Transformation
By DocPaul
***************************************
Part
Two: Kal Langley
“No! Absolutely not!” Kal looked at his personal
secretary. “Escort them off my property, and then fire yourself.”
“He didn’t let us in,” Max told Kal. Smiling, Max
waved a hand. “We opened the gate ourselves. Send your assistant away. We need
to talk,” Max looked at the man, shifting uncertainly on his feet.
“Privately, Uncle Kal.” The assistant’s face cleared. Obviously he
hadn’t known his employer had a nephew, but then that fact was also a surprise
for Kal.
“Go,” Kal ordered, hating his life and his programming
that made it impossible for him to refuse a direct order from Max. “You
promised.” He went to pour himself a drink laced with lemons. “I know you
… what you are and how you are. Why did I actually think you would respect
your promise to me?” At that point he noticed the others. “So you brought
the others this time. Reinforcements?”
“We don’t want anything from you,” Max said ignoring
Kal’s derisive snort, “except information.”
Kal bent over in laughter, his mirth so uncontained that he
held his sides as tears moved down his face. “Information?” He said looking
at Max, again laughing harder. “Now
you want information?”
“What’s so funny?” Michael asked, with not a little
irritation. He was earnest, the situation was volatile, and this was the
Shapeshifter’s reaction?
“Oh, just the King …” Kal said. “He comes
here before, destroys everything I worked for so long, and all he cared about
was his son. Did he ask about his past world, Antar? Who he was? Why he was
re-engineered, or even what he could do? Did he ask anything about any of you?
Nope. Just what he needed and wanted at that moment.” He wiped away a tear.
“Typical.”
“Yeah,” Michael said moving forward. He and the
Shapeshifter had some of the same observations about Max, but what the hell did
that matter? They needed information now, and it was way past time to learn what
they could. Without knowledge, they were defenseless in the face of their
enemies. “Well, we’re asking now.” Michael ignored the others. “I’m
asking.”
“The Commander.” Kal shook his head. “Did you finally
get tired of the King you wouldn’t depose? Thank god! An entire lifetime, and
nothing could convince you to take the throne from your brother.”
Max and Michael both went still.
“Brother?” Isabel echoed.
~~~
The Shapeshifter watched as the group argued the different
points. He glanced at his watch grimacing at the time. Leaving them, he went to
find his assistant. Maria glanced over as the alien left the room, her tightly
coiled body relaxing.
“We ask about the other aliens first!” Michael
demanded.
Isabel shook her head. “I can’t believe this! You of
all people, Michael. You’re the one that always wanted to know more about
yourself, about where you came from, and why you’re here. We have to ask him
about Destiny, about this whole scam that Tess and Nasedo played on us. We have
to know!”
“We already know!” Michael yelled back. “The pictures
of us, the whole mating crap was nothing but added lies! You know that. We have
the translation of the destiny book, and all it told us was how to go home, how
to use the Granilith, and that the stones enhanced our powers. No mention of
mating or anything. It told us nothing about ourselves or our supposed destiny.
Take the damn clue!”
Maria sighed, too tired to listen to their arguing any
longer. Her hand rested on her forehead as her head pounded to a primitive beat
of pain. She hadn’t slept since she was attacked, and the lack of sleep was
wearing on her.
“Michael …” she called weakly, but Michael waved her
off.
“I’m not saying it’s not important. I’m saying
it’s irrelevant right now in comparison with knowing why there’s increased
alien activity and why they keep finding us! I want to know everything, but I
need to know that Maria is safe here … that we are safe for at least the next
twenty-four hours.”
Kyle nodded. “I’m in agreement with Michael. A history
lesson can come later, but if the damn enemies are at the gate, maybe we need to
know how they track us down.”
“Michael …” Maria called again weakly.
“Look, we ask about the aliens first, then the rest.
Agreed?” Liz said to the others.
Michael rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Gee! That
suggestion sounds familiar. Thanks for giving validation to it.” He looked at
Max. “Guess now that the Crystal ball has repeated my suggestion, it’ll
suddenly have some weight.”
