Homecoming
Chapter 39
XXXIX
A swirling stream of atoms poured into the country home of Michael and Maria Guerin. The atoms came through the ceiling and through the walls, as brilliant as a thousand candles, lighting the living room brighter than it had ever been lit. Then, the swirling molecules began to coalesce, some turning into Michael… others, his son, Kryys.
Michael looked around him at the familiar setting and smiled… then he hugged Kryys, who was now as solid as any normal little boy. At that moment, Maria walked into the living room…
"Well… the wandering husband has returned… and with our wayward child!"
Maria grinned. "Where have you two been? Dinner's almost ready. Are you hungry?"
"I could eat a yorik, Mom," Kryys said enthusiastically with a smile a mile wide.
"I think that goes for me, too," Michael agreed. "For some reason, I'm starved!"
Hugging Maria to him, Michael kissed her passionately.
"Woah," Maria gasped after she got her breath back. "Okay, you can go off once in a while, I guess… if you come back like this. You ready to eat?"
Kryys nodded with a smile.
Michael nodded, too. "Promise me, Maria, that you'll never marry Brody Davis."
Maria looked at Michael and raised her eyebrows. "Ooo-kay… I promise. What brought that on?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to be sure."
"Well, I married you, space boy, and I don't intend to let you go. And besides, you're a handful enough for me. Anyway, you know Brody was just a… a friend. I'd never have married him!"
"We never know what might have been, Maria," Michael said. "We never know."
Maria shook her head and smiled, scrunching her brow in an amused sort of way. "No way. Come on, let's eat."
Michael nodded. "But first," he said, heading for the bathroom, "I've been holding something for too long… and for two people, I think."
Maria's eyes followed him with an amused but slightly perplexed look. "You sure something didn't happen to you while you were away, Michael?"
"Well, a lot happened, actually," Michael yelled back from the bathroom. "Maybe I'll tell you about it sometime… or maybe you'll remember."
"Okay," Maria said, "now that just sounds like something I should know about. Spill it cowboy. What about me? And why should I remember… and what is it that I should remember?"
"Well, I didn't say you would," Michael said, walking back into the dining room after a couple of minutes. "I just said you might."
"Well, how 'bout enlightening me a bit."
"Sit down."
"It's that strange, huh?"
"Depends, I guess."
"On what?"
"Whether you live in the Twilight Zone or not." Michael softly intoned the opening strains from the old TV show, "Da, da, da, da… Da, da, da, da."
Maria looked at Kryys. "Did you take your Dad into that Never Neverland or whatever it is you go to, Kryys… with the Drax guy?"
Kryys just smiled.
"Okay… how do I fit into this," Maria asked, pouring Michael a cup of coffee and shoving a new bottle of Tabasco sauce toward him across the table. Michael took the lid off and poured several ounces into his coffee then added two teaspoons of sugar.
"Well, it's kind of a long story," Michael said, stirring his coffee-Tabasco mix.
"We've got a long time," Maria said.
Michael smiled then leaned over and kissed Maria…
"Yeah! Yeah, we do, don't we."
His face seemed to light up, and Maria felt the happiness radiating outward from him almost palpably. It made Maria happy, too, and she leaned over and kissed Michael back.
**********
In the gardens den of the royal palace in CoruzAntar, Liz was sitting on Max's lap with both arms around his neck as he went about trying to explain what he had to do in the afternoon… between occasional pauses for… sustenance. Max started to talk again, and Liz stopped him in mid-sentence with her lips on his. Max paused again and enjoyed the moment in spite of himself.
"Geez, Liz," he said, coming up for air after a few moments, "what's got you all revved up today?"
"What? Can't I show my affection, Max?"
"Well, sure… I mean… you know I can't get enough of it… of you. I'm not complaining, mind you. It's just that I can barely get a word in. Don't you want to hear what my plans are for the afternoon?"
"Maybe… after I'm finished…" Liz placed her lips on Max's again, and Max surrendered with a smile.
"Ahem…"
Kyle stood in the entrance to the gardens den. Max looked over at him with one eye but continued to kiss Liz… or to enjoy her kiss.
"Ahem!"
"What is it, Kyle," Max said at last, smiling somewhat like a child who had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
"You have guests, Max. Michael and Maria."
"Oh! Okay… well, send 'em in, Kyle!"
Kyle nodded and grinned. He seemed to enjoy catching Max and Liz in their "playful" moments.
Liz jumped up to hug Maria as she came into the room with Michael.
"How's it goin' bro," Max asked, slapping Michael's hand playfully.
"Good. Good. No complaints, Max."
"What you been up to, Michael? Anything new?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
"Yeah, well…" Michael looked at Liz, trying to ascertain whether this was the Liz he had been working with back on Earth to get them back to Antar in their own time or whether this Liz was the pure original and unaware of anything that had happened recently. Finding Liz sitting on Max's lap involved in… heavy petting… was not particularly unusual. True, Michael didn't see Liz on Max's lap… she had already got up by the time he came in… but he knew. Something written all over their faces always told him. Maybe it was the smiles that still lingered on their faces like steam in a sauna.
Liz looked back at Michael and smiled. Was it a "knowing" smile or just a "glad to see you guys" smile. Michael couldn't be sure.
"Max… do you have any… you know… unusual memories?"
