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 – Three – School's in Session

"You mean we have to go back to school?" Kyle asked incredulously. "I thought I was finished with the halls of higher learning. At least for the time being. And besides, there is no way any of these credits are going to transfer back to Earth, are they?"

"You are such a dork, Valenti," said Maria. "At least they have something you may be interested in studying. Learning to be a soldier boy can't be all that different from playing football."

The others watched in mild amusement as Maria and Kyle bickered amicably back and forth. After Liz and Max had put forth their proposition, all of them, including Zan, were in favor of staying on Antar. Che'koth left to make arrangements to have someone transport down to Earth and make the Sheriff aware of their situation. He returned while Kyle tried, and failed, to explain to Maria that football was nothing at all like learning to be a soldier.

"Have you all decided upon your course of study?" inquired Che'koth as he sat at what the group had begun to call their war table.

"Science for me," said Liz.

"Diplomacy," said Isabel and Zan at the same time. Kyle snorted his disbelief, and Zan glared at him. "What?" he asked. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No, actually, I was laughing at the thought of the Christmas Nazi learning how to be a diplomat," said Kyle. "Remind me to tell you all about Isabel and her obsession with the holidays sometime."

"Thank you," Ava whispered to Kyle. She squeezed his hand under the table and smiled at him. "I have no idea of what to study," she admitted to the table. "Can I take a pass, and keep thinking?"

"Me too," said Maria. "I'm kind of clueless. Shut up, Kyle," she added, looking at Kyle who had his mouth opened to make a sarcastic comment.

"Well, I'm up for technology," said Alex. "You sure called that one, Parker."

"Like it was so hard, Whitman," she teased back. "You are such a techno geek have now, and always will be. Why would I expect that to change just because you're in another solar system?"

"Michael, what have you decided?" asked Max.

"Warrior," said Michael. "All things considered, it's not like I really have a choice."

"I'm torn," said Max. "I wouldn't mind the warrior training, but I really enjoy the thought of the diplomacy training."

"If I may intervene," said Che'koth. "You can combine two courses of study. It's a new program that the Training Academy instituted this year."

"Cool, sign me up," said Max and Zan, simultaneously. "Unless you don't think I should," continued Zan.

"No, I think it's a good idea," said Max. "It stands to reason that we both have some of the same interests.

"Great, that's settled," said Ava, but I still don't have a clue about what I want to study."

"Me either," said Maria. "I only passed science because Liz is my best friend, and the only technology I've ever mastered is the cell phone. That leaves diplomacy, medicine or the soldier thing, and may I just say, no way!"

"Again, I think I can help," offered Che'koth. "I made some inquiries at the Training Academy, and along with the dual course of study, they have offered a new course of study. It's affiliated with the medicine course, but it focuses on natural remedies. Many centuries ago, our healers worked in tandem with nature. They used their healing gifts when necessary, but felt that whenever possible, it was best to use the gifts that nature gave us whenever possible. Does this sound like something that may interest either of you?"

"Yes!" shouted Maria. "I'm all for it. Ava, what about you? Come on, be my study buddy, will ya?"

"It might be interesting," said Ava. "Okay, sure, I'll do it."

They sat around the war table, discussing the various courses of study, and looking at the information that Che'koth had brought with him. It was in Antarian, and none of them could read any of it, except for Alex who had picked up the rudiments of the written language when he was decoding the destiny book.

"If you are ready," said Che'koth. "We should begin the implant process. "You will need some time to assimilate all the knowledge you will gain."

"This isn't like going to erase the stuff we already know, is it?" asked Maria. "Cause I need to tell you, I worked damn hard learning my multiplication tables when I was in second grade, and I just don't want to give that up."

"No," said Che'koth. "You will simply be gaining new knowledge. The only difference is you will get a lifetime worth of information at one time. It will be a lot to process, and you may have a headache for a short time, but it will pass."

"Where is it going to be done?" asked Max. "Can it be done here, or will we need to go elsewhere?"

"It is but a short journey," said Che'koth. "We need to go to a room adjacent to the one in which you arrived. That area is our science and technology area. We will go there, and the procedure will be completed."

"I'm going first," said Max. "If anything, and I mean anything goes wrong," he said, looking at all the others. "Do not have the process done. Is that clear?"

