Fan Fic and More

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On Top of the Moon

Chapter 21

XXI



Maria was the first to notice… “Liz, put your hand on my chest. Am I dead? I don’t think I’m breathing.”

“Max said that we wouldn’t need to breathe,” Liz reminded her. Of course, Maria knew this, but she was still a bit freaked out by it.

“Okay, Liz, this is just really, really weird! I mean… I know Max said that we wouldn’t need to breathe and all, but I thought that meant that if there wasn’t enough oxygen, it just wouldn’t matter. I didn’t know I would actually stop breathing, you know?”

“I think it’s got something to do with the body’s natural autonomic reflexes,” said Liz.

“Say what?”

“Well, it’s just that breathing is an autonomic response; you don’t think about breathing, you just breathe automatically because your body senses the need for oxygen. If it doesn’t sense a need for oxygen, I guess, maybe we don’t breathe.”

“Ooo-kay… Great. Now that just freaks me out, you know!”

“Look, Maria, here comes Michael… and Max is with him.”

Michael and Max walked up to Maria and Liz. Michael took Maria’s hand and Max took Liz by the hand.

“Which way do you want to start,” Max asked Liz.

“I don’t know, Max. How about over there… that little hill and valley just on the horizon.”

In actual fact, the horizon was not very far away; the moon had a total circumference of, probably, no more than two miles. Michael and Maria decided that they would go the other direction and the four of them could meet on the other side.

Suddenly, a shape passed over the top of them.

“What the…” exclaimed Michael.

It was Kyle, who seemed to be really enjoying himself since he discovered that he could make 30-foot high leaps that would carry him over a hundred feet.

“Oh my God, Max! Would I ever love to play a game of football up here… or basketball! Can you imagine it! This is sooooo cool!”

“Okay,” said Maria, “There’s one little kid who’s having a lot of fun! And he didn’t want to come!”

“Neither did you,” Liz reminded her.

“Well, I’m not saying I’ve changed my mind yet, either, you know; but I’m getting sort of used to it… I guess it’s not so bad.”

Maria jumped upward and did a somersault in the air, landing lightly back on the ground on her feet…

“Okay, that was kind of cool.”

Liz jumped up and did a triple somersault, landing lightly back on her feet, too.

“Okay, now that’s just showing off,” said Maria, who then proceeded to jump as high as she could, doing a total of twelve somersaults before falling back to the ground sitting down.

“Maria, I’m really impressed,” Liz exclaimed.

“And I’m really dizzy,” Maria mumbled hesitantly, “I only meant to do five flips, but I just kept on going! Whoa! Give me a moment…”

Max and Michael were laughing. They took Liz and Maria by the hand again and, with a, ‘See you on the other side,’ headed off in opposite directions. Meanwhile, Kyle was having fun making 70-foot-high leaps now back and forth over the top of the new granolith, putting his hands in front of himself like Superman as he passed over the observation dome… and over those watching from within it, who hadn’t wanted to leave the ship. For a while, Sheriff Valenti and Jeff Parker were amused watching Kyle, but then they decided to go off and do some exploring, too. They asked Kyle if he would like to come, and he agreed.

Max and Liz watched the new granolith disappear surprisingly quickly over the horizon as they walked. Once over the horizon, Max couldn’t resist pulling Liz into his arms and giving her a passionate kiss. Liz reciprocated, kissing him back just as passionately.

“Max, you always could make me feel like I was on top of the moon,” Liz said, smiling. “I never thought that I would actually be on top of a moon, though… literally… and you with me!”

Max nodded. “I’ve always felt the same about you, Liz.”

Liz smiled. “I remember the first time you let me touch you and see inside your thoughts so that I wouldn’t be afraid of you.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I saw what you felt -what you really felt- about me. I… I couldn’t believe that anyone actually felt that way about me. You thought I was beautiful… Me! Liz Parker …small town girl from nowhere! Now look at me, I’m Mrs. Liz Parker Evans! …I’m walking on the moon, and I couldn’t be happier!”

Max smiled. “Well, look at it this way, Liz, I had to come all the way across seven galaxies to find you. You were that precious and rare… And I would do it again in a heartbeat! In fact, I did!”

Liz looked at Max and beamed; she kissed him again passionately, and he kissed her.

Michael and Maria had also lost sight of the new granolith over the horizon when they sat down on a large rock together to talk. Michael took Maria’s face gently in his hands, and slowly, inexorably, he allowed his lips to meet hers. He had not yet gotten over losing Maria in the other timeline… or the years he had spent missing her. He probably never would. He pulled Maria tighter against his body and felt her soft hair against his face, smelled her perfume, felt her lips pressed to his… and this time, it wasn’t a dream. It was real!

“Maria, hold out your hand,” Michael said. He got down on his knee in front of her, held her hand in his, and asked,

“Maria, will you marry me? Will you be my wife when we get to Antar?”

Maria gasped, then the edges of her lips edged upward in a smile. It seemed to light up her entire face, and she nodded excitedly… “Yes… Yes! Yes! Yes! And a million times Yes, Michael! I will! Of course, I'll marry you! You're the only one I ever wanted or ever will want to marry!”

Michael turned Maria’s hand over and placed something in it, and she opened her hand to look. At first, she thought it was a rock, but then she saw that it was something else… a large uncut diamond.

“Michael!” Maria gasped, “Where did you get this?”

“I spotted it among those outcrops back there and picked it up. I’ll always remember this little moon, Maria! It will always be where you said that you would marry me and where I found this diamond… the one that I’m giving to you for your ring. I’ll have it set for you when we get to Antar!”

Maria wrapped her arms tightly around Michael and kissed him passionately. If it hadn’t been for the capsules that they had taken and the fact that he didn’t need to breathe, Michael might have been gasping for breath; but he didn’t need to breathe, and neither did Maria… and both of them took full advantage of this fact.

At the same time, on the other side of the little moon, Liz laid her head on Max’s broad, strong arm and shoulder, and both of them gazed at the planet Jupiter, which occupied the entire sky on their side. It was beautiful… and truly, truly rare. It was a day that Max and Liz would remember forever. No doubt, Kyle would not soon forget it either, nor would his father, Sheriff Valenti, nor would Jeff Parker. Nor, in fact, would any of the travelers on the new granolith… for this was a day that had put them all on top of the moon.




-------------------------End of Chapter 21

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



The Continuing Adventures on Michael’s Moon
--Mystery on Michael’s Moon--

Chapter 22

XXII



Max and Michael had been absolutely besieged with requests to remain on the little moon (which everyone agreed would henceforth be called “Michael’s Moon”) long enough for a second excursion. Even Phillip and Diane Evans, Amy DeLuca, and Liz’s mom, Nancy, said that they would like to go out the next time. Of course, some of the changes of heart might have had a little to do with the “rock” Michael found and which Maria had been showing to everyone as though it were already attached to her finger.

Maria was happier than anyone could ever remember seeing her; and everyone was congratulating Michael, who seemed pretty happy himself, even if he was a little embarrassed by all the attention he was getting. In the end, Max agreed to remain another 24 hours so that they would have time to eat and get a “night’s” sleep before going out again, saying that they could make another excursion right after breakfast in the “morning.”

In space, there is no day or night, and onboard the new granolith, days were measured in 24-hour periods, so waking and sleeping hours were regulated accordingly. A Jovian “day” is considerably longer than an Earth day, and a Jovian year lasts 11.86 Earth years.

As one might expect, dinner was a very animated occasion this evening, as each person related his or her adventures on the little moon and everyone looked at Maria’s diamond over and over. Kyle couldn’t get over how high he had been able to jump in the light gravity of the small moon.

“Kyle, we all had a marvelous time in here watching you fly,” laughed Amy DeLuca.

“Yeah, and this is the guy who was worried that he might float off into space,” Maria laughed, “Now he’s trying to jump off into space!”

“Well, Kyle went up and down today,” Jim said with a grin, “Up in the air and down in the ground… Jeff and Kyle and I found a cave on the other side. We’d like to explore it if we could get some lights. Speaking for myself, I’d love to know what’s down there in the center of this little moon.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Michael said with a shrug, “We’ve got lights available… all you need. I’ll get them for you before we go out in the morning. If you want to splink or splunk or whatever they call climbing around in caves, go ahead.”

“Spelunking,” Kyle said, “It’s called spelunking. I remember that from somewhere… I don’t know where.”

“Well, you can be our official spelunkers,” Michael laughed.

After dinner, Jim Valenti, Jeff Parker, Kyle, and Michael went to the game room on level 3, by the living quarters, played some checkers and watched a couple of football games that Michael had had the scientists on Antar copy onto a disk that looked a lot like a DVD. Maria took a private walk with her mom through the gardens on level 5, Max and Liz strolled through the arboretum on level 6, Isabel went to her room and curled up with a novel she was reading, and Phillip and Diane Evans joined the guys in the game room after briefly going back to their rooms to freshen up and change into something more relaxing. Fortunately, the scientists on Antar, besides being technological wizards, also had the foresight to recommend to Michael that he and Max take along a substantial wardrobe to allow their guests a variety of changes of clothing.

By 11:30 PM, Roswell time, everyone had retired to his or her room for the night, and the new granolith finally sat silent beneath the stars on the surface of ‘Michael’s Moon.’


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The next morning, everyone was impatient to get out and explore the rest of the moon. So after breakfast, Max met everyone in the galley dining room and escorted them to the cargo bay. There, he gave each person two oxygen capsules then sealed the bay off from the rest of the ship, opened the bay doors, and activated the systems extending the ramp. One by one, the guests walked down the ramp onto the moon. Due to the light gravity, some seemed to hop rather than walk, which everyone seemed to find amusing.

Jim Valenti, Jeff Parker, and Kyle wasted no time heading off in the direction of the cave they had found the day before. It was about a mile away, on the other side of the moon. Michael and Maria walked in the direction they had gone the day before; they wanted to relive that day one more time before they had to go. Max and Liz also walked to the place where they had been the day before so that they might again enjoy sitting together and just watching the planet Jupiter fill the sky in front of them. It was an awe-inspiring view! Maria and Liz’s moms and Phillip and Diane Evans were walking around, staying within sight of the ship, collecting unusual rock samples. They all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely, though no one found anything like Maria’s diamond that Michael had found the day before.

On the other side of the moon, Jim Valenti, Jeff Parker, and Kyle located the cave they had found the day before and immediately set about descending into it. The mouth of the cave was accessible only from inside a small valley, and for this reason, it was not readily visible until one was very close to it. Surprisingly, though, the cave was fairly large inside, especially when one took into account the tiny size of the moon. The three intrepid space spelunkers turned on their lights and walked down a shaft that led into the moon’s interior at about a five-degree incline angle. When they had gone about a quarter of a mile into the moon, the shaft opened up suddenly into a large room. They shined their lights around the interior of the room and were astounded.

The room appeared to measure 75 or 100 feet by 100 to 150 feet. The ceiling was at least 20 feet high. As they looked around, they realized something else. Someone had been here before.

Next to the far wall, Kyle found something that appeared to be a bottle; it looked quite old and appeared to have been there a very long time. Jeff found a small book, perhaps a diary, but it was so fragile and deteriorated that they dared not open it for fear that the pages would simply crumble into dust. It was Jim Valenti, though, who made the biggest find of all. Around a small corner at the right hand side of the far wall, he found what might have been the remains of something like a backpack; in it was a camera, and it appeared to be in fairly good condition.

Back on the new granolith, Jim Valenti, Jeff Parker, and Kyle had turned their artifacts over to Max to see if he could determine anything about them. Max and Michael agreed that the diary, or whatever it was, should not be opened until they arrived back on Antar and had the proper facilities available to them; it was simply too fragile. The bottle was clearly just that -a bottle- but a type that they were not familiar with. It was shaped like a small Coca Cola bottle but with a somewhat larger neck and opening. And it had writing on the side in an unknown script.

But it was the camera that Jim Valenti had found that was causing the most excitement and commotion among the companions. Max had determined that the camera was a digital-type. He and Michael had managed to open a small compartment on the bottom, and in it they found three small cylinders that could not have been anything but batteries. Needless to say, they were no longer functional; but they appeared to be almost exactly the size of a triple A battery.

“Does anyone here have any batteries,” asked Max.

Amy DeLuca, as it turned out, had a new package of six AAA batteries in her purse; she didn’t remember what she had bought them for now. Max put them into the camera and they fit. He turned on the switch, and the view screen came to life. Everybody crowded around to see if there would be anything still stored in the memory. Suddenly… there it was.

In the view screen were three girls. They couldn’t have been more than 14 to 16 years old. They were smiling broadly, leaning in close to each other to get into the picture. But it was what was behind them that caught Michael’s attention.

“I know that place,” said Michael. “That’s the Grand Canyon!”


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Now the entire ship was abuzz with excitement and theories about how it was possible that something like this could be found on a small moon in orbit around Jupiter. Max and Michael went through all the photos stored in the camera’s memory. All the photos were of one or more of the three girls who were in the first picture, but they were taken at different locations. Photo number two showed only one of the girls. She was smiling and standing beside a large cactus in the desert. She was wearing a gold and silver bracelet with a symbol on it that resembled a large “S.” Because of this, Max suggested they call her ‘Sabrina.’ Photo number three showed all three girls standing by the cactus together. Photo number four was of the second girl; she appeared to be standing in a prairie, and in the background was a tremendous herd of buffalo that must have gone on for many, many miles. This girl, too, was smiling, as though she might be a tourist on vacation. She had very long hair, almost down to her knees, and around her neck was a choker with a triangle that somewhat resembled an “A.” They named her ‘Andrea.’ Photo number five was of the third girl. She was sitting on the bank of a river. On the other side of the river were several large black bears that appeared to be catching trout in the river. This girl had a necklace with a symbol that resembled a stylized “L,” so they called her “Lisa.”

All the animals, plants, and locations visible in the photographs were readily identifiable as Earth species and sites. What was conspicuously missing in any of the pictures was any hint of a road, a building, crowds, or any sign whatsoever of civilization. It appeared that for now, at least, Sabrina, Andrea, and Lisa would remain a mystery. Max downloaded the photographs into the ship’s computers for safekeeping then carefully stored all of the items that had been found away where they could be retrieved and examined in detail by scientists when they got back to Antar.

With everyone back onboard the ship and the cargo bay sealed, Max and Michael brought the new granolith back to life, lifted her off of Michael’s Moon, and took her back out into space. They had carefully recorded the location and orbit of Michael’s Moon so that Michael could keep a record of this place that would always be so special to him and to Maria… the place where he had proposed… the place where Maria had agreed to be his wife… and the place where he had found the fantastic diamond that would become Maria’s engagement ring. To everyone aboard, the memories made on Michael’s Moon would forever be special, but to Michael and Maria, they would be especially so.




------------------------End of Chapter 22

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



Michael’s Story -The Battle for Antar

Chapter 23

XXIII



The passengers onboard the new granolith were now in their eighth day of intergalactic space travel. Max had recalibrated the computers after leaving Michael’s Moon to account for the extra travel time so that they would still return to Antar in the correct time… the one in which he and Michael had left.

For the last two or three days, many of the guests had been begging Michael to tell them the story of the Battle for Antar and everything that had happened when Max and Michael had gone back to their planet and Max had reclaimed his throne. It was a story they all wanted to hear.

After being implored yet again by everyone at the table to tell them the story, Michael finally relented. The guests had just finished eating dinner, so Max had the diner droid bring everyone after-dinner coffees and some Antarian sugar cookies, and everyone turned expectantly to Michael to hear the story they had been waiting and longing to hear.

Michael looked around the table at the anxious group in front of him and smiled obligingly, though if truth be known, it was actually a smile of resignation, then he began slowly, almost shyly…

“Well… as you all know by now, Max and I… and Kyle… escaped from Earth by the skin of our teeth just as the Earth was being destroyed. Maria and Isabel had been with us, but… well, you all know that story… Anyway, it took us 36 days to return to Antar in the ship that we appropriated from Kivar’s people, which wasn’t as fast as the new granolith.

When we arrived back on Antar, we found everything in chaos, not only on Antar but also on several neighboring planets in our system. Kathana had attacked Kivar, Kivar had attacked Sero, Sero had attacked Hanar and Zan… eventually, Kivar had gained the upper hand and had taken over most of the four realms. That’s why Zan --That’s Max, for anyone who doesn’t know-- along with Isabel, Tess, and I were sent to Earth to begin with. Kivar killed most of the leaders of the planets he took over. One of the leaders he killed was Zan. He also killed Zan’s second in command --that would be me-- and most of the members of our families.

Zan had been a very popular leader on Antar. Everyone on Antar loved him, and Antar had prospered and benefited from many years of peace and happiness under him… with me as his General. One of our crowning achievements was our system of linked science laboratories. The scientists in our laboratories had succeeded in curing most diseases and giving Antarians a very enviable lifestyle. Eventually, they found a way to make us virtually immune to all disease; that’s why on Earth, Max, Isabel, and I never had to go to a doctor and never got sick. Our scientists also gave us amazing advances in technology and helped to usher in “the Great Era of Prosperity and Peace” under Zan’s leadership.

Some other planets in our system envied us, especially our prosperity, even though Zan and our scientists willingly shared all our knowledge and did everything that they could to help every planet to prosper as we had. But a planet cannot prosper when its leadership is corrupt. Kivar, in particular, had long plotted to overthrow Antar, but he was afraid of taking on all the planets together. After Kathana attacked him, though, and he beat Kathana, he became bold and just kept going…

When Zan and I were killed, our people were in despair. Out of desperation, our scientists decided to do something unheard of in our civilization, something never before tried or achieved… they took DNA from the bodies of Zan --that’s Max-- and from Vilandra --that’s Isabel-- and from Tess and me, and they sent a ship to Earth to combine our DNA with human DNA in order to make us into totally human-like clones that could live peacefully and secretly among humans but some day be brought back to Antar to revive the “Great Age of Prosperity and Peace.” They specially engineered our DNA to revive certain memories in us at specific times in our lives and to guide us in our destiny. It was the only thing they knew to do.

When Kivar learned what the scientists had done, he had all the linked science labs destroyed… razed to the ground. The men and women who had brought prosperity and freedom from disease to Antar and who had tried to bring it to all planets… Kivar had these people locked up in prisons on his planet or turned into menial laborers there… picking up trash on the streets, cleaning toilets…

This is the situation that we found when Max and Kyle and I arrived back on Antar. The prosperity once enjoyed on our planet was gone, the people were in despair, and Kivar was in the royal residence. Fortunately, when we landed on Antar, one of the first people we saw was Garandev, who had been a loyal member of Zan’s staff, and he filled us in quickly on what had been happening. We knew that we had to go into hiding.

Once in hiding, we developed a plan. Garandev secretly brought in others who were still loyal and brave enough to go up against Kivar… and many who weren’t brave but were desperate and had nothing left to lose. We laid out our plans over a period of two months, and finally, we felt that we were as ready as we were ever going to be.

Zan gave the word, and the Battle for Antar began.”


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All those onboard the new granolith were leaning forward now in their seats, engrossed in Michael’s saga. And as he continued, the story seemed to take on a life of its own…

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“The word traveled fast… from Hyrf, Kivar’s home planet, to Teroggel, Kathana’s home planet, to Deshrune, Sero’s home planet, and all across Antar, the word was out. It was time to rise up and throw out Kivar. People arrived… ex-soldiers, construction workers, boat captains, drivers, shebble herders, farmers… from all over Antar and from the other planets… from all walks of life they showed up, carrying sticks, metal rods, ancient guns, anything that they could still find, since Kivar had had almost every conceivably useful weapon confiscated from the populace after he took over. But the people had one thing that they had not had in many years… they had hope… real hope!

Garandev, Max, and I organized a special battalion of ex-space officers and crewmen to capture two of the spaceships at the space field so that we could face off Kivar's ships in space. This battalion was led by General Kobvol. Kivar's ships --he had five of them in Antarian orbit at the time-- turned tail and ran from our two ships. But then we intercepted a communication ordering them to stand and fight or face Kivar. After the communiqué, all but one of his ships turned around and began firing on us. The fifth ship simply tucked tail and ran.

We were able to overpower Kivar's four remaining ships with our two by employing the 'Delusion Gambit.' Believe it or not, that’s a strategy that I developed to use against Max when we played Jaht-Roo. It doesn’t work on Max any more, by the way, but it worked beautifully on Kivar’s crews! Mmmm… since I may wind up playing some of you at Jaht-Roo someday, I won’t describe this gambit in detail, but suffice it to say, it involves tricking them into seeing something that they think they see but it isn’t what they really see. Okay, that was kind of confusing, I know, but… well, let’s leave it at that. Someday I may tell you about it.

Anyway, our Space Battalion was victorious, capturing all four of the ships that had not fled. General Kobvol returned to the field with his crew installed on and in charge of all four captured ships plus the two we had previously captured at the field.

Although we had been stunningly successful in our battle with Kivar’s space forces, these spaceships are not configured for atmospheric fighting. By that, I mean that we could not use them to fight our ground battles.

In the royal residence, when Kivar received word of the uprising, he immediately acted to put it down, calling up his entire army, which --small though it was-- had all the weapons and advantages that the people didn’t. Also, some of Kivar’s most elite ground forces had died on Earth when the excitron had destroyed the Earth, but many had returned to Antar, as had Kivar himself.

