The Enemy Unknown...(TEEN/MATURE) ~Pt 60 ~ 3/24/06 COMPLETE

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Nineteen – They are Among Us

“Kyle!” Isabel cried. “Are you insane? What are you doing?” She pulled ineffectually at her friend, trying to stop him from hitting Eddie.

“Get off me, Isabel,” Kyle said through gritted teeth. “I know what I’m doing. Now who the hell are you?”

“What are you talking about,” asked Eddie. “You know who I am.”

“Wrong answer,” said Kyle. He cocked his arm to punch Eddie in the mouth, but Max reached out and grabbed it.

“Kyle, chill!” Max said. “What the hell is you’re problem?”

“He’s not Eddie,” said Kyle. “Now will you let me go so I can kill him?”

“What do you mean, he’s not Eddie?” asked Liz. “Of course he’s Eddie. Redskin basket, remember?”

“That might have been Eddie, but this guy isn’t,” said Kyle. “Now if you’re not going to let me kill him, can we at least tie him up? I’m getting gravy all over my favorite shirt.”

“Kyle, are you sure?” Max began to ask.

“Max, if you don’t get some rope right now, so help me Buddha, I’m going to kick your ass right after I get done killing this guy,” Kyle snapped.

Max nodded to Michael who left the table, and returned quickly with a length of the rope they had used on Cal earlier. Kyle shoved the faux Eddie back into his chair and held him there until Michael secured his bindings.

“Okay, Kyle, will you please explain yourself, now?” Max asked, a bit sarcastically. “I healed him in the chamber, remember. I got a few flashes off of him, and I’m telling you, he’s Eddie.”

“No he’s not, Max. I mean, maybe the guy you healed in the chamber was Eddie, but this guy isn’t. Number one, he’s far to calm and reasonable to be Eddie. Eddie has a temper, this guy hasn’t argued with us about anything.”

“Maybe he’s just showing a sense of maturity,” said Isabel. “Something you may want to consider in the not so distant future.”

“Thanks for your support Isabel,” Kyle said. “It means so much to me.”

“Well come on, Kyle,” said Liz. “You’re not really giving us a lot to go on here.”

“Well, I’m not finished,” said Kyle. “Jesus, you’re all acting like I’m being super impulsive ore something. I’m not Michael you know! Anyhow, Eddie asked us to take him back with us. Why would he want to go back if he’s never been there before?”

“Us, Kyle, we’re the ones going back,” said Max. “He wants us to take him with us when we go back.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought at first too,” said Kyle. “That’s why I asked him to repeat it.”

“You read him, didn’t you?” asked Liz with understanding.

“Yeah, and he’s not Eddie,” said Kyle. “He’s a Gadori.”

“Liz, go get Cal,” Max instructed. “We’re going to need him on this.”

Liz jumped up and rushed from the dining room to the bedroom that Cal now inhabited.

“We need you’re help,” she said abruptly, rushing into the room.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Eddie, or rather, it’s not Eddie,” Liz said. “Oh never mind, just come on.” She spun on her heel and left the room, with Cal following close behind.

“What’s happening?” Cal asked when the two entered the dining area. “Why do you have the kid here tied up?”

“Because the kid here isn’t Eddie,” Michael said, his voice like flint. “He’s a Gadori?”

“You’re sure?” asked Cal

“As sure as we can be,” said Max. “I mean, it’s not like there’s a test for Gadori, is there?”

“A test, no,” said Cal, thoughtfully. “What makes you so certain?”

Kyle quickly repeated what he told he others, and Cal looked at him with respect.

“You’re empathic then? That’s good, we can use that. As far as a test, no there isn’t a test,” said Cal. “But there is this.”

Without warning, his hand shot out, hitting the fake Eddie in the chest. Cal shot a focused burst of energy at Eddie, and he morphed from his humanoid shape to that of the alien shape that Max had seen when he healed Cal.

“How’d you do that?” Max asked, amazed. “And more importantly, can we learn how to do it?”

“Why?” asked Cal. “Are you planning on walking up to every person you suspect of being a Gadori and blasting him or her in the chest? If you do, and they’re not, you’ll kill them.”

“Oh,” said Max, his enthusiasm a bit deflated. “Why did you do it then? Were you positive he wasn’t who he said he was?”

“NO, but he was,” said Cal, jerking his thumb in Kyle’s direction. “And if he’s empathic, he’s the best chance you have of figuring out if someone is telling the truth or not.”

“We can’t ask Kyle to open himself up that way,” said Max. “He works so hard on controlling his power. If he lets in too much emotion, it will kill him.”

“Not if he does it right,” said Cal. “While you were on Antar, did you learn anything at all about this power.”

“Only a little,” admitted Kyle. “Che’koth, I mean, Drinian mostly helped me learn how to block it. He said my studies of Eastern philosophy and meditation helped me learn quickly.”

“They did, and they’ll help you learn how to use it all the time without it destroying you. It can be done, and it will mean a lot of hard work on your part.”

“Look, this is all well and good,” said Michael. “It’s not like I want to see you’re brains turn to mush or anything, but did you all forget, we’ve got the freaking enemy sitting right here in the dining room?”

The sheepish glances from everyone told Michael they had forgotten about the Gadori, if only for a minute.

“Where’s Eddie?” Michael demanded, grabbing the Gadori by the shirt.

“Where do you think?” came the alien’s sonorous voice.

“When did you switch places with him?” Max demanded.

“Today, while you were busy with him,” the alien spat, contemptuously. “I went to his room, looking like one of you, and offered to drive him back to his home. He was all too quick to jump at my offer. I killed him of course,” he added as an after thought.

“Just like we’re going to kill you,” Michael said, menacingly.

“Do you think that matters?” the alien sneered. “The enemy is her, they are among you. There are hundreds of them. You can’t run, you can’t hide. You’ll never be able to track us all down. We are unknown to you and unseen by you, and we will win.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty – The War at Home

Liz sat listening with a mounting rage as the Gadori spoke, until finally she could no longer listen to his mocking words. She held up her hand and prepared to end his miserable existence, when Max grabbed her arm and yanked it back down.

“Liz, don’t!” he yelled.

“Why not?” she argued. “I told you, I wasn’t going to stand by and let anybody else die because of us. Now Eddie’s dead. He deserves to die too.”

“We need him,” said Max. “He’s a source of information. We can use what we learn from him.”

“And how do you know he’ll tell you the truth?” Liz argued. “I mean, he had us all convinced he was Eddie. We can’t trust anything he tells us. He could even be Nescado, Max. Did you ever think of that? Maybe he’s Nescado, and he’s the only one that’s here!”

“He’s not Nasd,” Cal said. “And your Queen is right. We won’t get anything useful out of him, not now, not ever.”

“He’s telling the truth about the other Gadori, though,” said Kyle.

Max looked over at where Kyle sat, beads of sweat pooling on his forehead from his exertions.

“Kyle, stop it,” Isabel said. “You’re going to hurt yourself if you keep trying to read him.”

“I’m not trying to read him,” said Kyle. “I’m trying to block him. He’s keeping the connection open.”

“Max, we have to kill him,” said Liz. “He’s hurting Kyle.”

“I’ll do it,” said Michael. “Liz, Isabel, why don’t you go outside or something.”

“Please, Michael, spare me,” said Isabel. “Since when did you develop a softer side. We’ve both killed plenty of people back on Antar, I think we can handle watching one Gadori die.”

Despite her brave words, Isabel’s voice quavered as she spoke. Killing in battle was one thing. To cold bloodedly kill someone who was tied to a chair; that was another matter entirely.

“No,” said Cal. “We need to keep him alive for a while longer, but you need to take Kyle someplace else, right away. If the Gadori is forcing the connection to stay open, he has a reason.”

“What are you talking about?” asked Max.

“I get it,” said Michael, suddenly. “It’s like what he,” was doing,” he pointed his finger at Cal. “He was goading us, trying to get us to kill him. He thinks that if he keeps the connection with Kyle open, we’ll kill him to save Kyle.”

Michael crossed the room to where the Gadori sat tied to his chair. He stared down at him, looking into his large black eyes until he found what he was looking for. He reached out and grabbed the Gadori around the neck and began to squeeze, exerting a gentle pressure on the creature’s neck until he passed out.

Almost at once, the strained expression left Kyle’s face, and he wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Thanks,” he said. “That was rough.”

“You can’t be here,” said Cal. “Not until you can completely master the skills you need to filter his emotions.”

“Kyle, head out to the Granolith,” said Max. “Make sure it’s still secure, and then, I want you to see if you can activate it enough to scan you, and make sure that thing over there didn’t hurt you.”

“I’m not leaving,” said Kyle. “I’m fine. You just tell me what I need to do to block that guy, and I’ll do it.”

“It takes time to learn,” said Cal.

“Something we don’t have,” said Kyle. “So just give me the cliff notes version, and we’ll call it done. But more important than that, we have to figure out a way to get information out of him.”

“Are any of you skilled in nashra – pindo?” Cal asked, hopefully.

“Mind warping?” said Michael. “Ava and Alex are the best at it, but they’re up on Antar, of course. Glad to see our luck is running true to form.”

“I can do it a little,” said Liz. “Remember,” she added, looking at the ground. “When I was pregnant, I had to mind warp to hide the baby.”

“You have a child?” asked Cal. “Where is he, on Antar?”

“He died,” said Liz, the familiar feelings of loss washing through her body. “Tess tried to kill me, I didn’t get a shield up in time. The baby took the full force of the energy bolt to protect me.”

“I’m sorry, Majesty,” said Cal, sincerely. “The loss of a child is a terrible thing indeed.”

“Yeah, right,” Michael snorted in the background. As far as he could see, Cal didn’t give a rat’s ass about anything, least of all his children. “Why do you need someone to mind warp?” he added, in a louder voice. “What are you planning?”

“Sometimes, people who are skilled at nashra – pindo are also able to extract information from people’s minds,” Cal explained. “It’s highly illegal on Antar of course, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.”

“Wait a second,” said Isabel, who had been quite up until now. “I can do that. Well, sort of,” she amended. “When I dream walk people, I can find out what they’re thinking.”

“Dream walk?” asked Cal, curiously.

“Yeah, if someone is asleep, I can get into their dreams and talk to them and ask them questions. They’re usually so relaxed, that they’ll tell me the truth.”

“Perfect,” Cal said, clapping his hands together.

“Wait, not perfect,” said Max. “I don’t want my sister crawling around in his head.”

“It’s not up to you, Max,” Isabel said. “If it’s going to help, I’m going to do it. We can get all the information we need to pass along to the guards before we go to Antar.”

Isabel instructed Michael to move Sheriff Valenti’s recliner over next to the chair the Gadori was tied to. She sat in the leather chair and took the Gadori’s hand in hers and closed her eyes.

The landscape consisted of scrubby trees in muted shades of gray. Isabel looked around until she spied the Gadori standing before a stream of purple water. She walked up to him and smiled.

“Where are we?” she asked.

“In the forest where I played as a child,” he replied.

“It’s very beautiful.”

“It is home. Something I will never see again.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“We knew when we came down to that terrible planet that there would be no return home. But no sacrifice was too great for Lord Kivar.”

“But Kivar is dead,” said Isabel. “Didn’t you realize that? He died in battle on Antar.”

“You are wrong,” said the Gadori. “Kivar had the best people working on the replication process. He resided on Gador, biding his time, waiting to strike back.”

“No,” Isabel whispered in horror. “You lie.”

“You know I do not,” said the Gadori. “Kivar raised an army to crush King Zan of Antar and take his rightful place as ruler of that world. We are loyal to Lord Kivar, we exist to do his bidding. We are to fight and destroy any and all remnants of the Royal Family. It is why we exist.”

“How many men did Kivar send down here?” Isabel asked, trying to quell the mounting horror that rose up inside her.

The scene shifted, and Isabel and the Gadori stood inside a large barracks like building along with approximately fifty other Gadori. Isabel watched in dread as Kivar mounted a podium and began to speak.

“You will go to Earth,” he commanded. “Find them, kill them. Do not stop until they are all dead. I do not care how long it takes, and how many people you kill. Do whatever it takes to kill the Royal Family.”

“How can we stop you?” Isabel asked. “What are your weaknesses?”

“We have none,” said the Gadori. “We exist simply to destroy the Royal Family. We can take any shape, any form. You will not know us, you will not see us. You will die.”

Isabel screamed and severed the connection between herself and the Gadori.

“Isabel, what happened? What did you see?” asked Liz.

“It’s Kivar, he’s alive. Again!”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-One – Setbacks

“Damn it,” said Max. “We should have expected something like this. Do you suppose there’s any chance his clone is defective, like his Vilondra clone?”

“Judging by the way things are organized, I’d go with no,” Isabel said, bleakly.

“Isabel, we need you to think,” Max said. “Was there anything, anything at all that you could see that we could use against the Gadori?”

“Max, he said they didn’t have any weaknesses. I don’t think he was lying.”

“Cal, can you think of anything, anything at all that we can use against these guys?” Max asked.

“Pretty much, you’re screwed,” said Cal. “When they change into something, they take on all the characteristics of that species, including DNA.”

“So blood tests won’t work,” said Liz. “Now what?”

“I vote for eating,” said Michael. He passed his hand over his plate and heated his food back up and resumed eating, while everyone stared at him.

“What?” he said. “I’m hungry, and starving myself is not going to give us an answer. We can plan and eat at the same time. At least I can. I don’t know if Kyle’s mastered that skill yet.”

“I can’t eat anything,” said Isabel, looking at the food-laden table with disgust.

“Michael’s right, Isabel,” said Liz. “If nothing else, we need to keep up our strength, and to do that, we need to eat.” She stood up and walked over to the table and sat down, and toyed with her food.

“Nice try Liz,” said Michael. “But for it to work, you actually have to put the food in your mouth. All of you, sit down, and eat. Pacing is not going to solve this problem.”

“He scares me when he’s reasonable,” Max said to Isabel. His comment caused her to smile slightly, and move to the table. He winked at Michael behind Isabel’s back. He didn’t buy reasonable Michael for a second. He knew it was just an act to get Isabel to stop focusing on her dream walk of the Gadori. There was a bond between Michael and Isabel that even he, as her brother couldn’t break.

“You might as well sit down and eat, Cal,” Max said.

“Such a gracious welcome,” said Cal, sitting in the seat vacated by faux Eddie. “Is that what I think it is?” he asked pointing to a dish containing a noodle like substance.

“Only if you think it’s bodrodnya,” said Michael, reaching for the platter. “Max brought some back on his last trip to Antar.”

Cal sighed with delight at the thought of the spicy sweet dish. He took the platter that Michael held out to him and slid some of the noodles on his dish. He offered the platter to Liz who wrinkled her nose in disgust.

“Thank you, no,” she said. “One thing I don’t miss about Antar is the food. No offense to your culture and all, but the food is horrible.”

“I’ll say,” said Kyle. “I don’t know how we would have survived up there without those pills that Liz made, and the care packages from our folks.”

Cal shoveled the bodrodnya into his mouth, and watched as the five friends bantered back and fourth, amazed at their ability to regroup and roll with the punches. It saddened him too that they developed this ability out of sheer necessity. If he had done a better job of protecting them, they wouldn’t have needed to be so adaptable.

“Don’t,” Kyle, suddenly.

“Don’t what?” asked Max. “Have more chicken? Why not, there’s plenty.”

“Not you, Max, him,” Kyle said, nodding at Cal. “He’s busy beating himself up over the lousy job he did of protecting you.”

“Well he did,” said Michael, baldly.

“Yeah, but if he hadn’t, you probably never would have ended up with Maria, and Liz would probably be dead, and I never would have found Ava,” Kyle said. “Did you ever think of that?”

“That power of yours is really developed, isn’t it?” asked Cal. “You got all of that off of me in a matter of seconds. It’s too bad the rest of you don’t have that ability, or anything similar to it.”

“The Granolith!” Liz cried, excited. Do you think that we could use the Granolith to accelerate our abilities?” She looked around the table, waiting for the others to share her excitement, but all she saw were blank stares.

“Don’t you get it? My powers started because Max healed me, right?” The others nodded their agreement. “And Alex and Kyle’s started to develop because Tess mind warped them to hell and back. But Maria didn’t have any powers, even after Ava tried to nudge her brain.”

“We were there, Liz,” said Michael, not unkindly. “We don’t really need the recap right now.”

“Yeah, you do, because none of you are remembering how the Granolith activated and fixed Alex and Kyle, and gave Maria powers. Maybe we can use it to amplify that power in us.”

