The drive out to the podchamber seemed to take twice as long as normal. Liz knew it was because of the paranoia that they would be ambushed before they could reach the safety of the chamber. As she drove, she found herself constantly checking the rearview mirror for strange cars but thankfully, nothing unusual was there.
Despite the group’s anxiety, they reached the podchamber effortlessly and without incident. They all looked around cautiously as they climbed out of their vehicles. The dupes, Courtney, the Sheriff and Tess of course had never been there before so they were definitely curious.
Liz decided it was time to show them the inner chamber. “Grab some of the stuff and follow me.”
Without protest they did what Liz asked and along with the others, started the trek up the rock face. When they reached the right spot, Liz waved her hand over the access panel and the silver handprint popped up. She pressed her hand against it and the secret door slid open.
Liz stepped through the opening followed by the others. The pods glowed slightly as always and with the combination of light pouring in from the doorway, the chamber was lit enough for all to see. The dupes had there own pods so they were not shocked like the other three were to see what the chamber held.
“What is this place?” Tess asked.
“It’s where we were born.” Liz answered gesturing to the pods. “Michael and Isabel came out first, then helped pull me out. Kyle came out later.”
“He told me about that.” Tess stated.
Liz was surprised by Tess’s admission. She knew that Tess and Kyle had become friendly but Liz was surprised to find out how close they had become. Kyle wasn’t a big one to talk about himself to just anyone so the fact that he and Tess had talked about his ‘birth’ showed how comfortable he was with Tess. It would be interesting to see what would come of it, once this whole thing with the skins was death with.
Liz was glad that Kyle had someone besides them to talk to. He would need it. After all the guy who had raised him had just died. Nasedo might not have been the warmest of guys, but he was the closest Kyle had to a parent in this life.
She saw Tess looking at her. “So how is this place going to help us with this battle?”
“Um…this chamber is the safest place that we know of. Only the four, probably eight of us can get in. Max can’t even get in. Nasedo did something so it would only recognize him or us. If it comes down to it, we can lock ourselves in here while we regroup.” Liz explained.
After the brief visit to the chamber all the supplies were brought up to the landing outside of it. It was then that Shyla looked over the terrain and could see Roswell in the distance. “So now we just going to wait?”
“Yeah, how do you guys expect the skins to know where we are?” Maria asked.
“Because next time Courtney has to report to Nicole, she going to tell her that she found us and that we were going out to the desert. She even tell her the direction that we were heading. They’ll coming running thinking they are going to surprise us but we’ll be waiting for them.” Liz explained her plan to them. “There’s only a few ways that they can approach us and we’ll have them all secure.”
“When the next check in?” Alex asked.
“Any time within the next thirty minutes.” Courtney said looking from her watch to her phone.
“I’m glad we’re not cutting it close.” Alex commented.
The group continued to settle their campsite while also scouting out the weakest places and also where they should all be positioned. There were several places that they would have to watch to make sure that they weren’t overtaken but the mountain the chamber was buried in would still work for them.
They worked quickly and only broke when they heard the ring of a cellphone, Courtney’s. They all held their breaths in anticipation as Courtney flipped open the phone to answer it.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Nicole shut her phone and turned to address her lieutenant, “It seems that Courtney has finally provided us with a lead to the other set of royals. They are heading to an isolated area outside the town. A perfect place for an ambush. Call in the others so we can move as soon as possible.”
“What about the ones injured in the skirmish with the other set?” Her lieutenant, Jesse, asked.
“They’ll be coming as well, they’re recovered enough.” Nicole ordered. “We’ve been dawdling on the wipeout of this set. I want as many of us on them as possible. I want this group wiped out before they realize we are even there. I’ve spent enough years on this dreadful rock of a planet chasing after these pathetic royals.”
Jesse left for a few moments to execute Nicole’s orders. While he was gone, Nicole reveled in the concept that she would soon be leaving this miserable place and back to Antar. Nicole could almost taste her arrival on Antar. She would arrive in style with the dead bodies of the royals. They would put them on display and the rebels would put down their weapons and give up. The war would be over, Kivar would be sole ruler.
The success of her mission would put her back in the good graces of Kivar, by his side as his second and his lover, her rightful spot. A position of power on Antar, one that that foolish twit Vilandra had given up so easily. All for the ridiculous feeling of loyalty to her family.
“What of the set that escaped in New York? What will be our next step in regards to them?” Jesse questioned his Commanding Officer.
“I have received intelligence reports that they too are also in this dusty little town.” Nicole informed him.
Jesse’s face registered his surprise. “Both sets are here?”
Nicole smiled evilly. “Yes. Whether the two groups have met is still unknown but unlikely. Courtney did not acknowledge that there was anyone but a few humans with them. They are insignificant and need to be exterminated along with the royals. We can’t leave any witnesses behind.”
PART 17
It was early evening when the appearance of the skins was sighted, two hours after Courtney’s last contact with them. They did not come from town down the main road but down a secondary route. Liz was sure it was a way to initiate a surprise attack but it didn’t work. The group had spent the summer coming out to the podchamber and knew all the ways routes. Plus they were ready for them. Liz sucked in a breath as she pressed the button on her walkie-talkie.
