Transformation
By DocPaul
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Part
Eight: Imbroglio
Michael held the black cone in his palm, staring at it as
if he could ‘will’ answers out of it. It was the one alien artifact he
hadn’t tossed or left behind, mostly due to the fact that he had no clue what
it was.
Isabel stared at the ugly device. “So he lied. Kivar
lied. He was searching for the Granilith, and he didn’t find it because it was
with Michael and Maria. All his talk about trying to retrieve me was just
that—a lie. God, I hate him! He used me in my last life, used my husband—my
love, and he used my body, and …” Isabel couldn’t go on. Shaking her head,
she walked away to a quiet corner to be alone.
Michael ignored Isabel’s rant. He felt for her, but there
was little in way of comfort any of them could offer her. “This is a Granilith?
I thought that ugly stupid upside down cone that Tess went bye-bye in was it.”
“No. That was merely an outer casing designed to dampen
the Granilith’s power signatures—plus it made it look more impressive,
no?” Kal seemed afraid to touch the thing that Michael held. “This is the
Granilith. Destroyer of Worlds. The Ruiner.”
“Okay, we got it. Big scary power.” Michael moved it
around in his hand, studying it from every angle. He had once tried to open it,
and once almost put it in the microwave, but Maria stopped him just in time.
“How does it work?”
“It just does.”
“Helpful,” said Michael sarcastically. “This is like
a trend with aliens. Either they can’t shut up, or they give you nothing!”
Larek crossed the room to look at the Granilith. “So he
lost it. Kivar lost it. How?”
Maria was still eating her ice cream. She moved her arm
away from Michael before he stole her spoon. “I guess Tess felt betrayed by
Kivar when the deal fell through. She took Zan and obviously something she felt
belonged to her more than it belonged to Kivar and fled.”
Kal laughed, his amusement apparent. “That queen sure had
spunk, I’ll give her that!” He gave Liz a dismissive glance. “Too bad you
felt the need to trade down,” he told Max.
“Oh, you haven’t heard,” Michael said gleefully.
“We’ve got a new queen.” Michael pushed Kyle forward towards Kal. “Feel
free to start worshipping him now. Max does.”
“Bastard!” Kyle growled at Michael.
“Honey, come over here.” Maria shook her ice cream
container and spoon at him as a lure. “I can’t trust you to play nicely with
others. Could you please curb your natural nastiness? I know it’s all a joke
to you, but maybe not so amusing to others?” Maria admonished softly.
“Huh?” Michael made a face. What was she talking about?
He let the question pull at him for a moment before reminding himself that she
was pregnant, so prone to moments of irrational behavior.
“You kept this? Why? We’ve been hunted forever, and
this is the reason.” Max couldn’t believe it. Michael never mentioned that
he kept the black cone.
“Hey, what?” Michael’s voice rose grievously as Max
glared at him. “This is my fault? You told me to watch it until enemy soldiers
came out of it!”
“I didn’t mean literally!”
“Boys!” Larek intervened. “I can’t hold this body a
moment longer without great risk. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is you
have the Granilith, Kivar does not, and if you wish an alliance with us, you
will keep him from ever retrieving it. Without the Granilith in our solar system
there is a change in the balance of power, and Kivar created his own doom. For
that, we will happily keep peace with you, Zan, and all the Royals of Earth, as
long as Kivar does not gain control of the Granilith.”
“Wait! Larek—how do we use it?”
Larek laughed. “You’re the Royal. Figure it out.” The
body shifted and collapsed as slowly Brody seemed to wake from a sleep. He
glanced around at the others, and then he stared at the cone.
“So, that is a Granilith?”
“You remember?”
“Yes, Max—or Zan. It would seem the Larek has left a
connection between his mind and mine. Should you need him, you merely need to
tell me, and he will know.” Brody frowned for a moment. “Um, he suggests
that you not call him unless it’s very important, he’s too busy with war to
chitchat.”
“Right.” Kal nodded. “Sounds like the Larek I
remembered. He was a real killjoy. Duty this. Duty that. Blah! Now, what …”
“Uh-huh.” Michael stared at Kal. “What is your
secondary protocol?”
Maria shook her head and muscled Michael aside protecting
her ice cream. “It’s obvious. He wanted to be the godfather. His protection
reverts to the new Royals,” Maria guessed.
“She’s smart.” Kal literally bent down to talk to his
godson. “So how is my boy doing? It’s Uncle Kal!”
“Wait,” Michael’s eyes narrowed as he viewed the
dotting Shapeshifter. “You hated being our protector, resisted the job, and
now because of a secondary protocol, you’re all spanking happy over your new
charges?”
Kal shrugged. “I knew you all in your last life—you
were total jerks. Protecting you wasn’t an honor, but a chore.” Kal patted
Maria’s stomach. “Now this little guy—he’s my boy! Say Kal! Say Uncle
Kal!”
Jim shook his head and walked into the kitchen to find food
before Michael or Maria ate them out of house and home. Kyle, equally disgusted,
followed his father. The baby talk aimed at Maria’s stomach was—disturbing.
It was official, that Kal creature had slipped a cog.
“Okay, you’re freaking me out!” Michael pulled Maria
back. “Maria, come away from the alien.”
“No, it’s okay. The baby likes him.” Maria smiled at
Kal, liking the sensation she was feeling—almost a calm. She usually only felt
that recently when in Michael’s company, and totally away from the other
aliens. The baby seemed to recognize Kal for what he was.
“Great.” Michael rolled his eyes. It was bad enough he
promised the Shifter he could be the godfather, now Maria was getting attached
to him. “Look, just tell us why people couldn’t find the Granilith before,
and they can now.”
“Well, simple. It used to be shielded in a special
cavern—you know that thing the queen rode home? It kept the energy signature
of the Granilith masked. The only way to have it exposed was to activate it,
either manually or by remote.”
“Remote? The Granilith has a remote?” Brody laughed. He
looked at the black cone, having never seen the larger version, and it just
struck him as funny.
“Yes. And once activated it gives off an energy burst
that can be discerned—capable of alerting others to its location.”
