Michael was on the man in milliseconds. "No, you don't. Go back. What did you just say?" he whispered fiercely.

The man opened his mouth to speak but then threw a glance at Maria and said , "Son, I need to speak to you in private."

"No you don't," he said shaking his head. "She knows." He took her hand in his and tightly squeezed it. The man winced when Michael said that and then looked over Maria, his nostrils flaring as though he smelled something bad.

"Come here, boy. Now!" he commanded, nodding to a doorway that led to the back of the building.

*It's okay,* Maria told him silently. *I'll be able tell what he says anyway, you know, through your thoughts.*

*Are you sure?*

*Yes. Now get over there and find out about yourself.*

"Thanks," he said aloud. The man looked at him, then to Maria, and then back at Michael.

"What's this all about. Why do you say thanks, when she doesn't say anything?" he said, his eyes suspicious.

Maria looked over at Michael. *Tell him,* she sent.

*I don't know if that's such a good idea. Did you see the way he looked at you?*

She started to nod and then stopped herself. *It's up to you.*

The man watched this and then sighed and began to nod his head. He then took Michael's arm as though he were looking for something under the surface. He nodded once more and then said "You two are trance', am I right? Telepathically linked?"

Michael and Maria exchanged surprised glances and then nodded.

"She may as well come with us," the man said, not at all happy. "I close up in five minutes. Let me get the rest of these customers out of here and then we'll go to the others." He excused himself quickly.

Michael nodded. He felt Maria shake his hand tightly. *Oh Michael. You're going to get some answers. I'm so happy for you!*

Maria could feel his happiness, but she could also sense another strong feeling for him. It was a fierce sense of protection. He was willing to protect her no matter what. He didn't want them to treat her like the man just did. She felt a strong rush of love for him at that moment and telegraphed her feelings to him.

*Hey, it's okay! I don't mind, really. Just remember how you reacted to me when you found out I knew. You weren't happy either. Now look at us.* she squeezed his hand. *You just had to learn to trust me. We have to show these people that they can trust me as well.*

He smiled and then bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips. *I love you.*

*I love you,* she telegraphed back.

*****

Ten minutes later, the man, who had finally introduced him self as Ashtar, led them out of the back and into a clearing. They walked for a minute or so and ended up at a relatively large house.

"Stay out here," he told them. "I need to let them know about you two before you enter. I'll be right back." It was five minutes before he returned and led them into a large living room.

Sitting around the room were seven people. Three men, and four women. The watched the couple as they entered, some looking suspicious, others looking surprised.

Ashtar led them to an empty blue-velvet loveseat and told them to sit. All eyes remained on them. He went around the room and introduced the aliens there. He introduced the three men as Danys, Riorma, and Lyson. The four women were Sintama, Disora, Kisa and Lana.

"Are you the only ones here?" Michael asked after he and Maria were introduced.

"No, my dear boy. We are just the leaders of our small colony. There are several houses behind this one. Our current number is around two thousand. But enough of that for now. I want to hear about you before we go on, and how this young lady knows about who you are." Several pairs of eyes flashed to Maria with slight distaste.

So Michael told them. He told them about Max and Isabelle and how they had awoken in the pods, he told them about how the others had been adopted by the Evans', and he had been taken in by a trashy alcoholic. He told them of how the three discovered each other, and what very different lives they had. He told them of Max's feelings for Liz and the shooting at the Crashdown. He told them of how Maria found out and how Liz and Maria both helped and tried to do what they could to help them keep their secret. He told them of River Dog and Nacerro. He told them of how Alex unknowingly saved Max's ass after the car wreck and even exposed a FBI agent working in the school and how he did all this before he was even let in on the secret. He told them of his sickness after the sweat and how the three humans helped save his life. He told them of Huble's belief that Nacerro was a killer and the pictures he had supposedly had before he was killed by the local Sheriff. He told them how he had been searching for Nacerro ever since, and then of hearing of the latest sighting and how it brought he and Maria there at that very moment.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. They all looked thoughtful as the reflected on the information Michael had just shared. The Ashtar spoke.

"First off, about this Nacerro person. Did he say that was his name or was that what this River Dog called him?"

"It was River Dog's name for him. In his language it meant visitor." Michael said.

"And this Huble said he has killed?"

Michael nodded. Ashtar looked over at Riorma and they both nodded. "He sounds like a Tyrvanas," Riorma said.

Michael threw them a questioning glance and Ashtar continued. "Tyrvanas' are another type of race that comes from our planet. They are violent murderers and masters at illusion. They can kill with one glance, and they can change their shape at will. You need to stay away from him no matter what."

"Well, if he is a Tyrvanas, what does that make us? And where is it that we come from? I have none of these answers." Michael stated.

"Our race is called the Dilana, and we come from a planet which we called Pearlan."

"And why is it that you are here and not there?" Michael heard Maria speak up and saw several pairs of eyes flash at her in surprise.

