[u]Part 31[/u]
It took Kate an instant to get her bearings when she materialized. She had thought of Zan and had teleported to where he could be found, which took more energy than leaping to a specific place, so her knees were a little weak too.
She looked around, saw that she was in a cave of some sort. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the four pods nestled against one wall. Her eyes widened. It didn't take a huge amount of logic to understand that she was where Zan's four square had been hidden.
Her interest was immediately forgotten though when she became aware of exactly who made up the group gathered in the cave. Kate felt a flash of such intense anger, it took all of her strength not to simply raise her hand and blast the traitorous bitch presently standing beside Liz as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
"Liz, get away from her!" She exclaimed instead, moving forward and grabbing Tess roughly by the arm, thrusting her against the cave wall. The blonde gasped in pain. "I'm onto you witch." Tess's blue eyes widened in shock as she took in the anger on Kate's face. "Don't try and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You're behind all of this."
"What the hell?" Michael's exclamation of surprise drowned out the rest of them, even though they had all started talking at once.
Kate felt a hand on her shoulder, turned to meet Zan's dark eyes. He was frowning. "What are you doing Kate?"
"I came to find you," Kate replied. "To warn you actually, and just in time it would seem. She's a traitor Zan."
"Where's Alex?" Maria asked.
"We were captured," Kate told her. She pointed her finger accusingly at Tess. "And she was the one responsible." She blinked in surprise when she realized that Liz was kneeling beside their enemy again, her arm protectively around the blonde's shoulders. "Liz! What are you doing? Get away from her!"
Liz did not seem the least bit willing to follow Kate's advice though. All she said was, "Tess, do you have any idea what she's talking about?"
"No," Tess said. "I swear I don't. I came straight here after I went home."
"Liar!" Kate shrieked. She almost gave into the primal urge to attack Tess. She would have actually, if it wasn't for Max's hand, which was still firmly holding her in place. "Jack and Isabel are both almost dead because of you! I was [I]there[/I] Tess. Do you think I've forgotten what you did?"
"Okay, settle down," Max ordered firmly. "Kate, tell us what you're talking about. There's probably a very logical explanation for all of this."
Kate turned her head, stared at him. "Max, she's the one behind everything. She's the one who kidnapped Isabel. Why are you all acting like you need to protect her?"
"Because she's my sister," Liz said quietly.
She stared at Liz for a full minute in shock. "Okay, what?" Kate finally demanded, when she regained the use of her vocal chords. "You don't have a sister Ro."
"I do," Liz returned. "And she's Tess. Her real name is Serena. Whoever it was that took you all captive, it wasn't Tess."
Kate felt her heart drop. They had all been brainwashed by Tess's mindwarping capabilities. It was the only explanation! What was she going to do? They weren't going to believe her! She knew that there was no such person as [I]Serena[/I]. How had Tess come up with such a twisted plot? And what was she hoping to gain from it?
Kate glared at Tess, her hatred so pure, for one instant she hoped she could turn the other girl to dust just with the sheer force of it. "You witch," she muttered, shaking her head. "If anything happens to my brother.Or Alex.I will kill you."
"Kate, it's okay," Max said. "Just tell us where Alex and Will are. Maybe Tess [I]can[/I] shed some light on what you think happened."
"Why should I? You aren't going to believe me. I don't know what she told you, but she's obviously done something to all of you."
Max sighed. "Nothing happened to us Kate. We came here and Tess was unconscious outside. She was wearing the scarf that your brother gave Liz and it brought back her memories." Max looked at Tess. "Show her."
Tess raised her arm, her eyes still wide. Kate could see that her face was whiter than a ghost. She narrowed her gaze. She had to admit that Tess did look seriously freaked. She was obviously a very good actress. No wonder they all believed her lies. "That's Rowena's wedding scarf," Kate informed them. "Will did tell me he gave it to Ro. Why does [I]she[/I] have it?"
"It did something to Liz," Max told her grimly. "She became someone else - someone named Serena. She said she was Rowena's twin sister. I managed to get Liz to take it off, but Tess took it and." He paused, looked at Tess. "You never did tell us why you took it Tess."
Tess shrugged. "After Liz took it off, you left it sitting on the couch in the break room. I picked it up because I thought it might be able to give us more answers. The instant I touched it though, it just.I don't know.It did something to me." She swallowed, her eyes glassy as she remembered. "I freaked a bit, which is why I went home for a minute." Tess grimaced, turned to Liz. "I told you a few minutes ago that I have some stuff to tell you guys that is going to make me look really bad." She looked at Kate again. "And now that I think about it, I think I know why Kate thought she saw me."
"What?" Michael exclaimed. "Tess, what the hell is going on? How much do you know and how much have you been keeping from us?"
"A lot," Tess whispered. Her expression was so tortured, Kate almost believed that her remorse was genuine. "But I didn't know who I was. He [I]told[/I] me I was Ava, that you were mine." She said this to Max, who was frowning. "What I thought I knew.It was all a lie."
"Tess, are you talking about Nasedo?" Max asked gently.
