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Part 9
"Natir, we can't stop the countdown once it's started. Let her go or this ship will blast through your hull while we wait."
The timer is set for two minutes. It's going to launch soon. Liz's husky voice edged through Max's mind, trying to distract him as little as possible, but make him aware of their limited timetable.
"I somehow doubt that you would kill the last great hope of the Antarian people, Zan. You and all your line die here on this ship and the entire system will belong to Khivar without dispute." Natir's grip loosened incrementally and Max could tell that he had been wounded severely. "Which would, of course, serve my purpose."
"What good will that do you if you're not there to see it? I can heal you. Fair trade and I'm true to my word." Max looked uncertain. While he doubted anyone but Kyle would truly mourn Tess, they didn't need any more deaths staining their hands, not to mention the innocent life she carried. That was the only thing he wasn't willing to compromise. Though he wasn't completely sure, the connection he had made with the child had seemed genuine. The little life inside her was completely innocent and very special.
"I have plenty of healers on my ship who are completely loyal to me." Natir edged to the exit one slow step after another. "Get off this ship with me now, Zan. Take this opportunity. I assure you such a painless surrender shall not present itself again."
After just a second of indecision, all 180-pounds of Kyle, with the training of the a varsity quarterback and the desperation of a helpless father-to-be flew into Natir, with as much weight in his tackle as his body could give it and with even a little extra push beyond the bounds of gravity from either Tess or the baby. However, in horror, the rest watched as instead of taking Natir and Tess clear of the exit, Kyle propelled Natir, his grasp awkwardly reestablished on the skin on the back of Tess's neck, but to the side and just inches from the door. Natir threw his weight and rolled out of the ship with both Tess and Kyle in tow. The last thing the group saw was Natir's perversion of a smile as the doors sealed themselves shut and the Granolith repeated a smaller version of its launch from Earth, the force from it propelling them out of and away from Natir's ship.
"Won't they just shoot at us again?" Izzy looked at Max, but it was Liz who answered.
"I don't think we were attacked before." Liz looked over the control panel, which seemed clean and undamaged. "When we were last on this ship, there was smoke coming from here. It must have been a mindwarp."
"Tess?" the venom in Maria's voice was almost tangible.
"But Alex said that we should trust each other?" Isabel hesitated, hoping he'd appear and clarify himself.
"I guess that higher plane stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be." Michael laid a comforting hand on Isabel's shoulder.
"Maybe it wasn't Tess?" Liz looked torn between wanting to believe the blond had reformed, particularly with the memories of Ava that were resurfacing. But L'arala had always been disappointed, and now Liz would be as well.
"Come on, Liz," Michael sided with Maria. "It had to be her. She was on the ship, she manned the controls. I bet we were headed for Natir's ship the whole time. Dammit! She got us again. She managed to manipulate us into delivering her, the baby, and us almost directly to Khivar.
"That is the last time we trust that skanky, lying whore. No matter what." Maria sounded angrier than Liz felt. For some reason, Liz had difficulty summoning a righteous anger at Tess. She felt acceptance and a slight sting of hurt, even a significant amount of anxiety for the three they had left behind.
"Can you fly this thing, Liz?" Michael gazed down at the controls in confusion. They definitely looked familiar, but not in any fashion that translated to knowing how to fly the thing.
"I think so. How to pilot a transport is probably the only really useful thing I remember, unless anyone's interested in the lineage of the second heralds of B'ril." Liz stared down at the controls and made an adjustment, then shot her head up. "Maria, how did you know how to set the launch sequence?"
"I just," Maria paused to think. "I just knew."
They could almost see the gears turning in Liz's head. "Maria, Max healed you when the ship was under attack. Or when we thought it was under attack. But he probably did the same thing to you that he did to me: he used the basic structure he remembered from M'lin. And then Alex came and he flooded our minds with triggers. He gave us all whole memories. You're remembering M'lin."
"Liz, you are the alien abyss girl. I'm just Spaceboy's ball and chain, his infinitely better half." Maria's eyes were wide, the words flying out of her mouth and her hands twitching. Liz hadn't seen her this agitated since she first found out about Max, Michael, and Isabel. "It's one thing to have a past life, it's another to have it coming back to claim you."
