Title: The Difference (pt 3)
Takes Place: Immediately after "Baby, it's you" (spoilers up through this episode only)
Plot: When the aliens return from their home world, the impact of the sacrifice Liz made 13 years earlier could mean the difference between Earth's salvation….and it's destruction.
Written: 06. 07. 01
Feedback: Don't make me beg ; )
Obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own 'em…and I don't even want Max anymore, after what they've done to him. Bah!!
Note: This fic is in NO way, shape, or form related to my other Roswell fic, "Sacrifices". That one will eventually be a trilogy, but this one's totally separate.
* author's note * : okay, remember how I said I had two different versions to the end of this fic, and I couldn't decide which one I wanted to do? Well...I still can't decide. So this chapter is going to be the original ending, part 3 of 3. Within the next couple days, I'll post the alternative ending, and you guys can tell me which one you like better. Enjoy : ) (oh, p .s….sorry about the bumped up rating…but I had to give it a higher one after everything that goes down in this chapter ;)
"The Difference"
~ pt. 3 … 2014 ~
~*~*~*~*~
~ The Starship S 'R ia ~
As the doors hissed shut behind him, Rathier drew up short at the view that awaited him.
The king's chambers had what no other cabin aboard the S'Ria did...wide windows that ran the full length of the room, from ceiling to floor. Having approved the specs for this and all other warships built for the past ten years, Rathier knew that there was extra shielding in this area to make up for the vulnerability of reinforced glass, instead of steel. He'd tried numerous times to talk Zanav out of the luxury, but the kind was dead set on being able to see what was ahead of them, and refused to allow for the more practical nature of small ports. And at this moment, Rathier envied him the view.
Taking up the whole of the view afforded through the windows was Earth. Blue and green and white, it filled the room with its enormity. Framed at the center of the globe was Zanav. He stood facing the planet, his back to Rathier, and contemplated his objective. Hearing Rathier enter, Zanav turned and his lips curved into a cruel smile. It was a smile, yes, but there was no warmth in it, and it didn't reach his eyes. Rathier felt the chill in the greeting, but nodded a greeting at the king, and Zanav turned back to gaze once more at Earth.
"There it is," Zanav said musingly. "The source of everything. The planet we've worked for years to get to." He raised one hand up to the window in front of him, and touched it lightly, as if he could almost feel Earth within his grasp. Almost as an afterthought he said "Hard to believe that by the end of the day it will be rubble."
Rathier took a deep breath as he realized this was it. For the first time in thirteen years he was going to go against what he knew his king wanted. Readying himself for the confrontation, he gathered his wits and at last spoke. "And will it be done, then?" he asked. "Will it be over?"
Zanav turned back to his general in surprise, and a hint of anger. His tone was warning when he spoke. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"This war," Rathier replied. "This vendetta. If you destroy Earth, will it destroy the hate inside you? Will you finally be able to rest, then?"
Zanav's expression was cold as he turned his back on Rathier and gazed again at the planet almost within his reach. He would feel only relief, not remorse, at its destruction. "It's never over." he said to himself.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Earth: The Granilith ~
~*~*~*~*~
Liz entered the granilith chamber and stepped carefully around the rubble on the floor, making her way to the console at the center of the room. She wondered again about the specifics of the aliens' departure…about how they'd been transported to their world. What had they left in? She could detect no parts missing from the structure. Perhaps there had been more to the granilith than that which could be seen by the naked eye? Something deeper than the chamber she stood in…some sort of sub-structure? Or beyond it…on the other side of the hill?
In any case, they were gone. That much was fact. And from looking around, she could tell that no one but she had visited this room in at least a decade. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and the instrumentation in front of her. Stirred up from her passage, it thickened the air around her.
From the console rose the vertical column that was the center of the granilith. It extended up from the floor and met the ceiling in a snarl of cables and wires; thick piping snaking out around it, reaching back further into the hidden depths of the machine. As with every one of her treks here, she noted the lack of use apparent in the machinery. The darkened and disused displays. The sense of abandonment that filled the chamber.
