Way Way Way Over The Rainbow
Chapter 11
XI
Liz and Alex stared at the "car," a royal blue Fan-Ji IV…
"I don't hear the motor or anything," Liz said, shaking her head in amazement. "How is it just staying there like that in the air?"
Max smiled. Liz knew that she was looking at some kind of hover car or anti-gravity vehicle, but she couldn't figure out what made it stay where it was without any noisy fans or anything underneath to lift it off the ground… or any sound of a motor at all as far as she could tell. Yet there it was… about fifteen inches off the ground… not moving at all, as though it were perfectly normal for it to just be parked there like that in the air.
"Where's the door handle," Alex asked, running his hand appreciatively over the side of the car.
Max pressed his hand to the door just below the window, and a handprint appeared briefly, then the top of the car, "doors" and all, floated back.
"Awesome," Alex said. "Could I do it, or are you the only one who can open it?"
"It's programmed to my DNA," Max said, "but it'll respond to anyone I program it to recognize."
"Awesome," Alex repeated. "I don't guess I could take one of these back with me? I love this car…"
Max smiled. "It might be hard to explain."
"I know," Alex acknowledged ruefully, "but it sure would be fun to drive back to college in one of these."
Max helped Liz Parker and his wife into the car, though clearly there was no need other than mere chivalry. All they had to do was step in and sit down. Even the seat restraints were automatic. Alex stepped into the back with Liz Parker, and Max sat down in the driver's seat then waved his hand over a sensor on the dash. The car seemed to rise upward gently and rotate to the left as Max turned the steering wheel. Then it moved forward smoothly. It felt oddly like an Earth car, except that it was floating on air, so there were no bumps, no road noises… just the sound of the wind… until Max pressed a button, closing the side ports… small vents in the lower part of the windows. Then there was only silence, as the scenery whisked by.
Suddenly, Liz and Alex's seats, which were individually controlled, both tilted back slightly.
"What happened," Alex asked. "Did I do that?"
Max grinned. "No, I did it. You can control them yourselves, though."
Alex moved his hand around under the seat but found no control levers or buttons.
"Lift your hand," Max said. "Point at the back of the seat in front of you."
Alex did, and a set of sensors appeared in the air in front of him. They were there… yet not there… at least not in the sense that they could actually be felt, physically. The entire panel was something that Alex could only describe as "virtual reality." He pushed at a sensor button, but his finger went through the panel, and nothing happened.
"Try again," Max said. "Just touch it… Don't stick your finger through it."
Alex "touched" the sensor on the virtual touch pad with his fingertip, and his seat resumed an upright position. Then he leaned the seat back again.
"Cool! Awesome!" What does this one do?" Alex pointed at another sensor on the virtual touch pad.
"In the lower right corner? That's the eject button," Max said. "That's in case the car goes crazy and takes off headed for the stars with everyone in it… You push that button and it throws you out of the car through the roof."
Alex looked at Max for any sign that he was joking. Max didn't have a trace of a smile or a grin.
"Really?" Alex asked, removing his finger carefully. Max smiled.
"Max, you're no different in any dimension!" Alex pressed the sensor, and music began to waft out from the virtual console. Then he lowered his hand, and the virtual console disappeared, but the music continued.
"Not bad," Alex said. "I kind of like it." Liz, sitting next to him, looked at him quizzically.
"The music, I mean."
"What music," Liz asked.
"The music that I just turned on. Don't you hear it?"
Liz shook her head.
"It's audible only to you, Alex," Liz Evans said from the front. "The controls allow you to make it audible to everyone if you wish, but their controls allow them to override it if they choose not to listen to it or prefer to listen to something else."
"Mom and Dad would have loved that!" Alex said. He leaned his seat back again and watched the scenery go by.
"It looks a lot like Earth," he said after several minutes had passed. "I mean, you have trees and bushes and lakes and… and even horses."
Liz Evans nodded. "Our horses are a little different when you see them up close, though."
"Well, they look just like regular horses running out there in the pasture… and they gallop like real horses… What? Do they fly or something?"
Liz laughed. "No… not that we know of. They just come with some unusual colors and markings… and they've got this little thing on their heads like a budding unicorn's horn. It's not obvious from a distance. The Antarians call them yoriths… the horses, I mean."
