Title: Somewhere (C/C, post-Departure, PG-13)

Author: rijane

This starts in the middle of the episode (though the "past" has been changed to suit the author's whims ;) I've got the quote at which the episode veers from Katims' delightful delusion, everything til then has happened (the Leanda debacle, the Isabel and Alex dance, the partial flashes of Alex that Kyle gets, the jeep going over the cliff in flames).

Comments and suggestions welcome, since this is my first foray into Roswell fanfic.

"I can't believe this is happening. I-I just can't even believe it's possible!" Maria looked at Liz's sprawling form and joined her on the bed.

"Um, hmm." Liz absently wiped at the last smudges of mascara on her face. She'd long gotten rid of the raccoon look, but anyone looking long enough could tell that she had been crying.

They heard Amy's voice from the other room. "Larek. He says his name is Larek, and he's an alien. Who is Larek?"

"My mom." Maria and Liz hopped from the bed to the room where Amy had begun to speak.

"And he's taken over this whole place. And he's holding us hostage here with a gun. He's pointing a gun at my daughter. He threatened my daughter."

"Mom, Mom what's wrong?" Maria's eyes met Liz and they already knew that something in her mother's mind had come apart.

"Maria? What are you doing up, it's the middle of the night. And Liz? What are you still doing here?" With that, her fingers began the strange beat that Kyle had done just hours earlier. The strange beat that-

"It's Tess! Tess mindwarped Alex!" Liz hopped up and was already racing out the door.

"What?" Maria snagged the Jetta keys, only a few steps behind.

"And Kyle! Look, we've got to go now!"

Within just minutes, far less that it should have taken Maria to make it the ten miles across town, they were at the Valenti's. Liz's foot began tapping in an absent rhythm while Maria twisted her rings, wishing she still used cedar oil. Or had some kind of chemical sedative. They barely paused to rap on the door and burst into the house, where they found Kyle staring absently at the now empty room that Tess had taken over. The sheets were stripped and the entire room had the feel of a used motel room. The dingy mirror Kyle was leaning against just reinforced the appearance.

"No, there's no way I've been mindwarped. I'd remember it. And I just... I'd know if Tess had." Kyle paused. "She wouldn't."

"Kyle, that's the whole point of being mindwarped. You don't know that it's happening to you." Maria gave him the look she usually reserved for Michael's greatest moments of stupidity.

"So I'm supposed to look around the room and what?"

"I don't know, see if you have an unusual response to anything." Liz could feel the desperation slip into her voice. She could almost feel the hum building, a storm about to break. They had to be close to the moment that the Granolith would reach its full strength and end this chapter forever. Kyle swept the room, brushing his palms over the bed, the mirror, the dresser. As he stared with intent at the empty closet, then the disheveled bed, he began tapping his fingers on the laquered dresser.

"Liz..." Maria started.

"Sorry, nothing." Kyle kept staring at the bed with intent.

"Kyle, it could be really close, so keep looking, keep trying." Liz placed her fainly shaking hand in his.

Kyle's head snapped back suddenly. His eyes saw Tess's tear streaked face where Liz now stood. Flashes of Tess's pale skin against his tawny muscles ripped through his mind. Of her tears that had led to something more.

"Screw Buddhism, I think I'm going to start Tessism. It's basically just me, worshipping you. Is that okay with you?"

She was hurt, she was tired, and she needed him. In this room, on this bed. He had held her, he told her haltingly that he loved her. At least that time he had. Before Alex had, before they had-

The world veered on the axis and he now hesitantly snaked his hand out to the small bulge of her stomach. He spoke, repeating the words he now remembered.

"It's okay, Max will understand. And we can- I'm working, I'll do whatever it takes."

"Kyle, this isn't the typical unexpected teen pregnancy," Tess tried to keep the terror and bitterness out of her voice. When she had control, she began again. "I was born to be a mother, it was all part of my destiny. That's not the problem. You don't understand. If they find out, the Skins, the Dupes, anyone from Antar, we'll all be summarily executed, no questions asked. You, me, the baby. It's treason. You defiled the queen, I betrayed the King. And the child," she paused trying to maintain her erstaz equilibrium. "He'll be an abomination to them. An unacceptable- we can't let anyone know what happened. We have to find a way to make this okay. We have to. We have to get the baby out of here."

Liz stared at her friend, in his own world. "Kyle, what will Max understand? Tell us, fast!"

"It's okay. I'll do anything to get you, to get him to safety," Kyle leaned in and stroked Liz's hair, seeing golden cascades where the brunette locks now were. He planted a kiss on her forehead and intended to add another to her lips.

"We'll have to." Tess gave him her own kiss. "We need to get Alex. There's a book that Nascedo gave me..."

Hazy images of Alex, the book, the dorm that he had found at the campus and the pictures that Tess had created, sending the delivery guy. Knowing that Tess would have to erase from his mind what they were doing every night. An almost dreamlike interwoven pattern of dreams, of lies, of reality, of mindwarps that had so distorted the truth. Until life snapped into a vivid moment of shock as Kyle remembered her voice.

"Kyle," Tess's voice rang clear in his ears now and Kyle realized with a gasp that she was about to break both their hearts. "I'm just your sister. There is no baby. You need to go to work now. I'll take care of the mess."

"Bye, Tess. Tell Dad I'll be home by nine." Kyle made a move for the door, but Liz had to catch him as he almost tumbled. They both sank to the floor as another wave of memories crashed over him.

"What's going on?" Maria screeched as she tried to pull him up.

"He's remembering," Liz whispered. "He's remembering it all."

"You did this to me, you sent me to Las Cruces," Alex's cracking voice seemed to echo through the room.

"Okay, Alex, Alex let me fix your mind, you're not thinking straight." Tess rose awkwardly from the bed. Kyle couldn't figure out why she looked so scared, why seemed so intent on stopping Alex from speaking.

"You mindwarped me for two months while I decoded that damn book for you and now there's nothing left for you to mindwarp. You destroyed my mind! How could you do this to me?" Alex moved toward Tess with a feral look in his eyes. Before Kyle could react, Alex had pushed Tess to the floor. The blond lay there, unmoving in the fetal position. Her voice came faintly. "Kyle, get out."

"What's going on? Tess, what's wrong? What's happening, what did you do to Alex?"

"Kyle go!"

"I have nothing, I might as well be dead," Alex slammed his fist against the wall. It came away bloody, with the wood cracked. He hit again. Again. Then he moved forward, toward Tess.