The walkie-talkies were some of the gear that the Sheriff had stowed in his SUV. They were broken up into two groups, each defending the easiest approaches up the rock. The other routes were almost vertical and would cause too much difficulty for the skins to use. So the walkie-talkies were going to very helpful.
Keeping her eyes on her own group while talking into the walkie-talkie, Liz gave out the signal. “Okay guys, its time. Here they come.”
Liz felt uncomfortable at the thought of what they were going to do. Of what she had instructed them all to do, to kill another living being. But she had to look at this logically. It was a matter of self-preservation or self-defense. If they didn’t kill their enemies, the enemies wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.
The group continued to silently watch the skins approach. It was evident that they were trying to sneak up. It wouldn’t be difficult to figure out exactly where the pod squad was located; their vehicles were parked at the bottom of mountain, where it met the desert floor.
Once the vehicles stopped the skins quickly filed out instantly taking the offensive. They weren’t being too careful. Everyone above mentally counted them and found that Courtney’s tally had been correct as she wordlessly pointed out her people. After all they didn’t want them to get hit. They seemed to be grouped together, gathering at the back of the group. A position that would make things easier for the royals.
The silence of the desert allowed them to hear their dialogue, Michael couldn’t shake the feelings of familiarity that came with hearing them talking and knew that they had to be spoken a language native to their planet. Michael used the Sheriff’s binoculars to get a closer look at the arriving group. They were splitting up, taking the obvious routes up the hillside, just like they planned. Now for his part of the plan, well his and the other guys.
Glancing over at his fellow male hybrids, then giving the signal through the walkie-talkie, Michael extended a hand. He gathered a large amount of energy and shot it directly at the skins. Max and Kyle did it at the same time while Rath and Dero also fired off shots. Rath, Max and Michael’s shots hit their targets destroying the skins they hit while Kyle and Dero’s shock waves hit the walls above the other skins.
The impact caused a large avalanche of rocks to fall on the skins. Several of the large ones hit a few skins so hard that they were knocked down and the seal on their back was simultaneously broken. They disintegrated in a cloud and the skin flakes were quickly lost in the sand.
Michael starred at the area where the skins had just been, but was now empty. Empty in part because of him, because he had killed them. And while he hated the idea of killing anyone, a part of him felt a satisfying jolt that he was able to protect those he cared about. He looked over and saw that Liz was doing her part to do the same thing.
As soon as Liz and Shyla saw that the first leg of the attack was completed, they did their part. It took quite a bit of focus, after all there were many different minds down there to manipulate but the two managed to mindwarp the skins into seeing nothing above them.
They could have used Dero and Kyle’s invisibility shield, which would have had protected them better but they needed the guys’ powers directed for offensive instead of defensive. So they would just use the likelihood that the skins could hurt them if they couldn’t see them.
Although they couldn’t see their enemy, the skins dove for cover after the first onslaught of fire. Those first hits had wiped out six to eight of them. As soon as they were behind sufficient cover, some large rocks, Liz heard a voice that could only be Nicole’s to return blasts. The rocks all around them were bombarded with blasts of all kinds.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Maria, Alex, and Tess were all hovering around some rocks not far behind where the aliens were battling with the skins. The Sheriff was up closer to them, also firing on the skins. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to kill any of them but he wanted to do what he could to keep them at bay.
Of all the strange stuff he had seen since first finding out about the aliens, Alex had to admit that this clash with the skins was the strangest thing yet. Even with the whole loosing control over themselves and their hormones, finding out that the aliens had lived before or that there were two sets of them recreated didn’t seem as strange as watching his girlfriend and her siblings in full combat against their enemies.
Alex saw that Maria was scared but decently holding together while trying to calm Tess. She wasn’t hysterical or anything, not yet but she was definitely starting to wig. He poked his head up to see how things were going. To him, it looked to be going good, none of their side had been hit while a dozen or so skins had been killed. He turned back to the girls and said in what he hoped was his most reassuring voice.
“Don’t worry, things are be just fine.”
“How do you know?” Tess asked meekly.
“We’ve been in bad situations before and we’ve always gotten through it. I gotta believe this will be no different.” Alex said with confidence.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Nicole was fuming inside. It seemed that these stupid teenage royals were going to be more difficult to dispatch than she had planned. It seemed that the royals had set a trap for them, but how had they known that they were coming? Their protector must have warned them that they were coming after his escape.
Nicole berated herself for letting such a thing happen. She should have anticipated that, but she had been sure that Jesse had done enough damage to the shapeshifter that he wouldn’t have been able to survive the escape. It was a mistake that she was paying for now. Years on this horrible planet must have made her soft.
As she watched her people in action and saw many of them dying, Nicole looked up and studied the rocks but could not see anyone. It was then that she was positive that her people were being mindwarped into seeing nothing. Well if the little queen wanted to play, she would give her something to play with.
Nicole opened her mind and focused it so she would be able to pick up on who was sending the mindwarp. It took a few minutes to locate the source what with all the alien energy being thrown around but eventually she located it. But when she did, she was confused by what she sensed.
There seem to be two different sources and their energy signatures were impossible to tell one apart from the other. She couldn’t figure out why for a few moments, then it hit her. The two signatures were identical because the two people emitting them were. Both sets of the royals were up there in the rocks. This little surprise made the outcome of this battle more significant as well as more much more exhilarating.