"They run fast," Liz Parker said. Liz Evans nodded. "Wait'll you see Jim's pawgor run… and jump! It's incredible."
"That's the saber-tooth tiger I saw playing with the little boy… Danyy, isn't it," the younger Liz said.
Alex looked surprised. "So then you, uh… you weren't just kidding about that before? Liz shook her head.
"Oh… um… okay…" Alex said softly.
"Well, I don't know if it's exactly a saber-tooth tiger," Liz Evans said, "like the ones on Earth in prehistoric times. But it looks just like all the pictures I've ever seen of one… so that's what we call it… other than a pawgor I mean. That's what it really is, of course… a pawgor."
Liz watched the scenery distractedly for several moments, then she looked back at Alex. "We should really be trying to get back home, Alex… Max and Michael and Maria and Isabel are still lost, and I need to find them… and I don't know what will happen when Mom and Dad find us together in the den."
"I didn't think about that," Alex said. "You don't think your Dad will think… I mean… We were both sitting up, right? He won't think… you know…?"
"I'm sure he'll forgive you, Alex."
Alex swallowed.
"After he throws you out the window," Liz added with a slight smile.
"See… that's what I'm afraid of," Alex said. "Your apartment's upstairs… and I don't bounce very well."
Liz smiled. "Dad would know something was wrong, Alex. You don't need to worry about him throwing you out the window. I'm worried about what he'll think, though, when neither one of us wakes up."
Alex looked at her and nodded, understanding fully the implications of what Liz was saying.
"Well, I've got Varec researching the history of the orbs now," Max said. "He's the best scientist on Antar. If the information is available anywhere, he'll find out what you need to do to get back. We have our own set of orbs here, but Varec was concerned about sending you back with ours, since yours were from another dimension or something. We don't want to send you back where you don't belong and have you lost… interdimensionally or something… like those guys on Sliders on TV back on Earth."
"That could really happen?" Alex asked.
"You're here," Max said. "It seems you've proved it."
"So… how are we going to get back?" Alex asked. "We kind of left our orbs behind when we came here."
"That's what Varec is trying to find out," Max said. "There has to be a way to do it. Varec and I both feel certain of that. It's just a matter of knowing what it is. When we know, we'll tell you and help you get back… but for now, all you can do is relax and enjoy your time here… however long or short it might be."
"I'm enjoying being here and seeing everything…" Liz said. "but I feel guilty… like I shouldn't be here when I need to be helping them… They could be hurt."
"You were paralyzed before you came here, weren't you, Liz?" Liz Evans asked.
Liz Parker nodded.
"How were you going to help them if you were paralyzed?"
"I was getting better," Liz said. "I exercised… as much as I could… for therapy. Vera helped me. That's my nurse. I just need to be there. I don't know what I can do, but I need to be there to try. Can you understand?"
Liz Evans turned around and looked at her younger self and nodded. "Yeah. I can understand."
Max brought the car to a stop beside a tight parking space between two other cars. "This is our oldest and best still-standing department store right here, guys. It's called 'Kyyks.'" Max turned the steering wheel to the right while depressing a small button on the center console bar, and the car floated sideways into the parking space and stopped.
"That was too cool," Alex said. "How many years are we behind you on Earth?"
"You mean how long till you can buy one of these?" Max asked.
"Yeah."
"Earth civilization is about 28,000 years younger than Antarian civilization."
"I don't think I can wait that long," Alex said.
Max grinned. "That doesn't mean it will take that long on Earth. Antar had different priorities along the way. You could have something like this in the next… hundred years or so."
"Oh, just a hundred? No problem then," Alex said, looking downcast in spite of his grin. "I'll just put it on my Christmas list for the year 2,114."
"Sorry, Alex," Max said. Max waved his hand over the console, and the top and doors floated back and the seat restraints unlocked. "Everyone who's going in, follow Liz. She lives here when she's not in the palace," Max said with a wry grin.
Liz smiled sheepishly. "I don't always buy something. I just like to shop. Besides, you've been over to that new hover car dealer with all the new alien vehicles more times lately than I've been here."
