The Enemy Unknown (ALL,Teen/Mature) Pt 60 3/24/06 COMPLETE

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Forty-One

Well, if everyone has worked past their rage at their parental units, we have some planning to do,” Max said later that evening.

“I don’t know if worked past it are the words I would use,” said Michael. “But I’m good for now. Ava, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess,” said the petite blonde. “I just don’t understand why he didn’t keep trying to communicate with us.”

“I’m not saying what he did was right,” said Liz. “But try and look at it from his perspective. He was trying to communicate with you, but he was leaving Antarian messages. You couldn’t read them, but he didn’t know that. He just assumed that you wanted nothing to do with him.”

“Look,” Michael said with some bitterness in his voice. “We can rehash this until forever. It isn’t going to change the fact that the man essentially blew us off. Now can we get on with the planning?”

Liz shot Michael a hurt look, but tried hard not to take offense at his caustic tones or comments. He was hurting, she could feel it pouring off of him in waves, and arguing with him wasn’t going to change matters.

“Let’s look at everything we know about the Gadori so far, and admittedly, that isn’t much,” said Zan. “They’ve assimilated into our world with no apparent difficulties.”

“They are also capable of surviving on our world,” said Isabel. “Without any problems.”

“Let’s look at the why’s,” said Zan. “Why are they doing this? Why do they want to take over Antar? Gador is just about the same size, actually, except for being slightly bigger, it’s an exact duplicate of Antar.”

“Colonization,” said Alex. “The main reason anyone leaves home and moves to a new place. There have to be advantages for them, monetary, is usually the main benefit.”

“But as a society, both Antarians and Gadorians have moved past the capitalistic society,” said Maria. “The societies are almost, well Utopian. There isn’t any hunger, poverty, or negative class distinctions.”

The room fell silent and everybody stared, their faces betraying varying levels of shock and amazement.

“Uh, who are you and what did you do with Maria DeLuca?” quipped Kyle.

“Just because I was in regular social studies doesn’t mean I didn’t pay attention,” said Maria. “Besides, this is important. I’ve been doing a lot of research lately. Like Zan said, we need to figure out why before we do anything else. There’s always a possibility of negotiation. Full out war is an absolute last resort.”

“Is anybody else besides me afraid?” asked Kyle. “Maria’s making sense.”

“Shut up, Kyle,” Maria said. “Or I’ll have my husband kill you.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Kyle. He folded his hands in his lap and looked up at Maria with an expression reminiscent of a first grader waiting for his teacher to impart some wonderful gem of knowledge.

“Jerk,” said Ava, smiling playfully. She shoved Kyle and he fell off his chair to the ground with a resounding crash.

Drinian, passing by, looked in, enjoying the sound of his children having a good time, and knowing that in spite of the laughter, they were accomplishing a great deal of work.

He turned to walk away, and collided with a female figure, sending her crashing to the ground.

“Forgive me, Shandar, are you hurt?” he asked, courteously.

“I am fine, Uncle,” Shandar replied, looking at the ground.

“Something is bothering you, Shandar, would you like to tell me about it?”

“Why should I bother?” demanded Shandar. “You can find out, you don’t need me to tell you.”

“No, I don’t, but I also wouldn’t intrude upon you in that way.”

“You tried before,” the girl countered.

“That is when I thought you were an enemy. Now I know you are not. You are a victim in this war, as is Zan,” said Drinian.

“They don’t see me as one,” she said contemptuously, pointing to the room where the group of young people joked and laughed as they planned strategies.

“You have not given them a reason too, have you?” queried Drinian. “You have been on the defensive with them ever since we learned of the child.”

“Wouldn’t you be?” asked Shandar. “Zan has the power to take Valrik away from me.”

“Do you think he would?” Drinian asked softly.

“N-no, I don’t think so,” Shandar whispered.

“Then why don’t you go in there and give him, give them all a chance to get to know you, and give yourself a chance to know them. They are good people. I think you will like them.”

“I will try, Uncle,” Shandar said. “But it’s, I’m afraid,”

“I think I can help with that,” said Drinian. He took Shandar’s hand and led her into the area where the others had congregated.

“Hello, children,” he said. “The sound of your laughter is a joy to hear indeed. I’ve brought one more for your, uh, what is the word I’m looking for?”

“Think tank,” said Alex, while Ava replied “Popcorn party.”

“Well, maybe it’s a little of both,” Drinian laughed. “But I thought Shandar could offer some more insight into the Gadori as she was held prisoner by them for a time.”

Shandar stood before them, her eyes telegraphing the fear she felt. It was Liz who slid her chair over and motioned for Shandar to sit between her and Zan. Shandar smiled gratefully and slid gracefully into the chair Zan pulled up to the table.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“How is Valrik?” Zan asked, softly. “Any problems getting him to sleep?”

“No, he’s a good baby,” Shandar said. “Perhaps tomorrow, you could join us for bedtime.”

“I’d like that,” Zan said.

“Um, excuse me,” said Max. “But if you’re done picking out tomorrow’s bedtime story, maybe we could get some work done?”

“Hey, let’s remember whose the king here,” said Zan.

“Yeah, let’s remember who was the king first,” parried Max.

Liz looked at Shandar who seemed cowed by the comments between Max and Zan. The byplay was familiar to all of them, but Shandar, as a newcomer wouldn’t understand that they were just having fun.

“Excuse me,” she yelled, using as dignified a voice as she could manage. “I am the Queen, and I command both of you to shut up and get me a drink.”

“Yeah, right, get your own drink, Queenie,” laughed Zan. “You’re wife sure likes to play the queen card whenever she’s too lazy to get her own drink. Maybe you should start throwing her in the royal dungeon or something.”

Everyone, Shandar included, exploded in to laughter, which did much to ease the tension that had built up with Shandar’s arrival. Drinian slipped away unnoticed, smiling at the way Liz had diffused a tense situation.

I always did like that girl, he thought to himself.

** * ** *

“Okay, if everyone is ready to focus,” said Michael. “We need to figure out why the Gadori are hell bent on taking over our world.”

“I know,” said Shandar. “Gador is dying. Their climate is changing, and their bodies can’t withstand the changes.

A shocked silence filled the room and everyone stared at Shandar.

“Did, did I say something wrong?” she asked.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Two – Adjustment

“What did you say?” Zan finally asked.

“I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything,” Shandar said. “I just thought I could help in some way.”

“No, no, you helped, Shandar. You really did, it’s just that, I, we, we weren’t expecting you to,” stammered Zan.

“Have any useful information,” said Shandar. She pressed her lips together tightly and crossed her arms over her chest, and Zan realized he had just had a large helping of proverbial shoe leather.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. We were all just shocked that you jumped in so quickly. I mean, it took me months before I felt comfortable enough with these bozos to offer a suggestion,” said Zan. “And here you are, after what, five minutes giving us vital information. It was a shock, that’s all.”

“Nice save,” Kyle whispered sotto voce. “I thought for sure you were a dead man.”

“You needed an answer, and I had one,” said Shandar. “Why wouldn’t I help? And what is a bozo?”

“I’ll explain later, Shandar,” Ava said, smothering a grin. “Intro to Earth Culture 101 is going to take more than five minutes.”

“Intro to Earth Culture? You people are very strange,” said Shandar.

“Yeah, we know,” Alex said, almost proudly. “We work at it.”

“Ignore him,” said Zan, giving Alex a pained look. “Tell us more about what’s going on, and how you found out.”

“Well, when I was locked up, I spent a lot of time listening, and I overheard a lot,” explained Shandar. “Also, I think my brother,” she shuddered, thinking of Kivar, “Told them that I wasn’t very intelligent, and the scientists would speak openly in front of me, certain that I could not comprehend what they were discussing. And, while I’m not a genius, I was able to understand what they were talking about.”

“Yeah, well, they were stupid not to realize how smart you are,” said Zan. Without thinking, he reached out and squeezed Shandar’s hand gently.

Maria’s quick eye caught the movement, and she nudged Ava, who poked Isabel, who stepped gently on Liz’s foot under the table. Without a word being spoken, the four girls began to make intricate plans to get Zan and Shandar together, as much as possible.

“Hey, can the four of you focus, please,” said Kyle. “You’re giving me a headache.”

