It was one of those warm, blue and rose-colored afternoons, and Max looked out over the Antarean landscape from the upper window of the spacious and comfortable living chambers of his palace. He did not see the pleasant dwellings of the nearby city, nor were his eyes enjoying the view of the calm golden sea just beyond... his mind was a million light years away from this pleasant Antarean summer day. As he stared lost into the space beyond, a gentle touch caressed him from behind. Max turned, smiled, and embraced Liz. Their lips touched... lightly at first... then passionately. Max pulled Liz more tightly against him, enveloping her in his arms. He felt her left hand run up through his hair, caressing the back of his head; her right hand was against his chest, as though to feel the beat of his heart. Max's heart was full and happy. Time, it seemed, could not encroach on this moment. Then the image of Liz began to fade. Soon, like the morning's mist, it was gone. A tear coursed slowly down Max's cheek... He was alone again.

"What good is all this!"

Max didn't care that he was shouting, his voice betraying the pain and anguish he had been holding back for so long... much too long.

"It's all so freakin' wrong..."

As if just waking, Max realized that someone was knocking at his chamber door.

"Enter."

"Is everything alright, Max? I heard yelling!"

It was Michael, Max's best friend, confidant, and General of his armies. Michael and Max had been friends since childhood, had shared secrets, knew each other's hearts and souls like no one else on Antar ever could. They were far more than friends and closer than most brothers.

"Michael," said Max hesitatingly, "Do you remember when Liz told us about being visited by a future me. You remember that the future me told her that she had to turn me away, because our being together would keep me from marrying Tess and that my powers and Tess' would both be needed when it came time to save the Earth, and that the Earth was being destroyed in his future timeline because I had married Liz and not Tess... you remember what I'm talking about?"

"Yeah," Michael volunteered cautiously, wondering where this was all going.

"Well, you know, of course, that Tess and I never married; you know why. And after graduation, Liz and I eventually got married anyway."

"Yeah." replied Michael. He laughed, but it was hard to tell if it was an amused laugh or an "Okay-spill-it-what's-this-all-about kind of laugh.

"Well," Max started rather slowly, cautiously, judging the effect of his words, "I think I know you better than anybody, and you know me better than anybody on this planet."

"Yeah. That's a fact," said Michael.

Max continued, "I've been noticing that since, well, since Liz and Maria haven't been in our lives, you know, there’s just no ‘joy’ in our lives anymore. We saved Antar, but what about our own happiness? Am I making any sense to you?"

"Yeah. I think you're making a lot of sense, pal. You know I do."

"Well," said Max, "It just seems to me that instead of saving the world, everything just kind of went wrong after that. Earth isn't even there anymore! Maybe future Max was right and Tess' not being with me was the reason Earth got destroyed. Maybe it was something else; but when our enemies destroyed Earth, everything you and I lived for died that day or was already dead: Liz, Maria, Isabel... every freakin' body! Cripes! You almost didn't make it out alive yourself!"

"Don't remind me, Max! I'm not likely to forget that if I live to be a thousand! Sheez! I almost didn't live to be 19!" Both Michael and Max laughed, but it was a subdued laughter affected by a long sadness of heart.

"I know! Sometimes, though, I wonder if we did ourselves any favor by escaping."

"Common', Max, I know how you feel. I loved... love! ...Maria as much as you've always loved Liz, and we always will, we both know it, but Antar wouldn't be here now if we had died there!"

"Yeah, we saved Antar," agreed Max. "Michael, listen, I've been thinking.... You know the granilith, the machine my future self used to go back and warn Liz to stay away from me, not to marry me."

"Yeah..."

"Well, think about this... what if we built another one, went back to before Earth was destroyed, and saved Earth... or at least Liz and Maria and Isabel... Do you think it's possible, Michael?"

Michael was silent. Max expected him to say that he was dreaming, that the past can't or shouldn't be changed, or more likely, that he couldn't put himself into harm's way like that. After all, Max was the king of Antar, and his whole future and the future of Antar itself hung in the balance. Max couldn't just run off acting with reckless abandon on a whim! Michael was ever-faithful, but he was also blunt, and most of all, he was very protective of Max.

"Do it! ... Let's do it!" blurted Michael, revealing far more emotion than Max remembered ever seeing in Michael. This sudden and seemingly uncharacteristic lack of caution caught Max by surprise... caution with Max's life, that is. With his own life, Michael was known to be reckless and bold. He was a good soldier... an excellent soldier... and an excellent friend. Yes, above all, an excellent friend!

"Mikey! What's that on your cheek?"

"My eyes are just a little... you know, these Antarean summers. I'm still not quite used to them... freakin' rose-aromaed humidity makes my eyes water. And don't call me that! You know..."

"Yeah, you hate it!"

Both of them laughed. It was a refreshing laugh, a heart-cleansing laugh that seemed to wash away some of the depression both of them had been holding in.

"Uh, Max, tell me you're not thinking of going back and changing history and marrying Tess to save the Earth!" said Michael.

Michael ducked quickly as all six pillows came flying in his direction from Max's oversized Antarean sofa. "Bite your tongue off, Michael! I said save the Earth! Some things are worse than death!"

Both of them laughed again! It was a good day, a fine day! Max breathed in the freshness of the Antarean rose-aromaed light misty summer breeze coming through his open window, and his heart felt joy, something he had almost forgotten. Michael felt it, too. Michael turned and walked briskly to the door. "I'll see what I can find out about the granilith. Maybe the plans for it are here on Antar somewhere. I think I know where to start looking, too!

Chapter II "The Trip Ahead"

"Michael, you're a genius! I don't know how you found the plans and got a team together to work on this and got it all done in just 3 months!"

"I aim to please, Maxwell! I aim to please!"

"It's hard to believe that less than 3 months ago our whole world was so different. You know what I mean, it was like I had nothing to look forward to, no plans, no hopes... But hey! Look at it! Just look at it! So this ship is going to take us back to Earth, back in time, and then bring us back here and back to our time again?"

"You got it, Maxie! Hey, it better! I'd hate to go to Earth and not go back in time or something... We'd just run into an asteroid field of Earth debris! But trust me, these guys are the best engineers and scientists on all Antar! You know that motorbike I got that can break the sound barrier in 14 seconds and disappear and reappear a thousand miles away in less than a minute, Max?"

"Hunh! Do I know! It's the only one like it in Antar! I don't think those longhaired shebble herders in the Chanesio Division will ever forget it either! When you came out of hyperspace or whatever the shifuzzle it's called on that bike of yours the first time in that mountain pasture, the royal accounts department spent a considerable sum to recompense those shebble herders for all the hair their shebbles lost!"

"Yeah," snickered Michael. "Well, I've learned to control it a little better since then. Cripes! Who knew that the wind rush from reentry would blow all the hair off of a shebble! That was an awesome sight, though, Max, a whole field full of shebbles, all of them bald as a newborn baby's butt!" Michael and Max both were laughing. "But the shebble manure market in that area was flooded with an oversupply for weeks afterward," Michael added.

At this, Max and Michael both collapsed in hysterics.

"Yeah, well, that was quite some gift!" grinned Max, after regaining some of his composure. "They gave you that bike for your work in helping to restore Antar's university system of linked science laboratories, didn't they?"

"Yep! Well, Max, you just saw the guys that invented that bike and built it. I'd say these guys can do just about anything they put their minds to!"

"So how soon can we go, Mister Genius, Michael?"

"Any time, really, Max, your kingliness," replied Michael with a bit of friendly sarcasm and a touch of smugness. "All our affairs here are taken care of. We can get a good night's sleep, have a good breakfast, and hit the road, as they say!"

"Awright, Michael! I've got to tell you, this is kind of awesome! I feel like… like we’re going to Disney World or something. I can’t remember when I’ve been this excited about anything!" Michael smiled and nodded knowingly.

It was 5 AM, a half hour earlier than Max had planned to get up, but he was ready as he would ever be and didn't want to wait any longer. As he walked into the dining room of the royal residence he found Michael already there.

"Couldn't wait, either, huh?"

Michael didn't answer, just poured another quarter of a bottle of Tabasco sauce on his Antarean blue hen egg omelet. "Next to Maria, the best thing about Earth!" said Michael, holding up the bottle. "Thank God and McIlhenny..." Michael mumbled with a mouth full of blue hen egg omelet and Tabasco sauce.

"What's that?" asked Max.

"Nothing. Just that I'm glad I had these cases of this stuff stashed away on the ship before we left! I would be freakin' in withdrawal now! We both would!" Both Max and Michael laughed for several minutes. Clearly, the atmosphere in the royal residence was a changed atmosphere, a happier more cheerful one all around. Even the maids, the cooks, and the other royal residence staff seemed more cheerful seeing Max happy again. It had been a long time.

Having finished breakfast, Max said goodbye to his staff, promising to return before they even missed him if their ship and everything worked the way it was hoped. But just in case, he left detailed secret instructions with his trusted Chief of Staff on what to do in the event of his failure to return to Antar. “I’ll put this in a safe place, Max. I’m sure I won’t ever need to read it,” replied his Chief of Staff, placing the neatly folded piece of paper into his breast pocket. Later, in his own chambers, he took the paper out and placed it on a shelf. Then he set the little Buddha statue on top of it.

Michael and Max walked together down the tree-shaded lane from the royal residence toward the nearest linked science lab, where their ship was waiting for them to board it for the flight. For a time, neither one spoke. As they passed a light blue and red-wine-colored pond on the right, Michael noticed a couple sitting under a shade tree kissing.

"You know, I've missed Maria a lot..." said Michael. "I can't wait to bring her back here and show her all the things on Antar! She'll freak!"

"Yeah," replied Max. "I'm looking forward to bringing Liz here, too. You know, Michael, Liz belongs here. She was such a great student of physics and science and space and all that. She just belongs here with me! Don't you agree?"

"I do." said Michael. "Maria, too. I mean, Maria wasn't all into physics and stuff or the honors science student like Liz, but she was, kind of, you know, a free spirit, a sort of explorer, looking to find her space. Well, now I can give it to her!"

Max chuckled, "yeah, but you're really going back because the Tabasco sauce is about all gone, aren't you?"

Michael grabbed Max in a playful bear hug, threatened to throw him into the blue-wine lake they were walking past. Both of them laughed as they acted like two high school truants skipping a day of school.

"That, too," added Michael wryly. "That, too. But I wouldn't trade Maria for all the Tabasco sauce on the planet Earth."

Max looked at Michael and smiled knowingly. He knew exactly what Michael meant, exactly what he was feeling. They walked on for a while, passing the far edge of the lake and the quaint little houses at the edge of town. They walked down the old cobbled Valdresina Street three blocks to Shebblefieldtree Lane. Four blocks down Shebblefieldtree Lane and they had arrived at the Jantoo-Bandy Science Lab, part of the Jantoo-Bandy University system. The door opened. Eight men in smocks stood inside.

"Come in," invited the elderly man who had opened the door. "Come in. We've been waiting for you."

"Thank you," replied Max politely as he and Michael stepped through the door to the inside.

It was beautiful. The ship stood in the middle of the huge hangar-like lab. It shone a bright gold with silver trimmings on the inside of the window's edges. It somewhat resembled a classic flying saucer in shape, but it sported multiple decks like a cruise ship. It had no landing assemblage. Instead, it relied on an anti-gravity lock system that held it solidly in place without any part of the ship actually touching the ground. The interior lights shone through the windows with a bright white light, accenting the silver interior trim of the huge fore window and the gold of the outer plating. The propulsion system emitted a soft purring hum. It seemed perfect in every way.

“It’s beautiful!” said Max. But it’s nothing at all like the original granilith.”

“New and improved, Max... not your father’s Oldsmobile.”

Max looked at Michael. “Michael, you watched way too many commercials on Earth. Didn’t your TV remote have a mute button?” Max and Michael both laughed, then they boarded without further delay.

"How long to reach Earth at the timeline we are returning to?" Max asked the chief scientist.

