Disclaimer:
These characters do not belong to me, but to the writers and producers
of
Spoilers:
After Chant Down Babylon, changes happening where Max is successfully
rescued, and Michael was the one who broke up with Maria.
Pairings: You’ll have to wait and see!
Pronunciation Guide:
Author’s notes: Queen Fadilia Kedar: Max/Isabel’s
mother
King
Alaric Kedar: Max/Isabel’s father
Andaria:
Tess’ mother
Radim:
Tess’ father
Kedrans: race from which Royal Four descended
Iturians:
race from which Khivar descended, and overthrew and
killed Zan and the Kedrans
Cerideans:
special core ops of the Iturian army, mostly psyonics and telepaths
Kaptar’s Jewel: constellation in the Antarian’s
star system
Yun’s Garment: Aurora Borealis - Northern Lights
Saren Dari: desert plain on Antar
dashka :
good
luck charm
elkarl : Iturian
hand weapon
capaechea: long haired woolly creature, with long
flanks and a large hump on its back
kii:
location where various endangered animals are kept for protection
Tir Lamar:
sister city to Eshtari
kashkar: slur,
equivalent to witch
Chapter Sixty Two
***
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
- Carl
Jung
***
The sharp,
jagged structure that loomed over them was immense and mind-boggling. It’s black, shadowed hand hovered menacingly
over its’ metallic frame. What psychotic engineer created this weapon
of doom? Michael felt his heart
pounding against his chest – in part from the race to find the project, but
also from the instantaneous shock of stumbling into the laboratory and seeing
this monstrosity.
There was no way they were piggybacking
this thing out of Saren Dari.
“Quirinius,”
he snapped. “Do you have the hydrogen
grenades?” The youth’s gaze remained
fixed on the structure that remained operational…for the moment. “Que!”
Quirinius
jerked his head around and stared wide-eyed at Michael. “Sir…I’ve never
seen anything like it,” he gasped, as
if in awe. “I couldn’t even fathom
creating…”
Michael
furrowed his brow. The kid was admiring it. He
rolled his eyes. “Give me those
grenades,” he barked, glancing nervously at his watch. They had another minute and a half before
Hani took off without them. “And make
yourself useful; keep an eye at the door.”
He hastily
grabbed the two H-grenades from Que’s hand and raced over to the weapon. Michael had no idea what this thing could do,
or how it worked, but he was going to make damn sure that they would never find
out. Quickly he punched in a short
sequence of codes into the panel linked to the grenade and securely attached
the first of the two silvery-grey boxes onto the structure. 5 minutes – that’s all they would have to
escape the destruction that was about to rain down on Khivar’s hiding
place. Michael glanced behind him to
check on their escape route, searching for the lean, muscular build of the
dark-skinned Antarian, but saw no sign of him.
His whole body tensed. Had they found him? Michael frowned. He had heard no commotion, and he was certain
that Que would have found a way to warn him of danger.
“Que!” he
whispered irritably. “Where are you?”
“Right
here, sir!” the low, but young voice of the soldier replied.
Michael
peered around the corner of the weapon to find Quirinius staring intently at
the machine. “What the hell are you
doing?” He glanced behind him, making
sure that there were no guards clamoring down the glowing red corridor.
“I’m just
downloading the schematics of the weapon, Sir.”
Quirinius pointed down to the thin yellow cables that were streaming
from a small, dull matted, grey panel.
“I thought that the Gen…”
“Don’t tell
me what you think!” Michael growled. His
antics could have gotten them killed. “I
ordered you to watch the entrance and you disobeyed my orders!”
Quirinius
raised his eyes to meet Michael’s.
“C-Commander,” he stammered, realizing the infraction he had incurred. “I
d-didn’t intend on…” His voice trailed
off.
Michael
gazed steadily at the anxious private, who seemed scared witless at the wrath
he had unintentionally incurred. He
understood the anxiety the officer felt on his first mission, and the
adrenaline that was pumping through his veins; Rath, he, had been a precocious
teen when his father had enlisted him into the Army. Radim had hoped it would curb whatever
mischievous tendencies he had; but being in the Royal Army only invigorated his
already vivid imagination and his roguish ways.
