Ship's personal log.

Hi, Alex here again. Haven't made an entry in a long time, and it's not because of not really having time or anything - time is still in fairly good supply around this ship. (The name 'Van Allen' never really caught on for it, huh? Everybody just calls it 'the ship' or 'the spaceship.' Well, that's not really a big deal is it?) I guess I just got out the habit somewhere around Kaalto and the Breoll. But I've got some news, so figured it made some sense to call up the file and dictate some more.

First thing - we're all just back from a Gevinan deep space station, which was a nice break from the company of the crew and the cramped conditions of the ship, but it was kind of weird too. Everybody had to get disguised, because there might have been Kivar or Breoll spies around, and obviously it wouldn't do to have anybody like that recognize us. Oddly enough, the inside of the station did remind me a bit of 'deep space nine', even though it was bigger and more open inside. Even though they have artificial gravity, most of the station was spinning for rotational g, because that's cheaper and overall less likely to break down, even when you count in the possibility of pieces breaking off and shooting into space and relatively high speeds. But there were the busy marketplaces full of aliens, and a kind of a coffee shop-restaurant where we managed to get some decent Antarian grub. (Isabel's been insisting on trying more Antarian recipes from the food slot, saying that it's high time we got to the cuisine that'll be usual on Sanctuary, instead of sticking with human recipes. Some of them are really very tasty, even though a lot of it is more 'hot and spicy' than I'd go for. Isabel never minds the hot stuff of course.)

And let's see... there was a roofed-over park with an artifical 'sun' shining down on it all the time, which was a lot of fun to visit, and we talked with a few of the locals and other travellers passing through - carefully. Variun and some of the rest of the crew had spare parts to buy and the ship was brought into a repair bay for some work on the warp manifold compressor. We didn't spend that long at the station though - maybe eleven hours, and then it was time to head off again. I would have liked to try spending the night over there, but didn't want to get into arguing the security and schedule issues, especially when Max and Isabel seemed just as happy to head off when we did.

We're only a few more jumps from Sanctuary now, which surprised me when Maria pointed it out - two months and more have passed since we first left Earth, and I'm surprised by how quickly it's gone by. Our most recent ETA is just under nineteen more days, and it seems hard to get my head around the idea that this new life we're supposed to be preparing for will start that soon. Well, there's no sense in panicking about it, after all, and from what I've heard of Alinda, she's going to do everything that she can to ease us into things gently.

The stock market game is still going strong - Max structured it so that it can pretty much keep on indefinitely as long as there's still interest in making trades and activity on the hidden levers of the economy. Things have polarized considerably into teams, with four main power blocks - Isabel Christin and I, Michael Maria Jevrok and Liz, Rath Ava and Kyle, and the rest - which includes Lonnie as well as two of the crew. Something about the way these alliances generally developed in terms of natural affinities instead of based on the random chances of assets and monopolies is intriguing, but maybe I shouldn't be so surprised. There was one big reshuffling fairly late in the game, with Liz backing out of an alliance with the captain and needing to get extra funding from Maria to pay the penalty fees that she needed to take her big properties with her. I think that the big finale is probably going to be in just a few days more, and our team has a relatively decent chance as long as the metals exchange doesn't turn against our iridium holdings.

Okay, that's enough to say for now I think. I've been wondering if there was any way that I could get this log and a few other descriptions of my trip sent back to my parents in Roswell, but that's probably asking for trouble at the moment. I'll keep thinking about the idea though.

#

"So, any idea what you are going to do with yourself when we get there?" Maria asked Lonnie, not without a certain needling tone in her voice, as they both got ready for sleep.

"Not especially, figured I'd see what the welcome wagon was like first," Lonnie admitted a bit grumpily. "Maybe move in with Tess - that'd be interesting to say the least." She sighed. "Never figured I'd have so much in common with the girl."

"Hmm... I'm not sure that would be a good idea for either of you in the long run," Maria admitted. "But it's not my call."

