BOOK 9 VERISIMILITUDE
(THE CONSPIRACY
EXPOSED)
|
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ PART 7 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Cry Your Name) (Sunday, April 29th, 2001) (The Valenti House) Tess quickly grabbed for the cell phone when it rang. Lonni never called her unless it was
important. "Hello?" "It's done Tess," Lonni said, "the translation of
the book is finished." "When?" Tess asked. "We just got the e-mail a few minutes ago. We're coming to Roswell now with the
translation. So tomorrow you can
tell the others you remember how to read the book and then convince them it's
time to go home." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (The Whitman House) "Hey, this isn't even warm." Alex complained as he
touched the cold Thai food, and instantly a deluge of images flooded his
mind. Suddenly he remembered
eating dozens and dozens of containers of Thai food. "I'm, I'm, I'm so sick of this. I'm..." he trailed
off shaking his head. "Always
the same thing, always cold.
Always the same thing. I'm
just so sick of everything." His memories of Sweden started to dissolve as if they had never
been, and a number kept pushing it's way to the forefront of his mind. He scribbled the number down on the
receipt without realizing it instead of signing his name. "Why does life have to be so
wrong?" he asked as more images emerged. "Why does everything have to be a lie?" Something was terribly wrong with his memories. In the last few days, he had gotten
other images, flashes of things he didn't remember, but they had quickly faded
into the back of his mind. But
theses images were stronger, and if they were right, he had never been to
Sweden at all. Alex returned to his room and took a sip of Coke, and the picture
of Leanna caught his eye. He
picked it up, trying to make sense of the images invading his mind, and
suddenly he remembered everything.
He pulled the photo out of the frame and savagely cut his head out of
it. It had never happened. None of it. He had never gone to Sweden, he had never met Leanna, and he
certainly wasn't having a relationship with her. It had all been an elaborate lie to keep him in line while
he translated the alien's book. Alex remembered his time at the University of Las Cruces with
Tess, Lonni and Rath. He
remembered breaking out of TessÕ mind warps several times. He logged on to his computer and quickly connected with the
computer at the University of Las Cruces that was decoding the book and entered
his password, 11100100100111011001, so he could check the computer's progress. He was surprised to see the computer
had finished the translation just that morning. Glancing at the translation, Alex shook his head. He couldn't believe Tess had been
willing to go to such lengths just to get the book translated. If she would have asked him, he would
have helped, but obviously she didn't want the others to know. He printed a copy and reached for the
phone. He had to tell the others
what Tess had done. He picked up the receiver and tried to dial but his hand wouldn't
push the buttons. He tried again
and again, finally giving up in frustration and slammed the receiver down. It must have been something that Tess
had done to him. Alex grabbed the translation, the photo and his car keys and
headed out the door. If he
couldn't call the others, he would simply drive to the Crashdown and show
them. He put the car in gear and
headed toward town, but when he tried to turn to go to the Crashdown, he found
he couldn't and the car kept driving straight. He tried to fight against the compulsion but it was just too strong,
and then pain started to shoot through his head. He tried to pull off the road but was unable to, and as the
pain in his head increased his vision started to blur. Afraid he was going to crash, Alex sat
back and tried to relax, taking deep breaths, and as soon as he stopped
fighting the pain lessened and he was able to drive. Alex wasn't surprised that he was compelled to drive to the
Valenti's house. It was where Tess
lived after all. He grabbed the
translation off the seat as he exited the car, never noticing that the photo of
Leanna slipped off the top and slid between the door and the seat. He walked to the door, opened it and
entered without knocking. Then he
headed straight for Tess' room. He stopped just inside the door when he saw Tess sitting on the
bed and started to recite what he remembered from translation, "You are
the Royal Four. You were created
from the genetic materials of your alien predecessors and human
subjects..." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Kyle could hear AlexÕs voice from the other room and went to see
what was happening. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tess jumped off the bed and closed the door behind Alex, hoping no
one else had heard. "Shut up,
Alex." The pain started in Alex's head again, worse than before, and he
crossed the room toward Tess. "You did this to me," he accused,
"you sent me to Las Cruces." Kyle opened the door as Alex was speaking. "Okay," Tess soothed. "Alex, Alex let me fix your mind, you're not thinking
straight." "You mind warped me for two months while I decoded that silly
book for you and now there's nothing left for you to mind warp. You destroyed my mind!" The pain in Alex's head increased and
he put a hand to his head crying, ÒHow could you do this to me?" Alex noticed Kyle and drew Tess' attention to him. "Kyle get out," Tess said dismissively. Kyle had heard their conversation and he wasn't sure what to make
of it. But it was obvious that
Alex was upset, "What's going on?" he asked Tess. "Kyle go!" Tess yelled, starting to panic. The pain in Alex's head was overwhelming and he was practically
hysterical, "I have nothing.
