Part 31

It took Kate an instant to get her bearings when she materialized. She had thought of Zan and had teleported to where he could be found, which took more energy than leaping to a specific place, so her knees were a little weak too.

She looked around, seeing that she was in a cave of some sort. Her gaze was instantly drawn to the four pods nestled against one wall. Her eyes widened. It didn�t take a huge amount of logic to understand that she was where Zan�s four square had been hidden.

Her interest was immediately forgotten, though, when she became aware of exactly who made up the group gathered in the cave. Kate felt a flash of such intense anger, it took all of her strength not to simply raise her hand and blast the traitorous bitch presently standing beside Liz, as though butter wouldn�t melt in her mouth.

"Liz, get away from her!" she exclaimed instead, moving forward and grabbing Tess roughly by the arm, thrusting her against the cave wall. The blonde gasped in pain. "I�m onto you, witch." Tess�s blue eyes widened in shock as she took in the anger on Kate�s face. "Don�t try and pretend you don�t know what I�m talking about. You�re behind all of this."

"What the hell?" Michael�s exclamation of surprise drowned out the rest of them, even though they had all started talking at once.

Kate felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to meet Zan�s dark eyes. He was frowning. "What are you doing, Kate?"

"I came to find you," Kate replied. "To warn you actually, and just in time it would seem. She�s a traitor, Zan."

"Where�s Alex?" Maria asked.

"We were captured," Kate told her. She pointed her finger accusingly at Tess. "And she was the one responsible." She blinked in surprise when she realized that Liz was kneeling beside their enemy again, her arm protectively around the blonde�s shoulders. "Liz! What are you doing? Get away from her!"

Liz did not seem the least bit willing to follow Kate�s advice though. All she said was, "Tess, do you have any idea what she�s talking about?"

"No," Tess said. "I swear I don�t. I came straight here after I went home."

"Liar!" Kate shrieked. She almost gave into the primal urge to attack Tess. She would have actually, if it wasn�t for Max�s hand, which was still firmly holding her in place. "Jack and Isabel are both almost dead because of you! I was there Tess. Do you think I�ve forgotten what you did?"

"Okay, settle down," Max ordered firmly. "Kate, tell us what you�re talking about. There�s probably a very logical explanation for all of this."

Kate turned her head, stared at him. "Max, she�s the one behind everything. She�s the one who kidnapped Isabel. Why are you all acting like you need to protect her?"

"Because she�s my sister," Liz said quietly.

She stared at Liz for a full minute in shock. "Okay, what?" Kate finally demanded, when she regained the use of her vocal chords. "You don�t have a sister, Ro."

"I do," Liz returned. "And she�s Tess. Her real name is Serena. Whoever it was that took you all captive, it wasn�t Tess."

Kate felt her heart drop. They had all been brainwashed by Tess�s mindwarping capabilities. It was the only explanation! What was she going to do? They weren�t going to believe her! She knew that there was no such person as Serena. How had Tess come up with such a twisted plot? And what was she hoping to gain from it?

Kate glared at Tess, her hatred so pure, for one instant she hoped she could turn the other girl to dust just with the sheer force of it. "You witch," she muttered, shaking her head. "If anything happens to my brother�Or Alex�I will kill you."

"Kate, it�s okay," Max said. "Just tell us where Alex and Will are. Maybe Tess can shed some light on what you think happened."

"Why should I? You aren�t going to believe me. I don�t know what she told you, but she�s obviously done something to all of you."

Max sighed. "Nothing happened to us, Kate. We came here and Tess was unconscious outside. She was wearing the scarf that your brother gave Liz and it brought back her memories." Max looked at Tess. "Show her."

Tess raised her arm, her eyes still wide. Kate could see that her face was whiter than a ghost. She narrowed her gaze. She had to admit that Tess did look seriously freaked. She was obviously a very good actress. No wonder they all believed her lies. "That�s Rowena�s wedding scarf," Kate informed them. "Will did tell me he gave it to Ro. Why does she have it?"

"It did something to Liz," Max told her grimly. "She became someone else - someone named Serena. She said she was Rowena�s twin sister. I managed to get Liz to take it off, but Tess took it and�" He paused, looked at Tess. "You never did tell us why you took it, Tess."

Tess shrugged. "After Liz took it off, Maria left it sitting on the couch in the break room. I picked it up because I thought it might be able to give us more answers. The instant I touched it though, it just�I don�t know�It did something to me." She swallowed, her eyes glassy as she remembered. "I freaked a bit, which is why I went home for a minute." Tess grimaced, turning to Liz. "I told you a few minutes ago that I have some stuff to tell you guys that is going to make me look really bad." She looked at Kate again. "And now that I think about it, I think I know why Kate thought she saw me."

"What?" Michael exclaimed. "Tess, what the hell is going on? How much do you know and how much have you been keeping from us?"

"A lot," Tess whispered. Her expression was so tortured, Kate almost believed that her remorse was genuine. "But I didn�t know who I was. He told me I was Ava, that you were mine." She said this to Max, who was frowning. "What I thought I knew�It was all a lie."

"Tess, are you talking about Nasedo?" Max asked gently.

Tess nodded, lowered her eyes. "When I went home, it was to contact him." Kate heard almost every other person in the cave gasp. Liz was the only one who stood silently, her arm still linked with Tess�s.

"He�s alive?" Michael croaked. "Are you telling us that Nasedo is alive?" His voice rose exponentially with each word, until he bellowed the last, making Kate flinch.

"Yes," Tess replied softly. "And I contacted him because I needed to find out what this scarf is, why it made me feel so weird."

Kate felt satisfied. Now they would understand. They would see that Tess could not be trusted, that she had betrayed them. They could make her tell them where Alex, Will, Jack, and Isabel were being kept and why.

"I mindwarped you all into thinking he had disintegrated when we tried to heal him here," Tess explained. She looked at Max. "The man you saw in your bedroom�He was a Skin."

"Why?" Max asked, still not sounding angry, much to Kate�s dismay. What was wrong with him? Tess was a traitor. What did it matter why?

"It was because of Whittaker," Tess explained. "The fact that the Skins had found you�He knew it was only a matter of time until you were all reunited with them." She indicated Kate. "He said that we had to stop that from happening, and the only way to do it was if he went undercover. He told me all about Zan and Rowena. He said that if Zan and Rowena met again, it would be the end of any hope I had with Max. He didn�t know that Max had already found her." She turned to Liz. "He didn�t know who you were, Liz."

"Okay, could this be any more confusing?" Kyle asked the assembled group in general. "I think I need a flow-chart to keep all these relationships straight."

"You�re not the only one," Michael muttered. "And I�m supposed to be on the flow-chart."

"I still don�t see what any of this has to do with the fact that not three hours ago you threw an alien device at Alex and knocked us all out Tess," Kate said into the silence that had fallen over the cave after Michael�s comment.

"It was Nasedo," Tess shrugged. "Imitating me. It had to have been. I won�t deny that I�ve done bad things�" She lowered her eyes. If she was pretending to be ashamed, she was doing a good job of it. Kate felt herself softening, in spite of the fact that she was still angry. "But he told me I was Ava. I didn�t remember anything, really. I swear I didn�t. I only know what he told me."

"What exactly have you done?" Michael demanded. "I think we have a right to know that, Tess."

Kate watched Liz squeeze Tess�s arm supportively. "You can tell us, Tess," she said softly. "I know who you are and I believe you. Just tell us everything." In that instant, Kate caught a glimpse of Rowena in Liz. She couldn�t tell if it was a gesture, or the tone of her voice, or what it was, but her sister-in-law was there, just for a moment. It was weird how that kept happening. One of them would do or say something and she would recognize them as the people she had loved back home. It was creepy and, yet, somehow, reassuring. They were getting somewhere - finally.

"Well, you all know I mindwarped Max when I first came to town," Tess said. She looked at Max. "The memory you have of leaving me behind�I faked that. It�s not real." She paused to think. "And I mindwarped Michael, Max, and Isabel into thinking Nasedo was dead. That�s it though. I swear, that�s all."

"But what about Nasedo?" Michael asked bitterly. "He�s supposed to be our protector. And if it�s the granolith he wants, he sure knows where to find it." Kate followed his gaze, wondering why he was staring at the pods.

When Max glanced at her sharply, she abruptly understood. "Oh my God," she breathed. "The granolith is here?"

"No," Michael snapped, but it was too late. She could see from the expression on his face that he was trying to backtrack.

"It is," Kate stated firmly. They were all looking at each other, not quite panicked, but close. "You have to let us use it, you guys. We have to save our people."

Michael turned away, obviously upset. Maria went to comfort him. Kate felt bad about the fact that he felt guilty about having revealed the granolith�s location, but she couldn�t let that stop her. Her people were dying.

"Our people are innocent," Kate pleaded. "You have to let us use it."

"You call Nicholas innocent?" Michael snarled, turning back. "He tortured Isabel."

"That wasn�t Nicholas," Kate argued. "Will talked to him. He had no idea Jack and Isabel were even missing."

"He�s a liar, Kate," Max said. "We have no reason to believe him."

"He has no reason to lie to us," Kate insisted. "He�s our general."

"Maybe he got tired of waiting for you all to be old enough to help them?" Maria suggested. "Maybe he was working for Nasedo too?"

"Or maybe that was Nasedo in the message," Kate argued. "Just trying to confuse us all even more. He is a shapeshifter after all. He can be whoever he wants to be." She paused, something occurring to her. "I�ll bet that was him who killed Courtney too. The odds are that Jack was captured the same night as Isabel. The Jack who was in the hotel with us this morning was definitely not ours."

"Man, he sure gets around, this shapeshifter," Kyle muttered.

"Kyle�s right," Max agreed. "It does seem like an awful lot for someone to handle alone."

"Oh, wait!" Kate exclaimed. "I forgot something else. One of the men working for Nasedo�If that�s who was really behind all of this�" She looked at Tess, still not entirely convinced that the blonde was as innocent as she proclaimed. Kate had seen her after all. She shook her head though, trying to refocus. "Anyway, Alex knew him. He said his name was�" She paused, wrinkling her nose. "Graham? Or Grant?"

"Grant Sorenson?" Liz asked. "Oh, no."

"That was it," Kate said. "Alex recognized his voice."

"Wonderful," Michael muttered. "So we do have to think that everyone we come into contact with is bad news." He looked at Max. "I knew there was a reason I couldn�t stand that guy. We can�t trust anyone, even the people who are supposed to protect us." Kate felt a shiver descend her spine when Michael glanced at her, a slightly suspicious expression on his face. Was he thinking that they were wrong to trust her too?

"Which again brings us back to what Nasedo is up to," Liz spoke up. "Why did he lie to Tess for all this time? What was he hoping to gain? It just can�t be the granolith. Michael was right before. He knows exactly where it is."

"I don�t know if he does," Tess said, making them all look at her in surprise. "He didn�t find me here you guys. I was alone." She looked at Kate. "Or so he said. He may have lied about that. But the point is, he may not know where it is. I mean, we were in here several times before Isabel found it. And it only came to life when we were near it."

"You expect us to believe you didn�t tell him?" Michael demanded.

Tess bit her lip. "I don�t expect you to believe anything, Michael, but I didn�t tell him. I didn�t know what it was. How was I supposed to know it was so important?"

"You didn�t think Nasedo would want to know about an alien device?" Liz asked quietly.

"I�" Tess sighed. "I don�t know." She finally shrugged. "Maybe I just didn�t trust him. Michael�s right. His behavior certainly hasn�t been protective since he found you guys. I never understood that." She looked at Liz. "But I thought I had to stick with him if I was going to have a chance with Max. He told me I had to. Liz, I saw the way Max is with you. I knew I couldn�t divide you guys on my own. I thought working with Nasedo was my only chance. But I never told him about the granolith."

"What I want to know is, what the heck is the granolith, anyway?" This came from Maria, who had been listening quietly up to this point, except for the several moments when she had comforted Michael. "First it�s a time machine, then it can save Kate�s people? What is it? Is it�I don�t know," she waved her hand in the air. "Is it God?"

They all looked at Kate. She grimaced. It was so hard to explain! "It�s not God, obviously," she said carefully. "But it is a holy artifact on our planet. Basically�I don�t know quite how to put this�" She sighed. "The only word I can think of to compare it to is life."

"Okay, what?" Kyle asked. "It�s a machine, isn�t it? How can a machine be �life?�"

Kate pushed her hair behind her ears, sighing. "It just is. I�m not sure why. But it�s what our protectors told us."

"Your protectors?" Max asked. Kate looked at him, wondering why he sounded so thoughtful. "Shapeshifters?"

"No," Kate replied. "They were Skins. Alex and I figured out that Nasedo was our original protector though. Our birthplace was the cave where you were healed last winter." She looked at Michael when she said this. "And before you ask, our pods were destroyed after we were born. Anyway, Nasedo knew the cave, so he had to have been the one who brought us there."

"So what happened to our protector?" Michael wondered. "What we�re saying is that it is possible that there�s another shapeshifter running around?"

"This is so frustrating!" Maria exclaimed, bouncing on her toes. "And it�s not even the worst of our problems right now. We need to save Alex and Isabel!"

"We do," Liz acknowledged. "But I don�t know if saving them is going to do any good until we figure this all out."

"I don�t see how that�s possible, Liz," Michael snapped, earning him a dirty look from Max. He modified his tone. "Sorry. But the point is we have no idea." He pointed at Kate. "She has no idea and she knows ten times more than we do."

"I know, Michael," Liz replied. "But I think one of us does know."

Kate watched everyone look at each other, mystified. "Who?" Maria finally asked.

Liz turned her head and regarded Tess. "Serena."

Tess blinked, stepping away from Liz. "What? Liz, I have no idea! I would tell you if I did."

"I believe you think you have no idea," Liz told her. "But I know what Future Max told me. It was Serena who modified the granolith in the future to bring him back. It was you, Tess. Which means that you must know something about it."

Tess wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn�t even know where to start."

"In the granolith chamber," Liz replied simply. "Have you even really looked at the granolith, Tess? I mean, you might surprise yourself."

"No," Tess allowed. "I only saw it for the first time when Isabel showed us. It�s another reason I think Nasedo might not know it�s here. He never told me it was. " She seemed uncertain, but her spine straightened when she met Liz�s eyes. "I could try I guess."

"You won�t be alone," Liz reassured her. "I�ll be right there with you."

"We�ll all go," Max said firmly. "We don�t know what that thing can do."

Kyle snickered. "Wouldn�t it be great if we were all sucked in? That would sure solve a lot of our problems."

"Not funny, Kyle," Maria snapped.

"The granolith isn�t dangerous," Kate said confidently. "I know it isn�t."

"Yeah, but you�re the one who thinks a machine is �life,�" Kyle reminded her, smirking. Kate glared at him. He really was most irritating, this human boy. He was nothing like her Alex.

She blinked. Oh wonderful. There she went again. Her Alex. Right. In her dreams maybe. Not that she�d had any time to sleep really in the past twenty-four hours. Kate sighed, then followed the rest of the group through to the granolith chamber.

***

Alex watched Nasedo pace back and forth in front of him, his heart pounding unsteadily. He had just finished telling the supposed-to-be-dead shapeshifter all about Future Max, and the granolith, and the end of the world. Now he was waiting to see if he was going to be allowed to live a while longer or whether Nasedo was ready to be rid of him.

"Well, Mr. Whitman," the shapeshifter finally said, "I can see that keeping you alive may serve me well for the moment. You are a font of information."

"I try," Alex muttered. He grimaced when Nasedo turned his piercing eyes on him again. Shut up! the little voice in the back of his head yelled. Why can�t you just shut up?

Sorry! Alex replied meekly.

"Your information is incomplete, however," Nasedo told him "What I would like to know is exactly how this future version of Max managed to modify the granolith. Time travel is not its purpose. I�m going to have to go look at it, figure out how it happened."

"I don�t know how," Alex replied, crossing his fingers behind his back. After all, he didn�t really know. Mentioning the mysterious Serena - the one Liz had spoken of - wouldn�t help matters and the last thing he wanted was for Nasedo to send his minions after her, whoever she was. "I could think about it," he offered weakly.

Nasedo continued to stare at him, his expression unreadable. Finally he said, "Don�t worry, Mr. Whitman. I don�t plan to kill you right now, even if your information was merely interesting, not really useful. It�s too bad you don�t know where the granolith is, but I will still keep you alive. It makes much more sense to use you to negotiate with Zan. He will turn himself over to me for you."

"Why do you want them all anyway?" Alex asked. He shook his head at his own insanity for even trying to hold a conversation with this psycho, but he couldn�t seem to stop his mouth. It just kept talking.

"It�s Rowena I really want," Nasedo told him, narrowing his eyes. "Your little friend Liz Parker is much more valuable than I ever realized. I should have known though. Zan�s obsession with her should have given me the information I needed." He shook his balding head. "But she is almost completely human. I did not recognize her at all. I should have known he was keeping something from me."

"Who?" Well, since he apparently couldn�t stop, he should just keep asking questions while Nasedo was willing to answer them.

Which apparently Nasedo no longer was. "It doesn�t matter." The shapeshifter waved his hand in the air. One of the minions standing nearby came over. "Take him back to the cages. Throw him in one of the empty ones. We�ll kill him when we need to put its real occupant in it."

Alex sighed. Wonderful. He was going to get to live longer and be able to reflect on all the horrible ways Nasedo might kill him.

A few minutes later he was thrust unceremoniously into the cage next to Will�s. Alex was relieved to see that the young king was still conscious and hadn�t had his essence sucked out like Izzy or Jack. Will was sitting on the ground, leaning against the back of his cage, a pensive expression on his face. He turned his head only when Alex said his name.

"You�re back," he said flatly. "I�m glad you�re okay."

"You sure sound it," Alex replied. "What�s wrong?"

"Nothing," Will muttered. "I�m just thinking."

"About Liz?" Alex asked, feeling a pang of sympathy in spite of himself. Even though Alex knew that Liz belonged with Max, he could understand Will�s pain. Because didn�t he know exactly how it felt to be in love with someone who couldn�t have cared less? He looked past Will at Isabel, who had been gently laid on a mattress in her cell. One glance at Jack in the cell on his other side showed that Will�s cousin had been afforded no such luxury.

Grant obviously still had a soft spot for Isabel. It made Alex wonder. Who exactly was that bohunk in the grand scheme of the Antarian star system anyway? From the way Isabel had been attracted to him, it seemed likely that she had known him.

"Yeah," Will said. Alex shook his head, refocusing. What were they talking about again? Oh yeah. Liz. "I just don�t understand it," Will continued. "I know she loved me. I know she did."

Alex sighed. "This is a different world, buddy. We can�t choose who we love. It just happens." He frowned, looking at Isabel again. He hated to see her like that, and wished there was something he could do to help her. He loved her still, in spite of everything. He was pretty sure now that they were never going to be anything but friends, but that didn�t mean he would ever stop loving her. Loving Isabel didn�t mean that he wouldn�t be able to love anyone else, ever, but how he felt about her�She would always be his first love.

And, yet, it wasn�t Isabel he was really worried about. Isabel was safe for the moment, if unconscious. It was Kate's face that kept filtering into his mind. He wondered where she was, if she had found Max and the others, if she was safe.

"I just wish things could be different," Will said.

"I don�t think they�re going to change, Will," Alex told him. "You�re going to have to accept it. Because who knows? Maybe your soulmate is waiting around the next corner. She may pop up when you least expect it. You don�t want to miss her because you were pining over someone you never had a chance with in the first place."

He was saying the words to Will, but Alex knew in his heart that he was talking about himself. He just hoped that he got a chance to explore the possibility with the girl he suspected might just be the one for him.

Alex wasn�t sure that he believed in God. He hadn�t ever really thought about it actually. But that didn�t stop him from sending out a little prayer to whoever might be listening.

Please let her molecules be in one piece. And please let mine stay that way until I can see her again.

Part 32

Max was about to get down on his hands and knees to crawl through into the granolith chamber after Liz, when Michael grabbed his arm. They were the only two left in the pod chamber proper. When Max turned back to look at his best friend, he could see from Michael�s expression that he had intended it that way. He looked, for all the world, like Max�s father when Max was about to get a major lecture.

"Maxwell, are you sure about this?" Michael demanded in an undertone. "This whole thing�it feels wrong somehow."

Max frowned. He had to admit that he wasn�t as calm internally as his present demeanor indicated. But he had promised that he wouldn�t arbitrarily make decisions for the whole group. Liz had made a suggestion to which they had all agreed and, at this point, there didn�t seem to be many other options.

The granolith was the key to everything. Until they figured out what was so important about it, they were working at a disadvantage.

And, yet, the concern on Michael�s face made Max pause. Maybe he was going along with this a little to easily. "What are you thinking?" he asked his friend.

"It�s about Tess," Michael admitted. "Liz seems to think she knows exactly who she is, that she should be able to figure the granolith out because that other Serena did�" He trailed off, grimacing. "But, if that�s true - and she has her memories back - then, shouldn�t she have known right away?"

