[u]Part 36[/u]
Liz could not tear her eyes away from Tess.
It could not be true. How could it be possible that they were both clones of the same person? How could they [I]be[/I] the same person?
Logically, it made sense though. After all, Max had been attracted to both of them. Grant had explained why they looked different. Her pod had been damaged in the Crash, and he had been forced to replace Liz's human DNA at some point during the cloning process.
But, she had just started to accept that she and Tess were sisters. How could she accept that they were, essentially, one girl?
Tess was staring at her too, a slight frown on her pretty face. Liz could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she too tried to absorb this news. She felt her heart go out to the small blonde. In a way, Tess's world was in even more upheaval than Liz's was after these revelations. First of all, she was no longer Ava, the person she had always been told she was. Her connection to Max - a defining principle of her life - had been irrevocably severed by Grant's story. Finally, she had to accept that, not only was she Liz's sister, she was most likely Liz's clone.
Not even [I]that[/I]. Tess was a [I]clone[/I] of Liz's clone.
It was so ridiculous it was enough to make Liz want to burst out laughing. She felt like she had entered a nightmare, that if she bent even a little bit, she was going to lose it again and, this time, not even Max would be able to pull her back.
And, yet, she knew that wasn't true. Max was her grounding force. He was holding her together right now in fact, grasping her hand tightly, gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb. Calming her. Helping her to think straight.
Yes, she was certainly luckier than Tess.
But, in the end, Tess proved to be the stronger of the two of them anyway. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, after everyone else had stopped their exclamations of shock, Liz had absolutely no clue what her sister - Liz decided to keep thinking of the other girl that way, being as Rowena had done so - was going to say. She knew though that what she heard was the last thing she expected.
"I don't believe it."
"What?" Grant said, looking at her. "It's not a matter of believing it or not Tess. It's what happened."
Tess shook her head impatiently. "No, not about that," she corrected. "I believe that Serena and Rowena were clones. I remember Rowena as my sister, but I believe that it might have been true. It explains a lot actually - why Khivar accepted Serena with absolutely no suspicion, why Rowena would have trusted Serena so completely to take her place, why no one knew Rowena had a sister in the first place."
"Then what don't you believe?" Kyle asked. Liz's ex-boyfriend had gone to stand near Tess, as though he too had understood that she had no one to support her through any of this. Liz felt again how truly lucky she was as she glanced around. Maria, her best friend, still looked shell-shocked, but could certainly be counted on should Liz need her. Liz was pretty sure that even Michael would comfort her before he would Tess. And she had Max. Her beloved Max, who believed in her more than she believed in herself.
"I don't buy that Rowena and Zan were so selfish," Tess told him, her voice firm. "I [I]remember[/I] both of them." Seeing Michael perk up at this, she elaborated quickly, "I mean, I don't remember everything. But I remember [I]who[/I] they were. There is no way they would have turned their backs on their planets so selfishly." She turned to Kate for support. "You remember them too. At least, partly. Do you believe this?"
Kate sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore." She thought for a moment, then continued slowly, "But my gut is telling me that Tess is right. I know what I remembered before all this started coming out. That kind of behavior doesn't sound like the Zan I knew - at first anyway. Before he killed me," she added wryly. But Liz could tell that she was almost joking about it now. She was no longer scared of Max. "Or Ro either," she added, smiling at Liz.
"It really just doesn't make sense," Tess stated. "I mean, we're all essentially the same. Circumstance and experience have molded us into slightly different people, but our characters aren't so different from what they were before. How could Zan and Rowena have become Max and Liz? I mean, it's impossible!" She looked directly at Liz, swallowed. "You are the least selfish person I know Liz. You've given up the person you most love in the world at least twice at my last count. I just can't believe that Rowena wouldn't have done the same." She looked at Grant. "You must be wrong."
Grant shrugged. "I know what I know. There is no question that Serena was Rowena's clone and she ended up married to Khivar. And it wasn't Zan on the throne of Antar following his father's death either. There is no question about that. It's why Vilandra fled Antar. She just [I]knew[/I] it wasn't her brother. But she didn't buy Rath's explanation either."
"And Rath's explanation was what?" Michael asked.
"That it was a shapeshifter," Grant replied. He looked away. "A shapeshifter under Khivar's control. Not that he wasn't entirely justified in thinking that. Rath suspected the truth about Wendar long before anyone else."
Liz frowned, looked at Max. His next question seemed to indicate that he was thinking exactly along the same lines she was. "I think it's time for you to tell us exactly how your people got involved in this mess," he told Grant. "For a race that supposedly didn't care about the rest of the system, they seem to be up to their necks in all of it"
"Trusted enough to be sent as our protectors," Michael put in, scowling at Grant again. "But like I said before, it seems that protection is about the farthest thing from what either you or Nasedo has tried to do on this planet."
"My goal has always been your protection," Grant insisted. "I told you that any actions to the contrary since then have been simply to keep myself alive to continue to do so. Before leaving Antar, I swear I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Everything I did back then was because I was ordered to do so. I just did it - no questions asked, no wondering why. I tried to explain to you what it means to be Wendarian. We do not have free will, do not make our own choices. But, in the end, I had my own reasons for wanting to come along that had nothing to do with Wendar."
