Roswell Fanatics

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



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Shocking Revelations

Chapter 29

XXIX

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“Assuming that the granolith in this dimension responds to the same frequencies as in our dimension, that should be it right down there,” Varec said, holding a small hurriedly devised instrument in his hand and watching its tiny monitor, as he pointed to a spot on the New Granolith’s large panoramic view screen that gave them a view of what lay directly below the ship…

“It looks like a tall garage… or maybe a silo,” Max said, looking at the object on the screen.

Michael stared at the small but sturdy-looking building on the view screen… “Someone probably built it around the granolith. Most likely they didn’t know how to move the granolith and it was the only way they knew of to hide it.”

Max nodded. “You’re probably right. So what do we do now, General? Beam ourselves down there into that garage… silo… or whatever it is?”

Michael shrugged. “Can you think of a better way?”

Max was silent for a moment then he shook his head… “No.”

“Neither can I.”

Max took a deep breath and nodded. “Well, the granolith hasn’t tried to kill us since we left the palace… maybe it’s had a change of heart.”

“It’s hardware,” Michael corrected, “It doesn’t have a heart… as such. It doesn’t actually think, not the way we do; it carries out a set of logistics-driven orders that were installed in it when it was created… and it does that to the best of its ability… without being encumbered by a ‘heart.’ Besides, it may only be waiting for us to be away from Pierce so it can pick us off… if it really is protecting him.”

“Good point,” Max agreed… “We can’t take anything for granted.”

Michael shook his head. “Nothing at all.”

“I’ll go,” Kyle offered.

Max smiled and shook his head. “You had all the fun last time, Kyle. Wasn’t turning Pierce into a soprano enough for you? Anyway, It’ll have to be me, because the granolith is more likely to recognize me.”

“I’ll go with you,” Michael said, holding up his hand to squelch any objections from Max. Max thought about it for a moment then nodded. “Two of us may be better than one… are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Max touched the pin inside his shirt, and Michael touched the one in his, and both of them disappeared together in a wisp of light. They reappeared inside the structure.

“Well, that’s it,” Michael said, walking slowly around the granolith, which began to pulsate with a bluish light. “Why’s it doing that?”

Max watched the granolith pulsate for a few moments… “I don’t think it’s being aggressive. It’s just checking us out.” Stepping forward, Max held his right hand out, palm up, and a six-foot-long beam of crackling light exploded from the granolith and into his hand. Michael went immediately on highest alert but did not interfere, surmising correctly that the granolith was trying to communicate rather than attack them. The crackling, lightning-like beam of light continued without letting up for almost two minutes, as the granolith alternately glowed with a cobalt blue color then a jade green then a deep ruby red. Max’s body began to glow with the granolith, producing a thin aura of similar colors around him, making Michael more that a bit uncomfortable. But after a while, the glow began to subside, then the beam abruptly stopped.

Max looked around. At first, he seemed not to know where he was and appeared to be stunned.

“Max?”

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m… I’m okay. It was just… intense.”

“For you or for me? You had me going there, pal. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I will be. I just have to get my bearings.”

“What did it do to you?”

Max seemed to think about it for a moment, then a smile edged over his face… “It exchanged knowledge with me.”

“You mean like… it told you what’s going on… and why it was trying to kill us?”

“Not exactly. Come on! Let’s get back to the ship. I have something to show you… something to show everybody.”

Max and Michael both returned to the ship, and Max gathered everyone together.

“The granolith is… well, the best way I can say it is… confused… by Pierce. It has conflicting data on who he is. The best way to explain it is just to show you. The granolith took information directly from my mind, but it also put information into my mind… a lot of it… so much that the only way it could do it was to show me what happened. That information is still here inside me, like some biological video that’s set to run. In a sense, I only have to turn it on to share it with you… Everyone hold hands and form an unbroken circle. Liz, you hold my hand. Maria, take my other hand, then everyone else take their hands.”

“Are we going to feel anything, you know, weird,” Maria asked.

“Not as weird as sleeping with Michael,” Max said matter-of-factly.

“And you would know this how?” Maria asked.

“I’m guessing,” Max retorted.

Maria took Michael’s hand with her other hand and grinned. “For the record, I like sleeping with Michael. You don’t know what you’re missing, Max.”

Max reddened ever so slightly, apparently wanting to get off of the subject and wishing he hadn’t started it… “If everyone is ready…” He closed his eyes, and the others did the same. About three seconds later, a bright light came on very suddenly. Maria involuntarily opened her eyes but saw that the light was not in the room… it was in her head. Hesitantly, she closed her eyes again and watched…

It appeared that they were seeing through the granolith’s eyes… or whatever it was that the granolith “saw” with. At first, it was dark, despite the bright light inside their heads, and there was only an empty room all around… but it was not a garage or a silo; it was the granolith chamber on earth. As they watched, light began to pour through a crack in the wall and into the chamber, then the stone doorway opened further and someone stepped in. It was Max. He was followed by Michael, Liz, Maria, Tess, and Isabel. They talked for a while, occasionally arguing about whether or not they should go to Antar… whether or not they should leave parents… friends… loved ones… and the life they knew. It was déjà vu for some, as though they were reliving their own earlier misgivings. But then something happened that was not familiar to them. A man with a gun unexpectedly burst into the chamber. As the light fell on his face, they saw that it was Pierce; he had apparently followed them. Pierce took one look at the granolith and knew instinctively what it meant. They were escaping… escaping forever… escaping to a place where he could never find them again. He raised his gun to fire it at Max, and suddenly there was chaos…

Michael was the first to react, quickly getting off a blast of energy that melted the gun in Pierce’s hand before he could fire it. But when he tried to blast Pierce, nothing happened. Max tried, too, with the same result. It seemed that the granolith was preventing them, in some way, from any further blasting inside the chamber, probably to protect the chamber and those inside it. It also appeared to be preventing Pierce from using his backup weapon against Max. Though he pulled the trigger several times, nothing happened. Michael’s first thought, after disarming Pierce and seeing that his backup had failed, was to get Max to safety. Quickly, he shoved Max toward the granolith… “GO, MAX! GO! Get out of here! Take the granolith!”

Max shook his head and looked at Liz, then he looked back at Michael, his head filled with uncertainty… “We all need to stay together… We can fight him together.”

“GO!” Michael insisted, shoving Max into the granolith, “Come back for us when you can!”

The granolith began to glow and pulsate with colors, and Pierce, seeing his number one trophy getting away, momentarily lost all semblance of sanity…

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

With one long, hysterical cry of rage and frustration, Pierce rushed forward and leapt, hitting Max with his outstretched hands and sending him tumbling backwards out of the granolith; but at that same moment, the granolith, unable to stop a reaction that had already begun, became solid. For a brief moment, everyone saw Pierce’s hands and face, pressed against the inside of the granolith, like a caged animal wanting out. Then the granolith shot skyward… with Pierce in it.

Pierce slumped to the floor, uncertain what lay ahead, not knowing where he was going or what would become of him. Throughout the brief journey, he remained that way, never speaking… and rarely moving… in shock.

When Pierce had first entered the chamber, the granolith’s immediate impulse had been to destroy him. But it had discovered that it was unable to do so. It scanned and recalibrated its systems internally and tried again. Still, it was unable to harm Pierce, whom it considered little more than a dangerous parasite now that he was onboard and heading toward Antar. Searching for a reason for this strange malfunction, the granolith discovered that Pierce registered as having royal DNA. The granolith repeatedly ran assays to prove or disprove this surprising new data, but was unable to disprove it. Every single assay registered royal DNA coming from Pierce’s body… and not just any royal DNA… but Max’s DNA.

The granolith “knew,” on the one hand, that the man sitting on the floor inside it was not Max, nor even a royal at all… but on the other hand, its own security system, a system designed to protect the royals, refused to act against Pierce; and, even more incomprehensibly, it had prevented Michael and Max from harming Pierce in the chamber and continued to identify Pierce as Antarian royalty. The granolith was not configured to think in exactly the same terms that we do, but this conundrum… this internal struggle between its security system and its higher “brain…” was enough to give it a meltdown. To protect itself, it ultimately accepted Pierce… though somewhere in the guts of its system… it still refused to believe it.

Once on Antar, the walls of the granolith became permeable again, as the forces that had held everything inside it subsided and then ceased. Realizing that he was free to leave, Pierce jumped out; then, with only a cursory glance back, he ran.

That was the last the granolith saw of Pierce until almost three months later, when he showed up with a team of Antarians and ordered them to build a containment unit around the “machine” to contain its powers. Incomprehensibly, at the same time he was ordering them to “contain” the granolith’s powers, he was claiming to be receiving protection and power from the granolith. But for whatever reason, his orders were carried out without question. Almost certainly, the Antarians knew that nothing they built around the granolith would be able to contain its powers, but no one told Pierce this. Perhaps they didn’t dare to. Once the building was finished, Pierce left again, and that was the last time the granolith saw him.

As the images faded, Max dropped Liz and Maria’s hands, and everyone looked at him… a hundred questions swirling around in their minds…

“So Pierce never planned to come to Antar at all then; it was an accident,” Liz said… “But that doesn’t explain where he’s getting his powers from… and why does the granolith’s security system think he has royal DNA… your DNA, Max?”

“Exactly,” Max agreed, nodding. “Those are questions the granolith does not have answers to. His powers did not come from the granolith. The granolith never attacked us. His powers are coming from somewhere else.”

“We need to find out where,” Michael said emphatically.

Max nodded… “Agreed. Any ideas?”

“Isabel could dream walk him,” Kyle suggested, “When he’s asleep.”

Max nodded and looked at Isabel. “It might work, but we can’t be sure that he would tell Isabel anything, either, even in his dreams.”

“It’s worth a try,” Michael said.

Max nodded again. “If it doesn’t work, nothing will have been lost. Isabel? Are you up to it?”

Isabel nodded. “Sure. I’ll do it.”

“You’re not worried about violating his privacy or something?” Maria asked.

“It’s Pierce,” Isabel retorted, “I’m not worried about it.”

The group went about their usual duties until Pierce had gone to sleep later that evening, then Isabel got comfortable in one of the big easy chairs in the ship’s lounge and concentrated. Shortly, she entered into a fog-like state, and then she saw Pierce. He was pacing back and forth in his dream.

“A penny for your thoughts,” Isabel said innocently, walking up behind him.

Pierce swung around, surprised by Isabel’s sudden appearance, seemingly out of nowhere… “Where did you come from?”

He looked her over for a moment then looked back at the wall… “I already told you I have nothing to say to any of you… that includes you.”

“You’re not telling them,” Isabel agreed, “This is a dream. I’m only here in your dream.” Technically, Isabel told the truth; she was, after all, only there in his dream. Pierce looked at her again and seemed to think about it… “Dream or not, I’m not telling you anything.”

“Everybody needs somebody to talk to,” Isabel insisted, “Even you. I guess that’s why you’re dreaming about me… or is there some other reason?”

“No! No… No, there’s not… Besides, I don’t need anybody to talk to,” Pierce replied adamantly, “I’m quite self-sufficient.”

“I know,” Isabel said, “But you didn’t intend to come to this planet. You were trapped in the alien machine. And you don’t speak their crazy alien language. You have to treat the aliens like children to get them to understand plain English…”

“How do you know… oh, right, you’re a figment of my imagination… what was it that Ebenezer Scrooge said… a piece of undigested food…”

“A Christmas Carol,” Isabel said, nodding at the reference to Scrooge when he was confronted by Bob Marley’s ghost. “Do you think that’s what I am… a stomach ache… a bad dream?”

Pierce looked at Isabel again and sighed… “Well, you may be, but if I had to look at one of you, I guess…”

“Yes?”

“Never mind.”

“You think I’m sexy?”

Pierce seemed to fortify himself… “You’re a damned alien. You can make yourself look like anything. You may even be a guy… with three eyes and a forked tongue… if I saw your real appearance!”

Isabel smiled and shook her head. “I’m a figment of your imagination… a piece of undigested food, remember? I am only what you see.”

Pierce looked at Isabel again and seemed to relax. “You’re right. You’re only whatever I dream that you are. You look like her… but you’re just what’s in my mind… nothing more.”

Isabel sat down on the floor and put her arms around her knees, as she watched Pierce pace; then suddenly, he stopped and looked at her again…

“How am I going to get back to earth?”

Isabel smiled. “That is a problem. It’s easy to fool these stupid aliens and make them believe that the granolith is protecting you and giving you its power and that it’s going to take you home again when you’re ready, but to do it, you have to learn how to actually control the, uh… the machine yourself.”

“Exactly,” Pierce acknowledged, as though he were talking to himself, “I have to find out how to control that damned alien machine. The problem is, none of these idiots seems to know how to do it themselves.”

“Lord knows, you’ve tried to make them tell you,” Isabel said.

“I have,” Pierce nodded, “I’ve tortured them, dissected them, threatened them, locked up their families and threatened them…”

“But they don’t seem to know anything,” Isabel said for him.

“No,” Pierce replied, “That’s why I need Max. He will know how to control the machine. It was made to respond to him.”

“That’s why you wanted the machine to think you were him… why you tricked it with his DNA,” Isabel said.

Pierce nodded. “It was a brilliant plan. It should have worked. I think it would have if I hadn’t got trapped in the machine.”

“It was brilliant,” Isabel agreed, stroking Pierce’s ego.

A smile tugged at the corner of Pierce’s lips, and he began to unbutton his shirt. For a moment, Isabel got ready to cancel the dream walk, but instead of doing what she thought he might be going to do, he looked down at his side. There was a scar… like an appendix scar… and he was looking at it almost admiringly…

“That was probably the most brilliant thing I’ve ever done in my life!”

Pierce seemed to caress the ten-inch-long scar as he spoke, as though it were something he was supremely proud of. Isabel was desperate to ask questions, but as a “figment of Pierce’s imagination,” she would already know everything. She would have to get him to tell her while pretending to know all the answers already.

“You sacrificed a lot to save your planet.”

“I did,” Pierce agreed, nodding proudly. “Do you know what it’s like knowing that there’s a piece of filthy alien inside my own body? But it was worth it.”

Isabel recoiled, for a moment fighting the urge to gag, but then she managed to regain her self-control… if only tenuously.

“It was worth it,” she repeated, keeping her hand near her mouth in case she threw up… which she feared she might do even if this was only a dream walk.

“Damned right,” Pierce said, “And I’d do it all over again.”

“Even though it’s a piece of… that one… that alien,” Isabel added, hoping Pierce would keep talking and fill in the details.

Pierce nodded. “It had to be him. He was the leader… the king. The alien machine would recognize his DNA.”

“Max,” Isabel gasped.

“Yes.” Pierce grinned a slight grin, as he caressed the scar again… “A part of him is inside me.”

Isabel’s mind was reeling. She had a million questions, but she didn’t know how to ask them.

“But… Max was there… when you were trapped in the granolith… and he was okay.”

Pierce nodded. “He got away from me the first time, in the white room, but I got a piece of him… a very small piece of an organ that humans don’t have. I had it surgically implanted in me, and it grew. Now it’s full size… the size the original was in him. I assume his body regenerated the missing portion as well. I’ve been following Max for a long time, and finally, I found the machine… the source of their alien powers.”

“The… ? right,” Isabel agreed, knowing that the granolith was not the source of their powers. But it did explain why the granolith detected Max’s DNA in Pierce… and why its security system would not allow Pierce to be harmed. For several moments, Isabel sat in silence, trying to digest the things she had just heard, as Pierce stared at the wall, his mind far away from these quarters.

“They would be surprised if they knew how you actually got your powers,” Isabel said, pressing Pierce further and hoping to get more information.

Pierce looked at the floor then at Isabel and grinned slightly. “They would, wouldn’t they! But they’ll never know. Nor will the aliens on this planet. They believe that the machine is protecting me, and that keeps them scared… it keeps them from revolting and attacking me. They’re all so freakin’ in awe of that machine. Whoever controls it controls everything. If they knew my powers didn’t come from their god-machine, I’d be overrun like a grasshopper covered with fire ants. They’d tear me apart.”

“The… ‘machine’ is not a god,” Isabel said, “And Antarians are usually pretty peaceful. Maybe you misjudged them.”

Pierce shook his head. “The ones who know me won’t be so peaceful. That is a fact of which I am absolutely certain. They must continue to believe that I control the power of the machine. As long as they believe that, they will do anything for me… no matter the consequences. Children… that’s all they are. You have to deal with them with a strong hand.”

Isabel closed her eyes and swallowed a lump in her throat. “Children…” the word was not totally inaccurate. Antarians who had to deal with the likes of Pierce might seem like children. Compared to his evil, their innocence was childlike. Kivar had taken a lot of that innocence away already, of course… But why would anyone do the things that Pierce had done to peaceful people… to “children?” She wondered if even Pierce could answer that. Then again… she was sure that in his sick mind he had dozens of “good” reasons.

“It was brilliant how you got your powers,” Isabel said, trying again to coax Pierce into revealing the real source of his abilities.

Pierce sighed, appearing to have tired of the discussion, but for whatever reason he replied anyway, perhaps because it served his ego…

“Brilliant… well, I suppose it was. Actually, it was a little random luck coupled with my knowing what to do with it. But I guess that’s brilliance, right? These two freaks who looked like you… like the Evans girl, Isabel, I mean… and like Guerin… came to see me. ‘We share a common goal,’ they said. I said ‘What’s that?’ They said, ‘the eradication of some aliens that are claiming to be us… We’re the real humans whose forms they stole… the two of us and four of our friends.’ They named the aliens who took their forms: Max and Isabel Evans, Michael Guerin, Tess Harding, Liz Parker, and Maria DeLuca.”

Isabel gasped. “Liz and Maria?”

Pierce nodded. “I know. They’re human. I figured that out. At one time, though, I thought they might be aliens, too, because they sold out to the aliens… joined forces with them, which is just as bad, actually… maybe worse. Anyway, the two freaks said that they were the real humans, and I told them I didn’t believe them.”

“You did?”

“I told them they should look like humans if they’re gonna claim to be humans,” Pierce said, smiling at his own joke… “They were just freaks, though… gang types, you know… heavy Brooklyn accents, crazy hair, lots of piercings, that kind of stuff.”

“Oh.”

