Chapter 24
Liz and Michael broke the holographic image before he went anywhere. * Liz, stay connected to him I want to know everything he does and says in the next couple of hours * Michael said to his sister whilst they were still connected * Ok, I'm on it * Liz said as she broke the connection with Michael to focus on the Leader. "Alex, let the others know what is happening, connect to Max" he said to his brother,
"What are you going to do?" Alex asked his brother
"Its 9am now, I'm going to sleep for an hour, then you can and then I will take over from Liz so that she can get some rest before we go to the rendezvous point to scout it out"
"Ok" Alex said as he connected within himself to Max.
"So where are you travelling to this morning?" Tess asked Max whilst they were waiting for Isobel and Maria to finish getting ready. "I don't know, I think that we are going everywhere within a thirty mile radius of Roswell in every direction possible" Max said smiling slightly
"You will be back in time for our shift this afternoon won't you?" Tess asked looking worried
"With Maria's driving? Are you kidding I will be back with ten minutes to spare" Max said grinning
"What's that about my driving?" Maria asked walking into the lounge
"Nothing" Max said quickly
Maria and Isobel had taken turns to eavesdrop on the conversation that was happening in the lounge, they had both showered and had gotten ready in Maria's room with Isobel borrowing a few items out of Maria's closet and showing her how to adjust them colour wise and size wise. Then they had sat down for a moment to talk about everything that they had learnt last night, it was weird for them to suddenly find out that they were sisters but in a way it was fun to because they already knew most things about each other, only for Maria it was slightly gross as well because she had kissed her brother last night! "I can't believe everything that has happened" Isobel said in quiet tones to Maria.
"I know, it's all so weird, I just hope everything works out ok, you know with is all sharing this family connection thing"
"It will do Maria, don't worry. Just be glad of one thing though"
"What's that?"
"That you don't share this connection that Michael and Liz have"
"I know, and believe me I am grateful. This whole connection thing is weird I mean Liz knows Michael even better then I do"
"Doesn't that worry you?"
"Yes and no, in a way I am worried because Liz will always know what is going on with Michael before I do but I'm also glad because then at least he has someone to turn to who he knows won't turn away from him no matter what he has done instead of wondering what we will do"
"I get that" Isobel said, "I wonder how Max will deal with this once they come back to Roswell"
"Tess is on the move towards the door!" Maria whispered as she felt her move. Maria realised that she could sense when people were moving, which was handy if you wanted to talk without being overheard! "Let's go then," Isobel said whispering as she stood up, "Maria I am so grateful for you lending me some clothes, I feel like I have been glued into this!" Isobel said loudly as she got to the door, "Tess! I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting, I promise you I am ready now" Isobel said as she opened the door to find Tess on the other side of it. "Ok, lets go" Tess said glad that she had heard Isobel's voice before they had opened the door so that she could move away from the door. She had been listening to their conversation or lack of it trying to find out some sort of clue as to if they had any information or been in contact with Liz, Michael or Alex or even if they knew about her and her secret. The three girls walked back into the lounge to see Max with his eyes closed and a look of concentration on his face, "Maria we had better go" Isobel said realising that Max was probably connected to Alex and that Tess could potentially realise what they were up to unless they got her out of the room. "Call me when you know you are on your way back to Roswell, and then I can help you with the rest of your errands if you haven't finished them"
"Ok" Maria said hugging her sister, "I will see you soon Tess" Maria said hugging her to so that it didn't look suspicious. "See ya Maria" Tess said walking out the door followed by Isobel. Maria then went over to Max who had just broken out of the connection. "2pm, semi-circle rock formation, 10 miles west of Roswell"
"Ok" Maria said understanding immediately as she pulled out her cell phone
"Isobel Evans" the voice said on the other end of the phone
"It's me," Maria said
"Hi mom" Isobel said
"Got the co-ordinates, so far so good"
"That's excellent mom! Take care and enjoy your holiday!" Isobel said as Maria hung up.
"Time to go Max" Maria said as she pulled her brother up and transported to the Pod Chamber.
"Liz and Michael have contacted me and want to do a deal, they want Catherine and Ava in exchange for themselves" the Leader said
"What are you planning on doing?" the second in command asked
"They have laid down some terms and conditions, I am only allowed to take two guards with me" the Leader said, "so I have decided to tell Tess to bring the others and then we can sort them out, also I have got the plans for the area that they wanted to meet, and I have found a tactical advantage bit if they find out about it then it won't work"
"Where is it Leader?"