"Which were what?" Michael demanded suspiciously.
But Liz was watching Grant's face while he spoke and, she for one, thought she knew. "Love," she said quietly.
Grant jerked slightly, looked at Liz. His expression relaxed though and he nodded. "Love."
"Love of who?" This came again from Michael, who was obviously still so annoyed at Grant, he wasn't thinking straight. Because, it was so obvious. But, then, Rath had quite clearly been blind in their last life too, Liz thought wryly. He had seen the Wendarians for what they really were, but had missed something even closer to home.
"Vilandra," Liz said. She tilted her head, staring at Grant, but knew she was right. "It was Vilandra, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Grant lowered his gaze. "I came to protect her."
"Oh Lord." Liz looked at Michael sharply. He was rolling his eyes at Max. "I knew there was a reason I hated this guy. He was making time with my wife."
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, smacking him lightly, but Liz could tell she wasn't really upset. "I'm standing right here!"
"Ow," was all Michael said, but put his arm around Maria, demonstrating that what Grant felt for Isabel really meant nothing to him now.
"Rath didn't love Vilandra," Grant said defensively. "Nor did she love him."
"That's not true," Kate spoke up. "They loved each other. They just weren't [I]in[/I] love. They grew up together. It was more of a brother/sister type thing. Like it obviously is now."
"Fine," Grant admitted. "She did love him. But she was destined for so much more. She deserved so much more. And I was there to provide it."
"Lucky her," Michael muttered. Max snorted. Liz sighed. Poor Isabel. For the first time ever, Liz was glad she didn't have brothers. Glancing at Tess, she smiled slightly. But it was going to be nice to have a sister. Even if no one else could ever know.
"But what about Khivar?" Asked Kyle. "I thought he was the one screwing around with Vilandra?"
"Nice Kyle." Maria shook her head. "Screwing around? Nice image there."
"Whatever." Kyle rolled his eyes too. "Wasn't he? That's what the midget said in that message - and isn't he Khivar's right-hand man? Sort of like you were to Max? You'd think he'd know." He said this to Michael, who shrugged, his arms crossed, obviously annoyed by the whole idea of Vilandra with [I]anyone[/I].
"Well, apparently no one was being very open with what was going on," Kate reminded him. "Rath knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what exactly."
"That's true," Grant replied. "And I can explain about Khivar." They all looked at him. He sighed. "To my eternal shame, my original intentions towards Vilandra were not entirely honourable. Like I said, I was following orders at the beginning."
Liz understood what he was getting at almost immediately. "You're a shapeshifter. You pretended to be Khivar, didn't you?"
He closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. "Yes."
"But why?" She asked gently. "What were the Wendarians hoping to accomplish?"
"They were creating chaos," Kate said, shaking her head in dismay. "It's the only answer. They sent him to Vilandra, pretending to be Khivar, made her fall in love with him, to drive her away from Zan."
Liz felt Max's anger before he spoke. She squeezed his hand warningly. She understood though. If there was one way to really rile either Max or Michael, it was by messing with Isabel. She guessed now that it had always been that way. "Is that true?" He demanded. Liz glanced across the chamber at Michael. She could see that Maria was clutching his arm just as tightly as she was holding onto Max.
"It's true," Grant said quietly. "We worked in the shadows, dividing alliances, breaking long-standing bonds. The whole trade route fiasco was the first attempt to sow discontent within the system. Wendar had a secret alliance with Knosis, prodded them into doing it, in an attempt to put Antar and Sardica at odds. They were the two most powerful planets. Wendar did not have the resources to take on either on their own. My planet needed them to destroy each other."
"But Zan ruined that by siding with Sardica at the trade conference," Liz guessed.
"My leaders did not understand Zan," Grant replied. "They thought he would be as easily manipulated as his father. It was the old king's Wendarian advisors who made him uneasy about Sardica's power. They arranged the alliance with Knosis, through the betrothal. But Zan was not nearly as suspicious. He had personal ties to the princess of Sardica, ties that his father had never bothered with." He looked at Kate meaningfully. "As long as he trusted Khivar, and Khivar trusted him, there would be no rift. Karana became Khivar's closest advisor. Her relationship with Zan and Vilandra meant that they would have worked it out somehow."
"But Wendar wanted to bring down both Antar and Sardica so that they could pick up the pieces and take control of the system. They had to break those ties," Liz continued. She was listening to Grant still, but also trying to understand what the motives could have been for creating such disharmony in a perfectly ordered society. Was it really all just about something as petty as one planet being jealous of two others?
"Basically," Grant agreed. "They tried politically first, with the trade embargo. But, as I said, Zan's waffling at the conference meant that Knosis could no longer be used as a pawn. So they sent me instead. I went to Antar while Zan was at Rowena's summer palace - as Khivar." He paused, then sighed. "And I made her fall in love with me."
Liz looked at Kate. "Do you remember any of this?"
She frowned. "I don't remember my brother coming to Antar. I was there during the conference. Zan sent me home when he returned. But it might be possible."
