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Sliding Into Antar

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The Boy Who Would Be King,

And The One Who Wouldn't

Chapter 20

XX

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"You see now why I don't like to talk about what happened in the past…" Alex said, looking uncomfortable about having told everyone as much as he had. "Whatever Tess did a long time ago, she's more than made up for it. She gave up her life to save me… and Isabel… and Zory and Tryla. And let's not forget that she got rid of Kivar in the process… The whole planet is grateful for that. The old slate has been wiped clean and started over. It's the right thing to do. Dwelling on what happened back then is only hurtful and embarrassing to Tess, and that's not the way I want to run my planet… or treat my friends…"

Liz smiled and nodded understandingly, laying her hand on his… "Alex, the only thing greater than your lovability… is your nobility. You deserve to be a king."

Alex smiled but rolled his eyes.

"You do!" Maria said, agreeing emphatically with Liz. "Alex, some people are born noble. You're one of them. Just accept it."

"Isabel was born noble," Alex protested, "Not me. I'm just the same Alex I always was."

"Exactly," Maria exclaimed. "That's our point exactly!"

Liz nodded. "Alex… you ARE exactly who you always were… That's why you deserve to be a king."

Alex sighed. "Well, apparently a lot of people here agree with you. I tried to tell them I was just a dumb kid from Roswell and didn't know squat about being a king, but they kept treating me like the king… And Isabel was royalty by rights… so eventually I just stopped fighting it. Arguing with them didn't seem to faze them anyway. I would say, "I'm not a king. I'm a plain dude from a little town on Earth," and they would smile and say, "We know. What would you like us to do next, your majesty?"

Liz and Maria laughed and nodded.

"Antarians can be kind of single minded," Liz said, smiling, "…when they know they're right."

Alex nodded. He seemed to accept it, though not without some embarrassment.

"After Kivar was killed, Isabel, Tess, and I became some kind of heroes on Antar. It seems that nobody had ever liked Kivar very much… even his closest confidants and his own guards. At first, they put us up in a very nice place, kind of like a hotel, for several weeks, then they gave us our own homes in CoruzAntar, the capitol. In the beginning, the people kept asking us about Max and Michael. They called them Zan and Rath. They wanted to know when Zan and Rath were coming back to be their king and protector again. Six months after Isabel, Tess, and I got here, the Antarians put together a special team of three Antarians to travel to Earth and bring Max and Michael back. But Max and Michael both decided they wanted to stay on Earth. Max didn't want to be the king.

I had planned to return to Earth after they came back, but I got talked into staying here. It seemed like the right thing to do at that point, and Isabel agreed. Plus… well… we had gotten married in the meantime. Do you think Roswell would recognize an Antarian marriage?"

Alex chuckled, and the others laughed.

"Well, you could always get married again… on Earth, I guess," Liz said, "But I see your point."

"I was wondering about something you said earlier," Max said… "You seemed upset with my double in this dimension… but I think it goes deeper than just that he decided not to come back to Antar."

Alex nodded. "Well, honestly, it's not really our Max that I hate… it's his future self or whatever he is… the guy that came back and tried to get Liz to fall out of love with him… or to do something to make him fall out of love with her. But future or present, he's still Max, right?"

"Omigod," Liz said, turning red, "We derailed future Max's plan in our dimension. Max and Michael came back from their future, which wasn't as far ahead as future Max's, and we all intercepted future Max… but Max told me about what happened in the old timeline, before it was changed… I mean… what WOULD HAVE happened after future Max left if his plan had gone as intended. It happened in the time Max and Michael came from, but not in mine, because they stopped it."

Alex nodded… "But he wanted you to fall out of love with him. And because of him, you were hurt… I mean, our Liz was hurt. Our Liz couldn't do what Max from the future told her to do. She told our Max about him. But it took her a very long time to get over the hurt. She couldn't believe that in some future, any future, Max would want to force her away so that he could be with someone else."

"But he thought it would save the world," Michael said, "I never thought much of the future dude myself, but maybe you're being just a little hard on him, Alex. I mean, geez, he did love Liz. Their world was ending, and he… they… were doing everything they knew how to do to save it."

Alex shook his head. "I know. I considered that. I did. But there's one thing I've always known… even when I was a kid… Doing something that's wrong cannot make something else right. It just can't. And what he did was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong! He only hurt Liz… She didn't do what he said, and the Earth didn't end anyway. So what did he accomplish? What would have happened if Liz had done what he said and made Max fall out of love with her? The world might have ended because of him."

"It did… I mean, it would have," Michael said, "We know that now. That's why we went back and intercepted him in our dimension and sent him packing back to his own time."

Alex nodded. "Well… I always suspected it. You just can't make things right by doing what is wrong. You can't do it!"

Liz smiled… "Where were you when I needed you? Never mind. Don't answer that, Alex. I know you didn't know about it at the time. In our dimension, my earlier self didn't tell anybody about future Max. But I… she… could have sure used your help."

