Was It A Dream? Part 11-15

Perhaps an hour before his parents were opening their mail, Phillip found himself driving by his favorite coffee-
shop, The Grinding Stop. He pulled his SUV into a nearby parking place and went in. His parents had told he and his sisters about this little shop, run by Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt and he had been happy to see that it was still in business, three years ago, when he had first come to Cambridge. Now he was not only a regular patron but a second generation patron at that. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt were still there, but they were now in their sixties and their nephew did the day-to-day business of running the shop, while Mr. Schmidt served and visited with their customers. Mrs. Schmidt still had command of the kitchen, baking her famous spice cake and other delicious offerings, but now she had help.

As he stepped inside the shop door, it was as if a button had been pushed and rain came bucketing down, outside.

"You arrived just at the right time, Mr. Evans." Mr. Schmidt greeted him. "You may have our very last table, tonight."

"That would be great." Phillip said, as his host led the way.

"Would you like your usual?" He asked, as Phillip took his seat.

"Yes please. Does Mrs. Schmidt have any of her spice cake left?"

"I believe she does. "I'll bring your piece with your coffee."

"Thanks, Mr. Schmidt." Phillip said as the older man moved off.

'Nice young man, just like his father.' Mr. Schmidt thought to himself. 'He never comes in here with anyone though...also like his father.'

A few minutes later, Mr. Schmidt served Phillip his 'latte, telling him that Mrs. Schmidt would bring his cake out to him soon.

Mr. Schmidt glanced out the front windows of the shop to see that the rain was still pouring down, very heavily. People were scurrying around under umbrellas, or wearing raincoats. Then he saw a young woman quickly cross the street towards them. She had no coat or umbrella and was soaking wet from her short, brown hair, down to her jean-
clad legs and tennis-shoes. Apparently it was a cold rain, because she was shivering as she peered in through the window for a moment, before turning to walk on past. Mr. Schmidt went to the front door and beckoned to her.

"Miss, young lady, please come in out of the rain. You are soaked. Please come in and I can call you a cab to drive you home and you can have a nice, hot cup of tea to warm yourself up with, while you wait, on the house." He said.

"I didn't want to drip on your lovely wooden floors." Sue Best replied as she came to stand on the welcome-mat, just inside the door, her arms were wrapped around her middle in a vain attempt to warm herself.

"Don't worry about the floors, they are well waxed and have stood up to almost forty years of wet and slushy feet walking across them." Mr. Schmidt said with a kind smile. "I am sorry that all of our tables are taken, but I will have a cup of tea ready for you in just a moment and then I can call a cab for you."

"Thank you. That is very kind of you." Sue said.

"Miss Best may come and sit at my table." Phillip said, from behind Mr. Schmidt.

"Ah, Mr. Evans, you know this young lady, then?" Mr. Schmidt asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes we-." Phillip started to say.

"My goodness, Mr. Schmidt, don't keep this poor, little thing standing here, catching her death of cold. Brew her some tea, while I take her in back and help her dry off a little." Mrs. Schmidt ordered her husband.

She had seen the young lady come into the shop as she was serving Phillip Evans his cake and then she had noticed his immediate interest in her and had followed him up to the front of the shop and heard him invite her to share his table.

'Interesting.' She thought to herself.

"Come my dear, let's find you a towel." She said, putting a grandmotherly arm around Sue's slim shoulders and guiding her towards the back of the shop.

Sue looked over her shoulder, towards Phillip with a "what's happening?" look in her eyes. Phillip smiled encouragingly to her.

"Sue likes a little cream and one teaspoon of sugar in her tea, Mr. Schmidt." Phillip told the older man.

"Oh? And how would you know this?" Mr. Schmidt asked, curiously.

"We are partners on a class project and she is also friends with my sister. She's come to our house for dinner several times."

"Ah and what do you think of her?" Phillip looked around and then whispered.

"I think I'm in love with her...but...we haven't, really gone out together, yet."

"Ah, well this will be a nice beginning for the two of you." Mr. Schmidt said.

Ten minutes later, Sue came back to the table and Phillip's eyes grew large and he rose from his chair, as she approached. Sue was no longer wearing her oversized, long-sleeved, cotton shirt and baggy jeans. She was now wearing a maroon, turtleneck sweater and pleated slacks and her hair had been dried and brushed. Unlike her former outfit, which was oversized and hid her figure, her new clothes fit just perfectly and the soft materials showed off her slender curves, beautifully.

"You look lovely!" Phillip surprised himself and Sue by blurting out his thoughts. Sue did not know what to say to his compliment, but she blushed at hearing it.

"Mrs. Schmidt insisted on giving me some of her cloths to wear, while she put mine in the dryer. She said that I could bring this outfit back to her in the next few days and trade them in for my jeans and shirt. Can you believe such kindness? What a sweet lady!" Sue said in wonder.

"Yes, the Schmidts are very nice people. My parents knew them when they were both attending Harvard, twenty five years ago. You look a lot more comfortable now. Come and drink your tea, or I'm sure Mr. Schmidt would brew you some coffee if you would prefer, my treat." Phillip said.

"Oh no, thank you. Tea sounds just perfect for today." Sue answered, as she took her mug and poured fragrant, hot tea out of the small ceramic teapot, which had been placed on the table, under a quilted tea-cozy, with cats prancing all over the material and added a little cream and sugar.

"Mmm, good and hot." Sue said, letting the warmth seep into her.

"It looks like Mrs. Schmidt is also going to insist that you try some of her famous spice cake." Phillip indicated the older lady who was walking towards them with a large slice of cake on a plate.

"Here you go, dear. Eat that up and you'll feel better in no time."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Schmidt, for being so kind." Sue said, shyly.

Mrs. Schmidt waved away Sue's thanks and walked back to her kitchen.

"Mmmm, this is good." Sue exclaimed, after she tried a bite.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad rhapsodized about Mrs. Schmidt's cake and Mr. Schmidt's hazelnut 'lattes." Phillip told her. They went on to chatting about their classes and their mutual friends and then Phillip changed the subject.

"So you liked seeing Mason and Cheryl's movie. Have you seen any of their other movies or the TV series they starred in, early in their careers; 'Among Us'?" Phillip asked.

"Well of course, I've seen everything they have done; after all, they are my...favorite actors." Sue saved herself from saying 'my parents' at the last second.

'Boy, I hate lying to Phillip this way. I know I could trust him and his family/friends with my true identity.' Sue thought, guiltily. Phillip continued.

"I know this has only a slight connection, but if you liked the show so much, did you also get to know the music by the artist who did the theme-song for 'Among Us'; Dido?" Phil asked.

"Are you kidding? She's one of my favorite artists!" Sue exclaimed. "That piece they use as the opening theme for 'Among Us' got me interested in her and it is still one of my favorites, it always gets my blood pumping, because I remember the exciting footage that went with it, for the show."

"Yeah, it's still one of my favorites, as well." Phillip said and then took a great big gulp of coffee, before asking. "Did you know that she's performing at the Fleet Center this Friday?"

"Oh really?" Sue asked, excitedly, but she could not bring herself to hint, or come right out and say that she would absolutely Love to go to a Dido concert...with him.

"Yeah and I can get tickets...if you would...like to go with me." Phillip asked.

"Me go with you to the concert? Really? I'd love to!" Sue exclaimed and then she back peddled a little, becoming shy again in a split-second. "Um...to go see Dido perform. And it would be very nice to go with you, as well. Thank you for asking me." Luckily, Phillip understood that Sue felt as though her first reaction had been way, way too eager and so she made her second reaction a much more controlled and courteous one. He smiled broadly at her, anyway.

"Great! The concert is at eight o'clock, perhaps I could pick you up at six and we could have dinner before the concert?" He suggested.

"That would be great!" Sue was blushing heavily now.

"You know, Sue, I'm realizing that I didn't explain my wanting to take you to the concert very well. Besides my thinking that you would enjoy it, I have wanted to get to know you better and I am hoping that we might...become more than...just friends." Phillip said gently, covering her small hands on the table, with one of his own.

"Really, you do?" Sue asked shyly, but with some new found hope and excitement shining through.

"Yes, really." Phil assured her with a gentle squeeze of his hand.

"I've wanted that as well." Sue almost whispered and managed to bring her gaze up to meet his. She was heartened to see that gentle encouragement and spark of...something else in his eyes, as their gazes met.

"So, which of Dido's songs is your favorite?" Phil tried to lighten the mood a little and they chatted on about their favorite singers and song-writers for a little while longer, until they realized what time it was and that they should be getting home. Phil paid the check and offered to drive her to her dorm. Sue nodded thankfully and they left, walking closely together, but not actually holding hands, or anything, as yet.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow in class and then I look forward to taking you out on Friday." Phil said, as he pulled up in front of Sue's building.

"Thank you for a very nice evening...and everything and I'll see you tomorrow." Sue said, as she got out.

Shortly after Phil arrived at his house, his parents called out to him, Amy and Dee, over the Connection, asking them to link into their family's frequency.

A few minutes before; California and New Mexico time zones:

"Hello?" Mason Blair answered his private phone line.

"Hello, it's me, us." The voice of Max Evans came through the line.

"I take it that you received a certain envelope in the mail, today?" Both Mason and Max had instinctively gone into "spy-mode". They were not going to say anything, which could identify themselves, if someone was tapping the phone line.

"Yeah, we need to talk. Can the two of you fly out here this weekend?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid not. Contractual obligations have us too booked up this weekend, to leave town. We will have several hours free at different times, over the weekend. Could you fly here?" Mason asked.

"I'm a little worried about coming to you, security would be absolute here. Can you see that...nothing untoward happens this weekend, if we fly out?" Max asked.

"There is a person I can contact to help me with that...someone I trust." Mason assured Max.

"Alright then, we'll make contact with you just before we leave. See you then." Max said.

"Bye." Mason said and they both hung up.

"What was that about?" Cheryl asked.

"I just had the funniest feeling that the phone might be tapped and Max had the same feeling, so we were just being careful."

"What if there's a "bug" in here, in the house?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm going to contact someone I know, tomorrow. Have him come out and check out the house and boost security, as well." Mason answered.

"Oh Mason, what about Suzie and Matt; do you think that they could be in danger?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm sure they're fine, Sweetheart. If they had received anything in the mail, I'm sure they would have called us by now. We can call them tomorrow and give them a heads-up, though."

"I'll contact Johann and make arrangements to have him fly us to L.A. on Saturday." Liz said, as soon as Max hung up the phone. Liz had been listening in on the call, as it came through their speaker-phone.

"Good, then I think we need to contact our families and then the rest of the Community. Everyone needs to be on the alert." Max said.

"Let's call our parents and see if they can come over here or go to Michael and Maria's house, so that they can be brought into this conference call." Liz said.

Liz contacted Johann, through the Connection and then called their parents. After that, Max and Liz went to sit in the reading chairs, their hands reaching out for each other's, as they sat down and got comfortable. Their parents were going to listen in from the Guerin's.

"Our families are all over, so I don't know if we will reach them all at a good time or not, but let's give it a try and see who responds. The rest can pick up our message from the Connection, later." Max said.

"Calling all of our family members and best friends, please respond. We have something important, which we need to tell you, please respond." Max called out, using their family's frequency for the Connection. This frequency covered all of their children, as well as Michael, Maria, Isabel, Alex, Tess and Kyle.

"Max, what's up? All of our parents just came-a-knockin' at our back door and said that you had an announcement to make...and by the looks on their faces, it isn't a happy announcement." Michael said.

"I'm here too, Mom and Dad." Libby said from where she stood beside Marc, holding his hand.

"We'll explain when everyone who can respond has linked in, Michael. Thanks for helping our folks to link in on this." Michael and Maria nodded.

"Mom, Dad; are you two alright? You sounded urgent." Phillip, Dee and Amy linked in.

"Max, Liz?" Isabel, Alex, Tess and Kyle linked in at almost the same moment. All of their other children linked in as well.

"Kids, everyone, we are both fine, thank you. But something has come up, which you all need to know about. After we've told you, we will have to alert the Community, as well."

"Oh my gosh, Dad, what's going on?" Libby asked for everyone.

Max and Liz took turns bringing them all up to speed. They reminded, or told for the first time, about meeting Mason and Cheryl, in Roswell, just before their wedding, the photographs, which were mistakenly taken of them and their decision to not contact each other again. Then they told of the time, fourteen years ago, when the Evanses had hosted the Blairs and their children, for one night and how once again a photographer had followed Mason and Cheryl. They explained how they had kept in touch over the years, through secret e-mail and post-office-box addresses and private phone lines.

"Why didn't you ever talk about the Blairs, all this time?" Phillip asked.

"We figured it was best not to remind you of children you had met once, but could not meet again, but we would have explained it all to you if any of you had asked about them." Liz assured her children and smiled. "Why didn't you ever ask?"

"That day and night have a strange quality to them, in my memory. Years later, I sometimes wondered if it had all been a dream." Phillip answered.

"I was over at the Guerin's that night and never met them." Dee explained.

"Suzie was another friend who I only got to know for one day. Sometimes it hurt too much to remember and think about those kids, that I never got to play with again." Libby said, sadly.

"Libby, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. How did we miss seeing that?" Liz reached out to her daughter through the Connection and they hugged.

"It's alright, Mom and Dad. Mostly it was fun, meeting all those new kids and a lot of them returned to vacation here after that, or they moved here. I just wonder about those few kids, whom I never saw again; about what they're doing now."

"Well, all I can tell you about Matt and Suzie is that they are both attending college and doing very well." Max said.

"So, what do the Blairs have to do with this emergency?" Michael asked.

Max and Liz went on to explain about the letter, which they had just received and what it meant and about their plans to fly out to California, that weekend.

"We may eventually have to open Airatan up to a select group of reporters; give them a tour, but I wouldn't put it past this Niko Giuliani character to try and get in here on his own." Max said.

"I've heard of Niko Giuliani." Isabel said. "He has a very bad rep. Even in the modeling business. Word is that he tried to break into filming models about a year ago. He didn't last one month. He's back working for some rag-
tabloid in L.A."

"What else can you tell us about him? Do you know what he looks like?" Max asked. Isabel concentrated a moment, before she projected the picture of Niko into the Connection.

"That has to be pretty close to what he looks like." Isabel said. "He gets around a lot because he always looks so clean-cut. He dresses nicely, is handsome and can be very charming if he wants to be. That's how he gets in. His true colors come out quickly though and then he gets kicked back out. I heard that the photos he had in his portfolio were someone else's work. This was learned afterwards. Apparently he is very good at finding someone who is very talented. He intimidates the men and seduces the women into doing his work for him. He has very little talent of his own. His father is a famous photographer; 'Sneaky-John' Giuliani." Isabel said.

"Yeah, we've heard of him." Liz said. "He was down in Roswell at the same time we met Mason and Cheryl."

"I think he's working on some huge movie project, abroad." Isabel mentioned. "Maybe that's why and how Niko is able to get away with...what he has gotten away with so far."

"He is not going to get away with this." Max said, determinedly. "We'll have to work out a plan to stop him, discredit him. If they haven't already, we'll ask Mason and Cheryl to contact John Giuliani and get him to come back and take control of his son."

"Thanks for linking in, everyone." Liz said. "Kids, you should be safe at college, but if anything strange happens, you are to contact us immediately and we will bring you back here or send out a security team to you. Of course if we find out anything that indicates that any of you are in trouble, we'll contact you immediately, as well."

"Don't worry, Mom, we'll be fine. Once you've alerted the Community, we'll all be on the look-out." Phillip assured his parents.

"Good." Max said.

"And on a more pleasant note, Phillip your birthday is next week, would you like us to fly out to Cambridge, or would you like to come home for the weekend?" Liz asked.

"I...the three of us, would like to come home for the weekend." Phillip said, indicating himself, Dee and Amy.

"Great, see you then!" Liz said and they all sent out thoughts of love to each other, before they broke the Connection.

Part 12

At nine o'clock the next morning, Sue received a call from her parents.

"Mom, Dad, it must be...five o'clock at your end. Is anything wrong?" Sue asked.

"Well yes, there is something we need to tell you. Do you have a minute?" Cheryl asked.

"Yes, I don't have my first class until ten and even then, I'll skip it if necessary." Sue answered.

"No, this won't take that long, honey." Mason said. "It's just that...Niko Giuliani has crawled out from under his rock, again."

"Niko ! What does that creep want now?"

"Well, he's making some accusations about us and some friends of ours. They're groundless, of course, so you don't have to worry about us, but we just wanted you to be cautious and contact us immediately if anything strange happens, alright?"

"Yes, of course, Dad. Are you sure that you and Mom will be okay? Who are these friends of yours?" Sue asked.

"We'd rather not say over the phone for now, but don't worry, we'll work everything out. We just want you to be extra careful, alright?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm sure I'll be fine. Niko lost all interest in me once he was through using me to get to you. It was you who fired his sorry...butt, not me, so I want you two to be extra careful and don't worry about me. I take it you have already, or are about to call Matt?"

"Yes, we'll give him a warning, as well." Mason said.

"Alright then, I'll let you call him. I love you both." Sue said.

"We love you." Mason and Cheryl said, together before they hung up.

As Sue got ready for class, she could feel an anger start to build up inside herself. As she sat through her lectures, she found it harder and harder to concentrate. When se sat down next to Phil, in the lecture hall, she noticed that something was bothering him as well. Sue watched his jaw clench and unclench for a few minutes and then asked.

"Are you alright? You seem really, really tense." Phil made an effort to relax and gave Sue a grateful smile.

"I'm fine, really. There's just something going on back home, which has me worried. How are you today?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thanks." Sue smiled back, not wanting to bore Phillip with her troubles. But as the lecture started and then wore on, Phil could not help but notice that Sue was unusually restless and that her jaw was clenched tightly, as well.

"I hate to dispute a lady's word, but you don't look fine." Phil said, as they walked to their next class, together.

"Well, I may be a little worried...about something, but I'm sure everything will work out alright in the end." Sue smiled bravely at Phil.