Pierce waved it off as just a joke. “Anyway, the one that looked like Guerin… Rath, I think he called himself… Must’ve been his gang name… says that they learned a lot of things about the aliens while they were abducted by them. He told me about the alien machine… and that information turned out to be accurate. They didn’t know where it was, though. Another thing they learned from their abductors was that there are these ‘caretakers’ on the aliens’ planet who are in charge of caring for the alien machine when the king or some other royal isn’t using it, and these caretakers have some pretty amazing powers of their own. I filed that information away for future reference, but I didn’t think I’d ever use it. You see, you never know about these things. Who knew that I would get trapped in that infernal machine and wind up here, right? So, anyway, their information turned out to be useful again. As soon as I got here, I went looking for these ‘caretakers,’ and I find this big shot guy named Kivar running everything. So I make friends with him… get into his graces. He thinks I control the machine, because I arrived here in it, and only I know where it is, so he keeps me around and tries to use me to find it. But that was okay, because I was using him, too, and the first chance I got, I took over and knocked him off.

After that, I took some carpenters back to where I had left the machine and had them build a strong containment building around it to keep the caretakers from getting in and using its powers. After I isolated their machine, they sort of found me, which was real convenient. It wasn’t much trouble to find their weaknesses. They all had families. I locked up their families and dissected a couple of Kivar’s guards in front of them, and right away they’re doing whatever I say. Our powers are your powers. I’m not sure how they knew what I wanted, but they always did. All I ever had to do was wave my hand and it would send someone flying.”

Pierce suddenly frowned and turned serious… “But they betrayed me. The powers are gone now. Those powers and the belief that I controlled the machine were the only things that protected me here and kept me on top. I need to get those powers back. I need to get out of here and find the caretakers.”

“If you found them and killed them, you would lose their powers permanently,” Isabel pointed out logically, “It would be like killing the goose that laid the golden egg.”

Pierce scoffed. “Who said anything about killing them? There are other ways… they have families…”

Isabel understood all too well. They had to be absolutely certain that Pierce never got back into power here on Antar, whatever it took.

Pierce took a deep breath and became very quiet, having apparently decided that he did not want to talk to Isabel anymore… even if it was about his favorite subject… himself. Then, with a sudden sigh, he turned and looked at Isabel with a new look in his eyes… “Maybe I do need to find more pleasant ways to occupy my dreams.”

Scanning Isabel’s body with his eyes, Pierce began to unbutton his shirt again, and this time, Isabel did not think that showing her his scar was what he had in mind. She stood up quickly and brushed herself off…

“Dream’s over!”

And with a quick wave, she simply went ‘poof’ and vanished, leaving a frustrated and very confused Pierce alone with his desires.


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“Iz, there’s only so much hot water on the ship! You’ve been in there for almost an hour!”

“I’ve earned this hot water, Alex! I don’t think any amount of hot water is ever going to make me feel clean again. If you want to help, grab a bar of soap.”

Alex smiled and obliged, picking up a bar of floral-scented beauty soap and stepping into the shower with Isabel, though he was fully dressed.

“I don’t think you need to look any more beautiful, Iz.” Alex put his arms around Isabel from behind and went through the motions of helping her bathe… “If you were any more beautiful, you would be a danger to all mankind… a bigger danger, I mean, than you already are.”

Isabel smiled then turned around in Alex’s arms, facing him, and gazing deeply into the eyes that adored her, not the ones that merely lusted after her, although Alex did that, too. “Hold me tight, Alex. It’s not the soap I needed… it’s you. You make me feel right again.”

Isabel pressed her lips passionately to Alex’s, and he responded. As the water poured over their heads, Alex’s clothes, already thoroughly soaked, clung to him like saran wrap, and his shoes made little squishing sounds as his toes curled and uncurled with delight… but neither of them seemed to notice.



<center>End of Chapter 29

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



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The Real King

Chapter 30

XXX

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Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria approached the house of Shyubn-Sing, who was generally acknowledged to be the leader of the Caretakers, though officially the Caretakers were all equals and had no leader. Max looked at Michael, and Michael nodded. Then with a last look around, Max turned and lifted his hand, but before he had a chance to knock, the door opened and a man stood facing them…

The man was very old and had a kindly appearance, but he appeared strong, and Max was surprised to see that he was also, quite clearly, blind. His eyes were fogged over and pupiless… but oddly, they seemed to “stare” at Max, then at Michael, then at Liz and Maria, for several long moments. Finally, the old man smiled ever so slightly…

“I knew you were on Antar. Come in.”

Max looked at Michael then back at the old Caretaker, as the four of them entered the house…

“You know who we are?”

“Yes. You are the king… Zan… and his General and friend, Rath.”

“How did you…?” Michael started to ask, but the old man waved his hand dismissively… “There are far more dependable ways to see than with the eyes. The eyes can deceive.”

“Well, they don’t always give us the whole story,” Michael agreed, “I would have sworn that you were blind. But obviously you’re not.”

The old Caretaker nodded. “These eyes are blind, but you are correct… I see more than most men will ever see, only not in the way they do.”

“Blindness can be healed here on Antar,” Max said with deep concern in his voice. I may be able to heal you myself…”

Max reached out toward the old Caretaker, but the old man stepped back… then he laughed loudly. “You cannot heal what is not sick or injured or broken, Zan. Long ago, I traded my eyes for another kind of sight. These eyes are no longer needed, so they atrophied, as any part of our bodies will do if it is no longer used.”

“And you don’t miss seeing… I mean, with your eyes?” Michael asked.

The old Caretaker shook his head. “If one has learned to run with the wind, does he miss crawling on his knees, as he once did when he was a baby? I have no need of eyes. I see far more than my eyes ever imagined.”

“Did you see Pierce for what he really was?” Michael asked, blurting out the question suddenly… and perhaps a bit bluntly… as was sometimes his habit.

Max smiled. “The General has a way of getting right to the point. He’s not much one for small talk, I’m afraid. But that is the question that is on all our minds.”

The old man nodded. “Sometimes… it is a good thing to be direct. That way there is no confusion about one’s intentions. By ‘Pierce,’ of course, you mean the one who arrived in the granolith and took the throne from Kivar…”

“Yes,” Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria all said at once.

The old Caretaker nodded. “I did see him as he was. There was never any doubt. But he had the protection of the granolith…”

“But you’re the Caretaker,” Michael said quickly, “You control the granolith. It won’t hurt you.”

“I am one of the Caretakers, yes,” the old man corrected, “And I do control the granolith. All that is true. But we had to find out more about this person you call Pierce. He had… the royal sign.”

Michael looked at Max questioningly and noticed that Max looked shocked… “Royal sign? You mean, like, the V symbol… of Antar?”

The old man nodded.

“I didn’t see that on Pierce,” Michael said, thinking back to all the times he had seen Pierce since coming to this Antar.

“Neither did I,” Maria agreed, “If Pierce had the V of Antar anywhere on him, I would have seen it. And I know Isabel would have seen it when she was in there with him trying to get him to talk… and she would have told us.”

Liz nodded, agreeing with Maria.

“I have to admit, I never noticed any trace of the sign of Antar on Pierce either,” Max said.

The old Caretaker sighed… “It would not have been visible to your eyes… or to any normal eyes… but it was there, I assure you. I see what you do not.”

“So you’ve told us,” Michael said a bit bluntly, “But that doesn’t explain how Pierce could have the royal symbol on him. Where did you see it on him?”

“Ah, you see…” the old Caretaker said with a bit of a smile, “That is the mistake that you make, because it is the way your eyes see things… always in a particular place… on a hand or on the chest or on the forehead. But if you were able to see with real sight you would see it everywhere.”

“Pierce had the royal symbol everywhere on him?” Michael asked, not trying to mask his doubt.

The old man nodded. “Eventually, it would have become visible even to eyes such as yours.”

“It must have something to do with the piece of that organ he took from you, Max… from your double in this dimension, that is,” Michael said, trying to think of any possible explanation.

Max thought about it then shook his head. What Pierce took, I suspect, was a piece of the gorian duct, the dasna’va. Humans don’t have it. But the dasna’va has nothing at all to do with the royal symbol or our powers. Pierce tricked the granolith because he had some of my double’s DNA.”

“No, but Max…” Liz said, as an idea ran through her mind, “What if what Pierce took was actually the upper chamber of the torsgol’dor, the sthenic substernum?”

“The what?” Michael asked.

“It’s the back part of the jiban’golt, the substernum maxima, a small organ that Antarians have in the upper abdomen, behind the sternum.”

“It is?”

Liz nodded. “You don’t know what the jiban’golt is?”

Michael rolled his eyes. “Well, of course I know that… but what’s this sthenic substernum… tors- thing… whatever… that you’re talking about?”

“Well, you see,” Liz said, placing her hands close together to indicate a small organ, “It’s the back portion of the substernum maxima, the jiban’golt. Most Antarians don’t think about the fact that the substernum maxima is actually several independent organs that are fused together into one…”

“Yeah… okay… so…” Michael said, nodding.

“Well, see, the sthenic substernum is attached to the back of the substernum maxima and is considered to be part of the substernum maxima, but it has its own functions, and one of its functions is thought to be amplification of some types of Antarian powers.”

“I think I heard that somewhere before,” Michael said, nodding, “Yeah, I did. So you think that could be what Pierce got, part of Max’s ssss… ssss… sthenic… you know… substernum thing? It would be hard to get to. It’s not really easily accessible.”

“I know, but it could be,” Liz said, nodding, “But think about this… at the top of the sthenic substernum, there is a small chamber called the vars’tya, or in more professional terms, the ‘superior regulum.’”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Michael said, turning and looking at Max. Max shrugged.

“I won’t go into the exact functions of the vars’tya,” Liz said, continuing, “But in Antarians in general, it’s what’s known as a recessive organ, an organ without a purpose, kind of like… well… men’s breasts… except that within the royal family, and the king in particular, it’s well-developed.”

“Max has well-developed breasts?” Michael asked, his eyes widening.

“Nooooo,” Liz sighed, “Move beyond the breasts, Michael. I’m talking about the superior regulum… the vars’tya. It’s a recessive organ in most Antarians, but in the king… and some members of the royal family… and in you, too, Michael… it’s well developed… Only more so in Max.”

“And I would know this?” Michael asked. “Did you know this Max?”

“I heard it somewhere,” Max admitted. “I had forgotten. It’s not everyday information or something we talk about at the table over dinner.”

“You’ve been hanging around Varec and his scientist friends at the lab too much,” Michael said, turning back to Liz again, “Their penchant for finding useless scientific trivia is rubbing off on you.”

Liz sighed. “It’s your bodies. You should know these things.”

“Yeah, well, do you know what the prothorax is in your body?” Michael retorted.

Liz nodded. “It’s the first segment… of an INSECT… the segment that the first pair of legs are attached to.”

Michael grinned a bit sheepishly… “Right… yeah… that’s… what it was. I was just checking.”

“I see where Liz is coming from, Michael,” Max said, “She could have a point. If Pierce cut off a small part of the sthenic substernum and happened to take the portion that contained the superior regulum, it’s possible that he may have more than just the royal DNA. He may also, conceivably, have been given other powers that he doesn’t even know he has… including the power to display the royal symbol of Antar.”

Liz nodded. “That’s what I was trying to say.”

“So the four of you are from a different dimension…” the old Caretaker asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. “I knew there was something different about you. And these girls are your wives…”

Max smiled and put his arm around Liz. Then Michael put his arm around Maria, too.

The old man nodded, and his face took on all the look of a wizened sage. “I would keep them if I were you. You need them.”

Liz looked at Maria, and both girls grinned, but neither one said anything.

Michael shrugged… then he smiled…

“I know that. That’s one thing I do know.”

Max nodded.

The Caretaker smiled slightly then resumed where the conversation had left off… “The man that is called Pierce was told that the Caretakers have great powers, so the first thing he did when he arrived on Antar was look for the one in charge, Kivar, then look for us. He sought to control us.”

“Rath and Lonnie told him that… back on earth,” Michael said. “Rath and Lonnie are… well, they’re kind of hard to explain…”

“Defective duplicates of yourself and Vilandra,” the old Caretaker said for him.

Michael looked surprised, but the Caretaker just smiled… “I told you, I see things that normal eyes do not.”

“You must have psychic powers, too, then,” Michael said, impressed.

The Caretaker shrugged. “You might consider it that, but it is only sight… sight that you do not understand. Unfortunately, we did NOT foresee the depth of depravity of the one called Pierce or that he would threaten our families in the way that he did.”

“And so you cooperated with him,” Michael said. But then he looked at the old man sympathetically, “It’s… okay… I understand. I’m not blaming you. We all know what Pierce is capable of… and what he would do to your families if you didn’t cooperate.”

“Actually, we did not cooperate with him,” the Caretaker said, “We merely allowed him to believe that his powers were coming from us. It was better that he believe that than that he realize the truth… that he had powers himself.”

Max and Michael both nodded, in total agreement.

“But he lost his powers,” Maria pointed out. “After we captured him, he no longer had any powers. He believes that you betrayed him.”

The Caretaker smiled. “In the presence of your Zan, who also has the sign of the royal house, even though it is of a different dimension, Pierce’s powers were not strong enough, and they shut down… though probably only temporarily.” The Caretaker thought for a moment… “It is likely, as Liz said, that Pierce took the portion of the torsgol’dor that contains the vars’tya, though he probably had no idea what he was taking. If he did, then Pierce is now the legitimate heir to the throne of Antar… and our Zan no longer is. In that case, Pierce is the king of Antar… in this dimension.”

Michael’s jaw dropped and he shook his head vigorously… “That’s a crock! Pierce can’t be the king. I don’t care what he’s got in him.”

“But he has the royal symbol…” the Caretaker said.

“I thought Pierce said that Max would regenerate the missing portion of that organ,” Maria said, reminding everyone of what Isabel had told them after getting Pierce to talk to her.

“The torsgol’dor probably did regenerate,” the Caretaker agreed, “But the superior regulum, the vars’tya, would not duplicate itself as long as it exists in another individual. If Pierce has it, then he is the king. It is as simple as that.”

“Then we have to get it back!” Michael said emphatically.

The Caretaker nodded thoughtfully. “Of course, it would be treason to cooperate with someone who wanted to harm the legitimate king.”

Michael glared at the old man unsympathetically, unbendable in his conviction, and clearly unwilling to waste any time trying to find ways to justify what he knew inside himself was right… “What does your superior vision tell you, Caretaker?”

The Caretaker smiled. “That there is greater sight than normal eyes are capable of… and greater cause than that bestowed by the mere possession of a vars’tya.”

Michael nodded. “So you’ll help us then?”

“I am loyal to the king,” Shyubn-Sing said, “The true king… not the man called Pierce… though by some traditional laws he may now be our king. We will get the vars’tya back. Who will return it to Zan?”

“I’ll take care of that,” Max said. “I’ll get it back to him… one way or the other.”

“Whatever!” Michael exclaimed. “I just want it out of Pierce… and the sooner the better!”

“That’s something we can all agree on,” Maria said emphatically.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

Max, Michael, Liz, and Maria arrived back on the New Granolith to find Jim, Kyle, Alex, and Isabel waiting for them. Usually, when Jim was waiting to meet them it meant that there had been some kind of security incident or that there was a serious and immediate threat of some possible security incident. Max looked at Jim and sighed.

“Sorry, Max,” Jim said, reading his face, “I know it’s not what you want to come back and hear, but…”

“It’s okay, Jim. Just… lay it on me. Whatever it is, we’ll take care of it.”

“Pierce escaped,” Alex said.

Max groaned, and Michael’s face turned pale and then reddened. “How?” Michael exclaimed, “How could that happen? He was contained! How could he escape?”

“His powers came back,” Isabel said. “We didn’t see it coming. He grabbed me from behind and threatened to kill me if we didn’t send him back down to the planet.”

“Was anyone hurt?” Max asked, looking Isabel over.

Alex nodded. “Tess was… and Kyle. They tried to stop Pierce and free Isabel. Tess was the only one on the ship besides Isabel who might have had the power to stop him. With her down and Isabel unable to get at him, we had to do what Pierce wanted… We sent him back to the planet.”

Max looked at Kyle, but Kyle held his hand up… “I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. Go take care of Tess.”

“Where is she?” Max asked, “What did he do to her?”

“In the recovery room,” Isabel said shakily. “She was hit pretty hard by several blasts from Pierce, Max…”

In Isabel’s eyes, Max saw deep concern, and he knew it was serious. He headed for the recovery room without waiting for any more details. The recovery room was the ship’s hospital, but the crew had long ago decided to call it a “recovery room.” The name had an upbeat, positive sound to it. And besides, with Max around to heal almost anything short of death or some incurable disease, it actually was, usually, more of a recovery room or treatment room than a true infirmary or hospital.

Max arrived quickly and walked in to find Tess lying on a bed, seriously injured and semi-conscious. Her husband, Rayylar, was at her side, holding her hand. Seeing Max walk in, Tess made a feeble effort to sit up, unsuccessfully.

“Don’t try,” Max said, taking her by the shoulders and laying her back down gently. “Just wait until I take care of your injuries.”

“I’m… sorry… Max,” Tess whispered, “I let him get away.”

“You tried,” Max said, as he passed his hands over Tess searching for injuries. “You did what you could. No one can fault you for that. I should have had someone watching Pierce 24/7, and Michael or I one should have been here… in case something like this…”

“It wasn’t your fault, Max,” Tess objected. “No one knew that Pierce would regain his powers. We need to find him and get him back.”

“I’ll take care of that, don’t worry,” Max said firmly, placing his hands back at his sides… “Try sitting up now.”

Tess sat up carefully and then smiled. “That feels… definitely… better. I feel like I may actually live now.”

Max smiled. “If you find any more injuries let me know. I think that took care of the main ones.”

Tess nodded then held out her hand. The tip of her finger was burned, and the nail was broken and hanging. Standing beside Max, Liz grimaced involuntarily, though in actual fact, it was one of the smallest of Tess’ injuries. Max touched it for a moment, then Tess looked at it and nodded…

“You have a future in cosmetology, Max. You do great nail repairs!”

Max rolled his eyes and smiled… “Well, let’s keep it to ourselves, okay? I don’t want to be known as the ship’s manicurist.”

Tess smiled and nodded, hopping off the table and into Rayylar’s waiting arms. Rayylar kissed her.

“I think I’m going to need some more of your special therapy, Ray,” Tess said, when she finally came back up for air.

Rayylar smiled and happily obliged.

“I’d better check on Kyle,” Max said, turning back to Liz, “If I know him… and I do… he’s hiding injuries he’s not telling us about.”

Liz nodded.

Back in the control room, Max and Liz found Kyle, who was still pretending that he was only slightly singed. The truth, as Max had suspected, was somewhat worse than that. Though Kyle was still on his feet and conscious… at least for now… Max discovered that he did have a serious injury… a deep abdominal contusion with internal bleeding caused by Pierce’s blast. Fortunately, it was easily fixed, and Max took care of it. With Tess out of danger, Kyle no longer resisted Max’s efforts to help him.

“Max, what happened? I thought the Caretakers had stopped letting Pierce use their powers.”