Michael waved the soldier off and temporarily dismissed the minor
infraction. “Finish what you started,”
he glanced briefly at his watch, “you’ve got 15 seconds before we gotta move!”
Quirinius
smiled gratefully at him.
Michael
sighed. He didn’t have time for
this. Turning on his heel, he set the
other grenade and secured it on the structure.
With a flick of his thumb, Michael started the time sequence. “Private!
Let’s move!”
Quirinius
nodded, removing the cables from the narrow panel and slipped it into his side
pocket. “Ready, Sir!”
Michael
motioned, with a slight jerk of his head, to move out. After securing the perimeter, he followed
closely behind Private Quirinius into the corridor, where several of Khivar’s men
had begun to secure the exits.
“Intruders!” a loud, raspy voice screamed, alerting the previously
oblivious soldiers to their presence.
Michael
pulled Que behind him and gazed sternly at the youth, whose experience showed
on his face. “Get out of here! Meet Hani and get out of here!” He shoved Que again, and motioned him
distractedly, to head towards the ventilation shaft that hung above the
corridor 10 feet away, that he had just noticed.
“But
Commander…”
Michael
quickly dispatched two soldiers who had come at him with two stun guns,
maneuvering around them and shocking them with their own weapons. “Don’t make me say it again, Private,” he
breathed heavily, as he turned around to face his next attackers.
Quirinius
seemed to hesitate, yet slowly began to bramble towards the shaft, which had a
narrow ladder connected to the north wall.
Michael kept a close eye on his man, making sure he exited before
focusing his sole attention on the legion of 20 men that had scrambled into the
narrow corridor.
He took a
deep breath, praying that Tess wasn’t in as much trouble as he was right now.
~~~
“Where did
all of these guys come from?” Tess exclaimed tersely. “Have you made contact with Commander Guerin
yet?”
They had
been making their way through the quiet corridors, careful to avoid encounters
with the several groups of soldiers patrolling the area. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud voice
boomed over the intercom system of intruders.
Once that call had been made, the corridors had been lined with troops,
heading in the same direction as Michael and his men had gone.
Oh God, please don’t let them find
them.
Tess had
tried to contact them mentally, but a dampening field seemed to have been
placed on the surrounding area.
“Your Highness,
we must locate Prince Zander quickly; the longer we
stay, the tighter their security will become,” Yasu
warned, as he peered around the sharp corridor.
“Well I
don’t see you doing anything to help,” she snapped, glaring at her
counter-part, who had been of no help since their mission began.
“I do not
suppose to direct Her Highness,” Yasu replied
solemnly. His usually hazel eyes, now
were enveloped in an ebony pool, which seemed characteristic of the Antarian
race – their markedly dilated pupils – during battle, as she saw while
reviewing battle footage.
“Well then,
help me out here and find out what the hell
happened to Michael…Commander Guerin.” The stress of the mission was getting to
her. She could feel herself trembling –
as if she felt a chill. Taking a deep
breath, Tess focused again, trying to locate Zander;
she didn’t know what success she would have when the dampening field seemed to
hinder her powers.
“Incoming,”
Yasu whispered, pulling her into the inlet between a
metal cabinet and the corridor wall.
Tess
breathed out slowly, unable to reach her son.
Her mind began to race as a flood of horrible scenarios began filling
her mind. She knew that helpless voice
she had made contact with earlier had been her son. Zander. Suddenly her
breathing became more shallow and frequent.
The pain had been reeling.
“We have to
find him,” she gasped, as the images of her son being tortured seemed to batter
her already worn mind. “Yasu we have to find him.” Tess grabbed his lapels in frustration and
fear.
Yasu’s
expression remained stoic, though his eyes seemed to waver between its’
war-like appearance, and its’ almost ‘human’ counterpart. “Your Highness, I do have a suggestion, but it is a very high risk bid in an attempt
to rescue your son.”
Tess gazed
steadily at this young soldier, who had no field experience; his carriage now
seemed to lead her to believe otherwise.
She debated whether she could trust this soldier. Was he
trying to bring home some unspoken valor to his family? Was he trying to make a name for
himself? Was he trying to impress his
fellow soldiers? Tess asked herself
all of these questions as Yasu had momentarily turned
away to inspect the corridor. He turned
around and stared discerningly at her.
