Disclaimer: Roswell, and it's characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. If I was lucky enough to own them, you just know the show would still be on the air, and you be watching that instead of reading this.

Rating: PG-13 to R for inappropriate language and some violence.

Author's Note: Richie and Hal are borrowed from Summer of '47. No copyright infringement intended.

The Enemy Unknown

Chapter Two – Discovery

July 4, 1947 - Roswell, New Mexico

The ship, instead of crashing into the ground in a fiery explosion, scrapped against the ground for several hundred feet before coming to rest, it's front end embedded in the ground. It was a testament to Wylaria's superior flying skills that they didn't end up in a giant fire ball."

Cladar unstrapped himself and leaned over to check the pilot's condition. He was alive, but barely. Groaning, he climbed out of his seat and dragged himself over to check the condition of the pods. All of them glowed from within, indicating that their precious cargo hadn't been disturbed.

From there Cladar moved to the back of the ship where Ticada and Nasd had been resting. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or not to see that they were both still breathing. Step by agonizing step, Cladar pulled himself to the front of the ship to release the door. He had to do his duty and see to the safety of the chambers before anything else happened.

He made his way carefully out of the ship and began to plot his position based upon the stars.

"Very impressive, Wylaria," he said to the empty night. "We are thousands of miles away from the area Ticada had chosen for the pods."

His keen sense of hearing picked up a droning noise, and he struggled to return to the ship before it was too late. A crashing in the underbrush told him he didn't have a chance of making it back to the ship. He threw himself onto the ground, and put his body into the hibernation mode they used for space travel. This would slow his heart rate and breathing so that both were virtually undetectable. With the technology on Earth, he felt safe that, were he discovered, he would be taken for dead.

Several hours past, before Cladar allowed himself to come out of the hibernation state. He opened his eyes slightly and looked around and found that he was no longer lying on the hard desert ground. A swift perusal of his environment caused his heart to sink. He was in the back of a truck, similar to the one they used to move the other pods, and lying next to him were the bodies of Wylaria, Nasd and Ticada.

Using his powers, he caused the engine of the vehicle to fail, and he felt it slow down gradually, before coming to a halt. He heard the muttered conversation from the front of the vehicle but he was unable to distinguish the words. A slam alerted him to the fact that someone had gotten out of the vehicle, and he lay quietly, waiting for the opportunity to free himself and his companions.

The opening on the back of the vehicle moved, and Cladar saw the face of a human, staring at him, his eyes reflecting a mixture of revulsion and awe.

"Richie! Richie, man you have to come see this!" the man shouted.

"Damn it, Hal, our orders were to transport these, not look at them!" shouted the other man. "This is a direct violation of orders. Now get back in the truck."

The cover of the truck flapped back into place, and Cladar felt his breath leave him with a whoosh. That man wasn't his enemy, he couldn't have killed him, even if he had the strength. He wasn't like Nasd and Ticada. He disliked violence, and indiscriminate killing. He felt the truck start back up, and start to move as he lost his grip on consciousness.

·

Cladar felt Wylaria's scream of pain in his mind as their scientists cut into his body. He felt his friend's life slip away bit by bit as they explored the interior of his body. Stretching his mind out further, Cladar felt Nasd and Ticada, still alive, but unaware of what was happening to Wylaria. He could feel the hate coursing through Nasd's mind. He was consumed with rage for the people that had captured him. From Ticada, he sensed arrogance. Ticada was sure they would escape, and if lucky, kill most of the humans that captured them in the process.

A sudden sharp pain ripped through Ticada, and Cladar felt it as he probed Ticada's mind. Then, there was a sensation of floating, of drifting away. Cladar pulled himself out of Ticada's thoughts, lest he be caught by the same drifting sensation. He knew he would need all his faculties if he were to escape, and rescue the pods.

Cladar vowed that he would honor his friend by ensuring that the pods were safely delivered to their final hiding place. A darkness filled his heart as he felt the life fade away from both Wylaria and Ticada. He pulled himself up and looked around, relieved to find out that he was in a room, along with the four pods that had been entrusted to their care.