“Liz might be right, Max,” Isabel said thoughtfully, lifting a fork full of food to her mouth in an unconscious gesture. “It helped us so much remember, why can’t we try and activate it to do this too?”

“Mostly because we don’t know how, that’s why?” said Max. “We don’t know how to activate it.”

“Maybe you should just take it on faith, Max,” Cal said. “That’s one lesson you’re father and I never learned. Neither one of us ever really believed in the power of the Granolith. Don’t make the same mistakes we did. Just take it on faith.”

“Then let’s go now,” said Max.

“What do we do about him?” asked Liz, looking at the Gadori, still tied to the chair.

Without a word, Cal jumped out of his chair, knocking it to the ground. He crossed the room in three large strides, pressed his hand to he Gadori’s chest and fired a concentrated bolt of energy into his chest. The Gadori glowed red for a moment and then imploded in a pile of dust.

“Someone’s going to have to clean that up,” said Kyle.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Two - If at First You Don’t Succeed

“Any idea of how we’re going to do this?” Max asked as they stood in front of the Granolith. “I don’t think we can use the four square to activate it, as half of us are missing.”

“We can try,” said Liz. “I mean, we don’t have anything to lose, do we?”

They quickly arranged themselves in a makeshift interlocking four square pattern, and looked hopefully at the Granolith. After several minutes of waiting, they finally admitted defeat.

“Well, that went well,” said Kyle. “In an alternate universe, maybe.”

“You’re not helping, Kyle,” said Michael. “Unless you have something of value to contribute, shut up.”

“And unless you want us to start thinking you’re one of the Gadori, you’d better stop acting so damn calm and rational,” said Isabel.

“What, I’m trying to turn over a new leaf,” said Michael.

“Well stop,” said Max. “We need hot headed impetuous Michael now. We don’t have time to deal with the new you.”

“Fine, someone figure out a way to get this frigging thing started,” Michael said. “There, is that better?”

“Much,” said Max.

“I have a suggestion,” said Cal, who had been, up to now, watching the interaction between the five friends with great interest. The byplay between them, even during times of crisis, amazed him. Back on Antar, he would have never allowed such freedom in the ranks. But then again, back on Antar; Kivar had defeated his army. This bunch of kids had managed to defeat Kivar and take back the throne on their own. Who was he to mess with their success.

“Yeah, what?” asked Michael, unable to mask the contempt he felt for Cal.

“Why not try it with just four of you? After all, you were sent down as four. Max, stand here, Isabel, there, Michael, you stand over here, and Liz, over here,” instructed Cal.

“What makes you so certain it will work,” griped Michael as he moved into position.

“Nothing makes me certain,” said Cal, “But as Liz pointed out, we have nothing to lose.”

Liz stepped into place, and they stared expectantly at the Granolith, waiting for something to happen.

They were about to admit defeat when Kyle jumped up excitedly.

“Take it on faith,” he called to the others. “It’s like Cal said. You have to take it on faith. Believe that it’s going to happen, and it will.”

“Believe,” said Liz, taking up Kyle’s cry. “Believe.” She focused intently on the Granolith, seeing it fill with light in her mind.

Slowly a pale strip of color appeared at the base of the Granolith. Isabel took up the chant of believe, and the color became more intense. Cal looked over at Max and saw his mouth moving as he silently formed the word believe.

The color intensified and began moving up the Granolith, growing stronger and stronger. Michael added his voice to the others, and the Granolith began to glow. The light spilled out from the top and filled the room with dazzling brightness.

Kyle walked up to the Granolith and placed his hand on its cool sides. Within seconds, he was pulled inside. He sat down and began to focus, trying to channel his ability to read emotions to the others. The light in the Granolith changed from silver to a dark amethyst color, and Max, Liz, Michael and Isabel were all bathed in the purple light.

The light began to fade, growing paler and paler as it receded back into the Granolith. The light faded completely, leaving an emotionally exhausted Kyle sitting in its base. Michael stepped out of the square first and reached inside and helped support Kyle as he climbed out.

“Man, am I beat,” said Kyle, his voice weak. “I didn’t realize it would take that much out of me.”

“How’d you know?” asked Max. “How’d you know what to do?”

“It was amazing,” said Kyle, his eyes filled with wonderment. “It’s like the Granolith was telling me what to do; like it was alive or something. Do you remember when your father told us, Antarians always believed that the Granolith was an icon given to them by their deity?” he asked, looking at Max.

“Yeah, why?” asked a confused Max.

“I don’t think the Granolith was given to them by their deity, I think it is the deity. Or, at the very least, a conduit to talk to it,” explained Kyle.

“No way,” said Max, looking at the Granolith with something akin to awe. “Then we protect it like we protect our parents. We’ll have to figure out some way to rotate the guards so that there are at least two of them hear at all times.”

“Max,” Liz said, gently. “The Granolith was here for over twelve years, and nobody ever found it. I think it’s going to be safe here while we take care of this situation.”

“You’re right,” Max admitted. “It’s just that my father was so certain that his lack of belief in the Granolith is what led to the downfall of Antar the first time. I don’t want to be caught in the same trap.”

“You’re not, Max,” said Isabel. “Liz is right, the Granolith is safe here. Especially, if we use our powers to block it in with rocks so that nobody can get to it.”

“That’s a good idea, Max admitted. Still, before we leave, I want to examine the perimeter of this outcropping.”

“Hey, I’m the general,” Michael protested in mock anger. “I get to give those orders.”

“Do you kids take anything seriously?” asked Cal. “You don’t even know if what you did succeeded, and here you all are, making jokes.”

“Excuse me, Cal,” Michael said. “We know exactly what we’re doing, now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go check the surrounding area.”

He pushed past the others and climbed through the pods to the outer chamber. A small breeze of warm air filtered, indicating that Michael had opened the door to the outside world.

“I’m going to go help Michael,” she told the others, shooting Cal a baleful look. “You know Cal, you don’t know anything about us, or what we’re capable of. And you definitely don’t know anything about Michael. Maybe you’d do better to keep you’re comments to yourself until you do.” She glared at him one more time before she climbed through the pods.

“Wow, is she pissed,” said Isabel. “And I can’t say that I blame her. Cal, you don’t know us. We get why you stayed away, but you need to get that we know what we’re doing. And by the way, that keeping us at arms length act of yours isn’t working, so you might as well give it up. You care about us, almost as much as Michael wants to care about you. The two of you are so much alike. You hold yourselves apart from people so you won’t get hurt. In the end you end up hurting worse than ever.”

“I guess it worked,” Kyle whispered to Max. “Can you feel it?”

“Yeah, it’s almost like it’s tangible. Is this how it is for you, all the time?” Max asked, watching a chastened Cal follow Isabel out of the chamber.

“Pretty much,” admitted Kyle. “That stuff your father taught me helped a lot, and I found some other stuff in the book translation that helped some. You know, someday, one of us has to read that thing cover to cover,” he said, referring to the fact that none of them had ever managed to read the complete translation of the two destiny books.

“Let’s seal of the entrance to this thing,” said Max. “Then we can help Michael and Liz and get back to town.

They made short work of concealing the chamber that housed the Granolith. Outside, Max and Kyle joined the others in their search of the area surrounding the Granolith. Relieved that they found nothing out of the ordinary, they prepared to head back to town.

“Wait a second,” said Michael, standing outside of the Sheriff’s Bronco. He shaded his eyes and looked on top of the giant sandstone outcropping. Without a word, he sprinted towards the giant rock and began scaling its rugged sides.

“Hey!” he shouted when he reached the apex of the monolith. “You’d better get up here, we have a problem!”

The others climbed out of the car and began scaling the sandstone outcropping with varying degrees of skill. Kyle reached the pinnacle first and stood beside Michael, looking at something in the ground.

“Damn,” he said to Michael. “What is it?”

“How the hell do I know,” said Michael. “Alex is the science geek, not me.”

“Excuse me?” said Liz, as she struggled to pull herself up. “Alex is the science geek? What am I, chopped liver? Thanks,” she added when Kyle and Michael reached down to pull her up. “Huh, look at that. Anybody know what it is?”

“Remember the science geek conversation?” said Kyle. “You’re the one who said you were one of them.”

“Well, yeah, biology,” said Liz. “Alex is the techno geek.” She turned to look at Max and Isabel, who had since reached the top as well. “Any ideas?” she asked. “I’m going with transmitter of some sort.”

“You’re probably right. Question is, whose transmitter is it?”

“It’s Gadori,” said Cal, quietly. “See the writing on its base? That’s Gadorian.”

“Do you suppose this means they located the Granolith?” asked Michael.

“Honestly, no,” said Cal. “If they had, they would have been here already and tried to take it. My guess is that they sent it down with their troops for communication. It’s only a coincidence that it landed here.”

“I bet the impact of that is what caused the rock slide inside,” said Isabel.

“And it’s what knocked all of us unconscious as well,” said Cal. “The signal it emits rendered us all unconscious until our bodies adapted to it.”

“Why?” asked Max.

“I don’t claim to know how it works, but I’ve seen it work before. When we brought the ship down in 47 in New York. We activated the cloaking device to hide the ship, but the signal also knocked people out in about a hundred yard radius,” Cal explained.

“What happens if we destroy it?” asked Kyle.

“I don’t know,” admitted Cal. “I don’t think they’re hiding a ship out here. Even they couldn’t be that dumb.”

Liz pulled off her jean jacket and dropped it over the transmitter, her eyes scanning the surrounding desert as she did.

“Hey, over there, look!” she shouted, pointing into the desert.

Everyone looked to where she pointed and saw the landscape begin to shimmer and shift as a small ship faded in and out of sight. Exited, Liz reached down and pulled her jacket off the transmitter, and the landscape solidified, showing only rocks and a few scrubby trees.

“Yeah, they were that dumb,” she said with a smile. “Now, all we have to do is figure out a way to get most of them out to their ship and destroy it, and them at the same time.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Three – Pop Goes the Gadori

Max gave Liz a worried look, she sounded almost gleeful at the thought of destroying the Gadori, and that wasn’t like her at all. Out of all of them, Liz was usually the most pacific; she abhorred violence of any type and usually worked to find peaceful solution. Not that she wasn’t above defending herself or those she cared about, she just didn’t take much joy in it.

Max slid an arm around Liz and squeezed gently.

“Don’t worry, Max,” she said. “I’m not turning into a homicidal maniac or anything, I simply want them gone, and hey, if they want to be stupid and park their ship where we can see it, why not use it to our advantage?”

“What did you say?” asked Kyle.

“I said if they want to be stupid and park their ship,”

“No, not that part,” Kyle interrupted. “The first part.”

“I told Max not to worry, and that I wasn’t turning into a homicidal maniac,” repeated Liz. “Why?”

“Max didn’t say he was worried about you becoming a homicidal maniac,” explained Kyle. “He was, but he didn’t say it, so how’d you know?”

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

“You know what this means, don’t you?” asked Kyle, a giant grin splitting his face. “It worked.”

“I don’t feel anything,” grumbled Michael.

“No offense, Michael,” said Kyle. “But you have he emotional range and depth of a teaspoon, if it wasn’t going to work with someone, it figures it would be you.”

“I have more emotional range and depth than a teaspoon,” Michael said in an injured tone.

“Yeah, he’s moved all the way up to tablespoon,” Isabel whispered to Liz.

“If you guys are done,” said Max. “We need to figure out a way to get a majority of the Gadori out to their ship at the same time.”

“I may know a way,” Cal said, eyeing the transmitter. “Like I said, I’m not totally familiar with how it works, but I do know how to work it.”

“What?” asked Max.

“It’s like a car,” said Cal. “You know how to drive one, but you don’t know how it works.”

“I know how cars work,” said Kyle, to nobody in particular.

“What does that have to do with anything, Kyle?” Isabel asked.

“Nothing, really,” he admitted, sheepishly.

“Well, can we focus on this then?” asked Isabel. “We’ll admire your prowess with a wrench later on.”

“Should I continue now?” asked Cal. “Or does somebody have another witty yet inane comment to make?”

“No, I’m done,” said Kyle. “Michael, how about you?”

“I’m good,” said Michael. “Liz, you all set?”

“I’m fine,” said Liz, with a grin. “Isabel?”

“No, I’m good,” said Isabel with a resigned sigh. “Max?”

“No, I’m all set,” said Max, shooting Cal his famous Tom Cruise grin. “Look Cal, you may not like it, but this is how we deal with all the crap we’ve been forced to face these past few years. Now tell us about the transmitter.”

Cal choked back the angry words that threatened to spill out at their irreverent behavior. Maybe Max had a point, he didn’t know them, and he didn’t have any right to criticize their coping mechanisms. After all, they’d been successful so far.

“Okay, the two buttons on the left are what activate and deactivate the cloaking mechanism,” said Cal. “But if you press them simultaneously, they emit a danger signal. If the Gadori run true to form, they’ll rendezvous at the ship.”

“Giving us a chance to take them out,” said Michael. “Nice, simple, effective, I like it.”

“I’m so glad the General approves,” said Cal, his voice laced with sarcasm. “And if you hadn’t, we wouldn’t do it, right?”

“Wrong,” said Michael. “We’re a team, we work together. If someone doesn’t like an idea, we listen to alternative suggestions, and try and come up with something we all agree on.”

“Damn stupid way to run an army,” muttered Cal. “When I was the king’s second, I,”

“We are not an army, and you are not the kings second any longer,” Michael ground out between clenched teeth. “The sooner you realize that, the better. Maxwell, I’ll meet you down below.”

Michael climbed down the rocky path at a breakneck speed, sliding the last hundred feet to the bottom.

“You know, you’re a real ass,” said Max, glaring at Cal. “My father probably gave you that stupid assignment just to get you the hell out of his life. I’m going to go check on Michael,” he added, turning to Liz. “Have him activate it, will you? Be careful on your way down.”

“Why are you riding him so hard?” Isabel demanded. “You don’t know him, you don’t know any of us. What the hell is your problem, Cal?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but turned and started down the same steep path Max and Michael had used.

“Not a smart move, man,” said Kyle. He folded his arms and assessed Cal. “Not smart at all. Don’t try to play us to get us motivated to fight, it’s not how we work.”

“And how do you work, Little Buddha?” asked Cal. “This isn’t a game; you’re soldiers, fighting a war. You seem to keep forgetting that.”

“You know, I’m beginning to thing Michael, Isabel and Max were lucky you stayed out of their lives,” said Liz. “We know this isn’t a game. We’re fighting for our lives, again. What you don’t seem to understand, Cal is that for better or worse, we have to do it our way, on our terms. We’re stronger together than apart, and you’re trying to push us father apart. Why?”

“I’m not trying to drive you apart,” said Cal, struggling to understand what Liz was saying.

“You’ve been on this planet for over fifty years, Cal, haven’t you learned anything about people in all that time? Did you let anybody get close to you in all that time?”

Even as she asked the question, Liz realized with a growing sense of sadness that Cal hadn’t let anyone get close to him. He had kept the largest portion of himself separate from the people he came in contact with. He was, in essence, the same general that left Antar fifty years ago. He wasn’t playing at being a general, he was that general.

Liz looked at Kyle and saw the compassion she was feeling mirrored in his eyes. He walked over to the transmitter and pressed the two buttons Cal shown them earlier.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go clean up this mess so we can get to Antar and clean up that mess.”

** * ** * ** * **

Kyle waited on top of the sandstone mass, while the others spread out around its base. Several Gadori emerged from the ship almost immediately, and Michael made short work of them, firing bolt after bolt of energy at them.

After several hours, the first group of Gadori’s arrived, pouring out of a mini van like clowns climbing out of a mini car at a circus. Liz counted ten of them as Max and Michael fired on them, and Kyle rained energy bolts on them from above. Liz Cal and Isabel circled around the ship, to ensure that none of the Gadori managed to escape that way.

One by one they picked off the new arrivals, smiling grim smiles with every Gadori that fell. The doors to the ship opened once again, and three Gadori crept out and tried to circle around the back of the ship to make their way to the transmitter. Liz raised her hand before Cal or Isabel could react and killed them quickly.

“That was for Jose, Fred, and Agnes,” she said, tears glistening in her eyes.

Isabel rubbed Liz’s back gently, trying to absorb some of the pain the other girl felt.

“Don’t Liz, let it go,” she said. “You’re hurting, but revenge isn’t going to bring them back, and it’s not going to make you feel better.”

“I know,” Liz sniffed, wiping a tear that off of her cheek. “I know.”