Tess nodded, lowered her eyes. "When I went home, it was to contact him." Kate heard almost every other person in the cave gasp. Liz was the only one who stood silently, her arm still linked with Tess's.
"He's alive?" Michael croaked. "Are you telling us that Nasedo is [I]alive[/I]?" His voice rose exponentially with each word, until he bellowed the last, making Kate flinch.
"Yes," Tess replied softly. "And I contacted him because I needed to find out what this scarf is, why it made me feel so weird."
Kate felt satisfied. Now they would understand, would see that Tess could not be trusted, that she had betrayed them. They could make her tell them where Alex, Will, Jack and Isabel were being kept and why.
"I mindwarped you all into thinking he had disintegrated when we tried to heal him here," Tess explained. She looked at Max. "The man you saw in your bedroom.He was a Skin."
"Why?" Max asked, still not sounding angry, much to Kate's dismay. What was wrong with him? Tess was a traitor. What did it matter why?
"It was because of Whittaker," Tess explained. "The fact that the Skins had found you.He knew it was only a matter of time until you were all reunited with them." She indicated Kate. "He said that we had to stop that from happening and the only way to do it was if he went undercover. He told me all about Zan and Rowena. He said that if Zan and Rowena met again, it would be the end of any hope I had with Max. He didn't know that Max had already found her." She turned to Liz. "He didn't know who you were Liz."
"Okay, could this [I]be[/I] anymore confusing?" Kyle asked the assembled group in general. "I think I need a flow-chart to keep all these relationships straight."
"You're not the only one," Michael muttered. "And I'm supposed to be [I]on[/I] the flow-chart."
"I still don't see what any of this has to do with the fact that not three hours ago you threw an alien device at Alex and knocked us all out Tess," Kate said into the silence that had fallen over the cave after Michael's comment.
"It was Nasedo," Tess shrugged. "Imitating me. It had to have been. I won't deny that I've done bad things." She lowered her eyes. If she was pretending to be ashamed, she was doing a good job of it. Kate felt herself softening, in spite of the fact that she was still angry. "But he told me I was Ava. I didn't remember anything, really. I swear I didn't. I only know what [I]he[/I] told me."
"What exactly [I]have[/I] you done?" Michael demanded. "I think we have a right to know that Tess."
Kate watched Liz squeeze Tess's arm supportively. "You can tell us Tess," she said softly. "I know who you are and I believe you. Just tell us everything." In that instant, Kate caught a glimpse of Rowena in Liz. She couldn't tell if it was a gesture or the tone of her voice or what it was, but her sister-in-law was [I]there[/I], just for a moment. It was weird how that kept happening. One of them would do or say something and she would recognize them as the people she had loved back home. It was creepy and, yet, somehow, reassuring. They were getting somewhere - finally.
"Well, you all know I mindwarped Max when I first came to town," Tess said. She looked at Max. "The memory you have of leaving me behind.I faked that. It's not real." She paused to think. "And I mindwarped Michael, Max and Isabel into thinking Nasedo was dead. That's it though. I swear, that's all."
"But what about Nasedo?" Michael asked bitterly. "He's supposed to be our protector. And if it's the granolith he wants, he sure knows where to find it." Kate followed his gaze, wondered why he was staring at the pods.
When Max glanced at her sharply, she abruptly understood. "Oh my God," she breathed. "The granolith is here?"
"No," Michael snapped, but it was too late. She could see from the expression on his face that he was trying to backtrack.
"It is," Kate stated firmly. They were all looking at each other, not quite panicked, but close. "You have to let us use it you guys. We have to save our people."
Michael turned away, obviously upset. Maria went to comfort him. Kate felt bad about the fact that he felt guilty about having revealed the granolith's location, but she couldn't let that stop her. Her people were [I]dying[/I].
"Our people are innocent," Kate pleaded. "You have to let us use it."
"You call Nicholas innocent?" Michael snarled, turning back. "He tortured Isabel."
"That wasn't Nicholas," Kate argued. "Will talked to him. He had no idea Jack and Isabel were even missing."
"He's a liar Kate," Max said. "We have no reason to believe him."
"He has no reason to lie to us," Kate insisted. "He's our general."
"Maybe he got tired of waiting for you all to be old enough to help them?" Maria suggested. "Maybe he was working for Nasedo too?"
"Or maybe that [I]was[/I] Nasedo in the message," Kate argued. "Just trying to confuse us all even more. He [I]is[/I] a shapeshifter after all. He can be whoever he wants to be." She paused, something occurring to her. "I'll bet that was him who killed Courtney too. The odds are that Jack was captured the same night as Isabel. The Jack who was in the hotel with us last night was definitely not ours."
"Man, he sure gets around, this shapeshifter," Kyle muttered.
"Kyle's right," Max agreed. "It does seem like an awful lot for someone to handle alone."
"Oh wait!" Kate exclaimed. "I forgot something else. One of the men working for Nasedo.If that's who was really behind all of this." She looked at Tess, still not entirely convinced that the blonde was as innocent as she proclaimed. Kate had [I]seen[/I] her after all. She shook her head though, trying to refocus. "Anyway, Alex knew him. He said his name was." She paused, wrinkling her nose. "Graham? Or Grant?"