Brody was still laughing. “So what does this remote look
like? Garage door opener or TV remote?”
“Two silver orbs, activated by the Royal Four’s power.
It would send a signal once it was activated with the orbs.”
“The orbs!” Max cleared his throat. “You mean the
communicators?”
“Communicators? No, the orbs, small silver things—two
of them. Like silver footballs, only smaller. They were part of the power grid,
sort of an access key for remote starting the Granilith. If you carried the
orbs, you could activate the Granilith from a distance. Also, the two orbs could
be used separate from each other, as long as one Royal held it while another had
the other, it could be activated. It’s a nice way to triangulate. With the two
orbs spread from the point of origin, it makes it harder for those who seek the
Granilith to locate its exact location. It is sort of a mechanism to help you
keep it hidden while using it from another location. It kept the enemies of
Antar from discovering its location on Antar for many generations.”
“Wait …” Max tried to sort his thoughts. “We were
told they were communicators that they would allow us to contact home. We used
them and our mother …”
“Aw, the infamous ‘mommy-gram’ you talked about.
No—that would just be stupid. Your parents died before you ever reached Earth.
No, someone misled you, duped you into activating the orbs to help them locate
the Granilith. I was the only person who knew the location, and I hid it in a
cavern behind your incubation pods. It took a lot of my energy to carve out that
cavern.”
Kal a horrible suspicion that they activated the orbs
literally on top of the Granilith. Hell, no one knew that shaking and baking the
Royals in human form would leave them idiots.
“Ideally, I should’ve hid it in
“He told us not to activate it. That it would alert the
others to our presence.” Max couldn’t believe Nasedo played them that much,
that everything he and Tess ever told them was a lie. The only thing he hadn’t
lied about was Tess. She had been his mate, and his destiny—and that just
sucked for him, and now for Kyle as well, not to mention Liz.
“Look, you already knew the message was a hoax, a scam, a
two-bit piece so flim-flam. I even bet your mother looked a little like the
queen or the other alien girl. Mindwarp. All one big fat mindwarp, destined to
trick you into exposing the location of the Granilith chamber.”
“But he said …”
“Aw geez! Wake up, boy! Smell the petunias. The best way
to make uppity teenagers do something you want is to tell them not to do it!
Obviously, you didn’t keep it on long enough for them to pinpoint, but enough
to tell them it was in the
Michael glanced at Max. “By the time Isabel found it,
Nasedo was dead. The Skins were already in
“It must have taken Tess until she was taken by Whitaker
or met the Skins in
“She couldn’t know that Max would follow the fake
destiny that Nasedo created, so she needed another way to get him away from Liz.
Going home was the only solution.” Maria stared at Michael, a wealth of pain
in her eyes. “Alex was sacrificed.” It had been so close for them all. Had
Michael not chosen to stay …
Michael pulled her close, bending his larger frame around
her smaller one in comfort. “It was a lie. All of it. It’s done.” Michael
looked at Kal. “We have the Royal Four and we have the Granilith. Can you mask
its signature to stop them from locating us and it?”
“Yes. I could if I had a trithium amplification
generator. I could modify it as a dampening field around the Granilith,
virtually muffling it from sight—making it invisible.”
Brody cleared his throat having been quiet since Larek
left. He tentatively raised his hand. “Listen, mate. That wouldn’t be that
hexagon doo-dad that I’ve got, now would it?”
“You …” Kal scratched his chin in chagrin at the
change of events. “Of course you have a trithium amplification
generator—doesn’t everybody?”
~~~
“You ready to go?” Max asked Michael.
Michael sighed and looked at Maria. “Maria?”
“I’m fine here. Go.”
“But …”
“Don’t worry. Kal is here. I feel comfortable. Go and
get it over with.”
Michael put his hand on Maria’s stomach, reaching down to
kiss her. “I won’t be long.” Michael lifted his head and stared at Kal’s
back, who seemed to feel his regard.
Kal turned and nodded to Michael. “I’ve got it,
Commander. She won’t be out of my sight.”
Michael didn’t react, but to kiss Maria one more time
before walking out with Max. Maria sighed and went to sit next to Liz and
Isabel.
“You feel okay enough to sit with us?” Liz asked
quietly.
“Strangely, yes.” Liz was still causing her some
discomfort, but Isabel was no longer bothering her. Before, it was Isabel who
made her queasy and nervous to the point of panic. That was now gone.
“How long do you think it will take them?” asked
Isabel, her face creased in worry.
“They won’t be long.” Maria took Isabel’s hand and
held it in comfort. Liz stared at her action in shock.
“Maria, you’re—you’re touching Isabel.”
Maria looked down at her hand in surprise. She hadn’t
realized that she had done it. It had been a natural reaction to offer support,
one that she hadn’t done since she became pregnant. “I—I am.”
Isabel stared at Maria. “You used to flinch from me. I
don’t upset you any longer?”
Maria shook her head. Concentrating, she slowly smiled.
“No. I feel good.” A dimple deepened on her cheek as her smile brightened.
“This is good, right? It means the baby is getting used to you!” She looked
around quickly. “Kal! Kal come here and see this! I’m touching Isabel
without tossing my stomach.”
“That’s good, Princess,” Kal called across the room.
“I’ll be with you in a moment. I just have to finish this first.”
“Princess?” Maria made a face. “Did he just call me
Princess?”
Liz laughed at the look on Maria’s face. “Technically,
I guess you are if you think about it. You married Michael, the Prince, and next
in line of ascension. That would make you a Princess.”
“Wow, so I guess that makes Michael my Prince
Charming?”
The three women look at each other, and they suddenly all
burst out laughing together. Charming was just not a word any of them would
apply to Michael. Maria could pull up a few, such as, sexy, irritating,
protective, honorable, and the list continued, but charming was not one of them.
Michael could be charming in his own way, to her maybe, but to others? Um, no.
~~~
Michael turned on the flashlight as he came though the
crevice left in the rock face, shining the light on the floor of what remained
of the cavern that once held their pods. Careful of the broken rock and the
damage to the chamber, he moved out of the way to allow Max to come in behind
him.