Nicole pushed the pleasure she was feeling at the thought of killing all eight of the reincarnated royals in one swoop and focused back on the task at hand. And that was taking out the mindwarpers.
Concentrating on the two energy signatures, Nicole sent out a mental stinger to both of the replicas of the hybrid queen. It was not powerful enough to kill them, only stun them long enough to make them drop their mindwarps. She glanced back up at the rocks and saw the warps come falling down.
PART 18
Liz felt her energy draining as she kept up the mindwarp to hide them during the battle. She had worked on strengthening her powers all summer and had built up her endurance but it was still difficult to mindwarp so many even with Shyla’s helping and the numbers were depleting. But she was holding, she was still strong enough to keep it going for a while yet. She would keep the warp up until all of her energy if she had to.
But that choice was taken out of her hands, as she felt a surge of pain course through her head. It was unlike anything she had experienced before, and she had a great understanding of different forms of pain. It seemed to start in the middle of her brain and radiated out.
The pain was so all encompassing, was so completely excruciating that Liz couldn’t function, let alone hold up her mindwarp. Within seconds of first feeling the pain, Liz felt her mindwarp collapse and grabbed her head. “Ahhh.”
Max felt a sharp sting in his head but managed to shake it off. His attention only shifted from his firing to Liz when he heard her scream of pain. He turned just in time to see her crumple to the ground. He crawled forward, so as not to get hit in the crossfire until he reached her. “Liz…what is it?”
“I don’t know…all I feel is pain.” Liz huffed out.
Whatever Liz had felt, whatever had attacked her mentally, had completely overwhelmed her, she felt like the breath had been knocked out of her. She pushed past the pain and did what she could to heal the throbbing in her head. She was able to heal the headache but was still left with a dull aching.
Max ducked and used his body to cover Liz. “That one was close.”
“Max, my mindwarp is down, Shyla’s probably is too. They can see us Max.” Liz breathed out then looked up at him, “And I can’t get the warp back up.”
“It had to be Nicole.” Courtney stated. “She knows all about all of your powers and would know how exactly to hit you where it counts.”
Max’s eyes widened a little before turning his head and yelling over his shoulder. “Michael! The mindwarps are down, our cover’s blown!”
Michael was too busy to do anything but nod in acknowledgement to Max’s shout. As he and Kyle continued to defend them, Max turned back to Liz. “What can I do for you?”
“Nothing. I need you here helping Michael and Kyle. The skins can see us, we need to end this as soon as possible.” Liz stated. “I’m going to check on the others.”
“Liz, I think you should stay here. It’s too dangerous for you to go.” Max warned.
“Max, this is a stupid argument. Even if I put up another mindwarp, they know our positions. I’m useless here right now, I’m going.” Liz said before leaving.
Liz stayed low, and in a crouched position as she scurried away from Max, her siblings, and Kyle. Rubble and rocks fell on her as she moved over by the dupes. She saw Shyla holding her head in the same fashion that she herself had been doing moments before. “It got you too didn’t it?”
“D*mn thing knocked me on my ass.” Shyla cursed. “Dero tried to catch me but with the warp down, he made and easy target and the skins blasted him.”
Liz swung her attention away from her dupe and to the injured Dero. Thankfully, when he’d been hit, he had been low to the ground and he had only been hit in his left arm and shoulder. But Liz could tell that it was still a bad wound, the material of his shirt was charred and torn around the injury and she could see that the skin underneath didn’t look much better. They were applying pressure and trying to stop the bleeding.
Shyla placed her hand on her lover’s wound and cupped his face. He knew the drill and looked up an into her eyes. Her hand radiated with a familiar glow and Dero’s flesh began to mend. But before Shyla could finish, several blasts hit near them and they were thrown to the ground.
“Get him out of here and get to the chamber!” Liz ordered.
Shyla nodded and her and Dero limped off to the seek refuge in the podchamber. Liz looked to Rath and Lonnie see how they were handling the situation with the two missing. There weren’t many trying to get up the secondary path but enough to cause a diversion from the main assault. Rath seemed to be holding his own while Lonnie was using her powers to simply toss the skins back so that their assent was slowed.
“Can you hold?” Liz asked the two.
“Yeah! There’s only a few left here.” Rath yelled back.
“I’ll send Courtney back to help you two just in case.” Liz yelled.
Liz crawled back over to where she had left Michael, Isabel, Courtney, Kyle and Max. She motioned to Courtney to go and help the dupes like she had promised and then took her spot.
When she was settled, Max looked over and offered her a smile of relief. She could tell he was relieved to see her back and she asked him, “How’s it looking?”
“Good, there’s under a dozen of Nicole’s people still standing but we’ve lost a few of the skins that are on our side.” Max informed her. “I don’t know how much longer I can go.”
“It’s okay. Hopefully we’ll be done soon and it won’t matter.” Liz said as she grabbed the binoculars to have a look around. They needed to find Nicole if they ever hoped to end this thing.
As she scanned over the area, she saw that Max was correct, and Liz felt confident that things were going to end in their favor and they would actually survive this battle. She looked over at Kyle and Michael but couldn’t say anything to them, she didn’t want to distract them so instead she asked Max, “How are they holding up?”
“Better than me, of course they’ve been at this longer than me. But they’re okay.” Max assured her, knowing that she wouldn’t want them to wear themselves out completely. “How’s the others?”