I might as well be dead." Kyle didn't know what was wrong, but Alex was obviously
freaked. "Hey just calm
down," he soothed. Tess didn't know how Alex had broken the mind warp so completely
but she had to fix it or he would tell Max everything. "He's right, okay," she
shouted at Alex. "Calm down! Just calm down!" She grabbed Alex by the shoulders and
he tried to push her away. "No," he shouted, "you can't mind warp me! NO!" Tess ignored Alex and started the mind warp. AlexÕs mind was jumbled, fragmented,
and she wondered if she could fix it, but suddenly she was pushed out as
everything went black and Alex collapsed onto the floor. Kyle rushed forward and knelt beside him, "Alex!" He fumbled for a pulse but didn't feel
one. He turned to Tess,
"We've got to call an ambulance." He jumped to his feet and started out of the room but Tess
grabbed his arm and he turned to her. "Kyle wait," she said, as she quickly started the mind
warp. She erased the events from
his mind and left him in a kind of trance on her bed. Then she picked up her cell phone and quickly dialed Lonni. As soon as the phone was answered, Tess, almost hysterical,
blurted out the situation, "We've got a big problem, Alex is lying dead on
my bedroom floor." "What?" Lonni asked. "What happened?" "He broke out of the new memories I gave him and came to my
house. I tried to fix his memory
but his mind must have been too weak to take it. Kyle saw the whole thing but I made him forget." "This is bad," Lonni said. "If it looks like Alex died from alien causes it could
make the others suspicious."
Lonni thought for a moment, "Did Alex drive to your house?" "Yes," Tess said. "Okay," Lonni said, "we'll make it look like a car
accident." "We are suppose to meet tonight at the Crashdown," Tess
added. "Good then thereÕs a reason he was driving. What route would he take to get there
from his house?" Lonni asked. Tess thought for a moment, "Dexter Highway, he would take the
old Dexter Highway." "We don't have much time," Lonni said. "Put his body in his car, and Rath
and I will be there in a few minutes.
We will take care of the accident while you put together an alibi for
yourself, and clean up any other messes, including Kyle." "Okay," Tess said, "I'll see you in a
minute." She hung up the
phone and turned back to Kyle and mind warped him to see Alex as a duffel
bag. Then she snapped her fingers
in front of his face.
"Kyle. Kyle, will you
help me load my luggage into the car?" Kyle jumped up, "Of course." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Liz stood staring at the coroner's van, where Alex's body still
lay, long after the others had left.
She still couldn't believe Alex was really dead, but there was no way it
was a simple traffic accident.
Somehow Liz knew it was murder and she wouldn't rest until she found out
exactly what happened. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Deputy Lopez called out to get the Sheriff's attention,
"Sheriff Hansen, Sheriff Hansen, the tow truck driver is here to remove
the Whitman boy's car. Do you want
us to take it to the lab?" Hansen looked at the totaled car and shook his head, "I don't
see any reason for that, Lopez.
It's just an auto accident, there's no need for a big investigation and
we don't want his parents to have to see it." He motioned to the tow truck, "Tell him to take it to
the junkyard." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Cry Your Name) (Monday, April 30th, 2001) Lonni waited until the next morning to contact Tess and they met
in the desert as usual. "What are we going to do now?" Tess asked. Lonni sighed, "We'll wait and see what happens and then we'll
decide what to do. But for now,
don't say anything about the translation." Tess nodded and handed Alex's copy of the translation to
Lonni. "I found this on
him. Alex must have remembered
everything and downloaded a copy." Lonni flipped through the pages, "Could he have contacted
anyone before he came to you?" Tess shook her head, "No. I put an irresistible compulsion in his mind, like a
post-hypnotic suggestion. If he
ever remembered, he wouldn't be able to speak to anyone except me and he had to
come to me as soon as he could." "So you're sure he didn't tell anyone else?" Lonni
asked. "Yeah, I'm sure," Tess said. "Kyle was there but I took care of him." "Like you took care of Alex?" Rath scoffed. "The new memories I gave Alex shouldn't have worn off,"
Tess said defensively. "Maybe
something triggered it." "Or maybe," Rath suggested, "you don't have as much
control over your powers as you think." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (The Evans kitchen) Song Playing: White Flag by Dido Max laughed as he and Liz reminisced about Alex, "Remember
the time he electrified Mr. Hoffman's desk?" "Yeah," Liz said.
