AN: Last part had Christmas and so does this part so I figured I'd just post them both... Pay off for date of part won't be for the entire rest of this book but it'll be there.

Also, I don't own those Beatles songs or that Dr. Suess book.

Chapter 10

Liz - Date Unknown Time Unknown - Special Unit Facility – Location Unknown

Liz stroked his hair as she recited a story from memory. She felt his fingers resting on her leg next to his head. The physical contact was so reassuring, that this wasn't just a dream and she wasn't alone. "Then she looked up and the dragon was bigger than she'd been told. Larger than the dragons she had hunted before with her father to help. It was too late. She'd had to shimmy down that narrow crevice and now it was her and it was there. Size of an elephant with so many heads she had trouble counting them while they moved. It was so hot that her lungs started to burn. She raised her sword and stepped forward into the cave."

"Does she kill it?"

"I think so. I only got halfway into the book."

"What do you think happened next?"

"I think she cut all of its heads off and shimmied out of the cave before it became engulfed in flames. I think she passed her test and when she told her father… he held it together until he was alone and he wept because he almost killed his only daughter." Liz rubbed his shoulders, barely thinking about it.

"Didn't she have a boyfriend or something?" He rolled onto his side, fingers under her thigh. She could feel his breath on her knee.

"She was in love with a man who was too old, but she just turned 18, she's going to start looking at him again and pray that he looks back. She's loved him since she was a girl and he's always been too old." Liz stopped talking but she didn't stop running one hand through his hair and the other up and down his back. His knuckles grazed her leg over and over and when his mouth pressed against her thigh, she closed her eyes. His mouth moved upward, and she let out a breath. Then a sigh. That felt so good.

Her fingers clenched in his hair and the hand on his back gripped his shirt. Then she was falling. Falling back onto the cot and his mouth was hot through her scrubs. Her body arched when he pulled the thin fabric down and his mouth was there, licking and tasting. Her hips thrust against him and then he was towering over her, pulling his shirt off and pushing his pants down around his knees.

Liz let him. Let him push her shirt up until it was bunched under her chin and let him lay between her legs until she could feel him hard against her soft parts. Kissed his mouth and tasted herself. Kissed his neck, shoulder and when he was inside her, she moaned. Then she was pulling him closer, holding him tighter, begging for him to take her harder. When he came, he laid on top of her for a long time. Liz let her thoughts go far away for a minute. She could feel him breathing into her neck. Could feel him trembling. She rubbed his shoulders and rocked them gently. "Sh. Sh. It's okay. It's okay."

"I didn't mean to." He whispered to her. She felt the wetness on her shoulder. "I've been alone so long."

"It's okay. It's okay." Liz told him until he could move again. She used his bathroom to clean up in and returned to the cot to put her pants back on. She sat there for a long moment, his thigh against her lower back and then she stretched out beside him. He held onto her until she passed into sleep. She just couldn't feel anything anymore. But she felt that.

Maria – December 28, 2004, 4:00 P.M. Tuesday - South Dakota

She sighed and looked to the doctor. "I can't afford this visit, but my husband made me."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"We got married a while ago. It's something we've both wanted for a long time but there were always reasons not to do it and then the reasons stopped being there and we were standing in front of a church and there was a priest… so we did it." Maria took a breath. "We have somehow managed not to sleep together in all the time we've been together. We've fooled around and even come to some… mutual relief but…"

"I see. So, just tell me what happened, in your own words."

"So, we got married and then we moved towns, to here." She waved off the doctor. "We went on a road trip with the idea we'd find a place to make a new start. So, we got married, we drove into town. The diner where we stopped was looking to hire and the body shop across the street was looking to hire and it felt… perfect. So, we went and applied for jobs, got them. Teddy got us a nice room with the last of our cash and then we were alone and married and… He was sweet. We did some mutual things to get in the mood and then he um… was on top of me and we've lain that way before but…"

"Take your time."

"I couldn't. I could feel him. He was ready and right there, ready to enter and when he… pushed, I panicked. I couldn't relax, and I couldn't let him inside me. He stopped and I just… had a complete meltdown. He had to throw me in the shower to snap me out of it. Then he dried me off and we just… laid there. And I needed his arms around me and that was okay. Even with him still, at the ready." Maria took a deep breath. "We've tried a few more times but we've never actually consummated our relationship and I don't know why. I don't know why I'm like this."

