Part 41 continued...
Why?
Max stared at the four people standing in front of him. He couldn’t fathom how anybody could be so abysmally bad. After inhaling deeply Max demanded some answers. He first addressed Khivar’s General “Ronar…” “General Ronar” the older man instructed. After staring him down, Max repeated, “Ronar, I know you used to be a county commissioner on Antar. You worked with Zan and Rath very closely and you spend much of your free time with them. Now I want you to tell me, how could you betray them?”
Defiantly, the General stared at Max, before thinking of a good reply to save his ass and answered reluctantly “Khivar blackmailed me. He threatened my family…” “That’s a lie, you came to me willingly. You just wanted the power and the luxury just like I did. You rose with me, now you can go down with me!” Khivar was beside himself that his trusted long-time confidant would sell him out like that.
“No, you forced me! I never wanted to betray Zan. You tricked me!” Ronar contradicted. “You coward, I know what you’re doing” Khivar yelled furiously and continued “I didn’t need to trick you, I promised you riches and power, and I kept my promises. Once you got a taste of the high life, you came up with many ideas to improve our positions, to become richer and more powerful. Now, be a man and shut up!”
By now Khivar was certain that he would receive the death sentence. On some level he was relieved; that way he wouldn’t have to see himself disintegrate, loosing all his beauty to old age. He also knew his own limitation that as easily as he could kill anybody he wanted to, as impossible it was for him to end his own life.
Determined, Khivar turned to face Zan. He had always given a good show for his people; he had shared his extraordinary beauty most generously. In fact with every official transmission he spoiled his peasants, inspired them to work even harder for his maintenance. Now his goal was to leave a lasting impression, if he couldn’t change the outcome of this meeting, he would go down with pomp and glory. Haughtily Khivar looked at Zan and waited for the things to come.
*~~*~~*
Tell me, why?
Glad that the quibbling in front of him had come to an end, Max took in Khivar’s haughty demeanour and calmly asked, “Why, tell me Khivar, why you started the revolution; why did you have to kill and steal from Antar’s people; why did you lie about Zan and the changes he wanted to bring to Antar; why did you incite the people of Antar against the crown; why did you kill us all? After all, you and Zan were cousins and the whole royal family had accepted you as one of their own, even though you were an illegitimate child of the king’s brother! Can you truly explain all that?”
This was it, Khivar was aware that now the time had come and he had some explaining to do. And so he did “It was your own fault, Zan. The changes you wanted to bring to Antar were no good. Quite to the contrary, they would’ve ruined everything. You can’t go around and give rights to peasants and mine workers, to the simple folks. They wouldn’t know what to do with them. Also, I never understood just why they should learn to write and read. That only puts ideas into their heads. They would forget their place.”
After seeing Max’ scowling face, Khivar defiantly added “After all it is our duty, as the nobles of Antar, to feed and clothe them; to tell them what to do. They aren’t fit to make their own decisions; it would be just too confusing for the ignorant working man.”
Trying his best to explain the way of his reasoning, Khivar said, “I guess in some ways I can understand your wish to teach them reading and writing, but if you think about it, I’m sure you’ll understand the troubles we would’ve had. Just imagine, once they can read, they want to know more about our political system and about their rights. Once they know more, they demand more. Soon they’d demand mansions, holidays, less work time; and if that happened, can you tell me just who would do the work? The peasants would demand equality with the nobles, and then, where would we be?”
After looking around and seeing all the shocked faces, Khivar realised that those dolts hadn’t understood a word he had said, and so, talking to them like they were kindergartners’, he explained “you see, as it was, I gave them food, clothes and housing. What else could they want? They are happy to work for their king, that’s all they need!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Oh yeah, imagine, imagine…
Michael was filled with quiet admiration for his best friend. Only Max was able to stay calm and collected in front of their archenemy. Oh, sure, his friend was scared, just like him, but Max was able to control his emotions a lot better than he ever could. In fact he felt like blasting the self-satisfied bastards in front to kingdom come and be done with all of this pussyfooting around each other. Asking questions, demanding answers, when everybody knew that those traitors didn’t know how to speak the truth if it bit them in their sorry asses.
Maria bending forward to send some sort of signal to Liz, distracted him. When he saw her devious expression, her winking at Liz and Liz responding in kind, he was certain, that whatever those two were plotting couldn’t be good for Khivar and co. It almost made him feel sorry for them, but only almost, yeah, right. By now Michael was smirking just as evilly as Maria.
*~~*~~*
Isabelle wasn’t sure what to feel or to think. All she remembered was that that bastard in front of him had killed her and her family and that she’d do whatever was needed to punish him for it. That… that… creep was going down. She wasn’t yet sure how he was going down, but there was no doubt in her mind that Khivar’s reign of terror was coming to an end right now.
She wished that Alex had been able to witness this momentous event, after all he had paid the highest price of them all. She swore to herself, that she would make sure that Alex’s sacrifice would be atoned for.
*~~*~~*
Maria’s mind was working furiously, with her eyes almost shut, she squinted at Khivar and studied him carefully. What did Liz say? Oh, yeah, she remembered something about being ‘creative’ and ‘if it hurts their ego, well that would be acceptable too’ and of ‘being fair’. With an evil smile lighting up her face, she glared at Khivar, nodded her head and thought, I can be very creative, really, very, very creative! She bent forward, and looked towards Liz. When she was certain she had her attention, Maria slightly nodded toward the creep in front of them and winked at her friend. As long time friends they were able to read each others thoughts quite easily and so, after a moment’s contemplation, Liz gravely nodded her head in understanding.
*~~*~~*
Nancy and Amy were giving each other meaningful looks and secret nods and then both included Diane and Kathy. There seemed to a ‘female only’ coded understanding going on.
*~~*~~*
Jeff had seen the women’s byplay and replayed the earlier conversations where they had been most insistent on waiting and seeing. Not for the first time Jeff was glad he was so in tune with his ‘womanly’ side (big smirk at that thought!), because suddenly he did see it too, oh, yeah, he did, he saw quite a few possibilities.
*~~*~~*
Philip too saw the interaction between the ladies, he also saw Jeff’s smirking reaction to it, but he was at a loss. He couldn’t figure out what all that meant. Philosophically he thought ‘oh, well, I’ll hear about it soon enough’.
*~~*~~*
Johnny’s stood by his earlier idea, that bastard needed to get killed. He had never known anybody else who needed to be killed as badly as this ridiculous clown, so death sentence it was. Seeing the women’s byplay he didn’t wonder about it, in fact he had stopped wondering about women’s behaviour a long time ago. He was sure he wasn’t a male chauvinist, no, he really wasn’t, he just didn’t understand women’s fascinating way of thinking.
*~~*~~*
Brody was too caught up in the power play between Khivar and Ronan to even notice anything else. Nacedo was a strange fellow and that cute Tess, well it was really a shame that she turned out to be such a shameless plotter. But to be perfectly honest, Brody was just too damn happy to finally know that he wasn’t crazy, that he had a hard time to think of such serious matters as how to punish anybody. Of course, if Max should ask for his opinion, he would be only too happy to give it.
*~~*~~*
Riverdog, Eddy and Serena did what their ancestors had honed to perfection; they watched, observed, and kept their thoughts to themselves. Of course, if Max should ask for his opinion, he would be ready to give it. For Riverdog everything seemed to be almost mystical, other worldly (ha, there’s a thought!). But the old man just couldn’t give it a better name, so he stayed with ‘other worldly’.
*~~*~~*
Eddy was already infected with a more sober, modern attitude and he looked at everything with a critical eye. Of course he was aware that there were unexplainable things, mysterious things, yeah even magical things between heaven and earth. But if Eddy was honest, he wasn’t quite sure in which category he should put these goings on. This was something new and he needed to think carefully about it, because if Max should ask for his opinion, he wanted to be able to give it.
*~~*~~*
Serena looked at everything and was reminded of the ‘historical romances’ she used to read in her teenage years. All the ingredients were here Max and Liz, Jeff and Nancy and even Michael and Maria with their explosive interactions, represented romance, big time romance. The podsquad with friends were the good guys and Khivar and co the bad ones. As for the adventure, well, if this day wasn’t an adventure, she didn’t know what was. Coming out of her reverie, Serena decided to pay better attention to what was happening, because if Max should ask for her opinion, she would be only too happy to give it.
*~~*~~*
The Whitmans’ attention was divided between the action involving Max and Khivar and the baby in their arms. It was just too difficult to tear their eyes away from the little guy who had won their hearts in no time at all. But both of them were very determined to be ready when Max would ask for their opinion, they knew exactly what they were going to say.
*~~*~~*
Nicholas Crawford watched the scene unfold in front of him and was sorry for all the time he had wasted with the wrong crowd. It was strange, he wasn’t sorry that Khivar’s reign was coming to an end, that they all had to finally pay for the crimes committed. He was also fully aware of the fact that he had been a part of it for a long time, so he too had to accept responsibility and pay the piper.
While he observed Khivar and his minions, Nick let his mind wander to the past. He had been a very young teen from a very poor family. For some reason Khivar had decided to take him under his wing. He showered the boy with gifts and showed him the high-life. After a while Khivar asked for small favours, like spying on someone or stealing from somebody, just small things. And even knowing how wrong it was, young Nicky did what he was asked; paid no heed to the lectures his parents had taught him.
With time the small favours became bigger and bigger and he had grown addicted to the power he wielded, completely disregarding his conscience, until Alex came along and showed him another way; an honest way. Now he tried his best to live according to his new set of rules. When he was lost and didn’t know how to go on, he’d ask himself ‘what would Alex do?’ and things became clear again.
Observing Max’s mixed troop of family and friends, he had to chuckle. Their faces were very expressive and you could see what they all thought. Maria’s and Liz’s interaction boded ill for Khivar, and the moms’ miens were just as cunning. He had a very strong feeling that things might develop a lot differently than expected. Khivar, his people and even himself, would be very surprised before this day was over…
*~~*~~*
The other leaders stood on Max’s side, curiously following everything playing out in front of them. What really surprised them was Max’s patience and willingness to hear the enemy out before felling any judgement. Everybody knew that Khivar, Ronar, Nacedo and Tess were guilty, but Max tried to be fair and gave them a chance to defend themselves. General Th’ikla, Queen Hanar, King Sero and Queen Kathana were especially interested to see how Max, Antar’s next ruler, would handle such a difficult situation.
As they observed how Michael and Isabelle joined the young man, they knew that their decision to openly change sides was justified. And as the rest of his family and friends came forward, openly supporting Max, they began to feel hopeful, hopeful for a new and better future for the Whirlwind Galaxy and every one of them was prepared to help Max find his way to become what he had been, a great and just leader.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Max stood there, surrounded by family, friends and allies and knew that the moment of truth was finally here. The implications of it all sent him reeling, but he was determined to see this through. For added strength he grabbed Liz’s hand and held on tightly. Instantly their connection sprung to life and to their surprise Gramps joined them too.
With his sweetheart’s hand securely held in his, with his family’s and friend’s support and Gramps’ energy flowing through him, Max felt ready to tackle any thing thrown his way…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
The Granolith's Chosen Ones M/L/CC, Mat, Complete, 11.9.07
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The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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42. Brainstorming, 08/13/2000, Sunday 4.10 am Earth-time
“What else could they want?” outraged Max repeated Khivar’s arrogant statement and roared “Are you seriously that stupid?” He could see Khivar’s shocked expression and added, “you obviously are! What makes you think you’re so much better than they are? That you deserve a good life and they don’t? That you can enslave anybody you feel like and force them to do your will?”
Offended, Khivar replied “Well, I am the anointed King of Antar, which means that I am the Lord of life and death of my people. The people should be grateful for the honor I bestow on them, when I allow them to work for me!”
“Enough! You have never been anointed, you grabbed Zan’s throne and proclaimed yourself King. Don’t make yourselves better than you really are!” Max rectified the situation angrily and Khivar was shocked enough to shut up immediately. No one ever dared to talk to him like that, absolutely no one; at least not since he had been little.
“These are the most idiotic and self-satisfying excuses that I have ever had the misfortune to hear and they are absolutely unacceptable!” after calming down Max needed a moment to regroup his thoughts and figure out how to continue.
*~~*~~*
Max had the overwhelming desire to close his eyes and after he did he felt almost dizzy as Zan’s memories engulfed him. Now he understood what had caused the revolution and now the time had come to share this knowledge with his family and friends.
Opening his eyes, Max made a step forward and then turned to face his supporters. After looking at them all, he began to explain Antar’s past. “I have just received some of Zan’s memories that are very pertinent to the outcome of this meeting. Please let me explain everything first and if you have questions ask them after, ok?”
After a curious crowd accepted his request Max started “for many centuries, Zan’s family has ruled Antar, and his father Zan’or was even elected High King of the Whirlwind Galaxy. Anyway, before Zan’s father became king, the rulers would take care of their people’s needs. This meant that the people of Antar had good work and good lives. If they had complaints, they could go before the King’s committee and state their business. All in all, the people were well taken care of, but they weren’t allowed to educate and better themselves or to actually own the property they lived on. That was reserved only for the nobles, the shamans and the convents. I guess you could say it was a lot like the Middle Ages of earth, except there was plenty of everything needed and people were relatively happy.”
“As it was, Zan’s father had in his youth travelled to earth, had in fact visited several countries. He soon realised that there were different forms of politics and he liked democracy best. He studied it in the United States and in Europe. When he returned to Antar he informed his father of all he had learned and let him know that when the time came and he had to rule, he would like to bring democracy to Antar. After hearing everything, his father agreed, said it was a good thing and sent some more people to earth for further investigations. After a while they started to bring small changes to the people.”
“Zan’or was very happy about this development and he worked hard, trying to find the best way possible to bring these changes about. As it was, his father died suddenly, unexplainably. They never found out just what had happened. Thus Zan’s father became the next King.”
Max was astonished and almost too confused to remember Zan’s story so clearly. Those memories were his and at the same time they weren’t. Speaking clearly, he continued, “Zan’or taught his son everything he knew on democracy. At a very young age, Zan accompanied his father to visit the people, to talk with them, to listen. He taught Zan to serve the people of Antar as best as he could. But when Zan was barely old enough to become King, his father was ambushed and killed.”
“Zan was crowned and continued his father’s work. By now Larek had learned all about Zan’or’s plans for Antar and wanted to bring the same changes to Kias. Zan worked with a small circle of nobles. His sister Vilandra, his second Rath and his cousin Larek were part of it, as were Ronar and Khivar. As it turned out, Khivar used his position to get as much information as possible. After a while he began with his intrigues, organised skirmishes in the backcountries and spread lies about Zan’s intentions. With lies and promises Khivar won many supporters, and thus he was able to start the revolution.”
“Anyway, by the time they realised that they had been cheated and lied to, it was much too late to change it. By then the royals had all been killed and the people were thoroughly enslaved. To strengthen his position with the leaders of the other planets, Khivar let them know that he had the Granolith and with it endless power. That’s why they fell in line with him. They didn’t really support him, but they couldn’t stop him.”
Max stopped his narration and looked at his circle of family and friends, before he continued seriously with his story “as you can see, the good people of Antar have never learned to stand up for themselves. For a long-time they were treated like children and then they ended up enslaved.”
Again Max searched in the faces of his trusted supporters before he explained his decision. “Larek and I have already talked about how to end Khivar’s reign and after I give you our opinion I would like to hear yours, ok?”
Accepting all the nods he received as affirmation, Max went on “we thought very seriously about this and we came to the following conclusion. First of all, we have to deal with Khivar swiftly to be able to start anew. To achieve that we thought that everybody here, of course excluding the accused ones, will have their say in this decision. Since Khivar has been so kind as to organise the transmission of this meeting, we will have our discussion transmitted too. This way Antarian’s will see first hand that we are serious when we say we want to change things for the better. At the same time they can witness that everybody can voice their opinion without fear of punishment and that not all the ideas can be accepted either.” After his long speech, Max let his gaze wander around everybody and then turned to the otherworldly contingent and asked, “what do you, as leaders, think about that?”
Kathana was the first one to react and asked “you’re serious, you really want our opinions?” and after Max’s nod she continued, “I think you’re very thoughtful and I like your idea very much.”
“Kathana’s right” Sero inserted and added “the thing is, during Khivar’s reign we too couldn’t bring any changes to our people. You have to know the situation on our planets is very similar to Antar, well the Antar before Khivar’s rule!” he added with a nod at Khivar.
Hanar joined the discussion and said “they’re right Max. At first we weren’t too happy when we heard about all the changes you wanted to bring to Antar. But since then we all have been to earth and studied diverse democracies and other political regimes. To be honest after that trip we all wanted to bring the changes Zan had in mind, but we couldn’t do anything because until the summit in New York we all thought that Khivar had the Granolith.”
“As you can see, our people haven’t been schooled and educated and when I think about them having to decide something as important as what to do with Khivar? …I think they’d be timorous, even afraid of giving their real opinion. Don’t you two think so?” Sero asked of Hanar and Kathana.
“I agree with Sero” Hanar inserted and Kathana continued “Yes, I too agree. And I also think that your idea to have this meeting transmitted will show your people what kind of a leader you are and that you can be trusted.” Smiling proudly Kathana applauded “Max, I’m very glad you’re here with us and I’m very proud to work with you!”
*~~*~~*
All this praise let Max’s ears turn red again, but he looked more confident than earlier. Smiling broadly he turned to his support group and raising his eyebrows asked “any comments?” and looking at his second he encouraged “Michael?”
Michael was shocked, he saw everybody else look at him curiously, expecting to hear something, then he looked at Max and realised that he too had been thrown into this situation and he had to deal as well as possible. Embarrassed Michael coughed and cleared his throat, then decided to go with his honest feelings (now where did that one come from?), he answered, “I think that’s a good idea Max. I mean, just look at me, I’ve had some education and I’ve known that this day would come, and I never had a hard time to let everybody know my opinion, if they wanted to hear or not. But right now, I find it very difficult to come to a fair result.”
After coughing some more he added, “I mean, it would be real easy to just say kill the bastard and be done with it. But I think that would be too easy, I think we need to really think about the ramifications of it…”
“Ooohhhh… look at you spaceboy, you can be reasonable!” a tizzy Maria cooed and was hard pressed not to pinch his cheeks like her mom often did! This elicited a few chuckles and everybody was able to breathe a little easier.
Proud and embarrassed by Maria’s outburst Michael was flustered and stammered “well, you know, I mean, anyway, I just thought…”
Jim, who knew the podsters pretty well by now, knew just how difficult this was for Michael, took pity on his mumblings and with a comforting slap on the young hybrid’s shoulder he praised him “Michael, that was very well thought through, you are very correct and I agree with your opinion. I too think that we have to be careful with our decisions at this point. After all, they will show what kind of people we are. I also think that this transmission thing is a very good idea. It might help your people to understand what kind of a person Max is. So, yes, I too am with Michael, Larek and you, Max.”
With a regal nod Max accepted Michael’s and Jim’s answer, then he looked towards the rest of the group. Izzy just nodded her agreement, as did his mom. Nancy, Kathy and Jeff followed with their agreement. His father walked up to him, embraced him and said, “well done, son, well done. You’re handling things well.”
Brody still had the biggest, silliest grin on his face and added, “well done, mate!” Johnny Dubois straightened and smartly saluted with his right hand to his forehead and said “smart move, young man, smart move!”
The Whitmans agreed too, they wanted to make sure everything would be done correctly, by the book so to speak. Otherwise, they worried, that those criminals would try to find a way out, like they’d seen in those police movies. In fact, that reminded Claire of something and she agitatedly asked, “Max, do you have to read them their rights or something? I mean, just to be sure that they can’t wiggle out of any sentence they get?”
”I don’t know.” Max answered and turned to the leaders and asked, “is there a procedure like that?” The leaders too were at a loss. They’d never been in a situation like that. Suddenly the Granolith informed them all that everything was right the way it was. And added in their minds “at this moment I don’t want them to know that I actively work for you. I want to surprise them soon. As it is, the four of them are quite unsure of what I can or can’t do and I want to keep it that way a bit longer.”
Larek jumped in and proclaimed, “there are four reigning leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy present, I’d say that is enough to decide on this topic. They even had their chance to say what they had to say. I say yes, everything is as it should be.” Hanar added, “I second that.” And Kathana, Sero and even General Th’ikla gave their ‘aye’s.
Eddy and Serena just nodded their consent and Riverdog studied Max for a moment before slowly nodding too. Finally Max looked at Maria and saw that she had calmed down from her earlier outburst and asked “Maria, what do you say?” Proudly she informed Max “I’m with spaceboy here!” and finished that sentence in her mind ‘in any way he wants me to!’
Next, the young leader turned to Kyle and before he could ask, the queens second replied, “I’m with you, Max!” Last but not least, he looked as his queen and all she did was squeeze his hand and nod. That was all the communication needed.
*~~*~~*
Momentarily at loss on how to proceed, Max said, “ok, I think we should withdraw somewhere more comfortable to discuss their verdict. It probably will take some time, and I would like to sit for a change. What do you say?”
Before they could leave the chamber, Gramps led his King to the wall beside the entrance. There, Max pushed a button and turned a switch and to the surprise of all the wall in front of them slid upwards, disappearing into the ceiling. Everybody uuuhd and aaahd and some wanted to know “how did you know that one?” Max nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder, grinned and said “Gramps!” That was all the answer needed, everybody nodded in agreement, everything was clear.
*~~*~~*
After observing this exchange between Max and the others, Khivar’s newly gained suspicions began to turn into conviction and he didn’t like it one bit. Things started to really worry him, nothing went as anticipated. At this stage he was hit with one shock after an other. After looking at Nacedo and Tess, he realised that they were sitting in the same boat. Even Ronar, that idiotic opportunist, wasn’t looking too healthy any longer.
*~~*~~*
As they walked into the room, the people how had been in the meeting before recognised it as the same one they’d used in the last few days. What surprised them was the fact that now, instead of the eight chairs around a medium sized table, there were enough seats to accommodate the whole group and not just that, the table had grown bigger accordingly too.
After taking a moment to check out the order of the chairs, Max realised that they were all thankfully the same. He stood behind the nearest one, claiming it as his place. After Liz claimed the one to Max’s right and Michael the one on the left, everybody else chose their own place. After they sat down and looked around, they noticed that the original group sat together, as did the parents, the leaders, and the members who weren’t either.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
OK, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty stuff, 08/13/2000, Sunday 5.15 am Earth-time
”Does everybody know what Khivar, Ronar, Nacedo and Tess have been accused of?” Max inquired. He looked at everybody, wanting to be absolutely certain that they understood exactly what was expected of them. Everybody nodded their understanding and Jeff spoke up, “Max, Gramps informed us of everything, so, yes, we all are very well informed indeed.”
“Thank you Mr. Parker, that…” “Hold it right there, Max. I think we all have been together through enough strange and difficult situations in the last few days, that we can dispense with all these formalities.” Jeff interrupted Max and after looking at everybody sitting around the table he amended “well, I don’t really know how you handle these situations in your Galaxy, but we from earth are simple folks, so I just speak for us.” Realising that he might’ve been a bit presumptuous after remembering that his brother-in-law, Johnny, could be a stickler for formality, Jeff back-pedalled further and stuttered, “at least I think I can speak for most of us…” Cursing his impulsiveness, Jeff just stopped his explanation.
Rescuing Jeff from his embarrassment, Johnny jumped in and added, “Jeff’s right, we will be working a lot with each other. No sense there in being stiff and formal. Might as well be comfortable.” Everybody around the table nodded their agreement and now they could finally begin their work.
*~~*~~*
Max decided to do everything as correctly as he could and started the proceedings ”alright, I think we should officially acknowledge whether their guilty or not. So, everybody who agrees that Khivar is guilty of leading a coup d’état, committing regicide, genocide, treason, stealing and terrorising the people of Antar, raise your hand!” As everybody agreed they all raised their hand. Max asked the same for Ronar. Since Nacedo and Tess had not been involved in most of the crimes committed on Antar, Max changed the accusations to committing treason against the crown of Antar, killing people and using mindwarps on unsuspecting people. Every time all hands were raised speedily and assuredly.
”Alright, we all agree that all four of them are guilty. Now we have to decide on the sentence. I would like to know what you think of as punishment. After you all have given me your opinion and the reason for it, we can start to discuss the finer points of it.” Max hoped that he wasn’t blundering too badly, but he really wanted to know their opinion, he just wasn’t sure if he could handle it if they all decided on death sentences.
This time they started with the leaders from the Whirlwind Galaxy. King Sero was the first one to voice his verdict, “by the laws of our Planets Khivar and Ronar receive public executions, beheaded or hanged. Nacedo and Ava deserve death sentences too; they can be shot or poisoned in a more secluded environment. That is the law of the Whirlwind Galaxy!” After Sero concluded his statement, Queen Kathana and Queen Hanar acceded.
When it was Larek’s turn, he first looked at his cousin and could see that Max was starting to turn green at hearing of these sentences. After seeing his cousin’s reaction, he turned and looked at everybody seated around the table and noticed several others with the same interesting shade of green tingeing their faces. Resolutely coming back to speak his peace Larek offered “it’s true, that is the law of our Galaxy, but today, we are beginning anew and I don’t see any reason that tells us that we can’t change the old laws and replace them with new ones. So, I want to hear the others give their opinions. I will stay open-minded, but I have to tell you right now, if the punishment isn’t according to the crimes they committed, I too will insist on our old laws!”
After quietly communicating with Sero and Hanar, Kathana spoke up “we agree with King Larek, we are open for new laws, but they have to be severe, otherwise we will insist on the old ways!”
”Thank you for your openness, Kathana, Hanar, Sero and Larek, I sincerely appreciate your good will!” Max informed them.
*~~*~~*
Max was glad that the alien leaders were so willing and cooperative. Now he turned to the earthlings and asked Johnny first, after all, he had been with the FBI and the Military and maybe he could shed some light on how to go on.
Very much the military man Johnny asked, “their reign was one of death and terror, what better way to end it then by death?” then he added for good measure, “their crimes are very grave, they are against the crown of Antar and against its people, then they brought the fight down to earth. Killed and betrayed without regard for anybody but what they wanted. The just punishment is death, which manner of death I leave up to you.” After seeing the shocked faces of the other humans he added, “but like the leaders of the Galaxy I too am open for alternative sentences, as long as the severity of it is according to the crimes committed.”
Jim Valenti continued, “I’m against the death sentence. It puts us on the same level as them. I say we will have to think of a severe enough punishment that is agreeable to all!” Proudly Amy and Kyle nodded their agreement with Jim.
Philip Evans was straight out and impatiently barked, “it’s clear, nothing but the death sentence will do!” After seeing his wife glowering angrily at him he prudently added, “well, I guess I’m also open to alternatives!”
Michael had had enough of all this talk about death sentence and it made him sick to his stomach. He looked at Max and saw that he too had a hard time dealing with it. Impulsively he blurted out “I’m against the death sentence. I had to kill Pierce in self-defence, it was him or us, and even though I know that I had no other choice I still have nightmares about it. So, no death sentence, absolutely no!”
That was the moment Amy had been waiting for, for someone to just come out and talk about their feelings, not the laws and she jumped right in with both feet first. “Thank you Michael, and you too Jim! Earlier we…” she pointed at Nancy, Diane and Kathy in turn and passionately continued, “talked about it and we all are against it.” “Amy, let the others speak for themselves!” Phil interrupted. But Amy DeLuca let no man tell her what to do, “WE talked about it and WE all agreed. WE too are against the death sentence. Everything else WE will discuss when we all start to talk about the details.”
When Philip opened his mouth again to interrupt, she just talked louder and explained, “yes, you’re right, they all can say their piece, but this way we don’t have to go over the same thing again and again and again.” Staring pointedly at her adversary she asked point-blank “anything against that, Mr. Evans?” Philip realised that Amy was on the warpath and calling him by his last name was her way of telling him that everything had been said that need to be said. He admitted defeat and surrendered.
“Okay, we also have come up with a few ideas that we can work with, nasty, nasty alternatives to the death sentence!” was Amy’s final comment and her friends, new and old all nodded in agreement.
”Oh, God, the ladies are on the loose!” Jeff mumbled, but could be heard by the others who snickered. Out loud he said, “I tend to agree with the women. I’m still a hippy at heart and…” “You don’t expect us to embrace them and love them, you know, make love not war?” Johnny threw in. This got Jeff of track and he stuttered, “what, no, no, I’m not that stupid, I just don’t agree with all this talk of death sentence, that’s all. Anyway, the way I see it, if our women have their say, those bastards might be begging for death before too long!”
Seeing the devious looks on Maria and Liz’s faces he added “and by the looks of it, the next generation of cunning and deviously minded women is in the making, right Maria?”
”Oh, absolutely, Jeff!” Maria agreed, and Liz continued, “after all we have some fine specimen of females as role models, don’t you agree?” Isabelle didn’t want to be left out and jumped on the bandwagon “you want devious? We can give devious anytime you like!” All three teen girls looked conspiringly at each other and nodded in unison.
”Oh, Buddha help me!” this call for help came from Kyle. Obviously the help came fast because immediately he added “I’m with our girls here, you want devious, they’ve got it!”
Cal felt the need to bring in his vote and stated “at first I was for the death sentence as is our law, but now, listening to these fine women, I have to change my opinion and I say no to the death sentence, but yes to our deviously minded women.” Seeing all the shocked looks coming his way he defended himself “what? Can’t a man change his mind and go with the better alternative?” trying to direct the heat of all those stares somewhere else Cal surprised Riverdog by respectfully addressing him directly “Sir, what do you say?”
”Hmmm!” Riverdog took his sweet time to answer, “in the old days my fathers and forefathers were a bloodthirsty lot. Their enemies were tortured to death and in moments like these, I almost wish I could be the same way. But I’m not. I’m a peace loving man. I respect all things living and strongly believe that one shouldn’t harm the others. In this case, the four accused have committed grave crimes against other living souls and they have to be punished. I say I go with the women’s verdict!” Beside him, Eddy and Serena nodded their agreement!
Nicholas Crawford had been sitting on the round table along everybody else, but he had been so quiet, they almost forgot about him. After a short debate with himself, Max decided to get his opinion too. With shock evident in his face and voice Nicholas replied “whatever the majority decides will be fair but I tend to side with the ladies! Thank you for asking me, Max.”
After everybody had had their say, Max turned to his queen and asked for her input. Liz voiced her opinion seriously “true, you could end their reign of death and terror with death, that would be poetic justice, I guess. But that also means that your first official action will be to sign those death sentences. I don’t think you’d want that, and neither do I, that’s why I say no to the death sentence.”
Everybody could see just how relieved Max was when he addressed the whole group. “All right, let me recapitulate, if we come up with a fair punishment, we all agree to refrain from the death sentence, that’s right, isn’t it?”
*~~*~~*
The guilty four were still in the same spot in the Granolith chamber they had been left at. Avidly they followed the discussion on the round table. They weren’t too surprised to hear the leaders demand their death sentence.
Tess wasn’t surprised to hear Jim vote against it. What surprised her a lot was that all the members of the original group were against it too. When she heard Amy give her passionate speech, she realised just how stupid those humans were. There was no punishment that she couldn’t get out of, and they would just realise it much too late. They forgot her mindwarping ability, just because this room was power proofed didn’t mean that she’d never again be able to use her talents. ‘Stupid humans’ she smirked…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Planning and plotting, plotting and planning
After the official acceptance of refraining from the death sentence, everybody started to sit more comfortably. “So, what are we talking about now?” Brody asked of no one in particular. “Yes, I too think it would be good if we had something to work with!” Johnny added, while Phil and the leaders nodded their approval and waited.
Maria was the first one to respond “earlier Liz said we should be creative and try to get them where it hurts them the most, you know, not necessarily physically but in their pride.” Seeing Liz’s encouraging nod she continued “so, I’ve been asking myself what do they like, because we want to avoid that. Next question was, what do they hate? What are they afraid of?”
Seeing she had everybody’s attention, Maria elaborated “we know Nacedo and Tess both hate earth and us lowly humans. From what he said, Khivar and that other guy both hate the ‘lowly’ people of Antar” and then grinning broadly around the table she stated “I think we can work with that, don’t you think?”
Sero couldn’t stop himself and he burst out laughing “Maria, I like your way of thinking. Oh, yes, they will be very sorry before too long!” After a moment, he gleefully added “I can imagine Khivar and Ronar working in the mines!” after another bout of laughter he mused “oh boy, can I ever picture them working in the mines!”
Sero’s outburst inspired the others, and before long, they all had deviously sparkling eyes. Johnny soon recognized that the situation might become too unruly to handle and he asked, “why don’t we do some brainstorming now, and after we have nothing more to add, we’ll see what we’ve come up with and finalise the verdicts?”
Everybody gave their ok, and they jumped into action with gusto! Jeff offered a “Maria, I really like your imagination, its awesome! I’d like to add that this Khivar guy seems very preoccupied with appearances, so maybe we can do something about that.” Amy threw in “Jeff, what a marvellous idea!” and added the next question “Max, didn’t Gramps say something like he needed something to keep up his outdated looks?” “Gandarium?” Max put in and Amy agreed “yeah, exactly that!”
Nancy could picture the creep in her mind's eye and got all excited “the mines sound good, but he should serve the mine-workers, actually they all should serve the less fortunate” “How about Tess, she could work in an psychiatric ward?” Michael spoke up and explained “if she thinks the so called normal people are beneath her, I think she might really appreciate that!” Isabelle demurred “that sounds very good, but only if she can’t hurt the patience there!”
Offended Michael burst out “of course, I didn’t mean anything like that, you know?” Trying to calm her fried’s ruffled feathers Isabelle offered “I didn’t meant to imply anything of this sort, Michael. I know you don’t hurt anybody, in fact we all know that. I just thought we have to be sure that they can’t hurt anybody else.” Michael nodded his acceptance of her apology and the discussion continued.
Suddenly Larek remember something and informed the group “I just seem to recall that Ronar hates animals, at least anything that smells badly, crawls or is slimy. He thinks they’re dirty. Do you think we could do something with that?”
“Are you seriously asking us that?” Diane asked incredulously. Kathy, very unladylike threw in “boy, can we ever!” and Amy said, “well, do you have pigs on Antar? Or at least something like it?” after seeing Larek’ nod she added “well, then, don’t pigsties need to be cleaned?” “Yes! And when he isn’t cleaning them he can go and help the homeless!” Kathy gave her opinion passionately.
By now Hanar and Kathana understood exactly what was going on and didn’t want to be left out. Hanar evilly grinned at her royal friend and suggested “in our Galaxy we have a small moon that is inhabited by…” “Ohhh, ohhh, you’re evil, really, really evil!” Kathana laughed and joined the discussion “you’re talking about the schneggs, aren’t you?”
Larek and Sero burst out laughing along with the two queens. Th’ikla was shocked at first that Hanar and Kathana would even think of that, because to take care of those schneggs was worse then anything imaginable. After a moment he too burst out laughing, talk about being fair and just! Khivar himself had banished countless people to that moon to take care of those schnegg farms. As disgusting as they looked, as delicious was their meat. And Khivar liked that meat. Since they were relatively rare and very difficult to raise, only Khivar and a few chosen ones were allowed to eat them. Ha, those bastards wouldn’t know what hit them!
Nicholas noticed the confusion on the human group and laughingly explained, “think snails, you know the brown ones without the little houses on their back. But they are about as big as dog, a big, big dog. If you think your snails on earth are gross, you haven’t seen anything!”
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
42. Brainstorming, 08/13/2000, Sunday 4.10 am Earth-time
“What else could they want?” outraged Max repeated Khivar’s arrogant statement and roared “Are you seriously that stupid?” He could see Khivar’s shocked expression and added, “you obviously are! What makes you think you’re so much better than they are? That you deserve a good life and they don’t? That you can enslave anybody you feel like and force them to do your will?”
Offended, Khivar replied “Well, I am the anointed King of Antar, which means that I am the Lord of life and death of my people. The people should be grateful for the honor I bestow on them, when I allow them to work for me!”
“Enough! You have never been anointed, you grabbed Zan’s throne and proclaimed yourself King. Don’t make yourselves better than you really are!” Max rectified the situation angrily and Khivar was shocked enough to shut up immediately. No one ever dared to talk to him like that, absolutely no one; at least not since he had been little.
“These are the most idiotic and self-satisfying excuses that I have ever had the misfortune to hear and they are absolutely unacceptable!” after calming down Max needed a moment to regroup his thoughts and figure out how to continue.
*~~*~~*
Max had the overwhelming desire to close his eyes and after he did he felt almost dizzy as Zan’s memories engulfed him. Now he understood what had caused the revolution and now the time had come to share this knowledge with his family and friends.
Opening his eyes, Max made a step forward and then turned to face his supporters. After looking at them all, he began to explain Antar’s past. “I have just received some of Zan’s memories that are very pertinent to the outcome of this meeting. Please let me explain everything first and if you have questions ask them after, ok?”
After a curious crowd accepted his request Max started “for many centuries, Zan’s family has ruled Antar, and his father Zan’or was even elected High King of the Whirlwind Galaxy. Anyway, before Zan’s father became king, the rulers would take care of their people’s needs. This meant that the people of Antar had good work and good lives. If they had complaints, they could go before the King’s committee and state their business. All in all, the people were well taken care of, but they weren’t allowed to educate and better themselves or to actually own the property they lived on. That was reserved only for the nobles, the shamans and the convents. I guess you could say it was a lot like the Middle Ages of earth, except there was plenty of everything needed and people were relatively happy.”
“As it was, Zan’s father had in his youth travelled to earth, had in fact visited several countries. He soon realised that there were different forms of politics and he liked democracy best. He studied it in the United States and in Europe. When he returned to Antar he informed his father of all he had learned and let him know that when the time came and he had to rule, he would like to bring democracy to Antar. After hearing everything, his father agreed, said it was a good thing and sent some more people to earth for further investigations. After a while they started to bring small changes to the people.”
“Zan’or was very happy about this development and he worked hard, trying to find the best way possible to bring these changes about. As it was, his father died suddenly, unexplainably. They never found out just what had happened. Thus Zan’s father became the next King.”
Max was astonished and almost too confused to remember Zan’s story so clearly. Those memories were his and at the same time they weren’t. Speaking clearly, he continued, “Zan’or taught his son everything he knew on democracy. At a very young age, Zan accompanied his father to visit the people, to talk with them, to listen. He taught Zan to serve the people of Antar as best as he could. But when Zan was barely old enough to become King, his father was ambushed and killed.”
“Zan was crowned and continued his father’s work. By now Larek had learned all about Zan’or’s plans for Antar and wanted to bring the same changes to Kias. Zan worked with a small circle of nobles. His sister Vilandra, his second Rath and his cousin Larek were part of it, as were Ronar and Khivar. As it turned out, Khivar used his position to get as much information as possible. After a while he began with his intrigues, organised skirmishes in the backcountries and spread lies about Zan’s intentions. With lies and promises Khivar won many supporters, and thus he was able to start the revolution.”
“Anyway, by the time they realised that they had been cheated and lied to, it was much too late to change it. By then the royals had all been killed and the people were thoroughly enslaved. To strengthen his position with the leaders of the other planets, Khivar let them know that he had the Granolith and with it endless power. That’s why they fell in line with him. They didn’t really support him, but they couldn’t stop him.”
Max stopped his narration and looked at his circle of family and friends, before he continued seriously with his story “as you can see, the good people of Antar have never learned to stand up for themselves. For a long-time they were treated like children and then they ended up enslaved.”
Again Max searched in the faces of his trusted supporters before he explained his decision. “Larek and I have already talked about how to end Khivar’s reign and after I give you our opinion I would like to hear yours, ok?”
