All she could see was darkness. No colors, no shapes. And that confused her.

Sounds rolled by. And a raspy voice- “Dammit, she’s waking up.”

Who was that? Was she on the floor still? It was cold, so cold.

Footsteps walked by... there was a humming of power... and a whisper beside her.

“Are you okay?”

It was Max. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly, almost knocking them both senseless in the process.

“Sorry.” Her movements were so jerky and her mind was so... disjointed. Where were the others? What had happened? Wait- others?

Max was holding a hand to his temple where she had knocked into him and for the first time, she realized that he was hurt. There was blood on his face, cuts and blood on his scrub shirt. And beyond him, the room looked like it had been the site of a bombing raid.

There were fragments of metal and plaster covering the floor that no longer resembled anything she recognized. Max turned to view the room with her. “Terrible, isn’t it?”

She took a deep breath to calm down. She couldn’t for the life of her remember anything... What was the last thing that happened?

She focused hard.

Kate.

Oh my god, Kate and that horrible metal box! Where is she?

The jagged pieces of metal across the floor answered her question, but there was no body, or... p-pieces of a body in the room. Liz shuddered at the thought. And Max- why wasn’t he answering her with his thoughts?

She stared at him as he suddenly turned back to her, focusing on the amber eyes with concern. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine,” he said with a gentle touch to her face that felt too intimate for some reason. She had to resist pulling away. What am I thinking?

“I’m more worried about you, Liz. You took the direct force of the explosion. I don’t understand why you’re even able to talk right now. I healed most of the cuts and bruises, but it should have been far worse.”

Max offered his hand and she allowed him to help her up. He immediately turned away and went to the door.

Liz wiped the bits and pieces of plaster off of her hospital gown. Wait- why am I wearing this? Oh god- the tests, and- Alex! Where is Alex?

Her head was aching suddenly and she could barely stop herself from giving into her tears. Max was too busy watching the hallway to notice. Their connection was gone, maybe from the blast. Hadn’t he even noticed?

She couldn’t feel anything from him.

“They knew we were coming here, and that we would want to open the damn thing to take care of Kate’s body. I guess they forgot that we can heal ourselves. It would take a bigger bomb than that to finish us off.”

Liz blinked. That didn’t sound right. She searched her mind for a reason why. She could feel a residual haze in her mind from Max, from right before the blast. He had been terrified as he saw the box explode right in front of her. He had thought she would die from it.

Yet now he was across the room, proud of his healing efforts? His back was to her as he rattled on about the blast.

Liz shook her head in frustration. Just because he’s not in overprotective mode doesn’t mean that it’s not- Max. But... what if it isn’t? Oh god.

He turned and smiled at her. “Can you walk?“

“Sure,“ she answered and swallowed hard. “I just- we need to find Alex.“ She walked over to him slowly and let him busy himself with checking out the hallway again. Was it Max? How would she know? She could always find out by kissing him, but if he wasn’t...

She shivered. That would be way too dangerous.

The Max person ducked his head back in the doorway. “All clear,“ he spouted cheerfully. “I think I know where they may have taken him. Come on.“ He held out his hand.

Liz fought inside herself, then reached out and took his hand. He pulled her through the doorway. “This way,“ he whispered.

Power began to collect in her as she was pulled along behind him, praying that he wouldn’t notice. They passed several doors on her left and then he was suddenly in front of her, pushing her back into the last one. She was inside the room in two seconds.

“Shh,” he whispered as he shut the door. “Someone’s coming.”

She started to back away, looking around the blank, white walls around her with a sense of deja vu and sudden, intense fear. After the footfalls passed by, Max turned to her with a strange expression. “Why are you all the way back there, sweetheart?”

The words chilled her to the bone. Max never called her that. She felt her lip curling up in a sneer. SweetNESS, not sweetheart. Get it right, alien bastard.

Her mouth was completely dry, but she managed to answer him, seeing as how it might just keep her alive a little bit longer. “I thought I saw something back here.” She glanced around the room and saw a long, metal box in the corner, identical to Kate’s. The blood drained from her face.

He started to walk forward slowly, a smile spreading across his face. It was far from reassuring- more chilling than cheerful. She took a step back. “How about a kiss to celebrate finding each other again?”

She froze. “Maybe later.”

He kept walking. “Maybe now.”

Before Liz had even decided what to do, he grabbed her and his lips crushed onto her own. They were harsh, demanding. Definitely not her Max.

Then the images came:

FLASH

The man in the lab coat, the middle-aged, squinty-eyed man whose form he had taken in her dream, dying in horrible agony. His eye sockets were bloody, blank holes...

FLASH

A blond-haired, blue-eyed girl that reminded Liz of... Tess. Feeling pride, love-

FLASH

A silver-haired man with a three-piece suit on, in a meeting. Liz’s picture was on the table.

FLASH

Overseeing Liz’s stripping from about and watching her herded up on the platform, feeling hatred and satisfaction at her treatment.

FLASH

Max being hauled away by three men in orange suits, weakly fighting to get to Liz.

Liz gasped and power surged within her. Max was in danger; this hunter hated her; and Tess? The fear made her body heat up until she was sweating, begging to release the power throbbing inside. She looked up at him.

“Oh, please“ he said patronizingly. “Bring it on.“

She didn’t hesitate. The energy shot out from her in a wave of bright white light. It should have knocked him flat. It should have hurt him- but he was still there- smiling.

And she was still hurtling her energy at him with everything she had. But- oh god. The control was shifting. He was absorbing it- draining her. She fought down the panic and tried to cut the power off, to close it down or shove him away. But she couldn’t stop him.