“Where did you leave them?” Max asked.
“At the back of the cavern under a pile of rock.”
Michael carefully stepped through the chamber that was colder than he
remembered. “Looks like nature took the place back. Bet there’re some
interesting lizards and snakes in here.”
“Yeah, let’s not take any of them home.”
Michael’s flashlight found something. He slowly followed
the beam of light upward to stare at his own smiling malicious face. “Too
late. Found a big snake.”
Max joined Michael as Rath stood there with Lonnie, both of
them holding the two orbs.
“Yo, lookin’ for these?” Rath asked, his silly grin
making Michael roll his eyes.
~~~
Maria reacted first. She felt dizzy, and with a gasp, she
backed up in fear as did Isabel. Kal was immediately standing in front of her
and Isabel, his stature different. He was no longer laidback and loose. His body
was coiled, his eyes narrowed dangerously, and his body did not relax when he
saw Michael and Max, his eyes looking through them as Lonnie and Rath came into
view.
The Shapeshifter’s hand came up in a defensive manner as
he kept himself between the Dupes and Maria.
“Michael!”
Michael rushed over to Maria quickly, pulling her
protectively close, talking low to Kal. The Shapeshifter nodded to Michael
acknowledging him, and he slowly lowered his hand.
“Yo, who’s the nob?” Rath asked gesturing towards Kal.
“He’s …” Michael paused, not wanting to give them
too much information. “… a friend. My mother-in-law’s brother, Kal.”
“So, yor mother-in-law is an alien?” Lonnie asked.
“Why would a human put up his hand?”
“It was a defensive reaction,” said Kal sneering at the
two Dupes. “Look at you! You’re like an advertisement for fashion dysentery.
Who dresses you? Dumpsters-R-Us? Oh god! My eyes! My eyes! I think I’ll toss
my stomach.”
“Kal,” said Michael softly. He gestured to Maria, and
Kal nodded taking Maria’s arm, he led her away from the others to another
room.
“C’mon, let’s go look for food.” Kal offered.
“Do you think there are maraschino cherries?” Maria
asked.
Rath and Lonnie quickly forgot Kal and Maria as they turned
their attention back to the others. They both were quiet watching closely how
the others acted.
“Why are they here?” Liz asked.
“They were in the pod chamber.” Max explained. “They
found the orbs.”
“Do they still have them?” Jim moved forward, as did
Kyle.
“Yo, finders keepers!” Rath retorted with a wolfish
smile.
Max intervened. “They found the chamber. Not a surprise
since the Granilith blasting from the chamber had to have left a large
signature. They went to the chamber to search it and found the orbs.”
Lonnie held her orb in interest. “So... we deal?”
Michael snorted. He had agreed to let them come back
without killing them only because he was uncertain if he and Max could fight
Lonnie and Rath. He couldn’t risk getting killed with Maria pregnant. “No.
We don’t deal with killers.”
Rath made a face. “Now—don’t be so hasty, cousin. Yo,
yah’d do best to hear our side.”
“They have a side?” mumbled Kyle. “What is it about
genocidal aliens with them always having a side?”
“Yo! Retard—shut your piehole! This is alien business
here!” Rath said in derision, discounting the humans in the room.
Kyle stared at the punk freak, hating Michael’s face on
the other man, detesting him out of sheer instinct. His internal Tess rose up in
hatred of the man. Without thought, Kyle’s hand moved in a gesture to the
side, and Rath went flying across the room, the orb falling from his hand
hitting the floor with a loud resounding bang as Rath hit the wall.
Kyle moved forward as Lonnie took a step back. “You’re
mistaken to think I’m less than you, little man!” Kyle reached out his hand
as the orb came to him. “I didn’t like you before, and I like you less
now!”
Lonnie stared as Rath’s dropped orb was held by Kyle. She
tightened her hand on the other orb. “How?”
“This world is changing, and your kind are not
invited.” Kyle handing the orb back to his father. “I believe you have
something that belongs to us.”
“Us?” Lonnie quizzed.
Rath regained his feet. “That was a cheap shot! You
couldn’t do that again, bitch.”
“That’s Queen Bitch to you, Royal-wannabe!” Kyle
stared at Rath as he felt the energy in his body increasing, his face covering
with sweat as an increase in temperature heated the surrounding air. He had no
problem dusting Rath’s ass.
Lonnie quickly moved in front of Rath, putting herself in
between the two men. “Whoa! Back off, firestarter. He meant no harm.” Lonnie
for the first time since running into Max and Michael, lost her calm and
appeared nervous and unsure.
“Kyle,” said Max softly, and surprisingly Kyle stepped
back powering down. There was little doubt that the power Kyle inherited from
Tess was much more powerful than any of them realized, and far more accessible
to Kyle.
Michael shared a look with Isabel who lifted a brow. It was
wrong, but it felt right. They could feel a drawing connection with Kyle when he
turned his powers on the Dupes. They might not know how to activate the combined
powers of the Royal Four, but Kyle was obviously doing it instinctually.
“Let us guess,” suggested Max as he circled the other
two. “You made a deal with Kivar’s camp. You retrieve what he seems
incapable of holding, and he gives you a free passage to Antar.” Max didn’t
need a confirmation. He saw the answer flicker in Rath’s eyes. Lonnie was not
so easy. She remained calm and cold.
“He said the orbs would tell us where it is.”
“And you couldn’t get them to work,” Max guessed
staring at the woman that looked like his sister, but was not. “Of course you
couldn’t. You’re not a Royal. You think any old person could pick them up
and make them work?”
“Yo! We’re the Royals too!” Rath raged at the group,
angry at the lessened position he somehow earned at the emergence from his pod.
This was unfair. He was the Commander. He deserved the title. He deserved more.
“Well, let me give you a little history lesson, one that
Kivar and his pipsqueak little flunky might have failed to mention,” Max’s
voice went cold as he stared at the two dupes that once tried to kill him. “A
ticket to Antar is a one-way ticket to death for you.”
“You lie.” Rath flexed, his jaw tightening. He wasn’t
going to listen to this bastard. Zan had been a fool, and this version seemed
even more so.