Max nodded. “They did… I mean they never did… They never let him use their powers. Pierce has his own powers. He just doesn’t know it. The Caretakers let him think they were cooperating with him so he wouldn’t realize that he has powers himself.”

“Oh, man…” Kyle shook his head and whistled. “That’s gonna make things so much harder.”

“Yeah… it is…” Max agreed. “The sooner we get down there and find him the better… before he finds out the truth and becomes a real monster.”

“Becomes?” Kyle chided. “What do you mean ‘becomes?’”

“A real… bigger monster,” Max corrected. “But we may have an even greater problem, Kyle… Pierce may be the legitimate king of Antar now.”

“What!?” Kyle stopped and looked at Max as though he had lost his mind… “That’s not possible, Max! You’ve got to have that V thing with… with the stars in it, like you have, to be the king.”

Max nodded. “Well, apparently, Pierce has it.”

Kyle stood for a moment with his mouth open, staring at Max in dismay.

“Don’t ask me to explain it, Kyle… It’s too complicated.”

“If Pierce were to get killed… I mean really wiped out… would he still have the symbol, Max?”

Max smiled. “I don’t know, Kyle… but thanks for the thought. Don’t forget that he’s got powers, though, and you don’t. You’d better let Michael and me catch him.”

“Yeah, well, catching him wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“I know.”

Max and Kyle walked a little further together and came across Liz again, then they found Michael and Maria, and together the five of them returned to the planet’s surface, but they found no trace of Pierce. In fact, it was four days later before anyone from the New Granolith saw Pierce again; and when they did, they knew that the worst had happened… Pierce knew. Somehow, he had figured out on his own that the powers he was exhibiting were not coming from the Caretakers but were coming from within himself… and he could not have been more delighted. In fact, “delighted” barely described it. It was safe to say that Pierce had become drunk with his own power, using it at the drop of a pin to intimidate… and to kill. In four short days, he had gone from being a virtual unknown on Antar, except among a select few, to being the talk of the planet. Word spread like wildfire from one side of the capitol to the other and to all the provinces. Pierce was no longer a question mark. He was a despot… a very dangerous and hated despot.

Pierce himself had no intention of being a leader at all… in any sense of the word, good or bad. Having discovered that he had powers the likes of which he had never dreamed, he decided to use them to finish the job he had begun… the job of eradicating the alien “plague” here at its source… however long it might take. Pierce felt a new confidence, both in his own powers and in his ability to control the granolith. He was fairly certain, now, that once the “aliens” were all destroyed he would be able to return to earth in the granolith… that he had the power to control it… and that the granolith was his to control.

Of course, drunk though he was with his own power, Pierce did know that wiping out all the “aliens” on a planet would take longer than was feasible for any one person. He did not expect to kill them all one by one, though he no longer hesitated to kill any that got in his way… and often just for fun. No, he would come up with a more efficient way… one that would allow him to shorten the job, killing thousands, or tens of thousands, at once. Then he could return to earth a hero. The thought elated Pierce, puffed him up with delusions of grandeur… and gave him visions of his own place in the history books. He saw himself as a sort of space age George Washington… forging a new beginning for earth, one in which earth was forevermore safe from invasion from space. His crossing over to Antar would be celebrated in writings, in songs, even in paintings… like Washington crossing the Delaware. The name “Pierce” would become a household word… loved and adored by all school children, who would study about his life in school for thousands of years to come.

It was with these thoughts of grandeur running through his head that Pierce walked out of the fortified “situations” building on the grounds of the CoruzAntar Spaceport, where he had been hiding out since escaping from the New Granolith, and found himself suddenly face to face with his greatest enemy, Max Evans. And Max was not alone. With him were Michael, Liz, Maria, and Kyle. They had found him. It might have seemed that that would be the end of it. Certainly, Pierce’s newfound powers were not a match for either Max’s or Michael’s powers, much less both of them together. In fact, though Pierce didn’t know it, Liz or Maria either one could have put a serious hurt on him. So could Kyle, given a fair chance. This Liz and Maria, and this Kyle, had grown in their abilities over the years they had lived on Antar in their own dimension. But one thing one could never do was underestimate Pierce or his sheer deviousness. He had planned for this encounter, and he was ready.

Pierce had figured out that in Max’s presence, the last time, his own powers had failed him. He wanted to make sure that that did not happen again. He had practiced, honing his own powers to make them stronger, but he had not left his fate hanging in that precarious balance alone. He had developed contingencies… several of them… just in case. And he had done what he was so well known for… He had tested actual living Antarians with similar powers to his in the lab over the last four days to determine their weaknesses and strengths. Pierce had left nothing at all to chance.

“You’re trapped, Pierce… Give it up,” yelled Kyle. “We’re taking you back to the ship. I recommend you come peacefully.”

“You’re a traitor to your kind, Kyle! You’re human. You don’t belong with these aliens. If you come over to my side now, I may let you live.”

“Oh, like I’m going to trust you! I’d sooner trust a wild pawgor!”

“Suit yourself, Kyle. I didn’t really want to take you back with me alive anyway. You’re a traitor. So’s your father, the sheriff. Why should I share the glory with traitors? Killing the two of you will be a service to humanity.”

“You’re a sick man, Pierce!”

“You’re right! Sick of your kind, Valenti! Go ahead. Give it your best shot! You want me. Come get me!”

“Maybe I will.”

“Kyle,” Max cautioned, holding Kyle back, “Pierce has something up his sleeve. He doesn’t just invite people to come get him unless he has a plan. Don’t stick your neck out unnecessarily.”

“Somebody’s got to take him down, Max. It might as well be me. I’m as fit as he is… more so, probably.”

“Maybe so,” Max said, “But you’re not as devious as he is. Just wait. Let’s use caution. That is Pierce we’re talking about.”

Kyle sighed. “You’re right. I just want to take this guy down so bad.”

“We all do, Kyle,” Michael said. “And we will… together.”

The five friends stood facing Pierce from about fifty feet away for several minutes, and apparently that was long enough for Pierce. Pierce knew that he had all his bases covered, and he knew that he had the upper hand, even if he was outnumbered, and he was tiring of waiting for someone to make the first move. If they wouldn’t do it, he would. Without warning, Pierce suddenly raised his hand and made a flinging motion that sent a wave of energy flying in the direction of the group. Kyle saw it coming and hit the ground, and Liz and Maria sidestepped it just in time. Max and Michael saw it coming, too, and together, they raised their hands and created a barrier of energy that stopped Pierce’s blast in its tracks, though not a moment too soon.

The others started to regroup, but just as they did, something hit them from above like a hammer.

“What the hey!” Kyle exclaimed, as he was knocked to the ground and rolled into Michael, who had also been knocked over, along with Max, Liz, and Maria.

“I think he created some kind of overloop blast,” Max said, quickly getting back onto his feet. “It wasn’t powerful enough to hurt us, just knock us off our feet. But we were caught off guard. We’re going to have to be more wary. We don’t know what he’s capable of. We could have been killed just now if he had been able to produce a stronger overloop.”

By now, everyone was back on their feet and facing Pierce again. So far, Pierce had allowed his blasting powers to do all the work for him. And apparently he had more where that had come from and wasn’t ready to give up, because suddenly his hand flew up again, and this time a series of blasts flew from the palm of his hand, several of them heading toward each of the five members of the group. Nobody had time to duck this time. Max and Michael shot back, stopping his blasts once more from hitting them and stopping some of the blasts intended for the others… but not all of them. Liz stopped one herself and was grazed by another one that she hit but didn’t deflect far enough. Maria deflected one and was hit by another, which knocked her to the ground, stunning her. Kyle slowed two shots down that were headed at him and managed to diffuse them, weakening them considerably, but he failed to stop either of them completely and was hit by both of them. Max and Michael deflected the rest. No one was seriously injured, but this was not turning out to be the cakewalk that had been expected. And Pierce was only getting started. So far, he had not even touched any of his “contingency plans.”

And that was about to change.

As the five friends helped each other back onto their feet, Michael noticed something in Pierce’s hand. It looked like a gun. For a moment, Michael wondered if Pierce intended to try to shoot them, and he prepared to blast the gun out of Pierce’s hand, as Max prepared to stop any bullets that he might get off. But there were no bullets. Neither Max nor any of the others saw anything leave the gun, but something did… an invisible beam of energy. They felt nothing, but when Michael tried to blast the gun out of Pierce’s hand, he felt weaker than normal… and Pierce still had the gun in his hand. Max tried to blast the gun from Pierce’s hand, too, and he, too, felt weakened.

“What did he do to us, Max?” Michael asked.

Max shook his head. “I don’t know. Just guessing, I’d say he’s found a form of energy that feeds off of our energy, weakening us. We can’t allow him to use it on us again.”

“I’m not sure we can stop him, Max,” Michael said, raising his hand and sending a blast of energy toward Pierce. But he could see instantly that it was too weak and too diffused to be effective. As it slowed down, Liz added her own energy to Michael’s. The blast regained strength and crashed into Pierce’s hand, melting the gun and knocking it from his hand.

“Way to go, Liz!” Kyle said, impressed.

“We need to all pool our energy together,” Max said. “Liz has the right idea. Each of us is weaker than normal, but together we’re still strong.”

The five raised their hands together and prepared to blast Pierce, who had already created an energy barrier around himself for protection. A combined burst of energy flowed from Max and the others who were with him, striking Pierce, whose shield fluctuated momentarily. For a few seconds, they all held their breaths, as the shield flickered, almost failing; then it appeared that it might restrengthen, but at that moment, another blast of energy struck Pierce, one that had not come from any of the five. Then yet another bolt of energy struck him from out of the blue, bringing down his shield completely and knocking him to the ground. The look on Pierce’s face was one of utter dismay and disbelief, but the look on the faces of the five friends was one of almost equal surprise. In the flurry of energy blasts going back and forth, nobody had noticed the arrival of a small, outdated ship on the far side of the spaceport. But now everyone watched as six previously unseen people approached them.

The leader looked Max over and shook his head as he stood facing him…

“I’ll let you explain who you are later. I’m assuming that since Pierce wanted you dead, you’re good guys, even if you do look like another set of dupes.”

“We’re definitely good guys,” Liz said. “I think I can explain everything. We’re not from your dimension. We came here by accident. That’s why we look like you… because we are you… just… from a different dimension. We’re not dupes or anything, just interdimensional travelers.

The leader nodded, looking Liz over and then looking at the girl who stood beside him holding his hand. “You could be twins.”

Liz couldn’t resist smiling. She felt undeniably flattered that this younger Max thought she still looked like her younger double. And as she gazed at the younger Max, she realized that she was witnessing his arrival on Antar for the very first time, something she had missed experiencing with her own Max.

Max nodded. “I guess you are both Liz. Well… this is definitely going to be interesting!” Then turning to Max from the New Granolith, he grinned… “So you’re me, huh!”

Max shrugged. “It would appear so. We weren’t expecting you. How did you get here?”

“We took one of Kivar’s old ships that he left on earth.”

Max nodded. “Probably the same one Kyle and I left earth in way back in the beginning… in our dimension. I thought you had lost your powers, though!”

The other Max smiled. “Where did you hear that?”

“Pierce told us… well, he told Isabel… that he took a piece of an organ from you, and we figured out that it was the superior regulum because when Pierce put the piece in himself it gave him powers… and he had the royal sign.”

The new Max nodded. “Well… I did lose some of my powers temporarily, but they came back.”

“So the Caretaker was wrong,” Michael said, shoving Pierce in front of him and tying him up tightly, “There CAN be two people with the vars’tya at the same time.”

“Not really,” Liz said, beginning to understand. “Max regained his powers, because he was the true king. Pierce may have stolen the powers for a while, but I’m willing to bet that he no longer has them since Max arrived. In the end, the king is still the king, and the would-be usurper is…”

“Dog meat,” Michael said, tossing Pierce down between himself and his double, the Michael who had just arrived. “You’re probably right, Liz, but I’m not taking any chances. Pierce is staying tied up this time.”

Maria grinned. “Well, it’s probably a good thing if Max did regenerate the part. This way he won’t have to put the other one back inside himself after Pierce had it in him.”

“Ewwww…” Liz laughed, agreeing with Maria. “You’re right.”

The newly arrived Max looked at Pierce and nodded. “I don’t want it back. I’ll happily regrow a new one, thank you.”

“It would seem that you already did,” Max from the New Granolith said with a grin… “Well! This is all an unexpected turn… Can we invite you to visit us in YOUR palace?”

The younger Max smiled and nodded. “Why not! We have no other social commitments for today… Our calendar, you could say, is open.”

The others laughed.

“What are we going to do with Pierce?” Michael asked, “nudging” Pierce with his foot just enough to elicit a grimace.

“Call Jim. Have him take him back to the ship and put him in quarantine. We’ll deal with him later.”

Michael pulled Pierce up onto to his feet. “Come on, Superboy. We’ve got a nice kryptonite cell for you back on the ship. Then I guess you get a free ride back home. Not that I really like just letting you go free there either. But I can’t exactly tell anyone that you committed crimes on another planet, and I can’t just blow you up, as much as the idea appeals to me.”

Pierce stared at Michael coldly, a sadistic sort of pseudo-smile on his lips, as Michael turned him over to Jim, who took him back to the ship. That evening, the group from the New granolith joined the new arrivals in the palace, which was conveniently vacant with Kivar and Pierce both gone now, and helped the new arrivals clean the place up. Pierce had been neat, in his own way, but his idea of decoration and entertainment left a lot to be desired. The dissection table in the royal bedroom, for example, had to go. The mattress was replaced… just because. And the families of the Caretakers, palace guards, and some other prominent Antarians were released from their “prison” rooms beneath the palace where they had been held. The rooms of the palace had never been intended to be prisons, but they were sturdy and inescapable… had anyone chosen to use them that way; and for Pierce, they had served that purpose well.

Two days after the new arrivals arrived on Antar, and one day before the New Granolith group had planned to return Pierce to earth, they discovered that Pierce had escaped again. The New Granolith crew immediately notified their doubles and offered to help recapture him, but the younger Max declined.

“Pierce can be dangerous… and unpredictable,” Max from the ship warned. “You may need us. I really recommend you accept our help.”

“Not this time,” the younger Max replied. “We already found him.”

“Is he restrained?” Michael from the ship asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” the younger Max said. “When we found him, he was surrounded by a mob of his victims’ families. Their justice was… sort of… permanent and motivated. It was like… like…”

“Fire ants all over a grasshopper?” Isabel asked.

“Yeah… kind of… just like that. Interesting analogy. Why would you think of that?”

“Just something Pierce once said.”

“So… Pierce is really…?” Max from the New Granolith asked hesitantly.

“Definitely. It’s fortunate that I no longer need that part back, because it would be a little hard to find it at this point.”

“Wow… Well… That does sort of solve a problem, doesn’t it… in a way? I mean, you know… I guess we don’t have to take him back to earth now.”

“It might be hard to do.”

“I don’t suppose anybody there will really miss him. I guess he’ll just be another disappeared agent. So… how are the Antarians treating you guys?”

“Like family,” the younger Max said. “They’ve been wonderful! They suffered through Kivar and then they had to suffer under Pierce…”

“Yeah,” Michael said, nodding… “They’ve had enough of despots and sadistic psychos. The Antarians are good people; they just wanted one thing, and when they found it they knew…”

Isabel smiled and nodded…

“Their real king… at last.”




<center>End of Chapter 30

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Back In Space

Chapter 31

XXXI

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


~ Two Months Later ~


The New Granolith and its crew were in their third day back in space again after leaving behind yet another Antar that was not their own. The truth is, when they came to new Antars these days, they didn’t really expect them to be their own. But they hoped. They never gave up hope. The Antar that Pierce had sought to rule… and destroy… had been left behind nine Antars ago and was just one more memory among many on a long and weary quest to find the one Antar out of millions… perhaps out of billions… that was the right one… the one that they called home.

Maria stared through the dome of the observatory at the stars as they swept by in the darkness of space, and she nestled her head deeper into Michael’s arms. The two were lying together on the oversized sofa that they both loved so much. Nearby, Max took off the remote viewing device that had been on his head and turned his observation chair around slowly so that he was facing Liz. She smiled at him, and he smiled back and took her hands in his…

“We will find our way home, you know.”

Liz nodded. “I know. I just wish it could be sooner. Sometimes I feel so lost out here, Max. It’s like… almost like… our children all died or something.”

“Don’t say that, Liz.”

“It’s just how it feels… not being able to be with them or see them or know if they’re okay…”

Max nodded and took Liz into his arms, cradling her head gently against his chest, then he turned his face upward and stared through the dome into space, as a single tear worked its way slowly down his face. He felt it, too. On board the New Granolith, emotions ran the gamut. Sometimes they laughed, sometimes they played… and sometimes they cried.

But the sadness was always wiped away soon by happier thoughts… or by the antics of the crew. Interestingly, during this long trip together without their children they had begun to act more like the teenagers they had once been. They had become the children again themselves. It wasn’t a bad thing really. It was the result of having no need to act like parents. It simply allowed their true personalities to come to the forefront… minus some of the natural inhibitions that parenting and social responsibilities bring with them. Any of them would have given everything they had to have that responsibility again… just to see their children again. But the realities that they had to deal with were something a bit different.

“Does it seem to you that the places we land up on keep getting weirder and weirder,” asked Tess… to no one in particular.

Isabel nodded. “I think we’re going further and further away from the reality we know. It seems like it anyway.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Kyle said, “A couple of the Antars we were on in the last few weeks were pretty normal, I thought… Everything was peaceful, Max was the king, Kivar was gone… a lot like our own Antar.”

“Maybe,” Michael said, “But Tess is right… some of them have been pretty weird.”

“Well, okay,” Kyle conceded, “If you count that one where you and Maria were the royal couple three planets back.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “That one wasn’t weird. They had peace and prosperity, and everyone was happy. What, you think Maria and I couldn’t do it?”

“Oh, I’m sure Maria could,” Kyle chided.

“Be thankful I’m happy holding Maria right now and don’t feel like moving my arm, Kyle. It’s the only thing keeping your butt from getting a good scorching.”

Kyle chuckled. “Well, there WAS that Antar where Liz, Maria, Alex, and I were the real Antarians and we all had these awesome powers, and you and Max and Tess and Isabel were the earthlings… and had no powers.”

“That one was whacked,” Michael retorted, frowning.

“You just can’t stand seeing what you would be like without powers,” Kyle chided.

“Yeah well… that’s one frikkin’ planet out of… how many now? Anyway, don’t go getting all high and mighty, VALENTI, ‘cause you aren’t the one that had the powers back there.”

“Yeah, well, but I do have some powers of my own, GUERIN. I know, they’re kind of paltry, but they’re something. It’s more than your average earthling has.”

