Well this is long and rambling, and not making a lot of sense to me. I had so many good ideas, and their all just jumbled up in here. Hopefully, it will all come together soon

Disclaimer: Roswell, and its characters do not belong to me. Melinda Metz, Jason Katims and 20th Century Fox have that particular pleasure. I'm simply borrowing them until the Season 2 DVD's get released.

Tomorrow's Yet to Come

Chapter Twenty – One – We Come in Peace

"This is so not good," said Kyle. "Because if that'sChe'koth, and we're not in the Granolith chamber, then it can only mean,"

"Welcome home, Majesty," said Che'koth, bowing down before Max.

"I'm not home, and don't call me that," Max said, angrily.

"Please, Maj – Max, this is not the time to argue," said Che'koth. "It is dangerous for you to be seen here. We need to get you out of here. Follow me, if you please."

"Wait a second," said Zan. "What just happened, where are we, and why are we trusting that guy?"

"I'm not to clear on the what," said Michael. "But I think we're on Antar, and we'd trust Che'koth with our lives. In fact, we have before, and knowing our luck, we probably will again."

"General, we need to bring the Aberjani with us," said Che'koth, pointing to the body lying on the floor.

"Great," Michael said under his breath. "Kyle, help me, will you?"

"He killed her," Kyle said, pointing at Zan. "Why can't he help?"

"Damn it Kyle, this is not the time for joking, or fighting, or a show of testosterone!" shouted Liz. "Didn't you hear Che'koth, it isn't safe for us here.

Kyle grumbled under his breath, but passed his backpack to Ava, and grabbed the legs of the dead alien. Che'koth opened a door, and stepped silently out into a dark hallway. He made certain they were unobserved, then motioned for the others to follow them. He led them down a labyrinth of corridors, and then down several flights of stairs. The seemed to walk for hours before Che'koth stopped before a small doorway. He pushed the door open, and motioned for the others to go inside.

Max walked in first with Liz, close behind on his heels. He stopped in shock to examine his surroundings.

"What the hell is this place?" he whispered to Liz. He and Liz moved to the side, to make room for everybody else. When they were all in the small room, Che'koth closed the door.

"What is this place?" Maria asked, spinning in a slow circle to look around.

"This is one of the many repositories for artifacts of the Royal Family," explained Che'koth.

"No fooling," said Alex. "And that explains the pictures of Max, and Isabel, but why the hell am I up there?"

"It is customary for the King, and his cabinet to have formal portraits hung in the palace. Even though there has never been an official declaration, it is obvious that all of you comprise the cabinet of the King," explained Che'koth. "Your images were retained by the Granolith, and they were used to create the portraits."

"First, I'm nobody's king," said Max, "And second, are telling me we're in the Palace?"

"And third," interjected Zan. "Why is he considered the King, and not me?"

"Power hungry, much," whispered Kyle to Alex.

"Forgive me," said Che'koth. "This is going to take a long time to explain, and a longer time to understand. We need to dispose of the Aberjani, and take you to a secure position." Che'koth pushed aside a large portrait of Max and Liz, and revealed a doorway behind it. He pushed it open, stepped inside, and beckoned for the others to follow him.

"It won't be much longer," he said, softly. "Soon we will reach a safe haven, and I can begin to explain everything. Max nodded, and signaled Michael put down the body of the Aberjani. He hefted one end, and Alex stepped up and took the other end from Kyle. After what seemed like another several hours of walking, Che'koth led them into a large room, filled with cots.

"It's not what you're used to," he apologized, "But it's the best we can do right now."

Max and Alex dumped the body they were carrying unceremoniously on the floor, and moved to stand next to their wives.

"Let's start with her," said Max. "You called her Aberjani. Who, or what the hell is that?"

"The Aberjani are Kivar's trained assassins," said Che'koth. He has been training them to seek you out, and kill you."

"Well, that's singularly not reassuring," said Kyle. "I'm assuming that she wasn't the only one?"

"There are not many, but they are deadly," said Che'koth. "Please, everyone, sit, you must be tired. Food will be brought shortly."

"Where are we?" asked Max.

"You are the headquarters of the resistance movement," answered Che'koth. "When Kivar seized the Palace, we managed to wall off a portion of the Palace. We were able to remove many of the Royal Artifacts before he broke through our barriers. Among those was the Granolith. This enraged Kivar, he has spent much time, and money to develop a technology that would allow him to send his soldiers to hunt you down and destroy you."

"That's really reassuring," said Max. "And you're just getting around to telling us this now?"

"It didn't seem to matter until he developed the technology. It just happened recently. I've been monitoring the Granolith, but none of you came there," said Che'koth." "However, I knew that if you were ever in danger, it was to the Granolith that you would return."

"That's so reassuring!" snapped Liz. "And in the mean time, two of our friends are dead because of her," she kicked the body of the Aberjani, contemptuously.

"It pains me to hear of this, Your Majesty," said Che'koth. "You must know I would do anything to change what has happened. But that cannot be done."

