“I know I freaked you guys out, but I’m okay now.” She threw a smile Michael’s way. “Now I’ve, obviously, have had time to think this over, and we don’t necessarily know if these guys are Khivar’s men or not.” She held up her hand before the others began to protest.

“Whether or not they are, precautions are necessary. But I cannot and will not have my life taken away. I will continue to live the life I lead. I am not going to live in a shell. I am not going to give up my life, and before you guys start bitching, I’m going to tell you what is going to happen. I’m going to be safe, have no fear in that. I trust you guys, the most loyal and trustworthy people I’ve ever met, to ensure my well-being. To say it in simpler terms, I trust you guys to make sure I don’t do anything careless. I, uh, know that I’m sometimes high maintenance but-” Liz took a deep breath so she wouldn’t lose her cool, “But I love you guys. I know you would do anything for me and for the whole group. I just don’t want to lose my life to fear, to Khivar, to anything. So Michael and I have come to a deal of some sort. I’ll have two, uh, escorts with me at all times and, um, one of the escorts must be a full blooded alien.” Her sympathetic smile to Maria and Alex fell on blind eyes.

“But while I’m being imprisoned by you guys-” Michael hit her lightly, initiating a stuck out tongue from Liz. “Right. I mean, while I’m being surrounded constantly and endlessly by the people who love me, I need my space. I won’t do anyone any good if I go insane. I’m going to continue going to work and going to classes. Also, I figure that if we pretend nothing is really all that wrong, it may give us an upper hand in the end.”

A silent agreement was heard among the group. And even if someone did want to

protest, no one was about to challenge Liz. An angry alien queen could definitely end in a fatal situation.

“There’s still a few aspects not being consider,” Adam spoke up. All eyes turned to the arms-crossed teen, so he took a step forward. “Nighttime arrangements? I know it sounds, uh, impersonal and intrusive, but all bases have to be covered. He turned to Liz directly and spoke, “I’m sorry.” He really did feel bad for intruding on what was once her personal life.

“Don’t be, it’s all part of my life now, right?” Liz replied bitterly. “As much as I’d truly love to have you lurkers watching me at night, I think the parental unit would have somewhat of a problem with it.”

“Liz, there’s no way you’re going to be alone at night,” Max commented matter-of-factly.

“Nuh uh! You’re not going to stalk my sister while she sleeps,” Michael stipulated. No guy, even if it was Max, was going to guard his Lizzie bear while she slept. She was still his sister.

“As much as I’d hate to admit it, Max is right.” Adam turned to Michael, knowing he was going to be a tough cookie about all this. “Liz can’t be by herself at night. I mean that would be a prime time to ki-” Adam paused uncomfortably. “It would be a prime time for something to happen.”

“But she’s also not going to have you or Romeo over there gawking at her body while she sleeps. Who really knows how much ‘protecting’ might actually be going on-”

“BOYS!” Maria’s harsh voice rang out into the cold desert air. “As much as you manly men are entertaining, the topic of your conversation is standing right here. Maybe you should actually discuss this with HER before fighting about this nonsense.” She put her hands on her hips, signifying she was nearing her boiling point. The three fighting aliens turned to Liz, who wasn’t even paying attention anyways. She had her eyebrows scrunched up as if in deep concentration. Suddenly her eyes lit up, a brand new idea striking her over the head. But the light dimmed again, suggesting the debate that was currently taking place in her mind. Maria took that as her cue.

“What are you thinking, chica?” Maria asked, moving over to Liz and slinging an arm over Liz’s shoulders. Maria continued to watch the hamster run frantically around that damn wheel.

“Here,” Liz replied. She touched Maria’s forehead and transferred images and thoughts from her mind to Maria’s. The physical contact wasn’t absolutely necessary, but it made the transfer somewhat easier.

Alex watched the scene in front of him with complete and utter awe. No matter how many times he saw Liz do her funky alien mind thingy, it always seemed to be too cool to him. Tapping into someone’s mind could actually make a fun pastime of some sort.

Maria’s expression turned from deep thought to an awkward smile.