"Hey just calm down!" Kyle pushed Alex back to the dresser.

"He's right, okay." Tess winced from her position. She tried to make contact with his eyes, her voice calm and persistent. "Calm down! Just calm down!"

"No, you can't mindwarp me!" Alex charged again as his eyes began to glaze over. Kyle threw himself between the two and just managed to catch Alex as he collapsed and hit his head on the corner of the dresser. The dark purple stain quickly spread over his temple and onto the floor. Kyle leaned in, but there was no pulse. The damage had already been done.

"No," Tess whispered. "I didn't mean to. It was never meant to go this way. I just needed to, we needed to get the baby away from here. To-"

"Tess, what's happening?" Kyle blinked. "What's wrong with him?"

"Don't worry, Kyle." Tess was sniffling and Kyle just wanted to hold her, torn between this sisterly feelings that didn't quite feel right and an almost instinctual yearn for her. "We can take care of this."

"It was Tess!" Liz's voice finally shook him from the reverie and his eyes focused on her, on Maria, on the now empty room.

"No, she didn't. We didn't mean to. We had to protect our baby. We've got to get to the Granolith. I can't let her go!"

Part 2

The Roswell desert sped by the Jetta windows as all three humans inside fidgeted, fretted, and could barely keep themselves from trying to hop out and run to the Granolith.

"How much further?" Liz questioned, despite knowing exactly where the Granolith was. But she could feel the minutes slip by, something was building. Something much more than a static charge in the air around them. Liz felt as though she could fly off with the ship at any moment.

"We're gonna make it, aren't we?" Maria pressed the gas pedal to the floor, the speed limit be damned. When they saw the smoke from the Jeep curling from the canyon, Liz gave a screech.

"Just a little more." Silence came over the Jetta as they trained their eyes on the looming rock face. When the little car could get no further, they tumbled out and raced up the hill.

***********
The shadows on the pod chamber gave everyone a strange look, one of distance, of ill intent. With a last look at Isabel's teary face and Max's stony determination, Michael let out a sigh. He knew, the way Maxwell did two years ago, that things had irrevocably changed.

"Max... I can't go. Ever since we came out of the pods, I've been on some quest to figure out where I belong. I finally found home. The weird thing is, it's here, it's on earth."

"You of all people." Max knew. He stepped forward to give his parting friend and brother a hug. "Take care of yourself, Michael. I love you."

"You're a great brother." Michael hesitated to let go.

"Take care of the others." Translation: Liz. Max looked to his sister, who was unable to keep the tears from falling. Her face had no makeup except for the faint black smudges around her eyes. If Antar wanted Vilandra, they would be disappointed. Izzy might be regal, but she could never be the cold ice queen that the Skins claimed she had been. "I would understand..."

"What you said before, you're my home too." The tears disappeared in resolve. Michael backed toward the exit, not quite able to look away for the last time.

"Well, whoever is coming, we have to go. Now." Tess leaned against the column, her face suddenly tired. The air around her seemed to flicker and for a second, Maxwell thought she looked... different. He gave a shake of his head, just the light. When he looked back to the door, Michael was gone. It was just the three of them. But the wrong three.

Outside the Granolith, Kyle was pounding the rock wall and Liz clawed at the cracks in the surface. Maria had ripped the brush away from the ground.

"Let us in, damn it!" Maria swung her fist and almost hit Michael as the rock suddenly opened.

"What a welcome home!" Michael looked shocked to see all three of them outside the ship. Without a word of explanation, Kyle and Liz raced past him. "Hey!"

"We've gotta go after them, Michael! It's not Max's baby!" Maria pulled him back into the darkness. In just seconds, breathing heavily, they caught up with Liz and Kyle at the entrance to the chamber. With a wave of Michael's hand, they were in.

"Liz?" Isabel was the first to catch sight of the group. Max's head snapped up, but Tess remained crouched on the floor, only a slight air of impatience in her carriage.

"What are you guys doing here? The ship will launch in-" he glanced at the timer.

"Four minutes," Liz answered his inquiry without even looking at the panel. "Tess isn't carrying your baby."

"What?" Max looked at the blond on the floor.

"It's not yours!" Liz moved to Max. She slipped her hand into his.

"Then whose is it?"

"It's mine." Kyle took a step closer to Tess, but hesitated as Max stood between the two of them.

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Michael watched the timer spin down. "And we need the Reader's Digest version."

"I'm tired," Tess tightened her face and let out a noise of pain. "Tired of lying."

Dizziness washed over the group and, after one long blink, they all saw Tess on the floor, leaning on her elbows with sweat shining on her face. The bulge on her stomach was much larger than she had claimed with Max, but didn't look more than five or six human months along.

"I never meant to go to Antar," she paused with the beginning of the next contraction. It crashed over her and was gone far more quickly than it should have been. "We can't. None of us. We're no longer wanted there. Our followers are just a small band of extremists who've put us on a pedestal. Khivar's a psychopath who'll probably kill us for trying to usurp his place and our own loyalists, the only ones on Antar who would be willing to protect us from 'The Revolution,' will kill us for tainting the bloodlines. I've been violated by a human, Max has taken a common human to his heart and probably to his bed. They'll smell it on Michael. But if I don't leave, my baby, our baby will die," Tess met the eyes of Kyle, the only one looking at her sympathetically. "I knew it the moment I knew about him. That he could barely live inside me. And he would never be able to live on Earth. So I had to-"

"To what, Tess?" Maria gripped Michael, shaking with rage. "To kill Alex? How does that fit in with your plan?"

"We didn't mean to. I tried to get him back. To use the stones," a sharp inhalation. Tess stopped her story and bit down on her lip hard. Kyle moved to her, took her hand. Max backed closer to Liz, to the door. "But I couldn't do much. If we'd had an Antarian healer or more time... It's my fault, but there's still hope if we can just get to- Aaah!" a shriek erupted. "It's early, too early," she moaned.

"She's telling the truth!" Kyle watched, trying not to shove Max to the ground and shake the truth into him. Tess and the baby's time was slipping away. "We didn't mean to."

"What do you mean 'we?'" Liz looked sadly at Kyle.

"I was there. I helped to, to make Alex translate the book. We needed someone who already knew about the alien abyss so not that many memories had to be rewritten. He fell and-"

"Did you kill Alex?" Max delivered the question point blank to the couple on the floor.

