~Orison Swett Marden
****

"Agent Pierce?"

Nasedo looked up from the paperwork that he was studying at 'Pierce’s' desk. "Yes, Agent?"

"She’s here, sir. The quarantine guards just deposited her into Containment Room six."

The alien’s face was smooth like glass, showing no hint that he had absolutely no idea what the human agent was referring to. "Excellent. I’ll get to her later." The other man didn’t leave. "Something else, Agent Matthews?"

Jesse Matthews hesitated, then spoke. "I just wanted to say that we’re all sorry the leads in Roswell didn’t pan out, sir."

Nasedo cracked a smile, "Yes, well, those in charge of the information inaccuracies have been identified and taken care of. Make sure that you let everyone know that. I find it reduces mistakes in the future, when everyone knows the penalty for failure."

"Yes, sir, Agent Pierce." Matthews swallowed hard, and backed out of the room.

Pierce-sado finished reading the file on Specimen 0002, the alien that escaped from the Eagle Rock Military base in 1947. Basically the report was about himself, and he found great pleasure in reading how he baffled the incompetent guards back then. Putting the folder back into the metal cabinet, he stood and left his office to get to Containment Room six.

Nasedo entered the outer observation room, dismissing the two guards so that he could figure out who this woman was. Whoever she was, her appearance was of a brunette, middle aged human female, slightly disheveled, and her voice was panicky.

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" she banged on the two way mirror-wall. The cell she was being kept in was identical in every way to the one that he had been held in fifty-three years ago, and the one from which they rescued Max. The White Room. "I know someone is there! I can feel you."

Something about this woman was vaguely familiar to Nasedo, but he pushed the human sense of deja-vu away. She continued to rant, "I was promised that if I cooperated with your agency that I would never be placed in a White Room again. Please!"

This intrigued him, so he leaned over to speak into the intercom. "Who would tell you something like that?"

The woman looked around nervously. "I knew someone was out there! It was Sam Lewis "

"Oh, see that’s your problem. Agent Lewis died in 1962." Testing out a theory, Nasedo continued. "One of your kind killed him."

"That’s impossible. I’m alone here... there were no others that survived the crash." She paused, "You’re Pierce, aren’t you. You brought me here to this hell, and now you’re too chicken to speak to me in person. I can understand you fear the information that I told you last time that we spoke, but I swear that it is all the truth. I can tell you things about yourself that none of the people who raised you even knew." Nasedo was silent. "I named you, you know. They allowed me to do that before you were taken from me. I named you after my one true love." The hidden door on the far side of the room opened, revealing Nasedo, visibly frazzled, while the female talked on. "His name was Eton."

"They got it wrong."

She spun to face him, "What?"

"They got the name wrong. They named him Ethan. I guess they felt the need to humanize it."

The woman narrowed her dark eyes at him, suspiciously, "Who are you? You’re not Pierce… you may have his appearance..."

"You know who I am, Serai," he took her arm and transmitted visions of the past to her.

"Eton? They told me that there were no other survivors... how can this be?"

Nasedo smirked, "And you never doubted the humans would lie to you. Amazing that you still have your innocence after all which we have been through. I was captured, but managed to escape from the compound in New Mexico. I’ve lived a life of running from these people while you have been consorting with the enemy."

"I have done only what has been necessary to facilitate my survival on this planet."

"Survival, Serai? And tell me... who is this man to you?" he asked, motioning to his body form.

The alien female paled. "He is my... my... son."

Nasedo didn’t know what he expected her to say, but it wasn’t that. "What?!?"

"In 1948, Sam Lewis offered me a choice. Procreate with a human male and bear a child which offered a reward of isolated freedom or die on the operating table so the scientists could see how I tick. I chose the former."

"Impossible. Our alien anatomy is not compatible with theirs. Mating is not an option."

"Our physiology is more adaptable than you could ever imagine, but you are correct. I was unable to conceive. By 1950, Sam told me he could no longer protect me, and I was scheduled for termination. Finally for fear of my life, I created an incubation pod and..."

"Pierce was born."

"With the crude technology I had to work with, his incubation was short, only twenty years. He emerged from the pod as a human baby."

"Pierce said that you were kept in captivity only three years. We assumed..."

"After the pod was constructed and the child growing, I was 'freed' into isolation. Sam told me he erased all evidence of where I was. Only he knew, and I trusted him... until Pierce found my file. He confronted me about a month ago.

"There was so much anger and hate in my child, but I could sense he had no power. The humans who assured me that I would be set free, also informed me I would be able to raise the hybrid child. I engineered him so that without my guidance, he would have nothing extraordinary about him. Pierce had no clue that there was anything different about him." She paused, "You spoke of 'we' before. The others are out there? Ismaei and Temmel?"

Nasedo shook his head, "Both died in the crash."

"Who then? The Mother wouldn’t have risked another team..."

"Our leader and his family."

"Xann Adis? But how? The ship malfunctioned, we were unable to..."

