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-Two - Who is that Masked Man?
"What?" said Max, pushing Liz behind him. "You're who?"
"I am Che'koth, and I am the royal emissary from Antar. Greetings Your Majesty," said Che'koth, kneeling down before Max. "We have been monitoring the granolith activity all this time. We had just about given up hope that you and the others would find your mates and activate the granolith."
"The hell you say!" shouted Michael. "I don't know what kind of freak trick Tess is playing, but it ends here!" Michael raised his hand and shot an energy blast at Che'koth, but instead of hitting him, the bolt passed right through him, and ricocheted off the walls of the chamber.
"Lord Rath," said Che'koth, bowing down before Michael. "It is good to know that some things don't change. You always were quick to protect King Zan. But you cannot protect him from me, nor do you need to, for I am not really here. I am what you would call a holographic image."
"A what?" asked Kyle."
"A holographic image. I am on Antar, in a chamber similar to this, and my image is projected down here to you."
"So it's kind of like video conferencing," said Liz, stepping out from behind Max.
"My Lady," said Che'koth, falling to one knee and bowing his head. "We on Antar feared that this day would never come. You carry the royal heir."
"H-how do you know that?" Liz asked.
"When activated, the granolith scanned your bodies and sent readings back to Antar," answered Che'koth. "We've tracked your physical development with that scan, and used the granolith to repair any damage or anomalies that were found."
"What do you mean, anomalies?" asked Isabelle, stepping forward. "Is there something wrong with us?"
"Princess Vilondra," said Che'koth, bowing once more. "Do not fear, no anomalies were found in the royal four. It was merely a precaution. We were not sure if the embryos we sent to Earth would develop normally. The scan was much like the physicals that Earth children are given."
"You said we were fine," said Max. "But what about the others? Maria, Alex, Liz and Kyle? Are they alright too?"
"Our scan did show some abnormalities," admitted Che'koth. Especially in the two young men." At his pronouncement, Isabelle moved closer to Alex, as if her presence could somehow protect him, and Ava slipped her hand into Kyle's and squeezed it gently.
"What kind of abnormalities?" she asked, her face filled with concern as she looked at Kyle.
"Lady Ava," said Che'koth, bowing yet again. "It isn't anything to concern yourself over."
"Wrong answer, asshole," said Ava. "I think it is something to concern myself over. I don't know what the status of woman was on Antar, but here on Earth, we're equal. I care about Kyle, and I'll damn well be concerned about him if I want to!"
"No, no My Lady," said Che'koth. "You misunderstand me. I only meant that the abnormalities were not severe, and have already been repaired by the granolith scan. Humans do not use as much of their brain as we Antarians do, and both these fine men have been subjected to many exposures of the nashra - pindo."
"Nashra - pindo?" said Kyle. "What's that?"
"Mind warping," said Alex, his voice flat. "It's what Tess is doing to us. Me because she wants me to decode the book, and you, just because she lives with you. She's probably probing your mind whenever she can."
"Princess Vilondra's mate is correct," said Che'koth. "But it isn't anything we can't deal with. You shouldn't suffer any other side effects."
"Wait a second," said Maria. "That's the second time you said mates. What are you talking about?"
"What?" asked Che'koth. "You didn't know? Didn't your protectors explain it to you? Haven't you read the book?"
"We don't have a protector," said Max. "Or if we do, we've never seen him. There was Nascedo, but he's dead. He was also incredibly evil."
"Nascedo," spat Che'koth. "The traitor. He was the one responsible for mixing up the embryos before we sent you here to Earth. But I am pleased to see that you managed to assemble the true royal four."
"Only recently," said Max. "Nascedo brought Tess here. Ava was in New York with Lonnie, Rath and Zan. After Rath killed Zan, they came here to find me, to attend some summit meeting. If I promised to turn over the granolith, Kivar's emissary promised us passage home."
"Something you obviously didn't agree with," observed Che'koth."
"No, not at all," said Max. "Anyhow, Ava decided to stay here with us. Alex managed to decode the books, but with everything that's been going on, we really haven't had the opportunity to study them as much as possible."
"And your protectors?"
"As I said, we never knew them," said Max.
"Nascedo killed them all," said Michael. All except for one, who is living in California."
"Look, this is all well and good," said Maria. "But I want to know about this mate thing."
"It is simple," said Che'koth. "In our world, we mate for life. We have a certain gene that modifies itself in a certain way when we meet what you here on Earth would call our soul mate. When we created you, we recoded the gene so that it would activate the granolith when the four of you came here with your mates."
"That's not possible," said Liz. "You can't manipulate DNA that way."
"No Your Highness," said Che'koth. "Your scientists can't modify DNA in such a manner, but ours can."
"But still," argued Liz. "Wouldn't it take the modified DNA of all eight of us to activate the granolith?"
"Yes," said Che'koth.
"But that means," said Liz, her voice trailing off.
"That means that your DNA has been modified as well, you are now, and forever will be, the mate to the King."