"I didn't mean to, I'd give anything if I hadn't. I thought I could just have him translate the book and then I'd disappear one day. But his mind, something happened. I was scared, so we hid what happened." air hissed through Tess's teeth. "Look, there's a healer on Nascedo's home world who is still loyal to our families. If we can just leave here, maybe we can fix things. Try to trust me a little." Tess finally sounded like the scared, pregnant teenager she was. "If my son is born in this atmosphere, without the air he needs, he'll be dead. Just like Alex. I'm begging you, please don't add an innocent life to this!"

"Look, Max, the clock's ticking, we don't really have time..." Michael just inches from the exit, with Maria close to him. "Either we let her go or we go with her."

Max looked at Tess, who was now past the point of talking, and Kyle as he tried to wipe away the sweat and keep her conscious. Liz's hand squeezed his, but wasn't about to move until he did. Isabel kept her eyes on her brother as the group seemed trapped in a frozen tableau. No one could move until Max did.

"Fine. Go." At that, the five scrambled for the exit. Kyle turned to coaxing Tess to make it the remaining minute until blast off.

Michael's hand swiped over the panel, but the door didn't appear. Max shoved through and ran his palm over the door. Nothing. A wild desperation appeared in his eyes.

"No." He and Michael gave one look and blasted the wall with a burst of sparks and heat.

Nothing.

"Thirty seconds!" Liz backed up and rammed the space with the full weight of her small body. Again, then a sickening pop from her shoulder stopped her. Michael and Max repeated their fireworks and then rammed the door as Liz had, with much more force. Isabel began clawing at the panels, pushing any button that could possibly be linked to the door, running her open palm over all the blank surfaces.

"Nonononononono," hysterical laughter came from Maria, who'd backed away from the immobile door. Their ears suddenly popped and a feeling, like going up in an elevator, came over them. Liz stared at Max and wrapped her good arm around him

"It's too late. We've already gone."
A/N For creative purposes (plus I think it was a stupid way to do things in Departure), the Granolith powers the ship, but the ship itself is similar to what they showed in "Control."

Besides, would you travel across the galaxy in a beam of light? I don't think so :)

Part Three

It might have sunk in more if the Granolith had had convenient windows to see Earth growing small behind them or the stars rushing by. But, except for the popping and a flash of light, they could hardly tell that the ship had moved. Once the Granolith had established its own atmosphere, Tess's pain appeared to have stopped and she slipped into unconsciousness with Kyle's arms wrapped around her.

Max sat quietly in the corner nursing Liz and trying to heal her dislocated shoulder while Maria and Michael were talking quietly. Isabel crouched near Kyle and Tess and studied the nearby control, hoping to make some sense of them.

"What I wonder is where the bathroom is? And what are we supposed to eat?" Maria asked.

"Ria," Michael looked down at her serious green eyes. He planted a kiss on her nose. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Let's go look. This is important stuff. Especially if you knocked me up, too, Spaceboy." Maria headed down the hall.

"Don't even joke about that!" Michael scrambled after her.

From the opposite side of the room, conveniently blocked by the Granolith and their words under its hum, Max slowly moved his hands away from Liz's shoulder. The silver handprint peeked from her collar. Hesitant to stop touching her, he moved behind her and began to massage her shoulders.

"Do you think, maybe, that you and Tess didn't..." Liz was afraid to voice her hope, as if sayng the words would jinx it.

"If she's that far along," Max watched Kyle run his hands through Tess's flat curls and his uncertain hands brush her stomach. If it was his son, then Kyle had likely never gotten to feel him. "I don't think that we could've, or that I could have without noticing. But I just don't know. The memories feel real and I... I don't know. I hope not," Max buried his face against her neck, softly whispering apologies.

"It's okay," Liz turned around to look into his open amber eyes. "Right now, I think I could live on hope alone."

Max and Liz leaned in, wanting to fall in to the other with a kind of desperation. Their kisses gained in intensity, almost too much, when Maria and Michael came flouncing back into the chamber.

"Apparently Antarians can construct a ship to travel across the universe, genetically engineer their Royals, exert mind control, and have all kinds of fun powers, but they can't improve in the air bathrooms. It's a tube, with a lid. And food- looks like we've got some gum, Lifesavers, and crackers from my purse, some stuff I think Tess packed, and this weird blackwrapped shi-"

"Freeze-dried nutrient packs." Michael looked at Max, whose reddened ears told him that the lovebirds had been dealing with more than Liz's shoulder. "And three rooms. The one closest to the chamber must have been for the bodyguards- a control panel, some kind of screen, two beds, looks comfortable, but not much else. Looks like the other two are the Royal suites. The loyalists definitely knew how to do the finery, sparkling purple crap all over the place and girly as heck."

"Dibs on a Royal Room!" Maria was not to be argued with.

"Do we know how long it will take for the ship to reach Antar or wherever we're going? We'll probably have to ration."

"Not long, a few days," Liz answered.

"What's with you knowing this stuff?" Maria looked askew at her friend.

"I don't know, I just do. Guess that's one more question to pose to Sleeping Beauty when she wakes up," Liz looked at Kyle, who'd ducked his head and attempted to avoid much conversation.

"Let's put Tess and Kyle in the bodyguard room since its nearest. And Maria, Liz, and Iz in one of the Royal Rooms, you and me in the other one." Max eyed Tess and then addressed Kyle. "Can we move her?"

"I can move myself," Tess opened her eyes. "I'm awake and the labor's stopped. He's okay."

"Let's get her to a bed, then she has some questions to answer." Max and Michael came over, but Kyle had already lifted her, against a half-hearted protest from Tess, and was edging to the door.

After they had set her on one of the beds, which would have been too small if Tess hadn't been so short. Kyle propped her against the wall with the pillows from both beds. He then sat on the edge and prepared for the questions from the rest of them.

"What's going on, Tess? Why did you two kill Alex? And what's happening?" Liz unsuccessfully tried to keep the demanding the tone out of her voice. She, Max, and Isabel sat on the opposite bed while Maria and Michael sat on the bench in front of the control panel.

"I never meant for any of this to happen. But Kyle and I, we got pregnant and I had to get off this planet. And it all just went downhill from there."

"When did you and Kyle get together?" Isabel questioned.

"Before Liz and Kyle... and after." Tess looked down at her stomach. "But I think it happened before."

"Liz and I never really had sex," Kyle looked at Max. "She asked me to pretend and I asked Tess to let me. We didn't want to mess with destiny and this might have gotten you and Tess together. Who knew what kind of stuff would happen if you two didn't. At least, that's what we thought then."