'Oh man, why can't I just bring myself to tell Phil the truth about who I am and about what's going on? I know I can trust him.' Sue asked herself. Phil touched Sue's arm to stop their progress for a moment.

"You know that I am your friend, don't you?" Sue nodded. "You know that I am hoping to become...something more in your life, don't you?" Sue nodded again and blushed into his intense gaze. "Now let me tell you that if you ever need to or want to, you can tell me anything at all. I am a very good listener and I will always be there for you, alright?"

"Alright, thank you, Phil." Sue said as one, lone tear ran down her cheek.

Phil gently wiped the tear away with his thumb and then placed the palm of his hand on her back, to gently guide her towards their class.

'Oh man, I wanted to kiss that tear away, just now. I wanted to kiss her lips, her cheek. I wanted to take her hand, why couldn't I take her hand?' He asked himself. 'Because to be able to wipe away a tear and keep eye contact with her was enough progress for now; you've only 'known' her for two weeks and this is going to take some time.' He warned himself.

Phil had managed to lift Sue's spirits for a short time, but during their computer class, she felt her anger grow again, until she could barely type. She was angry at Niko Giuliani for being such a creep and she was angry at herself for not being able to do something to help her parents.

"Uh, I think that the poor computer yelled 'help!' five minutes ago. If we get any more error messages, it's going to blow up!" Phil said, in a calm voice as he gently took her hands off of the keyboard. Sue looked up at Phil, puzzled and then back to the computer screen. It was covered in gobbledy-gook-typing and at least three error-messages were overlapping each other, on top of her document.

"I don't think that this is a safe or productive place for you to be right now. Come with me." Phil held out his hand towards her.

"Where are we going?" Sue asked.

"Someplace safe; where you can work off some of your anger." Phil answered, as he led her out to where he had parked his SUV.

Phil helped Sue into the passenger seat and then got in himself and took off.

"Hey we're headed towards your house." Sue realized.

"Yeah, there's something there that I think will help you." Was all Phil said.

He parked in front of the house and took Sue's hand to lead her inside. After they entered through the front door, Phil took her into the kitchen and then down the basement stairs. He switched some lights on and Sue was astonished to see a finished basement with exercise equipment set up and thick mats on the floor.

"Oh my gosh, no wonder you have such great muscles!" Sue said and then she slapped her hand over her mouth and turned beet-red. "I can't believe I just said that."

"And here I was hoping that you would think I came by them naturally!" Phil grinned at her. She smiled back.

"Did you think doing some bench-presses would help my mood?" Sue asked.

"Well, maybe later, if you'd like, but first, I think this big guy might be more help." He led her over to a giant-sized punching-bag. "I get the feeling that you would really, really like to beat someone's face in. Until you get the chance to do that, or find some other way to fix whatever's bothering you, I thought that punching or kicking this bag might help." Phil suggested.

"I've never punched anything or anyone in my life." Sue said.

"How about kicking? Have you ever kicked anyone before?" Phil asked, curiously.

"Well, once, when I was seven. I kicked Johnny Worsley in the shin, when he called me 'string-bean' and tried to take my lunch-box." Sue admitted.

"Atta girl!" Phil said, proudly. "Think about the spunk you had as a little girl and take a swing at Big-John, now." He indicated the punching-bag.

Sue rolled up the sleeves on her cotton shirt and put on some protective gloves, which Phil handed to her, while he walked around to the back of the bag, to hold it steady.

Sue threw a punch at the bag, but it did not make much of a dent.

"Hmm." Phil said. "Where's the spunky little girl? Where's the anger I saw, that almost made our computer blow up?"

Sue thought for a moment, drew back her arm and then took a mighty swing at the bag. Unfortunately, she had been standing too far away from the bag, her hand never made contact and her momentum carried her so that she spun around in a circle. Phillip manfully kept the smile off of his lips and his laugh tucked safely down in his stomach, which shook a little from his suppressed amusement.

"Alright, that was my fault, I'm sorry. I didn't notice that you had stepped away from the bag." Phil said. "Step a little bit closer to the bag and imagine Johnny's smirking face, looking out at you from it.

Sue tried again and this time she connected solidly with the bag. Once one punch had been successfully thrown, she threw another using her left fist and Phil had to hold the bag steady as the punches landed. He watched Sue as it seemed that a damn of emotion had been breached and she let out several successive throws and a couple of kicks from the hip.

"I'm going to make you crawl back under the rock you came from and then I am going to smoosh you."

"You used me and then dumped me. I'll make you regret that!"

"All your scumbag friends were in on the big joke too."

Phil was getting the feeling that she was not punching Johnny; she was punching...someone else.

"You are not going to get away, this time!"

"Take that, you lying son-of-a..." Sue gave the bag one, last, mighty kick, which had Phillip staggering back a few steps.

"Hey, way to go!" Phillip exclaimed.

"Thanks that felt good." Sue said.

"Are you feeling a little less stressed-out?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. How about you? You were stressed-out in class, as well. Why don't you show me how a pro uses this thing?" Sue suggested, as she moved in to hold the bag steady.

"Yeah, it would feel good to pummel something for a few minutes." Phil agreed.

"I want you to hold this bag tightly, put all of your weight against it, but be ready to let go and jump aside if I hit the bag too hard, alright?"

"Sure." Sue said.

Sue quickly realized how strong (angry and frustrated) Phil was, because he could punch the bag with more force than she had been able to kick the bag, with the full force of her leg. He did not say anything as he punched the large bag, only the speed with which he struck out, changed; from slow and powerful to impossibly fast.

"Boy, I'm glad you aren't kicking this thing. I can barely hold it still as it is." Sue said. Phil slowed down and then stopped, his breathing rapidly coming back to normal.

"Ahh, I feel better now." Phil said.

"Yeah I feel a lot better too. More in control and I want to thank you for that." Sue said. "Usually, my anger only leads to tears, because I've always felt so helpless with...this problem I'm having. But having you, Dee, Amy and the others as friends, has really helped me come back to life; recapture, as you said, the spunk and self-confidence I had as a little girl."

"I'm glad we could help, Sue. You have become very special to...us, as well."

"I know now that if I want to put a stop to this, I have to stop hiding and running away. Phil, there's something I have to tell you about myself and please, please, don't be mad at me when I tell you what it is."

"Don't worry, Sue. I won't be angry. I understand perfectly about hiding and keeping yourself safe. In fact, there's something I've wanted to tell you, as well. But you go first and don't worry; whatever you have to tell me, it will be alright." Phil pulled Sue over to a bench on which they could sit down.

"I'm really sorry Phil, I feel so bad about this, but I've been lying to you. I'm not who I told you I was and my parents aren't some paper-pushers, who work for one of the networks. May name is Susan Blair and my parents are Mason Blair and..."

"...Cheryl Appleton." Phillip finished for her with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry for keeping my identity secret from you. Back in high school, a guy and all of his buddies pretended to be my friends. He went out with me during our last semester of our senior year. He told me how much he loved me and laughed at all of my corny jokes. Then he took me to the Senior Prom and...and dumped me in front of everyone!" Instead of getting weepy, Sue was getting mad and her voice started to rise until she was almost shouting.

"The little creep had been double-timing me with the head-cheerleader, while he acted all gentlemanly and sweet towards me. When we arrived at the Prom, it was as if I'd become invisible. All of a sudden, my so-called friends wouldn't speak to me, or even acknowledge my presence and my boyfriend had left me at the door and was dancing with his pom-pom girl. When I got angry and demanded to know why he wasn't dancing with me, it was as if he had taken off a mask; his true personality finally showed itself."

Flashback

"Why would I want to be seen with you for one second more, now that I have what I want? Weren't five, stinking months of looking at your ugly face and stringy hair, long enough? I only went out with you so that I could meet your father, the great Mason Blair and have him get me a job at the studio. He got jobs for a bunch of my buddies, too." His friends were all laughing at her.

"But I thought we were both going to attend Stanford together? What about all your plans for the future?" Sue asked.

"I've got plans, baby. Just not the ones I fed you. I'm going to become a famous photographer, even more famous than my old man. Then he'll have to show me some respect." Niko said.

"You have to earn respect, Niko." Sue told him.

"Yeah, yeah, yada, yada. You've got your answers, why don't you just beat it? Get out of here." Niko said.

"Yeah you were never one of us, get lost." The cheerleader, whom Susan had thought of as a friend, said.

Sue wanted to slap their smirking faces, but instead she raised her chin, did an about-face and marched herself off of the dance floor and went outside to use her cell-phone, to call her parents. She did not cry until she was safely home and being held by her father's strong arms.

"I can't believe he tricked me like that. That I was so gullible." Sue cried.

"You think you're gullible, just look at me? I'm the one who should have seen his wolf's-hide under his sheep's -
wool. Now, unless I can find a reason to fire him, we're stuck with him for six months. The slime-ball should have become an actor; this performance of his would have won him every award there is." Mason said.

End Flashback

"I made my Valedictorian speech at Commencement, the next week, with Niko's hecklings disturbing the ceremony. I'd been accepted at several other universities, including Harvard, so I backed out of Stanford and came here instead. I couldn't trust anyone, anymore, especially guys; didn't even want one to touch me. I didn't want anyone to ever befriend me again if it was only because of who my parents are, so Mom and Dad helped me enroll here under the name; Susan Best...and I cut my hair short." This was when the first sign of tears showed up in Sue's eyes.

"It worked out well for being on the swim-team, but I had always loved my long hair." Sue stiffened her wobbling chin.

"Yeah, I remember your hair as being so long, thick and shiny...when we were seven and played together that day." Phillip finally stuck in, keeping his gaze steady on Sue's face.

"What?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Do you remember when you were seven years old; your parents brought you and your brother, Matt to an art fair? While there, they met up with some old friends of theirs; my parents. All four of you came to our house and you and your brother played with my sister, Libby and I. Then we all ate dinner together and you stayed the night." Phil said, still watching Sue for any sign of memory.

"Oh my gosh, it really wasn't a dream, was it?" Sue said, as she reached inside her shirt collar and pulled out the copper-V, which she had been wearing for seven years.

Part 13

"You still have it? You even made it into a pendant?" Phil asked Sue, as he saw her draw the copper-V out from inside her shirt collar.

"Yes, I still have it, although I lost it that night you made if for me out of seven pennies. It somehow dropped through a crack in the plastic lining of my backpack. I only found it again by accident, seven years ago. Up until that day, I had convinced myself that our whole magical visit to your valley had been a dream."

"I sometimes thought that, as well, over the years." Phillip agreed, smiling even more. "And to think I've known you all these years, but didn't really know you, recognize you, for who you really are." Sue said.

"Well same here. I didn't recognize you either, especially with your name change." Phil said. "And you certainly have grown up; from a pretty little girl, to a lovely young woman." Phil said and Sue blushed.

"You've grown up too. You're no longer that cute little boy, but a handsome man, now." Sue covered her red, heated cheeks with her hands and turned away.

"And you've always kept secret, what you saw that night." Phil made it a statement of fact, rather than a question. "I want to thank you for that."

"There is no need. What I saw that night was beautiful and magical. It wasn't something I would have shared with grown ups, even if you hadn't asked me not to tell anyone. They wouldn't have understood the wondrousness of what you could do!" Sue said.

"It's great to see my friend, Suzie again!" Phillip smiled more broadly and opened his arms a little and Sue launched herself into them, without any hesitation and hugged him back.

To Sue, it was as if Phillip had become a whole, new person. He was already a trusted friend, with the potential for becoming more and now, laid over that personality was another, of a little boy who had played with her one afternoon and then someone who had opened up a world of wonder and imagination to her young heart, that night. She felt totally safe and happy within his warm, strong embrace.

"Sue would it be alright if I tell my sister and our friends here, who you really are? You know that you can trust them to keep your identity secret, but it is your decision."

"Yes, of course it would be alright, especially Dee and Amy." Sue agreed.

"Good, come on. Everyone should be home by now." Phil took her hand as they walked up the stairs, from the basement and into the kitchen.

"Hey Dee, do you know if everyone's home, yet?" Phillip asked his sister.

"Yeah, Ed was the last to arrive, just a few minutes ago. Hi Sue." Dee greeted her friend.

"Hi Dee." Sue said, a little shyly, anxious about telling these people her secret.

"Dee, we need to tell everyone something. Could you ask everyone to gather in the living room, please?"

"Sure." Dee said and went to do as her brother requested.

"Would you like something to drink, before we go into the living room?" Phil asked.

"Maybe some iced-tea, please?" Sue requested and Phil nodded, getting two glasses down from a cupboard.

"Sue, before we go in there, may I ask you if your parents have called you recently about a problem they're having? And is that why you've been so angry and upset?"

"How could you possible know about that?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Did they happen to tell you that their trouble involves some friends of theirs?" At Sue's nod, Phil continued. "Those friends are my parents, Sue."

"Oh my gosh!" Sue exclaimed.

"Mom and Dad...contacted us last night to tell us what is going on with this Niko Giuliani. The whole house is now on the alert, in case he comes after Dee or myself, or one of them. They will happily help keep you safe as well." Phil told her.

"Oh Phillip, I am so sorry that Niko has included your parents, your friends and family in all of this." Sue cried, placing her hand on his arm.

"Wait a minute, Sue, are you saying that you know this Niko character?...Sue is he...is he the one who hurt you in high school? I only understood parts of what you were saying, while you were using the punching-bag, but..."

"Yes I know him, or knew him in high school, anyway." Sue said, looking down at her feet.

"Sue, it'll be alright." Phil said, as he gently lifted her chin with his forefinger. "Come on; let's go tell the others, okay?" Phil handed her, her glass of iced-tea, put his arm around her shoulders and ushered her into the living room.

They entered the living room and sat down in the seats, saved for them, in the middle of the sofa.

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard some yelling coming from the basement, earlier." Amy asked, concerned.

"I'm sorry, that was me." Sue confessed. "I had some steam, which really needed to be purged and Phillip thought that a few minutes with the punching-bag would help. It did!" Amy and everyone chuckled.

"But I'm afraid that I do have something I need to tell you and you probably won't like it. You have all been so nice to me and I feel awful, because I've...been lying to you."

"It's not really a lie and you had a good reason for what you did." Phil said.

"It was a lie, because I've been hiding behind a false identity. My name isn't really Susan Best, it is...Susan Blair." She said, looking guiltily into her lap.

"Oh man, your parents are the famous movie stars?" Ed asked.

"Yes."

"You did this so that reporters wouldn't be bothering you, right?" Audrey asked.

"Partly, yes."

"Well then that is totally understandable." Amy said.

"What's the over part?" Shaun asked.

"That's personal." Phillip replied, instantly, protectively, frowning at Shaun.

"It's okay, Phillip, thank you. I don't mind telling them the whole story, especially now that I know that they all may be involved by this." Sue said.

"Involved in what?" Shaun asked.

"Let me tell you..." Sue said, telling them about her relationship with Niko in high school, her parent's relationship with him afterwards and that she knew Niko was the reason behind their problems, but not specifically how or why.

After all of the girls had come over to hug her, comfortingly and all of the guys had made rude remarks about what they wanted to do to Niko, Phillip filled Sue in on exactly how Niko was including his family and his whole town, in on his accusations and threats. He came very close to telling Sue the whole truth about themselves, but stopped at the safe point, until he had, had a chance to speak to her in private.

"So that's what we know guys. We can work out a plan to keep Sue safe a little later, alright?" Phil asked and everyone nodded, as they got up to leave the room.

"Why don't we go up to my room? I figure you have a lot of questions to ask." Phil suggested.

"Oh yes, I do. I'd love to hear what you've been up to all these years, plus...something else." Sue said, hesitantly.

'I can just guess what that something else is.' Phil thought to himself, as he took Sue's hand in his and led the way upstairs, to his room.

Phil offered his desk chair, for Sue to sit in, while he sat on the foot of his bed, across from her.

"Why don't we get that 'something else' out of the way, first?" Phil suggested. "I can guess what it is." Sue thought a moment and then nodded.

"I once asked you if you were a witch or a fairy and you told me no. I believe you were telling me the truth, then, but if you aren't either of those things, what are you? How were you able to do all of those wondrous things, that night? I know you said that you could not tell me, then; that you would not betray your people, but...Phillip, I've kept your secret all of these years. Do you think you could tell me now, knowing that I would never betray you or your people?" Phillip nodded thoughtfully. He knew that this question would come up and he already knew his answer.

"I know you won't betray us, but I wonder if you will believe me when I tell you...The truth is pretty unbelievable." Phillip said.

"Just tell me." Sue said.

"Okay, I have two questions for you. One; have you heard of the rumor about a UFO supposedly crashing outside of Roswell, New Mexico, back in the late 40s?"

"Sure, everyone has. My parents even starred in a movie and TV series about the aliens from that crash, living among us; you know that." Sue said.

"Yes, right, of course." Phil said and then he thought for a moment more.

"Two; have you ever thought about what it would be like, if that rumor, the movie, the TV series were...true?"

"What? You want to know what I would think...if aliens really were living among us?" Phil nodded, keeping his gaze steady, on Sue's face.

"Well...I might be a little worried, not knowing why they came to Earth, what their plans were. But if I took the scenario from 'Among Us'; that they came to find a new home and I knew that they just wanted to live here, peacefully...then I would be happy to let them live in peace and I would love to get to know them, learn about their world." Sue said.

Phillip did not say anything. He was just wondering how he had been so lucky as to find such an open-minded person as Sue, to fall in love with. His gaze had unintentionally remained unbroken, on Sue's face and after a moment, she started to smile.

"Oh my goodness...you are...one of those aliens from the crash? But how can that be? The crash took place, what, eighty-four years ago?" Sue asked; a look of wonder in her eyes.

"Actually...it was my father...who was in the crash." Phil clarified.

"But then your father would be in his 60s or 70s and you're only in your 20s, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sue. I will turn twenty-one in just over a week, but my father and mother are both forty-nine. You see, my dad and aunts and uncle were placed in stasis chambers for the trip, because our planet was so far away and my people could not sustain life-support any other way. They were supposed to be brought out of stasis when they arrived here, but the ship crashed and their pods were damaged. Their protector managed to hide their pods before he was captured, but he was unable to repair them after he escaped. My father and his family finally emerged from their pods in 1989, but they came out separately, wandered away from their hiding place and were eventually picked up by the couples, who became their parents, my grandparents."