"We figure it to be seventeen days, three hours, twenty minutes, and three seconds, but that's a rough estimate," replied the chief.

"Yeah, right!" mumbled Michael to Max. "He means it could be three and a half seconds or maybe three and a quarter seconds..." Max and Michael smiled a knowing smile at each other. They knew that they could bet their lives on these guys... and they were! Once in the pilot and co-pilot seats, Max and Michael powered up the propulsion system to one third, enough for a gentle lift-off. One of the engineers pressed a button that opened the roof of the lab as though it were the astrodome (which it actually somewhat resembled), and they lifted their craft out of the hangar, up through the atmosphere of Antar, and off into the void of space. They were bound for Earth. Eight uneventful hours later, Max decided to get some sleep, and Michael took the pilot's seat. "This machine flies itself!" said Michael. I don't think it needs either of us." Max laughed his agreement and soon had gone off into dreamland.

Chapter III "The Island of the Jah-ee"

Max was almost to the river. If he could make it there, he might be safe. The dense, deep forest of Nan-torel on Antar was not a friendly or pleasant place to be in the hottest part of the Antarean summer. In fact, it would have been downright dangerous even without Kivar and a few dozen of his mercenary soldiers close behind bent on putting an early end to Max's short life. He had been on the run for five days, hiding wherever he could in the deep forest, always staying one step ahead... just one step ahead. His body was covered with welts from encounters with the ever-present poison Guma plants that abounded in the Nan-torel. On three occasions, Max had had to fight off wild pawgors, a large, cat-like predator that hunted in the deep forest. At night, Max slept covered under deep piles of Ama leaves from the Ama trees. Not that he was worried about Kivar's mercenaries finding him at night, but this was the only means of protection from the bat-like rob-jeta that descend on any living thing in the night like flying piranhas. The rob-jeta can devour a shebble down to the bones in under three minutes, attacking the shebble as it sleeps. Fortunate for shebbles, shebbles ---and most people--- do not normally venture into the deep Nan-torel at night.

It was day now. And it was hot. If Max could get to the river, he might escape downstream before Kivar's mercenaries found him. Max hurried through the trees, jumping over logs, leaping nimbly over obstructions, occasionally looking back to see if he was still alone. That's when it happened. As he jumped over a large log, it rose off the ground several inches, enough to catch Max's foot. "Cripes!" thought Max as he sprawled forward and headed toward the ground. He had tripped over an inoffensive Wiffer, a large turtle-like animal that had decided to move just as he leapt over it.

It might have been a bruising fall, but Max never hit the ground. Somewhere in mid-fall, he felt something tighten around his body like a vise, and he saw the ground start going down... No, he was going up! There was no denying now that the vise-like object gripping his body was a talon, a bird's claw... one large enough to go all the way around Max's body. But no bird on Antar was so large! The only bird near this size was the jah-ee, also known as the lightning hawk, the last-sight vulture, or a dozen other names in various Antarean mythologies. But that's just what the jah-ee was: A myth! Max looked up. It was a huge bird, black for the most part, with a head like an eagle's. All the mythologies said that the jah-ee was black... but Max noticed that the feathers underneath the huge wings were a rainbow of colors, as beautiful as any parrot's plumage. Of course, this would not be common knowledge, as anyone who had ever seen the underside of a jah-ee's wings had likely just seen their last sight ever. Max remembered another fact about the jah-ee that most mythologies shared: its talons were hollow, and deadly poisonous... One scratch was fatal... always! No medicine, no herb, no cure known existed that could change that. As the jah-ee rose upward for the sky, Max reached up with his hand toward the treetops, and a large branch fell toward the bird, striking it on the left wing. The bird plummeted, with Max still firmly gripped in its right talon. As they hit the ground, the jah-ee lost its grip. Max got up to run, but he couldn't.

Pain… in my wing. "My wing? I'm losing it!" Max thought. "The poison from the talons has affected my mind." Max put his hand over one of the scratches made by the massive poison talon. A greenish light glowed briefly at the sight of the scratch. The scratch was still there.

Pain! Sadness! Liz!

Liz? Liz had flashed in his mind. What was that all about?

She's sitting at home with the children. She'll be devastated when I don't return. Sadness! She'll die. She won't leave the nest to eat or drink until I return to guard our children. Can't now... Wing... Pain... Broken...

Max sat down on a nearby log and shook his head to clear it of the poison's effects. He tried again to use his healing powers to heal his poisoned wounds, but it wasn't working. "I'm losing it! I'm really losing it," he thought out loud. Then Max slowly raised his head and reality began to dawn on him. He looked at the jah-ee. The jah-ee lay on its right side with its massive left wing outstretched. This one wing must have measured 30 feet in length, Max judged. And Max could see that either the tree branch or the fall had broken the wing near the middle.

Pain! Sadness!

"Yes, I understand now," said Max. These images and sensations in my mind... they're coming from you, aren't they? But how do I talk to you? Can you understand?"

The jah-ee did not respond in any way to Max's question.

"No. I guess you wouldn't understand my words, would you? You seem to communicate with images and emotions. Let me see..." Max closed his eyes and concentrated. He created a series of images and emotions in his mind: Liz... love... sadness... loss... danger... escape... enemies... friendship. That one was a little hard. How does one communicate the desire for friendship to a bird?

The jah-ee stood up on its feet and seemed to be searching Max's thoughts.

Help.

Max nodded. " Yes. I think." He approached the massive wing at the point where it was broken and placed both of his hands on it. The broken area began to glow with a greenish aura. After a few moments, Max removed his hands. The jah-ee stretched its wing out to its full length, then its other wing, too, testing the breeze under them. The jah-ee then folded both wings back against its sides.

Gratitude. Joy. Happiness. Urgency.

Urgency? Max placed an emotional image in his mind: Confusion!

Talons. Death. Scratches. Max. Death.

"Me? You’re telling me that I'm going to die?”

Talons. Death. Scratches. Max. Death. Waterfall.

Max again responded with "Confusion."

Fly. River. Waterfall. Scratch. No scratch. Urgency.

The poison was beginning to affect Max significantly now, and he was having trouble thinking, much less communicating. He tried to stand up but it was impossible. He could not move a single muscle. The world around him began to spin and then everything faded to black.

When Max awoke, he found himself again in the claw of the jah-ee, and the jah-ee was flying high above the golden sea... on its way to feed him to its babies he guessed. Oh well, nothing he could do about it now. Max was totally unable to move so much as a little finger. This poison was powerful. Two little scratches! That's all he had received from the jah-ee's talons. And he was totally paralyzed. Max relaxed his mind and determined that at least he would die without fear. He was unable to speak or move and could not form a coherent image in his brain. Max could only watch as they flew across the golden sea and later across an island... then another island... and two more. Finally, the jah-ee began to descend toward a far away island on the horizon. As they approached the shore, Max saw the beach, then trees, then a large plain. At the far end of the plain, the jah-ee alit upon the branch of a very large tree. And a very large tree it was, too! In fact, Max noticed that all around them there was a forest of these trees... massive trees that reached hundreds of feet into the sky above.

"I'm in the claw of a giant bird on the limb of a giant tree at least 300 feet above the ground! Totally paralyzed and about to be eaten." Max tried to laugh... but he couldn't even do that. His giddy mind saw humor in the ridiculous situation he was in. The jah-ee moved toward a large hole in the tree near the branch it had landed on. Then it went inside, carrying Max in its claw. Leaping into the void inside the tree, the jah-ee folded its wings and dived straight down. "Awwww-riiiight! thought Max, giddily! Roller coaster!" But it seemed like it took a bit long to drop to the bottom, even if they were 300 feet up. They continued to plummet for what must have been close to a whole minute. Suddenly, the inside of the tree shaft disappeared and the ground opened up below into a giant cavern. As the jah-ee dropped into the cavern, it spread its wings out to their full majestic span and settled into a graceful glide above a small sea. Max could not see the ends of the cavern. There was a whole world here... a whole different world. They were underneath the island of the jah-ee. As the jah-ee swooped gracefully across the underground sea and arrived at the far side, it flew toward a large cliff. On the edge, near the top of the cliff, was its nest. A nest as big as a house! And its mate was there with three baby jah-ees hungrily bobbing their heads up and down.

"Supper time, children! Come and get me!" Max tried to say, laughing giddily. But he could only think it. He couldn't even form a coherent picture in his head now. The jah-ee did not stop at its nest, though. It flew right over it and on about another thousand yards to the edge of a high underground cataract. Perching deftly, as though it weighed no more than a feather, on a ledge of the cliff by the waterfall, the jah-ee released Max from its claw and nudged him toward the edge. Max felt the water splashing on his face. Soon, he felt it on the rest of his body, too. At first, this seemed insignificant, until he realized that moments before, he had been unable to feel anything. The water was counteracting the jah-ee's poison!

Max may have lain under the edge of the underground waterfall for two hours, or it could have been three. It was impossible for him to tell time here under the ground. He felt great well being here! The water of the falls had been miraculous! Max felt like his old self again. There was no pain left, no stiffness, nothing. Even the welts that the poison Guma plants had made on his body had healed. The jah-ee stood nearby. His mate and babies were in the nest a thousand yards back. "Funny," thought Max. "I'm far underground in some kind of cavern, but there is light." He realized that the walls of the cave were giving off luminescence, providing a soft light throughout the cavern.

For the next 30 days, Max remained in the cavern with the jah-ee. He learned to communicate with it and with its mate quite effectively with mental images and emotions that often were clear enough to be considered almost as sentences. And the jah-ee shared with Max their knowledge of the islands and landmasses of Antar and many secrets of this underground world never before seen by any Antarean.

"Max... Max! You were dreaming again." It was Michael.

"Oh... yeah! I guess so," Max replied. I was dreaming about my first encounter with the jah-ee back when we were fighting Kivar's mercenaries in the battle for Antar.

Chapter IV "Travelers in Time"

Max and Michael headed to the galley to get a bite of breakfast. Michael had actually been quite accurate when he had said that their ship could fly itself. It was programmed to arrive at the place and time desired, with or without their assistance. As pilots, Max and Michael were only needed for emergencies or changes in plans or some unforeseen glitch that might arise.

In the galley, Michael and Max settled into comfortable high-backed leather-styled dining chairs at the table and placed their breakfast requests with the onboard diner droid. This "droid" was not meant to look like an Antarean or a human. In fact, it was really utilitarian, somewhat resembling a flat console with a recessed top used to transfer meals from the place where they were prepared to the table. The droid rolled quietly over to the table, and Max and Michael both told it what they would have for breakfast. The droid was capable of taking verbal commands, preparing the meals, returning with them to the table, and placing each order in front of the person who ordered it.

"I'll have an Antarean blue-hen egg omelet, toasted pashita bread, a cup of Earth-style coffee, and a bottle of Tabasco sauce," Michael told the droid.

Max ordered two Aluzian golden eggs, scrambled, with grits and Earth-style coffee. "I'll share Michael's bottle of Tabasco if he can spare some," he added.

A small red light on the droid blinked, and the droid intoned, "Unrecognized. Please specify. Grits."

"Aw, cripes!" Max laughed. "That's it, buddy! No tip for you!" Michael and Max both laughed. "Uh... southern food, kinda like... I don't know, mushy, white, little bits of corn or something..."

"Southern Chanesio Division?" queried the droid. "No such Chanesio food has been programmed into my memory."

"Not Chanesio... New Mexico, Texas, Georgia. Forget it, I'll have a taco with my eggs."

The red light blinked.
"Don't tell me! You aren't programmed to know what a taco is!" said Max.

"Southern food?" queried the droid.

"Real southern!" said Max. Max and Michael both laughed. "Muy, muy southern! ...Forget it, I'm sure it's not in your memory banks. "I thought these guys that made this thing were geniuses, Michael?"

Michael shrugged and chuckled. "I guess I might have forgot to tell them some things. Looks like we'll just have to make our own tacos. I don't think we've got anything like grits onboard, though. Sorry Maxie!"