"I see."

"Nothing… traumatic, sexually, has ever happened to me before. I've had sex before, not with him… years ago. This… I love him. I want to make love to him and normally, he's against therapy and all that but he insisted, which is good. That he cares so much about me."

"So, this road trip that took you away from home. What spurred it?"

"We… felt left behind. Our friends have all paired off and moved away and started their adult lives and there we were... Still working at the same place we'd worked since we were able to drive. Still living separate and not making any plans so… we took all our savings and put it into one car and away we went. It's been nice. We've met some nice people."

"You sound like you know where this conversation is going to go."

"I just… thought that my best friend would be there when I got married and my mom and Teddy's best friend and Teddy's best friend's sister and her boyfriend, who is another one of my friends… but everyone is off… leading their own lives."

"Have you talked to them? Told them you got married?"

"No. Our best friends eloped to Cancun or somewhere and I can't get a line out to them. They were supposed to go to a third world country… habitat for humanity or something. So, we knew they were going to be out of pocket. And Al and his girlfriend are taking a trip to like… Siberia or somewhere and…" Maria trailed off.

"Let me ask you this. When you say you panic, do you scream and thrash?"

"No… it's more like hyperventilate and the… my… it tenses up and I can't let him in, you know physically."

"That's a condition. It's called vaginismus. I want you to go see a gynecologist. Get checked out and then come back and we'll move forward. It's possible this can be resolved with anti-anxiety or anti-depression medication. We'll see how the gyno visit goes."

Maria looked at her hands. "This is such a ridiculous thing to happen to a person."

"Another thing I want you to think about is your fears. What does making love to your husband mean to you?"

Tess – December 28, 2004, Tuesday 3:23 PM – Colorado Rockies

Tess climbed a tree to place the cameras she'd pilfered from the electronics store. She had the wires hidden and leading back to the cabin. She had a small relay to the portable TV so that she didn't have to worry about Kyle stumbling on it. She kept him pretty exhausted. But she couldn't get complacent. That's how the special unit would find them.

While she was up there, she encouraged some growth in the branches, so she could eventually have a tree road out of the valley if needed. Tess shimmied up higher and made herself a seat before climbing down. She smoothed the snow behind her as she made her way back to the cabin. She found Kyle chopping firewood for the pile. He motioned to the cabin. "Got a stew going. Should be good in a couple hours."

"Thanks. I'm starving." Tess made a snowball and threw it at him.

"Hey!"

"You're so serious." She scooted past him into the cabin. She checked the feed on her portable and it was good. She put it back in the back of the cabinet and found the bowls. She set them on the stove to warm.

She washed up and read a book until Kyle came in to check the pot and get washed up himself. He plopped down next to her. "Still needs an hour."

"Take a nap."

"Nah" he shook his head. He stared at her until she put the book down. Then she was straddling his lap while he stripped her of her clothes. Tess shut her eyes as she rose up and down in his lap. She got to a place where she was on the precipice and maintained it for a long time. Kyle got to come first and then she came so hard she felt like she was flying. That's when she realized she'd found a power. She was in her body with Kyle but she was also high up in the sky and she could see everything that had come to pass and would come to pass.

She remembered a destruction she had rained on her enemies and a prophecy she had laid on her people. She saw herself. She was looking into the past and could see herself looking forward. When she turned her head, she could see time coming and herself looking back from a time not yet come. They both told her the same thing.

"Save him."

"What?" Kyle blinked at her. It was too late, she'd come. He laid her down and knew she was down for the count. He covered her and got up to wash up again and get dinner plated for her eventual return from whatever orgasmic heaven she lived in when she came. When he was done, he checked on her and her eyes were rolled back in her head. "Tess? Tess!"

She gasped as if she had not been breathing and then her eyes opened. "Kyle?"

"What the hell happened?"

She rolled over and scrambled to her go bag to haul out the book. She made a copy and wiped the copy clean. She began imprinting in the new book.

"Tess?"

"I wrote the book. I did. My… former self." Tess sat there, naked, forcing molecules to bend to her will. She looked up at him. "I was a prophet."

"A what? A prophet? Like… in like… the bible?" Kyle blurted out.

"This… was ours." Tess kept working. "Sh. I have work to do."