"You think I don't know that?" Liz looked down. Max moved to Liz's side, far from Maria, managed to half hide himself behind Liz's petite form. Liz kept her eyes on the control, but took Max's hand to reassure him. Liz could already almost feel the angst pouring off Max. "There's no going back, Maria. We can't just undo a whole past life and it's something we're now intimately involved in. We all have a part to play and Alex said that we had a chance to fix things. I'm remembering things, things I think I and L'arala would rather forget, but I think there's a point to all of this. The mystics knew what they were doing. The ship is full of triggers, like the wedding dress. And I think they're things we need to know to do what we need to do."
"This is just too big," Maria leaned against Michael, letting him wrap her in his arms. "I don't know if I can do it."
"We have to." With that dictum, Isabel stood. Then she softened her voice. "We weren't exactly given a choice either, Maria."
"Enough touchy-feely crap," Michael snapped the girls away from the tears that teased at each of their eyes. "We need a plan, a place to go. Where's the ship headed now, Liz?"
"It's on the default trajectory towards the V system and ultimately Antar." Liz pointed to the navigational controls and brought up a star map.
"Even if she is a traitor, we can't come back without Tess. It'll do exactly what Zan was so scared of, it'll insult B'ril. They're expecting us to at least have Ava with us, even if she isn't technically Max's wife. I don't remember much from that life, but I know that the politics of the royal courts are serious and complicated." Michael turned to Max. "We might lose Kathana's support if she thinks that we're playing power games with her. And we won't be returning to our people as the Royal Four that they're expecting."
"We need reinforcements, Michael. We've got to save the baby, so we've got to save Tess. And Kyle." Max paused. "Probably."
He rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead, trying to massage away the sense of impending doom. "As to where to go, Antar is completely out of the question. We don't know who to trust or how to get to Larek, if we could even make it to Grenor without getting killed in the process. And we don't know anything about the other two planets that are under Khivar's control. If we could prove to Kathana that Liz was L'arala reincarnated, maybe she'd help. You know, maternal instincts."
"Or maybe she'd think that you were trying to substitute one sister for another. We don't know how much she liked L'arala."
"Michael, do you have any better ideas?"
"No, but this is bound to lead to us getting killed or married to the wrong people." Michael sighed and ended the conversation. "Liz, can you plot the course to B'ril?"
"Yes," Liz busied herself with the control panel. "It may be in our best interest to try to learn as much as possible about this ship and what we're heading into. There should be individual viewing stations in each of the rooms if you want to stretch out."
Liz watched Michael and Maria leave the common area for some privacy while watching. Max sat with Isabel a few feet away and brought up the vid they had been watching before the Natir debacle. The narrator was explaining the loyalists' overly optimistic plans for the new reign of Zan, but didn't spend much time on the how to oust Khivar part. Liz stopped paying attention while Arshana listed and described the powerful members and families of the Antarian Senate. She didn't really want to know in this lifetime any more than she had as L'arala.
The ship was programmed to virtually fly itself, to ensure that the Royal Four made it back no matter what, but Liz made the occasional hairpin adjustment to get them there as fast as possible. Natir's more advanced ship had been headed for the system at its highest speeds and they were less than a day from their destination. In fact, Liz now suspected that their ship had certainly not been traveling as fast as possible. But now she kept it as close to maximum speed as she dared. So little time before they would all come face to face with a past she didn't entirely remember and now her present. Liz felt so strange, torn. The part of her that was Liz Parker hesitated at the idea of stepping onto an alien world and trying to acquire a station that likely did not even belong to her. But there was another part that felt like this was coming home. That was desperate to see Kathana, to know if she would be the accepted daughter, and if she could have the legitimate role in Max's world that she had desired for two lifetimes.
She watched Max provide the comfort that Isabel so desperately needed. He let Isabel just rest her head on his shoulder, an arm wrapped around her. Liz knew that he was the one, the only one there had ever been for her in any lifetime. Other people, other things, kept complicating things. But when it all came down to basics, it was always just Max and Liz, Zan and L'arala. It was as simple as love ever got and Liz just had to hold on. Of all that Alex told them, Liz hoped that Max wouldn't have to be king in this life. Other than the two particular memories of Zan, her foggy memories of Zan weren't of some power hungry king. In fact, as best she could recall, Max never was the type to give arbitrary orders or threats. In both lifetimes, Max had been a natural leader but not a king. Max had difficulty imposing his will upon people. When he did, he had to repress everything that was caring and good about him. No wonder Alex said that he couldn't return as king. And soon, they'd have him back, for real this time.
