulled Michael to her, pressing her slightly parted lips firmly to his unexpecting… but obviously appreciative lips. When she was finished, Michael took a long deep breath and then grinned a sort of intoxicated grin. And again, there was laughter from everyone present. Maria’s actions seemed to have started something, and soon, Liz had planted a kiss on Max’s lips, Tess had kissed Rayylar, and the other Isabel had kissed… and, well, actually… was still kissing… her Alex.
Max raised his goblet to their host, with a smile… “To whatever is in these drinks, Alex!”
Alex laughed and shook his head. “Well, you see, Max, that’s the beauty of it… I don’t have to put any of Madame Vivian’s love potions in Isabel’s drinks.”
“He doesn’t,” Isabel agreed with a smile.
“It must be something in the air here then,” Max said with a wink, looking at Liz, who was looking at him and smiling from ear to ear.
They all knew what it really was. They were relaxed and enjoying themselves, fully at ease in Alex and Isabel’s… and in each other’s… company. It was something that Alex just seemed to bring out in people naturally. In fact, when he was talking business… on matters of the kingdom… he often had to be careful to stifle his natural easy-going appeal a bit. It wasn’t easy, but he had learned to do it. He knew that there were many out there who would take advantage of it. Apparently, though, Alex had not allowed that to happen, because by all appearances, he had reaped all the advantages himself… for the kingdom he and Isabel ruled.
The truth is, Alex still thought of himself as “elected,” and in a very real sense, he was. He never asked to be the king. He was made the king… by the people’s choice. And Isabel was made their queen by their choice… and by virtue of the fact that she and Alex were a package deal. And then, Isabel was, after all, a member of the real royal family, so she, and therefore Alex, as her husband, actually were within the original royal line… sort of.
One might assume that, had Max returned to this Antar with Liz, as he did in the other dimension, the people would have loved them, too; but a quirk of fate had made things turn out differently here. One thing, though, was evident. NO ONE was complaining. Even Max and Liz, back on earth, in the high Rockies, seemed happy with the arrangement. If the crew of the New Granolith had learned anything on this trip, it was that nothing can be taken for granted. There are an infinite number of possibilities in the universe, and it was equally possible that Michael and Maria might be the king and queen on one of the Antars… or even on more than one… or anyone else might be for that matter. This last thought frightened them a little bit. If there were an infinite number of possibilities, then bad rulers… just as bad as Kivar… might rule some of the Antars. It was a sobering thought.
Then again… maybe this planet was just an anomaly… a one of a kind. On every other Antar that they had been to, after all, Max and Liz had been… or had become… the king and queen. Random situations had been different on each planet, but the basic pattern had remained the same. The crew of the New Granolith had pretty much stopped dwelling on the possibilities, though. Ultimately… sooner or later… the possibilities would find THEM… unless they were spared, and the next Antar, or some Antar soon, turned out to be their own.
<center>End of Chapter 25
tbc…</center>
-
Island Breeze
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:01 pm
Sliding Into Antar
<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Onward Into
The Unknown
Chapter 26
XXVI
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Liz hugged Alex… then Isabel… one last time, then she bent down and kissed Mali and Gidi.
“I’m going to miss you guys. I’ll probably be wishing we were back here before the day is over. It’s lonely out there in space when you’re missing something… or someone.”
Alex smiled but shook his head. “You’ll be on your way home. Once you’re out there in space, you won’t even remember us.”
Liz gave Alex a scolding look, and without warning, she and Maria both gave him a playful slap from opposite sides at the same time. Alex smiled, rubbing his cheeks, “See what I mean? Already I’m being abused.”
Maria scrunched up her nose playfully. “You deserved it… for saying that we would forget you.”
“Well, I know two little people who aren’t going to be forgetting someone real soon” Isabel said, motioning with her head toward Mali and Gidi, who where both on the floor hugging Jung-Jo, as he purred and licked them on the cheeks.
Liz laughed and nodded. “Jung-Jo has a way with kids. They all love him. Grown-ups do, too… most of them… once they get to know him. But kids… kids always love him. They just seem to be drawn to each other.”
“He knows where all the petting and loving come from,” Alex said with a grin, “I understand.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you’re lacking for those things, Alex,” Liz said, glancing at Isabel, who stood beside him smiling.
Alex shook his head and put his arm around Isabel. “No… you’re right… I admit it.”
“We’re ready,” Max said, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. Michael was already seated in the co-pilot’s seat.
Alex smiled then hugged Liz and Maria one last time. Liz hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek, then she kissed Isabel on the cheek, too, before turning back toward Max; but she stopped for a moment, as she saw Tess from this dimension standing not far away, behind Isabel. For a few seconds, no one was sure what Liz was going to say. Her face betrayed no emotion. Then… slowly… she smiled…
“Good luck, Tess… Take care of Alex and Isabel for us. I… uh… After Alex told us what happened back on earth between you and him, I was… well… but I understand why he’s forgiven you now… and why he says he trusts you. I’ve always thought Alex was pretty smart, so…” Liz hesitated, trying to think of something else to say but then left it at that. Maria finished it for her…
“What Liz means is, we appreciate what you did bringing Alex here and making him well again and all… and if Alex trusts you, then we guess we do, too… but if anyone were to ever hurt Alex… I mean, again… not that I think anyone would or anything… I’d have to say, you know… we’d, uh… we’ll be back.”
Tess smiled but managed to maintain a sober look. She realized that Maria was being totally serious and had only said what she had said out of genuine concern and affection for Alex; and she didn’t want to seem flippant… but for some reason, Maria’s words struck her as funny. She looked at the floor for a moment then back at Maria, and nodded… “I hear you, Ah- …Maria. Don’t worry. I’ve never been as scared in my life as I was after… after… what I did to… you know… before…” She took a deep breath, suddenly becoming unexpectedly flustered as she recalled the past…
“Call it ‘scared straight’ or whatever you want. I’m not the same person I was when I was younger. I’ve washed everything Nasedo put into my head out of me… and I don’t regret it at all. I like thinking for myself. I like being someone who can be trusted… someone people actually care about. It’s like… coming out of a dark sewer and living in the sunlight. I don’t want to ever go back.”
Maria gave Tess her best “desperado” look then slowly nodded.
“Come on, Maria,” Liz said, “It’ll be fine. Alex is a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
Maria looked at Tess again, then, slowly, she smiled. “I was just being sure.”
Tess returned the smile. “I know.”
“WELL…” Alex said, smiling sheepishly, “I don’t think any king of Antar has ever been better protected.”
Max laughed. “You may be right. If Liz and Maria had been around in our last life, Kivar would have been in serious trouble.”
Liz and Maria both nodded. Then Alex nodded, too… “Tess took care of Kivar for me.”
“NEVER underestimate us,” Isabel said.
Alex smiled and then chuckled. “Not me! No way!”
Liz laughed, then everyone began to laugh.
“Beam me down, Scotty,” Alex said, turning to Michael, “I know you guys are anxious to get on the road… or whatever lies out there for you.”
Michael pressed a button, and Alex, Isabel, Tess, Mali, and Gidi disappeared. A second later, they reappeared safely inside the palace, two hundred feet below. All five rushed to a balcony, only to find Alex’s mom and dad already there. The five Antarians… and two new Antarians… looked up in time to see the New Granolith rise through the atmosphere, high in the clear Antarian sky, picking up speed then disappearing, as it headed off, once again, into the unknown.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>
It had been two days, as the hours were counted, since Alex and Isabel’s Antar had faded to a tiny point of light behind the New Granolith… then had disappeared like so many other stars and planets in the night.
In space, there was no real difference between night and day… Counting the hours was the only way to measure time. The crew of the New Granolith adhered to a schedule just as though they were back on Antar. During the hours that coincided with nighttime on Antar, they slept. During the “daylight” hours on Antar, they worked, ate… and sometimes played.
At the moment, Liz was watching Varec carefully scrawl cryptic scientific notations on his huge map of the interdimensional cosmos… and she looked up to find that Michael was standing beside her with Max. Both of them looked at the map, and Max seemed to study it for a moment… “So… do you think we’ll find our own Antar this time, Varec?”
Varec sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “There is no way to know, Zan. I can find Antar… but I can never be certain that it will be ours… not until I have the precise interdimensional coordinates to compare to the coordinates of the other Antars we have been to.”
“Is that what all these notations are,” Max asked, pointing at the map.
Varec nodded. “This one here…” He indicated a small sun-spiked orb in the lower left corner of the map and hurriedly wrote in some names for Max and Michael’s sake… “This orb is the earth that your younger doubles lived on… the earth where Liz was paralyzed… And this is their Antar…” He pointed at another tiny orb about three inches to the right.”
“They look really close when you see them this way,” Max said, “…considering that they’re seven galaxies apart, I mean.”
Varec nodded. “That’s because the cosmos is so big by comparison… and we have to take dimensions into consideration, too.”
“What is this,” Max asked, pointing at another tiny orb on the map.
“That is the Antar where the children were trying to chase us away with fire in the sky… where the parents were asleep in the black bog.”
“Dead,” Liz corrected… “Or something that was about the same thing.”
Varec nodded. “And this Antar over here is the one we just left… where Alex is the king.”
“How do you know which one is which,” Michael asked.
Varec smiled… “The notations tell me everything I need to know.”
“Explain this one,” Michael said.
Varec nodded. “Well… D2 El’r means ‘Dimension 2 Eluymer… or Earth… because it is the second one we went to. Here is the longitudinal position for that planet, based on the positions of the stars in their dimension. Then this is their latitudinal position, based on the same reckoning. And this is the dimensional plane, based on a theoretical cosmic core being right out… here. It’s a reference point… whether or not it turns out to be the actual center of the universe is irrelevant. I could put those equations into the ship’s computers and the ship would find its way back to that planet with no problem.”
Max nodded… “How do you figure out where we are interdimensionally? I understand the star positions, but how do you determine a particular dimension’s position or plane or whatever?”
“Triangulation. If you look at the figures, you will see that the positions of the stars and planets follow a formula. They’re triangulating as we proceed through the various dimensions. It would seem, at first glance, that they are coming closer together… or getting further apart, depending on the direction one is going… but that is only an illusion. They are not. It is similar to the effect that you get when looking at something that is far away. It looks smaller, and everything between you and the distant object is proportionally smaller in turn, so that if you were to hold both arms out and draw a line from the tip of each hand to the distant object, the lines would appear to converge at some distant point… but every object in between would be on a level with the line… if it is on the same interdimensional intersecting plane. The lines are not really coming together, though. It is a matter of perception. The same formula that will calculate that perceptual effect will also effectively calculate the positions of the different Antars. On the map, they triangulate… That allows us to locate them. But then by applying the correction formula, we can expand the universe… in a manner of speaking… so that its true dimensions are represented… and plot an accurate course directly to the next Antar, in the next dimension. We just follow the line. Does that make sense?”
Liz nodded. “Yes! It does!”
“It does?” Max and Michael both asked at the same time. “Oh, yeah… yeah, it does,” Max agreed, sounding less than convincing.
“Well, it works,” Michael added, “I never argue with what works.”
Max nodded.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>
It was the morning of the third day when the crew spotted Antar ahead, and everyone gathered on the bridge to watch, as they drew nearer. Oddly, as they approached, they noticed that there was no radio chatter on the airwaves. Usually, one could hear numerous conversations going on between pilots and the Antar Control Center and between pilots and each other… but there was nothing…
“Do you think we should go into stealth mode this time… just to be safe,” Max asked, though it was more of a suggestion than a question. Michael nodded and engaged the ship’s invisibility shield then activated the other stealth systems.
“It looks like our Antar,” Maria said hopefully.
“So did the others,” Tess reminded her, “…Well, except for the one where we were getting peppered with fire balls and meteors… but those were illusions that the kids were creating.”
“Jiba,” Maria said, nodding, “Your daughter’s double.”
Tess shrugged and smiled. It had been a harrowing experience for the crew of the New Granolith, but Tess had to admit that she was proud, in a vicarious way, of her double’s daughter’s amazing abilities… and of the way the children had stuck together, pooling their talents to chase away Kivar’s shadow shifter assassins… and even Kivar himself.
The New Granolith glided into the atmosphere, descending over the Golden Sea and then turning inland over CoruzAntar, the capitol, as everyone watched expectantly through the huge bridge window. The palace was there. And there seemed to be traffic on the roads… though it was lighter than usual. Max and Michael brought the ship around and set it down in a field on the outskirts of the city.
