Part 10

The Citadel, Illyria

Liz's head snapped up when the door slid open, revealing the silent female servant who had been taking care of Milena and her needs for the past few days. She shut her grandmother's journal with a sigh, wondered if she was ever going to get the chance to read the thing. It was very irritating.

The servant was carrying a bundle of clothing, which she handed over to Liz without a word. Liz looked at Milena, who stood across the room, her arms folded across her chest, an expression of worry on her face.

"What is this for?" Liz asked the girl. But the servant only smiled serenely and didn't reply, turning on her heel and leaving. "Why will no one talk to me?" Liz asked Milena in frustration. She was beginning to feel so isolated, her only consolation Max and Isabel's mother and, horrifyingly, Tarsus' brief visits.

She missed Max and her friends so much. And her parents...her parents who might be dead for all she knew. Liz felt tears fill her eyes, forced herself to squash the thoughts before they could truly form. She refused to accept that her parents were gone until she had proof. Tarsus was a master liar. Nothing that came out of his mouth could be believed and even he was unsure of the fate of Jeff and Nancy.

"I don't think Tarsus wants any of them to get close to you." Milena replied, moving close to take the bundle from Liz. "After all, Ren turned on him when he became friendly with Maria." She smiled, reached out her hand to push a lock of Liz's hair off of her face. "He sees that you are too lovable I think."

Liz grimaced. "Well, there's a disgusting thought. As if I would want any of these people to love me. They're Max's enemies!" She paused, feeling confused. "Besides, I thought they were all cleansed. How can they feel any affection anyway?"

Milena smiled sadly. "I think that the Dernians are just beginning to learn that their cleansing isn't as fool-proof as they once thought. And don't forget Liz that all the inhabitants of this planet are Max's subjects. The Dernians are rebels yes, but there is always hope that reconciliation will be achieved. This is what Jennetta is supposed to do for us. But that is a conversation for another time." She moved to the bed, put the bundle down, picked up the top article of clothing. It was a long white robe of some sort. "I think they want you to wear this for our journey to the Ring."

"Why?" Liz asked. "What's going to happen there? Do you know?"

"It's nothing to be afraid of sweeting. I think Tarsus is going to have the Ring judge you so that he can advance whatever plan it is he has for you. His people will likely not accept your place on our world unless the Ring does." Milena passed the white robe to Liz, continued quickly when she saw Liz shiver. "You will be fine Liz. You are my son's future wife. The Ring will welcome you. This is actually a positive thing, even if Tarsus seems to think it will benefit him."

The Ring. The centre of everything on this planet. It was strange to Liz that the Illyrians spoke of it as though it lived. Their entire culture revolved around it. In a purely scientific sense she was eager to see it. She had seen Stonehenge on Earth of course, but she had been unconscious when Tarsus had brought her to Illyria. She had not seen the Illyrian original yet.

And yet the news that she was likely to be "judged" was frightening. Maria had told her all about Judgment. She and Michael had had to go through that when they had been on Illyria. Apparently, in some sense, the Ring WAS alive because it formed the only judge and jury on this planet. Robbers, thieves, murderers, traitors...they were all sent into the Ring for punishment. If they were guilty or unworthy they were apparently incinerated. If they were innocent they were spared. Michael and Maria had been spared of course, so the result of being deemed guilty was still a little unclear. Which was what scared her so much.

What Liz wanted to know was who was doing the judging? She couldn't believe that a bunch of stones were the real power here. Who was using this Ring as their instrument? It was a question that plagued her. Ren had once spoken of the Creator and the mysterious Lucianus. Was this God? Why was God, if he existed, playing such a huge role in politics on one small planet? It was all very strange and unexplainable - and scary too. They were being forced to examine exactly what it was they believed.

And the scary thing was, Liz had no idea WHAT she believed. She believed in a higher power but also accepted that religion was something that was often created by societies to explain the mystery of life and death. But if some higher power was so involved in life on Illyria, what did that MEAN? Was Illyria somehow a reflection of all worlds? Would Earth reach the point where God would start to intervene directly there?

