BOOK 8 RESTRUCTURING
REALITY
(THE HISTORY OF
THE FUTURE - MAX)
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ PART 7 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Tuesday, December 21st, 2004) (El Paso, TX) Liz idly picked at her dinner as her thoughts consumed her. For three weeks she'd had the same
dream but for the last two days, there had been nothing. If Kyle had been alive and trying to
contact her, he had been unable to for the last two days and she didn't want to
consider what that might mean. Her gaze automatically fell on the Sheriff. She and Max had agreed not to tell him
of her last dream where Kyle had been revealed to her. She knew Max didn't think the dreams
were real and she didn't want to cause any false hope in Jim. If Kyle had somehow survived, he had
been suffering horribly and there was nothing any of them could do. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Copper Summit, AZ) Kyle awoke to a dull pain in his head and raised his hand but
stopped as he noticed the cast encasing it. His brow wrinkled in confusion. Obviously Nicholas had come to his senses before he had
killed him, but Kyle couldn't understand why he had gotten him medical
attention. But he did understand
that he still had the same problem, he couldn't let Nicholas get the
information out of his head. The
next time Nicholas came to him, he would simply have to taunt him until he
forced the alien to kill him. Kyle slumped back onto the cot. He had thought he would never wake up again when he slipped
into unconsciousness and it really hadn't been as frightening as he had
expected. There had been a
welcoming darkness where there was no pain and... Liz! Suddenly he sat up.
He had seen Liz. He knew it
was her, it felt so real. Maybe it was a new power manifesting, he thought to himself. Maybe somehow he had tapped into
something that connected him with Liz, and maybe he could contact her
again. He felt a surge of hope for
the first time since his capture.
He might just get out of this alive after all. Kyle sat on the cot in lotus position and concentrated on focusing
his energy. He really didn't know
how Max and Liz communicated with one another, but he drew from within himself
his memory of Liz. He fixated on
her personality, her essence, the thing about her that was uniquely Liz, until
he could see her clearly in his mind.
Then he called out to her, wrapping her name in the energy he had
gathered and pushing it into his vision of her. Liz. He sat quietly receptive but after a few minutes with no reply, he
felt his hope dim briefly. Then he
strengthened his resolve and built his energy to try again. Just because it didn't work once didn't
mean it wouldn't work. He had
faith in Liz and he knew if anyone could hear him it would be her. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (El Paso, TX) There had been a strange sensation just on the edge of Liz's
perception all evening but she just couldn't figure out what it was. It was like the nagging feeling she got
when she was forgetting something, but it was subtly different. As she had gotten ready for bed, the
feeling had intensified and she had tossed in bed, unable to sleep for more
than an hour, trying to discover what was happening. Finally she drifted into a troubled sleep and once again found
herself in the corridors, but this time there was no fog. Liz. A voice called her name within her head and she knew instantly it
was Kyle. She turned and hurried
to the room where she had seen Kyle before and found him sitting on a cot, his
eyes closed, obviously in deep meditation. She stopped close to the bars of his cell and reached out to
touch them, but her hand went through them. She walked through the bars and reached out to Kyle but she
couldn't touch him either. "Kyle," she said aloud. Kyle's eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice, and he had a
brief glimpse of Liz before his concentration broke. He reached out to her as her image dissolved before him,
"Liz!" Liz woke up immediately.
The sensation she'd been experiencing had been just different enough
that she hadn't realized what it was, but now she knew it had been Kyle trying
to contact her. He had tried to
speak to her like Max did, but she hadn't recognized him. She could feel the similarities to her
connection with Max but there were differences too and those were what had
confused her. In her mind, she reached for the new thread of connection. It was not as strong as the connection
she shared with Max and there was a different flavor to it, as if it were a
piece of Kyle, but it was basically the same. Liz brought the link sharply into focus and pushed her thoughts
into it. Kyle, can you hear me? She felt a rush of emotions along the connection but uppermost was
anguish. Liz? Liz felt tears prick at her eyes, Kyle, we thought you were
dead. The skins saved me.
