Vashkoda – Unexpected twists and turns are my specialty! I'm a reckless writer! LOL ! I agree with you totally about the reviews. There are a number of possibilities for this, but fb is starting to pick up somewhat on this story at least, and then people go read the others. The Liz-alien thing was revealed at the very end of the first story, Altered Time – Destiny In The Stars. It was a subtle implication at the very end.
Malexandria – Ditto on the reviews! Your observation about Kyle and the Evanses being absent was very useful! Actually, Kyle was in chapters 4 & 5. He was the first of the gang to visit Liz after she came out of her coma, and she confided in him about her odd dreams. And he was the one who "accidentally on purpose" pulled the cinch that dropped the coffin so they could see what was (or wasn't) in it when Judge Lewis showed up with a cease and desist order. Kyle will be back again, I'm sure, before this is over. As for the Evanses, you are so right! I realized that they have been direly neglected in the chapters so far… so for this reason, you can take responsibility for them having an active part in the upcoming chapter! The reason they hadn't appeared before is that Max and Isabel were supposedly killed at graduation. All the action early on centered around Liz, who was alive, and around the gang trying to find their way off the base and reunite. Liz and Alex's parents had active parts, because their children were with them at the beginning of the story, but the Evanses children were presumed dead, and they didn't have an active part. That is now changed. Thanks for the observation! And thanks especially for the very nice comments!AlienAngel – The gang from The Four Faces Of Rath is on the way. I can't say much more, because I don't want to spoil anything.
And without further ado, here's the next part!
The Night The Dreams DiedA Feather Of Doubt
Chapter 23
XXIII
Upstairs over the sheriff's office, safely locked away from prying eyes, Jim and Amy hugged each other. Then Amy bounced, pirouetted, and danced around the gym, wanting to scream for joy but trying not to make so much noise that anyone else might hear and wonder what was going on up there. Unable to scream, Amy let out her feelings by leaping and dancing all over the room. Then she literally leapt into Jim's arms.
With a huge grin on his own face, Jim stared at the coffee cup Amy had been drinking out of only a few minutes earlier.
"I'm really gonna have to add some water to that coffee pot downstairs one of these days. I knew it was getting to be pretty strong stuff, but this is bordering on illegal! I wouldn't want Hansen doing flips and pirouettes around the office… and if he jumps into my arms, that's it! He's goin' in the tank till the caffeine wears off!"
Amy ran her hand over the side of Jim's face and up through his hair then smiled at him.
"Go ahead and arrest me, Sheriff! I surrender!"
Jim just smiled.
"Jim… can we see her," Amy asked, suddenly turning more serious again, though still smiling from ear to ear. "We could go out to the reservation… You could make up some excuse or something for going out there, couldn't you?"
"What about Jeff and Nancy… and Diane and Phillip… or the Whitmans? They'll want to see their children, too."
"Well… yeah… I know. Maybe we could take them with us!"
Jim gave Amy a skeptical look, but then he seemed to consider it.
"I could think on it, Amy… maybe… I don't know. I'll see if I can come up with something believable. But don't put too much hope into it. Their safety is the most important thing right now. It comes first."
"Of course it does," Amy agreed. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt Maria. She's my daughter. I just need to see her… you know… for myself… to know that she's really okay. You understand? I… I thought she was dead for so long, Jim…"
In spite of the smile on her face, Amy's eyes began to mist up.
Jim nodded and swallowed. He knew he was up against a force that no law officer had ever been trained to deal with. And besides… he kind of relished the idea of seeing everyone alive, well, and together again himself. Jim sighed a half-resigned sigh and looked at Amy…
"I understand how everyone feels. I just don't know if I can do anything about it."
He looked at Amy's pleading face.
"But I'll try. I promise. I'll see what I can do."
Amy smiled again. "I know you'll come up with something, Jim. You're the smartest man I know."
"Ah! Watch it!" Jim said, turning back around. "That's bribery! Keep that up and I may HAVE to arrest you."
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Amy said.
"No… No, it wouldn't," Jim agreed.
"Anyway… I'm already serving a life sentence," Amy added. "What else can you do to me?"