Isabel – December 25, 2004, Saturday 4 p.m. - California

She went for a walk with the strange man. He'd had to put on a demonstration in order for her to agree to the walk. He was balding and smelled like smoke and lemons. Both dirty and antiseptic. She glanced around but most everyone had moved on for the day. "If you're our protector, where have you been?"

"It's been a long time for me. I quit but I had no one to report to, Princess." He told her and motioned around. "I've lived my own life since the late 40s. I've worked my way to the top of the food-chain and… were it not for my unaging face, I probably would have stayed at home and let you all die."

"What do you mean?"

"I get signals from your brother when he's in trouble. I almost came when you all were in high school, but it worked itself out before I got to the end of my very long driveway." He sighed. "You're much calmer than your brother so I'm glad it's you that's close by. You that I found first."

"If you get signals from my brother." She started to cry angry tears. "Then go save him."

"That's not the signal he gave me."

"What do you mean?"

"He's captured. He's a had a fair bit of torture and he's handled it like the king and leader he is."

"I'm sorry. King?" Isabel shook her head.

"You didn't know."

"No." Isabel shook her head. "Is that why you called me princess? I thought you were being cute."

"Look. I have a lot of grievances to set at your brother's door and you know why I came? The signal I got was not to save him… it was to save her."

"Her? You mean Liz." Her breath huffed out of her nostrils hot and fast. Of course, her.

"Is that his wife?"

"Might as well be." Isabel sucked in a breath and tried to calm down. "So, what's the plan?"

"My face is recognizable, anywhere I go in California. If I do this, if I go in and save your sister-in-law, then I lose everything. Everything I've worked for, for 60 years, will be flushed down the toilet. The moment I change my shape, it's over."

Isabel stared at his face. It wasn't a young face. Still, his eyes. "I need my brother safe. He won't let you save him without saving her first."

"You know where they have him?"

"Not the exact location but we know enough that it's bad."

"It's worse than that. The man who runs this unit, he's the worst level of sadistic." He swallowed down a lump and then bent over, gasping for air.

"Oh my god, what's wrong?"

"It's your brother." He gasped and groaned. "He's in pain but… it's not physical. They've… the signal is weak." He straightened. "He's been drugged and his powers aren't working. The signal is not as clear as it used to be but it's still there. He is still alive."

"Why didn't you come sooner? It's been months."

"I've been making arrangements for myself and for the four… eight of you. Ah, fuck."

"Eight?"

"It's a long story."

"What's your name?" Isabel stared at his face.

"I'm Kal. It's the only name I've used since the 40s."

"Kal… you know that I don't care about your arrangements. I only care about my brothers and Alex. That's it. I'm ticked that you waited to find me. That you waited to go get my brother and his girlfriend. I am so ticked about all of this because if you got any signal from him, then you got one when they took him… and you ignored it."

"He was with the protector, the other one and I… when that one died, my… the signals got stronger."

"How many protectors did we have?"

"In the beginning? 7, including the pilot. Most of them scattered after the wreck. A handful of us saved the pods and got you all to safety. Your brother's protector has been working the job alone all this time."

"And the others?"

"One died in the crash. Couple others over time. Old age or… accidents."

"So, there's more and no one came."

"Some defected. Entirely. Found a way to go home and they took it. To leave you all unprotected. I'm the only one left." He was gasping by that point. Then he took a breath and stood up straight again.

"You have a story to tell. I need that story."

"What relics do you have?"

"We all took something when we left home. We all went our separate ways. Max had the stones, Michael had the orb, Tess had the book and I have the… pendant."

"Who is Tess?"

"Our fourth." Isabel straightened, in confusion.

"You're all scattered to the wind and no one…" Kal paced away and back. "If Tess is not with Max, then who is his wife?"

"Liz. She's been his since… I don't know… high school, followed her around since the third grade. What is the big deal?"

"She's not human, right?" Kal rubbed his temples.

"She is."

"No, she can't be. Not if…" Kal breathed in and out. "If she's the one he wants me to save, she's his wife but if his wife isn't with him… How did she? Why does she have anything to do with him?"

"You got me, Kal. I don't know. I've been gagging on the saccharin sweetness that is my brother's romance with Liz since it started." Then it clicked. What having this person here meant. What having him here, now, meant. "If she were just some human, you could ignore his order. But she's his wife so you have to go."