Cal watched in amazement, trying to reconcile with the somewhat selfish Vilondra he remembered from Antar. Maybe had she had a chance to live, his niece would have matured the way her incarnation obviously had.

The battle raged on intermittently until sunset. Max estimated that they had eliminated nearly 30 of the Gadori. He whistled up to Kyle and signaled him to come back down. Liz, Isabel and Cal made their way back to the base of the, reaching the others at the same time as Kyle.

“How many do you think we got?” he asked.

Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper, with some writing on it.

“I counted forty six,” he said. “I was trying to keep count. I might have missed a couple though,” he admitted.

“We need an accurate count,” Michael said. “Liz, do you think you could hide Max and I with a mind warp so we can go out there and count bodies?”

“I can try,” said Liz.

She focused all her energy on Max and Michael, and they faded from sight. They hurried over to the ship, counting bodies as they did. They were back in several minutes, with an accurate count.

“Good job, Kyle,” Max said. “It was forty six. That means if Isabel’s dream walk was accurate, there are only four more out there.”

“That’s not quite accurate,” said Cal, jumping up. He fired two quick bolts of energy over Max’s head, dropping to more Gadori that had just arrived. “Damn, that felt good!”

“What’s next?” asked Liz, taken aback by the look of glee that appeared on Cal’s face when he killed the Gadori.

“We go back to Antar,” came Max’s response.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Four – Malfunctions

Liz opened the storage closet in their apartment and removed the belts Alex had created on Antar that would allow them to travel back to the planet. When she located them, she backed out of the closet and looked around the apartment that she and Max had painstakingly decorated. She couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding that filled her. She felt like this was the last time she’d ever see her apartment again.

She crossed the living room and sat in the ugly leather recliner that Max had insisted he had to have, calling it his throne.

‘Zan may have the real one,’ he’d said. ‘But this one is mine.’

She smiled to herself as she remembered Kyle, ever the practical joker, making the wall above the recliner glow with the Antarian Royal seal every time Max sat in it one night.

“Liz, Liz, where are you?” Max called, rushing through the back door into their small kitchen.

“I’m in here!” she yelled, jumping up from the recliner as Max ran into the living room. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Michael, he’s missing,” Max said, his face white with fear.

“What?” cried Liz. “What happened? I just left the two of you less than half an hour ago.”

“Oh, you did?” asked Max. “Damn, that blows that plan.” As he spoke, the figure before her changed from Max into Mrs. Jackson, the woman who had accused her of killing Agnes. “No matter, though it would have been far more entertaining for me to kill you while I looked like your husband.”

“You can try,” said Liz. “But I don’t think you’ll succeed.” She reached out and grabbed the woman by the arm and yanked her towards her. As the figure moved closer, she shape shifted back into the image of Max. Liz placed her other hand against the Gadori’s chest and fired several quick bolts of energy into her chest, killing her instantly.

“Oh God, oh God,” Liz whispered, clutching her stomach, overwhelmed by what had just occurred. She knelt down beside the pile of ash, and rocked back and forth, trying to stop the shivers that consumed her body.

“Liz!” a voice called. “Are you in here?”

Liz continued holding her stomach and rocking as Kyle walked into the room.

“Liz! What happened? Are you hurt?” he cried. Kyle knelt down beside her and wrapped his arms around his friend and held her tightly as she sobbed, releasing all the pent up emotion she had contained for so long.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered, stroking her hair gently. “It’s okay, Liz. “Don’t worry.”

They sat together on the floor, one comforting, one crying, undisturbed until Max returned home. Kyle held up a restraining hand to Max, while his other hand still stroked Liz’s hair.

“Liz, it’s okay, Max is here. I want you to look up and see him,” said Kyle.

“What happened?” Max asked softly. “Was somebody else,” he paused, unable to bring himself to ask if somebody they knew and cared abut had died.

Kyle shifted slightly, and the remains of the Gadori came into view.

“Are you all right, Liz?” he asked. “Who was that? Was it one of them?”

“It wu-was you,” Liz sobbed. “I k-killed you.”

“Liz, I’m right here,” Max said, reasonably. “You killed one of the Gadori, not me.

“You’re wrong, Max,” Liz said venomously. “God, I was so blasé when Maria killed Rath. I spouted cheerful platitudes. I’m surprised she didn’t kill me.”

“Maria did what she had to do, and so did Alex for that matter when he killed Lonnie, and you did exactly what you had to do to stay alive.”

“Wonderful, let’s see how you feel when the next Gadori you kill has my face,” said Liz. She turned her face back to Kyle’s chest and began to sob again.

“Max, you’d better leave,” Kyle said stroking Liz’s back, gently. “You’re not helping, in fact, you’re making matters worse.”

“Kyle, she’s my wife,” Max said obstinately. “I’m not leaving.”

“Well why don’t you try helping, then Max. Try listening to her with your heart,” said Kyle. “Stop blocking her emotions. I can feel you doing it. Open yourself up to what she’s feeling. She needs you.”

Max flushed an unbecoming shade of red, knowing that Kyle was correct. He had been purposely blocking the emotions that were pouring off of Liz. He remembered how bad Kyle felt when he first started feeling the effects of his empathic power, and he wasn’t sure he could handle the burden as gracefully as Kyle had done.

“Liz,” he said, kneeling down beside his wife. “I’m sorry. Please let me help you.” He held his arms open, and Liz fell into them with a sob. He watched gratefully as Kyle stood up and left the room quietly.

“Max, it was horrible,” said Liz. He came in here looking exactly like you, but when I realized it wasn’t you, he shifted into that woman who accused me of killing Agnes. Then, when I reached out to kill her, she changed back into you. I was so afraid for just a spit second that I had actually killed you, and I fell apart.”

“God, Liz, that must have been horrific for you,” said Max, brushing her hair back from her face. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. But Liz, it’s over, it really is, and as hard as it may be, you need to put it aside, we need to go back to Antar. We are not going to forget about this Liz. I promise you, we will talk about it, but right now, I think the safest thing for all of us to do is get the hell out of Roswell.”

Liz scrubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and smiled weakly at her husband. She had felt it the second he stopped blocking her and opened himself up to her emotions. She needed, with every fiber of his being, for him to make that connection with her. She didn’t know why it meant so much to her, but it did, and she was glad he had.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here,” she agreed, quietly. She scrambled to her feet and took one last look around the small apartment she had called home for the past several months and smiled to herself. The feelings of intense foreboding and danger were gone, at least for now.

Together with Kyle, they traveled out to the pod chamber where Michael, Isabel and Cal were waiting for them. Kyle gave them a brief overview of what had happened back in town while Max and Liz readied the belts for travel. After giving Cal a brief explanation of how the belts worked, they strapped them on and activated them. After several minutes, it was apparent that nothing was going to happen.

“Something must be blocking them,” said Isabel. “Either that, or Alex did something to them from his end.”

“Can he do that?” asked Michael.

“Alex can probably do just about anything with the right tools and a computer,” said Isabel, her voice tinged with equal amounts of pride and frustration.

“This is just great!” shouted Kyle in an uncharacteristic display of temper. He took his belt off and threw it across the chamber, striking the control panel of the Granolith. “I have to get up there,” said Kyle. “Ava needs me! I have to get to her!”

“Yeah, great, you think you’re the only one anxious to get back there!” Michael shouted. “But we’re screwed, the belts don’t work, and the only person with the slightest chance of fixing them is already on Antar. What the hell do you want us to do?”

“Why can’t we use the Granolith?” asked Isabel. “It’s how I got here, remember?”

“No,” said Max, immediately. “Zan would have called it back right way, unless he wanted it left here for safe keeping. We can’t risk bringing it back. Damn it, there’s got to be another way.”

“There is,” said Cal, softly, but nobody paid any attention to him.

“Liz, can you figure out what’s wrong with the belts?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I doubt it. Alex explained the basic operation to me, but I wouldn’t even begin to know how to fix them. We’d have a better chance of stealing the Gadori’s ship and flying it back to Antar.”

“I can do that,” said Cal.

“What are you ranting on about?” Michael shouted. “Wait, what did you just say?” he asked in a quieter tone as Cal’s earlier words finally penetrated his consciousness.

“I said I could fly that Gadori ship out there. We can take that back to Antar.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty – Five – Take Out and Take Off

They waited until night cloaked the desert before they boarded the Gadori ship. Michael, following Cal’s instructions deactivated and destroyed the cloaking device. They didn’t want to take any chances of having it discovered because it was located virtually on top of the Granolith.

Cal activated a control panel on the outside of the ship, and a door slowly opened, allowing them access into the dimly lit interior of the Gadori ship. Cal and Michael took the lead into the ship, while Kyle brought up the rear, effectively cocooning Max, Liz and Isabel in an effort to keep them safe.

“This is eerie,” said Isabel, once they were inside. “But it’s nothing at all like I thought it would be.”

“You were expecting suspended animation pods?” asked Cal, wryly.

“Well, yeah, I guess, I mean what do we know about any of this stuff, anyhow?” Isabel responded.

“Apparently, not much,” said Cal with a grin. “I suppose you didn’t do much learning when you were at the Training Academy, what with saving the planet and all.”

Michael was about to make an angry response when he noticed the grin playing on Cal’s face. He took a deep breath and forced himself to relax.

“Yeah, that playing the hero really got in the way of our educations,” he said, matching Cal’s smile with one of his own.

Cal stopped and did a double take, amazed at receiving even the smallest sign of acceptance from Michael. He moved up to the front of the ship and started explaining the control panel to Max, Isabel and Kyle. Liz reached out and grabbed Michael by the arm, holding him back slightly.

“Are you okay?” she whispered. “I could tell that was really difficult for you.”

“Lay off, will ya, Liz?” Michael said, jerking his arm away. Any display of emotion made him uncomfortable; a display of his emotion made him downright irritable.

“Look, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she said. “But right now, I can feel everything you’re feeling, and I don’t think it’s very healthy for you to keep it bottled up inside like that.”

“Look, Liz, it’s bad enough when Maria wants me to get all in touch with my emotions, I’m sure as hell not going to do it with you,” Michael said, his voice tinged with anger.

“I’m sorry I interfered,” said Liz, turning away. “I just thought maybe you might want to talk about, ouch” she cried, her face muffled by Michael Guerin’s body on top of her. She started to push him away when she saw a blast of energy pass over Michael’s body, followed by a deafening blast, and then an eerie silence.

“Max!” she screamed, pushing ineffectually at Michael’s body.

“Get out! Get out! Get out! Get out now!” Cal shouted, using his powers to blast the door open.

“Come on, Liz, get up,” Michael said. He pushed himself up off of her and grabbed her arm and yanked her up. He shoved her in the direction of the door, and she struggled through the smoke filled cabin of the ship towards the door.

“Max, where are you?” she coughed. She tripped over something and struggled not to scream when she realized it was Isabel’s body. Forcing back the tears, she reached down and grabbed the older girl under the arms and began to drag her out of the craft.

A coughing and choking Kyle struggled across the burning debris of what used to be the console and lifted Isabel’s legs, helping Liz carry their friend to safety. Once they were a safe distance from the ship, they gently placed Isabel’s body on the ground. Liz watched the ship, a nervous expression on her face. She chewed on her lower lip anxiously, waiting hopefully to see her husband walk out.

“Liz, look!” Kyle said, pointing towards the ship. Liz jumped up and started to run across towards the Gadori ship when she realized that Cal and Michael were carrying Max between them.

“Go, get back, get to the pod chamber!” Cal yelled. “It’s going to blow up.”

She stood there, frozen ignoring Cal, her full attention focused on Max. Kyle raced up and grabbed her and pulled her back towards Isabel’s body.

“Help me get her inside,” he said to her. “Liz, help me,” he said again, this time, shaking her.

Liz finally bent down and grabbed Isabel’s legs, and helped Kyle bring her into the pod chamber. He ran back outside and helped Michael and Cal bring in Max’s body. Once they had Max on the floor next to Isabel, he rushed outside again, without a word to anybody.

“Valenti, are you crazy?” Michael shouted. “Get your ass back in here!”

Kyle ran back in and the door to the chamber slid shut behind him just as a deafening explosion filled the air. The ground beneath their feet rocked, throwing Kyle and Michael to the their knees.

“Are you insane?” Michael shouted. “Why’d you go back out there, you asshole? Never mind, we don’t have time for that, we need to take care of Max and Isabel.”

“They’re both alive,” said Cal, kneeling between the siblings. I don’t think either of them took a direct blast but they were shocked when the control panel got fried. What the hell happened in there, anyhow?”

“There was a Gadori in the back of the ship,” said Kyle. I saw him step out and take aim at the three of you. I tried to fire and throw up a shield, but I wasn’t quick enough.” He shook his head mournfully. He felt like a totally failure, not protecting his friends.

“And I saw Kyle,” continued Michael, picking up the story where Kyle had left off. “I didn’t know what was going on, but I got Liz out of the line of fire.”

“Thank you,” Liz said, lifting her tear streaked face to look at Michael.

“Hey, I may be emotionally uptight as Maria puts it, but I’m not a total idiot,” said Michael. “Don’t worry, Liz. They’re going to be okay. We’ve come too far to let something like this stop us.” He reached out and gave her hand a quick squeeze.

“Wait, Max is starting to come around,” said Cal.

Liz pulled her hand from Michael’s and swung around and squeezed Max’s hand.

“Max, can you hear me?” she said, softly. “Max?”

“Liz?” Max whispered. “What happened? I feel like,” he paused. “I don’t know what I feel like, but it isn’t good. Are Cal, Kyle and Isabel okay?”

“Cal’s fine, and so is Kyle,” Liz said in her quiet voice. “But Isabel is still unconscious. I’m not sure what’s wrong. Cal thinks maybe you guys were shocked or something when the control panel got hit.”

“I’m sorry Max,” said Kyle, jumping into the conversation. “If I had reacted faster, none of this would have happened. I didn’t get the shied up in time after I fired.”

“We don’t have time for guilt, Kyle,” Max said, sitting up with a groan. “Let me take a look at Isabel.”

He held his hand over his sister, and tried to heal her but nothing happened. He tried again, beads of perspiration forming on his forehead and upper lip as he tried to summon the energy necessary to heal Isabel.

“I can’t,” he said, falling back with a gasp. “I don’t have the energy to heal an ant, let alone a human being. Michael, you try it,” he said suddenly. Max knew that Michael and Isabel shared a special bond. Maybe the strength of that would help Michael access his latent healing powers and help Isabel.

Michael didn’t waste any time. He knelt down next to Isabel and placed his hands on her midsection, and focused all his energy on her body, trying to heal her.

As Liz watched Michael try and heal Isabel. She saw them trying to heal Jim Valenti on Antar, then she flashed to them trying to activate the Granolith just a few days ago. Quickly, she placed her hand on top of Michael’s, and signaled to Kyle with her eyes to join them.

Kyle grabbed Cal’s hand and placed it on top of Liz’s, then put his on top. Max reached out and added his hand to the group, and all of them focused.

Liz could feel the energy coursing through her. She felt more alive, more connected to her friends than she ever had before. She knew every thought they had ever had, and every feeling they had ever felt. Their power was hers, and hers was theirs. She knew the exact second Isabel regained consciousness, and as one, they all removed their hands.

“That was incredible,” said Max. “I’ve never felt anything like that before in my life.”

“Would someone care to explain what’s going on?” asked Isabel. “And why I feel like I have enough energy to run a marathon?”

They made short work of explaining what happened to both Max and Isabel, leaving nothing out. Isabel turned on Kyle, her face a mask of fury.

“Why did you go back out there, you idiot? How could you put yourself in danger like that? Ava, not to mention all of us, would go crazy if something happened to you.”

“I had to, Isabel. In about five minutes, there is going to be a circus out there,” said Kyle. “Everyone is going to want to see the UFO that crashed to Earth. The one our parents think we were on. They’re going to think we’re dead.”

“Oh, God,” Liz moaned, softly. “What are we going to do? We have to let them know.”

“I already did,” said Kyle. “That’s why I went outside and carved a message into the side of the rock.”

“Oh great, Kyle, nothing like drawing attention to ourselves,” said Michael.

“Relax, Michael, I have a little bit more sense than that,” said Kyle. “I left my uniform number a hyphen and a 5 and an OK.”

“Cryptic much?” asked Michael. “Who’s going to know what that means?”

“My dad,” said Kyle, smiling smugly. “We agreed on that code a long time ago. That way he’d know that I, and whoever was with me, was safe if there we ever found ourselves in a situation where we couldn’t communicate.”