Max nodded. "She's right. It's my downfall. The Fan-Ji IV is an Antarian car, but alien vehicles are becoming all the rage at the moment here on Antar. There are some very unusual vehicles out there… built by creatures whose physiology is radically different than ours in some cases… creatures who have radically different concepts of what transportation should be like. It's kind of awesome to see some of them up close and test drive them."
"I can imagine," Alex said.
Liz laughed. "Wait'll you've seen some of them, Alex! I'm not sure that you [b]can[/b] imagine! At least Antarian cars look pretty much like Earth cars, even if they are futuristic by Earth standards."
As they turned to go in, a long, strange-looking vehicle pulled up alongside Max's Fan-Ji IV. Easily three times as long as Max's car, this new vehicle had large flaps that stuck out on the lower sides. They probably had something to do with the hovering system or with stabilizing the car, but they made it look like a giant translucent stingray –the fish kind- with windows on the top, swimming down the road.
"Good luck finding a place to park that!" Alex laughed.
As he watched, a man, and then a woman, exited the vehicle. Then the vehicle disappeared suddenly in a bright flash of light.
"Where did it go," Alex asked.''
"Watch," Max replied. The man leaned over and picked up something tiny at his feet and put it into his pocket.
"When he comes back out and presses the button, the car will become normal size again," Max said.
"Well, I hope he doesn't accidentally press the button while he's got the car in his pocket…" Alex scoffed… "especially when he's on the escalator or something. That would be interesting. It's so tiny. What if he can't find it after he shrinks it… or someone steps on it before he can pick it up? It looks more like a flattened plastic submarine… or some kind of freaky, ground-hugging flying saucer with a limo attached to the back! Who would make a car like that?"
Max smiled. "The Archedians would. And it's not plastic. They call it neopseudobiological stressed metallic alloy. You think it looks odd outside… You should see it inside!"
Alex shook his head. "No thanks. The only thing I can imagine worse than accidentally pressing the button when that car's in my pocket would be accidentally shrinking it with me still in it. I don't feel like swimming in a bowl of milk with my arm through a cheerio or using ant transportation until someone finds me with a magnifying glass and picks me up with a pair of tweezers, thank you."
Liz Parker giggled, and her Antarian counterpart smiled.
"What does the guy that owns it say in the morning," Alex continued. "Honey, I can't find the car. Do you remember which coat I left it in? By the way… Where's our kid? Was that him I saw swimming in my froot loops this morning?"
Both Lizzes laughed.
Max smiled. "Come on. Let's go in."
"Honest, Dear," Alex continued, faking a female voice as they walked into the store, "I swear I didn't know the car was in the pocket when I put your pants in the washer."
Both Lizzes were laughing out loud now, and Max was shaking his head.
"Maybe if I use the hair dryer on it…" Alex added apologetically, using his most contrite female voice.
"Don't encourage him," Max said, smiling too, in spite of himself. "You wouldn't want to be responsible for him running away and becoming a circus clown."
"You're just jealous," Alex said, "because I can make girls laugh without dropping my pants."
Liz's mouth fell open, and she glanced at her Antarian counterpart, who was smiling slightly but appeared shocked, too. Max looked at Alex…
"Alex… You're the same in any dimension."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Alex said.
"Go easy, Alex," Liz Parker whispered to him. "He is the king here… He could have you locked up… or executed… or something."
Alex smiled. "He's just Max… king or no king. He's still Max."
Max took out his communicator and punched a number. "Jarto'h, how long would it take to prepare the gallows for an afternoon execution? Four hours? Can you make it three? Good." Max put the device back into his pocket.
"He's kidding," Alex said confidently. "You were kidding… right, Max?"
Max didn't answer.
"I'm sure he was kidding," Alex said. "Max wouldn't… I mean… I know he's not our Max, but he's still… How different can he be just because he's from another dimension… and a king here?"
Max remained silent. Alex seemed unusually quiet for a few minutes, then he shrugged.
"I was just kidding, you know, Max… about the… you know… I don't know where that came from. It was just a joke."
"Liz," Max said, "why don't you and… uh, you and Liz… go check out the ladies things, and I'll take care of Alex. I'll meet you here in, say, two hours?"