Accepting all the nods he received as affirmation, Max went on “we thought very seriously about this and we came to the following conclusion. First of all, we have to deal with Khivar swiftly to be able to start anew. To achieve that we thought that everybody here, of course excluding the accused ones, will have their say in this decision. Since Khivar has been so kind as to organise the transmission of this meeting, we will have our discussion transmitted too. This way Antarian’s will see first hand that we are serious when we say we want to change things for the better. At the same time they can witness that everybody can voice their opinion without fear of punishment and that not all the ideas can be accepted either.” After his long speech, Max let his gaze wander around everybody and then turned to the otherworldly contingent and asked, “what do you, as leaders, think about that?”
Kathana was the first one to react and asked “you’re serious, you really want our opinions?” and after Max’s nod she continued, “I think you’re very thoughtful and I like your idea very much.”
“Kathana’s right” Sero inserted and added “the thing is, during Khivar’s reign we too couldn’t bring any changes to our people. You have to know the situation on our planets is very similar to Antar, well the Antar before Khivar’s rule!” he added with a nod at Khivar.
Hanar joined the discussion and said “they’re right Max. At first we weren’t too happy when we heard about all the changes you wanted to bring to Antar. But since then we all have been to earth and studied diverse democracies and other political regimes. To be honest after that trip we all wanted to bring the changes Zan had in mind, but we couldn’t do anything because until the summit in New York we all thought that Khivar had the Granolith.”
“As you can see, our people haven’t been schooled and educated and when I think about them having to decide something as important as what to do with Khivar? …I think they’d be timorous, even afraid of giving their real opinion. Don’t you two think so?” Sero asked of Hanar and Kathana.
“I agree with Sero” Hanar inserted and Kathana continued “Yes, I too agree. And I also think that your idea to have this meeting transmitted will show your people what kind of a leader you are and that you can be trusted.” Smiling proudly Kathana applauded “Max, I’m very glad you’re here with us and I’m very proud to work with you!”
*~~*~~*
All this praise let Max’s ears turn red again, but he looked more confident than earlier. Smiling broadly he turned to his support group and raising his eyebrows asked “any comments?” and looking at his second he encouraged “Michael?”
Michael was shocked, he saw everybody else look at him curiously, expecting to hear something, then he looked at Max and realised that he too had been thrown into this situation and he had to deal as well as possible. Embarrassed Michael coughed and cleared his throat, then decided to go with his honest feelings (now where did that one come from?), he answered, “I think that’s a good idea Max. I mean, just look at me, I’ve had some education and I’ve known that this day would come, and I never had a hard time to let everybody know my opinion, if they wanted to hear or not. But right now, I find it very difficult to come to a fair result.”
After coughing some more he added, “I mean, it would be real easy to just say kill the bastard and be done with it. But I think that would be too easy, I think we need to really think about the ramifications of it…”
“Ooohhhh… look at you spaceboy, you can be reasonable!” a tizzy Maria cooed and was hard pressed not to pinch his cheeks like her mom often did! This elicited a few chuckles and everybody was able to breathe a little easier.
Proud and embarrassed by Maria’s outburst Michael was flustered and stammered “well, you know, I mean, anyway, I just thought…”
Jim, who knew the podsters pretty well by now, knew just how difficult this was for Michael, took pity on his mumblings and with a comforting slap on the young hybrid’s shoulder he praised him “Michael, that was very well thought through, you are very correct and I agree with your opinion. I too think that we have to be careful with our decisions at this point. After all, they will show what kind of people we are. I also think that this transmission thing is a very good idea. It might help your people to understand what kind of a person Max is. So, yes, I too am with Michael, Larek and you, Max.”
With a regal nod Max accepted Michael’s and Jim’s answer, then he looked towards the rest of the group. Izzy just nodded her agreement, as did his mom. Nancy, Kathy and Jeff followed with their agreement. His father walked up to him, embraced him and said, “well done, son, well done. You’re handling things well.”
Brody still had the biggest, silliest grin on his face and added, “well done, mate!” Johnny Dubois straightened and smartly saluted with his right hand to his forehead and said “smart move, young man, smart move!”
The Whitmans agreed too, they wanted to make sure everything would be done correctly, by the book so to speak. Otherwise, they worried, that those criminals would try to find a way out, like they’d seen in those police movies. In fact, that reminded Claire of something and she agitatedly asked, “Max, do you have to read them their rights or something? I mean, just to be sure that they can’t wiggle out of any sentence they get?”
”I don’t know.” Max answered and turned to the leaders and asked, “is there a procedure like that?” The leaders too were at a loss. They’d never been in a situation like that. Suddenly the Granolith informed them all that everything was right the way it was. And added in their minds “at this moment I don’t want them to know that I actively work for you. I want to surprise them soon. As it is, the four of them are quite unsure of what I can or can’t do and I want to keep it that way a bit longer.”
Larek jumped in and proclaimed, “there are four reigning leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy present, I’d say that is enough to decide on this topic. They even had their chance to say what they had to say. I say yes, everything is as it should be.” Hanar added, “I second that.” And Kathana, Sero and even General Th’ikla gave their ‘aye’s.
Eddy and Serena just nodded their consent and Riverdog studied Max for a moment before slowly nodding too. Finally Max looked at Maria and saw that she had calmed down from her earlier outburst and asked “Maria, what do you say?” Proudly she informed Max “I’m with spaceboy here!” and finished that sentence in her mind ‘in any way he wants me to!’
Next, the young leader turned to Kyle and before he could ask, the queens second replied, “I’m with you, Max!” Last but not least, he looked as his queen and all she did was squeeze his hand and nod. That was all the communication needed.
*~~*~~*
Momentarily at loss on how to proceed, Max said, “ok, I think we should withdraw somewhere more comfortable to discuss their verdict. It probably will take some time, and I would like to sit for a change. What do you say?”
Before they could leave the chamber, Gramps led his King to the wall beside the entrance. There, Max pushed a button and turned a switch and to the surprise of all the wall in front of them slid upwards, disappearing into the ceiling. Everybody uuuhd and aaahd and some wanted to know “how did you know that one?” Max nonchalantly shrugged his shoulder, grinned and said “Gramps!” That was all the answer needed, everybody nodded in agreement, everything was clear.
*~~*~~*
After observing this exchange between Max and the others, Khivar’s newly gained suspicions began to turn into conviction and he didn’t like it one bit. Things started to really worry him, nothing went as anticipated. At this stage he was hit with one shock after an other. After looking at Nacedo and Tess, he realised that they were sitting in the same boat. Even Ronar, that idiotic opportunist, wasn’t looking too healthy any longer.
*~~*~~*
As they walked into the room, the people how had been in the meeting before recognised it as the same one they’d used in the last few days. What surprised them was the fact that now, instead of the eight chairs around a medium sized table, there were enough seats to accommodate the whole group and not just that, the table had grown bigger accordingly too.
After taking a moment to check out the order of the chairs, Max realised that they were all thankfully the same. He stood behind the nearest one, claiming it as his place. After Liz claimed the one to Max’s right and Michael the one on the left, everybody else chose their own place. After they sat down and looked around, they noticed that the original group sat together, as did the parents, the leaders, and the members who weren’t either.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
OK, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty stuff, 08/13/2000, Sunday 5.15 am Earth-time
”Does everybody know what Khivar, Ronar, Nacedo and Tess have been accused of?” Max inquired. He looked at everybody, wanting to be absolutely certain that they understood exactly what was expected of them. Everybody nodded their understanding and Jeff spoke up, “Max, Gramps informed us of everything, so, yes, we all are very well informed indeed.”
“Thank you Mr. Parker, that…” “Hold it right there, Max. I think we all have been together through enough strange and difficult situations in the last few days, that we can dispense with all these formalities.” Jeff interrupted Max and after looking at everybody sitting around the table he amended “well, I don’t really know how you handle these situations in your Galaxy, but we from earth are simple folks, so I just speak for us.” Realising that he might’ve been a bit presumptuous after remembering that his brother-in-law, Johnny, could be a stickler for formality, Jeff back-pedalled further and stuttered, “at least I think I can speak for most of us…” Cursing his impulsiveness, Jeff just stopped his explanation.
Rescuing Jeff from his embarrassment, Johnny jumped in and added, “Jeff’s right, we will be working a lot with each other. No sense there in being stiff and formal. Might as well be comfortable.” Everybody around the table nodded their agreement and now they could finally begin their work.
*~~*~~*
Max decided to do everything as correctly as he could and started the proceedings ”alright, I think we should officially acknowledge whether their guilty or not. So, everybody who agrees that Khivar is guilty of leading a coup d’état, committing regicide, genocide, treason, stealing and terrorising the people of Antar, raise your hand!” As everybody agreed they all raised their hand. Max asked the same for Ronar. Since Nacedo and Tess had not been involved in most of the crimes committed on Antar, Max changed the accusations to committing treason against the crown of Antar, killing people and using mindwarps on unsuspecting people. Every time all hands were raised speedily and assuredly.
”Alright, we all agree that all four of them are guilty. Now we have to decide on the sentence. I would like to know what you think of as punishment. After you all have given me your opinion and the reason for it, we can start to discuss the finer points of it.” Max hoped that he wasn’t blundering too badly, but he really wanted to know their opinion, he just wasn’t sure if he could handle it if they all decided on death sentences.
This time they started with the leaders from the Whirlwind Galaxy. King Sero was the first one to voice his verdict, “by the laws of our Planets Khivar and Ronar receive public executions, beheaded or hanged. Nacedo and Ava deserve death sentences too; they can be shot or poisoned in a more secluded environment. That is the law of the Whirlwind Galaxy!” After Sero concluded his statement, Queen Kathana and Queen Hanar acceded.
When it was Larek’s turn, he first looked at his cousin and could see that Max was starting to turn green at hearing of these sentences. After seeing his cousin’s reaction, he turned and looked at everybody seated around the table and noticed several others with the same interesting shade of green tingeing their faces. Resolutely coming back to speak his peace Larek offered “it’s true, that is the law of our Galaxy, but today, we are beginning anew and I don’t see any reason that tells us that we can’t change the old laws and replace them with new ones. So, I want to hear the others give their opinions. I will stay open-minded, but I have to tell you right now, if the punishment isn’t according to the crimes they committed, I too will insist on our old laws!”
After quietly communicating with Sero and Hanar, Kathana spoke up “we agree with King Larek, we are open for new laws, but they have to be severe, otherwise we will insist on the old ways!”
”Thank you for your openness, Kathana, Hanar, Sero and Larek, I sincerely appreciate your good will!” Max informed them.
*~~*~~*
Max was glad that the alien leaders were so willing and cooperative. Now he turned to the earthlings and asked Johnny first, after all, he had been with the FBI and the Military and maybe he could shed some light on how to go on.
Very much the military man Johnny asked, “their reign was one of death and terror, what better way to end it then by death?” then he added for good measure, “their crimes are very grave, they are against the crown of Antar and against its people, then they brought the fight down to earth. Killed and betrayed without regard for anybody but what they wanted. The just punishment is death, which manner of death I leave up to you.” After seeing the shocked faces of the other humans he added, “but like the leaders of the Galaxy I too am open for alternative sentences, as long as the severity of it is according to the crimes committed.”
Jim Valenti continued, “I’m against the death sentence. It puts us on the same level as them. I say we will have to think of a severe enough punishment that is agreeable to all!” Proudly Amy and Kyle nodded their agreement with Jim.
Philip Evans was straight out and impatiently barked, “it’s clear, nothing but the death sentence will do!” After seeing his wife glowering angrily at him he prudently added, “well, I guess I’m also open to alternatives!”
Michael had had enough of all this talk about death sentence and it made him sick to his stomach. He looked at Max and saw that he too had a hard time dealing with it. Impulsively he blurted out “I’m against the death sentence. I had to kill Pierce in self-defence, it was him or us, and even though I know that I had no other choice I still have nightmares about it. So, no death sentence, absolutely no!”
That was the moment Amy had been waiting for, for someone to just come out and talk about their feelings, not the laws and she jumped right in with both feet first. “Thank you Michael, and you too Jim! Earlier we…” she pointed at Nancy, Diane and Kathy in turn and passionately continued, “talked about it and we all are against it.” “Amy, let the others speak for themselves!” Phil interrupted. But Amy DeLuca let no man tell her what to do, “WE talked about it and WE all agreed. WE too are against the death sentence. Everything else WE will discuss when we all start to talk about the details.”
When Philip opened his mouth again to interrupt, she just talked louder and explained, “yes, you’re right, they all can say their piece, but this way we don’t have to go over the same thing again and again and again.” Staring pointedly at her adversary she asked point-blank “anything against that, Mr. Evans?” Philip realised that Amy was on the warpath and calling him by his last name was her way of telling him that everything had been said that need to be said. He admitted defeat and surrendered.
“Okay, we also have come up with a few ideas that we can work with, nasty, nasty alternatives to the death sentence!” was Amy’s final comment and her friends, new and old all nodded in agreement.
”Oh, God, the ladies are on the loose!” Jeff mumbled, but could be heard by the others who snickered. Out loud he said, “I tend to agree with the women. I’m still a hippy at heart and…” “You don’t expect us to embrace them and love them, you know, make love not war?” Johnny threw in. This got Jeff of track and he stuttered, “what, no, no, I’m not that stupid, I just don’t agree with all this talk of death sentence, that’s all. Anyway, the way I see it, if our women have their say, those bastards might be begging for death before too long!”
Seeing the devious looks on Maria and Liz’s faces he added “and by the looks of it, the next generation of cunning and deviously minded women is in the making, right Maria?”
”Oh, absolutely, Jeff!” Maria agreed, and Liz continued, “after all we have some fine specimen of females as role models, don’t you agree?” Isabelle didn’t want to be left out and jumped on the bandwagon “you want devious? We can give devious anytime you like!” All three teen girls looked conspiringly at each other and nodded in unison.
”Oh, Buddha help me!” this call for help came from Kyle. Obviously the help came fast because immediately he added “I’m with our girls here, you want devious, they’ve got it!”
Cal felt the need to bring in his vote and stated “at first I was for the death sentence as is our law, but now, listening to these fine women, I have to change my opinion and I say no to the death sentence, but yes to our deviously minded women.” Seeing all the shocked looks coming his way he defended himself “what? Can’t a man change his mind and go with the better alternative?” trying to direct the heat of all those stares somewhere else Cal surprised Riverdog by respectfully addressing him directly “Sir, what do you say?”
”Hmmm!” Riverdog took his sweet time to answer, “in the old days my fathers and forefathers were a bloodthirsty lot. Their enemies were tortured to death and in moments like these, I almost wish I could be the same way. But I’m not. I’m a peace loving man. I respect all things living and strongly believe that one shouldn’t harm the others. In this case, the four accused have committed grave crimes against other living souls and they have to be punished. I say I go with the women’s verdict!” Beside him, Eddy and Serena nodded their agreement!
Nicholas Crawford had been sitting on the round table along everybody else, but he had been so quiet, they almost forgot about him. After a short debate with himself, Max decided to get his opinion too. With shock evident in his face and voice Nicholas replied “whatever the majority decides will be fair but I tend to side with the ladies! Thank you for asking me, Max.”
After everybody had had their say, Max turned to his queen and asked for her input. Liz voiced her opinion seriously “true, you could end their reign of death and terror with death, that would be poetic justice, I guess. But that also means that your first official action will be to sign those death sentences. I don’t think you’d want that, and neither do I, that’s why I say no to the death sentence.”
Everybody could see just how relieved Max was when he addressed the whole group. “All right, let me recapitulate, if we come up with a fair punishment, we all agree to refrain from the death sentence, that’s right, isn’t it?”
*~~*~~*
The guilty four were still in the same spot in the Granolith chamber they had been left at. Avidly they followed the discussion on the round table. They weren’t too surprised to hear the leaders demand their death sentence.
Tess wasn’t surprised to hear Jim vote against it. What surprised her a lot was that all the members of the original group were against it too. When she heard Amy give her passionate speech, she realised just how stupid those humans were. There was no punishment that she couldn’t get out of, and they would just realise it much too late. They forgot her mindwarping ability, just because this room was power proofed didn’t mean that she’d never again be able to use her talents. ‘Stupid humans’ she smirked…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Planning and plotting, plotting and planning
After the official acceptance of refraining from the death sentence, everybody started to sit more comfortably. “So, what are we talking about now?” Brody asked of no one in particular. “Yes, I too think it would be good if we had something to work with!” Johnny added, while Phil and the leaders nodded their approval and waited.
Maria was the first one to respond “earlier Liz said we should be creative and try to get them where it hurts them the most, you know, not necessarily physically but in their pride.” Seeing Liz’s encouraging nod she continued “so, I’ve been asking myself what do they like, because we want to avoid that. Next question was, what do they hate? What are they afraid of?”
Seeing she had everybody’s attention, Maria elaborated “we know Nacedo and Tess both hate earth and us lowly humans. From what he said, Khivar and that other guy both hate the ‘lowly’ people of Antar” and then grinning broadly around the table she stated “I think we can work with that, don’t you think?”
Sero couldn’t stop himself and he burst out laughing “Maria, I like your way of thinking. Oh, yes, they will be very sorry before too long!” After a moment, he gleefully added “I can imagine Khivar and Ronar working in the mines!” after another bout of laughter he mused “oh boy, can I ever picture them working in the mines!”
Sero’s outburst inspired the others, and before long, they all had deviously sparkling eyes. Johnny soon recognized that the situation might become too unruly to handle and he asked, “why don’t we do some brainstorming now, and after we have nothing more to add, we’ll see what we’ve come up with and finalise the verdicts?”
Everybody gave their ok, and they jumped into action with gusto! Jeff offered a “Maria, I really like your imagination, its awesome! I’d like to add that this Khivar guy seems very preoccupied with appearances, so maybe we can do something about that.” Amy threw in “Jeff, what a marvellous idea!” and added the next question “Max, didn’t Gramps say something like he needed something to keep up his outdated looks?” “Gandarium?” Max put in and Amy agreed “yeah, exactly that!”
Nancy could picture the creep in her mind's eye and got all excited “the mines sound good, but he should serve the mine-workers, actually they all should serve the less fortunate” “How about Tess, she could work in an psychiatric ward?” Michael spoke up and explained “if she thinks the so called normal people are beneath her, I think she might really appreciate that!” Isabelle demurred “that sounds very good, but only if she can’t hurt the patience there!”
Offended Michael burst out “of course, I didn’t mean anything like that, you know?” Trying to calm her fried’s ruffled feathers Isabelle offered “I didn’t meant to imply anything of this sort, Michael. I know you don’t hurt anybody, in fact we all know that. I just thought we have to be sure that they can’t hurt anybody else.” Michael nodded his acceptance of her apology and the discussion continued.
Suddenly Larek remember something and informed the group “I just seem to recall that Ronar hates animals, at least anything that smells badly, crawls or is slimy. He thinks they’re dirty. Do you think we could do something with that?”
“Are you seriously asking us that?” Diane asked incredulously. Kathy, very unladylike threw in “boy, can we ever!” and Amy said, “well, do you have pigs on Antar? Or at least something like it?” after seeing Larek’ nod she added “well, then, don’t pigsties need to be cleaned?” “Yes! And when he isn’t cleaning them he can go and help the homeless!” Kathy gave her opinion passionately.
By now Hanar and Kathana understood exactly what was going on and didn’t want to be left out. Hanar evilly grinned at her royal friend and suggested “in our Galaxy we have a small moon that is inhabited by…” “Ohhh, ohhh, you’re evil, really, really evil!” Kathana laughed and joined the discussion “you’re talking about the schneggs, aren’t you?”
Larek and Sero burst out laughing along with the two queens. Th’ikla was shocked at first that Hanar and Kathana would even think of that, because to take care of those schneggs was worse then anything imaginable. After a moment he too burst out laughing, talk about being fair and just! Khivar himself had banished countless people to that moon to take care of those schnegg farms. As disgusting as they looked, as delicious was their meat. And Khivar liked that meat. Since they were relatively rare and very difficult to raise, only Khivar and a few chosen ones were allowed to eat them. Ha, those bastards wouldn’t know what hit them!
Nicholas noticed the confusion on the human group and laughingly explained, “think snails, you know the brown ones without the little houses on their back. But they are about as big as dog, a big, big dog. If you think your snails on earth are gross, you haven’t seen anything!”
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
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enjoy...
43. The verdicts, 08/13/2000, Sunday 8.00 am Earth-time
The good citizens of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy were in deep shock! Scratch that, they were in deep shock, but at the same time they felt, for the very first time in decades, hope bubbling to the surface.
This was the strangest transmission by far that they had ever received and it was very difficult for them to understand it all. But Khivar’s end seemed to be approaching fast. The strangest thing about it was that the people responsible for all of this were strangers.
Of course, everybody knew all the leaders of the five planets in the Whirlwind Galaxy, but then there was this young person, with the outlandish clothes, standing with King Larek. He seemed to be very familiar with Larek, King of Kias and the other leaders accepted and trusted him. It was also strange, that on several occasions the young one had been called Zan, when everybody in the Galaxy knew that King Zan had been killed at a very young age.
After a while they noticed that the young one was also called Max, strange name that! Two more people were addressed with names of their beloved, but deceased, royals; well, technically only Princes Vilandra was royal, but General Rath was the King’s second in command and engaged to Princess Vilandra. That surely counted for something, didn’t it?
And then, a whole group of strangely dresses people walked up to stand with the three young ones. And even stranger was that the leaders seemed to accept them too, let the new group stand with them. Things like this just weren’t happening on Antar, at least not when Khivar was around.
What really, really shocked every last one of the watchers was when the little General crossed from Khivar’s side to the young man’s, bowed and surrendered. Only the older people remembered him. Remembered that as a child he had been one of their own until Khivar discovered and corrupted him. After that, he had been doing Khivar’s work on a place called Earth, at least that was the rumor. Of course every once in a while he would show up on Antar and Khivar would give big parties in his honor, but then he would disappear again, presumably to Earth.
The moment the little General surrendered brought home to the watchers that all this was indeed real, was very serious and very possibly life altering for them all. At that moment, many prayers were said, prayers to The Mother of All Things and even to Granolith. Khivar had forbid them both and the Granolith was even used to subdue the common folks.
The watchers of the transmission had different reactions to it. Some were feeling lost and wondered what new perils would befall them after Khivar’s demise. After all, wasn’t it better to have the devil you knew than one that nobody knew?
Others were willing to wait and see, give this new future a chance; after all, sometimes things could only get better, right?
And then there were the more optimistic ones that were openly gloating and put their hopes on the strangely dressed females. It seemed that they weren’t afraid to speak their minds, even in front of all the leaders of the Galaxy. And even though Khivar deserved to die, the hopeful group thought it a positive sign if the new leaders were trying to find another way of punishment than death. They thought that the form of punishment would show what kind of new leaders would rule over Antar.
When the hopeful group of watchers heard the mentioning of the dreaded schneggs (gross, ewww) they burst out laughing. It was true, the outspoken women had started this strange way of finding a punishment according to their crimes, but to their surprise all the leaders had been willing to go along and see where it would lead them.
To the shock of the inhabitants of the Whirlwind Galaxy, it had been their two very proper Queens that came up with the perfect plan. And now, everybody hoped that it would be accepted for the General and even more so for Khivar. Ha, Khivar and Ronar with the schneggs, what a thoroughly delightful picture that made…
They weren’t too concerned with the other two, they were unknowns, the woman with the yellow hair had been seen a few times with Khivar, but nobody really knew anything about her. She had to be a bad person too, otherwise she wouldn’t have consorted with the dictator.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Maria was almost ready to faint; hearing about those schneggs would do that to any unsuspecting girl, wouldn’t it? Before she started to hyperventilate, she let those pictures pass her imagination, Khivar and Ronar with the schneggs, and she forgot to feel faint, instead she burst out laughing. Her mom caught on immediately and soon those two were laughing tears. In fact to observe those two was so catching that soon everybody sitting around the table was cracking up, laughing tears.
When the laughter died down to the occasional hiccup or sniffle they all looked at each other and nodded, yes, indeed, they could work out fabulous punishments with those schneggs. Khivar and Ronar wouldn’t know what hit them.
Now all they had to think about was what to do with Tess and Nacedo. Liz spoke up and said, “since Nacedo and Tess’ crimes mostly happened on earth, I think they should work off their punishments there too?” She looked around the table to see what the others thought and added “Michael’s idea of a ‘psychiatric ward’ sounds very good, what do you say?”
Smiling, Nancy jumped in and agreed “Liz is right, that seems to be fitting, but only if they get to work in the cleaning department.” Amy, still laughing, added “…and only in a closed off high security ward!”
Max looked around the table, taking special care to have eye contact with each and everyone. He wanted to see their reactions to this brainstorming. When he looked at the Whitmans, who still held Zander in their arms, he stopped and inquired “Claire, Charles what do you think. You have the right to accept or refute this punishment. Or if you wish you can change it or add to it. Please, let me know your thoughts on it?”
So far the two of them had been quietly following this brainstorming and had agreed with it. True, those were unusual sentences, but than again, those were unusual criminals. Khivar and Ronar probably wouldn’t have survived very long in the mines. Either the hard work or their co-miners would’ve killed them soon. On that planet, with those schneggs, well there they would be able to enjoy a long life and grow old.
As for Tess and that Nacedo man, yes, a psychiatric ward seemed to be the perfect place. They could just imagine Alex seeing the justice in it. He would surely see the irony of those two, who thought themselves better than mere humans, having to clean up after the least fortunate of mankind.
After silently nodding at each other, Charles spoke up, “thank you for asking, Max. We just wanted to say that we couldn’t really pass judgement on Khivar and Ronar. After all, the people they hurt are on another planet and of course the three of you here on earth. But if we can say anything to that, than yes, we think the schneggs are very fine idea, very fine indeed.”
Charles stopped for a moment to collect himself and then continued “as for Tess and Nacedo, well... they are the reason our son is dead, that’s why we are glad to have a say in what happens with them. Since they can’t be put into prison for obvious reasons, we agree, Michael’s idea is very good, but I don’t want them to ever come out of there again.” After seeing everybody nod in agreement he chuckled sadly and said, “you know, we’re sure that Alex would approve, he’d see the irony of it. Those two who think they’re so much better than us measly humans end up working in a psychiatric institution.”
Listening to Charles’ speech had Isabelle in tears. She cried for her first love that she had lost so tragically and duplicitously. She cried for all the opportunities to get to know Alex better that she had wasted. Sadly smiling she looked at the Whitmans and simply said, “I agree with you, Alex would appreciate the irony of it.” After sniffling a few more times she added “but I think they have to stay in there until they die.” And with a steely glint in her eyes she added “no parole for them!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Guilty as charged, 08/13/2000, Sunday 9.30 am Earth-time
After everybody had given their vote and the punishments were accepted unanimously, they adjourned back to the Granolith chamber where the prisoners awaited their verdicts. The four of them were sitting on a bench, quietly talking amongst themselves. As soon as they saw Max and his entourage return, they looked at them mutinously and waited for what was to come next.
Philip, having been in many court sessions, saw their show of disrespect and called them on it. He marched over to the accused ones and ordered, “rise for the hearing of your verdicts!” After seeing Phil’s serious mien, the four of them reluctantly rose to stand in front of their jurors.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Verdicts…
After everybody arrived in the chamber, Max, looking very serious, addressed the accused ones “Since the four of you have hurt most of us in one way or another, we all sat down together and discussed your punishments. This is what we all have agreed on unanimously.”
Khivar
Max stepped in front of Khivar and stated, “Khivar, what makes your crimes even worse is the fact that you are of royal blood, in fact you were first grade cousin to King Zan, and even your illegitimate status didn’t change that. Khivar, we have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy, against the people of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy. We also found you guilty of crimes committed by your command on Earth. Hereby we sentence you to live on the little moon, taking care of the schneggs!”
Khivar turned positively green at hearing this verdict and he cried “what? You can’t do that! I’m King of Antar; I deserve a punishment fit for a King! Also, I’m not admitting anything, but those crimes you charge me with are punished by a public death! I deserve to keep my dignity and the respect of my people!”
Coldly Max eyed Khivar and sneered, “you deserve as much respect and dignity you granted the Antarians, and that’s what we are giving you! This sentence can’t be challenged!”
*~~*~~*
Ronar
Next Max addressed Khivar’s General “Ronar, you started your military career in the Royal Army of Antar under the command of General Rath. You swore to protect Antar's people and the Royal Family. You failed in both. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy, against the people of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy. Hereby we sentence you to live on the little moon, taking care of the schneggs with Khivar!”
Ronar’s reaction was similar to Khivar, but he soon realised that no begging would get him off the hook. After he had calmed down he realised that they all still had their powers and as soon as they were out of this chamber they could use them to free themselves. This realisation lightened his mood considerably and he was hard pressed not to smirk.
*~~*~~*
Nacedo
It was difficult for Max to address Nacedo. True they hadn’t been friends, but he had come to Roswell under false pretence and knowing well enough that Max, Isabelle and Michael had had no idea of their background, Nacedo had misused this situation and lied to the teens.
Max approached Nacedo and stated “Nacedo, you came to us and tricked us, lied to us and were prepared to hand us over to our archenemy. You used our trust and our hopes we had in you to manipulate us and betray us. You were party to kill our good and trusted friend Alex. We also know you killed countless other humans. You used your mindwarp ability against all of us. Nacedo, you started your military career with the Royal Guard of Antar under the command of General Rath. You swore to protect the Royal Family. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and of killing countless humans and our friend Alex Whitman. Nacedo, we sentence you to a life in the high security ward of a psychiatric clinic.”
Nacedo remembered his powers a lot sooner than Ronar, but he decided to play it down. After all, it wouldn’t do to tip off those bumbling idiots. ‘Psychiatric ward, and not just any ward, no it had to be a high security one. Well, let them think they won’ Nacedo allowed himself a very small smirk, because he just couldn’t contain himself any longer.
*~~*~~*
Tess
When Max finally reached Tess he felt his anger spike to new heights. “Tess, you came to us and tricked us, befriended us under false pretence, lied to us and were prepared to hand us over to our archenemy. You used our trust and our hopes we had in you to manipulate us and betray us. You were party to kill our good and trusted friend Alex and before you did that, you raped him. You took his baby to Antar, trying to put him on the throne. You used your mindwarp ability against all of us. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and of killing our friend Alex Whitman. Tess, we sentence you to a life in the high security ward of a psychiatric clinic.”
Tess was shocked, had they all gone crazy? Where was the sweet, shy Max when you needed him? But when she heard her sentence she accidentally blurted out “you really think you can keep us in a place like that?”
”Whatever are you talking about Tess?” Max inquired naively and as an afterthought he added, “oh, you mean your powers, I see! Well I thought since you always told us that I was the King and the others had to obey me, I could just order you not to use them!” This had Tess laughing along with Khivar and Ronar, Nacedo wasn’t quite sure what to make of this, but thought that Max had always been quite gullible, so he started to smirk and along with the other three and he agreed “right Max, you do that!”
Max too agreed “good, good” and then he started to hesitate, “well, I don’t know, maybe we should just take your powers away, what do you say, Michael?” Michael gave this problem some thought and then agreed “sure Max, whatever you say, take them away, sounds good to me.”
Khivar started to grow inpatient and informed Max “you can’t take our powers away, you don’t know how.” smirking he went on “so, Max, I guess you just have to order us, don’t you?”
Suddenly Max’s naïve demeanour fell away and he became cold and very distanced, commanding everybody’s attention “You’re right, I can’t take away your powers, but the Granolith can and will! You all have heard your sentences, now live with it. Within the next hour you all will be moved to your new living quarters. But first the Granolith will verify these sentences and accept them, after that he will take your powers away. That’s all we have to say, this court is adjourned.”
”Now I know you’re making this up. The Granolith never speaks with anybody but his keeper and you don’t have one, do you?” Khivar gloated, he was sure that Max was just bragging, after all no one really knew about the workings of that cone.
”Actually, you’ve got it all wrong, Khivar,” a deep voice demanding everybody’s attention spoke and added “I was just dormant for the last decades. The Mother of All Things herself made sure I was out of commission.”
”Who the hell is that?” Khivar asked, as he couldn’t see anybody talking. “If you’re trying to scare us you don’t succeed with such a ridiculous plot.” By the end of his statement his voice was slightly unsteady.
”You know exactly who I am, Khivar. I am the Granolith, the Goddesses gift to her people.” The cone instructed the four prisoners and added “I have always worked closely with the rulers of the House of Antar and Max is no exception to that. And for your information, I have chosen my keeper. Liz Parker, Max’s chosen Queen, is my keeper.”
”Whaaat?” Tess’ screeching was almost deafening. Pointing her hands toward Liz, Tess tried to blast her, forgetting in her anger that her powers weren’t working. “You bitch, you took everything from me, everything that was mine, everything that I wanted! How dare you steal from me, Queen Ava of Antar!”
”Enough!” the Granolith’s angry voice roared, “you never were Queen of Antar, all you were was Zan’s bride. You never had any title, after all, you and Khivar forced the marriage on Zan!” He continued on a quieter note and said “Max chose Liz as his queen, I accepted that choice and I chose her as my keeper.”
Max spoke up again deciding, “alright, that’s enough, you have heard your verdict. The verdict has been agreed upon by the Granolith, the rulers of the Whirlwind Galaxy, the Whitmans who lost their son and by my family and friends who have suffered at your hands!” he turned to the Granolith and said “Granolith, I think the time has come for you to take their powers and then to bring them to their new lodgings!”
Gramps agreed ”alright, Max, but I think before I do that, I should officially recognise you as the new ruler of Antar…” Max was shocked and whispered “what? I’m not ready, I can’t be King!” With a calming voice the Granolith soothed “don’t worry, you will grow into your role. You also have many helpers. Larek King of Kias, Sero King of Ta’Sero, Kathana Queen of Quixca, Hanar Queen of Karona and General Th’ikla are all prepared to help and teach you anyway they can. Your human family and friends too will stand by you and help prepare for the time when Earth has to be approached.”
As the Granolith stopped in his explanations, Larek moved in front of Max and with a wave of his hand his casual clothes changed into the traditional attire of Kias. With a twinkle in his eyes he looked at his cousin and smirked “remember, I told you that for you I would dress in our official costume?” Max nodded dumbly and stared at his friend as he bowed deeply, showing his respect and simply stated “Max, my King” then Larek straightened and embraced the flabbergasted young man, next he moved in front of Liz and bowing deeply said “Liz, my Queen.” Shocked Liz looked from Larek to Max and fainted. Jim, who stood right behind her, caught the young woman before she hit the ground.
Sero, who had just started to pay his reverence to Max, was at a loss, never had he witnesses a queen faint in such an important moment. Max, who was abruptly coming out of his shock at seeing Liz swoon, didn’t realise Sero’s intent and turned to his sweetheart. Taking Liz from Jim’s hold, Max let his hand run over her, making sure that she and the babies were all right.
When Max’s hand moved over Liz’s stomach, a connection was formed between the expectant parents and the babies and a blinding light erupted to encompass them all. The Granolith too started to light up in all his swirling colours and soon they reached the light surrounding the little family. The light and the colours swirled together and moved above the young couple only to form the royal seal of Antar. It was done for all to see, that the new King and Queen of Antar had just been accepted by the Granolith, and all of the Whirlwind Galaxy had witnessed this event on their transmitters.
The first thing Liz realised when she came to her senses was, she was lying on the floor and was held by Max. The second thing was, everybody was staring at them in open-mouthed shock and the third thing she noticed were Maria and Amy DeLuca sniffing their lifesavers in harmony. Before Liz could do much more than collect her thoughts on what had happened, Sero bowed deeply in front of them and simply said “Max, my King” then he turned toward herself and more prudently added “Liz, don’t faint again.” After giving Liz a moment to pull herself together, Sero pushed forward and bowing again said, “my Queen.” Hanar, Kathana and General Th’ikla followed.
After the General had paid his respects, the Granolith proclaimed, “it is done, Antar has its rightful royal family again. May the Goddess of All Things bless your reign and guide and protect you, your Majesties!” After a moment he added “on this day, the prophecy had come to pass, it is a great and happy day indeed for Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy!”
”Yeah, and tomorrow we go back to school,” Michael mumbled under his breath and promptly Maria smacked him on the head! This action loosened the seriousness of the moment and everybody moved in on Max and Liz, hugging and kissing them.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Little Moon, Schnegg station
After recovering from the shock of seeing the young pup become king, thus taking his place, Khivar felt this intense pain move from his head down his backbone and back up again. The moment the pain was gone, he knew that that wasn’t all that was missing, his powers were gone too. He saw the same thing happen to Ronar, Nacedo and Tess. The next thing he noticed was, he was being thrown around and after a moment he landed softly on something, something slippery and slimy and smelly. Ronar landed right beside him and both of them had a hard time standing up. When he got his bearing back, Khivar cried “why, why me? I was a good king, everybody was happy working for me, I don’t deserve this!”
As they tried to walk away from their landing spot to the hovel in front of them, they found themselves knee-deep in schnegg-slime. After looking down on himself, Khivar saw that all his beautiful finery was covered with this puce colord slime. Afraid of what he would find he carefully touched his hair and that was all it took, he started to cry bitter tears of the injustice of it all.
*~~*~~*
Ronar cursed the day he had met Khivar, the seducing devil incarnate that he was. After all, he had been a good general, done his king’s bidding. He didn’t deserve this harsh punishment. He wasn’t just a good general; no he was a good person too. Hadn’t he always made sure that the poor had enough work to keep on the right way, making sure they wouldn’t stray. He most definitely didn’t deserve this. But when he looked at Khivar he realised something. They were both in the same boat. No more king and his underling, no, now they were both equals and that gave him the freedom to laugh out loud as Khivar started to bemoan his ruined finery. Right in that moment Ronar decided that Khivar would be on his own, that he had to do his own shovelling of this disgusting slime. Suddenly he knew that he was much better equipped for what lay ahead of them than Khivar, who had always been a spoiled brat. Now he figured that as bad as this situation was, at least he would get some enjoyment out of it…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
High security ward
Nacedo and Tess landed on hard padded beds in a dormitory with ten beds. As soon as they had recovered from their fall, they looked around and saw some barred windows and the sun was starting to shine through them. Soon one after the other of the inmates began to move and wake up. Tess was in deep shock, how could things have gone this wrong? After all she was the best, the smartest; nobody outsmarted her. And now this, how could she get out of it? Maybe if she killed somebody they would transfer her to a prison and on the way she could make her escape? Suddenly she had the worst headache imaginable, and she had never had any kind of physical pain so far. What the hell was wrong? “Wrong thoughts, Tess!” that voice that boomed through her head made her jump in terror. She remembered that voice it was the Granolith! Filled with foreboding she turned to Nacedo and asked, “what do we do now?”
”Nothing and pray for an early death!” was Nacedo’s cryptic answer. Filled with apprehension he realised that that was really their only way out this place and he began to pray…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Granolith Chamber
Everybody stood there in shock, staring at the spot where the traitors had stood. They were there, and then they were gone, just like that! Confused they looked at each other and then, suddenly hearing noises, they looked around the chamber.
On the back wall were three active screens, one showed the reaction on Antar, on the place in front of the royal palace. People arrived from everywhere, chanting and shouting, being giddy with happiness and hope.
The next screen showed Khivar and Ronar’s landing on the little moon. At first they all were startled, but then they realised exactly what they were seeing and they started to laugh. Khivar in schnegg-slime was just too funny.