“Uh, Kyle, what are you talking about?” asked Michael. “Mind filling us in, cause none of us have a freaking clue?”

“No, I’m not filling you in, and some of us do have a clue, and some of us should probably just give in gracefully, because they don’t stand a chance,” Kyle responded, cryptically.

“Yeah, thanks for clearing that up for me,” said Michael.

Ava began to giggle uncontrollably, and Liz, Maria and Isabel soon followed suit. Alex’s lips twitched as he watched Isabel’s face light with laughter, and soon he was laughing as well. Within minutes, the room was filled again with the sound of laughter, though half the room didn’t know why they were laughing.

Outside the room, two men listened to the sounds of laughter and gaiety.

“Those are the ones who you think are going to save your world?” one asked.

Those are the ones who are going to save our world,” said the other. “You would do well to start remembering that, my friend.”

“I think you’re putting too much faith in them. They are nothing but a bunch of kids. Stupid punks, all of them.”

“Including your son, Cladar?” Drinian asked, softly.

“Especially him,” said Cal. “He’s nothing but a two bit hoodlum, that someone dressed up and taught some manners.”

“Sounds like somebody else I know,” said Drinian, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “I remember your own father saying very much the same thing about you.”

“And he wasn’t far wrong,” said Cal. “Look how I turned out. I failed the most important mission you could have ever entrusted to me.”

“Cal, you didn’t fail. I wish you would accept that. You did everything in your power to contact the children short of walking up to them on the street and introducing yourself. They didn’t know who they were, never mind know you. And you had no idea they couldn’t read the messages you left for them.”

“But maybe if I had investigated more, or, I don’t know, done something, things would have turned out differently.”

“Right, things may have turned out differently indeed, and we may not have Alex, Liz, Maria, Kyle or Zan here with us. Did you ever think of that? I was as shocked as you when they first activated the Granolith, Cladar, and I found out they knew nothing of our world or of their lives, save for false impressions planted by the one they called Tess. But those children, working together managed to save themselves from danger time and time again.”

“At the expense of your first born grandchild,” said Cal.

“Yes,” agreed Drinian. “That was a tragic loss, and nobody mourned more than I, even though I was unable to mourn the loss as a Grandfather.”

“I never did understand why you didn’t tell them who you were,” said Cal. “The little spunky one, Liz, when she told me what happened and said the name Che’koth, well, I wanted to laugh. You used to pretend to be Che’koth whenever you wanted to escape the rigors of royal life.”

“I couldn’t tell them who I was,” said Drinian. “If I had, their first response would have been to come back to Antar, and it wasn’t time for that. It wasn’t safe.”

“Was it any safer when they did come back?” asked Cal with a laugh.

“Not really,” admitted Drinian. “But even then, the Gadori were after them, and I had no choice but to bring them home, and look at the good that came from it. They managed to do what nobody else had, bring Kivar down. It was a joyous time for Antar.”

“But it didn’t last long, did it,” said Cal. “And look at them in there, laughing like a bunch of children. I can’t believe you’re pinning your hopes on them.”

“And I can’t believe, given everything you know about them that you don’t have more faith in their abilities. If it can be done, it will be done. And beneath the laughter, they are working. You should have more faith, Cladar.”

“Listen to them Drinian, laughing and joking and having fun. It’s not the way soldiers should act.”

“They are not soldiers, Cladar, they are our children. The world you knew is gone. Things are different now, and in my opinion, better. You need to adjust your way of thinking, my friend. Start by removing all thoughts of failure from your mind. Then give yourself a chance to know your children, and your nieces and nephews. I think that you will find yourself to be surprised.”

“Is that an order?” Cal asked, glaring at Drinian.

“My days as king, and giving orders is long over, my friend. It is merely a suggestion.”

Drinian gave Cal’s shoulder one last pat, and then he turned and walked away, leaving Cal to think about everything that had happened.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Three – Coupling

They gathered around the breakfast table, making various plans for the day. Michael and Kyle decided to head back into town and track down those still loyal to the Royal Family, courtesy of their friend Wandred.

“You want to come?” Michael asked Maria, helping himself t another serving of peroykia. Maria grimaced as she watched Michael load his plate with the spicy sweet food. It had the consistency of oatmeal, but tasted like a combination of peanut butter ice cream loaded down with jalapeno peppers.

“I can’t,” she said, regretfully. “I promised Max I’d bring him up to speed on the fortifications we’ve made.”

“Right,” said Alex, after Isabel nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. “And I was going to uh, work on that weapon guidance system Liz and I made, to see if I can calibrate it to work on the Gadori.”

“Well, we still need to work on Shandar’s information about the climate on Gador,” said Zan. “Ava, do you want to work with Shandar on that?”

“Oh, um, Isabel and I are,” Ava floundered, trying desperately to remember what she and Isabel were supposed to be doing.

“Ava and I were actually going to meet with Father, Mother, and Aunt Dijanya to go over some of the plans,” said Isabel. She shot Ava a look that clearly said, ‘Don’t blow this,’ and Ava shrugged ruefully. She hated lying to anybody, least of all, Zan.

“Well, that’s fine then, Shandar, looks like it’s just you and me today,” said Zan. “I hope you don’t mind,” he added as an afterthought.

“No, I-I don’t mind,” Shandar said, her cheeks coloring slightly. “Are you sure you don’t have anything more important to take care of?”

“I think this bit of information is the break we’ve been hoping for,” said Zan. “We need to find out as much information as we can about Gador, and what’s happening there.”

“Is there any place that has information about Antar’s relationship with Gador, I mean treaties and things like that?” asked Shandar.

“Well, there are the archives in the palace,” said Isabel. “They’re housed in the diplomatic wing,” she added, recalling her training as an Antarian diplomat. “We could figure out some way to break in there and possibly,”

“Possibly get killed,” said Alex. “I’m sorry, Isabel, but I’m going to go all Neanderthal on you and say no way. Remember what happened the last time you snuck into the palace.”

“Yeah, Alex, I remember. We won the war!” said Isabel. She threw her fork down on her plate and pushed away from the table. She paused long enough to give Alex a withering glare before she stormed from the room.

“Um, yeah, that didn’t go quite the way I was hoping it would,” said Alex, to the room in general. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Hey, Alex, if it helps any,” said Kyle. “Deep down, she’s really happy that you care enough to freak out that way.”

“I have so got to learn how you do that,” said Alex as he walked out of the room.

After his departure, and awkward silence filled the room. Liz looked at Max, her eyes urging him to say something. He cleared his throat several times, but nothing came out. After several minutes, the silence grew oppressive until finally, Kyle mustered up the courage to speak.

“Will you all look at that giant elephant sitting in the middle of the room,” he said.

“Oh you mean that giant pink thing that’s sitting right there on the table?” asked Michael, trying unsuccessfully to smother a grin.

“Yeah, the one with his foot in the food,” added Max. He kept a straight face for a moment before finally exploding into laughter, followed quickly by all the others, except for Shandar.

“I don’t understand,” she said. “What is an elephant and where is it? I don’t see anything.”

Zan took a few minutes to explain the story of the elephant in the room to Shandar, while the others looked on, happy to see how he quickly moved to ease her discomfort.

“You are all very funny,” said Shandar.

“Yeah, they’re a laugh riot,” said Zan.

“You are one of them, Zan. You need to include yourself in the ‘laugh riot,’ said Shandar.

“Yeah, that’s right,” said Max, nudging Zan. “You’re one of us, and don’t you forget it. And Shandar, don’t think you’re not one of us now too,” Max continued. “Especially if you can figure out some way to keep this bozo under control.”

“Bozo, the clown with the big red nose?” said Shandar. “I don’t think so, I see Zan as having more of an orange nose.” She reached out and tapped his nose and used her powers to turn Zan’s nose a glowing shade of orange, causing those at the table to explode with laughter yet again.

“You do realize, this means war,” said Zan, using one hand to change his nose back, and the other to grab Shandar’s arm.

“Bring it on, Your Majesty. I feel that I am suitably equipped to deal with any challenge of wary you may throw down,” said Shandar, tossing her hair away from her face.

“Well, I guess since Alex and Isabel are busy, um, fighting or whatever,” said Liz. “Maybe I could go with Ava to talk to the parental units about the plans.”