Tired, Maria walked out of the room. She went to find the
Shapeshifter.
~~~
“Thank you,” Maria said quietly keeping her distance
from the Shapeshifter. She looked around the room. It was nice and quiet, with
the shades drawn, keeping out the
“Do they always fight like that?”
“They’re not fighting,” Maria informed him. “It’s
merely a discussion.” She sat on the edge of the bed and removed her shoes.
“Thanks for the room. I haven’t been sleeping lately.”
Kal looked the human girl over. She looked pale. “The
Commander said that you were attacked.”
“Michael. His name is Michael. He’s no longer the
Commander of anything.”
Kal laughed. “You think? I once thought that my life as a
Shapeshifter was over too, but your Max changed that.”
“I’m sorry it’s a trial for you to protect them, that
it was your duty.” Maria looked the man over, then glanced at the room. “You
didn’t do a very good job of it from what I can see. You live here in luxury.
Do you even know what Michael’s young life was like?”
“No. Ask me if I care.”
“Why bother.” Maria studied the man critically. “You
strove to feel emotions, to feel what humans feel for your entire time on this
planet, and all this time, the only thing you learned is a sort of selfishness.
He really could’ve used you.”
Kal shrugged leaving to return to the arguing pod children.
“He already had someone. He had you.” Kal stopped on the way out of the
door, his back to her. “When I left, I took all those searching for them with
me, leading them away … far away. So many years passed, and I kept track of
them from afar. You might not agree, but they were safer when they were hidden
among humans than they are now. Out there. I was one protector against a slew of
enemies and a Shapeshifter with an agenda to annihilate them. It was the best I
could do.” Kal finally looked back at her. “I gave them this world free of
Antar. It’s a hideous place, and you can’t begin to understand how this
life, even the one dealt to the Commander, is far better than anything Antar had
to offer. I gave them a chance to really live their lives.”
Maria watched him leave the room. Slowly lying down on the
bed, she tried to close her eyes and sleep. Tired. She was so tired, but her
whole body was coiled. Sleep once again eluded her.
~~~
“Maria?” Michael asked when Kal returned. His face was
creased in worry, once he realized that Maria had left the room. He had heard
her, but his entire attention had been focused on the argument, and not her.
“She’s all right. I gave her a room to sleep in. Up the
stairs, third room on the left.” Kal fixed himself another drink, glancing at
the others as they sat around the table eating. “You can’t stay here. None
of you. It’s dangerous.”
“For us, or for you?” Michael asked. Bitterness was
welling in the pit of his stomach. Two Shapershifters and none of them were
worth anything to them.
“Both.” Kal made a face. “In case you hadn’t
noticed, there’s been an increase in alien activity over the past few months.
That’s nothing compared to the increase in FBI Special Unit activity. Thanks
to an ill advised confession by an idiot proving he was an alien to an assembly
of humans including FBI agents, the Special Unit, once all but defunct, has now
been reactivated.” He glared at Max, his hatred of the him more than a little
evident. “Whatever possessed you to confess is beyond me! Why not just walk
into the White Room immediately and save them the trouble of hurting every human
to ever have the misfortune to be in contact with you?”
“What are you talking about?” cried Isabel. “The
humans we came into contact with?” Isabel felt fear clutching at her throat.
Her parents. Jesse.
“You didn’t think this was all about you?” Kal
laughed. Damn. Intelligence was not heavy in the mix with the hybrids. “The
humans are worried about contamination, and that is something you should’ve
thought about.”
“Our parents?” Isabel said standing. “Do you know how
they are?”
Kal shrugged. “I had no reason to keep in touch. I
believe that the Evans and Parkers are no longer in
Kyle cleared his throat. “My father?”
“I don’t know about your father.” Kal looked at the
others. “The only persons I know about for sure are the Evans and Parkers. My
source didn’t mention any others.”
“Sources?” Michael said, frowning at Liz, Isabel and
Max’s reaction to the news that their families were taken.