"You know, he almost got suspended for that." Max shook his head, "Never happen. The teachers loved him. That guy could get away with anything. At the prom, I overheard Mr. Hoffman
telling Se–ora Villa the whole chair thing. Thought it was a riot." Liz's heart suddenly felt heavy because Max mentioned the prom but
she couldn't just let it go.
"Yeah, about the prom," Liz said. "I saw you kiss Tess." Max couldn't speak.
The memory of that night was like a nightmare to him. Liz had broken his heart, again, and
then he had found himself kissing Tess.
When it was happening, it had seemed wrong but he hadn't been able to
stop himself, and when it had ended he had felt so ashamed. He didn't know Liz had seen them kissing but it certainly
explained why sheÕd left so suddenly.
When Max didn't say anything, Liz continued, "It's okay. You're moving on." Max wanted to say so much to her, to apologize, to explain about
the kiss and tell her it didn't mean anything. To tell her that no matter what, he would never love anyone
but her. "Liz," he
started but she cut him off. "No," she said decisively. No matter how much it hurt, she had to stand by her decision
to let him go. It was better for
both of them, wasn't it?
"We've discussed this.
You're moving on and I am moving on, and that's a decision we've
made." Liz knew she was
rambling but she was quickly approaching hysteria and she wanted to
finish. "I just wanted you to
know that I saw you and that I'm okay with it, okay?" Max smiled sadly, knowing Liz was lying but being stoic for both
their sakes. "Okay." "Okay," Liz said and suddenly she had to get away from
him. For the first time, being
with him made her sad. The fact
that they weren't going to be together was slowly crushing her heart. "Thank you very much for the
macaroni and cheese, and, um, thank you for listening." She slipped off the stool and walked to the door but as she
reached it, a cold shiver of fear and foreboding raced down her spine. It was so strong that it prompted her
to stop and turn back to him.
"Just always be my friend.
Will you do that, Max?" "You know I will," he promised solemnly. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Cry Your Name) (Tuesday, May 1st, 2001) Max ran to catch up with Valenti as he left the ceremony,
"Sheriff, we have to talk." Valenti turned to Max, "If this is about what I said to Liz
the other night, I don't have any apologies to make." Max was incredulous, "How can you say that to us? How can you even think..." Valenti cut him off, "This is difficult for everybody,
Max." Max was growing angrier by the moment and stuck his finger in
Valenti's face. "Alex Whitman
did not kill himself, okay? It
didn't happen. And you'd better
not let Hanson or anyone else put that in some file." Valenti had brought the file with him so he could show Max before
it was officially released. He
reached into his truck and handed it to Max, "Here." "What's that?" Max asked, fearing he already knew. "It's everything we've discovered about Alex Whitman over the
last two days," Valenti said.
"Read it, Max." Max skimmed over the file,
looking for anything to prove Valenti and the others wrong but damning words
jumped out at him with alarming regularity. mood swings altered behavior falling grades depression And then he reached the description of the crash. The police had determined the car had
been driven deliberately into the truck because of a number of factors. The possibility that Alex had fallen asleep at the wheel had been
ruled out because of the curviness of the road. It would have been impossible for him to navigate the other
turns just moments before, and then be asleep enough to go over the
medium. Plus, the car had been
accelerating, and most of the time when someone falls asleep at the wheel,
their foot relaxes and the car slows.
By the time Max had reached the end of the report, he was
reluctantly convinced it must have been suicide. He handed the report back to Valenti with a nod,
"Thanks." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (The Whitman House - Alex's room) Michael listened with disbelief as Liz laid one piece of evidence
after another before them, proving Alex couldn't have killed himself, and then
as Max, Tess and Isabel discounted them all. Liz's small form made her appear like a child against Isabel and
Max's height but she didn't back down from their anger or her arguments, even
when Max towered over her enraged.
