Elizabeth Parker stared out of her small apartment near the campus of Harvard and sighed. After six years she still missed him terribly. Max, Isabel, Michael and Tess had left just after their junior year in Roswell High; back to Antar to defeat Kivar and end the bloody civil war that had gone on for over 50 years. Liz understood the need; and agreed with their going; she just wished she could have gone as well. But the Granolith could only transport the four of them; its years on Earth had drained its power. Only on Antar near the sun that it had been created to draw from could it reach its full power. And that would take years just to recharge once it got home. So even if Max and the others had wanted to come home, it was not sure how long it would take to reach the necessary power level; and that only if it was not needed in the war- not that that was likely. And fast ships that could make the journey were few and far between; the expense of making them prohibitively high during war time. And since they were of little use in the war no one had built any in years. And most of those built before the war had been destroyed. So Liz knew that there was little likelihood of Max being able to return for many years; if ever. Even if he survived the war; even if he could come back. So Liz knew that she had to make a life for herself and had.
She had thrown herself into school work; had loaded herself down with summer school courses and a maximum load for the next fall term. She had been able to graduate early, in December, and then attend Harvard in January. Her scholarship and admittance had come just a week after they had left. That had been a lifeline for her; it had motivated her and given her a goal. Working with a single-minded purpose that had even stunned Alex and Maria, she had worked right through the summer breaks and with a heavy load each term; in 3 years she had gotten her Bachelor of Microbiology degree, and had been Magna Cum Laude. Her admittance into the graduate program had been a mere formality; she had been sponsored by the Head of the Harvard Microbiological department. Her Masters took only one year; and now she was near completion of her Doctorate Thesis on genetic patterns. Her professor had told her that it would be a very important paper; of course she could not tell him that the ideas and initial thoughts had been helped along by her conversations with the Granolith. It had not really told her all that much; but what it had told her had given her some ideas that were now in her paper. It would indeed provoke a lot of discussion and future research; her professor had already told her that he was getting a grant prepared so that she could move right into research on it. This was very unusual for someone so young and Liz was indeed very proud and flattered. But it still did not make up for her losses. At least her powers had settled down; she could blast and astral project; and once while bored had found out she could also shield herself; sometimes walking home in the rain late at night she had kept herself dry. But she had to take care when she was agitated greatly or very angry; green energy would start to sparkle around her.
Alex had gotten a scholarship to MIT, no surprise there. He had graduated and was also working on his Doctorate, just not as fast as Liz had. Maria had surprised most people by acing her SAT's and had gotten a scholarship to Brown of all places; she was still amazed at that. Liz had told her that it was just a case of her caring enough to work hard enough. She had decided to take her time in her Music Appreciation Degree and would graduate this year. She had plans to teach; once again surprising just about everyone; no one would have thought she would have the patience. Kyle to no one's surprise except him self's had gone to New Mexico State for a degree in Criminology; and was about to start as a deputy in his fathers department in Roswell. They had had a quiet get together in Roswell only a few months ago; it had not surprised Liz at all to see that they had not been able to move on either. Kyle still pinned for Tess, and Maria for Michael; and Alex for Isabel. Maria had been angry about it. "What is it about that Spaceboy that I cannot move on? Its not like he was in any way the ideal boyfriend!" Liz had smiled at that. "Does not matter, Maria. Love is love, no matter who it lands on, ideal or not."
King Zan, known to his friends as Max Evans, stared out of the royal suite in the Palace of Antaris, capital of Antar, and sighed. After six years of war and rebuilding, busy as he was, he still missed Liz. As he knew the others missed their mates. And that was what they were; once on Antar it had been explained that all four of them had mated with their earth counterparts; for Antarians, even hybrids like they were, they mated for life. It had taken them over 2 years to defeat Kivar; and the final battle had taken place right in this palace; Max dueling with Kivar while the others protected him. He had killed Kivar and ended the war; but that in some ways had been the easy part. The war had devastated Antar and drained all the other planets of the Pegasus system of their resources. It had been a slow and hard process rebuilding in these last four years; and it was not even close to being done. Trade was only just now picking up; there were only a few ships capable of interstellar travel; and they were very busy. The intersystem ships were slowly being built to help mine the asteroid belt; which was where the only real materials left in the system laid. The Granolith with all its knowledge had been a great help; but it had taken it some time to recharge after the war. It was only now capable of transporting people as far as Earth; over 10,000 light years away. Only a couple of ships existed that could travel that distance at any speed; and they were needed elsewhere. Max was determined to go back to Earth and see Liz; he wanted to bring her back and make her his queen. Yet he had to face the possibility that she had met someone else; or that she would not want to come here. It was doubtful that humans would be bound the same way as they had been. Five years was a long time. And he would have to wait a while longer until the Granolith was charged even more for him to make it a two way trip. And Michael and the others had made it clear they were coming as well.