Alex swallowed. Liz nodded and smiled then turned to lead her unsure younger counterpart off toward another section of the store. Max motioned for Alex to follow.
"I know what you're doing, Alex?"
"You do?"
"Yeah."
"What am I doing?"
Max smiled. "Liz was shot, paralyzed… and condemned unfairly to live her life in a wheelchair. She's had every reason to be emotionally destroyed, every reason to give up on life… to give up on happiness. You've been keeping her spirits up… keeping her laughing… giving her a friend to lean on."
Alex shrugged. "Yeah… well, I just do it… I don't think about it, but… I just wanted to… yeah… I guess you're right. I have been trying to make her laugh. I just want her to be happy, Max. So does Kyle… and Kyle's Dad… Sheriff Valenti… and her Mom and Dad. I guess I can try to tone the joking down if you…"
Max shook his head. "Don't even think about doing that! The two of you may be from another dimension… and she may be younger than my Liz… but she's still Liz. And I still love her, Alex. Make her laugh! All you can! You've got something that puts her at ease and makes her happy… a natural sense of humor and compassion… Like I said, you really are a lot like our Alex… I guess you really are the same in any dimension… Anyway, I just wanted you to know… I appreciate what you're doing. And I wanted to thank you… for my counterpart down there… wherever he is… and… and… for me, too." Max looked at Alex, and Alex thought he saw a glint of moisture in Max's eyes.
"You're not going to execute me, then?"
Max grinned slowly. "Oh, I didn't say that. What's an afternoon without a good execution? But if you keep Liz smiling and laughing, I guess I'd be obliged to pardon you."
"I'll give it my usual superior effort, your highness," Alex replied with an understanding smile.
"I'm sure you will," Max said. "I don't know if I can take it… But it makes Liz laugh, so don't ever stop! …You want to play some pinball?"
"You've got that up here?"
Max nodded. "Well, it's the Antarian version, but it's pretty much the same idea as Earth pinball… sort of."
"Yeah, okay, sure! But I thought we were supposed to be shopping for clothes."
"What for," Max asked.
"Well… to wear, I guess."
"No need. When we see the girls, they'll want us to come check out some shirts and things that they saw that they thought would look great on us. We go with them and try them on. Voila! We found what we came for. We just buy what they like. Saves us having to make a lot of choices."
"I think I see why you wore that same brown sweater all the time back on Earth, Max."
"We've still got time for an execution this afternoon."
"Pinball sounds good."
**********
In the ladies wear department, Liz Parker picked up a rather pretty blouse and held it up. It had an oddly exotic look, but it could pass for Earth wear. Most of the clothes she saw here could, though there were a few that probably would raise some eyebrows and bring unwanted questions.
"When we go back, will we be able to take anything with us?"
Liz Evans thought a moment. "I don't know. I don't know why not, though. You came here with what you had on."
"But we had the orbs in our hands… and they stayed there."
"Yeah, that's true… Maybe they're made to… I don't know. We'll just have to find out, I guess, won't we?"
Liz Parker smiled. "I'd really love to take some of these back, but I know some of them would be hard to explain. People would want to know who the designer was, and what would I tell them?"
"Give them a name… any Antarian name. They'll probably say they've heard of him."
Liz laughed. "You're right. They probably would. Some of our designers on Earth are a little out of the world anyway! You know… I'm really glad I came here. I haven't really been out shopping since… since… well, you know… what happened to me."
Liz Evans nodded.
"And it would be hard to really enjoy myself shopping in a wheelchair… not the way I'm enjoying myself right now, being here with you… walking and all."
"I know," Liz Evans said, smiling. "I'm glad you came here, too. Maybe we can find a way to help you find Max and the others when you go back."
"Oh, I hope so," the younger Liz said. "That would be like… a dream come true! Max is… well… the first guy… the only guy really… I ever really loved. I'm crazy about Kyle and Alex, but I love Max. Can you understand?"
"Look who you're talking to," Liz Evans said. "Yeah, I understand."
"I hope your Max and my Alex are having fun shopping," Liz Parker said.
"Oh, they're playing pinball," Liz Evans said, "or video games one… in the arcade."
"How do you know that?"
