Part 4

            “Are you okay?” an amused Serena asked Brody when he finally came around. 

 He just sat there for a moment with a dazed look on his face and then asked, “I was just imagining all that alien stuff, right?”

 His eyes pleaded for her answer to be yes, but Serena knew she had to tell him the truth.  She sighed and replied, “No, Brody.  It was all real.”

 Brody’s eyes widened and for a second Serena thought he was going to pass out again.  All of a sudden, Rafe came tearing into the room complaining that Kyle was crying and was therefore most likely hungry.  Serena smiled and told her son to keep an eye on Brody. 

 When his mother was out of the room, Rafe turned to Brody and asked, “Are you the man who’s going to pretend to be my father?”

 The kid looked so innocent and Brody realized that he liked him and would do his best to help him and his mother.  Brody smiled and said, “Yep, just call me Dad.  You’re Rafe, right?”

 Rafe grinned and nodded.  Serena returned to the room and knew immediately that Brody would help her out.  She gave a sigh of relief and hugged Brody.

 “Thank you,” she whispered as she held him.

 “Its nothing, don’t worry.  I do need you to answer one question though.  Why didn’t you just come out and tell Max the truth?  I mean, that is why you came.”

 Serena sat down on the couch cradling Kyle.  She thought for a moment on the best way to phrase what she wanted to say.  Finally, she replied, “Its complicated.  In my past life I was very close to all of the Royal Four, Ava above all.  Rath, er, Michael and I were pretty close as siblings, but Ava was my best friend in the world.  Early in my life, I was identified as being the strongest and most intelligent person of my generation.  As was the tradition, I was trained to be the Royal Four’s protector.  I was thrilled because my brother was one of them and we were both very protective of each other.  Over time I grew close to the four of them, but Ava and I had an immediate connection, like we were made to be each other’s best friend.  When Khivar attacked us, he gave the order to specifically not kill me since he knew how valuable I could be.  Unfortunately a man named Graner, now known as Nicholas, really disliked me and killed me while I attempted to protect Max.  When I was reborn as Khivar’s wife, the only thing that kept me from taking my own life was the hope that I would be reunited with the four of them some day.  The day Tess arrived I was so excited because I thought she would be Ava.  I was wrong.  You may not know this, but Tess was the one who killed Alex Whitman.  After I heard that, I thought my life was over.  Luckily, Larek kept me going with his unconditional love and I devised a plan to escape to Terra.  Although I want to let Max have his son and tell him the truth, I must first be sure that he is the good man that Zan was.  If he is, I will confess everything to him.  If he isn’t, I’ll just have to start a new life and raise Kyle as my own son.”

 Rafe and Brody sat mesmerized by the sad woman’s story.  At the mention of Alex’s death, Brody could feel his eyes tear up.  When she finished, he gave her a quick hug and said, “I understand now.  Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll come to find that Max is a very good man.”

 Serena smiled appreciatively and said, “Well, how do you feel about stopping by the Crashdown Café?

**********************************************************************************

Max, Liz, Isabel, Michael, Maria and Kyle were all gathered in their usual booth at the Crashdown discussing the Serena issue.  Liz glanced at her watch and informed the group that they had ten minutes until opening. 

 “What I don’t get is why she lied to you,” Isabel said.

 Max shrugged and replied, “Neither do I, but I knew along that I knew her from somewhere.  I don’t think she means us any harm, but she feels the need not to disclose her identity to us just yet.”

 “Maxwell, she has your son.  If I were you, I would have marched right back into the house and taken him,” Michael said.

 “I just needed time to accept everything that we’d heard.  I wasn’t really expecting your sister to show up in the Granilith with my son and then tell me that she was Brody’s wife.  That was the last thing in the universe I would have ever expected.”

 “My sister?! You never said anything about this Serena chick being my sister!” Michael exclaimed, shocked.

 “You never gave us a chance to tell you everything we heard,” Liz said.

 “So what exactly did she say?” Kyle asked.

 “Well, she was arguing with Larek and got really pissed at him for yelling at her.  Then she said that she wasn’t stupid and didn’t exactly plan on the two of us seeing her land.  Then she went off about how she never once thought of walking up to me and telling me all about how my sister was engaged to her brother, how she was our sworn protector and was killed by Nicholas while trying to save us.  Then she said something about how she was brought back like us to be Kivar’s wife, but was full-blooded Antarian.  She also mentioned that one kid was hers and Larek’s and the other was mine.  Since the older kid Rafe is 4, I would think that Kyle, the month old, is mine,” Max said.

 “Kyle? The baby’s name is Kyle?” Maria asked, while Kyle was completely perplexed at the idea of the child being named after him.  Liz just nodded.