If there was one thing Liz Parker could not stand, it was finding more questions when she was looking for answers.

And if she couldn't find answers about the Ring right now, she COULD find answers about what the heck it was Tarsus wanted from her. She took the robe from Milena, quickly removed her own clothes and put it on. It was too thin. She started to shiver almost immediately. Apparently Illyrians and Dernians were more warm-blooded than humans. Liz had been bundled up for days but the Illyrian clothing was so thin as to sometimes be almost transparent.

Liz moved to her bag, took out a sweater, which she drew on over the robe.

"How long will it be?" Liz asked, still shivering.

"I have no idea." Milena replied. "But try not to worry too much. It will all be fine sweeting."

"Well, in the meantime..." Liz picked up her grandmother's journal. "I think I'll keep reading. To keep my mind off of it." Milena smiled at her and nodded, moved over to a nearby table where her embroidery was sitting waiting for her.

Liz flopped down on her bed, kicked the irritating robe out of the way and flipped open the journal. She quickly scanned her grandmother's preface again, felt a swell of affection for that beloved woman.

She noticed an introduction had been added to the journal, directly after the letter to herself.

"This is the story of a princess who came to a new world full of hope for the future. It is the story of how that hope disappeared and how, in the end, love did not conquer all. But love did live on as these pages will reveal."

Liz's grandmother had scrawled her signature under the words. She frowned, didn't understand. She had thought that this was her grandmother's journal? But then Claudia Parker had been an historian. Had she experienced something like Liz had experienced? A close encounter of the alien kind? And had she recorded it for posterity?

Liz flipped through the pages, sighed at the length. She was in for a long read it seemed. She hoped she could make a dent in it before Tarsus came to get them.

She began to read.

******************************************************************

December 14, 1812

I have decided to keep a journal of my time on Earth in the language of the country in which we came through the portal. It will be good for me to practice my English. Lucianus has, of course, instructed me so that I am fluent, but practice makes perfect. I will also date this journal in accordance with the calendar here, as that only makes sense.

I am not entirely sure why I am writing this all down, but I feel the need to do so. Perhaps it is so that I can share the details with my brother and with my love when I return to Illyria. Of course, any treaties that are negotiated with the humans will be historic in value as well. My journal might find itself enshrined in the Citadel's great library. Wouldn't that be a laugh? Silly Andrina's thoughts left behind for an entire world to admire!

The plans continue apace for the move to the North American continent. We have all agreed that no overtures will be made to the humans until we have well established ourselves here. We must be comfortable with our environment if we wish to approach them with any semblance of a position of strength.

I transmitted a message to my brother this morning. I stayed near the Earth Ring, called Stonehenge by the humans, for close to an hour, but there was no reply. I have not heard from Gordian in over a week. It frightens me. We agreed that we would transmit every three days, at least until we departed for North America. Communicating through the portal is so much easier than trying to use those untrustworthy dream orbs. Gordian has never been extremely patient in the use of the dream plain either. It is often more trouble than it is worth to speak to him there. We might be twins, but sometimes I do not understand my brother at all.

I do understand why he sent me here as his ambassador though. He wanted me as far away from Laren as possible. Doesn't he understand that nothing will come between our love? If Laren is willing to fight that evil " the cleansing" to be with me, of course he is trustworthy! It is most upsetting and frustrating. But I don't blame Gordian. He is ever so much more cautious since the birth of Jaxon and Mirana.

Lazar's position is precarious, to say the least, since their arrival. The whole treaty between my people and the Dernians rested on the tenet that Lazar would be my brother's heir. Gordian only agreed to this because it seemed unlikely that Milena would ever bear children. They had tried for so long, but they were still young. I don't know why Gordian ever signed that wretched document in the first place. Didn't he realize that Milena was only immature, that the children would come eventually? He should never have married her when she was so young. But he needed the trade treaty with Pilea. It was a mistake, but an understandable one.