"I'm married to him… I know a lot of things he doesn't know I know." Liz smiled. "They'll show up and expect us to show them some great-looking clothes we found for them, they'll buy them, and they'll pretend they were shopping the whole time."
"You don't mind?"
Liz Evans smiled. "Why should I mind? I know he'll be well-dressed."
Liz Parker laughed. "Good point! But I can't believe they would try to make us think they were shopping while they were really somewhere else… having fun."
"Well, we're having fun," Liz Evans said.
"Well, yeah, I know, but guys aren't supposed to have fun shopping."
"I guess that's why they're in the video arcade."
"I guess so… but you know… if they tell us they were shopping, I think I'd like to play a little joke on them."
"What do you have in mind?"
Liz Parker whispered to her Antarian counterpart, and Liz Evans smiled. "It sounds like something Alex might appreciate… a few years from now." She nodded. "I like it."
**********
After playing various Antarian video games in the arcade, Max looked at the time and patted Alex on the back.
"Ten minutes till we're supposed to meet the girls. We better not be late. They may come looking for us."
"You live a dangerous life, Max."
Max smiled. "Some of us thrive on danger, Alex. It's the daredevil in us."
"Or maybe just the devil." Alex grinned.
"What was that?"
Alex shook his head. "Nothing."
As Max and Alex walked back toward the place where they had left Liz and her younger counterpart, they saw that the girls were already there.
"There they are, Alex. Remember what I told you."
Alex nodded.
"How'd you guys do," Liz Parker asked. "I don't see any packages."
"We didn't find anything we liked," Max said, only half lying.
"Well," Liz Evans said, "We saw some things that would look great for both of you! Why don't you come take a look! Try them on!"
Max looked at Alex and smiled. Alex shook his head. "You da man, Max. You called it," he said quietly.
Max grinned. "Okay, we'll look. I hope they're better than what we looked at."
"Oh, I'm sure of that," Liz Evans said. She took Max by the hand and led him to the men's department.
"Close your eyes… both of you. We want it to be a surprise. You're gonna love it!"
Max looked at Alex and shrugged, then both of them closed their eyes. Liz Evans unbuttoned Max's shirt and took it off, and her younger counterpart unbuttoned and removed Alex's shirt. Then they both worked quickly to put another shirt on each one. Max felt Liz put something on his head and something around his neck. He wondered about it, ties being unusual apparel on Antar, but then he figured that it must be an Antarian dress collar. Liz Parker put a hat on Alex's head and told him to sit down. Then she slipped something on over his pants.
"Okay, guys, you can look now," Liz Evans said. "What do you think?"
"It looks great," Max said, automatically, as he opened his eyes. Then he caught a glimpse of Alex, and his mouth dropped open. Alex looked at Max and snorted, then broke into hysterical laughter. Max looked at his own clothes then looked in the mirror. He had on a silky yellow shirt that must have been brighter than the Antarian sun. And as if that weren't enough, it had purple polka-dots that almost pulsated with their own life. Then there were hot pink diagonal lines zig-zagging through all the polka-dots, connecting them in random fashion. On his head, Max had an odd-looking hat with a very large feather in it, and around his neck was a bright red kerchief that looked more like something a clown would wear. Alex had on a pink shirt with green vertical stripes and a hat that was three times too large. But most embarrassingly, over his pants, he had on a pair of women's undies… with the word "Monday" across the front in Antarian.
"I'm not even going to ask what that says," Alex said. "Max?"
Max shrugged. "I'd say they're playing a joke on us, Alex. Must be your personality rubbing off on everyone."
"Oh, yeah! Blame it on the guy with the alien undies! That's always the way!"
Max grinned. "You do look… amazing, Alex! I must admit."
"Look at yourself, you pervert. Stop looking at my undies!"
Max turned red but couldn't stop laughing.
"Where did you find this stuff," Max asked Liz. "I don't think even the diciest Antarian would wear these things!" Liz looked over to the side and motioned to someone to come out. It was Jayyd Guerin, and she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Did they like it, Aunt Liz?"
"They loved it, Jayyd!" Liz turned back to Max, "I called Michael and asked if we could borrow Jayyd for a little while… to alter some colors for us. When I explained what we needed, he was more than eager to help."