"Just bring me two Aluzian golden eggs, scrambled, and whatever Michael's having with his blue-hen omelet."

"Thank you," replied the droid, courteously, as it turned and rolled smoothly and quietly toward the food preparation area.

Max and Michael settled back in their high-backed chairs.

"Michael, the timeline that we are going back to in Earth time... it's one week before my future self appeared to Liz, right?"

"Yeah. That's what was programmed into the ship's data banks."

"So... we haven't planned out how we are going to change what happened on Earth really. We just stated what our goals are."

"Yeah, to bring Maria, Liz and Isabel back to Antar with us so they will be safe and so they'll be with us."

"Yeah, but hopefully, to save Earth from destruction, too, if we can," added Max.

"And if we can't, to bring Maria, Liz and Isabel back to Antar," insisted Michael.

Michael's assessment of their goals wasn't intended to exclude the possibility of saving Earth. Michael was single-minded in setting his goals and determining the goals' positions on a list of priorities. He saw goals as just that, a highly prioritized list. It was the mark of a good General. Max looked at the goals in a broader sense, not really different than Michael's prioritized list, but perhaps with a broader starting perspective. In the final perspective, the two friends were really of like mind on this, as they were on most things.

Michael had grown since they had left Earth. Oh, he was the same size as he always had been since he had reached the age of fifteen. That hadn't changed an ounce or an inch. But in confidence, emotional makeup, and leadership, he was almost totally a new Michael now. He was a true and confident leader in every sense. Though he still had not reached his twenty-fifth birthday, he was already a general, an accomplished and decorated one, in the Antarean forces. And not just any general, but the number 1 general of all Max's armies. He had come a long, long way from the boy who had been raised by a no-account drunk in a trailer in the woods of Roswell, New Mexico; the boy who had grown up being beat, abused, cursed at, and emotionally trampled; the boy who had built an emotional wall around himself in order to just survive; the boy with a good heart who had fallen in love with Maria and loved her more than life itself but always seemed to find the wrong way to say it or show it. No, Michael was confident now, successful, and a true leader in every sense. But he was still Michael, too. And he and Max were still capable of acting like a couple of truants who had just ditched school. The king and his general! A couple of highly decorated, highly experienced cut-ups! They could be that, too! Oh, yes! That they could!

"So, Michael, what do you think?" asked Max. "Have you given it any thought?

"Yeah."

Michael was not one for excess words, but the truth is, he really had given quite a bit of thought to how they might save the Earth from Kivar. Michael was a thinker and a planner, and a top-rate general, he just didn't talk about it much. ...unless he was prodded.

"And?" Max queried.

"Well... we will have the advantage of surprise, " Michael offered. "Kivar will not be expecting us to know about his plans. I figure we can end his plot by compromising it at two critical junctures: when he set us up with that FBI guy, what was his name? 'Dumb Ass,' or something… and then when he used the excitron device to wipe out the army. I don’t think Kivar realized that the excitron device was going to set off a chain reaction in Earth's core and result in eruptions, tidal waves, and natural disasters that would blow Earth apart. I mean, not that he cared, you understand. Except for losing a lot of his army and a few dozen "skins" that were faithful to him."

"Have you thought about how we might compromise his plans at these junctures?"

Michael just gave Max that what-do-you-think look.

"Sorry, Michael! I shouldn't even have asked!"

"Kivar betrayed us to the FBI, which took us out of action without his having to deal with us. So we can use that to our advantage. We know that he set us up to be discovered by the FBI guys, so we can set him up first. We know where he's going to be and where they're going to be. It shouldn't be that hard. That's step one. Step two is for us to find and destroy the excitron device before he or any of his people can use it. Advantage, us, here, too, because we know when he is going to use it, what it is, and what it will do. We don't know where he had it hid, but at least we will know what to look for this time."

"You make it sound easy."

"Don't count on it, Max. But it will give us a fighting chance."

The droid had returned now and was placing their orders on the table. Michael picked up the Tabasco sauce and poured some onto his Antarean blue-hen omelet. Just to be sure, he poured a little onto his plate as well, then handed the bottle to Max, who mixed a little in with his scrambled Aluzian golden eggs. Both of them washed this down with synthesized coffee, which actually wasn't too bad. Before leaving the table, Michael took a little swig from the Tabasco bottle… then put the cap back on. Max looked at him and just grinned. "One for the road," said Michael.

Back in the control room, Max and Michael stood looking out into space through the large fore window. It really was beautiful out here in its own way, stars streaking by in the distance, an occasional comet, here and there a planet. One could watch this and enjoy it, especially with some music.

"Music! That's what we need!" said Max.

"Got it covered, Maxwell," replied Michael. "Had 'em put in the best system available. It'll play any of the three types of Antarean crystal rings, and... ta da! CD's!"

Max laughed. "No joke? CD's! You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all, my king, sir!" Michael added with some friendly sarcasm in his voice. "Not at all! You remember about six months before Earth blew up, Maria signed a deal to cut a CD for this major recording label. Well, I just happen to have right here her CD. And I'm dying to listen to it again! Haven't heard her voice since we returned to Antar.

"Put it on, Michael! I don't believe this! Earth is destroyed and you save two things: Tabasco sauce and Maria's CD. Incredible!"

"Well, I had already placed them on the ship well before the end came. Of course, I'd have brought Maria if I could have found her," said Michael forlornly.

"I know, pal. And I'd have brought Liz… if... And Isabel, too. Put the CD on. Let's hear it!"

Michael and Max stared out at the passing stars as they listened to Maria sing eight songs that she had written and four that Alex had written. The CD had been dedicated as her tribute to Alex.

Not so long ago
That a heart could not remember...
Like a spark in drying timber...
Or a rose no longer grow
In the garden of a soul...
I always find you in my heart
Through shadows holding us apart...
You're the river that can never cease to flow...

Max and Michael listened to the CD twice all the way through and quietly watched the stars and planets zip by in their celestial brilliance.

"Max," said Michael after the second playing, "If you don't need me for awhile, I think I'll go to my room and be alone."

"Sure, Michael. No sweat. I'll be here."

Michael retired to his private room. For a time, he lay on the bed thinking of Maria. He didn't realize that he had embraced his pillow tightly against his chest. Soon, he had dozed off.

Chapter V "Betrayal"

Maria's body felt warm, and soft, as Michael embraced her passionately against his heart. She held him, too, embracing him with both arms around his neck, each hand interlocking with the opposite arm. Her blonde hair was soft, and Michael liked the feel of it against his face. And he adored Maria's big brown eyes, the way she would look into his eyes with that look that could always just melt him away. Their lips touched... it was the touch that Michael hoped would never end. And for a very long span of time, it didn't. Somehow, Michael felt that if he could hold Maria there long enough, she would understand, she would feel what he felt coming from his heart. God knows, Michael hadn't been able to express it with words! By some wondrous and fortunate miracle, Maria happened to be one of the very few people who really could, and did, feel what was coming from Michael's heart, though. She was able to see through the walls Michael had built around himself. She was able to leap the hurdles that Michael had long ago placed there to keep anyone from getting this close. Michael would tear the wall down now, get rid of the hurdles, if he could... But that was the rub. He had tried, and it just wasn't that easy. Michael wasn't raised with the love and affection that Max and Isabel had received from their adoptive parents growing up. It was hard for him to deal with such emotions. But one thing he was sure of: one way or another, he would, even if it killed him. Somewhere in his heart and soul, he needed it; and he knew, too, that Maria was the one. Of this, he was absolutely certain. He could feel Maria's heart beating against his and its pace quicken as their lips touched. He felt... feelings he had never felt before Maria had come into his life but now needed as much as life itself. The world would cease to exist for Michael when Maria was kissing him. He was merely floating somewhere in a vacuum. At these times, the universe was made just for him and Maria. Nothing else existed or mattered.

An explosion. Michael barely heard it. Then another, closer this time. Michael's instincts came back to him. "What was that?"

"Awful close is what it was!" replied Maria. "Maybe we better check it out."

As Michael and Maria ran outside, the ground heaved, chunks of pavement from the road thrust up into the air. A great roar was coming from the distance.

"I've gotta get Max!" said Michael. "I've got a bad feeling about this! Stay inside, Maria, and stay away from the walls!"

"Screw that! I'm going with you!" replied Maria.

Michael looked at Maria for a very brief moment and smiled, "On second thought, why don't you come with me!"

"Good idea! I think I'll take your advice!" replied Maria. They were already running toward the Crashdown Cafe, where Max had last been seen with Liz. The earth around them was gyrating, like a hula dancer, at the same time making strange growling and rumbling sounds. Michael ran into the Crashdown with Maria right behind. Max and Liz were running toward the front door from the back of the Crashdown, trying to avoid the chairs and tables sliding across the floor around them.

"What in the name of Earth and Antar is happening out there?" shouted Max at Michael, as they all ran out the door. The rumbling was subsiding now. So was the heaving of the Earth. Things were returning to normal except for the huge chunks of pavement standing upright against each other. And a number of buildings had suffered extensive damage. People were pouring out into the streets to see what had happened.

"I don't know," said Michael. "Maybe an earthquake. I just thought... you know, that Kivar might have done something. But..." Neither one spoke for several moments; they just surveyed the scene around them.

"I think that's something we need to check out," said Max at end. "Come on. First, we’ve gotta check on the spaceship. Then we're calling on Kivar."

"You know where he is?" asked Liz.

"Not exactly, but I think I know who might."

The four of them arrived at the desert hideout of their new spaceship. They had acquired this ship by "confiscating" it from some "skins" who were faithful to Kivar. In any case, these particular "skins" weren't likely to be needing it anymore. They were dust now. Kivar isn't particularly forgiving of those who lose his spaceships. The ship was still there and undamaged.

Back in town, the four met Sheriff Valenti. To be totally accurate, Valenti was the ex-sheriff; but Max, Michael, Liz, Maria, and Isabel still viewed him as the sheriff. And in a real sense, he was. Whenever anything significant happened, it was Valenti who stepped in and solved it or fixed it or set things back right. The guy who had replaced him as sheriff was a nice enough guy, but as the sheriff, he was a joke. He wouldn't have been able to see an alien if it waved at him in his face. Michael knew that for a fact! He had done it! Valenti had long ago learned the secret Max, Michael, and Isabel had never shared with anyone but Liz, and later Maria... and Alex. To Sheriff Valenti's credit, his honor was more important than outing a trio of teenaged aliens so that the special ops guys could dissect them to find out what made them tick! Sheriff Valenti became the protector and a sort of father or big brother figure to the three Antareans and their friends. It was this fact that had led to his dismissal as sheriff. Although he had solved an attempted murder and rescued the victim from her kidnapper, he was unable to reveal certain facts that would have compromised Max, Michael, and especially Isabel. Facts like how he knew where to find the victim. He could not reveal that Isabel's visions had helped him locate her in an underground coffin prison and saved her life. For withholding information, which his superiors never did learn the whole truth of, they fired him.

"Whoa! Where are you guys going in such a hurry?" asked Valenti. "I'd like to ask you if you know anything about this..." he gestured in the direction of the slabs of street pavement standing upright in the air. "But I'm hoping it was all just a really bad earthquake."

"We don't really know ourselves," replied Max. "But we are going to find out right now." We're on our way over to Ben Johnson's house."

"Ben Johnson's? There's something strange about that place," Valenti commented. "Weird stuff goes on over there, I've heard. What would you guys be having to do with Ben Johnson?"

"Uh huh! That's the place," said Michael. "Johnson's... Johnson's a "skin."

"A what? What's a 'skin?'" asked Valenti.

"Britney... without her makeup crew," Liz whipered privately to Maria.

"What was that?" asked Valenti, who had overheard the whispered comment. Liz just smiled that impish little smile she had and shook her head slowly. Maria quietly snickered and also said nothing.