Lazar is bound to be on the war path again. It was why I was sent here. A treaty with the humans is the only hope my brother has left.

Well, enough relaying of old details that will turn up in the history books anyway. I am off to London to see if Jemma has solved any of the questions regarding who is the real power on this planet - or at least in this country. We don't want to offend any leaders by broaching the wrong one.

***************************************************************
Liz looked up, a frown of confusion on her face. Laren? That was Nasedo's real name! Was he the hero of this great love story? What a joke. He was a murderous shapeshifter as far as Liz was concerned - nearly as bad as Tarsus. While Liz understood that his entire goal while on Earth had been to protect Max, Tess, Isabel and Michael, it still did not justify all the evil he had done.

But there were more pressing questions at the moment.

She saw Milena calmly working on her embroidery in the corner. "Milena?" Liz asked. Max's mother's head rose. She looked at Liz questioningly. "Who were Gordian and Lazar?"

A shadow passed over Milena's face. "Gordian was my husband. Lazar was Tristandor and Sabrya's father. He was the leader of the Dernians before Danala."

Liz stood, went to stand near Milena, the journal tucked into the crook of her arm. "Why won't you tell me about Andrina?" Liz asked her. Max's mother had turned away every question Liz had tried to direct at her since the journal had fallen into Liz's hands. She didn't understand it at all. And now it was clear that Milena HAD known her. She was her sister-in-law for Pete's sake!

Milena stared back at her, her face pale. "I think that Andrina would want you to find out from her Liz. That is what that book is for." The tone of her voice made Liz frown even more.

"Why are you so frightened of what she wrote in here?" Liz asked. When Max's mother bit her lip, Liz realized that she had hit the nail on the head with that question.

"I am not afraid." She said, in a tone that was completely unconvincing. "But I do not know all the details. It is better for you to read and then come to me with your questions. That way we can put all the information together."

Liz sighed. "Are you sure that you don't know why Tarsus thinks I'm so important?" She asked finally.

"I do not." Milena replied firmly.

But for some reason Liz did not believe her.

She wondered if she could really trust this woman at all.

Liz eyed her a moment longer, then went and sat back on the bed, pulling the journal towards her. She would do as Milena asked, read the whole thing and then ask her questions.

She turned back to the journal and was instantly engrossed.
**************************************************************

February 15, 1813

I have not written in ages as there is very little to report. We are largely sitting here twiddling our thumbs. I still have not heard from Gordian. If we do not hear from him soon, I fear that we will have to proceed to North America without having done so. My brother does not even answer me on the dream plain. I will try once more tonight. If I cannot connect, I will try Milena. She is strong on the dream plain.

I am frightened. My brother has never left me alone for so long. I fear what this means for Laren and for Illyria.

February 16, 1813

I could not reach Gordian. I am almost scared enough to try and return to Illyria through the portal. I could not reach Milena either.

February 17, 1813

I managed to reach Milena this evening. She was wandering on the dream plain, seemingly in a daze. I could not connect with her though. Something horrible has happened, I know it. I have contacted the members of the mission. We will all reconvene at Stonehenge in three days. I am going to open the portal. We are going home. None of this has any merit if something has happened to Gordian.

Oh my brother! I pray to the stars that you are safe! Our planet is doomed without you.

Laren, are you safe my love?

February 22, 1813

It is unspeakable. I have been weeping for two days straight, can barely see through my tears as I pen these words.

My brother is dead.

Part 11

Roswell, New Mexico, Earth - 24 hours later

"Any luck?"

Alex jumped at the sound of the voice close to his ear. He turned to stare at Jennetta, who had appeared suddenly near his elbow.

"I thought you were helping Ren and Maria bring books in here?" Alex asked, narrowing his eyes.

It had been almost a full day since Isabel, Michael, Kyle and the Sheriff had boarded a plane to Miami, hoping to catch Max and Tess before they made their connection to London.

When Isabel had called late the night before she had sounded totally bummed. They had had no luck at all, having made it all the way to London without even finding a hint that Max and Tess had even come through the United Kingdom's customs. The Sheriff's APB should have caught up to them at least by then.