“No, you’re stupid. Antar was never ours to reclaim. We
can only live there a short time before the atmosphere becomes harmful. We were
re-engineered human.”
Lonnie shook her head, sneering at Max. “They wanted us
back! We’re more alien than you—less human. They wanted us back.”
“They dumped you in a sewer!” Michael pointed out.
“Your Shapeshifter left you like garbage and came to find us. Wake up, and get
a clue.”
“Shut up!” Rath raged at his look-alike. “You’re
weak and pathetic. We’re the real deal, baby.”
Without blinking, Rath was propelled backwards hard up
against a wall, his one hand scrambling to his neck as if trying to remove an
invisible hand.
“Less I should tighten my grip,” Michael warned.
“Michael, release him,” ordered Max. Michael shrugged
turning away without care as Rath was released slumping to the floor in a heap.
The rush of new power moved through his veins like fire, and Michael smiled at
Kyle who gave him a thumbs up. Neither one of them would ever have any remorse
over killing aliens. A threat to their world was a threat to them. Whatever had
activated in Kyle seemed to have activated the others as well.
“We’re not lying. Tess went back to Antar, and she
couldn’t survive there. Maybe you could for a longer period, but it doesn’t
matter. Antar is dead.”
“Dead?” Lonnie couldn’t shake the strange feeling she
had gotten from Nikolas last time she talked to him. He had been hiding
something, and whatever it was, it amused him to have her not know.
“Your buddy, Kivar, in his quest for ultimate power blew
a hole in the smaller sun of the Antarian solar system. Their sun is dying, and
slowly losing its gravitational pull on the planets. Without it, over the next
thousands of years Antar and another planet will fall from their planetary
orbits around the suns decimating life as they know it on the planets. They will
be uninhabitable.”
Lonnie and Rath went still. “What are you saying?”
Lonnie asked.
“That a trip home is a death sentence, and since what you
seek is unattainable you can consider yourself saved from a certain death.
Kivar’s people are in mass exodus from not only their planet, but that solar
system. Without the Granilith, the war with the other planets is nothing more
than a bloody stalemate and they will not yield. Kivar has earmarked this planet
to be altered as his new home.”
“Then we wait until Kivar takes over and join the new
regime,” suggested Rath smugly.
“You don’t get it. Antarians can’t live here unless
they utilize a husk technology. I can tell you that Kivar will not want to be
shoved in a meat bag for life, changing it out every twenty years. He intends to
alter the atmosphere of this planet to meet his needs, and when he does,” Max
made a gesture to the area around him. “When he does, the Earth, as we know it
will cease to exist, and most of the exiting life forms, including humans will
die. Whether you like it or not, that includes you.”
“He wouldn’t do that!” Lonnie demanded. “He loves
me. He wouldn’t destroy me.”
“He destroyed us before,” Isabel pointed out. “He
doesn’t even know what it means to love—only to possess. You think he’ll
come for you?” Isabel asked, pitying the creature who was so like her. “Did
you know he was on this planet for almost eighteen months? He took a human body,
and his lieutenant knew where you were, made a deal with you. Did Kivar seek you
out? Tell you he was here? His great love? No. You know why?” Isabel moved
forward. “Because he waited—he waited for me to return to
Everyone turned to Isabel in shock, except for Lonnie who
turned red. Rath, in his corner of Rathland suddenly looked amused, as he
watched Lonnie explode.
“That rat bastard!” Lonnie turned on Isabel. “He
slept with you! You’re like an advertisement for Homes and Gardens!”
Lonnie was so disgusted she could barely contain herself. “That lying,
cheating, worthless bastard!”
Max interrupted Lonnie’s tirade. “Look, you have few
options. They’re playing you like the dupes you are. This is your world as
much as it is ours. Antar is dead. I don’t know about you, but I’ve grown
accustomed to living and breathing. So you can be Kivar’s slaves or you can
join us and fight. It is your decision.”
Lonnie and Rath looked at Max and the others with contempt.
“Fight with you? You’re children!” She shook her head and stared at Rath.
“We have our own piece of revenge to extract. There’s a certain Skin we need
to see.”
Rath smiled nastily. “Righteous.”
“Wait,” Max ordered them. “We are still the Royals,
and should you wish to join …”
“Yo, don’t hold your breath.” Rath told them as he
and Lonnie turned to leave.
Max called to them again. “Leave the orb, Lonnie. It’s
of no use to you, and nothing more than a paperweight to the others.”
Lonnie glanced back at Max, and calmly dropped the useless
orb listening to its hollow clanks as it fell down the stairs to the
Isabel licked her lips looking between Lonnie and Rath. She
rushed forward. “Wait, um—you should know that the destiny your Shapeshifter
told you about—the one where you’re supposed to be together—it was a lie.
You’re not mated. You’re brother and sister, and your Zan was Rath’s twin
brother.”
Lonnie laughed as did Rath. “Yeah, well do we look like
we just fell off the turnip truck? I told ya before; I remember everything about
my last life. We’ve always known.”
Rath laughed. “Sex is sex.” They walked out with a
backwards glance, taking their own personal version of war to the Skins.
Michael made a face. “Okay, now that is ick.” The
others could only agree.
~~~
Maria glanced at Isabel, unable to stop looking at her
stomach. “You’re sure?”
“Maria, eat,” Kal ordered. “She’s sure. Aren’t
you, Princess?”
“The moment they walked into the Center, I felt a growing
panic, and a barely controlled need to kill them immediately—to protect.”
“Well, seeing how they looked—you should’ve followed
your instincts,” suggested Michael while making himself a sandwich.
“They’re like this incestuous breeding program gone out of control.”
“They murdered their brother,” Jim pointed out as he
frowned at Kyle’s sandwich equaling Michael’s in size. “What is with all
of you and food lately?”
“Energy use,” explained Kal. “They’re refueling. It
will take a little time for all their internal systems to come online, to
reroute and efficiently utilize energy expenditures. Until they can do it
internally, they will need to refuel.”