As the crowd loyal to Zan, which may now have numbered over a million, poured down all the streets of the capitol toward the royal residence, with Max and me leading, even women and children came out of their houses to walk with us.

Then Kivar struck.

First, he attacked with laser blasts fired from three subspace atmospheric ram-propulsion slipstream ships, similar to fighter jets. This dispersed the crowd, and many were killed or injured by the blasts. But the crowd regrouped and kept coming. A shebble herder was able to bring one of the slipstream ships down with an ancient slingshot device made of two small cords, a piece of dried shebble hide, and a rock. It was a major victory… the rock had somehow managed to damage the ship’s right aileron, crippling the ship’s ability to maneuver. It was fortunate for us, I guess, that Kivar had so neglected everything scientific and technological after destroying the science labs and incarcerating the scientists that he had only three functioning slipstream ships left… and now he had only two.

Garandev, Kyle, and I made our way, without being seen, to the royal residence and entered through the back. Once inside, we made our way to the royal quarters and other parts of the residence where Kivar might have been hiding, but we were unable to find him. We were, however, able to find and capture one of his top sergeants… a not very brave individual. We quickly learned that Kivar had left the palace and sought safety in a small fortress-style residence he had had constructed in the countryside. Kyle and I returned with that information to Max while Garandev stayed to secure the palace.

With this information, Max led his people into the countryside toward the fortress of Kivar. Again, they were attacked by slipstream fighters firing lasers. And again, Many were killed or injured. But still, the crowd kept on going.

One of Kivar’s two remaining slipstream ships developed a serious flight disturbance problem and had to return to base. There was no one available to fix it, so it had to be grounded indefinitely. The other ship fired until its laser batteries were depleted and needed recharging. Once the slipstream ships were gone, the people advanced rapidly on the fortress. They were within sight of Kivar’s fortress when the worst thing that could happen did…

Kivar and his soldiers in the fortress fired on us… on the people… with a small, modified type of excitron device that they had prepared. It seemed like the entire field exploded. Bodies were lying everywhere… people were running for the safety of any cover they could find… Max found himself cut off from the rest of us --from his people-- by Kivar’s army, which now felt that the odds were again on its side and came out to fight. As the crowd dispersed into the trees and back in the direction of the town, Max was cut off and forced to escape in the opposite direction… toward the dense forest known as the Nan-torel. Some of Kivar’s elite soldiers followed him to the forest and then disappeared after him into its mysterious depths.

With the modified excitron device at his disposal, Kivar seemed to enjoy an insurmountable advantage. He could literally kill an entire battlefield of soldiers with just the touch of a button. The Battle for Antar had been changed. A simple uprising, even by a million or more people, would no longer be enough to win.

Over the next few days, we tried several times to get to Kivar’s fortress without being seen or being blasted by the excitron, but it seemed hopeless; every time, we failed. In the meantime, Kivar had begun sending his soldiers to the homes of residents to arrest them. They would disappear in the night… no one knew who would be next or where they were taken. He would have them executed --men, women, and children-- then broadcast the killings on television for everyone to see. It didn’t matter if they were involved in the uprising or not… Kivar didn’t care who was or was not! Most of the people were involved, in one form or another. The purpose of the executions was to demoralize us… and to demoralize the people and make them beg to return to what had been. But the people had had enough of what had been under Kivar… returning was not an option that anyone was considering, no matter the costs. No one was going back.

Max had been gone for over a week before we really began to fear that he was dead. Nobody wanted to say it, but we all knew that the Nan-torel was a place from which few returned… and nobody went in there willingly. It just abounds with danger everywhere, from the large tiger-like pawgors to the fierce, bat-like rob-jeta, to the poisonous plants… and things that hadn’t even been discovered… nobody wanted to go in there. Anyone who had been in the Nan-torel for 24 hours was automatically assumed to be dead. Still, everyone wanted to give Zan the benefit of a doubt! It was partly because they trusted and believed in him, but it was also because he was their last hope… their only hope, to finally escape from Kivar’s brutal treachery.

Each day, we made strikes against the fortress. I worked up a strategy. I reckoned that the excitron device --this one was small and maneuverable; it could be shoulder-mounted-- could nevertheless only be in one place at a time and also needed to be recharged periodically. The problem was that since it was smaller and far less powerful than the one used on Earth, it could be recharged quickly and could be used several times without recharging. We were never sure if it was charged or not. I worked out a plan to test how many blasts the excitron could make without recharging, and we found that the device needed recharging after every five firings.

During the night, I sent four teams into the woods to get into position to attack the fortress from different sides all at the same time on cue. We planned to get Kivar to fire the excitron five times… it would then take about an hour, we had learned, for him to recharge the device. It would have worked… I’m sure of it… but one of the people in our circle was a spy. When we attacked, Kivar had his soldiers posted on all sides of the fortress to pin the attackers down while he carried the excitron to each side and used it in small semi-blasts… enough to easily do the job while not depleting its energy.

After that, Kivar stepped up his campaign of intimidation, executing twice as many people each day. We knew that we had to do something, and soon, so after making sure that there were no other spies in our inner circle, I devised a new strategy to get us into the fortress. It seemed primitive, but all we had to fight with were things that Kivar had not foreseen as even remotely being usable as weapons against him. He had confiscated everything that seemed like a possible weapon from the people. I sent several key men to obtain as many large mirrors as they could find. They brought back a total of 304 mirrors, and we deployed them in a semicircle in the field near the woods during the night from one side of the fortress to the other. Then we covered them up and camouflaged them with sticks and branches.

Once the mirrors were all in place, we waited until the afternoon of the next day, when the sun was at the proper angle, then removed the covers from all the mirrors at once. The soldiers in the fortress were totally blinded, unable to tell where we were or from which direction the attackers were coming until we were inside the fortress. We captured all of Kivar’s soldiers. We also captured the hated excitron. Everyone was celebrating. It seemed that we had finally and decisively won the Battle for Antar. I issued a demand to Kivar that he surrender immediately if he did not wish us to use his own excitron on the fortress… with him it. But we had not counted on the worst weapon of all being used against us… our own morality, our own conscience. We never thought that these things could be used against us… until we came up against a sick s.o.b. like Kivar!

Amidst all the noise of the celebration, we realized that someone was trying to get our attention… then others began to point and try to get the crowd’s attention, too. Finally, everyone was looking at a turret on the far side of the fortress, where Kivar was still holed up. There stood Kivar, holding a five-year-old child, as one of his soldiers that we had not caught stood over the child with a laser machete blade, prepared to cut off the little boy’s head on Kivar’s command. Kivar just looked at us and smiled that evil grin that he had. He knew that it was a standoff. He could no longer win the war, but he would escape. His demand was that we let him go and the child wouldn’t lose his head. Everyone was quiet. No one wanted the little boy to die… but everyone knew that if Kivar were allowed to escape, he would rearm himself, align himself with some new mercenary soldiers, and return to try to take back the throne. There would be more bloodshed… thousands would likely lose their lives. No one would ever really be free on Antar as long as Kivar lived and was free. The choice… the choice was one child or a whole planet.”

Michael looked down at the table; there wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

“In the end… in the end… we couldn’t… nobody could… let him kill that one little child. That was the worst weapon anyone has ever used on me in my life… my conscience!

I told Kivar to release the boy; we would let him go. He knew I was good for my word. And the people of Antar are the most scrupulously true-to-their-word of any people I have ever met. Kivar knew that they would not stop him once they had agreed to the demand.

No one did.

As Kivar and his five remaining soldiers walked away, they smiled, and Kivar made a shallow, sarcastic bow to the people. Everyone knew that he would be back… and there would be more bloodshed. Their struggle was not over.

But just then, there was a piercing scream, a scream that shook and chilled every single person there to the core. It sounded like
“Jaaaaaaa-eeeeeeeeeee! Jaaaaaaaa-eeeeeeeeeeeee!

There was a great commotion; people began to run everywhere. Above us were five huge black birds with 60-foot wingspans and heads like an eagle’s. Two of Kivar’s five soldiers seemed to pass out or simply had heart attacks where they stood. Another fell to the ground and covered his head with his hands. The other two ran for their lives. Kivar stood frozen, appearing to be in the greatest fear he had known in his entire life and unable to even move. As the birds dropped lower, we all saw something that no one could believe. Zan… Max… was riding the lead bird, sitting on its back holding tightly to the neck feathers, keeping his head low. The birds circled around the field once, then one of them swooped down and grabbed Kivar in its claws, sinking the tips of its talons into his body. Kivar opened his mouth as though he wanted to scream, but nothing came out. Two of the younger birds caught the two fleeing soldiers, and all three birds continued to circle the field with their prey grasped firmly in their talons. Kyle, Garandev, and I stood where we were, and the first bird, with Max on its back, landed beside us. Then the second bird landed beside the first one.

Max slid off the back of the huge bird, as several hundred thousand eyes watched in total abject terror from the woods. But they were in no danger. Max had made friends with the Jah-ee and its mate, and when their three babies were big enough to fly and catch prey, they had all brought him back… and the babies got a little practice catching a meal, thanks to Kivar.

After that, Max… Zan, that is… was recoronated and given a huge parade and recoronation feast. Kyle and I were decorated and honored, and Max made me number one general of his armies. Garandev was made a general, too. Kyle became Chief of Staff, which he chose for himself… I helped the scientists rebuild the linked science laboratory system… the people of Antar have had five more years of peace and prosperity… and happiness… with the return of their golden age…

And, ladies and gentlemen, that is the story of the Battle for Antar.”




---------------------End of Chapter 23

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



Two Weeks in Space

Chapter 24

XXIV




The passengers onboard the new granolith had been amazed and in awe of the stories that Michael and Max had told them over the last two weeks about Antar, the Battle for Antar, Max and Michael’s experiences with the Jah-ee, the fate of Kivar, and tales of the Golden Sea and other things that awaited them on Antar. But they were also quite clearly enjoying their journey aboard the new granolith.

Michael stopped Max in the corridor just outside the lounge at the end of the living quarters level.

“Max… Take a look… in there…”

Max peeked through the lounge door. Phillip Evans and Jeff Parker were playing Jaht-Roo… and both men were covered from head to toe in shreds of sugary ‘UFO’ remains. Max smiled and looked at Michael; Michael snickered and shook his head, trying hard not to break out in laughter and betray their presence. Max and Michael decided to allow Max and Liz’s Dads to play their game in privacy.

As they walked back down the hall, they met Liz…

“Just the handsome hunk I was looking for,” said Liz enthusiastically.

Michael looked around, “Huh? Where?” And Max nudged him playfully with an elbow.

“Max, I thought maybe we could go for a walk in the arboretum. What do you think?”

“Sure… yeah, I mean, that’d be cool, Liz. You mind, Michael?”

“Hey, no sweat by me! You guys go do your thing. I was thinkin’ I’d go look for Maria anyway.”

Michael gave Max a friendly pat on the back. Max smiled then he and Liz took the ascensor up to the arboretum on the sixth level. They stepped out of the glass ascension chamber onto a neat pathway that led through a small forest of trees. It was a pleasant place to go for a walk; everyone who had been here had commented on how much energy they seemed to have and how well they had felt after walking through the tree park. Undoubtedly, it had something to do with the fact that the air here was saturated with a superabundance of oxygen.

The path through the arboretum began and ended at the same place, so there was no need to turn around and return the way one had come. It had been designed to meander back and forth through the trees, giving the stroller the maximum possible walking distance, about a mile and a half. At a point that lay in the actual center of the arboretum, there was a gazebo with a porch-type swing; but further along on the trail, there was a small clearing where one could lie down by a clear little brook that provided water to the trees, have a picnic, or swing on a two-person swing suspended by vines from high up in one of the trees. This is where Liz had brought Max.

“Have you been here before, Max?”

“Yeah, Michael and I walked the entire path when we were exploring the ship… you know, getting to know it; but to tell you the truth, I don’t remember this place right here being this beautiful, Liz… maybe because you weren’t here. It just doesn’t look the same with Michael.”

Liz smiled. She was beautiful. She looked into Max’s eyes. She found Max irresistibly handsome… and something more… she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. If she hadn’t known better, she might have thought it was some kind of alien mind warp that she was under… or that Max had bought a love potion from Madame Viviane and slipped it to her… but she knew that he hadn’t. What it really was… was love.

Liz put her arms seductively around Max’s neck, kissed him, and pulled him down with her onto the ground. The sounds of the cool, clear water running through the little brook beside them were pleasant… the abundance of oxygen filled them with energy… and their love filled them both with joy.

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

Michael came across Diane Evans and Nancy Parker and asked them if they had seen Maria. Neither had.

“We’re going up to the arboretum for a walk. We’ll see if she’s up there,” suggested Liz’s Mom.

“Oh… uh… well… I think the arboretum may be closed for the next couple of hours… the ship, uh, does an automatic oxygen sweep sometimes, and it’s doing it right about now.” Michael sort of grimaced… It’s the best thing he could come up with on the spur of the moment.

“Oh, I didn’t know…” said Diane Evans. “Maybe we’ll go up to the gardens and take a walk then. Would that be okay?”

“Sure… That would be fine! You ladies have a nice walk!”

“What’s an oxygen sweep,” Liz’s Mom asked Mrs. Evans.

“Darned if I know. Everything here’s new to me, too!”

“You owe me, Max,” Michael said quietly to himself.

A little way down the hall, Michael came upon Amy DeLuca, Maria’s Mom.

“Hey! Just the person I wanted to see!”

“Why Michael,” Amy said jokingly, “If I had known!”

Michael blushed slightly. “I was looking for Maria… I thought maybe you might have seen her.”

“I left her in the observatory. We were watching the stars. It’s peaceful up there.”

“Yeah,” said Michael, “It is that! Thanks! Thanks a lot!”

Michael took the ascension chamber up to the observatory at the top of the ship. As he opened door to the observatory, he saw Maria sitting in a high-backed chair by herself, watching the stars. Michael walked quietly over to where Maria was sitting, kissed her, and put his arms around her. Maria smiled and stood up then placed her arms around Michael’s neck and kissed him, too. Then they moved to the sofa that was against the back wall. Maria sat down and put her legs over Michael’s lap and her arms around his neck. Michael held her with both arms as though he might lose her if he let her go. And together, they watched the stars and enjoyed each other’s company for the next two hours.

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

Diane Evans and Liz’s Mom, Nancy, were enjoying their walk through the gardens. Diane, in particular, was in awe of the different-colored ‘roses.’

“These are so beautiful! I wonder what they’re called?”

“Antarian roses, I presume,” Nancy laughed. “They really are beautiful, aren’t they!”

The two of them sat down on the bank by the waterfall together and talked.

“Phil and I were up here yesterday,” said Mrs. Evans. “It’s such a wonderful place! I think I could be happy living here just like this!”

Liz’s Mom laughed, “Yeah, I know what you mean! It’s like being on vacation or on a long sea cruise… only better!”

They both laughed and nodded.

“I wonder if Antar will be as… as pleasant as this trip has been.”

“I don’t know, Diane… I guess we’ll like it. We’ll find out in about two days!”

“Yeah! I don’t know if I’ll be more excited about getting there or more disappointed that the trip is over.”

Nancy nodded… “Yeah! I think the guys are really going to miss this ship when we get there, too! You see how much fun they’ve been having? Did you see your husband and Jeff in there playing that Antarian Galaxies game, Jaht-Roo or whatever it’s called?”

“Yeah!” Diane chuckled. “They were blowing up so many ‘ships’… both of them were covered in shredded sugar!”

Both Nancy Parker and Diane Evans were laughing.

“That’s a great game,” Mrs. Evans continued. “Great to watch someone else play, I mean! I wouldn’t want to try it myself!”

Nancy nodded and laughed. “I agree with you on that, one hundred percent, Diane! That I do!”

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

Back in Kyle’s room, Kyle and his Dad, Jim Valenti, were enjoying football on a video screen and eating something that they had discovered in the galley, called ‘fluffed een-gelish,’ which, they had found, was a pretty fair substitute for popcorn.

“Dad… What do you think we’ll do when we get to Antar,” asked Kyle.

Jim smiled and shrugged… “Well, they said you’re the chief of staff in the royal palace. I guess that’s what you’ll be doing.”

“Maybe they’ll need a sheriff, Dad.”

Jim smiled and slapped his son on the back.

“Whatever I do on Antar, son… you being back here with me and not on the run anymore where I didn’t know where you were or if I’d ever see you again! …Everything else is icing on the cake. I can take whatever else gets dished out to me.”

Kyle looked at his Dad and smiled, then he put an arm around his shoulders and hugged him.

“Whoa! Touchdown,” both Kyle and his Dad yelled at once, as their home team scored again.

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

Isabel had come across Amy DeLuca after Amy had seen Michael in the hall earlier, and now the two girls were enjoying videotaped episodes of 'Buffy' on the large lounge video screen and discussing novels they had read.

“You think we’ll be able to get ‘Buffy’ on Antar,” asked Amy, joking.

“Yeah, sure,” Isabel answered. “We’ll have them install cable from Earth and charge it to the Special Unit… those ‘Alien Task Force’ creeps.”

As it was getting to be about 5:15 PM, Roswell time, everyone was returning to their rooms to freshen up and get ready for dinner at six. It had been another remarkable and memorable day… one of nineteen --including the time spent on Michael’s Moon-- that they would have during their trip to the Golden Planet… Antar.




------------------------End of Chapter 24

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



The Golden Planet… Antar

Chapter 25

XXV



It was just after 5 AM, Roswell time, when Michael first spotted it with his remote vision goggles, glimmering like a tiny gold nugget hanging in space about 1.2 light years away.

“Max, take a look!”

Max flipped his RV Goggles down over his eyes and looked in the direction Michael pointed. He saw it, too… Antar! The Golden Planet, planet of the Golden Sea, planet of peace and prosperity… at least since Zan had returned with his second in command at his side!

Max flipped his RV goggles back up and smiled. “Almost there, Michael! What is it… um… about six hours?”

“Yeah, that’s about right.”

“We’ll tell everyone at breakfast… I imagine some of them will want to come up to the control room, and others may want to go up to the observatory… so they can watch as we draw nearer to Antar.”

By 6 AM, guests were beginning to arrive in the dining room and take their seats, and the little diner droid was serving before-breakfast coffees to them and taking their requests as they arrived. Since the galley had run out of blue hen eggs six days before, everyone had been getting used to the Aluzian golden eggs. Actually, most of the guests found that they preferred the golden eggs… they were larger and had a stronger taste; but it was a delicious stronger taste, particularly once one had become accustomed to it.

Max and Liz arrived in the dining room at 6:05, and Michael and Maria arrived right behind them. The conversation quickly turned to everyone’s expectation that today was the day they would be arriving at their destination… Antar.

Isabel was the first one to ask the question that was on everyone’s mind…

“Max… how long till we get there? What’s the word?”

Max smiled a slight smile and nodded, setting his coffee down… “About five hours. We should be there before noon… by our onboard time, that is… Roswell time. I’m really not sure what time it will be on Antar. Do you know, Michael?”

“Nope! Haven’t got a clue.”

“Max,” Jim Valenti asked, swallowing another sip of coffee down, “When we get there, I was just wondering… since you and Michael went back in time and then returned forward in time again, how long will you have been gone… from Antar, I mean?”

Max nodded. “That’s actually an excellent question, Sheriff! If I remember, I told my staff that I would probably be back before they even missed me; but Michael and I decided that… well, just so it wouldn’t feel too weird… we would set our return for two days after we left. That would kind of allow everyone there to feel like we had actually left and returned.”

“So on Antar, you guys have only been gone for two days? Whoa! Cool,” said Kyle. “Weird! But cool!”

“We expect to be approaching Antar very soon,” said Michael. “Within the next hour or so, it will probably become visible to the eye. We all want to invite anyone who would like to to come up to the control room or go up to the observatory and watch as we enter our solar system and approach the ‘beautiful golden planet.’ It will be a unique experience, I promise!”

Everyone was nodding in enthusiastic agreement.

At 8:15, the first guests arrived on the bridge to watch from the control room. It was Jim Valenti, his son, Kyle, and Isabel. Max and Liz were already there. Michael and Maria had gone up to the observation deck to “host” the guests who might go there and to explain anything to them that they might have questions about as they arrived at Antar.

From the large fore window of the new granolith, the planet Antar had already become visible to the naked eye. Although at this distance, Antar still only appeared about one fourth the size of a dime, it was already beautiful, hanging there in space ahead of them like a small, shining gold nugget dangling at the end of a chain in the darkness of space.

On the observation deck, Phillip and Diane Evans, Amy DeLuca, and Liz’s Mom and Dad, along with Michael and Maria, also saw it. Diane gasped…

“It’s beautiful! It’s just beautiful, Michael! It looks like a sparkling golden rose just hanging out there far, far away and yet… I feel like I want to reach out and touch it!”

Several of the guests were nodding their agreement.

As the ship drew nearer, over the next two hours, the planet grew from smaller than a dime into a beautiful golden orb the size of an orange… then to the size of a grapefruit. Everyone onboard was genuinely in awe as they watched Antar floating weightlessly in space, growing larger and larger with each passing minute. The Golden Sea could be seen clearly now; it shimmered, giving the planet a uniquely in-motion appearance.