"Grant Sorenson?" Liz asked. "Oh no."
"That was it," Kate said. "Alex recognized his voice."
"Wonderful," Michael muttered. "So we [I]do[/I] have to think that everyone we come into contact with is bad news." He looked at Max. "I knew there was a reason I couldn't stand that guy. We can't trust [I]anyone[/I], even the people who are supposed to protect us." Kate felt a shiver descend her spine when Michael glanced at her, a slightly suspicious expression on his face. Was he thinking that they were wrong to trust [I]her[/I] too?
"Which again brings us back to what Nasedo is up to," Liz spoke up. "Why did he lie to Tess for all this time? What was he hoping to gain? It just [I]can't[/I] be the granolith. Michael was right before. He knows exactly where it is."
"I don't know if he does," Tess said, making them all look at her in surprise. "He didn't find me here you guys. I was alone." She looked at Kate. "Or so he said. He may have lied about that. But the point is, he may not know where it is. I mean, we were in here several times before Isabel found it. And it only came to life when we were near it."
"You expect us to believe you didn't tell him?" Michael demanded.
Tess bit her lip. "I don't expect you to believe anything Michael, but I didn't tell him. I didn't know what it was. How was I supposed to know it was so important?"
"You didn't think Nasedo would want to know about an alien device?" Liz asked quietly.
"I." Tess sighed. "I don't know," she finally shrugged. "Maybe I just didn't trust him. Michael's right. His behavior certainly hasn't been protective since he found you guys. I never understood that." She looked at Liz. "But I thought I had to stick with him if I was going to have a chance with Max. He told me I [I]had[/I] to. Liz, I saw the way Max is with you. I knew I couldn't divide you guys on my own. I thought working with Nasedo was my only chance. But I never told him about the granolith."
"What I want to know is, what the heck [I]is[/I] the granolith anyway?" This came from Maria, who had been listening quietly up to this point, except for the several moments when she had comforted Michael. "It's a time machine, it can save Kate's people? What is it? Is it.I don't know," she waved her hand in the air. "Is it God?"
They all looked at Kate. She grimaced. It was so hard to explain! "It's not God, obviously," she said carefully. "But it is a holy artifact on our planet. Basically.I don't know quite how to put this." She sighed. "The only word I can think of to compare it to is [I]life[/I]."
"Okay, what?" Kyle asked. "It's a machine, isn't it? How can a machine be 'life?'"
Kate pushed her hair behind her ears, sighing. "It just [I]is[/I]. I'm not sure why. But it's what our protectors told us."
"Your protectors?" Max asked. Kate looked at him, wondering why he sounded so thoughtful. "Shapeshifters?"
"No," Kate replied. "They were Skins. Alex and I figured out that Nasedo was our original protector though. Our birthplace was the cave where you were healed last winter." She looked at Michael when she said this. "And before you ask, our pods were destroyed after we were born. Anyway, Nasedo knew the cave, so he had to have been the one who brought us there."
"So what happened to [I]our[/I] protector?" Michael wondered. "What we're saying is that it [I]is[/I] possible that there's another shapeshifter running around?"
"This is [I]so[/I] frustrating!" Maria exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. "And it's not even the worst of our problems right now. We need to save Alex and Isabel!"
"We do," Liz acknowledged. "But I don't know if saving them is going to do any good until we figure this all out."
"I don't see how that's possible Liz," Michael snapped, earning him a dirty look from Max. He modified his tone. "Sorry. But the point is we have no idea." He pointed at Kate. "[I]She[/I] has no idea and she knows ten times more than we do."
"I know Michael," Liz replied. "But I think one of us does know."
Kate watched everyone look at each other, mystified. "Who?" Maria finally asked.
Liz turned her head and regarded Tess. "Serena."
Tess blinked, stepped away from Liz. "What? Liz I have no idea! I would tell you if I did."
"I believe you [I]think[/I] you have no idea," Liz told her. "But I know what Future Max told me. It was Serena who modified the granolith in the future to bring him back. It was [I]you[/I] Tess. Which means that you must know something about it."
Tess wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't even know where to start."
"In the granolith chamber," Liz replied simply. "Have you even really [I]looked[/I] at the granolith Tess? I mean, you might surprise yourself."
"No," Tess allowed. "I only saw it for the first time when Isabel showed us. It's another reason I think Nasedo might not know it's here. He never told me it was. " She seemed uncertain, but her spine straightened when she met Liz's eyes. "I could try I guess."
"You won't be alone," Liz reassured her. "I'll be right there with you."
"We'll all go," Max said firmly. "We don't know what that thing can do."
Kyle snickered. "Wouldn't it be great if we were all sucked in? That would sure solve a lot of our problems."
"Not funny Kyle," Maria snapped.
"The granolith isn't dangerous," Kate said confidently. "I know it isn't."
"Yeah, but you're the one who thinks a machine is 'life,'" Kyle reminded her, smirking. Kate glared at him. He really was most irritating, this human boy. He was nothing like her Alex.