There was only two possible answers to the riddle of how Tess and Max seemed to have disappeared off the face of the planet.

Either they already had "fallen" off the face of the planet, literally, and had somehow used super-speed to make it to the portal (Alex would NOT have put this past Max Evans at this point) - or else Tess was mind-warping like a maniac.

And if the latter was true, then the luck of one stubborn alien king was about to run out. Possibly at the worst possible time too - right when Max and Tess landed on Illyria and were confronted by a legion of Dernian troops.

There was no way that Tess was going to be able to keep up with the pace. She was strong, but she wasn't THAT strong.

As Michael had told Maria on the phone earlier this morning, Tess was exhausting herself to the point of complete drainage of her powers. He could feel it.

Both Isabel and Michael were certain that they would know if the portal had been opened, also both felt that they would know if the two AWOL members of their four-square had left the planet. The energy that it took from the planet and from Max as well would be felt by both of them.

Just as they could feel when Max used a great quantity of energy, they could feel it from Tess too. And if Michael was to be believed, he could barely feel her anymore. Max's spirit still burned somewhere on Earth, but with every passing hour, Tess's aura faded a little more.

She was draining herself completely.

But at least they were still on Earth, if not answering their mental cell phones at the moment, Alex reflected wryly. Tess had shut off her dreams to Isabel as well, but they were still THERE to shut her out.

There was STILL a chance of catching them at Stonehenge.

Everyone was even more on edge, not only concerned that they weren't going to be able to find Max and Tess in time, but also now horrified at what might happen to them once they made their way to Illyria.

The best possible scenario was capture.

Alex wasn't even convinced that this wasn't what Max had originally intended. At least if Tarsus caught him, Max would be taken to Liz. But Alex also trusted that Max wouldn't deliberately bring Tess into such a dangerous situation. It was entirely possible that once Tess made it clear that she was going with him, Max had changed his mind about how he wanted the whole operation to play out, depending on Tess's mind-warp to see them through those first initial moments on the planet.

But he had clearly not counted on the fact that Michael and Isabel would be pursuing him so determinedly and so quickly. And since he still likely thought they were going to try and stop him, he was letting Tess waste her powers in order to avoid them.

Which meant that they were in REAL trouble. Because if they resisted capture once they reached Illyria, relying on Tess's mind-warp to save them, hoping that she would still have enough strength to create one of such a magnitude, they could be killed.

It was entirely possible that Tess wouldn't be able to mind-warp at all.

They now knew for sure that Max had NOT originally intended to take Tess. Maria had found the note on Michael's messy bedroom floor last night. It had apparently fallen off the bed. Tess had begged them NOT to blame Max for her decision to accompany him. Apparently she had not even known for sure that he was going, had just gone to the airport on a hunch.

As she had written in her closing line: "He's only doing what I should have done a long time ago. Michael, please tell Kyle that I am going to try and resolve this once and for all."

Kyle had been absolutely silent on the other end of the phone when Maria had read him that part.

To top it all off, Jennetta was behaving VERY strangely.

Like right now for example.

Alex eyed her for a moment as she blushed, clearly unsure how to answer his question. "I just wanted to see if you needed more help with the vocabulary program." She finally said quietly.

"Er - okay." Alex moved over, let her pull up a chair.

They had set up Alex's PC in the pod chamber. Ren had somehow figured out how to hook it into the Compound's main energy source and it was humming along more happily than Alex had ever heard it. Alien juice clearly agreed with it.

Alex had started loading Illyrian vocabulary into one of his translation programs early yesterday morning. It had not taken very long for the computer to find an earthly language VERY similar to Illyrian.

Illyrian apparently was almost exactly the same as ancient Sumerian, one of the first recorded human forms of writing.

Alex and Maria had exchanged a look at this news. "Apparently Stonehenge wasn't the Illyrians first contribution to our civilization." Alex had finally managed to choke out.