“Dero’s hurt but Shyla is patching him up. He got hit when he was trying to help her after the warps were knocked down” Liz declared “What about Nicole? Have you see any sign of her?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to spot her.” Max informed her.
Liz continued to scan the small leftover group of skins and did not spot Nicole nor the guy who Courtney said was Nicole’s second. She was sure that he was the guy she had seen with in the flash she had gotten from Nasedo. That wasn’t good, they were the worst of the bunch. She moved over to the side, farther away from the shooting to look over the area from a slightly different angle, again she saw nothing.
Liz started to move back over to where the others were still battling when a shadow caught her eye. She swung her binoculars over to where she saw the flicker and found the source. It was Nicole and the guy Liz had been looking for. They were slinking away towards another outcropping of rocks. Liz knew that they were retreating and going into hiding until the battle was over.
Liz looked over and saw that the others were still too busy taking out the last bit of resistance and they could not afford to divide their attentions. She would have to deal with it alone. She had to protect everyone; after all she was the one in charge and had a duty to them.
Liz tossed the binoculars aside before she quickly hopped over the rocks and started climbing down. Thankfully she was still off to the side enough that she was no in sight of the battle so she didn’t have to worry too much about getting hit with blast fire. It was a steep fall and Liz felt several scrapes and scratches along her arms and legs but did her best to ignore them. They could be healed later; right now she needed to catch up to Nicole before she lost her.
Max heard some scuffling and turned around with his hand raised, thinking that perhaps the skins had somehow snuck up behind them. But instead of seeing a covert group of their enemy he saw an empty spot where Liz had just been. He panicked for a minute thinking that Liz had been taken or something similar then he saw small shoeprints leading off to the side and over the rock side. He looked over the side of the rocks and saw tracks in the sand leading down the rocks. He followed it with his eyes until he saw Liz making her way away from the podchamber and to another set of rocks.
Max grabbed up the discarded binoculars and focused them in direction of where Liz was going. That’s when he saw what she was going after, she was going to face the enemy by herself. “Oh God no.”
Kyle, Michael, and Isabel all heard Max’s shout before they saw him jump over the side.
PART 19
Despite the fact that the distance to the other rock outcropping wasn’t far-off from the podchamber, Liz had lost Nicole’s trail as soon as she reached the rocks. This outcropping was large, more spread out. As she maneuvered her way around the large boulders, she realized that her course of action was not the smartest one she could have thought of. But she didn’t get the chance to ponder it for long.
“Well if it isn’t the little queen herself coming to be all brave and daring to face up to me. Quite the little heroine aren’t we?” Nicole asked maliciously as she stepped out from behind one of the rocks.
“Yeah, we’ll I was always told that if you to pick on someone to pick on someone your own size.” Liz said looking at Nicole appraisingly. Liz saw a flash of anger flare in Nicole’s eyes before she was able to extinguish it. “And you are definitely small enough.”
“How’s your head feeling?” Nicole asked menacingly. “Hurt just a little?”
Liz’s eyes narrowed at the mention of the mental attack on her but pushed it aside and shrugged. “I’m used to pain, I’ve lived through worse.”
“Oh, you’ll be feeling more pain than you’ve ever felt before very shortly but this time you won’t survive it.” Nicole said threateningly as she raised her hand.
Before Liz could do anything, she felt the ground drop out beneath her. She was lifted into the air, thrown backwards, and flung against the stone wall behind her. The wind was knocked out of her and her chest felt like it was on fire but she pushed herself up off the ground and got back to her feet.
As she did, she raised her own hand and flung Nicole back in a similar manner. It was the best she could do since she did not have any blasts of her own. It bought her enough time to bring up a mindwarp in the hopes of confusing Nicole so that she could get close enough to destroy her husk.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Max followed Liz’s path until he reached the outer boundaries of the rocks she had been heading for. However before he could explore them and find Liz, some type of forcefield surrounded him. It was similar to Michael’s shield but much smaller and worked more like a net around its prey. He couldn’t move and had to watch powerlessly as a tall guy stepped into his line of sight with his hand extended, using it to control the net that surrounded Max.
“Isn’t this an interesting occurrence? A human trying to help where he is defenseless?” Jesse stated.
“Let me out of this thing and you’ll see how defenseless I am.” Max growled.
Jesse couldn’t help but laugh at Max’s threat. “Wow, you must really find the company of that pathetic former queen very enjoyable to be risking yourself like this.”
“You don’t know what you are talking about.” Max objected.
“Oh don’t I? We watched you long enough to know that you are with Shyla. So tell me, do you and that dim-witted husband of hers divvy her up or do you both take her at the same time like the whore she is?”
Max’s anger flared beyond his control and he felt as if it may burst through his skin. He felt his powers going haywire, begging to be released and he did his best to reign them in. He thought of all the time spent with Liz, practicing his powers and it helped him to calm down. Once that was done, Max glared at Jesse and decided he needed to do what he could to set himself free. “And who are you? Nicole’s little pet?”
“No, I’m her second-in-command.”
“Ah, Jesse.”
Jesse’s eyebrow raised up in surprise. “So our little traitors have been busy revealing all our little secrets. They will pay for that later.”
“So do you plan to just stand there and talk me to death or are you going to drop this shield and let’s end this stand off?” Max asked. It was driving him nuts being out here when he knew that Liz might need him.