In reality, “set the ship down” was a bit misleading, though not exactly inaccurate. The New Granolith never actually sat on the ground; it didn’t even have landing gear. Rather, it nestled into an anti-gravity field generated beneath the ship, as though sitting on a huge invisible pillow. This field could be increased or decreased to make the ship “sit” at various altitudes, anywhere from less than an inch off the ground… theoretically… though they had never tried it… to the equivalent of about 300 feet off the ground. It could “hover,” of course, at any altitude, but the anti-gravity field, which provided a positive placement lock, only worked to about 300 feet. Usually, they set the ship down somewhere between 20-40 feet off the ground. This time, Michael had set it at 40 feet.
“I’ll go check the place out,” Max said, “Jim and Kyle can come with me.”
“Better you should stay in the ship,” Michael objected, “I’ll go. Jim and Kyle can come with me. If something goes wrong, you need to be on the ship where you can do something about it.”
“You mean where I won’t get hurt,” Max retorted unhappily, knowing that he wouldn’t win an argument with Michael on this. When it came to doing his job, “General Michael,” as most of the troops called him, could be unmovable… totally.
Max fell back into the pilot’s seat with a dejected look on his face. “Just once! Just once I’d like to over-rule him!”
Liz smiled. “Why didn’t you?”
Max sighed. “Because he’s right… But I don’t have to like it!”
“Michael will be better protected if you’re safe here where you can help him if he gets into trouble out there,” Maria said.
Max looked at Maria for a moment… “Is everybody the voice of reason here but me?”
Maria grinned. “I’ve always been the voice of reason… You guys just have to listen more often.”
Max smiled slightly and nodded. “Alright! Alright! I give up! I know when I’m fighting the wind. And you’re right… I can do more from in here… But I still feel like I should be out there.”
Liz smiled, understanding.
Michael took Jim and Kyle with him and transported down to the surface, then the three of them walked off toward the palace. They didn’t have to walk far. As they reached the road, a hover car… a sea-blue Fan-Ji IV… approached, and the driver slowed to a stop.
“Do you guys need a ride somewhere?”
“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Kyle replied in Antarian, which he, like the others, was fluent in after living on Antar for so long.
“Where ‘re you going,” the driver of the blue Fan-Ji IV asked.
“Uh… we thought we’d go into the capitol… over near the royal palace… do some shopping or just catch the sights,” Michael said.
The man nodded. “You’re not from around here, are you? Where you from? You’re not from the Chanesio region… are you?”
Michael shook his head. “I wouldn’t know how to raise shebbles.”
“I didn’t think so. You don’t look like shebble herders… more like the old royal class.”
“Old royal class?” Kyle and Michael both asked at the same time.
“Yeah, well, you know… before ‘HE’ came.”
“Oh… yeah… HIM,” Michael said, looking at Kyle. Kyle shrugged.
“He’s a strange sort, isn’t he,” Michael said, pretending to know who the driver meant, and at the same time fishing for any information that could be useful to them.
“I guess so,” the driver replied. “I haven’t met many Eluymerians. Actually, I never saw one at all… before HE came.”
“Eluymerian… He’s from Earth,” Kyle said in a whisper. “Do you think he means Max?”
Michael shrugged. It seemed odd that the driver would refer to their king so cryptically… as HE or HIM. Antarians called Max, Zan… or the king… or his majesty… many things, but “HE” was not one of them. It set Michael’s defensive alarms off. “You don’t think Alex is the king here, too, do you?” he whispered.
Kyle shrugged. “Could be… I guess. But I didn’t hear anyone refer to Alex as HE or HIM. They called him by name.”
Michael nodded. “That’s true… but we weren’t there very long and didn’t meet many people… outside of the palace, I mean.”
“That’s true,” Kyle admitted.
“What are you guys talking about,” the driver asked.
“Oh… just, you know… HIM,” Kyle said.
“Oh.” The driver nodded. “He’s a bit of a mystery, isn’t he?”
“How do you mean,” Michael asked.
“Well, you know… I mean, he shows up here out of the blue, makes friends with Kivar… then Kivar mysteriously disappears and HE takes over as the leader. But nobody ever sees him. He never gives any speeches or holds any government meetings…”
“Maybe he doesn’t speak Antarian,” Kyle said… “He’s from Eluymer, right?”
The driver nodded. “Yeah… that’s probably it. But it’s still strange. What do you think happened to Kivar… I mean, not that I miss him, you understand!”
“Of course,” Kyle replied.
“That is a mystery,” Michael added.
“Yes, it is,” the driver said. “There’s a lot of us that think HE knocked Kivar off… secretly.”
“Not that that would be a bad thing, I guess,” Michael said.
The driver smiled. “True! But we know so little about HIM. We don’t even know his name. He could be as bad as Kivar. Nobody knows.”
Michael looked at Kyle, and Kyle nodded, “That explains the ‘HE’ and ‘HIM.’ They don’t know his name.”
“Don’t you ever call him the king… or your majesty,” Michael asked, venturing out on a limb.
“Well, we don’t really know if he is the king or not,” the driver replied, “HE doesn’t ever come out or mix with the people or communicate with them. He just stays locked up in the palace… except when the palace guards take someone to see him.”
“He sends guards for people?” Michael asked, showing sudden interest. “What for?”
The driver shrugged. “Nobody knows.”
“Don’t the people he sends the guards for ever talk… after they’ve been to see HIM?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” the driver said honestly, “I’ve never heard.”
“Do they… come back?” Michael asked cautiously.
The driver was silent for several moments then shrugged. “I don’t know. The truth is, I’ve never heard that they did or they didn’t. It’s a mystery.”
“It sure is,” Kyle agreed.
“Well, there’s the palace right up there,” the driver said, “Where do you want out?”
“Anywhere will be fine,” Michael replied, “Right here’s okay.”
The driver stopped, and Michael and Kyle got out.
“Thanks for the ride,” Michael said, “You saved us a lot of walking!”
The man smiled. “It was my pleasure. I enjoyed talking with you. I hope you find out more about HIM. But I’ve got to tell you, he gives me the willies. I don’t know why… but he just does… and I’ve never even seen him.”
Michael nodded and turned to Kyle, motioning with his head in the direction of the palace. Kyle understood and started to walk that way.
“Bye,” Michael said, waving at their benefactor, “I’ve got to catch up with my friend.”
“So long,” the driver replied with a quick wave and a smile, as he drove off.
Michael hurried to catch up to Kyle. The palace was still a quarter of a mile away… approximately. Because of the extensive grounds that surrounded it, it was effectively isolated from the main roads, shops, and thoroughfares, even though it sat in the center of the capitol city.
Six minutes later, Michael and Kyle stood next to the palace’s outer wall…
“What now, Michael?”
“One of us climbs up to that third floor balcony up there and takes a look around inside,” Michael said… “I guess that’ll be me.”
Kyle smiled… “Yeah, that’s right, you have some experience at that sort of thing, don’t you? Dad told me after you ‘fessed up.”
Michael looked back at Kyle and cringed. “Geez, it wasn’t supposed to be a public service announcement.”
Kyle grinned and shook his head. “He just told me.”
Michael nodded then started to scale the wall… “Well, that was the Roswell Sheriff’s Office. This might be a little harder.”
Kyle looked up at the third floor balcony then back at Michael. Michael was half way up the wall already. “You’ll make it,” he whispered confidently.
Seconds later, Michael stepped onto the small ledge that protruded beyond the balcony railing. He stayed outside the railing to avoid being seen by anyone who might be inside.
“What do you see,” Kyle called up in a quiet voice. Michael shook his head… “Nothing yet.” But at that moment, a light came on inside the room, and Michael ducked down again behind the outside of the railing. It was a man… about average build. It wasn’t Max, though… nor was it Alex. Michael was sure of that. Whoever it was, it wasn’t anyone that Michael recognized. Michael pressed closer to the railing, peering between the bars, as the man walked back and forth a couple of times across the room, seeming oblivious to anything around him, lost in thought. Then, suddenly, the man unexpectedly looked straight in Michael’s direction, almost as though some alarm had gone off in his head. Michael went white, as he recognized the face looking at him; and in shock, he instinctively took a step back. He immediately knew that he had made a mistake, but it was too late.
Kyle watched in horror as Michael plunged three stories to the ground, landing hard on his back. Rushing to Michael’s side, Kyle did what he could for him… which wasn’t much at the moment. Blood was coming from the corner of Michael’s mouth, and he appeared to be fading quickly.
“I’ll get Max,” Kyle said hoarsely, starting to jump up; but Michael’s hand grabbed his wrist in a vice-like grip and pulled him back down… “No time… Kyle… Tell Max… get everyone out of here. Don’t bring Max back here. GO! LEAVE!”
“But… but…” Kyle objected, “I’ll take you with me then.” He started to pick Michael up.
“No time…” Michael gasped with a raspy cough, pushing Kyle away. “Get Max out of here… NOW! Leave this Antar… Don’t… ever come back…” Michael’s eyes closed, and Kyle looked up at the balcony… and into the face that was staring down at him… Then he ran.
<center>End of Chapter 26
tbc…</center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Onward Into
The Unknown
Chapter 26
XXVI
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Liz hugged Alex… then Isabel… one last time, then she bent down and kissed Mali and Gidi.
“I’m going to miss you guys. I’ll probably be wishing we were back here before the day is over. It’s lonely out there in space when you’re missing something… or someone.”
Alex smiled but shook his head. “You’ll be on your way home. Once you’re out there in space, you won’t even remember us.”
Liz gave Alex a scolding look, and without warning, she and Maria both gave him a playful slap from opposite sides at the same time. Alex smiled, rubbing his cheeks, “See what I mean? Already I’m being abused.”
Maria scrunched up her nose playfully. “You deserved it… for saying that we would forget you.”
“Well, I know two little people who aren’t going to be forgetting someone real soon” Isabel said, motioning with her head toward Mali and Gidi, who where both on the floor hugging Jung-Jo, as he purred and licked them on the cheeks.
Liz laughed and nodded. “Jung-Jo has a way with kids. They all love him. Grown-ups do, too… most of them… once they get to know him. But kids… kids always love him. They just seem to be drawn to each other.”
“He knows where all the petting and loving come from,” Alex said with a grin, “I understand.”
“Somehow, I don’t think you’re lacking for those things, Alex,” Liz said, glancing at Isabel, who stood beside him smiling.
Alex shook his head and put his arm around Isabel. “No… you’re right… I admit it.”
“We’re ready,” Max said, sitting down in the pilot’s seat. Michael was already seated in the co-pilot’s seat.
Alex smiled then hugged Liz and Maria one last time. Liz hugged him back and kissed him on the cheek, then she kissed Isabel on the cheek, too, before turning back toward Max; but she stopped for a moment, as she saw Tess from this dimension standing not far away, behind Isabel. For a few seconds, no one was sure what Liz was going to say. Her face betrayed no emotion. Then… slowly… she smiled…
“Good luck, Tess… Take care of Alex and Isabel for us. I… uh… After Alex told us what happened back on earth between you and him, I was… well… but I understand why he’s forgiven you now… and why he says he trusts you. I’ve always thought Alex was pretty smart, so…” Liz hesitated, trying to think of something else to say but then left it at that. Maria finished it for her…
“What Liz means is, we appreciate what you did bringing Alex here and making him well again and all… and if Alex trusts you, then we guess we do, too… but if anyone were to ever hurt Alex… I mean, again… not that I think anyone would or anything… I’d have to say, you know… we’d, uh… we’ll be back.”
Tess smiled but managed to maintain a sober look. She realized that Maria was being totally serious and had only said what she had said out of genuine concern and affection for Alex; and she didn’t want to seem flippant… but for some reason, Maria’s words struck her as funny. She looked at the floor for a moment then back at Maria, and nodded… “I hear you, Ah- …Maria. Don’t worry. I’ve never been as scared in my life as I was after… after… what I did to… you know… before…” She took a deep breath, suddenly becoming unexpectedly flustered as she recalled the past…
“Call it ‘scared straight’ or whatever you want. I’m not the same person I was when I was younger. I’ve washed everything Nasedo put into my head out of me… and I don’t regret it at all. I like thinking for myself. I like being someone who can be trusted… someone people actually care about. It’s like… coming out of a dark sewer and living in the sunlight. I don’t want to ever go back.”
Maria gave Tess her best “desperado” look then slowly nodded.
“Come on, Maria,” Liz said, “It’ll be fine. Alex is a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
Maria looked at Tess again, then, slowly, she smiled. “I was just being sure.”
Tess returned the smile. “I know.”
“WELL…” Alex said, smiling sheepishly, “I don’t think any king of Antar has ever been better protected.”
Max laughed. “You may be right. If Liz and Maria had been around in our last life, Kivar would have been in serious trouble.”