Aliens had been on their planet for a VERY long time.

The good news was that the computer had been happily translating silver metal books for close to twelve hours. With Jennetta and Ren filling in certain words here and there, it had all gone very smoothly.

Too smoothly in fact. Alex now knew more than he had ever wanted to about Illyrian agriculture, industry, fashion and, most horrifying of all, sewage - or at least the lack thereof.

Maria had giggled slightly at that. "Didn't I mention that little detail?" She had asked him. "It's outhouse city there babe. Or at least sometimes."

"And I'm choosing to go to this planet?" Alex had asked, feeling pained. He was NOT, never had been, a camper. Alex Charles Whitman liked his creature comforts. Both Father's Camping trips into Fraser Woods had practically killed him. Even his dad's raid of every camping store in Roswell for the latest state-of -the art camping equipment on their last journey into the woods had not helped.

At least he knew that if he and Isabel ended up together he wouldn't be expected to be "outdoorsy dad." She was even less outdoorsy than he was.

Alex propped his cheek up on his left hand, stared at the scrolling computer screen. "Are you bored of reading the old-fashioned way?" He asked Jennetta, trying to stop his eyes from crossing.

"I WAS bringing some more books in here to read, but Maria insisted that I rest my eyes for a while. She said they were getting blood-shot." She looked at him from under lowered lashes, her cheeks still slightly pink. Her dark lashes swept upward until she was staring right at him. "Do you think they look okay?"

Alex blinked.

Her eyes didn't look the least bit blood-shot to him. In fact, they were actually really pretty. He had never noticed before. They looked a lot like Michael's, but they had a peculiar ring of green around the edge of the iris that made them seem even darker...

What the hell was he thinking???

Alex sat back abruptly. "They look okay." He muttered, swallowing hard and turning his own eyes back to the computer.

If Alex Charles Whitman was not mistaken, Jennetta Elizabeth Evans was FLIRTING with him!

But he HAD to be mistaken. She was a kid for criminy's sake - well, sort of. How old WAS she anyway? Alex wondered, casually looking at her from the corner of his eye. She was now staring at the computer screen too, her full lips, almost identical to Maria's, pursed in concentration.

As far as he knew she was supposed to be about twenty-one, or at least that's what Ren had speculated she would be. But then she had only been in existence for just over two years.

So not only was she was also TOO young for him, she was ALSO too old.

It was too weird - and disturbing.

Not to mention she was sort of Isabel's sister. Alex mentally smacked himself. She was so NOT flirting with him. Was he insane?

And yet Alex swallowed again, tried to inconspicuously move his chair away from Jennetta's.

He blessed his lucky stars that Michael was currently on the other side of the Earth. If he had been there with any inkling of the way Alex's thoughts had just turned, Alex Charles Whitman would not be long for this world.

Must turn train of thoughts...MUST do it now! Alex ordered himself. "So, why'd you decide to call Michael and Maria by their first names?" He blurted out.

Great you fool! Remind her that she has an abnormal and sad relationship with her biological parents. What the hell is the matter with you?

Jennetta did not seem upset as she replied though. "We just decided it would be easier. It has to be natural that I call them by their names - I mean, at least on Earth. I can't slip up and call them mom and dad. How could we ever explain that? Not even the Evans' know our real relationship."

"Are you okay with that?" Alex asked quietly, feeling sorry for her, but even more so for Maria. He knew that this whole grown-up child thing had almost killed her. His best friend seemed to be bouncing back now but Alex had a feeling that she would never be completely the same again. Maria might still be wacky, but she would never again have the innocence she had lost since Jennetta's arrival.

"I wish things could be different." Jennetta replied matter-a-facty. "But this is my destiny."

Alex grinned sadly at her. "Don't you know yet that that's a dirty word around here?" He asked teasingly.

Jennetta smiled at him. "Not always." She replied. "There are lots of things I want in this world..." She paused, bit her lip, looked away from him. Alex frowned slightly. What was going on in that head of hers? "That I can't have." She finished. "But I DO want to be Queen and that is one thing that I CAN have."