By 10:45 AM, they were entering the atmosphere over Antar. Max had slowed the ship considerably, but now he slowed it yet again. They dropped down to 5,000 feet, then to 3,000 feet, skimming along high over the Golden Sea. Suddenly, the new granolith was surrounded by subatmospheric, ram-propulsion slipstream ships similar to Earth fighter jets. The ‘slipstreams’ rose up from below them and assumed an honor escort formation along each side of the ship. The pilot of the nearest ‘slipstream’ pulled in front and just to the side of the new granolith. He saluted Max in the control room, and Max returned the salute. It was Garandev. Seeing Michael above on the observation level, Garandev looked up and saluted to Michael as well; then Michael, too, returned the salute.

On the observation level, the thrilled guests were waving and cheering at the ‘slipstream’ pilots who were escorting them. And in the control room, Jim and Kyle Valenti, as well as Isabel, waved at the pilots whenever they would come into sight. Max, too, found the moment emotional… he was impressed every time the ‘slipstream’ pilots provided him with an honor escort. No matter how many times he experienced it, it would always be new and inspiring to him.

Half way across the Golden Sea, the ‘slipstream’ pilots got a surprise of their own, a surprise that raised a collective gasp from the guests watching from the new granolith. Taking up an outside position, as though they were part of the escort, were five of the largest birds anyone on the new granolith had ever seen or could ever have imagined. In fact, the sixty-foot wingspans of the huge birds dwarfed the smaller ‘slipstreams.’ Two of the birds assumed positions to the outside of the ‘slipstreams’ on each side of the new granolith. The fifth bird flew ahead of the ship, giving the entire formation a “V” shape.

At first, the surprised slipstream pilots were a bit unsure what they should do, but they had all been there when the Jah-ee had returned from their island with Max riding on the back of one of the huge birds. The pilots knew that these birds somehow had a special and unique bond with Max. They sensed his presence and read his thoughts, just as Max, too, sensed their thoughts. It was something that was unparalleled in Antarian history, and it wasn’t easy for Antarians to lose their fear of the birds… or the feeling of impending doom that overcame anyone who saw the incredible Jah-ee… but they were learning.

For the next twenty-five minutes, the new granolith skimmed over the Golden Sea accompanied by its six slipstream honor escorts and five immense birds right out of the pages of Antarian mythology. Then they came in over the coast of CoruzAntar, the capitol city and location of Zan’s royal palace. Max took the new granolith once around the city, escorted by his most unusual entourage, then directed the ship toward Shebblefieldtree Lane and the Jantoo-Bandy science lab, the home of the new granolith. As the new granolith slowed to a hover above the open roof of the science lab, the ‘slipstream’ escorts gave their returning king and his guests a final salute, turning on their afterburners and pulling back on their control yokes, roaring straight up into the Antarian sky then breaking in different directions like exploding fireworks before returning to base. The five Jah-ee circled the Jantoo-Bandy lab until the new granolith had safely landed inside the building and turned off its propulsion drives. Then the Jah-ee let out a long, piercing, “Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee,” before turning and heading back out over the Golden Sea towards home.

Once the new granolith had settled on the ground on its anti-grav repulsor locks, Max and Michael escorted everyone to the cargo bay. Michael checked to make sure that everyone was accounted for then activated the off-boarding systems. The bay doors of the new granolith opened slowly, and the ramp extended outward to the ground. The passengers walked down the ramp then through a room full of smiling faces. If any of the newcomers had thought that they might be coming to a planet that was hostile and alien, that notion was quickly dispelled. The smiling faces were perhaps exotic, but the newcomers had seen odder things on Earth: bald chickens, pygmies, sumo wrestlers… Carrot-top!

The Antarians were not nearly as alien-looking as they had expected. In some ways, they even looked like very light-skinned Polynesians with just slightly larger than average eyes. The Antarians, full-blooded Antarians, at least, did have a jet-black inner eyelid, a nictitating membrane, as scientists would call it, that could be closed over the eyes while the regular eyelids remained open, but this would not be noticeable unless the individual closed the inner eyelid while the outer one was open. It is likely that this eyelid was responsible for the reports of aliens with large black eyes on Earth, especially if the ones seen were dead.

Some Antarians had unusual powers: molecular displacement, energy blasting, precognition, mindwarp… some had no special powers at all. In fact, Max, Michael, Isabel, and Tess had been biologically engineered to possess more than the average number of unusual abilities each. There were many different special abilities on Antar. What was unusual in Antarian society was for any one individual to possess more than one or two of them… occasionally three or four, but rarely more.

As for the stereotype that aliens are thin, small, and delicate, this group certainly did not support that. As on Earth, there were all body types here… a couple of the guys in this group might even have rivaled Max for his physique. Amy DeLuca, in particular, did not fail to notice one of these, a handsome individual named Varec.

Each of the scientists attempted to welcome the guests in the best English that he or she had been able to master in two days… which is all it had been to them since Max had left.

“Well-coom to are play net! Wee are ferry hippy to have your hair! Wee want you to feel well-coom! You are air guesses.”

It was perhaps too emotional a moment for some of the passengers. Diane Evans and Amy DeLuca began to cry… not because they were unhappy… quite the opposite. After the way they had been treated by the Special Unit back on Earth for an entire month, they found these sincere men and women to be just too overwhelmingly and disarmingly wonderful.

Jim Valenti stepped forward and offered his hand to one of the smiling scientists. He squeezed his hand and smiled, started to say something, but found it unexpectedly hard to speak. After a moment, Jim regained his voice…

“Thank you! Thank you all! From all of us, I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We hope to become very good citizens of your planet… of Antar. I… I know I speak for all of us here… we’re a bit overwhelmed right now by all the hospitality you’ve shown us. It’s something that we’ll always… I mean, always… remember and appreciate more than you can ever know!”

The scientists smiled, but clearly they had not understood much of what Jim had said. Max, or Zan as he was known here, explained it to them.

“Jim Valenti iter gojugo Roswell… Yed deretis, “Caporji yelsik! Iz ej yelsik, jodo gar caporji iz verulnad jereestel. Eje ojala ger yu hart chohartel Antar… Eje hri yu bexeledersinoju iz jivo jolizee. Jivo jolizee her disto eje vo yubo uqawee jin caporetoz!”

Every man and woman among the scientists was smiling. They nodded, and each one took the hand of each guest momentarily in his or her own hand to say welcome.

At that moment, the passengers of the new granolith realized that they hadn’t left home… they had finally come home.




-------------------------End of Chapter 25

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



…And In With The New

Chapter 26

XXVI



A member of the palace staff chauffeured Max, Michael, and the newest residents of Antar to the royal palace in the luxurious palace ground car, a solid gold color hover-vehicle that resembled an extra-wide, somewhat flattened limousine with multiple sun roofs that could be opened to give a modified convertible effect. Max told his guests that he would assign each individual or couple a room at the palace until they could find an appropriate house or residence of their own.

“I want you to know that each one of you is welcome to stay here as long as you need or wish to remain here,” Max told them. “No one will be turned out… no one will be asked to leave… you are at home. Also, our friends, the scientists whom you met at the Jantoo-Bandy lab, have kindly offered to make their lab and the new granolith available and functional to you for a period of one month so that any of you who wish to might go there during that time and stroll the paths of the arboretum or the gardens or whatever you wish to do. They thought that some of you might feel more at ease if you still had that tie to the ship and to your experiences of the last… almost three weeks. There are many parks and attractions on Antar that you will want to become acquainted with, too, I’m sure. We have something for everyone! In a few minutes, my chief of staff, here, will assign each of you rooms.”

The guests turned to look in the direction that Max had motioned. It was Kyle.

Jim Valenti looked at his son standing beside him… his son, Kyle, who had just made the trip with him from Earth… who had shared his adventures… who had only recently come back into his life after having been in hiding for so long with his companions. Then Jim looked at Max’s chief of staff. They were as alike as identical twins… and both were his sons. He walked over and hugged Kyle, the ‘Chief of Staff,’ and with the other arm, he pulled his “other” son to him.

“I guess I’ve got two sons now,” Jim said, grinning, though his eyes were misty.

“No Dad,” said the Kyle who had just arrived with him on the new granolith. “I have this feeling… I can’t explain it… just this feeling… he’s me, too.”

“Yeah, of course,” Jim said, agreeing. “I know he’s you! You’re both my sons!”

“No, Dad… I mean… well, yeah… but you don’t understand…”

Kyle stretched out his hand to his double, and his double took it. The hands appeared to shimmer, fading in and out, as though passing between two times or dimensions… then both Kyles became one. Within seconds, the shimmering stopped.

“See! It’s me, Dad! Just like Max and Michael and their doubles, there never was but one me. I was simply living in two separate times and places, but now I have a single future. I remember everything! I remember flying on Michael’s Moon, I remember us watching football and eating Antarian popcorn together, I remember you and me escaping from Earth… I also remember coming here with Max and Michael and helping Max get his throne back… and becoming Max’s chief of staff here at the palace. That was me, too! …just me!”

Jim nodded… “Yeah… well… alright! Yeah… I guess havin’ just one of you around is really best, you know! That way I won’t always have to be tryin’ to convince each one of you that the other one’s not my favorite!”

“Right, Dad…” Kyle agreed, but then he added, “…but I was your favorite, right?”

For a moment, Jim looked perplexed, as though he might be going to ask which Kyle he meant, but then he grinned… “Get outta here!” Jim gave Kyle a playful slap on the back. “…Both of you! And don’t think this entitles you to double helpings at meals now!” Everyone laughed.

“Max, I’d like to talk to you about something when you have time,” Jeff Parker said.

“Sure, Mr. Parker… uh, Dad. …Right now, if you’d like. Just let me say a word to everyone first… Guys, it’s 4 PM Antarian time. That means we missed lunchtime here, so I imagine that all of you will be hungry and ready to meet in the palace dining room at… say, 5:30?”

Everyone agreed then Kyle escorted the entire group down the hall and showed them each their rooms. Jeff Parker remained with Max.

“What I wanted to ask you, Max, is… well, I’d kind of like to reopen the CrashDown here on Antar, and I wanted to run that by you… see if there would be any kind of problems or anything…”

Max smiled. “No problems at all… Dad! It might be kind of nice, the CrashDown being here and all. I think that’d be a great idea! I don’t think we can find any real genuine Earth foods, though… you’d have to use what we have on Antar, I guess… You know, use shebble instead of beef for the burgers and so on. But I think it’s a great idea!”

“Thanks, Max… uh, Son! Maybe you could help me out finding a place here to rebuild the CrashDown. I’ll need some advice on getting started and how things are done around here…”

“Michael and I’ll be glad to help! There are lots of others here who would be delighted to help, too… with anything you need.”

Jeff smiled and nodded. “Thanks, Max! Really! I mean it!”

Kyle showed Jeff Parker his room then returned to welcome Max back to Antar.

“You know, Max… I think I’ll go to my room for a while, too. I can’t imagine why, but suddenly I feel like I’ve just got back from a long trip!”

Max laughed… “Sure, Kyle! Take a break! You’ve earned it!”

Kyle grinned and retired to his room. Although Kyle owned his own home on Antar, as Chief of Staff, he also had a permanent room in the palace that was always available to him when he was here.

The guests began arriving in the dining room at 5:20. Max and Liz arrived first to welcome the others, and they were soon followed by Isabel and the Evanses, Michael and Maria, Jim and Kyle Valenti, Jeff Parker, and Liz and Maria’s Moms. By 5:30, everyone was present. The staff had set the table magnificently for this very special occasion. The appetizers were Grelligo soup and a small salad of Ama leaves and kelit with a special Antarian dressing called Toro. The entrées were broiled yegg and jarlagos-droozeen… Golden Sea pink-ringed crustaceans… wrapped and stewed in Ama leaves, accompanied by jir-bada… or bada tubors, serelish-harlat (harlat spears), and min-jaht-gojosh (green orb gojos). This was to be followed by a dessert of japo-mevanish, which resembled a flaming flan, and serelish-juscasso, which most closely resembled tiramisu. To drink, the guests were offered an Antarian wine, called ‘jubish,’ and coffee or iced tea, both of which the scientists had successfully synthesized and which had become very popular over the last five years among Antarians, who were always looking to try anything new and adventurous. It all looked quite delicious, probably even more so because the guests had not eaten since breakfast.

During the first ten minutes of the meal, hardly a word was heard except, “This is so good!” “Amazing!” or “Delicious!” It seemed that one thing that was not going to be a problem for the guests from Earth was adapting to Antarian food. Antarians pride themselves on their culinary skills… where cooking skills and food preparation are concerned, they are among the best in the universe… and they know it.

After the meal, the guests talked and had coffee for about an hour before leaving the dining area. Max offered everyone the opportunity to take a tour of the palace or to retire for the evening and get some rest, but the guests were too wound up to retire for the night. To a person, they all said that they would like to see the palace or take a night walk if there was something to see. Max agreed, and he and Michael walked with the guests down to the little blue and wine-colored lake. They walked around the lake and past the quaint little houses at the edge of town, stopping in at a favorite café-pub on the edge of town. There, Phillip and Jeff played a game similar to darts, some had another drink, then they all returned to the palace, where each guest was given a personal tour of the residence.

After the guests had retired for the night, Max and Liz returned to the foyer with Michael and Maria. Kyle had informed Max that someone was waiting in the foyer and wished to speak to them. It was Varec, one of the scientists from the Jantoo-Bandy lab.

Varec was one of the younger scientists and was ruggedly handsome in a unique sort of way, a sort of alien Pierce Brosnan. He had dark hair and a well-toned body. His features were carved and handsomely defined and yet somehow soft rather than harsh. He was perhaps five foot eleven, maybe six feet, tall. His eyes, like those of most Antarians, were 'soulful' and ever so slightly larger than those of most 'earthlings,' just enough so to make one think that there was something different about him but not be quite sure what it was. He had a naturally slight brooding look, but when he smiled, the ladies would melt and the men would feel that he was their best friend whom they had known forever.

“Zan! It’s a pleasure to be here! You know those relics that you gave us to look at from that little moon?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, we’ve been looking them over. It’s very exciting! Very exciting! Do you know that the image-producing device is similar to a type that was once made here on Antar? The depleted power cells are definitely ancient Antarian! So is the bottle! We are almost certain that the three girls in the images were from Antar! There’s just one thing… an image-producing device of this sort has not existed here in ten thousand years! I don’t think there is even one in the museum! This is a very valuable find! A very valuable find! What this means to our cultural history is just… immeasurable!”

Max stood there, momentarily stunned.

“Max… what is it?” Liz asked.

Max explained what Varec had told him.

“So, then… Sabrina, Andrea, and Lisa… you’re saying that they may have been from Antar, and they may have left that camera there over ten thousand years ago? …On that little moon off Jupiter?”

“Yeah… That’s what they think,” Max said, then he turned to Varec…

“Does the diary tell you anything?”

“Ah, Zan! That is a much more delicate task! We can’t even try to open the diary, or whatever it is, until it has been atmospherically and chemically treated and acclimated for a period of at least a month, unfortunately. But it will be well worth our time to be patient, I am sure!”

“Yes,” Max agreed. “Yes, we want to do this the right way. The diary was very, very fragile. We didn’t even try to open it…”

“You were correct not to, Zan! You did the right thing bringing it first to us. Thank you! And thank you all for these wonderful cultural treasures that you have brought back to Antar!”

“Wow,” said Liz, “I hope they can get something from the diary!”

“Yeah, this is getting to be a real mystery,” Maria agreed, “This Sabrina, Andrea, and Lisa… who were they? Were they from Antar? How is it they had pictures of themselves on Earth… ten thousand years ago? And what the heck was their stuff doing on Michael’s Moon off Jupiter? I can’t wait for these guys to read the diary, Liz!”

Max and Michael both nodded. Varec dismissed himself, thanking them yet again… He took everyone’s hand into his and squeezed it warmly, thanking each one.

“Meritelji… Caporji!” Liz replied, evoking a tremendous smile from Varec.

Maria, Michael, and Max all looked at her.

“What did you just say, Liz,” asked Maria.

“She said, 'You’re welcome… Thank you,'” Michael answered, obviously impressed. “Looks like our Liz has been doing a little studying!”




------------------------End of Chapter 26

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



The Golden Sea

Chapter 27

XXVII



It was the morning of their third day on Antar. Phillip and Diane Evans had gone for a walk in a nearby park and were enjoying the Antarian nature trails. Jeff Parker had been invited by Varec to go with him and look at several places that might serve as a new site for the CrashDown Café. Max and Liz were in the palace living room when Michael and Maria walked in.

“Michael… Maria! Just the two people I was thinking of,” said Max, “Liz and I were thinking of going diving today. Why don’t you two come with us?”

“I never went diving before,” said Maria, “I don’t know if I would know how.”

“Well, it’s not so hard,” said Max, “Just stay with me and Liz. She’s never dived before either, but you’re both good swimmers, so you shouldn’t have any trouble learning to dive! We use rebreathers… they never run out of air, and they don’t make bubbles.”

“Well…”

“Come on, Maria! It’ll be a lot of fun,” said Michael, “Let’s go with them!”

“Well… okay.”

“Get your bikinis on,” said Max… “Not you, Michael!”

Michael laughed… “Aw, shucks, Maxwell! You’re no fun at all.”

“Ew,” exclaimed Maria, giving Michael a playful slap on the arm. “I’d rather you didn’t wear anything.”

Maria realized too late what she had said. Liz turned and looked at her, smiled, and raised her eyebrows.

Maria’s face reddened… “I… I mean… well, you know what I mean!”

Liz snickered and the guys both smiled a knowing smile…

“Yeah, we know, Maria!”

“Oooh… you two!”

“I’ll get a car to take us down to the j’koozzeen,” said Max.

Maria blinked then looked at Liz quizzically.

“Uh, Liz… is this like Texas or something where you fall in a swimming pool and people yell, ‘Don’t anyone flush?’ ‘Cause if these guys are expecting me to go scuba diving in a Jacuzzi…”

Everyone was laughing.

“No, no!” said Michael. “J’koozzeen means beach or shore, you know, in Antarian.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, well, I kind of wondered about that myself,” said Liz. “I didn’t want to ask!”

“I told Kyle to take the day off, so he and Sheriff Valenti went down to the j’koozzeen a little earlier,” Max said. “They wanted to get a sailboat and go sailing on the Golden Sea. Liz and Maria’s moms went with them to see if they could get a suntan on the beach. Mom and Dad went to the park over by the west end to walk on the nature trails. I think Isabel went to the j’koozzeen with the others. That leaves the four of us… so… let’s go diving!”

“Let’s go,” seconded Michael.

“Well, alright,” Maria agreed. Liz smiled and nodded.

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At the shore of the Golden Sea, the staff car let the four companions out, and they walked down to a little shop on the beach that rented dive equipment. Max rented a wrap-around mask, a pair of fins, a rebreather, a buoyancy control vest, a weight belt, and a depth gauge for each one. Liz also rented a small underwater image-taking device, like a camera, to capture some memories of her adventure. An assistant from the shop carried the equipment into the water for the four divers and handed it to them as they sat on the edge of a submerged platform in chest-deep water. The platform was there specifically for the benefit of divers. Max and Michael showed Liz and Maria how to put the rebreathers and other equipment on and how to use it then rolled off the platform into the water. Liz and Maria put their mouthpieces in their mouths and followed the guys in.

As they turned over and leveled out into a swimming position beneath the water, the girls noticed that the Golden Sea was quite clear beneath the surface, not very different than the clearest waters back on Earth. The visibility was fantastic, though. They could easily see for two hundred feet or more all around them.

Max and Michael were waiting for them and motioned for them to come. Both Max and Michael had waterproof watches with built-in compasses and directional transponders that automatically activate at a depth of three feet. The transponders free the divers from having to pull a buoy and flag behind them as they dive. All motorized boats and most sailboats on Antar are equipped with a device that picks up dive transponder signals and notifies the boaters to watch out for surfacing divers or avoid the immediate area because divers may be present.

Max and Michael looked at their compasses and watched the direction of the sand ripples on the bottom, which told them that they were headed away from the shore. Liz and Maria were right beside them. The water, which had been ten feet deep at the end of the submerged platform, was now just over twenty feet deep and getting deeper as they swam further away from the shore.

After about ten minutes, they arrived at a reef in 65 feet of water. They found that the reef rose 30 feet off the bottom, to a depth of 35 feet on the top; but on the outside edge, the side farthest from shore, there was a drop-off that went down to 150 feet. The reef was about 300 feet across at the top; its length was unknown to the four and went on for probably several miles parallel to the coast.

Liz spotted a cute lobster-like crustacean sitting below a coral outcrop. It had unusually long antennae and a pink-ringed body with a series of long, forward pointing spines in a single ridge along the center of its back. It was larger than a shrimp but smaller than a grown lobster. She took a picture of it. Maria gave her an “OK” sign; she had seen it, too.

The four companions swam over the top of the reef, following the valleys and peaks, checking out everything they saw. Then they heard Max making a noise to get their attention. Looking up, Liz and Maria found themselves face to face with a couple of playful bottlenose dolphins. Both Liz and Maria were surprised to see anything so much like an Earth species on Antar; in fact, it seemed highly doubtful that anyone just looking at them could tell them from Earth dolphins.