"A life sentence? Is that what it is?"
Amy grinned. "Oh, I hope so!"
Jim nodded. "Well… with good behavior… and continued bribes like that to the sheriff… yeah… you can count on it being life. Besides, I can't let you go… I threw the key away."
"How convenient. Do you think you'll ever regret it, Jim?"
Jim shook his head. "Not for a moment."
Amy smiled. "Me either."
**********
~ three days later, on the Mesaliko Indian Reservation ~
Angie Lee sat in the living room of Gray Hawk's house talking with Maria and Liz. Though she was officially on summer break now, she had spent the last four days in Las Cruces taking care of some unfinished college work and other business. Max and Michael sat at the table nearby discussing plans with Alex and Isabel, who somehow had managed to convince River Dog to sneak them over to Gray Hawk's house for the day to be with the others… as they had every day for the past three days. It was Angie Lee who first noticed the faint sound, like something flopping around outside the door. She looked at Maria for a moment then at Max, then she ran to the door and opened it. A roadrunner limped into the living room and flopped over with its wings outstretched on the floor… heaving from exhaustion. Its head sank slowly to the floor, then it didn't move. Its eyes were closed.
"Max!" Angie Lee cried, but Max was already there.
"Rahn? My God! We were afraid something bad like this had happened when you didn't return! Can you change back?"
The bird just lay there, its wings outstretched, its eyes closed, and its head on the floor. Max reached down and carefully picked the little roadrunner up. He looked it over, then his hands began to glow with a soft green glow. After a short time, the bird pulled its wings in next to its sides… then, moments later, it tried to stand up. Max set it back down on the floor gently.
The roadrunner did look a hundred percent better, all things considered. It was still missing a few feathers, including one of its long tail feathers. But it was breathing more normally, and its eyes were open. It was also able to stand on its own feet now and hold its head up.
"Can you change back," Max asked again.
Little by little, the bird began to stretch and expand, its feathers began to disappear, and Rahn began to assume his "human" form. As he did, the extent of his injuries became more obvious. Everywhere that a feather had been missing, there was a deep gouge or abrasion on Rahn's body… including one that must have been very painful across his hips and up to the tailbone, where the tail feather had been. A sizeable patch of skin was missing there, and there was a deep gouge, probably from one of the hawk's talons. There was another deep gouge on his back and upper left side just below the shoulders.
As Rahn morphed back into his human form, he automatically replaced a thinner outer skin that mimicked human clothing, but in his present injured condition, he was unable to create new skin or "clothing" over the injured areas. Because of this, he looked like he had been in a fight with a tiger and was wearing clothes that were all ripped up. Max placed his hand over one of the wounds, and his hand glowed for about twenty seconds. As it did, the wound began to close… then skin covered it… then the "rip" in Rahn's biological "clothes" closed up. Max repeated this until he had healed all but the one remaining wound, the large one across Rahn's derriere. Max looked at Michael and at the girls.
"What?" Michael asked, grinning in spite of his best efforts to feign nonchalance. "You want me not to look? It's Rahn's butt! He's the one exposed, not you."
"Come on," Angie Lee said to Michael. "Let's go in the other room."
"I don't see what he's being so prudish about," Michael said. "He's not the one lying there exposed. I mean, if Rahn's okay with it…"
Angie Lee pushed Michael into the other room, and Maria and the others all followed.
Max placed both his hands on top of the large wounds on Rahn's hips, and there was a glow from his hands for almost a minute. He had to repeat the process several times on different parts of Rahn's wounded rear. Then he repeated the procedure on his tailbone. Finally, he removed his hands. The skin had grown back, and the biological "clothes" were starting to fill in.
"You're all fixed, Rahn."
"Thank you," Rahn said, but he looked somewhat puzzled. "Was that hard for you? You seemed… concerned."
Max shook his head. "No. No, it wasn't hard. You're wounds were relatively superficial… except for a couple that were deep… and the one on your… uh, your butt. There are just… well… some things that… well… I wouldn't do for just anybody, Rahn."
"I don't understand."
Max looked unsettled, as he tried to think of some way to explain.
"It's just that Michael knows about this now."
