Roswell Fanatics

Part 18 Continued


Hey, we’re still tired, 08/11/2000, 5.35 am
Suddenly Liz was wide-awake. Looking around she saw her mother had fallen asleep with her diary on her chest and her reading glasses still on her nose. Her mom looked so funny, Liz just had to giggle. After using the bathroom she checked the other bedroom and saw that her friends too were still dead to the world. As she noticed the early morning hour she tried to stay calm, but it was just too damn difficult.

Finally Liz decided she just couldn’t wait any longer and took a decisive course toward her friends’ room. She marched into the girls’ room and straight to the windows to throw open the curtains! For a moment Liz was baffled, it was still dark outside, so she turned on the light and made enough noise to ensure the end of their sleep. Maria grumbled, “Hey, what did you do that for? We just fell asleep and I’m still tired!” and then she hid her tussled head under her pillow.

Isabelle was more refined, opening only one eye she stated coolly “I’m still sleeping, go somewhere else!”

But Liz was on a mission and not to be discouraged. “Up, up, up, get up, I have the most incredible news and if you want to know what it is you better get up now. Oh, and by the way, I just started the coffee!” In best Maria fashion she rambled on “and now I’m on my way to wake up my mom.”

Innocently looking at her sleepy friends she added “I’m sure my mom wants to know what I have to say, because it’s something sooo unbelievably, incredibly incredible, it’ll knock your socks right off your feet.” Turning serious she said “really, I know you’ll be upset if you don’t hear it right away, so just come on, ok?”
*~~*~~*
Her mom got a gentler treatment. Liz snuck into her room and softly shook her awake, saying quietly “mom, something incredible has happened and we need you to help find some answers. If you want to, I can tell you later, but I’m quite positive you’ll want to know now!”

“Ok sweetheart, give me five minutes and I’ll be with you. Can you put on some coffee? I’m going to need it, I’m sure.” Nancy answered still half asleep, and then she got up and walked to the bathroom to prepare for the coming day.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Early morning meeting in the kitchen, 08/11/2000, 5.45 am
Liz returned to the kitchen and dished up coffee and toast with butter and jam. Impatiently she waited for the others to arrive. Her mom was the first one to show up, and quietly took a seat at the table. In agreeable silence mother and daughter waited. After some time had passed and the girls still hadn’t shown up, Liz lost her patience alltogether and marched right back into their room. Maria and Isabelle were sleeping again.

Decisively Liz pulled the covers off of both girls and addressed them in a no-nonsense voice, “I really, really hate to do this, but if you’re not out in the kitchen in 5 minutes, I will start and tell my mom what Max and I learned, because my mom is already up.” To be sure they had understood, she added very deliberately “if you want to know, you’ll be out in 5 minutes at the latest. I won’t come back to get you, I’ll just talk with my mom.”

Turning to leave, Liz said over her shoulder “if you want to sleep it’s ok with me, just don’t blame me later, when you know what this is all about!” Liz closed the door noisily and returned to the kitchen.
*~~*~~*
4 ½ minutes later Isabelle walked into the kitchen and Maria was right on her heels grumbling in best Michael-fashion “Lizzy, this better be good!”

Nancy just smiled, grabbed the coffeepot and poured them some coffee, pushed sugar and cream towards the sleepy women and waited until they had taken their first sips of the steaming brew.

When her mom-instincts told her the kids were ready, Nancy addressed Liz “sweetheart, I think everybody is awake enough for you to begin, so, let’s hear your news.”

”Thanks, mom,” Liz smiled gratefully at her mother, then looked at each one of them and stated “I don’t really know where or how to start, so I’m just going to come out and say it! Last night while we were sleeping Max and I connected and he told me what he had experienced so far.”

Stopping to reassure Isabelle she inserted “Izzy, Max is fine, he was met by Larek, who by the way turns out to be your cousin and a very close and trusted friend of Max’s. I will tell you all I know afterward, right now we have to discuss something else, ok?”

”Are you really sure Max is ok? He didn’t just say so?” After Liz nodded a bright smile spread across Isabelle’s features and she asked, “Larek is our cousin? Really?” Liz answered with a nod and a smile and Isabelle knew that at least so far Max was indeed doing all right.

Liz resumed her explanation “this is going to be so hard to understand, but you have to know, the Granolith has confirmed it, ok? There’s no doubt about it, ok?”

When Liz was satisfied the tree women had understood she continued “as you already know, Tess’ baby is not Max’s, that was all a mindwarp,” looking at her mother Liz added “we’ll explain the mindwarp later, just know that the bitch lied, ok?” Clueless Nancy replied “ok? Hmm ok!””

The alien and her two veteran friends chuckled over the greenhorn’s confused reaction.

Beginning again Liz said, ”Ok, that was that! Anyway, Max and I discussed some of the changes in our powers, and yes, I’ll tell you all about it later too, and then we both fell asleep while we were still connected. At some point we shared a vision from the Granolith. He showed us the baby and he looked like Alex...”

Before Liz could finish her sentence Isabelle and Maria both interrupted. Maria yelled and Isabelle whispered both said the same name “Alex?” Maria was the more vocal one and added, “Are you telling us that…, that Alex, our Alex is the father?”

”Yes, exactly, Alex is the baby’s father. Right now we don’t know how it happened, because we all know just how dedicated Alex was to you Isabelle.” Liz wanted Isabelle to know that Alex had really loved her.

She went on “Max and I discussed this at length and we came to the conclusion that Tess must’ve mindwarped him. She already had him under a major warp when he was in Las Cruses, so she probably just took advantage of the situation.”

Seeing the tears running down her friend’s cheeks Liz whispered, “I truly am sorry Izzy. We all know what Alex meant to you, but also let me reassure you, Maria and I both know without any doubt at all, he felt the same way about you.”

Gently wiping the tears off of her friends face Liz spoke with steel and determination “so, however this baby was conceived, Alex didn’t do it willingly. Also, this baby is innocent, and he is all we have of our dearest friend. We are determined to get him back. He will grow up here with all of us, who loved his father dearly and now we will love him just the same.”

Liz’s voice grew ice-cold and menacingly she spat “for that alone the bitch is going down! Make no mistake, she will pay for it!”

Shock prevailed around the table. No one had ever heard Liz talk in such a menacing way, and the three knew that Tess better watch out; their usually gentle companion exuded unadulterated danger.
*~~*~~*
After the first waves of shock had eased into astonishment, the four women started to have a discussion. Isabelle cried distraughtly, “how could she do this to Alex, he’s never hurt anybody in his whole life? Liz, are you sure, I mean really, really, absolutely sure that this is his baby?”

Maria, filled with outrage, added, “I always knew that the gerbil was nothing but trouble. I’ll take her out with my bare hands for ever hurting any one of us and for killing Alex.” As realisation of the atrocities committed by Tess started to sink in Maria began to cry too, completely forgetting all about her cedar oil.

Nancy was shocked to her very core. She didn’t understand the half of it. All she comprehended was that somewhere, somehow, Alex had been killed and his killer had had a baby by him. She stammered, “umm, Liz, I’m not sure I understand. I mean, did I understand correctly, that there is a baby? By Alex? Alex Whitman?”

At her daughters nod Nancy kept on hesitantly “…and he didn’t commit suicide but was killed? And now his baby is somewhere out there?” Nancy pointed upwards with her index finger and then continued “This is what you said, isn’t it? Otherwise I just might be going crazy!”

”No mom, you’re not going crazy, but, since Max saved me after the shooting, our lives have been very strange indeed!” chuckling lightly she added “don’t worry mom, you’ll get the hang of it!”

Looking at everybody sitting around the table Liz inquired, “what are our options with baby Alex? Max and I want him here on earth with someone we can trust, maybe even the Whitmans? What do you all think of that?”

Together the ladies soon found out that there wasn’t much to discuss because they all agreed, little Alex had to come home to earth.

To solve the next problem they needed everybody’s input, especially Max’s and Larek’s. These two men were the most likely to know how to steal a baby from a faraway planet without starting an intergalactic war.

It was also decided to wait for everybody’s opinion on whether to inform the Whitmans or not and on who should raise him.
*~~*~~*
A little later, still in the kitchen…
Nancy looked at the three young women sitting on the kitchen table with her, and was amazed at how grown up they suddenly were, well at least Liz and Maria. Isabelle always carried herself with more confidence than the others, and her ice princess demeanour supported the impression of Isabelle being more mature.

Pleased about the easy acceptance from the girls had Nancy revelling in appreciation. She found herself discussing all different kinds of female topics, a cross between mother/daughter and girlfriends talk and of course a lot of it was alien related. This was what she had been hoping and waiting for, these kinds of talks with Liz, of course without the alien angle. And now, finally they were able to trade secrets and not only with Liz, no, also with Maria, who was like another daughter, and even with Isabelle Evans. At this very moment and with all the problems included, Nancy Parker was one happy lady and she was in high spirits.
*~~*~~*
Suddenly and without apparent cause Liz started to giggle. She had her eyes closed and a faraway look on her face. Her two friends were able to guess what was going on, but her mom was quite lost.

”What is she doing?” Nancy wanted to know. Isabelle smiled and replied, “Liz and Max are connected and it seems like they are having a private discussion right now.”

”What do mean when you say they have a discussion right now. For god’s sake, Max isn’t even here!” was Nancy’s unnerved comeback.

”Mrs. P., oh, hmmm, I wanted to say Nancy, you don’t have to worry about Liz. She once explained this connection to us and if I understood correctly its like they’re talking on the phone, but without the phone, right Isabelle?” Skilfully Maria passed the explanation on to her friend.

”You’re right Maria, I couldn’t have explained it any better,” Isabelle agreed. “Really?” This answer shocked Maria, she wasn’t used to being right.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Liz has a lot to tell…
When finally Liz came out of her connection and joined her companions she informed them that she had some more news, but first needed to eat something sweet and sour and spicy. This earned her a few jokes from the others, but Liz was undeterred and rummaged trough the cabinets and the fridge until she found sweet oranges, strong smelling camembert-cheese and some hot peppers to fulfil her cravings. Before closing the fridge she spied some pickles and grabbed them too.

Happily Liz carried her findings to the table, prepared herself a sandwich with these ingredients and added some mayonnaise and hot mustard for good measure. Her mom hadn’t had the chance to see her daughter’s new eating habits so far and almost gagged when she watched Liz take a big, pleasurable bite of her sandwich and to top it off she smacked her lips with relish.

“Hmmm, this is sooo good, you all should try it.” Liz held out her sandwich, offering everybody a bite, but for some reason they all declined.

With a full stomach Liz was ready to pass on the news she had received. “Well, ladies, Max just called to let us know that he had just met most of the other leaders. The only ones missing were Nicholas, and of course Tess and Khivar.”

Isabelle wanted to know “So, they started the summit without the others?”

”Oh no, Larek said Khivar always comes much later, like days later. Nicholas is expected to show up tomorrow and that’s also when the summit officially starts. Right now they all get to know Max and Max gets a chance to meet them. Them being Queen Kathana, Queen Hanar and King Sero along with two skin generals, who tried to overthrow Khivar a while ago. These people are already there.”

”Skins? Can they be trusted?” Isabelle inquired worriedly and explained “because as far as I know they are our enemies, remember, they conspired with Tess!”

”Skins? What kind of Skin’s are you talking about?” Nancy interrupted confused.

”Poor Nancy, you must be sooo confused, but I have to say you’re holding up admiringly,” Isabelle teased the older friend. Immediately the alien clarified “Skin’s are our alien enemies. I don’t really know what they are, but to be able to live on earth they have these husks of a skin-like material they have to put on, otherwise they perish.”

Remembering the battles they fought against the Skins, Maria aggressively added, “they are real hard to kill too, actually it’s almost impossible, unless you know exactly how.” Seeing Nancy’s shocked countenance Maria quickly justified their actions “well, it was kill or get killed, them or us, and I prefer to survive, so we did what we had to do. Take a hard object like a baseball bat and hit them with all you’ve got into the lower back and poof, they’re dust.”

Liz wanted to finish telling them about Max meeting the others and interrupted, “sorry mom, but I think we should continue with Max’s message, and later, when you have recovered from all these shocks we’ll answer all your questions, ok?”

Still pretty dazed Nancy responded, “yeah, yeah, sounds good, I think I’ll just listen and ask my questions next week at the earliest, because I’m sure it’ll take me till then to recover my senses!”

”Well mom, if it’s any comfort for you, Maria and I know exactly how you feel, but you’ll get the hang of it, just be a little patient.” Liz smiled encouragingly at her mother and then addressed all of them “the most amazing thing is happening and I could hear it too!”

She exclaimed excitedly “really, the connection to the Granolith is fabulous. As soon one of the others said anything that Max couldn’t know, the Granolith told him if it was true or not. And also, when the Granolith accepts one of the leaders or the representatives of Khivar, they too get the same information as Max. By now the accepted rulers already know that one of the generals is honest and sincere and truly wants peace, while the other one is actually spying for Khivar.”

Turning to Isabelle Liz wanted to know, “Izzy, Max and I were wondering if it’s possible for you to join our connection, you know with a dreamwalk or so?” and before Isabelle could answer Liz added breathlessly, “maybe you could even bring Maria and my mom with you, what do think? Is that even possible?”

Isabelle informed them that she would think about it and then the four ladies decided to break up their talk and returned to bed to catch up on their sleep.




TBC


Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula

It's update time again!

