Author: Cookieman aka Stacey
Email: Cookieman123@go.com
Category: M/L
Rating: PG 13 to R for language mostly
Disclaimer: Do any of you really think I own anything of any value? Show of hands here. Let me reassure you that I have nothing anyone wants. Except a cat. Any takers? Nobody sue me and I’ll leave the characters better off than they were before I borrowed them. I promise.
Author's Note: None of the events after Max in the City happened in this universe. That seems to be a trend in my stories I know. What can I say? Bizarre coincidence? Probably not. Think End of the World and FMax resolutions, because I don’t think you can ever have enough of those. Can you?
Summary: Okay, the long and short of it is that Max falls prey to one of Brody’s so called alien devices. And it causes some horribly confusing events to happen. I hate to ruin the plot, so I’ll tell you no more. What I can promise however is that this will be far, far shorter than any of my other stories. LOL No 300 parts to this one, folks. I’m shooting for less than 20 here. Call it an experiment to see if I’m capable of it.
Discord
1. Tension or strife resulting from a lack of agreement; dissension. 2. A confused or harsh sound or mingling of sounds. 3. Music An inharmonious combination of simultaneously sounded tones; a dissonance.
Part 1
How had his life become the screwed up farce he dealt with daily? It was the question that had plagued him for a week now.
Max turned and reached for another crate of alien organs and he set about the task of restuffing the infamous autopsied alien. The old intestines and vital organs had worn out and frayed over time.
The irony wasn’t lost on him and it only made him more determined to do this one thing right. Every day for the last week, every agonizing hour that had passed had been slowed to a grinding halt. Every second of every minute had served only to twist the knife that was embedded in his heart. The knife Liz had plunged deep when she had slept with Kyle Valenti.
Even now it didn’t make sense. But then, nothing in his life did anymore. She loved him, didn’t she? How could she not have known that it would kill him? He’d been pursing her for so long, was sure he’d even been making progress. But something had changed overnight. A shadow had appeared deep in her eyes and she’d begun looking at him differently. Had that been when Kyle had made his move on her? Had he told her something that made her look at him differently?
Max shook his head and jammed a new heart in the plastic alien’s chest. After endless pondering day and night, he’d narrowed it down to two possible conclusions. Either Liz had sought solace in Kyle’s arms, wanting a piece of the normal life she’d told him about, or she hadn’t ever intended for him to find out. Or she had slept with Kyle to drive a definite and unremovable wedge between them to force him into his so-called destiny with Tess. Either option left his chest empty and bleeding.
Because the undeniable truth that he only let himself think about at rare moments in time was that he still loved Liz Parker. He would love her until his dying day no matter what she did. And it would be his cross to bear.
Max forced his thoughts back to his job, herding his errant thoughts away from the source of every human emotion he’d ever experienced. Sometimes, he wished they’d discover that Antarians were being evolved beyond emotions. Then he could leave this planet behind and forget what words like pain and torment meant. But then he wouldn’t remember what it was like to love Liz Parker, to be loved in return. And he knew he would gladly give up everything he would ever own just to be able to keep those few precious memories.
He almost chuckled when he paused long enough to take a hard look at the situation. Forcing himself to be gentler on the display, Max shifted his thoughts as far from Liz as he could get. Michael.
Michael ridiculed him on a daily basis about where he worked, but he’d long since stopped taking his surly friend seriously. While his job was the textbook definition of irony, it had proved useful in the past. Plus, he got along well with Brody. Of course, his boss still thought he was the victim of alien abductions, but it had only proved to raise Max in his estimations. And even though Brody’s alien discoveries were often crazy by conservative standards, sometimes he actually managed to get his hands on a legitimate piece of alien technology.
Unfortunately, the alien technology always seemed to get them into trouble. But it was at least a glimpse of their home world, a step closer to the ever-elusive truth. And they would take whatever they could get these days.
“Max, good. There you are.” Brody swept through the empty UFO Center crating a large cardboard box. “You’ll never guess what I’ve just been sent. Come look.”
Max laid the intestines haphazardly on the autopsy table and moved to stand beside Brody as he opened the box with barely restrained glee. “What is it?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea. But aren’t they wonderful?” Brody began picking out an assortment of metallic objects and placing them on the table. “I just received them from a fellow in England, an odd sort of man, but big into the UFO scene. Kirby Vryce. Ever heard of him?”