"Something like that."

"Look, Max loves her so much, he exposed us. He saved her life and we've been running from the unit for a long time. We were safe for a while. Then no one was."

"He saved her life?"

"Yeah. Figured you'd know that, since you seem to know so much about us." Isabel tilted her head at him. "So, who's the other four?"

"The numbers kept tallying higher and higher, Princess. I got you and your fellow, the war commander, the Queen, your brother and his wife. Then I got my other responsibilities. Four others aside from your group."

"There are two more of us. Michael's girlfriend is with him and Tess… took a civilian with her because they were going after him, too."

"12. That's a crowd. I'm never going to get it all done." Kal ran a hand over his face. "Let me tell the story, Princess. Like the Lucas says, long time ago and far away…"

Maria – December 29, 2004, Wednesday 4:25 p.m. - South Dakota

Maria served her tables and pocketed her tips. She fed Michael when he stopped in for lunch and kissed him when he left to get dirty again. The day wore on and she couldn't wait for seven. It was Wednesday, and her day was over when the last person was out of the diner. She packed up dinner for two, cleaned her tables and hung up her apron. Old Man grunted when she left. She met Michael on the street and they walked to their basement apartment through the snow.

They ate and washed up and listened to the radio. Maria let him go down on her and she just couldn't get over the last rise and into the promised land. She hated that. She couldn't let go. He just kissed his way back up her body and held onto her and ignored his own needs. So, she tried to make him feel good. He groaned and let her do what she wanted. When he came, he was out of it for an hour. She bit her lip and watched him drift on a high she wished she could follow. When he came to again, he felt her up all over and slid his hand between her legs. He tried again to make her feel good.

Maria thought about faking it but then he'd get his hopes up. She crested but didn't quite make it and she let out a real moan. Michael kissed her neck. "Hey Maria?"

"Yeah."

"I've got three fingers inside you right now."

"Oh?" She rode his fingers. "How?"

"You want me to stop?"

"No." She cried as she rode the feeling. "What do I do?"

"Let go," Michael whispered in her ear. "Stop holding on so tight. I'm going to catch you."

Maria opened her mouth to respond but she could only gasp for air.

"Breathe. I've got you."

"Michael, Michael. It's… too much."

"You can handle it."

"Kiss me."

"Keep breathing." He murmured into her mouth and never stopped moving in and out of her body. Then she was weightless. She was air. She was light. Michael felt her body tensing and releasing at the same time around his fingers. "Keep going."

Maria breathed for what felt like the first time in months. For the first time since she got dressed to go to a carnival with all her friends. When she came down, Michael was curled around her sweaty body. "I remember this feeling."

"Good." Michael kissed her neck.

"It's probably not all better."

"It's progress."

"The therapist said it could be brought on by trauma and I just assumed she meant… like… sexual assault but… I guess what happened back in Roswell was pretty traumatic."

"Yep." He nodded. "It's a start. We'll take our time. We got forever."

"I hope so. I just wish we weren't cut off from everyone." Maria rolled in his arms to face him.

"I um… Had the priest send a letter for us."

"What?" Maria pushed up onto her elbows.

"Sent it to the Crashdown for Valenti. Basically telling him what we did and that we got married. He'll tell your mom."

"To Valenti?" Maria sat up and stared at him. "That's sick."

"Maria…" he took her shoulders in his hands. "He's alive."

"Since when?"

"He surfaced six weeks after we left town." He watched her visibly relax at the news. "He's been looking for us… Maybe he'll stop now."

Maria nodded and breathed. "Good. Good. Thank you."

"This is our life, now."

"I know." Maria nodded. "Just Teddy and Stella. Eking out a living."

"All I need is you," Michael swore.

"I'm so glad she's not alone." Maria buried her face in his chest.

Max – Date Unknown Time Unknown – Special Unit Facility – Location Unknown

Max endured all the things they did not do to him when he was first captured because he was injured. Shock and pain and hot and cold and blood and tissue and stress. They just kept coming at him and he was dead inside. His powers didn't work. Then they showed him images, projected them on the walls. Liz, her wrists slit, slumped against a wall. A noose around her neck, hanging from the showerhead.