Liz and Maria both nodded. Then Alex nodded, too… “Tess took care of Kivar for me.”
“NEVER underestimate us,” Isabel said.
Alex smiled and then chuckled. “Not me! No way!”
Liz laughed, then everyone began to laugh.
“Beam me down, Scotty,” Alex said, turning to Michael, “I know you guys are anxious to get on the road… or whatever lies out there for you.”
Michael pressed a button, and Alex, Isabel, Tess, Mali, and Gidi disappeared. A second later, they reappeared safely inside the palace, two hundred feet below. All five rushed to a balcony, only to find Alex’s mom and dad already there. The five Antarians… and two new Antarians… looked up in time to see the New Granolith rise through the atmosphere, high in the clear Antarian sky, picking up speed then disappearing, as it headed off, once again, into the unknown.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>
It had been two days, as the hours were counted, since Alex and Isabel’s Antar had faded to a tiny point of light behind the New Granolith… then had disappeared like so many other stars and planets in the night.
In space, there was no real difference between night and day… Counting the hours was the only way to measure time. The crew of the New Granolith adhered to a schedule just as though they were back on Antar. During the hours that coincided with nighttime on Antar, they slept. During the “daylight” hours on Antar, they worked, ate… and sometimes played.
At the moment, Liz was watching Varec carefully scrawl cryptic scientific notations on his huge map of the interdimensional cosmos… and she looked up to find that Michael was standing beside her with Max. Both of them looked at the map, and Max seemed to study it for a moment… “So… do you think we’ll find our own Antar this time, Varec?”
Varec sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “There is no way to know, Zan. I can find Antar… but I can never be certain that it will be ours… not until I have the precise interdimensional coordinates to compare to the coordinates of the other Antars we have been to.”
“Is that what all these notations are,” Max asked, pointing at the map.
Varec nodded. “This one here…” He indicated a small sun-spiked orb in the lower left corner of the map and hurriedly wrote in some names for Max and Michael’s sake… “This orb is the earth that your younger doubles lived on… the earth where Liz was paralyzed… And this is their Antar…” He pointed at another tiny orb about three inches to the right.”
“They look really close when you see them this way,” Max said, “…considering that they’re seven galaxies apart, I mean.”
Varec nodded. “That’s because the cosmos is so big by comparison… and we have to take dimensions into consideration, too.”
“What is this,” Max asked, pointing at another tiny orb on the map.
“That is the Antar where the children were trying to chase us away with fire in the sky… where the parents were asleep in the black bog.”
“Dead,” Liz corrected… “Or something that was about the same thing.”
Varec nodded. “And this Antar over here is the one we just left… where Alex is the king.”
“How do you know which one is which,” Michael asked.
Varec smiled… “The notations tell me everything I need to know.”
“Explain this one,” Michael said.
Varec nodded. “Well… D2 El’r means ‘Dimension 2 Eluymer… or Earth… because it is the second one we went to. Here is the longitudinal position for that planet, based on the positions of the stars in their dimension. Then this is their latitudinal position, based on the same reckoning. And this is the dimensional plane, based on a theoretical cosmic core being right out… here. It’s a reference point… whether or not it turns out to be the actual center of the universe is irrelevant. I could put those equations into the ship’s computers and the ship would find its way back to that planet with no problem.”
Max nodded… “How do you figure out where we are interdimensionally? I understand the star positions, but how do you determine a particular dimension’s position or plane or whatever?”
“Triangulation. If you look at the figures, you will see that the positions of the stars and planets follow a formula. They’re triangulating as we proceed through the various dimensions. It would seem, at first glance, that they are coming closer together… or getting further apart, depending on the direction one is going… but that is only an illusion. They are not. It is similar to the effect that you get when looking at something that is far away. It looks smaller, and everything between you and the distant object is proportionally smaller in turn, so that if you were to hold both arms out and draw a line from the tip of each hand to the distant object, the lines would appear to converge at some distant point… but every object in between would be on a level with the line… if it is on the same interdimensional intersecting plane. The lines are not really coming together, though. It is a matter of perception. The same formula that will calculate that perceptual effect will also effectively calculate the positions of the different Antars. On the map, they triangulate… That allows us to locate them. But then by applying the correction formula, we can expand the universe… in a manner of speaking… so that its true dimensions are represented… and plot an accurate course directly to the next Antar, in the next dimension. We just follow the line. Does that make sense?”
Liz nodded. “Yes! It does!”
“It does?” Max and Michael both asked at the same time. “Oh, yeah… yeah, it does,” Max agreed, sounding less than convincing.
“Well, it works,” Michael added, “I never argue with what works.”
Max nodded.
<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>
It was the morning of the third day when the crew spotted Antar ahead, and everyone gathered on the bridge to watch, as they drew nearer. Oddly, as they approached, they noticed that there was no radio chatter on the airwaves. Usually, one could hear numerous conversations going on between pilots and the Antar Control Center and between pilots and each other… but there was nothing…
“Do you think we should go into stealth mode this time… just to be safe,” Max asked, though it was more of a suggestion than a question. Michael nodded and engaged the ship’s invisibility shield then activated the other stealth systems.
“It looks like our Antar,” Maria said hopefully.
“So did the others,” Tess reminded her, “…Well, except for the one where we were getting peppered with fire balls and meteors… but those were illusions that the kids were creating.”
“Jiba,” Maria said, nodding, “Your daughter’s double.”
Tess shrugged and smiled. It had been a harrowing experience for the crew of the New Granolith, but Tess had to admit that she was proud, in a vicarious way, of her double’s daughter’s amazing abilities… and of the way the children had stuck together, pooling their talents to chase away Kivar’s shadow shifter assassins… and even Kivar himself.
The New Granolith glided into the atmosphere, descending over the Golden Sea and then turning inland over CoruzAntar, the capitol, as everyone watched expectantly through the huge bridge window. The palace was there. And there seemed to be traffic on the roads… though it was lighter than usual. Max and Michael brought the ship around and set it down in a field on the outskirts of the city.
In reality, “set the ship down” was a bit misleading, though not exactly inaccurate. The New Granolith never actually sat on the ground; it didn’t even have landing gear. Rather, it nestled into an anti-gravity field generated beneath the ship, as though sitting on a huge invisible pillow. This field could be increased or decreased to make the ship “sit” at various altitudes, anywhere from less than an inch off the ground… theoretically… though they had never tried it… to the equivalent of about 300 feet off the ground. It could “hover,” of course, at any altitude, but the anti-gravity field, which provided a positive placement lock, only worked to about 300 feet. Usually, they set the ship down somewhere between 20-40 feet off the ground. This time, Michael had set it at 40 feet.
“I’ll go check the place out,” Max said, “Jim and Kyle can come with me.”
“Better you should stay in the ship,” Michael objected, “I’ll go. Jim and Kyle can come with me. If something goes wrong, you need to be on the ship where you can do something about it.”
“You mean where I won’t get hurt,” Max retorted unhappily, knowing that he wouldn’t win an argument with Michael on this. When it came to doing his job, “General Michael,” as most of the troops called him, could be unmovable… totally.
Max fell back into the pilot’s seat with a dejected look on his face. “Just once! Just once I’d like to over-rule him!”
Liz smiled. “Why didn’t you?”
Max sighed. “Because he’s right… But I don’t have to like it!”
“Michael will be better protected if you’re safe here where you can help him if he gets into trouble out there,” Maria said.
Max looked at Maria for a moment… “Is everybody the voice of reason here but me?”
Maria grinned. “I’ve always been the voice of reason… You guys just have to listen more often.”
Max smiled slightly and nodded. “Alright! Alright! I give up! I know when I’m fighting the wind. And you’re right… I can do more from in here… But I still feel like I should be out there.”
Liz smiled, understanding.
Michael took Jim and Kyle with him and transported down to the surface, then the three of them walked off toward the palace. They didn’t have to walk far. As they reached the road, a hover car… a sea-blue Fan-Ji IV… approached, and the driver slowed to a stop.
“Do you guys need a ride somewhere?”
“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Kyle replied in Antarian, which he, like the others, was fluent in after living on Antar for so long.
“Where ‘re you going,” the driver of the blue Fan-Ji IV asked.
“Uh… we thought we’d go into the capitol… over near the royal palace… do some shopping or just catch the sights,” Michael said.
The man nodded. “You’re not from around here, are you? Where you from? You’re not from the Chanesio region… are you?”
Michael shook his head. “I wouldn’t know how to raise shebbles.”
“I didn’t think so. You don’t look like shebble herders… more like the old royal class.”
“Old royal class?” Kyle and Michael both asked at the same time.
“Yeah, well, you know… before ‘HE’ came.”
“Oh… yeah… HIM,” Michael said, looking at Kyle. Kyle shrugged.
“He’s a strange sort, isn’t he,” Michael said, pretending to know who the driver meant, and at the same time fishing for any information that could be useful to them.
“I guess so,” the driver replied. “I haven’t met many Eluymerians. Actually, I never saw one at all… before HE came.”
“Eluymerian… He’s from Earth,” Kyle said in a whisper. “Do you think he means Max?”
Michael shrugged. It seemed odd that the driver would refer to their king so cryptically… as HE or HIM. Antarians called Max, Zan… or the king… or his majesty… many things, but “HE” was not one of them. It set Michael’s defensive alarms off. “You don’t think Alex is the king here, too, do you?” he whispered.
Kyle shrugged. “Could be… I guess. But I didn’t hear anyone refer to Alex as HE or HIM. They called him by name.”
Michael nodded. “That’s true… but we weren’t there very long and didn’t meet many people… outside of the palace, I mean.”
“That’s true,” Kyle admitted.
“What are you guys talking about,” the driver asked.
“Oh… just, you know… HIM,” Kyle said.
“Oh.” The driver nodded. “He’s a bit of a mystery, isn’t he?”
“How do you mean,” Michael asked.
“Well, you know… I mean, he shows up here out of the blue, makes friends with Kivar… then Kivar mysteriously disappears and HE takes over as the leader. But nobody ever sees him. He never gives any speeches or holds any government meetings…”
“Maybe he doesn’t speak Antarian,” Kyle said… “He’s from Eluymer, right?”
The driver nodded. “Yeah… that’s probably it. But it’s still strange. What do you think happened to Kivar… I mean, not that I miss him, you understand!”
“Of course,” Kyle replied.
“That is a mystery,” Michael added.
“Yes, it is,” the driver said. “There’s a lot of us that think HE knocked Kivar off… secretly.”
“Not that that would be a bad thing, I guess,” Michael said.
The driver smiled. “True! But we know so little about HIM. We don’t even know his name. He could be as bad as Kivar. Nobody knows.”
Michael looked at Kyle, and Kyle nodded, “That explains the ‘HE’ and ‘HIM.’ They don’t know his name.”
“Don’t you ever call him the king… or your majesty,” Michael asked, venturing out on a limb.
“Well, we don’t really know if he is the king or not,” the driver replied, “HE doesn’t ever come out or mix with the people or communicate with them. He just stays locked up in the palace… except when the palace guards take someone to see him.”
“He sends guards for people?” Michael asked, showing sudden interest. “What for?”
The driver shrugged. “Nobody knows.”
“Don’t the people he sends the guards for ever talk… after they’ve been to see HIM?” Kyle asked.
“I don’t know,” the driver said honestly, “I’ve never heard.”
“Do they… come back?” Michael asked cautiously.
The driver was silent for several moments then shrugged. “I don’t know. The truth is, I’ve never heard that they did or they didn’t. It’s a mystery.”
“It sure is,” Kyle agreed.
“Well, there’s the palace right up there,” the driver said, “Where do you want out?”
“Anywhere will be fine,” Michael replied, “Right here’s okay.”
The driver stopped, and Michael and Kyle got out.
“Thanks for the ride,” Michael said, “You saved us a lot of walking!”
The man smiled. “It was my pleasure. I enjoyed talking with you. I hope you find out more about HIM. But I’ve got to tell you, he gives me the willies. I don’t know why… but he just does… and I’ve never even seen him.”
Michael nodded and turned to Kyle, motioning with his head in the direction of the palace. Kyle understood and started to walk that way.
“Bye,” Michael said, waving at their benefactor, “I’ve got to catch up with my friend.”
“So long,” the driver replied with a quick wave and a smile, as he drove off.
Michael hurried to catch up to Kyle. The palace was still a quarter of a mile away… approximately. Because of the extensive grounds that surrounded it, it was effectively isolated from the main roads, shops, and thoroughfares, even though it sat in the center of the capitol city.
Six minutes later, Michael and Kyle stood next to the palace’s outer wall…
“What now, Michael?”