Jesse had to admit the human was brave even if he was stupid. Deciding to humor him, Jesse dropped the shield net that surrounded him. Max was ready for it, and didn’t give Jesse any time to make a shot at him. As soon as he saw the shield begin to fade, he pooled his energy. When the shield dropped completely, Max wasted no time raising his hand and sending a large fireball straight at Jesse.
The ball was directly on target and hit Jesse square in his chest. The skin was almost instantly incinerated and flakes showered the air. Max was about to head into the rocks to find Liz when he heard a voice behind him calling his name. He turned to see Michael, Kyle and Isabel limping towards them. It was obvious that they had sustained injuries during the fight with the other skins. Michael was the first to ask, “Where’s Liz?”
“There.” Max said pointing to the rocks where Liz was.
The group set off to help Liz. As they did, Max felt a little dizzy from what felt like a sudden energy loss. He forgot all about it as he heard a loud rumbling of rocks and a large cloud of dust erupted in front of them as they watched a large rock slide fall down exactly where Max had been pointing.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Liz tried to calm her breathing down as she squatted behind a large boulder. She had sought shelter there to give herself a time out from mindwarping Nicole. Nicole had a strong mind and had been trying to shield Liz from her mind. From what Liz could tell, she had only been partly successful. Instead of causing the illusion that she wasn’t standing in front of Nicole, she would flicker in and out. It was a taxing mental battle and what was worse was that Nicole knew it.
“How much longer you think you can keep this up?” Liz heard Nicole yell out at her. “I’m stronger than you even without that weak human DNA mixed into you.”
Nicole made a halfhearted search with her eyes around the rocks before she opted for the easy way and decided to search with her mind. She opened up her psyche and searched out the elusive girl; it only took a few seconds. As she crept along the rocks, Nicole was thankful for the first time of her undersized body of her husk. She did not need to do much to hide herself. She came across Liz just where she thought she would be.
Liz was surprised by the sudden appearance of Nicole right beside her. Before she could react with or powers or even move, Nicole’s small hands seized her head. If Liz thought she had been in pain earlier, it was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. It reminded her of when she had been in the white room and hooked up to the Electro shock machine except instead of it coursing along her skin and body, it was inside her head.
“Boring, boring, boring…” Nicole said as she shifted through Liz’s memories. “Oh that’s quite a naughty memory there. Maybe humans are good for something.”
Liz could only just make out Nicole’s voice around the pain but heard what she had said. Knowing that Nicole was seeing very intimate moments between her and Max infuriated her. How dare this person invade her mind and see private flashes of her life? Acting on pure instinct, Liz raised her hand and tried to gather what power she had. She wasn’t expecting the strength she felt in her powers and they gathered unusually fast. Before she knew what was happening, a large fireball erupted from her hand and enveloped Nicole.
Since Nicole no longer had a hold of her, Liz fell backwards and she looked up. The skin had brought her arms up uselessly trying to defend herself as she screeched in pain before exploding quite forcefully causing the earth around them to shake. Liz looked up in time to see a large amount of rocks falling down towards them. She jumped up as quickly as she could and tried to escape before she would be imprison in the rocks.
Everyone watched helplessly at the rocks. They had tried to move forward but the dust and sand were too thick to see clearly so they had powerlessly watched until it would clear enough to go in and find Liz. But before they had a chance a silhouette appeared in the cloud and stumbled toward them.
Recognizing Liz’s familiar form, Max was the first to move forward and caught her as she stumbled down the rocks. She was covered in scratches, scrapes and her clothes were ripped and filthy but to Max, she looked more beautiful than ever. All the others caught up with them then. Isabel looked at her sister’s disarray and asked. “What happened Liz?”
“The end.” Liz said. “It’s over.”
PART 20
“It’s over.”
Everyone, including the dupes who had come up as Liz had spoke looked at each other and Liz with hope but was not able fully resign themselves to the fact that the battle with their aliens was finally over. The last few days had been so stressful and demanding for them that it was hard to that it could be over. They knew that all the enemy skins had been killed, there were piles of flakes all over the desert floor blending in with the sand.
“What about Nicole?” Michael asked.
“Dead. I followed her up into the rocks, she was by herself. We faced off using our powers to hurt each other. I mindwarped her to hide but I couldn’t hold it solid. She found me, used her mindrape on me. It was just like Courtney said she could see my life and it hurt so much. Despite all of the pain, I could still hear her, taunting me about what she was seeing. It made me angry, so angry that my powers went haywire and the next thing I knew I released a fireball at her. It killed her and caused the rockslide.” Liz answered them all.
Max saw that Liz had looked at him when she had explained about being able to use his powers. He was the only one to understand that it was like what she had done in the white room. She had tapped into their connection and used it to defend herself. Except this time since he had fully developed his powers, she was able to take advantage of it and use his fireball power. It explained the sudden feeling of power loss he had experienced.
“What about Jesse?” Liz asked.
“He’s gone too.” Max answered. “Nicole must have ordered him to stall anyone who came after you. He and I had a nice little chat before I blasted him. He didn’t know I had powers.”
“Back up a minute, how is it that Liz was able to use a fireball? That's not one of our powers?” Shyla asked.