"Maybe Serena didn�t know about the granolith right away then either?" Max suggested. "Tess is Serena, Michael."

"I don�t get it," Michael said. "How do you know for sure?"

"I can�t explain it," Max sighed. "I saw her. For an instant, I saw both of them."

"Who?" Michael asked, squinting in confusion.

"They were who they were before, Michael. I saw them," Max explained patiently. "Both Liz and Tess."

Michael scratched his neck, shaking his shaggy head. "You know, it would have been helpful if Future You had given Liz some more info, Maxwell. What was with all the mystery? I mean if Tess was Serena, why the hell didn�t he just say so?"

"Apparently he was told not to say too much. That he could only mess with the timeline so far."

"I wonder how long it took for us to figure out Tess was Serena then," Michael said.

Max shrugged. "I doubt we�ll ever know that."

"Are you guys coming?" Maria called through from the other chamber.

Max met Michael�s eyes. He was glad they�d had this moment to talk, glad that he wasn�t the only one on edge. "Keep your eyes open," he instructed under his breath.

"That�s my job, Fearless Leader." Michael smirked. But Max could tell that underneath his sarcasm, he was deadly serious about doing so.

Moments later, Max was in the granolith chamber. His gaze was instantly drawn to Liz, as always. She was standing on the far side of the cone, talking quietly to Tess. The blonde had her hands up near her mouth. Her blue eyes were fastened on the blinking point at the base of the mechanism and she was quite obviously deep in thought, only half listening to Liz.

"I still feel like it�s watching me," Tess finally said softly. Max remembered Tess saying that on the day that Isabel had shown them the granolith chamber for the first time. She looked at Liz. "Do you feel it?"

"No." Liz looked across at Max. "Can you?"

He shook his head. Michael was doing the same, as was Kate.

It was becoming ever more clear that Liz was right. Tess obviously had some sort of connection to the alien device that the rest of them didn�t. She was the key to unlocking its secrets.

Max could see Michael shifting from one foot to the other, as though he was barely keeping himself from saying something. Tess noticed too, because she asked wryly, "Is something wrong, Michael?"

"I want to know why you don�t know what this thing is," he blurted, before Max could stop him. "You�re wearing that scarf. You have your memories. Shouldn�t you know?"

Tess bit her lip, sighing. "I don�t know," she said. "I wish I did."

"Max, when I was wearing that scarf, did I know what the granolith did?" Liz asked.

Max frowned. "I�m not sure actually. We didn�t discuss the granolith. Come to think of it, I never made the connection between the Serena that other me told you about and you saying you were Serena."

"That�s understandable," Liz said. "I never actually told you any of it. All you know about Future Max�s visit you got from the flashes."

Max smiled slightly at the memory of exactly how he had gotten those flashes. "Oh�right."

"Oh, brother," Kyle said, rolling his eyes. "Can we please move on? I may be ill."

Liz�s cheeks were a little pink as she continued, "Anyway, my point is, I�m surprised it even jumped out at you just from the flashes."

"I must have recognized her name," Max said.

"But why didn�t I?" Liz asked, frustrated. She looked at Tess. "How could I not have known who you were? Who any of you were?" She directed this at Max, sounding sad.

"That�s the question, isn�t it?" Maria said. She moved closer to Liz, placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. Max was glad. He wasn�t quite sure what to say to his girlfriend to make her feel better. He couldn�t explain exactly what it was he had felt when he had first seen Liz that day, when they were both kids. All he knew was that he had felt an instant connection to her. Liz had said before that he had �remembered� her, but it hadn�t been that, really. He had felt a pull to her beyond anything he understood or could even try to control. He had felt something similar when he had first seen Michael, Tess and Kate, but it was different at the same time. With the others, it had been recognition.

Abruptly he knew what the difference was. He had recognized the others, but with Liz, it had felt like coming home. His soul had been reunited with its other half.

Why hadn�t she felt the same thing? Why had he felt it from the beginning and she had been oblivious to who she was until Will came to town? How exactly had they been separated and why was she more human than the rest of them?

"Why do I have a feeling that this stupid cony thing has all the answers?" Maria continued, a little angry.

"Because it probably does," Kyle replied, smirking at her.

"Valenti, you and I are going to have to step outside if you don�t stop with the smartass remarks," Maria told him.

"I�m shaking in my boots, Deluca." Max noticed that Kyle did shut up after that retort, however.

"Well, just standing here staring at it obviously isn�t doing us any good," Max said into the silence that sprang up following Maria and Kyle�s exchange. "I guess it�s time for plan B." He looked at Tess. "Do you know where Nasedo has Isabel, Alex and the others?"

"I think so," Tess replied. "He has a base of operations in a canyon near the reservation."

"And you didn�t tell us this before, why?" Michael demanded.

"Because we�ve been a little preoccupied with other stuff, Michael," Tess snapped back. Max struggled to hide a smile. He was glad that some of Tess�s spunk was returning. She had been pretty shell-shocked since she regained consciousness. He remembered that Serena had never had any difficulty speaking her mind.

What the�Max blinked. Was that been a memory?

He stared hard at Tess. For one instant, something in the way she tossed her head while speaking to Michael jogged something he hadn�t even know could be jogged.

"Whoa!" Kyle said. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Maria asked, sounding a little threatening.

Kyle took a protective step back, then glared at her, obviously a little embarrassed. He said, "The cone thing. It just flashed. Didn�t anyone else see that?"

"I did," Liz said. She had taken a step forward, a pensive frown on her face. "I think what Tess was saying before - about it watching us - I think she was right." She raised her eyes. "It was reacting to something. But what?"

Max swallowed. "I might have an idea," he said. "I just had a memory."

"Really?" Liz asked. "What was it about?"

"It was about Tess actually," Max admitted, feeling a bit guilty. "Well, Serena."

"About me?" Tess asked, amazed. "What was it?"

Max looked at Liz briefly. She didn�t seem at all upset, so he replied, "It wasn�t really a memory of anything specific actually. It was just the way you spoke to Michael. It struck me as very Serena."

"And the granolith must have flashed when that happened," Liz said, still thinking. She was staring at the cone, her forehead slightly creased. "That makes sense. We�re connected to this thing somehow. It comes to life when we�re near. It recognizes us. Why?" She looked first at Kate, then Tess. "Do you guys have any idea?"

Kate sighed. "I wish I did. I told Alex before, half of what I think I do know, I�m now wondering if it�s all a lie anyway. All I was ever told about this thing was that we needed it and that it could save our people."

Tess took a step forward though, her head tilted. She was staring at the cone again, a strange look on her face. "The granolith is life," she said quietly. "The granolith is life." She narrowed her eyes, so intent on whatever it was she was thinking about, she didn�t even flinch when the point at the end of the cone flashed brightly again.

"Holy cow!" Kyle exclaimed. "Tess! What did you do? I thought you didn�t have alien death-ray eyes! You told me you didn�t have them!"

Max ignored him though. He could not take his eyes off of Tess. "Did you have a memory?" he asked, excitement coursing through his veins.

Tess frowned. "No," she said. "I didn�t have a memory." She bit her lip, still staring at the base of the cone. Max started when it flashed again.

"Tess! What are you doing?" Michael demanded, his voice reflecting his attempt to hide his concern. Or maybe that was fear Michael was trying to hide, Max amended. Because if it was, he wouldn�t be alone. Max could feel his heart racing too - half in anticipation, half scared about what they were about to find out.

Because Tess seemed to know exactly what she was doing.

"I didn�t have a memory," Tess elaborated, after Liz nudged her gently, pressing her for a further explanation. "The granolith gave me one."

"What?" Max demanded.

Tess looked at him, her blue eyes wide. "Max, I remember what this thing is." She glanced at Kate. "Kate was right. It is life. It gave us life."

"Okay, is anyone else a little sick of the roundabout revelations?" Kyle asked the group as a whole. Tess scowled at him. "Well, I mean, c�mon, woman. Just spit it out!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "I�m sorry. I�m just a little surprised that I didn�t remember before. Now that I know, it feels like I always did."

"Maybe you did?" Liz suggested. "Maybe the granolith is unlocking your memory, not giving you memories?"

"Maybe," Tess said. "But one way or the other, I know why the Skins and Nicholas are so desperate to get their hands on it." She shook her head. "It�s so obvious, I can�t believe we didn�t think of it before."

"Again, not so obvious to all of us," Kyle muttered. For once, Maria was nodding in agreement.

"Sorry." Tess laughed slightly. "Anyway, what I�m trying to say is, the granolith cloned us. It�s why it recognizes us. It gave us life. Even more than that, in some ways, it is us."

"Are you saying that our pods came out of this thing?" Michael asked. He stepped forward, then ran his hand down the sloped cone shape.

"That�s exactly what I�m saying," Tess told him. "This was the part of the ship that protected our pods when we were coming here. But it also produced our pods. It created us." She shook her head, then glanced at Liz. "I can�t believe I didn�t remember this. God, it�s all so clear now."

"Like a giant hybrid mixmaster," Kyle suggested. "Toss in some human DNA, a few essences, and presto changeo, your own fully formed pod squad."

Max snorted slightly. He couldn�t help it. When Kyle said it like that, it sounded absolutely ridiculous.

He sobered when he caught Michael�s glare. "I�m so glad you�re amused, Maxwell. This is serious!"

"I know it is, Michael," Max replied. "But if we don�t keep our senses of humor about this, we might as well just give up now. I mean, c�mon. This is nuts!"

"Don�t you believe me?" Tess asked, sounding hurt. Max grimaced, particularly when he saw the disapproving expression on Liz�s face.

"Of course I believe you, Tess," he said quickly. "I�m just wondering how this information helps us now."

"Well, we know why the others want it," Liz stated. "They must want to hybridize themselves so they can live on Earth more easily."

"But why does Nasedo want it?" Michael questioned. "He seems to be doing just fine. He doesn�t need it."

"Maybe so the Skins can�t have it?" Max theorized. He wasn�t the only one to offer up a suggestion though. Six out of the seven of them gathered in the granolith chamber started to talk at once.

"Okay, wait a sec," Maria interrupted loudly, raising her hands. "We�re never going to figure out what Nasedo wants, so let�s just forget it for the moment. He makes no sense anyway. He was sent here to protect you all, and it�s the furthest thing from what he�s done, so screw him. What I don�t get is� Tess, if it created you, how do you know how it works? I mean, how could you know? It created you. It�s like the chicken and the egg, isn�t it?"

Tess laughed. "Well, sort of, but not really. Don�t forget, I lived before."

"But still�You were like a queen�s sister," Maria reminded her. "Do queen�s sisters run around cloning people in your galaxy? How did you know?"

Max took a step backward when the granolith flashed again. He heard exclamations of surprise all around. Kyle was the first one to recover. "Okay, who did it?"

Max glanced around at the others, blinking when he realized that it was Liz who was staring at the granolith, looking shocked. "It was me," she whispered. "I remember."

"What, Liz?" Max asked, moving towards her quickly. She seemed mildly freaked.

Liz met his gaze, as though to reassure him that she was fine, then looked at Tess. "Maria�s right. I know why you remember, Tess. It�s because the granolith is yours. Serena invented it."

Tess started to nod in agreement, but she stopped abruptly, her eyes widening as she took in something behind Max. It was barely a warning, but Max was already turning when a new voice said, "She did indeed."

Max instantly raised his hand, throwing up his shield. He felt a wave of frustration when he realized that only he, Tess, Liz, and Maria were covered by it. Michael, Kate, and Kyle were too far away, being still on the other side of the cone.

"Don�t worry, Zan," Grant Sorenson said, quirking a grin at him. "I�m not going to hurt you. I�ve come to help you, now that I know you�re finally ready." He turned his smarmy smile on Tess. "But I can see that I�m not needed. You�re about to get all the right answers from the source."

Max felt the dislike Grant always engendered rush through him. "Who are you?" he demanded. He looked at Michael, hoping to get his attention. He wanted his best friend to get Kyle and Kate to move, so that they�d be protected by the shield too, but Michael had his own hand raised, as though preparing to blast Grant himself, so it was no use.

Max could feel himself weakening. He was really going to need to work on his endurance with this thing if it was ever going to have any real value.

"It doesn�t matter who I am, Zan," Grant told him. "All you need to know for now is that I�m on your side."

"He�s lying, Max," Kate told him firmly. "Alex recognized his voice. He�s working with Nasedo."

"I�m pretending to work with Nasedo," Grant corrected. "He and I�" The archeologist shook his head ruefully, "We go way back. I decided a few months ago to use that to my advantage. I�ve been pulling strings on the inside."

"Who are you?" Max demanded again, trying to inflect even a little authority into his tone. He was getting really tired now. He straightened abruptly when a renewed surge of energy ran through his veins. Looking down, he saw that Liz had taken hold of his hand, and was trying to help him.

"You can stop that," Grant said. "Although I must admit, it�s kind of romantic, trying to protect each other like that. It�s so Zan and Rowena."

"It�s okay, Max," Tess told him quietly. "I know who he is. He�s telling the truth. He won�t hurt you."

"Prove it," Michael snapped.

"Oh, very well," Grant sighed. Max felt his heart stop when Grant raised his hand too. He was pretty sure he�d be able to hold the shield through one blast, but what about Kyle, Kate, and Michael?

It took him a moment to realize that no blasting was happening. Instead, before his amazed eyes, Grant Sorenson started to shapeshift. And who he shifted into was enough to make Max drop his shield altogether.

"Oh my God! Max!" Liz breathed, her disbelief matching his own.

"Recognize me now?" Grant asked. He reached into the pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a small container. It made a slight clicking noise as he turned it over and shook two Tic-Tacs into his hand, before popping them into his mouth.

"Max, that�s the guy who told us to go home the night we staying out in the desert," Liz reminded him, although Max already knew it. "The night we found the orb at the radio tower."

It seemed that Grant Sorenson had not just arrived in town at all. He had been watching them for months.

Which meant that there had been two shapeshifters in Roswell all along.

Part 33

Liz was still clutching Max�s hand, even though he had dropped his shield. She could feel his shock intermingling with her own. If Grant was the other protector, why had it taken him so long to reveal himself? Not to mention, did the fact that he was one of the shapeshifters necessarily mean that he was a protector? Nasedo had certainly proven himself a fraud on that front.

The man - Liz found it hard to think of him as Grant now that he looked nothing like Grant - was watching Max and Liz, expressionless now, all of his joking charm gone. The granolith chamber was quiet, as though everyone was still trying to absorb the shock of what had just happened.

He could provide the answers they needed and, yet, they were all just standing there staring at him. Although she had never known Nasedo to be straightforward, the possibility that this new alien might be able to give them some concrete information�this opportunity could not be wasted.

Just because Liz knew they shouldn�t trust him didn�t mean that she wasn�t going to at least listen to what he had to say.

Liz bit her lip, voicing the first question that came to mind. "Why did you decide to reveal yourself now? We never even knew you were a shapeshifter, and if we had, we probably would have just thought you were Nasedo."

"I told you, Rowena, you weren�t ready." The shapeshifter shrugged. He was still staring at her with his dark, unreadable eyes, making her shift uncomfortably. "Are you afraid?" He sounded slightly surprised, as though he hadn�t expected it. What was wrong with him? How could he not know that they were all terrified? That not knowing who they really were was frightening and that finding out only bits and pieces at a time was making it worse?

"A little," was all she would admit to though. "Why�Why weren�t we ready?"

The shapeshifter smiled slightly. "Not �we,� Liz. The others have always known who they were. What I meant was that you weren�t ready."

"I didn�t know who I was either!" Tess intervened, sounding a bit defensive. Liz looked at her, and felt a rush of affection. Her sister was clearly trying to make it clear that she was not willing to have Liz singled out as different in any way. It continued to amaze Liz that she already felt so close to Tess. With all their history, it shouldn�t have been so easy.

But, then, who they were now�It wasn�t really them. The relationship that had existed between them before was obviously stronger than any petty differences this time around.

The sheer irony of the whole situation was that, intellectually, Liz knew that they weren�t petty differences. Some of what Tess had done was almost unforgivable. And, yet, Liz found herself not caring. She just wanted to embrace Tess for who she had been - not for who she was now. Which was actually a bit of a problem. It was almost like they had absolutely no control over their lives anymore. In spite of what she had said to Max earlier, about them still being able to choose their destiny, it was beginning to look like that wasn�t true at all.

Liz wondered if the granolith had anything to do with it, whether maybe it was helping their bonds to forge again, without them even knowing it.

It was obvious that it was the centre of their entire existence, and that it could indeed provide all the answers. And, suddenly, anything Grant had to say didn�t seem quite as scary. Because somehow they would find out anyway. They had to know one way or the other. What had come before was invading this life to such a degree that they could no longer avoid the truth.

To be able to reclaim their lives, they needed to know.

"No," Grant was conceding to Tess. "But that was because you were lied to - to a certain degree anyway. You always knew you were special." He looked back at Liz. "This one though�" He shook his head. "It was to be expected I suppose. She is far more human than the rest of you."

"But why?" Max demanded, squeezing Liz�s hand. Liz knew that this had been bothering him, even if he would never admit it. Why had he recognized her and she hadn�t started to know him until he had healed her? "What happened? I knew her the instant I laid eyes on her. Why was she separated from us?"

"Her pod was the most damaged in the crash," the shapeshifter replied. "I tried several different methods to repair it, down to replacing the human DNA, which is why Rowena and Serena are no longer identical. They were meant to be. None of my attempts worked though. You were dying. It was finally necessary to find a new womb."

"My mother�" Liz breathed. "How?"

"She couldn�t have children," Grant replied. "Your grandmother was a friend of mine. She told me of your mother�s problem, mainly because she witnessed my healing abilities. She wanted me to help her. And so I did. Just not in the way your grandmother envisioned." He sounded mildly sorry about that. "I only told Claudia Parker the truth after your birth, in case there were any side effects because of your heritage. In case your gifts presented themselves. They never did though. Your growth in a human womb affected your development further than I foresaw."

Liz�s eyes widened at the news that her Grandma Claudia had always known the truth about her. She wondered if she should be upset that her grandmother had never told her any of this. "And my parents have no idea?" she asked, unsure how she was supposed to feel about this revelation. She had accepted the fact that she wasn�t completely human, but to know that she wasn�t even really Nancy and Jeff Parker�s child�She hadn�t allowed herself to think about it before.

Max seemed to sense her uncertainty, because his arm came up around her waist. She leaned against him gratefully.

"They do not," Grant told her. "And they don�t need to. To them, you are their daughter. It all worked out for the best. It kept you safe. Nasedo doesn�t know who you are. Or at least he didn�t until that one�s brother started raving about having found Rowena." He looked at Kate when he said this. She raised her chin and glared at him for his barely veiled insult of Will. His disdain was apparent when he continued, "Khivar never could keep his mouth shut. It got him into a galaxy�s worth of trouble before and he�s continuing the trend."

But Liz was only listening with half an ear now, trying to put all the pieces together. Everything they already knew, everything they had found out over the last year�It all had to fit somehow. He had said something about replacing the human DNA first� "Oh my God," she gasped, the truth dawning on her suddenly. "You killed Sheila Hubble!" She took a step backward, feeling sick. "You killed her because you wanted her baby!" She willed him to deny it.

Grant didn�t say anything, remaining expressionless. It was all the acknowledgment Liz needed. She brought her hands up to her mouth in horror. "Max�" She could feel herself getting dizzy.

"Out," Max ordered, obviously sensing her impending meltdown. "Everyone out of here, now." Liz could hear him distantly. She allowed herself to rest her forehead against his chest, then ordered herself to take deep breaths to calm down. "Michael, get them out of here."

"Max, I want to stay," Liz heard Tess say.

"Tess, just go. She�ll be okay," Max told her firmly. "We�ll just be a second." Liz was concentrating on her breathing. She felt it come more regularly when Max�s hand started to stroke her hair comfortingly. "Maria," he urged quietly because Tess obviously wasn�t moving.

"C�mon, Tess," Maria said. "I know Liz. She�s strong, but she can only take so much. That she hasn�t had a freak-out before now�She�s too strong sometimes. She needs to be with Max."

She just wanted them all gone. Now. She closed her eyes and willed them to leave. While she loved them all, she did not need any witnesses for her potential freak-out. Kate had already witnessed one. Liz didn�t want Will�s sister to think that she was insane. Although maybe she was going insane. This was her second uncharacteristic meltdown in the space of twenty-four hours after all.

It seemed to take forever, but she felt when they were finally gone. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, she allowed the tears to come. She started to tremble.

"Liz?" Max pulled back slightly. She could see from his expression that he was almost as angry as she was upset. "None of this is your fault. What happened to Hubble�s wife�To your mom and dad�.You cannot blame yourself. I won�t let you blame yourself."

"Max, how can I not blame myself?" Liz demanded, wiping at her eyes in frustration. "He killed her. And for nothing, because it apparently didn�t even work! He still had to put my mother at risk. And for what? Why am I so important? This is ridiculous!"

