Max and I are doing well, though sometimes it's still hard to believe we're actually married. We don't get a lot of privacy or anything, since we're always traveling with the others. I know that Michael and Maria have talked about marriage too, but Michael's so noncommittal (he's gotten a lot more mature over the past few weeks, but Michael is still Michael), and Maria won't commit to someone so noncommittal, so there's not much progress there.;) I feel bad for Isabel, since she's away from Jesse. She and Kyle are the only two 'single' members of our group, which doesn't leave Kyle with a lot of choices, and that also means that Isabel is moody a lot of the time. I know I'd be pretty cranky if Max and I were pulled apart the way Iz and Jesse have been.
Some of us look a little different now, to help us hide out from anyone chasing us. But I can't tell you what we look like, just in case anyone is reading this e-mail other than you. I'll just say that all the guys look as good as Brad Pitt now, and we girls look good enough to get modeling contracts. Ha-ha! And if anyone else *is* reading this e-mail leave us alone. Please. None of us have hurt anyone. We just want to live normal lives. Leave us alone.
So anyhow, like last time, I'm only using this e-mail address once, so you won't be able to respond to it, and the Men in Black won't be able to trace us. I know that sometime in the future we'll be able to talk again, and (I hope) even see each other soon, face to Pausing in her typing, Liz Parker looked up. She watched as Maria DeLuca, sitting one stool over from her in the cramped confines of the Cybernet Cafe, composed a hasty electronic note of her own. Liz let herself be hypnotized for a moment by the rhythmically blinking cursor. Then Maria broke the spell by hitting the 'Send' button. Maria's e-mail immediately disappeared into cyberspace.
'You're all done?' Liz asked, unnecessarily.
Maria ran her hand through her newly wavy hair and leaned backward in her chair. 'Looks that way. There's not much I can really tell Mom. I mean, what am I going to do… talk about encounters with yet another race of 'Czechoslovakians' and haunted mansions full of Skins?' She snorted. 'I bet she's probably wearing a whole necklace-full of healing crystals to help with the headaches she must have started getting after our departure from Ros… ' She abruptly caught herself, then glanced quickly around the room as though scanning for spies. 'From the town, I mean,' she finished a beat later.
Seated a few stools away, Kyle Valenti looked up from his computer monitor. His wavy brown hair fell slightly into his angular face as he looked first toward the girls, then focused on a point in space beyond them. From the way he motioned with his head, Liz could see that something had caught his interest. He mouthed something they couldn't hear, but she lip-read two familiar words: Pod Squad.
Liz and Maria turned toward the front of the Cybernet Cafe to see their three companions striding in. Max Evans was in the lead, flanked by his sister, Isabel, and his best friend, Michael Guerin. They always look like they're striding off to war when they walk in as a trio, Liz thought. Maybe it comes naturally to them.
Of course, Liz was well aware that what was natural for these three seemingly ordinary teenagers was, in fact, rather otherworldly. Their true home was a planet called Antar, part of a solar system that had five inhabited planets. Zan had been the ruler of Antar, and his family dynasty had united the five worlds. Although Zan was well respected, there were many who felt his policies and agendas reached too far. One of those who opposed King Zan was Kivar, a general who had become an Antarian senator. Kivar spearheaded the conspiracy that overthrew Zan's empire, killing the king… as well as Zan's sister, Vilandra, his second-in- command, Rath, and his wife, Ava.
Sometime during the war that followed, the DNA of the 'Royal Four'… the genetic templates for re- creating Antar's rightful leaders… was brought to Earth. Here, a faction loyal to King Zan had used a semisentient organism called Gan- darium to incorporate human DNA into that of the Royal Four. The resulting hybrid embryos were still clones of Zan, Vilandra, Rath, and Ava… except that they appeared to be human.
But despite outward appearances, Liz could never overlook the fact that her husband, Max… who was heir to the late King Zan's DNA as well as his throne… was not fully human. Neither were Isabel and Michael, who carried in them the genes of Vilandra and Rath. Liz knew she could never escape that knowledge. Four years ago, Max had healed her after she was accidentally shot at the Crashdown Cafe, which her parents operated in Roswell, New Mexico. On that fateful day, Max's healing touch had transferred some of his alien essence into her; as a result, she now sometimes manifested extra-normal powers.
Now they were on the run from the government, after one too many government investigations into the presence of aliens in Roswell had brought to light a host of unusual occurrences. They had been forced to change their appearances, to use fake names, to travel in a van together, and to be constantly on the watch for potential captors.
So, maybe they're right to be walking like they're going to war, Liz thought, still watching Max, Isabel, and Michael. And maybe I should be right there with them, with my husband. But in her heart, Liz knew she already was fighting alongside her husband. She and Maria and Kyle were risking their lives every day, just by remaining with the group.
'Are you almost done?' Max asked, keeping his voice low. He quickly looked around the cafe to see if anyone was paying attention to them. The plump woman in the floral print muumuu wasn't, nor was the counter helper, who seemed to be playing some kind of game on his computer.
'Yeah, just finishing up,' Liz said.
'I just sent mine,' Maria said, gesturing toward the e-mail program still running on her terminal.
Max looked over at Kyle, who grinned and shrugged slightly. 'I finished quite a while ago,' he said. 'So I've been surfing the free adult sites. “
'How special,' Isabel said, her words dripping with sarcasm.
'Would you hurry up, Liz?' Michael said. 'We can't afford to be on these things any longer than necessary. “
Liz glared at him and turned back to her screen. She typed quickly, finishing her last sentence: Gotta go. Love you lots. Liz.
Then she clicked 'Send.' As soon as the system confirmed her message was sent, she hit the quit command, exiting the program…
Liz noticed Isabel pacing behind her. 'This isn't fair, you know?' Isabel said, keeping her voice measured and low, but adding just enough venom to make it clear that she was unhappy. 'I'm forbidden to talk to Jesse by e-mail or phone, and yet they can talk to their parents. “
'We've talked about this already, Iz,' Max said. 'Jesse made it seem like he made a clean break from you when he went to Boston. If he heard from you regularly, it would put him in danger too. “
'I think it's stupid for any of you to be contacting anyone back in Roswell,' Michael said. 'The parental units can survive without hearing from us for a while. “
'So says the guy who doesn't have any family or friends other than us,' Kyle said, half under his breath.
Michael immediately shot Kyle a dirty look, but it was Maria who spoke up in Michael's defense. 'Real nice, Mr. Congeniality. Chalk up some sensitivity points on your Buddha-belt for that one. “
'Hey, I said 'other than us,'' Kyle protested. '1 didn't mean anything nasty by it. “
Liz knew that Max was about to step in as peacekeeper, and sure enough, before Kyle had even finished speaking, Max strode forward, hands up, palms out. 'Guys, let's cool it. Kyle, are you sure your dad is still keeping that encryption code going? “
'Yeah, I'm sure,' Kyle said, clicking down on the docking bar to open an Internet browser window. He quickly typed in a URL, and the Web page for the Roswell Sheriffs Department opened. Clicking on several submenus brought him to a page labeled 'Deputy James Valenti,' on which a picture of the smiling former head sheriff of Roswell appeared.
Placing the mouse pointer over the badge on his father's chest, Kyle said, 'See,