Alex couldn't help himself. He reached out and took her hand reassuringly. "I really don't think any of this is fair but I really do hope you get the happiness you deserve Jenny."

Jennetta just gazed at him, her eyes bright, her expression unreadable.

Alex let her hand drop when Maria appeared at the entrance to the transformation chamber, stumbling under a pile of silver books. "Help!" She yelped. Alex jumped to his feet to help her, but not before Alex saw Ren standing nearby staring at him.

Alex grimaced. How long had HE been standing there? Too long if the weird expression on his face was any indication.

The fact that there was any expression on Ren's face at all was NOT reassuring. Alex knew that the shapeshifter took his duties as Jennetta's bodyguard VERY seriously. If he even suspected that Alex might have harboured even one inappropriate thought about his queen - which he so had NOT! - it might not be pretty.

He had ONLY been comforting a very brave girl. That was it. Point blank.

Of course, that very brave girl's face was currently a shade of red that had never been seen before, but it meant nothing. NOTHING!

Fortunately Maria seemed oblivious. "Alex! Help!" She screeched again as the pile of books went tumbling onto the floor. He managed to catch one before it hit. "Gee. Thanks." She said sarcastically. "Anything new?" She asked though, quickly changing the subject.

"No." Alex said firmly, turning back to the computer, refusing to look at Jennetta OR Ren. "But that doesn't mean that we're going to give up. But let's hope that Isabel and Michael are having more luck."

*************************************************************

*Dreams* Isabel

"What are you doing? Tris, I'm coming with you!" I grabbed him by the arm, but he shook me off easily.

"I'm going to check on Jax and Sabby." He replied. "He said that he spoke to them a few minutes ago, but I don't believe him. He's behaving strangely Mirana."

"I'm coming." I repeated.

Tristandor turned, stared at me with his dark eyes. "Miri, I won't be able to do what I have to do with you there. I'll just be worrying about you."

"I'm coming." I repeated stubbornly. "He's my brother." I felt tears filling my eyes. "Tris, I can't feel him anymore!"

Tristandor sighed, nodded. "Fine. But you stay behind me. Do you understand?"
I nodded quickly.

We left our chamber, hurried down the long corridor to the Royal Quarters of the Citadel.

It was hard to believe that we had only left Jaxon and Sabrya an hour before. It was their wedding night after all. But they had insisted that we stay, that we play Quintus well into the night. I knew that Jax hadn't been eager for this match, but he had affection for Sabby. He shouldn't have been dreading it as much as he was.

They had both been on edge, nervous. Only looking back could I see it now. Why had I not demanded that Jaxon explain himself to me?

It was even worse than we could have possibly imagined.

Had he known even then what was going to happen to him?

Later, as I held Tristandor's dying body in my arms on the battlefield, I reflected, realized that my brother had known very well...

Because I knew when it was my time. I stared up at our enemy, glared, determined not to let him see me cry. My beloved was already gone. I had felt the last of Tris's life-force slip away moments before.

I had nothing left to live for.
**************************************************************
Isabel gasped. She realized that someone was shaking her on the shoulder. "Isabel? Wake up." It took her a moment to get her bearings, to realize that it was the Sheriff, that he had woken her from her nightmare.

"Are you okay?" The Sheriff asked. "You were talking in your sleep."

But Isabel couldn't answer. She didn't remember any of it, but she knew that the dream had been bad - dreadful.

It was then that she noticed Michael on the other side of the van, staring at her, his eyes wide. He seemed to be barely breathing.

And it was then that she knew. He had seen it too.

Stonehenge, near Salisbury, England - 12 hours later

"Where the hell are they?" Michael growled, staring through the night-vision binoculars Kyle's dad had "borrowed" from the Roswell Sheriff's Station for their little expedition.

"Give me those." Isabel snapped, grabbing them out of his hands. "We'll catch them Michael. Tess has to come out of mind-warp for Max to open the portal."