But Liz, listen, you've got to get me out of here. They are trying to get the location of
the Granolith from me and I don't know how much longer I can hold out. Do you know where they are keeping you? she asked. I'm in Copper Summit, but I don't know where exactly. I'll tell the others and we'll come up with a plan. We'll get you back, Kyle, I promise. Liz felt his relief through the connection, I never doubted
you, Liz. Liz ended the connection and turned to shake Max awake. "Max, get up." Max rubbed at his eyes sleepily, "What's wrong?" "Max, Kyle is alive and we have to help him." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Everyone sat around the table, listening intently as Liz finished
her story. There were tears in the Sheriff's eyes but a smile on his face,
"My boy is alive." Liz nodded, "But we have to figure out a way to get him back,
fast." "It's not going to be easy," Michael said, "to just
walk into the skins' stronghold and take back a prisoner, especially when we
don't know where he is." Serena spoke up, "I think Liz can help with that." "What do you mean?" Max asked warily. "From what Liz was describing, it sounds like she is
developing a new power. Kyle could
see her, and she could see what was happening, but she couldn't interact with
anything. Typically it is called
astral projection. Basically she
can send her mind to a different place than her body. If she could do it again, she could simply walk out of the
building and see where Kyle is being held." Liz agreed quickly,
"I'll do it." Max accepted her decision with a brief nod, "We still need a
plan to get Kyle out. A layout of
the town would be helpful too." "Um," Isabel started, "Michael and I can help with
that." "What are you talking about?" Max asked. "Well it's like this Max," Michael started, "Isabel
and I went to check out Copper Summit back during the harvest." "You what?" Max asked incredulously. "We were careful," Michael assured him. "We hid in the hills outside of
town." Max swallowed his disapproval and focused on the present,
"Can you and Isabel draw a map of the city?" Michael looked to Isabel and then nodded. "Okay," Max said.
"Since the skins are looking for us, maybe we can turn that to our
advantage. Somehow we could make
the skins think that we are somewhere so Nicholas will send the troops after
us." Michael picked up on the idea immediately, "Yeah, we could
make, like a distraction to lure them away from Copper Summit." "It would have to be good or they wouldn't fall for it,"
Max said. "Can't they track the signals from those orbs?" Maria
asked. "We could just send a
message from like Chicago or somewhere and let them go chasing after us. "That's not a bad idea," Max said, "but the skins
know, that we know the signal can be tracked. They would never believe we would be so careless." "Unless," Liz said, with a speculative gleam in her
eyes, "they thought we didn't know about it." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Liz waited until after three o'clock a.m. to initiate contact with
Kyle, hoping that most of the town would be asleep and Kyle would be
alone. She called out along the
connection, Kyle. He answered immediately, Liz. Kyle, are you alone? Yeah, what's going on? Remember when you saw me?
It's a new power I have. Liz explained. Hopefully IÕm going to appear there in a few minutes and
find out where you're being held. Hopefully? Kyle asked. Well,
Liz admitted, I didn't know I was doing it. I thought it was a dream, so I'm not really sure how it
works, but I have lots of people to help.
We'll figure it out. Okay Liz, I know you'll do your best. So what's the plan? If everything goes as planned, we'll get you out of there the
day after tomorrow. Liz felt Kyle's relief through the
connection. Just hold on a
little longer. I'll be here, Kyle said, unless I decide to step out for a pizza or
something. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Isabel waited until she could get Max alone and pulled him
aside. "Max, if Kyle is still
alive then maybe Alex is too." Max shook his head but Isabel continued, "They could both be
held in the same place, maybe Kyle knows where Alex is or maybe Liz can find
him too." "Iz," Max said gently, "Alex is gone. I saw him." "No Max," Isabel's voice rose desperately, "he
could still be alive. It could
have been another skin trick. You
just thought he was dead." Max shook his head again and reached into his pocket, "I was
going to give this to you, but it never seemed to be the right time." He held a folded piece of paper out to her and she hesitatingly
took it and smoothed it open. It
was the front page of the Roswell Gazette from December eleventh. Isabel looked at her brother, "You
told us not to get the Roswell paper so we wouldn't have anything that linked
us to Roswell." "That's true," Max admitted, "but I also didn't
want you to see the articles about us, about our families, because I knew it
would hurt you. I've had Serena
keep up on what was happening in Roswell because we need all the information we
can get." Isabel's hands started to tremble and she asked in strangled
voice, "So what's in this paper you wanted me to see?" Max pointed to an article at the bottom of the page and Isabel
glanced down. The headline brought
tears to her eyes. "I'm really sorry Iz," Max said, and left her to read
the article alone. Isabel wiped the tears from her eyes and started to read.