The last screen showed Tess and Nacedo. A more depressing place to find would be very difficult indeed, if not impossible. Isabelle’s first reaction was sadness, she remembered just how happy she had been when she discovered that Tess had been one of them. But that was only for a fleeting moment, then she looked at all the pain Tess had brought to all her friends, and Isabelle was glad that the devil was put away and couldn’t get out…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
43. The verdicts, 08/13/2000, Sunday 8.00 am Earth-time
The good citizens of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy were in deep shock! Scratch that, they were in deep shock, but at the same time they felt, for the very first time in decades, hope bubbling to the surface.
This was the strangest transmission by far that they had ever received and it was very difficult for them to understand it all. But Khivar’s end seemed to be approaching fast. The strangest thing about it was that the people responsible for all of this were strangers.
Of course, everybody knew all the leaders of the five planets in the Whirlwind Galaxy, but then there was this young person, with the outlandish clothes, standing with King Larek. He seemed to be very familiar with Larek, King of Kias and the other leaders accepted and trusted him. It was also strange, that on several occasions the young one had been called Zan, when everybody in the Galaxy knew that King Zan had been killed at a very young age.
After a while they noticed that the young one was also called Max, strange name that! Two more people were addressed with names of their beloved, but deceased, royals; well, technically only Princes Vilandra was royal, but General Rath was the King’s second in command and engaged to Princess Vilandra. That surely counted for something, didn’t it?
And then, a whole group of strangely dresses people walked up to stand with the three young ones. And even stranger was that the leaders seemed to accept them too, let the new group stand with them. Things like this just weren’t happening on Antar, at least not when Khivar was around.
What really, really shocked every last one of the watchers was when the little General crossed from Khivar’s side to the young man’s, bowed and surrendered. Only the older people remembered him. Remembered that as a child he had been one of their own until Khivar discovered and corrupted him. After that, he had been doing Khivar’s work on a place called Earth, at least that was the rumor. Of course every once in a while he would show up on Antar and Khivar would give big parties in his honor, but then he would disappear again, presumably to Earth.
The moment the little General surrendered brought home to the watchers that all this was indeed real, was very serious and very possibly life altering for them all. At that moment, many prayers were said, prayers to The Mother of All Things and even to Granolith. Khivar had forbid them both and the Granolith was even used to subdue the common folks.
The watchers of the transmission had different reactions to it. Some were feeling lost and wondered what new perils would befall them after Khivar’s demise. After all, wasn’t it better to have the devil you knew than one that nobody knew?
Others were willing to wait and see, give this new future a chance; after all, sometimes things could only get better, right?
And then there were the more optimistic ones that were openly gloating and put their hopes on the strangely dressed females. It seemed that they weren’t afraid to speak their minds, even in front of all the leaders of the Galaxy. And even though Khivar deserved to die, the hopeful group thought it a positive sign if the new leaders were trying to find another way of punishment than death. They thought that the form of punishment would show what kind of new leaders would rule over Antar.
When the hopeful group of watchers heard the mentioning of the dreaded schneggs (gross, ewww) they burst out laughing. It was true, the outspoken women had started this strange way of finding a punishment according to their crimes, but to their surprise all the leaders had been willing to go along and see where it would lead them.
To the shock of the inhabitants of the Whirlwind Galaxy, it had been their two very proper Queens that came up with the perfect plan. And now, everybody hoped that it would be accepted for the General and even more so for Khivar. Ha, Khivar and Ronar with the schneggs, what a thoroughly delightful picture that made…
They weren’t too concerned with the other two, they were unknowns, the woman with the yellow hair had been seen a few times with Khivar, but nobody really knew anything about her. She had to be a bad person too, otherwise she wouldn’t have consorted with the dictator.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Maria was almost ready to faint; hearing about those schneggs would do that to any unsuspecting girl, wouldn’t it? Before she started to hyperventilate, she let those pictures pass her imagination, Khivar and Ronar with the schneggs, and she forgot to feel faint, instead she burst out laughing. Her mom caught on immediately and soon those two were laughing tears. In fact to observe those two was so catching that soon everybody sitting around the table was cracking up, laughing tears.
When the laughter died down to the occasional hiccup or sniffle they all looked at each other and nodded, yes, indeed, they could work out fabulous punishments with those schneggs. Khivar and Ronar wouldn’t know what hit them.
Now all they had to think about was what to do with Tess and Nacedo. Liz spoke up and said, “since Nacedo and Tess’ crimes mostly happened on earth, I think they should work off their punishments there too?” She looked around the table to see what the others thought and added “Michael’s idea of a ‘psychiatric ward’ sounds very good, what do you say?”
Smiling, Nancy jumped in and agreed “Liz is right, that seems to be fitting, but only if they get to work in the cleaning department.” Amy, still laughing, added “…and only in a closed off high security ward!”
Max looked around the table, taking special care to have eye contact with each and everyone. He wanted to see their reactions to this brainstorming. When he looked at the Whitmans, who still held Zander in their arms, he stopped and inquired “Claire, Charles what do you think. You have the right to accept or refute this punishment. Or if you wish you can change it or add to it. Please, let me know your thoughts on it?”
So far the two of them had been quietly following this brainstorming and had agreed with it. True, those were unusual sentences, but than again, those were unusual criminals. Khivar and Ronar probably wouldn’t have survived very long in the mines. Either the hard work or their co-miners would’ve killed them soon. On that planet, with those schneggs, well there they would be able to enjoy a long life and grow old.
As for Tess and that Nacedo man, yes, a psychiatric ward seemed to be the perfect place. They could just imagine Alex seeing the justice in it. He would surely see the irony of those two, who thought themselves better than mere humans, having to clean up after the least fortunate of mankind.
After silently nodding at each other, Charles spoke up, “thank you for asking, Max. We just wanted to say that we couldn’t really pass judgement on Khivar and Ronar. After all, the people they hurt are on another planet and of course the three of you here on earth. But if we can say anything to that, than yes, we think the schneggs are very fine idea, very fine indeed.”
Charles stopped for a moment to collect himself and then continued “as for Tess and Nacedo, well... they are the reason our son is dead, that’s why we are glad to have a say in what happens with them. Since they can’t be put into prison for obvious reasons, we agree, Michael’s idea is very good, but I don’t want them to ever come out of there again.” After seeing everybody nod in agreement he chuckled sadly and said, “you know, we’re sure that Alex would approve, he’d see the irony of it. Those two who think they’re so much better than us measly humans end up working in a psychiatric institution.”
Listening to Charles’ speech had Isabelle in tears. She cried for her first love that she had lost so tragically and duplicitously. She cried for all the opportunities to get to know Alex better that she had wasted. Sadly smiling she looked at the Whitmans and simply said, “I agree with you, Alex would appreciate the irony of it.” After sniffling a few more times she added “but I think they have to stay in there until they die.” And with a steely glint in her eyes she added “no parole for them!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Guilty as charged, 08/13/2000, Sunday 9.30 am Earth-time
After everybody had given their vote and the punishments were accepted unanimously, they adjourned back to the Granolith chamber where the prisoners awaited their verdicts. The four of them were sitting on a bench, quietly talking amongst themselves. As soon as they saw Max and his entourage return, they looked at them mutinously and waited for what was to come next.
Philip, having been in many court sessions, saw their show of disrespect and called them on it. He marched over to the accused ones and ordered, “rise for the hearing of your verdicts!” After seeing Phil’s serious mien, the four of them reluctantly rose to stand in front of their jurors.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Verdicts…
After everybody arrived in the chamber, Max, looking very serious, addressed the accused ones “Since the four of you have hurt most of us in one way or another, we all sat down together and discussed your punishments. This is what we all have agreed on unanimously.”
Khivar
Max stepped in front of Khivar and stated, “Khivar, what makes your crimes even worse is the fact that you are of royal blood, in fact you were first grade cousin to King Zan, and even your illegitimate status didn’t change that. Khivar, we have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy, against the people of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy. We also found you guilty of crimes committed by your command on Earth. Hereby we sentence you to live on the little moon, taking care of the schneggs!”
Khivar turned positively green at hearing this verdict and he cried “what? You can’t do that! I’m King of Antar; I deserve a punishment fit for a King! Also, I’m not admitting anything, but those crimes you charge me with are punished by a public death! I deserve to keep my dignity and the respect of my people!”
Coldly Max eyed Khivar and sneered, “you deserve as much respect and dignity you granted the Antarians, and that’s what we are giving you! This sentence can’t be challenged!”
*~~*~~*
Ronar
Next Max addressed Khivar’s General “Ronar, you started your military career in the Royal Army of Antar under the command of General Rath. You swore to protect Antar's people and the Royal Family. You failed in both. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy, against the people of Antar, and the Whirlwind Galaxy. Hereby we sentence you to live on the little moon, taking care of the schneggs with Khivar!”
Ronar’s reaction was similar to Khivar, but he soon realised that no begging would get him off the hook. After he had calmed down he realised that they all still had their powers and as soon as they were out of this chamber they could use them to free themselves. This realisation lightened his mood considerably and he was hard pressed not to smirk.
*~~*~~*
Nacedo
It was difficult for Max to address Nacedo. True they hadn’t been friends, but he had come to Roswell under false pretence and knowing well enough that Max, Isabelle and Michael had had no idea of their background, Nacedo had misused this situation and lied to the teens.
Max approached Nacedo and stated “Nacedo, you came to us and tricked us, lied to us and were prepared to hand us over to our archenemy. You used our trust and our hopes we had in you to manipulate us and betray us. You were party to kill our good and trusted friend Alex. We also know you killed countless other humans. You used your mindwarp ability against all of us. Nacedo, you started your military career with the Royal Guard of Antar under the command of General Rath. You swore to protect the Royal Family. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and of killing countless humans and our friend Alex Whitman. Nacedo, we sentence you to a life in the high security ward of a psychiatric clinic.”
Nacedo remembered his powers a lot sooner than Ronar, but he decided to play it down. After all, it wouldn’t do to tip off those bumbling idiots. ‘Psychiatric ward, and not just any ward, no it had to be a high security one. Well, let them think they won’ Nacedo allowed himself a very small smirk, because he just couldn’t contain himself any longer.
*~~*~~*
Tess
When Max finally reached Tess he felt his anger spike to new heights. “Tess, you came to us and tricked us, befriended us under false pretence, lied to us and were prepared to hand us over to our archenemy. You used our trust and our hopes we had in you to manipulate us and betray us. You were party to kill our good and trusted friend Alex and before you did that, you raped him. You took his baby to Antar, trying to put him on the throne. You used your mindwarp ability against all of us. We have found you guilty of treason against the Crown of Antar, and of killing our friend Alex Whitman. Tess, we sentence you to a life in the high security ward of a psychiatric clinic.”
Tess was shocked, had they all gone crazy? Where was the sweet, shy Max when you needed him? But when she heard her sentence she accidentally blurted out “you really think you can keep us in a place like that?”
”Whatever are you talking about Tess?” Max inquired naively and as an afterthought he added, “oh, you mean your powers, I see! Well I thought since you always told us that I was the King and the others had to obey me, I could just order you not to use them!” This had Tess laughing along with Khivar and Ronar, Nacedo wasn’t quite sure what to make of this, but thought that Max had always been quite gullible, so he started to smirk and along with the other three and he agreed “right Max, you do that!”
Max too agreed “good, good” and then he started to hesitate, “well, I don’t know, maybe we should just take your powers away, what do you say, Michael?” Michael gave this problem some thought and then agreed “sure Max, whatever you say, take them away, sounds good to me.”
Khivar started to grow inpatient and informed Max “you can’t take our powers away, you don’t know how.” smirking he went on “so, Max, I guess you just have to order us, don’t you?”
Suddenly Max’s naïve demeanour fell away and he became cold and very distanced, commanding everybody’s attention “You’re right, I can’t take away your powers, but the Granolith can and will! You all have heard your sentences, now live with it. Within the next hour you all will be moved to your new living quarters. But first the Granolith will verify these sentences and accept them, after that he will take your powers away. That’s all we have to say, this court is adjourned.”
”Now I know you’re making this up. The Granolith never speaks with anybody but his keeper and you don’t have one, do you?” Khivar gloated, he was sure that Max was just bragging, after all no one really knew about the workings of that cone.
”Actually, you’ve got it all wrong, Khivar,” a deep voice demanding everybody’s attention spoke and added “I was just dormant for the last decades. The Mother of All Things herself made sure I was out of commission.”
”Who the hell is that?” Khivar asked, as he couldn’t see anybody talking. “If you’re trying to scare us you don’t succeed with such a ridiculous plot.” By the end of his statement his voice was slightly unsteady.
”You know exactly who I am, Khivar. I am the Granolith, the Goddesses gift to her people.” The cone instructed the four prisoners and added “I have always worked closely with the rulers of the House of Antar and Max is no exception to that. And for your information, I have chosen my keeper. Liz Parker, Max’s chosen Queen, is my keeper.”
”Whaaat?” Tess’ screeching was almost deafening. Pointing her hands toward Liz, Tess tried to blast her, forgetting in her anger that her powers weren’t working. “You bitch, you took everything from me, everything that was mine, everything that I wanted! How dare you steal from me, Queen Ava of Antar!”
”Enough!” the Granolith’s angry voice roared, “you never were Queen of Antar, all you were was Zan’s bride. You never had any title, after all, you and Khivar forced the marriage on Zan!” He continued on a quieter note and said “Max chose Liz as his queen, I accepted that choice and I chose her as my keeper.”
Max spoke up again deciding, “alright, that’s enough, you have heard your verdict. The verdict has been agreed upon by the Granolith, the rulers of the Whirlwind Galaxy, the Whitmans who lost their son and by my family and friends who have suffered at your hands!” he turned to the Granolith and said “Granolith, I think the time has come for you to take their powers and then to bring them to their new lodgings!”
Gramps agreed ”alright, Max, but I think before I do that, I should officially recognise you as the new ruler of Antar…” Max was shocked and whispered “what? I’m not ready, I can’t be King!” With a calming voice the Granolith soothed “don’t worry, you will grow into your role. You also have many helpers. Larek King of Kias, Sero King of Ta’Sero, Kathana Queen of Quixca, Hanar Queen of Karona and General Th’ikla are all prepared to help and teach you anyway they can. Your human family and friends too will stand by you and help prepare for the time when Earth has to be approached.”
As the Granolith stopped in his explanations, Larek moved in front of Max and with a wave of his hand his casual clothes changed into the traditional attire of Kias. With a twinkle in his eyes he looked at his cousin and smirked “remember, I told you that for you I would dress in our official costume?” Max nodded dumbly and stared at his friend as he bowed deeply, showing his respect and simply stated “Max, my King” then Larek straightened and embraced the flabbergasted young man, next he moved in front of Liz and bowing deeply said “Liz, my Queen.” Shocked Liz looked from Larek to Max and fainted. Jim, who stood right behind her, caught the young woman before she hit the ground.
Sero, who had just started to pay his reverence to Max, was at a loss, never had he witnesses a queen faint in such an important moment. Max, who was abruptly coming out of his shock at seeing Liz swoon, didn’t realise Sero’s intent and turned to his sweetheart. Taking Liz from Jim’s hold, Max let his hand run over her, making sure that she and the babies were all right.
When Max’s hand moved over Liz’s stomach, a connection was formed between the expectant parents and the babies and a blinding light erupted to encompass them all. The Granolith too started to light up in all his swirling colours and soon they reached the light surrounding the little family. The light and the colours swirled together and moved above the young couple only to form the royal seal of Antar. It was done for all to see, that the new King and Queen of Antar had just been accepted by the Granolith, and all of the Whirlwind Galaxy had witnessed this event on their transmitters.
The first thing Liz realised when she came to her senses was, she was lying on the floor and was held by Max. The second thing was, everybody was staring at them in open-mouthed shock and the third thing she noticed were Maria and Amy DeLuca sniffing their lifesavers in harmony. Before Liz could do much more than collect her thoughts on what had happened, Sero bowed deeply in front of them and simply said “Max, my King” then he turned toward herself and more prudently added “Liz, don’t faint again.” After giving Liz a moment to pull herself together, Sero pushed forward and bowing again said, “my Queen.” Hanar, Kathana and General Th’ikla followed.
After the General had paid his respects, the Granolith proclaimed, “it is done, Antar has its rightful royal family again. May the Goddess of All Things bless your reign and guide and protect you, your Majesties!” After a moment he added “on this day, the prophecy had come to pass, it is a great and happy day indeed for Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy!”
”Yeah, and tomorrow we go back to school,” Michael mumbled under his breath and promptly Maria smacked him on the head! This action loosened the seriousness of the moment and everybody moved in on Max and Liz, hugging and kissing them.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Little Moon, Schnegg station
After recovering from the shock of seeing the young pup become king, thus taking his place, Khivar felt this intense pain move from his head down his backbone and back up again. The moment the pain was gone, he knew that that wasn’t all that was missing, his powers were gone too. He saw the same thing happen to Ronar, Nacedo and Tess. The next thing he noticed was, he was being thrown around and after a moment he landed softly on something, something slippery and slimy and smelly. Ronar landed right beside him and both of them had a hard time standing up. When he got his bearing back, Khivar cried “why, why me? I was a good king, everybody was happy working for me, I don’t deserve this!”
As they tried to walk away from their landing spot to the hovel in front of them, they found themselves knee-deep in schnegg-slime. After looking down on himself, Khivar saw that all his beautiful finery was covered with this puce colord slime. Afraid of what he would find he carefully touched his hair and that was all it took, he started to cry bitter tears of the injustice of it all.
*~~*~~*
Ronar cursed the day he had met Khivar, the seducing devil incarnate that he was. After all, he had been a good general, done his king’s bidding. He didn’t deserve this harsh punishment. He wasn’t just a good general; no he was a good person too. Hadn’t he always made sure that the poor had enough work to keep on the right way, making sure they wouldn’t stray. He most definitely didn’t deserve this. But when he looked at Khivar he realised something. They were both in the same boat. No more king and his underling, no, now they were both equals and that gave him the freedom to laugh out loud as Khivar started to bemoan his ruined finery. Right in that moment Ronar decided that Khivar would be on his own, that he had to do his own shovelling of this disgusting slime. Suddenly he knew that he was much better equipped for what lay ahead of them than Khivar, who had always been a spoiled brat. Now he figured that as bad as this situation was, at least he would get some enjoyment out of it…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
High security ward
Nacedo and Tess landed on hard padded beds in a dormitory with ten beds. As soon as they had recovered from their fall, they looked around and saw some barred windows and the sun was starting to shine through them. Soon one after the other of the inmates began to move and wake up. Tess was in deep shock, how could things have gone this wrong? After all she was the best, the smartest; nobody outsmarted her. And now this, how could she get out of it? Maybe if she killed somebody they would transfer her to a prison and on the way she could make her escape? Suddenly she had the worst headache imaginable, and she had never had any kind of physical pain so far. What the hell was wrong? “Wrong thoughts, Tess!” that voice that boomed through her head made her jump in terror. She remembered that voice it was the Granolith! Filled with foreboding she turned to Nacedo and asked, “what do we do now?”
”Nothing and pray for an early death!” was Nacedo’s cryptic answer. Filled with apprehension he realised that that was really their only way out this place and he began to pray…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Granolith Chamber
Everybody stood there in shock, staring at the spot where the traitors had stood. They were there, and then they were gone, just like that! Confused they looked at each other and then, suddenly hearing noises, they looked around the chamber.
On the back wall were three active screens, one showed the reaction on Antar, on the place in front of the royal palace. People arrived from everywhere, chanting and shouting, being giddy with happiness and hope.
The next screen showed Khivar and Ronar’s landing on the little moon. At first they all were startled, but then they realised exactly what they were seeing and they started to laugh. Khivar in schnegg-slime was just too funny.
The last screen showed Tess and Nacedo. A more depressing place to find would be very difficult indeed, if not impossible. Isabelle’s first reaction was sadness, she remembered just how happy she had been when she discovered that Tess had been one of them. But that was only for a fleeting moment, then she looked at all the pain Tess had brought to all her friends, and Isabelle was glad that the devil was put away and couldn’t get out…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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corrected version...
44, What to do about Nicholas? 08/13/2000, Sunday 10.45 am Earth-time
Quiet reigned in the chamber after all the excitement had died down. Everybody, except Max and Liz, returned to the round table and sat down on their previous seats. The conversation was muted and the newer members of the ‘IKAA-Club’ used this moment to ask some questions that had been plaguing them. They knew that as soon as Max and Liz joined them, they would return to business. Nicholas had to be dealt with too.
At the moment Nicholas sat with the Whitmans, Leanne and Zander. Claire and Charles wanted to learn as much as possible about their sons last days.
*~~*~~*
Tell me…
Liz realised that Max was mulling over some big problem. In true Max fashion, he thought things through, looked at all the pros and cons and tried to come to a decision. She noticed that her man had a hard time to sort out his thoughts; too much was going on, demanding his attention, and when everything was said and done, Max was still just a teen. Liz also noticed that now there were more people wanting his opinions and expected him to lead. That was the reason for Liz to guide him away from the others, to give him a moment where he could just be himself and find his bearings.
They were sitting quietly in the ‘earth-half’ of the Granolith chamber near the still sleeping kids. When Max had first spotted them, he had been very surprised, but Liz had brought him up to date.
After giving Max a few more minutes, Liz inquired, “Max, tell me, please?” Coming out of his funk Max smiled briefly and explained his problems “you know I just don’t know how to deal with Nicholas. I mean, he supported Khivar in the revolution and he followed his orders here on earth.” As he paused for a moment to regroup his thoughts, Max saw Liz’s nod of encouragement and continued “but then there is this new and improved Nick who helped us bring Khivar down before he knew about the Granolith. Just as important is the fact that he helped Alex and protected Zander until he could bring the little one back to his family.”
”Go on,” Liz encouraged Max, “I can feel that you have thought about it hard, so just tell me, ok?” Smiling gratefully in response Max continued with his clarification “I know that some thought it strange that I had Nick sit with us at the round table, and even stranger when I asked his opinion, but I had a reason for that, you know.”
”Hmmm really? Then tell me!” Liz leaned into Max and waited for his explanation “mhmm, really,” he smiled and went on more seriously “well, from now on out, Nick is part of this group and I thought to start the same way I want to continue, with everybody as an equal…” “But what about his crimes, don’t they count for anything?” Liz interrupted.
”Sure they do, but I wasn’t finished, you know!” “Oh, ok!” she acceded seriously. “Ok, the reason I wanted his opinion on the punishments is quite simple actually. I thought that would be a good way to see just how committed he really is. I mean, from the severity of the sentences we deal to Khivar and co, he could deduce what is in store for him. I wanted to see, if Nick would try to diminish the verdicts.” He looked very intensely into Liz’s eyes, trying to convey his feeling on that thought.
And Liz did indeed understand Max’s reasoning; smilingly she clarified “ookayy, I get it!” The clearer the implications became, the more astonished Max and Liz were, until finally Max couldn’t contain himself any longer and voiced his thoughts, “wow, Alex must’ve put a trip on Nick, to have him so convinced that he can trust us so completely. I have a feeling that until then Nicholas had never really trusted anybody, at least not until Alex, wow!”
Thinking of the implications this new discovery brought, swamped Max momentarily and he was overwhelmed by it.
*~~*~~*
Finally Max and Liz joined the others, resuming their seats form before. All discussions around the table stopped and all eyes turned expectantly towards Max. **Here we go again** Max telepathed to Liz **who do you think is first to ask ‘what do we do now, Max?’** Liz grabbed his hand and put their joined hands on the table, openly showing her support. Before she could answer Max’s question, Isabelle spoke up, “what do we do now, Max?” The two were hard-pressed not to burst out laughing.
Looking directly at Nicholas, Max informed them “I don’t really know yet, but I think we have to deal with General Nicholas Crawford first.” Solemnly, Nick returned his look and nodding replied “Max, I know and I accept your decision!”
Max in turn acknowledged this answer with a slight nod of his own. When he looked around the table to see everybody’s reaction, he saw that everybody who had known Nicholas Crawford before this day was surprised by this new and improved Nick.
”OK, then let’s begin. Nick, can you tell me why you joined Khivar?” was Max’s opening question.
“Sure,” the little General replied and went on “my parents were good but dirt poor miners, meaning Khivar had men, women and even children working in the mines for practically nothing. Actually his policy was very simple, you want to eat, you work hard for it, no excuses and no exceptions! So as soon as you were out of your diapers you had to work for your food and you never got enough, not nearly enough. It was too little to live but too much to die!”
Remembering his earliest years, Nick got a faraway look in his eyes as he recounted his first meeting with Khivar. “We were always hungry, nobody had enough food, when one day when I was twelve, Khivar graced us with a visit. He wanted to see the mines. Anyway, when he was near me, his magnificent cape got stuck in a damper slot of the chimneys. No one dared to touch him, his guard was a few feet ahead of him and hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Of course, Khivar could’ve detangled himself quite easily, but he was much too important for that. He just stopped and waited for his aide to notice.”
Rolling his eyes to show what he thought of Khivar’s vanity, Nicholas added, “luckily at that moment my hands were clean, otherwise he would’ve probably killed me, because I dared to touch his cape to get him unstuck. For some reason that pleased him and he informed my parents that he would take me to the palace, that from that moment on I would work for him. That was the last time I saw my parents for many years. Anyway, at first I had to take care of his clothing. Soon, though, he discovered that I was very curious, always knew the latest rumours and I became his spy. He would shower me with gifts and openly show his respect – at least that’s what I thought it was, listen to my opinions, you know, just lulling me into believing myself more important than I really was. I grew very ambitious because I wanted to have more, more importance, more power, more riches, just you know, more of everything. I realised that I could get all that by being like him.”
For the first time in his life Nick was deeply ashamed. Knowing Alex had brought him a whole new set of values, but this was really the first time he talked about his motivations and it sickened him. He stopped his explanations and waited for the next question.
Liz wanted to know, “Nick, did you never stop and think about what you were doing?”
”A few times at the beginning, but after that it was easier to ignore my conscience,” Nick looked directly at Liz and stated, “in my mind I justified that honesty and poverty went together and I wanted none of that. I knew what it meant to be hungry and I relished the idea of being able to eat when I wanted to, even if I wasn’t hungry. All the nice things that I was given helped me too to see my way. I wasn’t forced into Khivar’s camp, well, not after he took me away from my family. It was all my ambitions that brought me to my position as Khivar’s general.”
”Did you never think about what you were doing? I mean later, when you were an adult?” Sero inquired.
”No, not really, I liked my position too much to change that and by now my parents’ values were forgotten,“ stated Nick.
”Em, I think I remember something from my past, well Rath’s past really. Is it true that you didn’t kill me or any of us, you know, the last time around?” Michael asked and after seeing Nick nod agreeably he added, “then why did you tell me that you had? I mean I don’t remember seeing you at the palace at all?”
”It’s true, I wasn’t there, I was busy subduing some skirmishes in the backcountry. But when I said I had killed you, it seemed to be a good idea, you know, to shock maybe even scare you!” sneering deprecatingly at himself Nick added, “my human form is short and I look very young, so to intimidate you, I had to resort to words, that was all!”
”Did you ever kill anyone that wasn’t an enemy? Did you ever kill any humans? Did you ever hurt anybody on earth, of course with the exception of our Roswellians here?” these questions came from Johnny and were accompanied by a steely glare.
Locking eyes with Dubois, Nicholas answered “No, it was always in the line of duty to Khivar. Of course, now looking back on it, I can say I was completely wrong and misguided. My actions on Antar were always military actions. On earth, we kept ourselves to Coppersummit and only ventured out of there to reconnoiter the county and to follow the leads we had on the royals. Of course it was Tess and Nacedo who lead us to them.” After a moment he added “also, the firestorm Tess threw our way at your school was just a mindwarp. None of us were killed. That was just an idea she had to make you trust her, to have you rely on her.”
”What about Courtney?” Michael wanted to know how his friend died. “Courtney? She was a very brave soldier. I mind-raped her, which is extremely painful, and instead of caving and telling me the whereabouts of the Granolith, she broke her own seal, killing herself instantly!” Nicholas told them the truth; he was done whitewashing his actions to make them sound better.
Amy had been listening intently and she could see just how much this youngster in front of her regretted his past actions. In fact, they all could see that, so all she wanted to know was quite simple “Nick, how would you sum up your past actions? How do you see yourself now?”
”That’s really difficult to answer,” Nicholas replied respectfully, “not because I don’t want to, but because whatever I say might let you think I’m trying to make myself seem better than I actually am!”
Nancy spoke up, “go ahead, we’ll see right away what we have to see. We’ll know, don’t worry about us, just tell us how you see your old self today.”
Nodding his understanding Nick thought about it for a moment and then explained, “I was a good child, I knew the difference between right or wrong. My parents taught me that.” He looked at everybody sitting around the table, wanting them to see his sincerity and continued “being a child, away form home and having a full stomach of course made it easy for me to forget all that. Even in the beginning when I started to spy or do some small tasks that weren’t honourable, I can still say that I was too young and foolish. But when I became a young man, I knew that I was doing wrong and for a very short moment I thought about my options. Do I stay or do I go? I decided to stay because I was too much of a coward to go. Even on earth, when I could’ve changed sides much easier, I didn’t, quite to the contrary, I became a very good little Khivar soldier, made sure he was pleased with me. That was how I rose to the rank of a general in his army.”
Charles Whitman looked steadily at Nicholas before asking “what are your intensions now?” “My intensions?” Nick repeated and answered, “I will accept any punishment this court deems fair. After that, I hope to remain on earth, stay close to Zander and help him anyway I can. I would like to maybe get some schooling, and I have to learn how to interact with others. Then, if possible, I’d like to go to university and become a teacher. Actually, it was Alex who said I would make a good teacher.”
Nick got lost in his memories and only some discreet coughs around the table brought him back to the here and now. Sadly he went on, “when Tess thought Alex needed a short break, she’d send us to a park nearby and of course always with guards. Young kids would hang out there and we’d hang out with them. That’s when we realised that they trusted me, even asked me for advice or so. But as I said, I will accept the punishment you sentence me with!” By the time Nick had ended his monolog he was quite embarrassed, he just wasn’t used to sharing his thoughts.
*~~*~~*
The discussion went on for a while and everybody had some questions for Nicholas. The people that had known him before had a hard time to understand the change the little general had gone through. Of course they all had known Alex; had known that he’d had a way with people. In some way their friend had been an innocent, smart and very lovable boy on the verge of becoming a man; then again, he’d been extremely smart, almost a genius in everything thing to do with technology. On top of that he had been a very gifted hacker, there hadn’t been a security system that he hadn’t been able to crack, even the FBI’s. Alex had been a walking/talking contradiction and everybody liked him. He was able to bring a smile on everybody’s face. So, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising that Alex had been able to change Nick’s attitude.
The others, who hadn’t had the ‘pleasure’ of knowing Khivar’s right hand man on earth, found it extremely difficult to see beyond the surface of an innocent, scrawny teenager, who at the worst would play pranks on others. When they heard him recount his actions, the listeners were shocked. It was almost impossible to merge this boy with the tough, vengeful general.
Thankfully the Granolith gave the listeners some moral support, helping them see the truth behind Nick’s words. He helped them see his insecurities; his hunger to be somebody of importance; his sadness at disappointing his parents by doing Khivar’s dirty work; his homesickness when he was on earth and they way he hated to sit around and wait for some sign of the royals. The Granolith also conveyed Nick’s feelings of glee at finally having the upper hand with the royals as Tess brought Alex to Las Cruces; the change of his feelings as he got to know Alex and finally his accepting the first friendship ever and how Nick tried his best to help and support his new friend, how he accepted this new way of life with a new and completely foreign set of rules; and finally his insecurities and fears while sitting in front of his peers, waiting to be judged and hopefully eventually also accepted.
*~~*~~*
continued next post...
44, What to do about Nicholas? 08/13/2000, Sunday 10.45 am Earth-time
Quiet reigned in the chamber after all the excitement had died down. Everybody, except Max and Liz, returned to the round table and sat down on their previous seats. The conversation was muted and the newer members of the ‘IKAA-Club’ used this moment to ask some questions that had been plaguing them. They knew that as soon as Max and Liz joined them, they would return to business. Nicholas had to be dealt with too.
At the moment Nicholas sat with the Whitmans, Leanne and Zander. Claire and Charles wanted to learn as much as possible about their sons last days.
*~~*~~*
Tell me…
Liz realised that Max was mulling over some big problem. In true Max fashion, he thought things through, looked at all the pros and cons and tried to come to a decision. She noticed that her man had a hard time to sort out his thoughts; too much was going on, demanding his attention, and when everything was said and done, Max was still just a teen. Liz also noticed that now there were more people wanting his opinions and expected him to lead. That was the reason for Liz to guide him away from the others, to give him a moment where he could just be himself and find his bearings.
They were sitting quietly in the ‘earth-half’ of the Granolith chamber near the still sleeping kids. When Max had first spotted them, he had been very surprised, but Liz had brought him up to date.
After giving Max a few more minutes, Liz inquired, “Max, tell me, please?” Coming out of his funk Max smiled briefly and explained his problems “you know I just don’t know how to deal with Nicholas. I mean, he supported Khivar in the revolution and he followed his orders here on earth.” As he paused for a moment to regroup his thoughts, Max saw Liz’s nod of encouragement and continued “but then there is this new and improved Nick who helped us bring Khivar down before he knew about the Granolith. Just as important is the fact that he helped Alex and protected Zander until he could bring the little one back to his family.”
”Go on,” Liz encouraged Max, “I can feel that you have thought about it hard, so just tell me, ok?” Smiling gratefully in response Max continued with his clarification “I know that some thought it strange that I had Nick sit with us at the round table, and even stranger when I asked his opinion, but I had a reason for that, you know.”
”Hmmm really? Then tell me!” Liz leaned into Max and waited for his explanation “mhmm, really,” he smiled and went on more seriously “well, from now on out, Nick is part of this group and I thought to start the same way I want to continue, with everybody as an equal…” “But what about his crimes, don’t they count for anything?” Liz interrupted.
”Sure they do, but I wasn’t finished, you know!” “Oh, ok!” she acceded seriously. “Ok, the reason I wanted his opinion on the punishments is quite simple actually. I thought that would be a good way to see just how committed he really is. I mean, from the severity of the sentences we deal to Khivar and co, he could deduce what is in store for him. I wanted to see, if Nick would try to diminish the verdicts.” He looked very intensely into Liz’s eyes, trying to convey his feeling on that thought.
And Liz did indeed understand Max’s reasoning; smilingly she clarified “ookayy, I get it!” The clearer the implications became, the more astonished Max and Liz were, until finally Max couldn’t contain himself any longer and voiced his thoughts, “wow, Alex must’ve put a trip on Nick, to have him so convinced that he can trust us so completely. I have a feeling that until then Nicholas had never really trusted anybody, at least not until Alex, wow!”
Thinking of the implications this new discovery brought, swamped Max momentarily and he was overwhelmed by it.
*~~*~~*
Finally Max and Liz joined the others, resuming their seats form before. All discussions around the table stopped and all eyes turned expectantly towards Max. **Here we go again** Max telepathed to Liz **who do you think is first to ask ‘what do we do now, Max?’** Liz grabbed his hand and put their joined hands on the table, openly showing her support. Before she could answer Max’s question, Isabelle spoke up, “what do we do now, Max?” The two were hard-pressed not to burst out laughing.
Looking directly at Nicholas, Max informed them “I don’t really know yet, but I think we have to deal with General Nicholas Crawford first.” Solemnly, Nick returned his look and nodding replied “Max, I know and I accept your decision!”
Max in turn acknowledged this answer with a slight nod of his own. When he looked around the table to see everybody’s reaction, he saw that everybody who had known Nicholas Crawford before this day was surprised by this new and improved Nick.
”OK, then let’s begin. Nick, can you tell me why you joined Khivar?” was Max’s opening question.
“Sure,” the little General replied and went on “my parents were good but dirt poor miners, meaning Khivar had men, women and even children working in the mines for practically nothing. Actually his policy was very simple, you want to eat, you work hard for it, no excuses and no exceptions! So as soon as you were out of your diapers you had to work for your food and you never got enough, not nearly enough. It was too little to live but too much to die!”
Remembering his earliest years, Nick got a faraway look in his eyes as he recounted his first meeting with Khivar. “We were always hungry, nobody had enough food, when one day when I was twelve, Khivar graced us with a visit. He wanted to see the mines. Anyway, when he was near me, his magnificent cape got stuck in a damper slot of the chimneys. No one dared to touch him, his guard was a few feet ahead of him and hadn’t noticed anything amiss. Of course, Khivar could’ve detangled himself quite easily, but he was much too important for that. He just stopped and waited for his aide to notice.”
Rolling his eyes to show what he thought of Khivar’s vanity, Nicholas added, “luckily at that moment my hands were clean, otherwise he would’ve probably killed me, because I dared to touch his cape to get him unstuck. For some reason that pleased him and he informed my parents that he would take me to the palace, that from that moment on I would work for him. That was the last time I saw my parents for many years. Anyway, at first I had to take care of his clothing. Soon, though, he discovered that I was very curious, always knew the latest rumours and I became his spy. He would shower me with gifts and openly show his respect – at least that’s what I thought it was, listen to my opinions, you know, just lulling me into believing myself more important than I really was. I grew very ambitious because I wanted to have more, more importance, more power, more riches, just you know, more of everything. I realised that I could get all that by being like him.”
For the first time in his life Nick was deeply ashamed. Knowing Alex had brought him a whole new set of values, but this was really the first time he talked about his motivations and it sickened him. He stopped his explanations and waited for the next question.
Liz wanted to know, “Nick, did you never stop and think about what you were doing?”
”A few times at the beginning, but after that it was easier to ignore my conscience,” Nick looked directly at Liz and stated, “in my mind I justified that honesty and poverty went together and I wanted none of that. I knew what it meant to be hungry and I relished the idea of being able to eat when I wanted to, even if I wasn’t hungry. All the nice things that I was given helped me too to see my way. I wasn’t forced into Khivar’s camp, well, not after he took me away from my family. It was all my ambitions that brought me to my position as Khivar’s general.”
”Did you never think about what you were doing? I mean later, when you were an adult?” Sero inquired.
”No, not really, I liked my position too much to change that and by now my parents’ values were forgotten,“ stated Nick.
”Em, I think I remember something from my past, well Rath’s past really. Is it true that you didn’t kill me or any of us, you know, the last time around?” Michael asked and after seeing Nick nod agreeably he added, “then why did you tell me that you had? I mean I don’t remember seeing you at the palace at all?”
”It’s true, I wasn’t there, I was busy subduing some skirmishes in the backcountry. But when I said I had killed you, it seemed to be a good idea, you know, to shock maybe even scare you!” sneering deprecatingly at himself Nick added, “my human form is short and I look very young, so to intimidate you, I had to resort to words, that was all!”
”Did you ever kill anyone that wasn’t an enemy? Did you ever kill any humans? Did you ever hurt anybody on earth, of course with the exception of our Roswellians here?” these questions came from Johnny and were accompanied by a steely glare.
Locking eyes with Dubois, Nicholas answered “No, it was always in the line of duty to Khivar. Of course, now looking back on it, I can say I was completely wrong and misguided. My actions on Antar were always military actions. On earth, we kept ourselves to Coppersummit and only ventured out of there to reconnoiter the county and to follow the leads we had on the royals. Of course it was Tess and Nacedo who lead us to them.” After a moment he added “also, the firestorm Tess threw our way at your school was just a mindwarp. None of us were killed. That was just an idea she had to make you trust her, to have you rely on her.”