Alex smiled.

"Well," Maria interjected, "I so, like, totally agree with you about the right and wrong thing, Alex, but there's probably something you ought to know. When we intercepted Max's future self or whatever he was… Liz and I were there. When our Max told him that his plan to make Liz fall out of love with him was going to fail, he wasn't upset… he was relieved. He actually cried. He said that he felt like he had been trying to sell his soul and that we had taken a terrible burden off his shoulders. After that, I could never hate him. He was wrong, but he really was doing what he thought was right… and it was killing him to do it."

Alex closed his eyes.

"Why did you have to tell me that, Maria? I've sort of enjoyed hating Max all these years. Well, maybe hating is too strong, but deploring his actions and… and whatever made him hurt Liz like that. I even justified the fact that I had taken his throne by telling myself that any SOB who would treat Liz that way didn't deserve to be the king. Now I'll have to stop hating him and consider whether I might have been wrong."

Sitting beside Liz, Max from the New Granolith grinned… then, unexplainably, he laughed… "Alex, you are the king here, and don't ever doubt that it was meant to be. If my double in this dimension didn't want to come back and take his throne, it was because he knew there was someone very capable already sitting on it… you and Isabel… and Antar wouldn't need him. Because of you and Isabel… and Tess… Kivar was gone and Antar had a new king, a good one. I'm quite certain that my double just looked at the facts and decided that you can't make a right by doing what is wrong."

"That's not fair, Max… throwing my own words back at me," Alex said, starting to grin in spite of himself… "But thanks, dude. I'll try to remember that."

Max nodded. "Anytime I can help with some words of wisdom… even if they're yours."

The others laughed.

"So how long have you and Isabel been the king and queen," Maria asked.

"Seven years, three months, and four days… in Earth time," Isabel said.

"You seem to have a prosperous planet," Max said. "Looks like you've been good for Antar."

Alex shrugged. "Common sense… and peace with our neighbors. Iz and I have promoted interchange of ideas and projects with the other planets in our sector… and with some that aren't in our sector. The result has been prosperity for everyone."

"I like your personal car," Michael said, "A Dyygitix-16 would cost two years of my salary on our Antar… and we're doing pretty well ourselves…"

Alex smiled. "One of the planets we trade with buys a lot of Dyygitix-sixteens from us. It's lowered the price considerably. Right now, it costs the average Antarian the equivalent of about six months' salary for a Dyygitix-sixteen. A Fan-Ji IV is about three months salary."

Michael turned to Max and grinned, his mind clearly working overtime on a plot… "Max… if we could trade with this Antar, interdimensionally, think of all the benefits for both planets…"

Max raised his eyebrows… "Trading with our own planet in another dimension… It's a novel concept. I'm pretty sure it's never been done. Interesting idea!"

"We'll trade with you," Alex said. "If you're interested, just have your accountants set up a co-op agreement with ours. You'll need proof of solvency and financial statements for the last five years…"

Liz and Maria laughed out loud, and Max grinned sheepishly, nodding… "No problem, Alex. We can do that."

"Alex the banker," Michael mused, grinning broadly, "When did you get to be so savvy, Alex?"

"Experience," Alex said with a sly grin. "I've got to protect the kingdom, you know."

Michael nodded.

>>>>>>>>>>

After dinner, Alex and Isabel assigned each couple or individual a guest room for the night. Then they all met on the large balcony on the second floor…

"Iz and I like to come out here and watch the stars at night," Alex said.

"It reminds me a bit of Frasier Woods," Isabel added with a wink. "The stars are different, but who can tell. It's like being back home on Earth… only I've got Alex with me now all the time."

"Well, you have to take the bad with the good, I guess," Michael joked. Liz slapped Michael playfully on the arm. "Michael, you're terrible!"

Michael grinned.

Alex put his arms around Isabel and kissed her, and she reciprocated. A moment later, the door behind them opened, and a grandmotherly Antarian lady peeked in.

"Come in, Matiya," Isabel said, "It's okay. We're all sort of family here. Are they ready?"

The lady smiled and nodded, then she opened the door and two little girls ran through the room and out onto the balcony and jumped into Alex and Isabel's arms.

"This is Maria Elizabeth," Isabel said, holding the eldest of the two, who appeared to be almost six.

"And this is Gloria Diane," Alex said, turning the smaller girl, who appeared to be about four, so that they could see her face.

"Oh my God, they're adorable!" Maria exclaimed, as she and Liz both rushed to hold them, getting there at the same time as Isabel and Tess, who had been standing on the other side.

"You named this one for your mother… and Alex's mother," Liz said, taking the four-year-old in her arms and kissing her then handing her to her mother's double, who looked like she might die if she had to wait one more second to hold the little girl.

Isabel nodded and handed the older girl to Maria. "And we named this one for the two best friends we had to leave behind."

Maria grinned and took Maria Elizabeth in her arms.