“One of us climbs up to that third floor balcony up there and takes a look around inside,” Michael said… “I guess that’ll be me.”
Kyle smiled… “Yeah, that’s right, you have some experience at that sort of thing, don’t you? Dad told me after you ‘fessed up.”
Michael looked back at Kyle and cringed. “Geez, it wasn’t supposed to be a public service announcement.”
Kyle grinned and shook his head. “He just told me.”
Michael nodded then started to scale the wall… “Well, that was the Roswell Sheriff’s Office. This might be a little harder.”
Kyle looked up at the third floor balcony then back at Michael. Michael was half way up the wall already. “You’ll make it,” he whispered confidently.
Seconds later, Michael stepped onto the small ledge that protruded beyond the balcony railing. He stayed outside the railing to avoid being seen by anyone who might be inside.
“What do you see,” Kyle called up in a quiet voice. Michael shook his head… “Nothing yet.” But at that moment, a light came on inside the room, and Michael ducked down again behind the outside of the railing. It was a man… about average build. It wasn’t Max, though… nor was it Alex. Michael was sure of that. Whoever it was, it wasn’t anyone that Michael recognized. Michael pressed closer to the railing, peering between the bars, as the man walked back and forth a couple of times across the room, seeming oblivious to anything around him, lost in thought. Then, suddenly, the man unexpectedly looked straight in Michael’s direction, almost as though some alarm had gone off in his head. Michael went white, as he recognized the face looking at him; and in shock, he instinctively took a step back. He immediately knew that he had made a mistake, but it was too late.
Kyle watched in horror as Michael plunged three stories to the ground, landing hard on his back. Rushing to Michael’s side, Kyle did what he could for him… which wasn’t much at the moment. Blood was coming from the corner of Michael’s mouth, and he appeared to be fading quickly.
“I’ll get Max,” Kyle said hoarsely, starting to jump up; but Michael’s hand grabbed his wrist in a vice-like grip and pulled him back down… “No time… Kyle… Tell Max… get everyone out of here. Don’t bring Max back here. GO! LEAVE!”
“But… but…” Kyle objected, “I’ll take you with me then.” He started to pick Michael up.
“No time…” Michael gasped with a raspy cough, pushing Kyle away. “Get Max out of here… NOW! Leave this Antar… Don’t… ever come back…” Michael’s eyes closed, and Kyle looked up at the balcony… and into the face that was staring down at him… Then he ran.
<center>End of Chapter 26
tbc…</center>
-
Island Breeze
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:01 pm
Sliding Into Antar
<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The False Regent
Chapter 27
XXVII
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“No! No, you had to be mistaken! There is no way… no way at all that it could have been him! Maybe it was someone who looked like him.”
“I’m telling you, Max, it was Pierce! I saw him with my own eyes… right there on the balcony of the palace!”
Max’s fists clenched involuntarily, and his face flushed, but he still refused to acknowledge any possibility that Daniel Pierce could be on Antar.
“How long till we get there,” Maria asked, tugging on Max’s arm.
“Two minutes… probably less,” Max replied, turning back again to Kyle…
“You never saw Pierce before, Kyle. How can you be certain it was him?”
“Like hell I didn’t! He came to Roswell pretending to be Dad’s new deputy… remember? He called himself Deputy Fisher. I saw him lots of times… I even talked to him several times… It was HIM, Max! It was HIM!”
Max groaned and closed his eyes tightly.
“How long,” Maria pleaded.
“We’re almost there,” Max replied sympathetically…
“How would Pierce get to Antar?”
Kyle shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know… Maybe it’s a warp thing in this dimension…”
“No dimension could be that screwed up,” Max spat, his tone still betraying his disbelief, as Maria pulled on his arm again.
“We’re there,” Max whispered soothingly, patting Maria’s hand, “Where did you leave him, Kyle?”
“Right under the big balcony on the east side… the one off of the main suite. He fell three floors… God, I hope we’re in time…”
Max swallowed hard and brought the ship down closer, so close that it was almost scrapping the roof of the palace. The ship was shielded by numerous stealth features that Varec had developed, including invisibility… but it was too big to land on the palace lawn… even as big as the palace lawn was.
“I can’t get any lower, Kyle… not without flattening the palace.”
“I don’t see him,” Maria said, her voice shaking, as she gazed intently into the big video screen that gave them a panoramic view of everything that lay directly beneath the ship.
“He was right there… right below that balcony,” Kyle insisted, pointing.
“Where is he,” Maria asked, “I don’t see him!”
“We’ll find him,” Liz said, putting her arm around Maria protectively. “Wherever they took him, Max will find him.”
Maria sniffed and ran her fingers over her eyes. She was trying hard to be a rock, but she was crumbling… and she knew it. They had all been through a lot together through the years, and the fact that this particular incident had shaken them up so badly… so unexpectedly… was a shock to them all. It could have been almost anyone else in the palace… one of the dupes… Nicholas… even Kivar… and they could have accepted it… well, not accepted it, but at least dealt with it rationally. After all, Kivar was more dangerous than Pierce; Kivar had alien powers. So why was Pierce’s presence here affecting them this way? Though none of them voiced that question out loud, deep inside, they thought it… What they were feeling right now was not at all unlike an out and out panic attack… the kind that can occur long after a deeply traumatizing incident, even though it might seem illogical on the surface.
But even if it was illogical, NO ONE was underestimating Pierce. He was crafty, deceptive, doggedly determined… and most of all, soullessly brutal in his quest to destroy aliens. He wasn’t Kivar, but he WAS someone never to be underestimated. And worst of all… Michael was injured and it appeared that Pierce had him. That was cause enough for a panic attack.
“I FOUND HIM!” Max exclaimed, locking the scanning device onto the signal emitted by the tiny ID pin inside Michael’s shirt. “Let’s just hope it’s him and Pierce hasn’t removed his shirt or found the clip.”
Maria closed her eyes and appeared to say a silent prayer.
A moment later, Michael appeared on the bridge. He was lying on his side, curled up in a semi-fetal position, unconscious, but still clinging to life. His shirt had been removed, but he was clutching it in front of himself tightly. Max immediately placed both hands over Michael’s head, and a greenish glow appeared for a moment. Then he rolled him onto his back and ran his right hand along just above Michael’s body, from head to toe, healing the injuries that had been caused in the fall. Within a couple of minutes, Michael began to come around.
Max let out a deep breath of relief then turned to Maria and smiled… “He’ll be okay.”
Maria started to say something, but she couldn’t find her voice; instead, she unexpectedly broke down and started crying, then she knelt beside Michael on the floor and kissed him.
“Ohhh… that hurt…” Michael groaned, opening his eyes.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” Maria whispered.
“Not your kiss… the fall,” Michael said, sitting up carefully and looking at his bare chest then pausing to see if everything else felt like it was still “all there.” With Pierce, one could never be too sure. Satisfied that he hadn’t lost anything, he put both of his arms around Maria. “The kiss was exactly what I needed. Actually, I could use another one… to replenish my energy.” He smiled, and Maria complied… a bit overenthusiastically.
“Well, that should do it,” Max said, grinning. “If that didn’t kick-start his heart and repower his batteries, he’s already beyond help.” The others laughed.
“Get us out of here,” Max said, turning to Varec, who immediately sat down in the pilot’s seat and took control of the ship, taking it quickly back into space, as the palace… and then Antar… disappeared behind them.
Michael looked at Kyle and adopted a scolding look on his face. “I told you not to let Max come back for me… to get him out of there!”
“Have you ever tried to make Max do anything?” Kyle retorted. “I told him what you said.”
“You didn’t try hard enough.”
Kyle smiled guiltily.
“You could have been caught,” Michael protested angrily, turning to Max. “I gave an order. You shouldn’t have come back.”
“I over-ruled you… General,” Max said, grinning, “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time!”
Michael rubbed his head. “Why didn’t you, then?”
Max shrugged… “You were usually right.”
“I was right this time.”
“No, you weren’t!” Maria said, kissing Michael again. “I wasn’t going to let anybody leave you. You know that.”
“Ah… the real power,” Michael said with a slight smile. Liz chuckled and nodded.
“What’d she do, Max, kick you in the shins and make you turn the ship around?”
“Now you know,” Max replied with a sober face.
“Well… we’ll talk about it later,” Michael said, looking around the room for a couple of moments. Then he looked back at Max and smiled… “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The truth is, Michael knew from the moment he gave Kyle the order that Max would never follow it. It’s why he had grasped his shirt so tightly to himself and curled up around it as he had passed out on Pierce’s operating table. He knew full well that Max would return for him… and when that shirt beamed onboard, he wanted to be with it.
“Pierce! Of all people… Pierce!” Michael muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
Max shook his head, too… “What I want to know is what was he doing there… on Antar? And how did he get there?”
“The granolith,” Michael replied, suddenly remembering something, “I was carried into the palace by two guards, Doryth and Boklo.”
Max looked surprised. “I know Boklo. He’s an honest person… a good person! I can’t believe he’d cooperate with Pierce!”
“Pierce has them over a barrel. Boklo told me a few things quietly… before Pierce came in. Pierce controls the granolith. It protects him… from anyone. He’s basically all-powerful. The Antarians are scared. Boklo was apologizing to me… but he was scared to death… for his family mostly.”
Max nodded, understanding… “I got the idea that these Antarians didn’t know much about Pierce… that he was a mystery here… never came out in public or anything.”
Michael shrugged then nodded. “That may be true out there in the general population… but he has a small private circle of terror around him… and he’s expanding it. He has the palace guards and a few other people who know what’s going on bowing and scraping and eating off the floor, literally, if he tells them to. He has the families of all the palace guards and a few important people locked up. They can’t see them. They don’t know if they’re even alive, but they do whatever Pierce says… ever since he… he… dissected a couple of Kivar’s guards… as a lesson… to show them how painful their loved ones’ deaths could be… in his hands.”
Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Liz put her hands over her face. Maria turned white.
“He’s a monster,” Michael continued, “WHEREVER he is.”
Max pounded his right fist into his left hand in frustration… “But how the hell did Pierce learn to control the granolith? WE never even knew all the things the granolith could do… not until years later, after we were on Antar.”
“His cronies in the FBI succeeded in translating the book.”
“The Destiny Book?”
Michael nodded. “That one… and apparently another one that we never knew anything about. Pierce had it.”
“Oh, God…” Max groaned. “And the granolith protects him now?”
“That’s what Boklo said. He’s invincible.”
“He can’t be invincible,” Max protested, his mind starting to go places that Michael wasn’t sure he liked.
“Max, whatever you’re thinking, stop it!”
“It’s Antar, Michael… Antar!”
“I know, Max… I don’t like it any more than you do, but maybe the Antarians here need to fix it themselves.”
“And if they can’t? Michael, you as well as anyone know what Pierce is capable of.”
“Yeah, that’s why I don’t want you down there. He wants you, Max… on his trophy wall… with a plaque under your head that says, ‘King Of Antar… VERY DECEASED.’ ”
Max looked at Michael, and Michael sighed and nodded… “We’re going back, aren’t we…”
“Do you really want to leave those people’s fate to Pierce?”
Michael shook his head. “I knew you’d do this, Max… but I had to warn you against it.”
Max nodded. “I know. You’ve done your duty, now can we do this together?”
“I’m always with you, you know that, Max. I want to whip Pierce’s fraudulent royal ass and send him packing back to where he came from as badly as you do. No Antar deserves to suffer through that. It’s enough to make Antarians start their own alien task force.”
“It would be justified in their case… after meeting Pierce,” Max agreed. “Varec…”
“It’s already done, Zan. We’re heading back.”
Max looked at Liz and Maria… then at Tess, Kyle, Jim, Alex, Isabel, and Rayylar. To a person, they all nodded.
“We’ve got more guts than brains,” Michael said, smiling. “Somebody remember to put that on our epitaph. We’ll be fighting the granolith’s powers, you know.”
<center>End of Chapter 27
tbc…</center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The False Regent
Chapter 27
XXVII
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
“No! No, you had to be mistaken! There is no way… no way at all that it could have been him! Maybe it was someone who looked like him.”
“I’m telling you, Max, it was Pierce! I saw him with my own eyes… right there on the balcony of the palace!”
Max’s fists clenched involuntarily, and his face flushed, but he still refused to acknowledge any possibility that Daniel Pierce could be on Antar.
“How long till we get there,” Maria asked, tugging on Max’s arm.
“Two minutes… probably less,” Max replied, turning back again to Kyle…
“You never saw Pierce before, Kyle. How can you be certain it was him?”