It was obvious that the Roswellian had been thinking the same thing but had not thought to ask. After all, they were used to the strange connection that Liz and Max seemed to have ever since she had healed him. They just hadn’t known it was as powerful enough that they could ‘borrow’ powers.
Max looked at Liz, eyebrow raised in question of whether he should answer or her. Liz gave him a small smile before saying. “Since the first time I saw Max, I’ve been able to sense him. And ever since I healed Max, it’s gotten stronger to the point that we were able to both able to pick up each other plus get flashes from each other.”
Liz seemed to hesitate then for a minute before continuing. “I first realized how strong the connection was when the FBI captured me at the beginning of summer. They had taken my powers away but I was able to somehow use that connection to use them. That’s what happened this time. I don’t have any really defensive powers so I just borrowed Max’s. I tried to talk to Nasedo in a round about way but he seemed to be unaware of what it was or why it was only with the two of us. I never told anyone before except for Max.”
They all seemed to be stunned by Liz’s explanation but since none of them could rationalize it, they didn’t say anything about it except Lonnie who said. “Handy trick.”
Liz nodded before taking in everyone’s conditions. They all looked tattered and torn, bruised and scratched but they were alive. Shyla had healed Dero’s prior wound and taking care of some of the more severe cuts on Lonnie and Rath. The humans had come out of it completely unscathed as was Kyle and Isabel. Max looked okay except for a few scrapes probably from following her from the podchamber.
Michael was the worse off of their group, he had a large cut that started between his eyebrows along the brow line and all the way up to his hairline. It had already stopped bleeding but still looked nasty. He was flinching away from Maria who was trying to doctor him up.
Liz captured Maria’s hand and pulled it away. “He’s a big baby when it comes to pain, let me do it. It’ll be easier for everyone that way.”
Maria nodded while Michael glared at them. “Thanks so much for the blow to my ego.”
Liz made quick work of the cut and when she pulled her own hand away; Maria reached up on her toes to kiss the now unmarred flesh. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make fun of my big brave hero. You blasted all those skins before they could get to us, you protected us.”
“That’s better.” Michael muttered.
“Enough with this sappy sh*t.” Rath complained.
Liz snickered at Rath’s uneasiness and said. “I guess we should head back to town. I don’t think anyone saw anything way out here but in case something was reported, it wouldn’t be wise to be here if someone showed up. The skins ashes or flakes are already blowing away, mixing with the sand so there’s nothing to cover up.”
Everyone agreed and headed back to the rock formation that contained the podchamber. The skins that were on their side talked to them for a short time, establishing what to do next since the threat of Nicole was gone. They settled on the skins continuing on living their lives as normal as possible. For those of them who had not already had jobs and places to live, the ones who had been undercover would take care of them.
Once that was done, the gang loaded up in their various cars and headed back into a town full of people who had no idea that an alien battle had just taken place not far outside their safe little town in the middle of the desert.
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
Liz ran the towel through her hair, drying it as she did it as she walked into her room. Max, Maria, Alex, the Sheriff, and Tess had all returned to their homes after they had come back to town. They needed showers, food, and some rest. After all, they still had school tomorrow. The thought brought a little smile to Liz’s face. After all they’d been through the last couple of days, they still had to worry about school the next day.
As she walked into her room, Liz spotted Shyla sitting on her bed as if she was waiting for Liz’s return. Perhaps it was because they were duplicates but Liz could easily read what her dupe was thinking and why she was there in her room. “You guys are leaving aren’t you?”
Shyla nodded, “Roswell’s too small for both sets of us. Besides, with the skins gone, the four of us will be getting bored soon and that Sheriff of yours would have his hands full.”
“Yeah, I can only imagine what kind of trouble Rath and Dero might get into.” Liz teased.
“Ain’t nothing compared to what Lonnie might get up to.” Shyla retorted.
“I don’t know if I said it before but thanks for everything.” Liz said. “If you guys hadn’t showed up, we might now known that the skins were coming in time.”
Shyla shrugged, “Wasn’t nothing, we just came for the extra fire power.”
“So where are you guys going to go? Back to New York?” Liz asked.
“Yeah, it’s where we been living since we came out of the pods, it’s the closest thing we got to a home.” Shyla answered, telling her what herself and the other dupes had discussed already. “And now that we’ve seen how you guys have blended in, maybe we’re try that. Get jobs or something crazy like that.”
Shyla’s nose wrinkled as if in disgust at the thought and Liz couldn’t help but giggle a little. “It’s not that bad, course I’ve never actually had a job so you’d have to ask one of the others about it.”
“Well as long as one of us doesn’t get shot and I don’t use my powers in the middle of a public restaurant, I think we’ll be okay.” Shyla joked.
Liz rolled her eyes before turning back to the subject at hand. “When do you guys plan on leaving?”
“First thing in the morning, thought we should pull out before you’re parents got back.” Shyla clarified.
“Are we ever going to see you again?” Liz asked.
“Maybe,” Shyla shrugged. “Probably. I mean we have to keep in touch in case something else weird pops up.”
Liz nodded, “Just remember we’re here in case anything weird pops up for you too.”
“I just have to look in a mirror and remember.” Shyla joked.
PART 21
The next few months were blissfully unexciting. Liz couldn’t remember a time when their lives had been more normal since Kyle had come to town. They went to school and studied hard, those who worked continued to do so while the others hung out at the Crashdown. The Sheriff made it his job to look after Kyle since he was now without a legal guardian.