So, he was sure she was still alive. But he was dead inside because as sure as he was, he still doubted. He had too much to lose if he wasn't sure. So, he started singing. Anything he could remember. They let him. He sat on the floor and sang asinine song lyrics to pass the time. He watched her beautiful face on the wall and sang to her. Wherever she was. Ignored the violence projected with her,

Agent Pierce visited him often enough that Max began to wonder how staffed the building was. He started to notice things about Agent Pierce. He stopped shaving. He stopped using product in his hair and something about his smell was very familiar, but Max couldn't place it. Agent Pierce began to talk to him like they were friends and it was very disconcerting. Max tuned him out most of the time.

"You are such a specimen, Max. Height of physical strength for a human. Alien blood running through your veins. Maybe we dial it back a bit and you can show us what you can do. Show us what we're up against when your people stage their invasion."

"Picture yourself in boat on a river."

"What?"

"With tangerine trees and marmalade skies."

"Max."

"Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly." Max closed his eyes and his speech turned into sing-song. "A girl with kaleidoscope eyes."

"Beatles. Really."

"Cellophane flowers of yellow and green. Towering over your head." Max breathed out and laid his head on his knees. "Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes… and she's gone."

"Max, talk to me."

"Lucy in the sky with diamonds." Max touched Liz's face on the wall. "You ever been in love, Agent Pierce?"

"Doesn't matter."

"It matters." Max kept looking at her face. "I get high when I see you go by. When you sigh my inside just flies. Butterflies. Why am I so shy when I'm beside you."

"The Beatles thing is adorable, Max. It won't bring her back." He snapped his fingers and the images stopped.

Max touched the place where her face had been. "Nobody ever loved me like she does, oh she does, yeah she does. And if somebody loved me like she do me, oh she do me…"

Agent Pierce stared at Max and got close. Real close and Max smelled it again. That familiar and fleeting scent. "Max, try to cooperate. We don't want to push you… too far. You don't want to push us to that limit."

"You're so brave, Agent Pierce. Killing a girl to coerce an alleged alien. Loading me up with inhibitors so I can't tell my toes from my nose. Nose. Toes." Max grinned and turned to Agent Pierce. "I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind."

"So you say to yourself, "I'll have to start to be twice as careful and be twice as smart."" Pierce watched Max carefully. "Too late in the game for that Max."

"Agent Pierce. We've only just begun. Maybe I was on the way to Solla-Sollew and maybe I haven't learned my lesson yet but know that me and my bat are coming for you. Maybe you have the upper hand now, but I will overcome and I will tear you apart and you'll wish for the days I sang to you and quoted Dr. Seuss." Max's fingers traced the wall where Liz's face was and they left behind ashes where he burned the wall. Max smiled and laid a hand on Pierce. The man couldn't move because Max had slowed the blood flow to the man's brain. "My bat is a little different than yours."

Max rose to his full height as Pierce began to wither and gasp against the wall. Max was not prepared for Pierce to knock his feet out from underneath him. Max threw the man across the room before he hit the floor. Max worked on building up a ball of energy as the agent got to his feet, clutching his heart. The blast hit him square in the chest and Pierce slumped to the ground.

Max stood to build his energy again, but he was so weak, he fell over. Pierce got to his feet and coughed. Max rushed him, but Pierce knew he was out of juice. The man could take a hit. Pierce punched him in the head, which sent him into the wall.

"Dope him up," Pierce ordered, and the door flung open and six men in hazmat suits came for Max.

Michael – December 30, 2004, Thursday 11:32 A.M.

He scraped his hand doing a tire change and he would have healed it if someone didn't see him do it and then complained that it was gross. So, he had a stupid bandage on his hand and it was getting caught on things. He was full of rage and he didn't know where it came from. He stalked over to the diner to get out of his own head. Then there was his wife. His beautiful wife brought him a soda, premixed with hot sauce. She kissed his mouth, fussed over his hand and then kissed the bandage before scooting off to get him lunch. He watched her. She was laughing with patrons and her coworker seemed to actually smile back at her.

When Maria came back around with his burger and fries, she sat across from him. "Bad day?"

"It's better now."

"Oh yeah?"

"Seeing you, it's better now."

"Aw." Maria leaned over the table to kiss him again. "I was thinking… tonight we should… try to be newlyweds again."

"How's that?" Michael started in on his burger and nearly choked when he felt her foot slide up his thigh. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh. Feeling kind of frisky today."