She looked back up at the screen where Arshana was still explaining the intricacies of Antarian Royal history. Briefly, she heard mention of the mystics and Liz snapped to attention. These people interested her. Ones who could give them all the answers they sought and ones who Khivar feared enough to try to wipe out. And the ones who would know how to bring back their Alex.
"Make it go back a minute." Liz moved to Max's other side.
"The issue of selecting the line of the kingship has been the duty of the mystics. They are a line apart from the rest of the planetary system, a genetic sport that combines the mental powers of our people with a sense of empathy and something only other mystics can identify. Theirs is a treasured line and have held the future of the system in their hands many a time. Other than by marriage, there is no other way to gain footing to the throne. The mystics read and confirm the proposed heir of the current king, on the eve of his or her eighteenth cycle. And should the king produce no child, the mystics will select from among the population or current royal family.
"King Zan, you were unequivocally confirmed after the death of your father, at only seven cycles, an unprecedented age for such a strong affirmation. Your followers saw this as a sign that you would be a great king, who would unite the planet and the system. It is for this reason that we chose to attempt to recreate the Royal Four. Only a mystic can confirm or reject your reign. However, Khivar has portrayed this as a perversion of the system by the mystics. Within the first cycle of his despotic reign, he summarily executed ever mystic who attended that confirmation. The line has been dwindling over the last hundred cycles and Khivar has taken advantage of the situation to begin slowly extinguishing every mystic, on Antar and any other planet. On B'ril, however, a small group of mystics remains hidden. Their sect, well-hidden and known only to Queen Kathana, were the ones who created your hybrid bodies and ensured that your Antarian essences would be dominant. As long as Kathana lives, she has vowed to protect them until your return. Once you have defeated Khivar, they will confirm the return of the king. For this-"Liz froze the image in mid-syllable and turned to Max and Isabel, an expectant smile on her face.
"This is it! Kathana has the mystics and we can bring Alex back."
Part 9
"Natir, we can't stop the countdown once it's started. Let her go or this ship will blast through your hull while we wait."
The timer is set for two minutes. It's going to launch soon. Liz's husky voice edged through Max's mind, trying to distract him as little as possible, but make him aware of their limited timetable.
"I somehow doubt that you would kill the last great hope of the Antarian people, Zan. You and all your line die here on this ship and the entire system will belong to Khivar without dispute." Natir's grip loosened incrementally and Max could tell that he had been wounded severely. "Which would, of course, serve my purpose."
"What good will that do you if you're not there to see it? I can heal you. Fair trade and I'm true to my word." Max looked uncertain. While he doubted anyone but Kyle would truly mourn Tess, they didn't need any more deaths staining their hands, not to mention the innocent life she carried. That was the only thing he wasn't willing to compromise. Though he wasn't completely sure, the connection he had made with the child had seemed genuine. The little life inside her was completely innocent and very special.
"I have plenty of healers on my ship who are completely loyal to me." Natir edged to the exit one slow step after another. "Get off this ship with me now, Zan. Take this opportunity. I assure you such a painless surrender shall not present itself again."
After just a second of indecision, all 180-pounds of Kyle, with the training of the a varsity quarterback and the desperation of a helpless father-to-be flew into Natir, with as much weight in his tackle as his body could give it and with even a little extra push beyond the bounds of gravity from either Tess or the baby. However, in horror, the rest watched as instead of taking Natir and Tess clear of the exit, Kyle propelled Natir, his grasp awkwardly reestablished on the skin on the back of Tess's neck, but to the side and just inches from the door. Natir threw his weight and rolled out of the ship with both Tess and Kyle in tow. The last thing the group saw was Natir's perversion of a smile as the doors sealed themselves shut and the Granolith repeated a smaller version of its launch from Earth, the force from it propelling them out of and away from Natir's ship.
"Won't they just shoot at us again?" Izzy looked at Max, but it was Liz who answered.
"I don't think we were attacked before." Liz looked over the control panel, which seemed clean and undamaged. "When we were last on this ship, there was smoke coming from here. It must have been a mindwarp."
"Tess?" the venom in Maria's voice was almost tangible.