“That’s only because Max healed you that time.”

“Maybe, maybe not. He never healed Alex or Maria, and they developed powers, too.”

Michael shrugged. “So the Antarian food is healthy… and our air is good for you.”

Kyle smiled. “My double back there was pretty awesome, wasn’t he!”

Michael groaned and turned all his attentions back to Maria.

Tess smiled and shook her head… “Well, I thought the weirdest Antar so far was that one three weeks ago… the one where Kivar was the king and the people totally, like, worshipped him. They were going to have us burned at the stake when we showed our faces on their planet!”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, if Kivar hadn’t been so damned honorable and nice and hadn’t convinced everyone that we weren’t their former royals, we’d have been shish-kabob… Antarian style!”

“That’s because on that Antar, you weren’t the real royals,” Rayylar said. “Kivar was the real king, and we… well, you guys that is, tried to overthrow him and take his throne before, and they thought you had come back to try again. They really loved that guy!”

“Yeah,” Michael agreed, smiling, “But what I liked about that Antar was that Nicholas was a woman… a real girly girl… with curly blonde hair and lipstick! I thought I would split a gut when I recognized him… uh, HER. And then when Kivar kissed him!”

Alex snorted and nodded enthusiastically… “Nicholas was Kivar’s wife, Nichola! That was pretty funny! I might have even laughed if I hadn’t been looking at a frikkin’ BONFIRE… UNDER MY FEET!”

Michael snickered. “Hey, all’s well that ends well, Alex.”

“Speak for yourself. They hadn’t lit your fire yet when Kivar saved us.”

Michael smiled and hugged Maria closer to him.

“Yeah, that was the weirdest Antar of all!” Tess said again, laughing.

“Pshhhh! Not even close,” Isabel huffed.

Michael raised his head and looked at Isabel questioningly… “Oh yeah, then what do you think was the weirdest one?”

“The one where my double was married to… that guy!”

Michael grinned… “Say it, Iz… JESSE.”

“Geeeeeeeeeeez!” Isabel groaned, “Get over it, Michael! We find one whacked world that’s all screwed up and you don’t let anyone forget it!”

Michael laughed. “What was so whacked about that planet? It was at peace. Max and Liz were the king and queen. All of our doubles were there, and they were all happy… Huh?”

“Alex wasn’t there!”

“Yeah… so…?”

Isabel huffed. “That is so unbelievable… I mean… God, Michael! Even you can see that’s freaky! Nobody would believe it… I still don’t! I would never just forget about Alex and marry some guy named Jesse… or anybody else… especially so soon after…”

“Well, your double did marry that Jesse guy. So SHE must NOT have thought it was whacked.”

“She was brain damaged.”

“Really? She looked fine to me.”

“If you consider vapid and air-headed to be fine… yeah, I suppose so.”

Michael chuckled. “You’re just jealous ‘cause she got the stud and you got Alex.”

Isabel spun around suddenly, and Michael leapt from the sofa, hitting the floor running.

“Run, Michael!” Max yelled, laughing, as Isabel tore out of the observatory after him.

“Max… don’t encourage him!” Liz said, “One of these days, she may catch him… and she may do him some serious bodily harm.”

“If I don’t do it first,” Alex said, as he headed out the door after Isabel and Michael.

Max shrugged, grinning like a mischievous child. “It’s okay. I can fix it… whatever they do.”

“OH!” Maria huffed, rolling over and pulling the sofa pillow over her head in an exaggerated display of disgust at Max’s comment.

“You think she’ll catch him?” Tess asked, looking just a wee bit concerned.

Max shook his head and pointed toward the door. Michael walked in, with a self-satisfied smile on his face. Tess looked at him, puzzled…

“Where did you come from? Where’s Isabel? And Alex?”

Michael chuckled… “Isabel’s probably running all over the ship looking for me. Alex is following her. I ducked into the droids’ nook just outside the door and stood behind the vacuum hoses until she got in the ascension chamber. Alex waited for it to come back up, then he went down, too.”

“She’ll blow you into little smoking embers, Michael,” Tess said. “You know she’ll catch you sooner or later.”

Michael grinned. “Don’t count on it, Tess. I’m one step ahead of her.”

Tess nodded. “For now. But I’d be looking over your shoulder, Michael.”

“I’m touched by your concern, Tess.”

Tess smiled. “Don’t let it go to your head. I may be cheering for her.”

Michael rolled his eyes and plopped down on the sofa beside Maria again… “Now where were we?”

But at that moment, Isabel came in the door, and she did not look amused when she saw Michael sitting there.

“Michael, stand away from Maria if you don’t want Maria vaporized, too.”

Michael laughed, though just a bit nervously this time… “You wouldn’t do anything that might hurt Maria.”

“You want to take that chance?”

Michael stared at Isabel’s face for a moment, gauging the look in her eyes, then he stood up and walked to the other side of the room.

“Don’t hurt him,” Maria said.

Isabel seemed to smile, but only slightly. “He won’t feel pain, Maria… not for long.”

“Isabel’s kidding,” Liz whispered to Maria, “She’s pissed, but she wouldn’t really hurt Michael.”

Maria didn’t appear so sure, but she nodded.

Isabel lifted her hand, and Michael prepared to block it, lifting his own hand. As fate would have it, Alex walked into the room at that moment. Seeing Michael with his hand up and Isabel across the room from him, Alex sent a surge of power at Michael at the same time as Isabel did. The next moment, the room erupted in light, and everyone looked away, guarding their eyes. When they looked again, there were only gasps.




<center>End of Chapter 31

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

An Unexpected Turn

Chapter 32

XXXII

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




Shocked gasps were heard, as everyone stared at the spot where Michael had stood only a moment before. But Michael was no longer there. Where he had been, there was nothing but a huge hole in the air… a sort of vortex, surrounded by a hazy aura of swirling mist and eerie light. The first thought in everyone’s mind was that it looked like a scene out of some post-holocaust movie…

“Omigod!” Maria exclaimed, “You vaporized him!”

“I… I don’t think it was anything Iz and Alex did,” Liz whispered shakily, putting her arm around her best friend. “That looks like the vortex those four guys came through before… the ones that called themselves sliders.”

Maria nodded but stood there, transfixed, half in shock, her eyes wide, yet unable to look away from the swirling vortex. Then the vortex suddenly widened unexpectedly and something tumbled out…

“Michael!” Maria exclaimed, rushing to his side. Rolling quickly back onto his feet, Michael grabbed Maria and leapt to one side with her just as another person fell out of the vortex… followed by four more.

“Whooooooooooooooo, Lordy! Oh, MAN!” the first guy out howled, hopping around and fanning a smoldering scorched area on the seat of his pants. “We must have swiped a meteor when we slid this time, Cue Ball! My butt’s on fire!”

“You are not alone, Mister Brown,” said an older man, Professor Maximillian Arturo, in a stodgy, vaguely British accent, as he briskly attempted to put out a small fire that was still burning on his own right pants leg.

Liz and Tess both gasped, and Tess covered her mouth with both hands then began to laugh.

“I fail to see what is so amusing about our situation, Miss… Tess, wasn’t it?”

Tess nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh… honest, Professor.”

Liz stepped forward and smiled at the unexpected arrivals… “I think Isabel and Alex’s blasts must have gone through your vortex.”

“Good Gawd,” the older man said in his stodgy accent, finally putting out the last smoldering embers of his now-shorter right pants leg… “If we wore out our welcome the last time we were here, you might have said so, quite simply. It strikes me as a bit hostile to set us on fire!”

“I’m so sorry,” Isabel said, removing her own hands from her mouth and trying to speak. “We meant it for Michael, not you. Honest, we never expected…! We’re so sorry!”

“That goes for me, too,” Alex said abashedly, “Like Isabel said, it was intended for Michael.”

Quinn Mallory turned to Michael and grinned… “Wow! You must have really pissed them off, Michael!”

Michael shrugged… “They’re thin skinned.”

“Remind me not to get you mad at me,” Rembrandt Brown said, smiling at Isabel and Alex.

“I’m sorry,” Isabel said apologetically, putting her arms around Remmy then around each of the others in turn. “You’re all welcome here. We would never blast you guys, I promise.” She turned and glared at Michael… “Michael, on the other hand…”

“Michael, old pal,” Rembrandt said, pulling him aside, “If you need advice on dealing with the ladies…”

“Isabel?” Michael chuckled, obviously amused. “She’s like my sister.”

“All the same,” Remmy said, “You may need some help… I’m only guessing that, of course… speaking from the seat of my pants.”

“I’ll remember the offer,” Michael said… “You have a new companion?”

Rembrandt smiled… “Yeah, hey everybody, this is Maggie! Maggie Beckett! She joined us a little while back.”

“Welcome to the New Granolith,” Liz said, smiling at the new girl and noticing that she never seemed to stray far from Quinn. Liz filed it in her mind as a curiosity… one that was probably better not mentioned until she knew more. Max and Liz finished welcoming each of the visitors to the ship, and the others all crowded around wanting to ask questions.

“How did you wind up here again?” Alex asked.

“That is the question we would all like an answer to,” the professor said, turning to look at Quinn.

“I think we took an unexpected turn,” Wade said… Then she glanced at Maggie, who now had her arm entwined in Quinn’s, and added, “Not the first one…”

Liz nodded, knowing for sure now that Maggie and Quinn were not a subject to be mentioned… unless Wade brought it up first.

“Well, guys,” Max said, smiling, “Your timing is impeccable. Dinner is in about one hour. That just gives you time to rest up a bit and get cleaned up… and, uh… we might be able to get some of you a new pair of pants… or something. The onboard droids do excellent work… and they’re fast. They can make new pants for you that will precisely match the ones you have on now… only without the scorches, of course.”

Remmy suddenly looked at Kyle then back at Max again… “Hey, Max! You wouldn’t be able to get me a pair of those harem pants would you… you know, like the ones you and Kyle were wearing the last time we dropped in?”

Max stared at Remmy for a moment then nodded, his face reddening noticeably, “I could probably arrange it.”

“All right! Out-o-sight! Thanks!”

“Don’t mention it, Rembrandt!”

“It’s cool, man. You don’t need to be modest.”

“I’m not. That was a royal order,” Max said, smiling.

“Max and Kyle never expected anyone outside of our own crew to see that,” Liz whispered to Wade, “They’ll never live it down knowing that you guys saw it, too.”

Wade smiled.

“Well, I have a question… before you guys go to clean up and all…” Michael said, “How did I wind up inside that vortex thing of yours?”

Quinn laughed. “It was a fluke really. When the vortex first opens on the other end… your end, in this case… just for a brief moment, it sucks in a lot of air, like a huge vacuum hose, before the direction reverses and we slide through. I guess you were standing right where it opened up and just got sucked in in that first moment. We’ve never had a person get sucked in on the other end before… sometimes rocks, sticks, trash, smaller things. It had to happen sooner or later.”

Michael nodded… “Yeah, I remember the last time you guys popped in… all the air got sucked out of the room, just for a second, when the vortex first appeared, then the air returned to normal and you guys fell out.”

Quinn nodded.

“May I ask a question, too?” Varec inquired cautiously.

Quinn nodded… “Sure.”

“Why did you slide again?”

Quinn took a deep breath and slowly blew it back out. “It’s a long story, Varec. The short version is that it turned out that it wasn’t our earth. We all thought it was at first. Almost everything was perfect, just like we remembered it, but it turned out that not everything was exactly right.”

Varec looked stunned, almost as though his life’s work had just been disproved. He stood there for a moment but then shook his head… “It was the earth that you left from the first time, Quinn. I am certain of that. There could not have been a mistake.”

Quinn smiled sympathetically. “Everybody makes mistakes, Varec… even I do, as hard as that is to believe. Don’t worry about it. You did your best, and we appreciate it. Really! You tried. What more could we ask?”

“Not to get sent to the wrong earth, maybe,” Varec replied, torn between being crushed, on the one hand, and being certain that Quinn was wrong, on the other.

“Besides,” Quinn said, “Don’t forget that if you hadn’t recalibrated my timer, our next slide would have been into deep space… remember? You saved all our lives. I think going to the wrong earth was a very acceptable alternative, under the circumstances.”

Varec shook his head. Nothing would ease the vague uneasy feeling of failure, of miscalculation, that played in his mind. He still could not accept it…

“May I see the timer again, Quinn?”

Quinn hesitated, but then he nodded, recalling that Varec had shown an amazing expertise with it before.

“I guess so… Why don’t we wait until after dinner, and both of us can look at it together. It’s kind of like my baby… I don’t like to let it out of my sight.”

“I remember,” Varec said, “Okay… after dinner… together… we look at your timer. We will find out what happened.”

Quinn smiled.

Liz and Maria watched, as Jim led Quinn and the others out of the observatory to show them each to temporary rooms. Maggie Beckett was still hanging onto Quinn’s arm. Wade brought up the rear, her eyes glued on Quinn and Maggie from behind, and Liz had the vaguest, uneasy “feeling” that she was watching Maggie’s back burst into flames, but no one else seemed to notice… except possibly Maria.

Liz looked at Maria and raised her eyebrows, and Maria nodded and smiled…

“This could be interesting.”




<center>End of Chapter 32

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Windows To The Soul

Chapter 33

XXXIII

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




“Well, this looks familiar,” Rembrandt said, sitting down at the table in the same seat he had occupied several months back.

Liz smiled. “Yeah, this is our dining room. No choice of restaurants here. Sorry we can’t offer more variety, Remmy.”

Rembrandt shook his head vigorously. “Don’t be! It was a compliment. For us, seeing anything familiar again is practically an orgasm.”

Michael coughed and snorted his drink, a mix of Cherry Cola, Snapple, and Tabasco, up his nose, which set him to sneezing, and Tess and Maria began to giggle. Liz smiled sheepishly, and her eyebrows went up just a bit, and Max just grinned silently.

“Well, that’s… definitely… good, I guess,” Alex said, as Isabel tried hard to suppress a laugh.

Professor Arturo took a short sip of his drink to ‘clear his throat…’ “Well, Mister Brown, that is not precisely how I would have put it, but I believe you may have adequately captured the essence of our ongoing dilemma.”

“Napkins…? Are there any more napkins?” Michael stammered, doing his best not to sneeze again and having to dab tears from his eyes for his effort…

“I’ve got a frikkin’ news flash: Tabasco does not have the same pleasant qualities when consumed through the nose.”

“I thought you liked it any way you could get it,” Kyle said, not making any effort to hide his glee.

“Tabasco, Kyle! We’re talking about Tabasco! Get your mind back on track, Valenti!”

“I WAS talking about Tabasco.”

“You were? Oh… yeah, well… alright then.”

“This conversation definitely took a detour on the fast track,” Jim said, grinning.

“You’re drinking Tabasco?” Maggie Beckett asked, in an incredulous tone.

“They like it,” Quinn said, “It’s an alien thing.”

Maggie scrunched up her nose but smiled.

“Well, it’s mixed with Orange Snapple and Cherry Cola,” Michael said unapologetically.

“But you do like it straight,” Alex insisted, “I’ve seen you drink it right out of the bottle many times.”

Michael shrugged. “Yeah, so? So do Max and Isabel… and Varec… and Rayylar. I’ve seen Tess take a toke straight from the bottle, too… when she doesn’t think anyone’s looking.”

“Like Quinn said,” Alex retorted, “It’s an alien thing.”

“Yeah, well, this is an Antarian ship,” Michael pointed out factually, “You’re the aliens, not us.”

“He’s right!” Quinn agreed, nodding with a chuckle.

Wade looked at Quinn and grinned.

“Speaking of your ‘ongoing dilemma,’” Varec interjected, changing the subject, “What made you determine that you had not returned to your earth after I sent you back?”

“It’s a long story,” Quinn replied, shaking his head slowly, “Some things just weren’t right.”

“There was this guy that Quinn knew on our earth who had lost one of his thumbs,” Remmy said, “But on the earth you sent us to, he had both thumbs. I don’t know about you guys, but we don’t grow new thumbs.”

“Can’t your doctors reattach a thumb,” Varec asked, trying to think of some plausible explanation.

“Maybe… if it’s done right away and they have the thumb to sew back on… and if it’s not too damaged,” Quinn replied, “But not this long after it was lost.”

“Maybe your medical science has improved while you were gone,” Varec suggested.

Quinn shook his head.

“Well, the decisive factor for me,” Professor Arturo stated flatly, “Was seeing Mister Bennish. The Conrad Bennish I know is a mutant… a dangerous pathogen infecting the very essence of our universe. The Mister Bennish I saw on this earth was a polite, respectful, decent young man… not at all our Mister Bennish.”

“People cannot change on your planet?” Varec asked, incredulous.

“They can… They do…” Professor Arturo agreed, nodding, “But the day Conrad Bennish turns into what I saw back there will be the day I will eat… those hideous harem pants that Mister Brown is wearing.”

“Not my harem pants,” Remmy exclaimed, “Where would I ever find another pair like these?”

“The question is, Mister Brown, why would you want to?” Professor Arturo shot back unsympathetically.

“Well, I don’t know,” Quinn mused, “I would be willing to let the professor eat them. It would be interesting entertainment.”

“Barbarians,” Remmy exclaimed, making a show of protecting his new pants, as the girls giggled.

“Well, it seems to me,” Varec said thoughtfully, “That these are things that could have had a reasonable explanation. Sometimes the most difficult things to believe are true nevertheless.”

Quinn nodded and sighed. “I know… maybe one coincidence… but two coincidences? And like Remmy said, humans don’t grow new thumbs.”

“It should not be impossible,” Varec insisted, “From what I have seen, the human body is capable of it.”

“He’s right,” Maggie said, “The human body does have regenerative capabilities, though we still don’t know what triggers them in most cases. Our fingernails, toenails, hair, and skin regularly regenerate. Children grow new teeth, but adults rarely do… and limbs never regrow… well, almost never.”

“Almost never?” Varec asked.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Quinn said, holding up his hand, “Almost doesn’t mean never. But… trust me, it’s just not likely.”

“Did you eliminate all the possible explanations… even the ones that did not seem likely?” Varec asked, “That would be the first duty of a scientist.”

Quinn actually reddened somewhat. He had, of course, not delved very deeply for possible explanations… certainly not in a systematic and scientific way; and now, under relentless fire from Varec, he had to admit that that had been a mistake. It did not in any way change his opinion that the world they had gone to had not been their own world; but from a scientific viewpoint, Varec was entirely correct, and Quinn, the consummate scientist that he was, knew it only too well… embarrassingly well…

“If I had been conducting a scientific experiment, I would have looked for every possible explanation… and catalogued each one properly… then I would have double checked each answer and looked for conflicts and found a way to explain those as well. But I was not doing a scientific experiment.”