Max could tell that this information hadn't enlightened Rahn at all. If anything, Rahn simply looked more puzzled than ever.
"Never mind," Max said. "Michael and I are kind of… competitive. He won't let this opportunity go by. You can count on it."
"Is that bad?"
Max sighed. Clearly, he was going to have to explain a bit more appropriately for Rahn to understand.
"Michael and I… we sometimes kid each other about stuff… you know, just because we're friends and we're close and all… Touching someone in certain places sends kind of a sexual message…"
"Oh," Rahn said, seeming to understand. "So when you healed me… but don't your doctors touch people if they need to to heal them?"
"Yes, of course they do," Max admitted. "There's nothing wrong with it, it's just, well… it's… Never mind, Rahn. It's just childish."
Max heard muted laughter coming from the other room.
"You hear that, Michael? Childish!" Max said, raising his voice in the direction of the room the others had gone into. "You can come out now. It's all over."
The door opened and Michael and the others came back into the living room. Michael was grinning, but he didn't say anything.
"Rahn's as good as new," Max said, waving his hand in Rahn's direction.
"I'm very pleased to see that you're back to normal," Michael said politely to Rahn.
"Thank you. I am a bit pleased myself," Rahn admitted.
Michael grinned.
"Go ahead, Michael," Max said. "You know you want to say it! Say what you want to say! Get it over with."
"What?" Michael asked, acting offended. "Make fun of you for healing someone? That would be childish, Max. What do you take me for?"
Max looked at Maria. She shrugged.
"Okay," Max said quietly, still not sure if he really believed it. "Maybe I was wrong."
"I'm hurt, Maxwell! I think you owe me an apology."
Max looked at Michael's pleading face for a moment then sighed.
"Okay. I'm sorry."
"That you would even think I would be so crass," Michael continued.
"Michael! Don't push it! I said I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm very grateful to you," Rahn said, interrupting Max and Michael's exchange. "Zan… I mean, Max… you are a wonderful healer."
"Thank you," Max said, some of the smile returning to his face.
"I was afraid I would not be able to sit down again after that hawk slashed my tail," Rahn said.
"Did Max make it feel all better," Michael asked, with innocence painted all over his face.
"Oh yes! Very much better!"
"Really? I expect he ran his hands all over the, uh, injured area afterward to check for healing anomalies… you know, unevenness, unusual coloration, odd misalignments… silver handprints…"
"No… I don't think so… Should he have?"
Michael smiled. "Naw… It's nothing to worry about."
"It's nothing to worry about?" Rahn asked, sounding concerned.
"Well, it's just that the last guy Max touched there, his butt turned silver and was all uneven afterwards, and then it started to grow and grow. Now the poor guy has to be rolled everywhere he goes."
Angie Lee put one hand over her mouth and eyes but then broke down and giggled in spite of herself. Maria gave Michael a "Shame on you" look.
Max nodded. "I knew it! I knew you had to do it! I know you too well, Michael."
"Michael is playing a joke," Rahn said, seeming to understand what was going on.
"Yeah, I'm just pulling your leg, Rahn," Michael said. "But Max has been known to leave silver handprints. Did you check that out, Max?"
"No, and I'm not going to," Max said. "It'll wear off soon enough… if there is one."
Michael snickered. Alex shook his head but smiled, too.
"Well, Rahn," Liz said, "From where I'm sitting, you don't have any silver handprints on you anywhere, so don't worry about it."
"I'm not worried," Rahn said.
"Maybe his body doesn't get silver handprints from being healed by an alien," Alex mused.
"Or maybe they're under his clothes or whatever that is that he wears when he turns back into one of us again," Michael suggested.
"Well, either way, it is no problem for me," Rahn said. "I am very happy to be all well again with no injuries. That is all that I care about. Max pleased me very much."
Michael snorted, and Max ran his hand over his face.
"We understand, Rahn," Liz said.
"Don't pay any attention to Michael," Max added. "His hormones got all out of whack being away from Maria for so long."
"Maybe it was something they did to him in the army lab," Rahn said seriously.
Max shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
Max started to turn away but then seemed to stop and think for a moment…
"Then again, though… you could be right, Rahn. I probably ought to check that out."