"Oh, I'll just bet he was," Max said. "Is he here, too? Come on out, Michael! …We may have that execution yet, Alex!"
Michael walked out from behind the wall with a smile on his face. "You guys look… ridiculous."
Max and Alex pulled their shirts off quickly and put their own shirts back on, and Alex pulled off the panties and the oversized hat.
"I've got to say, though, Max, I thought it brought out the real you," Michael added with a chuckle.
"Laugh it up, Michael! Payback will be sweet!"
"You'll have to top this," Michael said. "And the sweet thing is, it was Liz's idea!"
Liz Evans shrugged and looked sheepish. Both Lizzes were laughing.
"I especially like that hat with the big feather, Max," Michael said. "It's really fetching!"
Max reached up and pulled the hat off of his head.
"That can't be a real feather," Alex said. "It's got to be at least three feet long!"
"I think it's a jah-ee feather," Liz Evans said.
"You've got birds that big?"
"Only the jah-ee. This is one of its smallest feathers. I've seen people picking up small loose feathers after Max has had a visit from the jah-ee. I guess they sell the feathers to designers."
Max looked at the hat and pulled out the price tag. "Oh, geez! Put this back! I'd have to mortgage the palace to pay for this!"
Liz looked at the tag. "Well, that may be a little bit of an exaggeration… but that is an awful lot of money. I guess jah-ee feathers aren't cheap."
Michael snorted, as he began to laugh again. "Well, they look good on you, Max! You'll have to wear them more often."
Max reddened.
"And Alex," Michael said, wiping the tears from his eyes. "I think I can spring for you to get the whole set of those cute undies. You don't want to wear 'Monday' every day."
Alex turned red. "Is that what it said?"
Liz nodded.
"Well, I guess it could have been worse," Alex said. "I had all kinds of ideas about what that might have said."
Max and Michael laughed, and then both Lizzes began to laugh again, though they were trying hard not to.
"Have you guys eaten yet," Michael asked. Max shook his head.
"Common, let's go to the CrashDown then," Michael said. "I'll treat."
"Well, I am getting kind of hungry again," Alex said.
"Me, too," Liz Parker said, nodding.
"Okay," Max agreed. "Just let me take a quick look in the mirror again to make sure I'm back to my own self."
"You really should wear the feather," Michael chuckled. "Maybe they'd rent it to you for the day."
"Laugh it up, big guy," Max said. "Alex will get to see that execution."
"Don't worry, Alex," Liz Evans said. "There hasn't been an execution on Antar since Max and Michael kicked Kivar's butt and took our planet back."
Alex smiled and nodded understandingly.
"You executed Kivar?"
"No," Max said. "The jah-ee took care of Kivar and Nicholas for us. Kivar was the last one to execute anyone on Antar. There's very little crime on Antar, and after Kivar, everyone would just as soon never see an execution again."
"Really? That's good to know," Alex said.
"Though I still could make an exception," Max said with a grin.
"Let's go get some chow," Michael said. Jayyd, you hungry?"
"UM HMMM!"
"Good. Come on, guys."
Liz paid for the things they had bought, including a couple of shirts and pants for Max and Alex. Then Max, Michael, Liz Evans, Liz Parker, Alex, and Jayyd all left together with Michael to go to the CrashDown.
**********
Liz Parker stared at the front of the CrashDown for several minutes, then she walked through the door and sat down with the others at a large booth in the corner. Almost immediately, a young Antarian girl appeared to take their orders… dressed in the same alien motif apron and antennae that Liz had once worn. The girl took their orders with a smile and then disappeared into the kitchen.
"I can't believe this," Liz said. "I feel like… like I should be putting my apron on and going to work. I expect at any minute Dad will walk out and…"
As she spoke, Jeff Parker walked out of the kitchen and looked up to see Max, Michael, Jayyd, a somewhat young-looking Alex, and… two Lizzes. He shook his head and opened his eyes again.
"If I go back to bed and wake up again, are there still going to be two of you, Liz?"
Liz Evans nodded. "I'm afraid so, Dad."