Isabel was worried, she glanced at her protector. “The
baby—is it Jesse’s or Kivar’s?”
Kal stared at Isabel for a moment, maybe a part of him
realizing that she had felt violated by the presence of Kivar in her husband’s
body—not just violated for herself, but for her dead husband.
“He borrowed the body, but all the genetics and seed
belonged to your husband. In a strange way, he gave you back your husband. Your
child will be Jesse’s.”
Isabel’s eyes filled with tears, and she smiled a watery
smile at the Shapeshifter as she wiped the tear from her cheek. “Thank you.”
Since the moment she realized what had to be true, Isabel allowed herself to
feel the wonder of it all, as she placed her hand on her stomach. Jesse died,
but now he lived again.
“So was it because Isabel is pregnant that I no longer
fear her?” Maria asked between bites.
“Your baby recognizes her baby. They are Royals. They
will always be connected, much like the children felt each other, recognized
each other when they emerged from the incubation pods. It is inherited genetic
memory. They belong together, and they will always feel that way.”
Maria made a face. “You aliens are so cliquish. Born into
a social group is just—lazy.” Maria sighed heavily having fed her face
enough for now. “So we got the orbs, and you have dampened the Granilith’s
signature. Now what do we do?”
Michael picked up Maria’s hand. “We go home to your
mother and Sean, and we wait.”
Jim sat up suddenly at Michael’s words. “Amy and
Sean?” Amy who was dead?
~~~
They didn’t have to wait long. Barely three months passed
with Brody gone to organize and inform the parents of the other cancer children
what was destined to happen to them. He would return when it was time, but he
was busy liquidating his assets for the upcoming war, helping to buy and
stockpile weapons and resources.
Kal returned to LA, but kept returning, unable to resist
the draw of his new charges. He kept a close tab on all the pod children, but
especially Amy and the others. Something kept him near, and he was unwilling to
divulge too much information or find a way to explain it. His main concern
remained Maria, whom he adopted practically as his own. The best they could
determine was that Maria, being human lacked any defensive powers like Isabel,
and Kal felt an increased protectiveness of her.
Max located Zan and his adopted parents with Kal’s help
and resources. They agreed to move their home to the same town as Amy and the
others so Zan could be close to his future siblings and other Royals—to his
father. It was undetermined whether Zan would inherit Max’s position, but Kal
felt that the memory Max had bestowed on Zan had sealed the crest, and it
awakened Michael’s mating cycle almost a year from that moment.
“I think you guys better come in here,” Jim called into
the kitchen.
Amy was the first through the door followed quickly by Kal
in an apron talking to Amy a mile a minute. She gestured to him to be quiet as
the others joined them in the room.
There was a formal address to the nation on the television.
The President addressed the nation informing them that unknown ships of unknown
origin had entered their solar system, and were found orbiting the outer planets
fast heading towards Earth and her moon. There was a broadcast of emergency
instructions and pleadings to the citizenry to remain calm and in control. The
national defense systems went on full alert, and a state of emergency was
declared with martial law being enforced until further notice. All emergency
bands were broadcasting for people to listen to instructions from the
government.
Max stood watching with Michael at his side as Amy turned
off the TV. The day had come, the one they all knew would.
“It’s begun,” said Max.
~~~
Four
months later…
“Michael!” Laurie bent over breathing hard, as she
panted out Michael’s name. He was immediately at her side. Laurie noticed a
cut above his eyebrow and a bandage on his right arm. “God, are you all
right?”
“Don’t mind me. What is it? Maria?”
Laurie Dupree nodded and stood up ready to leave again.
“You have to come! Now!”
“Laurie, is it the baby?”
Laurie nodded still gasping for breath from her hurried
journey.
Michael looked around frantically among the corridors of
the underground caverns. “Sean! Dammit! Sean!”
Laurie grabbed her sort of brother. “Michael, just go!
I’ll get Sean.” She pushed him. “Go!”
“We’re missing three patrols, and Max is still out and
…”
“Michael, go!”
Michael hesitated for a moment, but his mind released from
his job to Maria and without even a nod, he ran. The first thing he heard when
he made it to the hospital camp was Maria’s scream. She was screaming his
name.
“Maria!” Michael entered the room that served as part
of the hospital area next to the domestic shelters used by the militia that
formed in northern
“Michael! Get. Him. Away. From. Me!”
Michael saw the smiling Kal, beaming from ear to ear.
“Kal, what are you doing?”
“Delivering the baby!” Kal took up position between the
birthing table and the stirrups with all the intent of a first class catcher
ready to receive the baby.
Maria sat up and looked at the evil Shapeshifter. “You
are not delivering my baby!”
“Yes I am! I’ve got the gloves.” Kal waved a set of
latex gloves at her.
“No. You. Are. Not!”
Kal peered forward. “Is that a head? I think I see a
head.”
“Michael!” Maria begged. “Get me a doctor!” Kal
raised up and gave Maria a charming smile. “I swear if he so much as touches
me, you will not being having any more children in the future!” Maria huffed
loudly as she worked through a contraction. “Sex—forget it!”
Michael looked around frantically, trying to pull Kal away
from Maria. “Doctor?”
“I played a doctor in a soap opera once as an extra.”
Kal offered his credentials.
“Michael!” Maria screamed as her hand gripped him hard
in panic as another contraction hit.
“Kal,” Michael said frantically looking around, sweat
breaking out on his forehead as an unusual nervousness hit him hard. “Just
back off!” Michael looked around the makeshift hospital ward. “Someone get
me a damn doctor!”
Amy came into the room with a man in a white coat breathing
hard. “Maria!”
“Mom!”
Amy saw Kal in the birthing position. “What are you
doing?” She grabbed him and helped him forcibly out of the chair so the real
doctor could take the seat.
Kal was undaunted by Amy and the others. He looked around
the room frantically. “Where did my camera go? I need a crew.” He looked at
the people crowding the room. “Look alive, people! We’re filming history in
the making!”
“Michael!” Maria begged before another contraction hit.