“Oh, well, in that case,” said a chastened Michael. “Let’s focus on the problem at hand, no ship, no way to Antar.”

“I know you’re against this, Max, but there’s still the Granolith,” Liz said, fingering the transport belt she still wore. She opened her mouth to say more, but before she could speak, the belt activated, and she disappeared from sight.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Six Homecoming

Liz landed with a bump in the small hidden tunnel room they had used for meetings when they first came to Antar. Secreted under the Training Academy, it provided them with access to the city proper, as well as a place to plan, strategize and just relax.

She looked around the small room, smiling slightly at the memories that filled her mind. They had come back to Antar several times to visit, but Liz had never returned to their small sanctuary before now. Several cans of chicken noodle soup were stacked in a small pyramid in the corner, remnants of the food supplies their parents had sent when they were fighting Kivar.

Idly, she picked up the sign that Ava and Alex had made that read Antarian Eraser Room. How they laughed when they had first seen the sign. It was one of the many times they had relied on humor to get them through a bleak situation. She sat down on one of the dilapidated chairs and waited for Max and the others to arrive.

A scraping noise in the tunnel alerted Liz to potential danger, and she dove behind one of the chairs, and held her breath, waiting

“Searching here is a waste of time,” a voice echoed from the bowels of the tunnel. “They wouldn’t come back here, even the Royal Family isn’t that stupid.”

“Lord Kivar said to search, so we search,” responded another voice. “What we think doesn’t matter. In fact, if you want to stay alive, you’ll forget about thinking, and concentrate on following orders.”

“Fine,” the first voice grumbled. “I’ll go up and check it out, you wait here.”

Liz drew herself into a small ball, and tried to control her quaking limbs. Fear coursed through her body, causing her teeth to chatter. She bit down on her lip, trying to still the chattering, and struggled to relax her mind enough to mind warp the soldier into not seeing her.

Please, God, she prayed. Do not let Max and the others show up now.

She peered around the side of the chair and watched as the guard came into view. He made a cursory search of the small room, never once noticing the huddled shape of Liz hiding by the chair. Liz waited anxiously, hardly daring to breath until she was certain he, and his companion were gone. After several minutes had passed, she allowed herself to relax. She stood up; her limbs so shaky they could barely support her, and drew a deep breath.

“I don’t think I can go through this again,” she whispered to the empty room. Even as the words passed her lips, she knew they were untrue. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do to help her friends.

A slight tremor alerted her to the fact that the others were arriving, and one by one, Max, Michael, Kyle, Isabel and Cal appeared. Cal looked more than a bit shaken up at this new method of travel.

“Remind me never to complain about space travel again,” he said removing the belt as quickly as he could. “That was absolutely horrific.”

“Liz, are you okay?” Max said, quickly moving to stand next to his wife.

“Yeah, but we probably shouldn’t stay here too long,” Liz responded. “You just missed a couple of Kivar’s men searching for us.”

“They didn’t hurt you, did they?” Max asked.

“Right, Max, the big bad soldiers came in here, found a member of the Royal Family, and just left her here,” said Kyle. “Stop thinking like a husband and think like a soldier why don’t ya.”

“Sorry,” Max said, his voice sheepish. “That was rather lame of me. Kyle, what are you doing?” he asked when he noticed his friend was removing a section of shelving they had installed on the wall.

“You’ll see,” Kyle said. He pulled the shelving off the wall and revealed a hidden door. He opened the door and reached in and pulled out several rolled sheets of paper, a several backpacks, a large crate, and a small white box.

“What’s all that?” Michael asked, pointing at the pile.

“These are maps of all the tunnels, and passageways under the city,” said Kyle. “As well as complete architectural plans of the palace. This contains more transport belts, as well as several prototypes of weapons that Zan’s people were working on. And these,” he said, hefting the backpacks are Antarian clothing.”

“Good thinking,” Cal commented. “But why weapons? We’ve never used weapons.”

“And that’s exactly why Zan decided to have some of his science and technology people work on some prototypes,” Max explained. “We certainly weren’t looking to fight, but if we had to, we wanted more on our side than just the fire power our bodies could generate.”

“I’m impressed,” Cal said, grudgingly. “You certainly planned your mini arsenal well.”

“Yeah, well, it was actually Michael’s idea,” said Kyle. “He got everything. I was just in charge of finding a place to hide it in case we ever needed it.”

“I’d forgotten about that,” said Michael.

“So did I,” Kyle admitted. “Until I saw the shelves, then I remembered.” He knelt down and busied himself removing clothing from the packs and passing them to Isabel. She, in turn laid them on the various pieces of furniture.

“Kyle, what’s that in the box?” Liz asked, as she spread the maps out on the table.

“Box, oh, uh, what box,” said Kyle.

“Kyle, don’t tell me,” said Isabel, trying to contain her laughter.

“Okay, fine, they’re Ho Ho’s, okay? I stashed a box in case of emergency. Do you have a problem with that?”

“Am I missing something here?” Cal asked Liz.

“Not really,” Liz said, smiling. “It’s just that Kyle’s love of Ho Ho’s is legendary. Him stashing a box here is just typical.

Cal stepped back and watched the interaction between the five as they unpacked and studied the various maps. They were an intriguing contradiction, a blend of child and warrior. Watching them plan, he was starting to believe that they might have a chance after all.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty – Seven – Arrival

“Is everyone ready?” Michael asked, rolling up the last of the maps. They had agreed to take everything of value out of the small room because it was no longer a sanctuary for them.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” said Isabel. “But I’m telling you know, if that psycho has made another Vilondra clone, I’m going to get really mad.

“If he’s done that, I wouldn’t worry too much,” said Max, slinging a pack over his shoulder. “Alex will kill him for you.”

“Can we just get out of here,” said Kyle, bouncing nervously on the balls of his feet. “The sooner we get to the palace, the better I’ll feel.”

“Yeah, let’s move out,” said Max. “Isabel, are you almost done with the clothing for Cal?”

Isabel nodded, and passed her hand over the pile of clothing in her lap. “Here, that should fit well enough,” she said, passing the clothing to Cal. “Why don’t you just go into the tunnel and change? We’ll wait here.”

“Bossy thing, isn’t she,” he said to Max, who smiled at Cal’s observation.

“Wait until you meet your daughter-in-law,” he replied, his grin growing larger. “She gives bossy a completely new definition.”

“You know, with that smile, you could give Tom Cruise some serious competition,” said Cal. “But I suppose my movie making days are over,” he added with a sigh. “Antarians are not big on the art, at least not from their soldiers,” he added, cryptically.

While Cal changed, the others changed their appearances, so that when Cal returned, he faced a room full of strangers.

“Nice trick,” he said. “I could have used all of you in some of my movies. I would have saved a fortune on make-up.” While the others laughed appreciatively, Cal thumped himself gently on the head and groaned.

“Listen to me,” he said. “I’m using humor in inappropriate situations to ease tension. I’m turning into one of you.”

“Welcome to our world, Langley,” Michael said. “Now let’s get out there. Cal, you’re going to go with Kyle and Isabel out through the tunnels. Max, Liz and I are going to go up through the Training Academy and see what we can find out. We’ll meet you in two hours in the tunnel that leads up into the palace.”

“I don’t have to tell any of you to be careful,” Max added. “Do your best to blend in, and don’t draw any suspicion to yourselves, and Kyle,”

“Yeah, yeah, I know, take care of Isabel, and if anything happens to her, you’ll kill me,” said Kyle with a grin.

“Well, yeah, that too, I guess,” said Max, holding up a hand in an attempt to stop the diatribe he knew Isabel was ready to vent. “But what I was going to say is that you an Isabel should watch out for Cal. It’s been a while since he’s been here, and we don’t know how it will effect him.”

“Nice save,” Michael whispered to Max. “Think she bought it?”

“We can only hope,” Max whispered back with a smile. He couldn’t help but be concerned for his sister; he could feel her anger and fear when she made that comment about Kivar creating another Vilondra clone.

The group made their goodbyes, and Kyle and Isabel led Cal through the tunnel and out into the city. As soon as they were out of sight, Michael opened the door to their hideaway and stepped out into the deserted hallway. He looked around and motioned for Max and Liz to join him, and the three began the journey upward into the school proper.

Michael slowly eased the door that led into the main hallway part way open, and closed it just as quickly.

“What is it?” asked Liz, nervously. “What did you see, Michael?”

“Classes are in session,” he said. “It’s like nothing’s happened.”

“What?” Max asked. “Are you sure?”

“Max, I am entirely too familiar with the glazed look a student has when he’s going to class versus the look in his eyes when he’s fighting for his life,” said Michael. “Having experienced both myself in recent years.”

“This is so not the time for levity, Michael,” Max said. “We need to find out what’s going on, because if what you’re saying is true, it isn’t right.”

“What he’s saying is true, Max,” Liz said as she looked out into the hallway.

Max pushed past Liz and looked out into the hallway. He turned back to Michael and Liz, a puzzled expression on his face.

“What are you two talking about?” he asked in confusion. “The hallway is deserted, and there are blast burns all over the walls.”

“That’s not funny, Max,” Liz said. “Didn’t you just say this wasn’t the time to be funny?”

“I’m not kidding, Liz, look,” said Max. He stepped away from the door and Liz peered out into the hallway. When she turned back to Max and Michael, her face was white.

“Max, I swear to you, there were people out there just a minute ago; students walking to classes, and instructors waiting outside classroom doors. I don’t understand it.”

“I believe you Liz,” Max said.

“Great, you believe us,” said Michael. “The question is, now what?”

“I don’t know,” Max admitted. “Liz, what are you doing?” He looked at Liz, who was on her knees, crawling on the ground.

“I’m looking for a rock,” she said.

“Oh, okay,” said Max, his mind still on the problem at hand.

“Got one,” Liz said, jumping up. “Michael, I want you to stand behind the door, and open it just enough for me to get my hand through.”

She knelt down on the floor by the door and nodded to Michael. When the door opened, she peered out and was gratified to see the hall filled with students again. She tossed the small rock out into the crowded hallway. She watched for a moment, and pulled her head back inside.

“Come on, we need to get out of here, fast,” she said. She began to run down the steps, Max and Michael following fast on her heels. She bypassed the hidden room, and continued down the passageway until she came to its end. She passed her hand over a panel concealed in the wall, and a door slid open. She started to walk through the doorway when Michael reached out and held her back.

“Generals before Queens,” he said, stepping in through the doorway. “Okay it’s clean,” he said, stepping back to allow Max and Liz to enter.

“Where is this place?” Max asked when they were inside.

“I don’t know,” Liz admitted. “I found it one time when I was exploring the tunnels.”

“Well, whatever it is,” said Michael. “I’m glad you knew about it, now does somebody want to explain to me what the hell is going on?”

“Do you remember when Che’koth first appeared in the Granolith to us?” Liz asked. “He wasn’t real, he was just an image, like a hologram.”

“That’s right,” said Max. “I’d forgotten about that.”

“Well, that’s what’s going on out there,” said Liz. “It’s a holographic image of some type set up to run in a loop. Michael and I saw it, but it had ended and hadn’t started replaying when you looked out. That means,”

“That means Kivar knows we’re coming, and we’re screwed,” said Michael.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Clandestine Encounter

“He knows we’re coming,” agreed Max. “But he doesn’t know we’re here. We have to make sure there aren’t any signs at all of our arrival in the tunnel room, and then get the hell out of here.”

“Not through the school,” said Michael.

“Not through the school,” agreed Max.

“We need to find the others,” said Liz. “And let them know what we’ve found.”

With a course of action established, Michael led them back to the tunnel room where they carefully ensured that there was no trace of their arrival. When all traces of their arrival were eradicated, Max pulled Liz aside.

“It’s not too late,” he said to her. “You can go back.”

“I’m not leaving, Max. You can’t make me, so you might as well forget about it,” she said, her voice resolute. “I’m not going home and leaving anyone behind. You’re the one who keeps reminding us that we’re stronger together than we are when we’re apart, and yet you’re trying to send me back. It doesn’t make sense Max.”

“Look, Liz, I’m not trying to start an argument with you,” Max explained. “I know how much you hate all of this, the fighting and the violence. I just wanted to give you a way out, if you wanted it.”

“Well I don’t, now lets get out of here and find out what’s going on,” she said. Liz pushed past him and Michael who had waited a discreet distance away and stalked off down the tunnel.

“Guess you’re sleeping on the couch tonight, Maxwell,” Michael said, a small grin playing on his face. He’d grown to respect, and even love Liz over the years. She’d proven to him on more than one occasion that Max’s healing her was the best thing that could have happened to any of them.

“Don’t start, Michael,” Max said. “Or I’ll tell Maria, well, I don’t know what I’ll tell Maria, but you can bet it will be good.”

“Oh, I’m quivering in my Antarian boots,” said Michael.

“Will the two of you shut up for a second,” said Liz, who stood waiting for them to catch up. “Where is that emergency tunnel your father had built, Max? I can’t remember its location, but I think we should find it and use it, just in case Kivar has people watching the other exit.”

“You’re just thinking of this now?” Michael demanded. “You couldn’t remember it before Isabel and Kyle used the regular exit?”

“Well excuse me, general,” Liz said, her voice filled with acid. “I didn’t realize that I was the only one responsible for the planning of strategic details. You know, I’m starting to think Cal is the one who is right. We’ve got a crisis of epic proportions on our hands, and you two are goofing around. We don’t have time for this.”

“Liz, relax, everything’s going to be fine,” Max said. “We’ll get through this like we do everything else.”

“I know,” Liz said. “I’m acting like a complete idiot, and I don’t know why. Michael, I’m sorry.” She reached out and placed her hand gently on his arm. “You’ve done everything right since all of this started happening. That’s no excuse for my outburst, but I hope you’ll say you forgive me.”

“Yeah, well, don’t worry about it,” said Michael, clearly uncomfortable with Liz’s outpouring of emotion. “Let’s just get the hell out of here and figure out what’s going on.”

Michael quickly located the second access tunnel and led out into a small back street behind the market place. The sounds that drifted back to them indicated that the market area was teeming with people.

“What day is it?” Michael asked. “Here, I mean?”

Max reached into his pocket and pulled out the Antarian equivalent of a watch and glanced at it.

“It’s Lanoch,” Max responded. “Around midday, why?”

That’s what I thought,” said Michael. “It’s not a market day, but it sounds as busy as hell out there. Something’s not right.”

“You think it’s another hologram?” Max asked.

“I don’t know what to think,” Michael admitted. “What about you, Liz? Do you have any ideas?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” she said. Both men waited expectantly to hear what she thought when to their amazement, she dashed off down the street towards the market place.

Max held out a restraining hand and stopped Michael from Liz.

“Let me go, we have to go after her,” he said, struggling to pull away from Max.

“I know this is going to sound weird, but we have to wait here. Liz will kill us if we go after her. She obviously has some plan in mind, and the best thing we can do is let her do it.”

“Who the hell are you, and what did you do with Max?” Michael asked, a bemused expression on his face.

“Don’t worry, Michael, she’s okay. I know it,” Max said, calmly.

“Well I’m going on record saying I don’t like it,” said Michael.

“Don’t like what?” a voice behind him asked.

“Liz going off on her; Jesus, don’t do that Liz. You scared me half to death.”

“Sorry, but I knew it would be okay,” she said.

“Yeah, and you knew this how?” asked Michael. “Psychic visions?”

“Something like that, yeah,” said Liz. “Listen, I can’t explain it, but I just knew it would be okay for me to go out there, and it was. Those are real people out there, not holograms, so we can go out that way and try and catch up with the others.”

“Fine, let’s go then,” said Michael, clearly displeased by Liz’s behavior, and Max’s reaction to it. Something was going on, but he didn’t have time to puzzle it out. “Let’s head out then, and if we get separated, meet at that restaurant where we used to meet Che’Koth.”

Max and Liz agreed, and the three set out towards the market place. As Liz had said, the area teemed with people, and it was easy for the three to lose themselves within the bustling crowds. The sights and sounds of the bustling market assailed their senses, bringing back a flood of memories, some happy, some not.

Max turned his gaze towards the palace, and felt a sense of relief wash over him when he saw that the royal flag of Antar still waved proudly over the city. Out of nowhere, a hand grabbed him, and pulled him out of the crowd and into a dimly lit building.

“Welcome back, Zan, or should I say Max? I’ve been expecting you.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Twenty-Nine – Escape


“What are you talking about?” said Max. “My name is Dracor Jabanion.

