Part 26: Long Shot
June 6th, 2009 – Seattle

1 : Michael

He'd always been attracted to high places, he just hadn't known it. It wasn't as if there were skyscrapers in Roswell, after all. His first real taste had been that one night in Las Vegas, where Maria had booked the penthouse. He'd liked the luxury of the whole thing, of course, but what he remembered the most about their room was the view: Dazzling lights and tall, strange buildings, all promising exotic adventures and dreams come true. He'd never gone back to Las Vegas, but that thirst for high places had stayed with him till this day.

This time around, he bit his tongue about tourist traps and went up to the Space Needle. It was a clear day, and he could see all the way to Mount Olympus, the bay, and the sea. He could feel a flash coming, too; he'd been preparing for it for days now, something to do with high places of all things. He was grateful for the signs—so he could stay away from Maria—but the waiting always tested his patience to its limits.

He sat down on a bench, and when he looked up, the Palace met his eyes. Red and golden banners hung from the main entrance, and he had the strangest fleeting thought: of course, this is before Zan's time.

Rath had graduated from the military academy not a week ago, and he had a couple of days off before reporting to duty. Someday, he would become Antar's Second in Command, General to the Mighty Forces of his Majesty, and he would sit down every day to have breakfast with the future king. Today, though, he was at the bottom of an exceptionally large ladder, with no idea where he would end.

He was giddy.

"I'm proud of you, Son," a man said beside him, and he immediately stood up to attention. For a moment, he looked straight ahead, letting his father's praise wash over him. His father had retired from the military a few years back, but it was his steps Rath had followed. He wouldn't be here without his advice and guidance.

"Thank you, Father," he sincerely said, breaking his rigid form and hugging the man he so admired. He hugged him a little too long, desperate to take this memory back with him.

"In a way, I'm envious of this place," his father said, taking a long look at the Palace. "They will take you in and become your second family, while I'll rarely see you from time to time."

Rath smiled. His mother had complained about the exact same thing when his father was gone for long stretches of time.

"Have you thought about where you would like to be stationed?" his father asked.

"Not yet. I'm undecided if I should go for the Intelligence branch or the Frontier Exploration one."

"Ah, your beloved maps. You were always good at making those."

Making them, deciphering them, navigating them. Rath's keen sense of direction and topography was already legendary among the cadets. But that was more of a hobby. The real challenge laid within the Intelligence Community, and he'd always liked a challenge.

"And if both fail, there's always the Palace," Rath said, shrugging. His father laughed.

"You have no patience for intrigues," he said, honestly.

"But it's like a puzzle, right? Gathering intelligence and separating truths from lies."

"Lots of backstabbing, and frontstabbing, too. Power attracts all kinds of people, Rath, and rarely the good kinds of people, if you understand my meaning. Wanting to be in the Palace is like wanting to be in the middle of a giant snake nest. Every single one of them wants to be close enough to the kings and queens to snatch a little bit of their power. And if they let them, they'll end up dry."

That's no way to live, Rath thought, as if he could already see the Throne Hall and the king himself sitting there. Who do you trust? How do you know they want to help you reign and not work on their own agendas?

"In any case, you'll have years to decide and settle on your path. Learn deep and well from all the places you'll be because every bit of knowledge will help you on your way up."

But Rath had already decided, right there and then, that he wanted to work as close to the royal family as he could. Because someone had to be the good kind of people inside that place, right? Someone had to spot and ward off the power-hungry and the ill-intentioned ones.

Someone had to protect the king.

2 : Kyle

September 15th, 2009 - Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean

"You're absolutely going to love Japan," Sybelle said as Kyle watched over the window to the immense expanse of the sea. He needed something to distract him, so his mind-reading skills didn't overwhelm him.

Why did I ever think that a twelve-hour flight was a good idea?

Most of all, he tried to avoid Sybelle's thoughts. It was bad enough that he would get stray thoughts from her from time to time, but doing it on purpose would just be horrible.