”What about Courtney?” Michael wanted to know how his friend died. “Courtney? She was a very brave soldier. I mind-raped her, which is extremely painful, and instead of caving and telling me the whereabouts of the Granolith, she broke her own seal, killing herself instantly!” Nicholas told them the truth; he was done whitewashing his actions to make them sound better.
Amy had been listening intently and she could see just how much this youngster in front of her regretted his past actions. In fact, they all could see that, so all she wanted to know was quite simple “Nick, how would you sum up your past actions? How do you see yourself now?”
”That’s really difficult to answer,” Nicholas replied respectfully, “not because I don’t want to, but because whatever I say might let you think I’m trying to make myself seem better than I actually am!”
Nancy spoke up, “go ahead, we’ll see right away what we have to see. We’ll know, don’t worry about us, just tell us how you see your old self today.”
Nodding his understanding Nick thought about it for a moment and then explained, “I was a good child, I knew the difference between right or wrong. My parents taught me that.” He looked at everybody sitting around the table, wanting them to see his sincerity and continued “being a child, away form home and having a full stomach of course made it easy for me to forget all that. Even in the beginning when I started to spy or do some small tasks that weren’t honourable, I can still say that I was too young and foolish. But when I became a young man, I knew that I was doing wrong and for a very short moment I thought about my options. Do I stay or do I go? I decided to stay because I was too much of a coward to go. Even on earth, when I could’ve changed sides much easier, I didn’t, quite to the contrary, I became a very good little Khivar soldier, made sure he was pleased with me. That was how I rose to the rank of a general in his army.”
Charles Whitman looked steadily at Nicholas before asking “what are your intensions now?” “My intensions?” Nick repeated and answered, “I will accept any punishment this court deems fair. After that, I hope to remain on earth, stay close to Zander and help him anyway I can. I would like to maybe get some schooling, and I have to learn how to interact with others. Then, if possible, I’d like to go to university and become a teacher. Actually, it was Alex who said I would make a good teacher.”
Nick got lost in his memories and only some discreet coughs around the table brought him back to the here and now. Sadly he went on, “when Tess thought Alex needed a short break, she’d send us to a park nearby and of course always with guards. Young kids would hang out there and we’d hang out with them. That’s when we realised that they trusted me, even asked me for advice or so. But as I said, I will accept the punishment you sentence me with!” By the time Nick had ended his monolog he was quite embarrassed, he just wasn’t used to sharing his thoughts.
*~~*~~*
The discussion went on for a while and everybody had some questions for Nicholas. The people that had known him before had a hard time to understand the change the little general had gone through. Of course they all had known Alex; had known that he’d had a way with people. In some way their friend had been an innocent, smart and very lovable boy on the verge of becoming a man; then again, he’d been extremely smart, almost a genius in everything thing to do with technology. On top of that he had been a very gifted hacker, there hadn’t been a security system that he hadn’t been able to crack, even the FBI’s. Alex had been a walking/talking contradiction and everybody liked him. He was able to bring a smile on everybody’s face. So, maybe it wasn’t all that surprising that Alex had been able to change Nick’s attitude.
The others, who hadn’t had the ‘pleasure’ of knowing Khivar’s right hand man on earth, found it extremely difficult to see beyond the surface of an innocent, scrawny teenager, who at the worst would play pranks on others. When they heard him recount his actions, the listeners were shocked. It was almost impossible to merge this boy with the tough, vengeful general.
Thankfully the Granolith gave the listeners some moral support, helping them see the truth behind Nick’s words. He helped them see his insecurities; his hunger to be somebody of importance; his sadness at disappointing his parents by doing Khivar’s dirty work; his homesickness when he was on earth and they way he hated to sit around and wait for some sign of the royals. The Granolith also conveyed Nick’s feelings of glee at finally having the upper hand with the royals as Tess brought Alex to Las Cruces; the change of his feelings as he got to know Alex and finally his accepting the first friendship ever and how Nick tried his best to help and support his new friend, how he accepted this new way of life with a new and completely foreign set of rules; and finally his insecurities and fears while sitting in front of his peers, waiting to be judged and hopefully eventually also accepted.
*~~*~~*
continued next post...
Last edited by uw51 on Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
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Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
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... and here's the rest of part 44
Nick’s sentence, 08/13/2000, Sunday 11.55 am Earth-time
Unsure of how to proceed Max addressed the whole group, “do you have all the information you need? Is there anything else you require to come to a decision concerning General Nicholas Crawford?” When he looked at each one of the group members, Max encountered nothing but glum faces. He wasn’t really surprised, no not really, considering his own feelings. After all, he too had a hard time merging the teen he had come to know and yes even like in someway in the last few days with the terror inducing skin from Coppersummit.
He wanted to do what was right and just and he felt completely lost. Before the summit he wouldn’t have blinked an eye, just ordered ‘kill the bastard’, but now. Oh boy, being a king was really not all that it was cracked up to be, no, not at all. He could feel Liz squeeze his hand and he started to feel a little better. Next he looked to Michael and was surprised to see an open expression on his face. He wasn’t used to that anymore, not since before Tess had left, had Michael’s missions in life been to go rebelliously against anything he had said. Of course now Max knew why his friend had been worse than ever, but still, he appreciated Michael’s present openness a whole lot more.
Max looked to Isabelle and when they locked eyes, she started to smile encouragingly. She let him know that she realised that he was in a very difficult position.
Coming to a decision, Max stated, “ok, no more postponing! Right now I really don’t know how to go on, so please, if there is anybody who can help me out here, I’d be most grateful.”
”I can see the difficulties you have here, Max” Johnny picked up and said “do you know if you want to punish the General or if you want to forgive and forget, accept him as he is?”
Looking steadily at Nick, Max informed him “I think we can’t forget and forgive what went on before, you know, his past actions, but we have to consider this new Nick in the decision we make!” Unflinchingly, Nick answered Max’s look and with a slight nod let him know, that that was something he had expected and was ready for.
Phil had observed this byplay between the former enemies and asked, “Max, what are our options? What’s your goal for Nick’s future?”
”Well, I don’t really have any options yet, I’ll need your help, but I think that when Nick has served his sentence he should be somewhere near us. It was Alex’s wish that he be there for Zander and I’d like to accept that, it’s the least we can do for our friend.” Seeing some very surprised faced around the table he clarified “Well, the truth is, from now on out, he is a member of this group and we have to work with him. Also, since Nick will be an important part of Zander’s life we have to accept that, the little one will not understand it otherwise.”
Suddenly Michael spoke up, supporting Max and said “after he has paid his dues it has to be a new start for all involved. You don’t have to love him, heck, you don’t even have to like him, but you have to accept him and treat him as an equal. After all, we all know that...” with a raised eyebrow at the accused, Michael smirked “Nicky boy here is truly sorry for his actions, that he truly has changed and, what really boggles my mind is, he completely trusts us,” with rolling eyes he ended his monolog cryptically “go figure!”
Serena, who had been strangely quiet for a while spoke up “nightmares” “What?” Jeff burst out “what about nightmares?” Sero informed them, “well, Nicholas was a nightmare, you know, really terrible!”
Coming out of her trancelike state Serena added, “that’s not what I meant. While I was listening I fell into a trance. I saw how things would work out depending the punishment Nicholas receives and Max and Michael are right, Nick has to be a part of this group. So, for obvious reasons he can’t go unpunished, but we can’t put him into prison also for obvious reasons. And again, for obvious reasons we have to accept him into our group, just like Michael said.”
Maria was the first one to catch on Serena’s idea and interjected, “you’re brilliant, Serena! Nightmares as a punishment, yes, that would be very harsh, because he never knows when they come and all he knows is that they are about any of his past actions.”
Amy interrupted Maria’s reasoning and threw in “Maria, you’re not being very logical, you know? You can’t give nightmares as a punishment; I mean you can’t order them, where would you get them? By Mail-order?” Cathy jumped in and looking at Isabelle inquired, “can’t you do something with dreams?”
Before Isabelle could answer, Riverdog spoke up, “we are all forgetting this most wonderful gift to mankind on any planet, the Granolith! I’m sure he could arrange any nightmare needed, don’t you think so?”
Liz decided to bring in her view of things and stated, “I think the idea with the nightmares is good, but it should be restricted to a certain amount of time. Also, I think it would be helpful for Nick’s integration into human society if he had to do some community work. Since we can’t go through the official channels, he would have to apply on his own. He should go through different kinds of work, from cleaning the streets to taking care of people, the young and the old and the poor. That way, he learns a lot about life, about what to do and what not...” Suddenly feeling everybody’s stares on her let her peter out her sentence.
Proudly beaming at his daughter, Jeff said, “I’m very proud of you, Lizzy. You realised something very important and you thought about the future! I agree with Liz, the nightmares are good, but just as important is Nick’s integration!”
*~~*~~*
For a while longer they all discussed the terms of the punishment. Nightmares, yes, how many for how long? Community work, yes, where and for how long?
Finally Claire Whitman spoke up, saying, “I too agree with this punishment, but I want to add, that we would like for Nicholas to come and live with us, at least until he is settled in and can support himself. He could have Alex’s room.” Looking at Max she wanted to know, “what do you think, Max? Could he stay with us?” After thinking seriously about this proposition Max answered, “It’s ok with me, I think it’s a good idea, but only if everybody here agrees!” which was something they all did.
*~~*~~*
When the talk concerning him had started, Nicholas had been surprised that nobody had been out for his blood. They discussed all the aspects of his punishment seriously and most importantly fairly and right then and there he realised that he had an awful lot to learn. But the Whitmans’ offer truly shocked him and he had a heck of time not to burst in tears (now that was a new experience and he didn’t know what do about it).
*~~*~~*
When Max finally addressed them all and said, “have we all come to an agreement?” The Granolith spoke up “I have a proposition for Nicholas. I have the possibility to fulfill any punishment you deem fair. But I have another possibility to offer, the whitewash. I can take Nick and let him relive all his crimes but as the victim. It will be much harsher than anything you can come up with. But when he has come through it all he will be like you, Max, Michael and Isabelle. He will loose his skin body and have a human one. He will remember this life, but it will be like somebody else’s memory, like Max has Zan’s, Michael has Rath’s and Isabelle has Vilandra’s memory. It will be a completely new start for Nicholas, like he’ll come straight from the pods, with the exception that his knowledge would be on the same level as yours. He’d have to go to the senior class and then learn a profession, like any other teen.”
Shocked, they all looked at each other and then stared at Nicholas, unsure of what to do. But then Gramps spoke up again “Nicholas, before you decide you have to know, that the whitewash is very dangerous. I only had to do it seven times so far and only four survived. In your favour is your good health and your strong will to set things right. Now you should take a moment and think about it, Nicholas.”
”I don’t need to think about it, Granolith, I accept your most gracious offer, thank you!” Nick didn’t hesitate, he knew he deserved every punishment he got, but to have a chance at a new start was just too good to be true. Yes, he might not survive it, his chances were not very promising, but then again, his chances were better than the ones he had given some of his victims that had fallen prey to his machinations.
Jeff, ever the softie at heart, couldn’t resist and inquired, “Nick, are you sure? I mean, once you’re dead you’re dead, you know. It will be too late to change your mind!” Nodding in understanding, Nick smiled and confirmed, “I’m sure, thank you for your concern, Jeff!”
*~~*~~*
After Nick had accepted the Granolith’s offer of the whitewash all discussion died down. Everybody was waiting on what would happen next. Before Gramps began with Nick’s punishment he addressed the group and wanted to inquired, “as some of you know, I can also do time-travel…” “TIME-TRAVEL?” Phil yelled and added “you’ve got to be joking, time-travel doesn’t exist!” “Right!” Jeff joined in and continued blithely “if we were in the seventies I’d say you’re on damn good trip, Gramps!” Nancy nudged her husband and scolded “Jeff, watch your mouth!”
While Johnny let everyone know “I think they’re right, time-travel, well that’s just too crazy to believe!” Jim defended “oh, just as alien don’t exist? Haven’t you learned anything in the last few hours?”
”Thank you Jim, for your defence!” the Granolith was back in command and explained further “as I said before I was so rudely interrupted, I can do time-travel. Now I have to know when do you want Nicholas brought back to you?” “Brought back to us? What do you mean?” Diane was confused and needed some answers “and just where is Nick going?”
”Well, I will take Nicholas to a special place, and for him, the punishment might go from months to years, depending on his reactions. But for you here, I can bring him back in five minutes, or in an hour or whenever you feel the right time is for you!”
”Okay, I think we all need a break, don’t you think so Max?” Larek was overwhelmed, even he as an alien had seen and heard things today, that he would never have believed in his wildest dreams. Looking around, Max could see everybody was in need of a short break and agreed “yeah, you’re right, I think we all could use and hour to straighten out our thoughts. What do you all think?” he asked the others. And so it was agreed upon that the Granolith would bring back Nick in one hour.
*~~*~~*
The citizens of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy that weren’t out rejoicing the new promised freedom, but had followed these last discussions, were reassured that things were definitely going to change, change for the better...
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
Nick’s sentence, 08/13/2000, Sunday 11.55 am Earth-time
Unsure of how to proceed Max addressed the whole group, “do you have all the information you need? Is there anything else you require to come to a decision concerning General Nicholas Crawford?” When he looked at each one of the group members, Max encountered nothing but glum faces. He wasn’t really surprised, no not really, considering his own feelings. After all, he too had a hard time merging the teen he had come to know and yes even like in someway in the last few days with the terror inducing skin from Coppersummit.
He wanted to do what was right and just and he felt completely lost. Before the summit he wouldn’t have blinked an eye, just ordered ‘kill the bastard’, but now. Oh boy, being a king was really not all that it was cracked up to be, no, not at all. He could feel Liz squeeze his hand and he started to feel a little better. Next he looked to Michael and was surprised to see an open expression on his face. He wasn’t used to that anymore, not since before Tess had left, had Michael’s missions in life been to go rebelliously against anything he had said. Of course now Max knew why his friend had been worse than ever, but still, he appreciated Michael’s present openness a whole lot more.
Max looked to Isabelle and when they locked eyes, she started to smile encouragingly. She let him know that she realised that he was in a very difficult position.
Coming to a decision, Max stated, “ok, no more postponing! Right now I really don’t know how to go on, so please, if there is anybody who can help me out here, I’d be most grateful.”
”I can see the difficulties you have here, Max” Johnny picked up and said “do you know if you want to punish the General or if you want to forgive and forget, accept him as he is?”
Looking steadily at Nick, Max informed him “I think we can’t forget and forgive what went on before, you know, his past actions, but we have to consider this new Nick in the decision we make!” Unflinchingly, Nick answered Max’s look and with a slight nod let him know, that that was something he had expected and was ready for.
Phil had observed this byplay between the former enemies and asked, “Max, what are our options? What’s your goal for Nick’s future?”
”Well, I don’t really have any options yet, I’ll need your help, but I think that when Nick has served his sentence he should be somewhere near us. It was Alex’s wish that he be there for Zander and I’d like to accept that, it’s the least we can do for our friend.” Seeing some very surprised faced around the table he clarified “Well, the truth is, from now on out, he is a member of this group and we have to work with him. Also, since Nick will be an important part of Zander’s life we have to accept that, the little one will not understand it otherwise.”
Suddenly Michael spoke up, supporting Max and said “after he has paid his dues it has to be a new start for all involved. You don’t have to love him, heck, you don’t even have to like him, but you have to accept him and treat him as an equal. After all, we all know that...” with a raised eyebrow at the accused, Michael smirked “Nicky boy here is truly sorry for his actions, that he truly has changed and, what really boggles my mind is, he completely trusts us,” with rolling eyes he ended his monolog cryptically “go figure!”
Serena, who had been strangely quiet for a while spoke up “nightmares” “What?” Jeff burst out “what about nightmares?” Sero informed them, “well, Nicholas was a nightmare, you know, really terrible!”
Coming out of her trancelike state Serena added, “that’s not what I meant. While I was listening I fell into a trance. I saw how things would work out depending the punishment Nicholas receives and Max and Michael are right, Nick has to be a part of this group. So, for obvious reasons he can’t go unpunished, but we can’t put him into prison also for obvious reasons. And again, for obvious reasons we have to accept him into our group, just like Michael said.”
Maria was the first one to catch on Serena’s idea and interjected, “you’re brilliant, Serena! Nightmares as a punishment, yes, that would be very harsh, because he never knows when they come and all he knows is that they are about any of his past actions.”
Amy interrupted Maria’s reasoning and threw in “Maria, you’re not being very logical, you know? You can’t give nightmares as a punishment; I mean you can’t order them, where would you get them? By Mail-order?” Cathy jumped in and looking at Isabelle inquired, “can’t you do something with dreams?”
Before Isabelle could answer, Riverdog spoke up, “we are all forgetting this most wonderful gift to mankind on any planet, the Granolith! I’m sure he could arrange any nightmare needed, don’t you think so?”
Liz decided to bring in her view of things and stated, “I think the idea with the nightmares is good, but it should be restricted to a certain amount of time. Also, I think it would be helpful for Nick’s integration into human society if he had to do some community work. Since we can’t go through the official channels, he would have to apply on his own. He should go through different kinds of work, from cleaning the streets to taking care of people, the young and the old and the poor. That way, he learns a lot about life, about what to do and what not...” Suddenly feeling everybody’s stares on her let her peter out her sentence.
Proudly beaming at his daughter, Jeff said, “I’m very proud of you, Lizzy. You realised something very important and you thought about the future! I agree with Liz, the nightmares are good, but just as important is Nick’s integration!”
*~~*~~*
For a while longer they all discussed the terms of the punishment. Nightmares, yes, how many for how long? Community work, yes, where and for how long?
Finally Claire Whitman spoke up, saying, “I too agree with this punishment, but I want to add, that we would like for Nicholas to come and live with us, at least until he is settled in and can support himself. He could have Alex’s room.” Looking at Max she wanted to know, “what do you think, Max? Could he stay with us?” After thinking seriously about this proposition Max answered, “It’s ok with me, I think it’s a good idea, but only if everybody here agrees!” which was something they all did.
*~~*~~*
When the talk concerning him had started, Nicholas had been surprised that nobody had been out for his blood. They discussed all the aspects of his punishment seriously and most importantly fairly and right then and there he realised that he had an awful lot to learn. But the Whitmans’ offer truly shocked him and he had a heck of time not to burst in tears (now that was a new experience and he didn’t know what do about it).
*~~*~~*
When Max finally addressed them all and said, “have we all come to an agreement?” The Granolith spoke up “I have a proposition for Nicholas. I have the possibility to fulfill any punishment you deem fair. But I have another possibility to offer, the whitewash. I can take Nick and let him relive all his crimes but as the victim. It will be much harsher than anything you can come up with. But when he has come through it all he will be like you, Max, Michael and Isabelle. He will loose his skin body and have a human one. He will remember this life, but it will be like somebody else’s memory, like Max has Zan’s, Michael has Rath’s and Isabelle has Vilandra’s memory. It will be a completely new start for Nicholas, like he’ll come straight from the pods, with the exception that his knowledge would be on the same level as yours. He’d have to go to the senior class and then learn a profession, like any other teen.”
Shocked, they all looked at each other and then stared at Nicholas, unsure of what to do. But then Gramps spoke up again “Nicholas, before you decide you have to know, that the whitewash is very dangerous. I only had to do it seven times so far and only four survived. In your favour is your good health and your strong will to set things right. Now you should take a moment and think about it, Nicholas.”
”I don’t need to think about it, Granolith, I accept your most gracious offer, thank you!” Nick didn’t hesitate, he knew he deserved every punishment he got, but to have a chance at a new start was just too good to be true. Yes, he might not survive it, his chances were not very promising, but then again, his chances were better than the ones he had given some of his victims that had fallen prey to his machinations.
Jeff, ever the softie at heart, couldn’t resist and inquired, “Nick, are you sure? I mean, once you’re dead you’re dead, you know. It will be too late to change your mind!” Nodding in understanding, Nick smiled and confirmed, “I’m sure, thank you for your concern, Jeff!”
*~~*~~*
After Nick had accepted the Granolith’s offer of the whitewash all discussion died down. Everybody was waiting on what would happen next. Before Gramps began with Nick’s punishment he addressed the group and wanted to inquired, “as some of you know, I can also do time-travel…” “TIME-TRAVEL?” Phil yelled and added “you’ve got to be joking, time-travel doesn’t exist!” “Right!” Jeff joined in and continued blithely “if we were in the seventies I’d say you’re on damn good trip, Gramps!” Nancy nudged her husband and scolded “Jeff, watch your mouth!”
While Johnny let everyone know “I think they’re right, time-travel, well that’s just too crazy to believe!” Jim defended “oh, just as alien don’t exist? Haven’t you learned anything in the last few hours?”
”Thank you Jim, for your defence!” the Granolith was back in command and explained further “as I said before I was so rudely interrupted, I can do time-travel. Now I have to know when do you want Nicholas brought back to you?” “Brought back to us? What do you mean?” Diane was confused and needed some answers “and just where is Nick going?”
”Well, I will take Nicholas to a special place, and for him, the punishment might go from months to years, depending on his reactions. But for you here, I can bring him back in five minutes, or in an hour or whenever you feel the right time is for you!”
”Okay, I think we all need a break, don’t you think so Max?” Larek was overwhelmed, even he as an alien had seen and heard things today, that he would never have believed in his wildest dreams. Looking around, Max could see everybody was in need of a short break and agreed “yeah, you’re right, I think we all could use and hour to straighten out our thoughts. What do you all think?” he asked the others. And so it was agreed upon that the Granolith would bring back Nick in one hour.
*~~*~~*
The citizens of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy that weren’t out rejoicing the new promised freedom, but had followed these last discussions, were reassured that things were definitely going to change, change for the better...
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
Last edited by uw51 on Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
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45, One big and happy family, 08/13/2000, Sunday 11.55 am Earth-time
While they waited for Nicholas’ return the original groups drifted towards each other. They were in no frame of mind to talk about problems or even learn new things. Their minds were filled to bursting, so they accepted this down time gratefully. At least for the first fifteen minutes, then reality reared its ugly head and they started to go back to business. After all, even great victory brought great responsibility and many changes.
While they were talking all kinds of seeds were planted. One was that Max was now King of a planet, but even with Zan’s memories and the Granolith’s help, he was too young and unprepared. This scared him out of his mind. Especially since he had to appear in public, show himself. Max was very selfishly glad that his pod-partners had to go through the same trials.
Kathana, Sero, Hanar and Larek approached Max with an offer. The four of them would do all the talking and explaining. Max, Isabelle and Michael only had to be there with them and say a few words. Max insisted that everybody had to be there; the whole group should stand together. That too was accepted.
*~~*~~*
In another corner of the chamber the Evans’, the Parkers, the Whitman’s and Jim and Amy were plotting and coming up with some fabulous ideas. It involved buying land, building a small community, moving to said land and raising their children and grandchildren in a secure environment. Of course any new otherworldly arrival would profit from this arrangement too.
Soon Brody, the Dubois, and even Riverdog with Eddy and Serena joined this discussion. Riverdog even suggested that, with Eddy’s help, they could open up a health facility for anybody of the alien variety.
*~~*~~*
Finally the leaders had been able to convince Max and co to hold the transmission right then and there. They said it would be best, because for one, everybody was already here. Also, nobody had much time to get nervous about it. And what convinced the kids the most was that everything would be over and done and everybody could return to a semi normal life, of course with a few twists here and there.
They called the grownups and informed them of the newest plans. And while everybody was speechlessly shocked, the alien leaders used that time to wave their hands over them all and dress them in the stately garbs of Antar.
Max and Liz looked splendid in their emerald green outfits. Emerald green was the color for the King and Queen of Antar and their clothes were simply but very elegantly cut. Michael was dressed in his uniform as the second in command and he looked very smart indeed. Everybody else was dressed in an understated elegance, no gaudiness or pomp here. As they looked at each other, the humans were pleasantly surprised to find themselves dressed worthy of any royal court.
After everybody was outfitted they all took up their positions. First were the four alien leaders standing together and one after the other gave a short speech, the last one was Larek as he would be the one to introduce the new royals and their court.
*~~*~~*
Presentations, 08/13/2000, Sunday 12.15 pm Earth-time
As it had been planned the speeches and introductions to the people of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy went smoothly, which was really amazing since they’d had no time to really plan or rehearse anything. After Larek had announced the return of their beloved King Zan, Princess Vilandra and the second in command Rath in the guise of the clones named Max, Isabelle and Michael, the crowds went wild. The group in the Granolith chamber could follow the reactions on the big screens on the back wall.
Max’s head was reeling, he was completely unprepared. He started to panic; all sorts of inconsequential thoughts crossed his mind as he remembered that he’d always hated to give speeches in school too!
And suddenly he was pushed in front of the group in the Granolith chamber and he looked directly into the transmitter, unwittingly showing everybody that he was indeed the reincarnation of their beloved Zan, because nobody else had eyes like that, that was their Zan’s special amber color looking straight at the public.
After stuttering at the beginning, Max calmed down enough to say “um…, people of Antar?” and here he looked to Larek for advice. Seeing his encouraging nod let Max continue, “emm…, people of Antar and the Whirl… Whirlwind emm… Galaxy…” praying for divine intervention or a quick death he went right ahead “well, em…, ok, I’m sorry, but I’m new to this. I don’t really know what to tell you, but I can promise you all, that we, my friends and the good leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy, will do our best to bring peace and prosperity back to Antar and its surrounding planets.”
Taking a moment to catch his breath and look at his family and friends to give him more confidence, Max added, “here with me are my sister Isabelle and my friend and second in command Michael Guerin. We are the clones of the original royal court.” After this Max pulled Liz to his side and introduced her, “we are joined by my Queen Liz and our very good friends Maria DeLuca, Jim and Kyle Valenti and Riverdog who have helped us through many trials in the past. Next are our earth parents Diane and Philippe Evans, who have always been there for us.”
Here Max interjected “mom, dad, you don’t know just how grateful we are for all that you have done for us, I love you!” Diane was in tears and Philip wasn’t far behind, sniffling more discreetly.
Max was feeling more secure now and he went on with the introductions, “Nancy and Jeff Parker and Amy DeLuca have been very close to us too because of they’re parents to Liz and Maria. Then there are Brody, Eddy and Serena, Kathy and Johnny Dubois and our protector Cal Langley who have joined us today. It seems, everybody standing here with me has been called by the Granolith and is a member of his ‘Chosen Ones’.”
After hearing Max’s last statement the screen almost exploded with all the cheering that was being transmitted. He was glad to have survived his first but sadly not his last public speech. Like in a dream he heard Larek wind up the proclamation, promising to keep the population informed of any progress.
*~~*~~*
The new kid…
After the excitement had died down and the transmission had ended, everybody started to get nervous waiting for Nicholas’ return. Would he survive his punishment? If he did, was he changed? How should they greet him? Treat him? Would they be able to accept him? The closer the time drew to 1pm the more nervous they grew.
And suddenly he was back, bedraggled and filthy, pale and extremely skinny, also disoriented, nervous, exhausted, scared and very insecure. Now that was something that nobody had expected, an insecure Nicholas. They knew him as a tough and cunning General hiding in the shape of a cocky and obnoxious kid, but now all you saw was a teen who had been to hell and back and wasn’t sure of his welcome.
The first one to say something was Claire, “poor boy, just look at him!” closely followed by her husband’s supportive “yeah!” Kathana exclaimed “he truly has changed!” and Larek added, “he must’ve had a hard time of it.” And then, as one they all turned to Max, wondering what he would do.
Seeing Nicholas in such a bad shape really shocked Max. He hadn’t known what to expect, but looking at him now, he could tell that Nick had barely made it out of his punishment alive. He was indeed in a very bad shape and from the looks of it, he was also afraid of what was expected of him now.
Max remembered the Granolith’s words, that Nick would be just like the hybrids, a new person with memories of somebody else. After a moment’s reflection he approached Nick, put out his right and said “you must be new here, I’m Max Evans!” When a shocked Nick grabbed his hand, Max added, “welcome to Roswell!”
That was all that was needed to break the ice. Everyone in the group came forward to greet and welcome Nicholas into the group. The ones that observed him could see that he had a hard time keeping up with all the people, it looked like, with the exception of the podsquad, he didn’t recognise anybody.
Nick’s confused ways had Claire worried and she inquired, “what’s wrong with Nicholas? Doesn’t he remember?” After a moment Liz, the keeper, answered, “right now Nicholas is very confused because he’s been through the white wash. He spent the last five years in there, reliving all his misdeeds, but this time as the victim. He has survived torture, starvation and mind-rapes. Now he is beginning anew, but his mind has to sort through everything, put the past to the past as the general’s memories and the present needs to be sorted out too. It’s best to give him some peace and quiet now; by tomorrow he should be in better mental shape. His body too needs to recuperate. That will take a little longer, but with Riverdog’s and Max’s help he shouldn’t have any lasting problems.”
After hearing the keeper’s explanation even the last doubter in the room was able to put Nick’s past where it belonged, into the past. They were glad to know that he had been punished severely and now they were ready to start afresh.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
After the tumultuous time they had just lived through, the quiet made them really nervous. It was decided to go back home to whatever planet everybody came from. Amidst many hugs, kisses and manly backslapping, everybody said their goodbyes. They were sad to see it end, but at the same time they were glad to see it end. On this very memorable weekend new friendships and alliances had been forged. After being informed by the Granolith that the future interplanetary meetings would be held here at chamber and that they could contact each other directly with his help they went their separate ways. The alien leaders went to the chamber of the Granolith Station, the humans returned to the one from earth.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Well, what a crazy day that was
The fast growing ‘IKAA-Club’ stood in the chamber, making last minutes plans for the rest of the day. Everybody was loath to leave the group, tried to find other reasons to stay together.
In the end it was decided that they would meet at the CrashDown for some snacks and then later on dinner. Kathy and Johnny had to find themselves a hotel room to for the next few days, and were pleasantly surprised by Nancy’s news of her part ownership in the ‘Desert View’, especially since she offered them her penthouse. When all the plans were made, Brody crossed the room to wake the little ones. Laughingly the grownups watched how the kids were instantly awake, telling about their beautiful dreams and about the things they had learned.
”You don’t say!” Brody exclaimed and inquired, “what did you learn? Can you show us?” Seriously Sidney spoke up and explained “Daddy, we know that we can never ever talk about all the things we learned, only with the people here. You know, it’s a secret!” Then she walked to her big crush Max and with a touch of her little hand changed his dark blue t-shirt into a baby pink, frilly shirt. Open-mouthed and red eared with embarrassment Max just stared at the horrible shirt, while Michael burst out laughing and said “ohlala, Maxine, you look pretty in pink!”
Sidney was not amused, nobody ridiculed her Max and with another touch of her hand she changed Michael’s clothes into a bright pink mini-dress that barely covered his boxers. Serena, who had been standing beside the tall alien cooed “oh, Michaela, what beautiful legs you have, you should show them more often!” By now everybody was laughing, it was just too funny to see Max, who had just been proclaimed King, and Michael his second, dressed in pink Barbie clothes.
It took Max a moment to recover, but once he did, he burst out laughing like the rest. Once he was able to talk again he simply stated, “oh, boy, wait until she’s older, she’s going to be a handful, mark my words Brody!” After Max and Michael’s clothes had been restored to their old state, the grownups left with the little kids. The original group stayed behind, they all had some business to take care of.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Apologies
Sheepishly, the teens stared at each other, each hoping the other one would start, because they all knew they had to start to make amends, but how did you do that? ‘Hey, sorry I was an ass, but you were one too?’ Isabelle didn’t think this would go over very well, so she just stood there, locked in the staring match with all the others. Most of them were hoping that, as usual, Max or Liz would start, after all, there was no use in changing a well working ritual, was there?
Liz couldn’t stand it one moment longer, this idiotic staring contest. Courageously she spoke up, “why don’t we go outside and sit on the rocks in the sun? I have a few things I want to say, but I’d like to be as comfortable as possible, alright?”
After her little announcement she led the crew outside. Once everybody was settled comfortably and Liz was comfy on her favourite place, Max’s lap, she looked at all her friend and said, “ok, this is difficult, I mean, really, really difficult. I’m still trying to get my brain around the fact that we were all mindwarped, I mean, MINDWARPED!”
She could see by the stares that she still received, that she had lost her friends in her stammering and went ahead, doing her best to clarify things, “hello, mindwarps? We were all mindwarped, remember? Don’t you think we should talk about it? About all our actions and reactions?” more stares.
These stares were unnerving, creeping her out. To rattle her friends out of their ‘stare mode’ Liz grandly announced, “well, anyway, I as Queen of Antar, don’t really have to do this, we royals are above that!”
Michael was on his feet so fast he nearly fell backwards and he started to yell, “what the hell are you talking about? You’re the same as us…” he let his sentence peter out when he saw Kyle bending over with laughter, Maria was holding her sides, Isabelle was in shock and Max and Liz were smirking. Awkwardly, Michael stuttered, “you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” After seeing Liz’s nod he joined in the laughter.
When everybody had calmed down, Liz started again, “sorry about that, but your stares were unnerving me, forgive me?” “Oh, chica, that was beautifully delivered, compliments!” commented Maria and the others nodded in agreement.
”Thank you!” Liz was glad that it had been understood the way she had intended; now she began again, “I just wanted to apologise to you Michael because my behaviour really sucked. I could’ve tried to be more understanding. I mean, your behaviour was bad, that’s true, but it was completely way, way off, not how you are when you’re being an ass, well, you know what I mean don’t you?”
When Michael didn’t react other than nod, she continued, “it was really strange, you know, especially these last few days, I always just reacted extremely strong, I felt like I would explode, things didn’t add up and I knew we had to get everything straightened out fast. I knew in my mind how to do things, how to proceed, and when you started to be difficult I just wasn’t able to calm down. So, all I could do was blow up at you.”
Liz’s hormones, which had been quiet in the chamber, started to act up with a vengeance and with teary eyes she wailed, “Michael, can you ever forgive me?” After seeing Liz so strong and in command the group was shocked to see her fall apart and they all started to talk at the same time.
“Yeah, Michael, I’m sorry too! I really didn’t mean it when I said I was ashamed of you, you’re my brother, always!” was Isabelle’s apology. Max tried to calm Liz with whispered sweet nothings, but it didn’t really work all that well. In-between he addressed Michael, “sorry, I should’ve realised that something was wrong with you instead of getting on your case. If that happens again, just say something, ok, Michael?” Maria tried to apologise too, “you know, when you broke up you really, really hurt me, Michael. I guess that’s why I was so mean to you, I’m sorry too.” Kyle spoke up too, saying, “well, I guess I could’ve handled things better, but I just saw how my friend was hurting and you didn’t come to help. I mean I’m sure Buddha wouldn’t approve of my behaviour. So, can you forgive me?”
By that time, Michael was thoroughly embarrassed, rubbing his eyebrow he mumbled, “nuff said!” and stared at the rocky ground. Since it was very obvious that Michael didn’t feel comfortable talking about the troubled past, the rest of the group dropped the topic, planning on bringing the matter of the collective mindwarp up in an another meeting.
Relieved the group accepted this as an end to their misunderstanding and they changed the topic fast. The boys were embarrassed with all this emotional crap and they were secretly afraid of Liz having another bout of the miseries. Girls where already difficult to understand, but a pregnant one suffering from hormones was another story altogether.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
One big and happy family, 08/13/2000, Sunday 4.25 pm
After the sheriff had assured the Evans’ that the kids wouldn’t need a key to start a car, they left their SUV behind and drove to CrashDown with the Parkers. Eddy and Serena brought, to everybody’s surprise, Riverdog along. Amazingly enough, after curiously looking around, he seemed to like it and joined in the fun. Turned out that, as quiet as he was, he had a wicked sense of humour and was quite entertaining.
They all worked together and the first action was closing the diner, which luckily enough had no customers after the big Sunday lunch rush. Next, some of the group rearranged the tables into one big round one and a smaller one for the kids, while the others raided the kitchen for anything edible.
At first, Cal felt like an outsider but after observing the busy people around him he decided that it was time for him to become a full member of this very exclusive club and he joined the group arranging the tables. With a little alien hocus-pocus he was able to loosen up the humans who treated him with caution. At one point he pulled Phil, Jeff and Jim aside and informed them that he would have a talk with the kids later. After all, now was the time to celebrate, the kids could take care of him in a day or two since he planned to stick around for a bit.
*~~*~~*
Setting up the diner had brought them all closer, no-more awkwardness between the new and the old members of the ‘IKAA-Club’, even Cal had to admit that it was much nicer to be a part of this group than a onlooker.
The little ones had a lot of fun sitting together and comparing their new powers. Every once in while, when they would get too rowdy one of the grownups would just shush them, but it didn’t impress them too much because they were having a ball.
The grownups sat around the table and soon picked up their planning and plotting from before when they were still in the chamber. By the time the teens showed up they had amazing plans to surprise them with.
*~~*~~*
All together now
After a while the teens felt it was time to join the others at the CrashDown. They were very curious about meeting the parents; after all, this would be the first meeting since they knew about their background. Of course their growling stomachs had nothing to do with their sudden decision to go to the CrashDown, nothing at all!
When they arrived at the diner, Michael was the first one entering, he really was starving and for a moment he wondered if coming out of the mindwarp was the reason for his enormous hunger pangs. The others weren’t far behind. Their entrance stopped all conversations only to bring chaos to the diner, chaos like it had never been seen there before. Everything went haywire, everybody talked at the same time and to be better heard, they all talked louder and louder. The little ones started to run around, the big ones started to hug the stuffing’s out of the teens, embarrassing them, after all they were much too grownup for that kind of treatment, weren’t they?
As the evening progressed the grownups surprised the kids with their plans. Actually it was Brody who started the new topic when he accidentally let the rat out of the sack by saying, “anyway, Jeff, Phil, when do think we can all meet again? I mean this project will take a lot of planning and I for one can’t wait to get it started!” and as an afterthought he added “oh, I just realised that the Dubois and Langley here will have to return to wherever they live, so it’ll have to be very soon!”
Maria, always quick on her feet, noticed the strange looks passing between the grownups and just knew that something was up. Suspiciously she inquired, “Brody, what’s going on? What project?” Innocently he tried to play it off and answered coolly, “Maria? What do you mean?” upon seeing her pointed look he quickly added, “oh, nothing important, we just talked and discovered that we like similar things so we thought we just might enjoy them as long as everybody is still here, you know?”
That innocent comment didn’t go down well and it alerted Liz too, “no, not buying it, hmmhmm!” Kyle jumped in and informed them, “Buddha said you should always be truthful! If Maria and Liz both think you’re hiding something, then I’m positively sure that you are!” and he emphasised his statement with a very severe expression. Isabelle enjoyed this kind of palaver and wanted to be a part of it. Supporting her friends she ordered the guilty party, “spill! My friends know best, so there is no way around it. Save yourselves the trouble and confess!” Curiously, Max and Michael leaned in, knowing that nobody could escape such a force.
”Oookayyy, at the chamber we were all talking about our future and the missus and I decided that we wanted to move to Roswell, you know, to be closer to the action.” Johnny began his explanation and Cal continued “and I had come to the same conclusion, at least part time I would like to be out here.” “Yes,” Amy spoke up “that’s when we all decided to buy a big plot of land and found our very own little hamlet!”
”Jeff, Jim and I thought it would be great if we could buy the land out by the chamber…” Phil threw in and Jim explained “especially when we’ll have otherworldly visitors it would be very convenient.” “Yeah, especially if they should decide to stay a while. They would need a place were they could become accustomed to our ways of life, you know?”
Nancy explained her reasons “and don’t forget the babies. I mean, the little ones will have to be able to use their powers properly and they can’t do that in town.”
Speechlessly the kids stared at the grownups, they had really managed to surprise them. Michael whispered, “wow” and the others nodded in support.