Michael spoke for them all, "'Skins' are aliens from Antar who are living on Earth but who were not born here and cannot survive on Earth except by growing a biological skin that they are... well, put into. We call them 'skins' because of this and because they are always peeling and losing bits of skin everywhere. They use a lot of hand cream and makeup and stuff to try to hide their peeling or prevent it. Most of the 'skins' here on Earth are loyal to Kivar, but a few are not."

"And Ben Johnson's one of these... 'skins?' How long have you known this?" asked Valenti.

"A while," offered Max. We didn't want him to know that we knew, because we've been watching him. I think he can lead us to Kivar."

"I'll go with you," said Valenti.

The five piled into Valenti's vehicle. Ten minutes later, they were standing at Ben Johnson's door. Max knocked. The door opened, and Ben Johnson stood in it. His face was dour, but otherwise devoid of most expression. "He looked at (or was it through?) the five companions without changing his expression at all.

"Come," he said after a moment... nothing more, just "Come." Ben turned and walked slowly and deliberately back into the house. Max, Michael, Liz, Maria, and Sheriff Valenti followed.

Maria shuddered. "He gives me the creeps," she whispered to Liz.

"Yeah," Liz agreed. "Me, too."

Ben walked slowly through the living room and into a back room of the house. The five companions followed. When the last of them had passed through the door of the back room, the door closed. They looked back, alarmed; that prickly feeling of impending disaster was coursing through each of them and growing stronger by the second. And not without good cause! From behind a floor-length curtain that had covered the west wall of the room, seven special ops agents stepped out with guns all pointed directly at the five companions. From the other side of the room, a smaller figure who had been sitting in a chair behind a dresser stood up and stepped into the light.

"Kivar!" said Michael and Max, almost as one.

Kivar made a shallow, and transparently smug, bowing motion toward Max,

"In the flesh... more or less."

Turning to the special ops agents, Kivar said, "Gentlemen, I have delivered as promised. These are the aliens you are looking for; they're also the ones who caused this morning's, mmm, shall we say, catastrophe. And... they have a spaceship hidden in the desert. I'm certain that you have methods to convince them to tell you where it is."

Recognizing the danger they were in, Michael and Max reacted as one, each thrusting his right hand out, releasing an energy bolt that blasted all seven of the agents backwards into the wall. Three of the agents were knocked out by the blast. The other four recovered quickly. Max and Michael again released a bolt of energy, this time blasting the back off of the house in the process. But the agents had split up, two of them diving behind the dresser. Sheriff Valenti pulled out his own gun, which he still carried for protection, and kicked open the door to the living room, yelling at Maria and Liz to run. They did. But it was in vain. Ben Johnson stood in the living room, his shotgun pointed at their hearts. He fired. Maria's heart stopped for a moment, maybe several moments. She checked herself, then rechecked, to see where she had been shot; then she turned around to look at the others. The agents and Kivar were gone. Sheriff Valenti lay face down in the doorway of the back room. Maria ran to Valenti to help. She started to turn him over. "Don't," said Michael, laying his hand gently on her shoulder. "It's too late." Indeed, Valenti had taken the full blast of Ben Johnson's shotgun. He had no pulse. There was nothing that anyone could do. Unless, Max...

Maria looked around… then looked at Michael even more alarmed, "Where is Max... Where is Liz?"

Chapter VI "The White Room... Again"

Michael woke up suddenly. He was covered in sweat. How many times had he dreamed this dream? How many more times would he dream it before he would be free? Maybe he would never be free. But if there was any hope at all, it lay in this journey that he and Max were undertaking. Michael decided to take a quick shower, then he returned to the control room.

"Those dreams again?"

"Yeah."

Max had always been able to read Michael like an open book. If it were anyone else, Michael would be seriously concerned.. and seriously annoyed. But he had learned to accept this from Max.

"Which one?"

"When Kivar set us up and Valenti got it and you and Liz disappeared..."

Max's heart quickened; he grimaced.

"I'm gonna get a cup of coffee," said Michael. "You want one?"

"Yeah, sure. I'd like that, Michael. Thanks!"

Michael left and went to the galley to get the coffees. Max stared out the control room window into deep space, but his mind wasn't seeing the stars. He was remembering that day... the worst day of his life...

Max had regained consciousness slowly. His head was killing him. That wasn't surprising, considering that the back of his head had been deeply grazed by a bullet fired from one of the agent's guns. He almost certainly had suffered a concussion. He wondered how long he had been unconscious. To add to his pain, his back was peppered with some stray buckshot from the blast that had killed Sheriff Valenti. Max realized that someone had removed all his clothes. He tried to get up but found that his arms, legs, and body were strapped down. He looked around him. Then he laid his head back down on the gurney and groaned. He recognized this room. He had been here once before. It had not been a pleasant experience.

The door opened. A technician entered pushing another gurney. Something covered with a white sheet, except the sheet wasn't white. It was bloodstained. Max looked away. The technician left, and a special ops agent came in. Max recognized him. It was Dumas Zwolinski. Agent Zwolinski had pursued the Roswell trio since, well, since they could remember. They didn't know he was even still in special ops.

"It's been a while," said Zwolinski smugly. "Too long, I'd say. That's alright, everything comes to those who wait. You're mine now. I'm going to enjoy taking that alien body of yours apart piece by piece. Don't worry! I'll let you watch! We'll find out everything there is to know about you. See, some of us are patriots. And we don't especially care for outer space garbage. You know... I could have retired three years ago! Yeah! That's right! Full pension... everything. I could be sittin' in some nice bar in Baja with some cute little Mexican señorita, or dancin' with the hula girls on Maui or lying on a beach drinkin' a beer in Tahiti. But I'm not. Want to know why? Because of you! Yeah, that's right! You! Somebody had to save this country, this world. The president's a dimwit... just like all the people around him. But there are a few of us who are patriots! Real patriots! The kind who stay until they get the job done... whatever it takes... until all the trash is bagged up, booted out to the curb, and dispatched to the dump. That's what you're lookin' at... a real patriot!"

Max grimaced and looked toward the wall. The technician came back and wheeled Max into the operating room. Max noticed that the room had been heavily damaged, and things appeared to have been put back in place hurriedly. There were large scorch marks on two walls, and some equipment had been destroyed by some kind of blasts. Above Max was a mechanical arm-like gizmo with a small, rotating saw at the end of it. On the table beside him were a number of scalpels of different sizes and shapes. At the foot of the gurney was some kind of reciprocating saw... and a powerful taser gun. He also noticed an X-ray machine and various other specialized pieces of equipment. Much of it, Max had never seen before. One machine had what appeared to be an arm bone held between two clamps. On a table by the far wall were various large jars containing organs in alcohol or formaldehyde... a heart, a liver, lungs... a hand?" Max shut his eyes and shuddered involuntarily. He turned back toward Agent Zwolinski, who was installing a new rotating blade in the saw arm. "The other one got a little dull this morning," he commented dryly. Max knew that, barring a miracle, his organs and bones would be in similar jars and machines soon, to be studied by these perverts in uniforms.

Agent Zwolinski centered Max's gurney under the saw blade and turned on the saw. It sounded like a dentist's drill. Max shuddered again. Zwolinski motioned to the technician to leave. The technician, who had been extremely nervous, seemed oddly relieved and quick to comply. Then Zwolinski began to lower the saw. He felt compelled, somehow, to explain to Max just what it was he was going to do to him. "This saw will open you up from the collar bone down to your belly button. You do have a belly button, don't you?" Zwolinski glanced at Max's naked body on the gurney. "Yeah, I guess they gave you one; didn't want you to look different." As Zwolinski lowered the blade to Max's chest, Max turned his right hand over so that it was palm up, but he discovered that his hands had been heavily wrapped and bound in asbestos. He would not be able to use them to blast Zwolinski with a power wave. Suddenly, the room exploded with a blinding bright light, and the ceiling collapsed inward into the room with the force of the explosion. Max looked up at a gaping hole where the ceiling had been only a moment before. A face was looking down from the roof. It was Michael... and Kyle was with him!

Agent Zwolinski, knocked to the ground by the implosion, jumped to his feet and made a dash for his gun, which was in his uniform on the table by the wall. Michael didn't give him time to get there. A strong bolt of energy smashed Zwolinski against the wall. Max heard several bones break. Zwolinski lay on the floor. He would not be rising without a lot of help. Michael leapt from the roof into the room with Max. Kyle followed him in. Someone else was coming in... It was Maria.

Michael had released Max from his constraints, and Max had just managed to wrap a white sheet around himself when Maria appeared through the opening. She dropped through the hole as nimbly as had Michael and Kyle. Michael was impressed, but he wouldn't have admitted it. Maria looked around the room. Michael and Kyle were busy preparing a knotted rope that they had dropped through the opening in order to climb back out. Kyle heard a muffled sound, like a gasp or a sob.

"Where did Maria go?"

They all ran into the room where Max had been held before being brought into the operating room. Maria stood over the other gurney, holding the bloodstained sheet in her hand. Her face was contorted, pained, colorless; then it went to bright red and finally dark ashen. Tears were flowing freely, like waterfalls, down her cheeks.

"Bastards! Stupid, bloody, dog-eating bastards!" Maria sobbed, as loudly as she was able, but she could barely speak. Then she sat down on the floor and cupped her hands over her face and sobbed convulsively. All the color had gone out of Max's face, too. He put his hand against the wall to steady himself, because he felt sick to his stomach and dizzy. Kyle stood motionless, as though struck by lightning, then quickly left the room. Michael came in holding one of the large jars in his hands. He was pale. He put his hand on Max's shoulder and spoke quietly, "I'm sorry, Max. I'm just... so sorry, you don't know."

Max took the jar from Michael and read the hand-scrawled label, "heart, female, L. Parker Evans, Determination: human-alien hybrid."

Chapter VII "A Time for Everything"

Max stared at Liz's face. She was so beautiful, even in death. Her dark hair was shiny and soft. Her face was angelic. He thought that she must be sleeping, but he knew better. What had been done to Liz was barbaric. Max wrapped her in the sheet that had been over her and gently, lovingly, lifted her into his arms. He kissed her lips, still and always the most beautiful lips he had ever seen. Max followed Michael and Maria from the room, cradling Liz in his arms. As they reached the rope, Max noticed Agent Zwolinski lying on the floor. Zwolinski was begging for help… and compassion. Max lifted the palm of his right hand, no longer covered with heavy asbestos wrappings, from under the sheet that held Liz's body. As hard as it was, he fought the desire to vaporize Zwolinski. Max turned and started to climb the rope. Suddenly, a shot whizzed by him, missing by a scant centimeter. Zwolinski had managed to get his gun after all. He had been feigning wanting help in order to get them to come near him, because he couldn't come to them. As Max climbed the rope with one arm, holding Liz cradled in the other arm, Zwolinski lifted his gun to fire off another shot. Max was half way up the rope now and helpless to avoid Zwolinski's shot. Zwolinski aimed carefully, his finger squeezed the trigger... but before he could finish this action, a bolt of energy left nothing where he had been but a pile of ashes. Michael, at the top of the rope, lowered his hand and reached down to help Max.

"Come on, buddy. I'll give you a hand."

"I think you just did, Michael! I think you just did."

Chapter VIII "Paradoxes and Parallels"

“Here’s your coffee, Max, said Michael. “What were you thinking about so intensely just now?”

“Thanks, Michael! Just why it is so important that we make this trip… and that we succeed. You know, besides Liz and Maria and Isabel, there’s another person that we need to be sure to bring back with us, too…”

“Valenti,” nodded Michael.

“Yep. Kyle’s been our friend since we were kids. He’s a great chief of staff, too! How do you think Valenti’s going to take it, Michael?

“Take what?”

“Oh, you know, when we just casually lay it on him that his son has been living on the planet Antar for the last five years!”

Michael snickered and almost snorted his coffee. “Well, I’d say I’d like to be there to see that, but I guess I will, won’t I!”

“Yeah. It should be interesting… You know, Michael, I have done a freakin’ lot of reading at the capitol library on Antar about physics and space-time continuums, and all, and I have a theory about why everything seems to have gone to Hell on Earth after my future self showed up.”