"There is a cliff where they wanted to meet, in front of that there is a rock formation in the shape of a semi circle and I am going to hide the beam in there, I will put a hole in the wall and then I want to put the beam there before sealing it up again"
"That will take out their powers while the beam is active" the second in command said in amazement of his Leader's ideas. "Go there now and set up the beam, but don't switch it on until 1401 hours, the beauty of the beam is that you can do it by remote control so they won't be able to see you do it, that way they can transport in but they can't leave if they think something is wrong"
"Are we actually going to take Catherine and Ava to the meeting"
"Yes, because we are going to take all five of them with us" the Leader said grinning at his most trusted officer. "I will comply with taking two officers because with the active beam, that will be all I need. Not a word to Tess. Get to it"
"Yes sir" his second in command said standing up and walking out of the door. The Leader sat down at his desk and said aloud to the empty office, "I have finally succeeded" he said laughing, "In a couple of hours I will have the four children and their mother and then there will be nothing to stop us!" he said as he continued to laugh. Not realising that somebody had overheard every word.
Liz disconnected from the Leader's mind and sank to the floor; she had been standing for nearly an hour without realising. Liz blinked her eyes a couple of times to clear the visions and the spots from the front of her eyes as she struggled to take in everything that she had learned in the past hour. * Michael? I need you to wake up, we have work to do *
* What's up? * Her brother asked sleepily
* Just get up! * Liz said, she didn't have the energy to move, so she waited until she saw Michael standing up and stumbling over to her, "Alex?" Liz called
"What's up?" he said walking over to her before sitting down in front of her
"The Leader has decided to alter our arrangement, so we need to get there earlier to take care of the development" Liz said, "he has a beam that once active can knock out our powers so that we are defenceless, they are going to hide it in the rock formation, so we need to go there now and take care of it, he's also going to contact Tess and tell her to bring the others but he's not going to tell her about the beam so that she will be powerless to. He's not happy with her and that's why he sent the other agents" Liz explained sleepily, following the Leader had taken a lot of energy from her, "right this is what we are going to do" Michael said, "Liz as you are half asleep, you are going to bed now for a bit and don't even think about arguing, Alex you and I are going to take turns in patrolling the site when is the beam going to be switched on?"
"1401 hours" Liz said sleepily and as she closed her eyes she felt herself being picked up, laid on a sleeping bag and covered with a blanket before hearing a voice say, * good job sis * as she slipped away from consciousness.
"Come on Maria, you can do it" Max said trying to be encouraging, Maria was able to do quite a few things already but the two they needed to work on were shields and beams so that she would be able to hold her own this afternoon. "I'm just so tired, we have been doing this for two hours now, and I have a pretty workable defence system" Maria said as she leant against the wall and sank to the floor
"Ok, we will have a break for a bit" Max said also looking worn out
"So what do you think about this whole thing?" Maria asked her brother
"Oh the whole, 'Liz, Michael, Alex and Ava are related' the whole Liz, you, Alex and Kyle if he were still alive have powers' the whole Michael and Liz are twins and have a connection and know more about each other then you and I' the whole 'Tess has betrayed us thing' and the whole 'you are related to Isobel and I'" Max said thinking everything through and putting them into categories.
"Yes, all of that" Maria said grinning
"It's very strange and once they come back to Roswell it's going to take a lot of getting used to"
"I know, it will be strange and there might be some problems, but I think that it's good that they have had each other to get them through this, and also the four of them seem so happy and Michael has really opened up and looks so happy now that he has this family to look after"
"I know and I am grateful for that, it's just going to be weird sharing Liz with someone else"
"You shouldn't see it as sharing" Maria said, "they will be able to switch this connection off Max, and we will learn to adjust to it, because we must have been able to cope with it back in the other life, at least you and I are not connected because I would drive you insane and also Liz will be a good influence on Michael as we have seen"
"Ok, I get the idea" Max said grinning, "you wouldn't want to be connected to me either otherwise all I would tell you about would be Liz this and Liz that!"
"So I can guess" Maria said
"Can we just have a bit of a sleep? I am totally exhausted and we have three hours before Isobel finishes so if we sleep now, then you should be refreshed enough for when she gets here. Also I have taught you as much as I can so you could probably learn more from her"
"Ok" Maria answered, "I think there are a couple of sleeping bags in the corner from where Michael sometimes came and crashed here so lets get those and crash"
"Sounds like a plan" Max said grinning as he stood up
"I'm glad that we are … that we are related" Maria said, "I know that it's going to be weird but I am still glad"
"It's going to be weird for me to have another sister" Max said, "but I am glad that it's you and not Liz!" he added grabbing the two sleeping bags
"You and me both!" Maria said as she grabbed a sleeping bag out of his out stretched hand and curled up in it. Max copied her and soon the two of them were asleep.