This time Lyson spoke. "We were run of the planet by the Tyrvanas. For

the last three thousand years, by Earth standards, we have been the dominant race on our planet. We ruled all that there was. The Tyrvanas were evil warriors who had been banished to particular island for wrong doing they did to some of our people. Then, almost 60 Earth years ago, the Tyrvanas organized a great rebellion and there was a planet wide massacre. Prior to the rebellion, there were seventy five-million of us and only thirty-five thousand of us escaped the planet. There were thirteen ships and we scattered. Three of them came to Earth and the rest went to other planets. One of the ships that did come here, did in fact crash just outside of Roswell. I was in that ship along with my wife," he pointed to Kisa, who nodded once. "I must say though, that I have no clue how your pods could have gotten out and into a cave. Only seventeen of us escaped from the Earth authorities and we all left together and came to settle here in Sedona."

Maria could feel Michael's disappointment. She knew it had to be hard to find out that you could never go to where you came from. Michael cleared his throat and spoke. "So, um, is this what we really look like?" He could feel Maria wanting to ask that so he did it for her.

Ashtar laughed and said "Do you mean are we shiny green creatures with tentacles?" Maria's eye went wide and Ashtar winked at her. "I could tell what you were thinking my dear. And no were not. Are bodies are the same as these except we glow. Our aura's glow. " Both Michael's and Maria's faces reflected shock.

*I knew it!* Maria sent to him, and Michael laughed aloud.

The aliens in the room looked at Ashtar questioningly. He sighed and said, "They're trance'."

All of the faces reflected shock. "How is that possible?" Disora asked.

Ashtar looked her way and said "Good question. Why don't we ask them."

Michael looked at Maria. *Should I tell em' about yesterday? After that is when it started.*

Reluctantly Maria nodded.

Michael took a deep breath. "Well it started this morning. We woke up with it."

Ashtar raised his eyebrows and said "What happened yesterday then?"

*Oh God, now they're really going to hate me,* Maria thought.

"We, uh, were...together." Michael answered. He looked up into Ashtar's eyes to check for comprehension. He heard cries of surprise throughout the room.

"You had intercourse? With a human? Are you stupid?" Ashtar was livid.

Michael sighed. "Yes, yes, and no. I'm not stupid. I love her, and it happened. There's nothing we can do about it now. It's just now, things have been happening."

"What kind of things?" Sintama asked, carefully.

Maria spoke for him. "Well, I've been desiring crazy amounts of Tabasco sauce on everything I eat. And you see, I'm into aromatherapy so I inhale different oils when I'm stressed. Notably, Cyprus Oil. This morning, when we were arguing about this telepathy thing, Michael freaked out and went through my purse to use the oil. He didn't realize how odd that was until after he was done."

"And," Michael added, "I have never been able to control my powers very well. I always had to rely on Max and Isabelle for that but since we were together, I can not only control them but I've discovered new ones."

"Has anything like this ever happened before?" Sintama asked urgently.

"No," Michael said, then Maria jumped in. "Michael, wait. Do you remember at Atherton's you tried to get the vision from the key and you couldn't do it. And then I came up to you and told you to try again and it worked?"

Michael's mouth fell open. "Oh my God, your right."

Just then their attention was brought to the people in the room with them. "You don't think...?" Ashtar asked.

Sintama was nodding her head yes, while Disora was saying "It isn't possible."

"She's human for Christs' sake." Lyson said.

"Quiet!" Lana yelled above everyone. It was the first time she had spoken. "I'll settle this." She walked up to Michael and Maria and placed a hand on each of their foreheads.

She held her hands there for a few minutes, searching for something. Both Michael and Maria were extremely confused. Lana kept nodding to herself and then she finally pulled back, her eyes wide. "It's true," she said.

"What's true? Michael asked impatiently. They were scaring him.

Lana spoke. "I've never heard of it happening between a human and a Dilanas before. But you two are grandasa. The earth word would be soulmates. Since your...union, your bodies have been trying to...merge. You've done the ritual already, have you not?"

"What ritual?" Michael asked, confused.

"Oh no. When did you first...merge?" Ashtar asked, his voice no urgent.

Maria said "At about 6:00 last night."

"And what time is it now child?"

Maria looked at her watch. "5:30. Why?"

"What's going on here?" Michael interrupted.

"Ashtar!" Lana yelled. "It may be too late."

"No! They have a little time, but they have to do it now!" Lyson intervened.

*What's going on, Michael? They're scaring me!* Maria asked, her wide eyes ready to tear up.

*I don't know, but I'm going to find out,* he said and then out loud, at the top of his lungs, he said "WOULD SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"

All eyes turned towards him and he suddenly felt self-conscious. Ashtar spoke. "It's a soulmate thing from our race. You've shared your bodies, now you need to share your mind's and souls."

Sintama broke in at that moment. "Michael listen to me. If you do not do the post-bonding ritual now," she took a deep breath.

"Tell me damn you!" Michael screamed.