She blinked. Oh wonderful. There she went again. [I]Her[/I] Alex. Right. In her dreams maybe. Not that she'd had any time to sleep really in the past twenty-four hours. Kate sighed, followed the rest of the group through to the granolith chamber.
***
Alex watched Nasedo pace back in forth in front of him, his heart pounding unsteadily. He had just finished telling the supposed-to-be-dead shapeshifter all about Future Max and the granolith and the end of the world. Now he was waiting to see if he was going to be allowed to live a while longer or whether Nasedo had had enough of him.
"Well Mr. Whitman," the shapeshifter finally said, "I can see that keeping you alive may serve me well for the moment. You are a font of information."
"I try," Alex muttered. He grimaced when Nasedo turned his piercing eyes on him again. [I]Shut up![/I] The little voice in the back of his head yelled. [I]Just shut up![/I]
[I]Sorry![/I] Alex replied meekly.
"Your information is incomplete, however," Nasedo told him "What I would like to know is exactly how this future version of Max managed to modify the granolith. Time travel is not its purpose. I'm going to have to go look at it, figure out how it happened."
"I don't know how," Alex replied, crossing his fingers behind his back. After all, he didn't [I]really[/I] know. Mentioning the mysterious Serena - the one Liz had spoken of - wouldn't help matters and the last thing he wanted was for Nasedo to send his minions after her, whoever she was. "I could think about it," he offered weakly.
Nasedo continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. Finally he said, "Don't worry Mr. Whitman. I don't plan to kill you right now, even if your information was merely interesting, not really useful. It's too bad you don't know where the granolith is, but I will still keep you alive. It makes much more sense to use you to negotiate with Zan. He will turn himself over to me for you."
"Why do you want them all anyway?" Alex asked. He shook his head at his own insanity for even trying to hold a conversation with this psycho, but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth. It just kept talking.
"It's Rowena I really want," Nasedo told him, narrowing his eyes. "Your little friend Liz Parker is much more valuable than I ever realized. I should have known though. Zan's obsession with her should have given me the information I needed." He shook his balding head. "But she is almost completely human. I did not recognize her at all. I should have known he was keeping something from me."
"Who?" Well, since he apparently couldn't stop, he should just keep asking questions while Nasedo was willing to answer them.
Which apparently Nasedo no longer was. "It doesn't matter." The shapeshifter waved his hand in the air. One of the minions standing nearby came over. "Take him back to the cages. Throw him in one of the empty ones. We'll kill him when we need to put its real occupant in it."
Alex sighed. Wonderful. He was going to get to live longer and be able to [I]reflect[/I] on all the horrible ways Nasedo might kill him.
A few minutes later he was thrust unceremoniously into the cage next to Will's. Alex was relieved to see that the young king was still conscious and hadn't had his essence sucked out like Izzy or Jack. Will was sitting on the ground, leaning against the back of his cage, a pensive expression on his face. He turned his head only when Alex said his name.
"You're back," he said flatly. "I'm glad you're okay."
"You sure sound it," Alex replied. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Will muttered. "I'm just thinking."
"About Liz?" Alex asked, feeling a pang of sympathy in spite of himself. Even though Alex knew that Liz belonged with Max, he could understand Will's pain. Because didn't he know exactly how it felt to be in love with someone who couldn't have cared less? He looked past Will at Isabel, who had been gently laid on a mattress in her cell. One glance at Jack in the cell on his other side showed that Will's cousin had been afforded no such luxury.
Grant obviously still had a soft spot for Isabel. It made Alex wonder. Who exactly [I]was[/I] the bohunk in the grand scheme of the Antarian star system anyway? From the way Isabel had been attracted to him, it seemed likely that she had known him.
"Yeah," Will said. Alex shook his head, refocused. What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Liz. "I just don't understand it," Will continued. "I [I]know[/I] she loved me. I know she did."
Alex sighed. "This is a different world buddy. We can't choose who we love. It just happens." He frowned, looked at Isabel again. He hated to see her like that, wished there was something he could do to help her. He loved her still, in spite of everything. He was pretty sure now that they were never going to be anything but friends, but that didn't mean he would ever [I]stop[/I] loving her. Loving Isabel didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to love anyone else, ever, but how he felt about her.She would always be his first love.
And, yet, it wasn't Isabel he was really worried about. Isabel was safe for the moment, if unconscious. It was Kate's face that kept filtering into his mind. He wondered where she was, if she had found Max and the others, if she was safe.
"I just wish things could be different," Will said.
"I don't think they're going to change Will," Alex told him. "You're going to have to accept it. Because who knows? Maybe your soulmate is waiting around the next corner. She may pop up when you least expect it. You don't want to miss her because you were pining over someone you never had a chance with in the first place."
He was saying the words to Will, but Alex knew in his heart that he was talking about himself. He just hoped that he got a chance to explore the possibility with the girl he suspected might just be the one for him.
Alex wasn't sure that he believed in God. He hadn't ever really thought about it actually. But that didn't stop him from sending out a little prayer to whoever might be listening.
[I]Please let her molecules be in one piece. And please let mine stay that way until I can see her again.[/I]
To be continued.