The dolphins came right up to the girls and put their noses playfully against them, prodding them to play. Maria ran her hand over one of the dolphins, caressing it on the head and back. Liz took a picture. Then Maria held onto its dorsal fin and the dolphin gave her a ride around the top of the reef. Liz held onto the other dolphin and followed, trying to get a picture of Maria and Maria’s new friend as she held onto hers at the same time. Max and Michael were swimming furiously, trying unsuccessfully to keep up. Fortunately, the dolphins simply circled around and brought Liz and Maria back together with Max and Michael.

Max ran his hand over the head of Liz’s newfound friend and smiled. Then Michael held onto the other side of Maria’s dolphin, and he and Maria got a ride around the reef top together. Liz was wondering how many pictures she could get on this camera without reloading or downloading or whatever one had to do with it when it was full, because she was taking pictures of Michael and Maria, of Max, of the dolphins… She hoped it would not run out! There were so many memories to record.

After a while, the dolphins nudged the girls as if to say, “Goodbye, we’ve had fun!” Maria removed her mouthpiece from her mouth and kissed her new friend on the nose. Liz took a picture, then handed the camera to Maria and kissed her newfound friend on the nose, too. Maria snapped the picture for Liz. Then the dolphins turned and sped toward the surface, leaping out of the water and doing several somersaults each before falling back into the water nose first and speeding off in the direction from which they had first appeared, leaving the girls… and the guys… in awe.

After the dolphins, everyone felt that everything else would be rather anticlimactic; but in fact, they had many other enjoyable experiences while on the reef.

Michael wanted to go over the far side of the reef to the bottom, which was 150 feet deep. The others followed. They didn’t go all the way to the bottom. At a depth of 110 feet, they found a large cave opening and swam into it. It angled upward and got narrower, eventually coming out on the other side of the reef, the side nearest to the shore, in 50 feet of water.

Max looked at his watch and decided that they had been down long enough. He motioned for the others to follow and headed back toward the shore, using his compass to get a bearing then watching the direction that the ripples in the sand took and swimming perpendicular to them. About half way back to the shore, in 25 feet of water, the group was engulfed by a large school of small, shiny, silvery fish and a few larger fish that the girls did not recognize. Michael reached out with his hand and made a swishing motion through the dense school of little fish all around them; the school parted as the fish swam around his hand and continued on their endless journey. All too soon, it seemed, they were at the shore again, climbing back onto the platform from which they had departed, removing their gear and handing it back to the helpful shop assistant, who had waded out to help them in. He also took Liz’s camera and opened it then gave her the disc that he took from a slot in the bottom.

Liz and Maria walked up the beach with Max and Michael by the hand, picking up seashells along the way. They found Isabel with Nancy Parker and Amy DeLuca sunning themselves on the beach. Liz and Maria sat down beside them, pulling Max and Michael down with them.

“We have just had the most amazing… awesome… incredible… unbelievable dive!” Liz said to her mother and the others.

“You wouldn’t believe it!” Maria gushed. “It was the coolest, most amazing thing that ever happened to me! …well, almost…” She looked at Michael and smiled. Michael smiled back.

“Have you ‘girls’ had fun up here on the beach,” Liz asked.

Their moms and Isabel all indicated that it had been very relaxing and enjoyable. Isabel pointed toward the water… A sailboat was cruising along the coast about a mile out.

“Jim and Kyle seem to be having a pretty good time,” said Isabel. “I think I’d like to go sailing, too, next time we come. Looks like they’re having a lot of fun out there!”

Liz and Maria told the girls they would see them back at the palace, and they asked Max and Michael to take them to the café across from the j’koozzeen for a drink. The guys agreed; everyone was thirsty after the dive. It seems that the Golden Sea was as salty as the seas back on Earth.

The little shop across the street had drinks that tasted a little like root beer… and a place to sit. The four sat at a table and downed a couple of drinks apiece. Unfortunately, this shop didn’t sell snacks or food and only had the one root beer-like beverage to drink. It mainly sold beachwear, towels, and souvenirs. Max suggested that they go to a restaurant together on the other side of town. Liz and Maria agreed, and they all went back to the palace, bathed and changed. Max left instructions with his staff to feed anyone who returned who hadn’t eaten, but he expected that most of the guests would be gone for the rest of the day. No one had seemed ready to return too soon.

Max and Liz enjoyed a nice candlelight dinner with Michael and Maria at one of Antar’s premiere restaurants on the west side of town. It was almost impossible to believe that, just a few hours earlier, they had been swimming 60 feet beneath the Golden Sea… and riding and playing with dolphins! Liz couldn’t wait to see the pictures she had taken. Indeed, all in all, it had been a most amazing and unforgettable day!




------------------------End of Chapter 27

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



Varec Unravels A Deepening Mystery

Chapter 28

XXVIII



When Max and Liz arrived back at the palace that night, Varec was waiting for them in the waiting room.

“Varec! It is always a pleasure to see you,” said Max.

“Caporji, Zan! It is my pleasure… and I apologize that I am here so late.”

“No need to apologize, Varec! My staff told me that you’ve been waiting for me a very long time. How can I help you?”

“Zan! We have been studying the artifacts that you brought to us from the little moon of the giant planet of the seventh solar system. We have discovered some new information.”

“Excellent!”

“Yes! Indeed, the bottle that you brought to us was made 12,300 years ago on Antar. There is one much like it in our museum. Also, there is a trademark, of a sort, on the bottom of the bottle that corresponds to a manufacturer from that time. We have also confirmed that the image-capturing device is from the same period, but there is not one of those in our museum… until now, of course! Although we will not be able to open the diary for at least three more weeks… maybe more… we have been able to determine the names of the three girls from the images!”

“That’s great!” said Liz.

“Yes! We were able to know this, because the names of the subjects in the images… and some comments and data about the images… are recorded digitally, but remain invisible within the images themselves. They can be downloaded with the proper computer connections and program. Of course, we were able to devise a program that would accomplish this.”

“Of course,” said Max.

Though Varec may have sounded as though he were bragging, in actual fact, in the Antarian tradition, he was, well… merely demonstrating the efficiency of his group (and bragging). But Varec and his group of scientists had sufficient and ample reasons to be proud of their accomplishments.

They also wanted Zan to know just how much they were still… and always would be… indebted to Michael for the assistance that Michael had given them after the Battle for Antar. Not only had Michael helped them to rebuild the entire network of linked science labs, both with funds and with labor --much of it his own-- but he had made it his personal crusade to find and free every single scientist who had been incarcerated or enslaved, traveling personally to each of the planets to bring them back to Antar. They were aware of the tremendous debt they all owed to Michael… and to Zan, who had supported and assisted Michael in his efforts; and they were always eager to demonstrate their affection and loyalty to both. To Michael, they had awarded the honorary title of “Father of Antarian Sciences.” Michael had accepted his award and the honor with humility and humor, saying, “If only my science teacher from Roswell High were here now…!”

“What were you able to learn from the invisible encrypted messages in the images,” asked Max.

“A few very interesting and important details, Zan… The name of the first girl is ‘MayaSabriena.’ In the images, sometimes she is called Maya and other times ‘Briena’ or ‘Sabreena.’ The name of the second girl is ‘AnDasniya.’ In the images, sometimes she is called ‘Andya.’ The third girl is ‘JoLeesa.’ Sometimes, in the images, she is referred to as ‘Leesa’ or ‘Jolese.’ You will notice that all three girls’ names follow the ancient Antarian tradition of joining two names together, a shorter one with a longer one. Sometimes this is done today in the Grelligo region, but it is an ancient tradition.”

“That’s amazing,” said Liz, as Max translated some of it for her. “Were you able to find out anything else?”

“Well, the girls left Antar with their families, who were on a mission of some kind with a small group of scientists to document and catalog life forms in the seventh solar system. They found life on the third planet from the sun, and they named the planet, ‘Eluymer.’ In ancient Antarian, that means, ‘Blue Water.’ They also named each one of the sites, but that would mean nothing to you, because those names would not be the ones you know.

On the last image, there is a notation that says that tomorrow the girls are going back to the smaller of Eluymer’s two moons again to take some pictures of their ‘secret hideout,’ a place their parents and the others have never found. Unfortunately, it seems that the girls forgot to download their images before they went and probably didn’t want to lose them, so there are no pictures of the secret hideout.”

“Max…” said Liz, “I know I still don’t understand but about every third word of Antarian, but did he just say something about ‘the smaller of Earth’s two moons?’”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what he said, Liz… You got it exactly…”

“That’s all we have for now, Zan… except that some ‘amiable creatures’ from the Blue Sea of Eluymer were transported back to Antar to see if they could survive in the Golden Sea. The girls had apparently taken images of these creatures, but they must have downloaded them already. They weren’t in the device.”

“The dolphins!” Liz gasped. “That would explain the dolphins! It has to be! They must be descended from Earth dolphins!”

“Caporji, Varec,” said Max, “Thank you very much! Let us know when you find out anything more. This is all most interesting. And you may be interested to know that Eluymer has only one moon today!”

“There are a lot of mysteries, Zan; we will find out all that we can… I promise you this!”

“I know you will,” answered Max.

Varec took Max’s hand in his, then Liz’s hand. He smiled… then he turned and left. Varec and the scientists with whom he worked were unraveling the mystery of Sabrina, Andrea, and Lisa --or MayaSabriena, AnDasniya, and JoLeesa-- but for every strand of thread they unraveled, they seemed to find another mystery.




------------------------End of Chapter 28

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



Mr. & Mrs. Michael Guerin

Chapter 29

XXIX




Maria was floating on a cloud… well, not really floating… and not really on a cloud. But considering all that the newcomers had been through since they left Earth, one could hardly blame any of them for taking that literally when they heard it.

Michael had just returned from the jeweler with Maria’s diamond… beautifully faceted and mounted in a ring that was absolutely and utterly breathtaking. Maria had no idea how many carats it was; on Antar, they did not use that measure. She only knew that it was beautiful… and big! Michael placed it on her finger… it fit perfectly. And as he did, he again asked, “Maria, will you be my wife?”

Maria didn’t answer… she just threw her arms around Michael’s neck and kissed him as though she would never let him go.

“I take it, the answer is still yes, then,” Michael managed somehow to say after a couple of minutes.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! A million times, yes!” said Maria. She beamed, and again, she kissed Michael passionately. He reciprocated happily.

“We’ll have to set a date,” said Michael at end. I was thinking maybe next month… it’s the beginning of the summer in Antar, and well… because you warm my heart…”

“Aw… Michael, sometimes you can be such a sweet puppy dog… so cute and lovable!”

“Well, just do me a favor and let’s keep that to ourselves, okay, Maria? I wouldn’t want it getting out that I’m a cute little puppy or something! Reputations, you know!”

Maria snickered, “Sure, Michael, just between me and my cute little puppy!”

Michael and Maria sat on the sofa, held each other, and kissed --between making plans-- for the next 45 minutes. Okay, well, not many plans got made, and not much talking was done.

Ten minutes after Michael had left, Maria found Liz in the palace living room. She walked by her several times, holding her hand slightly out away from her body. Liz saw the ring but at first pretended not to.

“Maria, you seem awfully wound up! Why don’t you sit down and stop pacing! Is something wrong with your hand?”

“Hmm! Hmm!” Said Maria, holding her finger and the amazing ring out where it could be appreciated.

“Mariiiiaaa…” said Liz, “That’s beautiful… it’s gorgeous! So Michael got it mounted… that’s the ring from the moon?”

“Yep.”

“You must be absolutely thrilled!”

“Well… maybe a little happy… Oh, of course I’m thrilled! What do you think! Liz, I can’t wait to show it to everybody! They’re gonna freak! Have you ever seen anything like it?”

“Well…” Liz held out her own hand. Her ring was about the same size as Maria’s, but Max had created it using his power to transmute inanimate objects by altering their molecular structures with his mind. When he had opened his hand, the lump of coal he had been holding had been molecularly transmuted into a perfectly faceted diamond. Max had made a passing reference to Superman, who reputedly was able to apply enough pressure to a lump of coal to turn it into a diamond; but Max’s ability was actually different. He did not use pressure but rather the power of his mind to reform the object into the object that he saw in his mind’s eye. He could just as well have picked up a marble or a bottle cap and turned it into a perfect diamond, but he had used the Superman mythos for its perceived romanticism.

For the rest of the day, Maria showed off her ring to everyone she could find at the palace, and it was the talk of the dinner table that evening. Everyone wanted to know if she and Michael had set a date.

Michael answered, “We decided to get married on the 4th day of Kelsvet, the first month of the Antarian summer.”

“…because I warm his heart,” Maria added.

“Aaaawwwww…” was heard from various parts of the table.

“Maria…” Michael urged, blushing slightly.

Maria smiled… “And because Michael is so hot and he warms my heart, too!”

“Aaaawwwwww…”

Michael shook his head. Well, at least she hadn’t said anything about the ‘cute puppy’ thing. That was something to be thankful for!


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As the 4th day of Kelsvet drew nearer, Maria and Liz, with help from Maria’s Mom, were preparing the invitations to be sent to the invited guests, which included the scientists from the Jantoo-Bandy lab and other labs around Antar, friends and social acquaintances of the royal family, and of course, all Earthlings currently residing on Antar. Liz also helped Maria choose a wedding dress and make the plans for the ceremony and reception.

“Liz… I’ve had this cool idea running around in my head,” Maria said, “And I talked it over with Michael, and he thinks it’s a great idea. We’d like you and Max to renew your vows… or have an Antarian wedding… with us.”

Liz smiled but shook her head emphatically… “Oh, no, Maria! This is your day! …and Michael’s day! I wouldn’t want to do anything to get in the way of that!”

“But you wouldn’t be… I mean, getting in the way. Michael thinks the same thing. It would be so cool… just awesome… if you and Max were there with us to say your vows, too.”

“Aw, gee, Maria… I don’t know… I mean… if it’s really what you want, I could see how Max feels…”

“Please, please, please, Liz… with whipped cream and… and Max on top…”

“Well if you put it that way, Maria, how could I resist?”

Both Liz and Maria laughed.

“But seriously, Maria, I’ll have to run it by Max and see if he wants to do it… and I imagine he’ll want to talk to Michael and make sure it’s really what he wants, too…”

“Not just okay, Liz! He wants it! And so do I! Really!”

“Okay, I’ll talk to Max today, Maria… I promise.”

“Well, try real hard to convince him, Liz… Pleeeease?”

Liz laughed. “Okay, Maria! I promise.”


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The 4th day of Kelsvet had finally arrived, and the SyyKolyva, in CoruzAntar, was filled with guests anxious to see the wedding couples and the ceremony. It was expected to be the social event of all social events of recent Antarian history. The scientists whom Michael had befriended all sat together with their families on the left side near the front. Two hundred and thirty scientists and family members had come. That was every single one of Antar’s premiere scientists, the ones who worked in all the linked science labs. The family --Amy DeLuca, Jeff and Nancy Parker, and Phillip and Diane Evans-- were assigned places in the front on the right side. Sheriff Jim Valenti had also been assigned a family spot and was to give Maria away, a tradition that seemed to be Antarian as well as of Earth. Right behind the family, places were assigned for Isabel and Kyle, who were also to be in the wedding party. The rest of the SyyKolyva was filled with guests, not all of whom were specifically invited… many unassigned places were available on a first-come basis. The SyyKolyva was capable of seating 3,400 people, and no seat would be left unfilled on this day.

The crowd became hushed as music began to play, indicating the appearance of the groom and his escorts. Michael entered, looking more handsome and dapper than he had ever looked in his life. He wore a black Antarian dress suit with gold rings around the sleeves at the wrists, a golden waist sash similar to a cummerbund, and a wide gold lapel and white vest. Michael walked into the SyyKolyva, followed by six friends, Kyle, Xogar, Frev, Tendav, Garandev, and Varec. Xogar and Frev were the sons of two of his scientist friends, Tendav and Garandev were young generals, and Varec was a scientist friend. Michael assumed his position at the front of the SyyKolyva, and his six escorts assumed their places to his left, according to Antarian tradition.

Now the music changed, indicating the entrance of the bride.

Maria appeared, her hand on Jim Valenti’s arm. She was dressed in a long white and light blue gown that just reached the floor. She was too beautiful for words. Slowly, Jim led her down the aisle to the front. Maria’s face seemed to glow. Her Mom was wiping tears from her own eyes with a handkerchief and trying bravely but unsuccessfully not to cry… it was all so beautiful! This was far and away beyond anything she had ever imagined for her daughter even in her grandest dreams.

Behind Maria and Jim Valenti came the bridesmaids, Isabel, Jeliya, Zeenya, Welindee, VarCory, and Teshji. Jeliya, Zeenya, and Teshji were the daughters of three of Michael’s scientist friends. Welindee was the younger sister of one of the scientists, and VarCory was the daughter of a good and long-time family friend of the royal family from the Grelligo region.

As the bridesmaids reached the front, they assumed positions to the right of the bride, according to Antarian tradition.

Next, from the back of the SyyKolyva, a man entered wearing a long dark blue robe over a red vest. The robe had gold trim around the collar and around the wrists. The man had a gold sash trimmed in red hung loosely over his left shoulder. This was the Jalesek. He would be performing the ceremony.

The music stopped, and all eyes were on Maria and Michael. The Jalesek took a small book from his vest pocket and looked at it quietly for a moment.

“Michael Guerin (He spoke in Antarian)… Rath, of the line of Varkor Sarvael, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Maria DeLuca, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Maria your eternal undying love; and is this your wish, Michael?”

“It is!”

“Maria DeLuca, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish Michael Guerin and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Maria, profess to Michael your eternal undying love; and is this your wish, Maria?”

“It is!”

“And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said Jim Valenti. He took Maria’s hand from his arm and placed it on Michael’s arm and took Maria’s other hand and placed it in front of her with the palm up. Then he took Michael’s other hand and placed it on top of Maria’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Michael and Maria closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that Michael and Maria are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”

The entire SyyKolyva stood and applauded briefly but enthusiastically, in the Antarian tradition. Then they took their seats again.

The music resumed, and Michael and Maria walked arm in arm back down the aisle to the foyer as Michael and Maria Guerin.

Now, all eyes watched expectantly for the appearance of the second couple. The music began, indicating the groom was present. Zan --or Max-- entered with his escorts. Like Michael, Max was naturally handsome, but today he appeared more elegant than he had ever looked… perhaps in his life. He wore a blue Antarian suit with dark gold trim around the wrists, wide, dark gold lapels and waist sash, and a white vest. On all the gold trim, there were small silver stars. The six escorts, Hyrec, Lyrcar, Vrobin, Sashev, Anderyoo, and Jontan, assumed their positions to Max’s left.

Then the music changed, announcing the bride.

Liz appeared, her hand on the arm of her father, Jeff Parker. She was fairly glowing, as though she, too, were getting married for the first time; and in a way, she was. Though she and Max had been married on Earth, her parents had not been able to be there. It had been while Liz and Max were on the run. Now, Liz was dressed in a long white and gold gown with small silver stars down the middle of each arm of the gown. Extending the length of the arms along each side of the silver stars was a series of small cut out squares, angled on their ends like double triangles. Like Maria’s gown, Liz’s gown just reached the floor. Her father led her down the aisle to the slow, hauntingly beautiful cadence of the music.

Behind Liz and her father came the bridesmaids, Tredvya, Kwetee, Cathania, Jerilee, Yvee, and Letye. Liz’s bridesmaids were daughters of friends of the royal family.

As the bridesmaids reached the front, they assumed positions to the right of the bride.

The music stopped, and all eyes were on Liz and Max. The Jalesek took his small book and looked at it quietly for a moment.

“Zan of Antar, of the line of Zan Jaron, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Elizabeth Parker Evans, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Elizabeth your eternal undying love; and is this your wish, Zan?”

“It is!”

“Elizabeth Parker Evans, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish Zan and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Elizabeth, profess to Zan your eternal undying love; and is this your wish, Elizabeth?”

“It is!”

“And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said Jeff Parker. He took Liz’s hand from his arm and placed it on Max’s arm, then he placed Liz’s other hand in front of her with her palm up and took Max’s other hand and placed it on top of Liz’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Max and Liz closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that Zan and Elizabeth are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”

The entire SyyKolyva stood and applauded enthusiastically as the music resumed, and Max and Liz walked arm in arm back down the aisle to the foyer as Zan of Antar and his bride, Liz, now also of Antar.

The guests all took their seats one more time, as Max and Liz, together with Michael and Maria, walked down the aisle again, this time at the same time. Reaching the front, the four turned and faced the guests. Now the guests rose from their seats and, as one, shouted out their blessings and wishes for happiness to the couples joined today. Amy DeLuca, Diane Evans, and Nancy Parker were crying. Phillip and Jeff were a bit misty-eyed, as well.

The guests continued standing, and as the couples walked back to the foyer for the last time, guests reached out to touch them as they passed. According to Antarian tradition, touching the newlyweds is supposed to confer their happiness on the one touching them… and possibly bring matrimony to them next.