"Another reason we stayed here," Alex said with a wink. "The girls seem to have developed some unusual… abilities. I blame the Antarian air."

Isabel nodded. "When Maria Elizabeth was only three months old, we got our first clue that she might be different. I walked in to check on her, and the whole room had a soft glow. Maria Elizabeth didn't like the dark, so she just waved her little hand or wiggled her little nose or whatever she does and made it light. I still don't know how she does it, and she can't tell me." Isabel turned to her daughter… "How do you make the room light, sweetie?"

The little girl shrugged and smiled… "I just make the dark go away."

"See what I mean," Isabel said.

"Sounds pretty clear to me," Liz said, "She makes the dark go away."

Isabel laughed and nodded.

"Gloria Diane first started showing an unusual ability at about nine months," Alex said, "Or, at least, that's when we first became aware of it… but she may have come by hers honestly… from her mother… Isabel. We first realized something was going on when she kept appearing in our dreams."

"When she felt frightened or alone… or just in need of cuddling at night," Isabel said, "She came into our dreams with us. We finally realized that it wasn't just coincidence that we dreamed about her every night."

"And she made us all have the same dream together," Alex added. "She would come into Isabel's dream, then she would come get me and bring me into the dream with them. Sometimes she would get Maria Elizabeth and bring her into the dream, too. She still does."

"That's so sweet," Liz said.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, it is… but it kind of crimps my dream life, if you know what I mean. I haven't learned to put child locks on my mind yet, and sometimes when I start to have a great dream about Isabel and me… I wake up and shake my head, because I can't keep from thinking that Gloria Diane could just come toddling into the dream anytime with Maria Elizabeth by the hand."

"And I thought Zorel was a handful when he was little," Michael laughed. "He would stand outside our bedroom door and call for us at night if he heard a noise or had a bad dream or something, and if we ignored him too long, he blasted the lock and let himself in. But at least the blast gave us plenty of warning he was coming… and I could always get more locks."

"Gloria Diane will learn to use her ability more discretely as she grows older," Isabel said. "Until then, we can live with it."

Alex smiled and nodded. "They're only this age for a few short years. Some day I'll look back and say, what happened to those good old times… when Gloria Diane would bring us all together at night to cuddle."

Alex looked at Liz and Maria, and both of them had tears running down their faces.

"Wha… did I say something? I'm so sorry! Really, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to upset you!"

Liz shook her head and sniffed. "You didn't say anything wrong, Alex. You just made me think about how much I've been missing my own children. I haven't seen them in almost two months, and I never intended to be away from them so long."

Maria, Isabel, and Tess from the New Granolith were sniffing, too; and Max, Michael, Alex, and Varec looked so glum that Alex wished he could take back everything he had said.

"I'm sorry," Alex said again, apologetically.

Maria wiped her eyes and smiled. "Don't be sorry, Alex. What you said was beautiful. We wouldn't be crying if it weren't. We're just all missing our children. You and Isabel are so lucky!"

"But I didn't want to hurt you, Maria… any of you."

"You didn't, Alex. Being away from our families and our homes so long hurts us. But being here with you… this is the closest thing we've experienced to home since we've been gone; and that's unexpected, because your planet is the most different in a lot of ways. But there's a feeling of home here."

Alex looked around the room, and the others were nodding. He sighed deeply and hugged Isabel and his two little girls together in his arms. "This IS home. This is where Isabel and my girls are… It's where my heart is."

"Do you ever miss Earth," Michael asked.

Alex nodded. "We miss it… but like I said, my heart and soul are right here."

"That's why it feels like home," Liz said.

Maria smiled and nodded… "Because it is home. It's your home, and we feel it, because you feel it so strongly."

Alex smiled. "It would be wonderful to see my parents again… and our friends… but the team that was sent to Earth to try to bring Max and Michael back destroyed the only ship we had capable of going that far. They pushed it past its limits and… sort of blew the engines. It was an old model. It can't be fixed. But we're building a new one… a better one… more modern. It will be ready in eighteen months. We trade all the time within our system and have a lot of good ships, but Earth is seven galaxies away."

"A year and a half!" Liz exclaimed. "Alex, you need to find Varec… if he's here on your Antar."

Max and Michael laughed and nodded.

Liz turned to Max with a grin, and he took a deep breath. He knew that look. It was the "Can't-we-do-something-to-help-them" look. Max looked at Michael, and Michael just smiled.

Max turned back to Liz and shrugged, without saying anything. He didn't have to.

"We can get to Earth in five days… maybe four," Liz said, "In the New Granolith. If you could take a few days off, we could take you to see your parents and friends."

Alex and Isabel both smiled from ear to ear, and Isabel collected the girls up into her arms…

"Would you girls like to meet Grandma and Grandpa?"

The girls' smiles lit up the room. Alex looked back at Max, then he reached out and took Max's hand in his, with all the warmth of a perfect Antarian hand shake.

tbc