"I played on Vilandra's vanity," Grant continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "I told her that she was the only one who could fix things - that she had to convince her brother to side with us. That if she didn't, the only recourse we had was war. She was lonely. Rath was always gone, off commanding the Sky Army. They weren't even married yet." He looked at Michael, glaring slightly, as though disbelieving that anyone who had a claim to Vilandra could have been so stupid as to not marry her right away.
"You really fell in love with her," Liz said.
Grant simply nodded. They were all silent after this, as though trying to absorb the enormity of Wendar's perfidy. It was almost incomprehensible to Liz that so much real love could have emerged from so much hate. Because Wendar's covert interference had brought people together who likely never would have even met. Zan and Rowena. Vilandra and.well, whoever Grant's name had been then.
Finally Grant spoke again. "She was unlike anyone I had ever known. So open, so loving.always wanting to do what was right. She was torn apart by her loyalty to Rath, but she loved me too."
"But you lied to her," Kate snapped. "It wasn't [I]really[/I] you at all. You were pretending to be my brother."
"Why do you think I'm here now?" Grant demanded. "Why do you think I came to this hellish place? To make amends for that. To show her that I truly loved her, no matter who I was. To show her that I love her still."
"By lying to her [I]again[/I]," Michael put in fiercely. "By pretending to be human."
"She isn't Vilandra anymore," Max added. "She is Isabel. She won't be tricked again."
Grant looked right at him. "Maybe not. But she [I]will[/I] be saved. I will not allow anything to happen to her this time. Which is one reason for why I've come to you all now. Because [I]he[/I] has endangered her and I will no longer play his games."
There was another long silence after this. Finally, Maria said tentatively, "What [I]did[/I] happen? How did they all die?"
"Vilandra and Karana were all killed by the cloned Zan," Grant replied in a monotone. "They had come to Antar to free who they believed was Rowena. She was being held captive by the clone, taken when she'd gone to parlay for peace."
"My question is, why didn't the [I]real[/I] Khivar ever tell Vilandra the truth?" Tess asked. "If she switched sides, she must have found out that you weren't who you said you were."
"It was war," Grant told her. "Khivar [I]did[/I] use her in the end. He was desperate to save his wife," he added, when Kate looked ready to speak up to defend her brother. "Vilandra showed up on Sardica with her personal army and the ability to get them onto Antar. My guess is that Vilandra never revealed anything about her feelings to Karana. She would have been open with Khivar alone. He used her obvious love for him - probably having figured out what had happened by then - and made a play to reclaim Rowena through her."
"Who wasn't Rowena at all," Tess added. "That would have been Serena."
"Yes," Grant agreed.
"The real question is, where were Zan and Rowena all this time?" Kate asked. She looked at Tess. "I think Tess was right before. I just don't believe that they would have given up their thrones. After all, they were both betrothed, but they weren't married. Zan was the high king. In the end, he could have taken what he wanted. It would have been scandalous had they deserted their fiancés for each other, but it wouldn't have been illegal."
"Not to mention, even if they had secretly replaced themselves," Liz said, "I just can't believe that they would have sat back and watched the entire system go to war, when they could have stopped it. It sounds like the clone Zan was the [I]real[/I] problem. If the real Zan had emerged, it all could have been fixed."
They all looked at Grant. He sighed. "I cannot tell you any of that. I played no role on Valonia. When it came to my own people, I went where I was told, until the very end, when I managed to talk myself onto the mission to Earth."
"Which begs the question," Kyle said. "How did no one ever figure out that the Wendarians were behind it all?"
"As I said," Grant answered. "I think that, by the end, Khivar did know. But, at that point, he was so furious about that fact that his wife had been taken captive, he wasn't thinking straight. He despised Zan. Rath was the only one who ever believed that the Zan on Antar wasn't the [I]real[/I] Zan. He was laughed right out of the Tribunal of the Five Planets with that accusation."
"Which was why the Wendarians were sent with us," Max guessed. "As far as Serena was concerned, they were the only neutral party in the system. The only ones who could be trusted."
Liz sighed. "Irony at its most tragic."
"So was that what Serena was trying to do?" Kate asked Grant. "Did she send us here so that we could all come together and return united, with all that history behind us?"
"I really don't know what Serena intended at all," Grant told her. "But it seems logical. Unfortunately, sending a Wendarian contingent of guards meant that the mission was doomed to fail from the start."
"But fate intervened," Liz reminded him. "The Crash happened. And Nasedo lost control of half the pods."
Grant smiled slightly. "He did. Which is why I've been on the run from him for fifty years. I didn't want to have to tell him where I'd hidden my half of the loot." He paused, then added. "But, while the Crash was helpful in some small way, it meant that you were all separated. Also, the fact that your pod was damaged," he looked at Liz as he said this, "meant that they were all compromised. I believe that is why no one's memories are intact."
"God." Liz looked at Max. He was shaking his head. "I can't believe how close we came to never finding Liz." He put his arm around her shoulder. "It was all completely based on luck, wasn't it? If the shooting hadn't happened."