"Excuse me, Mr. I'm not the King, but where the hell do you get off giving us orders?" demanded Isabel.

"Don't think of it as an order, think of it as common sense, Isabel."

Isabel glared at her brother, but didn't argue with him. They set off, with Che'koth in the lead, making their way back to the area in which they had arrived.

Max leaned back on the metal table, and willed his body to relax. He didn't want to tell anybody, but he was scared. He was more scared then he had ever been in his life. In fact terrified was a more accurate description of the emotion he was feeling right about now.

"Ready, Max?" Che'koth asked.

Max lifted his head off of the table and looked at his Antarian friend. Che'koth stood in front of a small control panel, his hand poised over one of the buttons.

"As I'll ever be, I guess," he replied. He gave an inaudible gulp, and laid his head back on the table and waited. The metal band that Che'koth had fit around his head began to vibrate. Images assaulted his mind, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. His mind began to feel cluttered, the way Liz used to say her head felt after a marathon study session – before her powers kicked in that is. There was one last surge, and Max felt his body arch up off of the table, and slam back down. Che'koth came over and removed the band around his head and helped him to sit up.

"Majesty, are you alright?" Che'koth asked in Antarian.

"Don't call me that," Max answered, also in Antarian. "Holy shit!" he said in English. "It worked!" He jumped up off the table, and crashed immediately into a heap on the floor. Che'koth rushed over to him, and Michael and Liz pushed open the door from the viewing chamber where they sat, and ran to his side.

"Maxwell, are you okay?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Max with a small groan. "It was kind of like a major head rush, that's all."

"Did it work Max?" Liz asked, kneeling down next to him.

"Yeah, it did," he answered her in Antarian. "Now, help me up, I need to go sit down somewhere quiet. There is a ton of stuff in my mind to go over."

Michael helped Max back to their sleeping quarters, and returned to find that Liz had taken Max's place on the table. He slipped into the chamber next to Che'koth and whispered angrily to him. "Why did you let her go next? If anything happens to her, Max would fall apart. I should have gone next, just to make sure there weren't going to be any other problems."

Che'koth laughed softly and looked at Michael. "How like Rath you are, my young friend. And those two," he nodded towards Liz on the table. "They keep claiming that they are not the King and his Queen, but two more honorable and loyal people I have yet to meet. Max insisted he go first to make sure it was safe, and Liz insisted that she be next. She said that if there was any danger to humans, then it should happen to her, and not her friends. And you, Michael, angry that you didn't get to go first to protect your friend and king. Blashnia, you are all the true and real rulers of Antar, if only you would open your eyes, and your heart and see it."

One by one, they all underwent the procedure that implanted in their minds, everything they would need to survive on Antar. Ava was the last to undergo the procedure, and Che'koth carried her in his arms back to their sleeping quarters. He laid her gently on the bed and covered her with a light blanket, and then cast an eye over the rest of the podsters. None of them seemed to suffer any adverse effects from the implants. He looked over as first Max, and then Liz began to stir.

The both sat up, and swung their legs over the edge of their cots. Liz rubbed her head and smiled wanly. "I feel like I have the worlds biggest hangover," she said, in Antarian. "But this is incredible, I'm speaking Antarian, and I know everything. It's a weird feeling."

"I know," Max replied, also in Antarian. "It's weird, but really cool, too. Che'koth has told us about some of our history, but now, it's all right here, in my mind. The stories, the legends, everything; it's amazing."

Liz leaned against the pillow on her cot, and allowed her mind to roam through the vast stores of knowledge she recently acquired. It wasn't like things she had learned on Earth. Those were facts, stored in her mind. What she could see in her mind now were the images and memories of the Antarians who lived before her. She could feel the anguish of those who fought against Kivar. If she looked further back, she could see the original settlers who came to Antar. She felt their fear as they raced to escape the natural disaster that destroyed their home. She saw their ships being launched into the sky, and the water covering their homes. She watched as the ships flew higher and higher into the sky. Suddenly, she found herself in one of the ships, watching as the world retreated; a world that looked strangely familiar. She searched through her mind to find the name for the land that they had fled from, and to translate it to English. Shock ripped through her body as she made the connection.

"Max," she whispered, this time in English. "You came from Earth originally. Your people did anyhow. They came from Atlantis."