"You could be right though." Lonnie stretched lithely and then turned her covers down. "At least Alinda seems to not have a problem with me. Suspect that she could never really hold a grudge against family. And Rayde seems to be cool too, some of the other people in the rebel army. Maybe I'll be able to find a place to do some good with the forces."

"Oh great," Maria said as she slipped into bed herself. "Just think about Kyle's feelings before you go in for suicide duty, okay?"

"Kyle, really?" Lonnie made a face. "I... I kinda thought that nothing was going on with us. That 'feelings', certainly, weren't part of the deal. Kyle and I have fun together, but..."

"He's confused," Maria put in softly. "And the few messages he's been able to exchange with Tess haven't made things any easier on him."

"Hmm." Lonnie considered. "Maybe I'd better settle the score sooner rather than later." Maria tried to interrupt, but Lonnie talked over her. "Now, I realize what you're trying to do, but let me handle this my way, okay?"

"Umm - okay, yeah, I guess," Maria muttered, just wanting to finish the conversation at that point. "Good night."

#

"Wow, Alinda really outdid herself in arranging this," Liz said, skipping onto the next of a series of files that had been sent to them regarding possible accomodations in Landorin city. "All the video, the virtual room simulations, all of the details about available amenities... there's a lot to try and sort through, but it's great. I feel as if we were already there and apartment shopping."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Max said, smiling over at her and then returning his eyes to the video. "Oooh, nice view there."

"It's alright," Liz admitted. "I'm almost at the point where I'd appreciate a view that's not a view of hills, but probably we won't have much option there."

"Not unless 'urban hills' count under a different category," Max admitted. "Do you think we could really use this much space?"

"Probably... I mean, it looks really stark when there's not much furniture around like so, but it wouldn't be hard to remedy that. It's not really much bigger than the apartment above the Crashdown, according to the floor space listed."

"Hmm... you have that number memorized for your old home?" Max asked, hugging her.

"I constantly surprise myself with what I remember about Roswell," she admitted. "Okay... yeah, this one is pretty good - nice layout, good flow of the rooms together I think - but I would appreciate a view that's of the city as opposed to the countryside I think... or at least, that's what I think now. Later on, who's to say, but..."

"Well, we certainly don't need to come to a decision just this moment," Max put in. "I wanted both of us to go through a bunch of stuff this afternoon, but that was mostly just so it could settle in and work through our subconscious or something like that."

"Ahh, I never really seem to do well with that," Liz told him. "If there's a decision to be made, I tend to keep attacking it with logic until I've settled on an answer."

"Hmm... yeah, come to think of it, that does sound like you," he admitted. "Well... if you just pick one and say that you've settled on it, does it keep you from changing your mind later." She shook her head. "Then that would be a way to keep attacking the decision I guess."

"Well - I'm not sure if that would really work, but it's something to try I admit." She laughed softly. "I keep thinking about my parents, ever since that Turik guy mentioned them in his message. Even if they do know something about where I've gone and why... I still have so many questions. How much they miss me. If they're angry with me, or blame themselves for 'driving me away' or something. If they're panicking about the thought of having an alien pseudo-royalty for a potential son-in-law." And she kissed him on the neck to punctuate that last thought.

"Well... even if we've been hard to seperate all summer, I doubt that they'd immediately think of marriage between us, based on what Jim and Amy would tell them," Max pointed out. "I didn't say anything about marrying you until after they'd left, remember."

"Yeah, I do know that, just... well, I'm not sure if that makes it better. Whatever the facts about marriage or what have you, I've left everything I know behind and gone to some alien place because of you, Max. I... I never doubt that I made the right decision - but it seems pretty likely that they won't understand."

"So I guess they don't understand," Max agreed. "We'll do what we can to get back home and explain to them, if we can... but-"

"But that's a long time in the future, and we need to start thinking about our life in the shorter term," Liz explained. "Okay... next place?"