 Michael sat in stunned silence.  ‘I have a sister.  I have a blood relative.’  That thought ran through his mind over and over again.  He was almost giddy at the thought of having family.  Sure, he considered the others his family, but to have a biological sister was amazing.  As he sat there thinking, Liz announced that it was time to open the café.  Liz walked up to the door to unlock it and was startled to see Brody, Serena, Rafe and Kyle heading toward the restaurant. 

 “Guys, they’re coming!” Liz called to the group.

 That snapped Michael out of his thoughts.

 “What? My sister is coming?” Michael said panicking. 

 “Chill out, sweetie.  Act normal or they’ll know we know,” Maria said to her boyfriend.

 He just nodded and took off for the kitchen. 

 Liz greeted the four at the door and said, “Good morning everyone! Glad y’all stopped by.”

 She seated them and took their orders.

 Max sat in the booth staring at his son.  ‘He’s so beautiful.  I wish I could just go over there and hold him’ he thought with tears in his eyes.  Sensing what her brother was thinking, Isabel nudged Max and gave him a go-over-there look.  He took a deep breath and walked over to the “family”.

 “Good morning.  I hope you all slept well your first night as a family,” Max said sweetly.

 Serena gave him an odd smile and replied, “Yes, we did.  Would you like to sit with us?”

 Max quickly grabbed the opportunity to sit so close to his son.  Judging by the look on his face, Serena knew Max wanted to hold Kyle.  ‘Either he knows about us or he really likes kids,’ she thought.

 “Hey, Max.  Could you do me a favor and hold Kyle for me while I go to the bathroom?”

 Max’s face lit up and Serena handed the baby over to his father.  As she walked to the bathroom, she was very much aware of everyone in Max’s group watching her.  When she passed the kitchen, Serena caught a glimpse of Michael and wanted to cry.  She quickly made her way to the bathroom.

 ‘God, she’s beautiful,’ Michael thought as he watched his sister make her way to the bathroom.  For some reason, he trusted her completely.  He, of all people, trusted a girl he had only seen for a few seconds and had never spoken to, but there was just something about her and the way she carried herself.  He saw her come out of the bathroom a minute later and was so distracted by her that the stove caught his sleeve on fire.  Michael frantically shook his arm to put the fire out, but it was blazing and hurt so bad.  Serena’s eyes widened and quickly put out the flames with her powers.  Almost instantaneously, she threw a pot of water on his arm and shot him a look that clearly said to keep quiet.  He nodded that he understood and held his arms out to Maria as she ran to him.

 “Oh my God, Michael, you scared the crap out of me!  Thank God Serena was there to throw water on you,” Maria cried.

 “Yeah, uh, thanks, Serena,” Michael said.

 “It was nothing,” she shrugged and walked back to her table.

 ‘Yes, I definitely trust her,’ thought Michael.

********************************************************************************

 Nicholas paced back and forth wondering where Khivar and Tess were.  He was amazed that they were able to build another machine that equaled the Granilith’s ability to send them to Terra so quickly.  Unfortunately, that’s where the machines’ likenesses ended.  The Granilith was far more powerful than the ship that Tess and Khivar built in just a few hours.  Although Nicholas was very loyal to Khivar, he seriously doubted that Khivar, Tess, Lonnie, Rath and himself could take on Max, Michael, Isabel, Serena and her son by themselves.  Khivar did not want his son harmed, but even he knew that Rafe would most likely die before letting anything happen to his mother.  If it was just the three idiots, he knew they could kill them, but with Serena here, he thought that they had no hope. 

 “So when is the dude supposed to get here?  I ain’t known for my patience, ya know, “an annoyed Rath said to Nicholas.

 “He’ll be here any minute.  In fact, I think that’s him,” Nicholas said pointing at the approaching ship.

 When the ship landed, the three walked up to it to greet its passengers.  Tess was the first one out and eyed the other three warily.  Even though she was now on their side, she still disliked the three who had all tried to kill her.  Before anyone could say anything, Khivar stepped out of the ship.

 “Welcome to Earth, Khivar,” Nicholas said.

Part 5

            After putting Kyle and Rafe down for their naps, Serena heard the doorbell ring.  She opened the door and was surprised to find her brother standing before her. 

             “Uh, hi Michael.  What can I do for you?” she asked uneasy.

             Michael studied his extremely petite sister and replied, “I know who you are.”

             “Oh, Michael!” Serena cried as she threw her arms around her big brother. 

             Michael closed his eyes and held his younger sister.  He couldn’t help but notice how thin she was.  Serena was around 5’2, and he would guess that she weighed only 85 pounds.   Finally, she pulled back and asked her brother to come inside.  The reunited siblings sat down on the couch to talk.