“Are you willing to take this risk?”
Tess leaned
forward, as if inspecting him closer, and then returned to her upright
position. She met his wary gaze. “Yes.
Anything for Zander.”
~~~
“General Garrick,
as you can see, we’re in the middle of a crisis!” Nicholas spat, glaring at the
fat pompous leader/architect, who, previously, had been insisting that their
experiments on Zander had been necessary, now was
trying to revive the disagreement.
“My men
will take care of it. There’s no way the
intruders, whoever they are, will escape.
Our facility is completely secure.”
The balding, jello-molded figure waved a
dismissive hand towards Nicholas, as if swatting away a pesky fly; it was hard
to believe he had been honored with several commendations.
Nicholas
raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Then how
would you explain their ability to penetrate
our defenses and evade our security system?”
He tilted his head slightly, as the general seemed at a loss of what to
say. Nicholas folded his arms across his
chest. “That’s what I thought,” he smirked.
“Well, my
men,” he pointed to the multi-visual 3D plasma projection, which revealed
guards slowly overwhelming the intruder by sheer numbers, “seem to be doing a fine job.”
Nicholas
frowned. He had expected an attack from
the Loyalist contingent, after discovering that a set of blueprints of the base
had been leaked; but as he studied their faceless intruder fending off over 30
soldiers in armed combat, something caught Nicholas’ eye. “Zoom on the intruder,” he barked at the
operating security’s officer.
The
fighting style was familiar. As the
hologram zoomed in on the intruder, a flash of curly blonde locks flashed
across the screen. The Loyalist uniform
was deceiving, but as Nicholas studied the matchless fighting form, he realized
that this was no ordinary spy; in their midst was the great Second in Command –
Rath, son of Radim. A mischievous smirk
formed on Nicholas’ lips.
“What?”
General Garrick asked, as his eyes narrowed in
suspicion.
Nicholas
shook his head, replacing the smirk with a blank expression. He looked up at the oblivious General. “Nothing,” he dismissed. “I just remembered that I have something to
attend to.” With that, Nicholas exited
the Com Centre and began his journey towards Sector L21.
Meeting
with Rath would be quite amusing.
~~~
Kyle and
the Evans had just stepped in the door when they were confronted by a surprise
visitor. “Hello,” the spiky haired owner
of The Centre greeted solemnly. Kyle
frowned. “Brody?”
He did not
confirm his identity, but continued with his apparently single-minded train of
thought. “Where is Max?” he asked
anxiously.
Mr. and
Mrs. Evans turned questioningly towards Kyle and glared at him to come up with
a brilliant explanation, as they had done so easily in the past, when the group
of teens had managed to keep the Evans’ from discovering Max and Isabel’s
secret. Kyle tilted his head
suspiciously to the side, moving closer to Brody, who never ever showed up at
his employee’s homes. “Are you really Brody, right now? Or are you that guy?”
Kyle kicked
himself mentally as he realized how ‘teen’ he sounded just then.
“Mr. Davis, is it?” Mr. Evans interrupted,
obviously unhappy with the way Kyle was acting.
Brody glanced
momentarily at Mr. Evans and then turned back to Kyle. “Where is he?”
Kyle
frowned. “Why do you need to know?” He glanced at the Evans’, whose expression
seemed more confused than ever, since their shocking revelation about Max, of
which they still did not know the full account.
“I’ve come
to help,” ‘Brody’ frowned, seemingly unhappy about his reluctance to spill
about Max’s location.
“I don’t
know what you can do to help…”
“Does he
know about Max too?” Mrs. Evans exclaimed, looking dejected at the idea that
she was the only one that didn’t know about his secret.
“No, Mrs.
Evans,” Kyle protested, hating to see them so upset. He wanted to explain, but there seemed to be
more urgent matters, which seemed to include Brody.
“Tell me
what you can do to help them.”
‘Brody’
seemed hesitant to reply in front of the Evans.
“I cannot go into details, but it is urgent that I speak to Max.”
Brody’s eyes locked onto his, with a haunting intensity.