The article continued but Isabel dropped the paper to the floor as
she dissolved into tears. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Serena, Liz and Max sat around the table and Serena tried to
explain to Liz how to use her new power.
"You have done this subconsciously, so you know how, you just have
to try not to let the conscious part of your brain get in the way. Remember you are not in a corporeal
form so you don't have to follow the laws of physics. No door or wall can stop you and gravity does not effect
you." Liz nodded. "Just close your eyes and focus your energy," Serena
said. "Concentrate on the
place where you saw Kyle." Liz closed her eyes and tried to picture the cell with Kyle on the
cot, but all she saw was the thick black fog. Serena continued, "Let his energy guide you to your
destination." With her mind, Liz grasped the connection she had with Kyle and
let it propel her. She felt as if
she were getting lighter, floating, and then she suddenly gathered speed and
the fog thinned as her velocity increased. A rush of images assaulted her, too fast for her to make
out, and then she was standing before Kyle. The room was completely dark, but Kyle sat on the cot as had she
expected. He saw her immediately
and smiled. Liz longed to stay
with him and offer comfort but she wasn't sure how long she would be able to
continue, so she waved and turned to the door. Liz reached out to touch the door and her hand passed
through. She took a deep breath
and before she could think about it too much, she walked through. Behind it were stairs leading up, and
Liz concentrated on lifting her form up through them. She could feel herself becoming lighter and she floated up through
two flights of stairs and out into a large room on the main floor. Liz could see outside through the windows on the double doors
across the room and quickly headed toward them. As she reached them, a wave of dizziness washed over her and
she knew her time was running short.
She pushed herself through the doors and out into the dark street, as
the fog started to swirl in around her.
She quickly turned around and her gaze settled on the building where
Kyle was being held, and her eyes roamed over it, trying to memorize every
detail. It was a two-story, yellow
brick building, but the thing that stuck uppermost in her mind was the name,
The Universal Friendship League. Liz looked around at the surrounding buildings, studying any
landmarks and trying to see the name of the street. She noticed a sign across the street and hurried toward it,
but the fog became more dense with every step and Liz felt another wave of
dizziness. She wanted to return to
Kyle one more time, but she could feel herself weakening. She pushed herself the last few steps,
but the fog completely engulfed her before she could read the name of the
streets. Suddenly she was back in her body and reeled to the side, not
prepared for the rapid change. "Liz!" Max cried as her body swayed toward him and he
caught her easily. "Liz, are
you okay?" Liz felt Max's strong arms encircle her before she fell and heard
the worried tone in his voice as he called her name. She turned to him with a weak smile. "I saw it, Max. Kyle is in the sub-basement of a
yellow-brick, two-story building, The Universal Friendship League. But I couldn't stay long enough to see
the street it was on." Liz collapsed into Max as her strength left her and he lowered her
to the floor, quickly making a connection to check for injuries. He relaxed only after he was satisfied
nothing was wrong with her. Max's cries brought Michael, Maria, Isabel and Jim running into
the room. Maria rushed to Liz's side, "What's wrong with her?" "She's just exhausted," Max said. "She'll be alright." Jim came forward, "Was she able to tell where Kyle is?" "Yeah, he's in the Universal Friendship League building. She said it was yellow brick, two
stories but she couldn't see what street it's on." "I remember it," Isabel said. "They sent Whitaker that letter, remember? I thought the name was really
creepy. It is at the T-intersection
of the two main streets." "Okay," Max said, "you and Michael get to work on a
map of Copper Summit. Jim see if
you can find a place that will be suitable. Serena get the orb and the other equipment we'll need. After I put Liz in bed I'll come down
to help with the rest of the plan." Max gathered Liz in his arms and headed up the stairs toward their
room, with Maria following closely behind. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Thursday, December 23rd, 2004) (Copper Summit, AZ) Nicholas rushed into the communication center. His soldiers had just picked up a
transmission on the royal frequency and they had been able to pinpoint the
location of the origin. Nicholas
stopped, barely inside the door, noticing the strange looks on the faces of Ida
and Walt and the others gathered there.