Liz shrugged off her jacket and draped it gently over a corner of the console, her fingers staying to play lightly over the surface. She started to bring her hand back to her lips to blow away the dust, but a faint tremble in the metal beneath her fingertips gave her pause, and she placed her hand fully against it. Yes…there was a sensation…a hum, almost. The same feeling she would get from placing her hand on the running modem of a computer.
With a jolt, Liz realized that that's just what this was. The granilith was a machine…a computer, albeit a highly advanced one. And it was running.
A sudden clanging noise made Liz gasp and snatch her hand back as the chamber abruptly came to life around her. The overhead lights blazed on, suddenly, and long darkened displays lit up in greens and blues. The walls around her thrummed as the machinery behind them began to work again, and even the relatively quiet hum that permeated the chamber was loud in her ears after the dead silence only a moment before.
Trying to force her heart to stop racing, Liz's eyes narrowed as she a faint glow originating from the column that rose from the console. Within, something swirled and began to take form.
She stepped closer for a better look.
~*~*~*~*~
~ The Starship S 'R ia ~
~*~*~*~*~
Rathier tensely watched as Zanav activated the granilith. Each moment drew the king closer to arming the explosive device within it, but Rathier had thus far been unable to force himself to speak further against the process. A sense of dread was building inside him…mounting with each switch Zanav threw; each system he readied. Over the king's shoulder, Rathier could see the readouts on the granilith's power source flash green along the oversized viewscreen along one wall. All systems were go. The time was nearing.
This planet Zanav wasn't even going to try to capture. This was out and out destruction. He wanted it obliterated. And the first step in the war would leave a crater in the place where New Mexico used to be.
Rathier knew that that pleased Zanav. That the granilith, left inert for so long in the depths of that mountain, would be the device he'd use to carry out his plan. That the first step in destroying Earth would first destroy the very place they'd grown up. Roswell would be gone in a moment, and from there the end would be swift. Earth had nothing in the way of defense. They still didn't even know there was extra terrestrial life. They would be helpless to defend themselves.
Suddenly all Rathier could think about was Liz. He imagined her in a lab somewhere, looking through a microscope. Trying to learn more about the world in order to help it. As she'd always tried to understand and help them. And this was the fruit of her labor. For saving them, saving their lives even, Zanav would destroy her, and her whole world. And abruptly Rathier knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he couldn't let this happen. Earth didn't deserve this…no one did. He had to stop this.
He stepped closer to Zanav, who was still working at the console. The king checked the viewscreen on the wall occasionally to make certain the readouts were normal before he continued. Rathier saw that there were only a few more sequences to go before the explosive was armed. Coming around the console, he broke every custom and law of their planet and grasped Zanav around the arm. "Stop this." he said in English.
Zanav looked up, shocked at the breach of protocol. "Take your hand off me!"
Rathier did so, but didn't move away. "Stop this, Zanav. You don't have to do it. It's not too late." He hovered next to the king, hoping against hope that Zanav would listen to reason, but knowing in his heart that it wasn't likely.
Zanav finally overcame his shock and his eyes narrowed as Rathier's words – and his use of English – finally registered. "How dare you?" he hissed, anger quickly overtaking his features.
Rathier pressed on. "Come on, man…use English. You're gonna destroy their planet, you should at least be able to speak their language. It's half our language too, you know…or have you finally managed to make yourself forget that part?"
"Stand down, General," Zanav ordered coldy, deadly warning in his voice. "Stand down now, or I will put you down."
Rathier realized the threat in that sentence, but knew he had no real choice, now. He had to go on. "Yeah," he said quietly. "You're gonna have to kill me, Maxwell…because if you let me live I'm not gonna let you do this."
Zanav had started forward, but the sound of his former name stopped him cold. He was shaken, Rathier could tell. Interpreting it as a good sign, he tried to press his case. "Come on, Max," he said, stepping closer to the console, and the little green button on it that would delete the whole process. "It's not too late. Just…step away from the console."
Zanav made no move to step away. His voice was low and conniving, and it was in English when he spoke. "Why would you do this? Why would you throw everything away for this one planet?" he said. "The deaths of millions of people have never stopped you before."