It took Kate an instant to get her bearings when she materialized. She had thought of Zan and had teleported to where he could be found, which took more energy than leaping to a specific place, so her knees were a little weak too.
She looked around, saw that she was in a cave of some sort. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the four pods nestled against one wall. Her eyes widened. It didn't take a huge amount of logic to understand that she was where Zan's four square had been hidden.
Her interest was immediately forgotten though when she became aware of exactly who made up the group gathered in the cave. Kate felt a flash of such intense anger, it took all of her strength not to simply raise her hand and blast the traitorous bitch presently standing beside Liz as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
"Liz, get away from her!" She exclaimed instead, moving forward and grabbing Tess roughly by the arm, thrusting her against the cave wall. The blonde gasped in pain. "I'm onto you witch." Tess's blue eyes widened in shock as she took in the anger on Kate's face. "Don't try and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. You're behind all of this."
"What the hell?" Michael's exclamation of surprise drowned out the rest of them, even though they had all started talking at once.
Kate felt a hand on her shoulder, turned to meet Zan's dark eyes. He was frowning. "What are you doing Kate?"
"I came to find you," Kate replied. "To warn you actually, and just in time it would seem. She's a traitor Zan."
"Where's Alex?" Maria asked.
"We were captured," Kate told her. She pointed her finger accusingly at Tess. "And she was the one responsible." She blinked in surprise when she realized that Liz was kneeling beside their enemy again, her arm protectively around the blonde's shoulders. "Liz! What are you doing? Get away from her!"
Liz did not seem the least bit willing to follow Kate's advice though. All she said was, "Tess, do you have any idea what she's talking about?"
"No," Tess said. "I swear I don't. I came straight here after I went home."
"Liar!" Kate shrieked. She almost gave into the primal urge to attack Tess. She would have actually, if it wasn't for Max's hand, which was still firmly holding her in place. "Jack and Isabel are both almost dead because of you! I was [I]there[/I] Tess. Do you think I've forgotten what you did?"
"Okay, settle down," Max ordered firmly. "Kate, tell us what you're talking about. There's probably a very logical explanation for all of this."
Kate turned her head, stared at him. "Max, she's the one behind everything. She's the one who kidnapped Isabel. Why are you all acting like you need to protect her?"
"Because she's my sister," Liz said quietly.
She stared at Liz for a full minute in shock. "Okay, what?" Kate finally demanded, when she regained the use of her vocal chords. "You don't have a sister Ro."
"I do," Liz returned. "And she's Tess. Her real name is Serena. Whoever it was that took you all captive, it wasn't Tess."
Kate felt her heart drop. They had all been brainwashed by Tess's mindwarping capabilities. It was the only explanation! What was she going to do? They weren't going to believe her! She knew that there was no such person as [I]Serena[/I]. How had Tess come up with such a twisted plot? And what was she hoping to gain from it?
Kate glared at Tess, her hatred so pure, for one instant she hoped she could turn the other girl to dust just with the sheer force of it. "You witch," she muttered, shaking her head. "If anything happens to my brother.Or Alex.I will kill you."
"Kate, it's okay," Max said. "Just tell us where Alex and Will are. Maybe Tess [I]can[/I] shed some light on what you think happened."
"Why should I? You aren't going to believe me. I don't know what she told you, but she's obviously done something to all of you."
Max sighed. "Nothing happened to us Kate. We came here and Tess was unconscious outside. She was wearing the scarf that your brother gave Liz and it brought back her memories." Max looked at Tess. "Show her."
Tess raised her arm, her eyes still wide. Kate could see that her face was whiter than a ghost. She narrowed her gaze. She had to admit that Tess did look seriously freaked. She was obviously a very good actress. No wonder they all believed her lies. "That's Rowena's wedding scarf," Kate informed them. "Will did tell me he gave it to Ro. Why does [I]she[/I] have it?"
"It did something to Liz," Max told her grimly. "She became someone else - someone named Serena. She said she was Rowena's twin sister. I managed to get Liz to take it off, but Tess took it and." He paused, looked at Tess. "You never did tell us why you took it Tess."
Tess shrugged. "After Liz took it off, you left it sitting on the couch in the break room. I picked it up because I thought it might be able to give us more answers. The instant I touched it though, it just.I don't know.It did something to me." She swallowed, her eyes glassy as she remembered. "I freaked a bit, which is why I went home for a minute." Tess grimaced, turned to Liz. "I told you a few minutes ago that I have some stuff to tell you guys that is going to make me look really bad." She looked at Kate again. "And now that I think about it, I think I know why Kate thought she saw me."
"What?" Michael exclaimed. "Tess, what the hell is going on? How much do you know and how much have you been keeping from us?"
"A lot," Tess whispered. Her expression was so tortured, Kate almost believed that her remorse was genuine. "But I didn't know who I was. He [I]told[/I] me I was Ava, that you were mine." She said this to Max, who was frowning. "What I thought I knew.It was all a lie."
"Tess, are you talking about Nasedo?" Max asked gently.
Tess nodded, lowered her eyes. "When I went home, it was to contact him." Kate heard almost every other person in the cave gasp. Liz was the only one who stood silently, her arm still linked with Tess's.