Max, Michael, and Isabel were clear beacons in a sea of foggy thoughts, but they understood what it was like to have powers and how hard to control those could be. They were resigned to his intruding mind the way they were resigned to Michael's outbursts of power. But then again, Michael was better at those, and so everyone expected Kyle to get better at his, as well.

The real problem was Kyle's lack of training. Oh, Liz had very creative ways of helping him get better, but the truth was that all he wanted was not to do it at all. Not accidentally, at least. He was afraid that if he got really good at it, then he would never be able to shut it off. So, he didn't practice—he just winged it.

Which, honestly, resumed how he'd been living for the past six years of his life: winging it. He wasn't all-powerful like the alien trio. He wasn't romantically involved with any of them. Except for his mind-reading, he was no one exceptional or remotely interesting when compared with the other people in his crowd. He wasn't the champion, the sportsman, the guy who scored points for the team. If Max Evans hadn't saved him and made him a part of the I-know-an-alien club, Kyle would not be here, trapped on a plane with a full-blown headache threatening to obliterate him because of a power he was barely able to suppress.

Can the bathroom line get any longer?

Why does the menu have Japanese food only?

I can't believe they serve ice-cream!

Sumimasen!

Thoughts in English were easier to pick than in any other language, but this plane was full of Japanese people, and their thoughts were growing by the moment. He had to do something and do it fast.

"You know, I never got the full story about how Dave became your godfather," he said, desperate for the conversation to distract him. "Heck, the first time we met, you called him your father, if I remember correctly."

She blushed and turned to look at her lap. For someone as outgoing as Sybelle, that was a first. "I kind of do that with everyone who works for him," she said, blushing even deeper.

"Because that scares the crap out of them," Kyle said, impressed.

"Well, yeah. He doesn't like me doing it, but I know I'm the closest thing he has to a daughter, right? I mean," she said, lowering her voice, "I know I'm not supposed to ask, but I have these wild theories about what he does."

Every time Sybelle was around, there was an unspoken agreement that no one would mention their deals, their powers, or anything remotely bad about Dave. It had never really occurred to him that Sybelle was in the dark about what Dave did on a general basis.

"What does that bright mind of yours think he does?"

She put her hand in the air and counted with each finger: "There was a time I thought he worked for some government; then that he was part of the mafia; then that he was this super mad genius trying to take over the world," she ended, with three fingers in the air. Then she just smiled fondly, lowering her hand. "Nowadays, I think that whatever he does must be boring. Like you see those James Bond movies, but you never get to see all the paperwork and bureaucracy all those spy agencies require."

You aren't that far off, girl, he thought. Dave was involved with governments and the mafia, and in a way, he was a sort of spy, indeed. He just happened to work for himself.

"So, you think he goes on missions all over the world with a gun in one hand and a martini in the other?" he joked. She laughed.

"I can't imagine Dave shooting anyone. That's why he has Ray," she said, shrugging. "Jake's his childhood friend, they have history together, but Ray is their bodyguard. And neither likes me very much," she said, shrugging again.

"Now, that's not true," Kyle said, smiling. "Everyone who gets to know you loves you. But it's like Michael, you see? We all love him, and he's great at telling things as they are. But don't ask him to go Christmas shopping with you because he's a nightmare of never-ending 'this is a commercial scam' commentary that everyone can do without."

"Well, Christmas is a commercial scam," she said with all seriousness, and then burst out laughing at Kyle's incredulous face. "I love Michael, though I think all of your friends are wary of me. Don't think I haven't noticed how everyone stirs the conversation away from my godfather."

"He…well, he has a lot of power over our lives," Kyle admitted.

"He has a lot of power, period," she said, and this time she meant it. "He found me in a village when I was six and saw something in me that was worth fighting for. And every time I see something scary or someone tells me I can't do it, I remember that. He believed I was strong, so I believe I'm strong. I hope you see that for yourself, Kyle. Whatever Dave saw in you, it means you're special."

Oh, I am, just not in the way he knows, or you know for that matter.

"I'm just happy to be nominated, really," Kyle said. "It's my friends who are a big deal."