“I know who you are,” the stranger said. “Reveal your true self.”

“I told you, my name is Dracor Jabanion, and I’m late. I suggest you release me now.” As he spoke, Max looked over at Michael and Liz who watched the proceedings from a discreet distance. He tried to signal Liz with his eyes to just keep out of it. He was worried that Liz would try and interfere, but he knew Michael would do his best to stop her.

“You are going to come with me to the Palace, Lord Kivar will be quite interested to know that you are here,” said the stranger. “He instructed us to watch for you. He knew you’d be arriving. He was counting on your foolish sense of nobility. I’m pleased to know my Lord was right. I am sure I will receive a hefty.”

The stranger stopped speaking mid sentence and slumped against Max who caught him and held him upright.

“Thanks,” he said to Michael over the stranger’s body. Michael had managed to stun the stranger from behind while he talked to Max.

“No problem,” said Michael. “What do we do with him?”

“We’re bringing him with us,” said Liz. “Michael, get under his other arm. You and Max can carry him. If anyone stops us, we can just say he was celebrated Kivar’s return to power a little more than he should have.”

“Where are we going to go?” asked a clearly concerned Max. “If Kivar has taken the palace, we can’t go there.”

“We have to,” said Liz. “We have to try and catch up with Kyle and Isabel and stop them.”

“Liz is right,” said Michael. “Besides, I have an idea. Do you remember last time we came here? The Granolith brought us to a hidden room. Your father and the other resistance fighters had hidden most of the royal treasures in there.”

“That’s right,” said Max, smiling for the first time since their arrival on Antar. “And he told me one time that he was never going to reveal its location to anyone.”

“So if we can just get inside,” continued Liz, also grinning. We’ve at least got a home base to work from.”

“God, I love it when our lack of plans comes together,” said Michael. “Much as it pains me to say this, maybe Cal was right, and we need to focus a bit more.”

“Hey, you!” shouted a guardsman walking towards the small group.

“Shit,” whispered Max. “Now what.”

“What is wrong with this man?” demanded the guard. “And who are you?”

“Please sir,” said Liz. “He’s my father. We need to get him home before Mother realizes that he’s been out celebrating. Oh, she’s going to be home soon. We have to hurry.” Liz burst into tears. “Mother said if it happened again, she would throw him out.”

The guard roared with laughter and slapped Max on the back. “Be on with you then. We wouldn’t want to bring the wrath of your mother down on this poor man. What was he celebrating anyhow?” the guard added in an almost casual manner.

“Is there anything else to celebrate?” asked Michael. “He was celebrating the fact that Antar is sure to flourish under the new regime.” He held his breath as he waited to see if the guard believed him.

“And right he is,” said the guard. “Lord Kivar will see that we prosper. Go on, get your father home before your mother notices.”

“Thank you,” sniffed Liz, wiping an invisible tear from her cheek. “We’d better hurry. Mother should be home soon.” She gave Max and Michael a pointed look and started walking toward the crowded market place.

Max and Michael began to follow her, dragging their prone companion between them. As they rounded the corner to the market place, Max chanced a look back and found the guard still watching them, a suspicious look on his face.

“He’s still watching,” he said in an undertone to Michael and Liz. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“Much as I hate to say this, we may have to dump our buddy here, and run for it,” said Michael. “Look, over there,” he said, looking in the direction of a store that had several empty crates next to it. “We can put him there and run.”

“Liz, are you okay with this?” Max asked. “I know you wanted to use him for information.”

“I’d rather stay alive,” said Liz. “You guys bring him over towards the store, and I’ll create a diversion.”

Liz darted off into the crowd, and Max watched as she made her way over to a large tent that provided shelter for many of the freestanding carts. The air filled with screams and Max and Michael watched as the tent slowly began to collapse at one end. People began pushing past them, rushing towards the tent, and they took the opportunity to deposit their cargo amidst the boxes.

Max spied Liz running back to them and he reached out and grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

“There’s a contingent of guards coming this way,” she panted. “We’d better run.

Max took off running, pulling Liz along behind him. He ran blindly for several minutes, unsure of where he was going. His heart pounded rapidly, both from the exertion of running as well as from fear. He felt Liz’s pace slow, and he tightened his grip on her hand and tried to will some of his strength to her.

After what seemed like hours, the palace came into view, and Max slowed down abruptly. Liz, unprepared for his stop went careening past him and stumbled, falling to the ground.

“Come on, come on!” Michael yelled running past them. “They’re still after us.”

Liz pulled herself back up and grabbed Max’s hand and took off running again, pulling him along with her.

“Max, come on!” she yelled. “Snap out of it. We don’t have time for this!” She tugged harder on his arm and Max snapped out of his stupor and began to run. He and Liz trailed after Michael as he ran into a wooded area near the palace. They splashed through a small stream and up a wooded hill.

Abruptly, Michael veered off the path, dodging around a vast granite outcropping. Max and Liz followed along blindly, stopping when they realized Michael was no longer in site.

“Took you long enough,” a voice said, and Zan stepped out from behind the rock and hugged his brother.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty – Sanctuary

“Zan, you’re all right,” Max gasped, in relief. “Where’s Michael? He got ahead of us and I lost track of him.”

“Michael’s fine,” said Zan. “Alex is taking him to Maria right now.”

“Taking him to Maria!” Liz interjected. “Why, what’s wrong? Where is Maria? Is she all right?” she demanded.

Zan laughed, not unkindly at the fear and fury in Liz’s voice. She was a good friend to them all. It had taken him a while to realize that, but he had come to learn that when Max saved Liz, he had in actuality saved them all by bringing Liz into their lives.

“Relax, Liz, she’s fine,” Zan said. “She’s organizing the weapons for the troops.”

“Maria?” asked Liz.

“Organizing troops?” added Max.

“Yeah,” said Zan, laughing at the incredulous expressions on the faces of his brother and his wife. “Remember how we joked that given the chance, Maria would make an excellent general? Well, we weren’t far from wrong, let me tell you. She’s fantastic. She and Ava arrived in the middle of everything. We got them out of the palace safely, and Maria just sort of stepped in and took over the role like it was made for her.

“Back up a minute,” said Max. “What the hell is going on anyhow? Is it Kivar again?”

“Come on,” said Zan, looking around, nervously. “We can’t stay out in the open, it isn’t safe. I’ll explain everything as we go.”

“We can’t go anywhere,” said Liz. “Kyle and Isabel are,”

“All ready safe,” said Zan. “Ava intercepted them on their way to the Palace. We’ve been watching for you ever since we sent Isabel back when she got injured in our attempt to take back the Palace and the Granolith. We failed with the Palace, but succeeded with the Granolith. Now come on, we have to get back.”

“Back to where?” asked Liz.

“Sanctuary,” said Zan, cryptically.

** * ** * ** *

Max took one last look at the Palace before following his brother through the maze of trees that shrouded them from enemy eyes. Trees that stood as a testament to his ancestors, planted by the first royal family of Antar thousands of years ago. He felt insignificant standing next to these towering tributes to his ancestor’s endurance and fortitude.

Zan started walking down a path, followed by Liz, while Max fell in behind. By unspoken accord, they kept Liz between them, providing her with as much protection as they could provide. Max looked to the horizon and spied the double moons of Antar beginning to rise. Night was drawing near, and he was uneasy about being out in the open. Without warning, Zan swerved from the path they were on and began to make his way carefully down a steep incline. Jagged rocks and large boulders at the bottom of the canyon encouraged Max to move up next to Liz and help her in any way possible.

At the bottom, Zan led them past huge stone monoliths that stood leaning precariously against one another like the discarded playthings of some long forgotten race of giants. Zan held up a hand to stop their approach, and he looked around one last time to ensure that they not been followed. When he was sure that it was safe, he moved to the walls of the canyon and passed his hand over a hidden panel. An opening appeared in the canyon wall, and he stepped inside.

“Where are we?” Liz asked as the door closed behind her. She turned to look at it, but there was nothing there to differentiate it from the rest of the wall.

“I told you,” Zan said with a small grin. “Sanctuary.”

“And Sanctuary is?” asked Max.

“In the words of our wise and all knowing Father, search your memories, the answer is there,” said Zan, his grin growing larger.

“Why don’t you just save as all time and fill us in,” said Max. He was still reluctant to access the memories of the Zan he used to be.

“When our people first fled Earth and came to Antar this is where they lived. They created a society that was completely underground,” explained Zan.

“Why?” asked Liz. “With that beautiful world above them, why did they choose to live underground?

“Because that beautiful planet was inhabited by two warring nations,” said Drinian, joining the conversation.

“Father,” Max breathed in relief. “You’re all right.”

“Yes, Son, I’m fine,” said Drinian, pulling Max to him in an enveloping hug. “As is your mother. Come with me, we have food, and a place for you to rest.”

“The hell with that!” Max said, vehemently. “Where are my friends, and what the hell is going on?"

Drinian smiled at his son’s outburst pleased to see that above all else, he put the safety for those he cared about first.

“Relax Max, you should know by now that if anything was wrong, we would have told you right away. Everyone is waiting for you and Liz. We’re preparing to have a summit meeting.”

Max smiled sheepishly at his family and allowed Zan and his father to lead him and Liz over to where the others were waiting. There was much hugging and crying between the women, and Liz couldn’t resist poking fun at General Maria. A quick survey of the people in the room indicated that Cal was nowhere to be seen. Max quickly made his way over to Kyle and Isabel.

“Where is he?” he asked softly. “Does Dijanya know he’s back?” He looked over to where Michael and Ava sat talking with their mother. Even from where he stood, he could see that Michael’s face was wearing the closed look it used to wear before Maria entered his life. He was closing off a part of him from his mother and sister; the part that knew his father was alive and on Antar.

“We don’t know what happened to him, Max,” Kyle said. “We made our way to the Palace without a problem. We were just about to take one of the tunnels in when Ava found us. Cal took one look at her and totally fell apart.”

“Max, she looks so much like Dijanya did at that age,” Isabel continued. “It had to be a shock for him. He just disappeared into the woods. There wasn’t anything we could do to stop him.”

“Of course there wasn’t,” said Max, reaching out to squeeze her hand. “But I swear to you, when this is done, and we kill Kivar again, I’m throwing Cal’s ass in the dungeon or something.”

“Kivar?” asked Isabel. “Didn’t Zan tell you yet?”

“Tell me what?” demanded Max. “Nobody has told me anything.”

“It’s not Kivar, man,” Kyle said, quietly. “It’s the Gadori, masquerading as Kivar, and as you guys. They’ve managed to convince the entire planet that the Royal Family has agreed to step down from the throne and turn control over to Kivar.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty - One – History Lesson

“Come and eat,” said Drinian. “Before we discuss anything, you need to eat.”

“Uh, yeah,” said a distracted Max. His mind was busy going over what Kyle had told him, as well as the news that Cal had taken off for parts unknown.

They sat down to a meal that was a combination of the sweet and spicy foods that were indigenous to Antar as well as several Earth foods that Zan had cultivated as a courtesy to Liz and the others. The talk at the table was nothing more than idle chitchat. Something that had Max chomping at the bit, but he had long ago learned that his father preferred to keep ‘business’ conversation away from the dinner table. Apparently that rule stood firm in times of war too.

“Father, I mean you no disrespect,” said Zan, correctly interpreting the look of frustration on his brother’s face. “I know you like to keep meal times a family time, but we,” he motioned to the others around the table, “seem to work better if we eat at the same time.”

Drinian struggled to contain his laughter. Zan so seldom did anything that was in direct opposition to his wishes. He was pleased to see his son displayed the fortitude to take matters into his own hands, especially at such an important time.

“Thank you, Father,” said Max, sighing with relief. He wanted to begin planning, and the sooner the better. He opened his mouth to speak, only to realize he still didn’t really know what they were fighting.

Again, Drinian struggled to contain his mirth, even at such a trying time. Max was as impetuous as ever; ready to charge headlong into anything that would help those he cared about. It was almost humorous to watch him realize that he didn’t yet know who this new enemy was.

“When our people first fled Earth, it was because of the eminent destruction of our lands, and in fact they thought the entire Earth would have been destroyed as well. Our technology was very advanced, but we couldn’t control nature, and there were several volcanic eruptions that worried us greatly,” explained Drinian. “It was deemed safer to flee. Five hundred people fled Earth. A handful of scientists chose to remain behind and observe what was going to happen. They swore to contact us if they survived.”

“Well, I’m guessing they didn’t,” said Kyle, “Or else you would have returned to Earth, right.”

“They did not contact us by conventional methods,” agreed Drinian. “But the possibility exists that they did survive, but the technology was destroyed.”

“What do you mean?” asked Maria. “Couldn’t they just build another communicator or something?”

“Not if the technology and the resources were destroyed,” said Alex. “If everybody in the world disappeared tomorrow, could you build yourself a car?”

“I get your point,” said Maria. “So you’re guessing that they all died then.”

“Not necessarily,” said Liz, warming to the subject. “There are many things on Earth made by ancient civilizations that just shouldn’t exist, like the pyramids, and Stonehenge.”

“That is correct,” said Kitana, looking fondly at her daughter-in-law. “We have long held out hope that they did survive and made their way to other lands.”

“Look the history lesson is nice,” said Michael. “And a hell of a lot more interesting than what we ever learned in high school, but can we get to the part where we kill the enemy and take back the throne.”

“You are as hot headed as your father was,” said Dijanya, fondly.

Michael glared at his mother, and Max could see Michael that he didn’t take kindly to the comparison. He decided it was a good time to intervene.

“Perhaps some time, you could tell us more about Prija Cladar,” Max said, using the Antarian term for Uncle. “But right now, I think we need to focus on what’s going on up there. What else can you tell us, Father?”

Drinian pushed back away from the table and looked at the others, worried at how they would process this next bit of information.

“When we arrived on Antar, there was a terrible war going on. The indigenous people of the planet were warring with the people from the neighboring planet of Gador,” explained Drinian. “We carved out this world beneath the planet’s surface and prepared to wait out the war.”

“You’re telling me that you ancestors landed here,” interrupted Kyle and carved out this subterranean world and settled in, just like that? I’m having a hard time with that whole concept, and I’m not even one of the scientific ones.”

Everyone laughed, except for Drinian whose face should a combination of frustration and amusement.

“If you would just access the memories of those that came before you,” he said for what he felt was the thousandth time, “You would know all this.”

Max looked at Isabel, and the others, his expression bleak. None of them, Zan included had searched many of the memories of their former selves or the generations of Antarians that had come before them. Not only was it incredibly painful emotionally to access those memories, it also felt like an incredible invasion of privacy. The collective conscious was one aspect of Antarian living that none of them had truly embraced.

“Fine,” said a clearly exasperated Drinian. “Our people had prophesized the end of our world for a very long time. We had scouts out searching for a new home for generations. When they decided Antar was the best option, they began to create this underground world almost immediately. When the time came for us to evacuate Earth, most of this was already completed. After our arrival, we went immediately underground and waited.”

“Waited for what?” asked Liz, who had been listening attentively.

“They waited to see who was going to win and offered to become their allies,” said Michael. “Strategically, it was a sound idea, but morally, kind of a sucky thing to do.”

“How’d you know that, Space Boy,” Maria asked.

“He tapped into the collective consciousness,” said Drinian. “And you are right Michael, it was a sucky thing for them to do.”

Everyone laughed at the sound of the Earth term coming from Drinian. It was slightly incongruous for a man of such regal bearing to be using Earth slang. Drinian smiled, knowing the track their thoughts had taken, and not minding at all their finding amusement at his expense.

“What I can’t understand,” continued Michael “Is how they can be so cold as to wait and see who was going to win before offering to become their allies. How could our people be so cold blooded? Did it matter to them at all that the Gadori wanted to, and did commit genocide?”

“No, it didn’t,” said Dijanya, looking at her son fondly. “I don’t condone what was done here, Michael. None of us do, but they did what they had to in order to ensure their survival.”

“Well, obviously, they made a poor choice, since the Gadori first sold Antar out to Kivar, and now are trying to take over for themselves,” Ava said heatedly. “I don’t care why they did it, selling out the people who used to live here was wrong.”

“And that is why we study history,” said Kitana. “Wise people learn from the mistakes of those who went before them. Why else do you think Drinian is always urging you to tap into the collective consciousness. Learn from the mistakes of our ancestors, or you will be doomed to repeat them.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty – Two – Shandar

“So do you think the Gadori have been planning this for a long time?” Alex asked.