As usual thanks to my awesome beta for her terrific work!

and here it is

enjoy



19, Joining the connection, 08/11/2000, 8.00 am **...** Telepathic conversation
A few hours later the ladies met in the living room quite refreshed. Isabelle had thought about the possibility of the joined connection and now grandly declared, “ladies, I have some news!” her face breaking out into a big grin she continued, “everybody who wants to join can do so, tada!” emphasising her announcement by throwing her arms wide open.

Spontaneously Nancy jumped up and yelled, “I’m in, I’m in!” taken aback by her own bravado she stopped for a moment and then added, “this is getting weirder and weirder and I’m absolutely petrified, but I love it!”

Maria agreed, “girl, I’m right with ya!” and they all broke into fits of hysterical laughter.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Before coming into the connection…
Liz decided to contact Max right away and to spread the good news. He was delighted to meet all the ladies in the connection. This was a first for him too. As he heard of Nancy’s outburst he had to laugh and commented **your mom is one spunky lady, now we know whom the daughter inherited her spunkiness from!**

A moment later Max and Liz determined to take the opportunity and start the connection a few minutes later, since the leaders were having a break anyway.

Liz returned to her ladies and informed them “as soon we’re ready we can meet Max, so let’s hurry up. If anybody needs to go to the bathroom, now’s the time. We also need the pillows from the other room and we need to push the beds together because we all have to lie down next to each other. At least this time, until we know how this works!”
*~~*~~*
Laughing and thrilled Isabelle ran to her bedroom to pick up the pillows. She was so excited about this, she could barely contain her eagerness to connect to her brother and maybe, just maybe, she would see her cousin Larek too.
*~~*~~*
First Maria ran into her room to pick up her cedar oil bottle. Afterwards she darted to the bathroom to release an “angst pee”. While she was there she took a few deep sniffs of her “cure all” cedar oil in advance, hoping they might carry her through the excitement of the connection; after all, this was a first for her too.
*~~*~~*
Nancy wasn’t quite sure what to think, but was very keyed up anyway. She was infected with everybody’s excitement. First she helped Liz to get the beds ready and comfortable for the four of them and then she too went to the bathroom, just in case.
*~~*~~*
While the ladies were running around getting ready, Liz lay down in the middle of the two beds and relaxed. She joined Max again and together they enjoyed a few minutes of alone time.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Last preparations for the group-connection, 08/11/2000, 8.20 am
When Isabelle returned she found Liz already deep in her connection. So she waited patiently for the others to return. Nancy was the first to arrive and Maria followed right after. Isabelle quietly ordered them onto their spots on the bed and then reclined on it too.

Knowing from her own experience how overwhelming a first connection could be, Isabelle repeated the instructions “relax, breathe deeply and steadily. Let your mind go blank and wait for me. I’ll be with you in a few moments!”
*~~*~~*
Meanwhile…
Liz informed her lover that Isabelle would bring Maria and her mom into the connection, in fact, they were getting ready for it right about now.

Despite himself, Max had to chuckle **your mom, huh? I just can’t get over your mom’s reaction, I never figured her to be the adventures type, she always seemed so cool, quiet and in control!** On a more serious note he completed **but I sure am glad that she is being such a trooper. I have always known just how difficult it was for you to lie to your parents. You also missed the heart to heart talks with your mom a lot. I’m just very happy for you.**

**Max,** suddenly Isabelle was there and joined their conversation **how are you? Is everybody treating you right? How is Larek? Is he truly our cousin?** catching her breath she had to laugh **Sorry to attack you this way but I’m just so exited about it all and I wish I could there be with you!**

**Izzy, I’m fine and to answer the other questions, yes, yes and yes!** Max was glad that his sister was holding up so well. Sometimes it was difficult to foresee her reaction, she could react like she did now, or she could panic and fall apart in the shortest amount of time, you just never knew.

**Izzy, right now would be a good time to bring along the others because Larek will come and show me the way to the chamber, where I’m to meet the other leaders. He’ll be here any moment now.** Max informed his sister.
*~~*~~*
Meanwhile…
Thanking god for the great invention of cedar oil Maria felt strong enough to face the great mystery of the connection and was able to relax quite easily.
*~~*~~*
Nancy wasn’t sure what the girls meant when they said, “let your mind go blank”. “Really, my mind is always there and in action, how can I let it go blank?” she wondered. After a moment she decided to concentrate on the other girls breathing and let herself be lulled into a light slumber.
*~~*~~*
Pick up station, 08/11/2000, 8.30 am
Isabelle was surprised that both women were already waiting for her. All she had to do was pick them up. She realised that the four of them had come a long way in their relationships. They had reached a very high level of trust and confidence in each other, or else they would not have been able to relax so completely so fast.

**Hello, ladies, are you ready?** Isabelle inquired upon meeting them on their subconscious level.

It wasn’t very often that Maria was lost for words, but right here and now she barely managed a “wow”.

Nancy was as alert as possible; she didn’t want to miss anything at all. She looked around and didn’t see much; actually there was nothing but light and the two girls in front of her. She curiously asked Isabelle **where are we here?**

Isabelle contemplated this question for a moment than answered, **we’re on the subconscious level. I guess we can also call it the pick up station, you know, where I can pick you up!** She had to chuckle at her own feeble joke.

Nancy had listened intently, but suddenly she noticed that they were all still in their nightclothes. Shocked she hissed, **we’re not ready; we’re still in our pyjamas. I have to go back and change!**

**You’re right,** Isabelle agreed, and as she waved her hand over Maria and Nancy, their clothes changed into what they had worn the night before. **That’s better now, isn’t it?** she inquired.

Isabelle looked over her companions one last time and reminded them **OK, ladies, we already discussed this, no direct talking to Max, at least not this time. If you really need to talk to him, tell Liz or me and we’ll let Max know. This way he’ll have enough time to get used to this situation and find out exactly how he wants to proceed, ok?**
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Roped into the connection…
Isabelle quietly brought Maria and Nancy into the Max/Liz connection. It was strange, the three women could feel the emotions between Max and Liz and at the same time they felt like they were standing in the same room, seeing and hearing everybody present.

They didn’t have much time for any greetings because Larek chose that moment to enter Max’s room. ”Max, I just heard that Nicholas arrived sooner than expected, so would you like to start the meeting right away?”

Max was momentarily distracted by Isabelle’s muttering **oh, my, god, I recognise him, that’s our cousin Larek.** When Isabelle noted that she had distracted her brother she murmured **sorry Max, I just got carried away.**

**That’s ok Izzy,** Max telepathed back and than addressed Larek “sorry Larek, I was preoccupied for a moment.” He smiled apologetically and offered ”yeah, we can start now, but first I have a question for you, my friend. When did he arrive and is it possible for me to feel Nicholas’ arrival?”

Frowning at the strange inquiry Larek replied, ”apparently he arrived about 15 minutes ago. I don’t know if you could feel him though, why would you think that, Max?”

”I don’t really know, except I felt like somebody might try to contact me telepathically, and when you mentioned Nick I got the strangest impression that it could be him. That doesn’t make much sense though, does it?” Max asked.

Striding to the door he cockily called over his shoulder ”are you coming, Larek? We have a meeting to attend.”

The alien had been deep in thought and Max’s call brought him back to reality fast. He walked up to his cousin and seriously inquired ”are you sure this is a smart move Max? I mean, if Nicky boy is trying to invade your mind it might be better to let him wait and see what’ll happen?”

Max stopped in his tracks and considered his options. **Liz, do you and the girls have time to stay until I have confronted the little general? I mean most of you have met him before and I would value all of your input!**

The women looked at each other and then at Max nodding their acceptance. Max graciously accepted their help **Thanks, I really appreciate that!**

Pointing towards his head Max explained ”it’s ok Larek, there’s no better time than now with family and friends present!”

Surprised and with saucer eyes Larek stared at his friend, then pointed with his fingers at Max’s forehead and whispered “Now? In there? Vilandra? Sorry, I mean Isabelle is in there too?”

Smirking Max nodded and affirmed, “yes to all your questions, my friend” and burst out laughing at Larek’s flabbergasted mien. Slapping him on the shoulder Max started walking, “ok, let’s get moving, time’s a wasting!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Before the summit, 08/11/2000, 8.45 am
Max was absolutely amazed at how confident and strong he felt. With Larek at his side, the four earthly watcher’s and, last but definitely not least, the Granolith’ support, nothing could go wrong, at least that was how he felt.

When they reached the sacred chamber of the Granolith Larek (having decided to make a grand entrance) opened the door, walked through and announced with great flourish “his highness king Zan of Antar, Maxwell Evans of Roswell, Earth has arrived! Everybody rise”

Suppressing a chuckle Max strode into the chamber, graciously acknowledged Larek’s introduction with a nod and stepped beside his chair at the head of the oval table.

Cool, calm and collected Max nodded at each member in greeting and then took his seat with Larek to his right. Showing a poker-face Max didn’t know he had, he looked to Nicholas who was insolently sprawled in the chair directly opposite and commented dryly “well, well, well, look at you, you finally made it!”

Expectantly Max looked at the two new men, waiting for the introductions. They were seated on Nicholas’ right and left and he hadn’t met them so far. Disrespectfully Nicholas presented his companions “Max, meet general Ronar and Khivar’s right-hand on Antar, general Th’ikla.” Smirking he continued “generals meet the reconstructed king Zan, called Max Evans!”

Larek was shocked at Nicky’s bad manners and wanted to reprimand him, but Max stopped him by telepathing **forget it, he’s not worth it. All you do is give him the attention he wants!**

Speaking directly to the newcomers Max said “good to meet you sirs.” Giving them a brief smile Max explained “the meeting starts in thirty minutes; these past days we used this time beforehand to catch up on each others news, or to socialise. It proved to be helpful, so we’ll continue with it on every morning of this summit.” With a nod he dismissed them and listened to Larek’s discussion with Sero, Kathana and Hanar.

Suddenly Max felt a new presence in his mind, the one that had been trying to connect with him for the last half hour. He still didn’t recognise it, but had assumptions about it. This presence approached him hesitantly, **Max, Nicholas here. It’s very important you don’t let anyone know of this conversation...** he started but was interrupted.

**Well, Nicholas, I’m not particularly pleased with your presence in my mind, so make it quick and get out!** Max stated forcefully.

Impressed by Max’s show of strength Nicholas continued **It’s imperative that I see you before Khivar and Tess arrive. I’m coming to you as a friend. I know you won’t believe me, but I was told that you are a fair and just man and that you will be the same as a leader. So I’m asking you, not for me but for the safety of the little boy, to give me a chance and let me have my say in a private meeting. Just the two of us and if you want to, you can bring along Larek, or anybody else you trust. But be very sure they’re trustworthy**

Max was very surprised and almost gave himself away. As it was Larek who sat to his right hand, seemed to notice that something was amiss. He stopped his discussion with Sero to look at Max intently. When he was assured that his friend was fine he let his gaze wander around the people sitting at the table. Everybody was looking as usual, even the little runt, Nicky boy, sat in his chair, his behaviour matching his image of a disrespectful teenager. When Larek found everything to his contentment he returned to his talk.

Meanwhile Max did his best to look inconspicuous and concentrated on Nicholas. **Why should I believe you?** he asked.

**I know you have no reason to trust me, but I’m willing to let you into my mind, to check me out. I will open myself to you completely! I have a lot at stake as I’m doing this as an act of respect and friendship!**

Before Max could counter this outrages statement, he continued **yeah, yeah, yeah, you don’t have to say anything about that! I know very well that that seems impossible. But it’s true; I was very lucky to have gained Alex Charles Whitman as my friend during his imprisonment in Las Cruses. While I was guarding Alex he started to talk with me and asked me all kinds of questions. He was actually interested in me as a person and wanted to know “what made me tick;“ his words not mine.**

All Max heard was his dead friends Name and he exploded **Alex! You where with Alex? In Las Cruses?** Equal furious shouts of indignation echoed in his head, disorienting Max for a moment. But then they reinforced his own anger so much, that he could barely telepath the words **that’s where the bitch mindwarped him to death! You claim to be his friend and you let him die? Some friend you are!** his whole demeanour showed Nicholas exactly what he thought of him.

Hoping to diffuse the situation Nick tried to placate Max **I know Max, I will tell you everything and give you something he entrusted me with to hand over to you. I have to contact you this way, because Khivar and Tess can’t know about this and general Ronal is Khivar’s spy.**

Seeing Max’ surprise at this discloser encouraged Nick and he added **Alex entrusted me with the safekeeping of the little one. After he is safe in your care I will accept any decision you come too about me. But I promised Alex that I would keep the child safe and I won’t stop until that promise is fulfilled!**

**Why exactly are so concerned with Tess’s baby?** Max wanted to know.

Nick insisted. **I want to explain that personally, so I can give you all the proof I have. So, what do you say, can I meet you? Soon?**

Max took a long time to come to a decision and Nick started to get worried **Max, you know, Alex was my very first and only friend that I have ever had, be it on Earth or Antar. That’s why this is so very important to me. I will keep badgering you until you agree to see me. Alex trusted me, and that means everything to me.**

**I’ll let you know before we officially start the summit because I have to think about this first, ok?** Max informed Nicholas sincerely.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*


Continued next Post!

Chapter 19 continued


Meanwhile… **...** Telepathic conversation
All that they were witnessing fascinated the four listeners. It was very difficult to keep quiet during all this time, but they managed it and were very proud of it.

