****************************
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
He watched her from the shadows, as she ran along the sidewalk that surrounded the park. She got closer and closer, and he waited until the last possible moment to execute his ambush.
The woman stopped in her tracks when she saw the man step out of the bushes. She did not even have time to scream as the shots rang out that killed her.
**
Sheriff Valenti pulled up the scene in his patrol vehicle. A crowd of about fifty people surrounded an area of the park that was roped off with police crime scene tape. He saw several deputies manning the tape, making sure no one unauthorized got into the crime scene.
He got out, and went up to the police line. One of the deputies pulled up the tape, and let the Sheriff through. A reporter tried to question him as he went under the tape, but Valenti just ignored the lady and kept going towards the now covered corpse of the victim. Kyle and Michael were standing near the body, surveying the area for evidence, when they saw the Sheriff walk up. They turned their attention to him.
"Hell of a way to start a morning, huh, Sheriff?" asked Michael.
"Yeah," said Jim. "Talk to me, fellas. What do we have?"
"What we have," said Kyle, "is a dead young woman, shot in the face at close range with what looks like a large caliber hand gun."
"Not a pretty sight," said Michael. "That new Deputy, Jacobs, took one look at the body and barfed."
"Colorful, Deputy Guerin, but not very helpful," said the Sheriff, who bent down and lifted up the sheet. He lowered it quickly, not wanting to subject himself to the sight any more than he had to.
"What about an ID?" asked Jim.
"We found her wallet in her pocket," said Michael. "Her license says she is Jessica McGregor."
"She was in my graduating class at West Roswell," said Kyle. "Quite the looker. Blonde hair, beautiful features. All the guys on the football team wanted to date her, but she didn't like jocks. Damned shame, she was a nice girl."
"I want a positive ID before we notify the family," said Jim. "We'll have to use dental records to match her up. Photos been taken?"
"Manny came over and snapped the photos," said Michael. "He's processing them now."
"Good," said Jim. "I want the whole area swept for evidence. I'll contact the state police, get one of their forensics teams to go over the body and the evidence we find at the scene. You two have been here for a little bit now. Any theories on a murder scenario?"
"Well," said Michael. "I'd say she was surprised by her attacker. Shot from the front before she had a chance to even try to get away. He probably came out of those bushes over there. We found some footprints. Hal made some plaster casts of them."
"Good," said Jim. "Well, not the best way to start the day, that's for sure. This is also the first murder in Roswell for about a year, so the media is going to be on it. So will the town council."
"Let's also not talk about this at Charlie's birthday party this afternoon," said Kyle. "The kids don't need to hear the gory details."
"Good idea," said Jim.
***
It was seven o'clock in the evening, and the Evans house was a mess. Wrapping paper on the floor, dirty dishes, and party decorations strewn all over the place. Charlie Evan's third birthday party was fun for him and his friends, Kevin, Lisa, Emily, and Amanda, but it was not a fun job for the parents and grandparents to clean up afterwards. Luckily, the kids were quieted down now, watching a video, while Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Alex, Isabel, Kyle, Tess, Jim, Amy, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans, were all pitching in to clean up the mess. Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Parker couldn't be there because they are in Ohio.
"Well," said Isabel. "This would be a WHOLE lot easier if I or one of the other aliens in this room could use their powers to clean up."
"Too risky with the kids in the next room, Isabel," said Max. "We don't need one of them seeing. They're not old enough to deal with the secret maturely."
Just then, they heard a knock at the front door. "I'll get it," said Liz, who went through the living room, taking a glance at the kids to make sure they were still occupied. She got to the door, opened, and found a familiar face at the door.
"Brody?" she asked. "Wow! Long time, no see."
"No," he said. "Not Brody. Larek."
Liz was shocked into silence, realizing that the man she knew as Brody, Max's former boss when he worked at the UFO Center, was being possessed by Larek, an alien from Antar who was an ally of Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel, in their former lives there.
"Oh...well, this...um, come in," said Liz.
Larek stepped into the house, and saw the children sitting on the couch. "I see you have been breeding," he said.
"Yes," said Liz, with a slight chuckle. "You could call it that. Don't say anything to them about...aliens, or anything like that. They don't know."
"Very well," said Larek. "I must see Max."
"Come with me," said Liz.
She led him into the kitchen, and the rest were startled to see who was with her.
"Max," said Liz. "Its...Larek."
"What?" said Max, with more than a hint of surprise in his voice. "Why have you come?"