Rating: PG-13 - possibly to R
Chapter Forty-Two - Who is that Masked Man?
"What?" said Max, pushing Liz behind him. "You're who?"
"I am Che'koth, and I am the royal emissary from Antar. Greetings Your Majesty," said Che'koth, kneeling down before Max. "We have been monitoring the granolith activity all this time. We had just about given up hope that you and the others would find your mates and activate the granolith."
"The hell you say!" shouted Michael. "I don't know what kind of freak trick Tess is playing, but it ends here!" Michael raised his hand and shot an energy blast at Che'koth, but instead of hitting him, the bolt passed right through him, and ricocheted off the walls of the chamber.
"Lord Rath," said Che'koth, bowing down before Michael. "It is good to know that some things don't change. You always were quick to protect King Zan. But you cannot protect him from me, nor do you need to, for I am not really here. I am what you would call a holographic image."
"A what?" asked Kyle."
"A holographic image. I am on Antar, in a chamber similar to this, and my image is projected down here to you."
"So it's kind of like video conferencing," said Liz, stepping out from behind Max.
"My Lady," said Che'koth, falling to one knee and bowing his head. "We on Antar feared that this day would never come. You carry the royal heir."
"H-how do you know that?" Liz asked.
"When activated, the granolith scanned your bodies and sent readings back to Antar," answered Che'koth. "We've tracked your physical development with that scan, and used the granolith to repair any damage or anomalies that were found."
"What do you mean, anomalies?" asked Isabelle, stepping forward. "Is there something wrong with us?"
"Princess Vilondra," said Che'koth, bowing once more. "Do not fear, no anomalies were found in the royal four. It was merely a precaution. We were not sure if the embryos we sent to Earth would develop normally. The scan was much like the physicals that Earth children are given."
"You said we were fine," said Max. "But what about the others? Maria, Alex, Liz and Kyle? Are they alright too?"
"Our scan did show some abnormalities," admitted Che'koth. Especially in the two young men." At his pronouncement, Isabelle moved closer to Alex, as if her presence could somehow protect him, and Ava slipped her hand into Kyle's and squeezed it gently.
"What kind of abnormalities?" she asked, her face filled with concern as she looked at Kyle.
"Lady Ava," said Che'koth, bowing yet again. "It isn't anything to concern yourself over."
"Wrong answer, asshole," said Ava. "I think it is something to concern myself over. I don't know what the status of woman was on Antar, but here on Earth, we're equal. I care about Kyle, and I'll damn well be concerned about him if I want to!"
"No, no My Lady," said Che'koth. "You misunderstand me. I only meant that the abnormalities were not severe, and have already been repaired by the granolith scan. Humans do not use as much of their brain as we Antarians do, and both these fine men have been subjected to many exposures of the nashra - pindo."
"Nashra - pindo?" said Kyle. "What's that?"
"Mind warping," said Alex, his voice flat. "It's what Tess is doing to us. Me because she wants me to decode the book, and you, just because she lives with you. She's probably probing your mind whenever she can."
"Princess Vilondra's mate is correct," said Che'koth. "But it isn't anything we can't deal with. You shouldn't suffer any other side effects."
"Wait a second," said Maria. "That's the second time you said mates. What are you talking about?"
"What?" asked Che'koth. "You didn't know? Didn't your protectors explain it to you? Haven't you read the book?"
"We don't have a protector," said Max. "Or if we do, we've never seen him. There was Nascedo, but he's dead. He was also incredibly evil."
"Nascedo," spat Che'koth. "The traitor. He was the one responsible for mixing up the embryos before we sent you here to Earth. But I am pleased to see that you managed to assemble the true royal four."
"Only recently," said Max. "Nascedo brought Tess here. Ava was in New York with Lonnie, Rath and Zan. After Rath killed Zan, they came here to find me, to attend some summit meeting. If I promised to turn over the granolith, Kivar's emissary promised us passage home."
"Something you obviously didn't agree with," observed Che'koth."
"No, not at all," said Max. "Anyhow, Ava decided to stay here with us. Alex managed to decode the books, but with everything that's been going on, we really haven't had the opportunity to study them as much as possible."
"And your protectors?"
"As I said, we never knew them," said Max.
"Nascedo killed them all," said Michael. All except for one, who is living in California."
"Look, this is all well and good," said Maria. "But I want to know about this mate thing."
"It is simple," said Che'koth. "In our world, we mate for life. We have a certain gene that modifies itself in a certain way when we meet what you here on Earth would call our soul mate. When we created you, we recoded the gene so that it would activate the granolith when the four of you came here with your mates."
"That's not possible," said Liz. "You can't manipulate DNA that way."
"No Your Highness," said Che'koth. "Your scientists can't modify DNA in such a manner, but ours can."
"But still," argued Liz. "Wouldn't it take the modified DNA of all eight of us to activate the granolith?"
"Yes," said Che'koth.
"But that means," said Liz, her voice trailing off.
"That means that your DNA has been modified as well, you are now, and forever will be, the mate to the King."