"Well, I saw Carrot-top and Mister T sing Blue Moon and Yankee Doodle Dandy together in Central Park when I was in New York."
Michael just looked at Max. "Not bizarre, Max… That would be bizarre. I just meant unusual."
Max shook his head slowly and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Unusual… how?"
"Like, you know, memories from another lifetime or something."
Max was silent for a moment. "Maybe you'd better tell me what it is I'm supposed to remember, Michael."
Michael looked at Maria and she nodded.
"Well, Max, maybe you'd better be sitting down. It's kind of a long story."
Max nodded acceptingly. "Okay." He sat down, and Liz sat beside him, cozying up to him. Michael looked at Liz's eyes again.
"Does she know? What does she remember," Michael wondered to himself. "She must remember something." Liz smiled but said nothing. "Maybe she doesn't remember…"
"So what were you going to tell us, Michael," Max asked, bringing Michael back to reality.
"Oh! Yeah, well… you know, I was gone for a while…"
"Yeah… You went off to search for yourself. I see you're here, so I guess you must have found yourself, huh?"
Michael looked at Max.
"Sorry, Michael. I'm just getting into this playful mood that Liz has been in, I think. What did you find out? We'd really like to know."
Michael nodded, glancing again at Liz. He still couldn't tell…
"Max, a lot happened after I left. Time got totally screwed up. I thought it was my fault, but it turned out to be some guys called Nogi-Ky'a that were responsible. They tried to fix it, but it was taking them too long, and Kryys and the Drax fixed it for them. That's the short version."
"I'd say so," Max agreed. "Somehow I think there's a lot more I haven't heard."
Michael nodded and began to tell Max about everything that had happened… everything that he remembered personally, that is. Liz's life with Max in the future was an unknown to Michael. She never shared those details with him. Michael only knew that she had met Max in the future.
When Michael had finished, Max looked at Liz sitting beside him. "Do you remember anything, Liz?"
Liz smiled and looked fleetingly at Michael. "I remember some things, Max, but it's more like a dream to me. I remember trying to get here… to you. I don't quite remember all the details… And there was something else…"
"What," Max asked.
"I don't know," Liz said, her smile fading and her face assuming a worried look. "It's like there's something I should remember… something… important. I just can't remember what it is."
Max nodded. "Well, maybe it'll come back to you. Don't worry about it."
Liz shook her head. "It was important. How could I forget?"
"It was a different life, Liz," Max said soothingly. "You can't be expected to remember everything from a whole different life."
"It was important," Liz insisted, her face becoming somber. "I know I should remember… but…"
"Do you have any idea what she's trying to remember, Michael," Max asked.
Michael shook his head then sneezed suddenly.
"Gesundheit," Maria said automatically.
"Are you okay," Max asked.
"Yeah. Why shouldn't I be?"
"Well, I don't think I ever heard you sneeze before, Michael. Come to think of it, I've never heard any Antarian sneeze. We're immune to colds and stuff."
"Maybe you've got… dust or something, Max," Michael said, but he knew that the palace was meticulously maintained. He'd have had a hard time finding any dust if he'd looked all day.
"Don't worry about it, Max. It's nothing, just a sneeze, a common sneeze. I just got back from Earth. Maybe in that different time I was in, the climate was different… or something."
"Okay," Max said. But he was clearly not convinced. "Maybe you ought to have an Antarian health maintenance scientist check you out anyway."
"Give it a break, Max. It was just a sneeze. We don't go the doctor here for check-ups."
"No, but they are responsible for making sure that we stay healthy… as a world, you know."
"If it'll make you happy, I'll tell Varec I sneezed next time I see him. When he says, "Yeah, so?" I'll say, "I told you so," Max. "You worry too much."
"I've got a whole world to worry about," Max said seriously.
"Yeah, okay," Michael said with resignation. "I'll have Varec check me out and certify me. You happy?"
Max nodded and smiled. "I think it's a good idea. If it's nothing, there's nothing lost in getting checked."
Michael nodded.
"Well, Max… Maria and I'd better go," Michael said, looking at Liz cuddled up beside Max. Michael smiled. "I'll let you two get back to… whatever it was you were doing."
"Thanks, Michael," Max said with a sheepish grin. "Don't be strangers, okay?"
Michael nodded. Maria kissed Liz on the cheek, and the two of them left.
"Now, where were we," Liz asked, turning to Max, her face regaining its joyful appearance.
"I was about to carry you up to the bedroom," Max said.
"Ooh! Right!" Liz grinned. Max picked her up in his strong arms. Liz put her arms around Max's neck and kissed him as he walked to the wide staircase and carried her up toward their night suite. Half way up, Max faltered then stopped momentarily.
"Why are we stopping, Max?"
"It's nothing Liz." Max took another few steps up the stairs then stopped again.
"What's the matter, Max," Liz asked, beginning to feel concerned.
Max shook his head. "I've got a headache, Liz."
"Oh, that's supposed to be my line, Max! You're not getting out of this that easy," Liz said playfully.
Max stepped backward, as if trying to keep his balance, then he collapsed, with Liz on top of him, on the stairs.
"Max! Max! What's the matter? Kyle! KYLE! I NEED YOU!"
Kyle came running.
"Get a doctor, Kyle… or something. Get Varec! Max is…"
Kyle checked Max's pulse, then without saying a word, he ran.
tbc