“Why’s that, Max?”

“Well, I believe that the future me upset the timeline. He didn’t mean to and probably never even knew that he had done it. But I believe he altered time, as it were, when he came back to our time. Here’s why I say that… the granilith that existed at that time traveled through time in a linear fashion. That’s the only way anyone knew time existed back when that machine was built. But now we know that time is not linear. The universe is constantly traveling in a huge spiral, and timelines follow the spiral. It's like aiming a spaceship at another planet and flying in a straight line toward where you saw the planet. By the time you get there, the planet may be a lightyear away from where you arrive at. You have to figure for that and calculate a corrected trajectory. By going back linearly, as it were, the future me, I think, altered time as we knew it. Literally, our whole future became skewed.”

“Interesting theory, Max! If that’s true and your theory is correct, won’t our going back skew the timeline and alter time further?”

“No, because our scientists worked the universal spiral algorithm into the equation when they programmed our ship. That’s the difference in what we know now compared to what we knew back then. And that is why we must return to Earth before the future me arrives. Only by returning before he arrived will we be in our own true timeline, the one that we were supposed to be in. And another thing, Michael… The future me said that Earth was being destroyed in his timeline because I had married Liz instead of Tess, and Tess’ powers were needed together with mine to save Earth. But that might never have been true. It became true, because he altered time in our timeline and redirected our timeline into a different space, which in turn altered the time that he would experience in his future, resulting in the catastrophe for Earth that he referred to.”

“Whoa! That’s a mouthful, Max! If I understand what you’re saying, though, then the very thing ‘future Max’ came back in time to prevent only occurred at all because he came back in time. Whoa! Paradox!”

Max laughed. “Yeah! Just whatever you do, Michael… never, ever, ever ask me to repeat what I just said!”

Max and Michael both laughed for a good minute. It was refreshing to be laughing again. The coffee was good, too.

“Put on some music, Michael! What have you got there?”

“Let’s see, Max.” Michael placed a crystal music ring on the spindle, and the name of the ring and artist appeared as a holographic lights display above the spindle. “This one is by Luvain Soongo and the Gungi Boys, Vui Gungi Chombos. They’re kind of an Antarean N’Synch. Gungi means "New Wave" or something like that.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard ‘em. What else is there?”

Michael put another ring on the spindle, and the holographic lights display read, ‘Jarfelle Sereli.’

“Sereli is Antarean for spears. You don’t think Jarfelle…”

“…means Britney?” Michael laughed. “Not a chance! Jarfelle is more like… well… let’s see… She’s more like Diana Ross… her style is kind of like... early Motown music... only Antarean, of course, not Motown! She's good! I love it. It rocks, Max!”

“What else you got?”

“Um, let’s see... ‘Daneela Varel.’ I’d say she’s like our…”

“Dido,” offered Max. “I’ve seen her on the HoloVision Screen. She could pass for her easy!”

“Yeah, but she sounds more like Sheryl Crow, I think. Nobody sounds quite like Dido. She's pretty unique. Okay, let’s see… we’ve got ‘Vui Zoombor J'koozzeen Chombos.’ Come on, Max! What group would they be like back on Earth?”

“Hmmm… Let me think. How about…” Max thought a moment, “Oh! Oh! You know who? ‘The Beach Boys! Remember 'California Girls,' ‘Fun, Fun, Fun,’ ‘Surfin’ USA,’ ‘Help Me Rhonda?’ Beach stuff!”

“Yeah, I could go along with that. They sing a lot of songs about the j'koozzeen -the beach- and about wave-riding on their zoombor boards, so Beach Boys is good…”

Michael put another ring on the spindle. The holographic display said, 'Maryk Varsno.' Michael said, "Play song." A song began to play.

As one, Michael and Max both said, "Sense Field!"

"Yeah!" added Michael, "Sounds kind of like 'Save Yourself.' Awesome! I like this one!"

"Here's one for you, Maxwell!" The holo-display came up, 'Var Juma.'

"Oh! I know 'Var Juma,' said Max. "You remember the song, 'Edge of the Ocean?' Ivy! That's what Var Juma sounds like. That's another good one!"

Michael put another ring on the spindle. The display said, 'Terenlucit.'

"Coldplay," said Michael before Max could answer. Sounds like 'Brothers and Sisters.' Remember that one? Kind of a little like 'Ash,' though, too... in a totally different way."

Michael put another crystal ring on the spindle. The display read ‘Vui Chanesio ShebbleOnessinje.’ Both Max and Michael were silent for a few moments.

“Come on, Max… Whozit?”

“I don’t know, Michael. 'The Shebblegirls from Chanesio?' Have I ever heard them?”

Michael said, “Play song,” and a song from the ring began to play.

“Dixie Chicks!” Both Max and Michael shouted as one. Max laughed so hard that he snorted his coffee and had coffee dripping from his nose. "You (sniff)... you remember...(~trying to sing~) cough... "There's your Trouble... There's your trouble..." This amused Michael so much that he fell off his chair laughing. Both of them excused themselves to go to the bathroom and throw some water on their faces. Just the king and his general… A couple of royal cut-ups!

After a ten-minute break, Max and Michael both came back to the control room, and Michael chose some music. It was Maria’s CD.

“Good choice, Michael,” said Max. Max and Michael were feeling good. They were happy. The music was great. And Max had got them both refills on their coffee while he was out. They sat back and watched the stars streak by, listened to the music, and just smiled for the next three and a half hours.

Gonna find my way
To a sunny day
Though the rain may fall
Or the skies be gray...
Climb every wall
And laugh and play
Through it all
Like the fairies gay,
Knowing rainbows all
In the sunshine stay.

Chapter IX “Jaht-Roo-Antar”

After dinner, Max and Michael played a game of Jaht-Roo-Antar, an old Antarean board game that might best be described as a cross between checkers, chess, and battleship. "Jaht-Roo-Antar," in Antarean, means, "Antarean Galaxy Board." The board resembles a checkerboard, but it has three times the number of squares. The regulation playing pieces are disposable miniature flying-saucer replicas. Each one is slightly larger than a standard checker, and the pieces are actually baked in a mold before the game from an extremely light Antarean sugar dough that shreds when it receives a good puff of wind. Alternatively, some players bake playing pieces that look like wild animals, oceanic vessels, or mythological monsters. The possibilities are limited only by the players' imaginations.

Each side begins with sixteen UFO’s. As in checkers, the goal is to be the last one left. In tournament playing, there is a small laser light under each square, but that is only for the special effects. The stringy sugar used in the pieces makes a rather spectacular high whooshing flame when it is laser-blasted, and this always draws plenty of "oohs and ahs" from the tournament spectators. Max and Michael’s board, like all standard Jaht-Roo boards, used air blasts instead of lasers. Each square has a ‘pinhole’ in the center through which a blast of air is directed from below. Before the game, each player programs sixteen spaces on the board to be "mined;" eight of these can be programmed to be "safe" for the side programming them. A beginning player might program his or her squares in a simple circle or star pattern. A more advanced player will program his or her spaces to move around, either changing patterns or according to a programmed sequence. Tournament players program their blasts according to complex algebraic and trigonometric formulas.

Any spaceship that reaches the other side is designated a "Galaxy Ship," which is immune to enemy fire and can travel both ways on the board, like a “king” in checkers. And moving one's ship to any space directly next to an enemy ship is deemed a "crash," destroying both ships.

Max won the toss and made the first move. He moved ship number 4 (4th from the left). A blast of air from below immediately destroyed that ship, blowing it into several shredded pieces. Michael snickered and tried a bit futilely to keep a “poker-player’s face.” The General was not at all bad at strategy; in fact, it was one of his strong suits! It was now his turn to move. Michael moved the ship on his far left, ship number 1, forward right one space. It was safe. Michael knew that it would be; he had designated this as one of his “safe” spaces, which would make it safe for him even if the other side had designated it as a “mined” space. Most players try to use their “safe” spaces further away from their own territory, where they expect to feel the most threatened, but Michael preferred to maintain his “strength” at the start and take chances when the enemy was weakened. Not that he put all of his safe spaces here, but he always started with at least a few near his own territory.

It was Max’s turn again. Max moved ship number 7 (the second from the right) forward left. It was safe. Max smiled slightly. He had been studying Michael’s strategies and had designated this as a “safe” space for his ship. Michael did not fail to notice the change in Max’s usual pattern, and he made a mental note of it. It was now Michael’s turn again. He had designated the space forward right of his third ship from the left as another “safe” space, but because of the formula he was using, three-six-three-five-three-four, with a spiral pattern, that "safe" space would now be located three spaces to the right and three spaces forward of where it had been. However, the “safe” space that he had designated three spaces forward left of his number 3 ship should now be located directly forward left of his number 5 ship. He moved that ship. It was safe.

Max studied his options. He had used a moving and changing pattern strategy. With each move, the pattern of “safe” spaces would change, alternating from a small rhomboid to a large five-point star to a wide oval, then to a small eight-point star. Following the expected pattern, he should be able to move ship number 7 forward left. But that one had already been moved. He would have to choose another move and take his chances. He decided to move ship number 2 forward right. Another blast of air; another ship shredded. Now he had fourteen, and Michael was looking pretty confidant. Max thought Michael seemed to be getting just a little too much enjoyment, popping the shredded sugary pieces of Max's ships into his mouth and commenting how tasty they were.

It was Michael's turn again. He decided to move a ship out of his back row. He had already moved number 5 out of the front row, so he could now move another ship into that space from his back row. He moved number 12. A blast of air shredded it, catching Michael so by surprise that he nearly flung the shredded pieces into the air. He had not expected this space, totally inside his own territory, to be "mined." In fact, it would have been impossible for Max to "program" a blast to occur inside Michael's personal territory. Max had taken advantage of the protruding characteristic of the arms of a star, one of the patterns he was using. As the star moved, rotated, and changed size, any of its arms might potentially penetrate a vacated space in the enemy's territory, and this is exactly what had happened. Max smiled that slight wisp of a smile that he was somewhat famous for.

At the end of a little over an hour, Max had lost thirteen of his sixteen ships; Michael had lost twelve. Thirty minutes after that, Michael was down to only two ships. Both were Galaxy Ships. Max was down to one Galaxy Ship. Immune to enemy fire, the only way any these ships could now be destroyed would be for the "enemy" to force them into their own non-safe designated fire or for the player to make a mistake and miscalculate where his own booby-trapped spaces were ...or to provoke a deliberate "crash." With two ships to Max's one, Michael might be tempted to do this, Max knew. Max would have to be alert.

Michael was ready to put an end to chasing Max's ship all around the board. Max had a photographic mind and was extremely sharp at calculating his safe moves. It was unlikely that he would make a mistake. It was almost equally unlikely that Michael would make a mistake. Michael did not have Max's photographic memory, but he more than made up for that in tenacity and planning. Michael planned to back Max into the corner by positioning his two Galaxy Ships behind Max's ship and forcing him toward the corner with each successive move. Then he would provoke a "crash," sacrificing one of his ships to end the game. It was a simple and usually successful strategy in this situation. Michael moved the ship on his left forward to block Max in. Then Max moved his ship forward, placing it directly to the right of Michael's two ships. In checkers, this would have been suicide; in Jaht-Roo, it normally would be, too, albeit for a different reason. By placing his ship in the square directly next to Michael's ship, Max had provoked a "crash," something Michael never expected Max to do, since Michael should then have been the winner with the only remaining ship. But what happened was totally unexpected. All three ships were destroyed in a chain reaction. Michael sat mute, somewhat studiously gazing at the board, trying to figure out just how this had happened ...and what it meant. By placing his ship in the space beside Michael's two ships, Max had somehow provoked a "crash" of all three ships.