“Uh, he’s
in the desert,” Kyle replied.
“Give me
the co-ordinates.”
Kyle stared
blankly at the alien-possessed Brody. “Uhhhh,” he stammered.
“I can’t tell you the exact co-ordinates.” Kyle turned to the Evans’, hoping that they
might be able to help him out.
They shared
his blank expression.
“Fine,”
‘Brody’ sighed irritably. “Then you will
show me?” He looked intently at Kyle, as if his answer
better be a resounding ‘yes’.
Kyle
swallowed hard. He glanced back at the
Evans’, who tensed at the mention of returning to the horror show in the dark
desert. “You’ll stay here?” he asked
nervously. It almost filled him with a
sense of relief.
The Evans’
nodded uncertainly.
If the
Evans’ had demanded to tag along, he knew he’d hear it from Max, if anyone got
out of this alive…
Kyle shook
his head. They were going to all live.
They just were. Turning to
‘Brody’, Kyle was determined to help in whatever way possible; he hadn’t felt
right leaving them in the desert like that, especially Liz and Jesse. “Let’s go.”
~~~
The duel
had begun with an intense round of plasma blasts from each opponent. It was a circular dance, with each alien
matching tit for tat. Max tried to
strategically find a weak point in his attack, but the General was well
trained; while he himself remembered much of his training, there was still some
points of weakness in his defense and his tactical attack. It also didn’t help that most of his powers
had not yet regenerated from the immense power surge he expelled in getting his
enemy’s attention.
As they
were locked in matching power blasts, each exerting as much of his strength in
trying to topple the other or at least, making them lose their footing, Max
couldn’t help notice how fast Isabel was fading. She was still standing on her feet, but
barely, with the added help of her guard.
He needed to get this over with
and fast.
With a
renewed sense of urgency, Max pressed in on Qunar
with as much power as he had ever exerted before, in an attempt to finish this
duel. The green glow of the energy blast
brightened, almost blinding him; it seemed to work, causing Qunar
to fall back a couple of steps. Max
closed his eyes in relieve. It was almost over.
Just as he
was about to send out one more burst of energy, the General’s posture seemed to
change - where he seemed to be struggling under his attack, Qunar’s
stance lengthened, as if he was pulling himself by his bootstraps, and
summoning some reserve. His plasma blast
intensified; Max could feel the heat breaching through his own blast and
searing his flesh. He shrunk back at the
unexpected strength of Qunar’s power.
Max felt
his knees quivering under the tremendous weight of the forward blast. “Ugh,” he grunted.
He closed
his eyes. This wasn’t happening. God you
were supposed to be with me. Max had
no idea what this was. He went into this
duel with confidence and now he was about to crumple under the pressure.
~~~
Qunar
couldn’t see Zan’s face, but he knew it would have
been priceless. When he overestimated
his opponent during his armed attack, Qunar realized
his mistake. And he never made the same
mistakes twice. Though he was weakened
from his previous battle with Vilandra, he was quite
certain that Zan was even more tired after the
display several hours before. And
Antarian powers never regenerated in mere hours, not after the expenditure Zan had released. So
he played it cool. He did not hold back,
in case Zan was weaker than he had let on; but still
he held his power in reserve.
As the
battle began, they seemed equally matched; both able to sustain the plasma burst
for an extended period of time, keeping their enemy at bay. But when he least expected it, Zan made his move with an energy surge forward, causing him
to stumble back and give ground. Qunar had been impressed; it even had caused him to wince
slightly. But Zan
had exposed his last attack prematurely, in which he was ready.
The reserve
had proven too much for the ‘king’. It
made him want to laugh. How pathetic these human creatures were.
As he
pressed down, locking Zan in such a position that he
had no other choice but to fall onto his knees, as the full weight of his
plasma blast bore down on him. It would be sweet - so sweet.
~~~
All Liz
could do was stare in horror. As the
crackling, crimson ball of energy bore down on Max, enveloping his whole body,
she was about to faint. “God, please!”
she whispered under her breath.
“Liz, we
gotta do something,” Jesse cried out once more.
