Chapter Fourteen

" Damn it Nathan " said Thaman as he stood over his friend's body. He had taken Nathan's body from the lab. Thaman was now alone in the desert near the Pod Chamber. The chemicals that Nathan's body was soaked in were still somehow keeping him from disintegrating. Thaman had built a small precipice for his friend. He had laid Nathan's body on it and had lit it with his powers. He was giving his friend a soldier's burial. " What happened to make you come here? " Thaman watched as his friend slowly was engulfed in the flames. " Did you think I could not do this alone? That I would let them die like before? You know me too well to presume that. Why would you leave the Queen Mother in Antar and come here? Who was powerful enough to kill you? Not Nicholas. He is not powerful enough to come close but he did not do it did he? How could you be so stupid so as to get yourself killed? What happened? " Tears fell from Thaman's face. " What am I supposed to do by myself? I was depending on you for our return. Is the Queen Mother dead too? If there was only any way of knowing. I cannot use Laric constantly cause he will not know the details. I cannot trust him completely. He did not help our planet when Kivar was taking over. But he has been useful to the Royal Three. Damn it Nathan something had to have happened and you came here to warn me did you not? But what? What happened? " he sighed as he wiped his face. " Now they are all I have left. I have to train a king? " He shook his head. " Nathan she knows. She knows I love her. What do I do? " He looked at his friend's body. It was now all black, his bone structure exposed. " But before you go Nathan " he said as he raises his hand just above Nathan's body. Two small crackling balls of light moved parallel to Nathan, slowly forming their symbol, the symbol on the orbs. When they had completely formed the symbol, it shot up into the air, illuminating the dark desert sky with a blue light. The symbol shone upon the sky like the stars. Thaman looked up at it. " Good bye my friend " he said as he watched his friend disappear completely under the flames and walked away into the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

" What do you mean they're still on Earth? " asked Nicholas, his anger raising. " The ship left "

" I know my Lord, but I saw them " said the second alien shaking. He was still seriously burned. His husk slightly crispy.

" What idiots we've been. This was a trick all along. To make us believe that they had all left. They planned to throw us off " he ran his fingers through his hair. " What are they planning? " He asked to himself. " First you idiots bring back Zan behind my back and then you bring attention to yourselves. But at least they think you're dead and think I still don't know they haven't gone "

The alien lowered his head.

Nicholas frowned. " They know you're still alive? "

" No they don't "

" Then why do you have that stupid scared look on your face? "

" They may not know… "

" Then what? "

" Thaman knows "

" How would Thaman know anything? "

" Thaman's alive and he's here "

Nicholas squinted at him. " Are you sure it was Thaman? "

" Yes it was him I swear "

" So Thaman's on Earth as well. That makes this difficult "

" My Lord he saw Nathan's body "

" Shut up! I don't want to hear anymore bad news from you "

The alien lowered his head on consent.

" I wonder, " said Nicholas, his voice was bone chilling as he whispered softly to him. " Why Thaman let you live? He wants me to know he's here. What is he planning? "

" Do you wish to contact Khivar? "

" We'll see first, " said Nicholas rubbing his chin. " Telling Khivar now will just get him in his mood. I wonder if that little idiot Ava got pregnant yet " he was pacing a little thinking of what Thaman might have planned for him. As he knew already it could be anything and he had to be more careful now. " I want you to watch them first. Keep an eye on them "

" I can go then my Lord? " he thought that Nicholas was going to kill him.

" Go " said Nicholas waving his hand and dismissing him.

With that the alien rushed out the door before Nicholas happened to change his mind.

Nicholas smiled to himself. " You're my sign to Thaman that I know. Too bad you won't survive long enough to give me your first report "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" You should have contacted me before Thaman " said Laric as Brody. They were back at the UFO Center.
Thaman stood with his head up straight and his hands were behind his back. He didn't look into Laric's face as Laric paced around him.
" It was on a need to know basis my Lord "
" Do you not think I needed to know this? Zan was my best friend Thaman "
Thaman kept his gaze in front of him, showing no expression as always.
Laric stood facing right in front of him.
" You don't believe me, do you Thaman. Speak freely "
Thaman just looked at him and looked back up.
" Speak! "
" No I do not believe you my Lord "
Laric exhaled. " I know how you must feel "
" No my Lord you do not " Thaman looked down at Laric and moved his face closer. He didn't know why he had to be subject to Laric, even though Laric was a Royal on his planet, he had no jurisdiction over Thaman directly. " I had to watch them die. I had to watch as one by one they were killed in front of my face and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I am the one that had to watch my King fall prey to Ava again. I had to hide away all these years and wait. While you and your planet did nothing to help. King Zan was not your best friend. You were no friend of his. While he was fighting, his friend just sat on his throne doing nothing. Just watched as Antar, it's protector and ally fall to pieces by trash like Khivar. "
" Thaman " said Laric sighing. He couldn't be mad at him, he was right. Laric had done nothing.
" I just do not know why you have decided to help now. Is it guilt or were you sent? " said Thaman looking back up.
" You do not know anything about politics Thaman "
" So politics is more important then friendship, honor and loyalty? "
" Thaman you do not understand "
" I do not have to understand "
Laric sighed again as he looked up at Thaman. " For what it's worth, I'm here anytime you need me. This time I'm going to help "
Thaman frowned at him.
" I swear it " said Laric.
" I will have to see for myself " said Thaman turning around as he looked at Laric. " They may trust you, but I do not " He walked out the door.
" I am glad you are with them " said Laric to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~

" If you say another phrase from Buddha Kyle I'm seriously going to deck you " said Maria sitting back in the booth the both of them were sitting at.