"But Alex said that we should trust each other?" Isabel hesitated, hoping he'd appear and clarify himself.
"I guess that higher plane stuff isn't all it's cracked up to be." Michael laid a comforting hand on Isabel's shoulder.
"Maybe it wasn't Tess?" Liz looked torn between wanting to believe the blond had reformed, particularly with the memories of Ava that were resurfacing. But L'arala had always been disappointed, and now Liz would be as well.
"Come on, Liz," Michael sided with Maria. "It had to be her. She was on the ship, she manned the controls. I bet we were headed for Natir's ship the whole time. Dammit! She got us again. She managed to manipulate us into delivering her, the baby, and us almost directly to Khivar.
"That is the last time we trust that skanky, lying whore. No matter what." Maria sounded angrier than Liz felt. For some reason, Liz had difficulty summoning a righteous anger at Tess. She felt acceptance and a slight sting of hurt, even a significant amount of anxiety for the three they had left behind.
"Can you fly this thing, Liz?" Michael gazed down at the controls in confusion. They definitely looked familiar, but not in any fashion that translated to knowing how to fly the thing.
"I think so. How to pilot a transport is probably the only really useful thing I remember, unless anyone's interested in the lineage of the second heralds of B'ril." Liz stared down at the controls and made an adjustment, then shot her head up. "Maria, how did you know how to set the launch sequence?"
"I just," Maria paused to think. "I just knew."
They could almost see the gears turning in Liz's head. "Maria, Max healed you when the ship was under attack. Or when we thought it was under attack. But he probably did the same thing to you that he did to me: he used the basic structure he remembered from M'lin. And then Alex came and he flooded our minds with triggers. He gave us all whole memories. You're remembering M'lin."
"Liz, you are the alien abyss girl. I'm just Spaceboy's ball and chain, his infinitely better half." Maria's eyes were wide, the words flying out of her mouth and her hands twitching. Liz hadn't seen her this agitated since she first found out about Max, Michael, and Isabel. "It's one thing to have a past life, it's another to have it coming back to claim you."
"You think I don't know that?" Liz looked down. Max moved to Liz's side, far from Maria, managed to half hide himself behind Liz's petite form. Liz kept her eyes on the control, but took Max's hand to reassure him. Liz could already almost feel the angst pouring off Max. "There's no going back, Maria. We can't just undo a whole past life and it's something we're now intimately involved in. We all have a part to play and Alex said that we had a chance to fix things. I'm remembering things, things I think I and L'arala would rather forget, but I think there's a point to all of this. The mystics knew what they were doing. The ship is full of triggers, like the wedding dress. And I think they're things we need to know to do what we need to do."
"This is just too big," Maria leaned against Michael, letting him wrap her in his arms. "I don't know if I can do it."
"We have to." With that dictum, Isabel stood. Then she softened her voice. "We weren't exactly given a choice either, Maria."
"Enough touchy-feely crap," Michael snapped the girls away from the tears that teased at each of their eyes. "We need a plan, a place to go. Where's the ship headed now, Liz?"
"It's on the default trajectory towards the V system and ultimately Antar." Liz pointed to the navigational controls and brought up a star map.
"Even if she is a traitor, we can't come back without Tess. It'll do exactly what Zan was so scared of, it'll insult B'ril. They're expecting us to at least have Ava with us, even if she isn't technically Max's wife. I don't remember much from that life, but I know that the politics of the royal courts are serious and complicated." Michael turned to Max. "We might lose Kathana's support if she thinks that we're playing power games with her. And we won't be returning to our people as the Royal Four that they're expecting."
"We need reinforcements, Michael. We've got to save the baby, so we've got to save Tess. And Kyle." Max paused. "Probably."
He rubbed the palm of his hand against his forehead, trying to massage away the sense of impending doom. "As to where to go, Antar is completely out of the question. We don't know who to trust or how to get to Larek, if we could even make it to Grenor without getting killed in the process. And we don't know anything about the other two planets that are under Khivar's control. If we could prove to Kathana that Liz was L'arala reincarnated, maybe she'd help. You know, maternal instincts."
"Or maybe she'd think that you were trying to substitute one sister for another. We don't know how much she liked L'arala."
"Michael, do you have any better ideas?"