The couples left the SyyKolyva only to discover a bit of a commotion outside. Beside the walkway and beside the doors of the SyyKolyva stood the Jah-ee… all five of them!

“Looks like your friends all came, Max!” said Liz. “Did you invite them?”

“Yep.”

Max had invited them, in a way… The Jah-ee knew his feelings… even from many miles away. They felt his emotions and knew that Max was doing something that made him immensely happy. They understood that it involved his mate. They knew that he would like for them to come. And they came.

Although by now, some Antarians were getting used to seeing the Jah-ee --on occasion-- many others were not and never would be. A bird that stands almost as high as a building and has a wingspan of 60 feet is an awesome and intimidating sight.

Max and Liz, together with Michael and Maria, walked beneath a multi-colored canopy of exotic plumage formed by the upraised wings of the birds. Seen from the side, the Ja-hees looked somewhat like giant black eagles, but the underside of their wings was iridescent and as colorful as a parrot's plumage. Not many people knew this, of course. Few if any Antarians had ever actually seen a real Ja-hee... or even believed that they existed... but that was before Max found one and befriended it.

Most of the guests gave the birds a wide berth, but a few braved coming near enough to touch them --and the newlyweds-- as they departed and headed off to their reception.

Max thanked the Jah-ee for coming with mental images of his gratitude, and the birds took flight, heading back in the direction of the Golden Sea and their island home.

The luxurious gold palace ground car carried the newlyweds to the site of the reception. Michael and Maria were toasted throughout the evening and were happier than anyone had ever seen them. The guests also toasted Max and Liz, who also beamed.

After the reception, Michael and Maria went to Michael’s house. Like Kyle, Michael had a permanent room of his own in the royal palace, but he also had his own home in the countryside. And this is where he took Maria on this night. They planned to return to the palace in a week, maybe two. Michael’s house was in a wonderful area of Antar. There were lakes, streams, pleasant and safe woods to walk in, and much, much more to see and do. But it is doubtful that Michael and Maria would see much of it during this trip… this was, after all, to be Michael and Maria’s honeymoon.




------------------------End of Chapter 29

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



Generations

Chapter 30

XXX



Liz and Max climbed back onto the platform and handed the helpful attendant their dive gear.

“Max! That was totally sensational,” Liz exclaimed. “I can’t get over those big things we saw that looked kind of like manta rays, only so… different! They were awesome! They sure didn’t bring those here from Earth!”

“No… They’re pretty uniquely Antarian, I think, Liz.”

Liz and Max walked down the beach, picking up shells along the way. They spoke briefly with Phillip and Diane Evans, who had spent the morning beachcombing. Liz told them all about the huge, manta ray-like creatures that had seven trailing tails and a ridge of multiple long, training filaments along their backs.

“Hey, why don’t you guys go with us some time,” Liz offered.

“Diving?”

“Sure, Diane! It’s awesome!”

Phillip smiled but said nothing.

“Well, I don’t know, Liz,” said Diane. “I’m not sure diving’s for us. But who knows, anything could happen… Look at what all’s happened to us already!”

“Oh, you’ve got to, Diane! It’s just too awesome for words! …Makes you thirsty, though… a drink and a burger would be just great right now, Max. Can we go across the street to the café?”

Max motioned to Liz to lead on.

The little shop across the street still sold beachwear, towels, and souvenirs; but since the former owner had retired and sold it to Jeff Parker, it had expanded and added a full café with Earth-style burgers, hotdogs, milk shakes, and other traditional and not-so-traditional café ‘delicacies.’ …And it’s business had increased tremendously.

“Welcome to ‘The CrashDown,’ Liz… Max…” said Jeff Parker, as they walked in the door. “Sit wherever you’d like. One of the girls will be right with you.”

Max and Liz slid into a booth next to the window, where they could see the j’koozzeen across the street. It was cool and refreshing inside ‘The CrashDown,’ and the drinks were great, especially when one’s mouth tasted like it was full of salt.

Within seconds, a young Antarian girl came over to take their orders. She was wearing a CrashDown uniform just like the one Liz had worn back on Earth… right down to the fake antennae and the alien apron.

“Whoa! Déjà vu,” said Max, quietly.

Liz chuckled, “But it’s kind of cool, too, don’t you think!”

Max smiled and agreed.

“I’ll have the ‘Monster Earth Alien Burger’ with ‘Earthling Finger Fries’ and a cold Snapple,” said Max.

The waitress wrote down the order diligently then turned to Liz.

“I’ll have… the ‘Little Roswell Alien Burger’ and a ‘Green Earthman Shake.’ Oh, and don’t forget the ‘Green Alien Pickles’ on the burger!”

Max was having a little bit of trouble stifling a laugh. He just shook his head and wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Hello, Max! Hi, Liz!”

Max and Liz looked up. It was Maria and Michael.

“Hey, guys, come sit with us,” pleaded Liz, excitedly. Maria and Michael slid into the seat on the other side of the table, and the waitress brought them menus.

“What are you getting, Liz,” asked Maria. You didn’t get that ‘Monster Earth Alien Burger’ did you? Michael had that yesterday. It’s, like, huge! …and it looks to me like you’re getting a little bit of tummy there.”

Liz just smiled.

Maria looked at her… “No! No, Liz… You aren’t…?”

Liz nodded. Maria slid out then quickly slid in next to Liz and hugged her. Both of them had tears in their eyes.

“When?”

“Four more months.”

“I can’t believe this! Does anyone else know?”

“Just Max… and Dad and Mom… and now you guys.”

“Liz… I am just… so happy for you! Do you know if it’s… a boy or a girl?”

“Girls.”

There was a silence, as Maria’s mouth dropped at least three inches.

“Girls? As in… two?”

Liz held up three fingers. Michael reached out to catch Maria, who momentarily looked as though she might fall out of her seat.

Maria and Liz hugged each other again.

“Congratulations, Max,” said Michael, reaching across the table with his hand to shake Max’s hand. “We can skip the hugs, right?”

Max nodded and smiled. “Thanks, Michael.”

“Wow, Max! Three girls! You are going to be soooo outnumbered.”

Max just smiled.

The waitress returned and took Michael and Maria’s orders. Ten minutes later, she returned with their meals.

“One ‘Monster Earth Alien Burger’ with ‘Earthling Finger Fries’ and a Snapple…” Max raised his hand. Another ‘Monster Earth Alien Burger’ with ‘Earthling Finger Fries,’ extra Tabasco sauce, and a Snapple…” Max pointed at Michael. “The ‘Little Roswell Alien Burger’ with extra ‘Earthling Pickles’ and a ‘Green Earthman Shake’ for you.” She placed it in front of Liz then turned to Maria, “…and one ‘UFO Turkey-bird Sandwich’ and a ‘Green Earthman Shake’ for you.”

“Did you hear Mom got her own place now,” asked Maria.

“No,” Liz said, taking a bite of her burger, “When did this happen?”

“Yesterday. It’s right near the Evans’ house over in the Berjalya Division. Mr. Evans found it for her.”

“Oh, that’s a nice area, Maria… She’ll like it there.”

“Yeah, I think she’s really happy. She was the last one to find her own house, and she was really anxious to get something. It worked out well. It’s been five and a half months since we got here… on Antar, you know.”

“Yeah… the time seems to have just flown! But it’s been so great since we got here… Everyone’s so friendly, nobody’s chasing us, we don’t have to hide or worry that every person we see might be an informant or a fed, our parents are here, it’s all like a dream, Maria! Sometimes I’m afraid I’ll wake up and find out it was all just that… a dream… you know?”

Maria nodded, then both smiled and hugged each other again.

“Maria! I’m so glad you know now! I wanted to tell you ever since I found out!”

“If you need a babysitter anytime, Liz…”

Liz smiled, “I’ll let you know, Maria!”

Jeff Parker came over to the table. Liz smiled at him…

“Maria and Michael know.”

Jeff smiled and nodded slightly.

“If you need anything, Lizzie, just let me know… You know I’m here for you.”

“I know, Dad! You don’t know how glad I am that you and Mom are here. It’s really, really, really… great… being together again… especially now!”

Jeff nodded.

“Sit down, Dad,” said Max.

“Well, just for a minute, I guess… I’ve got work back there.”

Jeff sat down beside Michael.

Max fidgeted with the Tabasco bottle and with his Snapple bottle.

“I’m glad to see you got some of these,” said Max.

“Oh… yeah. Michael sold them to me.”

Max looked at Michael, and Michael grinned slightly.

“Didn’t Michael get these from the CrashDown on Earth? …or buy them with your credit cards?”

“Yeah, but there was a ‘rescue fee.’

Max looked at Michael again.

“Hey, Max, I risked my life getting that stuff for us!”

“It’s alright, Max,” said Jeff, “Michael didn’t sell it to me for the money. If it was for the money, he could sell this stuff on the black market around here and make a hundred times --a thousand times-- what I gave him for it. I can’t put it on the table; it just goes right away. Each patron drinks a whole bottle of it. I have to keep it in the back and just offer it by request.”

Michael added, “I just didn’t think the CrashDown would be ‘The CrashDown’ without Tabasco sauce and Snapples, you know, so I sold Jeff a couple of cases of each of them from my stash.”

“Michael, you’re a real philanthropist,” said Max. Everyone laughed. But it was true, in a way. Michael valued his Tabasco sauce and Snapples, which he could never replace, far more than any money he might have accepted from Jeff Parker for them.

“Oh, by the way,” said Jeff. “One of the reasons I came over here was to tell you, Max, that a ship arrived on Antar from some other planet a little while ago.”

“Maybe it’s from Teroggel,” said Max. They’ve increased their trade with Antar a lot, especially after Michael and Maria went there for part of their honeymoon… which they extended to a month and a half!”

“No, I don’t think so, Max. I heard that it was an unknown craft… a bit mysterious.”

Max looked suddenly interested… and concerned.

“I’ll need to check it out. Thanks, Jeff… Dad.”

“Sure, Max.”

Max paid the check for all four. Maria kissed Liz on the cheek, and Liz and Maria hugged each other again. Then Max took Liz back to the palace and headed for the spaceport.




--------------------End of Chapter 30

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



A Guest for Dinner

Chapter 31

XXXI



It sat on the tarmac, looking out-of-place among the more modern ships that one might see around the field. Its engines still made a faint humming sound. Zan grimaced slightly, involuntarily… It reminded him of the ships Kivar had used when he came to Earth years before.

Zan went directly to the control center.

“Have we made contact with the ship yet?”

“No.”

“Has there been any attempt by the ship to make contact with us?”

“No.”

“Has the ship been identified… Do we know its origin?”

“No. But some of the ships of this era were retrofitted for service on distant planets. They might not even have the equipment necessary to communicate with us.”

Suddenly, the bay doors of the craft opened and a ramp automatically extended from the craft to the ground. For a moment, nothing more happened. Then one of the occupants appeared in the door.

Max gasped.

“Alex!”

As if the appearance of Alex Whitman on Antar were not enough of a shock for Max, the next occupant to appear in the door drew an even bigger gasp.

“Tess!”

Involuntarily, Max tensed. But behind Tess there was one more… one whom Max had not seen since shortly after he healed Liz at the CrashDown Café that fateful day… one who he and everyone had been told was dead… who supposedly, according to the federal agents with whom she had once worked, had been killed in a fire in an insane asylum.

“Topolsky!”

Obviously, this was not going to be an ordinary day on Antar. Zan had the control center send security to immediately detain Tess and escort the other occupants of the craft to a room in the control center where he could meet with them.

Max stood waiting as the door opened; then Alex walked in… and with him, Kathleen Topolsky.

“Max!”

“Alex! What in the name of all the planets are you doing here?”

“I decided to accept your invitation, Max! So, here I am!”

“When we were on Earth, you weren’t ready to leave everyone to come with us. What made you change your mind in the last five months?”

“Five months? Five months to you maybe, Max… to me, it’s been almost seven years!”

Max paused a moment. That was true. Max and his group had returned forward six years through time, back to the time from which he and Michael had left Antar, in the new granolith; but Alex would not have been able to time travel in this ship. To be arriving on Antar now… in this time… he would have had to have waited six years on Earth… six and a half years, since they had been here for six months already.

Max shook Alex’s hand, “Welcome to Antar, Alex!”

Then he turned to Kathleen. He hardly knew what to say. Kathleen’s presence here was an utter mystery to Max.

“Miss Topolsky… We were told you had died in a fire. I’m glad to see that that was an error. What are you doing here… on Antar? You’re a little out of your jurisdiction, aren’t you?”

Kathleen shook her head slowly, with an almost confused look on her face… “Max Evans!” It was still hard for her to believe. “Max, you’ll have to forgive me, it’s just that… I don’t know if I’m able yet to assimilate everything that’s happened to me. I’ve been with Tess and Alex for the last 36 days, and my mind is still --even now-- in denial.”

“Did Tess kidnap you?”

“Kidnap me? No. She saved me. She rescued me from the Unit… the Unit I used to work for! How could I have been so blind! They kept me in a room that was four feet by four feet… not even big enough to lie down in… for five years! They only took me out to torture me… to break my spirit…” Kathleen’s eyes were tearing up.

“Why?” asked Max.

“They thought I had hidden the stone that I took from them… the one I tried to give to you and Michael. They wanted to know where it was. But I didn’t know… I really didn’t. I took it to give it to you, but they followed me and caught me before you showed up, so I tossed it out the window of the car so that they, at least, wouldn’t be able to have it.”

Max nodded… “And they didn’t believe that.”

“Not for a moment. They thought I still had it or had hidden it or given it to someone. They told me that I had officially died in a fire… They showed me pictures of my grave… my tombstone! They said that I no longer existed… they could do with me as they wished… and they would, until I gave them what they wanted.”

“The stones.”

“Yes… and you and Michael… and Isabel. They thought she was one of you, too. Funny, isn’t it!”

“Yeah.”

“Max… those people… the Unit… are evil. That’s the only thing I can say about them. They never give up, Max! And they never forget! They aren’t responsible to anyone or any government. They’re outlaws within our own system.”

Max nodded. He certainly knew about that. He remembered… but he tried to convince himself that, since he had changed time, it never actually happened. It didn’t, not in this timeline, but Max still had the memories. He didn’t think about it often any more. The success that he and Michael had had in changing the timeline had lifted that burden from him. But the memory was still capable of returning once in a while like a bad dream.

“Okay… Welcome to Antar, Miss Topolsky. We’ll make sure that you’re taken care of. I’ll ask Jim Valenti if he would mind helping you get settled here.”

“Sheriff Jim Valenti?” Kathleen asked, seeming more animated. “He’s here?”

“Yeah… Jim has a house out in the country, not too far from Michael’s place. It’s in a nice area… lots of streams, fishing, lakes, woods and trails. Jim likes it. I’m sure he can help you find something, too.”

Kathleen smiled for the first time since she had arrived. Max had security personnel escort her temporarily to a nice hotel where she could rest, have a warm bath, and get something to eat. He told them to put it on the palace expense sheet. Max remembered Kivar’s old ships. They were none too comfortable. They were certainly not the new granolith with all its luxurious appointments and accommodations!

“So, Alex! This is a real surprise. How in Heaven did you hook up with Tess… or was it Heaven?”

Max had not forgotten that Tess had killed Alex once… even if it was in another timeline and hadn’t been entirely intentional. It had been more like wanton disregard for his life. She had used him to collect information for her… kept him under a mind-warp for months… until his body and mind collapsed and he died. Then she mind-warped Kyle to help her dispose of the body and made him believe that he was carrying luggage or something. No, Max had not forgotten. Nor had he forgotten that Tess had tried to take him away from Liz. But he had learned to deal with that. Max loved Liz. Nothing anymore would ever be able to come between them and that love.

“Tess saved my life, Max.”

Max thought he had heard that wrong.

“She killed you, Alex!”

“No, she saved my life… and she brought me… and Miss Topolsky… to Antar. Both of us were being held by that 'alien-hunter unit.' They were torturing Topolsky for information… and me… you know what they were gonna do with me, Max? The bastards were planning to cut me up to see if I had been changed inside in some way just by being friends with you guys. They found out that Isabel and I had been close. It’s like they’re going after anybody now who was ever touched by one of you. They know that Liz got some kind of powers from you. They didn’t even know who I was until six years after you guys left. Then one day they just showed up at my door and dragged me off."

Alex's face went from dark and serious to a slight impish smile, "Hey! I'm just thankful I'm still the genu-ine, handsome, one-piece Alex Whitman, inter-planetary guitar virtuoso! If it weren't for Tess, you'd be looking at Alex the not-very-musical or interesting shish kabob! And that would just really suck, Max!”

“Yeah! It would! How did you get away?”

Tess blew up the Unit’s new White Room. She did it once before, she told me. She also mind-warped all the agents so that they thought they saw me in the fire.”

Max shook his head. Tess, the good-guy? He still wasn’t convinced. It’s not that easy to let go of old memories… even ones that never happened. But this was a different timeline. Maybe Tess in this different timeline was like Isabel was to Vilandra. Vilandra had betrayed him before they had come to Earth. He had never held that against Isabel, because he didn’t remember her as Vilandra, and he knew that she was no longer that person. She was Isabel Evans now. Maybe… maybe, Max thought, he should give Tess a chance, at least let her explain herself.

Max had security bring Tess. When they had finished talking, Max had them release Tess from custody and take her to the hotel where they had taken Kathleen Topolsky. Max took Alex with him back to the palace. Tonight would be a big surprise for the others… especially for Isabel. Max made a phone call…

“I’ll need the dining room staff to set two more places at the table tonight. Call Isabel and ask her to come. I have a surprise for her. Tell her it’s a dinner guest.”

Max hung up the communicator device… then he smiled.




----------------------End of Chapter 31

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



One Year and Counting

Chapter 32

XXXII



Today marked the one-year anniversary since Max and the group had arrived on Antar. To celebrate, Max and Liz had invited everyone to a dinner reunion at the palace. It was to be a grand affair. Most of the guests --perhaps all of them-- had arrived and were milling around in the foyer and the living room, joining in various conversations. Alex and Kathleen, though they had arrived six and a half months after the others, were also invited. So was Tess. Max had had to think long and hard about this particular invitation, but Isabel had reminded him that in this timeline, Tess had done nothing wrong and was actually the reason Alex was even alive or was on Antar. Max had relented.

“How do you think Alex would feel with Tess being here,” Max had asked.

“Well, since she didn’t kill him, I guess he’ll feel fine about it,” Isabel said.

Max couldn’t really argue with that. He knew that it was the Tess from the old timeline that he had issues with. Even Liz had accepted this Tess. Only Max and Michael remembered Liz unleashing a powerful bolt of energy that had thrown Tess against a wall when Tess had reappeared in the old timeline. But that was the Tess who had killed Alex and tried to steal the love of Liz’s life away from her… and that Tess wasn’t here today; in fact, when Max destroyed that timeline, he effectively destroyed that Tess with it… forever.

Kathleen Topolsky, holding onto Jim Valenti’s arm, was totally overwhelmed by the palace and everything about Antar. Kathleen was someone who put herself totally into her work… whose work and life were inseparable. On Earth, she had worked tirelessly to find and unmask the “aliens,” even though she wasn’t sure that she even believed in them… because that’s what she was assigned to do. Until, that is, she began to get clues about what the Unit was really doing… what it was capable of. Kathleen had believed that she was doing good. When she found out otherwise, she sabotaged her own career… and very nearly her life… to warn the ones she had once pursued. Now she found herself seven galaxies away from Earth, living on an alien planet, and at the total mercy of the aliens she had once pursued… And they had invited her to dinner. She looked at Jim. He was smiling at her. Kathleen smiled back. Kathleen Topolsky was a strong woman, but Jim Valenti was a strong man, one who could live with --perhaps even love-- a strong woman, especially if she was as pretty as Kathleen.

By now, most of the guests had arrived.

“How are the triplets, Liz?” asked Maria, with Michael standing at her side… “I haven’t seen them this week.”

“They’re great, Maria! They keep me busy, but they are so great! And by the way, Maria, I want to know… How long?”

“What do you mean, Liz?”

“Don’t ‘what-do-you-mean’ me, Maria! You can’t hide anything from me! I can tell when there’s a cake rising in the oven! And I know you… You never put on three ounces in your life without groaning that you needed to go on a diet. So spill it!”

“Liz…”

“Spill it, Maria.”

Maria grinned, then beamed, “…six more months.”

“Yes! Yes! I knew it!” Liz hugged Maria.

“Don’t tell anyone yet, Liz, okay?”

“Just our secret, Maria! …Michael knows, doesn’t he?”

“Just you and Michael. No one else yet, not even Mom.”

“Okay, Maria. My lips are sealed… but not forever!”

“We’ll tell everyone in a month or two, Liz. I just didn’t want everyone treating me like… an invalid or something.”

“We wouldn’t do that, Maria.”

“Not you… Mom.”

“Oh! He he… well, what are Moms for, Maria?”

Maria smiled.

“By the way Liz, did you see who Kyle brought with him?”

“Yeah, where have I seen her before?”

“That’s Jeliya. She was one of my bridesmaids. She’s the daughter of one of the scientists over at the lab.”

“Oh, yeah! That’s who she is! Looks like she and Kyle are hitting it off pretty well!”