“Like hell I didn’t! He came to Roswell pretending to be Dad’s new deputy… remember? He called himself Deputy Fisher. I saw him lots of times… I even talked to him several times… It was HIM, Max! It was HIM!”
Max groaned and closed his eyes tightly.
“How long,” Maria pleaded.
“We’re almost there,” Max replied sympathetically…
“How would Pierce get to Antar?”
Kyle shook his head and shrugged. “I don’t know… Maybe it’s a warp thing in this dimension…”
“No dimension could be that screwed up,” Max spat, his tone still betraying his disbelief, as Maria pulled on his arm again.
“We’re there,” Max whispered soothingly, patting Maria’s hand, “Where did you leave him, Kyle?”
“Right under the big balcony on the east side… the one off of the main suite. He fell three floors… God, I hope we’re in time…”
Max swallowed hard and brought the ship down closer, so close that it was almost scrapping the roof of the palace. The ship was shielded by numerous stealth features that Varec had developed, including invisibility… but it was too big to land on the palace lawn… even as big as the palace lawn was.
“I can’t get any lower, Kyle… not without flattening the palace.”
“I don’t see him,” Maria said, her voice shaking, as she gazed intently into the big video screen that gave them a panoramic view of everything that lay directly beneath the ship.
“He was right there… right below that balcony,” Kyle insisted, pointing.
“Where is he,” Maria asked, “I don’t see him!”
“We’ll find him,” Liz said, putting her arm around Maria protectively. “Wherever they took him, Max will find him.”
Maria sniffed and ran her fingers over her eyes. She was trying hard to be a rock, but she was crumbling… and she knew it. They had all been through a lot together through the years, and the fact that this particular incident had shaken them up so badly… so unexpectedly… was a shock to them all. It could have been almost anyone else in the palace… one of the dupes… Nicholas… even Kivar… and they could have accepted it… well, not accepted it, but at least dealt with it rationally. After all, Kivar was more dangerous than Pierce; Kivar had alien powers. So why was Pierce’s presence here affecting them this way? Though none of them voiced that question out loud, deep inside, they thought it… What they were feeling right now was not at all unlike an out and out panic attack… the kind that can occur long after a deeply traumatizing incident, even though it might seem illogical on the surface.
But even if it was illogical, NO ONE was underestimating Pierce. He was crafty, deceptive, doggedly determined… and most of all, soullessly brutal in his quest to destroy aliens. He wasn’t Kivar, but he WAS someone never to be underestimated. And worst of all… Michael was injured and it appeared that Pierce had him. That was cause enough for a panic attack.
“I FOUND HIM!” Max exclaimed, locking the scanning device onto the signal emitted by the tiny ID pin inside Michael’s shirt. “Let’s just hope it’s him and Pierce hasn’t removed his shirt or found the clip.”
Maria closed her eyes and appeared to say a silent prayer.
A moment later, Michael appeared on the bridge. He was lying on his side, curled up in a semi-fetal position, unconscious, but still clinging to life. His shirt had been removed, but he was clutching it in front of himself tightly. Max immediately placed both hands over Michael’s head, and a greenish glow appeared for a moment. Then he rolled him onto his back and ran his right hand along just above Michael’s body, from head to toe, healing the injuries that had been caused in the fall. Within a couple of minutes, Michael began to come around.
Max let out a deep breath of relief then turned to Maria and smiled… “He’ll be okay.”
Maria started to say something, but she couldn’t find her voice; instead, she unexpectedly broke down and started crying, then she knelt beside Michael on the floor and kissed him.
“Ohhh… that hurt…” Michael groaned, opening his eyes.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to…” Maria whispered.
“Not your kiss… the fall,” Michael said, sitting up carefully and looking at his bare chest then pausing to see if everything else felt like it was still “all there.” With Pierce, one could never be too sure. Satisfied that he hadn’t lost anything, he put both of his arms around Maria. “The kiss was exactly what I needed. Actually, I could use another one… to replenish my energy.” He smiled, and Maria complied… a bit overenthusiastically.
“Well, that should do it,” Max said, grinning. “If that didn’t kick-start his heart and repower his batteries, he’s already beyond help.” The others laughed.
“Get us out of here,” Max said, turning to Varec, who immediately sat down in the pilot’s seat and took control of the ship, taking it quickly back into space, as the palace… and then Antar… disappeared behind them.
Michael looked at Kyle and adopted a scolding look on his face. “I told you not to let Max come back for me… to get him out of there!”
“Have you ever tried to make Max do anything?” Kyle retorted. “I told him what you said.”
“You didn’t try hard enough.”
Kyle smiled guiltily.
“You could have been caught,” Michael protested angrily, turning to Max. “I gave an order. You shouldn’t have come back.”
“I over-ruled you… General,” Max said, grinning, “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time!”
Michael rubbed his head. “Why didn’t you, then?”
Max shrugged… “You were usually right.”
“I was right this time.”
“No, you weren’t!” Maria said, kissing Michael again. “I wasn’t going to let anybody leave you. You know that.”
“Ah… the real power,” Michael said with a slight smile. Liz chuckled and nodded.
“What’d she do, Max, kick you in the shins and make you turn the ship around?”
“Now you know,” Max replied with a sober face.
“Well… we’ll talk about it later,” Michael said, looking around the room for a couple of moments. Then he looked back at Max and smiled… “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
The truth is, Michael knew from the moment he gave Kyle the order that Max would never follow it. It’s why he had grasped his shirt so tightly to himself and curled up around it as he had passed out on Pierce’s operating table. He knew full well that Max would return for him… and when that shirt beamed onboard, he wanted to be with it.
“Pierce! Of all people… Pierce!” Michael muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.
Max shook his head, too… “What I want to know is what was he doing there… on Antar? And how did he get there?”
“The granolith,” Michael replied, suddenly remembering something, “I was carried into the palace by two guards, Doryth and Boklo.”
Max looked surprised. “I know Boklo. He’s an honest person… a good person! I can’t believe he’d cooperate with Pierce!”
“Pierce has them over a barrel. Boklo told me a few things quietly… before Pierce came in. Pierce controls the granolith. It protects him… from anyone. He’s basically all-powerful. The Antarians are scared. Boklo was apologizing to me… but he was scared to death… for his family mostly.”
Max nodded, understanding… “I got the idea that these Antarians didn’t know much about Pierce… that he was a mystery here… never came out in public or anything.”
Michael shrugged then nodded. “That may be true out there in the general population… but he has a small private circle of terror around him… and he’s expanding it. He has the palace guards and a few other people who know what’s going on bowing and scraping and eating off the floor, literally, if he tells them to. He has the families of all the palace guards and a few important people locked up. They can’t see them. They don’t know if they’re even alive, but they do whatever Pierce says… ever since he… he… dissected a couple of Kivar’s guards… as a lesson… to show them how painful their loved ones’ deaths could be… in his hands.”
Max closed his eyes and took a deep breath, and Liz put her hands over her face. Maria turned white.
“He’s a monster,” Michael continued, “WHEREVER he is.”
Max pounded his right fist into his left hand in frustration… “But how the hell did Pierce learn to control the granolith? WE never even knew all the things the granolith could do… not until years later, after we were on Antar.”
“His cronies in the FBI succeeded in translating the book.”
“The Destiny Book?”
Michael nodded. “That one… and apparently another one that we never knew anything about. Pierce had it.”
“Oh, God…” Max groaned. “And the granolith protects him now?”
“That’s what Boklo said. He’s invincible.”
“He can’t be invincible,” Max protested, his mind starting to go places that Michael wasn’t sure he liked.
“Max, whatever you’re thinking, stop it!”
“It’s Antar, Michael… Antar!”
“I know, Max… I don’t like it any more than you do, but maybe the Antarians here need to fix it themselves.”
“And if they can’t? Michael, you as well as anyone know what Pierce is capable of.”
“Yeah, that’s why I don’t want you down there. He wants you, Max… on his trophy wall… with a plaque under your head that says, ‘King Of Antar… VERY DECEASED.’ ”
Max looked at Michael, and Michael sighed and nodded… “We’re going back, aren’t we…”
“Do you really want to leave those people’s fate to Pierce?”
Michael shook his head. “I knew you’d do this, Max… but I had to warn you against it.”
Max nodded. “I know. You’ve done your duty, now can we do this together?”
“I’m always with you, you know that, Max. I want to whip Pierce’s fraudulent royal ass and send him packing back to where he came from as badly as you do. No Antar deserves to suffer through that. It’s enough to make Antarians start their own alien task force.”
“It would be justified in their case… after meeting Pierce,” Max agreed. “Varec…”
“It’s already done, Zan. We’re heading back.”
Max looked at Liz and Maria… then at Tess, Kyle, Jim, Alex, Isabel, and Rayylar. To a person, they all nodded.
“We’ve got more guts than brains,” Michael said, smiling. “Somebody remember to put that on our epitaph. We’ll be fighting the granolith’s powers, you know.”
<center>End of Chapter 27
tbc…</center>
-
Island Breeze
- Forum Moderator
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Thu Jun 06, 2002 10:01 pm
Sliding Into Antar
<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The
Granolith’s Revenge
Chapter 28
XXVIII
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Antarian mothership, the New Granolith, sailed back into the Antarian atmosphere, armed with every imaginable stealth device that Varec had been able to give it. Max and Michael both knew that if Pierce actually had succeeded in gaining control of the original granolith in this dimension, they were going to be in for a very difficult fight. Although the New Granolith was far superior, in many ways, to the original granolith; after all, the New Granolith could travel interdimensionally and carry huge numbers of people, the original granolith was intended to be more than just a method of transportation between planets. It was also a weapon… a formidable weapon… a semi-intelligent weapon. It could, and would, protect the rightful king or whomever it perceived to be the rightful king. And somehow… no one knew how… Pierce had made it believe that he was the rightful heir to the Antarian throne. The New Granolith, for all its sophistication and immense size, was never meant to be a weapon; it was meant to be a mothership… a vessel of peace. Some of its systems could be turned into weapons… by a resourceful person like Varec… no doubt; but it still would not be a match for the original granolith in a show of powers. The New Granolith did have the advantages of stealth and size, though. And, it had a resourceful crew thinking for it and guiding it. Max wondered if that would be enough against the original granolith’s powers.
The ship had barely entered Antarian airspace… fully cloaked and in full stealth mode… when it was rocked by a powerful shock wave.
“What was that?” Maria asked, grabbing hold of Michael’s arm and then his co-pilot’s seat to keep from being thrown to the floor.
“If I had to guess,” Michael replied glumly, “I’d say it was a challenge… or at least a warning… from the granolith.”
“But we’re in stealth mode… aren’t we?” Maria asked, holding tightly to the back of Michael’s co-pilot’s seat and spreading her feet out a bit further for stability.
Michael nodded. “Apparently it’s not fooling the granolith. We might as well have a big target painted on us.”
This information caused everyone’s heart to sink a little bit, but it did not destroy their resolve. It was only the opening salvo in the battle. They were not going to turn and run on the opening salvo.
“I say we go straight for Pierce,” Michael said. “He controls what’s happening in the long run. If we chop off the snake’s head…”
Max nodded… “Agreed.”
Max turned the New Granolith in the direction of the palace and brought the ship down so low over the Golden Sea that it was almost skimming the surface of the water. Only a dozen seconds had passed, though, before a huge wall of water appeared suddenly directly in front of the ship, like an immense, two-hundred-foot high tsunami rising up out of the Golden Sea. Max and Michael had no time to react. The ship plunged into the wall of water with full force… slowing considerably as it did. Everyone waited for the ship to emerge on the other side of the wave… and they waited… and they waited…
“Uh, Max,” Kyle said at last, “Where are we?”
Max chuckled, and Michael smiled, knowing exactly what had happened. “Whoever or whatever threw that wall of water at us,” Max said, “expected it to crush us; and it would have if we were any normal ship, but the New Granolith is easily able to withstand those forces. I suspect that something was waiting to see if we made it through to the other side or not; so as soon as we plunged into the wave, I took the ship down… under the sea. We’re below the surface, but still moving toward the shore.”
“Cool,” Alex said, starting to smile, too. “So when we don’t come out on the other side of the wave, the granolith thinks we’re history, and it stops looking for us.”
“That’s the plan.” Michael said.
“Works for me,” Kyle agreed.
“It will slow us down a bit,” Max admitted, “It’ll take more than four times as long to get there underwater, but if it works…”
Apparently, it did. Twenty-two minutes later, the New Granolith rose back out of the sea, having gone as far as it could go underwater due to its size and the shallower depths near shore, and it headed off again in the direction of the palace. During the time spent below the surface, nothing unexpected had occurred. They knew that that would not last, though… and it didn’t.