"But you still hadn't quite warmed up, not yet. Before we went to the city, I knew that I was pregnant and I knew that the baby was having trouble. I guess I kind of hoped it would go away." Tess's cheeks flamed and she looked down. "But he stayed alive and I, I changed my mind. But I knew I'd have to leave Earth and I explained to Kyle. If our followers found out, they would kill Kyle for defiling the queen, me for betraying the King, and they would never let me have the baby. Blood purity was very important for the Royals. Even if the loyalists didn't get us, and they would, Khivar will kill us all on sight.

"So, I thought maybe in New York, I could get Max to...and that way we'd be able to say it was his and we could leave the planet under the protection of our people. After the summit, that blew up in my face. I went home and told Kyle that somehow we had to figure out a way to leave the planet on our own and that Max still had to come with me. It was... easier if Kyle didn't come."

"I don't remember much. It's kind of blurry." Kyle squeezed Tess's hand and looked at the group. "But we made Alex translate it. Set up the dorm room and the book and the computers. Tess mindwarped me so that I wouldn't know, made me think of her as a sister so it wouldn't hurt when they left. Because I couldn't go with them." He stopped, unable to speak.

"Alex translated it and it showed how the ship worked. Then the ship had star charts, information that Max and Isabel's mother didn't give us." Tess lifted her chin and, for the first time during her explanation, looked each of the others in the eye. Her tone became soft and easy, less forced. "It was all going according to plan. And Max was coming around. But then Alex, he came to our house and surprised me. Something went wrong."

"He was angry," Kyle continued. "And he was shouting. Tess tried to fix the damage she'd done, but he lost control and passed out. When he fell, he hit his head on the corner of the dresser. I checked but there was no pulse. I don't know whether the mindwarp did it or the fall. We tried the healing stones, we tried to bring him back. It was just too late."

"But there is something we can do," Tess spoke and Kyle looked surprised. "Kyle, go over to the control panel and hit the green button. He did as she said. An amber tube slid out from what had been a seamless wall. "In that is some of his hair, and a blood sample, and some skin cells. I think there's probably a viable sample in there."

"Tess, how can that bring Alex back?" Isabel's voice cracked.

"Did you ever stop to think that it wasn't coincidence that this group formed? That you were with Max? That I went to Kyle? That we formed the relationships that we did? It's not. We've danced this dance before."

"Like Buddha says we repeat our lives until we remove our wants on this plane of existence?" Tess smiled at Kyle and wanted to give him a kiss for so quickly accepting what she had to say.

"Yes. Please press the button again." The tube slid back into its compartment

"You mean reincarnation?" Liz looked skeptical.

"Yes. People's essences are recycled in the universe. It's just that we usually don't remember consciously and people usually don't have access to the genetic memory that Max, Isabel, Michael, and I do. If we tap into that, we can remember our last life. And that's what our supporters wanted. The mystics and the scientists on Antar found a way to guide the spirits, if they had the DNA and the spiritual memory, and the right triggers."

"That can't be true. The population on Earth has increased exponentially over the centuries. There are more bodies than essences," Max challenged her.

"That's true, but the population of Antar has been decreasing rapidly. Not all of the essences come from Earth," Tess gave a pointed stare at Maria and Liz. "Case in point."

"You've got to be kidding," Maria laughed out loud. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Nascedo was teaching me how to get it, the way I was trying to teach Max. I can access parts of my genetic memory and I... recognized you. All of you. At first it was just like deja vu. Now, little things come to me. That Maria did something with art, I think. I'm pretty sure that Liz and I sometimes really didn't like each other, but we never hated each other either. I know that we've all been together before. Plus, the four of us have genetic markers. And now Liz..."

"What about Liz?" Max stared at Liz.

"You changed her. On a basic level that day in the Crashdown. When you healed her, your subconscious knew who she used to be and used that DNA knowledge as a reference. She's been slowly changing ever since as the DNA had spread and rewritten parts of the sequences. It's given her access to some of her genetic memories. That's why the flashes, and the out of body experience in New York. And knowing things..."

"What's going to happen to her?" Max's grip on Liz tightened.

"I don't know for certain. I don't think anything bad. Just changes. Antarian and human DNA have more similarities than differences. We've been cross-breeding for generations. She'll probably end up a hybrid somewhere on the spectrum, like one of us. But you'd need to see an Antarian healer to know for absolute certain."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Max's anger was beginning to guide him.

"I was out of options, Max. I had to get off the planet and I was pretty sure that Liz would be okay. This time, this life, I had to worry about me." Tess looked directly at her former husband. "You don't know, you don't remember last time. I threw myself on the sword for our people, for a lost cause and it won't happen again."

"If Liz is going to be okay, let's deal with one issue at a time. How does any of this help us get Alex back?" Maria repeated Isabel's question.

"I got some clean samples of Alex's DNA and his essence hasn't had enough time to move on yet. He's either on the earthly plane or nearby. Plus, they know how to use the triggers. If we can get it to the right people, they can do what they did for the Royal Four, but he wouldn't be a hybrid. They can recreate Alex himself."

Part 4a

"The real Alex?" "What do you mean?" "How long would it take?" The room erupted into questions and a general tumult.

"They can do for him basically what they did for us and completely clone his body, age him using the pods, and then the mystics can do their stuff, plus use the genetic triggers to make him remember consciously what his subconscious already knows." Tess's eyes shut heavily for more than a blink. She opened them and continued. "If we weren't hybrids, we could easily remember most of our lives before. But the human DNA was much more assertive than they thought it would be. It prevents us from totally accessing it physically. We can use meditation and some other techniques to reach it, though."

"How do you know all this?" Michael gave her a skeptical look.

"Some of it Nascedo taught me, some of it was in the book and the rest I found on the ship. There are programs that were meant to teach us this stuff if things had all gone according to plan. I can show all of you how to use them and you can see for yourself. There's a nice, long and boring documentary on the making of hybrids." Tess's eyes closed for a bit longer. Kyle gently nudged her. "I'm sorry, I can barely keep my eyes open. There are some history files, some science, and other ones. I don't know how accurate the history is, our followers wrote it. If you want to run some of the programs, go to the control station in the Granolith chamber. Press the silver seal next to the dark purple square. Every damned thing in this ship is frickin' purple. Place your hand on the column and it should just run itself. I think you can all use it at once."