She had told him that Max was going to be the one to save her, but from
his vantage point, there was no way that was going to happen. He couldn’t wait any longer. While Liz was distracted he made his
move. Stealthily under the cover of
night, he crept along the boulders that lined the rugged landscape until he was
only a few feet from where Isabel was.
If he could just distract the guard, there was a possibility of giving
her an opportunity to escape. Jesse
looked around for anything he might use as a weapon.
Liz
suddenly felt like her stomach was doing a cycle of the wash. A wave of nausea overwhelmed her and she
found herself unable to move. Suddenly a
sharp dull pain was stabbing behind her eye, as if someone was trying to gouge
out her eye. Her knees collapsed from
underneath her and Liz felt like she was drowning. She tried to call for help; searching for
Jesse, who seemed to have vanished, but found empty space.
With what
strength she had left, Liz managed to crawl out from behind the boulder, trying
to reach Max. Something inside her kept
telling her to reach Max…
~ * ~
Darkness shrouded her
surroundings. Liz furrowed her brow, as
she lightly caressed her temple, where the sharp pain had suddenly
dissipated. The nausea, the pain,
everything was gone. Tentatively she
pushed herself up from her knees to her feet.
Where was she?
Liz surveyed her surroundings only
to again confirm that she was in darkness.
She licked her lips nervously, as she tried walking around, unsure
whether there was even a floor. “Uh,
hello?”
‘It’s time.’
The voice was like nothing she had
ever heard before - low, raspy, yet gentle and kind. It seemed to speak with authority.
“Who are you?” Liz spun around, trying to find the source of
the voice.
‘You’ve been waiting, trying to
understand,” the voice continued. ‘It is
time.’
“Time for what?” she asked in
frustration. “What are you talking
about?”
‘You will see.’
~~~
“Max, nooo!” Isabel’s
voice screamed weakly, as if she were out of breath. She struggled against her guard’s strong
grip. “No.”
Her body
collapsed against the guard’s body. She
had no strength. The life blood ebbed,
as she watched the monstrosity defeat her brother.
~~~
It was almost time.
Another few inches and Jesse would be close enough to pounce on the
unsuspecting guard…if he only Liz was there to distract him.
~~~
Liz was
startled awake by a sudden crack of loud thunder. She was sitting on the ground with her back
toward Max and Isabel. Spinning her
upper torso around, she saw the horrible alien leaning over an unconscious or
dead Max; she couldn’t quite tell at this distance. Liz bit her bottom lip and scrambled onto her
feet. Her head was throbbing from the
trance or spell that she had been pulled into.
The voice hadn’t held any malice
or animosity. Liz shook her
head. That didn’t matter.
“Max!” she
cried, as she fell to her knees at his side.
Her hands cupped his pale face, as his eyes rolled back. She glared at the alien, who seemed surprised
at her sudden appearance.
Liz closed
her eyes and lowered her forehead until it touched his. Oh
please don’t die. Please don’t die. His shallow breath caressed his cheek as
she willed him to live.
The
commotion of the outside world faded as she was drawn into another trance,
though she was not separated by a wretching
pain. Liz found herself floating, as if
not physically on the plane. Images of
the shooting at The Crashdown passed before her eyes,
folding into the revelation of Max’s true lineage and destiny. Her eyes blurred as the images faded away and
were replaced by a blinding light.
~ * ~
‘You have carried with you a power
not belonging to you. No longer will you
be the host of that which is not yours.’
Liz frowned. “What are you talking about?” Suddenly her hands began to crackle with a
surge of electricity. Her eyes dropped
to the alien powers that had begun to develop a year and a half ago, flickering
in the palm of her hand. “What this?”
she whispered, suspecting what was going to be requested would mean giving up
more than she had already given.
‘You know why you have been given this
gift,’ the voice said solemnly. ‘It is not of this world.’
In the centre of the bright light,
and image of Max lying limply in her arms materialized.
‘It does not belong to you.’
“But why did I get it in the first
place,” she protested, not comprehending why she hadn’t died that afternoon at
The Crashdown.
Or why she had begun developing these powers? Or why she had this amazing connection to Max
that was more intense than just the transfer of DNA?
‘And that is the weight of being
chosen as a burden-bearer, my child.’