Thanks to a little bit of alien magic, correct papers came into existence that showed Kyle’s ‘father’ had been taken out of town on business and left in the custody of Sheriff Valenti. The house that Nasedo and Kyle lived in was pretty much paid in full so they didn’t have to worry about that and there was enough money left so that what wasn’t paid for was taken care of as well.
Kyle’s house was only a block away from the Valentis’ so Kyle was able to stay in his house and the Sheriff kept an eye on him. Liz had a feeling that it was partly due to the relationship he as well as everybody else saw developing between Tess and Kyle but kept that little theory to herself.
Things amongst the couples were better than ever. Isabel and Alex were as close as ever, Maria and Michael still bickered but it was more like foreplay than anything else, Kyle and Tess were friends while Liz and Max were just like they had been before Kyle and destiny had stepped into their lives. No one said anything about how close they had gotten but all had ideas how they had finished working through their problems. Other non romantic relationships improved as well. Kyle and Max continued to put up with each other while Tess and Liz buried their animosity.
The Evans had returned on afternoon after the battle, thrilled to see their children safe and sound and to know that the threat that had been looming over their heads had been destroyed. They didn’t ask for the details though, they understood that it was something best left unspoken. The other parents of course, the Parkers, Ms. Deluca, and the Whitmans, were all oblivious to what their children had taken part in.
As far as they knew, their kids had gone camping after the Crash festival. But the Parkers did notice that Liz and Max were a lot closer after the camping trip and wondered what had happened. However, Max would only say that he and Liz had finished working things out and were back together.
A lot of the teens in Roswell hated the small town because they thought it was too quiet and boring but to Liz it was paradise. Peace and quiet meant that they could try to get on with their lives, and do normal things like study and go to school or just hang out at the Crashdown, like Liz was doing that evening.
Max watched from the counter as his girlfriend leisurely flipped through a large book. He could tell she was completely focused on it and it made him smile. It was strange, when she was studying; Liz looked more relaxed then ever. Maybe it was because she enjoyed it so much.
Max looked around the café, they only had fifteen minutes until closing time and aside from Liz, there was only one other table taken. Since Maria was their waitress, Max knew that they were taken care of so he headed over to flirt with Liz. He slid into the booth across from her and asked. “Do you ever put the books away? It is Friday night you know, you don’t have to get all your homework done tonight.”
Liz smiled as she took her eyes from her book and looked up. “I finished studying an hour ago, I’m reading this one just for the fun of it.”
“What are you reading?”
“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Alzaban.” Liz answered. When she saw Max’s smile broaden and him chuckle, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing.” Max said looking innocent. He glanced back at the lingering customers before lowering his voice. “Just kind of ironic for an alien to be reading a book about witches and wizards.”
“I guess it is ironic.” Liz smiled at his joke. “But they are really good and as I read these books, I can’t help but feel a kinship with Harry.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I mean here’s a young man who grew up never knowing anything about his real parents or where he came from. Granted he didn’t know he was a wizard until he was eleven but when he did he found out that he was different from everyone he’d met and could do extraordinary things.”
“He’s close with Hermoine and Ron like you were only close to Isabel and Michael.” Max pointed out. “And as time went on his group of friends got bigger.”
“He lives and tries to make sense of everything going on in his everyday life.” Liz stated.
“Trying to find his place in life while also discovering as much as he can about himself.” Max stated.
“He goes through all of these…adventures that the larger world know nothing about. It’s like what we did with the skins or when we were going against the FBI.” Liz stated. “Not to mention if the larger world knew what was going on, Harry and everyone like him would be feared and probably hated for being different.”
“But have no reason to be feared.” Max interrupted. “You should write a book yourself. No one would believe it if they read it and would assume its fiction.”
Liz laughed. “You think?”
“Yeah, you could make all kind of money and we would all be living in the lap of luxury.” Max continued.
“I think Michael might have a problem with it.”
“I doubt he’d hate having money, he’d be able to buy that big TV he’s been eyeing.” Max explained.
“I don’t mean he’d have problem with the money, just the spilling of our secrets. You know it would kind of hurt the whole hiding in plain sight thing.” Liz said.
“Yeah, probably.” Max said.
Just then Maria walked up and interrupted their conversation. “I’m all done with those last customers, if you want to lock up the front door Max.”
Max looked over and saw that he had been so wrapped up with Liz that he hadn’t noticed that it was time to close. He heard the other cook, Jose cleaning up in the kitchen and knew he better get a move on if they were going to get things closed up and the café cleaned. “Oh, right.”
“It’s okay, I could see you were otherwise occupied.” Maria teased as she winked at Liz.
Liz grabbed up her books and scouted out of the booth. “I should be going too.”
“But I thought you might hang out here for a little longer with me?” Max pouted.
“I can’t, I promised my parents I’d get in at a half way decent time tonight.” Liz said. She gave him an apologetic kiss before hurrying out the front door. Most of the other businesses on Main Street were already closed and the street was dark. Liz couldn’t help the creeping feeling that she wasn’t alone. A feeling that proved to be true.
“Liz Evans?” A voice called out from the dark.