"How old were they, when they came out?" Sue asked. She was so intrigued by her questions and Phil's answers that she got up from her chair and came to sit next to Phil, on the bed.

"They were only ten years old. The other children, who traveled with them in their own, individual space-crafts, were sixteen or seventeen."

"What happened to them?" Sue asked.

"They crash-landed in Sweden. They all immediately came out of their pods and buried or destroyed them. Good thing too; World War Two was still being fought in Europe and even though they were in neutral Sweden, they were not safe. An old widow-woman took them in, thank goodness. Her name was Hedvig Petersen. The teenagers took her last name as their own." Phillip explained.

"Petersen...as in Eric Petersen, the author of the Antarian series? Oh my goodness, are you telling me that Eric Petersen, whose books were made into movies, in which my parents both played leading rolls...is an alien?" Phil could only nod before Sue continued.

"Are you telling me that his books are real? Was your world really named Antar? Was it really destroyed when its sun went nova?" Phil jumped in with a few answers, while Sue caught her breath.

"Yes, Eric Petersen is the son of one of the original ten children, who were sent to Earth in hopes of finding and making a home here. Yes, his books are true, Antarian history. He started writing them when he and his family feared that they were the only survivors, here on Earth. They had been unable to make contact with my parents, as yet and he wanted something of Antar to live on, even if humans only thought of them as science fiction."

Sue sat thinking for a moment, her expression becoming very sad as she remembered what the books had said about the end of the planet Antar.

"Only a few hundred children were able to escape, before the planet was destroyed, with everyone else, who couldn't escape, trapped on the planet...your true grandparents...?" Sue asked, as her right hand unconsciously came up to stroke Phillip's cheek, gently. Phillip could only nod.

"You lost your family, your world, your heritage in the blink of an eye. How do your parents...how do you cope with that?" Sue asked, her hand still stroking his cheek.

"We cope by keeping their memories alive; in our hearts and in our stories. We have lost our planet and most of our people, but our heritage is very much alive and well. We have excellent historical records and we have gathered together, from across the galaxy, to live in one, united community. There is a little bit of Antar here on Earth and it is growing and it is spreading our heritage and customs out to the world." Phil answered.

"And." Phillip continued, as he covered Sue's hand on his check, with his own. "We cope by meeting special people, like you and sharing our secret with them." Phil turned his face under her hand, until his lips were positioned under the palm of her hand and he kissed it, closing his eyes to savor the sensation all the better.

Sue made a small sound and her mouth hung open a little, while her eyes closed, as well, to enhance the sensations she was picking up on, from her tingling nerve endings.

"Your town, Airatan, is that little bit of Antar, here on Earth, isn't it? Did your people really come from other planets...out in space, to live here together on Earth?" Sue asked.

"Yes." Phillip nodded. He was holding Susan's hand in his, as they both rested on his leg, now. "Twenty-five years ago, my father, his family, including all of my grandparents and Eric and his family, worked together to buy the valley from the government. They had only just made contact with the other Antarians, who were living out in space. As soon as they learned that the ten children had survived here on Earth, there was a great desire; a yearning for all of us to live together, here.

"Wouldn't it have been easier for the ten children to move to one of those planets, out in space?" Sue asked, as her thumb started to stroke the back of Phillip's hand. Phillip hesitated, thinking for a moment, a process which was becoming difficult, under Susan's soft stroking.

"What did Eric's books tell you about the children who came to Earth?" He asked, instead.

"Um, there were ten of them; they were all in their teens; six of them were normal, everyday kids, but...four of them were...royal. The four were the children of the King and Queen of Antar and their High Counselors. Phillip, are you saying that your' Prince and Princess survived and were living here on Earth? Is that why all of the rest of your people immigrated here?" Phillip nodded.

"Has the Prince become your...king, now, or the Princess, your queen?"

"Yes, almost twenty-five years ago, Prince Zan was declared King, by all of our people. His sister, Princess Valondra did not want to take up her birthright, but she helps our king and queen whenever necessary." Phillip said. He could not tell why he was speaking in third-person, as if his king was a stranger to him, rather than his own father.

"Wait a minute; I thought you said your father was the mayor of your small town. Why would you need a mayor as well as...a...king? Oh my goodness...your father and mother are the king and queen, aren't they?" Phillip nodded, modestly.

"Zan was his true name, given to him by his birth-parents, but Max Evans was the name given to him by his adoptive parents?"

"Yes."

"So you are the new prince, the next king?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, probably, but that won't happen for a long time yet and even then, it's not that big a deal. We're all pretty casual in Airatan." Phillip said and then he chuckled, while holding Sue's head steady, by cupping her cheek with the palm of his hand and allowing his fingers to dip back into her soft hair.

"Now, the shoe is on the other foot; how, oh how will I ever be able to tell if you like me because of who I am, or because I'm a prince?" He stuck his bottom lip out, in a playful pout, humor pouring out through his gorgeous eyes.

"That's easy; we knew each other before I ever knew you were a prince. And my attitude and reactions about you will never change, now that I do know." Sue said. "It's like..." But Phil interrupted her.

"But I'd like your attitude and reaction to change; become warmer, more intimate." Phil said. His statement gave Sue the courage to continue what she had been about to say.

"And I was about to tell you, before you interrupted that it's like that song says: 'It's in her kiss.'" Sue sang the few words before she did what she had wanted to do since she had finished with the punching-bag; she leaned in and gave Phil a sweet kiss on the lips.

She had meant to make it a quick kiss, but Phil reacted immediately; his left hand came up to join his right hand in cradling Sue's lovely face between them.

"You're right, it IS in her kiss!" Was all he said before his lips claimed hers again in a gentle, but intense caress of her lips and mouth.

Part 14

Phil and Sue ended their intense kisses, but stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments longer.

"Oh, I have wanted to do that for the last two weeks, ever since I first really met you." Phil said, as he cradled her head with his hand and kept it resting against his broad shoulder.

'I've wanted to do that for the last three years.' Sue thought to herself.

"Me too." Was what she said out loud, though.

Just then, Dee yelled up the stairs that dinner was ready and they walked downstairs, hand in hand and into the kitchen to fill their plates, before going to sit in the dining room. This time, Phillip pulled out a chair for Sue to sit in. The seat was on his right hand side, a place for honored guests. Only Phillip noticed the glances being shared around the table and the smiles on each of his friend's faces, for what he had just done. It looked as though their prince had just chosen his princess. Dinner was a happy, noisy time, while Sue kept them laughing with tales about what funny things she had seen happen at her parent's parties or on their movie sets.

"So tell me about what you've been doing since we met, fourteen years ago." Phillip urged, as they walked back up to his room to talk, after dinner.

"Only if you tell me what you've been up to, as well." Sue specified and Phil nodded.

They got comfortable, kicking off their shoes and lying down on his bed, with about one foot between them and talked for hours. They found out that they had much in common; they had watched the same TV shows and movies as children; spent their summer days at the pool and had belonged to a girl/boy scout troop for a couple years, each. They had covered their favorite singers and songwriters, at the Grinding Stop, the night before, so after they had talked about their childhood, they started discussing books and movies...until they fell asleep, almost at the same instant.

Amy and Dee came laughing up the stairs, turned into the hallway, to climb the second flight, to their third-floor rooms and came face to face with Phillip's open bedroom door.

"Oh my gosh, they fell asleep together!" Amy exclaimed, but in a whisper, from the doorway.

"But as always, my dear brother was being the perfect gentleman; they're still wearing everything but their shoes and there's at least a foot of bed between them. He's enough to give the best match-maker an ulcer." Dee said in sisterly disgust.

"They're holding hands; that is really sweet." Amy whispered, encouragingly.

"I'm going to spread a blanket over them, close the door and see if anything else develops over night. Set your alarm for five and we'll meet back here, then."

Amy slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, as Dee spread a blanket over her brother and her friend, then the girls tip-toed up to their rooms and burst into laughter, when they got there.

5 a.m. the next morning.

Amy and Dee came downstairs to the second floor and stood outside Phillip's closed door.

"I don't hear anything." Dee whispered, with her ear against the door.

"Open it, let's look inside!" Amy urged and Dee slowly turned the knob.

"Ohmygosh!" Amy mumbled behind Dee's hand over her mouth, which had come up to quiet her outburst.

Phillip's bed was placed up against the far wall, in his small room, so that the girls had a perfect view of the two occupants on the bed. Dee raised her camera to take a picture.

"Don't use a flash, you'll wake them up!" Amy whispered into her ear, urgently.

"But I want a picture of this!" Dee whispered back just as determined.

"I brought my digital camera, we should be able to lighten up the image on my computer and if that doesn't work, we can still use a little alien-film-developing-magic." Amy whispered.

"You go girl!" Dee motioned her into the room with a bow.

Amy took several pictures and then the girls tip-toed back out of the room, closed the door and ran back upstairs to Amy's room.

6:30 a.m.

Phillip woke up to the unfamiliar, yet pleasant feeling of having a beautiful, young woman snuggled up against him, in his arms. He opened his eyes to see that his other senses had not misled him. Sue was indeed asleep, with her head on his shoulder, her hand and arm resting on his chest and the rest of her slim body, plastered up against his side, as he lay on his back. He in turn, had one of his arms lying under her back and other hand resting in the curve of her waist.

'Oh man, this feels sooo...good! She is so nice and warm against me, her hair is soft against my face and it...she smells so good!' Phil groaned to himself.

He remembered how this predicament had come about. They had been catching up on each other's lives for hours, last night, when they both simply could not keep their eyes open and had fallen asleep.

'We must have gravitated towards each other, during the night.' He reasoned, as he looked his fill of Sue's sweet face, which lay just inches away from his own.

'Should I kiss Sleeping Beauty awake, or just enjoy watching her sleep?' He wondered. 'I'll just watch over her for a while.' He decided.

After a few minutes, however, he could not stop himself from gently brushing her hair back from her face or running his fingertips along her eyebrows, jaw line, or over her lips and she began to stir.

"Mmm, what a wonderful dream!" Sue mumbled to herself, while her eyes were still closed, she stretched like a feline, arching her back and legs and Phillip stifled a groan.

"I must still be dreaming. I can feel Phillip's warm, hard body next to mine." She whispered to herself.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty." A soft, deep voice whispered in her ear.

Sue's eyes popped opened to the glorious view of Phillip Evans' handsome face leaning over him. As her vision cleared, uncertainty started to cloud her eyes again, her face became flushed with embarrassment and her body tensed up.

'This cannot be happening.' Sue thought, frantically, feeling her new-found happiness start to crumble. 'What did I do? What did we do, here on this bed? What is he going to think of me now?'

Phillip could read all of her questions in her panicked eyes and agitated movements.

"Sue, Suzie, everything is alright. There is nothing to be frightened of or embarrassed about. Remember last night? We were just talking and we must have fallen asleep. That is all that happened, I'm sure of it; we are still fully clothed and I would never, ever disrespect any girl that way, especially you."

"Are you sure? And you don't think I'm some kind of...some sort of..." Sue asked miserably, as she rolled away from Phillip and out of his arms.

"NO! Of course not. I've only known you for two weeks, but I know that you are a sweet, incredibly smart, innocent young woman. I know that you aren't the kind of girl who would...do...that." Sue stayed where she was, facing away from him with her knees drawn up part way.

"Suzie, come on, why don't we get up and you can wash your lovely face and then we can go downstairs and have some breakfast." Phil suggested.

"How can I face your sister, your friends?"

"By my side, with your chin up. Nothing happened and they will know that. Hey, someone came in and put this blanket over us last night. Probably Dee or Amy, so most likely they already know you spent the night here." Phil said calmly.

"Okay." Sue said after a brief pause and then she sat up.

Phil got off the bed on his side and came around to Sue and extended his hand out to her. Sue took it and got up from the bed. Hand in hand they walked out of Phil's room and across the hall to the bathroom. Sue went in, while Phil stood outside to assure her privacy, since this was the boy's floor.

"Oh shoot, they're already up!" Dee told Amy, as the two girls came down the hallway. "Hi Phil, where's Sue?" Dee asked.

"She's using the bathroom and please don't tease her. She was frightened and very embarrassed, finding herself in my bed this morning." The two girls immediately became serious.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, Phil. You two just looked so sweet and innocent, last night; sleeping on top of your bedspread, with your careful foot of space between the two of you...I couldn't bring myself to wake you both up, so that you could drive Sue home. I just covered you with an extra blanket and shut the door." At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Sue came out.

"Morning, Sue. You look well rested." Sue teased just a little bit and then became serious again.

"Don't you worry about anything, chica; everyone in the house knows that the two of you are a perfect gentleman and lady, respectively." Dee soothed.

"More's the pity." Amy mumbled and the two girls almost started giggling again.

"No one outside this house will ever know that you weren't sleeping over here, with us girls, upstairs. We are your friends and friends don't spread tales." Amy said.

"Thank you, I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression about me." Sue said.

"No chance of that. Come on, why don't we all have some breakfast and then Amy or I can drive you home." Dee said, linking her arm with Sue and guiding her downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Why don't you brush your hair, Phil, before gracing us with your presence at the breakfast table?" Amy suggested, before she followed her friends down the stairs.

Phil nodded, happy that Sue was in such good hands. A few minutes later, Phil walked down the stairs to hear girlish giggles coming from the kitchen, so he stopped to listen, before going in.

"Amy did you ever notice how handsome your pseudo-boyfriend is, first thing in the morning?" Sue asked, giggling.

"Well, these pictures we took of the two of you certainly show it." Amy said.

"May I take this one home with me?" Sue asked.

"Sure, where will you keep it?" Dee asked.

"Under my pillow!" Sue said.

"So you can kiss him good-night?" Amy asked.

"Maybe!" Sue said coyly and they all broke into laughter again.

"My goodness ladies, so much giggling! Did you swallow a bunch of feathers with your cereal? Are they at this moment tickling the insides of your stomachs?" Phil asked, casually, as he walked into the kitchen and over to the coffee-maker, as if he had not just heart what his lovely Sue had just said, or noticed the girls scrambling to hide the pictures from him.

"No, we were talking about men and so we could not help but start to laugh." Dee replied.

"Oh, low blow, Sis." Phil said, laughing good naturedly.

As they ate their breakfast, Phil could not help remember how beautiful Sue had been, first thing that morning, when he had woken up to find her in his bed.

"I'll see you in class and then we're still going to attend that concert, Friday night, right?" Phil asked Sue, before she left the house with Dee.

"I'm just wondering whether I should fly home this weekend, to be with my parents." Sue mentioned with a worried look in her large, brown eyes. Phil nodded.

"Good point. I've been wondering the same thing myself. Why don't I pick you up tonight, after your swim-team practice? I can bring you back here and we can contact my parents and ask their advice, alright?"

Alright." Sue said smiling and reassured; she gave Phil a quick, sweet kiss before following Dee out the door.

Neither girl saw Phil turn to Amy, asking to see the pictures he knew that they had taken. After looking at them all, he chose one and ran upstairs to place it under his pillow.

"Hi Sue, great practice." Phil said, giving her a quick hello-kiss, when Sue came out of the locker-room, after swim-
team practice, later that night.

"Thanks, yeah it went well." Sue said, as they walked beside each other, out to Phil's SUV.

"So, you think your parents will be home when you all them?" Sue asked, after she had settled into her seat and fastened her seatbelt.

"Yeah, well I've already made a preliminary call, asking them to be home tonight." Phil said and Sue nodded.

They chatted about their classes until they arrived at Phil's home. When they entered the house, Phil took her up to his room.

"So where's your phone, or do you use a vid-com?" Sue asked.

"Actually, when calling home, we use something else." Phil answered. "Sue, one of the urges we had, to live together as a people, came about when my mother and father were crowned. As a part of the coronation oaths, which they and all Antarians make to each other, a permanent, psychic connection was made, between us all. But don't worry, we all have complete privacy in our thoughts, we cannot really read minds or anything, but there is a connection, a psychic frequency through which we can communicate with one another; it binds us together as a people. It's the way we used to live on Antar, connected to our environment and to each other. That's also why we established these houses on college campuses, so that each house could have an orb and we students could all stay connected."

"An orb, what's that?" Sue asked.

Phil picked up the small, football-shaped object from his bookshelf, to show Sue.

"This is usually down in the living room, but I brought it up here, because I figured that you'd want to see if for yourself."

"So, this is your communicator? Can its signal reach all the way out into space?" Sue asked, turning the alien device over in her hands.

"Far, far out into space and more. Each orb holds our entire historical archive, including images of our artwork and recordings of our music."

"Wow! Is there any way for a human to...? Could I use it to learn about your planet and your people?" Sue asked.

"Sure, with one of us to connect you." Phil said and Sue smiled.

"But right now, how about we call my parents?" Phil asked and Sue nodded.

"Take my hand, close your eyes and try to blank out your mind." Phil instructed.

'Oh my gosh!' Sue exclaimed, as she suddenly found herself standing by Phil in a comfortable family room, decorated in earth-tones. There were several large, arched windows looking out, over two valleys. 'Do I remember correctly; is this your parent's home?' Sue asked Phil and he nodded.

'Hi, Mom and Dad. It's Phil...and I have someone special with me, as well.' Phil called out.

'Hello sweetheart.' Liz and Max came through a doorway and walked over to hug their son. 'Is this your special someone?' Liz asked, turning to Sue.

'Yes. Mom and Dad, this is Susan Blair.' Phil introduced her.

'Mr. and Mrs. Evans, oh my, I had totally forgotten how much you look like my parents...how much my parents look like you!'

'Little Suzie!' Liz exclaimed, as she hugged her, as well. 'But not little anymore, what a lovely young woman you've grown up to be!'

'Mrs. Evans, it is very nice to see you again, as well. Mr. Evans.' Sue turned to Max and shook his proffered hand.

