Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Forty-One ~ Dissention in the Ranks

"So then I jerked the wheel and hit them, and they went right down over the embankment," Rath said.

"What!" shouted Tess. "Why did you do that? Do you realize that your stupid stunt could bring Max and Liz together again?"

"What I think, Your Majesty," Rath said in a sarcastic tone. "Is that my little stunt may have gotten rid of your little problem completely. Now what I think you should do is sit down, shut the hell up, and let me run the show."

"Yeah, you ain't gettin' nothin done, bitch," said Lonnie. "From now on, we's runnin the show."

"I don't think so," said Tess, her voice filled with steel. "I'm in charge, I make the decisions. Is that clear?"

"Whoa! Chill babe, you're in charge, we get it," said Rath. "Don't need to get all nasty."

"Nasty. Nasty!" shrieked Tess. "You haven't begun to see nasty you stupid freak! You pull another stunt like that, and I'll take you out myself! Do – I— Make — Myself – Clear?"

"Wait a second," said Lonnie. She turned to Tess and shoved her against the motel room wall. "Who the frig decided you get to run the damn show? I'm sick of mouth, I'm sick of your attitude, and I'm sick of this whole friggen place. We don't need you, you stupid bitch. All's we need is Zan, and we're outta here," said Lonnie, snapping her fingers. "Do you really think anybody's gonna care if we leave you're sorry carcass rottin in the desert?"

Tess slapped Lonnie and shoved the taller girl away from her.
"You have it all wrong, Lonnie. You need me, not the other way around. I have someone set up to decode the book, I have Max wrapped around my little finger, and I have Isabelle and Michael. Both of them do whatever Max says, and Max does whatever I say. And right now, I'm saying that the two of you need to shut the hell up and stay out of sight!" Tess pushed past Lonnie and walked out the door, slamming it behind her.

"Rath, no!" shouted Lonnie. She grabbed his arm and pushed it back down. "You can't kill her. Not now anyhow. She's right about one thing. She's holdin all the cards right now. But once she gets that stupid book figured out, then you can kill her all you want."

"That's my smart baby," said Rath with an evil smile. He gave Lonnie a shove and she landed on the bed. He leered at her and jumped on the bed next to her. "I think I can figure out a way to entertain myself while we wait."



"This is getting ridiculous," said Maria. "Not only do we have to deal with that psycho bitch Tess, but now we have Lonnie an Rath playing demolition derby." She waved her hand, activating the door to the pod chamber. "That is so cool," she said with a grin. "I just don't see why we don't go on the offensive and take care of them," she said, resuming her previous diatribe.

"Maria, you know Max isn't the crush kill destroy type," said Michael. "There is no way he'd go for anything like that."

"Well, maybe this time he's wrong," said Maria. "Maybe this time you,"

"Don't, Maria!" Michael said sharply. "Just don't. This isn't the time, or the place. I hear what you're saying, and I'm only going to say this once. Don't say it to anybody else. Not now, not ever. I may not be the smartest one of us, but I do know that we have to be united in this, or it's all going to fall apart."

"Did anyone ever tell you how cute you are when you're noble, not to mention right," said Maria. "Now let's get in there, the others are waiting for us.

Michael and Maria walked though the pod chamber, and into the hidden chamber concealing the granolith. Liz, Alex and Kyle sat on the floor, while Max, Isabelle and Ava hovered nervously over them.

"What's the matter?" asked Michael.

"Alex passed out on the way over her," said Isabelle. And then his nose started bleeding, and wouldn't stop. Max was finally able to get it to stop, but I'm worried."

"I'm fine, Isabelle. Now stop freaking. We're here to do something, so lets do it," said Alex, standing up.

"Alex, I really think that,"

"Enough, Isabelle. You're not my mother, damn it, you're supposed to be my girlfriend!" Alex said, angrily. As he yelled, his nose began to bleed again. Max moved forward to try and stop the bleeding but Alex shoved him away.
"Just leave it," he muttered. "Let's get this over with. I just want to go home, I have a headache."

The group took their original positions in the pod chamber. Max slipped the two destiny books on the console and went to stand across from Liz. As soon as he was in position, the granolith activated, and all of them were doused in a blue beam of light. Suddenly, the light turned a violent white, temporarily blinding all of them. As quickly as it happened, the light subsided and the granolith shut down. Slowly, their eyes adjusted to the light. Standing in the center of their square was a man, dressed in gray, tight fitting clothing, with a short green cape.

"Greetings," he said. "I am Che'koth, royal emissary from Antar."