Rathier winced at the truth of that statement. "I know," he said, "but I regret every one. And it's time to stop it. You are my King, and I have followed you…but I can't let you do this, Max. I can't let you destroy her…destroy this planet, just to stop the pain inside you. They don't deserve this. And I have nothing to lose."
Zanav was incredulous. "Your career means nothing? Your people mean nothing? Your wife – "
"Isabel wants this to end too." Rathier interrupted. He watched as Zanav absorbed this information, and could almost see his thought process as he filed it away for future reference before turning back to the problem at hand. Afraid suddenly that he would fail, and Zanav would return to Antar to punish Vilandra, Rathier took another step toward the king. He had to get him off guard. "Do you think I don't know what this is really about?" he asked. "Do you think I don't realize that this is all a way to get back at Liz? To get back at fate in general for screwing you over?"
Rathier could not have imagined how much of an impact her name would be on Zanav. The king's eyes widened in rage, and his lips curled back in a snarl. His whole face was a rictus of fury. With a wordless cry, he leapt at Rathier, pulling from his uniform a dagger that the general hadn't known he carried. He suddenly realized that Zanav hadn't been listening, he'd merely been waiting until he came close enough to spring.
He was on him in a moment, and Rathier barely got his hand up in time to block a fatal thrust of the blade. They wrestled for a moment at the console before Zanav managed to shove him away hard enough that the general landed on the deck, sliding several feet before fetching up against the bulkhead. Whirling quickly to the console, Zanav
committed the final sequence, and a large yellow light above the viewscreen behind him flashed. The device was armed.
Rathier had immediately shot to his feet, but before he'd closed the distance to Zanav he saw the light…knew what it meant. They had two minutes until the granilith self-destructed. A small beep accompanied each flash, which Rathier knew would speed up as it got closer to detonating. Warily, he stepped toward Zanav. The king watched him come, grinning maniacally, and waving his dagger in a "bring it on" gesture. As Rathier approached, however, all of the expression suddenly leeched out of Zanav's face, and he stared with disbelief over Rathier's shoulder at the viewscreen.
Rathier turned his head slightly to the side and caught the screen in the corner of his eye. There was someone on it…not a readout, but an image. Of a person. A familiar person. Rathier turned more fully and finally realized who it was. Liz.
Older, as they both were, but it was her; no doubt. She stood in the granilith chamber, and Rathier absently noted the dust and rubble and other debris around her.
Liz's startled brown eyes stared back at them through the viewscreen, widening with shock as she realized who she was seeing, and Rathier blanched. God, what was she doing there? When the granilith went she'd be wiped out in an instant. There was no way she'd clear the blast radius in time. He had to stop it…he had to stop the timer.
Turning on his heel he sprinted back toward the console. Zanav was still fixated on the image on the viewscreen, and was taken off guard as Rathier slammed into him. They both hit the console and flipped over it, landing on the deck on the other side. As they hit the floor Rathier grappled for the upper hand, but he had no leverage. The dagger, where was the dagger? He elbowed Zanav to the face, and then crawled out from around the console, but the king got up and ran after him, tackling him to the floor again.
Zanav managed to pin him to the deck for a moment, and delivered a couple of powerful punches to his face. As Rathier was trying to protect his head, he suddenly felt a sliver of cold steel against his belly. His wild eyes sought out Zanav's, but the king's were merciless as the blade cut into him. Rathier cried out in pain as his one-time friend jerked the blade across his abdomen, seeking to spill his guts out onto the deck.
Rathier nearly screamed from the pain, and ceased in his struggles. For a moment there was silence other than the heavy breathing from both men, and the beeping, which was getting steadily faster as the counter neared its mark. How much time left? Rathier wondered. There can't be much…. He looked up at Zanav's face helplessly, and was startled at the expression he saw there.
Zanav looked resigned. Tired…but also…sorry. Sorry for having probably killed his general? Sorry for arming the granilith? Sorry that Rathier had failed against him? "Why, Michael?" he asked…finally using his old friend's name. "You were always the one who wanted to leave the most. Why did you fight so hard now to save them now?"
Rathier gasped beneath Zanav, feeling warm all the sudden and realizing that it was because he was lying in a spreading pool of blood. His breath was erratic as he replied. "I'm not…the person I used to be."