             “Serena, why didn’t you tell us the truth?” Michael asked.

             “I’d rather give the full story to everyone at once.  To sum it up for you, I was very upset by the way Tess was not Ava and I needed to be reassured that Max was the good man that Zan was before I gave him his son.  Guess that was a little stupid since they saw me land, huh?  How did you know that I was your sister?”

             Michael looked at his feet and mumbled something.

             “What?” Serena asked.

             “I said that Max and Liz eavesdropped on you and Larek last night.”

             “Oh.  Well, that’s okay.  Don’t worry about it.”

             “I have another question.  How does Larek keep control of Brody for so long?  I thought he could only do that for short periods of time.” Michael inquired.

             “I can answer that,” Brody said from the doorway.  He walked to sit on the couch next to Serena and said, “I know about all of you, Michael.  Serena told me and I agreed to help her.  Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.  I’m just glad to know that I haven’t been getting abducted, though I don’t really like the idea of someone taking over my body.”

             “Well, welcome to the club, Brody.  I knew you’d be a part of it eventually,” Michael said.  “Why don’t we go tell the group now.”

             Serena smiled and turned to Brody.  “Can you watch the kids for me?”

             Brody nodded and made a shooing motion.  The brother and sister held hands as they walked to Michael’s motorcycle and took off for the Crashdown.

             “Where do you think Michael ran off to?” Kyle asked the group of friends.

             Isabel shrugged and said, “I don’t know.  He probably went to sneak a peek at his sister or something.”

             The sound of ringing bells turned the group’s attention to the door as Serena and Michael walked in.  Max shot him a questioning look and Michael said, “She knows we know.”

             Everyone was staring at Serena and she felt incredibly uncomfortable.  Sensing his sister’s apprehension, he motioned for her to sit down and said, “Why doesn’t everyone introduce themselves?”

             The five of them proceeded to introduce themselves, and then there was a minute or two of uncomfortable silence.  Finally, Max asked, “So, why did you lie to me and Liz about who you were?”

             Serena took a deep breath and replied, “I had to make sure you were the same great man Zan was before I could trust you with Kyle.  I know you’re his father and all, but I was worried.  I’d better start from the beginning so you’ll understand my worries.  When I was six years old in my past life, I was identified as being the strongest and most intelligent person of my generation.  As was the tradition, I was trained to be the Royal Four’s protector.  King Neo and Queen Mara had their own protectors.  You were all a great deal older than I, but that didn’t stop me from becoming very close to Ava.  She was my best friend.  I was appointed to your service at the age of twelve and went to live in the palace.  Around the same time, I met Larek and fell in love with him.  Larek and Zan had grown up together and were very close.  King Neo died when I was thirteen and I was deeply upset.  We didn’t find out until later that Khivar had killed him.  Larek helped make all of the funeral arrangements because we were all depressed over his death.  Larek and I grew closer and were married when I was fourteen.  I also protected him and my and Rath’s sister, Rayana.  She and Zan were in love, but were not allowed to marry since that would mean that Zan and Vilandra were marrying siblings, so they were lovers.  I was fifteen when Khivar attacked us.  Zan was 25, Rath was 24, Rayana was 23, and Ava and Vilandra had just turned 22.  Fortunately, Larek was visiting another planet to deal with some kind of disagreement.  I was asleep in bed when I heard the motion sensors go off and got up to investigate.  I was horrified to see Khivar and his men trying to get into the palace.  I ran to the others’ rooms and told them what was going on.  They all dressed and prepared for battle, except Ava because she was pregnant and too weak to get out of bed.  I gave her a weapon and told her to blast anyone who came through the door, then took off with the others.  Zan was incredibly angry with Vilandra for accidentally betraying them by falling for Khivar, but I told him to lay off and pay attention to the situation at hand.  Vilandra was devastated at the thought of her betraying us.  She hadn’t meant to let Khivar in on all their secrets, but she had.  When Khivar found us, Vi had an opportunity to kill him, but hesitated.  Khivar used that second to kill her in front of us.  I screamed and took after him, determined to kill him.  Zan grabbed me from behind and told me not to do anything stupid.  I knew he was right so I decided to go check on Ava.  Zan went with me and when I knocked on the door, there was no answer.  I tried calling out to her telepathically, but there was again no answer.  Zan and I opened the door and stepped into the room to find her body torn apart.  I grabbed Zan’s hand and went to find the others.  We were both crying hysterically over the losses we had suffered, but sucked it up when we came across the battle in the ballroom.  Rath and Rayana were doing their best to hold Khivar and Graner back.  You’d know Graner as Nicholas.  I heard Khivar give the order to specifically not kill me since he knew how valuable I could be.  Zan and I wasted no time and began to attack the two men.  I was about to kill Graner when he grabbed Rayana and held her between the two of us.  Before I could even move, he used his powers to slit her wrists and neck.  She slumped to the floor and I knelt down to try and heal her, but Graner kicked me and I returned the attack.  When I had an open window, I turned back to save Rayana, but she was dead and Zan was holding her and crying.  I broke down and was oblivious to anything else around me until I heard Rath let out a scream of pain.  I looked up in time to see Khivar finish him off.  I ran to his side and rocked back and forth as I held him.  Since Zan and I were both devastated, I thought that Khivar and Graner would back off, but Graner was a nasty little bastard and tried to kill Zan.  I knew what he was about to do so I jumped in front of Zan and was killed.  Zan was killed only moments after that.  When I was reborn as Kivar’s wife, the only thing that kept me from taking my own life was the hope that I would be reunited with the four of you some day.  I met Larek and fell in love with him all over again and had Rafe, but Khivar thinks that he is the father.  When Tess arrived I was so excited because I thought she would be Ava.  I was wrong.  After I found out all the horrible things she had done, I thought my life was over.  The Ava from New York is more like the real Ava than Tess could ever be.  After an especially ugly fight with Tess, Larek and I knew I had to come here.  I took my son and Kyle and left.  I wanted to just tell you everything, but I had been betrayed and hurt so much that I needed to be reassured that you were a good man and would be a good father.  I hope you can forgive me.”