"Why?" Michael demanded. Kyle could see his scowl even in the dark. "Why would she have to come out of it? She hasn't bloody well come out of it for the past two days! She's killing herself - and if that happens, I will kill Maxwell myself before Tarsus gets anywhere near him."

"Would you two kindly shut up?" Kyle whispered heatedly. "No wonder they won't come out. They can probably hear you guys all the way back in Roswell. I thought we were trying to keep the royal moron from knowing we were here."

Michael and Isabel had been arguing all day, helping Kyle to achieve one of the biggest headaches of his lifetime. He and his dad had shrugged at first, thinking that they had both just gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning - not that Kyle had officially seen a bed since Isabel had woken him up two nights before.

They had headed straight to the stone monument from the airport. His dad had rented a van and they had parked it near the ancient stone circle, even sleeping in it, all of them determined not to miss Max and Tess when they made their attempt to open the portal.

But Isabel was acting too weirdly for this just to be a normal bad mood. Something had happened.

Kyle wondered if it was somehow linked to the nightmare he knew his dad had woken her from early that morning. She had been curled up on the back seat of the van, whimpering.

Kyle had only been able to make out one word...or, rather, a name. "Tris."

As in Tristandor. As in Michael Guerin's alien name. As in Isabel's past life husband.

It was pretty clear that Michael had heard her too because, after Isabel had woken up, Kyle had watched them stare at each other for what felt like three years until Michael had looked away.

They had been at each other's throats ever since.

Kyle rolled his eyes at the fact that these thoughts were currently rolling through his head and they didn't even sound weird to HIM anymore. Past lives, past life husbands...

Oh yeah, Tess had really done a number on him. So much for keeping his frigging
distance. But that one line from the letter she had left for Michael...

"Michael, please tell Kyle that I'm going to try and resolve this once and for all."

Kyle squashed the thought. This was no time to think about Tess. His dad had been grilling him about what was going on between the two of them since they had boarded the plane in Roswell.

He was sick of talking about her, he was sick of thinking about her, he was bloody well sick of loving her.

Right, a little voice muttered in the back of his head.

Shut up. Let me be irritated in peace. It's not everyday that I get to lie in a pile of manure with a front row seat to Moonlighting the Next Generation.

Because it was pretty clear that something intense was going on between Michael and Isabel. And whatever it was, it was not going to be making their little humans sitting at home very happy.

"Where's your dad?" Michael whispered to Kyle a few minutes later after they had all stewed in silence for a while.

"He went to get some more French Fries." Kyle replied, snorting. "He's addicted to them."

"That would be chips." Isabel told him haughtily. "We're in England."

"Then what do they call chips?" Kyle demanded. He could see that Michael looked curious too.

"Crisps."

"Why?" Michael inquired, sounding pissed.

"Because its a different country Michael." Isabel's tone was long-suffering.

"Well excuse me Lady Britannia." Michael snapped back.

"You are so paying for this your mightiness." Kyle muttered to himself. It made life so much more pleasant to just blame all of this present torture on Max Evans.

Everything was his fault. As usual.

He never would have been shot if it hadn't been for Evans. He never would have become some sort of freaky alien/human if it wasn't for Evans. Nothing would have happened to Liz if it wasn't for Evans, which would mean that they wouldn't be chasing Evans across the globe so that he could rescue her.

Oh yeah, that makes a lot of sense, his annoying second brain told him.

You never would have met Tess if it wasn't for Evans. Liz would have been dead that day in the Crashdown... if it wasn't for Evans.

I told you to shut up.

He would not have developed a frigging split personality if it wasn't for Evans...

Kyle snapped to attention when Isabel suddenly gasped. "Michael! Did you feel that?"

"Oh crap!" Michael was on his feet and running towards the fenced in monument before Kyle could even register what was happening.

"What's going on?" He managed to grab Isabel's wrist before she went tearing off after Michael.

She was gasping. "He's opening it. Max, he's opening the portal! It's like all the energy has been sucked out of this whole area." She was scanning the stone circle, clearly waiting for the expected blast of white light.