*~~*~~*
After dinner Nancy turned to Kyle and wanted to know all about his preparations to inform everybody about pregnancies and the subsequent births and she also asked him, ”why did you even start to look for information on that topic? I mean those aren’t your babies and Liz isn’t your girlfriend?”
This turned everybody’s attention towards Kyle and he became very embarrassed. After all, those weren’t very manly topics. Of course he had planned to bring up the subject at some point, but at a more private point. Oh, well, he realised that he couldn’t evade the question any longer and replied seriously, “actually it happened after I promised Max to watch out for Liz and the babies. I thought that he didn’t need to worry about his family on top of everything else. You know, when it suddenly hit me, what the hell…” and after seeing the scowling looks he received from the moms, he amended, “I mean heck, what the heck do I know about pregnancies and babies. When I started to google it I realised that all of it is a really complex matter and that birth was a part of it too.” Here Kyle turned bright red when he realised what he had said. He prayed to Buddha that no one would notice, but no such luck.
”Really?” Michael threw in sarcastically “before that did you think that the kids just stay in there for ever? Or did you hmpf…” Amy, who happened to sit beside Kyle, slapped her hand over his mouth, thus effectively shutting him up. She gave him THE look that said you better shut up or else…! And Michael wisely followed that suggestion.
After that, Amy encouraged Kyle to continue, telling him, “I’m very proud of you Kyle. There are many people who aren’t this thoughtful” Here, she threw a very mean look Michael’s way.
”Ok, what I meant to say was that I was wondering about what we had to do if Liz went into labour and Max wasn’t around. You know, he might be stuck in a traffic jam, or, or who knows where. On top of that, we really don’t know what will happen when Liz is ready to deliver the babies, if everything is normal, or what ever? So I figured no hospital for us either.” Looking at Riverdog the young man continued, “anyway, Riverdog was very generous and was immediately ready to help.” Smiling at his new friend and mentor Kyle added, “he already taught myself a few very useful things and actually I think I now know what I want to major in.“ This statement shocked everyone, most of all his father.
It was amazing; everybody joined this discussion, added ideas and suggestions. Everybody wanted to be a part of it; after all, they had to be prepared for all eventualities.
Riverdog renewed his offer of help and invited Liz to move out to the Reservation when her time was near. That way they would be more protected from any curious snoopers and he or Eddy would be there at all times. Even Serena offered her help, after all, she was the granddaughter of a shaman and had learned a lot in passing.
When the little ones started to yawn, the parents noticed just how late it was and they started to clear up everything. As before, Cal said not to worry, with the help of the podsters he’d have the diner immaculately clean in no time at all. And so it was…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
While they waited for Nicholas’ return the original groups drifted towards each other. They were in no frame of mind to talk about problems or even learn new things. Their minds were filled to bursting, so they accepted this down time gratefully. At least for the first fifteen minutes, then reality reared its ugly head and they started to go back to business. After all, even great victory brought great responsibility and many changes.
While they were talking all kinds of seeds were planted. One was that Max was now King of a planet, but even with Zan’s memories and the Granolith’s help, he was too young and unprepared. This scared him out of his mind. Especially since he had to appear in public, show himself. Max was very selfishly glad that his pod-partners had to go through the same trials.
Kathana, Sero, Hanar and Larek approached Max with an offer. The four of them would do all the talking and explaining. Max, Isabelle and Michael only had to be there with them and say a few words. Max insisted that everybody had to be there; the whole group should stand together. That too was accepted.
*~~*~~*
In another corner of the chamber the Evans’, the Parkers, the Whitman’s and Jim and Amy were plotting and coming up with some fabulous ideas. It involved buying land, building a small community, moving to said land and raising their children and grandchildren in a secure environment. Of course any new otherworldly arrival would profit from this arrangement too.
Soon Brody, the Dubois, and even Riverdog with Eddy and Serena joined this discussion. Riverdog even suggested that, with Eddy’s help, they could open up a health facility for anybody of the alien variety.
*~~*~~*
Finally the leaders had been able to convince Max and co to hold the transmission right then and there. They said it would be best, because for one, everybody was already here. Also, nobody had much time to get nervous about it. And what convinced the kids the most was that everything would be over and done and everybody could return to a semi normal life, of course with a few twists here and there.
They called the grownups and informed them of the newest plans. And while everybody was speechlessly shocked, the alien leaders used that time to wave their hands over them all and dress them in the stately garbs of Antar.
Max and Liz looked splendid in their emerald green outfits. Emerald green was the color for the King and Queen of Antar and their clothes were simply but very elegantly cut. Michael was dressed in his uniform as the second in command and he looked very smart indeed. Everybody else was dressed in an understated elegance, no gaudiness or pomp here. As they looked at each other, the humans were pleasantly surprised to find themselves dressed worthy of any royal court.
After everybody was outfitted they all took up their positions. First were the four alien leaders standing together and one after the other gave a short speech, the last one was Larek as he would be the one to introduce the new royals and their court.
*~~*~~*
Presentations, 08/13/2000, Sunday 12.15 pm Earth-time
As it had been planned the speeches and introductions to the people of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy went smoothly, which was really amazing since they’d had no time to really plan or rehearse anything. After Larek had announced the return of their beloved King Zan, Princess Vilandra and the second in command Rath in the guise of the clones named Max, Isabelle and Michael, the crowds went wild. The group in the Granolith chamber could follow the reactions on the big screens on the back wall.
Max’s head was reeling, he was completely unprepared. He started to panic; all sorts of inconsequential thoughts crossed his mind as he remembered that he’d always hated to give speeches in school too!
And suddenly he was pushed in front of the group in the Granolith chamber and he looked directly into the transmitter, unwittingly showing everybody that he was indeed the reincarnation of their beloved Zan, because nobody else had eyes like that, that was their Zan’s special amber color looking straight at the public.
After stuttering at the beginning, Max calmed down enough to say “um…, people of Antar?” and here he looked to Larek for advice. Seeing his encouraging nod let Max continue, “emm…, people of Antar and the Whirl… Whirlwind emm… Galaxy…” praying for divine intervention or a quick death he went right ahead “well, em…, ok, I’m sorry, but I’m new to this. I don’t really know what to tell you, but I can promise you all, that we, my friends and the good leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy, will do our best to bring peace and prosperity back to Antar and its surrounding planets.”
Taking a moment to catch his breath and look at his family and friends to give him more confidence, Max added, “here with me are my sister Isabelle and my friend and second in command Michael Guerin. We are the clones of the original royal court.” After this Max pulled Liz to his side and introduced her, “we are joined by my Queen Liz and our very good friends Maria DeLuca, Jim and Kyle Valenti and Riverdog who have helped us through many trials in the past. Next are our earth parents Diane and Philippe Evans, who have always been there for us.”
Here Max interjected “mom, dad, you don’t know just how grateful we are for all that you have done for us, I love you!” Diane was in tears and Philip wasn’t far behind, sniffling more discreetly.
Max was feeling more secure now and he went on with the introductions, “Nancy and Jeff Parker and Amy DeLuca have been very close to us too because of they’re parents to Liz and Maria. Then there are Brody, Eddy and Serena, Kathy and Johnny Dubois and our protector Cal Langley who have joined us today. It seems, everybody standing here with me has been called by the Granolith and is a member of his ‘Chosen Ones’.”
After hearing Max’s last statement the screen almost exploded with all the cheering that was being transmitted. He was glad to have survived his first but sadly not his last public speech. Like in a dream he heard Larek wind up the proclamation, promising to keep the population informed of any progress.
*~~*~~*
The new kid…
After the excitement had died down and the transmission had ended, everybody started to get nervous waiting for Nicholas’ return. Would he survive his punishment? If he did, was he changed? How should they greet him? Treat him? Would they be able to accept him? The closer the time drew to 1pm the more nervous they grew.
And suddenly he was back, bedraggled and filthy, pale and extremely skinny, also disoriented, nervous, exhausted, scared and very insecure. Now that was something that nobody had expected, an insecure Nicholas. They knew him as a tough and cunning General hiding in the shape of a cocky and obnoxious kid, but now all you saw was a teen who had been to hell and back and wasn’t sure of his welcome.
The first one to say something was Claire, “poor boy, just look at him!” closely followed by her husband’s supportive “yeah!” Kathana exclaimed “he truly has changed!” and Larek added, “he must’ve had a hard time of it.” And then, as one they all turned to Max, wondering what he would do.
Seeing Nicholas in such a bad shape really shocked Max. He hadn’t known what to expect, but looking at him now, he could tell that Nick had barely made it out of his punishment alive. He was indeed in a very bad shape and from the looks of it, he was also afraid of what was expected of him now.
Max remembered the Granolith’s words, that Nick would be just like the hybrids, a new person with memories of somebody else. After a moment’s reflection he approached Nick, put out his right and said “you must be new here, I’m Max Evans!” When a shocked Nick grabbed his hand, Max added, “welcome to Roswell!”
That was all that was needed to break the ice. Everyone in the group came forward to greet and welcome Nicholas into the group. The ones that observed him could see that he had a hard time keeping up with all the people, it looked like, with the exception of the podsquad, he didn’t recognise anybody.
Nick’s confused ways had Claire worried and she inquired, “what’s wrong with Nicholas? Doesn’t he remember?” After a moment Liz, the keeper, answered, “right now Nicholas is very confused because he’s been through the white wash. He spent the last five years in there, reliving all his misdeeds, but this time as the victim. He has survived torture, starvation and mind-rapes. Now he is beginning anew, but his mind has to sort through everything, put the past to the past as the general’s memories and the present needs to be sorted out too. It’s best to give him some peace and quiet now; by tomorrow he should be in better mental shape. His body too needs to recuperate. That will take a little longer, but with Riverdog’s and Max’s help he shouldn’t have any lasting problems.”
After hearing the keeper’s explanation even the last doubter in the room was able to put Nick’s past where it belonged, into the past. They were glad to know that he had been punished severely and now they were ready to start afresh.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
After the tumultuous time they had just lived through, the quiet made them really nervous. It was decided to go back home to whatever planet everybody came from. Amidst many hugs, kisses and manly backslapping, everybody said their goodbyes. They were sad to see it end, but at the same time they were glad to see it end. On this very memorable weekend new friendships and alliances had been forged. After being informed by the Granolith that the future interplanetary meetings would be held here at chamber and that they could contact each other directly with his help they went their separate ways. The alien leaders went to the chamber of the Granolith Station, the humans returned to the one from earth.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Well, what a crazy day that was
The fast growing ‘IKAA-Club’ stood in the chamber, making last minutes plans for the rest of the day. Everybody was loath to leave the group, tried to find other reasons to stay together.
In the end it was decided that they would meet at the CrashDown for some snacks and then later on dinner. Kathy and Johnny had to find themselves a hotel room to for the next few days, and were pleasantly surprised by Nancy’s news of her part ownership in the ‘Desert View’, especially since she offered them her penthouse. When all the plans were made, Brody crossed the room to wake the little ones. Laughingly the grownups watched how the kids were instantly awake, telling about their beautiful dreams and about the things they had learned.
”You don’t say!” Brody exclaimed and inquired, “what did you learn? Can you show us?” Seriously Sidney spoke up and explained “Daddy, we know that we can never ever talk about all the things we learned, only with the people here. You know, it’s a secret!” Then she walked to her big crush Max and with a touch of her little hand changed his dark blue t-shirt into a baby pink, frilly shirt. Open-mouthed and red eared with embarrassment Max just stared at the horrible shirt, while Michael burst out laughing and said “ohlala, Maxine, you look pretty in pink!”
Sidney was not amused, nobody ridiculed her Max and with another touch of her hand she changed Michael’s clothes into a bright pink mini-dress that barely covered his boxers. Serena, who had been standing beside the tall alien cooed “oh, Michaela, what beautiful legs you have, you should show them more often!” By now everybody was laughing, it was just too funny to see Max, who had just been proclaimed King, and Michael his second, dressed in pink Barbie clothes.
It took Max a moment to recover, but once he did, he burst out laughing like the rest. Once he was able to talk again he simply stated, “oh, boy, wait until she’s older, she’s going to be a handful, mark my words Brody!” After Max and Michael’s clothes had been restored to their old state, the grownups left with the little kids. The original group stayed behind, they all had some business to take care of.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Apologies
Sheepishly, the teens stared at each other, each hoping the other one would start, because they all knew they had to start to make amends, but how did you do that? ‘Hey, sorry I was an ass, but you were one too?’ Isabelle didn’t think this would go over very well, so she just stood there, locked in the staring match with all the others. Most of them were hoping that, as usual, Max or Liz would start, after all, there was no use in changing a well working ritual, was there?
Liz couldn’t stand it one moment longer, this idiotic staring contest. Courageously she spoke up, “why don’t we go outside and sit on the rocks in the sun? I have a few things I want to say, but I’d like to be as comfortable as possible, alright?”
After her little announcement she led the crew outside. Once everybody was settled comfortably and Liz was comfy on her favourite place, Max’s lap, she looked at all her friend and said, “ok, this is difficult, I mean, really, really difficult. I’m still trying to get my brain around the fact that we were all mindwarped, I mean, MINDWARPED!”
She could see by the stares that she still received, that she had lost her friends in her stammering and went ahead, doing her best to clarify things, “hello, mindwarps? We were all mindwarped, remember? Don’t you think we should talk about it? About all our actions and reactions?” more stares.
These stares were unnerving, creeping her out. To rattle her friends out of their ‘stare mode’ Liz grandly announced, “well, anyway, I as Queen of Antar, don’t really have to do this, we royals are above that!”
Michael was on his feet so fast he nearly fell backwards and he started to yell, “what the hell are you talking about? You’re the same as us…” he let his sentence peter out when he saw Kyle bending over with laughter, Maria was holding her sides, Isabelle was in shock and Max and Liz were smirking. Awkwardly, Michael stuttered, “you did that on purpose, didn’t you?” After seeing Liz’s nod he joined in the laughter.
When everybody had calmed down, Liz started again, “sorry about that, but your stares were unnerving me, forgive me?” “Oh, chica, that was beautifully delivered, compliments!” commented Maria and the others nodded in agreement.
”Thank you!” Liz was glad that it had been understood the way she had intended; now she began again, “I just wanted to apologise to you Michael because my behaviour really sucked. I could’ve tried to be more understanding. I mean, your behaviour was bad, that’s true, but it was completely way, way off, not how you are when you’re being an ass, well, you know what I mean don’t you?”
When Michael didn’t react other than nod, she continued, “it was really strange, you know, especially these last few days, I always just reacted extremely strong, I felt like I would explode, things didn’t add up and I knew we had to get everything straightened out fast. I knew in my mind how to do things, how to proceed, and when you started to be difficult I just wasn’t able to calm down. So, all I could do was blow up at you.”
Liz’s hormones, which had been quiet in the chamber, started to act up with a vengeance and with teary eyes she wailed, “Michael, can you ever forgive me?” After seeing Liz so strong and in command the group was shocked to see her fall apart and they all started to talk at the same time.
“Yeah, Michael, I’m sorry too! I really didn’t mean it when I said I was ashamed of you, you’re my brother, always!” was Isabelle’s apology. Max tried to calm Liz with whispered sweet nothings, but it didn’t really work all that well. In-between he addressed Michael, “sorry, I should’ve realised that something was wrong with you instead of getting on your case. If that happens again, just say something, ok, Michael?” Maria tried to apologise too, “you know, when you broke up you really, really hurt me, Michael. I guess that’s why I was so mean to you, I’m sorry too.” Kyle spoke up too, saying, “well, I guess I could’ve handled things better, but I just saw how my friend was hurting and you didn’t come to help. I mean I’m sure Buddha wouldn’t approve of my behaviour. So, can you forgive me?”
By that time, Michael was thoroughly embarrassed, rubbing his eyebrow he mumbled, “nuff said!” and stared at the rocky ground. Since it was very obvious that Michael didn’t feel comfortable talking about the troubled past, the rest of the group dropped the topic, planning on bringing the matter of the collective mindwarp up in an another meeting.
Relieved the group accepted this as an end to their misunderstanding and they changed the topic fast. The boys were embarrassed with all this emotional crap and they were secretly afraid of Liz having another bout of the miseries. Girls where already difficult to understand, but a pregnant one suffering from hormones was another story altogether.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
One big and happy family, 08/13/2000, Sunday 4.25 pm
After the sheriff had assured the Evans’ that the kids wouldn’t need a key to start a car, they left their SUV behind and drove to CrashDown with the Parkers. Eddy and Serena brought, to everybody’s surprise, Riverdog along. Amazingly enough, after curiously looking around, he seemed to like it and joined in the fun. Turned out that, as quiet as he was, he had a wicked sense of humour and was quite entertaining.
They all worked together and the first action was closing the diner, which luckily enough had no customers after the big Sunday lunch rush. Next, some of the group rearranged the tables into one big round one and a smaller one for the kids, while the others raided the kitchen for anything edible.
At first, Cal felt like an outsider but after observing the busy people around him he decided that it was time for him to become a full member of this very exclusive club and he joined the group arranging the tables. With a little alien hocus-pocus he was able to loosen up the humans who treated him with caution. At one point he pulled Phil, Jeff and Jim aside and informed them that he would have a talk with the kids later. After all, now was the time to celebrate, the kids could take care of him in a day or two since he planned to stick around for a bit.
*~~*~~*
Setting up the diner had brought them all closer, no-more awkwardness between the new and the old members of the ‘IKAA-Club’, even Cal had to admit that it was much nicer to be a part of this group than a onlooker.
The little ones had a lot of fun sitting together and comparing their new powers. Every once in while, when they would get too rowdy one of the grownups would just shush them, but it didn’t impress them too much because they were having a ball.
The grownups sat around the table and soon picked up their planning and plotting from before when they were still in the chamber. By the time the teens showed up they had amazing plans to surprise them with.
*~~*~~*
All together now
After a while the teens felt it was time to join the others at the CrashDown. They were very curious about meeting the parents; after all, this would be the first meeting since they knew about their background. Of course their growling stomachs had nothing to do with their sudden decision to go to the CrashDown, nothing at all!
When they arrived at the diner, Michael was the first one entering, he really was starving and for a moment he wondered if coming out of the mindwarp was the reason for his enormous hunger pangs. The others weren’t far behind. Their entrance stopped all conversations only to bring chaos to the diner, chaos like it had never been seen there before. Everything went haywire, everybody talked at the same time and to be better heard, they all talked louder and louder. The little ones started to run around, the big ones started to hug the stuffing’s out of the teens, embarrassing them, after all they were much too grownup for that kind of treatment, weren’t they?
As the evening progressed the grownups surprised the kids with their plans. Actually it was Brody who started the new topic when he accidentally let the rat out of the sack by saying, “anyway, Jeff, Phil, when do think we can all meet again? I mean this project will take a lot of planning and I for one can’t wait to get it started!” and as an afterthought he added “oh, I just realised that the Dubois and Langley here will have to return to wherever they live, so it’ll have to be very soon!”
Maria, always quick on her feet, noticed the strange looks passing between the grownups and just knew that something was up. Suspiciously she inquired, “Brody, what’s going on? What project?” Innocently he tried to play it off and answered coolly, “Maria? What do you mean?” upon seeing her pointed look he quickly added, “oh, nothing important, we just talked and discovered that we like similar things so we thought we just might enjoy them as long as everybody is still here, you know?”
That innocent comment didn’t go down well and it alerted Liz too, “no, not buying it, hmmhmm!” Kyle jumped in and informed them, “Buddha said you should always be truthful! If Maria and Liz both think you’re hiding something, then I’m positively sure that you are!” and he emphasised his statement with a very severe expression. Isabelle enjoyed this kind of palaver and wanted to be a part of it. Supporting her friends she ordered the guilty party, “spill! My friends know best, so there is no way around it. Save yourselves the trouble and confess!” Curiously, Max and Michael leaned in, knowing that nobody could escape such a force.
”Oookayyy, at the chamber we were all talking about our future and the missus and I decided that we wanted to move to Roswell, you know, to be closer to the action.” Johnny began his explanation and Cal continued “and I had come to the same conclusion, at least part time I would like to be out here.” “Yes,” Amy spoke up “that’s when we all decided to buy a big plot of land and found our very own little hamlet!”
”Jeff, Jim and I thought it would be great if we could buy the land out by the chamber…” Phil threw in and Jim explained “especially when we’ll have otherworldly visitors it would be very convenient.” “Yeah, especially if they should decide to stay a while. They would need a place were they could become accustomed to our ways of life, you know?”
Nancy explained her reasons “and don’t forget the babies. I mean, the little ones will have to be able to use their powers properly and they can’t do that in town.”
Speechlessly the kids stared at the grownups, they had really managed to surprise them. Michael whispered, “wow” and the others nodded in support.
*~~*~~*
After dinner Nancy turned to Kyle and wanted to know all about his preparations to inform everybody about pregnancies and the subsequent births and she also asked him, ”why did you even start to look for information on that topic? I mean those aren’t your babies and Liz isn’t your girlfriend?”
This turned everybody’s attention towards Kyle and he became very embarrassed. After all, those weren’t very manly topics. Of course he had planned to bring up the subject at some point, but at a more private point. Oh, well, he realised that he couldn’t evade the question any longer and replied seriously, “actually it happened after I promised Max to watch out for Liz and the babies. I thought that he didn’t need to worry about his family on top of everything else. You know, when it suddenly hit me, what the hell…” and after seeing the scowling looks he received from the moms, he amended, “I mean heck, what the heck do I know about pregnancies and babies. When I started to google it I realised that all of it is a really complex matter and that birth was a part of it too.” Here Kyle turned bright red when he realised what he had said. He prayed to Buddha that no one would notice, but no such luck.
”Really?” Michael threw in sarcastically “before that did you think that the kids just stay in there for ever? Or did you hmpf…” Amy, who happened to sit beside Kyle, slapped her hand over his mouth, thus effectively shutting him up. She gave him THE look that said you better shut up or else…! And Michael wisely followed that suggestion.
After that, Amy encouraged Kyle to continue, telling him, “I’m very proud of you Kyle. There are many people who aren’t this thoughtful” Here, she threw a very mean look Michael’s way.
”Ok, what I meant to say was that I was wondering about what we had to do if Liz went into labour and Max wasn’t around. You know, he might be stuck in a traffic jam, or, or who knows where. On top of that, we really don’t know what will happen when Liz is ready to deliver the babies, if everything is normal, or what ever? So I figured no hospital for us either.” Looking at Riverdog the young man continued, “anyway, Riverdog was very generous and was immediately ready to help.” Smiling at his new friend and mentor Kyle added, “he already taught myself a few very useful things and actually I think I now know what I want to major in.“ This statement shocked everyone, most of all his father.
It was amazing; everybody joined this discussion, added ideas and suggestions. Everybody wanted to be a part of it; after all, they had to be prepared for all eventualities.
Riverdog renewed his offer of help and invited Liz to move out to the Reservation when her time was near. That way they would be more protected from any curious snoopers and he or Eddy would be there at all times. Even Serena offered her help, after all, she was the granddaughter of a shaman and had learned a lot in passing.
When the little ones started to yawn, the parents noticed just how late it was and they started to clear up everything. As before, Cal said not to worry, with the help of the podsters he’d have the diner immaculately clean in no time at all. And so it was…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
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46, Back to normal, 08.14.2000, Monday
”Damn,” muttered Jeff as he watched his pride and joy run out of the CrashDown and towards Max, who was leaning against the jeep, waiting. He observed their smooching and he realised that when the teens called it ‘swaping spit’ they had put the right name to it.
”What are you muttering about like an old, bad tempered grouch?” Nancy asked her husband as she approached him. When she stood beside him she quickly found his reason for his crankiness; Liz and Max, lost in each other.
Nodding in the direction of the kids he grumbled, “just look at them! I always knew that that boy meant trouble! All I had to do was watch him obsess over Liz!” “Oh, just look at them, Jeff.” Nancy sighed, “I mean really look at them.” After following his wife’s advice he stared real hard at the two but couldn’t find anything different than before so asked, “what? I don’t see anything except that they’re much too young for my liking to be doing this.”
“No, Jeff, forget all that, just look and feel, that’s all. Don’t you see how cute they are? It’s so obvious that they love each other, it’s amazing, really!” Nancy enthused.
Jeff tried to look and feel but it didn’t really work for him, he just couldn’t forget that his baby was just too young to be doing that sort of thing, much too young. When he turned towards Nancy he saw the way she held her hand over her stomach and was reminded of Gramps’ disclosure. They had another girl on the way, oh my God, how was he supposed to survive that. If she turned out to be anything like his Liz he’d be in big trouble. Just one look of her eyes and he had been a goner and it would probably stay that way until he died. Yeah, he could already see it, he would be in big trouble, but luckily the kind of trouble he just adored. He moved behind his wife and put his arms around her, his hand joining hers, caressing the newest addition to his family.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
First day of school, Senior Year, 08.14.2000, Monday, early morning
After taking a shower, Liz stood in front of her mirror, checking on the changes of her body. With a smile she noticed that now she was really nicely stacked and her tummy was beginning to show. Oh well, that was the price for having twins and being short. She crossed over to her closet and picked out a jeans skirt and Max’s favourite top, her deep red top which showed a bit of décolleté. She decided to wear her comfy sneakers with it and, to match her outfit, changed their colour to the same read as her top.
She returned to her mirror and put on some black mascara to bring out her eyes more; she knew they were her strongest feature. When she was done, she backed up a step and gave herself a thorough once over. She was quite happy with the results. She looked nice in a wholesome way and wished that for once she could look more like a temptress. Taking a closer look she noticed the way her t-shirt stretched across her bust, yeah, that was it. Without further ado, Liz changed its neckline to make it bigger, until she showed off her newly developed cleavage.
“Yeah, that’s it!” she laughed. As she turned to leave her room she realised that she could never pass her father’s eagle-eyes. If he saw that top he was sure to throw a fit. Thinking hard about her options, Liz counted all the reasons why she could do it and not worry about her dad; she was now a Senior in high school, old enough to dress the way she wanted; she was an expectant mom, old enough to make her own decisions; and she was queen of Antar, scratch that one; when everything was said and done, she was still Liz Parker, her dad’s daughter.
’What would Maria do?’ Liz asked herself. After all, she had seen her best friend pull off these kinds of stunts on her mom and get away with it. Exactly that was what she’d do. After inhaling deeply to calm her nerves she left her bedroom.
*~~*~~*
Liz watched her parents through the little window in the back door of the diner while she waited for Max to arrive. He wanted to pick her up to give them the chance to start the day together. When he’d telepathed her that he had just arrived and was waiting out front, Liz stormed into the restaurant in a perfect Maria imitation. Like a whirlwind she rushed towards her mom, hugged her and said her goodbyes and a few yards further she repeated that action with her dad. She was so fast out the door, that her parents weren’t quite sure what had happened and most definitely didn’t see her top. Laughingly Liz ran the short distance and jumped into Max’s waiting arms. **Good morning Max** **now it is, babe!** and a heavy make out session followed.
At one point, when Max needed more air for his next attack, he chanced to look at the diner and saw the Parkers behind the window, staring at them. Wow, what a mood killer! Speedily, he detangled himself from his sweetheart and helped her into the jeep. After walking around the front he jumped into the driver’s seat and, after carefully checking the traffic, drove off.
*~~*~~*
Jeff and Nancy were surprised about Max’s quick reaction at seeing them observe him with Liz. They burst out laughing and Jeff stated, “it’s good to know that, even though he is an alien king, Max has the same reactions as any normal teen when being caught by the parents!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Roswell High School
Driving onto the school parking lot, Max and Liz noticed that, even though they were early, others had had the same idea and the lot was already filling up fast. After a quick kiss they got out of the jeep and, hand in hand, approached the school’s main entrance.
Very quickly after entering the school, they noticed all the stares they were receiving. Liz wasn’t surprised that all the girls checked out her man, he really was hot and they all noticed. Proudly smirking she walked besides Max, her body language clearly stated, ‘hand’s off, he’s mine!’ She was so busy sending out her signals to the girls, she never noticed the guys’ heated stares. After all, they never really noticed her before, why should they do so now?
Max proudly strutted besides Liz, showing everybody his girl. Soon though, he noticed the heated stares the guys were throwing Liz’s way. He didn’t like it, oh no, he did not like that one bit. When Pauly whistled and called “hey Liz, why don’t you dump Evans and let me show you what a real man is!” Max almost lost it. He looked at Liz and suddenly her cleavage seemed to jump right at him. ‘Jeez, why didn’t I see that before?’ he wondered and immediately realised that first he had been too busy greeting Liz – and what a greeting that had been-, then he had been too busy driving them to school, and just now he had been too busy walking on cloud nine and showing off his girl.
Through their connection he could hear Liz giggle, she seemed very pleased with herself. **Damn right I am, after all now I have something to show off, so I’m going to enjoy it as long as it lasts! Anything against it?** she pathed him. **No, no, it’s just, well, you know, the guys are all ogling you!** he stammered and then added truthfully, **I like it; I just have to get used to it. Maybe I’ll have to kill some of those bastards, but otherwise I’m fine with it!**
This was just too much and Liz burst out laughing, “Max, I really like you all jealous and possessive, hmmhmm, really like it!” she whispered. After seeing Liz’s satisfied smirk, Max realised that she was showing her curves off on purpose and he answered “really? As long as all this…” with a meaningful stare at her cleavage “…is only for me, I can deal with it, in fact I like it, hmmhmm, really, really like it!” he mimicked her earlier statement.
Flirting heavily, those two finally reached Liz’s locker and were surprised to find most of the group already there, waiting. After a quick look, they saw that only Maria was still missing. Nick would join them in a few days, as soon as the after-effects from the whitewash had disappeared.
While the group stood together, they discussed the strangeness of being in school again after all the excitement of the last few days. In some way they were relieved, because school meant a certain normalcy for them and a shocked Michael stated, “I never thought I’d say this, but right now I’m actually glad to go to school, you know?” Kyle wholeheartedly agreed with him and added “man! I know exactly what you’re talking about!”
Isabelle sidled up to Liz in inquired sympathetically, “how are you feeling, no morning sickness?” Kyle and Michael rolled their eyes and exclaimed “gross!” “disgusting!” and Michael continued, “Isabelle, did you have to bring that up, now? I mean, she’s not crying, she’s not moody, she’s not picking on me, she’s not hungry or in any other way hormonally driven. Why in heavens name did you have to remind her?”
This shocked Liz to the core and she wailed, “I’m not that bad, am I?” After throwing Michael a killer look that promised serious repercussions for later, Max did his best to do some damage control and whispered “no babe, never!” and kissed her. But Michael couldn’t leave it alone and insisted, “Isabelle, Kyle, don’t you two remember how she was lately? I mean she was downright scary, right?” Isabelle slapped Michael hard; after all it seemed to work for Maria! Kyle growled, “shut up man, don’t you know when to shut up and hold your fucking mouth?”
Isabelle decided that now was the time to change the topic and rigorously spoke up, “Liz, do you realise that now you’re my sister?” “Right, Max and her aren’t married yet, so how does that make you sisters?” Michael mumbled. Max, Kyle and Isabelle all stated at the same time, “Antar law!” and Isabelle continued, “after all, Liz is accepted as the rightful queen, so that makes her Max’s wife and my sister!” Luckily this was the end of that discussion, as they saw Maria bearing down on them, with very determined glint in her eyes.
*~~*~~*
Maria was in a quandary. It was true, they had all done their apologising and their forgiving, and they all had received the apologies and forgiveness they deserved. She’d been right smack in the middle of it all, given some and done the other. And then Michael, true to form, just embarrassedly waved his hand and mumbled “'nuff said!” waving off her apology like everyone else’s, but later, in bed, she realised that HE hadn’t really apologised at all, not to anybody! “Just you wait,” she mumbled, “just you wait!”
After some serious thoughts Maria started to wonder if maybe her being one of ‘the Chosen Ones’ meant that she was also chosen to teach Mr. High ‘n Mighty Spaceboy some manners? After all, somebody had to do it, right? Right! With this problem solved, Maria headed towards Liz’s locker, where she was to meet up with the rest of the group, with renewed vigour. She hoped to be the third one to arrive, because she wanted to discuss a few things with Liz as long as it was quiet. When Maria reached their meeting point, she was quite annoyed to see the whole group already there. Right now she missed the days when she would pick up her best friend in the mornings. It had always been a good start when they had been able to begin with a few private moments.
Oh well, she’d just have to make the best of it and when she spotted Michael standing by the group looking all-aloof and like stonewall; Maria changed her plans pronto and approached him instead. She always prided herself as being very flexible and right now was a stellar example of it, she thought pleased.
Carefully, she addressed him, “hmm, Michael, could we talk?” When his look settled on her she added, “please?” “Don’t have time now!” was his grumpy reply. “It’s important Michael, we could go to the eraser room to have some privacy” Maria insisted. “No, some other time!” “Yes, now!” “No, later, I’m busy right now!” “I don’t see you doing anything! It’s important, please?” by now, Maria resorted to begging. Michael looked right through her, and then he turned towards the group ignoring her. This did not sit well with her and taking a deep breath she readied herself to deliver a serious tongue lashing “…look Michael…” “Maria, would like to go the eraser room to talk?” Michael interrupted her sweetly. Maria, reduced to growling in her frustration, turned around and stomped down the hall while Michael, turning to the others, stated coolly, “works every time!” and with a smirk he followed his Blondie.
*~~*~~*
“I guess things are back to normal!” Liz stated and Kyle added, “I just hope your second knows what he’s doing. It never bodes well to call forth the Hurricane in a DeLuca!”
*~~*~~*
The group stood together for a while and then, when the bell rang, moved to home room, to listen to all the blablabla that the teachers felt they had to impart every year during the first hours of school. After homeroom, Liz and Max had an appointment with the school principal, informing him about their pregnancy and all that.
*~~*~~*
Eraser room
Maria was fuming, she was sure there was smoke coming out of her ears by now. How dare he mock her, how dare he! The moment Michael entered the room she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him, not too gently, inside. “Hey, hey, careful with…!” Michael wasn’t able to finish his sentence because an angry Maria cut him off, “shut up, now I will have my say and you will listen, understood?” Not waiting for him to agree or not, she continued, “anyway, last night I realised that even though we all apologised to you, you never even responded in kind. You know, we too deserve your apology, I mean you were really, really bad and it’s the polite thing to do!”
Not agreeing, Michael snapped back, ”so? I was under influence, you know that or have you already forgotten that pertinent fact?” “No, I remember, I also remember that the rest of us were warped too, and yes we all behaved badly.” Seeing Michael’s mutinous expression she insisted, “ALL of us were warped. ALL of us behaved badly under the influence and yes, you’re right, it was more difficult for you, but that was because of how we ALL were manipulated.” When Michael opened his mouth to defend himself, she stopped him with a wave of her hand and continued with her rant, “what I can’t believe is that you’re not sorry for the way you broke your promise to Max, or the way you let down Liz, or for stealing from the CrashDown!”
Stopping for much needed air she looked at Michael and noticed the way he couldn’t look her in the eyes, the way he looked at the floor, embarrassed and ashamed. Inwardly smirking she realised that he might not want to acknowledge it, but he did indeed feel bad. With a little more of her prodding he might see the light and do what was right, apologise to everybody.
Michael knew full well that he was being an inconsiderate fool, behaving like he had never learned any manners. Well, that much was true, but he did know what was right and what was wrong. Even if Hank hadn’t taught him better, he had spent years watching the Evans family, in fact, envied them. Also in school they tried to hammer some rules and manners into him, but he’d been too proud to accept it. ‘Well, maybe now the time has come to make a clean break with old and bad habits’ he thought and surprised Maria by saying “you’re right, I know I’m not good at all this touchy, feely stuff and all of that, but I am sorry for the way I broke up with you and of the way I treated you afterwards!”
Maria was in shock where the hell had that come from; she’d come prepared to battle, and battle seriously, ferociously! And now he just…, where the heck was her oil, she needed her oil, oh, my god, oh, there! After sniffing frantically on her small vial and calming down considerably she tried to find her voice, “Michael? You, you, and what are you thinking? You can’t just agree with me, just like that! I mean, I’m not prepared for ‘a reasonable you’ I mean, really, you always contradict everything, ohmygodohmygodoh…”
Michael started to feel really bad, seeing Maria in such a dither showed him just how bad he had always behaved, even before the warp. How he had made things difficult for his friends, especially Maria, with his boorish ways and his unpredictability. Realising that Maria was really growing hysterically upset, he gently grabbed her hand with the cedar oil in and guided it to her nose, encouraging her to sniff.
After she had calmed down, Michael hugged her, held her as close as he could, trying to convey his apology to her. After a while Maria hugged him back, held on for dear life and started to cry from shear relief.
Michael discovered that he actually quite liked to be the ‘strong and caring’ man, the man that was able to console his woman. Yeah, he even started to like the fuzzy, happy feelings that started to stir in his heart, it made him warm all over. Yeah, amazingly warm all over, some parts even started to grow downright hot, started to expand. Jeez, now wasn’t the moment for THAT! Now was the moment to be caring and understanding, not that! ‘Note to self; ask Max how he handles this kind of situation!’
When the bell sounded, the two broke apart, slightly embarrassed but with the biggest grins on their faces. Before leaving the eraser room, Michael asked, “Maria, will you consider giving me another chance?” Her grin grew even wider and she nodded rigorously. When she was finally able to speak she whispered, “of course, Michael” The happy couple left the room and joined the other students in the halls, searching for their home rooms.
While Michael had his arm around Maria’s shoulders and guided her down the hall, he suddenly realised that it was kind of nice not to be an ass; actually it was kind of great, really good, actually. Yeah, really, really good, life was good. But just for the heck of it, he was sure to revert to his old ways from time to time…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Whitmans’ House
Claire and Charles were extremely glad for Nick’s special abilities to help them through the first moments of ‘grandparent-hood’. By the time they came home, they realised that they had nothing, absolutely nothing for the little one. Thank God, Nick had been able to change one of the beds in the guest bedroom into a crib, a night table into a changing table and when the Whitmans weren’t looking he changed the white walls to a beautiful pale blue. On a plain wall he even created a picture of a hill with trees and animals on it, with clouds and a sun in the sky. He wasn’t quite sure about what to with the old curtains, so he left them until he could ask Claire. After all, Khivar’s generals weren’t taught how to decorate a baby’s room.
After leaving Nicholas to finish up the bedroom, Claire informed Charles that she had to run down to the mall and buy the most important things for Zander, things like diapers, half alien or not, he still needed them. Also she had to buy some bottles, formula, soap and baby-powder and a few clothes, just necessities, that was all she needed. After all, the girls - meaning the grownup ones and the younger ones, had all offered to help with the shopping and were looking forward to that event. Claire was sure that that shopping spree would turn into just that, an event.
So, after informing Charles of her own shopping spree, she put Zander in his arms and instructed him, “grandpa, now you take care of our little one, I’ll be back very soon.” Before a shocked Charles had a chance to object, she was out the door and on the way to the mall. Ah, life was good again. Yes, she still missed her son, she always would, but little Zander brought purpose back into their life. With a light swing to her steps and smile on her face, Claire strode through the mall. Yesss indeed, life was good again!