"Guys, she can tell us more later, but for now she's gotta rest," Kyle became assertive as a deep sleep tried to claim Tess. "I'm going to sit with her."

"Thank you," Tess murmured.

"Shh."

The rest of the group filed out of the room as quickly as they could and Max waved his hand in the general vicinity of the entrance. After the third or fourth try, he found the appropriate area and the door slid shut.

"This is going to take some getting used to." Max looked at Isabel and leaned in to give her a hug. "We'll be okay. Everything will be okay."

"I know," Isabel slid into her controlled personna. "We need to check out the rooms and figure out how everything works around here. Best to do that first." She took off down the hall and entered the room furthest from the center chamber.

"Let's give her a second." Max headed to the next room and waved his hand in the same area that had worked on Tess and Kyle's. "See, learning already."

Max left the door open for Isabel and they entered to the room to find a small variation from the rest of the ship: purple and silver. The room was at least twice as large as the other room, with a large bed decorated in purple, velvety cloth. The headboard was lined in silver and featured prominently the royal seal. There was also a smaller bed across the room, conceivably for attendants. Most of the objects, though looking quite elegant and important, with the exception of a control panel similar to the other, were not quite identifiable. A curtained off area with its own set of controls might have been a bathing device.

"The other one looks pretty much the same as this," with that, Michael tossed himself onto the bed. He looked up at Maria with a wicked smile on his face. "Deja vu, all over again, huh, honey?"

"Except this would be a very *expensive* porno version of Aladdin." Maria smiled and perched herself on the bed next to Michael's head. She began running her hands through his hair like he was her security blanket. Liz meandered over to the stretch of blank wall with a series of small black squares, about the size of her thumb. She experimentally ran hers over it and a compartment slid open. Max could see her mind trying to figure out how every part of the ship functioned, avoiding the emotional bombshell Tess has dropped on her.

"Wow." Liz lifted a dress that featured an ever-changing shade of purple cloth. "Guess I found the royal clothes."

"We have to talk about what Tess told us." Max looked at the other three. "Do you think we can trust her?"

"Hell, no," Michael said from his comfortable position. "I don't think we can trust her any further than Maria could throw her."

"Hey!" Maria slapped him upside the head.

"But I do think that it's the truth." Michael sat up, serious now. "You and Liz connected, and Maria and I have. I think, I think that I recognize her on some basic level. It's sort of hum in the back of my head when we connect. The way I can just tell you and Iz are family. I've seen her, inside, and I know that Maria and I know each other. I was going to stay because I was that sure."

"You were going to stay for me," Maria said softly.

"Yeah," Michael looked into her teary eyes. "Annoying as you are, I think I love you."

"So, where is this ship headed?" Liz veered away from the weepy make out session that the other two were headed for and closed the drawers. "We're not really going to Antar, are we?"

"I can try to change the navigation controls, but even if I could read them, I don't know the difference between the planets. It might be one of the five or she could have us headed for some other inhabited planet." A deep sigh slipped out of Max and he plopped down on the smaller bed. "Things changed so quickly."

"I know," Liz joined him. They sat in comfortable closeness for the first time in months, thighs barely grazing each other. Liz leaned her head on Max's shoulder. "Max, you left a video, but what are *our* parents going to think. We have no idea how long we'll be gone."

"This is going to kill my mother." Maria looked serious. "She's going to be all alone. With Sean."

"Jim will probably, you know, take care of her." Michael reassured her. "Maybe he'll figure out what happened, with the Jetta at the cave and you all gone."

"I had the chance to tell her something, anything. She was remembering the stuff at the UFO museum with Larek, that's how we knew that Kyle had been mindwarped. And now she's going to be completely messed up because of me. What if her mind falls apart or something?" though not in her eyes, but they could hear the tears in Maria's voice.

"Ria, she'll be okay. Maybe we'll be gone for just a few days. Drop off the lying blond bitch and hightail it for Earth," Michael, still unaccustomed to casual physical contact, gave her a hesitant and brief hug.

"We need to decide what we're going to do. If Liz is right, we're going to be near Khivar's territory, with the Granolith, in a few days."

Liz cocked her head to the side. "Three days and about ten hours, Max."

"Lizzy, how are you *doing* that?"

"I'm not sure, Maria. It's like there's soft music playing and, if I try to listen, I can hear it. Then it's just like counting the beats." Liz screwed up her face. "I really don't know what I'm doing."

Max put his hand on her shoulder and kneaded it gently. "It's okay. That's another thing we'll figure out when we get to the healer. I screwed up, but I'll find someone to fix it. Why don't we go to the Granolith and see if we can find out anything else? See if Tess's story checks out. Will you guys go get Iz?"

"Wouldn't want to revel in this opulence or anything, huh?" Maria slid off the bed. "Be nice if I had a really cool past life. Mom's past life regression therapist said he saw me as a secretary, a housewife, and a farmer's wife. There's got to be something better for me on Antar, right, Michael?"

"You know, that's a common misinterpretation," they headed out the door still bantering.

"Liz, I'm so sorry," Max started as soon as they were out the door. "I got you into this mess and I was going to leave you to deal with more of my crap. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you about Alex, I'm sorry I was going to leave you, I'm just sorry."

For a few seconds Liz was silent, contemplating how to translate her feelings into words. "I wish I could tell you that everything is okay, Max. But we're on a spaceship, we don't know where we're headed, Tess is pregnant with Kyle's baby, I don't know what the hell is happening to my body, and now we all have some kind of past life that could get us in serious trouble with Khivar. But maybe we can get Alex back, and maybe we can get each other back. It's not okay, but it's getting better. And the one thing that's okay in this whole mess is that you're here with me for all of it."

Max looked down into Liz's dark eyes, the love and acceptance he needed at this moment shining from them. He leaned in and delivered an almost chaste kiss to her lips. "Thank you."

"Let's go get the others, okay?"

*****

Isabel looked over the bedroom with a not so little amount of astonishment. It reminded her of The Drake in Chicago, where she had once had coffee with her mother after a shopping trip to Michigan Avenue. She ran her hands over the surfaces. They felt less like metal and more like thick ivory. Isabel arranged herself on the edge of the small bed and observed her temporary home.

"I know you're there," her voice faintly echoed in the empty room. She turned slowly to her right.

"Even invisible I suck at hide and seek." Alex was standing just a few feet from Isabel's perch. "No wonder Maria and Liz always won."