'Susan, I'm sorry we had to meet again under these stressful circumstances.' Max patted her hand, comfortingly. 'May I ask you how the two of you met?'

'We've been taking classes together for years, but we only, really met two weeks ago, through Dee, who is taking architectural history with Sue.' Phil explained.

'But I complicated things, I'm afraid.' Sue confessed. 'I've been attending Harvard under an assumed name, so Phil didn't know it was really me until last night. And I didn't remember his name at all, from when we were little, so it was just happy happenstance that we met and became...friends.'

'And of course she kept our secret all these years and with the two of us becoming more than just friends...' Phil said, as he gazed intently at Sue. 'I went ahead and told her everything about us. Incredibly, she still likes me and wants to help us!' Phil explained.

'Mom, Sue is the girl I told you about. She's told me that it was Niko, who emotionally hurt her, back in high school.' Phil told his mother, over their private frequency. Liz nodded and turned to Sue with compassionate eyes.

'Your parents have told you about what this Niko-character is doing?' She asked Sue.

'Yes and since I knew him back in high school, I was wondering if I should fly out to LA this weekend, to be there, when you meet with my parents.' Sue asked.

'I don't think that's necessary at this point, Sue.' Max said. 'Niko did not mention you, your brother or any of our children in his threats. You all may be included in our strategy meetings in the future, but this first meeting with Mason and Cheryl should be between just the four of us.' Liz nodded her agreement.

'Sue, we've been contemplating what to tell your parents...about us. We don't like lying to them, especially now, when so many of Giuliani's threats and assumptions are...true. They should be told the truth, but how do you think they will react?' Max asked. Sue grimaced.

'They'll be very, very skeptical, Mr. Evans. Their careers have been all about making people believe...in make-
believe. Everything that you can do because you are...aliens, they've seen done by special-effects. They believe heavily in reality, in what they can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. With as many sci-fi TV shows and movies as they've done, they don't believe in aliens, ghosts, vampires or dragons. Sorry.' Sue said.

'Oh man.' Max sighed.

'Maybe we should take things one step at a time; tell them the truth only if necessary.' Liz suggested.

'I don't know if that's such a good idea, either. They are very big on honesty, as well.' Sue told them.

'Then we will just have to find a way to make them believe.' Liz said.

'We may have to ask you to testify in our behalf, Sue. But for now, Liz and I will try talking to them, when we fly out on Saturday.' Max said.

'Alright, Dad, I just wanted to introduce Sue to you, let you know what's happening and offer to fly to LA with you.' Phil said.

'Thanks, Son. Let's see how things go. Something tells me we'll need the two of you before this is over. It was nice to see you again, all grown up, Sue.' Max said, giving her a fatherly kiss on the forehead.

'Take care.' Liz said, moving in to hug Sue and Phil again. 'You take care of this special young lady of yours.' She told her son.

'I will.' Phil promised.

'Good-bye, Mr. and Mrs. Evans; it was nice seeing you two again.' Sue said, before the connection ended and she found herself back in Phillips room.

"Ohhh boy, that was like a virtual reality telephone!" Sue exclaimed and Phil grinned as he drew her into his arms.

"They liked you." He told her, gazing intently into her eyes. Sue blushed.

"I hope so...I...like their son...very much." Sue admitted.

"I'm glad and as much as I would like to repeat our sleeping arrangements from last night, I think I'd better get you home." Phil said, reluctantly. Sue nodded, also reluctantly, as they walked down the stairs and outside to Phil's car.

"I'll see you in class." Phil said, as they drove up and stopped in front of Sue's dorm.

"Good night, Phil." Sue said, as she moved in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Night, Sue." Phil said, as he turned his head so that her lips landed on his. "What's with the little peck on the cheek?" Phil asked; chuckling after their sweet kiss ended.

"I'm still a little unsure of myself and...us." Sue said, shyly.

"I don't want to frighten you, rush you, or make you nervous, but please remember that you are very special to me and it's my fervent hope that you will learn to feel comfortable with kissing me, as you already seem to be, when I kiss you, alright, Sweetheart?" Sue could only smile and nod...before she quickly leaned in to give him a quick, yet powerful kiss and then got out of the car, waving good-night as she went.

'And she thinks I'm going to be able to sleep now, after that?' Phil asked himself, as he drove back home to his lonely bed.

Part 15

Friday night came and Phillip would be arriving at Sue's dorm any minute.

Does this look alright" Sue asked her roommate, Sally.

"Alright, Sue that dress looks great! You look great! You've come alive all of a sudden. You are so lucky to have bagged Phillip Evans. I didn't even know he was available. If I didn't already have my boyfriend, Gary, I would be so jealous; Phil is one handsome hunk!"

"Oh thanks, make me even more nervous." Sue replied.

"No worries, roomy. That dress is perfect; it's sleeveless, tight, has a short skirt, nice scoop neck and maroon is your color. Then to keep you warm, that silky-looking shawl with its pretty pattern in maroon, rust and gold will look romantic around your shoulders and sexy, tied around your waste, at the concert. You never sit down at those things; you'll be dancing and clapping all night."

"Does my copper necklace look alright with the dress?" Sue asked.

"Hey, it brings out the rust and gold in your shawl." Sally said, nodding her head, approvingly. "I really like this new you. I've been worried about you, chica. Whatever this Phillip Evans is doing, he's brought you back to life."

"He has, hasn't he?" Sue said with a dreamy smile on her face.

Just then, someone knocked on their door.

"I bet that's him, now. Go stand over there, so he gets the full view of the new you, as soon as I open the door.

"Hi, are you Phillip?" Sally asked.

"Yes, you must be Sue's roommate, Sally?" Phillip said with distracted politeness, as he had already caught sight of Sue.

'Oh man, she looks like a butterfly just out of its chrysalis, beautiful, but unsure of her wings.' Phillip thought as he walked past Sally and over to Sue and hugged her gently.

"Hey, Sue." Phillip said softly, just for her ears. "You look beautiful tonight and your outfit is very pretty too."

"Hi Phil, thank you." Sue said, still within his embrace. "You look great too." 'Go on Sue, say it.' She told herself. "Very handsome." She tip-toed a little so that she could kiss him, sweetly.

"Mmm, thank you for the kiss." Phil said, smiling down at Sue. "But if you do that again, we'll miss the concert!"

"Well then I will force myself to behave...for now." Sue blushed, prettily.

"Come on." Phil chuckled and placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back, to lead her out the door.

As they waited for the elevator and then rode it down to the ground floor, Sue took the chance to take a good look at Phil.

'He looks so sharp in those pleated, black slacks, charcoal gray, button-down shirt and black-leather jacket.' She sighed to herself, happily.

They walked to his SUV and Phillip opened the passenger door for her and helped her in, getting a close-up look at her long legs, in the process.

"I thought that we could go back to our favorite Chinese restaurant; would that be alright with you?" He asked.

"That would be great." Sue smiled and they were off.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were shown to a quiet, back booth. They decided to each have soap, an egg-roll and then to share an order of sesame chicken, hot and spicy.

"So, do you have any ideas about how we can handle Niko?" Sue asked.

"Let's not talk about such an unpleasant topic tonight, alright?" Sue nodded, happy to agree. "But there is something that I think we could set up to get him with, if he persists in this for at least three weeks, into October." Phil told her with a determined and evil-looking grin on his face.

"Ohh, will you tell me what it is?" Sue asked, excitedly.

"Absolutely, you'll be in on it, if he acts the way I think he will, but I want to wait for a little while and see what happens first, alright?" Phil asked.

"Well, alright." Sue said a little disappointed.

Their food came and they placed the sesame chicken in the middle, taking turns dipping into it with their chop-
sticks. Sometimes, they fed themselves and other times they fed each other. They found more pleasant conversational topics, such as anecdotes about their childhoods and gossiping a little about their other friends and classmates.

"Hey, my birthday is next week and we're flying back to Airatan for the weekend." Philip said. "Would you...like to come with us? Dee and Amy are coming with me and you could see Libby again."

"Ohh, Phil, I'd love to, but I don't know if I should spend that kind of money on plane fare right now, when I undoubtedly will need to fly back to LA several times in the near future. Could I take you out to dinner before you leave, instead?"

"If it is just the money, you're worried about, don't. Our community has its own plane and Johann will fly out to pick us up Friday evening, after our last classes."

"Oh wow, your own plane? Well, in that case, I'd love to come, if it won't be of any trouble to your parents and you have a sofa for me to sleep on."

"No, I'm sure they won't mind and I think that we can even find you a room to stay in and your very own bed to sleep in!" Phil assured her. "If you're finished, I think that we'd better get going, so that we can arrive in good time at the Fleet Center." Phil said, looking at his watch.

"I'm stuffed, it was all so good." Sue said, as she got up from her seat.

Phil placed her shawl around her shoulders and they left the restaurant. It turned out that Phillip had been able to get great seats and they settled into them and waited for the concert to begin. Before sitting down, Sue had tied her triangular shawl around her waist like some bathing-suit cover-up. It just came down over the bottom edge of her dress hem, leaving many a male, sitting around her, to fantasize about moonlit beaches and bikini-clad girls.

During their dinner and while they walked into the stadium/concert center, most of Sue's attention was focused on Phil, but a small percentage of her consciousness noticed all of the women, who were making eyes at her handsome date. Phillip's attention was totally on her and she wondered if he was unaware of their stares, or whether he just did not care about them. She believed that it might be a little of both.

It gave her pause to think, when she realized that the man she was with, was the center of all this feminine attention and yet he was totally focused on her, only her. This gorgeous guy thought she was beautiful and she finally started to take his word for it. Her shoulders straightened up, her chin came up and her manner relaxed considerably; her smile became broader and a sparkle came into her eyes. Phil saw this change happening and grinned.

"Now I think I finally see the true Susan...Best. I think my beautiful date is truly sitting by my side now and it's a real pleasure to see her!"

"Thank you, Phil." Sue accepted his compliment without a blush.

And then the concert began; first the warm-up band, which was actually quite good and then Dido came onto the stage and the audience rose to its feet and stayed there throughout the entire performance. They rocked with her and they swayed to her softer songs, as well. Phillip took great pleasure in watching Sue dance beside him; her slim, supple body swaying with the beat, her arms up over her head, clapping with everyone else, around them. Sue especially loved the slower songs, when Phil pulled her close and swayed with her. She loved the feeling of his solid body underneath her hands, the spicy scent of his aftershave and the intensity of his gaze.

Finally though, the concert ended and the happy, hyped-up crowd poured out of the Fleet Center. Phil and Sue found his car and they drove back to Cambridge. They happily chatted about all the songs they had heard that night and what fun they had, had with the fans, seated around them. By the time they pulled up in front of Sue's dorm, they had mellowed out some and sleepiness was setting in.

"I had such a great time, tonight, Phil. Thank you so much for taking me!" Sue exclaimed.

"I did too, especially when I saw my beautiful date shed the last bits of her chrysalis and spread her wings to fly." Phil said, eyes sparkling.

"But not to fly away, just to hover nearby and then to land within your warm, safe arms." Sue assured him, as she moved closer to him and Phil's arms came up around her shoulders.

Sue let her hands glide over his chest, then up and over his shoulders and around his neck. Phil held back, letting his gaze bounce between her eyes and her lips...waiting... Sue realized that Phil wanted her to make this first move towards taking the next step in their relationship. This time, Sue moved in purposefully, towards Phillip's lips and kissed him. The first kiss was just a soft caress, the second had some weight behind it and the third kiss included the tip of her tongue, peeking out between her lips, to gently moisten Phillip's bottom lip and request entry into the dark secrets of his mouth.

Phillip let out a soft, deep moan and opened to her, willingly, happily. They kissed back and forth, taking turns and meeting in the middle, as well. Their hands would not stay still, either. They slowly glided their way over each other's arms, backs, threaded through soft, clean hair and outlined each other's faces as if they were both blind. Finally, they both had to come up for air and they broke apart a little, both gasping, but remained in each other's arms.

"You...had...better...go in, before I change my mind about being a gentleman." Phil warned her and Sue nodded.

"Or before I change my mind about being a lady." Sue said, looking deeply into his warm, loving eyes.

Sue felt his arms and hands tighten around her for a moment, at her words ut then they slowly, reluctantly released their hold on her.

"Good night, thanks again. You will call me if you hear anything from your parents, won't you?" Sue asked, as she opened up the car door.

"Yes of course, you do the same." Sue nodded. "I had a great time, Sue. You know, if we're going to fly home next weekend, we'll really have to get some heavy-duty studying done, beforehand. Why don't you come over to the house and we can study together?" Phil suggested.

"Great idea, I'll come around ten." Sue said, smiling and then she was out the door and heading towards her dorm.

Phil waited until she was safely inside and then drove home to dream of her and look forward to seeing her tomorrow.

Part 16

Early Saturday morning, at the television studio, Mason and Cheryl were waiting to tape another talk-show segment, to promote their latest movie, when Mason's cell-phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mr. Blair, we have a problem." Chuck, the studio's security chief said.

Mason had known Chuck for years and had asked for his help with this Niko business. Chuck had already checked out their house for bugs and gone over their security measures, earlier that week, but Mason had asked him to come back that morning, to double-check things, before Max and Liz were to arrive, later that day.

"Problem, what sort of problem?" Mason asked.

"You have yourself a listener." Chuck said, cryptically.

"A listener? I thought you told me that our house and phones weren't bugged." Mason said.

"They aren't bugged, he's using a long-range, listening device and even though he's only receiving and not sending, I can pick up the energy signal from the equipment he's using; it must be pretty powerful."

"Can you use that signal to triangulate his position?" Mason asked.

"My people are working on it, but the signal keeps moving. He's obviously in a car or van. We almost caught him, half an hour ago, but he shut down his equipment and moved before we could pin-point him." Chuck explained.

"Oh man!" Mason exclaimed. "Can he hear our phone conversation, now?"

"No, my cell-phone has a scrambler and I have set up a device, which can block him from listening, but I won't be able to stop him from seeing what's going on, at your house. If you really want to keep this meeting of yours, confidential, you might want to find another location." Chuck advised.

"That might be a good idea. I'll look into doing that, but could you set up the house, anyway?"

"Yes sir, Mr. Blair." Chuck said.

"Thanks, Chuck, I'll call you later." Mason said.

"Very good, sir." Chuck said and they both hung up.

Mason told Cheryl about what Chuck had just told him and they both tried to think of another place they could meet with Max and Liz. They came up with the same idea, at the same moment and smiled at each other.

'I hope she's home and in a mood for guests.' Mason punched a number into his cell-phone and waited for an answer. Cheryl entered a few numbers into her phone, as well and they created a party-line, between their two cell-
phones.

"Hello?" Susan Nelson asked.

"Hey, Susan, it's Mason, I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No, of course not, you know I'm an early riser. What can I do for you? Is everything alright?" Susan asked.

"Uh well...no, I'm afraid everything isn't alright and we need your help. Cheryl and I need to ask a really big favor of you." Mason said.

"What do you need?" Susan asked, instantly.

"Cheryl and I need to meet with some people and it needs to be kept strictly confidential. Our security consultant says that someone has a listening device aimed at our house, so we can't meet there, as we had planned. Is there any way that we could use your house for this meeting?"

"Of course." Sue said, without hesitation.

"Don't agree so quickly, we still have a few more things to ask of you. Could our two friends please stay at your house, over the weekend, as well as possibly, Cheryl and I? And could you please pick up our friends at the airport, when they fly in today?"

"This sounds very serious and very important, of course I'll help you any way I can. Can you...tell me what's going on; who these friends of yours are?"

"Well, Cheryl and I, as well as our friends are kind of being blackmailed or stalked. We all received a letter from an old enemy of mine, earlier this week and...I think it would be best if I e-mailed you the letter. I scanned it into my computer, so let me mail it, you read it through and then I'll call you back. We're about to tape an interview, but I could call you back in about forty-five minutes, alright?"

"Sure Mason, I'll be waiting for your e-mail." Susan said, worriedly.

"Okay, bye for now and thanks Susan." They all hung up.

Mason brought out his palm-sized computer, accessed his home unit, through the palm's cellular modem and e-
mailed Niko Giuliani's letter to Susan. Then both Mason and Cheryl buried their worries deep down, put on charming smiles and walked out onto the stage, to film their segment on the talk-show. When they were through, Mason and Cheryl both called Susan back.

"Hey, Susan, did you receive the letter?" Mason asked, after Susan answered her phone.

"Yes, boy this Giuliani-fellow has gone to some trouble to get some of this information. Adoption and police records are sealed and of course it is against the law to hack into a computer, to read them. Could you tell me what he has against you, Mason?" Susan asked and Mason told her about Niko's history with Suzie, as well as with him and Cheryl.

"Oh my poor God-daughter! I wish she had called me and told me what happened." Susan cried out when she thought about what Niko had done to her namesake. "Where is this scumbag? No one hurts my family and gets away with it. I'm going to hire a helicopter and drop a couple tons of medical textbooks on top of him; squash him flat!"

"Hmmm, as tempting as that sounds, Susan, I think we better save that for later. We haven't even been able to discuss this with Max and Liz yet. We haven't spoken to Niko, yet." Mason cautioned her.

"Well, I'll just keep the chopper warmed up and an old copy of 'Textbook of blunt-force trauma', handy. If I can't drop it on him, I'd just love to whack him upside the head with it, a few times!" Susan's temper had not cooled, as yet.

Both Mason and Cheryl could not help but chuckle at a usually quiet and gentle Susan, wanting to hit someone over the head with a medical textbook. They knew she worked in a hospital's medical library, but still...

"So, are you still willing to help us, Susan?" Mason asked.

"Well of course I'm still willing to help you, especially now that I know what's going on. When are Max and Liz Evans flying in?"

"Sometime today. For security reasons, they said that they would only call just before they got on the plane to fly out here. I'll call you as soon as they call me, then you'll have about ninety minutes to make it to the airport. Can you drive there in that time?" Mason asked.