Instead she fought back against him, "You don't want to think
that Alex was killed by an alien because that would mean you are
responsible." Everyone was surprised by her outburst but Max recoiled like she
slapped him. "Let's go,"
he said simply. Michael had watched Liz in a lot of situations. She was the peacemaker, the planner,
the cool and collected one who never hesitated to help them. He had seen her happy, sad, worried,
scared, but he had never seen her like she was today. This Liz was confident, determined, and her eyes flashed
with a terrible fury and purpose.
But as Michael rose to follow the others, the thing that worried him the
most was the sinking feeling he had in the pit of his stomach; Liz was right. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tess took a walk to get some privacy for her call to Lonni. The last thing she needed was one of
the Valenti's overhearing her conversation. Lonni answered on the second ring, "What have you got?" "Liz won't accept that Alex's death was an accident or
suicide,Ó Tess explained. ÒShe
thinks he was murdered.Ó Lonni shrugged, "So what?" "By an alien," Tess added. "Liz isn't going to let this go. She is investigating against Max's
orders. We had a big fight about
it after the funeral and Liz won't back down." Lonni laughed, begrudgingly admiring Liz. "Going against MaxÕs orders. I'm liking Liz more every day." Tess ignored Lonni's comment, "I didn't have a chance earlier
but I can mind warp her so she will stop, or," suddenly a new idea
occurred to her, "we could just kill her." "No, another mysterious death would be too suspicious,"
Lonni said. "But think about
it," she said consideringly, as a plan formed in her mind. "We could use Liz's investigation
to our advantage. It could be a
golden opportunity for us." Tess frowned in confusion, "What do you mean?" Lonni explained, "Liz investigates Alex's death. We leave clues to lead her to discover
that someone took him and made him translate the book. She finds the translation and gives it
to Max. We already have the
perfect patsy so we just set her up.
Then Liz discovers the identity of the killer and we are off the
hook." Tess shivered wondering who was going to take the fall, "Who
are we setting up?" Lonni sighed, "Leanna, of course." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Rath waited until Lonni ended the call, "Why don't we just
set up Tess?" "It would be nice, and it could come to that," Lonni
said, "but we might still need her.
This way we give them a killer and we still keep some collateral." "Okay," Rath agreed, "so what kind of clues do we
leave?" Lonni nodded, "We need to get Liz to investigate the Olsons
and Leanna. When she finds out
they don't exist, she will figure out Alex never went to Sweden." Lonni motioned to the phone as she spoke to Rath, "You
arrange for some flowers to be delivered to the Whitman's from the Olsons. And tonight we'll go back to the school
and the Whitman's and change the Olsen's contact information again to someone
else in Sweden. Then if anyone
tries to call, they will get a wrong number. Maybe IÕll even leave a clue on his computer. Liz is sure to search there." ÒIf we leave enough clues, Liz wonÕt have any doubts about where
to look for answers.Ó She grabbed
a phone book and turned to the florist section. ÒThe OlsenÕs would definitely
send some flowers to poor AlexÕs family.Ó
"What if Liz doesn't figure it out?" Rath asked. Lonni shrugged, "Then we will plant some more obvious cluesn
or get Tess to plant some ideas in LizÕs head." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Crashdown CafŽ) As Liz looked through the photos of Alex, she became more and more
depressed. She just couldn't
accept he was gone. The Max from the future had told her, Alex had attended their reception,
so he had been alive in the other time line. And now he was dead because of something she and the other
Max had done. Something she had
changed had killed her best friend and she swore that she would get to the
bottom of it. Liz saw the pictures of Alex's striptease from Isabel's birthday
party. She and Maria had helped
him prepare for his dance, teaching him all of the moves he would need, but she
hadn't been present for the actual event.
Another alien crisis had prevented her from seeing it. And even though she had the photos and
could imagine what it had been like, she'd regret missing it for the rest of
her life. The striptease was just one thing in a long line of regrets and
missed opportunities; graduation, college, even the little things like movie
night. There were so many things
they would never get to do together.