Serena was crying over the horrible memories she was telling them and Michael held her.  The other three girls were also in tears after hearing about Serena’s heartache.  Max touched her hand lightly and reassured, “Of course we forgive you.  You just wanted to protect yourself and your family.  I’m glad you told us all of this.”

 “So, we had a sister?” Michael asked.  “Where is she? Did she get reborn too?”

 Serena removed herself from her brother’s protective arms and replied, “Yes, we had a sister.  Something went wrong when they tried to recreate her with Antarian DNA so they made her fully human.  I’ve searched for her for years and narrowed the search to here in Roswell.  I still don’t know who she is or even how old she is.”

 Hearing Serena talk about the battle and Rayana’s death sounded very familiar to Liz, but she couldn’t put her finger on the reason.  Besides the fact that future Max had mentioned her, Serena seemed very familiar as well.  She knew immediately that the two of them really would become close.

 “So, Max.  Would you like to go see your son?” Serena asked.

 Max grinned and the group left the Crashdown and headed for Brody’s.

Outside the Crashdown, a black Explorer sat with five people watching the teens walk away.

 “So, that’s the infamous Max and his loyal followers.  They’re all a bunch of kids!” Khivar laughed.

 “They may be kids, but they’re damn powerful, especially with Serena.  If they ever found out the truth about little Parker, we’d really be screwed,” Nicholas said. 

“Well, what do ya know, I have two precious little sisters,” Rath said.

 “They ain’t nothing special.  We can take ‘em on,” Lonnie said.

 Tess just sighed as she watched her former friends walk away.  ‘I wish I hadn’t betrayed them.  They’ll be out to get me more than ever now,’ she thought miserably.

Part 6

 “Has anyone seen Tess or Khivar?” a worried Larek asked the palace guards.

             One nodded and replied, “Yes, Larek.  They left yesterday for Terra.”

             Larek’s eyes widened and he took off for his transport.  ‘Oh God.  I have to get Serena’ he thought panicking.  To his dismay, Serena wasn’t answering her communicator and Brody wouldn’t allow him in.  Panicking, he got an idea.  He prayed that Den would help and raced for the chief engineer’s home.

            As Liz sat in the passenger seat of Max’s car, she tried to sort out the weird mixture of emotions Serena’s arrival at the Crashdown had brought on.  She felt resentment, love, anger, jealousy, confusion, and many other emotions, but she was unsure as to who they were directed at.  She was also bothered by the fact that Serena and her story seemed so familiar. 

             “We’re here.”

             Max’s words brought Liz out of her thoughts and she climbed out of the Jeep to join the others.  Serena opened the front door and went into the back room to find Kyle.

             Brody walked into the living room and screamed, “Oh no!! The aliens are here! No, I won’t let you take me again!”

             Everyone except Michael stared at Brody in shock.  Michael just laughed and gave Brody a high five.

             “That was great, man.  Love their reactions.”

             Brody just grinned and looked at the group of teens that were staring at him.

             “What? I know about everything.  Chill,” Brody said with an amused expression on his face. 