Kal shrugged. “A hired thug. Eyes, if you will. I believe
you met one of my workers before, though he’s dead now. He gave you a message
to pass to Max, about leaving the search for the ship in
Michael’s jaw clenched. Amy. He didn’t know what
happened to Amy. Glancing at the door, he was glad Maria wasn’t there.
“And the added alien activity?”
Kal breathed out deeply. “I’m out of the loop, and
intend to stay that way. What I’ve been able to discretely surmise is there is
an invasion coming. They’re looking hard for something, and they’re looking
for you.”
“They’re finding us too,” Michael said. “But
how??”
Kal frowned. “I don’t know. They shouldn’t be able to
unless you’re leaving messages. Is anyone calling home, or leaving messages to
anyone you left?”
The group shook their heads no. They had no contact since
they left, not even a call or a postcard.
“Well, kiddies, they have to be tracking you somehow. I
heard the Granilith was used, that it returned to Antar.”
“It did.” Max said sharing a look with Isabel and
Michael. “Tess took it and my son to Antar, but she returned when they
rejected Zan because he was human.”
“She didn’t return in the Granilith, that’s certain.
Probably just a ship.” Kal laughed again, obviously finding them more than a
little amusing. “Oh course your son is human! You’re human. The genetics
used to re-engineer you were completely human, and the alien was just a little
essence tossed into the cocktail. If you were tested, everything is human except
for a few cells that are actually human, just slightly deviated. Why wouldn’t
your children be human?”
“The other Shapeshifter made a deal with Kivar for us and
my son,” said Max. “Why would Kivar do that if he knew the baby would be
human?”
Kal shrugged. “Kivar is insane, even by our standards,
but I would think he was using the baby as an excuse to hide his real purpose.
It’s easier to ask for something else, something with no real value, so you
can reluctantly give up ground, than it is to show your hand, asking for what
you really want.” He frowned at his drink. His sense of taste still hadn’t
returned. “It was an excuse. It gave the other Shapeshifter a feeling of
power, a tool to bargain with, but in truth, it ensured that if you reproduced,
Kivar had access to removing your seed from existence. More than likely, he just
wanted the Granilith returned. It was the real power.”
“Nice to be so loved,” said Michael sarcastically.
“Michael...” Max said. Michael’s sarcasm wasn’t
helping anything.
Michael made a face. “An invasion? So guess we were
right, your Future self and Liz didn’t do dick. The world is still on a path
to destruction, and we have no Tess here to help, not that we’d even know what
to do.” Michael looked at Kal. “Learning about ourselves was never important
to anyone but me, not unless something was gumming up the old hearth and home
fires, then sure, okay. Otherwise, we pretty much lived with our heads buried in
the desert sun.”
“You might not like what you found.” Kal suggested.
“Antar is no vacation spot, and you are human. I doubt you could live
comfortably on Antar very long before you would have to leave, just like the
Skins needed a husk technology to live here.”
“Then why are they invading?” Kyle asked. “If they
can’t live here, then why bother?”
“They’re looking for something. This planet might be a
hard place for them to live on, but if they took it over they could alter the
environment to better serve their needs … Of course, the dominant species
might find that troublesome.” Kal looked at the young adults. “Perhaps
someone should tell me about this future person, and the talk about the end of
the world?”
They all looked at Liz, who quickly told the Shapeshifter
what Future Max told her.
“Who was attacking?” Kal asked. “What was the
circumstance? Didn’t he tell you anything to look for, how it came about,
maybe as a warning in case it happened again?”
Liz shook her head. “No, he just said that Max and me
getting together caused us to exclude everyone else, and Tess left. When they
needed her, she wasn’t there, and the world ended.”
Kal looked at Liz and then at Max. “You’re together
now, and the Queen is not here. There is an invasion on the way … um, this
doesn’t look too good. Too bad your Future self wasn’t a bit more generous
with important details instead of only supplying unimportant garbage.”
“That is what I said,” mumbled Michael. He looked at
his watch, and looked at the door. He wanted to go check on Maria.