So many things she would miss about him. That was why she had to figure this out. That was why she had to discover what had happened. But no matter what she did, Alex was
gone and there was no bringing him back. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - It's Too Late and It's Too Bad) (Thursday, May 10th, 2001) (The Evans house Ð MaxÕs room) It had been a few days since Alex's funeral and Tess was getting
impatient because Max had not even touched her in a tender or romantic way
since the prom. So she decided to
jump right in. She turned to him,
ÒMax, what about the kiss?Ó A look of confusion crossed his face, ÒWhat?Ó "The kiss at the prom,Ó Tess reminded him, annoyed. ÒThe infamous kiss." "Right," Max said apprehensively. He had pointedly avoided the subject
since the Prom, and after a few days when Tess hadnÕt mentioned it, heÕd hoped
she take the hint that it was end.
But obviously heÕd been wrong. Tess continued, "With what happened to Alex, I can understand
putting the subject on hold. I
couldn't deal with it either, but now, I just, I can't help wondering where we
are." "Right," Max said, wondering how to tell her what he
thought. "Right." But he didnÕt want to hurt her and he
took a breath before continuing.
"You and me together, it scares me. Right or wrong, I feel like if I follow that road, I can
never go back." Tess immediately dismissed the possibility that Max didn't want to
be with her and focused on the other part of his admission, "You're scared
to go home." "What is home?" Max asked. "Is home really up there? I just feel like this whole idea about where we come
from..." he trailed off.
"I want to believe it.
I want to understand it more and more, but it just feels like this
dream, this, this dream that I can never really quite touch or see or,
feel. And Earth just seems so much
more," he looked up at Tess, "real." Tess couldn't believe that Max was so opposed to going home. She would have to work on him. Max changed the subject, "Are you hungry? I think we still have some frozen
macaroni and cheese, if Liz and I didn't eat it all." Liz, Tess thought.
Everything was always about Liz.
She smiled and concentrated on using a friendly tone, "Oh, when
were you and Liz eating frozen macaroni and cheese?" "It was the night before the funeral," Max said. "Liz was totally stressed out and
needed someone to talk to. We
stayed up all night just reminiscing about Alex." "That's nice," Tess said sweetly as she started the mind
warp. She had been gradually mind
warping Max to turn against Liz, but obviously it wasn't going fast
enough. True, Max had disagreed
and argued with Liz at the funeral but Max had already been worried about the
cause of Alex's death and Tess had been using her powers to push him over the
edge. She needed to accelerate the pace and get Max to turn from Liz
completely. Tess was convinced
that only then would he turn to her and accept the idea of returning home. She placed the idea in his mind that Liz didn't care about them
and was endangering them all with her investigation. She emphasized Liz's recent behavior and accusatory speech
in Alex's room, reinforcing it in Max's memory. She also tied it together with Max's disappointment about
not being with Liz, hoping it would ensure some spectacular fights between
them. Tess also reinforced Max's natural feeling that they should all
stay together. Isabel's
declaration that she was leaving for college had really scared Tess; she
couldn't let Isabel go, and Tess told Max to stop it from happening in any way
possible. Tess reminded him he was
the leader, the King, and the group should obey him no matter what, and he
shouldn't put up with any descent. Finally she placed the kernel of an idea in Max's mind that he
didn't belong on Earth. He was an
alien and he should want to go home. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - It's Too Late and It's Too Bad) (Monday, May 14th, 2001) (The Parker House Ð LizÕs Room) Song Playing: I Don't Know How to Let You Go by Sarah McLachlan Liz found her passport in her desk and stuffed it in her bag. She had gotten it two years ago in
anticipation that she would travel with her Grandmother, but it had never
happened. Her Grandmother had once told her to follow her heart, and no
matter how crazy this trip to Sweden seemed, Liz felt that she was doing the
right thing. She couldn't rest
until she knew the truth about Alex.
It might save all of their lives. She gathered her bags and let herself out of her house. Her parents were at the store and if
she hurried, she could get away without them seeing her. Liz quickly walked the few blocks to
the highway and waited for the cab she had ordered. Max had been driving home when he'd had a compulsion to take a
different route. He turned onto
the highway and after driving a few miles suddenly saw Liz sitting on a fence
at the side of the road. He pulled
the Jeep off the road next to her and saw her luggage. "Liz, where are you going?" "Sweden," Liz admitted. "Are you kidding me?" he asked, suddenly angry. "Get in the car." "No," Liz said. Max jumped out of the Jeep, "What did you tell your
parents?" "I'm gonna call them
from the airport and tell them my girlfriend in Florida had a crisis and she
needed me." "They'll call your aunt," Max pointed out. "Your aunt will say you're not
there." "Well, then, I'll think of something else," Liz
responded. A cab stopped and the driver called out, "You the
airport?" "No," Max said, hoping he could stop Liz. Liz spoke up, "Actually, I am. You're late."