"And if you call that lucky, you're crazy," Maria interrupted. "I was there, remember? She almost died."
"I would have revealed the truth eventually," Grant assured them. "But the shooting did help to speed up the process because it showed that Liz could deal with the idea of aliens."
"I thought you said that I had to figure it out on my own," Liz said, annoyed at him now. "That you couldn't have told me."
"As long as Nasedo didn't know where you were, there was no need, nor any rush. I mean, it's not like there's a ship waiting out there to take you back." Grant shrugged. "The shooting changed all that too."
"I think we would have figured it out eventually anyway." This came from Michael. Liz looked at him surprised. He shrugged. "Maxwell knew who you were all along Liz. It was only a matter of time before he did something to bring you into this." He rolled his eyes. "I lived with his mooning for ten years. I'm telling you, it would have happened." He grinned slightly. "I'm just glad that I never had to kill him to prevent it."
"Yeah, thanks for that Michael," Max muttered. Liz looked at him. His face was a dull shade of red. Smiling, Liz kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank [I]you[/I]," she whispered.
"For what?" Max asked, surprised.
"For loving me."
"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff!" Kyle exclaimed. "Puh-lease!"
Max cleared his throat. "Sorry." He paused, as though trying to figure out where to go next. "Is that all you can tell us?" He finally asked Grant. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"I don't think there is anything more I can tell you," Grant replied.
"Where does Nasedo think you are?" Liz asked him. "I can't believe I just thought of this, but is it safe for you to be here? I mean, you've gone out of your way to make him believe you're on his side. Why the sudden change?"
"Because he's making his final plans," Grant told her grimly. "He already has three of you locked up. It's just a matter of time before he gets the rest of you. You need to know what you're dealing with here."
"Wait a minute!" Tess interrupted. "There's still so much we don't know! We need to figure out what happened to Zan and Rowena!"
"I can't tell you that," Grant insisted. "You'll have to depend on the granolith for those answers. It will provide them in its own time." He looked directly at Tess. "Or when you figure out how to make it work."
Tess sighed. "I just don't remember."
"Well, in the meantime, we need to concentrate on Nasedo anyway," Max assured her. "We need to end this once and for all here on Earth. The rest can be dealt with later."
"That's why I'm here," Grant agreed. "Now that he knows who you all are, he's planning to use you as hostages to gain control of the Antarian throne."
"But what about the essence sucking?" Kate asked. "Why is he doing that?"
"To control you of course," Grant replied. "Your alien essences make you who you are. Without them, you are lost. You may not remember who you were entirely, but you [I]know[/I] inherently within."
"Okay, hold it!" Michael held up his hands. "What's this about essence sucking?"
Liz was just as confused as Michael. They hadn't heard anything about this. What were Kate and Grant talking about?
Kate grimaced. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" She quickly explained about how both Isabel and Jack had been somehow made completely human.
"Who wouldn't forget something like that?" Kyle asked the group at large when she was done. "I mean, what's a little alien essence stealing among friends?"
"Kyle," Liz said warningly. "Kate had enough on her mind when she came here. It's no wonder she forgot." She looked at Grant. "Is there any way to fix this?"
He nodded. "The granolith holds your alien essences in perpetuity. You will all continue to live on within it, as long as it is functional."
"So what you're saying is, I could kill the king right now and you could bring him back?" Kyle asked, glancing at Max with a grin on his face.
"Kyle!" Liz exclaimed. She looked up at Max, who was just shaking his head and sighing.
"I'm just kidding Liz. I can't help how my brain works. I say these things before I think how they might sound. I meant to say that I could kill [I]any[/I] of you.well, except Maria of course."
"Kyle, shut up," Tess ordered.
"And count to ten before speaking. [I]Every[/I] time," Maria snapped, her tone threatening. "Or it will be you who will need some reviving." She paused. "Oh wait.You don't [I]have[/I] that option." She glared at him.
"I don't need your stupid granolith. I have Buddha," Kyle replied, but he meekly took a step backwards so that he was half-hidden behind Tess, who was now rolling her eyes.
"Yes," Grant replied, looking at Kyle as though he thought he might be half- insane. Liz thought he might be right. "We'd only need some human DNA to reincarnate him."
"So what you're saying is that we need to bring Isabel and Jack here to heal them," Max asked. "And that in order to do that, we need to take care of Nasedo first."
"That's what I'm saying."
They all looked at each other.
Finally, Michael broke the silence, after holding Maria's wrist close to his face and looking at her watch. "Well, it's the middle of the night. What better time for a jailbreak?"
Liz sighed. She felt Max pull her more closely against his chest, took momentary comfort. But, her mind would not stop. If only it could be as simple as Michael made it sound.
But, she knew, that it wouldn't be. Nasedo had waited two generations to take control of the Antarian system. He was going to have planned for every eventuality. A raid to rescue their friends? They were likely just walking into a trap.
Yet, she didn't see that they had any choice. The eight of them had been brought to Earth for a reason. It was time to reunite them all and find out exactly what it was. And, the only way to make that happen was to confront their greatest enemy. Now.
Even if, she knew deep down, they weren't anywhere near ready.
To be continued.