Max frowned, recognizing the name. “Yeah, didn’t he write a book? I remember it being something about alien languages.” That part he had found interesting. But the rest had seemed too odd even for him. “And he talked about deciphering alien linguistical patterns in white noise.”
Brody beamed at Max as if he were hi prize student. “Excellent. Yes, well, he sent these items to me. Genuine alien artifacts,” Brody confided, leaning closer to Max as he explained it.
“What do they do?”
”I haven’t a clue. Except for this one though.” Brody gestured to the largest of the equipment pieces. “It’s a translator. Genuine,” Brody stressed. “I heard it was used in a live capture that was done in Siberia two years ago. But it appears to be broken,” Brody frowned. “Look here. One whole side is missing a panel and you can see the circuits.” Then it occurred to Brody that it could be a good thing. “Maybe I can figure out how this thing works after all.”
Max smiled at his enthusiasm. Brody had picked the machine up easily and began poking around at it. It looked ultimately unextraordinary. It was a cube about the size of Brody’s computer monitor. But from the way he had picked it up with such ease made Max frown. How could something so large weigh so little? Could it really be made from the alien metal they knew so little about?
As Brody continued to push at the exposed circuits on one side, Max pawed through the rest of the items on the table. Could some of these items be real? He would have to get Michael in here to take a look at them. Maybe Tess too. She might have a better chance than the rest of them to pick out something legitimate.
Brody swung the box around towards Max, excitement lighting his face. “I think I’ve found something here. Look.”
Max shifted, angling for a closer look at Brody’s new toy. And suddenly the room exploded with light. Max clutched at his head as stabbing needles of pain sliced through his brain.
It was unbearable and he grasped at the table to support his weight. The room started spinning uncontrollably and he closed his eyes tightly, hoping it would all stop. His throat constricted painfully, swelling until his breathing came in gasping hitches.
He felt his powers charging up automatically, reading to fight against the unknown pain. They surged inside of his body, pooling, begging for release. Max knew he had to do something before he let loose a blast of energy, so he tried to let it trickle out through the pores of his skin. Hopefully, Brody would be too busy with the light show to notice anything else odd.
Beyond the pain, he could hear a faint popping noise that sounded like glass breaking. And just when he thought he couldn’t possibly bear anymore pain, the light faded away to nothing, leaving them in the dark room.
Brody was careful to place the cube safely on the table before he reached for Max and excitedly slapped him on the back. “Did you see it, Max? What am I saying? Of course you saw it!” Brody released Max and reached under the worktable for the flashlight he kept there. He flicked it on and concentrated the beam on the cube. “Wasn’t it spectacular? It blew out all the bloody light bulbs!”
Max didn’t say anything. He was pretty sure he had been the one to knock out the lights. He forced his body to dissolve the pooled energy, calming his jangled nerves. The swelling in his throat was slowly receding and the room was starting to settle back down. Whatever the hell Brody had found seemed to be the real deal. But what was it?
Brody noticed Max’s silence and cursed himself for not thinking of the poor boy. He was only a kid and hardly equipped to deal with the reality of the situation. In fact, Max was probably terrified of the artifact. He never talked about his abduction experience, but Brody knew it must have been horribly traumatic.
“Why don’t you go home, Max? It’s late and I’m sure your family’s probably worried about you. In fact, take tomorrow off too. I’m going to close the Center for the day. Maybe the weekend. I have a friend in Santa Fe I want to show this stuff to.” Brody kept one eye on Max and one eye on his new find. He wanted to be able to study it in peace and he doubted he would have the chance with Max still there. The boy still looked a bit pale, and probably needed some good sleep.
Max nodded, still trying to get his breathing under control. He had a blinding headache and wanted desperately to crawl into bed for a few hours. “Call me when you get back into town.”
“Yes, yes. Don’t worry about me. You just go home and rest.”
Not needed a further invitation, Max dragged himself through the dark Center towards the door. Remarkably, his already better than average night vision seemed to have sharpened. And he picked his way easily to the front door.
Dragging to his Jeep, he crawled into it gratefully and sat for a moment. He wanted to sit still long enough to make sure he would be able to drive home safely. And the road was currently spinning and weaving back and forth.