             Before anyone could respond, Serena walked back into the room holding the baby and Rafe’s hand.  She handed Kyle over to Max and said, “Max, let me officially introduce you to your son Kyle Valenti Evans.  Don’t ask me why she named him that.”

             Max’s eyes shone as he held his son and gently stroked Kyle’s face with his fingers.  The baby’s eyes lit up and he clearly recognized Max as his father.  Watching their interaction, Liz’s feelings started up again and she realized something.

             “Oh my God! Max, didn’t Tess say that the baby couldn’t survive in our atmosphere?”

             Max nodded as he drew his brows together.

             “She tricked you! She tricked all of you into thinking that he couldn’t survive here so you would have to leave.  That also helped to get you to let her go.  That devious little bitch!” Liz ranted.

             Serena smiled as she listened to the pretty brown haired human rant.  ‘She’s so smart, so much like Rayana.  And the way Max is with her, I wonder… No, that would be too easy.  But what if it is that easy?’

             The others sat in silence as the truth of what Liz said sunk in.

             “What if everything was a lie? What if our destinies are a lie?” Isabel asked.

             A look of hope came across the three aliens’ and Liz’s faces.  Serena winced and said, “They’re not.  As far as I know, the only lies Tess told you were about the baby and Alex.  Sorry to burst your bubbles.”

             Her fellow Antarians looked disappointed, but Liz quickly replied, “That’s okay, it wouldn’t have changed anything that happened.”

             The way she said that pierced Max’s heart.  He knew she was referring to him and Tess sleeping together.  Though he pretended that he knew she really wasn’t over it, he realized that deep down he truly believed she was over it. 

             The reference to that incident didn’t get past the others either and Michael harshly replied, “Well, that’s your own fault for sleeping with Kyle.  That gave him reason enough.”

             Serena and Brody’s eyebrows shot up at this and they exchanged a look then looked to Liz for her rebuke.

             “We didn’t sleep together, Michael,” Kyle said angrily.

             Isabel and Michael looked confused and looked at Liz to see if she was going to explain things.

             “He’s right, we didn’t sleep together.  Kyle did help me make it look as if we did, but we never slept together.  Wanna know something else?” the aliens nodded “We did it to save your lives.  Yeah, that’s right.  I put your lives before my own happiness and sacrificed the love of my life and you made me feel even worse.  You see, I got a little visit from Max one night, but it was Max from 14 years in the future.  He told me that I had to get him to fall out of love with me or the whole world would come to an end.  Apparently, we had cemented our relationship by sleeping together the night of the Gomez concert and became inseparable.  Max was such an ass to Tess that she left Roswell, only for us to discover later that you three were not strong enough to take on our enemies without her.  Anyway, we got married in Las Vegas at the age of 19 and were incredibly happy.  At first I didn’t want to help him take that away, but what convinced me was the fact that Isabel had died two weeks before he came and Michael had died half an hour before he left.  I…oh my God.  I just realized something: Tess left! I sacrificed so much and now the little bitch is gone.  Great, just fucking great!” Liz cried as she slumped to the floor in tears.

            Everyone stared at Liz with wide eyes and Serena felt her heart break for her.  She got up off the couch and sat next to Liz.  Liz glanced at Serena then threw her arms around her.  ‘Where is all of this coming from? I had no clue this was how I was feeling.  Are they really my emotions?’ Liz thought to herself as Serena rocked her back and forth. 

             Max sat with his head in his hands sobbing.  His Liz had been in so much pain and it killed him to think that he had helped cause it.  Isabel squeezed her brother’s hand as she tried to hold back tears of her own.  She had been such a bitch to Liz, but the entire time Liz was doing it to protect her and her family.  Isabel felt so ashamed.  Even Michael looked guilty and ashamed of his behavior. 

             When her tears had stopped, Liz pulled back from Serena and did her best to force a smile.

             “Don’t worry, Liz.  With me here, they’ll be more powerful than they could have ever been with Tess,” Serena whispered.

             Liz gave her a look that was filled gratitude and friendship.  Serena shot Brody a pleading look and he said, “Why don’t you all go home for now and we can meet for dinner.  I’m sure Max would like to spend some time with Kyle and Serena and Michael would probably like to have to brother/sister bonding time.  8 o’clock at the Crashdown okay?”

             The teens agreed and filed out of the house.

             “Wow, is there always this much drama when y’all hang out?” Brody asked Michael.

             Michael gave a tired laugh and replied, “Yeah, only Maria is usually the one freaking out.”

             Serena laughed and realized that it was the first time she had laughed with someone other than Larek in a long time.  ‘I have family again’ she thought as Michael began to tell her of the pod squad’s adventures.

             “So, when do we take ‘em out?” Lonnie asked Khivar.