Varec smiled. “Life is a scientific experiment, Quinn Mallory. Everything must be considered with that in mind… especially if it is important to us.”

Quinn sighed. He definitely was not going to win this one, and he knew it from the beginning. But worse than that, some annoying little gremlin in his own mind kept telling him that Varec was right. Whatever he might personally believe about the world Varec had sent them to, Quinn had allowed himself to make a final determination, one affecting all their lives, based on a mere feeling… Well… a bit more than a feeling… There was evidence that had seemed convincing at the time… on the surface… But what if there WAS an explanation? The idea burned at Quinn’s mind. He wished he had given more thought to possible explanations now, even seemingly implausible or ridiculous ones. At least he would be able to look Varec in the eyes right now and not feel lower than a high school science flunkee. It was a very unpleasant feeling for one with Quinn Mallory’s brilliant mind for science.

“Well… don’t be concerned about it now,” Varec said, sensing Quinn’s discomfort. “The information is still in your timer. We can examine it together after dinner. The worst that could have happened would be that you saw a few more alternate worlds and had a few more experiences to learn something new from.”

“Yeah, Cue Ball!” Remmy added, “Everybody here depends on you, and you’ve never let us down. If we didn’t have you, we’d be lost for real!”

Quinn chuckled. “Only if someone else as arrogant and single-minded as me put you out there to start with, Remmy. Don’t forget, it’s my fault we slid in the first place.”

“Yeah, but you’ll get us back, Cue Ball. We believe in you.”

Wade smiled at Remmy and nodded. “I believe in you, Quinn. I’ve always believed in you.”

Seated next to Quinn, Maggie Beckett put her arm through Quinn’s and looked into his eyes… “I believe in you, too.”

Quinn looked at Maggie and smiled, and she kissed him lightly, almost teasingly, on the forehead.

Wade smiled, too… at least, her lips did. That was what Quinn saw when he looked at her. What Quinn did not see was the smile in Wade’s eyes. But how could he have? It had been replaced… by a deeper sadness in her heart. That was something that Quinn did not see.

But someone did.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>


The knock on Wade’s bedroom door was soft, almost tenuous, and at first she thought she might have imagined it. Then she heard it again. This time it was just a bit louder. Wade looked up from her bed and closed the paperback novel Maria had loaned her to read after dinner…

“Who is it?”

“It’s Alex. Are you decent?”

Wade smiled and opened the door. “I’ve still got all my clothes on. Does that qualify?”

Alex smiled. “That’s what I meant.”

Wade laughed. “Are you the official welcoming committee, Alex? Where’s my basket of fruit?”

Alex shrugged and smiled. “I can get you some.”

Wade took Alex by the arm and sat him down in the easy chair beside her bed, then she sat down on the bed beside him. “Don’t be silly. I was only kidding. I was teasing you.”

She looked at Alex and smiled, waiting for him to say why he had come… and Alex felt an uncomfortable feeling. Funny, he thought, that he hadn’t given the little matter of what to say any consideration before coming here and putting himself on the line this way. It had just been something he had felt compelled to do, and here he was.

“I was… I was… wondering…”

“Yes?”

Alex took a deep breath… “Well, I’ve been noticing that… that… you don’t seem to be particularly thrilled about the presence of your new traveling companion, Maggie Beckett.” (There! He had said it!)

Wade looked at Alex for a moment then began to laugh. “Is that what this is about? You think I’m jealous of Maggie! Oh, Alex, you couldn’t be more wrong! Quinn and I are buds. We’ve been buds forever. We’ll always be buds. Quinn’s in love with Maggie. That’s a whole different kind of relationship.”

Alex groaned. “I know that… I mean, the different kind of relationship stuff. It’s just that sometimes I see things that others don’t seem to see.”

Wade looked at Alex for a moment, just for a moment, seriously, but then she smiled again… “What are you… empathic… a mind reader… psychic?”

Alex shook his head. “None of the above. I just notice things that sometimes go unnoticed… like… when Maggie Beckett kissed Quinn, you smiled.”

“See! I told you! I’m happy for them.”

Alex shook his head. “No. You’re not.”

Taken aback by Alex’s seeming certainty and brashness, Wade stared at him curiously, but Alex continued…

“Everybody else was looking at your lips, Wade, and your lips were smiling, but I look at the eyes…”

Wade looked down at the floor for a moment then became serious again… “The eyes… windows to the soul and all that, right?”

Alex nodded. “They tell a different story, you know.”

Noticing that Wade’s eyes had begun misting up, Alex started to get up… “I’m… I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have bothered you! I’ll leave if you want me to.”

“Sit down, Alex!”

Obediently, Alex sat back down.

“You wouldn’t understand, Alex.”

“Try me.”

Wade thought about it, then she opened up her heart…

“Quinn and I have known each other like forever. We’ve been friends… buds, you know? We don’t know how to be anything else with each other. Maggie, though… she’s different. She’s what he needs. She’s not just his friend, she’s… more.”

“Don’t you think you can be more to him, Wade? You want to be! I really think you do, otherwise I wouldn’t have come here.”

“It doesn’t matter, Alex. You wouldn’t understand.”

“You said that before. So tell me why I wouldn’t understand.”

“Quinn is… Quinn is… so far above me. I’m not right for him. I could never be right for him. Being a buddy, his lifetime friend, is the closest I could ever hope to come to having him. I don’t want to lose that. He deserves someone like Maggie… someone elegant and… right for him… someone marriageable. I told you you wouldn’t understand.”

Alex started laughing, and Wade looked at him, flustered… “Well, it’s not funny. I’m sitting here baring my soul to you… admitting that I’m not good enough for some guy, and that’s how you try to make me feel better… by laughing at me?” She picked up a pillow off the bed and threw it at Alex, and he caught it and laid it back on the bed with a smile. Then he sat down beside her and wiped a tear off of her cheek…

“You don’t know how well I DO understand, Wade. You couldn’t possibly know. You know that beautiful, blonde, angelic… bombshell that I’m married to?”

Wade smiled and laughed, sniffing. “Isabel? Yeah, she is beautiful! See, Alex, I could never look like that!”

“You’re missing the point,” Alex said insistently, “What I’m trying to tell you is that for the longest time when we were growing up I knew for a fact that Isabel would never ever ever in a million years want someone like me. I wasn’t good enough for her. She was so far above me that I couldn’t even reach that high or think that high. Well, think maybe, but thoughts don’t get you much. She was on a whole different level on the evolutionary scale… or something… She was an angel that God had made special for some Adonis, not for a nothing little geek like me.”

Wade laughed and shook her head. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Alex. You’re special. Isabel did get her Adonis. Trust me on that. A girl knows these things.”

Alex reddened a little bit and smiled. “Well, see, that’s the thing, Wade, that’s what the rest of us all think about you. You’re totally good enough for Quinn. And I think he would be the first one to say so.”

“You think so?”

Alex nodded. “I know so. Trust me on this. A guy knows these things.”

Wade smiled and gave Alex a scolding look for using her own words back on her. Then she hugged him.

Outside Wade’s door, a few minutes later, Alex took a deep breath and smiled. “Now to talk to Quinn.”




<center>End of Chapter 33

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Reflections, Of Course

Chapter 34

XXXIV

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




Varec lifted the “guts” of the timer out gently, all the time watching Quinn out of the corner of his eye to make sure that Quinn’s heart was still holding out. Quinn was silent, but the look on his face was a perfect picture of pure agony. It spoke volumes that Quinn had even agreed to let Varec dismantle the timer. There was almost certainly no one else in the universe… any universe in any dimension, actually… that Quinn would have willingly allowed to even touch his timer, much less dismantle it; but in spite of the agonized expression on his face, deep down, Quinn trusted Varec. He had seen what the Antarian scientist was capable of.

“This is it,” Varec announced, as he carefully separated a small chip from the rest of the timer and plugged it into an improvised machine of his own invention. Immediately, the screen in front of them lit up, and on it appeared a long string of code. The code was still printing out over a minute later and did not appear to be letting up. Four minutes after it had started, the code ended.

“That’s it… the record of every slide you’ve made.”

Quinn pointed at a segment of the code not far from the beginning… “That’s where Conrad Bennish’s double in an alternate dimension got a hold of the timer and reset it during one of our earlier slides. He corrupted all the code up to that point. That’s why we couldn’t use the internal memory to find our way back to our home world.”

“The code was scrambled… but not undecipherable,” Varec replied calmly, “To decipher it, it is necessary to determine what was done to it. It’s like following clues and leads that unlock a mystery… or untangling a knot. Once the aberration has been revealed and resolved, the code can be read in the same way as any coded message might be.”

Quinn nodded. “That’s what I figured, too, but it was impossible to ‘untangle’ the ‘knot’ with the capabilities I had at my disposal. I thought it was a lost cause.”

“Not lost, Quinn Mallory, just tangled. I unraveled it once before.”

Quinn wanted to point out again to Varec that he must have unraveled the code wrong the first time… that the world they had wound up on had not been their own world… but he could not force himself to say it. The truth is, he was terrified, deep inside, of being asked one more time to explain his previous failure to provide a systematic and thorough scientific appraisal of the evidence they had encountered on the world they had been on. It was like arguing with God about religion. No matter what Quinn said, he just wasn’t going to win.

Varec was a bit older than Quinn, and certainly wiser, in terms of experience, and he knew that he intimidated Quinn. It was purely intentional. Quinn was a genius beyond any doubt. Varec found it much easier to deal with geniuses if they felt a little intimidated by him, though his methods were subtle. He never claimed to be smarter or to know more than anyone. He merely had a way of identifying and capitalizing on their missteps or weaknesses… all very subtly. Varec had turned geniuses who were full of themselves and who were totally convinced of their own vast superiority into quivering masses of Jell-O after being with them for only minutes… without ever claiming to be at all superior or smarter himself.

Quinn was not like some of the “geniuses” Varec had met, who were conceited and convinced of their own superiority; but Quinn was a genius, and he was aware of the fact that his knowledge of science exceeded that of most other people he met. He did not claim to be or pretend to be smarter than anyone else, he just usually was.

Varec highlighted the portion of the code that had been corrupted and ran it through an internal filter in the device he had built, and moments later, a string of Antarian symbols popped up on the screen.

“There it is.”

Quinn looked at the screen. “There what is? All I see is more gibberish.”

“That’s Antarian,” Varec said with a smile. “I will have to transcribe it into your symbols so that you can read it.”

Quinn stared at the screen intently… “What’s this symbol,” he asked after several moments, pointing at a symbol that appeared several times in the code.

“It’s the equivalent of what you call ‘pi’ in your language.”

Quinn nodded and pointed at another symbol… “And this one?”

“It means ‘tangent’ to you”

Quinn thought for a moment and then nodded. “What is this one here?”

“It is what you call ‘sine.’ Sine and cosine functions are useful to diagram cyclical trends, among other things.”

Quinn stared at the symbols on the screen, mentally making sense of what he was seeing…

“It’s like mathematics… it’s just another code.”

“You mean sine?”

“No… your language. The symbols are a logical sequence of thought… like higher math.” Quinn pointed at one that Varec had not translated for him… “This one here, period pi… tangent or cotangent?”

“Tangent.”

“Then this is cotangent,” Quinn said, pointing at another symbol.

Varec nodded.

Quinn began pointing at other symbols, usually identifying them correctly through logical analysis of their positions and interrelationships with the other symbols, then Varec produced another string of code from the timer’s memory chip and positioned the new code beneath the first one for comparison. Quinn stared at the two strings of code displayed on the screen in Antarian symbols, and he appeared to be mentally tracing them backwards from the point where the first code had been corrupted to the beginning…

“I need something to write on.”

Varec handed Quinn a pad and pencil, and Quinn jotted down a series of calculations then gazed, somewhat triumphantly, at what he had written… “This is the earth you sent us to… and the one above it should be our map home.”

Quinn turned back and stared again at his calculations, mentally working out the coordinates of his home world and comparing them to the coordinates of Varec’s earlier code. He appeared to check and recheck his figures, as though what he was seeing was impossible… then all the color slowly drained out of his face, leaving a canvas of conflicted emotions, as he tuned to Varec again…

“We were there… We were home…”

Varec nodded, and the corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly into the barest suggestion of a smile.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>


Alex spotted Liz in the hallway… “Have you seen Quinn?”

“Not recently. He was with Varec earlier. They were going to go over some of the data from his timer together. Maybe they’re in the lab.”

“Yeah, I should have thought of that. Thanks.”

Alex turned to walk away, but Liz stopped him…

“Alex…”

He turned around again and looked at Liz.

“Alex, I know what you’re doing.”

“I’m not doing anything… well, nothing illegal or immoral.”

Liz smiled. “Maybe not… but have you considered Maggie’s feelings?”

Alex was silent for a moment, then he nodded.

“Well, don’t you think maybe she loves Quinn, too… and maybe he may love her? I’m not suggesting anything, but maybe it’s something you should keep in mind. I know you wouldn’t want to cause anyone any undue pain or hurt.”

Alex sighed and nodded, then he looked up at Liz with an indefinable conviction in his eyes…

“I do think Maggie loves Quinn, and I think he loves her, too… but it’s different.”

“How so?”

“Well… Wade’s love has deep roots. She and Quinn have grown together in so many ways for so long. Maggie’s love… it’s real, I’m sure, but it’s more superficial. It hasn’t had time to grow deep roots the way Wade’s has for Quinn and Quinn’s has for Wade, even if he doesn’t quite realize it yet. You know, Liz, Maggie had a whole life before Quinn, and it’s still a very big part of her. She’s not from Quinn and Wade’s world. They picked her up on one of the alternate world’s they slid to. Her people were under attack by the KroMaggs, a vicious but advanced species of humans who descended from the Cro Magnons and Neanderthals. Maggie was a soldier… I think she was even a captain or a general or something high up. She had this life that demanded her full attention and total dedication. She didn’t have time for love.”

Liz nodded. “She was a U.S. marine captain. But her world was taken over by the KroMaggs, then it was destroyed by a pulsar. She has nothing now except Quinn. That former life is gone, Alex.”

Alex shook his head slowly… “Maggie’s strong… and independent. I’m not saying that she doesn’t love Quinn, but I wonder if she’s really as devoted to him as he believes she is… or even as devoted to him as she believes she is right now… You know what I mean? Wade’s love has withstood the test of time already. She’s followed him everywhere. She’s totally devoted to him, and even she doesn’t realize it. He IS her life. He’s every breath she takes. It’s not the same with Maggie.”

Liz nodded. “For whatever it’s worth, Alex, I think you’re right… but I’m just worried about the possibility of hurting people by interfering in their lives. Maybe it’s not our place to interfere. I’m… I’m not telling you not to… I’m just cautioning you. Think about it, and consider the consequences… to everybody, especially Maggie.”

Alex nodded and sighed.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

Two hours after leaving Liz in the hallway, Alex knocked on Quinn’s door.

“Quinn… it’s Alex. Are you there?”

The door opened and Quinn smiled at Alex… “Alex… What’s up, dude? Come on in. I was just getting ready for bed.”

“Yeah, sorry to bother you so late. I know it’s almost midnight.”

“No prob. I never actually hit the sack before midnight anyway.”

Alex walked in and started to sit down, but he decided to remain standing instead. This time he had thought a lot about what he was going to say. Yet somehow, now that he was facing Quinn, he wasn’t sure. But he quickly vanquished any doubts from his mind. He knew what was right, and he was determined to see right win out…

“How do you feel about Wade, Quinn?”

Quinn looked at Alex for a moment, puzzled, then he laughed… “I love her!”

“You DO? I mean… yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Wade’s been my best friend since we were kids pretty much. Wherever I’ve gone, Wade’s always been there.”

“Exactly! Wow… this may be easier than I thought.”

“I can’t imagine Wade not being there. When Maggie and I get married, we want her to be the maid of honor… I mean, it only makes sense, with Wade being someone so special to me and all, and since Maggie’s friends are all gone…”

Alex sighed… “Or not…”

“Huh?”

“Or maybe not easier… nothing, forget it…” Alex thought for a moment and decided to just go for broke… “Quinn, the reason I wanted to talk to you was to try to convince you that you and Wade belong together.”

“Yeah, well, I know that, Alex. She’s my buddy.”

“She’s more than that, fool.” Alex stopped suddenly and reddened considerably as soon as the words had left his mouth, and Quinn looked like he was unsure he had heard right.

“I’m sorry, Quinn! I didn’t mean that. Well, yes, I guess I did, but I didn’t mean to say it out loud… Damn! I’m not making this any better, am I?”

Quinn shook his head, but then he smiled.

“Look, Alex… I know that to a lot of people it may look like Wade and I are… closer than we are. I mean, we are close, but Wade only wants to be my buddy, and I don’t want to destroy that relationship by acting like a lovesick idiot and making her run away. I don’t know if you could understand that, but… I’d rather have a platonic relationship with Wade than no relationship. It’s an understanding we’ve had since we were kids, so it’s not like I’m going to be heartbroken or she’s going to be heartbroken when I marry Maggie. It’s just reality. We’re buddies… friends… soul mates.”

“Soul mates?”

“Well… you know what I mean… close… for two people who will never be… Why am I telling you all this?”

“Because I’m so lovable?”

Quinn rolled his eyes. “Because I don’t want to mess up this nice room by pounding you into the carpet.” Quinn smiled, letting Alex know that he was kidding, but Alex wondered how far he could push before Quinn might decide the kidding was over. He decided it was worth the peril to his health to go on…

“Well, you see, Quinn, the thing is, Wade loves you. I mean, she really LOVES you… She’s buddies with you because she doesn’t want to lose you and she doesn’t think she’s good enough to be your wife.”

“That’s crazy! I’ve never told her she wasn’t good enough! Wade is… she’s the equal to any woman… more than the equal to any woman!”

“Except Maggie?”

Quinn was silent for a minute. Alex had put him on the spot, and Quinn wasn’t sure how to answer. Alex prepared himself to be pounded, but Quinn shook his head thoughtfully…

Wade is equal to Maggie… in every way. I’m not going to put myself on the line here and say that either Wade or Maggie is more woman than the other.”

Alex smiled. “That’s probably smart. But, you see, Quinn, Wade does believe that she’s not woman enough for you.”

“Well, I’ll tell her differently.”

“You will?”

“Yeah…” Quinn thought about it then groaned… “Or maybe not. I can’t tell her that. It’ll sound like I’m proposing or coming on or something. How do you know that Wade feels this way, Alex? You barely know her? I would think I’d be more qualified to say how Wade feels. I’m a lot closer to her than you are.”