Liz frowned at the paper in front of her; it should not have been this easy. Her thesis had been accepted quickly; her research grant almost as fast. But for results to come this quickly startled her. Usually years went by; for her only 6 months into the research; only a year after her doctorate. But there it was. Time to talk to her research head; head of all Microbiological Research at Harvard; her professor, David Weller.
Professor David Weller had seen much in his 60 years; but Elizabeth Parker was very unique even to an institution used to great achievements. Bachelor in 3 years; Master in 4; Doctorate in 5. That had been done, if not very often. Magna Cum Laude; not so often. A thesis that virtually rocked the Genetic World; unique. Her insights had been blinding; in some cases it should have been obvious and many experts were still banging their heads against walls for missing it. Now he waited for her to bring the first results of her research; and he had a hunch it would rock their world as well.
Liz chewed her lip as Professor Weller read her results; then read them again. He looked up at her. "I prepared myself for big news knowing you; but this is astonishing. So quickly done as well."
"I know. I rechecked the results 5 times; I could hardly believe it myself."
"You know this is Nobel Prize Worthy; without a doubt. The committee will probably not take a week to realize it. I will prepare the presentation immediately; the deadline is next month."
Liz's eyes grew wide. "Nobel Prize!" she squeaked.
"Come on Liz, You know it is. You have shown a very quick and simple route to genetic manipulation that comes from out of the blue. This will revolutionize medicine; we can go right in and correct genetic defects in anyone; baby, child or adult. Or go into the womb before birth. This might be the biological equivalent of Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Or Newtons great revelations' on Gravity. You could very well end up in a hundred years being mentioned with them."
Liz blushed. "I think that might be exaggerating some."
Weller sat back and looked at his prize student. "Not really Liz. I think you need to step back and think about this. Your life is about to change drastically. Here you are only just 24 and you will have changed the world. "
The Presentation had gone in the next month and word came quickly back that it was indeed a shoe in for the Nobel Prize. The Head of the Committee called Professor Weller.
"This is a remarkable accomplishment for someone so young. Just breathtaking. I am not letting out anything you did not know; the Prize is a foregone conclusion. This will have immense impact on our world; your young Lady is about to be compared to Madame Curie; and with all due respect to that great woman, this paper alone will almost undoubtedly dwarf her lifetime achievements. "
Professor Weller sat the phone down and thought hard. He was in no way surprised by any of this; unlike Liz who still was skeptical about the impact her research would have. He had already spoken to several other Genetic specialists and they had all agreed this was landmark research that easily equaled the best of Einstein and other immortal scientists. Elizabeth Parker was about to become a very famous woman. Considering her age and beauty, a superstar was in the making in the scientific world.
Liz slowly walked back to her apartment; she had been very lucky to find one within walking distance of the Campus. Her mind whirled at what the Professor had told her; she was finally beginning to realize that her life was about to change drastically. She would be famous and renowned; and all that came with it including her loss of privacy. She was not vain; but she knew she was pretty and that since scientists had this reputation of being geeks with receding hairlines and glasses; or as plain as a blackboard; she would get even more attention because she was young and attractive. Undoubtedly there would be those that would want to get to know her and bask in her fame; one of the pitfalls that she would have to avoid. Not that she had any interest in anyone; Max was still the love of her life.
Max sighed; but he had to agree with Isabel. It was best to send someone back, not one of them, to poke around quietly and see if there was even any point to any of them going back to earth. And Rancor was a good choice; he had been with them from the first day they had come back and they all trusted him totally; and he had learned how to act as a human from watching them for these last 7 years. With eye implants to mask the major visual difference between humans and antarians (large dark pupils), he would be able to blend in easily. And Max knew he had to stay there with what had come up.