"No, but this is bound to lead to us getting killed or married to the wrong people." Michael sighed and ended the conversation. "Liz, can you plot the course to B'ril?"
"Yes," Liz busied herself with the control panel. "It may be in our best interest to try to learn as much as possible about this ship and what we're heading into. There should be individual viewing stations in each of the rooms if you want to stretch out."
Liz watched Michael and Maria leave the common area for some privacy while watching. Max sat with Isabel a few feet away and brought up the vid they had been watching before the Natir debacle. The narrator was explaining the loyalists' overly optimistic plans for the new reign of Zan, but didn't spend much time on the how to oust Khivar part. Liz stopped paying attention while Arshana listed and described the powerful members and families of the Antarian Senate. She didn't really want to know in this lifetime any more than she had as L'arala.
The ship was programmed to virtually fly itself, to ensure that the Royal Four made it back no matter what, but Liz made the occasional hairpin adjustment to get them there as fast as possible. Natir's more advanced ship had been headed for the system at its highest speeds and they were less than a day from their destination. In fact, Liz now suspected that their ship had certainly not been traveling as fast as possible. But now she kept it as close to maximum speed as she dared. So little time before they would all come face to face with a past she didn't entirely remember and now her present. Liz felt so strange, torn. The part of her that was Liz Parker hesitated at the idea of stepping onto an alien world and trying to acquire a station that likely did not even belong to her. But there was another part that felt like this was coming home. That was desperate to see Kathana, to know if she would be the accepted daughter, and if she could have the legitimate role in Max's world that she had desired for two lifetimes.
She watched Max provide the comfort that Isabel so desperately needed. He let Isabel just rest her head on his shoulder, an arm wrapped around her. Liz knew that he was the one, the only one there had ever been for her in any lifetime. Other people, other things, kept complicating things. But when it all came down to basics, it was always just Max and Liz, Zan and L'arala. It was as simple as love ever got and Liz just had to hold on. Of all that Alex told them, Liz hoped that Max wouldn't have to be king in this life. Other than the two particular memories of Zan, her foggy memories of Zan weren't of some power hungry king. In fact, as best she could recall, Max never was the type to give arbitrary orders or threats. In both lifetimes, Max had been a natural leader but not a king. Max had difficulty imposing his will upon people. When he did, he had to repress everything that was caring and good about him. No wonder Alex said that he couldn't return as king. And soon, they'd have him back, for real this time.
She looked back up at the screen where Arshana was still explaining the intricacies of Antarian Royal history. Briefly, she heard mention of the mystics and Liz snapped to attention. These people interested her. Ones who could give them all the answers they sought and ones who Khivar feared enough to try to wipe out. And the ones who would know how to bring back their Alex.
"Make it go back a minute." Liz moved to Max's other side.
"The issue of selecting the line of the kingship has been the duty of the mystics. They are a line apart from the rest of the planetary system, a genetic sport that combines the mental powers of our people with a sense of empathy and something only other mystics can identify. Theirs is a treasured line and have held the future of the system in their hands many a time. Other than by marriage, there is no other way to gain footing to the throne. The mystics read and confirm the proposed heir of the current king, on the eve of his or her eighteenth cycle. And should the king produce no child, the mystics will select from among the population or current royal family.
"King Zan, you were unequivocally confirmed after the death of your father, at only seven cycles, an unprecedented age for such a strong affirmation. Your followers saw this as a sign that you would be a great king, who would unite the planet and the system. It is for this reason that we chose to attempt to recreate the Royal Four. Only a mystic can confirm or reject your reign. However, Khivar has portrayed this as a perversion of the system by the mystics. Within the first cycle of his despotic reign, he summarily executed ever mystic who attended that confirmation. The line has been dwindling over the last hundred cycles and Khivar has taken advantage of the situation to begin slowly extinguishing every mystic, on Antar and any other planet. On B'ril, however, a small group of mystics remains hidden. Their sect, well-hidden and known only to Queen Kathana, were the ones who created your hybrid bodies and ensured that your Antarian essences would be dominant. As long as Kathana lives, she has vowed to protect them until your return. Once you have defeated Khivar, they will confirm the return of the king. For this-"Liz froze the image in mid-syllable and turned to Max and Isabel, an expectant smile on her face.
"This is it! Kathana has the mystics and we can bring Alex back."