Involuntarily, Max’s attention was drawn to the single light across the street above the Crashdown. Liz’s window. She was still awake. Even through the blinding pain, he couldn’t help but think of her and wonder if she was alone. Was Kyle up there with her right now? At her side, giving her the normal existence she craved?
The thought sent anger churning in his stomach and cleared his head of the pain. At least he knew he could drive home safely. He cranked the Jeep’s engine, and revved it twice because it felt good. Then he pulled away from the curb with a squeal of tires.
And if he left a trail of blood from his wounded heart behind him, then so be it. Liz had made her choice and it hadn’t been him. He would have to find a way to move on, push past her and embrace the side of him that made it impossible for her to love him. He would talk to Isabel, Michael, and Tess in the morning and together they would figure out what to do about Brody’s newly acquired artifacts.
It was simply the way it had to be now. Liz Parker wasn’t a part of his life anymore. And the sooner he could pound that into his stubborn head, the sooner his heart would follow and obey.
Max took a turn a bit too fast, causing the wheels to squeal in disapproval and he forced himself to calm down. Getting himself killed wasn’t the way to deal with things. He slowed his speed to a safer one and made the rest of the drive home uneventfully.
Not wanting to deal with his parents, he entered the dark house carefully and quietly. But luck didn’t seem to be on his side again as they were sitting up watching a late night movie on television.
His mother sat up when she heard the door click shut and she turned a smile to her son. “You’re home late.”
“Yeah, sorry. Brody had me working on some of the displays. I lost track of time.”
“Did you eat something? I left you a plate in the oven.”
Max smiled at her. Always a mother first. “Yeah, but I think I’ll grab your plate anyway. Thanks, Mom.” Max pressed a hand to his throat as the tightness threatened him for a second. His voice had almost cracked while he’d been talking, but he was able to keep it normal sounding.
Knowing his mother would worry about him not eating, he warmed up the plate she had lovingly left for him and leaned against the counter, listening to the sounds from the living room. They were watching an old black and white movie, one he didn’t recognize, so it must be old.
Without warning, Max was struck by the same lightheaded feeling he’d experienced at the UFO Center. His vision wavered and all he could hear was a faint buzzing sound. He tried to shake his head, hoping to clear the confusion in his brain, but it didn’t seem to work.
In the distance, he heard the unmistakable sound of his parent’s laughter and he held on to it, using it to pull himself out of the tunnel. For one crazy second, something popped inside his ear and the sounds around him shifted wildly. He could hear all the normal household noises. The dishwasher was running, china clinging together noisily. The microwave was beeping, his late dinner warmed. But his parent’s voices were what sent a slick line of panic through his body.
They sounded strange to his ears, foreign. And he couldn’t understand a word they were saying. Every syllable was harshly delivered and unfamiliar. And without warning, the same pop rang in his ears and the world shifted back to normal.
“Max, is everything okay in there?”
The sound of his mother’s voice calmed him. “Yeah, Mom.”
Max shook his head again, willing the ground to settle down. He rubbed at his throat and the soreness that puzzled him. Something strange was going on. He knew that much. What had Brody’s machine done to him? He was tempted to call Michael over and inform him of what had happened, but it was past one in the morning. He doubted if anyone would appreciate being woken up at the early hour.
Carrying the warm plate with him, he moved past his parents and down the dark hallway. Pausing outside of his sister’s door, he frowned when he noted that her lights were already out. She was asleep too.
With a sigh, Max decided to wait till the morning to say anything. What harm could a couple of hours do?
The memory of the odd way his parents’ voices had sounded carried with him though as he settled into bed with a plate of his mother’s lasagna. And it was enough to ensure that he would bring it up in the morning. Because for one psychotic moment, he had been sure that the sounds he’d been hearing had been alien. But he knew that couldn’t be. His parents were as human as they came. So, if he’d been hearing sounds that seemed foreign, they had to have come from his own brain, his own interpretation of their words.
Shaking his head, Max laughed at his own thoughts. Maybe he was more tired than he’d thought. With a flick of his wrist, the CD player sprang to life across the room and he automatically adjusted the volume not to wake his sister. With a tired sigh, he decided not to think about it any more for the night. Tomorrow would come soon enough and they would figure out what was wrong before anything else strange had a chance to happen. Instead, he turned his thoughts as he always did to Liz, and the puzzle that had become their relationship.