They would have to get out the rule book. Both of them poured over the rules for anything that would address this situation. It was there. On page 31, "In the event that a "crash" occurs, any ship in an adjoining space will also be destroyed by the "crash" if any of the rival's "mined" spaces is simultaneously located underneath that ship. This applies to all vessels." That explained why it had happened. Obviously, one of Max's roving "mined" spaces had just happened to rotate under Michael's adjoining ship at the same time as Max moved his ship up beside Michael's other ship. Michael wondered if this had been coincidence; but knowing Max, he had a gut feeling that it hadn't. Further along, on page 54, they found, "In the event that a game ends with multiple (more than two) ships being destroyed as the result of a single move by either side, the game will be declared a statistical tie, with 'advantage' to the side having had the greater number of ships at the end." This meant that this game was officially a tie. If they had been playing in tournament play, though, Michael would have enjoyed 'advantage,' meaning that he would have received the accolades afforded to a winner and would then be able to choose who went first in the next game of the series. Michael was satisfied. It had been a tough game.

"I guess we had better catch some sleep," huh Michael? "Tomorrow's gonna be a big day for us!"

"Yeah! That's right! If all goes as planned, we'll be sayin', 'Hello, Earth!'"

Chapter X “Back to The Blue Planet”

Max walked into the galley relaxed and refreshed after his morning shower. Michael was just arriving, too. They enjoyed a breakfast of scrambled Aluzian golden eggs with pashita toast, synthesized coffee, and something that they had thrown together that did somewhat resemble tacos, made of shebble meat, Ama leaves, and Tabasco sauce. After breakfast, they hurried to the observation room at the top of the ship. Michael sat in the observer’s chair and pulled the remote viewing goggles down over his face. After scanning the vast regions of space for several minutes, Michael focused on one area and sat up straight suddenly.

“I see it! A little blue dot at about two o’clock!”

Max sat down in the companion chair and pulled on his remote viewing goggles. He rotated the observation deck to the right so that it pointed directly ahead; the tiny bluish dot now lay directly ahead of the ship, exactly where it should be.

"Well, that's a good sign," said Max.

"What's that?"

"Earth appears to be there; we won't be coming out in an asteroid field or a bunch of Earth debris. It appears that we actually did go back in time."

A smile slowly stretched over Michael's face. Visions of Maria were flooding back into his mind... he could feel her hair against his face, smell her perfume, hear her voice, see her eyes looking into his.

Michael hadn't known where else to turn. He had climbed through Maria's window, shaking, distraught, half in tears, after being abused and beaten by his foster father again and wanting so badly to do something about it... but not being able to. Maria jumped out of bed. She started to say something, but one look at Michael's tormented face told her all she needed to know. She asked no questions, just held him, caressed his face, gently laid him down in the bed beside her and hugged him as they slept through the night. It had all been very innocent. In the morning, Maria's mother had walked in and turned on the light. It was not a sight that she had been prepared for. Michael had been forced to make a quick exit out the window through which he had entered. Maria had had to do a lot of quick explaining. Michael could laugh about it now. But the memory of Maria understanding him without even speaking a word had endeared her forever in his heart. He would never love another girl the way he loved Maria.

And then there was "Snowflake." It was Isabel's idea. She had given Maria that name. Liz was an elf, too. Her name was "Candycane." And two more adorable elves there had never been! Of that, Michael and Max were quite certain! Isabel had coordinated the Christmas festivities and had drafted Liz and Maria to be elves. Michael had never really participated in Christmas events himself; his foster father didn't celebrate it. But he loved Maria and loved being around Maria more than anything in the world. And more than anything right now, Michael wanted to be the Santa Claus in this year's festivities. Isabel relented only after Michael begged her. Michael told Maria that he was doing it because Isabel had begged him. Maria couldn't get over Michael as "Santa." But there was no denying, just by looking at Maria, that Maria thought Michael was the cutest Santa she had ever seen. After talking to some of the children, "Santa" sent his "elf" (quite against the "elf's" wishes, to be sure) to get him a Snapple; when she didn't return right away, he went to check on her. Inside the privacy of "Santa's play house," he kissed her. It was only meant to be a quick kiss, but Michael's Santa belt became entangled on Maria's elf costume, and the two wound up on the floor together, much to the delight of one young boy who peeked in and then ran around screaming that Santa was "doing it" with Snowflake. An embarrassed Isabel had had to find a new Santa and a new Snowflake.

But not all the memories made Michael smile. His thoughts jumped ahead to that day... the fateful day they had left Earth for Antar... The special ops men of the FBI were finally onto Kivar. They were tracking him day and night. To rid himself of them, Kivar had just unleashed his "super weapon," the "excitron device," on the army. The results were disastrous for the Earth. Earth's core melted and began a fusion reaction. The Earth began shaking violently. Chasms were opening up everywhere. Michael, Max, Isabel, Maria, and Kyle realized that there was no time to get back to town. They took Max's jeep into the desert, avoiding the chasms that were opening all around them, feeling the heat from the flames shooting out of the Earth's bowels through every newly-opened fissure. They were driving for their lives to the only salvation they knew now, the spaceship they had hidden in the desert. Arriving at the site, all the companions jumped from the jeep running. Max stepped up into the ship, Michael and Kyle followed. Maria was right beside them. They turned to look for Isabel. She had been trapped by a flaming fissure that had opened up between them. Maria and Michael ran back to help, but they could not get around the fissure. Then the ground opened up into a huge chasm. Michael was running toward Maria as fast as he was able to run, but Maria and Isabel had disappeared. Michael climbed over the edge of the chasm, looking into it, screaming, crying out for Maria... for Isabel... for anyone to answer. But there were no answers. Max and Kyle hurried to Michael's side.

"Michael..."

"I've got to find them, Max! I've got to! You don't know... I've got to!"

Michael tried to climb down into the chasm, but it was too steep, too deep, and too hot.

"Michael..."

"No! Max, No! I'm not leaving them, cried Michael, his voice in deep agony, but he knew it was futile. He would never be able to find Maria or Isabel. They were gone. Max and Kyle gently helped Michael back to the spaceship. They took one last quick look around for Maria, for Isabel, for the Earth they had known all their lives... They weren't here. Max closed the door to the spaceship, climbed into the pilot's seat, and placed his right hand over the control panel. The instruments glowed, and the ship lifted off the Earth bound for Antar... and whatever awaited them in their new futures.

"My God, Max! I never realized the memories Maria and I have made together. And after all that has happened, before the sun sets tonight, I'm gonna see her again! Alive! Smiling! Happy... It's... It's all just too totally awesome!"

Max grinned, "And I'll see Liz again." The smile faded, "God, Michael! After what Zwolinski did to Liz -because of me- how can I even ever face her again! Tell me that! How do I ever get that out of my head, Michael?"

"Yeah, well, just remember, Maxwell, none of that has happened yet in the time in which we are arriving. And we must make sure that none of it ever does happen!"

Max nodded his total agreement, and both of them smiled. Max flipped his remote vision goggles down over his face again and peered into space ahead. It was definitely there, about the size of a pea now --a little bluish pea-- as seen through the remote vision goggles, but still too far away to see with the naked eye. In the nearer distance, he could see Saturn and its rings quite clearly. Through the remote vision goggles, Saturn, including is rings, was about the size of a bottle cap. Jupiter, still further away than Saturn but many, many times larger than any of the other planets, had already become visible even to the naked eye. Yes, it definitely would not be long now! Max leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Okay, I have one Sigourney Weaver. That's for you..."

Max looked over at Liz, who was bringing an order to a young couple attending the UFO convention going on in town. "and one Will Smith," she said, placing an order in front of the first tourist's companion. "Can I get you guys anything else? Green Martian shake...?" She was so cute, even dressed in that hokey waitress dress with the alien face on the apron and wearing alien antennae on her head. ...but so cute. Maybe it was her smile. Liz turned and went back toward the kitchen. Two men at another table began arguing over a debt. One of them wiped all the dishes off the table, breaking them. Liz turned and looked back. The man stood up, took out a gun, fired... He missed the one he was shooting at. But Liz fell, bleeding, to the floor, wounded fatally... Max rushed to her side, looked into her eyes. He knew she had only seconds to live. Max had to do what he had to do. He and Michael and Isabel had all agreed that they would live normal lives, never reveal their powers to anyone, never use them... but... Max ripped the dress open and placed his hand over the bullet wound. A greenish light glowed under his hand. When he removed it, the bullet wound, and the damage it had caused, were gone. Max hastily broke a ketchup bottle and poured ketchup on Liz's dress.

"You broke a bottle when you fell, spilled ketchup on yourself. Don't tell anyone please."

Max smiled at the memory of how it all started... of Liz... and her wonderful journal entries.

********* "It's September 24th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really
amazing thing happened. I came to life."

"I said, I see a light!"

Max shook his head, "Huh?"

I see a light!" said Michael, excitedly. I can see Earth without the R-V goggles on. Look! It's that little, really tiny dot right... there!"

"That's awesome, Michael, but look over here on our left!"

"Oh yeah, that's Jupiter. We passed Saturn a little while ago. "

"Look at all the moons around Jupiter, Michael. How many were there supposed to be?"

"I don't remember, 14 I think, but I counted 43... just that I could see! That's a lot more than we were taught there were when we went to Roswell High."

"Some of them are really small moons! You know, Michael, if I weren't in such a hurry to get to Earth, I could really enjoy taking a break and exploring one or two of these little moons!"

"Cool idea, Max! Maybe on the way back, huh? You and Liz and Maria and I could explore one!"

"Mark it on our social calendar, Michael," said Max with a touch of irony.

Michael laughed, "You got it, Maxwell!"

"We're 483.6 million miles from Earth. That's... let's see... about what? 25 minutes?"

"Well, we'll have to slow down a bit before we get there, so about 35 to 40 minutes I'd say, Max."

"We'd better start getting ready! You know?"

"Yeah!"

Max and Michael took the glass ascensor chamber down four levels from the observatory, which was on the top level, to the control room, on the third floor from the bottom. Max sat in the pilot's seat, and Michael took his place in the co-pilot's seat. Both of them pulled remote vision goggles down over their faces. With the R-V goggles on, they could almost read the highway signs on Earth now. As they passed Mars, Max followed the instructions programmed into their computer and throttled back on the speed, slowing the vehicle to about half of it's interstellar cruising speed. He also engaged the light-warp accelerator, which afforded at least a partial invisibility to the ship by distorting the light so that it passed around the ship instead of bouncing off it... a sort of advanced "light" stealth technology. Eight minutes after they passed Mars, Max cut the speed back to one fortieth cruising speed, and the ship skimmed across the top of Earth's atmosphere. Coming in over the Atlantic Ocean, the ship entered the atmosphere and rapidly approached the coast of Florida at an altitude of approximately six miles. In Homestead, Tampa, and Pensacola, alarms were going off like crazy, jets were scrambling, men were running, trying in vain to see anything on their radars or by looking up into the sky. There was nothing to be seen. After a brief time, the jets were recalled, and the higher-ups-in-command ordered a complete overhaul of the alarm system.

The new granilith sailed as gracefully as a gliding pelican in over Florida, across the Florida Everglades and Lake Okeechobee, across the Gulf of Mexico, over the lower tip of Texas at Corpus Christi, then made a wide right arcing turn up across Coahuila and Chihuahua, Mexico, into New Mexico, circling to the right toward the southeast and Roswell. They brought the ship down toward the Pecos River northeast of Roswell. As they glided down to an altitude of about 3,000 feet, they were surrounded by fighter jets. The pilots were talking a lot and seemed to be looking in the sky all around them for something that they could not see.

"Uh... red leader, this is Pitbull. I don't see anything here on my radar... or in the sky. Do you have a fix?"

"Copy that, Pitbull. No, no fix here either. Anyone else out there see anything?"

"Negative, red leader. Nothing over here. Swordfish, over."

"Base control! Come in! Any word down there? What's happening with those alarms? You got anything on the radars yet? Red leader, over."

"Nothing, Red leader... come on home... bring 'em in. Over."

Alright guys, let's go home. Red leader out."

"Copy that, Red leader. Swordfish out."

"Copy that, Red leader. Pitbull out."