Everyone had been worried about the after effects of the war; so much damage to the environment; pollution, and the energies released by weapons and Antarians themselves on such a massive scale. But now it was becoming clear that it was worse than they had thought; genetic damage was increasing; and not many children were being born. This had to be stopped and corrected; unfortunately research and medical technology had been stagnated by the war; only combat medicine had progressed and that was not much help here. The Granolith had described how he and the other Hybrids had been put together but only on a general level (it had told Max that Liz had asked about that very thing); the details had been lost in the destruction caused by Kivar when he had found out what had been done. It would take years of research, and sadly there were no real genetic experts around anymore. Max was certain that Earth probably knew more about it now; and he had used that as an excuse to authorize the sending of Rancor; he would have as his primary mission finding out genetic information; and also finding the mates of the Royal Four. Max had hoped that Liz had been able to attend Harvard as she had hoped; and just maybe she would about have her doctorate by now; they badly needed Microbiologists on Antar; and if she had indeed specialized in genetics it was even more important. He just hoped that he could convince her to come.
Liz was staying with Maria; she had had to move out of her apartment; once the announcement of the Nobel Prize had come out and it had become clear just how great a breakthrough she had caused; she was unable to move about in public. Already research departments were working on her ideas; she had been offered numerous positions around the world. She had been on TV several times; and had her own fan club now. Maria had found that greatly amusing ; indeed the whole thing had given Maria a great deal of pleasure.
"Come on Chica, there is no way you should be surprised by any of this; none of us are. We always knew that big brain of yours would have an impact. Though I admit I never thought it would be this big. You are famous, girl. And that fan club is a hoot!"
"Yeah, a real hoot. Maybe for you. Not for me. This is embarrassing Maria; especially since I am not really the one who thought of all of this; the Granolith gave me the idea."
"Horse crap."
"What?"
"I said Horse crap. The Granolith only gave you the idea; you did all the rest yourself. And haven't you said that a lot of it was just logical and someone would have thought of it sooner or later; and did you NOT just say that you probably would have come up with it anyway without the Granolith; since some of that Idea you had already had? No Chica you do deserve all of this and I will not let you think otherwise."
Rancor read the article from the NY Times once again. Then looked at the Picture of Dr Parker again. There was no doubt that she was indeed the King's bondmate. He had quietly arrived in Albuquerque, NM that very day in order to start looking for information. His primary mission was helping with Antar's genetic problem; but he was very determined also to help the Royal Four get their bondmates back; after all they had done for Antar it was the least he could do. This was very good news; the article mentioned that Dr Parker was still single and had no one in her life; Rancor was absolutely certain that was because she was indeed bonded to the King. Her healing by him had changed her and bonded her to him; Rancor had no doubt at all. Her breakthrough research was exactly what Antar needed; she may indeed be the difference in their survival. He had to see her right away; but that would be difficult since the article said she had moved and was in an undisclosed location. But he had found Kyle Valenti; new deputy in Roswell's Sheriff department. And of course Sheriff Valenti was also one of the contacts that the King had told him to see; complete with the code word agreed on years ago. He would start there.
As it happened, Sheriff Valenti was reading the same article. None of this surprised him; he was very aware of how smart Liz Parker was. He was very proud of the young woman who had already accomplished so much; he was proud of all of them. He looked up as his secretary buzzed him.
"What is it Sam?"
"There is a Mr Rancor here; he would like to speak to you. He says he is from Antar, Incorporated and that you would know about this."
Jim Valenti's mouth dropped open. That was the code word agreed on with Max Evans that would indicate that someone wanted to speak to him about the Aliens.
"Send him right in and hold all calls for now, Sam."
Jim Valenti had quickly taken the young alien out of the office and out into the countryside to make sure that no one could possibly overhear. The FBI special unit had been disbanded and discredited; but he was under no illusions that the military had forgotten. He knew that they still kept a look out.
Rancor had quickly explained what was going on. Valenti had given him the information on the others; and he had told Rancor that he was pretty certain the bonding was both ways for all of them; not one of them had had any kind of a relationship since the royal four had left. He had Liz's private cell phone number and would call her that night.
Liz looked at her cellphone and saw that it was Sheriff Valenti; worried that something was wrong she quickly went into her bedroom at Maria's and answered the call.
"Sheriff? Is something wrong?"