"What?" he asked. Walt grinned, "The, um, message, obviously starts in the
middle of an argument. He coughed,
trying to hold back a laugh and shook his head, "You just have to hear
it." "Okay," Nicholas said, and nodded to the communications
officer. "Play it." "...have to listen to me, Max," Michael shouted. "Michael, we've already had this argument several times
and I don't want to rehash the whole thing again." "Max, this orb may be the only thing standing between us
and death," Michael said dramatically. "Michael, put the damn orb down. You don't even know what you're talking about." "We should use this thing to call for reinforcements, call
your followers on Antar and the other planets. We can't possibly hope to defeat the skins alone. " "No, Michael.
We aren't calling anyone."
Max laughed, "Remember what a bunch of bumbling fools the skins
were, falling all over themselves?
They must have outnumbered us ten to one. I couldn't believe how easily we escaped them. Michael scoffed, "Yeah, you saw how many of 'em there
were. Maybe we just got lucky that
day." "Lucky?" Max huffed. "We shouldn't even be having this discussion. I decide what we do. I am the King." Michael laughed, "Some great King you are. Alex, Kyle and Courtney are dead, and
we had to leave our homes and everything we've ever known. For hell sakes, Maxwell, we are hiding
in friggin' Kansas." "Not for much longer," Max reminded him. "Remember we're leaving tomorrow
just after sunrise. We can't
afford to stay in one place too long." "Yeah, so we're running like a bunch of scared
rabbits. If we had the help of our
allies..." Max cut him off, "If we use the orb it will also alert the
skins to where we are." "Well, I say bring them on, we might as well get this over
with. What else are we going to
do, hide the rest of our lives?" "No," Max said, "but we need a plan. We can't just walk into the skins'
headquarters and have a shoot out, like it's the wild west or something. Besides you can't even control your
powers half of the time." "Hey," Michael said defensively, "I've been
practicing and I'm getting better." "Yeah but you can't control your powers at all when you're
upset. Remember all of the windows
you accidentally blew-out of the last house, when you and Maria were
fighting? Glass was flying
everywhere, Michael. It's just
lucky that no one was hurt or killed.
You don't even know if you could control your powers enough to use the
orb," Max scoffed. "So
Michael, I'm going to ask you once nicely, to hand over that orb, before I have
to take it from you." "You can try," Michael said with a sarcastic tone in
his voice. "Michael, I'm warning you..." The voices stopped as several blasts of power sounded. Then there was a loud crash and the
transmission stopped. Nicholas looked around him at the amused faces of his senior staff
and they burst into laughter.
Nicholas smiled and shook his head, "I always knew Rath was a
moron." He turned to the
communications officer, "So they're in friggin' Kansas. Do you have the address yet?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Havensville, KS) Isabel slipped the orb and the tape recorder into her bag, got
into the rented car and dialed a number on her cell phone, "Hi mom. I just wanted to tell you I'm running a
little late and not to hold dinner for me." A woman's voice answered her, "Okay dear, we'll start without
you." Isabel ended the call, put the car in gear and headed north toward
Topeka and the airport. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (The hills outside of Copper Summit, AZ) Serena turned off her cell phone, "That was Isabel with the
signal." "Okay," said Max, turning to the others, "they'll
have to high-tail it out of here to get to Kansas before tomorrow morning. And hopefully the message we sent and
the fact that we escaped him before will make Nicholas angry enough to send
most of his troops after us. So
all we have to do is wait until they leave and then we go in to get Kyle." As they watched, the sleepy little town erupted into a maelstrom
of activity. Skin soldiers poured
out of the buildings and jumped into vehicles, with the diminutive Nicholas at
the heart of it all, shouting orders.
Max watched with growing horror at the number of troops. Courtney had told them at the time of
the harvest that the skins were down to just over a hundred, but clearly there
were more than that in Copper Summit now.
Max turned to Serena, "Can you tell how many of them there
are?" "I've counted at least four thousand and there are still more
coming out," Serena said.
"If the information that Courtney gave you was accurate, Khivar has
sent more troops." "There could be thousands more of them down there,"
Michael said. "And what's the
deal with the cars? Don't they
have space ships or something?" Serena nodded, "They do, but using them even at night is
risky. There are people everywhere
watching the skies and everybody has a video camera these days. If the U.S. government found out about
the skins, their mission would be over.