She jumped down off the fence and Max stood between her and the
cab. As much as he thought she was
going crazy, he was scared to death of losing her. "Liz, don't get in that cab," he pleaded softly. Liz looked at him for a moment. She hated fighting with Max but she didn't have a
choice. He was standing between
her and the truth. Handing her bag
to the driver, she called out, "Load it up." Max was growing desperate and he took one of her bags and tossed
it into the Jeep. "Liz, get
in my car," he ordered. "What are you gonna do?
You're gonna throw me in it?" Liz challenged him as she retrieved
her bag from the Jeep. "You have to listen to me," Max insisted, his fear of
losing her making him desperate. Liz turned back to him, "Don't even pull that King card on
me, Max. I am not Isabel. You can't boss me around." Max closed the gap between them, "If this is about being
pissed at me, fine. Punish me all
you want. But what about everyone
else? What you're doing puts them
at risk." "What I'm doing may save their lives," argued Liz, as
she turned toward the cab. Max followed her, "You have a responsibility to Michael,
Isabel, and Tess not to get in that cab." Liz cut him off, "Uh-huh, and I have a responsibility to Alex
to find out what really happened." Max could hear the finality in Liz's voice and he knew he was
losing her. He said the one thing
he was sure would stop her, "Liz, if you go, our friendship is over."
Liz felt her heart break but she couldn't let it stop her. She had already lost Max. "I guess that's the price I
have to pay. Somebody killed Alex
and covered up his death. Why
don't you see that, Max? Wake
up." Liz's words were like a knife through his heart. He couldn't believe she was willing to
end their friendship over the investigation. He thought she would surely back down when he threatened
her, but he had been wrong. Max watched as the cab drove farther and farther into the
distance, taking Liz away from him.
He was so sure that Liz was wrong about how Alex died but her unwavering
confidence caused a sliver of doubt to pierce through his certainty for a
moment. But a voice in his head
made him push his doubts aside.
Liz couldn't be right, there was no way. She just didn't want to accept the truth that Alex had
committed suicide. Rather than face the truth, Liz was willing to betray them all to
prove she was right. Then suddenly
Liz's final words rang through his head. 'Wake up.' Liz, his best friend, his soul mate, had turned against him, just
like his sister. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Swedish Embassy) Jens Finna saw the picture on Mr. Stockman's desk. "Oh, the Forstora building,"
he said, picking up the photo. Mr. Stockman was stunned.
Liz Parker had seemed so desperate to find the building and he wanted to
help her, but he'd had no idea how he was going to identify the building. He had been thinking about passing the
photo to an architect friend to see if he recognized it. "You are sure that is the correct
building, Herr Finna?" Jens looked at the picture again and nodded. Architecture was a hobby of his. "Ja, I am sure. It was very famous when it was built in
the early 60s, because of its ultra-modern design but it was found to be
structurally unsound and it had to be torn down." "Do you remember when?" Mr. Stockman asked. Jens shook his head, "Early 90s I think, but Herr Kunskap in
Commerce, or Herr Saker in Security could probably tell you for sure. They both used to live in
Stockholm very near here." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Roswell Observatory) Tess stopped her car in the driveway of the observatory when she
saw Max's Jeep. The situation with
Max was not proceeding as she had hoped and Tess now accepted that there would
be no chance of Max going to Antar with her unless he had a good reason. She had hoped he would want to return
to be with her but it was taking too long, and now time was running out and she
had to resort to desperate measures. Tess had witnessed what had happened between Max and Isabel
earlier at school and she had used her powers to push him to stop Isabel. She had watched the interaction with
great satisfaction, knowing he had been so cruel to his beloved sister. Tess had despised Isabel for months
because she had felt Isabel should have been a better friend to her. Besides the fight with
Isabel, Tess knew Max and Liz had been at odds over her investigation and she
suspected Max would need to be alone to lick his wounded ego. She had been roughly manipulating his
emotions, hoping for explosive results, but when she had seen his Jeep at the
observatory she knew she was succeeding beyond her imaginings. Tonight was the night she would secure her place in his life
because she knew Max would never leave her if she was carrying his child. She used her powers to change the cushions of the passenger seat of her car into a sleeping bag and walked over to where he was standing. "I thought I'd find you
here." Somehow Max wasn't surprised by Tess' presence. She always seemed to find him when he
was miserable. "My whole life
I've wanted to be this person, this normal person. Human. My whole
life I've been thinking that this alien side of me was this bad thing, this
thing that made me a freak, this monster.