"No, actually... talking about planning our lives, I'd like to bring up another aspect of it." Max grinned and switched files. "Now, Alinda and Rayde had some understandable security concerns with the idea of getting married in the park. The same ones we mentioned, actually... no matter how well they try to do crowd control, all it takes is one nutcase or determined enemy agent hiding in a tree or a building to go sniper on us with alien powers, and the wedding day could turn into a tragedy." Liz nodded somberly. "So they presented two counteroptions, with security the prime criterion. The indoor pictures are of a ceremony and meeting hall in the heart of the Sanctuary neighborhood. Very convenient for all sorts of supporters and wellwishers who might want to attend. And then..."

"These outdoor pictures are so lovely," Liz admitted. "Probably way out of town, judging by the terrain, but..."

"Yeah, it's a wetlands retreat owned by a big shipping magnate who's one of the rebellion's biggest supporters," Max put in. "Nearly an hour's flight away by aircar, but between the remoteness and Jalor's usual fences and guards, there's no chances of anyone we don't specifically invite showing up."

"Not even landing in a spaceship inside all the fences?" she teased.

"I'm sure he knows how to block off that sort of entry too. So they're willing to back that option if we want it - it'd be outdoors, and a smaller ceremony than one held in or around Landorin city. Alinda mentioned that the site should be even prettier if we wait for the warmer weather."

"Ahh, right," Liz said. "I did wonder if those puddles were frozen over." Max nodded agreement. "Umm - is there an Antarian custom on wedding receptions or feasts? We could compromise, have the ceremony out at chez Jalor, and then the reception back in town and the ceremony hall, so all the well-wishers can do what they want to."

"Hmm... yeah, that's probably a really good compromise," Max admitted. "Sounds great. And I know that Jevrok's been working with you girls on dresses - he showed us what the standard formal wear is like for men, and it seems... no less ridiculous than some tuxedos that I've seen."

"Yep. Remember, no poking around in the computer looking for pics of my wedding dress or anything," Liz teased. "Well, if we're not looking at any more places to live now, then I want something to eat."

"Let's have lunch inside," Max suggested, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Order me some of that porridgey stuff."

"Oh, the vannalar?" Liz asked, heading over to the food slot. "Sure. I'll get a Darvanakan, if we're eating Antarian today." That was a sort of traditional sandwich, using triangular bread, which Liz had started to develop a taste for.

#

"Hello, General Abakar," Ava said into the red recording spot on the wall, sitting next to Rath on their bed. "Just wanted to send this out as a statement of intent that we'd be happy to join up with your unit, and understand all the conditions you laid out in your last message - well most of them at least, enough to be getting on with."

"Things will probably be pretty confused for a working sequence or more after we land at Sanctuary," Rath put in. That was the local equivalent to a week, eight solar days on Landorin, which was less than seven and a half earth twenty-four hour days. "But I imagine that it shouldn't be too long before the details can be worked out. We may not have too much in terms of formal training, but the sort of experience that we had on Earth should be very valluable for covert ops in the Antar cluster." He turned to look at Ava. "Anything else that you think we need to add?"

"Not really... situation kind of speaks for itself," she admitted. "See you soon. Computer, end of recording."

"Confirmed - please specify filename to save."

"Ava and Rath, letter to Liaret covert ops three," Rath recited, sounding a bit bored, and the computer chirped as it completed the save operation. "Okay, so that's done and over with. What now?" he asked Ava.

"I... am not sure," she admitted softly, and leaned back against him. One of Rath's heands started to caress her hair, and he bent down to place a kiss on her smooth neck. "Well, yeah, there's always that I guess, but..."

"You're not in the mood?" Rath asked playfully.

"It's not about the mood, but maybe the moment..." Ava started, and then relaxed noticeably as someone signalled on their door. "Um, what is it?"

"Come on, team Cornwall!" Kyle exclaimed back. "Sudden death finale."