Zanav nodded as he realized the truth of this. His face looked almost regretful as he glanced at the viewscreen…at Liz's horrified face; her screams unheard over the image-only transmission…and then back to Rathier. "Neither am I," he said. "Max is gone."
Rathier heard the beeping grow faster behind him somewhere…faster. How much time left? Twenty seconds? Less? He looked back up at Zanav. "It's too bad," he said, reaching under his tunic, "He was a good guy, before his "destiny" got hold of him."
He paused a moment, looking into Zanav's eyes, and thought he saw a hint of Max there…somewhere. But it wasn't enough. And there wasn't enough time.
"I'll miss him," Rathier said. And just as Zanav's brow furrowed in confusion, Rathier drove his own dagger into his king, his one time friend, and watched his eyes glaze over with pain and betrayal as the life left his body.
Don't think right now…don't think, just do. There's no time. Rathier pushed the lifeless body off of him, and tuned onto his side, trying desperately to get up. He slipped once on the blood on the floor, and almost tumbled to the deck again. Finally managing to get to his knees beside the console, he used it to lever himself up, and leaned on it as he walked around to the operations center.
The beep had become a steady drone behind him, and he was too afraid to look at the counter to see how much time was left. Without a second thought he depressed the button that would disrupt the sequence sent to the granilith, and the tone behind him suddenly stopped. Rathier closed his eyes.
Was he on time, or did it stop because the granilith had blown up?
Trembling, bleeding freely from the wound to his abdomen, Rathier turned around.
And saw her.
Alive. She was alive. He'd been in time.
Rathier's knees went weak from relief, and he fell to them hard on the unyielding metal deck; one hand clasped across his middle, stanching the flow of blood. He met her eyes and was shocked when he saw the comprehension and pain in them. She knew…somehow…she knew what had been going to happen, and that it was because of him that it hadn't. He could see the understanding and gratitude in her face. At that moment he knew that his memory of her was not something he'd built up over time…they really did owe her the things he thought they had, and he realized just what kind of a person she was. And any regrets he might have had about what he'd done were suddenly gone. He'd made the right choice.
And as they stared at each other across space, there was a long moment when it seemed like no words were necessary at all, and yet they understood each other perfectly. Thank you, her eyes said. He nodded to her once, in respect for all that he learned from her, and he hoped that his own eyes were enough to convey all that he felt to her. That he'd never wanted to become this, but felt swept along by it all. That he was sorry for the way Max had treated her back on Earth, for the way he himself had once treated her. That he hoped she would continue to go on and do good for all life. But mostly, he hoped she knew that it was because of her that he'd stopped Zanav.
It was the thought of her…and the memory of what she'd been for them, and all she'd done to help them, that had stayed with him all these years. That enabled him to realize that the person he'd become was not right…was not who he should be. The difference she had made in his life was what had made him stand up to Zanav and alter the course of what might have been. He hoped that she knew she was the woman who had changed the destiny of two planets.
And in that moment…that moment that seemed to last forever…he knew she understood.
~*~*~*~*~
~ Earth: The Granilith ~
~*~*~*~*~
Liz reached out a hand involuntarily as Michael's image faded from the column before her, and then drew it back again as the column went black. She stepped back from the column as suddenly all of the lights started going out on it, and she could hear the sound of machines powering down. The hum that had filled the chamber when the computers had come back to life faded down again, and silence filled the room. Lastly the overhead lights shut off, and Liz realized that Michael was cutting the power to the granilith by way of the console she'd seen on their ship. The room plunged into comparative darkness, and several moments passed as her eyes became adjusted to the lack of light.
Abruptly she realized that her face was wet…she'd been crying. Had she started when Max had died? Or when she belatedly realized what he'd been trying to do?
Or maybe it hadn't been until she saw how much Michael had gone through to save them?
She absently ran the back of her hand across her cheeks to wipe away the tears, picked up her jacket and stumbled toward the exit. And when she left she knew that this would be the last time she would ever come back here. Thirteen years worth of questions had just been answered. She knew now that this chapter of her life was over, and that she could finally let go.
~ FIN ~