"No Liz something is very right. I have someone here from Antar Incorporated that would like to talk to you."
Liz almost dropped the phone. The Code Word agreed on by Max!
"When and where?"
"He will be in Boston tomorrow; he has your number and will contact you as soon as he gets in. The news is very good Liz. His name is Mr Rancor and he knows them quite well."
Liz knew the sheriff was being very cautious and she agreed; no details that might set someone off.
"I will be waiting for his call. And thanks once again Sheriff."
"More than welcome Liz."
To say that Liz was agitated was an understatement; she had to work hard to keep control of her powers. Maria had been told when they went out to eat; in a secluded area of the campus late at night so that no one could overhear. Maria had been over the moon; she had told Liz that she would contact Alex and let him know. It was a foregone conclusion that they would all go to Antar. But for Liz it would have to be arranged carefully; as famous as she was to just disappear would cause way too many questions to be asked. They would have to find a way.
Rancor found it hard to stay calm himself; he was meeting his future Queen and very likely someone that would have a major impact on his world outside of that. He had a device with him that should ensure that no one could overhear them; his quick phone call to Dr Parker after his plane had landed at Logan Airport had directed him to take a cab to Cambridge, just outside of Boston. She would meet him at a quiet location; he had memorized her directions.
Liz saw the tall young man walking towards her; he looked just like everyone else. She wondered if he had been changed at all to blend in.
Rancor was not prepared at how small the young earth woman was; very tiny. Yet quite lovely; and she seemed to glow. As an Antaran, he could sense others and he could sense her; she had been truly changed by the Kings healing.
Liz led him into the Microbiology Department into her office (since everything that had gone down they had made sure hers was on the top floor and very secure). Rancor held up the small device and she nodded at him to turn it on.
Rancor took a deep breath. "Dr Parker, I am here on behalf of the King of Antar. He very much desires you to come to Antar. Not only personally, but professionally. We have great need of genetic expertise. The damage done by the war has seeped into Antarians, and only genetic change will save us."
Liz blinked. "Antar does not have the knowledge? What happened to it?"
"Lost in the war. Kivar found the site used and killed everyone there; and destroyed all the technical knowledge. There has been virtually no research because of the war; frankly earth is now ahead of Antar in genetic research. And your breakthrough is exactly what we need."
"This will have to be done carefully. I am too well known to just disappear; too many questions would be asked and who knows what would come out."
Rancor let the breath he was holding slowly go out. She had already decided to come; and he had a hunch all the others would too. But she was right about how they had to be careful how she came; it would be a problem.
Liz got Maria and the three of them met Alex at his apartment; he was just as happy as they were to know that their loves were waiting for them. He also agreed that Liz leaving would be a problem if not carefully handled.
Maria was blunt. "Car accident. We can stage it in Roswell and Liz dies. That takes care of it. It seems pretty clear that we will not be coming back except maybe to visit; so that can be handled quietly. We can tell Liz's parents; Max's will have to know. Actually we need to tell all our parents."
Liz mulled it over. Seemed somewhat drastic but it would take care of things. She knew that her life was with Max; and visits as Maria said could be handled.
It had been a stressful few weeks. Telling her parents (and having first Rancor and herself demonstrate powers-and having to wake Nancy up after her faint) had not been a walk in the park. But Amy Deluca had been the topper; she had gone nuts when Liz and Maria had come to see her and brief her in. Liz had had to restrain her (a power she had only recently found out when having some fun with Maria) and that had just about zoned her out. She thought at first it was drugs then that they were crazy. She ended up crying in Maria's arms. The Evans had been relatively easy; they had suspected something was different about Max and Isabel for a long time. They were just glad to hear from their children. The Whitmans were very laid back and the easiest of all; when Liz had had Rancor change some furniture into Wooden Indians they had just blinked and sighed.
Jim Valenti prided himself on being a very honest cop; so this was against the grain though he understood the need. He was about to stage a fake car accident that would not kill Liz Parker (this had been thrashed out) but put her in a coma and therefore leave possibilities for the future.
Professor David Weller looked at the shrouded figure in the hospital bed and sighed. This was just so wrong; Liz Parker in a coma that she might never wake up from. All due to an idiotic drunken driver in her hometown. He slowly walked down the hall; he would make his report to Harvard the next day that Dr Elizabeth Parker would probably never return. The loss to the scientific world was terrible; who knew what she might have discovered?