“I do not know,” said Drinian. “When our people first arrived, the Gadori were bent on eradicating any species that did not meet their expectations. The native Antarians were such a race.”

“So our people just let an entire race be destroyed,” said Zan, bitterly. “Nice of us.”

“No, we weren’t that bad,” said Dijanya. “We saved as many people as we could, bringing them down to this underground city. We were not innocent, but we weren’t evil either. When Drinian tells you we sided with the Gadori, he didn’t mean we waged all out war against the Antarians. We refused to do.”

“Okay, is anybody besides me confused by all this?” asked Maria. “You sided with the Gadori, but you didn’t. You helped the Antarians, but you didn’t. I don’t get it.”

“If our ancestors had done the right thing,” said Kitana, smiling at Maria’s confusion. “We would have taken the time to find out what was happening, and who was at fault, and why, then offered our assistance. We didn’t do that; instead we bided our time, and allied ourselves with the winning side. We probably could have sided with the Antarians and helped them to fight back, but we didn’t. We rescued as many as we could, and saved them, and their race from being destroyed, but beyond that, we did nothing.”

“Nor did we fight on the side of the Gadori,” said Drinian. “It is important to know that we did not fight with them.”

“But you didn’t stop them either,” said Max.

“Stop it!” said Liz, clearly distressed by the subject. She could see both Max and Zan, as well as Drinian were becoming more and more agitated the longer they discussed the subject. “Drinian, you’re acting as if you’re personally responsible for things that occurred a millennia ago. And Max, you and Zan sound like you’re blaming Drinian for things he had no control over. All of you need to stop it, and take a step back from this and look at it a little less judgmentally.”

Max and Zan looked sheepishly at each other and at their father. Liz was right and they both knew it. Both of them resolved to be more open minded while their father recounted the rest of his tale.

“I thought you told us the Gadori were enslaved by the people of Antar?” Isabel asked.

“They were,” said Drinian, “and they rebelled against the people of this planet. They vowed to completely destroy those who had enslaved them.”

“Then why did they turn against us?” asked Alex. “I mean, if we aided their cause, wouldn’t they want to keep us as allies?”

“Apparently not, Alex,” said Drinian. “From what our intelligence has learned, they have been working, since that time to rid the planets in this star system of intelligent life. The only lives they deem worthy are their own.”

The group sat quietly, still eating while they tried to process this last piece of information, and the ramifications it carried. This was not going to be a situation where a peaceful co-existence could be achieved. If they were to survive, it would mean that they themselves would have to destroy another race of people.

“Talk about holding a grudge,” said Maria, breaking the silence. “I mean give it up already. Don’t they understand that all that hate is bad for their karma?”

“Maria,” said Alex, struggling to hold back his laughter. “I sincerely doubt that they give a rat’s ass about their karma.”

“See, that’s what I mean,” said Maria. “Wait, you’re laughing at me, aren’t you?”

“Well, I’m trying hard not to,” admitted Alex. “But it’s pretty hard,” he added just before he convulsed with laughter.

The infectious sound quickly spread around the table, and soon everyone, including Maria, was laughing merrily. They made short work of their meal, laughing occasionally, but mostly discussing the Gadori and the possibility of defeating them when the sound of shouting interrupted them.

“Get off of my you great ignorant oaf!” a woman yelled. “I am not a spy. Now let go of me before I kill you! I need to see the king!”

“Um, Zan, I think you have company,” said Ava, laughing softly. “What happened, did you say you were going to call and never did.”

The group of friends laughed softly as one of the soldiers assigned to guard their area approached.

“Majesty?” he queried.

“Yes?” answered Zan, Max and Drinian simultaneously.

The guard started to speak, and hesitated, unsure of to whom he should direct his comments. Zan shot a laughing glance at both his father and his brother before he stepped forward.

“What is the problem, Perdren?” he asked.

“We caught an intruder down in the canyon. She claimed she was searching for you, but I don’t believe it. She is a Gadori spy, Sir,” answered Perdren.

“Bring her here,” said Zan.

“But your Majesty,” began Perdren.

“Perdren, do you honesty believe that the twelve of us,” Zan motioned to his friends and family, “Could not subdue one person, if the need arose?”

“With this one, I have my doubts,” Perdren muttered. “Very well, your Majesty,” he added in a louder voice. “Tremdan, escort the prisoner over here please!”

Zan looked at Max, and struggled to contain his mirth when Tremdan appeared with the female prisoner in tow. His face was scratched and bloody, and a large bruise was forming on the side of his cheek. Whoever this woman was, she had put up an incredible fight before Zan’s guards were able to subdue her.

Zan’s gaze switched to the woman, and he felt his heart skip a beat. She was perhaps the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life. Her hair was a dark brown, darker than Liz’s, and was shot through with vibrant red highlights. Her eyes were a smoky gray color, the color darkening along the outer rim to an almost black color. But it was the way she carried herself that made her stand out. She stood before Zan as is she, and not he were the true ruler of Antar.

“Yes?” queried Zan. “You had something of importance to share?”

“I’ll tell you nothing until your trained buffoon releases me, the woman retorted, angrily.

“And why should I release you?” asked Zan, conversationally. He glanced over to Kyle, and nodded imperceptibly, and Kyle rose and joined them, with Liz trailing behind him.

“Fine, don’t release me,” the woman shot back. “And I won’t tell you what I know.”

Perdren, Tremdan, let her go,” said Zan. “Go and get yourself some food and relax. We’ll be fine.”

The two guards reluctantly released the woman’s arms, and eyed her warily before they stepped away.

“If you need us, King Zan, we wont’ be far away,” said Perdren.”

“I think we’re good,” said Max, when Zan failed to answer, he was too caught up staring at the newcomer. “So, do you have a name?” he asked the woman standing before them.

“I am Shandar,” the woman said. “And I have information for you.”

“Why don’t you start by telling them who you are,” said Drinian, angrily, his arms folded across his chest.

“I just did,” said the woman. “My name is Shandar.”

“That’s right,” said Drinian. “Shandar Blashyn, sister of Kivar Blashyn.”

“That’s right, I am,” said Shandar. “Greetings to you, Prija.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty – Three – Kissin Cousins

“Greetings Uncle,” the woman repeated. “I wasn’t sure if you would recognize me.”

“I recognize you, Shandar,” said Drinian, his voice uncharacteristically cold.

“Uncle?” Isabel whispered, her voice weak. “I thought Kivar was a very distant member of the royal family. She had a look of extreme discomfort on her face, and Alex quickly realized that she was concerned that her clone my have had an incestuous relationship.

“Relax my daughter,” said Kitana. “The royal lineage is very well documented. Kivar’s family was,” she paused for a moment.

“A small insignificant branch on the family tree?” Maria offered.

“Exactly,” said Kitana. “The use of the term Prija was simply one of respect for a family member, no matter how distant.”

“Relax, Isabel,” Alex said, taking Isabel’s hand in his. He squeezed it slightly, and Isabel relaxed slightly.

“I know, it’s just,” she whispered.

“It’s just nothing,” Alex said, smiling reassuringly. “Kivar’s gone, and he isn’t coming back."

“Why is she here?” Ava asked. “I don’t think I like her very much. She looks like a real bitch.”

Maria looked at Ava who was watching the way Zan’s eyes hungrily consumed the newcomer and shot Isabel a knowing smile. Ava was jealous of the newcomer and the way she was claiming Zan’s attention.

Zan had been equally resentful of the place Kyle had in Ava’s life when he first joined the group. However, Kyle was a known entity, as was Zan to some extent. The newcomer, Shandar was worse than unknown, she was the sister of their former enemy.

“Well, it doesn’t look like they’re coming over here,” said Alex. “So I’m thinking we all go over there.”

They quietly joined the others, and Ava pushed her way through her friends to stand beside Kyle and Zan. She surreptitiously pinched Zan’s arm and whispered something. Almost immediately, Zan’s countenance changed and he began to eye the woman in front of him warily.

“What information do you have for us?” he demanded.

“The information I have is important, have no doubt, but what is in it for me?” questioned Shandar. “Surely I should get something out of our exchange.”

“We will pay you for your information, if we deem it worthwhile,” said Zan.

“I don’t want your money,” said Shandar. She through her head back in defiance, and glared at Zan, her eyes filled with anger. “You’re treating me as if I were my brother. I am not Kivar, I had no loyalty to him.”

“So you say, but how do I know that?” asked Zan. “We have no way of knowing if anything you say is true.”

“Zan,” Kitana interjected. “Nothing has to be decided this very second. You and the others should talk before you make any hasty decisions, and in the mean time, perhaps Shandar would like something to eat?” She looked over at Shandar who seemed confused by the kindness she was being offered by the former queen.

“I am hungry,” she admitted. And very tired, she thought to herself. Keeping a wall up to block her true intentions from them had been difficult. She remembered her father telling her that Drinian was skilled at reading emotions, and the rumors said that one of the newcomers was as well. Her gaze passed over them as she assessed each one, and stopped when she reached Kyle. It was he, the one who had mated with Ava. He had the empathic abilities that could cause her so many problems. It wasn’t as if she hiding a lot of information from them. There were just things she’d rather not share with all of them right away.

“Come on, I’ll get you something to eat,” Liz said suddenly, shocking everyone. She stepped away from the group and walked over to the other girl. “I’m Liz, by the way.”

“Greetings, your Majesty,” said Shandar, inclining her head slightly.

“No, I’m Liz,” Liz repeated. “Come on, you must be starving by now.” She smiled reassuringly at the older girl before turning back to look at Max and the others. She was unsurprised so see the varying degrees of shock on the faces of Isabel, Alex and Maria, but the look of intense disgust on Ava’s face upset her greatly. She knew Kyle would explain everything to Ava, but that didn’t make her feel any better about the situation.

Kyle had known right away that Shandar was hiding something from them. She must have realized that they could read her emotions and had blocked them somehow. While Zan questioned the woman, Kyle pulled Liz aside and told her his suspicions. Liz had agreed to try and befriend the woman and find out what she was hiding.

“Why don’t you use your Royal title?” Shandar asked.

“Because I’m not royal,” laughed Liz. “None of us are, or at least we don’t believe we are. We’re just us, you know?”

“But the Granolith chose you to rule,” said Shandar. “When you freed Antar from my brother’s reign of terror.”

Liz looked surprised at the venom she heard in the woman’s voice, but she hid it carefully.

“I take it there was no love lost between the two of you,” she said carefully. She placed a tray full of food in front of the girl and watched in amazement as the woman beside her began to devour the food ravenously. Shandar ate as if she hadn’t seen food in days.

Silently, Liz left the table and returned with more food for the hungry woman. As Shandar ate, Liz opened her mind ad tried to read the other woman. She wasn’t as skilled as Kyle, but she was able to feel the confusion and fear that emanated from the woman.

Liz noticed Maria hovering in the background, and she excused herself from the table and made her way quickly to where Maria waited.

“So you learned a new trick?” Maria asked with a smile.

“Yeah, and I don’t know how Kyle managed to survive when it first started happening to him,” Liz said ruefully. “I feel like I’m being inundated with all these feelings. They’re coming at me from all sides.”

“It’s that bad?” asked Maria, her face a mask of concern for the pain her friend was feeling.

“It’s pretty bad, but at least we had Kyle to help us get through it. I’ll never forget how much he hurt when he was developing his power. If Drinian hadn’t helped him when he did, I don’t think he would have survived.”

“And Max, Isabel and Space Boy have this power now, too?” asked Maria. “So like maybe he’ll finally know when I’m upset, and I won’t have to spell it out for him?”

Liz laughed cheerfully. The noise sounded alien, coming from her mouth. The past week hadn’t given her many reasons to laugh, and she was afraid she had forgotten how, but five minutes alone with Maria had eased that fear. She could always count on her friend to shake her out of her doldrums.

“Well, we all underwent the same process,” Liz said. “But whether it took or not, who knows? Anyhow, I should get back to our guest an see if I can get anything else off of her.”

“That’s why I’m here,” said Maria. “Kyle figured if we threw me in the mix, I would, let me see, what was it he said exactly,” Maria paused as she pretended to search her memory. “Oh yeah, confuse the poor girl so much, she wouldn’t know if she were coming or going, never mind try and block information.”

Liz tried unsuccessfully to contain the laughter that threatened to escape. She covered her mouth with her hands, but nothing could contain the cheerful light that shined from her eyes. Shandar watched them alertly, looking for any signs of treachery or deceit from them.

Liz led Maria over to the table and introduced her to Shandar and watched expectantly. Maria sat down next to the Antarian and began to chatter. Her conversation rambled on about nothing for several minutes, and Liz was pleased to note that Shandar’s eyes began to glaze over a bit. This was exactly what she had been waiting for. She focused intently on the Antarian and opened herself up to her feelings.

Liz’s eyes opened abruptly, and she stared at Maria in shock. Shandar was a mess of conflicting emotions, ranging from jubilance to sheer, unadulterated hate. But still there was something the other woman was hiding, deep within her, and nothing Liz could do would allow her to access it. But the one thing she didn’t feel was the deceit she felt from the Gadori on Earth.

Liz signaled Maria with her eyes, and Maria quickly wound up her conversation and made her excuses to leave. After Maria left, Shandar’s shoulders slumped a little and a look of exhaustion crossed her face.

“Your friend is very energetic,” she said to Liz.

“Yeah, energetic is a really nice way of putting it. Come on, you must be tired. Let’s find you a place to rest. I’m sure whatever information you have for Zan and the others can wait until after you get some rest,” said Liz.

She helped Shandar get settled for the night, along with some unobtrusively placed guards. Liz waited until Shandar was asleep before returning to her place with the others.

Max held out his hand to her, and she settled happily into a large chair with her husband. When she was with Max, she always felt like she was more complete, and it was a feeling she had grown to love. What she wanted, more than anything was to sit in the shelter of Max’s arms, forever.

“Liz, what did you find out?” Michael asked.

Sighing, Liz sat up a little straighter, the interlude in Max’s arms, however brief had to end.

“Well, sending Maria over was brilliant,” Liz began. “The poor girl didn’t know what hit her.”

“The hurricane commonly known as DeLuca did,” laughed Alex, and the others joined in.

“Exactly,” agreed Liz. “Maria had that poor girl so confused, she didn’t know if she was coming or going, but it gave me a good chance to read her. I’m worried though, because I’m not as good as Drinian, or even Kyle. I’m afraid there’s a lot I missed.”

“Why don’t you start with what you found out,” said Kyle, “And we’ll go from there.”

“Well, she’s very confused,” began Liz. “She’s full of a lot of anger, but I can’t pinpoint why. Also, she is hiding something, but I’m not sure what. One thing I do know is that she isn’t a Gadori. I also don’t think she really wants to hurt us. I mean, she’s got her agenda, but I don’t think destroying us is on it.”

Ava had been uncharacteristically silent during the evening. She’d been ashamed at the jealousy that she felt when she’d seen Zan’s reaction to the newcomer. She wanted to find some way to atone for her actions, if only to make herself feel better.

“I think we should trust her,” Ava said, speaking up. “At least for now, until we find out for certain what she’s up to. I also think that Drinian, Kyle and Liz should try and read her again while she’s sleeping, or maybe Isabel could dream walk her. We need more information, and I don’t think she’s going to be entirely forthcoming with what we want to know.”

“I thought I was the second in command,” Michael grumbled good-naturedly. “Ava and Maria are planning me right out of a job.”

“I told you many times that Maria would make a fine general,” said Drinian. “Apparently, I should have included Ava as well. It is a fine plan, and if the others are in agreement, I think we should begin.”

The others nodded their agreement and moved off to perform their various duties, preparing to wage war against the Gadori.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty-Four – What Liz Saw

Shandar sat quietly, trying to figure out exactly what they were up to. Nobody had really pushed her for any information, and surprisingly, they had been very accepting of her. Their acceptance made it incredibly hard for her to continue with her deception. But she had no choice. Lives depended on it.

She allowed her thoughts to drift as she watched the others plan their day. She thought back to when she was a child, and she thought the sun rose and set on her brother Kivar. If ever there was a child blessed by the double moons of Antar, it was he. Everything came so easy to him, lessons, athletics, and friends. He lacked for nothing while she was the family joke. Nothing she ever did was good enough for any of them.

Shandar remembered one time, when she was about fourteen. She had brought home a particularly good report from her gretkla. She had been so excited; she couldn’t wait to show her parents. That was the same day Kivar received his acceptance to the Training Academy. Her father had barely glanced at her report before focusing all his attention on Kivar – as usual.