"Yes, at the most, it only takes one hour to drive to the airport, from my house." Susan assured him. "So according to Giuliani's letter, Mr. and Mrs. Evans look exactly like you and Cheryl, do they? I shouldn't have any trouble recognizing them at the airport then...Wait a minute, they wouldn't happen to live in Airatan, New Mexico, would they?" Susan's memory kicked into gear.

"Susan, how could you possibly know where Max and Liz live?" Mason asked, astonished. Niko's letter never mentioned Airatan by name.

"Airatan, New Mexico has an extensive website, selling their beautifully unique artwork. I have been a valued customer of the Airatan Artistic Community for seven years now...and their website has a very nice picture of their town's mayor and his wife." Sue explained.

"I see, well those are our friends, yes." Mason said and Susan nodded.

"Back to our problem at hand." Susan said, thoughtfully. "Neurotic-Niko's assumptions and accusations are wild and crazy, but all the connections, linking the four of you, are very interesting. In fact, when I happened upon Airatan's website, seven years ago, I was intrigued by how much you and Cheryl look like Max and Liz, respectively, so I did a little digging and found all the legally obtainable information, which Niko has found. I became really excited, back then and allowed myself to think; what if all these coincidences added up to the possibility of aliens living in Airatan, New Mexico? I sat up all night, thinking about it, until logical thought reasserted itself, with the dawn and I dismissed everything I had found out, as coincidence and silliness.

"But now that I've read the additional, illegally obtained information, which Niko found, I'm becoming excited again! Wouldn't it be cool if Max Evans were really an alien, maybe even their king? Airatan's website has a virtual tour of their hydroponics farm, down in the old tunnels of the military complex, but what if they had used the tunnels to hide newly arriving Antarians? That town did pop up rather quickly and all the artists do have the same sort of style. Can you just imagine it; a community of artists, from another world, sharing their culture and heritage with us, peacefully?" Susan asked excitedly.

"Are you telling us that you believe all that stuff that Giuliani said; and you saw in our movie and TV series, Susan? You know that it was all make-believe; acting and special effects." Mason said.

"Well of course my head knows all of that was make-believe, Mason; but can't my heart believe that what is movie-
magic today, could become reality, tomorrow? Can't my imagination soar out to the stars on a starship, named 'Enterprise'; or plunge to the bottom of the sea in a submarine, named 'SeaQuest'; or visit a little artist community, named Airatan and see the vestiges of a once great, alien civilization, making a home for its survivors, among the valleys and canyons of northern New Mexico? Can't either one of you see that; imagine any of that, even a little bit?" Sue asked her friends, sadly.

"Well maybe." Cheryl hedged. "Granted, so much of what was thought to be only science-fiction, thirty or forty years ago, is everyday fact now, but..."

"...but isn't that fact enough to get the two of you to open up your imaginations, to what could be? Can't you see with the wondering eyes of a child; all the mysterious and unexplained phenomena our world has to offer?" Sue asked, rushing on.

"Let me ask you this; you have friends who need your help, what do you plan to do, to help them, if Niko is just a fruitcake and is wrong about his assumptions? You already have ideas, don't you? Plans in progress?"

"Yeah, but..." Mason said.

"What you need to do now, is broaden your thinking. What do you plan to do if Niko's assumptions are correct; if your friends come here today, to tell you that they really are aliens, or at least Max is? How much time would you waste disbelieving them? Would you even be willing to listen to them?...Max and Liz Evans are good people, aren't they?" Susan asked, suddenly.

There was a pause, as Mason and Cheryl realized that Susan had just asked two very important, very basic questions. Are Liz and Max, good people? Will you even listen to them?

"Yes, Max and Liz are very good people." Mason answered, firmly, as he took Cheryl's hand and squeezed it.

"Yes, of course we will listen to them, no matter what they come to say." Cheryl answered, in an equally firm voice.

"And you'll keep an open mind to all of the wonderful things this world, this universe has to offer?" Susan asked.

"Yes, we'll keep open minds." Mason and Cheryl said, together.

"Great! Now hang up and stop wasting my time. If I'm going to have guests, possibly royal guests, I have a lot of preparations to make. Thank goodness I gave this house a thorough cleaning this week. Call me as soon as they call you." Susan reminded them and then hung up on them, without further ado.

"Yes, ma'am!" Mason said, into his silent cell-phone.

"Oh my gosh, she is awesome!" Cheryl exclaimed.

"And she finally cut through to the important point. No matter if Niko is right or wrong; no matter if Max and Liz are hiding...something...they are our friends; they are good people and we will help them; help ourselves and stop whatever Giuliani is up to." Mason said.

"Absolutely!" Cheryl agreed, as she moved in to hug and kiss this man, she admired and loved so much.

Mason's intense feelings for her were mirrored in his deep kiss and tight embrace, as well.

Part 11

Perhaps an hour before his parents were opening their mail, Phillip found himself driving by his favorite coffee-
shop, The Grinding Stop. He pulled his SUV into a nearby parking place and went in. His parents had told he and his sisters about this little shop, run by Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt and he had been happy to see that it was still in business, three years ago, when he had first come to Cambridge. Now he was not only a regular patron but a second generation patron at that. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt were still there, but they were now in their sixties and their nephew did the day-to-day business of running the shop, while Mr. Schmidt served and visited with their customers. Mrs. Schmidt still had command of the kitchen, baking her famous spice cake and other delicious offerings, but now she had help.

As he stepped inside the shop door, it was as if a button had been pushed and rain came bucketing down, outside.

"You arrived just at the right time, Mr. Evans." Mr. Schmidt greeted him. "You may have our very last table, tonight."

"That would be great." Phillip said, as his host led the way.

"Would you like your usual?" He asked, as Phillip took his seat.

"Yes please. Does Mrs. Schmidt have any of her spice cake left?"

"I believe she does. "I'll bring your piece with your coffee."

"Thanks, Mr. Schmidt." Phillip said as the older man moved off.

'Nice young man, just like his father.' Mr. Schmidt thought to himself. 'He never comes in here with anyone though...also like his father.'

A few minutes later, Mr. Schmidt served Phillip his 'latte, telling him that Mrs. Schmidt would bring his cake out to him soon.

Mr. Schmidt glanced out the front windows of the shop to see that the rain was still pouring down, very heavily. People were scurrying around under umbrellas, or wearing raincoats. Then he saw a young woman quickly cross the street towards them. She had no coat or umbrella and was soaking wet from her short, brown hair, down to her jean-
clad legs and tennis-shoes. Apparently it was a cold rain, because she was shivering as she peered in through the window for a moment, before turning to walk on past. Mr. Schmidt went to the front door and beckoned to her.

"Miss, young lady, please come in out of the rain. You are soaked. Please come in and I can call you a cab to drive you home and you can have a nice, hot cup of tea to warm yourself up with, while you wait, on the house." He said.

"I didn't want to drip on your lovely wooden floors." Sue Best replied as she came to stand on the welcome-mat, just inside the door, her arms were wrapped around her middle in a vain attempt to warm herself.

"Don't worry about the floors, they are well waxed and have stood up to almost forty years of wet and slushy feet walking across them." Mr. Schmidt said with a kind smile. "I am sorry that all of our tables are taken, but I will have a cup of tea ready for you in just a moment and then I can call a cab for you."

"Thank you. That is very kind of you." Sue said.

"Miss Best may come and sit at my table." Phillip said, from behind Mr. Schmidt.

"Ah, Mr. Evans, you know this young lady, then?" Mr. Schmidt asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes we-." Phillip started to say.

"My goodness, Mr. Schmidt, don't keep this poor, little thing standing here, catching her death of cold. Brew her some tea, while I take her in back and help her dry off a little." Mrs. Schmidt ordered her husband.

She had seen the young lady come into the shop as she was serving Phillip Evans his cake and then she had noticed his immediate interest in her and had followed him up to the front of the shop and heard him invite her to share his table.

'Interesting.' She thought to herself.

"Come my dear, let's find you a towel." She said, putting a grandmotherly arm around Sue's slim shoulders and guiding her towards the back of the shop.

Sue looked over her shoulder, towards Phillip with a "what's happening?" look in her eyes. Phillip smiled encouragingly to her.

"Sue likes a little cream and one teaspoon of sugar in her tea, Mr. Schmidt." Phillip told the older man.

"Oh? And how would you know this?" Mr. Schmidt asked, curiously.

"We are partners on a class project and she is also friends with my sister. She has come to our house for dinner several times."

"Ah and what do you think of her?" Phillip looked around and then whispered.

"I think I'm in love with her...but...we haven't, really gone out together, yet."

"Ah, well this will be a nice beginning for the two of you." Mr. Schmidt said.

Ten minutes later, Sue came back to the table and Phillip's eyes grew large and he arose from his chair, as she approached. Sue was no longer wearing her oversized, long-sleeved, cotton shirt and baggy jeans. She was now wearing a maroon, turtleneck sweater and pleated slacks and her hair had been dried and brushed. Unlike her former outfit, which was oversized and hid her figure, her new clothes fit just perfectly and the soft materials showed off her slender curves, beautifully.

"You look lovely!" Phillip surprised himself and Sue by blurting out his thoughts. Sue didn't know what to say to his compliment, but she blushed at hearing it.

"Mrs. Schmidt insisted on giving me some of her cloths to wear, while she put mine in the dryer. She said that I could bring this outfit back to her in the next few days and trade them in for my jeans and shirt. Can you believe such kindness? What a sweet lady!" Sue said in wonder.

"Yes, the Schmidts are very nice people. My parents knew them when they were both attending Harvard, twenty five years ago. You look a lot more comfortable now. Come and drink your tea, or I'm sure Mr. Schmidt would brew you some coffee if you would prefer, my treat." Phillip said.

"Oh no, thank you. Tea sounds just perfect for today." Sue answered, as she took her mug and poured fragrant, hot tea out of the small ceramic teapot, which had been placed on the table, under a quilted tea-cozy, with cats prancing all over the material and added a little cream and sugar.

"Mmm, good and hot." Sue said, letting the warmth seep into her.

"It looks like Mrs. Schmidt is also going to insist that you try some of her famous spice cake." Phillip indicated the older lady who was walking towards them with a large slice of cake on a plate.

"Here you go, dear. Eat that up and you'll feel better in no time."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Schmidt, for being so kind." Sue said, shyly.

Mrs. Schmidt waved away Sue's thanks and walked back to her kitchen.

"Mmmm, this is good." Sue exclaimed, after she tried a bite.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad rhapsodized about Mrs. Schmidt's cake and Mr. Schmidt's hazelnut 'lattes." Phillip told her. They went on to chatting about their classes and their mutual friends and then Phillip changed the subject.

"So you liked seeing Mason and Cheryl's movie. Have you seen any of their other movies or the TV series they starred in, early in their careers; 'Among Us'?" Phillip asked.

"Well of course, I've seen everything they have done; after all, they are my...favorite actors." Sue saved herself from saying 'my parents' at the last second.

'Boy, I hate lying to Phillip this way. I know I could trust him and his family/friends with my true identity.' Sue thought, guiltily. Phillip continued.

"I know this has only a slight connection, but if you liked the show so much, did you also get to know the music by the artist who did the theme-song for 'Among Us'; Dido?" Phil asked.

"Are you kidding? She's one of my favorite artists!" Sue exclaimed. "That piece they use as the opening theme for 'Among Us' got me interested in her and it is still one of my favorites, it always gets my blood pumping, because I remember the exciting footage that went with it, for the show."

"Yeah, it's still one of my favorites, as well." Phillip said and then took a great big gulp of coffee, before asking. "Did you know that she is performing at the Fleet Center this Friday?"

"Oh really?" Sue asked, excitedly, but she couldn't bring herself to hint, or come right out and say that she would absolutely Love to go to a Dido concert...with him.

"Yeah and I can get tickets...if you would...like to go with me." Phillip asked.

"Me go with you to the concert? Really? I'd love to!" Sue exclaimed and then she back peddled a little, becoming shy again in a split-second. "Um...to go see Dido perform. And it would be very nice to go with you, as well. Thank you for asking me." Luckily, Phillip understood that Sue felt as though her first reaction had been way, way too eager and so she made her second reaction a much more controlled and courteous one. He smiled broadly at her, anyway.

"Great! The concert is at eight o'clock, perhaps I could pick you up at six and we could have dinner before the concert?" He suggested.

"That would be great!" Sue was blushing heavily now.

"You know, Sue, I'm realizing that I didn't explain my wanting to take you to the concert very well. Besides my thinking that you would enjoy it, I have wanted to get to know you better and I am hoping that we might...become more than...just friends." Phillip said gently, covering her small hands on the table, with one of his own.

"Really, you do?" Sue asked shyly, but with some new found hope and excitement shining through.

"Yes, really." Phil assured her with a gentle squeeze of his hand.

"I have wanted that as well." Sue almost whispered and managed to bring her gaze up to meet his. She was heartened to see that gentle encouragement and spark of...something else in his eyes, as their gazes met.

"So, which of Dido's songs is your favorite?" Phil tried to lighten the mood a little and they chatted on about their favorite singers and song-writers for a little while longer, until they realized what time it was and that they should be getting home. Phil paid the check and offered to drive her to her dorm. Sue nodded thankfully and they left, walking closely together, but not actually holding hands, or anything, as yet.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow in class and then I look forward to taking you out on Friday." Phil said, as he pulled up in front of Sue's building.

"Thank you for a very nice evening...and everything and I will see you tomorrow." Sue said, as she got out.

Shortly after Phil arrived at his house, his parents called out to him, Amy and Dee, over the Connection, asking them to link into their family's frequency.

A few minutes before; California and New Mexico time zones:

"Hello?" Mason Blair answered his private phone line.

"Hello, it's me, us." The voice of Max Evans came through the line.

"I take it that you received a certain envelope in the mail, today?" Both Mason and Max had instinctively gone into "spy-mode". They were not going to say anything, which could identify themselves, if someone was tapping the phone line.

"Yeah, we need to talk. Can the two of you fly out here this weekend?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid not. Contractual obligations have us too booked up this weekend, to leave town. We will have several hours free at different times, over the weekend. Could you fly here?" Mason asked.

"I'm a little worried about coming to you, security would be absolute here. Can you see that...nothing untoward happens this weekend, if we fly out?" Max asked.

"There is a person I can contact to help me with that...someone I trust." Mason assured Max.

"Alright then, we will make contact with you just before we leave. See you then." Max said.

"Bye." Mason said and they both hung up.

"What was that about?" Cheryl asked.

"I just had the funniest feeling that the phone might be tapped and Max had the same feeling, so we were just being careful."

"What if there is a "bug" in here, in the house?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm going to contact someone I know, tomorrow. Have him come out and check out the house and boost security, as well." Mason answered.

"Oh Mason, what about Suzie and Matt? Do you think that they could be in danger?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm sure they are fine, Sweetheart. If they had received anything in the mail, I'm sure they would have called us by now. We can call them tomorrow and give them a heads-up, though."

"I'll contact Johann and make arrangements to have him fly us to L.A. on Saturday." Liz said, as soon as Max hung up the phone. Liz had been listening in on the call, as it came through their speaker-phone.

"Good, then I think we need to contact our families and then the rest of the Community. Everyone needs to be on the alert." Max said.

"Let's call our parents and see if they can come over here or go to Michael and Maria's house, so that they can be brought into this conference call." Liz said.

Liz contacted Johann, through the Connection and then called their parents. After that, Max and Liz went to sit in the reading chairs, their hands reaching out for each other's, as they sat down and got comfortable. Their parents were going to listen in from the Guerin's.

"Our families are all over, so I don't know if we will reach them all at a good time or not, but let's give it a try and see who responds. The rest can pick up our message from the Connection, later." Max said.

"Calling all of our family members and best friends, please respond. We have something important, which we need to tell you, please respond." Max called out, using their family's frequency for the Connection. This frequency covered all of their children, as well as Michael, Maria, Isabel, Alex, Tess and Kyle.

"Max, what's up? All of our parents just came-a-knockin' at our back door and said that you had an announcement to make...and by the looks on their faces, it isn't a happy announcement." Michael said.

"I'm here too, Mom and Dad." Libby said from where she stood beside Marc, holding his hand.

"We'll explain when everyone who can respond has linked in, Michael. Thanks for helping our folks to link in on this." Michael and Maria nodded.

"Mom, Dad, are you two alright? You sounded urgent." Phillip, Dee and Amy linked in.

"Max, Liz?" Isabel, Alex, Tess and Kyle linked in at almost the same moment. All of their other children linked in as well.

"Kids, everyone, we are both fine, thank you. But something has come up, which you all need to know about. After we have told you, we will have to alert the Community, as well."

"Oh my gosh, Dad, what's going on?" Libby asked for everyone.

Max and Liz took turns bringing them all up to speed. They reminded, or told for the first time, about meeting Mason and Cheryl, in Roswell, just before their wedding, the photographs, which were mistakenly taken of them and their decision to not contact each other again. Then they told of the time, fourteen years ago, when the Evanses had hosted the Blairs and their children, for one night and how once again a photographer had followed Mason and Cheryl. They explained how they had kept in touch over the years, through secret e-mail and post-office-box addresses and private phone lines.

"Why didn't you ever talk about the Blairs, all this time?" Phillip asked.

"We figured it was best not to remind you of children you had met once, but could not meet again, but we would have explained it all to you if any of you had asked about them." Liz assured her children and smiled. "Why didn't you ever ask?"

"That day and night have a strange quality to them, in my memory. Years later, I sometimes wondered if it had all been a dream." Phillip answered.

"I was over at the Guerin's that night and never met them." Dee explained.

"Suzie was another friend who I only got to know for one day. Sometimes it hurt too much to remember and think about those kids, that I never got to play with again." Libby said, sadly.

"Libby, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. How did we miss seeing that?" Liz reached out to her daughter through the Connection and they hugged.

"It's alright, Mom and Dad. Mostly it was fun, meeting all those new kids and a lot of them returned to vacation here after that, or they moved here. I just wonder about those few kids, whom I never saw again; about what they are doing now."