Max turned around and took a step toward Michael.
"Uh, Max… what are you planning to do here," Michael asked warily, backing up then dodging to the other side of the room.
"Well, if you're still you, Michael, and they didn't change you, your butt will hold a silver handprint nicely."
"No! Uh, uh! No way! You stay away from me, Max! I like my butt untattooed, thank you very much!"
Max leapt, and Michael dodged back to the other side of the room again, keeping Alex and the others between them. Max feigned a dash to the left but then cut to the right instead, closing in on Michael. Seeing his escape path blocked, Michael sat his butt down the only place he saw available… on Maria's lap. By now the entire room was in tears from laughter.
Maria smiled and put her arms around him. "I'll protect your butt, Michael."
Alex couldn't help letting out a little, "Awwwwww," which didn't go unnoticed by Michael.
"Watch it, Alex! You can't make silver handprints on my butt! You're vulnerable!"
"Naw," Alex said, shaking his head. "I've got Isabel to protect me."
Michael knew that Alex was poking fun at his seeking refuge in Maria's lap, but he also knew that there was more than a little bit of truth to what Alex had said. Getting Alex back would be a challenge with Isabel around. Michael wasn't sure he wanted to risk it.
At that moment, the front door opened, and Gray Hawk came in. Gray Hawk looked around the room as though taking inventory of who was there, then he motioned to someone behind him. As he moved out of the way, Jim Valenti walked in with Amy, and right behind them were Jeff and Nancy Parker, the Whitmans, and Diane and Phillip Evans. Compared to the scene that erupted next, everything that had gone before seemed as solemn as a church service. Amy dashed straight to Maria, who jumped up, forgetting that Michael was on her lap, and ran to her mother. Michael grinned sheepishly and stood back up, brushing himself off.
Jeff looked at Liz for a moment and smiled, as tears came into his eyes, and Nancy dropped down onto her knees and hugged Liz in her chair.
Phillip and Diane Evans looked at Max and Isabel for several moments, unable to speak. Then Diane pulled Isabel into her arms and reached over to touch Max, as Phillip reached his own hand out to Max.
The Whitmans had Alex in an embrace that would have held a struggling bull down, but Alex wasn't complaining. In fact, he was smiling.
Gray Hawk stood by his front door, which he had closed again so no one would see. This was going to take a lot of peyote dust blown into the air later… but he felt that somehow it was worth it.
Everybody was talking at once, asking questions, convincing themselves that this was really happening.
After hugging Liz for several minutes, Jeff walked over to Max and looked at him. Then he smiled. "Max, it's good to see you again."
"You, too, Mr. Parker."
"I, uh, I take it you couldn't heal Liz? The sheriff thought you might try to… you know…"
Max's smile disappeared, and sadness seemed to come over him momentarily.
"I tried, Mr. Parker. But what's wrong with Liz is something… that I can't fix… something beyond my powers. I'll keep trying, though. I won't give up on Liz."
Jeff nodded. "I know…"
"Mr. Parker?"
"Yes?"
"If Liz doesn't… walk again… I just want you to know… It won't make any difference. I love her. That's not going to change."
Jeff smiled. "I know that, too, Max. I don't know whether that comforts me more or scares me more. I guess I'll get used to it, though… eventually. It's kind of hard, you know, knowing that there's another man in my little girl's life now. If you're going to be my son-in-law, Max, you're going to have to settle down and take care of Liz."
Max blushed slightly. "We haven't actually got that far yet, Mr. Parker. I don't even know if Liz will want me… I mean, forever, you know."
"Don't you?" Jeff asked with a smile. "Then you're the only person who still doesn't know it, Max."
Jeff turned and went back to Liz and Nancy, leaving Max to think about what he had said.
It was hard to tell who was asking a question and who was answering one, Amy or Maria. Both were alternately hugging, crying, kissing, and talking at the same time. But, somehow, they seemed to understand each other perfectly. And along with the never-ending words, enough tears were falling to fill a rain barrel.