“Maybe that’s the problem, Quinn. You’re too close to see things in focus… especially matters of the heart.”

Quinn reflected on what Alex had said for several long moments, then he sighed…

“Do you have a Y chromosome, Alex?”

Alex grinned. “I think so, but I’ve been told that some people do have doubts.”

Quinn nodded. “I can see why.”

“Okay, Alex… okay… you’ve made me think about it. Do me a favor, okay?”

“Anything.”

“Get out! I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.”

Alex nodded and quickly left Quinn’s room. Outside in the hall, he took a long deep breath and then blew it back out slowly, relaxing his tensed nerves…

“Well, that went pretty well… I think.”




<center>End of Chapter 34

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Highs And Lows

Chapter 35

XXXV

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




Morning on the New Granolith found everyone heading to the dining hall for breakfast. It was ten minutes till seven, Antarian time, and most of the members of the crew had already gone in. The five “Sliders” all showed up together, as a group, and Alex noticed that Maggie was still holding onto Quinn’s arm. He wondered what Quinn was thinking at that moment. Had he decided to stay with Maggie after all, or was he biding his time, trying to think of how he would set things right?

Precisely at seven o’clock, Antarian time, the little diner droid came out and rolled up to Liz, who quickly told it what she and Max wanted to eat. Then it proceeded to Isabel.

Isabel thought for a moment… “I feel like something different… a couple of blue hen eggs… poached… and maybe a piece of pashita bread, lightly toasted, and some Betonian vinis. Do we have any vinis left?”

The little droid replied affirmatively… “We have four vinis fruits left in the storage cooler. The Betonian vinis fruit is out of season, so the vinis trees in our gardens are not producing any more at this time.”

“Well, one’s all I want. Thank you, Ylomo.”

“Ylomo?” Max asked, looking at Isabel curiously.

Isabel smiled. “He needed a name.”

“Ylomo?” Max asked again, “Isn’t that a Vellustian creature that looks like a big turtle or something… with a really high shell?”

Isabel nodded. “They do have really high shells, and he kind of reminds me of one, so…”

“Ylomo,” Max repeated, shrugging. “Okay.”

There was some good-natured chuckling around the table, and the droid proceeded to Alex, who asked for two Aluzian golden eggs, scrambled, with pashita toast and coffee. The next person at the table was Professor Arturo, who seemed to be as fascinated by the little droid this time around as he had been the first time the Sliders had been on the ship.

“Does he understand everything we say?”

Max nodded. “He does… in Antarian and in English.”

“Amazing! I don’t suppose you would have any brown eggs produced by a Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, or Plymouth Rock hen… or by any other brown-egg-laying earth hen…”

“No, sir.”

“Ummm… too bad. How about white eggs… from a leghorn hen, then?”

“No, sir.”

“Uh… I believe we have some Krolian pink-and-green-spotted gruvyyi eggs left,” Kyle said, looking rather impish.

Maria gasped and shook her head vigorously… “Oh, no, we’re not doing that to them! They’re our friends!”

“Krolian gruvyyi eggs aren’t bad,” Kyle retorted, “They’re just different.”

“They’re different all right,” Michael agreed, laughing, “They’re chewy… and they taste like bubble gum… one of those giant redhot things.”

Professor Arturo chuckled, although he appeared mildly aghast… “How would one cook something like that… and why would one want to?”

“Usually they’re poached and then chilled,” Liz replied, “Like Michael said, they’re chewy and taste a bit like fire hots or bubble gum… quite a bit like strong cinnamon bubble gum, actually.”

“I don’t guess they can be scrambled then,” Remmy said, chuckling.

Michael shook his head. “You’d get something all fluffed up and stringy… like cotton candy… but it would taste like redhots. Actually, that might be pretty good! I might try it sometime! I like gruvyyi eggs.”

“See!” Alex said cockily, “Michael likes them! What does that tell you?”

“Well, I think I’ll try the ‘groovy’ eggs,” Remmy said adventurously, “They sound interesting! Do you swallow them or just chew them like bubblegum?”

“You eat them… They’re actually pretty nutritious. And yeah, they are interesting, for sure,” Liz said, looking at Maria and giggling. “You can try them. If you don’t like them, we’ll cook you some Aluzian golden eggs. They taste more like real eggs are supposed to taste… a little exotic maybe, but basically eggs, not redhot… uh, bubblegum.”

“How would you like your Krolian pink-and-green-spotted gruvyyi eggs prepared,” the droid asked.

Remmy thought for a moment… “Uh… the usual way… poached… and, uh… chilled… I guess. Can you bring me some toast and coffee with it?”

“Certainly,” the droid replied, moving on to Wade Welles.

“Do you have cereal?” Wade asked, fully expecting a negative reply.

“Cocoa Puffs or Raisin Bran?”

The corners of Wade’s mouth rose into a broad smile… “Raisin Bran! I can’t believe you have real earth cereal!”

“Michael likes it,” Maria said, “So we try to keep some on hand all the time.”

“See! I’m not so abnormal,” Michael said smugly, casting a “so-there” glance at Alex.

“Will you have your cereal with milk, or will you have it in Tabasco sauce the way Michael always has his,” the droid asked.

Everybody turned and looked at Michael, and Alex grinned angelically. Michael shrugged and sank back into his chair… “It tastes good. So sue me!”

The droid proceeded around the table, getting a quick, “The usual,” from most of the remaining crew. Quinn asked for two Aluzian golden eggs with pashita toast and coffee, and since Remmy was trying them, he asked for one Krolian pink-and-green-spotted gruvyyi egg on the side. Then the little droid rolled back into the food preparation area.

“I thought you were going home,” Quinn said to Max, after the little droid had gone, “Are you guys on another mission already?”

Max shook his head, and Quinn noted a definite hint of sadness in his face. “Our mission never ended. It just changed. We were thrown off course, and every Antar we find now is in the wrong dimension. Our only goal has become to find our way home to our own Antar… in our own dimension.”

Quinn looked stunned and seemed to consider what Max had said for several long moments… “Our timer… it must have moved you out of the dimension you were in… into a different dimension.”

Max nodded. “We could get back home if we knew where we were exactly. The problem is we have no point of reference from which to calculate the return route home now.”

“I’m so sorry,” Quinn said contritely, “We never meant to draw you guys into our predicament. You helped us get back home, and we doomed you to be lost out here in interdimensional space. I don’t know what to say.”

Max shrugged. “It wasn’t your fault… It wasn’t anybody’s fault, really. It’s just the way things turned out. We’ll find our way back home eventually. It’s just going to take us a little longer than we had planned.”

“Maybe together Varec and I can figure out how to get you back home,” Quinn said with a smile.

For Quinn, offering to work with someone else was actually fairly extraordinary. He was accustomed to working alone. Quinn had little patience for trying to explain anything to a “helper” who couldn’t even begin to understand the scientific theories on which his timer was based. Varec was an exception, though. In Varec, Quinn recognized someone who not only understood his timer but who knew even more than he did about… probably everything. It was such an unusual occurrence that Quinn actually savored it.

“Have you ever found an Antar in any of the other dimensions you’ve been to and found that it was just way different,” Wade asked.

Max nodded. “Plenty of times… about half the time. Half of the Antars we’ve been to were pretty normal… maybe different but… still kind of like ours; but one of the Antars wasn’t even there. It was just a black hole.”

“Omigod!” Wade gasped, “What happened to it?”

Max shrugged. “We don’t know. Maybe they had a nuclear holocaust, or maybe it was a natural event. But all that was there was this black hole. No Antar.”

“If you were that close to a black hole,” Quinn said, with a puzzled look on his face, “You should have been pulled into it. It would be inescapable. Black holes are pure mass and gravity. Even light can’t escape from them. That’s why they’re called ‘black holes.’ How did you avoid being pulled in?”

Max smiled and nodded toward Varec. “Gravity is not a problem if your ship has anti-gravity capability. The black hole was just a curiosity for us. We circled it and studied it… Well, Varec and Liz studied it. The rest of us just stared at it and wondered what happened. It was a somber moment… kind of like a funeral. It’s hard to explain.”

Professor Arturo nodded, and Alex noticed that Maggie was nodding, too. Her world had been destroyed by a super nova. If anyone understood, she did.

“One Antar we found had been taken over by our worst enemy from earth, an FBI agent named Daniel Pierce,” Kyle said. “We totally could not understand how he could have got to Antar. Turned out he got trapped in the other granolith… the original one… while trying to capture Max, and it blasted off with him onboard. Once the people on that Antar saw Pierce for what he really was, though, they took care of the problem themselves… even if we did give them a little help.”

“Oh,” Maria said, waving her hand, “And on one Antar that we found, Michael and I were the king and queen… That was WAY cool! And on another one, Alex and Isabel were the king and queen, and we took them back to earth to visit their parents. That was cool, too, ‘cause everybody on earth thought they were dead, so it was really emotional.”

“And on another Antar that we visited,” Tess added, “They had twelve different countries, and there was no monarchy. Max was the president of one of the twelve countries, called ‘Western Coruz,’ and Kivar, our old enemy, was the president of a large eastern peninsula called Traznyk. Nicholas was the high Admiral of Kivar’s Navy, such as it was, and Michael was Max’s vice president. Alex and Isabel were senators… I was, too, and so was Maria… and the Secretary of State was Maria’s mom… Amy DeLuca!”

Maria almost choked on her food laughing and nodding, as she recalled their visit to the Antar that Varec had named, “#36 - Democratic Antar.”

“Well, I have to admit, Amy made a darn good secretary of state,” Max said, grinning, “She never took no for an answer and never took any guff. Wherever my double sent her to negotiate, they always threw in the towel and gave her whatever she wanted. She was definitely her country’s Ace up the sleeve, if you know what I mean.”

“More like their weapon of mass destruction,” Michael said under his breath, with a trace of a smile on his lips. Maria gave him a quick elbow in the side, but then she smiled and nodded grudgingly… “Well, some of the other presidents may have thought so… especially Kivar. Mom made his life pretty miserable. That guy couldn’t put together a Navy of three rowboats without Mom finding out and scuttling his plans. It frustrated Nicholas terribly, because he was Kivar’s high admiral, and he probably could have just about floated his whole fleet in Kivar’s royal bathtub.

“She was just looking out for her country,” Max said, “It’s what she was elected to do.”

Michael nodded then grinned… “She WAS pretty impressive, wasn’t she!”

“Well, I have some more exciting news for you,” Varec said to Quinn and his group, “According to my calculations, we will be visiting another Antar in less than ten of your earth hours. So if this one turns out to be our Antar… you may get to see our home.”

Liz, Maria, and Tess all gasped at once, hoping beyond hope that Varec’s words would turn out to be prophetic and that this would finally be “the one.” Even Max sighed deeply and smiled. Quinn looked at the other Sliders, and they all smiled. Apparently, the idea of visiting an alien planet… a friendly one… was an idea that they all approved of.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

As the New Granolith drew nearer to Antar, the crew and guests watched from the huge bridge window. Already they could make out the Golden Sea; it seemed to cover everything on this side of the planet.

“We need to go around to the other side,” Michael said, “This side’s all water. I don’t remember there being this much water with no visible landmasses on any part of Antar.”

Max nodded and put the New Granolith into a lower orbit around the planet… and they watched… and watched…

“It’s… it’s all water,” Michael said, incredulous. “I don’t see any land at all… anywhere!”

Max was silent; he just stared at the sea below. It was endless. Michael was right. There were no landmasses… There was only sea. It was a drowned planet.

“Let’s go,” Michael said, heartbroken, “There’s no need to hang around. We’ll just be wasting time we could be looking for our own Antar.”

Max nodded solemnly, but as he passed his hand over the sensors to take the ship around and back out into space, a sound came over the high band-width radio receiver. At first, it sounded like static, but then Max felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, as a voice came over the air.

“To the vessel approaching our planet… you may dock at Port Orland. You have clearance. Please identify yourself.”

Michael and Max both stared out the window of the ship, looking in vain for a landmass… any landmass… even a small island… but there was none.

Varec quickly picked up the communication device and replied to the call… “Uh… Antar, this is the ship, ‘New Granolith.’ We are visitors to your planet from another dimension… But we do not see any ports or land at all. Please direct us to Port Orland.”

A moment later, the radio crackled again… “New Granolith, if this is your first time here… is your vessel capable of subsea travel?”

“Yes, it is,” Varec replied.

“Then you will find Port Orland at the following coordinates: North 258 seb, West 397 kor, Depth 543 rys. We look forward to meeting you.”

“Understood,” Varec said, laying the communication device back down slowly. Then he looked around the room. Max and Michael had their mouths open in disbelief, and Varec knew that both of them had grasped the meaning of the conversation… so had all the others. They were going under the sea.




<center>End of Chapter 35

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

141 Leagues Under
The Golden Sea

Chapter 36

XXXVI

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




Michael took the New Granolith down at a 45 degree angle, and Max and the others braced instinctively, though unnecessarily, as the New Granolith impacted the surface and slipped effortlessly and quietly beneath the waves. Inside the ship, no one felt so much as a shudder, but the view through the bridge window changed dramatically… this was definitely not the view that they had grown accustomed to in space… the stars had been replaced by fish that now darted this way and that, dodging the huge ship.

“New Granolith,” the voice came again over the communication device…

Varec picked up the transmission module and spoke into it… “This is the New Granolith.”

“New Granolith, maintain a depth of 200 rys and bearing of 36 degrees north until further notice. It is imperative that you not deviate from this course or depth until advised to. This will keep your ship and our cities safe.

“Cities?” Maria asked, her eyes opening wide, “Did he just say ‘cities?’”

Max replied with a nod.

Maria searched the waters below the ship through the bridge window but saw only fish… and more water… “Maybe they’re like Atlanteans or something… you know… maybe they’ve turned into fish people… or mermaids and mermen! That would be so cool!”

“Or maybe they just built their cities beneath the sea because there’s no land above sea level, and they pump air into the cities from above,” Max suggested logically. “It’s more likely than mermen.”

Maria wrinkled her nose. “Well, I hope they’re mermen. I want to see what Michael looks like with a fish tail.”

Tess and Liz both giggled. “It might frustrate you, Maria,” Tess said with a wink, “Mermen are all fish below the waist.”

“I didn’t say I wanted my Michael to be a merman or to have a fish tail… I just want to see what he would look like with one. Then I could have a Merman Michael, a King Michael, a mountain man Michael, and all the other Michaels we’ve seen, plus my Michael.”

Tess and Liz giggled again, and this time Isabel laughed, too… “You’re starting a collection of Michaels? Does Michael know about this?”

Maria just smiled. “Hey, you collect romance novels, and Liz collects… her diaries. I can have my fantasies if I want them.”

Isabel shrugged then grinned playfully, as a thought came into her mind. “Maybe when we get back to our Antar, you can have the royal artisans make you some little figurines of a Merman Michael, a King Michael, a Mountain Man Michael, and all the others. Then you can put them all on a shelf and look at them whenever you want.”

“Omigod! That’s a great idea! Thanks, Iz!” Maria exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with joy at the thought.

Isabel looked at Liz, and both of them giggled. “I was being sarcastic,” Isabel said with a shrug.

At that moment, a voice came over the communication device again… “New Granolith, please descend to 500 rys and assume a bearing of 49 degrees north by northeast. You will see the port in approximately two clicks. When the port becomes visible, you will see signals that will guide you the rest of the way.”

“Understood,” Varec said into the module in his hand.

“That’s less than two minutes,” Michael said, straining to see into the distance. He didn’t have to wait long. First, everyone saw reflections of lights sparkling through the moving waters ahead, then immense domes appeared off in the distance. As these domes became clear, the crew and guests saw that some of them reached hundreds of feet upward toward the surface. In front of the New Granolith, at a depth of 543 rys… roughly 850 feet… sat a city of impressive proportions, with probably hundreds of thousands, and possibly even millions, of residents.

As the man on the communication device had promised, they also saw a series of signals that appeared to be guiding them onto some type of approach line. Michael brought the ship down until it was in line with the level indicated by the signals and slowed the ship to a crawl. The signs indicated that the ship should descend lower still, and Michael complied, then he saw it… In front of them, beneath a mammoth dome, was an opening large enough for the New Granolith to pass through. Michael looked at Max, and Max nodded; then together, they guided the ship under the opening. Once inside, the signals flashed “UP,” and Michael took the ship back up again slowly, rising from the water into an air filled area easily three times the size of the New Granolith, which was no small ship.

As soon as the ship was above the surface, the controls were taken over automatically by a remote parking system that turned and oriented the ship and placed it neatly into a berth.

“It looks like we’ve arrived,” Michael said. Max nodded, just as the voice came back over the communication module…

“New Granolith… you may disembark by any of your usual methods. Welcome to Antar!”

“Thank you,” Max replied, then he turned to Michael and the others… “Michael, Jim, Alex, Liz, Maria, and Tess come with me. The rest of you wait until I call for you. I’m pretty sure the air and environment are safe for us… and that the people are friendly, but it’s wiser to be safe than to be sorry.”

The others nodded. The truth is, Max was almost 100% certain that it was safe, or he would not have taken more than one other person with him… and it would almost certainly not have been Michael. Max preferred not to risk both of their lives when it was unnecessary. Michael, too, obviously felt that it was safe. Had he not, he would have been objecting loudly to Max’s going out first and would have insisted that he and Jim or he and Kyle go first instead.

The members of the first group transported down and found themselves standing on solid ground and breathing fresh air. They also saw that their host planet’s representatives were already there waiting for them. Maria looked at the three men and two women in front of her. She didn’t recognize any of them, but she did notice one thing right away… they did NOT have fish tails. In fact, they looked exactly like every other Antarian she had ever met… and exactly, well, normal. Maria sighed and smiled at her hosts.

“Welcome to Port Orlyn and the City of Coruz’Antar,” one of the two women said, smiling. “We’ve been asked to take you to the palace. Is this all of you?”

“Well, actually,” Max said, “There is another group waiting to transport down. We couldn’t all transport at once.” Max signaled the others, and within moments, Kyle, Varec, Isabel, Rayylar, Quinn, Maggie, Wade, Remmy, and Professor Arturo stood beside them.

“Now we’re all here,” Max said… “Except Jung-Jo.”

“Oh, is he in charge of the ship,” the young woman asked.

Max looked at Michael and smiled.

“He kind of is,” Michael said, grinning, “He thinks so anyway. Jung-Jo is a pawgor.”

“What’s a pawgor,” one of the two men asked.

Michael appeared stunned by the question. “You don’t know what…” he started to ask, but then he realized that these people would not have pawgors… or a Nan-Torel forest. Theirs was a water world.

“It… takes a little explaining,” Max said, “We’ll introduce you to him later if you’d like.”