Liz shook her head in
confusion. “Wh-what? I’m a what?”
The image of Max began to
waver. ‘Time is running short. You know what you must do.’
“But what if I can’t?” Liz cried out
frantically, trying to wrap her mind around that she was ‘chosen’ to carry this
burden of loving Max, never to be with him.
‘You already have, my dear child,’
said confidently as it faded into the distance.
~~~
Max could
feel himself slipping away; his consciousness unable to deal with the harsh
blow Qunar had surprised him with. He had taken the brunt of the blow, although
he knew he should have been dead, with the exception of his own plasma burst
dispersing the main blow. His heartbeat
had slowed and it everything was beginning to blur around him.
“Hold on
Max,” Liz whispered, as she peered into his eyes. Her round puppy dog eyes seemed darkened by
an unspoken weight.
Max let out
a ragged breath as he furrowed his brow.
She was planning something; he could read it in her eyes.
“Just hold
on. You’re going to be fine.” She plastered on a half-hearted smile.
“What are
you planning?” he coughed, fitfully.
Liz cupped
his face in her hands and lowered her lips to his. “I’m
lifting both our burdens.”
~~~
Qunar frowned
as he was surprised by the human mourner.
It was pathetic…really. He was
prepared to kill them both, but he found himself weakened by his quick
expulsion. The pause would give the
wretched human waste to mourn her hybrid lover before he disintegrated both
their flesh into a puddle of liquid sludge.
How delightful it would be.
“Sir, do
you want me to finish him?” Captain Leisner offered.
Qunar
shook his head and slowly clenched and unclenched his fist. “That will not be necessary.” He cleared his throat, slowly approaching his
victims. “This is a pleasure I want to
experience myself,” he sneered. Lifting
his hand and watching the small but growing crimson energy field grow in the
palm of his hand, Qunar aimed his blast towards their
cerebral cortexes.
“Noooo!” Isabel shouted, horrified at the offer. Summoning whatever strength she had left,
Isabel struck out at her guard and grabbed Qunar’s
wrist and re-directed his blast into the night sky.
As Jesse
searched for some type of weapon to use against the kidnappers, he heard her
urgent cry. Jesse spun around to see
Isabel stun the guard and go after the leader.
The guard seemed stunned for a moment.
He saw his opportunity. Rushing
towards the leader to assist Isabel, who was easily pushed to the side, Jesse
saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
Just as Isabel lamely ambled onto her feet, her sole attention focused
on the alien leader, the guard rose to his feet and aimed a oddly shaped weapon
in her direction. “Isabel! Watch ouuuut!”
Before
there was a chance to turn around, she felt a hard heavy body crashing into
her; and as she was already tired and unable to carry her own weight, Isabel
collapsed under the unexpected collision.
“Uhhhhh!” she breathed out raggedly, as she
the darkness embraced her.
~ * ~
Liz pressed
her lips against hers. The warning of
many voices filled her head. She would
set to rights the crash that happened almost 2 decades ago.
‘…since we were genetically created to be each other’s partners, there is
some connection between us. This
connection allows us to share a bond that connects us on another level…’[1]
‘Tess didn't kill Alex...’[2]
‘….You perished in the conflict that
enslaves our planet but your essence was duplicated, cloned, and mixed with human
genetic materials so that you might be recreated into human beings. My son, you
were the beloved leader of our people. I have sent with you your young bride….’[3]
‘It wasn't our time Max and our
destiny….’[4] The sound of her own voice sent a chill
through her as she felt a sudden vacuum slowly extracting the warm breath from
her body.
“And now we have to say goodbye,” she
whispered to a barely conscious Max. “And everything will be as it should.”
~~~
A gust of
wind whipped throughout the desert plain.
Qunar stumbled backwards at the unexpected
change in weather. The mixture of sand
and the ferocity of the wind created something like a sandblaster, where the
fierce spinning velocity of the natural storm cut at his cellular host’s
epidural layer. Protectively shielding
his eyes and mouth with both his arms, Qunar turned
away from his sitting prey, as the growing funnel cloud enveloped both the
human specimen and the hybrid king. He
narrowed his eyes, looking on with a grim expression.
What now?