"I must speak with you," said Larek. "It is most urgent. Vilandra's...rather, Isabel's life is in great danger."
"Danger?" asked Alex, instinctively coming over to put his arms around his wife. "What kind of danger?"
"Not here," said Max. "We'll go back to my apartment. We can talk there. Mom, Dad, could you watch the kids for a while?"
"Sure," said Mr. Evans. "But I want to know what is going on here! This man just said Isabel is in DANGER!"
"We'll tell you," said Isabel. "But we need you to watch the children."
"Okay," said Mrs. Evans. "But please tell us what is going on when you can."
"We will," said Max.
"I'll stay with them," said Amy. "Jim, go on with the others. They may need your help."
"Right," said Jim.
****
Max, Liz, Alex, Isabel, Tess, Kyle, Michael, Maria, and Jim, all gathered at Max's and Liz's apartment, and listened as Larek explained what he meant by his earlier comment.
"I have come to warn you about a dire threat to Isabel's life," said Larek. "Someone has come to Earth, from Antar, to kill her."
"Why? How?" asked Michael.
"This is about Khivar, isn't it?" asked Tess.
"Yes," said Larek.
"But why?" asked Tess. "He should realize now that the royal four here on Earth are no threat to his rule. My all too human son proved that to him."
"I'll have to explain," said Larek. "You see, the resistance loyal to the house of King Zahn is still very much alive on Antar. We have managed to plant informants among the ranks of Khivar's forces, which have allowed for us to thwart many of his plans to increase his hold on power. He realizes that the resistance must be getting inside information, and seeks to remove any possible sources of that information."
"How could I be a source of information on Khivar?" asked Isabel.
"Vilandra was," said Larek. "She was his lover. She possessed a very intimate knowledge of Khivar, his plans, his inner circle. When Khivar tried to take you back to Antar with him several Earth years ago, you were able to access some of Vilandra's memories."
"Yes," said Isabel. "Because he used his powers on me to bring those memories to the surface."
"He is afraid that someone else, like myself, might try to do the same," said Larek. "So, to cover all possible contingencies, he has sent a Lashallal here to Earth to kill you."
"A Lashallal?" asked Kyle. "What's that?"
"A trained killer, loyal to Khivar," said Larek. "Khivar now possesses the technology to transfer the entire essence of one of our people to a human form here on Earth. Our resistance only possesses the older technology of telepathic contact, such as I use to communicate through the human named Brody."
"That's how Khivar was able to come to Earth, and take over that guy?" asked Maria.
"Correct," said Larek. "Except, the transference of the Lashallal is even more complete than Khivar's was. His was only temporary, and only needed to give him the freedom to use some of his powers. The Lashallal, however, has completely taken over the body of a human host. Nothing remains of the human but the shell, now occupied by the Lashallal. It is a genetically engineered being that was created to do one thing-kill. It has no sense of right or wrong. No emotion, no compassion. It is programmed through organic sequencing with information downloaded directly into the mind of the Lashallal. Then, it is sent to eliminate its target, and anything that seeks to stop it from completing its mission."
"So this thing is kind of like a Terminator?" asked Kyle.
"Terminator?" asked Larek.
"Never mind," said Max. "How do we stop this Lashallal?"
"It will not be easy," said Larek. "Your powers will be useless."
"Why?" asked Liz.
"The Lashallal is designed to absorb any telekinetic energy used against it," said Larek. "Using your powers will only make it stronger."
"Then what the hell can we do against it?" asked Michael.
"Wait," said Jim. "You said this Lashal...whatever has taken over a human body."
"Correct," said Larek.
"Well," said Jim. "If it is inhabiting a human body, that means we can kill it like we would kill any human, right?"
"You mean just use good old fashioned human firepower," said Kyle, pointing to his gun holstered on his belt.
"Your projectile weapons would kill it," said Larek, "by killing the host. You are correct. However..."
"Great," said Alex. "There's always a 'however', isn't there?"
"Go on, Larek," said Tess."
"The Lashallal has probably taken over the body of a physically strong human host," said Larek. "It will enhance the abilities of the host to endure physical damage, pain...and it will increase its strength."
"Rather similar to the effects of PCP, or some other kinds of drugs," said Liz. "But probably much stronger, and much more permanent."
"Correct," said Larek. "It will take many more hits from your projectile weapons to kill it than it would to kill a normal human."
"So this thing has all of the advantages," said Michael. "We don't know what it looks like, our powers are useless, and guns can kill it, but its going to take a lot more shots to do the job. Peachy."