And it hurt.

He was reaching deep inside of her, to where the power generated. Farther and farther...

Weakness flooded through her and then more images- from him.

She saw a little girl, blond hair and blue eyes with an enchanting smile. The name drifted out of her mind- Tess.

*Yes.*

It was him, he had connected his mind to hers. She lashed out against him mentally, physically, violated to the core of her being. He held her arms, held her mind and forced his thoughts into her.

She saw a young, handsome man. Not a rich man, but proud. His eye was on the woman with noble bearing passing him by with several guards. He leered at her and desired her. She was blond and beautiful, and royalty. One day, as he waited for her, he shifted his appearance. He called out to her and she walked over to him in surprise. She recognized him, welcomed him with a long kiss. He said nothing, just ushered her into the house and into his bedroom. It had been prepared for her. Beautiful, shimmering fabric covered the walls and a negligee lay on the bed. She threw her arms around him, ecstatically approving of his surprise.

Liz gasped in shock and in pain. The woman thought he was her husband.

The images came fast and furious. The lovemaking was the proof of his identity. She knew too late and left humiliated and scared for her life. But that was all he had wanted. He was content to watch again. She was now pregnant with his child.

More images. A toddler being carried by in a royal carriage- a beautiful blond-haired child with chubby cheeks. The pride he felt at seeing her, knowing she was his own was overwhelming.

*Yes, you killed my baby.*

The drain intensified, ripping a shriek from Liz’s lips. She writhed in his arms, trying to escape the pain.

A war-torn city. Children being led onto a spaceship. Two guardians. Wanting to touch Sashaset, his fear great. She was six, too young for this. But there were power-hungry men after them all. Devastation and fear as the ship left.

Liz collapsed and felt his arms grip her tightly. He continued to force images in her head, continued to drain her essence, but more slowly now. There wasn‘t much left...

Now he was a much older man, visited by two men in uniforms. Grief was etched on the old man’s face and he flung his arms out to kill the officers. Their bodies hit the wall and dissolved into powder.

Liz didn’t have the strength to gasp. Now the man was standing before a table with several men behind it. Their faces were dark and menacing. Was he standing trial? No. He was offering to do something, an exchange. Then he was walking into a chamber, looking around at the wires and gauges with determination. Was it a ship? No-

The image blurred into darkness. She was hollow, just... breathing. She felt her heart beat. And then silence.

Breathe.

And then another beat.

She was being lifted, moved. There was hatred seething through the still-open connection, cold plastic against her back. Her eyes sprang open in shock. The old man was standing over her with venomous, silvery eyes. He leaned down close enough for her to feel the breath as he spoke. She was mesmerized. He hated her with every fiber of his being.

*You will NOT take her place. You will spend the rest of your scrawny, pathetic life paying for what you took from me.*

He smiled and pulled away.

Liz lay there, breathing. She watched as he lowered a sheet of plastic over her body and snapped it to the walls of the metal box. The box was cold, but she didn’t even have the energy to shiver. The plastic lay against her mouth and nose, and she struggled against the panic. Her lungs were tightening up again. Her breaths were raspy and short. His face appeared hazy above her.

*Sleep well.*

The air around her grew still and dark. A muffled thud and a click made her gasp. He had shut the lid. A motor began whirring in the background and the air grew colder. She breathed... and tried to push the image of Kate out of her mind...

Max will find me.

He will.

******

Michael jumped out of the car and strode toward Christopher with menacing steps. Christopher got out of the van with his hands full of folders and papers.

He looked up and hesitated as he saw Michael approach. “Is there a- a problem?”

Michael stopped right in front of him, vaguely aware of the rest of the group circling them. “Yeah. Why the hell did you stop? The lab is right through the freakin’ trees. Let’s go.”

He turned around and headed for the car. Nobody was following. He stopped and sighed, then looked at Christopher pointedly. “Who’s the next in line after Chat?”

“Magrasettah.”

“And then?”

“You,” Christopher admitted readily.

“So that means that you bow to ME right now.”

Christopher nodded and rushed to explain. “It’s just that Max wanted to do this as safely as possible-”

“Yeah, yeah, and Max also brushes after every meal. But I’m not Max.” Michael rubbed at the tense spot between his eyes. “And my big brother isn’t here. That means I‘m all you got. And we’re gonna’ break in there through the front door and we’re takin’ out anyone who stands in our way. Got it?”

There were several nervous glances and Michael cursed under his breath. “Do you have any idea what they did to Liz? I felt it. And now they have Max, too. They’re sick sons-of-b*tches and they deserve whatever end of a fireball they get. If we give them more time...” he shook his head fiercely. “I’m going in. You either step up or lay down like a dog in the dirt. I don‘t give a damn.”

He ditched the car and started walking. As an afterthought, he turned to Maria. “Stay here.”

Power was churning in him, begging to break free. He walked down the road alone, feeling his emotions crystallize.

This one’s for you, Liz.

TBC...

******

Here’s a re-cap and a total listing of the families with their human and alien names, now that we’ve met everybody and there aren’t anymore surprises to be sprung... I think. As you’ve all suspected, I DO have a cheat sheet that I refer to often and this is it!! ;0>

Families:

Chatamalinkasohn- Max Evans Eliyamalinka- Isabel Evans Millamalinka-Joey Spencer

“a” and “a-sohn” are royal suffixes

Magrasettah- Justin Rance Krysnasetsa- Kate Rance Krynasettah- Michael Guerin Illnyasettsa- Delia Flanders

Tugperon- Andy “TUG” Jacobs Giasalom- Mel Jacobs