The five members of the welcoming committee smiled and nodded.

“If you will all come with us,” the first young woman said, “We will show you to our slider. It will take us to the palace.”

“You slide?” Professor Arturo asked.

“Of course,” the young woman replied, leading them to a somewhat strange-looking vehicle that vaguely resembled a very long and rather sleek-shaped limo with no wheels. The young woman opened the door, and Liz and Max got in, followed by Michael and Maria then all the others. Once they were all in, one of the young women got into the driver’s seat and the other got in beside her. The three men got into a different vehicle and went off in a different direction. Then the young woman who was “driving” pressed a switch, and the vehicle rose from the ground.

“It’s a hover craft,” Liz said.

The driver turned the vehicle and guided it into a large clear tube that seemed like a perfect fit for it. A moment later, she pushed a switch, and something propelled them forward at an amazing speed.

“0 to 150 in two seconds! I like it!” Michael said, “I need to get one of these!”

“It’s a slider,” the young woman sitting beside the driver said, “It slides through the tubes propelled by jets of air inside the tubes. The air is brought down from the surface by powerful compressors. The same air that propels the sliders is then vented into the city to supply air to the inhabitants.”

“Amazing! Absolutely amazing!” Professor Arturo said, watching intently as they jetted along through the transparent tube beneath the sea.

It took only about a minute and a half to get to the palace. As they approached, the driver pulled back on a yoke that resembled an airliner’s yoke. Apparently, this remotely released air on the other end of the tube, or somewhere along the route, causing the vehicle to slow. Once it had slowed sufficiently, it coasted quietly and softly into the palace, which, like everything else here, was a dome… a very magnificent dome, though, both inside and out.

The slider coasted softly to a stop, and the young woman beside the driver jumped out and opened the door for the guests. One by one, they each got out and looked around.

“How do you like it?” a familiar-sounding voice asked… “Does it compare well with the others you’ve seen?”

Max and Liz turned around at the same time to face the previously unseen person, but both of them already knew who it was.

“It’s… beautiful!” Liz from the New Granolith said to her double. “It’s incredible!”

“Have you seen many other Antars during your travels in other dimensions,” the hostess Liz asked.

“Too many,” Liz said. Max nodded.

“I would love to hear about your travels. Max and Michael are out right now. They should be back soon, though. This will be a big surprise for them… a pleasant one.”

“Are they tending to affairs of state?” Maria asked.

“Usually that’s where they would be, but I convinced them to go fishing… to relax.”

“Fishing? Under the sea?” Maria asked… “With a fishing pole?”

“Where else would you fish,” the hostess Liz asked. “And no… they don’t use poles, they use a net. One holds each end of the net, and they swim it around the fish and trap them in it… underwater.”

“Oh, they’re SCUBA diving then,” Maria said.

Liz shook her head.

“No SCUBA?”

Liz shook her head again.

“How long can they stay out there?”

Liz shrugged. “Three… maybe four hours. Longer if they have to.”

“Without air?”

“Well, without coming in to breathe… just with the oxygen they get from the water.”

Maria turned and smiled at Isabel. “He’s got a tail! He’s a merman! I know it!”

Isabel rolled her eyes and smiled back. “Why don’t the rest of them have tails then? Why would Michael and Max be the only ones who are different?”

Maria thought about it for a moment, then she turned to their hostess… “Can you stay under water that long, too?”

Liz laughed and shook her head. “I’m not Antarian. I might last two minutes… or three, gasping for air. Antarians can stay under water for hours.”

At that moment, Max and Michael both walked into the room, dressed rather unroyally in swim trunks and nothing else, though Maria and Liz saw no reason to complain. Both Max and Michael did a double take when they saw the visitors, and they quickly ducked back out of the room, reappearing after hastily donning a shirt and pants.

“I didn’t know we had guests,” Max said, looking the guests over and noticing that some of them looked very familiar.

“No tail,” Maria shrugged… “Darn!”

“Wait’ll I tell her about Santa Claus and the Easter bunny,” Isabel whispered to Liz, standing beside her. Liz smiled and shook here head. “You’re mean, Iz!”

Isabel grinned.

“While you guys were out fishing, Dear,” the hostess Liz said, “I got a call from Space Port Orlyn that we had guests coming, and I asked to have them sent over when they arrived. They’re from a different dimension, and I think you may notice some resemblances.”

“Another dimension? Another Antar?” Max asked, looking over the doubles from the New Granolith.

“We’ve seen quite a few other Antars,” Max from the New Granolith said, “But it wasn’t our intention. We seem to be having a little difficulty finding our own Antar again. We keep finding Antars that aren’t ours.”

The host Max nodded thoughtfully… “Interesting! Well, I’d love to hear about it. Maybe there’s something we can do to help… or something Varec can do. Our Varec is the smartest person I know.” Suddenly realizing that Varec’s double from the New Granolith was standing right in front of him, Max hurried to clarify himself…

“But two Varecs should be even better than one, right?”

Liz patted Varec on the back, “Varec has been our lifeline more times than I can count.”

The host Max smiled and nodded… “Ours, too.”

At that moment, Maria let out a small gasp, and everyone turned and looked at her. The host Michael was holding her hand.

“Maria!” Isabel exclaimed.

“No! No! It’s not what you think, Isabel! I swear it!”

“I don’t have to think. I’m seeing it,” Isabel said, turning to Michael from the New Granolith, who was standing with his mouth open.

“I was just seeing if he had gills,” Maria said, “I thought I could do it without him noticing.”

“She touched my collar… It tickled,” Michael said, still holding her hand down.

“Maria,” Liz said, trying to talk and laugh at the same time, “Have you ever known Michael not to notice it if someone touched him!”

“I just thought…” Maria stammered, turning crimson red and reclaiming her hand brusquely.

“For the record…” Michael said, rolling down his collar… “No gills. See? I’m not a fish. We can breathe underwater… but not as efficiently as fish, just enough to stay under for several hours.”

“How…? if you don’t have gills?” Isabel asked.

“Every pore on our bodies has adapted to obtain oxygen from the water when our lungs can’t obtain enough,” Max said, “Our pores don’t look any different than yours, on the outside, but they’re becoming increasingly specialized internally. As a people, we have been slowly gravitating toward a total underwater existence… since all the land masses sank beneath the sea some 100,000 years ago.”

“Incredible!” Professor Arturo exclaimed excitedly, “Evolution in progress!”

“You mean they’re going to turn into dolphins,” Maria asked.

“No,” Max said firmly, “We aren’t changing into anything, we’re just adapting to an environment that is, geologically speaking, still fairly new to us. We’re still Antarians and always will be. Everything adapts to changing environment over enough time. If you spend a lot of time out in the sun, you tan, making it less likely that you’ll burn. That’s adapting. This is no different; it just takes longer. Changes that happen over many thousands of years can seem radical, but we aren’t ever going to turn into dolphins… or fish. In another 100,000 years, we may be able to remain under water without having to return to breathe air in the cities every few hours, but we’ll still be Antarians… and we’ll need some place to sleep and eat and live, so we’ll still return to our cities. Who knows, maybe we won’t need to pump air into the cities anymore, but we’ll always be Antarians, just as we are now. We just have specialized pores that breathe underwater… and a little webbing from the knuckles to the base of our fingers.” Max spread his fingers so they could see. No one had noticed it until now. Even Maria, when Michael had grabbed her hand as she touched his collar, had not noticed.

“Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess grew up on earth,” the hostess Liz said, “They were two years old when they came out of their pods and were found, and child welfare thought they had a congenital defect, because they had webbing at the base of their fingers, so the agency had the webbing surgically removed, and they grew up with no one else ever knowing. It was actually a good thing it was removed, because it made them look totally human. Later, when they returned to Antar, the Antarian doctors restored their webbing to the way it was supposed to be… on Antarians.”

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” the host Max said, “I would enjoy much more hearing about you instead of about me. But I insist it be over dinner and not while standing here in the welcoming parlor. You will stay for dinner won’t you?”

Everyone looked at each other and then at Max again… then each of them smiled from ear to ear.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Max said, smiling back. “Kyle will show you to separate rooms where you can relax and get ready for dinner. Dinner will be served in three hours.”

“Kyle is here, too?” Liz from the New Granolith asked. Her hostess double nodded. “Kyle was the only one who came to Antar with Max and Michael the first time they came. They had to come back for us later. It’s a long story.”

“That’s just like us!” Maria exclaimed… “Exactly!”

The host Max turned to his wife, Liz, with a questioning look…

“He’s coming,” Liz said, “He was in his room… polishing Buddha’s tummy. They told him.”

“EXACTLY like us!” both Liz and Maria said, looking at each other and giggling then looking at their own Kyle, who smiled a bit and shrugged.

“Except for all the water and stuff, of course,” Maria amended.

As they spoke, the other Kyle appeared and smiled at the guests. “Are you ready?”

The group followed him into a corridor that led through the center of the palace. It was ornate and beautiful, and it reminded them quite a bit of the grand hallway in their own palace back on their own Antar. A lot here, they were discovering, was like their own Antar.


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> </center>

Two hours later, shortly before they would be heading to the royal dining hall to eat, Alex passed Maria in the hall outside their rooms. He smiled but didn’t say anything as they passed each other. A moment later, Maria called to him… “Alex!”

Alex turned around. “Yeah?”

“I know what you’re thinking!”

Alex smiled. “That’s a pretty good trick, Maria, ‘cause even I don’t usually know that.”

“Don’t make fun of me, Alex. I didn’t do anything wrong, you know.”

“I know. I didn’t think you did. A little… unusual, maybe… but not wrong… in a wrong sort of way.”

“Exactly. You understand, don’t you, Alex?”

“That you wanted to know if Michael had gills? Sure, I understand.”

“No, not that. Well… that, too… but I meant about me saying I liked all these different Michaels and would like to have little figurines of them all.”

Alex smiled. “I guess if I had a whole bunch of Isabels, I wouldn’t be complaining… although I’m not sure I could handle it.”

Maria smiled. “I love Michael. Michael is everything to me. I just can’t get enough of him. I want him every way I see him. He’s my Michael no matter where he is or what he looks like. I don’t mean that I want to jump into another Michael’s arms, just that each one makes me think of my Michael and how he would look if he looked like that… It’s like dressing up a doll in different clothes… It’s… exciting… especially if there’s a way you can have them all. Can you understand?”

“I never dressed up a doll.”

Maria sighed. “Noooo… about… you know… how I feel…”

Alex nodded and smiled. “Yeah… I understand, Maria. I really do.”

Maria threw her arms around Alex and hugged him. “Thanks.”

“No problem. I’m here for you, Maria… anytime, you know.”

“I know. Thanks for that, too.”

Alex smiled and walked back into his room, and Maria went back to hers and Michael’s.

“Was that Maria you were talking to, Alex?” Isabel asked.

“Yeah.”

“She was trying to convince you that nothing was going on between her and Michael’s double, wasn’t she?”

“Nothing was.”

“I know.”

“Isabel… when you see all these other Alex’s… my doubles… do you ever wish you could have them all?”

“Why?”

“Well… I don’t know. It’s just something Maria said… about not being able to get enough of Michael because she loves him so much.”

Isabel looked at Alex and smiled. “Alex, one of you is man enough for me. What would I ever do with more than one of you? You’re perfect just like you are. I only need one of you.”

Alex smiled and enclosed Isabel in his arms. “I guess so, but after talking to Maria… well, I kind of understand, too… I mean, from a Maria point of view, you know? It is kind of cute… her wanting all these different Michaels on her shelf so she can admire them all… because in a way, they’re all Michael, and Michael is hers.”

Isabel smiled. “Yeah, it is pretty adorable… like you say, in a Maria kind of way.”

“So you think so, too?”

Isabel nodded. “But if you ever tell her I said so, I’ll deny it!”


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

Wade Welles left her room and walked down the long palace hallway, stopping occasionally to take in the amazing view through one of the many palace windows to the sea. But she did not stay long in one place. Deep inside, secretly, she hoped that she might run into Quinn and he would ask her… well, she dared not think about it, but she hoped. It did bring a smile to her face, though. Maybe Alex was right. Maybe Quinn did feel something special for her, too… like she felt for him… like she had ever since they were young.

In another part of the huge palace, Quinn Mallory had also gone out for a before-dinner walk. He found Maggie Beckett gazing out at the sea through one of the palace windows, and he walked up quietly behind her…

“Hi.”

Maggie turned around and smiled. “Hi. I was just watching the fish… and thinking.”

“What about?”

“My world. If only it could have just sunk slowly into the sea over time like this one did… instead of being wiped out by a super nova. There’s nothing to go back to when a super nova…”

Quinn winced. This was not making what he had to say any easier…

“I’m so sorry, Maggie. But you guys did get a lot of people off of the planet before it was destroyed.”

Maggie nodded. “Yeah! We did!” Then she sighed and looked into Quinn’s eyes sadly… “And I don’t know where any of them are now…”

Instinctively, Quinn reached out to Maggie and enclosed her in his arms; and she put her hand behind his head and kissed him… passionately. It might have appeared to be a happy scene… even as short as it was… two young lovers kissing… idyllic setting. But at the end of the hall, unseen by Quinn or Maggie, Wade wiped a tear from her eyes and turned and walked back the way she had come… quietly and without anyone knowing she had been there or that she had seen anything.

“Maggie,” Quinn said, gently but firmly separating her from him… “What would you do if there was no ‘us…’ if we didn’t have each other? Would you be…”

Maggie smiled. “Are you feeling insecure, Quinn? Don’t be! I do love you… very much. You know I’m a strong person. I’ve always been a fighter… in more ways than one. But don’t ever think I can’t love you because of that.”

“But what would you do if something happened to me, Maggie? Would you be able to pick up your life and move on?”

Maggie stared into Quinn’s eyes, trying to discern the deeper meaning of what he was asking. “I love you, Quinn. If something happened to you, I guess… well, I KNOW… I’d be devastated. But we’re fighters the two of us… I know you wouldn’t want me to roll over and just die. You’re strong, too.”

“No… no, you’re right. I wouldn’t want you to give up or anything…”

“Are you having second thoughts, Quinn?”

“No! Well… yes… in a way…” Quinn took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment… “Maggie, I love you… I really do… and I always will…”

“But…? Quinn, when someone says it like that, there’s always a ‘but’ attached.”

“I think I may love someone else, too.”

“May?”

“No, I… I do.”

“Wade? Don’t be so surprised, Quinn. I knew she was in love with you. I always wondered why you didn’t do anything about it. I thought maybe you weren’t interested in her.”

“Was I the only one who didn’t see it?” Quinn asked.

Maggie smiled. “The real question is how do YOU feel about HER? If you feel the same way, that’s kind of going to be a problem… for us… you know?”

Quinn nodded. “I do. I do feel the same way about her. I just never thought about it. We were so close… I don’t know, Maggie. I haven’t said anything to Wade about this yet. We’ve always had this special… ‘friendship’ thing. If I say something to her now about… you know… getting married or being something more to each other… something different… she may run.”

Maggie smiled. “I think she will! But not the way you think. I think she’ll run TO you. Quinn… I’m not going to tell you that I’m thrilled about this, but you have to be sure of what you want. Go find Wade. I’m not going anywhere. If she dumps you, I’ll let you live it down… some day.”

Quinn smiled. “You’re right. I have to tell her how I feel… whatever the consequences.”


<center> <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>> </center>

A few minutes later, Quinn found Wade… alone, staring out a window into the sea…

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it!”

Wade smiled and nodded silently but did not turn around or let Quinn see her face. Instead, she continued to stare out at the sea. Quinn put one hand on Wade’s shoulder and noticed that she flinched, but she did not remove his hand.

“There’s something that I have to tell you, Wade, and I should have realized it a long time ago. I don’t know why I never did. Sometimes other people see what we --you or I-- already know so deeply in our hearts that we… missed it altogether.” Quinn took another deep breath. “I’m… I’m trying to say that I love you… and that I’d… like for us to be something more than just friends. I always knew it. It just took someone else to make me see it.”

Wade smiled. “We are more than just friends, Quinn. We’re special friends… bosom buddies. That will never change. But you belong with Maggie.”

“Well, see, that’s just it, Wade… I don’t think I do. My real feelings are for you… they always were. I know that now.”

Wade sighed and stared back out the window, trying to keep Quinn from seeing the tears that had begun to roll down her cheeks. The truth is, Wade wasn’t angry with Quinn; she was trying to protect him… from what she was convinced now was a noble “delusion” that he loved her, but only that. Seeing him with Maggie convinced her that he and Maggie belonged together… that their true happiness was tied up in each other. It was a hard pill to swallow, especially when he was practically proposing to her now. Summoning all the courage she had in her, Wade turned and looked Quinn squarely in the eyes…

“But I don’t… I don’t… love YOU, Quinn… not that way.”

Wade choked on the words as she said them, and they tasted bitter, but she had said them. In her heart, she knew that it was the right thing to do… for Quinn. As for herself, well, she would get over it… someday… maybe… in a million years.



<center>End of Chapter 36

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Salt Also Comes In Tears

Chapter 37

XXXVII

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




“It can’t be!” Alex said, waving his arms in the air excitedly, “I talked to both of them, and they both love each other. Quinn can’t marry someone else! He loves Wade!”

“Well he’s marrying Maggie,” Liz said with a shrug.

“I was sure he would ask Wade… I was sure! He lost his confidence! That has to be it!”

Liz shook her head. “Wade turned him down.”

Alex sputtered for a moment and looked as though he had just been struck by lightning.

“That can’t be true, Liz… It just can’t be… Wade’s whole existence is tied up in Quinn. Anyone whose brain had more than one sparking neuron could see it!”

Liz shrugged. “Well, she did it. You know, Alex, maybe you can’t fix all the wrongs in the universe or be the universe’s cupid. I know you feel strongly about this, but sometimes… lots of times really… people make mistakes in relationships. I know it sucks, but it happens.”

“Not if they would consult me first,” Alex replied with a distraught look but a wink.

Liz smiled. “You’re just going to have to let things take their course, Alex. It’s their lives.”

“To ruin?”

Liz nodded. “To make… or to ruin… their choice.”

“Maggie does not have the same depth of attachment to Quinn that Wade does, Liz! Wade would march into Hell with Quinn and never look back; Maggie would march with him to the gate, but Quinn would be on his own after that. Besides, Maggie had a former life that occupies a big place in her life… maybe a bigger place than Quinn does or ever will.”

Liz smiled and nodded… “For what it’s worth, Alex, I agree with you. But you’ve done all you can do. It’s their lives.”