At the beginning they were just curious to learn as much as possible from Larek. But as soon as they saw Nicholas, their adversary, they started to pay attention closely.

Nancy quickly realised that the little insolent twerp was more than just a nuisance; he exuded danger like nobody else she had ever known. She also noticed that the girls must’ve known and expected him. They weren’t surprised at all but from the tenseness of their demeanour she could tell they feared him. So Nancy too paid very close attention to the goings on.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Max could barely contain himself he was ready to burst. After some polite conversation with Hanar, Sero and Kathana he signalled to his friend Larek and discreetly disappeared.

Hurrying down the hall he opened several doors until he found an unoccupied room and entered. **Hey girls, did you hear that? I mean Nicholas?** Max telepathed. He was really flustered and very glad that he had made it out of the chamber before losing his composure. Now he waited for some answers from his girls.

**You mean we can talk directly to you? Wow, this is weird, you know really, really weird!** Maria was totally excited and very glad for the extra sniffs of her oil. As she saw Max, Liz and Isabelle chuckle at her question she defended herself **Well, this is my first time, you know!** at the raised eyebrows this elicited she quickly added “in a connection! Of course in a connection, what did you think I was talking about?** her outburst loosened the mood considerably.

Hesitantly Nancy addressed Max **we didn’t have a chance to talk beforehand, so I just wanted to let you know that I’m on yours and Liz’s side.** Giving him a big grin she added **welcome to the family, Max!**

This statement caught Max by surprise and he stammered **thank you Mrs. Parker…**

**Forget Mrs. Parker, I’m Nancy!** she assured him and went on **I realise I don’t know much of anything alien-related yet, but I just wanted to give you my impression of the little guy, is that ok?**

Following Max’s nod Nancy stated **from everybody’s reactions I gathered that he is not to be trusted and dangerous to boot?** Looking to the others for reaction, she continued at their nods **to me Nicholas seemed desperately sincere. He’ll do as he said, he’ll badger you until you see him, so you might save yourself a lot of trouble and meet with him soon. Take Larek with you!** Hemming self-consciously she added **That’s all l have to say, but before we leave the connection I’ll need to ask you something Max, ok?**

Pleased with Nancy’s reaction Max gave her a big smile and thanked her sincerely **thank you Nancy, I value your input because sometimes you see more and most definitely different things if you’re new to a situation!** Turning to the others he asked **who’s next? **

It turned out they all had come to the same conclusion as Nancy. So they made some small talk and then Nancy said **Max, what I’m about to ask may sound strange to you, but please hear me out before you say anything, ok?** looking very curiously Max nodded.

**Well, last night after things quieted down, I had all these thoughts going around in my head, but some things started to become clearer than others.** taking a deep breath she jumped in to her next questions **you, Max are a king, right? Isabelle a princess and through her connection with you Liz may be your queen, that’s correct, right?**

As Isabelle wanted to butt in Nancy shushed her strictly **shush, don’t interrupt me Izzy, this is important and we don’t have much time left!** as a mom she knew very well how to shut the kids up. **Where was I? Oh, yeah, you’re royalty. My guess is that Michael too used to be some high-ranking person, otherwise they wouldn’t have cloned him. Now, as I was thinking this over I realised that some of us have better manners than others, but I’m pretty sure none of us know any kind of royal etiquette.**

Looking at the others’ inquiring faces, Nancy informed them **Ok, after this meeting I’m going to call my brother Johnny and bring him and his wife Kathy to Roswell. My brother was an officer in the US Navy, later he went to the Secret Service and had a very high position there, protecting heads of state, royalties and the like.**

Smiling proudly she added “He’s had personal contact with almost all the great leaders of this world. So he knows all there is to know about security and how to behave in high-level meetings with world leaders. Now he has his own firm of security systems and he schools bodyguards. I will ask him to come and teach Michael how to control his temper and how to behave in meetings. His wife is a great stickler for etiquette and together, both of them will teach all of us about decorum etc.**

Max and the girls were stunned into silence. Maria recovered first and panicked **Nancy, you can’t, and I mean you absolutely can’t bring your brother here. If he’s FBI he’ll have us all in the white-room before we know what’s going on!**

Doing her best to soothe the kids’ fears Nancy spoke quietly but with conviction **Maria, do you really think I would bring anybody into our group who wasn’t completely trustworthy? Whatever Johnny is or isn’t, I can assure you, he is a very honourable and reliable man, who doesn’t care where a person comes from; as long as you’re honest and respect and honour others, he’ll be your man! I trust him completely.** seeing their doubt she added **we don’t have to tell him anything about your background. He’ll do this as a favour to me; I promise you, everything will be ok!**

Curiously the four women stared at Max, waiting for his verdict. After listening to his instincts and a silent conversation with Liz Max decided **Nancy, if you’re absolutely certain that your brother can help us, then yes I agree we need all the help we can get; but we won’t tell him our secret immediately, we’ll wait and see how we all work together.**

After Isabelle heard the stipulation of not telling Johnny about their origins right away she too agreed, **you’re right Max, we do need all the help we can get.** laughing loudly she added **some need it more than others!**

Larek came knocking on the door to alert Max that conference was about to begin, so Max said his goodbyes to the ladies and followed his cousin.
*~~*~~*
Coming out of the connection…
As the four women came back to reality they were very quiet at first and had to find their bearings. Afterwards they were very exited and couldn’t find words to describe their outlandish experience. Maria said it short and sweet, “well, that was some experience, wasn’t it?” and everybody cracked up laughing frenziedly about such a humdrum remark to describe such an exiting occurrence.
*~~*~~*
The summit commences…
After Max and Larek had returned to the chamber of the Granolith, he repeated what all the leaders had agreed on at their last meeting “over the last two days we have addressed many topics. King Larek, king Sero, Queen Kathana, Queen Hanar and I were present from the start. We already had many conversations that helped me get the big picture of our situation. Now I would like for everybody to go over their reasons for coming to this summit. This way the newcomers too can voice their motivations for being here.”

Then Max addressed all the members “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m grateful for all the help you have given me these past days. It’s much appreciated. Now let’s kick off this summit.”



TBC

Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula

20, At the summit, 08/11/2000, Friday 9.00 am–12.00 am
Larek started off with his reason for joining the summit. “Max my friend, my high king, I want everybody here to know that I for one am thrilled to have you back. I realise that you’re not my cousin Zan, but you resemble him in so many ways, it’s just amazing. But as thrilled as I am to have you back, this is most definitely not the main reason for this summit, but a very pleasurable side effect.”

Chuckling at his own humour he went on quite embarrassed “Everybody here knows that I was always loyal to king Zan and later to you, Max. After Khivar had executed the royal four, I gave shelter to king Zan’s mother, Queen Leonida, and she stayed with us until she died of a broken heart. She had buried her whole family; she had done her duty to their kingdom.”

After a moment’s pause Larek went on “I only mentioned this, because I wanted everybody to know just how close the royal house of Kias is, and always has been, to the royal house of Antar.” After taking a sip of his water he stated “we offered a place of safety to as many Antarian’s as we could, at a great cost to me and my people, but we were glad to do it. As it is, my planet is over populated and the resources are dwindling fast. Especially since Khivar is asking for such horrendous taxes.”

Grimly looking at everybody he added, “I’m sure everybody here knows what I’m talking about.” After Sero, Hanar and Kathana nodded their approval Larek continued “Also Kias staid neutral during all this time because we couldn’t afford outright enmities with Antar. Khivar had thoroughly planned the coup d’état and planted several of his spies in my military and my government. By the time we found out we had lost too much.”

Sadly he remembered the days right after the war broke out and said “also, nobody to our knowledge knew that the Granolith wasn’t on Antar any longer. The only one who knew this was the Queen mother and she told me shortly before she died. To oppress us all, Khivar held the rumours alive that it was still on Antar.”

Glancing around at all the members he went on “a real sad but important part for these peace talks is that many families were torn apart by the ongoing war and conflicts. Those are my most important motivations for organising this summit.” Smiling he turned to Hanar and said “do you want to take it from here, Hanar?”
*~~*~~*
Queen Hanar stated her side short and to the point. Motioning in Larek’s direction she said, “I don’t have much to add, except that we weren’t as close to the royal house of Antar as Larek was. There was always a good understanding among us and what's more, we had a lot of private and official traffic going on between Antar and Karona.”

Remembering the difficult times she observed “we tried to stay as far away from Khivar as possible, but I’m sorry to say that we couldn’t always do so. Ours is one of the smaller and poorer planets in our Galaxy, also our resources are accordingly. When Antarian’s fled their planet, many of them moved to Karona too, to be with their relatives, thus further depleting our meagre funds.”

Openly showing her dislike at the situation she had found herself in, she stated “I had to put up with Khivar to a certain extent, to avoid more trouble for my people. Luckily he wasn’t too interested in Karona and left us alone for most of the time. But there were a few occasions when he surprised us with skirmishes. I think that was just to keep us in line though!”

Hanar finished her summary with ”Max, members of this summit, I for one am very determined to make the best of this meeting. I think we have a very real chance at bringing peace and prosperity back to our Galaxy and hopefully, in the process we can get rid of Khivar.”
*~~*~~*
As if they had a silent agreement, they skipped Nicholas and the two generals, and Sero was next in line. “A lot of what Queen Hanar said goes for me too, the only exception being, that I was good friends with Khivar, at least I thought I was. Anyway, he played me for a fool. He told me many lies concerning king Zan, whom I didn’t know very well. Since I had no reason to be suspicious of Khivar, I helped him “free” his people.”

Chuckling derisively he continued “As soon as I realised what really was going on, I distanced myself from Khivar and his cause. I broke all ties with him and approached king Larek and the queens Hanar and Kathana. I informed them of my actions and the reasons behind them. From that moment on my dealings with Khivar were only on an absolutely necessary level. Because when he didn’t get what he wanted he attacked Ta’Sero with a vengeance.”

Hoping his high king would see his sincerity he went on “in the presence of Khivar’s appointed representatives, I want to officially state, that I will do my utmost to bring peace and prosperity back to our Galaxy.”

Speaking directly to Max he added, “With you, Max, this venture stands or falls! I realise that you’re very young for this much responsibility, but you have my loyalty and support!” After his statement Sero stood up and bowed deeply to Max, showing his respect, before taking his seat again.
*~~*~~*
Queen Kathana took the chance given by Sero and bowed deeply to Max too as a show of respect and goodwill. After regaining her seat she sighed deeply and showed her troubled feelings.

Sadly she surmised “Max, I, Kathana Queen of the planet Quixca, have wronged king Zan the most. At the time I was young, I think on earth you call it ‘a Teenager’. I don’t know if you remember what Khivar looks like, but he was and actually still is, a very beautiful man…” Kathana let the sentence peter out. Mockingly she corrected herself, “at least to look at he’s beautiful.”

Subdued Kathana continued with her confession. “I met him before my official coming-out ball and was completely inexperienced. His beauty was blinding me to any reason and I found myself enamoured with Khivar. To a stupid young girl like I was he could do no wrong and when he confessed his love for me, there was no holding me back anymore... Anyway, what nobody knew was that he had proposed marriage and I had accepted. Today I thank our outdated laws on bended knees, because of them I, as the heiress to the throne, wasn’t allowed to marry him before my twenty-fifth birthday.”

”What I had not realised was that I was Khivar’s ticket to a throne. At that point he didn’t care whose it was, all he needed was a position of great enough power, because his goal was to take over Antar with the Granolith and then the Whirlwind Galaxy.” Ashamed of ever being so gullible she admitted “In fact he called himself the ruler of all of the universe! I used to believe that this was a joke, because surely nobody would even consider such a thing seriously!”

Coming back from her unpleasant memories Kathana paused for a moment to sip some of her water. All this talking was unnerving her and her throat was getting all dried up. Shaking her head she uttered “Sorry, I got off track, but I felt it was important to give you some background for my unfortunate decisions.”

Still upset with how badly she had misjudged Khivar and King Zan, Kathana started to explain “it’s common knowledge that Khivar is the illegitimate son of Zan’s uncle Zanvaro, younger brother of the king. His mother was a descendent of the royal family of the skin tribe who, some time before had found refuge on Antar. Even the royal family knew about him and officially acknowledge him as one of their own.”

Sadly shaking her head the Queen continued “to my everlasting sorrow, I recognised Khivar too late for what he was and in fact still is; a traitor to his king, to his country and to his family. He is a cheat and a dictator of the worst kind, not to be trusted, because every word out of his mouth is a lie!”

Shooting heated looks at Khivar’s three generals she stated, “He’s the worst kind of coward there is, because he lets others do his dirty work!”

Sighing deeply she added “I’m glad I have finally been able to say all this out loud,” and with a grin she continued “and what a relief this is too, to finally voice my opinion openly, I just wish I had spoken up a lot sooner.”

With her grin spreading wider she said “and just because it feels so good to say it, I’m going to repeat it; Khivar is a traitor and a cheat, he is a dictator of the worst kind, and not to be trusted. To top it all off he is a coward, a dangerous one, but a coward nonetheless!”

Looking to all the members of the summit, Kathana could see that almost everybody agreed with her assessment. To her surprise general Th’ikla openly approved “Queen Kathana, I agree with you wholeheartedly. You see him just as he is, but I caution you; beware of him and his minions.”