He shook his dark head. "Liz, it�s not your fault."

"But maybe it is, Max. The fact that we had to be cloned in the first place and sent here�that we had to bring all these innocent people into our messed up existence�What right did we have to do that? So we were queens and kings and rulers? So what? We had no right. We have no right! I don�t care what happened to us. No group has the right to impose their own will on another. We died. Maybe that�s the way it was supposed to happen. Maybe we should have just stayed dead."

Liz could feel her anger getting the better of her. She turned her head, and glared at the granolith. "This thing�It�s completely dangerous. Playing with time-travel, playing with people�s lives! We just have no right!" She smacked it in a vain attempt to take some of her fury out on the stupid machine that had messed everything up.

It hurt. Liz blinked, staring at her hand in annoyance. "Ow."

"Are you okay?" Max demanded, grabbing her hand and examining it. She pulled it away, wanting to savor the pain. It was actually making her feel a little better. At least it had snapped her out of her red-hot rage. "Liz, you need to calm down. You are not acting like yourself."

"Probably because I don�t know who I am anymore," Liz snapped.

"So we find out. We are going to find out, Liz," Max insisted. She turned to scowl at him, irritated. Didn�t he get it? Whatever they found out, none of it was going to make any of this right. "I can see that�s not what you wanted to hear," he added mildly.

"I don�t want you to say anything," Liz replied, knowing that she was being ridiculous. "I just want to rant for a moment okay?"

"Okay," he replied. "But can I just say something first?"

"Max!" she exclaimed in frustration, but she wasn�t really mad. She was actually getting a little embarrassed that she was behaving like such a maniac. Maybe Maria was right. It had probably been a long time coming, what with destiny messages, summers away from her true love, Future Max, Copper Summit, Will and everything else that had happened over the past few months.

Okay, this freak-out had been coming since the shooting last year, she amended silently to herself. Her life was complete chaos! In spite of what Max said, no answers were going to be able to bring everything back under control until she refused to allow things to just keep happening to her. She did believe that they could choose their own destiny, but that didn�t mean she had been making any real attempt to do so.

It was time to take a stand.

"I just want you to think about something, Liz," Max insisted, his worry at her behavior obvious. "What happened to Sheila Hubble, it is unacceptable. I agree. But we had no control over it. We can regret it, but we can�t change it. And as for you parents, you cannot honestly tell me that you think they would ever not want you. That they would ever change what happened?"

"Max, they don�t know what happened!" Liz exclaimed.

"Liz, they don�t need to," Max reminded her. "To them, you are their daughter. Don�t you think it would hurt them more to find out otherwise?" He reached out, putting his hands gently on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "You are their miracle. What happened to them�it�s a good thing."

She stared at him, her emotions in turmoil. She felt like crying and laughing hysterically at the same time. "I don�t feel much like a miracle right now," she finally muttered. "I�m a mess."

"Liz," Max sighed in exasperation. "You�re allowed to be a mess! Are you ever going to accept that?"

Liz smiled slightly in spite of herself. He looked about ready to tear his hair out. "Are you calling me a control freak?" Max sighed heavily, obviously at a loss about what she wanted him to say. "It�s okay. I am a control freak. And so are you. Which is why this is so hard for both of us. We are completely out of control of this situation, Max."

"The only way to get control back is to get answers, Liz."

"I know," she whispered. She took a step forward, straight into his open arms. "But what if we don�t like them, Max? We�re so close. All I�ve heard up until now�Max, even our protectors turned against us! What does that say?"

"I don�t know. I wish I did. But we have to find out. We have no choice."

They stood quietly for a long moment. "I�m ready," Liz said at last. "Whatever he has to tell us, I�m ready to hear it. I know some of it�s going to be bad, but as long as we agree that we�ll fix anything we can, I can bear it."

Max pulled back, and stared at her, hard. "Are you saying you�ll accept what we can�t change?"

"I don�t have any choice, do I?" Liz sighed. She reached up, pushing a dark lock of hair off his forehead. "And I have to admit, there are many, many things I wouldn�t change at all." She stood on her tip-toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. "I can�t believe you actually love me. I�m turning into a complete psycho."

He pulled her tightly against him. "Not psycho. It�s just you. You are the most compassionate person I know. The fact that who we are has hurt others�of course it�s going to bother you. It bothers me too. Just because it does, doesn�t mean you�re crazy. I�d be more worried if it didn�t bother you."

"Are you telling me that you want me to freak-out more often?" Liz asked.

"Um�" Max wrinkled his brow. "Well, that�s not necessary. But I do want you to know that if you need to freak-out, you�re allowed to."

Liz smiled at him. "But only in front of you. Thank you for getting them all out of here. I so did not need witnesses for that."

"Can I bring them back?"

Liz nodded firmly. "Let�s get this over with."

***

The group Max had just tossed unceremoniously out of the granolith chamber stood uncomfortably around the main cave, most of them refusing to meet each other�s eyes, knowing that they shouldn�t continue talking until Max and Liz were with them again.

Kate was keeping her eye on Michael, concerned about Liz, but knowing somehow that Max would be able to handle that situation.

No one else seemed to have noticed that Michael�s top was just about ready to blow, preoccupied as they were by how upset Liz was. Even Maria was still staring at the pods, worried, her attention completely focused on her best friend.

Michael was the only one, other than Kate, with something else on his mind. And whatever it was, it was pissing him off - big time. He was staring at the shapeshifter, his eyes narrowed. The protector had taken the opportunity of the short break to shift back into Grant Sorenson, obviously a form in which he felt more comfortable.

And, so, Kate thought she was probably the only one completely not surprised when Michael broke the silence. "I want to know something," he said through gritted teeth.

"Michael, we should wait," Maria reminded him.

"This has nothing to do with Max and Liz," Michael snapped. Maria blinked, but didn�t seem upset. "If he�s supposed to be our protector, why did he have me thrown in jail last month? What the hell was that about? Those bones should have stayed hidden."

Michael was in jail? Kate thought, surprised. She looked at Kyle, who was standing next to her.

"It�s a long story," he muttered under his breath. "Suffice it to say, Max had a little trouble with the FBI last year. We had to take care of it."

"You killed someone?" Kate whispered. She felt her eyes widen.

"It was an accident," Kyle assured her. "Michael was protecting my dad. He had no choice."

"I knew the sheriff would get you out of that," Grant said. "There was no danger."

"And, yet, somehow that doesn�t answer my question," Michael replied, obviously struggling to control his temper. "Why the hell did you dig them up in the first place?"

"To prove to Nasedo that I was working with him and not for you," Grant shrugged. "I�ve been protecting you for a long time. He found out about some of it and wasn�t willing to believe that I was ready to join the cause for real this time. And I had to make him believe."

"You�ve been protecting them?" Maria demanded, sounding incredulous. "How do you call letting Michael grow up with that ass Hank protection?"

Grant�s eyes narrowed. "Once I knew how bad it truly was, I took care of it."

Kate saw Michael and Maria glance at each other. "What is that supposed to mean?" Michael finally asked, sounding slightly appeased, although also a little worried.

"Don�t worry about it," Grant said firmly. "Hank was an ass." He quirked a grin at Maria. "He got what he deserved."

"Why doesn�t that make me feel better?" Kyle muttered to Kate.

"But�" Michael trailed off, uncertain.

"What, Michael? Just ask," Grant said, sounding annoyed. "I�m here to answer your questions."

"Why didn�t you look after us? You�ve obviously known where we were all along."

"You were kept safer by blending in," Grant told him. "Being normal has kept you alive."

"But we were never normal!" Michael flared. "Don�t you think our lives would have been a bit easier if we�d known who we were?"

"It was too soon for you to know," Grant replied. "You were too young and were of no use to anyone - including yourselves. You would have just gotten yourselves killed, defeating the whole purpose of your existence."

"Which is?" Michael demanded. His fists were clenched at his sides in frustration. Kate watched Maria take his arm, obviously trying to help him control himself.

"That�s for you to find out on your own," Grant said. "I will tell you as much as I can, but the granolith is the only place where your purpose can be uncovered."

"Speaking of the granolith�" Tess spoke up here. She had been listening quietly, but Kate could tell now that her attention was still more focused on what was going on between Max and Liz. "Do you think they�re okay in there?"

It was just at that moment that Max�s dark head poked itself out of the bottom pod. "Everything�s fine. You guys can come back in." He backed away again.

"You know, I�m getting really tired of this," Kyle sighed, as he dropped to his hands and knees in front of Kate and crawled through the pods again.

Kate was inclined to agree. As much as she wanted to hear what Grant had to tell them, with every passing moment she was becoming more and more concerned about Will and the others.

She admitted to herself that it was Alex in particular she was worried about. He was completely expendable. The shapeshifters obviously had no qualms about killing humans one way or the other. What if Nasedo had decided to just�

Stop it! Kate ordered herself firmly. Stop thinking about it. He�s fine. He has to be fine. If Nasedo wanted to kill him, he would have just done it when he captured us.

Yet, she was still afraid. She knew that the way she felt about him was pointless, that he was never going to feel the same, but she had come to realize that she had no control over her heart. She cared and that was all there was to it.

If nothing else, knowing Alex had made her understand Zan and the others a bit more. Now she got why these humans were so important to them, why their fear and concern for them was so intense. Humans were frail and backward, with a knowledge of the universe that was sadly lacking, but they were still good and worthwhile beings. She had never had the opportunity to know a human like she felt she knew Alex.

She had never had a chance to feel just a little bit human, to acknowledge that she was just as much an Earth dweller as she was a Sardican now.

For the first time ever, she had started to think about the kind of life she might lead were she to not go back. She was beginning to understand that the memories she possessed were real, and that, while they might not be in order with what had really happened, they were what she - at least that other her - had known.

She wanted to find out the truth, their purpose, why they were all together and on Earth. She wanted to know if maybe her destiny was on this planet now and not on Sardica.

She wanted to know all of this for one simple reason.

It was all because of Alex Whitman. He had changed her in the space of twenty-four hours. And even if he didn�t really care, she would always be grateful to him.

She wanted to be able to tell him that - just once. Because she was pretty sure he didn�t have any idea how amazing he really was. In spite of everything, it was all she really wanted, to be able to tell him that.

And that was the scariest thing of all. Anything Grant was about to tell them paled in comparison.

Kate shook her head as she emerged into the granolith chamber again. The fact that she was standing in the granolith and didn�t particularly care reinforced the real truth of the matter.

She didn�t just care about Alex. She was a complete goner.

Part 34

"Alex? Alex, wake up! Alex, please wake up!"

Alex jerked out of the very light sleep in which he had been indulging, uncomfortable as it was on the hard floor of his prison. Glancing at his watch, he realized that he had been more soundly asleep than he realized. A couple of hours had passed since he and Will had run out of things to say about the fact that they were trapped, with the young king unable to use his powers at all thanks to the cage in which he had been placed. Whatever controls Grant had fiddled with were obviously making sure that the hybrids didn�t have access to their gifts.

It was now just after midnight. Rubbing his eyes, he felt more exhausted than was really ordinary for a healthy seventeen-year-old who was a night owl anyway � although body-numbing fear for several straight hours did have a tendency to drain a guy�s energy.

It took him several more seconds, and another impatient hiss, for him to realize what had woken him.

A voice. Not just any voice. The desperation in that voice�

It was Isabel�s voice. She was awake!

"Isabel! Are you okay?" He was instantly fully awake, on his feet and across the cage, so that he could grab his friend�s hand through the bars that divided them. He was able to reach up to turn her chin so that he could meet her gaze.

What he saw there made his heart break.

Her large dark eyes were bright with unshed tears. "Alex�" was all she managed to say before collapsing to her knees, unable to hold her pain in any longer.

"Isabel!" he exclaimed, horrified. He had never � not once � seen Isabel cry like this. She was sobbing now, quite clearly on the verge of losing all control of herself. "Izzy! Please! Tell me what�s wrong! Let me help you!"

She simply continued to clutch at his hands desperately, as though contact with him would help her to regain her composure. Alex felt completely helpless, the bars between them so frustrating, he felt the urge to burst into tears himself.

"Just let her cry it out."

The voice behind him made Alex crane his neck around to glare at Will, who was watching them impassively from his cage on Alex�s other side. "What kind of advice is that? I can�t just sit here and watch her cry!"

"Don�t you get it?" Will asked mildly. "She�s been through a lot. She just woke up. It�s taking her a moment to adjust to the way things are now."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Alex turned back to Isabel, patting her hand frantically. She was beginning to settle down now, but he could see that she was fragile in a way he had never experienced in her before. Something was incredibly wrong.

Of course, he did understand that Isabel had every right to lose it. She had been kidnapped, tortured by Nasedo (he assumed it was Nasedo who had tortured her anyway, having shifted into Nicholas to confuse them all) and had to have wondered if they were ever going to notice that she was gone.

And, before that, he had basically told her he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. What a friend he was!

"She�s no longer who she was," Will told him quietly. "The part of her that made her Vilandra is gone. She�s adjusting to its loss. Just look at Jack."

Alex turned again, glancing past Will at Jack. Will�s cousin was also awake, although Alex wasn�t surprised that he hadn�t noticed at first. The blond boy was pressed into the corner of his cage, his knees up to his chest and his forehead resting on his knees. He was shaking slightly, as though it was taking everything in him not to erupt like Isabel had.

"Is he okay?" Alex demanded. He knew that his eyes were wide with shock that Will was just standing there, while his cousin was obviously in so much pain.

"He�s fine," Will replied evenly. "He�s working through it. They both need to deal with this on their own, and in their own time. I can�t help them. I have no idea what it must be like."

Isabel took in a great gulp of air, bringing Alex�s attention back to him. "Wh�what is he talking about, Alex?" she managed to say. "What�s wrong with me?"

"What feels wrong?" Alex asked, unable to understand what it meant to have lost her alien essence. What was she going through?

"I�" She clutched at his hands again. "I feel empty."

Alex touched her face again, making her look at him. "Isabel, do you remember what happened?"

She closed her eyes for a moment, leaning forward so that her forehead touched the bars between them. Alex caught the scent of her blonde hair as it tumbled over her shoulders. Even after all she�d been through, the slightly exotic smell - Maria had told him once it was sandalwood - that always made him think of her lingered around her. His heart skipped a beat in spite of himself.

"Isabel?"

"I remember what happened between us," she whispered.

Alex sighed. "Iz, I�m sorry."

"No!" she exclaimed, raising her head. "You were right. I have treated you horribly, Alex. How could I do that to you? You�re my best friend. I�m so sorry!"

Hearing him call him her "best friend"�It was what had set off their argument. Why had it hurt him so much then, and now it was like music to his ears? It was amazing how thinking you�d lost your best friend changed your perspective on these things, he mused, shaking his head slightly. Looking at her now � awake, alive - whatever it was that had upset him before just seemed so insignificant in comparison.

"Please," he said, feeling like his heart was about ready to crack down the middle at the agony of her expression. "Isabel, none of that matters now. I�m the one who�s sorry." He reached through the bars to stroke her hair comfortingly. "I need to know what else you remember. After our fight�where did you go?"

"I�" Her voice cracked slightly. "I left the Crashdown. I went for a walk. I thought I might find you. What I said to you when you got so mad�it just all came out wrong." She raised her head. "Anyway, that�s the last thing I remember. Being in the park�and then nothing."

"Nasedo kidnapped you," Alex told her quietly. "He sent us an orb that made it look like it was Nicholas, but it was him."

Isabel�s eyes widened, her shock evident. "Alex, Nasedo�s dead!"

"He�s not," Alex disagreed. "He�s very much alive. And that�s not all�" He trailed off, grimacing.

"Tell me," Isabel said firmly. He looked at her, concerned, but could see that her composure had returned. This was the Izzy he knew and loved. Whatever losing her alien essence had done to her, it hadn�t changed her fundamentally�in spite of her breakdown of a few moments ago.

"Grant Sorenson," Alex said carefully. "Isabel, he�s working with Nasedo. And so is Tess." He looked around the cave for Grant. He was nowhere in sight, although a collection of Nasedo�s minions was gathered around a table on the far side of the cave.

"What?" This exclamation of surprise from Isabel made him focus his attention back on her.

"It�s true," Alex assured her. "I�m sorry, Isabel."

She sat back on her heels, shaking her head in dismay. "I can�t believe it. I just cannot believe it. Darn them for being right!"

He stared at her, perplexed. This was not the reaction he had expected. "Who was right about what?"

"Max and Michael," Isabel sighed, obviously more annoyed about that, then shocked about what he had just told her. "They both hate his guts." She looked up, a slightly mischievous expression on her face. "It was part of his charm actually. He really is kind of cheesy."

Alex grinned slightly in spite of himself. He knew he should be peeved that her determination to break his heart by dating Grant had been partly to irritate her brothers. And, yet, he wasn�t. It didn�t hurt at all.

He wondered at that � wondered what it meant in the grand scheme of his relationship with Isabel Evans.

Could it be�Was it possible that he was ready to be just friends with her? That "best friends" was what they were meant to be?

He frowned slightly, a flash of concern for Kate attacking him unaware. Oh boy. He could see exactly where this was headed. He really was determined to jump from the frying pan into the fire, wasn�t he? Not satisfied with pining after one alien princess beyond his reach, he was obviously trying for the record � crushes on the two must unsuitable and unattainable females on the planet.

"Tess though?" Isabel asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. "That I do find hard to accept." Alex could see that she was sad as she continued, "I really though that she was one of us, Alex. In spite of everything that happened last spring, we really bonded this summer. Not to mention the fact that Whittaker kidnapped her. Why would she do that if she was working with her?"

Alex stared at her. He�d forgotten exactly how much she had missed since her disappearance. "We don�t think Nasedo�s working with the Skins, Iz." He looked back at Will, who was listening quietly. Jack�s head was now up and he was paying attention as well, a tenseness still evident in the line of his shoulders, but whatever he had been dealing with a few minutes ago obviously mastered for the moment.

Alex stared at the blond boy, a slight frown on his face. He wondered if this was the guy he had taken such a shine to in class yesterday, or whether that had been someone else. He still hadn�t worked out exactly when Jack had been kidnapped. It was obvious that the Jack who had killed Courtney was not this Jack, but when had he been replaced?

Not to mention, Nasedo really seemed to have gotten around. There had to be another shapeshifter involved somewhere.

He looked through the bars of his cage at Nasedo�s various minions. They were still gathered at the other side of the cave, obviously not overly concerned about guarding them, even though they were now all awake. They were all clearly very confident in whatever security system was keeping the hybrids from using their gifts.

And did Isabel and Jack even have gifts any longer? If their alien essences were gone�

He remembered abruptly that Nasedo had told Michael and Isabel once that their powers were just advanced human abilities though. Not that they could trust Nasedo. But there was a possibility that their gifts were still active.

Not that they�d be able to find out in these cages. Alex didn�t even want to ask Isabel what she thought about the matter. It would likely only upset her.

Focusing on Nasedo�s helpers again, he wondered whether one of them was a shapeshifter. And what exactly was Nasedo trying to accomplish anyway? Kate had told him during one of their many discussions that the Wendarians (the shapeshifters) were on Zan�s side in the conflict that had a stranglehold on their star system.

Was Nasedo simply a rebel, or was he a representative of the real loyalties of his entire race?

God. There was so much they still didn�t know.

Again, he wondered briefly where Kate was at this moment. This time it wasn�t about concern, but more about curiosity. As hard as he had hoped that Max and Liz would listen and stay away from here, he was beginning to realize that, deep down, he had never actually expected them to cooperate. It was completely unlike either of them to just leave him and Isabel languishing here with their enemies.

Where was everybody? Were they in pursuit of the answers that they would all need to finally take control of this situation? Or had something happened to them after all?

Alex crossed his arms, sighing. He was really tired of all this worrying. In the future, if anyone ever tried to convince him that splitting up was a good idea, he was going to bring up this experience to remind them that it was the epitome of stupid.

He�d rather they were all together, no matter what the cost, he realized abruptly. He was going to have to tell Max that this should be their game plan from now on.

"Alex?" His head jerked up at the slight tremor in Isabel�s voice. He looked at her. He could see that she was paling again, as though whatever it was that was happening inside of her was trying to take over again.

"Iz?" He reached out again. "Are you okay?"

Isabel wet her lips, slightly dazed. "Alex, what�s wrong with me?"

He grimaced. "We don�t exactly know," he admitted quietly. "We know what we were told."

"What?" Her fear was evident again.

"They took away the part of you that made you Vilandra," Alex told her in a rush. "We have no idea how, but basically the gist is�"

Isabel�s eyes widened, her shock evident, as she interrupted. "I�m human," she breathed, obviously understanding instantly. "I�m completely human?"

"We think so. We were worried for a while. Your body�and Jack�s," he added, gesturing to Will�s cousin, who was now speaking quietly to Will, obviously trying to deal with his demons too, "Didn�t seem to be handling it very well. You were unconscious for a very long time." He looked at her carefully, searching for any sign that she was unable to handle this news. "Isabel?"