“But we don’t have any plans,” said Shandar, innocently. “At least not yet.”

“Which is why I was going to suggest that Liz and Ava come with Kyle and me when we head in to town. We’ll look less suspicious that way,” said Michael, coming to their rescue.

Liz shot him a surprised look. Michael had been the most resistant to the girl’s matchmaking scheme, at least according to Maria.

“What was that all about,” she whispered to him as they exited the small room where they had eaten their morning meal. “I thought you didn’t want any part of, what was it, oh yeah, ‘Our matchmaking plans from hell?’ Isn’t that what you said to Maria?”

“Yeah, well, she turned his nose orange, and he didn’t even flinch. The guy is a goner. He just doesn’t realize it yet,” said Michael.

“Give it up, Michael, your a sucker for a happy ending,” joked Liz.

“That’s my brother,” said Ava, wrapping her slender arm around Michael’s waist. “All rough and stone faced on the outside, but scratch the surface and it’s pure marshmallow fluff!”

“We-well, I should probably check on Valrik before we start,” said Shandar, nervously. She looked around the empty room, and realized that she was going to be working with Zan, alone, and she wasn’t quite comfortable with that. Every time she looked at him, she felt quite peculiar, like her stomach was filled with a thousand small butterflies.

“I’ll come with you, if you don’t mind,” said Zan, clearing his throat. “I, uh, I think my mother said she’d have him with her this morning.”

Zan stared at Shandar as she rose gracefully from the chair. He felt a surge of heat through his body as he followed her out of the room and down the corridor to where the baby was being kept. The sway of Shandar’s hips as she walked drew his attention, and Zan tripped slightly on an uneven patch of floor. He tried to focus his thoughts as they walked into the baby’s small area, and found Cal, standing over the baby’s bed, instead of Kitana.

“Excuse me,” said Cal, “I was just remembering Rath when he was a baby, and you too, Zan. Actually, he looks a lot like you did at that age, except for the hair.”

Zan reached down and stroked the baby’s downy head with his finger. A fierce feeling of protectiveness welled up inside of him and he knew right then and there, he would die to protect this child. He looked over at Cal, and saw the same emotions cross his face, and he knew that the older man was consumed by a sense of guilt at his failure to protect them when they were on Earth.

“It wasn’t your fault, Cal. You need to let it go,” Zan said softly, while Shandar reached down and picked up their child. “You did the best you could. There wasn’t anything more you could do.”

“I failed,” said Cal, softly. Strangely, he exhibited none of the bitterness he did when he was with Max and Michael.

“Fine, you think you failed,” said Zan. “Then I give you a chance to redeem yourself. My son is to be placed under your protection. His safety is your main priority. Protect him, and all your transgressions, both real and imagined will be forgiven.”

Shandar reacted to Zan’s unspoken command, pressed a gentle kiss on her son’s forehead and placed him in Cal’s arms. She slipped her arm through Zan’s, and the two exited the room leaving Cal to stare after them in amazement.

“You were perfect,” Shandar whispered as they walked away from the room. “I think that is exactly what he needed. A sense of purpose.”

“You were perfect,” said Zan. “It’s like you were reading my mind. You knew exactly what I wanted and did it without hesitation. Thank you, Shandar.”

“No, it is I who thank you, not only did you give that poor man a sense of purpose, you have given our son a personal guardian who will do anything to protect him. What mother could ask for more? What could any parent ask for,” she amended and watched as Zan’s expression glowed. He leaned

“Zan, I was looking for you,” a voice called.

Zan and Shandar looked up and saw Dijanya walking toward them, a large bag, similar to a backpack, in her arms.

“Liz told me what you two had planned for today,” she said, smiling at her nephew. “I thought it would be nice if you got out of here for a while. You can do your research outside just as well as you could if you stayed down here.”

“Thank you, Dijanya,” said Zan. He took the bag from her and smiled as she walked away. “I’m starting to get a funny feeling about all of this,” he said, looking down at Shandar.

“Funny feeling about what?” Shandar asked, her face a mask of innocence.

“Never mind,” said Zan with a sigh. He hefted the backpack and smiled down at Shandar, feeling secure she was as much a victim of his family’s matchmaking schemes as he. “Come on, let’s go.”

** * ** * *

Several hours later, Zan and Shandar sat outside, hidden from view by large boulders, enjoying the sun on their faces. Traces of their meal littered the ground around them. Zan and Shandar had gone over everything she could remember during her incarceration with the Gadori.

“We only have one thing left to do,” said Zan. “I didn’t want to do it, but I will.”

“What is it, Zan, you sound like you’re going to be taking some terrible risk.”

“Only to my heart,” said Zan. “See, as members of the royal family, we have access to the collective consciousness of those who came before us. Sort of like we can tap into the minds of the dead or something. But we also have access to the memories of the Zan, Rath, Ava and Vilondra that were killed on Antar. Those memories aren’t so great, so Kyle and Isabel have told me. I’m really a coward. I’m afraid to look. I don’t want to know how I died.”

“Then don’t” said Shandar, her voice matter-of-fact. “I would think you are strong enough to block the memories of the past you and search out what you are looking for. And you are not a coward, you are cautious. There is a difference.”

“I’ll try it,” said Zan, reluctantly.

He closed his eyes, and opened his mind, searching for the information he needed. A tremendous explosion rocked the ground, and his eyes flew open. Shandar screamed and tried to stand, only to be knocked to the ground by falling rocks. Zan instinctively knelt down, shielding Shandar’s body with his own as he scanned the area looking for clues to what happened. His heart pounded and he was filled with a terrible sense of foreboding when he saw the entrance to the underground caverns was completely obliterated.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Four – Crisis Situation

“Shandar!” Zan yelled. He struggled to remove the large rock that had pinned his leg. He pushed at it ineffectually until he remembered he could use his powers to blast the offending stone away. In a matter of seconds, the boulder was reduced to a pile of manageable rocks. Zan pulled his leg free, wincing from the pain. He reached his hand down and touched his leg, healing the broken bones.

When he could stand, he quickly ran over to where Shandar had fallen, and knelt down beside her unconscious body. He worked feverishly for several minutes, healing the multitude of injuries her body had suffered. He choked on the thick black smoke that filled the air as he healed her last injury.

“Shandar, wake up,” he said. “Shandar, can you hear me? Come on,” he pleaded. “You have to wake up. Valrik needs you. I need you,” he added softly.

** * ** *

“What was that?” Liz asked, picking herself up from the ground.

“I don’t know,” Michael responded, “But I’m going with nothing good.”

“Look,” Ava whispered. Liz looked up to see Ava pointing at a large black column of smoke that rose up from the canyon where Sanctuary was hidden.

“We need to go back there and help them,” Ava said. “Michael, come on, we have to go back. Our mother is there.” She looked at her brother, her eyes pleading.

“Right,” said Michael. Horror danced across his face as he realized the very people he loved more than anything were trapped, or worse. “Right, come on,” he said, his voice gaining strength. “I’ll take lead, Valenti, you bring up the rear, Liz, you and Ava in the middle.”

“No,” said Liz

“What?” Michael asked, certain he had heard incorrectly. “Did you just tell me we’re not going back? Liz, we have to back there and see if there are any survivors,” Michael added, choking on the last word.

“I said no, we can’t go back there, Michael. We have stay safe,” Liz said, her eyes filling with tears as she spoke.

“Damn it, Liz, don’t you realize they may need us back there. We have to go back,” Michael argued.

“And don’t you realize we may be the only survivors left of the God Damned Royal House of Antar? We can’t go back. We have to stay alive. Whatever happened back there wasn’t an accident, you can count on that. We can’t have it happen to us.”

“You cold, selfish bitch,” Michael said, his voice low and hard. “I don’t care what you say. I’m going back. My wife is there, and she may need me. Do you remember her, Liz, do you? Maria? Do you remember Maria?”

“Of course I do, Michael,” Liz cried, tears spilling down her cheek. “Maria is my best friend, and in case you’re forgetting, my husband and my other best friend are there too, but we have to keep ourselves safe.”

“Screw you, Liz Parker, I’m going back,” Michael said. He turned and began to walk back.”