Eighteen seconds after coming out of the water, the New Granolith was unexpectedly caught in a magnetic wave that effectively and instantly shut down all power on the ship. The ship came to a precipitous halt but did not fall to the ground or crash.
“Is it holding us here… in the air?” Max asked, though he didn’t really expect an answer.
Varec shook his head. “It doesn’t know how to shut our backups down.”
Max and Michael both looked at Varec… “Backups?” both of them asked at the same time.
Varec nodded. I built in backup anti-gravity generators before we left Antar… our Antar, I mean. Since we were going interdimensional, I wasn’t sure what we might encounter, so I devised a new system that operates on a totally new theory. I never had time to test it under actual field conditions, and it was never intended to replace the main generators or systems.
“Well, apparently it works,” Kyle said appreciatively, “You can go to the front of the class.”
Indeed, the backups did work, and with one major unexpected benefit. The system was so radically different than anything else that existed in any of the known galaxies that the granolith apparently did not know how to shut it down. But Varec had no doubt that it would learn how to very quickly. It was going to be a race between the granolith and Varec… the granolith to find a way to shut down Varec’s radical new backup system… and Varec to get the ship moving again.
“It works like a charm,” Alex said, stating the obvious, “But now all we can do is sit here and wait to be slapped down with a giant fly swatter or something when the granolith figures out how to kill it.”
“Maybe not,” Varec said, already working feverishly to bypass the main system in the engine compartment. “If I’m right, I may be able to route the power from the backup anti-gravity generators to the entire ship.”
“You’d better hurry,” Tess said, looking around with a worried expression, “I can tell you that the granolith will figure it out very quickly… no matter how different the system is.”
“I’m doing my best,” Varec said.
Everyone knew that that was true… and it was all they could ask for. Nobody else on the ship had the ability that Varec had to get them out of this. But could he do it fast enough? That would be the crucial question.
“I’ve got it… I think!” Varec said, backing out of the engine compartment and flipping a switch. Immediately, the power came on, and Michael shot the ship forward, momentarily breaking the granolith’s grip and propelling the ship in the direction of the palace, which was no longer very far away. It took less than a minute… about 45 seconds in all, in fact… to get there.
Michael quickly placed the ship directly over the palace…
“I’m betting that the granolith doesn’t want the palace crushed under a falling space ship that takes up several city blocks… not if it’s trying to protect someone inside there. So it won’t be sucking the energy out of our ship as long as we’re sitting right on top of the palace.”
Max nodded and grinned then turned to Varec… “Can we get Pierce up here… maybe with the transporter?”
Varec shook his head. “Only if he had a pin on him somewhere.”
“So somebody has to go down there and stick a pin on him… is that what you’re saying,” Kyle asked.
“That would be one way,” Varec conceded.
“I’ll go,” Kyle said, “One way or the other, I’ll get a pin on him. You guys just be ready up here to beam me back up with him once the pin is on him.”
“I’ll go with you,” Michael said.
“No,” Kyle replied, surprising Michael with his sudden authoritarian manner, “You need to be here on the ship where you can protect Max and the others. I can do this. It’ll be better if one person goes. I can avoid attention easier if I’m alone.”
Michael nodded, knowing that, at least logistically, Kyle was right. “Okay… go for it… but you may have trouble clipping a clip pin to him if there’s nothing easily accessible to clip it to… and the Velcro ones are no good, because there isn’t likely to be any Velcro on him.”
Kyle grinned and selected a pin with a long, sharp prong on the back, “No sweat. I’ll use this one. If it doesn’t go into his shirt, it’ll go into his arm just fine.”
Maria grinned and closed her eyes, and Max laughed.
Kyle smiled and touched his own pin, just inside his shirt…
“Kyle…” Max said, “Good luck.”
Kyle nodded then disappeared from the ship in a wisp of light. He reappeared inside the palace and, looking around, quickly ascertained where he was. Kyle knew the palace well… at least he knew the one on his own Antar well. And so far they had all been fairly similar. This one did not appear to be any different. He edged his way down the grand hall, staying in the shadows as much as possible, rushing fleetingly from one column to the next until he reached the king’s suite. He listened at the door but heard nothing. That really didn’t mean anything, though. The doors of the palace were thick and very soundproof.
Kyle tested the handle carefully, and the door opened… just a bit. He looked around the room. There was no one there, so he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside, quietly closing the door back behind himself.
“I’m inside the king’s suite,” he whispered into the pin under his shirt, “Pierce isn’t here, but he’s bound to return eventually. I’ll wait for a while and try to surprise him.”
Kyle looked around the huge room. For some reason, it gave him the creeps. It had none of the warmth of Max and Liz’s suite on their Antar. It looked more like a huge laboratory with a bed in it. Kyle grimaced…
“He dissects them and sleeps in the same room? How sick is this man!”
For a moment, Kyle fought off a shudder. Then he heard the door handle turn. Quickly, he dove behind a covered table. It was Pierce, and he was alone. He looked frustrated. Kyle watched as Pierce picked up a scalpel and turned it over several times in his hand, as though longing to use it, but… Michael had been “abducted” from his table right under his nose. It must have galled Pierce immensely. Still, there was so much that just did not make sense here. This room looked like it had been lived in this way for a considerable amount of time… and yet… few people on this Antar, outside of the palace guards and some apparently kidnapped victims, seemed to know even the most basic thing about this man who was pretending to be their king. It made no sense. But then… Pierce never had made any sense to Kyle.
As Kyle watched, Pierce walked across the room and removed his shirt, tossing it onto a large bureau. Then he sat down on the foot of the bed and removed his shoes.
If he removes his pants, I’ll gag and give myself away, Kyle thought to himself, as he watched from behind the covered table.
But Pierce did not remove his pants, at least for the moment. He stood back up and walked toward the door, then he looked like he was going to walk back to the bed again; but instead, he turned and walked back the way he had come from. Then he walked the other way again, and Kyle realized, with growing alarm, that each time Pierce paced back and forth, he seemed to come closer and closer to where he was hiding. It had to be a coincidence. Finally, Pierce walked in front of the table, directly on the other side of where Kyle was hiding, and as he did, he flipped the table over, exposing Kyle, who looked momentarily like a deer caught in the headlights… but only momentarily. He quickly recovered from the surprise and leapt at Pierce, hoping to get the pin onto him, but Pierce was ready for him. Pierce waved his hand, and Kyle felt something slam into him… hard. Kyle reeled backwards, rolling on the floor from the force. It felt like he had run head on into a stone wall and then been run over by a truck…
“Oh, crap! What the hell was that?”
Pierce smiled, but it was a sadistic sort of smile. “That, Valenti, was a force field. You may have heard that I am well protected here. Well, it’s true. I have powers that you never dreamed of.”
“You mean the granolith.”
Pierce smiled, obviously pleased with himself. “The alien machine does my every wish… It reads my mind. Its powers are mine. I can kill you with the wave of a hand.”
“Why don’t you then?”
“You know me better than that, Valenti. Did I ever take the easy way… if there was a better way?”
“You mean if there was a more sadistic way?”
“Sadistic is such a harsh word. I protect my planet from alien invasion.”
“This is not your planet, Pierce. What are you protecting here?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Earth! Eventually, I’ll wipe this alien colony out… and earth will be safe.”
“It’s not a colony… it’s a planet. It’s their planet.”
“Only semantics, Valenti. I see no difference. It’s a planet of aliens that intend to take over our planet. So I take over their planet first. I wipe out the colony before it attacks us.”
“How in the name of everything unholy and sadistic did you get the granolith to protect you, Pierce? That’s what I want to know!”
“Granolith? Oh, yeah, the alien machine. The aliens were kind enough to provide us with an instruction manual for it. Nice of them, huh!”
Kyle sighed. “That’s what I heard… but it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t matter, Kyle… it won’t help you to know how I did it. You’re not going to live long enough to enjoy the knowledge.”
“Or to tell anybody?”
“Exactly.”
“Then there is more to tell.”
Pierce smiled again. It seemed that he smiled a lot. But it was the smile of a shark. “I don’t know why I should tell you anything, Valenti. You can’t help me.”
“I didn’t know you needed help… Dan.”
“I don’t!” Pierce said quickly… almost defensively, “I just meant that if I did, you wouldn’t be able to… do anything about it anyway.”
“You need to get off of this planet,” Kyle said, venturing a guess.
Pierce rolled his eyes. “Kyle, I have the machine. It does my bidding. When I’m ready to go home… after this alien plague is wiped out… it will take me home.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“What was that “alien machine” called again, Pierce?”
Pierce looked at Kyle, and his eyes sparkled… with daggers. “It doesn’t matter what it’s called, Kyle. What matters is it obeys me.”
“That’s the part I can’t figure out, Pierce. That was never meant to happen. It’s… it’s… impossible. The granolith was made with too many safeguards to fall into the hands of someone like you.”
Apparently, Kyle struck a nerve with that last comment, because Pierce swung around and grabbed him by the collar, pinning him to the wall…
“WHAT do you know about that machine, Kyle?”
Kyle smiled, reading the truth in Pierce’s eyes. “Everything you’d like to know, Pierce. Everything you pretend to know, but don’t.”
“Don’t mess with me, Kyle. I can destroy you with a wave of my hand. You’ve seen that.”
The air went out of Kyle’s lungs. He HAD seen that. He had FELT it! Whatever Pierce knew or did not know, he clearly did have the power. It just didn’t make sense.
“If you tell me what I want to know,” Pierce said slowly… and threateningly… “I could be inclined to let you live.”
“You’re too generous.”
“Don’t knock it. It’s better than the alternative. Would you like to see some of the alternatives?” Pierce pulled the sheet off of the table, and Kyle saw a number of Antarian internal organs.”
“How long have those been there,” Kyle asked, turning uncharacteristically white.
“A few days… maybe a week… some of them,” Pierce replied.
Kyle shook his head. “Antarian bodies dissolve into dust upon death… or very shortly thereafter. No way would they last a few days… much less a week.”
“I’ve learned to preserve them,” Pierce said with a sadistic smile.
Kyle sensed that Pierce was telling the truth, at least on this matter, and for a moment, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“All I want from you, Kyle, is information on the alien machine… the granolith machine.”
“Don’t you already know everything there is to know about it? It protects you, doesn’t it?”
Pierce looked frustrated, and he was losing patience. Aware that this conversation couldn’t go much further without Pierce doing something rash, Kyle began to look for a way to put an end to the encounter, but Pierce had removed his shirt. If Kyle was going to stick the pin on him, he would have to stick it to his pants… or stick it into his skin. He lunged at Pierce’s arm, but Pierce raised his hand, and a bolt of something like lightning hit Kyle, bowling him over.
Kyle groaned and tried to raise his head, but everything looked fuzzy, and the room was spinning.
“You thought you’d sucker punch me, Valenti? That was stupid… even for you.” Pierce stood over Kyle and glared at him with those sparkling little daggers in his eyes…
“Tell me what I want to know, Kyle. It’s your last chance.”
“Okay… okay…” Kyle tried to lift himself off the floor; then instead, in one swift motion, with his head still swimming, he reached up and pinned the pin to Pierce’s pants. Apparently, the pin went deep, and judging by Pierce’s reaction, in a most sensitive place. Pierce let out a howl that was probably heard all the way up on the New Granolith.
“NOW!!!!!!” Kyle yelled into his shirt. “NOW, MICHAEL! If you want to live to see tomorrow, get me out of here NOW!”
Kyle had not yet finished the sentence when he appeared on the bridge of the New Granolith… along with a very surprised Agent Pierce, who was still trying desperately to remove the deeply embedded pin from the family jewel box without causing more damage… or pain… than he had already suffered. Assessing his situation quickly, and finally getting the long prong out, Pierce held up one hand threateningly, and Kyle dove for cover.
“I should kill you ALL right here, right now!”
Pierce moved his hand slowly back and forth, choosing his first victim, as he issued his threat. Michael and Max already had him covered. Both of them had one hand up, palms aimed directly at him. It appeared to be a standoff. But there was that nagging little problem… Pierce was channeling the granolith’s powers. If not for that, it would be no contest at all. Even if Pierce had somehow gained some kind of powers on his own, Max and Michael would incinerate him… easily… before he could act. But if the granolith was protecting Pierce… blasting him could get the New Granolith destroyed… and everyone onboard killed.
“You can’t hurt me. You know that, don’t you,” Pierce blustered, “The machine protects me. I’m all-powerful.”
“I would like to test that theory,” Michael said calmly.