She was shaking her head slightly, as though she was uncertain how she was supposed to feel. "I don�t know�I don�t know how I�m supposed to take this," she finally said. She looked up. "Do you know that all I�ve ever really wanted was to be normal?"

"I know," Alex said. "And now?"

"The way I feel now�" She swallowed, a slight tremor running through her statuesque frame. "I�m not meant to be like this, Alex. I don�t think I can live without that part of me."

He sighed. "I�m sorry, Isabel."

"Is�Is there a way to get it back?" she asked tentatively.

"We don�t even know how they did it to you," Alex replied carefully. "We don�t know. We can hope there is. If there is, you have to know that none of us will ever stop until we find it, if that�s what you want."

She was quiet for a very long time after this, simply leaning against him through the bars. Finally she said, "I can�t think about this right now. There�s no point and it�s going to drive me crazy."

"What do you want to think about?" Alex asked, willing to talk about anything to take her mind off of what had been done to her.

"Tell me exactly what�s been going on," Isabel ordered him firmly. She straightened her spine, her strong will exerting itself. Alex felt a flash of admiration run through him, along with a flash of the affection he always felt in her presence. This was the Isabel he loved. Strong, capable and entirely warm and approachable. This was the Isabel he had not seen hide nor hair of since that destiny message had been played on the orb in the pod chamber so many months ago.

"Everything?"

"Everything," she affirmed. "If we�re stuck here, we might as well try and figure out what�s going on." She looked past him at Will. "Hey, you."

Will raised an eyebrow, looking mildly amused. "Princess?" Alex remembered that Kate had told him that the Sardicans had never had anything against Vilandra � that, in fact, she had joined them in the end. He felt slightly frustrated again. Was there not any way to find out exactly what had happened in that past lifetime that had led them all to the mess in which they were presently embroiled?

He brushed the feeling aside though as Isabel continued, "Are you going to help us or are you going to sulk all day?"

If Isabel had her way, apparently there would be.

Part 35

Max stood with his arm around Liz as the others crawled back into the granolith chamber. She was trembling slightly, but he knew that it was no longer because she was on the verge of freaking out. She was half-excited, half-scared by whatever information Grant was going to spring on them next.

He knew this because he could feel it. Just as certainly as he knew he felt the same way, he could feel exactly what Liz�s emotions were at the present time. It was also why he had known to get everyone out so that she could have her meltdown in private. Since their conversation in the Jeep, he felt more in tune with her than ever. The fact that she had revealed that she could read him had resulted in him being able to do the same back, now that he knew it was possible.

Max was glad that he had been able to help her, just like she had made him see more clearly earlier. If there was anyone who deserved the chance to lose it every once in a while, it was Liz. She was always so strong. He had always known it too, even before they started to get to know each other better after the healing in the Crashdown. Her strength of character was one of the things he had most admired about her from afar. It was also one of the reasons that he had always daydreamed of telling her the truth, knowing somewhere deep inside that she would understand.

Her strength had only increased since he had brought her into the fiasco that was his existence. She had stood firmly against him when he had tried to push her away, conquering all his defenses, and, then, finally, when she felt it was for his own good, she had walked away on her own. Her fierce unwillingness to compromise, or to take the easy road, was one of the many things he loved about her. The fact that he knew this - that he loved that about Liz - made it easier for him to believe and accept what she had said to him in the Jeep earlier. It didn�t matter that they had apparently meant something to each other before, in that other life. Although it was nice to know, he would have loved her no matter what. Of that he had no doubt.

And, apparently, she loved him anyway too. Because he was almost entirely positive that the Future Max and Future Liz he had heard so much about recently had not known anything about Liz�s origins - or at least they hadn�t until it was too late. It was the only explanation for why Future Max had decided to come back to the point in time he had. The goal had been to stop Tess from leaving town so that they could all find out just how closely they were linked - that Tess and Liz�s relationship was just as important as Tess and Max�s, if not more so. If Liz hadn�t pushed him away when she did, the two girls would have likely waited years to find out who they really were. By then, it would have been too late.

It had been too late. The world had ended.

But that Max and Liz had chosen each other anyway. Without knowing the truth, they had loved each other. And that was good enough for him. They were meant to be.

Max wondered briefly if they would ever know for sure exactly what Future Max had known. He hoped so. He had a feeling though that he might just have to accept that, in spite of how hurt he had been a couple of weeks ago, Future Max�s visit had changed things for the better.

Now they had the chance to learn what they needed to know so much earlier. They had the chance to forge bonds with those they had likely seen as their enemies in the future. They could re-establish ties with Kate, Will and Jack that had obviously been important to them in the past lives. They knew that Tess really was one of them, and so was Liz. The bitterness that had obviously been allowed to fester in that other world would never have a chance now.

They now knew who their real enemy was, who their real enemy had always been. Now all they needed to know was why.

Max met Grant�s dark eyes as the shapeshifter straightened, having just come through the opening between the pods. "We want to know everything you can tell us. We�re ready."

"And none of this �I can�t tell you what your purpose is� crap either," Michael spoke up from behind Grant. "You tell us everything."

Grant shrugged. "I will tell you what I can. But I wasn�t being evasive when I said that I cannot entirely tell you your purpose. I was not in charge of the mission to bring you here. In fact, I barely managed to get myself on that ship. Nasedo didn�t trust me then, and he still doesn�t entirely trust me now." He looked at Michael. "I will repeat what I said to you earlier. That�s the reason I dug up those bones. I had to make him believe that I didn�t care about your safety one way or the other. That I was ready to follow orders."

"But the granolith can give us those answers?" Liz asked.

"I believe so, yes," Grant replied.

"So what are we waiting for then?" Michael demanded. "Tell us how to use it."

"I can�t tell you that," Grant said, beginning to sound impatient. "I told you that she�s the one who knows how to use it." He indicated Tess, who was already staring at the granolith again, her blue eyes distant, as though she was trying to unlock the memories of how to make the machine work. Her brow was slightly furrowed and Max could tell that she wasn�t making much progress. It made him wonder again why only some of Serena�s memories were being unleashed by the wedding cloth. If Tess remembered who she was, why didn�t she remember everything? Max felt a slight flash of suspicion. He was trying to believe that Tess was now being completely honest with them - that she had merely been one of Nasedo�s pawns too - but Liz as Serena had seemed to remember so much more.

Why?

Max realized that now wasn�t the time to worry about that though. He could tell that Grant�s irritation with Michael was reaching the point where they might not be able to get any useful information out of him. "�don�t want to hear what I have to say," the shapeshifter was saying, sounding offended. "I refuse to continue if I am going to be constantly interrupted."

Max glared at Michael warningly. His best friend sighed heavily, rolling his eyes, but nodded, as though in agreement that he would let Max do the questioning. "We�re sorry," Max said quickly. "Go ahead. Just tell us what you can. Start at the beginning maybe," he suggested. "Who are you? You said that you had to convince Nasedo to let you onto the ship? Why?"

Grant frowned slightly. "Who am I? It is hard for me to tell you that as well." Max looked at Michael sharply, sure that was going to wind his friend up again. While he understood Michael�s frustration, and also wondered why Grant couldn�t just tell them what they needed to know, they didn�t want to alienate their only source of information either.

Michael seemed to have gotten control of himself though. It likely didn�t hurt that Maria was holding his arm, obviously ready to pinch him at the slightest provocation. Max smiled slightly to himself, turning to listen to Grant again.

"You have to understand about what it means to be Wendarian," the shapeshifter continued. "Our entire existence is built into the ability to shapeshift, into the fact that we have no one form, that our only real identity is the fact that we can do it - that we are Wendarian. In truth, we do not even consider ourselves individuals. Our entire focus is supposed to be on the good of the planet. Identity brings selfishness and self-involvement, as all the political upheaval on the other four planets in our system demonstrated over the millennia."

This last was said with such disdain, it made Max frown slightly. He looked at Kate, who was also scowling, as though insulted. The irony of Grant�s statement about Wendarians not being self-involved was that they were quite clearly arrogant about that very fact. And arrogance was what self-involvement was all about.

"You make it sound like the Wendarians wanted nothing to do with the other planets," Liz prompted, obviously having picked up on Grant�s tone of voice as well. "But we know that your planet was allied to Max�s."

Grant looked at her, grimacing slightly. "I�ll get back to that. First I must tell you a bit about the history of our system."

"We know some already," Max told him. "Like Liz said, we know that Antar, Wendar and Knosis were all allied. We know that Rowena and Khivar�s marriage meant that their two planets were allied as well. Courtney also told us that the basis of the war had something to do with tariffs?"

"That�s true," Grant acknowledged. "The problems began at a trade summit on Valonia. Zan�s father sent him to mediate a dispute between Knosis and Sardica. The Knosians were trying to take over some very important trade routes between Antar and Knosis by claiming ownership and taxing any ship passing through from another planet. The Sardicans protested this and were in the right - the trade routes had always ever been under the jurisdiction of the Tribunal of the Five Planets and were open to all interplanetary traffic. It was a clumsy power play on the Knosians part, inspired by the fact that Zan was betrothed to Ava, the sister of the King of Knosis. They felt it gave them status, and so they tried to make a little money off of it."

"The Knosians obviously thought that Zan would side with them?" Tess asked. "I mean, he married Ava, didn�t he?"

"But he didn�t want to," Max said quickly, wanting that out in the open right from the beginning. He knew that Liz didn�t really care about all the destiny garbage anymore, but reinforcing that he hadn�t wanted any part of a forced relationship, even in his past life, could only be a good thing. "Courtney told us that too," he added, reddening slightly when Tess raised her eyebrows at him. She didn�t seem upset though. Actually, she appeared amused.

"You�re both right." Grant said. "Increasing Knosis�s control of the shipping routes could only increase Zan�s planet�s own power upon their marriage, being as Ava was her brother�s heir. This meant that, in reality, the shipping routes would become Antar�s. In truth, the whole conference was supposed to be a sham. Zan�s father never intended for him to mediate at all. He was supposed to go and rubber-stamp Knosis�s control of the new markets, which meant that Sardica was going to have to pay heavy tariffs to ship anywhere in the system, greatly decreasing their influence. Zan�s father was trying to break Sardica�s firm hold on the economy of the system."

"Zan didn�t do that though," Kate interrupted. "I remember that trade conference. I was staying with Vilandra on Antar at the time. The king was really upset when he heard that Zan was going to rule on behalf of the Sardicans, keeping with the Tribunal�s tradition, and also rejecting Antar�s covert play for supremacy. Vilandra told me at the time that her father thought that Zan was just being difficult because he wanted to ruin the alliance with Knosis, so that he wouldn�t have to marry Ava. We both knew that Zan would never do that though. He didn�t play games like that. He just didn�t think that so much power should be held on one planet, even if it was his own. Antar already held the political influence through the high kingship. They didn�t need to be the economic center as well. He and his father disagreed over it all the time."

Max couldn�t quite believe that he was finding all this talk about trade routes and tariffs so interesting, but he was. He had a feeling that it had more to do with the fact that Zan was beginning to sound kind of okay, at least at this point in time. It still didn�t explain what happened to him later though. There was no question that something did, because Max still remembered with vivid clarity the flash he had gotten from Kate. His alter-ego had killed her in their past life. What had made him go from being a fair and just ruler to the monster Kate remembered now?

"Indeed," Grant was agreeing. "Zan was honorable, and knew what was right. He was going to rule for the Sardicans, jeopardizing the marriage alliance. His father intervened and ordered Zan away from the conference, insisting that he should think about what he was planning to do a little longer - that he needed privacy to reach his decision. The Sardicans knew what was in the air, but they agreed, hoping that Zan was going to be able to fight his father on this and win. They trusted him, in spite of the impending alliance with Knosis."

"Oh my God."

This came from Kate. Max looked at her sharply. Her face had whitened and she was staring at him and Liz. "What?" he demanded.

"How could I have forgotten about this?" she moaned. "Alex and I already discussed this with Will - how there was no way that Zan and Rowena could have been together because they didn�t ever meet alone. I totally forgot about all of this!"

"About what?" Liz asked gently.

"Zan went to Rowena�s summer palace to make his decision. That�s when they met!" Kate shook her head. "That�s when it happened."

Max looked at Grant for confirmation. He was nodding. "That�s what we all assume. Valonia had offered a neutral planet for the conference, and they then offered Zan a neutral place to reach his verdict. He did go to the summer palace." He was frowning at Kate. "You remember some of this, but not everything?"

"I guess so," Kate replied, sounding upset. "I�ve always believed that I remember everything, but the last couple of days have certainly proven me wrong about that."

"The granolith just flashed you know." They all turned to look at Kyle, who was staring at the base of the cone. "I don�t get why you people keep missing it, but it did. When Kate remembered that, it flashed." Max realized that most of them were standing with their back to the cone. Only Kyle and Grant were facing it directly.

"Well, this only confirms that your pods were damaged as well," Grant sighed. "The four squares were so closely linked, it always seemed strange that none of the others were affected by Rowena�s failing as it did."

"So we were supposed to remember?" Max asked.

"I don�t know that for sure," Grant admitted. "The Crash changed everything, and I wasn�t in on any of the planning sessions before you were sent. I was a glorified guard. I only found out what was really going on after everyone else was killed in the Crash because Nasedo needed me then." He looked at the granolith, thoughtful now. "It would seem that all of your memories still exist within this machine though. That you will be able to access them. It is releasing them slowly now, but there must be a better way to control them."

Max looked at Tess, who seemed upset, as though she wished she could be more helpful. "It�s okay," he told her. "We�ll figure it out."

"So Zan went to Rowena�s summer palace," Michael prompted impatiently.

"He did," Grant agreed. "And he seemed to be taking an inordinately long amount of time to come to the decision his father wanted - the one he knew he had to make. He was not high king yet. He was going to have to bend to his father�s will. Everyone knew it, and no one knew why he was taking so long to do it."

"Rowena must have kept him busy," Kyle said. He smirked at Liz. "You must have been one hot chick, Liz."

Max rolled his eyes, but ignored Kyle because Maria smacked him, effectively shutting him up. Liz didn�t seem insulted either, only exasperated, as she usually was by Kyle�s sarcasm. Everyone knew by now that Kyle didn�t really mean anything by his motor mouth. He just seemed incapable of controlling it sometimes. Max had a feeling it was one way his former nemesis dealt with stress.

"We know now that it was Rowena, but, at the time, everyone thought that he was just trying to annoy his father by taking forever to come to the decision everyone knew he had to," Grant continued, as though Kyle had not spoken. "He stayed on Valonia until he was called back to Antar when his father died suddenly. Needless to say, everyone expected that the ruling would come down quickly after that, and that Zan would do what he had always wanted to do, meaning he would side with Sardica. The system was hailing him as the fair and just Zan, who had refused to make a ruling while his father lived, that he had played his cards perfectly."

"What I don�t get is why Zan and Vilandra�s father didn�t just over-rule Zan. I mean, he was high king. Zan was his heir. He could have done it," Kate stated.

"The old king was stubborn, but he wasn�t stupid. He was the one who had sent Zan. It had been a mistake. He had underestimated Zan�s own stubborn streak. He couldn�t back down, couldn�t let his son make a decision that he felt undermined his own power. Yet, had he taken the power away from his son, many would have questioned Zan�s ability to rule following his father�s death. Any faction who wanted a chance at the throne would have seized on that, would have proclaimed Zan unfit. If the old king wanted his family to rule after his death, he was going to have to deal with his son because, while he might have passed over Zan in favor of Vilandra, Vilandra would never have accepted the throne while her brother still lived. She would have just passed it back to him when her father died. She and Rath were the epitome of loyal to Zan. The old king needed to make his son bend to his will, but he couldn�t call him back either. It was stalemate."

"But Zan didn�t rule on behalf of Sardica," Kate said. "We all know that. He came back and ruled for Knosis."

"That is what happened," Grant acknowledged. "No one knew then that Zan was a totally changed man. He ruled against the Sardicans and by the time he left Valonia, war was unavoidable."

Max felt a twinge of guilt. "So Zan ruled against Sardica because he was jealous of Khivar and Rowena?"

"One assumes so now," Grant shrugged. "But no one thought so at the time. You must understand that all of this only came out after your deaths, when it was revealed how wide a web of jealousy and hate had been woven between all the players. No one knew about Zan and Rowena. As far as anyone knew, Rowena married Khivar."

"That makes no sense," Tess said. Max looked at her, surprised. "It doesn�t, Max. Why would Zan be jealous? We already know that it wasn�t Rowena who went to marry Khivar. It was Serena. Zan and Rowena obviously made that decision together. He had no reason to be jealous."

Max blinked. He felt Liz squeezing his hand. He looked down at her. "No guilt. Tess has to be right. And remember what we said before. We can�t change what happened. We just need to know what happened."

"Sorry," he muttered. He realized that it was possible to feel guilty about feeling guilty, but decided to suppress that too. Liz was right after all. Feeling guilty didn�t change things. It only delayed fixing them. He looked back at Grant. "So then what happened?"

"The war started," Grant replied. "It did look like maybe it could be resolved fairly quickly. In the end, the decision about the trade routes was Antar�s to make, and so the Sardicans� war was illegal. But, then, out of nowhere, Zan sent the Sky Army to destroy Valonia."

Max felt his stomach clench. He looked at Michael. "Courtney told us about this," he said, having to clear his throat first. "Rath tried to defend him by blaming it on Khivar."

"Rath knew Zan better than anyone," Grant said grimly. "Rath was right that Zan was not the one who ordered the strike - at least not the Zan he knew. But he was wrong to accuse Khivar."

"Do you know what happened to Zan?" Liz asked. She was clutching Max�s hand tightly. "Why did he do that?"

"Haven�t you figured it out by now?" Grant asked. "It�s so obvious." He looked at Tess, then back at Liz. "What does the granolith do, Liz?"

Max frowned. What does the granolith do? What does the granolith have to do with�

And, abruptly, he understood. He couldn�t believe that he hadn�t thought of it before. It was the only thing that made any sense with Kate�s memories of what Zan had been like before and after the trade summit. No one could change that much in such a short amount of time. Jealousy might have been an explanation, but Tess was right. Zan had no reason to be jealous. Khivar was not married to Rowena.

Max felt the flash of understanding from Liz as she too grasped what the shapeshifter was telling them. "Oh my God. It wasn�t Zan at all, was it?"

"It was not," Grant replied. "Do you truly believe that Zan and Rowena would just separate after all the effort they had made to be together? Neither of them wanted to rule their planets anyway. Rowena was obsessed with science, invention and Zan. She didn�t have time to reign. And, after meeting Rowena, Zan was too consumed by her to even do his duty by Antar any longer. They did everything in their power to avoid their destinies, even sending Serena to replace Rowena. Why would they stop there?"

Max could feel his heart thudding in his chest. "So you�re saying that there were two Zans? And somehow the one they sent to rule Antar was defective?"

This was worse than anything he could have possibly imagined. Zan and Rowena had left their planets at the mercy of a madman - a crazy version of Zan himself - because they had wanted to be together. How could they have been so selfish? He could feel Liz�s hand trembling in his. She understood exactly what this meant too.

Their selfish love had destroyed an entire planet. Valonia had been destroyed because of them.

Grant snorted. His disgust was obvious. "Not just two Zans."

"Wait a minute!" Kyle interrupted. "I thought you said that it was Serena who invented the granolith? But you just said that it was Rowena who was the scientist."

It was Kate who spoke up at this. "They were both scientists," she said quietly. "This is why we never knew that Rowena had a sister. She didn�t."

"What?" Michael demanded. "Are you saying they�re not sisters?"

Max stared at Kate as he realized what she was getting at. Not just two Zans, Grant had said.

"They weren�t sisters," he continued for Kate, looking down at Liz, unsure how she was going to take this. He was still in shock that he and Liz could have been so completely cavalier about throwing away their thrones for each other, and placing sub-standard versions of themselves in their places. They had doomed Valonia and the five planets had been in turmoil ever since. "They were the same person," he managed to say, past the lump in his throat. "That�s why Liz was affected by Serena�s wedding cloth."

"Serena wasn�t Rowena�s twin," Grant agreed. "She was her clone."

Part 36

Liz could not tear her eyes away from Tess.

It could not be true. How could it be possible that they were both clones of the same person? How could they be the same person?

Logically, it made sense though. After all, Max had been attracted to both of them. Grant had explained why they looked different. Her pod had been damaged in the Crash, and he had been forced to replace Liz�s human DNA at some point during the cloning process.

But she had just started to accept that she and Tess were sisters. How could she accept that they were, essentially, one girl?

Tess was staring at her too, a slight frown on her pretty face. Liz could almost see the wheels turning in her head, as she too tried to absorb this news. She felt her heart go out to the small blonde. In a way, Tess�s world was in even more upheaval than Liz�s was after these revelations. First of all, she was no longer Ava, the person she had always been told she was. Her connection to Max - a defining principle of her life - had been irrevocably severed by Grant�s story. Finally, she had to accept that, not only was she Liz�s sister, she was most likely Liz�s clone.