“Michael,” Liz called out, hating herself even as the words left her mouth. “As your Queen, I command you to stop.”

“What?” said Michael, turning slowly to glare at Liz. “I cannot believe you are going to play the Queen card.”

“I will, if I have to. I’ll do whatever I have to do to keep you, to keep all of you, safe,” she said, including Ava and Kyle.

“Liz, we can’t not help them,” Ava said, her voice pleading. “Kyle, tell her, we have to go back.”

“She’s right, Ava, we can’t go back. It would be like signing our own death warrants if we did. Our best bet is to lay low and try and find out what happened,” Kyle said, acting like the warrior he had become.

“What, no words of humor, no cute little quip to alleviate the tension?” baited Michael. “Where is the laughing Buddha’s sense of humor now?”

Without warning, Kyle’s fist shot out, catching Michael on the jaw and sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious.

“Would it be wrong of me to say that felt really, really good,” Kyle asked nobody in particular.

“What is wrong with the two of you?” Ava shouted. “Are you on some kind of power trip or something? First you,” she shot a contemptuous look at Liz, “Decide we’re not going back to help our families, and then you,” she added, turning on her husband, “Decide to knock my brother unconscious. What the hell is going on?”

“Ava, will you listen, I mean really listen to us,” said Liz. “It’s going to be hard, but please promise you’ll try.”

“What?” asked Ava, bitterly. She glared at Liz, her expression clearly saying that she’d listen, but there wasn’t anything either one of them could say that would convince her that they were right.

“You know that before we came back, we tried using the Granolith to amplify Kyle’s empathic powers, and pass them on to us, right?” began Liz. “Well, it really worked in me, but not so much in Max, Michael and Isabel. But the thing is, I can feel them, and I’m betting Kyle can too.” She turned and looked at her friend who nodded in agreement.

“They’re okay. Maria is okay, Max is okay, and so are Isabel and Alex, and I think on some level, Michael is feeling it too, but he’s afraid to open himself up to those feelings which is why he’s acting the way he is,” explained Liz. “Remember when it first happened to Kyle, how he fell apart? Well, Michael’s feeling Maria and the others, but he doesn’t know how to deal with it, so he’s acting, well, he’s acting like Michael.”

“You’re sure they’re okay?” Ava demanded. “And what about Zan?”

“Zan’s fine,” said Kyle, joining the conversation. “He wasn’t even there when it happened. He and Shandar were outside, above ground when it happened.” He placed his arms around Ava and hugged her tightly. “I promise you, they’re all okay.”

“What about our parents?” Ava whispered. “Can you feel them too?”

“No,” Kyle admitted. “I can’t, but that doesn’t mean anything. All of us, we share a bond, and it’s pretty damn strong. We don’t really have as strong a bond with the parents, so they could be perfectly fine right now, and we just don’t know it.”

“Well what was all that crap Liz was spouting about being the last members of the Royal Family?” Ava asked, still angry.

“Ava, will you think with your head, and not your heart for a minute,” said a clearly exasperated Liz. “We know they’re alive, but we don’t know what or who caused the blast. Whoever or whatever did this may be there right now, waiting to cut us all down. We can’t go rushing in there playing savior. Max and the others can handle themselves, but if they can’t.” She paused, and drew in a deep breath, trying to steady herself. “Then we’re the only hope Antar has left. Please, can’t you understand that?”

“Liz is right,” said Michael, struggling to get up. “And if you ever hit me again, Valenti, I’m going to have to kill you. I don’t care if you are my brother-in-law.”

“Yeah,” Kyle said, struggling to suppress a grin. “I seem to recall you saying that the last time I hit you.”

“Well then, I guess this is the time I get to kill you,” Michael shot back.

“You could do that, but then my essence would become part of the collective consciousness. Could you really live with me invading your thoughts for the rest of your life?”

“Stop it!” Ava cried. “Just stop it. Now isn’t the time for joking. What happened to you Michael? Before Kyle sucker punched you,”

“Hey, that wasn’t a sucker punch,” Kyle interjected.

“You were all for going back and help everybody,” Ava continued as if Kyle hadn’t said anything. “Now you’re agreeing with them and making jokes.”

“That’s because when I was knocked out, I heard Maria,” Michael said. “Okay, not heard her, heard her,” he amended when he saw the other three staring at him incredulously. “But I could feel her, sort of. She was kind of worried, and a lot scared, but I also felt an overwhelming sense of relief from her as well,” Michael said. “I think that means that people are okay, and by people, I mean our parents, so rest easy, Ava. They’re safe. Now we can go about the business of figuring out what the hell happened.”

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Five – Amongst the Ruins

“This is so not good, girlfriend,” Maria said, brushing the dust and debris from her clothing.

“Maria, could you not call me that right now?” said Max. “We kind of have a problem here. We’re trapped, and nobody knows where we are.”

“Don’t be to certain about that, Max,” Maria replied, a small smile playing on her face.

She looked around and got her bearings and moved towards an expanse of wall that was still standing. Confidently, she waved her hand across a portion of the wall, and waited for a door to open. The smile slipped slightly from her face, and she waved her hand across the wall again.

“Max!” she wailed, when nothing happened. “We’re trapped. We’re stuck inside this tiny little cavern. I can feel the walls closing in on my. I think I’m hyperventilating.”

Max reached into the small pouch Maria wore on her waist and pulled out a vial of cedar oil.

“Here, breath this,” he said, rolling his eyes slightly. Now was not the time for Maria to revert back to form.

Revert back to form, he thought to himself and smiled. Max looked around the cavern and found another fairly large expanse of wall, directly opposite the one Maria was leaning against. He walked across the cavern, stepping carefully over the fallen stalactites and other rubble. He passed his hand across the wall, and a small silver handprint was revealed. Max pressed his hand against the outline of the handprint, and an opening appeared in the cavern wall.

“Was this what you were looking for?” he questioned Maria.

“Shut up, Max,” she grumbled with mock ferocity. “Nobody likes a know-it-all show-off. How’d you figure it out, anyhow?”

“Do you remember that time we let you map the route out to that concert in Albuquerque? Max asked. “You proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can’t read a map to save your life.”

“Nice, Max, really nice, bringing that up at a time like this,” Maria said. She shot Max a look of mock outrage and joined him in front of the opening.

They stood there for several seconds, both of them staring into the dark passage before Max finally spoke.

“Well, aren’t you going to go down there?” he asked Maria.

“Are you sure you trust me to go first,” said Maria. “I might get lost or take a wrong turn or something.”

Max gave a long-suffering sigh before he answered, “Maria, shut up or I’ll demote you to private or something.”

“You know, I can’t think of why Liz puts up with you,” Maria muttered, pushing past him.

“Sure you can,” said Max, flashing his famous Tom Cruise grin. “I’m so damn loveable.”

“You’re such a damn jerk,” said Maria, grinning in spite of herself. “Come on, let’s see if we can reach the others.”

** * ** *

“Isabel! Isabel, where are you?” a voice called through the darkness.

Isabel moaned, she didn’t want to wake up, she was having the most wonderful dream, and she didn’t want it to end. She snuggled down deeper in to her pillow and tried to recapture her dream.

What’s wrong with my pillow? she thought to herself.

Slowly, as the layers of consciousness lightened, Isabel realized that she wasn’t lying in her bed, but on the hard ground, and the voice she heard calling wasn’t her father trying to wake her up for school, it was Alex. After several seconds, the memories came rushing back, and she realized that she was on Antar, and something terrible had happened.

“Alex,” she choked, coughing through the thick dust that filled the space she now inhabited. Alex, I’m here.”

She held up her hand and gave a small burst of energy and a ghostly glow filled the area where she had fallen.

“Alex, where are you?” she asked, looking around, trying to locate the source of his voice.

“Out here,” came his muffled reply. “I want you to stand back, I’m going to try and get these rocks out of the way.”

“Be careful!” Isabel called, a niggling sense of fear touching her. “Alex, are you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” he replied. “Just stand back.”

Isabel did as Alex asked and stepped back against the far wall. In a matter of minutes the boulders blocking her access were gone, and she started to run toward Alex.

“Isabel, don’t move,” Alex whispered.

She stopped where she was and stared to where Alex was pointing and stared in horror. A large pile of explosives lay on the path, separating her from Alex.