"There is one factor at work in your favor," said Larek. "Our REAL sources inside of Khivar's regime were able to inform the resistance about the plan to send a Lashallal to kill Isabel. One of our operatives was able to sabotage the transference, but unfortunately it was not able to prevent it completely. We think that the Lashallal's information about its intended target is incomplete. It may only have a general description of what Isabel looks like, and the general area in which it may find her."
"Wait," said Jim. "I just had a scary thought. Larek, will this Lashallal use its powers to kill Isabel?"
"Not necessarily," said Larek. "Although it does possess some telekinetic powers, the Lashallal is programmed to operate covertly. It may use human weapons to eliminate its target, thus concealing its presence as much as possible."
"So, it might use a gun to kill its target," said Jim. "Since it doesn't have a complete description of Isabel, what will it do?"
"Eliminate targets that fulfill the general descriptive parameters," said Larek. "It verifies the kill by touching the body. It performs a scan for the correct genetic markers, to verify the kill in its memory."
"Sort of like a computer," said Alex.
"Correct," said Larek. "If it is not successful in eliminating the correct target, it will continue until it is."
"Oh, shit," said Kyle. "Dad, I think I know what your thinking. The dead woman we found this morning. Mid-twenties, blonde hair, similar facial features to Isabel."
"Funny enough," said Michael. "I was spooked for a half a second this morning when I first saw the body, thinking it looked a lot like Isabel."
"You mean...the Lashallal may have killed that woman this morning?" asked Isabel. "Oh my God. This is...this can't be happening."
"Shh," said Alex, pulling Isabel into his arms. "It'll be okay. We're going to stop this thing."
"I can not stay here for too much longer," said Larek. "I must return this body to its dwelling within an Earth hour. I am sorry I could not be more helpful."
"Thank you for warning us," said Max.
"Good luck to all of you," said Larek.
End of Chapter Thirty-four. Chapter Thirty-five coming soon.
As you can see, things are heating up. Will the killer get to Isabel? Will someone else fall protecting Isabel from harm? Find out what happens next by tuning in for the next installment. In the meantime, please do keep those reviews coming. Feedback is always appreciated.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:
He watched her from the shadows, as she ran along the sidewalk that surrounded the park. She got closer and closer, and he waited until the last possible moment to execute his ambush.
The woman stopped in her tracks when she saw the man step out of the bushes. She did not even have time to scream as the shots rang out that killed her.
**
Sheriff Valenti pulled up the scene in his patrol vehicle. A crowd of about fifty people surrounded an area of the park that was roped off with police crime scene tape. He saw several deputies manning the tape, making sure no one unauthorized got into the crime scene.
He got out, and went up to the police line. One of the deputies pulled up the tape, and let the Sheriff through. A reporter tried to question him as he went under the tape, but Valenti just ignored the lady and kept going towards the now covered corpse of the victim. Kyle and Michael were standing near the body, surveying the area for evidence, when they saw the Sheriff walk up. They turned their attention to him.
"Hell of a way to start a morning, huh, Sheriff?" asked Michael.
"Yeah," said Jim. "Talk to me, fellas. What do we have?"
"What we have," said Kyle, "is a dead young woman, shot in the face at close range with what looks like a large caliber hand gun."
"Not a pretty sight," said Michael. "That new Deputy, Jacobs, took one look at the body and barfed."
"Colorful, Deputy Guerin, but not very helpful," said the Sheriff, who bent down and lifted up the sheet. He lowered it quickly, not wanting to subject himself to the sight any more than he had to.
"What about an ID?" asked Jim.
"We found her wallet in her pocket," said Michael. "Her license says she is Jessica McGregor."
"She was in my graduating class at West Roswell," said Kyle. "Quite the looker. Blonde hair, beautiful features. All the guys on the football team wanted to date her, but she didn't like jocks. Damned shame, she was a nice girl."
"I want a positive ID before we notify the family," said Jim. "We'll have to use dental records to match her up. Photos been taken?"
"Manny came over and snapped the photos," said Michael. "He's processing them now."
"Good," said Jim. "I want the whole area swept for evidence. I'll contact the state police, get one of their forensics teams to go over the body and the evidence we find at the scene. You two have been here for a little bit now. Any theories on a murder scenario?"
"Well," said Michael. "I'd say she was surprised by her attacker. Shot from the front before she had a chance to even try to get away. He probably came out of those bushes over there. We found some footprints. Hal made some plaster casts of them."