Looking very troubled she remembered, “At the beginning he would mention, from time to time, how Zan and his sister Vilandra had wronged him. It was always something insignificant, but they were hurtful. And of course I believed him, especially since I didn’t know Zan personally. Anyway, to cut a long story I just want to add, that the injustices he told me about got bigger and bigger. Supposedly soon Zan also started to treat his people the same way. Poor Khivar was so outraged and asked for my help in bringing justice back to Antar.”

With tears in her eyes she looked Max in the eyes and whispered “Max, your highness, you will never know just how sorry and devastated I was when I realised that Khivar had misused my trust and love for him in such a shameful and heinous way. I was just glad that I was at least smart enough to not get involved in bringing down the house of Antar. For a long time I couldn’t do much, because the bastard had me surrounded by his people. But as soon as he felt powerful enough he lost his interest in Quixca and in me. That’s when I too went to Larek, explaining my actions and offering my help to bring back peace to the Galaxy.”

Looking at King Sero Kathana admitted “My friend, you don’t know just how glad I am that by the time you came to us, informing us about your intension; I had already started to see Khivar for what he was. Because, one, I was never even tempted to pass this knowledge on to him, and two, it gave me the courage to alter my own ways!”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*


continued nex post

Chapter 20 continued


The Granolith chooses the alliances…
As soon as Larek started with his talk the Granolith informed Max **your highness, king Larek is trustworthy, he is telling the truth.**

After a moment he added **as soon as Larek is done with his summary, he too will receive my information on the other leaders. In fact, that’s how it’ll work for everybody present who is trustworthy and honestly strives to bring peace to the Whirlwind Galaxy. They too will be included. I will also inform you all if somebody is deceitful and of their true intensions.**

Letting this news sink in Max started to wonder **well, this is very reassuring, but what will I do, when I need counsel or have questions? I can’t always go to Larek?**

**Ask me and I will always answer you, but the responsibility of the decisions is yours alone.** the Granolith let Max know. After giving his young king some time to come to terms with this bit of news, the Granolith continued **Since these are unusual times where old allies and friendships are being rebuilt, I will allow everybody I have acknowledged to address me directly. After Khivar’s fall, the rules of the Granolith will be proclaimed for once and for all.**

Max was relieved, finally he knew how the Granolith would help to bring peace and prosperity to the Whirlwind Galaxy. As the speakers changed Max could witness firsthand whom the Granolith spoke to. Like him, they all showed a moment of surprise, then settled down again to their “normal” demeanour. He was glad to see that all the leaders from the Galaxy were deemed trustworthy. Now he was curious to find out about Khivar’s men, though he had to admit to having a good feeling concerning Nicholas (who’d have thought that!!!) and General Th’ikla.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Khivar’s men have their say…
Nicholas telepathed to Max **my king, since no one is to know of our possible connection I will have to treat you in my old charming way. As soon as the little one is safe, I’ll openly pledge my troth to you. Until then, please forgive me my insolence.**

This “new and improved” Nicholas was difficult for Max to get used to, in fact he thought it was creepily unnatural: but nonetheless he acknowledged his request with a slight nod.

It didn’t take much time for Nicholas Crawford to reverse back to his old ways “well, Maxie boy, are sure you want to play in the big league with all the grown ups?”

The change had been so swift, that Max couldn’t help himself and burst out laughing. “Why, little general do you really consider yourself being part of the big league?” he threw the insult right back at the little twerp.

Ignoring Max’s comment Nicholas stated with cold confidence “Khivar is the true ruler of Antar and he’s the only one to speak for his people. Until he joins us, I speak for Khivar!” After observing the others’ reactions to his comment, he added quite audaciously “so, since he has no say whatsoever concerning Antar Max is not really needed here!”

Larek cut Nicholas’ comments short by stating coolly “Nicholas, right now that’s not what we are discussing. If you have nothing to add about Antar’s condition and restoring peace in the Whirlwind Galaxy then you best let one of Khivar’s generals speak!” under his breath he added “maybe Max was right and you don’t belong in the big league!”

Some very un-leader-like snickers could be heard around the table and Nick reacted with a much undignified “you just wait and see!” Affronted Nicky motioned for General Ronar to continue.
*~~*~~*
Feigning repentance the general related “as you all know I have been with Khivar from the beginning. But in my defence I have to add that I didn’t know he was lying and cheating to us, his friends. And of course I was too young to realise what a self-absorbed and egoistical leader he was. I was at a very impressionable age and my king was very convincing.”

Looking sadly he continued, “I’m very sorry for all the things I was forced to do, because I couldn’t disobey his orders.” Ronar looked to everybody to see their reactions to his “confession” and wasn’t sure they really believed him.

For good measure he added “to be honest, at the beginning I did some bad things and I did them willingly, believing that it had to be done to bring the necessary changes to better the life of our people. After a while I started to realise that Khivar was lying to us and I found it harder to follow his orders. Actually I tried to go around some of them.”

Displaying his honest outrage he stated “when he started to notice my reaction to his orders, noticed my disgust, he threatened members of my family.” By this time Ronar was almost in tears and snivelled “I had no choice at all. But I have come up with some plans to change all that and I took a very great risk and contacted General Th’ikla. Thanks to my being a good judge of character I was able to trust him and we decided to come to this summit.”
*~~*~~*
General Th’ikla was the last one to speak. He was nervous since he didn’t trust his two companions. He knew from his own experience just how deadly they could be. At least Nicholas had always been upfront with his opinions; with him you got what you saw; a “lying, cheating ass who enjoyed cruelty”. On the other hand you had Ronar, one of Khivar’s most trusted generals, who suddenly allegedly changed his outlook; Th’ikla’s instincts were screaming to be careful, hence his nervousness. Carefully Th’ikla began with his view on his action, past, present and hopefully future.

Turning from Max to the leaders of the other planets he stated “ladies and gentlemen, I too was taken in by Khivar’s seeming sincerity and his pretended hope to better the lives of the people of Antar. You must know that Khivar and I visited the military academy at the same time and we became good friends, or so I thought. Anyway, in those days everything was good.”

Belligerently he continued, “When Khivar started to tell me of all the violence Zan and his father committed, how they mistreated their people I had no reason to distrust him.”

Calming down some he went on “I didn’t know Zan and most assuredly his father the former king. So I believed what I was told by my trusted friend Khivar and I was outraged, on behalf of the Antarian people, that anybody could treat his dependants in such a cavalier way! I was only too glad to help Khivar fight; after all, he had justified it.”

Th’ikla stopped for a moment and looked at the tabletop; trying to organise his thoughts. He listened to his instincts and made the final decision to reveal the truth; decidedly he spoke up “a while back I just couldn’t justify my actions any longer. It didn’t matter that he threatened my family; I just had to take action and start to change things.”

Turning to Larek he stated “I actually contacted Larek long before Ronar came to see me.”

After Larek’s nod Th’ikla continued “I helped him as actively as I could without endangering this operation, always well aware of the fact that Khivar had his spies everywhere.”

Risking a glance at Khivar’s other generals Nicholas and Ronar, Th’ikla confidently added “and now, here we all are, sitting at this table and talking about peace!” Sadly smiling he added, “I officially am changing sides. I’m joining Max and Larek and hopefully others will follow too!”
*~~*~~*
Meanwhile…
Besides Max and Larek the Granolith had also acknowledged King Sero, the Queens Kathana and Hanar, General Th’ikla and to everybody’s surprise General Nicholas Crawford. It turned out that the Granolith had acknowledged all members except General Ronar. The group was advised not to let Ronar know about what had transpired, in fact, the Granolith asked them not to change their behaviour, just keep up appearances.

Out of all of the acknowledged ones, Nicholas was shocked the most; at first he thought it was a bad joke on Max’s part, then he realised that everybody (with the exception of general Ronar) seated at the table started to look at him in different ways. Since he didn’t know what to do with those kinds of looks (not being used to them), he decided to ignore them all together. He figured that now was as good a time as any to follow the old adage “first look, then act” And so he did.

But like with the other leaders, the Granolith’s acknowledgement and the offered help left him hopeful of a good ending to the war torn Galaxy.


TBC

Chula


Thanks for reading my story, please let me know how you liked it

21, Can a leopard change his spots? 08/11/2000, Friday 12.30 am
Nervously Nicholas Crawford strode towards the king’s chambers. During the whole morning, Nicholas had observed Max interact with everybody at the summit, and he was quite surprised at Max’ willingness to learn about everybody’s reasons for attending this meeting. Max was actually prepared to let bygones be bygones and leave them in the past where they belonged. That gave Nicholas hope for his own situation, even though it couldn’t be compared to the others, for the simple fact that he, Nicholas Crawford, general in Khivar’s army, had been a lot worse!

He was glad that Max turned out to be so approachable; he had been fearing more difficulties, especially with all the trouble he had put Max and his little band of friends through. Before knocking on the richly carved door, he took a few calming breaths. The burden of keeping the little one safe got heavier and heavier with each passing day.

After combing his fingers through his hair for a last time Nick rapped on the door and hoped for the best. He was well aware of the importance of this meeting with Max. The time to prove his friendship to Alex had finally come; the time to prove just how far he was willing and able to go.

When the heavy door opened he was surprised to find Max, in person, standing there and inviting him in to his room.

The situation was very awkward indeed, because the last time before this summit, Max and Nick had faced each other as deadly enemies.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Meanwhile…
During a break Max had cornered Larek and asked his support for the first secret meeting with Nicholas. That of course meant he had to bring his cousin up to date on the happenings of the last year or so in Roswell.

Experiences and events like healing Liz and letting her and her best friends into the “alien” secret; the FBI finding out about and catching him; Nacedo’s and Tess’ arrival and their lies; Nacedo killing innocent humans and the skin congresswoman Whitacker; not to forget Coppersummit, the skin’s capitol on earth; and the last most devastating occurrence, Tess mindwarping and consequently killing one of their group, Alexander Charles Whitman.
*~~*~~*
Larek suddenly realised just how hard it had been for the royals to survive on earth, with no one to teach and guide them. It was almost a miracle that they came through alive. He shuddered, thinking about Max being caught by the FBI and tortured in the white room.

Nasedo was one lucky bastard to have died already, otherwise he would have been hard pressed to do the deed himself (and he would’ve enjoyed it too!); after all the shape-shifter had neglected his duty as a protector and worse yet, turned traitor to the crown of Antar.

He had never admired Ava, or even liked her, but to hear to what depths she had sunk deeply shocked Larek. What worried him now was how the hell he was supposed to keep calm the next time they would meet her, and meet her he would! It didn’t matter that she called herself - Tess Harding now - she was still Ava. She’d always been fickle and shallow, he had just never realised that Ava had such a mean and deceitful streak in her too.

After hearing all the unpleasant details Max had to tell concerning either Ava or Tess, he noticed that Tess was a poor imitation of Ava. The Queen of Antar had at least had some class, which was something Tess completely missed out on.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Friend or foe?
Nicholas’ knock reverberated loudly in the quiet room, galvanising the two men into action. While Max walked to the door to answer it, Larek sat on one of the comfortable armchairs and tried to look disinterested while listening to Max greet the little twerp.
*~~*~~*
After staring at Nick for a moment Max moved to the side and asked the skin to enter, carefully closing the door behind him. Quietly Max informed his guest, “Nicholas, I have asked Larek to join us for this meeting and he very graciously agreed. Whatever you have to say you can say it in front of him. I have informed him of all the important dealings on earth we’ve had over the past few years with you skins.”

Smiling at his cousin Max added, “If I have neglected to mention anything, it’s because I just forgot about it and I can explain it when the need arises. All you have to do is ask, ok Larek?”

After joining Larek in the sitting area and getting comfortable Max prompted Nicholas “What did you have to say to me in private? I’m most curious to know!”

Nick gave the room a passing check and asked, “This room is secure, isn’t it?” Following Max’s affirming nod the skin reached into his pocket and pulled out a little box in the shape of a CD and set it down on the table between them.

Collecting his thoughts with difficulty, Nicholas Crawford began with his troubled confession. “Max, I’m sure that by now you have guessed that the little one isn’t your son, right?”

Max confirmed Nicholas’ suspicions as correct and the little general went on “he is Alex’s son and I can prove it. After I told you everything you need to know, you can look at the disc Alex gave me to pass along to you, but I really need to explain things beforehand, ok?”

Max and Larek both carefully observed Nicholas, trying to see any hints of wrongdoing, but both came to the conclusion that he was sincere, so they motioned Nick to continue.

”Ok, Max, first I want you to know that I’m sincerely grateful to you for giving me this chance. I’m fully aware that my past actions don’t warrant your trust, so thank you!” at Max’s uncomfortable look Nick chuckled and added quickly “you don’t have to worry, I won’t start snivelling!”

As the time to confess in earnest had come Nick began at the beginning ”it was Tess’ idea to bring in Alex to decipher the destiny book. I was against it because I arrogantly assumed that no human could be smart enough to accomplish such a deed. But she insisted. He was already under her mindwarp when she brought him to Las Cruses. I was supposed to guard him, make sure he stayed warped at all times and wouldn’t get into trouble.”

With a heavy heart he said, “I really underestimated him, you know? Alex looked so innocent and geeky; he also had the weirdest sense of humour I have ever encountered…” Nicholas had to smile at the memories that came to his mind.

After a moment he picked up his tale on a more serious note “Well, anyway, that’s beside the point… I never even noticed that he had been able to break out of the warp. He kept doing Tess’ bidding but started to copy the results. The original translation he left untouched and mailed it to a secret mail address he had, the other he manipulated for Tess.”