"Ooh, okay." Ava got up, turned around to smile brightly at Rath. "I've got a good feeling about this."

"Yeah," Rath grumped. But he got up too, and changed his shirt before leaving their room, which meant that there wasn't enough standing space in the games room and they had to 'overflow' into the rec room, with a little closed-circuit picture of Max managing the denouement, along with a return video link in case any of them needed to make a reply that would be heard by everybody.

"Okay, let's see," Max said. "First of all, in the continuing cycle of consolidation, the levers of the economy have spoken, and the West Province Securities exchange has been forced to liquidate. Everybody who has holdings there gets... only twenty-five Ents on the Ando." There was a lot of groaning and sputtering about that, especially from Alex and Isabel's team, who had invested heavingly in in Western Woods Insurance and several other companies on that exchange."

"Okay, so what happens next?" Lonnie asked eagerly. Her 'outsiders' team had stayed largely clear of West side and so was well positioned now.

"Now it's time for a power play," Max put in. "Three crucial regulatory questions will affect the final leveraging formula which determine the ultimate winner of the game. The information on those questions will be made available to all players and teams in a moment. They'll be settled by the appropriate voting methods, in order, and before and after each one there'll be a five to ten minute blitz window for trading. Then the winners will be announced."

"Oh, boy," Ava muttered. How long was this going to take? There was probably nothing important that anybody had to do for hours at least.

"I think one of us needs to get in there with the others," Rath put in,. "Or else we get locked out of the blitz trading, practically."

"Not yet, bud," Ava countered. "We got handed a great opporunity to plan strategy without anybody else paying attention to us. I don't want to throw that away until we've seen the regulatories and talked them through."

"Alright," Rath muttered after a moment, and Kyle nodded his agreement. Just then the new heading appeared under the game section of the computer files, where Ava was monitoring them.

"Blitz trading starts now, and the first regulatory gets settled in ten minutes," Max called out.

"Okay, let's see," Kyle put in. "The first one falls down on Macrodynamics industries - well, at least nobody's been able to monopolize them so far... but we don't hold much common stock. Second issue will be chosen by a virtual town hall, so everybody has an equal vote, plus one for each corporation where we have a majority or hugely controlling interest." He sighed. "We're not doing too badly there. And the third will be settled by an associational meeting for all solvent member companies of the association of lumitronics manufacturers... hey - that one's nearly a lock for us!"

"Yeah," Ava agred, seeing it. "Between our controlling interest in Gadgeterama and sixty-five percent of the Fiberglass ridge co-operative, we've got nearly as much voting stock as the other threee teams put together."

"But it's not just the playing teams who count," Michael put in. "There are breakdowns of how the various companies beyond all of our control are expected to go."

""Yeah, but still, it's better than not having enough leverage of our own," Kyle put in. "Okay, So what are the actual issues being voited on, and how do they affect our holdings?"

"Yeah, double-time it Ava," Rath suggested. "Arynda holdings is trying to make some deals."

"Well, they got a lot of free cash from that liquidation," Kyle replied, as Ava started to speed-read through the details and correlate them with the team portfolio. She'd always been good at absorbing a lot of information and figuring out what the implications of it was, but right now the way Rath was taking her gift for granted chafed a bit.

"Okay, just figures," she muttered. "Question three, the one that we've got a lot of leverage over, doesn't really impact us much, it mostly impacts Liz's team - they want a 'yes' vote that will let them get the most bang out of their mineral holdings. And conversely, the regulatory that's most important to us is the first one, that we can't control much, and they can - which could hit us hard in the small-caps or not so much."

"So, either we try to cut a deal or we each torpedo the other," Rath boiled down. "What's the impact of the torpedos?"

"Not sure," Ava admitted. "If we don't, then we're both in the lead, running neck and neck. If we do each take the low road, then the outsiders are probably ahead of both of us."