Nicholas would never take that chance." Max nodded, "Let's just wait and see what happens." More and more vehicles filled with skin soldiers drove out of
Copper Summit until only a handful of people were left standing in the
street. Nicholas was obviously
giving them orders, gesturing wildly and shouting. Two of the remaining soldiers went into the yellow brick
building where Kyle was being held and the others got into two cars and drove
north. Finally Nicholas got in the
passenger seat of the single remaining vehicle and it headed east with the
others. Max and the others watched Copper Summit for an hour after the
skins had left, but there was no activity. Max looked at Liz.
He had wanted her to stay in El Paso where he could be sure she was
safe, but she had insisted on coming and he had to admit to himself that he was
glad. He needed Liz at his
side. He felt stronger when she
was with him. "Liz, contact
Kyle and ask him how many guards are with him." He turned to the others.
"I don't know where those other skins went who drove north, but the
town seems to be deserted. This
will probably be the best chance we'll get. Jim, you and Michael go in from the west and Serena and I
will go in from the south and we'll meet in front of the UFL building. Serena will go in first disguised as
Nicholas, we'll take the guards by surprise and get Kyle out as quickly as
possible." "Max," Liz interrupted, "Kyle says there are two
guards with him and according to his description they are the ones we saw go in
earlier." "Okay," Max continued, "Liz and Maria will stay
here." He held up a hand to
stop Liz's protest and continued, "You will stay here to keep watch. If any of the skins come into town and
head toward the UFL building you can contact me through our connection." Liz nodded in agreement. Max looked at each of the people before him, "Hopefully we'll
be in and out quickly and we'll meet at the hotel where we agreed. If anything goes wrong, split up and
keep in contact through the cell phones.
This won't be like last time.
We aren't walking into a trap and Maria and Liz have our backs, but we
still need to be careful. Don't
take any unnecessary risks and keep yourselves safe.Ó He nodded.
ÒOkay, let's go get Kyle." Max turned to Liz and embraced her. "I'll see you in a few minutes." Liz forced a smile to her lips, "Be careful." Serena took Nicholas' appearance and got in the car with Max, who
now had blond hair. They drove
slowly into the town looking for an ambush, but there was no sign of activity
and Max stopped the car in front of the Universal Friendship League
building. A curly-haired Michael
and a long-haired Jim met them on the front steps of the building and they
followed Serena inside. As they descended the stairs, Max contacted Liz through their
connection, Liz, tell Kyle we're coming down the stairs and Serena looks
like Nicholas. Okay, Max. So far
everything's clear. Serena entered the room where Kyle's was being held and two skin
soldiers sat at a table playing cards.
They snapped to attention when they saw her. "Sir, we didn't expect you back so soon." "Change of plans," said Serena dismissively. She motioned to Max, and he and Jim
moved past the soldiers to unlock Kyle's cell. She turned back to the skin soldiers, "I have another
job for you two." One of the guards noticed Michael for the first time and raised
his hand menacingly as he recognized him, "Hey isn't that..." his
sentence was cut off as Jim broke the seal on his husk and he turned to
dust. The other skin whirled
toward Jim but a blast of power from Serena easily eliminated him. Max and Jim helped Kyle out of the cell and up the stairs and Max
called out to Liz, Is the street clear? It's clear Max. We
haven't seen anyone. They reached the main floor of the UFL and paused at the outer
door but they saw no one. Michael
held the doors open for Jim and Max to get Kyle through, and Serena rushed
ahead to the car. She opened the
door to Jim's car and they put Kyle in the back seat. Max climbed in with Kyle and Jim got behind the wheel while
Michael and Serena got into Max's car. As they drove out of town, Max removed the cast and healed Kyle's
arm. In the connection created, he
saw a brief glimpse of what Kyle had been subjected to during his time with the
skins. He quickly checked Kyle for
other injuries but besides some soreness he was okay. "I fixed your arm and I don't see any other
damage." "No physical damage at least," Kyle said tightly. Max nodded stiffly.
Kyle's experience had been similar to what he had been subjected to in
the white room but where he had only been tortured for one day, Kyle had
suffered for almost a month.
"Kyle, I'm really sorry.