             “When they are the most vulnerable.”

             “Right, so we kill the happy-go-lucky freaks in their sleep.”

             “No, Rath.  We wait until we can take the two children hostage.”

             Tess had a bad feeling about this.  Max and the others were incredibly strong.  If it was a battle of minds, she could take them all on, except for Serena.  If only she could get Serena on their side.  An idea popped into her head.

             “No, you’re wrong.  The best way to get to Serena is through family.  Take away her son, brother and sister and she’s left with nothing,” Tess said evilly.

             The other four aliens turned to look at her and Nicholas said, “Wow, genocidal girl is good!”

Part 7

**********Liz’s dream***********

             “Promise you won’t tell?”

             “Of course we won’t, Rayana! Tell us!” a younger and excited Serena exclaimed.

             “Okay, I’m pregnant!”

             Serena squealed in delight and threw her arms around her big sister while their big brother Rath hugged both girls.

             “That’s great sweetie.  Have you told Zan yet?” Rath asked.

             “No, I am tonight, though,” said an ecstatic Rayana.

             “Just make sure Ava doesn’t find out.  I know that you and Zan are in love, but she is my best friend and his wife.  I don’t want to see her get hurt,” Serena said.

             “I don’t see why you like that girl so much.  I mean, she married the love of our sister’s life,” Rath mumbled.

             Serena shot him a silencing glare and asked, “What are you going to name the kid?”

            “Well, Serena, if it’s a girl I’ll name her Cera after Mother.  If it’s a boy I’ll name him Bei after Father.”

             The younger girl’s eyes teared up and it was obvious the mention of their parents was painful.

             *********End dream***********

             ‘What on Earth?’ Liz thought when she woke up.  She couldn’t believe that she had fallen asleep.  Then it hit her that the dream reminded her of another one she’d had after she first heard Serena’s name.  Without warning that dream came flooding back to her, almost like a memory.

             **********Memory************

 “Rath! Where’s Serena?” screamed an upset Rayana,

 Her big brother’s head shot up as he looked at her with concern.

 “She’s at training, why?” Rath questioned.

 “Oh God, Rath.  M…Mom and Dad are…are…a,” she managed to say before breaking down in tears.

 “Mom and Dad are what, Serena?  They’re what?”

 “D…dead, Mom and Dad are dead,” Rayana cried,

 Rayana watched in horror as her brother, big, strong Rath, crumpled to the floor crying.  She reached over and the two held onto each other for dear life. 

 “Never leave me, Rayana.  Promise,” Rath pleaded.

 “What do you mean?”

 “Never die before me, never leave me or Serena.  Promise that you’ll never leave us.  Promise!”

 “I promise, brother.  I promise,” Rayana repeated over and over again.

 ********End memory**********

‘That’s so weird.  Both dreams are like memories, wanting me to remember them.  She could feel Rayana’s joy as she told her siblings about the baby and her complete devastation at loosing her parents.  Why would I be dreaming Rayana’s memories?  Unless…no, that’s impossible.  I’m not Rayana, am I?’  She frowned and glanced at her watch.  “Eight-o-five, surprised they haven’t sent a search party,” she muttered to herself as she got up to straighten her hair before going downstairs to meet the others.  She heard a tap on her window and went to see who it was.  Before she could reach her destination, the window flew open and Tess stepped into the room.  Liz opened her mouth to scream at the blonde bitch to get out of her room when the world went black. 

 “Now we just need to collect the brother and the son,” Nicholas said as Rath dragged Liz’s body out the window.

             “Something’s wrong, Michael.  Liz should have been down here ten minutes ago.  Can you go check on her I get Isabel’s and Kyle’s drinks?” Maria asked.

             Michael nodded and headed up the stairs to Liz’s room.  When he knocked on the door, there was no answer. 

            “Liz, I coming in,” he called as he stepped into the room. 

             ‘Odd, no one’s in here,’ he thought as he looked around.  Michael heard noise behind him and turned around in time to see Lonnie’s fist meet his face and knock him out cold.

            “Dat was too easy, man!  The kid will be even easier,” said Lonnie, cocky.

             She dragged Michael’s body to the car and joined the others.

             “Now alls we gotta do is get Serena’s baby boy and we’ll have her twisted ‘round our little fingers,” Lonnie said.

             ‘That won’t be as easy as you think,’ Tess laughed to herself as she remembered the time she snuck up on Rafe and he knocked her out for hours with his powers.  No, capturing that kid would be harder than anything Lonnie and Rath had ever done.

             As Serena and Brody walked into the Crashdown with Kyle, she noticed that everyone was there except for Liz and Michael.  For some reason that fact really disturbed her.  She started to sit down when a wave of fear and pain shot through her body like a bullet through her heart.  It was quickly followed anger and guilt.  Then there was nothing.

