Sliding Into Antar
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Completing The Circle
Chapter 25
XXV
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Alex held up a long-stemmed goblet and offered a toast to his benefactors from the New Granolith. It was not the first and it probably would not be the last toast that Alex or Isabel would offer before the night was over. The crew of the New Granolith grinned and laughed, lifting their goblets in turn to their hosts. It was all light hearted and relaxed, almost like being home again back in their own dimension…
-Almost-
For Alex and Isabel… and for their two little girls… it was home. For Alex's parents, Chuck and Gloria Whitman, it would become home. For the crew of the New Granolith… it was the best thing that wasn't home. Everyone felt relaxed and happy. But none of them had forgotten that their own Antar… and their own families… were somewhere out there, lost, and they didn't know how to find them. Each of them had dwelled on that thought many times since becoming unwitting members of the interdimensional frequent flyers club. But being able to take Alex and Isabel and their daughters back to their own earth for a visit had made it more bearable. It had given them all a warm feeling inside… as well as providing some memorable and fun moments…
"I thought Maria's double wasn't going to let you come back to Antar, Alex… She didn't want to turn you loose," said Michael from the New Granolith, with a grin and a snicker.
Alex smiled sheepishly and nodded. "I'll have to thank Amy sometime for prying me loose."
This brought a round of good-hearted laughter from everyone at the table.
"I didn't realize how much I really had missed everyone," Alex sighed. "I'm really happy that we got this chance to see them again. I owe you guys a huge favor for that."
"If you can send us home, we'll consider it paid in full," Michael said.
Alex smiled. "I wish I could do that… I really do. I know how much you miss your own planet and your own families… I wish you all the luck in the galaxy finding your way back. But if you don't… you know… you'll always be welcome here. Just turn around and come back."
Liz shook her head. "You're sweet, Alex, but nothing can substitute for my family. We have to keep going… no matter where it leads… because we have to make it home. We HAVE to."
Alex nodded. "You will keep our address handy, though, won't you?"
Liz smiled and kissed Alex on the cheek… "We know where to find you. Varec has all the Antars and earths we've been to mapped out on special charts he's keeping. It's where we WANT to go… home… that we can't find."
"Do you think Amy will try to go back to see Maria again," Tess asked. "I mean… now that she knows where they are, I'm not sure that anything can keep her from going back if she gets the notion. She could lead Pierce to them."
Michael nodded pensively. "You're probably right… She'll go back… sooner or later." Then he smiled. "On the other hand, though, if Pierce follows her there, Amy'll probably solve the problem permanently. I wouldn't want to take her on… even if I were a psycho, alien-hunting, renegade agent. She'll probably give him the slip, though. She never did tell me how she got on our ship. She just said don't worry about it 'cause nobody else could do it the same way."
"You think she's right?"
Michael shrugged. "Probably. I hope so. Short of pulling her fingernails out, I don't think there's anything that would make her ever tell how she did it. I don't even think that would do it."
"Even if they hurt Maria?"
Michael paused and thought about this then shook his head. "They can't hurt Maria if they can't find her… and Amy would die before she'd give up that information. I'm not totally comfortable with them all knowing where Maria is… or my double… or Liz and Max either for that matter, but I have to admit that they're probably pretty safe. The Evanses will keep what they know hush hush… they'll never let on that they know anything. Amy will give anyone who tries to follow her the slip. And the Whitman's… well, Pierce would have to come to Antar to find them now. Have you seen the price of gas on earth lately? I don't think even Pierce has that much in his budget." Michael smiled, and the others all laughed and nodded.
"I did feel sorry for your mom and dad, though, Isabel, when you had to leave them to come back," Liz said. "I kind of understand how they felt… after you had been missing for so long, you know… then to lose you again so soon."
Isabel smiled. "They didn't lose me this time. They know where I am now. And they know that once our ship is finished, I'll be back to see them again. We all will. They understand. Your double's mom and dad were pretty misty-eyed, too, when they had to leave their daughter in Washington and go back home to Roswell."
Liz nodded and sighed. "They were, weren't they? I had a big lump in my throat when we all left earth. It felt like I was leaving my own parents… but I know my parents are back on our Antar in our dimension." The moment Liz said this, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply… "They traveled all the way across seven galaxies to be near me, and now… if we don't find our way back home… they may not ever see me again… and I may never see them… ever again."
Liz's eyes welled up with tears, and Isabel winced and leaned over to put an arm around her, hugging her sympathetically. Seeming to understand, though they didn't know all of the words that had been spoken, some of which were in English rather than Antarian, Mali and Gidi got up and walked over to Liz and put their arms around her, too. Then Gidi climbed into her lap.
Liz ran the tips of her fingers across her eyes and sniffed, hugging the girls and Isabel back… "If I didn't have everyone that I left behind still back there on our Antar, I could be very happy here on yours, Iz. You and Alex have made it really… well, home."
"They haven't done bad for the economy, either," Michael said. "This planet's as prosperous as ours. And they've done some things that we could copy on our Antar."