“Be my guest,” Pierce said, a sadistic smile playing impatiently at his lips, as he moved his hand in Michael’s direction. Then, without any forewarning at all, Pierce waved his hand as though he were swatting away a pesky fly. Michael and Max both dove for the floor and rolled, and Michael got off a solid blast that sent Pierce flying backwards into the wall. For some unknown reason, Pierce’s attempt to blast Michael had been totally, and unexplainably, unsuccessful… like trying to shoot a gun and discovering that it was out of bullets… and no one was more surprised than Pierce…
“NO!” No, it can’t be! They wouldn’t dare!”
Max and Michael, seeing their chance, quickly subdued Pierce and tied him up, as he alternately ranted, cursed, and threatened ultimate vengeance against someone. Whom, they weren’t sure.
“Well,” said Maria, looking very relieved and maybe just a teeny bit cocky after the present unexpected turn of events, “It looks like the granolith has turned its back on you. I guess it doesn’t like you much either.”
Pierce appeared to sneer, and his eyes narrowed noticeably, but his mouth remained tightly shut.
“Who was it that betrayed you, Pierce,” asked Max, “Who were you swearing vengeance against so vehemently just a moment ago?”
Pierce shook his head, but said nothing.
Max shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. If you have nothing to say, we’ll let the people down there decide what to do with you and be done with it.”
“You can’t…” Pierce blurted out unexpectedly, but then he hesitated, unsure that he wanted to say anything more.
“Just watch us,” Michael said, grinning now like a Cheshire cat. “If there’s anything I love it’s poetic justice.”
Pierce grimaced, even though he was trying to appear stoic… “What happens to me if I do talk?”
Michael looked at Max, and Max shrugged… “We can’t let him go. We have to turn him over to the proper authorities either way. What would you do?”
Michael smiled ever so slightly… “I’d blast his ass.”
Max looked at Pierce and noticed that an uneasy pall had settled over Pierce’s face. Pierce had no reason at all to doubt that Michael would do what he said, given the opportunity… or the go ahead from Max and the others. And he had no reason at all to believe that anyone else aboard the New Granolith would be any kinder to him. He was certain that he wouldn’t find mercy below, on Antar… not among those who knew him. One thing about being a self-serving sadistic tyrant is that it brings a certain relevancy to one’s paranoia.
“If you take me back to earth, I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Pierce said, out of the blue.
“Can’t do that,” Max replied, shaking his head, “We’re on kind of a tight schedule. Besides, didn’t you say that the granolith was going to return you to earth… after you destroyed Antar?”
“I have nothing more to say,” Pierce replied, resigned now to what he assumed to be his inevitable fate and determined not to tell them anything more.
“Max,” Liz said, patting Max gently on the arm, “Maybe we should ask the granolith ourselves.”
“Yeah,” Tess agreed, “The granolith on our Antar was designed to recognize the royal four… this one probably is, too. If it is, you can find out how Pierce got here and what’s going on. We don’t need Pierce to tell us anything.”
“It can do that?” Pierce asked.
Max nodded.
Pierce groaned.
“So are you going to tell us yourself,” Max asked.
“Find it out the hard way… if you can,” Pierce retorted defiantly, “I’m not giving you anything. I have nothing to gain from it.”
“Except maybe a good feeling inside for having done the right thing,” Liz said innocently.
Pierce stared at Liz momentarily, wondering silently if she was serious. He decided that the comment had been intended as a smart-aleck jest.
Maria stifled a laugh and shook her head, as she put one arm around Liz protectively… “Girlfriend, I’ve got to have a serious talk with you sometime.”
Liz turned slightly red and rolled her eyes with a sigh. “I know… I know… it sounded stupid. But I can’t help it. I always think there’s some good in everyone… somewhere… deep down. It just doesn’t usually come out sounding so lame.”
Maria glanced at Pierce and nodded… “Very, very, very, very, very deep down… maybe… but I’m not sure there’s anything that goes that deep.”
“I know,” Liz said, smiling abashedly, “It was a momentary lapse. Just forget I said it.”
“Don’t try to change her,” Max said, grinning, “If Liz ever sees the real me, she may decide to give me the boot.”
Liz gave Max a playful shove… “I fell in love with you knowing what you are, Max. You never fooled me for a moment!”
She turned and walked away, and Max looked at Maria, puzzled… “What did she mean by that?”
Maria shrugged. “I’d say she wants you to wonder.”
Max looked at Liz again then shook his head, dispelling any further questions he might have had on the subject in order to return to the matter at hand…
“Okay, we find the granolith… and we get some honest answers… about Pierce, I mean.”
<center>End of Chapter 28
tbc…</center>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The
Granolith’s Revenge
Chapter 28
XXVIII
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Antarian mothership, the New Granolith, sailed back into the Antarian atmosphere, armed with every imaginable stealth device that Varec had been able to give it. Max and Michael both knew that if Pierce actually had succeeded in gaining control of the original granolith in this dimension, they were going to be in for a very difficult fight. Although the New Granolith was far superior, in many ways, to the original granolith; after all, the New Granolith could travel interdimensionally and carry huge numbers of people, the original granolith was intended to be more than just a method of transportation between planets. It was also a weapon… a formidable weapon… a semi-intelligent weapon. It could, and would, protect the rightful king or whomever it perceived to be the rightful king. And somehow… no one knew how… Pierce had made it believe that he was the rightful heir to the Antarian throne. The New Granolith, for all its sophistication and immense size, was never meant to be a weapon; it was meant to be a mothership… a vessel of peace. Some of its systems could be turned into weapons… by a resourceful person like Varec… no doubt; but it still would not be a match for the original granolith in a show of powers. The New Granolith did have the advantages of stealth and size, though. And, it had a resourceful crew thinking for it and guiding it. Max wondered if that would be enough against the original granolith’s powers.
The ship had barely entered Antarian airspace… fully cloaked and in full stealth mode… when it was rocked by a powerful shock wave.
“What was that?” Maria asked, grabbing hold of Michael’s arm and then his co-pilot’s seat to keep from being thrown to the floor.
“If I had to guess,” Michael replied glumly, “I’d say it was a challenge… or at least a warning… from the granolith.”
“But we’re in stealth mode… aren’t we?” Maria asked, holding tightly to the back of Michael’s co-pilot’s seat and spreading her feet out a bit further for stability.
Michael nodded. “Apparently it’s not fooling the granolith. We might as well have a big target painted on us.”
This information caused everyone’s heart to sink a little bit, but it did not destroy their resolve. It was only the opening salvo in the battle. They were not going to turn and run on the opening salvo.
“I say we go straight for Pierce,” Michael said. “He controls what’s happening in the long run. If we chop off the snake’s head…”
Max nodded… “Agreed.”
Max turned the New Granolith in the direction of the palace and brought the ship down so low over the Golden Sea that it was almost skimming the surface of the water. Only a dozen seconds had passed, though, before a huge wall of water appeared suddenly directly in front of the ship, like an immense, two-hundred-foot high tsunami rising up out of the Golden Sea. Max and Michael had no time to react. The ship plunged into the wall of water with full force… slowing considerably as it did. Everyone waited for the ship to emerge on the other side of the wave… and they waited… and they waited…
“Uh, Max,” Kyle said at last, “Where are we?”
Max chuckled, and Michael smiled, knowing exactly what had happened. “Whoever or whatever threw that wall of water at us,” Max said, “expected it to crush us; and it would have if we were any normal ship, but the New Granolith is easily able to withstand those forces. I suspect that something was waiting to see if we made it through to the other side or not; so as soon as we plunged into the wave, I took the ship down… under the sea. We’re below the surface, but still moving toward the shore.”
“Cool,” Alex said, starting to smile, too. “So when we don’t come out on the other side of the wave, the granolith thinks we’re history, and it stops looking for us.”
“That’s the plan.” Michael said.
“Works for me,” Kyle agreed.
“It will slow us down a bit,” Max admitted, “It’ll take more than four times as long to get there underwater, but if it works…”
Apparently, it did. Twenty-two minutes later, the New Granolith rose back out of the sea, having gone as far as it could go underwater due to its size and the shallower depths near shore, and it headed off again in the direction of the palace. During the time spent below the surface, nothing unexpected had occurred. They knew that that would not last, though… and it didn’t.
Eighteen seconds after coming out of the water, the New Granolith was unexpectedly caught in a magnetic wave that effectively and instantly shut down all power on the ship. The ship came to a precipitous halt but did not fall to the ground or crash.
“Is it holding us here… in the air?” Max asked, though he didn’t really expect an answer.
Varec shook his head. “It doesn’t know how to shut our backups down.”
Max and Michael both looked at Varec… “Backups?” both of them asked at the same time.
Varec nodded. I built in backup anti-gravity generators before we left Antar… our Antar, I mean. Since we were going interdimensional, I wasn’t sure what we might encounter, so I devised a new system that operates on a totally new theory. I never had time to test it under actual field conditions, and it was never intended to replace the main generators or systems.
“Well, apparently it works,” Kyle said appreciatively, “You can go to the front of the class.”
Indeed, the backups did work, and with one major unexpected benefit. The system was so radically different than anything else that existed in any of the known galaxies that the granolith apparently did not know how to shut it down. But Varec had no doubt that it would learn how to very quickly. It was going to be a race between the granolith and Varec… the granolith to find a way to shut down Varec’s radical new backup system… and Varec to get the ship moving again.
“It works like a charm,” Alex said, stating the obvious, “But now all we can do is sit here and wait to be slapped down with a giant fly swatter or something when the granolith figures out how to kill it.”
“Maybe not,” Varec said, already working feverishly to bypass the main system in the engine compartment. “If I’m right, I may be able to route the power from the backup anti-gravity generators to the entire ship.”
“You’d better hurry,” Tess said, looking around with a worried expression, “I can tell you that the granolith will figure it out very quickly… no matter how different the system is.”
“I’m doing my best,” Varec said.
Everyone knew that that was true… and it was all they could ask for. Nobody else on the ship had the ability that Varec had to get them out of this. But could he do it fast enough? That would be the crucial question.
“I’ve got it… I think!” Varec said, backing out of the engine compartment and flipping a switch. Immediately, the power came on, and Michael shot the ship forward, momentarily breaking the granolith’s grip and propelling the ship in the direction of the palace, which was no longer very far away. It took less than a minute… about 45 seconds in all, in fact… to get there.
Michael quickly placed the ship directly over the palace…
“I’m betting that the granolith doesn’t want the palace crushed under a falling space ship that takes up several city blocks… not if it’s trying to protect someone inside there. So it won’t be sucking the energy out of our ship as long as we’re sitting right on top of the palace.”
Max nodded and grinned then turned to Varec… “Can we get Pierce up here… maybe with the transporter?”
Varec shook his head. “Only if he had a pin on him somewhere.”
“So somebody has to go down there and stick a pin on him… is that what you’re saying,” Kyle asked.
“That would be one way,” Varec conceded.
“I’ll go,” Kyle said, “One way or the other, I’ll get a pin on him. You guys just be ready up here to beam me back up with him once the pin is on him.”
“I’ll go with you,” Michael said.
“No,” Kyle replied, surprising Michael with his sudden authoritarian manner, “You need to be here on the ship where you can protect Max and the others. I can do this. It’ll be better if one person goes. I can avoid attention easier if I’m alone.”
Michael nodded, knowing that, at least logistically, Kyle was right. “Okay… go for it… but you may have trouble clipping a clip pin to him if there’s nothing easily accessible to clip it to… and the Velcro ones are no good, because there isn’t likely to be any Velcro on him.”
Kyle grinned and selected a pin with a long, sharp prong on the back, “No sweat. I’ll use this one. If it doesn’t go into his shirt, it’ll go into his arm just fine.”
Maria grinned and closed her eyes, and Max laughed.
Kyle smiled and touched his own pin, just inside his shirt…
“Kyle…” Max said, “Good luck.”
Kyle nodded then disappeared from the ship in a wisp of light. He reappeared inside the palace and, looking around, quickly ascertained where he was. Kyle knew the palace well… at least he knew the one on his own Antar well. And so far they had all been fairly similar. This one did not appear to be any different. He edged his way down the grand hall, staying in the shadows as much as possible, rushing fleetingly from one column to the next until he reached the king’s suite. He listened at the door but heard nothing. That really didn’t mean anything, though. The doors of the palace were thick and very soundproof.
Kyle tested the handle carefully, and the door opened… just a bit. He looked around the room. There was no one there, so he opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside, quietly closing the door back behind himself.
“I’m inside the king’s suite,” he whispered into the pin under his shirt, “Pierce isn’t here, but he’s bound to return eventually. I’ll wait for a while and try to surprise him.”