“How can I get past that?” she whispered.

“I’m not sure,” Alex responded. I put a shield over it before I destroyed the boulders that were blocking you, but I’m afraid to put a shield over it to have you climb over.”

“You did what?” Isabel exclaimed, furiously. “Don’t you realize how dangerous it was to do that? What if the shield hadn’t held. Those things could have gone off, and you could have died.”

“And if I didn’t get you out, you could have died,” Alex responded, simply. “I had no choice.”

“Alex,” Isabel said, her voice trembling. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he responded. “Now, any suggestions, do you guys have an Antarian bomb squad or anything?”

“I don’t think we have time to track them down,” said Isabel, her voice shaking. “Look.”

Alex looked down at the explosives and felt a shaft of fear shoot down his spine. The explosives had started to glow, a red light emanating from them.

“Okay, Isabel, I don’t want you to panic,” Alex said, his own face a mask of pure fear.

“Right,” said Isabel, “Because you’re going to do it enough for both of us?”

“Yeah, something like that,” said Alex, flashing her a boyish grin. Whatever happened, whatever the end result, as long as he and Isabel were together, everything would be okay.

“Isabel, what I want you to do is back away, slowly, I don’t know if this thing is motion sensitive. Try and get behind that big pile of rocks, and when I say now, I want you to try and put as strong a shield as you possibly can around the explosives,” Alex said. Now that he had a plan in mind, he could speak calmly.

“What about you?” Isabel asked, her chin trembling slightly with fear.

“I’m going to be doing the exact same thing,” said Alex. “Hopefully, the combined strength of our two shields will contain most of the blast that I’m pretty positive is coming. And if it doesn’t, ‘we always had Antar,’” he quipped, purposely misquoting the famous movie line.

“You’re lucky that I love you so much,” said Isabel, grinning despite her fear. “You deserve to get blown sky high for that performance alone.

“Start backing up, slowly,” Alex said. “That’s right, slowly, slowly. Good, Isabel, you’re almost there.” Alex paused and looked around trying to judge the distance between himself and the large boulders he hoped to hide behind. “Okay, get behind the rocks, Is,” he said. “And NOW!”

Both of them put a protective force field around the glowing mass just as they began explode. Alex struggled to maintain his focus, concentrating all his energy in to maintaining the shield. Much as he wanted to, he didn’t even spare Isabel a glance, knowing that as long as the shield remained intact, she was safe.

A sudden flash of movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and Alex struggled to keep his focus on the explosives.

“Max, no, don’t!” he heard Isabel shout, and his attention wavered, and an explosion filled the small room.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Six – Recovery

The door in the wall swung open, and Maria prepared to step through, when Max reached out and pushed her down. He stepped out in front of her, knowing somehow that something wasn’t right. It was almost like slow motion, on television. He watched as Maria fell to the ground, and he heard Isabel scream out his name in warning. At the same time, he saw both Alex and Isabel’s concentration falter, and the protective shield they had put up weaken slightly.

Without thinking, Max stepped past Maria and added his shield to that of Alex and Isabel’s just as an explosion filled the room. The combined strength of the three shields kept the explosion from rocketing upward, but the ground beneath the package shuddered violently, and a large crater formed. He watched in horror as both Isabel and Alex were thrown off their feet, landing near the edge of the widening hole.

Alex recovered first and jumped away from the edge. He surveyed the wreckage around him and summoning his last reserves of strength, found a way over the gaping hole to Isabel’s side. He dragged her to safety.

“Is Maria all right?” Alex asked Max, even as Maria was pulling herself to her feet. She slapped Max on the arm and started yelling, and Alex grinned and looked at Isabel.

“I’m taking that as yes,” he said. “How about you, are you okay?”

“Yeah, except for I almost killed us all, yelling like an idiot when I saw Max,” Isabel said.

“Isabel, you saw your brother walking into a dangerous situation, you warned him. What were you supposed to do?” Alex asked, reasonably. “Let him get blown up?”

“I could have found a better way to handle it,” Isabel said.

“You know what, Isabel?” asked Alex. “I really don’t have time for this. There’s a gaping whole separating us from Max and Maria. We don’t know if Liz, Michael, Ava and Kyle are okay. Zan and Shandar are God knows where, and your parents, aunt, uncle and nephew are buried somewhere in the rubble that used to be our only safe place to hide. So excuse me if I focus on those problems instead of the fact that you’re sitting here feeling sorry for yourself!” Alex exploded. “Now unless you have a way of getting us over there to where they are,” he pointed to Maria and Max who were both staring at Alex in shock, “Then I suggest you shut up!”

“No just a second, Alex Whitman!” Isabel began.

“Isabel, don’t,” interrupted Maria. “And Alex, just shut the hell up. We need to find a way to get on the same side of cavern, and I am so not up for a game of leapfrog. Any suggestions?”

“You have any more of those secret passages of yours?” asked Max, half joking, half hopeful.

“No,” Maria said, looking excited. “But maybe, just maybe we have something better.” She ducked back into the passageway that she and Max had traversed and came out with an Earth type backpack stuffed so full, it’s sides were bulging.

“What is that?” asked Max. He was positive it was one of their emergency packs they had assembled when they fought Kivar on Antar, but the way their luck was running, he couldn’t be sure.

“It’s exactly what you think it is,” said Maria, rummaging through the pack. “When the shit hit the fan, we snuck into the Training Academy and removed as much of our stuff as we could. We only left enough there for you, Michael, Liz and Kyle.”

“Maria, I could kiss you,” said Max.

“Ewww, sorry, I don’t kiss my girlfriends,” Maria said with a smile. “Let’s see, clothing, a first aid kit, a couple of extremely squished HoHo’s courtesy of Kyle and yeah, here we go, rope.” She held up the coil of nylon rope the way a triumphant runner holds up a trophy at the end of a race.

“Are we allowed to talk now?” Alex asked. “Because if we are, you may want to know that the passageway behind us is blocked.”

“Damn, so is the one we came through,” said Max. “Maria, any ideas?” He turned to look at Maria, but she was no longer at his side. Instead, the petite blonde was looking down into the gaping hole blow into the ground by the explosives.

“What do you think, Isabel, down or up?” she asked. She knew her friend’s confidence was badly shaken by what happened, and she hoped that by prodding her to make a decision, it would give her ego a much-needed boost.

“Well, down would be easier, given the fact that we have a hole, but I think up would be better. The only question is how do we manage it? We can’t just randomly blast our way through. There might be people above us,” Isabel said.

“There’s a little bit of a hole up there already,” Alex pointed out. “From the first blast, whatever that was. Maybe we can widen the opening just a little bit and try and see what’s above us.”

“That’s great,” said Max. “But you’re over there, and we’re over here.”

“Piece of cake, girlfriend,” said Maria. Using her powers, she carved a ring into the rocks and passed one end of the rope through the ring and fastened it securely. She tied the other end around a rock and tossed it across the gaping hole to Alex and Isabel.

Isabel caught the rock and quickly untied the rope and fastened it to the holder she had carved into the rocks. When the knots were secure, Maria walked to the edge of the hole, grabbed the rope and began t make her way, hand over hand, to the other side. Once she was across, Max did the same, and they set to work, carefully widening the opening above them.

** * ** * ** *

“We need to head down into the city,” Zan said to Shandar, once he was certain her injuries weren’t severe.

“Into the city, Zan? We have to get back down below. Our son is down there,” cried Shandar. She began to climb over the debris, trying to locate the hidden entrance that provided them with access to Sanctuary.

“Shandar, stop, we can’t!” Zan yelled. “We can’t go back in there. Not like this. We have no supplies, nothing. We have no idea of what happened. We need to go find Liz and the others and try and figure this out. We could be walking into a trap.”

“And we could be saving our son,” Shandar whispered. “Zan, we have to go back in there.”

“I agree with you, we do, but not like this. Think for a minute. Think with your head, not your heart, no matter how hard it is. Valrik was with my parents, and Michael and Ava’s parents. Do you think any of them would let anything happen to him?”

“Perhaps not, but we can’t know that something didn’t happen to them,” Shandar argued.

“You’re right, we can’t, Zan admitted. “But how do you feel, Shandar, can you feel him? Can you feel Valrik? You’ve bonded with him so much more than I have. I think I can feel him, can you?”