"Copy, Red leader. Weasel out."

In the new granilith, Max and Michael were watching the fighter jets all around them very closely to make sure that they did not collide with them by accident. They dropped down another 2,000 feet to an altitude of 1,000 feet.

"He, he! That was close, huh Max?" They were right there beside us and couldn't see a thing!"

"Yeah! You were right, Michael! The scientists who built this ship really are the best on Antar... maybe in the galaxy! I am really impressed! I gotta tell you... I thought those fighter pilots would see us for sure! Cripes! I could read Swordfish's control panel!"

"I could read the names of all of them on their helmets! That's close, Max! Too close!"

Max brought the new granilith down over the Pecos River and gently set it on top of the water. He moved his hand across another control on the board, and the ship submerged then began to cruise beneath the water. Ten minutes later, Max found what he was looking for, a deep overhanging ledge with a submerged cave under it. He guided the new granilith carefully under the ledge and into the mouth of the cave then set it down on the bottom inside the cave.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Max announced, in his best imitation of a commercial pilot, "Welcome to Roswell, New Mexico. We have arrived at the gate and will be deboarding shortly."

Michael snickered. Both of them gathered up what they needed and took the glass ascensor down to the first floor. There, they went to the room marked, 'Underwater Pod.' In this room was a small submarine. The room, which was watertight, could be flooded and the submarine piloted out through a tube in the bottom. Max and Michael boarded the submarine, which Michael apparently had had them name 'Maria Mia,' as that name was etched onto its bow in bold lettering. It was small for a submarine, but large enough for maybe a dozen people to cram into it; half that many comfortably. There were six seats, but each was almost double width. The two front seats were individual, bucket-type seats, and were for Max and Michael, the pilots. Max engaged a coded sequence in the computer, and the submarine and pod room both sealed themselves tight, then water began to flood the room. Soon, the 'Maria Mia' was afloat. Max engaged the engines, and the craft moved forward toward, then through, the pod tube, emerging into the waters of the cave, then out into the river beyond.

"Sheez, Max! Look at the size of that catfish!" said Michael, looking out the forward window. I heard that flathead, or 'yellow,' catfish could get that large, but I didn't believe it. That sucker's gotta be seven feet long!"

Max grinned. Ten minutes later, they surfaced in a bay near a dock. Max had been here before... with Liz. He tied the 'Maria Mia' up to the dock, gave the surprised dock-keeper two twenty dollar bills, and asked him to keep an eye on the sub for him, explaining that he was a college student studying marine engineering sciences and the submarine was his team's entry in the small submarine races that are held yearly off Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"You think he bought it?" asked Michael when they were out to the road.

"Yeah." said Max, plainly. "I think so. Let's get us a cab and go find Liz and Maria."

"Right behind ya, Max!"

Chapter XI “Old Haunts”

“Here it is, right up here on the left… the Crashdown,” said Max, handing the taxi driver twenty-five dollars to cover the $21.75 tab. Max and Michael got out, and the taxi left.

“What are you gonna do, Max, just walk in and say, ‘Hey, I’m here! Future Max II, at your service?’”

“Ha… ha… funny, Michael… No, I told you I’ve been studying up on time continuums and so forth at the library on Antar. According to the most eminent Antarean and other known theorists, if we are in the right timeline, I will be me and you will be you. We will be… well, us… sort of instantly upgraded to the new and improved versions or something.”

Michael chuckled, “Oh, yeah, so who’s playing the jokester now, Max! And if we’re not the only ‘us’ here, how will we explain it?”

“One thing at a time, Michael. And, by the way, I would be future Max I; the other future Max isn’t supposed to get here until tomorrow night.”

“So how come future Max II, or the original, or whatever he is, didn’t take your body or something when he came the first time? And how do you know he won’t take your body when he gets here this time?”

“Well, like I said, I think he was in the wrong timeline. The original granilith went through time in a linear fashion… you know. At this point in time, right now, the timeline hasn’t yet been corrupted, so we should be in our own true timeline… and in our own true bodies.”

“You look the same to me, Max.”

“ Yeah, well, I haven’t changed in the last five or six years.”

“Um… Okay...”

Entering the Crashdown, Max and Michael sat down at the corner table where they had been sitting the day Liz was shot. Liz was waiting on a couple at another table. As she looked up, she noticed Max and Michael and smiled. Max returned the smile. Liz put the order in and then returned to Max’s table.

“What are you guys doing hanging out at the Crashdown on a Saturday afternoon?” asked Liz, pleasantly. “I thought you guys were going out to the reservation today to do some fishing with that Indian guy… the one who led you to the old guy who saved Michael.”

“Uh, yeah, well… we… got finished a little early. You know how I hate being away from you,” said Max.

Liz grinned. “Well, I’m off right… about… now! So why don’t we go for a walk, Max. I need to talk to you.”

Max looked at Michael then at Liz.

“Hey, no problem, Max! Go! You guys get out of here! I’ll be fine. I’ll hang around here for a while and check out… whatever. You guys go!”

Liz removed her apron with the alien face and the antennae that were part of her waitress costume and hung them in the back… then she and Max left the Crashdown, walking toward the river. As they walked along the river’s edge, Max noticed Liz looking at him intently.

“What?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know, just that you’re looking at me like that.”

“Well, I don’t know, Max, but somehow you look… well, like I said, I don’t know… a little different or something, kind of like you aged a year or two overnight. And anyway, Max, you’ve been staring at me, too, almost like you hadn’t seen me forever! What’s going on, Max? Are you, like, changing or something? Is this some ‘alien’ thing I need to know about?”

Max smiled. “Naw. Well, yeah, I guess we’re all aging, aren’t we, but no, I’m not changing all of a sudden. …Liz, I… I guess this is as good a time to tell you as any…”

Liz looked concerned, worried. “About what, max?”

“I… I’m not… well, I am… but I’m not the Max you know, Liz.”

“Oh, thanks for explaining that, Max! I feel so much better now that I like totally understand! You want to have another go at that, Max? Lay it out so I can understand it?”

“It’s like this, Liz… I’m… I came back in time from almost six years in the future… and… and from Antar.”

Liz stared at Max in silence for a moment, then looked at him closely.

“No… I can’t buy that, Max. I mean… even with the ‘alien’ thing and all, do you realize what you’re saying? I mean, you do look a little older, maybe a year or so, or maybe… I dunno. But…”

“Liz, it’s just that a year from now, we wind up having to leave Roswell suddenly… you, me, Michael, Maria, Isabel, and Kyle, because the special unit guys found us and were going to murder us --shoot us all down in cold blood-- at our graduation.”

“Our graduation? All of us… I mean, me, too, Max?”

“Yeah. Well… you don’t know it yet, but you will be getting some ‘alien-type’ powers soon as a sort of side-effect of my bringing you back to life... same with Kyle.”

“Kyle and I will get 'alien' powers? When does this happen, Max?”

“Well... I don't really know when exactly... Anyway, it does... or will... we think. The special unit didn’t know about Kyle, but he figured that when he started getting powers, they would get him then, so he came along with us. To make a long story short, Kyle’s Dad, Sheriff Valenti helped us get to Arizona, and we headed north from there, you and I got married…”

“Whoa! Stop right there, Max! You’d better repeat that!”

“We got married. Hey! It was a beautiful wedding, Liz! Michael, Maria, Isabel, Kyle, they were all there.”

“And my Dad... and Mom?”

“…No, I’m sorry, Liz… they couldn’t be there. We couldn’t risk letting anyone know where we were. Our lives depended on it. But you sent your Dad your diary and a message to explain everything so he would understand.”

Tears were streaking Liz’s face. She was shaking. “Did I ever see them again, Max?”

Max looked at Liz in silence for a moment then started to speak. Liz interrupted him, “I don’t think I want to know, Max! Is this… is this ‘future’ unchangeable?”

“That’s the reason I’m here now, Liz! You see, one year after we got married, Kivar unleashed a weapon on the Earth that… that… that destroyed the Earth.”

Liz stood mute, unable to speak or to digest this information.

“Liz, we want you and Maria and Isabel to go with us to Antar.”

Liz looked at Max and just shook her head slowly, silently.

“Max, I… I’ve got to think about all this, digest this information… it’s more than I can handle right now, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand. I’m sorry, Liz... I wouldn’t ever have done this to you… you know that.”

Liz looked at Max intently… then she stepped forward and kissed him. Stars streaked through her mind, galaxies swirled… Liz stepped back. She looked at Max again…

“It is you, Max. It really is… I had to know.”

Max walked Liz home. He told her he would see her in the morning at the Crashdown.

“No, I’m off tomorrow,” said Liz. I’ll meet you tomorrow afternoon in front of the library.”

Max turned and walked back to his old house. His parents were out late, no one was home, so he went to his room. He was very tired; it had been a long day. He went to sleep quickly.

In the morning, Max awoke feeling uneasy, as though someone were watching him. He rolled over and caught a glimpse of someone in his room. Max jumped up from the bed, faced the intruder, who was sitting quietly in a chair.

“Oh cripes! It can’t be!”

The intruder sat silently for a few moments then spoke,

“Who are you? Why do you look like me? Are you a shape-shifter?”

Max explained his entire mission to his other self, his doppelganger… or was it Max who was the doppelganger? This was a question that might have kept theorists and philosophers arguing for years to come. When he had finished, both Maxes stood looking at each other. The younger Max reached up and pulled a small hair from the ‘King’s’ head.

“What’s this? …you getting white hairs already? You not taking care of my body, Max?”

“That hair was a fluke! That’s the only one. And of course I take care of myself! You should know that Liz thinks I only look about a year older, but it’s been almost six years since I was… well… I was you!”

“Oh! You’ve seen Liz already.”

“Yeah.”

“Should I be jealous?”

“I’ll leave that to the philosophers,” said Max of Antar.

“What about the other Michael? Where is he?” asked the younger Max.

Zan paled momentarily. “Oh my God! I can only guess! We didn’t think that there would be two of each of us. We’d better get over to the library to meet Liz then try to find Michael.”

Both Maxes rode over to the library to wait for Liz. They didn’t have long to wait. Liz arrived and walked up the steps. Zan was waiting at the top. The other Max was standing back in the shadows.

“Liz,” said Zan, “I have something else to tell you… I don’t know how you’re going to take it.”

Liz looked at Zan.

“After yesterday? I don’t think anything could surprise me anymore,” said Liz.

The younger Max stepped out from the shadows. Liz was again momentarily speechless. But then she regained her composure.

“Okay… I stand corrected, Max. You’ve done it again. I’ve got a headache now! You want to explain this? What does it mean? Which one of you is the real Max?”

“We both are,” said Zan. “I’m just him six years in the future. Michael and I thought… well, I thought… that there would only be one of me here, but I see that it didn’t work that way.”

“I’m glad you noticed,” said a voice behind Zan. It was Michael. No, it was Michael and …Michael. But which one was which? Even Zan wasn’t sure. And Maria was with them.

Max looked at both Michaels, then at Maria.

“That must have been some explaining you did, Michael! I’d like to have been a fly on the wall! But I’m really glad that I wasn’t there to have to help you explain it!”

“Aw, thanks, pal! Yeah, I’m not gonna let you forget this one, your kingliness! You can count on it! So what happened, Max? Did we screw the timeline like future Max did?”

“I don’t think so, Michael. There was another part to that stuff I was reading in the library on Antar. Some of the theorists speculated that the time-traveler going back within his own timeline would appear in the body of his or her former self, but there were others who believe that the time-traveler might only replace his or her other self if the other self were to die or be at the end of their natural life.”

“Well, don’t go getting any ideas,” said the younger Michael.

All of them laughed. Then they walked back to Max’s jeep and drove out to the desert where they could talk for a while without anyone seeing them.

Michael of Antar bumped the younger Michael as they were getting out of the jeep. The younger Michael had a few things to say and a few choice words.

“Watch what you’re doing, you old fart!”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t look a day older than you, and you’re just a punk! I know you better than anyone. That’s what you are. Maybe I really should knock you off.”

