THE UNKNOWN

CHAPTER 5

In the dark room, all was still. Michael had finally fallen asleep, exhaustion finally beating his desire to watch Rie every second of the day.

The door of the apartment opened with a bang.

"Space boy!" Maria chirped as she looked around the room. When se saw the girl on the couch Maria freaked.

"MICHAEL! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE!"

Rie stirred awoken by the shrieking girl. Michael came bumbling out of his room half asleep.

"Mornin" Michael said through a yawn.

"Michael who is this tart?" Maria screamed, still freaked.

"Tart!" Rie said appalled. Her eyes narrowed at the shrieking human.

"This isn't what it looks like" Michael said.

"IT ISN'T WHAT IT IS LIKE! THEN TELL ME WHAT IT IS LIKE!" Maria shrieked.

"She's an alien" Michael stated.

Maria froze, shocked.

"There are more of you?" Maria said.

Rie got up from the couch, walked over to Maria and held out her hand.

"Hi! I'm Rie! You know the alien you just called a tart!" Rie said with a false smile at her lips.

"What is she doing here?" Maria said ignoring her completely. Rie returned to the couch.

"She's Rath and Lonnie's daughter."

"Rath and Lonnie? You mean you're clones!" Maria gawped. "So she's like your..."

"...in some weird and twisted way she's my daughter, yes" Michael said. He stifled another yawn.

"And she's here because..."

"Because she has no where else to go." Michael answered.

"What about back to New York with the duplicates!" Maria said cattily.

"They abandoned her"

"Oh" Maria said realising this girl was all alone in this world.

Maria walked over to her.

"Hi I'm...."

"Maria" Rie cut in.

"How did you know that!" Maria said shocked.

Rie shrugged. "I saw it in Zan's.... I mean Max's head."

"Huh? Max's head?" Maria looked around at Michael, completely lost.

"He healed her" Michael stated.

"Right" Maria said still confused.

"Mind if I use you're bathroom?" Rie asked.

"Go ahead."

Rie lifted her arms and disappeared. Maria gasped.

"How the hell did she do that?"

"She shifted"

"Shifted?" Maria asked.

"Swapped places."

"But how Michael?" Maria said.

"She's entirely alien"

"What? How can that be? Maria asked in hushed tones.

"She got Lonnie and Rath's alien side" Michael explained.

"Oh" Maria said. It was only then that she remembered why she had come here in the first place.

"Any way I came here to remind you that you have your shift at the Crashdown in ten minutes."

Michael groaned. He had hoped for a few more hours sleep. He had completely forgotten he was meant to be working this morning.

"And I thought Id offer you a lift to work." Maria finished.

Michael was surprised at this.

"Doesn't that go against the non-dating rule?" Michael asked.

"It's a lift" Maria said. "If you don't want one that's fine. Good luck in getting to the Crashdown in ten!"

Michael smiled. He really missed Maria. This was surely a good sign if Maria was coming out of her way to give him a lift.

"Thanks" he replied.

Rie shifted back into the room. This movement startled Maria, but at least she wasn't terrified of it.

"I'll go call Max and Iz to see if they can stay with you today." Michael said walking towards the phone.

"I don't need to be watched constantly you know" Rie said.

"Let me be the judge of that" Michael replied.


"This is the Crashdown" Maria said to Rie as they walked through the doors. "I have to get changed and Michael needs to start cooking, but look, Isabel's here" she said pointing to her.

Maria and Michael went through the back door whilst Rie headed over to Isabel. Isabel looked up and smiled. Isabel still didn't really know what to think of Rie, but she if she was really Lonnie's daughter, she had decided to become like a second mother to her that would be far better than Lonnie could ever be.

"Hey. How's your head?" Isabel asked as Rie sat down across from her in the booth.

"Better. Za...I mean Max does good work."

Isabel smiled again. "So what do you want to eat?"

Rie shrugged. Liz came over beaming.

"Hey guys? What would you like?"

"Can we have two slices of blue moon pie and two cokes" Isabel said deciding that Rie had to try the best on the menu, even if it was for breakfast.

"Sure, they'll be right over." Liz said scribbling on her pad. "So Rie how are you finding Roswell?"

"Small" Rie said.

"That's very true. But it does have a certain charm when you get used to it." Liz said smiling. "Isabel is Max coming over?"

"Oh he told me to tell you that he's just catching up with some work and he'll be over later. He also says he misses you, blah blah blah." Isabel said in a joke mocking fashion.

"Okay. Well I'll just go get your pies." She said walking off.

"What's blue moon pie?" Rie asked.

Isabel grinned. "You'll love it."


Meanwhile, agents were scourging the debris of Rogers AirField. An agent picked up a tape marked "Isabel 5/10/02" and put it in a plastic bag.