Sliding Into Antar
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On The Road Again
Chapter 14
XIV
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On the road again!
Just can't wait to get on the road again!
The life I love is makin' music with my friends
And I can't wait to get on the road again!
On the road again!
Goin' places that I've never been!
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again!
On the road again!
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends!
Michael leaned back in his co-pilots seat and smiled at Maria and Liz…
"Looks like we can count on music during our journey. Max and Kyle must be expanding their artistic range. First MC Hammer, now Willie Nelson. Well, no one can say they're locked into a rut."
Liz laughed and nodded. "I don't know, I kind of like it myself. They're not that bad… once you get used to them."
"Green eggs and ham wouldn't look that bad to someone coming out of the desert after a week," Michael chuckled. "We've been deprived of real music for too long."
Maria slapped Michael playfully on the arm. "Don't knock Dr. Seuss. I like Dr. Seuss. And I agree with Liz, Max and Kyle are kind of… sort of… not too bad."
"Like green eggs and ham?"
"Oh, Michael!"
On the road again!
Goin' places that I've never been!
Seein' things that I may never see again,
And I can't wait to get on the road again!
On the road again!
Like a band of gypsies we go down the highway
We're the best of friends!
Jung-Jo lifted his head and let out a softly rising aaarrrroooooooooooooooo, seeming, eerily, to harmonize with Max and Kyle.
"Okay, now, that's an improvement!" Michael exclaimed with a big grin. "I could listen to that!"
As fate would have it, Varec walked in at that moment, effectively ending the concert. Everybody turned to Varec, waiting to see what he had to say about their futures.
Varec smiled, but Michael noticed that he also swallowed hard… "As you often ask on Eluymer, so I have heard, do you prefer the good news first or the bad news first?"
"Bad," Michael said. "Good," Liz and Maria both said at the same time. "Just give it all to us," Max said.
Varec nodded. "Well, the bad news is, I don't know exactly where we are interdimensionally, so I cannot guarantee that the next Antar we come to will be our own… or the one after that… or ever…"
"What's the good news," Michael asked.
"I know what happened. The New Granolith was moved off of its predetermined dimensional plane by a powerful beam composed of ions and protons… the vortex that brought the four Sliders to our ship."
"So what do we do about it," Max asked. "There must be a solution."
"There is always a solution," Varec replied. "If one can find it."
"Then we work on that," Max said. "We WILL get home."
The others all nodded, and even Varec, who –usually- was too scientific-minded to be swayed by emotion, seemed oddly relieved seeing Max so emphatic that they would get home.
"Where there is conviction, there is always solution," Varec said with a smile, switching from Antarian, which he had been speaking, to his best English.
"You mean where there's a will there's a way," Maria said.
Varec nodded. "That's what I said, isn't it?"
Maria smiled and nodded.
Michael sat back down in his seat, leaned back, and sighed… "Well, nothing to do then but see where we wind up… and if it's not our Antar… we refine our calculations and try again…"
He picked up a couple of wooden pointers and began beating out a hard drum beat on the console…
And the road becomes my bride
I am stripped of all but pride
So in her I do confide
And she keeps me satisfied
Gives me all I need
And with dust in throat I crave
Only knowledge will I save
To the game you stay a slave
Rover wanderer
Nomad vagabond
Call me what you will
But I'll take my time anywhere
Free to speak my mind anywhere
And I'll redefine anywhere
Anywhere I roam
Where I lay my head is home.
Jung-Jo put both paws over his head, and Michael stopped and looked at him…
"Traitor! I'll have you know that was Metallica! That's real music!"
>>>>>>>>>>
Forty-eight hours later, everyone was gathered in front of the New Granolith's large bridge window to watch, as once again the ship approached the planet Antar. There was no question it was Antar. The Golden Sea was pretty distinctive… plus, all the landmasses were right. But was it theirs? No one could say for sure.
"What do you think, Max," Michael asked.
Max shook his head slowly and shrugged. It looked like their Antar… but so had the last one… before the storms had started. So far, there were no visible storms on this Antar. That, at least, was a good sign. Max slowed the ship and took it into the upper reaches of Antar's atmosphere. Almost instantly, they began receiving a transmission.
"Put it on the VidScreen," Max said, but Michael was already on it.
A young man appeared on the screen. It was Dak, the young AVMTech at the Antar Space Field outside CoruzAntar. Immediately, a cheer went up from everyone onboard the New Granolith.
"Wait," Max said, holding up his hand, "Don't get your hopes up too high just yet. Just because Dak is here doesn't necessarily mean this is our Antar."
"But it could be," Isabel said, grinning.
Max nodded. "Yeah. It could be."
"Identify yourself and your ship," the young AVMTech said. Everyone's hearts sank a bit, but they hoped that there would be some unexpected explanation for Dak's not recognizing the New Granolith.
"I am Zan," Max said. "Rath is with me… and my wife, Liz, and our friends. The ship is the New Granolith, our mother ship. Are you having a problem with the transponder signals, Dak?"
"No problem with the signals," Dak said. "You will have to land at the field on the outside of CoruzAntar, on the east side of the capitol."
"Do you know who I am, Dak," Max asked.
"You said that you are Zan."
"Do you know who Zan is?"
"Of course. Zan was our king. But you are not that Zan."
"Was?"
"Before Kivar… then the regents."
"Who?"
"The regents… Lady Vilandra and the new King of Antar."
"The… what!"
"Omigod!" Isabel exclaimed, "Please, please, please don't let it be Kivar!"
"Lady Vilandra… Isabel… and Alex, the King and Queen of Antar.
tbc