“Don’t worry,” Michael reassured her as he took
position helping to prop her up as another contraction hit. “He’s
harmless.” Michael glanced over at the Shapeshifter taking everyone’s
picture and recording the birth. “I think,” he said under his breath as
Maria pushed harder.
~~~
Michael and Maria were on the bed lying facing each other,
with Maria practically in Michael’s arms, and the baby resting between them.
Maria had slept for a while, and it took some effort to keep everyone,
especially Kal away from her and the baby. He watched them sleep as his larger
finger gently picked up the smaller ones of his son. Smiling, he could barely
keep it in place when his eyes burned from unshed tears.
“What’s wrong?”
He hadn’t realized that she was awake. “He’s so
small, and this world is so fucked up.”
“He has us. He’ll be okay.” Maria moved a hand over
his forehead frowning at the injury there. “What happened?”
“Piece of a building collapsed on me early when I was out
on patrol. It’s nothing. Max was still out so I couldn’t get him to heal it
for me.” Michael reached over the baby and kissed Maria softly, then with more
passion, pausing to share breath with her. “I’m glad I made it back in
before this happened.”
“Kal is a pain in my ass. Can’t you find him another
job?”
“No. His job is to protect you and the baby when I’m
not near. No argument, Maria. We talked about this.”
“He’s freaking me. I think he and my mom have something
going on.”
“He stays.” Michael’s tone indicated he would refuse
to negotiate.
Maria sniffed. “Fine. But, I think we need to get him
therapy.” She looked around. “Where is he anyway?”
“I told him to stand guard. He’s outside circling like
a shark, keeping everyone else away.” Michael glanced at his son who was
cuddled between them. Never in his life did he ever expect to see something so
tiny created from him. Rubbing his head softly on his son’s head, he looked at
Maria. “My heart could stand a few more of these.”
“We’ll talk about it.” Maria kissed him. Maria made a
face. Sure they would. If Kal and Larek were to be believed, they had at least
two more coming down the pike. She refused to even entertain the horrific
thought of five more, or seven.
Michael went serious, “I love you, Maria. You know that
right? I know I forget to say it, and I get busy, and …”
Maria kissed him hard, moaning when he deepened the kiss.
He was so silly at times, and she had a hard time imagining him as anything but
perfect. Clearing her throat, she looked down at her son. “We still have to
decide on a name.”
“I thought we were naming him after me—little Mikey or
Alex.”
“I know, but …” Maria frowned looking at her son.
“I—Michael, I want to name him Tyr.”
Michael’s entire body went still, and he glanced at Maria
sharply and then at his son, but before he could comment Kal’s head came in
the door.
“Knock knock.”
“Out,” ordered Michael.
“Sorry, Amy is insisting, as are the others. They want to
see the baby.”
Michael groaned and waved them in reluctantly. They watched
as the entire family filed in to look at the baby including a very pregnant
Isabel. Kal was passing out surgical masks and making a nuisance of himself.
“No touching him. Do not breathe on him. If you have a
cold, sniffle or anything oozing, leave immediately.” They all tuned out the
overprotective shifter.
“What are you naming him?” Brody asked as Amy sat on
the side of the bed next to Maria touching her grandson.
“Tyr,” said Michael staring at Maria.
“Tyr?” Kal went quiet. He seemed disturbed by the news.
“That was your father’s name,” he told Michael.
~~~
They watched the broadcast as news as the invasion became
impossible to hide. In recent months, there had been land skirmishes, and small
encounters moving across the globe. The amount of fighting in their area was
increasing as the local militias increased. They quietly listened as news of the
Nimitz battle group was decimated.
“This is it,” Kal said quietly. “They’ll send in
more land invaders now. They were testing the extent of the Earth’s defenses
trying to determine the amount of resistance.”
“They weren’t impressed were they?” Brody asked.
“Hardly. They could destroy main cities from orbit if
they chose. More than likely they are willing to take it slowly to enslave and
keep as much of the infrastructure as possible. They don’t want to destroy the
cities. They plan to take them over once they kill off the populations.”
“I guess uploading a virus to the mother ship isn’t an
option?” Kyle asked.
“I worked on that film!” Kal admitted, but sadly—no,
that would not work.
Maria sat holding Tyr, watching the news. Amy was on one
side of her and Isabel with her baby, Jesse, was on the other. Max glanced down
at his two nephews, and then at Liz. He stared off for a moment, his mind on
other things. Shaking his head, he looked at the Shapeshifter.
“Go get the Granilith.”
Kal didn’t even pause. He followed the order immediately.
Max looked at Isabel. “Can you do this?”
Isabel struggled to her feet with the baby. Jim quickly
gave her a hand up. “Yes.” Isabel looked at Amy and reluctantly passed Jesse
to her.
Max glanced at Michael. “Michael?”
Michael nodded. He went to Maria taking the baby from her
as she stood. Pulling her close, his head bent to hers as they mated their
foreheads. Maria’s arm went around his neck holding him tightly for a moment.
Michael kissed Tyr on the head handing him back to Maria as Kyle stood up as
well.
Michael looked at Kal as he reentered the room. “Kal?”
Michael couldn’t leave, not if he wasn’t sure his family was protected.
“I know. They will be fine. I swear.” Michael took the
promise from the Shapeshifter seriously. He kissed Maria whispering his love for
her one more time before leaving to join the others.
Kyle, Max, Isabel backed away as they prepared to leave,
but Liz stopped them. “I’m going too.”
Michael joined Isabel and Kyle at the door. Max paused for
a moment. His face darkened and his jaw firmed. “No.”
“Max …”
“No, Liz.”
“I’m going with you. We always go together, and …”
Max stood up straighter. “This is our job, what we were
created for.” Liz opened her mouth to protest being left behind, but Max
didn’t give her a chance to object. “No. It’s not your place. You can’t
come. You don’t belong.” Max kissed her quickly and then turned leaving her
standing there with the others as he and the rest of the Royal Four went to do
what they were born to do. “Kal, where?”
“The Capitol is your best bet, but in truth you should go
to the Northern Defense Command in
Max nodded. “We’ll take care of it. Brody, you need to
come. We might need Larek for help.” Without looking back they left leaving
Maria holding Tyr, Amy holding Jesse protected by Kal, Sean, Jim, and Laurie.