"Good," said Jim. "Well, not the best way to start the day, that's for sure. This is also the first murder in Roswell for about a year, so the media is going to be on it. So will the town council."
"Let's also not talk about this at Charlie's birthday party this afternoon," said Kyle. "The kids don't need to hear the gory details."
"Good idea," said Jim.
***
It was seven o'clock in the evening, and the Evans house was a mess. Wrapping paper on the floor, dirty dishes, and party decorations strewn all over the place. Charlie Evan's third birthday party was fun for him and his friends, Kevin, Lisa, Emily, and Amanda, but it was not a fun job for the parents and grandparents to clean up afterwards. Luckily, the kids were quieted down now, watching a video, while Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Alex, Isabel, Kyle, Tess, Jim, Amy, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans, were all pitching in to clean up the mess. Sadly, Mr. and Mrs. Parker couldn't be there because they are in Ohio.
"Well," said Isabel. "This would be a WHOLE lot easier if I or one of the other aliens in this room could use their powers to clean up."
"Too risky with the kids in the next room, Isabel," said Max. "We don't need one of them seeing. They're not old enough to deal with the secret maturely."
Just then, they heard a knock at the front door. "I'll get it," said Liz, who went through the living room, taking a glance at the kids to make sure they were still occupied. She got to the door, opened, and found a familiar face at the door.
"Brody?" she asked. "Wow! Long time, no see."
"No," he said. "Not Brody. Larek."
Liz was shocked into silence, realizing that the man she knew as Brody, Max's former boss when he worked at the UFO Center, was being possessed by Larek, an alien from Antar who was an ally of Max, Michael, Tess, and Isabel, in their former lives there.
"Oh...well, this...um, come in," said Liz.
Larek stepped into the house, and saw the children sitting on the couch. "I see you have been breeding," he said.
"Yes," said Liz, with a slight chuckle. "You could call it that. Don't say anything to them about...aliens, or anything like that. They don't know."
"Very well," said Larek. "I must see Max."
"Come with me," said Liz.
She led him into the kitchen, and the rest were startled to see who was with her.
"Max," said Liz. "Its...Larek."
"What?" said Max, with more than a hint of surprise in his voice. "Why have you come?"
"I must speak with you," said Larek. "It is most urgent. Vilandra's...rather, Isabel's life is in great danger."
"Danger?" asked Alex, instinctively coming over to put his arms around his wife. "What kind of danger?"
"Not here," said Max. "We'll go back to my apartment. We can talk there. Mom, Dad, could you watch the kids for a while?"
"Sure," said Mr. Evans. "But I want to know what is going on here! This man just said Isabel is in DANGER!"
"We'll tell you," said Isabel. "But we need you to watch the children."
"Okay," said Mrs. Evans. "But please tell us what is going on when you can."
"We will," said Max.
"I'll stay with them," said Amy. "Jim, go on with the others. They may need your help."
"Right," said Jim.
****
Max, Liz, Alex, Isabel, Tess, Kyle, Michael, Maria, and Jim, all gathered at Max's and Liz's apartment, and listened as Larek explained what he meant by his earlier comment.
"I have come to warn you about a dire threat to Isabel's life," said Larek. "Someone has come to Earth, from Antar, to kill her."
"Why? How?" asked Michael.
"This is about Khivar, isn't it?" asked Tess.
"Yes," said Larek.
"But why?" asked Tess. "He should realize now that the royal four here on Earth are no threat to his rule. My all too human son proved that to him."
"I'll have to explain," said Larek. "You see, the resistance loyal to the house of King Zahn is still very much alive on Antar. We have managed to plant informants among the ranks of Khivar's forces, which have allowed for us to thwart many of his plans to increase his hold on power. He realizes that the resistance must be getting inside information, and seeks to remove any possible sources of that information."
"How could I be a source of information on Khivar?" asked Isabel.
"Vilandra was," said Larek. "She was his lover. She possessed a very intimate knowledge of Khivar, his plans, his inner circle. When Khivar tried to take you back to Antar with him several Earth years ago, you were able to access some of Vilandra's memories."
"Yes," said Isabel. "Because he used his powers on me to bring those memories to the surface."
"He is afraid that someone else, like myself, might try to do the same," said Larek. "So, to cover all possible contingencies, he has sent a Lashallal here to Earth to kill you."
"A Lashallal?" asked Kyle. "What's that?"