If you need to talk..." Kyle nodded, "Thanks for coming to get me Max." "It was Liz who found you," Max reminded him. "Yeah and I'm going to give your wife a big hug when I see
her." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Friday, December 24th, 2004) (Havensville, KS) The bulk of Nicholas' army were setting up positions around the
small town while Nicholas and his band of hand-picked soldiers waited to rush
Max's hideout. The signal sent by
the orb had been tracked to an abandoned granary just outside of town, near the
cemetery. Nicholas glanced at the
sign just down the road. Havensville, Kansas Population 147 Nicholas had to admit that it was a good location to hide out,
even if the name of the town was a little hokey. The granary was far enough out of town for them to mostly
avoid the locals and even if anyone did notice them, they would probably assume
the group of teenagers was a cult.
There were two large and four small buildings on the compound, giving
them lots of room to hide, but Nicholas was counting on them acting like humans
not soldiers. They were probably
all staying together in the old farmhouse. He had watched the compound for about half an hour, but there was
no sign of movement, no lights, and it was eerily quiet. Nicholas glanced down at his watch,
there was just over an hour until sunrise and he wanted to take Max and the
others before they could reach their cars. He spoke into his amplifier, "Is everyone in
position?" All the group commanders reported positively and Nicholas barked
orders into his amplifier, "Hold the parameter at all costs but I want all
of them taken alive. Teams one
through six, move out." Nicholas led his team into the house and they quickly went from
room to room but found no sign of the Royal Three or the others, and as they
finished their search, Nicholas realized that a thick layer of dust covered
everything in the house. No one
had been in there for years. A
suspicion started growing in his mind and he spoke into his amplifier,
"Groups two through five, report.
Any sign of them?" Each of the group commanders reported negatively. Nicholas signaled the commanders of the troops at the parameter
asking if anyone had attempted to pass, but as he suspected, they answered
negatively. Nicholas changed the frequency on the amplifier and signaled the
soldiers guarding Kyle but there was no reply, also as he suspected. Then he signaled the communications
room on the ship, calling the leader of the group he had assigned to protect
it, "Greer, come in." He was answered immediately, "Yes Sir." "Send some men to the UFL building. I think our prisoner has been liberated." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ It had been a subdued holiday season because of Alex's and Kyle's
deaths, and the fact that they had been on the run. No one had planned on celebrating or exchanging gifts, but
now that Kyle was safe, a feeling of thankfulness and optimism infused the
group. Maria and Liz stopped on the way back from Copper Summit and
bought the fixings for a traditional turkey dinner, a small Christmas tree and
decorations. While Max and Serena
went to collect Isabel from the airport, Liz and Michael prepared a sumptuous
feast and Maria and the Valentis decorated the tree. Later they all gathered around the table and Max stood and raised
his glass to give a toast.
"This is to remembering absent friends and family. Just because they aren't with us
doesn't mean they will ever be forgotten.
And to Kyle for his bravery and determination that allowed us to get him
back. And finally to all of
you." Max looked at each
person around the table, "I couldn't have gotten through this without each
and every one of you. I love all
of you. You are my family
now." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Copper Summit, AZ) Khivar faced Nicholas in Corporal Raltos' borrowed body, "So
let me get this straight. You had
one of Max's human friends who knew the location of the Granolith in your
possession, but you couldn't force him to divulge where it was, because you
didn't want to damage his mind. In
the mean time, you received a seemingly accidental message from Max that
conveniently pinpointed their location.
So you sent the majority of the troops to take Max's group, leaving your
town and your prisoner relatively unguarded. And while you were gone, Max took back his human." Nicholas winced. He
knew it was his fault but Khivar had made it sound worse than it was, and
Nicholas didn't think his master would forgive him this time. He had served Khivar almost his entire
life and he was the closest thing to a friend that Khivar had, but Nicholas had
no illusions. Khivar would kill
him without a second thought if he had outlived his usefulness. The sudden sound of Khivar's laughter filled the room. It was a terrible sound, joyless,
almost maniacal, and Nicholas was afraid to look at his master. Finally Khivar spoke, "You have to admit it was a daring
plan. I'm surprised that Zan came
up with it, but maybe the human DNA has given Max some backbone." "Or maybe it's his human wife," Nicholas offered. "Yes," Khivar mused. "Zan was so much in love with Ava, it's hard to believe
he has cast her aside for a human.