Upon her return, Claire walked into her home in search of her husband and found him, with Zander still in his arms, in the newly designated baby-room. She was in tears with happiness, seeing the beautiful room Nick had created. She even learned that Charles had been a part of it too. When Nicky had confessed his inability to create curtains to match the rest of the room, her husband apparently brought in some catalogues and together the two men had picked and chosen everything that had been missing, like day and night curtains, lamps for the ceiling, for the bedside, a little nightlight and some big pillows to throw on the floor by the window. Zander could lay there and look at the tree and the bushes outside. And when Claire finally was able to really see the room through her tears, she noticed that the small window had been turned into a big glass door that led into the garden. She rushed into the room and hugged her three men.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
West Roswell high, 08.16.2000, Wednesday, morning
It had been decided that Kyle would pick up Nicholas for his first day of school, since he lived the closest to the Whitmans. What irony this was, Kyle reflected. He was sure that the last time Nick had been in this schoolhouse chasing after Max and co., he wouldn’t have thought it possible that he’d be going to school here, with his archenemies, the Royals of Antar, no less! But here he was!
*~~*~~*
So, this is the high school, Nicholas mused, as he walked in with Kyle. He could feel all the kids’ stares on him, the new kid. As it was, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it; after all, he had never had a chance to visit a school on any planet. He prepared himself for this new experience and hoped for the best.
While he walked down the halls he remembered that the day before the Whitmans accompanied him to school to an appointment with the principal. He had to be enrolled after all. The whole group had thought up a believable reason for Nick’s coming to public school at such a late stage. It was decided that Nick’s parents, good friends to the Whitmans’ had died in an accident and he had been left without any other family. And the reason for his missing school reports was that he had been home schooled by his mother.
*~~*~~*
Kyle steered Nicholas down the hall and soon he was able to relax, the rest of the group was assembled by what he knew to be Liz’s locker. And when they all turned his way and smiled in greeting, Nick realised that he was finally home, he had found his place in life and he was relieved...
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
46, Back to normal, 08.14.2000, Monday
”Damn,” muttered Jeff as he watched his pride and joy run out of the CrashDown and towards Max, who was leaning against the jeep, waiting. He observed their smooching and he realised that when the teens called it ‘swaping spit’ they had put the right name to it.
”What are you muttering about like an old, bad tempered grouch?” Nancy asked her husband as she approached him. When she stood beside him she quickly found his reason for his crankiness; Liz and Max, lost in each other.
Nodding in the direction of the kids he grumbled, “just look at them! I always knew that that boy meant trouble! All I had to do was watch him obsess over Liz!” “Oh, just look at them, Jeff.” Nancy sighed, “I mean really look at them.” After following his wife’s advice he stared real hard at the two but couldn’t find anything different than before so asked, “what? I don’t see anything except that they’re much too young for my liking to be doing this.”
“No, Jeff, forget all that, just look and feel, that’s all. Don’t you see how cute they are? It’s so obvious that they love each other, it’s amazing, really!” Nancy enthused.
Jeff tried to look and feel but it didn’t really work for him, he just couldn’t forget that his baby was just too young to be doing that sort of thing, much too young. When he turned towards Nancy he saw the way she held her hand over her stomach and was reminded of Gramps’ disclosure. They had another girl on the way, oh my God, how was he supposed to survive that. If she turned out to be anything like his Liz he’d be in big trouble. Just one look of her eyes and he had been a goner and it would probably stay that way until he died. Yeah, he could already see it, he would be in big trouble, but luckily the kind of trouble he just adored. He moved behind his wife and put his arms around her, his hand joining hers, caressing the newest addition to his family.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
First day of school, Senior Year, 08.14.2000, Monday, early morning
After taking a shower, Liz stood in front of her mirror, checking on the changes of her body. With a smile she noticed that now she was really nicely stacked and her tummy was beginning to show. Oh well, that was the price for having twins and being short. She crossed over to her closet and picked out a jeans skirt and Max’s favourite top, her deep red top which showed a bit of décolleté. She decided to wear her comfy sneakers with it and, to match her outfit, changed their colour to the same read as her top.
She returned to her mirror and put on some black mascara to bring out her eyes more; she knew they were her strongest feature. When she was done, she backed up a step and gave herself a thorough once over. She was quite happy with the results. She looked nice in a wholesome way and wished that for once she could look more like a temptress. Taking a closer look she noticed the way her t-shirt stretched across her bust, yeah, that was it. Without further ado, Liz changed its neckline to make it bigger, until she showed off her newly developed cleavage.
“Yeah, that’s it!” she laughed. As she turned to leave her room she realised that she could never pass her father’s eagle-eyes. If he saw that top he was sure to throw a fit. Thinking hard about her options, Liz counted all the reasons why she could do it and not worry about her dad; she was now a Senior in high school, old enough to dress the way she wanted; she was an expectant mom, old enough to make her own decisions; and she was queen of Antar, scratch that one; when everything was said and done, she was still Liz Parker, her dad’s daughter.
’What would Maria do?’ Liz asked herself. After all, she had seen her best friend pull off these kinds of stunts on her mom and get away with it. Exactly that was what she’d do. After inhaling deeply to calm her nerves she left her bedroom.
*~~*~~*
Liz watched her parents through the little window in the back door of the diner while she waited for Max to arrive. He wanted to pick her up to give them the chance to start the day together. When he’d telepathed her that he had just arrived and was waiting out front, Liz stormed into the restaurant in a perfect Maria imitation. Like a whirlwind she rushed towards her mom, hugged her and said her goodbyes and a few yards further she repeated that action with her dad. She was so fast out the door, that her parents weren’t quite sure what had happened and most definitely didn’t see her top. Laughingly Liz ran the short distance and jumped into Max’s waiting arms. **Good morning Max** **now it is, babe!** and a heavy make out session followed.
At one point, when Max needed more air for his next attack, he chanced to look at the diner and saw the Parkers behind the window, staring at them. Wow, what a mood killer! Speedily, he detangled himself from his sweetheart and helped her into the jeep. After walking around the front he jumped into the driver’s seat and, after carefully checking the traffic, drove off.
*~~*~~*
Jeff and Nancy were surprised about Max’s quick reaction at seeing them observe him with Liz. They burst out laughing and Jeff stated, “it’s good to know that, even though he is an alien king, Max has the same reactions as any normal teen when being caught by the parents!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Roswell High School
Driving onto the school parking lot, Max and Liz noticed that, even though they were early, others had had the same idea and the lot was already filling up fast. After a quick kiss they got out of the jeep and, hand in hand, approached the school’s main entrance.
Very quickly after entering the school, they noticed all the stares they were receiving. Liz wasn’t surprised that all the girls checked out her man, he really was hot and they all noticed. Proudly smirking she walked besides Max, her body language clearly stated, ‘hand’s off, he’s mine!’ She was so busy sending out her signals to the girls, she never noticed the guys’ heated stares. After all, they never really noticed her before, why should they do so now?
Max proudly strutted besides Liz, showing everybody his girl. Soon though, he noticed the heated stares the guys were throwing Liz’s way. He didn’t like it, oh no, he did not like that one bit. When Pauly whistled and called “hey Liz, why don’t you dump Evans and let me show you what a real man is!” Max almost lost it. He looked at Liz and suddenly her cleavage seemed to jump right at him. ‘Jeez, why didn’t I see that before?’ he wondered and immediately realised that first he had been too busy greeting Liz – and what a greeting that had been-, then he had been too busy driving them to school, and just now he had been too busy walking on cloud nine and showing off his girl.
Through their connection he could hear Liz giggle, she seemed very pleased with herself. **Damn right I am, after all now I have something to show off, so I’m going to enjoy it as long as it lasts! Anything against it?** she pathed him. **No, no, it’s just, well, you know, the guys are all ogling you!** he stammered and then added truthfully, **I like it; I just have to get used to it. Maybe I’ll have to kill some of those bastards, but otherwise I’m fine with it!**
This was just too much and Liz burst out laughing, “Max, I really like you all jealous and possessive, hmmhmm, really like it!” she whispered. After seeing Liz’s satisfied smirk, Max realised that she was showing her curves off on purpose and he answered “really? As long as all this…” with a meaningful stare at her cleavage “…is only for me, I can deal with it, in fact I like it, hmmhmm, really, really like it!” he mimicked her earlier statement.
Flirting heavily, those two finally reached Liz’s locker and were surprised to find most of the group already there, waiting. After a quick look, they saw that only Maria was still missing. Nick would join them in a few days, as soon as the after-effects from the whitewash had disappeared.
While the group stood together, they discussed the strangeness of being in school again after all the excitement of the last few days. In some way they were relieved, because school meant a certain normalcy for them and a shocked Michael stated, “I never thought I’d say this, but right now I’m actually glad to go to school, you know?” Kyle wholeheartedly agreed with him and added “man! I know exactly what you’re talking about!”
Isabelle sidled up to Liz in inquired sympathetically, “how are you feeling, no morning sickness?” Kyle and Michael rolled their eyes and exclaimed “gross!” “disgusting!” and Michael continued, “Isabelle, did you have to bring that up, now? I mean, she’s not crying, she’s not moody, she’s not picking on me, she’s not hungry or in any other way hormonally driven. Why in heavens name did you have to remind her?”
This shocked Liz to the core and she wailed, “I’m not that bad, am I?” After throwing Michael a killer look that promised serious repercussions for later, Max did his best to do some damage control and whispered “no babe, never!” and kissed her. But Michael couldn’t leave it alone and insisted, “Isabelle, Kyle, don’t you two remember how she was lately? I mean she was downright scary, right?” Isabelle slapped Michael hard; after all it seemed to work for Maria! Kyle growled, “shut up man, don’t you know when to shut up and hold your fucking mouth?”
Isabelle decided that now was the time to change the topic and rigorously spoke up, “Liz, do you realise that now you’re my sister?” “Right, Max and her aren’t married yet, so how does that make you sisters?” Michael mumbled. Max, Kyle and Isabelle all stated at the same time, “Antar law!” and Isabelle continued, “after all, Liz is accepted as the rightful queen, so that makes her Max’s wife and my sister!” Luckily this was the end of that discussion, as they saw Maria bearing down on them, with very determined glint in her eyes.
*~~*~~*
Maria was in a quandary. It was true, they had all done their apologising and their forgiving, and they all had received the apologies and forgiveness they deserved. She’d been right smack in the middle of it all, given some and done the other. And then Michael, true to form, just embarrassedly waved his hand and mumbled “'nuff said!” waving off her apology like everyone else’s, but later, in bed, she realised that HE hadn’t really apologised at all, not to anybody! “Just you wait,” she mumbled, “just you wait!”
After some serious thoughts Maria started to wonder if maybe her being one of ‘the Chosen Ones’ meant that she was also chosen to teach Mr. High ‘n Mighty Spaceboy some manners? After all, somebody had to do it, right? Right! With this problem solved, Maria headed towards Liz’s locker, where she was to meet up with the rest of the group, with renewed vigour. She hoped to be the third one to arrive, because she wanted to discuss a few things with Liz as long as it was quiet. When Maria reached their meeting point, she was quite annoyed to see the whole group already there. Right now she missed the days when she would pick up her best friend in the mornings. It had always been a good start when they had been able to begin with a few private moments.
Oh well, she’d just have to make the best of it and when she spotted Michael standing by the group looking all-aloof and like stonewall; Maria changed her plans pronto and approached him instead. She always prided herself as being very flexible and right now was a stellar example of it, she thought pleased.
Carefully, she addressed him, “hmm, Michael, could we talk?” When his look settled on her she added, “please?” “Don’t have time now!” was his grumpy reply. “It’s important Michael, we could go to the eraser room to have some privacy” Maria insisted. “No, some other time!” “Yes, now!” “No, later, I’m busy right now!” “I don’t see you doing anything! It’s important, please?” by now, Maria resorted to begging. Michael looked right through her, and then he turned towards the group ignoring her. This did not sit well with her and taking a deep breath she readied herself to deliver a serious tongue lashing “…look Michael…” “Maria, would like to go the eraser room to talk?” Michael interrupted her sweetly. Maria, reduced to growling in her frustration, turned around and stomped down the hall while Michael, turning to the others, stated coolly, “works every time!” and with a smirk he followed his Blondie.
*~~*~~*
“I guess things are back to normal!” Liz stated and Kyle added, “I just hope your second knows what he’s doing. It never bodes well to call forth the Hurricane in a DeLuca!”
*~~*~~*
The group stood together for a while and then, when the bell rang, moved to home room, to listen to all the blablabla that the teachers felt they had to impart every year during the first hours of school. After homeroom, Liz and Max had an appointment with the school principal, informing him about their pregnancy and all that.
*~~*~~*
Eraser room
Maria was fuming, she was sure there was smoke coming out of her ears by now. How dare he mock her, how dare he! The moment Michael entered the room she grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him, not too gently, inside. “Hey, hey, careful with…!” Michael wasn’t able to finish his sentence because an angry Maria cut him off, “shut up, now I will have my say and you will listen, understood?” Not waiting for him to agree or not, she continued, “anyway, last night I realised that even though we all apologised to you, you never even responded in kind. You know, we too deserve your apology, I mean you were really, really bad and it’s the polite thing to do!”
Not agreeing, Michael snapped back, ”so? I was under influence, you know that or have you already forgotten that pertinent fact?” “No, I remember, I also remember that the rest of us were warped too, and yes we all behaved badly.” Seeing Michael’s mutinous expression she insisted, “ALL of us were warped. ALL of us behaved badly under the influence and yes, you’re right, it was more difficult for you, but that was because of how we ALL were manipulated.” When Michael opened his mouth to defend himself, she stopped him with a wave of her hand and continued with her rant, “what I can’t believe is that you’re not sorry for the way you broke your promise to Max, or the way you let down Liz, or for stealing from the CrashDown!”
Stopping for much needed air she looked at Michael and noticed the way he couldn’t look her in the eyes, the way he looked at the floor, embarrassed and ashamed. Inwardly smirking she realised that he might not want to acknowledge it, but he did indeed feel bad. With a little more of her prodding he might see the light and do what was right, apologise to everybody.
Michael knew full well that he was being an inconsiderate fool, behaving like he had never learned any manners. Well, that much was true, but he did know what was right and what was wrong. Even if Hank hadn’t taught him better, he had spent years watching the Evans family, in fact, envied them. Also in school they tried to hammer some rules and manners into him, but he’d been too proud to accept it. ‘Well, maybe now the time has come to make a clean break with old and bad habits’ he thought and surprised Maria by saying “you’re right, I know I’m not good at all this touchy, feely stuff and all of that, but I am sorry for the way I broke up with you and of the way I treated you afterwards!”
Maria was in shock where the hell had that come from; she’d come prepared to battle, and battle seriously, ferociously! And now he just…, where the heck was her oil, she needed her oil, oh, my god, oh, there! After sniffing frantically on her small vial and calming down considerably she tried to find her voice, “Michael? You, you, and what are you thinking? You can’t just agree with me, just like that! I mean, I’m not prepared for ‘a reasonable you’ I mean, really, you always contradict everything, ohmygodohmygodoh…”
Michael started to feel really bad, seeing Maria in such a dither showed him just how bad he had always behaved, even before the warp. How he had made things difficult for his friends, especially Maria, with his boorish ways and his unpredictability. Realising that Maria was really growing hysterically upset, he gently grabbed her hand with the cedar oil in and guided it to her nose, encouraging her to sniff.
After she had calmed down, Michael hugged her, held her as close as he could, trying to convey his apology to her. After a while Maria hugged him back, held on for dear life and started to cry from shear relief.
Michael discovered that he actually quite liked to be the ‘strong and caring’ man, the man that was able to console his woman. Yeah, he even started to like the fuzzy, happy feelings that started to stir in his heart, it made him warm all over. Yeah, amazingly warm all over, some parts even started to grow downright hot, started to expand. Jeez, now wasn’t the moment for THAT! Now was the moment to be caring and understanding, not that! ‘Note to self; ask Max how he handles this kind of situation!’
When the bell sounded, the two broke apart, slightly embarrassed but with the biggest grins on their faces. Before leaving the eraser room, Michael asked, “Maria, will you consider giving me another chance?” Her grin grew even wider and she nodded rigorously. When she was finally able to speak she whispered, “of course, Michael” The happy couple left the room and joined the other students in the halls, searching for their home rooms.
While Michael had his arm around Maria’s shoulders and guided her down the hall, he suddenly realised that it was kind of nice not to be an ass; actually it was kind of great, really good, actually. Yeah, really, really good, life was good. But just for the heck of it, he was sure to revert to his old ways from time to time…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Whitmans’ House
Claire and Charles were extremely glad for Nick’s special abilities to help them through the first moments of ‘grandparent-hood’. By the time they came home, they realised that they had nothing, absolutely nothing for the little one. Thank God, Nick had been able to change one of the beds in the guest bedroom into a crib, a night table into a changing table and when the Whitmans weren’t looking he changed the white walls to a beautiful pale blue. On a plain wall he even created a picture of a hill with trees and animals on it, with clouds and a sun in the sky. He wasn’t quite sure about what to with the old curtains, so he left them until he could ask Claire. After all, Khivar’s generals weren’t taught how to decorate a baby’s room.
After leaving Nicholas to finish up the bedroom, Claire informed Charles that she had to run down to the mall and buy the most important things for Zander, things like diapers, half alien or not, he still needed them. Also she had to buy some bottles, formula, soap and baby-powder and a few clothes, just necessities, that was all she needed. After all, the girls - meaning the grownup ones and the younger ones, had all offered to help with the shopping and were looking forward to that event. Claire was sure that that shopping spree would turn into just that, an event.
So, after informing Charles of her own shopping spree, she put Zander in his arms and instructed him, “grandpa, now you take care of our little one, I’ll be back very soon.” Before a shocked Charles had a chance to object, she was out the door and on the way to the mall. Ah, life was good again. Yes, she still missed her son, she always would, but little Zander brought purpose back into their life. With a light swing to her steps and smile on her face, Claire strode through the mall. Yesss indeed, life was good again!
Upon her return, Claire walked into her home in search of her husband and found him, with Zander still in his arms, in the newly designated baby-room. She was in tears with happiness, seeing the beautiful room Nick had created. She even learned that Charles had been a part of it too. When Nicky had confessed his inability to create curtains to match the rest of the room, her husband apparently brought in some catalogues and together the two men had picked and chosen everything that had been missing, like day and night curtains, lamps for the ceiling, for the bedside, a little nightlight and some big pillows to throw on the floor by the window. Zander could lay there and look at the tree and the bushes outside. And when Claire finally was able to really see the room through her tears, she noticed that the small window had been turned into a big glass door that led into the garden. She rushed into the room and hugged her three men.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
West Roswell high, 08.16.2000, Wednesday, morning
It had been decided that Kyle would pick up Nicholas for his first day of school, since he lived the closest to the Whitmans. What irony this was, Kyle reflected. He was sure that the last time Nick had been in this schoolhouse chasing after Max and co., he wouldn’t have thought it possible that he’d be going to school here, with his archenemies, the Royals of Antar, no less! But here he was!
*~~*~~*
So, this is the high school, Nicholas mused, as he walked in with Kyle. He could feel all the kids’ stares on him, the new kid. As it was, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it; after all, he had never had a chance to visit a school on any planet. He prepared himself for this new experience and hoped for the best.
While he walked down the halls he remembered that the day before the Whitmans accompanied him to school to an appointment with the principal. He had to be enrolled after all. The whole group had thought up a believable reason for Nick’s coming to public school at such a late stage. It was decided that Nick’s parents, good friends to the Whitmans’ had died in an accident and he had been left without any other family. And the reason for his missing school reports was that he had been home schooled by his mother.
*~~*~~*
Kyle steered Nicholas down the hall and soon he was able to relax, the rest of the group was assembled by what he knew to be Liz’s locker. And when they all turned his way and smiled in greeting, Nick realised that he was finally home, he had found his place in life and he was relieved...
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
- Addicted Roswellian
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Epilogue, Part 1, Vasquez Rocks, NM, 08/15/2020, Saturday
Liz tells a story
The kids keep asking me about our past, about what happened since we freed Antar and in the process enabled the Whirlwind Galaxy to grow and flourish.
Kids usually are a curious lot, but it seems to me that ours are worse than the others. Anyway, I decided to record the last 20 years, but that seemed such a dry fare that I determined to tell it as a story.
Just imagine how Liz Parker, smallest of small-town girls, would meet an alien king and become his queen. It just blows your mind, doesn’t it? But it’s the truth, honestly.
Anyway, after we started our senior year in high school, we had about one month to get accustomed to the new schedules, the new teachers and everything else that had changed. Maria, Michael and I stopped working at the CrashDown because we were much too busy for that. Nicholas Crawford managed to integrate himself into our tight nit group and over the years he actually became a very good and trusted friend.
Of course we kids were very busy discussing Antar, trying to picture it. We were curious, very curious and also a little afraid of the unknown. But after three weeks of high school and a conference with Gramps, we contacted Larek and asked for his help. We wanted to explore Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. Gramps had made an offer we just couldn’t refuse. He would take us to Antar, for how ever long we wished, and then he would bring us back to earth just seconds after we had left. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? I know we said that we couldn’t use the Granolith for our personal gain, and we didn’t. But it was very important for us, and especially Max and I, to see ‘our’ planet. It was just as important for the Antarians to see us: their king and queen with their court.
So, that was what we would do; on Saturday morning we’d go to Gramps and he would bring us to Antar, then after a few days at first and weeks later, we’d return back home and go to school on Monday morning as usual. You don’t believe me? I promise it’s the truth, honestly!
I remember the first time we went to Antar. We all were exited, nervous and even a little scared. Larek was the best host ever. He showed us Zan’s palace and let me tell you, it was the most beautiful and spectacular building I have ever seen in my entire life, really. I can’t describe it; there aren’t words to give it justice. It was huge, I mean really, really huge, actually it was humongous; the shape was simple and the outside walls were made of something like crystal. When the sun shone on the castle it would sparkle like it was covered in diamonds.
The interior was just as spectacular. There were 253 big rooms and offices, three different sized ballrooms that would open up into one so big that the whole population of Roswell could be there at the same time and there would still be room to spare. Also there were several big official rooms for state affairs, and many smaller ones. The quarters of the royals were very pompously furnished. Everything was so bright and shiny you almost needed sunglasses inside. You might not believe me when I tell you this, but it’s the truth, after we had seen the royal chambers and Larek started to show us where everything was and explain the appliances, we realised that he intended for us to stay there, but we refused because as beautiful as these rooms were, they were just as uncomfortable. Actually I can still hear Michael grumble that “I’m not gonna live in a damn museum!” And he was right, that’s exactly what it was! The rooms were stuffed with Antarian Antiques, one more precious than the other.
Larek thought that we were very funny, actually he laughed a lot whenever he was with us. Anyway, he gave us other quarters, which were still quite fancy for our standards, but we felt relatively comfortable there. There were also enough rooms that we could bring our families and friends along.
That’s how we passed the first semester of our senior year. On earth we went to school like all the other kids, on Antar we had to learn a lot about local customs and traditions. We learned to speak Antarian, which wasn’t very difficult since Gramps was able to sort of program us for it, but we had to learn how to use it without blundering too often or insulting people by using the wrong words.
Anyway, once we were comfortable with the language, Larek guided us around Antar, introduced us everywhere, to the miners and also to the nobility - the few that were left. We really hated that time, because the people were still so scared, they were afraid to speak their mind. After some time had passed,the younger ones grew bolder and when they realised that they could tell us about their troubles and needs, the older people would tell the younger ones to come and tell us whatever was bothering them.
Once we all had some idea of what was needed the most, we weeded out the politicians that had worked for Khivar. That was a difficult and time-consuming process, but since we had accepted the commoners’ opinions and choices and they started to believe that we were serious in changing things, we stayed motivated and felt an obligation to the people to continue the task.
Since during Khivar’s rule most of the educated people had been killed there was a shortage of teachers. Generously Larek, Sero, Hanar and Kathana sent us the best of theirs. We built up schools and universities. We actually turned most of Zan’s palace into the university of Antar. The ceremonial room remained just that; the other official rooms were turned into the museum of Antar.
I can see that you’re wondering how a couple of high school kids could do all that, don’t you? Well let me tell, we had a lot of help, otherwise we never would’ve been able to do a fraction of it!
Well enough of all that, because if I wanted to do it justice, we’d still be sitting here next week and I’d still have lot more to tell. On top of that, I think that right now you’re more interested in our lives, how we changed, grew, became what we are today, right!
*~~*~~*
Our senior year of course was very busy, what with school, preparing for our babies which by that time had become a group effort, and all the trips to Antar. Amazingly enough it was a very beautiful time and all of us grew up and into our new roles.
Surprisingly enough we didn’t get much flack for our pregnancy. I think the other kids were just too scared to say anything upsetting to me, because I had all these bodyguards around me, you know them, Max, Kyle, Michael and Nick. Of course Maria would let the Hurricane lose and Isabelle would just turn Ice princess and freeze anybody stupid enough to distress me. Anyway, Max and I were mostly oblivious of anything else going on, we very occupied with our babies and all the other new responsibilities that had been heaped on us. Let me assure, being King and Queen is not all that cracked up as it is made out to be, it’s actually very demanding and lots of hard work.
Anyway, after high school the whole group, plus Rrolff, a Royal guard and Le’Norra, our Antarian nanny, moved to the Boston area with us. Nick, Michael, Max and I had been accepted to Harvard. Kyle, Maria and Isabelle went to colleges nearby. It was a very beautiful and happy time for all of us, a ‘normal’ time.
Oh, I almost forgot, the grownups! Oh, you should’ve seen them, they were all gung-ho over the new town they decided to build, yes you heard right, TOWN, by now they were speaking about a town, nothing big, mind you, but big enough! They were able to buy the land around the rock formation that housed the Granolith, quite a lot of land, to be precise. Cal and Brody found some crazy architect that was up for anything unusual and together those three planned us the most beautiful little town.
Closest to the rocks were our houses, meaning Max’s and mine, Maria and Michael’s, Isabelle’s, Kyle’s and Nick’s. Of course now they too have families, but you’ll hear about that a bit later, ok? As you can see our houses form the inner circle. Around us came our families and friends; everybody had to be in the ‘IKAA-Club’ to live that close to us.
Since Brody and Cal were such big planners, they also planned and built a small schoolhouse, a little shop with a little restaurant. With Gramps’ help we began to recruit people for our cause and quite a few of them moved into our little town in the prairie. Actually some of the houses were built for the new arrivals from Antar. Some Antarians came to have a look around on earth, some came to stay.
Rrolff and Le’Norra actually were the first ones to arrive and they have stayed with us ever since. They lived in one of the new houses; actually they lived out there before anybody else.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
I think the time has come to begin with the members of our group, since I’m sure that’s what you want to hear the most. But I have to warn you, I won’t be able to go into detail, because sooo much happened, I could fill books with it!
So, here we go…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Isabelle and Rrolff, yes, that’s a good place to start, isn’t it?
Rrolff was a big surprise. When we met him for the first time, Isabelle wasn’t with us. She had staid back because she had big tests coming up and wanted to study some more. But Jim and Amy were with us, actually if I remember correctly it was their first trip to Antar. Anyway, on our first day there, Larek introduced us to Rrolff. He came from a family of Royal Guards. There were at least 10 generations of royal guards listed in his family chronicle.
Ok, back to Rrolff, he was this big, burly giant of a man, 6’5” to be precise. He’s got the thickest coppery red hair and greenest eyes you can imagine. Oh, you should’ve seen Amy when she saw him first; she almost swooned and couldn’t stop talking about him. Jim actually became really jealous over it all which really surprised him since, if you believe him, he never gets jealous, no, not ever! As it was, once Amy had recovered her senses, she decided that Rrolff and Isabelle would make the perfect couple, both being tall, beautiful people. It turned out she was right.
When Isabelle and Rrolff finally met for the first time a few months later, it was love at first sight and it’s been that way ever since.
*~~*~~*
After Rrolff had grown accustomed to our ways, he became a very important member of our little community. He trained with all of us and worked closely with Michael and Uncle Johnny on everything to do with our security. It was amazing to observe the three of them working together.
When Isabelle became involved with representational duties for Antar, Rrolff was by her side as her bodyguard, and he really guarded her body well. Almost to the day one year after their initial meeting Isabelle and Rrolff married, in fact they were the second ones to tie the knot.
Three years after, they became proud parents of their first set of twins, Alexandria and Aidan. These two were soon followed by two more sets, first by Aaron and Zachary, then by Jasmine and Jordan.
Once, the ever tactful Michael asked Rrolff if it didn’t upset him to name his oldest daughter after his wife’s first love, he simply explained, “no, Alex is a big part of Isabelle’s past. He helped her grow and accept her alien origins. Also, he may have been her first love, but I know that I am her last one!”
*~~*~~*
Isabelle was the born mom, which really surprised us all. Oh, we all knew that she loved kids and she knew how to handle them, but the way she changed from the perfect and impeccable Miss Fashion-Model to a mom in Jeans, t-shirt and no make-up astonished us to no end. But she loved it that way and it became her really well.
Later, when the children were out of their diapers, Isabelle started to work again. As I already said, she represented Antar on many official functions, but then she and Maria became involved with the education system of Antar. When they found out that there was no art of any kind to be found on that planet. Well, actually that’s not quite true, Khivar allowed art, but only if it was to glorify him, everything else was demolished.
Anyway, after that discovery, the two of them made it their business to bring culture to the planet and bring back many of the old customs that Khivar had banished too. Well, let me tell you, these two ladies were very successful too, you should’ve seen them! I think we change now to our next couple, don’t you?
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Michael and Maria
I remember how Michael shocked Maria on our first day of our senior year and he kept surprising her. He tried very hard to open up and succeeded remarkably well. Of course those two are still as volatile as ever, but we all got used to their bickering a long time ago.
Anyway, Maria wasn’t the only one who was shocked by Michael; the teachers were too. You know, once we knew what was going on, what we wanted to achieve, Michael became a straight A-student, practically over night. At first the teachers didn’t trust this new Michael, but after a few weeks he was the perfect teachers pet. They all thought that they were the ones to bring the changes to this rebellious student and now they revelled in their own success, congratulating each other for not giving up on such a fine boy! This very new experience in turn shocked Michael.
He was very surprised to find out that he actually loved not just the art-classes; no he absolutely loved history and anything to do with politics and warfare, great surprise that one! As it was Michael, Max and Nick all majored in political science, and Max, befitting a King, was valedictorian of their class at Harvard.
Anyway, we’ll talk about Max later, now we’re still with Maria and Michael. Maria majored in Music, in fact in diverse instruments and singing. Besides that, she also visited classes in midwifery and first aid. She said you could never be prepared enough, especially with all the children in our little town.
By now we had Zander, my twins and my little sister Bernie. Isabelle and Rrolff announced that they were expecting twins and to everybody’s surprise Jim and Amy soon joined in the baby circus with one of their own. So now you understand why Maria felt that way after coming out of her stupor upon hearing her mom’s ‘good’ news. By now we already had four little ones and three on the way.
*~~*~~*
Maria and Michael were the third ones of our group to get married, oops, not true, Jim and Amy and Brody and Leanne tied the knot before them. Yes you will hear all about them later, when it’s their turn, now we’re still with Maria and Michael, ok?
Ok, right after college those two got married and started their family almost immediately. Since it was very common for Antarian/human hybrids to have twins, they started with just that. You should’ve heard their bickering when it was time to find names for the little ones. They knew that they expected a boy and a girl and Maria was all for naming their son Valentino or Raphaelo or some other Spanish name, but Michael balked at that, put his foot down and said he wanted strong names for his son, not such pansy ones. In the end they agreed that Maria could pick the girls’ names and he would get to choose his sons’.
Well, Maria was in her hippy stage for quite a while and chose flower names for her daughter. Michael, having a really hard time to come up with strong manly names, called his first son after his Antarian name.
The first set of twins were called Iris and Rath and they were born on a stormy November day. The second set Michael (everybody called him Mickey) and Violet followed two years later and last but not least the youngest daughter, Rose, joined them on a sunny spring day 18 month after that.
If you’ve ever seen a child misnamed then it surely must be Rose. A Rose is beautiful, graceful, smells nice, but has thorns, well; maybe she has the right name after all. With the exception of the nice smell Rose is like her namesake. I have to say that even though Rose is a very beautiful little girl, she is not a girly girl; you know one who likes pink, Barbie’s and frilly clothes. No she’s a real tomboy, actually she is much more than that; she is a veritable hellion. If there is any kind of trouble in our little town, you can be sure that Rose is right smack in the middle of it.
She also has a tendency to get into anything that doesn’t smell all that nice; actually she can be a real stinker at times. You can count on it, if there is a dog-pile around; she is the one that ends up stepping into it. Or, like on Antar, they have these beautiful flowers, a bit like our roses, but their smell is about as bad as it can be. I remember, once she came back after spending the afternoon outside, and beaming pridefully at Maria she handed her mom the most beautiful bouquet of those flowers. Maria of course was in tears; her youngest one finally wasn’t in trouble. But once she came closer, the stench was overpowering, and worse, it was almost impossible to get rid of. Actually, Rose was in trouble again, long before the stench was completely gone. Well, that’s Rose, always in trouble.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Kyle and Mirabella Running Doe
Kyle met Mirabella at the Reservation. Already in our senior year of high school, he spent a lot of time out there, learning from Riverdog as much as he could. Together they prepared everything for my babies and me. Kyle was true to his word and distributed books and films about pregnancies and births, to one and all. He even organised some classes at the community college where we all could go as a group, and get some very helpful instructions and tips.
I remember he just went to Prof. Meyers, explained that very good friends of his were expecting babies and now the whole group started to get involved. The trouble was that nobody really knew anything, and that there were just so many books on that topic; it was difficult to know which one to read. Also, he figured that to have an expert instruct the whole group would be much better than anything they read anyway. Let me tell you, Prof. Meyers was so humbled and pleased by Kyle’s request, that she granted us a very generous group discount.
*~~*~~*
Apparently one afternoon Miri was brought into the little hospital there, she had a broken leg and some nasty bruises. That was the first time Kyle was allowed to assist Riverdog.
Later, Kyle would always say that all he’d had to do was take one look into her beautiful almond shaped eyes and he had been a goner! Anyway, Miri was one year younger than us and soon Kyle was so smitten with her that he spent as much time as he possibly could at the Reservation. Miri’s parents weren’t too happy about this development at first. A white skin for their beautiful daughter? No, that most definitely wasn’t the much hoped for son-in-law at all. But after a while, Riverdog was able to convince them of Kyle’s good intentions towards their daughter.
Once Kyle was sure of his feelings for Miri, he asked Gramps to see if she was ready to hear of our big secret. After Gramps gave him his ok, Kyle brought Miri to the Granolith chamber where Riverdog waited with us teens. Together we introduced her to the alien secret. After the first awkward moments she soon became a full member of our little town, in fact not much later her parents became part of our group too.
*~~*~~*
The first year In Boston was hard for Kyle because he had to leave Miri behind. Of course they talked and e-mailed a lot and with Gramps’ help we were able to go home more often than we ever expected. Still, most of the first year those two were separated. Kyle used that time and studied very hard, and as promised he majored in paediatrics.
Whenever we were back home he’d go see Riverdog and work with him and Eddy. Even today, Kyle and Eddy work together, they actually complete each other perfectly. Anyway, after Kyle had attained his doctorate, he opened his own little practice in Vasquez Rocks. Cal and Brody made sure that it was furnished with the best of everything. Actually, Kyle didn’t just treat children in his praxis, no, any aliens that visited us and everybody who had ever been healed by Max. Of course let’s not forget all the young human moms who had carried half-breed babies, because after one of those pregnancies we all had a touch of ‘green’ in our system too.
Riverdog and Eddy spent much of their time there too; they even brought in patients that they couldn’t treat in their very limited little clinic at the reservation. Kyle, Riverdog and Eddy would also spend a lot of time on Antar, where they would meet with last few shamans and healers that had been able to escape Khivar’s regime of terror.
Together they started to record all of their medicines and treatments. They began to school young people in the art of healing and shamanism. They held workshops on a regular basis, sometimes on Antar and sometimes here.
*~~*~~*
After Miri finished high school she joined us in Boston, where she proceeded to study history and law. Later, after we all returned to New Mexico, she started to work with my father in his law firm. Once Miri was well established in Phil’s firm, Kyle and she got married and started their family right away. James Alexander was their first child, soon to be followed by Thomas Kyle and the identical twins Maria Belinda and Maria Magdalena. As you can see, our community is growing rapidly, isn’t it?
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Nick and Susan
Well, to observe Nick working his way into our little world was something else. You should’ve seen him with Zander; it was absolutely beautiful to watch those two. He truly loved the little one very much, and in time Nick wasn’t just Zanders big brother, no he grew into the Whitman family and became a full member there.
Of course when Zander’s powers started to develop it was really handy to have Nick right there, to show him the do’s and don’ts. When Nicky moved to Boston with us, he really missed Zander very much. He kept in very close contact with Charles and Claire who had given him the first real home that he had ever know.
Anyway, on our first vacation back in Roswell, Nick met this girl called Susan, who was actually waitressing at the CrashDown, can you believe that one? She was a real sweetheart and very soon those two became quite seriously involved. Like Kyle and Miri, Nick and Susan had a long distance relationship, since Susan was still in high school, in fact she was a junior when they first met.
Since Nick always talked about Susan, it was actually quite a while later that we learned that she was Susan Troy and Pam’s little sister. Can you believe that one? This truly was very difficult to comprehend, because everybody knows that Pam was the school slut and a bitch to boot. I know, I know, I shouldn’t talk like that, but you can ask anybody who went to high school with us, and I guarantee you, they’ll tell you the same.
So, you can just imagine how that affected us, Susan? Pam Troy’s little sister? In our group? Hmmhmm, not in your life, most definitely no! But by the time we found out who she was, Nick was already very attached to her and he begged us to give her a chance. After all, Susan wasn’t Pam, in fact, Pam used to torment her little sister all time.
So, one day Nick set up a small party where we were to meet his Susan, and let me tell you, she was an absolute doll. Such a sweet girl, I don’t understand how they can be sisters! After we all had accepted her she too was included into our little group. Two years later, after she finished high school, she followed us to Boston.
Luckily we had rented a big old house on the outskirts of the city. It was big enough to let all the new members of our very select group move in with us, and we still had some spare rooms for the occasional visitor from the Whirlwind Galaxy. Let me tell, to show those visitors around Boston was a lot of fun. Usually, upon their arrival they would stay with one of our families or in one of the new houses in our little town. Once they felt comfortable enough to move around on their own, they would come and spend some time with us. It let us see our world with new eyes too. It was a real learning experience for both parties.
*~~*~~*
Nick and Susan decided to get married as soon as Nick had his fist real job and was earning his own money. Susan still had two years of university to go; in fact she joined forces with Kyle and studied to become a doctor.
When we all moved back to New Mexico, Susan worked at the ER of the Roswell Community Hospital. Just to gather a lot of experience, she said. After Nick and Susan started to expand their family, the twin boys, Cameron and Liam (Nick’s a huge Liam Neeson fan), first joined them! Two years later, Oliver and Sascha, btw Sascha is Russian for Alexander, made their appearances. One year later Amanda completed that family.
*~~*~~*
I just remembered that at the beginning of their courtship, Pam tried to separate them on several occasions. She couldn’t understand why Nick was set on her sister. It actually got so bad that Nick and Susan only visited her parents when they knew that Pam was elsewhere. By now, the Troys visit Susan and Nick in our little community, because here is the only place that bitch doesn’t show up.
Well, I hate to say it, …hmmm, actually no, I don’t really hate to say it, because its true; when we were all in high school I couldn’t stand Pam, don’t ask me why, I couldn’t have given you any reason for my dislike of her. And to this day my feelings concerning her haven’t changed.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
What time is it? Oh, I haven’t noticed that it’s already this late; I think I should stop for today. You know, I have quite a few hungry mouths to feed. Can we continue this next week? Like, next Friday, right after lunch? Good, I’ll see you then…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
Liz tells a story
The kids keep asking me about our past, about what happened since we freed Antar and in the process enabled the Whirlwind Galaxy to grow and flourish.