Liz could not tear her eyes away from Tess.
It could not be true. How could it be possible that they were both clones of the same person? How could they [I]be[/I] the same person?
Logically, it made sense though. After all, Max had been attracted to both of them. Grant had explained why they looked different. Her pod had been damaged in the Crash, and he had been forced to replace Liz's human DNA at some point during the cloning process.
But, she had just started to accept that she and Tess were sisters. How could she accept that they were, essentially, one girl?
Tess was staring at her too, a slight frown on her pretty face. Liz could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she too tried to absorb this news. She felt her heart go out to the small blonde. In a way, Tess's world was in even more upheaval than Liz's was after these revelations. First of all, she was no longer Ava, the person she had always been told she was. Her connection to Max - a defining principle of her life - had been irrevocably severed by Grant's story. Finally, she had to accept that, not only was she Liz's sister, she was most likely Liz's clone.
Not even [I]that[/I]. Tess was a [I]clone[/I] of Liz's clone.
It was so ridiculous it was enough to make Liz want to burst out laughing. She felt like she had entered a nightmare, that if she bent even a little bit, she was going to lose it again and, this time, not even Max would be able to pull her back.
And, yet, she knew that wasn't true. Max was her grounding force. He was holding her together right now in fact, grasping her hand tightly, gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb. Calming her. Helping her to think straight.
Yes, she was certainly luckier than Tess.
But, in the end, Tess proved to be the stronger of the two of them anyway. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, after everyone else had stopped their exclamations of shock, Liz had absolutely no clue what her sister - Liz decided to keep thinking of the other girl that way, being as Rowena had done so - was going to say. She knew though that what she heard was the last thing she expected.
"I don't believe it."
"What?" Grant said, looking at her. "It's not a matter of believing it or not Tess. It's what happened."
Tess shook her head impatiently. "No, not about that," she corrected. "I believe that Serena and Rowena were clones. I remember Rowena as my sister, but I believe that it might have been true. It explains a lot actually - why Khivar accepted Serena with absolutely no suspicion, why Rowena would have trusted Serena so completely to take her place, why no one knew Rowena had a sister in the first place."
"Then what don't you believe?" Kyle asked. Liz's ex-boyfriend had gone to stand near Tess, as though he too had understood that she had no one to support her through any of this. Liz felt again how truly lucky she was as she glanced around. Maria, her best friend, still looked shell-shocked, but could certainly be counted on should Liz need her. Liz was pretty sure that even Michael would comfort her before he would Tess. And she had Max. Her beloved Max, who believed in her more than she believed in herself.
"I don't buy that Rowena and Zan were so selfish," Tess told him, her voice firm. "I [I]remember[/I] both of them." Seeing Michael perk up at this, she elaborated quickly, "I mean, I don't remember everything. But I remember [I]who[/I] they were. There is no way they would have turned their backs on their planets so selfishly." She turned to Kate for support. "You remember them too. At least, partly. Do you believe this?"
Kate sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore." She thought for a moment, then continued slowly, "But my gut is telling me that Tess is right. I know what I remembered before all this started coming out. That kind of behavior doesn't sound like the Zan I knew - at first anyway. Before he killed me," she added wryly. But Liz could tell that she was almost joking about it now. She was no longer scared of Max. "Or Ro either," she added, smiling at Liz.
"It really just doesn't make sense," Tess stated. "I mean, we're all essentially the same. Circumstance and experience have molded us into slightly different people, but our characters aren't so different from what they were before. How could Zan and Rowena have become Max and Liz? I mean, it's impossible!" She looked directly at Liz, swallowed. "You are the least selfish person I know Liz. You've given up the person you most love in the world at least twice at my last count. I just can't believe that Rowena wouldn't have done the same." She looked at Grant. "You must be wrong."
Grant shrugged. "I know what I know. There is no question that Serena was Rowena's clone and she ended up married to Khivar. And it wasn't Zan on the throne of Antar following his father's death either. There is no question about that. It's why Vilandra fled Antar. She just [I]knew[/I] it wasn't her brother. But she didn't buy Rath's explanation either."
"And Rath's explanation was what?" Michael asked.
"That it was a shapeshifter," Grant replied. He looked away. "A shapeshifter under Khivar's control. Not that he wasn't entirely justified in thinking that. Rath suspected the truth about Wendar long before anyone else."
Liz frowned, looked at Max. His next question seemed to indicate that he was thinking exactly along the same lines she was. "I think it's time for you to tell us exactly how your people got involved in this mess," he told Grant. "For a race that supposedly didn't care about the rest of the system, they seem to be up to their necks in all of it"
"Trusted enough to be sent as our protectors," Michael put in, scowling at Grant again. "But like I said before, it seems that protection is about the farthest thing from what either you or Nasedo has tried to do on this planet."
"My goal has always been your protection," Grant insisted. "I told you that any actions to the contrary since then have been simply to keep myself alive to continue to do so. Before leaving Antar, I swear I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Everything I did back then was because I was ordered to do so. I just did it - no questions asked, no wondering why. I tried to explain to you what it means to be Wendarian. We do not have free will, do not make our own choices. But, in the end, I had my own reasons for wanting to come along that had nothing to do with Wendar."