"A trained killer, loyal to Khivar," said Larek. "Khivar now possesses the technology to transfer the entire essence of one of our people to a human form here on Earth. Our resistance only possesses the older technology of telepathic contact, such as I use to communicate through the human named Brody."
"That's how Khivar was able to come to Earth, and take over that guy?" asked Maria.
"Correct," said Larek. "Except, the transference of the Lashallal is even more complete than Khivar's was. His was only temporary, and only needed to give him the freedom to use some of his powers. The Lashallal, however, has completely taken over the body of a human host. Nothing remains of the human but the shell, now occupied by the Lashallal. It is a genetically engineered being that was created to do one thing-kill. It has no sense of right or wrong. No emotion, no compassion. It is programmed through organic sequencing with information downloaded directly into the mind of the Lashallal. Then, it is sent to eliminate its target, and anything that seeks to stop it from completing its mission."
"So this thing is kind of like a Terminator?" asked Kyle.
"Terminator?" asked Larek.
"Never mind," said Max. "How do we stop this Lashallal?"
"It will not be easy," said Larek. "Your powers will be useless."
"Why?" asked Liz.
"The Lashallal is designed to absorb any telekinetic energy used against it," said Larek. "Using your powers will only make it stronger."
"Then what the hell can we do against it?" asked Michael.
"Wait," said Jim. "You said this Lashal...whatever has taken over a human body."
"Correct," said Larek.
"Well," said Jim. "If it is inhabiting a human body, that means we can kill it like we would kill any human, right?"
"You mean just use good old fashioned human firepower," said Kyle, pointing to his gun holstered on his belt.
"Your projectile weapons would kill it," said Larek, "by killing the host. You are correct. However..."
"Great," said Alex. "There's always a 'however', isn't there?"
"Go on, Larek," said Tess."
"The Lashallal has probably taken over the body of a physically strong human host," said Larek. "It will enhance the abilities of the host to endure physical damage, pain...and it will increase its strength."
"Rather similar to the effects of PCP, or some other kinds of drugs," said Liz. "But probably much stronger, and much more permanent."
"Correct," said Larek. "It will take many more hits from your projectile weapons to kill it than it would to kill a normal human."
"So this thing has all of the advantages," said Michael. "We don't know what it looks like, our powers are useless, and guns can kill it, but its going to take a lot more shots to do the job. Peachy."
"There is one factor at work in your favor," said Larek. "Our REAL sources inside of Khivar's regime were able to inform the resistance about the plan to send a Lashallal to kill Isabel. One of our operatives was able to sabotage the transference, but unfortunately it was not able to prevent it completely. We think that the Lashallal's information about its intended target is incomplete. It may only have a general description of what Isabel looks like, and the general area in which it may find her."
"Wait," said Jim. "I just had a scary thought. Larek, will this Lashallal use its powers to kill Isabel?"
"Not necessarily," said Larek. "Although it does possess some telekinetic powers, the Lashallal is programmed to operate covertly. It may use human weapons to eliminate its target, thus concealing its presence as much as possible."
"So, it might use a gun to kill its target," said Jim. "Since it doesn't have a complete description of Isabel, what will it do?"
"Eliminate targets that fulfill the general descriptive parameters," said Larek. "It verifies the kill by touching the body. It performs a scan for the correct genetic markers, to verify the kill in its memory."
"Sort of like a computer," said Alex.
"Correct," said Larek. "If it is not successful in eliminating the correct target, it will continue until it is."
"Oh, shit," said Kyle. "Dad, I think I know what your thinking. The dead woman we found this morning. Mid-twenties, blonde hair, similar facial features to Isabel."
"Funny enough," said Michael. "I was spooked for a half a second this morning when I first saw the body, thinking it looked a lot like Isabel."
"You mean...the Lashallal may have killed that woman this morning?" asked Isabel. "Oh my God. This is...this can't be happening."
"Shh," said Alex, pulling Isabel into his arms. "It'll be okay. We're going to stop this thing."
"I can not stay here for too much longer," said Larek. "I must return this body to its dwelling within an Earth hour. I am sorry I could not be more helpful."
"Thank you for warning us," said Max.
"Good luck to all of you," said Larek.
End of Chapter Thirty-four. Chapter Thirty-five coming soon.
As you can see, things are heating up. Will the killer get to Isabel? Will someone else fall protecting Isabel from harm? Find out what happens next by tuning in for the next installment. In the meantime, please do keep those reviews coming. Feedback is always appreciated.