Shandar tried. She opened her heart to Valrik, searching her soul to see if she could feel her child. Her heart swelled with joy when she felt a soothing, relaxing feeling rush through her body. She knew with all certainty that Valrik was alive, not only alive, but safe.

“You’re right, Zan. He is all right. Our baby is all right. He is safe, and surrounded by love. I’ll go wherever you want, now. I’ll go anywhere with you.”

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Seven – Hook Up

Zan thought long and hard about where they could go to possibly hook up with Liz, Michael and the others. He could think of two places they were certain to go. The first was their secret room in the Training Academy. The second was the small café where they used to meet Che’koth, when they thought he was just a resistance fighter. The trouble was, he wasn’t sure which one to check out first, and he was afraid they would miss them in passing. He explained his dilemma to Shandar, and she came up with a solution so obvious, he felt stupid for missing it.

“Why not go to your secret room first, and if they’re not there, just leave them a message. You can leave it in English so nobody else will be able to read it,” she suggested.

“I am three different kinds of stupid,” Zan said. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

“Because I’m smarter than you,” Shandar said, impishly.

“Is that any way to talk to your King?” Zan demanded with mock ferocity as they began their long walk back to the city.

“It is if the king is as think headed as you,” said Shandar.

“Nice,” said Zan. “Well, if we’re done maligning my character, do you think we could discuss your stay with the Gadori’s while we walk? I was serious when I said I wanted to find out as much about them as I possibly could.”

“What do you want to know?” Shandar asked. She was willing to share whatever information she had, but it would be helpful if Zan could give her an idea of what he was looking for.

“Well, every day was pretty much the same as the others,” said Shandar.

“That boring, huh?” asked Zan.

“Yeah, but that’s not what I mean,” said Shandar. I mean everything was exactly the same. We ate the same food every day, they followed the same routine, the temperature in the lab where I was kept stayed the same, and any deviation from the routine really set the Gadori off. It was like yeah, they could shape shift, but when they were in their natural form, the craved the consistency or something.”

“Really?” asked Zan, at a loss for what to say.

“It was horrible,” said Shandar. “I felt like I was going to die from the sameness of it all. One day, I screamed. I just stood in the middle of a room and screamed and screamed. It felt so good.”

“What happened then?” Zan asked curiously.

“I didn’t see the guard who was with me for over a sortar,” she said, using the Antarian word for month. “I think he had a nervous breakdown or something. And they watched me very closely after that,” she rubbed her wrist subconsciously, remembering the electronic device they had fastened there that shot bolts of energy into her body.

“What do you mean, ‘watched you very closely?’” Zan demanded. “They didn’t hurt you, did they?”

“Well,” hedged Shandar, still rubbing her wrists.

Like a snake, Zan reached out and grabbed Shandar’s hand and pushed back the sleeve of her garment. Burns and scars encircled her wrists, telling Zan their tale of horror.

“They did this to you?” he asked in horror. “Here on Antar, on this beautiful peaceful world, you were tortured?”

“I – I’m sorry, Zan. I didn’t want you or anybody to find out,” said Shandar. “It’s over now, it doesn’t matter.”

“Why did they do it, Shandar? Certainly not because you screamed one night?”

“That’s exactly why,” Shandar said. “Apparently the screaming uncontrollably really did something to their nervous systems. When I said my guard had some kind of a nervous breakdown, I wasn’t really kidding.”

“Did they do this to my son?” Zan demanded, his voice cold. “Did they hurt my baby? Surely a baby’s constant crying must have been stress to them,” he said contemptuously.

“That’s part of the reason that I ran,” said Shandar. “I did everything I could to keep him quite. The second he so much as whimpered, I picked him up and fed or changed him. But he’s a child. He needs to cry and make noise. And, I – I couldn’t let them hurt him.” The unspoken, like they hurt me, hung in the air between them.

Zan reached out and took her hand again, this time more gently. He turned it so the palm faced upward and brought it up to his mouth and kissed it gently.

“They’ll never hurt you again,” he said, his eyes a cold hard brown. “We’re going to destroy them. They will never hurt anyone I care about again.”

His words sent a shiver of pleasure through Shandar. Nobody had ever cared for or about her before. Not her family who focused only on Kivar; and not her friends who had used her to get close to her brother. This was a new experience for her, and even though they were in terrible danger, she took a moment to enjoy the new feeling.

“We’re almost there,” said Zan, pulling her from her thoughts. “We should probably change the way we look. He passed his hand over his hair and changed its color to a faded brown/gray, and changed his eyes to a steel blue.

Shandar watched in amazement as the few simple changes he made completely altered his look.

“If we do that,” she said. “How will we recognize the others?”

“Don’t worry,” said Zan with a grin. “We always seem to find each other. Now what about you? What are we going to do with you?”

With a touch of her hand, Shandar’s hair went from it’s long and glorious red to a short brown tousled mop. She smiled impishly at Zan, “How’s that?” she asked.

“Perfect,” said Zan. “Listen, Shandar, before we go any further, I just want to say you’re being really great about all of this. I know it was hard for you to even trust us with everything, but you did, and now you’re a part of us. One thing I learned from Max and the others, we’re stronger together than apart. That’s why it’s so important for us to find the others as quick as possible.”

“I understand Zan, I really do,” Shandar responded. “It’s just so hard to walk in the opposite direction of where Valrik is. I know that he’s safe, but he’s not with me.”

“I know,” Zan agreed. “Whether you believe it or not, it’s hard for me too, Shandar. Everything in me is saying go back there, but I know he’s safe. Barring anything else, Max will protect him with his life.”

“You’re so certain Max is alive then?” Shandar asked. “How?”

“I’m him, he’s me,” Zan said. “We’re more than twins, Max and I, and I would know if he were dead. But I know that he’s not, and I know that he’ll do anything and everything to protect our son. He still feels the loss of his own child deeply. He wouldn’t want us to go through what he and Liz did.”

“They lost a child?” Shandar asked. “What happened?”

As they made their way to the Training Academy, Zan told her about Tess, and her betrayal, and how in a final showdown between her and Liz, Liz was hit with an energy bolt, but her unborn child managed to absorb the energy of the bolt, protecting Liz, but dying in the process.

“And you, where were you when this happened?” Shandar asked, tears glistening on the tips of her thick eyelashes.

“I wasn’t with them at that time, I was in another part of our world, but I could feel Max’s pain. I didn’t realize what it was at that time, but I was incredibly sad for a very long time after that.”

“I’m sorry, Zan. I just assumed you really didn’t know what I was feeling, but if you and Max are as connected as you say then you do know what it’s like to care about a child,” said Shandar. “I’ll do what –“

“We’re here,” Zan interrupted. He led Shandar though a hidden opening and down a network of tunnels emerging in the secret room where he spent so much time the previous year.

“Have they been here?” Shandar asked, looking around the cramped room.

“It doesn’t look like it,” Zan said, his voice filled with regret.

“Zan, don’t,” Shandar said. “We have a plan. You’ll leave a message and we’ll go to the other place you mentioned.”

“You’re right,” said Zan. He looked around and found some paper and a pencil among their old belongings and started to scribble a message for Liz and the others. When he finished, he used his powers to drive the pencil through the paper, pinning it to one of the walls. Turning to leave, Zan reached out and took Shandar’s hand. They started down the passage, and then stopped when they became aware of voices coming towards them.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Chapter Forty-Eight – Disturbing Behaviour

Zan reacted without even thinking. He grabbed Shandar’s hand and pulled her over to a corner. He reached into a small storage bin and pulled a belt out and strapped it around her waist.

“If anything happens,” he whispered in Antarian. “Activate this button. It will take you back to Earth. Find Jim Valenti. He’ll help you.”

“I won’t leave without my son,” Shandar whispered.

“You will if you want your son to have one live parent,” said Zan. “Now, stay here, and if anything happens, I want you to do what I said.” He grabbed her and kissed her before pushing her back behind the storage locker.

He crept forward cautiously, trying to identify the voices. He held up a hand to Shandar, reminding her to stay hidden. He crouched down behind one of the dilapidated chairs they had brought in, and waited.