"Are you real?" her voice was slightly above a whisper now, almost as though she was afraid that if she said it any louder, he would disappear. For a second, there was no reply.

"More yes than no."

"How very Yoda of you, Alex." Isabel's eyes sprang open and she gave him a practiced look of exasperation she usually reserved for Michael. "Why didn't you tell me this on Earth? We could've-"

"No, you couldn't. I'm not even sure if Tess is right to try this." Alex sat on the bed next to her, not disturbing the sheets nor making an indentation on the mattress. "Don't get me wrong, I'm angry. Angry at her for taking away my life. And I miss my life. I wasn't really ready to go yet. I had lots of things I wanted to do- get my band signed, marry you, finally figure out that last level of Myst, have lots of pretty babies with you. I wish I could take away your pain more than anything. I want to run my hands through your hair and feel it. I want to love you. And I hadn't done much of anything that I was supposed to. But the others were on the verge of letting me go, the way they're supposed to. I can be okay here, watching for a bit. I know we'll see each other next life and I didn't want you screwing up this one for me. The wheel has turned for me and I'm done. It's happened before and it'll happen again."

"You mean Tess isn't lying?"

"While Tess has and had many faults, in this particular case, she is being as truthful as she knows how."

"Alex, do you, do you remember what happened before?"

"Yes," his eyes closed. "Think there were some quality screwups in this life? Our last one would put it to shame. You were beautiful then, too. A little more spoiled maybe, but still Isabel.

"Izzy, things got so far off the rails. That's why your people sent you to Earth. Because everything then just got screwed up and not by our hands, none of us knew what had really happened. Max and Liz were still the classic Romeo and Juliet, always willing to throw themselves on the sword. And you and I... our relationship was complicated." Alex glanced at the door. "I can't show you everything, but I can give you a few of our memories. We only have a few minutes before the others come to get you and it's easier to know it than to explain it. Take my hand." He held it out and Isabel took it. Her heart swelled as she felt the familiar warmth of Alex and knew it was real. Then her mind was overcome in a flash.

Part 4b

"Vilandra, come see this," Zan called from the nearby greenhouse. Isabel recognized the name more now than she ever had. She almost thought of herself in terms of that person. Gradually she felt the name Isabel become strange. In her hands was a book, but not like any that she recognized exactly. However, with a shake of her head, the strange thought faded. The rich blue ink and the thick pages that felt substantial between her fingers. Vilandra perhaps enjoyed reading less than she did feeling the book.

"Coming!" She lifted up her skirt and entered the climate-controlled room filled with Zan's experiments. The tables were covered in tubes and chemicals, plant cuttings, soil. Zan looked somewhat less than royal, covered in a fine layer of dirt. Vi looked askew at him for a moment. He seemed too short, his hair too long and the locks of purple against black not right, and his eyes were too big. His amber eyes should have been smaller, with white around them. Vi shook off the feeling and leaned in when she noticed L'arala, her cascades of hair tightly held back but streaks of dirt along the side of the roots and through the hair testified that it had again been slipping down. Again, a strange parallel memory came to Vilandra, of L'arala with hair slipping down around her face, with a silver headband and a short blue dress, the same hesitant smile on her face.

"Beautiful day to you, L'arala,"

"And to you, Vilandra," L'arala bobbed her head twice, meeting Vilandra's eye for a passing second until Vilandra nodded. Vi liked the woman well enough, but she was so shy and followed tradition to the absolute, deferring to Vilandra's royal Antarian status despite the fact that on B'ril L'arala, too, was second in line for the throne. The woman worried more about propriety than the mystics, Vilandra thought absently, then repressed. L'arala was a powerful empath, which perhaps lent to her shyness. The only people with whom L'arala seemed free were Zan and her cousin M'lin. The two dirt-covered royals finished whatever they had been working on at the table and stepped back.

"I think we're very close," Zan placed his hand on L'arala's and watched.

"What are we waiting for?" Vilandra stared at the table in impatience.

"Hush!" with Zan's admonition, Vilandra saw a peek of the plant's blue stalk push through the soil surface. As though watching a vid on plant growth, with just a few seconds, the plant was at full bloom.

"Yes!" L'arala let out a cry and Zan scooped her up in a hug. "We're almost there! If we can figure out how to prevent nutrient depletion, we'll have the answer, Zan!"

"I know, and it's mostly thanks to your genius." Zan's compliment made a faint blue blush steal over L'arala's face.

"You exaggerate, but thank you, Zan." L'arala attempted to brush off some of the dirt and rearrange her dress. It had repelled the dirt but still needed adjusted in several places. Vilandra wordlessly tightened the clasps and wiped away the dirt from her hair. The blush deepened and L'arala bowed her head again, keeping her eyes below Vilandra's. "If you will pardon me, I want to call for M'lin and Alior. They should see the fruits of our labor."

"Of course," Vilandra and Zan both nodded and L'arala backed away from the table, to the nearest comm station.

"B'ril would be a good alliance and she's not promised. When are you going to ask her?" Vilandra, though not as strong an empath as either her brother or L'arala, could still read him quite clearly.

"I'm sending word to her father today. Khivar is leaving for B'ril with my request." A wide smile broke over his face. "You and Alior have been working on the Senate reports for quite a while. I know Mother wanted you and Rath promised, but he's not exactly the marrying kind. Alior wouldn't mind a connection to Antar and Larek would definitely approve the match. And it would get Khivar to stop sniffing you."

"Zan!" Vilandra felt a blush come over her cheeks as well. "Khivar's not 'sniffing' me. He's just been checking our progress on the year-end Senate reports. As the Senate Speaker, it directly concerns him. And you'd better check with Rath before volunteering me to someone else."

"I think I know my Prime quite well. Promise ceremonies and joinings are the furthest thing from his mind right now."

"What makes you thinks Alior's interested in the royal family. Plus, isn't he promised to M'lin?" Vilandra was now effectively fishing for information.

"No, they didn't make it through the ceremony. I think Alior's sense of humor got to M'lin. According to L'arala, she almost strangled him with the binding cloth." Zan gave a rare laugh. "Alior's been telling everyone that it was just a joke to get M'lin's picture on the vids, that he and M'lin are almost brother and sister, but certainly not promised. I think they are much better suited to be friends than lovers." The chosen King of Antar directed an evil glance at his sister. "But you should see a mystic, maybe you two are destined."