             “What the…Rafe!” she screamed as she tore out of the café and ran toward Brody’s house as fast as her legs could carry her, which was pretty fast when her powers aided her. 

             When she reached the house, tears were streaming down her face.  Serena found the front door ajar and was afraid to go inside.  She took a deep breath and stepped inside calling the child’s name.  Rafe had insisted that he didn’t want to go and would stay at the house.  He’d done it a million times on Antar, but, Serena realized grimly, they weren’t on Antar anymore.  She searched the entire house and could find no trace of him.  Serena was overcome with despair and sank to the floor shaking and staring blankly into space. 

             “Serena? Are you okay?” a worried Brody asked.

             She kept staring straight ahead, as if she hadn’t heard him.  He snapped his fingers in her face and was rewarded with an annoyed glare.

             “Well, at least you’re responding! Serena, what happened?” Brody asked as the others came into the room.

             “Rafe’s gone,” Serena said simply in a monotone voice.

             Fear and panic seized the group as Maria asked, “Are you sure sweetie?”

             Serena just nodded.  Without a word, everyone fanned out to search for clues.  After a few minutes, Kyle called, “Hey guys, I think I found something!”

             Everyone went to the kitchen to see what Kyle found.  With much reluctance, Serena accepted Maria’s hand and went with her to the kitchen.

             “Well, what is it?” Isabel asked impatiently.

             Kyle shrugged and handed the metallic object to Serena.

             “Do you know what it is?”

             Lightning flashed in Serena’s eyes as she pushed the project button on the visual communicator.  She was terrified to find out who had her son.

             The life-size image of a large and dangerous looking man popped up in front of them.  Max and the others were horrified to see Nicholas standing with the man.  Serena’s eyes grew more and more dangerous looking as she waited for Khivar to speak.

             “Hello Serena.  I assume you have discovered that our son is missing.  I bet you’re also wondering where your brother and sister are.  That’s right, I have them.  If you ever want to see Michael, Liz or Rafe again, you will do as you’re told.  Go alone to the quarry at midnight.  You will find out then what your instructions are.  I’m warning you, wife, try to pull any stunts and I will kill your precious siblings.”

             With those words the transmission ended and so did Serena’s life, she thought.  It was now her turn to pass out.

             “Oh God, I hope I’m not too late,” Larek said as he climbed out of his ship on the outskirts of town.  To his surprise, a black truck pulled up and a handsome man in his late forty’s or early fifty’s got out.  Larek gaped at the man, terrified.

             “Who are you?” Valenti asked.

             “L-Larek,” he stammered.

             “Oh yeah, I heard about you.  Hop in, I’ll take you to Brody’s”

             Larek decided to trust the man and climbed into the truck.  ‘I really hope I won’t regret this,’ he thought as they rode in silence.

 Part 8

When Liz came to, she found herself in a room with only three beds and a bathroom.  There were no windows at all.  She looked around and discovered Michael and Rafe next to her, still unconscious.  ‘What is going on? Why are we the only three in here?’ she thought.  She tried to sit up and was hit with an overwhelming headache.  Liz groaned and lay back down.  Once again without warning, she had a memory flash.

             ***********Memory*************

             “Ray, get up!”

             “Serena, what’s wrong?”

             “Kivar, he’s trying to get into the palace and he has Graner and the others with him,” Serena said calmly.

             Rayana got a scared look in her eyes as she jumped out of bed to get dressed.  She grabbed her Quicksilver laser and ran out the door behind her sister.  The two met up with Vilandra, Zan, and Rath and rounded the corner.  There stood Khivar and Graner, waiting for them.  Khivar and Graner immediately went after Rath and Zan, giving Vilandra a chance to shoot Khivar.  She hesitated and Khivar turned and blasted her apart.  Rayana screamed and dropped to her knees while her little sister took off after her friend’s murderer.

             *********End memory************

             Liz gasped as Rayana’s despair hit her in waves.  Next to her, Michael too was dealing with a weird memory.

            **********Memory*************

             “Are you serious?” Rayana asked.

             Rath glanced over at his sister and nodded grimly.  Serena took his hand and asked, “Rath, are you okay?”

             He smiled weakly and replied, “Yeah, I just never thought Vilandra would betray me like that.  I know she and I aren’t thrilled about getting married, but I never thought she’d cheat on me with Khivar.  She could have at least done it with someone decent.”

             Serena shook her head. “I can’t believe her.  He and I may get along, but sometimes I get the feeling that he’s just talking to me to get information on the Royal Four.  I have a really bad feeling about all this.”