This had worked out well, thought Liz. By doing it this way they were also able to free Alex and Maria from their lives to supposedly help take care of Liz. Jeff and Nancy had been considering selling the Crashdown anyway; so they did and would also move off to an undisclosed location to look after their comatose daughter.
Max and the others were waiting nervously next to the Granolith; Liz and the others would be coming quite soon. He had gotten all the details from Rancor; the fact that Liz had accomplished so much was not a surprise; but it was so fortunate that she had specialized in the very area that Antar so badly needed. He just hoped the pressure would not be too great for her.
Traveling by Granolith was very strange; it felt like dreaming and yet not; like you were being pulled apart and put together at the same time. Liz and the others appeared next to the Granolith; staggered and barely stayed on their feet. Blinking they looked around. Just in time to be gabbed into massive hugs by their lovers.
Max held Liz and felt his life was complete; she was here in his arms and he would never let her go. Liz snuggled against him and sighed; this is what she had been missing for more than seven years. She looked up at him and they kissed for the first time since he left; it curled her toes just like that last time.
The others were similarly entwined; there was nothing but silence as they all embraced.
Liz sat next to Max in the main council room of the Palace; as much as he wanted to keep her himself the need for her knowledge and expertise was immense.
"So let me get this straight; there is very little genetic knowledge and no genetic scientists at this time due to the war; and massive genetic damage to many Antarians that have caused birth rates to crater? "
Max sighed. "That is pretty much it Liz. Its pretty bad and we did not know how bad until the last couple of years. All the knowledge that led to us hybrids was lost because of Kivar and there has been virtually no opportunity or funding for research since then. Its pretty bad Liz; so much of what was known was lost in many areas; we will need to send back to earth for basic information so that we can progress. You are the only Genetic Scientist in the whole system; there was never much interest in that on the other planets and frankly they were only colonies of Antar; all the schools and real learning was on Antar. Some of that has been replicated elsewhere but nothing that will help us in this area."
Liz shook her head. Well enough of that- time to get started.
"I have a list of what we will need to start; hopefully some of it is available here; otherwise another trip to Earth is needed to get it. Luckily my research was exactly in the area needed; with any luck we should be able to have clinical trials in one year; at least here we do not have to clear everything with the FDA; and all that paperwork."
Max shifted uncomfortably. "Liz, we already have volunteers who will do anything to have children or be healed or to heal their family members. They know the risks; they want to take action now."
Liz contemplated that. "OK, but we will still tread carefully; no one has done any of this yet and mistakes will be made; there is no way to avoid them."
"What is first?"
"Is there a complete genetic blueprint of Antarians? I need to compare that to humans in order to figure out what to do and just as important what not to do."
"That is about the only thing we do have; enough copies of that were out that some were saved."
"Then that is where I will start."
Liz had been stubborn; she would not start experimenting on people until she was sure she would not harm them; and it had taken almost 6 months for her to reach that stage. Even then she felt the pressure and was worried she was moving too fast.
Some things had happened a lot sooner; her marriage to Max and coronation as Queen had come about in the first month; the rest of them had married as well. Tess was already pregnant; and Isabel thought she might be. Maria and Michael had decided to wait on children; no surprise there.
Liz got back from the baby shower they had done for Tess; Isabel was definitely pregnant. Liz had been feeling a little under the weather in the last few days and then it had occurred to her; she had some pregnancy tests left over and decided to use one.
Max found Liz in the huge bathroom of the Royal Suite in the Palace; she was sitting on the toilet staring at something in her hand. She looked up at him as he came in.
"Liz, are you ok."
"Fine."
"What is that in your hand?"
"Pregnancy test."
"Whaaaaaaaa…."
"Congratulations, Max, the first prince or princess is on the way."
The News of Liz's pregnancy buoyed up the Antarians; then even bigger news was the beginning of the trials of the genetic repair efforts. At the same time Liz was teaching genetics to a class that would soon be teaching all over Antar. Max was worried she was doing too much; Liz assured him that she wasn't. He still worried.
3 months into the trials and the first results were encouraging. Liz had wanted to start small with relatively simple work. She was determined to wait at least 3 months after the first trials to watch for side effects and to make sure the genetic changes took. So far so good.