"So we need to deal," Kyle put in. "Can you convince Liz of that in... five or six minutes?"

"She'll have seen the point," Ava put in. "But they'd have to give us what we want first... and I'm not sure they'll trust that we'll follow through on the deal."

"Isn't there a way to put the deal into the computer so that it's enforced?" Rath suggested.

"Yeah - but in five minutes?" Ava asked. But she turned to head into the games room, and saw Liz coming towards her. "I guess I know what you're here for."

"Yep," Liz agreed. "Don't mind Lonnie - she's just here to sow trouble."

"And she's so good at it," Ava teased, hoping that taking the initiative could keep Lonnie from actually saying too much of anything. "Okay, we want you to vote towards liberal small-cap quantification at Macrodynamics, and you want us to put our lumitronic holdings behind the mineral holdings. Can we deal on those terms?"

"Yeah, I think so," Liz agreed. "If we fail to vote your way at the start, then you get half of the minerals we have and are freed of the deal to vote how you wish. If you renege in your turn, then we get all of your listed small-cap stock and control over Gadgetrama."

"Whew," Rath muttered. The terms of forfeiting were high, but they made sense in this situation.

"Don't listen to her, girl," Lonnie said to Ava. "She just wants to find some way to force you into defaulting, and then... mmph!"

Ava had to just stand there and stare for a moment. Exactly what had gone through Kyle's head she wasn't sure, but he had shut Lonnie up by one of the most direct methods possible - planting a kiss right on her lips. (It was a position that oddly underscored that she was taller than he was, as he had to lean up and pull her head down a bit to make contact.) Liz snickered and led Ava over to enter the terms of their deal into the computer, and then left to tell her teammates of the results of the negotiation.

"I've done a few quick calculations," Michael muttered after she left. "Tallmart may be the tiebreaker. Think we could get Alex to trade us ten thousand there, in exchange for the Northern gas and oil? I know that fossil fuels aren't a valuable source of energy in this game, but they've still got specialized uses."

"Well, I'll see," Ava said with a smile. "In fact, we should probably double-team him."

#

After an hour and a half, Ava Rath and Kyle were announced the winners, and just as Michael had said, it was a twenty-percent share in Tallmart that put them over the top. Most of the gang joined them for a celebratory dinner in the rec room, and with the stock game behind them, talk quickly turned to what they could expect with the landing at Sanctuary drawing nearer and nearer.

"One thing that I'm still not quite clear on, Evans," Kyle said after cutting into his calzone, "when we get there, are you going to be really no-kidding-around King of the underground movement or whatever?"

"No, not at first, and possibly not ever." Max held Liz close to him. "We've talked it over - I don't want to be King, Liz doesn't really want to be Queen, and Vorjal, the Prince who's been acting head of the Liarets for the past ten years or so doesn't really want me taking over until I know a lot more about what's going on at least."

"Vorjal - he's Turik's boss, right?" Maria put in. "The one who told us the news about our family back home?"

"Yeah," Liz agreed. "And Alinda doesn't really seem to care that much one way or another. So... we kind of brainstormed for loopholes, and found a doozy. Because there's nothing in the precedents about being cloned from a reigning King's DNA and essence, mixed with a genetic sample from some human kid - as far as the succession is concerned, Max isn't Zan come back to life, and he isn't a legitimate son either. So he's in the succession, but after the legitimate descendents of Sanren and Alinda's younger children - like Vorjal."

"They still have the concept of illegitimate heirs?" Ava put in, frowning a bit. "I'd have thought that Antarians were a bit too enlightened to judge a child by the circumstances of his or her birth."

"I don't think that it's so much personal about kids born out of wedlock or anything," Max put in. "Just... considering that the royal heirs have a lot of power entrusted to them and responsibility, then this is a way of allowing the Royal Council of approving who are going to be the mothers (or in some cases, fathers,) of those heirs."

"You'd think that they could simply have the Council pick the most suitable of all possible heirs," Maria argued.