I realize that I haven't just been hiding from the government and the
law all this time, I've been hiding from myself. I don't know what's going on anymore. I thought I knew but I don't. I've lost everyone." Tess started a mind warp increasing his feeling of
loneliness. Then she made herself
more desirable to him, but also supportive and accepting of everything he
was. Finally she placed the idea
in his mind that they belonged together and uttered the words to back it up,
"I'll be here for eternity." She pulled his hand out of his pocket and used the connection of
flesh to strengthen the mind warp, using all of Max's senses against him. It was easy to push through his
confusion and make him want to kiss her.
And when he did, she took the opportunity to use the full force of her
powers on him. As the kiss ended, Max was fully under her thrall. "I'm ready to wake up now,"
he said. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Baby It's You) (Tuesday, May 15th, 2001) Song Playing: Hurt by Nine Inch Nails Max awoke slowly with a throbbing pain in his head and a strange
weight on his chest. As he
attempted to sit up, he looked down and saw a mass of blonde curls, and the
events of the previous evening came rushing back to him. He had slept with Tess. Tess had been there when he had been in pain over losing Liz, and
feeling sorry for himself, and it had just happened. He couldn't even remember making the decision to be with
her, it was all just like a bad dream.
He had betrayed his own feelings and his heart, but worst of all he had
betrayed Liz. He loved Liz with
all his heart and soul, but he'd had sex with Tess. He had used Tess in the worst way, trying to salve the empty
feeling inside that the confrontation with Liz had left. But like alcohol or drugs, it was only
a temporary fix and now in the harsh light of day, he could see what a horrible
mistake it had been. He was already
losing Liz and sleeping with Tess would probably ruin any chance he might have
had of getting her back. Suddenly he felt sick, disgusted with his behavior, that he had
let things get so totally out of control.
He was supposed to be the leader, the King, but just kept screwing
up. Tess started to stir awake and Max was instantly filled with
panic. What would he say to
her? What would she expect from
him now? Tess raised her eyes to him and he winced at the shining happiness
he saw. She was joyful about what
had happened between them because it was what she'd wanted all along. "Hey," she greeted him with a beaming smile. Max tried to be sympathetic to her feelings. They could talk about what had happened
and why it was a mistake later. He
forced a smile, "Hey." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (The Valenti house) From his bed on the couch, Kyle watched Tess and Max kissing at
the door, and felt a strange sensation that he could only describe as
jealousy. He shook his head. He couldn't be feeling jealous though
because he thought of Tess as a sister.
Didn't he? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Tess shut the door to her room and stopped in front of the mirror. She placed her hands on her flat stomach and practiced acting surprised, "Oh my god."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Baby It's You) (Wednesday, May 16th, 2001) (The DeLuca House) Rath waited until Michael's bike was out of sight and he stepped
out of the bushes beside Maria's house, already pressing the speed dial. "Yo," he said into the phone, "Liz and Maria just
left here, headed for Las Cruces." "Okay," Lonni said. "You get back down here and we'll set up a surprise for
them." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ As the day had passed,
Michael's worries and doubts became stronger and stronger. Max had been acting so strangely lately
not even willing to listen to Liz and her theories about Alex's death. But no matter what Max said, Michael
believed that at least some of what Liz thought must be true. Liz was smart and she had
uncovered some pretty convincing evidence, and Michael knew if there was some
kind of conspiracy Liz would be the one to figure it out. Her theory that an alien had killed
Alex seemed pretty far-fetched but something was definitely wrong with the
whole thing. Michael didn't know
what had happened but he knew one thing for sure, Alex didn't kill
himself. If it was true and Alex had been killed by an alien, then Maria
and Liz could be walking into a trap in Las Cruces, and he couldn't let that
happen. He got on his bike. Maria and Liz had only been gone a couple
of hours. He should be able to
catch up with them easily before it got dark. Then he would just follow them discretely and make sure they
didn't get into any trouble. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (University of Las Cruces) Lonni watched Liz and Maria across the quad. They had been making good progress,
checking the dorm, questioning the students, but she wanted them to concentrate
on Leanna and she had just the thing to push them in the proper direction. She used her powers to make herself appear like Leanna and