"The only two destined here are you and L'arala." Vilandra attempted to change the subject when she heard the door slide open. When she saw Alior step carefully into the room, she called out. "Alior, Zan tells me that you and M'lin did some great joke with a binding cloth. Tell me all about it."

To her great satisfaction, Alior tripped over a nonexistent plant. Vilandra smiled and came to "help" him up, letting him then take her arm. "Apparently my brother can't quite keep a secret."

"If he weren't the King." Alior grumbled good-naturedly. "I knew you'd find out, but M'lin is... a bit emotional. Musics are all like that."

"Mm-hmm, and I'm sure you played no role in her aggravation whatsoever, right? Because the Prime of Larek has never been known to annoy anyone."

"Nope, I did nothing. Don't know what you're talking about." They reached the table. "Let's see L'arala and Zan's plants."

***

Isabel's eyes opened when Alex let go of her hand.

"Alior?" it took a few minutes for Vilandra to fade into a sort of memory of dreams. "Alex?"

"What happened?"

"A little bit of exposition. Now you have an idea of who we were. We don't have time for more. Michael and Maria are here for you." At that, Alex disappeared and the door opened.

"Hey, Isabel, we're checking out the Granolith and getting a history lesson." Michael waited to make sure Isabel was following and headed to the Granolith.

Part 5a

Isabel had her hand at the control, eager for more of what Alex had told her. She had recognized not only Max and Michael's earlier incarnations, but also Maria, Liz, and Alex- M'Lin, L'arala, and Alior. Tess hadn't seemed to be present at all in Zan's life.

"Everybody ready?" Isabel looked to each of them. They raised their hands to the column and she pressed the seal.

"Ow! It pricked me!" Michael shook his offended hand, but it pulled only sluggishly from the surface. "My hand's frickin' stuck!"

"Greetings to the royal highnesses of Antar." A face appeared in the Granolith, no nose and no definition to it. Just gentle slopes of pale skin and empty blue eyes. It's mouth opened and moved, but not in accordance to the words they heard, as though it was being dubbed. "I humbly beg forgiveness for the pain you have had to endure. It was necessary to inject you with translator microbes in order for you to communicate with your loyal subjects as well as to maneuver this ship. They are a harmless symbiote which feed on the bioenergy your minds produce and in turn allow you to understand all known languages."

"Very Farscape," Michael said under his breath.

"My name is Arshana of the line of d'Linth, planet of Antar. I am here to instruct you in the history of your line and your people. Long ago, we discovered that it was virtually impossible to successfully implement a direct democracy among a planet so large as ourselves. We had billions of people on our planet and more in the outer territories. After the War of the Third Empire, in which millions of lives were lost, the mystics of Antar chose to select a ruling royal house, the members of which would enforce the laws and work in conjunction Senators elected from each of Antar's territories." a stream of video images flowed as the voice continued calmly, showing the familiar star system, then a red-purple world with a number of carved continents, presumable Antar. "The king or queen would be represented in the Senate and other functional capacities by the Prime, the second-in-command. King Zan, your Prime was Rath, whom your mother had intended to wed Vilandra. In the twentieth year of your reign, you chose to take a wife, the lovely Ava, the crown Princess of B'ril, one of our allies in the system." As he said each name, an image appeared. Isabel recognized Zan from her vision. Rath's brown eyes, shock of yellow hair tied back tightly, and a series of complex tattoos on his thick arms distinguished him from the King. Her own image was similar to Zan's, hair of a similar black and purple tone, her figure not as markedly feminine as her current state, but enough to tell the group that Antarian's had some surface similarities to humans. But what shocked Isabel was how much like L'arala Ava looked. They were both small, with long, dark hair and a shyness in their look. Ava's eyes separated her, though. Where L'arala's had been a rich brown, Ava's eyes were a cerulean shade. The images disappeared and Arshana's image again took center stage.

"However, the traitor Khivar, who had served as the Senate Speaker until his treachery, spread lies and dissent among the young ones and among the other planets in our alliance. He turned a skirmish with B'ril into a rallying cry against your reign. Though Queen Ava valiantly tried to quell the violence, Rath had already been slaughtered and the course of hostilities was beyond her control. Khivar interrupted the marriage ceremony that was meant to heal the rift between the worlds and killed the King and Queen. Vilandra, a spy for the court, was then executed and the followers who tried to retrieve her body were slaughtered. Ever since that day, Antar has lived under the shadow of Khivar's violence. Khivar seeks power, not peace, for Antar and under his rule, chaos has descended upon our once peaceful planetary system. The rulers of the other four planets and the underground movement who know of your imminent return know that only King Zan has the legitimacy to take back the rule of Antar, to overthrow Khivar and his traitorous supporters. We have many plans-"

The storyteller voice was cut off by a high-pitched beep from the control panel.

"What is that sound?" Maria's hands flew up to cover her ears. Kyle and Tess appeared in the door to their room. Tess looked a little steadier, but barely. Nonetheless, she headed for the control panel.

"It's a hail, do you want to hear?" Tess looked to Max.

"If it'll stop the frickin' beeping, I say just answer it." Michael looked pointedly at Max.

"Okay, but can we get away if it's not someone we want to play with?"

"I know how to do one strong jump." her hand hovered over one of the buttons.

"Let's see who's knocking."

Part 5b

A face appeared at the base of the column, facing Max. Isabel recognized the type of facial structure from the vision Alex had given her: smooth, eyes without whites, and short cap of blue hair.

"I am Natir, prime of Larek, planet of Grenor. I believe you remember Larek?" the being said impatiently.

"Yes, we do." Max answered for the group.

"Then, in his name, I've come to retrieve you. Nicholas alerted Khivar when your ship left Earth's atmosphere. Our intelligence tells us that he launched ships not long after we did. If they find you, they will destroy the ship and retrieve the Granolith. You must come with us, immediately."

"Uh, give us a minute to collect ourselves. Tess, can you cut it?" she nodded and the being disappeared from the column. "Tess, where were we headed originally?"

"Shiloth, the leader is Hanar and it was Nascedo's home planet. Grenor isn't far away, I think, but I don't really know. I've always sucked at geography and my cosmology isn't much better. Larek *is* an ally, though"

"Anyone have any thoughts, I'm in favor of some democracy with this decision. All of our lives are at stake." Max looked at the faces that were just as unsure as his. "Oka-ay. Maybe we should ask for proof that he's really Larek's Prime?" Michael nodded and tilted his head to Tess.