Max couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Hey! Hey, guys! Stop it!”

“I’d stick you in an old folks home and be done with you!” said younger Michael to his older self.

“Yeah, well I’d turn you over to the sheriff for being a smart-assed punk!”

Both Michaels grabbed each other, fell to the ground, and rolled in the sand, struggling. Max was beside himself.

“Stop! Stop! You can’t do this. This is not going to work! We have a mission, Michael!”

After a short time, the two Michaels stood up and brushed themselves off. They were laughing and slapping each other on the back. Max was perplexed, then red-faced.

“I told you I would get you back, Max, for what you put me through having to explain all this to Maria and… this guy… by myself! We cooked up this little show for you.”

For a moment, Max didn’t say a word. Then he said,

“Michael, you’ll never change! I can’t even tell which one of you is the old fart and which one is the young punk!”

Everybody laughed.

Liz walked over to Max of Antar and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his sculpted chest and stomach muscles. She did the same to the other Max. Then she ran one hand over each of their chests and looked over at Maria…

“I don’t know, Maria… I think this could be fun!”

Maria’s lower jaw fell about three inches.

“Kinky, you mean!” Then she looked at both Michaels…

“But on the other hand, Liz, I can see your point!”

Both Maxes and both Michaels looked a bit uneasy; they looked at each other as though to say, ‘What have we done?’

Chapter XII “Reclaiming the Timeline”

Max and Michael, together with their alter egos and Liz and Maria, arrived back in town at just after suppertime. Liz and Maria sneaked them all into the back of the Crashdown and fed them hamburgers, fries, and tacos. They didn’t forget the Tabasco sauce, a bottle of which was quickly consumed by the four guys. Liz also brought in a couple of Snapples apiece for Max and Michael and their space traveling doubles. After they had eaten, they all walked over to Liz’s house. Max and Michael of Antar had disguised themselves with baseball caps, jackets, and dark sunglasses in an effort to avoid starting some kind of panic or rumor in Roswell.

The younger Max had privately confided in Max of Antar that he had something planned for this night and still had every intention of carrying it out, so they left Liz at the door and said their goodbyes; however, they did not go home. The group stayed out of sight in the shadows and watched. Shortly, a small Mariachi group arrived and spoke with the younger Max. They took their positions in front of Liz’s balcony and began playing. Liz appeared on her balcony. She slowly shook her head and grinned as the younger Max serenaded her and threw a bouquet of roses up to her.

Liz’s father appeared in the door, “What’s all the racket out here? Do you have any idea what time it is!”

Seeing Max and his Mariachi group and realizing that Max was serenading Liz, Jeff Parker grinned slightly and just shook his head…

“Aw sheez!”

He turned and left the balcony; younger Max dismissed the Mariachi players and rejoined his companions.

The group returned to the shadows to wait. After a short while, they saw someone climb onto Liz’s balcony. Michael threw a small pebble that bounced off the intruder’s right shoulder. The intruder turned and looked at the five companions. After pausing to assimilate this new information, the intruder climbed down again to the ground and faced the five companions. It was Future Max; he had come to convince Liz that she would have to turn Max away and to ask her to encourage him to marry Tess for the sake of saving the world.

Though obviously perplexed and confused by what was going on, Future Max was smart enough to know that this new situation was something that would require his attention, even if it was unexpected and not part of his plan.

Liz walked up, having secretly let herself out of the house; she stood beside Maria. Maria looked at Future Max, then at the younger Max, then at Max of Antar…

“Now that’s just soooo not right, see! That makes three for you already, and I only have two.”

Liz grinned, “Who’s counting, Maria? Who’s got time?”

“Well, obviously you don’t!” Maria snickered. “I’m gonna have to start wearing dark glasses so people won’t recognize me when I’m with you! You’re bad, girl!”

Max of Antar raised his hand to ask everyone for their attention then stepped forward and faced the new Max from the future.

“I know this must seem strange to you…” he began.

Future Max interrupted, “Why did I not know it if there was another set of us besides those New York goonies? This should be part of my past, too.”

“Well,” Max of Antar continued, “That’s really part of what we are all here about, you see. That’s all the more reason why I believe that my theory about the timeline is correct.”

“New York goonies?” queried the younger Max.

“You’ll find out very soon; you don’t know about them yet,” said Max of Antar. Then to Future Max, he added, “But no… We are not misfit duplicates; we are time travelers like you… but we returned from Antar.”

Max of Antar explained to Future Max why they had returned to Earth and why he believed that the original granilith that Future Max had returned in had skewed the timeline and may actually have been the cause of the Earth’s destruction instead of saving it. Future Max was silent for a time.

“It’s a paradox, huh!” added Michael of Antar. “Earth is being destroyed in your time. You come back to save it then find out that your time travel may have been the cause of its destruction.”

“It sounds crazy,” said Future Max at end, “…so crazy that it just could be right. In any case, it is clear to me from the information you have given me that my mission did not succeed, or will not succeed… And that means that the wisest thing for me would be to adopt an alternate plan.”

Max of Antar spoke again, “I think that the longer you are here, the greater is the chance that you will alter this timeline and… well, who knows what that will bring in the future.”

Future Max nodded slowly. “Yes. You’re right, of course. I must return to my own time immediately.”

Future Max actually seemed relieved, as though he had just had a great weight lifted from his shoulders …as though he had been carrying out a mission that was ripping his very heart out … as though he had been on the verge of selling his soul and had just been spared. He seemed oddly at peace now… even happy. He looked at Liz. “Liz, I want you to know… our marriage has been the single best thing that ever happened to me. I have loved you more than life. If my world comes to an end, now, if that is to be my destiny, it will not have been in vain, because I have known your love. You are my everything.”

Liz’s eyes teared up. She took Future Max’s hands in hers and kissed him lightly on the lips. Though it was only a light kiss, she saw stars and swirling galaxies. She knew in her heart that this was her Max, just as Max of Antar was her Max and the younger Max was her Max. They were, somehow, some way, all one and the same. This she could feel strongly.

“Go, Max. Go back to me in your time. I need you there. You are my life, too …my everything. I know that if our world is ending in your time and that is the way it is to be, I -my future self- does not have any regrets either. You can believe in that, Max. Believe in it!”

Future Max nodded, smiled slightly, then turned and walked away into the night.

Chapter XIII “Goodbyes and Decisions"

“I hope he makes it back okay,” said Liz.

“Why wouldn’t he?” asked Maria.

“Well… it’s just what Max said about the granilith traveling in a linear fashion but time not being linear…”

“yeah,” said Max of Antar, “but going back is kind of like… well, returning to a point of origin. It’s like one of those paddles with the little balls that are attached with a long rubber band. If you move the paddle up or down after you hit the ball, the ball is still drawn back to it…”

“But sometimes it misses,” interjected Maria.

Everybody looked at her.

“Well… it’s just that sometimes it does, you know…”

A shooting star passed over their heads in the night sky; the companions all looked up to watch it.

"I've got a feeling he's going to be just fine," said the younger Max.

Max of Antar turned to Liz, “I have to know, Liz -I have to know from each of you- are you coming with us? We will need to leave soon.”

Liz remained silent for a long time as they walked; Maria watched Liz to see what she would say.

“Max, I… I can’t. We have our graduation next year, and what happens to this Max and Michael here? What happens to my parents, Max? I mean… you said that the world doesn’t end until a couple of years from now. Is it right for us to… I don’t know, like, just forget those years that we would still have had here… leave everything behind? Max, I love you, I want to be with you, but we have to consider whether or not we are doing the right thing. I mean, consider this, Max, what if by our sending Future Max back and my not breaking up with you -that is, with Max here- we have already changed the future? What if the world isn’t going to end at all now? We don’t know the answers to these things. We only know that we have -at least hopefully- changed the things that were not supposed to have been part of our timeline… but we don’t even know what those things are for sure.”

Max thought for a few moments then spoke…

“I expected you to say that, Liz. I wouldn’t have expected anything else. That’s why we -Michael and I- spent a great deal of time during our journey formulating a plan. Michael and I will return to the new granilith and travel forward in time to a year after our graduation, to the day before our world, this world, ended. Will you do one thing, Liz? Will you return to Roswell on that day and meet us here -all of you- together?”

“Meet you where, Max?”

“You remember the dock where we went swimming at night sometimes…”

“Yeah! I remember!” said Liz, turning slightly red.

“Can you… that is, would you… meet us there when that day comes? I… I’ll understand if you don’t.”

“I’ll have to talk to the others, especially Isabel… she's not here to speak for herself. I’ll try, Max. Really, I will, but... I'll have to be sure...”

Max smiled slightly, “That’s all I want to know."

"You know I'm not going to let anything bad happen to Liz," said younger Max. "If going with you is the right thing to do at that time, you know you can count on me... on all of us."

Max of Antar nodded, "Yeah, I know... somehow, I feel like I can trust you almost as much as myself!"

Max smiled slightly at his own little joke.

"Michael and I have to go now. You two (pointing at the younger Max and Michael)... we’re going to need you two to come with us somewhere.”

Liz sneaked back into her house; Max and Michael of Antar and their current doubles escorted Maria home.

At the door of Maria's house, Michael of Antar took Maria's hands into his, looked into the beautiful brown eyes he had missed for so long, then put his hands on each side of her head and kissed her. Maria put her right arm around Michael's head with her hand on the back of his neck and submitted to the kiss, perhaps a little more readily than the younger Michael was able to accept, even if it was, in some way, himself she was kissing...

"Ahem..."

"Ahem!"

"Ahem! Cough! ...Hadn't we better be going if you guys are gonna get where you're going?"

Michael of Antar released his hold on Maria. Slowly, gently, his hands slid down her arms and over her hands as he pulled away. For a moment he gazed into her eyes, trying to get enough for a lifetime of memories. Maria, too, seemed unusually captivated by Michael's eyes and handsome, rugged looks. She choked back a slight 'bye,' her eyes misty; then she turned and went into the house.

Max and Michael and their local doubles left Maria's house then drove together in Max's jeep to the house of Sheriff William Valenti.

Max of Antar knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?”

“Me… Max Evans.”

“Max? It’s 1 AM! …just a minute; let me throw something on.”

The door opened. Sheriff Valenti stood in the doorway; he looked at the two Maxes and the two Michaels…

“Okay, I know I’ve gotta stop staying out late dating younger women... I’m seeing two of both of you.” Valenti quickly, cautiously, glanced around outside then hurried the group inside, “Sit down... Coffee?”

“Sure,” said Max of Antar. The others indicated their agreement. Valenti returned momentarily with four coffees.

“…just on the chance that you guys split into four people or went alien schizoid on me and I’m not totally smashed or hallucinating, I brought four cups.”

Max smiled.

“ I assume there’s a story behind this, Max; so what is it?”

Max told Sheriff Valenti the whole story. He explained who they were and where they had come from. He told him about their having been with Liz and Maria earlier and what he had asked them to do. He explained to Valenti some of the things that were to come: the end of the world, graduation, Ben Johnson and Kivar.

“Oh, and there’s one more little thing…” said Max. “It’s Kyle.”

“Kyle!” Valenti sat up straight. “Kyle’s asleep upstairs. Does something happen to Kyle in the future, Max? If it does, I want to know!”

Max smiled slightly. “He’s fine, actually. He’s my chief of staff on Antar… has been for the last five years…"

"...and a darned good friend he’s been, too!" added Michael.

Valenti rubbed his face with his hand, rubbed his brow, then his eyes, as though he thought he might need to wake up from a strange dream.

“You’re serious! You’re not bull-shittin’ me? Kyle went to Antar with you guys… in the future... and he’s okay? I mean… can humans, like, survive on your planet without gas masks or something? Is Kyle happy living on Antar?”

Max smiled again. “Yeah, he’s happy; but he would be a lot happier if his father were alive -you know what I mean- and if his father could be there with him.”

“So this is all supposed to happen one… no, a little over two years