Kivar had tried, or she thought he had, to deflect some of the attention back to her, but looking back, she realized that all he had done was call more attention to himself and his accomplishments. It was just a shame that she hadn’t realized any of this before. It would have made her life a lot simpler. But as it was, she hadn’t found out what Kivar’s plan was until it was too late. Plans that he had set in motion before he had died, plans that she had foolishly agreed to, unaware of the far-reaching consequences.

She sat up warily and looked across the large room at Ava and Liz, who were watching her. She drew her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as the walked over to her. She had felt someone probing her mind last night, and it had taken every bit of effort she had to block the attempts. She knew that Ava had the ability to modify minds, and she was afraid of what the young queen would try in an attempt to wrest her secret from her.

“Hi,” said Liz, cheerfully. “Do you mind if we join you?”

“You are a queen,” said Shandar carefully. “You don’t have to ask.”

“I’m nobody’s queen,” Liz reminded her.

“And neither am I,” added Ava. “We just figured you must be kind of bored sitting here and figured you might want some company.”

“Don’t you mean you want to try and modify my mind and get me to tell you everything you want to know,” said Shandar, deciding that the best defense was indeed a good offense.

“No, not really,” said Ava, her voice direct. “I seldom use my powers that way. It’s strictly for recreation,” she added, borrowing a line from Isabel.

“What do you mean, recreation?” asked Shandar, her voice tinged with curiosity.

“Well, you know, to make it look like Brad Pitt or George Clooney were bringing you breakfast,” laughed Ava.

Liz laughed, her infectious giggle echoing off the rocks that surrounded them, but Shandar only looked more confused.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” said Shandar, smiling despite herself at the sound of Liz’s laughter.

“Well, if you promise to trust me, and if I give you my word that I’m not trying anything, I can show you,” said Ava.

Shandar again looked wary as she looked at both Ava and Liz, looking for any signs of duplicity in them.

“It’s okay,” Liz said. “Ava doesn’t lie. If she says you can trust her, you can trust her.” She schooled her features into a mask of pleasantness, all the while fighting down the loathing she felt at what she was about to do. “Come on, it will be fun,” she urged.

“Okay,” Shandar conceded, nervously. She was apprehensive, but wanted very much to trust the two women next to her.

“Give me your hand,” said Ava. “And look across the room, and tell me what you see.”

Shandar looked across the compound and saw a bare chested blond man walking towards her carrying a tray full of food. She watched in amazement as he placed the tray beside her, reached out and took one of her hands and brought it up to her lips.

“Here Shandar, I’ve brought you some of your favorite foods,” the man said.

Shandar looked down beside her at the tray heaped with Antarian delicacies, and her mouth began to water. A yellow flower on the tray caught her attention, and she leaned down and inhaled its heady fragrance.

“Who are you she asked”

“My name is Brad,” the stranger said. “And I am here to serve you. Whatever you wish shall be yours. You only have to ask.”

Shandar swallowed deeply and looked at the gorgeous man standing in front of her.

“What I want is for you to go away,” she said.

No sooner did the words leave her mouth than the vision in front of her vanished. Shandar looked at Liz and Ava and smiled.

“I think I’d like to go you your planet someday,” she said with a shy smile. “If all the men are as beautiful as the Earth men I’ve seen, that is.”

“Shandar, are you talking about a specific person?” Ava asked with a knowing grin. She raised an eyebrow and looked at Liz, who looked back and frowned, shaking her head.

“Shandar, I have to go take care of something,” Liz said, jumping up. “I’ll be back in a while.”

Liz quickly crossed the room and disappeared into a narrow passageway. Once she was out of sight, she leaned against the rock wall gasping for breath, and shaking uncontrollably. She didn’t know what to do. The plan she and Ava had concocted worked better than either of them could have dreamed. While Ava distracted Shandar with a meaningless mind warp, Liz tried to read her emotions, and what she found shook her to the core.

Shandar’s secret was, Liz paused, unable to even fathom the depths Shandar had gone to in order to conceal this information. She didn’t know what to do. She wanted to tell Max, but she couldn’t. Not this. Shandar’s information was to private to personal. Liz bit her lip thoughtfully while she contemplated her options, and finally reached a decision. She walked back down the passageway and entered the room where Ava and Shandar sat and talked.

“Ava, can you excuse us please?” Liz asked politely. “I need to talk to Shandar.”

“Sure,” said Ava. She unfolded her legs gracefully and slid off the bed and started to walk away. She shot a questioning look at Liz, and Liz just shook her head imperceptibly and waited while Ava exited the room.

“We need to talk,” Liz said without preamble. “Where is Zan’s baby?”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty-Five – Confrontations

“You bitch,” said Shandar. She reached her hand out and slapped Liz squarely across the face. “How did you find out?”

“Hit me again,” Liz said, her teeth clenched, “And I will kill you, and don’t doubt that I’ll do it.”

“Liz, stop it, what are you talking about, what baby?” Ava cried, using her hand to restrain Liz. “Zan doesn’t have a baby.”

“Zan has a baby,” Liz said, bitterly. “The only problem is that Zan doesn’t know he has a baby, and she’s the mother.”

“No, this makes no sense,” said Ava in denial. “There is no way Zan could have a child and not know about it. It takes two and all that, remember?”

“Not if it’s done in a laboratory,” said Shandar softly.

“What?” Liz cried. “You did that without his knowledge? How?”

“Wait just one second, your Majesty,” said Shandar sarcastically. “I didn’t do anything. It was more like I had it done to me, unwillingly. You’re precious Zan isn’t the only victim in this mess. Maybe you should get the whole story before you start making unfounded accusations.” She drew herself up regally and glared at Liz, her eyes shooting sparks of fire in the smaller girl’s direction. “I had no say in anything that happened. Do you honestly think I would agree to something as heinous as that?”

“Well, gee, now let me see,” Liz said in mock consideration. “Yeah, I guess I’d have to say that I think you would. I mean, you came here under false pretenses and lied to us, so yeah, I guess I would believe you could do something like that.”

Ava stared at Liz, astounded at the venom in her friend’s voice. She’d seen Liz angry plenty of times, but never like this. She was as angry as if Shandar had carried Max’s child. Slowly the realization dawned on Ava. For all intents and purposes, Shandar did carry Max’s child, because Max and Zan were created from the same genetic material. Ava looked at Liz, really looked at her, and saw the fear that was hidden beneath the surface anger. This was uncharted territory, and she didn’t know how to react, and so she was reacting with anger.

“Liz, you need to step back, right now,” Ava said with uncharacteristic firmness. “I know what you’re thinking, but stop. It’s not Max’s baby. Do you hear me, Liz? It’s not Max’s baby.”

Shandar looked at the two girls, her expression a mixture of defiant anger, fear and confusion. She didn’t understand what they were talking about. Valrik was her baby, hers and Zan’s. She couldn’t understand why they were taking about Max.

“Why don’t you tell us what happened, Shandar,” Ava said. “But before you do that, tell us one thing, is the baby safe? That’s what matters right now.”

“Yes, Valrik is safe,” said Shandar, hanging her head. After a moment, she looked back up, and Liz and Ava were able to see the fear and worry that shown in her eyes. At that moment, Liz’s heart went out to Shandar. She remembered the pain she felt for so long at the loss of her own child and she vowed that, no matter how angry she was with Shandar, no matter how duplicitous the woman was, they would keep her child safe.

“Come on,” Liz said suddenly, her voice hardened with resolve. “You can tell us what happened on the way.”

“On the way where?” asked Shandar.

“On the way to get your baby,” answered Liz. “Wherever he is, he isn’t as safe as he would be in your arms.

Ava, more familiar with the subterranean enclave, led them through a myriad of passages and out into a dark forest. The sun was just peeing out over the horizon, filling the sky with a rosy glow.

“Which way?” asked Liz, looking around at the unfamiliar terrain. “I have no clue where we are.”

“This way,” said Shandar, pointing down the hill.

“You also have a story to tell us,” Ava reminded her.

“I know,” said Shandar. She hated to admit how both Kivar and the Gadori had duped her, but if they were telling the truth about protecting Valrik, she was willing to take the risk. They walked in silence for several minutes while Shandar marshaled her thoughts. After several false starts, she began to speak.

“I honestly didn’t know what Kivar had planned,” she told Liz and Ava. Gadori scientists, posing as doctors examined Zan after he took the throne. One of the tests the performed was to harvest, um, reproductive material from him. The material was then mixed with eggs they had taken from me, and a fetus was created.”

“Why did you let them do that to you?” asked Ava.

“It’s not like I knew what they were doing,” Shandar said. “Kivar convinced me I was ill, very, very ill, and that the only thing that could help me was this new kind of treatment. I didn’t know he was lying; I had all these symptoms. Symptoms I later found out he was causing.”

She stopped speaking as they climbed down a particularly treacherous part of the trail. Halfway down, Ava slipped and began to slide precariously down the path. Shandar reacted automatically and fired an energy bolt at a small tree, and it fell in the middle of the trail and stopped Ava’s descent.

“Thanks,” Ava said, shakily after Liz and Shandar caught up with her. “I didn’t think I was ever going to stop.”

“God, Ava, please tell me you’re all right?” Liz begged. “Kyle will kill Max if anything happens to you.”

“What?” asked a thoroughly confused Shandar. “Kyle will Kill Max? Why? Max isn’t even here?”

“I never claimed that the friendship between our husbands made any sense,” said Liz. “But that’s the way it is. Ava,” she added, turning to the petite blond. “Do you want to rest here for a while before we continue?”

“Yeah,” said Ava, moving about, gingerly. She looked down to a patch on her leg that rubbed raw from her fall, and grimaced. “Liz, can you do anything about this?”

“I’ll try,” said Liz. “I’ve been working on my healing, but it’s nothing like Max and Zan’s.” She held her hand over the raw patch on Ava’s leg and directed her energy towards the angry red wound. Within seconds, the would was healed, causing both Liz and Ava to stare at it in surprise.”

“When’d you learn how to do that?” a shocked Ava asked.

“I didn’t,” said Liz. “I don’t know how I did that, unless…”

“Unless what?” asked Ava. “Don’t you dare leave me hanging, or I’ll go all Maria on you.”

“Before we came here, we tried something with the Granolith. It seems that Kyle’s empathic powers can sense the Gadori, so we used the Granolith to try and accelerate that ability in us so we could sense them too. Apparently, it tapped into Max’s healing ability and I got that as well.”

“You have empath powers?” asked Shandar. “That’s how you knew about Valrik, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” said Liz. “Ava showed you the Earth eye candy in the hopes that it would lower your defenses. While you were ogling Brad, I ogled your emotions.”

“Very clever,” Shandar said, grudgingly. “No wonder you were able to defeat my idiotic brother. He only saw the obvious problems and the obvious solutions. He never bothered to look at all the options.” She laughed bitterly. “But then again, I guess I didn’t either since you found out my secret.”

“Do you want to finish telling us what happened?” asked Liz. She was still very angry with the Antarian girl, but she was trying to understand how Kivar had duped the girl.

“Kivar had his doctors remove eggs from me, under the guise of trying to find out what was wrong with me. In another procedure, the same doctors implanted the fertilized eggs in my. They did something to accelerate the growth process of the fetus, and two months, I gave birth to a son.”

“I don’t understand,” said Ava. “First, why would he go to such lengths to create a child of Zan’s? He already had his Vilondra clone to give him a legitimate heir? And after he died, why didn’t you just escape?”

“The Gadori,” said Shandar. “They formulated this plan with Kivar, and they weren’t going to let me go. They knew they needed an heir of the Royal Family to activate the Granolith, and they were unwilling to give up their plans, as you have seen.”

“Yeah,” said Liz. “We’ve seen first hand the lengths the Gadori are willing to go to win this war. How did you get away?”

“About a month ago, the had a victory celebration. They had managed to send a ship down to your planet. They were planning on eliminating you.”

“Obviously, they didn’t succeed,” Liz said, dryly. “Ava, are you okay to get moving. We shouldn’t stay in one place for too long.”

Ava nodded her ascent, and the three resumed their journey, while Shandar’s tale unfolded.

“I took the opportunity to grab Valrik and run,” said Shandar. “I’ve been looking for a way to find the Royal Family ever since. I didn’t know what I was going to do when I found them, but I just thought if I could get Valrik to them, he’d be safe.”

“He will be, Shandar,” said Ava. “I promise you that. But where is he?”

“I left him with a childhood friend of mine,” said Shandar. “One who had no love for my brother. Even as children, she could see how devious he was. I never believed her, and it put a great strain on our friendship. I went to her because I had no where else to go, and she took my son in and vowed to protect him with her life.”

“Is it much farther?” asked Liz. “I’d like to get you and him back to safety before too long.”

“What are you going to tell Zan and the others?” Shandar asked, her expression worried.

“Nothing,” said Liz. “You’re going to tell him. Don’t worry, Shandar, Zan isn’t evil. He’ll protect you and your child.”

“It’s just around the bend,” Shandar said, excitedly. She’d only been separated from her young son for a day, but her arms ached to hold him.

The rounded the bend, and stopped and stared in shock at all that remained of the former dwelling. Eddy’s of smoke drifted up from the burned out shell, and rubble littered the yard. Shandar stifled a cry and dropped to her knees.

“Wait, I hear something,” said Liz. They listened closely and heard the faint wail of a baby coming from the woods.

“Valrik!” Shandar cried. She jumped up and ran into the woods towards the direction of the cry. For several minutes the three searched fruitlessly among the trees trying to locate the infant.

It was Ava who finally located him and gave a triumphant shout. Liz and Shandar rushed over to where she knelt down before a manmade cave. She reached in carefully and removed the child and passed him to Shandar. Shandar grabbed the child and held him close, pressing kisses against his downy head. Ava reached into the opening once more and removed a note and a small bundle.

Liz took the note and opened it and read out loud:

My Dear Friend Shandar,

I am sorry I did not believe your tale at first. Please forgive me for ever doubting you. The Gadori managed to track you to our home. I was able to hide Valrik, but I am afraid they will be back. I hope you return to rescue your child. I’m sorry I failed to protect him. Blashdar protect you and watch over you both.

Tralia

A crashing sound in the underbrush alerted them to danger.

“Come on, we have to get out of here,” said Liz. She looked around, trying to locate the source of the noise.

Without another word, the three dashed deeper into the woods, trying to avoid detection, only to find that they were walking right into the arms of the approaching troops.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty-Six – Confession

“Run!” Shandar cried. She tightened her grip around Valrik, and started to run, but a restraining hand reached out and grabbed her and held her tightly.

“Let go of me you bastard!” she shouted, struggling to break the hold on her arm. “I’ll kill you.”

“Shandar, how enjoyable to see you again,” said the man holding her by the arm. “And how considerate of you to lead us right to your son.”

“Leave him alone,” cried Shandar. “You don’t need him. Let us go.”

“You are very wrong, my dear witless little girl,” said the man. “We do need him. We need him very much.”

Liz looked around, and tried to take stock of the situation. Ten Gadori, looking like Antarian guardsmen, surrounded them on all sides. She glanced at Ava, and tried to will her friend to read her thoughts. If they could work it just right, they could take out at least half of the Gadori, and possibly make a break for it.

“Don’t even waste your time, Your Majesty,” said the Gadori holding Shandar. “If you try it, you’ll die. We have no problem killing you. You’re not our Queen, and honestly, having you dead will save us a lot of difficulties.”

Liz glared at the Gadori, her eyes filled with hatred. She could see into his soul, and it was inky black. It was like there was nothing inside of him but hate and anger. She shuddered and took a step back, trying to put some distance between herself and the Gadori.

“You will come with us,” said the Gadori. “We are taking you back to our stronghold.”

“The hell you are,” said Liz. “You can kill me here, but I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Easily arranged,” said the Gadori with an evil grin. He raised his hand and pointed it Liz’s direction.

Liz stood tall; ready to take his full assault unflinchingly when Shandar stepped beside her.

“Go ahead and kill her,” Shandar taunted, boldly. “But if you do, you’ll be taking a real risk. You may hit the baby instead. Where will you be then, Jenaro?”

“I should have killed you when you gave birth, Shandar,” the Gadori named Jenaro said. “You’ve been nothing but trouble since Kivar brought you to us.”

“So go ahead, do it,” said Shandar. “You want to kill me so bad, just do it.”