Liz looked at the results for the third time; she wanted to absolutely sure. There appeared to be no problems; she asked the Granolith to triple check and it came back clear as well. She took a deep breath and hit the intercom to contact Max.
"Max, the results look good. I will be starting stage two this coming week. This will be a step harder then the first ones; if these work out well then the next stage will be repairing the genetic damage that prevents many Antarians from having children."
"That is great news Liz. I will tell the PR people to make a simple announcement. Not that that is going to slow anything down but its all we can do."
The news that the first trials had gone well made a lot of people happy; but many were still impatient. Liz herself had put out a paper that described in detail what was being tried and that it had not really been done anywhere else. This was a step into the dark, and no one could tell how it would end.
Liz's pregnancy had gone along fairly quietly; the usual cravings and hormonal bouts notwithstanding. Now in her 6th month she was getting bigger all the time but still glowing in good health. She was a little short with Max who tended to hover; every now and then she would zap him when he got too suffocating.
Maria had put off having children for a while and was enjoying the pregnancies of Tess, Isabel and Liz immensely. Needless to say the enjoyment on the other side was somewhat lacking.
"Maria if those jokes keep coming they will never find your body. Is that clear?"
Isabel was distinctly not amused.
"Come on Izzy, its not that bad."
"Yes it is and DO NOT call me Izzy."
Liz was relieved when it became clear that Step 2 was working. She decided to delay Step 3 until after the baby was born. Test had shown that she was carrying a boy; already preparations were being made for the birth of the Heir to the Antarian Throne. Liz understood why so many were putting such importance on the event; but that did not mean she liked it. This was for her family and friends; not a whole world.
The last week had been pretty tough; Max was almost scared to even talk to Liz; she was hypersensitive about everything at the moment. He really wanted the baby to come so that he could get his Liz back. Then he sees Liz walk into the bedroom and look at him. He tenses up ready to apologize even if he did not know what he had done if anything.
"Time to go Max. My water just broke."
"whaaaaaa…. I thought you would have contractions first. What happened?"
"I have been having contractions on and off all day; in the last few hours they started to get more consistent and harder. I just did not want you to panic any more then you were going to anyway. It's a good thing the birthing center for Royals is right here at the palace because there is no way I would trust you to drive us to a hospital."
A stunned Max silently takes her arm and slowly walks her to the birthing center in the other part of the palace. She has to stop once on the way as another contraction hits. His hand really hurts after that.
IT takes only a few minutes to get Liz situated and ready for delivery; the doctor (who had spent a lot of time talking to the Granolith about humans) tells him it should only take a few more hours. In the meantime he has to sit next to his beloved while she suffers pain and discomfort and all he can do is wipe her brow and hold her hand (which hurts more and more as time goes by).
It actually takes only 3 hours but it seems like a lifetime for Max; Liz groans and moans but does not yell and threaten him with immediate castration as Tess and Isabel had to their respective husbands. He supposes that was an improvement but his broken hand still takes him a while to heal.
He stares at the squalling baby boy and has no words; when the nurse places his son in his arms he can only just hold him and marvel. Then he gives the baby gently to Liz who holds him tenderly and coos; then she carefully nurses him. This sight is a further wonder to Max who just marvels at his love.
Prince Phillip Jeffrey Evans; Prince Phillip to the People of Antar; the birth announcement goes out that night. All of Antar celebrates.
Sheriff Valenti walks into the small diner in Las Cruces early that morning and motions to Jeff that he wants to talk to him. Jeff takes him upstairs and finds Nancy waiting for them; the sheriff had told them he had to talk to them in a phone call only a few hours ago. This is where they had moved after they left Roswell; they did not want to be too far away since Sheriff Valenti had the only means of communicating with Antar.
"Congratulations Jeff and Nancy; you are grandparents. Liz delivered a healthy baby boy last night. The Granolith signaled me through that transmitter they left. In a couple of days it will deliver pictures. Prince Phillip Jeffrey Evans weighed in at 7 lbs, 14 ozs and is perfectly healthy."
Jeff was stunned and Nancy was crying; of course they knew it was coming but still. Of course this was nowhere near the shock they got when Liz had told them the whole story and that she would be leaving Earth to live on antar as their Queen. Then came the 'accident' and Liz supposedly being in a coma and being sent somewhere else; their selling the Crashdown and also supposedly going there as well. They had decided to stick with what they knew; but of course this diner did not have an alien theme. Still it was science fiction; but mostly comic book stuff.