Kyle looked around the huge room. For some reason, it gave him the creeps. It had none of the warmth of Max and Liz’s suite on their Antar. It looked more like a huge laboratory with a bed in it. Kyle grimaced…
“He dissects them and sleeps in the same room? How sick is this man!”
For a moment, Kyle fought off a shudder. Then he heard the door handle turn. Quickly, he dove behind a covered table. It was Pierce, and he was alone. He looked frustrated. Kyle watched as Pierce picked up a scalpel and turned it over several times in his hand, as though longing to use it, but… Michael had been “abducted” from his table right under his nose. It must have galled Pierce immensely. Still, there was so much that just did not make sense here. This room looked like it had been lived in this way for a considerable amount of time… and yet… few people on this Antar, outside of the palace guards and some apparently kidnapped victims, seemed to know even the most basic thing about this man who was pretending to be their king. It made no sense. But then… Pierce never had made any sense to Kyle.
As Kyle watched, Pierce walked across the room and removed his shirt, tossing it onto a large bureau. Then he sat down on the foot of the bed and removed his shoes.
If he removes his pants, I’ll gag and give myself away, Kyle thought to himself, as he watched from behind the covered table.
But Pierce did not remove his pants, at least for the moment. He stood back up and walked toward the door, then he looked like he was going to walk back to the bed again; but instead, he turned and walked back the way he had come from. Then he walked the other way again, and Kyle realized, with growing alarm, that each time Pierce paced back and forth, he seemed to come closer and closer to where he was hiding. It had to be a coincidence. Finally, Pierce walked in front of the table, directly on the other side of where Kyle was hiding, and as he did, he flipped the table over, exposing Kyle, who looked momentarily like a deer caught in the headlights… but only momentarily. He quickly recovered from the surprise and leapt at Pierce, hoping to get the pin onto him, but Pierce was ready for him. Pierce waved his hand, and Kyle felt something slam into him… hard. Kyle reeled backwards, rolling on the floor from the force. It felt like he had run head on into a stone wall and then been run over by a truck…
“Oh, crap! What the hell was that?”
Pierce smiled, but it was a sadistic sort of smile. “That, Valenti, was a force field. You may have heard that I am well protected here. Well, it’s true. I have powers that you never dreamed of.”
“You mean the granolith.”
Pierce smiled, obviously pleased with himself. “The alien machine does my every wish… It reads my mind. Its powers are mine. I can kill you with the wave of a hand.”
“Why don’t you then?”
“You know me better than that, Valenti. Did I ever take the easy way… if there was a better way?”
“You mean if there was a more sadistic way?”
“Sadistic is such a harsh word. I protect my planet from alien invasion.”
“This is not your planet, Pierce. What are you protecting here?”
“Isn’t that obvious? Earth! Eventually, I’ll wipe this alien colony out… and earth will be safe.”
“It’s not a colony… it’s a planet. It’s their planet.”
“Only semantics, Valenti. I see no difference. It’s a planet of aliens that intend to take over our planet. So I take over their planet first. I wipe out the colony before it attacks us.”
“How in the name of everything unholy and sadistic did you get the granolith to protect you, Pierce? That’s what I want to know!”
“Granolith? Oh, yeah, the alien machine. The aliens were kind enough to provide us with an instruction manual for it. Nice of them, huh!”
Kyle sighed. “That’s what I heard… but it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t matter, Kyle… it won’t help you to know how I did it. You’re not going to live long enough to enjoy the knowledge.”
“Or to tell anybody?”
“Exactly.”
“Then there is more to tell.”
Pierce smiled again. It seemed that he smiled a lot. But it was the smile of a shark. “I don’t know why I should tell you anything, Valenti. You can’t help me.”
“I didn’t know you needed help… Dan.”
“I don’t!” Pierce said quickly… almost defensively, “I just meant that if I did, you wouldn’t be able to… do anything about it anyway.”
“You need to get off of this planet,” Kyle said, venturing a guess.
Pierce rolled his eyes. “Kyle, I have the machine. It does my bidding. When I’m ready to go home… after this alien plague is wiped out… it will take me home.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“What was that “alien machine” called again, Pierce?”
Pierce looked at Kyle, and his eyes sparkled… with daggers. “It doesn’t matter what it’s called, Kyle. What matters is it obeys me.”
“That’s the part I can’t figure out, Pierce. That was never meant to happen. It’s… it’s… impossible. The granolith was made with too many safeguards to fall into the hands of someone like you.”
Apparently, Kyle struck a nerve with that last comment, because Pierce swung around and grabbed him by the collar, pinning him to the wall…
“WHAT do you know about that machine, Kyle?”
Kyle smiled, reading the truth in Pierce’s eyes. “Everything you’d like to know, Pierce. Everything you pretend to know, but don’t.”
“Don’t mess with me, Kyle. I can destroy you with a wave of my hand. You’ve seen that.”
The air went out of Kyle’s lungs. He HAD seen that. He had FELT it! Whatever Pierce knew or did not know, he clearly did have the power. It just didn’t make sense.
“If you tell me what I want to know,” Pierce said slowly… and threateningly… “I could be inclined to let you live.”
“You’re too generous.”
“Don’t knock it. It’s better than the alternative. Would you like to see some of the alternatives?” Pierce pulled the sheet off of the table, and Kyle saw a number of Antarian internal organs.”
“How long have those been there,” Kyle asked, turning uncharacteristically white.
“A few days… maybe a week… some of them,” Pierce replied.
Kyle shook his head. “Antarian bodies dissolve into dust upon death… or very shortly thereafter. No way would they last a few days… much less a week.”
“I’ve learned to preserve them,” Pierce said with a sadistic smile.
Kyle sensed that Pierce was telling the truth, at least on this matter, and for a moment, he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“All I want from you, Kyle, is information on the alien machine… the granolith machine.”
“Don’t you already know everything there is to know about it? It protects you, doesn’t it?”
Pierce looked frustrated, and he was losing patience. Aware that this conversation couldn’t go much further without Pierce doing something rash, Kyle began to look for a way to put an end to the encounter, but Pierce had removed his shirt. If Kyle was going to stick the pin on him, he would have to stick it to his pants… or stick it into his skin. He lunged at Pierce’s arm, but Pierce raised his hand, and a bolt of something like lightning hit Kyle, bowling him over.
Kyle groaned and tried to raise his head, but everything looked fuzzy, and the room was spinning.
“You thought you’d sucker punch me, Valenti? That was stupid… even for you.” Pierce stood over Kyle and glared at him with those sparkling little daggers in his eyes…
“Tell me what I want to know, Kyle. It’s your last chance.”
“Okay… okay…” Kyle tried to lift himself off the floor; then instead, in one swift motion, with his head still swimming, he reached up and pinned the pin to Pierce’s pants. Apparently, the pin went deep, and judging by Pierce’s reaction, in a most sensitive place. Pierce let out a howl that was probably heard all the way up on the New Granolith.
“NOW!!!!!!” Kyle yelled into his shirt. “NOW, MICHAEL! If you want to live to see tomorrow, get me out of here NOW!”
Kyle had not yet finished the sentence when he appeared on the bridge of the New Granolith… along with a very surprised Agent Pierce, who was still trying desperately to remove the deeply embedded pin from the family jewel box without causing more damage… or pain… than he had already suffered. Assessing his situation quickly, and finally getting the long prong out, Pierce held up one hand threateningly, and Kyle dove for cover.
“I should kill you ALL right here, right now!”
Pierce moved his hand slowly back and forth, choosing his first victim, as he issued his threat. Michael and Max already had him covered. Both of them had one hand up, palms aimed directly at him. It appeared to be a standoff. But there was that nagging little problem… Pierce was channeling the granolith’s powers. If not for that, it would be no contest at all. Even if Pierce had somehow gained some kind of powers on his own, Max and Michael would incinerate him… easily… before he could act. But if the granolith was protecting Pierce… blasting him could get the New Granolith destroyed… and everyone onboard killed.
“You can’t hurt me. You know that, don’t you,” Pierce blustered, “The machine protects me. I’m all-powerful.”
“I would like to test that theory,” Michael said calmly.
“Be my guest,” Pierce said, a sadistic smile playing impatiently at his lips, as he moved his hand in Michael’s direction. Then, without any forewarning at all, Pierce waved his hand as though he were swatting away a pesky fly. Michael and Max both dove for the floor and rolled, and Michael got off a solid blast that sent Pierce flying backwards into the wall. For some unknown reason, Pierce’s attempt to blast Michael had been totally, and unexplainably, unsuccessful… like trying to shoot a gun and discovering that it was out of bullets… and no one was more surprised than Pierce…
“NO!” No, it can’t be! They wouldn’t dare!”
Max and Michael, seeing their chance, quickly subdued Pierce and tied him up, as he alternately ranted, cursed, and threatened ultimate vengeance against someone. Whom, they weren’t sure.
“Well,” said Maria, looking very relieved and maybe just a teeny bit cocky after the present unexpected turn of events, “It looks like the granolith has turned its back on you. I guess it doesn’t like you much either.”
Pierce appeared to sneer, and his eyes narrowed noticeably, but his mouth remained tightly shut.
“Who was it that betrayed you, Pierce,” asked Max, “Who were you swearing vengeance against so vehemently just a moment ago?”
Pierce shook his head, but said nothing.
Max shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. If you have nothing to say, we’ll let the people down there decide what to do with you and be done with it.”
“You can’t…” Pierce blurted out unexpectedly, but then he hesitated, unsure that he wanted to say anything more.
“Just watch us,” Michael said, grinning now like a Cheshire cat. “If there’s anything I love it’s poetic justice.”
Pierce grimaced, even though he was trying to appear stoic… “What happens to me if I do talk?”
Michael looked at Max, and Max shrugged… “We can’t let him go. We have to turn him over to the proper authorities either way. What would you do?”
Michael smiled ever so slightly… “I’d blast his ass.”
Max looked at Pierce and noticed that an uneasy pall had settled over Pierce’s face. Pierce had no reason at all to doubt that Michael would do what he said, given the opportunity… or the go ahead from Max and the others. And he had no reason at all to believe that anyone else aboard the New Granolith would be any kinder to him. He was certain that he wouldn’t find mercy below, on Antar… not among those who knew him. One thing about being a self-serving sadistic tyrant is that it brings a certain relevancy to one’s paranoia.
“If you take me back to earth, I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” Pierce said, out of the blue.
“Can’t do that,” Max replied, shaking his head, “We’re on kind of a tight schedule. Besides, didn’t you say that the granolith was going to return you to earth… after you destroyed Antar?”
“I have nothing more to say,” Pierce replied, resigned now to what he assumed to be his inevitable fate and determined not to tell them anything more.
“Max,” Liz said, patting Max gently on the arm, “Maybe we should ask the granolith ourselves.”
“Yeah,” Tess agreed, “The granolith on our Antar was designed to recognize the royal four… this one probably is, too. If it is, you can find out how Pierce got here and what’s going on. We don’t need Pierce to tell us anything.”
“It can do that?” Pierce asked.
Max nodded.
Pierce groaned.
“So are you going to tell us yourself,” Max asked.
“Find it out the hard way… if you can,” Pierce retorted defiantly, “I’m not giving you anything. I have nothing to gain from it.”
“Except maybe a good feeling inside for having done the right thing,” Liz said innocently.
Pierce stared at Liz momentarily, wondering silently if she was serious. He decided that the comment had been intended as a smart-aleck jest.
Maria stifled a laugh and shook her head, as she put one arm around Liz protectively… “Girlfriend, I’ve got to have a serious talk with you sometime.”
Liz turned slightly red and rolled her eyes with a sigh. “I know… I know… it sounded stupid. But I can’t help it. I always think there’s some good in everyone… somewhere… deep down. It just doesn’t usually come out sounding so lame.”
Maria glanced at Pierce and nodded… “Very, very, very, very, very deep down… maybe… but I’m not sure there’s anything that goes that deep.”
“I know,” Liz said, smiling abashedly, “It was a momentary lapse. Just forget I said it.”
“Don’t try to change her,” Max said, grinning, “If Liz ever sees the real me, she may decide to give me the boot.”
Liz gave Max a playful shove… “I fell in love with you knowing what you are, Max. You never fooled me for a moment!”
She turned and walked away, and Max looked at Maria, puzzled… “What did she mean by that?”
Maria shrugged. “I’d say she wants you to wonder.”
Max looked at Liz again then shook his head, dispelling any further questions he might have had on the subject in order to return to the matter at hand…
“Okay, we find the granolith… and we get some honest answers… about Pierce, I mean.”
<center>End of Chapter 28
tbc…</center>
Last edited by Island Breeze on Sat Sep 10, 2005 6:05 pm, edited 3 times in total.