Liz’s whole body tensed as she turned to face the person addressing her. The woman was older looking with shoulder length blonde hair. Her face showed signs of a hard life despite the regal air surrounding her. As Liz looked at her, she was struck with the sense of déjà vu, as if she had met her before but Liz could not place where she had seen her. It was right there but she couldn’t pull it up in her memory.
“My name is Thera; I’m your mother.”
PART 22
“My name is Thera; I’m your mother.”
After Thera’s proclamation, Liz could only stare at her. She had no doubt that what Thera had said was true. When she had made her announcement that feeling of déjà vu had became so clear. She had seen her before, in the message from the orbs. The message that had screwed up her life so much for a time. But she wasn’t an image in a message anymore; she was a living, breathing person standing in front of her.
Liz was so shocked that she blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “What are you doing here?”
Thera appeared taken aback, but answered. “We came to find you as well as the other three.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude. But you just appearing on the streets of Roswell is just the last thing I was expecting.” Liz apologized.
“It is okay.” Thera said assuringly giving her a warm smile. “I’m sure my arrival and our reunion is not transpiring the way you envisioned it.”
“To tell you the truth, I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to meet you. Least of all in the middle of Roswell on a dark street. I should tell you that none of us have our memories of before.” Liz stated honestly. What was happening was finally starting to sink in for her.
Liz was standing across from her the woman who had given birth to her. A woman who had loved her, Michael, and Isabel enough to have them recreated and send them off to a safe planet. While Liz did harbor some affection for Thera because of who she was Diane Evans was the only mother she remembered and the one she had ever really thought of in a maternal sense.
“There were a few times since we sent you to Earth, and throughout the war when I too did not think I would see any of you again.” Thera said.
Liz felt a sudden tightening in her chest at what Thera had said. It reminded her that the four of them had been sent to Earth for a purpose. To be safe until it was time to go back, a moment in time that had possibly arrived. “Why you are here? Are you taking us back?”
Sadness appeared in Thera’s eyes and her shoulders seemed to sag a little before she spoke, “As you pointed out, these surroundings are not ideal for a meeting of this magnitude.”
“You’re right. Michael and Isabel would kill me if I did this without them. They’ll already be disappointed that they weren’t here for this.” Liz agreed. “As much as I hate to put this whole meeting off, it is too late for something like that to happen tonight. You’re not in a rush are you?”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough to meet with the four of you, we do not have any time limit.” Thera stated.
“Um, there’s more than the four of us.”
Thera’s eyes went wide. “The second set is here as well?”
“Uh, no. Though they were here a few months ago. What I meant was that when something big like this happens, not only the four of us deal with it.” Liz tried to explain.
“Oh, yes. Your human friends and family.” Thera said.
“How do you know about them?” Liz asked instantly going on the defensive. She couldn’t help but think about Nasedo’s opinion on humans and was unsure of how the other aliens would feel.
“We’ve been watching you since we arrived in Roswell yesterday.” Thera clarified.
“But how did you know where to look for us in the first place? How did you know where we crashed?” Liz asked. Why was people were always watching them before they even knew it?
Thera halted any more of her questions by holding up her hand. “I promise, we will answer all questions you have when we all meet tomorrow.”
“We? How many of you are there?” Liz asked.
“Quite a few. We will need a large area for the meeting place.”
“I think I know where.”
(*(*(*(*(*(*(*(**)*)*)*)*)*)*)*)
The next morning, Liz watched from her place at the kitchen table as the rest of her family ate breakfast. Michael was even there, despite the fact that it was before noon on a Saturday morning. He had mumbled something about Maria dragging him out to the mall so he figured he’d accept the standing invitation for breakfast. And he was now fighting with Isabel over the last bottle of Tabasco sauce.
Liz couldn’t help but wonder if they were going to be mad at her for not telling them right away about her encounter with Thera. She had planned on telling them as soon as she got home the night before but she had been so late that they were already in bed, sleeping tranquilly.
Liz knew that if she had woken them up, they would have all stayed up talking and thinking about what might happen at the meeting the next day. Like if they were going to have to leave Earth and the people they loved to go back to Antar. So she had decided to give them one-more night of peaceful, oblivious sleep.
A part of Liz was angry about Thera’s arrival. It was just another way that the alien abyss as Maria called it was going to interfere with the lives they had built for themselves. They had always known they weren’t normal but they had done their best to create their own niche in Roswell. Was there ever going to be a time when their lives when they wouldn’t have to worry about what was coming next?
Philip noticed how Liz was just picking at her food and that she seemed preoccupied. “Liz, you’re awfully quiet this morning. Is something bugging you?”
Their dad’s question pulled everyone’s attention away from what they were eating and talking about and turned to Liz. She suddenly felt like a deer caught in headlights. There was no getting out of it now. “Um…I was just thinking of something that happened to me last night.”
“I thought you were at the Crashdown with Max last night?” Diane asked.
“I was. I stayed until closing then left for home.” Liz said making clear what she meant. “But I kind of ran into someone as I was walking out to the jeep. It was a total surprise and came as a huge shock.”
Michael rolled his eyes, “Enough with the dramatics, what happened?”
There was no easy way to say it so Liz just came out with it. “I met our mother, she’s here on Earth.”
The only sound that could be heard in the kitchen was the shattering of the Tabasco Sauce bottle as it fell out of Isabel’s hand and on to the floor.
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