Diane and Phillip Evans have already been told; Phillip Evans has retired from his law practice but they still live in Roswell. One thing the parents have all agreed on was that when it was possible they were going to visit Antar. There were several ships building that would be able to make the trip in Months; when one was available they would all go.
Liz waits a full month after the baby is born before she starts Step 3. This is the big one; this will try and repair the damage that prevents antarians from having children; reversal of sterility is not an easy one; especially repairing damaged eggs. This is also the step that will take the longest to prove out; almost 6 months before the first test subjects can try and have children; then a further 10 months after conception before birth. Liz was amazed that the extra weeks were the only real difference between antarian and human birth.
It had been exhausting and tedious work; first mapping all the genetic differences between humans and antarians; then identifying each different gene and what it did; then zeroing in on the damaged ones and how to repair them. Liz had decided on the easiest and simplest method of using retroviruses to insert the necessary changes. She had identified the antarian equivalent of the common cold to use the most innocuous of diseases. Then to change the virus just slightly to repair the genes. It had been decided to just do one gene at a time in order to cut down on the number of possible variables. Liz was VERY aware of the fact that she was trying to do things that really had not yet been done on Earth; while the actual knowledge was lacking here on Antar the equipment needed had been found carefully stored away in a hidden site; over 50 years old but still far in advance to anything on earth. Just that no one knew how to use it; the Granolith had only been able to give general instructions. Liz with the help of Alex had had to figure it all out.
Prince Phillip was almost a year old before Step 3 had been completed and the first ones were trying to get pregnant. Liz had sent them home and told them to just try and act normally like Antarians did when they wanted to have children (not a whole lot different than the way humans did it). Just come in once a week for a checkup.
Finally, a full two months later the first ones got pregnant; then in another 3 months all the test subjects had conceived. Once again all of Antar celebrated. Then it became a matter of doing it on a large scale; which was a lot more complicated. Liz was insistent on very high degrees of quality control.
In the midst of that process Liz found herself pregnant again; Phillip was just over a year and a half old. Both she and Max were hoping for a girl this time. Both Isabel and Tess had each gotten pregnant a second time; and now Maria was pregnant the first time; and both Isabel and Tess were doing payback on the jokes she had had with them in their first pregnancies.
"Not so funny when the shoe is on the other foot."
"I would be happy just to be able to get my shoes on with my feet swollen like they are. TESS that is NOT funny!"
Both Isabel and Tess were grinning at the huge wooden shoes Tess had just dropped on the table next to Maria.
"We think it is."
"Ha ha."
A really big event was in the offing as a ship had become available to bring the Parents to Antar. It would take them 2 months to get there; they intended to stay a couple of months and then go back. The Sheriff had finally decided to retire, since his marriage to Amy, who had also sold her alien theme shop. The Whitmans had just decided to retire as well; so all could afford to leave for six months.
As it turned out the parents arrived after all the new babies had; Maria's had been born –a bouncing baby boy- just a week earlier. Max and Liz had gotten their wish and had a lovely dark haired little girl. It had been funny but all 3 of them had had a different gender child the second time.
Nancy held her granddaughter and looked at her 2 year old grandson and sighed. They were just so precious! Outside of his outsize ears, Phillip was a carbon copy of Liz; Victoria Claudia Evans looked to be another copy of Liz; interesting that it appeared that her genes were dominant.
Liz had been a little surprised at that as well; and she had noticed that with Isabel and Tess their children took more after their fathers then their mothers; and now her children were taking more after her then Max; and while it was a little early to tell it appeared that James Arthur Guerrin was taking after Maria more then Michael. She had no explanation; but she was willing to bet it had something to do with how the hybrids DNA had been constructed; yet Phillip had already shown signs of having powers before his first birthday, which was somewhat unusual. The older children of both Tess and Isabel also showed early signs of powers; and since Alex had not been changed like she and Kyle had, that explanation did not hold water. Maybe somehow they had been put together so that the cosmetic side were more susceptible to earth genes; while the mental aspects from which powers came were more affected by antarian genes. An interesting question to ponder in the years ahead.