Alex smiled. "I'm no wizard. I just do what seems right."
Maria grinned and raised her eyebrows, and Liz nodded. "That's why it IS so right, Alex. You're not a politician or a demagogue… you're just… YOU… good ole… honest… lovable… sweet… unpretentious… Alex."
"What! Not a wizard? …Well, if that's all you think of me," Alex retorted, pretending to be offended; then he smiled slowly, and as the smile edged over his face, his eyes seemed to light up with a sort of mischievous good humor… and an indefinable warmth that made Isabel grin….
"Those are exactly the reasons why I love you, dear… some of them anyway," Isabel said, planting a long kiss on Alex's lips. This unexpected move on Isabel's part brought out cheers of encouragement and lots of smiles around the table… and left Alex curiously speechless. He grinned and took a swallow of water then shook his head… "Wow!"
Liz and Maria broke down and started laughing, and Tess followed, then everyone began to laugh, including the other Alex and Isabel, from the New Granolith. Gloria Whitman, Alex's mom, shook her head and smiled, but Chuck appeared to be beaming.
Not ones to be left out of any hugging or kissing that involved their daddy, Mali and Gidi climbed into his lap and planted their own kisses on him.
"If I were candy, I'd be in real trouble," Alex said sheepishly, hugging his girls back and returning their kisses.
Isabel scrunched up her nose good-naturedly, with a twinkle in her eyes that Alex recognized.
"Don't say it! I'll never live it down!" Alex pleaded.
"Say it! Say it!" Michael and Max both coaxed at the same time. Maria, Liz, and Tess all nodded in expectant agreement.
Isabel didn't say anything, but she smiled at Alex and patted him on the cheek with a wink.
"I'll never live it down," Alex moaned, closing his eyes tightly, with a huge grin on his face. "Now they'll imagine all kinds of things."
"And all true," Isabel said, her eyes sparkling with a mischievous gaiety that seemed to match Alex's own at that moment.
Michael raised his eyebrows and whistled softly.
"Oh, you're just jealous," Alex said, eliciting more laughter… and a few nods… from those at the table.
For whatever reason, perhaps feeling the need to show that Michael had nothing to worry about, Maria reached over suddenly with both hands and pulled Michael to her, pressing her slightly parted lips firmly to his unexpecting… but obviously appreciative lips. When she was finished, Michael took a long deep breath and then grinned a sort of intoxicated grin. And again, there was laughter from everyone present. Maria's actions seemed to have started something, and soon, Liz had planted a kiss on Max's lips, Tess had kissed Rayylar, and the other Isabel had kissed… and, well, actually… was still kissing… her Alex.
Max raised his goblet to their host, with a smile… "To whatever is in these drinks, Alex!"
Alex laughed and shook his head. "Well, you see, Max, that's the beauty of it… I don't have to put any of Madame Vivian's love potions in Isabel's drinks."
"He doesn't," Isabel agreed with a smile.
"It must be something in the air here then," Max said with a wink, looking at Liz, who was looking at him and smiling from ear to ear.
They all knew what it really was. They were relaxed and enjoying themselves, fully at ease in Alex and Isabel's… and in each other's… company. It was something that Alex just seemed to bring out in people naturally. In fact, when he was talking business… on matters of the kingdom… he often had to be careful to stifle his natural easy-going appeal a bit. It wasn't easy, but he had learned to do it. He knew that there were many out there who would take advantage of it. Apparently, though, Alex had not allowed that to happen, because by all appearances, he had reaped all the advantages himself… for the kingdom he and Isabel ruled.
The truth is, Alex still thought of himself as "elected," and in a very real sense, he was. He never asked to be the king. He was made the king… by the people's choice. And Isabel was made their queen by their choice… and by virtue of the fact that she and Alex were a package deal. And then, Isabel was, after all, a member of the real royal family, so she, and therefore Alex, as her husband, actually were within the original royal line… sort of.
One might assume that, had Max returned to this Antar with Liz, as he did in the other dimension, the people would have loved them, too; but a quirk of fate had made things turn out differently here. One thing, though, was evident. NO ONE was complaining. Even Max and Liz, back on earth, in the high Rockies, seemed happy with the arrangement. If the crew of the New Granolith had learned anything on this trip, it was that nothing can be taken for granted. There are an infinite number of possibilities in the universe, and it was equally possible that Michael and Maria might be the king and queen on one of the Antars… or even on more than one… or anyone else might be for that matter. This last thought frightened them a little bit. If there were an infinite number of possibilities, then bad rulers… just as bad as Kivar… might rule some of the Antars. It was a sobering thought.
Then again… maybe this planet was just an anomaly… a one of a kind. On every other Antar that they had been to, after all, Max and Liz had been… or had become… the king and queen. Random situations had been different on each planet, but the basic pattern had remained the same. The crew of the New Granolith had pretty much stopped dwelling on the possibilities, though. Ultimately… sooner or later… the possibilities would find THEM… unless they were spared, and the next Antar, or some Antar soon, turned out to be their own.
End of Chapter 25
tbc…