She frowned. "I don't see them around here," she said, turning as if they had missed the Pod Squad boarding up. "Kyle, this is the first time Dave has allowed anyone connected to him to be with me. Alone. That's what I mean when I say you're special, silly!"

Whatever Kyle was going to say, it got wiped out by the bright grin on Sybelle's face. It was true. He was here because he was Kyle Valenti, not because he'd been driving a van into the unknown, not because Max Evans had inadvertently given him powers. He had earned this place beside Sybelle by just being himself, no powers included.

And maybe, if this worked out between the two of them, he would have a future of his own as well.

3 : Jade

December 1st, 2009 - The Compound

"What are you reading?" Violet asked as she poured herself a cup of hot coffee. They couldn't taste it, but just like their wards, it woke them up just fine.

While Max and Liz were here in Dave's hidden compound, well-protected behind impenetrable walls and deep underground, then all shifters were on vacation. Sort of. The five of them were living in one of the cabins above ground, awaiting orders. Things were unstable on Antar—more than usual—and Van had ordered Dave to gather everyone in a safe place, at least for the next couple of weeks.

"I'm catching up on molecular biology," Jade nonchalantly said while sipping his own coffee. It was early morning on a snowy day. Hopefully, His and Her Majesty would stay indoors so Jade wouldn't have to be guarding her.

"Why?" Violet asked, confused.

"So I have an idea of what Liz is doing in the lab. It can get incredibly boring after a while. Besides, it's interesting."

By this point, Jade could easily attend his third year in college and ace his biology tests. He'd gotten good at stashing books above tall shelves and read while Ms. Parker was sleeping. It was a good thing shifters needed little sleep, or his one-man operation wouldn't be feasible at all.

He turned the page and kept reading.

"I've been reading about engineering," Violet said out of the blue.

"Oh," Jade said, looking up. He was far more used to Violet's constant reminder of their duties than hearing about her personal time. "Mechanics?" he asked, assuming it would be useful in the event Max needed help with a car.

"Aerodynamics, actually. Defying gravity," she said, sheepishly. Antar had mastered the skies eons ago, not to mention space travel. Being on planes, with such low technology ensuring one could go from one place to the next, was Jade's least favorite transportation mode.

"I think defying is the important word there," he joked. They weren't rebels for being tame.

"I've been thinking," Violet tentatively said, "that if we do stay on Earth, I mean, afterward, when the Zan question has been settled, what would I like to do."

"You want to build planes?" he asked, curious.

"Fly them," she said, for a moment looking proud—and then self-conscious added, "Maybe…I mean, nobody knows what the future holds, right? It's far more likely that we go back and aid Zan or Van to gain the throne than—"

"I want to continue Liz's work," Jade said, interrupting her. She looked surprised, and so did he. He had never really said that out loud. "She's never going to be able to pursue it, not once the deal is off. Once the Zan question is settled, as you put it, Liz will no longer be under Antar's protection, and I'll be out of a job. I love Antar, you know I do, but I don't want to go back and die there. One way or another, I'm staying here. And this," he said, holding the large book in both hands, "is what I'll be doing. I don't know if Dave would allow me to continue her work, exactly, but we have to be prepared, right? In case we can have a life afterward?"

"It's a long shot," she warned.

"We're guarding the hybrid clone of a king who fell more than sixty years ago, Violet. If anything, our entire Rebellion is built on a long shot. I'm more than willing to work for that, no matter how slim the chances are. If nothing else, at least we have something to dream about, don't we?"

"You know, Jade, sometimes I think you're the odd one out, but then you say the darndest things that remind me what I'm doing here."

"You mean, the privilege of knowing Antar's future king?"

"No, the privilege of being able to plan a future, Jade. However this ends, whatever I choose at the end, I'll always be grateful for having you to remind me of that."

Ten minutes later, they were both happily reading about the future that might just be there when this was all over.

AN: RS975950, you asked for a Kyle part and some shifter background, so I hope this chapter worked out for you :)