             Her two siblings turned to look at her with dread of the future growing inside them since they knew to trust her feelings.

            *********End memory**********

             Michael woke with a start and looked around frantically.  He noticed Rafe curled up next to him, resting his head on Michael’s arm and Liz on his other side staring at him.

             “You okay?” Liz asked. 

“I think so.  I think I just remembered something from my past, with Rayana and Serena.  Even weirder, Rayana looked an awful lot like you.”

 “I know what you mean.  I’ve been having flashes of Rayana’s memories, but I’m not Rayana.”

 “Actually, you could be.  Serena said that our present day Rayana is all human, remember?”

 “I know, but I don’t want to talk about it now,” Liz said firmly.

 Michael sighed and nodded.  Then he asked, “Liz, what happened? Where are we?” 

            “I don’t know, I heard a tapping on my window and went to see who it was.  Before I reached it, the window opened and Tess came in.  I opened my mouth to yell at her, but then I was knocked out I guess.”

             “Tess? How is that possible? Unless…”

             “Unless she found a way back to Earth,” Liz finished for him.

             “Oh shit!  I hope the others figure out a plan to get us out of here soon because I don’t think Tess has any intention of letting either one of us go.”

             Liz shuddered as she realized Michael was right and instinctively curled up against him.  Michael was a bit taken back by that action, but smiled and put his arm around her protectively.  ‘Hurry up, Maxwell.  I don’t want to see Liz or Rafe get hurt,’ he thought.

             “Serena wake up!  Serena! Come on, we need you to wake up for us sweetie,” Maria called as she shook Serena.

             With a moan, Serena woke up and sat up.

             “What happened?”

             “Was that man Khivar?”

             “What did he mean that he had your sister?”

             “What was that metal thing?”

             “Are you okay?”

             “SHUT UP!” Serena screamed in a terrifying and commanding voice.

             Her interrogators immediately shut their mouths and waited for her to speak.  As Serena tried to collect her thought, the doorbell rang.  Brody left to answer it and returned with Valenti and Larek.  The group turned to look at Larek with questioning looks, and Serena shocked them all by standing up and flinging herself at the tall dark haired man.  When Max got a good look at the man, he was hit with a flash.

             *********Memory*********

             “Larek, I don’t know what to do.  Rayana and Ava are both pregnant.  I asked your wife what she thought I should do and all she said was that she didn’t want to see Ava get hurt.  What do you think?”

             “Well, Zan, I have to agree with Serena.  You know that for political purposes you must remain married to Ava.  I am fully that you’re in love with Rayana and not Ava, but you have to keep this under wraps, do you hear me? I’d hate for you to piss Serena off because then she’d make me swear never to talk to you again.”

             Zan laughed and nodded to his friend that he understood.

             *********End memory******

             “Larek,” a stunned Max murmured.

             Serena and Larek turned to stare at Max in amazement.

             “Yeah, I’m Larek.  Glad to hear that you recognize me.”

             “I just got a flash of my past, that’s why,” he said.

             “I figured you would.  After I met Tess she quickly started to remember things about her past.  Still didn’t change the little bitch, but oh well,” Serena said.  “Larek, I don’t understand.  How did you get here and why did you come?”

            “I convinced Den to build me a ship to bring me here.  Jim here saw me land and brought me here.  I came because I discovered that Tess and Kivar are here on Terra.”

             Serena dropped her gaze to the floor.  “I know.  He took my brother and sister.  He also took Rafe.”

             Larek gasped and held his love tighter.  “What does he want?”

             “He wants me to go to the quarry alone at midnight.  Further instructions will wait for me there.”

             Larek closed his eyes and held onto Serena even tighter.

             “Serena, if he has your siblings, then who’s your sister?” Kyle asked.

             All eyes were on Serena and Max had a sinking feeling he knew who it was.

             “As I had started to suspect, it’s Liz.  I had my suspicions and the fact that she’s not here confirms them.  Don’t worry Max, as long as I stick to his demands she’ll be okay.”

             Serena was so depressed that she wanted to just break down in Larek’s arms and cry, but she knew that it wouldn’t do anyone any good so she sucked it up and began to devise a plan.

             Michael and Liz were hit with hit with feelings of depression at the same time. 

             “What was that?” Michael asked in confusion.

             “Hmm, have you been feeling weird since Serena showed up?”

             “Weird how?”

             “I don’t know, a strange mixture of emotions.”

             “Yeah, actually.  What do you think that is?”

             “I think the three of us siblings have been each other’s feelings,” Liz said as she turned to gaze at her brother.

             Michael gave her a crooked smile and hugged his other sister.

Part 9    Index