Suddenly, the entire ship jolted. All but the sitting Tess tumbled to the floor. Max got to his knees just as another shot rang through the ship. Wisps of smoke began to rise from the controls.

"Must be our welcoming party from Khivar," said Michael as he tried to get to his feet.

"I guess we should go with the lesser of two evils here," Max leaned over the panel and reactivated the communications. "Okay, we believe you. Bring us onboard."

There was no answer as the ship rocked again, with greater intensity. A boom echoed through the ship, the material of the floor bent inward.

"Michael!" Maria screamed as she pitched forward. She landed on the floor with an ominous thud of her blond head. The curls covered her unmoving face.

"Shit, Maxwell- get Nate to let us on and get over here!" Michael scooped Maria up. The other boy obeyed, placing his hands on Maria's head.

"I think it's just a skull fracture." Max turned to Liz. He closed his eyes and tried to sink into the deep meditative state that brought the healing energy. Maria's unconscious body lay limp in his hands still. Max thought of all the little moments he'd had with her- Michael attaching a bumper to the Jetta, nursing wounds over sundaes at the Crashdown, but no connection would form. He opened his eyes, to try to jostle her awake, when he felt Michael's hand clamp onto his shoulder, then saw him lay it on Maria's forehead. A rush of flashes overtook Max. Sneaker with red shoelaces, a shadowy image of a man handing Maria a Clash T-shirt while tears ran down her face, Michael standing outside her window in the rain, dinner at a long table, Scooby plates, a fairly uncomfortable image of Michael wearing very little. He had the connection and focused on knitting together the bones and making Maria wake. Tess's voice came from the faraway place that was the still-lurching ship.

"Max, I think we're being towed, but I don't know toward which one. This ship wasn't meant to resist this kind of attack and almost all of the controls are down." Tess looked worried. The shaking suddenly stopped. "That must be it. Whichever one got us, we're onboard."

Part 6

"Your highnesses," the door slid open to reveal a being that looked much like Natir. It may even have been him. For the first time in her life, Liz almost felt tall. The alien was a solid three inches shorter than her.

"Natir?" Max stepped forward.

"No, but I will bring you to him. He is on the bridge in battle with Khivar's ship," the being turned to lead the group out of their ship and into a cavernous bay. Max grabbed Liz's hand while Kyle gathered a visibly weakened Tess in his quarterback arms. Michael and Isabel helped a groggy Maria along the passageways.

"Is it much further? We've got walking wounded here," Michael called ahead to their guide.

"No, your highness." Their escort did not elaborate and within a few seconds they had reached another entryway.

"Honorable Prime Natir, may I present Their Royal Highnesses Zan and Vilandra, and the First Prime Rath of Antar, Ava of B'ril, lately Antar. And their," the being paused. "Their human contingent-"

"Liz, Maria, and Kyle," Max indicated each of them.

"We did not have a chance to be properly introduced. As I said, I am Natir and I represent Larek." Natir bowed his head and held his long tapered fingers flat out, palms down. Max repeated the gesture.

"Thank you for your help," Max turned to Kyle, whose had begun shifting Tess's weight. "I hate to impose on you immediately but we need a place for Tess- Ava to rest. She's with child."

"I can see," Natir's face was imperceptible but his voice sounded faintly amused. "Loran, please show Ava and her guard to one of Larek's rooms. And please see if a Healer is available as soon as the battle triage is completed."

Loran, who had been manning one of the control panels behind Natir, stepped forward and further down the hall, leading Kyle and Tess out of sight. Natir turned back to the remaining five, who had moved closer together.

"We received only a little damage in the skirmish, but when his scout ship returns, Khivar may use our presence as a premise to attack our planet, Grenor. We must get close enough to relay a message and then get you someplace safe. You certainly cannot go to Antar. We must go elsewhere."

"Tess had planned to take us to Shiloth," Michael volunteered. "She said that they would help us there and would keep it from Khivar."

"Then you don't know." Natir looked away for a moment and drew breath. His opaque brown eyes met Max's gaze. "Khivar has taken the shapeshifters. Not only does he hold Antar, he has gained full control of Taurana and Shiloth, two of our five worlds, and executed the rulers, Sero and Hanar, just a few days ago. Grenor and B'ril are still independent, but Khivar will likely attack before the month is out. I had thought you knew and that was why you returned, to rally the people and take back the throne with the rightful ruler. It seems that Khivar's plan is to kill anyone who might have had even a weak claim to the throne. Only Larek and Kathana remain. And the entire line of mystics has virtually disappeared so that no new line can be confirmed. The royal house of Grenor still has one of their apprentices, but that is not enough for an entirely new line. You four have at least a more than tenuous claim to the throne of Antar. Not everyone will accept it, but enough to win. Khivar has made many enemies, including Grenor."

"We had no idea," Max squeezed Liz's hand, unconcerned about what Natir or any of his crew saw or thought about the gesture. "Tess's pregnancy was the reason we left. The baby can't live on Earth and she wants to carry it to term."

"That cannot be. A child of two hybrids should be able to live on either Earth or one of our worlds. The design was Larek's own and virtually without flaw," Natir sounded generally confused and slightly offended.

"Well," Max hesitated, deciding whether to correct the man or not. If what Tess said were true, he would be forfeiting the lives of Tess, Kyle, and their baby. "Maybe the atmosphere changed or something. I'm sure the design is fine, but Tess says that the baby is dying and that we had to go to a home world now."

One of the devices on Natir's uniform, a gold pin in the shape of the whirlwind galaxy, beeped suddenly and Natir turned from them.

"One moment, please." The five shifted uncomfortably. The dozen or so Grenorian crewmembers on the bridge had been giving them veiled stares. Max knew they were technically royalty but the attention and deference they were getting was uncomfortable for all of them. When Natir turned back to them, though, the focus was back to the current crisis.

"The Healer has seen Ava and wishes to speak with you. I believe she has questions about the nature of the pregnancy and about human gestation. I will show you to the suite." Natir led them from the bridge. "And once that is complete, I'm sure Larek would like to see you."

"Tess can answer anything you need to know about the pregnancy, but Liz should be able to answer the scientific questions." Max stepped to the side and Liz stood before Natir. She tried to repeat the gesture of greeting. Natir gave a close equivalent of the human smile and gripped her hands. His smile turned into one of shock.

"You are not a human!" At that moment the entire bridge crew turned to the Earthly delegation with their hands raised, pointed directly at Liz.