“You know I won’t,” Jenaro ground out between clenched teeth. “Much as I hate to admit it, you’re too valuable to us. But believe me when I say that won’t stop me from torturing you. I can’t wait to hear you beg for your life.”

Shandar continued to taunt Jenaro, while the other Gadori looked on. Liz shifted her stance slightly trying to block Ava from view, hoping the petite blond would use the opportunity to escape. Ava was quick to catch on to what Liz wanted, and she carefully began to inch away from the Gadori. Slowly she crept down the hill, until the others were no longer in sight, and then she ran for all she was worth. Hands reached out to grab her, and Ava began to fight like a wildcat, struggling to break free from the arms that held her.

“Ava, stop it, it’s me!” Kyle shouted. “Stop it!”

Ava struggled in his arms, and the two fell to the ground. Kyle finally managed to pin Ava’s shoulders to the ground, forcing her to look up at him.

“Damn, we sure could have used you on the wrestling team,” he said.

“Kyle?” Ava whispered. “Is it really you?”

“Of course it’s me, you goof. Who’d you think it would be?”

“The Gadori, they have Liz and Shandar and Valrik,” she said. “We have to go back and get them.”

“Who the hell is Valrik?” demanded Kyle.

“I’ll explain later,” said Ava, struggling to get up. “Where are the others, are the with you?”

In lieu of an answer, Kyle put his fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle, and Max and Zan appeared, each coming from a different direction.

“Where are Michael and the others?” Ava asked.

“Right here,” said Michael, appearing behind his sister, flanked by Alex and Maria, while Isabel stood behind them.

“Come on, we don’t have much time to lose,” said Ava. She began retracing her steps up the hill, explaining to the others about the Gadori as they climbed.

“We can split up and circle around,” said Michael, and box them in, they way they boxed you in. You said there’s about ten of them?”

“Yeah,” said Ava, “But we have to be careful of Valrik. I don’t think Shandar’s going to be able to do anything but protect him.”

“That’s the second time you mentioned Valrik. Who, or what is Valrik?” asked Kyle.

Ava stopped and looked first at Kyle, then at Zan, her oldest friend, and she struggled to find the words to answer. Finally, she decided the only thing she could do was say it.

“He’s your son, Zan. Do you remember undergoing a battery of physical tests when you first took the throne? Well they weren’t all doctors. Some of them were Gadori, working for Kivar, and they, well they took,”

“Don’t bother saying it,” said Zan. “We all know what they took.”

“Yeah, well they had another Antarian that they forced to submit to some tests too, only those tests were to make her pregnant with your child,” said Ava.

“Shandar,” said Zan, his voice dead. “Kivar’s sister is the mother of my child.”

“Zan, don’t,” said Ava. “It wasn’t like that. She didn’t know what was going on, and she certainly didn’t want any part of it. As soon as she could, she escaped with the baby and tried to bring him to you. Liz read her and she’s telling the truth.”

“Did any of you bother to think that maybe this was all some sort of trap?” demanded Michael. “Kyle and Drinian couldn’t read her, why should Liz, who’s only had the power for like what, a week, be able to succeed when they failed.”

“Because I mind warped her into seeing Brad Pitt!” Ava shouted, whirling angrily on her brother. “While her defenses were down, watching Brad serve her breakfast, Liz managed to break through and read her, that’s why! Now can we stop arguing and go and get them back.”

“I think Zan’s one step ahead of you,” said Max, pointing up the hill.

The others followed his arm and looked up and saw Zan ready to crest the hill. Breaking into a run, the others quickly climbed the rest of the way up the hill and joined him. Michael reached him first and placed a restraining hand on his shoulder. Zan shrugged it off, but stopped and waited for the others to join him. The small group of Gadori was where Ava had left them, with Liz and Shandar still being held in the center of the group.

After a few hurried minutes of planning, Alex, Isabel and Maria took off to come at them from behind, while Michael and Kyle came at them from the front. By unspoken agreement, Max and Zan planned to come in from the side closest to where Liz stood and get both her and Shandar to safety.

It was over in a matter of minutes. The Gadori lay on the ground, dead or dying, with the exception of Janaro who was now a captive.

“Max, we had no choice,” said Liz.

“We always have choices, Liz,” said Max. “You made yours. I’m not saying I agree with what you did, but I understand it.”

“I’d say you’re taking this a lot better than Zan is,” said Liz. They looked over at Zan, and the look of desire that filled his eyes when he looked at Shandar had been replaced with a look of hatred.

“Give me my son,” he said.

“He’s my son,” said Shandar, her voice filled with rage.

“Yes, and he’s mine too, and I said to give him to me!”

“I will die before I give up my child to anyone,” Shandar cried.

“That can be arranged,” muttered Zan, angrily.

“Kids, kids, kids,” interrupted Maria. “This is no time for a spat. How about if I carry the little cutie here, and you two talk while we get the hell out of here. This is still enemy territory you know.”

Maria reached out to a speechless Shandar and took the baby from her arms and began to walk towards the valley that hid their encampment. Zan, realized that arguing with Maria was an exercise in futility and threw a helpless glance back at Michael.

“See why I had no choice?” he asked. “I had to make her a general.”

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty-Seven – This Changes Everything

Zan stared morosely into the flickering flames of the fire, lost deep within his own thoughts, until Max placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Want to talk about it?” he asked.

“What’s there to say?” Zan replied. “She’s either lying, or telling the truth, and I’m inclined to believe she’s telling the truth. That means I have a son, and I didn’t even get a little sumptin sumptin when the deed was done,” he added slipping back, for just a moment into what the others coined dupe speak.

“And is that why you’re concerned?” asked Max, struggling not to smile. “Because you didn’t get to participate in the actual act?”

“No, God, no, of course not!” Zan practically shouted. “But thinking about that is a hell of a lot easier than focusing on the fact that both Shandar and I were totally and completely violated, and that a poor innocent child was brought into this whole mess.”

“Yeah, it does suck,” Max said, calmly. “The question is what are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t get why you’re so calm about this,” said Zan, turning to face Max. He turned away again and added another chunk of wood to the fire and watched the flames flare up, throwing a ghostly glow on the corner of the chamber where they sat.

“This could very well be considered your child as well. Don’t forget we’re the same frigging person.”

“We’re not the same, Zan,” said Max. “Any more than identical twins are the same. Each one has his or her own individual characteristics, and so do we. Much as I’d love to say Valrik was mine, he’s yours and yours alone.”

Zan looked sharply at his brother, hearing the ache of longing in Max’s voice, and he remembered suddenly, that Max and Liz had already lost a child at the hands of Tess. He cleared his throat and smiled at Max.

“Well, you’re going to be the official Godfather,” he said. “Michael, Alex and Kyle can all be unofficial or something.”

“Poor kid is in trouble already if you’re going to be his Godfather,” said Maria, joining the conversation. She squeezed in between Max and Zan and suddenly smiled at them.

“So how are my two best male girlfriends doing today?”

“What do you want, Maria?” Zan asked, his tone suspicious.

“What, I can’t come and spend some time with you two?” She asked. “I have to want something?”

“Yes,” Zan and Max responded simultaneously. “You want something.”

“Well, you’re right,” said Maria. “I do want something. What are you going to do?” she asked Zan.

“About what, Maria? Global warming on Earth, the state of the economy, or the over abundance of Gadori infiltrating my planet?”

“About Valrik, you idiot,” Maria answered, slapping Zan lightly on the arm. “You can’t wage a war with a baby in a snuggli pouch on your chest.”

“Maria, what in the hell are you talking about?” Zan demanded. “Valrik is fine, Shandar’s watching him, and I’m not about to bring him into battle.”

“Guess again,” said Maria, smirking slightly. “Ava is watching Valrik, while Isabel and Liz try and talk Shandar out of leaving.”

“The hell you say!” shouted Zan, jumping up. “She’s not going anywhere. She’s the baby’s mother, and she needs to be with him whether she likes it or not! Where is she?”

“Oh, over there,” Maria said in an innocent voice, pointing across the cavernous enclave. She watched in satisfaction as Zan stormed across the compound and grinned at Max.

“That worked,” she said, smiling complacently.

“Maria, what did you just do?” Max asked.

“Me, nothing,” Maria said. “Max, why do you always assume that I’m up to something?”

“Because you usually are, General,” Max said, placing undue emphasis on the word.

“Fine, if that’s the way you’re going to be about it,” said Maria. “It’s simple. Zan was over here doing a great imitation of you, brooding, and Shandar was over there, worried that Zan was going to go all king like and take her son from her, so I decided to just kind of bring them together.”

“You are such a trouble maker,” said Max, flashing a grin in her direction.

“Yeah, I know, but that’s why you love me,” said Maria. “In a totally platonic and non-romantic way, of course.”

“So you want to go watch the fireworks?” Max asked.

“Are you kidding?” Maria said. “I have Michael and Liz saving us front row seats.

Halfway across the compound they could hear the shouting, and the two hurried over to join Michael and Liz who were watching from behind a stone pillar.

“What did we miss?” Maria asked, sliding in next to her husband and her best friend.

“Not too much,” said Michael, chewing on the Antarian equivalent of potato chips. “Zan came charging in, with a full head of steam, and Shandar is giving it right back to him. She makes Maria look calm by comparison.”

“Jerk,” said Maria. “Now shut up, I’m trying to listen.”

“Eavesdrop you mean,” said Liz, laughing.

“I don’t notice you not trying to listen,” Maria shot back.

Liz flushed a becoming shade of red and answered. “Well, it’s obvious they belong together. We just need to help them along.”

“You’re not going anywhere!” Zan yelled, his eyes flashing sparks as he glared at Shandar. “Valrik is your son, he needs you here.”

“Right!” Shandar spat contemptuously. “You just want me here as a wet nurse for him, and when the time is right, you’ll throw me out. I know I’ll never be able to take him from you, but maybe if I leave now, it won’t hurt me as much!”

Zan drew himself up to his full height, and glared at Shandar, his eyes shooting sparks of fire.

“Oh, shit,” whispered Max. “Don’t do it. Don’t do it, Zan. Don’t play the king card.”

“I am Zan, undisputed ruler and King of Antar, and you will do as I say!” Zan shouted.

“Oh shit, he played the king card,” Max whispered.

Without a word, Shandar drew back and slapped Zan with all her might. Zan staggered a bit under the sudden onslaught, then reached out and grabbed Shandar by her arms and began to kiss her passionately.

“Okay,” said Max, softly to the others. “Maybe the king card wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

[majiklmoon]

Chapter Thirty-Eight – Infiltration

Michael walked through the capitol city of Antar, mingling with the crowds. His objective was to gather information; at least that’s what he told the others. His real objective was to find his father, and then, if luck was with him, beat the shit out of him. He ducked behind a building and changed his appearance and stepped out back into the crowd to resume his search.

“Marish!” Is that you?” A voice from the crowd called.

Michael ignored the call until a large beefy hand came crashing down on to his shoulder, almost forcing him into the ground.

“Marish, that is you, you no good cheat!”

Michael turned around and found himself staring at the biggest Antarian he had ever seen.

“Uh, sorry,” said Michael. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

“I’m not mistaken,” the man growled. “You’re Marish, and you owe me seventy five qariks.”

Michael felt his feet leave the ground as the man lifted him up and pinned his back against the wall. He swallowed down a feeling of panic as he tried o figure out what to do. He knew he cold kill the man, but that particular option left him with a feeling of distaste in his mouth. Spying something on the man’s collar, he looked closer and saw that it was the insignia worn by those who fought with them to regain the throne from Kivar.

Risking all, Michael transformed his features and showed his true face to the man, then quickly transformed his features again.

“Lord Michael,” the man whispered. He quickly released his hold on Michael, and he tumbled to the ground. The man reached down and hauled him to his feet and began to dust him off, apologizing profusely all the while.

“I am so sorry, My Lord,” the man said. “Forgive me. I didn’t realize that you were here.”

“Relax,” said Michael. “It’s no big deal.”

“But it is Lord Michael,” said the man. “I attacked one of the members of the Royal Family.”

“Can we lose the Lord Michael thing, and while we’re at it, what’s your name anyhow?”

“I am Wandred, Lord Michael,” said the beefy giant. “Have you and the others returned to aid King Zan in his fight to regain the throne?”

“Look, I said chill with the Lord stuff,” Michael said, brusquely. “And what do you mean, Zan’s fight to regain the throne?” he added cagily. “I thought that all was well between Zan and Lord Kivar.”

“Bah,” Wandred spat. “Whatever that thing is up there, it’s not Kivar, and King Zan would never make any kind of deals with him, even if it were.”

Damn, Michael thought to himself. I wish I had even a glimmer of that empathic power of Kyle’s. I think he’s alright, but I don’t know if I’m wishing or not.

“Hey,” came a voice from behind Wandred. “Got any milk? I brought the HoHo’s.”

“Jesus, Valenti, don’t do that,” said Michael, spinning around. “I could have killed you or something.”

“Lord Kyle,” said Wandred, bowing low.

“Yeah, can we can the Lord stuff,” said Kyle. “Much as I like and enjoy being worshipped, it only really works if it comes from Ava. What’s up?” he added, turning to Michael.

“Can you do your Counselor Troi impression please?” Michael asked.

“Did and done,” said Kyle. “And all is well in the small and insular world of Michael Guerin.”

“Thanks, man,” said Michael. “Look, Wandred, here’s what I need you to do. You can’t tell anyone that you know we’re here. Got it? And, I want you to start meeting with people you know for certain are loyal to King Zan. Don’t tell them anything, but try and feel out some people. Just be careful. You don’t know who you can trust anymore, and the person who looks like your best friend may be your deadliest enemy.”

“Aye, Lord, I mean Michael,” said Wandred. He bowed low, but stood up hastily as he remembered that all of the royals had a blatant dislike of all formality and royal protocol.

“We’ll meet you back here in three days,” said Michael. “Come alone, and the code word is,” Michael paused and searched his memory for a word that would clearly identify Wandred, but wouldn’t be figured out by the Gadori.

“Ho Ho’s,” Kyle interjected. “The code word is Ho Ho’s.”

“Ho Ho’s repeated Wandred,” testing the foreign word on his tongue experimentally. “Very well, I will be back in three days.”

Kyle waited until Wandred was out of earshot before he turned to Michael.

“So did you have any luck finding him yet?”

“Finding who?” asked Michael, being purposely obtuse.

“Your father, numb nuts. And don’t try to tell me you weren’t out here looking for him. It was pretty damn obvious from the second you came up with that lame plan to reconnoiter,” said Kyle.

“You know, that stupid empath power of yours is starting to get on my nerves,” Michael growled.

“D’uh, it wasn’t that,” said Kyle. “Anyone who knows you knows something is up, and those of us who know what’s on your mind know what it is.”

“Great,” said Michael. “I think I liked it better when I was Stonewall Guerin.”

“Give it up, Michael,” said Kyle, slapping him on the back. “Now let’s start looking. I figured you could use some help seeing as Cal probably doesn’t look like Cal anymore.”

“Yeah, thanks,” said Michael, a bit grudgingly. He wanted to be the one to find Cal, and get some answers out of him, before he killed him. “Come on, let’s walk through the market place and see if you can pick up his sent or something.”

“Uh, Michael, I’m not a bloodhound you know,” said Kyle. “It’s not exactly like that.”

“I know, I know,” said Michael. “Max and I were talking about it. We can kind of get what you’re feeling, but it’s just so hard.”

“Is it hard, or are you afraid?” Kyle asked.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” said Michael, his voice tinged with anger.

“Yeah, really, Michael. Try telling me something I will believe,” taunted Kyle. “I saw you when it first happened to me. You were totally freaked by what was happening, and you didn’t want it happening to you. Neither did Max. That’s why the two of you are having such a hard time accessing the ability. You’re blocking it, just like you all block the memories of the collective consciousness.”

Michael glared at Kyle and drew his fist back and punched him in the face. The impact knocked Kyle to the ground but he jumped back up and laid into Michael for all he was worth.

A crowd of people gathered around and watched as the two men pummeled each other. Finally one man reached in and pulled Michael off of Kyle and glared at him.

“Are you insane!” the man shouted. “Drawing attention to yourself. What the hell were you thinking?”

Kyle swiped at his nose and tried ineffectually to stem the stream of blood. “I was thinking,” he said between gasps of breath. “That it worked.”

The man opened his mouth to speak but a tremendous explosion that rocked the ground stopped his words.

“Come on, we have to get out of here,” the man said, pulling himself off of the ground.

“Right,” said Kyle. “And you’re coming with us, Cal.”