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

As the palace clock struck six o’clock, or, to be perfectly precise, the Antarian equivalent of six o’clock, which looked quite a bit different, the crew from the New Granolith and their guests, the Sliders, entered the grand dining room through the large entryway. It all looked very much like their own palace… except for the omnipresent aquarium-like windows to the sea. Max had been very impressed by these, but he couldn’t imagine any way to have them in his own palace… short of sinking their own Antar under the sea… which was out of the question. He even considered the possibility of having huge aquariums built outside the palace and placing windows to them throughout the palace. But, then, he didn’t want to seem overly envious of this Antar. They had their pleasures, and his Antar had its pleasures. In the end, it all balanced out… but he had to admit that he did love those huge romantic windows to the sea.

The host and hostess, Max and Liz, welcomed everyone as they entered and then showed them to their seats. Liz noticed that the table was exactly like the one in their own palace and capable of seating up to seventy-eight people, just like theirs… except that it appeared to be made of a different type of wood. It was set lavishly, and the food, which was already on the table, smelled divine.

As soon as everyone was present and seated, the host Max held up a long-fluted goblet filled with a rosy blue colored liquid and offered a toast… “To our friends from beyond our known dimension.”

This got a rousing cheer from the other “Aquarian Antarians” present.

“To our hosts,” Max from the New Granolith said, lifting his own goblet in turn… “And to new friendships!”

“Indeed!” and “Hear! Hear!” were heard from all around the table from everyone present. Then, three servers went around the table removing the lids from all the pots and plates, allowing the delightful aromas to waft freely through the room and causing Michael’s stomach to growl. Maria looked at him and grinned.

“Sorry. It smells good… and I’m really hungry.”

There was food already on their plates, which also had been covered; and these, too, were now uncovered by the servers.

The host Max raised his goblet again. “I want to hear your stories, but I suggest that we begin eating first.”

“A wise man… a very wise man,” Michael mumbled appreciatively, taking a bite of something that he did not recognize but that tasted divine. After several bites, he paused and took another drink from the goblet…

“Jubish?”

The host Max smiled. “It’s our own blend of Jubish, Corvian Brandy, and Ke’cje da’nish.”

“No wonder it tastes good!” Michael said, “Corvian Brandy is like liquid gold… and Ke’cje da’nish will knock your socks off! What am I eating? This is great!”

“That is the specialty of our house,” Liz said, smiling, “It’s Kryyken Antar… Kryyken ink bladder stuffed with pink deep sea eel, pargi fish, and purple-golden seaweed. It’s slow cooked for three to four hours in Kryyken ink and Corvian Brandy.”

Michael smiled and his eyes got a bit wider, but then he shrugged and took another bite… “Well, it’s really good!”

“I don’t think they have any yegg burgers and Tabasco on this planet,” Alex said with a grin, “No land… so everything is seafood.”

“That’s pretty much true,” the hostess Liz said, “But we do import some foods from dry planets. Obviously, they’re not our specialties. They’re more of an exotic item here.”

“Well, I think this is delicious,” Professor Arturo said, swallowing a small bite of stuffed Kryyken and patting his mouth with his napkin, “I don’t think I’ve ever tasted anything quite like it. The texture and flavor are a bit like squid… or calamari… but much more like Maine lobster and sea scallops… and it seems to be imbued with a smattering of other delicate yet tasty flavors. I even detect a taste like veal in it. I’m sorry, but that is the only way I know to describe it.”

Quinn nodded, swallowing another bite himself. “It has a ton of flavor. It’s really quite good!”

“It is,” Maggie and Wade both agreed.

The hostess Liz smiled… “Thank you! As I said, the Krykken Antar is our specialty. The Kryyken ink gives it a lot of its flavor… so does the purple-golden seaweed.”

“And the Corvian Brandy,” Kyle said.

The host Max nodded and smiled… “The Kryyken is a large squid-like creature that is found only in the Golden Sea and only at depths greater than three thousand feet. It can be two hundred feet long, including the arms or tentacles, and thirty feet in girth.”

“Wow! That would make some BIG calamari rings,” Isabel said.

Alex laughed and nodded.

“Aren’t you worried that they’ll attack your cities,” Kyle from the New Granolith asked.

Max shook his head. “None of our cities is deeper than 1200 feet… and the Kryyken has never been known to rise above 3000 feet. So we’re safe.”

“If the Kryyken were to rise to a depth less than 3000 feet,” the Aquarian Varec added, “It would rupture because of its own internal pressure, which cannot be equalized at the lesser depths.”

The Aquarian Michael nodded… “When we catch a Kryyken, we have to take care of that little matter before we bring it into the city. An exploding Kryyken could do a lot of damage.”

“You said that your jubish is mixed with Ke’cje da’nish,” Michael from the New Granolith said, “Do Ke’cjes live on your Antar, too?”

“They do,” the host Max replied, nodding, “They live in the Ke’cje Valley.”

“But… I thought this planet was all under water?”

The host Max nodded. “It is. In fact, their valley city is the one at 1200 feet… it’s the deepest of all our cities.”

“The deepest and the highest,” Liz from the New Granolith said… “The Ke’cjes’ valley is the highest occupied land on our planet… and the deepest on yours. They live in extremes.”

“They’re shape shifters,” Michael said, “They are extreme.”

“We met the Ke’cjes on one of the planets we were on,” Liz from the New Granolith said. “Their leader was a woman named Ta’lan, and she had an adopted son named Rahn who helped our doubles escape from the military and the FBI on their earth. Ta’lan and Rahn were both very nice. We had dinner with them in the Ke’cje Valley, and they gave us a gift to take home.”

“What is it,” the hostess Liz asked.

Liz shook her head and shrugged. “We don’t know yet. We have to find Ta’lan’s double on our own planet and give her a letter from her double in the other dimension… and then our Ta’lan on our Antar is supposed to give us the gift.”

“I wonder what it is,” the Aquarian Kyle said, “It sounds mysterious.”

“They’re a mysterious people… most shape shifters are,” Liz said, “But the Ke’cjes are very nice.”

“That’s not the reputation they have,” the host Max said, “People here are afraid of them.”

Liz nodded. “People are always afraid of anyone who’s different. Shape shifters are different. The Ke’cjes realized this, and they capitalize on it by encouraging the rumors. It keeps others away from their valley.”

“Hmmm… perhaps I should visit them… with Liz,” Max said, “I heard they were autonomous and did not recognize the royal family.”

“That’s not quite true,” Liz said, “They consider themselves to be loyal Antarians and subjects of the king, but they also have their own Ke’cje government and rules. They are very independent… but still loyal.”

“I hope that is also true of the Ke’cje people here,” Max said, “I will definitely plan to make a trip to meet them and find out. In fact… why don’t we do that tomorrow! You can go with us!”

“Uh, little problem there, bro,” Michael from the New Granolith said, raising his hand, “We don’t have those specialized sweat gland thingies that you guys breathe with underwater. When we got there, we’d be drowned.”

“That’s not a problem,” Michael’s Aquarian double said, taking another bite of his dinner.

“Well, not for you maybe,” Michael from the New Granolith retorted, “But we would prefer not to drown, thank you.”

“You won’t drown,” his double replied, “We’ll go in a slider.”

“Oh… You have slider tubes to the Ke’cje Valley?”

“No. The tubes can only take us as far as a couple of cities on the way to the Ke’cje Valley. From there, we would have to leave the tubes. The slider can navigate underwater on its own. It’s a lot slower than in the tubes, but like you said, the tubes don’t go to the Ke’cjes’ valley.”

“So the sliders are like submarines, too?”

Michael thought about this description for a moment then nodded… “Sub-marine… that would be an accurate descriptive name for our sliders, I guess. They do not need the tubes to operate; the tubes just give them speed… and bring air to the cities.”

“Then it is a done deal,” the Aquarian Max said, “I hope you will stay and go with us. Your knowledge of the Ke’cjes would be most helpful.”

Max from the New Granolith looked at Michael, and Michael shrugged, then he looked at Liz. Liz smiled… “I don’t know, Max… I’d kind of like to see the Ke’cje Valley here. And I’d love to see Rahn again!”

Max nodded and looked back at his Aquarian double… “Okay… tomorrow… we’ll go with you.”


<center> <<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>> </center>

On her way back to her room, after dinner, Wade stopped again to look out one of the palace’s windows to the sea. It was peaceful out there in the sea; at least, it gave the appearance of being peaceful. Wade watched as a couple of small eels entwined their bodies around each other in a sort of age-old mating ritual, and she smiled. If only it could be so simple. Things were never simple for humans. She sighed and kissed the window, symbolically giving the two little eels her blessing, and when she kissed the window, she tasted salt. Momentarily alarmed, Wade stared at the window, but it wasn’t leaking. Then she wiped her hand over the corner of her mouth and up her cheek and nodded… Salt comes in tears, too.




<center>End of Chapter 37

tbc…</center>

<center> Sliding Into Antar </center>



>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

A Very
Remarkable Trip

Chapter 38

XXXVIII

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>




As morning arrived in the underwater kingdom of Antar, two sliders silently departed from the palace. Inside one of the sliders were ten Aquarian Antarians… Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Isabel, Alex, Kyle, Varec, and the two young women who piloted the vehicle… and Max, Michael, Jim, and Varec from the New Granolith. Inside the other slider were Quinn, Wade, Maggie, Professor Arturo, Remmy, Liz, Maria, Alex, Isabel, Tess, Rayylar, and Kyle from the New Granolith, plus the two young women who piloted their slider… and one other individual, Jung-Jo, whom they had picked up from the ship, with the blessings of the Aquarians.

The two young women piloting this slider spent a lot of time looking over their shoulders. The guests, however, spent their time watching the scenery, entranced, as their sliders surged forward through the tube out of the palace then left the city of Coruz’Antar, headed for the next nearest city on the way to the Ke’cjes’ valley.

As for Jung-Jo, he was enjoying every moment, looking very much like he wanted desperately to stick his head out a window somewhere and enjoy the breeze… if there had been a breeze… and if there had been a window. Instead, he sat behind the young woman who occupied the seat next to the driver, an “arrangement” that was changed when the others noticed that every time Jung-Jo swung his head from one side to the other to see the fish going by, his long tongue slapped the poor girl on the back of the head. Already, this had produced “pawgorlicks,” hair standing out sideways in both directions, on the back of her head… and one very paranoid young lady who was certain that at any moment she was going to be eaten whole… at least, she prayed that it would be whole… and fast… and painless.

It took sixteen minutes, at a speed of approximately 150 miles per hour in the tube, to reach the next city. This gave the visitors time to see a lot of the underwater environment; and even though the closest objects were sometimes a blur, the water was extraordinarily clear, and there was plenty to see in the near distance. All too soon, the slider was sliding into Merplex’Antar, Antar’s second biggest city in this Aquarian world, and a city that did not exist on any other Antar that they had been to, including their own. Merplex’Antar appeared to be a very modern city, but then everything on this Antar had a modern look to it. That was probably because it had to be scientifically advanced in order to survive under the sea.

The slider continued on through Merplex’Antar, passing through several large domed buildings that were under a much larger dome that covered the entire “downtown” sector of the city. They recognized one of the internal domes as a mall, because there were numerous different stores and shops inside it, and it was a designated stop and exit point. However, the slider vehicles did not stop for shopping on this occasion. Two other stops that they passed may have been merely access points, places where sliders could access the tubes.

Within minutes, they had passed through Merplex’Antar and were speeding toward the outlying cities of Jarnat, Aluzia, Chanesio, and Grelligo. These were names that the group from the other dimension did recognize. Jarnat was where the Kiren mist was first used successfully, Aluzia was the provider of Antar’s golden eggs, and Grelligo was famous for its hallmark Grelligo soup. As for the Chanesio “region,” as it was known in the other dimension… well, it had a permanent place in Michael’s memories as the place where he came out of hyperspace the first time he tried out the jet bike that Varec had given him. The wind blast from reentry blew the hair off of a field full of shebbles, leaving them pink and bald and costing the royal treasury, which had to recompense the shebble herders for their losses, since the shebbles’ hair was a marketable commodity. Max paid it, considering it worth every kyrin for the humor value alone, but Michael still reddened slightly whenever he thought about it. That never kept him from retelling the story, though, to anyone who would listen.

It took twenty-four minutes to reach Jarnat from Merplex’Antar. Jarnat was a small city, entirely enclosed under a single huge dome, and the sliders slid through the city in less than twenty seconds without slowing down. The next city, Aluzia, was only eight minutes from Jarnat. Even in this underwater world, Max and Michael both recognized this city immediately… maybe it was because of all the signs advertising their claim to fame… Aluzian golden eggs.

“I didn’t know you had hens here,” Michael said, turning to his Aquarian double. But the Aquarian Michael just looked at him, puzzled… “Hens?”

“Yeah… those things that make golden eggs,” Michael retorted in a sort of “duh” tone of voice.

“Oh,” his double said, scratching his chin… “Kryykens?” Actually, the Aquarian Michael did know what hens were… he had lived on earth when he was growing up. But he enjoyed jerking his other-dimension double around a bit.

Michael stared at his Aquarian counterpart for a moment… “Hens… you know… feathers, wings, beaks, cluck, cluck, cluck… ta-da! Eggs!”

The Aquarian shook his head… “Long tentacles, slippery, beaks, swishing, growling sound… ta-da! Eggs!”

“Squid eggs?”

“Squid eggs… fish eggs… eel eggs… the Aluzians turn them all golden through some process that no one else has ever been able to copy. It gives the eggs a rich golden color and an even richer flavor.”

“Squid eggs?” Michael repeated, incredulous. Well, it made sense. This was an underwater world, so the Aluzians would not have their famous hens. But squid eggs…?

“Ooh! Golden caviar!” Michael exclaimed, suddenly putting a whole new face on the Aluzian enterprise. “They might just have a market after all!”

“A pretty BIG market,” the Aquarian Michael replied, “Aluzian golden eggs are famous all over Antar and on a number of other planets.”

“Does Grelligo produce their famous Grelligo soup here, too?”

“They do,” the Aquarian replied, “Although I suspect it’s made a bit differently than the Grelligo soup you may be accustomed to.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, they probably make it out of seaweeds here.”

The Aquarian nodded. “That… among other things.”

It had taken three minutes to pass through Aluzia, which was a fairly large and spread out city, though not as large as the Chanesio region that lay ahead. Eleven minutes after passing through Aluzia, the sliders reached the city of Chanesio’Antar and slid into the first of several massive domes. This had been a shebble herding region in the other dimension, the one the New Granolith group had come from, and it was huge, though it had been only sparsely populated there. Chanesio, in the other dimension, had mountains, pastures, and lots and lots of land… uninhabited land. This Chanesio, as they would soon see, was equally large and spread out… and mountainous; but it had a much larger population… and not a shebble anywhere.

“What do they do in Chanesio on this Antar,” Michael asked.

“They manufacture sliders, like the one we’re riding in,” the Aquarian Michael said. “Chanesio is our biggest manufacturing center. They also manufacture space ships… for us and for other planets.”

Michael nodded. “Shebble herders to manufacturing center… interesting. That’s different!”

It took a full seven minutes to pass through Chanesio’Antar. They had to pass through five domes, each of which could have been a respectable-sized city itself. Max and Michael noticed the fact that the slider tube went up and down a lot here; this was a mountainous region. At one point, in fact, they passed through, rather than over, an underwater mountain that rose over a thousand feet upward, to within nine feet of the surface. If it were only a little higher, it would be this Antar’s only dry land above sea level.

Twelve minutes after leaving Chanesio, the sliders came to Grelligo’Antar. Though not a very large city, Grelligo had the singular distinction --besides producing Grelligo soup-- of being the furthest point that the slider tubes went to. It took a mere sixty seconds for the sliders to pass through Grelligo, but they were now at the end of the tubes. The young pilots expertly maneuvered their sliders through designated exit tubes and emerged into the sea. Now, they were on their own… at the mercy of the sea… but the pilots seemed confident and unfazed.

The sliders operated differently outside the tubes. They had their own power source, a series of hidden water jets underneath, at the rear of the vehicle, and a guidance system that used small, rotating jets to turn and control the vehicle. But even outside the tubes, they still ran smoothly and dependably… and the view seemed to only got better and better the further they went, perhaps because now they were going slow enough to see even the closest objects clearly!

Partly because of the distance and partly because the sliders could no longer travel as fast as they had in the tubes, it took almost fifty-five more minutes to reach the outskirts of the mountains surrounding the Ke’cje Valley. Max noticed that they had been going deeper, which made sense, because the Ke’cjes’ valley was the deepest inhabited area on this Antar, at 1200 feet. But now, it appeared that they would have to go over the mountains; and these, like the Chanesio Mountains, were no small mountains. Several of the peaks, in fact, reached to within twenty feet of the surface.

The young pilots plotted a course over the lowest mountain, one that rose to within 400 feet of the surface, and took their sliders upward. As they crested the mountain, at a depth of 385 feet, they saw a magnificent sight… six huge, manta-ray-like creatures swimming together in formation. Each creature easily measured at least 25 feet across the wings and had seven 30-foot-long trailing tails and a ridge of multiple, 10-foot-long, training filaments down the middle of their backs. This drew “ahs” from everyone in the other-dimension group, including the Sliders. But as they descended toward the valley on the other side of the mountain, the manta-ray-like creatures followed, surrounding the smaller sliders and occasionally bumping them. Max noticed that the young pilots’ looks began to change from one of total confidence to worried, and he quickly consulted with Michael. They agreed between themselves to wait and see if it got any worse. So far, the bumps had only been minor. These huge creatures could easily have crushed them if they had wished to. It was probably only accidental bumps by curious creatures… or maybe the creatures were testing the sliders to see what they were. Either way, so far, they had not actually shown themselves to be hostile, merely intimidating.

A fairly harrowing fourteen minutes later, the two sliders safely approached the dome over the Ke’cje Valley, and their pilots searched for a way in. They found it on the far side of the dome, well-concealed under a huge outcropping of the mountain. Max realized that it was probably only by sheer luck that they had found it as quickly as they did… and maybe at all. Obviously, these were a people who valued their privacy. And they were about to be invaded by outsiders.

The two sliders coasted through the opening under the dome, and the manta-ray-like creatures followed. When the sliders rose into the air-filled sector of the dome, the mantas rose, too, to the top of the water. There, they began to change…

“What’s happening?” the Aquarian Maria asked.

“They’re Ke’cjes… shape shifters,” Michael from the New Granolith said, realizing the truth. “They were checking us out… and probably trying to scare us away.”

“Well, it was working,” the Aquarian Maria said.

Judging from the looks on the others’ faces, Michael could see that they agreed. But they were here. Now they had to meet these strange people who were almost never seen outside of their own reclusive valley… the legendary, and often feared, Ke’cje shape shifters.



<center>End of Chapter 38

tbc…</center>