Liz stood apart from the others.
~~~
Maria finished breast feeding. She was rocking Tyr slowly
before putting him to bed. The two babies were sharing a crib. It was easier
since they seemed comfortable together, and if they had to leave quickly, it
would be easier to take them. Jesse was sound asleep sucking on his fist.
“Is Jesse okay?”
“He’s a little off his food. I’ve been breast feeding
him too, until Isabel comes back, but I might have to switch him to formula.
He’s not feeding well, and all of Isabel’s expressed milk is gone.”
Liz softly laughed looking at Maria increased cleavage.
“Not enough milk?”
“Not enough breast,” said Maria ruefully looking down
at her unusual endowment wondering if she was going to get to keep the extra cup
size later. Maria glanced at Liz, her green eyes worried and darker than usual.
“Are you okay?”
Liz shrugged.
“That’s not an answer, Liz.”
“Well since the baby was born, at least you can stand
being around me again.”
“True. That is a bonus.”
“But, it’s different, isn’t it?” Liz picked up baby
toys and clothes straightening them into a pile, as Maria picked up dirty
clothes putting them into the hamper. They left the babies’ room, shutting the
door softly leaving it slightly ajar. Maria wasn’t surprised to see Kal in the
shadows, but he discretely moved back without making his presence known.
“Our friendship is different, Liz. It’s matured.
We’re married. You to Max, and me to Michael. Our loyalties have changed, but
that doesn’t mean we have to be any less friends.”
“It’s the Max and me thing again, isn’t it?” Maria
remained quiet. This was Liz’s demon, not hers. She had no words, no comfort
to offer. “Future Max said it. Max and I got together, and we cut everyone
else out. You were expecting that, and you let go.”
“No.” Maria shook her head ruefully. “Believe it or
not, Liz, this is nothing about you. Maybe Future Max had insight into your
relationship, but he obviously had nothing to say about mine and Michael’s. I
don’t even know if Michael and I made it in the last timeline—if we were
even together. I only know today. Michael and my life with him is my main
focus—him and Tyr. I love all of you, but Michael is my home, where I
belong.”
“Max was mine too.”
“He still is.”
“He left me behind.”
“I know.” Maria took a deep breath, knowing what she
wanted to say, but it wouldn’t be received well. “He was right.”
“Maria!”
“God, Liz! How long are you going to do this? You
demanded to go with Max before, when they went to the pod chamber, went to
RiverDog, insisted on helping them whether they wanted it or not, followed them
into the woods, and the list—it goes on. I know you worry, that you want to
help, but this is something that is beyond us.”
“You think I’m wrong, that I’m conceited and have to
be involved in everything.”
“I think you’re in love with your husband, but Liz,
you’re not a Royal. I’m not a Royal. What they must do is expose themselves.
Do you honestly believe they would take us—expose us, their families and
children especially after the loss of your parents and Jesse?”
Maria looked out a dark window seeing burning in the night
sky. She didn’t want to hurt Liz, but they had made mistakes—all of them.
What was the good of making mistakes if you refused to learn from them? “They
could all be killed trying to fix this—to fix our future, not only for me and
you, but our children. You being with Max in the last timeline didn’t help
stop the end of the world, and maybe this time he needs to do what he must, what
he was programmed to do—alone.”
“You mean without me.”
“Yes, without you. Maybe he needs to concentrate, do what
he must without you being his first priority.” Maria hated to hit at Liz in
this way, but she was missing her husband too, and it was what it was—what it
had to be. “I know it’s hard, but they are who they are, and maybe we need
to let them do what they were born to do.”
“They—Max could need us.”
“Liz, let go. Trust them to do it.” Maria knew how hard
it was for Liz to let Max go without her. She struggled with releasing Michael,
but there was never a question. He was who he was, and no amount of wishing or
time would change that. “I know you’ve struggled to be important to Max—to
his life. Trust that he loves you enough to come home or to fight and die to
protect you.”
Liz leaned up against the wall in the dark hallway. “She
is always in my face. Every time I turn around, she’s there.”
“Liz?”
“Tess. Even in death, she wins. Do you know how much it
was a slap in the face to hear from Future Max that our selfish, self-involved
behavior doomed this world? That he had a destiny, and it wasn’t me? It was
Tess. It was Tess that was important.” Liz kicked at the floor. “I know why
we didn’t have children in the other timeline. It was Max’s fault. He was
bound to Tess, and she was destined to mother his firstborn—the next king, not
me. Until he had that child, everyone else was sterile, and because Tess never
had Zan, none of you could have children either. So we had doomed more than the
world—our being together doomed the group of you to being sterile.” Liz
laughed a dry brittle cackle. “Even when she loses—she wins.”
“You gave him up.” Maria pointed out.
“Did I?” Liz laughed in self-derision. “Did I, Maria?
I hated it. Every moment, every day that we were apart. I hated him thinking
badly of me—thinking I slept with Kyle. It felt like a betrayal. How could he
believe it? Even with his own eyes, shouldn’t his heart have told him it
wasn’t true? How could he think …” Liz shook her head.
“You chose an action you thought he would never
believe,” said Maria softly, for once finally understanding. “You thought
that he would believe it for the moment, because it was before his eyes, but
given time, he would know deep inside that you would’ve never betrayed him and
your love that way.” A deeper understanding hit Maria. “You helped Future
Max enough to have him go, but you never wanted to help enough to end you and
Max forever.”
“He should’ve known, Maria. He should’ve trusted.”
“How could he when every time he asked, you wouldn’t
tell him the truth?”
“He went to Tess.”
“And now?”
Liz laughed harshly. “Now he has Kyle.”
“Liz …”
“They’re having an affair.”
“No,” Maria didn’t believe that. She couldn’t
believe that, not with Kyle’s reaction to Max. “No, they aren’t.”
“I get flashes from Max. Most of them involve Kyle. Tess
infected Kyle, and whatever joined Max and Tess in their past life is drawing
them both together. Granted it’s against their own will, but I can feel it.”