"And then get into cases where they'd be tempted to rule in favor of someone who's willing to offer them kickbacks," Rath said with a chuckle. "Of course, that sort of corruption is still possible at a remove - I wonder how much competition there is to provide Royal brides?"

"And how the original Ava got picked," Kyle put in. Max, Liz, Ava, and Maria all turned to glare at him. Rath chuckled softly. "Umm... well, I mean - no, never mind. Forget I opened my big stupid mouth."

"So you're going to be an illegitimate heir on Sanctuary, as well as a half-human freak?" Alex put in softly. Max shrugged.

"But we'll be together," Maria insisted. "I think that that's what matters most."

"Hey, no arguments here," Alex agreed, holding Isabel close.

#

Lonnie kissed Kyle hard and hot, pushing his body up against the wall of the small room that he shared with Michael. After a few minutes, the two of them broke apart, shifting a bit nervously and Lonnie stepped back to give the boy his personal space back.

"Okay, that pretty much pays you back for the trick you played on me during the game," Lonnie said with a half-joking tone.

"Well, that was a lot longer and... and more than the kiss I stole from you then," Kyle pointed out. "Not that I'm really complaining about the heat or anything, just commenting."

"Yeah, but you were kissing me for an ulterior motive, so I'm entitled to take different liberties in return," Lonnie pointed out. Kyle wasn't quite sure what sense that made, but again, wasn't too interested in complaining. "So, as much as I hate to ask... where does this leave us?"

"I... I think that we're just friends, for now," Kyle said after a moment. "Not like it could never be more, but... I do need to see how things play out with Tess. There are things that really can't be said between us until we actually meet in person again, and I'm not quite sure what all of them are going to end up being."

"Fair enough," Lonnie said. "On the other hand, don't expect me to wait around just because you're a decent kisser, Valenti."

"No, of course I wouldn't think that," he said with a small smile. "It's going to be tough enough for any of us to settle in on Vrelayan, but if you find a good opportunity, by all means go for it."

"Right." An awkward silence developed between them just at that point. "So... what now, bud?"

"Um, I dunno... you up for a game or something?"

"Breoll surge checkers?"

Kyle groaned. "Yeah sure, what the heck. You'll probably whip my butt again, but I'll give it my best shot."

Lonnie smirked slightly as they headed back out into the corridor.

#

Ship's personal log.

This is probably going to be the last entry that I make. Probably there'll be a lot of interesting stuff in the actual landing and what comes next, but I won't be able to really retell it while I'm still on the ship. It's been a long and pretty strange trip, over three months now since we left Earth, but I'm pretty excited.

We're back in normal space now, making orbit towards Vrelayan, and there was an unexpected bit of excitement that just finished. I'm still not clear on all of the details, but apparently a tiny little one-man fighter ship managed to find us and follow through several warp space slipstreams, in the hopes of finding the secret rebel base.

Nobody on the crew realized it until after the final jump, but Christin managed to find some way of alerting the Sanctuary defenders without letting the fighter pilot realize that he'd been spotted until it was too late. He never got a chance to broadcast a message back to Antar, and he's a prisoner now, his ship pretty well blasted. It's kind of weird to think that something we never really thought about could have started a war, or at least a battle, here on the planet that we're hoping will be a peaceful new home.

There's not much else that I can really think of putting in actually. The com system has been running pretty much all the time for the past few hours - without any need to worry much about being overheard by Kivar's people and no delay on the faster-than-light channels... we're only around four light-minutes away from Vrelayan, so not quite close enough to switch to regular radio yet. But a lot of people have suddenly wanted to talk to us, and it's been a little overwhelming for Isabel and I actually, especially when a lot of them expect the Royal Four to know who they are. (Nobody seems to have clued in that we've actually got a Royal Six on board yet.)