"You don't want to wait until tomorrow night? You know when we got all day the day after to… rinse and repeat?"

"Tomorrow's New Year's Eve."

"Already?"

"Yeah. And I work all weekend… So… let's just… be romantic, tonight."

"I can do that."

"OK." She grinned at him. "I'm beginning to like this place."

Michael finished his lunch, kissed his wife and went back to work. He redressed his hand and scrubbed up with the degreaser before hitting the door for the night. Between paychecks was rough but he managed to find some flowers and fancy-adjacent chocolate before making it home. He found Maria standing in the doorway. The place was ransacked. He grabbed her and pulled her outside. She started to panic. "It's them. They found us."

"You don't know that," Michael told her and ran her upstairs to their landlord. Maria stayed inside with his wife and then Michael led the man around the side to their door. It had been busted open. Nothing seemed to be missing. Then Michael found the business end of a crack pipe and held it up. "You got problems with drugs here?"

"Jesus." Russel cursed.

Michael's stash of cash was gone. The orb was still in the closet. His Metallica CDs were scratched, though. "Took my nest egg but… everything else is just… stuff."

"Want me to call the cops?"

"Just fix the door and we'll call it a day."

"How much they take?"

"$500." Michael sighed. "Rent will be late."

"Yeah." He patted Michael on the back and went upstairs to call the locksmith and a buddy to help with the door. Michael sat with Maria. She was eating the chocolate and smelling her flowers. "It's just addicts looking for cash."

"How are we going to make rent?"

"I'll figure it out." He promised. "It's okay. It's not them."

"We should have left the country."

"No. We're fine. I got you."

Alex – December 27, 2004, Monday 8:16 a.m. – California

He watched her pace. Watched her read and sign and read and sign. He wasn't sure what to think about the guardian who wouldn't. He was, however, the only person who could confirm that Max was still alive. Maybe the price for his help was a bit more involved than Alex was comfortable with but he also felt for the old alien. The story was a wild one.

Isabel started on a new stack of contracts. Alex replaced her soda with a new one and kept an eye out for trouble. In ten minutes, they would have to move again and then they would be headed in the best direction to help Max and Liz. "Shouldn't we regroup?"

"No." Isabel shook her head. "I can't do this and take care of Michael and reign in Tess at the same time."

"Do you believe him?"

"Do I believe that I was once an alien princess on a planet far away and I was supposed to marry one of my brothers?" Isabel looked to her boyfriend. "Tess already tried that story on us, remember? It didn't take then and I don't buy it now… but if listening to this guy gets Max to safety… I'll say I believe anything." She tossed a contract on top of the others. "This is resources, financial security so that I can hide us and my brother and anyone else from the government."

"Isabel, I don't trust him."

"Me, either." She whispered. "We should start moving."

"Tell it to me again. Please. I just… want to make sure it makes sense to me."

"Okay." Isabel faced him. "So, long time ago in a galaxy far away, is a planet called Antar. On this planet is a young ruler named Zan."

Alex motioned for her to keep talking as he climbed behind the wheel. She picked up some contracts to take with her to sit beside him.

"Zan is young and immature and arrogant. He's married to a young girl, Ava, and that was… not a political marriage and it kicked off unrest." Isabel focused on the road as if it would steady her. "Zan's sister Vilandra became heavily involved with the opposition. Kivar was a political rival and some minor cousin or half-sibling or something should have been selected as Zan's bride."

"That's weird."

"We do the same thing on Earth." Isabel made a face at him. "So, the big war happens and maybe someone suspected Vilandra was wandering, so she got betrothed to Zan's war general. Rath."

"You are Vilandra, right?"

"Technically. Anyway. Vilandra does not like to be told what to do, so she sneaked Kivar through the gate on the night of the big engagement party and all hell breaks loose. Everyone's going nuts. Vilandra gets killed in the crossfire which sends both Zan and Kivar into a rage. Kivar strikes down Rath to get to Zan and there's a great battle, I'm sure. Kivar kills Zan and there's this huge explosion that sweeps the area, killing most and injuring whoever is left. Kivar finds the source and it's the bride. It's Ava, and she's weakened by the thing she just did and so he kills her."

"Wow."