"He's alive?" Michael croaked. "Are you telling us that Nasedo is [I]alive[/I]?" His voice rose exponentially with each word, until he bellowed the last, making Kate flinch.
"Yes," Tess replied softly. "And I contacted him because I needed to find out what this scarf is, why it made me feel so weird."
Kate felt satisfied. Now they would understand, would see that Tess could not be trusted, that she had betrayed them. They could make her tell them where Alex, Will, Jack and Isabel were being kept and why.
"I mindwarped you all into thinking he had disintegrated when we tried to heal him here," Tess explained. She looked at Max. "The man you saw in your bedroom.He was a Skin."
"Why?" Max asked, still not sounding angry, much to Kate's dismay. What was wrong with him? Tess was a traitor. What did it matter why?
"It was because of Whittaker," Tess explained. "The fact that the Skins had found you.He knew it was only a matter of time until you were all reunited with them." She indicated Kate. "He said that we had to stop that from happening and the only way to do it was if he went undercover. He told me all about Zan and Rowena. He said that if Zan and Rowena met again, it would be the end of any hope I had with Max. He didn't know that Max had already found her." She turned to Liz. "He didn't know who you were Liz."
"Okay, could this [I]be[/I] anymore confusing?" Kyle asked the assembled group in general. "I think I need a flow-chart to keep all these relationships straight."
"You're not the only one," Michael muttered. "And I'm supposed to be [I]on[/I] the flow-chart."
"I still don't see what any of this has to do with the fact that not three hours ago you threw an alien device at Alex and knocked us all out Tess," Kate said into the silence that had fallen over the cave after Michael's comment.
"It was Nasedo," Tess shrugged. "Imitating me. It had to have been. I won't deny that I've done bad things." She lowered her eyes. If she was pretending to be ashamed, she was doing a good job of it. Kate felt herself softening, in spite of the fact that she was still angry. "But he told me I was Ava. I didn't remember anything, really. I swear I didn't. I only know what [I]he[/I] told me."
"What exactly [I]have[/I] you done?" Michael demanded. "I think we have a right to know that Tess."
Kate watched Liz squeeze Tess's arm supportively. "You can tell us Tess," she said softly. "I know who you are and I believe you. Just tell us everything." In that instant, Kate caught a glimpse of Rowena in Liz. She couldn't tell if it was a gesture or the tone of her voice or what it was, but her sister-in-law was [I]there[/I], just for a moment. It was weird how that kept happening. One of them would do or say something and she would recognize them as the people she had loved back home. It was creepy and, yet, somehow, reassuring. They were getting somewhere - finally.
"Well, you all know I mindwarped Max when I first came to town," Tess said. She looked at Max. "The memory you have of leaving me behind.I faked that. It's not real." She paused to think. "And I mindwarped Michael, Max and Isabel into thinking Nasedo was dead. That's it though. I swear, that's all."
"But what about Nasedo?" Michael asked bitterly. "He's supposed to be our protector. And if it's the granolith he wants, he sure knows where to find it." Kate followed his gaze, wondered why he was staring at the pods.
When Max glanced at her sharply, she abruptly understood. "Oh my God," she breathed. "The granolith is here?"
"No," Michael snapped, but it was too late. She could see from the expression on his face that he was trying to backtrack.
"It is," Kate stated firmly. They were all looking at each other, not quite panicked, but close. "You have to let us use it you guys. We have to save our people."
Michael turned away, obviously upset. Maria went to comfort him. Kate felt bad about the fact that he felt guilty about having revealed the granolith's location, but she couldn't let that stop her. Her people were [I]dying[/I].
"Our people are innocent," Kate pleaded. "You have to let us use it."
"You call Nicholas innocent?" Michael snarled, turning back. "He tortured Isabel."
"That wasn't Nicholas," Kate argued. "Will talked to him. He had no idea Jack and Isabel were even missing."
"He's a liar Kate," Max said. "We have no reason to believe him."
"He has no reason to lie to us," Kate insisted. "He's our general."
"Maybe he got tired of waiting for you all to be old enough to help them?" Maria suggested. "Maybe he was working for Nasedo too?"
"Or maybe that [I]was[/I] Nasedo in the message," Kate argued. "Just trying to confuse us all even more. He [I]is[/I] a shapeshifter after all. He can be whoever he wants to be." She paused, something occurring to her. "I'll bet that was him who killed Courtney too. The odds are that Jack was captured the same night as Isabel. The Jack who was in the hotel with us last night was definitely not ours."
"Man, he sure gets around, this shapeshifter," Kyle muttered.
"Kyle's right," Max agreed. "It does seem like an awful lot for someone to handle alone."
"Oh wait!" Kate exclaimed. "I forgot something else. One of the men working for Nasedo.If that's who was really behind all of this." She looked at Tess, still not entirely convinced that the blonde was as innocent as she proclaimed. Kate had [I]seen[/I] her after all. She shook her head though, trying to refocus. "Anyway, Alex knew him. He said his name was." She paused, wrinkling her nose. "Graham? Or Grant?"