Still amazed by his friend’s shrewdness he proudly praised Alex “As a failsafe, Tess would mindwarp him once a week, never guessing that Alex broke the warps after a few days. At some point he began to ask me all kinds of questions. Things like, why did I work for Khivar, especially since he had me banned from Antar.”

For the first time Nicholas also openly admitted “You know, I haven’t trusted Khivar in a long time now; actually since I recognised him for the bastard that he really is. But as long as I was in his camp, I too had a lot of power and influence and that seemed enough. To be honest, I never gave it a second thought!”

Ruefully Nick glanced at Max and Larek, noticing their attentiveness and went on with his story. “You know being on guard was boring, so when Alex started with this small talk, I never even realised that he had come out of the warp. We had long talks. He was always convinced that if you had known where he was, you would have come for him. Of course I just had a good laugh at that and told him that he was naïve. In those days, I and most definitely Khivar, would never have done something as asinine as march into an enemy camp just to retrieve one of our own!”

”By the time I realised that Alex was out of his warp I had started to admire him for his loyalty to you and all of his friends, and for his courage and resourcefulness in fooling Tess. Without even noticing it I had come to value him and we had formed some sort a friendship. After a while I found out that the warps were beginning to hurt my friend and I would heal him as much as I could without alarming Tess. And of course my healing powers aren’t all that strong, I’m not a healer.”

Swallowing heavily Nick added, “By this point I had offered Alex my help to escape safely, but he had decided to stay, saying that this knowledge was very important to you. So I helped him as much as I could.”

Aware of the painful revelations that he had to tell, Nicholas looked at Max and addressed him directly “You have to know that when Tess was there I had to leave the premises. And we never knew what happened during those times. But one day, Alex was almost done with the translation, he started to have a bad reaction to the many warps, terrible headaches, dizziness, vomiting, he was plain miserable. That was the day he finally allowed me to come for you!”

”In fact I was in a car down the road from your house, I saw you with Isabelle on your front yard, she had just returned from running. I was just about to approach you when Alex called, and ordered me back. I told him that I could see you and that the coast was clear; there would be no problems if I just walked up to you. He refused, made me promise not to contact you and to return pronto!”

Max’s interrupted him “You can’t be serious, man! Why didn’t you just ignore him, he might still be alive!”

”I’m well aware of that fact, Max” Nicholas replied very subdued. “The thing is, while I was coming to Roswell to meet you, Tess had been bragging about how her fool-proof plan had worked out perfectly and feeling victoriously, she revealed the truth, thinking that Alex was still under a warp and would forget everything. She told him that she had tried to seduce you, first without mind warp, afterward with it. It didn’t work out; she could only warp you into believing that you were the father of her baby. She also confessed that she had warped Alex into believing that he was with Isabelle one evening, and that as Isabelle she seduced him. That’s how Tess got pregnant with Alex’s baby.”

”From that moment on he knew that saving the baby and bringing him to you was more important than his life. He was aware of the fact that this little boy would be Tess’ ticket to what she had always wanted: to go back to Antar and be queen. After decoding the book, Alex was only too aware of the fact that on Antar the heir to the throne was tested; if he failed the test the baby would be maimed for life as a reminder to all not to try anything like that!” Taking a deep breath he ended the story “Knowing this, Alex quite literally gave his life for his son.”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
The two cousins had been attentively listening to Nicholas’ narration and both were convinced that the little general was telling the truth. Max found it hard to believe that an innocent baby would be punished for the greed of his parents and looked to Larek for confirmation.

His cousin nodded and added, “Its true, Max. Now I also know why Tess insisted that you acknowledge the little one. By accepting him as yours you would automatically overrule any test, so they wouldn’t need one. He then would become heir to the throne; though he wouldn’t receive the connection to the Granolith.”

”Max, that’s exactly why she wants you to acknowledge the baby,” Nicholas informed them. “To be honest, I have no idea just how much she loves her baby, but Tess made sure he had the best care possible. She hired Leanna…”

”Leanna? Isn’t she the one who supposedly went to Sweden with Alex?” Max interrupted. Next he wanted to know “is this Leanna working with you? Is she a skin? Can we even trust her?”

”Oh yes, she’s absolutely trustworthy, in fact, she was Courtney Banks’ superior in the rebel army.” Nick looked at Larek and added, “in fact, Larek knows Leanna.”

Seeing Larek’s shocked countenance he laughed and went on “her name was An’Alena, and she was the youngest member in the Queens’s convent. An’Alena was chosen by the members of the convent and the Council of Elders to keep the secret of the Granolith, until the new king and his keeper would be called upon to fulfil their destinies.”

Ever the careful one, Max needed more information ”sorry to interrupt, Nicholas, but since Tess, I’m very allergic to the word destiny, I hope you can understand that!”

Seeing Nick’s understanding he continued “well, what I want to know is, how could they have known that it would be this An’Alena who would pass the secret on to me? I mean, really, think about it for a moment; they cloned their king, his sister and his second in command and then they send them to a place they don’t know much about and on top of all that they manage to lose them.”

Looking inquiringly at his listeners Max explained, “You’d think they’d be more careful with such ‘precious cargo’, don’t you agree? I mean everything went wrong from the moment they put us on the ship that crashed. They had protectors who were traitors or just not interested enough to do their job. Also, why were we in those pods for almost fifty years and then we hatched without any memories of our past or any kind of useful knowledge to survive on a strange planet? It just doesn’t add up, talk about inconsistencies!” he ended his tirade and through his hands in the air to emphasise his point.

Here Larek decided to throw in his bid of wisdom “I understand your frustration Max, I really do…”

Nick nodded his head sagely and added “ditto, man, ditto!” As he noticed the surprised looks coming his way he hastened to apologise “sorry, it just slipped out of my mouth, I wasn’t thinking anything!”

Max started to loosen up and answered “No, no, it’s ok Nick, I guess I’m just not used to the ‘new and reformed you’! I’m thinking we just have to get to know each other under these new circumstances. So it’s best to be yourself and risk a few stares, it takes a little time, that’s all.”

Realising that they had interrupted Larek, Max addressed him “sorry for this but now it’s your turn again”

Nodding Larek picked up and said “actually Max, you’re quite right with what you just said, we have to get used to deal with each other and this means, best behave as normal as we can” grinning he clarified “well I don’t really know what qualifies as normal, so I correct myself and say as usual!”

Seeing the grinning answers on Max’ and Nick’s faces Larek said, “at least we can grin about the same things, I’d say that’s a good start!”

Rubbing his hands Larek continued his talk from where he had been interrupted “as I was saying Max, I understand your frustration but you have to realise that we don’t have much choice in this. Noone did, actually.”

Solemnly he explained, “We’re not dealing with ‘normal’ circumstances here, no! What we’re dealing with is a ‘prophecy’ and that implies, everything is possible, what ever happens, the outcome will always be the same.”

At Max’ and Nick’s seeming confusion he went into details, “Just look at you Max, Khivar did his best to get rid of Zan. He killed him and under normal circumstances dead people tend to stay dead. But here you are, not as Zan but as Max Evans and in a sense again as Zan. Do you follow me?”

”I think so,” Max sounded less confused but not too sure of himself. Nicholas just nodded.

Trying hard to be clearer Larek added ”Khivar then sent Nicky here after you, also Whitaker, Nacedo and Tess tried their best get rid of you; but here you are, a teenager, heading the peace summit of the Whirlwind Galaxy, a place that you as Max have no knowledge of.”

Meaningfully looking as his companions Larek ended “Against all odds you’re still here, and stronger than ever. With the exception of Khivar and his followers you have every other leader on your side.” Nodding at Nick he added “and let’s not forget Nicholas Crawford here. Just like the prophecy foretold, an enemy is changing the sides.”

Smiling broadly Larek couldn’t resist and pull Nick’s leg “I always wondered who that enemy would be, but not in my wildest dreams would I have thought of you being the ONE, after all, you did make such a fine enemy!”

Nick wasn’t really sure what to make of this teasing; it most definitely wasn’t what he was used to. In Khivar’s camp everything was serious, even deadly serious, as all the people who had died had to find out the hard way. Khivar had never had any trouble getting rid of people, even his own.

While Nicholas was still trying to come up with a good answer to Larek’s teasing, his gaze fell to the small parcel on the table between them and he knew, that before going anywhere else with this conversation, Max had to look at it. So he pointed to the box and addressed the teen “Max, I think before we go any further you should listen to Alex’s message.”

Max had so many feelings cursing through him he thought he might burst. Pain, sorrow, guilt only to mention a few of them. He wanted nothing more than to listen to Alex, and yet, he feared it too.

Larek was reading his cousin correctly and interfered “Why don’t we take a few minutes to stretch our legs or whatever. And Max, why don’t you contact Liz, let her know everything is fine?” Thankfully Max accepted Larek’s suggestion and disappeared in a neighbouring room.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Desert View, Wellness Centre, 08/11/2000, Friday 12.00 am
The ladies had decided to take advantage of the activities offered and were currently chilling on the side of the indoor pool, after having enjoyed some relaxing massages. Nancy listened to the girls talk about the different adventures they had lived through. Hearing how Maria was running down the street, screaming at the top of her lungs, after having heard the news that ‘aliens did indeed walk among us’, she burst out laughing so hard that the whole group was infected with it. With hiccups and chuckles they were finally able to calm down.

All in all, they felt pretty good and were dreading the moment when they had to go back and meet Michael and Mr. P. Since they still had a few hours left before the meeting, they had just decided to visit the boutique of the hotel, when suddenly Maria noticed that Liz had become very quiet. Isabelle noticed the way Maria was looking at her friend and observing her to. She informed them that their dark-haired friend seemed to be in a deep conversation with Max.
*~~*~~*
Suddenly Liz came back to reality and looked at her friends. Seeing their worried faced she informed them “I just had an SOS call from Max. Nicholas brought him a message from Alex and he is going to listen to it at lunchtime. He invited us to join him, Larek and Nick.” She got up and started to collect her things and added, “anybody who wants to see this better come upstairs now. We’ll just have enough time for a bathroom stop and get ready.”

Within moments the ladies were up, collected all their stuff and were heading towards the elevator. Once they reached their apartment, they hurriedly drank some water, had a few bites of toast, raced to bathrooms and met in Liz and Nancy’s room. Luckily they had left the beds together and so they all took in their previous positions. They started to relax and let their minds go blank…


TBC

Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula

22, A message from Alex, 08/11/2000, Friday 12.30 am
After the three men had resumed their places, with refilled water glasses at their fingertips, Nicholas picked up the small package and reverently held it in his hands. He kept staring at it, thinking that as soon as he handed it over to Max, he would have fulfilled his first duty as a friend. He was proud of himself, fulfilling this favour to his friend made him feel better than anything else he had ever done. All the medals Khivar had awarded him with were worthless compared to this one deed.

Nick was so lost in his thoughts that Larek cleared his throat to get his attention. Looking sadly, Nicholas looked Max in the eyes and said, “Max, you have to understand that Khivar and the people that surround him have no friends, he doesn’t encourage it. Quite to the contrary, he prefers his people to be rivals and encourages jealousy and mistrust. So maybe you can imagine that nothing really prepared me for Alex.”

Nodding at something only he knew about he stopped and remembered his dead friend sadly. When Nick realised that he was off point, he resumed his explanation “Alex was a really brave man. I mean, just imagine, as scared as he was, he still did everything in his power to keep all of his friends safe. I didn’t understand those kinds of feelings; I thought they were a weakness. But Alex taught me differently; these feelings gave him courage. With all this craziness going on, he still felt secure in your group and always trusted you all to get him out in time.”

Disgusted with his actions Nicholas confessed “In fact, I used to tell him sarcastically that he could just forget it, not even you were stupid enough to risk your life for him, a worthless human. After these remarks Alex would look at me like he was sorry for me and say ‘you don’t have any true friends, do you? Because if you did, you’d know that’s what friends do for each other’.”

Shaking his head at his own ignorance Nick clarified “That was absolutely way, way beyond anything Tess or I could comprehend. And Tess was never lucky enough to learn that particular lesson! She didn’t want to.”

Displaying a proud smile Nicholas informed them “As I have already told you Max, it was Alex who started to ask me all kinds of questions. I felt sorry for the stupid human and answered. After several conversations I started to miss something in my life, actually I started to envy Alex for his friends. Without my realising it, I opened up more and more and suddenly we had a certain bond. I began to really listen to Alex and I questioned him too. Actually I started to question my actions and motives, and I was very unhappy with the results!”

Embarrassed Nicholas noticed that he was baring his innermost thoughts and feelings and abruptly finished his explanation “The most amazing thing to me was, that he didn’t befriend me for favours or personal gain, and when he asked for my help, he told me that no matter what my decision was, he would stay my friend. I know I’m very new at this friendship business, and that I will make mistakes, but for the first time my intentions are honourable.”
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Meanwhile…
Even though the ladies were in the connection they were in tears: Nancy cried for the boy who had almost been like a son to her, Liz and Maria cried for their ‘girlfriend’ and Isabelle for her first love, which she had just found only to lose to Tess’ machinations.

The three girls also realised that a reformed Nicholas was actually a nice person, one that they could learn to like. That was a very disconcerting thought, because in their minds he still was their number one enemy they’d had to deal with so far. It was very strange to find out that their lying, cheating enemy suddenly changed to the exact opposite and now seemed honest and sincere.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Cyber-Tracing-Chip…
Carefully handling Alex’ message, Nicholas said, “Larek, I’m not sure if you have already heard about this new material called ‘Cyber-Tracing-Chip’” “I’ve heard of it but I’ve never seen it, why?” Larek wanted to know.