The wait wasn’t long however, and within seconds, the shadows of the approaching figures flitted across the walls of the tunnel. Zan counted four shadows, and his heart sank. He was outnumbered. He wasn’t even certain Shandar would have an opportunity to escape.

It wasn’t long before the first figure appeared, and Zan stood and prepared to fire an energy bolt. He may die, but he didn’t plan on going down without one hell of a fight.

“Zan, wait!” a voice shouted as a shield went up, deflecting the energy bolt. “It’s me!”

Zan refused to lower his guard and waited for the figure to identify himself.

“Zan, it’s Ava,” the voice called out. He looked around through the smoke, but he was unable to see clearly.

“Damn it, Zan, will you please try and not kill me,” the voice called again. “ I swear if you do, Kyle is going to be all kinds of cranky with you.”

“Woohoo!” Zan shouted. “Shandar, come out, it’s them!” He raced forward and grabbed Ava and spun her around. Placing her gently on the ground, he reached out and grabbed Liz and spun her as well.

When he was done, and both girls recovered their equilibrium, Liz looked at Ava.

“Did he just say, ‘woohoo’?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’m embarrassed to admit that he did,” said Ava.

“Hmm, how unkinglike was that? Imagine, someone of royal linage letting his emotions show in that way,” Liz replied, affecting a snobbish tone.

“Yeah, well both of you can bite me,” said Zan. “We’ve been under a little pressure here, ya know.”

“Oh, and look at this,” said Kyle, noticing the belt that Shandar wore. “Did he get all caveman protective on you and tell you if he didn’t make it to save yourself?”

“I don’t know what you mean by caveman,” said Shandar. “But Zan was incredibly noble. He wanted to send me to safety to ensure that our child would have at least one parent.”

As she spoke, her skin flushed a delicate shade of red, and Liz and Ava were quick to note the change. Ava reached out and quickly silenced Kyle, while Liz stepped on Michael’s foot as a not too subtle warning to keep his mouth shut.

“Owww!” Michael sputtered. “That hurt.”

“What hurt?” asked a totally clueless Zan.

“Never mind, I – uh, I stubbed my toe,” Michael said, lamely.

“Okay,” Zan said slowly, shooting Michael a strange look. “Whatever. Look, do any of you have any idea what’s going on. Do you know what happened?”

“Do we know exactly, no,” said Kyle. “What we do know is that Max, Maria, Alex and Isabel are okay. Right now, that’s about all we do know. We were going to try and find some information but we wanted to secure a place to work from first. We knew we couldn’t stay here, but Liz remembered there are still some of those pills she created that make Antarian food palatable for us mere Earthlings, and we wanted to get them. Our inability to eat the slop you guys call food would be a dead giveaway as to our identities.”

“Last time Kyle and I were in town, we hooked up with an old resistance leader named Wandred,” added Michael. “We were going to try and track him down and see what we could find out.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Zan. “Grab what you need, and let’s get out of here. This place just isn’t the same any more.” He looked around the room sadly. It was here that he first felt like he had something to contribute to the tightly formed group. They were great and did everything they could to make him feel like he belonged, but it took a long time for him to allow himself to belong. He was determined that Shandar’s entry into the group would be easier. Not that the others were doing anything to exclude her, but he wanted Shandar to feel as comfortable with them as he did.

“Well, are you coming?” Michael asked, looking back at Zan.

Zan shook himself from his reverie, and realized that the others were halfway down the tunnel.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” Zan said. He broke into a half jog and caught up with the others.

Once out of the tunnels, they made their way back into the crowded city, not talking, just listening for any bit of information about what happened out in the valley. The wandered around for a while, then made their way to the old café. Shandar placed their orders in her faultless Antarian, and Kyle and Liz surreptitiously the food modification pills into their mouths.

A server brought their food, and Zan, Ava, Michael and Shandar dug in, enjoying ever morsel, while Kyle and Liz picked at their food, trying to make it look like they enjoyed it. Michael had just poured himself a glass of something that could only be described as jalapeno flavored Kool-Aid when he noticed Wandred standing in the doorway of the café. He was about to give Wandred a sign of recognition when he realized Kyle was subtly shaking his head. Michael was confused, but he’d learned to trust Kyle’s judgment over the past year.

They continued eating quietly, keeping conversation to a minimum when Wandred sat down at a table nearby. He was joined by a group of men, all wearing the insignia of the former freedom fighters. Michael shot Kyle a curious glance, unsure of why his friend didn’t want him to say anything. Kyle simply held a finger up to his lip and shook his head. It wasn’t until Wandred began to talk that Michael realized what Kyle already knew. Wandred was a traitor, and it was he who planted the explosives in their hidden Sanctuary. The very people that they had counted on to help them had tried to kill them.

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen

Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone for waiting patiently. I’m not ignoring this story. It’s just that my UC muse has been shouting louder than my CC muse lately.

Chapter Forty-Nine – Power Boost

“Zan, you and Shandar, get out of here. We can’t risk anything happening to you,” Michael added. “Besides, if we travel in a group, we’re more likely to draw attention to ourselves.

“We’ll meet you on the outskirts of the city,” Zan whispered. “By the abandoned storage buildings.”

He picked up his glass, and downed the contents, and slammed it back on the table. Laughing, he reached out and grabbed Shandar by the arm and pulled her along with him to the door of the café, causing a slight disturbance as they went.

“Pretend like nothing’s happening,” Kyle whispered.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” demanded Michael

“How the hell should I know? Eat casual, I guess,” Kyle said, paraphrasing the line from Star Wars.

“Eat casual?” Michael asked incredulously. “Are you freaking insane?”

“Will you two please shut up,” Ava hissed. “Number one, you’re calling attention to us, and number two, you’re making it freaking impossible for me to eavesdrop on them.”

“What’s to eavesdrop on?” Michael asked. “They’re bad guys.”

“They are,” Ava said, slowly as if explaining something to a child. “But that doesn’t mean the real Wandred isn’t still around. I’m fairly certain Kyle would have known if the man you spoke to before was a Gadori or not.”

“Don’t you think they probably killed him?” Michael asked, slightly amused at the idea of his sister playing the strategist.

“No, I don’t,” Ava answered after several minutes of listening. “In fact, I think the real Wandred is out there somewhere. Those guys are here on a fishing trip. They know we’re around somewhere, and they’re just hoping to flush us out by changing into Wandred and acting as if they betrayed us.”

Without warning, Liz reached across the table and slapped Michael across the face.

“Hey, what was that for,” he whispered.

“If you don’t want to spend the next feast day with my family, that’s fine!” she shouted. “There are plenty of men who will!”

She jumped up and looked around, to make certain the Gadori were watching her. “I hate you, and I never want to see you again. My mother was right about you.” Liz looked at Michael and winked at him imperceptibly. “Follow me,” she mouthed to him. “I hope I never see you again.”

Liz threw her napkin down on the table and ran from the café, tears streaming down her face. Michael gave her a disgusted look but stood up and tossed his napkin down on the table.

“Women,” he said to the patrons of the café in general.

“Better go after her,” the faux Wandred advised with a leer. “Before one of us does. She is a fine looking woman.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Michael said dryly on his way out of the café.

Kyle struggled to contain his mirth looked at Ava. “And what do you want to do for the next feast day, my love. Whatever you want to do is fine with me,” he said.

“Oh ho, listen to this one,” the fake Wandred shouted. “He’s no fool.”

“That’s right,” Kyle said, agreeably. “Learn from your brother’s mistakes, that’s what I always say.”

“Oh mashka, Ava said, using an Antarian endearment. “I don’t care what we do, as long as I’m with you.” She smiled up at him, trying to make herself look like a total airhead. “But do you think we should go after your brother and make sure he’s okay?”

“If that’s what you want to do, mashka,” Kyle said, dropping a kiss on Ava’s lips. “But I can think of a few other things I’d rather go and do.” He shot a lewd glance in Ava’s direction and the fake Wandred and his companions roared with laughter. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” he said.

Kyle grabbed Ava’s hand and practically dragged her through the small café. Outside, they looked around but didn’t see Liz or Michael anywhere.

“I figured they’d wait for us. You don’t think they were captured, do you?” Ava asked her voice filled with worry.