He climbed off the table and slipped out of the room and quickly located the truck that had carried them to wherever they had been taken. He rushed back inside and made short work of moving the pods into the safety of the truck. Feelings of guilt sent him back into the building to try and locate Nasd. While inside, he came face to face with the man who had peered into the back of the truck earlier that day; the man called Hal.

Cladar looked into his eyes, and saw that the man was not an enemy. This human would not betray him.

"Hurry," said Hal. "They've killed two of your friends. The other one got away. I'm sorry, I didn't think they'd do that to them. You must get out of here before it's too late. Once they discover your friend got away, they'll come after you."

Cladar raised his hand and in a burst of light, altered his appearance so that he looked like the man that was with Hal.

"Holy shit," said Hal. "You look just like Richie."

"Will that get me off of this place?" Cladar asked. "My looking like this Richie person?"

"Yeah, Richie's everybody's golden boy. You can do anything if you look like him."

"Thank you Hal," said Cladar.

"Quick, get going," Hal whispered. "I hear someone coming."

Cladar wasted no time. He rushed out of the building and climbed into the truck and engaged the ignition. He managed to find his way off of the base, and drove deep into the desert. Using the stars to track his position, he located a large sandstone enclosure he felt was suitable to house the four pods. Using his powers, he created a door in the large rock and proceeded to blast out a chamber large enough to contain the pods.

Acting quickly, he brought them inside out of the hot desert sun. He used his powers to carve out another room, one he thought he would use as his own when he came to check on the pods. He went to check the pods to make sure they were safe, when he felt a burst of energy, and heard a rumbling noise in the other chamber.

He stepped into the chamber and stopped shocked by what he saw. In the room was the Antarian holy artifact. It was their Granolith. Cladar bowed before it and backed away in fear. This was a sign that he had to honor his oath to the royal family. Cladar knew his obligation was to make sure that these pods survived, but he also knew that his sense of self-preservation was stronger still.

"I will come back, and I will check on them," he swore. "But I will not let myself be captured again. I will live among these people as one of them. If I do not live, I cannot protect the pods." He thought about Nasd and the hateful feelings he felt when he probed Nasd's mind. He decided then and there to block all thoughts of Nasd from his mind and close of any portals so that Nasd was unable to probe his mind. "It is better to be alone," he thought, "Then ally myself with someone such as Nasd."

Cladar slipped out of the rocky cavern he had created and climbed into the truck and drove off into the desert. He had done what he could to prevent Nasd access to his mind, but he had not done it quick enough. Nasd had managed to steal another vehicle and follow Cladar through the desert.

Nasd entered the sandstone cavern, and looked at the four pods stacked neatly in a corner where they were sheltered from the entrance.

"Nicely done, Cladar," he said, his voice echoing in the chamber. "You are very loyal. Too bad it will someday get you killed."

Nasd moved over to the pods and began to pass his fingers over the individual pods, trying to assess the best way to destroy them. A burst of energy struck him from behind, throwing him across the room.

"Cladar?" he shouted, turning around, but there was nobody there. He cautiously made his way into the other chamber and stopped and stared in horrific fear.

"They sent their Granolith?" he whispered. "How? Why?"

Looking back into the chamber that housed the pods, he noticed a glowing force field around three of the chambers. He carefully made his way towards the pods, and began to examine them.

"Zan, Vilondra and Rath," he said. "They are protected, and Ava is not. Damn, damn, damn, that means we made an error. We mixed up the pods. This Ava belongs with the others. She is the one Kivar has marked to come back. The others are too good. Damn. How can I fix this?"

Cladar thought for several minutes, then leaned over and began to work feverishly over the pod that housed Ava. Finally, he leaned back, exhausted, but satisfied with what he had accomplished.

"There, I have repaired the gestational timer mechanism. She will not emerge when the others do. Hopefully, I shall return in time to remove her before the others are ready to emerge. Have faith Ava, I will return to ensure that you take your rightful place on Antar alongside Lord Kivar."