“Hmmm… that’s an understatement, Liz! If you had seen them yesterday down at the j’koozzeen when they thought nobody was looking…”

Liz smiled, and Maria giggled.

“Well, Maria, maybe there will be some more people making that trip down the aisle before long!”

“I think so,” Maria agreed, nodding.

“What’s with your Mom and Varec, Maria? Is that serious?”

“Mmmmm… maybe so… I can’t tell for sure, but she sure likes him. I can tell you that.”

“Well, Varec’s one of the younger scientists. He’s about your Mom’s age… and he’s pretty cute, Maria…”

“Yeah, well, Mom sure thinks so… I don’t know how I feel about ‘My Dad, the alien,’ though, you know?”

“Aw, come on, Maria, you’re married to one! Only, I guess, since we’re on his planet, Michael’s the one who’s married to one, isn’t he?”

“I never thought about it that way. I guess you’re right, Liz! I’m an alien!”

Liz and Maria both laughed.


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

After dinner, Max stood and offered a toast to all the guests and told them that there were a few announcements. He motioned to Jim Valenti. Jim stood.

“Well… I just want to let all of ya’ll know that Kathleen has agreed to be my wife.”

Kathleen was smiling. Jim offered a toast to Kathleen and got her to stand. There was a round of applause and some congratulations to Jim.

Jim sat back down, and Max motioned to Alex. Alex stood… somewhat shyly.

“Isabel and I are going to be married next month. We set the date for the sixteenth.”

Alex held his glass up toward Isabel and had her stand as everyone applauded again.

Max then motioned toward Kyle. Kyle stood and smiled a sort of one-sided, shy smile.

“Jeliya and I… yesterday, I asked her if she would marry me, and she said yes! So I want to offer this toast to Jeliya (motioning her to stand)… the love of my life! Jeliya, I had to cross seven galaxies to find you! And boy was it worth it!” Kyle and Jeliya sat down amidst a big round of applause and some good-hearted laughter.

Max waved his hand over the table, “Anyone else care to make any announcements?”

There was silence for a few moments, then Varec said, "Oh what the heck.” He got down on his knee in front of Amy DeLuca and proposed in front of everyone. Amy had her hand over her face and was a blushing… She didn’t even know she still did that; but she was smiling from ear to ear, and she wasted no time in saying, “Yes!” Again, there was a big round of applause and a little laughter.


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

As the guests departed, Kathleen Topolsky approached Max and took his hand.

“Max, I… I just want to say what a great day this has been… and how wonderful it’s been ever since I arrived here on your planet. I just want you to know I’m so sorry for any hardships I caused for you and… all of you, you know… on Earth. I didn’t know you, and I was so deceived.”

Max smiled, “It’s alright, Kathleen. I know! We all know! Nobody blames you. You’re one of us now. By the way, Miss Topolsky… Michael, Maria, Liz, and I …well, we actually like some aliens!”

Kathleen smiled and kissed Max and Liz both on the cheek. Then she kissed Michael and Maria on the cheek. All of them smiled… especially Jim Valenti, as he left with his fiancée on his arm.

Tess smiled as she was leaving, and she offered her hand to Max.

“I appear to be the only one not getting married here today. Think I’ll find a nice guy someday?”

“I have no doubt of it, Tess! None at all,” Max replied.

Tess smiled at Liz and Max then turned and left.


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

The next couple of months were busy ones at the Syykolyva.


----- 16th day of the fifth month, Abretyar

“Alex Whitman, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Isabel Evans, also known as Vilandra, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Isabel your undying love; and is this your wish, Alex?”

“It is!”

“Isabel Evans, Vilandra of Antar, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish Alex Whitman, of the planet Eluymer, and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Isabel, profess to Alex your undying love; and is this your wish, Isabel?”

“It is!”

And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said Phillip Evans. He took Isabel’s hand from his arm and placed it on Alex’s arm and took Isabel’s other hand and placed it in front of her with the palm up. Then he took Alex’s other hand and placed it on top of Isabel’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Alex and Isabel closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that Alex and Isabel are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”



----- 25th day of the fifth month, Abretyar

“Kyle Valenti, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Jeliya of Antar, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Jeliya your undying love; and is this your wish, Kyle?”

“It is!”

“Jeliya of Antar, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish Kyle Valenti, of the planet Eluymer, and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Jeliya, profess to Kyle your undying love; and is this your wish, Jeliya?”

“It is!”

And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said her father, Trasves. He took Jeliya’s hand from his arm and placed it on Kyle’s arm and took Jeliya’s other hand and placed it in front of her with the palm up. Then he took Kyle’s other hand and placed it on top of Jeliya’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Kyle and Jeliya closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that Kyle and Jeliya are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”



----- 15th day of the sixth month, Kelsvet

“James Valenti, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Kathleen Topolsky, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Kathleen your undying love; and is this your wish, James?”

“It is!”

“Kathleen Topolsky,of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish James Valenti, of the planet Eluymer, and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Kathleen, profess to James your undying love; and is this your wish, Kathleen?”

“It is!”

And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said Zan. He took Kathleen’s hand from his arm and placed it on Jim’s arm and took Kathleen’s other hand and placed it in front of her with the palm up. Then he took Jim’s other hand and placed it on top of Kathleen’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Jim and Kathleen closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that James and Kathleen are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”



----- 6th day of the seventh month, Terasix

“Varec, of Antar, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish this girl, Amy DeLuca, and that it is your wish and desire that she be your wife now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you profess to Amy your undying love; and is this your wish, Varec?”

“It is!”

“Amy DeLuca, of the planet Eluymer, you have come here today to tell all those present and the world that you love and cherish Varec and that it is your wish and desire to take him as your husband now and for as long as you both shall live. Do you, Amy, profess to Varec your undying love; and is this your wish, Amy?”

“It is!”

And who gives this girl away?”

“I do,” said Michael Guerin. He took Amy’s hand from his arm and placed it on Varec’s arm and took Amy’s other hand and placed it in front of her with the palm up. Then he took Varec’s other hand and placed it on top of Amy’s.

“Then,” continued the Jalesek, “How shall you show this love that the two of you share?”

Varec and Amy closed their hands, intertwining their fingers together.

“Then I say for all to know that Varec and Amy are joined together as mates of the soul and of the body for the rest of their lives… May they know only happiness and joy forever!”



----- 14th day of the first month, Cryystel, 16,002 (3 months before)

6 lb 4 oz girl, MayaSabriena Claudia, born to Zan (Max) and Liz Evans
6 lb 1 oz girl, AnDasniya Nancy, born to Zan (Max) and Liz Evans
5 lb 15 oz girl, JoLeesa Joyce, born to Zan (Max) and Liz Evans


----- 12th day of the tenth month, Decidre, 16,002 (current year)

7 lb 8 oz boy, Zorel Michael, born to Michael and Maria Guerin



----- 18th day of the second month, Dayyese, 16,003

8 lb 1 oz girl, Mareeya Joyce, born to Alex and Isabel Whitman



----- 25th day of the second month, Dayyese, 16,003

7 lb 12 oz boy, Kyle Rayyn, born to Kyle and Jeliya Valenti



----- 3rd day of the ninth month, Sarvyk, 16,004

8 lb 0 oz girl, Ceelya Michelle, born to Alex and Isabel Whitman




-----------------------End of Chapter 32

<center> <<<<<>>>>>Altered Time - Destiny in the Stars<<<<<>>>>> </center>



The Storyteller

Chapter 33

XXXIII



On one hand, he was missing all the fingers beyond the knuckles, he walked bent over and limped, and his face was horribly scarred. The man may have been young or old; it was hard to tell. He looked frightfully out-of-place as he walked down the street of the Berjalya Division. The two little girls, seven and six years old, giggled and shouted taunts from their hiding place behind a tree.

“Hey, you! You sure are ugly!”

“Did the doctor know which end to spank when you were born?”

Suddenly, a couple of strong hands picked the two girls up by the collars from behind. They were doomed. Their father had caught them. He carried them into the house and set them both down on the sofa. Both girls were mortified… too embarrassed to make a peep… they sat silently as their father spoke.

“Let me tell you girls a little story,” said their father. “One time, a long time ago, there were two little girls like you. And one day when they were outside they saw a bent-over, scarred, frightful-looking man walking down the street, so they decided to taunt him… just like you girls were doing… only their Dad didn’t catch them.”

“Lucky them,” whispered the 6-year-old to her sister. Their father heard the comment but continued telling his story.

“After the girls had shouted all the taunts they could think of at the man and figured they had thoroughly humiliated him, they ran back home, thinking they were really very smart and sassy. But a little while later there was a knock on their door…”

(The girls’ eyes widened a bit.)

“The mother of the little girls opened the door, and do you know who stood there?”

“No.”

“It was the man they had been taunting,” said their father. “When the girls saw who it was, they ran and hid in their bedroom. They were really mad. ‘That horrible old man came to our house to tell on us… Now we’re going to get into trouble and Mom probably won’t let us go outside for a week! He’s so mean! I knew he was mean… he’s ugly… and he limps and walks funny!’”

(The girls were listening intently, anxious to know what would happen to the girls in their father’s story.)

“Well, after the man came to the door, the girls’ mother went to the bedroom and got the girls and took them to the living room where the old man was sitting. That’s when the girls noticed that he wasn’t really old --he was actually pretty young-- but he was scarred from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. The girls sat quietly and waited to see what punishment their mother was going to give them. But their mother said,

‘I want you girls to meet Veryd Jascek.

When you girls were babies, our house burned down. Your Dad was not home, and I couldn’t get to you girls. I tried so hard…’

Their mother began to cry as she told the girls the story.

‘Nobody else could find you,’ the mother said. ‘But then Veryd ran into the house. After a while, he came back out with both of you, one under each arm, wrapped in wet blankets. You didn’t have a scratch or a burn on you; we were so thankful. But Veryd… Veryd was very badly burned. He had had to run from room to room in the fire to find you… then through the fire again to get you back out. All his hair was gone, and his skin was peeling off. He spent almost a year in the hospital and in rehabilitation after that. Veryd almost died; he did that for you girls. Veryd came to see how you’re doing.’

…And you know what,” their father continued, “Veryd took both of the girls and kissed them; and he never even told their mother or father about the taunting.”

Their father stopped his story here. Both of his girls already had big tears rolling down their faces…

“Now you girls go to your room.”

Both girls ran off without a word.

Their mother had stopped her cooking and stood listening in the doorway of the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe. She shook her head.

“They should call you the Aesop of Antar. Your morals always seem to get to the girls in just the right place, Alex.”

Alex just smiled at Isabel. His little morality tale had made him a bit misty-eyed, too. But he had a feeling the girls had learned a lesson.

Later, after supper that night, the girls climbed into Alex’s lap.

“Daddy, tell us one of your stories before we go to bed… please!”

“Mmmmm… I don’t know… What do you girls want to hear?”

“Tell us the one about the girl who killed you and then saved your life.”

“You mean, Tess?”

“Yeah, Daddy, tell us that one… please!”

“Alright…”

The girls jumped happily down on each side beside their father and cuddled up to him as he began to speak.

“Well, I don’t remember her killing me, really, because your Uncle Zan and Uncle Michael went back in time in a time machine and made it so that it never happened.”

“But how did she kill you before they went back and saved you, Daddy?”

“They told me Tess used her mind-warp powers to make me go somewhere I didn’t want to go and find some information for her that she needed. She kept me under her mind-warp for months… so long that my body and mind couldn’t take it any longer, and I started to go crazy and died. Then she used a mind-warp on your Uncle Kyle to get him to help her carry my body somewhere to get rid of it without knowing that it was me.”

“She was mean!”

“Yeah… I guess so. What she did was wrong! But I don’t remember it, because your Uncle Zan and Uncle Michael took the time machine and changed it so that it never happened.”

“What happened to Tess, Daddy?”

“Well, right before our graduation from high school, Tess disappeared. There was a big explosion on the base where the white room was… I told you about the white room… and everybody thought Tess had been killed and that she blew the white room up. Nobody saw her again, and when your Uncle Zan and Uncle Michael came back again, right before the world was supposed to end…”

“Will you tell us that story, too, Daddy?”

“Not tonight.”

“Anyway, they came back right before the world was supposed to end to ask me if I would come with them to Antar; but you see, then we saved the world after that…"

"You saved the world, Daddy? You saved Eluymer… the Earth?"

"Well… not all by myself, of course, but yeah… you can say that your Daddy and his guitar helped save the whole world! Of course, nobody on Earth could ever know about it… nobody but me and the others here… I couldn't exactly run around yelling that I had saved the world. They would have locked your Daddy up in a different kind of white room… one with padding on all the walls!"

"He! He! He! …Aw, Daddy, you're my hero!"

"Yeah, Daddy! You're my hero, too!"

Alex stopped and smiled then kissed both of the girls before continuing.

"Well… I almost went with your Uncle Zan and Michael then, but I didn’t want to leave my Mom and Dad and everybody, and when I had a choice… I couldn’t. So they left without me. I thought the Alien Task Force guys didn’t care about me… when the others left Roswell after our graduation, I stayed in Roswell then, too… but six years after we saved the world, the Special Unit found out that I had been a real close friend of your Mama’s, and that's when they came and hauled me off.

Max and everybody had told me what the Special Unit guys did to people, so I thought, 'Alex, you idiot, you blew it! You are sooooo dead now!'”

“How did you escape, Daddy?”

“Well, right before they were gonna cut me all up…”

“Ew…!”

“Yeah! That’s how I felt, too! …So right before they did that, someone blew the place up again… kaboom! Then I hear someone yelling for me to come on… to run, so I just ran. I couldn’t see who it was or anything.

There were all these special agent guys standing around with guns. They seemed to be looking at something, but I couldn’t see it, and they didn’t seem to be able to see me. The voice kept yelling at me to run, but it was like it was in my head. I just started running until I was far away from there.

After I was far away, I finally sat down under a tree to rest. That's when I saw someone appearing in front of me. It was Tess. She was the one who blew up the white room and got me out… and with her mind-warp power, she made the special agents all think that they saw me get burned up, so they didn’t come after me when we were running away. When Tess took the mind-warp off, then I could see her.

After that, we went to the desert, and she showed me a spaceship that had belonged to some of Kivar’s people before your Uncles and I saved the Earth, and she asked me if I wanted to go to Antar.”

“What did you say, Daddy?”

“What do you think I said? I said ‘Let’s go!’

When I got on the ship, I learned that Tess had also rescued another person who was going with us… the lady that Sheriff Valenti is married to now. She had disappeared over seven years before and had been held as a prisoner and tortured by the Alien Task Force Unit for all that time. They wanted to know where the stones were that your Uncle Michael had… She never told them, but I think she would have died if Tess hadn’t rescued her when she did.”

“That was ‘Leen’… Leen’…”

“Kathleen Topolsky. She was one of them… one of the bad guys… at first. But she didn’t know what they were doing to people; she wouldn’t believe it. When she found out it was true, she tried to meet secretly with Michael and the others to give them the other stone that she had, but she got caught before they could meet. Then they put out a rumor that she had died in a fire in an insane asylum. But that wasn’t true. They really had her…

Well, you can imagine how surprised she was to get rescued by an ‘alien.’ She wasn’t even sure that she believed in aliens… not until she found out the real truth about the Unit she worked for.”

“Mommy said that you and Tess and ‘Leen came to Antar five months after she got here with all the others. Did you only get to spend five months with your mommy and daddy?”

“Well, that’s the good thing, you see… it was only five months for them, because they traveled in time, back to the time your Uncle Zan and Uncle Michael had left from. But you see, for me, it was six years… I didn’t leave until six years after they did. When Tess, Kathleen, and I came here, we didn’t time travel. Our spaceship took 36 days to get here, but we didn’t leave until six years after they did; and when we got here, it was only five months after they had got here.”

“Where was Tess before your graduation when you thought she was dead?”

“She knew that they were looking for your Uncle Zan, your Uncle Michael, and your Mama… and especially her. She wanted to make them stop looking for her so the others would be a little safer, so she went to the base and blew up the white room then used a mind-warp to make all the agents think that they saw her in the fire. Then she just walked away and disappeared. She didn’t tell anyone, not even your Uncle Zan, where she was going, so we all thought she was dead.”

“I’m glad she wasn’t, Daddy… She saved you! We wouldn’t want them to hurt you!”

Isabel smiled and hurried the girls off to bed. After the girls were gone, she sat down in Alex’s lap.

“Now I want my story, Dear! …Privately!”

She put her arms around Alex’s neck and they kissed, then Alex picked her up and carried her to their room.

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The next day, the girls were playing outside when Mareeya, the 7-year-old, saw the scarred, deformed old man again and pointed him out to her sister Ceelya. The two girls ran back behind the tree.

At the side of the house, beyond the tree, they broke off a couple of roses from one of their mother’s prize ‘Antarian rose’ bushes, and as the man passed their house, each girl offered the old man her gift. The old man accepted the roses and smiled at the two girls appreciatively. Mareeya and Ceelya were surprised. When he smiled, they thought that he actually seemed attractive… even handsome. Isabel also smiled... then pulled the curtain back so the girls wouldn't see her watching from the window.




-------------------------End of Chapter 33

Sabrina’s Diary

Chapter 34

XXXIV



A lot had happened to the group from Earth since they arrived on Antar. Kyle and Jeliya had their second child, another boy; and to Kyle’s great surprise (or maybe not), Kathleen, his father’s new bride, had a baby boy about a year after they were married. Michael and Maria also had another little boy, and Max and Liz had a little boy, who was vastly outnumbered by the triplets but nevertheless seemed to live a charmed life.

Every now and then, Liz would come across her copy of “Sabrina’s Diary,” the name given to the book they found in the cave back on Michael’s Moon. It had been opened and translated long ago, about two months after arriving on Antar. But every time Liz came across it, she couldn’t put it down; it beckoned her to open it… to read it again. She didn’t know why. She was drawn to it in a way that she had never been drawn to any inanimate thing before. It touched her soul as though it were somehow important to her very being. She had even named her own three girls after the girls in the diary (and after her grandmother and her mother). In her heart and soul, they had become a part of her.

Liz sat down on the sofa and opened the diary to the first page…

5th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena… just Maya to my friends, though sometimes they call me Briena or Sabriena, too. That’s me! I’m fifteen. I’m starting a new diary, because I filled up the one I had been writing in. I write a lot. Some of my friends don’t understand why I like to write, but I seem to need to put everything on paper… it’s my memories. Someday, when I’m old and living back on Antar, I’ll read my diaries and be able to relive all the wonderful things that are happening to me now.

Since we came to Eluymer, the planet of blue water, we've had lots of adventures. Eluymer is the third planet from the sun in the seventh solar system, and as far as we can tell so far, it’s the only planet with any significant life on it. Eluymer is teeming with life: large, furry animals that run on the plains in herds stretching for a hundred miles or more; really big birds that remind us of our mythological Jah-ee… only not as big as the Jah-ee, of course; big furry animals that stand on their hind legs and walk out in the river to catch fish… Oh, and all kinds of fish!

Andya and JoLee are my sisters, and they’re fifteen, too. On our fifteenth birthday, which was last week, Mom and Dad gave us some cool stuff. I got a beautiful gold bracelet with a silver snake shaped like a “thiyeris” on it, for my name, Sabriena. It has a tiny piece of jade for the eye. Andya got a choker with a triangle symbol on it, for AnDasniya. A small diamond is mounted in the center of the triangle to complete the letter "vyremis." Leesa got a really nice gold necklace with a cool “serkyi” engraved on it, and a tiny ruby at the top. We’re wearing them right now. We’re going to wear them when we go to our hideout tomorrow on the little moon.

Eluymer has two moons, a medium-sized one and the little one. Andya, JoLeesa, and I go to the little moon often. Dad lets us take one of the enclose skimmers. The little moon is about half as far away as the other moon, and Andya, Leesa, and I have a secret hideout there. It’s a really neat cave that goes almost through the moon and has a big room at the end. It’s just so totally cool! It's like our own home away from home. When we go there tomorrow, I’m going to take the zuly with me so we can take some pictures of our hideout. I’ve already got some great pictures of us wearing our birthday gifts! I’ll tell you more when we get there! Bye now!


6th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

Hi again! I’m MayaSabriena. My sisters, JoLeesa, AnDasniya, and I are in our secret hideout again on the little moon. We brought our birthday gifts with us. I was just looking at my beautiful bracelet. I love it! Right now, JoLeesa is sweeping the floor so we can put a table and some chairs in here and turn this into a really great place… something really comfortable and far-out! Andya looks totally cool with her neat choker on! Right now, she is trying to hang some small pictures on the walls, but they don’t seem to be staying very well. I’m going to go and help her. I just wanted to write this down first. Bye now!


7th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena. Something terrible happened yesterday, and I guess I should tell you that I’m pretty scared. We all are. While we were in our hideout, I think something hit the little moon. We think it may have been a meteor. There was a really, really big explosion and a big bump. It knocked us all off our feet, and we wound up rolling all the way to the other side of the room. When we got out of our cave and looked up in the sky, Eluymer was getting farther and farther away. At first, we were really scared. But then our moon started to come back and go around Eluymer again… only it didn’t seem to be in the same orbit anymore. It's a sort of elliptical orbit now. The moon goes far away from Eluymer then comes back and passes close again, then it goes far away again. We tried to take the enclose skimmer back, but it wouldn’t start. Then this side of the moon turned away from the sun and it got dark. Now we’re waiting for daylight. This is Maya… and I’m more scared I think than I’ve ever been in my entire life! I’ll write more tomorrow and tell you if we made it.