Kids usually are a curious lot, but it seems to me that ours are worse than the others. Anyway, I decided to record the last 20 years, but that seemed such a dry fare that I determined to tell it as a story.
Just imagine how Liz Parker, smallest of small-town girls, would meet an alien king and become his queen. It just blows your mind, doesn’t it? But it’s the truth, honestly.
Anyway, after we started our senior year in high school, we had about one month to get accustomed to the new schedules, the new teachers and everything else that had changed. Maria, Michael and I stopped working at the CrashDown because we were much too busy for that. Nicholas Crawford managed to integrate himself into our tight nit group and over the years he actually became a very good and trusted friend.
Of course we kids were very busy discussing Antar, trying to picture it. We were curious, very curious and also a little afraid of the unknown. But after three weeks of high school and a conference with Gramps, we contacted Larek and asked for his help. We wanted to explore Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. Gramps had made an offer we just couldn’t refuse. He would take us to Antar, for how ever long we wished, and then he would bring us back to earth just seconds after we had left. Mind-boggling, isn’t it? I know we said that we couldn’t use the Granolith for our personal gain, and we didn’t. But it was very important for us, and especially Max and I, to see ‘our’ planet. It was just as important for the Antarians to see us: their king and queen with their court.
So, that was what we would do; on Saturday morning we’d go to Gramps and he would bring us to Antar, then after a few days at first and weeks later, we’d return back home and go to school on Monday morning as usual. You don’t believe me? I promise it’s the truth, honestly!
I remember the first time we went to Antar. We all were exited, nervous and even a little scared. Larek was the best host ever. He showed us Zan’s palace and let me tell you, it was the most beautiful and spectacular building I have ever seen in my entire life, really. I can’t describe it; there aren’t words to give it justice. It was huge, I mean really, really huge, actually it was humongous; the shape was simple and the outside walls were made of something like crystal. When the sun shone on the castle it would sparkle like it was covered in diamonds.
The interior was just as spectacular. There were 253 big rooms and offices, three different sized ballrooms that would open up into one so big that the whole population of Roswell could be there at the same time and there would still be room to spare. Also there were several big official rooms for state affairs, and many smaller ones. The quarters of the royals were very pompously furnished. Everything was so bright and shiny you almost needed sunglasses inside. You might not believe me when I tell you this, but it’s the truth, after we had seen the royal chambers and Larek started to show us where everything was and explain the appliances, we realised that he intended for us to stay there, but we refused because as beautiful as these rooms were, they were just as uncomfortable. Actually I can still hear Michael grumble that “I’m not gonna live in a damn museum!” And he was right, that’s exactly what it was! The rooms were stuffed with Antarian Antiques, one more precious than the other.
Larek thought that we were very funny, actually he laughed a lot whenever he was with us. Anyway, he gave us other quarters, which were still quite fancy for our standards, but we felt relatively comfortable there. There were also enough rooms that we could bring our families and friends along.
That’s how we passed the first semester of our senior year. On earth we went to school like all the other kids, on Antar we had to learn a lot about local customs and traditions. We learned to speak Antarian, which wasn’t very difficult since Gramps was able to sort of program us for it, but we had to learn how to use it without blundering too often or insulting people by using the wrong words.
Anyway, once we were comfortable with the language, Larek guided us around Antar, introduced us everywhere, to the miners and also to the nobility - the few that were left. We really hated that time, because the people were still so scared, they were afraid to speak their mind. After some time had passed,the younger ones grew bolder and when they realised that they could tell us about their troubles and needs, the older people would tell the younger ones to come and tell us whatever was bothering them.
Once we all had some idea of what was needed the most, we weeded out the politicians that had worked for Khivar. That was a difficult and time-consuming process, but since we had accepted the commoners’ opinions and choices and they started to believe that we were serious in changing things, we stayed motivated and felt an obligation to the people to continue the task.
Since during Khivar’s rule most of the educated people had been killed there was a shortage of teachers. Generously Larek, Sero, Hanar and Kathana sent us the best of theirs. We built up schools and universities. We actually turned most of Zan’s palace into the university of Antar. The ceremonial room remained just that; the other official rooms were turned into the museum of Antar.
I can see that you’re wondering how a couple of high school kids could do all that, don’t you? Well let me tell, we had a lot of help, otherwise we never would’ve been able to do a fraction of it!
Well enough of all that, because if I wanted to do it justice, we’d still be sitting here next week and I’d still have lot more to tell. On top of that, I think that right now you’re more interested in our lives, how we changed, grew, became what we are today, right!
*~~*~~*
Our senior year of course was very busy, what with school, preparing for our babies which by that time had become a group effort, and all the trips to Antar. Amazingly enough it was a very beautiful time and all of us grew up and into our new roles.
Surprisingly enough we didn’t get much flack for our pregnancy. I think the other kids were just too scared to say anything upsetting to me, because I had all these bodyguards around me, you know them, Max, Kyle, Michael and Nick. Of course Maria would let the Hurricane lose and Isabelle would just turn Ice princess and freeze anybody stupid enough to distress me. Anyway, Max and I were mostly oblivious of anything else going on, we very occupied with our babies and all the other new responsibilities that had been heaped on us. Let me assure, being King and Queen is not all that cracked up as it is made out to be, it’s actually very demanding and lots of hard work.
Anyway, after high school the whole group, plus Rrolff, a Royal guard and Le’Norra, our Antarian nanny, moved to the Boston area with us. Nick, Michael, Max and I had been accepted to Harvard. Kyle, Maria and Isabelle went to colleges nearby. It was a very beautiful and happy time for all of us, a ‘normal’ time.
Oh, I almost forgot, the grownups! Oh, you should’ve seen them, they were all gung-ho over the new town they decided to build, yes you heard right, TOWN, by now they were speaking about a town, nothing big, mind you, but big enough! They were able to buy the land around the rock formation that housed the Granolith, quite a lot of land, to be precise. Cal and Brody found some crazy architect that was up for anything unusual and together those three planned us the most beautiful little town.
Closest to the rocks were our houses, meaning Max’s and mine, Maria and Michael’s, Isabelle’s, Kyle’s and Nick’s. Of course now they too have families, but you’ll hear about that a bit later, ok? As you can see our houses form the inner circle. Around us came our families and friends; everybody had to be in the ‘IKAA-Club’ to live that close to us.
Since Brody and Cal were such big planners, they also planned and built a small schoolhouse, a little shop with a little restaurant. With Gramps’ help we began to recruit people for our cause and quite a few of them moved into our little town in the prairie. Actually some of the houses were built for the new arrivals from Antar. Some Antarians came to have a look around on earth, some came to stay.
Rrolff and Le’Norra actually were the first ones to arrive and they have stayed with us ever since. They lived in one of the new houses; actually they lived out there before anybody else.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
I think the time has come to begin with the members of our group, since I’m sure that’s what you want to hear the most. But I have to warn you, I won’t be able to go into detail, because sooo much happened, I could fill books with it!
So, here we go…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Isabelle and Rrolff, yes, that’s a good place to start, isn’t it?
Rrolff was a big surprise. When we met him for the first time, Isabelle wasn’t with us. She had staid back because she had big tests coming up and wanted to study some more. But Jim and Amy were with us, actually if I remember correctly it was their first trip to Antar. Anyway, on our first day there, Larek introduced us to Rrolff. He came from a family of Royal Guards. There were at least 10 generations of royal guards listed in his family chronicle.
Ok, back to Rrolff, he was this big, burly giant of a man, 6’5” to be precise. He’s got the thickest coppery red hair and greenest eyes you can imagine. Oh, you should’ve seen Amy when she saw him first; she almost swooned and couldn’t stop talking about him. Jim actually became really jealous over it all which really surprised him since, if you believe him, he never gets jealous, no, not ever! As it was, once Amy had recovered her senses, she decided that Rrolff and Isabelle would make the perfect couple, both being tall, beautiful people. It turned out she was right.
When Isabelle and Rrolff finally met for the first time a few months later, it was love at first sight and it’s been that way ever since.
*~~*~~*
After Rrolff had grown accustomed to our ways, he became a very important member of our little community. He trained with all of us and worked closely with Michael and Uncle Johnny on everything to do with our security. It was amazing to observe the three of them working together.
When Isabelle became involved with representational duties for Antar, Rrolff was by her side as her bodyguard, and he really guarded her body well. Almost to the day one year after their initial meeting Isabelle and Rrolff married, in fact they were the second ones to tie the knot.
Three years after, they became proud parents of their first set of twins, Alexandria and Aidan. These two were soon followed by two more sets, first by Aaron and Zachary, then by Jasmine and Jordan.
Once, the ever tactful Michael asked Rrolff if it didn’t upset him to name his oldest daughter after his wife’s first love, he simply explained, “no, Alex is a big part of Isabelle’s past. He helped her grow and accept her alien origins. Also, he may have been her first love, but I know that I am her last one!”
*~~*~~*
Isabelle was the born mom, which really surprised us all. Oh, we all knew that she loved kids and she knew how to handle them, but the way she changed from the perfect and impeccable Miss Fashion-Model to a mom in Jeans, t-shirt and no make-up astonished us to no end. But she loved it that way and it became her really well.
Later, when the children were out of their diapers, Isabelle started to work again. As I already said, she represented Antar on many official functions, but then she and Maria became involved with the education system of Antar. When they found out that there was no art of any kind to be found on that planet. Well, actually that’s not quite true, Khivar allowed art, but only if it was to glorify him, everything else was demolished.
Anyway, after that discovery, the two of them made it their business to bring culture to the planet and bring back many of the old customs that Khivar had banished too. Well, let me tell you, these two ladies were very successful too, you should’ve seen them! I think we change now to our next couple, don’t you?
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Michael and Maria
I remember how Michael shocked Maria on our first day of our senior year and he kept surprising her. He tried very hard to open up and succeeded remarkably well. Of course those two are still as volatile as ever, but we all got used to their bickering a long time ago.
Anyway, Maria wasn’t the only one who was shocked by Michael; the teachers were too. You know, once we knew what was going on, what we wanted to achieve, Michael became a straight A-student, practically over night. At first the teachers didn’t trust this new Michael, but after a few weeks he was the perfect teachers pet. They all thought that they were the ones to bring the changes to this rebellious student and now they revelled in their own success, congratulating each other for not giving up on such a fine boy! This very new experience in turn shocked Michael.
He was very surprised to find out that he actually loved not just the art-classes; no he absolutely loved history and anything to do with politics and warfare, great surprise that one! As it was Michael, Max and Nick all majored in political science, and Max, befitting a King, was valedictorian of their class at Harvard.
Anyway, we’ll talk about Max later, now we’re still with Maria and Michael. Maria majored in Music, in fact in diverse instruments and singing. Besides that, she also visited classes in midwifery and first aid. She said you could never be prepared enough, especially with all the children in our little town.
By now we had Zander, my twins and my little sister Bernie. Isabelle and Rrolff announced that they were expecting twins and to everybody’s surprise Jim and Amy soon joined in the baby circus with one of their own. So now you understand why Maria felt that way after coming out of her stupor upon hearing her mom’s ‘good’ news. By now we already had four little ones and three on the way.
*~~*~~*
Maria and Michael were the third ones of our group to get married, oops, not true, Jim and Amy and Brody and Leanne tied the knot before them. Yes you will hear all about them later, when it’s their turn, now we’re still with Maria and Michael, ok?
Ok, right after college those two got married and started their family almost immediately. Since it was very common for Antarian/human hybrids to have twins, they started with just that. You should’ve heard their bickering when it was time to find names for the little ones. They knew that they expected a boy and a girl and Maria was all for naming their son Valentino or Raphaelo or some other Spanish name, but Michael balked at that, put his foot down and said he wanted strong names for his son, not such pansy ones. In the end they agreed that Maria could pick the girls’ names and he would get to choose his sons’.
Well, Maria was in her hippy stage for quite a while and chose flower names for her daughter. Michael, having a really hard time to come up with strong manly names, called his first son after his Antarian name.
The first set of twins were called Iris and Rath and they were born on a stormy November day. The second set Michael (everybody called him Mickey) and Violet followed two years later and last but not least the youngest daughter, Rose, joined them on a sunny spring day 18 month after that.
If you’ve ever seen a child misnamed then it surely must be Rose. A Rose is beautiful, graceful, smells nice, but has thorns, well; maybe she has the right name after all. With the exception of the nice smell Rose is like her namesake. I have to say that even though Rose is a very beautiful little girl, she is not a girly girl; you know one who likes pink, Barbie’s and frilly clothes. No she’s a real tomboy, actually she is much more than that; she is a veritable hellion. If there is any kind of trouble in our little town, you can be sure that Rose is right smack in the middle of it.
She also has a tendency to get into anything that doesn’t smell all that nice; actually she can be a real stinker at times. You can count on it, if there is a dog-pile around; she is the one that ends up stepping into it. Or, like on Antar, they have these beautiful flowers, a bit like our roses, but their smell is about as bad as it can be. I remember, once she came back after spending the afternoon outside, and beaming pridefully at Maria she handed her mom the most beautiful bouquet of those flowers. Maria of course was in tears; her youngest one finally wasn’t in trouble. But once she came closer, the stench was overpowering, and worse, it was almost impossible to get rid of. Actually, Rose was in trouble again, long before the stench was completely gone. Well, that’s Rose, always in trouble.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Kyle and Mirabella Running Doe
Kyle met Mirabella at the Reservation. Already in our senior year of high school, he spent a lot of time out there, learning from Riverdog as much as he could. Together they prepared everything for my babies and me. Kyle was true to his word and distributed books and films about pregnancies and births, to one and all. He even organised some classes at the community college where we all could go as a group, and get some very helpful instructions and tips.
I remember he just went to Prof. Meyers, explained that very good friends of his were expecting babies and now the whole group started to get involved. The trouble was that nobody really knew anything, and that there were just so many books on that topic; it was difficult to know which one to read. Also, he figured that to have an expert instruct the whole group would be much better than anything they read anyway. Let me tell you, Prof. Meyers was so humbled and pleased by Kyle’s request, that she granted us a very generous group discount.
*~~*~~*
Apparently one afternoon Miri was brought into the little hospital there, she had a broken leg and some nasty bruises. That was the first time Kyle was allowed to assist Riverdog.
Later, Kyle would always say that all he’d had to do was take one look into her beautiful almond shaped eyes and he had been a goner! Anyway, Miri was one year younger than us and soon Kyle was so smitten with her that he spent as much time as he possibly could at the Reservation. Miri’s parents weren’t too happy about this development at first. A white skin for their beautiful daughter? No, that most definitely wasn’t the much hoped for son-in-law at all. But after a while, Riverdog was able to convince them of Kyle’s good intentions towards their daughter.
Once Kyle was sure of his feelings for Miri, he asked Gramps to see if she was ready to hear of our big secret. After Gramps gave him his ok, Kyle brought Miri to the Granolith chamber where Riverdog waited with us teens. Together we introduced her to the alien secret. After the first awkward moments she soon became a full member of our little town, in fact not much later her parents became part of our group too.
*~~*~~*
The first year In Boston was hard for Kyle because he had to leave Miri behind. Of course they talked and e-mailed a lot and with Gramps’ help we were able to go home more often than we ever expected. Still, most of the first year those two were separated. Kyle used that time and studied very hard, and as promised he majored in paediatrics.
Whenever we were back home he’d go see Riverdog and work with him and Eddy. Even today, Kyle and Eddy work together, they actually complete each other perfectly. Anyway, after Kyle had attained his doctorate, he opened his own little practice in Vasquez Rocks. Cal and Brody made sure that it was furnished with the best of everything. Actually, Kyle didn’t just treat children in his praxis, no, any aliens that visited us and everybody who had ever been healed by Max. Of course let’s not forget all the young human moms who had carried half-breed babies, because after one of those pregnancies we all had a touch of ‘green’ in our system too.
Riverdog and Eddy spent much of their time there too; they even brought in patients that they couldn’t treat in their very limited little clinic at the reservation. Kyle, Riverdog and Eddy would also spend a lot of time on Antar, where they would meet with last few shamans and healers that had been able to escape Khivar’s regime of terror.
Together they started to record all of their medicines and treatments. They began to school young people in the art of healing and shamanism. They held workshops on a regular basis, sometimes on Antar and sometimes here.
*~~*~~*
After Miri finished high school she joined us in Boston, where she proceeded to study history and law. Later, after we all returned to New Mexico, she started to work with my father in his law firm. Once Miri was well established in Phil’s firm, Kyle and she got married and started their family right away. James Alexander was their first child, soon to be followed by Thomas Kyle and the identical twins Maria Belinda and Maria Magdalena. As you can see, our community is growing rapidly, isn’t it?
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Nick and Susan
Well, to observe Nick working his way into our little world was something else. You should’ve seen him with Zander; it was absolutely beautiful to watch those two. He truly loved the little one very much, and in time Nick wasn’t just Zanders big brother, no he grew into the Whitman family and became a full member there.
Of course when Zander’s powers started to develop it was really handy to have Nick right there, to show him the do’s and don’ts. When Nicky moved to Boston with us, he really missed Zander very much. He kept in very close contact with Charles and Claire who had given him the first real home that he had ever know.
Anyway, on our first vacation back in Roswell, Nick met this girl called Susan, who was actually waitressing at the CrashDown, can you believe that one? She was a real sweetheart and very soon those two became quite seriously involved. Like Kyle and Miri, Nick and Susan had a long distance relationship, since Susan was still in high school, in fact she was a junior when they first met.
Since Nick always talked about Susan, it was actually quite a while later that we learned that she was Susan Troy and Pam’s little sister. Can you believe that one? This truly was very difficult to comprehend, because everybody knows that Pam was the school slut and a bitch to boot. I know, I know, I shouldn’t talk like that, but you can ask anybody who went to high school with us, and I guarantee you, they’ll tell you the same.
So, you can just imagine how that affected us, Susan? Pam Troy’s little sister? In our group? Hmmhmm, not in your life, most definitely no! But by the time we found out who she was, Nick was already very attached to her and he begged us to give her a chance. After all, Susan wasn’t Pam, in fact, Pam used to torment her little sister all time.
So, one day Nick set up a small party where we were to meet his Susan, and let me tell you, she was an absolute doll. Such a sweet girl, I don’t understand how they can be sisters! After we all had accepted her she too was included into our little group. Two years later, after she finished high school, she followed us to Boston.
Luckily we had rented a big old house on the outskirts of the city. It was big enough to let all the new members of our very select group move in with us, and we still had some spare rooms for the occasional visitor from the Whirlwind Galaxy. Let me tell, to show those visitors around Boston was a lot of fun. Usually, upon their arrival they would stay with one of our families or in one of the new houses in our little town. Once they felt comfortable enough to move around on their own, they would come and spend some time with us. It let us see our world with new eyes too. It was a real learning experience for both parties.
*~~*~~*
Nick and Susan decided to get married as soon as Nick had his fist real job and was earning his own money. Susan still had two years of university to go; in fact she joined forces with Kyle and studied to become a doctor.
When we all moved back to New Mexico, Susan worked at the ER of the Roswell Community Hospital. Just to gather a lot of experience, she said. After Nick and Susan started to expand their family, the twin boys, Cameron and Liam (Nick’s a huge Liam Neeson fan), first joined them! Two years later, Oliver and Sascha, btw Sascha is Russian for Alexander, made their appearances. One year later Amanda completed that family.
*~~*~~*
I just remembered that at the beginning of their courtship, Pam tried to separate them on several occasions. She couldn’t understand why Nick was set on her sister. It actually got so bad that Nick and Susan only visited her parents when they knew that Pam was elsewhere. By now, the Troys visit Susan and Nick in our little community, because here is the only place that bitch doesn’t show up.
Well, I hate to say it, …hmmm, actually no, I don’t really hate to say it, because its true; when we were all in high school I couldn’t stand Pam, don’t ask me why, I couldn’t have given you any reason for my dislike of her. And to this day my feelings concerning her haven’t changed.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
What time is it? Oh, I haven’t noticed that it’s already this late; I think I should stop for today. You know, I have quite a few hungry mouths to feed. Can we continue this next week? Like, next Friday, right after lunch? Good, I’ll see you then…
TBC
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
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uw51
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 122
- Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 7:08 am
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Epilogue, Part 2, Vasquez Rocks, NM, 08/15/2020, Saturday
Here I am again and I’ve been thinking about what to tell you, because I’m sure you can imagine that there is still a lot to tell. Anyway, I think I should continue with the grownups now. Oh, you think I forgot my little family? No, no I didn’t; I’ll tell you all about us at the end.
*~~*~~*
Nancy and Jeff
Alright, I’ll continue with my mom and dad. Well, you can just imagine how those two shocked Roswell when mom started to proudly parade her baby bump around town; the gossipmongers had a field day with that one.
On May 9th 2001 my little sister joined us. Max, Riverdog and Eddy helped the little one into our world. You should’ve seen her; she was sooo cute, cute as a button. Mom said Claudia, oh they named her Claudia Marie after my dad’s mom, anyway, and mom said that the little one looked just like I did when I was that small. Also, you can really tell a certain family resemblance between her and my children.
As it is, when I look at Clauds I can recognise myself in her. Really, you wouldn’t believe it, but we could be twins, except of course for the obvious age difference. Also, her mannerism, her likes and dislikes, sometimes it’s downright scary how much alike we are. Actually Claudia and I are more alike than any of my children and I. Even though they all share a certain amount of family traits with me, some more, some less, but none as much as Clauds.
*~~*~~*
Even after moving into our little town, my parents kept running the CrashDown, and one after the other one, most of our kids ended up working there once they went to high school. Dad insisted on torturing the girls by insisting they were those crazy uniforms inclusively the antennas! He was convinced that it was good for the business and their tips.
Of course our otherworldly visitors really loved the CrashDown, they said it was fun to see just how earthlings imagined them. And then they usually added, “you should see the pictures we have of you humans, they’re just about as wrong and strange as this!”
In fact, our very own CrashDown inspired Rrolff’s younger brother to open up an equivalent to it on Antar and he called it ‘the Vasquez Rocks Café’ and it was a huge success and grew into a chain of Café’s across Antar.
*~~*~~*
Three years later my parents were blessed with twins, this time they had boys, Peter and Brian. Peter had my mom’s fiery red hear and the temper to go with. Brian looked just like my dad used to look I n his childhood pictures. Really, those two are just like two peas in a pod, amazing.
By now everybody had moved to Vasquez Rocks and the twins joined the ever-growing crowd of children in our community. My mom was asked -by some well-meaning tattletales - if our little town had something in the water that we multiplied so steadily.
Well after the twins my mom said no more children and after asking Gramps for help, he took care of that. Don’t ask me how he did that, because I don’t know.
*~~*~~*
Peter and Brian now are teenagers and quite a handful. Dad said that his girls had not been as difficult to raise as those two boys, but he is the proudest dad there is. In fact, those two and Rose Guerin are the troublemakers amongst our youngsters. It always amazes me what pranks they come up with, but then again, the three of them stick together, it reminds me our time when Maria, Alex and I were the three Musketeers. When they’re not in trouble the three of them are trailing Zander, who has the patience of a saint with them.
*~~*~~*
As to Claudia, on her eighteenth birthday, she accepted the Granolith’s offer and became the second keeper. Right now she is, what I call, my ‘keeper in training’! She is taking her responsibilities very seriously and is doing a very good job of it. By the way, Clauds has her eye on one of Larek’s younger nephews, a really nice young man from the planet Kias. And it’s just her luck that lately Lorrit, that’s his name, has been eyeing her back! Awww, they are so sweet, Maria says it brings back memories of Max and I at the beginning of our romance. Can’t you just see them?
The two of them use the Granolith on a regular basis to do some ‘planet hopping’ for their rendezvous, ahh well, thankfully Gramps doesn’t mind, in fact he supports them, which leads me to believe that they are meant to be.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Diane and Phil
I guess the next ones I want to talk about are Diane and Philip Evans. After this whole crazy weekend where everything blew up in our faces, those two were full of questions. Well, all the grownups were, really, but it seemed those two more than the others. They realised suddenly, that they finally could get answers to certain happenings in Max and Izzi’s childhood, like when Max healed the bird.
You should’ve seen them, they were almost bursting with pride in their children, and they thought it was a great injustice that they couldn’t tell the world that Max, their son, was in reality a King, an alien one to be sure, but a King nonetheless.
Once the tempers and nerves has calmed down, they called Michael and informed him that from now on they wouldn’t accept his bad behavior any longer. They also told him that he had always been a part of their family, at least as much as he had allowed, and that that didn’t change by the new situation. On the contrary, now that the Evans knew all there was to know, they expected him to be a part of their family, and that was that! Much to their surprise Michael readily accepted the offer.
*~~*~~*
After Nancy’s pregnancy became more visible, Diane found herself wondering what that would be like, to carry another life, to feel it grow. Wistfully she helped her friend through the ups and down of her pregnancy, all the while wondering. One night, Diane had been unable to sleep; she was contacted by Gramps with the most generous offer. If she really wanted it, he could help her conceive a baby. It was his way of thanking her for all she had done for Max and Isabelle. Diane asked for a few days time to think about it.
And think about it she did. She knew she was older than the other mothers in the group, older by a few years. You know, Diane confided in me, telling me that that had been one of the most difficult decisions for her. She said her first reaction had been happiness pure, but after, when she started to think about it, she was torn, couldn’t really make up her mind, one moment she was all for it, the next she was against it.
I asked Diane if she had talked about this offer with Phil and she said not at the beginning because she had to come to terms with it first. Once she had thought it through and come to a decision she talked with her husband.
Now I’m sure you want to know what her decision was, don’t you? Well, I’ll tell you. Once Diane was able to think clearly she decided to leave the ultimate decision to Phil. For herself she had come to the conclusion that she was too set in her ways, and that she liked her life as it was. But if her husband would really like to have a baby, she would happily oblige him. Otherwise she would be the proudest and happiest grandma and enjoy her life with her husband, with our little community and go back to college to study to become a grade school teacher. That way, our kids could go to grade school in Vasquez Rocks, in our very own little school, and by the time they were old enough to handle their powers in public they were old enough to go to West Roswell High. Turns out her husband agreed wholeheartedly with Diane.
Actually, our little school wasn’t so little for long; soon the kids from the reservation joined our little ones. Diane had help from Patty, Serena’s cousin. Among the things Patty taught was Native Americans history. She brought their culture to our schoolrooms, telling the kids of their legends and the way of life of their forefathers. They built wigwams and cooked on a fireside. Sometimes Eddy would show up and take the kids on outings into the forest, the desert or down to the river, where he would show them all about the necessary things to survive in the wilderness. Very often some of our alien friends would join them on these trips.
And then, after our return from Boston, Le’Norra, our nanny, became another helper in the school. She taught history of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. She helped develop our children’s powers and not just our children’s, no; everybody who had been healed by Max went to Le’Norra’s classes. That included Jim and Brody, my mom, Amy, Claire, Serena, Sidney and the other kids. I guess, now you wonder why, besides Jim and Brody, only women attended those classes? I can answer that one for you. Max was there for all the childbirths. He healed the moms; even after they all knew about the powers they would develop afterwards, they insisted that he heal them.
Anyway, I digress, Diane’s school was a great success and all the kids adored their teachers. When our kids entered fourth grade, they had to go to Kathy Dubois’ classed to learn all about manners and decorum. Of course our most wayward children, namely Rose Guerin and Peter and Brian Parker, didn’t really appreciate those lessons at all.
*~~*~~*
While Diane was busy with her school, Philip Evans was occupied with his firm. He did everything necessary to enlarge it until it grew into one of the most influent law firms in New Mexico. Mirabella Valenti, Kyle’s wife was the first one of our group to join Phil in his enterprise. Now it looks like a few of our kids are headed that way too. From time to time one or the other of our otherworldly friends would become Phil’s trainee.
When Philip wasn’t busy with his firm, he build up his net of contacts, consisting of lawyers, politician and even doctors and scientists. Once Gramps approved of them, we would bring them into our secret, some even moved to our town.
You know, when I think back to the time after our coming out, I have to say that all the grownups really blossomed. It seemed like they had found a new purpose in life and they all enjoyed the new challenges very much. It was rejuvenating, you could really see them open up and enjoy the adventure their lives had become.
Both, Philip and Diane never regretted their decision to stay childless, but they were very thankful to Gramps that he had given them the choice.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Jim and Amy
I’m sure it comes as no surprise when I tell you that soon after that weekend Jim and Amy tied the knot. The people of Roswell, who remembered Amy’s rebellious youth, chuckled about the irony of it. Some even remembered the incident, when Jim arrested Amy, when she was eighteen years old. Of course, soon, they too became pregnant and expected a boy. Paul James joined our little community on a stormy winter day on February 28th 2002. The new parents were over the moon with happiness.
Of course, Kyle and Maria started to quibble about who of the two of them was the better older sibling, about who Pauly resembled more, whom he preferred and on an on they went, the list was endless. Those quibbled almost as well as Maria and Michael, the rest of us had many a good laugh about them, they were very entertaining, really, and they were hilariously funny!
*~~*~~*
Anyway, right after Amy learned about the whole ‘alien among us’ thing, she had very serious issues about her alien paraphernalia store. She was afraid that she might unintentionally insult them. But Rrolff was quick to assure her that Antarians had a very good sense of humour. He even went so far as to help her out in the store from time to time. After that, Amy too was able to see the irony of having an alien work in her alien-themed business.
Jim was once again voted sheriff of Roswell. He did everything possible to keep his town safe and sound. After a few years he started to become involved in some of Phil’s projects too. But his first and foremost priority was keeping the youth of Roswell on the right track. Max and Michael kept reminding him of the countless sleepless nights he had given them, how he had always been able to keep the teens guessing about what he knew and what he didn’t. And to this day, Jim still wears those damn sunglasses that give him an inscrutable air.
By the way, 2 ½ years later Jim and Amy had the twins Alissa and Kevin, who completed the family. After a few sleepless nights Jim was overheard to have said, “I’m too old for this, I need my sleep! If we have any more babies, they will have to be Kyle’s or Maria’s!” Amy asked Nancy what kind of precaution she was using, because, obviously whatever Nancy used seemed to work. Nancy’s answer was short but very effective, “go talk to Gramps!” and that was exactly what Jim and Amy did!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Riverdog
I’m very sorry to say that our very dear and trusted friend Riverdog died a few years ago, just after his 88th birthday. He was very active till the end. At least once a month he visited Antar and the other planets in the Whirlwind Galaxy. Up there he was very welcome and respected. He even had his very own fan club, actually Max’s was the first fan club ever on Antar, Riverdogs was second, after that we all had some of our own.
I remember just how animated Riverdog used to be when he talked about his endeavours on Antar. He had found some kindred spirits, healers of the old ways, and together they worked on many a project. His friends would come to earth and stay with Riverdog on the reservation. He would show them the herbs and healing plants he found and he’d show them his way of preparing them for his medicine. Riverdog showed his friends all about the sweat lodge and different meditations and they found out that only the hybrids had troubles with the sweat lodge, the pure aliens loved it, in fact they started an Antarian variation of it and it became a great hit on the planet.
A few years later, we started to bring in doctors. Riverdog introduced his alien friends to them, and together they’d work and compare notes, so to speak. Since these doctors were open-minded people they were also open to learn new ways and this benefited all, the healers, the shamans and the doctors.
*~~*~~*
Many people loved and admired him and to this day many children are named after our great friend Riverdog; he was greatly mourned and missed on Antar and in our little community.
*~~*~~*
But before any of this came to pass, Riverdog helped me through my pregnancy. He taught Kyle the most important things he had to observe; after all, the reservation was quite a distance from Roswell. Kyle took his responsibility very seriously; he kept track of every ounce I gained, of all the new signs I developed. He always carried fresh fruit and Tabasco sauce in his book bag just in case I should need it. More often than not somebody else would end up eating them, but that was ok.
I’m sure that you have guessed correctly that Max too made sure that I was doing well and on top of that he was able to check on the babies’ progress. Riverdog had explained to Max what he had to keep a close eye on, check on a regular basis. Of course Max was very conscientiously following his advice.
You know, it’s really quite a feat, but Riverdog managed to be present for the birth of all our children. He was our rock; we knew that we were in good hands with him.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Eddy and Serena
Since Eddy was Riverdog’s pupil, he accompanied him almost everywhere. Soon he was just as well known in the Whirlwind Galaxy as the great shaman himself. The younger aliens especially felt more confident approaching him than the great man.
When they were down here, Eddy worked with Riverdog and Kyle in Diane's little school. Soon Serena started to come along too. She was fascinated by all the novelties in our lives and wanted to be in the middle of it.
About six weeks after that weekend, Serena discovered that she was pregnant and Gramps confirmed it for her. Eddy strutted around, telling everyone he met the fantastic news. Even Riverdog seemed to walk straighter; he was very happy and excited. After all, this was his first great-grandchild they were expecting and he drove Serena nuts with all the mollycoddling he did.
On June 2nd 2001 Ben Two Feathers joined our growing kindergarten. Will Running Wolf arrived 1 ½ years later, and Frankie Cunning Fox made his entrance on April Fools-day 2004 and he did his day of birth proud, he was the joker among the little ones. By now Eddy was desperate, he had always wanted a little girl but it didn’t seem to happen. He was able to convince Serena to try for a girl one more time. He promised if it didn’t work out, he would never ask her for another baby ever again. This time they had to wait a little longer but on May 4th 2007 they were blessed not with one daughter, no with two. Aurora and Dawn completed the happy family.
I remember when our girls grew into their teenage years and started to eye the boys a little closer and those same boys started to hang around our girls, Eddy was heard to say, “boy am I ever glad that I have had the good sense to have three boys before the girls, this way I’ll have help keeping Dawn and Aurora’s admirers under control!”
*~~*~~*
After our dear friend Riverdog left us to join his forefathers in the sacred hunting grounds, Eddy and Serena continued his work here and on Antar. They compliment each other perfectly. Both know and understand the healing part of their work even though Eddy is the more experienced one. Serena’s strength lies in her visions and in interpreting them properly. In fact, Serena and I often receive our visions around the same time. Usually they're not the same ones but are somehow connected. Mine are given to me by the Granolith; Serena receives hers from their great spirit.
*~~*~~*
You know, future Max was right, Serena has become a very dear friend to me and we work together on many occasions.
*~~*~~*
Anyway, on Antar those two are very much loved and just imagine, by now both of them are almost as highly regarded as Riverdog had been.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
continued next post...
Here I am again and I’ve been thinking about what to tell you, because I’m sure you can imagine that there is still a lot to tell. Anyway, I think I should continue with the grownups now. Oh, you think I forgot my little family? No, no I didn’t; I’ll tell you all about us at the end.
*~~*~~*
Nancy and Jeff
Alright, I’ll continue with my mom and dad. Well, you can just imagine how those two shocked Roswell when mom started to proudly parade her baby bump around town; the gossipmongers had a field day with that one.
On May 9th 2001 my little sister joined us. Max, Riverdog and Eddy helped the little one into our world. You should’ve seen her; she was sooo cute, cute as a button. Mom said Claudia, oh they named her Claudia Marie after my dad’s mom, anyway, and mom said that the little one looked just like I did when I was that small. Also, you can really tell a certain family resemblance between her and my children.
As it is, when I look at Clauds I can recognise myself in her. Really, you wouldn’t believe it, but we could be twins, except of course for the obvious age difference. Also, her mannerism, her likes and dislikes, sometimes it’s downright scary how much alike we are. Actually Claudia and I are more alike than any of my children and I. Even though they all share a certain amount of family traits with me, some more, some less, but none as much as Clauds.
*~~*~~*
Even after moving into our little town, my parents kept running the CrashDown, and one after the other one, most of our kids ended up working there once they went to high school. Dad insisted on torturing the girls by insisting they were those crazy uniforms inclusively the antennas! He was convinced that it was good for the business and their tips.
Of course our otherworldly visitors really loved the CrashDown, they said it was fun to see just how earthlings imagined them. And then they usually added, “you should see the pictures we have of you humans, they’re just about as wrong and strange as this!”
In fact, our very own CrashDown inspired Rrolff’s younger brother to open up an equivalent to it on Antar and he called it ‘the Vasquez Rocks Café’ and it was a huge success and grew into a chain of Café’s across Antar.
*~~*~~*
Three years later my parents were blessed with twins, this time they had boys, Peter and Brian. Peter had my mom’s fiery red hear and the temper to go with. Brian looked just like my dad used to look I n his childhood pictures. Really, those two are just like two peas in a pod, amazing.
By now everybody had moved to Vasquez Rocks and the twins joined the ever-growing crowd of children in our community. My mom was asked -by some well-meaning tattletales - if our little town had something in the water that we multiplied so steadily.
Well after the twins my mom said no more children and after asking Gramps for help, he took care of that. Don’t ask me how he did that, because I don’t know.
*~~*~~*
Peter and Brian now are teenagers and quite a handful. Dad said that his girls had not been as difficult to raise as those two boys, but he is the proudest dad there is. In fact, those two and Rose Guerin are the troublemakers amongst our youngsters. It always amazes me what pranks they come up with, but then again, the three of them stick together, it reminds me our time when Maria, Alex and I were the three Musketeers. When they’re not in trouble the three of them are trailing Zander, who has the patience of a saint with them.
*~~*~~*
As to Claudia, on her eighteenth birthday, she accepted the Granolith’s offer and became the second keeper. Right now she is, what I call, my ‘keeper in training’! She is taking her responsibilities very seriously and is doing a very good job of it. By the way, Clauds has her eye on one of Larek’s younger nephews, a really nice young man from the planet Kias. And it’s just her luck that lately Lorrit, that’s his name, has been eyeing her back! Awww, they are so sweet, Maria says it brings back memories of Max and I at the beginning of our romance. Can’t you just see them?
The two of them use the Granolith on a regular basis to do some ‘planet hopping’ for their rendezvous, ahh well, thankfully Gramps doesn’t mind, in fact he supports them, which leads me to believe that they are meant to be.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Diane and Phil
I guess the next ones I want to talk about are Diane and Philip Evans. After this whole crazy weekend where everything blew up in our faces, those two were full of questions. Well, all the grownups were, really, but it seemed those two more than the others. They realised suddenly, that they finally could get answers to certain happenings in Max and Izzi’s childhood, like when Max healed the bird.
You should’ve seen them, they were almost bursting with pride in their children, and they thought it was a great injustice that they couldn’t tell the world that Max, their son, was in reality a King, an alien one to be sure, but a King nonetheless.
Once the tempers and nerves has calmed down, they called Michael and informed him that from now on they wouldn’t accept his bad behavior any longer. They also told him that he had always been a part of their family, at least as much as he had allowed, and that that didn’t change by the new situation. On the contrary, now that the Evans knew all there was to know, they expected him to be a part of their family, and that was that! Much to their surprise Michael readily accepted the offer.
*~~*~~*
After Nancy’s pregnancy became more visible, Diane found herself wondering what that would be like, to carry another life, to feel it grow. Wistfully she helped her friend through the ups and down of her pregnancy, all the while wondering. One night, Diane had been unable to sleep; she was contacted by Gramps with the most generous offer. If she really wanted it, he could help her conceive a baby. It was his way of thanking her for all she had done for Max and Isabelle. Diane asked for a few days time to think about it.
And think about it she did. She knew she was older than the other mothers in the group, older by a few years. You know, Diane confided in me, telling me that that had been one of the most difficult decisions for her. She said her first reaction had been happiness pure, but after, when she started to think about it, she was torn, couldn’t really make up her mind, one moment she was all for it, the next she was against it.