“No,” Kyle said uncertainly at first and then with more conviction. “No they didn’t. Come on, they’re at the storage buildings. Zan and Shandar are there too.”

“Are you sure?” Ava asked doubtfully. “What if something happened to them?”

“I can feel Liz as clearly as if I were touching her with my hand,” Kyle said. “Ava, it’s incredible, this power is growing stronger. I think Liz’s is too, and that’s why I can feel her so strongly. It’s almost like we can communicate or something.”

“Great,” Ava said softly. She was aware that she was feeling jealous, and on a certain level, she knew it was totally unnecessary. But even after all this time, she was still uncertain about her place in this tightly woven group. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to push those feelings down. There wasn’t any place for them here. Not now, at any rate. “Well, come on, let’s get going then,” she said to Kyle.

“You do know I love you, Ava, right?” Kyle asked suddenly.

“Of course I,” Ava stopped. “Don’t ever do that again. My feelings, my emotions are private, unless I choose to share them, and I do not choose to share them with you. Do you understand me, Kyle Valenti?”

“Ava, look, I understand you,” said Kyle, his face a mixture of pain and panic. “But stop shouting out my name, and stop being so angry at me. I can’t handle it.”

She shot Kyle an angry look and stomped off, going in the opposite direction from the storage area.

“You’re going the wrong way,” Kyle called after her.

Ava stopped momentarily and glared back at him.

“I know that,” she shouted. “I’m going that way on purpose!”

Kyle watched helplessly for a second, looked back in the direction they were supposed to be going then jogged off after Ava.

** * ** *

“Where the hell are they?” Michael asked. “They were supposed to be right behind us. At least that was the plan, wasn’t it? The plan nobody but you seems to know about.”

“Kyle knows about it too,” Liz said defensively. “And he and Ava are fine. They’re just having a fight.”

“How the hell are you knowing all of this?” demanded Michael. “Being a crystal ball wasn’t enough, now you have to develop a thing with Valenti. Maxwell is gonna love that.”

“It’s not a thing,” Liz said, her face flushed. “I’m just, I don’t know, in tune with his emotions or something.”

“Well, where the hell are they then?” demanded Michael. “Can’t they fight and walk at the same time?”

“They can, and they are,” said Liz. They’re just not coming this way.”

“This is just freaking great,” Michael said. “Why did Kyle have to go and piss Ava off, anyhow?”

“How’d you know that, Michael?” Liz asked.

“I don’t know, I just did,” said Michael.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” asked Zan. “This means your developing a stronger empath power too. This is excellent, someone else who can ferret out the Gadori for us. I wonder if Max’s is getting stronger too?”

“Do you suppose it’s getting stronger because we’re on Antar?” asked Liz. “Or do you think it’s because we used the Granolith to amplify Kyle’s powers?”

“What did you say?” Shandar asked, suddenly.

“Nothing, really, I was just wondering if this new power was developing because we’re here, or because we used the Granolith to try and boost Kyle’s power and transfer it to us. Why?”

“Transfer it,” Shandar whispered, more to herself than anything else. “I wonder if it’s even possible. It may be possible, just maybe.”

[majiklmoon]

The Enemy Unknown The Enemy Unseen



Chapter Fifty

Isabel coughed when a cloud of dust filled her lungs, but she choked it back and continued climbing. She, like the others, was anxious to find any survivors from the explosion. She paused to catch her breath and Maria stopped beside her.

“You okay?” Maria asked, sounding slightly winded herself.

“I’m fine,” Isabel snapped. “I’m not a pampered princess, Maria.”

“I never said you were,” Maria said, sounding hurt. “I only meant you just had a cave fall on you, and maybe you were starting to feel it, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry,” Isabel said, sounding contrite, and feeling ashamed of her snarky attitude. “I guess I’m just more than a little stressed, and damn it, I just broke a nail.”

“Luckily you have that built in alien manicure going for you,” quipped Maria.

“Maria, how are you doing it?” Isabel asked. “How are you remaining so calm? I mean, under normal circumstances, you’d have gone through an entire vat of cedar oil by now.”

Maria thought for a minute trying to find the right words to tell Isabel what she was feeling. She scrambled over a particularly large boulder before answering.

“Mostly, I keep telling myself that we’re going to get through it, we always do. But when fear sets in, I just tell myself that on the off chance we don’t make it, at least I’m going to die with my seven best friends around me. It’s kind of reassuring, actually.”

Isabel looked at Maria with something akin to awe. She was amazed at the other girl’s attitude, as well as her acceptance of her possible demise.

“Hey, will you two stop gabbing,” said Max. “We think we found a way through.”

Isabel and Maria broke into a slow jog and quickly caught up to the aria where Max and Alex stood waiting for them.

“I think,” Max said, “That we should find the main chamber right through here.” He pointed at a large boulder that completely blocked their path.

“Uh, Max. I could diet forever and still not fit through there,” Maria said, pointing to the small gap between the boulder and the cavern wall.

“I thought maybe we could use our powers to take way the boulder piece by piece,” said Alex, “That way we can control how much is taken out and we don’t have to worry about what may be on the other side.”

“Sounds good, Alex,” said Maria. “Where do you think we should start?”

“Well, like I said, I’m not sure about what we’re going to find on the other side. I was thinking if maybe we started down here,” he pointed to the lower right quadrant of the boulder, near the gap. “Maybe we can tunnel our way thorough without disturbing the structure too much.”

The others were in agreement, and Alex knelt down and began to use his powers to widen the gap. It didn’t take long, and within a few minutes, he had a tunnel large enough for them to squeeze through.

Maria wriggled through the hole first, and called to the others and told them it was safe, but her voice sounded peculiar. Isabel made her way through next, followed by Max, and Alex brought up the rear.

The carnage that greeted them was horrific. Maria moved from body to body, inventorying the dead and cataloguing the injuries of the survivors for Max to heal. Her jaw was set tightly as she worked, and it was easy to see how distraught she was. She paused from her task long enough to wave off Alex and Isabel’s offer to help.

“Why don’t you two see if you can get into the living quarters,” she suggested.

“No, we can stay and help,” Isabel said.

“Isabel, Maria’s right. We need to start looking for other survivors. Max and Maria can handle it out here.”

Isabel agreed reluctantly, and she began to follow Alex, picking her way carefully around the rubble in the large cavern. When they reached the path that led to the living quarters, they were unsurprised to find large pile of rubble, but also disappointed. Maybe if the pile had shown some signs of being disturbed, it might have indicated survivors on the other side.

Alex examined the ruble, looking for the safest place to begin removing the stones. Making a decision, he began disintegrating stone after stone. It was almost as taxing on him as moving them physically, but he kept on working. After a short time, he had an opening large enough to look through. Alex quickly climbed up and peered through the opening. What he saw made his heart pound and he scrambled down the rocks rapidly.

“Go get Max!” he yelled. “Now!”

Something in his voice warned Isabel not to question, and she took off at a run down the rock-strewn path. Watching the ground to avoid the stones, she barely avoided crashing into Max who had come running from the main chamber.

“A-Alex wanted me to get you,” Isabel gasped.”

“I know,” Max replied. “Maria is right behind me. Come on, we don’t have much time to waste.”

“Wait, what’s wrong, and how did you know?” Isabel asked.

“I felt it,” Max replied cryptically before running down the path toward Alex.

Isabel started to follow after Max, but paused when she heard Maria calling her name. One the petite blond was in sight, Isabel started back down the path, but Maria shouted for her to stop.

“What the hell is going on?” she demanded.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Isabel answered. “All I know is Alex sent me to come get Max, and judging from his voice, it was urgent.”

“It was the strangest thing,” said Maria. Max was healing somebody when he suddenly stood up and said we needed to get down here.”

“He left injured people?” Isabel started to ask in an aghast tone.

“No, he found a couple of people with healing abilities, and they took over.”

“Well we’re not going to find anything out standing here,” said Isabel. “Let’s get down there.”

The two women proceeded down the path back toward the entrance of the living quarters. What they saw caused them to stop in their tracks. Alex had managed to remove more of the rock, revealing the royal family’s less than royal living quarters, and in them, chaos prevailed. Cal lay on the ground, shielding Valrik with his body, while the other adults used their powers to keep a large boulder from crushing them to death.