Phillip and Diane Evans were hanging on to Isabel and Max's every word now. They had dragged Michael over to where they were sitting and were acting as though he were their other long lost son. Michael, who was at first somewhat embarrassed by all the unexpected attention, had to admit to himself that it gave him a warm, good feeling inside; and before he realized what was happening, he found himself falling into the part of the second son as though he had grown up in their home.
Jeff and Nancy were both huddled around Liz, as Liz told them what had happened to her and Alex in the asylum and about finding Max by the river and all about their time in River Dog and Gray Hawk's homes. Nancy was alternately gasping, hugging Liz, crying, and asking more questions, as Jeff stood by her side, a smile on his face that Liz guessed would take a month of Sundays to wipe away.
It was Mrs. Whitman who first seemed to notice that there were other people in the house. She already knew who Gray Hawk was, because Jim had introduced them all briefly before they had come to the reservation, but she knew that she had never met the blonde headed girl with the green eyes or the handsome young, light-skinned man with blondish hair, who stood nearby watching everything going on with smiles on their faces.
"Alex?" Mrs. Whitman nodded toward the young couple.
"Oh! Yeah! Mom… Dad, this is Angie Lee… and Rahn."
Everyone else turned to look at Angie Lee and Rahn, too, as Alex introduced them.
"Angie Lee lives with Gray Hawk. She's his adopted daughter. And Rahn is… is… well… a friend of Max and Michael."
"We've met," Jeff said, holding his hand out to Rahn. "It's good to see you again, Rahn."
Then Jeff turned to the girl. "I don't think we've met, though, Angie Lee… I don't think I've ever seen you in town."
"I don't go into town ever… well, not much," Angie Lee said. "When I do, I kind of… uh… disguise myself. It's better if no one knows about me living here. I would like it if you kept my secret for me."
Jeff shrugged. "Sure… if that's what you want… but you're welcome in the CrashDown… or in our home… any time. I want you to know that."
"Thank you," Angie Lee said, smiling politely. "I'll remember that."
"Well, here's to everyone being together again," Mr. Whitman said, and everyone in the room nodded and voiced their agreement. "I never thought this day would come. I thought we had lost Alex forever. I can only imagine how some of you must have felt after so much time… not seeing your children since… that terrible day… at graduation… thinking they were dead. But we're all back together now, all of us, for good!"
Jim looked around somewhat uncomfortably. "Well, you know that they'll have to stay here for a while… I still don't know how long that will be… and nobody else can know that they're here."
"We understood that," Mr. Whitman said. "We can live with that to get our son back alive and safe."
Jim smiled.
"I am very happy to see all of you together, too," Rahn said. "But there is a saying where I come from… 'It is of no use to inventory the glahkies while the boryx is still nearby.' I don't want to worry anyone, but it is a wise lesson to remember.
Jim nodded. "I guess that would be like saying, 'Don't count your chickens while the fox is still in the coop.'"
"Well, these animals are somewhat smaller," Rahn said. "A boryx is something like your weasel, but it is a big one, as big as one of your bears… and glahkies are… kind of like small sheep. But what you said is a good analogy," Rahn agreed. "It has the same meaning."
"You mean… Judge Lewis," Jeff Parker said.
Rahn nodded. "Yes… and the special unit agents. There are still dangers for you to beware of. I remind you of this… because you are my friends."
Everyone nodded. They understood. But neither that nor anything else now or ever could spoil this day. For this moment in time, all the boryxes, all the foxes, and all the Judge Lewises and special unit agents in the world didn't exist. There was only them and their children… and they were finally, finally together again.
**********
In the desert, about a mile outside of Roswell, a passing car stopped, and the driver looked at the short, pudgy, profusely sweating, older man plodding away under the hot sun.
"Can I give you a ride? It's got to be awful hot out there in the desert. Where's your car?"
The man didn't answer immediately. He just climbed into the car beside the driver.
"My car broke down a few miles back."
"Oh yeah? I didn't see it."
"It's off the road. You wouldn't see it from the road."
"What you got there?" the driver asked, noticing that his passenger was carrying something in his hand.
Judge Lewis held up his hand and the dirty folded rag in it and smiled for the first time.
"My proof. I win."
tbc
Coming up: A weasel by any other name