Not even that. Tess was a clone of Liz�s clone.

It was so ridiculous it was enough to make Liz want to burst out laughing. She felt like she had entered a nightmare, that if she bent even a little bit, she was going to lose it again and, this time, not even Max would be able to pull her back.

And, yet, she knew that wasn�t true. Max was her grounding force. He was holding her together right now in fact, grasping her hand tightly, gently rubbing the back of it with his thumb. Calming her. Helping her to think straight.

Yes, she was certainly luckier than Tess.

But, in the end, Tess proved to be the stronger of the two of them anyway. When she finally opened her mouth to speak, after everyone else had stopped their exclamations of shock, Liz had absolutely no clue what her sister - Liz decided to keep thinking of the other girl that way, being as Rowena had done so - was going to say. She knew though that what she heard was the last thing she expected.

"I don�t believe it."

"What?" Grant said, looking at her. "It�s not a matter of believing it or not, Tess. It�s what happened."

Tess shook her head impatiently. "No, not about that," she corrected. "I believe that Serena and Rowena were clones. I remember Rowena as my sister, but I believe that it might have been true. It explains a lot actually - why Khivar accepted Serena with absolutely no suspicion, why Rowena would have trusted Serena so completely to take her place, why no one knew Rowena had a sister in the first place."

"Then what don�t you believe?" Kyle asked. Liz�s ex-boyfriend had gone to stand near Tess, as though he too had understood that she had no one to support her through any of this. Liz felt again how truly lucky she was as she glanced around. Maria, her best friend, still looked shell-shocked, but could certainly be counted on should Liz need her. Liz was pretty sure that even Michael would comfort her before he would Tess. And she had Max. Her beloved Max, who believed in her more than she believed in herself.

"I don�t buy that Rowena and Zan were so selfish," Tess told him, her voice firm. "I remember both of them." Seeing Michael perk up at this, she elaborated quickly, "I mean, I don�t remember everything. But I remember who they were. There is no way they would have turned their backs on their planets so selfishly." She turned to Kate for support. "You remember them too. At least partly. Do you believe this?"

Kate sighed. "I don�t know what to believe anymore." She thought for a moment, then continued slowly, "But my gut is telling me that Tess is right. I know what I remembered before all this started coming out. That kind of behavior doesn�t sound like the Zan I knew - at first anyway. Before he killed me," she added wryly. But Liz could tell that she was almost joking about it now. She was no longer scared of Max. "Or Ro either," she added, smiling at Liz.

"It really just doesn�t make sense," Tess stated. "I mean, we�re all essentially the same. Circumstance and experience have molded us into slightly different people, but our characters aren�t so different from what they were before. How could Zan and Rowena have become Max and Liz? I mean, it�s impossible!" She looked directly at Liz, then swallowed. "You are the least selfish person I know, Liz. You�ve given up the person you most love in the world at least twice at my last count. I just can�t believe that Rowena wouldn�t have done the same." She looked at Grant. "You must be wrong."

Grant shrugged. "I know what I know. There is no question that Serena was Rowena�s clone and she ended up married to Khivar. And it wasn�t Zan on the throne of Antar following his father�s death either. There is no question about that. It�s why Vilandra fled Antar. She just knew it wasn�t her brother. But she didn�t buy Rath�s explanation either."

"And Rath�s explanation was what?" Michael asked.

"That it was a shape-shifter," Grant replied. He looked away. "A shape-shifter under Khivar�s control. Not that he wasn�t entirely justified in thinking that. Rath suspected the truth about Wendar long before anyone else."

Liz frowned, looking at Max. His next question seemed to indicate that he was thinking exactly along the same lines she was. "I think it�s time for you to tell us exactly how your people got involved in this mess," he told Grant. "For a race that supposedly didn�t care about the rest of the system, they seem to be up to their necks in all of it."

"Trusted enough to be sent as our protectors," Michael put in, scowling at Grant again. "But, like I said before, it seems that protection is about the farthest thing from what either you or Nasedo has tried to do on this planet."

"My goal has always been your protection," Grant insisted. "I told you that any actions to the contrary since then have been simply to keep myself alive to continue to do so. Before leaving Antar, I swear I had no idea what was going on behind the scenes. Everything I did back then was because I was ordered to do so. I just did it - no questions asked, no wondering why. I tried to explain to you what it means to be Wendarian. We do not have free will, and we don�t make our own choices. But, in the end, I had my own reasons for wanting to come along that had nothing to do with Wendar."

"Which were what?" Michael demanded suspiciously.

But Liz was watching Grant�s face while he spoke and, she for one, thought she knew. "Love," she said quietly.

Grant jerked slightly, looking at Liz. His expression relaxed though and he nodded. "Love."

"Love of who?" This came again from Michael, who was obviously still so annoyed at Grant, he wasn�t thinking straight. Because, it was so obvious. But, then, Rath had quite clearly been blind in their last life too, Liz thought wryly. He had seen the Wendarians for what they really were, but had missed something even closer to home.

"Vilandra," Liz said. She tilted her head, staring at Grant, but knew she was right. "It was Vilandra, wasn�t it?"

"Yes." Grant lowered his gaze. "I came to protect her."

"Oh, Lord." Liz looked at Michael sharply. He was rolling his eyes at Max. "I knew there was a reason I hated this guy. He was making time with my wife."

"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, smacking him lightly, but Liz could tell she wasn�t really upset. "I�m standing right here!"

"Ow," was all Michael said, but he put his arm around Maria, demonstrating that what Grant felt for Isabel really meant nothing to him now.

"Rath didn�t love Vilandra," Grant said defensively. "Nor did she love him."

"That�s not true," Kate spoke up. "They loved each other. They just weren�t in love. They grew up together. It was more of a brother/sister type thing. Like it obviously is now."

"Fine," Grant admitted. "She did love him. But she was destined for so much more. She deserved so much more. And I was there to provide it."

"Lucky her," Michael muttered. Max snorted. Liz sighed. Poor Isabel. For the first time ever, Liz was glad she didn�t have brothers. Glancing at Tess, she smiled slightly. But it was going to be nice to have a sister. Even if no one else could ever know.

"But what about Khivar?" asked Kyle. "I thought he was the one screwing around with Vilandra?"

"Nice, Kyle." Maria shook her head. "Screwing around? Nice image there."

"Whatever." Kyle rolled his eyes too. "Wasn�t he? That�s what the midget said in that message � and isn�t he Khivar�s right-hand man? Sort of like you were to Max? You�d think he�d know." He said this to Michael, who shrugged, his arms crossed, obviously annoyed by the whole idea of Vilandra with anyone.

"Well, apparently no one was being very open with what was going on," Kate reminded him. "Rath knew something was wrong, but he didn�t know what exactly."

"That�s true," Grant replied. "And I can explain about Khivar." They all looked at him. He sighed. "To my eternal shame, my original intentions towards Vilandra were not entirely honourable. Like I said, I was following orders at the beginning."

Liz understood what he was getting at almost immediately. "You�re a shape-shifter. You pretended to be Khivar, didn�t you?"

He closed his eyes briefly, then nodded. "Yes."

"But why?" she asked gently. "What were the Wendarians hoping to accomplish?"

"They were creating chaos," Kate said, shaking her head in dismay. "It�s the only answer. They sent him to Vilandra, pretending to be Khivar, making her fall in love with him, to drive her away from Zan."

Liz felt Max�s anger before he spoke. She squeezed his hand warningly. She understood though. If there was one way to really rile either Max or Michael, it was by messing with Isabel. She guessed now that it had always been that way. "Is that true?" he demanded. Liz glanced across the chamber at Michael. She could see that Maria was clutching his arm just as tightly as she was holding onto Max.

"It�s true," Grant said quietly. "We worked in the shadows, dividing alliances, breaking long-standing bonds. The whole trade route fiasco was the first attempt to sow discontent within the system. Wendar had a secret alliance with Knosis, and prodded them into doing it, in an attempt to put Antar and Sardica at odds. They were the two most powerful planets. Wendar did not have the resources to take on either on their own. My planet needed them to destroy each other."

"But Zan ruined that by siding with Sardica at the trade conference," Liz guessed.

"My leaders did not understand Zan," Grant replied. "They thought he would be as easily manipulated as his father. It was the old king�s Wendarian advisors who made him uneasy about Sardica�s power. They arranged the alliance with Knosis, through the betrothal. But Zan was not nearly as suspicious. He had personal ties to the princess of Sardica, ties that his father had never bothered with." He looked at Kate meaningfully. "As long as he trusted Khivar, and Khivar trusted him, there would be no rift. Karana became Khivar�s closest advisor. Her relationship with Zan and Vilandra meant that they would have worked it out somehow."

"But Wendar wanted to bring down both Antar and Sardica so that they could pick up the pieces and take control of the system. They had to break those ties," Liz continued. She was listening to Grant still, but also trying to understand what the motives could have been for creating such disharmony in a perfectly ordered society. Was it really all just about something as petty as one planet being jealous of two others?

"Basically," Grant agreed. "They tried politically first, with the trade embargo. But, as I said, Zan�s waffling at the conference meant that Knosis could no longer be used as a pawn. So they sent me instead. I went to Antar while Zan was at Rowena�s summer palace � as Khivar." He paused, then sighed. "And I made her fall in love with me."

Liz looked at Kate. "Do you remember any of this?"

She frowned. "I don�t remember my brother coming to Antar. I was there during the conference. Zan sent me home when he returned. But it might be possible."

"I played on Vilandra�s vanity," Grant continued, as though he hadn�t been interrupted. "I told her that she was the only one who could fix things � that she had to convince her brother to side with us. That if she didn�t, the only recourse we had was war. She was lonely. Rath was always gone, off commanding the Sky Army. They weren�t even married yet." He looked at Michael, glaring slightly, as though disbelieving that anyone who had a claim to Vilandra could have been so stupid as to not marry her right away.

"You really fell in love with her," Liz said.

Grant simply nodded. They were all silent after this, as though trying to absorb the enormity of Wendar�s perfidy. It was almost incomprehensible to Liz that so much real love could have emerged from so much hate. Because Wendar�s covert interference had brought people together who likely never would have even met. Zan and Rowena. Vilandra and�well, whoever Grant�s name had been then.

Finally Grant spoke again. "She was unlike anyone I had ever known. So open, so loving�always wanting to do what was right. She was torn apart by her loyalty to Rath, but she loved me too."

"But you lied to her," Kate snapped. "It wasn�t really you at all. You were pretending to be my brother."

"Why do you think I�m here now?" Grant demanded. "Why do you think I came to this hellish place? To make amends for that. To show her that I truly loved her, no matter who I was. To show her that I love her still."

"By lying to her again," Michael put in fiercely. "By pretending to be human."

"She isn�t Vilandra anymore," Max added. "She is Isabel. She won�t be tricked again."

Grant looked right at him. "Maybe not. But she will be saved. I will not allow anything to happen to her this time. Which is one reason for why I�ve come to you all now. Because he has endangered her and I will no longer play his games."

There was another long silence after this. Finally, Maria said tentatively, "What did happen? How did they all die?"

"Vilandra, Jondar, and Karana were all killed by the cloned Zan," Grant replied in a monotone. "They had come to Antar to free who they believed was Rowena. She was being held captive by the clone, taken when she�d gone to parlay for peace."

"My question is, why didn�t the real Khivar ever tell Vilandra the truth?" Tess asked. "If she switched sides, she must have found out that you weren�t who you said you were."

"It was war," Grant told her. "Khivar did use her in the end. He was desperate to save his wife," he added, when Kate looked ready to speak up to defend her brother. "Vilandra showed up on Sardica with her personal army and the ability to get them onto Antar. My guess is that Vilandra never revealed anything about her feelings to Karana. She would have been open with Khivar alone. He used her obvious love for him � probably having figured out what had happened by then � and made a play to reclaim Rowena through her."

"Who wasn�t Rowena at all," Tess added. "That would have been Serena."

"Yes," Grant agreed.

"The real question is, where were Zan and Rowena all this time?" Kate asked. She looked at Tess. "I think Tess was right before. I just don�t believe that they would have given up their thrones. After all, they were both betrothed, but they weren�t married. Zan was the high king. In the end, he could have taken what he wanted. It would have been scandalous had they deserted their fianc�s for each other, but it wouldn�t have been illegal."

"Not to mention, even if they had secretly replaced themselves," Liz said, "I just can�t believe that they would have sat back and watched the entire system go to war, when they could have stopped it. It sounds like the clone Zan was the real problem. If the real Zan had emerged, it all could have been fixed."

They looked at Grant. He sighed. "I cannot tell you any of that. I played no role on Valonia. When it came to my own people, I went where I was told, until the very end, when I managed to talk myself onto the mission to Earth."

"Which begs the question," Kyle said. "How did no one ever figure out that the Wendarians were behind it all?"

"As I said," Grant answered. "I think that, by the end, Khivar did know. But, at that point, he was so furious about that fact that his wife had been taken captive, he wasn�t thinking straight. He despised Zan. Rath was the only one who ever believed that the Zan on Antar wasn�t the real Zan. He was laughed right out of the Tribunal of the Five Planets with that accusation."

"Which was why the Wendarians were sent with us," Max guessed. "As far as Serena was concerned, they were the only neutral party in the system. The only ones who could be trusted."

Liz sighed. "Irony at its most tragic."

"So was that what Serena was trying to do?" Kate asked Grant. "Did she send us here so that we could all come together and return united, with all that history behind us?"

"I really don�t know what Serena intended at all," Grant told her. "But it seems logical. Unfortunately, sending a Wendarian contingent of guards meant that the mission was doomed to fail from the start."

"But fate intervened," Liz reminded him. "The Crash happened. And Nasedo lost control of half the pods."

Grant smiled slightly. "He did. Which is why I�ve been on the run from him for fifty years. I didn�t want to have to tell him where I�d hidden my half of the loot." He paused, then added, "But, while the Crash was helpful in some small way, it meant that you were all separated. Also, the fact that your pod was damaged," he looked at Liz as he said this, "meant that they were all compromised. I believe that is why no one�s memories are intact."

"God." Liz looked at Max. He was shaking his head. "I can�t believe how close we came to never finding Liz." He put his arm around her shoulder. "It was all completely based on luck, wasn�t it? If the shooting hadn�t happened�"

"And if you call that lucky, you�re crazy," Maria interrupted. "I was there, remember? She almost died."

"I would have revealed the truth eventually," Grant assured them. "But the shooting did help to speed up the process because it showed that Liz could deal with the idea of aliens."

"I thought you said that I had to figure it out on my own," Liz said, annoyed at him now. "That you couldn�t have told me."

"As long as Nasedo didn�t know where you were, there was no need, nor any rush. I mean, it�s not like there�s a ship waiting out there to take you back." Grant shrugged. "The shooting changed all that too."

"I think we would have figured it out eventually anyway." This came from Michael. Liz looked at him, surprised. He shrugged. "Maxwell knew who you were all along, Liz. It was only a matter of time before he did something to bring you into this." He rolled his eyes. "I lived with his mooning for ten years. I�m telling you, it would have happened." He grinned slightly. "I�m just glad that I never had to kill him to prevent it."

"Yeah, thanks for that, Michael," Max muttered. Liz looked at him. His face was a dull shade of red. Smiling, Liz kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"For what?" Max asked, surprised.

"For loving me."

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff!" Kyle exclaimed. "Puh-lease!"

Max cleared his throat. "Sorry." He paused, as though trying to figure out where to go next. "Is that all you can tell us?" he finally asked Grant. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"I don�t think there is anything more I can tell you," Grant replied.

"Where does Nasedo think you are?" Liz asked him. "I can�t believe I just thought of this, but is it safe for you to be here? I mean, you�ve gone out of your way to make him believe you�re on his side. Why the sudden change?"

"Because he�s making his final plans," Grant told her grimly. "He already has three of you locked up. It�s just a matter of time before he gets the rest of you. You need to know what you�re dealing with here."

"Wait a minute!" Tess interrupted. "There�s still so much we don�t know! We need to figure out what happened to Zan and Rowena!"

"I can�t tell you that," Grant insisted. "You�ll have to depend on the granolith for those answers. It will provide them in its own time." He looked directly at Tess. "Or when you figure out how to make it work."

Tess sighed. "I just don�t remember."

"Well, in the meantime, we need to concentrate on Nasedo anyway," Max assured her. "We need to end this once and for all here on Earth. The rest can be dealt with later."

"That�s why I�m here," Grant agreed. "Now that he knows who you all are, he�s planning to use you as hostages to gain control of the Antarian throne."

"But what about the essence sucking?" Kate asked. "Why is he doing that?"

"To control you of course," Grant replied. "Your alien essences make you who you are. Without them, you are lost. You may not remember who you were entirely, but you know inherently within."

"Okay, hold it!" Michael held up his hands. "What�s this about essence sucking?"

Liz was just as confused as Michael. They hadn�t heard anything about this. What were Kate and Grant talking about?

Kate grimaced. "Oh, did I forget to mention that?" She quickly explained about how both Isabel and Jack had been somehow made completely human.

"Who wouldn�t forget something like that?" Kyle asked the group at large when she was done. "I mean, what�s a little alien essence stealing among friends?"

"Kyle," Liz said warningly. "Kate had enough on her mind when she came here. It�s no wonder she forgot." She looked at Grant. "Is there any way to fix this?"

He nodded. "The granolith holds your alien essences in perpetuity. You will all continue to live on within it, as long as it is functional."

"So what you�re saying is, I could kill the king right now and you could bring him back?" Kyle asked, glancing at Max with a grin on his face.

"Kyle!" Liz exclaimed. She looked up at Max, who was just shaking his head and sighing.

"I�m just kidding, Liz. I can�t help how my brain works. I say these things before I think how they might sound. I meant to say that I could kill any of you�well, except Maria of course�"

"Kyle, shut up," Tess ordered.

"And count to ten before speaking. Every time," Maria snapped, her tone threatening. "Or it will be you who will need some reviving." She paused. "Oh wait�You don�t have that option." She glared at him.

"I don�t need your stupid granolith. I have Buddha," Kyle replied, but he meekly took a step backwards so that he was half-hidden behind Tess, who was now rolling her eyes.

"Yes," Grant replied, looking at Kyle as though he thought he was insane. Liz thought he might be right. "We�d only need some human DNA to reincarnate him."

"So what you�re saying is that we need to bring Isabel and Jack here to heal them," Max asked. "And that in order to do that, we need to take care of Nasedo first."

"That�s what I�m saying."

They all looked at each other.

Finally, Michael broke the silence, after holding Maria�s wrist close to his face and looking at her watch. "Well, it�s the middle of the night. What better time for a jailbreak?"

Liz sighed. She felt Max pull her more closely against his side, and took momentary comfort. But, her mind would not stop. If only it could be as simple as Michael made it sound.

But, she knew, that it wouldn�t be. Nasedo had waited two generations to take control of the Antarian system. He was going to have planned for every eventuality. A raid to rescue their friends? They were likely just walking into a trap.

Yet, she didn�t see that they had any choice. The eight of them had been brought to Earth for a reason. It was time to reunite them all and find out exactly what it was. And, the only way to make that happen was to confront their greatest enemy. Now.

Even if, she knew deep down, they weren�t anywhere near ready.

Part 37

"This is just completely unbelievable," Isabel said, shaking her blonde head. "God, Alex! How can this all be true?"

"We don�t know for sure that any of it�s true," Alex replied. "A lot of it Kate and I figured out from her memories, some of which she doesn�t even trust anymore. Some of it is conjecture based on what�s happened over the past twenty-four hours. All we know for sure is that we�re sitting here and Max, Liz and the others are out there somewhere. And that we�re all in big trouble."

It had taken longer than Alex had expected to tell Isabel and Jack everything that was going on. Will had let Alex do most of the talking, admitting at one point that he had been too wrapped up in the fact that Liz was Rowena to try and understand what was going on around him. Of course, Isabel had left the Crashdown before it had even come out that Liz was really just as alien as she was, and, so, this had come as one of the biggest shocks of all to his friend.

"But how could we not have known?" Isabel asked, shaking her head. "How could we not have known that Liz was one of us? We�ve always recognized each other. I knew Michael right away. I knew Tess. I mean, Max even told me he knew Kate when he first saw her, and I recognized both of you in the hallway at school." She looked at Will as she said this, a little shyly if Alex was not mistaken. He frowned slightly. He had very briefly mentioned what Nasedo, disguised as Nicholas, had said in the ransom message about her having been Khivar�s lover in their past lives. He wondered what his friend was feeling now that she knew that Will was Khivar - the great love Congresswoman Whittaker had told her about. The great love for whom she was supposed to betray her brothers and friends

The great love whose great love was someone else.