"Okay, we know what's been stalking us," said Michael. "Now what?"

"Now, we fight," said Max. "We take back our lives, again."

The mini summit ended for a short time when the food was brought in. Che'koth thanked the men and woman who brought in the trays and placed them on the table. Max took the first tentative bite, and sighed in ecstasy. "Oh, God, this is probably the best food I have ever tasted in my life," he moaned. "I'm sorry Liz, you're a great cook, but nothing, and I mean nothing has ever tasted like this."

Liz gave him a mock scowl and lifted her spoon to her lips. She chewed tentatively for several minutes then quickly spit the food out into her napkin. "That is disgusting," she said. "I've never tasted anything so revolting in my life."

Che'koth let out a hearty laugh, and signaled to one of the men. "Can you bring another tray, please?" he instructed. "The one had you prepare specially. I'm sorry," he said, still laughing softly. "Please forgive my small joke at your expense. This food," he pointed to the trays on the table, "Is traditional Antarian fare. It is highly seasoned and is both sweet and spicy. They are bringing some food that you will find more palatable."

Isabel, Michael, Ava and Zan needed no further explanation. They reached for their spoons, and dug into the bowls of food, and ate heartily. Maria, Kyle and Alex tasted the Antarian food with trepidation, trying gamely to swallow it.

"Oh, that is disgusting," said Maria.

"It's not too bad," said Kyle, struggling to swallow the mouthful of food. "Alex, couldn't you mind warp us into thinking it's a Will Smith burger or something?"

"Relax," said Che'koth. "Here is the other food. I believe you will find it far more suitable. It is as close to Earth food as we can make on Antar."

Alex made a face, but gamely took the first bite. "Hey, his isn't too bad," he said. "It kind of tastes like squash."

"Thank God," said Maria, digging in. "I can always stand to lose a pound or two, but I wasn't looking forward to total starvation."

"Now that everybody has something they can eat," said Max with an engaging grin. I think we need to start planning our next move."

"Our next move?" Isabel asked, incredulously. "Max, we've just teleported or something, God knows how many light years away to our home planet. And we've found out that evil aliens are out there trying to kill us. What do you want us to do, walk out there making with the Vulcan live long and prosper sign and say we come in peace?"

"Calm down Isabel, that's exactly what I don't want us to do. I'm guessing the less obvious we are, the better. Plus, since none of us speak Antarian, we're kind of at a disadvantage right now."

"Max, if I may make a suggestion," said Che'koth. "Before you do anything, it may be wise to first outfit you to look like Antarians. The language is not an issue; we have ways to work around that. However, your facial features will present a problem. Everyone on Antar knows what King Zan looks like. You will need to come up with some sort of disguise."

"Not a problem," said Max.

"Max, stop it!" shouted Liz.

The room fell silent, and everybody stopped eating and stared at Liz.

"Don't you see what's going on here? You're not making plans, you're reacting. We're here, God knows how many millions of light years from home, and you're ready to go out charging full steam ahead. Well, I'm saying no, not this time. We need to stop and take a step back, and look at the big picture before we start making any plans."

Max looked chagrined, while the others looked at the floor, or the ceiling in an effort not to look at the fighting couple. Finally Michael broke the thick silence.

"Liz is right, Maxwell. You're acting like me," said Michael. "We need to figure out what's going on, and who we're up against. Let's just take it one step at a time."

"You're all forgetting one thing," said Zan. "I didn't sign on for any of this crap, and I don't care about what's happening on Antar. You people," he glared at Che'koth," "Sent us to Earth, and just left us there. You didn't give a rat's ass about us, what the hell makes you think I give a rat's ass about you?"

"Zan," began Che'koth.

"That's another thing!" shouted Zan. "If he's 'Your Majesty," why the hell aren't I? We're the same frigging person for Christ sake."

"It's complicated," said Che'koth, "But to put it simply, the Granolith chose Max, not you."

"That's bullshit," snapped Zan. "The freaking Granolith was here. It couldn't ever choose me."

"If you were the one meant to be chosen, the Granolith never would have activated for Max. Zan, I know this all must be confusing for you," continued Che'koth. Perhaps while we are assessing the current situation, some time could also be taken to explain the workings of the Granolith, and the reasons you were sent to Earth.

"Yeah, whatever," said Zan.

"Look, this is getting us nowhere," said Ava. "We need to finish eating, and start figuring out what we're going to do next. Zan, you need to calm down. Like it or not, you're in this with us. You killed that Aberjani thing. If you didn't want to be a part of it, you would have let her kill us. I know you Zan, you're a hell of a lot more noble than you let on, but you're also a pain in the ass right now. Max may have the title of King, but he sure as hell doesn't want it, and that alone makes him a king in my book. And you don't see him lording it over anyone. He doesn't think he's any better than Michael, Kyle, Alex, or you for that matter. No sit down and shut up. And if you're not going to help us, keep your mouth shut!"