“Whatever happened then must be happening again, so that
means that you didn’t alter the timeline, merely shifted it with some
alterations, but ultimately it remains the same.” Kal sat back in his chair.
“Well, this is a fine mess you two have gotten us into! I actually like my new
world and life, and now news of its imminent destruction in the next eleven to
twelve years is hardly something I want to hear, given that I am basically
immortal.”
“Sorry to be such a bother,” Max said nastily. He
wasn’t taking all the blame. Not him and not Liz. They had tried. That was the
best they could do, and it cost them a lot.
“Obviously, your future self realized something. He
realized that what was needed was the Royal Four, and look at us … once again,
lacking the fourth in the Royal group.” Kal blew out hard. “I think I’ll
get drunk.”
~~~
“Michael?” Maria rolled over when arms came around her.
“What time is it?”
“Late.” Michael kissed her, forehead fitting her into
his body.
“The others?”
“Downstairs. Kal is trying to think of a way to push them
out of his door and life. He graciously told them they could camp out
downstairs. Lucky us, you already got us a room.” Michael looked at her tired
face. “Still can’t sleep?”
“A little. I can’t explain it, but it’s like my
insides are shaking, and I can’t stop them to settle down.” Maria sniffed,
her head pounding. “I think I’m actually too tired to sleep.”
“You need to relax.” Michael lifted her chin. “Let me
help you.” He kissed her mouth then the side of her neck. Maria laughed
softly, her mouth meeting his.
“And this is supposed to relax me?”
Michael smiled laughing a little. “Okay, wear you down
until you pass out?”
“Baby, you’re always so good to me.”
Michael made a scoffing sound as he kissed her again.
~~~
Michael left Maria sleeping. She was finally resting, and
he didn’t want to disturb her. Going downstairs, he found the others eating
breakfast with their reluctant host who obviously had a bit of a hangover.
“So you can feel the effects of the alcohol?” Michael
asked curiously.
“Slightly. It’s like this annoying buzz behind my eyes.
It used to be this pounding in my head, but your King took care of that.” Kal
looked at Max sourly.
“You’re complaining because your hangover isn’t that
severe.” Kyle said making a face.
“Well, since you’ve felt things all your life, you
probably take it for granted. I was born to an empty slate that was in black and
white, with little to no effect on the surface. I was basically seeing this
world only in black and white. The longer I didn’t shift my world colorized.
It is its own intoxication. Feel lucky that you can feel love, honor, and
loyalty, and all the other petty little emotions along the way.” Kal looked at
Michael. “How is your wife?”
“Asleep.” Michael frowned. “She’s till complaining
of her insides shaking. It’s been that way since she was attacked.”
“You want me to go up and check on her?” Liz asked,
worried about Maria, and upset that she hadn’t check on her since they got
there.
“No. She’s sleeping now. Maybe if she gets some rest,
she’ll settle down.”
Kal made a face. “I doubt it. If what we think is
happening is happening, then she is best not to settle down, but to stay on
alert.”
“She’s human,” Liz pointed out. “She’s not
changed like Kyle and I. Staying awake is not something humans can do for a long
period of time without some problems.”
“Well, for your information, neither can aliens.” Kal
looked at Kyle and Liz, his face thoughtful. “You might be changing, but that
won’t stop what’s happening. If it takes the Royal Four, then that is what
is needed.”
Michael sat up straighter. “Good. Why don’t you tell us
about the Royal Four, and how it is that I thought I was only engaged to Isabel,
and not a brother?” His eyes narrowed suspiciously, not sure he wasn’t being
lied to again. “I am a brother, correct?”
“Oh, I would say so. You and Max were born mere moments
apart.”
“Twins?” Liz asked.
Kal shrugged. “Why do you think they fight so much?
It’s hard to have a birthright only created by moments, and at the same time,
an unshakeable loyalty. It didn’t always work to one’s advantage.”
“The Royal Four, Kal.” Max ordered. “Tell us.”