8th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena. Yay! We got the enclose skimmer started! It was just a loose connection… probably from the big bump. I’ll tell you more when we get to Eluymer! Bye now!


8th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena. We had to return to the moon. When we took off, our moon was going away from Eluymer, so the little enclose skimmer was going away, too. Even when we tried to give it more speed, we just seemed to keep getting further from Eluymer. All we could do was return to the moon. We didn’t want to get lost out there in the cosmos somewhere. JoLee and Andya are crying. Yeah, I was, too. But we’re not giving up. When it’s daylight, we’ll try again. This time, we’re going to try leaving when the moon is closest to Eluymer, not when it’s flying away from it. This is Maya. Bye for now.


9th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena. We tried to leave again today in the enclose skimmer. We took off exactly when our moon was passing closest to Eluymer. I don’t know what happened… something made the enclose skimmer start tumbling end over end. We thought we would die, but finally it straightened itself out. Only by then, the moon was going away from Eluymer and we had no choice but to come back here. We didn’t want to go through what happened to us before again.

We think the problem we had today might have had something to do with the friction between Eluymer’s atmosphere and the little moon’s atmosphere… and that the friction turbulence caused the enclose skimmer to tumble. We’re going to try again tomorrow. This time, instead of waiting till we’re at the closest point to Eluymer, we'll leave when the moon is going toward Eluymer. That way we'll get a push in the right direction instead of in the wrong direction like the first time… we hope. That's important now, because the skimmer is only working on two-thirds power. We lost one of the power crystals. We’ve all agreed to be optimistic, though, so I’ll see you when we get to Eluymer tomorrow! This is Maya. Bye now!


10th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena. I think things have gotten worse just when we thought they couldn’t. We went out to try to go back to Eluymer today and found that the moon is going much further away from Eluymer now and takes longer to come back each time. Today, by the time it was going toward Eluymer again, the skimmer was on the wrong side of the moon, and it was dark. On top of everything else, we ran out of food yesterday. Everything we had stashed in our hideout is gone. So we’re hungry, too, but I don't think any of us could eat right now even if we had food. This is Maya. Bye Now.


12th day of Oyymstar… Antar Year: 4,702

I’m MayaSabriena, and I don’t think we are going to make it back home. I try to be optimistic, but the little moon gets further and further away from Eluymer with each orbit. After the last orbit, JoLeesa, Andya, and I thought that the little moon wasn’t going to come back. We were so far away from Eluymer that Eluymer looked smaller than a sunflower seed. But finally it did begin to come back.

If our moon really is still in orbit around Eluymer, it will probably be two days, at least, before we will be able to try to take off again, as far away as we are now. And after this orbit, I’m pretty sure that our little moon will drift away in space, and then we will never get back to Eluymer again. I think this may be our last try for another reason, too. The power cells in the enclose skimmer are almost drained now. We hope that they still have enough for one more try. When we are in the right place, we will have to run and leave quickly. We won’t ever have another chance. This is MayaSabriena.

This had been Maya’s last entry.

Liz closed the diary and… as she had done the first time she had read it… wiped tears from her eyes as she looked up and quietly said, “Dear God, let them have made it.” For Liz knew that the little moon had indeed broken free of Earth's orbit and was eventually trapped by the tremendous gravitational pull of Jupiter… to become another of the many moons of Jupiter.



In northern New Mexico, near the edge of the desert, the wind was blowing the final grains of sand off of an ancient choker, a choker that had worked its way up through layers of sediment stretching back over 12,000 years. The morning sun glinted momentarily on the unusual object, catching the eye of a six-year-old girl playing with her eight-year-old brother nearby. She walked over and pulled the object from the sand with her hands.

“What's that, Annie?”

“Some kind of little belt… with a sparkly rock in a triangle."

"Annie! Jason! Let's go!" --It was their mother calling.

Annie and Jason ran back to the car. Their father had pulled off the road so that the kids could stretch their legs and take a short break as they crossed the desert.

"Annie found something, Mom."

"Really, Annie? Let me see it."

"I think I dropped it when I started to run back to the car, Mom. Can we go back and get it?"

"No… We don't have time, Annie. We've gotta get back on the road."

As the days passed, the wind blew bits of sand back over the choker, which lay in the desert… waiting. How long? No one could tell. Perhaps for a few days… perhaps for another 12,000 years. Waiting… for other long-buried treasures to rise from the sands beside it… a bracelet with a snake with one jade eye and a necklace with a stylized symbol topped by a little ruby.

If one could trace the descendants of the original owners of the ancient pieces, one would come forward in time all the way to the present, to one Liz Parker, now Liz Evans, who like her distant ancestor, MayaSabriena, also keeps a diary of her memories… and who now has brought Maya’s diary… and her future descendants… back home to Antar.

Awesome artwork by cosmicdream


Life in the Stars takes up where Altered Time-Destiny in the Stars leaves off. The "pod squad" and friends are living happily on Antar with their families and going about their rather interesting lives, but Varec makes a dramatic revelation concerning Liz and Tess in "Something About Liz," and Max and Michael and clan decide that the kids should see Earth where they grew up. Of course, it can't be so easy! The trip to Earth is full of antics, and on Earth, old enemies await. Expect some angsty, frightful moments, but remember that the sun also rises!

Author: Island Breeze
Rating: TEEN or YTEEN, about like the show
Forum: CC
Pairings: M/L, M/M, A/I, ALL

Roswell is the creation of Melinda Metz, who wrote the books, and Jason Katims, who brought us the TV series. They are responsible for the show’s concept and characters and for any events that occurred during the TV series that might be mentioned here. For better or worse, any other elements in this story, including storyline and additional characters that were not in the show, are my own vision and creation.

Life in the Stars should be enjoyed by Dreamers, Candy Lovers, and Stargazers alike.

Life In the Stars



But it’s Buffy!

Chapter 1

I


Special Agent Dumas Zwolinski, of the highly secret “Special Unit” of the FBI’s Alien Task Force paced a frustrated circle around the floor then returned and pounded his fist down on the counter again.

“Somebody here has to know how to do something!”

Zwolinski had grown redder and redder until the veins in his neck stood out, and now one could actually see the veins throbbing as he screamed. The female clerk behind the counter seemed indifferent to it all. Zwolinski looked as though he might have a stroke.

“Sir, there is nothing I can do. My computer says that is what you owe for your service. You will just have to talk to a supervisor.”

“Then get me a supervisor!”

“I’m sorry, sir, there are no supervisors here right now.”

Zwolinski’s nostrils flared like those of an angry bull that has just been stuck by the picador in a bullfight.

“Get me a supervisor now or I will have you shut down! I mean right now,” Zwolinski threatened… but it was to no avail. The clerk acted as though all the advantage here was hers and any threats were irrelevant. She didn’t even bat an eye. The rampaging agent at her counter became ever more agitated, but the indifferent clerk replied as though she had lived this scene a thousand times before…

“Fill out a complaint form and send it to the address on the back.”

“Complaint form!”

“There…” said the clerk, looking up from the daily newspaper horoscope on her desk just long enough to point to a table in the corner.

Zwolinski grabbed the telephone off the counter and held the receiver up in front of him.

“You will get off your lazy ass now and call a supervisor. I want someone here in front of me in five minutes or there will be hell to pay!”

The clerk continued to read her horoscope. Apparently, it said nothing about being violently murdered today, so she was completely unmoved by Zwolinski’s threats.

“Are you people out of your freaking minds! $14,283,569.98 for a month’s cable service! We don’t use cable service in the FBI! We have… we have other means!”

“Sir, my computer says that you are the person it is to be billed to… you personally… and the company that you head. That is all I know. You can call billing and talk to them on Monday if you would like.”

“Good Lord, woman! For that kind of money, you could be providing cable to another planet!”

“Sir, just fill out the form…”

“And send it in…” Zwolinski finished the sentence with her.

“I can’t believe they let you people do business,” Zwolinski ranted, “You’re the most incompetent… Oh, forget it!”

Zwolinski exited the cable service building, slamming the door behind him, then jumped into the car with his waiting companion and sped off, leaving deep ruts with his tires in the gravel parking lot. Back at the Special Unit’s headquarters, Zwolinski was greeted with more woes. The lights --in fact, all the electricity-- had been cut off.

“What the hell’s going on here,” Zwolinski bellowed.

“Sir,” said one of his agents, a newer individual, who was obviously intimidated by Zwolinski, “We’ve been served with some kind of legal notice that we’re being sued for illegally tapping cable services. They put a lien on our building and garnisheed our bank accounts.”

Zwolinski stared at the agent as though he had just said something sublimely ridiculous.

“We can do that, Agent Smith! That is our prerogative! We are the FBI! …But we didn’t. For God’s sake, get it fixed… Now! I’ve never dealt with such incompetence before!” Dumas Zwolinski exited his office and drove to a nearby bar to calm his nerves.

In the upscale Berjalya division of Antar’s capitol city, CoruzAntar, Amy DeLuca was knocking on the door of Alex and Isabel’s house. Mareeya, Alex and Isabel’s 7-year-old daughter, came to the door.

“Mom! It’s Aunt Amy!”

“Well, tell her to come in!”

“You can come in, Aunt Amy.”

“Thank you, Mareeya! Hi Isabel! I see you’re watching your Buffy tapes again. How many times have you watched them now?” Amy laughed. She knew that she had watched them just as many times herself.

“Oh, no, Amy! These aren’t tapes,” said Isabel, “This is today’s episode.”

Amy was silent for a moment. “Today’s episode? You don’t really mean… ‘today’s episode… like today… right now? How…?”

“Alex got Michael to ask his friends at the lab to find a way to get it for me here on Antar. Didn’t Varec tell you?”

A light of sudden understanding came on in Amy’s eyes. “So that’s what he was talking about! Varec said that he was working on a project on the side to help Michael get a ‘buffing.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about!”

“Amy, that husband of yours is a doll! Look at this! Over four hundred channels! I can watch Buffy, Angel, Farscape, Earth news from all these different cities… It’s great! When you see Varec, give him a big kiss from us!”

Amy smiled, “Well… I guess I will …after he hooks it up for me, too! How did they do this?”

“I don’t know, exactly. They called it a ‘virtual link’ or something like that. As best I could understand, it involves a microns-thin, invisible light source being aimed at Earth and feeding the transmissions directly through it from a cable source there.”

“You think they know someone is getting it?”

“I hope so! Michael said that he had Varec send a computer message to the cable company through the same light source to give them Agent Dumas Zwolinski’s name as the subscriber.”

Amy gasped… then laughed. “That’s the guy Michael vaporized in the previous timeline, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, the one that cut Liz up in the old timeline!”

“So… won’t the cable company just cut off the service?”

Isabel shook her head. “They can’t. They’d never find how it’s being linked. And Zwolinski can’t cancel it either! I hope the Alien Task Force’s ‘Special Unit’ will have some concerns other than finding innocent people to dissect for awhile!”

Mareeya and her younger sister, Ceelya, came back into the den.

“Mom, when you finish watching Buffy, can we watch more cartoons from Eluymer?”

“Sure you can, Mareeya! Both of you can!”

Isabel and Amy both smiled and giggled like two schoolgirls as they watched the rest of the latest episode of Buffy together.

<center> <<<<<>>>>> Life In the Stars <<<<<>>>>> </center>



The Pawgor

Chapter 2

II



Amy DeLuca said goodbye to the girls and kissed Isabel on the cheek. Mareeya and Ceelya quickly occupied their seats in front of the Antarian version of a television, which most resembled a plasma screen mounted on the wall. The biggest difference was that it curved around slightly, giving the viewer the impression of being surrounded by what they were seeing. Mareeya quickly switched the channel to find Yogi Bear, their newfound favorite.

“I’m gonna take a ride up to Jim and Kath’s place in the country,” Amy said. “Did you hear about his new ‘pet’?”

“Uh, uh. What pet,” asked Isabel.

Jim went hunting in the Nan-torel last week and came back with a half-grown pawgor. He’s got it in a pen outside… calls it his new ‘pet’… his little ‘puddy tat!’ He’s been telling everybody about it, so I thought I’d go over and take a look out of curiosity.”

Isabel laughed. “Well, leave it to Jim Valenti to try to tame a pawgor! I don’t think that’s ever been done before. I’ve never seen one, but I remember Max telling about having to fight them off two or three times while he was wandering in the Nan-torel during the Battle for Antar! Even Kivar’s elite soldiers were afraid of them!”

Amy pressed the button on her remote ‘car’ key, and the top of her bright green Fan-Ji II Sports compact slid back, taking the doors with it. Amy stepped into the driver’s side bucket seat and placed the small crystal that had been impregnated with her DNA code into a tiny recess in the console. Both engines purred to life, and the top closed back, along with the doors. Isabel waved goodbye, and Amy drove off toward Jim and Kathleen’s place in the country.

The Fan-Ji II, like most Antarian ‘cars,’ had wheels and could drive on them, but it normally used them only for parking and generally traveled as a hovercraft about eight inches off the ground. It also had a very nice feature that allowed the driver to punch in a code on the console that indicated his or her intended destination then just lie back and relax. The car would get there on its own by the shortest route. Amy chose to do the driving.

As Amy arrived at Jim and Kathleen’s ranch estate, she saw Jim sitting outside on the front porch, wearing his trademark tight jeans, strumming on a guitar, and chewing a piece of straw. Amy parked her car and walked over to the porch. Jim had been preoccupied with what he was doing and hadn’t noticed Amy driving up, which is not too surprising, considering that both engines on the Fan-Ji II are as quite as a summer breeze. Kathleen had seen Amy coming from the window and walked out on the porch to greet her. Amy and Kathleen kissed each other on the cheek, and Jim put the guitar down and gave Amy a friendly hug.

“D’you come to see the fierce beast,” asked Jim.

Amy couldn’t resist, especially when someone --like Jim-- left the door so wide open. “No… actually I came to see your pawgor, Jim.”

Kathleen snickered. Jim gave them both that sort of endearing look that he had that seemed to say, “Okay, you got me this time, but don’t think you’re gonna make a habit of it.”

“Come on, I’ll show it to ya.”

Jim led Amy to the back of the house and down to the edge of the woods. There, in a large pen, was a half-grown pawgor. It was about the size of a full-grown Siberian tiger, and it had two huge front teeth, but no tiger stripes. Its hind legs were somewhat shorter than its front legs and noticeably muscular. One would think it would be supremely adapted to pouncing and leaping. Amy took one look at the pawgor and let out a small gasp.

“Jim, that’s a damn saber-tooth tiger!”

“Yeah! Cute, isn’t it? They say he’ll get twice this big.”

“My God, Jim, you’re going to keep a saber-tooth tiger for a pet?”

“Why not, Amy? He’s just a cute little kitty! Look at that face! Is that cute or what?”

“I’ll take the ‘what,’ said Amy.

Jim climbed up on the fence and leaned over into the pen, stroking the pawgor on the head. The pawgor seemed to respond to Jim’s touch. It’s eyes narrowed in that pleased, satisfied look that a cat gets when it enjoys being stroked. And it actually made a purring sound.

Amy shook her head. “Okay, Jim, I can’t believe you’re doing this, but good luck! I’d hate to come back out here and find this… ‘pawgor!’ licking his chops and using your arm bone as a toothpick on those teeth of his!”

Jim smiled at Amy as though to say, You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.

Kathleen put her arm around Jim and smiled, too.

“How do you feel about this… ‘pet,’ Kath,” Amy asked.

Kathleen smiled and shrugged… “I’ve seen worse beasts.”

Amy knew what she meant and couldn’t help but grin, too. “Yeah, we have, I guess, haven’t we! The agents from the Special Unit! Okay, Kath… Jim… you’re right! I’d take the pawgor over those bastards any day. The pawgor’s more likely to have a soul.

Kathleen reached over the fence and stroked the pawgor on the head then looked back at Amy and nodded.



-------------------- End of Chapter 2

<center> <<<<<>>>>> Life In the Stars <<<<<>>>>> </center>



Child's Play

Chapter 3

III



As Amy drove off, 7-year-old James Danyyeel Valenti watched from the window of the upstairs room where he had been playing. Danyy, as his friends called him, was a handsome young man with blond hair kind of like his Daddy’s and soulful eyes. Leaning on the windowsill, Danyy smiled, seeming lost in thought. The pawgor watched back from its pen. Jim walked into the room and Danyy turned to look at him.

"Daddy, why did you save the pawgor?"

"What do you mean, son?"

"Well, when you found the pawgor and it's dead mama trapped under that tree that had fallen on them and you threw some ropes over some branches and pulled the tree off of them, why did you bring the pawgor home and feed it and make it well again? Why didn’t you shoot it?"

Jim looked at his son… "Who told you that, Danyy? I never told anyone that… not even your Mama."

Danyy just looked at the pawgor… "He wants to know."

Jim looked at his son then at the young pawgor lying on the cool grass in its pen at the edge of the woods looking up toward his son’s window, and a sudden realization came over him that made the hairs on the back of his head stand up. His son had somehow learned what had happened from the pawgor itself.

Jim sat down on a chair beside his son. “Danyy… can you talk to the pawgor?”

“Kind of…” Danyy answered, “The pawgor wants to know why you didn’t kill him like anyone else would have done.”

Jim ran his hand through his hair and let out a deep breath of air.

“Well, son, the pawgor wasn’t my enemy… It was just, well… an injured… I don’t know, son! You don’t have to kill every animal just because it’s big or strong, only if you need to save your life or somebody else’s life or something. The pawgor was injured. I felt sorry for him… and his mama was dead. So I brought him home to make him well.”

“But you go hunting, Daddy.”

“Yeah… well… son, sometimes I bring home something for the table, you know, but most of the reason I go hunting, just between me and you, is because I like to be out in the woods with the wild animals, just me and all the wild animals, you know. It’s like therapy for me. You wouldn’t understand.”

Danyy smiled, seeming to understand a lot more than his young years betrayed. He looked back at the pawgor, and the pawgor closed its eyes with that satisfied cat look and began purring. The pawgor understood; the pawgor was a hunter, too.


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

Amy DeLuca had driven straight from Jim’s house over to Michael and Maria’s. Michael and Maria lived near Jim and Kathleen in the country. As Amy drove up, six-year-old Elizabeth JoLee ran out to meet her. Maria was right behind her.

“Mommy, Mommy, can I come back to Maria and Michael's house and play with Zorel and Kryys and Jayyd tomorrow, too? Can I, Mommy?”

Amy smiled and picked JoLee up.

“Did I have this much energy when I was this age,” Maria asked. “I thought Zorel, Kryys, and Jayyd were a handful! JoLee is sweet, but what a bundle of energy!”

“You love it, though, don’t you!” Amy said, smiling.

Maria smiled back… “Yeah, you know I do! And I’ll tell you someone else who’s loving it!” She indicated with her head toward Michael in the side yard helping the boys, Zorel and Kryys, build a tree house. Five-year-old Jayyd was already inside it.

Amy shook her head. “I admit it, Maria, I had my doubts about Michael when we were on Earth, but you really picked a good one!”

Maria beamed. Michael lifted 6-year-old Kryys onto his shoulders and then picked up Zorel, who had just turned 8, and sat him down inside the door of the new tree house with his sister.


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

Meanwhile, in Roswell, New Mexico, Agent Smith strolled down the walk by the exhibits at the local zoo, stopping at a bench across from the monkeys' cage.

“Sir,” he said to the individual seated on the bench, “Two more of our agents have resigned."

Agent Dumas Zwolinski looked up from the bench and grimaced, the veins in his neck standing out more than usual.

“Smith, we’ve got to make sure this Unit doesn’t fold. Whatever it takes, you and I have to hold this Unit together… for the sake of the country.”

“Yes, sir!”

“They can take our offices from us… they can take all our money…”

“Uh, sir…”

“What, Smith?”

“That brings up a little matter of… my paycheck…”

“You weren’t listening, Smith! We’re doing this for the good of the country! My God, Smith, look at me! They took my offices… all because of this stupid cable thing! I’m keeping office at the zoo… across from some damn monkeys. And you’re worried about a paycheck?”

“Sorry, sir.”

“Yeah, well, you should be… At least there’s nothing else that could go wrong!”

Just then a pigeon sitting on the tree limb above Zwolinski relieved itself. The whitish gob smacked down on Zwolinski’s forehead, right between the eyes, and ran down the bridge of his nose. Zwolinski sat totally still, but the veins in his neck were pulsing and his face was reddening.

“Smith.”

“Sir.”

“Have all these birds killed.”

“Uh, I’m sorry, sir, but Roswell is a bird sanctuary. I don’t think I can…”

“Of course it’s a freakin’ sanctuary! What else could ruin my day!”

Almost as if in answer to Zwolinski’s question, at that moment, a well-dressed man with a briefcase walked up.

“Are you Dumas Zwolinski?”

“Who wants to know?”

“I’m Agent Bernstein with the IRS. Is there some place we can talk?"

"Yeah… right here!"