"Right, so Zan and Vilandra's mother manages to recover the bodies before Kivar can desecrate them and she takes their DNA and sends it on a ship to Earth so that her children can be reborn. Kal said that he was, is, a lower cast being that was programmed to be loyal to the crown. There was a half dozen of them. They reach Earth and studied humans. This was 1946 and they abducted several for testing. They find that only humans with a DNA flaw can be used, they locate four and apply Gandarium so that the Antarian and Terran DNA can mix." Isabel paused to sign a couple of pages and set those contracts aside. "So, they lose a couple during outings, he didn't say what kind. So, they make us, but not us. This first set of replicated royals were too far on the Antarian spectrum. They would take too long to mature. The idea was, they would emerge from their pods, with full memories and full control over their abilities. So, they tried again, skewing to human and less Antarian. Something on the ship went wrong and it crashed, killing the pilot."

"So, it was really, real."

"Seems so. One of the sets of pods was damaged so they stashed it nearby with someone to watch over it. The other set was taken far away to lower the chance of anyone finding it. Then the protectors left behind… got bored because our gestation was going to take decades. Some died, some were killed and then there two."

"Why didn't they come when you… hatched?"

"He's not sure. He says… when the… other one, Nasedo came, we were already gone and that maybe since we were damaged, we didn't know to stay or that our signal was too weak. Tess had more time in the pod and so when she came out, she was alone and panicked and so… her signal was strong. Heightened. So, Nasedo must have booked it out to the desert and found her, figured we were gone, started searching. He probably found us but because we were mostly safe, he let us be. We weren't in danger, we weren't using our powers and he could focus on other things."

"Like what?"

"Looking out for our enemies."

"Did any come?"

"Sort of. We were safe in Roswell and our other set were in New York. They got invited to this… Summit and their Max, told them all to screw off. So, they're all busy up there, rebuilding because the King of Antar told the world leaders, basically Alien UN, to fuck off." Isabel looked to her boyfriend. "Could you imagine Max telling the UN to fuck off?"

"No, absolutely not."

"So, since New York Max and his Isabel and Michael and Tess aren't playing ball, Nasedo comes back to us. Sends Tess to get us in proximity and basically trigger some latent Antarianness with the hope to reconcile with the Alien UN only…" Isabel trailed off. "Max is on the FBI radar and he's got to clean up our mess, in the process he gets captured and he can't pull off the switcheroo."

"He knows an awful lot for someone who quit." Alex pointed out.

"I think it has something to do with the signal he keeps talking about." Isabel nodded. "So, we live our lives. New York four live their lives and then… Nasedo escapes. We don't know why. Kal seemed to think he'd let himself be imprisoned forever to keep the heat off of us, but something triggered his escape. So, we know what happened in Roswell. We scatter and here we are."

"What are we going to do?"

"Kal recruited them first. Mostly because he knew where they were, and he didn't have to chase them through the desert while avoiding the FBI. Kal is kind of lazy."

"Kind of?"

"You know what I mean."

"Why do you trust him?"

"So, he wasn't going to help. He was going to resist so hard, his brain exploded because he hates Max. A lot. Hates Zan. Hates the New York Max. Hates everything about Max." Isabel motioned to her head. "Because he's arrogant, authoritative and a dick. Just like my brother Max when you piss him off or scare the shit out of him. Remember our plans to go to San Diego after high school?"

"You are right," Alex growled a bit at the memory of how that went wrong and Isabel had broken up with him, again, at that point.

"Well, Max sends out his signal at full blast but it's weak and it's not to save Max. It's to save HER. All caps, dripping with love. So, Kal thinks it's to save the Queen. Tess. The Destroyer."

"What?"

"Tess is known on our home world as Queen Ava the Destroyer. Because of the massive explosion she caused that nearly killed Kivar. She wiped out his army, our army, and only people in the bunker section of the palace and Kivar survived."

"Your mother and any other political person who hightailed it to the basement when the shooting started."

"Exactly." Isabel signed another contract and dropped it on top of the others. "So, when I told him that Tess wasn't even near Max, he was… pleasantly surprised and even more eager to serve. Because to him, if King Max is in love with a human, then there's no chance of going home to a war-torn planet."

"So, the only reason he wants to save Max is that he knows Max will never leave Liz."

"About sums it up. Let's hear it for my brother and his vomit-inducing love for Liz."

"Cheers."

"Cheers." Isabel resumed her contract skimming and signing.

TBC