"Grant Sorenson?" Liz asked. "Oh no."
"That was it," Kate said. "Alex recognized his voice."
"Wonderful," Michael muttered. "So we [I]do[/I] have to think that everyone we come into contact with is bad news." He looked at Max. "I knew there was a reason I couldn't stand that guy. We can't trust [I]anyone[/I], even the people who are supposed to protect us." Kate felt a shiver descend her spine when Michael glanced at her, a slightly suspicious expression on his face. Was he thinking that they were wrong to trust [I]her[/I] too?
"Which again brings us back to what Nasedo is up to," Liz spoke up. "Why did he lie to Tess for all this time? What was he hoping to gain? It just [I]can't[/I] be the granolith. Michael was right before. He knows exactly where it is."
"I don't know if he does," Tess said, making them all look at her in surprise. "He didn't find me here you guys. I was alone." She looked at Kate. "Or so he said. He may have lied about that. But the point is, he may not know where it is. I mean, we were in here several times before Isabel found it. And it only came to life when we were near it."
"You expect us to believe you didn't tell him?" Michael demanded.
Tess bit her lip. "I don't expect you to believe anything Michael, but I didn't tell him. I didn't know what it was. How was I supposed to know it was so important?"
"You didn't think Nasedo would want to know about an alien device?" Liz asked quietly.
"I." Tess sighed. "I don't know," she finally shrugged. "Maybe I just didn't trust him. Michael's right. His behavior certainly hasn't been protective since he found you guys. I never understood that." She looked at Liz. "But I thought I had to stick with him if I was going to have a chance with Max. He told me I [I]had[/I] to. Liz, I saw the way Max is with you. I knew I couldn't divide you guys on my own. I thought working with Nasedo was my only chance. But I never told him about the granolith."
"What I want to know is, what the heck [I]is[/I] the granolith anyway?" This came from Maria, who had been listening quietly up to this point, except for the several moments when she had comforted Michael. "It's a time machine, it can save Kate's people? What is it? Is it.I don't know," she waved her hand in the air. "Is it God?"
They all looked at Kate. She grimaced. It was so hard to explain! "It's not God, obviously," she said carefully. "But it is a holy artifact on our planet. Basically.I don't know quite how to put this." She sighed. "The only word I can think of to compare it to is [I]life[/I]."
"Okay, what?" Kyle asked. "It's a machine, isn't it? How can a machine be 'life?'"
Kate pushed her hair behind her ears, sighing. "It just [I]is[/I]. I'm not sure why. But it's what our protectors told us."
"Your protectors?" Max asked. Kate looked at him, wondering why he sounded so thoughtful. "Shapeshifters?"
"No," Kate replied. "They were Skins. Alex and I figured out that Nasedo was our original protector though. Our birthplace was the cave where you were healed last winter." She looked at Michael when she said this. "And before you ask, our pods were destroyed after we were born. Anyway, Nasedo knew the cave, so he had to have been the one who brought us there."
"So what happened to [I]our[/I] protector?" Michael wondered. "What we're saying is that it [I]is[/I] possible that there's another shapeshifter running around?"
"This is [I]so[/I] frustrating!" Maria exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. "And it's not even the worst of our problems right now. We need to save Alex and Isabel!"
"We do," Liz acknowledged. "But I don't know if saving them is going to do any good until we figure this all out."
"I don't see how that's possible Liz," Michael snapped, earning him a dirty look from Max. He modified his tone. "Sorry. But the point is we have no idea." He pointed at Kate. "[I]She[/I] has no idea and she knows ten times more than we do."
"I know Michael," Liz replied. "But I think one of us does know."
Kate watched everyone look at each other, mystified. "Who?" Maria finally asked.
Liz turned her head and regarded Tess. "Serena."
Tess blinked, stepped away from Liz. "What? Liz I have no idea! I would tell you if I did."
"I believe you [I]think[/I] you have no idea," Liz told her. "But I know what Future Max told me. It was Serena who modified the granolith in the future to bring him back. It was [I]you[/I] Tess. Which means that you must know something about it."
Tess wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't even know where to start."
"In the granolith chamber," Liz replied simply. "Have you even really [I]looked[/I] at the granolith Tess? I mean, you might surprise yourself."
"No," Tess allowed. "I only saw it for the first time when Isabel showed us. It's another reason I think Nasedo might not know it's here. He never told me it was. " She seemed uncertain, but her spine straightened when she met Liz's eyes. "I could try I guess."
"You won't be alone," Liz reassured her. "I'll be right there with you."
"We'll all go," Max said firmly. "We don't know what that thing can do."
Kyle snickered. "Wouldn't it be great if we were all sucked in? That would sure solve a lot of our problems."
"Not funny Kyle," Maria snapped.
"The granolith isn't dangerous," Kate said confidently. "I know it isn't."
"Yeah, but you're the one who thinks a machine is 'life,'" Kyle reminded her, smirking. Kate glared at him. He really was most irritating, this human boy. He was nothing like her Alex.