Indicating the small package Nicky grinned and said, “this is wrapped in it. Khivar handed me some of it to run some tests with, and I managed to keep the leftovers hidden. Cyber-Tracing can be in a chip or in some foil. It’s used to cover anything that needs high security. You put it on as the finishing touch. Then you encode it and when the package is ready to be secured the person who wraps it takes of the protection film and thus starts the recording of the tracing. From that moment on it keeps track of anybody touching it, until it is unwrapped by the intended addressee.” Here Nicholas stopped, realising that he really didn’t make much sense. Larek seemed to understand Nicholas long-winded explanation to some extent, whereas Max, never having heard of it, looked quite confused.

Chuckling Nick clarified “Sorry, since I’m no scientist I don’t really understand these things, much less know how to explain them, but let me try again.”

The skin took a moment to think about it and stated, “Ok, I think I know now how to explain it now. Since this message from Alex can under no circumstances get into the wrong hands, (the damage would be immeasurable) we needed to protect it. So, we coded this thing with your fingerprints and your voice, also we encoded Leanna’s and my fingerprints and voices as the legal keepers. After that Alex wrapped the disc and then activated the surveillance mode.”

Glancing at his two companions to reassure himself they were still with him Nicholas added, “All this means is, whoever touched this package is registered and it shows who just touched it, carried it or even tried to open it.”

Seeing the others’ understanding Nick handed the CD to Max, pointing to the minuscule chip he said “Max touch it right here and say Alex’ full name, afterwards you can open it without any trouble.”

”What do mean ‘without any trouble’? What troubles are you talking about?” Max inquired.

Smiling Nicholas explained, “If anybody but you opened this, it would self-destruct the minute the wrapping was violated.”

”Oh! Ok,” not really sure what to do with this bit of information Max gingerly accepted the gift and carefully followed Nick’s instruction.

After passing the test Max unravelled the CD and looked at it closer. It looked like any ‘normal’ CD, except the envelope was plain white. He started to look around, searching for a computer or DVD-player but couldn’t find either. Agitated he turned to his cousin and asked “Larek, what do we use to see this message?”

Larek pointed to the cyber-window and informed Max, “this can be used for everything, CD’s, DVD’s, Video’s, Tapes’ you name it!” Realising that Max couldn’t know their technology Larek instructed his cousin how to use it.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Alex…
Max was glad to feel his ‘girls’ in the connection, because right about now he was strung to breaking point. He started to drown in his guilt; he had not been able to save their friend. Alex had only been in danger because he had been a member of the ‘I know an alien club’. It was his fault that he had died. And suddenly there he was, showing on the cyber-window, bigger than life! His breath caught in Max’s throat...

”Max, stop it right there!” Alex smirked from the screen and then added forcefully “You don’t have anything concerning me to feel guilty about, you did everything you could. I’ve never blamed you. When everything is said and done all this comes down to is: I chose to be a part of the group, and Tess is the one who is going to kill me.”

On a more serious note Alex continued, “Max, I don’t have much time, because I never know when Tess drops by, so I have to keep this short.”

Trying to get the importance of his statement across Alex insisted “Can you imagine that in all this mess I gained a new friend, actually two new friends, Nicholas Crawford and Leanne. Both of them are a great comfort and also a source of strength and support. I miss you all very much and I wish things were different! …Hmmm before I forget I want to ask you to always take care of my girls, especially since I won’t be around to do it myself.”

”Max I fully realise how difficult it will be for you to trust Nicko, but he has come through for me on several occasions. After the warps he healed me as good as he could, he’s no healer, but still, he could take the headaches away. He tried very hard to convince me to get out of there, but I knew just how important the translation was for you. So when I started to get worse because of all those warps he went to Roswell to pick you up and sneak you into my room to heal me. Just before he could contact you, I called him back.”

Looking slightly sick he added, “Tess had just confessed about how she had mindwarped me into believing I was with Isabelle and… well… you know…! Just to think about it makes me want to puke! Anyway it seems I got her pregnant and now she has mindwarped you into believing that the baby was yours.” Shaking his head at such malice he said, “Beware of Tess, she is the devil incarnate. Whatever you do, don’t ever trust her. Most of all get Xander as far away from her as possible. Ultimately he is the reason for me to stay here, I have to ensure his safety, because no matter who his mother is, he’s still my son.”

Suddenly looking and sounding very mature Alex added, “It is my last wish that you, Maxwell Evans take responsibility for my son. I realise that you won’t be able to keep him with you; after all you’re far too young for that. But he will be a ‘special child’ with ‘special abilities’ so you will have to chose very carefully whom you entrust my son to.”

Swallowing heavily the young man on the screen continued, “I think that my parents did a good job raising me and also they gave me a beautiful childhood; so, I would really wish for my parents to have my son to raise, with your help of course. What’s even more important, I’m absolutely convinced that you can trust them with your secret. Raising my son would also help my parents with losing me. But the decision is yours, Max. I trust you to do what’s best for my son and for everybody else involved.”

After clearing his throat Alex said, “I would like for my son to be called ‘Alexander James Whitman’ Xander for short. I thought about this very long and very carefully and I know that Tess will call him Zan. Since I have no idea how long it will take you to bring my son home, I figured that Xander sounds like a longer version of Zan and it might be easier for him to get used to. James of course is for sheriff Valenti who has been a very good friend to all of us.”

Solemnly Alex appealed to his friends “Max, I ask you and everybody in the group to give Nicholas a chance. He has seriously changed and can be trusted. Ask Liz, she knows that even though I’m a nerd, I always had a very good feeling about who to trust or not. It’s actually my wish that Nicholas Crawford will be an honorary uncle to Xander, just like you all, my friends. Give Nicky the chance to be there and help my son in all things alien.”

With tears in his eyes Alex Charles Whitman took his leave saying “Tell Kyle that I was right, to be part of this secret is worth dying for. I’m very proud to call you all my friends.”

A sudden knock behind him made Alex jump in his chair “This is a signal, Tess is on her way, I have to go. Max tell everybody that I love you all and I will always be with you! Max, it’s been an honour knowing you!”

After a quick salute the screen went blank…

Just before Max wanted to stop the CD Alex came back on. Before he was in the picture you could hear him mumble “Nick, just keep her away for a few more minutes, just a few extra minutes, please” and Nick’s whispered answer “be careful, she’s getting suspicious, but I’ll keep her away for as long as I can!”

And then you could see Alex’ dishevelled appearance, he seemed to be in a rush and said “Max, tell Liz and Maria that they were the best sisters ever and I wouldn’t have traded them for anything. Let Isabelle know that I really love and admire her; tell her I want her to be happy and to stop living behind her icy facade. Tell Kyle that I’m proud to be his friend, that I’m glad he has found Buddha; he gives him depth and wisdom. And the sheriff, tell him that he’s my hero, for always doing what’s right but not necessarily correct! And Michael, tell him, that he’s come a long way, that I think he’s very brave to live such an independent life, you know, taking care of himself and all that. And you Max, you’re the brother of my heart! I love you all and…” All of a sudden there was a lot of noise in the background and Alex swore, “shit, the bitch from hell is back, I have to go! Max, give my parents all my love, they are the best parents ever and…” The screen went black and this time the screen stayed blank…
*~~*~~*
Max pointed to his head and mumbled something about going to the bathroom and quickly left. Larek understood, his cousin had to talk to his ladies, and nodded. For a moment the men left behind just sat there in silence until Larek commented “I never really knew Alex, I just saw him once and heard Max or Liz talk about him. They all thought the world of him. Now I understand why.” Sadly he added, “I wish I’d had the chance to get to know him.”

With suspiciously red eyes Nicholas just agreed, “Yeah, he sure was, I mean, if not for him I’d still be with Khivar. I miss him, you know, I really, really miss him. He was my first and only friend.”

Larek realised that Nick was losing his composure and decided to give him some space.
*~~*~~*
Meanwhile...
In the bathroom Max held a brief conversation with his ladies. Emotions were running high and nobody really knew what to say after such a climax. But one thing they all realised, they had to calm down and start planning on how to fulfil Alex’s last wish, to bring home Alexander James Whitman.

After some tearful goodbyes they severed the connection to return to their respective realities…



TBC

Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula

Hello my dear Feedbackers,
I’m sorry to say that today I don’t have time to answer you individually. Right now, it seems that everything enjoys to be difficult for me!! Nothing bad, just annoying.

We’re almost drowning at work, then they bring new things to learn, but no one to teach us, not even anything to read up on the new stuff, grrrr !!! And the people that could help are in meetings all over Switzerland. To top it all off, I started a little cold since the beginning of the week. So you see, nothing serious, just annoying.

And today I was supposed to get of work sooner then my vacations starts now, but I had to stay longer, for some stupid bs. Mind you, nothing serious, just annoying.

But on the good side, tomorrow morning my daughter is coming for a visit (she lives in the USA) and I’m really looking forward to it, but I still have to prepare a few things, so you see, no time for more than a very big and sincere thanks to you all.

I’ll look forward to you new comments, you all really make my days!

Here’s the next Part, enjoy


23, Who’s that? 08/11/2000, Friday 2.30 pm
Nancy and the girls were rushing around the hotel suite, getting ready for the next meeting. They were dreading it, because on top of the alien problem they now had to discuss Alexander James Whitman’s return to earth too. The rippling effect to that news was that they had to confess to their joint connection. The female-foursquare was sure that a certain bad-tempered alien was going to jump for joy at hearing this, especially once he realized that he had been left out cold.

The connection this morning had taken up a lot of time, and once they had come back to reality, the four women needed some more time to process everything they had learned. Realizing the delay this would bring, Liz asked her mom to let the men know of this hold-up.

Nancy then had called Jeff and after apologizing profusely she informed him that they would be a little late, only about one hour maybe two, at the most. Then she asked if he could order a light lunch for all of them, and went on to practically order everybody’s presence at the meeting, since they had some incredible news to tell. She had kept the conversation with her husband short and as one-sided as possible on purpose, because she knew him well enough to realize that if you gave him time to think, the discussion would turn his way and she’d never hear the end of it.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Inserting information to Nancy’s family background, the short version…
While the girls were getting ready Nancy picked up her cell and called Jean Batiste Dubois, her favorite brother. He was the only member of her stuck-up family who had accepted her marriage to Jeff Parker. “After all, we do come from an old and aristocratic French family” was a sentence she had heard over and over again while growing up. Her Father and her older siblings (four of five) still held on to all things noble and upper-classy. Bluntly put they were snobs of the worst kind with a stick (stuck) up their asses!

As it was, Nancy’s childhood had been rather difficult, seeing that her American mother had married a staid widower with five children. Her mother had been the governess of the younger two siblings until they too were sent off to boarding school. They all were used to treating her like a servant and that never changed, even after her marriage to their father. When Nancy was born, they just extended that same treatment to her.

Jean Batiste was the oldest one of her siblings; he had been 15 years old when Nancy was born. Jean was away at school most of the time, so they didn’t have much contact. When he was at home he mostly just ignored her, but he refused to join his younger brother and sisters in tormenting Nancy. To the little girl his aloofness seemed mysterious and she admired him very much.

Once, when Jean came home unexpectedly, he found five-year-old Nancy at the mercy of their siblings who tormented her. He intervened on her behalf and consoled the crying girl afterwards. That had been the first time that Jean had consciously taken any time for his little sister and to his amazement he found out that he liked her, a lot! From that moment on the two of them enjoyed a special bond. To Jean’s delight and the sorrow of the rest of ‘la famille’ Nancy started to call her brother Johnny.

Little Nancy was a free spirit and unlike the rest of the family she was very warm-hearted and without airs. This got her into more trouble than was good for her. Before Nancy’s thirteenth birthday, her mother died and the unruly girl was sent to a very strict boarding school. Through all of this, Jean stood by her side and helped her as much as he could.

All these experiences with her family led Nancy to distance herself from all of them with the exception of Jean. After she had married Jeff against the family’s wishes she cut all ties with those snobs but stayed close to her oldest brother.
*~~*~~*
Nancy makes a phone call, 08/11/2000, Friday 2.30 pm
After dialing his cell-number Nancy knew she had to wait exactly three rings before she would hear her brother Johnny’s voice. “Nancy chérie, what a pleasure to hear from you!” was his jovial greeting.

”Oh, Johnny, you don’t know how good it is to hear your voice, I miss you so very much!” Nancy cried very emotionally. She decided to continue right away and added, “Johnny, I’m in a rush, and I need a very, very big favour from you! But first things first, how is your family?”

Jean Batiste Dubois was surprised by Nancy’s shortness. His ‘petite soeur’ usually took her good time when calling him, so her rushing seemed to be a good indication that something was up and Nancy would let him know when she was good and ready.

Humouring her he passed on the news of his family. His wife Kathy was very busy with her own catering business. Of course her catering wasn’t the usual kind, no, her clients came from money, old or new money didn’t matter, but they all wanted the same; parties and festivities of the finest. His Kathy was just great; she too came from an old family with tons of traditions, but luckily she had escaped unscathed by it all.