This Liz must be something special." Khivar shrugged, "It's too bad we don't know where his
Ava went. She would be very
helpful, and after Max's rejection, she might be eager to join us." Nicholas nodded but stayed silent, waiting for Khivar to decide
what to do. "Do you still have the message Max sent?" "Yes, your Majesty," Nicholas answered formally. "I would like to hear it for myself." Nicholas crossed to the console and pressed a series of buttons,
activating the message. "...have to listen to me, Max," Michael shouted. "Michael, we've already had this argument several times
and I don't want to rehash the whole thing again." "Max, this orb may be the only thing standing between us
and death," Michael said dramatically. "Michael, put the damn orb down. You don't even know what you're talking about." "We should use this thing to call for reinforcements, call
your followers on Antar and the other planets. We can't possibly hope to defeat the skins alone. " "No, Michael.
We aren't calling anyone."
Max laughed, "Remember what a bunch of bumbling fools the skins
were, falling all over themselves?
They must have outnumbered us ten to one. I couldn't believe how easily we escaped them. Michael scoffed, "Yeah, you saw how many of 'em there
were. Maybe we just got lucky that
day." "Lucky?" Max huffed. "We shouldn't even be having this discussion. I decide what we do. I am the King." Michael laughed, "Some great King you are. Alex, Kyle and Courtney are dead, and
we had to leave our homes and everything we've ever known. For hell sakes, Maxwell, we are hiding
in friggin' Kansas." "Not for much longer," Max reminded him. "Remember we're leaving tomorrow
just after sun rise. We can't
afford to stay in one place too long." "Yeah, so we're running like a bunch of scared
rabbits. If we had the help of our
allies..." Max cut him off, "If we use the orb it will also alert the
skins to where we are." "Well, I say bring them on, we might as well get this over
with. What else are we going to
do, hide the rest of our lives?" "No," Max said, "but we need a plan. We can't just walk into the skins'
headquarters and have a shoot out, like it's the wild west or something. Besides you can't even control your
powers half of the time." "Hey," Michael said defensively, "I've been
practicing and I'm getting better." "Yeah but you can't control your powers at all when you're
upset. Remember all of the windows
you accidentally blew-out of the last house, when you and Maria were
fighting? Glass was flying
everywhere, Michael. It's just
lucky that no one was hurt or killed.
You don't even know if you could control your powers enough to use the
orb," Max scoffed. "So
Michael, I'm going to ask you once nicely, to hand over that orb, before I have
to take it from you." "You can try," Michael said with a sarcastic tone in
his voice. "Michael, I'm warning you..." The voices stopped as several blasts of power sounded. Then there was a loud crash and the
transmission stopped. Khivar scratched his chin as the message ended and spoke his
thoughts aloud, "It was a clever plan. I can see why you fell for it, but there may be a grain of
truth in it too." "What do you mean?" Nicholas asked. "The part about contacting their allies. Obviously they know more of our troops
have been sent to Earth. What if
they are in contact with the dowager Queen and the rebel forces? They could be planning to bring their
own army to Earth." "It's possible," Nicholas admitted. "But why would they tell us in the
message?" "To throw us off," Khivar said thoughtfully. "If Max already has troops coming
to Earth they could arrive and kill all of you before more of our troops got
there. If he has the resources, I
have seriously underestimated him."
Khivar paced back and forth before the desk, growing angrier and
angrier with each step. Suddenly
he stopped, slamming his fist on the desk. "We can't let Max get the upper hand now. This whole thing has dragged on too
long. I have been complacent and
Max is gaining ground.Ó Khivar nodded, having made up his mind. ÒI will send two more legions of troops to you. Until they arrive, keep searching for
Max and his group. If you find
them before the troops arrive, then proceed with the original plan. But if the troops arrive and you still
have not found them, I want you to take that insignificant little planet apart. You will have fifteen thousand of our
finest battle-ready troops, armed with the latest weapons, and three warships
with full compliments of fighters at your disposal. Destroy anything that gets in your way." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ TBC |
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BOOK 8 - RESTRUCTURING REALITY Part 8 Book 8 Main Book 8 Timeline | |||||
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