"Well, all I can tell you about Matt and Suzie is that they are both attending college and doing very well." Max said.

"So, what do the Blairs have to do with this emergency?" Michael asked.

Max and Liz went on to explain about the letter, which they had just received and what it meant and about their plans to fly out to California, that weekend.

"We may eventually have to open Airatan up to a select group of reporters; give them a tour, but I wouldn't put it past this Niko Giuliani character to try and get in here on his own." Max said.

"I've heard of Niko Giuliani." Isabel said. "He has a very bad rep. Even in the modeling business. Word is that he tried to break into filming models about a year ago. He didn't last one month. He's back working for some rag-
tabloid in L.A."

"What else can you tell us about him? Do you know what he looks like?" Max asked. Isabel concentrated a moment, before she projected the picture of Niko into the Connection.

"That has to be pretty close to what he looks like." Isabel said. "He gets around a lot because he always looks so clean-cut. He dresses nicely, is handsome and can be very charming if he wants to be. That's how he gets in. His true colors come out quickly though and then he gets kicked back out. I heard that the photos he had in his portfolio were someone else's work. This was learned afterwards. Apparently he is very good at finding someone who is very talented. He intimidates the men and seduces the women into doing his work for him. He has very little talent of his own. His father is a famous photographer; 'Sneaky-John' Giuliani." Isabel said.

"Yeah, we've heard of him." Liz said. "He was down in Roswell at the same time we met Mason and Cheryl."

"I think he's working on some huge movie project, abroad." Isabel mentioned. "Maybe that's why and how Niko is able to get away with...what he has gotten away with so far."

"He is not going to get away with this." Max said, determinedly. "We'll have to work out a plan to stop him, discredit him. If they haven't already, we'll ask Mason and Cheryl to contact John Giuliani and get him to come back and take control of his son."

"Thanks for linking in, everyone." Liz said. "Kids, you should be safe at college, but if anything strange happens, you are to contact us immediately and we will bring you back here or send out a security team to you. Of course if we find out anything that indicates that any of you are in trouble, we will contact you immediately, as well."

"Don't worry, Mom, we'll be fine. Once you have alerted the Community, we will all be on the look-out." Phillip assured his parents.

"Good." Max said.

"And on a more pleasant note, Phillip your birthday is next week, would you like us to fly out to Cambridge, or would you like to come home for the weekend?" Liz asked.

"I...the three of us, would like to come home for the weekend." Phillip said, indicating himself, Dee and Amy.

"Great, see you then!" Liz said and they all sent out thoughts of love to each other, before they broke the Connection.

Part 12

At nine o'clock the next morning, Sue received a call from her parents.

"Mom, Dad, it must be...five o'clock at your end. Is anything wrong?" Sue asked.

Well yes, there is something we need to tell you. Do you have a minute?" Cheryl asked.

"Yes, I don't have my first class until ten and even then, I'll skip it if necessary." Sue answered.

"No, this won't take that long, honey." Mason said. "It's just that...Niko Giuliani has crawled out from under his rock, again."

"Niko ! What does that creep want now?"

"Well, he's making some accusations about us and some friends of ours. They are groundless, of course, so you don't have to worry about us, but we just wanted you to be cautious and contact us immediately if anything strange happens, alright?"

"Yes, of course, Dad. Are you sure that you and Mom will be okay? Who are these friends of yours?" Sue asked.

"We'd rather not say over the phone for now, but don't worry, we'll work everything out. We just want you to be extra careful, alright?"

"Yes, Dad, I'm sure I'll be fine. Niko lost all interest in me once he was through using me to get to you. It was you who fired his sorry...butt, not me, so I want you two to be extra careful and don't worry about me. I take it you have already, or are about to call Matt?"

"Yes, we'll give him a warning, as well." Mason said.

"Alright then, I'll let you call him. I love you both." Sue said.

"We love you." Mason and Cheryl said, together before they hung up.

As Sue got ready for class, she could feel an anger start to build up inside herself. As she sat through her lectures, she found it harder and harder to concentrate. When se sat down next to Phil, in the lecture hall, she noticed that something was bothering him as well. Sue watched his jaw clench and unclench for a few minutes and then asked.

"Are you alright? You seem really, really tense." Phil made an effort to relax and gave Sue a grateful smile.

"I'm fine, really. There's just something going on back home, which has me worried. How are you today?" He asked.

"I'm fine, thanks." Sue smiled back, not wanting to bore Phillip with her troubles. But as the lecture started and then wore on, Phil couldn't help but notice that Sue was unusually restless and that her jaw was clenched tightly, as well.

"I hate to dispute a lady's word, but you don't look fine." Phil said, as they walked to their next class, together.

"Well, I may be a little worried...about something, but I'm sure everything will work out alright in the end." Sue smiled bravely at Phil.

'Oh man, why can't I just bring myself to tell Phil the truth about who I am and about what's going on? I know I can trust him.' Sue asked herself. Phil touched Sue's arm to stop their progress for a moment.

"You know that I am your friend, don't you?" Sue nodded. "You know that I am hoping to become...something more in your life, don't you?" Sue nodded again and blushed into his intense gaze. "Now let me tell you that if you ever need to or want to, you can tell me anything at all. I am a very good listener and I will always be there for you, alright?"

"Alright, thank you, Phil." Sue said as one, lone tear ran down her cheek.

Phil gently wiped the tear away with his thumb and then placed the palm of his hand on her back, to gently guide her towards their class.

'Oh man, I wanted to kiss that tear away, just now. I wanted to kiss her lips, her cheek. I wanted to take her hand, why couldn't I take her hand?' He asked himself. 'Because to be able to wipe away a tear and keep eye contact with her was enough progress for now. You have only 'known' her for two weeks and this is going to take some time.' He warned himself.

Phil had managed to lift Sue's spirits for a short time, but during their computer class, she felt her anger grow again, until she could barely type. She was angry at Niko Giuliani for being such a creep and she was angry at herself for not being able to do something to help her parents.

"Uh, I think that the poor computer yelled 'help!' five minutes ago. If we get any more error messages, it's going to blow up!" Phil said, in a calm voice as he gently took her hands off of the keyboard. Sue looked up at Phil, puzzled and then back to the computer screen. It was covered in gobbledy-gook-typing and at least three error-messages were overlapping each other, on top of her typing.

"I don't think that this is a safe or productive place for you to be right now. Come with me." Phil held out his hand towards her.

"Where are we going?" Sue asked.

"Someplace safe, where you can work off some of your anger." Phil answered, as he led her out to where he had parked his SUV.

Phil helped Sue into the passenger seat and then got in himself and took off.

"Hey we are headed towards your house." Sue realized.

"Yeah, there's something there that I think will help you." Was all Phil said.

He parked in front of the house and took Sue's hand to lead her inside. After they entered through the front door, Phil took her into the kitchen and then down the basement stairs. He switched some lights on and Sue was astonished to see a finished basement with exercise equipment set up and thick mats on the floor.

"Oh my gosh, no wonder you have such great muscles!" Sue said and then she slapped her hand over her mouth and turned beet-red. "I can't believe I just said that."

"And here I was hoping that you would think I came by them naturally!" Phil grinned at her. She smiled back.

"Did you think doing some bench-presses would help my mood?" Sue asked.

"Well, maybe later, if you'd like, but first, I think this big guy might be more help." He led her over to a giant-sized punching-bag. "I get the feeling that you would really, really like to beat someone's face in. Until you get the chance to do that, or find some other way to fix whatever's bothering you, I thought that punching or kicking this bag might help." Phil suggested.

"I've never punched anything or anyone in my life." Sue said.

"How about kicking? Have you ever kicked anyone before?" Phil asked, curiously.

"Well, once, when I was seven. I kicked Johnny Worsley in the shin, when he called me 'string-bean' and tried to take my lunch-box." Sue admitted.

"Atta girl!" Phil said, proudly. "Think about the spunk you had as a little girl and take a swing at Big-John, now." He indicated the punching-bag.

Sue rolled up the sleeves on her cotton shirt and put on some protective gloves, which Phil handed to her, while he walked around to the back of the bag, to hold it steady.

Sue threw a punch at the bag, but it didn't make much of a dent.

"Hmm." Phil said. "Where's the spunky little girl? Where's the anger I saw, that almost made our computer blow up?"

Sue thought for a moment, drew back her arm and then took a mighty swing at the bag. Unfortunately, she had been standing too far away from the bag, her hand never made contact and her momentum carried her so that she spun around in a circle. Phillip manfully kept the smile off of his lips and his laugh tucked safely down in his stomach, which shook a little from his suppressed amusement.

"Alright, that was my fault, I'm sorry. I didn't notice that you had stepped away from the bag." Phil said. "Step a little bit closer to the bag and imagine Johnny's smirking face, looking out at you from it.

Sue tried again and this time she connected solidly with the bag. Once one punch had been successfully thrown, she threw another using her left fist and Phil had to hold the bag steady as the punches landed. He watched Sue as it seemed that a damn of emotion had been breached and she let out several successive throws and a couple of kicks from the hip.

"I'm going to make you crawl back under the rock you came from and then I am going to smoosh you."

"You used me and then dumped me. I'll make you regret that!"

"All your scumbag friends were in on the big joke too."

Phil was getting the feeling that she wasn't punching Johnny; she was punching...someone else.

"You are not going to get away, this time!"

"Take that, you lying son-of-a..." Sue gave the bag one, last, mighty kick, which had Phillip staggering back a few steps.

"Hey, way to go!" Phillip exclaimed.

"Thanks that felt good." Sue said.

"Are you feeling a little less stressed-out?" Phil asked.

"Yeah. How about you? You were stressed-out in class, as well. Why don't you show me how a pro uses this thing?" Sue suggested, as she moved in to hold the bag steady.

"Yeah, it would feel good to pummel something for a few minutes." Phil agreed.

"I want you to hold this bag tightly, put all of your weight against it, but be ready to let go and jump aside if I hit the bag too hard, alright?"

"Sure." Sue said.

Sue quickly realized how strong (angry and frustrated) Phil was, because he could punch the bag with more force than she had been able to kick the bag, with the full force of her leg. He didn't say anything as he punched the large bag, only the speed with which he struck out, changed; from slow and powerful to impossibly fast.

"Boy, I'm glad you aren't kicking this thing. I can barely hold it still as it is." Sue said. Phil slowed down and then stopped, his breathing rapidly coming back to normal.

"Ahh, I feel better now." Phil said.

"Yeah I feel a lot better too. More in control and I want to thank you for that." Sue said. "Usually, my anger only leads to tears, because I have always felt so helpless with...this problem I'm having. But having you, Dee, Amy and the others as friends, has really helped me come back to life; recapture, as you said, the spunk and self-confidence I had as a little girl."

"I'm glad we could help, Sue. You have become very special to...us, as well."

"I know now that if I want to put a stop to this, I have to stop hiding and running away. Phil, there is something I have to tell you about myself and please, please, don't be mad at me when I tell you what it is."

"Don't worry, Sue. I won't be angry. I understand perfectly about hiding and keeping yourself safe. In fact, there is something I have wanted to tell you, as well. But you go first and don't worry, whatever you have to tell me, it will be alright." Phil pulled Sue over to a bench on which they could sit down.

"I'm really sorry Phil, I feel so bad about this, but I have been lying to you. I am not who I told you I was and my parents aren't some paper-pushers, who work for one of the networks. May name is Susan Blair and my parents are Mason Blair and..."

"...Cheryl Appleton." Phillip finished for her with a smile on his face.

"I'm sorry for keeping my identity secret from you. Back in high school, a guy and all of his buddies pretended to be my friends. He went out with me during our last semester of our senior year. He told me how much he loved me and laughed at all of my corny jokes. Then he took me to the Senior Prom and...and dumped me in front of everyone!" Instead of getting weepy, Sue was getting mad and her voice started to rise until she was almost shouting.

"The little creep had been double-timing me with the head-cheerleader, while he acted all gentlemanly and sweet towards me. When we arrived at the prom, it was as if I had become invisible. All of a sudden, my so-called friends would not speak to me, or even acknowledge my presence and my boyfriend had left me at the door and was dancing with his pom-pom girl. When I got angry and demanded to know why he wasn't dancing with me, it was as if he had taken off a mask; his true personality finally showed itself."

Flashback

"Why would I want to be seen with you for one second more, now that I have what I want? Weren't five, stinking months of looking at your ugly face and stringy hair, long enough? I only went out with you so that I could meet your father, the great Mason Blair and have him get me a job at the studio. He got jobs for a bunch of my buddies, too." His friends were all laughing at her.

"But I thought we were both going to attend Stanford together? What about all your plans for the future?" Sue asked.

"I've got plans, baby. Just not the ones I fed you. I'm going to become a famous photographer, even more famous than my old man. Then he'll have to show me some respect." Niko said.

"You have to earn respect, Niko." Sue told him.

"Yeah, yeah, yada, yada. You've got your answers, why don't you just beat it? Get out of here." Niko said.

"Yeah you were never one of us, get lost." The cheerleader, whom Susan had thought of as a friend, said.

Sue wanted to slap their smirking faces, but instead she raised her chin, did an about-face and marched herself off of the dance floor and went outside to use her cell-phone, to call her parents. She didn't cry until she was safely home and being held by her father's strong arms.

"I can't believe he tricked me like that. That I was so gullible." Sue cried.

"You think you are gullible, just look at me? I'm the one who should have seen his wolf's-hide under his sheep's -
wool. Now, unless I can find a reason to fire him, we are stuck with him for six months. The slime-ball should have become an actor; this performance of his would have won him every award there is." Mason said.

End Flashback

"I made my Valedictorian speech at Commencement, the next week, with Niko's hecklings disturbing the ceremony. I had been accepted at several other universities, including Harvard, so I backed out of Stanford and came here instead. I couldn't trust anyone, anymore, especially guys; didn't even want one to touch me. I didn't want anyone to ever befriend me again if it was only because of who my parents are, so Mom and Dad helped me enroll here under the name; Susan Best...and I cut my hair short." This was when the first sign of tears showed up in Sue's eyes.

"It worked out well for being on the swim-team, but I had always loved my long hair." Sue stiffened her wobbling chin.

"Yeah, I remember your hair as being so long, thick and shiny...when we were seven and played together that day." Phillip finally stuck in, keeping his gaze steady on Sue's face.

"What?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Do you remember when you were seven years old; your parents brought you and your brother, Matt to an art fair? While there, they met up with some old friends of theirs; my parents. All four of you came to our house and you and your brother played with my sister, Libby and I. Then we all ate dinner together and you stayed the night." Phil said, still watching Sue for any sign of memory.

"Oh my gosh, it really wasn't a dream, was it?" Sue said, as she reached inside her shirt collar and pulled out the copper-V, which she had been wearing for seven years.

Part 13

"You still have it? You even made it into a pendant?" Phil asked Sue, as he saw her draw the copper-V out from inside her shirt collar.

"Yes, I still have it, although I lost it that night you made if for me out of seven pennies. It somehow dropped through a crack in the plastic lining of my backpack. I only found it again by accident, seven years ago. Up until that day, I had convinced myself that our whole magical visit to your valley had been a dream."

"I sometimes thought that, as well, over the years." Phillip agreed, smiling even more. "And to think I've known you all these years, but didn't really know you, recognize you, for who you really are." Sue said.

"Well same here. I didn't recognize you either, especially with your name change." Phil said. "And you certainly have grown up; from a pretty little girl, to a lovely young woman." Phil said and Sue blushed.

"You've grown up too. You're no longer that cute little boy, but a handsome man, now." Sue covered her red, heated cheeks with her hands and turned away.

"And you have always kept secret, what you saw that night." Phil made it a statement of fact, rather than a question. "I want to thank you for that."

"There is no need. What I saw that night was beautiful and magical. It wasn't something I would have shared with grown ups, even if you hadn't asked me not to tell anyone. They wouldn't have understood the wondrousness of what you could do!" Sue said.

"It's great to see my friend, Suzie again!" Phillip smiled more broadly and opened his arms a little and Sue launched herself into them, without any hesitation and hugged him back.

To Sue, it was as if Phillip had become a whole, new person. He was already a trusted friend, with the potential for becoming more and now, laid over that personality was another, of a little boy who had played with her one afternoon and then someone who had opened up a world of wonder and imagination to her young heart, that night. She felt totally safe and happy within his warm, strong embrace.

"Sue would it be alright if I tell my sister and our friends here, who you really are? You know that you can trust them to keep your identity secret, but it is your decision."

"Yes, of course it would be alright, especially Dee and Amy." Sue agreed.

"Good, come on. Everyone should be home by now." Phil took her hand as they walked up the stairs, from the basement and into the kitchen.

"Hey Dee, do you know if everyone is home, yet?" Phillip asked his sister.

"Yeah, Ed was the last to arrive, just a few minutes ago. Hi Sue." Dee greeted her friend.

"Hi Dee." Sue said, a little shyly, anxious about telling these people her secret.

"Dee, we need to tell everyone something. Could you ask everyone to gather in the living room, please?"

"Sure." Dee said and went to do as her brother had requested.

"Would you like something to drink, before we go into the living room?" Phil asked.

"Maybe some iced-tea, please?" Sue requested and Phil nodded, getting two glasses down from a cupboard.

"Sue, before we go in there, may I ask you if your parents have called you recently about a problem they are having? And is that why you have been so angry and upset?"

"How could you possible know about that?" Sue asked, shocked.

"Did they happen to tell you that their trouble involves some friends of theirs?" At Sue's nod, Phil continued. "Those friends are my parents, Sue."

"Oh my gosh!" Sue exclaimed.

"Mom and Dad...contacted us last night to tell us what is going on with this Niko Giuliani. The whole house is now on the alert, in case he comes after Dee or myself, or one of them. They will happily help keep you safe as well." Phil told her.

"Oh Phillip, I am so sorry that Niko has include your parents, your friends and family in all of this." Sue cried, placing her hand on his arm.

"Wait a minute, Sue, are you saying that you know this Niko character?...Sue is he...is he the one who hurt you in high school? I only understood parts of what you were saying, while you were using the punching-bag, but..."