She blinked. Oh wonderful. There she went again. [I]Her[/I] Alex. Right. In her dreams maybe. Not that she'd had any time to sleep really in the past twenty-four hours. Kate sighed, followed the rest of the group through to the granolith chamber.
***
Alex watched Nasedo pace back in forth in front of him, his heart pounding unsteadily. He had just finished telling the supposed-to-be-dead shapeshifter all about Future Max and the granolith and the end of the world. Now he was waiting to see if he was going to be allowed to live a while longer or whether Nasedo had had enough of him.
"Well Mr. Whitman," the shapeshifter finally said, "I can see that keeping you alive may serve me well for the moment. You are a font of information."
"I try," Alex muttered. He grimaced when Nasedo turned his piercing eyes on him again. [I]Shut up![/I] The little voice in the back of his head yelled. [I]Just shut up![/I]
[I]Sorry![/I] Alex replied meekly.
"Your information is incomplete, however," Nasedo told him "What I would like to know is exactly how this future version of Max managed to modify the granolith. Time travel is not its purpose. I'm going to have to go look at it, figure out how it happened."
"I don't know how," Alex replied, crossing his fingers behind his back. After all, he didn't [I]really[/I] know. Mentioning the mysterious Serena - the one Liz had spoken of - wouldn't help matters and the last thing he wanted was for Nasedo to send his minions after her, whoever she was. "I could think about it," he offered weakly.
Nasedo continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. Finally he said, "Don't worry Mr. Whitman. I don't plan to kill you right now, even if your information was merely interesting, not really useful. It's too bad you don't know where the granolith is, but I will still keep you alive. It makes much more sense to use you to negotiate with Zan. He will turn himself over to me for you."
"Why do you want them all anyway?" Alex asked. He shook his head at his own insanity for even trying to hold a conversation with this psycho, but he couldn't seem to stop his mouth. It just kept talking.
"It's Rowena I really want," Nasedo told him, narrowing his eyes. "Your little friend Liz Parker is much more valuable than I ever realized. I should have known though. Zan's obsession with her should have given me the information I needed." He shook his balding head. "But she is almost completely human. I did not recognize her at all. I should have known he was keeping something from me."
"Who?" Well, since he apparently couldn't stop, he should just keep asking questions while Nasedo was willing to answer them.
Which apparently Nasedo no longer was. "It doesn't matter." The shapeshifter waved his hand in the air. One of the minions standing nearby came over. "Take him back to the cages. Throw him in one of the empty ones. We'll kill him when we need to put its real occupant in it."
Alex sighed. Wonderful. He was going to get to live longer and be able to [I]reflect[/I] on all the horrible ways Nasedo might kill him.
A few minutes later he was thrust unceremoniously into the cage next to Will's. Alex was relieved to see that the young king was still conscious and hadn't had his essence sucked out like Izzy or Jack. Will was sitting on the ground, leaning against the back of his cage, a pensive expression on his face. He turned his head only when Alex said his name.
"You're back," he said flatly. "I'm glad you're okay."
"You sure sound it," Alex replied. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Will muttered. "I'm just thinking."
"About Liz?" Alex asked, feeling a pang of sympathy in spite of himself. Even though Alex knew that Liz belonged with Max, he could understand Will's pain. Because didn't he know exactly how it felt to be in love with someone who couldn't have cared less? He looked past Will at Isabel, who had been gently laid on a mattress in her cell. One glance at Jack in the cell on his other side showed that Will's cousin had been afforded no such luxury.
Grant obviously still had a soft spot for Isabel. It made Alex wonder. Who exactly [I]was[/I] the bohunk in the grand scheme of the Antarian star system anyway? From the way Isabel had been attracted to him, it seemed likely that she had known him.
"Yeah," Will said. Alex shook his head, refocused. What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Liz. "I just don't understand it," Will continued. "I [I]know[/I] she loved me. I know she did."
Alex sighed. "This is a different world buddy. We can't choose who we love. It just happens." He frowned, looked at Isabel again. He hated to see her like that, wished there was something he could do to help her. He loved her still, in spite of everything. He was pretty sure now that they were never going to be anything but friends, but that didn't mean he would ever [I]stop[/I] loving her. Loving Isabel didn't mean that he wouldn't be able to love anyone else, ever, but how he felt about her.She would always be his first love.
And, yet, it wasn't Isabel he was really worried about. Isabel was safe for the moment, if unconscious. It was Kate's face that kept filtering into his mind. He wondered where she was, if she had found Max and the others, if she was safe.
"I just wish things could be different," Will said.
"I don't think they're going to change Will," Alex told him. "You're going to have to accept it. Because who knows? Maybe your soulmate is waiting around the next corner. She may pop up when you least expect it. You don't want to miss her because you were pining over someone you never had a chance with in the first place."
He was saying the words to Will, but Alex knew in his heart that he was talking about himself. He just hoped that he got a chance to explore the possibility with the girl he suspected might just be the one for him.
Alex wasn't sure that he believed in God. He hadn't ever really thought about it actually. But that didn't stop him from sending out a little prayer to whoever might be listening.
[I]Please let her molecules be in one piece. And please let mine stay that way until I can see her again.[/I]
To be continued.