As their twin sons grew older, Kathy realised that she needed to find some occupation that challenged her. She discovered that she actually enjoyed these high-class parties, but didn’t want to live that way, so she combined the two. While they lived like ‘normal and unpretentious’ people, Kathy had was planning these happenings for a lot of money, where sometimes the sky was the limit. Heck, Jean and Kathy had discovered that their businesses went together real well: While Jean organised the security aspect of the party, Kathy made sure the guests had the time of their lives.

A few weeks ago their two sons had finished college and now they were travelling through Europe and having a good time. Soon they were expected in Switzerland, visiting with friends.

After having brought Nancy up to date on his family’s activities, Johnny asked his little sister “Nancy, what is it? Is everybody ok? Just tell me, get it out…”

”You really know me too well Johnny!” Nancy gently kidded her brother and added “everybody is doing well, but I’m in dire need of your help”

Not really knowing how to ask this favour, Nancy blurted out “actually I need you and Kathy here, as soon as possible. Liz and a couple of her friends are in need of certain kinds of schooling, and only you two can provide that. The difficulty is that I can’t give you the reasons for needing this, at least not now, maybe never. You also have to keep it top secret. You can only tell Kathy about it, everybody else you have to tell that you are coming to visit, but nothing about teaching the kids anything. Are you interested, Johnny?”

With bated breath Nancy waited for her brothers’ answer, which wasn’t long in coming. “Ok, Nancy, I need to know more about it. When and what do we need to teach?” Johnny wanted to know.

”Well, they need to know how to move in the highest circles, you know, table manners, dance-floor rules, and some lessons in security wouldn’t be bad either, you know, just a good mix of everything you do.” Remembering Michael she added, “One of them is a difficult case, he can be very protective of his friends, but he has no manners and doesn’t respect anyone. Then again, he has a filthy temper and is touchy as hell! You’d really have your work cut out with this one, but I also know you like a challenge and he’s absolutely worth it!”

”Hmmm, sounds intriguing. Are you sure you can’t tell me anything else?” after hearing his sister’s “sorry, Johnny, but that’s not my call!” he continued “Well, I could always pretend to school royalty or some heads of states, there I usually don’t know more than what I have to teach them, or what I need to know to keep them safe! What do you say, Nancy?” Jean was surprised as Nancy suddenly had a coughing fit. As soon as she was able to, Nancy told her brother exactly what she needed him to do, and together they worked out a rough plan. Johnny would call Nancy with all the details about when they would arrive and to set up the classes where they would start to drill the kids.

Relieved Nancy ended the conversation with her brother and noted that the girls were finally ready to go to the Lunch-meeting at the CrashDown.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*

Continued next post

Continued Chapter 23

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
In the Diner, 08/11/2000, Friday 1.00 pm
Sitting in a corner of the front part of the diner was a lady that didn’t quite fit the ‘normal’ customer of the CrashDown label. She most definitely was a stranger. Her black expensively styled hair, her lavender costume, black high heel sandals, matching purse, some extravagant jewellery and ‘Dior’ sunglasses, just screamed upper class, and the upper class just didn’t frequent this diner.

Cindy, the new waitress, was very impressed and tried very hard to treat this customer like she obviously deserved. It was just bad luck that the waitress started to develop a case of bad nerves and spilled coffee on the table. Nothing bad really happened, but the lady was not impressed and let the girl know it in no uncertain terms.

In tears, Cindy left the lady and ran straight to the back room, where she knocked into her boss who had seen the whole scene unfold. Jeff talked to Cindy assuring her that things like that just happened from time to time and advised her not to take it too seriously.

Anyway, after having a sleepless, angst filled night Jeff was in no mood to pander to anyone, especially not to a stuck up customer. After observing the strange female treat his new girl so shabbily, he felt justified in taking action and marched straight up to that woman. Icily Jeff demanded “Is there something wrong?” Jeff raised an eyebrow and dared her to complain.

Looking up in surprise the woman replied quiete nicely “Oh no, we just had a small disagreement, that’s all!” After seeing Jeff’s disbelieving look, she added, “the girl was just a little clumsy, but nothing serious happened. I’m sorry if I was too severe!”

Giving the lady one last look Jeff wished her a good day and walked to the booth in the back that Michael and the sheriff were occupying.
*~~*~~*
”Damn touchy humans!” the lady cursed under her breath and realised that she had to be more careful if she wanted to stick around the diner. Well, she really didn’t ‘want’ to sit in this backwoods place, but the CrashDown was the best spot to gather all the information needed.

Observing the comings and goings in the diner, all the while pretending to read or write, she managed to see quite a bit. The back booth was in her direct line of vision and seemed to be of great interest.

Soon she became aware of the fact that now Jeff Parker was in the ‘I know an alien club’ too! It was glaringly obvious from the way they interacted with each other. They tried very hard to look unsuspicious, but to her trained eye they failed miserably. These damned idiots; didn’t they know how to keep a secret? No wonder they were all killed on Antar. Well, it didn’t really matter anymore, things were coming to an end soon, and then this damned planet would only be a very, very bad memory!

There was one highlight, Michael! He seemed quite a bit more difficult than usual and grinning she murmured “well, well, well, we really did a good job on Michael! The fool doesn’t even realise that he’s working in our favour. Well poor idiot, he’ll have quite a surprise, but that can’t be helped.”

After a while she called Cindy and being especially nice and apologetic, she ordered a mixed salad with Tabasco and for deserts the pie of the day with a nice cup of hot coffee.
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Mysterious Lady, 08/11/2000, Friday 2.45 pm
The ladies’ quartet arrived a little later than promised, and the men were getting impatient, some more than others. The advantage of their lateness was that the lunch rush was over and that Jeff was less likely to be disturbed.

As the four women entered the diner they immediately noticed the elegant lady sitting in the corner all by herself. To Nancy this woman seemed extremely suspicious because these kinds of people just didn’t frequent the CrashDown. Making note of this fact, she herded the girls towards the back where they met the men sitting in a booth.

Still thinking about that mysterious woman Nancy realised that she was badly equipped for any kind of on the spot investigation and made a note to herself to organise a dictaphone, a notepad and pencils, maybe even some binoculars! She also had to google whatever else might be needed to always be on top of it. Of course a big handbag would be needed to put everything into. She was surprised to find out just how much she enjoyed this new excitement and looked forward to developing some serious Nancy Drew tendencies.

While they were greeting the men and waiting for Kyle to arrive, Nancy kept glancing covertly at the lady and found her several times observing their booth. ‘Aha, strange, I better get everybody out of here and upstairs!’ she thought and that was exactly what she did!

To cover up Nancy laughingly invited everybody “Hey, why are you all waiting down here?” Throwing meaningful looks at the others she added “Everything is already prepared and ready for when Kyle arrives, so, I think we should all wait for him in the apartment, don’t you agree?”

Maria was the first one to pick up on this strange invitation and added “Oh, Isabelle, you should see how Liz and I decorated the apartment. He won’t know what’s hit him! Right, Lizzy?” With a big grin Liz agreed.

As they were leaving the diner Nancy unobtrusively turned back and saw the woman asking for her tab.
*~~*~~*
After entering the apartment the first thing Liz checked out was the food. She was starving; after all, she had to eat for three! When she found an assortment of pizzas, salads, chips and other more or less healthy goodies, she sat as close to the food as possible and started to eat, sprinkling everything generously with Tabasco.

The other three women behaved with more decorum and took their time greeting Jeff, Michael and Jim properly. Kyle was just now arriving too.

After everybody had been greeted, Jeff asked Nancy “Nance, what was that strange behaviour downstairs all about?”

”Didn’t you see this very elegant lady in the diner?” Nancy wanted to know and added “I don’t know why, but something about her seemed off, you know, not quite right. Also, I’m sure that she was watching us closely. That’s why I thought to give us a good excuse and take everybody upstairs.”

Grudgingly Jeff acknowledged her reasoning and informed his wife “Well, she did seem really strange. She had Cindy in tears in no time at all, but when I went to talk to her, she was pretty nice.” Reflecting on the lady’s actions Jeff added “afterwards she treated Cindy really good! But now that you mentioned it, there really was something off with her!”

”What do you mean, ‘off’? Do you think she could be an alien?” Michael turned into general mode so fast, everybody was surprised. He bombarded his companions with more questions “What did she say? What did you tell her, Jeff? Why do you think she was strange? Maybe I should go and check her out?”

Nancy shook her head and informed Michael “too late, she left just after us!”

Looking at Liz she suddenly remembered something and asked “Liz, in your diary I read that Max touched something and he could see who had held it last. Do you think if you, Isabelle and Michael would check out the table you might see things too?”

Michael was very impressed with Nancy’s deductive skills and was on his way out the door saying “You might be right Nancy!”

Before he was out the door Nancy grabbed Michael and said “you should wait a bit, just in case somebody else is watching too!” Next she walked to the phone and called downstairs, asking if that table had already been cleared. When she heard that they were getting to it right that moment, Nancy ordered them not to touch anything on that table, to leave everything just as it was, saying they would come down later and take care of it themselves.

Seeing Nancy in action impressed the sheriff and he started to laugh stating “Wow, I’m impressed!” Kyle added “our very own Nancy Drew!” Jeff proudly walked to his wife, hugged her and planted a kiss on her lips. The girls and Michael were speechlessly impressed.

With all the greetings out of the way everybody joined Liz at the table and started to eat. Like they had an unconscious agreement they all were quietly eating, taking their time to eat in peace.
*~~*~~*
Just checking out, 08/11/2000, Friday 3.55 pm
After their lunch Michael, Isabelle and Liz walked downstairs into the diner, trying to look as ‘normal’ as possible and approached the table the lady had occupied. Carefully sitting on the three remaining chairs they talked amongst each other, setting up a course of action. Michael and Isabelle saw that lady and she seemed somehow familiar. Also, the waves coming off of the items they touched felt cold, strange and even alien. Alien, the kind that spelled trouble.

Liz unfortunately received quite a shock as she saw the same pictures that she had already seen before. They were all black and white, cold and threatening and spelled big trouble.
*~~*~~*
Delaying the Meeting, again, 08/11/2000, Friday 4.15 pm
After the disturbing findings the trio cleared the table and trudged upstairs. There, everybody waited impatiently for news. Upon arriving Michael immediately informed them “She must be some alien, I’m sure of it. What really irritates me is the fact that she seems really familiar and if Nacedo were still alive I’d say it might be him. As it is, I don’t know who it could be.” Turning to Isabelle he said “Is, your turn, what did you find out?”

Shrugging her shoulders Isabelle informed them “The same, if Nacedo were alive I too would say it was him, but as it is, I just don’t know.” Facing the brunette she inquired “Liz, what do you say?”

Liz’ answer was short “It’s Nacedo, I’m positive!” “What?” Maria wanted to know, and the sheriff added “You all saw him die, didn’t you?” But Liz insisted “I’ve seen the pictures before, you know, when he kidnapped me! So yes, I’m positive, it’s Nacedo!”

”Fuck!” Michael yelled, “she mindwarped us all into seeing his death! I wonder what the hell he’s been doing all this time?”

”From all these reactions I gather that this guy is an enemy, I’m right, aren’t I?” Jeff inquired.

”Yeah, but he’s gone, so there’s nothing we can do right now” Jim answered “except be extremely watchful at all times and don’t let him know that we know he’s here!”

Maria quietly asked “what do we do now, Liz?”

Liz had this very concentrated and faraway ‘Granolith-connection’ look and hadn’t heard her friend’s question. Isabelle started to recognise this expression and commented on it “leave her be, Liz seems to be in a conference and from her serious expression I assume it might be with the Granolith, so don’t disturb her!”

Kyle mumbled “yeah, even I can tell she’s not with Max, because that connection makes her glow!”

Now everybody began to stare at Liz, wondering what was going on, when suddenly she came back and answered “Right now we do nothing, at the moment he’s just spying on us, so he can report back to Khivar, but within a day or two he’ll leave to join them at the summit!”

”What?” Jeff asked and incredulously and added “If I understood correctly he’s your enemy, and you won’t do anything about him? What if he comes back? What if he hurts somebody? And anyway, I thought he was a man, but that person downstairs was most definitely a woman!”

Taking a deep breath and trying to gain control over his over-creative imagination he mumbled “Jeez, this gets more and more confusing by the moment! How am I ever going to understand anything? I’m so confused…”

Maria’s dry comment “Welcome to the alien abyss!” could be heard by one and all and gained her a few snickers.

Taking pity on her dad Liz approached him and sat on his lap. Seriously looking at him she clarified “the Granolith has told me that Nacedo is only here to check up on us, to make sure everything with us is as it was when he and Tess left. Apparently they manipulated us, some more some less, and Nacedo is here to make sure we still are under a mindwarp. If he should find out that we are coming out of the warp, he has to manipulate us again, because we should be warped at least until Max has acknowledged the little boy.”

Seeing everybody’s inquiring looks on her, Liz explained “the thing is, if anybody here changes his or her behaviour, he’ll know and he can warn Khivar and on top of that he can warp us again. We would lose the advantage we have. Right now Khivar thinks that our group’s had a big quarrel and thus Max’s is alone. He doesn’t know that Max and I are back together and most importantly, that we are expecting our babies. Also he doesn’t know that Max and I broke through the warp.”

Jim quietly wanted to know “Liz, just who has been warped? Do you know?”

Sincerely shaking her head Liz answered “the Granolith didn’t say, but I think the whole group has been manipulated, some more, some less. I know Max and I have been under a mindwarp and as time goes by I think there are more warps than just one. You know, some things just don’t add up, you know, don’t make any sense!”