"Which were what?" Michael demanded suspiciously.
But Liz was watching Grant's face while he spoke and, she for one, thought she knew. "Love," she said quietly.
Grant jerked slightly, looked at Liz. His expression relaxed though and he nodded. "Love."
"Love of who?" This came again from Michael, who was obviously still so annoyed at Grant, he wasn't thinking straight. Because, it was so obvious. But, then, Rath had quite clearly been blind in their last life too, Liz thought wryly. He had seen the Wendarians for what they really were, but had missed something even closer to home.
"Vilandra," Liz said. She tilted her head, staring at Grant, but knew she was right. "It was Vilandra, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Grant lowered his gaze. "I came to protect her."
"Oh Lord." Liz looked at Michael sharply. He was rolling his eyes at Max. "I knew there was a reason I hated this guy. He was making time with my wife."
"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, smacking him lightly, but Liz could tell she wasn't really upset. "I'm standing right here!"
"Ow," was all Michael said, but put his arm around Maria, demonstrating that what Grant felt for Isabel really meant nothing to him now.
"Rath didn't love Vilandra," Grant said defensively. "Nor did she love him."
"That's not true," Kate spoke up. "They loved each other. They just weren't [I]in[/I] love. They grew up together. It was more of a brother/sister type thing. Like it obviously is now."
"Fine," Grant admitted. "She did love him. But she was destined for so much more. She deserved so much more. And I was there to provide it."
"Lucky her," Michael muttered. Max snorted. Liz sighed. Poor Isabel. For the first time ever, Liz was glad she didn't have brothers. Glancing at Tess, she smiled slightly. But it was going to be nice to have a sister. Even if no one else could ever know.
"But what about Khivar?" Asked Kyle. "I thought he was the one screwing around with Vilandra?"
"Nice Kyle." Maria shook her head. "Screwing around? Nice image there."
"Whatever." Kyle rolled his eyes too. "Wasn't he? That's what the midget said in that message - and isn't he Khivar's right-hand man? Sort of like you were to Max? You'd think he'd know." He said this to Michael, who shrugged, his arms crossed, obviously annoyed by the whole idea of Vilandra with [I]anyone[/I].
"Well, apparently no one was being very open with what was going on," Kate reminded him. "Rath knew something was wrong, but he didn't know what exactly."
"That's true," Grant replied. "And I can explain about Khivar." They all looked at him. He sighed. "To my eternal shame, my original intentions towards Vilandra were not entirely honourable. Like I said, I was following orders at the beginning."
Liz understood what he was getting at almost immediately. "You're a shapeshifter. You pretended to be Khivar, didn't you?"
He closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. "Yes."
"But why?" She asked gently. "What were the Wendarians hoping to accomplish?"
"They were creating chaos," Kate said, shaking her head in dismay. "It's the only answer. They sent him to Vilandra, pretending to be Khivar, made her fall in love with him, to drive her away from Zan."
Liz felt Max's anger before he spoke. She squeezed his hand warningly. She understood though. If there was one way to really rile either Max or Michael, it was by messing with Isabel. She guessed now that it had always been that way. "Is that true?" He demanded. Liz glanced across the chamber at Michael. She could see that Maria was clutching his arm just as tightly as she was holding onto Max.
"It's true," Grant said quietly. "We worked in the shadows, dividing alliances, breaking long-standing bonds. The whole trade route fiasco was the first attempt to sow discontent within the system. Wendar had a secret alliance with Knosis, prodded them into doing it, in an attempt to put Antar and Sardica at odds. They were the two most powerful planets. Wendar did not have the resources to take on either on their own. My planet needed them to destroy each other."
"But Zan ruined that by siding with Sardica at the trade conference," Liz guessed.
"My leaders did not understand Zan," Grant replied. "They thought he would be as easily manipulated as his father. It was the old king's Wendarian advisors who made him uneasy about Sardica's power. They arranged the alliance with Knosis, through the betrothal. But Zan was not nearly as suspicious. He had personal ties to the princess of Sardica, ties that his father had never bothered with." He looked at Kate meaningfully. "As long as he trusted Khivar, and Khivar trusted him, there would be no rift. Karana became Khivar's closest advisor. Her relationship with Zan and Vilandra meant that they would have worked it out somehow."
"But Wendar wanted to bring down both Antar and Sardica so that they could pick up the pieces and take control of the system. They had to break those ties," Liz continued. She was listening to Grant still, but also trying to understand what the motives could have been for creating such disharmony in a perfectly ordered society. Was it really all just about something as petty as one planet being jealous of two others?
"Basically," Grant agreed. "They tried politically first, with the trade embargo. But, as I said, Zan's waffling at the conference meant that Knosis could no longer be used as a pawn. So they sent me instead. I went to Antar while Zan was at Rowena's summer palace - as Khivar." He paused, then sighed. "And I made her fall in love with me."
Liz looked at Kate. "Do you remember any of this?"
She frowned. "I don't remember my brother coming to Antar. I was there during the conference. Zan sent me home when he returned. But it might be possible."