"Yes I know him, or knew him in high school, anyway." Sue said, looking down at her feet.

"Sue, it will be alright." Phil said, as he gently lifted her chin with his forefinger. "Come on, let's go tell the others, okay?" Phil handed her, her glass of iced-tea, put his arm around her shoulders and ushered her into the living room.

They entered the living room and sat down in the seats, saved for them, in the middle of the sofa.

"Is everything alright? I thought I heard some yelling coming from the basement, earlier." Amy asked, concerned.

"I'm sorry, that was me." Sue confessed. "I had some steam, which really needed to be purged and Phillip thought that a few minutes with the punching-bag would help. It did!" Amy and everyone chuckled.

"But I am afraid that I do have something I need to tell you and you probably won't like it. You have all been so nice to me and I feel awful, because I...have...been lying to you."

"It's not really a lie and you had a good reason for what you did." Phil said.

"It was a lie, because I have been hiding behind a false identity. My name isn't really Susan Best, it is...Susan Blair." She said, looking guiltily into her lap.

"Oh man, your parents are the famous movie stars?" Ed asked.

"Yes."

"You did this so that reporters wouldn't be bothering you, right?" Audrey asked.

"Partly, yes."

"Well then that is totally understandable." Amy said.

"What's the over part?" Shaun asked.

"That's personal." Phillip replied, instantly, protectively, frowning at Shaun.

"It's okay, Phillip, thank you. I don't mind telling them the whole story, especially now that I know that they all may be involved by this." Sue said.

"Involved in what?" Shaun asked.

"Let me tell you..." Sue said, telling them about her relationship with Niko in high school, her parent's relationship with him afterwards and that she knew Niko was the reason behind their problems, but not specifically how or why.

After all of the girls had come over to hug her, comfortingly and all of the guys had made rude remarks about what they wanted to do to Niko, Phillip filled Sue in on exactly how Niko was including his family and his whole town, in on his accusations and threats. He came very close to telling Sue the whole truth about themselves, but stopped at the safe point, until he had, had a chance to speak to her in private.

"So that is what we know guys. We can work out a plan to keep Sue safe a little later, alright?" Phil asked and everyone nodded, as they got up to leave the room.

"Why don't we go up to my room? I figure you have a lot of questions to ask." Phil suggested.

"Oh yes, I do. I'd love to hear what you have been up to all these years, plus...something else." Sue said, hesitantly.

'I can just guess what that something else is.' Phil thought to himself, as he took Sue's hand in his and led the way upstairs, to his room.

Phil offered his desk chair, for Sue to sit in, while he sat on the foot of his bed, across from her.

"Why don't we get that 'something else' out of the way, first?" Phil suggested. "I can guess what it is." Sue thought a moment and then nodded.

"I once asked you if you were a witch or a fairy and you told me no. I believe you were telling me the truth, then, but if you aren't either of those things, what are you? How were you able to do all of those wondrous things, that night? I know you said that you could not tell me, then; that you would not betray your people, but...Phillip, I have kept your secret all of these years. Do you think you could tell me now, knowing that I would never betray you or your people?" Phillip nodded thoughtfully. He knew that this question would come and he already knew his answer.

"I know you won't betray us, but I wonder if you will believe me when I tell you...The truth is pretty unbelievable." Phillip said.

"Just tell me." Sue said.

"Okay, I have two questions for you. One; have you heard of the rumor about a UFO supposedly crashing outside of Roswell, New Mexico, back in the late 40s?"

"Sure, everyone has. My parents even starred in a movie and TV series about the aliens from that crash, living among us; you know that." Sue said.

"Yes, right, of course." Phil said and then he thought for a moment more.

"Two; have you ever thought about what it would be like, if that rumor, the movie, the TV series were...true?"

"What? You want to know what I would think...if aliens really were living among us?" Phil nodded, keeping his gaze steady, on Sue's face.

"Well...I might be a little worried, not knowing why they came to Earth, what their plans were. But if I took the scenario from 'Among Us'; that they came to find a new home and I knew that they just wanted to live here, peacefully...then I would be happy to let them live in peace and I would love to get to know them, learn about their world." Sue said.

Phillip didn't say anything. He was just wondering how he had been so lucky as to find such an open-minded person as Sue, to fall in love with. His gaze had unintentionally remained unbroken, on Sue's face and after a moment, she started to smile.

"Oh my goodness...you are...one of those aliens from the crash? But how can that be? The crash took place, what, eighty-four years ago?" Sue asked; a look of wonder in her eyes.

"Actually...it was my father...who was in the crash." Phil clarified.

"But then your father would be in his 60s or 70s and you are only in your 20s, aren't you?"

"Yes, Sue. I will turn twenty-one in just over a week, but my father and mother are both forty-nine. You see, my dad and aunts and uncle were placed in stasis chambers for the trip, because our planet was so far away and my people could not sustain life-support any other way. They were supposed to be brought out of stasis when they arrived here, but the ship crashed and their pods were damaged. Their protector managed to hide their pods before he was captured, but he was unable to repair them after he escaped. My father and his family finally emerged from their pods in 1989, but they came out separately, wandered away from their hiding place and were eventually picked up by the couples, who became their parents, my grandparents."

"How old were they, when they came out?" Sue asked. She was so intrigued by her questions and Phil's answers that she got up from her chair and came to sit next to Phil, on the bed.

"They were only ten years old. The other children, who traveled with them in their own, individual space-crafts, were sixteen or seventeen."

"What happened to them?" Sue asked.

"They crash-landed in Sweden. They all immediately came out of their pods and buried or destroyed them. Good thing too; World War Two was still being fought in Europe and even though they were in neutral Sweden, they were not safe. An old widow-woman took them in, thank goodness. Her name was Hedvig Petersen. The teenagers took her last name as their own." Phillip explained.

"Petersen...as in Eric Petersen, the author of the Antarian series? Oh my goodness, are you telling me that Eric Petersen, whose books were made into movies, in which my parents both played leading rolls...is an alien?" Phil could only nod before Sue continued.

"Are you telling me that his books are real? Was your world really named Antar? Was it really destroyed when its sun went nova?" Phil jumped in with a few answers, while Sue caught her breath.

"Yes, Eric Petersen is the son of one of the original ten children, who were sent to Earth in hopes of finding and making a home here. Yes, his books are true, Antarian history. He started writing them when he and his family feared that they were the only survivors, here on Earth. They had been unable to make contact with my parents, as yet and he wanted something of Antar to live on, even if humans only thought of them as science fiction."

Sue sat thinking for a moment, her expression becoming very sad as she remembered what the books had said about the end of the planet Antar.

"Only a few hundred children were able to escape, before the planet was destroyed, with everyone else, who couldn't escape, trapped on the planet...your true grandparents...?" Sue asked, as her right hand unconsciously came up to stroke Phillip's cheek, gently. Phillip could only nod.

"You lost your family, your world, your heritage in the blink of an eye. How do your parents...how do you cope with that?" Sue asked, her hand still stroking his cheek.

"We cope by keeping their memories alive; in our hearts and in our stories. We have lost our planet and most of our people, but our heritage is very much alive and well. We have excellent historical records and we have gathered together, from across the galaxy, to live in one, united community. There is a little bit of Antar here on Earth and it is growing and it is spreading our heritage and customs out to the world." Phil answered.

"And." Phillip continued, as he covered Sue's hand on his check, with his own. "We cope by meeting special people, like you and sharing our secret with them." Phil turned his face under her hand, until his lips were positioned under the palm of her hand and he kissed it, closing his eyes to savor the sensation all the better.

Sue made a small sound and her mouth hung open a little, while her eyes closed, as well, to enhance the sensations she was picking up on, from her tingling nerve endings.

"Your town, Airatan, is that little bit of Antar, here on Earth, isn't it? Did your people really come from other planets...out in space, to live here together on Earth?" Sue asked.

"Yes." Phillip nodded. He was holding Susan's hand in his, as they both rested on his leg, now. "Twenty-five years ago, my father, his family, including all of my grandparents and Eric and his family, worked together to buy the valley from the government. They had only just made contact with the other Antarians, who were living out in space. As soon as they learned that the ten children had survived here on Earth, there was a great desire; a yearning for all of us to live together, here.

"Wouldn't it have been easier for the ten children to move to one of those planets, out in space?" Sue asked, as her thumb started to stroke the back of Phillip's hand. Phillip hesitated, thinking for a moment, a process which was becoming difficult, under Susan's soft stroking.

"What did Eric's books tell you about the children who came to Earth?" He asked, instead.

"Um, there were ten of them; they were all in their teens; six of them were normal, everyday kids, but...four of them were...royal. The four were the children of the King and Queen of Antar and their High Counselors. Phillip, are you saying that your' Prince and Princess survived and were living here on Earth? Is that why all of the rest of your people immigrated here?" Phillip nodded.

"Has the Prince become your...king, now, or the Princess, your queen?"

"Yes, almost twenty-five years ago, Prince Zan was declared King, by all of our people. His sister, Princess Valondra did not want to take up her birthright, but she helps our king and queen whenever necessary." Phillip said. He couldn't tell why he was speaking in third-person, as if his king was a stranger to him, rather than his own father.

"Wait a minute; I thought you said your father was the mayor of your small town. Why would you need a mayor as well as...a...king? Oh my goodness...your father and mother are the king and queen, aren't they?" Phillip nodded, modestly.

"Zan was his true name, given to him by his birth-parents, but Max Evans was the name given to him by his adoptive parents?"

"Yes."

"So you are the new prince, the next king?" Sue asked.

"Yeah, probably, but that won't happen for a long time yet and even then, it's not that big a deal. We are all pretty casual in Airatan." Phillip said and then he chuckled, while holding Sue's head steady, by cupping her cheek with the palm of his hand and allowing his fingers to dip back into her soft hair.

"Now, the shoe is on the other foot; how, oh how will I ever be able to tell if you like me because of who I am, or because I am a prince?" He stuck his bottom lip out, in a playful pout, humor pouring out through his gorgeous eyes.

"That's easy; we knew each other before I ever knew you were a prince. And my attitude and reactions about you will never change, now that I do know." Sue said. "It's like..." But Phil interrupted her.

"But I'd like your attitude and reaction to change; become warmer, more intimate." Phil said. His statement gave Sue the courage to continue what she had been about to say.

"And I was about to tell you, before you interrupted that it's like that song says: 'It's in her kiss.'" Sue sang the few words before she did what she had wanted to do since she had finished with the punching-bag; she leaned in and gave Phil a sweet kiss on the lips.

She had meant to make it a quick kiss, but Phil reacted immediately; his left hand came up to join his right hand in cradling Sue's lovely face between them.

"You're right, it IS in her kiss!" Was all he said before his lips claimed hers again in a gentle, but intense caress of her lips and mouth.

Part 14

"You're right, it IS in her kiss!" Was all he said before his lips claimed hers again in a gentle, but intense caress of her lips and mouth.

Phil and Sue ended their intense kisses, but stayed in each other's embrace for a few moments longer.

"Oh, I have wanted to do that for the last two weeks, ever since I first really met you." Phil said, as he cradled her head with his hand and kept it resting against his broad shoulder.

'I've wanted to do that for the last three years.' Sue thought to herself.

"Me too." Was what she said out loud, though.

Just then, Dee yelled up the stairs that dinner was ready and they walked downstairs, hand in hand and into the kitchen to fill their plates, before going to sit in the dining room. This time, Phillip pulled out a chair for Sue to sit in. The seat was on his right hand side, a place for honored guests. Only Phillip noticed the glances being shared around the table and the smiles on each of his friend's faces, for what he had just done. It looked as though their prince had just chosen his princess. Dinner was a happy, noisy time, while Sue kept them laughing with tales about what funny things she had seen happen at her parent's parties or on their movie sets.

"So tell me about what you have been doing since we met, fourteen years ago." Phillip urged, as they walked back up to his room to talk, after dinner.

"Only if you tell me what you have been up to, as well." Sue specified and Phil nodded.

They got comfortable, kicking off their shoes and lying down on his bed, with about one foot between them and talked for hours. They found out that they had much in common; they had watched the same TV shows and movies as children; spent their summer days at the pool and had belonged to a girl/boy scout troop for a couple years, each. They had covered their favorite singers and songwriters, at the Grinding Stop, the night before, so after they had talked about their childhood, they started discussing books and movies...until they fell asleep, almost at the same instant.

Amy and Dee came laughing up the stairs, turned into the hallway, to climb the second flight, to their third-floor rooms and came face to face with Phillip's open bedroom door.

"Oh my gosh, they fell asleep together!" Amy exclaimed, but in a whisper, from the doorway.

"But as always, my dear brother was being the perfect gentleman; they are still wearing everything but their shoes and there is at least a foot of bed between them. He's enough to give the best match-maker an ulcer." Dee said in sisterly disgust.

"They are holding hands; that is really sweet." Amy whispered, encouragingly.

"I'm going to spread a blanket over them, close the door and see if anything else develops over night. Set your alarm for five and we'll meet back here, then."

Amy slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles, as Dee spread a blanket over her brother and her friend, then the girls tip-toed up to their rooms and burst into laughter, when they got there.

5 a.m. the next morning.

Amy and Dee came downstairs to the second floor and stood outside Phillip's closed door.

"I don't hear anything." Dee whispered, with her ear against the door.

"Open it, let's look inside!" Amy urged and Dee slowly turned the knob.

"Ohmygosh!" Amy mumbled behind Dee's hand over her mouth, which had come up to quiet her outburst.

Phillip's bed was placed up against the far wall, in his small room, so that the girls had a perfect view of the two occupants on the bed. Dee raised her camera to take a picture.

"Don't use a flash, you'll wake them up!" Amy whispered into her ear, urgently.

"But I want a picture of this!" Dee whispered back just as determined.

"I brought my digital camera, we should be able to lighten up the image on my computer and if that doesn't work, we can still use a little alien-film-developing-magic." Amy whispered.

"You go girl!" Dee motioned her into the room with a bow.

Amy took several pictures and then the girls tip-toed back out of the room, closed the door and ran back upstairs to Amy's room.

6:30 a.m.

Phillip woke up to the unfamiliar, yet pleasant feeling of having a beautiful, young woman snuggled up against him, in his arms. He opened his eyes to see that his other senses had not misled him. Sue was indeed asleep, with her head on his shoulder, her hand and arm resting on his chest and the rest of her slim body, plastered up against his side, as he lay on his back. He in turn, had one of his arms lying under her back and other hand resting in the curve of her waist.

'Oh man, this feels sooo...good! She is so nice and warm against me, her hair is soft against my face and it...she smells so good!' Phil groaned to himself.

He remembered how this predicament had come about. They had been catching up on each other's lives for hours, last night, when they both simply could not keep their eyes open and had fallen asleep.

'We must have gravitated towards each other, during the night.' He reasoned, as he looked his fill of Sue's sweet face, which lay just inches away from his own.

'Should I kiss Sleeping Beauty awake, or just enjoy watching her sleep?' He wondered. 'I'll just watch over her for a while.' He decided.

After a few minutes, however, he couldn't stop himself from gently brushing her hair back from her face or running his fingertips along her eyebrows, jaw line, or over her lips and she began to stir.

"Mmm, what a wonderful dream!" Sue mumbled to herself, while her eyes were still closed, she stretched like a feline, arching her back and legs and Phillip stifled a groan.

"I must still be dreaming. I can feel Phillip's warm, hard body next to mine." She whispered to herself.

"Wake up Sleeping Beauty." A soft, deep voice whispered in her ear.

Sue's eyes popped opened to the glorious view of Phillip Evans' handsome face leaning over him. As her vision cleared, uncertainty started to cloud her eyes again, her face became flushed with embarrassment and her body tensed up.

'This cannot be happening.' Sue thought, frantically, feeling her new-found happiness start to crumble. 'What did I do? What did we do, here on this bed? What is he going to think of me now?'

Phillip could read all of her questions in her panicked eyes and agitated movements.

"Sue, Suzie, everything is alright. There is nothing to be frightened of or embarrassed about. Remember last night? We were just talking and we must have fallen asleep. That is all that happened, I'm sure of it; we are still fully clothed and I would never, ever disrespect any girl that way, especially you."

"Are you sure? And you don't think I'm some kind of...some sort of..." Sue asked miserably, as she rolled away from Phillip and out of his arms.

"NO! Of course not. I've only known you for two weeks, but I know that you are a sweet, incredibly smart, innocent young woman. I know that you aren't the kind of girl who would...do...that." Sue stayed where she was, facing away from him with her knees drawn up part way.

"Suzie, come on, why don't we get up and you can wash your lovely face and then we can go downstairs and have some breakfast." Phil suggested.

"How can I face your sister, your friends?"

"By my side, with your chin up. Nothing happened and they will know that. Hey, someone came in and put this blanket over us last night. Probably Dee or Amy, so most likely they already know you spent the night here." Phil said calmly.

"Okay." Sue said after a brief pause and then she sat up.

Phil got off the bed on his side and came around to Sue and extended his hand out to her. Sue took it and got up from the bed. Hand in hand they walked out of Phil's room and across the hall to the bathroom. Sue went in, while Phil stood outside to assure her privacy, since this was the boy's floor.

"Oh shoot, they're already up!" Dee told Amy, as the two girls came down the hallway. "Hi Phil, where's Sue?" Dee asked.

"She's using the bathroom and please don't tease her. She was frightened and very embarrassed, finding herself in my bed this morning." The two girls immediately became serious.

"Oh man, I'm sorry, Phil. You two just looked so sweet and innocent, last night; sleeping on top of your bedspread, with your careful foot of space between the two of you...I couldn't bring myself to wake you both up, so that you could drive Sue home. I just covered you with an extra blanket and shut the door." At that moment, the bathroom door opened and Sue came out.

"Morning, Sue. You look well rested." Sue teased just a little bit and then became serious again.

"Don't you worry about anything, chica; everyone in the house knows that the two of you are a perfect gentleman and lady, respectively." Dee soothed.