"All right. There’s a little matter we need to discuss about some unpaid taxes.”

“What unpaid taxes?”

“Communications taxes… on $15 million of cable services… Plus interest and penalties…”

Zwolinski took out his pistol and looked at it then handed it to the IRS agent.

“Here… Just shoot me!”



-------------------End of Chapter 3

<center> <<<<<>>>>> Life In the Stars <<<<<>>>>> </center>



A Dinner Full of Surprises

Chapter 4

IV



Amy DeLuca arrived back at her house in the Berjalya Division with her daughter, Elizabeth JoLee. Elizabeth ran to her Dad, who came to the door to greet them, and Varec picked her up and held her with his right arm while giving Amy a kiss. Then he gave Elizabeth a kiss, too.

“Zan wants us to have dinner with him and Liz and their family tonight. Would that be okay?”

“Okay? An invitation to dinner in the palace? It’s more than okay, Dear! What time?”

“Six-thirty PM, the way you keep time.”

“That gives us three hours. I’d better get my bath and start getting ready.”

Varec went to get ready, too, but the truth of the matter is that Amy was a bit jealous of how little Varec seemed to have to do to look good… a quick run of a comb through his hair once or twice, a quick shave and brush, and basically he was as handsome as anyone could ever be. Oh well, she reasoned, life did concede her one major benefit! She got him; he got her!

Of course, that’s not the way Varec saw it. To Varec, Amy was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen or even dreamed of. He would often still pinch himself in the mornings just to remind himself that his good luck was real and she had not been merely a dream.

As Amy walked down the hall with just a towel wrapped around her, a strong arm reached out and pulled her into the bedroom.

“Wha…” Amy giggled as Varec picked her up and tossed her onto the bed.

“Varec, Honey, how do you think we’re going to make it to dinner if you… if you… Oh, God!”

Amy saw stars swirling and felt that electrical feeling coursing from the tips of her toes to the very ends of every hair on her head. It made her toes curl… literally, and she always felt that she would surely look in the mirror afterward to find that her hair had been permanently permed. She succumbed totally, pressing her lips to Varec’s as she floated away to Heaven.

“Dinner can wait.”


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

At 6:32 PM, Varec and Amy presented themselves, with their daughter, Elizabeth JoLee, at the door of the palace. Kyle Valenti met them at the door and welcomed them then led them to the living area. There, they met Jeliya, Kyle’s wife. She and Kyle had been invited to dinner, too.

Jeliya was a pretty girl, blonde, with medium long hair… In a way, physically, she looked a bit like Britney Spears, but something about her sweet, almost shy demeanor made her look entirely different at the same time. Kyle knew, however, that there was a wilder side to this girl, as well… a side that he had fallen in love with, too.

A minute later, Liz and Max came into the living room and greeted their guests. Liz kissed Amy and Varec on the cheek then bent down and kissed Elizabeth JoLee (who had been named in her honor, befitting the fact that Liz had always been Maria’s best friend). Max took Varec’s hand in his, in the Antarian tradition, and squeezed it warmly, then did the same with Amy and Liz-JoLee. They had already greeted Jeliya.

After some small talk, everyone was led to the dining room.

The staff had prepared a meal that began with the always-popular Grelligo soup, the specialty of the Grelligo region, and a small salad of Ama leaves and kelit with a special Antarian dressing called “Toro.” The bread was miniature pashita loaves. The entrée was shebble fillets wrapped and broiled in Ama leaves. The accompaniments included min-jaht-gojosh (green orb gojos, which were somewhat like little green peas), serelish-harlat (harlat spears, which were like a wild cross between asparagus and broccoli), and jir-bada (bada tubors, which were most like small potatoes). For dessert, there was japo mevanish, the Antarian flaming flan. To drink, there was an Antarian wine called “jubish,” iced tea, and coffee. The local scientists had synthesized tea and coffee almost as soon as the Earth group had landed on Antar, and both drinks had swept Antar, becoming all the rage.

As usual, Kyle skipped the shebble fillets and loaded up on the vegetables, which he felt kept him healthy and in top condition. He did, however, enjoy a glass of jubish and a small pashita bread loaf with his appetizers.

Elizabeth JoLee z’Varec, along with Max and Liz’s children, MayaSabriena, AnDasniya, JoLeesa, and Alyyx, and the other children present, were prepared a special feast on the patio, where they could eat and then play afterward while their parents talked grown-up talk at the table.

After a bit of small talk and laughter, Max got down to the real reason for this dinner.

“Varec, I’ve been thinking about something that needs your input and advice.”

Varec nodded.

“We came to Antar nine years ago, the group that is. Of course, Michael, Kyle, and I came here six years before that, then we went back in time to rescue the others; so the three of us have been here fifteen years. Everyone in our group has children now, and I think all of them are between 5 and 9 years old already. I would like for them to be able to see Earth, but I need to know…

Can the new granolith be prepared for another trip? Secondly, would there be any danger to our children or to Jeliya or you if you went with us… because of Earth’s atmosphere? I remember some Antarians that we called ‘skins,’ because Earth’s atmosphere was toxic to them, and they had to grow special bodies they called ‘husks’ to live in.

And third, do you have any suggestions or advice on how we could protect our children on Earth --our whole group, actually-- from, you know, hostile sources?”

“The Special Unit creepos,” Kyle elaborated.

“Yeah.” Max nodded.

Varec thought for a few moments.

“Well, Zan, The new granolith can be easily prepared for a new trip. That is perhaps the easiest of the problems. We have kept it in top condition.

As far as the problem with the atmosphere on Earth is concerned, my understanding was that it was toxic to some Antarians but not to all Antarians. We could test the children. I think that, since they are part Earthling in any case, the atmosphere is less likely to be a problem for them. But, of course, they should be tested to know for sure. Jeliya and I… there is no way to know until we are tested, but we may not have a problem… we just don’t know yet.

As far as keeping the children and our group safe… well, Zan, I don’t know your planet and its people that well. I have been told what some of them are capable of, but I don’t know how resourceful they are. I could devise various means of protection for us, but without a deeper knowledge of Earth civilization, I can’t be sure…”

Max nodded and smiled.

“Zan, there is something that I need to tell you, too… something that you, and especially your wonderful wife, Liz, need to know. It is something that we just learned yesterday, in fact. You remember that we devised an invisible beam that we aimed at Earth, bouncing it off several refracting stars, so that Michael and Isabel could get cable from Earth to watch Buffy?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you know that, using this light source, we were also able to send a message to the computers of the cable company.”

“Yes.” Max remembered that Michael had asked Varec to try to have the Special Unit billed for the service.

“Well, Zan, ever since then, we have also been downloading Earth programs and information through this beam, for… cultural reasons.”

Max nodded. “I didn’t know this.”

Varec shrugged. “We wanted to see if there was anything important to tell you before we mentioned it. Well, we think we have found something important…

One of the first things that it occurred to us to look for was genealogical records to see what we could learn --if anything-- about the three Antarian girls who left their camera on Michael’s Moon.”

“I don’t think Earth records go back that far,” said Max.

“No, Zan, you are quite correct. However, there are other means as well. It is possible to trace a genealogy through the mother’s line using DNA. Did you know this?”

Max shook his head.

“Well, this is true. So we set about to determine whether or not it was possible to get enough DNA from the fingerprints, a hair, or anything we could find of the three girls on the relics that you brought back to us from Michael’s Moon.”

“Did you find anything?”

“Yes! And this is very exciting! We were able to isolate the DNA of all three girls. Then, using medical records, archeological records, historical records, and sometimes, secret government records from your computers on Earth, we were able to establish who the earliest known descendents of these girls would have been. From there, using both DNA records and genealogy lines, we were able to identify the living relatives of all three girls.”

Both Max and Liz sat bolt-upright, now totally interested in this information.

“Zan, you're not going to believe this, but we traced the descendants of MayaSabriena to…”

"Who?" Max and Liz asked at the same time.

Varec looked at Liz…

Liz gasped, placing both hands over her mouth, and tears came into her eyes immediately. “I always felt that there was a connection somehow between those girls and myself. I just felt it! I don’t know how.”

Liz paused for a moment then looked up suddenly, almost leaping from her chair with joy.

“Max! That means they did get back to Earth then! They didn't die on that moon!”

Max looked at Varec… “Then… that means that Liz is a direct descendant of Maya, so Liz is… Antarian!”

“Yes, Zan! She is Antarian through her father’s maternal line… ending with his mother, Claudia, who passed it on to her son, Elizabeth’s father, then to Elizabeth. But there is more! As we traced the lineage from MayaSabriena to Liz today, we realized that there was, shall we say, an abnormality in the line.”

“What does that mean?”

“At first… we weren’t sure. But after a lot of discussion, we decided to check the Antarian genealogical records, too, and what we found left us simply speechless! It is about Ava --the one you call Tess-- and Liz.



-----------------End of Chapter 4

<center> <<<<<>>>>> Life In the Stars <<<<<>>>>> </center>



Something About Liz

Chapter 5

V



Max and Liz were on pins and needles waiting to hear what had been discovered on Antar that might in any way have something to do with both Tess and Liz. Even Kyle had stopped eating and was leaning forward in his seat in anticipation of an explanation.

“Do you remember your Antarian history, Zan,” Varec asked him.

Max nodded.

“Then you know that Antarian history is very ancient. You know that 17,000 years ago, Antar was a planet that was dying… Do you remember why?”

“Yes… two hundred years of war and early plasma weapons had destroyed almost all of the habitable planet. Antar had become a dying planet dominated by anarchy.”

“And perhaps most importantly, Zan, the fragile balance between our planet and its life-sustaining resources --the water, the air we breathe, the forests, the very substances that sustained us-- had been destroyed. Our planet and our people were at the very brink of extinction.”

“Yes, I know these things, Varec.”

“Well, Zan, you also know, then, what it was that saved our planet.”

“Yes. One man, my ancestor, learned to tap into the unknown powers of his mind and ended all the fighting.”

“And?”

“And he passed his knowledge and abilities on to his children and to a few other people by teaching them… and in some cases, physically, through contact with them. He learned to ‘connect’ with the minds of others and open their minds to make them receptive to what he had learned.”

Varec continued, “Together, your ancestor and his family and a few chosen individuals used their powers for the good of all the people and Antar, causing the forests and all the plants to grow again, cleansing the air, ridding the water of its contaminants. And for these acts, he was made the king of Antar, his wife became the Queen, and his children became his rightful heirs, the princes and princesses of Antar. And so it continued for thousands of years, with Antarians living in peace and in harmony with others and with their planet.”

Max nodded.

“Well, Zan, we have learned that MayaSabriena, AnDasniya, and JoLeesa, who lived 12,300 years ago, carried the DNA of the royal lineage, through the mother’s line.”

Max’s mouth dropped open momentarily, but he quickly regained his composure. Liz let out an audible gasp.

“The problem, Zan, is that none of the genealogies… none of the known Antarian lineages… show these three girls as being part of the royal family. So we had to investigate further. By tracing backwards from the three girls, we discovered a shocking fact.”

“What was that,” Max asked, almost inaudibly.

“About 500 years before MayaSabriena, AnDasniya, and JoLeesa were born here on Antar, there was a… how else can I say it, Zan… a baby swap. We know that this was so, because the DNA trail went a different way than the recorded lineage. We had to find out why. By investigating historical records and lore, we concluded that 500 years before these girls were born, the rightful female heir through the mother’s lineage was switched at birth, we think through collusion between a doctor or nurse and one of the king’s ranking diplomats at the time and his wife. According to some histories, this man and his wife had been known on more than a few occasions to make the brash claim that they should be the rightful rulers…

Anyway, the stolen royal baby was the ancestor of MayaSabriena, AnDasniya, and JoLeesa. The diplomat’s baby, which was then raised as part of the extended royal family, was the ancestor of Ava… and your Tess.”

Max paled slightly and asked, with some measure of obvious dread in his voice,

“And me, Varec? Am I, then, too, descended from this traitor?”

Varec looked at Max then smiled.

“No, Zan. You are the rightful heir to the throne of Antar. We, uh… we took the liberty of checking your DNA records and tracing your geneology. I hope you are not upset by this…”

Max breathed out, audibly expelling the breath of air he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

“No, Varec! Not at all! You are very thorough, and you had to have all the facts.”

“Thank you, Zan! You understand that the royal family, after 17,000 years, is quite extensive. You, Zan, are descended directly through the recorded male line from the original king. Tess was of the royal lineage through the mother’s side, or at least we thought so, and was not so closely related to you that it would prevent you from taking her as your wife. Tradition, furthermore, dictated that she was the one, descended, as she was thought to be, through the lineage of the first queen, who should become your bride. Though you were not obligated to follow the tradition, this is why you married her. But what this new information reveals, Zan, is that Tess never was of the royal lineage, though she never knew this herself.

Because of this information that we have learned, we have determined that the true queen --by rights of lineage-- would be in fact the closest living descendant of MayaSabriena, firstborn of the three girl triplets…

And that person, Zan… the real queen of Antar… That person is your Liz.”

Max looked at Liz and smiled… “I knew that, Varec! I’ve always known that.”

“I don’t know how, Zan, but you have crossed the galaxies, seven of them, lost your life and been reborn, and still managed to find the one individual in the whole universe who was destined to be your rightful queen.”

Max smiled then leaned over and kissed Liz, who had not yet fully recovered.

“I felt it, Varec… I always knew that somehow Liz was the one. Even if she wasn’t, she was the one. It just was meant to be.”

Varec nodded and smiled then shook his head. “I think this will surely become a very large page in the history and lore of Antar, Zan! They will forever tell the story of the king who was killed and reborn and found his true bride seven galaxies away because he somehow recognized their love.”

Liz squeezed Max’s hand and smiled at him.

Kyle seemed hugely impressed, but Jeliya was totally enthralled by the new revelations. This was understandable. Everyone on Antar had fully accepted Liz as Zan’s bride and as his queen, because he had chosen her, as was his right; but with this new revelation, Liz became something more… she became a historical figure, a true descendant of the first queen. Liz was no longer the king’s bride --well, of course, she was that, too-- but she was now, besides that, “Queen Liz.”



---------------------End of Chapter 5

<center> <<<<<>>>>> Life In the Stars <<<<<>>>>> </center>



It’s A Wonder-filled Life


Chapter 6

VI



It seemed that every day since the group had left Earth had been a memorable day… but today was going to be one that Liz and Max would never forget as long as they lived. It isn’t every day that a small town girl from Roswell, New Mexico, suddenly becomes the rightful young queen of a whole planet… a planet seven galaxies away from the one she grew up on! Even now, Liz was sometimes not sure that she had totally come to grips with the fact that she had married Max, an alien, who was the king of his planet. And now she would have to get used to the fact that she was not only his chosen queen but also the rightful “Queen of Antar…” descended directly from the original queen herself! No… for sure, this was not just another day in the life of a small town Roswell girl.

After dinner, Varec and Amy went with Zan, Liz, Kyle, and Jeliya to the patio and gardens, where the children had long ago finished eating and were playing in the fountains. Liz called them all to the patio.

“Okay, children, it’s time to stop and get cleaned up. It’s dark outside now, and you’re all wet. Off to the showers, all of you!”

“Aw, let JoLeesa make us dry,” said Michael and Maria’s youngest child, 5-year-old Jayyd Alejandra. “A shower takes too long!”

“Yeah,” said a couple of the other children, “Let JoLeesa do it.”

“Well… I don’t know if JoLeesa wants to… You can’t always depend on each other just to make things easier.”

“Why not,” asked Alyyx, Max and Liz’s youngest, who was six.

“Well, because… because it might be an imposition.”

“It’s okay, Mama, I like to do it,” said 8-year-old JoLeesa, who proceeded to wave her hand over each child, drying their clothes and hair immediately and removing the dirt and stains at the same time.

“There! Everyone’s all dry and clean now.”

“You missed a spot,” said 6-year-old Noel Trasves, Kyle and Jeliya’s youngest boy.

“Where, Taz?” asked JoLeesa.

Taz, who had been sitting down, grinned then stood up and leaned over, sticking his derriere high into the air and indicating the seat of his pants, which was still wet. JoLeesa started to wave her hand over it, but 8-year-old Zorel Michael, Michael and Maria’s oldest boy, stopped her.

“Let me,” he said.

“You can’t make him dry,” said JoLeesa.

“Wanna bet,” Zorel replied with a grin. Zorel lifted the palm of his hand and flashed a small power bolt at Taz’ upturned rear. Taz let out a yelp that probably was heard all the way to the Golden Sea then jumped around for a few moments, fanning his behind.

“Zorel!” Kyle admonished him, “I promised your mom and dad I would watch you guys tonight so you could come over here and play with the others. I wouldn't want to tell your dad that you misbehaved… That wasn’t very nice!”

“But he’s dry now,” said Zorel.

Taz leaned over for Kyle to inspect. Indeed, the seat of his pants was quite dry… well, what was left of it was, anyway. The power bolt had left only a few shreds of cloth partially covering Taz’s butt. Fortunately, only his dignity and his pants had been injured.

“Zorel,” said Jeliya, “You might have hurt Taz doing that. That’s no way for a big boy to act. And Taz, you just stuck your butt up in the air to try to be funny. I’ll bet boys on Eluymer, where your dad came from, didn’t act like that.”

Liz choked slightly then snickered, “Don’t bet on it, Jeliya! …I think boys are boys wherever you go!”

Kyle smiled… “Yeah, well… girls, too.”

Liz and Jeliya took Taz to the playroom and found him another pair of pants that fit. Taz was still complaining that his butt burned, but Liz and Jeliya couldn’t see anything worse that slightly pink skin, so Liz had a member of the staff bring a small baggie of ice that Taz could hold against his butt and sent him back out to where the others were. She didn’t think Max’s services would be needed, and indeed, within minutes, Taz had stopped complaining.

Liz and Jeliya rejoined the group in the living room, where they had all gone to talk and say their goodbyes. About three minutes after they had gone to the living room, one of the staff came to Liz and whispered something to her…

After she left, Max looked at Liz with that questioning look.

“I’ll go check it out, Max,” Liz said. “You stay here.”

Liz walked out to the patio and met the lady from the staff, who pointed to the bushes in a far corner of the garden.

“It went into the bushes… right there.”

Liz walked back to the bush and looked behind it then carefully reached behind the bush with her hand. A few moments later, she pulled her hand back out. In her hand, she was holding, by the scruff of the neck, a very large rabbit… a rabbit easily more than double the size of a desert jackrabbit.

Liz didn’t have to ask…

“Andya! Out on the patio! Now!”

Eight-year-old AnDasniya came running. She saw her mother holding the rabbit.

“Oops…”

“Oops! Is that all you have to say, Andya?”

“I’m in trouble?” Andya looked at her mother with imploring eyes…

“Maybe. Why did you make the rabbit appear, Andya, and where did you get it?”

“I… I… I needed something…”

“What, Andya?”

“I needed something to eat my gojos for me…”

Liz just looked at Andya for a moment. She wanted to laugh, but she knew it was not the time. She had to be stern.

“Andya, you know you must eat your vegetables if you want to grow up to be healthy and strong. The min-jaht-gojosh are full of vitamins, and they’re very healthy.”

“But they taste like little green caca, Mom!”

“Oh! They do not! They’re delicious! And where did you get the rabbit? We don’t have rabbits on Antar! And I’ve never seen one this big on Eluymer!”

“I didn’t know how big to make it, Mom. Daddy showed me a picture of one once, and I just remembered the picture. I thought it looked like about this size…”

Liz shook her head and groaned, trying to keep from laughing hysterically and spoiling her lecture.

“Honey, the biggest jackrabbit I ever saw was less than half this size. This is like… like… Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit.”

“That’s what the picture was that Daddy showed me!”

“Alright, sweetie, make it go away.”

Andya walked over to the rabbit and ran her hand across its back. The rabbit slowly dissolved into nothing… well, almost nothing. In its place was a pile of min-jaht-gojosh.

“Oops.”

Liz sent Andya back into the house. Once Andya was inside and out of earshot, Liz collapsed on the edge of the fountain, put both hands over her face, and laughed hysterically.

“God, if I had ever only known this would be what my life was going to be like!” She laughed until she couldn’t breathe.

“…Thank you, God!”


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

Varec and Amy and their daughter Elizabeth JoLee left the palace just as Michael and Maria arrived to pick up their children, Zorel, Kryys, and Jayyd. Kyle and Jeliya stayed the night at the palace, where Kyle had a permanent room as Chief of Staff. Their children, 7-year-old Kyle Rayyn and 6-year-old “Taz” (Noel Trasves) stayed in a guest room.

Jeliya had grown up as just a normal girl and had never dreamed, before marrying Kyle, that she would ever see the inside of the palace, much less stay there overnight or know personally the King and Queen of Antar… The revelations made tonight during dinner had made a vast impression on her. She excused herself from Liz with a slight curtsy, “Your Majesty.”

Liz smiled. “Just Liz, Jeliya. To you and Kyle, I’ll always be just Liz, okay?”

After all the guests were gone and Liz was alone with Max, Liz asked,

“So Max, do you think we can handle a dozen or so children on the new granolith and on Earth?”

Max grinned. “Aw, Sure, Liz… Piece of cake.”



------------------End of Chapter 6