Oh, Alinda called as well, of course, with news that she's got course spots available for a lot of us... basics of lumitronic technology and introductory programming for me... I don't think that the visual basic and Perl stuff that I did back home is going to be too immediately relevant to their software systems. Isabel's in psych 101 and some other stuff that was recommended as good prepwork for a dreamwalk therapist. Liz is taking some introductory sciences and Max is going into a dedicated Healer's training course. I don't know if any of the others have expressed interest in schooling right away.

#

"Who first?" Michael asked from the door of his room. They had just landed, but nobody was making a move for the airlock doorway yet.

"Max, Liz, and Isabel," Christin directed without any hesitation. "Trust me on that."

So Liz held Max's hand and they led the way. Max had insisted on wearing their best things for the occasion, and the betrothal pendants were very obviously resting on both their chests.

When the outside door swung open, (the override controls engaged on the airlock for the first time since long before they had boarded, because there was no need for anybody to be worried about the air here at Landorin,) the scene that showed for them was an open landing field surrounded by buildings on all side, (at different heights and distnaces,) and about a dozen people waiting for them in the odd light of a blue-ish sunset. Liz recognized Alinda, Tess, Rayde, Vorjal, Turik, and a few others, mostly from communications beamed to the ship. And then there was the tiny little face cradled in Tess' arms. Not just a face, of course.

"Hi Max, Liz," Tess said, stepping forward after shooting a glance at Alinda. "I'd like you to meet... Joshua Sanren Evans." They'd known that she'd picked a name, but Tess had wanted to keep it a secret until the big moment, and Liz had convinced Max to go along with that. ""Josh, I'd like you to meet your Daddy and your new Mommy."

"Not... not new mommy," Liz blurted out, and then had to look at Max to see how he was reacting. Max made a 'go on' gesture, and he was smiling slightly. "An extra mommy, I'd be happy to volunteer for. But - but Max and I have talked about it, and no matter what you've done and what you thought you did, we still want you to be a part of... of Josh's life. Justice isn't higher than the bond between a mother and a child."

"Umm - wow, thanks," Tess said, stepping closer, offering Josh for Max to carefully take and hold himself, and hugging Liz. "Speaking of what I thought I did... where's Alex? I... I don't think I'll be able to really believe that he made it until I see him for myself."

"That's easily enough done," Isabel put in, stepping forward through the door and to the side, and Alex was right behind her of course. Isabel's countenance when she looked at Tess wasn't nearly as charitable as Liz felt, or how she thought Max did. But then, it wasn't so surprising that Isabel should hold a grudge for all that Tess had nearly taken away. There but for th grace of some god with an unusual sense of humour...

"Alex." To everybody's surprise, Tess dropped herself in a crumpled little heap at the boy's feet. "The humblest of possible apologies could never suffice, but I offer them as a token to begin expressing my regret," she mumbled against the tarmac. "I could see the signs of what I was turning into when I kept you at work in Las Cruces, but somehow... I didn't want to stop and let you tell the rest of the gang what had happened. And then, after I thought that you were... somehow I convinced myself that your death would have been in vain if... well, going over all of my stupid motives isn't the point. I really am sorry, and..."

"Get up, Tess." Alex's voice was a bit pitying and scornful at the same time. "Making an apoplexy of apology doesn't help, and neither does going over a litany of all your excuses." Tess looked quite ashamed as she regained her feet. "I can't forgive you yet, but I do accept your apologies. No, um - not just 'accept' like I didn't drop something that was handed to me. I respect the sincerity deep down in that apology, Tess." She gasped slightly. "And I respect the choices that you've made since leaving Earth even more. Everything bad that you did to me, really, was about getting off Earth or Max, or both. You've been away from Earth for a while, and now Max is here too. Was that worth it?"

You don't have to mock me," Tess grumbled feebly.

"No, he's got plenty of friends who are ready and willing to do that for him," Maria put in, stepping out herself.