"Not malfunctioned, sabotaged, Serai. Someone didn’t want us to survive the trip to this planet... but we did, and so did they. I was able to release the pods before impact. The unit burrowed into a nearby mountain, keeping the leader from harm."

Excitement shone in Serai’s eyes. "And are they as I imagined them to be?"

"Yes, you have always been a masterful artist... they are perfect."

"You have raised them all this time, alone?"

"No," he said. "The pods of Adis, Rakeran, and Asimi released early. They were gone when I went back to the chamber to retrieve them… Taras was there alone. I raised her, the others were brought up by humans."

"The memory transfer was successful?"

"Not completely. The early release of the three caused much of the transfer to be lost... Taras has some memories, but they are incomplete as well. It has been a hard ten years trying to find the Xann and the others, but now the real challenges begin. They have used the orbs, Serai... our enemies now know that they are truly here."

"And you... why are you here in the Special Unit? How are you able to be the leader if Pierce is still out there?"

"He’s dead."

Tears streaked down the woman’s cheeks, "No..."

Nasedo raised her chin to stare into his companion’s eyes. "Human emotion does not fit you, Serai. As you said, he was anger filled... and that made him dangerous."

She pulled away. "No, Eton... he could have been changed into an ally. Somewhere inside of him, I sensed the need for him to belong. He just needed direction."

"He found his direction in torturing Adis in a room just like this one. Pierce would have killed our people’s only hope for freedom, to feed his hate for those not so different from him... his brother, almost. He was an animal... he deserved to die."

"The stones... we could bring him back... then he would be on our side, Eton."

"Not possible..."

She continued on, oblivious to his comments. "Don’t you see, he is like Adis and the others. He has the same energies in him, and could be helped by the stones..."

Nasedo grabbed her arm roughly, "I said it wasn’t possible! We destroyed the body... your child is gone!"

Slumping against the wall, Serai slid to a sitting position on the floor. "This planet has changed you. There was a time when you would never have talked this way to anyone, let alone me. I don’t know who you are anymore. I loved you."

His lips twisted into a derisive grin, "Another of your precious human emotions... Love. Those emotions make you weak, just as it does the humans. Don’t sit there and play the wounded victim, my wife. Do you forget that it was *you* who insisted that we volunteer for this mission? I was more than happy to be a guard for the besieged palace on our world. You could have continued to do your art in the sanctuary of our own home, but no. You just had to see how your creations would turn out."

"I was the best choice, Eton. I had the most education on the humans. I should have raised the children, as opposed to you. You’ve never liked the thought of these aliens, and I know that the fact Xann Adis is now a hybrid disgusts you—"

"Max."

"What?"

"His name is Max now. Max Evans. Rakeran is Michael Guerin, and his betrothed, Asimi is Isabel Evans."

"And Taras?"

"I have named her Tess. It seems a good humanization of her true name." He reached out to help the woman to her feet, his demeanor softening. "It went all wrong, Serai. They knew nothing of their destiny or their people’s peril. Max’s true nature was almost discovered about nine months ago when his love for a human girl cause him to use his ability to heal in public. Pierce captured him a week ago and tortured him for information until the others rescued him. Rakeran... Michael killed him in the process of protecting his friend from harm.

"Max has no recollection of his marriage or 'love' for Tess... he is very much human. All of them, save Tess, have found new desires in the humans surrounding them. I fear for our people. I fear that Max will continue to follow his heart with this Liz, and leave our people to die."

"Fear, Eton. Isn’t that a human emotion?"

"I suppose it is."

"I know our great leader shall do what he knows to be necessary to balance out who he is and what he wants. I have faith in his decisions to follow this new human heart of his."

Nasedo paced a few steps away. "What *we*," he said motioning to the two of them, "have to worry about is getting you out of here."

"No."

He was shocked. "What? How can you say no?"

"I am no use to you anymore, Eton, or the leader. I wish to be sent back into my isolation."

"Unacceptable."

"If you deny me this, I shall tell the humans who you really are."

A flash of anger entered his eyes, but was quickly replaced with a sense of desperation. "I need you, Serai. I need you to stand by my side on this planet just as you did so many times on our home world. You have to fight with us, it’s in you. There is no escaping who you are. You can sit around in your prison cell of isolation, but there is no escaping the reality of what is happening to your people... your family, your friends. We all need you now."

She smiled. "You have always have has the gift of a silver tongue, my husband. Adis was wise to value your ability to inspirit the troops to loyalty. Do you have a strategy in mind on how to get me out of this?"

"I believe I do. This will also give me the opportunity to 'weed out' some agents that know too much. You will be scheduled to return to your home in two days time. The plan shall occur then."

"Understood."

Nasedo moved towards the door, but she stopped him. "Eton... does Taras have the memories of what happened?"

"No. The scientists were obviously able to remove all trace of that transgression." Serai breathed a sigh of relief, and Nasedo walked to her again. "I *have* missed you all these years."

The woman raised her hand into the air and he matched his fingers with hers. Moments later both their hands began to glow, the human skin becoming translucent and the alien skeleton showed. The oxygen in the white room was humming, it was so electrically charged... and Serai giggled.