Kyle stared at her. She had never reacted like this to the portal opening before. "Isabel! What's wrong?"

"We're not close enough Kyle. We need to get closer. We've never been this far from it when its been opened." She was inching her way steadily towards the fence.

Kyle saw a flash of light as Michael took out one of the expected security guards. He had assured them all that he would just knock them out, that he had done it the last time - when Max had come back. The Sheriff had reluctantly agreed since they had little choice.

He grabbed Isabel by the wrist, tried pulling her faster. He felt fine, didn't understand why she was acting like she was moving through quicksand.

They finally reached the fence where Michael had altered the molecular structure, creating a gaping hole. The instant they were through, Isabel seemed to snap out of whatever had been holding her back. She was sprinting across the open field standing between them and the stone circle. She was shrieking. "MAAAXXX! Stop! I believe you! Maaaxxxx!"

It was then that the whole circle seemed to come alive. Light danced from stone to stone, increasing in brightness until it met in a central column in the middle of the monument.

"There they are!" Kyle yelled. He could see Michael on the far side of the circle, his face lit up strangely by the portal's weird glow. He looked like he couldn't see a thing.

"Where are they?" Michael bellowed. He was reaching around frantically, clearly trying to smack one of them by chance.

Kyle stopped, stared at him. He could see them as plain as day. Max was standing almost directly to Michael's left, one of the blue orbs held in his outstretched hands. Tess had her arms wrapped around his waist, her eyes closed too - clearly she was still mind-warping everyone.

Except him.

But why would she? She probably didn't know he was there!

"Tess!" Kyle yelled at her, running again. They were so close!

Isabel was still shrieking at the top of her lungs. "MAX! Michael, stop them!" She obviously couldn't see them either, although Kyle thought she COULD see the portal if the way she was shading her eyes was any indication.

It was then that Kyle realized what was really going on. Tess was losing her warp! She was almost completely drained.

They had to stop them - NOW. They were going to be sitting ducks if they went through like this.

Damn Max Evans!

But it was too late. As Kyle watched in horror Max and Tess stepped into the light.

He didn't even think. He was almost there, he could almost reach out and touch Tess's coat...

Kyle launched himself at them, hoping to hit them out the far side.

It was a perfect tackle. Coach Clay would have been proud.

He hit them squarely, knocking them both to the ground with a thud. He heard Tess shriek, saw her eyes snap open.

"Kyle!" She gasped. "Oh my God! What did you do?"

"I saved your butt from making the biggest mistake of your life!" Kyle snapped, glaring at Max, who was lying flat on his back staring up, looking like he had had the wind knocked out of him.

Kyle narrowed his eyes. What he wouldn't give to have another chance to do that tackle...this time with Tess out of the way.

Tess was smacking him on the chest though, seemingly panicked. "You idiot! Why did you do that?"

"We believe Max!" Kyle exclaimed, grabbing her wrists and holding them so that she would stop hitting him. "Isabel talked to Liz on the dream plain."

More alien mumbo-jumbo Kyle thought. The dream plain. There's no hope for me now.

"That's not what I meant." Tess closed her eyes. When she opened them, they were shining with tears. "You idiot. I was trying to keep you safe! How could you have done this? You weren't supposed to be there! I didn't know to warp you."

Kyle stared at her. "I figured that much out." He scowled. "What's the big hairy deal? We stopped you."

Max was sitting up, groaning. "Look around you." He managed to mutter.

Kyle scowled, but forced himself to look away from Tess' face.

He wondered how it could possibly have taken him so long to notice that it was no longer night-time. The sun was shining weakly, melding in with the yellow sky that surrounded it.

What the...oh good Lord.

For the first time in his entire existence neither Kyle Valenti nor his smart ass split personality had anything to say.

Instead of stopping Max and Tess, apparently he had joined them.

He had truly fallen into the alien abyss.

They were on Illyria.

And they were not alone.

Five blank-faced guards were staring at them, their weird alien weapons pointed right at them.