"I played on Vilandra's vanity," Grant continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "I told her that she was the only one who could fix things - that she had to convince her brother to side with us. That if she didn't, the only recourse we had was war. She was lonely. Rath was always gone, off commanding the Sky Army. They weren't even married yet." He looked at Michael, glaring slightly, as though disbelieving that anyone who had a claim to Vilandra could have been so stupid as to not marry her right away.
"You really fell in love with her," Liz said.
Grant simply nodded. They were all silent after this, as though trying to absorb the enormity of Wendar's perfidy. It was almost incomprehensible to Liz that so much real love could have emerged from so much hate. Because Wendar's covert interference had brought people together who likely never would have even met. Zan and Rowena. Vilandra and.well, whoever Grant's name had been then.
Finally Grant spoke again. "She was unlike anyone I had ever known. So open, so loving.always wanting to do what was right. She was torn apart by her loyalty to Rath, but she loved me too."
"But you lied to her," Kate snapped. "It wasn't [I]really[/I] you at all. You were pretending to be my brother."
"Why do you think I'm here now?" Grant demanded. "Why do you think I came to this hellish place? To make amends for that. To show her that I truly loved her, no matter who I was. To show her that I love her still."
"By lying to her [I]again[/I]," Michael put in fiercely. "By pretending to be human."
"She isn't Vilandra anymore," Max added. "She is Isabel. She won't be tricked again."
Grant looked right at him. "Maybe not. But she [I]will[/I] be saved. I will not allow anything to happen to her this time. Which is one reason for why I've come to you all now. Because [I]he[/I] has endangered her and I will no longer play his games."
There was another long silence after this. Finally, Maria said tentatively, "What [I]did[/I] happen? How did they all die?"
"Vilandra and Karana were all killed by the cloned Zan," Grant replied in a monotone. "They had come to Antar to free who they believed was Rowena. She was being held captive by the clone, taken when she'd gone to parlay for peace."
"My question is, why didn't the [I]real[/I] Khivar ever tell Vilandra the truth?" Tess asked. "If she switched sides, she must have found out that you weren't who you said you were."
"It was war," Grant told her. "Khivar [I]did[/I] use her in the end. He was desperate to save his wife," he added, when Kate looked ready to speak up to defend her brother. "Vilandra showed up on Sardica with her personal army and the ability to get them onto Antar. My guess is that Vilandra never revealed anything about her feelings to Karana. She would have been open with Khivar alone. He used her obvious love for him - probably having figured out what had happened by then - and made a play to reclaim Rowena through her."
"Who wasn't Rowena at all," Tess added. "That would have been Serena."
"Yes," Grant agreed.
"The real question is, where were Zan and Rowena all this time?" Kate asked. She looked at Tess. "I think Tess was right before. I just don't believe that they would have given up their thrones. After all, they were both betrothed, but they weren't married. Zan was the high king. In the end, he could have taken what he wanted. It would have been scandalous had they deserted their fiancés for each other, but it wouldn't have been illegal."
"Not to mention, even if they had secretly replaced themselves," Liz said, "I just can't believe that they would have sat back and watched the entire system go to war, when they could have stopped it. It sounds like the clone Zan was the [I]real[/I] problem. If the real Zan had emerged, it all could have been fixed."
They all looked at Grant. He sighed. "I cannot tell you any of that. I played no role on Valonia. When it came to my own people, I went where I was told, until the very end, when I managed to talk myself onto the mission to Earth."
"Which begs the question," Kyle said. "How did no one ever figure out that the Wendarians were behind it all?"
"As I said," Grant answered. "I think that, by the end, Khivar did know. But, at that point, he was so furious about that fact that his wife had been taken captive, he wasn't thinking straight. He despised Zan. Rath was the only one who ever believed that the Zan on Antar wasn't the [I]real[/I] Zan. He was laughed right out of the Tribunal of the Five Planets with that accusation."
"Which was why the Wendarians were sent with us," Max guessed. "As far as Serena was concerned, they were the only neutral party in the system. The only ones who could be trusted."
Liz sighed. "Irony at its most tragic."
"So was that what Serena was trying to do?" Kate asked Grant. "Did she send us here so that we could all come together and return united, with all that history behind us?"
"I really don't know what Serena intended at all," Grant told her. "But it seems logical. Unfortunately, sending a Wendarian contingent of guards meant that the mission was doomed to fail from the start."
"But fate intervened," Liz reminded him. "The Crash happened. And Nasedo lost control of half the pods."
Grant smiled slightly. "He did. Which is why I've been on the run from him for fifty years. I didn't want to have to tell him where I'd hidden my half of the loot." He paused, then added. "But, while the Crash was helpful in some small way, it meant that you were all separated. Also, the fact that your pod was damaged," he looked at Liz as he said this, "meant that they were all compromised. I believe that is why no one's memories are intact."
"God." Liz looked at Max. He was shaking his head. "I can't believe how close we came to never finding Liz." He put his arm around her shoulder. "It was all completely based on luck, wasn't it? If the shooting hadn't happened."