Michael exclaimed “I don’t think I have been warped, after all I worked with Tess and we became friends. She also showed me some trick on how to block such things. Anyway, I don’t feel any warp!” Looking at the humans in the group Michael let them know clearly just who he thought had been tampered with.

Sounding overbearingly patronising he continued “Liz, I don’t think that the Granolith would give you this information and not tell you how to get rid of Nacedo, I mean, that man is a menace!”

”You’re right Michael, Nacedo is a menace, but the Granolith very clearly stated not to do anything, because all the shape-shifter does is watch us for a few more hours, and then he has to leave to meet with Khivar before the meeting.” Trying hard to convince Michael she added “don’t you see that if anything happens to Nacedo, Khivar will know that we’re not warped any longer and he’ll be warned! That would put Max and the baby in grave danger, so we won’t do anything, because it’s the safest right now.”

Beseechingly Liz addressed them all, “it’s only for a few more hours, at the most two days, then everything will be revealed.”

Getting up from her dad’s lap, Liz stepped into the middle of the room and begged them “Please, bear with me and let him go! I promise you, this was the last time we saw him!”

Maria walked over to Liz, put her arm around her friend’s shoulder, looked at her and said “good riddance is what I say!” giving Liz a good squeeze she added “I’m with you babe, all the way…”

After Maria’s acceptance everybody else came around and agreed to leave things the way they were. Michael reluctantly accepted the Granolith’s wish but grudgingly added “Ok, for now I’ll accept this and I won’t do anything, but if I should see him after the two days are up, I’ll take care of him!” To Michael’s surprise everybody, including Liz, agreed with him.

After all this unexpected excitement they decided to pause for five minutes and then they would finally start with the planned meeting…



TBC

Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula

24, Interruptions, interruptions, 08/11/2000, Friday 4.55 pm
Before the ladies had left the ‘Desert View’ they had agreed to let Nancy take the lead and start off with the baby news. Now, that the Nacedo situation had calmed down, the time had come to get down to business.

Nancy stood up, looked at everybody and like a teacher looked pointedly at the two troublemakers of the group and instructed “Jeff, Michael, I truly hope that you two have had enough time to cool your tempers and to think about your unacceptable behaviour last night. It will not be tolerated today, we have too much to talk about to waste our time this way. Anybody behaving like a child will be treated like one and has to leave until they can behave like adults, is that understood?“

After receiving their affirmative nods Nancy first addressed her husband “Jeff, have you had a chance to learn all you needed to know?” Jeff who wasn’t used to such assertive behaviour in his wife was only able to nod before she commented “good”

”We had a very long talk last night and we have decided that we’re very happy to keep these babies. I know it’s a lot sooner than anybody thought it would happen, but it’s too late to cry about spilled milk. So we’ll make the best of it.” Nancy’s demeanour was very forbidding and so Jeff wisely decided to keep quiet, at least for now.

Noting her husband’s subdued behaviour Nancy nodded and went on “we decided to look into all the possibilities we have and come up with different solutions, but no decisions are made until Max is back. After all, he is an important member of this family now too” she concluded with a smile at Liz.

”Now we have some more pressing news to discuss and I’ll give over to Isabelle.” Nancy motioned to Isabelle to continue.

When all the attention shifted to her, Isabelle had a fit of stage-fright and stayed mute for a moment. Realising that everybody was waiting for her to begin, she swallowed the lump in her throat and started “Ok, hhmmm…, early this morning we tried something new…”

Seeing the confused expressions on all the men’s faces, Isabelle realised they had no idea what she was talking about and started again. “That didn’t make much sense now did it?” calming down she continued “early this morning Liz asked me to join her in her connection with Max and it was absolutely amazing. He’s doing really well. Anyway, Liz and I could see and hear everything going on around him and we saw Larek, who turns out to be our cousin!” Isabelle almost squealed the last part, because she was getting carried away again.

Abashed, Isabelle harrumphed and then picked up her tale “The connection was incredibly clear, just as if he was right in front of us. So we decided to bring Nancy and Maria into it and let me tell you, it was…, I don’t know how to describe it, but to see Max in the meeting with the other leaders, it was just wow!”

Maria couldn’t contain herself any longer and inserted “imagine, we saw Queen Kathana, Queen Hanar, King Sero and Larek, who turns out to be a king too!” she cried excitedly and added “then there were Khivar’s men, General Th’ikla, General Ronar, and of course the little twerp, also known as General Nicholas Crawford!”

After inhaling a few sniffs of her oil Maria calmed down enough to finish her narration “Just picture it, with the exception of Max they all are from the Whirlwind Galaxy, isn’t that just crazy? And what’s even crazier, we understood them, we could follow their talks!” Even after having experienced it herself, Maria still had a hard time accepting all of this and everybody could see her excitement.

When she couldn’t find any more words to describe her feelings on all of this, Isabelle grabbed the chance and picked up her tale “It’s really true, and you won’t believe this, but Nicky has changed sides!” After imparting this bit of news Isabelle stopped and waited for it to sink in. She expected some reactions and was not disappointed.

The ”What? Are you sure?” from Jim was crossed by Kyle’s confused question “I thought he was your number one enemy and not to be trusted!”

Jeff yelled “who the hell are you talking about?” and Michael exploded “don’t tell me that Max is stupid enough to believe that little shithead! I knew I had to go too, I just knew it! But does he listen, nooo! Max always knows best and doesn’t care about others. On top of that he’s too susceptible, that’s why he needs me there, somebody has to tell him what to do!”

Then Michael turned to Liz and yelled, “That’s your doing, isn’t it? You’ve got your claws deep into him and now you tell him what he’s got to do.” Furiously he delivered his coup de grace “you really knew what you were doing when you started to fuck him, didn’t you?”

Pointing an angry finger at Liz he spat “you put yourself between me and Max and ruined our friendship, you destroyed his confidence in me, and you badmouthed Tess to him, until he hated her and never even gave her a chance even though she was supposed to be his queen!”

Shocked, everybody stood there until Isabelle, who was the first to react, walked straight up to Michael and slapped him hard across his cheek. “How dare you talk to your Queen like that?”

As the tall alien opened his mouth to answer she froze him on the spot with one of her killer looks and hissed “After all she’s done for you, yes for you!” Izzy emphasised and then added “Yes, I know that Liz did a lot for all of us, that’s true, but for you, she went even farther.”

Looking meaningfully at Michael, she imparted “In the connection I saw who had taken her diary, and also how she promised not to tell us! I also saw that she never broke that promise!” trying to calm down some she went on “we also know, she never asked for anything in return!”

Taking a deep breath she added “lately, your behaviour has been way beyond what’s acceptable, but the way you treat Max and especially Liz is downright intolerable and it stops right now!”

Suddenly Izzy remembered something Liz had said and wondered “Michael, do you think Tess has mindwarped you? Is it possible…”

“Don’t you dare badmouthing Tess too, she hasn’t done anything. In fact, all she wanted was to be our friend and to love Max,” and then Michael pointed angrily at Liz he spat “but she made that impossible!”

Hearing Michael defend the gerbil from hell Maria forgot all her good intentions concerning him and let the tall alien have her wrath “Isabelle must be right! You are actually defending Tess, you remember, Tess who mindwarped you into believing you had to be with Izzy, who warped Max into believing he’d had sex with her, made a baby with her! That Tess!”

Teary-eyed Maria ended with conviction “my spaceboy would never have done something this stupid, never!” After sniffing a few tears she added “Michael, maybe we should go to the Granolith, see if he can help you, what do say?”

”Are you nuts? Why would I do that! What’s more, why would Tess warp me, I was never against her, quite the opposite, I was her friend, the only one she had! If you have nothing good to say you better not say anything at all!” Michael was riled, after all this time, they were still on Tess case. Why couldn’t they see that Tess wanted nothing more than to be accepted, to belong? But he didn’t have anymore time to brood on this problem because someone else was on his case. ‘Are they taking turns?’ he wondered.

Surprisingly enough Jeff Parker was next in line to chew out Michael “My daughter has done a lot of wrong things lately, and we still have to discuss about the babies, and yes I really appreciate you telling me about it, but make no mistake, that doesn’t give you the right to badmouth her that way. Actually none of the girls here, or you will have to deal with me, understood?”

Jim Valenti’s comment was quiet and short to the point “Michael, you know better than that!”

Kyle moved in front of the taller man and assured him “one more stunt like that and you’ll have me to deal with. Make no mistake, I will and can take you down. If you can’t treat the people here with respect, then get the hell out.”

Nancy was seething but waited patiently until everybody had had their say and then coldly informed Michael, “The way I see it is, you keep messing up, jumping into trouble without thinking, then Max and Izzy have to get you out!” Staring Michael straight in the eye she added “we all realise that you’re out of control and quite honestly I think Maria is right, you have been tampered with but as long as you don’t see it and ask for help, we can’t do anything for you. We can’t drag you to the chamber, you’re too strong for us. But I demand that you behave yourself!”

This bluntness from Nancy shocked Michael. He was convinced that the redhead somehow was able to see into his head and read his thoughts as she added, “As it is, you expect and demand that you are treated with respect and honesty. You’re cashing in on the sad, sad childhood you’ve had. With all your actions you make sure no one forgets that. You go even further than that, you make sure that your best friends, Max and Isabelle, feel guilty that they were luckier than you and landed with the Evans.”

Softening her accusations Nancy added “Nobody denies that you’ve had a bad lot in live, but if you won’t change it, nobody else can do it for you. It’s really up to you, to face your past and ask your friends for support!”

Nancy was irritating the hell out of Michael, mostly because he realised that she was reading him correctly. But that didn’t give her the right to treat him like shit and he wouldn’t stand for it, so he walked over and towered above her, trying to intimidate her and growled, “You want my respect? Well then you’ve got to earn it and you most definitely won’t get it for talking to me like this!” Stretching up to his full height he threatened “I won’t stand for it, or…”

”…or what? Michael? Just stop this bullshit right now!” looking him up and down Nancy added in her most severe mom voice “Just because you’re a few inches taller than me and you can throw blasts you don’t intimidate me.” Pointing to the chair beside him she ordered, “sit!” and he automatically followed her order and sat down.

Standing in front of Michael, Nancy asked, “Do you by any chance remember what you just said?” at his inquiring look she answered “you know all that about respect, and earning it?” She waited for his nod before adding “that goes both ways, if you treat people with decency and respect, that’s what you will get back. It’s as simple as that!”

Staring Michael down Nancy added sternly “now, since again thanks to you Michael, we’ve come off track I suggest we have a really short brake and then we have some important news to discuss and to find solutions for. But before the brake I have an announcement to pass on to you all.”
*~~*~~*
Looking at the girls, then at everybody else Nancy started “As a new member of this group I have noticed a few things that, at the moment, might seem unimportant, but as Michael can tell from his own experience, they are not.”

Smiling at the confused looks she was getting Nancy added “Manners and etiquette!” the confusion seemed to grow and Michael mumbled, “I don’t need that shit!”

Nancy used this exclamation to her advantage and instructed “That’s were you’re wrong, Michael. The only reason you had to stay behind was your bad manners and your foul temper.”

After sending the bad tempered alien a scathing look Nancy addressed everybody “So, I figured since Max is a King, Isabelle a Princess and Liz became a Queen through her connection with Max, we better learn real fast all about decorum. After discussing it with Max I called my brother and asked him for help. He has his own high security firm and is used to mingling with VIP’s. He agreed to come and teach us all how to behave in meetings, how to treat important people, friends and enemies alike. Johnny will also advise us on safety and security. His wife, Kathy, will teach us all about good manners and royal etiquette. And Michael, if you seriously want to be of any help to Max and Antar you better pull your head out of your selfish ass and do your part in all of this. At the moment you’re nothing but a hindrance!”

Liz just sat there, stunned into silence. As she watched the discussion crumble before it had really started, she was now pleasantly surprised about how everybody came to her defense; now she couldn’t decide if she should cry or laugh, those damned hormones…
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
After the short brake…
They were all back in the living room, with their tempers cooled and ready to tackle the rest of this meeting.

Even Michael decided to return, but only because he wanted to know what those news were. Nancy, putting him down in such an unfair fashion, had shocked the hell out of him. He never thought that she had it in her to speak a word out of place and then ‘wham’, using such foul language and putting him down, what was the world coming to if you couldn’t rely on the Parker women to stay cool, calm and collected?
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*
Somewhere between LA and Roswell, 08/11/2000, Friday
Leaning back in his seat Cal enjoyed a good cigar with his coffee and let his mind wander. He started to obsess with his memories of his home Antar.

Flashback***
As an orphaned child from a poor family he had been raised by the wise women of the queens convent. They had given him a secure and loving childhood.

At the time the planet had already been in unrest and sporadic skirmishes had broken out in the back countryside. When he had grown into a young man the war was not avoidable any longer. That was when he’d heard the call of the Granolith for the first time and joined the keeper. He had been chosen by the Queen mother for a top-secret project that would lead him far away from Antar. He was young and foolish and just bursting with a thirst for adventure and this trip to earth was just what he had been craving for.”
End of Flashback***

“Mr. Langley, sir! Sir, you asked us to inform you when we’re almost ready to land.” Cal was so deep in thought that the flight attendant had to call him twice before he came back to reality. Shaking off the remnants of his memories, he ruefully smiled and wondered, “what is this call all about? What will happen? Do I have to face my king, and if I have to, how will he react?”


TBC

Thank you very much for reading my fic.

Take care

Chula