threaded her way through the crowd as Liz and Maria stopped to listen to the
concert. Positioning herself in
plain sight, she knew it would only be a matter of time until they recognized
her. Watching them carefully but
surreptitiously, she instantly knew when they spotted her and she turned and
walked quickly away. Glancing
behind her a couple of times was enough to tell her that they had taken the
bait and were following her. Lonni
smiled to herself as she picked up her pace, Leanna would be their focus
now. And if Liz was as smart as
she hoped, tomorrow she would lead them to the translation and then they could
go home. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Episode - Baby It's You) (Thursday, May 17th, 2001) (University of Las Cruces) Once Liz had explained to Professor Don Peters that her best
friend Ray had died suddenly while working on an important computer project, he
had been very sympathetic and eager to help. But Liz was no closer to discovering what Alex had been
doing, and as they headed toward the Litvack Building she tried to get an
idea. "So, what exactly is so
special about these computers anyway?" Don shrugged, "Nothing yet. Right now they're just multi-million dollar toys. The greatest potential is in the field
of cryptography. In theory, a
quantum computer can break just about any code." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Leanna's Rental) Lonni sat in front of the laptop and used Alex's password to gain
access to the university computer.
First she changed the dates on when the translation was e-mailed to her
computer, making it appear that it was done when Alex had been there. Then she pulled up the translation
document and altered it to read the way she wanted. She altered all of the sentences that referred to things she
didnÕt want Max and the others to know, replacing them with gibberish about
alien abduction scenarios. She
changed the description of the Granolith and the instructions for its
operation. Then, because Tess had
informed her of her plan, Lonni omitted all the details of conception and
pregnancy covered by the book, leaving only a few vague sentences mentioning it
as a possibility. Finally she
re-saved the document, making sure it had the correct date on it, so there
would be no question of its authenticity. Then using the real Granolith instructions, Lonni created a
control crystal for the Granolith and placed it in the box she had made,
setting it next to the computer. Before leaving, she set the explosive device she
manufactured. Cuerena had taught
them a trick or two and the device was certainly a trick. It was designed to look menacing but it
was really harmless. When Liz,
Michael and Maria found the room, the device would flash and make noise and
create a small explosion but it was just an illusion. The device was no more powerful than a small firecracker but
it would ensure that Liz and the others would accept the authenticity of the
document, because no one would go to the trouble of guarding something that had
no value. Lonni smiled at her handiwork. She had left clues to lead Liz, Michael and Maria there, she
just hoped that they were smart enough to figure it out. Otherwise Leanna would have to make
another appearance and lead them to it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ (Roswell, NM) Michael witnessed the start of the snowstorm from the road and
figured that Max and Isabel must be at the park. They had often gone there as children and Isabel would never
risk starting a snowstorm near their house. He stopped the motorcycle near them and motioned to the snow,
"A little public, isn't it?" Isabel shrugged, "It's a freak storm, you know, who
cares?" "Not me," Michael said. "I got bigger things to talk about. Maxwell, there's two things I need to
tell you. First is, I've been
lying to you about Maria, Liz, and the whole investigation. Instead of stopping 'em, I've been
helping 'em. Second thing is, it
was worth it." He handed the
translation to Max and the box containing the crystal to Isabel. Max looked at the pages and box suspiciously, "What's
this?" "It's everything we've been looking for," Michael
said. "It's a translation to
the book. You know, the
book." Isabel was so surprised she could hardly speak, "You're
kidding." "Not even a little," Michael answered. Isabel looked at Max, who was skimming the pages, "Well, what
does it say?" Max shook his head incredulously, "It's the way home. We can go home." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Lonni and Rath watched as Michael, Isabel and Max stood in the
snow reading the translation. With a smile Lonni took out her phone and dialed Tess'
number. As soon as Tess answered,
Lonni got right to the point, "Call Jennifer Coleman and get her back to
school now. And no screw-ups this
time. Make sure that she doesn't
remember anything except what we want her to know. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ |
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