"And if you call that lucky, you're crazy," Maria interrupted. "I was there, remember? She almost died."
"I would have revealed the truth eventually," Grant assured them. "But the shooting did help to speed up the process because it showed that Liz could deal with the idea of aliens."
"I thought you said that I had to figure it out on my own," Liz said, annoyed at him now. "That you couldn't have told me."
"As long as Nasedo didn't know where you were, there was no need, nor any rush. I mean, it's not like there's a ship waiting out there to take you back." Grant shrugged. "The shooting changed all that too."
"I think we would have figured it out eventually anyway." This came from Michael. Liz looked at him surprised. He shrugged. "Maxwell knew who you were all along Liz. It was only a matter of time before he did something to bring you into this." He rolled his eyes. "I lived with his mooning for ten years. I'm telling you, it would have happened." He grinned slightly. "I'm just glad that I never had to kill him to prevent it."
"Yeah, thanks for that Michael," Max muttered. Liz looked at him. His face was a dull shade of red. Smiling, Liz kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank [I]you[/I]," she whispered.
"For what?" Max asked, surprised.
"For loving me."
"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff!" Kyle exclaimed. "Puh-lease!"
Max cleared his throat. "Sorry." He paused, as though trying to figure out where to go next. "Is that all you can tell us?" He finally asked Grant. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
"I don't think there is anything more I can tell you," Grant replied.
"Where does Nasedo think you are?" Liz asked him. "I can't believe I just thought of this, but is it safe for you to be here? I mean, you've gone out of your way to make him believe you're on his side. Why the sudden change?"
"Because he's making his final plans," Grant told her grimly. "He already has three of you locked up. It's just a matter of time before he gets the rest of you. You need to know what you're dealing with here."
"Wait a minute!" Tess interrupted. "There's still so much we don't know! We need to figure out what happened to Zan and Rowena!"
"I can't tell you that," Grant insisted. "You'll have to depend on the granolith for those answers. It will provide them in its own time." He looked directly at Tess. "Or when you figure out how to make it work."
Tess sighed. "I just don't remember."
"Well, in the meantime, we need to concentrate on Nasedo anyway," Max assured her. "We need to end this once and for all here on Earth. The rest can be dealt with later."
"That's why I'm here," Grant agreed. "Now that he knows who you all are, he's planning to use you as hostages to gain control of the Antarian throne."
"But what about the essence sucking?" Kate asked. "Why is he doing that?"
"To control you of course," Grant replied. "Your alien essences make you who you are. Without them, you are lost. You may not remember who you were entirely, but you [I]know[/I] inherently within."
"Okay, hold it!" Michael held up his hands. "What's this about essence sucking?"
Liz was just as confused as Michael. They hadn't heard anything about this. What were Kate and Grant talking about?
Kate grimaced. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" She quickly explained about how both Isabel and Jack had been somehow made completely human.
"Who wouldn't forget something like that?" Kyle asked the group at large when she was done. "I mean, what's a little alien essence stealing among friends?"
"Kyle," Liz said warningly. "Kate had enough on her mind when she came here. It's no wonder she forgot." She looked at Grant. "Is there any way to fix this?"
He nodded. "The granolith holds your alien essences in perpetuity. You will all continue to live on within it, as long as it is functional."
"So what you're saying is, I could kill the king right now and you could bring him back?" Kyle asked, glancing at Max with a grin on his face.
"Kyle!" Liz exclaimed. She looked up at Max, who was just shaking his head and sighing.
"I'm just kidding Liz. I can't help how my brain works. I say these things before I think how they might sound. I meant to say that I could kill [I]any[/I] of you.well, except Maria of course."
"Kyle, shut up," Tess ordered.
"And count to ten before speaking. [I]Every[/I] time," Maria snapped, her tone threatening. "Or it will be you who will need some reviving." She paused. "Oh wait.You don't [I]have[/I] that option." She glared at him.
"I don't need your stupid granolith. I have Buddha," Kyle replied, but he meekly took a step backwards so that he was half-hidden behind Tess, who was now rolling her eyes.
"Yes," Grant replied, looking at Kyle as though he thought he might be half- insane. Liz thought he might be right. "We'd only need some human DNA to reincarnate him."
"So what you're saying is that we need to bring Isabel and Jack here to heal them," Max asked. "And that in order to do that, we need to take care of Nasedo first."
"That's what I'm saying."
They all looked at each other.
Finally, Michael broke the silence, after holding Maria's wrist close to his face and looking at her watch. "Well, it's the middle of the night. What better time for a jailbreak?"
Liz sighed. She felt Max pull her more closely against his chest, took momentary comfort. But, her mind would not stop. If only it could be as simple as Michael made it sound.
But, she knew, that it wouldn't be. Nasedo had waited two generations to take control of the Antarian system. He was going to have planned for every eventuality. A raid to rescue their friends? They were likely just walking into a trap.
Yet, she didn't see that they had any choice. The eight of them had been brought to Earth for a reason. It was time to reunite them all and find out exactly what it was. And, the only way to make that happen was to confront their greatest enemy. Now.
Even if, she knew deep down, they weren't anywhere near ready.
To be continued.