“They aren’t gay, Liz. Max loves you—I know that.”
“I do too, but there will always be Tess, just behind
Kyle’s eyes, looking out, watching us, pulling Max to him, even if it is
reluctantly.”
Liz hugged herself. She felt cold, alone and abandoned.
“She woke me that night. She knew what she was doing—what she was going to
do. She could’ve chosen anyone, even Max, but she chose me. She made me an
accomplice in murder. All those men—all they were doing was defending their
country from an unknown threat. Dead. I think she touched Kyle before she woke
me. I think she marked him to receive everything that was her essence.”
“Perhaps. Maybe it happened when she mindwarped him all
those times. Only Tess really knows.” Maria hated this. She hated seeing Liz
like this—desperate. The past was gone, and that other timeline was but a
memory. All they had was now. “I think she did it for Kyle, Liz. I think she
truly felt remorse and guilt over the pain she caused him, and that was her gift
to him.”
“That’s not the point, Maria. She willfully passed her
powers to Kyle—not me. She could’ve given me her power. I already held the
position in Max’s life, but she did not.”
Maria had no love for Tess, but she could understand why
Liz would’ve been Tess’s last choice. In Tess’s eyes, Liz had been the
interloper, the other woman that came between her and her destined mate. Giving
her power to Liz—making her the queen in absentia would’ve been like
validation of Liz in Max’s life—a gift for ruining Tess’s life with
Max—the life they should’ve resumed when they emerged from the pods.
“She erased me from ever having an importance in the
Royal Four. Her son, Zan carries Max’s power in the future. Her son—not
mine. You have a place as Tyr’s mother. Isabel has Jesse. And Kyle will
provide the final in the four. It will be your children that will be
important—never mine. She thoroughly cut me out of everything except to be the
little wife waiting at home for the husband wondering if he is finding it too
hard to resist his draw to his past wife, even in another body—a man’s
body.”
Maria breathed hard. “Liz, I’m sorry that you’re
sad—that this is not the future you had with Max in the other timeline. I’m
sorry that he’s making choices that can’t include you. Maybe he is drawn to
Kyle, and Kyle to him. Maybe they won’t be able to refuse whatever it is that
draws them. But—I know in my heart’s heart that you are Max’s love, that
he loves you—only you. Do you honestly believe that any children you have with
Max will not be important just because they aren’t a Royal? All our children
will have alien powers, be part of us, and part of them.”
Maria’s eyes softened as she looked at her friend,
understanding her pain. “What about my other future children with
Michael—are they nothing because Tyr inherits the vastness of Michael’s
power—his place? Maybe you need to decide what’s important, and accept that
it is okay for you to be ordinary—like me. Maybe you need to be the one to
trust in that great love—the one you felt Max betrayed. So, he might spend
time with Kyle, but it will never be about love, because in this life that
belongs to you.”
Liz was quiet. She was listening, but it would take longer
for her to really hear.
“I really thought we changed things—that Future Max and
I changed the events and saved the world. Now—it feels that all we did was
sacrifice Alex and my parents, Max’s parents to something beyond our
control.” Liz glanced at Maria. “Why didn’t I ever realize how small and
powerless we all were?”
“The hubris of youth,” Maria offered as the only
possible explanation for such arrogance they had while fighting other aliens and
the FBI special unit—even Sheriff Valenti. Liz walked off in the silence. Liz
was not the only one at fault. They all had been overconfident in believing they
could not fail, that they were always right. So much had changed.
“You are right, Maria,” said Kal softly from the
shadows.
“About what, Kal?”
“She needs to trust in her love. It’s all that will get
her through. She’s right to fear the link between the king and his queen. It
was designed to hold through time and space. The marriage of a king to his mate
is bound in their very genetics. The king is bound to his siblings, the other
Royals, but it is the power of the queen that coalesces the powers together, the
catalyst to bring them to full potential. She’s fighting against the strongest
power, the strongest bond ever known. Genetics—DNA. But, it was never to be
about heart, and as a creature that cannot feel, that wants to feel more than
anything, I can tell you that the heart is equally powerful. The human heart can
prevail. To throw away everything because it is not a model of perfection she
dreamed about is the real sin.”
“And the next generation?”
“You, all of you have proven to be so much more than
anyone could’ve imagined. Your children, all of them will be free of the alien
mating bond, and the human heart will finally win. They will be free to live and
love on this world unhindered by duty. The firstborn will bear the duty of
power, but the bond will no longer be that of sibling or mates, but rather
handed through time from parent to child. It is its own evolution.”
Maria turned to look at the Shapeshifter. “You are
learning to feel aren’t you?”
Kal smiled and nodded to the door of the nursery. “My
ability to feel—the humanity is growing with your children. I can feel things.
I feel when they’re hungry, when they’re sad, when they want to feel
comfort—I feel. It’s a wondrous thing.”
Maria finally got it. Kal’s attachment to her, to the
children was more a gift to himself. He was becoming more human. The goal he
strived towards all these years—the one that always eluded him was finally
coming about, due to his connection to his charges, to the children. He would
mature with the children, and they would never be alone—lost, because Kal
would always be there for them, and for their children’s children.
“I’m glad for you, Kal.” Maria pressed a hand to the
Shapeshifter’s cheek.
Kal tucked Maria’s hand in his arm. He loved this girl.
She had a lot of love in her heart, and it was given so openly to all those whom
she loved. She loved the Commander completely, and yet there was room for
others—for him. “Your beautiful mother made me a Key Lime Pie. It is lovely.
She used extra tart limes.”
“Stay away from my mother.”
~~~
It was dark. The mountain was well guarded. Isabel was
sleeping. She was still recovering from delivering Jesse, and she was missing
her baby. Brody kept watch, and for a moment, Max swore he was talking to Larek
in his own head. Michael went out to reconnoiter the area, to find the best
access into the Cheyenne Mountain Complex overlooking
Max stood from his position looking down at the few lights
of the city below. There should’ve been more, but all major cities were in
blackout conditions. Peterson Air Force Base was sending air support overhead,
and