Alex narrowed his eyes slightly. Will was just too damn good-looking. Alex trusted him now - he wasn�t quite sure if that mean he liked him yet - but damn his tortured blue eyes. He didn�t think it would take long for Isabel to like the idea that maybe she was destined for the young, heart-broken king. Whatever flirtation Grant had provided, the news that he was working for Nasedo hadn�t seemed to affect her unduly. It was still Tess�s betrayal which upset her most. Isabel Evans was ripe for the picking.

It wasn�t that he was jealous. He was past that. He knew that Isabel wasn�t the girl for him. He hadn�t totally analyzed why he knew this yet - there hadn�t really been time lately after all. He knew it had something to do with Kate, but he wasn�t jumping to conclusions about that either. He had seen Speed and he�d seen that dud Speed 2. He knew that feelings arising from life-threatening circumstances were not necessarily to be trusted. But he did know that there was something there to be explored with Kate, if they managed to get out of this alive.

This wasn�t about Kate at all though. Isabel was still one of his best friends. She was vulnerable, particularly now that she no longer really knew who she was. The last thing she needed right now was to be hurt even more than she had been already. Will was not available. He was in love with Liz. Just because Liz wasn�t in love with him, it didn�t mean he could just turn his feelings off. If he did, then Alex would be even more suspicious of him.

And, so, he waited distrustfully for Will to answer, willing him to be careful with his words, if only for once.

"We don�t really know," Will replied, shrugging. Well, not encouraging necessarily, but certainly not mean, Alex reflected, relaxing. The alien king did not seem at all adverse to talking to Isabel - not like he�d been with Max at all. The fact that Vilandra had been trusted and admired by Khivar in their past lives, if not necessarily loved, seemed true. "Obviously she was taken from her pod early," Will continued. "Maybe that affected it."

"And Max always knew her," Alex reminded Isabel.

She nodded pensively. "I guess he did."

They all sat quietly for a long moment. It gave Alex the chance to look around the large cavern in which their cages sat. The guards were still on the other side of the room, not seeming alarmed by the fact that they were all talking freely now. "I wonder what happened to Nasedo and Grant," he said off-handedly to the others. "We haven�t seen either of them in hours."

"Do you think they�ve gone after the others?" Isabel asked, her concern obvious.

At this, Jack spoke up. Alex looked at him sharply. It was the first time Will�s cousin had said two words since they had started discussing any of this. "I don�t think they�re in any hurry," he said quietly. "They�ve known where to find us all for weeks. I think they know that the others will come for us here."

"I told Kate to keep them away," Alex muttered.

Jack looked at him, with an eyebrow raised. "Do you know how they died before?"

"Not really," Alex replied. He felt Isabel still nearby. "I know that Kate thinks that Max killed her."

Jack lowered his eyes, glancing at Isabel quickly before doing so. "I don�t know if I should tell you this."

"You have to," Isabel insisted. "Max couldn�t have done that. Even in another life. He just couldn�t have. He wouldn�t hurt a fly."

"Maybe that�s true now," Jack allowed. "But I know what I know. I was there."

"Did Zan kill you too?" Alex asked before thinking. He mentally kicked himself when Isabel gasped.

"Yes," Jack replied quietly. "I shouldn�t have brought this up, but it�s the reason that I know that Ro and Kate will come for us. It�s just in Kate�s nature, and so will Ro, because of what happened before. She will come."

"Why? Why would Liz want to come for you?" Isabel asked. "She doesn�t even really know you!"

"Not just me. You too, Vilandra," Jack told her. "We all went. You, Kate and me. When Ro was captured by Zan, we went after her. And he killed us all. She may have forgotten it, but, deep down, she knows. She will come for us."

There was another long silence. Then Alex said, "They would come anyway." He sighed, looking at Isabel. "We know it, Iz."

"I know," Isabel said. "And they�re all walking right into a trap." She reached out and shook her cage in frustration. "If only I could dreamwalk! I would go to Max right now, tell him to keep Liz away from here. Because it�s Liz they want, isn�t it? It�s why he never came for us before. I mean, he knew where we all were."

"You�re right," Will agreed. "Nasedo knew who had us, and they�ve known where you all were for months. They left us alone because they were still looking for Rowena. It would have been too big a pain to hold us for this long. They never would have found her though. Not if Jack hadn�t."

"How did you do that anyway?" Alex asked curiously. "I don�t think I�m really clear on what your gift is."

Jack leaned back against the bars of his cage, running a hand through his blond hair. His movements were jerky, slightly pained, as though his internal hurt over the loss of his alien essence - the same pain Isabel was struggling to control Alex knew - was manifesting itself physically. "It�s kind of hard to explain."

"Basically," Will continued for him, when it seemed that Jack had said all he was going to, "He can identify aliens by their essences. He can feel the part of them that makes them different from humans. And they�re all different - unique. When we went to Copper Summit to see the Harvest�s destruction, he managed to pick up a sort of essence trail from Rowena�.Liz," he modified quickly, as though he was now truly determined to only think of her by that name.

Because, as long as she was Liz, the fact that she did not love him probably didn�t hurt as much, Alex reflected, feeling a pang of sympathy. He could understand the attempt. After all, it had taken him months to understand and, then, accept, that just because you were in love with someone else, it didn�t automatically mean that they were going to feel the same way.

He glanced at Isabel, who was still frowning, although apparently not for the reason he was. "So none of the Skins ever suspected who Liz was when we were in Copper Summit?"

"Her essence is quieter than any alien I have ever encountered," Jack told her. "She�s mostly human. Even more human than she should be having come out of the pod early. I mean, she should still be half and half. That�s how she was cloned. I can�t figure that out."

"No, it�s obvious why none of them ever guessed," Will agreed. "Nicholas had no idea until Jack felt her. He knew her well in our past lives. It wasn�t difficult for him to pick it up."

Isabel cringed visibly at the mention of Nicholas. "I can�t believe Nicholas works for you," she said with a shudder. "He�s absolutely horrible."

"Please try to remember that it wasn�t he who tortured you. That was Nasedo," Jack reminded her gently. "Nicholas is not bad. He is merely frustrated by the fact that our people are dying and there is nothing he can do about it."

"I wonder what happened to him, anyway," Alex said. He reached through the bars separating him from Isabel and picked up her hand, stroking it comfortingly. "He was with us when Tess made that bomb go off."

"I hope he�s all right," Will said grimly. "He�s our only means of connection to our home planet."

"To the other Khivar," Alex reminded himself quietly. "I still don�t get why the eight of you were sent together if the Khivar back on Antar still hates Zan. That�s one thing that will never make any sense to me."

"I guess the only way we�ll ever figure out what�s going on is if we find out who sent us here, and why," Isabel stated. "God! It seems like anytime we get any answers, we only end up with more questions."

"You�re not the only one, princess. I too grow impatient waiting for answers I should have had weeks ago."

Alex grimaced. As he was still holding her hand, he felt a spasm run through Isabel at the sound of the voice. He turned his head to see Nasedo walking swiftly towards them, his expression blank, but his eyes flashing with something that made a flash of pure fear run down his spine. It did not help matters that the shape-shifter no longer looked like Ed Harding either.

Not that Ed Harding was particularly reassuring. But this new form was not an improvement.

For some reason, Nasedo had taken on the guise of Daniel Pierce again. Agent Pierce. Handsome, charming Agent Pierce, who was most well-known to them for torturing Max.

Wonderful.

"On your feet, Mr. Whitman."

Alex�s eyes widened. "Why me?" he asked, embarrassed when it came out as more of a squeak than the firm tone he was trying for. But, it was a valid question, he knew. After all, he was the only one of the four prisoners who wasn�t an alien. What could Nasedo possibly want with him?

Only one thing. There was only one thing he could possibly want. And his next words confirmed it.

"Because killing you just might get me the answers I want." Nasedo motioned behind him. "Bring him," he commanded the guards on his heels. "I�ll be in the interrogation chamber."

Isabel�s grip on his hand had become like steel. "Leave him alone!" she exclaimed, struggling to her feet along with Alex, obviously refusing to let go of him. He felt a slight warming in his heart, but not enough to melt the ice that had taken root in his veins.

He looked at Will, who was on his feet as well. His jaw was clenched, as though he was unwilling to dignify Nasedo�s threat with a response. Will understood more quickly than Alex did it seemed. Because it was only now that it made sense.

He was a pawn. Nasedo was threatening to kill him to emotionally blackmail the rest of them.

But maybe it wasn�t merely a threat. Maybe he was actually going to do it to remind them all of what could happen to them if he didn�t get his way.

For one, brief moment, he remembered his vow from the day before. Had it only been that long? It felt like years. He remembered his determination that he was going to escape the alien abyss before it dragged him down for good. He had feared that something like this might happen to him if he allowed himself to stay connected to these people - to Isabel and his old friends; to Kate and his new ones.

One look at the absolute terror on Isabel�s face as she struggled to hold him to her. He felt his fingers slipping from her grasp, and he knew that he had never been meant to escape.

This was his life now. And he wouldn�t change anything. The expression on Isabel Evans� face made it worth it.

He would not let the shape-shifter use him this way. If he was going to die, it was going to be quickly and it was going to be without it resulting in his friends� even greater peril.

First, he needed to calm Isabel down.

"It�s all right, Izzy," he said. "I�m going to be all right." He looked over his shoulder at the two guards, who were still trying to manhandle him. "I�m coming. Just give me a sec." They backed off slightly, but not far.

He moved close to Isabel again. "I will be back," he told her firmly.

"Alex, no! You can�t go."

"Isabel, if I don�t go, they�ll kill me right here. I�ve managed to stay alive this long. I swear I�ll be okay. I�ve got a few more tricks up my sleeve." He reached out and touched her face. Her dark eyes met his. They were bright with tears.

"I will come back. I still have to see how Star Wars comes out. I mean, I can�t die now. Can you imagine if The Phantom Menace was the last Star Wars movie I ever saw? No God could ever be that cruel. Let�s get serious here. He has to give Lucas a chance to redeem himself."

Isabel laughed in spite of herself. Her hands were clenched, but Alex was relieved to see that she seemed to believe him. She swallowed, nodded, then backed against the far wall of her cell again, sliding to the floor.

He knew he was lying. But she believed him. By the time she knew any differently, maybe the others would have come for her. Because he knew they were coming. He could feel it in his bones.

Their friends would not desert them. Isabel would be saved.

But, just to be sure, as he followed the guards from his cell, he turned his head and met Will�s eyes , hoping that the young king would understand what he was trying to tell him.

He blinked in surprise when Will�s voice was suddenly in his head. She�ll be safe. I promise you that she will make it out of this alive.

He had forgotten about that - about Will�s ability to communicate telepathically. Alex barely nodded, because he didn�t want Isabel to notice. Don�t tell them anything. No matter what they say they�re doing to me, don�t tell them. And don�t let her. They can�t have the granolith. We both know that. Make sure that Max knows it too.

You have my word.

Alex closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then followed the guards. He couldn�t bear to look at Isabel again.

Several minutes later, he grimaced painfully as he was thrust against the stone wall of another, smaller chamber. Nasedo was already there, pacing. Alex searched his mind frantically for some small detail he could tell him that wouldn�t totally compromise his friends - something he could say that would interest the shape-shifter enough to keep him alive for a while longer.

His mind was completely blank. He took this as a good sign. Wasn�t his life supposed to pass before his eyes if he was about to die?

He struggled to stand, rubbing his arm where it has smashed against the wall. He clenched his jaw, looking at Nasedo defiantly.

Alex blinked. The shape-shifter wasn�t paying any attention to him.

"Go get her," Nasedo barked to one of the guards. The man left. The other guard took up position by the door. Alex stared at him. For the first time he took the luxury of wondering who these people following Nasedo were anyway. They didn�t seem to be Skins, as they weren�t flaking skin off all over the place. Not to mention, if Will was to believed, they wouldn�t be anyway. Will still trusted his general, in spite of the fact that he was missing. Alex was inclined to agree with him. Nicholas�s MIA status didn�t mean that he wasn�t in league with Nasedo somehow, but it did seem more likely that he was dead.

So, who were these guys? There had only been four shape-shifters on the ship as far as Alex knew. Two had lived - Nasedo and another who had yet to make his presence known. The other two were dead if Agent Pierce had been telling the truth. Not that he had been, necessarily.

He realized that it was ridiculous to even try and guess at this point. Every time he did, he ended up guessing wrong. He might as well just wait and see what was going to happen.

It took a few more minutes - minutes through which Nasedo ignored him completely, still pacing continuously, upset in a way Alex had never seen from the shape-shifter before. Nasedo never seemed to get emotional. And, when he did, it was usually wry amusement at the stupidity of them all. He had been that way even when they�d thought he was on their side.

But, that certainly wasn�t the case now. He was furious. Alex wondered why. In spite of his fear, he could tell that it had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

It was the mysterious "her." The one Nasedo had sent the guard to get. Who was she? Was it Tess? That seemed likely. But, what had Tess done that had made him so mad?

And, it was then, in that instant, that he realized that Tess was not working for Nasedo. Thinking about her, wondering why her guardian was so furious�suddenly, his anger was gone and he felt a little sorry for her.

It was all it took. An instant of clarity, letting his bitterness at the small blonde go for that one moment, and suddenly he saw the truth.

Tess knew where the granolith was. But Nasedo didn�t. Which could only mean one thing. Tess�s loyalties were no longer clear. But they weren�t entirely with Nasedo.

He frowned. Kate had gone to the others to tell them what had happened. What if they came across Tess first? What if they dealt with her and asked questions later? He wouldn�t put it past Michael, in spite of the recent restraint Maria�s boyfriend had shown.

While his newest revelation in no way totally cleared Tess, it did mean that she didn�t deserve to die. At least, not yet. He actually felt worried for her. It was for that reason that he carefully cleared is throat and asked tentatively. "So, where�s Tess? Shouldn�t she be here by now?"

Nasedo stopped pacing, and turned his blue Pierce eyes on Alex, sending another shiver down his spine. "What about Tess?"

"Isn�t that who�s coming?" He wanted to hear that it was, that Tess hadn�t gone back to the others to continue whatever role she was playing with them.

That they hadn�t killed her. That they hadn�t hurt someone who might be innocent.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you said �she,�" Alex said. "I can�t think of who else it might be."

Nasedo�s eyes narrowed, but he seemed less angry, more interested than he had before. "You do think a lot, don�t you, Mr. Whitman?"

"Well, I�m not known for being the muscles of any operation," Alex admitted, more unsure now than he had been before. "So, I�ve tried to make up for it in other areas."

"Tess is gone. It is not her I need you to convince."

Alex frowned. Had Nasedo captured someone else? Who on Earth could Nasedo possibly think he had any influence over? Even if it had been Tess, he was the last person she would listen to. And what was he supposed to convince this person of anyway?

"Who am I supposed to be convincing then?" he asked. "And of what?"

Nasedo didn�t reply. He simply turned his head to the opening door.

The guard had returned. He walked in first, followed by his prisoner, who was being pushed along by another man.

Alex felt his eyes widen. It was indeed a woman he knew, if only a little. She looked terrible. But, she would, considering who she was and what had happened at the Harvest. She was dying.

Of course, she was already supposed to be dead.

He looked at Nasedo. "Don�t any of you ever stay dead?"

Nasedo smirked. "I�m sure you�ll stay dead when I finish with you, Mr. Whitman."

Alex sighed. He was no longer particularly afraid. It was obvious at this point that his life was not in immediate danger. It was also obvious that his belief that Nasedo was going to use him to make Will, Isabel and Jack talk had been wrong.

Because, this was the person Nasedo wanted to talk. But how he expected Alex to make her do so was beyond him. He barely knew her. Actually, he had only ever met her one time - at Isabel�s birthday party.

On the same night she was supposed to have been killed.

It was Congresswoman Vanessa Whittaker.

Part 38

"She can�t do that," Grant said impatiently. "I told you. The cells he has them in are wired to resist your gifts. She won�t get in, and even if she did, she wouldn�t get out again."

Kate felt her heart fall in disappointment. It had seemed like a good plan when Michael suggested it - that she simply teleport to Nasedo�s compound and bring the others back. No confrontation would have been necessary then, or at least not until after they were all safe and able to plan more effectively. The fact that she might have killed herself trying to teleport that many people at one time was incidental to her. She knew she could do it. The mere possibility that everyone else would stay safe was enough to make her determination complete.

But, according to Grant, there was no possible way.

"So, we have to go in then," Max said, sounding tired. Kate didn�t blame him. She was exhausted too. She had been awake for almost twenty-four hours now. While most of her life was spent in a perpetual state of worry, this had also increased exponentially since she, Will and Jack had come to Roswell. It was no wonder she knew that if she even sat down at this point, she wouldn�t be getting up for a very long time.

There was no way she was sitting down.

She just wished they would get going. They had learned a lot from Grant, making the past hours their friends had spent in captivity a little more easy to bear. But the guilt that they had made absolutely no attempt to free them up until now was beginning to get to her. It was time to move. For once, she found herself in complete agreement with Michael, whose impatience was more than obvious. He was standing next to her, shifting from one foot to the other, clenching and unclenching his hands, as though he was about to lose his mind.

It made Max�s complete calm even more obvious. The young king stood next to Liz, a pensive expression on his face as he thought about the best way to do what they had to do. She found it reassuring, but also a little frustrating. Did he always have to think everything through so completely?

It was only when he finally spoke again that Kate understood that Max wasn�t really thinking about a plan at all. He apparently already had one. The careful way he voiced it indicated that he had only been thinking about the best way to let them all in on it without anyone freaking out. Because, when Kate heard it, she closed her eyes and grimaced, knowing that various freak-outs were indeed impending. She knew immediately that any attempt on Max�s part to avoid everyone ending up mad at him was in vain.

"Liz, Maria, Kyle and Michael are staying here."

He pissed Michael off first, which was really no surprise, although his bellow still made Kate jump.

"Are you crazy, Maxwell?" No one else seemed particularly shocked by it though. Maria had already grabbed him by the arm to hold him in his place. Kyle was just rolling his eyes and Grant was staring at him with something approximating disdain. "I am not staying here!"

"I�m not crazy, Michael," Max replied quietly. "You have a job to do and you�re going to do it." He looked down at Liz, who was frowning slightly, but for being the only other person who was likely to majorly object to Max�s plan, she seemed remarkably composed. "It�s Liz and the granolith that he really wants. We all know it. You are going to protect them both and that�s all there is to it. And the best place to do that is here. Obviously."

"Tess can stay!" Michael snapped, although he seemed to be calming down slightly. He seemed to have realized that he was more likely of success by reasoning with Max, rather than yelling. "He wants Tess too. She should stay!"

"I don�t think Nasedo wants Tess at all," Max told him firmly. "He must know who she really is. He�s had her in his power for years. No, it�s Liz he thinks he needs to make the granolith work. Tess can look after herself." Max looked at Tess, who nodded. "Not to mention we need her mindwarp to get them out. Tess goes."

"But Serena was the one who invented it," Kate reminded him, still unsure what exactly he was thinking. She was looking at Liz while she said it, wondering what the dark-haired girl was thinking about the fact that Max was implying that while Tess could protect herself, Liz could not. She was holding herself a little more rigidly than before, but she still didn�t say a word.

"I don�t think Nasedo knows that," Max shrugged. "If he did, he never would have given Tess so much freedom."

"But he still thinks I�m working with him," Tess said. "He doesn�t need to keep me close." She looked at Liz, obviously slightly embarrassed. "I�ve never made a secret of the fact that I would do anything to become who he told me I was supposed to be."

"Ava," Max agreed. "Which only makes your presence even more valuable in this operation. He doesn�t have any idea that you know who you really are now. I�m hoping that we can use that too." He quickly outlined the rest of the plan. By the end of it, everyone seemed resigned.

Michael tried once more though. "Max, you need me," he insisted. "I�m the only one with any firepower."

Kate felt a chill run down her spine as Max stared right at his best friend and said, "I do need you, Michael. I�m trusting you to do this. You are the only one I trust to do it. If we get caught�" He trailed off, then paused for a moment, as though trying to rid his mind of that possibility. "If we get caught, you are going to have to get Liz out of here. Until he gets his hands on you two, he has no real control of this situation. You need to leave if we something happens to us. Now that he knows who Liz is, the possibility that he can get what he wants is very real." He glanced at Maria and Kyle. "If we don�t come back, you are going to take everyone and leave. You are the only one who can truly protect them. I can�t even protect them like you can. You have to do this."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone digested this. Michael actually looked more upset than he had before. Max�s words seemed to have finally reinforced the danger of the position in which they found themselves.

After letting his words sink in, Max addressed Kyle. "Can you call your dad? I know that Michael can handle things here, but having the sheriff around wouldn�t hurt matters." Kate noticed Michael�s spine straighten slightly, as though he had momentarily bent under the strain of Max�s trust in him. Max�s obvious complete faith seemed to help him to bear it, however. "Plus, he�ll be safer."