"More's the pity." Amy mumbled and the two girls almost started giggling again.

"No one outside this house will ever know that you weren't sleeping over here, with us girls, upstairs. We are your friends and friends don't spread tales." Amy said.

"Thank you, I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong impression about me." Sue said.

"No chance of that. Come on, why don't we all have some breakfast and then Amy or I can drive you home." Dee said, linking her arm with Sue and guiding her downstairs and into the kitchen.

"Why don't you brush your hair, Phil, before gracing us with your presence at the breakfast table?" Amy suggested, before she followed her friends down the stairs.

Phil nodded, happy that Sue was in such good hands. A few minutes later, Phil walked down the stairs to hear girlish giggles coming from the kitchen, so he stopped to listen, before going in.

"Amy did you ever notice how handsome your pseudo-boyfriend is, first thing in the morning?" Sue asked, giggling.

"Well, these pictures we took of the two of you certainly show it." Amy said.

"May I take this one home with me?" Sue asked.

"Sure, where will you keep it?" Dee asked.

"Under my pillow!" Sue said.

"So you can kiss him good-night?" Amy asked.

"Maybe!" Sue said coyly and they all broke into laughter again.

"My goodness ladies, so much giggling! Did you swallow a bunch of feathers with your cereal? Are they at this moment tickling the insides of your stomachs?" Phil asked, casually, as he walked into the kitchen and over to the coffee-maker, as if he had not just heart what his lovely Sue had just said, or noticed the girls scrambling to hide the pictures from him.

"No, we were talking about men and so we could not help but start to laugh!" Dee replied.

"Oh, low blow, Sis." Phil said, laughing good naturedly.

As they ate their breakfast, Phil couldn't help remember how beautiful Sue had been, first thing that morning, when he had woken up to find her in his bed.

"I'll see you in class and then we are still going to attend that concert, Friday night, right?" Phil asked Sue, before she left the house with Dee.

"I'm just wondering whether I should fly home this weekend, to be with my parents." Sue mentioned with a worried look in her large, brown eyes. Phil nodded.

"Good point. I've been wondering the same thing myself. Why don't I pick you up tonight, after your swim-team practice? I can bring you back here and we can contact my parents and ask their advice, alright?"

Alright." Sue said smiling and reassured; she gave Phil a quick, sweet kiss before following Dee out the door.

Neither girl saw Phil turn to Amy, asking to see the pictures he knew that they had taken. After looking at them all, he chose one and ran upstairs to place it under his pillow.

"Hi Sue, great practice." Phil said, giving her a quick hello-kiss, when Sue came out of the locker-room, after swim-
team practice, later that night.

"Thanks, yeah it went well." Sue said, as they walked beside each other, out to Phil's SUV.

"So, you think your parents will be home when you all them?" Sue asked, after she had settled into her seat and fastened her seatbelt.

"Yeah, well I have already made a preliminary call, asking them to be home tonight." Phil said and Sue nodded.

They chatted about their classes until they arrived at Phil's home. When they entered the house, Phil took her up to his room.

"So where is your phone, or do you use a vid-com?" Sue asked.

"Actually, when calling home, we use something else." Phil answered. "Sue, one of the urges we had, to live together as a people, came about when my mother and father were crowned. As a part of the coronation oaths, which they and all Antarians make to each other, a permanent, psychic connection was made, between us all. But don't worry, we all have complete privacy in our thoughts, we cannot really read minds or anything, but there is a connection, a psychic frequency through which we can communicate with one another; it binds us together as a people. It is the way we used to live on Antar, connected to our environment and to each other. That is also why we established these houses on college campuses, so that each house could have an orb and we students could all stay connected."

"An orb, what's that?" Sue asked.

Phil picked up the small, football-shaped object from his bookshelf, to show Sue.

"This is usually down in the living room, but I brought it up here, because I figured that you'd want to see if for yourself."

"So, this is your communicator? Can its signal reach all the way out into space?" Sue asked, turning the alien device over in her hands.

"Far, far out into space and more. Each orb holds our entire historical archive, including images of our artwork and recordings of our music."

"Wow! Is there any way for a human to...? Could I use it to learn about your planet and your people?" Sue asked.

"Sure, with one of us to connect you." Phil said and Sue smiled.

"But right now, how about we call my parents?" Phil asked and Sue nodded.

"Take my hand, close your eyes and try to blank out your mind." Phil instructed.

'Oh my gosh!' Sue exclaimed, as she suddenly found herself standing by Phil in a comfortable family room, decorated in earth-tones. There were several large, arched windows looking out, over two valleys. 'Do I remember correctly; is this your parent's home?' Sue asked Phil and he nodded.

'Hi, Mom and Dad. It's Phil...and I have someone special with me, as well.' Phil called out.

'Hello sweetheart.' Liz and Max came through a doorway and walked over to hug their son. 'Is this your special someone?' Liz asked, turning to Sue.

'Yes. Mom and Dad, this is Susan Blair.' Phil introduced her.

'Mr. and Mrs. Evans, oh my, I had totally forgotten how much you look like my parents...how much my parents look like you!'

'Little Suzie!' Liz exclaimed, as she hugged her, as well. 'But not little anymore, what a lovely young woman you have grown up to be!'

'Mrs. Evans, it is very nice to see you again, as well. Mr. Evans.' Sue turned to Max and shook his proffered hand.

'Susan, I'm sorry we had to meet again under these stressful circumstances.' Max patted her hand, comfortingly. 'May I ask you how the two of you met?'

'We've been taking classes together for years, but we only, really met two weeks ago, through Dee, who is taking architectural history with Sue.' Phil explained.

'But I complicated things, I am afraid.' Sue confessed. 'I have been attending Harvard under an assumed name, so Phil didn't know it was really me until last night. And I didn't remember his name at all, from when we were little, so it was just happy happenstance that we met and became...friends.'

'And of course she kept our secret all these years and with the two of us becoming more than just friends...' Phil said, as he gazed intently at Sue. 'I went ahead and told her everything about us. Incredibly, she still likes me and wants to help us!' Phil explained.

'Mom, Sue is the girl I told you about. She has told me that it was Niko, who emotionally hurt her, back in high school.' Phil told his mother, over their private frequency. Liz nodded and turned to Sue with compassionate eyes.

'Your parents have told you about what this Niko-character is doing?' She asked Sue.

'Yes and since I knew him back in high school, I was wondering if I should fly out to LA this weekend, to be there, when you meet with my parents.' Sue asked.

'I don't think that is necessary at this point, Sue.' Max said. 'Niko did not mention you, your brother or any of our children in his threats. You all may be included in our strategy meetings in the future, but this first meeting with Mason and Cheryl should be between just the four of us.' Liz nodded her agreement.

'Sue, we have been contemplating what to tell your parents...about us. We don't like lying to them, especially now, when so many of Giuliani's threats and assumptions are...true. They should be told the truth, but how do you think they will react?' Max asked. Sue grimaced.

'They will be very, very skeptical, Mr. Evans. Their careers have been all about making people believe...in make-
believe. Everything that you can do because you are...aliens, they have seen done by special-effects. They believe heavily in reality, in what they can see, hear, touch, smell and taste. With as many sci-fi TV shows and movies as they have done, they do not believe in aliens, ghosts, vampires or dragons. Sorry.' Sue said.

'Oh man.' Max sighed.

'Maybe we should take things one step at a time; tell them the truth only if necessary.' Liz suggested.

'I don't know if that is such a good idea, either. They are very big on honesty, as well.' Sue told them.

'Then we will just have to find a way to make them believe.' Liz said.

'We may have to ask you to testify in our behalf, Sue. But for now, Liz and I will try talking to them, when we fly out on Saturday.' Max said.

'Alright, Dad, I just wanted to introduce Sue to you, let you know what's happening and offer to fly to LA with you.' Phil said.

'Thanks, Son. Let's see how things go. Something tells me we'll need the two of you before this is over. It was nice to see you again, all grown up, Sue.' Max said, giving her a fatherly kiss on the forehead.

'Take care.' Liz said, moving in to hug Sue and Phil again. 'You take care of this special young lady of yours.' She told her son.

'I will.' Phil promised.

'Good-bye, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. It was nice seeing you two again.' Sue said, before the connection ended and she found herself back in Phillips room.

"Ohhh boy, that was like a virtual reality telephone!' Sue exclaimed and Phil grinned as he drew her into her arms.

"They liked you." He told her, gazing intently into her eyes. Sue blushed.

"I hope so...I...like their son...very much." Sue admitted.

"I'm glad and as much as I would like to repeat our sleeping arrangements from last night, I think I had better get you home." Phil said, reluctantly. Sue nodded, also reluctantly, as they walked down the stairs and outside to Phil's car.

"I'll see you in class." Phil said, as they drove up and stopped in front of Sue's dorm.

"Good night, Phil." Sue said, as she moved in to kiss him on the cheek.

"Night, Sue." Phil said, as he turned his head so that her lips landed on his. "What's with the little peck on the cheek?" Phil asked; chuckling after their sweet kiss ended.

"I'm still a little unsure of myself and...us." Sue said, shyly.

"I don't want to frighten you, rush you, or make you nervous, but please remember that you are very special to me and it is my fervent hope that you will learn to feel comfortable with kissing me, as you already seem to be, when I kiss you, alright, Sweetheart?" Sue could only smile and nod...before she quickly leaned in to give him a quick, yet powerful kiss and then got out of the car, waving good-night as she went.

'And she thinks I'm going to be able to sleep now, after that?' Phil asked himself, as he drove back home to his lonely bed.

Part 15

Friday night came and Phillip would be arriving at Sue's dorm any minute.

Does this look alright" Sue asked her roommate, Sally.

"Alright, Sue that dress looks great! You look great! You've come alive all of a sudden. You are so lucky to have bagged Phillip Evans. I didn't even know he was available. If I didn't already have my boyfriend, Gary, I would be so jealous; Phil is one handsome hunk!"

"Oh thanks, make me even more nervous." Sue replied.

"No worries, roomy. That dress is perfect; it's sleeveless, tight, has a short skirt, nice scoop neck and maroon is your color. Then to keep you warm, that silky-looking shawl with its pretty pattern in maroon, rust and gold will look romantic around your shoulders and sexy, tied around your waste, at the concert. You never sit down at those things; you'll be dancing and clapping all night."

"Does my copper necklace look alright with the dress?" Sue asked.

"Hey, it brings out the rust and gold in your shawl." Sally said, nodding her head, approvingly. "I really like this new you. I have been worried about you, chica. Whatever this Phillip Evans is doing, he's brought you back to life."

"He has, hasn't he?" Sue said with a dreamy smile on her face.

Just then, someone knocked on their door.

"I bet that's him, now. Go stand over there, so he gets the full view of the new you, as soon as I open the door.

"Hi, are you Phillip?" Sally asked.

"Yes, you must be Sue's roommate, Sally?" Phillip said with distracted politeness, as he had already caught sight of Sue.

'Oh man, she looks like a butterfly just out of its chrysalis, beautiful, but unsure of her wings.' Phillip thought as he walked past Sally and over to Sue and hugged her gently.

"Hey, Sue." Phillip said softly, just for her ears. "You look beautiful tonight and your outfit is very pretty too."

"Hi Phil, thank you." Sue said, still within his embrace. "You look great too." 'Go on Sue, say it.' She told herself. "Very handsome." She tip-toed a little so that she could kiss him, sweetly.

"Mmm, thank you for the kiss." Phil said, smiling down at Sue. "But if you do that again, we'll miss the concert!"

"Well then I will force myself to behave...for now." Sue blushed, prettily.

"Come on." Phil chuckled and placed the palm of his hand on the small of her back, to lead her out the door.

As they waited for the elevator and then rode it down to the ground floor, Sue took the chance to take a good look at Phil.

'He looks so sharp in those pleated, black slacks, charcoal gray, button-down shirt and black-leather jacket.' She sighed to herself, happily.

They walked to his SUV and Phillip opened the passenger door for her and helped her in, getting a close-up look at her long legs, in the process.

"I thought that we could go back to our favorite Chinese restaurant; would that be alright with you?" He asked.

"That would be great." Sue smiled and they were off.

When they arrived at the restaurant, they were shown to a quiet, back booth. They decided to each have soap, an egg-roll and then to share an order of sesame chicken, hot and spicy.

"So, do you have any ideas about how we can handle Niko?" Sue asked.

"Let's not talk about such an unpleasant topic tonight, alright?" Sue nodded, happy to agree. "But there is something that I think we could set up to get him with, if he persists in this for at least three weeks, into October." Phil told her with a determined and evil-looking grin on his face.

"Ohh, will you tell me what it is?" Sue asked, excitedly.

"Absolutely, you'll be in on it, if he acts the way I think he will, but I want to wait for a little while and see what happens first, alright?" Phil asked.

"Well, alright." Sue said a little disappointed.

Their food came and they placed the sesame chicken in the middle, taking turns dipping into it with their chop-
sticks. Sometimes, they fed themselves and other times they fed each other. They found more pleasant conversational topics, such as anecdotes about their childhoods and gossiping a little about their other friends and classmates.

"Hey, my birthday is next week and we are flying back to Airatan for the weekend." Philip said. "Would you...like to come with us? Dee and Amy are coming with me and you could see Libby again."

"Ohh, Phil, I'd love to, but I don't know if I should spend that kind of money on plane fare right now, when I undoubtedly will need to fly back to LA several times in the near future. Could I take you out to dinner before you leave, instead?"

"If it is just the money, you're worried about, don't. Our community has its own plane and Johann will fly out to pick us up Friday evening, after our last classes."

"Oh wow, your own plane? Well, in that case, I'd love to come, if it won't be of any trouble to your parents and you have a sofa for me to sleep on."

"No, I'm sure they won't mind and I think that we can even find you a room to stay in and your very own bed to sleep in!" Phil assured her. "If you are finished, I think that we had better get going, so that we can arrive in good time at the Fleet Center." Phil said, looking at his watch.

"I'm stuffed, it was all so good." Sue said, as she got up from her seat.

Phil placed her shawl around her shoulders and they left the restaurant. It turned out that Phillip had been able to get great seats and they settled into them and waited for the concert to begin. Before sitting down, Sue had tied her triangular shawl around her waist like some bathing-suit cover-up. It just came down over the bottom edge of her dress hem, leaving many a male, sitting around her, to fantasize about moonlit beaches and bikini-clad girls.

During their dinner and while they walked into the stadium/concert center, most of Sue's attention was focused on Phil, but a small percentage of her consciousness noticed all of the women, who were making eyes at her handsome date. Phillip's attention was totally on her and she wondered if he was unaware of their stares, or whether he just didn't care about them. She believed that it might be a little of both.

It gave her pause to think, when she realized that the man she was with, was the center of all this feminine attention and yet he was totally focused on her, only her. This gorgeous guy thought she was beautiful and she finally started to take his word for it. Her shoulders straightened up, her chin came up and her manner relaxed considerably; her smile became broader and a sparkle came into her eyes. Phil saw this change happening and grinned.

"Now I think I finally see the true Susan...Best. I think my beautiful date is truly sitting by my side now and it is a real pleasure to see her!"

"Thank you, Phil." Sue accepted his compliment without a blush.

And then the concert began; first the warm-up band, which was actually quite good and then Dido came onto the stage and the audience rose to its feet and stayed there throughout the entire performance. They rocked with her and they swayed to her softer songs, as well. Phillip took great pleasure in watching Sue dance beside him; her slim, supple body swaying with the beat, her arms up over her head, clapping with everyone else, around them. Sue especially loved the slower songs, when Phil pulled her close and swayed with her. She loved the feeling of his solid body underneath her hands, the spicy scent of his aftershave and the intensity of his gaze.

Finally though, the concert ended and the happy, hyped-up crowd poured out of the Fleet Center. Phil and Sue found his car and they drove back to Cambridge. They happily chatted about all the songs they had heard that night and what fun they had, had with the fans, seated around them. By the time they pulled up in front of Sue's dorm, they had mellowed out some and sleepiness was setting in.

"I had such a great time, tonight, Phil. Thank you so much for taking me!" Sue exclaimed.

"I did too, especially when I saw my beautiful date shed the last bits of her chrysalis and spread her wings to fly." Phil said, eyes sparkling.

"But not to fly away, just to hover nearby and then to land within your warm, safe arms." Sue assured him, as she moved closer to him and Phil's arms came up around her shoulders.

Sue let her hands glide over his chest, then up and over his shoulders and around his neck. Phil held back, letting his gaze bounce between her eyes and her lips...waiting... Sue realized that Phil wanted her to make this first move towards taking the next step in their relationship. This time, Sue moved in purposefully, towards Phillip's lips and kissed him. The first kiss was just a soft caress, the second had some weight behind it and the third kiss included the tip of her tongue, peeking out between her lips, to gently moisten Phillip's bottom lip and request entry into the dark secrets of his mouth.

Phillip let out a soft, deep moan and opened to her, willingly, happily. They kissed back and forth, taking turns and meeting in the middle, as well. Their hands would not stay still, either. They slowly glided their way over each other's arms, backs, threaded through soft, clean hair and outlined each other's faces as if they were both blind. Finally, they both had to come up for air and they broke apart a little, both gasping, but remained in each other's arms.

"You...had...better...go in, before I change my mind about being a gentleman." Phil warned her and Sue nodded.

"Or before I change my mind about being a lady." Sue said, looking deeply into his warm, loving eyes.

Sue felt his arms and hands tighten around her for a moment, at her words and then they slowly, reluctantly released their hold on her.

"Good night, thanks again. You will call me if you hear anything from your parents, won't you?" Sue asked, as she opened up the car door.

"Yes of course, you do the same." Sue nodded. "I had a great time, Sue. You know, if we are going to fly home next weekend, we will really have to get some heavy-duty studying done, beforehand. Why don't you come over to the house and we can study together." Phil suggested.

"Great idea, I'll come around ten." Sue said, smiling and then she was out the door and heading towards her dorm.

Phil waited until she was safely inside and then drove home to dream of her and look forward to seeing her tomorrow.

TBC