I asked Diane if she had talked about this offer with Phil and she said not at the beginning because she had to come to terms with it first. Once she had thought it through and come to a decision she talked with her husband.
Now I’m sure you want to know what her decision was, don’t you? Well, I’ll tell you. Once Diane was able to think clearly she decided to leave the ultimate decision to Phil. For herself she had come to the conclusion that she was too set in her ways, and that she liked her life as it was. But if her husband would really like to have a baby, she would happily oblige him. Otherwise she would be the proudest and happiest grandma and enjoy her life with her husband, with our little community and go back to college to study to become a grade school teacher. That way, our kids could go to grade school in Vasquez Rocks, in our very own little school, and by the time they were old enough to handle their powers in public they were old enough to go to West Roswell High. Turns out her husband agreed wholeheartedly with Diane.
Actually, our little school wasn’t so little for long; soon the kids from the reservation joined our little ones. Diane had help from Patty, Serena’s cousin. Among the things Patty taught was Native Americans history. She brought their culture to our schoolrooms, telling the kids of their legends and the way of life of their forefathers. They built wigwams and cooked on a fireside. Sometimes Eddy would show up and take the kids on outings into the forest, the desert or down to the river, where he would show them all about the necessary things to survive in the wilderness. Very often some of our alien friends would join them on these trips.
And then, after our return from Boston, Le’Norra, our nanny, became another helper in the school. She taught history of Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. She helped develop our children’s powers and not just our children’s, no; everybody who had been healed by Max went to Le’Norra’s classes. That included Jim and Brody, my mom, Amy, Claire, Serena, Sidney and the other kids. I guess, now you wonder why, besides Jim and Brody, only women attended those classes? I can answer that one for you. Max was there for all the childbirths. He healed the moms; even after they all knew about the powers they would develop afterwards, they insisted that he heal them.
Anyway, I digress, Diane’s school was a great success and all the kids adored their teachers. When our kids entered fourth grade, they had to go to Kathy Dubois’ classed to learn all about manners and decorum. Of course our most wayward children, namely Rose Guerin and Peter and Brian Parker, didn’t really appreciate those lessons at all.
*~~*~~*
While Diane was busy with her school, Philip Evans was occupied with his firm. He did everything necessary to enlarge it until it grew into one of the most influent law firms in New Mexico. Mirabella Valenti, Kyle’s wife was the first one of our group to join Phil in his enterprise. Now it looks like a few of our kids are headed that way too. From time to time one or the other of our otherworldly friends would become Phil’s trainee.
When Philip wasn’t busy with his firm, he build up his net of contacts, consisting of lawyers, politician and even doctors and scientists. Once Gramps approved of them, we would bring them into our secret, some even moved to our town.
You know, when I think back to the time after our coming out, I have to say that all the grownups really blossomed. It seemed like they had found a new purpose in life and they all enjoyed the new challenges very much. It was rejuvenating, you could really see them open up and enjoy the adventure their lives had become.
Both, Philip and Diane never regretted their decision to stay childless, but they were very thankful to Gramps that he had given them the choice.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Jim and Amy
I’m sure it comes as no surprise when I tell you that soon after that weekend Jim and Amy tied the knot. The people of Roswell, who remembered Amy’s rebellious youth, chuckled about the irony of it. Some even remembered the incident, when Jim arrested Amy, when she was eighteen years old. Of course, soon, they too became pregnant and expected a boy. Paul James joined our little community on a stormy winter day on February 28th 2002. The new parents were over the moon with happiness.
Of course, Kyle and Maria started to quibble about who of the two of them was the better older sibling, about who Pauly resembled more, whom he preferred and on an on they went, the list was endless. Those quibbled almost as well as Maria and Michael, the rest of us had many a good laugh about them, they were very entertaining, really, and they were hilariously funny!
*~~*~~*
Anyway, right after Amy learned about the whole ‘alien among us’ thing, she had very serious issues about her alien paraphernalia store. She was afraid that she might unintentionally insult them. But Rrolff was quick to assure her that Antarians had a very good sense of humour. He even went so far as to help her out in the store from time to time. After that, Amy too was able to see the irony of having an alien work in her alien-themed business.
Jim was once again voted sheriff of Roswell. He did everything possible to keep his town safe and sound. After a few years he started to become involved in some of Phil’s projects too. But his first and foremost priority was keeping the youth of Roswell on the right track. Max and Michael kept reminding him of the countless sleepless nights he had given them, how he had always been able to keep the teens guessing about what he knew and what he didn’t. And to this day, Jim still wears those damn sunglasses that give him an inscrutable air.
By the way, 2 ½ years later Jim and Amy had the twins Alissa and Kevin, who completed the family. After a few sleepless nights Jim was overheard to have said, “I’m too old for this, I need my sleep! If we have any more babies, they will have to be Kyle’s or Maria’s!” Amy asked Nancy what kind of precaution she was using, because, obviously whatever Nancy used seemed to work. Nancy’s answer was short but very effective, “go talk to Gramps!” and that was exactly what Jim and Amy did!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Riverdog
I’m very sorry to say that our very dear and trusted friend Riverdog died a few years ago, just after his 88th birthday. He was very active till the end. At least once a month he visited Antar and the other planets in the Whirlwind Galaxy. Up there he was very welcome and respected. He even had his very own fan club, actually Max’s was the first fan club ever on Antar, Riverdogs was second, after that we all had some of our own.
I remember just how animated Riverdog used to be when he talked about his endeavours on Antar. He had found some kindred spirits, healers of the old ways, and together they worked on many a project. His friends would come to earth and stay with Riverdog on the reservation. He would show them the herbs and healing plants he found and he’d show them his way of preparing them for his medicine. Riverdog showed his friends all about the sweat lodge and different meditations and they found out that only the hybrids had troubles with the sweat lodge, the pure aliens loved it, in fact they started an Antarian variation of it and it became a great hit on the planet.
A few years later, we started to bring in doctors. Riverdog introduced his alien friends to them, and together they’d work and compare notes, so to speak. Since these doctors were open-minded people they were also open to learn new ways and this benefited all, the healers, the shamans and the doctors.
*~~*~~*
Many people loved and admired him and to this day many children are named after our great friend Riverdog; he was greatly mourned and missed on Antar and in our little community.
*~~*~~*
But before any of this came to pass, Riverdog helped me through my pregnancy. He taught Kyle the most important things he had to observe; after all, the reservation was quite a distance from Roswell. Kyle took his responsibility very seriously; he kept track of every ounce I gained, of all the new signs I developed. He always carried fresh fruit and Tabasco sauce in his book bag just in case I should need it. More often than not somebody else would end up eating them, but that was ok.
I’m sure that you have guessed correctly that Max too made sure that I was doing well and on top of that he was able to check on the babies’ progress. Riverdog had explained to Max what he had to keep a close eye on, check on a regular basis. Of course Max was very conscientiously following his advice.
You know, it’s really quite a feat, but Riverdog managed to be present for the birth of all our children. He was our rock; we knew that we were in good hands with him.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Eddy and Serena
Since Eddy was Riverdog’s pupil, he accompanied him almost everywhere. Soon he was just as well known in the Whirlwind Galaxy as the great shaman himself. The younger aliens especially felt more confident approaching him than the great man.
When they were down here, Eddy worked with Riverdog and Kyle in Diane's little school. Soon Serena started to come along too. She was fascinated by all the novelties in our lives and wanted to be in the middle of it.
About six weeks after that weekend, Serena discovered that she was pregnant and Gramps confirmed it for her. Eddy strutted around, telling everyone he met the fantastic news. Even Riverdog seemed to walk straighter; he was very happy and excited. After all, this was his first great-grandchild they were expecting and he drove Serena nuts with all the mollycoddling he did.
On June 2nd 2001 Ben Two Feathers joined our growing kindergarten. Will Running Wolf arrived 1 ½ years later, and Frankie Cunning Fox made his entrance on April Fools-day 2004 and he did his day of birth proud, he was the joker among the little ones. By now Eddy was desperate, he had always wanted a little girl but it didn’t seem to happen. He was able to convince Serena to try for a girl one more time. He promised if it didn’t work out, he would never ask her for another baby ever again. This time they had to wait a little longer but on May 4th 2007 they were blessed not with one daughter, no with two. Aurora and Dawn completed the happy family.
I remember when our girls grew into their teenage years and started to eye the boys a little closer and those same boys started to hang around our girls, Eddy was heard to say, “boy am I ever glad that I have had the good sense to have three boys before the girls, this way I’ll have help keeping Dawn and Aurora’s admirers under control!”
*~~*~~*
After our dear friend Riverdog left us to join his forefathers in the sacred hunting grounds, Eddy and Serena continued his work here and on Antar. They compliment each other perfectly. Both know and understand the healing part of their work even though Eddy is the more experienced one. Serena’s strength lies in her visions and in interpreting them properly. In fact, Serena and I often receive our visions around the same time. Usually they're not the same ones but are somehow connected. Mine are given to me by the Granolith; Serena receives hers from their great spirit.
*~~*~~*
You know, future Max was right, Serena has become a very dear friend to me and we work together on many occasions.
*~~*~~*
Anyway, on Antar those two are very much loved and just imagine, by now both of them are almost as highly regarded as Riverdog had been.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
continued next post...
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
-
uw51
- Addicted Roswellian
- Posts: 122
- Joined: Sun Mar 02, 2003 7:08 am
- Location: in the heart of Switzerland
the last part from my very last part....
Cal Langley ‘our resident alien’
Now I’ll tell you all about Cal Langley who turned out to be the biggest surprise of all. It seemed that when he decided to become a full member of our community, he wasn’t joking. His very first action was to out himself to Mercedes, then he asked her to marry him. When she asked him why he’d want to do that, Cal seriously replied, “because you’re the only one who’s crazy enough to put up with me!” That got her laughing real hard and when she was finally able to talk she accepted, saying, “I guess I have to since nobody else would accept such a loco hombre!”
Surprisingly enough they are very happy together in their own peculiar way. One day Cal showed up with a new script, he said his woman had inspired him to write it. We only got to see the completed product though. It was called, “The Royal Four, Prophecy or Fairytale?” It turned out to one of the biggest blockbusters ever and it was nominated for 15 Oscars and finally won 12.
When, after the premiere, Cal was on Leno’s Tonight Show, Jay wanted to know just how anybody could come up with such a crazy idea? Cal simply stated, “Well, Jay, that’s actually very simple, I’m an alien from Antar and when I was just a kid they would tell us these stories about the Chosen Ones and the Royal Four. Turns out, I became one of the Protectors!” Upon hearing this, Jay cried tears because he was laughing so hard. Since then he keeps inviting Cal to the late night show and called him ‘our resident alien’.
And then about 15 years ago, Cal decided to bring Jay to Vasquez Rock, where he met all of us. After that he came by quite often and finally, a few years later, Cal confessed that his story had been really true. Jay of course laughed his head off, but when Cal showed him some of his tricks he passed out. Luckily Max was there and was able to heal him, because Leno fell hard and twisted his ankle real badly.
*~~*~~*
But the biggest surprise was that Cal became the kids’ favourite ‘uncle’. The children would spend hours at his house, and when you asked them what did you do at Cal’s, they’d say, “oh, nothing, really, we just hang around and he tells us things, you know!”
Then one day, Isabelle, Maria and I went to pick up the kids quite unexpectedly and then we found out exactly what went on at Cal’s.
Anyway, when nobody answered our knocking on the door we walked around to the back and then we heard them. Well, actually we didn’t ‘hear’ them; we heard nothing and that was very unusual for our kids, really. When we reached the widows, all we could see were our kids, sitting on their little chairs, staring transfixed at something just out of our line our line of vision. So, we moved closer and there they were, Mercedes lying in a glass coffin, playing a dead Snow White, while Cal played the seven dwarfs, shifting from Dopey to Grumpy to Bashful and so on. We just stood there, shocked to our core.
After we watched this spectacle for a while we quietly left. Unanimously we decided to keep this our secret. So, we’d keep badgering the little ones about what they’d do at Cal’s, and they’d keep giving us very evasive answers. To this day nobody knows that the three of us do know, and that’s just how we like it!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Kathy and Johnny
Kathy and Johnny were among the first ones to move to Vasquez Rock. Their kids, all three of them, hadn’t appreciated this move at all. They did their best to talk them out of it, but they failed. After an especially heated argument, all three stormed out of their parents’ house, glad that they were already living on their own. Lucas, the oldest, tried to convince the parents one more time. In the end, Johnny managed to convince him, to at least come and look at our town. Kathy added that if he wanted to, he could stay in his own place, and mysteriously continued, “Luke, please, come and see, you might even like it!” and to further confuse him she went on with one of her irritating smiles, “you might see that not everything is as it seems!”
Oh, how he hated it when his mom did that. She knew him too well, knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. When he finally caved he could see his mom gloating about her victory. Luke figured that if he had to go, his siblings better be there too. He managed to first convince his sister Conny and afterwards his brother Carl to come as well.
Once they arrived in our little town they saw that only a few of our houses were standing and ready to be moved into. The others were in different stages of readiness, but things progressed exceedingly fast. Carl wondered about that and jokingly said to his new acquaintance, “it’s amazing how fast things get done here, I mean these houses just shoot out of the ground!” and on an afterthought he smirked, “Michael, are there any aliens working here?” and laughing at his own joke he continued, “you know, with being so close to Roswell and all!”
Michael put on his best pokerface and grumbled, “of course, I’m one too!” Carl thought that was the best joke ever and held his sides because he had to laugh so hard. He was heard to have fits of laughter throughout the day. However, that night we had one of our meetings and Johnny and Kathy brought their kids along - and yes of course we had already consulted Gramps - and the ‘IKAA-Club’ had three new members.
I was watching my cousin Carl because I wanted to see his reaction, and boy did he react! At first he grinned his cocky grin and quibbed, “haha, good joke, really, you don’t expect me to believe that one? Do you?” After he was shown some of our tricks he turned chalk white and weakly stuttered, “ddddid you sssee that? Dddid you?”
Once he had recovered, Carl was the first one of the Dubois siblings to state, “I want to be a part in all of this too! Just tell me what you need me to do and I will. When can I move out here?” It needed the whole family to convince Carl to finish his studies first and then he could move out here. Calmer but just as decisive Luke and Conny came to the same conclusion, first finish their college years, then move to Vasquez Rocks.
You see, our little community keeps growing and growing. Isn’t that just fantastic?
*~~*~~*
Anyway, while Kathy supported Diane in the planning and establishing of our school, beginning with a day nursery, Johnny moved the office headquarters of his academy for bodyguards and high security business to Roswell. Of course, first he had to find a suitable building and have all the changes done before he could actually move his office, but he was always busy, and when he had some spare time, he’d go to Antar to make sure that everything was still as it should be.
There were days where Johnny would go to work on Antar on a daily basis, you know, like with a nine to five job! He kept insisting that he just didn’t like to sleep in strange beds, he wanted his own; after all, he had done enough of that in his youth while he was in the military overseas.
Uncle Johnny always gets a great kick out of going to work on Antar, usually he says something like, “Kathy, today I’ll be in my office. If the traffic isn’t too crazy, I should be home in time for dinner!” And he usually is. In fact, can you imagine that we can get to Antar faster than to Roswell? Isn’t that absolutely mind-boggling? It’s the truth, honestly, cross my heart. You can come along whenever you feel like it; just say the word!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Brody and Leanne
Now we come to a very unlikely match, but then again, it couldn’t have been any other way! Brody and Leanne. Leanne once told me that when she first met Brody she thought he was one of those crazy English guys, but at the same time she was very intrigued by him. Once she heard all about his ‘abducted by aliens’ story she felt really bad for Brody because she knew how difficult that situation was for the abductees.
Of course we all were very curious to see her reaction to the CrashDown and more so to the UFO-Museum. Let me just tell that much, we most definitely weren’t disappointed by her. I was with her when she decided to visit the museum and as we descended the stairs her eyes grew bigger and bigger. Open-mouthed Leanne stared at the different exhibitions, closely studied the newspaper-cuttings, and once we reached the particular exhibit with Scientist performing an autopsy on an alien - you know which one I’m talking about, the one where the kids always pull out all the organs - she just burst out laughing so hard that everyone turned around and started to stare.
Brody, hearing all the commotion, came out of his office to investigate what all the laughter was about. When he saw Leanne he was afraid that she might feel insulted by the displays. He couldn’t stop apologising because he was so worried. Finally, to stop his torrent mumblings, Leanne leaned towards Brody and planted a hearty kiss on his lips. That was the beginning of their romance and I was there to witness it.
In no time at all, Leanne convinced Brody to let her work with him in the UFO-Museum; after all, there was still Milton’s -Brody’s predecessor- tons of stuff to sort out. Amazingly enough they found quite a few articles that were genuinely alien, and also some news-cuttings that were very accurate.
Sidney observed her father’s budding romance with eagle-eyes. At first she wasn’t sure if she liked it, but then she saw just how happy her father was with Leanne and she too opened up to the alien woman.
One year later they married, in fact they had two ceremonies, one in Vasquez Rock and one on Antar with Larek and the other leaders in attendance. Let me tell you, it was a grand affair!
*~~*~~*
Right after their wedding those two became pregnant and nine months later we welcomed Harry in our midst. Sidney was the proudest big sister ever. But four years and two babies later, she started to complain, enough was enough. Leanne thought so too and she too had a talk with Gramps.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Whitmans
The Whitmans household was suddenly filled with life again. Zander kept them all on their toes. Nick adjusted to this kind of life surprisingly fast.
Claire decided to become a stay at home grandma and Charles cut back drastically on his work load. Alex’s death had taught them a lesson, and they didn’t feel like repeating their past mistakes. As it was, both of them felt terribly guilty for leaving their son on his own for so much of his youth, both too busy with their careers.
Six moths after that weekend, Claire caught a very bad and persistent stomach flu. When she finally went to her doctor she learned that she too was pregnant. By the next doctor’s appointment Charles accompanied her and they learned that they were expecting twins. Charlotte (Charley) and Cybil arrived on a warm autumn day in 2001. Two years later Samuel completed that family.
To everyone’s surprise Charles quit his job after Samy’s arrival and decided to start his own little firm where he could come and go as he pleased.
As you can see, Zander didn’t stay alone for long, first our twins were born, and then Ben and Claudia and Charley and Cybil followed in the same year. Of course quite a few more joined our little town over the years. We are known as a very children friendly community, and we are!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Sidney and the other kids
Over the next two years the families of the children that had been healed by Max, moved to our area, some to Roswell, some to Vasquez Rock, but all the children attended Diane’s school.
By now, they all have finished their education and are back in town. Sidney of course studied business and is working along with her father and Leanne at the UFO-Museum. Among the other children we now have a landscape gardener, an architect, a doctor and one is even working for NASA.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Max and Liz
And then there are of course Max and I; we had our twins, Leo Philip Riverdog and Moira Diana. They decided to join us on February 15th 2001. Let me tell you, the moment I started to have my contractions, Max and Kyle both started to freak out big time. Amazingly enough it was Maria who started to bark out order after order. You can believe me when I say that she ran a very tight ship. Even Michael and Isabelle didn’t dare to contradict her. After a while Max and Kyle were able to calm down and with Riverdog’s help our babies were delivered.
The Granolith took upon himself to send out the biggest transmission ever throughout the Galaxy, to announce the birth of the heir to throne of Antar and the heiress to the throne of the High Queen of the Whirlwind Galaxy.
Of course there was a lot of talk in town, but it didn’t really upset me much. I was on cloud nine, happy to be with Max and have my babies. Our whole group grew even closer than ever before and usually one of Michael’s killer looks or Isabelle’s Ice queen stares would shut up anybody stupid enough to look at me askew!
We never had trouble finding babysitters; quite the contrary was true. Sometimes we almost needed to use force to get our little ones back from wherever they were. One week after their birth we took Leo and Moira to Antar, they had to be officially introduced to the people. Thankfully, by now the Antarians accepted our ‘quirkiness’ of having no pomp and no fuss and were happy when Gramps transmitted pictures of all of us and mostly the babies in our home on Antar. There was a relatively small ceremony - only all the members of our growing group and the Leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy - to officially acknowledge the twins as the heirs and have their names carved into the royal family crystal slab. It was actually a very moving and historical moment, the names of all the Antarian rulers ever are carved on that slab, and now Leo and Moira’s names joined Max’s and mine. I still get goosebumps just thinking of it, you know!
*~~*~~*
Anyway, after all that excitement we finished high school and then we all went to Boston, where some of us went to Harvard. Rrolff and Le’Norra came with us. Rrolff had to guard Izzi’s body and Le’Norra was our babysitter. We all did very well at Harvard and Max, befitting a King, was the valedictorian of or class. But Nick and I had given him a run for the title and just barely missed it.
*~~*~~*
Even during our time in Boston we had to deal with Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. With the help of Gramps, our friends here on earth and the leaders of the other planets, we started to rebuild Antar. The people slowly began to trust us and became actively involved in the planning and executing of the changes.
Of course that was a very slow process; after all, you can’t expect people who had practically been enslaved for decades to change their ways over night. Their fears were very deeply rooted and some never got over them. But things are now really looking good on Antar. The Trade in the Whirlwind Galaxy is almost back to what it used to be before Khivar’s reign of terror.
*~~*~~*
So, you see, we were very busy, plotting and planning and executing the changes on Antar. Well, I wasn’t as involved in this as Max was, but I worked with Gramps a lot.
Oh, I forgot to mention that, thanks to Brody and Cal, we have our very own Lab here in Vasquez Rocks. It’s actually very big - part of it is built into the mountain - and it has the newest instruments that are on the market. I work there as a microbiologist. And wouldn’t you know it, I work very closely with my very favourite professor from Harvard. Greg Chiles comes to my lab on every opportunity he has. We test and explore and compare earth and alien matter, and some of our findings are quite extraordinary. You see, some dreams do come true.
Sometimes though, I have to confess, it becomes almost too much. I mean, I have children to raise, I work in my lab and then there are my duties as Queen of Antar. I do take them very seriously, really I do and most of the time I absolutely enjoy that job. I mean I get to work with all these aliens, I can see the changes in them, from scared slaves to confident citizens of Antar. It has been a long and rough road, but finally the changes are visible in all of them.
*~~*~~*
Max decided to teach at West Roswell High, and the students just love him, especially the girls who think he’s sooo ‘hot’, well they’re right about that one, aren’t they?
Of course with everything else going on in his life he can’t be a fulltime teacher, but he gives special classes that he calls ‘to the stars and back’. He tells his students that things aren’t always what they seem, to be open and observant.
Actually in the last few years several of his students have learned of our secret and are now a part of it too. Max said that every once in a while there is this special student that wants to explore and to know as much as possible. Usually they are very open-minded and ready to really listen, even if it’s unexplainable, even if they get laughed at. Those are exactly the people we need, they’re open and dedicated.
*~~*~~*
You know on June 15th 2005, Max and I were blessed with another set of twins, Chiara Nancy and Benjamin Jeffery. Anyway, when the Granolith sent the transmission to the Galaxy he called Chiara and Ben the heirs to the Granolith - Chiara is the heiress to the Granolith on Earth and Ben to the one on Antar.
By the way, on that occasion Gramps calmly informed us that our two sets of twins made up the real ‘royal four’ and with all their helpers they would rule the universe and bring peace.
Well, let me tell you something, we still have to wait a while before my kids rule anything, here or on Antar, after all, my younger twins have just turned fifteen and are fully occupied with high school, working at the CrashDown and having always-changing crushes on this cute boy or that beautiful girl that catches their fancy. I’m sure you understand that right now they are too busy to with everyday life to ponder on minor matters such as ruling the universe, don’t you?
*~~*~~*
Our newest project now is to slowly spread the good news of ‘aliens really exist and are among us’ at all the right places. Actually, as we are speaking, my uncle Johnny is whispering these news to his good friend, our very own president of America and a few politicians that have been very carefully chosen and approved by Gramps. The time has come, of course not to go public, but to prepare for just that event.
*~~*~~*
Isn’t this the most amazing story you have ever heard? Sometimes I have to pinch myself since I find it so hard to believe, that I, the smallest of small-town girls, could have such an extraordinary time. You know, I can’t help but wonder what else life will bring us, because so far it’s been one heck of a ride. Ahh, isn’t life just absolutely exciting?
THE END
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
Cal Langley ‘our resident alien’
Now I’ll tell you all about Cal Langley who turned out to be the biggest surprise of all. It seemed that when he decided to become a full member of our community, he wasn’t joking. His very first action was to out himself to Mercedes, then he asked her to marry him. When she asked him why he’d want to do that, Cal seriously replied, “because you’re the only one who’s crazy enough to put up with me!” That got her laughing real hard and when she was finally able to talk she accepted, saying, “I guess I have to since nobody else would accept such a loco hombre!”
Surprisingly enough they are very happy together in their own peculiar way. One day Cal showed up with a new script, he said his woman had inspired him to write it. We only got to see the completed product though. It was called, “The Royal Four, Prophecy or Fairytale?” It turned out to one of the biggest blockbusters ever and it was nominated for 15 Oscars and finally won 12.
When, after the premiere, Cal was on Leno’s Tonight Show, Jay wanted to know just how anybody could come up with such a crazy idea? Cal simply stated, “Well, Jay, that’s actually very simple, I’m an alien from Antar and when I was just a kid they would tell us these stories about the Chosen Ones and the Royal Four. Turns out, I became one of the Protectors!” Upon hearing this, Jay cried tears because he was laughing so hard. Since then he keeps inviting Cal to the late night show and called him ‘our resident alien’.
And then about 15 years ago, Cal decided to bring Jay to Vasquez Rock, where he met all of us. After that he came by quite often and finally, a few years later, Cal confessed that his story had been really true. Jay of course laughed his head off, but when Cal showed him some of his tricks he passed out. Luckily Max was there and was able to heal him, because Leno fell hard and twisted his ankle real badly.
*~~*~~*
But the biggest surprise was that Cal became the kids’ favourite ‘uncle’. The children would spend hours at his house, and when you asked them what did you do at Cal’s, they’d say, “oh, nothing, really, we just hang around and he tells us things, you know!”
Then one day, Isabelle, Maria and I went to pick up the kids quite unexpectedly and then we found out exactly what went on at Cal’s.
Anyway, when nobody answered our knocking on the door we walked around to the back and then we heard them. Well, actually we didn’t ‘hear’ them; we heard nothing and that was very unusual for our kids, really. When we reached the widows, all we could see were our kids, sitting on their little chairs, staring transfixed at something just out of our line our line of vision. So, we moved closer and there they were, Mercedes lying in a glass coffin, playing a dead Snow White, while Cal played the seven dwarfs, shifting from Dopey to Grumpy to Bashful and so on. We just stood there, shocked to our core.
After we watched this spectacle for a while we quietly left. Unanimously we decided to keep this our secret. So, we’d keep badgering the little ones about what they’d do at Cal’s, and they’d keep giving us very evasive answers. To this day nobody knows that the three of us do know, and that’s just how we like it!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Kathy and Johnny
Kathy and Johnny were among the first ones to move to Vasquez Rock. Their kids, all three of them, hadn’t appreciated this move at all. They did their best to talk them out of it, but they failed. After an especially heated argument, all three stormed out of their parents’ house, glad that they were already living on their own. Lucas, the oldest, tried to convince the parents one more time. In the end, Johnny managed to convince him, to at least come and look at our town. Kathy added that if he wanted to, he could stay in his own place, and mysteriously continued, “Luke, please, come and see, you might even like it!” and to further confuse him she went on with one of her irritating smiles, “you might see that not everything is as it seems!”
Oh, how he hated it when his mom did that. She knew him too well, knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. When he finally caved he could see his mom gloating about her victory. Luke figured that if he had to go, his siblings better be there too. He managed to first convince his sister Conny and afterwards his brother Carl to come as well.
Once they arrived in our little town they saw that only a few of our houses were standing and ready to be moved into. The others were in different stages of readiness, but things progressed exceedingly fast. Carl wondered about that and jokingly said to his new acquaintance, “it’s amazing how fast things get done here, I mean these houses just shoot out of the ground!” and on an afterthought he smirked, “Michael, are there any aliens working here?” and laughing at his own joke he continued, “you know, with being so close to Roswell and all!”
Michael put on his best pokerface and grumbled, “of course, I’m one too!” Carl thought that was the best joke ever and held his sides because he had to laugh so hard. He was heard to have fits of laughter throughout the day. However, that night we had one of our meetings and Johnny and Kathy brought their kids along - and yes of course we had already consulted Gramps - and the ‘IKAA-Club’ had three new members.
I was watching my cousin Carl because I wanted to see his reaction, and boy did he react! At first he grinned his cocky grin and quibbed, “haha, good joke, really, you don’t expect me to believe that one? Do you?” After he was shown some of our tricks he turned chalk white and weakly stuttered, “ddddid you sssee that? Dddid you?”
Once he had recovered, Carl was the first one of the Dubois siblings to state, “I want to be a part in all of this too! Just tell me what you need me to do and I will. When can I move out here?” It needed the whole family to convince Carl to finish his studies first and then he could move out here. Calmer but just as decisive Luke and Conny came to the same conclusion, first finish their college years, then move to Vasquez Rocks.
You see, our little community keeps growing and growing. Isn’t that just fantastic?
*~~*~~*
Anyway, while Kathy supported Diane in the planning and establishing of our school, beginning with a day nursery, Johnny moved the office headquarters of his academy for bodyguards and high security business to Roswell. Of course, first he had to find a suitable building and have all the changes done before he could actually move his office, but he was always busy, and when he had some spare time, he’d go to Antar to make sure that everything was still as it should be.
There were days where Johnny would go to work on Antar on a daily basis, you know, like with a nine to five job! He kept insisting that he just didn’t like to sleep in strange beds, he wanted his own; after all, he had done enough of that in his youth while he was in the military overseas.
Uncle Johnny always gets a great kick out of going to work on Antar, usually he says something like, “Kathy, today I’ll be in my office. If the traffic isn’t too crazy, I should be home in time for dinner!” And he usually is. In fact, can you imagine that we can get to Antar faster than to Roswell? Isn’t that absolutely mind-boggling? It’s the truth, honestly, cross my heart. You can come along whenever you feel like it; just say the word!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Brody and Leanne
Now we come to a very unlikely match, but then again, it couldn’t have been any other way! Brody and Leanne. Leanne once told me that when she first met Brody she thought he was one of those crazy English guys, but at the same time she was very intrigued by him. Once she heard all about his ‘abducted by aliens’ story she felt really bad for Brody because she knew how difficult that situation was for the abductees.
Of course we all were very curious to see her reaction to the CrashDown and more so to the UFO-Museum. Let me just tell that much, we most definitely weren’t disappointed by her. I was with her when she decided to visit the museum and as we descended the stairs her eyes grew bigger and bigger. Open-mouthed Leanne stared at the different exhibitions, closely studied the newspaper-cuttings, and once we reached the particular exhibit with Scientist performing an autopsy on an alien - you know which one I’m talking about, the one where the kids always pull out all the organs - she just burst out laughing so hard that everyone turned around and started to stare.
Brody, hearing all the commotion, came out of his office to investigate what all the laughter was about. When he saw Leanne he was afraid that she might feel insulted by the displays. He couldn’t stop apologising because he was so worried. Finally, to stop his torrent mumblings, Leanne leaned towards Brody and planted a hearty kiss on his lips. That was the beginning of their romance and I was there to witness it.
In no time at all, Leanne convinced Brody to let her work with him in the UFO-Museum; after all, there was still Milton’s -Brody’s predecessor- tons of stuff to sort out. Amazingly enough they found quite a few articles that were genuinely alien, and also some news-cuttings that were very accurate.
Sidney observed her father’s budding romance with eagle-eyes. At first she wasn’t sure if she liked it, but then she saw just how happy her father was with Leanne and she too opened up to the alien woman.
One year later they married, in fact they had two ceremonies, one in Vasquez Rock and one on Antar with Larek and the other leaders in attendance. Let me tell you, it was a grand affair!
*~~*~~*
Right after their wedding those two became pregnant and nine months later we welcomed Harry in our midst. Sidney was the proudest big sister ever. But four years and two babies later, she started to complain, enough was enough. Leanne thought so too and she too had a talk with Gramps.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The Whitmans
The Whitmans household was suddenly filled with life again. Zander kept them all on their toes. Nick adjusted to this kind of life surprisingly fast.
Claire decided to become a stay at home grandma and Charles cut back drastically on his work load. Alex’s death had taught them a lesson, and they didn’t feel like repeating their past mistakes. As it was, both of them felt terribly guilty for leaving their son on his own for so much of his youth, both too busy with their careers.
Six moths after that weekend, Claire caught a very bad and persistent stomach flu. When she finally went to her doctor she learned that she too was pregnant. By the next doctor’s appointment Charles accompanied her and they learned that they were expecting twins. Charlotte (Charley) and Cybil arrived on a warm autumn day in 2001. Two years later Samuel completed that family.
To everyone’s surprise Charles quit his job after Samy’s arrival and decided to start his own little firm where he could come and go as he pleased.
As you can see, Zander didn’t stay alone for long, first our twins were born, and then Ben and Claudia and Charley and Cybil followed in the same year. Of course quite a few more joined our little town over the years. We are known as a very children friendly community, and we are!
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Sidney and the other kids
Over the next two years the families of the children that had been healed by Max, moved to our area, some to Roswell, some to Vasquez Rock, but all the children attended Diane’s school.
By now, they all have finished their education and are back in town. Sidney of course studied business and is working along with her father and Leanne at the UFO-Museum. Among the other children we now have a landscape gardener, an architect, a doctor and one is even working for NASA.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Max and Liz
And then there are of course Max and I; we had our twins, Leo Philip Riverdog and Moira Diana. They decided to join us on February 15th 2001. Let me tell you, the moment I started to have my contractions, Max and Kyle both started to freak out big time. Amazingly enough it was Maria who started to bark out order after order. You can believe me when I say that she ran a very tight ship. Even Michael and Isabelle didn’t dare to contradict her. After a while Max and Kyle were able to calm down and with Riverdog’s help our babies were delivered.
The Granolith took upon himself to send out the biggest transmission ever throughout the Galaxy, to announce the birth of the heir to throne of Antar and the heiress to the throne of the High Queen of the Whirlwind Galaxy.
Of course there was a lot of talk in town, but it didn’t really upset me much. I was on cloud nine, happy to be with Max and have my babies. Our whole group grew even closer than ever before and usually one of Michael’s killer looks or Isabelle’s Ice queen stares would shut up anybody stupid enough to look at me askew!
We never had trouble finding babysitters; quite the contrary was true. Sometimes we almost needed to use force to get our little ones back from wherever they were. One week after their birth we took Leo and Moira to Antar, they had to be officially introduced to the people. Thankfully, by now the Antarians accepted our ‘quirkiness’ of having no pomp and no fuss and were happy when Gramps transmitted pictures of all of us and mostly the babies in our home on Antar. There was a relatively small ceremony - only all the members of our growing group and the Leaders of the Whirlwind Galaxy - to officially acknowledge the twins as the heirs and have their names carved into the royal family crystal slab. It was actually a very moving and historical moment, the names of all the Antarian rulers ever are carved on that slab, and now Leo and Moira’s names joined Max’s and mine. I still get goosebumps just thinking of it, you know!
*~~*~~*
Anyway, after all that excitement we finished high school and then we all went to Boston, where some of us went to Harvard. Rrolff and Le’Norra came with us. Rrolff had to guard Izzi’s body and Le’Norra was our babysitter. We all did very well at Harvard and Max, befitting a King, was the valedictorian of or class. But Nick and I had given him a run for the title and just barely missed it.
*~~*~~*
Even during our time in Boston we had to deal with Antar and the Whirlwind Galaxy. With the help of Gramps, our friends here on earth and the leaders of the other planets, we started to rebuild Antar. The people slowly began to trust us and became actively involved in the planning and executing of the changes.
Of course that was a very slow process; after all, you can’t expect people who had practically been enslaved for decades to change their ways over night. Their fears were very deeply rooted and some never got over them. But things are now really looking good on Antar. The Trade in the Whirlwind Galaxy is almost back to what it used to be before Khivar’s reign of terror.
*~~*~~*
So, you see, we were very busy, plotting and planning and executing the changes on Antar. Well, I wasn’t as involved in this as Max was, but I worked with Gramps a lot.
Oh, I forgot to mention that, thanks to Brody and Cal, we have our very own Lab here in Vasquez Rocks. It’s actually very big - part of it is built into the mountain - and it has the newest instruments that are on the market. I work there as a microbiologist. And wouldn’t you know it, I work very closely with my very favourite professor from Harvard. Greg Chiles comes to my lab on every opportunity he has. We test and explore and compare earth and alien matter, and some of our findings are quite extraordinary. You see, some dreams do come true.
Sometimes though, I have to confess, it becomes almost too much. I mean, I have children to raise, I work in my lab and then there are my duties as Queen of Antar. I do take them very seriously, really I do and most of the time I absolutely enjoy that job. I mean I get to work with all these aliens, I can see the changes in them, from scared slaves to confident citizens of Antar. It has been a long and rough road, but finally the changes are visible in all of them.
*~~*~~*
Max decided to teach at West Roswell High, and the students just love him, especially the girls who think he’s sooo ‘hot’, well they’re right about that one, aren’t they?
Of course with everything else going on in his life he can’t be a fulltime teacher, but he gives special classes that he calls ‘to the stars and back’. He tells his students that things aren’t always what they seem, to be open and observant.
Actually in the last few years several of his students have learned of our secret and are now a part of it too. Max said that every once in a while there is this special student that wants to explore and to know as much as possible. Usually they are very open-minded and ready to really listen, even if it’s unexplainable, even if they get laughed at. Those are exactly the people we need, they’re open and dedicated.
*~~*~~*
You know on June 15th 2005, Max and I were blessed with another set of twins, Chiara Nancy and Benjamin Jeffery. Anyway, when the Granolith sent the transmission to the Galaxy he called Chiara and Ben the heirs to the Granolith - Chiara is the heiress to the Granolith on Earth and Ben to the one on Antar.
By the way, on that occasion Gramps calmly informed us that our two sets of twins made up the real ‘royal four’ and with all their helpers they would rule the universe and bring peace.
Well, let me tell you something, we still have to wait a while before my kids rule anything, here or on Antar, after all, my younger twins have just turned fifteen and are fully occupied with high school, working at the CrashDown and having always-changing crushes on this cute boy or that beautiful girl that catches their fancy. I’m sure you understand that right now they are too busy to with everyday life to ponder on minor matters such as ruling the universe, don’t you?
*~~*~~*
Our newest project now is to slowly spread the good news of ‘aliens really exist and are among us’ at all the right places. Actually, as we are speaking, my uncle Johnny is whispering these news to his good friend, our very own president of America and a few politicians that have been very carefully chosen and approved by Gramps. The time has come, of course not to go public, but to prepare for just that event.
*~~*~~*
Isn’t this the most amazing story you have ever heard? Sometimes I have to pinch myself since I find it so hard to believe, that I, the smallest of small-town girls, could have such an extraordinary time. You know, I can’t help but wonder what else life will bring us, because so far it’s been one heck of a ride. Ahh, isn’t life just absolutely exciting?
THE END
Thank you very much for reading my fic.
Take care
Chula
My Fics:
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.
The Granolith's Chosen Ones viewtopic.php?t=15606
A very lucky girl... http://www.roswellfanatics.net/viewtopi ... 36&t=17828
Ancient Indian proverb: Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.