"I won�t tell him that part," Kyle replied. "If he thinks you�re trying to protect him, he�s going to be ticked."

Max sighed. "I really don�t want him involved in this at all," he admitted. "He�s done too much for us."

"He sees it as his job," Kyle reassured him. "Not to mention, he�s still a little fixated on the fact that you saved my life. You�re not going to get rid of him, so you might as well just accept it."

"Which is why I want you to call him. I�m trying to do that," Max replied. "It�s wrong for us to turn our backs on help. This about a lot more than just us now. We know that if we don�t get control of this situation, we�re dooming this entire planet to destruction."

And, really, after that, there was nothing else to say.

"We leave as soon as the sheriff tells Kyle if he can come or not," Max finally said after they all stood in silence for several moments, each trying to imagine exactly what the Future Max who had visited Liz had lived through. Kate hadn�t really thought about it until now. It upset her more than she had ever imagined it would. After all, she had been raised to view Earth as simply a pit-stop to her real life. She had never been meant to love it. In fact, she hadn�t even known that she did until she knew that it was threatened.

She tried not to wonder if it was really the planet she cared about. If she hadn�t met Alex, would she have even worried at all? Before him, her entire life had been spent waiting to leave this rock, to return to the life she was told was really her destiny.

Everything had changed for her over the past two days. Knowing Alex Whitman had irrevocably altered the way she looked at everything. If her destiny really was to return to Sardica, then why did she feel this way about him? Why did she care? Shouldn�t she have been able to deal with him without this constant concern, without this slightly befuddling, but definitely blooming emotion? Shouldn�t she have been able to use him to help her to get home and then forget about him? She knew that it would never be possible though.

Forgetting him. Unthinkable. Using him�Unbearable.

Meeting him�Didn�t that have to be destiny too?

All she knew for sure was that she couldn�t figure out any of this until she saw him again. Any which way she looked at it, Alex was fated to set her on the path the rest of her life would follow.

She waited impatiently while Kyle called his father.

***

Max took Liz�s hand, gently pulling her to a far corner of the pod chamber, away from the others. She had been entirely too quiet during the recounting of his plan. It was making him more nervous than any show of resistance would have. He had expected her to react much like Michael. He had expected her to accuse him of weakening the rescue mission by leaving Michael behind just to protect her. But she hadn�t said anything. Which could only mean that she was waiting to get him alone to really let him have it.

The fact that she allowed him to lead her away so that the could have some privacy only reinforced that he was about to have the most important argument of his life.

She could not come. That was all there was to it. Even if she never spoke to him again, he was not going to back down on this.

He looked down at her, took a deep breath and said, "Liz, I know you�re mad."

She looked up at him, her dark eyes unreadable. "I�m not mad, Max."

"Just let me explain," he continued, what she had said not really registering. "You have to try to understand. You don�t have any gifts - or at least any gifts that you can use right now. I can�t worry about you while we�re out there. I need to know your safe, and I just know that you�re the only one Nasedo really wants. We have to keep him away from you�" He paused, her words finally penetrating his mind through his own barrage of arguments. He stared at her. "What did you say?"

She was smiling slightly, her head tilted, waiting patiently for him to realize she had spoken. "I said I�m not mad," she repeated. "I think you�re right. I�m a liability."

"I never said you were a �liability,�" Max said quickly. "That�s not what I meant."

"But it�s the truth, Max," Liz replied quietly. "Right now, I am. Until we figure out everything, I fully agree with you that I need to stay away from Nasedo." She sighed, lifting her hands and pushed her dark hair behind her ears. "I don�t like that Michael isn�t going with you, but I understand that too."

He didn�t quite know what to say. He had been expecting a lengthy argument with her, and had even expected to leave the pod chamber with the knowledge that she was angry still, but this was so the complete opposite, he found himself momentarily dumb-struck.

"I hope you don�t think that I�m just going to sit here and wait for you to get back though," Liz added. "If Tess can�t make the granolith work, then someone else is going to have to. I�m going to try and figure it out while you�re gone."

He felt a flash of concern. "Liz, I don�t know if that�s such a good idea." Max frowned. "We don�t know exactly what that thing can do. I think you should wait until we�re back."

Liz lifted her chin. "Max, I hope you understand that I�m agreeing not to go because I really do think it�s the best plan. I�m not doing it because it�s what you want. We�ve already had this discussion today. We love each other, but it doesn�t give us the right to control each other. I learned that lesson the hard way," she added quietly. Max knew she was thinking about keeping all the Future Max stuff from him. "Being honest with each other and trusting each other to be strong enough to handle this stuff is the only way we�re going to get through this."

"I�m not trying to control you, Liz," Max argued. "I can�t help it if I worry."

She softened. "I know that. But don�t you think I�m going to be worried about you too, while you�re gone? And I�m not asking you not to go. You can�t ask me not to do what I can while I�m waiting."

He sighed. "Of course I think you�re going to be worried. But�"

Liz cut him off. "Max, there is no �but.� You�re doing it again!"

"Doing what?" He grimaced, wondering how he had annoyed her so thoroughly.

"Stop thinking that you�re not as important as everyone else! We love you. I love you. If we lose you, if you get hurt, it�s just as big a deal as if anyone else does." Her eyes were bright with tears. Max felt his heart contract painfully. He hated to see her cry. It very nearly killed him to see it, particularly because, as she was so strong, she only ever seemed to do it when he was frustrating her in some way.

"Liz, please," he begged. "I�m sorry. Don�t cry."

"Don�t be sorry," she snapped. "All I want is for you to be careful. I know that you�re planning to do most of this yourself, and I want you to promise me that you will let the others help you. In fact, they�re the ones who are stronger and better gifted for this situation. You have to let them help you."

"I know it," Max replied grimly. "That doesn�t mean I have to like it."

"No one�s expecting you to," Liz answered. "But I know you, and that�s why I�m making you promise me. I know you won�t break a promise to me, so you�re going to do it."

He sighed again, reached out and pulled her tightly against him. Lowering his head, he buried his face in her silky hair. "I promise to come back to you," he whispered against her ear. "And the best way to do that is to let the others help."

A spasm ran through her small body, making him tighten his arm around her. "I just want this to be over," she finally admitted softly, her voice breaking slightly.

"Me, too," Max replied. They stood there for several long moments. Max kept his eyes closed, memorizing the feel of her against him, knowing that it would be the remembrance of this that would guarantee him success over the next hours. There was no way on God�s green Earth he wasn�t coming back to this.

There was no way, now that he knew that they were going to be together forever, that he wasn�t coming back.

An hour later, Max wasn�t so sure. Now that he was about to throw himself right into Nasedo�s hands, he wasn�t nearly as confident.

He was huddled against a boulder near the entrance to the canyon where Nasedo�s hide-out was located. It was indeed close to the reservation, as Tess had told them earlier. He looked back at the others. Grant was directly behind him, Tess next, followed by Kate. Grant was expressionless, but he could tell that the girls were as nervous as he was. Tess�s skin was no longer its usual rosy pink, but an unhealthy looking white, while Kate�s large eyes were wider than he had ever seen them. "Are we ready?" he asked softly, knowing that the longer they waited, the worse off they�d be. They�d start second guessing themselves. In fact, he had already started. He knew that they could do this. They had to get moving before he truly psyched himself out.

Tess nodded and Kate whispered, "Ready."

Max straightened, motioning for Grant to take a hold of his arm. He looked the shapeshifter in the eye, wondering for one brief moment if he was right to trust this guy. He was, after all, the progeny of a race born to deceive. Gritting his teeth, he looked briefly at Kate. Tess was helping her to the ground where she was going to pretend to be unconscious.

Grant reached into his pocket and pulled out a small radio. "This is Sorenson," he said into it. "Request back-up at main entrance."

There was a long pause. The radio finally sprang to life, after several seconds of static. "Where have you been?" the voice on the other end demanded. Max felt a chill descend his spine as he recognized Nasedo�s voice.

"Checking out the perimeter," Grant replied into the com. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn�t trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."

"Well?" Nasedo demanded, sounding impatient.

"As always, I was right," Grant said evenly. "I have the king himself. And the little escapee."

"You took them out yourself?"

"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She�s here now. They know you�re alive."

There was another long pause. Max narrowed his eyes, waiting for Nasedo to say that he wasn�t buying it. This was the real concern - that Nasedo might have stopped trusting Tess. After all, she had left him that message at the Special Unit. If he had gotten it�They were banking on the hope that he had been too busy.

"Very well." Max closed his eyes with relief. "I�m sending out two men to help you bring them in. I�ll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I�m occupied with Rowena at the moment."

Max felt his heart stop.

Grant seemed to notice the expression on his face, because he shook him briefly, after switching off the radio. "It�s not her. You know it�s not. She�s safe. He�s just playing games. I�ve told you, he still doesn�t entirely trust me. He knows you�re here and he�s trying to freak you out."

Max swallowed, then nodded. He knew Liz was safe. He would have felt it if something had happened and, yet, still he had let down his guard for an instant. He had to stop it. It was what Nasedo was best at after all, these mind games. He could not let the shapeshifter entrap him.

"This is it," Grant said. He looked at Tess. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, biting her bottom lip. She closed her eyes, waiting for Kate�s signal to start the mindwarp.

Part 39

Alex�s mouth was hanging open in shock. He couldn�t tear his eyes off of Whittaker. It suddenly made sense why Nasedo was presently shaped like Pierce. That was the form in which the congresswoman would have trusted him, the form in which she had loved him. He felt a shudder of disgust towards Nasedo. While he knew that Vanessa Whittaker was just as evil as Nasedo, no one deserved to be so completely lied to in that way.

Anyway, how did they even know that Whittaker was evil anymore? Obviously she hadn�t really murdered Nasedo. She had kidnapped and hurt Tess, but that wasn�t even certain at this point either, Alex realized. After all, the fact that Whittaker was alive meant that Isabel must have been tricked into thinking she had killed her somehow. And there was only one person capable of creating such a realistic deception.

Tess.

Alex sighed. Great, he thought.Back to knowing that Tess is a bad guy. Although why I ever changed my mind about that is a mystery. He flinched slightly at the memory of the malevolence in Tess�s blue eyes when she had tossed that alien bomb in his direction.

Nasedo was still ignoring Alex, his attention focused on Whittaker, who was thrust unceremoniously onto a chair in the center of the room. She was looking at him though, a slight frown on her fine-featured face. In spite of the bruises marring her perfect complexion, a particularly brutal one encircling one blue eye, her beauty was still unmistakable.

Alex met her eyes, trying not to show his fear. Her expression softened for one brief moment, but when she turned to Nasedo, her voice did not reflect it. "Why have you brought me here again? I told you before that you might as well just kill me. I�m not going to tell you anything."

"Then know you are responsible for this boy�s death," Nasedo replied calmly. Alex felt his heart stop beating. He scrambled back against the hard, stone wall, trying desperately not to whimper as Nasedo nodded at the guard standing near the door.

This was really it. He almost couldn�t believe that he had made it this far only to be shot down because Whittaker, to whom he had absolutely no connection, was being difficult. Alex watched the guard move menacingly in his direction, the gun he wore at his side now in his hand. He had time to reflect that it was ironic that it was a human weapon that was going to end his life. He knew that his time was really up as the gun was raised, pointed at him, and the most important events of his life started to roll through his mind at super-speed.

Isabel is never going to forgive me. It was a ludicrous thought. He had known he was lying to her when he had been brought out of his cage and, yet, he supposed that somewhere inside him he had believed that Nasedo wouldn�t really have him killed. He abruptly remembered Nasedo�s words earlier that evening. Words he, Alex, obviously hadn�t - and should have - taken to heart: We will not be leaving any remnants of our little Earthly adventure behind, and that includes any humans you�ve come into contact with.

He had been doomed from the very beginning. As long as Nasedo thought he could use him, he had survived. But he had never been meant to get out of this alive.

After that, his mind went mercifully blank. Fear was completely gone. What was the point of being afraid when there was no way to change anything?

"No! Wait!"

Alex blinked, but his eyes did not move from the muzzle of the gun still aimed at his head. It was only when the gun was lowered that he realized that it was Whittaker�s voice. He looked at Nasedo, who had obviously motioned for the guard to pause.

"Why is he here?" Whittaker demanded. "He has nothing to do with any of this. Let him go."

"I will let him go, if you tell me what I want to know," Nasedo said evenly. "Where is the granolith?"

"I told you!" she exclaimed. "I don�t know that!" She sounded desperate. "I thought you finally believed me!"

Nasedo�s tone was grim when he said, "I did. When you wouldn�t even save that little brat, I was sure you couldn�t possibly be lying. Who knew that you were so heartless, Rowena? It almost worked though. You let one of your own die in order to protect the secret, but I now know for sure that you do know."

Rowena. Nasedo had just called Congresswoman Whittaker Rowena. Alex felt his mouth fall open again.

"I told you to stop calling me that," Whittaker said wearily. "I�m not Rowena." Alex nodded, certain that she was right. After all, she couldn�t be Rowena. Liz was Rowena.

And, yet, Nasedo sounded utterly confident when he replied, "It�s time to stop your games. I know who you are. There is no one else you could possibly be. Rowena is the only one Khivar would have ever entrusted with the mission to come here and retrieve the pods."

She snorted lightly. "You couldn�t be more wrong. He doesn�t trust me at all."

"He sent you here with his right hand man to track down his own clone," Nasedo argued. "You are his wife. The rumours that you survived your captivity with Zan have been proven true."

Whittaker pressed her lips together, refusing to answer. Finally, she glanced at Alex again, frowning slightly. "Tell me what you think you know," she said to Nasedo.

"This boy," he indicated Alex, "told me a very interesting story earlier tonight." The shapeshifter proceeded to outline the entire tale of Future Max and his use of the granolith to go back in time. "Since I know that you are the only one who could possibly have engineered the granolith to do such a thing," Nasedo concluded, "I now have even more proof that you know where it is."

"Are you insane?" Whittaker snapped. "You just told me yourself that this happens fourteen years from now. It doesn�t prove anything. Maybe I�ll find it later. It doesn�t mean I know where it is now."

Nasedo glared at her. "Why else would you have chosen to make contact with the Royal Four now?" he snapped. "You know where it is and you�re planning to use it to take them all back to Antar."

"Why would I do that when I still haven�t found my own clone?" Whittaker demanded. "There�s no point in going back without her." Alex stared at her, realizing that she had just basically admitted that she was indeed Rowena. Because her clone would be Liz, the only member of the eight podded royals sent to Earth who was still technically lost.

"Please spare me your lies," Nasedo ordered. "I know who Liz Parker is. It was confirmed for me tonight by the ravings of Khivar�s idiotic clone, but I was beginning to suspect anyway. There was no other reason for you to seek her out the way you did. I�m only embarrassed I didn�t realize it months ago. Zan�s obsession with her should have told me all I needed to know."

"Liz Parker is not my clone," Whittaker told him, her tone so firm, Alex almost believed her, even though he knew the truth. "Even if she was, that doesn�t mean I know where the granolith is."

Alex watched Nasedo�s face in fascination. The shapeshifter�s Pierce visage was starting to turn an interesting shade of purple, his rage beginning to get the better of him. Alex was still absolutely petrified and Nasedo�s worsening mood did not improve matters. He was completely in the wrong place right now. He was still expendable, while Whittaker obviously was not. He had a feeling that if someone was going to pay for her inability to tell Nasedo anything, it was going to be him.

Luckily, a sharp voice, seemingly coming out of nowhere suddenly pierced the tense silence that had fallen over the room. Whittaker and Nasedo were still glaring at each other, at a stalemate.

"This is Sorenson. Request back-up at main entrance."

Nasedo started, then glared down towards his hip. "I suggest you reflect on your next move, your highness," he said, pulling a radio out of his suit jacket pocket. "If you haven�t decided to talk when I�m finished here, the human dies."

"Where have you been?" he said into the radio.

"Checking out the perimeter," Grant�s creepy voice came back through the small radio. So that�s where he disappeared to, Alex reflected. "I just had a feeling we should be expecting some guests. I didn�t trust your idiots to get their hands on them. You had to take the other four out yourself after all."

"Well?" Nasedo demanded, his impatience obvious. Alex had stopped listening though. He looked at Whittaker, who was moving slightly, obviously in an attempt to get his attention. He frowned at her. She was staring at him with wide eyes, trying to tell him something. He had no idea what.

"I have the king himself. And the little escapee." Alex�s focus jerked back to Nasedo and his radio. Max had been captured. And Kate.

He felt his heart drop. Why had she come back? Max�s presence did not surprise him at all. He had known that his friend would come for Isabel. But Kate had not needed to come back. She had been safe. Was she crazy?

Alex forced himself to take deep breaths. Okay, think here, Whitman, he ordered. Max and Kate obviously didn�t come alone. Michael must be around. We still have a chance here.

"You took them out yourself?" Nasedo demanded, his anger fading slightly, much to Alex�s relief. Not that he was thrilled by why Nasedo was pleased.

"Princess Karana exposed Tess, but she managed to escape unscathed. She came back just in time to help out. She�s here now. They know you�re alive."

Tess. Back. And a traitor again. Alex closed his eyes, sighing.

"Very well," Nasedo replied, taking several seconds longer than necessary to do so, Alex reflected. "I�m sending out two men to help you bring them in. I�ll meet you in the main chamber momentarily. I�m occupied with Rowena at the moment."

Nasedo turned the radio off, then looked at the guard. "Send out Talon and Terear. I want a read on Sorenson. See if he has shifted recently. Don�t let him know about it though." He paused, then said thoughtfully, "Check out Tess too. If she�s warping, I want her taken down immediately."

The guard looked at Alex for a moment, then at Whittaker. "Sir, should you be in here alone?"

"Are you questioning my orders?" Nasedo demanded.

"No," the guard said quickly. "Whatever you say, sir." He was gone a moment later.

Nasedo watched him leave, then looked at Whittaker. "Well, well, well. Two more down, two to go. I�m guessing the other little royals are around here somewhere. It�s only a matter of time."

"One of them you�ll never find," Whittaker told him firmly. "I swear to you that Liz Parker is not my clone. She isn�t."

Nasedo merely smiled. "We�ll know soon enough, won�t we? If I am proven wrong, she can quite simply be killed. No harm, no foul."

"And, yet, you�ll have to keep seven strong teenagers under lock and key for as long as it takes to find the real Rowena," Whittaker reminded him. "You�re crazy to do this now. You still don�t have anything."

"That�s where you�re wrong, Rowena," Nasedo snapped. "With Zan, I have everything I need. Even if you won�t tell me where the granolith is to save him, Vilandra will. Or he�ll tell me to save her. The pawns are in place."

"You still won�t be able to make it work." Alex blinked. Had he just spoken? Where did that come from?

Nasedo turned his head, narrowed his gaze on him. "Do you have something you�d like to add, Mr. Whitman?"

"Maybe." Alex shrugged, sounding more confident than he felt. He looked at Whittaker again. "I don�t know if she�s Rowena or not, but I know that she�s right that Liz isn�t. I�ve seen the baby pictures, Mr. Harding. She was born to Nancy and Jeff Parker seventeen years ago."

"Does it matter?" Nasedo demanded. "It really doesn�t. Because I have Rowena, whether she is Miss Parker or not." He looked at Whittaker, his expression triumphant. "I only need Rath and I have a full complement of the royals."

Alex felt a chill descend his spine. He still had no idea what the granolith even did, but he did know that he didn�t want Nasedo to be able to make it work. Because he knew that the shapeshifter was right. To save each other, Isabel and Max would crack.

He looked at Whittaker, who was watching him wordlessly, a slight frown on her face. In the end, he only had one thing to tell Nasedo that might make him think twice about even looking for Liz and Michael. "I don�t think Rowena�s going to be able to help you. Liz told me that Future Max told her that it was someone named Serena who made the granolith work. We don�t even know who she is. You�re out of luck."

"That�s where you are mistaken, Mr. Whitman," Nasedo told him calmly. "I know exactly where Serena is."

"You do?" Alex croaked.

"I do," Nasedo replied. "Rath is on his way, I am sure. It is all coming together now. And, so, I regret that it is now time to tie up the loose ends." He smiled at Alex, almost kindly. And, yet, Alex�s blood ran cold.

He knew that, this time, there would be no reprieve. He was the loose end Nasedo was planning to tie up, and, as the shapeshifter raised his hand, Alex knew that there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

***

Kate grimaced. Her stomach was killing her. She was draped over Grant�s shoulder as he carried her supposedly unconscious form down a long, dark tunnel. She had been told by Tess to wait thirty seconds after the guard�s arrival to teleport herself and Grant to the cells, but she didn�t know if she was going to be able to resist yelping in pain before that. He had the boniest shoulder in the world.

It was only the force of her will that allowed her mind to continue counting evenly. Twenty-eight. Twenty-nine. Thirty.

As the magic second ticked by, Kate reached behind her, grabbed the hand Grant had resting on her back, closed her eyes, and jumped.