"You called him, Dad?" Liz Parker asked automatically. "Oh, that's right… I guess he is… you are… I mean…" Liz Evans stood up and put her arms around Jeff, and then Liz Parker did, too.
"You look just like Dad… I guess you are… in a way… only you look a little… older maybe… Is that a couple of white hairs I see?"
"That's what happens when you see your daughter suddenly become a teenager again," Jeff said, plucking the two hairs out and looking at them.
Alex laughed, and Liz smiled.
"It's a long story, Dad," Liz Evans said. "Liz and Alex here are from… we think they're from a sort of parallel dimension. The orbs brought them here. Liz was shot at her graduation and woke up from a four-month coma to find out she was paralyzed. Somehow, she's not paralyzed when she's here, though."
Jeff appeared clearly moved by this information.
"I always wondered how we managed to make it out of there without losing our children," he said. "It was a miracle. Did the others survive… in your world… wherever you came from?"
"That's what they're trying to find out, Dad. Max, Michael, Isabel, and Maria were supposedly killed. Four months after their funerals, though, Sheriff Valenti found out that the bodies weren't in their coffins. And Liz here has had flashes in which she has seen Max and Maria calling her. She thinks they may all be alive."
"Da-" Jeff stated, then he glanced at Jayyd… "Doggone FBI Special Unit and the Army's Alien Task Force. They were a scourge in our world… until Dan became the head of the unit. Dan changed everything. He's one of the good ones."
"Dan who?" Liz Parker asked.
"You wouldn't know him. Dan Klein… and his wife, Diane. What was her maiden name? Anyway, it's Klein now. Casey! That was her name before. Diane Casey. She used to be an agent with the FBI's Special Unit, but she turned to our side. Then the President made Dan head of the Unit after the former head disappeared leaving the Unit in disarray and plagued by scandal. Dan gave the Unit a whole new direction, and he and Diane travel back and forth to Earth all the time now."
"From Antar?" Alex asked. Jeff nodded.
"Maybe Dan Klein could help us," Alex suggested.
"I doubt it, Alex," Jeff said. "Before Diane met us and Dan fell in love with her, both of them were Special Unit agents. They never met us yet in your world it would seem. You seem to be ten or fifteen years younger than we are. And since graduation didn't happen the same way in your world, there's no guarantee that anything else will either."
"But maybe the people have the same hearts," Alex said. "I don't know… maybe they just need to find their way in our world like they did in yours. What I mean is that as long as nothing comes along and affects this Dan Klein in my world, he may remain a dedicated agent, but given similar… situations… he might turn out to have the same heart that the one in your world does."
Jeff nodded. "I see what you're saying… and you could be right… but the situation that brought Dan over to our side in our world may never be duplicated in your world. I would have to consider him extremely dangerous in his… let's say, pre-enlightened days… Diane, too, probably. Besides, I don't think we would know where to find him, and even if we did, he would have no influence in your world. He hasn't been made the head of the agency there yet… He may never be."
Alex nodded and sighed. "It was just a thought."
The girl returned and placed the orders on the table. Alex and Liz seemed especially hungry, but everyone seemed to enjoy the food. As they were finishing, another person came into the CrashDown.
"Varec!" Max called. "Over here! Come join us." Varec smiled and walked quickly over to the table and sat down.
"I've got good news, Zan!"
"Well, tell us," Max said, swallowing a bite of his alien cheeseburger. "We could use some good news… anything you've got."
"I can get you back," Varec said to Alex and Liz. "You can go home!"
Everyone was silent.
"I thought you'd be happy," Varec said. "I thought that's what you wanted."
"Yeah… yeah, it is, Varec," Max said. "It's just that it's so… sudden… and unexpected."
Alex and Liz both nodded.
"Well…" Varec said, sizing up the situation astutely, "there's no need to leave until you want to, of course. It could just as well be tomorrow… or a year from now… as today."
Alex sighed and looked at Liz, and she smiled slightly.
"You don't look forward to going back to the chair, do you, Liz?" Alex asked.
Liz shook her head, and Varec looked confused. "The electric chair?"