"She's right, it was harsher than I wanted to be, just in this moment," Alex admitted. "As I was saying, I think you've been trying to turn your life around lately Tess, and if you keep on with that, then we'll be okay. Might take a little while."

Liz, meanwhile, thought that Tess had been the central figure of this occasion for much too long, and stepped up to Alinda. Max followed, still holding Josh in his arms and looking into his son's face. "Hello there, it's nice to see you in person at last."

"Doubly so at least on my part, dear Liz," Alinda said, embracing her. After the hug was done, she reached out to a little walking cane that had been standing on its own next to her with three little legs. "And Max... my long-lost grandson returning, or something of the sort." Max happily transferred the baby over to Liz and hugged Alinda himself. Liz was wondering if Josh would start crying with her, but he seemed quite content, if slightly sleepy.

"Well, we don't need to be standing around here," Rayde put in. "We have a transport for everybody to the Censa building, where your temporary querters are waiting."

"I don't think that any of us are eager to settle in yet," Isabel put in. "We're just coming off ship's night shift a few hours ago. We're fresh and eager to walk around on our own feet."

"That is... if there's no great security risk with that," Max put in cautiously.

"Don't think we need to get too cautious, Rayde," Vorjal put in - or at least Liz thought he was the prince of the Liaret family in exile. "This neighborhood has always been friendly to us."

Liz passed Josh back to Tess and headed up to Vorjal. "Your highness... we haven't had an opportunity to really meet over the comunicator."

"My Lady Parker," Vorjal said, pressing two fingers to his lips and then her wrist in a courtly sign of respect that she remembered from her reading on board the ship. "Welcome to Sanctuary, Landorin, and Vrelayan, and may I congratulate you and Max on your engagement?"

Liz suddenly burst out into slightly nervous laughter, which clearly startled Prince Vorjal more than a little, and he turned to Max looking for an explanation. Max just shrugged slightly. "Umm... sorry, that just reminded me of something my mother always used to say - you should never congratulate the bride or bride-to-be, that makes it sound like she was lucky or desperate to 'nab' a husband - you just say 'best wishes' instead. It was somehow okay to congratulate the groom, though."

"Well, I certainly have plenty of positive wishes to offer both of you," Vorjal replied, chuckling a bit deep in his throat and leading a course away from the ship - all ten passengers, plus Christin, had emerged from the airlock doors by now. The regular crew were probably staying on to make sure that everything was put to rights in their wake. "And I have a lot of questions for you guys about your experiences on Earth. I haven't been anywhere quite so... so alien, but I sort of grew up on the run from Kivar's various hunting parties. Tess and I have already compared our notes a few times."

"Okay, sure," Max said, smiling slightly. Vorjal was apparently about five years older than they were, differences in species notwithstanding, but it was hard not to feel an affinity for him. "And we have a lot of questions to ask too."

"Sure. There's time."

Liz had hoped that they'd actually get to a city sidewalk or lane, but instead it seemed as if they were heading for an underground tunnel. "I don't suppose you've heard anything new from Earth?"

"Actually, yes!" Rayde put in. "It just arrived about an... an hour ago. Here." She reached into her severe jumpsuit and provided a small slip of white plastic to hand to Liz. "Your parents walked right up to one of our observers and handed it to him. They couldn't read the writing well enough to understand the message, but they transmitted it in.

"What?" Max hurried over to stand near Liz. How had her family recognized aliens on sight? Had Valenti been able to pick up on some clue and told them? Why hadn't Valenti been the one to make a move then? Had he been too cautious to draw any attention to them?

Liz shrugged slightly at Max and opened up the slip. The handwriting was definitely a bit messy, but Liz had had practice with her mother's scrawl. 'We miss you, but we understand. Have a great trip, and come home when you can. Give Max and Maria my best. Mom.'

Liz looked around the alien city for a moment before starting down the stairs to the tunnel then considered her friends, and Tess, and Max's son. No matter how strange things were, she knew she'd be okay.

"Lead on, your highness."