" I'm just sharing with you a small way of… "

" Stop it! " she said putting her hand out to stop him. " God I tell you I'm having trouble sleeping and you go off "

" Mind backing off from my girl Valenti? " asked Michael taking off his apron. Immediately Maria got really giddy as Michael joined them at their booth.

" Hey man. I was only trying to help " said Kyle lifting both his hands. He watched as Michael yawned loudly. " God all of you are like zombies "

" Hey " said Michael defensively. " We had a rough couple nights since… " It had been a week since the incident with Zan. That whole mental picture stayed with him.

" Hello I got thrown across the room remember? "

" Yeah I remember " he said looking at Maria. She put her head on his shoulder.

Kyle sighed grumpily. " I'm outta here " he said getting up. " There's gotta be something more interesting than watching you smoochin goons "

" Finally "said Michael waving him off.

Kyle rolled his eyes at Michael as he turned towards the door, not paying attention and crashed right into a person trying to walk past him. His chin bumped her forehead.

" Watch it! " she said rubbing her forehead.

" Ow! Sorry " said Kyle as he rubbed his chin.

" Nice going Valenti " said Michael smirking.

Kyle looked down at the small and very curvaceous figure in front of him. He gaped at her with his mouth open. She had thick dark black feathered hair that seemed to blow up a little. She had small heavenly brown eyes and a cute toned body. She wore a black knitted halter-top and tight blue jeans with black beaded sandals. She had small shoulders and curvy hips. She had to be new. He's never seen her before. She looked up at him still rubbing her forehead.

" Just watch it next time " she said managing a smile. She walked over to the counter and sat down. Kyle kept his eyes on her as if they were glued on her.

" Hello? " called Maria waving her hand in front of him " Kyle? "

" What? " he said blinking his eyes and looking at her and Michael.

" Didn't you say you were leaving? " said Michael snorting.

" I just found something more interesting " he said looking at her again. She sat at the counter and didn't seem to notice Kyle staring at her drooling.

" Then go talk to her Buddha Boy " said Maria hitting him hard on the back.

" Ok " said Kyle sighing nervously.

Maria looked at Michael. They both rolled their eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~

" Now Liz I want you to concentrate really hard " said Thaman. He was standing next to her in her room. This was her training. Ever since she had been kidnapped last week Thaman was determined to have her exercise her power in case anything like this ever happened again.

" Thaman I can't do this " she said nervously.

" Yes you can Liz. Just concentrate, just like we practiced " said Thaman reassuring her.

" Ok " she said reluctantly. She closed her eyes. She squeezed her eyes in concentration. Thaman watched as her eyes slowly began to relax. She was doing it. He smiled. She's connected.

" I love you too Liz " said Max beaming with pride as he stuck his head through the window. He looked at her and Thaman. Thaman looked at Liz who had now opened her eyes. " Of all the things you could have said " he said smiling down at her.

" I couldn't think of anything else " she said blushing.

Max jumped through the window and stood next to her.

" So what images did you receive my Lord? " asked Thaman

" I saw her sit next to me on the railing outside and she told me that she loved me " said Max, his lovesick eyes burning into Liz's.

" So you managed to hear her speak this time? "

" Yes " said Max not taking his eyes off of Liz. His Liz and every day was proving it more and more.

" Good " said Thaman sighing. " Now that we have accomplished that, let's take a rest for today " he looked from Max to Liz. " I'll be going now my Lord " he smiled at the both of them as he disappeared and jumped off her balcony again.

~~~~~~~~~~~

" You can't just stay like this Jim "

" I know Amy " said Valenti, he was looking at Amy Deluca form across the table. She held her coffee mug watching the steam rise up into the air. " For Kyle's sake. You can't just sulk around by yourself. You have to support your son "

" I'm not sulking Amy " he said thinking about last week at the Pepper's Café. He could picture again him and Michael blowing up the generator to the shield blocking their powers and running down into the lab. The sight that shocked the both of them down there was permanently indented into his head.

" Then how are you keeping busy? "

" Things just keep getting up " he said smiling innocently.

" Keep coming up ey? " she said eyeing him. She was worried about him. He seemed so stressed out and distant lately. He was always rushing around before because of his job and she knew it was because of that. But now he wasn't working but his rushing around continued. What was going on in his head?

" I've been trying to keep myself as busy as possible " he said looking down at his mug. " It's been rough Amy "

" I'm sure and with Tess running away like that " she said " And you guys were really getting close "

" Yeah it just came so suddenly "

" Was she having problems? "

" I'm not sure what was going on. Kyle and I woke up and she was gone "

" Maybe she went to find her real home "

" Maybe " he said. He took a big gulp from his mug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Isabel sat in front of her mirror, just looking at her face. She had slept over time today. She had no make up on, her hair was wet and she was wearing her bathrobe. She examined her face carefully turning it this way and that. " You just seem content on grooming yourself " she remembered Thaman saying when he had first showed up. " You were always into appearances " Was she really that shallow? She did use her powers for other things than besides making herself perfect every day. She did save Laurie from the crystals didn't she? Was that what Thaman thought of her? What was it about her or Vilandra that he had loved? She would never have guessed his real feelings for her if she hadn't had that flash from him. His eyes never hinted of that when he looked at her. She hasn't had another vision of Alex since that day. Before, she would get regular visions of Alex with her, but nothing now. " Oh Alex " she said aloud as she bit her lip to try and stop the tears. " I know what you'd say if you were here, but you're not here. You would tell me to be strong and to move on. But I'm so scared Alex. I'm so scared about the things going on in my head. " She put her face in her hands and sobbed. She jerked her head up quickly, a thought coming to her head. She got up and hurried around her room trying to figure out what to wear.