Liz smiled and sniffed. "Worse! The wheelchair. It's alright, Alex. I have to find Max… and Maria and Michael and Isabel. If I'm not there to keep pushing everyone to find them, who will? I know Amy will always look for Maria, but she needs somebody to help her. I have to do it… and I have to go back right away. How soon can we go?"
Varec took out a set of orbs. "Anytime you're ready."
Liz looked at Alex.
Alex swallowed and nodded. "We need to go now," he said to Varec. "Max… Michael… Liz… it's been… super meeting you and being here. Maybe we'll meet again someday." Alex sniffed, then Liz did, too. Liz hugged Max, and Max kissed her on the cheek. Then she hugged Michael and her counterpart, Liz Evans. Then she hugged Jeff again.
Alex looked at Jayyd and smiled. "Jayyd, it's been a special… um… experience meeting you! If I ever need some clown clothes, I'll sure see if you're available to do the color changes. You're awesome!"
Liz smiled and hugged Jayyd. "That goes for me, too. I really could use you on my world. Varec? Can we go?"
Varec nodded and handed Alex and Liz each an orb.
"Each of you hold an orb in one hand, and hold each other's hands with the other hand. Then place the two orbs together, forming a complete circuit."
"Then she's gonna click her heels together three times while saying, 'I want to go home,' right?" Alex said. Liz laughed and slapped him playfully on the arm.
"No," Varec said. "Verbal incantations won't work. You both need to concentrate on the orbs and on where you want to go. You will see the object of your search in your minds. Then you go to it."
"Just like that?" Alex asked.
Varec nodded.
"Think about our bodies, Alex. We want to go back to our bodies on Earth."
"Good thinking, Liz." Both of them closed their eyes. Max looked at his wife, Liz. She had tears in her eyes. Then he looked at Michael. Michael swallowed silently. Max looked back at Alex and Liz and raised one hand as they began to disappear.
"Take care of her, Alex," he said, his voice breaking in spite of all his efforts. "Keep her laughing."
As Alex and Liz disappeared, the orbs fell to the floor. At the table, several minutes passed in silence… other than for the occasional sniffle and the sound of napkins disappearing from the napkin holder.
"Varec," Max said, finally breaking the silence, "could we use our orbs to go to her world?"
"I don't think so, Zan. I could research some more, but dimensional travel with the orbs was a fluke. It wasn't supposed to happen. What I found out was that their coming here opened up a pathway for the orbs to take them back… under the right conditions."
"Could we go there with the sphere of the portal?"
Varec shook his head. "The sphere's are confined to this dimension… They can see and travel into the past and future… but only in our dimension. Unfortunately, there is no experience with dimensional travel in our history."
"Then there's no way that you know of for us to help them?"
"Well… there may be one."
"What?"
"The New Granolith. Theoretically, it could travel dimensionally. You must understand that it has never been tried or proven. It's only a theory."
"Your theory, Varec?"
Varec nodded.
"That's good enough for me." Max looked at Michael, and Michael nodded his agreement. Then he looked at Liz, and she nodded, too.
"How long would it take to get the ship ready?"
"Three days… then, by my calculations, twelve days to get there."
"How soon can you get workers started on preparing the New Granolith? It hasn't been used for a while."
"They've already started. I expected you to make this decision."
"Michael," Max said, "We need to plan this out over the next couple of days while they're preparing the New Granolith. And we need to recruit whoever's going to go with us to help."
Michael nodded, and Max looked around the table and smiled…
"Folks… We're going to Earth."
tbc
Coming up: This storyline will continue, chronologically, in The Night The Dreams Died. Alex and Liz return to their bodies, but things are not as they left them. To help Max, Maria, Michael, and Isabel, they will first have to save themselves, and the prospects of that have just gone from challenging to dismal. In the next chapter of this book, The Four Faces Of Rath, Max and group set out for Earth in Dimension "Y" with the New Granolith, but being twelve days away, there is a real fear that they may be too late to help anyone by the time they arrive. Expect Amy and Jim to be formidable together. If they can keep Liz and Alex from a tragic end for long enough… and if Maria can keep Isabel alive long enough… and not be discovered… help is on the way. But will Max and the other rescuers get there in time… or will they simply be too late to do anything but mourn when they finally get there? And are Liz and Alex really as helpless as their persecutors believe them to be?