When she opened her eyes, she was still staring at the floor. It took her longer than usual to orient herself, being as she was upside down. "Put me down," she ordered Grant. "I think I�m going to be sick." He quickly complied.

"Katie!" It was Will�s voice. She took a deep breath, trying to control her nausea. She opened her eyes, and found herself staring at her brother. He was up at the bars of his cage, clutching them, his amazement obvious. He looked at Grant suspiciously. "What are you doing with him?"

"He�s okay," she told her brother quickly. "He�s the other protector, but he actually protects." She looked at the two other occupied cages. Isabel was in one, Jack in the other. She felt her heart leap with joy at the sight of her cousin, who was awake, but not for long. Where was Alex?

"Are you alone?" Will demanded. "You can�t possibly expect to teleport us all out of here?"

Isabel gasped. Kate looked at her, realizing that she was staring past them. "Oh my God! Max!"

"It�s okay," Kate whispered, trying to calm Isabel, as it did likely appear that Max was in a precarious position. "He�s with me." She felt another flash of concern. The plan was proceeding smoothly, but one thing they had not counted on was that the captives were being held separately. "Where�s Alex?"

"Why are you just standing there?" Will snapped, not answering her question. "They�re going to see you."

"They won�t," Kate replied. "Tess is mindwarping them to think that Grant and I are still over there with them. We have to get you out of there so that you can take them down, Will." The entire plan hinged on Will out of the cage presently muting his powers. He was the only one with the firepower to deal with the guards permanently. "Then Max and Tess will get you all out of here."

Grant was already playing with the electronic lock on Will�s cage.

"I thought Tess was a traitor," Isabel spoke up. "That�s what Alex said."

"She isn�t," Kate said. "We�ll explain everything once we have you out of here." She looked over her shoulder, her fear beginning to get the better of her. "Where is Alex?" she repeated, knowing that her voice was starting to rise hysterically.

There was only one explanation for why he wasn�t here. She couldn�t believe that she was actually asking the question that was going to confirm it. She knew that she would be no good to anyone the instant anyone told her that he had been killed.

"Nasedo took him for questioning," Isabel explained. "He promised me he�d be fine. He�s okay," she added, as though trying to convince herself.

Kate stared at her. "Where?" she demanded.

Isabel didn�t get a chance to answer though. "He�s changed the combination," Grant muttered, interrupting. He looked over his shoulder. The guards, lugging Max�s supposedly unconscious form between them, were almost upon them. Tess was walking straight towards them, her blue eyes wide open. She was completely unfocused on them, however, her entire attention on her warp and making it seem like she wasn�t warping at all.

"It�s okay." Kate looked at Will, who had a strange look on his face. She watched in astonishment as her brother reached through the bars and tapped in a code himself.

"Will!" she exclaimed, her horror so complete, she could think of nothing else to say.

"Never mind," Will told her firmly. "I�ll explain later." She could see that he looked slightly ashamed of himself. She didn�t blame him. He had known how to get himself out of that cage all along! What had he been thinking, making them come for him, when he could have taken at least Isabel and Jack away by himself?

Grant stepped aside as Will pushed open his cage door. "Open the other ones," he ordered the shapeshifter. Grant was staring at him, obviously not nearly as shocked as Kate, his contempt obvious.

Will looked at Kate. "Alex is in a room nearby. Go get him, Kate. Now." He stepped past her, sending two controlled bolts of energy towards the guards carrying Max. They fell soundlessly to the floor, taking Max with them. He was up a moment later though, and at Isabel�s cage, reaching through to grab his sister�s hands, his relief, that she appeared to be mostly well, obvious.

Kate pressed her lips together, her shock at her brother�s behavior quickly turning to anger. She didn�t say anything though, simply closed her eyes, thought of Alex, and moments later found herself in his presence.

The scene that greeted her was no more reassuring than the one she�d left. Alex was on the floor, huddled against the wall, the fear on his face so obvious, Kate felt her heart go out to him instantly. And, yet, her joy at seeing him relatively unharmed was so great, she felt it right down to her toes.

He didn�t seem nearly as overjoyed to see her though. She watched his eyes widen in horror as they registered on her. "Kate!" he exclaimed. "Move!"

It was the last thing she heard before the entire world went black.

Part 40

Liz tilted her head, staring at the blinking light at the base of the granolith, her brow furrowed.

"Are you checking to see if you have alien death-ray eyes?" Maria asked. Her friend had just crawled through into the granolith. Liz looked over at her, laughing slightly. Not that she was in a particularly amused mood. But she knew that Maria was just trying to make her feel better. Her entire stomach was in knots after all.

She knew that Max was okay. She would absolutely feel it if he wasn�t, and, yet, she was still worried. Her concern was making it very difficult to think about the problem at hand, which was, of course, the granolith.

"No," Liz replied. "I�m just trying to make it let me remember. I mean, I have to know something about this thing, don�t I? If Tess is a clone of a clone of who I was, then shouldn�t I have the knowledge locked up somewhere inside my head too?"

Maria was staring at her. "You know what scares me, Liz? I actually understood what you just said."

Liz snorted. "I don�t blame you. This whole thing just gets more ridiculous by the day. I mean, really, Maria. Can you believe that it was just over a year ago that neither of us even knew that aliens existed?"

"It is weird," Maria agreed. "But I wouldn�t change it. Would you?"

"Of course not," Liz replied. "I just wish that it wasn�t always so difficult." She glanced at her best friend guiltily. "You know how Tess said she didn�t believe that Rowena and Zan abandoned their thrones for each other?"

"Yeah?" Maria prompted, her expression sympathetic.

"I�m glad she has so much faith in them, but, Maria, I can�t say that I do. I mean, I understand why they might have done it. It�s something that would be very easy to do, you know? If I had the chance to just run away with Max, to give this all up, to be with him and to just be normal, I think I might take it."

Maria reached out, bringing her arm around Liz�s shoulders. "Liz, that�s so not true, and you know it. You had the chance to do that once and you didn�t take it. Didn�t Max ask you to run away with him that time?"

Liz shrugged. "Well, I don�t know if he really meant it. He was drunk. I guess he did. But, now, I�m looking back on that, wondering if I didn�t make a mistake. If Nasedo couldn�t find Max and me, wouldn�t that just be better?" She sighed again, not waiting for Maria to reply. "Of course, I know it wouldn�t. He�d just tear this planet apart looking for us."

"Which is why you wouldn�t run away," Maria assured her. "Liz, you have every right to wish for that freedom. You even had it at one point. You didn�t have to come back to Roswell this summer. But you did. Because you knew that it was your responsibility to do so. Somewhere inside you, you knew that you and Max are meant to be together and that somehow you�d make it work. I have complete faith in you, chica. I believe Tess. I know that Zan and Rowena were exactly like you and Max - totally in love and totally dedicated to their planets. And even if they weren�t, you and Max aren�t them anymore."

Liz laid her head on Maria�s shoulder, glaring at the granolith. "I know," she said, but, inside, she didn�t. She didn�t know it. She wouldn�t know it for sure until she had her memories back. Until she made the damn granolith work.

After a long moment of companionable silence, Maria said, "I just came in to tell you that the sheriff is here. Michael�s filling him in."

"How is Michael?" Liz asked, concerned. While Max�s best friend had come around, understanding in the end why Max wanted him to stay behind, he had started to pace like a caged tiger the instant the others left.

"He�s okay," Maria replied. "He�s taking his job very seriously, Liz," she added wryly. "I have a feeling that you�ve gained a bodyguard for life. He and Kyle are starting to lay out plans for the king and queen�s security detail once all of this is over."

Liz, who had drifted away from Maria, and was starting to circle the granolith, her eyes narrowed as she examined it, started at this and looked back at her best friend. "What? Are you joking?" she asked, incredulous.

"He was talking like twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week," Maria added mischievously. "But you�ll get rid of him. All you have to do is make out in front of him once or twice. That really grosses him out, you know."

Liz laughed. "I�m sure that can be arranged." She paused, then frowned slightly. "Speaking of making out, did I tell you what happened when Max and I woke up in my bed after I took Serena�s scarf off?"

When Maria shook her head, no, Liz quickly filled her in. By the end of it, Maria�s eyes were wide. "You made him glow?"

"Not only that, Maria, for a while there, it felt like we werethem. I don�t even remember some of it. It was the weirdest thing I�ve ever experienced. It was wonderful, but it was also kind of creepy, like they were trying to break out from inside us or something."

"You mean Zan and Rowena."

"Right. Maria, what happens if we make the granolith work and our memories come back and we�re no longer us? I mean, it could happen, right? Like what happened when I wore that scarf." Liz hadn�t even realized that she�d been worrying about this until she voiced it to Maria now. She had been concerned though. She never wanted to feel as trapped as she did while Serena was in control of her body. And she wasn�t even Serena. What would happen when she and Max allowed their real alien sides to emerge?

"I don�t know what to tell you, Liz," Maria admitted. "But I have a gut instinct that it�s going to work out, that it will be more like Will and Kate and how they remember things."

Liz shuddered. "God, Will. He�s going to be devastated, Maria, when he finds out he was never married to Rowena."

"Well, Serena�s here, Liz. He has Tess."

"But does Tess want him?" Liz asked. "I don�t think so. There�s something going on between her and Kyle, at least on his side. And I think she might still have a bit of a thing for Max. I mean, just because she found out we�re�." She paused, then grimaced, reflecting on how she was going to refer to her strange relationship with Tess, then continued firmly, "sisters doesn�t mean she can just turn off feelings she�s had for years. Not to mention, I don�t think Will can just transfer all the feelings he has for me to her. I really think he loves me."

"It�s a tragedy, isn�t it?" Maria replied ironically. "Two gorgeous alien kings in love with you. Woe is you."

"Maria!"

"I�m just kidding," Maria assured her. "I feel bad for the guy too, Liz, but you belong with Max. I thought so even before we found out who you really are. I can�t be sorry that Will�s not going to get what he wants."

"I�m just hoping that he doesn�t do something he�s going to regret because of it," Liz told her. "He can be a little irrational."

"More reason I�m glad you�re with Max," Maria said. "Mr. Rational himself. Of course, that�s not necessarily true when it comes to you," she admitted. "But, you�re safe with Max. I really don�t think that would have ever been the case with Will."

"It�s not like I ever wanted Will," Liz reminded her firmly.

"I don�t know, Lizzie. I saw the way you looked at him the first time you saw him. There was something there."

"Fine," Liz admitted. "But nothing serious. I just think I must have recognized something in him. At least it never went too far." She decided to put Will out of her mind for the moment. There was no point in worrying about it right now. He needed to be rescued first. She had far more important things to think about - namely the safety of their friends.

Not to mention her determination to have figured out how to make the granolith work before they got back.

Lifting her hands, Liz rubbed her temples. She glared at the granolith. "I hate this thing," she muttered.

"Liz, if you can�t make it work, you can�t make it work," Maria admonished her. "There�s no reason to get so upset. We�ll figure it out."

"How, Maria? How are we going to figure it out?" Liz demanded, knowing that her frustration was evident in her voice.

"I don�t know," Maria admitted. She sighed, took a step back and leaned into the silver wall behind her.

Liz, who was watching her from the other side of the chamber, frowned slightly. "Maria?"

"Yeah?"

"Did that wall behind you just move?"

But Maria wasn�t there to answer. Because, suddenly, the wall was gone and so was Maria.

"Maria!" Liz�s scream was loud enough that it brought Michael�s head poking through the entrance to the chamber. Liz barely noticed though, already around the up-side down cone and through the hole where Maria had disappeared.

She heard Michael calling after her, but ignored him. She found herself standing at the head of a flight of stairs. They led into darkness. "Maria?"she called down, her voice softer than she meant it to be. She could feel her heart thundering in her chest.

She felt Michael behind her in the darkness. "Liz, what happened?" The sheriff and Kyle brought up the rear.

"She just fell through the wall," Liz replied. She took a careful step down. Instantly the stair under her feet lit up, as though encouraging her to proceed. She gasped, reaching back and grabbing Michael�s hand.

He was nowhere near as tentative. Grasping her firmly, he practically flew down the steps, pulling her after him, yelling into the darkness. "Maria!" Liz heard the sheriff calling after them. With every step they took, the steps brightened, lighting their way.

They were soon at the bottom, where they found Maria woozily climbing to her feet. Michael let go of Liz and was at her side instantly, helping her up. "Are you okay?" he demanded.

Liz�s best friend leaned into her boyfriend, reaching up to rub the small of her back. "I think so."

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Michael bellowed, making Liz jump.

"Gee, Michael," Maria snapped back, her annoyance getting the better of whatever pain she might have been feeling. "I really chose to fall through a wall and down a flight of stairs on purpose."

He didn�t reply, simply pulled her more tightly against him. Liz could see the whiteness of his face clearly. She turned to watch the sheriff and Kyle reach the bottom of the stairs. They were both wearing expressions of concern, which were quickly replaces by amazement as they looked around. The sheriff managed a gruff reprimand to Michael for acting without thinking, but he was obviously more interested in the room Maria had found than in getting angry.

The chamber in which they found themselves was lit from within the walls, throwing the same dull glow as the granolith did above. Liz looked around, her own eyes widening. She then looked up and found herself staring at what had to be the bottom of the granolith. It was an inverted cone, reflecting almost identically the cone that could be found above.

"Liz, look!"

Maria�s voice captured Liz�s attention. She followed Maria�s pointed finger with her gaze and found herself staring at a sliver hand-print. It was embedded in the wall. She moved two steps towards it before she knew what she was doing. It was only Michael grabbing her by the elbow that stopped her.

"It�s�I think it�s mine," she whispered. "It�s calling to me." She looked back at Michael. "Michael, can you feel it?" He simply nodded mutely, gesturing with his chin towards another hand-print on the wall, larger than the one Liz had first noticed. She knew, without a doubt, that it belonged to him.

Liz swallowed, knowing instinctively that what Maria said next was true. "Liz, I think we�ve found out how to work the granolith."

***

Alex was just in the process of closing his eyes, praying silently to himself as he waited to meet his maker, when something caught his attention. The air between him and Nasedo was shimmering in a way that, although he wasn�t sure how it was possible, caused his fright to actually increase.

He recognized that shimmer. And, moments later, he was proven right when Kate abruptly materialized in front of him, Nasedo�s hand now pointed directly at the back of her dark head.

"Kate! Move!"

But it was too late. Nasedo had no time to stop what he had already started. A flash of light emerged from his hand and smashed directly into Kate. Alex watched in horror as her blue eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground.

He was on his feet and by her side seconds later. He didn�t even care if Nasedo shot him down too. All he knew was that he had to get to her. Dropping to his knees, he pulled her gently into his arms, shaking her lightly. "Kate? Kate!" She was still breathing, but shallowly.

Alex realized that Whittaker had joined him. She was running her hands through Kate�s long hair, searching for the wound that the shapeshifter had created. Looking up, he saw Nasedo on the ground nearby. He looked at Whittaker in amazement.

"It�s what I was trying to tell you earlier," she said quickly. "I managed to work myself free. I was trying to get you to help me overpower him. He was distracted when he hit her, so I took him out then."

"Is he dead?"

"I don�t know," she replied. "But he won�t be bothering us for a while." She was staring down at Kate, her concern obvious. "Well, she�s still alive. He must have managed to pull back some of his power before he hit her. He wouldn�t want her dead, obviously."

Alex could not take his eyes off Whittaker�s hands, which were covered with Kate�s blood. And, yet, he managed to stutter, "Who are you?"

"Never mind that now," she snapped. She was already looking around. "Max is here somewhere?"

"I assume that�s who Grant meant by the young king," Alex replied.

"We need him," Whittaker said. She was on her feet again. "I�ll be right back."

"No!" Alex exclaimed. He didn�t want to leave Kate, but he knew that he was the one who had to go. "They�ll blast you first and ask questions later."

She paused. "Good point. You go."

Once Alex was through the door, he was forced to proceed with caution. The last thing he wanted was to run into any guards. He didn�t have the time, nor the capability, to deal with them. When he saw that the coast was clear, he hurried down the stone corridor, pausing again at the end and poking his head around the corner.

He stared into the cavern in amazement. All of his friends were out of their cages. Grant was in the process of pushing the last of Nasedo�s minions into one of them, then proceeded to slam the door behind him. The guard Nasedo had sent out was standing next to him, his weapon trained on his own men. Isabel, Max and Tess were nearest to where he stood, Max supporting Tess with an arm around her waist. Alex frowned, wondered what that was about. Well, it didn�t matter at the moment.

"Max!"

His friends all turned at the sound of his voice. He watched Isabel�s face light up with joy. She flew at him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Alex! You�re okay!"

"I am," he replied grimly, disentangling himself. He decided to ignore the hurt expression on Isabel�s face for the moment. He just didn�t have time. "But Kate isn�t. Max, she needs you." He turned on his heel, heading back in the direction from which he had come, not even checking to make sure Max was following. Alex knew he was.

It wasn�t until he reached the stone corridor again that he realized Max wasn�t behind him. He turned around, perplexed.

Max had taken a few steps, but was examining him suspiciously. Isabel and Tess were directly behind him.

"What�s wrong?" Alex demanded. "C�mon!"

"How do we know you�re really Alex?" Max demanded.

Alex stared at him. "What? Oh! You think I�m Nasedo?" He paused, searching his mind for something to tell them that only he would know. He couldn�t think of anything. "Ask me a question," he ordered, beginning to tap his foot with impatience. He understood his friends� caution, but every second that ticked by was rendering the likelihood of Max being able to heal Kate obsolete.

Max could not bring back the dead.

Alex erased the thought immediately. Kate was not going to die.

Max looked at Isabel, obviously expecting her to take the lead. She complied quickly, "How did I convince you for sure that I was an alien?"

"That�s easy," Alex replied. "You turned some ketchup into mustard at the Crashdown."

Isabel nodded at Max. "It�s him."

Alex turned on his heel again, knowing that his friends were following this time. They were back in the interrogation room moments later. He heard Isabel gasp behind him, mentally berated himself for not preparing them for Whittaker�s presence.

"She�s okay," he said quickly. "Just ignore her for right now, okay?" Max was hovering in the doorway, Isabel and Tess behind him, obviously unsure. "Max, do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then get over here and heal Kate. Now! Whittaker�s okay," he repeated.

Max stared at him for a long moment, but finally moved forward again. Whittaker stood up, moving aside so that he could kneel next to Kate. Alex flinched when he noticed the pool of blood that had gathered under her dark head in the short time he�d been gone.

He watched, his entire form tense, as Max placed his hands gently on either side of Kate�s face. Max closed his eyes, obviously focusing. Alex did not feel reassured when he saw the sweat that were already beginning to gather on his friend�s forehead and he had barely started. It could not be a good sign.

Max finally opened his eyes, looking at Alex helplessly. "I can�t make a connection. She needs to open her eyes." He lifted her gently into his arms. "Kate. Kate! Open your eyes! Kate!" And, finally, as though hoping their past relationship might do something to help matters. "Karana!"

Nothing. Alex stared at her, realizing that her chest was no longer rising and falling. He looked to the right when he felt someone grab him by the arm. It was Isabel. She wasn�t looking at Kate, but at him, her concern obvious.

Max finally looked up again, his sorrow obvious. "I�m sorry, Alex."

"What?" Alex demanded. "What are you saying?"

"I can�t�I can�t get in. I can�t do anything unless I can get in," Max told him, his voice cracking slightly. He met Alex�s eyes, his guilt reflected in his gaze.

They both turned their heads when a strangled cry of grief sounded from the doorway. It was Will. Jack was behind him. They had both obviously just heard about what had happened.

There was a split second of complete silence, as though they were all frozen. And, then, much to Alex�s absolute disbelief, Will broke the tableau. He was on Max in an instant, knocking him away from Kate, whose lifeless form would have tumbled to the ground if Alex hadn�t moved more quickly than he ever had in his entire life.

"You bastard! Fix her! Fix her! I won�t let her die again!"

Tess screamed, but Isabel and Jack both moved, pulling Will off of Max, who was so shocked, he hadn�t even tried to fight back.

"Will!" It was Whittaker�s voice, penetrating the absolute pandemonium that had erupted. "Khivar! Stop this! Now!"

Will jerked away from Isabel and Jack, panting. He glared at her. "What good is he? He let her die!"

"Khivar, stop!" Whittaker exclaimed, moving towards him. She placed her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. "She is gone. It is no one�s fault. You must accept this. She is gone."

Alex felt a lump enter his throat at the absolute finality of the woman�s words. He pulled the body in his arms more tightly against him, lowering his head, his grief so intense, he didn�t even know where to begin handling it.

She�s gone. Before I ever really had a chance to know what she meant to me. How could she possibly have meant so much to me in such a short time?

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He knew that it was Isabel, but he could not move, could not acknowledge her attempt to comfort him.

He had to have his chance. They had never had a chance!

"Kate." It was more of a plea than anything, but he knew it was in vain.

She was gone.